WWFD

Yesterday was the perfect late summer day to bake, cool and cloudy. No hot kitchens or remorse for staying inside. I picked up my baking lieutenant and we made pies (after going grocery shopping in the play kitchen and checking out on our new very fancy play cash register). Peach crumb and mixed berry with the same star crust I made for Memorial Day.

My daughter takes after my husband in the sense that she gets very upset that when the pie is done she can't have a piece, which always makes me think of this Cosby show episode.

I also baked chicken for the first time last night, inspired by my friend and coworker Freddi. She was diagnosed with celiac disease earlier this year and now cooks amazingly nutritious meals for herself and others for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We work from her beautiful historic row home once a week where I am benefactor of her lunches and snacks. It's turned into one of the highlights of my week.

So yesterday when we were at the grocery store and I was asking myself what we should make for dinner, I asked myself WWFD? Thus Mr. SevPrez was overjoyed to be eating baked chicken thighs on the bone (I have been scared of baking poultry all my life). I just threw them in a pan with olive oil and butter, salt and pepper, fresh thyme and lemon juice and wedges. We had baked yams (also a Freddi thing) and a fennel salad (learned from Blue Apron). It was so easy! I'm so excited to have a new answer to the most dreaded question in my life, "What should we have for dinner?"

Holy Tomatoes, Batman!

Since we knew we were looking to move this summer, Mr. SevPrez planted at garden at his folks' house this year. And it's a beaute -- fenced in to protect the crops from deer, and complete with bamboo teepees. These are some killer tomato plants!  See for yourselves.

We're hoping to can some of the harvest, but it looks like a lot of work. Any tips?

Fall Foods

Penne with tomatoes, zucchini, mozz, and corn.

Hummingbird cake for my mother-in-law's birthday.

Fall cookies with Sweet Dani B.

Things I Would Spend Money On If It Was Coming Out Of My Ears...

Just in case there is some rich benefactor looking to grant three wishes, or any of you have some gold doubloons burning a hole in your pocket and share my taste.

1. This utterly amazing small sofa from Wisteria would be the perfect replacement for my black leather Ikea loveseat, which is definitely a placeholder for something more special.

2. Any number of items from Lauren Moffatt's outerwear collection. I was really salivating over this plaid number until I realized that I basically have the same thing in buffalo plaid. Imagine my good fortune!

What can I say, it's been a long hot summer and wool coats are apparently the farthest thing from my mind, until now. But this little schoolgirl cape would be a fine addition to someone's closet. So adorable! I am a fall cheerleader for sure.

3. A Cuisinart Food Processor. My whole life I grew up and it was the only thing my mom ever used to mix anything. For 20 years it was KitchenAid who? Now I am a slave to my gigantic mixer (and won't even take it off the counter because I love it's red-ness) but I'm crushing graham crackers by hand to make tart crusts and splashing tomato bits all over my kitchen with my immersion blender while trying to make gazpacho. Santa, are you listening? The time is nigh.

4. I'd commission portraits of myself and Mr. SevPrez from John Perry. Check out the ones he did for Steve Nash and his family. For some reason I'm completely enamored of this guy. I think it's probably because he's an athlete and an artist, and I find that combination highly desirable. There is nothing better than people who can't be pigeonholed.

R.I.P. LOST

I think I can finally talk about it, the epic LOST finale. It was a doozy. Tears were shed (VINCENT!!!). Jate happened. I wasn't one of those people who falsely believed that everything on the island didn't actually occur (only the sideways timeline was purgatory, folks!), so I was satisfied with the ending, even if it did take me 24 hours to process.


I watched the finale event with my very good friend who aided and abetted my recently acquired LOST obsession by giving me a 45 minute amazingly detailed series synopsis back in February. And although our get together doesn't technically qualify as a LOST party — we didn't have a Dharma Initiative cake or anything — I did try and go with the theme a bit. We had margaritas (I'll take any excuse) with umbrellas, vegan tacos (because we probably wouldn't have been able to stomach hunting for our own boar), and of course, mangos with lime juice and chili powder. I think a mango was eaten in every episode. 

Oh and I picked some honeysuckle vines from our hedge so we could have floral arrangements evocative of the jungle!

I watched the end of the finale again the other night and was literally weeping. Jack, I'll miss you buddy.

Eggsellent

Let me just say that I have never made a recipe authored by Martha Rose Shulman that I didn't love. To boot the end product is always both delicious and healthy, as she writes "Recipes for Health" for the New York Times. Her Greek Baked Squash Omelet (it's really a fritatta) was no exception.


(This is the perfect time of year for fritatta recipes, if you have any plans to decorate Easter eggs. More on that next week!)


I want to go out on a limb and say this recipe is un-mess-up-able. I ad-libbed to make it a one skillet recipe and it still turned out well. I did all my vegetable sautéing in the same cast iron skillet that I added the egg mixture to and popped into the oven. Realizing it was a much bigger skillet than she called for, I used a dozen eggs instead of eight, since I had them ready anyway from my easter egg project, and threw in about a quarter cup more greek yogurt. I was a little nervous that it was going to be too thin but after checking it in the oven and seeing it all fluffy, I felt triumphant. 


It's good reheated in the microwave, but nothing compares to how it tastes and smells right out of the oven.

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick-maker.

My latest posts are proof that I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately, and I had a revelation: life cannot go on any longer without a dishwasher. No forward progress can be made while carrying the burden of all our dirty dishes. With that decided, I called an architect and he came over straight away to discuss where the dishwasher would go. The best part? I paid him in cheese and crackers. (He's my brother! I'm a lucky gal — check out his work!)

Since there is no place to put the dishwasher under existing countertop, the project will be a little bit of an undertaking. We'll be knocking out part of a wall, creating an island, moving the sink, and getting new countertops. It will make a big impact in the flow and functionality of the kitchen (probably the most important room in the house) for not too many bucks. We have been strongly advised not to let ourselves become dominoes, falling for new cabinets, floors, and new appliances while we're at it. It isn't that hard once you see the price tags. 

What am I most excited about, besides saying goodbye to dishpan hands and revolving resentment about who did the dishes last (that's a biggy)? New countertops. Specifically new butchers block countertops. I have loved them for a long time and can't believe they're about to be mine. I love the look, love the functionality, love the price. You can get them at Ikea for about $11/sq. ft. 


I've been combing the internet for inspiration. We are keeping our white cabinets so the overall look will be bright and clean.

 

From Restoring A House in the City by Ingrid Abramovitch, via Katy Elliot's blog.

Antonia Thompson's kitchen, from lonnymag.com.

Isn't it bea-u-ti-ful?


Found this photo by googling "domsjo" — the Ikea sink we are considering. These homeowners also picked the faucet I like. Looks good although it seems like they sealed their wood which we will pass on.

Butternut Squash Pasta Dish Update!

I wonder if any of you have made the recipe for whole wheat penne with onion, greens, and butternut squash that I posted back in November. There was some definite interest! I made the recipe again two nights ago and substituted 4 garlic cloves for the 2 cups of onions, and it perfected the recipe, if I do say so myself. I found it much more flavorful and well-balanced. Also, I sauteed the white beans in the garlic and oil, instead of adding the beans to the pasta directly.

I also remembered that I diced the squash too large last time -- they were a little bigger than bite-sized if you are like me and like to have a little bit of everything on one forkful. This time I made them pretty tiny (a little smaller than 1-inch cubes) and roasted them a couple minutes longer, and low and behold, those suckers were extra delicious! They almost tasted like sweet potato fries. Unbelievable. I think I might slice one up and try to bake some chips this weekend when my friend comes over for a day of art and catching up (and snow!). I'll let you know how it goes!

My Worst Nightmare: Bread Detox

This week I am on doctor's orders to go on an elimination diet, which means no sugar, dairy, wheat, corn, caffeine, eggs, citrus, or solanaceae (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant.) Oh and no nuts or dried fruits because they contain sulphites. You cut all of these items out of your diet completely for one week, then reintroduce them one at a time, giving each item 48 hours to see if your body has a reaction.


Holy mackerel. I'm on day two and the panic has not yet subsided. I've done this sort of thing before except I was allowed to eat wheat and potatoes. They are definitely my safety blanket. I mean, a world without bread and french fries? Not a world I want to live in! This being the case I shelled out close to $6 for a loaf of gluten-free bread yesterday, only to discover that, at best, it's a third cousin twice removed from bread I have known and loved, even when toasted and smothered with almond butter (organic).*


For dinner last night I made a butternut squash soup, but I put a sweet potato in it (usually the recipe calls for a regular potato too). I must have been kidding myself, because after I ate said soup I googled "sweet potato solanaceae" on my Blackberry only to discover that sweet potatoes are on my Do Not Eat list too. Sigh. At least Mr. SevPrez will have something to eat this week. He was quite alarmed to find out that I came back from Whole Foods with nothing for him. What can I say, walking around the market, forsaking all my favorite foods (it's high season for citrus fruits right now) the world seemed to be closing in on me. I couldn't be trusted to have any warm baguettes in my cart.


I know it's early, but I think this may be the hardest thing I have ever done (okay maybe it's tied with the boot-strappers we did on Saturday, it's been a tough week). The good news? I can still eat any and all animal proteins, which includes bacon. ; )


*After calling my naturopath to clarify the nut rule, nut butters are also on the DNE list unless they specifically say "no sulphites." A trip to Whole Foods yielded no such product.

"Gotta Get The Spread"

I recently had a party at my house and appointed my good friend to be the photographer, as I am currently without a digital camera (more on that later). She was very diligent in photographing all the guests and various party highlights, including The Spread, which I have now deemed important enough to be capitalized. 


When she sent me the photo album of all her pictures I said, "Yes! You got a picture of The Spread!" To Which she replied, "As I leaned over to take the photo, [your best friend] said 'Oh good, you're getting The Spread. Gotta get The Spread at [SevPrez]'s house." 


I am glad to know that my friends understand how serious I take The Spread. Party on.

Butternut Everything

I love butternut squash. I love the taste, the texture, the color, the shape. I love that now that I have a big-girl knife set, I'm no longer afraid of cutting them in half. I love that I now know that you can peel them with a vegetable peeler. With these problems solved, butternut squash is probably the vegetable I am most comfortable experimenting with in the kitchen.


So when I stumbled upon this recipe on the site of Puritan & Genesta, a health food store in Mystic, CT, I knew I would make it. And that I did, after a long day of work, some sample sale and grocery shopping, and a long, local train ride. (I only exhibit this kind of commitment to cooking on a weeknight for things involving winter squash.) 


I substituted spinach for chard, because I had a lot of it lying around (with a spoon in the bag to keep the greens fresh, a Heloise tip via Aunt D). I would advise you to be free with the lemon juice. I used more than the recipe called for initally, and every time I reheat the dish in the microwave, I add some more, with pepper, for more life and zing. 


The recipe yields a lot of food -- so far we've eaten it three days in a row, and we're not even sick of it, which is a testament to the variety of flavors and textures going on here.


PASTA WITH ONION, GREENS AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH

1 (1³/₄-pound) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice (4 cups cubed)
¹/₄ cup olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
¹/₂ teaspoon cumin
2 cups chopped onion
8 ounces mixed-grain bow ties or penne
1 pound chard, trimmed and shredded (about 12 cups shredded)
2 (15-ounce) cans low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
¹/₄ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Toss squash with 1 tablespoon oil, ¹/₂ teaspoon of the salt and cumin. Place in single, uncrowded layer on baking sheet and roast until squash is fork-tender, 20 to 24 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large, nonstick skillet over medium high. Add onion and ¹/₄ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is very soft and browned, 15 to 17 minutes.
4. Cook pasta in plenty of lightly salted boiling water according to package directions. Three to 4 minutes before it is finished cooking, add the chard to the pot. Just before draining, add the beans.
5. Toss pasta with the lemon juice, remaining ¹/₄ teaspoon salt and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss with the squash, caramelized onions and Parmesan. Makes 6 servings.


Nutritional analysis for each serving: 446 calories, 19 g protein, 68 g carbohydrate, 15 g fiber, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 859 mg sodium, 242 mg calcium

Grilled Figs Courtesy Of My Friend In California

Got a hot tip from my dear friend who is currently studying in Nothern California where the dinner parties are plentiful and the produce is always on point: grilled figs with goat cheese and honey. Having never seen figs in my local Stop & Shop, I quickly snapped up some black figs at Delicious Orchards, a great source for high quality produce of both the rare and pedestrian variety.

I cut the figs in half, grilled them skin side down for a few minutes, until they started to look juicy, then spooned a little plain goat cheese on each fig, topped with a lot of fresh black pepper, and drizzled some honey over the whole plate. Delicious, and suitable for an appetizer or dessert!

Next time I'll have to get my friend to tell me more about her mom's specialty, Devils On Horseback -- dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped in bacon. I haven't had the courage to try to make them myself, though I am always available to eat them!

The Newest Addition To Our Family

Finally used my gift certificate at Sur La Table and brought home a beautiful red Le Creuset 7.25 quart French Oven. It was tough to choose between red and aqua, but the red matches my KitchenAid mixer. 

Mr. Blogger already put it to work, cooking up a succulent meal of pork chops and rice. And we talked it over and made a house rule: no No Knead Bread unless we're having company.  We know how much we love carbs, and had visions of us devouring a loaf a piece over the course of a day. So please, somebody come over for dinner soon!!!

Merely Martha

Last Thursday my parents and I went to see Martha Stewart at the 92nd St. Y for their Captains of Industry series. She was being interviewed by the EIC of Business Week. (He was forgettable, so he shall go nameless.)

The highlight of the night was the table of free magazines outside the auditorium.

It was the blandest display of two adults interacting in front of a paying audience since... I don't know, you'll have to fill in the blank for me in the comment section. You know I usually make an effort to keep my posts upbeat, but a week later, I still feel insulted by the the experience. A whole lot of nothing with a price tag, and two hours of our lives we'll never get back.

If I sound bitter, it's because it was all my idea. I am fascinated by Martha, and completely envious of her career. She has built an empire on entertaining, home cooking, the floral arts, decorating, and crafts. I admire her as much for her ability to tie a perfect bow as her serious credentials as a business woman. You'd think that dynamic would make for a very interesting person, and an interesting Q&A. Not so, my friend, not so. She basically evaded every question with a watered down, coached non-answer. And these questions were soft balls to begin with.

For instance:

Q: "Martha, you have so much going on. How do you manage your time?"

A: "Well, I know what I have to do. It's all up here [pointing to her head]. I go to bed very late and wake up very early. Sleep is tertiary."

Gee, thanks for that illuminating insight into the inner workings of your universe.

I scribbled down notes of anything that I thought my dear readers might find interesting. I'm not going to dress them up, so here they are:

-She spoke with conviction about the Martha Stewart Center for Living at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. After watching her mother navigate old age and deteriorating health, she was inspired to create a place devoted to geriatric care and living, since she feels it is a greatly overlooked area of medicine. 

-Recently MSLO acquired Pingg.com, an online party planning and invitations service. Papyrus also made a move like this recently. Both empires are looking to gain a foothold in the online universe, but I don't see how this is A) a good idea for Martha considering her brand is premised on quality, handmade goods, and B) profitable. Actually, I happen to know for a fact that it's not profitable for Papyrus.

-In case you missed it, MSLO also acquired all of the Emeril brand with the exception of his restaurants.

-She is developing blogs for her pets.

-She wouldn't admit to grooming any one person in particular to be the face of the brand after she steps out. All she would say is that they are training the various editors of her magazines to be in the limelight more and more. 

-She plans on writing an autobiography, and perhaps even a novel. Autobiography, yes. Novel, please God spare us.

She got really excited twice. First, when she talked about the Valentine's dinner she hosted at her house. She must have gone on for 8 minutes about all the different cookies she made, the menu, the guest list. Then she really got going when asked about the move of her corporate offices. She actually brought up the Gawker incident about sanctioned pens. (It's too long to go into here, just click the link for the full story.) She was very feisty. It may be a ridiculous topic, but that's the woman I want to hear. Give us the good stuff, the real stuff. Give us who you are -- your opinions, your smarts, your edge, your joy. Save the evasive, reserved saleswoman for your board meetings, or your television show, if you must. 

She mentioned that she has long ago given up trying to keep Martha the brand separate from Martha the woman. She said she just has to know who she is and be okay with it. That sounds like great advice, but I can't help but think it's a delusion. We showed up to hear Martha, the woman, and all we got was the brand.

If she wants pointers on livening things up a bit, I suggest she seek advice from Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase. His 2008 interview with Charlie Rose transported him from some banker I had never heard of to a man that I instantly admired for his wit, honesty, intelligence, and attitude. 

Just in time too, since as a former Washington Mutual customer, he's my guy now.