Sunday, May 20, 2018

Procrasti-baking and The Power of Love

baking
Yes, it’s a thing. I saw it on Facebook and, frankly, I was relieved. The article, from the New York Times on-line, entitled Why Work When You Can Procrastibake? starts this way:
All procrastibakers do not bake alike.
Procrastibaking — the practice of baking something completely unnecessary, with the intention of avoiding “real” work — is a surprisingly common habit that has only recently acquired a name. Medical students, romance writers, freelance web designers: Almost anyone who works at home and has a cookie sheet in the cupboard can try it.
“I started procrastibaking in college as a way to feel productive while also avoiding my schoolwork,” said Wesley Straton, a graduate student in Brooklyn. “Baking feels like a low-stakes artistic outlet.”
 Hooked me pretty quick. There is a name for what I do to put off doing other stuff. As I said before, relief.
I have projects to grade, quizzes to mark, letters to write to 8th graders, lessons to plan and placement tests to score. So, how did I spend my afternoon? Making strawberry shortcakes. And just why not?  I have heard that some suffer from procrasti-cleaning. Thank God I don’t have that affliction.
I found the recipe on Two Peas and their Pod.  They are really just sweet biscuits. Some of mine turned out lop-sided, but that’s okay. I am not a perfectionist. Just don’t have it in me.
baked biscuits
Our final Supper Club “meeting” at Dear Friend’s house was a lot of fun. And crazy delicious. Beck’s Mom made her signature appetizers, Brie Bites. Phyllo dough “cups” with a piece of double creme Brie, some raspberry-jalapeño jam, and pecans baked in the oven, then a sprinkle of (French) sea salt added and baked a bit longer. (I ate two, showing great restraint, because I could have eaten every single one of them.)
brie bites
Miss Molly brought Caprese salad- another of my all-time favorites. I took two of these as well. Symmetry?
caprese
Dear Friend and Hubby provided roasted potatoes,
potatoes
salmon cooked in his outdoor smoker and very tender roast beef.
salmon and beef
I had a very special helper when it came time for dessert. Dear Friend’s oldest granddaughter, who is the spitting image of her mom at this age, helped me make the whipped cream and was my taste-tester par excellence.  She also served everyone their dessert. Not that I want my Darling Granddaughter to grow up too fast, but I cannot wait to give her her first apron and a stepping stool for my kitchen!
B
Et voilà! Our strawberry shortcakes.
strawberry shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake and I go way back. Growing up, I always asked Mama Mildred to make this for my birthday. You can use Angel food cake, regular yellow or white cake or real shortbread. I opted for sweet biscuits. Strawberries are in season. Go for it!
I need to get this post done or I will start suffering from procrasti-blogging… The stack of work is staring me in the face right this moment.
Strawberry Shortcakes
makes 8

for the strawberries:

  • 1 1/2 pounds strawberries, stemmed and sliced or quartered
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
for the shortcakes:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 1/3 cups cold heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream, for brushing on shortcakes
  • Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on shortcakes
for the whipped cream:

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
  1.  Hull and slice the strawberries and place them into a large bowl. (I saved a few whole ones to use as garnish.) Cover with granulated sugar and stir. Cover and refrigerate the strawberries while you make the shortcakes so they can get juicy.
  2. Preheat oven to 425˚ F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Mix in the salt. Add the small pieces of cold butter and use a pastry blender, fork, or your clean hands to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Mix until you have pieces that are the size of peas.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together the cold heavy cream and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined. You may need to add a bit more cream, if the mixture is too dry. Turn out onto a floured surface and lightly knead the dough together to incorporate all of the crumbly dough pieces.  Do not over mix or your biscuits will not be as tender.
  5. Press the dough into a circle, about 1-inch thick and cut into rounds, using a biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Place the pan in the refrigerator and chill the biscuits for 20 minutes before baking.
  6. Using a pastry brush, brush the chilled biscuit tops with heavy cream. Sprinkle tops generously with turbinado sugar.
  7. Bake the biscuits until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely.
  8. While the biscuits are cooling, make the whipped cream. Using an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt together until the cream reaches stiff peaks.
  9. To assemble the shortcakes, cut the biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon the strawberries over the bottom of the biscuit and add a dollop of whipped cream. Top with the other biscuit half. Add more strawberries and whipped cream on top, if desired. You can also break up the biscuits and top them with strawberries and whipped cream or leave them whole and add strawberries and whipped cream on top.
Make Ahead-if you want to make the shortcake biscuits ahead of time, you can. Place unbaked biscuits on a lined baking sheet and freeze. When frozen, transfer the biscuits to a freezer bag and freeze for up to one month. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake for 23-26 minutes. You can also freeze baked shortcakes in a freezer bag for up to one month. Defrost before serving. You can warm them up in the oven, if desired.
Bon appétit to all strawberry lovers out there. I am deeply sorry for you if you are allergic to these heavenly delights. Substitute juicy ripe peaches or blackberries. If you didn’t watch The Wedding (I didn’t), at least listen to or read Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon. Amen, Reverend. Let’s spread the message of LOVE. There is power in love.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Getting along

hand in love
So, I have not always been a Kenny Chesney fan. (Sorry, Kenny.) Just for the past few years. Welcome to the Fishbowl, released in 2012, was the first album by him that I bought. And I still listen to it all the way through. The BFF saw him in concert a few years back and started trying to convince me of his talent. It took me a while to come around. Thanks to Daddy, I grew up listening to country music. Then I went through a phase when I swore that I would never, ever listen to that stuff. What goes around comes around, right? I rediscovered country music in the ’80’s. It’s changed since the Johnny Cash days. I like songs that tell a story. Sad songs. Real songs. Songs with a message. Songs that just make me feel something. It was a good day on my way home from school yesterday when a new song came on 93.9. I immediately took to it. I loved the lyrics.
A man wearin’ a t-shirt, says “Virginia is for lovers”
Had a Bible in his left hand and a bottle in the other
He says “All you’re really given is the sunshine and your name”
We both started laughin’ when the sky started to rain
Get along, on down the road
We’ve got a long long way to go
Scared to live, scared to die
We ain’t perfect but we try
Get along while we can
Always give love the upper hand
Paint a wall, learn to dance
Call your mom, buy a boat
Drink a beer, sing a song
Make a friend, can’t we all get along
Saw a model on a billboard, 1-800 get to know me
Wondered was she photoshopped, or were her eyes really that lonely?
Did she leave her hometown thinkin’ she’d end up in L.A.?
Did she break down in the desert and get stuck beside the highway?
Get along, on down the road
We’ve got a long long way to go
Scared to live, scared to die
We ain’t perfect but we try
Get along while we can
Always give love the upper hand
Paint a wall, learn to dance
Call your mom, buy a boat
Drink a beer, sing a song
Make a friend, can’t we all get along
We find out when you die the keys to heaven can’t be bought
We still don’t know what love is but we sure know what it’s not
Sometimes you got to
Get along, on down the road
We’ve got a long long way to go
Scared to live, scared to die
We ain’t perfect but we try
Get along while we can
Always give love the upper hand
Paint a wall, learn to dance
Call your mom, buy a boat
Drink a beer, sing a song
Make a friend, can’t we all get along
(lyrics from genius.com)
It sounds too simple. Can’t we all get along? Sometimes these days and times it doesn’t feel like it.
On Mother’s Day, I went to school and picked strawberries out of our garden.
strawberries
I decided to make strawberry bread for my colleagues. It was a hit.
strawberry bread
Fresh Strawberry Quick Bread
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup butter softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
Topping (optional)
  • 3 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Simple glaze (optional)
  • 1/2 cup powdered / icing sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 tablespoon cream
Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350°F  (180°C Celisius).  Grease and flour a 9 – 9 1/2 inch (24 centimeter) loaf pan.
In a medium bowl cream butter and sugar add egg and combine.
n a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
With a wooden spoon add flour mixture alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture in three parts, then add vanilla, mix just until combined. Gently fold in the strawberries.
Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan, if desired sprinkle with topping, if desired. Bake for approximately 50 minutes.  Let cool completely before drizzling with simple glaze, if desired.

Glaze

In a small bowl, mix together until smooth: icing sugar, vanilla, cream and milk. Mixture should be quite thick.

Bon appétit, Kenny Chesney. Sorry I missed you last weekend in Raleigh. Maybe next time? Let’s try to get along. We’ve got a long long way to go. Call your mom. We ain’t perfect but we try. Make a friend. Get along.

Saturday, May 12, 2018

One day at a time

lotta love.jpg
Today a very dear friend of mine taught me a very valuable lesson. She probably won’t take credit for it. That’s just how she is. We have taught together for 30+ years.  We can finish each other’s sentences. Kind of like an old married couple. We sponsor a club for 7th and 8th grade girls at our school. Our pet project this year is helping decorate rooms in homeless shelters with A Lotta Love, an organization started by Lotta Sjoelin. We decorated a room in February and have been raising money to decorate another one. We have taken up money at basketball games, sold concessions, had neighborhood lemonade, popsicle, and bake sales and today we sold coffee, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, granola bars, popsicles, and Gatorade at a lacrosse tournament. Fund-raising isn’t easy, especially on a 90˚ day. Our girls are very busy with their own activities and families, but they passionately believe in this cause. One 8th grade girlie said “I love lacrosse and I love fundraisers- what a great day!” That made me realize that I needed to stop internally complaining about giving up my morning and my frustrations with trying to raise money. (It wasn’t totally internal– I complained to Dear Friend…) That was one lesson that I needed to learn. Stop complaining. Period.
Dear Friend and I were discussing health issues today while at the lacrosse tournament. We are almost the same age. She never lets me forget that I am 3 months older. She has recently been diagnosed with thyroid issues and I have been dealing with the same for about 12 years or so. If you have a normal thyroid you are lucky. This butterfly-shaped gland in your neck affects an awful lot of the body’s functions, including:
  • Breathing
  • Heart rate
  • Central and peripheral nervous systems
  • Body weight
  • Muscle strength
  • Body temperature
  • Cholesterol levels
Mine was hyperactive when I was first diagnosed. I was exhausted all the time, my hair was falling out, I had heart palpitations, and my nails were very brittle. My hands were very shaky and I was either freezing cold or sweating. (The BFF actually forced me to make a doctor’s appointment even though just the thought of picking up the phone and calling made me tired.) It came on quite suddenly since I always ask my doctor to test for it when I have a physical exam. My mom and both sisters have thyroid issues. I thought that I had escaped it and even felt quite smug about it. Big mistake. I started seeing an endocrinologist and we tried to regulate it with medication, but that only worked for a little while. I decided to swallow a dose of radioactive iodine to gradually kill my gland. I now take a daily dose of Synthroid to keep me from suffering from hypothyroidism. Finding the proper dose is tricky. The levels of T3 and T4 are measured by a blood test and what are considered “normal” levels vary from doctor to doctor. I have learned to trust how I feel and push for the dosage of Synthroid that makes me feel the most “normal.” (I also check my comb every morning for hair loss.)
Dear Friend commented today that perhaps having an overactive thyroid isn’t a bad thing. Yes, she did. And the reason is that an overactive gland can help you control your weight because it revs up your metabolism. But it has other, much more serious side effects, including heart problems. I gave her my honest opinion and told her that she needs to get the thyroid under control. Period. Mine only caused me to lose weight when I suffered from a thyroid “storm.” She then told me that she is trying to go carb-free for the day in order to eat more healthily. We later had this text conversation–
Me: Every time I want a cookie today I am going to think of you. To keep me honest.
DF: You’ve got to have something better to think about that that! We’ll work on it together… but remember, it’s no carbs just for today! I can’t last more than that.
Me: One day at a time.
DF: Amen, sister.
Me: My new motto!
DF: Works for me!
Today’s recipe is one I tried about a month ago. If you are giving up carbs for one day, leave out the pasta. This is really good and easy. Pesto and Parmesan cheese are two of my weaknesses. I also added roasted chicken, torn into bite-sized pieces to make it a non-vegetarian dish for the Ex-Ex. Grilled andouille sausage cut into bite-sized pieces would also be really good.
roasted vegs with ravioli
Ravioli with Roasted Vegetables
from Jaclyn Bell of cookingclassy.com
serves 6
2 medium zucchini, ends trimmed, sliced into half moons
2 medium yellow squash, ends trimmed, sliced into half moons
1 red bell pepper, diced into 3/4-inch squares
1/2 large red onion, diced into 3/4-inch squares
8 oz button mushrooms, sliced thick
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 (10.5 oz) package of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1 (20 oz) package refrigerated cheese ravioli
2/3-cup pesto
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese
  1. Preheat oven to 425˚F.
  2. Place zucchini, squash, bell pepper, onion and mushrooms on a rimmed 18×13-inch baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast 10 minutes, then remove from oven. Add tomatoes and garlic to pan, and toss. Roast 10-15 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Add spinach to pan and toss. Roast 1 minute longer or until spinach has wilted.
  3. Cook ravioli according to package directions; drain. Pour ravioli into a large bowl. Stir in roasted vegetables and pesto (I let everyone add their own pesto after serving). Season with salt and pepper to taste then toss to evenly coat. Serve warm topped with cheese.
Bon appétit. Remember– one day at a time. Every day is a new day. A chance to start again. 

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

42 years and counting

My life in middle school.
4 personal years  (1968-1972) + 38 teaching years (1980-present) = 42 years spent in middle school.
Oh yea. Really. And there is rarely a dull moment. Take today for instance. I gave my 8th graders an assignment to use their vocabulary for homes and neighborhoods.
You have been offered a two-month summer internship in Paris. 
Choose where you will work and what your job will be.  
  • Arrondissement
  • Address
  • Name of place and your job
You will make 1600 euros a month.  You and your roommate are looking for an apartment to rent.  You must stay within your budget.  A single person can expect to spend 1200-1800 euros per month to live (food, rent, transportation, miscellaneous expenses) in Paris.
I gave them tasks to complete, a website en français for appartements. They had to devise a budget, find an apartment, tell me how they were going to get to work every day, tell me about the layout and furnishings in the apartment, etc. They could put their presentations in Google slides, PowerPoint, etc. I have an Apple TV in my classroom so that they can project on the screen from their iPads. for their classmates. The presentation must be en français, bien sûr. French 8 at my school is a high school level French 2 course. Presentations began today. Some of the little darlings are going to starve because they did not budget nearly enough money for food in Paris. I want to share one of the presentations. So, with their permission, I give you two of my jeunes hommes...

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Pretty impressive, n’est-ce pas? I think they learned something. And they made me laugh. In May no less.
How about some mushroom-shrimp risotto for dinner? Not French, but delicious. Mlle M and I made this for dinner a couple of weeks ago. The BFF was invited to come eat with us because she loves this dish. She couldn’t make it, though. Tant pis. Next time.

risotto

Simple Risotto
This is a basic recipe.  I added a cup of frozen green peas, some sautéed mushrooms and sautéed shrimp, 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, and 1/2 c. dry white wine.
approximately 3 cups of risotto
1 c. uncooked arborio rice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 c. chopped onion
4-5 c. chicken or vegetable broth, heated to simmering
Salt and pepper, to taste, if desired
Sauté onion in oil and butter for 3 minutes.  Add rice, stirring to coat with oil/butter for about 2 minutes. Stir in one cup of broth and wine, if using.  Continue cooking and stirring until liquid is absorbed. Gradually stir in remaining hot broth 1/2 cup at a time (I use a ladle), cooking and stirring until liquid is absorbed before adding the next cup. When rice is almost done, add whatever ingredients you wish– sautéed mushrooms, vegetables, shrimp, etc. and continue cooking until rice is tender but not mushy.
Bon appétit tout le monde! Good luck to all my colleagues out there. The end is in sight. I am counting down the Mondays. Hang on to your sense of humor. Goodness knows we need it right now.