Two/Three Combo with McGowan

"Two/Three Combo with McGowan" 

This may sound suspiciously like a burger order off of the secret menu, but it’s actually the name of Gabriel’s class this year. 

Combination classes are called different names throughout the educational system. Basically, students from different grades are taught in one room. Think Little House on the Prairie minus the lunch pails, suspenders and nasty lil’ Nellie.

Gabriel was confused about the whole arrangement. Me too. While some parents are anxious to have their children in these classes, others are reluctant. I had never really given it much thought. I always assumed he would be in third grade without any backslash/grade or asterisk.

Apparently, blind optimism is my ‘go-to’ stance in situations where I am clueless. I spewed countless positive affirmations to quell any anxiety. “It’s going to be great! We are so lucky! This year is sure to be one of the best!” Gabriel either believed me or found my responses annoyingly baseless. Needless to say, he stopped talking about it.

On Parent’s Night, the whole wacky arrangement was explained. The details were interesting; alternating recesses, traveling groups that move to other classes; hybrid math lessons, etc. It’s complicated and everyone makes sacrifices, but it works. Mrs. McGowan makes it work. Tim Gunn would be impressed.

The teachers make all the difference. Ours is terrific—forthright, earnest, and extremely energetic.

She laid it on the line. She was honest about the challenges. At the same time, she reassured the parents that the kids are more than capable of handling them. She explained how they are building ‘community’ to overcome obstacles. It was inspiring; I was inspired.

Whether it was enthusiasm, exhaustion, or the giddiness of realizing that I hadn’t actually lied through my teeth that made me raise my hand when a Room Mom volunteer was requested—I’ll never know. To quote four individual conversations, “Wow! That’s not like you!” I couldn’t agree more.

I had no idea what I was getting into. But, I followed my son’s lead, mustered my courage and dove in headfirst.

Honestly, I am not a good room mom. I have already missed a meeting, sent out an embarrassingly late room-roster and been accused of recklessly exposing children to potential anaphylactic shock. (Just for the record, I have been absolved of any and all responsibility in the aforementioned allegation.) I am slowly finding my way. My goal is to ‘not totally suck’. This strikes me as reasonable, and possibly even attainable.

I realize that I expect so much more from an eight-year-old.

To thank him for never flinching in the face of duty, I am making a crazy, cranberry, combo-cookie with butter, oatmeal, chocolate (three kinds!) and cinnamon. Because a combination of anything, mixed with a mighty measure of moxie is bound to be good!

Semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Milk chocolate chips.

White chocolate chips.

Cranberries (frozen, but no less sweet and tart).

Oatmeal (pre-mush).

Flour and spice and everything nice.

Butter and sugar, the start of all things good.

We cream, we dump.

We admire all of the lumps.

Thank you beaters, I'll take it from here.

Bring on the fruit and chips!

It doesn't get much better than this.

Oh, wait, it does!

Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Yield: Makes about 30

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
Plus 2 ounces milk chocolate or white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Preparation:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended. Stir in all chocolate chips and cranberries.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light brown, about 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.

Stir chopped milk chocolate in top of double boiler until melted and smooth. Using small spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over cookies in zigzag pattern. Let stand until milk chocolate sets, about 1 hour. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

If you make it, I’ll take it!

 Let’s start with cake. 

My daughter had a birthday last week and one of her splendid gifts was a Spooky Graveyard cake. It was a showstopper and tickled Phoebe to the bone.

I was thrilled when I saw it arrive Sunday morning. Every detail intended to delight a child…and it delivered.

I’ve been blessed with a very creative family and talented friends. (I know that I mention them ad nauseam.) But when it comes to the things that these people make for children, it gives me serious pause. The joyfulness in the masterpieces for the Lilliputian set is incredible.

My sister, Evelyn, is a master knitter. She crafted an Angelina Ballerina doll with a removable pink dress; sweet enough to make you cry. Phoebe took it with her everywhere. She slept with it, ate with it, buckled it into the car seat with her, and went to the restroom with it. (The bathroom trips were eventually banned.) I developed a deep understanding of the word ‘inseparable’.

Her Grammie is a seamstress of consummate skill. She has made heirloom smocked dresses and legacy quilts. This year she gave Phoebe an American Girl doll. In addition to the purchase, she sewed beautiful girl/doll matching dresses and a wardrobe of tiny outfits, including a karate uniform. Now, it’s nearly impossible to tear her away from dressing and redressing her new friend to get her off to school. A bit of magic had been sewn into every fiber of those clothes.

This cake is no different. It’s a labor of love.

The awe I feel about these items is not a product of their deft and craftsmanship, although it’s typically stunning. It’s the artist that makes the greatest impression—their wit, their sensibilities, and most of all, their heart, is reflected in every aspect. Children are quick to recognize this and form an immediate attachment. They love these handmade things because they love the person and the hands that made them.

Thank you to all of the people who have spent countless hours of their time, energy, and creativity to enrich the lives of my family. I owe you one.

Isn't she adorable? Can I get you a tissue?

Looking fierce in her karate gear. 

If only I had some tiny blocks of wood for her to break!

Every birthday party needs a cake, but our 

lucky girl scored a masterpiece.

Apples Take the Cake

I’ve been asked a few times if I bake first and then write, or write first then bake. Truth is, I usually write first.

I know the recipe that I want to make. I visualize being in the kitchen with the concoction and I write. By the time I actually cook, I've completed everything in my mind a couple times over. The hands-on part comes quickly and naturally (more or less).

This week, I did something a little different. I baked first.

My daughter has been home with a terrible croupy cough. She’s been up at night, having trouble breathing and staying home from school during the day. This week has been longer than most. It’s hard to write with a barking seal in the background. Which made baking the obvious first order of business.

I had been struggling with whether to write about Rosh Hashanah (I have a soft spot for Jewish holidays) or the beginning of Fall (another personal favorite). As I chopped ginger, measured flour, and grated nutmeg, my mind ping-ponged back and forth from one idea to the other, without ever having a real sense of what the hell I would write about either.

Then as a joke, I asked the apples what they thought. (I am sleep-deprived—you got that part, right?) I swear to you, I heard the Golden Delicious reply, “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just celebrate!”

While I am not one to take the advice of any random fruit I meet; I think it might be onto something.

It doesn’t really matter why you find yourself in the kitchen making something special with the season’s bounty. It could be the height of the holidays or maybe your cat didn’t miss the litter box (for once). Spending an afternoon, or just an hour, with an apple, or a potato, maybe some celery root is a celebration in itself. It’s a time to reflect, as you quietly peel and dice and stir, on the crazy abundance all around us.

The apple had a point. Even the waning wildlife calls from the next room seem worthy of a little thanksgiving. I simply had to take the time, pause, and listen.

Rum-soaked cranberries.

Candied ginger, oh my!

Get your dice on.

Loaded with spice.

Seriously, loaded.

So pretty, they're blushing.

It's a dicey cake.

Cubism.

Batter? Or cookie dough?

If you guessed batter, you are correct!

Stirring qualifies as my workout for the week.

I just dropped a dress size.

Looks like I'll be gaining it back shortly.

Time to celebrate!

Spiced Apple Cake with Eggnog Sauce

Found on Epicurious

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

3 tablespoons Applejack, dark or golden rum, or warm water

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar, sifted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 4 cups)

1 cup (4 ounces) pecans, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Special Equipment: 10-inch bundt pan (3 1/4 inches deep; 3-qt capacity)

Garnish: confectioner's sugar for dusting. Accompaniment: 3 cups eggnog, chilled

Preparation:

In small bowl, combine raisins and rum. Let stand until raisins plump, about 1 hour. Drain, discarding rum, and set aside.

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Lightly butter bundt pan, then dust with flour, knocking out excess.

In large mixing bowl or bowl of electric mixer, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Add brown and granulated sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Using electric mixer, beat on high speed, scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed, until batter is pale and smooth, about 3 minutes for handheld mixer or 2 minutes for standing mixer. Stir in apples, pecans, ginger, and raisins. Spoon into prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake until wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean and cake just shrinks from sides of pan, about 1 hour. Cool cake in pan on rack 10 minutes, then invert and unmold onto rack and cool completely. (Cake can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored at room temperature, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.)

Just before serving, sift confectioner's sugar over cake. Serve accompanied by eggnog

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Apple-Cake-with-Eggnog-Sauce-240450#ixzz1ZNFv9G6M

Coconut Cake, Careers, and Cosmic Satisfaction

I promised a friend of mine that if she got a job at MTV, I would bake her a cake. I am pleased to announce that it’s time to make good. It seems that MTV has hit the jackpot! 

I get especially giddy when people I care about do well. There is nothing quite as satisfying as having a victory in your life that doesn't require lifting a finger. (Aside from baking a congratulatory dessert.)

I realize that a person’s good fortune can make others feel green with envy or bitter that luck hasn’t smiled on them quite as brightly. Happily (perhaps naively), I feel pride and little else.

It could be that I am incredibly selfish. When someone succeeds, I'm convinced that I've succeeded a bit too. I subscribe to the notion that ‘all ships rise’. If one of my friends or family takes a step closer to their life’s purpose, I believe that my personal path is slightly more illuminated from the glow of their triumph.

Not only does it inspire and encourage me, it helps to keep me focused.

I think, “Excellent! Now, I don’t have to get a job at MTV. Andrea has that covered.” (The logic is questionable, but it really works!) Being close with people who are passionate about education, rafting, chemistry, water policy, quilting, law, dentistry, television, medicine, computers, economics, construction, etc. has really freed me up to direct all of my time and energy into what I love.

If I ever need to know how to build an exploding volcano or understand public policy, I have a wealth of knowledge to draw upon. I can call any of my experts and I trust that they will share their wisdom with enthusiasm, the way that I am honored to share what little I know. It’s a win/win situation.

So Andrea, I thank you for handling the whole music-industry-insider-leader-thing. Now, it will no longer get in the way of what I was designed for—a little writing and a whole lot of baking.

Let’s eat cake!

Whole coconuts! That's right folks, whole coconuts!

Only a coconut can make dried, brown, 

and wrinkled skin look intriguing.

The usually suspects.

It all starts with a poke in the eye.

Geesh. That's gotta hurt.

I predict a future of coconut tears.

There are a lot of eggs in this recipe. Stock up!

And get crackin'.

Batter up!

Into the pan. Tap out your bubbles. 

Cracking a coconut can be therapeutic. 

It's hammer time!

Be sure to shave the coconut, not your fingers.

A spoonful of sugar.

Ready for the oven.

Cake cooled and ready to be Coco López'd.

Cake frosted.

Cake topped with coconut curls.

Cake screaming "Eat Me!"

Coconut Rum Cake

For cake:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs plus 3 large yolks
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3/4 cup well-stirred sweetened cream of coconut such as Coco López

For coconut slivers:

• 1 medium coconut
• 2 teaspoons confectioners sugar

For icing:

• 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons well-stirred sweetened cream of coconut
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

• Equipment: a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep); an adjustable-blade slicer

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Coconut-Rum-Cake-240000#ixzz1Ynao2owk

Make cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Lightly butter cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Lightly butter parchment, then flour pan.

Whisk together flour (1 1/4 cups), baking powder, and salt.

Whisk together whole eggs and yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in flour mixture until combined, then whisk in butter until just combined. Pour into cake pan and rap pan on counter to expel air bubbles.

Bake until golden brown and cake starts to pull away from side of pan, about 45 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. (Leave oven on.) Invert cake onto rack (discard parchment) and cool 10 minutes more. Generously brush top and side of warm cake with cream of coconut, allowing it to soak in before brushing on more. Cool completely.

Make coconut slivers as cake cools:

Pierce softest eye of coconut with a small screwdriver, then drain and discard liquid. Bake coconut in a shallow baking pan 15 minutes. (Leave oven on.) Break shell with a hammer, then pry flesh from shell with screwdriver.

Thinly shave enough coconut with slicer to measure 2 cups and toss with confectioners sugar, then spread in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Bake until just dry but not golden (some tips may color), 5 to 10 minutes. (Shave and bake remaining coconut with more confectioners sugar to serve on the side, or freeze for another use.) Cool coconut completely. (It will crisp as it cools.)

Make icing:

Beat together cream cheese, cream of coconut, rum, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons cream with an electric mixer until smooth, then beat in confectioners sugar. Icing should be smooth and slightly runny; stir in remaining tablespoon cream if necessary.

Smooth icing over top of cooled cake, allowing some to drip over side, then top with coconut slivers.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Coconut-Rum-Cake-240000#ixzz1YnatjJyb