And then there were four.

Posted on March 30, 2012

And then there were four weeks, that is. Just four weeks and a few extra days until the end of my first semester of grad school. Like many of life’s seasons, some days it feels like I’ve been here forever and some days it feels like my one-way flight to Boston was just yesterday.

I’m proud of the work I’ve accomplished so far and the fact that I, most likely, will finish at least one semester of grad school. Ok, alright, I’ll stop exaggerating. I fully intend to finish all semesters of grad school. But first I have an unbelievably overwhelming amount of work to do. I’m in two classes this semester, one called Understanding Food: Theory and Methodology, and the other called U.S. Food Policy and Cultural Politics. The two could not be more different, which is a wee little miracle because it means they’ve kept my attention span interested. One class lives and breathes in the Ivory Tower and the other is much more practical. My policy professor calls herself a “scholar activist.” Now that is something I can wrap my head around.

But before I can relax on the beaches of southern California, surrounded by my family and my favorite dog, I have to complete a critical reading response paper, an analytical book review, a literature review, an abstract and outline for a term paper, the term paper itself, and a final exam. All while keeping up with my weekly readings of, gulp, hundreds of pages. No biggie. I’m all over it. All I have to do is keep allowing myself some space away from reading and writing and cramming. Those wonderful moments when I can somehow free myself of the guilt-ridden feeling that I should be working instead of doing something relaxing and fun.

For me, nothing helps this cause like a countertop full of good ingredients and a yummy bottle of wine. To make things even better I’ll throw in a delicious cheese and some tasty crackers to ~~fill up~~ snack on while I get to cooking. Tonight my counter was filled with spaghetti, mushrooms, spinach, tomato sauce, basil, pecorino and parmesan cheeses, garlic, onion, and heavy cream. Oh yes, my friends. Relaxing.

Spaghetti with Tomato Cream Sauce
Serves 3-4, depending on the level of aforementioned cheese and cracker consumption.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 generous handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
1 can, 15 oz, of tomato sauce
1 can, 15 oz, of diced tomatoes
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Dash of sugar, to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream, or half and half if you choose
Grated pecorino or parmesan cheese, to taste (anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup)
8 leaves of fresh basil, chiffonade or cut into long, thin strips
8 oz spaghetti

Directions
Heat 1 tbsp oil and butter over medium-low to medium heat in a large skillet. Don’t heat your fats too high or you’ll chance burning the garlic and onion. Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute for about five minutes until soft and tender but not browned.

Pour the tomato sauce and drained can of diced tomatoes into the pan. Add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. The sugar is used to cut down the acidity of the fresh tomato sauce. Start conservatively and continue adding sugar and spices until you achieve a taste that you like.

Stir the sauce and cook, covered, over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

In a separate skillet, heat the other 1 tbsp of olive oil. Once the oil is heated through, add the mushrooms to the pan, stirring to coat them in the oil. Let the mushrooms sit for about five minutes before touching them again. Don’t crowd the mushrooms! I love that phrase. Continue cooking the mushrooms until they are browned on both sides.

In the meantime, cook the pasta according to package directions.

When the sauce is done, remove it from the heat and stir in the half and half. Add the mushrooms, spinach, and grated cheese. Stir to coat the spinach so that it can wilt slightly. Taste the sauce at this point and add any spices or cheese if you want to enhance the flavor.

Once the pasta is cooked, put it directly into the sauce or drain it and then put it into the sauce. Don’t rinse the pasta. By doing this you rinse off the starch on the cooked pasta and the starch is what helps the sauce stick to the pasta. Did you know this?! Life changing tips. I’ll be here all week, people.

Add the basil, serve, and enjoy! Don’t forget the wine.

Waxing poetic…or not.

Posted on March 25, 2012

First, I must apologize quickly for starting this blog and then suddenly going silent for weeks. Let’s just say that life continues to get the better of me as I try to get settled into this new season, which makes for a lot of juggling and overwhelmingness. (I’m quite sure that is not a word. But you know what I mean.) I had a hard week, followed by a wonderful visit by my sister (details and pics to come in another post soon!), followed by another hard week with personal crapola to take care of. (Also not a word. Also effective in conveying to you exactly what I mean.) And now I’m slowly but surely getting my head above water once again. So, hello again!

Like I said, it’s been a hard couple of weeks. Transition is never easy. Any of you who have ever made a move, or started a new job, or gone to grad school, or simply tried a new brand of peanut butter knows what I mean. Even for someone remotely self-aware who has, admittedly, been through years of therapy and lots of bottles of wine (we’re talking about me here, people), transition continues to give me the gift of joy and pleasure in learning new things about myself. (There is some sarcasm there. Learning new things about oneself is not always joyous. Necessary, though, I feel.) So, today I was going to wax poetic about transition and learning about oneself and compare the whole process to that of peeling off the layers of an onion. Like…wait for it…the gorgeous onion pictured above.

But then last night something a tad embarrassing and equally wonderful happened. I decided to indulge in some healthy escapism by watching Twilight. I know, I know. To be honest with you the only reason I feel ever so slightly embarrassed is because this movie viewing occurred just hours after I watched The Hunger Games. I mean, the tween self in me was overjoyed at what I was letting it watch. I think there can be a healthy place in our lives for escapism, and what better way to do it than in the company of Katniss and Peeta and Bella and Edward? Alas, I do feel a little silly typing that. But I promised when I started this blog that I would be transparent here. No point in putting yourself out on the world-wide interweb and faking it.

I digress. At the end of Twilight, Edward and Bella go to the prom. As the camera pans around the room you see all these kids with happy faces simply having fun dancing without another care in the world. And it made me think back to my school dances and to high school, before we started thinking about the worries of college, when all we really thought of most of the time was what we were doing that minute, that day. I was talking about boys while eating under-baked cookies with my friends at lunch. I was at softball practice. I was having a random dance party at my friend’s house when we were supposed to be studying. I was getting in trouble for making sarcastic comments in the middle of choir practice. Some things just don’t change. I was worried about nail polish colors and Sadie Hawkins costumes and whether or not that boy liked me. Watching the kids faces at prom in Twilight last night made me long for the days when I only really thought of the day I was actually living in. Not the next day, or the day tens years from now. The older we get, the more life throws at us, the harder it is to do this. And last night made me realize I want to spend more time enjoying the prom and less time peeling back the layers of the onion. So, no waxing poetic today. Let’s just talk onions. Simple and sweet.

A few of my friends have told me that I changed their lives when I showed them how to cut an onion. I like to think their lives were changed the day they met me. I learned my onion cutting technique in a knife skills class, one of the first culinary classes I ever took. (Side note: If you’re wanting to get more comfortable in the kitchen and aren’t sure where to start, I highly recommend taking a knife skills class. Upscale grocery stores, Whole Foods, Sur La Table and the like have culinary class open to the public so check out their schedules online.) I was making soup the other day, which happened to call for a few onions as many soups do, so I thought I’d snap a few pictures of cutting onions and tell you about it in case there’s anyone out there who could use a little help. I find that feeling overwhelmed in the kitchen can be greatly helped by feeling more comfortable with some basics. Cutting an onion definitely qualifies.

1) Start with an onion, a cutting board, and a sharp chef’s knife. Put the onion on its side. Cut off the end that has the paper-like stuff hanging off, pictured below. Cut about a centimeter or so from the end.

2) Place the onion on the now flat end. Cut the onion in half lengthwise starting at the top where the stringy things are coming out of the onion. I’m using very technical terms here.

3) Starting at the flat end, peel off the outer layer of the onion, being sure to keep the end with the stringy things intact so that the onion stays together when cutting. You’ll probably need to rip off the outer layer just before the intact end.

4) Lay the now-peeled onion half on its side. Hold onto the still-intact end of the onion. This is where you should hold the onion during each of the following steps. Start about a centimeter up from the cutting board and slice into the onion, rocking the knife back and force to get it to slice through close to the intact end, without going through the end. Be sure to keep it intact. Move up another centimeter and slice through again. Do this several times until you’re about a centimeter from the top of the onion half. You’ll have several horizontal slices.

5) Now you’ll make vertical slices. Start on one side of the onion, about a centimeter from the end and slice vertically, top to bottom, starting towards the end of the onion but don’t cut too close to the end. Be sure to keep the end intact, as pictured below. Move over another centimeter or so and slice again. Do this until you’ve reached the other side of the onion.

6) Now that you have horizontal slices and vertical slices, start at the end of the onion where you removed the papery end and chop the onion into pieces, top down, front to back towards the still-intact end of the onion.

7) Now you repeat the steps above with the other half of the onion. And tada! You’ve chopped an onion. You’ll also notice another kitchen trick below. I keep an empty bowl on the counter while I’m cutting vegetables and put any pieces that need to be discarded in that bowl as I go instead of needing to constantly throw things into the trash. This helps you move a little faster. When you’re finished prepping and chopping you can dump all the remains into your compost bin, should you be cool enough to be composting, or into the trash can. Don’t worry, I still don’t compost either. But I do recommend you look into it and consider it. I’m hoping to start collecting compost this summer once my grad program has started its community garden plot at the Fenway Victory Gardens in Boston. More on that later, I’m sure.

Happy onion chopping! I’m off to study.

Moments and memories.

Posted on March 10, 2012

It’s official. Thursday marked the two-month anniversary of the day I hopped on a one-way flight to Boston and prayed. And prayed again for peace. And then I prayed again when we landed. This time it was a prayer of gratitude because, well, I had been watching Lost for the six hours that we were in the air and I was unbelievably grateful to be in Boston and not on an island.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for two months and hard to believe it hasn’t been longer. I got to catch up with a dear friend last night and she asked if I felt like I was settled in. I looked around my living room, all full of cute new (to me) stuff and thought, well, kind of.

I mean, when I walk into my apartment it kind of feels like home. When I walk into work it kind of feels normal. When I walk into Trader Joe’s it kind of feels…amazing. Isn’t Trader Joe’s amazing? And when I walk into class it kind of feels…um…well to be honest with you it still feels a bit odd but that’s because my brain seems to be taking its sweet time getting back into thinking this way. I beg it to pick up the pace. It begs me to get more sleep.

So, all in all, I’m feeling pretty settled in Boston. It’s a good feeling most days. I’m a bit of a home body and thrive on stability. Except, of course, when I get a wee bit antsy so decide to close up shop on one coast and move to the other.

Every day I think about how fast my time here could go by. I’m trying to make the most of each day, relishing being able to explore a new place, meet new people, see new things. I want to look back on my time in Boston, however long that may be, with a certain fondness and detailed memories. One of the ways I’m ensuring this can happen, as you know, is by taking my daily “Boston today.” pictures. This blog is also an amazing way to document my experiences. Thanks for hanging out with me while I do so. 🙂 I’m curious…what do you do to remember things that happen in your life that you don’t want to forget? Here are some of my favorite Boston moments and memories so far.

1. Waking up each morning for my first three weeks here to the pitter-patter of little G running up and down the hallway outside the room I was staying in. Toddler feet plus early morning energy plus hardwood floors make for a great natural alarm clock.

2. Walking out of the new student orientation for my program and thinking, “Wow. These people are normal and I like them!” And then calling Mom to tell her I made friends.

3. Waking up to my first snowfall. It really was magical.

4. Skype-ing (verb?) for the first time with Mom and Dad and asking immediately to see my dog.

5. Doing the first reading for my U.S. Food Policy and Culture class and thinking, “I get to read this for school?!”

6. Being proud of making an Ikea couch only to discover that it was the easiest piece of furniture we would have to build that day.

7. Sleeping in my own bed, in my own home, for the first time in two months.

8. Wearing flats for the first time instead of boots and realizing that winter isn’t forever.

9. Clicking “Publish” on my first blog post and thinking, “Here goes nothin’!”

10. Spending a quiet early morning baking these muffins to share with you.

Oh wait. You actually want the recipe for these muffins?! Okay!

These are some of my favorites. They’re hearty and satisfying without being overly filling. I imagine they’ll be delicious with blueberries once they’re back in season. Oh how I miss fresh berries. These muffins will last you for the morning until lunch which also makes them great on the go. The original recipe calls for making 8 muffins, but I made 6 in this last round and they’re the perfect size. So I say go with 6! If you’re not going to eat them all within a day or two of baking, I recommend wrapping each muffin in plastic wrap and freezing them. Just 30 seconds in the microwave and they’re hot and steamy and almost like they’re fresh out of the oven all over again. I promise.

Banana Cereal Muffins

Adapted from Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours by Kim Boyce with Amy Scattergood

Makes 6 muffins

Ingredients

Butter for muffin tin

1/2 cup cracked-multigrain hot cereal, such as Bob’s Red Mill

Pinch of salt

1 cup rye flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped or small pieces

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 generous teaspoon cinnamon

3 ounces (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar (note: original recipe calls for dark brown sugar; I used light/medium in my last batch and really liked them)

3 extra ripe (as in brown) bananas, about 1 1/4 pounds

2 tablespoons unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses

1 egg

Directions

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add the grains and salt and stir to prevent any clumping. Cook on low, uncovered, stirring often, until the cereal is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Watch and taste closely as the cereal can cook faster than you expect and you may want to retain a little bit of chewiness. Set aside 1/2 cup of the cereal to cool for the muffins, saving the rest for another day.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Rub the muffin tin thoroughly with butter, including inside the cups and around the rims.
Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the walnuts.
Add the butter and brown sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer. Hug your standing mixer because it’s amazing and so good to you and makes life so much easier. Attach the paddle and mix on high speed until the butter and sugar are lighter in color and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Using a spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the bananas, molasses, egg, and the 1/2 cup cooled cereal. Mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.
Scrape down the bowl again and add the dry ingredients and walnuts. Mix on low speed, blending until just combined.
Using an ice cream scoop (or spoon, though I highly recommend the former), scoop the batter into 6 muffin cups, alternating so the tops of the muffins will have room to expand. The batter should be domed above the rim of each cup.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Watch your oven. The muffins are ready to come out when their bottoms are dark golden in color (twist a muffin out of the pan to check).
Twist each muffin out and place it on its side in the cup to cool. This ensures that the muffin stays crusty instead of getting soggy. I had not heard of this trick until I found this recipe and I promise it makes a difference.

Enjoy!

And then there were four.

Posted on March 30, 2012

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Waxing poetic…or not.

Posted on March 25, 2012

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Moments and memories.

Posted on March 10, 2012

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