Team Incredible

Today I dedicate my blog post to my friend, Alison Beier, and her son, Evan. Who also goes by Mr. Incredible, a moniker well earned, in my opinion.

Alison's little boy is 2 1/2 years old and today she is donating one of her kidneys to him. He has had numerous medical problems since he was born and doctors didn't think he'd live more than a few days. Time and again he has proved them wrong, earning him the Incredible name. If the transplant today is a success, things will really be looking up for Evan and his health.

I met Alison in high school and was delighted to reconnect with her over Facebook years later. I remember getting to know her in freshman honors biology, where we spent quite a lot of class splitting our sides laughing (and avoiding the scary fridge filled with ancient experiments directly behind our lab table). She re-enacted a scene from "Bosom Buddies" for one of the innumerable talent shows that all-girls' Catholic high school seem to put on that was an audience favorite and used to tell people, "My last name is 'Beer' with an 'i' in the middle." In fact, Alison was always smiling and laughing, even when things were rough. She was one of the most positive people I knew. I was sad when she had to leave our high school to finish her senior year elsewhere, but am glad that thanks to the internet, we've been able to get back in touch. She is still just as funny, positive, and full of life. She loves her son fiercely.

Now that I've been keeping up with her and her son's lives over the past year or two, I never cease to be inspired by how much love and hope there is in her family, even in the face of sometimes extremely daunting odds. I am not the praying type, but today (and for many days recently) I've been sending her and Evan and her entire family positive, healing vibes and have been thinking about them a lot. I and countless other supporters of Team Incredible have been plastering Facebook and the internet with messages about their story and inspiring others. It's such a small world that when another high school classmate posted about today's surgery in her status update, one of her friends said, "Hey, we're praying for a little boy having a kidney transplant tomorrow at the school where I work. I wonder if it's the same one?" It is. She had never met Alison but someone at her school had spread the word. It amazes me how much this one boy's story has touched so many people.

I invite you to keep Alison, Evan, and their family in your hearts, thoughts, prayers--however it is that you roll--today and for the next few days. To learn more about Evan and see photos of this remarkable, adorable little boy, check out his website: Prayers for Evan.

Adventures in Apple Picking: Apple Crumble

I can't believe November is upon us! October passed way too quickly for my liking, but I was fortunate to squeeze in an October day of apple picking at Boston Hill Farm with my friends Nicole and Justina. It was a glorious fall afternoon, perfect temperature, bright and sunny, and meant for apples.

Neither Nicole nor Justina had ever gone apple picking when they were growing up, an egregious misfortune that I wanted to remedy. I grew up going apple picking, sometimes several times in one season. My father has an apple obsession that's almost incomprehensible. He takes his apple picking very seriously, overfilling the house with many, many pounds of apples. I too felt the pull to pick this fall. I guess some things are genetic!

So what does one do when she comes home with 12 pounds of apples? Bake! :) I picked a few Macoun apples, but the majority of my bag was lovely ginger gold apples. They're a yellow-green with a pink blush on them and have a wonderful, creamy texture. They are a nice balance of tart and sweet. They're fantastic to just munch on, but everyone knows the addition of butter and sugar makes everything better.

I decided to use a few ginger gold apples in a nice apple crumble (interesting factoid: an apple crisp is basically the same thing as an apple crumble except that the topping on a crisp is a finer, breadcrumb texture and a crumble's topping is chunkier). These apples brown very slowly after you cut them, so even though it was a couple of minutes between the time I finished chopping them and the time I finished combining my ingredients, they hadn't changed color. This recipe would work well with any baking apple. I highly recommend it! It's a simple, unfussy dessert that is extremely hearty and delicious. We ate our warm out of the oven with a dollop of yummy vanilla Greek yogurt. After the leftovers cooled in the pan, we wrapped it in foil and stashed it in the fridge. Just portion out a serving and reheat in the microwave. Yum!

Super Simple Apple Crumble

• 6 ginger gold (or other baking) apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a square baking pan (8x8 or 9x9, whatever you've got).

Combine all the ingredients except for the apples and the butter in a large zip-top plastic bag, seal, and shake to combine. Cut the butter into small bits and add to the bag. Reseal the bag and knead the butter bits into the dry ingredients until the mixture holds together.

Heap the apples into the prepared pan. Crumble the topping all over the apples.

Bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes until the crumble is golden brown and the juices are bubbly. Or, if you're like me and you made enough topping to completely cover your dessert so you can't see the apples, you'll know it's ready when your house starts to smell amaaaaaazing. Carefully scoop out and enjoy the bliss.

 

Stay tuned. My next adventure in apple use is going to be an apple cake! 

The (edible) joys of Pennsylvania

Ah, vacation. I admit that I love it, but has definitely been a little weird not to be cooking all the time. I feel almost... uneasy not having my Bittman bible. I was tempted to try to wedge it into my suitcase, but you try cramming a 1,000-plus page cookbook into an already overflowing suitcase. I did just make some oatmeal-esque muffins (using a 5-grain blend), so that felt good.

But I haven't been neglecting food entirely; I have been eating it with gusto because Philly is a good place for (bad-for-you) food. First off, cheesesteaks. Duh. Of course. It had been a while since I'd had a scrumptious, greasy, Whiz-covered classic, so my friend Kris graciously accompanied me on a chilly evening to Pat's on 9th and Passyunk (points if you can pronounce that correctly) and we chowed down on steaks. Oh heaven on a roll. The trick to eating a cheesesteak covered in Cheez Whiz is to eat fast: as the hot, melty cheese product cools, it starts to congeal, and it makes the gobs of Whiz-coated thin-sliced meat harder to chew. And let's face it: it's so delicious, how could you NOT cram it down your throat post-haste? I must note here that should you ever travel to Philadelphia, DO NOT eat a cheesesteak at Geno's, which is across the street from Pat's. Just don't. Their steaks suck AND the owner is a bigot who (rightly) got a lot of flak for posting a sign a couple of years ago that said: "This is America. When ordering, speak English." Because the fact that his restaurant is located in an immigrant neighborhood AND the fact that you don't really speak English when ordering a cheeseteak (asking for "Whiz wit" barely constitutes the queen's English) sort of escaped him. Ignorant bastard.

Another joy of being in Pennsylvania is Tastykakes. Oh Tastykakes, how I love thee. Let me count the ways. 1: Butterscotch Krimpets. 2: Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes. 3: Koffee Kake Cupcakes. 4: Well.... you get the idea. Peruse their website for a full list. But the real joy of Tastykakes on this visit, for me, is that among some of their limited-edition autumnal flavors (ginger spice cookie bars, spice cake Krimpets) I found the fabled PANCAKE KRIMPETS.

Pancake Krimpets! OMG! These are a true joy. A traditional Krimpet consists of a sponge cake with a cream filling and a lovely butterscotch frosting. These are sponge cakes filled with butter cream and topped with maple syrup frosting. They taste like a pancake, in Krimpet form. Oh, the joy! My friend Brie had told me about these a while ago, saying she had seen them in stores a couple of years ago, and ever since she told me about them, I've been (disappointingly) on the look-out for them. I had nearly given up hope of ever getting to try these glorious mythical concoctions when alas! There they were in my local Giant supermarket. Hurrah! They have not disappointed. If you're in PA, make haste to a supermarket and get your paws on them before they disappear. Or order them from the Tastykake website. I plan to stock up on them for the trip back to Boston.

Krimpets... I think---no, I know---I love you!




On Saturday, I'm going to a local Indian buffet with Brie for lunch. This place is excellent so I'm sure I'll have lots to say after we eat there. And of course, there's Wawa, which apparently has pumpkin spice cappucino that I just gotta try.

Also, my parents DON'T have cable, so I have to wait until (gasp) Sunday (!!!) to catch up on Top Chef. So shhh! Don't breathe a word of what happens!! Vacation does have its downsides, I suppose.

News that isn't really news

For some reason, there was NO Top Chef on last night. Boo! I guess we'll have to wait in suspense another week. Blargh. 

A few mornings ago, while sleepily having coffee and oatmeal in front of CNN and trying to wake up enough to get myself on the bus to work, I caught a factoid that interested me (and also didn't surprise me). CNN had taken some poll where they asked Americans how they were faring with the rotten economy. Over half of the respondents had said that the one luxury they didn't want to give up on was going out to eat.

Like I mentioned, I find this interesting and also not surprising, because I feel the same way. I haven't felt the economic meltdown quite so badly, and I'm still getting by, but I do feel the pressure to remain careful about my finances (though this has been ingrained in me since I was a tot by my frugal parents). I'm trying not to make frivolous purchases: I haven't bought loads of new clothes with the changing of the seasons, I've kept personal product purchases (a weakness of mine) at a minimum, and instead of buying books, I go to the library (well, except for cookbooks). But the one thing I haven't really cut back on is food, both in terms of groceries and restaurants.

What is it about eating out and eating well that is so hard for people to give up? Is it the luxury of having one's food prepared? Trying new things? Is it laziness? Or is it the social aspect? Something leads me to believe that this last one might have a lot to do with it. Eating is such a social experience. Getting together with others to share a meal is one of life's finest pleasures, at least that's how it seems to me. I'd gladly give up going to the movies, getting new books and clothes, and taking luxurious trips if it meant being able to have that many more meals out with friends. I'm sure that many more people are now cooking at home too, because of the economy, but I think the fact that people continue going out to eat regularly proves that it's too important of a social experience for us to give up on entirely. Perhaps it stems from the fact that eating is one activity all people must do and that almost all people enjoy, so it's the one thing that each of us has in common with all of our friends.

Cheesecake, or, What a difference a bath makes

Ah, cheesecake! That cheesiest of desserts! I have always loved cheesecake, because it combines two of my favorite foods (cheese and cake) and because there are so many variations on it. One of my favorites is the banana caramel fried cheesecake that comes and goes (and I boo when it goes) from the menu at the Great American Diner in BucksCo. (Note: As of this writing, it's back on the menu. Phew! The giant chocolate tostada sundae, which Brie and I once nearly demolished all of, is sadly no longer on the menu.)

It's easy to find places offering cheesecake, but hard to find places offering exceptional cheesecake. The Cheesecake Factory, for instance, despite its name, offers what I think are mediocre cheesecakes; I had one once and found the cheese filling to be a little gummy. And herein lies the downfall of the cheesecake: the texture of the filling. No matter how delightful the flavor combinations might be, if the filling isn't melt-in-your-mouth creamy-soft, it's just not a perfect cheesecake.

I have attempted cheesecakes before, in bygone years. One that particularly stands out is one I made with a pecan pumpkin butter that was mixed into the filling, which was good, but not exceptional. And I must ashamedly admit that once or twice I was guilty of the buy the Philadelphia Cream Cheese cheesecake filling in a tub and fill a pre-made graham cracker crust. I hang my head in shame still. Seeing as how this is one of my favorite desserts, I thought it was high time that I attempt it again, but the right way this time. It is good to know how to make a delectable homemade version of your favorite dessert. And as Jeremy and I had been invited over to Derrick's for dinner with him and Chris and I was asked to bring dessert, the opportunity presented itself.

I'd originally thought of perhaps attempting a stone fruit cobbler or crisp or pie or tart, but nixed the idea after some thought. Dinner on Friday only a couple of hours after getting home from a day in the office didn't afford me the time to make something day-of, so I needed to make something that would keep overnight, but I am also cursed with a kitchen devoid in counter space, so I couldn't really roll out a respectable crust. While flipping through my basic kitchen primer bible (Bitty's How to Cook Everything), I found a recipe for a lemon cheesecake. It required 3 blocks of cream cheese, 4 eggs, a topping made of sour cream, and a bath. I was intrigued. And determined. This was the first homemade dinner at Derrick's new(ish) place, and by god if I wasn't determined to impress.

Thursday afternoon, Jeremy got out of work early and bought the ingredients we needed and I found a lovely Rubbermaid cake holder at Tags during my lunch hour, so we were ready to go. Almost. It took me FOREVER to get home due to a series of disasters with the bus, so it was nearly 7 pm when we began baking--a full hour after I'd imagined we'd be underway. Bah!

We got the crust underway, doubling Bitty's recipe as instructed (thank the baby Jesus for pre-crumbled graham cracker crumbs, an innovation that saved us lots of time) and popping the crust into the oven. It's rather fun to press a crumb crust into a buttery springform pan, which sort of confirms my suspicion that people like to cook and bake as much as they do because it's an adult-sanctified form of making a mess (and also the end results are deliciously edible). Jeremy was immensely helpful, zesting and juicing the lemon (using my enamelled lemon press, which is fab!) and helping me to measure and dole out ingredients. I separated the 4 eggs (I cheated and used an egg separator), and despite the cream cheese being a little too soft, as it had been sitting out and waiting for me to use it and I was delayed in getting to it because of my bus woes, the batter making went relatively smoothly.

Once the filling was poured into the lovely, browned, crumbly crust, the real challenge began. Bitty instructs us to bake the cheesecake for an hour in a warm water bath, meaning that one puts the springform pan into a large roasting pan of warm water. The springform pan is heavy, even heavier when full of dense cake batter, and the whole thing is made heavier still when placed in a pan full of water. We don't own a metal roasting pan, so we used one of those foil ones you can buy in the market, which is much lighter, but which is still rather cumbersome when full of water and cake. Let's just say I'm grateful for Jeremy and his work-developed guns, which safely got the whole thing into and then out of the oven.

When the cake and accoutrements came out of the oven, I ladeled the hot water out of the pan into a bowl to make it easier to remove the cake and we set to cool briefly while I whipped up the topping: a container of sour cream with vanilla and a little sugar. Sounds odd but it's delicious! After topping the cake with a layer of it, it goes back in the oven for a bit, then you turn off the oven, let it sit there for a half hour, then take it out to cool more before plastic-wrapping the top and putting it in the fridge. The entire thing took us till about 10:30, and I was pooped and MOST ready for bed by then.

We hit a slight snafu Friday before the party, as I had planned to artfully embed some fresh raspberries in the cream topping (my idea, but I think Bitty would find it a nice touch), but it was no longer creamy (having sat in the fridge overnight), but thankfully my Cuban ingenuity kicked in (thanks, Mom!) and I remembered that we had a container with some leftover sour cream topping in it. I spread a thin layer over the top of the cake and was able to add my raspberries. We kept the cake in the springform to protect it during transport to Derrick's and were on our way.

Dinner at Derrick's was fab. We had some yummy crusty bread with manchego cheese and serrano ham, there was foie gras (I'm not a fan; I'd rather get my fat from my ham), and a tasty simple salad with beans, tomatoes, and super salami. Then we stuffed ourselves with my cheesecake.

I have to say, it was rather astounding. The filling was just vaguely hinted with lemon, not overly sweet nor sour, the texture was firm yet silky, like a good custard, and the sour cream topping was a perfect complement. The crust had set nicely and was buttery delicious. And the raspberries on top went really well with it. It was an awesome ending to the meal. (And considering that dinner had been pleasantly light, though filling, it didn't make anyone feel that bloated over-fullness that comes from having a heavy meal with a dense, rich dessert.) I really think that what made this cake so special was following Mark Bittman's advice and baking the cheesecake in the pan, no matter how odious or hard it may have seemed to do so. It cooked evenly and kept the texture just right.

So. My first serious attempt at cheesecake was a success, and I am excited to try the recipe again for other friends. And to go eat the leftovers in my fridge. There is something so gratifying about making something with time and care. You really can taste the difference, and it makes you feel proud about the effort you put into it.