Thursday, December 23, 2010
Happy Winter Holiday of Your Choice!
Here's hoping that you are safe, warm, and happy!
Best wishes,
Clare
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Molasses Cookies for Christmas
I'm not much of a baker. Oh,I can whip up a pie. With J peeling and slicing, we can have an apple pie "as quick as a cat can wink it's eye." And my parents baked bread all the time -- brioche, white bread, salt rising, even baguettes baked in loaf pans made from down spouts. It was the 1960's, and there wasn't a Williams Sonoma on every corner!
But not cookies. I never baked many cookies.
So at the holidays, I would bake only four kinds, and none of them fancy. Toll House, peanut butter, oatmeal, and ginger. Ginger are my favorite.
They were my mom's, too.
I don't think of Mom around Memorial Day when she died, or in January, on her birthday. But I do miss her as I'm making the one batch of cookies I will make this year. I wish she was around to enjoy one with me.
Molasses Cookies
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
3/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup white sugar
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted margarine, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour.
Roll dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks. Makes 30-36 cookies.
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| As you can see, the cookies are a "can't miss" recipe! |
So at the holidays, I would bake only four kinds, and none of them fancy. Toll House, peanut butter, oatmeal, and ginger. Ginger are my favorite.
They were my mom's, too.
I don't think of Mom around Memorial Day when she died, or in January, on her birthday. But I do miss her as I'm making the one batch of cookies I will make this year. I wish she was around to enjoy one with me.
Molasses Cookies
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
3/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup white sugar
In a medium bowl, mix together the melted margarine, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour.
Roll dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks. Makes 30-36 cookies.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Scrap Arts Music
J and I were lucky enough to go to the Nazareth Arts Center for one of the best performances I have ever seen: Scrap Arts Music. If I tell you that Scrap Arts Music is an hour and a half of percussion on 147 instruments that you have never ever seen before, it doesn't even come close to explaining it.
If soap bubbles were music, they would be Scrap Arts Music.
If ASL poetry were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If my turquoise ring were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If a chocolate milkshake were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If new leather gloves were music, they would be Scrap Arts Music.
Maybe it would be better if you just saw for yourself!
Here's their calendar -- if you can swing it, do yourself a favor and go see Scrap Arts Music!
If soap bubbles were music, they would be Scrap Arts Music.
If ASL poetry were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If my turquoise ring were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If a chocolate milkshake were music, it would be Scrap Arts Music.
If new leather gloves were music, they would be Scrap Arts Music.
Maybe it would be better if you just saw for yourself!
Here's their calendar -- if you can swing it, do yourself a favor and go see Scrap Arts Music!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Looking Forward To Vij's Restaurant
J and I have decided that this year's vacation is going to be a train trip in the Canadian Rockies. (Of course I say "decided" like it means "decided". Our plans are aways evolving, and anything is possible!) If we make it to Vancouver, BC, I would very much like to visit Vij's Restaurant. I saw some recipes on line from there, and was inspired to buy one of their cookbooks.
Tonight I made a chickpea curry -- Chickpeas in Star Anise and Date Masala-- and marinated lamb chops in coarse Dijon mustard before I grilled it. I had originally intended to make the Fenugreek Curry that Vij's crafted for the lamb. But I mistakenly bought fenugreek seed, not leaves, so I decided that I would wait until another day.
The chickpeas were wonderful. I had never used black cardamom. It gave the chickpeas a wonderful, smoky flavor. Maybe you don't have all the called for spices in your cupboard -- well get out there and buy them! And maybe you've never had dates in your chickpeas? I never had. But take my word for it -- the dish was wonderful. I will definitely make this again!
I served swiss chard with the lamb and chickpeas. Here's a tip for washing greens: I fill the sink very full with cold water and throw in the greens. Then, after letting them lit, I pull them out before draining the water. Be sure to wash the sink because it will have a lot of dirt in it! Lather, rinse, repeat -- well, don't lather.
After the greens were nice and clean, I cut off the tough stems. Then I saute some garlic in my biggest frying fpan, give the greens a rough chop, and throw them in. Add a little water, then cover them tight. In about 10 minutes, they will be ready.
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| That's a date, not a piece of meat, in the masala. |
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| Washing the chard is easy, if you know how! |
After the greens were nice and clean, I cut off the tough stems. Then I saute some garlic in my biggest frying fpan, give the greens a rough chop, and throw them in. Add a little water, then cover them tight. In about 10 minutes, they will be ready.
Chickpeas in Star Anise and Date Masala
3 15-ounce cans chickpeas (or 1½ cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked)
2 black cardamom pods
1⁄3cup neutral cooking oil, like canola
1 medium-large Spanish onion, peeled and chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2½ tablespoons tomato paste
9 dried dates, pitted and chopped
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cayenne, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
2 whole star anise, or 1⁄3 teaspoon ground.
1. Drain the chickpeas and set aside in a nonreactive bowl.
2. With a knife, lightly crack the cardamom pods. Peel the shell to release the seeds and collect them in a small bowl. Discard the shells. With a rolling pin or a mortar and pestle, crush the seeds (you can leave them whole if you don’t mind biting into them) and set aside.
3. In a medium pot set over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Add the onions and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, until they have softened and started to brown. Stir in the garlic and sauté for a minute or so, until it, too, has softened. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the tomato paste. Add the cardamom and all remaining ingredients and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes.
4. Add the chickpeas and ½ cup or more of water, enough to make them less than dry. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally to incorporate the flavors, and keep warm until serving. Serves 6. Adapted from Vij’s Restaurant, Vancouver, British Columbia
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Friday, November 12, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Nazareth College Arts Center: The Merchants of Bollywood
Honest, sometimes it feels like the arts options in Rochester are unlimited. This year we have subscribed to a series of programs from the Nazareth Arts Center. Last week our first program, the Merchants of Bollywood, presented. It was a great show, very enthusiastic and over-the-top as things from India can be when viewed with American eyes. I think the actors probably thought we were sticks-in-the-mud because we didn't much get into the call-and-response parts of the show. But I think the audience all enjoyed it. I'm including this clip from YouTube. But there is a long lead in before you actually get to the music, so sorry about that.
The next program will be ScrapArtsMusic on November 14.
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, October 30, 2010
We are so lucky, here in Rochester, to have an orchestra like the RPO. Our concertmaster is Juliana Athayde, and I feel like the Orchestra has just gotten better and better since she joined us in 2005.
This week's concert was simply amazing, probably one of my favorites ever. The program included Mephisto Waltz No. 1 by Franz Listz. Here is a video of Bayram Karamenderes playing. The version we heard at the RPO was arranged for orchestra. According to the program, "Many composers of the Romantic era were drawn to the macabre. The medieval legend of Faust, the learned doctor who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for great knowledge and eternal your, attracted legions of them."
The second selection of the evening was Concerto in A Minor for Oboe and String Orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The oboe solo was played by our own Erik Behr. Rochester audiences are very generous, but we all were proud of Erik's performance and he was rewarded with an enthusiastic standing ovation. Erik was grinning ear-to-ear! This YouTube video doesn't really do justice to the piece. The oboe sounds kind of thin and tinny in it. But it will give you a (faint) idea of what the second movement was like.
The second half of the concert was Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 in D monor, Op 70. Dvorak usually pulls from the folk songs of his youth, and those are my favorites. This symphony doesn't come from that place, but rather is an experiment in expanding his creative range. Even still, I love Dvorak.
Isn't it wonderful that I can illustrate my blog posting with excerpts from the music itself? Amazing!
This week's concert was simply amazing, probably one of my favorites ever. The program included Mephisto Waltz No. 1 by Franz Listz. Here is a video of Bayram Karamenderes playing. The version we heard at the RPO was arranged for orchestra. According to the program, "Many composers of the Romantic era were drawn to the macabre. The medieval legend of Faust, the learned doctor who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for great knowledge and eternal your, attracted legions of them."
The second selection of the evening was Concerto in A Minor for Oboe and String Orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The oboe solo was played by our own Erik Behr. Rochester audiences are very generous, but we all were proud of Erik's performance and he was rewarded with an enthusiastic standing ovation. Erik was grinning ear-to-ear! This YouTube video doesn't really do justice to the piece. The oboe sounds kind of thin and tinny in it. But it will give you a (faint) idea of what the second movement was like.
The second half of the concert was Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 in D monor, Op 70. Dvorak usually pulls from the folk songs of his youth, and those are my favorites. This symphony doesn't come from that place, but rather is an experiment in expanding his creative range. Even still, I love Dvorak.
Isn't it wonderful that I can illustrate my blog posting with excerpts from the music itself? Amazing!
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