The Daring Baker's March Challenge!

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

The Lasagne recipe called for fresh made spinach pasta in a lasagne with bolognese sauce and bechemel. I elected to use Mario Batali's lasagne recipe as it has proven itself time and again to make a *terrific* lasagne.

First I used my chef's chopper to dice up mire poix. I could have pulled out the cuisinart, but I just love this little thing!





















Then I diced up pancetta.













Next was sauteeing the mire poix and pancetta in butter and olive oil until the veggies are soft.















Then you add in your meat. Mario tells you to use a beef/pork/veal mixture, but WF only had beef, no ground veal or pork when I visited the store... so I used 85% 15% beef...















Once the beef begins to brown you add in white wine, milk (to tenderize the meat) and tomato paste. You can also season to taste. I usually also add in a bit of balsamic vinegar. Then you let it simmer, uncovered until reduced. Usually about an hour.















Then it was time to make the pasta! (not unlike "time to make the donuts!") The challenge requested that you make spinach pasta, but the fam vetoed that... so I went for basic pasta. I was completely amazed that with flour and eggs you can make pasta. How cool is that?















After kneading and kneading, I had my pasta dough ball ready to go... I let it rest in the fridge covered for about a half an hour and then it was time to roll it out...





















Unfortunately, the ye old pasta maker is somewhere out in the garage, a victim of the Kitchen remodel. I thought about getting the attachment for my kitchenaid, but decided that after the last daring baker's challenge where a trip to Williams Sonoma ended up with me taking home an ice cream maker I would give it a bit of a rest and instead roll it out the old fashioned way!















I sectioned off my dough ball into smaller parts and then rolled them out until they were thin enough that I could see through to the granite countertops. I then laid the pasta sheets in a just dampened kitchen towel. I left the pasta sheets in uneven shapes until I was ready to put the lasagne together.

Next I made the bechemel. Butter, flour and milk... what could be easier, right?




























While letting the bechemel cool Mario suggests that you cover it with a sheet of parchment that has been buttered. The idea being the butter will melt from the steam of the bechemel and it will drip into the sauce, inhibiting the formation of a sauce-skin!!





















Next it was boiling the water for the pasta! I then cut up the pasta sheets into classic lasagne rectangles and proceeded to boil them, for just a moment (or until they rose to the top of the water) before putting them in my lasagne layers...



































First layer... sauce!














Then pasta, bechemel (and some ricotta with egg... because everything is better with more cheese!), then more sauce...














Pasta layer!




















Gratuitous side dish shot-- Panzanella a la Giada (but with feta!)














Done! Sorry, I don't have a good individual shot of a slice of the lasagne as we are like wolves by the time this stuff comes out of the oven and alas we never let it sit long enough to properly set up. Instead we just scoop it out and it oozes all over all cheesey, bolognese and tasty!

I won't consider myself to be in trouble until I start weeping blood

James Bond's got an answer for everything.

And I guess that's good, since yesterday errant nose mucous was coming out my tear duct every time I blew my nose.

That just never seems normal.

If it keeps up I'll get myself a hairless cat and you can expect to see me as Bond Villan #23.

In Your Dreams...

One of my photos will be on display as part of the "In Your Dreams" exhibit at the Pen and Brush Gallery in New York City begining April 3rd through April 26th. The show is curated by Edward J. Sullivan, Professor of Art History and Dean for the Humanities at New York University.

The Gallery is open: Thursday and Friday: 4:00pm - 7:00pm, Saturday and Sunday: 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Chicken Soup!

Right now I am incredibly congested. The kind of congested where if you swallow you feel like your ears and head will explode (and this is with Nyquil). The Husband has gone downstairs to make me some chicken soup. How cool is that? Shout out to the Husband!!

Circus!

Today we went to see the "Greatest Show on Earth"... Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey's latest show "Zing, Zang, Zoom!"












Sophie got to be a "Circus Celebrity" and we got called into the ring to sit and watch the show from *inside* the ring! The show was fab! (And yes, that is a special "circus" hat!!)

New Hat!

I made Miss B. a new hat for Easter! I used three balls of extra fine merino yarn that KK had given me, stranded together. The yarn color was white, lavender and a darker purple. I made two balls of yarn to start-- one that had one of each color and one ball that had two strands of lavender and one of white (I ran a bit short of the dark purple to do the whole hat in the one colorway). I knit the first two inches of the hat in the lighter color, the middle 5 inches in the darker color and then I alternated again towards the top. The Pattern came from Susan Anderson's "Itty Bitty Hats" book (which is a fabulous pattern book!) and the pattern calls for you to knit four rows with eyelets for the ribbons to be threaded through. To finish off the hat you tie additional ribbon cuttings on the top of the hat. It's fun for Spring and I think Miss B. is looking forward to trying it out!

Found It!

Glad to see that my AMEX card had only fallen between the driver's seat and the console in the Wagon. Alas, it wasn't in the lining of my coat (that's where my second lens cap was...) who says I'm not organized?

Chuck E. Cheese

Today's adventure was visiting Chuck E. Cheese with some of the folks from Gymboree. You'll be pleased to know that, at least while we were there, Crazy Mom was on her best behavior. There was no diaper changing on the tables, nor did she spout off what a crazy schedule she has. However, that being said, we weren't actually there for very long. Miss B. lost interest pretty quickly.

What can I say, I had never been to a Chuck E. Cheese before so I didn't realize that the "little kids" area was just comprised of a couple of those mechanical ride on cars like they have outside of supermarkets. In fact, I think there is a larger selection of mechanical cars in front of our local Old Navy at the Mall. There was no ball pit (which is I guess for the best since the Husband and I discussed, pre-Cheese visit how those things must be impossible to sanitize, unless they were to just douse the entire ball pit with purell from the ceiling a la the mist-devices in the produce section at your local grocery store...), there was one whack-a-mole, one basketball toss, a monster truck, a Barney "train" engine and a Bob the Builder backhoe. Also, I was apparently the only mom who purchased tokens so the machines actually worked... everybody else just seemed to let their kids climb on the rides but then have them not move or light up.

After about twenty minutes of "exploring" the toddler section, Miss B. decided she needed to attempt the Roger Bannister 3-minute mile to the other side of the restaurant. We made those laps a couple of times and then decided it was best if we headed home. After four dollars worth of tokens, our work was done.

Score!

I spent $17 on old books today. $5 at the Princeton Theological Seminary Book Sale (it was Box day.... $5 per box, provided you have to be able to carry the box out of the place, otherwise they'll charge you for two boxes) and $12 at the Wellsley Book Sale (which boasts to be the largest used book sale on the East Coast... I don't know if that is true, but it is certainly large...)

I managed to get a First Edition Umberto Eco, a $25 copy of Hemingway's Old Man and The Sea from 1952, a Vonnegut, a copy of Franny and Zooey that appears on Abebooks for $59 and a really neat old copy of "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Not to mention an Oxford edition of Jonathan Swift, for the Husband. Over all I got more than 30 books for $17 total!

Gymboree

So, today's Gymboree was relatively uneventful. Hippie Mom actualy admonished her child for having her finger up her nose to the second knuckle (win one for personal hygiene!) and Crazy Mom kept her daughter's pants on and everyone was dressed in outside clothes, rather than jammies.

That being said, there were at least two little girls with the equivalent of hacking smokers' coughs. Just a reminder to Moms out there... Gymboree does have a "generous" make-up policy, so please, if you or your tot is exhibiting some sort of typhoid, stay home! I found it a bit ironic that after class, one of the sick kids' nanny's kept covering the child's mouth when she would cough.... mind you, her mother (who accompanied the child in class while Nanny sat outside and waited) didn't bother to do that. Oh, well! And, I was a bit surprised to see this set up at all given that we're in the 'burbs... it seemed so "Manhattan" to have a Nanny waiting while the mom and tot attend class.... so much for Recession Chic.

Now, the big excitement comes tomorrow... we're having a Gymboree meet-up at a local children friendly restaurant. I'm sure there will be stories to tell, that is, if I can be pulled away from the Skee-Ball! :)

How to Spend 24 Hours

A) Sleep as much as you can.

B) Once awoken, call office, speak to underlying. Make many more repeated phone calls and emails to Job colleagues re: closing.

C) Bathe. Dress. Bathe child. Dress child. You'd be surprised how many of our friends and neighbors think the "bathing" step is optional, both for themselves and their children. Apparently, Charles Schultz was on to something with "Pigpen". Of course, the other night when I made this observation to the Husband I mistakenly called the Peanuts creator George Schulz (aka the former Secretary of State) regardless, I'm sure he knew a lot about people who fail to take into account personal hygiene, too.

D) Get in Car to drive to City for Puppet Show and general fun-having.

E) Pick up Dunkin Donuts (toasted plain bagel, munchkins, Pepsi, cup of ice). It's Miss B's fave.

F) Proceed to have conference calls with opposing counsel re: last minute title issues, yada, yada, yada while navigating the New Jersey Turnpike. Thank goodness for that pesky hands-free device.

G) Call client while at lowest possible point in Lincoln Tunnel. Be shocked that AT&T service does not decide to "drop call" at crucial moment.

H) Spot NYC police officer directly outside of Lincoln Tunnel while on call with client. Be thankful for pesky hands-free device.

I) Travel up West Side Highway to parking garage destination at Museum of Natural History. Suit up Baby into stroller and attempt to locate "Swedish Cottage" in Central Park.

J) Locate Swedish Cottage, thanks to IKEA-esque Swedish Flag.

K) Attend Marionette Show with Thisbe and Wee Kraken. Reconsider appropriateness of themes in "Peter Pan". Wonder, why is Neverland a good place just because you don't have to take a bath? Question whether this is some sort of mass water-conserving conspiracy vis-a-vis lack of bathing. Hmpf.

L) Shake Shack. Chocolate Shake.

M) Wish farewell to Thisbe and Wee Kraken, now realize we are in New York Metro Area at 3pm. Certainly far too early to return to the wilds of Central New Jersey.

N) Pack Baby in Car, Baby falls asleep in car after approximately 35 seconds. Traverse George Washington Bridge. Find one's self on Route 4 nearing Paramus. If you're in Northern New Jersey, you've got to be near a mall.

O) Visit Bergen Town Center. Home to Nordstrom Rack, Century 21, Saks Off Fifth, Filene's Basement, etc., etc. That's Right. We've found the center of the Northern Jersey Discount Black Hole. Find cute outfits for Baby at Nordstrom. Cheap Seven for All Mankind jeans at Saks and an amazingly large liquor department at Whole Foods. Apparently, Bergen County's laws are far different from Mercer and Middlesex. Of course, you can't buy anything in Bergen on a Sunday, but you can buy wine while shopping for organic produce Monday through Saturday. Who Knew?

P) Next stop? IKEA. The Swedish thing is a theme, apparently. Discover that you can't live without: i) a bulletin board, ii) one small 5 X 7 frame, iii) flexible cutting boards and, finally, iv) two extremely large terra cotta pots (which require you to use a flatbed cart, while negotiating the store with a stroller in tow).

Q) Repeat the phrase: "If I keep the wheels straight, it will go straight" all the way to the parking lot, while using the stroller as a rudimentary rudder to keep flatbed cart stable.

R) Drive home via Garden State Parkway, Turnpike and Routes 1 and 18, thus having successfully circumnavigated the State of New Jersey.

S) Feed Baby Dinner, get Baby ready for bedtime.

T) Hang out with Husband while having tuna on toast and watching the Real Housewives.

U) Take shower. I'm big on this cleanliness thing.

V) Write droll blog entry about day's adventures, since clearly, everyone's dying to know how we spend 24 hours.

W) Repeat Step A above.

It's the Last ER..... (dramatic pause....)

before the Finale!!! (What is that supposed to mean exactly?) NBC has really hit rock bottom with how they market their shows.

TRHWoNJ

Gawker (and People Mag) confirm, the Real Housewives of New Jersey will be starting on Bravo May 12th. I love the quote from Gawker--- "If that doesn't spell New Jersey better than three big tanks reading "Oil" "Heats" and "Best," I don't know what does."

Update on the Crazy Mom

At this week's art class, as per the aforementioned e-mailed schedule from the Crazy Mom, Crazy Mom and two of her three tots (Bingo and Thing 1) joined in for a "make-up" class. In class we were making rocket ships and as Miss B. and I painted a recycled water bottle to make it look like a space shuttle I noticed that the younger of Crazy Mom's daughters, Bingo (who is 2), was wearing a seafoam green zip-up fleece footed pajama suit.

I thought to myself, "hmpf. that's odd. she's got on jammies..." but then I thought, "well, I remember someone saying they only dressed their child in old clothes for art class, so maybe she's using it as a smock??"

Then, a few minutes later another mom started doing the ye old sniff test because she could tell that someone had a diaper that needed changing. Turns out it was Bingo (the one in the PJs)... then I hear Crazy Mom say something to the effect of how the diaper is going to be a full one because it's the first diaper to be changed... and in hearing what she said, and noticing again the PJs, it made me think... wait a minute... have you not changed her diaper yet since she woke UP??

Then Crazy Mom proceeded to change her daughter on the floor in the art room in front of everybody (note, I wouldn't have thought this was a big issue if there a) hadn't been a changing facility at Gymboree 50 feet from where we were or b) if we were at someone's house and she asked if it was okay-- but honestly, I felt bad for the art teacher who appears to be a 17 year old girl who really seemed dismayed that there was a naked toddler butt on the floor in the middle of the room *during class*.) Then, once this is all done I notice that Bingo is now wearing a new outfit. That's right, she's not in jammies any more. And we're still painting, so there goes the theory that she had on the fleece pj suit as a smock.

Yes, as best I can tell Crazy Mom is so "busy" that she got Bingo up from sleep, kept her diaper unchanged and in PJs all the way from where they live three towns over just to get to art class on time. FYI: Sometimes it's okay to get to art class late.

Confessions of a Pilgrim Shopaholic

This short story by Paul Rudnick was in last week's New Yorker. It's too funny.

Cutie!

AIG?

Okay, so I'm not any kind of a financial wizard or anything, and I'm sure other people have already thought of this, yada, yada, yada, but as a lawyer, I would ask... why is the government surprised that AIG is paying out those bonuses? I mean, if you were handing over that much of a dole to someone wouldn't you have conditioned delivery of the funds on a few things, such as that the money is not to be used to pay out bonuses, regardless of AIG's "contractual obligations" to do so?

It's the Federal Government. Essentially, they can do just about whatever they want to. They could have structured the bailout money as a loan and then as one of the loan conditions limited the ability of AIG to make distributions or otherwise make payments to employees outside of standard payroll operating expenses (with reasonable limitations thereon). It seems to me that there was no good reason why the bail out money couldn't have come with limitations. It seems like a bit of a "too little, too late" now trying to get the money back! Oooh, let's try and shame the executives into returning it. Sure, that'll work!

Hackensack!

How often do you find yourself in Hackensack!?!

Well, today, Miss B. and I went up to Morristown with the Husband who was attenting a lecture put on by the University of Chicago. While the Husband was in the lecture, we hit up the Morristown Century 21. Then, afterwards, the whole fam headed over to Houston's at the Shops at Riverside in Hackensack! Spinach dip, Chicken Fingers (and a lovely pork chop for the Husband) and we stuffed ourselves silly!

Then, once we came home, we started watching the Celebrity Apprentice and where were the gang? They were in front of St. Bart's! (Where the Husband and I got married...) Even Donald Trump said it's known for weddings!

You Know You're a Mom When...

You wake up and put in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" for your child and end up paying more attention to it than they do. Then you find yourself doing vacuum cleaner repair, followed in short order by crayon stain removal from home furnishings. All before lunch.

The Overscheduling of the American Childhood

Earlier this week one of the Gymboree Moms circulated an email asking the Gymboree gang if we wanted to get together at a local Chuck E. Cheese for a playdate.

I've never been to the Cheese, but I thought it was a nice idea so I emailed back saying we were pretty much free any day but Thursday.

Today, we all got a message from one of the other moms. It seems, her schedule is a bit more complicated than the rest of ours.

In the interest of privacy, all of the names have been changed. Crazy Mom's youngest shall be known as "Bingo" and her two older children shall be known, in honor of Dr. Seuss, as "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" After having come to our house for a play date, it's appropriate, trust me.

To: Gymboree Moms
From: Crazy Mom
Re: Get Together

Hi all,

We would love to get together. The schedule is complex . . . apologies before I
start:

Monday- this monday, and subsequent alternating mondays are not good. On the other weeks, I drop Thing 1 for playdate after gymnastics at 12:30 and pick up between 2:30-3, so Bingo & I are free 1-2:30.

Tuesday- 9-10:30 is free. 11am we have library class. Thing 1 at school 12:25-2:50, Bingo & I are free for playdate

Weds- Bingo & I go to 10:20 gymboree, free for lunch, playground, Chuck E Cheese or other until 2:50 Thing 1 pick up.

Thurs- 9-10:30 is free. Thing 1, Bingo & I go to 11:15 - 12 gymboree, then free until 3:35 Thing 2 pick-up

Fri- 9-12 is free. Drop Thing 1 at school 12:25. Bingo & I free until pick up Thing 1at 2:50. (FYI: Next week we're coming to Gymboree art to make up a missed sibling gym class, so we'll see you then.)

When you have to tell people that "subsequent alternating Monday's" aren't good you may be taking this a bit too seriously. I mean, come on. I'm currently negotiating documentation for a transaction valued at $200,000,000 and I can narrow things down to "Thursday's bad", do we really all need to see just how "booked-up" you are with five kinds of Gymboree, tumbling and "pre-school"? It's just Chuck E. Fricking Cheese, pick a time!