Aebelskivers

Okay, I need help. I had never heard of these things until Angie, Sally, and I went to the Provo School District Pan Sale yesterday. There was a fetching little cast iron pan that I had no idea what it's use was for (how's that for bizarre sentence structure?). "What the heck are aebelskivers?" I asked, with nary a trace of irony in my Utah twang. Angie makes them all the time for her girls, she said. Easy peasy, yummy, can't go wrong.

So I bought a pan. Seasoned it in the oven just like the directions said, made the batter just like the recipe said. They were disgusting, and they stuck to the stupid pan.

But I am intrigued, nonetheless! Since I already make Yorkshire Pudding to honor Travis' English mom, I might as well learn something Danish for his dad, right? Google "aebelskiver" and people are absolutely poetic in their love of these little things. Obviously, I'm doing something wrong.

So send me your recipes and your cooking tips. Or maybe I'll just pop over to Angie's some Saturday morning and have breakfast with the girls!

Check Engine Light

I've been running myself ragged a little too much lately, and this week was the week to pay for it. I just completely ran out of gas.

Too much stress, too many errands, too much running around, too little sleep. Bad combination. So I'm taking it easy for a few days. I haven't walked for nearly a week, am going to bed earlier, and cut out non-essential errands. I even took a break from blow-drying my hair and let it go nuts in the rain.

I tried to read a book I'd seen recommended, but it was unbearably stupid. But I did try! I think I'll pop in a DVD tonight, pop some popcorn, and watch something that doesn't have the name "Disney" in it anywhere. It feels good to spoil myself a little.

Gone-All-Afternoon Beef Stew

I get lots of requests for this recipe because it's very easy to make, has an adjustable cooking time, tastes sooo good, and makes the whole house smell fantastic. This is actually going to be our Easter dinner tomorrow since we are picking Travis up at the airport that afternoon and I won't be around to cook.

2 lbs. top or petite sirloin (or any stew meat), cubed
3+ med. carrots, sliced*
2 onions, chopped
3+ potatoes, peeled and quartered*
1 bay leaf
1/4 c. dry red wine**
1 beef bouillon cube
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1/2 - 1 soup can of water
1 tsp. salt
dash pepper
dash Worcestershire sauce
10 oz. pkg. frozen peas or any leftover frozen vegetables

*I usually add lots more carrots and potatoes than this calls for, and sometimes celery.
**You can substitute red grape juice or cranberry juice if you prefer.

Combine all ingredients except frozen vegetables in a lightly greased 3-quart casserole dish with tight-fitting lid. Stir ingredients and cover.

Bake in preheated oven at 275 degrees for 4 hours (or 5 hours at 250 degrees). Technically, you can also bake it at 300 degrees for 3 hours, but the texture and flavor are off a bit. Add frozen vegetables 15 minutes before time is up so they retain their color.

Serves 6-8

(Pictures coming soon)

Ginger Cookies

This has become my favorite cookie recipe. It's very popular at work!

3/4 c. butter flavored Crisco
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. molasses
2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 t. ground cloves
3/4 t. ginger
either granulated or decorator's sugar

Combine shortening, sugar, egg, & molasses. Mix thoroughly. Measure four and sift in dry ingredients. Stir into shortening mix. Use medium scoop to form cookies.

Place on cookie sheet. These will spread, so allow room between them. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on size.

Here's where your personal preference comes in. If you like a sweeter cookie, dip the top and sides of the cookie in decorator's sugar before baking. The sugar looks very pretty, but it does bake more sugar into the cookie and diminish the spiciness of it a bit. If you want a spicier cookie, wait until they come out of the oven and sprinkle granulated sugar on the top while still hot.

(Pictures to come)

Let's Get This Party Started

Things have been very quiet here comment-wise. Shall I spice things up a bit?

My sister Suzanne recently saw "Food, Inc." at a film festival in Durham, North Carolina. I haven't seen it yet, but I think it kind of does to the FDA what "Super Size Me" did to fast food, which is to take a good look at the man behind the curtain (note the clever "Wizard of Oz" reference). "Super Size Me" had quite an impact on me and my older kids. We have almost completely given up fast food since watching it.

When I was 22, my brother and I took my niece to the Lincoln Park Zoo's "Farm-In-the-Zoo" area to see all the animals (this was right around the corner from my first apartment in Chicago). My brother, who at the time was a devout vegetarian, told me all the ways each animal was raised and slaughtered. My niece was really too young to care, so we didn't worry so much about that. Although I didn't give up meat entirely, I haven't had veal since that day in 1986, and never will again. He also had me read "Diet For A Small Planet" by Frances Moore Lappe, which was hugely influential for me as well.

Here's a clip. Please watch it and let's discuss. This is a film written by Eric Schlosser, the author of "Fast Food Nation." It's scheduled to go into limited release in June, and I'm very curious about it. This is very timely for me since it's planting time in our garden. At least I know where that food is coming from! You'll want to pause the playlist first before you start the clip.

I also have a really inspiring clip on Ambrosia. Pop on over and visit me there.

Urban Homesteading

I still want to have chickens and bees. Should I start thinking about goats? What do you think, Sue? Would the noise bother you?

Here's a link to Anais Dervaes' blog.

Photo Mosaic Challenge

I visited Jason Z's site the other day and saw his mosaic post. So I decided to do it too!

This is fun to do, but a little labor intensive. Fortunately I would much rather play with this than do housework, so it works out fine for me! The challenge is to choose nine photos that represent you (or me, in this case).

Here are the rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search (http://www.flickr.com/).
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Mosaic Maker (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php).
d. Save the image and blog it!

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your favorite color?
4. Favorite drink?
5. Dream vacation?
6. Favorite Hobby?
7. What you want to be when you grow up?
8. What do you love most in life?
9. One word to describe you?

This is a lot trickier than it sounds. Sometimes you have to play with the search parameter a bit.

Here is mine:My photos are: 1. Diane 2. Ginger cookies 3. Tiffany blue :) 4. Water 5. La Push, Washington 6. Writing 7. Question Mark 8. Family 9. Lucky

If you decide to do this, leave me a comment so I can come visit your blog and see it!