Heat wave and jasmine’s in bloom.
Indian Summer Jasmine
Fired Up: Peeps on a Stick
Ever wonder what would happen if you toasted Peeps on a fire like you would ordinary marshmallows? Toasted marshmallow goodness, with a crunchy candy coating from the caramelized sugar. Yum.
Miss Stefanie: Halloween Shirts
Donut Ghost: Happy Halloween
Photo taken at Zelda’s Corner Deli in Venice Beach, CA.
Commercial Rewrites: Lebron James Nike Ad
When I see a commercial that annoys me and am out of reach of the remote control, I talk back to the TV–usually by rewriting the lines in the script and talking over the actors. I make myself laugh and notice Mr. MVP often grinning (or shaking his head in disbelief). So, for kicks, I’m going to start publishing my commercial rewrites when I’m inspired (short versions on Twitter, longer ones on the blog).
My imagined rewrite of the Lebron James in the Nike commercial:
“What should I do? Maybe I should shut up, cause I’m tired of hearing myself talk. Maybe you are, too! Maybe I should exercise some control of my ego. Maybe I should play great basketball instead of talking about how I play great basketball. Maybe, just maybe I should play. Just play.”
(Shorter version on Twitter.)
Morning Moon
Good morning, moon. Photo taken in Venice Beach, CA.
Leftovers Recipe: Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup
Dinner Saturday night included two whole can chickens. We had a small amount of meat left and all those bones–perfect for us to make a rich chicken stock for a Sunday supper of chicken ramen noodle soup. I follow the basic recipe for making chicken stock and use a crockpot. The soup could not be more simple: make noodles; heat chicken stock and simmer with chopped bok choy for a few minutes; add leftover chicken; add cooked noodles; serve; enjoy.
Yesterday:
Beer can chicken
Beer can chicken
Leftovers:
1-2 cups of chicken
Today’s Leftovers Meal:
Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup with Fresh Chicken Stock
Chicken Stock
Remains of a cooked whole chicken
2 bay leaves
Handful of whole peppercorns
3 crushed cloves of garlic
Half an onion
1 carrot
1 celery sprig
1 tbs. fresh rosemary
Filtered water (enough to cover chicken)
Sriracha hot chili sauce, to taste
Cook in crockpot on high for 2 hours. Let sit and skim fat from top with a spoon. Strain broth with a cheesecloth and serve immediately or transfer to a glass jar or bowl and refrigerate for use later in the week.
Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup
Chicken stock
Chicken
Ramen noodles
Bok choy
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook noodles and drain. Simmer chicken stock and add bok choy to blanch. Add chicken and cooked noodles. Serve.
Leftovers Recipe: Italian Mashed Potato Pancakes
Most people love the day after Thanksgiving for turkey sandwiches. I like the potato pancakes. Our family makes what we call Italian mashed potato pancakes, from a recipe we got from my grandmother. The pan-fried pancakes are made from leftover mashed potatoes, Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs, chopped fresh Italian parsley, an egg, grated parmesan cheese. When I was growing up, we had them whenever there were leftover mashed potatoes (never let good food go to waste!) and mom put ketchup on the plate for me and my brother so we could dip warm pancakes in the cool ketchup, much like the way we used maple syrup on breakfast pancakes—it’s still comfort food for me.
I called Mom for the recipe recently and she gave me the ingredients listed above. Measurements? I improvised. Truth is, it depends on the amount of mashed potatoes you’re starting with. What I did is approximated below; you can scale according to your own amount of leftovers.
Yesterday:
Thanksgiving dinner
Leftovers:
Mashed potatoes
Today’s Leftovers Meal:
Italian Potato Pancakes
Italian Potato Pancakes
4 cups of mashed potatoes
2 cups of Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
Olive oil for pan frying
Ketchup
Blend ingredients in a bowl. Heat olive oil in frying pan while you form pancakes. Pan fry on medium heat. Add additional oil if needed. Serve and enjoy (ketchup optional).
Autumn Leaves in LA
Photos taken near Will Rogers State Historic Park. Indian Summer in LA.
Will Tip for Bacon
Mmmmm, Meatballs: Family Recipe
My grandmother loved to tell the story about how I loved meatballs when I was a baby. She told me I would eat little pieces of meatballs while seated in my high chair. This much is certain: the meatballs were delicious, so why wouldn’t I devour them? My great-grandmother was an Italian immigrant who came to Brooklyn with traditions and recipes she passed down to her family, and I subsequently grew up with Sunday suppers that almost always included one dish made with a rich, red sauce. Mmmm, marinara. The Sunday morning smell of onions and garlic and olive oil in a pot on the stove? Anticipation. Add tomatoes and cook it slowly for hours? That’s home.
Spaghetti and meatballs were a staple for us. Sundays during autumn also meant that meals were planned around NFL football game times. This Sunday, I made meatballs for the evening game (go Giants!). I won’t print the entire recipe here because my meatball-making involves seeing and feeling the mixture (it feels like it needs more egg or it looks like it wants more breadcrumbs…). But these are my ingredients: ground beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, chopped garlic, chopped Italian basil, chopped Italian parsley, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. I mix it in a glass bowl with a wood spoon and make sure it’s combined but a little gooey, then gently form balls of the mixture—not packing, only loosely forming—and delicately drop the meatballs into the pot of simmering red sauce. As my Aunt Stef says, you want the meatballs to feel like they’re going to fall apart when you put them into the pot; this makes the meatballs tender, not tough. I let them cook in the sauce slowly, for an hour or so. Then it’s time to serve and devour them.
Beach Flash Mob for Heal the Bay
Flash mob at the Heal the Bay Coastal Cleanup Day (with a very clever use of Jack Johnson’s reduce-reuse-recycle song).
Yard Sale Gem: American Woman’s Cookbook
Dad picked this up at a yard sale for me: “The American Woman’s Cookbook” by Ruth Berolzheimer (1941). The cover is held on by tape, but it’s in otherwise great condition. Not surprisingly, I have been entertained by the dated material (certainly the section on “Entertaining Without a Maid” was good for a chuckle) and also a bit surprised by some of the recipes (see “Opposum Roast”). I plan to skip the recipe for braised calf’s brains with oysters and all the others for opposum, squirrel, reindeer, and pigeon (potted pigeon, pigeon pie, AND pigeon and mushroom stew). But the classic buttermilk waffles, chocolate cream pie, and pan broiled steak look mighty fine and there are some useful charts (like the one pictured on cuts of beef) and how-to instructions on basic cooking techniques that stand the test of time.
Song in my head since getting the book: “American Woman” by the Guess Who (obviously); I like the Jimi Hendrix version but I could not find any good YouTube videos for that.
Just for Fun: Sunny Skate Days
Seasonal Delivery: Mallomars
One of my family’s mottos is this: Food is love. Credit goes to my late grandmother; “Mangi mangi! Food is love,” she’d say. This comes to mind often. Today I recited it like a mantra each time I popped a Mallomar cookie in my mouth. The annual package from Mom and Dad was delivered today with boxes of the cookies from the East Coast, where the cookies are made available in September–after the long, hot summer and when the cookies are least likely to melt on shelves. I decided to mix vanilla bean gelato with a Mallomar. Love, indeed.
Clam Bake Before and After
So Much Depends…
Thanks to Roger Ebert (ebertchicago on Twitter) for the post about this being the birthday of poet William Carlos Williams.
Lucha Libre Dolls: At It Again
Miss Stefanie Giants Shirts: Baseball, Football
This is a tale of two upcycled Giants shirt: one baseball, one football. Above, my lovely and amazing friend Rebecca is wearing the SF Giants shirt she bought from my Etsy shop. I’m demurely modeling my own NY Giants shirt and hat (go Giants!). Her SF Giants shirt was given a v-neck with a ruffle made using scraps of fabric from the cut sleeves; my NY Giants shirt has the neckline embellished with denim and fabric scraps.
Rebecca has encouraged me to make add more sports shirts to the Miss Stefanie Etsy shop, pointing out that many girls don’t like to wear square and boxy T-shirts when showing their team support. It’s the very reason I started cutting up my own T-shirts and re-making them a pair of scissors and needle and thread. For the shop, I remake shirts found in thrift shops or other secondhand sources, so inventory is limited to what I find. Upcycled sports shirts currently stocked in the shop: “Fight On” USC shirt, Seattle Seahawks football shirt, Oakland A’s baseball shirt, Los Angeles Lakers basketball shirt, and NY Yankees Derek Jeter baseball shirt. More added when I find ’em and fancy ’em up.
Soda Can Chicken on the Grill
Mr. MVP gives a spin to the traditional “beer can chicken” recipe by using a ginger ale can instead of beer. We also pour out half the soda to make room for sprigs of fresh herbs from the garden. (One time we went for a real ginger kick and added fresh chopped ginger to the can.)
The chicken we get comes from the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market — organic and free range from a Santa Barbara farm.
The bird is salted and chilled a few hours, then brought to room temperature before it’s placed on the can and seasoned with spices (paprika, cumin, chili powder).
Finally, it’s grilled to perfection on the Weber (with 100% natural hard wood charcoal briquettes) over direct heat. Juices are captured in the pie pan and then reduced in a sauce pan on the stove with some of the skin for a little drizzle on the chicken when it’s served. Yum.
Stef McDonald 