Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I know I am a month early, but I cannot keep this little gem of a recipe hidden for another month. Also, I probably will not remember to post about this recipe a month from now. Or it will come in July. Kind of makes you the reader wonder at all the things I have on my "to blog" list that have been left unpublished for a couple months. And, "to blog" sounds a lot like "to blathe" which also sounds like "true love."

Back to the recipe! I saw it online one day and thought it made for a tasty dinner and good bring to work food. Behold, Irish Beef Hand Pies. I have made these twice, once for Aaron and once for my small group, and both times they turned out fairly decent. The biggest issue I ran into was the store bought pie crust dough yielded thin and delicate pies, which created Irish Beef Fork Pies. Still good, just not as portable. What is great about this recipe is it gives you freezing directions, so you can make a batch, bake some, freeze some, and have pre-made dinner a week later when you are crazy busy and just as hungry.

Also great? Easily customizable. Add some shredded carrots, spicy sauces, BBQ sauce, or onions and make a whole new pie! A definite recipe winner, and one I will hold onto for a long time. No pun intended.

30 Before 30: Cake!

It was not a mistake that "make a layered cake from scratch" was goal #1 on my list. In fact, I knew the exact cake I was going to make when I wrote goal #1 down. I have had this recipe since 2003! The Austin American-Statesman published a recipe for a chocolate creme de menthe cake and I quickly commandeered the entire Food section and have kept it in my recipe binder ever since, waiting for the day when I had reason to make this three-layered cake of chocolate minty (hopefully) goodness.

That time came recently to the benefit of my small group as an apology to Weischedad for not bringing dessert the previous week. As he informed me, everyone has a spiritual gift. Mine is dessert; his is consumption. I was not living out my spiritual gift and therefore hindering his ability to live out his as well. With that word of wisdom and truth spoken into my life, I decided this would be the week I make a layered cake.

The cake itself is easy to make and actually similar to a recipe I have for sour cream chocolate cake. The frosting is a ganache, which was even easier to make - some heavy cream and a lot of semi-sweet chocolate. No, this is not a diet cake in any way, shape or form. The challenge for me came in the assembling of it. I am not known for my dexterity or balance, and both were needed when stacking and icing this cake. The three layers went on easily enough, and then came putting the ganache over the surface of the cake.

I was getting impatient. The ganache was cool, but not thickened enough to ice, or is it frost? But my desire to see the final product outweighed my patience. So I poured. And, as expected, ganache slid beautifully down the cake, coating it with a lovely layer of chocolate...and then onto the plate and then the counter. What was my reaction? Stick my hand under the ganache waterfall and catch it. But once I had a handful of chocolate, I was unsure how to relocate it to the cake. Yes, it was messy. I got into the swing of icing and filling in the cracks between layers. One final hurdle - the chocolate sprinkles. Thank goodness for sprinkles, for they cover a cake-full of irregularities. No one notices the chasm between layers when sprinkles are there to distract!

The cake, refrigerated and looking more like the Statesman's picture, safely made its way to small group where it was happily devoured by Weischedad and company. I did have a moment of panic when cutting and the knife did not quickly slide through. "Uh-oh," I thought, "Did I forget to take the parchment off the cake layers?!" No, it was only the Andes mints giving a little resistance. Everyone ate and said they liked it, and I was able to help a brother fulfill his Christian calling as a consumer of food.

Will I make a layered cake again? Absolutely. Will it be anytime soon? Nope.

A Sandwich for Saturday

I have kind of gone lax on cooking dinners lately. Do you ever get in those funks? It seems I am constantly cleaning pots and pans in my kitchen, only to turn around and get them dirty again for the next meal. And I have run low on ideas. I have plenty of things I would like to make, only none of them stand out from the pack. And so I have a bagel for dinner. Or popcorn. Or cereal. However, this weekend Aaron was over at my place and, after a day of geocaching and a laundry adventure, I felt he should have something better than whatever I can cobble together from my fridge. So, we made Cuban sandwiches.

If I had known how easy these were to make, I think I would have made these a lot earlier on in life. Some lunch meat, cheese, a pickle, mustard and a roll and you are good to go. I do not have a panini press, so I used two cast iron skillets to flatten and toast the sandwiches. From experience, I learned if you do it this way, it is best to flip the sandwiches midway through or bread not on the hot pan will get mushy, not crispy. Throw in a side of chips and a cool beverage and you have great quick eats. So good and quick Aaron and I had Cuban sandwiches again Sunday for lunch.

I am going to keep this sandwich in my back pocket for future quick and tasty dinners. Maybe next time I will try to recreate some beloved sandwiches from restaurants that are now far from home. Grilled Indigo from Blue Baker, anyone?

30 Before 30: Pad Thai

As part of my 30 Before 30 list, last Friday I endeavored to make pad thai. From the outside, this dish was slightly daunting. Strange ingredients, quick cooking steps, and an unknown outcome. This is a dish that is so representative of a culture and national cuisine, I was afraid I would totally flub it.

My love of pad thai began on a trip Aaron and I took to San Francisco. One night after a day of sight-seeing, we were starved and looking for some good grub to eat close to our hotel. We happened upon King of Thai Noodle House off Union Square. Aaron was in the mood for curry, if I recall, and I thought I would try something new and go for pad thai. We ordered it to go, paid our cash, and returned to the hotel to eat dinner and watch a movie. Maybe it was the day of walking up and down San Francisco's hills, maybe they put some special stomach-expanding sauce in the dish, but I ate about two people's worth of pad thai in about 10 minutes. So incredibly good. So good in fact that Aaron and I went back the next night and I ordered the exact same thing. Aaron ordered something that was no doubt grossly inferior to my pad thai.

Ever since then I have hesitantly ordered pad thai at a couple places and been disappointed. So, I took it upon myself to figure out how to make it at home. I used Alton Brown's recipe and gathered the ingredients from the grocery store and Asian market. Strangest ingredients are the dried shrimp (you can see their little eye balls!), tamarind paste, and palm sugar.

This is one of those dishes when, after I make it, I am not completely sure of anything. Was the tofu done? Did the rice noodles soak long enough? If I find a rejuvenated dried shrimp, will I eat it? Am I about to give Aaron and myself food poisoning?

Thankfully no food poisoning occurred, I only found one dried shrimp, and the pad thai was pretty good. It is not yet on par with King of Thai, but I know I can make it again and hone my pad thai making skills. Very filling, great reheated, and a nice break from the norm of dinners.

Although I am going to hide my bag of dried shrimp until I make it again (they stare at me!), I am sure it will not be too long until I try my hand at pad thai again.

30 Things before I Turn 30

This is not a new year's resolution list. I was surfing the web one day...probably when I should have been working, and I came across this cool idea of making a list of 30 things to do before you turn 30. With that particular birthday arriving this year, I thought I would make a list of my own to see if I could accomplish it. And, since telling people about things helps in the encouragement and accountability, I am going to share it with y'all! Now, mine is fairly tame when you look at other people's lists, but it is my list and I like it...except for a few I may change if I can think of something better.

1. Make a layered cake from scratch
2. Read Bible, cover to cover
3. Make pad thai from scratch
4. Make a dinner calendar for a month's worth of meals
5. Go to the Biltmore Estate
6. Go to the dermatologist for a skin cancer screening (aka moley doctor)
7. *Personal goal*
8. Follow RunTex training and run in a 5k
9. Lose at least 12 pounds
10. See an allergist/nutritionist about my food issues (OAS)

11. Have people over for dinner 6 times

12. Pay for the order of the car behind me in the drive through

13. Go to the Outer Banks

14. Reach 50 caches found with Geocaching

15. Get a pedicure

16. Make sangria

17. Visit a state I have not been to

18. Master Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

19. Bid soda a fond farewell

20. Go dairy-less (aside from yogurt) for 30 days and see how I feel

21. Have a girls' night

22. Eat at Lilly's Pizza

23. Make homemade marshmallows

24. Roast and eat a beet

25. Get a physical

26. Make and eat a whole lobster

27. Make it through my Pilates DVD without stopping due to gasping breath or inability to bend

28. Read 3 books from my compilation "100 Best Books" list

29. Buy whole nutmeg

30. Watch 4 movies from my American Film Institute Top 100 movies list

I will be adding these to a page on my blog so I can keep everyone updated on my progress. There will also be a few posts on the more interesting items and adventures I have.

Poplar Forest

Since Aaron and I failed at visiting Poplar Forest in March of this year, we decided that it would make for an excellent mid-summer "meet in the middle" location. Yes, Aaron was out of state this summer interning...again. One of these summers Aaron and I will both be in the same state. 2012, anyone?

Back to the mid-summer meet in the middle trip. The drive to Lynchburg from Raleigh is gorgeous. Lots of small towns and farms. To give you an idea of how rural and untraveled the road was, I saw, perhaps for the first time ever, a live hippity-hoppitying little brown bunny on the side of the road. I resisted the urge to stop in the middle of the road to watch it munch on wild grass and continued on. I think downtown Lynchburg is in the beginnings of a revival, because while some blocks were lively and busy, other sections were nothing but broken windows and empty buildings. Still, not a place I would want to be walking around alone at night.

I had done some food research before leaving to find some local places to eat while we were there. We ate at a roadside diner for breakfast for what I hoped would be down home and tasty food. Well, they got the down home right, but not so much on the tasty. Both of the plates Aaron and I ordered came different than how we ordered (different sides and omelet fillings). I am not that great of an egg maker, but I probably could have made a better, fluffier omelet than what I was given. Live and learn, I suppose.

Poplar Forest, for those who are oblivious to what it is as we were earlier this year, is the retreat home of Thomas Jefferson. It was designed entirely by him and is smaller, quieter, and more removed than Monticello. It sits near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains far from anything resembling a city, both then and now. The house itself is an octagon with an offshoot bottom floor that housed the kitchen, some slave quarters and such. Jefferson designed the landscaping as well, with a mix of formal garden and open lawn.

This place is amazing. The preservation society has worked methodically to regain as much of Jefferson's original land as they could, and the results vastly improve the entire experience when visiting. Standing on the back lawn, looking across to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance, there is no sound of cars, no barking dogs, only the muffled voices of other visitors and guides. And suddenly it is crystal clear why Jefferson selected this place as a retreat. Here, he could get away from the visitors, the obligations, the busyness of Monticello and read, relax and reflect. I think he earned it, too!

I hope I am correct in speaking for both Aaron and I when I say we fell in love with this place. It lacks the grandeur of the other presidential homes we visited; it is not polished or put together. But it is personal, so simply handsome. Those who are restoring the property and home are meticulous in every detail. They read Jefferson's letters for any hints of the moldings and furniture; they have plant archaeologists combing the ground and soil for remnants of roots and seeds from when Jefferson began plantings. They hope to restore many of the poplar trees that gave this home and property its name. It is apparent how dearly these people care for this place, and I think it rubbed off on Aaron and me. Poplar Forest invites the same sentiments Jefferson must have striven for then in its visitors today - reflecting, dreaming, resting, and re-energizing.

Sadly, we eventually had to leave Poplar Forest. However, my pre-trip food searches paid off this go around with a fantastic coffee shop, The Muse Coffee Company. Aaron and I found a table upstairs and enjoyed bagel sandwiches and some great coffee with an afternoon of chatting and reading before we had to head our separate ways for the remainder of the summer.

For those interested in a presidential homes' tour like Aaron and I accomplished in two parts, I would highly encourage it. In fact, here is a suggested route!

Mount Vernon - George Washington's home outside of Washington, DC

Montpelier - James Madison's home near Orange, Virginia (southwest of DC)

Monticello - Thomas Jefferson's home near Charlottesville, Virginia (southwest of Orange)

Ash Lawn-Highland - James Monroe's home near Charlottesville, Virginia ( down the road from Monticello)

Poplar Forest - Thomas Jefferson's retreat home near Lynchburg, Virginia

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A Year of Books in Review

Read any good books lately? I have been the asker and the recipient of this question many times over the years, as I am sure you have as well. I thought I would make a quick list of the best books I have read this year for all to see. And, in return, I ask you to add your own list of best books in 2010 in the comments to share with everyone. I am always hunting out good books, and this is a quick way of trading information and adding a few more titles to my ever-expanding list of books to read, which is well over 150 books right now. So go on and add some more to my list!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot - Excellent book that covers American history, science, privacy, medicine, and human drama. There has been a ton written about it, so I will no ramble on about it. Great book to read.

The Passage, by Justin Cronin - I am so shy about explaining this book because, yes, it kind of sort of is about vampires, the theme du jour of late. It is well-written, the story flows well, and it keeps the reader turning the page.

Freedom, by Daniel Suarez - First, read Daemon, then read this sequel. Michael Crichton with more technological focus, if I had to describe the style. A compelling topic that is both enjoyable to read and brings up questions for the reader regarding present day politics, technology and society.

The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane Ackerman - I am a sucker for World War II books, and this one delivered. I enjoy those books that hone in on one specific moment in history, and this one does just that. It tells the story of a family who owned a zoo that they used to hide Jews fleeing the Nazis in Poland.

And, my favorite read in 2010 is...

East of Eden, by John Steinbeck - One of my high school teachers tries to read To Kill a Mockingbird every summer. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, I think East of Eden is one of those books that is worthy of reading and rereading. It is an epic and timeless story that is extremely enjoyable to read. Thank you, GANC, for bringing me this book!