Category: winter

There is Time Right Now

~ Katherine ~ Leave a comment

It’s Saturday morning, and I have a moment to think.  There are patches of sun covering the snowy front lawn and the brittle branches of the bush waving back and forth outside my kitchen window makes me think that at eight degrees fahrenheit, I am the owner of an optomistic weather thermometer.

Looks like another day of hibernation for me.  Another day to scan the cookbooks on my baker’s rack searching for inspiration…what to make for dinner tonight?  But before I can think about that, there are breakfast dishes in the sink already, a dishwasher that needs to be emptied, and another load of laundry to put on.

I remember not six months ago, secretly hoping for a rainy day to cancel swim lessons at the pool so that I could have time to accomplish these basic chores that were piling up around the house.  And more recently, wasn’t I just complaining about the quick pace of the holiday season?  How I barely had any time at all to bake a single sugar cookie?

Mother Nature has a way of giving us what we want, what we need — doesn’t she?  And for me that’s permission to recuperate, to linger here at my kitchen table watching swirls of snow dust blow across the icy street.

A New Year: Some Things are Good As Is

~ Katherine ~ 1 Comment

Ten days into the new year and I’m still thinking about what I’d like to do differently in the next 355 days with regards to Mangoes and Mojitos.  There is so much information out there about cooking and how to cook food better — so much noise and excitement.  And a lot less time to sit and enjoy all these wonderful cooking tips and recipes faithfully blogged by so many creative and talented people.  There are so many bloggers and we all seem to be showing up in your inbox offering the same information albeit in our own voice.

I began M&M a couple of years ago as a way for me to connect with others in the quiet afternoons when I am typically alone in my kitchen wondering what to make for dinner or more often than not what cooking technique I want to learn or feel I need to improve.  Blogging helps me share — express my love of food — and it spares others the torment of listening to another one of my food stories.  Is that all she ever talks about? 

Quite frankly, yes.  And it’s all I ever read about as well because I really don’t know a whole lot.  For instance, why is it that every chocolate chip cookie recipe I make leaves me with flat crisps covered in small bumps of chocolate that ok, taste great?  These are recipes meant to improve upon the original and delicious in its simplicity Nestle Tollhouse cookie accidently invented by Ruth Wakefield in 1936 –with additions such as expensive chocolate, exotic nuts and spices.

And why does every butter cake I painstakenly attempt from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible always turn out dry and yet when I follow Betty Crocker’s approach of dumping all ingredients into a bowl and beat for three minutes – I serve up a moist, yellow cake that my family devours?  Unlike Rose, Betty has a complete disregard for the science of building a cake’s structure!

All leads me to wonder why attempt to change the classics?  Why be so ready to dismiss our “Grandmothers” of invention?  Surely there is wisdom in what I now feel is their message, “Honey, why make such a fuss?  When something tastes this good, leave it alone.”

What is Your Joy?

~ Katherine ~ 2 Comments

My first issue of Saveur magazine arrived in the mail the other day and a little twing inside my stomach reminded me I still have that child-like excitement when I see something that brings me absolute joy.  Before I begin, let me just get something out of the way right up front:  I love my children, my husband, my family and friends.  They all bring me joy and I will say that my husband can still sneak me a look from across a crowded room sending a shiver of excitement my way.

But, I am not talking here about love-of-people-joy joy.

I’m talking about that other joy.  The Joie de Vivre!  The joy of living – that which fulfills you as a human being — gets you out of bed in the morning.  The passion you were born with that may take time – possibly years to discover.  I am figuring it out.  And it began this week, with the arrival of Saveur.  My stomach chirped, like a small bird so happy to have found the worm.

And I realized, what I’ve always known….I love cooking magazines.  I love cookbooks.  I love holding them in my hands, carefully flipping pages.  I love the photos.  I love the stories.  And at the risk of sounding like a bit of a hoarder (gasp!) I don’t easily part with them.  I do, however file them in monthly order by year.  I’m sure I’m giving you the wrong impression and realize I’m risking a phone call from the local chapter of an OCD support group.

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But, look at this!  The December 1997 issue of Better Homes and Gardens.  The cover is a throwback — the very first BH&G holiday cover and somehow in my early twenties I had the forethought to save it.  I take it out this same time every year.  It’s like a warm cup of hot cocoa –more like the sweet marshmallow floating on top.

Which reminds me….I promised the kids we’d make homemade gingerbread marshmallows after school today.  I’m off to the market for unflavored gelatin!

Red Velvet Cupcakes and Delicious Blogs

~ Katherine ~ 8 Comments

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There is so much snow on the ground.  Reason and experience tells me that just beneath all this white, lies grass green and patient, but I’m not so sure.  Late morning, I sit here on the couch next to my eight-year-old  son warm with a winter’s fever and resting after a long night of wakefulness.  Laundry tosses around and about in the dryer while clean clothes sit folded neatly in piles on the overstuffed chair next to me.  The dryer exhales into the chilly air outside and I can see its Downy-fresh breath rise up and swirl in the window before me.

It may be early March but I haven’t properly said farewell to February.  I spent the better part of the month studying the how’s and why’s of cake baking using Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible and Cookwise by Shirley O. Corriher as my text books.  I tested out a few different chocolate cake recipes and one yellow cake (post on these to follow – I didn’t forget that I promised you chocolate cake), but mostly I spent time with Red Velvet – two recipes, three tries.

I didn’t know much about Red Velvet cakes until last month.  I’ve had a Red Velvet cupcake before, so I knew that it wears a cream cheese frosting and that it takes a lot of red food coloring for it to live up to its name.

But underneath the red, what type of cake is it?  Yellow? Chocolate? And what exactly is it suppose to taste like?  I did learn that most Red Velvet cakes are oil-based and I will say that one of the recipes I tried called for one and a half cups of vegetable oil.  I wasn’t afraid to use so much but when the cupcakes had finished baking and cooled, I released them from the pan onto a cooling rack only to be shocked by puddles of oil left behind in the pan.

And my before-mentioned son got it right when with his first bite, he exclaimed, These taste just like corn muffins!  He really thought I had made him red corn muffins and I let him think for a moment that his mom is A-Ma-Zing!! But as soon as he left the kitchen table, into the garbage went twenty-two oily corny- cupcakes.

The oily recipe only included 1 teaspoon of cocoa.  That’s just silly to me.  Why bother?  The second and winning recipe I’ve included here calls for 1/2 cup of cocoa powder – now that’s more like it!  And butter instead of oil – it had gotten my attention.  Because butter makes things better.  Having a bad day?  Slather some butter on a warm piece of bread, take a bite – soon you’ll be feeling better, you’ll see.

The first time I made this recipe I used a scant teaspoon of Super Red food coloring gel instead of the one-ounce (liquid) food coloring the recipe called for.  I admit, I was trying to be fancy.  The first batch was a little dry and a little off-tasting so when I made the next, I lowered my oven to 325 degrees and switched to McCormick’s red food coloring – the whole one-ounce bottle.  The cupcakes were now moist and light and a very pretty shade of red.

The frosting is so, so good. After you frost with a basic cream cheese frosting, you chill the cupcakes for 30 minutes and then dip them in melted white chocolate!!  With the first bite, these cupcakes whisper: chocolate, sweet cream cheese frosting and decadent white chocolate.  There is no guessing – vanilla?  Chocolate?  What?  Or hmm, I guess this is what Red tastes like…..

For me and from now on these Red Velvet Cupcakes are what Valentine’s Day tastes like or Friendship Day as is celebrated in my childrens’ elementary school.  And so, in the spirit of love and friendship, I’d like to express my gratitude to the authors and creators of the following outstanding blogs for they have brightened my winter days. Please stop by and check them out.

Visit Badger Girl Learns to Cook http://learntocookbadgergirl.com/ for advice in the form of recipes on whole food cooking, clean eating, and my favorite mantra: Mistakes will happen in the kitchen…no big deal!  Just keep on cooking good food!

Travel. Garden. Eat.  http://travelgardeneat.com/ The photos of Kat B.’s travels are breathtaking.  Her musings of busy family life along with inspiring quotes help me stay centered.

Peri’s Spice Ladle http://perisspiceladle.com/ Indian-inspired flavors and colorful photography help me get over my fear of trying new spice and food combinations.

And now for Red Velvet Cupcakes from Tastes of Italia June 2011 issue:

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 ounce red food color
  • 1 ounce red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  Set aside.  Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Mix in sour cream, buttermilk, food color, vinegar and vanilla.  Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended.  Do not overbeat.  (Seriously, don’t overbeat.)

Spoon batter into 30 (I got 27-ish) paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup half full.  Bake 20-25 minutes (I always begin around 12 minutes and continue to check every 3 minutes thereafter.) or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire rack for 30 minutes.  Remove from pans; cool completely.  Frost with vanilla cream cheese frosting.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 (8-oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 (16 -oz.) box confectioner’s sugar
  • 8 ounces melted white chocolate

Beat cream cheese, softened butter and vanilla extract in a large bowl until light and fluffy (I used the wisk attachment on my stand-up mixer).  Gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar until smooth.  Place your frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (all I had was a large star – it made a pretty swirl).  Pipe frosting onto the cupcakes in a curly pattern.  Chill your cupcakes for 30 minutes or until the frosting is firm.

Now for the best part:  Remove from the fridge and gently dip the tops of the cupcakes into the melted white chocolate.  Allow the cupcakes to warm to room temperature before serving.

And finally, remember:  life is short, make time to have a little something sweet!

Sensual Earthy Roasted Beets Part II

~ Katherine ~ 5 Comments

After my last post I was surprised how many comments I received from followers who really don’t like beets at all – canned or fresh.  Many of you wrote that I will never be able to change your mind.  One of you likened the taste of beets to dirt!  (I happen to agree, but let’s at least call it soil – nutrient and mineral-rich-fresh-tasting-after-a-gentle-spring-rain soil.)  Still, I feel like I have to at least finish my canned-beets story because believe me, no one hated beets (canned beets) more than I.  But it’s only because beets and I got off on the wrong foot.

If I can find some love for this jeweled, bedazzled vegetable, well, then, maybe one of you might change your mind too.  So if you promise to just hang tight, follow me back to my childhood home, back in time to my early disgust of this rat-tailed root, I promise you cake next time.  A deep, rich, chocolate cake for which you don’t even need to pull out the heavy equipment.  Truly, all you need is a bowl, a wooden spoon and some light mixing.  Ok? Deal? Here we go……

Back to that night at the dinner table, winter 1978-ish….

I sat there at the round, wood table while my mother dried and put away the last of the pots and pans.  The colonial-style chair back went way above my head – its’ dowels pushed into my spine.

Leaning back against that chair, I watched my legs dangle and I was enjoying myself for a bit – swaying them from side-to-side, bumping the insides of my heels together.  I was making my own fun pumping my legs out and back in as if I were outside, on the other side of the back door, just a few feet away, in the backyard, on my swing going higher and higher.

Every once in awhile she’d bring me back to the darkness of the kitchen table, to the red-ringed thick slices of what appeared to have once been part of a gummy, Alice-in-Wonderland-type-tree-trunk stiffening on my plate.

C’mon Kat.  I’m almost finished with the dishes.  Do you really want to sit here all night…all by yourself?

I shrunk my body as best as I could, trying to hide somewhere deeper into the chair where every time I shifted from one butt cheek to the other, the small bones in my spine rubbed themselves raw against the spindly spines of the chair, which, by the way, had grown even larger at this time, I’m pretty sure.

She hung up the dish towel on the oven door, clicked on the light in the hood above the stove, made her eyes big at me as if she were going to try one last time to will me to cooperate, to cave, to shove those beets into my mouth at last.

She turned out the light and left quietly – I had to strain to hear her footsteps meet the couch where my father sat at one end – his end by the lamp.

And then I heard it.  The opening song to the Muppet Show.

It’s time to play the music/It’s time to light the lights/It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight.

Only it was louder than usual!  My legs began to pump in my chair faster and faster.  I fidgeted and felt myself growing wild!  The chair was beginning to feel hot!  I was the marshmallow at this twisted camp fire!

It’s time to put on make-up/ It’s time to dress up right/ It’s time to raise the curtain on the Muppet Show tonight.

It was Tuesday night!  I had to see Miss Piggy karate chop the live grown-up guest!

Oh they were really playing dirty this time!

It’s time to get things started on the most Sensational! Inspirational! Celebrational! Muppetational!

Without thinking, I stabbed a beet with my fork, the butter had turned into little hard chips of greasy yellow!  The blob wriggled. It was all so cold…so gross!

I grabbed the bloody purplish mound of ick and pulled it off the fork with my teeth and with my bite’s first puncture into its flesh, it throbbed, it pulsed…it had a heartbeat!

This is what we call the Muppet Show!!!!!!

I gagged and threw myself down on the floor and sobbed and kicked at having been so broken!  Mom came running in only to find her five-year-old daughter in a pile of plaid and embroidered bell-bottom jeans on the orange and brown linoleum floor.  She picked me up and cradled me in her arms.  It was over.

And now I really like fresh beets!  Especially over a small plate of mixed greens with the following Orange Dressing adapted from Michele Scicolone’s The Italian Slow Cooker cookbook:

  • 1-2 navel oranges
  • 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and freshly ground pepper

Grate about 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest into a medium bowl. Halve the oranges and squeeze until you have 1/3 cup juice.  Add the juice to the bowl along with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, the oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until blended.  Add the leftover sliced beets to the bowl and toss well.  Adjust seasonings as you like.  Crumble a little soft goat cheese over the top of the greens then pour the beets in the orange dressing over both greens and cheese and go grab a fork because lunch is served!

Sensual, Earthy Roasted Beets

~ Katherine ~ 3 Comments

Part I

My first experience wasn’t so great…

Mushy, deep red-purple, they stain the white Corningware bowl a bright pink.  Sitting there in a pool of iridescent melted butter.  How could the crimson contents inside a small salad bowl cause a young child such dread!  And how could the voice of ones’ own sweet mother invoke so much panic as she utters Tonight your father and I would like you to try your beets.

Oh no!  I’d managed to avoid these horrible roots many, many times but this dinner was going to be different.  My parents had had enough of my avoidance and outright disgust of the red, red, red! bleeding all over my plate.  It wasn’t even Halloween and I was not in the mood to pretend I was a starving vampire.  Eat your beets.  C’mon.  Let’s go.  Chop! Chop! 

I needed to stall them.  Katherine, you will sit at this table until you try them.  Oh I just needed one more minute to figure out if they were bluffing!  How far were we going to go with the game this time – before they’d fold and walk away in shame?  I shook my head back and forth real slow as I stared at my plate, leftover bits of meatloaf beginning to crust.

My father gently pushed his chair back from the table.  I could feel frost begin to stick to my eyelashes from the coldness of his stare.  I would not look up.   I knew by his silence they were clearly in this together.  It was all planned.  She’d work me over until my spirit was weakened and then Dad would come in and say See that wasn’t so bad.  You got your mother all upset for nothing.

As I grew more mature, I learned to take my time….

If you’re like me and have only experienced beets dropped out of a can, then this recipe may make you too a beet lover.

To Prepare

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  • Figure one medium-size beet per person.
  • First cut off the green tops leaving an inch of stem attached (later on, you can rinse these, chop and saute with a little garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper).
  • Cut off the tapering root (the tail).
  • Wash and scrub with a vegetable brush under running water to remove loose soil.

To Roast

  • Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and set the beets on the foil.
  • Into the oven for about 1-1 1/2 hours.
  • The beets are done when they are soft to the touch and when you gently give a squeeze and the skins collapse (an indication the beets have shrunk away from the skins).
  • Allow them to cool for 15 minutes.  Then peel the skin away by pulling back a little bit of the flesh from where the inch of stem was left.  This opens up the skin and you can peel the rest easily.

Note:  Do I really have to tell you to be careful when testing the doneness of the beets and/or peeling them?  Hot! Hot! Hot! (By the way, I am told my very first word was Hot!  Why didn’t I go to culinary school?  Why? Why?  The signs were there!)

And finally, saute

  • Slice your beets into 1/4 inch rounds.
  • Warm a saute pan on the stove.  When it’s hot, add a pat of butter, then swirl the beets around until they are shiny and sexy.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe from The Organic Cook’s Bible – How to Select and Cook the Best Ingredients on the Market by Jeff Cox

Part II is on the way: Leftover beets for lunch!

Granny Smith Apples with Orange, Lemon and Cinnamon

~ Katherine ~ 5 Comments

IMG_9059In the late afternoon of a short winter day, my grandmother  would peel an orange for my sister, brother and me hoping to hold us over until dinner.  So patient and so focused on the bright citrus ball in the palm of her hand, she would slowly peel back the thick rind in long vertical pieces taking care not to bruise the shimmering fruit inside.  The mist released by the orange would spring into the air in leaps of excitement, vitality and joy!  An offering so simple.  It was love.

It is January and cold with over a foot of snow here in the Midwest.  The holidays are over and it is time for simplicity.  It is time to celebrate good health, to delight in the scent of citrus fruit, take comfort in the warmth of cinnamon; and in our sleepy winter heads, feel the crunch of the crisp white flesh of a Granny Smith apple.  It’s time to be present with our family and friends — to offer up simple foods, to stay at the table and share an orange together.

Granny Smith Apples with Orange, Lemon and Cinnamon

  • Wash, core, then slice each apple; place in a serving bowl.
  • When you have enough for everyone, halve a lemon and squeeze the juice from both halves over the apples, taking care to catch any pits.
  • Halve two oranges, squeeze the juice of the three halves over the apples (careful of the pits).
  • Sprinkle cinnamon lightly over the apples.
  • Mix gently with your hands.
  • With the fourth half of the orange, thinly slice and lay rounds of orange on top of the apples.
  • Lightly sprinkle more cinnamon on top, cover and put in the refrigerator for 30 – 60 minutes.
  • Go take a walk outside, look for paw prints in the snow.  When you return, make a pot of tea, place a few apples on a small dish.

Sit down for a moment.  Breath and enjoy.

Sitting Still for a Moment

~ Katherine ~ 1 Comment

I am re-organizing my priorities and like so many of you out there feeling the squeeze of the holiday season, I am finding there is simply not enough time to do the many things I enjoy.  While I sit with what should remain, and what must go in order to get enough rest and remain healthy, I humbly offer you a haiku.  Writing in this concise poetic form each morning at my kitchen table is just what I need to keep centered and still.

True Warrior

It’s not the outcome

Draw back your arrow again

Fearless precision