An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler

I just started reading An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. My head is luxuriating in the logical simplicity of Adler's approach to cooking. I'll admit to making food too complicated which leads to poorly planned meals and general grumpiness. I don't know how to cook so I'm always cooking directly from a recipe. That's tough.

Blogger App

This is my first post using the Blogger app. I'm drafting this on an iPod. That's just crazy beans!! Looking forward to exploring this to see if it will increase my blogging output.

Star and Butterfly Sugar Cookies

Halle, Stella's neighborhood friend, recently turned 10! Stella and I decided to give her a box of homemade sugar cookies. We kept it a total surprise, but I did manage to ask her about her favorite colors, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that she loves baby blue and lime green. I was totally prepared to make purple and pink cookies!

We decided to make star and butterfly cookies. Halle's name adorns her bedroom door on a super cute star sign. We thought it would be cool to mimic that design element. Stella insisted on adding butterflies. I think she's got great instincts!

Overnight Oats...or turning myself into a reluctant oatmeal eater

On Monday, I started to make myself eat rolled oats every day. Normally, I would use them to bake awesome oatmeal cookies. But, sadly, this time I'm using them to fill my belly with goodness. It's all connected to my desire to become a runner.

Waaay back in November, I broke my foot which seriously hindered everything including my ability to bake. I'm almost totally healed so I hope to resume baking and more regular blogging. A few days before I broke my foot, I was gearing up to become that runner girl who've I envisioned in my head for years. Who knew a broken foot could dismantle so many goals??

Anyway, I'm almost to the point to try to run. BUT...I gained 6 pounds whilst in a cast on crutches...then a boot on crutches...then just a boot...and now I'm in (really sad) flats. I can hear the siren call of my beloved heels. Maybe early summer?? The heels can wait, but the extra 6 pounds need to go. Seriously, like now.

Forcing myself to eat oatmeal is an effort to lost those 6 pounds, and to curb my ridiculous craving for sweets. Warm oatmeal in the morning just does not appeal to me on so many levels: who has the time?, who likes mushy warm globs?, seriously, the texture is just WRONG! But then I stumbled on something called Overnight Oats...served cold. Hmm. Let's give it a try.

I found a recipe posted at Peanut Butter Fingers that includes several ingredients I like: Greek yogurt (LOVE plain Fage 0%), almond milk (I'm slowly adjusting to), oats (which I really want to love) and Chia seeds (a new love??). I whipped up a batch on Sunday night. You can make it in about 5 minutes, and the majority of that time is spent gathering the ingredients. On Monday morning I added in extra almond milk, then put it in a mason jar because I wanted the lid to be tight. I topped it off with frozen, no sugar added blueberries, then went to the office. I let it sit out at room temperature because I love the sour-ness of warm Greek yogurt.

At lunch time, I gleefully took a giant spoonful...then almost gagged. Aaaaaaaacccck! *cough cough*

I somehow managed to choke it down, but decided it needed sugar. The next morning, I added vanilla paste (What, you don't buy the giant 32 oz. vanilla? Don't judge.), then I layered the oats with blueberries. I sprinkled just a touch of sugar on the blueberries. PB Fingers suggests you add in peanut butter, maple syrup, or marmalade, and do not SKIP the Chia seeds. They add bulk, plus anti-oxidants. The secret is you need to customize it to fit your tastes.

I've eaten Overnight Oats four days in a row. I'm really enjoying the flavor, and I'm starting to adjust to the texture. Maybe it's an acquired texture??

Who let Sammy the cat in? Get off the counter now, junk bunny cat!

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

I've wanted to read an Anne Tyler novel for years. For whatever reason, other books have always jumped ahead on the every expanding "to be read" list. I skipped my book club's pick for October which presented an opportunity to select a title. I landed on Ladder of Years after seeing a recommendation by Hellogiggles.com (if you don't already read it, then you MUST start reading Hellogiggles.com). The book was published in 1995.

Tyler is a master storyteller of the domestic tale. She can focus in on the tiniest details because her word selection is exquisite. Delia Grinstead just turned 40. She's married to an older man, and the mother to three young adults. Her father recently passed away. The story starts with a delightful, flirty scene set in a grocery store. A younger man approaches Delia, and asks Delia to step in as his date. Delia is not accustomed to any kind of attention so she is immediately weary (yet smitten) by the man. It's a breezy opening scene that sets the right tone for the novel.

As the family prepares for its annual vacation at a rental summer home, Delia pursue a demure relationship with the younger man which ends in a comic confrontation at dinner time (of course!). I won't spoil the scene, but let's just say her family doesn't believe for a moment that Delia would stray from her marriage. The family heads for the vacation, and Delia proceeds to walk home from the beach...but she keeps going...catching a ride with a local handy man...she keeps going. She leaves her family to start a new life.

I enjoyed the cast of crazy characters and the snapshot look at the intimate scenes from a marriage. The novel is funny (and absurd), heartbreaking, and sometimes unbelievable. Tyler weaves the characters around Delia. There are hints of King Lear throughout including the name of the main character who's also the youngest daughter and she's tossed out like King Lear (although she does the tossing).



Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

First thing first: Liza Klaussmann is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Herman Melville. How freakin' awesome is that?? It says so in the author biography on the back flap.

I've mentioned before that I adore stories set in summer homes. I've never visited let alone owned a summer home, but I find them fascinating. It may stem from the yearning to hang out with my siblings. You see your siblings every day for the first several years of your life, then everyone goes their own way. Kind of sad...but I think a summer home would provide a great excuse to hang out.

I have a huge crush on Nick. She's stylish, strong, smart, a reader. I wish the story focused only on Nick. She could be BFF's with Kate from Rules of Civility. I found Nick's cousin, Helena, to be a not so fully developed character. She seemed like a wisp of a character. The story starts at the end of World War II as the cousins separate and go their own ways. Helena to California to get involved with a loser. Nick moves South with her husband...who's living with a lie that doesn't quite ring true.

Their summers progress through the years. Eventually, they each have a child. The story spirals into a who-dun-it mystery which I could have lived without. The story of Nick doesn't need a distraction. She's a character who has great potential, but Klaussmann doesn't allow her to reach it.

Pink Bake Sale

We held an office bake sale this week for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

*steps onto soap box*

I was bitterly mad at SGK earlier this year when they chose to politicize women's health. They've since restored grants to Planned Parenthood, the founder stepped down, and they let go of a few of the extreme right conservatives who were offering nothing but negative guidance. I know that other organizations are keeping their eyes on SGK, so I reserve the right to change my find if they return to their evil ways. It's just not cool to mess with women's health.

*jumps off soap box*

Let's talk cookies. Our bake sale organizer decided that all baked goods should be pink. At first I'll admit that I was a little bummed since we are within 2 weeks of Halloween. I wanted to bake with the colors of Fall. Oranges and yellows and rich reds. But then  I was totally inspired by Glorious Treats' riff on traditional pumpkins. A chevron orange and white pumpkin! Yes. More, please.

I decided to make pumpkins, bats, "pink" cats and ghosts. I made the pumpkins and ghosts with regular sugar cookie dough. I decided to mix it up by making the "pink" cats and bats with chocolate cookie dough. I thought it would make the pink icing POP, and it really did. I added a teaspoon of King Arthur Flour's Espresso Powder. Don't worry. It does not add coffee flavor, but it really enhances the cocoa by giving new depth to the flavor of the cocoa. I used Trader Joe's natural cocoa...trust me, it wasn't fancy!

I love packaging sugar cookies as favors. They're lovely little treats. I used these adorable tags by hey love designs. Everyone went bonkers for the "fight like a girl" tag.