Peaceful Reader

February; Weekend Cooking

We went out of town this weekend to attend a Bluegrass Festival in Des Moines. I do love to travel and going anywhere requires finding a few good restaurants to try. On this trip our main foodie experience was Gusto’s Pizza near downtown. This place does not have just your average pizzas plus they do gluten-free crusts for any of their pizzas. I didn’t snap any photos because I was too busy eating. With names like Buffalo Springfield, Vincent Van Goat, Francesco, and the Fromage A’Trois it was very hard to make a choice. With all the menu choices we somehow missed the special of the day which was a spicy Thai pizza.

{Gusto’s Pizza-just NOT the pizza we ordered}

After much deliberation we voted to get the Francesca which featured an Alfredo sauce, mozzarella, Roma tomato, artichokes, cremini mushrooms, and spinach. It was divine. We ate almost the whole thing. There is one lonely piece waiting for me in the refrigerator for lunch or dinner. Groovy Girl got to design her own small pizza; shrimp, fresh basil, Roma tomatoes, and extra mozzarella. She was in pizza heaven and she had a wonderful cream soda to make her smile.

My friend and I both tried 2 different salads from the menu as well. Mine was the Fromage Bleu featuring apples, spiced walnuts, mixed greens, red onion and balsamic vinaigrette. I wished for more bleu cheese crumbled on top-after all the name features bleu! My friend ordered the quinoa continental and it was by far the winner! A small amount of quinoa mixed with mixed greens, goat cheese, roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries, and balsamic vinaigrette. I am going to re-create this salad at home! All in all it was an amazing trip to Des Moines. Oh, and the Bluegrass Festival; it was fantastic as well.

We made it safely back yesterday afternoon just in time for Groovy Girl’s school fundraiser. Last night at about my bedtime I realized I needed to make something for our church potluck. I whipped this vegan curry dish (from allrecipes.com) in about 40 minutes and it was a huge hit. The bowl was scraped clean. Surprising as it was pretty spicy. No leftovers. I’ll have to make more. It’s been a good food weekend for me!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekly foodie meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts.

Baby, It's Cold Outside…

{source}

It is snowy and oh, so cold. I do love the snow when you can go out and play in it but when it is 16 degrees outside. When it’s cold outside I turn to my dear friend hot chocolate and add a little zip to it. In the spirit of making things from scratch I found a recipe for homemade hot chocolate mix and it is delicious. Steaming mug with either fresh whipped cream or marshmallows, take your pick. I don’t care.

The mug of warmth does make you forget about how cold it is outside especially if you’ve laced your cup with a little peppermint schnapps or Bailey’s. Grown up hot chocolate. I’m making some right now. Our house is old and drafty and this is a necessity I tell you. This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts.

Stay warm out there!

My recipe:

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Hot Chocolate Powder

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

pinch of sea salt

Triple it in jar and shake to mix.
Scoop 1-2 tablespoons into mug and pour in hot milk mixture. I use a combination of water/milk or even
soy/coconut milk warmed in a small saucepan on the stovetop. Add freshly whipped cream or a marshmallows.

Serve immediately.

Seven Wild Sisters by Charles De Lint

This charming fairy tale will make a perfect way to introduce young readers to a good fantasy story. Sarah Jane and her sisters live very near Tanglewood Forest and she’s curious about what resides there as her elderly neighbor Aunt Lillian shares stories of the forest creatures with her as they do chores.

The stories come alive for Sarah Jane when she rescues an injured tiny man by bringing him to Aunt Lillian. The two attempt to return him through Lillian’s old friend, the Apple Tree Man. Once Sarah Jane is involved the fighting fairy realm kidnap her six sisters to hold as ransom. None of the girls are capable of using or performing magic but use their heads and hearts to help them out of their trouble. While they witness creatures they never thought real their biggest thought is to get back to mama before she misses them.

Told in 260 pages this is an easy read and will hopefully help many of my beginning fantasy readers transition from the Rainbow Magic series to this as I plan to order several of Charles De Lint books for my school library. I love fantasy yet this was my first introduction to his writing. I’ve already downloaded to my kindle The Cats of Tanglewood Forest which is set several decades before this one. I hope Mr. De Lint has plans to write many adventures with this lively and adventuresome set of sisters.

A quote:

He came out from the far side of the tree and if it hadn’t been for the ‘sangman I’d found, I’d have said he was the strangest man I’d ever seen. He was as gnarled and twisty as the limbs of his tree, long and lanky, a raggedy man with tattered clothes, bird’s next hair, and a stooped walk. It was hard to make out his features in the moonlight, but I got the sense that there wasn’t a mean bone in his body-don’t ask me why. I guess he just radiated a kind of goodness and charm. He acted like it was a chore, having to come out and talk to us, but I could tell he liked Aunt Lillian. Maybe missed her as much as she surely missed him. (69)

And now you’ve met the Apple Tree Man and you probably want to keep reading…
I received this ARC from Little, Brown and Company which in no way influenced my honest review of this delightful tale. Publication date: February 2014, just in time for a sweet little Valentine gift.
I look forward to checking out a published copy as this copy had only little sketches.

Weekend Cooking; Chicken Tortilla Soup

It’s already a week into February and I haven’t blogged once. I think my fingers are too frozen to type. I did make a lovely treat for last weekend’s miserable SuperBowl game. I saw a crock-pot recipe for a chicken tortilla soup that sounded delicious-hot, spicy, and filled with goodness-everything I was looking for while the weather outside is still bitter cold.

Some soups are easy to whip together and those are good for those days when you need something fast. My chicken soup didn’t come together quite that fast but it was so well-worth the wait. It makes any recipe more difficult when you have to search out the right meat. I did have a frozen whole chicken that had already been cut into parts via my farmer friend, John. After that unthawed I baked it in the oven with drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkling of spices. Mine had the skin on it but that peeled off easy after I baked the pieces. My dogs loved that little treat.

I baked the chicken pieces at the beginning of the week and waited until Sunday to actual put the soup together. I meant to make it on Saturday so it could have a day to sit (always the best) yet I don’t know really where Saturday went. The soup still tasted great and it was a perfect for lunch several times during the week.

Chicken Tortillas Soup {PW Cooks}

Ingredients

2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1-1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 cup Diced Onion
1/4 cup Diced Green Bell Pepper
1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 can (10 Oz. Can) Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Stock
3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
4 cups Hot Water
2 cans (15 Oz. Can) Black Beans, Drained
3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa
5 whole Corn Tortillas, Cut Into Uniform Strips Around 2 To 3 Inches
_____
FOR THE GARNISHES:
Sour Cream
Diced Avocado
Diced Red Onion
Salsa Or Pico De Gallo
Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
Cilantro

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides. Set aside the rest of the spice mix.
Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use two forks to shred chicken. Set aside. {I had to cook mine for much longer-bigger pieces.}

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red pepper, green pepper, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix. Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.

Pour in Rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water. Pour into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Check seasonings, adding more if needed—add more chili powder if it needs more spice. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.

Ladle into bowls, then top with sour cream, diced red onion, diced avocado, pico de gallo, and grated cheese, if you have it! (The garnishes really make the soup delicious.)

I did do the cornmeal step of which I was leery yet I thought it added a certain Southern complexity. I used my regular can of diced tomatoes instead of Rotel. I happened to have a full can of dark enchilada sauce that I bought by mistake {I use green when I made regular enchiladas} so I dumped that in there instead of the paste. I wanted the soup to be authentically spicy and didn’t worry about Groovy Girl’s taste buds.

{Lots of garnish}

I love the garnishes; we added sliced avocado, diced red onion, cilantro, cheese, and sour cream. It was tasty.

Here is the link to PW’s original recipe.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads. Click the link to find many other food-related posts.

Cold, Cold, Cold Days…turn the oven on high and bake.

I’ve had an exciting day. Too cold for school. I don’t think the blizzard was as bad as predicted but I am not one to complain about a 3-day weekend. I had some time to myself while Groovy Girl went bowling with friends. I cleaned the house. I watched an episode of Parenthood. I read more of Cuckoo’s Calling-love it! I would have read more of Insurgent except my Kindle is acting up; I’m 52% finished and bada bing…no charge. Good thing I have plenty of “real” books around my house.

I made chocolate chip cookies with G.G. late in the day. And while the oven was on I whipped up this amazing dish with a butternut squash from my garden; it’s been in my basement pantry waiting for the perfect dish. One of my NY’s resolutions is to clean out my stacks of magazines and I found this recipe in an old November 2008 Cooking Light.

Savory Butternut Squash

2 medium peeled and cubed butternut squash
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 T. honey
1/2 tsp Madras curry powder
2 T minced fresh cilantro

Directions: Preheat oven to 500*. Toss squash cubes in oil, and season with sea salt and pepper. Place squash in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 500* for 10 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven; toss squash with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately. Yield: 5 cups.

My squash was smaller so I used less ingredients and after snapping a few key photos I tumbled it into a to-go container for my lunch tomorrow. Tomorrow we have a late start (so far) and already I’m looking forward to lunchtime. Last week I finished my lunchtime book, Palace Beautiful (review soon), and can’t think of what book is next on my pile.

Weekend Cooking…a little curry dish.

I listened to my daughter and her friend swoon about the chicken curry at our local Indian restaurant and ever since then I’ve had a craving for curry. Naturally I wanted to make my own though so I pulled out Six Spices; A simple concept of Indian cooking by Neeta Saluja. My stepbrother Sean recommended this book to me as we both love Indian food and the author is his ex-girlfriend yet-still-friend’s mother~always nice to have a family connection!

I pulled the book out to see what type of curry recipe I could make with what I already had at home and decided the mixed vegetable curry would be perfect on this very chilly early evening. I had 90% of the ingredients and would have to make due and my husband was impressed as he walked through the door an hour later as I was elbow-deep in spices.

Mixed-Vegetable Curry
{Rase wali Mili-Juli Subji}

Ingredients

6 cups assorted vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, turnips, potatoes, or peas)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
7 T cooking oil, divided
6 T + 2 cups water
1 large tomato, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped

Method:

1. Peel and cut all the vegetables into somewhat large size pieces.
2. Place onions, garlic, and ginger in a blender. Add a small amount of water and run blender intermittently until it makes a smooth paste.
3. Add chili, turmeric, and coriander powders. Run blender again to mix the spices into the paste.
4. In a medium saucepan, heat 4 T cooking oil on medium high heat. When oil is hot, add the onion mixture. Cover pan to avoid spattering.
5. Reduce heat to medium. Stir mixture continuously to avoid burning and scorching. Add 6 T of water, one tablespoon at a time, to prevent burning. Cook until most of the moisture evaporates. At this time the oil will separate from the onion paste, and the raw smell of onion and spices will change to a more roasted and flavorful smell.
6. Add tomatoes and a little of of the salt. Cover the pan. Cook, stirring the mixture occasionally, until mixture forms a smooth paste and oil is separated.
7. Heat remaining oil in a large skillet. When hot, add cumin seeds. Stir in all chopped vegetables and fry for 6-8 minutes.
8. Add fried vegetables, and the rest of the salt to masala (curry paste). Stir the mixture.
9. Stir in 2 cups of water and let the vegetables simmer on medium heat until potatoes are cooked.
10. Garnish curry with cilantro and serve hot.

After the holidays I haven’t felt much like whipping up multi-step recipes as I think I wore myself out cooking (joyously) for the two older kids and other friends and family. This recipe brought me back to life.

The two substitutions I had to make; I did not have nor do I usually buy tomatoes in the winter so I used a little canned tomato juice from my pantry, which has tomatoes from my mom’s garden plus I somehow ran out of cumin seeds over the holidays and forgot to replace them so I added the veggies (potatoes, carrots, and peas) to the oil and then I added some garam marsala just to add something to the potatoes as they cooked.

I love everything about cumin so was sad not to have that smell and flavor. I would absolutely make this dish again and I will try more from this book. I get so used to “googling” for a recipe or searching Pinterest yet often what I need lies right in my own cabinet. Yep.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekly cooking meme, Weekend Cooking, where many other foodies talk about food. Click her link to find out what everyone’s talking about today.

Book Club Book + Salad recipe

We recently gathered together on a snowy Monday night and discussed Flight Behavior (2012) by one of my favorite writers, Barbara Kingsolver. Our book club was whittled down to just a hardy few as the weather had taken a turn for the worse mid-afternoon. I braved the cold and the icy roads just to talk about this book but also because I’d made an amazing salad to share. We go potluck at these gatherings and I hadn’t been the only one thinking salad or healthy. We shared a brussels sprout salad, a beet salad, a delicious spinach dip, and a light-tasting 5-flavor pound cake. Our plates were pretty as we sat to discuss the book.

Flight Behavior follows Dellarobia Turnbow as she picks her way through her unhappy marriage. One of the symptoms of her sadness is to seek out small-time crush-worthy men in her rural Tennessee community. At the opening she is headed into the woods to meet up with her latest crush, the telephone man, to see if they want to take things one step further. On the way up the mountain that sits right on her family’s property to meet him she stops to breathe and is overwhelmed by a phenomena~she can’t tell if it is fire but something strange has the mountain top trees all lit up. This oddity gives her pause to change her mind and head back down the mountain away from the sin she was thinking of committing.

Dellarobia is a fascinating character that grows immensely during the course of her story. Kingsolver truly is a master storyteller weaving an array of unique characters into a timely and thought-provoking event. What Dellarobia glimpsed on the mountaintop was Monarch butterflies all come to roost on her husband’s land. The migration of this butterfly swoops through Mexico every year for thousands of years and this year they didn’t make it there.

Today on this bitterly cold day I’m not going to make a crack about how global warming can’t be true as it is freezing outside! We are by our very existence altering the course of our earth by the products we use, clear-cutting whole mountaintops of trees, car emissions, food production, energy, and coal plants. It is taking a toll on our home; our world and this fact comes home to roost for Dellarobia as she watches and learns more about this magnificent butterfly.

I loved the climate conversation this book brings to light but on a more simple note Dellarobia’s relationship with her children takes on a magical quality for me. She begins as a mother who is pained by her son Preston’s constant questioning of the universe, making her slip out the back door for a “secret” smoke. She loves her children at all stages throughout but her appreciation for their natural childish qualities readjusts Dellarobia’s thinking. As the butterflies transform her and remind her of what she can still be she emerges as a mother who stokes her own son’s curiosity fueling it with thoughts, theories, and books to pour over. Dellarobia looks at even the little Cordelia, still in diapers, with new and glowing eyes. Hope has sprung and Dellarobia sees a future for her children and herself.

The book is breath-taking and yet I have other Kingsolver stories that I love more-that’s how talented she is. Read NPR’s review.

The salad:
adapted from Yoga Journal (Feb. 2014)

Feel-Good Quinoa Pilaf

1 cup quinoa
1/2 head radicchio, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dried tart cherries (expensive-could substitute dried cranberries)
1/4 cup pistachios (shelled, of course)
3 T fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Put quinoa in a fine mesh strainer, and rinse well under cold water. In a saucepan, bring two cups of water to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa, and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until grains are tender and water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Transfer to a large bowl and fluff with a fork to separate grains.

2. Add radicchio, vinegar, olive oil, cherries, pistachios, and parsley to bowl, and stir to mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature. Delicious!

I made a double batch for book club because we have twelve members and since only half of them showed up I had half a bowl left for lunch during the week. My husband tried it and loved it also.

from Yoga Journal “with melatonin-rich dried cherries, pistachios, which contain B-6, and protein-rich quinoa, this easy weeknight pilaf has nutreints to help you sleep soundly, keep your memory sharp, and maintain healthy muscles.”

Book + Salad = healthy humans
Have a peaceful day.

{Fake} Chicken Soup soothes the soul.

The other day I came home from school and it was so blustery cold out I knew I needed some soup. I have a special go-to soup recipe that my kids think of as chicken soup but it isn’t really. Everyone should have a few days in their week of meat-free meals if you want to be healthy.

My (fake) chicken soup:

I love to do all the chopping first so my mise en place is set and I’m not chopping and stirring at the same time. In every instance I recommend local or organic vegetables.

Smash and chop two garlic cloves, one white onion, two large carrots, and two-three celery stalks. The celery and the onion I finely chop as my groovy girl is not a fan. The smaller I can make them the better. I had zucchini in the fridge so I diced that up as well.

Heat coconut oil to a stock pot. I am in love with coconut oil’s flavor. I recently sautéed a zucchini in a little coco oil and it added such a unique flavor. I have Nature’s Gate from Amazon as I don’t have any place that has good oil in town. I’m sad that it is not going to be available much longer in this version.

Add carrots, onion, and garlic to the warming oil. Stir and sauté and then add celery and zucchini. I add this later as they are softer veggies and won’t take as long to cook. Add freshly ground black pepper and just a little sea salt. You can add a little turmeric as well or choose to spice it up a bit. Once this base of vegetables are soft I add my cubed tofu.

If you are new to tofu cut it out of the plastic container, drain the water, and place square of tofu in the middle of a clean, cotton towel. Wrap the towel around the block and place a plate or a pot on top for about 8-10 minutes. This drains the extra water out of the tofu so it will soak up the flavors of your recipe. Unwrap the towel and slice through with a sharp knife to make small cubes. I slice about 5 rows through both ways and then two rows through the middle to create the bite-sized cubes. Lift the towel up and send the tofu tumbling into the vegetables. Mix the it all together gently as you don’t want the tofu to crumble. Put a lid on the pot and let everything steam together for about 10 minutes while you create your broth.

Many times I’ve made my own broth but this night I needed help. I have two different kinds of broth that I use in a pinch. One is Better than Bouillon and Orrington Farms Broth base both in vegetable. Both of these products are easy to mix with hot water. I added 6 cups of broth once the tofu has had a chance to pick up flavors from the vegetables.

Turn the heat up and once the soup reaches a steady boil add half a package of thick noodles. Give them a few minutes to cook and take the soup pot right to the table. This feeds a family of four but my crew (just the three of us now) finished almost all of it for dinner. I ate the last of for lunch yesterday. When Groovy Girl finishes her bowl there is a pile of celery in the bottom~okay, yet all the zucchini is gone. Yeah!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click over and find many other food-related posts. Happy end-of-the Weekend!

My first book of 2014

I want to do a better job of keeping up with book reviews especially when I’m reading such good stuff. This week I finished The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho. He is one of my favorite authors because his writing always stretches my own thinking.

{2006}

A Middle Eastern couple from Beirut travel to Romania to adopt a child. They have a wonderful life and feel that the only thing missing is a child. After days of trying to decide on one baby in an overflowing orphanage the woman chooses a gypsy baby and names her Sherine. A family uncle later reminds them that Sherine, now a young lady, will want to go out into the world with a less ethnic name and he nicknames her Athena. She adores this new nickname and perhaps that small gesture of a name change helped to transform her. She has always been a religious child and feels a deep connection to the church.

She marries young, bears a son but chooses not to stay married and to raise her son on her own. Her love for her son transforms her everyday life and she begins to look more deeply into her heart and soul. Coehlo writes so gracefully that you fall in love with this woman as she questions, transforms and believes in something greater in all of us. Told through alternating points-of-view we get to see Athena from all angles and how each person is affected by her. Through some of the more learned characters seeking answers about Athena{the witch} we get some profound dialogue:

The character Antoine Locadour, historian explains life and the changes that Athena is experiencing using the philosophy of Carl Jung:

“…we all drank from the same spring. It’s called the “soul of the world.” However much we try to be independent individuals, a part of our memory is the same. We all see the ideal of beauty, dance, divinity, and music.” (170)

and

“Society, meanwhile, tries to define how these ideals should be manifested in reality. Currently, for example, the ideal of beauty is to be thin, and yet thousands of years ago all the images of goddesses were fat. It’s the same with happiness; there are a series of rules, and if you fail to follow them, your conscious mind will refuse to accept the idea that you’re happy.” (170)

and continues with

“The Shadow is our dark side, which dictates how we should act and behave. When we try to free ourselves from the Persona, we turn on a light inside us and we see the cobwebs, the cowardice , the meanness. The Shadow is there to stop our progress, and it usually succeeds, and we run back to what we were before we doubted. However, some do survive this encounter with their own cobwebs, saying: ‘Yes, I have a few faults, but I’m good enough, and I want to go forward.” (171)

Athena, through her encounter with Edda learns more about her own female center and to trust in herself and what she understands as Mother Earth, a female God. I loved the journey this book took me on as I have every book Coehlo has written. My other favorites are The Alchemist and By the River Piedra I sat down and cried. Find Paulo Coelho at his website. I picked this one up at a used book sale and I’m making it my quest to read the rest of his books.

Cold Day~No School Day!

The temps have dropped to an alarming number of -11 degrees. It is super, super cold. The dogs don’t want to go out to potty and the wind whistles through several of our old windows.

Our traditional snow day breakfast is chocolate chip pancakes with all the toppings and hot chocolate. Today we substituted hot cider leftover from the holidays. There were no complaints…

Yesterday Groovy Girl went to the video store with my husband. He was on a quest to find the next Game of Thrones and she was “just looking.” She came back with 2 games; an olympic event game and Little Big Planet 2 so we’ve spent some of our morning pretending to be Olympic athletes in archery, swimming, and gymnastics. The results tend to be hilarious as the only true gamer at our house is the teenage boy and he slept until it was pancake time.

I have two books I’m trying to finish today; an ARC of Seven Wild Sisters by Charles de Lint, which is excellent and one of my favorite authors Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. I’m trying to finish it so I can pass it on to my friend Jen in Colorado. Teenage boy can take it to her tomorrow when he leaves us again for the balmy state.

I love a day off yet I have a lot of work to get done at school plus I feel like it can be a hard day for many of our students who are left unattended and don’t have delicious pancakes for brunch or even a bowl of cereal. What’s the temperature in your neck of the woods?