On a jet airplane 30 January 2009

I have just a few minutes to post this, as I am supposed to be getting ready. But this is what 4:30 in the morning looks like? Yeah, I didn’t really need to know this.

My flight to California leaves at 7:40am, but we live just forty minutes from the airport.  It’s such a change from living in Washington when it would take us two hours to get to SeaTac!  I would have been on the road already if I still lived in Washington.  Then again, it wouldn’t take me very long to get there by plane, instead of the eight hours I’m going to spend on a plane today — and that’s not including layovers!

So now I am off to see my Cakes, my wonderful friends who have brightened my life with laughter and joy and shared experience, who have supported me when when I am down, and who were so thrilled for me when things went my way.  I love these girls so, so much, and I cannot wait to see them all this weekend.  And the folks who couldn’t make it, I know they will be there in spirit.  You will be missed, I assure you.

I will not be posting again till I return, which isn’t till Monday, but I doubt I’ll get online till Tuesday (wait, isn’t that a band?).  Have a fantastic weekend, and don’t miss me too much.

PS — A very happy birthday goes out to my good friend Elle, whose birthday is tomorrow, and also to the most awesome CardioGirl, whose birthday is Sunday.  Stop by their pads and wish them many happy returns!

Nom nom nom 28 January 2009

I have really hit the motherlode with the cooking this week.  First the baked ziti, then an amazing pot roast, and even tonight a quick pineapple chicken bake that was really yummy!  And none of it was particularly hard.  I guess the pot roast was the hardest thing, since it required a long cooking time — but the prep was super easy.  Brown the meat, soften some veggies in the fat left in the pot, put the roast back into the pot with beef broth and chicken broth, and braise in the oven for three and a half hours while flipping the roast every 30 minutes.  Chop up more veggies (potatoes, parsnips, and carrots), chuck into the pot with the meat, and braise for another hour.  Remove the veggies and meat from the pot and let the meat rest.  Add some dry red wine to the liquid left in the pot and reduce into a flavorful jus.

It was simply amazing.  Seriously.  It was so good that as we were eating, Kurt kept saying, “Did you have the meat??”  And he wouldn’t quit talking about it!  We finished the last of it for lunch today, and we were both so sad to see it gone.

I might have to make a pot roast as soon as I get back from California next week!

I’ve had several requests for the recipe for the baked ziti.  And here you think I have forgotten!  It is really easy.  I assure you that if you can boil pasta, you can make this dish.  Bonus!  It’s meat-less, so it’s great for vegetarians.

Baked Ziti with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Serves 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour (includes 20 minutes baking time)

In this baked pasta dish, melted mozzarella provides the binding for the pasta and other ingredients.  Use fresh mozzarella if possible, because it will add a nice creaminess and moisture to the dish.  Other short tubular pastas, such as rigatoni or penne, can be substituted for the ziti.

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for oiling the dish
2 garlic cloves
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Salt
1 pound ziti
8 ounces mozzarella, shredded (2 cups)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot for the ziti.

2. Meanwhile, cook 1 tablespoon oil and the garlic in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until the garlic is fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes with their juice.  Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the basil, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3. When the water is boiling, stir in 1 tablespoon salt and the ziti.  Cook, stirring often, until the ziti is almost tender but still a little firm to the bite.

4. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the ziti and return it to the pot.  Stir in the tomato sauce and toss to coat.  Add the reserved cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce.

5. Spread half the ziti in an oiled 9 by 13-inch baking dish.  Sprinkle with half the mozzarella and half of the Parmesan cheese.  Spread the remaining ziti in the dish and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.

6. Bake until the cheeses turn golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Let cool for 5 miuntes before serving.

Doesn’t that sound delicious?  Seriously, if you can afford it, definitely spring for the fresh mozzarella.  It makes the dish.  Of course, you can’t shred fresh mozzarella.  I chopped it up, then rubbed it between my fingers as I dropped it onto the hot ziti.  That’s how you get that amazing stringy, melty cheese.

Try it out, and let me know how it goes for you!

Frugal tips and tricks: 27 January 27 January 2009

It’s that time of the week again!  Time to delve into my battered paperback copy of Hints from Heloise to find more useful tips and tricks.

This week, we’ll tackle the closet.

Heloise writes:

I had a funny thought the other day: What did folks do before someone came up wiuth the idea of closets?  A friend of mine had the answer: “It’s not what they did — it’s what they didn’t… they didn’t worry about what their closets looked like.”

Isn’t it the truth?

So true.  Heloise then goes on to suggest cleaning out one’s closet.  Be ruthless, she says.  Chuck out everything that doesn’t fit, ones that aren’t in style anymore, or things that you bought with the idea of wearing — but then realized it wasn’t such a great idea.

That’s the part I have trouble with.  I’ve got so many clothes I have some kind of emotional attachment to.  Generally it’s just my t-shirts.  I have shirts from high school still.  Yes, folks, I still have my t-shirt that I made for my Odyssey of the Mind competition in 1992.  I’ve got my shirts from the various theatre productions of which I was a part in high school, including Oliver! and South Pacific, not to mention the fall One-Act Festival from when I was a senior.  That is one of my favorite shirts, too, a long-sleeved black tee with the productions listed on the front in white.  I also have two t-shirts from my residence hall my freshman year in college — one that says, “Looking for a good time?  Go down on First East.”  Heh.  The other has a caricature of everyone from First East on the back.  I love that one not only for its sentimental value, but also because it’s a ringer tee, and there is nothing I love better than a ringer tee.  My real mom accidentally bleached it, however, which means the bands around the neck and sleeves are no longer navy blue.  They’re now tan.

I don’t seem to have that attachment to pants or dresses.  Maybe it’s because I express myself more through my shirts than through my jeans.  And I hardly ever wear dresses.  Why do I need to, as a stay-at-home mom?

OK, so now you have gone through your clothes.  What next?

Hang them up neatly!  Heloise suggests:

Hang all the short things — blouses, jackets, shirts — together.  Hey, look what’s under them — more found space.  You can fill it in with a small chest of drawers for accesssories and odds and ends.  Or, if you’re organizing a his-her closet, you can install a second clothes rod and hang his jackets above her blouses.

Finally, hang your long clothes — coats, robes, etc.

Doesn’t everything look neat and nifty.  Isn’t that closet lots bigger than you thought?

Let’s tackle the clothes rod!

From Alabama: “Take a few extra second to rub a bit of wax on the clothes rod and you’ll find hangers can be pushed back and forth along it lots easier.”

Well, that helps!  But I think we have plastic rods, so it’s not that big of a deal for us.

Oh!  Do you have a lot of purses/handbags?  I have quite a few, but I let them stack up in my coat closet.   I guess I shouldn’t do that.  Heloise has a solution, though:

From Illinois: “I drove four small-headed nails in my closer wall and placed an empty thread spool over each.  I then painted the spools to match the wall and hung my purses over the spools.  This saves storage space and also looks very neat.”

That’s a great idea, if you have empty spools.  I do, since I sew, but I don’t expect everyone to have that.  You could also use wine corks!  Lots of folks have lots of wine corks.  I have my own collection, though I haven’t decided what I am doing with them.  Maybe if I weren’t moving in 18 months, I would find a use for them in my closet.

So there you have quite a few tips to help you organize your closet.  I need to do that.  Every so often I clear out my shirts and make a pile for Goodwill.  Maybe it’s time for you to do the same!

Please share any organizing tips in my comments.  You never know when something you leave as a comment will help other readers!