Cottage Cheese Pancakes

This weekend I made my favorite pancake: cottage cheese. I had the [mis]fortune as a kid that my dad made pancakes every Saturday morning. By my teens I decided that I didn't like pancakes (although I still loved french toast and waffles). As an adult, I found two recipes for pancakes that I do like (the other is a swedish pancake). 

Cottage Cheese Pancakes:

6 eggs, separated

2 c. small curd cottage cheese

2/3 c. flour

2 T. sugar

1 t. salt

dash cinnamon

1/8 t. cream of tarter

oil spray for cooking

Garnish: sour cream, preserves, honey, powdered sugar

Beat together egg yolks, cottage cheese, flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl beat the egg whites with cream of tarter until stuff, but not dry. Fold the beaten egg white gently into cheese mixture.

Drop the batter by large spoonfuls onto an oiled griddle or skillet. Fry the pancakes until golden brown on both sides until puffy. Serve at once with garnish. Serves 4 generously.

Tiny Kitchen

The Tiny Kitchen segments hosted by Jill Santopietro (a nytimes recipe tester) are encouraging, inspiring, and amusing. She prepares everything in her tiny ny city apartment, that is 11.5 sf (they must only be counting her usable counter!). The first video is for a Calvados cocktail: The Normandy (I've taste tested and it is delicious). I look forward to see what else she serves up. (image from New York Times)

Skip to my lou

A knock on my door signaled the delivery of my new shoes by the postman! Just before Thanksgiving my current favorite black slip-on-flats had an accident (the 'snap' fell off). I contacted the shoe company to see if I could have it repaired, alas no (they were last season), but they sent me these new shoes. I really liked the old pair, but these are close cousins and have recycled components in the soles and organic cotton lining. I just sprayed them for the NW rain and will soon be skipping to the library. Have a great weekend! (image from hushpuppies.com)

Cord Swarm

Cord Swarm by Ellen Lupton

This made me laugh - because of it's truism. With technological advancement we still haven't found a way to charge our portable devices in a clutter free, efficient way. I have two such power strips chez moi.

Blooming

I was disappointed last May when my christmas cactus didn't bloom... it normally blooms twice a year (May & November). I was blessed with gobs of blooms before christmas. I deadheaded the remaining blooms and when I returned in January, it was blooming again. I love these bright fuchsia blooms at my bedside.

Dinner at Eight

Dinner at Eight's marquee is a "who's who" of 1930's Hollywood, but Jean Harlow nearly stole the show (she had the best zingers). As evidenced by the billing, the movie cast is truly an ensemble, something rarely seen during the early Hollywood movie machine. I could gush about the plot, the direction, the acting, etc. but instead I insist that you watch this movie. (image: original movie poster)

Puppy Bowl V!

If you like cute and puppies then you'll love the Puppy Bowl aired on Animal Planet. I probably would have watched it if I had a tv or cable, but instead I must satisfy myself with clips. My favorite is the one of the chinese crested streaker! (image from animal.discovery.com)

Great Moments in Presidential Speeches

Can't wait for Tuesday!!! Have a great weekend!  (Clip from Late Show with David Letterman, aired 1/16/09)

New Year, new habits

My goal in cooking is to make real food. The real food movement is about eating food in its natural form. Shop the outside walls of the store (not the aisles). Read labels:  no corn syrup, no margarine, no skim milk. While I can't evaluate the science behind this, I can tell you it makes sense. I have been on a progressively real-er and real-er food diet for years now (not that I was ever a big consumer of industrialized/processed foods). And was happy to see this recent article on what to stock in your pantry to "cook, and cook quickly, to get a satisfying and enjoyable variety of real food on the table as often as possible." Happily I am already doing many of these, but I am inspired to tackle a bit more... like buy tomato paste in a tube and get a hand pump oil sprayer.

Kong

In our household, the kong is the greatest toy ever! Sadly, last June when we were home visiting family it was left never to be seen again. I probably should have gone out and bought a new one, but I like to rotate toys and thought Gidget could wait 6 months... Well when we were home for Christmas, I searched under sofas (typical hiding place of dog toys never to be seen again) and rescued it from the depths of the recliner. I don't know how we lived without it because it is the greatest toy ever. 

Someone once told me their dog didn't like the kong, they had heard it was great and then their dog wouldn't play with it. Turns out they didn't realize you're supposed to put a treat in it... I use the doggie biscuits I buy, but peanut butter is also popular around here. It can take hours and days and weeks to get the treat out with hours and hours of fun trying to release it.

Stock

Whenever I purchase a roast chicken, in addition to the chicken salad I make with those odd bits of chicken, I make chicken stock. The stock is very, very simple to make and delicious. Place carcass, skin, and any leftover bits in a large pot. Add any veggies you want, I freeze veggies that are limp or the parts of leeks I don't eat. Sometimes I keep a plastic tub of carrot tops, sprouting garlic, and other veggie waste in the freezer. Add these to the stock-pot. Cover with water and boil. The longer you cook (hours!), the better, but even 30 minutes will make a better stock than anything you buy at the store (and it's made from 'trash'). Stir occasionally and continually add water as it will evaporate. You can add salt, pepper, a bay leaf or other spices if you want.

The hard part is next (primarily because I don't have a large colander)...  Strain out the veggie bits, bones, skin, and meat. This may take a few tries. In the final sieve, use a piece of cheesecloth to get the smallest bits. When you're done place in the fridge to cool. While it is cooling, the fat will surface, use a piece of plastic wrap to remove this top layer (there are also special tools for this). You won't remove all of this fat, but get most of it. Next freeze in ice cube trays. The stock is probably a concentrate and you may want to cut with water, or to taste.

Strictly Ballroom

I love, love, love Strictly Ballroom. Whenever I watch it I have to put on some dancing shoes (sparkly high heals) and do a box-step or two, or the passe double.  The film is by Australian director Baz Luhrmann (based on a play), when I was 17 and living abroad, in an attempt to connect with an Australian I said I enjoyed their films. She asked me to name a few, this was one I named and she laughed. It may have been like when I was in college and a Austrian came to visit and loved the American Pie films and I laughed. Oh well, check this one out, I watched it tonight. (image from movie stills)

Apple tart

I love tarts and pies. They are my number one desert - I'm not fond of cakes (as a kid I had a made up allergy to avoid eating these) nor ice cream. I requested a tart pan for christmas and this is it's first use. It took a while to find a tart recipe and I eventually franken-baked a couple of recipes into this custard and apple pie with an almond pate brisee crust. I've already dug in and it's delicious.  

Gallstone Fairy

I made this card for Claire who had her gallbladder out this week, it is signed from the gallstone fairy. She wanted to keep the stones so I thought I would make this card! And mustn't forget a couple of shiny coins (wink!).

I like to make cards for birthdays and special treats for my friends and family. We're all familiar with the computer card (tip, print on cardstock and cut in half, instead of the double fold) but I also like to collage and paint on mat board. These cards mean so much more to the recipient than the cards from the hallmark store. 

What to do when....

This made me laugh aloud. The book is out of print, but someone was kind enough to scan it.

It reminds me of the 1965 version of those worst-case scenario survival handbooks. In college, a friend carried wcsh around in case she ever got stuck on a rising drawbridge (highly unlikely since we lived in a very dry landlocked state) or some other more likely tragedy such as the elevator plummeting. I'm imagining a prim young woman carrying this in her pocketbook on a date, along with the dime for a phone-call home!