The month of May, my Hell Month, is almost over. Almost, almost. Still some big things to get through, but I'm almost there.
May is scattered and busy. I dislike scattered and busy. I want to be able to focus on just one or two things at a time but instead, May demands that I manage loads of work and loads of volunteer projects and the garden and birthdays and more work and trips out of town and the computer breaking down and the car breaking down and the yard and the kids' end-of-school activities and OH MY GOD PLEASE MAKE IT STOP but of course it does not stop.
May is expensive. Expensive makes me nervous. May is the month when it seems we hemorrhage money into the garden, the yard, things that need fixing all at once. Expensive computer repairs, car repairs, home repairs. Important gifts: Graduations, appreciations, weddings, babies. We are too busy to fix dinner so we get carry out. My inner Depression-era housewife is horrified.
May requires that I neglect things I hate to neglect. How long has it been since I made dinner? Or baked anything? The boys missed the last two weeks of religious school because, literally, no one was available to transport them to and from the synagogue. Working out is right out. The crazy circus balancing act that is May requires letting some things go, but I hate that.
May has ruined my head. Of course I got a cold. My nose keeps bleeding for no reason, I suppose just because it can. I haven't been able to hear properly since a plane trip a week and a half ago. At night, my brain functions like an Outlook calendar, pinging me with alerts and reminders. At two a.m. And three a.m. And four a.m. All in all, my head is entirely too high-maintenance. I would like a replacement head.
But: Light at the end of the tunnel! Last night I managed to fix a nice dinner, the first in weeks, to celebrate my dad's birthday. (Belatedly. Of course.) Chicken parmesan made with homemade tomato sauce, which came out beautifully. The herb garden is going gangbusters and oh boy do I have plans for all that goodness. Eli and I made it to the gym this morning. Tonight I will roast chickens so we can eat off the leftovers for the rest of the week, because I really cannot take any more pizza-Chinese-Indian-Thai takeaways.
Summer will come. Summer will come. Summer will come.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Why I Won't Be Making DInner: May 2011
I can't keep track of dinner until May madness is over. Grading, preparation and travel for a conference, the kids' end-of-school activities, the final preparations for Cub Scout day camp, Eli's birthday, several other fun but time-sucking events--they will all keep me from much cooking, and certainly from writing about it here.
The good news is that after a fun Friday evening with Holly's family, we busted ass and planted all weekend. The herbs, vegetables, and flowers are all in the ground. We're worn out and back-sore, but accomplished. If the plants thrive, I can look forward to new cooking adventures in June.
The good news is that after a fun Friday evening with Holly's family, we busted ass and planted all weekend. The herbs, vegetables, and flowers are all in the ground. We're worn out and back-sore, but accomplished. If the plants thrive, I can look forward to new cooking adventures in June.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What I Made for Dinner: April 20, 2011
Matzo pizza.
It's time for my annual effort to adhere to some kind of religious tradition. On Passover week, I always try to omit leavened foods (with varying degrees of success). I appreciate the tangible way, every time I think about what to eat, that it reminds me to consider freedom and slavery and ancestry. Eating matzo is almost literally the least I can do. I'm very interested in making my own, like Eli's friend Asher did with his mom, but that will have to wait for another time.
Matzo, it turns out, is an excellent base for pizza. When topped with tomato sauce and cheese, then baked on a sheet pan at 400 for about seven minutes, it takes on the approximate texture of St. Louis-style cracker crust. Not half bad.
It's time for my annual effort to adhere to some kind of religious tradition. On Passover week, I always try to omit leavened foods (with varying degrees of success). I appreciate the tangible way, every time I think about what to eat, that it reminds me to consider freedom and slavery and ancestry. Eating matzo is almost literally the least I can do. I'm very interested in making my own, like Eli's friend Asher did with his mom, but that will have to wait for another time.
Matzo, it turns out, is an excellent base for pizza. When topped with tomato sauce and cheese, then baked on a sheet pan at 400 for about seven minutes, it takes on the approximate texture of St. Louis-style cracker crust. Not half bad.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
What I Baked: April 16-17, 2011
Water park cake.
Make that, completely insane water park cake. I have so much work to do right now. Instead, I spent the weekend making this cake for Alex's birthday party:
Thoroughly ridiculous, especially because I have no cake-decorating skills. I was inspired by this cake, but obviously I have no ability to make it as shown.
First, I made a base of a sheet cake, then put a round layer on top. I froze the round layer and then cut an oval out of it and scraped out the cake, creating a depression about an inch and a half thick.
That's blue Jello in the middle. Blue Jello! How disgusting!
Then I made cute little people out of fondant. That was pretty fun.
Again, I have no skills. But I like the flowers on the girl's swimsuit, and I like how they are muppet-colored. Multiculturalism!
Assembly: I covered all remaining surfaces with large amounts of blue frosting. The slide, the ladder, and the orange person's raft are all made of Airheads candies. The slide platform is two ice cream cones frosted blue with spray-on food coloring. Here's one more view of the finished product in all its artificially-colored glory, which is considerable if I do say so myself.
I thought eating-wise, the cake was nauseating. But Alex thought it was really cool and the kids seemed to enjoy it. I must remember to apologize to their parents for any unpleasant or surprising after-effects of so much blue food tint.
Make that, completely insane water park cake. I have so much work to do right now. Instead, I spent the weekend making this cake for Alex's birthday party:
Thoroughly ridiculous, especially because I have no cake-decorating skills. I was inspired by this cake, but obviously I have no ability to make it as shown.
First, I made a base of a sheet cake, then put a round layer on top. I froze the round layer and then cut an oval out of it and scraped out the cake, creating a depression about an inch and a half thick.
That's blue Jello in the middle. Blue Jello! How disgusting!
Then I made cute little people out of fondant. That was pretty fun.
Again, I have no skills. But I like the flowers on the girl's swimsuit, and I like how they are muppet-colored. Multiculturalism!
Assembly: I covered all remaining surfaces with large amounts of blue frosting. The slide, the ladder, and the orange person's raft are all made of Airheads candies. The slide platform is two ice cream cones frosted blue with spray-on food coloring. Here's one more view of the finished product in all its artificially-colored glory, which is considerable if I do say so myself.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
What I Made for Dinner: April 13, 2011
Chicken quesadillas and chocolate-cherry cake.
Alex is eight today! This was the dinner he requested. He was born eight years ago this morning, just two weeks after we moved into this house. He waited ten days past his due date, which gave me a chance to unpack. He is thoughtful like that.
This boy. It's hard to describe your children. I watched him play soccer last weekend and I spent the whole time wondering: How did he get so tall for his age? Where did that come from, the drive to run and be aggressive and get to the ball? (Italics because to me, those are foreign-language words.) When did he start calling his friends "Dude"?
About Alexander at age eight: He gets vastly pissed off when he screws up, or when things don't go right. He usually gets over it quickly. He can be a real grouch. He gets presents for his brothers. He likes digging in the dirt. He spends a few minutes of special quiet time with our dog every morning. He has been unreasonably enthusiastic about his corrective orthodontia. I suspect--based on hearsay--he has a spectacularly foul mouth for an eight-year-old, but he hides it well from me and Chuck.
He is the very best person in the whole world to give gifts to.
Happy birthday to my middle monkey.
Alex is eight today! This was the dinner he requested. He was born eight years ago this morning, just two weeks after we moved into this house. He waited ten days past his due date, which gave me a chance to unpack. He is thoughtful like that.
About Alexander at age eight: He gets vastly pissed off when he screws up, or when things don't go right. He usually gets over it quickly. He can be a real grouch. He gets presents for his brothers. He likes digging in the dirt. He spends a few minutes of special quiet time with our dog every morning. He has been unreasonably enthusiastic about his corrective orthodontia. I suspect--based on hearsay--he has a spectacularly foul mouth for an eight-year-old, but he hides it well from me and Chuck.
He is the very best person in the whole world to give gifts to.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
What I Made for Dinner: April 5, 2011
Penne with bacon and brussels sprouts.
Listen: When you get home from work late and you're all flustered and you have fifteen minutes before everyone gets home from soccer and they're going to be starving and you really want to have dinner ready for them when they get home?
Don't make this.
Listen: When you get home from work late and you're all flustered and you have fifteen minutes before everyone gets home from soccer and they're going to be starving and you really want to have dinner ready for them when they get home?
Don't make this.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
What I Made for Dinner: March 27, 2011
Chili con carne with guacamole.
A dinner to eat while bummed out.
Bummed because it got seriously cold yesterday, like the lovely early spring we've been enjoying was just a cruel tease. Bummed because the hyacinths were fooled, too, and now will surely die, and maybe the redbuds along with them. Bummed because it freaking well snowed this afternoon, canceling the first soccer game of the spring season. Bummed most particularly because, dammit, Virginia Commonwealth? Really?
(I couldn't even watch. I folded laundry, made the chili, made banana bread, and finally just went upstairs to watch Hoarding: Buried Alive because I couldn't stand to watch this fabulous season end.)
Sad Day Chili (serves 4)
1 lb. ground beef chuck
1 lb. ground pork
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
16-oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
28-oz can diced tomatoes
12-oz bottle Boulevard wheat beer
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 dried chipotle chilis, whole
kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
In a large dutch oven or soup pot, brown the beef and pork, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour off all but one tablespoon of fat from the pot.
Add the bell peppers, onion, and garlic to the pot and saute over medium-high heat until softened. Add the remaining ingredients except the chocolate, return the meat to the pot, and simmer, covered, for at least one hour, preferably three, or as long as necessary while you wait for something unpleasant to end. Thirty minutes before serving, check the chili's consistency. If it is too soupy, remove the cover and allow it to reduce to the desired thickness. Remove from the heat, remove the chipotles, and add the chocolate right before serving, stirring until the chocolate is melted and distributed evenly.
Serve with guacamole and shredded cheese.
A dinner to eat while bummed out.
Bummed because it got seriously cold yesterday, like the lovely early spring we've been enjoying was just a cruel tease. Bummed because the hyacinths were fooled, too, and now will surely die, and maybe the redbuds along with them. Bummed because it freaking well snowed this afternoon, canceling the first soccer game of the spring season. Bummed most particularly because, dammit, Virginia Commonwealth? Really?
(I couldn't even watch. I folded laundry, made the chili, made banana bread, and finally just went upstairs to watch Hoarding: Buried Alive because I couldn't stand to watch this fabulous season end.)
Sad Day Chili (serves 4)
1 lb. ground beef chuck
1 lb. ground pork
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
16-oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
28-oz can diced tomatoes
12-oz bottle Boulevard wheat beer
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 dried chipotle chilis, whole
kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
In a large dutch oven or soup pot, brown the beef and pork, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour off all but one tablespoon of fat from the pot.
Add the bell peppers, onion, and garlic to the pot and saute over medium-high heat until softened. Add the remaining ingredients except the chocolate, return the meat to the pot, and simmer, covered, for at least one hour, preferably three, or as long as necessary while you wait for something unpleasant to end. Thirty minutes before serving, check the chili's consistency. If it is too soupy, remove the cover and allow it to reduce to the desired thickness. Remove from the heat, remove the chipotles, and add the chocolate right before serving, stirring until the chocolate is melted and distributed evenly.
Serve with guacamole and shredded cheese.
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