Surprise!

What we didn't get for Christmas

Just about the worst thing you can do to me is tell me you have a surprise headed my way. Immediately after this occurs, my mind begins to race with possibilities, one of which will ALWAYS be a puppy.  ALWAYS.  And I am not alone. We recently celebrated my brother's 28th birthday and while ripping open a box, he looked over at me and asked, "Is it a puppy?"  It's genetic.   From the moment I hear "I have a surprise for you" to the moment I'm actually opening said surprise my mind is darting around, from one highly unlikely gift to the next.  "Is it a puppy?  A trip Madrid?  Oooh, I know, my own cheese cave?!?  Oh, a tin of lovingly handcrafted cookies,  I guess that's nice too." 

I am the worst.  

When I was in college, my mother would gleefully inform me she had "put a little surprise in the mail" and I would spend two to three days concocting ideas befitting a third world dictator.  I would think "Hmm, maybe she just sent the dog TAGS through the mail?  The actual puppy will be waiting for me the next time I'm home? Can you airmail a live animal?"  And of course, a tin of delightful and charming cookies would arrive in my mailbox, packed with love and made especially for me.  I small wave of disapointment (no puppy?!) would wash over me but then I would remember that I was lucky and loved and then I would proceed to eat the entire contents of the box.  Yay Mom and yay college!  Did I mention I am the worst?

This Christmas season, my bad habit struck again.  My immediate family gathered to decorate the tree. As we ate some pre-tree pizza, my mom announced she had a surprise for us.  (You would think she would have learned by this point) Immediately the four of us began shouting out ideas.  At once and in unison, my siblings and I blurted out "Is it a puppy?"   We began shouting out alternate ideas,"Matching IPad's? A trip to our German and Italian homelands?"  Uh, no, my parent shook their heads, for some reason taken aback by our wild guessing game.  
My sister's boyfriend raised the possibility of matching track suits. (He has more reasonable high expectations than the rest of us.)  Maybe it was the several pints of craft beer but my siblings and I LOVED this idea!  The discussion took off like a bat out of Guido fashion hell!  It had to be matching track suits!  How could it not be!  In maroon velour for that extra Guido touch!  My mother stared at us in disbelief. What the hell were we talking about?  I could tell by the look on her face that our surprise probably wasn't matching velour track suits but it mattered not.  We were loving the ride. 

Beloved Beaker

When it came time to open our real surprise, we discovered it was a most perfect gift.  An Beaker ornament that plays Ode to Joy.  We love the Muppets and Beaker is a family favorite.   Yet again, yay Mom!   Next year though, it WILL be a very track suit Christmas.

I debated which recipe to include for this entry.  I can often be heard repeating a sentiment first coined by my aunt--"I hate to be surprised by a raisin." I like my raisins to be upfront and in your face, except when it comes to rice pudding, when I like my raisins non existent. So here's to banishing surprises!  (not really.)  I bring you Nigella Lawson's Stovetop Rice Pudding for Emergencies.  This recipe comes is from Nigella Bites, which incidentally is one of my very favorite cookbooks on the planet.  Her cookbooks read like prose and she is generally a dream.  


2 3/4 cups whole milk
1 heaping TB unsalted butter
2-3 TB sugar
1/4 arborio rice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2-3 TB heavy cream. 


She instructs to think of this as a sweet risotto.  Heat the milk in a pan than has a lip.  When it is just about to boil (do not let it boil) turn off the heat.  In a different, heavy based pan, melt the butter and a TB of sugar.  She writes "when hissing away in a glorious play caramelly pool, add the rice and stir to coat stickily."  (is that not genius?) Gradually add the milk, stirring the rice all the time, and letting the milk become absorbed before adding more.  You will see the rice gradually swell throughout the milk-adding process.  Start tasting after about 20 minutes, but it may take as long as 35.  When the rice feels thick and creamy, take it off the heat and add another TB of sugar, the vanilla and as much cream as you like.  Serves 1.  

It's all about chemistry

Proof of my inner mortality

Picture it, Rochester, Thanksgiving Eve, 2011.  My mother, sister and I are spread out in my sister's kitchen preparing the stuffing for the next day's feast.  We were discussing Thanksgiving's past and the newest Muppet movie (outstanding!)   Out of nowhere I announce that I believe that I am dead inside.  My mother, who has the patience of a saint, has heard this one before and ignores me to keep on sauteing.  My sister is also used to my occasional ridiculous questions/tangents/observations but was caught off guard as she was focused on measuring Romano cheese and chopping parsley.  She asked me, "Wait? What?  You were as blunt as if you were giving a weather report.  'Tomorrow it will be forty degrees. Partly cloudy.  I am dead' inside.  Of course you are not dead inside!  You were just singing and dancing along with the MUPPETS! What the hell is going on here?"   So, here's what's going on here... 


Last week, I went out on a series of perfectly normal, nice, even fun dates and I said I would NOT blog about them.  Well, actually, I said I would not blog about the guy.  Slight difference.  I did exactly what I set out to do.  I shut up and dated.  It was successful and stress free. Dare I say even enjoyable.  He was cute,smart and made me laugh.  Here's the kicker though.  There were no sparks.  I mean zero.  NONE.  We went out twice, because I wanted to make sure there wasn't even a glimmer of something resembling a spark.  On the second date we went to the movies and I spent the whole time making sure I wasn't touching the arm rest because I didn't want him to think I was making overtures and have him reach for my hand or worse, my knee! Had that happened I then I would have had to awkwardly get up to go to the bathroom. Yeah, a bit out of control but the point is, he was a very nice guy and I didn't want to inadvertently do something silly and hurt his feelings.  You know, like jump up out my chair in the middle of the movie and blurt out "NO thank you." Because it's hard to recover from something like that.   

I was not blinded by science

I just wasn't feeling it.  Which I realize is fine.  You aren't going to spark with every guy that comes your way, which I good because I can barely imagine how exhausting that would be.   All of that is well and good.  It's what comes next that got me thinking.  Here is this perfectly nice man and I can barely summon a "meh" from inside my soul. Meanwhile approximately five months ago, lesser specimen sent my heart a-racin.  Why?   Why would my subconscious think a jerkface is A-OK but not this seemingly sweet man?  What's up, soul?   The short answer is who the hell knows?  It's chemistry, baby.  I could choose to drive myself crazy, or I can continue to shut up and date.   This time around, it's shut up and date. 


With chemistry on the brain, today's recipe is Sponge Candy!  Sponge candy is science at it's most delicious!  It's the baking soda/vinegar volcano of your 4th grade science class dipped in chocolate and given away as a Christmas gift!  


Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 TB white vinegar
1 TB baking soda




Line 9 inch square pan with foil, leaving 2 inching hanging off of sides and coat foil with butter. Combine sugar, corn syrup and vinegar in large, deep sauce pan. Stir over med. heat until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking without stirring until candy thermometer reads 300 degrees swirling pan occasionally, about 18 minutes. Remove from heat.  Immediately add baking soda and stir until well combined.  Immediately pour into prepared pan and cool completely. 


Use foil to lift candy from pan. Fold foil down sides.  Cut or break candy into pieces.  Dip into melted chocolate.  Let set completely before storing.  Can be made 1 week ahead of time.  

The German Shepherd Theory

So some of you may not know that when I moved back to Buffalo, more than just my relationship changed, my career trajectory changed as well.  When things finally ended with my long time love and I headed back to Buffalo,  I was pursing a graduate degree in history. I returned to Buffalo and the plan was to get a job, any job with benefits that would keep my mind minimally engaged and I would write my dissertation.  Fast forward two years, and things have not quite gone to plan.  It turns out, I don't want to write a dissertation.  I may never have wanted to write a one.  I'm not sure, the revelations just keep coming.

As for my job, let me stress, first and foremost, that I work for a wonderful place where people strive everyday to make the world a better place and, largely, they succeed.  Secondly, I have met some of the most wonderful people I have ever encountered in my life. Friends I hope to keep for the rest of my life and some of the smartest, most kind, dedicated humans anyone will ever have the good fortune to encounter.  What's more, in this economy, I am grateful to be employed.  So you see, it could be so much worse. It's just that well, my job, the work that I do, doesn't quite keep my particular intellectual fire burning.   And I'm not quite sure what I want to do.  What do I want to contribute?    

This German has career goals! 

SO what happens when your former career goals are maybe no longer what you want, your current job isn't doing the trick and you are feeling a bit adrift?  Well, in this instance, I think I've figured out that my mind is starved for activity.  It's jumping onto the next, new bits of information I've been introducing, which in some instances is dating related.  Rather than analyzing primary source historical data, I'm OVER analyzing text messages, phone messages, and comments over dinner.  In short, my current career conundrum is what's allowing me such easy passage to Crazytown.   I'm like a German Shepherd left in a two room apartment all day long.  German Shepherds are very smart dogs and left without a job to do, they will find their own activities.   Activities like barking incessantly or eating the couch.  This realization left me feeling both chilled and freed.  "Bad dog!  Stop destroying your furniture!  Good dog!  Free your brain from Crazytown and get moving!"  


So what's next?  I'm not really sure.  But as I continue to figure out my next step, I'm hoping that this realization keeps me from eating another proverbial couch cushion.  And speaking of eating, this entry's recipe is German Chocolate Cake!  Combining chocolate, coconut goop and pecans, it happens to be my favorite of all the chocolate cakes.  This recipe comes from The Joy of Cooking, which I simply refer to as The JOC:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9x2 inch round pans.  
Sift together: 
2 1/14 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


Combine and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth:
4 oz sweet baking chocolate, finely chopped. 
1/2 cup boiling water


Combine:
1 cup buttermilk or soup cream
1 tsp vanilla


In large bowl , beat until creamy:
2 sticks unsalted butter


Gradually add and beat on high speed until lightened in color and texture, 4-6 mins:
1 3/4cups sugar
 Beat in one at a time
4 large egg yolks


Add the melted chocolate and beat just until incorporated.  Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with buttermilk mixture in 2 parts, beating on low speed, or stirring with rubber spatula, until smooth.  In another bowl, beat on med speed until soft peaks form, 
4 large egg whites
scant 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Gradually add beating on high speed
1/4 cup of sugar
Beat until peaks are stiff but not dry.  Use rubber spatula to fold one quarter of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining whites.  Divide batter among pans  and bake until toothpick comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.  Let cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes.  Remove cake from pans and let cake cool completely.  Fill center with Coconut Pecan Filling, leaving sides bare. 


For Coconut Pecan Filling, combine in med sauce pan, 1 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk, heavy cream or half and half
3 large eggs
8 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces. 
Cook stirring constantly, over med heat, until mixture is thickened and bubbling gently around the edges.  Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes more.  Remove from heat and stir in:
1 1/3 cup flaked sweetened dried coconut
1 1/3 cup chopped pecans
Let cool until spreadable.  


There is another recipe I heartily enjoy from David Lebovitz, who lives in Paris, is amazing and I love him.