The Secret to Michelle Obama’s Arms?

Is apparently not kneading and whisking.

A quote and link to Amanda Hesser’s Op-Ed piece is below (Chef Anne Cooper once again tweets a great link!).

“As we lost our skills at the stove, we also lost something less tangible but no less important: the opportunity to spend time together in the kitchen, talking and cooking. Similarly, we gave up the chance to improve our children’s eating habits by example.”

The Commander in Chef

Handiwork

The Case For Working With Your Hands

Thinking of quitting that desk job and getting a little dirt under the fingernails? Check out this article from the Times–thanks to Chef Ann Cooper for posting!

Slider Size Me!

Beef and Cheddar. Sends me back 20 years to an Arby’s swivel chair, where a chubby kid (me) is squirting Arby’s sauce over an oozing beef & cheese sandwich. And dipping curly fries into a ketchup-Horsey-Arby-sauce “suicide” with her free hand. Thank god lightening struck sometime around ’93 and I avoided becoming another obesity stat.

I still crave a beef & cheddar combo every so often, although saturated fat now crosses my mind in addition to the Arby’s nastalgia. The grown up version (pictured) features medium-rare beef, cheese vs cheese product, and a homemade whole wheat slider roll. My Sunday baking had produced a generous bread dough, so I made the little rolls with the excess. Also, my grocer decided it was a good week to put roast beef and horseradish cheddar on sale. Lunch was melted to perfection in a 350-degree oven for 5 minutes, served with a side of grapes.

Head of Lead-uce?

Tending an urban garden? Don’t miss this article on soil contamination and testing.  

For Urban Gardeners, Lead is a Concern

Dose of Curry, Comfort and Matsui?

It’s fast food, but I swear someone spent hours on the sauce. Go Go Curry, 38th & 8th in Manhattan, serves up a curry so deeply brown, sweet and heavy it sent me to bed at 9:30 pm. It’s comfort food to the Japanese, and to any starch + fat- loving American out there.

So basically, you start with gobs of curry sauce over sticky rice and add on the proteins. The Katsu, or fried pork cutlet, curry is a popular choice; but of course, I wanted to try it all. My husband and I split the Grand Slam platter, which–with a squinted eye–resembles a plate of the same name from a certain 24-hour breakfast diner (essentially, a pork cutlet and glutinous rice replace pancakes). I checked my dietetic registration at the door.

So where does Matsui and baseball come in? The “Go Go” in Go Go Curry is “55” in Japanese, and NY Yankee Hideki Matsui’s number. According to the copious amounts of Matsui paraphernalia wallpapering the joint, he’s #1 and curry is #2. Menu items are also categorized in baseball terms, with the (not so) small being a “walk”, building up to the homerun and the #6, Grand Slam Curry.

And worth mentioning, they feature a competitive eating contest; however, the rules were in Japanese. Anyway, the menu tells me I am already an MVP just for ordering the Grand Slam.

If I can’t afford a ticket at the new Yankee stadium, this will do just fine.

Fridge-a-Ritas

Cinco de Mayo. A whole day set aside to celebrate tequila and salt. Something I should be taking very seriously. Alas, here is one lazy woman’s version of the Mexican celebration (if you can call squeezing old limes lazy…)

As my husband and I sat down to a feast of leftover Spaghetti Carbonara and a vegetable and Swiss omelet, my thoughts turned to friends enjoying tortilla chips, guacamole, enchiladas, tacos…and…big sigh. At the very least I could pull together a Margarita, right?

I imagine the limes I found in my fridge drawer were a vinaigrette that never came to fruition, tucked away under the parsley to be forgotten about. Yes, tonight’s Ritas were an afterthought; but, I struck gold with fresh lime juice, which is what one needs at the very least for a decent rita. And tequila (thank husband for stocking bar). And salt!  How could I forget salt! (Okay you need at least 3 things for this to work).

From the fridge inventory:

4 limes

2 oranges

simple syrup

The Fridge and Tunnel Rita

• 3 oz fresh lime juice
• 3 oz fresh orange juice
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 3 oz Tequila

1. Mix together the juices, simple syrup and tequila; stir well with a spoon.
2. Rub a squeezed lime half around the rim of 2 cocktail glasses & dip glass is coarse sea or kosher salt.
3. Pour drink over ice and serve. Garnish with a sliver of orange peel.