Not Your Everyday [Explosion!]

If you came here today looking for a fancy cupcake or a stylish appetizer you should probably just move along. And if my"social agenda" isn't on your diet today then my entre isn't going to sit well with you. Its an "everyday explosion" for sure. Just something I have to say and get off my chest. My brother is getting married shortly and he and his lovely fiance have asked me to be the "minister" at their wedding. It's quite an honor as he knows I have quite a lot to say on the topic of marriage! You see, my husband and I were married just about 2 years ago -- way back when a marriage like ours was still legal in the once great State of California. Its a good thing we married when we did as the people of our state subsequently decided that the civil right of marriage would no longer be available to others like us. It's a weird position to be in as one of 18,000 same sex couples who got married but would not be allowed to do it again. We would have liked nothing more to go home and take care of our each other and our families but that vote made us into 'activists'. Its just that it gets a bit personal when a majority in your state votes to annul your marriage. Thankfully, the Justices did not agree they allowed existing married couples to remain married (thanksalot!). Other families, however, must now wait until our state's citizens change their mind. So it is a huge honor and a frustrating irony to be the actual designate of the state empowered with the authority to marry my brother and his fiance. My husband and I are blessed with a very accepting family and yet I know that even they struggle to understand that our marriage is made up of the same elements theirs are. So being asked to stand up there and marry my brother is a huge "stamp of legitimacy" coming from my brother -- one that is very reassuring to me for reasons which I will try make more clear later. "The big day" is fast approaching and I have been jotting down all sorts of notes about marriage , its real "definition", the need for family and community support, blah blah blah, that I want to say at their wedding. You know...the "feel good stuff."

At the same time my generally very positive daily attitude takes a brief holiday on "Tax Day" and this year was no exception. To me this day is the day where our Federal government forces me to tell a lie on my tax returns and require me to deny my very own legal status as a married individual and file as an individual. This costs my family several thousands of dollars -- money that should be put to use securing our futures so we do not become a burden on society. (Yes, I'm going somewhere with this!) It is a clear violation of the Constitution's equal protection and full faith and credit clauses. How easy it is now in the post 9/11 United States to strip the constitution when fear and hatred are in the mix. Does anyone else see the hypocrisy of a Conservative movement that constantly screams "State's Rights" while insisting just as forcefully that the Federal government ignore my completely legal married status? I'm quite sure that if you where forced by your government to deny your own marriage status you would be cranky too. Cranky would be an understatement if that were to cost you several thousands of dollars in taxes each year! So going into my week I was a bit "cranky".

Then I read about Harold and Clay. Upset doesn't even begin to explain the sick-to-my-stomach sorrow I felt after reading about their story. If you haven't heard about them yet I'm not surprised but I think you might be hearing more about them. You see, Harold was 88 and Clay was 77 and they had been together for 20 years when things turned bad for them and society revealed how hatred lack of compassion towards their relationship can turn to tragedy. Theirs is the tragic story of an old gay couple, their relationship to each other ignored and forced into separate nursing homes after the state forcibly sold off all of their possessions. The National Center for Lesbian Rights describes their ordeal:

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold’s care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.

Ignoring Clay’s significant role in Harold’s life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold’s “roommate.” The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold’s bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold’s possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold’s lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county’s actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property. The only memento Clay has is a photo album that Harold painstakingly put together for Clay during the last three months of his life.

Despite doing everything they were supposed to do legally, Harold and Clay were stripped of their human dignity and the protections that a relationship is supposed to give you in this world. That should scare everybody but sadly, I know it won't. Its not going to scare those people who have been conditioned to not think of Harold and Clay as real humans with the right to arrange their lives the way they wish. I'm quite sure that these types of things happen to old, straight couples too, even married ones, but I can't help but think about what it is that made it easy for people (such as the officials of Sonoma County) to ignore their humanity. They even ignored their legal arrangements. Just like that. Real legal arrangements nullified by hate. The answer is in front of us every day. Just turn on the TV, read the papers or browse the internet. In the guise of "acceptable opinion" we see polls from CNN asking if gays should be given hospital visitation rights. This of course implies that views in the negative are even acceptable! This is open for debate? I suppose it is better than when the BBC asked "should gays face execution" but you'll excuse me if I'm still a bit miffed that these sorts of things still get asked. Can you imagine the uproar if CNN ran a poll or had a guest on that asked its audience to consider whether the South should return to a slave economy during times of recession? I am being hyperbolic to make a point but trust me, I'm sure I could find people who seriously believe it should. You won't find Kyra Phillips bringing these etremists onto CNN to argue their point. Kyra did a segment recently on the effort in California to abolish an antiquated law that requires doctors to look into “the causes and cures of homosexuality.” She brought on Richard Cohen, a man kicked out of the American Counseling Association and whose views have been summarily dismissed by just about every established medical group . Yet even in her apology she misses the point. Some views just shouldn't be aired lest they give cover to those who seek to do harm to others by denying their basic humanity.

The debate itself is now toxic. Some opinions are just wrong and should not be up for debate. These issues take aim at our basic humanity and our right to pursue happiness in this world. I realize that most people reading this aren't in the same 'news bubble' I am and aren't paying much attention to whether or not Constance got to go to prom (she did but it was fake) , or whether or not gay people are being kicked out of the military (they still are), or whether gay citizens of Uganda are being put to death (not yet), or whether Arkansas will allow gay people to be adoptive parents (OF COURSE they should!), then think about the environment this debate creates and the cover it gives to those who would seek to hurt us. Is it any wonder that those who sought to deprive Harold and Clay their dignity in their final years thought it was ok?

Gosh, see what happens when I travel and I can't create in the kitchen? I promise I'll get back there soon but I just had something to get off my chest this morning so I appreciate your patience with my blog diversion. It felt good.

Now, would anyone like a brownie for dessert?

T-Shirt Wisdom

Here I Come, Manhattan!

First I was going to do it, then I wasn't, then I was, then I wasn't, now I am. I'm going to blog about a Manhattan on the very day I arrive on the island it is named for. Sup just posted last week on the Manhattan's European cousin, the Boulevardier cocktail so I was thinking that perhaps after people read about that drink's swanky sophistication they would no longer be in the mood for its domestic cousin. (Also, I tend to stalk Sup a lot and I don't want him to be too worried.) Upon reflection I snapped out if it as everything has just been coming together for this drink so why fight it?

 My friend Chris and I order these with our old school steak dinners at Taylor's and I enjoy them frequently when I travel and seek out a cocktail to savor slowly at a swank lobby bar. This classic whiskey cocktail is best drunk when there is still a chill in the air and before the hot balmy weather conspires to make whiskey a bit cloying. The inclusion of bitters in the drink gives it the highest available "cocktail" cred. Angustura is the most popular and easiest to find brand of bitters but if you care to go the extra step and find another gourmet variety you will give your Manhattan a stylish edge. I don't. I prefer the classic where this cocktail is concerned. I had once heard that The Manhattan was invented by Winston Churchill's mother Lady Randolph Churchill. I'm not sure I believe it but even if true, the drink is still an American classic as Lady R herself was born and raised in Brooklyn!

The Manhattan

• 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
• 3 oz Whiskey
• 5 shakes bitters
• Garnish with cherry

Combine first 3 ingredients and stir with cracked ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with cherry. Savor.

I love bitters. Essentially they are just as super secret blend of herbs and spices steeped in alchohol. I love adding a few shakes of these to a gingerale or 7-up to turn it into a "mocktail" on those nights I'm the designated driver (or on a diet.) Add a few dashes to a canned soup to zshoosh it up a bit.

I just discovered that one of my heros, Rachael Maddow, is a fan of the Manhattan and actually showed us how to make it on her Tax Day show last week. Rachael and I even favor the same recipe proportions and heavy hand with the bitters! We agree on so much it would seem except for her odd omission of the drink's defining garnish, the cherry! Oh the irony of Rachael saying no to the cherry. (Did I say that?)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Sis. Boom. Waffle!

Look at what has come out of the closet! The waffle iron! This is our Villaware standard waffle maker. Its gorgeous and probably not unlike many of your waffle irons, it would be sitting unused had it not been for the recent discovery of a certain blog: Waffleizer.

I have always enjoyed blogs where the focus is so very well defined. Perhaps its jealousy since I never know what my 'blog voice' should be. Waffleizer is just such a focused blog. Perhaps if I had known I'd be spending so much time scouring the blogosphere for cooking inspiration I would have focused this blog entirely on other people's recipes. Dan's blog is a natural for me to stalk. He's waffled everything from chocolate chip cookies to cheeseburgers. He quite correctly realized that the waffle imprint itself is trans-formative, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Did you see his waffled chocolate chip cookies? Wow. I'll be making these! The standard breakfast waffle hasn't been a staple in our carb avoiding household. It is a throwback, however, to my childhood where my father would be in charge of breakfast on the weekends. Dan has definitely got me thinking about all the possibilities of waffling where the unique score of the iron plates changes how we perceive the dish itself. Here is my first contribution to the genre: "Kotlet".

Kotlet is a Persian delicacy made up of any kind of meat mixed with potato and pan fried. Its usually served with a red sauce or just eaten plain. Persian delis will usually always offer a kotlet sandwich stacked with lots of pickles and a yogurt sauce which is quite yummy. The recipe comes from my husband who didn't quite understand my need for the recipe but contributed it nonetheless. The patty is dredged in bread crumbs and then fried in oil giving it a little crust. The waffle version doesn't quite get as dark or crusty but the pattern would certainly contribute to the experience of those who prefer their kotlet with a sauce. They came out of the iron fairly easily except for the last batch which stuck because I got too cocky and forgot to reoil the iron.

Kotlet, "Meat Patties"

• 1 large potatoe, cooked, peeled and riced or grated
• 1 pound ground lamb, veal, or beef
• 1 medium onion, peeled and grated
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground saffron dissolved in 1 T hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
• 3/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
• vegetable oil for the waffle iron
• parsley or herbs for garnish

1. In a bowl, combine meat, onion, eggs, potatoe, salt, pepper, saffron water, and tumeric. Knead for 10 minutes to form a smooth paste.
2. Using damp hands, shape the meat misture into lumps the size of egggs. Flatten them into oval patties and roll them into the bread crumbs. Oil the waffle iron and place a patty into each square and close for 5 minutes or until patty is browned.
3. Remove patties from iron and repeat. Place patties on platter and garnish with fresh herbs and parsley.
4. Serve with a tomato sauce or cucumber yogurt dip.

Deviled Eggs with Capers and Tarragon

I've already admitted to not really loving the taste of hard boiled eggs. It would seem, however, that I am not alone when it comes to people and their "egg-phobias". For everyone like me who prefers not hard boiled eggs (I always ask for no egg on my Cobb Salad) there is someone who can't stand a runny yolk. Just last week one of my co-workers recoiled in horror last week when I described a plan I have to rework a poached egg. And yet, like all things, there are some recipes that beg to be the exception to my rule and this is certianly one of them. This recipe just won't take 'no' for an answer as these lovelies are quite literally jam-packed with just about every "secret ingredient" I know of and love to use in food: capers, tarragon, shallots and mustard. Just one of these can be counted on to take an ordinary recipe 'up town'. (Chop up some capers into your hamburger meat and see what I mean. A hint of tarragon in chicken salad and you are ready for an authentic French picnic.) I'd probably find eating deviled eggs with just one of these "secret ingredients" quite passable but put them all in and I all of a sudden can't remember what my objection to hard boiled eggs ever was?

I ripped this recipe out of an old issue of Bon Appetite and thought I had lost it. Someone turned me onto Epicurious and there it was! Fantastic resource that site. I've made no changes as the proportions are just perfect.

Deviled Eggs with Capers and Tarragon

• 6 hard boiled eggs
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T Mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 T minced celery
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 T minced drained capers
• 2 teaspoons minced shallots
  

1. Shell the eggs and slice lengthwise. Transfer yolks to a small bowl and mash with a fork. Mix in oil, mayo and mustard and then mix in remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste if necessary.

2. Spoon or pipe mixture into whites. (I prefer to just use a spoon as the piping is just a bit too fussy for me.) Garnish with celery. Can be made up to 4 hours ahead


I'm still on my diet. But since its the weekend and the delivery is suspended I'm telling myself that these would make a good diet snack because of the protien content and while there is that fat in the recipe, it is balanced and not too caloric if I only have two pieces. Am I fooling myself?

Packing in 'Cubes".

Tomorrow I travel on business for a week. I thought I would post showing you how easy it was to pack in a carry-on for my week long business trip. It certainly helps to have a helper as engaging as our Margarita. I think she is anxious for me to leave so she can have my husband all to herself.

Traveling lean has been a lifelong goal of mine that I have never actually mastered. I'm getting closer to that goal though with each new trip I take. I've been keeping track of what I bring each time and noting those things I never even wore or used. The big variable, of course, is weather but on a business trip I end up spending most of the time indoors. My friend Steve's advice for packing light is to "only bring black". That way everything will go with everything and everything will be appropriate for anything. Makes sense, huh? I've seen Steve utilize a carry on for a full week of international travel so I know he can practice what he preaches. My size 13 shoe, however, takes up one half of a standard wheelie carry on so I need even more strategy than that. First, the extra pair of shoes goes in my duffle and not in the actual suitcase. Then, I using "packing cubes" by Eagle Creek for everything else I bring.
They come in all sorts of sizes and I know that my particular set will fit in my carry on so while I pack, I know I can only pack what fits in the cubes. One cube for socks and underwear, one for tshirts, one for electronics, and even one for my dress shirts (called an "envelope", it actually helps fold and keep your dress shirts pressed!)

You can get them at Amazon but I've seen them at REI and even The Container Store and they last forever.

How to boil an egg.

To be quite truthful, I didn't start life as a hard boiled egg fan. In fact, as a child just the smell of an egg salad sandwich would make me wretch. But things change. We now have an African-American President, Chastity Bono is now a man, and hard boiled eggs --if done with a sense of adventure -- are one of my favorite snacks. A plate of eggs at a cocktail party never seems to last long. But before I can show you my husband's favorite versions of this delicacy we must first boil the eggs. (Evidently, you can buy them pre-boiled but that just seems so wrong, right?) Google will get you up to several hundred methods for boiling the eggs and I strongly suggest you use one of them and don't just assume you can go off and boil eggs without a recipe. Do it wrong and they will be overcooked, smelling like sulfer and have some weird green 'skin' on the yolk that you don't know what it is. And you know that despite the glut of boiled egg methodology that exists, I'm going to offer up the one I use... the one that always gets me the right texture and color and no hint of over-dry yolk or a green ring.

You will get best results if you start off by using eggs that are at least a couple days old and are already at room temperature. This was advice I did not take myself this morning as I was in a hurry and it shows in the picture you see below. You can see I struggled a bit with the peeling and the color is not quite uniform even though they are just cooked through. Older eggs help with the peeling as they have started to develop a slight gas bubble separating the shell from the membrane.

1. Place eggs in a saucepan in a single layer and cover with an inch of water. Bring pan to a boil over high heat. Turn off the heat (remove pan from burner if you are using an electric stove), cover pan and let sit for 10 minutes. ( A bit longer if you have colder eggs but be careful!)

2. Have a bowl of water and ice cubes ready when the 10 minutes are up. Take each egg out of the hot water with a slotted spoon and put in the ice bath. Let eggs sit at least 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure it is this quick cool down that prevents the green skin on the yolk. Peel the eggs by rapping the shell on a hard surface and peeling back under the membrane.

Make deviled eggs!

Best Cocoa Brownies?! ...another univited dessert!

"Baby, don't forget that we are going to my aunt's for dinner tonight."

So after I cursed myself for marrying into a frighteningly large family, I realized that this was yet another chance to bring an uninvited dessert! Last week to took the peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes to my mother-in-law's but didn't tell her I was bringing them. This actually helped me deal with my simultaneous needs of baking and dieting. (Admittedly, it also satisfied my need to do unto her...) Personally, I would never think to do bring a dessert to a hostess's house unannounced. I have come to learn, however, that in Iran it is apparently a proper custom -- one to which I am now going to take full advantage! Given the pace of these family dinners I guess I ought to start thinking ahead -- I didn't have much on hand today for any fancy cupcake or pie. My Persian relatives would have to "settle" for the quintessential American dessert: The Brownie. A more appropriate thing for me to bring I couldn't think of. and it will be the perfect antidote to any rose water flavored whatsit they might have on hand to go with tea after dinner!

Now, I don't really get into the "which is the best brownie" contest that seems to be a national pastime. People like what they like. (If you ask me, if you have to put frosting on it, it isn't really a brownie.) I don't even make brownies that often though I have amassed quite a few recipes over the years -- all from people who claim theirs is "the best". Before I made these particular lovelies, however, I was thinking of making "the brownie" a regular pursuit of this blog. I gotta tell ya however, that these here are quite good and I'll probably be making these for awhile before I start feeling experimental again. I found this particular recipe at smittenkitchen.com and it mostly appealed to me due to its utilization of cocoa and not baking chocolate (something to which my pantry never seems to have in the ready). No chocolate chips. Just cocoa. Simple ingredients most people always have on hand. So this just makes it perfect for today's unplanned, uninvited dessert for Aunt Vicky's party! I had some very high quality "rouge" cocoa in the pantry just waiting for such a recipe like this to show off its rich, earthy flavor. I know my Persian audience will appreciate a pure cocoa brownie without any danger of a cloyingly sweet chocolate based brownie with chocolate chips or even worse, frosting! (Blech.)

Best Cocoa Brownies
Adapted from Alice Mendrich’s Bittersweet
Makes 16 larger or 25 smaller brownies (you can cut them small if you want to. You will want a lot. I suggest cutting them large so you can kid yourself and say "I only had ONE brownie!")

• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process, I used natural and used 'the good stuff' since this is the type of thing I bought it for in the first place.)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, cold
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added. [Note, many people who have tried this recipe have found that this step works just fine in the microwave. Couldn't test this because we don't have one, but it sounds like it would work.]
Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter. The recipe in the book calls for 20 to 25 minutes but it took me at least 10 minutes longer and I was cursing my oven as I have been suspecting it does not bake accurately at 325. I checked Deb's site and she had the same problem so be sure to check these often and get them after they set. Let cool completely on a rack. I also took Deb's tip and and threw them in the fridge for a while to get them to cut with clean lines.
Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

A long time ago I bought a bunch of these white food boxes at Smart and Final. I mostly use them to send food home with my dinner guests but they are perfect for bringing goodies to work or for wrapping them up as gifts for friends. At work the sight of me getting off the elevator with a white box in my hand sends people running to the lunchroom. I love that. So I would have to say that if you can wrap your goodies with a little flair it affects how well they are received -- it will even quite possibly make them taste better too! Seriously. Some of my less-than-perfect creations got rave reviews when I prettied them up before setting out. They don't say that we eat with our eyes for nothing and any food blogger reading this knows I am right.

(Note: All this talk about univited desserts reminds me of Alanis Morissette's song, "Uninvited". I love this particular mix of the song which I will now christen as the official theme song of the Uninvited Dessert blog posts at Sis. Boom. [blog!] )

Saturday Haiku: Something I must do!

No haiku today :(
Family feast at in-laws...
Making unplanned sweets!


(*photo courtesy of smittenkitchen.com from where I got the the recipe that is in the oven as I type! Thanks Deb!)

BYOD: Bring Your Own Dessert! Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Yeah. Still on a diet. I'm just a glutton for punishment. Take a look at these!

Yeah, I really am on a diet but honestly, I only had one bite! Oh, I looked at them a lot, photographed them even more, and then smelled them all afternoon while they were cooling but I only ate one bite and that was only in my capacity as a responsible blogger. My mother-in-law invited us for dinner and I decided I would bring these. It is either a Persian custom or a particular aversion to my dessert cooking but whenever I have a dinner party and invite the in-laws one of them always shows up with an uninvited dessert. What's up with that? Don't they think I plan a dessert when I make up a menu? I don't spend hours planning, shopping and cooking just so the crowning glory of the event can be from the kitchen of someone else! Anyway, you can't fight culture and they mean no malice so my way of adapting? I have decided that turn-about is fair play! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Now I just show up at her house with unannounced treats of my! Another great solution that allows me to cook but indulge.

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

(adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter in chunks
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate broken up
• 1/2 granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the peanut butter filling:

• 4 T unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (get the kid's stuff)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 and line a standard cupcake tin with papers. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Put butter and chocolate in a bowl over boiling water (see photo) and stir until melted. Remove and let cool slightly. Whisk into chocolate mixture the granulated sugar. Add eggs, and stir until smooth. Add vanilla. Lastly, stir in chocolate mixture.

In a separate bowl make the peanut butter mixture by combining all ingredients and stirring until smooth.

Assemble cupcakes by spooning in 2 T of the chocolate batter into each cup. Follow this with 1 T of peanut butter. Repeat with 1 T of chocolate batter and then 1 teaspoon of peanut butter. (See photo. ) Swirl the batter with a toothpick before baking for 30 minutes or until the point where a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs. (Note: Martha's recipe calls for 4o minutes which would turn these to hockey pucks. Be careful here.)

No frosting necessary here. (Or so I'm told!)

I bought this cookbook the first day it was out but this is the first recipe I have made from it. I hope the other recipes don't have the same misleading cooking time. Perhaps I surf on over to the Martha Stewart Cupake club for a looksie and read up before I make anything else. They are 50 some-odd baker/bloggers who all bake the same cupcake from the book and post and discuss the results on their blogs. Its quite fantastic to see all their creations show up on the web at the same time. Next up they are doing Jumbo Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes. Hmmm...

Eggs and Easter: Eggs in Prociutto Baskets.

Before I jump in to what we ate for Easter Brunch I want to say that I've seen some pretty amazing breakfasts and Easter displays on Facebook today! I have some pretty talented and creative friends to be sure. Our family tradition is not quite so grand. So check out my favorite Easter display. It wins the award for best use of Peeps:

Pretty fantastic if you ask me. Just not the type of display that would get rave reviews at our family breakfast. We usually don't go all out at our Easter but since it was MY turn and my friend Huy had recently turned me onto this breakfast dish I had never seen before I thought I would get daring and work with the idea 'without a net'. Cooking for family is actually a pretty good time to take such a risk and prepare something new. I mean, even you flop they are still going to love you, right? This turned out pretty good and I only had to make few notes on what to adjust next time. Everyone else loved it as is. I think this would be quite good served nested on a mound of braised spinach or even on top of an English Muffin with a drizzle of hollandaise. The vermouth and sage give this a very sophisticated taste! I'll do this one again!

Eggs in Procuitto Baskets:
Adapted from Huy's brunch class!

.

1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 t olive oil
2 T sage, cut into chiffonade
2 T dry vermouth
4 T sour cream
Dash cayenne pepper
1/4 t ground pepper
12 slices prosciutto ham, low sodium if available.
12 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. In a small skillet at medium heat saute the shallots with olive oil until softened. Do not let brown. Add sage and vermouth and cook down. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream, dash of cayenne (just one dash!), and pepper. This may be done in advance up to several hours.

Butter a 12 cup muffin pan and then spray with cooking spray. Line each cup with the ham taking care not to leave any whole in the cup. Add one teaspoon of the onion mixture tp each cup. (You could also prepare this dish up to this point before guests arrived by leaving the pan covered in saran wrap in the refrigerator and taking it out 1o minutes before finishing dish.) Crack an egg into each cup and bake for 15 minutes or until the egg whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny. Serve hot.

A Fresh Take on My Diet

For the time being each work-day my daily intake of food is getting delivered in a cooler. So while you might see me post about something during the week, its probably from the previous weekend. Monday through Friday, I'm on "the plan". You are about to see "Thursday". Back in January you might recall I tried a similar delivery outfit but I grew a bit dissatisfied with some of their food choices. Part of the problem was that there were no food choices. You took what was delivered, like it or not. In the end I wasn't even sure that the meals themselves were all that "Zone" or even measured. I had looked at The Fresh Diet when I was doing earlier research but it was the pricier of the alternatives. Then, Leslie turned me on to a particularly good Groupon for The Fresh Diet which turned out to be too good to pass up. Fast forward a couple weeks and seven pounds lighter it shows up on my door each morning looking like this:


Now I'm sure some of you would say that I have a bizarre relationship with food. To you I simply say, "duh!". Someday I will go into all the gory and often amusing details of just how bizarre it has been. I'm still getting used to the rather public nature of blogging and so the really good stuff will have to wait. Don't worry, we'll get there. I just need time. The other side of my blog-chef life is that I've had 'these last few pounds' waiting to be lost for just about as long as I've enjoyed cooking. Actually, longer. I was born with these extra pounds I think. I pictures to prove it. Back when I was twenty five I had thirty five pounds to lose and the first twenty five were a piece of cake compared to these last stubborn ten. These ten pounds I think I may have actually lost a dozen times. That means I've actually lost 145 pounds when you think off it. The pounds just keep returning home to roost no matter where I try to lose them. Like homing pigeons. I'm quite sure my body double crosses me by giving away my location as soon as I dump the pounds off and try to hide from them.

So I'm going for it again. Hoping against hope that I will finally get these ten pounds to give up and leave me I am spending the bucks and going diet delivery. Its quite the luxury but the plan works and it really is easy to stay on it. Many of the people around me have been asking a lot of questions about the cooler I've been caring around so I thought I would show you what is in it. Thursday was probably a bit atypical as I usually have a salad option for lunch rather than something bready like pizza. I just hadn't seen pizza as an option before so I thought I'd better get it while the getting is good. Unlike the other zone program, on this one you get to go online and select your menu from at least three choices for each meal and snack! If I know I won't be able to eat on plan for a particular day I just go online and cancel that day's delivery. It really is quite easy. Anyway, here is the day as it played out:

Breadfast: Italian Style Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Herbs, Diced Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese & Seven Grain Toast. I usually have a hard time eating breakfast and that is not good when dieting. The delivery makes sure I start each day with a good breakfast.


Lunch: Whole Wheat Italian Pizza with Artichoke, Sun-Dried Tomato, Alfredo Sauce & Cheddar Cheese. Mmmm....Pizza!

Snack: Turkey and Geen Salsa Quesadilla. The garnish was my idea!

Grilled Cicken Breast with Spiced Pomegranate Sauce with Rosemary Carrot Mash and Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta. Usually I would have picked a green veggie like Brussels sprouts but it had been awhile since I had pasta without guilt so I had to go for it.

Vanilla Pecan Pudding. You don't get a lot. So I put it in a small bowl and eat it with a small spoon. It still didn't seem like a lot. Oh well. Still, it was quite good.

So there you have it. I've been trying to do it 5 days a week but 4 is where it has been playing out. That leaves me two or three days on my own or to tinker in the kitchen -- just as long as I don't go too crazy I still lose weight. And I still have to give away all the baked goods. Tomorrow morning, cooler time again.

Saturday Haiku:Haikus from the Week.

Going to get one?

Not sure I need it, but YES!

The iPad, of course.

Some advice for kids.

Some people are dangerous.

Stay away from priests.

Palin gets a show.

The beauty of Alaska.

(Can't we catch a break?)

New look for the [blog!]

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Sis. Boom. by Twombly!