Book Review: Cooking Light Way To Cook

I bought this book after Christmas when I felt like I had gained 100 lbs & was determined to start 2010 off on the right foot. Needless to say, that feeling passed & this book fell by the wayside, unread. I picked it up the other night & started flipping through it. What I didn't realize when I bought it, this book is not a cookbook. It's a how-to book, which I should have picked up on from the title. Whatever, blonde moment.

So this book is kind of awesome, especially if you a) don't know how to cook, or b) like me, have been teaching yourself how to cook, but lack a solid foundation. People who would have zero use for this book? Carolyn. People who might like it? Jessica & Sally.

This book covers everything from what spices to keep on hand, how long to keep them, how to season & clean cast iron, how to use & store fresh herbs, how to dice, chop & mince vegetables, which knives to use for what, how to stock your pantry, the difference between all the different oils & which ones to use for what, etc. And, as the title suggests, it puts an emphasis on healthy cooking.

I honestly can't think of anything it doesn't cover. It answered all the questions I've been asking myself for the past year as I've been teaching myself how to cook. It even has a chapter on baking. Seriously, it covers everything. And it does have some recipes, a few per chapter. Highly recommend it for anyone looking to expand their general cooking/kitchen knowledge.

Lastly, if you're interested in buying this book, definitely buy it on Amazon. It's $20 more at Borders.

To Read

So, um, I've got some books to read.... I've acquired most of these in the past month via Christmas gifts, McKay's & book club. When I left work this morning, I had grand visions of bundling up on the couch & getting at least 1 of these knocked out. Alas, I can't decide which one to read. I'm kind of in the mood for Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, but at 759 pages, it's quite a commitment. Also at the top of my list is Homicide, the book that inspired the HBO series The Wire. John is reading it, so I should probably wait until he's finished. Not pictured, but also waiting to be read, are the 2 Penguin Classics Tiffany got me for Christmas: Great Expectations & Jane Eyre. Decisions, decisions.....

I'll report back.

Edited to add: I decided on Special Topics In Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. Odd, but interesting so far.

Snow Day!

I can't believe it's actually snowing. I had completely lost faith in the Middle TN weather forecasters. I got up super early to go to a Kitchen Cabinet breakfast at Mad Platter, not expecting it to start snowing until this afternoon. Wrong! It started snowing while I was at the breakfast. I went ahead & went in to work, sent my intern home & closed up the office. I drove to Green Hills because I needed some stuff in the mall, i.e. shampoo, face wash, etc., but alas, the mall wasn't open yet, as it was only 9:00am. So I ran into Trader Joe's & got some food to last us through the blizzard, then I went to Bud's, because if I'm going to be trapped at home all weekend, I'm drinking by God.

On my way back home, it still wasn't that slick, so I decided to stop off at Target as I'm completely out of Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush & I can't be sitting at home all weekend un-rouged. Also, I needed magazines. This is where it all went downhill. I slid pulling into the Target parking lot & barely made it into the store. Side note: cute jazz shoes are not good for walking on ice. I was only in Target 10-15 minutes, but oh what a difference a few minutes make. White Bridge Road was a parking lot. It took me almost 30 minutes to get home & I only live like 2 miles from Target. I passed 3 wrecks. I finally got home & got stuck trying to back up into our pretty steep driveway. Luckily, John was home, & miraculously awake, so he came out & got my car into the garage. I've got food, I've got wine, I've got magazines & I've got 3 Netflix DVDs. I'm in it to win it, people.

Happy snow day!

Book Review: Free Food For Millionaires

I read this book as a book club selection. I liked it, but when I talked to the rest of the book club gals, they mostly hated it. I pretty much read the entire book this weekend, so maybe it's easier to stomach if you read it all at once? I don't know. I liked it, but I'm clearly in the minority. Weighing in at almost 600 pages, I don't know how strongly I'd recommend it.

It's about a Korean-American who grew up in Queens, went to Princeton, & is trying to make her way in life & on Wall St. It's partly about what it's like to be Korean-American & partly about being in NYC in your twenties & trying to figure out what you want to do with your life. Maybe that's why I liked it, because I could somewhat identify with it. Who knows.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday Night:
Fri. night was Ladies Poker Night @ Alexis' house. We ended up not playing poker, but we ate & drank like queens & laughed our butts off for a solid 4 hours. It was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Saturday:
I figured something out on Sat: coffee helps me run. I drank my usual 2 cups of coffee & decided to head to the Y to practice for the 5K I signed up for on Feb. 6th. I ran my butt off! It's like I was channeling a Kenyan or something (not really). And I'm surprisingly not that sore. My hips & knees hurt a little yesterday, but I'm fine today. Maybe I can be a runner after all.... At least for short distances.

Saturday Night:
We met Jessica & Brian for dinner @ Watanabe in East N'ville. I've only eaten there one other time. I really like that place. Unlike most of the places by our house, you don't have to wait an hour & a half for your sushi. And their sushi is good! Love that extra spicy tuna roll. Yum! After dinner, John took me home & then he attempted to go see How I Became the Bomb play @ Mercy Lounge, but no dice. No where to park & a line to get in a mile long. He just came back home & we read until we both fell asleep. We're exciting like that.

Sunday:
My friends Ali, Delaney, & Sarah invited me to join their book club about a year ago, but I could never make it work until a couple of months ago. They read a book & get together once a month to talk & eat. Yesterday we met for brunch. I ate myself into a coma. Seriously, I had to take a nap when I got home. Such good food. Aside from brunch, I didn't really do anything. I tried to work on my homework for this week, but didn't get too far. I blame the mimosas. I did, however, make some serious progress on clearing out my TiVo that has been neglected for the past 2 weeks. I'm sorry, TiVo. It's not you, it's me.

Chimichurri Steak with Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Katie & Rollum gave John some New York strip steaks for his birthday. We decided to jazz them up with a chimichurri sauce from the Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Weeknight cookbook. So good! Paired with a recipe from Real Simple for Parmesan Roasted Potatoes.

Chimichurri Steak
Serves 4

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sherry vinegar
3 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
7 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 - 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 steaks, 1" thick
Salt

1. Marinate the steaks
In a food processor, combine the oil, vinegar, oregano, parsley, & garlic, & process until finely chopped. Pour into a shallow glass or ceramic dish large enough to hold the steaks in a single layer, & stir in the red pepper flakes to taste. Season the steaks with salt, then add them to the marinade & turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

2. Cook the steaks
Meanwhile, prepare a gas or charcoal grill for direct-heat grilling over high heat & oil the grill rack. Or, preheat a broiler (grill). When ready to cook, remove the steaks from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Place the steaks on the grill rack, or put them on a baking sheet & place under the broiler. Brush the steaks with the remaining marinade. Cook, carefully turning once, for about 8 minutes total for medium-rare, or until done to your liking. Divide the steaks among 4 plates & serve.

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1" chunks
(use either petite red or new potatoes)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan
8 sprigs fresh thyme

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients. Transfer to a roasting pan or 9x13" baking dish.

2. Roast, stirring once, until golden brown & crisp, about 50 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, & Egg Breakfast Braid

Today I tried a new recipe courtesy of the Jan./Feb. issue of Cooking Light: Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, & Egg Breakfast Braid. It was really good & surprisingly easy. I think now that I've got the technique down, I'm going to experiment more with the ingredients. Maybe different kinds of meat: chorizo, salami, prosciutto, etc. I'll report back.

Recipe here.

The Shitty Week That Was

This week has sucked. I have spent the past month-ish thinking I might be getting a new job. Two days ago I realized this was not going to happen. Obviously that stung a bit & made for a depressing couple of days. In addition to that, work has been insane for the past two weeks, much more so than typical for this time of year. And this should come as no surprise, but I've completely stopped working out & have gained a pound. Go, Weight Watchers!

So the super fun part of all of this is that I had a physical this morning & my doctor put me on Ativan & suggested I start seeing a therapist. Yay, me. For those of you keeping score, in addition to this job contributing to my weight gain, not working out, & insomnia, I also now apparently need anti-anxiety medication to get through the day. Awesome.

I'd like to say that today is a turning point & that I'll quit stress eating & get back in the gym, but I've already had a vanilla latte & 2 donuts, so who am I kidding?

To end on a non-suicidal note, I am wearing a really cute outfit today. Both the nurse & doctor complimented me on it this morning. Smyrna High Best Dressed '94, represent!

3-Day Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday night:
Exhausted from a long week at work. Drank some wine & watched Love in the Time of Cholera. Very good, by the way.

Saturday:
Spent the first half of the day making John's birthday cake (see previous post) & licking frosting out of the blender. Spent the second half of the day at book club with MK. Amazing food at book club. Someone brought Oreo truffles. OMG, best thing I've ever eaten. Left with two good books to read: Boomsday by Christopher Buckley & Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. Very excited to read both.

Saturday night:
Had some friends over to celebrate John's birthday. Lots of snacking, cake eating & drinking with a little bit of John taking his shirt off thrown in for good measure. Good times. Good times...

Sunday:
John's birthday. Hung-over & sleep deprived, Sunday was kind of a wash. We did manage to pull ourselves together enough to eat a nice steak dinner at Fleming's. Then we went home & watched Paranormal Activity. This movie scared the crap out of me, & I'm not easy to scare. I'm now convinced there's a demon in our house, as evidenced by both of us waking up simultaneously on Sunday night mere seconds before our power went out. I'm still creeped out.

Monday:
Yesterday was what my normal Sunday is like -housework, grocery store, etc. I did manage to make some headway on clearing out my TiVo. Also, I made this for dinner. I'm not sure if John liked it as much as I did, as it was sans meat, but I loved it. I didn't make the toasted cumin seed crema because I couldn't find cumin seeds at Publix & I didn't feel like going to a second store. I did use a little bit of light sour cream. I'll try the crema next time.

Banana Layer Cake with Fudgy Frosting

I made my first cake this weekend for John's birthday. I anticipated lots of problems & lots of profanity, typical of anything I'm trying for the first time. I was wrong. This cake was shockingly easy to make. The cake part was good, but the frosting. OMG, the frosting. I could eat an entire bowl of the frosting alone. I think this will be my new go-to frosting.

I got the recipe from The Weekend Baker. The recipe is way too long to type, but I'll post the ingredients & the info for the frosting. So good!

Banana Layer Cake with Fudgy Frosting
Makes one 9-inch cake, or 12 servings

For the Cake:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
16 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 medium, very, very ripe bananas, peeled
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

Go-Withs (optional):
Toasted shredded unsweetened dried coconut or chopped, toasted walnuts for garnish

For the Fudgy Frosting:
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 2" pieces
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp table salt

To Make the Fudgy Frosting:
While the cake is baking, make the fudgy frosting. Melt the unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (I used the microwave in 15 second intervals). Meanwhile, combine the sugar, evaporated milk, butter, vanilla, & salt in a blender; there's no need to blend at this point. When the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat or the microwave & give it a stir. Scrape the hot melted chocolate into the blender. Cover with the lid & blend on high speed until the mixture darkens & is very thick, about 2 minutes. You'll also hear the engine working harder when the frosting is sufficiently thick, & it will appear to be barely moving in the blender. It will not be pourable. Scrape the frosting into a clean bowl & set aside at room temperature. When the frosting is cool, cover the bowl with plastic wrap until the cake is completely cool & ready to frost.

Bon appetit!

Wednesday Weigh-In

Photo via Cooking Light

Week two on Weight Watchers & still going strong. Wednesday is my 'weigh day', so I weighed myself this morning. I lost 2 lbs this week, bringing my total weight loss to 6.5 lbs. Because I had gained about 5 lbs over Christmas, I'm basically back down to my fighting weight. But this is good. Now the real weight loss begins.

I'm doing good with b'fast, snacks & dinner, but I'm getting bored with lunch. I need to change things up a bit. And I need to work-out more. Session started this week, so my schedule is ridiculous right now. I'll get back on track.

Back before Christmas, Amazon did a bunch of $5 magazine subscriptions. I bought one to Cooking Light. I got my first issue last week & tried my first recipe tonight. John had to work, so I decided to go meat-less, a rarity in our carnivore household. I made this & surprisingly loved it. Good work, Cooking Light. Consider me hooked!

My Own Personal Jazz Troupe

I'm so excited, my new shoes from Piperlime came today! Check out the cute box they came in. Bonus points for packaging. When I was in NYC, I bought the above pair of black shoes. I've been relentlessly searching for a tan pair, but haven't had any luck. Are you listening, Zappo's? When I was in Maryland over Christmas, John's sister, Sally, suggested I try Piperlime. How, in my Rachel Zoe obsession, I forgot about the online shoe store that she promotes, I have no idea. Like Zappo's, they do the whole free return thing, but they also have free shipping. Free shipping! And again, I direct your attention above to their ubercute packaging. Piperlime, you complete me.

If anyone needs me, I'll be working on my soft shoe.

Baja-Style Fish Tacos & Jalapeno Coleslaw

This recipe comes from The Best 30 Minute Recipe cookbook. I don't know why it's taken me so long to try it. It was so freaking good! I can't take much credit, as John did 99% of it. I handled the coleslaw & he fried the fish. I don't care how many arteries it clogged, totally, 100% worth it.

Baja-Style Fish Tacos
Serves 4

Ingredients:
12 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
4-5 cups vegetable oil
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp chili powder
Salt & ground black pepper
1 cup light-colored beer
1 1/2 lbs skinless cod, cut into 4 by 1-inch strips
3/4 cup mayo
2 tbsp minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 lb (2 cups) pre-shredded green cabbage
1 tomato, cored & sliced

Directions:
1. Heat the oven & warm tortillas: Adjust oven racks to upper & lower middle positions & heat oven to 200 degrees. Wrap tortillas in foil & warm on baking sheet in oven.

2. Heat oil & make batter: Pour oil into large Dutch oven until it measures 1" deep & heat to 375 degrees over medium-high heat. (Use an instant-read thermometer that registers high temperatures or clip a candy/deep fat thermometer onto the side of the pan before turning on the heat.) While oil heats, whisk flour, chili powder, 1 tsp salt, & 1/4 tsp pepper together in large bowl, & set aside. When oil is almost ready, whisk beer into flour mixture until completely smooth.

3. Fry fish: Pat fish dry with paper towels, add half of fish to batter, & stir gently to coat. Using tongs, lift pieces of fish from batter, one by one, allowing excess batter to drop back into bowl. Add battered fish to hot oil & fry, stirring gently to prevent fish from sticking, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove fried fish from oil & let drain briefly on paper towel-lined plate. Transfer drained fish to wire rack set over baking sheet & keep warm in oven. Return oil to 375 degrees & repeat with remaining fish.

4. Make dressing & assemble tacos: Mix mayo & chipotle together & season with salt & pepper to taste. Smear each warm tortilla with chipotle mayo, then sprinkle with cabbage & diced tomatoes. Add 1 piece fish to each tortilla, fold over, & serve.

Jalapeno coleslaw recipe here.

Kim's Notes:
We don't own any kind of food thermometer & we manged to not kill ourselves by eating undercooked fish. Point? Don't let not owning a thermometer sway you from trying this. Also, I really wish we had cut the recipe in half. It makes way too much food for 2 people. John will be eating this for lunch all week.

Happy Belated Birthday, Elvis!

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, & Banana Cupcakes
(aka The Fat Elvis)

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
*1 cup self-rising whole wheat flour
**1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
3 tbsp ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp peanut butter chips
4 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (about 2) mashed bananas

For the Frosting:
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed banana

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 24 paper baking cups in muffin pans. Combine the butter, sugar, flours, baking powder, eggs, almonds, vanilla, & cinnamon in a large bowl & beat with an electric mixer until smooth & pale, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, & mashed bananas. Spoon the batter into the paper cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan & cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes & cool on a rack.

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese & confectioner's sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until soft & light. Add the lemon juice, vanilla, & mashed banana. Beat until well combined. Spoon the frosting over the cupcakes. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Kim's Notes:
*I couldn't find self-rising whole wheat flour at either Trader Joe's or Publix, so I just bought regular 'ole whole wheat flour. I'm sure there's a difference, but damned if I know what it is.

**I didn't buy baking powder because I assumed I had some at home. Wrong! I had baking soda. Who knew there was such a difference? So these cupcakes were made sans baking powder. Again, no idea how that makes them better or worse. Presumably worse.

Book Review: Cleaving

I just finished Cleaving, Julie Powell's follow up to Julie & Julia. I'm torn about what to say. I loved Julie & Julia. This book is not Julie & Julia. It's darker. Way darker. I found the actual butchering parts of the book interesting, but the whole D thing was a bit much. I couldn't relate & it honestly was just too brutal for me.

Also, the almost rape at the end of the book felt out of place to me. I get why she put it in. It reinforces her issues with sex & highlights her passive aggressive tendencies, but I could have done without it. Actually, I could have done without the entire last part of the book. In my opinion, the whole Tanzania section contributed nothing to the story. I wish she had spent more time delving into her relationship with Eric upon returning home & writing more about going back to Fleischer's.

Overall, I enjoyed reading it. I don't know how she can write so brutally about herself, but more power to her. I couldn't do it. Definitely worth reading, but go in knowing (in the words of Agnes) it's not the triumphant, heartwarming read Julie & Julia was. Hopeful for a third book.

Holding Steady

Three days in & going strong!

Monday:
B: coffee, apple
L: wrap, carrots, hummus
D: chorizo & black bean chili
E: 45 min Spin class

Tuesday:
B: coffee, apple
L: soup, salad
D: Trader Joe's chicken tikka masala & garlic naan
E: 45 min Spin class

Wednesday:
B: coffee, Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread
L: wrap, carrots, hummus
D: brown sugar/mustard salmon & garlic mashed potatoes
E: 60 min Just Weights class

I'm eating snacks in between meals, too. I usually eat a Luna bar before I work-out & then either almonds or Laughing Cow cheese spread over Trader Joe's water crackers in the afternoon. Also drinking mucho water.

I weighed myself over Christmas (I know, stupid) & was shocked at how much I'd gained -thus the rejoining of Weight Watchers. I weighed myself today & am only 2 lbs over my normal weight. Granted, my normal weight is 10-15 lbs more than I'd like to weigh, but a hell of a lot better than what I saw on the scale over Christmas. Stupid cookie weight....

Point? None, except I don't have as much weight to lose as I initially thought. Don't get me wrong, I could totally stand to lose 30 lbs, but 10-15 will suffice.

TCB, Baby. TCB.

Monday Accomplishments:

1) Packed a healthy lunch & snacks for work
2) Ate an apple & baby carrots
3) Spin class
4) Re-joined Weight Watchers
5) Made this for dinner. It was delish!

2009: The Year That Was

2009: The Year That Was from Kim Baldwin on Vimeo.

A few quick shout outs. One to April for allowing me to totally rip-off her idea. One to John for spending all night making this iMovie for me. Another one to How I Became the Bomb for being awesome. Lastly, thanks to everyone who allowed me to take their picture this year.

XOXO

Full photostream here.

2010 Resolutions

In no particular order:

1. Find a new job
2. Chill the eff out
2. Graduate
3. Make my health more of a priority

1. In the works. Will hopefully know more soon. Fingers crossed. Seriously, cross your fingers.

2. If I do remain at my current job, I have to find a way to deal with it. No more stress eating, no more insomnia, no more debilitating anxiety. I need to fit in at least 1 yoga class a week, even if it's just the yoga on the Wii Fit.

3. On track to graduate in December. The one thing that may change this is taking a non-state job & having to pay for my last 4 classes.

4. In the past few months, I've slipped into this weird place where I'm not working out & I'm purposefully over-eating. It's clearly related to how unhappy I am at work, but I don't know why I'm doing it. In all honesty, I'm probably either depressed or dealing with seasonal affective disorder. Regardless, I'm done with it. Enough.

I need to start working out again. My parents loaned us their elliptical machine during Christmas, but we hardly used it because you have to stare at the wall the whole time you're working out. Yesterday my dad told me we can keep it because he joined a gym, so we're going to buy a TV for that room. We'll definitely start using it now. I also bought the new Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010 for my Wii Fit. It's hard for me to get to the gym Jan-May because of Session, so being able to work-out at home will make a huge difference.

Food. Ugh.... I'm debating what to do here. Re-join Weight Watchers? Do the ABS (no alcohol, no bread, no sugar) meal plan? I have a hard time with absolutes, so the ABS diet probably wouldn't work, especially long term. Weight Watchers I can do with my eyes closed, & it works, but it's not cheap. My Daily Plate is free, but I didn't find it as effective as Weight Watchers. I'm also thinking of shaming myself into losing weight by putting my weight on my blog. God, some of you wouldn't be able to look me in the eye if you knew how much I weigh. I don't know. I need to think about it. Regardless, I'm doing something.

To end things on a positive note, here are some good things that happened in 2009:

the birth of my niece, Jessica
Linda McCartney
completing 4 graduate classes
running my 1st 5K
1st annual Baldwin Halloween party
one year wedding anniversary
trips to Savannah & NYC

Happy New Year!