When I'm Not Cooking, I'm Reading

The college years are a time to explore new things, experience independence and find your place in life. College is also a time to make new friendships – some which last throughout your adult life – and to perhaps find that one professor who challenges you to look at life in a different way. What happens, though, when that professor pushes the boundaries and winds up as a suspect in the murder of one of his students?

In the same vein as Donna Tartt’s “A Secret History,” “Bradstreet Gate” by Robin Kirman chronicles the lives of three Harvard students in the decade after the murder of a classmate and how their lives are intertwined and changed by their associations with the charismatic professor accused of the murder. 

Georgia Calvin, Charlie Fournoy and Alice Kovac are not your stereotypical Harvard students. Georgia is a free-spirit who spent her early teen years following her father, an artist, around the globe as he became famous for his borderline-pornographic photographs of his young daughter. Charlie comes from a blue collar family living in a blue collar Long Island town and he is determined to succeed beyond his middle-class upbringing. Alice, born to Polish immigrant parents, always struggled to fit in and used her sarcasm and her razor-sharp tongue to disguise her insecurities. The three become unlikely friends and although they come from different backgrounds, they all share one thing in common - their fascination with the enigmatic Professor Rufus Storrow, who touches their lives in very different ways. 

The book jumps between their years at Harvard and then the 10 years after they leave the university, following the murder of Julie Patel, a student of Professor Storrow's.  

Was the professor involved in Julie's death? Were the three friends somehow responsible for Julie's murder? Unfortunately, after a very long read, one is left with more questions than answers. 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. 

The Humble Potato and How it Came to be Bread

Living in Idaho, I have become used to strangers who, upon discovering I live in Idaho, have to utter some cliche that in some way involves potatoes. Like "oh, the potato state' or "I bet you love potatoes" or something equally as inane. I used to try to counter with some remark about how Maine has better potatoes but now, I just don't bother. My son spent his first year at Cornell with nicknames that were a variation on potatoes ("Spud" was my favorite) before he just became known as "Idaho" to his track team.

So potatoes do play a big part in my life, in one fashion or another. This is the first time, however, that I've actually used them in bread. I've baked my fair share of various kinds of loaves, but never have I made potato bread. I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest (of course) and it seemed like a pretty straightforward white bread recipe that would yield a nice dense (but not too heavy) loaf that would be perfect with soups and stews and other fall weather recipes. 

And it all starts with a humble Russett potato.

Ingredients

1 medium-size russet potato (about 8 oz.), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 (1/4-oz.) envelopes active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105° to 115°

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons table salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons melted butter, divided

Preparation

1. Bring potato and water to cover to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat; boil 10 to 12 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup liquid, and cool potato 15 minutes. Press potato through a potato ricer or food mill, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).

Of course I own a potato ricer. Who doesn't?

2. Stir together yeast, 1 cup warm water, 2 tsp. sugar, and reserved cooking liquid in bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in eggs, next 3 ingredients, potato, 3 cups flour, and remaining sugar. Beat at medium speed, using paddle attachment, until smooth. Gradually beat in remaining 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour until a soft dough forms.

3. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (about 4 to 6 minutes), sprinkling with flour as needed. Place dough in a lightly greased large bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°), about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

4. Punch dough down; turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide in half.

5. Roll each dough half into an 18- x 9-inch rectangle. Starting at 1 short end, roll up each rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, pressing to seal edges as you roll. Pinch ends of dough, and tuck ends under. Place each roll, seam side down, in a lightly greased 9- x 5-inch loaf pan. Brush tops with 2 Tbsp. melted butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°), 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

6. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown. Remove from pans to a wire rack, and brush with remaining melted butter. Cool completely.

This bread was a huge hit with the family. I kept one loaf out to eat and then froze the other one. My husband commented I should have left them both out, as it took just a day for us to work our way through the one loaf. It was perfect with my tomato and tortellini soup (recipe to follow next week) and was also great toasted for breakfast with butter and some of my homemade strawberry jam. 

That's right folks - I do LOVE potatoes. 

Welcome Back

Welcome back to my blog. It's been a long time. What started out as a brief break from blogging turned into a long vacation. I never lost my passion for food and cooking, what I lost was my passion for writing about it. No - that's not an entirely true statement. I never lost my passion. What I lost was my confidence that what I was writing could compete with the thousands of cooking blogs that had cropped up since I started my blog way back in the prehistoric times of 2010. I was just overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of folks writing about food and I just didn't feel like I measured up anymore, which was a ridiculous way to feel since I didn't start writing my blog because I thought it was going to gain me fame or fortune. I wrote it because I wanted to share with people my love of food and cooking.

 Perhaps a little bit of it had to do with the fact that over the last three years I felt like I was drowning at work and what little energy I had left over at the end of the day I had to reserve in order to be a half-way decent human being at home and also try not to lose the few friends I do have. So spending any amount of time writing a blog seemed like a waste of a precious resource.

 Things have changed in my work life and I now have a job I enjoy, it's rewarding and I just feel better about myself and life in general. So, I figured it was time to dust off the old keyboard and resurrect Confessions of a Foodie. While my content will remain the same, I thought my blog needed a new look and even a new title. "Living the Betty Crocker Life" is a tribute to my mother, who really did live the Betty Crocker life as a stay-at-home mom raising my brother and I in the 60s/70s. Whether she truly enjoyed her life and felt fulfilled in her role as a 'domestic engineer' is something I will never know for sure. My mom passed away in 1979, the year I graduated from high school, and I will never be able to ask her that question. I like to think that she enjoyed taking care of our family and took pleasure and pride in putting home-cooked meals on the table every day, much as I enjoy cooking for my family and friends and living my own modern Betty Crocker life. Sheila Belle Hancock Morancy - thank you for devoting your life to making sure our family was well-fed and well taken care of and for teaching and showing me the joy that can come from time spent in the kitchen.

Rolo Cheesecake Bars

I blame Pinterest for this recipe. Actually, I blame Pinterest for a lot of things; the hours I lose looking through other people's boards, the money I'm sure I'm going to spend someday when I buy something I've seen on someone's boards, and the feeling that I'm a total loser with no talent for anything when I see all the cool things other people have created that I will never have the time to create myself because I'm spending all my time on Pinterest. If I had to design a new logo for Pinterest it would be a picture of a snake eating it's own tail, because that's what I feel like whenever I log on to Pinterest. But I digress...
And just one more thing about Pinterest. As a former journalist who always had to attribute everything I wrote to someone who may have said it or wrote about it, I'm totally freaked out when I use something I found on Pinterest because I never know who to attribute it to. Is it the person who's board I found it on or the originator of the item? I have no idea. So, I'm going to cover my bases here and state that I found this recipe on a site called "Closet Cooking" and Kevin, the originator of "Closet Cooking" found it on a site called "Baker's Royale." So, I hope I've given proper credit to the right people.
When I saw this recipe, I knew I just had to make it. I have a lot of weaknesses when it comes to candy but I would have to say that if I could only eat one candy for the rest of my life, it would be Rolos. They're just the perfect little piece of heaven with the combination of chocolate and caramel. Now if they'd just come up with a version topped with sea salt, that would be ideal.
So this recipe combines two of my favorite things; Rolos and cheesecake. How could it not be fantastic?
I will say, however, that when I make this recipe again (and I know I will), I will probably just halve the recipe for the chocolate ganache. The full recipe results in a very, very thick layer of ganache and to me it overpowered the cheesecake part of the bar. But, if you're a chocoholic, then go ahead and make the recipe as it's written. Everyone's tastes are different. And another thing that probably goes without saying but these bars need to be stored in the fridge.

Rolo Cheesecake Bars

Servings: makes 12+ servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST:
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons of butter, melted
FOR THE CHEESECAKE:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup caramel sauce
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup mini Rolos
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
8 ounces dark chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup caramel sauce
Directions
FOR THE CRUST:
Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter and press them into the bottom of a greased 8 inch square baking pan.
Bake in a preheated 350F oven until lightly golden brown, about 8-10 minutes and set aside.
FOR THE CHEESECAKE:
Cream the cream cheese, mix in the caramel sauce followed by the sugar, the egg, the vanilla extract and finally the mini Rolos and pour the mixture into the baking pan.
Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the cheesecake is set, about 30-35 minutes, set aside and let cool.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, mixing until smooth and pour the chocolate over the cheesecake.
Place the caramel sauce in the corner of a small bag, cut a small hole in the corner and slowly squeeze out the caramel creating lines across the chocolate.
Use a toothpick to make lines in the caramel going in the other direction to create the wave like pattern.

Cheesy Chicken Chowder

Any time I fix a recipe and my husband comments "Gee, that was pretty good" I feel like I've just won a James Beard award and immediately think I have to immortalize the recipe so that I can make it again some day. And what I find most ironic about all this is it's not the recipes that I've slaved over for hours. It's the simple ones that I've put together in about 15 minutes. Such is the case with tonight's winner taken from one of my Taste of Home cookbooks called "The Big Book of Soup." It's Cheesy Chicken Chowder and it's a hearty combination of potatoes, chicken and cheese that's great on a cold winter's night. And the Amish white bread I baked this afternoon went perfectly with it. I'll have that recipe for you in a separate post.
 Ingredients
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
 2 cups diced cooked chicken
1. In a large stockpot bring the chicken broth to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender (about 15 minutes).
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and then add the flour and mix well. Gradually stir in the milk and cook over medium heat until slightly thickened. Stir in the cheese and cook until melted.
3. Add the cheese mixture and the cooked chicken to the broth and vegetables. Cook and stir over a low heat until heated through. Makes 6-8 servings.

Blueberry Banana Bread Mini-loaves

I've noticed that if I find a food that I like I will collect endless recipes in search of the "perfect" recipe. One summer I went through a potato salad phase and spent the summer months trying a different potato salad recipe every weekend. I never did find one that was the be-all, end-all of potato salads but I did learn that any potato salad is good potato salad (with the exception of a certain deli potato salad in an unnamed big chain grocery store).  Lately I've been on a banana bread kick. There's just something about banana bread that makes me feel like I'm snacking on something vaguely healthy (after all it does have bananas) even though I know most of my recipes include Paula Deen-like proportions of butter and sugar.  In fact one of my favorite recipes is from Paula's "Lady and Sons" cookbook.  Today, however, in keeping with my new years resolution to eat healthier I looked for a recipe that was one the lighter side and used yogurt in place of some of the butter and sugar. Most of the recipes I found used a combination of wheat flour and white flour and since I didn't have any wheat flour I had to discard those. Then I ran across a great recipe on a Website titled "The Bite House" by Bryan Picard  (http://thebitehouse.com). It's a twist on the traditional banana bread since it incorporates blueberries into the recipe and also satisfied my requirement since it calls for yogurt.  The recipe is very simple and only needed to bake for 20 minutes since its baked in individual mini loaf pans instead of a large loaf pan. I'm sure you can make it in a regular loaf pan and just increase your baking time to about 40 minutes (just keep an eye on it). I made a batch and put two of the cute little loaves into a plastic bag and snuck them into the movie theater in my purse so that my friend, fellow foodie and movie-goer Theresa could give me her opinion. Yes, I'm one of those people who sneaks food into the theater. When they start carrying great food like these little blueberry banana bread loaves I promise will stop.
 Ingredients 
 • 2 cups white flour
  • 1 cup ripe bananas (2)  
• 1 cup blueberries  
• 1 cup sugar  
• 1/2 cup oil 
 • 1/2 cup plain yogurt 
 • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt  
• 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda   
Preheat oven at 350F. Grease loaf pans. In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, bananas, yogurt, vanilla, eggs and salt. Add the flour a little bit at a time.  Mix thoroughly. Once incorporated, add the baking soda. Gently fold in the blueberries. Pour into molds. Cook for 20-25 minutes. 

Day After Thanksgiving Soup

This year's Thanksgiving festivities were decidedly low-key. In fact, I like to think of it as "the ghost of Thanksgivings to come" - Jack and I dressed in pajama pants and eating dinner on TV trays while watching the football game. The only thing missing to complete this nursing home scenario was the kindly caregiver periodically checking to make sure we hadn't choked on our turkey. 
Since it was just the two of us this year, I decided to forgo roasting an entire turkey and settled for a 3-pound turkey breast which I slathered a with a paste of olive oil, garlic, rosemary, sage and thyme and roasted for about three hours in a 350 degree oven. It was wonderfully moist and infused with all the flavors of Thanksgiving. Two different types of stuffing, a sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie and apple pie completed the meal. So okay, maybe the food wasn't low-key (since I seemed to spend just as much time in the kitchen as I typically do on Thanksgiving) but it was our approach to eating it that was different. 
Typical of Thanksgiving was the amount of leftovers and the yearly challenge of what to heck to do with them. Of course you've got the hot turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie and turkey casserole and some kind of soup. This year, I created a creamy soup that includes all the tastes of Thanksgiving in one big pot - my "Day After Thanksgiving Soup." It's a nice way to use up some of the mashed potatoes, gravy and turkey and the best part - it's quick to put together. After all, who wants to spend another three hours in the kitchen the day after Thanksgiving? 
Day After Thanksgiving Soup
Makes about 4 servings (2 cups per serving)
Ingredients
1 TBSP canola oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
4 strips of bacon, chopped
3 cups of chicken broth
3 cups of chopped turkey
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup of turkey gravy
Preparation
1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. 
2. Add onion, celery, bacon and cook until veggies are soft and bacon is cooked (about 6 minutes.
3. Add broth, gravy, turkey, potatoes and poultry seasoning. Stir with a whisk until blended and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.