The Great (online) Cookie Exchange

It's been cold here, more so than usual.  So why not before you begin the baking task treat yourself to a little nip of something?  

Ok, perhaps before you start baking isn't the best time...but if you're entertaining a surly group of travel weary types suffering the ill-effects of shopping burn out, this might be just be what you're looking for.  

It does take a little time, but well worth the wait.  

Trust mouse.  

Traditional Tom and Jerry

12 egg(s)

1 cup sugar

1 bottle brandy (or bourbon)

Pinch of ground allspice

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves

1 bottle dark rum

milk

nutmeg

Instructions:

Please remember the average shot glass holds roughly 1.5 or 2oz of liquid so if you're using a shot glass to measure your alcohol adjust the amounts accordingly. 

Separate the 12 eggs, whew.  Beat the whites until they're super stiff, like you can turn the whole bowl upside down...No don't do that.  Lift the beaters, and if the peaks don't bend much, you're good to go.  Usually mouse throws them into the stand mixer and just lets it go while she does the other stuff...

In another bowl take your 12 yolks and add 1 cup of sugar (you can also toss in your spices too, bit of allspice, cinnamon, ground cloves, or whatever you have -- but don't add nutmeg...that's for garnish.  

To that you'll want to add 4oz of brandy the egg yolks will look very thin and pale.  

Fold that into the stiff egg whites, slowly and carefully -- you're making a batter, a nice somewhat stiff batter here.  

You can store it a few hours in the fridge.  

Now to serve it:  

Heat milk on the stove top, do not boil just heat it, so it's good and hot and just about ready to boil.  

Add a tablespoon of the batter to a coffee mug, and to that add one ounce of brandy and one ounce of dark rum.  Stir constantly because you don't want to the batter to curdle.  Now, fill with the hot milk, stir more until frothy and dust with a bit of nutmeg.  

If you find it's too rich, you can cut it with half milk and half water (heated naturally).  Some people just add water, but mouse doesn't care for that.  

A word about eggs.  You'll notice the eggs aren't cooked, ah but they really are when you add the hot milk, the eggs will cook then if your milk is at at least 160 degrees any bacteria in the eggs is destroyed and probably safer than a real Caesar salad.  

Pro tip:  

You can certainly mix the whole thing ahead (with alcohol added) and keep warm in a heat proof bowl or even a thermos.

To future readers this blog was flagged by blogger for some sort of “community guideline violation” the only thing that could possibly be wrong was a problem with a link to a long defunct blog, as such are often usurped by porn sites.  

Other than that possibility we see nothing wrong with this post. 

Recipes

When mouse finds herself with nothing exciting to do, often she'll look through old cookbooks she's acquired over the years. Believe it or not, they're fun to read. One mouse has been looking through is from the 1940s, and entitled, The New Bride's Cookbook. It probably belonged one of mouse's great aunts who was married around the time. What makes it fascinating to mouse isn't the recipes but the ads. It's chocked full of ads for long forgotten stores, butchers, dress makers, and even coupons in the back and some WWII ration cards! Bring the coupon with the accompanying ration card and you too can buy sugar for just fifteen cents a pound!

It's also classic Old San Francisco, phone numbers included are all Mission this, North Beach, Telegraph that...

The recipes are fairly simple, and a bit dull. A beef stroganoff recipe was marked saying to only get the egg noodles from some grocery in China town and another said to buy the Pasta at the Italian shop, next to a butcher (from the address mouse strongly suspects is now the Molinari Deli). Some recipes aren't really recipes but rather a list of ingredients. Still others begin by saying go into the backyard and find the biggest chicken and cut its head off. Then proceeds in minute detail on removing the feathers, proper dressing (which mouse presumes didn't mean stuffing the bird with seasoned bread cubes), but goes little further. Clearly going back to a time when people did keep chickens and rabbits in backyard pens and coops, a tradition that continued well into mouse's time, but died out with its older (mostly Italian decent) residents and changing city ordinances provided end (with the exception mouse is told, being San Francisco's famous, or infamous, China Town).

It's odd taking the mental walking tour into the past, one that mouse scarcely knew about since it was decades before her birth, but vividly recalled and being regaled with stories from back in that day.

The reason for this? In just 6 weeks we'll be departing for the lake and mouse wants to carry with her some recipes. Of course she'll bring her tried and true recipes along with her, but she wants newer (old) recipes to add to the collection. Specifically looking for older cake and pie recipes that seem lacking, along with quick breads and other yummy things no one should eat save for when you're on vacation. Here we rarely do dessert, but while on vacation, mouse is baking cakes or pies two - three times a week, and cookies are done dozens at a time on Sunday's so we have plenty for snacks and to give away to neighbors. With the abundance of fresh fruits it's really far less expensive to just bake a cake or peach pie or crumble (which are easier) and homemade ice cream, rather than spend lots of money on the bakery that caters to the weekenders.

Honestly, mouse has thought about seriously living there year around, but the lack of amenities (let alone a Target that isn't two hours away) would drive her crazy. No cable tv or internet -- yeah that might send mouse over the bend. For a couple months and the odd week here and there it's wonderful and nice to just get away.

 

Back to Basics

Doesn't everyone hate Monday? Well -- maybe not Monday exactly, whatever day is your default start of the week. Monday's around here, especially after vacations, holidays are especially rough. It's the whole slipping back into routine, which for us is a new routine. Monday began early -- pleasuring Daddy the way he enjoys, then getting the coffee started, and exercising. Finally, showering, getting laced up in pretty bondage (corset) and waking the kids, cooking breakfast and finally going over the daily agenda.

All the errands, deli, butcher shop, bakery, vegetable stand -- it really at times makes mouse miss going to the grocery store, except at the grocer we actually spent more for less quality -- go figure. Plus other stops like the post office, dry cleaner...oh getting gas too. But Daddy didn't send mouse unprepared; her tight corset made her feel contained and the smacks to her rear he applied that morning reminded mouse of him. Of course, there was also the frequent text messages to and from Daddy on her progress.

The cleaning schedule was light, so Babygirl and mouse went to the library for noon story time and crafts, where we made macaroni necklaces. While the baby napped, mouse cut up 4 chickens and tossing the backs (along with some others saved in the freezer) into a pot for stock and later soup, and wrapped most of the parts for the freezer.

Dinner consisted of some veal cutlets which mouse made into an Italian dish with capers, wine and mushrooms. Zucchini, onions, garlic and some heirloom tomato, and fresh basil. Dessert was a simple pear and Brie popover type of thing -- drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar -- Served later.

Believe it or not the meal took only 40 minutes to prepare.

Also did some prep for the next meals because why just cut up one onion when you can do more? Routinely mouse keeps bags of gut up veggies to throw into a soup or whatever she's planning on cooking.

Tonight's meal will be even more simple, a nice peice of fish pan cooked with some left-over Italian style veggies -- something Daddy will certainly enjoy might even toss in some olives as a surprise for him.

For Wednesday, mouse is doing a dry run, on a fancy meal she's planning for February, ossobucco, which is traditionally braised veal shank, with polenta If its a hit might repeat it for Passover (without the polenta since it MUST have cream, butter and all the goodness that's totally not kosher).

Thursday, we have dinner plans to eat out and a babysitter has been arranged.

Friday, Shabbat, a nice large roasted chicken, pan cooked new potatoes with fresh herbs, veggies and probably a gravy.

Saturday Shabbat, cold left-over chicken for lunch.

Saturday after Shabbat ends, pan seared fish with steamed veggies.

Sunday meal...well, mouse hasnt gotten that far yet.

 

Shabbat Shalom

Today is Friday the week is nearly over. Today it's all about Shabbat and preparing.

Now, mouse isn't Jewish, nor does she pretend to be, but she does try very hard to keep Shabbat and kosher, not because she believes but out of respect for Daddy's traditions. There are no extra 5 Things for Daddy because this whole day is really done for him. It's out of love and respect for his beliefs. If mouse had to pick a religion, it would probably be Judaism. Daddy doesn't mind that mouse fakes the prayers, or outrightly doesn't believe. What he sees is only the deference she offers.

It also cannot be over-stated that mouse loves this time of the year, because we light candles at 8:05PM. It gives mouse plenty of daylight to complete this seemingly exhaustive list.

The list for today is about renewing promises and fresh starts:

• Change all bedding, air mattresses
• Wash, fold, iron and put away sheets
• Run to bakery for Challah, candles and pie
• Pick-up dry cleaning
• Buy fresh flowers
• Keep certain lights on
• Light candles (all night candles) in fireplace
• Cut up meat, veggies for stew
• Prep chicken for meal
• Hard boil eggs
• Unplug washer/dryer, leave door open to air
• Turn off heater
• Tape light in refrigerator.
• Vacuum as needed
• Put stew in oven
• Cook chicken, side dishes, keep warm
• Fill thermos of hot water
• Fill kettle
• Empty pockets of money, tidy purse
• Polish Silver (if not done on Thursday)
• Replace toys with Shabbat toys
• Feed kids a snack
• Set Shabbat table
• Open 3 bottles of wine
• Save ice, turn off ice-maker
• Store water in refrigerator
• Make some appetizers
• Double check list!
• Breathe -- Enjoy Shabbat

 

A Journey

Moments will often usurp or invade mouse's thoughts and her energy divides. Remembering for mouse to take a moment to breathe is a small way of reclaiming these thoughts end placing them in an order that for her makes sense.

Today is Monday, May 13, 2013 and it's around 10am. Nothing so far has been accomplished, save for getting kiddo off to school and Daddy off to work and a little blogging. The year is nearly half over-with! Breathe

Today, the plan is to accomplish:

• Tidy the bathrooms and living spaces.
• Vacuum living spaces
• At least one load of laundry
• Plan meals for the week
• Grocery Shop
• Spend 15 extra minutes tidying up the kitchen
• 5 Things for Daddy

Tomorrow's Plan for May 14, 2013

 

• Go to gym
• Tidy bathrooms/living spaces
• Vacuum traffic areas
• At least one load of laundry
• Spend 15 minutes tidying up kitchen drawers
• 5 Things for Daddy

Breathe -- it's all possible

 

Old Mother Hubbard...

While Daddy was away, mouse decided it was time to really go through the cabinets.  It was a nice, distracting process and kiddo assisted by standing on a chair and grabbing things mouse couldn't reach.  

Now, this was a process started before Passover, when it was necessary to rid out our home of any Chametz for the holiday.  Looking at the cupboards tho, mouse noticed there were other things, not forbidden that really needed to be gone through.  Unopened bottles of hot sauces, jars of something, canned goods no one eats...

So mouse began the process of removing the stuff, all the stuff, and checking "Best By" dates.  Shamefully 90% of the cabinet was junk.  Too old to even go to a food bank.  Deplorable!   The lower (snack) cabinets the kids have were no better in fact they were a good deal worse because mouse won't even begin to try to describe what she found lurking there.  

Now, our dietary needs have changed also since we've been together.  Daddy hates anything pretty much that comes in a package, so those packaged or convenience rice packages and couscous just languished on the shelves.   Rice, breads, starches and other grains have long since vanished from our diets because of the havoc they cause Daddy and his blood sugars.  He's really not afraid of a protein salad.  

When he returned home he found (shockingly) several cabinets completely empty of food.  He actually didn't like that but when mouse explained it to him, he said he understood.  No baby food either anymore...baby girl has been off that for a while, and she hates the other stuff like it for toddlers...she wants our food or nothing. 

Our refrigerator is full of food, we have a fruit bowl filled with fruit.  Lots of vegetables too..and cheese because Daddy can't live without cheese.   

There is one cabinet, that does contain bread, peanut butter, chips and crackers...But those are mostly for the kids to munch on.  Baby girl's favorite lunch is PB&J with half a banana and raisins.  We used to keep the dog treats in there...but we had move them -- sure you can guess why.  

After Party-Party

It was really stressful. Really, super stressful. But it went really well! Seriously mouse was having nightmares all Wednesday night. By Thursday morning mouse was all a bundle of nerves. Tuesday morning we nearly cancelled it all together. But also knew we were fully committed. Had we taken on more than we could handle? Good friends assured mouse we hadn't. Thanks so much to all who encouraged mouse! Daddy's faith never wavered. Not once!

Thursday morning mouse woke, exhausted. The day ahead seemed completely daunting. By the time she dropped the baby off at Lucy's, mouse too was ready to drop! No rest tho, ran home to start dinner and get everything ready. But when she came through the door, mouse looked at the pretty table she set...dunno suddenly the pressure felt lifted.

The meringue came out just lovely! The prime rib roast was very nearly perfect. The ends were a tad past well...but overall most excellent.

Conversation, making rounds ok that part was exhausting for mouse. Daddy seemed tho to enjoy it and beamed proudly at mouse.

After we both collapsed on a sofa and drank a glass of wine, toasting a successful first formal gathering.

The first of many Daddy reminded mouse.

Cat's out of the Bag

Really don't know what exactly compelled mouse to share the link to this blog.  It's nothing exciting.  

The final push to the big formal party...the nerves are starting to make mouse unable to sleep.  

You want everything done today...but if everything is done too far in advance...well you'l freak out when you have to redo everything.   And ya we're still having a small gathering tonight.  Oh well, there's nothing that can be done about it all now.  

This week's plan: 

Monday is tine to give the house a thorough walk through and making note of things that need to be cleaned like baseboards (which actually aren't too bad) doors, light switches, check silver and polish if needed.  Wipe down kitchen cabinets and appliances.  Check the long lighter making sure it works/purchase new one.  Set up canopy outside in case of rain/snowfall -- check weather for outdoor heater or light firepit?  Might as well look around for chametz too while mouse is at it all.  Cleaning the inside of cabinets with damp cloth -- getting rid of all crumbs.  Put down new clean shelf paper

Tuesday is the running around shopping day.  Making sure we have everything we need for all the food, and ya mouse will be picking up the prime rib roast at the butcher shop.  Make place cards to avoid confusion.  Take Dogs to groomer. 

Wednesday is cleaning and prep day.  All the foods that can be prepped in advance (yes Daddy knows he'll be eating soup and salad for dinner).  

Cooking Prep: 

• Onions, carrots, celery pre chopped and ready to be dumped into the vessel.  
• Romaine for salad washed, bagged up for easy dumping
• Dressing made
• Croutons made
• Pie made and ready for meringue on Thursday morning. 
• Make up a few appetizers to serve with cocktails

Cleaning Prep

• Dust/polish dining room table, bring in extra chairs
• Check the flow around the rooms, moving furniture as needed
• Dust in corners, under and behind sofa...Using a fork to remove or lighten divits in the carpeting
• Set out the silver trays, tea/coffee etc arranging the after dinner table with cups, saucers, plates forks etc.  
• Iron all the linens
• Scrub, scrub scrub all the kitchen countertop surfaces and relocate the toaster 
• Place the linens on the table 
• Set the table
• Dust the TV
• Check the ipod for play list marked party (a smooth jazz mix with 5 hours of music) double check speakers
• Arrange Candles
• Sit in various chairs to make sure views aren't impeded by anything
• Make sure there are a couple ashtrays outside, for smokers/cigar smokers 
• Set up bar area, making certain glasses are cleaned 

Thursday is the big day

• Make Meringue
• Pick up bread, take butter out to soften 
• Drop off baby!!! Ya...
• Rib Roast must be in the oven no later than 3pm. 
• Arrange small trays with appetizer bites 
• Peel, wash potatoes, shred horseradish
• Take shower, fix hair and makeup
• Dress for party
• Open red wine and decant at appropriate time 
• Take out white wine to warm a tiny bit before guests arrive (never serve white wine too cold)
• Last minute tidy of the kitchen and floor areas 
• Last second tidy of the house
• Study mouse's mantra for the evening:  Enjoy the party and know you've planned as much as you could.  

Desserts

Please don't misunderstand in anyway by reading these pages that mouse is in anyway an accomplished chef or even cook (sometimes being a mother does feel rather like being a short order cook) but there's lots she hasn't a clue how to attempt.  For gatherings, formal or informal mouse tends to stick to things she knows and it's incredibly rare that she screws those up.  Even if she does it's easy for her to hide an error.   A bit more sauce or extra icing or whipped cream can cover most errors.  

Weeknight meals are extremely simple and rarely lavish, unless mouse is experimenting with flavors.  Occasionally she'll try something different.  But it's best with the baby around to keep the meals easier because it's so easy to loose her place in a long complicated recipe.  

There is a skill she's never quite mastered, while most desserts turn out just fine for mouse there is one group that's just eluded her.  The Pie.  

Pies -- honestly mouse would rather do a crumble or just about anything other than a full on pie.  Now she has done a rustic pie, where you take the pie dough set it on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and just fill the center with fruit and pull the sides up.  It's appeal is that it's not supposed to look perfect.  

The second, albeit larger issue for mouse is the pie crust itself.  A funny aside, it seems to run in the family because when her grandmother passed away mouse found no fewer than 35 different pie crust recipes.  It's a very hit and miss process with mouse.  Sometimes it come off lovely and other times, gah wouldn't feed it to the dog.  

For our big formal shindig mouse wants the dessert to not only be kosher but kinda impressive too (after losing a whole weekend of possible research due to unfortunate events) and mouse was feeling the crush.  Most of her tried and true recipes aren't kosher and it wouldn't do for guests to have to wait several hours before dessert.  

Then Daddy mentioned he's fond of pie.  And yes he is.  He loves a good key lime or lemon meringue pie.  

So yesterday, mouse began experimenting just with the dough.   Unfortunately you can't make a small amount of dough (mouse has  a freezer full of dough balls with giant Xs on them).  One website recommended that all the ingredients be very cold when you begin including the flour.  Unfortunately that didn't work out too well.  The flour must have picked up moisture from the fridge after just a tablespoon of ice water it seemed to come together well enough, but it fell apart in the cooking process.  

There's also another issue, the rolling out process.  To watch people on those cooking shows you'd think it looks so simple.  Yet when mouse rolls out her dough, it just doesn't look like that at all.  It looks just terrible.  The times it did look lovely, the taste (overall) was horrible and it wasn't flakey at all. 

This must be why there are million different pie crust recipes.  Some insist if you want a flakey crust you must use lard.  Other's say vegetable shortening and still more say butter.  Honestly mouse must have been doing something wrong with each because NONE would come out right or the way mouse wanted.  

What makes a tough pie dough?  Apparently it's not just one thing, but could be several.  Over  mixing,  is common.  Over rolling.  Adding too much flour during rolling.  It's mind boggling.  Then exasperated, mouse sat down and thought about it.  

How did on earth did her Nona make pie crust without a food processor.  Truth was she didn't.  

So mouse began anew.  This time with a bowl and pastry cutter.  And learned what the dough should feel like.  The texture between her fingers.  And it worked.  Emboldened mouse did several more batches (yes we're using a lot of flour (nearly 10 pounds in this learning phase and let's not think about the other stuff).  It rolled out fine.  

So, mouse decided to further the experiment the following day.  Could she do it again?  Would her fingers remember the process?  Really she couldn't wait to get started.  After a trip to the market for more flour, shortening and the other pie ingredients like lemons -- eggs, etc.  mouse set to work again.  

The filling was easy  and came together quickly.  It was tasty.  But the meringue was an issue.  It wasn't tall enough...it didn't brown nicely....after just a short amount of time it seemed to weep and fall.  It took 4 tries (and yes mouse made four complete pies during that time) to get the meringue just right.  

At this point, honestly, mouse was rather mentally lost, the baby had been coloring and playing with her toys, running around but without mischief (yes mouse is counts her blessings on that).  But now it was nearly dinnertime and the baby was becoming very cranky.  

Pie for dinner?  No.  Daddy or mouse wouldn't approve of that.  Tentatively mouse picked up her cell and sent Daddy a text asking if he wouldn't mind picking up dinner.  He replied with a question...that depends will there be pie for dessert?  Really mouse laughed....and replied yes.  

True to his word he came home with food, a very nice spread in fact.  Think he must have gone to Whole Foods but really mouse was grateful because she couldn't stand the sight of another pie.  

The final pie, wasn't cut.  The meringue peaks were nearly perfect.  It was a pretty pie mouse would be proud to serve.  The other pies revealed a good crust, the pie filling was incredibly tasty those meringues tho did leave a bit to be desired and the reason mouse made so many.  The final one remained uncut because mouse was curious to know how long it could last in the fridge.  24 hours is optimum.  It was rather nerve wracking for mouse.  

Really must have looked at the thing in the fridge a hundred times, half expecting it to be completely deflated.  

By morning tho...um...not a pretty sight at all.  It was quite soft looking.  

Back to the drawing board.  

This time, mouse remade the pie without the meringue topping and left that to sit in the fridge over night.  Then in morning,  right after breakfast, mouse made the meringue.  It came out nice...looked good...Actually a bit better than before.  Nicely browned.  

After dinner mouse cut it and finally we had a taste.  Daddy approved very much.  He said it was the best pie mouse has ever made.   Still very nervous but plan on making another pie this coming weekend...

Really don't know if lemon meringue pie will still be Daddy's favorite by the time the dinner party arrives.

Just so you know the pie pictured above is not the one mouse baked.  Very similar tho. 

Bit by Bite

Working on a menu is tedious at least it can be. Trying new recipes is well, trying but needed and our family becomes weary when they see mouse approach holding a spoon. Daddy once grabbed the kids and ran. Another time, he exclaimed to a table full of family in a wry tone that he used to love tiramisu, that was until mouse spent three weeks perfecting her recipe.

It's exasperating and frustrating because after so many tastings and samplings, your appetite and your taste buds are just ruined. This is why mouse has learned to love our neighbors. To them she can bring all the samples she wants. They're painfully honest too.

So when mouse began experimenting with mashed potatoes for our dinner -- now it should be explained mouse makes quite wonderful mashed potatoes. Lots of cream, butter sometimes goat cheese or roasted garlic. Except for the roasted garlic, completely non-kosher. Of course mouse also didn't understand it and Daddy was too polite to say much, in the beginning.

Later he examined and his mom was very polite and helpful too. Really think they were both very pleased that mouse was willing to go to such lengths.

Food is a great equalizer -- it's something we all have in common. It can be comforting when we feel horrible about something. It can evoke a memory or feeling when you smell something cooking or cathartic like kneading bread. Everyone gathers and eats, they share stories and mouse likes that idea.

So mouse now brings food to neighbors (never on a whim), but let's them know in advance. So, mouse will be bringing a side dish of mashed potatoes.

First mouse boiled the potatoes, to the first batch she added roasted garlic, soy milk and fresh herbs plus a little water.

The second contained the garlic, soy milk and chicken stock.

The third used beef stock, soy milk, horseradish, and herbs.

We'll see which people preferred.

Number three was the big winner, so long as mouse went light on soy milk :)

Planning is Paramount

Once early on in our relationship, we had a few friends over to dinner. It was truly a disaster for mouse. First, she discovered at the last minute a few key ingredients were missing from the pantry. We'd planned on eating at a certain time, but due to a cooking snafu dinner was delayed by hours!

As mouse recalls she was roasting a chicken, the recipe clearly stated how long it should take to cook -- not sure if the oven or the recipe was off, but according to the thermometer it wasn't half done at the appointed time! We ran out of wine and mouse was running around to find snacks so that our guests didn't waste away. When the chicken was finally done, it was incredibly dry -- and much too small for our guests!

Friends, thankfully were quite forgiving. Important dinner guests, clients or bosses do not need to be -- they don't have a huge vested interest in you and with clients well, it's very precarious. Business deals can be won or lost over a meal -- even shoddy service in a restaurant can effect it.

The problem was in part because mouse had little experience cooking for groups. That chicken in the store looked huge (compared to the others). Now mouse knows if she were to attempt it, she would roast at least two chickens (depending on the number of guests and allow plenty of time -- remember poultry can stay out one hour or a bit longer before carving.

Another time, fewer guests and a larger chicken (yea mouse seemed determined to get the chicken right) mouse pulled it out the fridge after the recipe and several websites assured mouse it would only take 24-30 hours to defrost, and found it was frozen solid! Solid!

We had chicken twice that week. The first, served to again friends was dry -- after purchasing a replacement chicken. But the one cooked later in week was perfect!

That's the other point, only make things for special occasions that you're completely certain and confident about. If you want to try something new, try it at least three or four times before subjecting unsuspecting important guests to it. If its something you've made infrequently, try it out a week or two before the big day. Just to work out the kinks and that includes side dishes, dessert or appetizers. Even if you're trying a new cocktail -- make a batch and see how it tastes. Sometimes also, it's important to remember quantities differ when making one drink and say a pitcher. Sometimes you find you want to hold back a little of the alcohol or add a shot or two more...