Ladies musn't whip each other

Check out this darling Austen/Palahniuk mashup.

Lives, distractions, cakes

Allora, mi dispiace che io non vi scriva di più. I must come clean, my friends. It wasn't a fatal case of blogophobia that's kept me from my laptop recently, but a series of interesting events ranging from summertime pastry-making, to acid indigestion (unrealted to said pastry), to a life-changing reunion.

• One of the ongoing projects in my life at the moment is finishing Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. When I told an officemate last week that I was getting near the end of it, he asked me what it was about--and that was an unexpectedly difficult question to answer.
  Here's how I would put it: Pollan takes us on a personal journey through the production of four different meals from the "ground" up: (1) a trip to McDonald's featuring a brief history of factory-farmed protein; (2) an industrial organic meal purchased entirely at Whole Foods, including asparagus grown in South America and a broiler chicken named "Rosie", raised on a certified organic farm; (3) a roasted chicken dinner (chicken is one of the main characters of the book) procured from Joel Salatin's alternative/chemical-free/non-industrial farm in Virginia; and finally (4) a feast of wild boar that Pollan personally hunts down in Sonoma, CA. The book opens with an enlightening and LENGTHY discussion on everything you might want to know about corn: it's ancestry, biology, sex, chemical breakdown, and effect on human life (corn is in everything, so corn might be God?). The book has a comfortable narrative to it, even while describing the slaughter of a factory-farmed cow. I highly recommend it.

• A couple of weeks ago, I had an iced coffee from a Dunkin' Donuts, and four hours later I felt the icy grip of death upon my abdomen. It really sucked. The next few days I felt pains in my lower chest that came in waves, that were worst during the night. It hurt to breathe, I was dizzy, and plain fucking miserable. I took off from work to go the doctor, and when I explained my symptoms to the receptionist, she told me to go to the hospital. "It's really not that bad!" I protested. She told me to go anyway, immediately, so I freaked, and called Dan.
• After an EKG, some blood work, a chest X-ray, and the obligatory preggo-test, the ER doctor (Edward Amores, or Dr. LOVE), determined that I was fine, un-pregnant, and in fact, too young and healthy to have a heart attack (though I maintain that a bloodclot could have been a possibility). At one point he told me I looked great (I didn't even have makeup on--swoon!). Dr. Love narrowed it down to acid reflux, and told me to start taking the wonder drug of our century: Pepcid AC. And since then I've been fucking fine.

• I've come upon several farmer's market temptations such as Jersey peaches and blueberries (Jersey being an ambiguous term), that I bring home, decide I don't particularly enjoy eating fresh, and bake in a cake. I based my blueberry peach crumb cake off this Peach Cake recipe from southernfood.about.com. Delicious, please! Make sure you have 2-3 ripe peaches and about a cup of blueberries (Jersey or not). Despite the heat, a girl must bake, so I proudly crank the A/C, KitchenAid mixer, and oven, in that order!

• And finally, Dan and dad are back together. Charlie and Dan hadn't seen each other in twenty-some years, until their nailbitingly long-awaited reunion last weekend. Dan also got to see his sisters, the gorgeous Stephanie and Laura, and Carolyn, Charlie's gracious wife. It might have been the most beautiful thing I've seen, ever. And I've seen a thing or two. Father and son are both thrilled to finally know each other again, and we inititated the reunion with, of course, a barbeque (the theme was chicken wings!), where we also got to meet Frank and Mike, the girls' adorable boyfriends. I look forward to more family gatherings with our new awesome family! An aside: to my chagrin, Dan is still not Italian. Instead, he's just more Irish and Scottish than we'd thought. Congrats.
  
  

I fell in love with an eggplant...

...at our farmer's market, DePiero's Farm in Montvale, a short drive from Westwood. It was one of many, yes, but I couldn't resist its taught, indigo skin and sublime symmetry. I also haven't yet taken advantage of the eggplant season, which is now nearing its end.

What better activity during a heat-wave than to crank the A/C, bake cookies (oatmeal chocolate-chip) and cook up some fresh veggies? I guess one could conserve electricity...

Stewed eggplant and cannellini beans with tomato and spinach:
1 small eggplant, diced
1 can cannellinni beans, rinsed
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
2-3 handfuls baby spinach
1/2 white onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, diced
Olive oil
Butter
salt, pepper, red cayenne pepper, basil

Brown the diced eggplant in a frying pan over medium/low heat, with a goood amount of olive oil. Push around the pieces with a wooden spoon (preferably) so that they cook evenly, and don't overcook to mush. Set aside when done.


Add oil and butter in a medium saucepan and set to medium heat. Add onion and garlic when hot. Sauté for about 3 minutes, then add beans and diced tomatoes. Cover and let stew for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add eggplant and mix together. Lower the heat, but let the mixture stew for another 5-10 minutes. Add baby spinach one handful at a time, and cover while each batch cooks down. Mix everything together and add spices to taste. Turn off heat, cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread, pasta (I suggest rigatoni), or rice.