Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?

A few days ago, overcome by inertia and the urge to procrastinate, I perused the iGoogle gadgets and further personalized my Google homepage.  Now, when a new browser window opens, I am immediately presented not only with the traditional Google search field, but a Wikipedia search field, a word of the day, German word of the day, Spanish word of the day, NYTimes top stories, weather, a box in which to play hangman (which has already robbed me of too much time and will probably be removed soon), pictures of places to see before I die, etc.  I'm loving it.  I'm also loving a little box entitled "Quotes of the Day", which shares three new quotes a day.

Not all the quotes are great, of course, but some of them have procured a smile or given me a moment of reflection.  One of today's quotes made me giggle: "The only winner in the War of 1812 was Tchaikovsky.".  I had never heard of its author, Solomon Short, so I clicked over to check him out.  I was not further intrigued, but did happen upon the name of one of my favorite authors and enjoyed reading some of his quotes.  And now, instead of going to sleep like I definitely should be, I am curled up in bed thumbing through a collection of his short stories and blogging about it.  Because, gentle readers, I would hate to think you have somehow missed out on James Thurber.

James Thurber was best known for his contributions as both a short story writer and cartoonist for The New Yorker, and was a colleague and friend of E.B. White (author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, among other things) and Dorothy Parker.

Thurber's writing is clean, simple, sophisticated, elegant, and hilarious.  His creativity and wit are matched by few, and his gift of satire is impeccable.  Thurber's most famous short stories, fables and cartoons are compiled in a book called The Thurber Carnival.  Our family's copy is battered and worn from decades of frequent use (first by my father, then by me).  I particularly enjoy the elements of Thurber's writing that provide glimpses into the lives and thoughts of the New York's literary elite during the first half of the 20th century. 

In case you're curious, here are the titles of some of my favorite Thurber stories (all of which can be found in the Carnival): Something to Say, The Departure of Emma Inch, If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox, The Greatest Man in the World, and What Do You Mean it WAS Brillig?.   (Truth be told, the last story in this list is actually not very politically correct, as its primary subject is Thurber's difficulty in understanding the way his African-American-- a phrase he did not employ-- housekeeper spoke.  However, it is worth remembering that we are all products of our own time and culture, and Thurber was no exception.  Whatever unfortunate elements may be present, it is perhaps not necessary to ignore the brilliance in this story because of them.  Thurber was doubtless a progressive in his day.)

Anyway, if you are so inclined, I urge you to give Mr. Thurber a try.  He's an American Genius, that one.

I'll leave you with a quote by Thurber himself on his writing later in life:

   "With 60 staring me in the face, I have developed inflammation of the sentence structure and definite hardening of the paragraphs."

I'm having a love affair...

...with Sunshine Burgers.  I have been really into these patties of goodness recently.  The taste, the texture, the purity, oh my.  For the sake of perspective, I will admit that as far as love affairs go, this one is not spectacular.  But as far as healthy, easy food goes, however, these burgers are amazing, and I am indeed having a love affair with Sunshine Burgers.

Yesterday, I had a Sunshine Burger for lunch on a toasted english muffin smeared with somewhat overripe avocado and dijon mustard.  That sandwich is definitely in my top-5 of all time now.  In the past, I have also topped them with caramelized onions and Spanish goat cheese, which was a big hit.  My young cello student's mother (who introduced me to these burgers) serves them on millet rolls with more traditional burger toppings.  But honestly, these are so good, they don't need to be dressed up very much.  I guess that's another thing that makes them so ideal: they stand alone well but are also excellent foundations for more elaborate and adventurous creations.

If you check out the website, you will see that there are several different varieties of Sunshine Burgers.  I have only purchased the original and garden herb varieties, and I liked them both.  My mom, however, made me one at her house that I thought was kind of gross (sorry, Mom).  Unfortunately, I can't give you adequate cautionary information because she threw away the box and forgot which ones she had purchased.  I'm guessing it was the Southwest one, but I could be wrong.  

Anyway, below is a picture of the package.  The word blocked by the glare (sorry I didn't notice it before) is "vegan".  I also took a picture of the ingredients, because you should be really, really impressed by them.  Notice how pure and simple it is.  No chemicals!  I usually cook them in a skillet, though it generally doesn't take as long as the box indicates.   Enjoy!

 

gnocchi with vegetables and cannellini beans

I like frozen gnocchi.  A lot.  It took me awhile to discover these tasty morsels.  See, I have enjoyed gnocchi in restaurants for a very long time (a particular favorite is at Max SoHa in NYC).  But whenever I made it at home, I used dried gnocchi and it was always disgusting.  Then, one day last year, I serendipitously happened upon a bag of frozen gnocchi in a grocery store near my last apartment in Harlem.  I happily discovered that frozen gnocchi has a tender, fluffy suppleness that rivals fresh gnocchi.  And while I readily admit that frozen gnocchi isn't better than fresh, it is an adequate substitute (at least until I attempt to make gnocchi from scratch!).  

I hadn't made any gnocchi dishes for awhile, but was recently inspired and decided to have a go. It was a success, and I am sure I will be making many more gnocchi dishes in the near future.

This dish was inspired by a picture that I saw in a magazine.  I didn't read the accompanying recipe; I just saw a picture of gnocchi with zucchini and tomatoes, and this was born.  (Sorry for my questionable units of measurement.)

gnocchi with vegetables and cannellini beans

chop up: 1 medium zucchini, 1 medium carrot, 6 campari tomatoes, 2 spring onions, 6 cloves of garlic, fresh basil (about 8 leaves), and most of a container of baby bella mushrooms.

You will later add a few generous handfuls of fresh baby spinach, a can of cannellini beans, some wine, black pepper, scant tablespoon sugar, 1/3 jar of tomato sauce, and a package of frozen gnocchi.

Instructions:

Put a pot of salted water on to boil.  Over another burner on medium to medium-high heat, give a skillet two turns of olive oil.  Let it heat up and add the zucchini and carrots.  Cook them for a few minutes, then add the garlic, spring onions and mushrooms.  Cook that a little longer and add the tomatoes.  Drain a can of cannellini beans and dump them in.  Add black pepper to taste.  If you have about a cup of wine leftover, then by all means, pour that in (I emptied a bottle of Chardonnay).  If you think it needs it, sprinkle a scant tablespoon of sugar in as well.  Let that all simmer until the vegetables are just tender; overcooking vegetables makes them mushy, which will ruin just about any dish.  Pour off--or ladle out-- some of the extra juice.  Add in 1/3 jar of tomato sauce (I used some cheap Classico sauce).  Finally, throw in the spinach and fresh basil leaves.  Stir well until the spinach is just starting to wilt.  Cover and remove from heat. Let it sit and finish steaming the spinach while you prepare the gnocchi.

Prepare the gnocchi according to package directions.  Do NOT overcook-- it really does only take about 2 minutes, and they're done as soon as they float to the top.  Drain them immediately and stir them into the vegetable mix.  And you're ready to eat!  I topped mine with parmigiano-reggiano.

Obviously, this was a very loose recipe and there's lots of room for improvisation with your own culinary creativity!  Enjoy!

The pictures are: 

1.  The vegetables simmering in in their own juices and wine, before removing some of the liquid and adding the beans and tomato sauce.

2.  The completed sauce as I took it off the heat to finish steaming.

3.  yummy supper.

    

return with lox

I'm back... by (suprisingly) popular demand.

I did think anyone was reading.  I was wrong!  Several friends have requested that I put more cooking info (tips, recipes, ideas, etc.) on the blog.  I would love to help!  I love to cook and have all kinds of hospitality ideas.  I want all my friends that want to cook and entertain to never be intimidated by the idea.  So while I will definitely be posting on other things as well, I promise to share all my cool culinary finds and ideas with you.

With that in mind, I'm starting a "Lauren likes..." section.  I will post pictures and/or links to products that I really like.  And away we go.

This is not really a recipe, since it's just a sandwich and you don't really make anything.  It's just an idea and some product suggestions.  Anyway.

This is one of my favorite lunches to make for myself.  It's on Whole Foods prairie bread, which I love.  Spread a thin layer of cream cheese (I like Snofrisk, more on that in a second) on both sides.  Add thinly sliced European cucumbers, spring mix, and smoked salmon.  Delicious!  I had mine with some raw baby carrots.

In order to make this well, I think a few things are important.  First, European cucumbers are awesome.  They are seedless and taste amazing (and are, unfortunately, more expensive).

Second, the type of salmon you use is important.  At least it's important to me.  I hate, hate, hate overly fishy-tasting salmon.  Also, salmon is not so cheap, and it is quite disappointing for me to shell out my hard-earned money on some only to find it repulsive.  Luckily, I have found my perfect smoked salmon match at Whole Foods, and it doesn't even cost an arm and a leg.  It has a delicately smokey flavor, it's not too salty, and while you're aware that you're eating fish, it doesn't taste like it had a terminal illness prior to being caught and smoked.  Here it is (sorry that I forgot to take a picture before I opened it! I was hungry!):

And last but not least, the cheese.  I love this new cheese I found at Whole Foods:

If you enlarge the picture, you'll see that it's made from goat's milk.  This gives it a little bit of that characteristic bite found in chévre. It's not overwhelming by any means, but I think it has a better taste and slightly better texture than regular cream cheese. 

For those of you that are gluten-free (love ya, Megs!) or don't want a sandwich, this could also be a salad.  Omit the bread, replace the snofrisk with goat cheese crumbles, and add tomatoes.  Drizzle it with olive oil and lemon juice.  Yum!  And if you're vegan, better luck next time (sorry, fern).