Under a Red Roof

An Education (or Two)

February 5, 2010 in Eating, Remembering, Spotlighting, Watching by Colleen | 2 comments

Happy Friday, dear readers! Hope you had a lovely week. Mine was up, down, and sideways, but mostly down, to be honest. Even though I stopped taking the post-surgical hormones two months ago, I still feel funny, not to mention heavy. I gained fifteen pounds and have not been able to shake it, despite my pretty rigorous routine. A serious bummer but all part of my endometriosis education. It goes a bit like this:

1. Suffer serious pain

2. Suffer mental anguish at the fact that the pain is disregarded by a couple doctors (NOT Petra Caruso – she’s the tops), and, despite myriad efforts over ten years, does not lessen.

3. Deliver shock and awe over the severity and complexity of my case to a specialist dealing in these problems for more than thirty years.

4. Have fallopian tubes, the right ovary, uterus, and innumerable adhesions removed in a 6 1/2 hour surgery that was only meant to be two.

5. Lose so much blood in the process that standing for more than a minute on my own will be an event weeks in the making.

6. Take massive doses of progesterone to keep the endometriosis at bay while suffering through eighteen unpleasant side effects, including uber moodiness, headaches, sleeplessness, and the aforementioned weight gain.

7. Realize, holy smokes, this suff is hard, and depressing, and crappy, a real emotional roller coaster, and it isn’t over yet. I’m really ready for it to be, really, really.

On top of this, one of my great pleasures, as you well know, is going to the movies. Unfortunately there’s been a serious dearth of good films to see at the theaters I frequent. I can’t even remember the last time I was at the Academy. So, with all this in mind, imagine my delight, more like giddiness, when I saw that the Hollywood Theater had not one, but THREE movies this little lover of cinema was pining to see. I went into paroxysms of glee people. Glee! I would have my friend Bridget attest to this fact, for she was on the other end of the phone at the moment of my great discovery, but she is a little shy of the blog, so you will just have to take my word for it. I’m as honest as Abe.

One more bit before the movie, and yes, I do know I’ve gone on. The hubster was going out of town for a couple of days on business (to Napa! Fine food, wine, and learning), so we decided to make a little date night of it. We tried the new Foster Burger and enjoyed it quite a bit. I had a ginormous wedge salad with fresh herbs, apples, blue cheese crumbles, and a crazy piece of pork belly fried in duck fat, light as air and oh my, my, ooh la, la! The hubster had the expected burger, fries, and a chocolate milk shake, which he shared (I shared too). All was good – the food, convivial service, and music on the hi-fi. We’ll be back, definitely.

Of course, the movie was the icing on top. It follows Jenny (a girl who reminds me an awful lot of myself at that age), a sweet, smart, and occasionally sassy girl on the verge of turning seventeen. She’s a Francophile with a serious love for music, art, literature, and cigarettes. Though she has someone who is sweet on her, she finds him boring, and is swept off her feet by a man who is probably twice her age. He possesses everything she desires: culture, intelligence, good looks, and an impressive car to boot (a gorgeous Bristol 405, gulp), as well as some other dubious characteristics she is willing to overlook. He delights her, spoils her, and takes her places no one else can. All with her parents permission, I might add, for they are just as smitten as she. As their romance progresses, Jenny questions the worthiness of an education over spending her life married to someone so worldly, raising some pretty interesting questions in the process. Very well done.

Tags: Endometriosis, Movies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

January 13, 2010 in Cooking + Baking, Remembering by Colleen | 3 comments

When I was in junior high, one of my best friends was Terese Sievers. She was sweet, smart (a whiz at math), beautiful, with perfect black hair; a fine person and a marvelous friend. I spent a lot of time at her house: meals, parties, and sleepovers, her adorable little brother Todd waking us in the morning. Among my favorite memories is the time we baked this cake together. I had never baked with a friend before, and there was a definite specialness to it. We worked with ease in her kitchen, so much so that it overshadows any memory of my first bite of cake. Working together mattered more.

Though the memory of this cake is fine, it has very little to do with how I feel about it now. I am hard pressed to find another chocolate cake that I like so well. This is moist, rich, and always delicious, and certainly among the easiest to prepare. I am not one for fuss in the kitchen – my Julia Child days having long past. The hubster is a big fan as well, nearly always suggesting I make it when I am in the mood for chocolate. Thankfully, too, I’ve adapted it so it is pretty healthy, as far as cakes go, with the rolled oats and whole wheat flour providing a good amount of fiber, but in secret agent fashion. Let’s call it MI5 cake, shall we?

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

1 3/4 cups boiling water

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1 stick butter, softened (8 tablespoons)*

2 eggs

1 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips**

3/4 cup nuts (optional)

Pour water over oatmeal in a large bowl, and let stand 10 minutes. Add both sugars and butter. Mix well. Add eggs. Sift dry ingredients together, and add to oatmeal mixture, mixing well.

Pick a pan – 13×9 or Bundt

For the 13X9: Grease pan well. Add 1 cup of chocolate chips (and fruit if you are using it) to batter, pour into pan, and sprinkle remaining chips over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake springs back when touched.

For the Bundt: Grease pan well. Mix in chocolate chips (and fruit if you are using it), pour into pan, smoothing the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake springs back when touched. Cool for 5 minutes before turning out of the pan.

The cake is great warm, at room temperature, on it’s own, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or frosted. You really can’t lose.

Enjoy!

*If you are itching to make the cake, but your butter is not soft, do what I do: use a cheese grater on the butter. I also do this for pie crust. Freeze the butter and put it through the grater. It will still be cold and in uniform pieces. I love uniformity in the kitchen!

**Use any chocolate chip you like, but know that white chocolate chips tend to melt entirely and form slightly unsightly cracks in the cake (this is why God created frosting).

***If you like dried fruit, this cake is the perfect vehicle for it. I am rather fond of adding dried cherries or raisins (reduce the amount of chocolate chips by whatever amount of dried fruit you use), but was thinking that cranberries and apricots would work nicely, too. If you like orange, you could also add the zest of one. Oh the possibilities!

Tags: Cooking and Baking, Friendship, Recipes

Time to Decorate

December 16, 2009 in Celebrating, Decorating, Remembering by Colleen | 2 comments

Isn’t it neat how life works out? You think you are going to do one thing, but for some reason it doesn’t happen, and there you are doing something better. That was our Sunday. We got up and moving rather leisurely with the intention of walking to get the hubster’s hair cut. However, once we found the coupon we were to use (our household is quite thrifty) and realized it wasn’t a walking distance affair, we had a change of plan.

Still determined to walk, we set out in a different direction and collected the greens for this year’s holiday mantel and window. Though I was a bit worried about finding enough, there was plenty. There always is. Then we came home and decorated, taking in the heady scent of evergreen. If Christmas has a scent, that is it for me. Wonderful. New additions include the diamond church (Gregory’s name for the sparkle) and the tall white house. It is simple and pretty and a bit of a hodge podge, but I like it just the same. The hubster thinks it’s pretty neat, too, especially since we have one small box of decorations and use what nature provides on a fun walk, together. He is also quite fond of the fact that the greens go right into the fireplace when we’re done, filling the house with the scent of the holidays one last time.

This last shot is for my Dad. When I lived at home, and all the decorating was done, he would turn off the lights. We’d sit quietly in the glow of the tree and admire the beauty of it all. Shh…

Tags: Decorating

Dervishes and Fast Food

December 15, 2009 in Cooking + Baking, Remembering by Colleen | 1 comment

When I was a kid, I loved spinning. Loved it. I would go out in our rather capacious yard, extend my arms and go like a top. I’d focus on the undulation of my fingers as I twirled, greens and browns streaking by. Then when I couldn’t take another second, I’d drop dramatically to the ground, look up at the sky and marvel in the sensation that, despite my stillness, my body was still spinning. Heaven. This was such a habit that my Mom told me I’d likely grow up to be a dervish. While I do love watching them, I’ve never actually become one, save, I suppose, for the occasional wild romp in the yard and cleaning.

Mondays are top to bottom cleaning days around here – laundry, vacuuming, mopping, dusting, toilet scrubbing – the whole kit and kaboodle. I used to do a little each day but then felt like that was all I was doing, and it left me kind of depressed. Now that it is condensed into one day, I get a pretty good workout and a gleaming, sweet smelling house at the end. By the way, is it wrong to be in love with the scent of Murphy’s Oil Soap? If it is, sign me up for the program to get me off the stuff. Gosh it smells gooood.

The only problem with my dervish style clean is that I am pretty tuckered out by the end of the day and not terribly keen on making dinner. Thankfully there are fast, make at home meals like this that are delicious without being at all taxing. Otherwise, I don’t know what we’d be eating; maybe chips and salsa?

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower

olive oil

1/2 of one small onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup raw cashews

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the stem and leaves from the cauliflower. Break up the head into florets. Place on a baking pan and roast for 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the onion and garlic. Saute with a bit of olive oil in a medium soup pot over medium heat until translucent. Add roasted cauliflower, cashews, and broth; bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and puree with an immersion blender or process in a blender in batches until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Makes about four adult sized bowls (I know, so precise).

We had ours with a little cheese toast (with Dave’s Killer Bread! Good bread and an even better story) sprinkle with smoked paprika. It was delicious and warm. Warm is good, too.

Enjoy!

Tags: Cooking and Baking, Recipes

Our Funny Felines

November 24, 2009 in Admiring, Being, Remembering by Colleen | Permalink

They’re looking at each other. Do you feel the love?

When we first got our cat Paris (14 1/2 years ago!), and her personality revealed itself (half fruit, half nuts), our vet recommended that we get another cat. To be precise, she said a male kitten to help bring her out of her shell. The vet being the professional, we admitted our ignorance and presumed she was absolutely correct. So, at our first opportunity (a nice house and yard for everyone to live happily ever after), we got Milo, a tiny male kitten, just what the doctor ordered.

Eleven years later, despite his utterly adorable face, we are still paying the price. Paris, Ms. Half Fruit Half Nuts has NEVER gotten over becoming a big sister to this oafish little man. Moreover, Milo has never ceased to be confused (and riled, look at him – he’s not entirely innocent) by his big sister’s puzzling behavior. Paris will initiate play, and the two will romp happily together for approximately one minute before we suspect this dialog occurs in the mind of our little princess, “Whoa! Whoa! What am I doing playing with this evil interloper? He took away my lush life!” Then the screaming begins. This is no exaggeration either. Paris screams, very LOUDLY, all because the vet said she needed a friend and her stupid humans believed this sorely mistaken person. Bless her heart, what Paris really needed was a throne.

Oh, but they are cute, and cuddly, and our kitty cats. I am grateful for them and all they bring into our lives, well, maybe except for the vomit and the dirty litter box!