We have just returned the Boy Wonder's play observance related to one of our kindergarten options for the fall. He had a wonderful time, no doubt due in large part to the school's fairly relaxed atmosphere and the genuinely delighted welcome he received in the playground. Entropy Girl and I played in a sandbox off to the side while her brother had the run of the place along with a few other "rising kindergarteners".

This particular school is turning out to be the favorite of both parents and child in our house due to the proudly casual stance toward academics in pre-K and K, as well as their very groovy play areas, filled with all manner of open-ended toys made of natural materials. (As I said in response to a recent comment, I do expect my children to receive quite rigorous educations although I don't feel they need to start when they're four years old.) Because the Boy Wonder is picking up quite a bit of basic reading and math on his own I'm very comfortable continuing what we're doing at home while simultaneously providing him with his own social space. So far, this school seems a very nice fit. I also enjoyed meeting the other parents present, and sensed no competitive vibe from them - a pleasant surprise. We talked and laughed and watched the kids play, enjoying lemonade and cookies. Entropy Girl was the only sibling and she quickly became the parental mascot and enjoyed walking from adult to adult seeking cookies and hugs. An altogether lovely afternoon.



This is what, for lack of a better term, I'm calling spanikopita pie.

I started to make spanikopita as one of the egg hunt refreshments, using this recipe. Although I have made spanikopita before, I've never made it in the kind of little triangle style (like you see at weddings and corporate holiday parties). Turns out, making those little triangles is a huge hassle (I guess there's good a reason you can buy them in your freezer section for $5.00/dozen after all) and something that I have to confess utter failure at. So, faced with all this filling mixture and more phyllo dough than any American kitchen outside of Northeast Philly but only an hour until guests arrived, I decided to layer them in a pie plate and See What Happened.

What happened ended up being pretty nice. Quite delicious and not so messy to cut and eat. Basically, I followed the recipe up until folding time and then brushed some of the melted butter in a pie plate, placed two pieces of phyllo followed by a quarter cup or so, spread around, of the spinach mixture. Repeat until the spinach has been used up, and top with phyllo brushed with butter. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes or so (watch carefully), until the pie is puffed a bit and top phyllo layer is golden. Allow to cool, then slice and serve.

The result is something that would be good for lunch, with some fruit salad and an iced tea or even as a side with chops or a roast. I'm guessing that the pie would have been even better after a day's rest, but there was none left so I don't know for sure. All things considered, not a bad way to spend the last hour or so before a party and even better for not wasting the ingredients.

Sugar Cookies, Take 1, Part A


Since I wanted cookies for yesterday's very successful (despite the weather) egg hunt I decided to use the occasion for the first test for my sister-in-law's wedding favors. Although the cookies in the picture look like circles, they are actually egg shaped and, I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. My husband initially felt that we have a winner and no further testing is necessary but when I pointed out that more testing means more cookies he agreed that perhaps in the interests of science it would be a good idea after all.

I used the Butter Cookie recipe from Toba Garrett's splendid Creative Cookies. Toba Garrett is one of those wonderful Manhatten pastry chefs whose cakes and cookies fetch astonishing sums (her store offers a $250.00 cookie that serves six, and this ain't no giant mall cookie, friend). Anyway, her cookie and cake instructional books are among the few that I find are truly well-written and which offer clear, followable directions. Even more attractive, many of the designs in her books can be attempted with gear that most home pastry enthusiasts will have on hand or that is available in your local craft store. Ms. Garrett also offers private lessons, which I think it really just great.

Anyway, the Butter Cookie recipe is notable for two reasons. First, the dough does not require refrigeration before rolling (although it can be make in advance and refrigerated up to two weeks) - a definite plus, in my opinion, since I've always found refrigerated doughs very difficult to manipulate. Second, the recipe includes a small number of ingredients and it's very quick to throw together if your butter is sufficiently softened.

Butter Cookies (after Toba Garrett's Creative Cookies)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together, add the egg and vanilla and blend well. Add the powdered ingredients and blend into the butter mixture a bit at a time, blending well after each addition. Divide the finished dough into two balls, and wrap one ball in plastic until ready to use. Roll out the other ball on a floured surface to 1/4 inch. Cut out cookies using a knife or cookie cutter and remove cookies with a spatula to an ungreased, non-stick cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, taking care not to let the cookies brown.

Although the original recipe calls for use of a mixer, I made the dough by hand with a wooden spoon and had no trouble.

The glaze and piping was a very simple royal icing. Two pounds of confectioner's sugar, a couple tablespoons of powdered egg white, a half a teaspoon of vanilla or some other extract (I used almond), and a bit of warm water added very slowly, tablespoon by tablespoon until you have a fairly thick, pipable icing. To save time and pastry bags, I decided to pipe the outline of each cookie in white. By the time I finished outlining the last cookie, the first was dry enough to glaze.

Because I wanted to use several different colors of glaze, I removed three-quarters of a cup of the base icing to separate smaller bowls. To these I added a bit of color paste and another two tablespoons of water to create a more pourable icing. The cookies are filled by pouring a tablespoon or so of glaze to the center of the cookie and spreading it out with a toothpick to the borders of the outline and allowed to dry overnight. (Cover the bowl of piping icing with a clean, moistened tea towel - it should stay pipable until the next morning, needing a only a quick stir.)

All that remains is to pipe your designs. Fit a pastry bag with a #2 or #3 tip (I like a #3, personally), fill with the reserved piping icing and have a little fun. Since my piping skills are a work in progress, I stuck to dots, filligrees and swirls. I've seen advanced pipers do really extraordinary designs, but I try not to pressure myself overmuch (yeah, right) and remembered that the four year olds for whom the cookies were intended would likely appreciate even the most rudimentary work.

The next cookie test will involve this same base recipe using almond extract in the dough and another type of glaze - possible a rum version, I'm not sure. I also want to work on using a more firm piping icing since the actual wedding cookies will be almost twice as large as the eggs and I think we'll want the decorations to be more defined after drying.

I sowed radishes (Champion), lettuce mix (red and green leaf) and snap peas yesterday, finally. I've never been very good at growing anything from seed - I'm more of hit-the-garden-center-for-a-start kind of girl - but, as I've said, hope springs eternal and so we're trying again. The radishes and lettuce, if all goes well, will give way to green beans in a few months. It's the same bed where last year's pumpkin came down with powdery mildew so we're avoiding nightshade and viney things there.

There seems to be trouble in roseville around here. Last year I tore out all the leggy, branchy, spindly, scrawny specimens that dotted our landscape in favor of two supposedly hardy climbers procured from The Antique Rose Emporium, which operates out of Texas. These fine people, and I do recommend them for your rose needs, specialize in old roses, those that don't require the coddling that newer types (that is, the kind that even a small child would recognize as a rose) demand. I have two roses planted adjacent to the shed: an Anemone and a Clotilde Clotilde Soupert, neither of which is doing spectacularly. I don't think it's the roses' fault, though. I'm pretty sure the blame lies squarely with me for sins of misplacement or mishandling (or both). It's true that I don't have ideal rose conditions, even with additives my soil tends toward the clay and because we live in a clearing our sun patterns are challenging. Still, I'm dedicating extra time to the girls this year if for no other reason than I am seduced by the classic country vision of roses rambling up a trellis and over the roof of the shed. I've heard that roses like epsom salts and/or coffee grinds, along with a host of other notions. For the next few weeks I'll research if there's anything all I can do to help them along to what I hope will be a robust, flowering, healthy life.

We are in the midst of one of the most surreal experiences ever visited upon our family - something so peculiar that if I wasn't doing it myself I'd never believe the tale. No, we haven't taken up swinging or some hush-hush new religion. No, even stranger, it's kindergarten admissions. I recently read Nancy Leiberman's Admissions, which concerns and lampoons both the high school and kindergarten admissions processes as they are known in upper-middle to upper-class Manhatten circles. While I enjoyed the book as a fun, easy, silly read (if you need a beach book for spring break, you could do worse) I had no idea that I would actually live out some of what I had assumed where the crazier scenes. One school wants to know how the pregnancy that resulted in my son played out, in shocking (to me) detail. Was he breast fed? For how long? When did he cut his first tooth? What was his first word and when was it uttered?

Another school seems more concerned with his parents' professions, no doubt to ensure that, in addition to tuition, large donations might be forthcoming. Yet a third requires two separate "play observation" sessions, as well as parental interviews and notes on the nature of sibling interaction at our house.

I find myself dressing for school visits as if for a first date and answering the phone using my best "the boss may call any minute" voice. My husband reminds me that we're just as crazy in their eyes as they are to us and my queries ("Do you use phonics or Whole Language? How do you handle conflict between students? What is your stance on fantasy vs. reality play?") are probably just as eye-rolling as the breast-feeding bit. It's probably a good thing to keep in mind.

Anyway, the cookie project is going well and you should watch for an update and some photos within a day or two. I've also picked up the key limes so if you'd like to chuntey along you'll also need some brown sugar, ginger, vinegar, dried raison-like things (that is, raisons, sultanas, dried cranberries or whatever you like), garlic and some hot pepper-type thing (maybe cayenne or pepper flakes or somesuch). If you prefer regular old limes or even lemons that will be fine - your fruit prep method will be a little different, but nothing too onerous. I'll probably get to mine on Friday or Saturday.

I zipped into Whole Foods last night to pick up some rice milk and dairy-free snacks and spied that the man behind me in checkout had a bag of key limes.

Must be chutney time! I'm going to check my supplies of brown sugar and raisons. I've already enough vinegar I know. Hmm...what else?

We've got company at the moment and the big project right now is sugar cookie experimentation. My sister-in-law is to be married in June and she's chosen to give favors of large sugar cookies wrapped in cellophane. The tag with the recipient's name is also going to be their seating card.

I think this is a swell idea and have offered to help out with the baking and icing so while she's here we're going to test a couple recipes. Given that using my oven is always an adventure I figure if we can get a good result here then using her superior oven for the real thing will be a piece of cake, so to speak.

I'm also in charge of mints for the reception so any spare time will be given over to testing various mint and chocolate combinations. After that we will address the chutney issue.

I adore having lots of projects. I may not get the radishe or lettuce seeds in the ground, which another biggie on the to-do list, but that's a fairly low-maintenance activity as far as gardening goes. I can always do that during a naptime this coming week.

What are you up to this weekend?

Spiced Lemons

Well, after weeks of repeated (and, until now, empty) promises I am finally getting around to this spiced lemon business. This is a very fast canning project and one that is ideal for beginners because there's no worry about setting up as there is in jelly or jam, and processing time isn't so much a worry because we are, after all, talking about lemons and an awful lot of salt here. More advanced canners will likely have their own ideas about the mix of spices and technique and may simply use this recipe as the basis upon which to create their own customized to suit their tastes and projected uses.

First, sterilize your lids and jars. I do my jars either in the dishwasher or in the oven (set to 200 degrees F) on a cookie sheet. Lids get put into simmering water. Also start your water bath so that it's at a rolling boil and ready when you are.


There are two ways to approach the basic preparation of the lemons. If you wish to leave your lemons whole, which is a tad more authentic, then scrub them well and place them in a pot of boiling, salted water and boil for 10-15 minutes. You want enough water so that the lemons have enough room to bob around a bit. You'll notice that they'll start to look a little bloated and may even seem a bit lighter in color. After the boiling, drain and cool.

Or, you can do as I did. Because I feel that whole lemons are better suited to quart jars which are a little large for my use, I cut mine to fit better into pints. Because the boiling process allows the lemons to be more receptive to taking in the spiced brine, if choose to cut yours you can dispense with the boiling altogether. I merely tossed my sliced lemons in a large bowl (see above) with some kosher salt and let them sit for a couple hours.

While the your lemons are either boiling or sitting, prepare your spicing brine. There are many opinions about what spices and in what quantities result in authentic spiced lemons, but they pretty much boil down (ha!) to this: cinnamon (sticks), whole cloves, black peppercorns, coriander, salt and, occasionally, garlic. Since I like garlic I decided to include it along with a bit more salt. As it happens, I discovered that I was out of coriander. I don't think this is a huge problem and happily proceeded without - you may feel the same about any of the ingredients. In my opinion, the only musts are the cinnamon, cloves and salt but I am not dogmatic on this point.



Anyway, the brine is simple: place your spices in a saucepan with enough water to fill the number of jars you're working with. Make sure you have at least one cinnamon stick per jar - I like two - and enough cloves and peppercorns to put about a tablespoon into each jar. Add a bit more salt - more if you've boiled your lemons, less if you haven't. Simmer all the brine ingredients together - this smells heavenly - for about half an hour. You want to encourage the hard spices to release their flavor and fragrance a bit and soften ever so slightly.

(An aside about quantities: This is one of those times when I'm not going to tell you how much to use of this, that or the other. To do so with a recipe like this would be, pardon the expression, fruitless. Because spiced lemons do not rely on a chemical reaction to be successful the basic procedure can be adjusted to suit anyone's individual tastes. I happen to love cinnamon and cloves, but you might be more into the garlic/salt components. Trust yourself and do what you like. Even if your lemons are different from your Moroccan neighbor's they'll still be delicious. And you can always tweak it next time, right? Life's an experiment, party on.)

Pack the lemons into jars and fill with brine, manipulated so that the spices are evenly distributed among the jars. Allow some space to add a couple tablespoons of olive oil at the top. Wipe the rims and seal. Because we're basically talking about a jar of acid and salt, the processing time is minimal, 15 minutes from the time the water returns to a boil after you've added the jars. Remove (carefully!) and cool on a folded tea towel.



And there you have it. Now, what do you do with these things now that you've got them? First, let the jars sit for 4-6 weeks before opening. Once that time has passed you can use them to stuff roasting birds (my usual) - be sure to keep them in the carcass for making broth. Or you can dice them as a substitute for olives or in a tagine. I've seen recipes that use them along with tomatoes, mint and stale bread in a salad and my husband thinks they'd be great sprinkled on top of steamed broccol along with butter and lots of fresh black pepper, although I haven't tried it yet.

Let me know if you decide to make some lemons of your own. I'd love to hear about other variations and how you alter the recipe. If you find that my chatty way of relying the recipe is a bit much for you, let me know and I'll do my best at a more streamlined version.

If life gives you lemons, spice them up!

It appears that spring is upon us. This morning's light frost notwithstanding, today is unquestionably warmer than last Sunday and days are noticeably longer. And excellent day for canning spiced lemons and perusing the growing stack of gardening catalogs situated just next to my chair.

I've been reading recently about persons who, upon discovery of their blog by professionally interested parties, have been relieved of their jobs. In the cases I've read of, the bloggers had either imprudently criticized an employer by name or revealed privileged information of competitive or market nature. So the implications of these happenings intrigue me for many reasons, the least of which is that I am currently casting about for either 1) a project or 2) a job. I wonder what would happen to any applications or phone calls I have floating around out in workerland if I were to be googled.

I have no interest in taking the veil by changing my name or adopting a nom de blog and I wonder if the occasional work-related frustration I have expressed here is enough to disqualify me from placement on project teams. Would someone wish to work with another who explicity states that she is, from time to time, frustrated? Hm. In previous job hunting exercises I have been reminded that cheerful and idefatigable are the order of the day. No frustration here, ma'am! Pile it on, I can take it! No, I have never written anything here that would reveal me to be anything other than a normal human, discrete with names and places and aware of the regulated context in which she works. All fine, but I'm not sure that "normal human" is a good enough qualification these days.

Also - Finally! - we have some canning news. What was to be a quick trip to Whole Foods for rice milk for Entropy Girl - don't ask - revealed a bag of firm and fresh organic lemons at a non-ruinous price. Since I have lately exhausted my supply of preserved spiced lemons I am very happy and a glance at the cupboard tells me that replenishment is at hand since I also have the requisite cinnamon sticks, cloves and other additives. As a result, the weekend's agenda has been shuffled somewhat so that a canning project may be fit in between swim lessons, firewood stacking, Sunday school, garden planning and out of town company. Stay tuned!