Archive for January, 2009
Let’s play Name That Yogurt Container.
The Sharpie I keep in the junk drawer (really more of an entire counter) to ID containers destined for the freezer rarely gets used. I always think I’ll remember, and I never do. Everything looks the same when it’s frozen.
So I’ve taken to pulling containers at random out of the freezer, a sort of a game of Russian roulette where the only risk is ending up with half a liter of thawed antipasto for dinner. Tonight’s winner: squash soup! Phew. I’m sure I made it at some point last year. If you’d care to peruse the lovely new Index I’ve been working on, be my guest.
I’m also baking a Happy Winter Fudge Cake into a dome shape for our wee neighbour’s 1st birthday. The end result is supposed to look something like this. (Damn, I didn’t find that recipe until just now.) I’ve never baked a dome-shaped cake but the birthday boy’s Mom thought me better suited to baking it than she, and so entrusted me to it. I chose a sturdy chocolate cake recipe (Happy Winter) and am baking it in a Pyrex bowl right now. It was almost done at an hour (at 325F – you generally need to turn the temp down 25 degrees for a glass dish, which conducts heat better than metal) and needs about 15 more minutes. I made a slight indent in the middle of the thick batter to even it out somewhat, and it doesn’t seem to be doming too much on the surface. This house smells so good I would chew off my left arm if I thought it might taste like chocolate.
Speaking of hunger and having to chew gum while baking so you don’t lick the bowl and spoon and down half the bag of chocolate chips: 205 this morning. So that helps with the hunger pangs somewhat. Somewhat.
A lot of people ask me: what do you eat? (Like exactly, so I can copy it?) I could give you a play-by-play of everything I eat every day, but you have to find your own way. It has to be suited to your tastes and lifestyles and family and history. So how much food? Less than you’re eating now. How much exercise? More than you’re doing now. (Unless what you’re doing now is giving you the results you want.) A many fruits and veg as you can handle – whole grains, less butter and cheese. 1% milk. Smaller portions. No all-night munching. And no eliminations. I can eat some things less often, but don’t like the idea of spending the rest of my life without them. I find it far more empowering to think “I choose this”, rather than “I can’t have that”. It’s these little mental tweaks that make a huge difference.
And it really is a matter of calories in vs. calories out. There’s no way to “trick” your body into losing weight, and you can’t, no matter what anyone says, eat whatever you want and exercise for a mere 5 minutes a day three times a week and see pounds melt away. This is a perfect example of getting out as much as you put in. If you’re going to bother going to the gym, break a sweat, dammit.
January 23 2009 | leftovers | 33 Comments »
I got a good piece of advice today that I do believe I’ll take: name the new computer John Cusack. How could I not fall madly in love with it then? And accept any faults or shortcomings because love is blind? Not that JC has any faults OR shortcomings, of course.
(It must be the software’s fault that I can’t install it in order to upload photos from my camera – it freezes two thirds of the way through the installation process every time.) The index, by the way, is one I put back last night from the html code I managed to cut and paste as I realized the entire thing disappeared each time I hit save. So I created a new page and pasted it back in, but still have to pick through and separate each link. It’s too bad I require sleep – I could get so much more done.
But enough about that. I realized today that I was likely so cranky because I’ve been disconnected, as if telling you all about my food is a big part of the enjoyment (as is the eating part, which I’m also largely missing).
Dinner tonight was Pad Thai. I wanted a big bowl of something kind of crunchy and salty, and the great thing about Pad Thai (besides the fact that it’s so delicious) is that you can cut the noodles with bean sprouts and have a giant bowl of what seems like all noodles, but which is actually have sprouts. Which are basically water – not much in the way of nutrients, but not many calories, either. You can find a recipe, and even a photo, back at Day 205. (Last night I made a weird sort of lamb stew in the slow cooker, with roasted red peppers and apricots and butternut squash, that didn’t taste quite as good as it sounds. I forgot that I don’t really like using cinnamon with lamb – it reminds me of something medieval – like the cinnamon is a primitive attempt to mask gaminess or smelly meat.)
But I really wanted to tell you about that apple pie I made on Tuesday – it was Inauguration Day and so on CBC they requested apple pie. I have nothing against apple pie, and it does make a mighty fine breakfast, but as a topic of conversation it’s not exactly titillating. Everyone knows apple pie already. So I thumbed through a few of the most classically American resources I could think of – Martha, the White House Cookbook, the New York Times – and in the Times found an old recipe from 2001 called ‘sautéed apple pie’, in which you sauté the apples before you fill the pie crust.
I thought it was an interesting concept, but had no idea how much it would change my pie-baking life. It’s brilliant, really – you cook the sliced apples in a hot skillet with a bit of butter (and oil – I changed it a bit), sprinkle them with a little sugar and cinnamon as you go, and the apples cook down in the pan, rather than in the pie. Typically apples in a pie steam, and shrink as they cook, leaving a bit of a gap between fruit and crust. Sautéeing them – caramelizing them – intensifies their flavours and turns them all golden with crispy bits, which produces, believe you me, a phenomenal pie. Just make sure you cool the apples first (spread them out on a cookie sheet to do this quickly) before you put them into the raw pastry shell. The result is dense, intense; apple pie extreme. When I brought it to the studio it disappeared in record time, the recipients’ eyes rolling into the backs of their heads. I love finding new ways to make familiar things – things you’ve been making for so long you don’t really consider how it might be improved upon. This sautéed apple pie (I think it should be renamed caramelized apple pie, don’t you? I just love the idea of anything being caramelized) is like roasted potato salad – with the potatoes roasted in the leftover bacon drippings from the crispy bacon you set aside to crumble in right before serving. If you want to win friends and influence people, make them roasted potato salad and a caramelized apple pie.
The apple pie and gritty vanilla gelato (that had such an odd flavour none of us could identify it – the closest I could come was some sort of tea) we had for lunch yesterday at… a restaurant… that cost $11 and we didn’t even finish (people, this never happens) was further reminder of how good it was. I wanted to go straight into the back and give the pastry chef the recipe.
Sautéed Apple Pie
adapted from the New York Times, 2001
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. canola oil
5 lbs. apples (10-12), peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
pastry for double crust pie
cream, for brushing (optional)
coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
In a large skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat. Add the apples, sprinkle with sugar and sauté, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes or until tender and lightly caramelized. Sprinkle with cinnamon. (If you don’t have a skillet large enough to hold all the apples, do this in two stages or in two skillets.) Spread apples on a platter or cookie sheet to cool.
Preheat oven to 400F. Divide pastry in two slightly unequal halves; roll out the larger piece on a lightly floured surface and gently fit into the pie plate. Fill with cooled apples. Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the filling; seal, trim and crimp the edges. Cut several slits in top to allow steam to escape. (Or cut the pastry into strips and make lattice.)
If you like, brush the top with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes, until golden. Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.
I’m sorry I have no photos – it’s on my to-do list for tomorrow.
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January 22 2009 | dessert | 26 Comments »
OK, here we go. Fiona (who is vowing this year to read 100 books and tell us about them – so maybe that can be our other stay-home-in-your-jammies book club? We can then make intelligent literary conversation at the gym/water cooler about the book “we” just read, and no one will be the wiser?) suggested I ditch the (Apple) Safari web browser that came with my iMac and download Firefox. So lets see if this works. Sadly my index is still nowhere to be found (on my computer anyway – so odd that a few people are getting it. You’d think as admin I’d have access to it if it was on the server. Maybe if you’re seeing it it’s in your cache?).
I spent the afternoon hiding/decompressing (if you can call it that with 4 toddlers underfoot) at K’s house over far too cheesy artichoke dip and a chunky chorizo-bean-tomato-pineapple dip J made that I may have to bug her for the recipe for, scooped up with baked whole wheat pitas (how virtuous are we?) and dragged my feet home at around 5. Having started to cull the contents of my freezer for anything appetizing/usable/bulky I had already committed to making something out of one of the first frosty packages to go: thinly sliced beef that I bought to make Bulgogi (Korean Barbecued) Beef. Fortuitously I had picked up some Shanghai noodles (the thinnish ones) at the market last week and so morphed the two. (The next month I swear is going to be re-runs from last year. I found some roasted squash and ricotta ravioli in there too.)
So I poured equal amounts of soy sauce and rice vinegar and about half that of brown sugar over the beef and let it sit while I made some sesame noodles, and threw a few stalks of asparagus and frozen broccoli trees into the water during the last few minutes of cooking. Drained the lot while sauteing up some sliced peppers and the beef in its marinade, then tossed the lot together in a big bowl and sprinkled it with chopped peanuts. It was OK. The beef was sublime, but the noodles got overcooked as I went to retrieve a naked W from the gritty snow in the back yard, and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to frozen broccoli.
My addiction these days is coffee. I never drank coffee until about 5 years ago, and I still don’t have more than one or two cups a day. Typically Americanos or the odd lattè – because they are espresso-based drinks, lower in caffeine than coffee – which might be why I don’t have any problem drinking them in the late afternoon/evening. It’s comforting to have something to sip on for an hour or so, it’s a way to be sociable that involves food, and I let myself go to Starbucks more often than I used to (partially due to my Christmas gift cards) because I need that something. Here’s a tip: a tall Americano in a grande cup, topped up with whole milk, is like a frugal lattè ($2.36 vs. almost $5, although it’s not as hot and has no foam, but you can drink it faster and rewarm it if you need to) for about 100 calories, or a grande Caffè Misto – equal parts coffee and steamed milk – is only 110 calories; both will provide some protein, too. I don’t add sugar, but one packet of sugar is only 11 calories.
Speaking of book club – I have about 15-20 takers. Yahoo! (If anyone still wants in, email me anytime.) I’m trying to figure out a venue and best time of day, so will email you all directly. It’s hard for me to imagine us all sitting around not drinking coffee and eating cupcakes.
I would do just about anything for a cupcake right now. Anything? Yes, anything.
January 21 2009 | beef | 22 Comments »
Am so not in love with Mac. I know, I’m supposed to love it. Everybody does, right? But right now I’m close to throwing the bum out on the street with all its stuff, had I not already invested so much into this relationship.Yesterday I was starting to fall in love, despite the fact that it still can’t detect my wireless network (having had two stints on the phone with the very nice people at AppleCare, who also couldn’t solve the problem and in the end said it was probably the router, which is less than a year old and according to the manufacturer completely Mac-compatible) but does pick up all my neighbours’ networks. I can get online if I plug the ethernet cable directly into the modem, but the laptop can’t be used at the same time and so if I want to switch I have to pull the cord out and reconnect it to my router. Annoying, but no biggie. It is very sleek and pretty and very fast, and I was starting to love it.Then last night I went to post on my blog. I posted a recipe for sauteed apple pie from the New York Times (very much worth a try, I think) that I made for CBC this morning. (Twice I went back to edit and found it had turned into one long run-on sentence that I had to break up again; annoying, but not a big deal.) Then I added a few of the latest recipes to the Index, since I had forgotten to when I first posted them. I added 4, and when I added the last link and hit save IT ERASED MY ENTIRE INDEX. Remember how much time I spent on that index? Somewhere in the vicinity of 100 hours? Gone. I went back on my browser and it was there in the edit box, again condensed down from a list to one extremely massive run-on sentence. I tried “Save” – erased. Tried “Save and Continue editing” – erased. Repeated enough times to convince myself it was not just a temporary glitch. As you might have noticed, my index is just gone. (Not a problem I’ve had in the past year plus a month.) I spent until well after midnight doing damage control, trying to get it to save and/or figure out what’s going on. No luck.So I managed to cut and paste the code of the index into an email and send it to myself. At best I’ll be able to add it back on another computer (this one won’t let me, even if I open up a new window) as one massive sentence of code which I will have to pick through and separate, then realign and hope each link works. At worst I’ll have to rewrite my entire index. Which took many, many evenings as well as a huge chunk of my Christmas holiday.(Here’s something interesting: according to Consumer Reports Macs only rate well in the category of all-in-one desktop computers – they don’t make the cut at all – in terms of overall ratings and reliability – in the categories of ‘workhorse’ or ‘high-end’, and the mini comes in second to a PC in the ‘budget’ category. My 20 inch iMac comes in second in ‘all-in-one’, but with an overall score of 66 vs. 65, 64 and 63 in the following PCs – so not as huge a difference as I would have thought. The Consumer Reports chart my dad emailed me lists the reliability of laptop computers organized by percentage that require repairs or have serious problems and Apple was second to last at 20% – with H-P at the bottom at 21%, and all other PCs above it – Sony came in #1 at 18%. So while they are pretty much immune to viruses, it seems they aren’t immune to problems! And the Mac dude on their commercials is so hip and healthy-looking…)Dinner last night was black bean soup made with a leftover chunk of ham from our weekend brunch – I made it on Sunday because it’s always best after a day (or two, or three) in the fridge, and it’s perfect insurance against coming home hungry without a dinner plan. Took 5 minutes to reheat, and I crumbled some feta overtop. It was so tasty Mike used the F word when he ate it. I used it several times later in the evening, but not in reference to the soup. UPDATE: those of you who subscribe may have noticed that this came through as one giant paragraph – when I published it it went from several to one giant paragraph. I had to go back and edit it again. Lets see if it works this time… Nope. Looks like it wants to stay one giant paragraph, and every time I change it back it reverts when I save it. You may just find an iMac this week on Free Stuff Fridays…
January 20 2009 | leftovers | 31 Comments »
Alright. This transferring to a new computer scenario went about as smoothly as I expected; worse, actually, since after spending the better part of the day clearing stuff off the old one into files to transfer, we ran into our snag about 45 seconds after turning the new iMac on. Although it detects all of our neighbour’s wireless networks, it won’t pick up ours. At all. And when we pulled out our cord and connected it that way it wouldn’t work either. We tried everything before discovering that they forgot to give us our 24-hour hotline card (an extra $199); apparently you can call at 3am and they will be there to walk you through whatever you need walking through. (Or if you don’t have the number and code you’re screwed at ten after nine.)
Fortunately I got the laptop connected again so I’m back to surfing from bed. On the upside, this whole fiasco has raised my heart rate significantly.
Dinner last night was potato skins and spinach pizza. I dragged myself to the gym at about 4:30 (having procrastinated all day) and didn’t get home until 6, ravenous and with Mike wanting to watch a movie and/or the hockey game with something to munch on the couch. This was one of my biggest obstacles until I found some ways to morph dinner and couch snacks – because I really like something to snack on while watching a movie, and if I’ve already eaten dinner it’s just extra calories. So if I make dinner something I can eat with my fingers on the couch, I can combine the two.
Potato Skins
This may seem like an obvious recipe, but cheesy potato skins are a quintessential finger food that you never think to make at home. The spice mixture adds a lot of flavor, and Canadian bacon (back bacon) is much leaner than the breakfast variety. I always use intensely flavored cheeses, like old cheddar, instead of the low fat kind, which tend to be rubbery with very little flavor so you need more of it anyway.
4 medium baking potatoes (russets work well and have sturdy skins)
1-2 Tbsp. olive or canola oil
1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper
1/2 tsp. each chili powder and curry powder (optional)
1/4 cup chopped Canadian (back) bacon or turkey pepperoni (optional)
2 green onions or a small bunch of chives, chopped
3/4 cup shredded old cheddar cheese
Salsa and low fat sour cream
Preheat oven to 400F. Poke the potatoes with a fork and bake them (directly on the oven rack) for about an hour, until tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
Cut each potato in quarters lengthwise and scoop out the pulp, leaving a 1/4” thick shell. (Keep the potato for something else – I fry it up in a little oil the next morning with whatever’s left of the spice mixture for amazing home fries!). Place potato skins on a baking sheet and brush with a bit of oil. Combine the salt, pepper, chili and curry powder and sprinkle over top. Bake for another 10 minutes, until crispy.
Sprinkle with bacon, green onions and cheese, and bake for another 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. Serve with salsa and low fat sour cream. Serves 4.
Today we spent celebrating the January birthdays (two nephews, my brother-in-law, sister and mum) tobogganing and brunching at my parents’ house, which somehow stretched until almost 5. My sisters, mum and I talked and walked up and down the hill, racing each other up sometimes, to get some exercise in. (Using your body whenever you have a chance to adds up to significant changes.) After we had veggies and dip (a low fat peppercorn ranch dressing spiked with lemon juice that watered it down but also made it appealingly lemony) do-it-yourself sandwiches (mine was turkey and a slice of cheddar cheese with mustard, tomato and greens on a whole wheat bun, but I admit I finished W’s grilled-cheese crusts too) cake (our traditional spice cake with penuche frosting and a chocolate one made in a giant cupcake cake mold) and chocolate fondue inspired by Mary Ann – I haven’t been able to get her frozen chocolate fruit chunks out of my head! At family things we typically chop up a ton of fruit to graze on, but my sister suggested we melt some dark chocolate in a Little Dipper (which has been in my basement for eons and I thought I’d never use – it would have come in handy for that sticky toffee fondue too), which worked perfectly and didn’t need to be maintained by a tealight. (Just chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips straight-up – easiest dessert ever.) Having picked at cake crumbs and chunks of icing (and veggies, and fruit) all afternoon we didn’t really need dinner.
Weight update: 206 this morning. My stomach is starting to rumble again now, and I’m letting it – bedtime soon enough, and sleep is my best appetite supressant. After awhile that desperate need for food starts to morph into something more manageable, once my cravings have weakened a bit (like fear and monsters, if you don’t feed them, they eventually back off). Hunger itself is a little more manageable (and far easier to deal with) than cravings – together they tend to kick my ass. I can actually feel when I’ve hit that tipping point; I’ve learned to recognize that hollow feeling eminating from my core as my body burning its reserves – on-board fuel instead of the high test stuff I used to shovel into the furnace.
So really, that feeling is a good thing. It’s progress. I can’t say it’s a pleasant feeling, but it isn’t any more unpleasant as not being able to do up my pants, or catching a glimpse of my Michelin Man back rolls in a full-length mirror. You know the saying ’nothing tastes as good as being thin feels’ – likewise, is this hollow, empty (temporary) feeling in my gut really that much worse than the pain and discomfort of feeling shackled by your own body and awkward in your own skin?
January 18 2009 | appetizers and snacks | 18 Comments »
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