Posts (page 2)
I made tacos last night and it was the first time I've even had home tacos in those hard, store-bought shells since I was a tiny, no-taste kid. And you know what? Everyone was thrilled.
Considering how awful my week has been, that's a damn big deal.
So, thank you 365-days-of-Crockpoting-blog-lady. You made my month.
If you remember, Purim took me by surprise this year because I've been busy experimenting with macaroons for Passover. I had planned to bake some this weekend, but given our busy schedule, expected not to do it, and instead to feel guilty and/or stressed for the rest of the week. However, the cookie gods have shined upon us, and have arranged for Queenie to have a last minute sleepover at a friend's house, and Spit Spot, after a very long nap, is playing next door with the neighbor's cats.
So. The dough is in the fridge cooling. I opted to keep it all-purpose flour this year without diluting it with whole wheat (you can substitute up to half, but I cannot remember if I actually do that or not). I think prunes make them healthy enough, don't you? I'm also experimenting with poppy seed filling for the first time. We'll see how that goes.
Poppy seeds are the traditional hamantaschen filling, along with prunes. The story goes that Queen Esther lived on nothing but poppy seeds and chickpeas for 3 days while she stored up the nerve to tell her husband that his vizier, Haman, was planning to kill the Jews and that she, herself, was Jewish. I've also read the word taschen is German for purse or pocket (the shape of the cookies) and that mohn means poppy in Yiddish or German. So they are "poppy pockets." Perhaps the Haman pun was just too good to resist?
Here's the most basic recipe for poppy seed filling (the same one on several sites) I found some others that required overnight soaking, grinding, and the additions of butter or cream, but I used the basic as I have no cream, and wasn't really looking for the overnighting of anything:
2 c. poppy seeds
1 c. milk
3/4 c. honey
1 tsp. lemon peel
1/2 c. raisins
Grind poppy seeds (I tried this with dry seeds in the Cuisanart but it didn't really work. I've read it's to break down the bitter shell to get to the starchy sweet inside, but have read some bakeries don't bother. I'm hoping just beating them up a bit in the grinder helps. The soak overnight recipes make more sense to me, if grinding).
Mix with milk and honey and cook on low until thickened. Add remaining ingredients, cool.
I'm thinking it might need a quick puree for the raisins. I'll let you know how they turn out.
I plan on sending some to a friend's father in law. Several years ago I offered him some of the regular ones. He looked at me and said, "I only eat poppyseed ones." Okay, old man. So now you will eat these. There. I win. Silly, no?
edited to add: I think I may have overcooked the poppy seeds. Compared to the fruit filling it does not take long on the stove! I tried to re-soak them a bit in some more milk, but as I've already added the lemon this may backfire. Stay tuned.
Update: I have made a few rounds of the regular cookies. Success! The first batch was a bit sad looking (like pancakes, they seem to get better with each batch in the oven as I re-familiarize myself with how thick/dry the dough needs to be and I tweak the cooking time) but tasty tasty. Hooray! I will try to make more in the morning for my ballet friends and Batty's family.
Update, next day: Success! I kept the seeds overnight in the fridge, attempted to smoosh them in the blender again this morning (unsuccessfully, really) and cooked some with suspicion. But surprisingly, they are wonderful! Creamy and not too sweet, nor bitter, with a wonderful exotic aroma about them. I am pleased. Hopefully, others will be too.
I have started to look for full time work. My little part time job at the school, perfect as it is, is just not enough, even though I've managed to double my hours. I have many mixed feelings about this. Panic and super-scary are the first words that come to mind. But I've reworked my resume and put together a respectable cover letter (Thank you Watashi) and have sent it out with love into the HR abyss that is The Getty.
I have to say that the prospect of working in the arts again is pretty damn exciting. And at a museum, too! I miss having free reign of museums. As a student at the Art Institute we had a free pass to roam the galleries. Quickly, we learned the patterns of traffic, when to go to be left alone, the best make-out spots. I had time to really get to know my favorite paintings, notice when the curators moved stuff around. I miss that kind of intimacy with art. While there, I also had the chance to intern in the Prints and Drawing department. Basically I hung around scholars pulling and shelving priceless, beautiful, prints and drawings for people to view up close. Many of them were unframed. You could hold them! Hold Rembrandt etchings, hold Degas pastels, Picasso prints. Hold them right under your nose. Heaven.
In preparation for the interview (fingers crossed, please), I've been checking out what's up at the Getty, in the art world in general. It's been fun. I'm worried that if I do get the interview I'll be rusty. I've pretty much hidden from the art world the last few years other than visit some local museums. Even when I go I don't see much. That's pretty much because I can't hold Rembrandts with greasy toddler hands pulling at my clothes. I've been to the Getty numerous times, but rarely have I been able to be inside a gallery. At MOCA a few years ago Queenie jumped on a sculpture (although to her defense, it WAS a piece of flooring and looked like a play structure). That was stressful. After awhile, I stopped trying. It was too depressing, frustrating, sad.
Anyhow, wish me luck. Last time I applied for a gig there in 2004, they never called and I was terribly sure I was a good match (I was. Really).
There are some other art jobs I'm looking at. One would be working as a gal-Friday for a woman who works as an art consultant, but we've got to wait and see if she wins a big bid. The other is for MOCA. Love MOCA, too, despite the sculpture jumping incident, but worry that's a job more suited for a young childless thing who has few bills to pay and nowhere to be by 5:30. Or on weekends.
Ok. That's all for now. I'm tired.
The other night while snuggling in bed, Spit Spot gently poked my armpits.
"Mama, what's that?" She asks.
"Armpits," I say. "You have them, too."
Spit Spot looks a bit concerned. Pokes again.
"No, mama. " She says shaking her head.
Pause. Think. Touch.
" Feathers."
Feathers! My daughter thinks I am a magical creature! A griffin! A goddess!
"Oh, honey," I say. "Mama doesn't have feathers. It's hair, baby. Pokey."
Heh. My kids say cute things, too, when they're not screaming in the car.
She has also taken to singing the Calm Down Song to any of us when she feels it's necessary. She just made it up and it's pretty hysterical in her little high, soft angel voice and floaty emotive arms. Works, too. It goes like this:
Calm down, calm down, calm down.
Frogs are magic.
Calm down, calm down, calm down.
As you may remember, I started experimenting with macaroons. I last made some egg white based cookies and they were a great hit. Tonight I made some plain and chocolate ones with a base of condensed milk, using Queenie's class party on Thursday as an excuse. Consensus: They're fine, my daughter's class will love their shape as they are currently studying Ancient Egypt, but they are nowhere near as subtle or delicate as the first batch. Also, the mix of chocolates in the first batch (semisweet melted, unsweetened powder) gave a richer, more rounded chocolate flavor. Oddly, this new batch seems more fragile.
Clive can't tell the difference. He says both are great.
edited next day to add: Eeeek! I just tried the macaroons again after they've been in a sealed container on the counter overnight. These are wretched, inferior things to my lovely egg macaroons. They are heavy and dry and need a glass of milk. I worry for my digestive track. They are cloyingly sweet. Feh. The Manischewitz ones from the can are better. Ach.
Okay, crazy. So today I'm talking about macaroons with my friend, BD. I had saved him some when I made them last week, but never saw him to give him any. Anyway, today I'm telling him I'm about to make more and he's excited, saying they're his favorite cookies, how he just looooves macaroons, and then he stops mid-sentence and says, "But, hey, is it almost hamantaschen time?"
You'd think I put crack in those hamantaschen they way people are asking for them.
On another note that has absolutely nothing to do with cookies, we put Jack in his new 1 gallon tank today. Wooo! I never knew a fish could get so excited, but he's having a rousing good afternoon swimming up....and down....and up....and down....and up....etc. It's not a regular tank, but a glass food jar with screw on top that we got from Batty and her friend, Soap (thanks, again!) who are part of the crafty/home school-y crew with which I sometimes hang although I am neither crafty nor home school-y (they are very kind, those people. I think it's charity).
Anyway, he's excited, and Queenie only asked me about hamsters 7 times today, so maybe it'll whittle down some more.
It's official! Our new Betta fish, Jack, is a happy fish. Today I went to feed him and found "happy bubbles" clustered between the leaves of his fake plant. Hooray! I thought I saw the beginnings of some of these last week, but they were few and far between and mostly wishful thinking. But today, goodness! It's a veritable nest of them.
I am relieved, as our last Betta, Mike, was not so happy, and did not last too long.
Not that it matters to Queenie. After Pet Day at her school, she has moved on to hamsters. Ugh.
Still, I'm happy and it's a beautiful day here in LA.
