Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Brown Sugar

My daughter and I were cooking up a cauliflower casserole, and as I thought of a nicely warmed oven coming up to the 350 degree mark, I decided to use that energy to cook up some cupcakes for the kids' friends.

Rustling through the cabinets I found some organic brown sugar, chocolate chips from an earlier baking effort, vanilla, and we were off to the races.

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup milk (we use lactaid)

• In a bowl, mix or sift the salt, baking powder and flour together
• Cream the sugar, vanilla extract and butter together with a hand-held mixer
• Beat in the eggs as well. Once you have a creamy mix, fold in the flour mixture a little at a time. Then beat it to a consistent dough. D had a lovely time being in charge of all the mixing and folding in of the flour.
• Once you have a smooth mixture, mix in the chocolate chips
• Butter the cupcake tray, and pour in enough of the dough to take up about 3/4 of the cupcake sections
• Bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes
• Pull out of the oven once the cupcakes have a pleasing brown tops, and test they are done by slowly pushing in a toothpick, and make sure there is no dough sticking to the toothpick. If there is, put them back in the over for 3 to 5 minutes
• Let cool for 10 minutes and then serve. Ice at your discretion!

See a quick video below of the chaos that is our kitchen!

Measurement converter

Saw this great measurement converter and felt I had to share - how often have you found one of your mom's recipes and fumbled through the conversions?!
It's part of Diana's Desserts: See the converter here.

Tamarind Chicken

So I felt I had to post this recipe, when I kept packing the chicken away, and my son kept opening the dish and pulling out more. As a vegetarian, I no longer taste any meat dishes that I cook, and sometimes worry that the family is being complimentary because they're sweet. However, the fourth helping felt like a pretty solid sign!

Ingredients:

• One pound of chicken, cubed (most can be boneless, but it adds to the flavor to have a few pieces with bones)
• 16 oz. Bottle of Deep Tamarind-Date Sweet and Sour sauce
• 6 scallion sprigs
• 6 large garlic cloves
• One Tbsp Olive Oil
• Two cardamom cloves, popped or peeled open lightly to free up the seeds a little
• Five to Six whole coriander seeds
• A dozen shopped baby carrots

1. Dice the garlic and scallion (avoid the tips, the limp green sections of the scallion)
2. On a medium flame, bring the oil to a high heat in a deep sauce pan
3. Pop in the cardamom and coriander to flavor the oil for a minute or so
4. Fry the garlic and scallions
5. Once the garlic has browned, toss in the carrots and cook for a few minutes
6. Next pop in the chicken and saute for a few minutes
7. Pour in the tamarind sauce, and lower the flame so the dish can cook at a simmer for about twenty minutes. It's important to keep the flame low, so the sauce doesn't caramelize and separate

I used a bottled sauce, but shall share a recipe for a home-made version shortly. I happened to have some left-over from a small party we had a few days ago, hence the brain-wave for the dish! Deep Foods sauces can be found in most Indian Grocery Stores.

Fun Breakfast

I knew I wouldn't see the kids this morning, so I set up a fun breakfast...made even more fun by the little car-shaped egg-holders I bought last year when I was visiting England on work. Rayware seems to have some fun a funky tableware and cutlery - not sure where one gets them in the US though. Anyone know?

That's sliced Kiwi fruit, a boiled egg, a few rashers of low-fat Turkey bacon and milk.

Coconut Burfi, Made Easy

D brought home a lovely little cookbook called The Usborne Yummy Little Cookbook and we decided a fun recipe for coconut mice. It was loads of fun to try and make the mouse-shaped sweets, but the surprise was that this thoroughly cute recipe resulted in sweets that were identical to Coconut Burfi - the Indian sweet dish that traditionally takes loads of cooking, elbow grease and some prayer (since burfis can sometimes harden to the consistency of rocks!)

We were able to make some mice for D, and then bowls-ful of traditional burfi balls.

Ingredients:
Three cups shredded coconut
One cup condensed milk
Two cups powdered sugar
Food coloring

Optional:

Small confectioners stars to serve as the eyes for the mouse

Kenny's Watermelon Juicy Twist licorice for the tails

M&Ms for ears

One kid who is going to enjoy the process of messing around with sweet ingredients and constructing mice!

• In a bowl, mix the coconut and sugar so that the mixture is evenly blended
• Mix in the condensed milk - this will take quite a bit of elbow grease to make sure the mixture is evenly coated
• Separate out the mixture into two or more batches, so you can have fun with colors
• Mix in the colors - the original recipe suggested using a little red dye in one batch for pink mice, and a lot in the second batch for bright red mice. We made red, blue and yellow mice (very close to a patriotic show of red, white and blue!)
• For mice:
• Dip a tablespoon in water, then scoop some of the mixture and pat it flat. This is up-turned onto a dish or wax paper to server as the body of the mouse
• Pinch the tapered tip of the resulting mouse "body" to create a nose
• Pop on some confectioners stars for eyes, M&Ms behind them to serve as ears
• Pop in a piece of licorice that can serve as the mouse's tail
• For more conventional burfi balls, just make sure to moisten your hands and roll little spheres of the mixture to make round coconut burfi balls
• Place in the fridge for an hour to ensure they stabilize and harden appropriately

In all, this whole procedure can take less than 15 minutes if you're in a hurry to whip something up for a quick dinner party...or can be drawn out interminably if you're looking to entertain the kids!

Denbies vineyard

With a couple of hours to spare in Surrey on a sunny Saturday morning, I took the locals' advice to visit England's largest vineyard, Denbies. With 265 acres of land planted with vines, the place is really pleasant and if it had been a tab warmer I would certainly have walked around a little more. However, their indoor tour packed a lot in, with a 360 degree movie experience that provided thorough review of the topography of the Weal ( the enormous stirrup of limestone based land that support the vines,) a indoor "train" tour through the workings of a winery, ending in a wine tasting experience.

The wine tasting option I chose was the sparkling wines, since Denbies sparkling wines have been known to have beaten French Champagnes in contests. While their Greenfield Cuvee is the award winner, I actually preferred their Whitedown. Much clearer and clean on the palate, and actually better than most champagnes I've drunk. Other tasting options included the classic still wine tour and one with a canape tasting (not too exciting for vegetarians...lots of salmon and meat....)

For those who plan to be in this part of the woods some time soon, I'd certainly suggest this as a nice day's excursion. Educational, fun and good exercise (if you can get out to walk around.) The gift store has some quintessentially English trinkets and foods (Clotted Cream fudge? Lime curd.) The indoor tour has a little train or peoplemover, that rather comically look like a string of old church pews trung togehter! The restaurant is pretty and the little cafe is warm and has a nice selection of foods. I can't be terribly enthusiastic about the leek and onion soup, though!

Dining in Dorking

I was out in UK, meeting with part of our European team, and found myself constantly gravitating to Indian food. I had decided to walk around the little town of Dorking on Friday night before deciding on where I would eat. I passed by Thai spots, pizza parlors, a rather high-end Nepali spot, the ubiquitous (fish and) chip shop...and retured to the Indian restaurant right across from the hotel I was staying at. Zafron was empty...I was early, but from 6pm through 7.30 pm, it was me reading my New Yorker and eating a perfectly prepared meal.

I enjoy the fact that even the simplest Indian spot in UK maintain such impeccable standards. The Pappodoms were perfectly fried (you think that's easy, but I jettison quite a few when I fry them), the tandoori mushroom masala was clearly made with real cashew nuts (though a little sweet for my taste) and the garlic naan was soft and nicely puffed. The one thing that disappointed was the house red - dreck!

More on the tandoori mushroom masalla when I am back home and give it a shot.

Pork chops, mac and veggies meal

So, you don't need to go to Subway to have a five-dollar meal. Actually, it was probably much less than that, since there was enough mac and veggie pie for the next day's lunch for the kids, and two grown up meals. We had to document this meal, since K declared "this is better than the Christmas lamp chops." Sorry, Vikas! One of our favorite parties, which we missed this year, is S and D's Christmas tree-trimming party, and Vikas's lamb chops are the highlight, culinarily speaking. A little "apples and oranges", but still....

I did use a similar recipe, using a yogurt and garam masala recipe. For the four pork chops, I used about a cup and a half of yogurt, 1 tbsp garam masala, 1 tbsp coriander, 1 tbsp salt, a pinch of pepper. If I was cooking for kids alone, I may have added in some red chilli powder as well. The marinating only takes about a half-hour. Lay out the chops in a pan that is greased lightly with olive oil.

The mac and veggies pie was made of one pack of Quinoa rotelle pasta, Classico Alfredo sauce, half a quarter cup of grated cheese and one cup of italian cut beans and half cup of peas. I cooked the pasta to al dente (6 minutes.) Use half the pasta as a layer in a buttered dish, then layer on the vegetables, pour on half the pasta sauce, one more layer of pasta, then comes the rest of the sauce. Top off with cheese.

Both dishes go into an oven pre-heated at 350 degrees, for 15 minutes, followed by ten minutes at 375 degrees. You can turn over the pork after the first 15 minutes. When you pop the dishes out, sear the pork quickly on high heat on a pan very quickly, for a quick browning of the chops.

Lunch came together really quickly, less than 30 minutes, with about 10 minutes of real work! The cauliflower in the photo uses a recipe that's exactly like Win's Aloo Gobi, without the alloo (potato.)

Win's Aloo Gobi

This weekend, we survived one more of our marathon Diwali party - which we tend to style as day-long open houses. It's lovely hosting hundreds of friends, but let's just say that I'm a tad tired the rest of the week! Sree's friends are an amazing crew - one of them, Betty, has a great blog that you'll see here. Betty's personal revelations on Diwali reminded me about how much we take for granted in Indian festivals, hospitality and quirky expectations (of course, we expect 300 people to take off their shoes before coming into our home!) I've used one of Betty's luminous photo here.

S's friend Win stopped to chat on his way out and mentioned reading this blog. I urged him to send me his own favorite Indian recipe. Here it is.

Says Win:

"I like this because it uses my stove, oven & microwave to speed things along . . ..

I roast my cauliflower using the technique from Cook's Illustrated. (Oven preheated to 475; Cauliflower head into 8 equal wedges so that core and florets remain intact; season with oil, salt and pepper, bake for 20 minutes making sure to flip the peices mid-way to brown both sides.)

I put red bliss potatoes cut to be an inch or so in all directions in a loosely covered bowl with a little water in the microwave and push cook-potato.

I cut up an onion or two and cook it relatively slowly in butter and olive oil liberally dosed with curry (powder), maybe 1/4 cup, until soft.
I cut up the cauliflower in pieces about the same size as the potatoes or maybe a little bigger and mix everything together with plain yogurt to give it sauce.

I could imagine doing the recipe without the yogurt.

I also may add leftover cooked peas for color if I have them around.
Enjoy!"

Mushroom and Blue Cheese Hors d'œuvre

K's teachers invited me to come cook with the kids one day in November, and so the three of us (D, K and I) have been mulling over the options. K loves my ramekin creations, but the thought of little hands grabbing ceramic dishes out of the oven worried me. So we tried out a simple but fun recipe today, which I'm sure is part dredged-up memory of cocktail party appetizers, and part "staring into the fridge" inspiration. I wanted to make sure that this would be something that the kids could actually create along with me - it had to be safe, easy, tasty, and as messy as possible! I think the following meets all the criteria.

Ingredients:

Button mushrooms, about 2 to 4 per person depending on the size of the mushrooms

Crumbled blue cheese: One table spoon per mushroom [I plan to substitute simple cheddar cheese for the school cooking experience]

Melted butter to prep the mushroom

• Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees
• Use a butter knife to pop the stem off the mushroom, then dice the stems. The kids needed some help with getting the stems out, but liked the dicing since it was pretty easy
• Mix diced stems and cheese
• Brush melted butter on the body of the mushroom, inside and out
• Spoon the stem and cheese mix into the hollow of the mushroom. The kids just used their fingers to get the mix in
• Line a baking sheet with wax paper, them place the mushrooms about an inch apart (since they tend to leach out some of the liquids and you don't want a soggy mess at the end)
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes
• Serve hot or cool - works either way
• I think I'd like to try this with more pepper, crushed chillies, coriander, etc. Maybe a variety tray of these mushroom pies, with one spice added in each.... I'll tell you how that works out. For now, the kids and I will go with the cheese version. D loved the blue cheese version, K voted that we go with cheddar for his friends. More on that after our school kitchen adventure!

Any suggestions for improvements or variations you've tried?

Quinoa with Mixed Vegetables Pilaf

Friend and fellow-vegetarian Ven sent me the following recipe for Quinoa. I have to admit that I haven't tried the recipe (indeed, was only vaguely familiar with the "pseudo cereal" as it's described), but I do plan on sharing updates when I do try this out.

Says Ven: "As a vegetarian, I always struggle to eat a balanced diet and since Quinoa has all the essential amino acids and several other nutrients it looked like a good option. Over the last year, I have been cooking this grain and like any recent convert, I am an ardent devotee. Quinoa is so easy to cook that it has become my staple replacing Thayir Sadham. I read somewhere that there are concerns about the high nitrate content in the grains because of fertilizer use but I am not sure if this is an issue with the Organic varieties that I buy from Costco and Whole Foods.

Ingredients

2 cups Quinoa

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

1 thinly sliced Tomato

1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil

Curry leaves

1/2 tablespoon of sliced ginger

1/2 tablespoon of Turmeric

¾ tablespoon of Salt and a pinch of chilli powder and garam masala

Rinse Quinoa seeds 3-4 times until the water runs clear.

Add 4 cups of water and cook Quinoa for about 10 mts until you see a little white thread coming out.

Add mixed vegetables and sliced Tomato and cook for another five minutes.

Add salt, turmeric, chilli powder, masala, curry leaves and cook for a five more minutes.

Remove from heat and wait for at least ten minutes before serving. "

Sleepy Hollow Cornmeal Shortcakes

A sleepy afternoon at Philipsburg Manor and Farm in Sleepy Hollow was just what the doctor ordered for us this weekend - we had a lovely time learning about 17th century Hudson valley history and lifestyles. The kids learned how to make Flax and collected cornmeal at a working grist-mill. We decided to spend some of Sunday afternoon making the cornmeal shortcakes as they were originally made in the 17th century, thanks to the recipes posted on the Historic Hudson Valley website. A nice commemoration of the quadricentennial....

The kids loved all the measuring involved. And just so you know, we substituted butter for the vegetable shortening. Another trick - make buttermilk by combining 2/3 cups of low fat yogurt and 1/3 cup skimmed milk for one cup of buttermilk.

Enjoy!

Click through to the site here for the original recipe.....

Eating while vegetarian

Last night, hubby and a few of his friends were out at the widely recommended Malaysian restaurant Nyonya in the Lower East Side. While most of the group had a great meal, the vegetarian in the group sent me the following mobile picture which lays out his vegetarian options...

In case the photo isn't clear, here's the unfriendly "Vegetable" section:

VEGETABLES

1. SALTED FISH WITH BEAN SPROUTS 6.95
   
2. SALTED FISH WITH CHINESE BROCCOLI 7.95
   
3. SPINACH WITH PRESERVED BEAN CURD Sauce 6.95
   
4. CHINESE WATERCRESS W. PRESERVED BEAN CURD sauce 6.95
   
5. KANG KUNG BELACAN 9.95
   Sauteed convolus w. spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce.
   
6. SHRIMPS W. LADIES FINGERS MALAYSIAN STYLE 9.95
   Sauteed okra with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce.
   
7. Shrimps w. eggplant malaysian style 9.95
   
8. SHRIMPS W. STRING BEANS MALAYSIAN STYLE 9.95
   Sauteed string beans with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce.
   
9. MALAYSIAN BUDDHIST 9.95Mixed vegetable w. bean curd skin & Chinese mushroom in Chef's special sauce.
   
10. BEAN CURD IN THAI STYLE 9.95Bean curd topped w. minced pork, shrimp & Chinese mushroom in Chef's special spicy sauce.

Only three out of 10 items in the "vegetable" section did not contain seafood or pork.

As a newish vegetarian, I guess I won't be rushing down there anytime soon.

Ramekins rule!

The following recipe is extremely easy to assemble and can be pretty accurately timed for perfection. An added benefit is that it's can be set up as a highly participative and messy process...a sport, almost. D&K had a whale of a time, and since the baking was done at around 4 pm, they realized they were really hungry for dinner at around 4.01 pm. Once again, dinner wanished pretty much as soon as it was on the table.




Ingredients:
(for one medium Ramekin)

2 mini meatballs, quartered
One slice of whole wheat bread, trimmed to fit at the bottom of the ramekin
One egg
5 olives
Half a teaspoon of capers
One small tomato, cubed
Two tablespoons blue cheese
Two tablespoons shaved parmigiano cheese


For the vegetarian version, I used Arugula (from friend Hari's backyard!) and diced carrots instead of the meatballs.

• Preheat the overn to 350 degrees
• Place the trimmed slice of bread at the bottom of the ramekin
• Layer one tablespoon blue cheese, the meatballs, tomatoes, olives and capers, eggs (make sure the yolk is pierced, blue cheese and the parmigiano
• In the case of the vegetarian version, the carrots replace the meatballs, and the arugula goes just below the top layer of cheese
• Bake for 30 minutes and serve piping hot

Hari's herbs

Our friend Hari stopped by this evening with a cornucopia of fresh herbs and vegetables that he's been growing in his backyard. The amazingly fragrant mint, the lemon grass, chives, cilantro are currently flavoring the air - and I'm still trying to figure out what two bunches are. One has a distinct lemony smell, the other is extremely curry-like, but certainly aren't curry leaves. Thanks to eHow, I'm trying out some creative ways to keep these flavors alive. Any insights on what you've done with your fresh herbs are welcome!

It's back to the basics...eat veggies, no matter what the farming approach

Interesting that this site, dedicated to "Gardening, harvesting, cooking and preserving with kids in tow" surfaced this story that organic foods are only as nutritious as conventionally grown veggies!

Women's healths tips on healthy cooking

I haven't been on for a while - crazy busy at work. But I saw this article and thought I ought to share it. It's crazy that you have to click 50 times, but in a strange way I found that I'm better able to remember the 50 tips they suggested here to fight fat with routine cooking tips:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/easy-weight-loss-tips

Coconut and Chocolate Pancakes

After another blogging hiatus, driven by an exciting time at work, I thought I'd share a very fun recipe with you. It's a perfect Sunday morning treat, and this time, the kids were able to do pretty much everything...my role was purely stove-side!

After a dawn mask-making session (I have a couple of early risers), we all set off to pull together breakfast. They weren't enthusiastic about an omelet, but perked up when I mentioned pancakes. D volunteered to take care of measuring, and K took on what's becoming a "traditional" role in charge of beating the eggs. In less than fifteen minutes, breakfast was done!

Ingredients:
Two medium-sized eggs
One cup milk
Half a cup shredded coconut
Six Hershey kisses, chopped
Two cups Bisquick
One teaspoon sugar
A small pat of butter for the pan

• Start with beating the eggs, and when it's frothy, add in milk
• Mix in the coconut and the chopped chocolate
• Add in the sugar, and once the mix takes on an even consistency, add in the Bisquick slowly and keep mixing so there aren't any clumps of the flour
• Heat a wide pan on a medium flame, and butter it lightly. Pour about four tablespoons of the pancake mix on and roll the pan slightly to evenly distribute into a nice circular shape. The pancakes should take about a minute or half a minute of cooking on each side.
• Given the coconut and chocolate, the kids didn't need any syrup with the pancakes "this is tasty, we don't need that" said K. A cup of milk to wash it down, and we had some happy campers....
  

Sambar'd Salmon and Black Radishes, pan-seared

A couple of days ago I found myself lying in bed and mentally bemoaning my lack of activity on this blog. I realized that I'd have to get typing if I were to create a totally new recipe - I'd feel the urge to share the experience...be it a calamity or a triumph. And in the quest for something that I suspect hasn't been tried before, I sat up and started listing my favorite tastes and dishes. Right on top of the list were salmon and sambar (falafel is up there...but I'm swearing off fried foods for a bit!) So, I said, what about Sambar Salmon...which is totally different from Salmon Sambar.

Just so you know, I consider this one a triumph. Ask the husband....

Sambar, for those readers who aren't familiar with South Indian cooking, is a tangy lentil curry that is usually served with rice, dosa or idli (steamed rice cakes.) Besides lentils, sambar often contains pearl onions or radishes and can be quite versatile, as curries go. I wasn't about to pop the fish in the sambar - that felt somehow inappropriate. Instead, I decided to deconstruct the sambar, and use key ingredients to define a modern plate.

I'll share a sambar recipe with you soon, but for now, the key ingredients I planned to hijack for my salmon and radish were:
- Tamarind paste
- Red chilli powder
- Turmeric
- Coriander powder
- Sambar masala
- Cumin powder
(I'll add in curry leaves and mustard seeds the next time around - didn't do that for the first go around.)

Sambar'd Salmon:

Two large slices of Salmon (around one pound)
One tablespoon chilli powder
A quarter tea-spoon Tamarind paste
A teaspoon of Red chilli powder (but if you don't like spicy food, you can just add a pinch)
A half- teaspoon Turmeric powder
A half - teaspoon Coriander powder
One table-spoon sambar masala
A half-teaspoon Cumin powder
I also added in a teaspoon of garam masala
The juice of half a lemon
A half or one tea-spoon olive oil

• Skin the salmon slices, and coat them with the lemon juice
• Mix all the powdered spices mentioned above, and pat them onto the lemon-coated fish
• Allow the spices to seep in, I gave it about three hours
• After the marinating is done, take the tamarind paste and rub gently on the fish. Make sure that you still have a coating of the tamarind and spices on the body of the fish
• Lightly sprinkle a half-teaspoon of olive oil in a wide pan, and over a medium heat start searing the salmon slices
• I tend to cook the fish through, and I suspect that works best with such flavorful spices
• Serve with the radishes mentioned below...though, you could also use the marinade and pan-searing method on smaller cubes, and serve them up as appetizers with a dash of Greek yogurt....

Tangy Radish

One black radish
Two cups broth
A half-teaspoon tamarind paste
A teaspoon of vegetable oil

• Skin the radishes and cube into one-eighths or into half-inch cubes
• Boil the radish cubes for abut 15 minutes in broth, so that they are cooked through, but not soft to the touch. Drain and set aside
• In a frying pan, heat the oil over a gentle flame, then mix in the tamarind paste so the bottom of the pan is coated in the nice brown mixture
• Add the radish, and let the cubes get caramelized a little along the edges

These are strong flavors, so you might choose have a gentle foil to it. I could see them served with a simple vegetable rice pulau. Today, I served them up with a side of carrots lightly boiled in broth to soften just a tad. Hubby S also added a slice of home-made bread to the mix.

Getting back to baking (Olive bread, Hummus & Banana Caramel pie)

The end of the annus horriblis was particularly difficult...being ill and generally run down by all the craziness in the air, I wasn't much of a blogger! Well, despite all indications to the contrary (given Gaza, Madoff, et al.) I insist on thinking of 2009 as a potential annus mirabilis .

From Drop Box

My daughter D and I decided to get busy in the kitchen today, and multi-tasked all morning to pull together a snack table for a play-date. She wanted a banana pie, and I'd been planning on pulling together a hummus and olive-parmesan bread combo that I'd seen on a TV show a couple of weeks ago. The show was Flavors of America, but unfortunately, the website didn't get me to the recipes. I landed up scouring my mom's old recipes and a couple of websites for inspiration. The following recipes pull from all those sources, and work well. These aren't quick recipes, but are pretty easy. D enjoyed all the kneading, the control of the food-processor buttons (!) and slicing of bananas and generally getting to lick the caramel dish....



Hummus

One can Garbanzos
Three tablespoons Tahini
Two medium-sized garlic cloves
Juice of one small lime
Five to Ten pitted olives, slices

• Dice the garlics and olives and squeeze the juice of a small lime (if you're using pre-squeezed lime juice, plan on using about three tablespoons.)
• Collect half of the liquid in the can of garbanzos to use, discard the rest
• In a food-processor, toss in the garbanzos, three tablespoons of tahini sauce, garlic and lime juice and whip it to a rough paste
• Add in the olives and the reserved liquid from the can into the mix, and whip it to the consistency you like - I tend to like my hummus rather smooth

Banana Caramel Pie
Be ready for an hour's prep and cooking time

Filling:
One can sweetened condensed milk
Two bananas
Two tablespoons chopped chocolate

Pie crust:
Half cup butter
Quarter cup milk
Half cup flour
Half teaspoon salt

• I learned this easy caramel recipe from About.com. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a 9-inch pie plate. Cover with aluminum foil and place in larger shallow pan. Fill the larger pan with hot water. Bake at 425° for about one and a half hours, or until thick and caramel colored
  
• Get the oven temperature down to 350 degrees (this is the right temperature for the olive bread as well, so if you happen to have a similar list of dishes cooking, plan on having prepped the bread while you were cooking the caramel....)
• I have made a Bisquick crust before, which works fantastically, but this time, I decided to try a more conventional pie crust. I have to admit, I prefer my Bisquick version!
• In a nine inch pie plate, mix all the ingredients for the pie crust. It will take some kneading, and after that, press the dough out over the pan. Try to smooth it out to a consistent thickness, and do work to make sure that there aren't any perforations or the pie will suffer! Bake the crust for around 20 minutes, or till golden
• Cool the pie crust before you introduce the filling
  
• Slice two bananas thinly, and layer it on the crust. Sprinkle the chocolate on the bananas. Add the caramel on top and place the pie in the fridge for a couple of hours
• It's ready to serve!

Olive Parmesan Bread

Two and half cups of flour
One cup warm water
Half a cup pitted sliced olives
Half cup grated Parmesan
Half cup olive oil
A couple of tablespoons of milk to glaze the bread
A tablespoon of yeast
A tablespoon of sugar

• Heat water - not quite to boiling point (you should be able to drink it.) In about a quarter cup, mix in the yeast and sugar and let the yeast get activated
• In a bowl, sift the flour and salt together. Make a small depression in the center and pour in the yeast liquid and the rest of the water and knead lightly. Let rest for about ten minutes
• Add in the olive oil, and knead well. Keep aside, covered with a moist cloth for about 20 minutes
• On a floured surface, pat down the dough to a thick rectangle, and sprinkle the sliced olives and Parmesan (reserve some cheese for sprinkling on the surface)
• Roll or fold the dough like you would a taco...visualize a swirl of olives and cheese as you slice through the bread
• The loaf still has some rising to do, so let the roll rest for about ten minutes
• Place the roll in a floured baking sheet and brush it with milk for a nice shine. Sprinkle some Parmesan on the top
• Base in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for around forty minutes

The snack table had chips and olive bread to go with the hummus, and the pie. Great fun was had by all!

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Turkey and gravy pot pie

The sheer volume of meat on a sixteen pound turkey doesn't strike you, even when the bird comes out of the oven. It's when you start slicing it up, that the prospect of somehow getting all that meat eaten gets daunting. On Friday, I pulled together a turkey curry that worked well with the cornbread stuffing as well as the mashed potatoes. Today, the kids and I tried our hands at making a turkey and gravy pot pie! The kids took exception at the name, for some reason...but I talked them over that little technicality! They helped me dice the carrots with butter knives - that took about ten minutes. Then they enjoyed messing around with the dough....

I've never been a big fan of store-bought pie-crusts. There is something bomb shelter-like about them, tho' I would use one if I needed to.... I remember creating a pie crust a couple of years ago when I pulled together a quiche for a friend who was on the Atkins diet. It used Crisco shortening, and I had more than a half tin of it in the back of the fridge for months. This time, I went with a simpler recipe that's butter-based.

Pie crust:

Four cups Bisquick
One cup butter

Eight tablespoons boiling water

• In a large bowl, mix the Bisquick and butter with a fork till it's a nice crumbly mass
• Add the boiling hot water and knead the mix into a soft dough
• Lower layer: Use a little more than half the dough to line a nine or ten-inch baking dish. Pat the dough with your fingers so that there is a consistent layer of dough, ideally a millimeter thick
• Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees
• Place the dish in the freezer for about ten minutes, then place in the oven to bake the pie crust for 15 minutes
• Upper layer: Given the crumbly nature of a good pie crust, it's tough to manage the "lid." I figured out a little trick today. Lay a tin foil on the dish before putting it in the oven and tap it so you have the diameter of dish. Then knead out the dough so it is set up as a nice consistently thick layer that's the absolute right size. When it's time, you can slowly roll over the lid onto the pot pie!

Stuffing
Two cups chopped leftover turkey
One cup diced carrots
One cup leftover gravy

• Mix the ingredients in a bowl, then ladle it into the baked pie crust
• Roll the lid on, then place the pie in the oven to cook for about twenty-five minutes
• Take out, let cool (maybe on a window-sill) slice and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Cranberry sauce on Breakfast foods

Thanks to friend Meera, we used up the leftover cranberry sauce this morning, using it instead of syrup with waffles. At one point, it looked like K was eating cranberry sauce with waffles on the side, not the other way around. A huge hit! There a little leftover, and I'm going to mix it into my oatmeal tomorrow - a nice wallop of vitamin C in the morning, AND one less dish in the fridge!

PINCH pizzas and S'Macs

The day after thanksgiving, we planned on a day at the museum with friends, but instead landed up walking lazily around the UWS and enjoying a childlike gastronomic treat. We stumbled on PINCH, Pizza by the Inch. Besides pizzas, the cheery joint also featured S'macs, or Sarita's Macaroni and cheeses. The kids enjoyed the "inches" of cheese and cheese and olive pizzas. The mac and cheese was deemed "totally cheesy - almost too cheesy!" The grown-ups tried the Macaroni and cheeses, including Masala(cheddar, American, tomato, cilantro, garlic, ginger, and various Indian spices) Mediterranean (goat cheese, spinach, olives and roasted garlic) s'macs. Innovative, and extremely tasty, these s'macs are served up piping hot in skillets and are a real treat. Sarita Ekya (nee Malhotra) certainly hit on a great idea here. Eight thumbs ups from the four of us....

Vikas Khanna's Lamb Chops

I had to delete this post I had originally posted in January, because of a garbled comment left by "craftmatic bed" - a link with lots of search words (argh)

"Last night, I saw the kids eat up what must amount to a small lamb! We were at a tree-trimming party at Shelley Rubin's (of the fabulous Rubin Museum) and she had invited Vikas Khanna to cater the elegant evening. The whole meal was amazing, with a whole series of appetizers circulating all night, and multitude of entrees to choose from. I especially loved the eggnog, which Vikas had engineered into a delicious "warm kulfi" affair.My kids, however, were true gourmands - yes, gourmands, when it came to the mini lamb chops. Given that my son said he'd "eat these lamb chops for breakfast, lunch and dinner," we weren't surprised. It got to a point where the nice waiter would come straight out of the kitchen with the platter of lamb chops and make a bee-line to lil' K, who would proceed to take two at a time and place it on his plate. Five minutes of silent munching later, he ran back to continue decorating the tree.For an in-depth recipe for the lamb chops, see Vikas's book "Modern Indian Cooking" (foreword by the legendary Daniel Boulud).

Vikas's recipe calls for marinating the thinly sliced lamb chops in a mix of yogurt, garam masala and salt (1 cup yogurt, 1 tablespoon garam masala, salt to taste for a pound and a half of lamb chops). As with most meats, it's best to marinate it overnight. Grill the lamb chops in a pre-heated oven (at 375°) turning over once for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Given the marination, the chops should be very tender and easy to get done. I should admit, I haven't tried this at home, but wanted to share the recipe and quote the book for the adventurous spirits out there. This isn't a spicy dish, so the kids will love it (I speak from experience there!)Serve the chops with couscous (see my veggie-filled couscous recipe coming up soon). "

Pudina (Mint) and Cucumber sandwiches

Pudina (or mint) sandwiches are perfect for a warm evening snack, or a mid-morning nosh. When the kid’s weekend class had a small Diwali get-together, we took pudina sandwiches as a starter for lunch a couple of weeks ago. They pretty much vanished!

I remember these sandwiches from warm picnics out in the park with my parents…there is a charm about sitting back, with family, and gulping down lemonade and sandwiches under the shade of a tree….

Ideally, you serve them cut into triangles, sprinkle fresh mint or chives around them to add some color to the presentation. Use a nice white or lightly flowered plate to pay them out. I believe these sandwiches may be by English sandwiches, though the Indian version has very piquant sauces and in some cases, they even use sliced potatoes instead of cucumbers! You just boil the potatoes till they are soft but sturdy enough to be cut into thin slices and place them just like you would the cucumber in the following recipe.

For the sandwich:
A loaf of white bread. White bread works best, since the mint and cucumber are delicate flavors and may clash with fancier breads
Butter
Kirby cucumbers (small)
Pudina paste ingredients (see below)

Pudina paste:
- One cup mint leaves (pudina)
- Half cup coriander leaves
- One chopped green chilli (optional, I don’t use this with kids)
- Half tea spoon of ginger paste
- Quarter cup lemon juice (you can also use tamarind juice, instead)
- Grated coconut, ¼ cup (optional, I don't usually use it but does add some body to the sauce)
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, ideally crushed before being put in the blender

Grind all the above ingredients in a food processor till it’s is a consistent paste (but retain some texture.)

Preparing the cucumbers:
I have learned to slice the tip of cucumbers off, them rubbing the cut ends together. You may see a white foam emerge – that seems to get rid of the bitterness that some cucumbers have as they ripen. Cut another slice off the cucumber, and you’re ready to go!
Peel the cucumbers and slice them finely

Assembling the sandwiches:
- Spread butter on a slice of bread
- Follow with a layer of mint sauce
- Arrange 4 to 6 slices of cucumber on the slice, and sprinkle salt and pepper on the cucumber
- Butter the next slice and close the sandwich
- Trim the edges, then cut it cross-wise into 2 triangle sandwiches

Coconut Raisin Loaf

I was ill for a couple of days, and spent some time recuperating in bed. As I prepared to get back to work on Monday, I realized I needed to get out of bed and be a little more active. The kids wanted to make it a family activity - and since I didn't have the energy to play ball, we decided on a kitchen adventure.

We rifled through the cupboard and fridge, and pulled out a box of organic cocoa powder, sweetened coconut flakes, raisins, Bisquick, eggs, confectioners sugar and milk. After a quick review of online recipes, none of which worked perfectly, I concocted the following recipe.

Ingredients:
Two and a half cups Bisquick
Three teaspoons baking powder
Eight tablespoons cocoa
Four eggs
Half cup butter
Half cup sugar
Quarter cup milk
Half cup raisins
One cup sweetened coconut

• Soften the butter. Beat the eggs till they are fluffy
• Sieve the Bisquick, cocoa and baking powder together into a large bowl
• Mix in the coconut flakes and raisings into the dry ingredients
• Fold in the butter, and then the eggs. Whisk the mixture gently and ensure there are no lumps (other than the raisins and coconut, of course!)
• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
• Generously butter a baking dish, pour in batter and pop it into to the oven for 30 minutes

The kids had a great time whisking the eggs, measuring out the ingredients, and generally doing pretty much everything except putting the dish into the oven and taking it out. Try it - this was fun and delicious!

Betsy's Farmer Market Salad Recipes

Every so often, we try to get the neighbors together for a peripatetic dinner. We start with appetizers in one apartment, dinner in another, dessert in the third, etc. The changes in decor, mood and wine as we progress through the evening can make the whole experience mildly kaleidoscopic. ...A couple of weekends ago, after around a hundred emails, we managed to get four families together and it proved, as always, to be congenial, relaxed and a gastronomical adventure. My neighbor Betsy whipped up some divine salads this year, and I asked her to share them. Below is her email....

"The recipe quantities are very informal because these are really just farmers' market recipes...I figure it out as I go along.

Watermelon Salad
Ingredients:
seedless watermelon (enough to yield chunks to fill your salad bowl 3/4 full)
goat cheese (you can use fresh chevre, or feta, or a firm goat cheese like a crottin - 1/4 pound is plenty)
fresh mint (3-4 sprigs - do not use dried mint! - washed and patted dry)
arugula (2 big handfuls, washed and spun dry)
sea salt

Making the salad:
Chop the fresh mint leaves finely and place in your salad bowl.
Slice as much melon as you want to use, peel it, cut into bite-size chunks, and toss the melon gently in the salad bowl with the mint.
Crumble the cheese into the salad bowl, add the arugula, and toss gently.
Season with as much or as little sea salt as you like; I use sea salt because the crunch adds a nice texture.
Serve promptly because otherwise you will have watermelon-cheese soup.

Flat Salad
(I call this "flat salad" because of how it's served, not because the flavors are flat!)
Ingredients:
the most flavorful heirloom tomatoes available at the Greenmarket (taste and choose)
fresh corn in the husk
fresh shelling beans (cranberry beans, sometimes called borlotti beans, are what I used)
sweet red onions
sweet basil
olive oil
red wine vinegar
and a large serving platter.

The quantities will vary depending on the size of the tomatoes, how many people you are feeding, and the size of your serving platter. For the six of us, I used four big tomatoes (2 red/yellow, 2 red) and 2 or 3 smaller green tomatoes, plus 1 ear of corn, about 2 cups of beans (shelled - that would be around 1 pound of beans unshelled), and one red onion.

Making the salad:
First, make the beans. Put some water on to boil while you shell the beans, but don't salt the water because it will make the beans tough. Drop the shelled beans into the water with some peppercorns and 2-3 crushed garlic cloves, turn the heat down to medium (a slow boil), and cook the beans for 15 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and taste a bean to check for done-ness. They should be soft inside but not sloppy-squishy-soft. If they need more cooking, check for doneness every 5 minutes or so. When the beans are done, drain them and pour 1 tbsp olive oil over them while they're warm; season with sea salt and set aside.

While the beans are cooking, slice the tomatoes horizontally into circles about 1/2" thick and arrange them on the platter. Husk the corn, rinse the ears, put each in a plastic bag, and microwave for 1 minute; turn the ears over and microwave for another minute; then take them out of the plastic so they don't steam, and let them cool till you can handle them. With a sharp knife, shave the kernels off the cobs and scatter the kernels over the sliced tomatoes. Mince as much basil as you like, add it to the beans, and scatter the beans and basil over the corn. Slice the onion into very thin crescents and put the slices in a bowl. Over them, pour 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar and 1 tbsp olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes. Taste and if they're still bitter, cover the bowl and microwave for another 1 or 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, add 1 tbsp peanut oil, and pour the onions and the dressing over the tomato/beans/corn platter. Serve with bread to mop up the tomato juice.

There are, of course, variations on this theme. Barry likes to arrange the tomatoes on top of a bed of chopped romaine lettuce. When fresh shelling beans aren't available, I leave them out and add a second ear of corn instead. And so on. It's really a Greenmarket salad because you choose the ingredients based on what looks good to eat."

Modakams (Kozhakatta) for modern times

I've always thought of Ganesha as the with-it God -- like the hip older relative who enjoys the latest blogs and youtube clips. A sense of Ganesh as friend, guide and general obstacle-destroyer guides the common Hindu sensibility. Of course, it's always been a little problematic for me to explain the whole dad-chopping-off head element of the story to the kids. I'll wait a couple of decades before having a happy chat about the contrast with the other famous acrimonious father-dad pairing of Oedipus and Laius.

Legend has it that Ganesha loved the sweet, round sweet called the moda, modakam or kozhakatta (I guess the literal translation of that word is basically, hand-molded clump!) Today is Ganesha chaturthi or Vinayaka chaturthi, considered his birthday. One celebrates by making modakams and praying to him in the morning. It was nice that it was the first day of school for the kids too - and I hoped that Ganesha's blessings went with them. A great modakam would require all kinds of grinding and stirring thick mixes. D and I took the easier route - and above are some of our modakams (the little one with some of the filling showing is D's!). Here's our recipe.

Modakan or Kozhakatta
Ingredients:
One cup rice powder
Two tablespoons rava
Three-fourths cup of water
One cup shredded coconut for the filling, half cup coconut for the outer shell
Two teaspoons brown sugar (optional)
One cinnamon stick and a teaspoon of cardomom seeds
2 teaspoons ghee (optional)

• Prepare the filling: you can choose to go with the low-fat approach and just use the cup of coconut as is for a slightly less sweet end-product. I added brown sugar to give the filling some color and sweetness. I also cooked the mix in some ghee to give it some pliability. I had started heating the ghee over a low flame, and tossed in the spices to give it some flavor, fished out the spices once they started sputtering, then put the coconut mix in and tossed it till golden.
• Set the filling aside
• Bring the water to a boil. Then in a mixer, add the rice flour, rava, half cup of coconut, a pinch of salt, then slowly add in the hot water and blend the mixture. D loves to manage the buttons of the mixer, pressing blend then stop as we go through the steps. It's real team work!
• Take the mix out, let cool
• Coat your palm with ghee or flour. Pat about two tablespoons of the mix into a thick layer, then scoop in a tablespoon of the filling in. D did a great job of creating perfectly flat layers of dough on her little palms
• Slowly start folding in the dough, until you have a dumpling
• Make sure to clean your palms between modakams, or you'll have a sticky mess to content with. D was great about reminding me to clean up each time (have a wet napkin or dish-cloth handy, and the ghee or flour set up for easy reach for your child and you)
• Steam the modakam for 15 minutes, and voila, you have Ganesha's prasadam AND
  a tasty treat that the kids will devour
  

BBQ Nights

Apologies to my pals who haven't had a blog post inflicted on them in a few weeks. I'm recovering from a suburban experiment, and continuing to juggle an interestingly busy work schedule.




So, suburban experiment - that needs some explaining. Our Ridgewood pals N and T were off to the Jersey short, and extended an invitation to us to use their home while they were away. The idea was for us to commute to work from the suburb, and get a sense of what the commuting life would feel like. Lovely home, lovely garden, lovely nature, but man - we're just NOT commuting types!!




We did manage to get two lovely weekends in - and we managed to have an outdoor BBQ lunch the first Sunday. The Saturday after, however, my visiting sis and parents were greeted by light August showers. I'd marinated a whole bunch of meats and skewered kebabs, but found N's stove-top griddle that worked fantastically for a whole indoor BBQ. We had a fantastic candle-lit meal and all over-ate! I even got my dad to eat eggplant - which he normally won't touch! The kebabs were a great hit, as were the pork chops.

Here's what I learned, from my first real full-blown BB experience -- it's all about the marinade and planning for the rotation of quick cook and slow cooking items. I also learned to cook up a stir-fried squash dish that worked fantastically.

The BBQ line-up...

• Stir-fried squash


• Shrimp kebabs


• Chicken kebabs


• Pork chops


• Grilled eggplants


• Grilled potato wedges (these are dicey!!)


• Grilled portabello mushrooms
  

Stir-fried squash:

One of two squash
Half an onion
Two table-spoons oil (sesame oil works well, but I'm addicted to olive oil now)
Soy sauce
Black-bean or stir fry sauce (I've made a separate sauce with tomatoe, onions and sugar that would work too -- will upload that soon)
Half teaspoon sesame seeds

Dice the squash and onions into half-inch cubes. Heat the oil, and toss in some sesame seeds. Start by frying the diced onions till they get to be transculent. Before they get too browned, toss in the squash and let the squash brown. Once the squash starts to soften, put in about a half-cup of the sauce and let simmer. Take the dish off the stove-top while there's still some crunch to the veggies and you've got a pretty good center to a meat-laden plate!

Grilled Eggplants


The trick here is to marinate the sliced eggplants in a dash of lemon juice, red chilli powder, salt and olive oil.

Generally, you'll have a good sense of how much of the spices you need to use. It's generally half a teaspoon of salt, a quarter teaspoon of pepper or chilli powder for one large eggplant.

These need to be watched closely, since they can brown. It's nice to get them crunchy - I know one of our pals uses a foil on the grill so they can crisp up a little more without sogging up.

Pork Chop marinade: For two medium sized chops, use three teaspoons of soy sauce, four crushed garlic cloves, a teaspoon BBQ sauce, Salsito red chilli sauce. Marinade overnight (keeping them in the fridge, of course!)That marinade will really liven up a BBQ'd pork chop!

Recommendation: Kerala Fish Curry from Daily Delight

Readers of previous posts may have noticed my purist tendencies: let the kids know what veggies they're eating, don't cop out and use ready-made masalas, etc. However, I am happy to announce that I've found a ready-to-eat product that I'll vouch for. We picked up some frozen, ready-to-eat Kerala Fish Curry (a brand called Daily Delight) when we were driving through Edison a couple of weekends ago. Getting in late from work today, I heated up the dish and was truly impressed: "just like mom makes it!" There was enough for two grown-ups, if you eat it with rice or a dosa. It would certainly be a filling dish for one. At $3.99, this was fantastic value-for-money. I was also happy to see that this was actually prepared in Kerala - yaay for globalization, I say.

An Argentine twist on scrambled eggs

When we told friends we were off for a couple of weeks in Buenos Aireas, they all warned that we'd better be into beef in a big way. Well, I'm not, but it's not hard to find fantastic food here in the many great restaurants that dot this city. Most friends seemed to have a favorite. The breads and starters at Cabana las Lilas alone was worth the hike to Puerto Madero - thanks for that recommendation C. Thanks to V for introducing us to the empanadas of La Querencia in Recoleta. It's here that D discovered the Gramaja scrambled egg dish that she has announced is her favorite dish (for now!!) The friends who took us to the restaurant were dismissive of the dish, since it's considered a bit of a unsophisticated, hardy dish, but like a lot of hardy dishes, it was actually amazingly tasty. A recipe follows at the end of this post....

I have to admit that the trip has been an eye-opener in many ways. The idea that this country was independent in 1816 - way before India's unified tussle with the crown began - was startling. It's just an indicator of our (my) relative lack of exposure to South American history.... Well, Gramajo has a bit of history attached too. It seems to have been first cooked up, or perhaps just recorded properly, in the mid-1860s when President Roca met an administrator called Artemio Gramajo who had the dish made for him while the President was visiting his regiment. Gramajo became the president's fast friend, and the Gramajo scrambled egg became a fixture in the latter's diet. It's a dish known to have been the kicker to a soldier's day, but is now a fixture at restaurants where I see the dish produced for kids in neighboring tables quite regularly... kids seem to choose either gramajo or the Milanese chicken (a variant of the schnitzel.)

Gramajo Scrambled Eggs

Half a medium sized onion (though most traditional recipes suggest two onions)

One medium sized potato (once again, the online recipes tend to suggest two, but I wasn't ready for that!!)

One cup peas (or boiled beans)

Half a cup of cooked cubed chicken (I made do with the chicken, because I hadn't bought any ham at the local Coto, tho' that's the traditional meat used)

Four eggs

Salt, pepper, oil

• Cut the onion into very small cubes and heat slowly in oil till they get to be soft and a translucent
• Peel the potato and cut into tin trips (almost like french fries, tho thinner.) Fry the potato strips in a layer of oil in a pan, till they are crisp and golden brown. Pull them out of the oil and pat out the oil with a paper napkin
• Pat the cubed chicken with a little salt, then saute till cooked in the oil left in the panPrep the peas (I use frozen peas, and defrosting well is critical for a nice dish)Beat eggs well, and add salt and pepper to taste Put in the fried potatoes and peas back in with the chicken, and stir so that everything heats evenly
• Add the beaten eggs and stir gently till the eggs set but doesn't get thoroughly dried out
• I served the gramajo with whole wheat bread and ketchup, but traditionally, it's seems to be served with rolls or small baguettes

For a friend

My friend C sent us a note today that made us reflect on the fragility of life, and reminded us to cherish who we have in our lives. Sharing part of her note with you.

"Thank you for helping the New York Out of the Darkness walk raise more than $1.7 million for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention!

In the early evening of June 7, nearly 1,200 walkers and more than 300 crew members gathered in Brooklyn for the start of the walk. Our wounds, generally hidden, were made public for one night by colored beaded necklaces. Those who had lost a child to suicide wore white beads. Survivor spouses wore red. Siblings, orange. Supporters, blue. I wore gold beads signifying the loss of a parent, purple for the loss of another relative or friend, and green as a sign of my personal struggles with depression.

I was surprised by the intense emotions I felt as I saw clusters of people wearing a single face or name on their matching t-shirts. The colors of their beads announcing that this walker was the mother, this the sister, this the husband, this the friend… The concentric circles of devastation wrought by just one suicide were made palpable by far too many different groups. Our grief, often shared only privately, was openly acknowledged and made visible. It was difficult to process it all.

In the twenty years since my father’s death, I have reached a certain understanding about that loss. But the walk made it clear to me that I haven’t begun to process the immeasurable pain and loss caused by the fact that every 16 minutes someone else dies by suicide. Every 16 minutes the miracle of life is extinguished. And every 16 minutes new circles, pulsating with grief and rage and what ifs, are formed around each of those deaths.

The tragedy is heightened as this suffering is largely unnecessary: Ninety percent of the people who die by suicide have a diagnosable and treatable psychiatric condition.

At the opening ceremonies, Bob Gebbia, the executive director of AFSP, highlighted that psychiatric illness must be recognized as a disease in order to prevent suicide: “We are walking tonight to state loud and clear that depression and other mental illnesses are just that – illnesses. Not weaknesses. Not character flaws. These illnesses of the brain are nothing to be ashamed of. And like so many other illnesses they can sometimes be fatal. Those suffering require – and deserve – understanding, treatment, and the same compassion as people afflicted with any other illness.”

We also heard from a mom who lost both of her twin sons to suicide. On the third anniversary of her eldest son’s death, she placed a memorial ad in her local newspaper. The tribute apparently included the cause of his death and some information about mood disorders and suicide. The next day a coworker who had known the mom and the sons for 20 years approached her and asked, “When are you going to stop doing this?” “Doing what?” “This whole suicide thing. When are you going to just get over it and move on?”

I’m not exactly sure how the mom responded to her coworker, but I imagine it was some form of what she told us: “I’ll stop when suicide stops. I’ll stop when no other parent, friend, spouse, or family member has to live my nightmare. I’ll stop doing this when there is mental health parity and anyone who needs it can get treatment for depression just like they can for any other illness.”

Her resolve buoyed us, and we filed out of Cadman Plaza, silent or speaking in hushed voices. The beauty of the Promenade and the Manhattan skyline at sunset felt surreal. Then we began the half-mile ascent to the crest of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Watchtower clock announced that at 8 PM, even with the breezes from the water, the temperature was 88 degrees. We were only at the beginning, and as we slogged upward through the thick air, the obstacles to a world without suicide seemed manifest.

I was grateful though for the demanding conditions that evening, thankful for the physical effort and discomforts. They served to balance the emotional aspects of the walk. I walked with a few women I had met earlier in my training. Among us we had lost a father, uncle, sister, brother, and two dear friends. Lizzie, pictured here with me, lost her brother to mental illness in November.

After walking around the tip of Manhattan (punctuated by a brief but impressive thunderstorm), up to Central Park, and back downtown again, my group crossed the Brooklyn Bridge for a second time. It was 4 AM, and the clock showed the walk’s lowest temperature: 78 degrees. As we entered Cadman Plaza we were greeted by the sight of a thousand luminaria leading the way to the stage. Before the event, each walker had been given a white bag on which to detail why they were walking. The bags were now filled with lights and bore the names and pictures of individuals lost to suicide, messages to loved ones, cries for an end to this tragedy, and prayers of hope for those struggling with mental illness.
As a result of my fundraising appeal, many of you shared with me that you and your families had also been touched by suicide and mood disorders. Your stories made very concrete the scope of this problem, and I was truly honored to pay tribute to your loved ones’ memories and to acknowledge their suffering by placing a luminaria for each of them and by wearing their names on the back of my shirt.

I walked to honor my dad, Norman Clark, and my uncle Brad. It was a balm for me to also walk in memory of the following:

Portia’s dad, Saint Elmo Cribbs
Jenny’s mom, Mary Ellen Gee
Jenny’s uncle, Justus Eddy
Joan Lakin
Adrian’s cousin, Robert Levy
Quentin’s dad, Glen Curtis
Pete’s dad
Kristi’s grandfather, George
Scott’s aunt and cousin
Nuria’s dad, Luis Pereira
Roberta’s mom
Stuart deProsse"

Thanks, dear C, for sharing your story, and your endeavor with us.

Pea Soup Swim

I swam in the Hudson River this Sunday afternoon, and actually enjoyed it. And yes, I jumped - wasn't pushed! It started as a bit of a lark, something I thought I would back out of once I had achieved my exercise goals. The quest to qualify was initially my goal (88 lengths in our pool!) ...and then I qualified. Once that was done, I couldn't let myself down. I had to do it!

Anyway, the first indication that something may be amiss was when I received an email and then a call from the organizers of the Park to Park swim that said that they'd changed the course of the race. No longer was it going to be with the direction of the current (from 144 to 166 street), but out from 166 to the center of the river, then downtown against the current and back to the starting point.

Not one of the 227 swimmers who gather that Sunday morning seems fazed by this change - some were clearly biatheletes, people who had done these swims many times before and there to win, and others were like me, just in it for fun. For me, the question was, would I actually dive in. I did (see youtube video of the start)! Not just that, I survived and valiantly battled the currents for 25 minutes, at which point I flipped on my back and tried the back stroke (from pure exhaustion) and was shocked when an NYPD motor boat passed by and one of the guys said - "you're going backwards...you all are!" I grabbed a nearby Kayak and looked around - and saw swimmers being ferried back to shore. I had put off giving up, since I didn't want to be the first one giving up, or have my kids see my give up. Now that I knew that completing the swim was a futile exercise, I was ok with being rescued! The cheery kayak'er (who struggled mightily with the currents himself) and the lovely NYPD blokes got me and a bunch of others back to the rocks and we clambered back.

Apart from my family posse (dad, mom, hubby and kids), some of our friends came to cheer me on. I'm not sure what they thought - that I was demented, possibly, but maybe also kinda brave...? Either way, they proved their mettle by actually hugging and kissing me, Hudson water and all. The parents deserve special mention, since they had trekked out to umpteen rifle shooting competitions before in my avatar as rifle champ, but this was the first time they saw me in a new, and dangerous, element. Mamma slept a couple of hours that evening, as she worked out her stress and the exhaustion of the long walk through Washinton Sqare park! And of course, a special thanks (and many Hudson-smelling hugs) to the extremely supportive guy by my side!!

So, you ask, what's with the title of this post? Just 'cause I remember thinking as I dived into the river that it looked and felt a little like Pea Soup! The resemblance ends there - I drank a couple of quarts of the stuff as I swam across the current and kept getting hit in the face by the swells as I came up for air. Boy, was I happy I got all those shots (Hep A, Typhoid and Tetanus, in case you're wondering.) Still, I'm sharing a Pea Soup recipe that I've played with in the past, since a recipe or food reference is the price of entry on this blog!!

Pea Soup a la Hudson!

One and a half cups of green peas (split peas soak and hence cook faster)
Four cups chicken (or veggie) broth
Half a small onion, diced
One medium carrot, diced
Quarter teaspoon lime juice
One garlic clove
Half a stalk of celery
Salt and pepper to taste
A pinch of turmeric and garam masala for the extra punch

• Soak the peas in the broth overnight (in the fridge, or the broth will turn)
• Cook the peas and broth till the peas start to show they are cooking, which should take around 20 minutes
• Toss in the diced garlic, onion, carrot and celery and cook with the turmeric and garam masala
• Pick out some of the vegetable pieces when they get tender, to add some character to the soup at the end
• Puree the cooked peas and vegetables to a smooth consistency (you may need to add some broth, in case it gets too thick)
• Mix in the reserved vegetables and serve
• Optional: Dribble some cream to decorate the soup as you serve in bowls. You can also add in cubed ham with the vegetables, which is quite conventional. You might also garnish with a sprig of mint, if you want to mix it up a bit!