Black and Whites

While I was sick, I remembered the times as a kid being home-bound with a fever, lying on the couch and watching more TV in a day than I was allowed to watch in an entire month.  Other perks that came along with being sick were gifts from my dad, including musical cards, silly pens and gadgets from drug companies, and famous NYC black and white cookies.  Admittedly and fortunately, the cookies didn't only show up when illness struck.  They were presented from briefcases, on occasion, just because.  

They are not pinnacles of gourmet baked goods, they do not require special skills or equipment or ingredients to make, they are not complex in flavor; however, they provide that taste memory that brings me back to my childhood when sweets and TV were treasured privileges. 

So, after I was feeling better, I decided to attempt to recreate the black and white cookies of my youth using the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  The results were good, but the cookies just didn't taste the way I remembered.  In fact, the ones I made tasted more gourmet-y with a cakier cookie and chocolatier icing.  Nevertheless, they were a nice memory trip.

Birthday Cupcakes

I took on the task of baking cupcakes for a friend's daughter's 3rd birthday.  I opted for plain chocolate cupcakes using a Cook's Illustrated (maybe the smartest, usually-right-on cooking magazine out there) recipe with a surprise ingredient of sour cream (crazy! wild!) to make the cakes lighter and cut the sweetness a bit.  Much needed, since I topped the cupcakes with super-sugary buttercream.  This was my first attempt at buttercream and I don't know if I did something wrong or if I'm just not a fan of buttercream, but it was just ultrasweet, buttery, and otherwise pretty flavorless.  Blech.  I'm much more of a chocolate ganache girl.

All in all, I thought the project turned out well and all who partook in the results seemed happy.  Including the birthday girl.

Perhaps my greatest source of pride: a homemade cupcake transporter

Also, in case you didn't see this article,  or hadn't noticed during your blog travels, taking photos of food is a trend.  (Duh.) Thank you for pointing that out, New York Times.

Beet Fuchsia

Last week, I made some delicious pureed beet soup.  After roasting 4 foil-wrapped beets for about an hour in the oven, I peeled them, diced them, and plopped them in the blender along with a cup of water, a splash of olive oil and white vinegar,  a bit of Greek yogurt (to create a beautiful magenta color), and some salt and pepper.  A sprinkle of coriander and a bit of avocado...and voila!  Dinner is served!

I found the soup hearty and filling enough alone, but if you need a more substantial meal (or you're serving someone who does...) offer some crusty bread and Italian cold cuts or a light summer couscous salad--I made mine with sun-dried tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, chicken, and a lemon vinaigrette.  Yum!

 

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes

Last week, for a colleague's birthday I made mini cupcakes.  The recipe was fairly easy.  I had made the full recipe (Chocolate Salted-Caramel Mini Cupcakes) once before and wasn't so successful with the caramel part, so this time, I just stuck with plain cupcakes. 

I think my (annoyingly unpredictable) oven doesn't heat evenly, causing the cupcakes to grow funny-looking smurf hats, which I end up carving off before decorating.

Vanilla cream with chocolate buttons (some sprinkled with cocoa) and chocolate with shredded coconut.

Today's Happiness Reminder: Giggling ourselves to sleep last night (It was after midnight, so I'm counting it for today!) and meeting T at home today for lunch.

V-Day

via

The French macarons turned out better than expected.  Though they were  a bit chewier than intended, a day of refrigeration seemed to firm them up a bit.  After quite a bit of web research, I decided to melded the recipes and advice of the wise chefs at What's for lunch, Honey and Kitchen Musings.  I made a variety of the little almond sandwiches, filling some with chocolate ganache, some with Nutella, and some with lemon curd and presented them this morning to T.  He was quite happy with them, but I don't think he's aware what a feat these cookies were.  A veritable labor of love.

(No, I did not bake these in the toaster oven! That's just my ghetto cooling rack.) 

T, in typical and predictable form, started the day by apologizing for not getting me anything.  He then proceeded to cook me breakfast, humor me by going to listen to the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra in the park (armed with Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, his favorite wine, and a baguette), and then cook me a simple but delicious pasta dinner with homemade tomato sauce.  Sadly, I did not document the day's cooking.

All in all, it was a relaxing day and I think we both felt special and loved. 

Inebriated Poultry

I made dinner last night and I think it was my best effort yet.  By far.  

 I am so proud.  

I followed the recipe at Epicurious for Red Wine Braised Rabbit with Sage Polenta, but substituted chicken thighs for the bunny.  I also made a few more minor adjustments to the recipe, including brining the chicken for a couple of hours (see this helpful page from Cook's Illustrated), adding a carrot with the onion, substituting chicken broth for water in the polenta recipe and adding a little bit of butter to it at the end. 

It was easy to make and required little "active" time since, after preparing all of the ingredients, all you really have to do is throw it all in a pot and let it stew for an hour. 

Since we both like to have salad after our entrees at dinnertime, I threw together some mixed greens with avocado and dried figs.

I'm telling you, this was a five-star meal and anyone you make it for will be putty in your hands. 

I am Your Domestic Goddess. Say It.

That's what I said to T when he came home from work last night before we headed out for dinner to an Italian place around the corner.  I was (and still am) so proud of the jars of granola.  Plus, in preparation for a possible post-dinner tea party with a visiting friend, I made dough for the best chocolate chip cookies.  Really.  These are tried and tested and certainly better than Toll House.  The secret is in the sea salt.  The New York Times printed the recipe here last year.  Now, mind you, my prep was last minute and I found myself without cake flour and a bit short on brown sugar, so I simply substituted regular flour and supplemented with white sugar.  And, as far as I could tell, it didn't make much of a difference.  After dinner, I took the dough out of the fridge to bake, though the recipe calls for 24-36 hours in the fridge.  Again, no difference was noticed by T nor the throngs of kvelling co-workers who ate them for breakfast this morning and cursed me for ruining their diets.

One thing I love about living in Thailand is that Thais don't know from baked goods.  Their chocolate desserts are just brown and flavorless.  Their cookies are crunchy and all sugar.  The typical apartment doesn't even have a functioning oven.  So, I feel like a superstar when I bring cookies or cakes or scones or any homemade treat into the office.  People are just FLOORED that something so delicious can be made by a regular person.

My boss had nothing for me to do today, so I left early and am determined to get some packing done before I head out for a run with my friend E and then a pre-birthday (T's) dinner date.  Gogogo!

Ho Ho Homemade Granola!

With recipe in hand, this morning, I went scouting for the wholesome goodness that is needed to make my mom's granola.  Success! I found everything except soy nuts, so was pretty happy.  I even managed to find the jars I had my heart set on (and they were only B89)!

   Jane's Granola

• 6-8 c rolled oats

• 1 c each: unsalted sunflower seed, soy nuts, sesame seeds, wheat germ, unsweetened coconut, nuts

• 1 c honey

• 1 c vegetable oil

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 c raisins or other dried fruit
  

1. Toast oats for 10 minutes at 350 degrees
2. Mix with dry ingredients
3. Add honey, oil, and vanilla and mix thoroughly with hands
4. Roast for 20-25 minutes at 350 in two batches, stir ocassionally 
5. Remove from oven and add raisins
6. Spoon into jars and cool with lids off

 I added one cup of chopped dates in addition to the raisins.

The recipe made less than I had hoped, filling only four jars.

Handmade gift cards. B10 each at a street fair.  

 

Ta da!

 ***

On another note, T and I had a talk last night.  He is going to keep his smoking to a bare minimum and try to wear the patch when I'm around.  I felt hopeful when he said he was thinking that when he's ready to quit, he's considering using prescription drugs to help him along.  This is a huge turn around from his previous position of only subscribing to the use of Allen Carr's book on the road to quitting.  (I HATE Allen Carr.)  I know that success is much more likely when medication is used in conjunction with counseling, so this change thrills me.

Whoo.  I'm done with my rant.  I hope Santa brings me a cigarette-free T for Christmas this year.

Easy As Pie?

Two months ago, T and I threw a birthday party for a new friend.  I made an elaborate chocolate berry layer cake that received rave reviews from the guests, many of whom thought we had purchased it from a local bakery.  I was so proud. 

At the party, one of T’s good friends told me that, as a kid, he never liked cake and always requested apple pie on his birthday.  Knowing he had a milestone birthday approaching, I planned to attempt an apple pie.  After much online research and countless recipe reviews that warned of the difficulties of getting pie crust just right, I was scared off, but I still wanted to give our friend a pie, so I did something I am somewhat embarrassed to admit: I bought frozen crust.   

Oh, the shame!  

Coming from a family that honors homemade goodness above store bought foods, buying something mediocre and pre-made was a difficult thing to do.  

T helped with the peeling and slicing of the apples (he loves to be my sous-chef).  I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and was a bit disappointed by the lack of cohesion of the filling when the pie was cut.  Perhaps I should have added more flour or some cornstarch since the apples were particularly juicy. It was kind of a mess.  The other problem that pained me was that it was an especially ugly, lumpy excuse for a pie.  

Nevertheless, served with a scoop ice cream, everyone with their champagne-dulled taste buds ate it up.  Most importantly though, the birthday boy was very touched by the effort.  And he had seconds.

***

In conversation last night, I learned that in the mid-1800’s, during the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln received a telegram from the Thai king, Mongkut, offering to deliver working elephants to the U.S.  Lincoln politely declined.  The question that arose over the apple pie was "why?".  As bizarre an offer as it was, wouldn’t acceptance have be a diplomatic gesture?

T and me elephant riding in Chiang Rai, July 2009

Me, Myself, and I

This weekend, I was unusually OK with being left to fend for myself.  Most times when T says he needs to work on Saturday and spends ALL day Sunday golfing, I feel abandoned and neglected and bored and grumpy.  I think, perhaps, now that we're on an even keel, it feels more comfortable to be apart and miss each other a bit.  Even a bit nice.

On Saturday, after sleeping in and going for brunch at Crepes&Co, I met up with E to see "The September Issue" and then do 30 minutes of (unsuccessful) power-shopping afterward.  I was surprised that the editors highlighted in the movie were not as glamorous and "edgy" as the models they styled.  The clothes worn by the staff at American Vogue were fairly ordinary; their hair was largely unkempt; and nearly all who were interviewed had some serious smoking wrinkles around their mouths.  There was no plastic surgery to be seen.  It was shocking, but very refreshing and hopeful to see that these queens of fashion have opted to age gracefully.

Shopping options in Bangkok are slim.  There is a plethora of shops stocking overly-embellished, too short dresses that have weird mixes of fabrics and far too many ruffles for any woman not wanting to look like she's about to attend her 5-year-old friend's birthday party.  There are few places to get basics and none offer pieces that are of truly good quality.  There's Zara and Mango and Promod and Forever XXI for simple tanks and other less over-the-top pieces, but their cotton stretches after a single wash and the seams aren't sewn with durability in mind.  I have heard that Gap will open at the beginning of next year and I am psyched for that, even though it will mean crazy marked-up t-shirts due to the fact that it will be considered an imported brand (but many of their pieces are made in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia!  Oh, the injustice!).

T and E have tried to get me to dress "outside the box".  That means they think I should wear more Thai designers and styles, like Fly Now, one of E's favorites.  Whenever I try their suggestions, though, I feel like I'm playing dress-up and could never imagine wearing the wildly patterned or oddly cut pieces in real life, let alone step outside of the safety of a dressing room.  While no one would look at me in my current wardrobe and say, "Damn, she's really edgy!", they would say that I am classy and understated, which, to me, is sometimes preferable.  However, there are some days when I really wish I had the clothes and courage to dress like a rockstar.  This is a problem since there's no distinction in my closet between play clothes and work clothes.  Everything has that professional, tucked-in look.  Ugh.  I need a personal shopper.

And a personal packer.  My current preoccupation: What to pack for Hong Kong this weekend.  Our days will be spent shopping (T loves looking at and sometimes buying designer goods), while our nights will be spent at hip or schnazzy restaurants and bars.  We're going to Cipriani's for dinner on Friday night and somewhere new on Saturday night.  We'll also probably meet up with some of T's old friends for drinks.  But my packing/"wears" phenomenon lingers and haunts me.  I utz every time I have to pack for a trip to any fashionable city.  I want to look hip.  I want to feel confident.  I want to be comfortable.  I just don't have the right tools to make it all happen together.  Maybe I'll find some good pieces on this trip.  (Hope springs eternal...)

Moving on...

 

On Saturday night, we went to my boss's place for a housewarming party.  I love the people I work with and I think T is starting to see why.  It's like being part of one, big, functional family.  I had my first taste of Pimm's Cup, which I loved.  Being an American, it was new to me.  It's a punch with a bit of Pimm's, lemon juice, simple syrup, and diced cucumber and mint.  Kind of like British sangria, I guess.  It was light and delicious!  With the encouragement of my boss, I joined some co-workers jumping on the trampoline, which I'd been eying all night.  Once on, that childhood fearlessness quickly melted away and I recalled all of the accounts I've ever heard about trampoline injuries.  I threw in the towel fairly quickly.

I was super lazy on Sunday, only leaving the apartment to get a Starbucks and go to the grocery store (twice--arg!) in preparation for dinner.  I made an excellent meal, redeeming myself after my mediocre couscous/veg/chicken salad last Sunday (which T still claims he liked, but I don't believe him).

Main: broiled chicken breasts that had been marinated in olive oil, honey, and cumin

Side: stuffing with sausage

Salad: spinach/mint salad with grated apple and slivered almonds 

Condiment: Ginger/Fig preserves

True to form, T made a sandwich out of all of it.  I would consider him a foodie in spite of the fact that he seems to think everything tastes better in sandwich form.  It's endearing.

Run Like the Wind

On Wednesday, I met E for our usually scheduled run.  After my rant about finding girlfriends in Bangkok, hanging out with E reminded me that I do have friends --or at least one-- here, ones who are smart and interesting and non-judgmental.  We had planned to meet at our usual place in the park, but ended up missing each other.  We ran 7.5K on our own before we bumped into each other.  With conversation flowing easily, we kept up the pace and before we knew it, we'd completed 15K!  The first solo kilometers, I was listening to a hilarious Moth Podcast told by Joan Juliet Buck, the former editor-in-chief of Paris Vogue.  These podcasts are unscripted anecdotes told by random people in NYC and are a bit like an open-mic night.  Buck's story had me laughing aloud and running a bit faster.   It set the mood for the rest of the run. 

After the run and showers, we hit up Govinda, an Italian vegetarian restaurant where we have become regulars.  We don't even have to order; the waiters already know what we want.  We talked about why women are so competitive with each other.  E thinks it's professional ambition and territoriality that spills over into social contexts.  I'm not so sure I buy that since this competition seems to rear its ugly head early in development (hello, middle school queen bees!), before careers are even a glimmer in a girl's eye. 

***

Another day at home.  I emailed my boss to see if there is anything he needs me to do.  He emailed back almost immediately, thanking me for checking in and telling me that everything is under control.  I'm not yet sure how I'll spend the day.

No progress on the running mix yet.  T spent an hour last night going through his music, playing me snippets from albums, trying to get me hooked.  He would turn a song on and then, while sitting in a chair by the stereo, he'd mime a running, pumping his arms, wiping sweat from his brow, all to the beat of the song.  He'd then look to me, as I was sitting across the room cracking up, for song approval, nodding his head in encouragement.  It was very sweet and funny, but his music is more loungey and much better suited for background party tunes.  Nothing made me want to jump up and dance.  I think music that's more pop-py is the way to go for a running mix.  My current power songs --Beyonce ("Put a Ring on It") and Feist ("1234") and Ting Tings ("That's Not My Name")-- once did the trick beautifully, but after hundreds of listens, have lost their power.

I was suppose to go to a new friend's birthday party the other night, but got the date wrong, so I'm thinking of baking her some cookies I know she loves: my great Auntie Bess's mandelbrot.  I brought them to her place for Yom Kippur break fast and her kids actually fought over the last one.  I was proud.  I'm waiting for our lovely, twice/week maid to leave before I start making a mess.  The mandelbrot is pretty easy to make.  It's like biscotti, which is one of my mom's specialties, but with a 1/4 cup more oil and with chocolate chips.

Auntie Bess's Mandelbrot

3 eggs

1c sugar

1 tsp baking power

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 c raisins

 1/2 c chopped nuts

1 c chocolate chips

3 c flour

1 c oil

Mix the eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla.  
Add the raisins, nuts, and chocolate chips.  
Add the flour, mix well.  
Add the oil.  
Make into a workable dough.  
On an ungreased cookie sheet, form into four logs.  
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  
Cool for 15 minutes. 
Transfer to a cutting board and, with a serrated knife, cut into bars.  
Arrange bars on the cookie sheet and return to oven for 15 minutes.