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a book for the enlighted
I promised myself to only watch a few minutes of Lost last night, and then sat through the whole thing. That show is scientifically calculated to get you shamelessly hooked. I honestly don’t know what’s going on half the time since I missed a couple seasons in there, but now I know that whenever anything bizarre happens, no one else knows what’s going on either. You just have to keep watching for explanations, which of course, never come.
Last night, “the others” character Juliet was talking about how they all speak Latin because it is the language of the enlightened.
Certainly plenty of people through the ages believe it is the language of the educated. If nothing else, it couldn’t hurt to know it if you’re practicing law or medicine. So, here and there I try teaching it to my son. Though I never learned it, it’s pretty easy as far as foreign languages go, because you only need learn to pronounce the words, not fuss about with a proper accent.
Recently I found a copy of Olivia in Latin
cinnamon oatmeal apple muffins
I thought it would be fun to adapt my favorite muffins a little. For some reason, though, the carrot muffin recipe makes twelve, while this one makes about sixteen. Go figure. If you’re going to bake with me, it seems you’ll need to own an extra muffin pan.
If you want to make these low fat (or you make them low fat by accident like I did), just leave out the oil. They are quite good.
potato leek soup
I know you’ve all been wondering where I have been. Sorry. It’s been a crazy few weeks. I am currently planning lots of new things for sophistimom (thanks to some of the ideas of our creative reader, Brooke, at ConversationsWithACupcake). All the brainstorming is cutting into time I could be spending making new posts. Don’t worry, though. The new and improved sophistimom.com will be online soon.
While you’re all waiting though . . .
Here is a very simple and comforting soup you can make in a hurry.
how to cut and clean leeks
Most of the time, people will tell you to rinse leeks scrupulously to get rid of all the dirt and sand that collects between the leaves. I don’t trust this method, since it seems the dirt really likes to hide. I saw Rachael Ray use this method once, and it works better than any other way I have tried.
whole grain pastry flour and a healthier banana bread
Remember my banana bread recipe? This week, some old bananas were lying around, but I didn’t want to make the bread with white flour. We are trying to be healthy.
Then I remembered how I had used some Arrowhead Mills Whole Grain Pastry Flour in a different recipe, and how I had been pleased with the taste. I have tried a few brands of whole wheat pastry flour, and this brand is my favorite. The texture in the banana bread was spot on, and the flavor was every bit as mild as if I had used white flour. That’s a picture of my little guy polishing off a piece of my healthier version.
You don’t need to tweak the recipe at all, just use 2 cups of the whole grain pastry flour in place of the all-purpose flour. Since the flour is lower in gluten than regular whole wheat flour, you can use it for pie crust, cakes (especially spice cakes—you’ll never know the difference), or cookies—any recipe that does not use yeast or rely on gluten for structure (such as risen bread). If you won’t be using your whole grain flour within a month, it is best to freeze it to prevent it from going rancid.
Arrowhead Mills also makes a fantastic regular whole wheat flour, which I used last spring to make whole grain cinnamon rolls. They turned out soft and fluffy, which is a tall feat for whole wheat flour.
Today I called the company to find out if they would do a little giveaway for one of our readers. Since they haven’t called back yet, I think we should all go check out their website by clicking on the picture of flour, or by clicking on their name. That way, they’ll know how very excited you all are to try their products.
homemade marshmallows
Are you all ready for some junk food yet? I know everyone is still doing well on their New Year’s diets, so don’t worry, I’ll break you in slowly. I used evaporated cane juice to make these, so they’re . . . you know, healthy.
When I first tried making homemade marshmallows, I felt so cool. It was as though I had created some sort of scientific miracle in my own kitchen. Even though I had only a small hand mixer at the time, they worked beautifully.
I know it seems everyone is making them these days, but if you haven’t tried yet, I definitely recommend it. Your kids will think you are magic.
fruit studded sparkling gelatin
This gelatin (I’d much rather say Jell-o. I can’t really think of it as anything other than that.) has no added sugar. My mom used to make the fruit juice Knox Blox from the recipe on the back of the Knox Gelatin boxes (which is still there), and I still make them that way for my kids. However, I thought you’d all appreciate a more sophisticated version.
Using seltzer water adds a subtle hint of bubbles, but nothing too pronounced. I wonder if I had used something with less volatile bubbles, like sparkling mineral water, if the carbonation would have been more evident.
pure cleverness
Big Little
This is one of those books that, as a writer and an artist (in a very loose sense of the word), I look at and kick myself. It’s so adorable and innocent and endearing, that I wish I was the creator who could be sitting back right now saying, “Oh, the cleverness of me!” Which is, I am sure what the author and illustrator, Leslie Patricelli, is saying right now.
milestones
happy
new year!
and a happy 100th post
to all of you, my loyal and amazing readers!! I would have quit a long time ago if it weren’t for all of you.
Two big milestones for me. So, here is my question:
what would you like to see more of? more recipes? more books? what would make you all happy this new year, when you visit
sophistimom?
