Pesto Turkey Sandwiches dairy and egg free How to be like others

The other morning, I called out to Son, "Hey, Im packing you some soon tofu stew (??? ??) for your school lunch in your thermos."

Son ran over and hesitated for a moment as I madly put things into boxes.  "Mom.  What do I tell people it is?"

"What do you mean tell people?  Tell them its spicy tofu soup."  With that I assumed the conversation was over.

When he brought home the lunch, all of the soup was gone, and I casually asked, "Did you tell people what you ate?"

"Yes.  They asked.  I told them," he replied.  "But mom, do you think you can pack me some bread with something in it - you know, like a sandwich?  All my friends eat sandwiches."

Suddenly our conversation earlier made sense.  Son realizes he is different.  He notices and others notice that his food is not like the food of his classmates.  We hadnt run into this problem last year because lunch was not a part of his day, but since eating lunch at school, the differences between his food and his mates foods was noticeable.  He already feels set apart from his classmates as he isnt allowed to participate in many of the cooking activities (Friday challah baking for one).

However, packing sandwiches pose a few logistical problems for me.  Son is allergic to dairy and egg which is a staple in most breads.  He loves paninis, which I make with french bread, but french bread doesnt taste good cold on its own to him (must be in a hot panini) and I cannot pack him a hot sandwich.  The school he goes to is also kosher, so ham, bacon or salami, which are things that he enjoys, are not available to him.  I began considering a few options and none of them seemed to be feasible. I began to think that he was going to have to be different and just get used to it.

However, as I strolled through Costco the other day, I happened upon these torta rolls.

Curious I picked them up and squeezed them.  Hmmm.  They were soft.  They looked pretty tasty.  They looked like I could make a good sandwich with them.  I saw this organic (EXPENSIVE) turkey sandwich meat, which tasted good (love sample Friday at Costco) and thought, ah...why not.

I dont know about you, but a sandwich that has just has a slice of turkey in it doesnt sound good.  It actually sounds bad.  But I remembered my new discovery which is pesto with no nuts and cheese and it came to me - a bit of pesto with the turkey on bread would be tasty.

I did a run through this weekend, and VOILA!  Son likes it!  Son can feel like hes like the others.   Im sure there will be a point (very soon I hope) where he wants his Korean food in his thermos and he doesnt mind bringing the stinky food to his kosher classroom, but for now, as long as he tries and eats this sandwich and tries to enjoy it, Ill be happy.

As a side note, I did make an egg and cheese filled one as well, which ended up being a huge hit with Daughter #1.  Daughter #2 strangely preferred the version given to her brother.

Pesto Turkey Sandwiches (dairy and egg free)
Makes as many as you can until the pesto, turkey, or bread runs out

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

turkey deli meat (your choice - I used organic)
torta rolls (or if you can find bread of your choice)

Method
In a food processor or blender, blend together basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Set aside.  As a note, this pesto can be stored in a glass gar, with a nice layer of olive oil drizzled on top to help preserve the green.  Good for about 1 week.

Slice torta roll in half.  Smear a nice healthy tablespoon of pesto on one side of the bread.  Add turkey.  (and egg and cheese if desired and not allergy prohibited.)  Repeat sandwich making as necessary.

Serve.

Printable recipe

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Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting How sweet should life be

I love this quote by Michael Pollan (The Omnivores Dilemma and Food Rules);  he writes,“There is nothing wrong with special occasion foods, as long as every day is not a special occasion...Special occasion foods offer some of the great pleasures of life, so we shouldnt deprive ourselves of them, but the sense of occasion needs to be restored.”

I love being a baker, making cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and sweet treats.  However, I know that I cant make them all the time, nor can I just give them out at whim to any child.  Ive tried hard to model to Children that treats are actually treats, and we celebrate our family birthdays and special occasions with a small treat, but a treat is just that - something special that doesnt happen every single day.

If I ONLY baked for just the family birthdays, Id already bake five times a year.  Add the extended family who lives near us, Im already baking 11 times a year.  That averages out to about once a month.  With just the baking that I do for my family, Children will have access to a sweet treat once a month.  This is a treat that I really enjoy making, because I dont use a boxed cake mix, but try and source high quality, organic (if possible) ingredients, that I put together with my own two hands.

Add the baking that I do when I have guests over, which averages about once a month.  Thats now twice a month Children get a treat.  Add the additional invitation over to someones house where I offer to bring something and they request dessert.  Lets just call that on average, once a month.  Now were at three times a month, Children get a treat.

Thats a lot of treats already, and some with not necessarily the right sense of occasion.  There are invariably birthday parties where cake is served (usually store bought) and goody bags often filled with candy.  The treats, and special occasions keep adding up.  School treats, school occasions, birthday handouts, party handouts quickly add up, and suddenly, what was once or twice a month of treats becomes almost a thrice weekly thing.

Im not anti-treats.  Dont get me wrong.  Im anti-every-day-is-a-treat day.  Im also anti-other-people-giving-my-children treats.  Children get enough of treats, distributed by me, made by me, at home.  I dont offer them processed treats, and I make my own treats for them.  I also dont give out treats to other children, without the express permission of their parents, as their parent has the absolute right to monitor how much their child eats.

Im sure I dont have all the right answers.  I only claim to know what to do for my own kids.  I do know the United States leads the world in obesity, and if that statistic doesnt give you pause, Ill remind you that the burden of taking care of the unhealthy in this country is a collective one that falls on all of our shoulders.  As parents, we really need to revisit what is going into our childrens bodies.  If you ARE going to give a treat, one that is homemade is miles better than what you get in a store, which is why I do like to challenge people to try and make their own homemade cookies and treats.  If you refuse to buy processed packaged treats, and say that you will only make them, youd be surprised at how much money you save and how much fewer treats your children will actually consume.

I made these treats to celebrate a reunion with an old grad school friend and an old teaching colleague, both brilliant thinkers of education reform and thoughtful planners of educations future.  I made us all a lovely dinner, and each of our children got a single mini cupcake; the adults sat, savored our small treat and enjoyed the occasion of friendship.

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 24 regular sized cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes

Yellow Cupcake
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups superfine sugar, or regular sugar that has been processed in a food processor and made fine
2 large eggs (taken out of the fridge the same time as the butter)
3 large egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½  teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
½ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake pans with liners.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.  Mix together milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend softened butter and superfine sugar until thoroughly combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, add egg yolks, one at a time,and beat until well mixed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is well blended.

Add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined, and add half milk mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl.  Add remaining half of flour mixture, mix until just combined and then add remaining milk mixture.  Mix until just combined.again.  At this stage, the less you mix the better for your cake.  (too much mixing makes for a tough cake.)

Scoop batter into cupcake pan.  Bake for 18-20 minutes (minis) or 22-24 minutes (regular size) until tops spring back up when tapped.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Frost with icing once cupcakes are completely cooled.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
½  cup of butter (1 stick), softened
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
In a large mixing bowl, mix butter until it is softened and uniform.  Add cream cheese and beat together until it is uniform.  Add 2 cups of sugar and cocoa powder to the mixture and mix.  Add milk and vanilla extract and mix again.  Add remaining 1 cup of confectioners sugar.   Mix again until mixture is creamy and spreadable.  Add more sugar if necessary, otherwise frost completely cooled cupcakes.

Printable recipe

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Lemon Mascarpone Torte Sometimes you really just need it to be easy

My readers will notice I did not post much in June.  Thats because June turned out to be the craziest month of all time for me with a teaching schedule that went completely haywire, with multiple school districts with different calendars letting their students out at varying times, which affects me because suddenly half of my students want morning lessons.  Add to that summer students, my kids STILL in school, and church VBS and my stress levels go through the roof.  There were many moments when I felt like the world was reeling around me so quickly that I couldnt keep anything in place and intact.

All the while all of this craziness was going on, I still kept on riding my bike as much as possible.  Its a way for me to keep my stress levels under control because on my bike, you just cant help but smile.  I cant help but smile.  I wear the goofiest helmet of all time and it makes me happy and it makes me laugh.  (Should you want to emulate my incredible fashion sense, buy it here.)

Every once in a while, one of my friends will look at me as we are in the middle of an intense conversation and say something like, "I cant take you seriously when your head looks like a watermelon."  Then Ill take it off.  But while Im on my bike, moving around my neighborhood, back and forth between school and home, my helmet stays on my head.

Unfortunately I cant do Costco shopping on my bike, so I usually run home, leave my bike and then hop into the car.  During my most intense time in June, I discovered I need something at Costco, so as it is my habit, I dumped my bike and excess equipment at school and went  to Costco.  I parked, flashed my membership card, and with my mind on figuring out and calculating how quickly I could finish what I need to do at Costco, I barely noticed the people giving me funny looks. As I ran towards the fruit section, I happened to pass a mirror section, which I quickly moved past, when I caught a flash of green on my head in the reflection.

Green as in my watermelon helmet.  Green as in the watermelon helmet that I DROVE to Costco with, got out of the car with, and ran around half of Costco with.  I sheepishly began laughing at myself, removed the helmet and shook my head at my own nuttiness.  Was I that intensely insane that I couldnt remember to take off a helmet?  Evidently yes.  My life had reached a fever pitch that made things so crazy that a watermelon helmet in the middle of Costco could completely happen.

Im always grateful for the month of July because life slows down for me.  No more lunches to pack, students flit in and out of my life on vacation and then back off vacation, and a general slowing of the mayhem that is motherhood.  And during the slowdown I find myself feeling lazy and wanting simply to do less and do things simply.  It also gets warmer so its less compelling to be in the kitchen.  I decided to go ahead and try and do a no bake cheesecake recipe, drawing inspiration from a bunch of different sources, but mostly this one.   

The result?  Summer easy yummy fun.  The main commitment is time to chill and set it, which clocks in at around 8 hours, or overnight (or up to 3 days ahead of time) but the end result is totally worth it, and its easy!  No ovens to turn on and nothing complicated to do except layer, and you can probably even do it with a bike helmet on, should you feel so compelled. 

Lemon Mascarpone Torte
Serves 5 to 6

Ingredients
2 cups (16 oz mascarpone cheese)
?  cup heavy cream
?  cup prepared lemon curd
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
Kosher salt
About 15 whole graham crackers
Blueberries, for serving

Method
Line a 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, allowing 4 inches of overhang.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the mascarpone with the heavy cream at medium speed until smooth and just firm; do not overbeat. Fold in the lemon curd, lemon zest and a pinch of salt.

Spread a 1/4-inch-thick layer of the lemon cream on the bottom of the pan.  (I used a broken off piece of graham cracker to do this - YUM!)  Arrange a single layer of graham crackers on top, breaking them to fit.  For a prettier edge, break the crackers a little bit short of the edge so that the outside will be cream and not a layer of graham, essentially leaving a border around the edge of your pan.   Repeat the layering with the remaining lemon cream and crackers, finishing with a final layer of cream.

Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Uncover and invert the cheesecake onto a platter. Remove the plastic wrap. Serve with blueberries.

Printable recipe

Cutting into yumminess.

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Raspberry Crumb Cake To be simple

After 13 years with the same desk, two weeks ago, I got a new (used) one.  In a flurry of emails and pickups, I suddenly had a new piece of furniture that needed to go into my office and I had to get rid of an old piece of furniture, my old desk.

My old desk has lived in more places than the average person.  Starting in Denmark, it made its way to Hong Kong, then Seoul, then the Bay Area.  Its life was varied and its journey long, so saying goodbye to this desk wasnt an easy thing.

Actually, it was a messy thing.  An extremely messy thing.  My old desk had this hutch on it, and what a hutch does is, it allows you to hold on to random things that you will never use, simply because you can tuck it away in a cute little spot on the hutch.  Taking all of the stuff out of the hutch and moving it onto my teaching table so that I could remove my old desk created a pile of nonsense that looked like this.

I know.  It wasnt cute.  But within that pile of craziness I noticed something.  I didnt need HALF the stuff that was in there, and the other stuff could be organized and put away in a meaningful manner.  I started a massive purge and in the end, I felt good getting rid of junk that had no place in my life.  I was able to throw away massive piles of paper that I just stored up and didnt eliminate.  I also found a few things that belonged in Husbands office upstairs, so it was a relief getting rid of those things.

The purging of my old desk was a metaphor for purging in general.  Ive been quiet on the blog, more introspective (more tired), working more, and I just felt like simplifying life in general.  I havent cooked anything new, preferring to stick to old favorites, eating very simply, or on some occasions, specializing in the crazy leftover consumption that I love to do.  Whatever the case, the office purge inspired me to just simply be simpler.

I had wonderful old friends over today, and normally Id go all crazy, cooking up some insane storm, but instead decided to go a simple route of Korean tacos with rice.  If youre thinking - that is crazy, well normally Id add a potato or macaroni salad to the mix along with some kimchi quesadillas and something else.  I just did the tacos  and decided to finish the meal with a simple crumb cake, using up some yummy organic raspberries that were taking up room in the fridge.  I love the crumb cake because it is simple to make with the mixer, and the crumb topping is easier than frosting and its yummy and not fussy in the least.  It comes together quickly and its pretty much fool proof.  Its also a hit with the family, as Husband and Daughters all love this cake.  (Other cakes cause dissension among the masses)

Raspberry Crumb Cake 
(adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food June 2008)
Makes 1 8X8 inch square, serving 6 to 8 people

Crumb Topping
Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
½  cup packed light-brown sugar
¼  teaspoon salt
1 cup of all purpose flour

Method
In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, and  salt; add 1 cup flour, and mix with a fork until large moist crumbs form. Refrigerate topping until ready to use.  (Refrigeration really helps set the crumb topping so that when you go to bake it you get a gorgeous topping and not a bunch of melted stuff.)

Cake
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼   teaspoon salt
½  teaspoon baking powder
1  teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
11 oz fresh raspberries

Method
Preheat oven to 350.   Grease an 8X8 baking pan.
Whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, salt; set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Scrape down sides.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture.

Spread batter evenly in pan and sprinkle with raspberries.  On top of raspberries, sprinkle chilled crumb topping.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Cut into 16 squares.

Serve simply.

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Ks Caramel Apple Pie How to be good at small talk

Ive been realizing in recent weeks that I do not excel at small talk.  In fact, I stink at it.  Im missing a little bit of the concentration level or the talent for engaging people in a conversation, especially when I dont know them well.  I love chit chatting with my close friends, and usually within 15 seconds Im off on some tangent that definitely doesnt qualify at all as small talk (usually education or the plight of curriculum in the state of CA) but to ask people questions about their daily life and to get to know them; I just am not good at.  Part of it is due to my own inherent introvert tendencies and the other part, I think is lack of practice.

However, this weekend, I watched a master of small talk take things to the next level and execute the act of getting to know someone to an art form.  He is a trained interrogator (being in law enforcement) and his years of asking questions and engaging criminals takes small talk to new heights.   He took someone he didnt know well at all (who happens to be my best friend) and proceeded to take her very complicated job as a top level manager and dissect her job into the smallest detail.  Afterwards Friend was quite shocked and said, "I dont think my husband even knows exactly what I do." Post interview, KK revealed that his number one tactic at getting people (and criminals and gangsters) to open up is to be interested in the details.  THE DETAILS.  By asking all sorts of minuscule questions (including one where he asked my friend to describe the position of the desks in her office) and being interested in the answer, people open up and say things that you just dont expect.  Bear in mind, that I listened in on this interview, and in almost 20 years of knowing this friend, I learned new things during this conversation that I would not have expected.

Now this is all somewhat foreign to me, as I realize that Im not good at focusing on the small details of a conversation.  Ive always prided myself on "cutting to the chase" as it will, but I also find myself shying away from situations where Im supposed to make small talk, mostly because I tell myself I dont like it.  Maybe I just dont try hard enough.  Maybe my level of interest at unwrapping someone isnt at the level it needs to be at.  Ill only say that watching KK peel away layers of my best friends job was interesting and fascinating to me and it made me want to be better at getting to know people.

In the end, Ive mostly filed away what KK did and Ill continue to mull on it and think about it.  But Ive been practicing the engaging of people I dont know well and trying to talk to them.  I spoke to our garbage man the other day, asking him why the truck didnt have the automatic arm and if he had plans for the rest of the week.  We spoke about 2 minutes, back and forth (this while I had groceries in my arm, and he was shouting across the street as he tossed the trashcans into the truck) and at the end of it, I discovered that the regular drives on my route complained about our area as having too much work, so he was called in to relieve some of that burden.  As he said, "Im not the lazy type to sit back and want someone else to do my work - I just get out there and do it" and I found myself respecting his work ethic, watching his smile, and appreciating the sense of duty to his job.

Im calling this pie after KK because it just so happens that his two daughters LOVED it. They gobbled it down as it were, and enjoyed every last bite.

Make the caramel first, so you can have it ready to go and set aside (even do it the day before), and then do the pie crusts.  I love this recipe for pie crust because it doesnt need to be chilled which means that your pie making time reduces.

Caramel Apple Pie
Makes 9 inch pie, serving 8 to 10 people

Caramel
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
¾ cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons (½ stick of butter)

Method
While cake is baking, make caramel.  Have both butter and cream, measured and ready to go.  In a heavy bottom sauce pan (bigger is better - go for a 2 or 3 quart saucepan) add sugar and heat over medium high heat.  The sugar will begin to melt and caramelize.  As this happens, slowly drag sugar to the center of the pan and swirl the pan around so as to not burn the sugar.  Allow all the sugar crystals to melt, using patience and diligence to watch and check the caramel.  As soon as the sugar is all melted and is dark amber in color (Dave Leibovitz says like the color of a dirty copper penny) add butter all at once and whisk vigorously incorporating it into the sugar syrup.    After butter is all melted remove from heat.  Add cream and whisk  until the caramel is a delicious mixture, all uniform in texture.  Transfer caramel to a jar.  (You’ll use a cup for the pie itself, and have about ½ cup remaining to drizzle over the pie after it’s done.)

Pastry (adapted from Williams-Sonoma)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
6 to 8 Tbs. ice water

Method
To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the flat beater, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, divide evenly into two, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Take one ball and lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick.  Lay crust into 9 inch pie pan.  leave overhang of pie crust on until later.

Set aside second ball until needed.

Apple Filling and Construction
Ingredients
4 lbs of Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup of caramel sauce (recipe above)

1 egg white, beaten
2 tablespoons sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 400.

Using a mandoline slicer or a sharp knife and your very good knife skills, carefully slice the apple into thin slices, about ¼ inch thick.  The more evenly thinly sliced the apples, the better the overall texture as there will be no air pockets. Drizzle lemon juice, sprinkle flour and cinnamon, and evenly toss the entire mixture together.

Carefully lay apples, as close together, filling the pie dish.  The goal is to have few air pockets and a dense of apple layers.  Pour 1 cup of caramel sauce over apples once they are in the dish.  Roll out the second pie dough and place it over the top of the apples and the pie crust.  Trim overhang of pie crust edges with scissors or knife and pinch together dough in order to create a seal between top and bottom crusts.  Make slashes or cut outs in the top of pie in order for steam to escape and brush top pastry with egg white.  Sprinkle sugar all over top of pie.

Set pie dish on top of cookie sheet (you’ll thank me for this later when your pie doesn’t leak all over your oven) and place in center of oven.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until top of pie is golden and the juices are bubbly and delicious.

Set pie aside and allow to cool, juices to thicken, about 1 hour.  Serve with a scoop of ice cream, and additional caramel sauce to drizzle on top.

Printable recipe

Super lightweight and sharp Japanese Mandoline which I love (and makes great apple slices)


My choice of pie dish - looks beautiful and bakes up pies gorgeously
 

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