Ask Angie - She'll have an answer

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Kumquats

2011-02-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Kumquat Salsa from Simply Recipes
Ingredients

2 cups chopped cleaned and thinly sliced kumquats

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Dash of cayenne pepper

Pinch of kosher salt

Method

Combine all ingredients. Add more or less red pepper and cayenne to desired heat. Let sit for 1 hour for the flavors to more fully blend.Makes about 2 1/2 cups of salsa.

Great served with steak or seafood such as halibut, black sea bass, or salmon.

Candied Kumquat Recipe from Simply Recipes
Print OptionsPrint (no photos)Print (with photos)

Ingredients

4 cups of roughly chopped kumquats (roughly 1-1½ lbs.)

1 cup of water

2 cups of sugar

Method

1 With a pairing knife roughly chop the kumquats. Discard any seeds you can that are easy to get too, but they're edible so don't fret if some get chopped up or stay in the fruit. Feel free to leave any small kumquats whole.

Heat the water and sugar over high heat until it comes to a boil. Simmer for 4 minutes. Add the kumquats and simmer for 10 minutes.

3 Drain the kumquats through a sieve set over a bowl. Return the syrup to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the syrup. Combine the kumquats and 1/4 cup of the syrup together.

Serve or jar and refrigerate. Can be stored for up to two weeks.

Kumquat Mojito from Chowhound message boards

Tumbler

Muddler

7 or so mint leaves

2 tsp sugar

3 tbsp fresh lime juice (1/2-1 lime)

1 1/2 oz light rum

4 kumquats quartered

Muddle the mint leaves with the sugar in the bottom of the tumbler. Toss in the kumquat slices and muddle some more. Pour in lime juice & rum and stir. Dump in some ice and top with club soda, place shaker cup on top, flip and shake gently to mix club soda, flip back and serve. Take a whole kumquat and cut a slit half way through and rest on the rim of the glass. Delicious and refreshing summer adult beverage!

2011 Cookbook challenge: Crockpot Coq Au Vin

2011-02-17T04:56:00.000-08:00

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cookingis a great slow cooking cookbook. It evolved from Stephanie O'Dea's blog where she challenged herself to A Year of Slow Cooking- using her slow cooker every day to make healthy gluten free meals for her family. I really like this cookbook. The layout is straight forward and easy to read. She uses the slow cooker to make a lot of unconventional items such as desserts or drinks. This is a huge help when preparing a lot of dishes. Having the slow cooker, stove, oven and toaster oven all cranking at the same time definitely increases the chance that we will have everything ready to serve at the same time. She also gives a "verdict" on many of the recipes.

The recipe we tested as her Coq Au Vin recipe. The only modification was that we used dried thyme instead of fresh thyme.

Coq Au Vin

--6 to 8 frozen chicken thighs

--6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (I used turkey, but you could use PORK)

--8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms (they are right next to the regular mushrooms)

--1 cup baby carrots

--1 chopped yellow onion

--3 cloves chopped or minced garlic

--1/2 t black pepper

--1/2 t kosher salt

--1/2 cup chicken broth

--1 1/2 cup cheap red wine (you can use non-alcoholic wine, if you wish)

--2 large fresh thyme sprigs (I really think the fresh thyme is the key, here. Go steal some from your neighbors garden.)

The Directions.

Cook your bacon. I used turkey bacon, and baked it on a broiler pan. Dump the frozen chicken into your crockpot and start layering in the rest of the ingredients. This is really a no-fuss (albeit amazingly gourmetish) preparation. Just throw it all in.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. You could cook it on high for 4, but it won't taste as good. The flavors meld so nicely when cooked low and slow.

We served it over pasta. We both really enjoyed this recipe. We felt it needed a little more salt added at the end of finish it. The use of fresh thyme matters. It would have given the dish that subtle, but important extra kick of flavor so make the trip to the grocery store. Next time, we will lightly sautee the mushrooms in the bacon fat. The mushrooms released a lot of water during the cooking that diluted some of the flavors.

Because chicken thighs are so cheap and this recipe is so easy, I can see this becoming a staple in our week work menu.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Breaded Pork Chops and Roasted Kohlrabi

2011-02-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

Today's recipes come from Cooks.com and Girl's Gone Child.

MOM'S BREADED PORK CHOPS
Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

4 to 6 pork chops (bone-in) or boneless pork loin chops 1/2-inch thick

2 c. crushed cracker crumbs

1/4 c. flour

3 tbsp. paprika

2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. onion

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Sprinkle pork chops lightly with salt and pepper.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large plastic bag or bowl with lids. Add pork chops and shake.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour on a shallow sided baking sheet (like a cookie sheet) or until pork chops are tender and juices no longer run pink when poked with a fork.

I halved the recipe and used the boneless pork chops from the Omaha Steaks variety pack. I cooked it in the toaster oven since the regular oven was filled with the kohlrabi from the recipe below. These pork chops turned out really well. The breading had a great flavor and the pork was cooked very well. We will definitely make this again.

Roasted Kohlrabi
(serves 4)

4 kohlrabi, peeled, sliced ¼ inch thick and cut in half

2-3 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450. Peel and slice kohlrabi into ¼ inch slices. Cut in half (if kohlrabies are big, cut in quarters). Mince garlic. Toss kohlrabi, garlic, and oil in a bowl with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and return to oven to brown for about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

I have been struggling with what to do with the kohlrabi from our CSA. Girl Gone Child’s mom to the rescue! This is a fantastic recipe. It was full of flavor. I could have eaten bowl after bowl.

Overall, dinner was a winner!

Movie Review: Easy A and KickAss

2011-02-04T03:17:00.000-08:00

Easy A– Easy A is the story of a high school gal who lies about having sex and becomes the school slut – even resorting to accepting gift cards in exchange for lying about having more sex. I really like this movie. The dialogue was witty and sharp. It was one of those movies where you end repeating the lines for months afterwards. My favorite scenes were the ones with her loving, accepting, slightly wacky parents. It was good to see a movie with fun parents. Definitely check it out .

Kick-Ass - Wow! I did not expect so much blood. I thought the dialogue was fun and witty. When it took a turn to actually killing – especially bloody killing by an 11 year old I wasn’t quite as enthralled. Overall though I thought it was a good action flick with more of story than we usually see in a movie with that many guns.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Curry Kohlrabi Carrot Soup

2011-02-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

So I made up this recipe all by myself after pursuing the interweb for some curry carrot soup concoctions:

1.5 lbs carrots
2 medium kohlrabi
8 cups chicken stock
4 Tbsp curry
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingrediants in a slow cooker.

THIS IS NOT A GOOD RECIPE.

It was full of heat and virtually no flavor. The carrots were not sweet enough to offset the cayenne. There was no fat to give the soup body. It does however, make a lot of soup that I am stuck trying to eat for the next week. So I had to figure out how to offset the heat to make it edible.

Here's some useful knowledge: Acid and dairy offset heat. I added parmesan cheese which helped a little. I added some apple cider vinegar which helped a little and I am serving with a huge dollap of greek yogurt which helps a lot. There you go - maybe my failure be your learning opportunity.

Book Review: Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley

2011-01-28T03:04:00.000-08:00

One of the authors I read recommended Life After Yes: A Novel by Aidan Donnelley Rowley on her Twitter feed so I decided to check it out. I was pleased.

Life After Yes follows a young corporate lawyer through her post-engagement freak out. Rowley does a great job creating complex characters. We learn about their relationships with their parents, her drinking problem and the complexities of their relationships from side comments or nuanced references. Reading this novel felt like peeling back an onion layer by layer. It's a great read to cozy up to on the plane or by the fire.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Chicken Adobo with Bok Choy

2011-01-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

The February 2011 edition of Real Simple featured Chicken Adobo with Bok Choy. We had all the ingrediants in our fridge and it uses one of my favorite appliances: the slow cooker. I set everything up mid-morning on Sunday so it would be ready by halftime of the 4:00 pm game. It was great being able to just chill out and enjoy the game while everything cooked.

Ingredients

2 medium onions, sliced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 bay leaf

black pepper

8 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 3⁄4 pounds)

2 teaspoons paprika

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 large head bok choy, cut into 1-inch strips

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1.In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the onions, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle with the paprika.

2.Cook, covered, until the chicken and onions are tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).

3.Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.

4.Ten minutes before serving, if the slow cooker is on the low setting, turn it to high. Gently fold the bok choy into the chicken and cook, covered, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with the rice and sprinkle with the scallions.

The Verdict - The chicken turned out very tender and moist, but this recipe does need dark meat to work. The sauce had good flavor, but was overly acidic. Next time I make it, I will lower the amount of vinegar and add red wine or stock.

Book Review: An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

2011-01-21T03:00:00.000-08:00

I was very excited to hear that Steve Martin had a new novel coming out. I loved ShopGirl so I jumped at this one.

An Object of Beauty: A Novel by Steve Martin is a fantastic novel. The story is set in New York City in the art auction community. One of my favorite things about the novel is that it features reproductions of the art pieces to highlight the nuances of the story for those of us art novices. Martin does a great job crafting complex female characters. He tells a story that manages to feel sweet and harsh - all at the same time. I definitely recommend picking this one up.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Spiced Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-01-19T03:30:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't resist trying this recipe: Wicked Good Peanut Butter Spiced Cookies from Tasty Kitchen. I was intrigued due to the minimal amount of flour and no butter. It was really easy to put together.

•1 cup Peanut Butter

•¾ cups Granulated Sugar Plus Extra For Sprinkling

•¼ cups Dark Brown Sugar (I used light brown sugar)

•1 whole Egg

•2 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

•½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract

•¼ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

•⅛ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg

•⅛ teaspoons Salt

•1 dash Coarse Sea Salt, For Sprinkling

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Using your mixer, mix on low for a few seconds then turn it up to medium until well blended. I used my hand mixer because I really wanted to try it out. If you don't feel like getting yours out, you could pretty easily combine all the ingrediants by hand.

Roll dough into balls with your hands. I use a big heaping tablespoon, because I’m too poor to buy a proper cookie scoop. I used the trusty melon baller and ended up with 18 cookies.

Place cookie balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. If you have a silicon baking mat, that works just dandy too. I used silicon.

Use a fork to flatten the balls slightly.

Lightly sprinkle the cookies with a little extra granulated sugar and sea salt. All the ridges you added with fork will help adhere the sugar and salt to the cookies. It also makes them look sparkly and pretty. Now this sea salt and sugar step - I don't think I accomplished. The cookies were not sparkly or pretty. The sea salt did not melt so I basically ended up with a large crystal of sea salt on top of the cookie.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven and let stand on baking sheet for a minute or two, then remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

The Verdict - These turned out very well. I ended up adding a little more salt to the top. The favors were well balanced. The lack of flour made for a rich dense cookie. We'll add this to the cookie line up.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp

2011-01-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's website

Ingredients

•2 pounds Raw Shrimp, Deveined, Shells On

•2 sticks Cold Unsalted Butter Cut Into Pieces

•1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

•4 cloves Garlic, Peeled

•¼ cups Fresh Parsley

•½ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper

•1 whole Lemon, Juiced

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse frozen shrimp to separate, then arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, add cold butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt, parsley, and red pepper. Pulse until combined. Sprinkle cold butter crumbles over the shrimp.

Bake until shrimp is opaque and butter is hot and bubbly.

Serve with hot crusty bread. Peel and eat the shrimp, then dip the bread into the butter in the bottom of the pan.

The reason I was attracted to this recipe is that the recipe is designed to use frozen shrimp. I am very good at having a stocked pantry and freezer. I am not so good at remembering to dethaw. The other great piece is that it uses peel-on, uncooked frozen shrimp. These are much cheaper than peeled, cooked shrimp and I can easily stock up when it is on sale.

I adjusted the recipe to use up the 1 pound of frozen shrimp we had left. I didn't have hot pepper flakes so it didn't end up spicy, but both my husband and I found it to be very good. Instead of crusty bread, I used whole wheat pasta to soak up the extra sauce. This made it more of an entree.

Overall - a very good, simple recipe that I will definitely make again.

My 2011 Resolutions

2011-01-01T03:26:00.000-08:00

So I definitely have some carry-over from 2010:

Be healthy - Continue the morning gym habit and focus on including more fruits and veggies in my diet.

2011 Cookbook Challenge - Once a week, try a new recipe from a cookbook or blog and post it on this website.

Finances - Get that retirement plan in shape

New this year, I want to:

Continue to blog at least three days a week - I am going to try to keep up the six days a week habit, but giving myself a break makes that a lot easier.

Focus on being home - 2010 felt like a year where most of my time was spent travelling across the country and a couple oceans. It was fun and exciting. I am really feeling a pull this year to scale back on travel - at least cross country travel and spend more time exploring what the Tampa Bay area and Florida has to offer. We are even considering buying a tent to check out some of the nearby campsites. I also want to scale back on the scheduling. I tend to schedule our weekends to be pretty full. I want to keep more time open for opportunities that just pop up.

Check out a couple new ball parks - Even with the focus on staying home, I can't wait to see at least a couple more ball parks.

Capture history - One project that has been on my mind is how to capture our family stories. As we get older, I don't want that to get lost. I got a new video camera for my birthday so I am going to try to get my family members to cooperate in telling their stories in front of it at family gatherings this year.

Write another novel - This year I participated National Novel Writing Month and it was fantastic. As you have read here, I actually finished a novel. I would like to write the sequel to that month in 2011.

What about you? Do you have any resolutions this year?

2010 - How'd I do?

2010-12-31T03:10:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this year, I set out a series of resolutions so I thought I would check in on how I did:

Be healthy. I am taking a new assignment at work that will involve more travel and responsibility. Last time, this resulted in workaholic hours, bad eating habits and a few too many pub crawls. This time, I resolve to take proactive steps to manage stress, exercise, eat healthy and continue to ensure that my family, friends and husband get the best of me - not what's left over.

On a scale of 1 to 10 - I give myself a 5 on this one. I did make progress in better eating habits and managing my work hours. I quit my job in November because of some of those issues. My husband and I have started a great habit of getting up at 5:30 am to go to the gym so that has been really good. Plus - it is CSA season so the bags of veggies we pick up at the farm every other week forces me to eat better. I am definitely ending the year more strongly than I began.
Actually use the cookbooks gathering dust on the shelf. I love to buy cookbooks. I have lots of beautiful cookbooks with pictures of amazing food. This year, I am going to make some of that amazing food. Each month, I am going to pick a cookbook and make at least 4 dishes out of the cookbook. I'll share the results here - minus the cursing, cries of desperation and mess of course.

If you have read the posts on the 2011 Cookbook Challenge, you know I did not do as good of job on this as I should have and I am already taking steps to tackle it in 2011. I did try a lot of new recipes off the web and shared many of them here with you.

Be charitable. Carve out time to volunteer. Select charities and be intentional in giving.
I think I will always feel like I didn't do enough. My two months off at the end of the year allowed me the time to volunteer quite at a bit at a local homeless ministry and the local library. I enjoyed both experiences very much and will work to put in a few hours every month in the upcoming year.

Get a better handle on my finances and develop a concrete plan to save for retirement. I will not be an elderly person eating dog food out of trunk of my broke-down Saturn Vue.
Yeah.... not so much. I did get a better handle on finances, but did not complete the retirement plan. Though my mom did point out that dog food is just as expensive as regular food so I should consider that if I am living out of my trunk.

Laugh a lot and often
This definitely got accomplished. It was a truly remarkable year filled with great memories from trips with my husband, time with family, and visits from and to friends. I am very blessed to have a life that is filled with laughter.

Try to limit reality TV to 4 shows. JUST KIDDING! We all know that is impossible.
So I think I actually came pretty close on this one. After much consideration, I made the difficult decision to break up with the Real Housewives series and I scaled way back on Big Brother this summer. It just got to be too much. I think I have narrowed down to: Survivor, Top Chef, Amazing Race, Hell's Kitchen, The Next Food Network Star, The Next Iron Chef, Chopped, BrewMasters, Drinking Made Easy. Given many of these shows are competition shows, I feel much better about my reality TV watching habits, but if Bret Micheals comes back with another Rock of Love - all bets are off.

Now to think about my resolutions for next year.... What about you? Did you set resolutions? How did you do?

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Molasses Cookies

2010-12-29T03:57:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from author Stacey Ballis' blog: The Polymath Chronicles. I had to bake 2 dozen cookies for a cookie swap so I decided to try it out. I followed the recipe exactly - except I didn't have lemon zest so I left that out.

Spicy Ginger Molasses Cookies

12 T unsalted butter

1 c dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1/3 c molasses (robust or full flavor style)

Cream until blended.

Add:

1 T lemon zest

2 t baking soda

½ t salt

½ t ground white pepper

2 t cinnamon

1 T plus 1 t ground ginger

Blend well.

Sift 2 ¼ c flour and blend into mixture, which should make a fairly stiff dough. Roll balls of 1-2 T and roll in granulated sugar (cane sugar or raw sugar preferred for crunch).

Chill balls for 30 minutes.

Bake on parchment or silpat sheets on cookie sheets at 350 for 10-12 minutes…they will not look done, but should be slightly cracked, important to not overbake, or you will lose the wonderful chewy factor.

I wish the recipe had indicated how many cookies it makes. I had a little anxiety at the beginning wondering if I was going to have 2 dozen cookies at the end. I used our melon baller to measure out the dough balls and ended up with 32 cookies. Perfect - 24 for the cookie swap and 8 for us.

The directions were absolutely right about the cookies not looking done. I trusted the recipe and took the pan out after 10 minutes since cracks had appeared. It does indeed preserve the nice chewy quality.

I wouldn't call these spicy by any measure, but that could be because I left out the zest. My husband could notice the subtle ginger flavor, but I noticed the nice buttery flavor that complimented the molasses flavors. Overall, a very good cookie with easy on-hand ingrediants that I will make again.

Ask Angie: Tips for Holiday Sanity

2010-12-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

Holiday cards

I love holiday cards. I love sending them and I love receiving them. This year I took a couple shortcuts and instead of writing out the addresses, I printed labels. I also shortened the list a bit. But the act of sitting down and writing out the cards is something I really enjoy. It gives me the time to think warm thoughts and say a short prayer for each card receipient.

Receiving the cards is very much the same. I love a good holiday letter. Reading about someone's year and the update on their lives makes me feel closer to them. Plus I learn some really good stuff.

If you are slammed with holiday joy, don't feel pressure to send cards or greetings. Take your list and divide it into four and send Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving cards instead. Or choose June 25th as your day to send cards. If sending cards doesn't work at all, pick 10 people you can call, send a text message or email to reconnect at this time of year. If you are tech savy, get out the video camera, record a holiday video, upload to You Tube and send everyone the link.

We have a rule in our house - If you don't want to do it, don't. (This works because we don't have kids). What it basically means is if you don't feel like doing the dishses, don't. They can wait until morning when one of us will feel like doing them. Don't feel like making dinner - pop in a pizza. This a great alternative to being resentful that "you do everything around here."

The same can apply to Christmas. Don't feel like sending cards - don't. Send loving thoughts or messages instead.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Candied Ginger

2010-12-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

The recipe my husband used for our turkey brine called for candied ginger so I decided to make it myself. I have had the best luck and best value buying ginger at the Asian supermarket. Your local grocery store should carry it. At our Publix, it is with the fresh herbs.

This one comes from Alton Brown over at FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients

Nonstick spray

1 pound fresh ginger root - The hardest part of this recipe is peeling the ginger.

5 cups water

Approximately 1 pound granulated sugar

Directions

Spray a cooling rack with nonstick spray and set it in a half sheet pan lined with parchment.

Peel the ginger root and slice into 1/8-inch thick slices using a mandoline.

So, I tried to use the mandoline and it did not work. The ginger I had was too fiberous. I decided to just cut up the ginger into thin pieces. I cut the ginger root in half. Laid it flat and the just cut little half circles as thin as I could make them.

Place into a 4-quart saucepan with the water and set over medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 35 minutes or until the ginger is tender.

It is important to check to see if the ginger is tender and not just go by the time. The time will vary with stove top temperature and how thick you sliced the ginger.

Transfer the ginger to a colander to drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.

This measurement matters. I used too much water in my first try and the sugar ended up caramelizing before the water evaporated. No good.

Weigh the ginger and measure out an equal amount of sugar. Yes, I actually weighed it. I trust Alton.

Return the ginger and 1/4 cup water to the pan and add the sugar. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar syrup looks dry, has almost evaporated and begins to recrystallize, approximately 20 minutes.

You have to stir, stir, stir. The sugar will become very dry and then start to come back together and the ginger will look like you dipped it in sugar.

Transfer the ginger immediately to the cooling rack and spread to separate the individual pieces. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Save the sugar that drops beneath the cooling rack and use to top ginger snaps, sprinkled over ice cream or to sweeten coffee

IT IS SO GOOD!! It's sweet, but spicy and definitely helps with digestion. I thought the process was pretty easy and I will be making it again.

Ask Angie: Today's Tip for Holiday Sanity

2010-12-21T04:46:00.000-08:00

If you have made the effort to decorate your house, today is the day to enjoy it. Seriously, put it on your to do list.

Grab your camera or even just your phone and wander around your house as if it is a house on a holiday tour. Take pictures of your holiday decorations or hand off the camera to one of your little ones and have them join you as you really enjoy how festive and fun your house looks.

Take a brief moment to stand in front of the tree and take three big breaths. Check out the ornaments and marvel at how branches and light make such a pretty picture. Allow yourself at least two minutes to do this. Everyone can find two minutes. Set a timer if you are worried about over-indulging in holiday wonderment.

If you do decide to take pictures, the good news is that you can print them and attach them to the boxes the decorations are stored in as you put them away so you know where everything is. You can also use them as a guide for next year as to where things go or a reference for those clearance sales as to what you still need or what you already have.

ENJOY!

Our Christmas Drink: The Grasshopper

2010-12-19T03:23:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite family traditions is making grasshoppers on Christmas Eve. My dad is the bartender. He combines equal parts creme de menthe (the green version, of course) and creme de cacao and then adds in vanilla ice cream and we have a party. How much liquor you add definitely depends on how strong you want it. It's pretty fun because you can tell how strong it is by how green it is. We like a nice minty green.

Does your family make a special cocktail for the holidays?

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Caramel Sauce

2010-12-16T03:58:00.000-08:00

For 2011, one of my goals is try one new recipe per week - preferably from one of the cookbooks piled high on the shelf in the corner. However, to start things off I am going to review a couple recipes I got off the Internet. You know, as a warm up. I hope you'll join and post the recipes you are trying in your comments.

Caramel Sauce

This one comes from Ina Garten over at FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir.

Here I had a problem. I just dumped the suage into the water and did not stir. That was wrong. You should stir the sugar and the water together at the beginning to ensure that the sugar dissolves into the water. You can tell the sugar is dissolving because the liquid will go from cloudy to clear. Once the liquid begins to clear up. That is when you should not stir.

Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly.

As soon as the sugar mixture had a brownish color I turned off the heat because I was scared of it burning. This resulted in a sweeter caramel sauce.

Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry - the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.

And by solidify, she means you will have a hard chunk of what looks like brown glass in the middle of a pan of cream. Don't worry. This is right.

Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. It took me a little longer, but you'll be able to tell. It's when the hard chunk in the middle is melted into all of the cream.

Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.

I struggled with how to store this until my husband had the brilliant idea to store in the empty 12-oz. Squeeze Bottles 3 pk. - Clear we keep for when we make simple syrups or sauces. They were a great investment and made our brownies look extra fancy.

Overall the caramel sauce came out really really well. We have been eating gran smith apples covered in the stuff after we finished that tub of vanilla ice cream. It took about half an hour to forty minutes to make. This is not a recipe you can really walk away from because the sugar will burn so you do need uninterrupted cooking time. Enjoy!

Ask Angie: How to avoid the snark

2010-12-14T03:44:00.000-08:00

For a lot of people, it seems that holiday cheer is often accompanied by holiday jeer - those unpleasant comments from family. The comments usually involve some commentary on your life choices. I would like to offer some optional responses.

"Do you have a boyfriend yet?"
- Yes, but he's spending the holiday with his wife and kids.
- I've decided a string of drunken one night stands is the way to go.
- What? Do I have a toy end? I don't even know what that is. (Walk away shaking head muttering someone's been hitting the whiskey a little early).

"So, when are you getting married?"
- When it's legal for all people regardless of sexual preference to marry.
- When we save enough for a spectacular ring. Want to donate $100 to the cause?
- When the housing market turns around.
- Dude, you ruined the surprise.

"So, when are you having children?"
- Once we figure how where they come from. Do you know how babies are made?
- Once there is a new stock available, Angelina adopted them all.

Do you have a job yet? Are you still at that old job? When are you going to get a job?
- It's classified. Seriously, I can't talk about it.

When in doubt, a good old fashioned, "I don't think it's appropriate to talk about that here." and turn and walk will also do the trick as will hiding in the bathroom.

Happy Holidays!

Book Review: 168 Hours and Unclutter Your Life in a Week

2010-12-13T02:25:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to feature two excellent books that are perfect to read as the last days of 2010 lead into the bright new beginnings of 2011 and resolutions to be better are made and hopefully, this year, kept. Thease books give you the tools to get there.

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam

A lot of books out there discuss time management and how to achieve work/life balance. 168 hours is the best book I have read on this topic because it focuses on the core skill needed to achieve all this: prioritization. 168 hours is the number of hours in a week. The book is structured to help get the most out of those 168 hours.

Vanderkam ends each chapter with questions that help the reader focus on core competencies. Core competencies are the activities that give you joy, that you are really good at, and that you would not feel complete unless you were doing. One of the questions that really stuck with me was: If someone offered you $4 million, but you had to give up doing all of the current core competencies of your job, what one thing would give you pause? What is the one thing that it would be hard for you to never be able to do again because it gives you satisfaction or job? Program a computer? Provide help and guidance to someone? Fight a fire? Teach a child? What is that one thing? Because that is the thing you should be spending your time doing.

She also offers concrete suggestions for reworking your 168 hours. Some of her suggestions have been:

- Use those early rising morning with your kids as your quality time instead of beating yourself up for not being home at 5:00 pm.

- Use the time in the shower, the car, waiting in the car pool lane to mediate , pray and make gratitude lists.

I highly recommend this book. It is a must read for everyone.

Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Doland is a fantastic book. It's more than just a simple organization book with tips like put things into bucket. She goes step by step through each room in your house and at your office on how declutter each space and make it more efficient in order to achieve a better, more peaceful life. She also tackles how to unclutter your schedule and even how to handle the holidays. I loved this book. I found her criteria for what to keep and what to re-evaluate tremendously helpful. A must read for anyone who needs some tools for organization both in their physical space and their schedule.

The Brewing Report: Widmer Reserve Prickly Pear

2010-12-12T03:35:00.000-08:00

It almost seems cruel to review this beer because it was a limited production brew from the spring,but it is so delicious. My husband and I tasted Widmer Brothers Reserve Prickly Pear Braggot at a craft brewing tasting at the Aquarium and just couldn't get enough. It is sweet, smooth and has a slight malt taste. The high alchohol contenet makes it more of a sipping beer than a chugging beer. This beer represents the reason we go to beer tasting events. There is no way we could put in the time to search out all the different beers we could possibly like. Through tasting events, we have really developed an appreciation for different types of beer and found some incredible gems.

After enjoying this beer so much, we decided to secure the winter reserve offering as well. Turns out it was a bourbon ale. I also liked Widmer Brothers Reserve Barrel Aged Brrbon. The aging process gave it is a nice oak flavor, but not too strong. The balance was still more heavy on the whiskey flavoring side than the traditional beer side, but it worked out well. This beer you should still be able to find in stores if you are so inclined.

Are You Watching? The French Chef

2010-12-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this isn't going to show up in the TV guide, but I finally had the chance to watch some episodes of the French Chef last week and I am in love! This show is brilliant. It is a real joy to watch. I love that Child focuses on one ingredient or one method per show and then shows all the different uses. I watched episodes where she cooked vegetables using a blanching and sauteing technique, braised lettuce and cabbage, omelets and baked eggs, and made two innovative dishes with potatoes. She offers substitutes for ready made foods and how to make things in advance to help with the timing of dinner. This is truly a show that teaches the viewer how to cook - not just how to make a certain dish. Nothing on current television even compares. I picked up my copy at the library. If you are interested in cooking or learning to cook better - you should definitely put this on your Christmas wish list or in your Netflix queue.

Hot Topic: Facebook campaigns

2010-12-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

This past week there was much ado about people changing their Facebook profile pictures to cartoon characters to raise awareness about child abuse. First, it was criticized because how in the world is changing a profile picture really going to end child abuse? Then a rumor circulated that it was really a ploy by a pedophile to gain access to more children via Facebook.

To the first point - Everyone discusses how the fundamental weakness of all Facebook campaigns from changing your status to fight cancer to not posting for a day to this latest incarnation is that these campaigns won't actually change anything unless you do something else. I mostly agree. However, I do believe there is value in the power of prayer or positive thinking. I believe that the fact that all those cartoon character folks spent a moment thinking about the prevention of child abuse in a way that they wouldn't have without the campaign will manifest itself somehow. Will this be enough to end child abuse? Absolutely not. But it may flip a switch that makes someone send money the next time she gets a solicitation from a non-profit that supports children or intervene at the mall when an adult is being abusive to a child. Prayers and positive thoughts matter.

To the second point - children should not be on Facebook. Children who should not be on Facebook should definitely not be accepting friend requests from people they don't know - whether the profile picture is a cartoon character or not.

What do you think?

Ask Angie: Good ideas for Holiday gifts?

2010-12-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

A couple people have asked me for good websites for looking for unique gifts.

For the philanthropic
A gift certificate to http://www.kiva.org/ is great. The recipient picks an entrepeneur in other country to loan the amount of money equal to the gift certificate. When the loan is repaid, the receipient can decide to cash out or reinvest in another entreneur.

For fun gifts
I love http://www.uncomongoods.com/. It has great bar accessories and all kinds of kid gifts.

I also like http://www.delight.com/ and http://www.thewirelesscatalog.com/.

Another site I love is http://www.redenvelope.com/. It has a great mix of jewelry and I love their plant related gifts.

And of course, as you shop online - don't forget to stop first at http://www.goodshop.com/. You chose your favorite charitable organization and then the website will donate a percentage of your purchase to that organization.

Happy Gift Giving!

Book Review: If You Have Cry – Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone

2010-12-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

Kelly Cutrone has appeared on the The Hills, The City and her own series Kell on Earth. She also runs People’s Evolution. If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You surprised me. I didn’t expect much but I really enjoyed some of the key messages of the book:

1. Believe in Yourself

2. Find and listen to your inner voice

3. Focus on building a Tribe

4. Work hard

5. Give back

Cutrone is unapologetic about the need to work hard and pay your dues to the extent that no one in her office eats until the people higher up than them in the hierarchy have eaten. She is deeply committed to pay it forward and breaking the cycle of women competing, backstabbing and manipulating each other in order to get ahead. She lost me a little in the passages that explained her spirituality, but inspired me as some of the chapters read as pep talks. She is also committed to telling the truth. This is a good book for someone who is going through a transition – graduation, job transition, etc. It’s not as heavy handed as some books I have read and offers some good practical advice.