Posts from — December 2009

For Hannukah, I managed to put together some pretty decent latkes. I used a recipe I found on The New York Times website. They were the simplest and closest to what I remember as a kid. Frankly, if you’re talking about a latke that doesn’t involve grated potatoes, I’m not interested. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s what I say! ::shakes old lady fist::

Some notes from this humble chef:

I don’t know what planet these people live on, but there is no way this recipe makes 24 small pancakes, unless the pancakes we are talking about are about the size of a Hershey kiss. I made the latkes to the size I have always enjoyed them in Jewish homes and restaurants across North America, which is to say bigger than a silver dollar pancake and smaller than a burger patty, and it made around 12 or 14 latkes. Also, it was way more watery than indicated, so I had to use a lot more than a couple of tablespoons of matzo meal. However, they were REALLY YUMMY and I would say the best latkes I’ve ever had, so this recipe was generally a SUCCESS. And quite easy, too!

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View Toronto Running in a larger map
RACES:
Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon, September 28, 2008 – 2:40:56 (10:57 m/m)
Toronto Goodlife Half-Marathon, October 18, 2009 – PB 2:02:00 (9:19 m/m)

MILEAGE TOTALS:
477.45 miles (up from 283 miles in 2008)

Best month: September (81.47 miles)
Worst month: December (5.03 miles, not counting warm up runs on the gym treadmill)
Average miles/month: 39.8

GOALS FOR 2010
Run a half-marathon in under 2 hours.
Break 500 miles per year.
Keep average pace under 10 minutes per mile.
Explore new parks and trails.

2008 Running Map

I have been on a bit of a cooking kick lately. Stark’s enthusiasm for the kitchen is contagious and as I’ve successfully completed smaller tasks, my confidence to try bigger and better things has been growing. Stark and I have been trying to cooking big dinners on Sundays, enough to feed us for at least part of the week. Also, with the holidays coming, there has been more of a need to dig some of those more ambitious recipes out of the cookbook. First up was ribollita.

It has been my great goal to make ribollita for about… well, three years. I kept saying I was going to do it and then never put in the effort, despite looking up recipes numerous times. Well, I finally gave in and got ‘er done. I used a modified version of Lidia Bastianich’s recipe, from her book Lidia’s Italian American Kitchen. I’m sure if you’ve known me for more than five minutes, you’ll know how much I fangirl Lidia, so I thought it best to go with her version of the Tuscan stew. Also, the woman isn’t totally irrational and toned down a lot of the “And then, since you are an Italian housewife who lives in the kitchen, make sure and stand over the stove and stir the pot for twelve hours and then don’t eat it for three days” aspects of this dish. When I spend a few hours cooking, I better get to eat the end product immediately!

Have a lot of veggies and cans of beans to get rid of? Ribollita will take care of it. It uses a lot of leafy greens, as well as potato and onion and such. A lot:

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