Here's a look at my day so far (it's currently 1:45pm MDT).
6:30am - Elaine wakes up; Phil leaves for work
7:00am - I put on Baby Einstein "On the Go" so I can get showered/dressed, etc.
7:45am - I change Elaine's diaper and see red welts all over her body. I don't know what they are. I freak out.
8:00am - We watch the Wiggles so Elaine won't notice that I'm freaking out and therefore she won't.
8:30am - Call the pediatrician, schedule an appt. for 9am
9am - Elaine has hives and eczema and we don't know why. Probably a food allergy but we got prescriptions for 1) anti-itch cream for the eczema, 2) Zyrtec for the hives. But we're going to try Benadryl first for the hives and see if that helps.
9:30am - Walgreens to drop off her prescriptions and get the Benadryl, soap and lotion recommended by the dr.
9:45am - Home to get diaper bag, juice and water for Elaine
9:55am - Buy gas ($41!!)
10am - My (rushed) haircut
10:40am - On the road, across town to my dr. appt.
11:20am - 5 minutes late for my appt. Elaine is screaming because she's tired and hivey - and I brought in her water instead of her juice (bad mommy)
11:35am - Baby's heartbeat is about 150 bpm but my blood pressure is high (gee, I wonder why). Also I mention that I've had headaches for the last 3 weeks which my dr. thinks could be related to the high blood pressure (if today isn't a fluke) or could be allergies. So I, too, have a prescription for Zyrtec.
11:45am - Blood draw (which already freaks me out normally) while trying to hold and calm screaming/crying 21 month old child
11:55am - Lose ticket for parking lot.....but thankfully quickly find it again when I get to the car
12:50pm - Finally get to eat lunch - sitting in the Wendy's parking lot so Elaine stays asleep...because Phil has called to say that when he stopped by the house to get his cell phone (which he forgot this morning - so I wasn't able to reach him all morning) the construction crew was about to start paving in front of our house and I supposedly wouldn't be able to get into my house for at least an hour.
1pm - They haven't started paving yet, thankfully. But now Elaine's awake. So she has lunch and now I'm tired and want to nap....but guess who doesn't.
And my day's only 1/2 over.
Oh and Elaine has been running around for 2 days saying "Uncle Matt", "Denise" and "Becky". Thought you'd be happy to hear that.
Hope you're all having a marvelous day! Take a nap for me.....and maybe a quart of tequila.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
My First Book Review
One of the things that I thought I could do in my blog was write about books that I've read (yes I do read books that aren't cookbooks). Unfortunately for you, it's been at least 17 years since I've written a book report. So this could be all over the place.
I should preface this by stating that since I got out of school I have read basically nothing but mysteries. It's my favorite genre and why should I read anything else if I don't have to? Within the mystery genre, there are several sub-genres (I don't know if that's an accurate term but since my university seems to think they gave me a degree in English - which they didn't - I'm going to go with it). My favorite sub-genres are Historical and Cozy:
- Historical should be fairly self-explanatory.
- Cozy is a light read where the sleuth is usually an amateur and the violence takes place behind the scenes. I also usually think of a cozy as taking place in a small town/village (for instance, the Miss Marple books by Agatha Christie are classic examples of the cozy). Often cozies are centered on a theme - cats, dogs, tea, quilting, needlework, baking, etc.
Ok, enough of that. I was in the library last week picking up some books for my mom and I to read (she's a mystery freak too). I saw a book by an unknown-to-me author and loved the title so much that I just took it (well not "took" it - no stealing, checked it out). When I got home, I actually read the back of the book and found out that author also wrote The Princess Diaries and a number of other teeny-bopper books. So I was less enthused. Until I started reading it. So, here's the title and the back-of-book description. Then I tell you what I thought.
Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
'Heather Wells Rocks! Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two - and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.
'The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls...and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen - not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives - even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!
'But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.'
Ok, so it sounds far-fetched. But that's one of the fun things about cozy murder mysteries. It seems to be directed at a slightly younger audience (it takes place in a freshman dorm) which is fine but I can't relate to elevator surfing. I don't think kids did that when I was in college. And there are some annoying things like she refers to the fact that she works in a "dorm - excuse me, residence hall". Yeah, that happens about 50 times in this book. It gets old. But the thoughts Heather has - pretty normal. For example, Heather explains how she gets in her daily 60 minutes of exercise as recommended by the US government: a 10-minute walk to the sandwich shop, 10 minutes to her favorite boutique shop, 10 minutes to Dean & Deluca and so on (including trips back home/office) till you've gotten to 60 minutes. I totally do that!
The great American novel, it's not. And it's not definitely not my favorite series (I'll talk about those another time). But it's a fun read and I'm going to get the next book, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, when I go to the library again.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Rainier Cherry Pie
Here's another recipe from Pie. (I just love the name of the book - nothing fancy - just Pie.)
I had never heard of Rainier cherries before. Apparently they are a cross between a Bing and a Van cherry (I think that's right). They are white/yellow in color with a blush of red. They are big and sweet. Yum! Well, I was reading through Pie trying to decide what to make and this recipe sounded interesting. I ultimately decided on the Peaches and Cream Pie.....until I was at the grocery store and saw Rainier cherries! So I knew I had to make 2 pies.
The thing that intrigued me about this recipe - more than just the cherry variety - was the technique for the top crust. Grated pastry. I had to try it. So here's the recipe....thoughts at the end.
Two-Crust pie pastry (you could probably do this with a store-crust but I'm not really sure. I'd make the pastry for this one)
5 cups fresh Rainier cherries, stemmed and pitted
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
About 1 Tbsp coarse sugar or granulated sugar (for glaze)
1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry. Shape the smaller ball (for the top crust) into a block rather than a disk. Refrigerate the larger half (for the bottom crust) till firm enough to roll, about 1 hour, and place the block in the freezer.
2. Roll the larger half of the pastry into a 13" circle. Place the pastry over a 9 1/2" deep dish pie pan. Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cherries, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix well, then set aside for 10 minutes to juice. Combine the remaining 2 Tbsp sugar and the cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir the mixture into the fruit. Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell and smooth the top of the fruit with your hands or a spoon.
4. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the other half of the pastry over the top of the fruit, as if it were a block of cheese, covering the filling more or less evenly. Sprinkle the coarse sugar evenly over the pastry.
5. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 and rotate the pan 180 degrees so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil-lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills. Continue to bake till the top is golden brown and the juices bubble thickly around the edge, 25-30 minutes.
6. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with vanilla or peach ice cream.
Again, this was pretty easy to make. Until I got to the top crust. Oh my...it took forever to grate the pastry. It was incredibly messy (Elaine had pastry shreds in her hair) and it was difficult to get the pastry pieces to fall where they should (you've grated cheese, you know). At one point, I tried to grate it over a plate instead but the pastry, as it warmed from my hands and the grating, started clumping together so I couldn't really transfer it to the pie. You have to grate the pastry over the pie. Then it looked weird. It made for a very crunchy top crust which isn't usually something I look for in a pie crust.
Overall, this was a good pie. I think if I make it again, I'll do a traditional top crust. Partly because grating the pastry was a pain and partly because it was crunchy (and I'm very particular about my pie crust/pastry). The cherry filling was delicious though. Phil liked the pie ok. Not a traditional cherry pie, obviously. Phil disagrees with the author though about serving it with ice cream. Rainier cherries are so sweet that you don't need the ice cream (like you do with a traditional tart cherry pie).
Another strange looking pie, I think. But tasty!
Before baking:
After baking:
I had never heard of Rainier cherries before. Apparently they are a cross between a Bing and a Van cherry (I think that's right). They are white/yellow in color with a blush of red. They are big and sweet. Yum! Well, I was reading through Pie trying to decide what to make and this recipe sounded interesting. I ultimately decided on the Peaches and Cream Pie.....until I was at the grocery store and saw Rainier cherries! So I knew I had to make 2 pies.
The thing that intrigued me about this recipe - more than just the cherry variety - was the technique for the top crust. Grated pastry. I had to try it. So here's the recipe....thoughts at the end.
Two-Crust pie pastry (you could probably do this with a store-crust but I'm not really sure. I'd make the pastry for this one)
5 cups fresh Rainier cherries, stemmed and pitted
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
About 1 Tbsp coarse sugar or granulated sugar (for glaze)
1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry. Shape the smaller ball (for the top crust) into a block rather than a disk. Refrigerate the larger half (for the bottom crust) till firm enough to roll, about 1 hour, and place the block in the freezer.
2. Roll the larger half of the pastry into a 13" circle. Place the pastry over a 9 1/2" deep dish pie pan. Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400.
3. In a large bowl, combine the cherries, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix well, then set aside for 10 minutes to juice. Combine the remaining 2 Tbsp sugar and the cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir the mixture into the fruit. Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell and smooth the top of the fruit with your hands or a spoon.
4. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the other half of the pastry over the top of the fruit, as if it were a block of cheese, covering the filling more or less evenly. Sprinkle the coarse sugar evenly over the pastry.
5. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 and rotate the pan 180 degrees so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil-lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills. Continue to bake till the top is golden brown and the juices bubble thickly around the edge, 25-30 minutes.
6. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with vanilla or peach ice cream.
Again, this was pretty easy to make. Until I got to the top crust. Oh my...it took forever to grate the pastry. It was incredibly messy (Elaine had pastry shreds in her hair) and it was difficult to get the pastry pieces to fall where they should (you've grated cheese, you know). At one point, I tried to grate it over a plate instead but the pastry, as it warmed from my hands and the grating, started clumping together so I couldn't really transfer it to the pie. You have to grate the pastry over the pie. Then it looked weird. It made for a very crunchy top crust which isn't usually something I look for in a pie crust.
Overall, this was a good pie. I think if I make it again, I'll do a traditional top crust. Partly because grating the pastry was a pain and partly because it was crunchy (and I'm very particular about my pie crust/pastry). The cherry filling was delicious though. Phil liked the pie ok. Not a traditional cherry pie, obviously. Phil disagrees with the author though about serving it with ice cream. Rainier cherries are so sweet that you don't need the ice cream (like you do with a traditional tart cherry pie).
Another strange looking pie, I think. But tasty!
Before baking:
After baking:
Peaches and Cream
Anyone who's known me for the last four or five years probably knows that I've become obsessed with pies. I don't really know why. I've always liked pie ok...but I truly preferred other desserts. But for some reason in the last few years pie has become my favorite dessert. Particularly fruit pies which is also weird for me.
I think part of this obsession is from Phil. He loves pie too - any kind of pie and probably loves pie more than me. He really likes peach pie and since I was a bad wife this year and didn't make him a birthday cake (sorry honey) I decided to make a peach pie a few days later.
I have a wonderful book called Pie by Ken Haedrich (same guy who did one of my other favorite cookbooks, Apple Pie Perfect). There were several peach pies but one that caught my attention first was Peaches and Cream pie. The description says that it tastes like peach ice cream. I had to try it. Also it was the only peach recipe that said frozen peaches worked well in it. Since the fresh peaches at my grocery store didn't seem ripe enough - or overly ripe - I decided to use frozen.
So here's the recipe. I'll give my thoughts at the end.
Single Crust pie pastry (I make my own but you could use store bought)
2 1/2 - 3 cups peeled, pitted and sliced ripe peaches or one 1-lb bag frozen sliced peaches, partially thawed
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
Big pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry and refrigerate till firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
2. Roll out the pastry into a 13" circle. Place the pastry in a 9 1/2" deep dish pie pan. Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it and sculpt the edge so it is more or less flush with the top of the pan. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Distribute the peach slices evenly in the chilled shell. Combine the cream, confectioners' sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium-size bowl and whisk to blend. Slowly pour over the peaches. Use a fork, if necessary, to rearrange the peach slices evenly in the shell.
4. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the pie, then return it to the oven, placing it so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Bake until the filling is bubbly and the top is caramel-colored, 15-20 minutes. The filling will still be liquidy.
5. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool thoroughly. Cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
My crust was, as usual (if I may say so myself), perfect. I didn't make a super flaky crust for this one but it was delicious. I thought the pie was quite tasty. But it was NOT attractive at all. I expected it to be creamier (given the fact that it's a peaches and CREAM pie) but it wasn't. It didn't taste quite like peach ice cream to me but it was better than a plain peach pie, as far I'm concerned. Of course, I have to turn to the peach pie expert - Phil. He gave it "two thumbs up" for sweet peachy flavor. He thought the cream part was good and off-set the peaches very well.
I also expected (from reading the recipe) that there would be a caramely layer on top from the brown sugar. Instead the brown sugar immediately started melting into the pie as I was sprinkling it on (duh). When it came out of the oven, there were brown blotches on the pie where the sugar had settled. So instead of looking like a caramelized layer on top, it looked like I had overcooked the pie (which I hadn't).
So I think the pie gets good points for flavor (let's say 5 - I'm making up the scale now) but 0-1 for appearance.
I think part of this obsession is from Phil. He loves pie too - any kind of pie and probably loves pie more than me. He really likes peach pie and since I was a bad wife this year and didn't make him a birthday cake (sorry honey) I decided to make a peach pie a few days later.
I have a wonderful book called Pie by Ken Haedrich (same guy who did one of my other favorite cookbooks, Apple Pie Perfect). There were several peach pies but one that caught my attention first was Peaches and Cream pie. The description says that it tastes like peach ice cream. I had to try it. Also it was the only peach recipe that said frozen peaches worked well in it. Since the fresh peaches at my grocery store didn't seem ripe enough - or overly ripe - I decided to use frozen.
So here's the recipe. I'll give my thoughts at the end.
Single Crust pie pastry (I make my own but you could use store bought)
2 1/2 - 3 cups peeled, pitted and sliced ripe peaches or one 1-lb bag frozen sliced peaches, partially thawed
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
Big pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1. If you haven't already, prepare the pastry and refrigerate till firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
2. Roll out the pastry into a 13" circle. Place the pastry in a 9 1/2" deep dish pie pan. Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it and sculpt the edge so it is more or less flush with the top of the pan. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400F.
3. Distribute the peach slices evenly in the chilled shell. Combine the cream, confectioners' sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium-size bowl and whisk to blend. Slowly pour over the peaches. Use a fork, if necessary, to rearrange the peach slices evenly in the shell.
4. Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the pie, then return it to the oven, placing it so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Bake until the filling is bubbly and the top is caramel-colored, 15-20 minutes. The filling will still be liquidy.
5. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool thoroughly. Cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
My crust was, as usual (if I may say so myself), perfect. I didn't make a super flaky crust for this one but it was delicious. I thought the pie was quite tasty. But it was NOT attractive at all. I expected it to be creamier (given the fact that it's a peaches and CREAM pie) but it wasn't. It didn't taste quite like peach ice cream to me but it was better than a plain peach pie, as far I'm concerned. Of course, I have to turn to the peach pie expert - Phil. He gave it "two thumbs up" for sweet peachy flavor. He thought the cream part was good and off-set the peaches very well.
I also expected (from reading the recipe) that there would be a caramely layer on top from the brown sugar. Instead the brown sugar immediately started melting into the pie as I was sprinkling it on (duh). When it came out of the oven, there were brown blotches on the pie where the sugar had settled. So instead of looking like a caramelized layer on top, it looked like I had overcooked the pie (which I hadn't).
So I think the pie gets good points for flavor (let's say 5 - I'm making up the scale now) but 0-1 for appearance.
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