Archive for February, 2010
Crepes and Minestrone
I love making crepes. The only reason I don’t make them more often is that the crepe pans live at the back of the pots and pans cabinet. Yesterday I whipped up a batch of batter in the morning – right, the other reason I don’t make crepes more is that I usually don’t have the foresight to make the batter ahead of time, and resting is a crucial component in the crepes’s ultimate consistency – and not even last-minute dinner plans with Bert & Vivi’s mom and Storkbite’s mom kept me from cooking up a batch of ham and cheese crepes.
Storkbite Stew is always full of good ideas. Her most compelling reside at the intersection of food and community, and so tonight I am the fortunate recipient of a pot of minestrone and a batch of chocolate chip cookies lovingly prepared by a third mother and her 4-year old daughter. In two weeks I have the pleasure of returning the favor. I love living on Sesame Street.
Savory Crepes, from The Joy of Cooking
Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Pour the batter into a pitcher or other container with a pouring lip.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes or in refrigerate for up to 2 days. (This allows the flour to thoroughly absorb the liquid and gives the gluten in the flour a chance to relax.).
- Place a nonstick or seasoned crepe pan over medium heat. Coat the pan with a little unsalted butter.
- Stir the batter and pour about 2 tablespoons into the pan, lifting the pan off the heat and tilting and rotating it so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer. Cook until the top is set and the underside is golden. Turn the crepe over, using a spatula or your fingers (fingers work best here) and cook until the second side is lightly browned. Remove the crepe to a piece of wax paper. Continue cooking the rest of the crepes, buttering the pan and stirring the batter before starting each one.
- Stack the finished crepes between sheets of wax paper.
- Use immediately or let cool, wrap airtight and freeze for up to 1 month.
This recipe claims to make 12 crepes; I have small pans and it made 7. Why not double the recipe? You know that the first one in each pan never comes out right anyway.
Sugar + Fire = Satisfaction
Mr Apparently, ever the sweetie and clever to boot, has hit upon the perfect “I need a little something and there’s nothing in the house” snack. Occasionally at night I’ll hear the click-click-click of the gas burner on the stove, and two minutes later, this:
Really, fire is the ultimate way to extract value from a marshmallow. No nutritional value whatsoever, but 25 calories of sticky, sugary goodness.
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Good: Snuggling in bed with Apparently Junior, reading his favorite books about tractors and fire trucks, while huge flakes of snow tumbled around outside the windows.
Bad: Why in bed? We were both exhausted, having been up since before dawn. And I tried to nap this afternoon, really I did, but the ConEd guys drilling in the street outside were having none of it. “We have to work in the snow; you don’t get to sleep during the day time,” they said. Or, they would have if I’d opened the window and asked them – nicely, of course – to stop. And if they spoke using semi-colons.
Ugly: The ConEd guys left three orange cones blocking the entrance to my street. I watched as an SUV drove over one of them, dragged it a few feet, and then backed up into the intersection in an attempt to dislodge the errant beacon. Back and forth, several times, until the passenger was discharged to investigate, and she then appealed to a building super who was salting the sidewalks, who finally yanked out the wayward cone. I can only assume that the ConEd guys left the cones for a reason (other than neglect), and that the SUV is going to receive some sort of nastygram when they return to find it parked over their manhole cover.
The Art Museum, Not the Grocery Store
Since Mr. Apparently had a rare Monday holiday, we left the house early and took the bus to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 10am is a perfect time for museum-going; no waiting in line, the halls are sparsely populated, and you’re ready for a snack before the lunchtime rush.
Thanks to New York, New York!: The Big Apple from A to Z, Apparently Junior was adamant that we find William the Hippo, the museum’s unofficial mascot. The Interwebs could tell us only that William resides “in the Egyptian galleries,” which is an area larger than a city block containing hundreds of thousands of items. Security Guard #1 had absolutely no idea when I was referring to when I asked the location of the little blue hippopotamus; he suggested I ask another guard. Guard #2 also had no idea, adding, “I don’t usually work in these galleries.” We did a little detective work as to little William’s age and managed to get closer before asking the next guard, who smiled kindly and pointed out the little sculpture across the room. Result: one happy toddler.
The second highlight of the trip was an indoor/alfresco lunch in the Charles Engelhard Court, an enormous atrium featuring natural light both direct and filtered through transparent panels, making it feel as if one were outside on a spring day while seated comfortably inside during a February chill. Noshing on American artisanal cheeses with the shimmering Diana and Tiffany windows nearby was an unexpected and welcome delight. (Bonus: here’s a photo set showing the restoration of this court prior to its reopening in 2009.)
On our way to the modern art wing, after a quick ride in the coolest glass elevator ever, we passed through the Apparently family’s secret favorite part of the museum: Visible Storage. Row after row of glass cabinets house settees, teaspoons, salt cellars, cigarette cases, grandfather clocks and assorted clock mechanisms, glass vessels organized by color, and an amazing array of American painting. Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington resides here, and for some unknown reason John Singer Sargent’s Madame X is currently in residence in a front-row glass case. The security guard, an older man of European descent, caught my incredulous gaze and nodded knowingly. The last time I saw Madame she was the centerpiece of a huge exhibition several years ago. Now she hangs frameless in Visible Storage.
Our destination in the modern art wing? Charles Demuth’s The Figure Number 5 in Gold, a lovely painting in its own right and appealing to Apparently, Jr for its role as the model for a watch he and his father presented to me on Valentine’s Day. Only through a strange series of gallery closings, restroom detours, and chance did we stumble upon the one open modern art gallery today, and there it was: Demuth’s brilliant homage to William Carlos Williams. Can you see the fire engine?
After all this excitement, A Jr. fell sound asleep on the downtown bus, and no amount of transferring or being carried home in his father’s arms could wake the exhausted little bug. I couldn’t be more pleased that art makes him happy.
Guilty Pleasure
Mod Podge Rocks. Go on, click it. You know you want to.
So, we’re halfway through February’s Post-a-Day Challenge, and while I have managed to post at least something every day, I’ve also confirmed that I don’t necessarily have something witty/clever/vaguely interesting to say on a daily basis. I do visit the far corners of the web fairly often, and I like to share the bits of interest found therein. This is why I enjoy blogs such as not martha and Juniper Moon Farm’s occasional feature Probably Something You Would Like.
Perhaps my role in the blogosphere is as a connector.
Fried
And so, something nifty from the web:
Old Fashioned
It’s no Manhattan, but apparently was just what I needed.
Use old-fashioned cocktail glass.
Sugar, 1 lump.
Seltzer, 1 dash, and crush sugar with muddler.
Ice, one square piece.
Orange bitters, 1 dash.
Angostura bitters, 1 dash.
Lemon peel, 1 piece.
Whiskey, 1 jigger.
Stir gently and serve with spoon. And good conversation with a friend who knows how to knock a little bit of sense into you.
– recipe from the Wikipedia
Let Me Count the Ways
Regardless of your take on Valentine’s Day (day of bliss or Hallmark holiday?), there’s something for everyone in Geekdad’s Top 10 Tragic Love Stories in Geek Fiction.
Or, perhaps you’re still looking for that special something. Consider 8 Unusual Valentine’s Day Gifts to Get Your Mate Hot …or Bothered.
Hmm, InventorSpot may have one ugly web site, but they have Ideas for your Gadget-Loving Crush as well.
When I picked my son up from preschool today, I received my first construction-paper valentine, edged in gold glitter and containing glued-on pictures of conversation hearts. Be still my heart – it’s totally perfect.
Lego rose available at lego.com. But it comes pre-built – where’s the fun in that?
From the Mouths of Babes
“What’s a blog? There was a huge snowman right next to our building. Our building apartment. A gigantic snowman. One of the trees fell down, maybe its trunk broke or something. It was very windy when I got to Lou Lodati Park. We bought some marshmallows and some cocoa and some hot chocolate. I like my marshmallows plain – not fried, not roasted. We’re having a blog.”
Snow Day
“NYC public schools will be closed tomorrow ‘due to anticipated squally weather conditions,’ Chancellor of the New York City DOE Joel Klein said in an e-mailed statement.
The blizzard may dump 8 to 13 inches of snow in New York City and Long Island, according to the weather forecasters are prediction. The storm is expected to start in the early morning hours on Wednesday and could continue all day.”
Seriously, 8 to 13 inches merits a school closing? I think Joel Klein just wants to go sledding.
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