Grandma's Kitchen Table

TWD: Baking with Julia: Blueberry-Nectarine Pie

      Since the Tuesdays with Dorie:  Baking with Julia group posts on alternate Tuesdays, I thought maybe I could use the "off Tuesdays" to post rewinds that they have already made and that I missed out on along the way. 

      The recipe I made this week is Blueberry-Nectarine Pie on page 384 of Baking with Julia.  You can also find the recipe on the blogs of the hostesses for this week, Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake, click here for the recipe, and Hilary of Manchego's Kitchen, click here. The recipe was contributed to the book by baker Leslie Mackie. 

      Pies are always a hit around here with Mark, his favorite dessert is pie.  The pie was delicious, I made a half size (7") as one only needs so much pie in a given week as he is basically the only one around here eating it.  This is an excellent recipe for both crust and filling.  I don't usually like to use shortening but it worked out okay in this recipe.  The combination of blueberries and nectarines is delicious...my nectarines sort of disappeared in the cooking process so the predominant taste was blueberry, which is not a bad thing.  Since we precooked the fruit a bit, my filling did get a little loose and juicy, I should have added less lemon juice maybe, but it all firmed up with a stint in the refrigerator overnight.  The taste was really wonderful. Definitely a repeat would be in order. 

      The TWD: BwJ information for joining the group, recipe selection, and general information can be found here.

Modern Baker: Blackberry Jam Cake

      The 88th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Blackberry Jam Cake, on page 233.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.  It's a great book, full of recipes you will want to use over and over again.)

      The ingredient list:  flour, allspice, cinnamon, baking soda, cocoa powder (I left this out), butter, sugar, egg, raisins, walnuts, buttermilk, and blackberry jam.  

      I made a half recipe in a 6" bundt pan and it fit perfectly.  The recipe goes together quickly and bakes for about 50 minutes for this size pan.  Somewhere between "butter the pan" and "dust with dried bread crumbs, spraying with oil" I lost focus, as in I forgot to do the parts after the "butter the pan," so my bundt cake stuck a bit and when I unmolded it, it completely fell apart...i.e. the top stuck to the pan and what you are seeing is the cake bottom side up, even that was a bit of crumbling mess.  Not the fault of the recipe...the fault of me not following greasing-the-pan directions. 

      Nevertheless, this cake was delicious.  The spices and the blackberry flavor really go well together, I wasn't sure when I set out to make this, but they do.  

      A few years ago my baking buddy Nancy made this recipe and sent me one of the little cakes featured in her post here.  I remembered how lovely that cake tasted, so I was happy to see it in this book and have a chance to make it myself.  Obviously Nancy greased her pans correctly. 

      One does not throw out cake just because it crumbles, so I made a sort of revised trifle with it:  cake + whipped cream + layers = trifle, right?  And that was delicious as well. 

      Here's Phyl's post, here's Margaret's post, here's Renee's post.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Bread Alone: Cinnamon Roll Popovers

      Last week the TWD BwJ group made Popovers and we were all pretty much asking ourselves why we didn't make these more often as they are easy, quick, delicious, and lend themselves to a variety of fillings and toppings. 

      Phyl put out a proposal for making a new Popover recipe this weekend.  Susan has been running Popover Project on her blog since the beginning of the year (please note that the list isn't complete, she's working on it, she has made far more recipes than she has currently linked, so hopefully she will update or you will have time to scroll through her blog entries and check out her other recipes for them).  I saw her first entry for Cinnamon Roll Popovers (click here for the recipe) and figured it would be a nice way to start, and a nice little treat for breakfast on Sunday morning.
      The popovers were delicious!  And, a big plus, they made the house smell divine with all that cinnamon-roll essence wafting throughout the house.  Keep in mind that a Popover is not a Cinnamon Roll, so if you are expecting that yeasty doughy goodness associated with a true cinnamon roll, you might be a bit disappointed.  If you are expecting a lighter version of a dough, with the true cinnamony taste and cream cheese icing aspects, you will enjoy these for what they are and the ease of preparation.  I know we did. 

      I think next we are going with a savory cheese Popover recipe...it's just so much fun to watch these pop up and over the tops of the pans, a little bit of kitchen magic.

Sunday's Snippets

 

Photo: A rather slow week around here for photos, so I thought I would post this one of Matt and Trish, friends for many years, at Kiernan's family's lake house this summer, it's just such a good photo of them both.

READING:  I am still reading this:  The Island at the Center of the World:  The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto.  Here's a link.  Because I don't know very much about Dutch history, and because a lot of this is full of extra information that I want to stop and explore more, this one is going to take me awhile.  I am having a very good time with it, however.  Shorto's writing is wonderful, the background of the documents used for this is interesting in itself.

SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swimmers busy with running and weights and full blown practice in the water starts this week.   

COOKING BYTES:   Really enjoyed this week of cooking/baking from my groups and managed to get something posted each day for them.  It's a good way to keep things interesting in meal planning...left to my own devices I would eat soup and salad every day.  

FAV NEW FIND:  Online banking, who knew it was this simple?  I am entering the 21st Century at an alarming rate.  That was a joke, of course, you are free to laugh heartily.

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Reading...I read a whole lot of history this past week.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  The week was rather a bust as I had what we are calling the flu, I guess, as it seems strange to have a flu in August, but it hung around for three days.  I read a lot and not much else as dizziness and nausea do not lend themselves to a great deal of productivity. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:  At the Eiteljorg...with lovely fall weather coming up, see the Outdoor Sculptures, click here for details.  At the ISO:  The Contours:  50 Years of Motown, click here for details.

Bread Alone: Cheddar Scallion Rolls

      This past Sunday I made these Cheddar Scallion Rolls with Abby and Margaret. (The recipe for these is available if you click here as it is a KAF recipe on their site.)

      This makes a lot of rolls, so I made a quarter of the recipe as I didn't need 48 rolls, little or not.  I made 8 rolls from the quarter recipe to have them just a little larger than the 2 ounce size stated so Mark could take them for sandwiches in his lunch, even then, they were pretty small and he ended up taking two of them for each lunch, which worked just fine.  The recipe worked well using a quarter measurement of everything and the dough was lovely and easy to work with. 

      The rise times on this were very slow...I think I had to double what was stated in the recipe.  Not a problem if you aren't standing by waiting, so just noted that on my recipe.  I used regular cheddar cheese, not the reduced fat, but other than that, followed the ingredients and directions as stated.
      The rolls turned out very good, Mark was happy to have them for his sandwiches this week, and we enjoyed one each with dinner Sunday, very nice. 

      I would make these again, I think that the next time I would use fewer scallions as the taste does overpower a bit, and maybe up the sharp cheddar a bit to give them a more cheesy distinction, although I could taste the cheese in mine just as they were.  (Note: it was suggested that one not use finely grated cheese as the taste totally disappears into the roll, so I grated mine very coarsely, you can see bits of cheese in the photo of the inside of the roll.)  Definitely a repeat. 

French Fridays with Dorie: Peach Melba

      The recipe for this week for French Fridays with Dorie from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, is Peach Melba, found on page 477-478.  The recipe is also Here as Dorie herself linked to it on her site.

      Ingredient list:  peaches, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla bean,Chambord (or Creme de Cassis or Creme de Framboise), lemon juice, raspberries, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and toasted almonds (optional, I didn't want to use these as quite frankly, I just didn't want this dessert to crunch). 

      This is more than just peaches tossed in a pretty glass with some ice cream, raspberries, and whipped cream.  (Although you could do that and be a happy camper as well.)  One has to poach, peel, and again poach the peaches, make a syrup for them to rest in, make a raspberry sauce, strain it, add a little of the peach syrup, cool everything down in the frig, and then assemble it. 

      I highly recommend going this route...the taste is truly wonderful, tossing peaches, raspberries, ice cream, and whipped cream in a pretty glass just can't compare.  At all. Time well spent.  Of course this cannot in good conscience be a daily or weekly thing, but during peach season, I think one can make a case for at least once, maybe twice.  Delicious. Definitely a treat for fresh peach season!

      If you would like to see more recipes from this book, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

CEiMB: BLT with Avocado Spread

      This week for CEiMB, I made BLT with Avocado Spread (on page 125) from Ellie Krieger's book, Comfort Food Fix. I will also apologize for this less-than-wonderful photo of it all, believe me, BLT sandwiches are not that easy to photograph, if you do better, send me your tips for trying to show the inside ingredients without the outside falling apart into a big mess, I will be eager to hear them.

      The ingredient list: avocado, lemon juice, salt, pepper, bacon, bread, romaine, and tomatoes. 

      This is just your basic Bacon Lettuce Tomato Sandwich with a slight twist:  the avocado spread used in place of mayonnaise.  Of course, Ellie also recommends using whole wheat bread (sorry, the day I made this we had just one Hearty Pepperidge Farm sandwich white loaf in the house) and just 2 slices of nitrate-free bacon for a healthier version. 

      It was a big plus a few years back to learn that avocados were "good" for you, that the fat in them was the "good" fat, etc. because this is an avocado-loving household.  Substituting the good-for-you avocado spread for the not-so-good-for-you mayonnaise seemed liked a fine idea. The spread is easy to make, just mix the avocado, lemon juice, salt, and pepper together and use it as a spread for your sandwich.  One avocado for 4 sandwiches. 

      I am pretty sure I am never going back to mayo on my BLT again...from this day forward: Ellie's Avocado Spread will be my weapon of choice.  It's that good.  Go make one: it's the perfect time of year for it, the tomatoes are glorious.

      To check out other Ellie recipes. click here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Spaghetti alla Checca (Spaghetti with Raw Tomatoes, Herbs, and Mozzarella)

      This week for the thirty-ninth recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book, I made Spaghetti alla Checca (Spaghetti with Raw Tomatoes, Herbs, and Mozzarella) on page 60. 

      The ingredient list:  fresh tomatoes, salt, spaghetti, olive oil, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, fresh oregano, fresh thyme, freshly ground black pepper.  Did you notice all that "fresh" noting in the recipe?  Well, that's why I saved this one for late summer when my tomatoes and herbs were at peak freshness and available for use...and it was well worth the wait as I wouldn't make this one any other way. 

      The only thing cooked is the pasta, the oil is heated, but everything else is put in as is, which makes this recipe incredibly fast and easy.  It makes a delightful lunch but it would also work well as a side for dinner, so I will make it that way again soon to serve with something grilled. 

      It tastes just like you think:  fresh, full of tomato/herb/cheese goodness, and I will be making this again several more times before the fresh tomato and herb season ends. 

     Margaret is busy with other things this week, so no post from her, but I'm sure she'll be back next week whipping up a recipe from this book in her kitchen.  I'm loving this book for the ease, creativity, and delicious recipes, have you picked up a copy yet? It's fun each week to just flip through it and pick out a simple recipe, there are many many pictures.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Tomato and Garlic Stew with Prawns

      My eighteenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was chosen by me and is Tomato and Garlic Stew with Prawns found in her cookbook Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry, p. 102, or you can click here for link to the recipe on the DH site. 

      This recipe was easy to assemble, I liked that it is something that you can easily have the ingredients on hand for (tomatoes, broth,, wine {or water if you don't want to use wine}, onions, and garlic in pantry, shrimp in freezer, etc.) and yet tastes fresh and lovely when you pull it all together. 

      The spicing on this is nice, if you like more spicing, jazz it up a bit, but for me this was a good combination with the shrimp, garlic, and onions (I used big cloves of garlic as after all, "garlic" was in the title so I felt entitled), and the parsley is a nice flavoring agent, so don't leave it out, it gives it just a little green kick that goes well with the tomatoes and shrimp. 

      I would definitely make this again, just the sort of thing I like for lunch on a cool day.  DH suggested serving it with crusty bread but I had these rolls on hand that I made earlier in the week, and let me just say, these were excellent with this stew. 

      Gaye's post on this is here, Margaret's post is here, and Chaya's post is here. Next week we are making Margaret's pick: Baked Carbonara, on p. 30 of Off the Shelf, if you would like to cook along, send us your link if you post it, we'd love to see and read about it.

TWD: Baking with Julia: Popovers

      The recipe for this week forTuesdays with Dorie:  Baking with Julia is Popovers on page 213 of Baking with Julia.  You can also find the recipe on the blogs of the hostesses for this week, Paula of Vintage Kitchen Notes here, or Amy of Bake with Amy, here. The recipe was contributed to the book by baker Marion Cunningham. 

     Popovers are so easy to make, why don't we make them more often?  A few ingredients tossed into the blender, poured into a pan, baked, and done!  They also lend themselves to lots of different add-ins.  I made them as stated, no add-ins so I could see how much I liked this particular recipe, and I did like it very much, making a half batch which fit into 4 wells of my popover pan perfectly.
      These are just such fun to make.  I served them with a little apricot jam because one cannot have near enough excuses to serve things with apricot jam in life.  Tasty and delicious, just what one is looking for in a recipe.

        Next assignment:  September 4 - Nectarine Upside-Down Chiffon Cake, pages 241-243.    The TWD: BwJ information for joining the group, recipe selection, and general information can be found here.

Modern Baker: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

      The 87th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Sour Cream Coffee Cake, on page 232.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.  It's a great book, full of recipes you will want to use over and over again.)

      The ingredient list:  brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, butter, eggs, and sour cream.

      Okay, I made a drizzle with a vanilla glaze because it looked lonely without something on the top to be friends with those nuts, cinnamon, and brown sugar, even though NM said it was fine the way it was and didn't need a single other thing.
      I made a half recipe in a 6" bundt pan and it fit perfectly.  The recipe goes together quickly and bakes for less than an hour (mine was done at 45 minutes and even then I wish I had checked on it 5-10 minutes sooner...that might be because of the half recipe rather than the full, note to self in book on that for when I make it again), and the best part is that the entire house smelled like a bakery while it was baking...lovely fragrance. 

      The flavors are warm and nice, cinnamon, sugar, butter, pecans, what's not to love about all of that? Definitely a something I will make again, it works for snacking, dessert, or breakfast. Here's a photo of it without it's dress-up icing, and it does look fine just as it is, doesn't it?

      Here's Phyl's post.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  I found a nice little book for this week:  The Island at the Center of the World:  The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto.  Here's a link.

SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swimmers start back up this week with weights and such, I think they have some of the week out of the water yet but they are gearing up for the coming season.  The new freshmen are loaded onto the roster and this year's swim meet schedule here for the men and here for the women, a couple of friends/fellow CSC swimmers of Matt's have joined the ranks so that will be a little extra fun for us to see some familiar faces from the past at the meets. IU hosts the Big Ten Men's Championships this year and also the NCAA Championships are at the Nat in Indy, so travel meets for us are few and we are looking forward to being close to home for most of the meets...well, not that Austin, TX one, but the others are fairly close. 

     Photo to the right is Nik, Matt, and Harrison (sitting)...the old CSC pals came to visit Matt in B-town this past weekend before they head back to BU and Princeton, each guy swimming for his college and everyone between seasons of swimming, so time for a little getting together for some fun before classes begin.

COOKING BYTES:   Felt good to be back home and cooking/baking in my own kitchen.  I'm always a little nervous eating out...I never know who has been touching my food and what they are doing to it.  Be warned, I have found the KAF bread/rolls recipe site and there's going to be a lot of new bread/rolls featured here...all with links to the recipe, what a deal!

FAV NEW FIND:  I have new running shoes. Blue and Gray. Very spiffy.  These are not the shoes I had in mind, but Mark was shopping and I had asked him to pick up a new pair of inexpensive White Walking Shoes just for me to wear around in the house.  White. Walking. Shoes. lol...he came home with electric blue and gray running shoes and proceeded to tell me how great these were going to be and how much I would love them and that all the kids at GCHS were going to think I was so cool with these shoes (like I would ever wear these shoes to GCHS...lol).  Anyway, turns out, I do love the shoes...and they are staying right here at home with me.

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Being home...I am a home body, no doubt about it...there is no place I would rather be in the evenings!
WEEK IN REVIEW:  We had a nice quiet week getting back into the swing of things around here.  The lawn grass was really high...Vash was a little nervous he would get lost in it, so that took a bit of catching up with mowing.  Mark and I watched a couple of movies...Unknown was his pick, and we both enjoyed it, Firelight was my pick, and I loved it, but since it is definitely a sort of period piece chick flick, Mark wasn't offering any high praises but he did not make any discouraging comments about it either (which earns him great marks in the husband department).  Matt, who is working very hard with college classes and swimming schedule, for some reason decided he wanted a job for some extra cash to spend however he wanted, so he got a job...I kid you not...he has a full load of classes, 5 hours of swimming a day, swim meets on weekends a couple times a month, mandatory study tables for athletes at IU, and he figures he can fit in 8 hours of being a bus boy at one of the sorority houses at IU...okay, probably figures it's a good way to meet some nice girls, as well!  One of the other swimmers has done this for the past few years and an opening came up and he told Matt about it, Matt applied, and today was his first day on the job.  He works Friday and Sunday night dinner service and Sunday brunch service.  No moss grows under that kid's feet, that's for sure. 

Vash on The Prairie, i.e. our overgrown backyard when we returned from vacation.

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Eiteljorg, Northwest Coast Art: Contemporary Expression and Traditional Influence, click here for details.  At the ISO:  Diamond Rio, click here for details.

Bread Alone: Ciabatta Rolls

      Several of my baking friends on Twitter gather every now and again to bake bread together.  One of us will have a recipe and others join in and while we bake we compare notes and in the end blog or show photos of our results.  There's sharing back and forth about how we might change the recipe or decrease or increase amounts or size, substitute different ingredients, etc., and all in all, it's a very informative process. 

      This recipe for Ciabatta Rolls was one Di selected (and if you click here you can find the King Arthur Flour recipe on their site).
      These rolls don't take long to make, although the timing in the recipe seems long as you take a couple of minutes to make a starter, let it sit for 15 hours, and then you make the dough the next day, so plan ahead. 

      I made it all by hand, not using the mixer or bread machine.  The dough was lovely to work with and the process was relaxing and enjoyable, making the little dimples in the bread is just a whole lot of fun as well.  I didn't get the rise on mine that I thought I wanted, but that turned out to be a good thing as the sandwiches were much easier to eat with a bun that did not rise to a greater height.  I hope it turns out that way again the next time I make them, which should be soon as the flavor was delicious, fresh, and yeasty with a nice medium chew to it...just what I like in a ciabatta roll, something that will stand up to sandwich ingredients and enhance them.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Here's Abby's post on the rolls.

French Fridays with Dorie: Cafe-Style Grated Carrot Salad

      The recipe for this week for French Fridays with Dorie (I am tentatively saying that I am hoping to be back cooking somewhat regularly with this group each week for the recipes that fit in here with us) from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, is Cafe-Style Grated Carrot Salad  found on page 107. 

      I had most of the ingredients out for making Dorie's Bill's Big Carrot Cake from her Baking From My Home to Yours book and remembered that I had seen this recipe on one of my many search and seek recipe jaunts through the book, so decided that the time was right for making it today.  

      Ingredient list:  carrots, Dijon, honey, cider vinegar, canola oil, salt, pepper, raisins, and walnuts. 

      This is a great tasting little salad.  While it had many of the same ingredients as the carrot cake, the carrot cake combines them in a totally sweet way while this salad had a nice sour/sweet tang going on with the combination of the raisins/honey and the Dijon/cider vinegar. 

      It all comes together very quickly and can be made and parked several hours before serving, always a good deal.  Definitely a repeat for this carrot-loving family.

      You can find the recipe for this posted here.  If you would like to see more recipes from this book, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

CEiMB: Apple and Spinach-Stuffed Pork Chops with Mustard Wine Sauce

      This week for CEiMB, I made Apple and Spinach-Stuffed Pork Chops with Mustard Wine Sauce (on page 157) from Ellie Krieger's book, Comfort Food Fix. 

     The ingredient list:  onion, apple, garlic, spinach, sauerkraut, pork chops, salt, pepper, flour, turmeric, caraway, Dijon, white wine, and chicken broth. 

     This was delicious, easy to prepare, full of flavor, and that sauce alone is worth the price of the book.  I have made the sauce to use on flank steak, chicken, fish, and the pork chops.  A win every single time.  This entire recipe is packed with flavor and excellent.  Definitely a repeat, I'm not a big pork chop lover, but Mark is, and I have to say, I really did like these very much. (This was a really large pork chop and served 2 people.)

     To check out other Ellie recipes. click here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Tagliolini i Brodo (Tagliolini in Broth)

      This week for the thirty-eighth recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book, I made Tagliolini i Brodo (Tagliolini in Broth) on page 38. 

      The ingredient list:  beef broth, tagliolini, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

      We returned home from vacation with a reduced pantry and groceries on hand but I wanted something for lunch that was just simple, quick, easy, and comforting that I could make with what I had on hand .  Soup.  I turned to my book looking for something that might fit my needs and found this recipe.  There are actually 9 soup recipes in this book, almost all of them requiring an onion.  For the first time in ever, I was out of onions. 

      I made the soup, curled up with it in a cup and read through the mail over lunch...perfect. It had a nice beefy taste from the broth and a nutty taste from the melted Parm, sort of a like a French Onion Soup wannabe. Simple, easy, satisfying, and I can check off one more recipe that I have made from the 100 in this book.  Here's what Margaret made from the book this week.

Wednesday with Donna Hay: Chilli Cashew Chicken Noodles

      My seventeenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay  was chosen by Gaye and is Chilli Cashew Chicken Noodles found in her cookbook Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry, p. 58, or you can click here for link to the recipe on the DH site. 

     This was so good...works for a nice little lunch or dinner, also am thinking this would be wonderful in my school lunch bag. 

      I used a medium thick Japanese noodle (you can see some of the noodles peeking out from underneath the chicken mixture in the photo), used salted cashews rather than unsalted ones, as that was all I had on hand, and skipped the cilantro because it tastes like soap to me, but other than that I made the recipe as stated. 

      The spicing is really nice, an oriental flavor with the nutty flavor of the cashews, and the heat of the chili peppers...all good, an excellent combination.  Feel-good food definitely.  Definitely a repeat.

      Gaye's post on this is here and Chaya's post is here and Margaret's post is here. Next week we are making my pick: Tomato and Garlic Stew with Prawns, click here for the recipe and to accompany it, the Parmesan Crispbread from the recipe found here.  If you would like to cook along, send us your link if you post it, no commitment necessary, we would love to have you join us.

Sunday's Snippets

 

View from the deck of the vacation beach cottage...lovely, quiet, relaxing, restful.

READING:  I loaded up my book bag for vacation and threw in books, magazines, pieces of things I printed off or hoarded away, etc., and it was full...I returned with the library books, all the rest I had read and disposed of in one way or another. Whew, that feels good to be caught up with the bits and pieces of things I had around.  I did not get to the 1493 book, so that is up next.

SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swimmers have a small break this week so they can get settled and prepared for classes, etc. for the upcoming year.  I think they are adding some mid-distance into Matt's lineup, along with his sprinter events, so that will be interesting as Matt has always been a sprinter...the swim joke being that Matt would need a lane counter for a 400.  If you aren't a swimmer, you won't understand this, just know that Matt's usual events for the past 13 years are 50, 100, 200 distances.  That said, this year they have worked on changing his physique a bit...he did weights for the first time this year, running, etc. and as you can see in the photo right...it has added a bit more in strength, kind of a goofy photo, but it shows you what I am talking about with changing his physique. 

COOKING BYTES:   Usually this refers to what's been cooking around here, and this past week it would be "not much" as we were on vacation and while I did rustle up some pancakes for breakfast and salads for lunch, we ate dinners out...lots of seafood, great shrimp, etc.  On every menu they had the seafood listed with "blackened, grilled, fried, broiled or boiled" as the choices...you can get seafood about any way you want it in the Gulf Shores area.  You can also get anything you want FRIED in the Gulf Shores area...I had no idea there was that much fried food available. Yikes. I'm not the biggest fan of fried food...the occasional french fry or fried chicken a few times a year about sums that up for me...but I did try these Fried Pickles (pictured below) as they were everywhere and pickles happen to be one of my favorite foods...so we shared these and I have to say, I could eat a few fried pickle chips throughout the year, better than french fries any day! 

FAV NEW FIND:  Well, it isn't what you think probably...as we were returning home from Gulf Shores,  and somewhere south of Louisville, Kentucky we got a call from Mark's brother saying that their mother was out of the hospital but feeling really ill and wanted her children to come home to visit with her...a bit of a scare since she is not one to request this ever.  So we hurried home and when we arrived she was feeling a bit better after a blood transfusion.  Whew.  Scary moments there for a bit.  Anyway, since all the siblings were home, I snapped a quick shot for the scrapbook...goofy smiles on each and every one of them.  So fav new find was that all was well and we had a chance to see all the sibs. 

Back row:  Al, Phil, Mark  Front row:  Nancy, Luke, and Brian.

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Mark, Matt and I went to Gulf Shores...10 days of vacation...and it was all wonderful.  We hadn't been on a family vacation of any sort together for the past 7 years...life got busy, most of our travel and vacation time is spent with following swim meets, so this was fantastic just going somewhere to relax and do nothing much and not be at any sort of swimming competition.  Not that we don't love going to swim meets, because we do...it's just nice that for once Matt didn't have to "work" and could just enjoy the time at the beach...doing what? Swimming, of course...lol. Photo at right:  Had to have the corny photo of Matt with the Big Fish at the Tacky Jack's.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  We vacationed at Gulf Shores, Alabama...had a lovely "beach cottage" right on the Gulf, the view from the cottage was wonderful (photos below), the beach was private so no crowds, Matt enjoyed swimming in the Gulf (within the first 5 minutes 5 Auburn 20 year old girls had "picked him up"...they were staying with one of the girls' parents down the beach a mile so he had a tour of the area from the girls who had all been coming there for years), there were movies, dinners, site-seeing adventures, beach walks, star-gazing with Night Skies ap, and Matt even worked a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle with me, despite it's "sewing" theme.  We read a lot...all of us were curling up with books all week...so nice to just have the time together.  That said, I am sure you are all saying...what is wrong with this picture? I'm not a beach person (although it was a killer view from the cottage day and night, I quickly tire of just seeing water everywhere, sand, and heat)...I was happy to come home, that was a perfect amount of time to be gone, another week and I would have been stir crazy ready to head north to my green lawns and trees, etc.  If truth be told, I always think of our home as a vacation destination...I love being in it and our yard/pool/etc. is very pretty and I never tire of it.  So, all in all, a great time because I was with my guys and we enjoyed just not having any commitments for that time, but I am happy to be back in the swing of things here.  I hope we can find a time in the swim schedule next year to do it again...different location, but just to have the time away together and relax  would be lovely.  I don't do beach relaxing well, because I like to go and do things like museums and such and time on a beach over 5 minutes bores me to tears (but I was more than happy to go there because my guys loved, loved, loved it), so maybe somewhere museumish with a beach...let's see...where would that be do you suppose? 
Each day Matt would be the first to head out to the beach and set up camp. 
Mark would walk Vash out to visit Matt...Vash didn't want anything to do with that water, however, Tibbies are not swimmers...but Vash did like the little beach friend he made and they would romp around having a good time...photo:  Mark, Matt, Vash, Vash's doggie friend, Owner of the doggie friend...this guy was very interesting as he had been coming to this area since after WWII and had build a house to live in year round two doors down from the one we were in, he said nothing was in Gulf Shores back then, just the beach and the water. 
Puzzles are a great thing to do with your family...just sitting down together for prolonged periods brings out a lot of fun and information you wouldn't necessarily hear about otherwise. The guys even let me pick out the puzzle. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the IMA, Musha (Warrior Prints) (Japanese), click here for details.  At the ISO:  Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles, click here for details.

 

Modern Baker: Raspberry Cream Cake

      First of all, I wish to apologize for this photo...I had photos of the outside and the inside and when my computer crashed a few weeks ago, it took the photos with it.  Sigh.  So all I could rescue was one photo from a birthday photo of it on my blog and cropping out the extra stuff didn't really help it all that much.  That said, at least you can sorta kinda maybe see what it looked like...the part to remember is that it tasted so wonderfully delicious...I wish I had a piece right now.

      The 86th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Raspberry Cream Cake, on page 244.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.  It's a great book, full of recipes you will want to use over and over again.)

      The ingredient list for the Classic Genoise Cake (on pages 240-241):  eggs, vanilla, salt, sugar, flour, and cornstarch.  The ingredients for the icing: raspberries, egg whites, sugar, butter, and raspberry liqueur. The ingredients for the moistening syrup:  water, sugar, and raspberry liqueur. The ingredients for filling and finishing:  raspberry preserves, almonds, and fresh raspberries. 

      As you can see from the ingredient list, this cake takes a bit of work in assembling it all but each step is very easy and not as time consuming as you would think.  I needed a special cake for my birthday this year, so this is the one I chose as I love raspberries. 

      I made half a recipe (just one 9" layer) as I figured it was all rich and decadent enough with just one layer, not the whole recipe with two layers.  I sliced the cake in half so that it had two layers in the end and I could fill it with the preserves. 

      The recipe is just wonderful, the raspberry combination sweet and perfumed with those fresh raspberries, and it is so pretty...it was delicious and the perfect birthday cake (might need to make this again next year).  

      Renee has this one posted already with wonderful process photos, check here.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

 

READING:  Loaded up my library card with a new stack of books for a final "I'm on Vacation Plan" as school starts back up soon enough and gone are the days of swimming and reading and calling it vacation time.  My favorite book in the lineup being a book by Charles C. Mann 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus and am eager to get going on that as Mark has the follow up book by the same author 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Discovered and I'm in line for it next so I don't want to miss my shot at it.   

SWIMMING NEWS:  This weekend was the last of the long course season meets for Matt here in Indy at the Nat with USA Senior State.   He did well, posted some new best times, and swam a new swim for him with a fairly decent showing, the 400 Freestyle, which puts him the beginning of a mid-distance swimming addition to his lineup.  IU swimmers are now training tor the U.S. Open Swimming Championships (in Indianapolis August 7-11) or having a small break before gearing up for college swimming (short course) which starts back up August 11.  Matt is on break for this week and next. Will train this week yet, but next week taking a vacation...his first since April 2011. Some photos from the swim meet today.  First up, one of the guys hanging out waiting for their swims:  Top row:  Matt and Ian watching the action; Middle Row: Ryan listening to music to psych up for his 1500 Freestyle and Mike just relaxing; Bottom Row: Murray texting and Daniel concentrating.

Go Ryan! Lots of team encouragement for Ryan in the 1500 race...and Ryan wins.  (Left to right: Stephanie, Sara, Matt, Guinevere, Murray, and Coach L)

100 Freestyle race...Peter (fellow CSC swimmer all those years), Matt, Daniel, and Hunter.  Mike is further down the line in Lane 7.  Ready to race.
And they are off and racing...Peter in Red, Matt in White, Daniel in Red, and Hunter in Black
The Finish...very very close...a 3-way touch out finish with Matt getting caught between strokes and finishing third...Mike finished fourth, the IU guys showing 100 Freestyle Power. (Hunter was IU as well this past year.)  A very fun race for them all, and a great way to finish the meet.
And what they were all looking at in the above photo: the scoreboard.

COOKING BYTES:   Okay, I actually posted some things. Not nearly enough to meet group requirements, but some things.  The hot weather probably has something to do with wanting to fire up the grill and not the ovens and stove.  Probably.

FAV NEW FIND:  Every so often there comes about A Thing that makes me wonder how I ever lived without it.  This would be One of Those Things.  A new app for my phone called Meet Mobile.  I am absolutely giddy even typing it.  It has USA swim meets listed, you click on it, has each and every swimmer entered in the meet, has their rank, the psyche sheet, the times they are seeded, the time and event they swim, the times they post for swimming their entry, the rank going into finals, all the finals information, the meet information, even has a map on how to get there.  Times/locations/results for all the sessions.  You can mark your favorite swimmer and it alerts you as to when that swimmer is swimming and when his/her next swim will occur.  And you can get this for every single swimmer in the meet. At a touch of a button. You don't need to bring pen paper pencil, etc. ever again.  You don't need to write down your swimmer's time as it is right there seconds after the swim, and it even lists the splits!!  And it is FREE!  I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon and this is it!  For a swim family, there is no greater gift...pure genius.

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Matt's swim meet, of course...swimming, it's what we do.  We just ended our 13th year...starting on the 14th now.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  A lot of swimming here at home because it has been dry and hot here and the pool is the best place to be in times like this.  Swim meet started Thursday so Matt came home to stay and motor between here and the meet venues in town and at the Nat.  It's great having Matt around as I have really missed him this year while he was at college, even though we got to see him a lot, it still isn't the same as having him live here and it all takes a bit of adjusting.  He will be around until August 11th so we are looking forward to having the time to just hang out and do fun summery vacation-like things before it's back to the team and college classes.

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the IMA, Printmakers in the Cafes in Paris (if you haven't seen it or want to see it again, go now as it leaves August 22), click here for details.  At the ISO:  40 Years of American Pie: An Evening with Don McClean, click here for details.

Modern Baker: Butterscotch Chocolate Chunk Cookies

      The 85th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Butterscotch Chocolate Chunk Cookies, on page 285.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.)

      The ingredient list for the cookies:  flour, baking soda, salt, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, and eggs. 

      These cookies were a big hit with the guys...actually, chocolate chip cookies are their all-time favorites and these were apparently a nice variation on that theme.  Yep, you guessed it, these are a definite repeat. 

      Check out what the others thought:  Phyl here, Margaret here, Abby here, and Renee here.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Honey Peanut Wafers

      The 84th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Honey Peanut Wafers, on page 280.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.)

      The ingredient list for the cookies:  flour, baking soda, butter, sugar, honey, egg, and honey-roasted peanuts. 

      These cookies went together quickly and baked quickly, so in very little time you have freshly baked cookies.  They have a nice flavor from the honey-roasted peanuts and the caramel-like taste to the cookie.  That said, they were not favorites...the texture was a little strange, sort of soft and chewy but not necessarily in a good way.  It could be my error somewhere along the line (although they looked exactly like the ones in the book) or it could just be that these are a sort of an acquired taste.  Probably not a repeat.  Okay, I'll be honest, not a repeat...but that doesn't mean you won't love them! 

      Check out what the others thought:  Phyl here, Margaret here, Abby here, and Renee here.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Viennese Raisin Coffee Cake

      The 83rd recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Viennese Raisin Coffee Cake, on page 231.  It looked like the perfect opportunity to use my fancy Gugelhupf pan as I always love a chance to use that. (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.)

      The ingredient list for the cake:  flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, eggs, and golden raisins (I used dried cranberries just because). 

      The mixing takes only a few minutes, the batter goes into the pan, bakes for 45 minutes, and after cooling in the pan 10 minutes, turning it out and cooling on the rack, you have one very wonderful cake.  I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on the top just to pretty it up, but it didn't need a single thing to taste wonderfully delicious.
       We really liked the dried cranberries in it, they gave a nice little tartness to the sweet cake and went wonderfully well with the lemon flavor.  Definitely a repeat, one of our favorites. 

      Phyl has some excellent process photos and observations on his post here and Sara made the official MB blog post here.  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Blueberry Crumb Cake

      The 82nd recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Blueberry Crumb Cake, on page 237.  It looked like the perfect treat to make with some wonderful blueberries I had on hand, and it was.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.  That said, you can also find the recipe at Nick Malgieri's blog here, thank you, Nick.)

      The ingredient list for the cake:  flour, sugar, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and blueberries.
      The mixing takes only a few minutes and it all comes together nicely. The only technique new to me was that the recipe had us mix the topping and the blueberries together before spreading it on the top of the cake, always before I put on fruit and then the crumb topping on top of that.  It worked fine this way and I actually rather liked it as sometimes a bite would have no blueberries and just topping and sometimes no topping and just blueberries and sometimes a combination of the two...so it was very interesting to eat it this way, a little like eating three separate cakes.  I would do it that way again actually. After I made the cake, I looked at the recipe on Nick's blog and he has the crumb topping going on after the blueberries, so either way works apparently, you get to choose for yourself.

      This is a great cake for breakfast or snacks. I made a half version in my 6" square pan and it was a perfect fit. Definitely a repeat. 

      Phyl has some excellent process photos and observations on his post here and Abby made the official MB blog post here,   If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Abby's book group was reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, she thought I would enjoy the history bits in it and mentioned it to me, so I read through that, excellent, and then started on another book, March, by the same author,  again, excellent, and now the group is reading The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka,  also excellent and I read that quickly in two days. (Click on book titles to see descriptions.)  Abby's book group is widening my reading horizons with novels.  

SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swimmers are busy training for various USA summer meets and quite frankly I have lost all track of who is swimming where when as they are all over the country and some out of the country swimming in meets.  Matt's roommate, Steve, did quite well at the Olympic Trials, as a freshman he finished 11th in the 400 IM, and Cody made the top heat of the 200 IM (finishing 7th overall), swimming with the top guns for a spot in the Olympics (only the top 2 in each swim go to the Olympics with the exception of freestyle relay positions, top 6). Cody managed to make additional national news with this little wardrobe malfunction, click here.  (From the insider's take on that little story, Cody needed a suit and James wasn't swimming in that event, so James did a quick deck change as well and handed over his suit for Cody to wear...of course the IU guys were all saying that it was James' new job at the meet to "cover Cody's a _ _, literally.") Nick is swimming in the Olympics for the Dominican Republic, Margaux is swimming in the Olympics for France, Dorina is swimming in the Olympics for Hungary, and Kate is swimming in the Olympics for the Ukraine, all having dual citizenship from their parents.  You can read about it here.  Lots of other swimmers did lots of other impressive swims, for further information check the News button here.
I love this photo of Matt's roommate, Steve (far right with the white cap) swimming at the Olympic Time Trials.  He did such a great job...11th as a freshman...wow, wow, wow. Congrats to Steve.

COOKING BYTES:   Well, well, well...it remains to be seen if I am going to keep posting to my food blogs as I keep thinking I will fire up but summer is busy and we are grilling and eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables so I'm not looking in the recipe books coming up with things new and different.  I am also cooking quite a bit from Pinterest as I'm using my boards there as recipe storage.  We shall see what transpires.  Hopefully my blog groups haven't given up on me completely.

FAV NEW FIND:  I'm finding that I am enjoying reading novels again after a long bout of not.  When the boys were growing up I found I had limited time for reading so my first choices were history books...still my first choices...but now that I have a bit more time for reading, I am adding novels back in again and enjoying reading new authors. Send me your recommendations!

FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  This week we celebrated some major milestone birthdays...Mark's dad turned 90 July 16th, Mark turns 60 on July 19th, and Matt will turn 20 the last day of the month.  Rolling over the "0"s this year.  Celebrating three great guys always a favorite thing.

MONTH IN REVIEW:  The summer has been speeding by with lots of swimming, a trip to Boston, Symphony on the Prairie is in full swing, lots of swimming here at the house, friends/family/fun. Here are a few photos to catch up...Clarice crashed and I had to get a new hard drive for her, so I am busy hunting to see which photos I have lost and which ones I haven't in that whole process.
Hightlight of Boston Trip for Mark was a trip to Fenway Park to watch the Boston Red Sox.
Matt and fellow IU swimmer Nick S, at Taste of Bloomington trying to decide on what to eat at the food festival...swimmers/food/choices, what's not to love on a summer night.
Alex and Matt at Fourth of July Symphony on the Prairie (no fireworks with the 1812 Overture this year due to dry conditions here in Indiana, but oh, well, music was great anyway).  17 years of tradition and they are still loving it.
Matt, Mark, Alex...badly in need of haircuts but enjoying a hot summer day nonetheless.
Matt loading up Clarice after the big crash.  It's good to have someone around who is happy to fix all computer related incidents.  I'm happy to cook for him, he's happy to computer for me, a great trade in my mind.

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the IMA, Snapshot:  Painters and Photography:  Bonnard to Vuillard, read about it here.  At the ISO:  The Best of Broadway, click here.

Modern Baker: Rum-Scented Marble Cake

      The 81st recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Rum-Scented Marble Cake, on page 228. 

      Yesterday some of the members from the Modern Baker group were tweeting and making a plan for baking something, this was my choice, Margaret agreed, and it turned out that Phyl was already in the process of gathering ingredients to make this recipe as well, so we had a spontaneous Twitterbake, always fun to bake the same thing together comparing notes along the way. This cake is definitely worth making...delicious and pretty.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us.  That said, you can also find Nick's recipe at Epicurious online here.)

      The ingredient list for the cake:  flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, butter, eggs, rum, milk, baking soda, bittersweet chocolate. and some fine dry breadcrumbs. 

      All the ingredients are ones you probably have on hand, so there isn't anything really new there. The mixing takes a few bowls by the time you make the batter, divide it, mix in the chocolate which you melted in another bowl, and then pour it all into the baking pan, but it's all a simple step-by-step procedure outlined nicely in the book.  The only technique new to me was coating the bundt pan with butter, fine dry bread crumbs, and then cooking spray...I had never done that before and it was interesting, could not detect the breadcrumbs in the final outcome and it did slide right out of the pan easily with no fuss.
      I made a half-size version in my 6 cup bundt pan, using half the ingredients.  One of my favorite things about making marbled anything is that you never know what it is going to look like on the inside until you slice into it and get a view.  Always seems like a bit of artwork going on in there to me, always fun to see.  We all made the same recipe, yet each of us has a totally different look to the inside...rather exciting to see what everyone gets for results that way.  (It doesn't take much to entertain me, obviously.)

      The cake is wonderful alone, you really don't need to frost or glaze it, as it is moist and flavorful as is, the rum gives just a little depth of flavor that makes it shine...definitely a repeat. This would be a great cake to take as a hostess gift or to a pitch-in. 

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I have always loved Jane Austen's books, love getting lost in them, reading them over and over, so I when I found the books by this author, I checked them out with a bit of skepticism for what they were...that said, I find that I am loving them, and have curled up several nights just getting lost in the Austen-esque world she creates.  Fun for a change of pace from my usual onslaught of history books.
SWIMMING NEWS: IU swimmers are busy training for various meets and running the swim camps that IU sponsors each summer. Matt is having a good time, enjoying teaching the young swimmers, and having a great summer of swimming, swimming, and more swimming.  Life is good. 
COOKING BYTES:  My re-commitment to getting my group blogging up to speed sort of fell by the wayside.  Oops...been busy doing other things. Maybe this week...
FAV NEW FIND:  I am growing some lettuce in pots on the deck this summer as a sort of trial...so far so good and I am hoping to have lettuce to eat by the end of the week...it is so pretty growing like that, love the extra greenery around the deck.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Getting to see Matt on Saturday, Mark and I went down and spent the day just hanging out and taking Matt some homemade food as cooking is not his thing...nor does he have a lot of time to learn with two swim practices a day and working at the swim camp between the two.
Matt, Ian, and Steve were gifted 500 Race tickets by Ian's parents and had a blast...Matt and Steve's first time there, Ian a regular.  Below, a photo of the Three Amigos at the 500:  Matt, Ian, and Steve.  Life is more than swimming.  I think.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Spent the first week of summer vacation just doing little bits of this and that, reading, swimming, and catching up with friends. I probably should get more serious about being more productive this coming week as the summer will fly by and it will be back to school in a flash.  I will say, it was a lovely week.  Mark's been busy painting a couple of bathrooms around here and fixing a few things that needed a little adjusting...trying to get things spiffed up and downsized this year in anticipation of moving next year, so the summer will be a little of this and a little of that.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the President Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site:  Indiana's Favorite Sons (until November), read about it here. At the ISO: Here is what's happening Friday night (a special concert not in the ticket lineup); and Here is what's happening Saturday night (Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue).

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I would really like to know the answer to this as I have about ten things going at once and bits and pieces of other things I keep delving into.  This is not good...by next week I promise to whittle it all down to my standard four books going at once and pick my favorite one to post. I think I need more focus in my life at the moment.

(Photo: Matt at Panther Quarterback's locker while touring facility in Charlotte, NC.)
SWIMMING NEWS: IU swimmers headed out to Charlotte, NC for the Ultra Swim Grand Prix last week Thursday through Sunday, Matt's flight came in on Monday morning, he was tired but happy as he had a wonderful time in Charlotte at the meet.  The IU swimmers were all hosted by various families volunteering for such in Charlotte and Matt was super-excited about his host family, who he just loved.  The father in the family is a marketing executive for the Charlotte Panthers football team and he arranged for Matt to see the facility and the locker rooms, etc. during session breaks.  The family was just wonderful to Matt, very supportive...they went to his swim sessions and cheered and filmed him, which was so very nice since we were not able to be there.  He had great meals, rides to and from the pool and airport, wonderful accommodations at their beautiful home, and just a whole lot of extra fun besides enjoying the swim meet.  Here are some photos from all of that.
(Photo:  Matt and his host family at the Charlotte Grand Prix meet, "Best Host Family Ever.")
(Photo:  Student and Teacher:  Matt and IU Swim Coach L.)
(Photo:  Indiana! Where did my little guy go...look at those shoulders...a lot of changes from swimming this year.) 
COOKING BYTES:  My goal is to get back on the path to proper posting (this is for my benefit primarily as it keeps me interested in trying new things each week and gives Mark more of a variety...left to my own devices, soup and salad always look like viable options for every meal).  Back to committed food planning and blogging this week...I hope.
FAV NEW FIND:  I now know how to use a flash drive.  Keep your laughter to yourself...I was only tentatively moving into the 20th Century when they somehow switched it to the 21st. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Getting Matt and his roommates (Ian and Steve) settled into their rental house at college was definitely my favorite thing this past week.  It was fun to be a part of all of that and see them so happy with their choice.  Swimmers and dorms are not a good combination.  Swimmers sleep 10 p.m.-5 a.m., most dorm residents do not follow such hours of quiet and sleep, so the goal for the new place for the next three years for the boys, from their viewpoint, was to rent a house rather than an apartment so there would be no people above, below, or beside them who might quite possibly like to play loud music and be active for a good many of those hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.  The house they found is close to campus and pool and is quite comfortable.  It comes with three bedrooms and three off-street parking spots for the three roommates.  It has two bathrooms, a lovely kitchen with a counter that accommodates bar stools (especially good as they see no need for a kitchen table to "clutter things up"), a most generous sized living room, and a nice little porch out front for bikes and lawn chairs. Since so many have asked about this, and requested photos...here are some from move-in day (since Ian and Steve are not quite as compulsive as Matt about their rooms and closets, I didn't shoot photos of their rooms at this time).  So here's a bit of where Matt will call home these next three years.
(Photo: Steve, Matt, and Ian in front of the new digs in Hooville...home for the next three years.)
(Photo: Front door enters into entry and living room off to right side. Ian, Matt, Steve on move-in day, i.e. you have a couch each, a tv, a bedroom/bed each, and you are moved in. Girls might be slightly different in this regard.)
(Photo:  Kitchen on move-in day, all cabinets loaded, miscellaneous junk sitting around but basically doing great on neatness and organization through the whole moving process.)
(Photo:  Matt's bedroom...yes, it will probably always look this neat.  And please don't sit or put anything on the bed, he's not fond of that, just so you know. I have no idea where he got all these compulsive tendencies.)
(Photo:  Matt's bathroom...and yes, it will probably always look this neat and orderly. Again, I have no idea where he got that tendency.)
(Photo:  Matt's Closet...and yes, it will probably always look this neat and organized.  And again, I have absolutely no idea where he got these compulsively neat tendencies.)
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Spent a good deal of time in Hooville getting the boys settled, Mark's firm also moved offices after 40 years of being in the same place, so that was a lot for Mark to get his office packed up for the movers.  His new office has a lovely view of trees and greenery, something other than just downtown buildings and rooftops, so he is looking forward to that...the all-cement view from his former office not being his favorite by a long shot.  Too bad it didn't look out over a golf course!
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   There is an art "sculpture" exhibit in Bloomington (ends in October) which honors the human brain called Brain Extravaganza.  Sounds a little strange, but is rather fun as there are 22 brains located all over town and on the IU campus which detail/showcase different aspects of the brain.  Each has a little pedestal of written information describing that particular brain's focus.  I've seen half a dozen so far, but hope to get to them all before October.  Here's a photo of Matt with Brain #21 a couple of blocks from his house.
You can read (and see photos) about Brain Extravaganza and the brains here.  Nothing at the ISO this week...come on...this is Indianapolis and it's Race Weekend coming up, nothing else is going to attract more than a handful of fans.  It's May, It's Indy, It's The Race.

Cooking The Books; Bread Alone; May Twitter Chef Avatar (Giada De Laurentiis)

      Am a bit behind in blogging here at The Table.  It's been a busy month. Di was hosting a blogging event today entitled Cooking The Books.  The assignment was to make anything we wanted out of one of our cookbooks and pass the love along.  Since my latest cookbook acquisition was the newest Giada one for my birthday, I decided I would pick a recipe to make from it...and make it count 3 for 1 as I could use it for my Twitter chef avatar this month and for a Bread Alone post.  What a deal.  Here is the link to Di's blog about the blogging event, it will also link you to others who participated and made recipes they love from some of their books. Enjoy! 

      We are also having a bit of avatar fun over at Twitter, my baking/cooking pals and I, just to shake things up a bit and confuse everyone each month as to who is who and all.  Nancy came up with the great idea of each of us picking a different chef for each month, all of us making anything we each selected to make from that chef's recipes, taking a photo of our efforts, and using that photo as our avatar for that month.  It has been a great way to learn new chefs and cook something in their repertoire.  May's avatar chef is Giada De Laurentiis, chosen by me...we love Giada's recipes and I have all of her cookbooks. 

      This recipe for Scallion and Mozzarella Cornbread can be found in Giada's newest book, Weeknights with Giada, on pages 198-199, or online here. 

      We make chili quite often here as everyone loves it.  It's the only time we serve cornbread and we enjoy trying different recipes for it, so I am always bookmarking cornbread recipes to try.  This is a very good one...the onions, olives, mozzarella, all make one very flavorful cornbread.  It's also very pretty, not as important to the guys, but it entertains me a great deal. 

      The recipe goes together nicely and I wouldn't change one thing, although I am going to try them as mini muffins next time as I think that would be a lovely use of this recipe...they would be so cute and pretty, and we all know by now I am all about the cute and pretty in food, right?  Admit it, so are you!  The rest of the recipe is great just as written.  Definitely a repeat.

TWD: Baking with Julia - Hungarian Shortbread

 

      The recipe for this week forTuesdays with Dorie:  Baking with Julia is Hungarian Shortbread on page 327 of Baking with Julia.  You can also find the recipe on the blogs of the hostesses for this week, Lynette of 1Small Kitchen here, or Cher of The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler here. The recipe was contributed to the book by baker Gale Gand. 

      Cookies are a popular item here with the guys.  I can pretty much bet that if I make cookies, they will be eaten without any sort of encouragement or enticement at all.  I'm wondering if it even has to be a really good cookie, or if even a mediocre cookie would still be an attraction.  Can't say that I know for sure, but I do know that cookies disappear quickly around here, by the handfuls, it's their favorite baked good. 

      I've made shortbread cookies before, and those go over quite well.  I have never made a shortbread cookie that was filled with a jam before, so that was a new technique for me this week.  The book suggested rhubarb filling but I figured I would sub that out as rhubarb is really only loved by me...the guys...not so much.  After surveying the choices available in my pantry, I decided on blueberry preserves as blueberry anything is extremely popular.

      So, all in all, I'm not sure if it's the cookie, the jam, or this recipe, but these were a big hit...a nice sweet crunchy little cookie packed with lots of flavor.  The recipe is easy (although the freezing the dough and grating it into the pan instead of lightly pressing it seemed a bit strange, it was fun to learn something new), could be a repeat around here quite often, changing up the jams used for the filling.  

      I made a half a batch of these in an 8"x8" baking pan as I figured as sweet as they were bound to be, and as buttery as they were bound to be, little ones would probably suffice.  I was right...a little of this goes a long way and satisfies very nicely. It did take mine an additional 15 minutes to bake, I didn't even start smelling the "almost done" aroma until after the specified time, so you might want to take that into account, although everyone's oven bakes differently, so your call on that one.  

        Next assignment:  May 15 - Pecan Sticky Buns, page 190.    The   TWD: BwJ information for joining the group, recipe selection, and general information can be found here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Still reading this as it is very long and I don't want to skim over any of it in a hurry.  I keep having to stop to look up locations of battles, and then get distracted by other accounts of same battles, etc.  -- Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swimmers in training for the Charlotte Grand Prix May 10-14th, their next stop on the competition circuit.  Not sure what Matt is swimming in that, possibility that they are adding more distance events to his freestyle lineup and resurrecting some of his backstroke events. 
COOKING BYTES:  Have I mentioned how much I love the return of grilling season?  I happen to be married to a man who is absolutely useless in the kitchen but absolutely a genius at the outdoor grill.  Very nice. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Matt finished his last final today, so we can now say that we have a sophomore at IU...where did that year go???
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Watching the IU swimmers compete this past weekend. Over the year I have come to know the swimmers, identify each one on sight, and even know some of them in the water by their swim styles/strokes...it feels like home again after watching the CSC swimmers all those years and knowing them all so well in and out of the water.   I didn't take a single photo all weekend...left all electronics at home to just unplug for a bit.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Working every day last week made the week fly by, being gone all weekend for the swim meet made the weekend fly by...I can't remember a week that passed so quickly...but fun, all of it.  Weather has been so great...all the greenery and the flowers just make my heart sing every day.  Pacers Playoff game tonight...Mark and Matt headed there.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site (House): Victorian Theatre By Candlelight's last weekend of Amusing Ambiguities.  Click here, still a few tickets left.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Berlioz Requiem, click here for information.

CEiMB: Honey-Crisp Oven-Fried Chicken

      This week for CEiMB, I made Honey-Crisp Oven-Fried Chicken (on page 171) from Ellie Krieger's book, Comfort Food Fix.  (You can also find the recipe online here.) 

      The ingredient list:  chicken thighs, buttermilk, Cornflakes cereal, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and honey. 

      There are those who, every once in awhile, need to have a fix of some kind of fried chicken.  Attribute it to my childhood if you will, but about once every other month or so, I go in search of fried chicken.  I do not fry chicken at home as I cannot stand the mess and the hassle and I wouldn't do it often enough to get to be reliably good at making it.  I think it is the crunch factor as the chicken is chicken, so it must be that crunchy outside that is so appealing. 

      This recipe requires no frying.  So it isn't truly fried chicken, but there is that crunch factor that makes this a great substitute.  It's not messy, it's not a hassle, and it's easy and quick.  We really liked the chicken made this way...it was moist, crunchy, crispy, and looked beautiful on the plate...all of that and great tasting.  The spice combination in the coating is spicy with a kick of heat, very nice.  Definitely a repeat.
      To check out other Ellie recipes, click here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Spaghetti alle Olive (Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Olives)

      This week for the thirty-seventh recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book I made Spaghetti alle Olive (Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Olives) on page 67.

      The ingredient list:  fresh tomatoes, garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt, Kalamata olives, and spaghetti. 

      I needed a quick side dish to go with a chicken recipe and had on hand fresh tomatoes and Kalamata olives, so this became the side dish in short order as it takes very little time to make. 

      The recipes in this book often call for fresh tomatoes that are peeled...the quickest way I know to do this is to set a pan of water on the stove, bring to a boil, drop in the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes, and then place them immediately into a bowl of cold water.  The skin just slides off in a couple of large pieces and you are good to go (it's how I peel peaches, too).  I often do this in the boiling pasta water, depending on how long the recipe wants you to cook down the tomatoes for the sauce.  This time it was perfect timing. 

      This was not Mark's favorite for some reason, maybe because he is not that big a fan of Kalamata olives "in" things...he likes to eat them plain but doesn't care for them "in" things...rather like the nut issue around here.  I thought it was delightful and I would make it again in small size for myself another time.  Here's Margaret's post from the book this week.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Hummingbird Slice

      My sixteenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Hummingbird Slice (Click on the recipe for link to it), chosen by Gaye.

      I made just a small size of this recipe, half of it fit nicely into a 6"x6" square baking pan, not because I didn't think we would eat it all, but because I figured we did not to be eating it all...we had some birthday cake and some of last week's TWD BwJ Lemon Loaf hanging around yet.
     The cake goes together quickly and easily once you have all the ingredients measured out.  It bakes nicely (my little pan baked for 22 minutes and the cake was done). 

     The flavors are very similar to carrot cake here in the States, except there is banana in this and no raisins.  It is not frosted like the traditional carrot cake here, with cream cheese frosting, but rather honey is drizzled over the top when serving.  The honey was nice, but I think the cake can stand on its own without additional sweetening as it is plenty sweet as it is.  (Donna Hay is Australian so her recipes reflect her nationality and the food there, which is all rather fun to have a slightly different take on things at times.)

      Mark loves carrot cake so it is no surprise that this was a big hit for him and he has been taking it in his lunch and eating a little at night.  I thought it was delicious as well.  (Originally I was going to give the whole of it away but Mark thought he would like to keep it and perhaps I could make something else to give away, obviously this was a hit.) 

      Gaye's post on this is here and Margaret's post is here at some point today (I know she made it because we baked it together Monday).

      Next week the little group is going into hiatus for the summer and will be back in August, as I understand it.  That said, I am going to continue to make DH recipes and post as I don't want to lose the great fresh produce of summer and I am love, love, loving her recipes for their ease, simplicity, and nutritional value...hopefully I will get one posted each week. 

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Still reading this as it is very long and I don't want to skim over any of it in a hurry.  I keep having to stop to look up locations of battles, and then get distracted by other accounts of same battles, etc.  -- Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  Swim meet coming up this weekend in B-Town at IU, so we are eager to go down and watch the swimmers compete on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  
COOKING BYTES:  Received GdL's newest cookbook, Weeknights with Giada, as a gift for my birthday and it is filled with lots of interesting and delicious looking quick and easy weeknight meals. 
FAV NEW FIND:  They called to say they were opening the pool tomorrow...what's not to find favorite in that??!!  (Yes, I know that these Sunday's Snippets are actually posted pretty much whenever I get around to it and not necessarily on Sunday...will try to do better in the future.  Try.)
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  So much fun to see all the GCHS students preparing for prom last week...girls sharing photos of their dresses, shoes, jewelry, hairstyles, etc., and guys chatting about things they don't normally chat about, i.e. corsages and tuxes and colors of shirts/ties/hankies, etc.  Just fun to see them all growing up and becoming who they will become someday.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Same old schedule of work and play, but with my birthday thrown in there on Saturday, so some extra fun with family and friends to celebrate that, which was very nice indeed.  Matt even came home to spend some time celebrating, bringing a little bundle of flowers and a lovely card with him.  Not every college boy would come home for his mother's birthday...I am very lucky, it made the day that much more special to me.  I made the cake in the photo...will be blogged when we get to the proper timing on the NM group, but let me just say that it was one very delicious Raspberry Cream Cake, a fine way to celebrate a birthday.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Indiana Historical Society:  If you haven't seen this link and checked it out, give it a go...it's just wonderful:  Digital Images Collection of the Indiana Historical Society, click here and explore from the comfort of your own home!  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Andre Watts plays Grieg, click here for information.

Bread Alone: Cook's Country Pepperoni Rolls

      Several of my baking friends on Twitter gather often to bake bread together.  One of us will have a recipe, then others join in, and while we bake we compare notes.  In the end we blog it all or show photos of our results.  There's sharing back and forth about how we might change the recipe or decrease or increase amounts or size, substitute different ingredients, etc., and all in all, it's a very informative process. 

      This was Abby's recipe (and if you click here you can find the recipe on her blog).  She had come across the recipe and thought it sounded like something her family would enjoy and Margaret (click on her name for her versions) and I jumped in and made them with her...on different days as it turned out, but we three made the same recipe and chatted back and forth through the process.
      I was expecting these to be nice, but I wasn't expecting them to be quite as good as they were (and I am not the biggest fan of pepperoni).  They don't take long to make (like all breads, most of the time is in the rising of the dough which you don't need to supervise), they go together easily, bake nicely, and are delicious. 

      While I served some of them with the tomato/mozzarella dip from my DH Wednesdays group, and that complimented the pepperoni rolls ever so nicely, we also had them just plain and they were wonderful that way as well. 

      Included in the recipe are instructions for freezing and reheating them, which Abby did.  I didn't have the chance as I only made a partial batch and those were gone in no time. Next time I will make some of the pepperoni (and maybe add some cheese in there as well), and then some with ham and cheese as those sound good. 

      These are easy to pack into a lunch and the quality of the dough is excellent, a joy to work with beginning to end.  They remind me of Hot Pockets...but so much more elevated and better with that homemade dough and fresh ingredients. 

      In the recipe it gives interesting instructions for assembling the pepperoni inside the dough...enough already, it's dough, it pepperoni, just stuff it in there however you want by lining up the pepperonis and folding the dough over them.  I did cook the pepperoni for 3 minutes before as they suggested and that got rid of all that pepperoni fat that would have made the rolls soggy and greasy, so do that part for certain.  And, use thick pepperoni, not those thin pizza slices...below is a photo of how mine looked before rolling the dough around them.
       Definitely a repeat. 

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Lemon and Dill Smoked Salmon Pasta

      My fifteenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Lemon and Dill Smoked Salmon Pasta (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      I am going to be truthful here, this is Mark's plate as I am not a big fan of smoked salmon (very salty), so I just made it for him as he does like it (salt is one of his favorite food groups, witness his love affair with anything potato chip).

      The recipe is easy and goes together quickly, the longest part being the time it takes to boil the pasta. He enjoyed it very much. This serving (supposedly for one) was enough for dinner with some left to take for lunch tomorrow. 

      Gaye's post on this is here and Chaya's (this recipe was her choice for us this week) post on this is here. 

      Next week, April 25th, is Gaye's selection for dessert:  Hummingbird Slice, click here for the recipe if you would like to join us.

TWD: Baking with Julia - Lemon Loaf Cake

 

      The recipe for this week forTuesdays with Dorie:  Baking with Julia is Lemon Loaf Cake on page 252 of the book Baking with Julia.  You can also find the recipe on the blogs of the hostesses for this week, Truc of Treats  here, or Michelle of The Beauty of Life  here.  The recipe was contributed to the series/book by baker Norman Love. 

      Where have I been you ask.  I'm not making every recipe with the group as we have reduced need for baked goods with the boys out of the house now, i.e. The Swimmer, with his well-documented swimmer appetite, is off at college. It is also true that I belong to several groups that bake, so I have decided that I am baking only the things which truly appeal to me in flavor, technique, interest, and sometimes ability to give away easily. 

      I skipped the Chocolate Tarts as, come on, you previous TWD people all know me by now...it's chocolate, reason enough.  I skipped the Irish Soda Bread as I have my Granny's recipe (whose maiden name was O'Brien) and am not interested in making another because I make Irish Soda Bread solely to remind me of her, so what's the point of having another recipe around?  I skipped the Pizza Rustica because I have been baking in two groups with Nick Malgieri's recipes and have made a very similar version of his of this already. 

      Now when comes to LEMON Loaf Cake...and as my previous TWD friends know, I am all about the LEMON in anything all the time.  I was not disappointed...this is an excellent recipe, nice and lemony as I zested very large lemons to make sure it was as lemony as the recipe allowed. 

      The cake goes together easily and quickly, bakes for 55 minutes in my oven, and cools before slicing.  Okay, okay, technically cools before slicing...I might have sliced one slice before it cooled because a small piece of warm Lemon Loaf Cake just sounded too good to turn down this afternoon.
      Definitely a keeper of a recipe.  Oohh...and be sure to check out Truc's (link above) as she frosted hers and topped it with more lemons!!  If I had only known!

        Next assignment:  May 8 - Hungarian Shortbread, page 327.    The   TWD: BwJ information for joining the group, recipe selection, and general information can be found here.

Modern Baker: Raspberry Linzer Disks

      The 80th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Raspberry Linzer Disks, on page 309.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      The ingredient list for the cookies and filling:  butter, sugar, almonds, flour, cinnamon, cloves, raspberry preserves, and confectioner's sugar.

      The recipe goes together easily but needs to rest in the refrigerator for a bit before rolling and cutting out the shapes, so plan time for that part.  Once the dough has chilled, it is wonderful to work with as it rolls out nicely without tearing or breaking. 

      I have a Linzer cookie cutter set so I used that for these cookies, mine is 2" in size, which I think is perfect, the one the recipe calls for is a 3" cutter, so I got quite a few more cookies. 

      The cookies bake quickly, and it is very easy to spread on the raspberry preserves once they have cooled. The cutout tops are sprinkled with confectioner's sugar and placed on the top of the bottom cookie.  A little more raspberry preserve is dropped into the center to make it seem fuller...I have made Linzer cookies before but never thought to add a little dollop more of the preserves to fill up the center, so love that little tip. 

      The flavor of these cookies is by far the best of any other Linzer cookie recipe that I have tried.  Although these types of cookies are a little fussy in the process, since you have to make a top and a bottom and one part is cut out and then fill it and sprinkle on the powdered sugar, etc., they are so pretty when finished.  I thought the tulip cutout would be nice for spring. 

      Enjoyed by all.  Definitely a repeat. (Oh, and pardon the photo...these are harder to photograph than I thought...I used up all my "fuss about things" patience making the cookies so the photo just is what it is.)  If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits.  I know, I know, you aren't going to probably read it, but trust me, it is worthy. I was able to get the movie called The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford, that was based on the book I was reading last week about Mary Surratt and the assassination of Lincoln...the movie was good but did not follow the book very closely...told from the point of view of someone who was not featured greatly in the book.  The book is much better and truer to fact.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Plane tickets are purchased and swimmers are gearing up for another swim meet in the Grand Prix series with the Olympians, this time in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Matt swam in this meet last year as well, with his high school team, so now he will enter the meet with his college team.  A nice progression.  Until then, I believe they are just working very hard and training long course after all those months (August to March) of short course swimming. 
COOKING BYTES:  Caught up with my Wednesday with Donna Hay group this week...if you have not made any of her recipes, you are truly missing out.  Fresh ingredients, lower in fat and calories for the most part, no fake ingredients, simple, easy, and most of all, delicious.  Check out her website here and make something!  Don't be put off by the metric measurements as you can google: "how many ounces is 200 grams" and have it in a flash.  After doing it over and over you don't even need to google it sooner than you think.
FAV NEW FIND:  Mark cleaned out the mechanical room...I was always afraid to go in there as it was filled with guy stuff and there didn't seem to be any particular order to it, and it all looked scary and unidentifiable most of the time.  Voila...no more...all the old scout projects, home school projects, bits and pieces of project projects (or whatever) have all been hauled out of there and a trip made to the chemical wasteland place made.  Whew.   A favorite new thing around here indeed.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  A dear friend made something very special for me that she knew I would absolutely love and it arrived on my doorstep in a big box of most interesting proportions as she said she was sending me a little something.  It was definitely my favorite thing this past week.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  A busy work week, some fun time this weekend, some working around the house this weekend, time with friends, a nice phone call from Alex who has a new job, and I leave you with a photo of Steve, Kiernan, and Matt at Xavier as Matt and Steve took a drive over to Cincinnati to visit Kiernan this weekend, to see the campus and where Kiernan hangs out these days, etc.  A fine time was had by all. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Indianapolis Children's Museum:  I was talking to someone this week who had no idea that we have a permanent exhibit of the glasswork of Dale Chihuly called Fireworks of Glass, click here for information and go check it out if you haven't...it's all lovely.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Vive la France! click here

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Soft Poached Eggs with Sweet Potato Hash Browns

      My fourteenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Soft Poached Eggs with Sweet Potato Hash Browns (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      I wasn't going to make this recipe as we are not fond of runny eggs.  At all. Ever.  I figured if I wasn't going to make the recipe true to the way she wrote it that maybe I just wouldn't make it as it wouldn't be her recipe if I changed it.  I also was a little skeptical about sweet potatoes going with all of this in hash brown form.  I thought about it long and hard and I told Margaret (it was her pick) and Gaye that I was going to skip it. 

      Then I woke up one morning and decided that it sounded good, if I didn't have to have the runny egg part.  So I lightly fried the egg just past runny and made the rest of it exactly as she wrote it. 

      Those sweet potato hash browns are really good, and they work very nicely with the asparagus and egg.  The sauce on top has horseradish in it so it has a nice little kick that is perfect with the whole thing. A skeptic no more.  I would definitely make this one again for brunch, it was delicious.

      Gaye's post on this is here and Margaret's post is here.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Red Wine Osso Buco

      My thirteenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Red Wine Osso Buco (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      I have never made or eaten Osso Buco before so I was a little intimidated by this recipe.  For starters, I didn't even know how to buy veal or beef shin (shank) as I had never cooked with it before.  Turns out they are readily available in the butcher's meat case, I just didn't really take notice of them before.  Not to worry as this recipe is extremely friendly and turns out perfectly just as written. 

      It's all fairly easy, goes together quickly, simmers on the stovetop for a long bit, and makes guys really happy with the end result.  You see this plate of food?  That was Mark's plate and he ate it in its entirety (well, not the large sized bone and trimmings, of course) as he really liked the taste of the meat cooked this way.  I served it with mashed potatoes and carrots as those are his favorites with a meal like this, they were good choices.  I ate a third of the piece of meat and it was filling enough, the flavor is meaty and has a depth of flavor from the ingredients (beef simmered in wine and beef broth, how bad can that be, right?). 

      Definitely a repeat, especially now that I know how easy it is to buy this kind of meat and how nicely the recipe goes together. 

      Gaye's post on this is here and Margaret's post is here.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Roasted Capsicum (Red Pepper) and Chicken Bruschetta

      My twelfth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Roasted Capsicum and Chicken Bruschetta (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      I love little meals on bruschetta. This is a great recipe as you have most all of your food groups in one nice neat little packet served on it's own little edible plate.  And, of course, it all tastes wonderfully delicious, sourdough bread, chicken, tomato, red peppers, basil...all good together with a light homemade drizzle of oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

      It's always nice to have a recipe that you can serve cold, hot, or room temperature so this one covers all that.  I haven't quite yet figured out how to eat it neatly as it doesn't do very well with a fork and knife (sourdough is a little stretchy to cut through at times)...so this might need to be something I just make for lunch at home and not cart about with me for school lunches, etc.  That said, this will be on the lunch menu around here, and the change-outs are endless for a recipe like this...definitely a repeat. 

      Gaye's post on this is here.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Baked Mozzarella and Tomato Dip

      My eleventh recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Baked Mozzarella and Tomato Dip (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      This recipe could not be easier, and surprisingly, it has a nice depth of flavor and is a great little dip to serve, just some crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic, and spices, and you are good to go.  She recommended serving it with Lebanese Crisps. 

       It's delicious and healthy, beats those mayo/sour cream dips when you are looking for a healthy alternative. I liked the spicing in this recipe a lot. I also served it as a dip with some Italian Pepperoni Rolls that I made today and it was wonderful for those (post on the bread coming Saturday). 

      Gaye's post on this is here, Margaret's post is here, and Chaya's post is here.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Beef Burgers

      My tenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Beef Burgers (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      This recipe was interesting...the burger mix reminded me a lot of one of the meatloaf recipes I use, so it was a little more substantial than a plain meat burger.  It also was supposed to be topped with beets but I figured if I even came remotely near this thing with a beet (not a favorite or even close with the guys), that I alone would be eating it, so I left the beets off. 

      Maybe someday I will put a piece of beet on mine just to try it out as it does sound interesting and Gaye liked it very much, but for this time, I just left the whole thing off.  It had plenty on it as it was...lettuce, tomato, onion...this was a huge burger when it was all piled up.  Since Gaye had made hers before I did and noted this, I smashed my patty down a bit when I was forming it so it wouldn't be quite so high and that did help reduce the height.

      This was a really good burger and I would make it again sometime...probably going to retitle it "Meatloaf Burger" as that is definitely what it reminds me of...a good thing indeed, rather like a meatloaf sandwich in burger form.  Big hit with the guys.

      Gaye's post on this is here, and Margaret's post is here.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Bacon and Roasted Tomato Omelette

      My ninth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Bacon and Roasted Tomato Omelette (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      Love, love, loved this recipe.  It's very simple, no fancy ingredients, and takes hardly any time at all...roasting the tomatoes being the thing that took the longest, which was the time I used for assembling the ingredients, plate, etc. for the rest of it. 

      I not only would make this again, I have made it a couple of times since the original time.  I have also used the roasted tomatoes to top a spinach salad and that was wonderful as well.  The tomatoes are roasted with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and black pepper.  Oh, my goodness this is a wonderful combination. Definitely a recipe that is going to see more than occasional action around here.

      Gaye's post on this is here.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Blue Cheese and Caramelised Onion Brioche

      My eighth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Blue Cheese and Caramelised Onion Brioche (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      This recipe caught my attention as it had some old favorites, i.e. apples, onions, and blue cheese.  It seemed a little too substantial for just a snack, so I made it for lunch as I knew Mark would enjoy the flavor combination as well.  Big hit. 

      The recipe comes together quickly once you have the onions caramelized, and the flavors all come through individually, which I love.  The Granny Smith apple is the way to go as it has a strong and assertive apple taste which works well with the onions and the strong cheese, a less assertive apple would have been lost.  I would definitely make this again for an easy, quick, and flavorful lunch.  In fact, maybe tomorrow.

      Gaye's post on this is here.

Modern Baker: Blackberry Jam Sandwiches with Lemon Icing (Cookies)

      The 79th recipe I made from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Blackberry Jam Sandwiches, on page 306.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).     

      The ingredient list for the cookies and icing:  butter, sugar, vanilla, lemon extract, egg yolks, flour, blackberry preserves, confectioners' sugar, and lemon juice. 

      The recipe goes together easily but needs to rest in the refrigerator for a bit before rolling and cutting out the shapes, so plan time for that part.  Once the dough has chilled, it is wonderful to work with as it rolls out nicely without tearing or breaking.  The cookies bake quickly, and it is very easy to fill them with the blackberry preserves once they have cooled.
      I'm not the best drizzler of icing (okay...okay...I am the worst drizzler ever with icing), so you will do much better with this, but I did try and make it look like the photo in the book...with only a moderate amount of success so you can at least get the general idea. 

      They turned out pretty and delicious...the combination of lemon and blackberry is delightful.  I would make these again...it's not really an "everyday" cookie around here, but would be something special and lovely for a cookie tray.  The only thing I would change is that these were made with a 3" cookie cutter as suggested in the book and they are a larger type cookie...I would use a 2" cookie cutter (oh, and wouldn't little 1" cookies be so cute!) the next time as they are very sweet and one small one would satisfy one's sweet tooth just as nicely.  Enjoyed by all.  Definitely a repeat. 

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting, with the blogroll here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Kate Clifford Larson's The Assassin's Accomplice:  Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln.  It's April...April is my favorite time to read Civil War Era history and this was a good read...I knew the basics, of course, but this takes it all just a little further so nice to have a wider view of all that now.  There is a movie called The Conspirator, directed by Robert Redford, for those of you who favor the movie version over the print...I haven't seen it, but have it on reserve at the library, so perhaps soon.
SWIMMING NEWS:  Several members of the Indiana University Women's Swimming and Diving Team participated in the Grand Prix swim meet here in Indy the week before last.  Matt swam in his first scheduled event, took ill (had a 101 degree fever) and had to pull from the meet as you can't swim with a fever or for 24 hours there after...still had the fever the next day.  So much for that meet...and I didn't get many photos, but I thought you might enjoy seeing MP's little "camp" at swim meets.  As famous as he is, you do expect there to be little things here and there...this is one of those little things.  At the meet at the Nat, he has all his things set up on one of the diving boards not in use, with a guard to make sure that no one messes with anything or approaches him unnecessarily, etc.  I like the little bed...I guess this is the equivalent of those movie star trailers on film sets.
Photo:  Ian, Matt, Daniel at the Grand Prix swim meet in Indy, discussing and watching swimmers.
Photo:  Daniel and Matt shake hands before the 100 Freestyle.  After the swim, it was evident that Matt was ill, so that was the first and last swim of the meet for him.
Photo:  MP's camp at the meet behind the privacy curtains/warm-up pool.  MP is by the clock in the white top, blue swim trunks, his guard is in the red, and another in the blue...all on the private diving board set-up. Such great fun watching MP and the rest of the Olympians at the meet swimming. 
COOKING BYTES:  With Matt and his swimmer appetite at college, the amount of food things needing to be made/baked/eaten around here has lessened considerably, so my blogging for my blog-alongs is going to reflect that schedule...will make/blog when it fits in around here, so please check with the main groups to see the posts in between my selections. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Spring is here to stay...it has been so beautiful these past couple of months...winter is definitely not coming back...I was a little skeptical but I now I have moved my indoor herbs back outside onto the deck, reflecting my confidence in this weather.  Oh, happy days.
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Matt was home for Easter weekend...love having swimmers around lounging about and chatting about college.
Photo:  Big guys still like to dye the Easter eggs...Steve, Matt, and even Mark.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  A very quiet week in the city here as CHS was on spring break so it was like a ghost town, no lines for anything anywhere.  Easter was good for all of us with family, friends, time together. 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Eiteljorg:  Steel Ponies exhibit, click here for information.  I wasn't thinking that I was originally interested in seeing this exhibit...I mean, motorcycles?  However, there has been some press about it and I am intrigued. This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Pink Martini & The ISO, click here.

BBA: Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche

      TA DAH!!!!  The forty-fifth (and FINAL) Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) is Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche, and is found on pages 281-283. 

      I made a half recipe of this bread, making 1 very large round-shaped loaf.  The final bread was huge, measuring 12" across. 

      The ingredients:  bread flour, barm, olive oil, water, onions, salt, yeast, chives, scallions, and Asiago cheese.

      This is a three-day dough, providing that you have the barm made ahead of time:  one day for the sponge, one day for mixing and shaping, one day for proofing and baking.   Margaret and I finished this together, and as an extra-special treat, Rebecca decided she would help us celebrate by baking it along with us even though she had completed the challenge two years ago.  The three of us had a great time baking it on Twitter together, and for the first time, we all pretty much started and ended at the same time, proudly showing off our photos before heading out for the rest of our day.
       This was a wonderful bread all on its own, full of flavor with a lovely texture.  It didn't need butter or anything.  The instructions were to wait "for at least 1 hour before slicing or serving."  Do you see all that melty cheese on the top with those onions?  Who is going to wait an hour to have a slice of warm bread with melty cheese and onions?  I'm happy you agree...we didn't wait either. 

      This has to be one of my very favorite breads from this book.  We ate it all on it's own, made grilled cheese with it, used it for lunch sandwich bread, and we still have a piece or two left.  All of it delicious...the cheese and onions remind me of French Onion Soup...and we all know by now that FOS is my final meal...my favorite of all things food.  I'm thinking maybe I should have a little of that last piece with French Onion Soup, or do you think that would be overkill?  Nah.  Definitely a repeat.

      The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart is a wonderful book.  When I first started baking from it, I knew next to nothing about bread baking. I signed up to do the challenge of making all the recipes in the book, starting at the beginning and continuing through to the end, with an optimistic attitude and not much else by way of skills or knowledge of bread baking.  It didn't matter...the breads are not in order of ease (they are in alphabetical order), so early on I had some tough bread recipes mixed in with the easier ones and you know what?  I had success with them all on the first try (meaning they all looked pretty great and we enjoyed eating them all)...THAT is a great recipe book, to be successful with the recipes on the first try is amazing.  All the recipes worked, all the recipes were delicious...some more so than others, but personal tastes being what they are, that is to be expected.  Now that I've finished making all the recipes, it's time to go back again and again and visit my favorites.  Which ones are my favorites?  Almost all of them...it would be easier to name the one or two that weren't my favorites, but I won't do that as they might be yours and I wouldn't want to influence your decisions on which ones to make or not.  Make them all and decide for yourself...a challenge worth meeting.

      You can visit the main group and marvel the breads.  TA DAH!!!  I FINISHED THE ENTIRE BOOK OF RECIPES.