Anyways

We are always looking for ways to fix the problems of the world, often the answer is within ourselves we have the power... This wonderful poem by Mother Teresa, speaks to the answer, hard as it may be.

“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.”

Take this out into the world this weekend, check back in on Monday, let us know how you did, Our greatest hope is that you do not bleed to death from biting your tongue.

Photo by Ken Williams for The Concord Monitor

Here is a link to our column at the Concord Monitor. Things are crazy here at the Brewery, I'll try to post the actual thing later today.....

Oh Thank Heaven for little boys

That make a long hard day better

just because he is missing teeth

just because he still believes me

just because he still needs me

just because I know he is the end...

Thank heaven for little boys!

Sweet Treat: Lemon Cheesecake Squares

This is a recipe right out of my childhood. During the early 1970s every dessert had to be made with a graham cracker crust. I think it must have been something Pat Nixon mandated: good republican cloth coats and graham cracker crusts. And even though Harlie and Frank are dyed in the wool democrats, they towed the line. My dad grew out his sideburns and Harlie was seen at more than one Tupperware party with a glass of sherry and a frosted 'do.

I am resurrecting this with the help of finecooking.com because these taste like spring and we are headed into bake sale season. This recipe is a guaranteed seller: creamy cheesecake and tart lemon curd, and if you make them and refrigerate them over night; a cinch to cut into bite sized servings.

Lemon Cheesecake Squares
adapted from finecooking.com

18 graham crackers, approx. 10 ounces
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
2 pounds cream cheese (4 packages) at warm room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice -- from 2 lemons
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest--scrape this off before you squeeze the lemons!
4 large eggs
1 recipe lemon curd, recipe follows, at warm room temperature

Line a 9X 13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil, using a big enough piece so that some extends over the long ends of the pan. Smooth the foil out really well.

Preheat the oven to 325 and put a kettle or medium sized saucepan of water on to boil.

Blitz the grahams in a food processor until finely ground. Add the melted butter and blitz briefly until the crumbs look moist and sandy.

Dump the crumbs into the foil lined pan and pan down into an even layer. I like to use a glass that I have sprayed with some Pam, but for those of you who are not tactile defensive, pat away with your little paws. Set aside.

Clean the food processor and put in the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and zest. Process until very smooth, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides once or twice. Add the eggs and whirl again until all is well combined. Pour the cheesecake mixture into the pan and use an offset spatula to make smooth the whole thing out.

Place the filled pan into a larger roasting pan and carefully add water to the roasting pan NOT THE CHEESECAKE until the water comes about an inch up the sides of the inner pan.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes until the cheesecake looks sort of firm but still wiggles a tiny bit at the center. Remove from the oven and cool while you make the lemon curd.

Pour the warm curd over the top of the cheesecake and refrigerate for at least 8 hours but as long as 48 before using the foil overhang to gently lift the cheesecake from the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut into 24 pieces by doing this: Make two cuts across the short sides to cut the cheese cake into 3 blocks. Cut each of these two block in half, again going across the short side.

Cut in half the long way, and then cut each long half in half, making 24 pieces. Does this make sense? I'll make this recipe again and post pictures.

Nestle each square into a cupcake liner for serving.

Lemon Curd
With thanks to Nigella Lawson for teaching me that you can make lemon curd with *gasp* whole eggs...

5 lemons. Nuke them for 15 seconds to loosen them up.
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
4 whole eggs, beaten well.

Zest two of the lemons into a small bowl. Juice the lemons into a measuring cup until you have at least 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Pick out the seeds.

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Add the lemon juice and the sugar and stir to combine. Increase the heat slightly to just below medium.
Add the eggs and whisk like crazy to incorporate them into the sugar/juice mixture. Keep whisking until the curd starts to thicken. Fight the urge to increase the heat. If this mixture gets too hot, you'll wind up with lemony sweet scrambled eggs.

Keep whisking until the whisk leaves very strong tracks and the curd is the consistency of pudding, but is still smooth.

Cool to warm room temperature before spreading on the cheesecake. This is also ridiculously good as a cake filling, in crepes or just on a spoon.

Keeps in the fridge for 3 days if it lasts that long.

Meatball Madness

Oh how we love our little balls of meat

Last weekend when I think most people were enjoying our first glimpse of spring I was making tons of little meat balls. I don't like making them but I do love eating them so I must suffer through this for future reference as I say...

Saute the garlic and salt pork in butter

Then add the beautiful balls, brown on all sides over medium heat

Let them cool and bag'em up for later.


Ingredients

2.5 lbs ground beef

1.5 lbs ground pork

10 slices good ole white bread

1 can evaporated milk

1 can grated Parmesan cheese

5 cloves garlic chopped fine

4 tbs chopped fresh parsley
2tbs salt pork chopped
2tbs butter

Place bread, garlic, cheese and evaporated milk in a large bowl, mix all together (the mixture should be fairly moist, if not add a bit more milk). Add the meat and parsley and combine gently.

Form the mixture into small balls about 1-2 inches in diameter.

Heat butter in saute pan, add salt pork and cook on med- high for about two minutes.

Add the meatballs reduce heat to medium, and brown on all sides. Total cook time should be about 5-7 minutes. You want them to be cooked through.

Remove from the heat and let them cool a bi.

Pack up in Ziploc bags with date and amount and you are good to go.

When using the meatballs in sauce make sure they are fully thawed and cooked through, another 10 minutes or so in a simmering sauce should do the trick.

Enjoy

Crisper Primavera

The last few weeks have been a blur of work and a ridiculous number of school commitments, including a MANDATORY parent meeting for the K-5 Chess Club, I shit you not.

I mean really. What kind of controlling nut would INSIST that parents attened a meeting to understand the rules and regs of Chess Club? I'm pretty sure the nerd herd has it all figured out. You come in, grab a board, find a partner and play the game. Maybe I've got it all wrong. Perhaps I missed the memo where they announced that this year they will be playing with live pieces like in the first Harry Potter movie or at least with the holographic pieces that Chewy got so pissed off about when Luke beat him in Star Wars A New Hope. I mean I guess you could burn yourself on the lasers or something.

But I digress. The reason for this post is to outline how to get dinner on the table when you have not been to the market and Old Mother Hubbard looks like Ina Fricken Gartner next to you.

Facing such a situation last week, I unearthed some really sketchy looking tortellini from the bottom of the freezer and set a pot of water on to boil.

I then made a simple white sauce, or bechamel for you foodies, and dumped in a bunch of things I found in the bottom of the crisper: a half a package of wizened mushrooms, some baby carrots that were sort of whitish but not at all fuzzy, 4 less than crisp stalks of asparagus, half an onion, and then a large handful of frozen peas and several frozen broccoli florets I found in a totally iced-over bag. I debated cutting out the mushy parts of two red peppers and adding the good parts but decided that:

1. I wasn't up for slime
and
2. The pan was pretty full already.

Crisper Primavera
Serves 8

1/2 stick butter
2 cloves garlic
1/2 onion, minced
1/4 cup flour--Wondra if you've got it (no clumps, ever!)
3 cups whole milk, or 2 1/2 cups skim and 1/2 cup half and half or cream, nuked for 3 minutes
1/2 cup Parmesan from the green can
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
minced chives, if they are hanging around
3 cups vegetables, prepared as follows:
If frozen: dump into a colander and run under hot water to get the ice off
If fresh: cut into small bits and boiled for a few minutes in a small saucepan until crisp-tender
If mushrooms: sauteed in a separate pan in some butter until little, brown and glossy.

Cook 2-3 packages frozen tortellini or 1 pound other pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain and keep warm while you make the sauce.

Heat the butter in a 12 inch skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. When the foam subsides add the garlic and the minced onion and cook without browning for 2-3 minutes to soften. Add the flour and stir vigorously for a minute or two, lowering the heat as necessary to prevent browning. Add the heated milk/cream and whisk like hell until all is blended. Bring to a simmer and let cook for a few minutes to thicken, stirring a lot. Add the salt, pepper and parm and stir to combine.

Drain all the veggies that have been in any water really well and add them to the sauce. Do not drain anything that has been sauteed in butter, just scrape it all into the sauce.

Let simmer for a minute or two to combine flavors, taste and correct seasoning and then garnish with chives and more parm.

Serve it up, with some bread or crescent rolls, if you've got them rolling around the back of the fridge....

I did it! I did it!

Good Looking Brownie Bread Pudding



My Brownie Bread Pudding Post Photo left a lot to be desired...

So I redid it

and

I think these photos make up for the last ones

So Yummy




So if this looks good enough to eat check out the post
Sweet Treat Brownie Bread Pudding

Pursi!

So I got home from my shift at the brewery and a MARIMEKKO envelope was sitting on the floor of the mudroom.

Do I even need to catalog the usual assortment of mail that greets my return? Suffice to say that if it isn't a bill, it's a past due bill, and if it isn't a catalog for stuff that I can't afford and don't need, it's a catalog of stuff I really can't afford and really don't need.

The marimekko blue floral envelope was so damn cute and unexpected that I almost didn't need to open it --

But when I did....

PURSI!!

How fricken cute are these?

My bbfl Megan is in Turku Finland with her family, and according to her, these pursi are what all the fashionable and chilly women are carrying in the land where Rudolph is what's for dinner.

Here's what the note said:

These are all the rage here in Turku. Everyone uses them. The long one is a pencil case and the larger one is used as a wallet or a purse. And the Finnish word is, naturally, pursi.

Score!

Irritatingly, Megan's travel blog Cold, Colder, Coldest is well written and very engaging.
Check it out here.

Mad Men Barbies: Cocktails and Suburban Ennui Not Included

Mattel has come out with a new line of barbies based on our favorite characters on Mad Men.

For the first time since I was about 11 I am craving a doll. According to The New York Times...
For the sake of the Barbie image, her immersion in the “Mad Men” era will go only so far: The dolls come with period accessories like hats, overcoats, pearls and padded undergarments, but no cigarettes, ashtrays, martini glasses or cocktail shakers.

I am saving up my allowance to buy me a Joan and a Roger.


Read the piece here at The New York Times or get Tom and Lorenzo's take here on TLo

New Frugal Feasts Column Exclusively Today in The Concord Monitor

Photo by Ken Williams for The Concord Monitor

You can also read the column over at The Concord Monitor. Who knows, maybe if enough people read it there we could get a raise...

Behind Every Book Club

So here's how it started:

Suzanne: I think we should do a column on book clubs. We could write about how much fun it is to host, and how much we love getting together with a strong group of women for a glass of wine or three, making a killer dessert and spending the evening in a spirited discussion about a great book. It will be awesome!

Robin: Oh sure Suzanne. I've never been in a book club; I don't ever want to be in a book club-- in all honesty can't think of anything worse. Opening my home to a group of women on a random Tuesday night? I have no control over the mass of teenagers wandering about; at any minute one of them could show up freshly showered in nothing but a towel. Not a bath sheet mind you, just a towel. A teeny little towel. Who needs that?

And once again, The Fru Gals find themselves on opposite sides of an issue.

As far as Suzanne is concerned, book clubs are great. Without book club, when would anyone ever use their formal living rooms? Or clean them? Nothing motivates a lazy housekeeper like panic. Panic because ten women will be showing up in 45 minutes and the living room hasn't been dusted since, well probably Christmas if the Santa plate with the half eaten cookies still sitting on the coffee table is any clue. And since there will be reading involved, the old trick of dimming the lights down to nothing isn't an option. So out comes the dust cloth, and the vacuum, and the caution tape to seal off the downstairs bathroom once it's been given the once over. Just like Yoda can sense a disturbance in the force, little boys are immediately aware of clean toilets and take seriously their obligation to return the bathroom to its normal filthy state as quickly as possible.

Book club is also an unassailable excuse to get out of the house. A needy family that might object to Mom running off to the mall or a movie on a Tuesday night is oddly agreeable about book club. It seems so high brow and intellectual that they can't find a way to object without seeming mean. Little do they realize this month's assignment is a ridiculously silly book the "author" wrote as a back-story to a famous painting. No one has to know the book will be discussed for eight minutes while the coffee brews and that the remainder of the three hours will be spent dissecting two marriages, weighing appropriate sentencing guidelines for four recent teenage rule infractions and deciding whether George Clooney will actually marry this one.

Robin could not disagree more and wouldn't join a book club even if Oprah sent her a personal invitation and a new car. Robin can put dinner on the table for 30 and whip up a hearty snack for the 15 skateboarders her son has dragged home from school but when it comes to figuring out what to serve for a few fine ladies she gets sweaty-palmed and weak. Maybe it's because her nuclear family is bigger than the average book club, but what she craves is time alone. Robin's philosophy is that it is far better for the world to suspect the truth about what goes on behind the doors of her house than to invite people inside and remove all doubt. Women go to book club to get away from reality not to spend time on the set of The Real Housewives of Concord. Doors are slamming, phones are ringing, sons are rapping, girls are screeching, and it doesn't quiet down until long after the hour when a book club's last glass of pinot grigio has been drained and Jacque's fruit tart has been reduced to a few crumbs on the cardboard. So instead of reading for book club Robin reads in the tub, content to lock the door and let Calgon take her away.

If, despite Robin's best efforts, you do find yourself attempting to host book club you'll need an easily munchable snack and a dessert you can make ahead. Find a couple of clean wine glasses and crack open the fizzy water and you'll be all set. This week we have a recipe for spiced popcorn that is positively addictive, and Robin's Brownie Bread Pudding recipe that is so delicious we managed to polish off the entire bowl at the photo shoot the other day. It's a good thing that calories consumed during a photo shoot (and book club) don't count.

Spiced Popcorn

Makes 1 large batch and the bacon grease makes all the difference

3 tablespoons bacon grease or vegetable oil

1 cup popcorn kernels

½ stick butter, melted

4 teaspoons ground cumin

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 teaspoons ground paprika

4 teaspoons kosher salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more or less to taste

4 teaspoons sugar

1 large paper grocery sack

Place the bacon grease or vegetable oil in a large heavy pot with a lid. Add the popcorn kernels and cover. Bring the heat up to medium and let cook undisturbed until you hear the kernels begin to pop. Keep the pot on the heat and shake it back and forth until the popping subsides, about 4-6 minutes. Remove from the heat when the popping is reduced to about once a second.
Set aside, covered while you mix together the spices and salt in a small bowl.

Dump the popped corn into the grocery bag. Drizzle with the melted butter and add the mixed spices. Fold over the top of the bag and shake like mad until all the corn is evenly coated with the spices. Serve in a large bowl or basket.

Brownie Bread Pudding

Adapted by Robin from a recipe by Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Makes 6 servings

3 cups light cream or whole milk or a combination

½ stick butter, plus more for greasing the dish

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup sugar, plus more for garnish

Pinch salt

4 slices white bread, crusts removed if they are very thick

½ batch brownies, any kind, cut into 1 inch squares

5 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2 quart, oven safe bowl or a 9 inch square baking dish. Tear the bread into dime sized pieces and place in the bowl with the brownies, layering as you go. Warm the cream, butter, vanilla and sugar in a medium sized saucepan over low heat just until the butter melts. Pour the cream over the bread and brownie mixture and let sit for a few minutes. Push down any pieces of bread that float up so that everything is drenched. Beat the eggs briefly and pour them over the top. Use a spoon to gently swirl everything together. Sprinkle the top with a tablespoon or two of sugar. Place a large roasting pan on the oven rack and put the bread pudding pan in the center. Add about an inch and a half of freshly boiled water to the larger pan (around, not in the bread pudding) and gently slide in the oven rack. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the center looks fairly set and not too wiggly when you jostle the rack. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Cooking Tips and Grammar Lessons, I could use both

I always over-soften my butter, because it's so much easier to make cookies when the butter is melted, right?

WRONG!

See why I need help?

Having 8 children threw me head first into the cooking world. I was unequipped because my mom was the first Martha Stewart. I really never had to learn anything about making dinner, or breakfast or lunch for that matter because I lived with the best.

Once married, I became a member of the Cooking School of Hard Knocks: get it on the table FAST is my motto and 25 years later I'm still doing it the same way.

Is there hope ?

Another problem is while I was being so fabulous back in the 70's, I must have missed most of my grammar lessons in school. I was very busy painting my nails, brushing my hair and avoiding school, and other little details like that.

Oh how I hate details.....I never get the comma right, adjectives ?????, what the heck.... I before E accept after C is that how it goes?

The list goes on and on.

More than likely you have already figured out both of these truths just by reading this blog.
You know the one's, signed by me.

So I have decided to be humble and admit it, I have no grammar skills and I also have no cooking skills , sad but true.

I ask you to please forgive my bad grammar and my not so hot cooking skills, I apologize..I hope to improve, but I can not guarantee anything, but I will try. Which means my partner Suzanne may be able to keep some of her hair, instead of ripping it all out while editing my posts.

As luck should have it I came across a great Cooking Light article, which informed me why
over-softened butter is a problem, and hence, MY VERY FLAT COOKIES.

The Twenty Five Most Common Cooking Mistakes and guess what?
I have made them all.
Shocking, I know,.

With this new information I should be all set, with cooking that is, if anyone has a grammar link for me, please hook me up......

I do hope you enjoy some of my other nonsense which does not need grammar or cooking skills to be completely ridiculous..


I am just saying self-improvement at any age is always good.

Right ?

Sweet Treats: Blueberry Almond Granola Bars

These bars were pretty scrumptious and because you blitz the crust in the food processor and buy the toppings, pretty darn easy too. And somehow the blubeberry jam made the whole thing seem sort of healthy.

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Cookie Book. Use whatever jam you like, pick a decent granola or make your own (ha) et voila!

Ingredients:

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter , cold, cut into pieces
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberry jam
3 cups granola

1. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with foil, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Process almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Lightly beat egg, egg yolk, and vanilla in a small bowl. With processor running, add egg mixture; process just until clumps form. Pat dough into bottom of dish; refrigerate until firm and cold, about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
5. Spread jam over crust; top with granola. Bake until jam is bubbling and granola topping is browned, about 30 minutes. Let cool on wire rack. Lift out, and cut into 2-inch squares. Bars can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 day, or frozen up to 1 week.

National Chicken Cooking Contest

Sweet and Sour Chicken 1969This recipe was taken from a wonderful little cookbook I was recently given, called

The Chicken Cookbook

30th Annual National Cooking Contest

featuring winning recipes of 1978

WOW what a year..Not

I was 17 and clueless let me tell you. I was very busy being fabulous, fun and so carefree. Little did I know that a few years later I would find myself scanning anything related to cooking chicken, the cheapest way to fed the masses.

This book features winning chicken recipes from 1949-1977 , the back of the book contains the Winners from the 1978. Categorized by state, The New Hampshire winner was Farmer Brown Chicken Casserole...so typical I wish I was from an exciting state with a winning recipe like Florida Chicken Bangelash, or Washington Gourmet Chicken Livers Iran.

Oh well

I settled on a winner from 1969, I love the 60's you know

I tried this recipe first, for two reasons

1. I had the ingredients

2. It was so damn easy

The reviews were good and I will make it again, if I have all the ingredients that is.

so here goes a winning recipe from 1969

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2 broiler-fryer chickens cut in parts

1 bottle (8oz.) Russian Salad dressing

1 envelope(13/8 oz) dry onion soup mix

1 jar (10oz)apricot preserves

In a large shallow pan place chicken., skin side up,in a single layer. In a bowl mix together salad dressing, soup mix and preserves. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered, in 350F oven, basting occasionally, about 1 hour or until fork can be inserted in chicken with ease.

Makes 8 servings
There you go how easy was that? True to the housewives of that time, anything in a bottle or package, is fair game when whipping up the evening meal. The heck with fresh I say!

Enjoy!

Comando Cocktails

The tradition of the Grog is a long standing one in the U.S. Army. The Grog is a mix of liquids that reflect Army history, experiences and values and it is no different for the ROTC Cadets of the Golden Knight Battalion, although their version is sadly alcohol free.

On Saturday night I had the pleasure of toasting with Grog at the Spring 2010 Dining Out, which is military speak for a formal dinner put on by the battalion for friends and family.

Here's what is in that glass:

Apple juice for the gold for the Clarkson Golden Knights
Cranberry juice for the scarlet of the St. Lawrence Saints
Grape juice for the maroon of the Potsdam Bears
Blueberry juice for the blue of the Canton Kangaroos
Ice for the Potsdam winter
Coffee grounds for early morning physical training
MRE juice mix for the FTXs (whatever the hell those are)
Rock candy for Stone Mountain
Chocolate pudding for the mud of Seven Springs
Butter for the future
(ROTC cadets graduate as 2nd Lieutenants with a gold bar on their shoulder, aka a butter bar)

All it needed was a little slosh of rum to smooth out the flavors.

Vegetable Curry

This wonderful recipe came from Martha Stewart's little Back to Basics book.

Of course when made by me there are less steps,and fewer ingredients.

I am sure it tastes just as good as the original recipe, but then again how would I know?

I did it my way...


Ingredients
2-inch piece of fresh ginger
5 garlic cloves peeled
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 large cans (28 ounce) diced tomatoes
2 med red potatoes, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 head cauliflower cut into florets
1/2 pound summer squash or zucchini cut lengthwise
1 cup water
3 cups cooked rice for serving

In a food processor puree ginger and garlic with 1/4 cup of water until mostly smooth

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over medium high heat , add the mustard and cumin and cook until fragrant, just a minute. Add the pureed mixture and heat on med-low until most of the liquid has evaporated , scraping the bottom bits, for approx. 5-7 minutes

Add the potatoes and tomatoes and season with the salt and pepper. Increase the heat and boil until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the cauliflower and squash, 1 cup of water and partially cover. Cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes longer.

Serve with rice and enjoy.
This recipe is a keeper: the price is right, the preparation time is short and the taste is great!