Today is St. Patrick's Day, of course, and because I have a tiny percentage of Irish heritage somewhere waaaay back in my ancestry, and because I like Irish music, and the color green, I have always liked this holiday. I don't know a thing about Saint Patrick, and my idea of Irish music is to put on the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly, but it still makes for a fun holiday.
I'm always a little iffy on the food, though. I'm okay with having the traditional corned beef once a year, but that this big hunk of meat is traditionally boiled has always grossed me out a little bit. I've cooked it this way time and time again, and enjoyed eating it, but always with a little shiver of revulsion at the fact that I'm eating boiled meat. I don't know why, but something about boiled meat just rubs me the wrong way.
But yesterday I stumbled across this recipe for Guinness corned beef, which is actually cooked in the oven! I decided to do mine in the crockpot, and we didn't have any Guinness around, but I substituted the stoutest beer we had in the fridge, and right now every time I take the lid off of the crockpot I am assaulted by the scnet of hot beer and I kind of want to vomit. But, I was unsure about the crazy Voodoo Cake I made yesterday, and that turned out to be surprisingly wonderful, and very rich, so I'm hoping I'll be surprised by this strange beef as well.
After our massive beef ingestion tonight, we'll be returning to our newly acquired state of semi-vegetarianism. And I swear I'm not turning my blog into a food blog, but that's all I can think of to write about lately. Just wait, next week after I return from visiting my sister, this blog will be plastered in photos of my new nephew. Strange foods and new babies, two of my favorite things.
17 March 2008
irish for the day
16 March 2008
expressions of love
I was going to do a weekend recipe this weekend, really I was, but then I got too busy cooking. You see, last Wednesday was Greg's birthday, and for the people I love (read: the people I live with who have no option to refuse), I bake birthday cakes. And for my lovely boyfriend, I will spend most of the afternoon making a cake full of questionable flavor combinations, dirtying just about every dish in the kitchen, because I love him, and baking is one of my favorite ways to express my love.
Sometime last week, Greg was making popcorn and hunting in the spice cabinet for something to put on it when he spied a jar of molasses. I hadn't realized until that moment how much Greg loves molasses, until he suggested putting it on our popcorn. Then he started rhapsodizing about his ideal popcorn toppings, which included flavors like molasses and mocha and caramel. Needless to say, I shot this train of thought down pretty much immediately, because unless popcorn is covered in butter or chocolate, I won't eat it. But he did give me something to think about.
Later on, I put "molasses mocha caramel cake" into Google and came up with a recipe for Chocolate Voodoo Cake. After looking it over and seriously underestimating the time and effort involved, I decided to make it for Greg's birthday cake.
I started the cake process at 3:30 this afternoon. Now it's around 8:30pm and we've got another 45 minutes of refrigeration until the glaze is set and the cake is ready to be poked with our voodoo needles. In the interest of saving time, I didn't bother to shape the cake, thinking I could mask any lopsidedness with the mousse and/or the glaze. This, of course, didn't work at all, so we've got a very misshapen little cake. And we tried, we really tried with those stupid chocolate caramel voodoo needles, but ours are all blobby, and either too fat or too thin.
Still, I tasted every bit of batter over every step of the way, and I'm convinced that though it is a really strange combination of things, it will taste good even if it's not pretty. And trust me, it's not pretty.
So happy belated birthday, honey. There aren't many people who I'd deem worthy of almost six hours (non-continuous, but still!) of my labor, just for a birthday cake, but you're one of 'em. I just hope this cake is worth it.
14 March 2008
friday video
We've been encouraging Evan to work on his "L" sounds. Sometimes he's cooperative, sometimes he's indifferent, and sometimes, as this video shows, he's a little comedian. My favorite part is the way he just cracks himself up.
11 March 2008
otherwise occupied
Greg has been out of town since Saturday morning, and we've been trying to keep busy in his absence. We've had friends over to keep us company, we've baked, we've watched a movie, we've played with Play-doh and we've played outdoors, thanks to a healthy snowfall and a few sunny days. The kids were enchanted with The Never-Ending Story and spent a surprising amount of time crafting creatures from the movie out of Play-doh. James invented a version of chess involving Lego blocks, which, true to form, sounds convoluted and unnecessarily complicated. But imaginative, to be sure.
But most of our time has been spent in two ways. The boys have decided that all of their stuffed animals are various Pokemon -- I'm pleased that for the first time in either of their short lives, they are acknowledging the fact that they have several dozen stuffed animals in their bedroom, and that some of these animals are being played with for the first time ever! -- so they are spending hours on Pokemon games. The best part is that these games keep them occupied in their bedroom.
And me? In Greg's absence, I've fallen in love with a serial killer. Er, a fictional serial killer, that is, by the name of Dexter. The last thing I need is to be addicted to yet another TV show, but I can't help myself! The murderer with a heart of gold is just so charming. When you're spending several nights in a row by yourself, with high-speed internet and all kinds of shows freely available for viewing or download, it's more fun than reading a book, or doing housework, or going to bed early.
You can tell things are pretty boring in my life right now when I write an enthusiastic post about Pokemon and television, but I was feeling neglectful of the blog, so this is what you get for now.
06 March 2008
random happiness
I've been kind of cranky lately, so I thought I'd write a post on some of the good things that have happened this week, however small, to try and get myself out of this funk a little bit.
- Finally, for the first time ever, I made really good homemade hummus. And I think I owe it all to getting a new food processor. There was nothing wrong with the old one, really, it just wasn't cutting it in the hummus department texture-wise. But the new one? Perfect. (Kitchen successes or failures can really make or break my day, sometimes.
- I got a package from a friend today: a copy of the film Once (which I've been wanting to see for quite some time) and its soundtrack. Those, along with the copy of The Fountain that's waiting for me to pick it up at the library, should give me something to do when Greg is out of town next week.
- I made these cookies today, and they are good. Reeeaaaally good. I was having issues with them at first -- they were sticking to the pan and crumbling all over the place -- but I did manage to get enough whole, undamaged cookies to make it worthwhile. And they're good. Reeeaaaally good.
- I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but Evan is maybe, possibly starting to consider becoming a little bit interested in the potty. He had this weird skin problem going on, so we let him go diaperless on a few different days, and he used his little potty every time he had to go. Every time. As the parent of a toddler, sometimes I don't ask for much more out of life than this.
Okay, thats all I've got for now.
04 March 2008
so i guess he's not gay
James: Excuse me.
Me: Yes, James?
James: I have a crush on girls.
Greg: What girls? All girls?
James: Yeah.
Me: What do you think that means, to have a crush?
James: That you really, really like some one.
Me: Oh. So you don't like boys, then?
James: I do like boys, butI don't have a crush on them. I have a crush on girls.
I wonder if the fact that he wants to be Cinderella for Halloween will help or hurt his chances with all those girls he's crushing on?
03 March 2008
9 seconds
Nine seconds is all it takes to capture the essence of my children's personalities on video:
Both children: full of energy
James: oblivious to his surroundings
Evan: alternately cheerful and aggressive
Okay, so it's not a complete picture of my children's personalities, but I thought those nine seconds illustrated very concisely some of the more prominent character traits of each of the boys.
02 March 2008
weekend recipe: chunky vegetable stew
This week's recipe comes from (I think) Vegetarian Times magazine, from where I get a lot of awesome recipes. It's pretty basic, and easily tweakable, and, of course, delicious. Like the last recipe I posted (I originally wrote "last week's recipe" before checking and realizing that it's been three weeks since I posted a recipe -- oops!), it's one you can leave simmering on the stove for as long as you need to, and it's great for cold weather. I give you:
Chunky Vegetable Stew
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thickly sliced (though I usually chop, because I don't like huge chunks in my stew)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes, undrained (I usually use a can of onion-and-garlic-flavored diced tomatoes)
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (same thing as chickpeas, and I use 1 can, drained and rinsed)
2 sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 2" chunks
3/4 tsp crushed rosemary (I don't know if the original recipe intended for fresh or dried, but I always use dried)
1 zucchini, sliced (I'm convinced spinach would be a good substitute for the zucchini, though Greg has never let me try that variation)
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium hear. Add onion; separate slices. Cook 5 minutes or until onions are soft. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
Add tomatoes with juice, beans, yams, and rosemary. (You will want to add more liquid, because it will look like there's barely any in there, but trust me, it's not necessary. It won't hurt, but you don't need to.) Bring to a boil (it's a bit hard to tell because of the low amount of liquid, but you'll figure it out); reduce heat to low and simmer, covered.
Here you have a couple of options. Back in our meat-eating days, we added sliced kielbasa (around 1 pound, I think) at this point, which adds a ton of flavor. Whether or not you're adding meat, you will decide at this point how thick and mushy you like your stew. We like to let this simmer for a couple of hours, turning the yams into a nice pasty base for the rest of the soup. If that doesn't sound good to you, then move along to the last bit.
Add the zucchini about 15-20 minutes before you're ready to serve the stew. Otherwise your zucchini will get mushy along with your yams, and mushy zucchini is not a good thing. Let your stew simmer until everything is as soft as you'd like it, then stir in some salt and pepper (I like a lot of salt in this, especially without meat) and sprinkle with Parmesan (fresh or not; we usually don't keep fresh around but the powdery stuff is fine) before serving.
29 February 2008
friday fun
No Friday photos today, but thought I'd share a couple of fun things I came across recently. (Found both of these at Shakesville, by the way.)
1) I've never been a big fan of Garfield. In fact, since I was 9 years old or so, I've found that cat pretty annoying. But some genius out there has removed Garfield from Garfield's own comics, and the result is brilliant. As the site says:
Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness in a quiet American suburb.
Some examples:
2) Finally, someone thought to explain popular songs with visual aids! Charts, graphs, and handy illustrations make your favorite songs easy to understand. See the flickr pool here; see a few of my favorite examples below:
Ah, good times. What are your favorite time-wasting, pointless sites?
28 February 2008
a lesson in phonics
Evan: Mama, my cars are sweeping.
Me: They're sweeping?
Evan: No! They're sweeping.
Me: They're sweeping the floor?
Evan: NO! They're... sah-LEEEP-ing.
Me: Oh, sleeping. That's very different from sweeping.
Progress is slow, but he's coming along.
27 February 2008
random snippets of the last week
Scene: We are in the car, talking about a classmate of Greg's who has completed her Ph.D. **** Now I have to post a photo for Greg, so that he can have it online. This is Gradient Index Jell-O, which causes light to bend when it shines through the Jell-O. This is the stuff Greg does for fun -- he spends hours tinkering with Jell-O, adjusting ingredient amounts, until he can use it to bend light. Now that James wants to be a scientist too, I sense a lot of this sort of stuff in our future.
Greg: Now she'll be a doctor.
Me: But not the kind of doctor you go to when you're sick.
James: Oh, I know -- a veterinarian!
Greg: No --
James: A dentist?
Greg: No... [begins to try to explain Ph.D.s in six-year-old terms]
James: Excuse me, Dad?
Greg: Yes?
James: Did you know that dogs can hear things that people can't?
****
21 February 2008
*cough cough*
Wouldn't it figure that it's on James' week off from school that I get sick? James is spending his winter break watching a lot of movies and playing a lot of video games, and I'm spending it mostly on the couch, napping, drinking tea or water at all times, coughing, and trying not to let the drugs wear off.
Also, I can barely speak. Fun times!
15 February 2008
friday photos: kindergarten love edition
In the week leading up to Valentine's Day, James' class at school has been focusing a lot on love, and doing various love-related projects. He had a show-and-tell day on which he had to bring in a photo of someone he loves, and he made a little "Love Book" to illustrate people or things he loves. Naturally, cuteness abounds. Photos below the fold. And the drawings from his "Love Book": Greg was a little insulted to be replaced by Goldfish (I believe this refers to the crackers and not the animal, which I find even funnier) but I'm pleased to have made the cut. Especially since Greg is actually James' favorite person by far. I'll be visiting family this weekend, so I may or may not get a weekend recipe up. Have a happy weekend!
The person James loves who he brought photos of to school? His brother. AWWWW. These are the two photos he brought to show his class: 
14 February 2008
10 February 2008
weekend recipe: black bean and sweet potato chili
This week's recipe is a favorite 'round these parts, and a nice alternative to your typical chili: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili. I'm not sure where I got this recipe, but you can find a lot of similar recipes online, and it's a pretty easy dish to experiment with. It's colorful, flavorful, healthy and vegetarian, and it's fairly quick to throw together too. We like to serve it with cheddar cheese and sour cream on top, and eat it with cornbread, or scoop it up with tortilla chips.
Recipe below the fold.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili
2 medium-large sweet potatoes or yams
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
2 (14-15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (14-15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can chopped mild green chilies
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 - 1 tsp chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt to taste
Microwave the sweet potatoes for about 3 or 4 mintes per potato. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 3/4-inch dice. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat until golden. Add the bell pepper, beans, tomatoes, chilies, corn, cumin, chili powder, and oregano. (I like to add a dash or two of chipotle seasoning or cayenne pepper; not necessary, but tasty if you've got 'em and don't mind a little heat. You can feel free to add whatever spices you normally like in your chili -- it's easily customizable.)
Bring chili to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and continue to simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Season lightly with salt.
At this point you can eat it, or let it sit for an hour or two before eating, to give the flavors a little time to blend. Either way, it's delicious.
You can garnish with all your favorite chili toppings: cheese, sour cream, lime, tortilla chips, avocado, whatever. Enjoy!
08 February 2008
friday photos: junior scientists edition
We've had a sudden boom in the popularity of science around here. We went to the (highly interactive) science museum last weekend, and since then, James has been declaring his intention to be a scientist when he grows up (this is the first thing he's wanted to be that wasn't a stay-at-home dad), and he's suddenly very interested in the science experiment books he got for his birthday. (Okay, he was always interested in them, but this week we've done our first experiments because he has been so insistent.) James dripping soap into the water/pepper mixture (you can sort of see how the pepper spread away from the center where he added the soap): Evan was not keen on touching the slimy shell-less egg: James, hoever, was happy to both hold his egg, and pose for photos: A close-up of the egg, because that's pretty cool:
Of course, since James wants to be a scientist and perform science experiments, so does Evan. This necessitates performing two experiments at once, every time. So far we've done three experiments, and learned the science behind them (I use the word "learned" loosely, since I'm not really sure how much James is really understanding or retaining): adding soap to water and pepper (like this), adding bleach to colored water, and, the best one, soaking an egg in vinegar to remove its shell (leaving the membrane intact, though).
Photos below the fold.
Here is Evan whole-heartedly getting into the pepper-shaking part of the first experiment:
Happy Friday, everyone!
07 February 2008
a bedtime story, by evan
"Once upon a time there was a little boy named Batman. And he lived with his family. And one day he was getting firewood and he fell into a cave. And it was full of bats! And he scared them! And they all flew away. And then he finded a bat and flew somewhere else. And then he finded a bat and flew somewhere else. [Repeat twenty times.] And then he finded all the bats and he stomped them. And then Mommy Batman and Daddy Batman came and saved the Big Batman. The End."
05 February 2008
super tuesday
I'm known among my friends for being political. I think it's because of the PoliSci degree, but maybe also because I have a lot of opinions about politics. So they were surprised (and you may be too) to learn that I'm not voting today. This is because when I registered to vote at age eighteen, I had no idea what my political views were, let alone which party I identified with, so I registered as an Independent. But honestly, if I were voting today, I'd have a hard time choosing, for various reasons that I'm not going to go into because it wouldn't really matter if I did.
But James has decided! Greg and I have been talking politics a lot over the last few weeks, following the election coverage, watching the news, and James is starting to catch on. This morning he asked me why Hillary can't be the president. I suppose he got this idea because Greg and I think Hillary would have a hard time winning, seeing as there are so many Republicans (and plenty of Democrats too) who vehemently dislike her and will try their hardest to stop her.
This led to an explanation of the primaries, and then a bit about who Hillary is, exactly, and then some info about Obama just to be thorough. I didn't really mention the Republicans at all, just their existence really, but I guess James has somehow caught on over time that Greg and I are not fans of the Republicans.
After all of this explanation, James announced, "I want Hillary to be the president. I'm a Democrat!"
"Good boy," I said. He was dismayed, though, to learn that he's not quite old enough to vote.
Then he asked Evan whether Evan was a Republican or a Democrat, and Evan's indignant reply was, "I'm a boy!" Still a bit young for politics, I guess.
I hope if you're able, you'll vote today. This is a pretty exciting election -- the prospect of electing a president who is not male or not white is exciting, beyond the fact that I like both Hillary and Obama as candidates (as opposed to merely not hating Kerry in '04) -- and I kind of wish I were voting today. But I'll be happy with either choice.
Anybody want to reveal in comments who they're supporting?
03 February 2008
weekend recipe
Jessica asked in comments of an earlier post whether I'd share some of my vegetarian recipes, and that gave me the idea to start a new feature. So I'm launching Weekend Recipes today. I chose weekends because that's when I have the most time to be ambitious and experimental in the kitchen. I'll post a good number of vegetarian recipes, I suspect, but I'm not going to limit myself. Today, though, I'm kicking off the series with a newly-discovered (by us) vegetarian dish that met with pretty immediate success in our house.
I hope I don't scare people away with my first choice. I don't know where this recipe came from originally, but an acquaintance of mine posted it on the message board for the nursery school James went to. It looks weird on paper (or should I say the computer screen) but it's delicious. It's quick, it's easy, and it centers around tofu.
I know, I know. Tofu. Most meat-eaters I know have a pronounced distaste, some even a touch of hostility, for tofu, and I can't for the life of me explain it or understand it. Tofu is cheap, healthy, versatile, and basically soaks up the flavor of whatever you put it into. You can even change the texture depending on how you prepare it. I have become a fan of tofu over the last few years, and, in this dish at least, my family has grown to like it too.
Recipe and notes below the fold.
Groundnut Stew, or Peanut Butter Tofu
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. mustard seed
dash of cinnamon
dash of cardamom**
28 oz. can of tomatoes, undrained****
1/2-1 c water
1/2 c peanut butter (smooth, or crunchy for more texture)
1 block firm tofu, cubed
Saute onion, garlic, salt and spices in olive oil, just for a few minutes, until onion and garlic are softened.
Add tomatoes and enough water so that a little water sits on top. (If you opt to leave out the tomatoes, you'll probably need a little more water.)
Add the peanut butter in the center, and slowly stir from the center until it combines well with the water.
Gently stir in tofu.
Cover & reduce heat to low, stirring every 5 min. for 15 - 20 min. Turn off heat and leaved covered until served. Serve over rice.
**Note on spices: This is a pretty flexible recipe. Use whatever of these spices you have around the house -- i.e., don't rush out and buy cardamom just for this recipe. It's the combination of spices, not the individual spices, that is important here.
****Note on tomatoes: This is kind of a weird combination of flavors. It works for me, but Greg and the boys like it better without the tomatoes. Use your own judgment here.
We usually serve vegetables or a salad on the side, but I think it would work well to throw in some broccoli or spinach or something in the last few minutes of cooking if you want to get creative. Also, for the tofu-averse among you, I'm told this works well with chicken, too.
01 February 2008
odds and ends
I have not been on the ball lately for getting interesting photos. Or, really, any photos. Sorry -- someday you'll see my kiddos' beautiful faces again. Just not today.
We've had some weird weather this week. Windstorm on Wednesday, and freezing rain today, during which we had to drive -- or should I say crawl, through slush and heavy traffic -- to the other side of the city to the insurance company-approved auto shop, to have our bumper checked out, only to find out that the cost to repair the bumper is greater than the value of our car. I guess 14 years really lowers the resale value of a vehicle, despite having awesome mileage and being in otherwise fine condition. So this place will not fix our bumper, but instead the insurance company is cutting us a check. So... I guess that works out for us? I'm so over this car business by now; I don't really care.
We've had intermittent power outages over the last 15 hours. No idea why. All I really have to say about that is 1) I'm so grateful we didn't lose power before the season premiere of Lost was finished, and 2) I'm also grateful that our Nintendo DS has an alarm function. Not that the kids ever let us sleep too late, but it's always good to be certain.
So now it's February, and tomorrow that famous little groundhog in Pennsylvania will tell us what to expect from the rest of winter. I'm hoping he tells us that at least once before spring, we will have enough snow to go sledding. Other than that, I'm pretty well over winter too.
Happy weekend, everyone.
