The Inauguration Party, What We Ate & What No one Knows About My Husband

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by Lisa

It began on my birthday, after Kory had made me some really lovely scallops and a we had finished the bottle of prosecco and we were deciding who to have over for the Inauguration. We had already planned to have a few families over, and then the spirit(s) moved us (ok, really him this time) and we decided to invite Ella’s entire first grade class. We didn’t think they would all show up, it being a school night and all.   But in all, by Monday, we had 60 positive responses, including Ella’s teacher. I wondered a little what we had been thinking, and, in fact, so did Ella who asked me that night:  “Mom, why are we having parties all the time now?”

She’s not wrong.   It might be the blackboard door, or might be that I like to have people around to celebrate, or it might be the fact that we live in an Eichler,which is just a great home for entertaining.  Or it might just have been the exuberance of the moment.

The menu was pretty simple, and all planned around red, white and blue food, more or less:

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But the piece de resistance was the cake.

I can cook, but Kory is the real baker in our home.  Sure, I can follow a recipe and turn out something that tastes delicious, and bake all manner of pies, etc. But when it comes to making something look really, truly beautiful, that’s Kory’s arena entirely. I’d like to say this is because is he’s a visual artist, but probably it’s more primal than that. In fact, his great grandmother was an cook/pastry chef for Austrian royalty, in Austria, and his grandmother still makes exquisite cookies, and the kind of pie crust that is truly legendary.   (She was also a highly skilled technician forNASA.  I like to think the two things are not entirely unrelated.)

So when we realized that we needed a lot more dessert, I was going to slap some food-colored buttercream on store bought cupcakes, which quickly evolved into a cake piped with the Obama logo, which quickly became Kory’s opportunity to work with fondant, which has been a long dream for him, I think. I made the cake (recipe after the image), and Kory printed the stencil, cut the fondant, piped the glitter gel…

The result:

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The cake underneath is Everyday Chocolate Cake, originally featured in Gourment. This decision was made because, well, we decided to make a cake the day before the event, on a holiday, and had to do it with what we had on hand. It’s a really good, simple cake.  He made the mini-model of the White House, too.  Kory added to this recipe a chocolate glacage, because apparently fondant needs something to stick to.  We’re both big fans of glacage, which we’ve been making a lot since Christmas, when I topped my buche de noel with it.  It’s a rich, shiny, bittersweet glaze, easy and delicious and versatile.  To make, you can pour 6 oz heavy cream over 6 oz chocolate.  When the mixture has cooled to 35 degress C, add 2 oz butter, and then slowly pour over your cooled cake.

One of the cakes went to work with him, and we saved one for the adults at our party.

The kids ate these excellent cupcakes, made by our friends:

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We had plenty of food, the party was great fun.  We ate a lot, and drank some, and toasted, and the kids made cards to send to President Obama, and then ran around like maniacs in the back yard or sat around the firepit.  Some watched the TIVOed Kids’ Inauguration Concert.  The mood was really extraordinary.  wasn’t sorry we did it, & neither, apparently, was Ella’s teacher.

Dinners Everybody Likes: Sushi

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by Caroline

Sushi for Change
Sushi for Change

In the spirit of the day, we took a vote on our celebratory Inauguration Day dinner, and sushi won. It’s one of those modular meals that everybody likes because each can tailor it to his or her own taste. Of course in this house, it’s all vegetarian sushi;  all I can tell you about the fish is go to the best fish market you can, ask them what’s freshest, and have them cut it for you. The main thing is to make the rice (recipe below) and then slice up and lay out whatever filings you like. It’s not fancy here — cooking with kids is always a bit of an art project — but it’s always tasty.

Here’s what we use:
sheets of roasted seaweed (“sushi-nori”)

1 sweet potato, cut into sticks and roasted with a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce

spinach, cooked, excess water squeezed out, and tossed with a splash of rice vinegar and sprinkled with sesame seeds

1 avocado, sliced

3-4 carrots, cut into matchsticks; raw, steamed, or roasted with the sweet potatoes

1 pound of tofu, sliced and fried

2 eggs, beaten with a little bit of rice wine, cooked into an omelette, and then sliced

cucumber, shitake mushrooms, and any kind of pickled vegetables are also nice if you happen to have them.

To make the rice, first cook 2 cups short grain rice in 3 cups of water. While it’s cooking, combine in a small bowl 6 T rice vinegar, 2 1/2 T sugar, and a pinch of salt. Let the rice cool a bit after it’s cooked, just by spreading it out in a large bowl, then stir in the vinegar mixture. Keep the rice covered with a damp cloth to keep it from drying out while you’re making the sushi (we never have this problem).

It’s helpful (but not essential) to have a bamboo rolling mat; a small kitchen towel will do in a pinch. Lay your sheet of seaweed on the rolling mat or towel. Spread the rice on a sheet of seaweed, leaving a slight border at top and bottom but getting it all the way out to each side. Lay your fillings on top of the rice in a small pile. Roll the seaweed up over the filling, and then continue rolling into a tight cylinder. Slice and eat!

I didn’t take very careful pictures of our process, but here’s how it looks:

Sushi ingredients, plus a banana (I don't recommend banana sushi)
Sushi ingredients, plus a banana (I don't recommend banana sushi)
Eli demonstrates how not to arrange the fillings
Eli demonstrates how not to arrange the fillings
Eli likes to make train tracks with his tofu slices; we admire and then rearrange.
Eli likes to make train tracks with his tofu slices; we admire, and then rearrange.
Eli likes a super-protein roll of egg & tofu
Eli likes a super-protein roll of egg & tofu
Ben's tidy avocado roll in progress
Ben's tidy avocado roll in progress
A finished roll
A finished roll

Simple Spaghetti

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by Lisa

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This recipe is easily one of my favorite recipes  for spaghetti.  It’s quick, simple, and can be made with what you likely have in your pantry on any given day of the year.   The blend of garlic, anchovies, a good olive oil, and tomato paste creates a rich, garlicky, slightly nutty sauce that slicks the pasta in exactly the right way.

The kids adore it, and you can use it as good, meatless main course any night of the week, no matter how little time you have, or it can be served in small portions as a first course for a dinner party or for more formal family dinner (if you are so lucky as to have those in your house).

I believe I found the original recipe in a magazine many years ago, but it’s been tampered with to suit our family’s preferences.  You should tamper, too.

First, mince 1-3 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste, and sautee them in a generous 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium high heat with 2-4 anchovies . If you really hate anchovies, don’t give up on this recipe. They add depth and richness to the sauce. Rather than leave them out, just add one or two. But be sure to use the good ones, packaged in a glass jar, not a tin.  The price is worth it.

Serve with fresh grated parmesan, or its more affordable but equally good cousin, Grana Padano, a side of prosciutto, your seasonal produce…

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When the anchovies have dissolved and the garlic is slightly golden, add a small can of tomato paste.

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Stir to bind up the garlic in the tomato paste (if you don’t it will burn as the sauce cooks),  add a bit of salt and a good sprinkling of whatever herb you like or have on hand.  We use a lot of fresh, dried oregano, because we have a terrific bush in our backyard. But I’ve used fresh dried rosemary, or fresh basil, parsley–whatever mix or blend or solitary herb you like.

Turn the heat to low, and let the sauce cook, and cook, and cook, for about twenty minutes or so, until the raw paste has cooked through and the whole thing turns into a lovely, pasty mess. There will be some separation of oil and tomato, and the oil will take on a lovely reddish, orange hue. This is good (to eat, but not on your clothes).   If it looks too dry, you can add oil along the way.

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Toss this sauce over your cooked pasta. This recipe will make enough to dress 1 lb of pasta, but it actually freezes well if you want to use just part of the recipe.  I’m a big believer in the right pasta for the sauce, so I wouldn’t use anything other than a good spaghetti for this recipe. Also: don’t use too much.  The sauce should just bind, not soak, the spaghetti.

Serve with a grating of parmesan or its more affordable, but equally good cousin, Grana Padano, a side of prosciutto, your seasonal greens…

Things That Keep

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by Lisa

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Confession: I’m a little crazy when it comes to cooking, even on weeknights, and sometimes I do things that are more involved than I have time for.   But I also like to keep things around that are delicious, and which I can just pull from the refrigerator on a moments notice, which can turn a meal from a run of the mill affair to something seasonal and inviting. Because we depend on farmers and seasonal produce, simple things can be special because we don’t eat everything all year round.  Ella and Finn know when it’s apple season, or crab season, and that when holidays and parties roll around, they get pate.

One of the things I love to keep around during the week is  roasted peppers, another is fegatini (which I’ll write about soon), and another is steamed artichokes.

For most of the country, artichokes in January are just not available unless they come from far away, but some showed up recently in our market, including really ugly, blemished ones that are called  “frost-kissed.”  I think they’re not quite as good as the ones we’ll get later in the spring, but the inner leaves are tender and sweet and the hearts are excellent.

I have a large, three-tired steamer, which is bulky but very, very handy. I trimmed the stems and peeled off the bitter outer leaves, then threw the artichokes in the bottom tier and steamed until they were tender–about an hour for the large ones, 30 minutes for the mini-sized.

I mixed up a batch of faux aioli, which is another Thing That Keeps, at least for a couple of days, and which we also use on crabcakes. While the artichokes take some time on day 1, I had several left over, which I tossed in the refrigerator, and was able to bring out another day. Instant vegetable.

So, my point is not so much about artichokes, or peppers, exactly but about planning. My roast chicken, for instance, with the help of Trader Joe’s excellent-in-a-pinch premade pie crust, makes a speedy and delicious chicken pot pie.  I very often will roast several bunches of beets on market day, dress them simply in olive oil, then have them all week. We can add vinegar, arugula, goat cheese.  Etc.

What kinds of things do you prep ahead and keep for those days when you need a quick snack or on those nights when you need something fast to round out your table,  when the kids have had enough of their Webkinz, or soccer ran too late, and they’re clamoring for, you know, something to actually sustain them?

Faux Aioli

In a mortar and pestle, grind 1-2 cloves of garlic (to your taste) with coarse salt (sea, kosher, hawaiian red…).

Add the juice of about 1/2 a lemon or meyer lemon, continue grinding until you have a thin, smooth paste.

Add maybe 1/2 -3/4 cup mayonnaise, mix to blend. Taste, correct seasonings.

My Birthday Cake

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by Lisa

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Since my birthday fell on a Wednesday, and I had two prior, late afternoon commitments, and Kory couldn’t be home early enough for dinner & cake & general carousing, we decided to postpone the family celebration to Saturday, on which day I suppose I can expect breakfast in bed, and, if I’m lucky, something else for dinner & something chocolate in the form of a cake. Kory is a good baker.

But at lunch yesterday Finley suddenly threw up his hands and exclaimed, “Oh, no! Not we get a cake for your birthday!”

Which was true.  I had vague plans to pick up something for them at Whole Foods on my way home, but my meeting ran late, so that plan withered.  I was a little sad for the kids, since last year, when my birthday also fell on a weekday, I chose to go out for dinner and then to a new, small batch ice creamery for dessert. On the way home, Ella announced, “This is the worst birthday ever. It’s not a birthday unless you have CAKE.”

I sort of had to agree with her.

So yesterday, when I walked in the door, I was summarily banned from the kitchen, but I saw out of the corner of my eye, the Easy Bake Oven, which rarely gets pulled from the shelf in the pantry.  You can see the results above.  After their dinner (Kory & I had a reprise of the scallops with a bottle of prosecco), Ella and Finn lit candles and sang me Happy Birthday.  They gobbled down the Rainbow Cakes, which tasted just like a cake from an Easy Bake Oven should.

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