Around in April {wrapup}

...enjoyed an idyllic Easter Sunday in DC, complete with sun, friends, flowers, puppies and little girls in pretty dresses. Truly, all these things were present.

...went to the doctor and had three ailments to report. I've never had more than one.

...saw my second Broadway play (opposed to a musical). It closed the next week.

...savored some lovely poetry during National Poetry Month. In celebration, my husband brought home a collection of poems I'd wanted.

...visited the ice cream shop for the first time this season. I commemorated the occasion with the house special, coffee ice cream with peanut butter and chocolate.

...anticipated a surprise that my husband teased me with all month. That great evening moved me to tap my feet and shed a few tears.

Pasta with peas, pancetta and spring pesto...compromise in relationships not in flavor

Me: I think the herbs are what really make this dish.
Husband: I think it's the bacon.

As the rules of marriage dictate, we're both right. The herbs bring a bright, fresh taste to the dish while the pancetta provides complementary saltiness and texture. Additionally, the dish comes together quickly for a weeknight dinner and travels well as leftovers in your workday lunch.

Pasta with Peas, Pancetta and Spring Pesto

(inspired by Every Day with Rachael Ray May 2011)

1 box (14.5 ounces) rotini

2.5 ounces basil (¾ cup, destemmed)

1 ounce mint (¼ cup destemmed)

1 bunch parsley (¾ cup, destemmed)

3 cloves garlic minced

3 tablespoons sliced almonds
a handful of parmesan + extra for serving

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter

½ medium yellow onion, diced

4 ounces pancetta, diced

10 ounces frozen peas

¾ cup white wine

¾ cup light cream

Boil a large pot of water. Add pasta, and cook to al dente, following directions on the package. Reserve a cup of pasta cooking water. While the pasta is cooking, lightly toast almonds over low-medium heat in a small, dry pan, stirring often. Set aside to cool.

Combine the basil, mint, parsley, garlic, almonds, parmesan and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse into a paste. Add olive oil gradually (about 1/2 cup) until paste is loose.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the pancetta, and stir for another minute. Then add the peas, and stir to heat through. Stir in the wine, increase heat to medium-high, and cook to reduce for 3 minutes. Stir in the cream, and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat. Let the sauce bubble and thicken for a few minutes.

Add the pasta and pesto to the cream sauce. Stir to combine. Add 3/4 to 1 cup of reserved cooking water to thin out the sauce. Serve topped with parmesan.

Serves 6

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One of Our Thursdays is Missing {book review}

One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde {book review}

Awaiting the next installment in a beloved series can be nerve-wracking (e.g. - the final Harry Potter movie). You can't wait to come alongside your fictional friends once again but also worry that some of the magic may have been lost during the separation.

Fortunately, the sixth book in the Thursday Next series retains its freshness with new ideas, characters and perspectives but doesn't sacrifice any of its original charm or quirky humor in the process. 

For Thursday Next novices, I would recommend this series if you:

1. want to try something new (I can't think of many readalikes for this series)
2. would like to try some fantasy but don't consider yourself a fantasy reader
3. are a bibliophile
4. could go for a laugh right about now

The series resides in an alternate reality England, which in some ways is not terribly different from what we know. However, there are some oddities as well, such as: 

1. a Crimean War that endures today
2. a fanaticism of literature which requires a special policing department dedicated to literary crimes
3. the re-engineering of dodos and Neanderthals
4. a government agency which engages in and regulates time travel.

The general public is aware of all these things, but what is lesser known is that in addition to the RealWorld that they inhabit, there also exists the BookWorld.

All the characters and plots of books, as well as the primordial parts of books which have yet to be written, live in the BookWorld. The two worlds remain strictly separated, except for a chosen few.

Thursday Next is one of those rare RealWorld residents that can cross between the two worlds. Next's cool ease and relatable faults, reminiscent of Kinsey Millhone, make her a perfect counterpoint to the series' larger-than-life characters, such as the corrupt Jack Schitt, homicidal-yet-clueless Emperor Zhark and vanquisher of dark beings, Spike Stoker.

Since we last tuned in, the RealWorld Thursday has gone missing, and it's up to the BookWorld Thursday to find her as well as avert a literary civil war.

Part of the charm of this book is getting to experience the BookWorld through the written Thursday's veteran eyes and the RealWorld for the first time from her fresh perspective. So much of a text's depth comes from the experiences that the reader brings to it. As a result, the BookWorld lacks much of idiosyncratic richness of the RealWorld. One of the wonders that the written Thursday marvels over is crowd interaction:

By using subtle sensory cues and working on a basic set of rules you can enter a crowd full of people all heading in different directions and come out on the other side without touching anyone or causing an accident... 

I stepped into the crowd, and almost immediately a woman stopped dead in front of me...I could sense I was disrupting the smooth liquidity of the crowd, and based on the noises people were making, it wasn't appreciated. I got to the other side of the street without bumping into anyone, but only just.

This outsider's perspective comes to mind everyday as I navigate the crowds in the train station. Such freshness is what keeps my relationship with the series going strong.

Readalikes (If you liked...)

As I mentioned, the originality of this series makes it difficult to compare it to other works, but I'll give it a try.

If you enjoy the Thursday Next series because you're a bibliophile, you might enjoy the realistic humor of The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.

If you like Thursday's character, you might like Sue Grafton mysteries.

If you appreciate nontraditional fantasy, you might like The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger or The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.

Chocolate cupcakes...with a secret

Remember how I was raving about avocado?

Food Network Magazine featured 31 ways (one for each day in the month of May) to use avocado, including replacing some of the butter and oil in baked goods with avocado. It makes sense. Avocado seems so rich. Of course it belongs in a dessert. I've wanted to try it since I saw this recipe, which is still on my to-do list. I did, however, put together these chocolate cupcakes. They're moist, and the lime juice in the icing is pleasantly unexpected and refreshing coming off a long winter.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing...and Avocado
(inspired by Food Network Magazine, May 2011, and The Weekend Baker by Abigail Dodge)

Cupcakes

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3/4 cup hot water

½ avocado (smashed into a paste with a fork, yielding about ¼ cup)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or line with sprayed foil liners.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the water, avocado, oil, egg and vanilla. Stir until well blended.

Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 16 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Icing

1/2 avocado

juice of two limes, divided

2 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup dark chocolate chips (microwave for 1 minute and stir until creamy)

Put 1/2 avocado in a food chopper with the juice of one and a half limes. Combine until a paste forms. Add avocado, powdered sugar and melted chocolate chips to a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Add one teaspoon of remaining lime juice at a time. Stir and add additional juice until icing is desired consistency.

Store cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes 12

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Note - The key is to puree the avocado into as smooth of a consistency as possible before adding it to the other ingredients.

Happy Easter weekend!

National Poetry Month treasures

From Poets.org

I've been enjoying a charmed National Poetry Month. The books I've read, the websites I've browsed and the people I've talked to have brimmed with poetry. Unlike so many experiences with verse where I was left blinking under thought bubbles filled with question marks, this year I've encountered several works that have brought me tears, giggles and reflection.

This month, I discovered treasure in past Poet Laureate programs:

Poetry 180 encouraged the inclusion of poetry in each of the 180 days of a student's school year. Try the first day and see what you think.

American Life in Poetry provided weekly poetry columns to newspapers and online publications.

I've really enjoyed combing through these programs' archives. They tout the message that poetry can be accessible and relatable. I anticipate being introduced to some new favorite poets.

This weekend I...

Poem in Your Pocket Day

From Poets.org

I'm celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day as part of National Poetry Month, and I'm pleased to see that my new home is observing too.

Collide

Tears, shouting, accusation

turn into

pauses, listening, conversation

Silence, frustrating, desperation

interrupted by

vision, considering, revelation

Glances, skimming, hesitation

crack to reveal

details, emerging, illumination 

Taco night...but better

Tacos are tasty and easy, an excellent weeknight combination. I use four tricks to make taco (or taco salad) night even better:

1. homemade seasoning - The recipe makes enough for several taco nights.
2. homemade salsa - It's quick to pull together and adds freshness to the meal. 
3. avocado -Shockingly rich and nutritious, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier.
4. corn muffins - The muffins' flavor and texture goes well with taco salads.

These tricks take a commonplace dish and make it truly memorable. 

Corniest Corn Muffins
(inspired by Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
5 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons oil
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup of frozen corn kernels, thawed and patted dry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In another large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, oil, egg and yolk. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir with a spatula. Do not over mix; the batter will be lumpy. Stir in corn. Divide among muffin cups. 

Bake for 15 minutes, until tops are golden. Cool on a rack.

Makes 12

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Notes - The only changes I made were to substitute instant minced onions for the onion powder in the taco seasoning (because I have a big container of it) and to reduce the salt and sugar in the corn muffins. I recommend doubling the salsa recipe, so you don't have to scrimp. 

After checking it out from the library over a dozen times, I finally bought my own copy of Baking: From My Home to Yours. I flip through it as I eat breakfast. I read it before I go to bed. I find this cookbook as compelling as a novel. 

Oasis

After an exhausting week, I cashed in all the late nights I'd put in and cut out early today. Bleary-eyed, I arrived at the train station only to find that I had a 45-minute wait.

Usually I jump at the opportunity to people watch, but I was vetoed by my restless feet. Instead, I went hunting for the station's market that my husband had recently recommended, comparing it to my beloved Eastern Market.

That man knows me. Grand Central Market charmed me with its many treasures, such as spindly mushrooms, spiky fruits and aromatheraputic spices. I fingered, sniffed and prodded my way down the length of the market. 

I was surprised by the smile I wore when I left 30 minutes later to catch my train.

Fennel and mushroom pie...vegetarian comfort food

I first read about Meatless Mondays on Ezra Pound Cake. If you aren't familiar, Meatless Mondays is a movement to encourage people to help their health and the environment by eating less meat. 

What it looks like for me is that I try to incorporate at least one meatless dish in my weekly meal plan. I don't hit that goal every week, but the idea keeps it in my consciousness. The main reasons I do this are to:

1. reduce our intake of saturated fats,
2. be more aware of how our habits affect others, and
3. reduce grocery bills, since meat can be pricey.

Fennel and Mushroom Pie is the newest vegetarian dish that I've added to my repertoire. It has all the comfort of shepherd's pie or bangers and mash (meals that I really enjoy) but with a vegetarian twist. The fennel gives the dish a fresh taste and more complex texture. This is only the second time I've cooked with fresh fennel, but I think I can safely say that I'm a fan. The pie, like shepherd's pie, doesn't have much structure. So, it's nothing special to look at, but some of the best things in life aren't too special on the outside.

Fennel and Mushroom Pie
(inspired by Ezra Pound Cake)

1 pound potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons milk (I used 2%.)
1 tablespoon butter
1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
4 pinches dried basil, divided
2 pinches dried parsley, divided
2 handfuls shredded mozzarella, divided
2 handfuls shredded cheddar, divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Boil two medium pots of water. Add the potatoes to one pot, and cook until tender, approximately 15 minutes. Add the fennel and carrot to the other pot, and cook until tender, approximately 7 minutes. Drain the fennel and carrot. Drain potatoes, and mash with milk and butter. Set both aside.

Heat olive oil in a medium pan. Add onions, and brown, approximately 7 minutes. Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Add mushrooms, and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover the bottom of a pie pan with bread crumbs. Add half of the mushrooms and onions, fennel and carrot, parsley, basil, cheeses and potatoes in layers. Repeat the layer, ending with potatoes.

Place pie pan on a baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes.

Serves 4

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Notes - Most of my changes were to increase the ease of preparation. The one thing I didn't love was all the pots and pans needed, but c'est la vie.