Walked over to Williamsburg with Mil to hang out with MAP, cooked in the afternoon and J came over in the late afternoon for dinner and play with the little ones. Didn't eat enough in the first half of the day, ate a bit too much in the second half.
TODAY'S COOKING
Mushroom Risotto: Got the ol' recipe cards from c-school out. Rehydrated a pack of porcinis in 5 cups of water, along with some portabella stems and bay leaves, reserved the liquid to cook the risotto. Minced a pack of portabellas and the porcinis in the food processor, sauteed with a little olive oil until dry, held aside. Sauteed 3 minced shallots in olive oil until soft, added a few cloves of minced garlic for a minute, added 1.5 cups of arborio rice to coat. Tossed in 1/2 cup of white wine, cooked a sec. Then stirred in a ladel of the mushroom stock one at a time and constantly stirred the rice until all 5 cups were absorbed. Finished with a 1/4 cup of nice sherry, 3 tbsp of marscapone, a half cup of parm and tablespoon of cold butter, a big pinch of minced parsley, some salt.
I considered using a brown arborio rice, but every thing said while healthier, it is not good for risotto, doesn't exude the starch for the right creaminess. Hey, it's Saturday!
AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8am, corn chex & organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 9:30am, darjeeling tea, chocolate au pain, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1pm, spinach salad with carrot ginger dressing & slivered almonds, a few slices of chorizo sausage, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Visited Marlow & Daughters on the walk with MAP, picked up a few interesting dry sausages -- figure it'll add some excitement to my regular salad intake.
PM SNACK: 2:45pm, whole wheat ritz and nutella, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, mushroom risotto, roasted brussel sprouts, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 3/5
The afternoon snack kinda destroyed my appetite. Shoulda had more for lunch.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, a cup of mushroom risotto, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, leftover hamburger, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Saturday, March 3
Friday, March 2
McNoah's
Woke up tired. Got laundry done, a walk to Wholefoods. Spent an hour at the playroom with the chillun' and grandma. Between the bagels in the morning and prepping potatoes and meat in the afternoon, a good cooking day, though not a great eating day. I intended to eat spinach in the afternoon, but too busy, and the sushi tray from Wholefoods filled me up.
One good thing about the high-fat, high-calorie dinner is that I didn't desire any snacks after, and I was able to get to bed by 9pm without much of struggle.
TODAY'S COOKING
Pumpernickel Bagels: The dough didn't rise much in the fridge, but it did rise maybe by 50%. I divided the dough into 12 4oz portions, rolled and formed into circles. Laid them out on sheet pans, and let them sit in the warm kitchen for a second rise. A very distinct smell of alcohol, which is good, the yeast is eating and peeing and pooing in the dough, hopefully it would puff up nicely.
They didn't puff much, and I was left with rather large wholes surrounded by pretzel-like bagels. It reminded me of some dense German wholegrain bread
Burgers n' fries: Instead of ordering in something unhealthy when momma-in-law is over, decided to cook something unhealthy. Couldn't bother finding my c-school recipe for proper fries, so just followed this, close enough. Pound of 85% lean chop meat, grated half an onion into it, a few dashes of Worcestershire, salt & pepper, let come to room temp before frying in butter.
Fries came out pretty good, I cut them a little thicker than I thought, might have been a cross between a string cut and a steak cut, more soft insides to crisper, browner outside. Took great satisfaction in deep-frying Betsy's veggie burger, rather than the usual zap in the micro.
AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5m
LUNCH: 12:30pm, brown rice nori rolls with tuna and salmon, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, 2 burgers, fries, a little ginger ale, pint of grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Holy crap, my soda is a great after-dinner apertivo / palate cleanser after such a gut-busting heavy meal.
One good thing about the high-fat, high-calorie dinner is that I didn't desire any snacks after, and I was able to get to bed by 9pm without much of struggle.
TODAY'S COOKING
Pumpernickel Bagels: The dough didn't rise much in the fridge, but it did rise maybe by 50%. I divided the dough into 12 4oz portions, rolled and formed into circles. Laid them out on sheet pans, and let them sit in the warm kitchen for a second rise. A very distinct smell of alcohol, which is good, the yeast is eating and peeing and pooing in the dough, hopefully it would puff up nicely.
They didn't puff much, and I was left with rather large wholes surrounded by pretzel-like bagels. It reminded me of some dense German wholegrain bread
Burgers n' fries: Instead of ordering in something unhealthy when momma-in-law is over, decided to cook something unhealthy. Couldn't bother finding my c-school recipe for proper fries, so just followed this, close enough. Pound of 85% lean chop meat, grated half an onion into it, a few dashes of Worcestershire, salt & pepper, let come to room temp before frying in butter.
Fries came out pretty good, I cut them a little thicker than I thought, might have been a cross between a string cut and a steak cut, more soft insides to crisper, browner outside. Took great satisfaction in deep-frying Betsy's veggie burger, rather than the usual zap in the micro.
AM SNACK: 8:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 9:15am, hardcore oatmeal, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 11:30am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5m
LUNCH: 12:30pm, brown rice nori rolls with tuna and salmon, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, 2 burgers, fries, a little ginger ale, pint of grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Holy crap, my soda is a great after-dinner apertivo / palate cleanser after such a gut-busting heavy meal.
Thursday, March 1
Pump der nickel, bagel!
226.8-->228.2--->228.0
Not a significant change, easily attributed to my light eating the last few days due to the kidney stone. Still, I do feel stronger and my muscles a little more defined under my layer of blubber.
A hard night, as Edie has some gastric distress waking her up all night long. I was a bit restless myself, got to bed 1amish and woke up every few hours to feed Milli Mil.
Finished the course of antibiotics last night, so today will be my first drug-free day since Monday. Lifted weights this morning, and despite a sore back, it did not effect the activity -- the soreness is kidney-related, not muscle related. On the attempted pull-ups, I moved maybe a couple of inches, which is a couple of inches more than I could when I started.
Could not fall asleep until 2:30ish, I think the lack of ibuprofin made my achy back stick out in my mind a bit more.
TODAY'S COOKING
Pumpernickel Bagel Dough: What should a pumpernickel bagel taste like? After reading 5 or 6 recipes running the gamut, I'm still not sure but guess that rye and molasses should be in there. Annoyed by the breakfast bagel, pulled out some ingredients then found a recipe that matched what I had on hand. I substituted equal parts whole rye flour and whole wheat flour for the three-flour mix they recommend, and added salt to the flours rather than the wet. Upon kneading in the machine, found it waaaaay too wet and added a cup of whole wheat flour. Still seemed wet but now it pulled away from the walls of the bowl, so I let it go for 15 minutes, knowing as the grains hydrated deeper, the dough would become wetter and looser -- something I've learned the hard way and killed a stand mixer or two while making bagels. Still too wet, added a cup of whole grain rye and let it go for another 10. (I wish this stupid recipe used liquid measures instead of dry.) Tossed in a tablespoon of caraway seeds during kneading -- it just smells like the pumpernickel bagels I remember as a kid, and I'd rather have them stud the bagel rather than coat the top.
The recipe calls for a quick 1 hour rise to double, but instead I stored the dough in the bowl with a loose damp towel on top in the fridge. Gonna let it go until tomorrow and see what happens. With pizza dough (another high-gluten, tough and chewy bread product), a slow cold rise allows the fermentation to really give a lot of flavor to the final product.) I guess I'll be baking these off tomorrow.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Really tasting the bagel, it's....not that great. It fills me up, but it's not pumpernickelly enough, and I assume they're not using whole grains in it.
PM SNACK: 12:45pm, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2:30pm, falafel platter, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6:45pm, baby carrots with carrot dressing, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:15pm, 2 broc-cheddar knishes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, chocolate chips & almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 2am, 6 whole grain chicken nuggets, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Not a significant change, easily attributed to my light eating the last few days due to the kidney stone. Still, I do feel stronger and my muscles a little more defined under my layer of blubber.
A hard night, as Edie has some gastric distress waking her up all night long. I was a bit restless myself, got to bed 1amish and woke up every few hours to feed Milli Mil.
Finished the course of antibiotics last night, so today will be my first drug-free day since Monday. Lifted weights this morning, and despite a sore back, it did not effect the activity -- the soreness is kidney-related, not muscle related. On the attempted pull-ups, I moved maybe a couple of inches, which is a couple of inches more than I could when I started.
Could not fall asleep until 2:30ish, I think the lack of ibuprofin made my achy back stick out in my mind a bit more.
TODAY'S COOKING
Pumpernickel Bagel Dough: What should a pumpernickel bagel taste like? After reading 5 or 6 recipes running the gamut, I'm still not sure but guess that rye and molasses should be in there. Annoyed by the breakfast bagel, pulled out some ingredients then found a recipe that matched what I had on hand. I substituted equal parts whole rye flour and whole wheat flour for the three-flour mix they recommend, and added salt to the flours rather than the wet. Upon kneading in the machine, found it waaaaay too wet and added a cup of whole wheat flour. Still seemed wet but now it pulled away from the walls of the bowl, so I let it go for 15 minutes, knowing as the grains hydrated deeper, the dough would become wetter and looser -- something I've learned the hard way and killed a stand mixer or two while making bagels. Still too wet, added a cup of whole grain rye and let it go for another 10. (I wish this stupid recipe used liquid measures instead of dry.) Tossed in a tablespoon of caraway seeds during kneading -- it just smells like the pumpernickel bagels I remember as a kid, and I'd rather have them stud the bagel rather than coat the top.
The recipe calls for a quick 1 hour rise to double, but instead I stored the dough in the bowl with a loose damp towel on top in the fridge. Gonna let it go until tomorrow and see what happens. With pizza dough (another high-gluten, tough and chewy bread product), a slow cold rise allows the fermentation to really give a lot of flavor to the final product.) I guess I'll be baking these off tomorrow.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:15am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Really tasting the bagel, it's....not that great. It fills me up, but it's not pumpernickelly enough, and I assume they're not using whole grains in it.
PM SNACK: 12:45pm, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 2:30pm, falafel platter, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 6:45pm, baby carrots with carrot dressing, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:15pm, 2 broc-cheddar knishes, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, chocolate chips & almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 2am, 6 whole grain chicken nuggets, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wednesday, February 29
Gobble 'em up!
Woke up with a sore spot where my right kidney, a slight headache, and a dehydrated cotton mouth (though I drank 3 quarts of water yesterday), but not in pain. Glad I skipped the oxy last night, don't wanna be hooked on no hillbilly heroin...and I want those pills on hand in case I do have another bout! Gobble 'em up, there all gone!
Rough night, as Edie didn't feel like eating during the day, but found her appetite several times in the middle of the night. I was up around 5:45, half awake feeding Mil, fortunately B came in at some point and let me sleep for another 1.5 hours.
B went back to work, Edie is in school, today try to get back to normal. Before the sitter came at one, just focused on chores, the laundry & the litter, making breakfast, looking after Milli Mil. Laid on the couch for most of the rest of the day. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be returning to full strength.
AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Well, I blended this one longer than the last, and the hard nits have reappeared, oh well. Made a double batch so I could freeze up some "noisey ice cream" for Edles.
LUNCH: noon, small slice of cold pizza, baby spinach with slivered almonds & carrot dressing, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1:15pm, popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:15pm, whole wheat rotelle with vegetables & wine, pint of grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had some veg that I bought to make lentils, but the recent health scare put a crimp on my cooking. Softened a minced onions, cooked down a box of sliced criminis, added 3 cloves of minced garlic and a couple of cups of frozen chopped spinach. Cooked it down for a few minutes, added dry oregano and basil, a squirt of Worcestershire, a squirt of sirracha and then a couple cups of white wine, cooked down until it was wet, not soupy. Turned off heat, salted to taste and slapped a cold pat of butter on and stirred it around. It was good, the mushroom, wine and spicy sirracha dominated the flavors, but the onion and dried spices did a nice back ground note.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, chocolate chips & almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Rough night, as Edie didn't feel like eating during the day, but found her appetite several times in the middle of the night. I was up around 5:45, half awake feeding Mil, fortunately B came in at some point and let me sleep for another 1.5 hours.
B went back to work, Edie is in school, today try to get back to normal. Before the sitter came at one, just focused on chores, the laundry & the litter, making breakfast, looking after Milli Mil. Laid on the couch for most of the rest of the day. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be returning to full strength.
AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Well, I blended this one longer than the last, and the hard nits have reappeared, oh well. Made a double batch so I could freeze up some "noisey ice cream" for Edles.
LUNCH: noon, small slice of cold pizza, baby spinach with slivered almonds & carrot dressing, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1:15pm, popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:15pm, whole wheat rotelle with vegetables & wine, pint of grenadine soda, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had some veg that I bought to make lentils, but the recent health scare put a crimp on my cooking. Softened a minced onions, cooked down a box of sliced criminis, added 3 cloves of minced garlic and a couple of cups of frozen chopped spinach. Cooked it down for a few minutes, added dry oregano and basil, a squirt of Worcestershire, a squirt of sirracha and then a couple cups of white wine, cooked down until it was wet, not soupy. Turned off heat, salted to taste and slapped a cold pat of butter on and stirred it around. It was good, the mushroom, wine and spicy sirracha dominated the flavors, but the onion and dried spices did a nice back ground note.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, chocolate chips & almonds, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tuesday, February 28
On the couch
Woke up at 4:45am to go to the bathroom, felt fine. Woke again an hour later with the pain enough to rouse me, so I took the pain killers. That was almost 9 hours without popping a pill, they are supposed to be good for 6 to 8 hours. Got a baby sitter, spent the day on the couch waiting for what's next, hitting the pills around 1pm
Cancelled today's class, as I just don't know what to expect. Made an appt with a specialist one week from Friday, and spoke to my generalist about whats going on. Unless I catch the stone when it comes out, we're probably not going to know what caused this, or the likelihood of a recurrence. If we know what it's made out of, I can perhaps change my diet or habits. For now, after today, I'm gonna go back to how I was eating -- I just don't think I'm getting THAT much calcium from baby spinach.
Took an ibuprofin before bed but skipped the oxy, hoped I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night in agony....
AM SNACK: 5:45am, banana and a bunch of pills
BREAKFAST: 10am, small amount of hardcore oatmeal, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
LUNCH: noon, ham & swiss on whole grain bread, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:15pm, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, cheeseless eggplant hero, small number of fries, dairy-free tofutti ice cream cone, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny, I used to think this was a healthy meal -- hey, it's meatless! Now all I see is fried breading, not enough vegetables, fiber-free white bread and a total lack of nutritional value. Until a doc says otherwise about my stones, gonna go lighter on dairy.
EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, another tofutti ice cream cone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cancelled today's class, as I just don't know what to expect. Made an appt with a specialist one week from Friday, and spoke to my generalist about whats going on. Unless I catch the stone when it comes out, we're probably not going to know what caused this, or the likelihood of a recurrence. If we know what it's made out of, I can perhaps change my diet or habits. For now, after today, I'm gonna go back to how I was eating -- I just don't think I'm getting THAT much calcium from baby spinach.
Took an ibuprofin before bed but skipped the oxy, hoped I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night in agony....
AM SNACK: 5:45am, banana and a bunch of pills
BREAKFAST: 10am, small amount of hardcore oatmeal, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
LUNCH: noon, ham & swiss on whole grain bread, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4:15pm, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 5:30pm, cheeseless eggplant hero, small number of fries, dairy-free tofutti ice cream cone, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Funny, I used to think this was a healthy meal -- hey, it's meatless! Now all I see is fried breading, not enough vegetables, fiber-free white bread and a total lack of nutritional value. Until a doc says otherwise about my stones, gonna go lighter on dairy.
EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, another tofutti ice cream cone, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Monday, February 27
Is a morphine drip at 6:15am technically an AM snack?
Woke up at 4:45am feeling warm and an achy back. Went to the bathroom with an eye to go right back to bed, but instead the pains continued to grow and throb. Tried sitting up in the kitchen, tried lying down in the living room. Sipped some water, felt dizzy from pain, went to the bathroom and tried to throw up, but nothing came up. With steady rising pain, decided not to find out where this was going to end without a professional and Betsy called me a cab and I went to the emergency room.
It's a good thing, because by the time I got there, I could barely stand, talk or see straight -- pain like I had never had before (and hopefully never again.) The doc pushed and prodded me, nothing hurt where she pushed, and she said it was probably kidney stones. Then, my first morphine drip, then a trip to the cat scan. Kidney stone confirmed, I was out of there around 8am feeling quite warm and fuzzy.
Spent the day buzzing on pills, some discomfort but compared to the morning's 10/10 pain, the afternoon lingered at 1 or 2.
So how did this happen? I'll be meeting with a urologist later in the week, but I can't help but think my first ever kidney stone was probably related to a) stress and b) diet. Though I don't write it up here, I usually take in 2 quarts of water a day (that's 8 cups for those not up on your kitchen maths), not including the 2 cups of iced tea I get in. Is it my heavy hand with salt? Perhaps all the calcium I've been eating in my now-regular baby spinach salads? It'll be interesting to hear with the doc says when I present him with a list of everything I ate for the entire month of February! Thing is, I've been feeling pretty great and eating relatively well since my illness over the holidays, this whole episode is catching me a bit by surprise.
I went to the same emergency room I took my dad when he had complications from surgery, same one I met my parents in when he had his first major fall & stroke. Same hospital where they had hospice care and passed away. I never had an IV drip in my arm before, and I hate needles -- the idea of putting a needle in and leaving it there would usually make me queazy, but I was so racked in agony that I just didn't care, if it would take the pain away. Once that morphine hit, I was staring at the emergency room ceiling, thinking ahhh, this is what my parents saw when they were here! Hi mom! Hi dad! Very odd, made me feel a little closer to them, it was comforting, even though I usually get a little bummed every time I bike or bus by this hospital.
BREAKFAST: 9am, hardcore oatmeal, water, oxycodone, ibuprofin, flomax & cipro, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
NOON SNACK: noon, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, baby carrots, ritz crackers, xtra strong ibuprofin, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
Not hungry, but the pill had to be taken with food.
DINNER: 5:45pm, pizza with mushroom & meatball, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
It's a good thing, because by the time I got there, I could barely stand, talk or see straight -- pain like I had never had before (and hopefully never again.) The doc pushed and prodded me, nothing hurt where she pushed, and she said it was probably kidney stones. Then, my first morphine drip, then a trip to the cat scan. Kidney stone confirmed, I was out of there around 8am feeling quite warm and fuzzy.
Spent the day buzzing on pills, some discomfort but compared to the morning's 10/10 pain, the afternoon lingered at 1 or 2.
So how did this happen? I'll be meeting with a urologist later in the week, but I can't help but think my first ever kidney stone was probably related to a) stress and b) diet. Though I don't write it up here, I usually take in 2 quarts of water a day (that's 8 cups for those not up on your kitchen maths), not including the 2 cups of iced tea I get in. Is it my heavy hand with salt? Perhaps all the calcium I've been eating in my now-regular baby spinach salads? It'll be interesting to hear with the doc says when I present him with a list of everything I ate for the entire month of February! Thing is, I've been feeling pretty great and eating relatively well since my illness over the holidays, this whole episode is catching me a bit by surprise.
I went to the same emergency room I took my dad when he had complications from surgery, same one I met my parents in when he had his first major fall & stroke. Same hospital where they had hospice care and passed away. I never had an IV drip in my arm before, and I hate needles -- the idea of putting a needle in and leaving it there would usually make me queazy, but I was so racked in agony that I just didn't care, if it would take the pain away. Once that morphine hit, I was staring at the emergency room ceiling, thinking ahhh, this is what my parents saw when they were here! Hi mom! Hi dad! Very odd, made me feel a little closer to them, it was comforting, even though I usually get a little bummed every time I bike or bus by this hospital.
BREAKFAST: 9am, hardcore oatmeal, water, oxycodone, ibuprofin, flomax & cipro, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
NOON SNACK: noon, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, baby carrots, ritz crackers, xtra strong ibuprofin, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
Not hungry, but the pill had to be taken with food.
DINNER: 5:45pm, pizza with mushroom & meatball, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sunday, February 26
Sans Recipe
It just occurred to me if I can add a tablespoon to heavy cream and let it stand at room temp to make cream fraiche (a fancy french term for mild sour cream), why can't I save a load of money by inoculating milk with a buttermilk starter and make my own buttermilk? Next quart of $5.75 buttermilk I get, I'm going to freeze into cubes, and add a cube to room temp whole milk and let it sit for a day, should turn into perfectly fine buttermilk at around 1/4 to 1/2 the cost, AND be fresher. I'm assuming the live bacteria will go dormant in the freezer, and whatever dies will be minor...
TODAY'S COOKING
Pancakes: We had three couples with kids coming over, but for some reason I decided to experiment with the recipe anyway. I saw a little piece on TV about Clinton St. Baking, who are known for their pancakes. I've had them, and it's immediately clear what is up -- the density of the fat in the pancake is leavened with whipped egg whites, very French. The chef/owner pretty much cops to it, telling a story of how he worked in a fancy French place years ago, and the chef wanted to do an Americanized brunch service. It was up to him to make the pancakes, so he just took their crepe recipe and added flour.
So like last time, I added a pint of cream fraiche to the quart of buttermilk for the liquid, as well as 2oz of melted butter, 3 scrapings of vanilla beans and instead of 3 whole eggs, 5 egg yolks. Dry side was 24 o flour, 3 oz sugar, tbsp of baking powder and salt, 1/2 tsp of baking soda, shake of cinnamon. I beat the five egg whites to stiff peaks and folded it in, once the dry met the wet. (I let the eggs come to room temp over night -- warm egg whites hold air much better than cold whites.) The fluffy batter sat for about 30 minutes before I started cooking them off.
Pancakes came out surprisingly well, and despite making over 50 pieces, almost all of them went with lots of compliments. Upon reflection, this is now one of the few dishes I make that I can honestly say there was no way I could have made it successfully or easily sans-recipe without going to culinary school.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, chocolate covered coffee beans, water
Forgot to refrigerate the cooling iced tea, so I skipped it. Hey, it's Tom Cruise Sunday!
BRUNCH: 11:30am, handful of pancakes, about 1 donut, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Guests brought the donuts, one jumped down my throat. Thanks, Tom Cruise!
PM SNACK: 5pm, large spinach salad with slivered almonds and carrot dressing, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:15pm, whole grain chicken nuggets, brown rice mix, pint of grenadine soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was about to have broiled scallops, but the glass pirex pan exploded when it tapped the cool edge of the oven while I was removing it. I picked up some brown basmanti rice mixed with wild rice, rye berries and wheat berries, tasted nice.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, corn chex with organic dead milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, graham crackers with a bit of nutella, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
TODAY'S COOKING
Pancakes: We had three couples with kids coming over, but for some reason I decided to experiment with the recipe anyway. I saw a little piece on TV about Clinton St. Baking, who are known for their pancakes. I've had them, and it's immediately clear what is up -- the density of the fat in the pancake is leavened with whipped egg whites, very French. The chef/owner pretty much cops to it, telling a story of how he worked in a fancy French place years ago, and the chef wanted to do an Americanized brunch service. It was up to him to make the pancakes, so he just took their crepe recipe and added flour.
So like last time, I added a pint of cream fraiche to the quart of buttermilk for the liquid, as well as 2oz of melted butter, 3 scrapings of vanilla beans and instead of 3 whole eggs, 5 egg yolks. Dry side was 24 o flour, 3 oz sugar, tbsp of baking powder and salt, 1/2 tsp of baking soda, shake of cinnamon. I beat the five egg whites to stiff peaks and folded it in, once the dry met the wet. (I let the eggs come to room temp over night -- warm egg whites hold air much better than cold whites.) The fluffy batter sat for about 30 minutes before I started cooking them off.
Pancakes came out surprisingly well, and despite making over 50 pieces, almost all of them went with lots of compliments. Upon reflection, this is now one of the few dishes I make that I can honestly say there was no way I could have made it successfully or easily sans-recipe without going to culinary school.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, chocolate covered coffee beans, water
Forgot to refrigerate the cooling iced tea, so I skipped it. Hey, it's Tom Cruise Sunday!
BRUNCH: 11:30am, handful of pancakes, about 1 donut, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Guests brought the donuts, one jumped down my throat. Thanks, Tom Cruise!
PM SNACK: 5pm, large spinach salad with slivered almonds and carrot dressing, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6:15pm, whole grain chicken nuggets, brown rice mix, pint of grenadine soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I was about to have broiled scallops, but the glass pirex pan exploded when it tapped the cool edge of the oven while I was removing it. I picked up some brown basmanti rice mixed with wild rice, rye berries and wheat berries, tasted nice.
EVENING SNACK: 8pm, corn chex with organic dead milk, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, graham crackers with a bit of nutella, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
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