Happy Mardi Gras!

King Cake Recipe from Food Network Magazine

When I saw the first several lines of the King Cake recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/king-cake-recipe2/index.html) I knew it would be another baking adventure with BEB!

** Prep Time: 45 min
** Inactive Prep Time: 11 hr 30 min
** Cook Time: 40 min
** Level: Difficult

I’m glad I recently read about multiple stages of dough preparation on the Brew and Bake blog so I wasn’t totally taken back by it; especially by dumping flour on top of a partial mix and then doing nothing (not even mixing it together) for 90 minutes.

I was surprised the recipe called for a food processor rather than the Kitchenaid mixer (I found out in the next steps that I wish I would have used the mixer rather than the processor). Adding the melted butter slowly certainly resulted in a sticky dough. It became so large and sticky the processor bogged down (while sounding strained) and some of the dough lodged under the blades and went up and over the shaft (I didn’t realize this last part until during the “clean-up” process).

After waiting 3 hours then kneading by hand I was again surprised by the recipe calling for another wait– now cover it and refrigerate for 8 hours (or overnight).
Wow! This Danish dough recipe is fantastic! I never worked with such a wonderful consistency of dough the next morning. Even though it had been in the refrigerator, it increased in size. Just from the feel of it still in the plastic wrap you could tell it would be light and easy to work with.
Aromas coming from the filling mixture were delicious even in the unbaked state. Directions from the recipe were carefully followed, but when I do this again I would be sure to leave a border at the short edges as well as the long edges when spreading the filling. The bottom seal was secure, but the side tuck was not (again, didn’t know this until the filling was oozing out during the baking) – it needed to be tucked without filling in the overlap, and then pinched.
Again, a waiting period after assembly– this time 2 hours – after doubling in size it was obvious this probably could serve 12; up until now the cake didn’t look large enough.

I know my oven runs on the hot side, but I was very surprised when I checked at 25 minutes and realized the cake was just about finished – there was no way it would stay in the oven 40 minutes. It was very brown, but not hard and crusty – it still had a great “spring” to the touch. I was concerned the center might be doughy, but it was great!
With just the glaze on top it was a beautiful shiny “cake”, but since it was a Mardi Gras King Cake (minus the baby, though) it needed the colored sugars. Even without green, it was just festive enough and more than delicious and rich enough to be the perfect way to celebrate Mardi Gras

Yummy! ~~K

Yummi Yogi

(special thanks to BMA)

I think I received the Yogi tea samples at a good time. My head cold and sinuses are keeping me a bit under-par lately and I enjoy a good cup of tea for a bit of relief.

The berry detox is a very flavorful pleasant taste with a pale pink color. I'm looking forward to trying the other two. I didn't receive a sample, but I'm curious about the Mexican sweet chili also. ~K

Shoveling it in …

No snow to shovel, but plenty of food and drink. Here’s what would usually be several posts wrapped up into one:

Soup’s On
This enduring winter weather called for some long-simmering hamburger soup and warm biscuits out of the oven for lunch.

It was the first time to make this soup, which will definitely be made again. I was concerned when it called for catchup and Worcestershire sauce, but the flavor was great and I won’t change anything. The recipe was from the Sentinel-Tribune.


Custom Cooking
We were hungry for a home-grilled burger and onions and I wanted some “special” buns for them. With it just being the two of us, and the fact I’m “cheap” I couldn’t bring myself to pay the price wanted for a tasty bun. Instead I bought a loaf of roasted red pepper and onion bread. After making rectangular burgers I waited until they were cooked, then sliced the bread to the correct size for each burger.

I seldom make “Zetta-style” potatoes and onions, but since it was Valentine’s Day I felt I could splurge and go the “fried” route.

It ended up being a fairly well-balanced meal; it certainly was delicious.


Delicious Drinks
A Valentine treat for us was picking out some special beverages at the liquor store. D chose Bittburger beer which is always a treat.

Several times I’ve watched the Barefoot Contessa use "limoncello” as an after dinner drink, as an ingredient in a cheesecake, and added to a fruit salad. I was tempted by it when I was at Buca di Beppo’s . Saturday was the day for me to make the purchase and try it.

It is so refreshing! I enjoyed several “limoncella martinis” with my meal and into the evening.


Busy Baking
With D not buying peanut butter cookies lately, yet needing sweets for his morning treat, I’ve been trying to bake cookies each week. The last two weeks it’s been “Margaret’s sugar cookie” recipe; this week I tried BEB’s oatmeal/raisin recipe. I prefer putting parchment paper on the cookie sheets and tend to reuse it since it doesn’t take on a taste or burn.

I’m curious how long these will last.

Poor Man’s Pecan Pie
Really, that’s the name of this non-nut pie! Apparently this recipe was developed during the depression.

It’s basically Grandma Orange’s pecan pie recipe, but instead of pecans it uses a mixture of coconut and oats. It was surprisingly good - D and I agree I’ll bake it again.

I’ve finally come up with a way to easily protect the crust edges from becoming too brown. I cut an old foil man to size and place it over the pie instead of aluminum foil. It stays in place better than flimsy sheets of foil and it is reusable. ~~K

From Russia, with …

I know it’s supposed to be “Love” , but we just couldn’t “love” this beer. It is about the only beer we’ve tasted that we did not enjoy as much as expected. As you might guess, it is from Russia.

We had errands to run Tuesday evening, including Andersons. Of course, what is a stop there without perusing the beer aisles! 51 oz. for $2.99 for a beer we had never tried was nothing to be passed up. Perhaps something is lost in the translation since the label seems contradictory: it is listed as a lager in large print, but in smaller print it claims to be an ale! Did you notice the alcohol content is 8%

The better part of the venture into Maumee was stopping at Dino’s to eat. We hadn’t been there in years and our memories of great food held true. Made me think of B,D, &Z.

My liver and onions as well as D’s chili mac were delicious. ~~K

Gently Down the Stream

Thankfully the rain has stopped; the wind has had a drying effect; and this high water is flowing well.

You can see the watermark on the abutment from early Thursday was about 9 inches higher. Do you believe we still have a few spots of snow around the yard?

Spring is getting closer and I know the trees are healthier because of all this wetness. ~~K

Does anybody really know what time it is?

After a frightfully gusting, windy night, it was one of those mornings when the clocks were all flashing, and an old favorite Chicago song came to mind. I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of blinking clocks and merging them into this short clip.

I was very appreciative that the electricity had not remained off all night and into this morning.

This tune certainly causes one to date oneself. Ouch! ~~K

Another Dollar Spent

My trips to The Dollar Tree recently have yielded great tech finds. The latest...

this retractable set of earbuds. I don’t appreciate the color, but that is outweighed by its compactness, and no tangled cords in my carry pouch! ~~K

Chicken Days

After so many days of no homecooked meals, I had to make up for it. On Saturday I pulled together two chicken dishes that we ate all weekend:

Lunch: Chicken Tortilla Soup with sour cream and tortilla chips (I was a bit surprised the first time I made this how much D enjoyed it). The recipe came from the back of an Aldi’s broth carton.

Supper: Drunken Chicken – need I say more? The neck area was almost too crispy, as in almost burned, but I think it’s so much easier to bake it in the oven than on the grill since it’s such a hassle to deal with outdoor grill grates. Next time I might place foil over the top of the chicken as it nears the end of cooking (like for pie crusts).~~K

Catching Up

FYI - I've written four separate posts today about my adventures in Columbus - I didn't want you to be like me and miss out on a post - I'm not observant enough to always notice any more than one post a day! LOL

Japanese Steak House

Flames from a “volcano” in the midst of grilling zucchini, mushrooms, and onions proved how creative one can be with a few large onion rings!

We were seated at the longest griddle I’ve ever seen – it must have been 10 feet long. Of course most Japanese steak houses are known for flashy knife work, and we weren’t disappointed.

About 14 of us enjoyed delicious food and the “show” of preparing it after another uneventful eating day (the conference sessions were fabulous, the conference food was not). One of our teachers is allergic to shellfish and the chef prepared her entire meal in front of us, cleaned the griddle, and then began the other meals. It was like getting two “shows” in one sitting!

You can probably tell from the photos that the food was fresh and colorful. Also delicious, especially when accompanied with hot sake!

I opted for scallops and was pleasantly surprised by the smothering of sakura sauce. The sauce was like a glorified hollandaise in which I could taste a sweetness, but yet a touch of garlic – its texture was that of custard. After the scallops were grilled for a bit, he covered them with the sauce (it almost looked like raw egg at that time), poured on a little sake, then covered them with a lid while other entrees continued cooking in the open.

Chopsticks were my utensil of choice and I was able to get through the entire meal – until the pineapple sherbet was served in a bowl. Now, if that would have been in an edible “dish” I would not have picked up any silverware – oh, well!

FYI - Compared to Nagoya at Levis Commons, the prices were reasonable: hot sake was $3.75 compared to $5 at Nagoya and the scallop entrée (with soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, steamed rice, and fresh vegetable) was $20 compared to $24 at Nagoya. Our meals alo included hot green tea (upon request) and a dessert; Nagoya’s does not.~~K

Buca di Beppo

Having heard about this eclectic downtown Columbus restaurant for years I can confirm there really is a pope’s head in the center of one of the tables! Sorry, I didn't take this picture - I found it online, but it looked just like this except people were eating at this round table that was in a small room by itself.

After an ok breakfast (strawberry-yogurt Zone bar and coffee in the room) and a horrible lunch (more later**) at the conference, about a dozen of us walked over to Buca di Beppo’s for dinner. And yes, we had made reservations the day before – apparently many diners hadn’t – you should have seen the faces of the crowd as we were immediately let in.

Supposedly because it was so crowded, we were walked through the kitchen on the way to our table (I considered that walk-through a bonus and wish more restaurants did that). What a tight area they have to work in! It reminded me of the Bally's kitchen in Las Vegas.

I wish I would have taken more pictures to capture the atmosphere. There are many small alcoves and rooms with “junk” everywhere – even the ceiling is decoratively painted. With the red and green lights, and the checkered tablecloths you knew you were in an Italian joint.

Meals are served family style so it was an exercise in cooperation for us to finally agree on what we would order. Of course each item was “large”, and one of each except for 2 platters of lasagna (descriptions taken from the menu):

Mixed Green Salad - Our fresh lettuce blend tossed with our signature Italian vinaigrette, red onions, pepperoncini peppers and colossal black and green olives. $16.99

Mixed Green Salad with Prosciutto and Gorgonzola - Same delicious combination as the Mixed Green Salad, topped with crispy fried prosciutto and rich gorgonzola cheese. $17.99

Caesar Salad - Fresh, crisp romaine lettuce tossed with our Caesar salad dressing and croutons, topped with parmesan cheese. $16.99

Lasagna - Nine towering layers of lasagna noodles stuffed with our homemade meat sauce and a savory combination of ricotta, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan cheeses. $24.99

Penne Basilica - Tender chicken breast, broccoli and a light pesto cream sauce with imported Italian penne pasta. $26.99

Fettuccine Alfredo - Classic favorite featuring imported Italian egg fettuccine tossed in our creamy alfredo sauce.$19.99

Chicken Parmigiana - Breaded and sautéed chicken breasts topped with marinara and mozzarella, then baked to golden perfection. $27.99

I thought the food was delicious except for the Fettucine Alfredo which was bland. Favorites: lasagna and penne basilica (I think I'll try to duplicate that last one since I found a recipe online that sounds close [see below] - it's new to their menu also). Unlike at home where I add spices to the olive oil for dipping bread, the waitress poured just olive oil into the saucers; we were served plain bread as well as a very tasty heavily coated garlic bread.

A great time was had by all! As we walked back to the hotel with full bellies we thought we should have ordered one less salad. But the other platters yielded just enough so we were able to pack leftovers as you can see in picture. We kept our foil plates in the room refrigerator and ate it cold on the way home Wednesday evening (it was still delicious).

You might want to visit their website: http://www.bucadibeppo.com/locations/default.aspx?location=3501

Photo Note: I was remiss in taking photos, but it appears another conference attendee did a great job. This slideshow from flickr is a great representation. I forgot to mention the snow-covered outdoor area with cement tables and decorations - maybe D and I can stop here in warm weather.http://www.flickr.com/photos/sallyjogary/sets/72157613220577801/show/

Pesto Cream Sauce Recipe

1 cup fresh basil
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
1 cup olive oil
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
3 garlic cloves 1 cup heavy cream
Combine all dry ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend. Slowly add the cream and oil while blending. Warm gently on the stove top in a medium heavy saucepan.

**Conference lunch was pulled chicken (very dry, unevenly pulled, too spicy, cold) with ok cold slaw, yukky, right out of the can baked beans, and a cookie.~~K

Learnin’ ‘n Loot...

at eTech Ohio 2009 - State Technology Conference - Columbus Convention Center

Decisions, decisions – about 20 different sessions from which to choose for each hour from 8-3:30 for 3 days! I was selfish this year and attended sessions that interested me personally, rather than thinking about what I would take back to other teachers.

Most of you know how much I enjoy geocaching – to the point I incorporated it into several lessons with my 5th graders last year. With that in mind, here are the titles of several of my favorite sessions:
**Earthquests! Teaching Earth Science, Topography, And Geography Using Google Earth
**Educaching: Integrating GPS Technology With The Curriculum

First hand viewing of students designing and creating robots and then competing was a highlight I enjoyed.

After attending several sessions, such as **Don't Fear Facebook! Using Social Networking To Communicate With Students And Parents**, I realize our schools need to rethink many of the restrictions that are currently in place about YouTube, Facebook, cell phones, iPods, and other “tools” readily, efficiently, and continually used by students (but NOT schools). The tools are already there to communicate with students but many administrations refuse to let us use them inside the classrooms.

Along the same lines, I became more comfortable with Google Docs, but forget it – it’s blocked at school. Many times as my students are so excited about PowerPoint they are disappointed upon realizing they don’t have it at home. Within Google Docs they could create presentations at home and even save them in the ppt format; or export a ppt to Google Docs. (The same is true for spreadsheets and word documents.) I was excited and even started planning a lesson on this, but as I returned to school Thursday my excitement turned to frustration as I realized GD is a restricted site. Again, we’ve cut another avenue available between school and home, and dampened student enthusiasm.

But I do encourage you to check out Google Docs at home – I’ve learned more on my own and so wish I was able to use its “forms” at school – it would be an alternative method of assessment or survey.

Wifi and laptops - almost everywhere except classrooms!

OK, enough whining! I’ll be sharing with staff some things I learned, especially **Thirty Three Tech Tips That Translate To Time (re)Trieved** and iTunesU (professional development videos and podcasts). Other topics that revitalized me were Web 2.0, Edu 2.0, wikis, blogs, ANIMOTO, wordle.net, voicethread.com – as I type this I realize there are things I’ve tried at home, but not at school – I better prepare myself for more restrictions.

What’s a conference without goodies? More pens than I’ll ever use, a fine-point mechanical pencil, earbuds, T-shirt, boomerang, magnets, bookmarks, screen-cleaners, a very nice mug, ruler, candy, etc. But the BEST – a 2 gig thumb drive that’s a bracelet!

As I typed this in Word and saw so many "red squiggles" it just reinforces my frustration at how we are not keeping up with the times! So many words that are so current for our students are not in the dictionary – iPod, earbud, Google, FaceBook, MySpace, educaching, earthquest, etc. ~~K

Sunday in Columbus ...

... this is being posted a week after the fact.

As we left home around 3pm we decided to let the GPS direct us down to Columbus. It proved to be a much different route than we normally drive. Taking us down 68 from 23 proved to be slow going as we drove through towns at 25 mph. Once we reached 33 it was smooth sailing; in fact this might be the faster way to get to Dublin. From home to the Crown Plaza downtown took 2 hrs. I think it may have ended up being quicker this way in the long run since we didn’t have all of the stop and go of 23.

Valet parking and check-in was very busy, but our room was ready and several colleagues were already waiting for us. Ours was a recently remodeled room that seemed not quite finished in terms of details (no towel racks).

To save time and crowds the next morning, we walked over to the convention center to check in and pick up our materials. Unfortunately, the skywalk was partially closed and being worked on; but we continued without coats (and kept doing that the rest of the days).

Our conference bags are roomy, but not as nice as the zippered ones we’ve received in the past.

We then walked directly to Max and Erma’s (connected to the hotel) where friends were holding seats for us. Burgers were the meals of choice for all of us – I had mushroom and Swiss. With all the eating and talking I wasn’t thinking of being a photographer, but as we were getting up to leave I took this shot from the balcony where we sat. (Photo-taking was not tops on my mind the rest of the week as you’ll notice in the next several posts also.)

Then it was back to the hotel lounge to see the end of the Super Bowl. Those last few minutes became quite boisterous in the very comfortable, but crowded area.

Deciding which sessions to attend is always difficult for me with so many choices, but I wanted to at least have the 8am session determined before I went to bed. As usual, the first night in a different bed did not yield a good night’s sleep. ~~K