didionville

yes, i am committing plagiarism by posting this recipe. it is straight from cook’s illustrated (issue 87, july/august 2007). i suppose now i’m actually not plagiarizing since i am citing; though, i am posting without permission. christopher kimball can call my attorney, if i had one, that is.

this sauce is very tasty and super easy to make. it’s a little on the sweet side, so if you like spicier bbq sauce, this might not be for you. though, i am going to try to make my own spicy sauce, using this recipe as my base. if it works, i’ll post it.

bottom line: we like this sauce so much, we will likely never by bottled sauce again.

(for reference, this recipe makes enough to thoroughly baste four butterflied cornish hens or six boneless chicken breasts.)

1/2 cup ketchup (we only use heinz, and if you know me, you know I KNOW ketchup.)

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp yellow mustard (good ol’ french’s to the rescue!)

1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed … you want about a tsp of minced garlic.

mix everything in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sauce reduces a little and thickens. cook’s says it takes about five minutes. i think we usually end up cooking it for closer to 10 minutes.

use this to baste chicken on the grill, or you could cut the recipe, making only about a fourth of it. shred one cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast and add it to the sauce. use the chicken breast to make bbq-chicken pizza … or bbq-chicken nachos … or bbq-chicken burritos … YUM!

i just found a really cool blog by a guy in raleigh, north carolina.

mr. mcCord seems like a man who is trying to do similar things as steven and i: raise a healthy family, behave responsibility, be kind to others and our earth, and indulge in good food and good humor.

here’s a funny video from his site. it’s an oldie, but a goodie … one that never fails to elicit a laugh and more than a few reminiscences, however hazy they might be.

oh, and he posts interesting recipes. here’s one for beet cakes, which sends me all atwitter. though, it will surely make lisa retch.

literally and figuratively. it was supposed to rain. it looks like it might. it hasn’t.

if we had known it was going to be dry, we would have worked on replacing our rotting porch steps.

instead we packed up the kid for a trip to babies-r-us to check out jumpers. didion loves to jump and bounce on our laps. he loves to be swung around and carried on our shoulders. he’s pretty fearless when it comes to physical activity. when we start jiggling him, etc., he can’t get enough of it and can keep going for 20 minutes or more. at 18 pounds and with demands for increasingly daring moves, didion can wear steven and me out pretty quickly.

so we thought we could get a jumper that hangs from an interior doorway … something like this that retails for $20 … the price is right and the promise of fun times is encouraging … they hang from the trim at the top of a standard doorframe, but, of course, the woodwork in our house is old and “old” means “nonstandard” … ergo, no doorway jumper for us.

then there are the jumperoos that sit on the floor, promising equally fun times for — of course — four times the price … this one IS really cute, but sheesh: $70!?!?!

there was a floor model available, so when no one was looking, we shoved the kid in and watched for an indication that didion would suffer grave emotional injury if we did not buy THAT jumperoo at THAT moment. lucky for our bank account and our collective engineering skills, didion was not seduced by the toy. so we left the store empty handed and with the realization that one of the likely reasons didion loves being bounced and jiggled and swung around is that his mommy and daddy are the sources of the activity and movement.

jumping might be fun for a little while in the jumperoo, but it wouldn’t be the same.

back at home …

steven and didion had lunch …

after lunch …

didion had some play time … (note the orange blotch in his right eyebrow. yes, it’s dried yams.)

then daddy and son went on a long walk around the neighborhood.

now it’s snugglin’-in-pj’s time …

easy, breezy.

so last week we posted a bunch of pictures of everything that was blooming or beginning to bloom in our yard. the amount of change that has taken place in just one week is amazing. across the street from our house are several trees that bloom with these gorgeous pink blossoms. neither steven nor i know the name of these trees. they might be crab apple trees. regardless, they are just so pretty.

this afternoon the clan went out to pick dandelions, specifically, and weeds, in general, because that is what married couples with babies do on the weekend, i suppose. it is supposed to rain off and on for the next several days, so i suspended dandelion duty to photograph the aforementioned pink trees and our bleeding heart. the rain will likely knock off most of the blooms.

i also had to get a photo of our japanese maple. it has filled out so quickly and is so lush and richly colored. i love that little tree.

in the meantime, we parked the pack-n-play in a shady spot of the front yard and brought izzie out for a change of scenery. izzie and didion hung out: izzie chilled while didion played with his piles of toys. note, however, that his favorite go-to toy right now is an empty wheat-thins box, that is assuming the remote control is unavailable.

izzie was super good hanging out with the kid, and didion did a great job entertaining himself. i think he really feels empowered being able to roll over and sit up without support, etc. mobility is a good thing for a kid. for parents, however, it’s another story …

now we are watching the yankees struggle against the indians in game two of their weekend series. it ain’t pretty. the mets won earlier. we’ll likely stop watching the carnage when the lakers and nuggets’ game starts in a few minutes.

though, who knows what we will be watching … i just let didion have the remote.

as promised … the macaroni and cheese recipe … (no photos, unfortunately, because it was eaten too quickly, which — if you think about it — should be the normal order of things …)

the tools

8 oz gruyere (feel free to use a little more)

8 to 12 oz extra-sharp cheddar (we go for the bigger flavor, so we use 12 oz. we also buy local new york or vermont cheese just ‘cuz we like to support the peeps … if you can find some other fabulous, funky cheddar, go for it … and then tell me about it!!!)

1 pint heavy cream (a lot of mac & cheese recipes make a roux … i’m cutting out that step and going straight for the jugular — literally and figuratively — with the cholesterol- and fat-laden heavy cream. you will definitely need 8 oz, but as you mix in and melt the cheese, you might find you need more.)

16 oz elbow macaroni (tip your hat to good health and at least make a ceremonial gesture by using whole-wheat macaroni.)

8-10 pieces thick-cut bacon

kosher salt (for boiling pasta)

freshly-ground pepper (to taste)

1 smallish to medium onion, finely diced (this is optional for onion haters like auntie loretta, to whom this recipe is lovingly dedicated and for whom it is loudly and proudly posted.)

cholesterol pills … a lot of them … keep reading, and you will see why …

the construction

preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

cook the bacon … you can do this on the stovetop OR you can do this in the oven … cover a jelly-roll pan in aluminum foil. put a rack in the pan. put the bacon strips on the rack, and stick the whole thing in a preheated 400-degree oven for at least 10 minutes … after 10 minutes, check it regularly until the bacon is done the way you like it … while the oven is preheating, boil your water for the pasta in a big pot.

while the bacon is cooking, cook and drain the pasta in salted water. (make sure to cook the pasta al dente … you’re going to be stirring it with the cheese later and then baking it off … if you overcook it in the beginning, you will have paste in the end … blech …)

while the pasta is cooking, grate the gruyere and at least 8 oz of the cheddar.

when done, take the bacon out of the oven (or off the stovetop heat). set the bacon aside and carefully pour about half of the bacon grease into a saute pan (or pour off half the grease from the pan in which you cooked the bacon).

heat the saute pan on medium heat. start sauteeing the onion. drain the pasta and return to pot (no heat on burner). pour in the first 8 oz of heavy cream. stir cream and pasta. fold in cheese. as the cheese melts in the hot pasta and cream, use your judgment about whether you might like more cream or more cheddar … it’s your call regarding texture. we like about 12 oz of cream with 8 oz of gruyere with 12 oz of cheddar … don’t forget your onions while you are stirring your macaroni.

when you have your macaroni and cheese at the texture you like, stir in some freshly ground pepper and leave it alone while you finish the onions. if you find the cheese didn’t completely melt with the radiant heat from the pasta, turn the burner on LOW until you are happy with the “melty-ness” (and i mean L-O-W … you really don’t want a mess of burnt cream, pasta, and cheese.) …

your onions should be nice and greasy and translucent by now … quickly rough-chop or crumble the bacon and add them to the onions. when the bacon bits are reheated, turn off the burner.

in a casserole, dump some of the macaroni and cheese. you will likely have a lot of mac & cheese left in the pot (depending on the size of your casserole) … THIS IS A GOOD THING!!! if you need further explanation, then you probably shouldn’t be reading this recipe in the first place. (seriously, this recipe makes a lot; though, worry not! leftovers can be easily frozen.)

cover the mac-&-cheese-laden casserole with the onion and bacon mixture … or if you are loretta, you skipped the onion rigamarole and simply crumbled the bacon 10 minutes ago …

stick the whole damn thing in your oven (still at 400 from cooking the bacon or preheating)

bake it for at least 20-25 minutes … what you are looking for is bubbling cheese and cream … browning edges and further crispiness on the bacon front …

take your cholesterol pills and enjoy …

last saturday we went over to justin & megan’s for dinner. they were grilling pork tenderloin, and since they were doing the meat, we took dessert (raspberry supreme cheesecake from the pastry garden), coleslaw, and macaroni and cheese. (i’ll post my mac & cheese recipe soon.)

the coleslaw was incredibly good. it was a mishmash of a couple of recipes i found on the foodnetwork site (thanks to paula and alton) with some tweaking on my part.

feel free to try the original recipes, but i can almost guarantee they aren’t as good as this one:

the crunch

1/2 medium-size head green cabbage — regular or napa — shredded.

1/2 medium-size head red cabbage, shredded

3 medium carrots, shredded or diced or julienned … whatever you like

3 green onions, chopped on the fine side … the green AND white parts

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 cob of corn (cut off the cob)

1/2 cup roasted (but not salted or flavored) almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 handful cilantro, finely chopped

TRICK: start with the cabbage. once you have the cabbage shredded, lay it out loosely on foil or wax paper or a cutting board … whatever. sprinkle 1-2 tsp of kosher salt all over the cabbage. lightly toss it all, and let it sit while you chop the rest of the crunchy stuff and make the dressing. (alton brown’s recipe instructs that the cabbage should sit, salted for three hours (!!!) and then rinsed thoroughly. i don’t rinse it, and i certainly don’t wait around for three hours; though, i am sure i am missing a sublime coleslaw experience.)

tell me this doesn’t look good …

the dressing

3/4 cup plain yogurt (we use low-fat yogurt from stonyfield farms.)

1/4 cup mayonnaise (we use “light” mayo.)

3 tbsp pickle juice (use whatever you like: 3 tbsp of kosher-pickle juice, or sweet-pickle juice, or some combination. we are lucky enough to have spacey tracy pickles available. we do two tbsp of juice from her sweet & spicy pickles and another tbsp of regular kosher pickle juice.)

2 tsp yellow mustard (i am sure there is room for experimentation here. honey mustard or dijon mustard or stoneground mustard … any of them would likely be tasty. we used plain old french’s, but we will try other types, i am sure.)

so it ain’t rocket science … chop everything up and mix it in a big bowl. once you have all the crunchy stuff well tossed, fold in the dressing. eat! enjoy! revel in your culinary expertise!

so i think i have come to terms with ucla’s loss. number one, i had to. i can’t be wasting any more mental energy on it. number two, the odds are quite high that if kevin love goes pro, he will likely be out here gracing the roster of one our east coast teams … with all the marbles miami is going to have, he may be on the heat, but i would hate to have him suffer under pat riley. (the state of the heat, i SWEAR, is karmic retribution for riley (or shaq) running van gundy outta town …)

better for all of us over here in didionville would be love’s coming to the knicks … if there is any justice in the universe (and we think there is — see previous parenthetical), (1) isiah thomas is out under the leadership of donnie walsh; (2) walsh can keep skeevy james dolan occupied with some vanity projects; and (3) love lands in new york to be a fresh, professional, magnanimous, driven, and talented force coming out of the garden.

of course, walsh will also have to find a coach who can motivate and manage, who knows a few things about labor law, and who can cull talent from the existing roster.

a girl can dream, can’t she?

two days before didion was due (and 12 days before he actually showed up), steven and i went to an ibm-er soiree. it was quite enjoyable, and oddly enough, i was not the only preggo woman there … two others were in attendance, but rest assured, i was the MOST preggo at the time.

anyway, one of steven’s good friends, alan, was there sharing some parenting wisdom — of which we were most definitely in need — and he summed up parenting responsibility into two categories:

1. transportation

2. containment

noting that just about everything we do with the kid will involve some consideration and assessment of each of these. to employ each of these efficiently and safely is to provide efficient and safe care for the kid.

and, boy, was he spot on. leave it to a scientist to break it down so clearly and accurately. EVERYTHING we do with didion involves critical calculations, crack logistical planning, revolving around how we are going to get the kid from point a to point b and how we are going to carry him doing same.

unsurprising, i have thought a great deal about this matter. in fact, it is no exaggeration to say that i am ALWAYS thinking about it. if i happen to be focusing in the fore on some other non-didion-related issue or activity, rest assured, i remain CONTINUOUSLY thinking about transportation and containment … a sort of background program perpetually running in my OS … but as accurate as alan was, his summary was not entirely complete.

i think, though, i have found a way to expand on alan’s construction without sacrificing any of the elegance in brevity.

enter the venn diagram:

i think steven would agree with me that from the nanosecond didion popped out, we have been continually addressing issues of transportation, containment, AND waste management in a universe of FEEDING …

and it’s not about simply transporting and containing the PERSON of the kid … it’s about transporting and containing all of the necessary EQUIPMENT of the kid … consider it the transportation and containment of the transporters and the containers … the car seats and the strollers and the clothing and the diapers and the EXTRA clothing and the EXTRA diapers and the food and the formula …

then there is the mythical intersection of all sets in the feeding universe … the transportation and containment of the kid to and on the changing table with the simulateneous critical containment and transportation of the poopy diaper either immediately pre or immediately post (and occasionally during) food consumption.

waste management has always be a major component of our daily activities … first it was addressing the very special variable that is explosive newborn poop. ( “explosive” cannot be emphasized enough.) now didion is eating solid food, it is readying oneself for meeting the new stealth poop head-on … you don’t know when it’s coming … it might have already arrived … you must be ready for all eventualities when opening any diaper.

but i digress … the point is to simply and clearly illustrate effective parenting. and i realize i’m missing all the stuff about unconditional love and incredible, indescribable joy and purposeful living that being a parent brings … but those things are invariant and involuntary … like breathing or a beating heart … much, much bigger than both steven and me … not things that we “do” but things that we “are”. today’s illustration is about parenting activities, not parenting essence.

it’s waaayyyy too late for didion to be posting, so i thought i might sub in and toot my own horn … of course, that begs the question of WHEN i have EVER been hesitant to toot said horn …

anyway … after the first four of eight sweet-16 games … i am doing EXTREMELY well … in fact, for at least 18 hours, i am ranked no. 1 in the pool clan catlett (and g-pa jer) entered … d-man is ranked third …

g-pa jer, unfortunately, is falling fast, and steven … well, let’s just say he isn’t ranked LAST …

of course, d-man and i have a critical win tomorrow that HAS to happen, or else we are in deep sh*t … i won’t name that critical win at this time … just know that it needs to happen, or else …

so i was craving fish today … fish and veggies … AND a simple dish that wouldn’t make a huge mess in the kitchen … nuttin’ is easier than baking fish fillets or steaks with veggies in foil packets …

living in poughkeepsie, THE place to go for the best fish and produce is adams fairacre farms market. their price-to-quality ratio is very good for meats and veggies … they also have very good prepared foods … AND we bought our gravel from them when we landscaped last summer … meat, fish, produce, heavy farm equipment, landscaping … what more can you ask for?!

now onto tonight’s dinner …

there really isn’t anything spectacular about what i did with the fish … foil packets with broccoli, bell peppers, green beans, carrots, lemon, and salmon steaks seasoned with salt, fresh-ground pepper, olive oil, and dried thyme …

the innovation is in what i set the salmon and veggies on when i plated …

mashed red potatoes and parsnips with marscapone and cilantro!!!

i made this one up all by myself!!!

i boiled red potatoes and parsnips in salted water until fork tender. (peel the parsnips, but not the potatoes.) i drained and mashed them up, adding a good amount of freshly ground pepper. once i had them roughly mashed, i incorporated a cup of marscapone, mashing until smooth. finally, i added about one-half cup of finely chopped fresh cilantro, folding it into the mashed marscapone/potato/parsnip mixture.

the marscapone is rich and flavorful, but lighter in texture than butter or cream. and the cilantro was such a terrific foil to the richness of the cream cheese: clean and herbal in taste with a burst of bright green color. also, the cilantro played very well with the thyme and lemon that baked into the fish and veggies.

holy crap, was it good!

***

a quick note re: pepper … there is no way we would use anything but fresh-ground pepper in our cooking, especially after ordering whole peppercorns from penzey’s spices. we make our own concoction of four peppercorn varieties: india tellicherry, malaysian sarawak white, india green, sarawak black, and — finally — pink peppercorns (which isn’t really pepper, but who cares) … when we first decided to try doing this (over a year ago), we worried that we would be spending beaucoup bucks on pepper and it would be a “one and done” kind of adventure. NOT SO! penzey’s is amazingly affordable! AND IT IS SOOOOOO WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!