ratatouille: rat-a-too-ee

we went to see the newest pixar flick on the canada day long weekend (the weather was crap and we were kinda bored of just sitting around the cottage) and we both really liked it.

you know, i'd never had ratatouille before but that little rat remy and his bumbling friend linguini made me want to have some as soon as possible.

then lo and behold, posted on the foodtv.ca blog, a review of the movie along with a few recipes for ratatouille. i convinced robin to make this one, courtesy of food tv and christine cushing, for dinner one night last week. robin's assessment was that it was messy and a lot of work but, after one bite of this delicious meal, agreed that it was worth the effort and he'd be more than happy to harass me to make it again sometime soon.

then i came across this movie-inspired version of the dish over at smitten kitchen and decided we had to try it as well. i put my own culinary skills to work this time and served ratatouille's ratatouille atop saffron spiced long grain and wild rice this past monday for dinner. more simple and way less work than the christine cushing version, but also a little less tasty. don't get me wrong, it was still hearty and yummy and healthy, but it lacked a certain...je ne sais quoi (okay i do know - it was probably the tumeric, cayenne, paprika and cinnamon) that the other dish had.

recipes aside, i couldn't relate to the modern take on ratatouille, a childhood favourite meal, conjuring up a flood of happy, fuzzy, i-feel-like-i'm-6-year's-old-standing-in-my-mom's-kitchen memories because well, my mom never made me ratatouille. she made stroganoff (which i hated), fried bologna and french fries (which once made me barf and i can't imagine eating now), something she called goolash (which i suspect was for the times when she needed to rid the fridge of all the about-to-expire food), and grilled cheese sandwiches with lipton chicken noodle soup (which, to this day, i eat when i feel sucky or sick to make me feel better). she also made lots of other awesome stuff that i liked, but no ratatouille. now that i've had it, i will definitely keep it in my arsenal of regular meals when i have my own kids. mmm-mmm good.

buttery indulgence

i'm not sure why, but on friday mornings i always manage to make it to work a little earlier than the other days of the week. i suspect that it's because i'm less sluggish about getting ready because i know i get to wear jeans instead of dreading the possibility that it'll be another day that i will feel lousy in my dress pants.

anyway, i like it because i get to work before almost anyone else is into the office. there's a place downstairs in our building that makes the most authentically french croissants i think i've ever had; they're dense and buttery and absolutely delicious. (and yes robin, i know i still haven't made them at home like i promised!) so because i know that there won't be anyone around to witness this indulgence (which makes the calories not count, right?) and because it's friday, the day of happiness, sometimes i stop and get one. those 5 or 10 minutes on a friday morning with a croissant are among the most joyful of my work week.

i should have taken a picture.....

tuesdays, 8:00am

last summer i was looking for a new volunteer opportunity and hadn't had much success coming up with something that i thought i would enjoy and that i could really make a difference doing. i've done a few different volunteer activities over the years from helping my peers in high school in an after-school math program to canvassing for the heart and stroke foundation to sitting on the board of directors at my rugby club. i was considering volunteering as a dog walker for the toronto humane society or perhaps at a nursing home or hospital but nothing seemed to be clicking for me.

i was talking about it one day with my friend chris and he sent me this link: http://www.jumpmath.org/. it was perfect!! i love math and i loved tutoring others in math back in high school and university. i really enjoy working with kids and this opportunity offered the benefits of both. i applied immediately.

so last fall i went through the interview process and the training and was approved to be a JUMP math tutor. by december i had not yet been assigned a student though and i was getting anxious to get involved before it was too far into the school year. chris was going away for a few weeks on vacation and i would be leaving for australia and new zealand just after, so when he offered me the chance to tutor his student while he was away i eagerly obliged! his student was really great, quite clever and easy to work with and i was encouraged further to have my own student as soon as possible. while i was away i received an email from the program coordinator at the same public school that chris tutors at offering me my own student.

it's been a month now and things are going really well. i look forward to the hour we work together on tuesday mornings and delight in seeing her learn and build confidence. we are about halfway through the fractions unit and as a grade 4 student who had not been introduced to fractions before we started working together, she is catching on quickly and her learning is remarkable. it's so exciting!!!

my first week tutoring at rose ave public school there was a photo shoot for an article on the JUMP program. just starting out, my student and i were obviously not in the group that were in the photos, but chris and his student are. have a look: http://www.oct.ca/publications/professionally_speaking/march_2007/math.asp.

it's an amazing program and i would encourage anyone looking for a volunteer opportunity to try it out. you don't need to be a math person or particularly good at math yourself. lots of the tutors learn along with their students!! you just need to have a passion for kids and helping them learn.

to sit or not to sit

so i was reading a letter to the editor in the metro earlier this week from a pregnant woman who was complaining about how no one ever gives up their seat for her on the subway. if i have a seat i'm always on the lookout for people who might need the seat more than me and offer it up at any opportunity. i have a guy friend who worried about this so much that he would just never sit on the subway for fear that he might be occupying a seat that someone else needed more. anyway, as i sat there in my seat, reading the paper, i noticed a woman in front of me who could have been pregnant. i tried to peer around to get a better look, and as i gawked at this woman's belly, realized that i had no idea and that i was probably really weirding her out.

the woman who wrote the letter in the metro was saying that no one except another pregnant woman offered her seat and when she declined, no one else offered up their seat instead. so here's my problem: i'm very concerned about being courteous to anyone requiring a seat but sometimes it's very difficult to determine whether it's appropriate to offer or not. if that woman was not pregnant and someone mistakenly thought she was and offered their seat, she would undoubtedly be offended. all the bulky coats that our frigid toronto weather requires at this time of year make it nearly impossible to assess whether a woman might be pregnant or not, unless of course she's very pregnant and bursting at the seams, which is rarely the case because these women stay at home, preparing to welcome their child to the world instead of roaming the city on public transportation. i'm kidding of course; i'm not that insensitive.

but seriously, i really took offense to the article. how is it that this woman doesn't think that some of the onus is on her to procure a seat for herself if she really needs one. just ask! if i were asked by someone for my seat, i would gladly surrender it without question. this is a much more straight-forward and civilized approach to the issue if you ask me. why do i have to sit there, stomach in knots, worrying about whether the woman standing in front of me with a suspicious bulge in her coat will slap me for offering my seat or not? perhaps i'll just adopt jeff's approach and starting standing on the subway.

comforting pasta

i tried this recipe because it looked yummy and comforting and quick. it was very quick - good for a running night and i don't even have to feel guilty about eating pasta because i ran - but not as yummy or comforting as i had hoped. i suspect that the error of my ways was in using an 'instant' type of alfredo sauce which was prepared from a powder and also being lazy and using a rather sweet gwertztraminer rather than a dry white wine for the sauce. i'd probably try it again with better ingredients sometime when i feel like pasta again.

once again, courtesy of food & drink winter 2007, published by the lcbo. (i feel like the lcbo test kitchen here!)

linguine with pancetta and arugula

2 tsp olive oil
1/4C chopped pancetta or bacon (i used bacon)
1/4C finely chopped shallots or onion
1/2C white wine (don't be cheap and lazy like me!!)
half a 450g package linguine or fettucine
1C store bought alfredo pasta sauce
1C chopped arugula or spinach (i used spinach)
generous grinding of pepper and salt (which i forgot)
parmesan (which i put on everything, suggested or not)

1. bring pasta pot full of salted water to boil (i never salt my water). heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. add pancetta and stir until fairly crisp, 2 to 5 minutes (since i was using bacon, i drained the fat before continuing here). add shallots; cook 1 to 2 minutes. add wine, boil until 2 tbsp remain.
2. add pasta to water and cook according to package directions (duh). add sauce to pancetta mixture and stir until hot.
3. add arugula to heated sauce just before pasta is cooked. drain pasta, add to sauce and toss with black pepper and salt if needed. serve with parmesan.

serves 2 to 3 (this is accurate, we ate the whole thing between the 2 of us)

tortilla soup

these days i do exactly 3 things (regularly anyway): work, study, cook. this of course excludes sleeping, which i also do. soon i hope to add running to that list, but for now, this is it. i can't post about work, because that's not particularly advisable and not all that interesting to anyone, and i doubt that anyone wants to read about my study habits. although i do find that most people are surprised to find that i'm working towards a masters degree in management science. the timing of my acceptance to the program (management of techology at waterloo) has resulted in my not sharing this news with as many people as i normally would. so i'm left to post about the third, which is no problem for me since i love to do it. i also love baking, but post less often about that because then i'd have to share my recipes :P

tonight i made tortilla soup, courtesy of food & drink winter 2007, published by the lcbo. i give it 9/10 for taste (come on, i love avocado), 10/10 for effort (not much), 10/10 for availability of ingredients, and 5/10 for tummy fulledness (we each ate a serving and a half even though the recipe says it makes 4 servings).


tortilla soup with tomatillos and avocado salsa

avocado salsa
1 ripe haas avocado (i used 2)
1 plum tomato
1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper
1 green onion
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (a.k.a. cilantro)
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt

soup
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (~600g)
1 tbsp peanut or canola oil (i used olive because it was handy)
8 large unpeeled garlic cloves
8 C chicken broth (i used vegetable)
2 large sprigs coriander, including roots if attached
1/2 C tomatillo green salsa (available in most grocery stores)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 C chopped coriander
one bag crisp corn tortilla chips
2 limes cut into wedges (i used 1)

1. to make salsa, cut avocado in half lengthwise; open and discard pit. score the avocado into small cubes and scoop out into a bowl. seed and dice tomato and jalapeno; add to bowl. thinly slice green onion; add along with coriander, lime juice and salt. stir until well mixed. (don't make the mistake i made; this is not supposed to be guacamole, leave the avocado in fairly big chunks....like salsa should be) set aside.


2. heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. flatten chicken breasts and add to pan. scatter garlic cloves between the chicken pieces. reduce heat to medium-low; cook, turning chicken once and stirring garlic occasionally, for 12 to 15 mins or until chicken is cooked through. remove chicken and garlic to separate plates for cooling.


3. deglaze pan with 1 cup of broth. pour remaining broth into a large saucepan; add broth and browned bits from frying pan. heat broth over medium-high heat with coriander sprigs until boiling.


4. meanwhile, remove garlic from peels; mash with a fork; stir into broth. shred or thinly slice chicken. when broth is boiling, remove coriander sprigs, add chicken, green salsa, green onions and chopped coriander. lay several tortilla chips in each warmed soup bowl. ladle soup over tortillas. top with a dollop of avocado salsa. serve immediately with a wedge of lime. pass additional tortilla chips and green salsa.

serves 4 (or 2 really hungry people)

winter soup

the recipe for this undeniably hearty, delicious and healthful soup comes from the detox book and delivers a serious dose of good-for-you veggies. we ate it for dinner last night and it was absolutely satisfying and wonderful. try it!

ribollita
serves 6

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
2 large zucchinis, thinly sliced
400g (14 oz) canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp pesto
3 3/4 c vegetable stock
400g (14 oz) haricot (white kidney) beans, drained
freshly ground black pepper

to serve
1 lb baby spinach
1 T olive oil, for drizzling (optional)

1. heat the oil in a large saucepan. add the onions, carrots, garlic, celery and fennel and saute gently for 10 minutes. add the zucchini and saute for another 2 minutes.

2. add the tomatoes, pesto, stock and beans and bring to a boil. reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. season with pepper to taste.

3. to serve, saute the spinach in the oil for 2 minutes and divide among the soup bowls. ladle the soup over the spinach and drizzle with oil, if desired.

wakey, wakey

i've been having an unbelievably hard time getting out of bed in the morning these days. it seems that no matter what time i set my alarm clock for, i can't get out of bed before 6:45. this is not early enough for me, as i like to be at work earlier than this allows. i was complaining to my officemate about this and he suggested looking into an alarm clock that simulates dawn. i checked out an article on slate.com about it and found the hammacher schlemmer peaceful progression wake up clock for US$49.95 and the biobrite ez wake sunrise clock for US$89.95. some further searching lead me to the soleil sunrise alarm clock for US$89.95 also. i'm not sure what the additional $40 would get me, but all seem to have very similar features.

i'm wondering if anyone has ever tried one of these before. i'd love to hear about it if you have. i can't deal with my old school buzzing alarm clock any longer. i can't imagine a more horrible way to wake up in the morning than in a panic with this hideous noise screeching in my ear. i'm constantly amazed at robin's ability to sleep right through the alarm, without any awareness that it's even gone off. i on the other hand, scramble to silence the thing as quickly as possible... each of the 6 times it goes off every morning after snoozing.

i'm certain that our shorter winter days are to blame for my lack of motivation to get out of bed, and thought that perhaps one of these dawn simulating gadgets would be helpful. of the products i researched, by far the coolest is the sleepsmart headband by axon labs, "an intelligent solution to groggy mornings that monitors your sleep cycles and wakes you from the most optimal stage of sleep." how cool is that? unfortunately it's very uncooly priced between $300 and $400 US.

girlie drinks

robin loves the girlie drinks. i order beer, sometimes wine if i'm in that kind of mood, but robin loves anything from fruity martinis to the kind of cocktails that come with a pound of fruit, miniature umbrellas, streamers, fireworks...the works. if it's girlie and in a glass, he loves it. i'm all about getting drunk the no-frills way.

so this morning i went to second cup to get a latte (i'm trying to convert from filter coffee so that i can get at least a serving of milk with my caffeine fix every day) and notice on the poster out front that they are featuring a dark chocolate raspberry latte. i'm not sure whether it was the dark chocolate, the pretty pink cups or the 'me time' slogan that enticed me, but i went for it. as i lifted the steaming cup to my lips for the first sugary sip i thought gosh, this is pretty friggin girlie. it's the girliest of all girlie coffee drinks. the caffeinated version of the most fruit loaded, umbrella decorated cocktail you could imagine. and it even came with a free magazine, this month's edition of elle. i can't imagine how any self respecting guy could walk up and order one of these things, really he'd have to get a very understanding female friend to order it for him. talk about limiting your market. and if a dark chocolate raspberry latte isn't for you (and just my 2 cents - it's not for you, it's not for anyone. it was disgusting, i threw most of it out) you could also try a chocolate chai latte or a chocolate cherry chiller. there's a free magazine in it for you.

luckily robin's not into coffee so i don't have to line up and order another one of these tooth aches in a cup for him, because if he was i'm certain this would be his girlie caffeinated beverage of choice.

journey to the south pacific

as robin and i prepare to embark on our next great adventure many people have been asking me 'are you going to do a blog again'. the answer: yes. besides wishing to please our public, we both really enjoyed doing it as well. it's a treat for us to be able to journal our travels as they happen and be able to go back later and reread what we had to say about a particular day or part of the trip. sometimes things can get pretty hectic and it's hard to remember how we felt about that really great meal or the super fun cooking classes that we took. even now i sometimes go back and read our blog from when we were in thailand and cambodia last year (http://robinandwendy.blogspot.com for anyone who missed it).

this time we're hoping that we'll be able to post pics as we go and make it just that little bit more interesting and engaging. hope you all enjoy this one (
http://robinandwendyausnz.blogspot.com) as much as you seemed to the last one.

cheers: merry christmas and happy new year everyone!!! see you in 2007 :)