Batter Up!

For a while, in my house we had a bread machine and I enjoyed the ease with which we could create homemade bread.  At some point the machine stopped working and while we tried to replace the appliance and could never find one that was as good as the old one.  Attempts to make bread by hand were fruitless because the house was kept unusually cool and I could never find an acceptable place to allow the bread to rise.  So I pretty much gave up on making homemade bread.

Now that I have my own house, and time on my hands, I am enjoying my experiments with handmade yeast breads.  I find the varieties of bread are much greater than I imagined, and there are many more recipes are available for hand-made breads than for machine-made breads.  I have discovered it is so easy to make my own bread by hand that I have lost the desire to replace the bread machine -- not that I have the space to store it anyway.

Most of my successes have come from recipes developed by Father Dominic Garramone, the Bread Monk.  I find his recipes work consistently and are pretty much fool-proof, even when you do not follow the instructions exactly.  With this recipe I branched out for Father Dominic's recipes, but only because I do could not find a similar recipe in any of his books I own.  This is a batter bread, meaning there is no kneading or shaping involved.  If you have made English Muffin Bread, the process is very similar.  The batter comes together quickly and is easy to handle.  The end result is a moist, flavourful loaf, perfectly at home with dinner or as a savoury accompaniment to afternoon tea.  If you are nervous about working with yeast, give batter breads a try.  The biggest tip I have is to invest in an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the warm liquid before adding it to the yeast.

Easy Cheese Batter Bread

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 package active dry yeast

4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)

3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup margarine or butter

3 eggs, beaten

• In large bowl, thoroughly combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast
• Add cheese, stirring well to incorporate
• In small saucepan, heat milk and butter until butter is melted and mixture is very warm (120-130 F)
• Pour milk mixture over flour mixture
• Add eggs
• Stir until thoroughly combined and no dry spots remain
• Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap or tea towel
• Let rise in a warm place (80-85 F) for 45-60 minutes or until light and doubled in bulk
• Generously grease a 1 1/2 or 2-quart casserole dish, or 9x5 loaf pan
• Stir batter to break up largest bubbles
• Turn batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly
• Preheat oven to 350F
• Cover and let rise in a warm place (80-85 F) for 20-25 minutes or until light and doubled in bulk
• Uncover pan and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until deep golden brown
• Immediately remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack before slicing

Makes 18 slices

Nutritional Information:  150 calories, 5g Protein, 15g Carbohydrate, 8g Fat, and 290mg Sodium per slice

Adapted from:  Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook 1996, recipe submitted by:  Frances Sisinni for Bake-Off Contest 23, 1972

My Observations:

• Because I have never been able to manage to cut thirds of a round anything, I sliced my round loaf into 16 slices rather than 18.
• The original recipe has instructions for using a stand mixer to prepare the batter.  I prefer to make my breads by hand and have adapted the method for hand mixing.
• I find the bread is better with a sharp cheddar cheese.
• The original recipe mentions this bread is actually better the second day; I concur.
• The texture of the loaf is light and airy, with a moist crumb, somewhere between light muffins and savoury tea-cake.  My husband joked that I could have told him it was a cheese cake and he would have believed it. 
• The bread does not need butter, and even left uncovered on the counter remains moist at least 3 days.
• This is definitely a bread to serve either on its own or with a meal rather than for use in sandwiches.

Remembering

Seven years ago, Hurricane Katrina roared through the Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama Gulf Coast.  It's wake left destruction of hundreds of communities.  It was a life changing experience for everyone who lived in the area.  I remember texting my dearest as I watched coverage of landfall in Plaquemines Parish, that the only home I had ever known would never be the same.  My home had been destroyed.

This week, as I watched coverage of Hurricane Sandy making landfall in New York/New Jersey I was reminded of Katrina.  I had safely evacuated prior to Katrina's landfall and watching the coverage of Sandy was a surreal kind of re-run.  I would say it was interesting, but it was not.  It triggered flashbacks and moments of fear.

As I watched the coverage of landfall and aftermath, I noticed a few differences in the reporting.  I noticed that coverage was far more specific -- reports of power outages were down to streets and intersections in Manhattan; communities and subdivisions were described by name and location.  With Katrina coverage, everything was general -- no specific locations were given, and most of the time the video stopped just short of any landmarks to give locals a sense of where they were filming.  Apparently the whole world is intimately acquainted with New York and the New Jersey shore, and so they need far more specific information.   I also noticed that Hurricane Sandy affected the entirety of the US, and a bit of the world, while Katrina's effects were felt only on the Gulf Coast -- though the whole world knows now that New Orleans is a bowl-shaped city that lies predominantly below sea level.

The aftermath of Katrina, in particular the flooding, was misreported and sloppily handled.  The news media purposely gave the impression that the entire City of New Orleans flooded, and did not bother to correct the impression that it was the Mississippi River which overflowed the levees.  I have noticed the news being much more precise and ensuring that such misinformation is not disseminated regarding New York and New Jersey.

I find the coverage of the two events very interesting.  I find it very interesting how no-one has asked New York politicians why we should rebuild a city that lies in the direct path of a hurricane.  I find it very telling that no-one has made a single comment about the flooded subway system being below sea level.  I find it very interesting how the media goes out of their way to pinpoint, practically down to street addresses, where they are filming and to make sure the areas being discussed are correctly identified by the names locals will recognize.  The only local area name the media ever learned in New Orleans was the "Lower 9th Ward," and even that was often misidentified on maps or in filming.

All media coverage aside, New Orleans did receive a great deal of re-building assistance from New York and New Jersey, particularly from the restaurant community.  And we need to give back.  Being on the ground in an area that was in need of charitable efforts, I can honestly say that local charities know better how to use donations, what is needed, when it is needed, and where the most need is.  If you are planning on donating to a charity to help in the post-Sandy rebuilding efforts, I urge you to consider local charities such as food banks, homeless shelters, animal shelters, churches, or other religious organizations.  These organizations know best how, when, and where to help.  If you do not have access to local charities, I urge you to consider a donation to an organization like Habitat for Humanity.  If your community participates in a Dining Out for New York/New Jersey program, please consider doing that.  Or donating to Tide Loads of Hope -- the value of clean clothes and bed linens can never be underestimated.  These organizations provide targeted help to where it is truly needed and without the bureaucracy and politics of other international charities.  Even if you cannot help with the relief efforts, please remember the people of New York, New Jersey, and other states along the East Coast, as well as those in Haiti and Cuba who were affected by the storm.  There are far more victims than the media will ever cover.

All Hallows' Eve

It's Halloween here in Australia, and thankfully it isn't a huge a event, though it's getting bigger.  I blame that on the Americanization of the world -- a process I abhor, and I AM an American!

All the same, I have made no preparation and the only candy I have in my house is hard-to-find and too-precious-to-give-to-children US import candy (Junior Mints and original Skittles).  Dearest has to work late tonight so I will be on my own.  Were I in the US, I'd go out to dinner with my family and once home turn off all the lights and head upstairs for a night of DVRed guilty pleasure tv.  Here, I plan a similar evening, though I won't be going out to dinner.  I'm planning on drawing all the blinds, turning off all the lights and spending the night with some guilty pleasure tv (gotta love Hulu!)

What I really don't understand is when Halloween became an adult holiday.  When I was a child, children dressed up, had classroom parties, carved jack-o-lanterns, and went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  That was pretty much the extent of it -- except for the candy-induced sugar highs that had the potential to last until Thanksgiving.

All of a sudden Halloween is all about adults.  I see mixed-drink recipes for adult parties everywhere, complemented by monster- or gore-themed finger foods.  I cannot load a web-page without getting banner ads for adult sexy costumes.  Apparently as the Generation Xers have grown up, Halloween has grown out of being just a bit of childhood fun.

I don't know why we, as a society, have to keep everything from childhood well into adulthood.  And why, after having kept it, we feel the need to sex everything up.  The Playboy Bunnies of my childhood Halloweens have given way to sexy kittens, sexy witches, and even sexy Big Birds.  If 60 is the new 40, will Generation Xers still be dressing as sexy cops when they are 60?  Do we really need to see 60-year old sexy nurses at the door with a jack-o-lantern bucket begging for candy?

The time has come to put a stop to this madness.  Halloween is a childhood celebration.  It should stay there.

Weekly Menu Round-Up

This week's menus were planned mainly with the intention of using up some leftovers or ingredients purchased for recipes that for whatever reason never got made.

Wednesday:  Taco Pizzas

Thursday:  Spanakopita Sandwiches and Deviled Eggs

Friday:  Middle-Berry Scones, Oatmeal, and Fruit Salad

Saturday:  Velvet Chicken over Rice and steamed broccoli

Sunday:  Vegetarian Schnitzels, Polenta-Style Corn Casserole and Peanut Butter Cookies

I don't plan meals for Mondays or Tuesdays; I have an evening tap class on Mondays and dearest has late classes both nights.  Lately, we have been sharing dinner at McDonald's on Monday before we go our separate ways -- I make no apologies for this.  And I plan to have a do-it-yourself dinner for Tuesday, though some days I'll fix a quick dinner to share with dearest.

Wednesday:  Taco Pizzas

I had half a recipe of homemade pizza dough in the freezer.  I also had about half a pan of Taco Sloppy Joe filling and about half a recipe of homemade bean dip.  To round out my halves, I had half a package of shredded pizza cheese blend in the fridge.  Thinking it all out, I had dinner in one dish, with very little cooking!  I thawed the pizza dough, rolled it out and pressed it into my round cookie sheet.  I baked the crust for about 5 minutes, then topped it with the bean dip and the sloppy joe filling, before sprinkling a fresh tomato and the cheese on top.  I popped the whole thing in the over for 10 more minutes and dinner was done.

In retrospect, I could have baked the pizza crust a bit longer.  It was slightly underdone and I prefer a crisper crust.  But on the whole it was a great way to use up leftovers.

Thursday:  Spanakopita Sandwiches and Deviled Eggs

Dearest calls himself a "reforming omnivore."  At some point he would like to go completely vegetarian.  I support his desires and try to plan at least three vegetarian meals a week.  So far, this arrangement has worked well.  I have tried out some new recipes, and even practiced making some of my favorites vegetarian by either removing the meat, or swapping it out for a vegetable protein source.

This was a new recipe to try.  I love spanakopita and when I found a recipe with the same flavours in my Favorite Brand Name Vegetarian 3-Books-in-1cookbook, I decided it was a definite to try out.  I purchased the croissants, only because they are too much work to make from scratch.  The filling was a  bit bland on its own, but was much better once stuffed in the croissants and topped with melty cheese.  It was a good starting place, but the recipe needs tweaking.  I'll have to think about what to change before I make them again.

I felt we needed something other than the sandwiches and I had a bit of Greek yogurt leftover and decided that Deviled Eggs would make a great pairing.  I mentioned before that I do not like mayonnaise; in this recipe (and egg salad), I substitute Greek yogurt for the mayonnaise.  The eggs come out beautifully; if you didn't know there was no mayonnaise, you would not know.

Originally, the weather indicated it was going to be warm on Wednesday, but it actually turned out to be overcast, cool and windy all day, with on and off misty showers.  The more I thought about dinner, the more I thought spinach sandwiches and deviled eggs would not be enough, so I added a packaged noodle side-dish (cheese and black pepper flavour).  I'm glad I did, the packet was just two nice side-dish servings and added just enough to the meal.

And dearest surprised me by bringing home some carrot cake from the office, so we had dessert as well.

Friday:  dinner out while shopping

The meal planned for Friday was pushed back as dearest and I decided to have a shopping adventure on Friday afternoon and we had dinner out at an Italian restaurant at the shopping center.  It was a decent enough meal, but not one that needs to be repeated.  For an appetizer, we split an order of wedges which were served with more sour cream than anyone could ever use.  Then for the main dish we had a gourmet sun-dried tomato pizza.  This was the most disappointing part of the meal -- the sun-dried tomatoes were just dropped on the top of the pizza after it was cooked.  It was nice, but could have been so much better.  We were too full for dessert then, but we did indulge in a chocolate bar on the way home -- dearest had a Flake and I had a Twirl, which is really just a smaller Flake dipped in chocolate.

Saturday:  Middle-berry Scones, Oatmeal, and Fruit Salad

This was my first attempt at baking with whole-meal flour.  And I am very pleased with the results.  Middle-berry scones are a recipe I found in my Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook.  They are whole-wheat scones filled with strawberry preserves and topped with sugar.  They were light and delicious -- no doubt from the cream and butter, and the preserves melted into the scones beautifully.  As delicious as they were warm fresh from the oven, they were dense, cold and flavourless cold when I had one from breakfast the next morning.

I had planned oatmeal with this meal, but dearest is not a big fan of porridge oats and I like him to enjoy the meal, so I decided to introduce him to Cream of Wheat.  There is really not a hot cereal I do not like, but Cream of Wheat and Malt-o-Meal are my favourites.  I made it with half water and half milk, and then dropped a bit of butter and brown sugar in to finish off the cereal.  Dearest is still not sure what to make of the Cream of Wheat, but I think he's willing to give it another go.

I am dangerous with fruit.  I love fruit and really never know when to stop in making a salad.  Cold fruit is one of my super indulgences -- I can just eat and eat and eat, I really cannot stop myself.  I suppose there are worse things in which to super indulge.  I made this salad from half a box of frozen forest berries (blueberries, blackberries, cherries, and baby strawberries), two pints of fresh strawberries, a can of pineapple slices, and two Granny Smith apples.  Yes, it was more than the two of us could finish for that meal, but I knew I would nibble it all day and any leftovers were sure to be finished in no time.  I sugared the frozen berries as they were thawing with about two teaspoons of white sugar and then added the remaining fruit and a tablespoon each lemon and lime juice.  It was great, though both the apples and the pineapples ended up a lovely shade of purple from the berry juices.

Sunday:  Velvet Chicken over Rice with steamed broccoli

After the unexpected night out on Friday, everything as pushed back a day for the remainder of the week.  But that's okay.  I try to plan one meal a week with non-perishables or frozen foods so that if one has to get cut, I am not wasting fresh food.

Velvet Chicken is more a technique than a recipe as such -- chicken breast is cut into bite-size pieces and coated with cornstarch, before being quick-fried and then tossed with vegetables in a sauce made from broth thickened with cornstarch.  This particular version was chicken with mushrooms and onions with a bit of garlic for flavour.  I have made it before, but this time I wasn't thinking and added all the cornstarch to the chicken, so I my chicken ended up crispy-fried and I had to add additional cornstarch to the broth to thicken it.  It wasn't bad, but it was a bit different than usual.

I served the Chinese-inspired chicken dish with broth simmered rice (rice cooked in chicken broth) and steamed broccoli.  It was a good, filling dinner.  I always feel good when I put a meal on the table that reminds me of the meals my mother made as I was growing up.  This one was definitely something we would have had, though we may have topped the Velvet Chicken with a few crispy chow mien noodles.

I have pushed Sunday's meal forward to next Wednesday, so I can't report as to how it turned out just yet.

Topping the Table

Today, dearest asked if I wanted to head out to spend a gift card we got as a gift from his office last Christmas.  The gift card was to an office supply store.  His bosses knew we were in the market for bookshelves, and at the time our best option was to be found at the office supply store.  I need bookshelves to be functional rather than decorative.  I need shelf space for actual books that I either have or intend to read.  I tend not to keep knick-knack-y dust catchers on shelves that could better be served housing books.  Dearest needs shelf space for cds, dvds, and lps.  The bottom line is we need a good deal of functional shelf space.  We thought our best option was a set of adjustable shelves at the office supply store, and we were grateful for the gift card.  When we decided that shelving units from Ikea would be a better fit for us, it meant we had the gift card to use at the office supply store.

We had been putting off using the gift card, because we didn't need anything in the way of office supplies.  I shipped over more pens and pencils than a single person could ever use, and dearest had his own to add to the stock.  I have more notebooks than I could ever use, and more paper products too.  We could use a hanging file rack, but it was hardly an urgent need, and that one item would still leave us with a fair amount on the gift card to spend.

I had been idly looking for a side table to put near my end of the sofa.  I needed a place to put a glass of tea, to put my custard cups of snacks, and to drop my book or phone, or other things necessary to daily life that need a hard, solid surface on which to rest.  I checked out the office supple store's website and found a table that I really liked -- small enough to fit in the space and with two wicker drawers for additional storage space.  And it fit our gift card budget!!  Score!

So off we went to the Homewares Center in Cranbourne to find the perfect side table.  We were successful -- and it was on sale -- which meant that we had to find other things to round out the total amount of the gift card.  I contributed a pen (as if I needed another, but this on is thin, girly and decorated with a sparkly blue crystal!), and some removable dry-erase labels for out tea tins.  Dearest found a document wallet for travelling, a storage ottoman (another item on our furniture wish list), and a set of dry erase markers (ostensibly for the labels I found).  We snagged the other items we wanted to purchase and checked with the helpful clerks about purchasing the side table.  The clerk went to check the store-room and came back to inform us that they had none in stock and could not find another one at any of the other stores in the area.  But he said they would be willing to sell the floor model.  We agreed to that and the clerk offered to carry the table to the checkout counter and then to our car.

Purchases made, we decided to wander through the Homewares Center to see what else was on offer.  We stopped in the storage and home organization supply store and JB HiFi, but we found nothing we couldn't live without and nothing we needed to live with -- though dearest did check out surround sound systems and may have narrowed the choices down a bit more.

As we were out for the afternoon, we decided to have dinner out as well.  After weighing our options, we decided to have dinner at La Porchetta an Italian cafe in the Homewares Center (it sounds like a Mexican restaurant to me).  We opted to share an entree and mains and well as a pitcher (jug) of Coke.  For our entree (appetizer) we selected the ohh-so-Italian Bowl of Wedges, served with sour cream.  For our mains (entree) we selected a Sun-Dried Tomato Gourmet Pizza.  The Coke came first as was decent as far as pitchers of Coke go, though I find Australian restaurants in general to be a bit skimpy with ice.  The appetizer was good -- the wedges were well fried, with a nice crispy coating.  They were served with a vat of sour cream, it was at least an entire 8-ounce container, certainly more than any table of people could ever use for a bowl of wedges.  I had high hopes for the Sun-Dried Tomato Gourmet Pizza.  They were not met.  It was a decent pizza, a good idea, but poor execution.  The pizza was made with a base of a nice fresh tomato sauce, a sliced fresh tomato, and a good amount of mozzarella cheese, topped with sun-dried tomato halves.  It really did have potential.  But I would have made a few changes.  First and foremost, I would have removed the stem end of the fresh tomato before I sliced it and put it on the pizza.  Second, I would have diced the sun-dried tomato halves and put them under the cheese, instead of just tossing them whole on top of the pizza, after it was baked.  As dearest noted, it's not really a gourmet pizza if all you do is toss sun-dried tomatoes on a basic margarita pizza.  Calling something "Gourmet" implies that it is in some significant way different, and better, than the regular pizzas.  I had been considering splitting a dessert with dearest, but we were both full from the pizza and wedges.  We paid the bill, and having done everything we needed to, headed on our way home.

I'm not say I'll never go to La Porchetta again, I probably will.  It's a known quantity and convenient if we have shopping to do in the Homewares Center.  But the next time I go, I will make different choices from the menu.

We made it home before the heavy rains began and settled down for a cozy night in.  All in all it was a good Friday afternoon out.  And I have a new side table!

Lining the Shelves

I have mentioned before that I am a book-a-holic.  Since moving to Australia, I have had to seriously curtail my book buying -- lack of funds and expensive books put a damper on my habit.  It has made me more judicious with my book choices though; I find myself seriously weighing whether I will actually read a book before I buy it, rather than just plunking the book down on the counter without a second thought.

Even so, I have managed to expand my library since I have arrived.  I have even discovered a few new authors.

Real Books:

• The State Counsellor, Boris Akunin
• The Coronation, Boris Akunin
• She Lover of Death, Boris Akunin
• He Lover of Death, Boris Akunin
• Holly Blues, Susan Wittig Albert
• Mourning Gloria, Susan Wittig Albert
• The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton, Catherine Alliott
• The Amber Room, Steve Berry
• Whitethorn Woods, Maeve Binchy
• Murder in the Museum, Simon Brett
• Royal Blood, Rhys Bowen
• Hiss of Death, Rita Mae Brown
• And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie
• The Thirteen Problems, Agatha Christie
• Girl in a Red Tunic, Alys Clare
• The Alpine Uproar, Mary Daheim
• Murder in Burnt Orange, Jeanne M. Dams
• Crunch Time, Diane Mott Davidson
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernierers
• Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond
• The Edge of Madness, Michael Dobbs
• Sheer Folly, Carola Dunn
• A Wee Christmas Homicide, Kaitlyn Dunnett
• A Week in September, Sebastian Faulks
• A Stranger in Mayfair, Charles Finch
• A Burial at Sea, Charles Finch
• One of Our Thursdays is Missing, Jasper Fforde
• The Woman Who Died A Lot, Jasper Fforde
• Murder on the Ballarat Train, Kerry Greenwood
• Flying Too High, Kerry Greenwood
• Death at Victoria Doc, Kerry Greenwood
• The Green Mill Murder, Kerry Greenwood
• Blood and Circuses, Kerry Greenwood
• Ruddy Gore, Kerry Greenwood
• Urn Burial, Kerry Greenwood
• Cooking the Books, Kerry Greenwood
• Buffalo West Wing, Julie Hyzy
• Affairs of Steak, July Hyzy
• Duchess by Night, Eloisa James
• The Treacherous Teddy, John J. Lamb
• The Silver Locomotive, Edward Martson
• Grand Days, Frank Moorhouse
• A Corpse in Shining Armour, Caro Peacock
• The Devlin Diary, Christi Phillips
• SuperChef Australia, Ben Pobjie
• The Fallen Angel, Daniel Silva
• Agent 6, Tom Rob Smith
• Perfume:  The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Suskind
• Murder on Sisters' Row, Victoria Thompson
• Behind the Lines:  The Year's Best Political Cartoons, Therese Weber
• The Betrayal the Blood Lily, Lauren Willig
• The Mischief of the Mistletoe, Lauren Willig

e-books:

• The Amersham Rubies, Rhys Bowen
• A Nose for Justice, Rita Mae Brown
• Outfoxed, Rita Mae Brown
• Revolution, Jennifer Donnelly
• An East End Murder, Charles Finch
• Heavenly Pleasures, Kerry Greenwood
• Devil's Food, Kerry Greenwood
• Trick or Treat, Kerry Greenwood
• Forbidden Fruit, Kerry Greenwood
• The Gentleman's Walking Stick, Ashley Gardner
• The Necklace Affair, Ashley Gardner
• A Death in Norfolk, Ashley Gardner
• The United States of Arugula, David Kamp

I need to get reading.  There are just too many good books out there.  Even with my self-imposed limits on book buying, I have way more books on my to-be-read list than I may ever finish.  I think I may have to impose stricter limits on myself.

I keep track of how many books I read a year, and it averages 36.  That's about 3 books a month.  Including the books I have bought since arriving in Australia, I own 198 books that I have not read.  (All told I own 929 books.)  At an average of 36 books a year, I have 5 1/2 years of books to be read.  And that number does not include the next-in-series books I know I will buy as they come out, or the books I know I will re-read because I want visits with old friends as much as I want to make new ones.

Despite telling myself that I should not buy new books until I read the ones I have, I will buy new ones as I find ones that look appealing and interesting.  And next year, I will count up the number of newly bought books versus unread ones and have this debate with myself all over again.

This debate came about because my dearest and I are getting serious about buying bookshelves and finally unpacking the 8 boxes of books that have been in boxes since I packed them up in December 2010.  As I look at the boxes and envision overflowing shelves (knowing that I will have to share shelf space with not only dearest's books, but his cds and dvds), I think more and more about only putting books on the shelf which are worthy of being there.  I wonder if my books need to earn a home on the shelves.

But can I bring myself to permanently evict the ones that don't make the cut?  Each book I consider giving away tears a little bit of me from myself.  Each book is a memory -- I kept the last book I read before Hurricane Katrina, not because it was a great book, but because it was the last book I finished before a life-changing event.  Picking up a book the other day, I found a folded piece of hotel stationery in it.  I remembered being in the hotel when I finished the book.  Even though I remember reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles on my first ever trans-Atlantic flight, I judged it not worthy enough to be kept.  Each time I see the book at a bookstore now, it brings back memories of the flight and the adventure that came after, and I seriously consider re-buying a book I previously judged not worthy of keeping.  I stop myself, because I have read the book.

There is no real answer to my quandary.  I know that I will not stop buying books and I know that I will not stop worrying about the wasted shelf space.  I'm sure we all have things that cause us to ponder these kinds of unanswerable questions.  But when I come back next year and complain about my book habit, please remind me of what I have said here.  And tell me it's okay to have an unfinished to-be-read list.  Thanks!

Winning Peasants

A couple of weekends ago, Sunday turned out to be much more a fall day than a spring one.  It was cold, wet, drippy, grey, overcast and damp all day.  When I made my weekly menu plan last week, I planned Beef & Noodles for dinner tonight.  I could not have picked a better day for that dish this week if I had tried.

The recipe for Beef & Noodles I used creates a rich, delicious beef stew, thickened with the starch from the homemade-style noodles.  The basic recipe calls for beef, onions, garlic, beef broth and noodles.  I had a couple of carrots that needed to to be used, and I thought "it's beef stew, carrots won't hurt," so I added those as well.  That was an excellent addition, the sweetness from the carrots accentuated the sweetness from the onions and it produced a fantastic stew.  It was definitely one of the the dinners that makes me think I'm a good cook.  It was so good, dearest had to take the Dutch oven from which I was licking the last bits of gravy to wash it.  It was that kind of dinner.

As I savoured the stew at the table, I commented to dearest that meals such as this made me feel sorry for the royal classes in Medieval times.  Stews are considered to be "peasant food" and were not suitable fare for the landed gentry class.  I always feel sorry for the landed gentry -- they do not know what they missed!  There is something undefinably good about a stew.  Perhaps it's the way the meat is cooked until it is falling apart.  I tell dearest all the time if I could find a vegetable protein source that mimics the taste and texture of roasts that have been cooked until they are literally falling apart, I would happily become a vegetarian.  I don't have roasts often, but when I do I remember what is so good about them.  Perhaps the innate goodness in this particular stew comes from the noodles absorbing the flavours from the beef broth, and then give up some of their starch, which helps transform the broth into a rich, thick gravy.  (Aside:  the difference between a gravy, and a sauce, is that gravies are created from the pan juices/drippings of the meat with which they are served, while sauces are made in a clean pan with ingredients that have no connection to the dish with which they are served.)  Whatever the magic is, this stew is something that you should not pass up.

Beef & Noodles
1 pound boneless beef round steak or chuck roast
1 medium onion, diced fine
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups beef broth
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces homemade or frozen noodles

• Trim separable fat from meat and cut into 1-inch cubes.
• In Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil.
• In two to three batches, brown meat on all sides in hot oil, removing beef to small bowl when brown.
• Add remaining tablespoon butter, onions, garlic and carrots to Dutch oven, cooking over medium heat until soft.
• Return all meat, and any juices, to pan.
• Add broth and pepper.
• Bring to boil over medium heat.
• Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours, or until beef is tender.
• Return stew to boiling and add noodles.
• Cover and simmer for half an hour, or until noodles are soft and gravy has thickened.
• Serve in shallow bowls with bread and butter, if desired.

Adapted from:  Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 2007 Celebrating the Promise Limited 14th Edition

My observations:

• I adapted the recipe by adding the carrots and by not dusting the beef cubes in flour.
• I used dried homemade-style noodles.  The recipe definitely needs noodles and not pasta; do not substitute pasta for the noodles.
• My noodles absorbed a good deal of water, and I had to add about a cup of water during the simmering.  Even with the additional water, the starch from the noodles thickened the gravy to a lovely consistency.
• I tend not to salt dishes unless the recipe calls for it, but you may feel this recipe needs a bit of salt.
• This recipe makes 4 main dish servings.  I would not try to stretch it further than that; if you need more than 4 servings, increase the recipe accordingly.

The Cost of Being Loved

After my dearest proposed to me, we began the process of shopping for an engagement ring. I knew from the beginning that I did not want a diamond as the main stone in my ring. My decision for not wanting a diamond had nothing to do with the political and ethical complications of mining the precious stones. I simply do not like the way they look. I would not have been happy looking down at a diamond as an outward symbol of my dearest’s love for me for the rest of my life. I wanted something that I would look at and think of my dearest, not how much I wish it were something else. I was very excited when, after 18 months of internet shopping and less than 18 minutes of window shopping, I found the perfect ring for me. I was pleased with my decision and, I think my dearest was too. I like the way it sparkles and catches the light; I like the colors the stone is in different lights; I like the setting, the shape of the stone; I like the milgrain edge detail. In short, I like everything about it. It is perfect for me and when I look down at it, I see my dearest's love for me and remember how we found it (which is an adventure in and of itself). In sum, it is the perfect ring for US.

As happens, I began to show it off to my friends and co-workers.  And I started to run headlong into the problem with being a system bucker. I got sniffs, head shakes, and “oh, isn't that nice?” comments.  My ring was not what was expected and as such it was not to be admired.  It was almost as though, in their eyes, my dearest does not love me as much as they are loved -- with the ring of my choice, I was settling for less than expected because my dearest does not love me enough give me what society says I  really wanted.  I could not believe it.  The thought that I truly wanted that ring and truly adored it never occurred to them, or if it had, was dismissed immediately.  Society has dictated that every girl wants a diamond and to get something less is unfathomable.  I must be dreadfully disappointed and hiding it well.

Restyle Your Ring Event

From Thursday October 18 to Sunday October 21, Long’s in Burlington
will be hosting a Restyle Your Ring Event with a huge assortment of
diamond ring styles to choose from, all at special values.

RESTYLE | REDO | REFRESH | REDESIGN

Choose from thousands of mountings & anniversary bands
Explore our expanded collection of diamonds & gemstones
Reset your diamond into a custom designed masterpiece

It’s ok to admit it. After wearing your original engagement ring for years, you’d love a new look. So come to Long’s Jewelers Restyle Your Ring event October 18th to the 21st in Burlington. For four days only, we’ll have thousands of rings for you to see, so you can reset your diamond into something new. There are lots of ways to restyle or upgrade your ring, so come to Long’s and we’ll show you how!

We will have an expanded selection of styles from which to choose. There are many options when restyling your jewelry. The only limit is your imagination!

Perhaps it's because I love my ring so much, but I cannot imagine wanting to "Restyle, Redo, Refresh, or Redesign" my ring.  I cannot begin to imagine a situation that would make me want a "do over on my engagement ring.  While technically I have had my engagement ring for year; it's not even been a decade.  I didn't pick a trendy setting, and it's not the sort of ring that will look dated in a decade.  I simply cannot fathom ever wanting to re-do it.

When I was window shopping for my ring, before I found it, I noticed one of my co-worker's engagement and wedding ring set.  It was a simple, but nonetheless beautiful set.  I made a point of asking her about because I admired it so much.  Not long after I got my ring, I was noticing the same co-worker's left hand.  She had a completely new engagement and wedding ring set.  I asked about it, remembering the simple set I had admired.  She explained that her husband had gotten her a new set for a milestone anniversary.  I dutifully made approving noises about her new set, but the whole time I was somewhat disappointed for her.  Her original set was so pretty and the new one was, to my eyes, a bit gaudy and over-flashy, dripping with diamonds.  I suppose it is to that group of consumers that Long's Jewelers in Burlington, Massachusetts "Restyle Your Ring" event is marketed.

Does the cost of the item indicate how much love is conveyed? Does the fact that my dearest allowed me to select something I knew I would like mean he loves me more than someone else selecting something with no input from the intended recipient? More importantly, does it even matter? I have never believed that my life is a contest. There are no prizes at the end for the person who was loved the most. All I need to know is that my dearest loves me. I know that.

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
(Ode on a Grecian Urn, John Keats)

***For the record, I much prefer the "before" ring to the "after" in the quoted advertisement.

Dining on History

I post regularly on several message boards -- a couple of which are food and cooking related.  While browsing the boards, I have noticed a change in the world of cooking.  And it's a change I think may be more dangerous than fad diets and CSPI recommendations.

More and more I have noticed that it seems people no longer own cookbooks.  Home cooks are more and more getting, and posting, recipes to food blogs.  Understand, it is not the sharing of recipes I think is the problem.  I think the problem is that as recipes are uploaded to blogs, the original sources are lost -- maybe not intentionally, but lost nonetheless.

As a person who considered her 900+ volume library too important to leave behind when I began my life in Australia, I mourn any loss of paper books.  But the loss of actual paper cookbooks is not even my main concern here.

The problem is that as people share the recipes, the culinary history behind them is lost.  I have a recipe for an excellent Chocolate Snack Cake.  I got it from my mother, who got it from a magazine.  This progression of trusted and favourite recipes is never going to be lost, whether it's from a cookbook to a friend to the friend's daughter or from a grandmother to granddaughter to a neighbor's blog.  I do not worry about that.  But I do worry about the loss of knowledge that went with the recipe.

The recipe for Chocolate Snack Cake is as follows:

1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Baking Cocoa

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

In one mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  In another bowl, combine water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.  Add to dry ingredients and mix until just blended.  Pour into a greased 8" square pan.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, until pick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool slightly before cutting.  Makes 9 servings.

It makes a moist cake that can be served without any frosting or filling, though a light dusting of powdered sugar, sliced, sugared strawberries, or a healthy dollop of whipped cream are not unwelcome.

But there is something about this recipe, something that someone with a knowledge of culinary history will notice right away.  This recipe has no eggs, it also uses relatively small amounts of sugar and fat.  While those facts result in a recipe that is conveniently vegan, that is not what a culinary historian would notice.  A culinary historian would notice that this recipe, with the lack of eggs and small amounts of sugar and fat, is a war-time recipe, designed to make the most of precious, rationed ingredients.  The fact that the resulting cake is moist without the addition of a sugar laden frosting or glaze only adds to its war-time pedigree.

I mourn not only for the loss of well-worn cookbooks, but for the stories and history they provide.

I have a number of what would now be considered "vintage" cookbooks.  My mother bought them second-hand for me to have in my kitchen.  They are copies of the same cookbooks my mother used while I was growing up.  Most are Better Homes & Gardens cookbooks, but a couple are brand-name recipe books, the kind that were popular during the 50's, 60's and 70's.  While many of the recipes in the books are no longer in fashion, most can be easily adapted to fit today's culinary tastes.

I have a cookbook that is a collection of Amish & Mennonite recipes.  These are perfect for the return to wholesome, fresh, in-season cooking that is in vogue.  I suppose at some point, someone will "rediscover" these recipes and post them to their blogs, but will they understand the history behind them?  Will the blog readers believe the author is imaginative or innovative?

I suppose it's no different than people not recognizing references to classic books or movies, or not knowing classic works of art when they see them, but somehow it just seems worse to me to share the recipes without understanding the history.

Sticklers for Honesty

In the US, I clipped coupons from the Sunday paper every week, just before tossing the circulars into the recycling bucket.  I carefully scanned the coupons and clipped only those for existing products I would actually use, or newly introduced products I was considering testing out.

Since I have moved to Australia, I have missed the weekly ritual of clipping and sorting, and then planning what I could do with the products.  The concept of coupons, especially the clipped-from-newspaper-circulars-manufacturers'-coupons, is foreign to Australian groceries.

Naturally I was very excited when my local branch of a national chain introduced a coupon-style program they called "Sticky Stickers."  A sheet of stickers, printed with barcodes for an amount off a specific product or range of products (for example:  $2 off a roast chicken from the deli counter or $3 off a 24-can pack of any Coca-Cola product) was included with the weekly circulars delivered with the mail.  The idea was that the consumer would peel the sticker off the sheet and affix it to the matching product and then, at the register scan the product's barcode followed by the Sticky Sticker discount barcode, much like the process of using manufacturer's coupons in the US (though in the US, I would hold all my coupons until every thing had been scanned and a sub-total was displayed).

I dutifully used my Sticky Stickers in the way the supermarket chain had envisioned, but only because I am unfailingly honest, or at the very least not smart enough to figure out unscrupulous ways of using the Sticky Stickers discounts.

On my first visit during the Sticky Stickers promotion, I went to a staffed register where the clerk handled scanning and processing the transaction.  On my second visit, dearest was with me and we purchased only a few items, so we went to the self check out registers (which work infinitely better here than they do in the US), asking the supervising clerk how to handle using the Sticky Stickers.  We followed her instructions and received our discounts without any problems.

During my third visit, I was checking out at a staffed register and listening as another clerk was asking clerk at my register how to handle the Sticky Stickers.  The other clerk replied that just the day before you could scan the Sticky Stickers barcode before the product's barcode.  My clerk explained that:  Yes, you could do that.  But then corporate figured out that customers were applying the Sticky Stickers to products that were not the ones to which the discounts applied (for example, customers were going through the self check out registers and applying the $3 off a 24-can pack of Coca-Cola products to a roast or a pack of diapers, and not the Coca-Cola products).  So corporate had to re-program the registers to cross-reference the Sticky Stickers barcode with the product barcode, so that if the product barcode was not scanned, the Sticky Stickers barcode would be rejected.

During this conversation, I could not help but laugh to myself.  Really?  People were dishonest?  The supermarket corporate brass could not figure out that people would misuse the Sticky Stickers if given the opportunity?  It was just another clue that I'm not in Kansas anymore -- if only because Kansas grocers long ago figured out that coupon barcodes need to be cross-referenced with the products to which the discounts apply!

In the meantime, it seems that the grocery chain in question has discontinued the Sticky Stickers program, which is too bad, because I loved the idea of $2 a roast chicken!

Wild Birthday

My birthday fell on a Monday.  Scheduling-wise this was not a great day for celebrations -- dearest works late on Monday nights and I have tap class.  Dearest's present to me was an experience rather than a physical thing, so we had to plan it.  We planned to celebrate on the Friday before my birthday.  Dearest has some Fridays off and the experience might be better (and less crowded) on Friday rather than Sunday.  Saturday was out because dearest had to work.  We watched the weather all week, and were disappointed to see that as the week went on the chance of rain increased for Friday, and while dearest still would not tell me what he had planned, he assured me that as long as it was storming, we could still have the birthday adventure.

Friday dawned a bit overcast and dearest left the choice up to me.  I said, let's go for it and so we did.  We set off, and he was testing the GPS application (aside:  I hate the phrase "app") on his new phone. The route the GPS planned took us along one of the highways into Melbourne.  I think of it as the EastLink Route, but this could just be my interpretation and because we end up on the EastLink Tollway.  (The other route into the City I think of as the Cranbourne Route because we go through Cranbourne before joining the CityLink Tollway.)  I believe dearest planned to take the EastLink Route simply because the tunnels under the Yarra River on the EastLink Tollway are shorter than on CityLink, but I really have no idea.  This was his gift, and I left the planning and management of the day to him.  

As it turned out, that route was not the best choice, as we ended up getting stuck in traffic.  Not long after entering the highway, our travels came to a screeching halt -- well, more like a slow advance.  (Aside:  ever since I evacuated from New Orleans for the first time, and took nearly 12 hours to go less than 10 miles, I have had a completely different perspective on traffic.  Yes, it's annoying to be going slowly, but this traffic was moving.  In the evacuation traffic, we turned the car on maybe once an hour to move only as far as one rotation of the tires, only to turn the car off and wait another 45-50 minutes to repeat the process.  Any traffic that is moving is better than that.)  We needed to fill up the car on the way, and the EastLink route ran past a truck-stop style service station at Officer that has a food court.  The signs told me that the turn off for the service station was 3km on.  The car's on-board computer said we had between 60 and 75 km until empty.  I was nervous about the gas situation, but I figured we'd make it to the service station.  Even so, I breathed a sigh of relief when we did.  When e stop at the Officer service station, we usually get a nibble-type snack for the drive.  This time was no different and I started my birthday celebration with a snack-size box of Kentucky Fried Chicken popcorn chicken, dearest has a box of french fries.  (Aside:  I can never have popcorn chicken without thinking of my cousin's wedding when my younger brother and I convinced my great-Aunt that we needed to make a run through Sonic on the way from the church to the reception because she believed my uncle that there was little to no food at the reception.)  I grabbed a bottle of iced tea at the convenience store and we shared that.

When we re-entered the highway, traffic was moving slightly better and we were soon past whatever the hold-up was, though I never did find any real reason for traffic to be delayed.  Even though he had not told me what he had planned, I had the idea that he was taking me to the zoo.  And I was not wrong.  Because of the slow-down, he told me our time may be limited at the final destination, and I admitted that I had guessed it was the zoo.  I could not really tell if he was surprised or relieved that I had guessed the surprise, or just stressed by the drive.  In any event, our worries about time were soon forgotten as we were exiting the highway, parking the car, and heading for the entrance to the zoo.

My experience with zoos is fairly limited.  I have been to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and a couple of animal sanctuaries/parks in Australia.  I always think it would be great fun to go to other zoos, but somehow I never get there.  This was a treat to me.  I did not know what kind of animals the Melbourne Zoo had on display, so I happily accepted a visitor's guide and set off on the adventure.  I'm not really one to follow a plan, I'm much happier to just wander about seeing what I can and then checking the map to ensure I hadn't missed anything.  Dearest let me lead the way, saying only that he wanted to see the elephants before we left.  I had seen direction signs for seals, and I put those on my must see list, but everything else was more or less where the winds and the paths took me.

The day was a beautiful Lynn-ish kind of day, cool and overcast during the on and off showers, and beautiful blue skies the rest of the day.

It was a bit chillier than I would have programmed for a visit to the zoo, and as a result many of the animals were huddled in their dens against the cold, but there was still plenty to see.

We started our adventure having a chat with some zebras and giraffes:

Then we almost met the resident koalas

who turned their backs to us and ended up resembling nothing so much as furry lumps in the bare trees.

Then it was on to the aviary, where we saw many birds -- some I could identify, many more I could not, even with the helpful guides posted on the pathway.

The first bird I encountered I would identify as a spoonbill, after that I was pretty much hopeless.

There were some colorful parrots, or maybe they were rainbow lorikeets?

Most of them I just greeted as "Mr. Bird."

I saw this one as I peered over the railing to the bush land exhibit area below.  He was standing so beautifully still I had to snap his picture.

These are black swans which were once thought not to exist.  I love the way the feathers on their rumps are curly, but I still miss seeing the mute swans I know best.  Silly question:  if a mute swan mates with a black one, are the resulting cygnets polka dotted or solid grey?

It was at this point that I told dearest I had to stop as my phone was ringing.  When I answered it, my mother was on the other end, hysterically telling me she was planning to evacuate in advance of what would become Hurricane Isaac.  I spent twenty minutes or so calming her down and convincing her that her decision was a good one.  I am sure that anyone who lived in south-east Louisiana or coastal Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina came through suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and neither my mother nor I are any different.  The media does not help the situation during hurricane season, when they function as fear-mongers first and information disseminators second.  The rest of the weekend was spent with the worry of Hurricane Isaac in the back of my mind, but I was at the zoo, surrounded by birds in flight, so after I assured my mother that she was right in making the decision, I re-focused my attention on my immediate adventure.

And I looked up to find a conference was going on.  I think these were the birds dearest made a joke about election night, but I cannot remember what kind of birds they were or what the joke was.

I have no idea what these ducks are officially classified as, and my picture does not do them justice, but their most distinguishing feature are their bright electric blue bills.

After exiting the aviary, we wandered through the zoo, stopping here and there to see what we could.  This was as much of the echidna as I saw.  I promise there is an echidna's back hidden in the grass in this picture.

We saw kookaburras,

other birds,

including an emu,

a tapir about to get his dinner, 

and creatures I christened "pen & ink warthogs," for they looked exactly like a pen & ink illustration come to life.

Then it was on to see more birds, which really looked like a flower arrangement from far away,

a lion who sharpened his claws just the way my house cat did,

snow leopards,

ring-tailed lemurs,

and this something in a barrel -- I really have no idea what this was, but I thought it was interesting all curled up in the barrel.

We passed muster when stopped by the meerkat sentry

so we could meet the rest of the gang.

We discussed the current market price for bass with some connoisseurs,

and met even more birds,

including fairy penguins (whose classification has officially be changed to "Little Penguins", but I think the older name is better, so that is what I will continue to call them),

and a Sumatran tiger.

We saw other animals as well, including the seals and elephants we both had on our must-see lists, but I do not have pictures of those.  The seals were too fast to capture well on film and the elephants were in their barn having dinner, and both dearest and I thought they looked too miserable to want to remember that way.

On the whole, it was a great day at the zoo.  We wandered through the three gift shops, in search of the perfect cuddly for my newest cousin, but could not find anything that was suitable, so we left with only our pictures and memories, which may be the best way to visit a zoo anyway.

After the zoo, we set out in search of dinner.  Neither of us had any real idea where we wanted to go, but when dearest brought up the map of the area on his iPad, Sammy's Trattoria, Bar & Pizzeria caught my eye and taste buds.  Dearest dismissed that as being too ordinary for a birthday dinner, so we kept looking, driving further down Sydney Road, through the area known as Brunswick and into Coburg.  In Coburg, we kept passing pastry shops and my mind wandered from dinner to dessert.  We finally decided we had gone about as far as we could, so we turned around.  Sydney Road is not unlike Tulane Avenue in that there is no real place to make a U-Turn, so we finally decided that the best way to head back the way we came was to make a series of left turns.  In so doing we wound up on a street running parallel to Sydney Road, and when we pulled into a parking lot to get our bearings, dearest was intrigued by a sign painted on the side of a building "Bluebird Records."  He had to investigate.  I was getting a bit cold and felt the beginnings of a headache coming on so I let dearest investigate on his own.  Dearest was soon back, with no records as he never did find a record shop, but he brought Greek pastries for a celebration, and truth be told, I was happier with the thought of pastries.

Back on track, we managed to get back to Sydney Road and set off in the direction we had come earlier.  When we were back to the Brunswick end, we decided to park as soon as we could find a suitable location and set off on foot in search of dinner.  Dearest had seen a "continental grocery" in passing and a sign in front of a pub caught my eye.  We headed to the grocery first, where we explored an entire aisle of pasta!!! and bought some gluten-free corn and rice flour cavatelli, then I wandered to the pastry counter and found several things worth trying.  Dearest said I should just pretend it was my birthday and indulge myself accordingly.  So I did.  I finally decided on one Struffoli, two Sfogliatelle, and two pieces of Turkish Delight.  After dearest found some interesting beers, we checked out and headed in search of dinner.  We wandered into the pub that had caught my eye -- it was called The Penny Black -- but decided that it did not have a menu that was what we wanted.  In the end, we decided on the first place that had appealed to me -- Sammy's Trattoria, Bar & Pizzeria.  We were not disappointed!

We split an order of focaccia, which was a cross between a cheesy-garlic bread and a cheese quesadilla, as an appetizer.  For mains, dearest had a Napoletano pizza topped with olives, capers, garlic and oregano, and I had an Americano pizza, just a fancy description of a pepperoni pizza.  The starter was the best thing I have had in a while, and I am still working on a way to re-create it at home.  This is why I need to have dinner parties!  I need to be able to share my experiments with more than just dearest.

After lingering through dinner, we were on our way back home.  We came home the Cranbourne route, stopping for dearest to make a run through JB HiFi -- he was looking for a new release album, and found it before getting home about 12 hours after we left.

On the whole it was a fantastic birthday celebration.  And the pastries lasted the rest of the weekend.  It's a good thing I'm not in Brunswick/Coburg often, I would be at the pastry shops everyday indulging in one thing or another.