C is for Cooking

P is for Potpie

2012-01-21T18:04:00.001-05:00

I am sick. I have a cold of the worst variety. It's the kind where I'm so congested that I can't breathe through even one nostril, my throat is itchy and sore, my skin is pale, my eyes look cloudy and tired, and all I want to do is lie down and rest. Ironically, when I lie down, it becomes even more uncomfortable to breathe and the coughing commences. Misery!

This is what happens since I work in a giant petri dish: an elementary school. Granted, my immune system has become much stronger in the past few years and I've learned a few tricks of the trade. During cold and flu season, I use Clorox wipes on the table surfaces daily and I pass around the hand sanitizer every few hours. We use disinfecting spray around handles and doorknobs and I encourage kids to keep their hands away from their faces, but illness is inevitable. The germs spread and the kids get sick every winter. The empty seats are a constant reminder to me that we need to pass around the sanitizer again and discuss the elbow sneeze technique. Covering your mouth with your hand is out. Elbows are in.

When you're a teacher, it's tough to be sick. It's not that we hate to be out of the classroom for a day or two; it's that taking a day off requires several additional hours of work before you're gone and again after you come back. So many teachers just keep on working through their illness because getting a substitute, writing lesson plans, prepping the materials, and warning all the necessary individuals takes more effort than just trucking through the school day with a tissue wad up your nose.

I'm guilty. While I took a sick day on Thursday to moan and groan on the couch, I attempted to return on Friday. I whispered with my dry, crackly voice throughout the day, popped DayQuil like candy, and kept a box of tissues nearby. I could barely talk loud enough to get the attention of my students, and yet somehow they understood and responded appropriately. Kids sense when you're vulnerable and sick. They get it. My class was uncharacteristically sensitive this week and I'm really glad I got to see the sweet, nurturing side of individual students as well as the whole group. They were great listeners. They noticed my gestures more than usual. They asked fewer questions of me and instead helped each other. They entertained themselves when they finished early instead of nagging me with "now what?!" comments. They were more responsible with their routines and classroom jobs and made me very proud. One tender little guy recognized how sick I felt first thing in the morning and said, "What can I do to help you?" before he even took his backpack off. Isn't that sweet?

While I can complain about being sick and the hassle of writing sub plans, I also have to admit that this week I appreciated my job. I get to spend all day with young people who are learning to be empathetic and responsible. Who am I to guide them through this journey? Well, I'm lucky. That's what!

If you are on your own empathy quest, make this potpie for someone in your life who is sick right now. It's warm and comforting, and it's a nice break from chicken noodle soup. It's chicken potpie for the soul.

Puff Pastry Chicken Potpie

adapted from Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook

2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 shallots, diced

1 c. peeled, diced carrots

1 c. diced celery

2 c. peeled, diced russet potatoes

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, green beans)

3 c. chicken stock

2 c. shredded chicken meat

1 c. pearl onions

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. celery salt

3 bay leaves

kosher salt and pepper

2 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. heavy cream

1 sheet frozen puff pastry

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté the vegetables until slightly softened, 4-5 minutes. Add the potatoes and frozen vegetables and sauté, stirring often for 3-4 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium low and add the shredded chicken and delicate pearl onions. Bring to a gentle simmer. Gently stir in the fresh sage, thyme, celery salt, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a roux by melting 2 Tbsp. butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Add the flour and stir constantly with a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly Cook, stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes. Do not allow the roux to brown. Add the cream and stir vigorously until the mixture thickens. Stir the roux into the chicken and vegetable mixture and simmer gently for 5 minutes. It should thicken slightly. Check the potatoes for doneness; they should be cooked through, but not mushy. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, sage, thyme, or celery salt as needed. Remove the bay leaves from the mixture before pouring it into a 9 x 13" baking pan. The dish can be prepared up to this point one day in advance or frozen at this stage for future use.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Remove a sheet of prepared puff pasty from the freezer at least 10 minutes before using it so it will thaw. Cover the 9 x 13" dish with the pastry just before you put it in the oven. Make several incisions in the pastry with a paring knife to allow steam to escape. Do not allow the pastry to sit for long at room temperature on top of the creamy chicken mixture as it will become soggy. Place the potpie in the oven and bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

E is for Enchiladas

2012-01-16T15:31:00.000-05:00

After tackling poblano peppers in my paella, I feel more confident about broadening my pepper repertoire. I've always loved jalapeños, but after getting some serious pepper burn on my hands (and face!) last summer while making a southwestern salad, I went through a pepper scare. I thought jalapeños were the most accessible! The easiest! Now though, I understand that they're just the most popular and you can't accurately judge the hotness of any pepper until you taste it. Those jalapeños made my hands burn for hours and no aloe gel, burn ointment, ibuprofen, or milk and oil soak eased my pain. I was miserable! And so I swore off peppers, other than the ever-friendly bell variety, until my hands and my heart healed. You know what brought me back? I ordered a black bean and corn chili relleno at Zocalo, one of my favorite restaurants downtown. I let those brilliant chefs do the pepper chopping and handling. My dinner was served with smoked tomato grits, pico de gallo, and cilantro-buttermilk honey. It was seriously delicious and served as the exposure therapy that I needed.

Now that the pepper scare of 2011 has come to an end, I've been experimenting with different varieties. The poblanos were absolutely wonderful in my paella and so I decided to try another similar pepper: the anaheim. I bought three anaheim peppers to include in roasted chicken and quinoa lettuce cups. Peter thought they were delicious, but I was less enthused. It wasn't the pepper flavors that bothered me; I would just rather eat lettuce cups in the heat of summer and they hardly seemed appropriate in January. I should have known better.

And so I tried again, with something warmer and cheesier. I prepared a dish more comforting in the barren winter months: enchiladas. I bought jalapeños with a fresh attitude and made my own ranchero sauce. I delicately wrapped tortillas around black beans, chicken, and a mixture of cheeses. I smothered them with the spicy sauce and baked them until hot and bubbly and then Peter and I devoured them.

Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas with Ranchero Sauce
adapted from Cooking Light, October 2011

2 tsp. olive oil
1 c. chopped onion
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 small jar (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded cheese (I used white and sharp cheddar)
1 c. shredded chicken
Cooking spray
12 (6-inch) tortillas
diced cilantro
light sour cream

Preheat oven to 400°. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add onion; saute 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium; add garlic, jalapeños, and salt. Cook 5 minutes or until onions are golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add broth and oregano, tomato sauce, and cumin; cook 8 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Pour onion mixture into a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in lid. Blend until smooth; stir in lime juice and ground red pepper. Combine the beans, 1 cup grated cheese, and shredded chicken in a medium bowl. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon bean and chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla; roll up. Place, seam-side down into the sauce. Pour remaining sauce over filled tortillas. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with sour cream and a salad.

P is for Paella

2012-01-15T23:19:00.001-05:00

Ever heard that rule about eating shellfish? Some people say that it's best to eat clams, mussels, scallops, and oysters in months spelled with the letter R. Basically, don't eat filter feeders during the warmest summer months. Why is it better to order a dozen blue points in January rather than in June? What happens to clams in July? Why can't I serve steamed mussels in August? I'd heard this rule before and Peter and I have generally followed it when it comes to buying oysters on the half shell, but I never understood why summer was a bad time for shellfish. Until today.

I did a bit of online research and learned that filter feeders can become toxic to humans during summer months if they are harvested from areas affected by algal blooms. Warm coastal waters overcome with algae are sometimes called "red tide" because the water turns a reddish brown color. Harmful toxins build up in filter feeders and can be poisonous to humans and animals if eaten. Most shellfish you would get from a fishmonger has been tested for harmful toxins, so it should be safe to eat them year round. However, if you like to rake for oysters on your summer vacation, watch out for local warnings and beach closures due to algal blooms.

It being January, a month with an R, I decided to add paella to my menu this week. I was craving a culinary challenge and I wanted to try using a few new ingredients: poblanos and saffron. I've watched many episodes of Mexican Made Easy on which Marcela Valladolid prepares dishes with poblanos, but I've never attempted a recipe with them in my kitchen. It was time! I received a vial of saffron threads in my stocking this year, along with white truffle oil and vanilla beans, so I have been anxious to use some of my epicurean gifts. Thank you, Santa...er...Peter!

I found this paella recipe easy to follow and relatively simple. The toughest part is just waiting for the rice to cook and the clams to open up! Peter helped me soak the clams in cool salty water so they'd expel sand or debris and that part isn't mentioned in the recipe, but I'd recommend it. I don't have a snazzy paella pan, but I think my Analon skillet worked nicely. Perhaps I'll ask Santa for that gift next year, but for for my next paella attempt, I'll probably try one of my cast iron dishes. I was surprised how much moisture accumulated in the pan after I added the corn, tomatoes, and clams; I'd say the last few minutes on the stove top are crucial for evaporating much of the cooking liquid. Be patient! While you're waiting (and not stirring!), busy yourself by preparing crusty bread and a salad to accompany this wonderful dinner.

Paella with Poblanos, Corn, and Clams
adapted from Cooking Light magazine

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 c. chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 poblano chiles, seeded and chopped
1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp. black pepper, divided
3/4 c. uncooked short-grain brown rice
1/4 tsp. saffron threads, crushed
2 c. water
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1 1/2 c. corn kernels
1 c. halved cherry tomatoes
2 lbs. littleneck clams
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 450°. Heat oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, poblanos, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; sauté 3 minutes. Add rice and saffron. Cook 2 minutes; stir constantly. Add 2 cups water, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and red pepper; bring to a boil. Bake at 450° for 50 minutes or until rice is done. Stir in corn and tomatoes. Nestle clams into rice mixture. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until shells open, and discard unopened shells. Return the pan to medium-high heat, and cook without stirring 10 minutes or until liquid evaporates and rice browns. (It should smell toasty but not burned.) Top with parsley and serve with lemon wedges if you'd like.

G is for Gingerbread House

2011-12-21T17:35:00.000-05:00

I did it! I successfully baked my own gingerbread house pieces, whipped up my own royal frosting, used an authentic piping bag (as opposed to the ziploc variety), and decorated a little Candy Land dream all by myself! This was on my goal list and now I can put a big fat check mark next to this accomplishment. I see no need for the store-bought kits now, although my years of using the gingerbread kit from Michaels probably prepared me for this moment. Honestly, this kitchen craft wasn't too difficult; it just took a lot of time.

I had an incredible amount of candy to work with since my students decorated their own gingerbread houses on our last day of school before break. Even if I'd sent home a bag of candy with each child, I would've still had leftovers because a kindergarten teacher donated a dozen half bags of candy to our cause as well. Wow! The kids worked hard to calculate gingerbread budgets and "bought" their candy from me to decorate their houses. One student's grandmother sent in precious little gingerbread men that the kids put in their yards. I manned a sprinkle and coconut snow station in the classroom and told the class that they could only eat a piece of candy when they heard a bell ring. They demonstrated wonderful self control! Granted, some of them sighed and groaned when their hands were coated with frosting and I wouldn't let them lick it off, but I probably would've responded in the same way if I were in their shoes. I wish you could've heard the cheers each time I rang the official candy bell. Those kids have never been so happy to pop a marshmallow or a gum drop in their mouths! Any guesses on how many pieces of candy I let them eat before I loaded them on the bus with their candy-coated creations? Three. Just three. Aren't I a grinch?!

Thank goodness no one was there to ring a candy bell in my kitchen! I licked a little bit of frosting off my fingers. I ate a few sour straws. I munched on mini candy canes. I may have polished off the rest of the mini M&Ms...and I had a blast!

To create my confectionary abode, I used a Pampered Chef stoneware gingerbread house mold (circa 1992) from my mother-in-law. It came with directions and recipes and a reusable piping bag with interchangeable tips. I'll share the recipe, but understand that this dough was dry and crumbly and had to be tightly packed into the stoneware mold. This gingerbread recipe is not for rolling out and cutting or shaping the pieces of the house. After baking for 20 minutes, the pieces came out without a hitch and I was able to glue all the sides of the house together without any serious crumbles or cracks.

Gingerbread Base

from Pampered Chef

3 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. molasses

1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease mold with vegetable oil spray. Blot out excess oil with a paper towel. Set aside. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg yolk and beat until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture and continue to beat until dough is thoroughly combined. Dough will be stiff and slightly dry. Gather dough into a large ball. Press half of dough firmly into greased mold. Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap to prevent further drying. Level off back of dough in mold using a serrated knife. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Place a cooling rack over surface of mold. Flip mold and cooling rack together to unfold house pieces directly onto the rack. Let mold cool completely before refilling and baking with the second half of the dough. Lightly grease mold again before refilling.

Royal Icing

This sticky icing acts as the mortar to hold the house together.

3 c. powdered sugar

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Place all ingredients in a non-plastic mixing bowl. Beat on high speed with mixer until frosting is glossy and holds peaks, about 5 minutes. This frosting dries very quickly, so cover the bowl with plastic wrap when not being used. Frosting can be tinted with food color if desired.

B is for Butternut Squash Soup

2011-12-19T13:29:00.000-05:00

I've had plenty of mediocre butternut squash soups. They often need salt or lack some type of seasoning and typically they're too watery. Why do so many chefs add apples and baking spices to butternut soup? It's not dessert! In my opinion, it should be more savory and less sweet. I've ordered squash soup at restaurants before feeling confident that I'm making a smart, healthy choice, but after a few spoonfuls I feel disappointed. Anyone else felt this way before? In my mind, butternut squash soup might as well be called "jealousy soup," because I'm usually envious of the appetizers other people ordered.

Many butternut squash soups disappoint, but this is an absolutely fantastic recipe. I've made it a dozen times and for some reason, we don't tire of it quickly. Peter and I like to have a small bowl as a first course to our meal and sometimes we pack it in our lunch bags with half a sandwich. The flavors from roasting the squash and caramelizing the onions make it very special and give it the savory quality that I crave in a soup. The blend of herbs--parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme--is absolutely perfect. Fresh herbs are essential! If you want to cut back though, at least use fresh rosemary and thyme. When I prepare this soup, I use homemade chicken stock, but I'm sure the canned version would be just fine as long as you get the low-sodium version to control the saltiness. If you want to make this vegetarian friendly, substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock. Now, as a disclaimer: this recipe is not low-fat. There will be heavy cream involved. However, this soup is so rich, flavorful, and creamy, a relatively small serving is satisfying. Expect to see empty bowls!

Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from Tim Douglas' Seattle Kitchen

3-4 lb. butternut squash
olive oil for brushing squash
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 c. thinly sliced onions (about 2 onions)
3 c. chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1/2-3/4 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh sage
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp. sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
creme fraiche and thyme sprigs for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Brush the cut edges with olive oil and place on a baking sheet, cut side down. Roast the squash until very soft, about 80 minutes. Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, scoop the squash out of the skin and set aside.

While the squash is roasting, caramelize the onions. Heat the butter with the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook slowly, stirring occasionally until they are soft and golden brown, 20-30 minutes. Do not let them burn or become crispy. Set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a standard chopping blade, process the squash, onions, and 1 cup of chicken stock until smooth. This may need to be done in two batches, depending on your food processor. Pour the puree into a large pot. Add the remaining 2 cups of chicken stock and heat the soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream, chopped herbs, and vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, ladle the hot soup into bowls and serve with a swirl of creme fraiche and a thyme sprig. This soup can be made a few days before you plan to serve it; just store it in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.

S is for Sausage Cheese Grits

2011-12-17T14:48:00.002-05:00

Today I want to share one of my all-time favorite breakfasts: sausage cheese grits. It is absolutely perfect for brunch or a family breakfast with lots of people around the table. Expecting company? Do you want to try something other than French toast and breakfast casserole? If you prepare this dish, I promise you'll win over the hearts those stubborn northerners who claim not to like corn grits!

Growing up, my mom used to present this steaming dish on Saturday mornings and we would wrap up the leftovers to enjoy all week. It will be creamy and smooth the day that you first prepare it, but after some time in the refrigerator, it will become more like a firm cake that can be cut into squares and reheated for a minute in the microwave. Don't expect too many leftovers though. Everyone at your table will be asking for seconds!

Peter likes to make this dish when we have a house full of company. Trust me when I say it's just as popular around the holidays as it is in the heat of summertime at the lake house. Oftentimes, we put this dish together at night before we head to bed so that we can just pop it in the oven in the morning. It does require nearly an hour of cooking and resting time before you can serve it, so I'll admit I sometimes set an alarm to get up to put it in the oven and then I go back to bed for a while. I usually serve this dish along with toast and a mixed fruit salad. Enjoy!

Sausage Cheese Grits

from Judy Diehl

1 lb. pork sausage, browned and drained

4 c. water

1 tsp. salt

1 c. grits (not instant)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 c. (6 oz) sharp cheddar, shredded and divided

1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. butter, softened

salt and pepper to taste

Brown and drain the pork sausage. Set aside. In a saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil. Slowly stir in the grits and reduce the heat. Cook 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add a small amount of hot grits to eggs while stirring. Return the grits, now mixed with eggs, to the saucepan. Add the butter and stir until it melts. Stir in browned sausage, 1 c. shredded cheese, and milk. Stir until well mixed. Pour into a greased 13x9" baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese, salt, and pepper. Bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes. Once you remove it from the oven, let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Variations:

This grits casserole is also fantastic with pepper jack cheese, spicy sausage, and a can of drained Rotel tomatoes with green chilies if you're looking for a Mexican flair to your breakfast.

If you have swiss cheese and leftover spiral ham, substitute these ingredients for the cheddar and sausage.

C is for Cake Pops

2011-11-13T21:24:00.001-05:00

One thing I've mastered in the past few months is cake pops. It wasn't easy and it took quite a bit of time (and a dozen or so boxes of cake mix), but I've finally reached the status of Cake Pop Master.

My first batches were a struggle for me because they would crumble and fall off the lollipop sticks or they'd drop into my bowl of dipping chocolate, leaving a delightfully chunky mess. Sometimes the chocolate coating would be gloppy and uneven or incredibly thick despite my constant reheating. I tried the double boiler approach as well as the microwave. I tried bars of chocolate, chocolate chips, and finally candy melts. Many times, after I'd successfully dipped them, my cake pops fell over or the chocolate cooled in a way that the pop looked crooked. The storage of cake pops is a little tricky, what with all the poking out lollipop sticks and the need for drying time. For just two bites of gooey cake and chocolate, what a high maintenance dessert!

In addition to all my procedural issues, I was also dealing with color concerns. My friend Julia asked me to prepare about 100 cake pops for her dessert reception and she wanted the colors to match her adorable vintage scheme. I hoped to dye white chocolate a peachy pink color and a turquoise color, but white chocolate doesn't always accept dye and maintain color in the same way frostings do. My experience with cake frosting did not transfer to cake pop dipping! The peachy color I concocted would look wonderful in the bowl and then cool and harden as a vibrant orange or once it even developed into a lovely flesh shade. As you can imagine, they were incredibly appetizing.

Time after time, my cake pops tasted great, but they looked awful. They were my nemesis.

I've come a long way in my cake pop journey and now I can even say I've reached a state of cake pop enlightenment. It took quite a bit of googling and research to become a pro. If you're working through your own cake pop battle, I'd suggest the blog Bakerella. The author even has her own book, Cake Pops, in which she shares recipes and tips for creating some over-the-top desserts on a stick (imagine snowmen, owls, robots, and teeny tiny ice cream cones!). I'm not into characterizing my cake pops like Bakerella, but it's not difficult for me anymore to create a batch. It is and always will be a time-consuming endeavor though. Cake pops are a real treat and they're so gosh darn cute that everybody loves them. Even anti-cake people, like my husband Peter, enjoy eating cake pops. I'd say that they're worth all the trouble for events like weddings, showers, tailgates, and birthday parties.

I decided to photo document my most recent batch of cake pops so that I can share my vast and significant knowledge with you. There's no reason to keep all this wisdom to myself!

Cake Pops According to Rachel

Step 1. Bake a cake.
It's easiest to use a store-bought cake mix. Just follow the directions on the box and bake for the shortest amount of time recommended for your pan size. I prefer Pillsbury over Duncan Hines and I recommend using a glass or light-colored 13x9" pan to avoid getting dark crusty edges on your cake. Crusty edges don't crumb easily.

Step 2. Turn the cake into crumbs.
After the cake has cooled completely, you have two options. You can either break the cake up into pieces and crumb it in the food processor, or you can toss chunks of cake into your stand mixer and then pick out any large pieces that fail to break apart into crumbs. Think about your audience. If you're serving five-year-olds at a birthday party, just use the mixer to break up the cake. If you're preparing a wedding dessert, maybe you should use the food processor for a fine and consistent crumb.

Step 3. Mix the cake crumbs with frosting.
My favorite tub of frosting is Duncan Hines buttercream, but I also use Duncan Hines classic vanilla. Stick the frosting in the microwave for a few seconds before you add it to your cake crumbs. This will help it distribute more evenly. I use my stand mixer and a spatula to add a glob of icing at a time until the mixture smooths out and thickens. I almost never use the whole tub of frosting because you don't want the batter to be too thin.

Step 4. Chill the cake and frosting mixture.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or up to a day.

Step 5. Roll out the cake balls.
After using a cookie dough scooper for uniform size, I hand-roll the balls of cake and place them on sheets of wax paper lining several cookie sheets. The dough is much easier to work with when it's cold, so work quickly. I can generally roll 50 to 60 1-inch cake pops from one cake mix. If you make the cake pops too large, they fall off the sticks much more easily during the dipping process.

Step 6. "Glue in" your lollipop sticks.
Put a handful of candy melts in a microwavable bowl and melt them in the microwave using 30-second intervals. Stir frequently. Dip lollipop sticks into the melted chocolate and then immediately stick them into the cake pops.

Step 7. Chill the cake pops.
Set the cookie sheets filled with cake pops in the refrigerator for a few hours or up to a day. You can also freeze the cake pops at this stage, but you must defrost them in the refrigerator before dipping them in chocolate, otherwise each pop will crack as the chocolate hardens. This is the voice of experience.

Step 8. Melt your chocolate coating.
Don't use chocolate chips because they won't melt down properly. I recommend Wilton candy melts. You can buy them at craft stores like Michael's, but most grocery stores also carry chocolate that is meant for melting down. Put half a bag of candy melts in a microwavable bowl and melt them in the microwave using 30-second intervals. Stir frequently, adding 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil (or canola oil) at a time until the mixture is very smooth and silky. It should slowly drizzle off your spoon. Add any food coloring that you need to. Make sure you use a bowl that is small enough that you'll have an inch or more of chocolate to dip into.

Step 9. Dip the cake pops.
Cold cake pops are the best for dipping because they hold together and stay on the stick. Holding the cake pop by the lollipop stick, dip it into the chocolate mixture and spin it around to coat it on all sides. Then tap the stick against the edge of the bowl while turning it so that the excess chocolate drips off and the coating becomes smooth and even. I generally take 4-8 cake pops out of the fridge at a time and then after I've dipped them, I put them on a separate cookie sheet lined with wax paper. After dipping 20-30 cake pops, you'll probably need to melt the remaining candy melts. I normally need 1 and 1/2 bags of candy melts to coat all the cake pops made by one cake mix.

Step 10. Decorate the cake pops.
The chocolate coating hardens pretty quickly, so be sure to add any sprinkles or dragees immediately after dipping. If you want to add a chocolate drizzle or some other design, spoon some of the melted chocolate into a small plastic bag and use scissors to snip the corner. While working over a plate, I like to hold the cake pop in one hand and run it under a slow stream of chocolate to create smooth, thin lines that appear to wrap around the pops.

Step 11. Admire them! Share them! Eat them!

R is for Resilient

2011-11-11T21:14:00.001-05:00

I've been away. And by that, I don't mean that I've been traveling. Wouldn't that be exciting? Nope. I mean that I've allowed myself to become fully consumed by my work as a teacher and my responsibilities as a student at UVA (again). What started back in September as a feeling of regular busyness has spiraled out of control. I haven't been paying enough attention to myself nor have I saved time for my most favorite hobby.

For those readers and friends who've always wondered if Peter and I "really do eat like that," the answer is yes. Or, well, we used to. I used to cook at least three nights per week and spend hours in the kitchen on weekends when I tackled larger projects such as making pasta or painting sugar cookies. I loved it.

I still cook to put dinner on the table, but things have felt different over the past few months. We've eaten some nice meals and I've prepared some old favorites, but I feel like my creativity and energy have been "used up" at school before I ever make it home. I haven't been keeping my camera in the kitchen and sometimes I avoid my laptop for a few days at a time. I haven't been reading my favorite blogs or sticking post-it notes all over my cookbooks! My kitchen hasn't served as my place of solitude. Frankly, no place has.

For lack of better words, I'm in a funk.

I know that things will improve gradually. Maybe working conditions will become less stressful as the year continues or perhaps I'll just become more capable of handling the burden, but I know I'm on the way back up. I am resilient and strong. Hardy and irrepressible! And I vow to make time for myself and my own interests this winter. I'm going to can jams and conserves. I want to make a sourdough starter and create loaves of sourdough bread. I'll bake pieces of gingerbread to build a house and whip up my own royal frosting. I'm going to make pumpkin granola and jalapeño stuffing, peppermint bark and carrot soup. I will! Not because it's on my to-do list or because anyone is expecting me to, but because I want to and because I love it.

"Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life." - Wayne Dyer

G is for "Gobs"

2011-09-11T23:32:00.000-04:00

Grandmothers teach us all sorts of lessons about how to behave, how to play, and how to learn. My paternal grandmother taught me how to enjoy the little things in life. She made me appreciative for things like warm buttery toast, a corn maze, a hand-written note, and the great potential in a deck of cards. She modeled humility and selflessness. She valued friendship and love over any material object and showed us how to put family first. She could put together an expansive Thanksgiving feast for twenty while laughing away in the kitchen. And let me just add that if canning were an Olympic sport, she'd have a lot of gold medals. For the homemade bread, the potato salad, the savory venison sandwich spread, and the myriad of desserts, I must get my hands on her recipe box!

Sadly, my beloved Grandma passed away after a serious stroke during the last week in August. She spent her last five years in a wheel chair at a nursing home, but she didn't let these obstacles hold her back. She was the president of the residents committee, visited with loved ones daily, wrote letters regularly, and remained eternally optimistic. She was a strong, admirable woman and lived a happy, fulfilling life.

I've cried all over my keyboard just typing these two paragraphs because I can barely begin to explain how much I will miss my Grandma. I can, however, bake. Sometimes when words escape me, my mind is racing, and my emotions are running rampant, I find it very comforting to spend a while in the kitchen.

This week I made one of my Grandma's most famous desserts: gobs. You may know them better as whoopie pies, but to me and my cousins, they will always be gobs. Grandma made these treats for us every summer and stored them in the chilly coal bin in the basement. My brother and I would emerge from the basement with a gob in our grasp and Grandma would pour us big glasses of milk. We ate those sticky sandwiches while sitting next to her on the glider out on the front porch. It was unforgettable.

Grandma Diehl's Gobs

1 c. cocoa

1/2 c. hot water

1 c. butter

2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Mix together all the ingredients in a mixer. Grease cookie sheets and drop mixture in equally sized blobs. Take the back of a spoon, dipped in hot water, and smooth each clump out. Bake 7-9 minutes at 350 F. Cool the gob pieces and ice with white frosting or vanilla ice cream to make little chocolate sandwiches. You can sprinkle a bit of salt on top of them if you like. Freezes well. Makes about 30 gobs.

Grandma's Vanilla Icing

2 c. confectioner's sugar

1/2 c. butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

milk

Mix together in a mixer with enough milk to make a consistency like cake frosting. Add milk 1 Tbsp. at a time.

P is for Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-08-15T19:29:00.000-04:00

Although summer seems the perfect time for desserts like ice cream, sorbet, peach pie, popsicles, and berry cobblers, I tend to make a lot of cookies. Maybe it's because they're so portable. I can toss a few in a bag and bring them along for a picnic or a boat ride. No refrigeration required. In fact, if the chocolate chips have melted a little in the summer heat, the cookies will be better! Maybe I make a lot of cookies because they're a small dessert. You can pop one as a snack, crumble them over ice cream, or dunk them in milk for the full experience.

Maybe it's because everyone loves cookies. My father-in-law adores cookies. I would go so far as to say that cookies are his achilles heel. He gave this recipe his stamp of approval, so I know they're good enough to recommend to you. Enjoy!

For this recipe, I used unsweetened peanut butter from Whole Foods- the freshly ground variety that tastes dramatically different to those expecting Jif or Peter Pan. It made the cookies taste a little less sweet but still positively delicious.

Peanut Butter Cookies

from Williams-Sonoma Baking

1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted

1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

In a mixer on medium speed, beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Sift together in a medium bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Once the peanut butter mixture is creamy and light, slowly add the dry ingredients, blending on low speed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray cookie sheets with non-stick spray. Use a cookie dough scoop or a tablespoon to measure out the dough in equal quantities and then roll the dough with dampened hands into 1-inch balls. Place the balls on prepared baking sheets. Use a fork dipped in flour to lightly press each dough ball and flatten slightly. Bake the cookies 12-15 minutes and let them cool briefly on the pans. Use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

B is for Blue Cheese Apple Wraps

2011-08-12T13:57:00.000-04:00

Every girl's got her summer go-to recipes for quick lunches and simple dinners. During the hottest months in Virginia, I love pasta salads, microwaved corn on the cob, grilled pizzas loaded up with veggies, giant bowls of watermelon, fresh salads, and lots and lots of seafood. Summer food is awesome.

Today I'd like to share with you a recipe that's a smidge more complicated than a sandwich, but worth the extra ten minutes. Everyone I've ever served these wraps to has absolutely loved them. The apples give it the perfect crunch. The cranberries give it a punchy kick. The cheese spread makes it so creamy and decadent that you'll want to serve these for lunch, appetizers, tailgates, and showers. Prepare to fall in love with a wrap!

Blue Cheese Apple Wraps

adapted from Southern Living

1 (8 oz) container light spreadable cream cheese
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 (4 oz) package crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
4 cups baby spinach leaves

Stir together cream cheese, milk, garlic and onion powders. Stir in crumbled blue cheese, pecans, and cranberries. Spread about 1/3 cup cream cheese mixture evenly over each tortilla. Top each tortilla evenly with apple slices and spinach. Roll up, and secure with wooden picks. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

V is for Vacation

2011-07-27T11:06:00.001-04:00

You'll have to forgive me for not being a more diligent, reliable blogger this summer. I pack as many vacations as I possibly can into every summer break and I relish the opportunity to travel, relax, and recharge. Have you ever heard about the three main reasons to teach? June, July, and August! I've got more reasons than these for teaching, but having summers off from work is very high on my list of pros.

What I haven't been doing much of this summer is cooking. I just don't cook the same way (or in the same quantity) when I'm staying at someone else's home. Obviously. I haven't been idle, though! This blog post is long and thorough with a dazzling array of pictures to help you understand what I've been getting into this summer.

To start the summer break, I spent a week in California wine country with Peter's family. In addition to a family reunion in Alexander Valley, we also visited wineries, rode cable cars in San Francisco, ate oysters at Hog Island, played croquet, did a beer tasting at Lagunitas brewery, ate at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, and walked on the beach at Point Reyes National Park. While in San Francisco, we visited a friend from UVA Law and enjoyed a visit to Golden Gate Park and St. Francis Yacht Club. What an incredible way to start the summer!

Along the walk to Coit Tower in San Francisco

Cable car!

Golden Gate Bridge

A windy walk at Point Reyes National Park

Hog Island Oyster Company

We shucked 50 oysters for $35

Jeff, Peter, me, and Lindsay
Post picnic laziness at Hog Island

Sampling beer at Lagunitas Brewery

Lagunitas brew

The boys, waiting for us to assemble picnic supplies at the Country Market

Daniel, Lindsay, Jeff, and Peter
Wine tasting at Lambert Bridge

Fancy tasting room at Ferrari-Carano

At a family reunion event...and I swear this cigar was Peter's.

Silver Oak Winery only bottles Cabernet Sauvignon and each year is
surprisingly different because of weather conditions

Peter loved the breadsticks at wine tastings

Jordan, a gorgeous winery in Sonoma

Ferrari-Carano had stunning Italian-style gardens and landscaping

Family Photo in the wine library at Silver Oak

Lindsay and Jeff
We enjoyed a snazzy wine and cheese pairing at Jordan.

Ladies in the family, enjoying wine and cheese at Jordan

A blooming artichoke from the garden at Alexander Valley Vineyards

Alexander Valley Vineyards (AVV)

Me and Peter at a family reunion event at AVV

The menfolk (Peter, his father, and grandfather) doing a tasting at AVV

This is where the magic happens at AVV

Another family photo, in the yard of our gorgeous rental property

Potato croquettes with smoked salmon at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa

We tried sardines with hummus at CIA Greystone

Peter and Christi from UVA Law at the Conservatory of
Flowers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

The incredible Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco

Watching wind surfers near the Golden Gate Bridge

We got drinks with Christi at St. Francis Yacht Club, overlooking Alcatraz

I'm lucky to have married into a family with a lake house at Smith Mountain Lake because I've spent several weeks there this summer and it's absolutely one of my favorite places. Being only two hours from Charlottesville, SML is a convenient getaway. I love to lounge on the dock with a drink and read thrift store paperbacks and decorating magazines. I throw tennis balls into the water for Holly (the best fetcher in the world) and laugh about her not-so-graceful dock diving techniques. I cruise around the lake on the jet ski and take friends tubing and kayaking. I've even worked on my water skiing skills!

Steph in her awesome new sunglasses

Lindsay, my sister-in-law

Peter caught a carp from the dock

Me and Holly, floating around the cove

Holly and her friend, Kahlua, ready to fetch!

Friends!

Jess and Nicci share a picnic on the boat

Jess and Nicci tubing

Nicci and Jesse kayaking

Peter and I took a trip to Pennsylvania for my family reunion at Shawnee State Park. It's a potluck picnic where about 100 of my relatives gather annually to catch up and reintroduce ourselves. This year, I took along key lime squares and I was quite nervous about presenting a new dessert to a crowd that has its time-tested favorites. I heard a little girl with a crumby mouthful say, "It's like a lime brownie!" While I wouldn't describe it that way at all, my tropical treat was one of the first things to disappear! Success!

Pat and Julie- a few of many cousins at the reunion

My cousin Kelly and me on our walk around the lake

Shawnee State Park in Pennsylvania

Peter walking around the lake with us

Uncle Bob and Steven, setting up the grill

My "lime brownies," AKA key lime squares

My brother, Ryan, turned 30 this summer and we headed to Richmond to celebrate with him. I fixed a meal of crab cakes with mango cucumber relish and coconut rice (just like I made for my own birthday!). I also baked a blueberry cobbler which we served hot and bubbly with my dad's homemade peach ice cream. Talk about delicious! Ryan loves bowling, so our family went out together to knock down some pins. I enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with some cousins and spend the day laughing.

By brother Ryan, who just turned 30!

My cousin Brooke got a strike and put us all to shame.

Peter has excellent form, but Brooke still beat him!

The AC was broken at the bowling alley, so all the girls in the family were
sipping out of one giant pitcher of ice water to stay cool. Ignore those cups.

Ryan and my dad

My cousins with Peter

My mother, Grandmother, and Aunt at the bowling alley

Peter and I went to Arlington to visit some friends from law school and go to my sister-in-law's surprise birthday party. Lindsay was absolutely surprised when she came home from work to find 40 people in her backyard, enjoying an enormous pot of paella. I made red velvet cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream frosting for the party and only one was leftover at the end of the night. We saw the Washington Nationals play the Colorado Rockies and swam in a rooftop pool overlooking the Washington Monument and the Capitol. We ate delicious enchiladas at Rio Grande and saw the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, eating his own Mexican feast just a few tables away. Secret Service employees were seated at the table beside him, wearing sunglasses at night and scoping out the scene. I'm glad that going out for enchiladas isn't such a big deal in my life.

Lindsay with her surprise paella dinner and a gorgeous beet salad

Friends: Sean and Shawna

Jeff and Lindsay's fun neighbors, Colleen and Matt

A catered backyard paella party!

My Peter

Happy Birthday, Lindsay!

Jeff and Lindsay
(ps. I made that mini red velvet cake)

Lindsay's sister, Erin, enjoying one of my cupcakes

Law School friends at the Washington Nationals game

Me and Melissa with Screech

Dinner at Rio Grande in Arlington with UVA Law friends (and John Boehner)

To wrap up my summer, I'm headed back to Smith Mountain Lake and then Peter and I are driving down to Kiawah, South Carolina for a week at the beach with my old roommate and dear friend, Steph. I'm savoring my final days of freedom before school begins, but I'm also starting to think about my new class. I've been writing welcome postcards to mail to my new students and the idea of a fresh group of kids gets me pretty excited about going back. This will be my fourth year of teaching, but I always get really nervous just before I meet my new cuties. Once those adorable 8 year-olds walk into the room, my teaching personality kicks in and it all feels natural. At this moment though, I feel anxious about what needs to be done and how the school year will go. I can distract myself with a baking project! I've been asked to make cake pops for my friend Julia's wedding this August and I want to perfect the cake balls before I present them at her dessert reception. She wants them to be dipped in peachy colored candy melts to coordinate with her color scheme, and I've been trying to get the color just right. Wish me luck!

I dipped chocolate cake balls in white chocolate and then dyed the white chocolate a peachy color...which appears an unusual orange in these photos.

The chocolate shows through the coating too much, so I'll probably make
a batch of white cake balls for the wedding.

At her dessert reception, Julia wants to present the cake pops
in little muffin cups on pretty trays.

A is for Avocado Corn Chowder

2011-07-26T23:23:00.000-04:00

When the weather is cold and damp, there is nothing more comforting than a warm bowl of soup. When the weather is hotter than ever in the throes of summer and the air is thick with humidity, the best kinds of dinners are cool and refreshing. We've had a humbling heat wave here on the east coast and temperatures in Charlottesville have reached 100 degrees. When summer rears its ugly head, I'm thankful for swimming pools, air conditioning, shady trees, frosty drinks, and cold soups. Oh, thank heaven for cold soups! Gazpacho, pea soup, cucumber soup- you are glorious in July!

Today I'll share with you a new cold soup I've fallen in love with. This recipe uses produce you can get locally like bell pepper, corn, and green onion. This soup also features the ever-wonderful, fresh, spring green, and richly creamy avocado. I mixed this soup up and let it chill in the fridge while I cooked a few seasoned chicken breasts on the Griddler. It's an awesome indoor grilling tool, especially if you don't have time to fire up a gas grill, wait for charcoal to heat up...or if you simply don't have a grill. Like me!

I served this cold soup alongside a giant zucchini caprese sandwich with gooey, melted mozzarella and marbled heirloom tomatoes from our farm box. I don't pat my own back too often, but this meal was fantastic. I'll go ahead and say I hit it out of the park. It was just right for an overwhelmingly hot summer night and hopefully you'll enjoy this menu as well.

Avocado Corn Chowder with Grilled Chicken
adapted from Cooking Light August 2011

3 ripe avocados
1 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp. olive oil or canola oil
1 tsp. chili-lime seasoning
1 small garlic clove, cut in half
1 1/2 c. fresh corn kernels (3-4 ears)
1 red bell pepper, diced finely
1/3 c. green onions, chopped
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
lime wedges

Peel and coarsely chop 2 1/2 avocados and place in a blender. Add water, orange juice, honey, 1 tsp. salt, and1/2 tsp. black pepper. Blend until smooth. Place in fridge or freezer to chill while the chicken cooks.

Heat a grill or a grill pan to medium-high heat. Brush chicken breasts with oil (olive, canola, or vegetable) and sprinkle with a bit of salt, pepper, and chili-lime seasoning. Place chicken in grill pan and cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. After you remove the chicken from the pan, rub the warm meat with the cut sides of garlic halves. Let the chicken stand about 10 minutes until cool and cut into bite-sized pieces or shred.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob and dice the bell pepper and onions. Finely chop the cilantro. Stir the corn, pepper, onions, and cilantro into the chilled avocado puree. Peel and slice the remaining 1/2 avocado to use as garnish. Spoon chowder into bowls and top with chicken, sliced avocado, and a lime wedge.

Grilled Zucchini Caprese Sandwiches
adapted from Cooking Light August 2011

1 large zucchini, trimmed and cut lengthwise into slices
olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 large loaf of crusty artisan bread (like boule)
8-12 large basil leaves or 1/4 c. boxwood basil
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

Heat a large grill pan over medium-high heat. Place zucchini in a shallow dish and add olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Arrange the zucchini slices on the grill pan and cook about 2 minutes on each side or until grill marks appear. Return the zucchini to the shallow dish and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Cut the loaf of bread lengthwise to create a top and bottom. Brush the bottom half and the top of the bread with olive oil. Layer evenly inside: zucchini, basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Heat the sandwich in the grill pan (or Griddler!) until warm and the mozzarella melts. Use a sharp knife to cut the large sandwich into triangle-shaped servings. This recipe serves about 4.

C is for Camping

2011-07-07T16:35:00.003-04:00

I love Charlottesville for a thousand reasons, and one of those is proximity to mountains and outdoor recreation. There are dozens of awesome places to go hiking, camping, kayaking, swimming, fishing, or climbing. I grew up playing in the woods, building forts, running through corn fields, wading in creeks, and smashing together mud pies, so I have always appreciated the great outdoors. I like a little dirt in my sleeping bag and a little char on my marshmallows. Bring it on, mother nature!

Luckily, I married a man who also enjoys braving the wilderness. Last week, we ventured out to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a hiking and camping trip. We drove to one of our favorite secluded campsites. It's located around mile marker twenty-two, near the Bald Mountain overlook. You have to off-road for about a mile to get to a glorious open campground with mountain top views, but it's totally worth the bumpy trek. Peter and I hiked from Bald Mountain down to the Slacks overlook and then set up our campsite and built a fire to cook dinner. There were hundreds of wild blueberries to enjoy along our hike and some lovely views of the Blue Ridge mountains, but that hike was majorly steep. There were frequent blueberry snack breaks and a few bear clapping adventures. No, we didn't actually see a bear, but we tried to make a lot of noise any time we thought we heard a bear. After all the sweating, panting, and clapping, I was happy to be back at our campsite.

I don't want to brag, but I feel like I'm pretty good at campfire cooking. Some of the credit of course goes to my friend Nicci, who taught me about the power of aluminum foil. Foil packets have changed my life. Our campfire dinner consisted of turkey sausages with peppers and onions, rosemary roasted potatoes, a Greek orzo salad, and gourmet s'mores. It was awesome. You know what else was awesome? The stars. I wish I could've captured a photo to share with you, but some things you just have to see for yourself.

M is for Muffins

2011-07-06T12:34:00.001-04:00

For all those concerned, the lost hamster has been found. Meatloaf, the class pet, escaped his cage and after about 36 hours of delicious freedom, we found him behind the refrigerator. Actually, I should say that our friend's dog found him. We were dog-sitting for our friend Cynthia, so we had Charlie the German Short-haired Pointer as a house guest. Charlie, fully entranced, had his head wedged between the fridge and the wall, so I had another look back there. Hamster! Meatloaf had been sleeping in a pool of oil and other refrigerator ooze in the metal tray at the back of the fridge. We lured him out with sunflower seeds and then gave him a bath in a mixing bowl with some Dawn. With a toothbrush in one hand and a squirming, oily critter in the other, I felt like I was in a commercial for dish soap. "Do more than dishes!" So now you can sleep better at night knowing that the hamster is safe and Charlie is a true hero.

After all the hamster drama, I was able to spend a little time baking for the Fourth of July. We typically spend Independence Day at Smith Mountain Lake with Peter's family and enjoy lots of sun, good company, and multiple fireworks displays. This year I contributed red, white, and blue muffins made with strawberries, blueberries, and a handful of white chocolate chips. I don't typically go for the cutesy tootsy color-coordinated holiday stuff even though I am a teacher. I saw similar muffins being sold at the new Great Harvest bakery here in Charlottesville, and I decided to make my own version. In addition to the muffins, I also brought a few dozen cookies which didn't last long with nine guests at the lake house for the holiday weekend.

I hope you had a nice Fourth of July weekend!

Red, White, and Blue Muffins

adapted from The Willams-Sonoma Baking Book

6 Tbsp. butter, room temp
3/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. fresh strawberries, diced

3/4 c. fresh blueberries

handful of white chocolate chips

handful of oatmeal

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 12 muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.

Using the mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar and then add the eggs one at a time. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry goods to the butter mixture gradually and mix the milk and vanilla. Stir until just moistened because the batter should be a little lumpy. After rinsing the blueberries, sprinkle a spoonful of flour on them and toss the berries around. This should prevent the blueberries from "bleeding" into the muffins. Fold in the strawberries, blueberries, and white chocolate chips carefully using a spatula.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until level with the rim. Sprinkle the oatmeal on top of the batter so that it shows. Bake the muffins until golden, about 20-25 minutes.

H is for Haystacks

2011-06-26T13:52:00.000-04:00

The class hamster is lost. It is completely my fault. I arranged for his summer vacation at a student's house, but 24 hours into his time share, I got a phone call that it wasn't going to work. So Meatloaf, the third grade hamster, is at my house for the summer. At least he was! I took him out of his cage for a little ball-rolling time the other night while Peter and I watched a movie. Then I put him back in his cage but evidently I forgot to securely latch the door. I must admit, I didn't realize he was gone for about 24 hours. Now we're dealing with a missing hamster who's had plenty of time to find alternative lodging somewhere in this house. Peter's been a great sport, even waking up early to don a headlamp and lift up all the furniture and inspect for hamster holes. No evidence of him anywhere yet.

In honor of Meatloaf, our needle in a haystack, I made chocolate haystacks today. They're very simple to make, but they'll satisfy any chocolate craving with the greatest of ease.

Chocolate Haystacks
from Ellie Krieger's cookbook: So Easy

3 large shredded wheat biscuits
6 oz. dark chocolate (60% to 70& cocoa), chopped

Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Using your hands, crush the shredded wheat biscuits into thread-like pieces in a bowl. Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Melt the chocolate in the double boiler, stirring constantly, until it is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the crushed shredded wheat to the chocolate and stir until it is well coated. Using a cookie scoop, place tablespoon-size stacks of the mixture onto the wax paper. Place in the refrigerator to cool for about 20 minutes. Store and serve at room temperature.

C is for Compost Cookies

2011-06-05T19:49:00.001-04:00

This recipe is so creative and fun that I have to recommend it. Ever heard of Momofuku Milk Bar in New York? Momofuku is a well-recognized restaurant group, but the Milk Bar is a restaurant specializing in milk and cookies. Genius. They serve a variety of over-sized cookies, candy bar pies, bagels, coffee, and flavored milks like "cereal milk." I don't even have to explain what that means because I think you'll know what it is. You just never knew you could order it at a bar!

One of Momofuku's specialties is their compost cookies, which are packed with pretzels, oats, butterscotch bits, potato chips, coffee grounds, rice krispies, and anything else that's in the pantry. I love this! I didn't include coffee grounds in my batch of cookies, but I've heard a tablespoon makes all the difference in the cookies sold in the milk bar. Maybe I'll try that next time. I have made these before with Pringles, graham crackers, Hershey's kisses, green M&M's, white chocolate chips, and Kix cereal. Use whatever you have in your pantry for a delightful sweet and salty contrast.

The most difficult aspect of this recipe is the wait time. I whipped the eggs for about 10 minutes in the hard-working Kitchenaid mixer. That's a long time. I scooped out the cookies on parchment and let them chill in the fridge for a few hours. That's a long time [to not eat the cookie dough]. Finally, after you bake them you have to let these guys cool on the cookie sheet so they won't crumble into a mess. That's a long time too! Basically, you shouldn't attempt this recipe if you're impatient, keep a very crowded refrigerator, or if you don't have a stand mixer. Go with Nestle instead.

Compost Cookies

recipe by Christina Tosi

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. light brown sugar

1 Tbsp. corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 c. your favorite baking ingredients (like chocolate chips, oats, Raisinettes, Rollos, butterscotch bits, rice krispies, M&Ms, etc.)

1 1/2 c. your favorite crunchy snack foods (chips, graham crackers, pretzels, etc.)

In a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugars, and corn syrup for a few minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. On a low speed, add the eggs and vanilla. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. The creamed mixture should nearly double in size during this time.

When the timer goes off, lower the speed and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Once this is incorporated, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and then your favorite snack foods only allowing it to mix until incorporated. You do not want to over mix the batter.

Using an ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or up to a week. If you bake the cookie dough at room temperature, it will not hold its shape.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 400 F. Take the plastic off the cookies and bake for 9-11 minutes. The cookies should be brown around the edges and just beginning to brown in the center. If they seem too doughy, give them a little more time in the oven. Cool the cookies completely on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a container for storage.

M is for Moroccan Vegetable Stew

2011-06-03T17:17:00.000-04:00

When I hear this word "stew" I usually think of warm red meat meals in the coldest woes of winter. I'll share with you today a stew, but this one is unlike any you're used to. It includes fresh spring vegetables like carrots, zucchini, and onion. It has fluffy couscous served along side and a sprinkling of toasted slivered almonds that give it a nice crunch. It has the sweetness of cinnamon and golden raisins and the glorious kick of curry powder that I welcome in any season. This is my Moroccan Vegetable Stew.

Moroccan Vegetable Stew
adapted from Pampered Chef

1 lb. small red potatoes or new potatoes
2 medium carrots, peeled
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 chopped onion
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger root
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 c. vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes in sauce
1/2 c. golden raisings
2 c. hot cooked couscous (original)
toasted slivered almonds as garnish

Cut the small potatoes in half using a crinkle cutter or a knife. Use a crinkle cutter to decoratively cut carrots and zucchini in half-moon shapes. Set aside. Chop onion finely and add to hot oil in a dutch oven or large pot with the potatoes. As the onions become translucent, grate the ginger root over the cooking onions and potatoes and stir in the garlic. Stir in curry powder and cinnamon and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour until it coats the onions and potatoes. Add the vegetable or chicken broth, beans, tomatoes, carrots, squash, and zucchini. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes. Stir in the raisins and then remove from the heat. To toast almonds, toss a handful of almonds into a saute pan over medium heat and stir frequently for 3-5 minutes. When serving this dish, add hot cooked couscous and sprinkle with some toasted almonds.

C is for Chicken Salsa Bake

2011-06-02T20:52:00.001-04:00

I'm not a casserole queen, but sometimes I need an all-in-one dish meal like "salsa chicken." Chicken smothered in chunky salsa, beans, cheese, and tortilla chips...can you object? In college Peter and I regularly made all-in-one dishes like creamy chicken, chicken divan, or chicken broccoli and rice. It was a great, cheap option when we were feeding a pack of hungry undergraduate ~~wolves~~ boys in his apartment, but now that it's just the two of us, I stray away from condensed soup and rice meals in favor of healthier ingredients. This one slipped through the cracks because I'm a sucker for Mexican flavors. I never think casseroles look very good on your plate, but they sure taste good and they're nice to take to school as leftovers for my lunch. A hot lunch is a nice break from my ordinary turkey sandwich.

This recipe came from the magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray, and in general I'm not a Rachael Ray fan. She doesn't offend me, but I tire of the 30-minute meal mantra and most of her recipes don't make it into my my keep file. This one did.

I used shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken, but you could certainly cook a few pounds of boneless chicken breasts and cut up the meat to use in this dish. I added jalapeno, corn, garlic, and cilantro. I lessened the amount of sour cream and cheese. You could certainly use fewer tortilla chips; just use thin layers and only crush a cup at a time to see how far it can go. Rachael Ray didn't cook the onion before adding it to the casserole, and I think this is a mistake. The onions lose their potency when cooked in a skillet first with a touch of oil and it's worth the time. An overly oniony casserole doesn't go over well with anyone. If you wanted to make this a vegetarian dish, omit the chicken and use two extra cans of beans. I'd suggest black beans or pinto beans.

Chicken Salsa Bake
adapted from Rachael Ray

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 c. corn kernels

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 lbs. shredded chicken
2 16 oz. jars salsa (try salsa verde or your favorite variety)
1 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. sour cream
3 c. crushed tortilla chips
1 1/2 c. shredded Mexican-style cheese
cilantro for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large skillet, heat a tsp. of oil. Add the onion until it becomes transparent. Toss the corn, garlic, and jalapeno into the skillet for a couple minutes to gently brown on medium heat. In a large bowl, shred your chicken meat and add salsa, kidney beans, and the onion corn mixture. Gently stir in the sour cream. Spray a 9x13" baking dish with nonstick spray and scatter a layer of tortilla chips on the bottom. Top with half of the chicken mixture and a layer of cheese. Repeat the layers and then top with some chips and cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes, watching that the cheese doesn't burn. Enjoy!

C is for Crostini

2011-06-01T22:12:00.000-04:00

I have a new favorite appetizer for spring: strawberry basil crostini. It is so simple and so fresh, you'll be prepping a platter of these delicious bites in no time. I used a honey chevre which I spotted at the grocery store and wanted to try. I would recommend this cheese for a lot of uses; Peter and I thought it was wonderful with sliced pears, fig jam, and crumbled over a salad with berries. I took a roll of honey chevre along with me to make a cheese plate at my Grandma's birthday party too, so this might be one of my new favorite cheeses.

Strawberry Basil Crostini

by Rachel

French baguette

honey chevre, room temperature

sliced strawberries

small basil leaves (I used boxwood basil)

Slice and toast the French baguette. Using a knife, spread the honey chevre on each piece of toast. Top each toast with a slice of strawberry and a basil leaf. Serve!

G is for Green Pasta

2011-05-29T12:36:00.000-04:00

Now that I've learned to make fresh pasta, it's getting much easier to whip up a batch. Homemade pasta is truly delicious and I enjoy making it, but I need to figure out a better way to store it because my go-to recipe from Epicurious makes so much. I'm still surprised by the sheer quantity of pasta I get when I decide to roll out some pasta sheets, so I need to work on halving the recipe or find an alternative.

My most recent adventure with pasta included a bit of spinach. I know green pasta makes some people a bit wary, but I love it! I took about half a bag of baby spinach and pureed it in the food processor. Then I added my regular pasta ingredients and used the food processor's pulse function to mix everything to a kneadable consistency. It turned out great!

Peter and I bought some clams and mussels and made a wine sauce to steam them in from Smitten Kitchen. We served the mussels and clams over my spinach pasta and enjoyed our meal out on the porch. Delicious!

Spinach Fettucini

adapted from Epicurious

1/2 bag baby spinach leaves

3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
4 large eggs
1 tsp. salt
2-3 Tbsp. water
A pasta machine

Puree the spinach leaves in a food processor, scraping the sides of the work bowl with a spatula to ensure all the leaves are evenly chopped. Add the flour, eggs, and salt and pulse several times to mix. Add water 1 Tbsp. at a time through the feeder tube until it begins to form a ball. If the dough is too dry, add water a little bit at a time and stop when it is firm and not sticky. Process the dough for about 15 seconds more to knead it and then transfer it to a floured surface to let it rest. Cover the dough with an inverted bowl for about 1 hour so the gluten can relax and rolling will be easier.

To roll the pasta, divide your dough into 8 equally-sized pieces. Flatten each piece into a rectangle and cover the remaining pasta pieces while you work with one at a time to flatten it. You do not want them to dry out. Lightly dust 1 rectangle with flour and feed it through the rollers of your pasta machine. On my Kitchenaid mixer attachment, I set it to 1 (the thickest setting) first and took it through several times to make long, even rectangles. The mixer speed was set on the lowest speed and I thought that was as fast as I would really want to work. I ran each pasta sheet through on setting 1 about 5-8 times, sometimes folding it in half length-wise to avoid getting sheets that were excessively wide. Turn the dial to the next narrower setting and feed the dough through the rollers without folding. Continue to feed the dough through each level once without folding until you reach your desired thickness. I took my pasta through each setting and stopped at 5 or 6. Don't skip levels of rolling because the pasta will crumble out into your hand instead of sticking together and thinning out. Your pasta sheets should end up being about 3 feet long and roughly 4 inches wide. Cut the sheets shorter if you like and lay them on a lightly floured surface to dry while you roll the remaining rectangles. You can also lightly dust them with flour and hang them over the backs of chairs, a broomstick, a pasta tree, or a drying rack. When your pasta sheets are leathery but still pliable, it's time to cut them.

To cut the pasta, I changed the attachment on the mixer from the roller to the fettucini cutting tool. I carefully led each pasta sheet through the cutter and caught the fettucini underneath with my hands. I put the cut pasta on a rod to dry overnight.

Mussels in White Wine Sauce

from Smitten Kitchen

2 c. white wine

1/2 c. minced shallots

handful of parsley, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. pepper

6 Tbsp. butter

2-3 lbs. mussels, scrubbed

2 lbs. clams, scrubbed

Add all the ingredients to boil in a dutch oven or large pot. Boil for 2-3 minutes and then add the clams. Let the clams steam with the lid on for about 3 minutes and then add the mussels to the pot. Cover and boil for 4-5 more minutes. The shells will open up when the mussels and clams are done. Ladle the clams, mussels, and broth into soup bowls and sprinkle with parsley. You can serve this over pasta or with hearty bread to soak up the delicious broth.

R is for Rhubarb

2011-05-28T15:09:00.002-04:00

When Rhubarb arrived in the farm box, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I know that rhubarb is quintessentially spring and that my grandma used to grow rhubarb at the edge of her garden. I also know that rhubarb is frequently paired with strawberries, but I wasn't sure how to prepare any rhubarb dishes or baked goods. Now I do. And now I love rhubarb!

After reading an informative ode to rhubarb at Simple Bites, I decided to make a honey rhubarb compote and use it a few different ways. I created a rhubarb vinaigrette dressing and served it with a salad and chicken sausage. I baked some soft meringues and topped them with the compote and strawberry slices pavlova style. I also swirled a spoonful of rhubarb compote into the top of some strawberry ginger muffins and topped them with oatmeal for my students to enjoy on one of our testing days. A few kids loved them, but perhaps I was asking a bit too much with the combination of candied ginger and rhubarb. Most third graders are more accustomed to chicken nuggets, pizza, and pop tarts. My muffins were a bit too...um...mature? Real?

Honey Rhubarb Compote

adapted from Simple Bites

5-6 cups fresh rhubarb

1/2 c. orange juice

1/4 c. honey

Rinse and cut rhubarb into one-inch pieces. In a saucepan, bring orange juice to a boil and then add rhubarb and honey. Lower the heat to medium and cook slowly for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely. The compote will thicken over time. Store it in a jar in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.

Rhubarb Vinaigrette

by Rachel

2 Tbsp. rhubarb compote

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

pinch of sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and then use an immersion blender to smooth out the dressing. Try serving this with mixed greens, sugar snap peas, strawberries, goat cheese, and chicken sausage. Delicious!

Strawberry Rhubarb Ginger Muffins

by Rachel

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

6 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 c. oats

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 c. milk

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 c. chopped fresh strawberries

3/4 c. tart apple, cubed

2 Tbsp. candied ginger bits

1/2 c. rhubarb compote

Topping

1/2 c. oats

1 Tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line two muffin tins with 24 liners and spray lightly with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the oats. In a mixer on the lowest speed, lightly beat the eggs, milk, and oil until just combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients until moist. Stir in strawberries, apple pieces, and ginger. Pour the muffin batter into muffin cups. With a teaspoon, put a dollop of rhubarb compote on top of each muffin. Using a knife, stir the compote into the batter just enough to create a swirl, but not enough to turn your muffins pink. In a small microwavable bowl, melt 1 Tbsp. butter. Stir in 1/2 c. oats and then top each of the muffins with some of the oatmeal crumble. Bake for about 15 minutes.

C is for Cantaloupe Sorbet

2011-05-24T23:31:00.001-04:00

I recently read a blog post at thekitchn.com about freezing bananas and dropping them in the food processor for nearly instant (and wonderfully healthy!) ice cream. Can't you just imagine a bowl of smooth banana ice cream with chocolate chips sprinkled on top? I am totally intrigued by the idea of puréeing frozen fruit into a sorbet or ice cream texture. It'd be a low calorie dessert, but still satisfying, and I'm loving that combination because I'm a girl with a sweet tooth.

I didn't have any bananas around this week, but I did have a cantaloupe that smelled amazing. When Peter cut into it, we both thought it was a bit overripe. I put the pieces of slightly mushy fruit onto a cookie sheet and popped it into the freezer with the hopes that frozen cantaloupe would behave the same way that bananas did in my inspiration post. Good news! Frozen cantaloupe will turn into a sorbet texture when you put it in the food processor!

Cantaloupe Sorbet
by Rachel

1 cantaloupe, cut into cubes
juice from 1 orange
1 Tbsp. sugar
pinch of salt

Put the cantaloupe cubes on a cookie sheet in the freezer for several hours or up to a few days. When you're ready to create the sorbet, let the cookie sheet sit out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, so the cantaloupe won't stick to the cookie sheet. Drop the fruit into the food processor and pulse to chop and blend it. Add the juice from one orange as the cantaloupe is blending. Sprinkle in the sugar and salt and continue to pulse until the fruit takes the consistency of a sorbet. Scoop the sorbet into a freezer-safe container and let it harden in the freezer for about an hour before serving. Enjoy!

S is for Summer Rolls

2011-05-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

I am an enormous fan of egg rolls. Each time Peter has ordered Chinese take-out over the past five years, he has saved me his egg roll. It's a wonderful arrangement. I have never made egg rolls, but I was recently inspired to make summer rolls (the egg roll's rather nutritious cousin) after reading a recipe in Health magazine.

My summer roll adventure involved a trip to several grocery stores and then eventually the Asian market to find rice paper. Rice paper is a little hard to come by around here, but I found some. It comes in a disc shape and it's translucent; you dip the rounds into warm water to soften them and then fill them up with your favorite sweet or savory ingredients.

I also had a little trouble finding cellophane noodles, or bean threads. You may also know of these by the name of "glass noodles" or Chinese vermicelli. The cellophane noodles serve as a nice texture in the summer rolls and generally don't have much flavor. I boiled some water and covered the noodles for a few minutes until they became soft and completely translucent. Then I drained the water and patted the noodles dry with paper towels.

This recipe sounded a lot better to me than it actually tasted. I think if my mango had been more ripe and if I had used less mint, I may have enjoyed the summer rolls a bit more. Actually, maybe if it were summer I would have enjoyed the summer rolls a bit more. They'd be a wonderful appetizer at a dinner party or a cookout. They sure looked appetizing! I treated the summer rolls as a quick dinner and after Peter and I shared a plate of them, we were both still hungry. I don't think this needs to be said, but don't serve these as an entrée; they're not as satisfying as sushi.

Mango Shrimp Summer Rolls

adapted from Health magazine

Rice paper

1 tsp. butter or oil

1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 mango, sliced into matchsticks

1 c. cellophane noodles

2 c. red leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces

10 basil leaves

10 mint leaves

1/4 c. sweet chili sauce

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 scallion, diced

soy sauce (optional)

Heat a tsp. of butter or oil in a skillet and toss the shrimp in to cook for a few minutes on medium heat. When they turn pink, take them off the heat and cut each shrimp into two or three bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle the shrimp with a bit of salt. Peel and slice the mango into matchsticks. Boil a few cups of water and pour it over the cellophane noodles in a bowl so they can soften. After a couple minutes, drain the water and then pat the noodles dry. Wash and tear the red leaf lettuce into 2 or 3 inch pieces. Wash and pat dry the basil and mint leaves.

Combine the chili sauce, vinegar, and scallion in a small bowl. Add a splash of soy sauce if you'd like a more savory dipping sauce. Set this aside.

Spread out a damp kitchen towel to use as a work space for creating your summer rolls. Make sure all your ingredients are close by so that you can build the rolls quickly. Fill a shallow pan with warm water and drop in a sheet of rice paper. It only takes about 10-30 seconds for it to soften and become clear. Carefully remove the rice paper disc and put it on the damp kitchen towel. Top with a piece of basil, a few mango matchsticks, several pieces of shrimp, 2 Tbsp. of cellophane noodles, a handful of red leaf lettuce, and a spearmint leaf. Position this pile neatly and then pull the left side of the rice paper over the top of your pile. Fold in the top and the bottom like an envelope, and then roll up the rest of the roll carefully. You should be able to see through the rice paper whatever topping you put down first, so choose something "pretty" to show through when you're layering. Set the summer roll on a plate and repeat each step until you've run out of filling.

I made about 8 rolls and then cut each in half before serving with the dipping sauce.

T is for Triathlon

2011-05-16T21:50:00.003-04:00

My dear friend and regular cooking partner, Cynthia, is now an accomplished triathlete. She swam 750 m in chilly water, biked 20 km while dodging deer in the park, and topped it all off with a 5 km run in about an hour and a half. Incredible! We spent a weekend at Smith Mountain Lake for her race and C is for Cooking served as her...I'm trying not to giggle...sponsor! I laugh because this sponsorship really didn't involve any money. We stayed at my in-laws lake house and if you're wondering about meals, I honestly didn't do that much cooking.

Basically, it comes down to the shirts. I had a dozen tees printed at Crazy Horse Studio in town and we wore them to the race. The goal was that Cynthia could spot us easily in the crowd between her transitions and at the finish line. It worked! We were a mini sea of green.

After Cynthia's race, I did whip up a meal for us to eat on the deck and enjoy some sunshine. I marinated chicken breast tenderloins in oil and vinegar, grilled them, and then smeared them with a yummy teriyaki BBQ sauce. I also grilled a bit of asparagus in a metal basket while the chicken was cooking. I chopped up a head of bok choy and created a dressing with soy sauce, sugar, oil, and sunflower seeds. My old roommate, Steph, taught me how to make the bok choy dressing & it's one of my very favorite salads. In addition to the chicken, asparagus, and bok choy, I also set out a bowl of sliced cantaloupe and leftover rice pilaf with fresh mushrooms from our farm box. Cynthia felt refueled, so we set out for a boat ride. I always love the first trip out on the water after a long winter. Thank God for spring!

Summer is almost here. We have 18 days of school left and a few more standardized tests to administer. I'm trying to maintain a certain energy and keep high expectations until the last day of school, but I'm definitely weary from the SOL tests and endless review. I'm finding myself wanting to bake and bake and bake, but I don't have time to write about what I create, nor do I need to eat all those baked goods! I'll try to muscle through to the end of our school year and view Cynthia as an inspiration. She powered through that triathlon; I can power through the last 4 weeks!

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." - Vince Lombardi