Creativity: A perspective

I read Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" along with a gobzillion other people a couple of summers ago. I enjoyed it, for the most part, though had some lingering questions about her specific "marketing" (my word, not hers) of her life choices. I have been simply amazed at how the book has continued to dominate the best seller lists (it was #1 on NYT for more than a year). My appreciation for the author has grown more as I've seen her in the aftermath of the book than it did while reading it--the interviews and articles I've read about her show a level of humilty and a down-to-earth quality that appeals to me. See, I like that kind of marketing.

I saw this video and know that a few of my creative type peeps might enjoy what she has to say as well. I am impressed too with her ability to stand and speak cogently for 18 minutes toward a specific theme. That's a talent...

Friday night grateful moment

In a true step of springtime faith, I bought some primroses last weekend with the intention of putting them in our window boxes out front. That has yet to happen. Thursday they were a ray of sunshine amidst the hail and snow: At around 3 a.m. we woke to a big hailstorm that lasted loudly for five minutes or so. When we woke at 6-ish, there was snow on the ground and all the way down the mountains. Then it got sunny, everything melted and seemed springy again. Midafternoon Mom and I were deep into a Jane Austen flick "Miss Austen Regrets" when I sprang up remembering that we needed to get Seth from school. And what's going on outside but the thickest and loveliest snowfall. It lasted about an hour, and though not much ever stuck, it was so pretty to drive back and forth to school in (and back and forth; ask me about our trumpet remembering sometime!).

Today, it was sunny and clear. So that's the first thing I'm thankful for. Sunshine. Lots of it. Blue skies. Snow on the mountains, not in the yard (by noon, anyway...).

I'm also thankful for:

* Mom and Dad came on Monday and stayed until this morning. It was a lovely visit with lots of Mexican Train dominoes, lots of MSNBC (Dad) and crazy Mad Money Jim Cramer (Grandpa and Seth), and lots of Mom time for me. I abandoned work (more or less, thank you understanding boss!) and we had some lovely visits, a wee tad of shopping and yummy plentiful food!

* Seth's band concert on Tuesday night was fun (as fun as wooden bleachers for an hour can be!) and it's great to see him enjoying learning the trumpet so much. I can tell you here (since he's not a regular reader!) that his band teacher thinks he'll be great in the advanced jazz band next year, and I'm tickled for him and that opportunity (I haven't told him what his teacher said as I want him to work for it and not just assume this opportunity is coming his way). You can see above that he was thrilled to have Mom and her camera out snapping away prior to the concert!

* Family time: Wednesday we had a hookie day for Seth (teacher approved, of course, even though he has had quite a few absences lately!) and even Alan got away for an afternoon off, so that was a great midweek break.

* Haircut. Wednesday I also got a "trim," although my hairdresser informed me years ago that there's no such thing as a trim... it's always a haircut. I think she says that because some people think they should pay less if less hair is cut... anyway, it feels good, looks good (if I do say so myself) and I can wear it down easier without feeling like it's a mop. I feel springy!

* Crafty time: I am fiddling around with decopauge glue and rose petals and mostly making a mess, but maybe just maybe something pretty will come of it. Right now, I'm just thankful I had some time to experiment with it this week and my cheerleading Mom to rah! rah! as I got all gluey. I may have mentioned before, but I just love crafty time... more crafts and ideas than time to see them through...

* Chocolate and peanut butter milkshakes from the IceBurg. I know all their milkshakes are special, but to me this flavor is the best, and has been my go-to for many years. I could rave on about the onion rings and the housemade tartar sauce, and there is something about that salty-sweet thing... but the flavor I want to end on is the chocolate and peanut butter. And how.

* A return to health for all members of the family. Coughs have diminished, snotty noses disappeared, more or less. It's good. A little prolonged sunshine and we might just think we're in heaven. (And yes, Kim, I'll knock on wood as I say that. I almost feel a fever coming on as I write this!)

I think that's it for this week. I feel like I'm forgetting something important and extra-thankful-for, I'm sure it will come to me as soon as I hit the publish button!

Top Chef Finale, Part 2, the real deal, the end

The most disappointing episode of the season. Or: How Carla and Stefan bunged it up big time so Hosea could walk away with a title he doesn't deserve.

Uh-oh. Think I have an opinion? Think I'm disappointed? You'd be right. Not only did it not turn out the way I was hoping (and I had some flex there... I'd even have been OK with Carla at this point), but it was essentially a very boring and dry hour of television. There wasn't a single compelling thing about it. The food didn't even look that interesting.

Now you're just dying to read the rest of this, aren't you? Trust me, I'm actually making myself write it...

So they're given the directive: Cook the best three-course meal of your life. Sounds like a dream scenario, no? It's amazing what people will do with that sentence...

Along come Richard (season 4), Marcel (season 2) and Casey (season 4) to help out Hosea, Stefan and Carla, respectively. That alone turns out to be Carla's undoing... (see, I can build more drama than Bravo).

They cook at Commander's Palace, reknowned New Orlean's restaurant. They have the usual prep time the day before, cook time the day of. They each plan a menu, and none of the menus look or sound exceptional in any way.

They do have a table of 12 distinguished judges to cook for:

Susan Spicer of Bayona Restaurant in New Orleans

John Besh of August Restaurant in New Orleans

Hubert Keller, of many restaurants in many places

Rocco Despirito, food personality! (I made that up. I can't think of any other way to describe his brand of food/media/hype. Not that that's a bad thing.)

Tory McPHail, the executive chef of Commander's Palace.

Branford Marsalis, jazz musician phenomenon

Ti Martin, one of the owners of Commander's Palace.

Toby Young (Again? Back? Really? Yes, unfortunately. Though he was pretty inconsequential at the final judges' table.)

Fabio Vivani, recently departed from the contest. I thought this a real testament to their opinion of his food that he was invited along. I really grew to enjoy Fabio throughout this contest. I would have loved for him to be there in place of Hosea.

And of course: Gail, Tom and Padma, the holy trinity of Top Chef judging.

The one twist of the night is that three unique proteins are brought in to make a passed appetizer. Hosea wins the little contest to see who chooses the protein and assigns the others; he chooses the redfish and assigns crab to Carla and alligator to Stefan (wanting to stick it to Stefan, of course). As it turns out, they all rock this assignment, so going into the sit-down portion of the meal it's pretty much anyone's game.

Three fairly unmemorable courses later and they're back at the judges' table. Meanwhile, Carla bombed one course when her blue cheese souffle wouldn't rise, and no one was impressed with her sous vide course either--it didn't seem like her style and everyone pretty much figured (correctly) that Casey played a big hand in that style of cooking. They really felt Carla should have stuck to what she does best, her way, her style.

Stefan took some hits for doing dessert, and for doing it, as Gail Simmons said, "Very 1982." Ouch. As well, he did a fish carpaccio that he'd frozen the salmon and halibut for and when it thawed on the plate it was watery. No good. The fact that he made really great squab for his main protein was lost on them at that point. The other two courses did him in.

It really was Hosea's to lose at that point. He did all his courses well, and his venision was really good, no big mistakes, and all three courses progressed nicely in depth and heft. So there he goes: Top Chef Season 5.

Color me completely beige about the whole thing.

See you next season! Well, probably before, but you know what I mean... I will miss this weekly writing deadline! Maybe I'll have to find another food show to follow...

Mom gives a fig about me

Here's a sketch my mom did for me last fall... I just got it from her now and had to share immediately. I love it! How'd you guess?

Oscar night pasta: Angel hair with blue cheese, grapes and croutons!

This is a pasta for the brave blue cheese lover. It all began with a Mark Bittman moment (his NYT blog Bitten is a favorite of mine) over the weekend, and in getting caught up on reading his recipes and blog posts, I got further caught up in the comments... one thing led to another, I got hungry Sunday night just as the Oscars started and my own experiment took off.

Let me say, too, that the photos don't do it justice. I must have been distracted by Hugh Jackman or something...

I had never considered croutons on pasta before. Just didn't really think about it. I'm all about bread salads and such, even croutons on soup of course, but when the writer submitting the recipe mentioned croutons for the crunch factor, I had to give it a whirl. I didn't have the arugula that the original recipe called for, so in looking down in the comments I saw grapes and thought, "Oh yes!" I have always liked grapes and blue cheese together. There's a wonderful local restaurant that has a grape salad on their menu right now that is to die for, so I thought if this is even close to that...

So we begin...

To make your own croutons, cut a loaf of crusty bread into cubes. Mine got a little large, for which I was thankful later--less soggy, a little more crunchy. Toss the bread cubes with oil. I did a mixture of 2 T. olive oil, 2 T. basil grapeseed oil and 2 T. rosemary grapeseed oil. Spread on two baking sheets and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, until browned. I switched racks halfway through to get the browning even.

Cook the pasta. I went with angel hair, just loving the thinness. Before draining, reserve a half cup of the cooking liquid. Drain and set aside 2 cups of cooked pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, rinse and cut about 1.5 cups of red grapes (black grapes would also be good and I love their texture). Heat a frying pan over medium high heat and saute the grapes in a little rosemary grapeseed oil. When they are heated through and somewhat seared (happy carmelization with the sugars!), toss them in with the pasta and a half cup of blue cheese crumbles. Drizzle the pasta cooking liquid over and add a half cup of chopped basil. Toss thoroughly, add a handful of croutons and you're good to go. (Too much liquid and you'll lose the blue cheese texture, so go with a light hand on that. You won't need the full half cup.)

I scarfed happily while watching celebrities do their love-fest thing, and life was good!

Is it a quesadilla or a panini? It's a quesanini!

I'm not sure this one actually deserves a post, but I took the picture and it was yummy, so why not!? I'm less of a bready person than most, but still love the concept of a panini.

I had some fresh mozza in the fridge, and basil, and pondered what to do with it. Pizza? Too much effort (yes, it's been like that around here lately, can't you tell?). I also had some whole wheat tortillas, and a mid-winter tomato or two lying about. I hauled out the panini press, which sadly sits unused many a night, sliced the mozzarella thinly, layered it with basil leaves and tomato slices... and voila, a quesanini!

Really, quite a treat. And something I will make again!

Friday night grateful moment

Are these weeks going faster and faster? This one seemed to go even faster than usual.

Tonight I'm grateful for:

* Feeling better. We're all doing better around here, breathing easier and coughing less. Ahhh. Knock on wood that THAT continues. I was thankful for good health a couple of Friday nights ago, and look what that got me! The germ cloud descended rather quickly.

* Wednesday was a great day. Good event, nice crowd, some better-than-expected fundraising. And it was sunny to boot. I sat with a girlfriend for a couple of hours after the event--outside, on the patio at Starbucks. I could almost believe it was spring. Next morning the fog descended... but still! It was a glimpse of loveliness.

* Sleep. Some of my best sleep this week came with help from my little friend Zicam. But still, nothing tops a good few hours of concentrated sleep. I wake renewed and refreshed and ready to hit the day.

* Morning rituals. I so appreciate the beginnings of the day and the way we putter through them and get out the door mostly on time. I am still in love with our morning breakfast shake, followed by the chaser of coffee! Mmmm.

*I am thankful for our dogs. Even though they drive me crazy sometimes, and I complain about them, I do love chatting to them and seeing their happy faces at medication time in the morning, when I come home at lunch or the end of the day. I say this knowing there will still be complaints about digging and chewing and all manner of odd behavior, but right now, today, I'm grateful for them.

* I'm grateful for light. Sunlight, candle light, extra daylight at each end of the day, the light bulb... whatever chases darkness.

* I'm grateful for time, the passage of it and our ability to learn and grow through time. I know that change is hard and hardly ever really happens, but we CAN learn, we CAN grow. And some of us (who, me?) have to learn the same lesson over and over again... anyway, before I devolve away from what I'm really grateful for... it's this: that a lot of little snapshots go together to make a day, a week, a month, a year. Before you know it, you get to look back, for good or for bad, at what you've made of things. And look ahead and what you get to make next. And have the opportunity to make it what you want it to be.


* I'm grateful for my indoor herb garden, where basil and mint and thyme and chives are growing every day! I need to take another set of pictures. Just a couple of weeks makes a huge difference!

* I'm grateful for winter so that when this arrives:

I will be very thankful! Allergies and weeding and figuring out what to do with all the holes the dogs dug in the yard... I won't complain. I swear it.

Top Chef, Part One of the Finale!

Everyone shows up in New Orleans to cook for Emeril. Hmmm, I have my doubts. I'm not really that into it on many levels. Yes to the competition, but not a seafood gal. Not a Cajun gal. This will be about watching, not salivating.

How much time has elapsed? Enough time for Fabio and Carla to both get goofy (goofier in Carla’s case) hair. Hosea and Stefan’s hair both look the same—ha! Bald boys. Not much to change up. So they roll up to Houmas House plantation (see picture below). Emeril's out front with with Padma and Tom. Button bursting Emeril, the King of Creole. He seems so proud and happy to be hosting.

Quickfire time. The finalists get to relax and enjoy some southern hospitality as they won’t be competing. Out come Jamie, Jeff and Leah, the last three knife-packers. They don’t know what’s going on… they get a chance to get back in to the competition!

This doesn't impress the finalists. It's one more chef to have to compete with at the REAL finale. Says Hosea: “That’s not really the math I want right now.” Ah well, does any of that have to do with Leah being in the re-cook crew?

The three losers get a chance back in to the competition by making a crawfish dish that Emeril will say is "winning." Off they go! Jeff makes crawfish and grits with andouille sausage. Leah makes gumbo with andouille sausage. (Are we sensing a trend?) And Jamie makes corn cakes with poached eggs and greens and a crawfish cream sauce. I think there was andouille sausage in there somewhere. Her dish sounds like the one I'd have liked best. Emeril, not so much. He picks Jeff. This is the same Jeff who says about himself (in the third person, always a favorite of mine) "Jeff’s mind has a couple of different people talking in it," as he's talking about running crazy during the quickfire. Really? That's not really a sentence you want to say out loud. One would think.

But it's only kind of a win... Jeff has to take the elimination challenge completely, winner take all, to get into the finale.

So the cheftestants all go Delmonico’s for dinner. I'm a bit nervous for them. Is it too much to think that they could have something sprung on them while they’re at dinner? That might be mean, but I would love that… some all-night cooking session… but no, that would be too gritty. They all get safely through dinner and on to a good night's sleep.

The finale set up is catering for party of 100. Create two appetizers: a creole dish and another of your choice to feed the crowd, and a cocktail. Prep and cook for five hours. One hour to set up before the party. Emeril says, “Bring your technique.” I found that humorous, given his reputation. But there's more to gumbo than I thought.

The winner of challenge wins a car. Everyone is quite excited about this. Fabio’s car is a piece of “poo-op” (say that with an Italian accent); he has really grown on me with his funny little sayings. He really works the Italian angle.

The cooking prep gets to take place at Emeril's flagship restaurant, Delmonico’s, where they had dinner the night before. They get full access to the kitchen and ingredients. How fun! No excuses for not having the right cajun spices.

And then... they cook:
Hosea: Gumbo, pecan crusted catfish
Carla: Oyster stew, shrimp and andouille beignet

Stefan: Duck and rabit gumbo with grits, apple beignet
Jeff: Fried oyster with sausage and arugula, crawfish pots de crème
Fabio: Sausage and rabbit maque choux with grits, crawfish and crab stew with homemade pasta, muffuletta bread

Tom seems to have less of a poker face than usual as he's strolling the kitchen mid-prep. Some rolled eyes, some “yikes” looks. Not sure why he seems more this way, this year. Does he doubt the talent? Just getting tired of the whole thing?

The event takes place at the New Orleans Museum of Art and is a masquerade ball. The beauty of the moment: Gail is BACK!!! I didn't realize how much I would miss her until she went away! Carla also seemed overjoyed, actually yelped when she saw Gail. Yeah, Carla didn’t have a lot of love for the Toby. Me neither.

Emeril is a very giving judge. Mostly nice things to say at the party. Seems eager to please. Maybe he’ll save his criticism for the judge’s table? There was some really fun presentation of some of the dishes in clear bowls and little boxes. Together the clump of judges moves from one station to the next... some general comments...

Jeff: Favorite cocktail of the night. Pots de crème was good, great texture. Oyster dish was good, the flavor of New Orleans. Generally the judges loved his food.
Fabio: They thought he did a good job of doing creole with Italian touch. Didn’t like his cocktail. Wanted some heat from his pasta.
Stefan: Gumbo over grits. Good grits. Gumbo not so much. Beignet not so good. Too calm, not stressed at all, they weren’t impressed with that attitude.
Carla: Oyster stew was very good. Beignet was smokin’ hot, herbal note at end, could have eaten all night; Emeril thought it was OK to do in batches and folks got them fresh.
Hosea: Gail liked his roux. Emeril thought it was as good as any restaurant in town. Fish dish seemed like it could be complicated, but wasn’t.

Sounds to me from the first round of discussion that Stefan is going home. Wow, if Jeff wins, then Fabio is out too? There go the Europeans… and their confident strut. But Jeff has to be the overall winner to make that happen… will that happen? He'd have to beat out Carla and Hosea... And then, good lord, Carla wins again. Simplicity, temperature, balance, flavor, yet creative, so says Emeril. Sad to see Jeff go when his food was so good, and thought so highly of. He was never my favorite, but he did give it his all with this challenge, I felt.

Stefan is gone, I feel pretty sure. OMG it is Fabio! I am stunned. And sad. I would not have thought Stefan would make it through that judge's table… they must really like his food to put up with that attitude.

Now we are down to Hosea, Carla and Stefan. Not how I would have pictured it. At this point I am loathe to back Stefan, don't like Hosea, and well, maybe Carla will pull it off. That would be amazing. Amazing as in shocking and unbelievable.

Here's a great recap I enjoyed reading tonight. You'd think I'd get tired of this stuff. You'd be wrong. But, for the record, I don't read anyone else's recap until I've written my own. Don't know why, just seems more fair that way...

Build a little cupcake in your soul

So, things have been happening these past few weeks, though you wouldn't know it from the blog. Too busy or too sick to post, but never to busy to cook and bake and make cupcakes. More postings to come over the weekend, but I thought I'd start with the easy stuff--the cupcake baby shower at work last week.

There's no recipe for this one, since I basically did a Sandra Lee semi-homemade moment and amped up some cake mixes. This is truly just a photo opportunity. And even those I am borrowing--I forgot my camera at home so got these from the work files. I really need to remember my camera. All those years of events, and it's one of my most consistent "doh!" moments.... camera, what camera?

I was fairly happy with how they turned out. I'm not a cake decorator, but I like to pretend. One day I might actually take a class!

The blue giant cupcake I called my Smurf house; I just wanted to put a little door on the side and move in!

There's no one I'd rather be sick with

It didn't actually occur to me to post anything yesterday... it was a quiet day of sickness and sleep around here, very mellow. No cooking other than ramen (seriously) spiced up with cayenne to help with stuffiness. We're in various stages of heading back toward wellness, so our Valentine's celebration consisted of foot rubbing and card exchanges. Very peaceful.