Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Aren't You Hungry?


Eating: It's been awhile since I posted a recipe.  How about something you might never expect - Pizza Waffles.  If you are like us, you have a waffle maker but use it only once every couple of months, if that.  Why not branch out into something other than the usual breakfast waffles, perhaps something savory?

E discovered this recipe a few years ago while watching a TV show, I don't remember which one.  One of those local daytime talk shows. (Per further research, it was on KARE-11 TV.)  They had a guy, Ross Sveback, who was hosting some "Waffles Redefined" cooking shows around town, and demonstrated Pizza Waffles.  E quickly found the recipe on the website, printed it off and we have been making them ever since.  I may have been a bit obsessed with them early on and probably annoyed more than a couple friends with my incessant talk of "pizza waffles pizza waffles pizza waffles." Must say it 3 times fast - fun!  It is not a last minute supper idea since the batter needs to sit for 1 1/2 hours.  Also, plan ahead if you want to make the yummy fresh sauce.  We generally make it on the weekend.  In a pinch, E and I have used premade pizza sauce. Don't tell. If we do make the sauce below, we often substitute dried herbs for the fresh, just because we don't have fresh herbs on hand in the winter.

Pizza Waffles - recipe by Ross Sveback

Basic Yeast Batter
1 1/2 C milk
8 T butter
1/2 C warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 1/3 C all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1 T sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 t baking soda

Place milk and butter in a small pan over medium heat until the butter has melted.  In a liquid measuring cup, place the warm water, sugar and yeast.  Stir to combine and let sit for ten minutes.  Combine the flour and salt.  Add the milk/butter mixture.  Stir in the yeast mixture.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours.  The mixture will bubble.  Remove the plastic wrap and stir in eggs and baking soda.

For Pizza Waffles
1 1/2 C minced pepperoni (E and I use Canadian bacon because we prefer it)
1 C shredded Parmesan cheese (plus more for garnishing)
2/3 C fresh diced mozzarella cheese (we use shredded "unfresh" because that is what we have)
1 recipe Basic Yeast Batter

For the waffles, stir in pepperoni and cheeses into batter.  Pour batter into waffle iron and bake until brown.  Transfer onto a rack in the oven that has been preheated to 200 degrees to keep them crisp if necessary.  Serve with tomato-basil sauce (recipe below) and Parmesan cheese.

For Tomato-Basil Sauce
1 28 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1/2 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
1 tsp oregano
8 basil leaves, minced
salt

Heat oil in a frying pan and add garlic.  Heat until it has softened.  Add tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme and oregano.  Cook slowly for 15 minutes to reduce the juices and infuse the flavors.  Remove from heat and stir in basil.

Photo is from the KARE-11 website.

Totally tasty and a great use of the waffle iron.  Try them and let me know what you think.

Until we eat again,
Hallie

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Highlights of 2013 Reading - Newbery Medal Selections

I think my blog has been trying to send me a message.  I received 5 emails in the past week that there were anonymous comments on the blog, all of which were about how to get anti-anxiety meds.  Yes, I have been a bit anxious this past year.  No, I am not taking medication for it. And no, I am not going to follow a link from an anonymous comment on a blog to learn how to get alprazolam/zolpidem/any medication in the entire world.  Unfortunately for anonymous commenters, I have now changed the settings to not allow anonymous comments.  Sorry for those of you who liked to comment anonymously, but spam is too annoying. 

Reading: I read 44 books in 2013, the same number of books I read in 2012.  This was not planned and at the beginning of December when I had only 39 on the list, I did not think I would match the previous year.  But the next couple books on the Newbery Medal list were quick ones and I rallied.  Since I didn't do a great job of updating the blog on my reading, here are the highlights.

To recap my Newbery challenge: I plan to read all Newbery Medal winners from the year I was born to the present, in the order they won.  I am not reading runners-up or honorable mentions, just the winners. I am providing a link to the complete list of Newbery Medal winners so you can follow along at home.


I completed 19 Newbery Medal winners, the selections from 1971 to 1989.  Coincidentally, the last one read was from the year I graduated from high school, so I have read through my childhood.  I liked some better than others (no surprise, of course). 

Since one of the winners was the 4th book in a 5 book series, I read the other 4 in the series also (the winner was The Grey King by Susan Cooper, the series was The Dark is Rising) and discovered I do like some fantasy books after all.  It incorporated legends of King Arthur and different mythologies into the classic good versus evil story with some fun time-travelling. 

Another of the books,  Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt, was a sequel so I also re-read the first book (Homecoming).  Part of the reason for re-reading was just an excuse to re-experience some books by a favorite author from when I was in high school.  I loved the strong female characters in these books.  Homecoming is the story of 4 siblings whose mother leaves them in the parking lot of a mall in Connecticut.  Dicey, the oldest at 13, realizes her mother is not coming back and leads her siblings to the home of a relative they have never met.  They are walking, have little money and are not sure what awaits them.  It is a very emotional journey as the reader and the siblings encounter many characters along the way and struggle to know whom to trust.  Dicey's Song picks up their story after the journey, as the siblings try to adapt to their new home and still try to understand their mother and why she left them.  Heavy stuff for young adult fiction, but very well written and fully-formed characters.

Some other Newbery winners I liked with similarly heavy subject matter: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox (13-year old Jessie is kidnapped and sent on a slave ship where his job is to play his fife and "dance" the slaves to keep their bodies strong and therefore profitable) and  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (racism in Mississippi during the Great Depression).

A few of the winners were books I had read one or several times before.  One of my "rules" with this challenge was that I would re-read them, no matter how recently I had last read them.  Re-reads were a chance to fall in love all over again with some of my favorites: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (story of 2 outcasts who become friends and create a wonderful imaginary kingdom where they rule.  Made me cry, just like it did the first time I read it.); The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (wonderfully written mystery with great characters - kept me guessing and trying to figure out who-done-it just like the first time.  Apparently I did not remember the ending...); Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (a slim book about 2 children, their widowed father and a woman who answers a newspaper ad and moves from Maine to the Midwest prairie to become their mother and wife).

Some of the books I expected not to like (because of subject matter, style, or main characters who were rodents) but enjoyed thoroughly: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien (actually found myself cheering for the Frisby family (mice) and the rats as they work together to move the mouse family's home out of danger's way and keep one step ahead of the research lab);  A Visit to William Blake's Inn by Nancy Willard (a collection of magical and fanciful poems inspired by William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience); Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman (insect-inspired poems written to be read aloud by 2 people - I made E read a few of them with me); and Lincoln: a photobiograpy by Russell Freedman (I didn't really know what to expect and thought I knew everything I needed to know about Abraham Lincoln.  Turns out, I knew next-to-nothing about this fascinating man.  Wonderfully written and great illustrative photos of key points.).

Other books I liked that don't fit into one of the weird random categories I created above: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (an Eskimo girl escapes a bad family situation and lives among a pack of wolves - an inadequate description of a book full of cultural commentary and nature lessons); A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan Blos (historical novel about a 13-year-old girl who experiences loss of a friend and her father's remarriage, and helps an escaped slave.  And I LOVE epistolary books!); Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary (a boy starts writing letters to his favorite author as part of an assignment for school.  His letters soon turn to journal entries as he tries to become a writer himself, and we learn about his struggles with his parent's divorce, his absent father, loneliness in a new school and someone who keeps stealing his lunch.  Did I mention I LOVE epistolary books?); Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (which I described in a previous post). 
 
There you have it. Some of the Newbery Medal winners I enjoyed last year.

Coming (hopefully) soon: other reading highlights from 2013.

Until we read again,
Hallie
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