Grandma's Kitchen Table

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  I would really like to know the answer to this as I have about ten things going at once and bits and pieces of other things I keep delving into.  This is not good...by next week I promise to whittle it all down to my standard four books going at once and pick my favorite one to post. I think I need more focus in my life at the moment.

(Photo: Matt at Panther Quarterback's locker while touring facility in Charlotte, NC.)
SWIMMING NEWS: IU swimmers headed out to Charlotte, NC for the Ultra Swim Grand Prix last week Thursday through Sunday, Matt's flight came in on Monday morning, he was tired but happy as he had a wonderful time in Charlotte at the meet.  The IU swimmers were all hosted by various families volunteering for such in Charlotte and Matt was super-excited about his host family, who he just loved.  The father in the family is a marketing executive for the Charlotte Panthers football team and he arranged for Matt to see the facility and the locker rooms, etc. during session breaks.  The family was just wonderful to Matt, very supportive...they went to his swim sessions and cheered and filmed him, which was so very nice since we were not able to be there.  He had great meals, rides to and from the pool and airport, wonderful accommodations at their beautiful home, and just a whole lot of extra fun besides enjoying the swim meet.  Here are some photos from all of that.
(Photo:  Matt and his host family at the Charlotte Grand Prix meet, "Best Host Family Ever.")
(Photo:  Student and Teacher:  Matt and IU Swim Coach L.)
(Photo:  Indiana! Where did my little guy go...look at those shoulders...a lot of changes from swimming this year.) 
COOKING BYTES:  My goal is to get back on the path to proper posting (this is for my benefit primarily as it keeps me interested in trying new things each week and gives Mark more of a variety...left to my own devices, soup and salad always look like viable options for every meal).  Back to committed food planning and blogging this week...I hope.
FAV NEW FIND:  I now know how to use a flash drive.  Keep your laughter to yourself...I was only tentatively moving into the 20th Century when they somehow switched it to the 21st. 
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Getting Matt and his roommates (Ian and Steve) settled into their rental house at college was definitely my favorite thing this past week.  It was fun to be a part of all of that and see them so happy with their choice.  Swimmers and dorms are not a good combination.  Swimmers sleep 10 p.m.-5 a.m., most dorm residents do not follow such hours of quiet and sleep, so the goal for the new place for the next three years for the boys, from their viewpoint, was to rent a house rather than an apartment so there would be no people above, below, or beside them who might quite possibly like to play loud music and be active for a good many of those hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.  The house they found is close to campus and pool and is quite comfortable.  It comes with three bedrooms and three off-street parking spots for the three roommates.  It has two bathrooms, a lovely kitchen with a counter that accommodates bar stools (especially good as they see no need for a kitchen table to "clutter things up"), a most generous sized living room, and a nice little porch out front for bikes and lawn chairs. Since so many have asked about this, and requested photos...here are some from move-in day (since Ian and Steve are not quite as compulsive as Matt about their rooms and closets, I didn't shoot photos of their rooms at this time).  So here's a bit of where Matt will call home these next three years.
(Photo: Steve, Matt, and Ian in front of the new digs in Hooville...home for the next three years.)
(Photo: Front door enters into entry and living room off to right side. Ian, Matt, Steve on move-in day, i.e. you have a couch each, a tv, a bedroom/bed each, and you are moved in. Girls might be slightly different in this regard.)
(Photo:  Kitchen on move-in day, all cabinets loaded, miscellaneous junk sitting around but basically doing great on neatness and organization through the whole moving process.)
(Photo:  Matt's bedroom...yes, it will probably always look this neat.  And please don't sit or put anything on the bed, he's not fond of that, just so you know. I have no idea where he got all these compulsive tendencies.)
(Photo:  Matt's bathroom...and yes, it will probably always look this neat and orderly. Again, I have no idea where he got that tendency.)
(Photo:  Matt's Closet...and yes, it will probably always look this neat and organized.  And again, I have absolutely no idea where he got these compulsively neat tendencies.)
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Spent a good deal of time in Hooville getting the boys settled, Mark's firm also moved offices after 40 years of being in the same place, so that was a lot for Mark to get his office packed up for the movers.  His new office has a lovely view of trees and greenery, something other than just downtown buildings and rooftops, so he is looking forward to that...the all-cement view from his former office not being his favorite by a long shot.  Too bad it didn't look out over a golf course!
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   There is an art "sculpture" exhibit in Bloomington (ends in October) which honors the human brain called Brain Extravaganza.  Sounds a little strange, but is rather fun as there are 22 brains located all over town and on the IU campus which detail/showcase different aspects of the brain.  Each has a little pedestal of written information describing that particular brain's focus.  I've seen half a dozen so far, but hope to get to them all before October.  Here's a photo of Matt with Brain #21 a couple of blocks from his house.
You can read (and see photos) about Brain Extravaganza and the brains here.  Nothing at the ISO this week...come on...this is Indianapolis and it's Race Weekend coming up, nothing else is going to attract more than a handful of fans.  It's May, It's Indy, It's The Race.

Cooking The Books; Bread Alone; May Twitter Chef Avatar (Giada De Laurentiis)

      Am a bit behind in blogging here at The Table.  It's been a busy month. Di was hosting a blogging event today entitled Cooking The Books.  The assignment was to make anything we wanted out of one of our cookbooks and pass the love along.  Since my latest cookbook acquisition was the newest Giada one for my birthday, I decided I would pick a recipe to make from it...and make it count 3 for 1 as I could use it for my Twitter chef avatar this month and for a Bread Alone post.  What a deal.  Here is the link to Di's blog about the blogging event, it will also link you to others who participated and made recipes they love from some of their books. Enjoy! 

      We are also having a bit of avatar fun over at Twitter, my baking/cooking pals and I, just to shake things up a bit and confuse everyone each month as to who is who and all.  Nancy came up with the great idea of each of us picking a different chef for each month, all of us making anything we each selected to make from that chef's recipes, taking a photo of our efforts, and using that photo as our avatar for that month.  It has been a great way to learn new chefs and cook something in their repertoire.  May's avatar chef is Giada De Laurentiis, chosen by me...we love Giada's recipes and I have all of her cookbooks. 

      This recipe for Scallion and Mozzarella Cornbread can be found in Giada's newest book, Weeknights with Giada, on pages 198-199, or online here. 

      We make chili quite often here as everyone loves it.  It's the only time we serve cornbread and we enjoy trying different recipes for it, so I am always bookmarking cornbread recipes to try.  This is a very good one...the onions, olives, mozzarella, all make one very flavorful cornbread.  It's also very pretty, not as important to the guys, but it entertains me a great deal. 

      The recipe goes together nicely and I wouldn't change one thing, although I am going to try them as mini muffins next time as I think that would be a lovely use of this recipe...they would be so cute and pretty, and we all know by now I am all about the cute and pretty in food, right?  Admit it, so are you!  The rest of the recipe is great just as written.  Definitely a repeat.

TWD: Baking with Julia - Hungarian Shortbread

 

      The recipe for this week forTuesdays with Dorie:  Baking with Julia is Hungarian Shortbread on page 327 of Baking with Julia.  You can also find the recipe on the blogs of the hostesses for this week, Lynette of 1Small Kitchen here, or Cher of The Not So Exciting Adventures of a Dabbler here. The recipe was contributed to the book by baker Gale Gand. 

      Cookies are a popular item here with the guys.  I can pretty much bet that if I make cookies, they will be eaten without any sort of encouragement or enticement at all.  I'm wondering if it even has to be a really good cookie, or if even a mediocre cookie would still be an attraction.  Can't say that I know for sure, but I do know that cookies disappear quickly around here, by the handfuls, it's their favorite baked good. 

      I've made shortbread cookies before, and those go over quite well.  I have never made a shortbread cookie that was filled with a jam before, so that was a new technique for me this week.  The book suggested rhubarb filling but I figured I would sub that out as rhubarb is really only loved by me...the guys...not so much.  After surveying the choices available in my pantry, I decided on blueberry preserves as blueberry anything is extremely popular.

      So, all in all, I'm not sure if it's the cookie, the jam, or this recipe, but these were a big hit...a nice sweet crunchy little cookie packed with lots of flavor.  The recipe is easy (although the freezing the dough and grating it into the pan instead of lightly pressing it seemed a bit strange, it was fun to learn something new), could be a repeat around here quite often, changing up the jams used for the filling.  

      I made a half a batch of these in an 8"x8" baking pan as I figured as sweet as they were bound to be, and as buttery as they were bound to be, little ones would probably suffice.  I was right...a little of this goes a long way and satisfies very nicely. It did take mine an additional 15 minutes to bake, I didn't even start smelling the "almost done" aroma until after the specified time, so you might want to take that into account, although everyone's oven bakes differently, so your call on that one.  

        Next assignment:  May 15 - Pecan Sticky Buns, page 190.    The   TWD: BwJ information for joining the group, recipe selection, and general information can be found here.

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Still reading this as it is very long and I don't want to skim over any of it in a hurry.  I keep having to stop to look up locations of battles, and then get distracted by other accounts of same battles, etc.  -- Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  IU swimmers in training for the Charlotte Grand Prix May 10-14th, their next stop on the competition circuit.  Not sure what Matt is swimming in that, possibility that they are adding more distance events to his freestyle lineup and resurrecting some of his backstroke events. 
COOKING BYTES:  Have I mentioned how much I love the return of grilling season?  I happen to be married to a man who is absolutely useless in the kitchen but absolutely a genius at the outdoor grill.  Very nice. 
FAV NEW FIND:  Matt finished his last final today, so we can now say that we have a sophomore at IU...where did that year go???
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  Watching the IU swimmers compete this past weekend. Over the year I have come to know the swimmers, identify each one on sight, and even know some of them in the water by their swim styles/strokes...it feels like home again after watching the CSC swimmers all those years and knowing them all so well in and out of the water.   I didn't take a single photo all weekend...left all electronics at home to just unplug for a bit.
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Working every day last week made the week fly by, being gone all weekend for the swim meet made the weekend fly by...I can't remember a week that passed so quickly...but fun, all of it.  Weather has been so great...all the greenery and the flowers just make my heart sing every day.  Pacers Playoff game tonight...Mark and Matt headed there.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site (House): Victorian Theatre By Candlelight's last weekend of Amusing Ambiguities.  Click here, still a few tickets left.  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Berlioz Requiem, click here for information.

CEiMB: Honey-Crisp Oven-Fried Chicken

      This week for CEiMB, I made Honey-Crisp Oven-Fried Chicken (on page 171) from Ellie Krieger's book, Comfort Food Fix.  (You can also find the recipe online here.) 

      The ingredient list:  chicken thighs, buttermilk, Cornflakes cereal, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and honey. 

      There are those who, every once in awhile, need to have a fix of some kind of fried chicken.  Attribute it to my childhood if you will, but about once every other month or so, I go in search of fried chicken.  I do not fry chicken at home as I cannot stand the mess and the hassle and I wouldn't do it often enough to get to be reliably good at making it.  I think it is the crunch factor as the chicken is chicken, so it must be that crunchy outside that is so appealing. 

      This recipe requires no frying.  So it isn't truly fried chicken, but there is that crunch factor that makes this a great substitute.  It's not messy, it's not a hassle, and it's easy and quick.  We really liked the chicken made this way...it was moist, crunchy, crispy, and looked beautiful on the plate...all of that and great tasting.  The spice combination in the coating is spicy with a kick of heat, very nice.  Definitely a repeat.
      To check out other Ellie recipes, click here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Spaghetti alle Olive (Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Olives)

      This week for the thirty-seventh recipe I've made for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book I made Spaghetti alle Olive (Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Olives) on page 67.

      The ingredient list:  fresh tomatoes, garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt, Kalamata olives, and spaghetti. 

      I needed a quick side dish to go with a chicken recipe and had on hand fresh tomatoes and Kalamata olives, so this became the side dish in short order as it takes very little time to make. 

      The recipes in this book often call for fresh tomatoes that are peeled...the quickest way I know to do this is to set a pan of water on the stove, bring to a boil, drop in the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes, and then place them immediately into a bowl of cold water.  The skin just slides off in a couple of large pieces and you are good to go (it's how I peel peaches, too).  I often do this in the boiling pasta water, depending on how long the recipe wants you to cook down the tomatoes for the sauce.  This time it was perfect timing. 

      This was not Mark's favorite for some reason, maybe because he is not that big a fan of Kalamata olives "in" things...he likes to eat them plain but doesn't care for them "in" things...rather like the nut issue around here.  I thought it was delightful and I would make it again in small size for myself another time.  Here's Margaret's post from the book this week.

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Hummingbird Slice

      My sixteenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Hummingbird Slice (Click on the recipe for link to it), chosen by Gaye.

      I made just a small size of this recipe, half of it fit nicely into a 6"x6" square baking pan, not because I didn't think we would eat it all, but because I figured we did not to be eating it all...we had some birthday cake and some of last week's TWD BwJ Lemon Loaf hanging around yet.
     The cake goes together quickly and easily once you have all the ingredients measured out.  It bakes nicely (my little pan baked for 22 minutes and the cake was done). 

     The flavors are very similar to carrot cake here in the States, except there is banana in this and no raisins.  It is not frosted like the traditional carrot cake here, with cream cheese frosting, but rather honey is drizzled over the top when serving.  The honey was nice, but I think the cake can stand on its own without additional sweetening as it is plenty sweet as it is.  (Donna Hay is Australian so her recipes reflect her nationality and the food there, which is all rather fun to have a slightly different take on things at times.)

      Mark loves carrot cake so it is no surprise that this was a big hit for him and he has been taking it in his lunch and eating a little at night.  I thought it was delicious as well.  (Originally I was going to give the whole of it away but Mark thought he would like to keep it and perhaps I could make something else to give away, obviously this was a hit.) 

      Gaye's post on this is here and Margaret's post is here at some point today (I know she made it because we baked it together Monday).

      Next week the little group is going into hiatus for the summer and will be back in August, as I understand it.  That said, I am going to continue to make DH recipes and post as I don't want to lose the great fresh produce of summer and I am love, love, loving her recipes for their ease, simplicity, and nutritional value...hopefully I will get one posted each week. 

Sunday's Snippets

READING:  Still reading this as it is very long and I don't want to skim over any of it in a hurry.  I keep having to stop to look up locations of battles, and then get distracted by other accounts of same battles, etc.  -- Ulysses S. Grant's Ulysses S. Grant: Personal Memoirs.  Yes, the one that Mark Twain published all those many years ago.  It's a wonderful read, Grant is a very good writer and battle after battle is recounted in a manner that keeps one interested and moving through the pages quickly, as well as the more personal bits. 
SWIMMING NEWS:  Swim meet coming up this weekend in B-Town at IU, so we are eager to go down and watch the swimmers compete on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  
COOKING BYTES:  Received GdL's newest cookbook, Weeknights with Giada, as a gift for my birthday and it is filled with lots of interesting and delicious looking quick and easy weeknight meals. 
FAV NEW FIND:  They called to say they were opening the pool tomorrow...what's not to find favorite in that??!!  (Yes, I know that these Sunday's Snippets are actually posted pretty much whenever I get around to it and not necessarily on Sunday...will try to do better in the future.  Try.)
FAV THIS PAST WEEK:  So much fun to see all the GCHS students preparing for prom last week...girls sharing photos of their dresses, shoes, jewelry, hairstyles, etc., and guys chatting about things they don't normally chat about, i.e. corsages and tuxes and colors of shirts/ties/hankies, etc.  Just fun to see them all growing up and becoming who they will become someday.  
WEEK IN REVIEW:  Same old schedule of work and play, but with my birthday thrown in there on Saturday, so some extra fun with family and friends to celebrate that, which was very nice indeed.  Matt even came home to spend some time celebrating, bringing a little bundle of flowers and a lovely card with him.  Not every college boy would come home for his mother's birthday...I am very lucky, it made the day that much more special to me.  I made the cake in the photo...will be blogged when we get to the proper timing on the NM group, but let me just say that it was one very delicious Raspberry Cream Cake, a fine way to celebrate a birthday.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:   At the Indiana Historical Society:  If you haven't seen this link and checked it out, give it a go...it's just wonderful:  Digital Images Collection of the Indiana Historical Society, click here and explore from the comfort of your own home!  This is what's happening at the ISO this coming week:  Andre Watts plays Grieg, click here for information.

Bread Alone: Cook's Country Pepperoni Rolls

      Several of my baking friends on Twitter gather often to bake bread together.  One of us will have a recipe, then others join in, and while we bake we compare notes.  In the end we blog it all or show photos of our results.  There's sharing back and forth about how we might change the recipe or decrease or increase amounts or size, substitute different ingredients, etc., and all in all, it's a very informative process. 

      This was Abby's recipe (and if you click here you can find the recipe on her blog).  She had come across the recipe and thought it sounded like something her family would enjoy and Margaret (click on her name for her versions) and I jumped in and made them with her...on different days as it turned out, but we three made the same recipe and chatted back and forth through the process.
      I was expecting these to be nice, but I wasn't expecting them to be quite as good as they were (and I am not the biggest fan of pepperoni).  They don't take long to make (like all breads, most of the time is in the rising of the dough which you don't need to supervise), they go together easily, bake nicely, and are delicious. 

      While I served some of them with the tomato/mozzarella dip from my DH Wednesdays group, and that complimented the pepperoni rolls ever so nicely, we also had them just plain and they were wonderful that way as well. 

      Included in the recipe are instructions for freezing and reheating them, which Abby did.  I didn't have the chance as I only made a partial batch and those were gone in no time. Next time I will make some of the pepperoni (and maybe add some cheese in there as well), and then some with ham and cheese as those sound good. 

      These are easy to pack into a lunch and the quality of the dough is excellent, a joy to work with beginning to end.  They remind me of Hot Pockets...but so much more elevated and better with that homemade dough and fresh ingredients. 

      In the recipe it gives interesting instructions for assembling the pepperoni inside the dough...enough already, it's dough, it pepperoni, just stuff it in there however you want by lining up the pepperonis and folding the dough over them.  I did cook the pepperoni for 3 minutes before as they suggested and that got rid of all that pepperoni fat that would have made the rolls soggy and greasy, so do that part for certain.  And, use thick pepperoni, not those thin pizza slices...below is a photo of how mine looked before rolling the dough around them.
       Definitely a repeat. 

Wednesday with Donna Hay - Lemon and Dill Smoked Salmon Pasta

      My fifteenth recipe with Wednesday with Donna Hay was Lemon and Dill Smoked Salmon Pasta (Click on the recipe for link to it.) 

      I am going to be truthful here, this is Mark's plate as I am not a big fan of smoked salmon (very salty), so I just made it for him as he does like it (salt is one of his favorite food groups, witness his love affair with anything potato chip).

      The recipe is easy and goes together quickly, the longest part being the time it takes to boil the pasta. He enjoyed it very much. This serving (supposedly for one) was enough for dinner with some left to take for lunch tomorrow. 

      Gaye's post on this is here and Chaya's (this recipe was her choice for us this week) post on this is here. 

      Next week, April 25th, is Gaye's selection for dessert:  Hummingbird Slice, click here for the recipe if you would like to join us.