Janel Gradowski's Blog, page 11

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs For Busy People

Last week my publisher sent back my manuscript to be edited. That means the big day, that would be publication day (sometime in July) is getting closer. It also means I’ve spent a lot of time staring at my laptop and not meal planning. So, hard boiled eggs came to my rescue several times this week. They’re easy to make and can be part of many quick meals.

First off, let me tell you how I boil eggs, which barely includes boiling. Unless I completely forget about these and leave them in the hot water for an hour or some other unreasonable amount of time, they always turn out perfect. No yucky green rings around the yolks. First, put the eggs in a pan and cover with at least an inch of cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat (or turn of the burner if you have an electric stove like I do) and simmer for 1 minute. Cover and remove from the heat. Let sit in hot water for 12-15 minutes. Drain and cool in cold water. Peel and enjoy.

Speaking of peeling hard boiled eggs … did you know a spoon is your best friend for this task? Crack the shell with the back of the spoon bowl. Flip the spoon over so the egg fits into the curve of the spoon’s bowl, like the illustration above. Carefully slip the tip of the spoon through one of the cracks and then slide it around the egg white’s surface to loosen the shell. If the shell sticks a bit, try running the egg under some water to help loosen it a bit more. By the way, did you know that the fresher an egg is, that harder it is to peel when it’s hard boiled?

Now … what to do with those eggs? My favorite egg salad is inspired by a Pioneer Woman recipe I found several years ago. Here is the shorthand version:

Make a simple egg salad (eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, salt & pepper, etc.).

Add shredded cheese and crumbled cooked bacon.

Spread on English muffin halves.

Broil until browned and bubbly.

It’s easy, a bit decadent and quick to throw together. I always have real, pre-cooked bacon bits in my refrigerator. The ones you find next to the salad dressing at the grocery store. I find they taste good and they’re actually lower in fat than bacon bits you fry yourself. I suspect that is because the bacon is rendered down to be more shelf stable. I also like adding chopped hard boiled eggs to basic tuna salad. Throw in some cold, cooked rice and some crunchy veggies like cucumbers or red peppers and your tuna salad goes from a sandwich spread to a true salad.

Both of these recipe ideas are quick and easy, especially if you’ve boiled eggs ahead of time. What is your favorite way to use hard boiled eggs?

This post is part of Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads

 

Help Name My New Series

I recently found out from my publisher that my first culinary mystery will be published in July! That means it’s time to nail down all kinds of things, like cover art and the series name. I’ve come up with several series names and I’m having a difficult time deciding on which one I like the most.  I would like some unbiased opinions to help me choose. So, I’ve created a poll to see what others think.

About the series: Amy Ridley lives in a small town in Michigan. She has a loving husband, a crazy dog and a commitment-phobic best friend. Amy is a former beautician who now creates prize winning recipes, instead of hair styles. Her passion is entering cooking contests – from local pie baking competitions to nation-wide searches for the best baked beans recipes. She is a talented cook who ends up developing a new set of skills, solving murders, after she finds a body at a contest in the first book of the series.

What do you think? Does this sound like a series you would like? I would love it if you could let me know what series name you like the most. Which name would make you take a closer look when you are browsing for a new book? Just click on the link below to be taken to the voting form. If you can think of another name, please leave a comment on this post. I’ll take everything into account and make a decision soon. Thank you!

Vote Here

 

 

Life Lemons and Soft Food

A new month always holds a bit of excitement. A new beginning. A new page on the calendar. With the way my April went, I am very glad to see we’re already to Cinco de Mayo.

I had dental problems throughout most of April. I was only able to awkwardly chew food on the right side of my mouth for three weeks. Lots of soft food found its way into my diet. Yes, I could’ve added more variety, but since it was so difficult I didn’t really feel like eating much. It certainly wasn’t pleasurable. And I didn’t feel like blogging about food when I could barely eat it.

On top of that Cooper, my Golden Retriever, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. He went on medication and the change was remarkable as he went from couch potato to happy and energetic again. Unfortunately he also showed signs of the medication dosage being too high, so we’ve been working at dialing it back down. A bit of a bumpy road, but he’ll feel so much better once we find the sweet spot dosage.

So I’m happy that it’s a new month. That my tooth is fixed and that Cooper is on the mend. Here’s to hoping that May will be a very good month.

Inspiration In Busy Times

The last month has been very busy for me, between turning in a manuscript to my publisher, writing and editing a novelette and having some fun while my kids were on Spring Break. Lots of things going on, but I’ve still found the time to poke around the internet and find some things that help refill my creative well. I need lots of wood to keep the writing fire going! Here are some of the things that have caught my attention lately.

365 docobites – 365 documentaries in 365 days. Strangers’ short and shorter stories. Two film makers are traveling around the world, producing mini documentaries featuring interesting people they meet. The link takes you to the docobite about the Tandem Poetry writers, which is my favorite video so far.

Mindfulness Meditation: 8 Quick Exercises That Easily Fit Into Your Day – Getting your mind to slow down is a wonderful thing. These meditations aren’t the kind where you sit cross-legged and chant for an hour. Nope. These are easy ways to give your brain, which is thinking about 1,001 things, a break.

Karen Russell Donates Her Sleep – An interview with author Karen Russell where she talks about her new novella, Sleep Donation. I love seeing authors excited about shorter forms of fiction. Make sure to check out the website that accompanies the novella. What a fabulous way to give readers experiences beyond just reading the words in a book.

Have you found anything lately that stoked your creativity?

Food Goes With Writing Like . . .

 

Food goes with writing like butter goes with toast. Or something like that. At least in my world. Lately I’ve been working on a lot of stories and I seem to have developed specific food preferences for each one. I certainly didn’t intend to do this, but after working on three writing projects in about a 3 week period I realized I had inadvertently developed a bit of a foodie ritual associated with each project.

While revising my culinary mystery I needed Girl Scout Samoa (caramel + coconut) flavored non-dairy creamer in my coffee. When my little, local grocery store ran out of that flavor I switched to the Creme Brulee flavor. While I have coffee every day, it has been well over a year since I’ve had non-dairy creamers. The whole non-dairy, but still appears to be dairy, thing freaks me out a bit. I mean, what kind of chemicals are in them? As soon as I was done revising the novel I easily switched back to my usual cane sugar and a splash of 2% milk additions to coffee.

Next I began working on a short story that was darker and had a completely different tone than the cozy mystery. This project left me craving snacks that were the polar opposite of each other. Mikta, pickled wild cucumbers, that I buy in big jars from a Mediterranean grocery store. They are crunchy, salty, mildly sour and a bit spicy from the chili pepper in the bottom of each jar. If I wasn’t craving those for a snack, I went with Cinnamon Pecan Special K cereal.

This week I started on a women’s fiction novelette. I ended up writing over 10,000 words in 2 1/2 days. I started each day with a big bowl of farina (cream of wheat hot cereal/porridge) made with cinnamon, butter and demerara cane sugar. For lunch I made rice bowls in my trusty, little 4-cup rice cooker. Asparagus and bacon bits were always included. Button mushrooms, too, until I ran out of them on the third day.

So, those are my foodie talismans and rituals pinned to my writing projects, even though I’m not superstitious. Honestly, I don’t know why I’m doing this, but I am. Next I’m I’ll be working on the culinary mystery again, so I’ll see if I crave the Samoa creamer or if my tastes change for this round of revisions. Do you ever get food obsessions and eat the same thing over and over?

This post is part of Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

Site Spotlight: Alimentum

I have been a fan of Alimentum for a long time. They used to be a print journal, but have since switched to an online-only format.  For any foodie, it is a fascinating site to explore. The literature ranges from short stories and poetry to essays and book reviews, but there is more: food-centered art, videos and music.

You can spend hours exploring the journal or just pop in for a few minutes to read a story or poem, although it could be difficult to choose what you want to focus on. So many things to read and see. I would suggest starting with the pieces featured on the home page and then digging into the archives. One of the pieces featured on the home page as I am writing this post is Recipe for Winter by Khristopher Flack. Part recipe, part poetry, part essay . . . a sort of literary mole` sauce with a variety of ingredients that lead to a satisfying, rich experience. The lomography (plastic camera) style photographs of Martha Clarkson and Jim Carpenter are beautiful and thought-provoking. Click on the site’s Jukebox for some interesting music to accompany your browsing. Lots of things to love, in my opinion. A very unique journal with a narrow focus that condenses it into a jewel.

Do you know of any other foodie literature sites? If so, please let me know!

This post is part of Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads

Freezer Cooking Ahead

The last three months have convinced me it’s time to try freezer cooking, preparing a stash of frozen meals that just need to be thawed and reheated or cooked. I tend to keep my freezer well stocked with meat and vegetables, but that isn’t quite the same. Basically, right now my freezer is full of recipe ingredients that need to be seasoned, sauced, chopped or cooked. With freezer cooking all of the prep work is done, sometimes right down to the cooking part. So a major grocery shopping trip and a chunk of dedicated prep work = homemade frozen convenience meals.

Freezer cooking certainly isn’t new, but I do think it’s a trend that is picking up followers. Over the last year I have gotten close to a dozen freezer cooking ebooks. A search for freezer cooking on Pinterest will net an ocean of pins, some linking to blogs and websites that are dedicated to freezer cooking. I’ve even seen blog posts and pins about freezer cooking clubs.

While I have always enjoyed cooking, I’ve come to realize how valuable having a few prepared meals on hand in the freezer can be. Between the weather that has made visits to the grocery store often somewhere between difficult to impossible, increased writing commitments and my busy kids that still need a parent taxi . . . it sure will be nice to have some easy meals available for crazy days. I’ll review my favorite freezer cooking cookbooks as I get the chance to try some recipes.

Are you  a freezer cooking fan? Do you have any tips or favorite recipes that you would like to share with me?

This post is part of Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

 

Counteracting The Pain Of Writing

Every job has physical hazards. A grocery clerk can drop a case of cat food on her foot. A nurse can catch an illness from a patient. I think just about every job can be physically uncomfortable, either from an accident or repetitive movements. Writing is no different. Sitting in front of a computer, typing, can produce all kinds of aches and pains.

I usually try to add some exercise into my daily routine. By exercise I mean aerobics or lifting weights. For many years I have looked at those things as the best way to stay in shape. Many times I have rolled my eyes at yoga. The twisting into a human pretzel stuff looked more like torture than exercise to me. Then I started writing my mystery novel and I developed a very sore neck. The pain radiated into my shoulders and turning my head took my breath away sometimes. I found a stretching video on YouTube and got some much-appreciated relief from the pain and muscle tightness. Turns out that many of the stretches are yoga-based.

Since I couldn’t argue with the results I was feeling, I decided to search out some beginners yoga videos on YouTube. I tried a few and was delighted when I tried the ones from the Yoga With Adriene channel. I thought yoga was about striking a pose and holding it. Adriene’s approach is to ease into the poses and even move around a bit, so you can feel comfortable and work out those muscle knots and kinks. As she says, “get juicy.” Thanks to her videos I am now hooked on yoga. It’s becoming an essential part of my wellness routine. Below is one of Adriene’s videos for one of my favorite poses Cat-Cow.

Do you do yoga? If so, what are some of your favorite poses?

Site Spotlight: Kitchen Spy Column at Boston Magazine

Most of my recent writing has had a definite foodie theme. When fictional characters cook they need fictional kitchens to cook in. So I spend quite a bit of time mentally planning out kitchens for my stories. I have to say, I wish I had the kitchen in the culinary mystery I am currently working on. It’s the big, bright and functional cooking space of my dreams. If I can’t have it, I may as well write about it, right?

All photos by Fawn Deviney for Boston magazine

There is always Pinterest for inspiration, but recently I found a magazine column that made me go “ooh”. Boston Magazine has a column written by Leah Mennies called Kitchen Spy. As you can imagine from the Spy moniker, the posts take a peek into kitchens, poking around refrigerators, pantries and bookshelves. These aren’t spotless, model home kitchens, though. The column lets you look into the kitchens of Boston area chefs.

As expected, chefs have some interesting culinary toys and pantry items. There are photos of everything from antique meat grinders to cheese boxes and muscat jelly. The accompanying interview always has explanations of many of the photographed items and gives a nice glimpse into the life of a chef. I can’t wait to see more entries in this magazine column. Each installment is a luscious bit of culinary eye candy.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

Hearty Waffles For Cold Days

It has been the winter of broken records. Snowfall totals, lowest temperatures and wind chills. I suspect the schools here may be heading for a record number of snow days in a school year, too. Although most of the days have been declared “inclement weather” days as it’s been dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills keeping schools closed. My kids had an unplanned 5 day weekend thanks to bad roads from snow on Friday and then the super frigid polar vortex wind chills along with severely drifted roads on Monday and Tuesday.

Even though I have been able to get out of the house with my 4-wheel drive pickup, there have been many days that I just didn’t want to leave. So I’ve been cooking from pantry and freezer items. I really need to make a big grocery shopping trip because my shelves are getting pretty bare after all of the bad weather this winter.

On Monday I thawed some sausage and decided that breakfast sounded good for dinner, as in waffles and sausage. I love trying different waffle recipes and I hit Pinterest to keep my mind off the snow blowing around outside. I found a recipe that produced a thick batter. Many of the recipes I’ve tried in the past have a thin, liquid batter and I wanted to see what the difference in viscosity would produce in the finished waffles. I made a few tweaks to the recipe to reduce the fat a bit (the original called for a whole stick of butter for only 5 or 6 waffles) and add some nice caramel-y flavor with the brown instead of white sugar. My kids loved them. Nice and dense, but in a good – not potential hockey puck, way. A really nice way to end a blustery day.

What are some of your favorite meals to cook from your pantry stash?

Print
Hearty Waffles For Cold Days


Author: Janel Gradowski (http://www.janelgradowski.com)



Serves: 5-6
 


Ingredients

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1¾ cups milk
¼ cup melted butter
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour




Instructions

Beat together eggs, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl.
Add milk and melted butter. Mix well.
Whisk in the baking powder and salt. Add the flour a bit at a time, whisking well after each addition, until batter is smooth and lumps are gone.
Cook according to your waffle maker’s directions. The dough is thick and doesn’t spread a lot. I poured the batter in a ring around the center then filled in the center to make sure the batter spread almost to the edges of my Belgian waffle maker.



3.2.1255

 

This post is part of Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads