Debi Simons Once again, an article about our modern eating habits. Hope you’re all doing well! Here’s the takeaway:
“In a nutshell: The root of obesity is palatability and calorie density, combined with ubiquity and convenience. Satiety hormones and other metabolic machinations have much less to do with it. We’re responding to cues from without, not from within. One new study doesn’t prove it, of course, but it’s the hypothesis that best fits the preponderance of the evidence.”
Hello everyone! Just a quick post today with the promised roll variation. I’m not posting a picture of anything–just the brief description from my own recipe files. This is from my Cook’s Illustrated magazine that my son subscribes me to every year for my Christmas present. I’ve changed it just a little bit to make it simpler and more streamlined (of course),but other than that it’s basically the same. I like the addition of the molasses and the oatmeal. It’s like a warm, cozy, nubby sweater for fall!
WHOLE WHEAT OATMEAL-MOLASSES ROLLS
Ingredients:
3/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup + 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, or a half-and-half mixture of ww and white
1/4 cup molasses
2 teaspoons yeast
1 tsp. salt
Instructions:
I just use my bread machine. Put the oatmeal, boiling water and butter into the pan of your machine and let sit until somewhat cooled off. Since I use a grain mill to produce the flour, I let the water/oatmeal sit while I do the grinding. That takes a few minutes. I then put the four on top of the oatmeal mix, then put the other ingredients on top of that. As the cycle begins the mixture cools off even more, especially since the egg is cold. I’m giving you all this explanation because I want you to realize how simple this recipe really is, even with the boiling-water step. You may need to add a little more flour as the dough comes together, but it should remain fairly moist. Divide into 12 portions and put in a round cake pan, 9 around the edge of pan and 3 in the middle. Let rise for perhaps 1/2 hour while you heat the oven to 375. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until well browned and 195 in the idle of the middle roll. Turn out onto a rack and let cool. These are a nice alternative to plain ww rolls.
Hi folks! I keep saying that I’m working on my cookbook, and indeed it’s still being formatted and edited by my tech guy. I hope to have it out well before Christmas, or even Thanksgiving. Maybe I’ll do a little series before TG of my favorite recipes for that holiday. Are people getting together this year? We’re having our usual fairly small family gathering, probably no more than a dozen people, so that should be okay as far as health guidelines are concerned.
But for today I want to share a recipe from this past Saturday, when I was in charge of the mid-morning snack and the lunch at a women’s retreat at our church. We had only 25 attendees, partly because of last-minute cancellations and partly because, I’m sure, of COVID. But the ones who were there were very enthusiastic, and I enjoyed serving them. I’m going to share a soup recipe with you today and my new roll recipe later on this week. Both are wonderful fall items that you may find useful this month. Let me take you through my thought process in coming up with the menu.
Hello friends!
Today I shipped my final manuscript to the publisher (i.e. my husband). Then I realized I’d left out the bibliography from the Appendix. And I don’t yet have a cover picture picked out. But I’m really getting there! We will have many days of work as we set out the pages in their proper formatting, figure out an index, etc. I’m very excited about getting this baby out into the world. Of course, since this will be a self-published book, I will be in charge of publicizing it. There are lots of ideas floating around in my head about what I can do. Oh, did you ask about the title? It’s Feeding the Masses without Losing Your Mind.
In the meantime, here’s are two great articles from The Washington Post about why you shouldn’t tie your personal identity to a specific diet:
“When it comes to nutrition, we’re all too eager to ignore the evidence. Here’s why.”
“Why making your diet a part of your identity is bad for your health–and society“
Time to check in again. I’m still hard at work on the cookbook, right now in the midst of the chapter on miscellaneous appetizers, including what I hope is the definitive version of hummus. I still have a ways to go, but as soon as it’s ready to roll you guys will be the first to know!
Anyway, the Washington Post ran an excellent article yesterday about the added complications of COVID-19 for those who are carrying excess weight. I don’t have anything of substance to add, so I’m just going to include the link here and urge you to read it, if not for yourself then for your loved ones who need this info:
“If you need a lifesaving reason to lose weight, the novel coronavirus provides it“
I had a comment on my previous post asking about what went right for the wedding food I made this past weekend, so I figured I should write a little more about that. (Although I did have a few positive things to say in my previous post, I always figure that warnings to someone who may be doing the same thing are more useful than my raving about how delicious everything was. Which it was!)
For one, the little lemon tarts were fabulous, with the crusts staying crisp even after sitting for awhile. I’m not going to re-write the recipe here but instead will direct you to “A Set of Sweet Mini Tart Variations” earlier in this blog. The lemon recipe is the fourth one down. The brownies also came out well, and as it turned out these two items had the most leftovers, for some reason. In spite of my agonizing about the oversized cupcakes and cheesecakes there weren’t really all that many left when all was said and done. The tarts and brownies were the most freezable of the items I made, so they’re now safely ensconced in freezer bags out in our extra garage freezer.
Here’s the brownie recipe, which is so great for making little brownie bites because the recipe is easily scaled for doing that. It’s from the Taste of Home website, and I added a few flourishes (of course):
BROWNIE CUPCAKES
(from Taste of Home online magazine)
Yield: 12 mini brownies for each recipe made with amounts given; easily multiplied to give yield needed.
Sugar Content: 5.5 grams per brownie, not including extra chips or glaze
Ingredients:
| ¼ heaping cup (1 ½ oz.) | dark chocolate chips | or chopped dark chocolate |
| ¼ cup (1/2 stick, 4 T.) | butter | |
| 1 | egg | |
| ¼ cup | sugar | |
| ¼ tsp. | vanilla | |
| ¼ cup | flour | |
| ¼ cup | chopped nuts, toasted | optional, your choice |
Instructions:
Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave-safe bowl, preferably the bowl you’re going to use for mixing the batter. For this small amount try 45 seconds at 50% power, then check. You may need another 30 seconds or so. When the mixture is partially melted stir it until smooth and completely melted. Let cool slightly. Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla, then fold in flour and nuts if using.
Divide batter among 12 mini muffin cups, preferably with liners. For extra chocolatiness, you can put 3-4 chocolate chips in the bottom of each cup. I did this for the wedding brownies. Bake at 325O for 8-10 minutes, or until still somewhat soft in the center. Let cool completely before frosting. These cupcakes are specifically described in the recipe as not needing frosting, so the choice is up to you. Buttercream (plain, chocolate or peanut butter) or chocolate ganache would both be great if you decide to go that route, though. I used chocolate ganache, with a ratio of 2 parts chocolate chips to 1 part heavy cream, nuking it at 50% power in the microwave for 2 minutes, stirring, then doing 2 minutes more. Don’t ever heat chocolate on high in the microwave! These ganache proportions resulted in a nicely-set, beautiful glaze. I sprinkled some gold decorating sugar on the tops, but I think people may have thought that it was salt. Oh well.
I will also say that, in spite of my having to rescue my frosting at the last minute with great gobs of powdered sugar, the piping I did with it looked pretty great. I have something called a “frosting gun” or “frosting press” which I bought through Amazon. Any real decorator worth her salt would turn up her nose at this item, as its capacity is very limited. I would say that it can hold enough frosting at one time to do maybe 10 normal-size cupcakes, and it is somewhat of a pain to refill. But it’s so much easier and less messy than those dratted plastic frosting bags that are the norm, and it doesn’t require much work for your hands. I have carpal tunnel problems that can flare up, but I don’t have any issues using this tool because it has this nice lever or trigger that you use to dispense the frosting. I just wish they’d make one with a bigger capacity, but there it is. If I were doing a whole big wedding cake (which is never, ever gonna happen), I would probably ask my mother-in-law if I could use her Wilton cake-decorating set. But for what I do, and especially if I’m doing mini items, this tool is perfect. If and when I wear out the one I have, I’ll probably go with the stainless-steel one from Wilton.
Okay. Enough positivity for one post! Want you to know that I’m working very hard on my cookbook/entertaining manual/handbook of easy hacks/etc. It’s expanding as I work. If you’re a subscriber to this blog you’ll get a special deal! Score!
I haven’t been writing much on this blog lately (as you well know if you’re a subscriber), but I am working away on m cookbook, my compendium of party food, tentatively titled Feeding the Masses without Losing Your Mind. I had said that the last thing the world needs is another cookbook, but I’d already written quite a bit of material for it. So I’m putting it together, editing and testing the recipes, and saying more than you could possibly imagine on various food-related topics, such as proper muffin mixing technique and how to make many mini tarts.
Saturday I got to put some of my ideas into practice as I was asked to do the food for a outdoor wedding. My dear friend Nancy’s second-oldest daughter got married in their back yard, a necessity for this era of social distancing, and you just would not believe all the work they did making their already-lovely back yard into a veritable fairyland. Strings of lights! Acres of organza/netting/tulle, much of it wrapped around said lights! Flowers! Refreshment tents! So great.
Hope you enjoy these! The salad dressings should keep you covered permanently and the menu sign ideas should come in helpful as we go back to giving parties:
“Theme and Variations on Homemade Salad Dressings”
and
I hate it when bloggers just sort of fizzle out, but that’s what has happened here. I’ve been writing for this website, under various site titles, since the summer of 2014, when my son Gideon was in the hospital with cancer. I had set up a website to sell my first book but didn’t think I had anything more to say. Then he got sick, I started writing about his progress, and I fell in love with blogging. But this blog/site was never intended to be one of those monster, nonstop, new-recipes-every-week behemoths. Nor was/is it any kind of “lifestyle” blog, whatever that means. For six years I’ve basically kept an online journal, with random thoughts, recipes, and books. Now I’ve pretty much said what I want to say in those areas. I believe I’ve listed my four favorite food blogs in a previous post but I don’t see that material now and don’t want to spend any more time looking for it, so here they are again:
Half-Baked Harvest
Pinch of Yum
Sally’s Baking Addiction
Smitten Kitchen
If you want some sort of home decor blog I highly recommend Young House Love, both the blog and the podcast. As I’ve said, and now repeat with perhaps a little more clarity, my main writing emphasis from now on is over at my music blog, Behind the Music. This is not a blog about music theory or performance; it’s about choral music texts. I hope, even if you don’t think you’re interested in the subject, that you’ll head over there anyway. The blog part of the website gets new posts only during the performance season of the Cherry Creek Chorale, when I write a post a week about various pieces we’re singing for upcoming concerts. I’m working on making the site a resource for choral directors, creating a clear index for every post I’ve written since 2013. This project is a big part of my writing goals for the summer. In addition I’m continuing to write short books about masterworks, with two new recent ones now finished. Notes from Ireland is up and available on my website along with my other three books on choral music, with a series of chapters on a set of Irish folk songs that we sang at the final concert of our (sadly truncated) 2019-2020 season. My editor and tech guy (i.e. my husband) now has the text of my book on the Rutter Requiem, which I expect to go live within the week. The great thing about doing material such as this is that the supply of subject matter is inexhaustible.
In the meantime, to close out this blog, I wanted to post some pages on which I’ve spent a great deal of time and planned to make into some sort of e-cookbook. But that’s just not going to happen, for many reasons, the main one being that the last thing the world needs is another cookbook. So over the next couple of weeks I want to at least get these pages out to you, my faithful blog readers. Here are two general info ones to get you started:
“In Which I Modestly Present a Theory of Hospitality”
“Helpful Tools and Equipment for Great Food and Great Serving”
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m scaling back my writing for this blog as I move towards developing my music blog, where there’s a fair amount going on. I hope you’ll take a look over there and subscribe if you haven’t done so already and if what you see interests you. I’ve also done a couple of posts recently over at my Intentional Conservative blog, so if you’re interested in politics you can head on over there. (You can also follow me on my personal Facebook page, which has nothing personal on it at all—it’s composed entirely of political articles, mostly by conservative writers, some by conservative Christian writers. Good stuff, I have to say.)
But I’ve been meaning to post something here about this whole let’s-slow-down-food-prep-and-consumption idea. If you’re homebound and looking for something to do, of course you’re all in on the slow-food idea. If you’re holding down a deemed-essential job and maybe also juggling child care, my hat is off to you and I fully recognize that you may have less time these days for nourishing yourself and your family. I don’t have any magic answers for those of you in that situation, I’m afraid.