Ahead of the Curve

First, I have been a blogging slacker of late. What can I say? Stomach bugs. Two rounds of colds. A lice epidemic in the kids' schools. It's been a crazy winter. But I am recommitting.

I have bunch of recipe ideas to get up, but while I am working on that, here is a little fun Friday web distraction. Do you know  Pinterest? I discovered this totally addicting site when reading the Post Punk Kitchen Blog's year end round-up. I requested a Pinterest invite right away and within a view days, I was spending far too much time on the site.

So what is Pinterest? It is an online "pinboard" for saving images from the web. Essentially, you create "boards" (like bulletin boards) with a images and the corresponding location on the web. I have one for garden ideas, books to read, favorite recipes, cool crafts. You get the idea. It is basically a visual way to create a cache of bookmarks. When you sign up, you check off some things you are interested in and Pinterest "folks" (ie complex algorithm) picks a bunch of people (real people this time) for you to follow. And, if you have a Facebook account, it will find "friends" who have Pinterest accounts and try to connect you. Even without an account, you can search other people's boards. Want to build a new patio? Redecorate a room? Bake gluten free bread? Try Pinterest as search engine.

Here is an article from the NY Times about the incredible rise of this site.

I think I am also obsessed with Pinterest because this is one of the few times in my life I have been ahead of the curve. I actually had a Pinterest account before Josh and Dave, who are way more knowledgeable about the tech universe, even knew what it was. The last time I was ahead of the curve? I had the first Sheryl Crow album way before she became super famous. So there you have it.

Seriously, Pinterest is really cool. Give it a try.

New Years Review

I was planning to post holiday pictures today, but we are having computer issues. Big time praise and thanks to Dave for tackling our technology issues. To say it has been "challenging" would be a huge understatement. In lieu of cute pics of the kids, I thought I would share some of the fun and cool things that we have encountered this holiday season.

1. Xbox Kinect. This was our big ticket gift from Dave's parents. Ostensibly, the purpose was to allow Kara to play fun, age appropriate games. (Dave has already fully explored Xbox's capabilities to play Skyim. Full disclosure, I have played quite a bit of Call of Duty, as well.) We were not sure how Kara would take to the whole gaming thing, but we can say without reservation that it has been a huge success. Kinectimals is absurdly cute; the adventure game is also lots of fun. But the big hit has been Just Dance. We all, even Jamie, took part in the fun. Even Dave took a turn playing to the Pointer Sisters' classic "Jump." Best daddy ever.

2.  Buffalo chicken dip. Josh brought this for New Year's eve and it rocked. Again. So disgustingly delicious.

3.  Homemade Candied Ginger. I used this recipe by David Lebovitz. It was almost an epic fail - I couldn't get the sugar syrup to thicken and made it all boil over on my stove which set off all of the smoke alarms at 9 o'clock at night. Good times. But...the end result was gorgeous and delicious.

4. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I bought this as a Christmas present to myself. Unbelievably comprehensive resource. Totally worth it if you are even vaguely interested in eating less meat.

I hope to be back with pictures next week.
Happy New Year!

The 99%

Whatever your feelings are regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement, you should check out the site We Are the 99%. Moving stories and images like the one below.

A Poem A Week

As a former English teacher, I realize that I may be in the minority on this one, but I love poetry. I like that it is challenging, economical, vivid. I like reading poetry for the same reason I like watching professional sports: it is mesmerizing to witness something I will never be able to do. I will never be able to crush a serve at 100 mph and I will never be able to write a decent poem.

Of all the things I assigned my students over the years, the poetry writing homework is the only thing I feel guilty about to this day. Cruel and unusual punishment. Of course, one could argue that they exacted their revenge by serving up some seriously mediocre verse that I had to read, comment on and grade. Every once in a while, a student would write something lovely. But most kids were like me - fundamentally lacking in poetry writing skills.

If anything, though, reading pretty lame poetry for so many years, has sharpened my appreciation for poetry by actual poets. Given my love of quality verse, I was thrilled to find Slate.com's feature "A Weekly Poem Read by the Author". This week the selection is "Roses" by Billy Collins. Even if the very mention of poetry makes you flashback to an unfortunate English class many moons ago, give it a listen. It will take about a minute. If you have more than a minute, read some of the comments - many of which appear to be written by budding literary critics and/or literature professors. I found them at once interesting and comically earnest. Definitely worth a look.

The Minimalist's Exit

Last Thursday, Mark Bittman who writes "The Minimalist" column for the New York Times announced that he would be exiting the Dining section of the paper. In his farewell column, Bittman discusses the history of the article and announces that he will now be a regular contributor to the Opinion pages where he will explore the politics of food in our nation and the world at large.

I love Bittman's columns, and his cookbook, How to Cook Everything, is one of the most-used references on my cookbook shelf. (A great gift for any cook at any level.) He is the master of the non-recipe recipe, focusing on basic techniques and ingredients that all cooks can use to produce good food.  I also love the fact that Bittman uses his platform to unabashedly advocate for more sound eating habits (less meat, less processed food, more locally/sustainably produced food). I can't wait to see him in his new role at The Times.



A few Bittman links for your cooking pleasure:
The Minimalist's 25 Favorite Recipes
101 Grilling Recipes
101 Summer Recipes

Miso Butter

I know I have written about Josh on many occasions, but I am not sure if I have mentioned that Josh's mom is a seriously amazing cook. Over the years, I have gathered delicious recipes for scones, cream cheese brownies, jalapeno poppers, buffalo chicken dip to name just a few. But one of the coolest things I learned from Mrs. D is how to make miso butter. Brace yourself for this complex recipe...

• Soften 1 stick of unsalted butter, mix it with 2 tbsp white miso paste. Add chopped scallions or shallots to taste.

The only challenging part of making miso butter is, potentially, finding miso paste. I ventured to a local Asian grocery store, stood in front of the miso section for about 5 minutes while Jamie yelled, "MISO!" and then picked the palest miso paste I could find.

Once you have made miso butter, I defy you to find something that it does not improve - it's sort of like caramelized onions in this regard. Mrs. D originally served it on sweet potatoes. I have found it to be delicious on asparagus, broccoli, chicken, white potatoes, fish, bread, a spoon. I have a miso butter problem.

Thanks to Josh and his mom for introducing us to this amazing condiment!

A New Favorite and a "Challenge"

One of my favorite pastimes in the blogging world is looking for good book blogs. Much like foodie blogs or mommy blogs, I think the best book blogs are written by people who manage to be personal without being inappropriate, opinionated without being overbearing, smart without being self-satisfied and funny without being too impressed by their own wit. As you can tell, I have high standards.

One of my new favorites is Life...with Books. Written by Jenners, it is both a great source of book reviews and a window into the life of this very witty stay at home mom. Jenners meets the most important criteria for a personal blog: she seems like a woman I would want to hang out with, like the kind of person I would want to talk to at a party, or lunch, or better yet over drinks. She seems cool in the best sense of the word. It doesn't hurt that she has, in my humble opinion, very good taste in books - in that her tastes are similar to mine.

To mark the beginning of the new year, Jenners has posted a Take a Chance Challenge. The 10 categories give you ways to find your next book and perhaps read something out of your wheelhouse. If you are dorky blogger like me, you can link your posts about the books you read back to Jenners' site. But if you are less of a nerd, you could just use her list as a template for choosing books. I tend to read what the kids I tutor read or what my book group is reading. Beyond that, my book choices can be pretty haphazard, so I am looking forward to a little, just a little, structure for this year. Besides, the competitive side of me likes the idea of a challenge. 

So, if you too crave some reading guidance, check out Jenners' blog and her 2011 challenge. Happy Reading!

Shameless Plug - Candy Cane Joe-Joes

I love shopping at Trader Joes. I go there at least once a week. I love the reasonable prices, friendly staff, variety of foods, their improved efforts to support local farmers, their minimally processed prepared foods, the delicious chocolates, the cat cookies, the shredded Swiss and Gruyere cheese, the cilantro chicken won tons...

Clearly, I could go on and on.

It's ok to have cookies when you also have grapes on the counter too, right?

I don't typically buy a lot of cookie products, but from time to time (like the times Kara comes with me), we get the Joe-Joes. These yummy chocolate or vanilla sandwich cookies should not be confused with Oreos. They are better than Oreos, especially the vanilla ones. (I am sure Nabisco would like to get the patent protection a little tighter on that recipe.)  During the holidays, they are selling Candy Cane Joe-Joes. I was encouraged by the cashier to buy them ASAP as supplies are limited! She was being so nice to Jamie, and they did look yummy, so I happily added them to the pile of food I was already buying.

Let me tell you, it was money well spent. These cookies are just the right amount of minty with teeny candy cane bits in the icing. Kara has proclaimed them the best Joe-Joe ever. If you have a Trader Joes nearby, I strongly urge you to buy these cookies. Remember, supplies are limited!

Gifts for Kids

When I am shopping for kid gifts, I will admit that I often feel overwhelmed. Must be that robust marketing machine that keeps me from being able to think of anything beyond what I see in Target, Costco or One Step Ahead. But every so often I find the energy to think outside of the Toys R Us box.

If you, too, are in need of inspiration, check out You Know, for Kids. It's a wonderful blog written by Myles McDonnell a magazine editor in New York who reviews music, movies, books and toys for kids. He has, in my humble opinion, impeccable taste. He has knack for finding things that might not be in the big box store, but are worth the internet search or trip to that smaller toy store in your town. For example, I discovered on his site that the New York Review of Books publishes previously out of print children's literature under their own imprint they call their Children's Collection. A recent title: Mud Pies and Other Recipes. How cute is that? Around Halloween, he wrote up a list of great spooky books and movies that got his five year old son's seal of approval. Perhaps a holiday list is on the way. I hope so because I need guys like McDonnell to turn down the din of  the Star Wars, Disney and Pretty Ponies marketing madness.

PW Holiday Giveaway

One of the benefits of becoming a really successful blogger, like seriously successful, is that you get to have  giveaways. I mention the Pioneer Woman site a lot, I know. I am a little obsessed. What can I say? It's incredibly well organized, utilizes gorgeous photos taken by Ree Drummond, the blogger in question, and serves as a wonderful resource for delicious, down home cooking. The PW is a a blogging phenomenon of sorts. She manages to maintain her amazing blog and also appear on tv, write cookbooks and contribute to a variety of magazines. Her blog should come with the disclaimer: "Results are not typical."

Because of her success, she is very generous with her giveaways. She has given out Kitchen Aid standing mixers, Nikon D90 cameras, fancy knife sets, full sets of Fiesta Ware dishes, not to mention unworn items from her wardrobe.

So this month she is hosting a giveaway sponsored by HP. (The other giveaways are items purchased by Ree herself.) Winners will take home a PhotoSmart printer. Very cool stuff. Check out the page and enter. Full disclosure, mentioning the giveaway in a blog post is one method of entering the contest. Even if it wasn't giving me a minuscule chance of winning, I would gladly promo Ree's site and her generosity. So if you haven't already, take a look at her blog.

"It's Not Chaotic. It's rich."

My bestest friend Ellie sent me an awesome birthday present, Time for Dinner. This is a fabulous cookbook by the former editors of the now defunct (boohoo!) Cookie magazine. Jenny Rosenstrach, one of the authors, is the writer of Dinner a Love Story, one of my favorite foodie/mommy blogs. Beyond providing a ton of great recipes, Time for Dinner is clearly written by women who have actually cooked dinner recently. That is, they know what it's like to work all day and then try to prepare a meal while your kids are melting down, the dog is barking and you just realized that you have no viable ingredients for dinner anyway. With this in mind, they give you lots of good strategies. For example: how to stretch one Sunday dinner into several weeknight meals; how to stock your kitchen so as to maximize the chances of cooking a respectable dinner on any given night; how to get ahead of the game by preparing a cooking staple (beans, marinara etc.) during the weekend.

In addition to the great cooking tips and techniques, these women are just cool. Like you would want to chat with them at the soccer game or, better yet, meet up for drinks and talk about food, family, friends, all the good stuff. One of my favorite lines from the very witty and wise text comes when the authors are talking about the new "normal" that we have to get used to as parents who want to actually cook and eat with our kids. Their mantra: "Repeat after us: It's not chaotic. It's rich." I love it. I am going to have those sentences engraved above my kitchen sink.

And when I have a moment like I did yesterday when both kids were crying because they were hungry and grumpy, and I had left the newly purchased snacks in the car because when I got back from Target it was pouring rain, and I had to leave both of my children literally lying on the floor of the living room wailing while I fetched the much needed snack, I will think of these wise words. The next time I think I am going to have my own special mommy meltdown, I am going to intone this mantra, take deep breadths and know that the chaos is merely evidence of just how rich our lives can be.

A Favorite: Gourmet Magazine's Test Kitchen

Last year my good friend Valerie hooked me up with some locally raised chickens from a farmer in Lancaster County. Sadly, these birds languished in my freezer for quite a while since I had just had baby #2 and was not big into cooking. This summer, I came across one of these chickens in the big freezer and a dinner idea was hatched. We would have bbq chicken on the grill. The only problem - these chickens were not cut up. But I am resourceful girl, I thought. I was sure that with the help of the internet, I could carve up a whole chicken into grilling appropriate pieces.

So I typed "How to cut up a whole chicken" into the Google search box and found several helpful sites. (In retrospect, I am glad that I didn't stumble upon anything too graphic.) The most helpful hits were actually YouTube videos of people demonstrating this culinary skill. This chicken experiment really redeemed YouTube in my view.  Up to this point, my primary experience with YouTube was showing Kara random Disney or Sesame Street songs. Aside from entertaining my kids, I suspected that YouTube was of questionable utility to a stay at home mom.

The best site, by far, was from the now defunct (so sad) Gourmet Magazine website. On the video section of the site they have a sub-section called "The Test Kitchen". Embedded here are quick instructional videos on a wide range of kitchen topics: from how to cut up a whole chicken, to how to warm tortillas, to how to crack a coconut, to how to sharpen a knife. I am telling you this has some great stuff.  I have never even heard of corn silk tea, but after seeing the video, I kind of want to give it a try.

So this week, as you are considering making gravy, pie crust or carving up a turkey, check out Gourmet's very informative site.

Here is a link to "How to Get a Moist Turkey."

A New Favorite: Two Peds in a Pod

Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer says, "Alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems"? (If you missed it, here's the clip.) I kind of feel the same way about the internet, especially when it comes to parenting advice. Dealing with troubling, or perhaps just annoying, child rearing issues, I have on may occasions found useful, sage advice on the internet. Or at least the gobs of information online has confirmed what I already knew. (Potty training takes time. Babies will eventually sleep. Pacifiers are not inherently evil.) But let's face it, there is a lot of crap on the internet. And if you are looking to scare yourself or increase your general anxiety level, look no further than your home computer.

Given the scarcity of sound parenting websites, I am always thrilled when I find something that is both intelligent and calming in its tone. Two Peds in a Pod is a "Pediatric Blog & Podcast for Parents on the Go." Written by Dr. Julie Kardos and Dr. Naline Lai, pediatricians in the Philadelphia area, it offers a rational, professionally grounded advice on common pediatric concerns. I especially like that the often address social-emotional development in addition to more common, but no less important, issues like what should your baby's poop look like. A recent post, for example, looked at Silly Bandz as a metaphor for the stages of child development. Cute. And smart. A site worth checking out.