Comfortable in the Kitchen - Meredith Laurence

My mom knows how much I love to cook, and she also knows  I'm a sucker for good olive oil.  So it was a pretty easy bet when she saw a cooking show on QVC that featured both a cookbook and olive oil that this would be the perfect Christmas gift for me.  

The cookbook is written by Meredith Laurence, a personality I was unfamiliar with.  Apparently she has been in the industry forever, running restaurants, teaching at a culinary school, and now featuring her own show on QVC.  Every cookbook has an angle, and hers is that everyone is capable of being comfortable in their kitchen.  It just takes practice.  So she introduces a basic recipe, then provides several others that use the same technique but with different ingredients, to give you practice without boredom setting in.  

Meredith's recipes are extremely easy to follow, with a short list of simple ingredients for each.  Most of the recipes have big, bright photos, with tips and comments along the way.  

Meredith has four rules that she has taught to many culinary students that contribute to success and happiness in the kitchen.  They are:

1.  Read the recipe start to finish before you begin cooking.  (Ever get elbow deep and hours into a project and realize you don't have ginger, for example?  Yeah.  I've been there.)

2.  Buy the best ingredients you can.  

3.  Do all your prep work first.  Chopping, measuring, etc. done in advance makes things a lot less stressful.  (And allows a leisurely glass of wine along the way.)

4.  Taste your food before you take it to the table.  


I have cooked my way through this wonderful cookbook, but here is one of my favorite (and my family's favorite) recipes.  (Please note that the picture is not mine...it is something I found online that very closely resembles the finished product.  I am horrible about taking pictures of my food!)

Orange Braised Beef Short Ribs

2 TBL olive oil
4 pounds beef short ribs
salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 TBL soy sauce
2 TBL chopped fresh chives

1.  Pre-heat large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil.  When oil is hot and almost smoking, season the short ribs with salt and pepper and sear them in batches, until browned on all sides, about 15 minutes per batch.

2.  Once the ribs are nicely browned, remove them to a side plate and set aside.  Pour off the discard the fat that has accumulated in the pan.  Add onion and celery and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaf and continue to cook for another minute.

3.  Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  Let the wine simmer and reduce until it has almost entirely disappeared.  Add the orange juice and soy sauce and bring the mixture back to a simmer.  Return the browned short ribs to the pan, reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid.

4.  Let the ribs simmer on very low heat, or cook in the oven at 300 degrees for roughly 5 hours.  The meat should be so tender that it falls off the bone.  Remove the ribs from the pan and set aside, loosely covered with foil, increase the heat under the pan and reduce the braising liquid until it has thickened slightly and is almost syrupy like a glaze.  Return the ribs to the pan and turn them to coat.

5.  Serve the ribs over smashed potatoes, spoon a little sauce on top and garnish with chives.  The sauce can also be strained if you prefer a smooth finish.  

This recipe elicited groans from my husband and son.  You would have sworn there were dogs in the room because it seemed like they were even trying to eat the bones.  

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The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton (Audio)

I won't bore you yet again with my loving tributes to Morton.  Well, maybe a little.  I've read everything she has written, this book (her latest) being the last in the line, which has put her in the ranks of Tana French and Sarah Waters.  That is...WRITE FASTER DAMMIT!  I can't get enough.

Morton has a special way about her, and maybe not to everyone's liking, but much to mine.  No matter the year in which the story takes place, there is a certain gothic feel.  She jumps around in time, usually multi-generational jumps, and there are lots and lots of secrets.  Her stories always feature a woman or two, feminine on the outside and steely beneath.  And she takes her time with getting on with it.  She is a Master Storyteller.  To appreciate that you must have patience and trust that she is going to take care of you.  So where does she take us this time?

Synopsis:  Sixteen year-old Laurel Nicolson is off sulking in her tree house, thinking about her boyfriend, when a strange man wanders up to her country home.  Laurel watches as the man approaches Lauren's mother, Dorothy, to which Dorothy's response is to stab the man in the chest, killing him.  The trauma of this event has stayed with Laurel her entire life, but only now, fifty years later and at the approach of Dorothy's death, does Laurel begin to question her mother's history.  

Morton takes us back to pre-WWII England through the blitz, to when Dorothy was a young woman trying to make it on her own.  Of her friend Vivian, who arrived in England from Australia as a catatonic orphan.  Of the dashing and charming Jimmy, who fell in love with Dorothy.  We learn more about that fateful day in the 1960's when Laurel was that dreamy teenager, and during the modern day, in Laurel's quest to find out the truth.  In a story about dreams, friendship, enduring love, betrayal, greed, and the secret lives of women before they marry and become mothers, Morton once again manages to entertain and entrance.

My thoughts:  Right out of the gate, I will admit that I was unsure about where this story was going.  I love Morton, and I trust her, but the story seemed slow and unremarkable.  But the author kept prying up layers, lies, secrets, twists, threads all knotted up and needing to be untangled.  And soon, I couldn't stop listening.  She had hooked me again.  

Morton really does an amazing job of creating unique characters that could stand up and walk off a page.  She takes her time in building them, so you really get to know them, their motivations and foibles.  One character charmed me, but then I wasn't charmed at all, I was HATING them.  I was smitten with another.  And another was admirable...the one that made you want to be a better person.  The emotions!  Of all the players in the novel, I was probably least attached to Laurel.  She was the vehicle that moved the story along, doing her research and answering my questions.  

Despite the fact that I am used to Morton's trickery and twists, I was completely blown away at the end.  I didn't see it coming, and it was crazy memorable and left me speechless for awhile.  It takes a lot to make me speechless.

A few words about the audio production:  I'm not sure I really need to repeat myself on this topic, but I'm a card-carrying member of the Caroline Lee fan club.  She narrates all of the Morton books and she is fabulous, with her delicate little accents and girlish voice.  If you can manage to read these books on audio, I would highly recommend it.

Audio book length:  19 hours and 54 minutes (496 pages)

5 out of 5 stars         

Not So Wordless Wednesday: Salem, Massachusetts

In early November last year, my son and I went on a field trip to Boston.  In the middle of a nor'easter.  Rain, 70 mph wind, and even some snow, which is exciting stuff for Florida kids.  

One of our activities was to take a walking ghost tour of Salem one cold, rainy night.  These are some scenes from that night.  Did we see ghosts?  Some parents swore there were orbs showing up in their photographs.  I think it was more light reflections from the street lights, but it was fun to play along.  

I didn't take notes, but I remember our guide telling us that there are a gazillion people that descend upon Salem for Halloween.  Hotels book up years in advance.  I actually preferred the cold, wet, haunted desolation of the place when we visited...great atmosphere.  

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Last November, I broke one of my cardinal rules and saw "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" at the theater before I read the book.  I know, the shame!  But my daughter really wanted to see the movie, and who am I to deny her.  Turns out, I was so taken with this movie.  I shall be purchasing it for my personal collection as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

I still wanted to read the book, though, and was told by bloggers who know their YA stuff that it was wonderful.  In fact, based on some puttering around on the Internet, it seems it has even achieved a cult-like status.  

Synopsis:  In a coming-of-age story told completely in epistolary form, we meet Charlie, an introverted but highly intelligent boy who is just entering his freshman year in high school.  In letters from Charlie to an unnamed "friend", we learn of the recent suicide of a close buddy, and the accidental death of a favorite aunt, two events that seem to define him and often dictate his shaky emotional state.  Charlie quickly finds his place when he meets fellow outcasts and step-siblings Sam and Patrick, experiments with drugs and sex, and embraces his new friends' sexuality and interests.  He is also taken under the wing of a charismatic teacher that recognizes a brilliance in Charlie.  All the while Charlie is also trying to navigate through his family's challenges and quirky personalities.

The story takes place in the early 1990's in a suburb of Pittsburg, and is a loving tribute to the era's pop culture...reference to music, movies, and television fill the pages.  Through special reading projects assigned to Charlie by his mentor/teacher, a hat is tipped to classic literature as well.  There is something for everyone, and no wonder it is considered by some as a modern classic.

My thoughts:  The author, Stephen Chbosky wrote the screenplay for the movie and directed it, so it was no surprise that I loved the book equally.  In fact, the book could have BEEN the screenplay, the plots were so identical.  And for once, I was really glad that I'd broken my rule and watched the movie first because the actors were perfectly cast, and were in my mind the entire time I was reading.  

There were subtle nuances with the book that made it special, though.  The entire story is written in letter form, in Charlie's "voice", which was PRECIOUS.  His quirky, lovable personality shines through immediately in his words.  Chbosky was genius in creating a character that was raw, real, gullible and innocent.  And tortured.  They were close to capturing this essence in the movie, but not quite as effectively as on paper.

The movie does a good job of peppering the story with music and film of the time...remember those mix tapes?  And The Rocky Horror Picture Show?  That is pure '80's and '90's baby.  But when the dozens of references appear before you in print, it is more obvious.  These were my years, so perhaps this is why I was so taken with it.  I also admired the unflinching examination of sexual abuse, homosexuality, and drug experimentation.  It wasn't preachy or overblown.  It just...was.  Brilliant.  

5 out of 5 stars   

    

Monday Matinee: Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

I've talked many times about the Paranormal Activity movie series, and how much "we" (probably better defined as my daughter and I) like it.  There is something incredibly creepy about watching, voyeur-style, through various forms of footage, a presence that plagues one family over decades.   

In the first PA (2007), the stage is set, and we see through the lens of a night-vision video camera (set up when weird things started happening), the strange occurrences that transpire at night to a young woman (Katie) and her live-in boyfriend.  PA2 (2010) goes back in time by only a few weeks, and we see the presence in Katie's sister Kristi's home through the eye of security cameras.  PA3 (2011) travels back more than twenty years to when Katie and Kristi were small, and explores the genesis of the curse that has followed them through their lives, all seen through cameras placed throughout their home.  Contrary to popular belief with a series, these movies get scarier and scarier with each one.    

In PA4, we are actually moving forward in time, five years after the events of PA1 have taken place.  (I know, there is a lot of jumping around!)  Kristi's son Hunter has been adopted by a family consisting of a mother, father and teenage daughter Alex.  A new neighbor moves in across the street - a single mother and a strange little boy Robbie.  Robbie, completely unsupervised, starts hanging around Alex and her family, and talking to imaginary friends.  (Bad sign.  Never welcome a creepy kid with imaginary friends into your home.)  Weird things start to happen.  Alex and her boyfriend set up computers around the house to record footage at night.    

   

With each movie, the directors get more and more creative with how the presence infests it's target victims.  Most of it is subtle, but still will make the hair stand up on your neck.  On one of the computer's footage, set up in the living room, the presence sets off the family Kinect and its infrared tracking dots.  In the dark, these glowing little green lights allow us to see another figure roaming around.  Maybe the imaginary friend?  Knives fall from the sky.  And there is still that messing around with people in their sleep.  

Some say the franchise is getting old.  Perhaps it is.  But the people funding this venture, whoever they are, will be riding this wave until it reaches shore.  It has to be one of the most lucrative franchises from a profit standpoint, since the films themselves are made on a shoestring budget and are substantially successful at the box office (this movie, for example, cost $5M to make and has grossed $120M worldwide so far).  So more power to them.  

For those that seek a scare, there is something oddly attractive about these films because of their voyeuristic nature.  You are peeking inside the homes and lives of people.  You see them interact, fight, laugh in their day-to-day tedium.  They are all fairly likable people, THEN THEY DIE!!!  Or at least some of them.  I'm not going to divulge who escapes harm.  The people writing the screenplays are not afraid, though, to throw even the sweetest character under the bus.  

So call it trash.  My daughter was not fond of this one, hard-core critic that she is.  But I'll keep seeing them as long as they make them.

4 out of 5 stars

Sunday Salon: Healing

 Good Sunday morning!  It's good to be back, establish a sense of normal again.  This week has been anything but normal.  Coming off the Half-Marathon on Sunday, my body was sore and creaky and I found myself really favoring my right foot, more than ever before.  It was pretty clear to me that I won't be running any time soon...this puppy is going to need some time to heal.  I have an appointment with a foot and ankle specialist in a week to get some help/advice/transplant (ha!).  

I also spent a majority of the week at a buttload of doctor's visits, attempting to resolve my son's ongoing back issues.  We ended up getting an MRI, so in another week or so, we should have a better idea of what we are dealing with.  We all are dragging under the strain of this one.  It is hard to tell an active 13-year-old boy that he can't do anything physical.  

I DID throw myself a bone and golf with my league for the first time in, like...six months.  It felt good, getting out there and whacking that ball around, seeing the ladies.

We also celebrated my daughter's 15th birthday and my dad's birthday last night at our favorite Italian restaurant, Enzo's on the Lake.  It is mind-blowing to me that I have a child that is 15.  For all of you with little ones, cherish every second because time goes by so fast.  Yesterday she was learning how to walk, and now she is learning how to drive.  OMG!

I've been working on a game plan to cover some books whose authors will be attending this year's University of Central Florida Book Festival, which is in mid-April.  You all know I am the world's slowest reader in print, so I'm hoping for best that I'll be able to maybe start reviewing a book each Friday beginning in a couple of weeks, until the start of the festival.  I'm going to give it my best college try.  We have some amazing authors coming this year!  (All the while, my MUST READ NOW stack just grows and grows.)  

So this week, I have been reading Peter Geye's "The Lighthouse Road", one of the UCF Book Festival features, and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm hoping to have it finished today.  I also listened to Hank Crumpton's "The Art of Intelligence" on audio, and it was fascinating.  Spies, chasing terrorists, and cool stuff like that.  I have now just started Erica Bauermeister's "The Lost Art of Mixing", the sequel to "The School of Essential Ingredients" that I fell in love with a few years ago.  Cassandra Campbell narrates this book as well, so I am sure it is going to be very enjoyable.

Looking forward to an average Sunday with church, animal shelter and a nap!  Ha!  What are you all up to today?  

     

Eataly!

 For all of you that have attended BEA in New York at any point, I'm probably not going to rock your world with this post.  Because strangely, all BEA bloggers seem to know about this place.  But the rest of you must be informed.  So while I was visiting New York City in late November, Rhapsody Jill told me that we HAD to visit Eataly.  It was out of the way from where we were, but I trust Jill in areas of food (and reading) and we cabbed it to this place to check it out.

Words almost cannot describe Eataly.  After about ten minutes of walking around in this place (actually more like aimless stumbling), my husband and I turned to each other with glazed expressions, and claimed over-stimulation.  So let me tell you a little about it.

Eataly is a concept that first originated in Turin, Italy in 2007.  Italian businessman Oscar Farinetti converted an old vermouth factory into type of mega-market focused on fresh foods, dining and culinary education.  Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich, and Joe Bastianich partnered up and opened one in New York City near Madison Square Park in 2010.  Since then, other locations have been opened in Rome and Tokyo, and one will be opening in Chicago in the fall of next year.  (Can we get a fist-pump on that one?)  

So what is it exactly?  Well, in New York, it is 50,000 square feet of a "grocery store with tasting rooms" according to Batali.  Shelves and shelves of all things Italian like sauces, olive oils, spices, dried pasta, cookies.  But intermixed with the non-perishable items are stations with fresh foods.  Meats, cheeses, fish, vegetables, pasta, DESSERTS, even a fresh mozzarella station where you can watch the guy making it.  The items range from your basic organic chicken breasts for example, to the exotic and bizarre like quail eggs and sea urchin.  

I saw chef-looking people bustling in to buy ingredients for their dinner preparations that evening.  I saw locals with their business attire sitting with their co-workers having some antipasti.  Everyone imbibing in wine.  The place was PACKED and in very good spirits...standing room only.  Here are some pictures I took.  

Scattered throughout the market there are actual sit-down restaurants that have different features.  Fish, or beef, or pizza and pasta...they are basically serving what they sell in the market.  And when you are in Italy (I mean Eataly) you must eat pasta, at least in MY mind.  My husband was annoyed at the 45 minute wait for the pasta tables, and would have been just as happy to sit immediately and eat fish, but I was determined.

When we finally sat down, a very friendly retired couple from Arizona started talking to us, and explained they were going to attend a cooking class at Eataly the next day.  I commented on how delicious their pasta looked, and the gentleman let me have a taste.  I was sold.  I had the Spaghettoni al Rancetto (what you see below) and my husband has Tagliatelle al Ragu di Monzo (Short Rib Ragu) with a couple glasses of wine.  

This place was pure insanity, but also a feast of the senses for anyone who likes to eat.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.  Even if you don't have time to eat there, pop in and take a look.  It is an experience!

Eataly NYC

200 5th Avenue

Hours vary for retail store, restaurants, coffee shop and information booth

www.eataly.com