I'm listening to James Brown. Just finished making and eating a few snickerdoodles with a mug of cinnamon apple tea. They turned out a bit too crunchy (normal for our oven seeing as it's a piece of crap that burns the tops of things and leaves the centers uncooked) but good other than that.
My roommate, Emma, walked in as they were coming out. She tore a ligament in her knee after falling down yesterday and now has it wrapped up and immobilized in a type of half-cast. I made her try one, and after tasting it she said "I didn't realize how much I needed sugar until I had one!" and then proceeded to eat 4 more :) Nacho, a different roommate who's a good cook and therefore a bit judgmental about food. He had one and came back for seconds.
Thank goodness they ate some. I made enough for at least 8 people.
Which brings me to the title of the post. Snickerdoodles (aka sugar and spice and butter) make people feel good. And sharing snickerdoodles while eating them yourself makes you feel even better. I'm feeling great right now.
And to make things better, I came across this gem on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5HRzaOFhec
Enjoy.
miércoles, 24 de noviembre de 2010
lunes, 22 de noviembre de 2010
miércoles, 17 de noviembre de 2010
Dragons... and why I like the metro
Three days ago I painted a picture of a dragon on an index card with a mix of instant coffee, old red wine, and charcoal, inspired by one among many video lectures I've been watching lately in a series of 10-20 minute talks sponsored by TED. (If you're interested, they can be seen here http://www.ted.com/talks) This particular one talked about video games, psychology, learning, and motivation. One of the games mentioned has the goal of teaming up with other players to kill dragons. I'm thinking about the role of games in "formal education" as well as in learning outside of a school building.
Then as I was leaving the metro on my way home from work, I passed by a man with a great sweater walking with his 3 or 4 year old grandson. Since I'm teaching elementary school this year, and more specifically 4, 5, and 6 year old kids, I find adults' conversations with children of that age more interesting than I ever have before.
The only part of the conversation I over heard was the grandfather saying, in a very driven tone of voice, the following:
Exacto. Es un dragon que podemos usar para....
(Translation: Exactly. It's a dragon that we can use to....)
And then I turned the corner up the stairs to exit, so I missed the end of it.
I've been thinking about it and coming up with possible endings all afternoon.
This is one reason that I like riding the metro to work. And dragons.
Dragon picture courtesy of Google images. This is NOT the painting I mentioned at the beginning of the post. My painting skills are not up to a feat like this. Yet. ;)
Then as I was leaving the metro on my way home from work, I passed by a man with a great sweater walking with his 3 or 4 year old grandson. Since I'm teaching elementary school this year, and more specifically 4, 5, and 6 year old kids, I find adults' conversations with children of that age more interesting than I ever have before.
The only part of the conversation I over heard was the grandfather saying, in a very driven tone of voice, the following:
Exacto. Es un dragon que podemos usar para....
(Translation: Exactly. It's a dragon that we can use to....)
And then I turned the corner up the stairs to exit, so I missed the end of it.
I've been thinking about it and coming up with possible endings all afternoon.
This is one reason that I like riding the metro to work. And dragons.
Dragon picture courtesy of Google images. This is NOT the painting I mentioned at the beginning of the post. My painting skills are not up to a feat like this. Yet. ;)
lunes, 15 de noviembre de 2010
Adventures at home: Intuitive Sourbread Bread Making
Some people have pets to take care of and feed. Other people have children. I have a sourdough starter.
Although there are lots of types of bread that can be made with out one, some breads need a starter. Once it is active and healthy, a sourdough starter is a mix of natural yeast, water, and flour that has a consistency like pancake batter. I spend a few days during my first week in my apartment here in Madrid trying to activate a powder sourdough starter mix that my mom bought for me in Alaska by mixing it with water and flour and trying to keep it as warm as possible. In theory the mix would have started bubbling within a day or two. Mine barely bubbled, so I was worried it might be dead or unhealthy (or just inactive because our apartment was a bit cold, and while working during the day, it was hard to make sure the starter was warm enough while I was gone.)
Like a pet or a child, starters need to be fed. Once a week, I use about a cup of my starter and replenish/feed it with a cup of warm water and flour. After leaving it in a warm place for 3 hours, it now bubbles nicely. This feeding process keeps the yeast healthy and keeps the starter ready for whatever baking I might want to do in the following weeks.
BEFORE PICTURE: Risen dough. It's ALIVE....
To date, I have made 4 loaves of sourdough bread and one batch of sourdough pancakes. The first loaf was dark on the outside, less than cooked on the inside, and fairly ugly. After flipping it over and baking for twice the recommended time it was finally cooked but even uglier than before.
Since then, each loaf has turned out better than the previous one. Whether it's because I'm getting better at making dough, because the starter is more well-fed, because I'm figuring out the trick to working with my apartment's horrible oven, or just plain luck is unclear. (More about my oven in a post in a few days...)
AFTER PICTURE: Second loaf of sourdough bread. Before being devoured by Kim, Omar, and I with chicken and avocado. Followed by salsa dancing at Azucar near Atocha.
After the second loaf (seen above), I brought my sheet of sourdough recipes and some starter to brunch at a friend's house to make sourdough pancakes. I don't know what happened to it, but I haven't seen it since even though I'm sure I put it in my bag before leaving.
My latest attempt was 2 loaves at once. Small loaves since the last 2 were enormous. Since I couldn't find my recipe sheet and was too stubborn to look up a recipe online, I made the dough by what little I could remember and "intuition." A spoonful of sugar, a pinch of salt, some yeast, a bit of water, starter, and lots of flour. I added flour and kneaded until it "felt" right (not something I expected to do successfully since I had only made bread twice before in my life...)
They turned out wonderfully and were both gone within 2 days. My roommates helped.
Especially good warm with a spinach/herb cream cheese/onion spread that I mixed up as an experiment.
Yet another good adventure while at home alone.
Take home lesson: In baking, as in many things, using a combination of intuition, a sense of adventure, and experience often works out better than following the technical, no questions asked, step-by-step approach of someone else's recipe.
Although there are lots of types of bread that can be made with out one, some breads need a starter. Once it is active and healthy, a sourdough starter is a mix of natural yeast, water, and flour that has a consistency like pancake batter. I spend a few days during my first week in my apartment here in Madrid trying to activate a powder sourdough starter mix that my mom bought for me in Alaska by mixing it with water and flour and trying to keep it as warm as possible. In theory the mix would have started bubbling within a day or two. Mine barely bubbled, so I was worried it might be dead or unhealthy (or just inactive because our apartment was a bit cold, and while working during the day, it was hard to make sure the starter was warm enough while I was gone.)
Like a pet or a child, starters need to be fed. Once a week, I use about a cup of my starter and replenish/feed it with a cup of warm water and flour. After leaving it in a warm place for 3 hours, it now bubbles nicely. This feeding process keeps the yeast healthy and keeps the starter ready for whatever baking I might want to do in the following weeks.
BEFORE PICTURE: Risen dough. It's ALIVE....
To date, I have made 4 loaves of sourdough bread and one batch of sourdough pancakes. The first loaf was dark on the outside, less than cooked on the inside, and fairly ugly. After flipping it over and baking for twice the recommended time it was finally cooked but even uglier than before.
Since then, each loaf has turned out better than the previous one. Whether it's because I'm getting better at making dough, because the starter is more well-fed, because I'm figuring out the trick to working with my apartment's horrible oven, or just plain luck is unclear. (More about my oven in a post in a few days...)
AFTER PICTURE: Second loaf of sourdough bread. Before being devoured by Kim, Omar, and I with chicken and avocado. Followed by salsa dancing at Azucar near Atocha.
After the second loaf (seen above), I brought my sheet of sourdough recipes and some starter to brunch at a friend's house to make sourdough pancakes. I don't know what happened to it, but I haven't seen it since even though I'm sure I put it in my bag before leaving.
My latest attempt was 2 loaves at once. Small loaves since the last 2 were enormous. Since I couldn't find my recipe sheet and was too stubborn to look up a recipe online, I made the dough by what little I could remember and "intuition." A spoonful of sugar, a pinch of salt, some yeast, a bit of water, starter, and lots of flour. I added flour and kneaded until it "felt" right (not something I expected to do successfully since I had only made bread twice before in my life...)
They turned out wonderfully and were both gone within 2 days. My roommates helped.
Especially good warm with a spinach/herb cream cheese/onion spread that I mixed up as an experiment.
Yet another good adventure while at home alone.
Take home lesson: In baking, as in many things, using a combination of intuition, a sense of adventure, and experience often works out better than following the technical, no questions asked, step-by-step approach of someone else's recipe.
jueves, 11 de noviembre de 2010
Roommates
I have such good roommates.
This morning (afternoon) I woke up at 2 pm. I woke up late because I've been a bit sick, so I didn't sleep very well because of a cough.
I went into the kitchen for some green tea and breakfast, and Emma and Nacho were both sitting there at the table. Nacho had just finished making fideua, a typical seafood dish made with thin noodles and vegetables from Valencia, the region in Spain where he's from. He's a very good cook. He offered me some because he had made too much (most likely on purpose), so I had a plate for breakfast. Que rico! How delicious!
(For a description and picture of fideua see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fideu%C3%A0)
Then I went to hang up a load of laundry that I had done the night before and found the washing machine full and running. I asked Nacho and Emma about it. Apparently Emma asked him whose clothes were in the machine, and when he told her that I hadn't slept well because I'd been up coughing all night, she hung up all my laundry for me.
Then I tried to wash the dishes (mine from the night before making soup and some of Nacho's from the fideua). Emma was already in the middle of doing them. I told her to leave half so I could finish them. Sat down with yet another mug of green tea and talked to Nacho for a bit, and when I looked over she was on the last pan. I asked what she thought she was doing by not leaving me any to do, and she just dismissed me with a "eh. I was already cleaning them and in the dish-washing zone. You've done my dishes other days." and finished cleaning it.
I asked if either of them wanted some green tea or any other kind of tea (they never do, so it was mostly a joke), and they made fun of me for drinking so much tea. Then they decided that I'm still sick because I don't have a "nice madrileno man" (guy from Madrid) to take care of me properly. I told them that if they felt like finding me a quality one that I wouldn't be opposed to it but that I don't plan to look for one myself, and they said they would work on it. (Hopefully a joke.) They're as good as being sarcastic and giving people crap as they are at cooking and sharing.
En fin, I'm happy with where I'm living and the people I'm living with.
Me, Nacho, and Emma on our couch before a black-and-white birthday party.
Quick background of each of the roommates:
Emma -- She is a 24 year old law student. She was born in Mexico where she lived for 12 years before living in Sacramento for 2 years and then moving to Galicia (Spain) with her mom and stepdad. Her mom is Mexican and her dad is from Pennsylvania and doesn't speak a word of Spanish. He's currently living in California and working as a chef. Now she has been in Madrid for 2 or 3 years studying. She has a lot of friends, likes dressing up to go out dancing, has tons of shoes (mostly heels), and is extremely honest, intelligent, and direct while still being kind.
Nacho -- He is in his first year of an engineering program here in Madrid. He's 22 years old and from Valencia (Spain). The other day he made 8 liters of sangria in our kitchen because a few people were coming over. Half of it is still in our refrigerator because he overestimated so badly. He likes sweet drinks, soccer, and cooking. His parents own an Italian restaurant in the town he's from. He gives everyone shit. All the time. He likes traveling, drinking, and meeting new people.
Joseph -- The one roommate not mentioned in the story above. He's from Paris and is 24 or 25 years old. He speaks some Spanish, but not a lot. Since our schedules don't coincide much and since he spends a lot of time with some of his French friends, I don't see him as much as I see my other roommates, but when I do, he's always very pleasant. He's studying for a masters in business and will only be here for 4 months. He's married and has a 2 month old baby boy. His wife and baby are both in Paris, so he flies home almost every other weekend to visit them and talks on Skype a lot. He doesn't like cooking very much and usually eats pasta with butter and shredded emmental cheese. As in... 6/7 days probably. He likes to watch movies and is a nice, although sometime not very present, roommate.
This morning (afternoon) I woke up at 2 pm. I woke up late because I've been a bit sick, so I didn't sleep very well because of a cough.
I went into the kitchen for some green tea and breakfast, and Emma and Nacho were both sitting there at the table. Nacho had just finished making fideua, a typical seafood dish made with thin noodles and vegetables from Valencia, the region in Spain where he's from. He's a very good cook. He offered me some because he had made too much (most likely on purpose), so I had a plate for breakfast. Que rico! How delicious!
(For a description and picture of fideua see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fideu%C3%A0)
Then I went to hang up a load of laundry that I had done the night before and found the washing machine full and running. I asked Nacho and Emma about it. Apparently Emma asked him whose clothes were in the machine, and when he told her that I hadn't slept well because I'd been up coughing all night, she hung up all my laundry for me.
Then I tried to wash the dishes (mine from the night before making soup and some of Nacho's from the fideua). Emma was already in the middle of doing them. I told her to leave half so I could finish them. Sat down with yet another mug of green tea and talked to Nacho for a bit, and when I looked over she was on the last pan. I asked what she thought she was doing by not leaving me any to do, and she just dismissed me with a "eh. I was already cleaning them and in the dish-washing zone. You've done my dishes other days." and finished cleaning it.
I asked if either of them wanted some green tea or any other kind of tea (they never do, so it was mostly a joke), and they made fun of me for drinking so much tea. Then they decided that I'm still sick because I don't have a "nice madrileno man" (guy from Madrid) to take care of me properly. I told them that if they felt like finding me a quality one that I wouldn't be opposed to it but that I don't plan to look for one myself, and they said they would work on it. (Hopefully a joke.) They're as good as being sarcastic and giving people crap as they are at cooking and sharing.
En fin, I'm happy with where I'm living and the people I'm living with.
Me, Nacho, and Emma on our couch before a black-and-white birthday party.Quick background of each of the roommates:
Emma -- She is a 24 year old law student. She was born in Mexico where she lived for 12 years before living in Sacramento for 2 years and then moving to Galicia (Spain) with her mom and stepdad. Her mom is Mexican and her dad is from Pennsylvania and doesn't speak a word of Spanish. He's currently living in California and working as a chef. Now she has been in Madrid for 2 or 3 years studying. She has a lot of friends, likes dressing up to go out dancing, has tons of shoes (mostly heels), and is extremely honest, intelligent, and direct while still being kind.
Nacho -- He is in his first year of an engineering program here in Madrid. He's 22 years old and from Valencia (Spain). The other day he made 8 liters of sangria in our kitchen because a few people were coming over. Half of it is still in our refrigerator because he overestimated so badly. He likes sweet drinks, soccer, and cooking. His parents own an Italian restaurant in the town he's from. He gives everyone shit. All the time. He likes traveling, drinking, and meeting new people.
Joseph -- The one roommate not mentioned in the story above. He's from Paris and is 24 or 25 years old. He speaks some Spanish, but not a lot. Since our schedules don't coincide much and since he spends a lot of time with some of his French friends, I don't see him as much as I see my other roommates, but when I do, he's always very pleasant. He's studying for a masters in business and will only be here for 4 months. He's married and has a 2 month old baby boy. His wife and baby are both in Paris, so he flies home almost every other weekend to visit them and talks on Skype a lot. He doesn't like cooking very much and usually eats pasta with butter and shredded emmental cheese. As in... 6/7 days probably. He likes to watch movies and is a nice, although sometime not very present, roommate.
miércoles, 10 de noviembre de 2010
lunes, 8 de noviembre de 2010
Here I Go Again by Whitesnake
Song of the week:
"I don't know where I'm going
but I sure know where I've been
hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again.
Tho' I keep searching for an answer
I never seem to find what I'm looking for.
Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.
Just another heart in need of rescue
waiting on love's sweet charity
an' I'm gonna hold on for the rest of my days
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a hobo I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again,
here I go again, here I go.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again,
here I go again, here I go,
here I go again"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oohFGOmcxuo
"I don't know where I'm going
but I sure know where I've been
hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again.
Tho' I keep searching for an answer
I never seem to find what I'm looking for.
Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.
Just another heart in need of rescue
waiting on love's sweet charity
an' I'm gonna hold on for the rest of my days
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a hobo I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again,
here I go again, here I go.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.
Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again,
here I go again, here I go,
here I go again"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oohFGOmcxuo
jueves, 4 de noviembre de 2010
Halloween
lunes, 1 de noviembre de 2010
Soup of the week
My friend Ann just asked me if I had any soup recipes for soup beginners. She's the inspiration for this post about my lastest home-by-myself cooking adventure. Here's my response.
-----------------------------
Do you have an immersion blender by any chance?
Lastest soup experiment (and it's vegan, so extra plus there)
Grill up a little diced garlic -- one tooth (Spanish is "diente" clove maybe? i forget the word in english..) in a pot w/ some olive oil (extra virgin is the best)
Toss the garlic (unless you really like garlic)
Keep the oil -- will have a little garlic-y taste
Add 4 chopped carrots and 2 regular sized chopped potatoes
Add water until the veggies are just covered. (Oil might splatter, be careful)
Boil until veggies are soft.
Drizzle with olive oil and add about 2 tbsp of white vinegar (to taste)
Blend with immersion blender until consistency is even
Add more water if you want. And a little more olive oil.
Sprinkle w/ salt, pepper, and oregano.
Will stay good in the fridge up to 4 or 5 days and probably would freeze well also.
To make it a little creamier (and less vegan), melt in a little cream cheese.
It comes out a fabulous autumn-y pumpkin-y orange. So that's always nice :)
Very good w/ fresh bread. Once I figure out my oven (it's a little... special), I'm thinking of making some sourdough...
The same type of idea works with pretty much any veggies, so it's perfect if you have any that are about to go bad. I made it w/ spinach and zucchini the other day, and it was delicious as well. Kind of looks like baby food when it's green, but not in a bad way.
Buen provecho! Enjoy!
I was too hungry to take a picture before I started eating it, so it's not the most beautiful picture in the world. But it gives you an idea for the color of the soup. See picture at the top for a pre-snacking photo.
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