Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr16

Fresh pasta in the quick

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What else do you do when you’ve got a hankering for a pasta salad and not a single noodle in the house? Well, make your own, of course.

I’ve been interested in making pasta noodles for a while now but thought I needed some fancy flour, a special rolling pin, and a pasta machine. While that still might be true for some recipes, and a nice rolling pin would be an added bonus, I did come across a super simple recipe for a basic noodle that you can make by hand with ingredients you’ve probably got in the house.   This recipe yields a baseball-size amount of dough so feel free to double or triple.

Time commitment: 1 hour      Active time:  5 -15 minutes depending on how you cut the noodles

Basic recipe:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons water (+/- this amount based on consistency of dough, you don’t want it too dry, but definitely not wet)

Directions:

  1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl
  2. Add egg into the center of dry ingredients
  3. Mix well. Add in water one tablespoon at a time
  4. Dough should be very stiff
  5. Knead dough for 3-5 minutes
  6. Let dough rest for 30 minutes (allows the gluten to relax)
  7. Roll out dough to desired consistency
  8. Cut into shape (a pizza cutter works well)
  9. Pasta can either be dried out and stored or cooked immediately. If cooking immediately, let it dry on the counter for a few minutes while the water comes to a full boil. Pasta will be cooked in approx. 15 minutes.

Adjust the salt quantity and add in some olive oil or other yummies based on your preferences. This basic pasta will adjust beautifully.

Apr13

Three cheese baked polenta **Vegetarian**

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This is one of those fabulous dishes that fills everyone up, and in a house full of boys that is a bonus. You’ve got parmesan infused polenta layered with three fabulous cheeses and topped with more parmesan and baked to perfection — it is a fantastic twist on lasagna. And if that isn’t tempting enough, this recipe leaves you with plenty of remaining mascarpone cheese sitting in the fridge just screaming to be made into a tiramisu. (*hint hint*)

This is a very dense entree so I recommend serving it with a nice light salad with a vinaigrette dressing to balance things out a bit.

Time commitment: 2 hrs, 20 minutes  Active time: 20 minutes

Recipe:

Polenta:

2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock

2 cups water

2 cups polenta (corn meal)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (the stinkier the better)

Cheese filling:

at least 3 1/2 oz. havarti cheese – sliced

at least 3 1/2 oz. mascarpone cheese 3 1/2 oz.

at least 3 1/2 oz. your preference of crumbled stinky cheese (we use feta, but blue cheese works well)

at least 3 1/2 oz. butter – sliced thinly

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

  1. Brush a loaf pan with oil. Set aside
  2. Heat the vegetable stock and water in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat until it boils.
  3. Add in the polenta and stir continuously (sorry about all that stirring but its got to be done) until *very* thick, approx. ten minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese.
  5. Spread into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth out the surface. You might want to give it a few taps on the counter to get the air pockets out.
  6. Chill for at least two hours.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350°
  8. Brush an oven-safe dish with oil.
  9. Cut the chilled polenta into thin slices – approx. 30
  10. Place a layer of polenta slices to form a base (you start with a layer of polenta and end with a layer of polenta)
  11. Top with your cheeses and butter slices.
  12. Continue layering your polenta and cheeses/butter. Finish with a layer of polenta.
  13. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup parmesan cheese along the top layer.
  14. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven, or until a lovely golden crust forms. Serve immediately.

 

Apr12

What do you mean that tree makes too much shade?

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From friendsoftrees.org

We rent our house so that means that our control over the structure and property is limited (at best). Recently the owner of the house started trimming trees along the back of the property. We were bummed because those trees provided a bit of privacy from the neighboring buildings but we weren’t torn up over it and assumed that there were reasons for the trimming. Then one afternoon we were looking out of the windows to see what was going on in the back yard and just then we all saw the owner cutting down AN ENTIRE TREE. A green one. A healthy one. A gorgeous amazing one. What the heezy??!!?

One of my sons went over to ask why he was cutting down the tree. The response “because these ones are getting too overgrown and this one makes too much shade and drops sap.” — Since when is shade from a tree a bad thing, especially in the back of a property? We were crushed (I was dumbfounded) but what was done was done. Unfortunately the bad news didn’t stop there. The owner also told my son that he was going to cut two more trees down on the property, however these two are much closer to the house and we adore them. I frequently will take a book out back and sit in the shade of the tallest of the two and simply enjoy the yard and the blooming tree above me. I never really thought of myself as a treehugger but the thought of that tree getting cut down brought tears to my eyes and had me a bit outraged.

So here we are, short three trees and a number of limbs. Luckily the tall one has yet to be sacrificed (I wonder if I should chain myself to it? lol). I’m hoping the owner has changed his mind. Unfortunately many of the limbs and branches that two of my boys use to climb the evergreen in the back have been cut off so it doesn’t look like their reading hideout is going to be accessible any longer. Sadness.

Since it looks like we’ve got ourselves a bit of a reprieve for the next day or so due to weather, I’m going to send the owner an email requesting (read: begging) that they keep our favorite tree. I’ll use all my powers of persuasion and attach the image from the post as a friendly reminder that trees are cool for a number of reasons. <Keeping my fingers crossed>

Apr11

LEGOs and Lunabotics

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Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Our “brilliant” decision to avoid the crowds during the hands-on portion of our last Virginia Tech Kids’ University program landed us in a fantastic Lunabotics program. Picture this: 100 kids plus their parents squeezing their way between double doors into the exhibit hall to explore the dozens of tables set-up to enhance the science fun. Most parents are finding it difficult to convince their kids to spread out and not crowd in front of the first few tables in eyesight. We saw the opportunity and quickly proceeded to the back of the hall. There we found very cool water property experiments and what…? Robots?!? I’m sorry folks, but counting the number of water droplets that the surface of a penny can hold (one kid got twelve, btw) has got nothing on robots.

Over at the table there was a sign “Lubanotics” — um, okay, I’m thinking I missed a day of science somewhere along the lines because aside from the -otics I have no idea what this exhibit is showing the kids. Upon further examination one of the presenters had taken a pencil and corrected the sign to read Lunabotics. Ah hah! Now I’ve got it. Cool. Moon robots.  So here we’ve got a couple of Virginia Tech students explaining how cool robots are to a bunch of 3rd – 5th graders. Simple, right? Yes, because robots are cool. Robots on the moon are even cooler. A program sponsored by NASA to design mining robots to go to the moon is, by far, the coolest.

NASA’s Third Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition is a university-level competition designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). NASA will directly benefit from the competition by encouraging the development of innovative lunar excavation concepts from universities which may result in clever ideas and solutions which could be applied to an actual lunar excavation device or payload. 

For this purpose, the Virginia Tech – Lunabotics team has created a program to inspire and educate elementary school students about robotics, engineering, and lunar activities by engaging the students in hands-on activities.  

Students will design, build, and test a lunabot which will be made of LEGOs. This will help the students use their imagination and expose them to skills that will help them in the fields of STEM. 

The best part, because we went to the back of the exhibit hall first we were able to get a guaranteed spot in the first come – first serve program that is capped at 50 students. Oh wait, the best best part — It’s free. How cool is that?

In our excitement we checked out bunches of books on robotics and lunabotics (surprisingly few on that specific topic), got some TED Talks lined up, and will be doing lots and lots of LEGO building. Going to be so much fun.

Apr6

Versatile sweet white bread

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This recipe had me convinced that I had finally solved the ingredient mystery of those highly-addictive Hawaiian King Rolls. Soft, delicious, sweet, perfection. And imagine, I have (well, had) two fresh loaves of it. Bliss.

I made the bread according to the recipe below but the flavor of this bread lends itself perfectly to be tweaked any way you want. In the future I will swap out two cups of the bread flour for two cups of whole wheat flour and fully intend to use this recipe as a base for some cinnamon raisin breakfast bread.

Time commitment:  2hrs. 20 min.   Active time: 20 minutes

15 minutes for steps 1-5
1 hour of rise
5 minutes for step 6
30 minutes of additional rise
30 minutes of baking

Super simple recipe:

2 cups warm water (110°F)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast (equivalent of two packages)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 olive oil (light tasting) or vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour

Directions:

  1. In a LARGE bowl (you will be adding in 6 cups of flour into this bowl), dissolve the sugar in the warm water. (Have the temp set a bit above the 110° because the mixing in of the sugar will decrease the temp)
  2. Stir in yeast and allow it to proof (creamy foam layer along the top)
  3. Mix in the salt and oil in the water/yeast mixture (it may or may not combine completely, no worries, just give it a really good mix)
  4. Add in the flour one cup at a time. Knead until smooth.
  5. Place in a well-oiled bowl, turn to coat. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise until doubled in a warm’ish draft-free area. (approx. 1 hr)
  6. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes to work out those air pockets. Divide the dough in half. Shape into loaves and place in two well-oiled loaf pans. Cover with the damp towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes (dough should rise to above the level of the pans).
  7. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

~M