October, 2011

  1. Baking Up a Storm

    October 31, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    Some weeks I feel like I never leave the kitchen, yet I know that isn’t true. I know this because the groceries don’t seem to diminish in some ways and well, there is pizza night and scrounge night and “we’ve been in the car all day” night.

    However, this weekend proved an exception in some ways. I had a lot of car time. Really, I am moving walking distance to every kid activity and their jobs ASAP-be handy if they went to school, activities, etc somewhere near the Great Lakes Commissary. It would also be handy if it was somewhere with decent weather. Ah well, I will just plot my move to walking distance to activities instead. Add in a closer nursing facility for my sister as well. Hours free in my week.

    In any case, I did manage to bake this weekend.

    1. Lemon Cheese Cake My great grandmoth1er’s recipe, the birthday cake requested by the newly 16-year-old. I made it in a bundt pan and used the “filling” as frosting. This got a better reception from the rest of the family this time as the cheddar didn’t “candy” and instead was smoothly incorporated in.The cake stuck stubbornly to the pan so there was some ickyness to the final look–but it was tasty.

    2. TWO horrifyingly bright Halloween Bundt Cakes. Unfortunately, the one meant for the Girl Scout meeting had an untimely demise on the asphalt on the way into the meeting.

    3. Liquid Cinnamon Rolls that didn’t come out so liquid this time–probably because there was an accidental purchase of a nearly identical looking can of crescent rolls that were NOT Pillsbury. They were dry and soaked up some of the liquidy goodness. Also, no one was up when the bake time was done, so they had time to set, making them more like the “Sopapilla Cheesecake” of the original recipe title.

    None of these things took too much time to make, though clean up was a disaster. Not my department though! ;-)

    I did make healthy food as well though–in particular one “Oh my, I need to use these veggies and now” creation.

    I took:

    green onions (3)
    Mushrooms
    a head of cauliflower

    3 yellow squash
    1 pt cherry tomatoes
    Fresh Spinach
    1 pkg Sweet Italian Sausage

    Sauteed it together, served it over whole grain pasta. It worked.

     

     

     

    Category Cake, Recipes | Tags: | 1 Comment

  2. My Fire Opal

    October 27, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    Today Rebecca, you reached 16. As an October baby, your birthstone, as you know, is the opal.

    I am not sure you think about it much. You just gloat a bit that unlike your mother and two of your sisters, you aren’t stuck with the August birthstone.

    I’ve thought about it a lot this week though as I planned your birthday and birthday post. No, no opals for your gift. We’ve another tradition for sixteen in this family.

    But I give you opals in this post. How? Let me tell you.

    First, I will say that at one point in my life, I wanted an opal ring more than anything and ended up buying one for myself. What does that have to do with you? I wanted a child just like you more than anything too.

    Like an opal, you express so many colors and evoke so many feelings, you baffle nearly everyone. It’s a bit of trickery really. Those layers with their hidden colors, the ones that show and the ones far below. We often wish for the straightforward with you, but you beguile with the contradiction and depths. You surprise us in the shallow-those bits of color to throw us off the deeper parts of you.

    Yes, we know, that like an opal you are fragile, easily chipped, and hold onto the injury. You often compare yourself to a sweet with a delicate candy shell. Nay, you are the opal, delicate but when cracked shows a new kind of beauty underneath. I want to smooth those things and keep all intact some days. Other days, I know that these experiences will show you and the world what truly is precious about the authentic you.

    You shine with a certain phosphorescence. The sparkle, the confusing light that reflects the good and bad in the world around you.

    This year, your father remarried and I spent a good long time looking at the wedding pictures on Facebook. Sure, I loved seeing photos of family members I’ve not seen in years. I enjoyed seeing people that your father went to school with and worked with, because they had a big part in my life. I enjoyed a peek at the new relatives you have now. Did I read in their faces that they would cherish my children? Could I see if they knew that your father is particularly important?

    Really though, I looked at the pictures to see you and two of your siblings. It was easy to spot pictures with you in them. You stood out in a way so unconsciously beautiful. I have several favorites, but there is one of you talking to a friend in front of the church after the service that shows what I say better than anything else. It’s a huge crowded scene, one where it should be more “Where’s Waldo?” than an actual photo of any one person. There you are though, on the steps, and your beauty and exuberance bubbles out of the picture. Amazing. The fire. The light. The compelling beauty contained with in that shows a bit on the surface.

    We will fit some birthday time into your fire fueled schedule. You remain ever complex, layered, intriguing and different in every light. Every day of every year, I remain ever enthralled looking at and through the layers, the colors, the chipped and the smooth.

    Happy birthday baby girl.

    Category retro food | Tags: | No Comments

  3. #BHBC Takes a Tug at Love at First Bark

    October 20, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    I recently read Love at First Bark as part of the BlogHer Book Club. I am a sucker for dogs. I have nagged for a dog for years. Yes, we have three prairie dogs. We have my mother’s dog. (ick a fake pet store dog who is small, yappy, annoying, and doesn’t even wag his tail) But, I don’t have a dog. (currently)

    I grew up with a rescue dog–Ginger, who died three days before I got married. (possibly the best dog ever) We had Maggie, a St. Bernard (or maybe the best dog ever; except the fur, and her habit of pulling me down ice slickened hills.) I found in a shelter in Wisconsin. She was such a mess I thought she was much older. We had a roaming soul of a dog named Mikey at one point.We had Jake and Chanel–rescues of a sort.

    Throw me at petfinder and I will find a dog I want to give a home. Keep me out of animal shelters–I am hopeless at hardening my heart to dogs. Even cats and rabbits at shelters have found their way into our lives. The pet store where the prairie dogs found us now has shelter dogs instead of well–pet store dogs. I am not certain we would have walked out the door with a prairie dog if they had done that when we were “looking for a rat.”

    So, here I am a sucker for dogs and I am reading a dog book. I expected to want to head to the nearest shelter and beg for a dog. (not a puppy-I really dislike puppies) It didn’t stir that in me. I can’t figure that out, but it was just as well. Last week, one of those passed around posts on Facebook had me horrified and wanting to rescue dogs.

    It did give an interesting insight into Klam’s family life and structure. It made me very glad that I don’t live in an apartment in NYC with a dog.

    Check out and join the discussion over at BlogHer about Love at First Bark (and the dogs who we love(d))

    I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

    Category BlogHer, Book Reviews, retro food | Tags: | 1 Comment

  4. Too Busy for Recipes?

    October 13, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    Does anyone else get too busy for recipes? How often do you fly by the seat of your pantry to make dinner? Lately I have been so incredibly busy or I have staggered dinner times going on, so I don’t really plan that ok–everything on the table at 6 pm thing.

    Last night, I made quinoa with pesto, feta and olives. It was delicious. Before I walked into the kitchen I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to make. I grabbed some leftover homemade pesto out of the fridge. I grabbed some quinoa out of the cabinet. Then snagged the half container of feta, a can of olives and the partial jar of olives out of the fridge.

    Pesto and quinoa went into the rice steamer with some water. The beep sounded and I drained the olives and stirred them into the quinoa as well as the feta. It turned out to be a perfectly lovely and satisfying dinner.

    What do you do when you are too busy for a recipe? Is it just taco/burger/pasta or take out?

    Category retro food | Tags: | 5 Comments

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