Under a Red Roof

My Life in France

April 2, 2010 in Reading, Spotlighting, Writing by Colleen | 6 comments

Without intending to, I’ve been on a bit of a reading hiatus. I’ve started a few that I actually intend on finishing, but just couldn’t fully get into them. Thankfully, dear Julia came to the rescue. I put my name in the library queue for this last year, probably in September, and it finally made it to the top of the list. This can be blamed on the fact that, if you look at the sticker on the cover, I read the LARGE PRINT edition, of which there is only one copy. But, alas, as silver linings abound under this red roof, the book arrived in the right state, at just the right time. I felt so gloomy last Monday, wondering about my life. Then, when I started to read this boisterously large print, it was like having Julia’s effervescent personality reading aloud to me, the words bright, lively, and heartfelt. The two of us sat in my favorite chair, while she told me all about her remembrances of la belle France, delicious food, and the perils of finding direction a bit later in life, for much like me, Julia Child knew what she didn’t want before she knew what she wanted, and then everything just felt right.

The story moves in time, from her first view of France at Le Havre, at the age of thirty-six, to her last day, closing up her beloved getaway La Pitchoune for the last time in 1992. From her first meal to her last, Julia describes, in glorious detail, what a joy it was for her to discover French food and immerse herself completely in the mind boggling detail of its creation, the painstaking formulation of recipes, and testing, so much testing! Batch after batch of mayonnaise down the toilet, yet totally worthwhile for the knowledge and pleasure it brought her. She also writes about the perils of the publishing world, of working so hard for so long only to wonder if anyone, beyond her loved ones, would ever see the merit of her work. (Gulp.)

Though I certainly got a kick out of her love for all things French, in and out of the kitchen, it was the relationship between Julia and Paul that resonated most with me. They were such a delightful pair: witty, caring, and fun, too. They gave marvelous parties, sent charming Valentines (they weren’t organized enough to send cards at Christmas), loved each other beyond measure, supported each other through thick and thin, and were, quite simply, the best companion each could ask for.

A bit of humor and wonder in the end. The picture shows the lunch I was enjoying as I was reading. I set the book down, and realized, what I was eating – a kiwi, carrot, sliced spicy pickle, and a breaded Quorn patty, slathered in homemade “Come Back” sauce (mayo, yellow mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish) and topped with pickled peppers. Though I made the pickle and the relish, the irony of my choice, and Julia’s certain horror, made me laugh out loud. Truth be told, I can be a very lazy cook, and thought I might be doing the world and the environment a favor by eating Quorn. It’s vegetarian and doesn’t make me feel awful, like soy. Now I’m not so sure. The stuff is made in England. That’s a tad further than the farms where New Seasons gets their chicken (as our friend Hans would say, “Which is more worser?”). With that in mind, I felt inspired to make and freeze some chicken with various seasonings for other lazy lunches. I think she would approve.

Tags: Books, Cooking and Baking, Reading

Zippy Chocolate Cake with Cherry Sauce

March 29, 2010 in Being, Cooking + Baking, Eating, Learning, Thinking by Colleen | 3 comments

Another, equally satisfying title to this post could be Yum, or Perfection. Indeedy. Chocolate and Cherries are hard to beat. Something else that is hard to beat is sensibility. If you’ve been reading for a while, you know how I wrestle with sugar, or, at least, how I have wrestled with it. I am bad, weak, unhealthy, (insert other appropriate adjective), for eating the stuff. I spent a lot of time on it, A LOT. Many hours that, no doubt, added up to days of my life fretting about my consumption of sugar and how I really needed to let it go and be a better, stronger person. Heavens to mergatroid was it ever taxing, and to what end? Did I ever actually stop eating sugar? Not for any extended period of time. Did I ever feel better about myself for being my own persona non grata every time I consumed it? Certainly not. It was just ugly self-flagellation.

So now, in hopes of being kinder and gentler to my whole self, not just the parts that I’ve idealized, I’m going to eat it and do my darndest not to criticize or second guess myself for it. If I so desire, I’m going to bake a cake, have a slice, and REALLY enjoy it (well, if it tastes good – I do have standards). I don’t want to halfway enjoy it while simultaneously beating myself up for not being strong enough to say no or whatever. I am laughing at myself as I type this! How silly and schizophrenic I have been. Life is meant to be enjoyed.

So, to the cake. I call it zippy because it comes together very quickly and the sauce cooks while the cake bakes, so you can eat it warm from the oven. I love that – impatience and deliciousness in one go. I can’t remember where I first saw a recipe like this, maybe the Moosewood Cookbook? It is vegan, moist, and delicious. And, since this is the kind of gal I have become, I used whole wheat flour in place of some of the all purpose. If I can make it a little healthier while still being utterly yummy, I’m going for it.

Zippy Chocolate Cake

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar (So sorry! I left this out the first time.)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup cold water or coffee

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8″ square pan. Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine wet ingredients. Mix wet and dry together quickly until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 25 – 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you use the whole wheat flour, this may take longer. It’s okay.

Serve plain or with fruit sauce (raspberry, peach, blueberry, strawberry, or plum would be good, too!). I used my recipe included with pancakes, here. It is also good frosted or sprinkled with powdered sugar, and eaten out of hand.

Enjoy!

Tags: Cooking and Baking, Recipes

Feelin’ Goofy

March 3, 2010 in Cooking + Baking, Eating, Gardening + Nature by Colleen | 2 comments

It’s a funny morning I’m having. I am sleepy and half of my mouth is numb, as I am just home from the dentist after having a filling replaced. It was tiny, and fell out sometime over the past six months since my last cleaning, which is kind of weird to think about. Was it one of those times that felt like I had dirt in my salad or sand in my scallops? Maybe. Anyhoo, Dr. Dewey did me up (for free) with a bright pink topical numbing agent that reminded me of Raspberry Razzles. I was rather fond of Razzles, part sweet-tart, part gum, all goodness for about five minutes. Am I the only person around that likes to chew gum for five minutes? Seriously, any longer and it just isn’t a pleasant experience.

The Razzle talk has me thinking about Thirteen Going on Thirty, with Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo (I like him a lot), a film in which many Razzles are consumed. I’ve seen it about five times, mostly on random afternoons of couch potato-ing. It’s fun, silly, and cute except for the mean girl who played the woman with the wonky boobs on Arrested Development. I’d definitely watch it again.

So the picture above is of our compost. Well, the bits ready for the heap, at least. I couldn’t believe how pretty it looked – purple kale stems and Meyer lemon halves are quite lovely. I read somewhere that about 30% of the garbage put in landfills is food waste like this. Why aren’t more people composting? Is it a concern over the smell, because it doesn’t really, unless you put animal protein in it. If you’re worried about it, keep it far from the house, but, seriously, someone farting is a lot worse than the smell of compost, and according to Dr. Oz, it’s happening inside the house six to twenty-four times a day, per person. Think about that for a minute. Besides, composting is also super simple and requires no fancy equipment. We’ve got a giant bin into which we are constantly putting vegetable waste, leaves, and grass clippings. We rarely stir it and have amazing compost. It really couldn’t be easier.

Finally, when in doubt, roast. I bought a head of cabbage the other day and decided I would roast it rather than the usual braise. Holy smokes people, this makes awesome cabbage! I cut each half into four wedges, drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, and baked for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. The outer layer was a little crispy, and the inner leaves were creamy – so delicious.

Oh yes, before I forget. Thank you so very much for your kind words about both the watercolor painting and my new job (which is going quite well). You are the best!

Tags: Cooking and Baking, Movies

Bathed in Citrus

February 17, 2010 in Cooking + Baking, Eating by Colleen | 1 comment

I’ve got two gems in the eating department for you today. The cabbage, dressed rather simply in a lemon-parmesan-garlic bit of heaven (adapted from the lovely Molly Wizenberg book A Homemade Life – link to her Orangette blog under YUMMY) and scallops with an orange sherry reduction, conceived by moi under a red roofed kitchen. Both are quite delicious.

First, the cabbage, because it can sit while you make the scallops. I am a recent convert to cabbage, probably within the last two years. I’m not really sure why. I have no ill memories of it as a child. To be more precise, I have no memories of it at all as a child. Maybe I don’t come from cabbage people. Alas, this has changed. I love it in slaw of all varieties, steamed with apples, and raw (especially good with Thai Som Tum salad). The hubster is a pretty big fan, too.

Red Cabbage Salad

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 clove of garlic, diced fine or pressed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 small-medium head of red cabbage

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

In a large serving bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Set aside. Remove any bruised leaves from the cabbage and cut in quarters. Remove the core from each quarter, and slice the remaining cabbage as thin as you can. Add to the serving bowl and toss with the dressing. Add the parmesan cheese and toss together.

Scallops and Orange Sherry Reduction

My apologies, in advance, as this recipe is much less precise than the previous one, but certainly worth a shot.

1 pound large sea scallops, patted dry

3 tablespoons butter, divided

salt

12 fennel seeds

juice of 1 orange, about 1/3 – 1/2 cup

1-2 tablespoons sherry (not cooking sherry)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, once hot, add two tablespoons of butter. Allow to bubble briskly and gently add the scallops, one at a time, paying attention to where you started. I like to place them in a spiral around the pan. Don’t add them too quickly or they will start to steam and release too much juice – they won’t be pretty and golden in the end, either. Once you’ve placed your last scallop, sprinkle them lightly and evenly with salt before turning them over in the order you put them down. Once you’ve flipped your final scallop, remove them from the pan in the order you put them down and onto a plate.

Add the orange juice, sherry, remaining butter, and fennel seeds to the pan, being careful not to get burned by the steam created. Scrape any bits of scallop off the bottom, and allow to reduce until it is slightly thick and syrupy. Turn off the heat and strain the liquid into a bowl, squeezing out as much of the yumminess as possible with the back of a spoon. Return to the pan over medium heat. Add the scallops and heat until warmed through.

Serve with the cabbage, delighting in the bits of reduction that mingle with the cabbage.

Enjoy!

Tags: Cooking and Baking, Recipes

A Switcheroo and Thirty Grams

February 11, 2010 in Cooking + Baking, Eating by Colleen | Permalink

Hi there!

How are you today? Confused, perhaps? As in, where is the quotation that is usually posted here on Thursday? That Colleen is like clockwork with those. Well, I didn’t figure you wanted to be inundated with them, and therefore pulled a little switcheroo with my anniversary post on Tuesday. Nineteen years. Ms. Keller certainly got it right. I love finding just the right combination of someone else’s words and my photo, not that the right combination of my own words is exactly simple. Writing can be hard.

Tablecloths are easy, however. I am really loving this one. It is my latest find from the bins, and oh so adorable – how cute is that little lady next to my muffin? It’s cheery, too, like a lemon yellow, full of sun and smiles kind of day, which, by the way, is what we’ve had in great abundance in these parts these past few weeks. It has been wonderful and a bit odd, I must say. I cannot recall a sunnier winter in my eleven here in Stumptown.

Hmmm, I have no segue way for what comes next, drat. It’s tough going from writing about sunshine and cheer to um, fiber. My naturopath wants me to eat 30 grams a day. While I definitely appreciate the benefits of healthy bowel movements, lower cholesterol, lower risk of cancer, I have to say that, save for the not at all pleasant psyllium drink I have morning and evening, it is not so easy to get-r-done, and this is coming from someone who really strives for such things. I eat beans, a lotta beans, whole grain everything, fruits, veges, but still have a hard time reaching the magic number. Take these muffins, by my calculation, they’ve got three grams each, so I would need ten to get my recommended daily allowance, and while I really, really like them, that would just be too much. Not that it will keep me from trying to get to 30 by other means (Yams! Parsnips!), by golly, I will.

Just in case you’d like to try the muffins, here’s the recipe, and I hope you aren’t dissuaded by their healthfulness (that word is a mouthful) because they really are delicious, like carrot cake. I like carrot cake. Yum.

Carrot Muffins

2 beaten eggs

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup wheat bran

1/2 cup sugar (actually, I used 3/8 cup sugar and 1/8 cup agave nectar, but don’t know how easy it is to find everywhere)

1/2 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots

3/8 cup vegetable oil (I used 1/8 olive and 1/4 sunflower)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped dates (I am a recent convert – slightly sweet and full of fiber!)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, agave (if using), carrots, and oil. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined. Mix in walnuts, raisins, and dates. Pour batter into greased or lined muffin tins.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This made 11 muffins, but I fill my cups pretty high, so you might get 12, or you might get less.

Enjoy!

Tags: Cooking and Baking, Decorating, Recipes