Today a rabbi taught me how to make challah

Though, to be fair, this wasn't a one-on-one type thing. G and I went to a Jewish festival this afternoon and after gorging ourselves on latkes, bagels, and pita bread, we wandered into a series of lectures about traditional Jewish food. The challah we tried was divine, and the rabbi was quite a character. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stick around for his wife to teach us how to make matzoh balls.

We went to a mock bar mitzvah. I was vaguely familiar with the occasion, but growing up in a small Southern town doesn't lend itself to much exposure to Jewish culture. We have much more in common than many of us are able to admit. The occasion, in some ways, reminds me of the Rite of Confirmation. Though Catholics are considered full members of the Church from the time of their baptism, the process of being confirmed is meant to be a time of study and meditation. After confirmation, one has a fuller communion with the Church, and one is considered an adult. My understanding is that preparation for a bar/bat mitzvah is more intense, learning Hebrew, preparing a section of the Torah, leading the congregation in prayer, and meditating on the teachings of the section of the Torah the candidate has prepared. It is a recognition of adulthood. I'm sure I'm oversimplifying, but I did notice commonalities this afternoon. I think that if more people were able to focus on what we have in common, the differences, while still there, would be less important.

G and I are going out of town next week. We'll be visiting my family. I don't know how excited G is, but I'm practically packed. Because we are going out of town and I won't have time to try the challah recipe before I leave, I won't be posting it until we get back. My grandfather turns 75 next week, and I can't wait to see him.

I don't get to go home very often. Home is a ten hour drive, a week off work, and until this trip, time away from G. G will finally get to go to the custard stand down the street from my aunt and uncle. We'll get to feed the turtles in the pond at the custard stand, we'll get to go the bakery that makes the best rye bread I've ever tasted, and I'll get to see most of the people I love. I've even been promised that I'll get to go to the best Chinese place in the state.

Being the neurotic individual that I am, I insist that we clean the house and eat everything that might not last a week in our refrigerator. I even thought ahead and prepared and froze a lasagna for the night we get back.

Tonight's dinner is one of our go to meals when we don't have much in the way of food in the house. We have certain pantry items that are always on hand: tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice, olive oil, garlic, you get the idea. G and I love capers and olives, so we normally keep them on hand. With the addition of anchovy paste, we have the foundation for a killer meal. Pasta puttanesca so delicious that it tastes like my (non-existent) Italian grandmother has been slaving in the kitchen for hours. Got unexpected guests? Make this, and you might not be able to get rid of them.

I shamelessly stole this recipe from Sam Zien (you know, Sam the Cooking Guy). My version follows.

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 2 ounces Kalamata (Greek) Olives, coarsely chopped
• 28 oz can whole Italian tomatoes
• pasta
• Freshly grated Parmesan

While bringing a pot of water to a boil, add to a large saute pan, the olive oil, anchovy paste, and garlic. Cook over low/medium until the garlic is golden (just a little color). Add the olives, capers, and tomatoes. Take the back of your spoon and smoosh the tomatoes. They'll make this awesome, satisfying sound. G hates it, but I love the way it sounds and think it's funny when seeds shoot out all over the saute pan (and sometimes stove and walls). Smash the tomatoes into small pieces. This dish is particularly fun to make when you're mad at a group of people. Anyway, by this time your water should be boiling. Cover the sauce, turn down the heat a notch, and add the pasta to the boiling water, cooking until it's tender. Your sauce should have been simmering beautifully this entire time. Drain the pasta, and serve it with sauce and freshly grated Parmesan.

Total time from pantry to table? 20 minutes. That's it. I'm not really sure how many people this serves, probably 4. We always have a ton of sauce left over. If we're feeling saucy, we use it for pizza later in the week. Usually, I just eat it for lunch the next day.

Sam the Cooking Guy is awesome. His food philosophy is spot on. His recipes are fast, easy, and most importantly, delicious. He doesn't demand that people use hard to find, expensive ingredients. Our tube of anchovy paste wasn't that expensive (though it did require a special trip to Fresh Market), and it will last several months, giving us many servings of pasta puttanesca.

This week I was a storyteller at a fairly prominent festival. I'm beat. Ok, I'm off to finish my book. I'm in the home stretch. After tomorrow's book discussion, I'm done with intellectual heavy lifting at work until the end of May. The calm before the storm.

Baked oatmeal

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy. G has been home while he waits for his first day at his new job, and I've been tied up with work commitments and trying to make sure that I get to the gym a few times a week.

Normally, I make a big batch of granola, and G and I snack on that throughout the week. I might have a bowl in the morning, and grab a handful to take with me to the gym after I get off work. Granola hasn't happened the last couple of weeks.

Instead, I made baked oatmeal this week. I'd never eaten baked oatmeal before, but it's kind of like a less sticky, slightly chewy granola bar. It's worked out perfectly. It's exactly what I've needed this week: portable, filling, and delicious.

For baked oatmeal, you will need:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c. rice milk
• 1/4 c. orange juice
• 1/2 c. walnuts

Mix everything together, press it into an 8x8 baking dish, and bake it at 350 for 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden.

Maybe talking to plants really does work

Good news everyone: the grass that we planted last week has started to grow! Little blades of green are popping up all over our front yard. So exciting. I'd like to think it has to do with the pep talks directed at our grass seeds.

More good news: I finally own a garlic press. I don't know how I made it this far in life without one. Seriously. Such a time saver. Totally a single use kitchen gadget that I can no longer do without.

Also, the pollen seems like it's finally starting to die down. Just a little bit.

In other news, G and I had several fabulous dishes this week. Two were from Post Punk Kitchen. Those recipes are what we're going to be focusing on today.

First up, we have Chesapeake Bay Cakes.

You will need:

• 8 ounces tempeh
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bay leaf

• 3 tablespoons Vegenaisse
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (stone ground Dijon works, too)
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup very finely chopped red bell pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspooon salt
• fresh black pepper
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs, plus extra for dredging

First, combine the tempeh, soy sauce, olive oil, and water. Bring the water to a boil, and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated.

While the tempeh is cooking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a big bowl. After the tempeh has cooked, mix everything together.

At this point, I had to go to work. So I did. When I got home, I scooped up about 1/4 c. of the mixture for each cake, formed them, dredged them in breadcrumbs, and fried them in a couple of tablespoons of canola oil.

Did you know that asparagus is in season? It is. G and I downed an entire bundle of asparagus after each of us polished off a couple of these cakes. We're not ashamed.

Next up, we have Ancho Lentil Soup with Grilled Pineapple.

We were fortunate enough to have our homeboy Greg over for dinner last night. He helped G grill the pineapple, and he was nice enough to stick around after dinner and offer to help wash dishes. I think the soup had something to do with it.

Anyway, getting to the point, get your soup pot out, 'cause you're gonna need it.

You will also need:

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 dried ancho chilies, seeds removed and ripped into bite sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced small
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Seranno pepper, seeded and chopped (add another if you like more heat)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups lentils, washed (I used brown, that's what I had on hand)
• 7 to 8 cups vegetable broth or veg broth and water mixed
• 3 tablespoons of lime juice or to taste
• Cooking spray
• 6 to 8 pineapple rings
  

First, combine the chilies and coriander seed in your blender or food processor. Blend them until the chilies are ground and the coriander is broken down, but not quite a powder. Add the cumin.

Heat the oil in your pot. Add the veggies and cook until they're soft. Add the chili powder, and cook until fragrant. Add the lentils and vegetable broth, bring to a boil, and cook until the lentils are soft.

While the lentils are cooking, grill the pineapple. We grilled ours until it had these beautiful char marks and the pineapple was starting to get kind of soft. By the time the grill heated up and the pineapple was grilled, the lentils were finished. When they're done, add the lime juice.

I was really bummed out when I realized that I forgot to bring the leftover soup to work with me. I was looking forward to this soup most of the morning. On the bright side, I have lunch for tomorrow. I'm going to bed now so lunchtime can get here sooner.

Grass seed smells like freshly mowed grass, only more intense

Oy, I'm tired. Bone weary. Dead on my feet. Tonight, I'm going to face plant and sleep like I'm dead. But, I found a fabulous, new to me, wine.

Recently, lots of BIG stuff has happened in my world. Hours of poring over applications and essays was rewarded, and I was accepted to graduate school. G was offered a new job. We've managed to trap and release a few squirrels. And we've done a significant amount of yardwork.

My yard has been a never ending sea of torment. First, there was a horrid ivy infestation. (I'm still dealing with that, but now it seems to be more about maintenance than eradication.) Our yard was mulched with a couple of inches of pine straw that started to look gross after a season of never ending wet weather and mountains of leaves. We had no grass in the front yard. We had three different types of fencing. (We're down to two.) We had nowhere to park.

In the last two weeks we've built a driveway, raked up the pine straw on one side of our yard, and put down grass seed.

In the process of raking our yard, I found:

• At least two empty bottles of Schlitz
• An empty bottle of Miller High Life (add that to the millions of caps I've found around the yard)
• various children's toys
• a fishing lure
• a spring from a screen door
• broken glass
• a potpourri of food wrappers and other trash

I can only imagine what's on the other side of our front yard.

Earlier this week, G spent a couple of hours working on the yard. Yesterday we managed to get the ground broken up and planted grass seed. We're keeping the ground moist, so I've got my fingers crossed that we'll start to see shoots soon.

The frame for the driveway came together quickly. Last weekend was sunny and gorgeous. And I got to use power tools. It's always a great day when I get to use power tools. We're hoping to get gravel delivered next week.

After we get the rest of the seed down and the gravel spread, we're going to start building flower beds. The year's goals are to widen and extend the path from our steps to the street, build a path from our driveway to the steps, and build flowerbeds around the driveway. Those projects are for other weekends. Right now my body hurts too much to conceive of more hard physical labor. (G told me yesterday that the type of labor I was doing, breaking up soil, is usually reserved for prisoners.) So tonight, I'll kick it with a glass of wine and go to bed early.

Oh, and the wine I'm drinking? It's Relax Cool Red. I really like Relax Riesling; it's easy to drink and it's a great after dinner wine. Cool Red was marketed as a wine similar to Beaujolais Villages, fruity, sweet, a young wine. That's true to a certain extent. It is a sweet, fruity, young wine. However, it's a completely different beast than Beaujolais. Cool Red tastes a lot like cherries. It's the kind of wine I can picture myself drinking outside, with a light dinner, watching the lightening bugs come out. G liked more as a dessert wine, but I could see drinking it with the right meal. We liked it.