Suzan Colon's Blog, page 6

Now Year's Resolutions. (No, that's not a typo.)

Hi everyone,

I hope, if you have snow in your area, that you're enjoying it and not shaking your fists at the gods (or Mayor Bloomberg) because you can't get out of your home or anything like that. Around here, some snowdrifts are about six feet tall, but streets are still somewhat navigable.

In fact, I'm going to venture out today to have lunch with a friend. I've been a virtual shut in since I went food shopping on Sunday, and besides the Hubbins, I haven't had that much human contact. The cats are loving it.

Many thanks to all of you who bought extra copies of Cherries to give as holiday gifts! If you want them autographed, just send them to me and I'll scribble and get them back to you asap.

With only a few days left to 2010, I'm looking at what charities I can make last-minute donations to. I make monthly donations to causes I want to support, but this last week, it's nice for me to see who else is in need that I can help in some small way. It sure beats making new year's resolutions–FEH on those. I find them to be rooted in some form of self-flagellation, which is not one of my favorite hobbies. I prefer Now Year's Resolutions–a decision to make a positive change on any random day of the year. Why wait until January? What's wrong with December 29?

And please, whether you're making New Year's Resolutions or Now Year's Resolutions, don't hate on yourself for whatever it is your doing differently. Simply make the decision to change and then act on it, giving yourself a pat on the back just for having the moxie to try. Doesn't that feel better?

If you're still hating on yourself, think about others who may be in need of your help. If you don't have money to donate, how about volunteering in some way? That'll burn off a few guilt calories.

Tell me your Now Year's Resolutions and I'll tell you a few of mine. And have a Fabulous New Year!

xx,

S

Monday: Meatless recipe sources and news!

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Your veggies are here! Now...what do you do with them? (Read on.)

Hi everyone, and happy pre-holidays!

If you've been reading this blog lately, you know I've committed to the Meatless Mondays campaign, and I'm in good company: celebrity chef Mario Batali also joined up with MM, along with lots of other people who have discovered that making even this small change can have a big, very positive impact on their health, the environment, and even their wallets.

With Meatless Mondays in mind, some of you have been asking me for good vegetarian recipe resources (beyond, of course, the Meatless Mondays site, which has great recipes and info), and I'm happy to share them:

* Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero is The Ultimato in vegan cookbooks. It's filled with great recipes and the kind of instruction that could have you thinking about auditions for Top Chef or Next Food Network Star. And the baked goods? This is where I found the Lower-Fat Chocolate Bundt Cake that all of Jersey City was buzzing about. (And JCitizens are pretty discerning about their cake.)

* The Post Punk Kitchen is the online home of Isa and Terry, and it's a veritable hub (a hub, I tell you) of great vegan recipes. Go to theppk.com.

* The Kind Life is the website run by Alicia Silverstone, actress and animal rights activist. The site has a ton of great recipes with a macrobiotic influence, though Alicia is vegan (macro usually includes fish). There are also great tips on health and living in fine vegan style (no animal products whatsoevah). I love Alicia's mission–living not only cruelty free, but as kindly as she can to herself, other beings, and the environment. I also love that she's blogging herself, not getting someone else to Vogue-blog for her. Alicia's philosophy and recipes are combined in a beautiful book called The Kind Diet, which is as lovely as the food is yummy. Visit thekindlife.com for more info.

* Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is known as "the vegan Martha Stewart," and if you take a look at the great videos on her website, compassionatecooks.com, you'll see why. In addition to nutritional info on vegetarianism and veganism, videos, podcasts, and veggie-related resources, you'll find some of the recipes featured in her books The Vegan Table and The Joy of Vegan Baking. Go vegan Martha Stewart!

These are just some of the great meatless resources I've found while doing my research for Meatless Mondays, and I'll share more with you as I go along.

And now the news: First of all, Cherries in Winter got an amazing review in Womanaroundtown.com. Many thanks to Merry Sheils and Womanaroundtown for that early holiday gift!

And in a foodie mashup, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of Veganomicon, is doing an event at Barnes & Noble in Brooklyn, NY on February 23, 2011 at 7 pm for her latest book, Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes. It's an "in conversation with" style book signing, and I'm honored, pleased, and thrilled to pieces that Isa asked me to be the interviewer for the Q&A part of the event. If you're in the area, stop by!

Happy cooking, baking, and holidays!

xx,

S

Monday: Meatless and trying to be organized

Hey all,

A few quick notes as today's a busy day:

* If it's Monday, you know I'm going meatless! I'm committed to this Meatless Monday thing because it makes sense. However… I have no idea what meatless thing I'm making tonight. Could be veggie burgers and baked sweet potato fries (thank you, Ellie Krieger). Could be me looking at the Meatless Monday website for some inspiration. Sorry for the laziness of no original recipe, but there's writing to be done…

* Congratulations to the winners of the free free free autographed copies of Cherries in Winter! I'll notify you by email so you can let me know where to send those copies. Thanks to those of you who entered!

* And many thanks to the kind Jersey City citizens who showed up at my book signing at Made With Love Organic Bakery and Cafe. We laughed, we cried, we ate organic cheddar and apple biscuits (thanks, Celeste!). Looking forward to doing it again soon… Like tomorrow, when I'll be accompanying my favorite author, Francesco Clark, to PS 279 in the Bronx. Fran will be doing a reading from his book Walking Papers, and I may get to sign a copy of Cherries or two along with him. Cool!

Hope your holidays are going well…

xx,

S

Cherries in Winter book signing 12/11/10 in Jersey City!

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This makes a dandy holiday gift, if I do say so myself.

I'm very excited about my first-ever book signing tomorrow at Made With Love, Jersey City's own (and only) organic bakery! Here are the deets:

What: Holiday gifts–signed copies of Cherries in Winter, plus great organic cookies, cakes, granola, and other baked goods

Where: Made With Love Organic Bakery & Cafe, 530 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City, 07302, 201.451.5199

When: Saturday, December 11, 2010, from 2-4 pm

Other info: Books will be available for purchase at Made With Love thanks to Mobile Libris, every book signing-author's best friend. If you can't make it but you'd like a signed book for yourself or to send to someone as a gift, call Made With Love and we'll process your order over the phone; Mobile Libris will arrange for shipping. Talk about an easy way to send a thoughtful gift!

Hope to see you there!

xx,

S

Meatless Monday Recipe: I Can't Believe It's Meatless Loaf!

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First of all, apologies for being AWOL! There were several reasons for my blog blackout:

1. Dad got pneumonia around Thanksgiving, and I tend to shut down when worried. (He's fine now, back to grumbling at the TV, and thanks for all who sent good wishes.)

2. General holiday madness, and I'm way behind already.

3. I was setting up my first-ever book signing at Made With Love Organic Bakery. That'll be this Saturday, December 11, from 2-4; come on by for great holiday gifts like organic cookies and autographed books!

4. I've been writing, and I tend to shut down when creative.

Anyway, enough of my explanations! On to a recipe…

As you know, I've been embracing the whole vegetarian thing again ever since reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals. Yeah, I had turkey one night after Thanksgiving and two bites of the Hubbins' leftover salmon last week, but other than that it's been veggie all the way since October.

I'm not here to try to convert anybody to vegetarianism; food is a very personal topic. I will, however, try to turn you on to the virtues of going meatless one day a week–specifically, on Mondays. (The reasons why are explained here.) The Meatless Monday campaign is made up of a group of average people who have done above-average research on how beneficial giving up meat just one day of the week can be to each individual's health, as well as to the health of our environment. Long live the power of the plate!

So you're wondering: What did I eat on Thanksgiving, since I waited to eat some turkey leftovers a few days later? Behold the recipe below. I didn't expect any of the meat-eaters to want it, but each guest had two slices and one asked for the recipe. One slice: being nice to the hostess. Two slices and a recipe request? Food's good. What I like about this is that I don't have to give up food I love, like Mom's meatloaf, which I wrote about in Cherries in Winter; I just adapt the recipe.

I'm trying out a new recipe format here, with the ingredients you'll need embedded in the instructions; let me know what you think. Apologies for no photo of the loaf; the Hubbins too the picture, and I forgot to download. You've all seen what meatloaf looks like. Well, this looks the same.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sauté 1 small zucchini, diced; 1 red bell pepper, diced; 5 cloves garlic, diced; and 1 small onion, diced, in 2 T olive oil, seasoning lightly with Jane's Crazy Salt, for about five minutes.

2. While veggies are sauteeing, mix 2 tubes Lightlife Gimme Lean ground beef style in a bowl with 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, 1/2 t thyme and 1 t parsley.

3. Add sauteed veggies to seasoned burger with 4 T ketchup. Mix together. Add more ketchup to taste.

4. Put mixture into loaf pan and press down. Put loaf pan in deep baking dish and fill halfway with water. Bake loaf for 90 minutes. PLEASE BE CAREFUL when removing loaf from oven; remember that water's HOT. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving with mashed potatoes, kale, or whatever sides you dream about.

Happy eating!

xx,

S

The Genius of the Heart Attack Grill

Our friends at Fresh and Change.org's Sustainable Food department sent out the news today that Arizona's Heart Attack Grill is offering their signature Double Bypass Burgers and Flatliner Fries (yep, those are real menu items) for free to customers weighing in at 350 lbs. and over.

They think this is a terrible thing, and there's a petition to protest the way this gimmicky restaurant undermines America's current health crisis (you know, all that pesky obesity, heart disease, diabetes, etc.). But after watching the HAG's video for "The Heart Attack Grill Diet Program," I have to wonder whether HAG owner Jon Basso is actually working for the American Dietetic Association. This commercial is genius: it outlines exactly what will happen as a result of eating at the HAG, including side effects like "sudden weight gain, back pain, male breast growth, loss of sexual partners, stroke… In some cases, mild death may occur."

I understand why Change.org is up in their sustainable arms about this, but at least HAG is being honest about what will happen when customers indulge in their food. Also, aside from those customers having free will–everyone knows smoking is a killer, yet people continue to smoke (and spend insane amounts of money) on cancer sticks every day–this is not much different from what most American eating establishments offer, and people eat, every day.

It's not that HAG's patrons, referred to as "patients," don't know what they're getting when they order a Quadruple Bypass Burger and Flatliner Fries that are served by a woman in a nurse's uniform; I don't see a lawsuit by heart attack victims holding up in court. We live in a country that gives people the right to kill themselves in many different ways (food, smokes, and alcohol being but a few), should they so choose. I choose not to, and I'm grateful every day that my family members make that choice as well.

There are four days left to get your autographed copy of Cherries. See previous posts for details.

xx,

S

Meatless Monday and Contest Continuation!

Hi hi hi, and welcome to another frantic week here at Cherries Central. Book promotion is in high gear, as is pre-holiday prep work. It took me ages just to find a turkey that was compassionately raised on a free-range farm, not fed any chemicals or additives or stuff Mother Nature never wanted a turkey to eat, and that would meet a compassionate end. However, mission accomplished.

On the book front, because I know this is a busy time of year for everyone, the MidChix.com Cherries in Winter book giveaway has been extended for another week! Bonus: No recipe entry or story required! The first five people to enter the giveaway via the Comments on this blog will win an autographed copy of Cherries in Winter. It makes a nice hostess gift, people, and the holidays are a-comin'…

As for today's Meatless Monday recipe, I'm going to direct you to the MM website's recipe of the day as we've been eating a lot of pasta around here lately due to my level of busy-ness. New recipe next week, but the MM recipes look amazing and sound yumlicious. By the way, did you know that celebrity chef and known pork lover Mario Batali has embraced Meatless Monday in his restaurants? It's true! He's doing his part to help save the planet, and we can too. Thanks, Mario [image error]

And thank you all for visiting!

xx,

S

O Yes! O Magazine's "Love Your Life" Book

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I just got my copy of Love Your Life: O's Handbook for Your Best Today–and Tomorrow. I love these best-of compilations from my alma mater, O, the Oprah Magazine. They're full of good advice from Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Green, Suze Orman, Dr. Phil, and my favorite non-professional, Lisa Kogan. These O greatest hits collections also have examples of some of the finest essays in print today… And I'm not just saying that because one of mine is among them.

Yes, I was thrilled to see that "Muffin Manifesto," my case for the right to make banana walnut muffins for my husband (despite some curled lips from girl friends who thought I was playing Happy Little Housewife instead of Writer) was included in Love Your Life. What an honor! This essay is special to me because it was one of the first food essays I'd ever written, and it was one of two (along with "To Nathan, With Love and Asparagus," which you can read on my website under "About Suzan") that laid the cornerstone for Cherries in Winter.

I'm so grateful for my time at O, and for the amazing editors I worked with there. I hope my thanks to them in Cherries gave them a hint of how I feel about what they did for me. (Cue music: "To Sir, With Love.")

Some of my "Aha! Moment" interviews are also reprinted in Love Your Life, including the ones I did with Julianna Margulies, star of The Good Wife; Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden; and Rashida Jones, awesome star of Parks and Recreation.

It's hard not to be biased about this O book, but I think you'd agree it's pretty amazing.

xx and happy loving your life,

S

Meatless–and MidChix–Monday!

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Mondays around here at the empire known as Me, LLC are never boring, but especially not today. This Monday joint is particularly jumping with not only a new veggie recipe for Meatless Monday, but a Cherries in Winter book giveaway on MidChix.com! (I know, I spoil you; but you deserve it.)

If you haven't logged on to MidChix.com yet, please sashay over to this very cool social networking site for ladies over 40. When you do, you'll find a link to a giveaway where you can enter to win an autographed copy of the paperback edition of Cherries in Winter (woo-hoo!). This latest edition of CIW has new chapters and recipes, along with a recipe index and updated notes. If I hadn't written it myself, I'd buy it again. My own mother bought it again! That nut. Anyway, all you have to do to enter to win the giveaway on MidChix is tell me about your favorite relative's recipe, either including the recipe, or telling a little story about why you loved it. Winning entries will be posted on this blog during Thanksgiving week. Go for it!

And, for those of you who've embraced Meatless Monday, here's this week's recipe, adapted from my NFC (New Favorite Cookbook), Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero of The Post Punk Kitchen. So far, every recipe I've tried from this cookbook (yep, title reference from The Evil Dead) has been amazing, and this one's no exception.

Jamaican Yuca Shepherd's Pie

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I'd never cooked with yuca before. It was delish! Like a potato, yet not the same ol' potato.

What you'll need:

1 big piece of yuca (see pic below; D'Artagnan isn't intimidated by it, and you shouldn't be either. Yuca is available in ethnic veggie section of your supermarket, next to coconuts and plantains), peeled and cut into tiny chunks

2 ripe plantains (they'll look nearly black when ripe; that's good), sliced, then quartered

1 yellow onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 T finely chopped ginger or 1/4 t powdered ginger

1 sweet potato, cut into small chunks

1 15-oz. can lite coconut milk (half the fat! Love that!)

1 15-oz. can kidney beans (try for low sodium)

3/4 cup lima beans (frozen ok)

1 T Jamaican curry powder (in the spice or "ethnic" section of your supermarket)

Salt

Olive oil

2 bay leaves

Thyme (2 sprigs fresh, 1/4 t dried)

What to do:

1. Place chopped yuca in a large pot, cover with water, add 2 pinches of salt, and get boiling. Set timer for 20 minutes. At the ding, put chopped sweet potatoes in a steam basket and set over boiling yuca for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, carry on with the rest of it.

2. Put 2 T olive oil in a large saucepan and saute onions, garlic, bell pepper, and ginger for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (beans, limas, coconut milk, plantains, herbs, etc.), a pinch of salt, and 1/3 cup water and let simmer.

3. Set oven to broil on low. Check yuca; it should be fork-tender by now. If that's a yes…

4. Drain yuca, reserving liquid, and put it back in the pot you boiled it in. Add 1 T olive oil and mash yuca to where it's a little smooth, yet still a little chunky. Use some of the boiling liquid to help with the mashing. Freeze the rest for soup stock.

4. Put curried filling into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish, or close enough; don't lose your mind over things like this. Scoop mashed yuca over mixture and smush around to cover. Lick fingers. Drizzle a little olive oil over top of yuca.

5. Broil for about 10 minutes, enough to get yuca golden brown. (Watch carefully; I don't know how powerful your broiler is. Mine takes a while.)

6. Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving, if you can resist digging into it. Distract yourself with starter of sauteed kale. (Steam kale for 5 minutes while sauteing 1/2 chopped red onion in olive oil. Add kale and more olive oil as necessary to saute for 5 more minutes. Add 1 T tamari or regular soy sauce, 1 t balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Easy!)

Enjoy (and enter that giveaway!),

Suzan

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Food News: The Good, The Bad, and the McRib

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Oh my Mcgoodness.

This week, the food world received two blows below the expanding belt: First, that McDonald's is reviving the McRib sandwich, and second, that food prices will be going up–due to increased meat consumption in China and India.

What? And what??!

Let's get the truly mystifying stuff out of the way by starting with the resurrection of the McRib. Of all the "food" products that McDonald's has invented, this is the one they bring back from the dead? What about the Shamrock Shake? Granted, the green goo has limited appeal as it was only sold on St. Patrick's Day, and nobody really knew what flavor it was. But the McRib? True confession: I've never tried one. The only person I knew who did described the McRib as "a tube sock soaked in tomato sauce." If that tempts your taste buds, or just your extreme eating jones, the McRib is available for the next six weeks only. Apparently it reappears every fall as a limited promotion. I'm a little more excited about Godiva's pumpkin pie truffles, which are also limited to pumpkin season.

Next, today's news about food prices going up was a bummer. This shouldn't be too much of a shock since food prices have been stable, and reasonable, for a long time now. What's surprising is which food items are becoming more expensive: grain-based edibles such as bread and pasta. Traditionally the go-to for lower incomes, grains are becoming more expensive due to the increasing demand for meat in China, India, and other areas that didn't used to eat quite so much meat… In other words, that didn't used to eat the way America does.

What does one thing have to do with another? Well, livestock bred for meat consumption are fed grain. More people wanting to eat more beef, chicken, and pork means more grain (probably corn) going to the cows, chickens, and pigs raised for meat products. And it takes a lot of grain to feed livestock (not to mention water, electricity, land to grow the corn…). So check out the crazy equation: We're feeding inexpensive food to animals, so we can pay more for food–and even other people's food. During a recession. That's progress for you!

One of my former bosses used to say, "Don't come to me with a problem unless you have a solution." So I'm not going to dump these two news items on your e-doorstep and run away. My solution to the reappearance of the McRib is to avoid it like Jamie Lee Curtis running away from a killer in a hockey mask. My answer to rising food costs is to look to enduring cultures who've lived long and prospered by eating affordable food. In other words, I'm going to make a big pot of rice and beans.

Revolutionary's Rice n' Beans



What you'll need:

2 cans black beans (please try to get low sodium)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large or 2 medium yellow onion(s), diced

olive oil

2 cups brown rice

What to do:

1. Put 2 cups of brown rice in a pot with 4 cups water, a dash of olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Throw a small pinch of salt over your left shoulder for luck. Let rice come to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 30 minutes.

2. Dice your onion, mince your garlic, toss in a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil, and let both do a little dance, make a little love, and get down tonight over medium heat until onions are golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add beans and let simmer over low heat. Stir occasionally and mutter "Take that" to food companies that charge more for things that should cost less.

3. When rice is done, so will be the beans; life works beautifully that way. Spoon zesty beans over tender rice. Serves 4 revolutionaries.

Other serving suggestions:

* For spicier beans, add a hint of chili powder and/or red pepper flakes.

* For Mexican rice and beans, serve topped with salsa, with chips on the side.

* For those who prefer eating with their hands, serve rice and beans topped with salsa in a burrito.

* For breakfast, crack an egg on top of the rice and beans, cover pan, and let egg steam until desired level of done-ness.

[McImage courtesy of The Konformist Blog.]