Sixpoint Oktoberfest

Jesse's favorite local brewery, Sixpoint, recently came out with their first Oktoberfest beer, which we tried at the release party last month in the sweet little backyard of Sycamore in Ditmas Park. Beers were served in massive three-pint steins the size of my face, along with plates of bratwurst and potato salad. Oktoberfest indeed!


This is my favorite Sixpoint beer yet. I love complex fruity and spicy beers, such as cloudy Belgian wheat beers typically flavored with coriander and orange peel, as well as Harpoon's Winter Warmer spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. If I remember correctly, Sixpoint Oktoberfest had a hint of fall spices and was a touch sweet and round around the edges, softening Sixpoint's distinctive bite. I know it is currently being served it at The Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights, Flatbush Farm, and possibly Bar Great Harry. Give it a try if you see it on tap. What's your favorite beer for the fall?


It was a wonderfully warm October afternoon, so we biked to Ditmas Park. I never realized how easy it is to bike southward from Prospect Park, thanks to a dedicated bike lane on Ocean Parkway. Five miles of pure unadulterated biking on a quiet tree-lined path that takes you straight to Brighton Beach. I plan to hit that up next summer for some exercise-beach action.

photo 1 via Sixpoint's twitpics, 2 via jesse, 3 via NYC Bike Maps Photo Gallery

Waking Up

I think the hardest thing I do every day is

getting out of bed

I don't know about you, but I must be a night owl. I never want to go to bed. Once I'm actually in bed, I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep*. By the time I finally get into a deep sleep, it's morning and I'm supposed to wake up even though all I want is to drift back off into slumber. It's especially hard when winter comes around. There I am, snuggled in my warm cocoon of blankets. Why on earth would I want to leave that to undress in the cold air of the morning?

I don't think I'm alone in this morning difficulty, and I don't understand why humans evolved to have BOTH a hard time falling asleep and a hard time waking up. Searching the meaning for common trait within the principles of evolutionary psychology has eluded me. I can posture that being a light sleeper would have been beneficial for our ancestors who needed to be constantly alert to danger. But can you see any way in which being a heavy morning sleeper is adaptive, when our ancestors had a full day of food-finding work ahead of them?

Because when you think about it, how did humans EVER will themselves to get up in the morning before central heat (ie. most of human history)? I still remember clearly from my childhood Laura Ingalls Wilder's tales of waking up on the most frigid howling winter mornings to light fires, break ice in water, and feed the animals at dawnbreak.** Not something I would ever do.

Oh yeah, and what about the days where all I want to do all day is go back to bed? Because this has been happening a lot lately. Does all this just mean that my sleep cycles are out of whack (see *)? I know exercising is supposed to help boost energy, but it is a bit of a catch 22 when I don't have the energy to go to the gym or do anything after work but drag myself back home and into pjs.

What gets you up in the morning? I know it's probably coffee for a lot of you, which strangely has no stimulant effect on me as far as I can tell. For me, it might be bagels. I eat them way too often, but a bowl of oatmeal just isn't enticing enough to make getting out of the house and into work mode seem worth it.



* thank you, dogs, for doing things like barking into the neighbor's yard at 3am, neurotically sniffing the bed all night, whining and clawing to be let back in the bedroom, and jumping on my face.

**And for that matter, why do farm animals, as well as babies, have to wake up and be fed at dawn??

via flickr

Last Weekend Pt 2: Mac and Cheese-Off

On Sunday, my sister invited me over for a "Mac and Cheese-Off." Oddly enough, as a current Columbia grad student, my sister now lives around the block from the apartment where Jesse lived during his Columbia grad school days. So everytime we head up to Morningside Heights to visit her we get all nostalgic for the fun days when we were first dating. His messy bachelory little studio on 125th street. Walking to Fairway and him making ME dinner (imagine that...this was before I got into cooking). Romantic dinners out without thinking about the bill. Before real life and dogs ruined our lives. Here's the corner where we met for our first date 3 years and 8 months ago.



Anyway, for this event, there were only four of us to eat the three dishes of mac and cheese that we had prepared. Needless to say, there were leftovers.

The winner (as decided by me and Jesse): my broccoli cheddar mac and cheese. You gotta get your veggies where you can... (recipe below)


The runners-up: Lisa's mac and cheese with chevre, butternut squash, and caramelized onions; John's mac and cheese with crushed walnuts, gorgonzola, and Swiss MSG sauce (don't ask cuz no I didn't understand what it was either)


Afterward we walked off the cheese with a sunset stroll through Riverside Park.



Broccoli Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
salt
pepper
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 small or 1 large head of broccoli
1/2 lb curly pasta
3/4 lb cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375.
Grease a casserole dish with butter.
Bring large pot of salted water to boil.
Separate broccoli stems from florets. Dice stems and then dice florets, keeping them separate.
Grate cheese.
Heat butter in saucepan until melted. Slowly whisk in flour, then milk, then spices. Let simmer until milk mixture is hot. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup grated cheese, creating a melted cheese sauce.
Once water is boiling, add the pasta and broccoli stems. Bring to a boil again and cook ten minutes or so until pasta and stems are both al dente. Then strain thoroughly in a colander.
Combine pasta, stems, florets, and cheese sauce in casserole dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup grated cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes until edges are golden brown.
Makes 4-6 servings.

Last Weekend Pt 1: Drunk Art

Before THIS weekend starts, I have to tell you about LAST weekend, because it was one of those rare weekends that left me feeling recharged and invigorated. There was the birthday party Friday night. It was my first time back in Williamsburg since the move and I think I talked a lot about missing Billyburg that night. On Saturday afternoon, there were some light errands and a new lunch place found (the ever-elusive combination of burgers for him plus good vegetarian options for me. Meag, now I know why you liked Bar Toto!)


Saturday night we hit up First Saturday at Brooklyn Museum, which is just awesome. Get drunk and explore the exhibits*, and there is a crazy dance party. Michael Jackson + James Brown = couldn't help dancing. We went to check out the new Rock & Roll photography exhibit but it was a bit too crowded to take it all in, and there was a lot more in the museum we didn't get to see. Don't know why I've never been before, but we'll definitely be back, especially because it's such a pleasant short walk from our apartment to the museum.

It was an evening that made me feel alive. Doing something new, experiencing art, being out among other young Brooklynites, feeling a part of something exciting. This is why we live in NEW YORK CITY. These are the kinds of things I wish I did more often. It was more than just another weekend night/another boring drink at the bar. I was so energized afterward I didn't want to just go home so we ended our night at Pacific Standard, an excellent choice for craft beers and board games.

What makes your weekends exciting? What are the things that make your life sparkle and keep repetition and boredom at bay?

* Thank you to the trustees of Brooklyn Museum for entrusting your treasures within the reach of drunken revelers.

via Brooklyn Museum's flickr

Pumpkin Cupcakes and a bit about honey

So what I have I done with all that pumpkin? My friend Diana's birthday was last week, and since I hadn't seen her several MONTHS, I wanted to do something extra-nice and decided to make cupcakes for her party. I thought my cupcakes would be THE birthday cake, but actually another guest made an awesome cake - a vanilla layer topped with chocolate cake cut into letters that spelled out Diana's name - how could anyone top that? So my little cakes were woefully upstaged but still all gone by the end of the night nonetheless.


I figured my bourbon cream cheese icing recipe would be the perfect accompaniment to pumpkin, but upon tasting, I decided the icing needed some more sweetness and added a tablespoon or so of maple syrup, which was perfect. I think these cupcakes could also serve as light little muffins, if you added in some chopped nuts or chocolate chips and forgot about icing. Ignore the dark cupcake edges in the photo - I accidentally left these in the oven too long.

Also, you may notice a pattern in my recipes by now. I always cut back the sugar and replace a portion of it with honey. I do this because honey is a local, natural, less-processed alternative to sugar. In addition to containing vitamins and minerals, honey has a lower glycemic index than sugar, so it is absorbed more slowly and healthfully. I also appreciate that I can get my honey from local farmers at the Greenmarket, unlike sugar, which is grown far, far away. However, I don't completely replace sugar with honey because most honeys have a strong flavor that can overwhelm baked goods. One of these days I'll give it a try and see what happens, though. Who knows, I might be pleasantly surprised!

Some notes about baking with honey: Because of its strong sweet taste, you can use less of it than you would sugar. It's not a 1:1 substution but more like 1/3 cup honey for every 1/2 cup sugar. In addition, because it's liquid, you can cut back slightly on the other liquid ingredients in a recipe. In this case, the honey helps make up for the fact that I cut the butter down to 6 tbsp from a full stick, or 8 tbsp.


Pumpkin Cupcakes
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
bourbon cream cheese icing recipe, halved, with addition of 1 tbsp of maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two muffin tins*. Cream butter and sugar. Whisk in honey, then eggs, vanilla, pumpkin puree, and finally milk. Dump in flour and spices and beat until batter is combined and smooth. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until toothpick or fork inserted comes out clean. Let cool (in fridge or freezer if you need to save time!) before icing. Makes about 20 cupcakes.

*Or should they be called "cupcake" tins if you are making cupcakes? Why don't these things have a universal name?

Fall Blur & Pumpkin Roasting

Last week was a blur of too much time sitting on my but at my office desk, bumming in my pjs at home, and sleepless soul-searching nights. So the highlight of my workweek was probably taking the time to roast this sugar pumpkin into pumpkin puree - because it means I get to bake yummy pumpkin goodies. So far I made these pumpkin "brownies," (I recommend baking for 30-40 minutes) and pumpkin cupcakes for a friend's birthday party, which I'll tell you about later. I might be making an extra-special pumpkin treat tomorrow, and I already bought another pumpkin to freeze some puree for future baking. Guess I can cross pumpkin roasting off my fall to-do list!

Roasting pumpkins is an easy alternative to buying canned pumpkin this time of year. And it's a good idea to avoid canned foods, as cans are lined with the dreaded endocrine disruptor BPA, which has been shown to leach into canned products. Make sure you find a sugar pumpkin, not a pumpkin intended for Halloween carving/decoration, as sugar pumpkin flesh isn't as stringy and yields a sweet taste like the canned kind. Sugar pumpkins are available at farmers markets and some grocery stores, but if you can't find one, you can subsitute butternut or hubbard squash.

Stay tuned for more pumpkin recipes on here soon, hopefully.

Roasted Pumpkin Puree
Preheat oven to 400.
Wash but do not peel pumpkin.
If possible, slice the pumpkin in half and scoop out the pumpkin seed goo and stringy flesh (reserve to roast the seeds).
Lay each half on a lightly greased baking sheet, flesh side up.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes, until flesh is completely soft and mushy.

Or if the shell is too hard to cut through, simply plop the whole pumpkin on a greased baking sheet.
Turn over halfway through baking, approximately 40 minutes each side.
At that point, you should be able to slice open the pumpkin easily.
Let cool before handling.
Again, scoop out the pumpkin seeds and reserve.

Scoop the soft flesh from the shell, and completely mash it with a fork. Store in an airtight container to cook/bake within two weeks. Or divide the puree into single-cup-size portions and freeze for later use.

My $2 sugar pumpkin yielded 4 cups of puree - a very good deal!

Halloween on Long Island

the adorable "little house" down the street



Originally we were going to host a Halloween party. I was going to be Silk Spectre from The Watchmen - I have the hair so I figured I could rock it. And Jesse was going to be Werewolf Bar Mitzvah*. But instead we decided to opt out and ended up spending a quiet two days at Jesse's parents' home on Long Island. Didn't the weather on Saturday (before the rain) seem perfectly Haloweenish with the Indian summer warmth plus spooky winds blowing around crunchy leaves?

In a way I was relieved not to have to put together the superheroine outfit I'd envisioned. My plan was to buy a black swimsuit for the costume that I'd be able to wear again in real life. However, I wasn't able to find a suit that fit well enough for me to brave it on the beach, and I couldn't justify spending the money or the earth's resources on something I'd never wear again.

I started getting a little sad as the Halloween weekend approached, hearing everyone's plans of fun costumes and parades and parties and dancing that I'd be missing out on. And I despaired of yet another Friday night sitting around instead of going out. My sister came to the rescue and invited me to a friend of a friend's costume party in the West Village, so I still got my Halloween fix on Friday night before we left for the weekend on Saturday morning.

With little time, I drew upon my backup plan to dress up as a housewife a la Mad Men: heels, halter dress, apron, red lipstick, and French twist hairdo. Proving that I didn't need to buy anything for my Halloween costume after all. Sometimes it's a surprise to see what you can come up with when you apply your imagination to your own closet.

What were you for Halloween? How did you create your costume? Did you buy it, make it, borrow it, or reappropriate it from clothing you already own? Share your costumes - we can all use ideas for next year!


* Werewolf bar mitzvah, spooky scary
Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves!
- Tracy Morgan's HILARIOUS mini-music video from 30 Rock. It gets me every time!

Mini Apple Pies

I've always been intimated by making pie - and it seems I'm not the only one. Despite my successes and near-successes with yeasted doughs, I let myself be intimidated by other people's accounts of finicky pie dough, not-cold-enough butter, and the shortening vs butter dilemna. Well a couple weeks ago, my cooking-project partner Elizabeth came over so we could test out making apple pie from scratch and work down my store of local apples. Once we had everything together, I remembered that I don't actually own a pie tin, but no problem - mini-pies it would be, baked in a muffin tin!

I followed the sage advice from Smitten Kitchen's Pie Crust 102 tutorial, along with Brooklyn Farmhouse's method for making mini-pies. I highly recommend Smitten Kitchen's recipe since the dough came together quickly in my food processor, was surprisingly easy to handle, and didn't tear while rolling it out at all. Most importantly, the finished pie crust was deliciously tender and flaky! We did have quite a bit of leftover dough, however, which I saved in the fridge to make a delicious free-form apple tart later that week. I have an inkling this dough would be great for empanadas too - hopefully that will be my next big kitchen adventure now that I've overcome my fear and conquered pie dough.


Brooklyn Farmhouse recommends cutting out 4-inch circles for the base of each mini pie and 3-inch circles for each top, but that seemed too small for my muffin tin, so we roughly cut circles of dough that were probably about an inch larger. You don't need special cookie cutters for this - just find glasses or jars that are approximately 4 or 5 inches in diameter.

I left the pie filling to Elizabeth since she's made pies before. she peeled and sliced 3 apples, and then combined it with a little sugar, a little lemon juice, fall spices like cinnamon and ginger, and a sprinkling of flour in place of cornstarch. (Elizabeth, if I'm remembering this wrong, please let me know!)


The best part of the night, aside from chatting, was feasting on the final product: warm mini apple pie topped with Elizabeth's homemade butter pecan ice cream and a drizzle of local apple liquer. It truly tasted like a restaurant-quality dessert and each serving of mini-pie was the perfect portion for each person. These would be a hit at any classy fall dinner party.

As for our project, in case you are curious, it has gone on hold since life has been busy and we are reevaluating our roll-out plan. But the best part so far has just been getting to cook fun new foods with a friend.

Dear Freedom

After a rousing discussion of the state of the economy and environment over dinner tonight, I invited Jesse to write a guest post explaining why he identifies as a libertarian. Here is his letter to the world - especially to the big corporations and the governments.

I’m a libertarian. Let me explain what that means to me:

I believe that the constitution of the United States exists to preserve individual liberty and that anyone (or corporation) who infringes on that liberty violates the liberty of everyone else. Now the question is, “How does that apply to your life...to my life...in the world we live in TODAY.”

We are in the midst of a global environmental and economic crisis. Outsourcing and uncontrolled industrial waste affect each and every one of us. As time goes on, it becomes harder and harder for the individual to exist outside forces that create products and biproducts that infringe on our basic human right to be free. A stretch you say? I think not. Here’s why:

Take company X - whose mission is to power a region (part of a state for example) - what does the company do with the waste that is produced as a result of its energy production? Well, if it is a traditional coal plant, it shoots jets of water across various portions of its exhaust towers to reduce the toxic emissions released into the atmosphere. But, according to the basic laws of physics that most of us have been educated on time and time again, we know that matter is neither created nor destroyed. Those cleansing jets of water carry hundreds of profoundly deadly toxins directly from their capture point to the nearest body of water. That water becomes the water we drink, bath in, nourish our crops with and, effectively, use to sustain our lives and livelihoods.

You and I have been violated. We live in a world that forces us to question the viability of the most basic elements that sustain our lives. We are trapped – prisoners of industry that have raped us of our most basic rights as human beings...

In short, we live in a time and place that demands action of the most radical, aggressive kind. We MUST adopt new practices that seek to swiftly and radically alter the means and ways with which we harvest energy and handle waste. If we do not act with the utmost urgency, we will watch our own liberties and the liberties of our children vanish into a terrible oblivion of waste – flushed away with the biproduct of antiquated industries that refuse and/or have failed to adopt methods that would allow us to choose a life of freedom.

Release us. Release us, captains of industry and war, from practices that continue without regard for the changing needs of the earth – for the liberty and free will we must ensure our children and grandchildren enjoy.

Governments of the world. Corporations who enjoy individual liberties, but are exempt from individual responsibilities, I beg you... Think beyond the immediate freedoms you, yourself, enjoy. Allow us to choose a life of freedom – a life that our forefathers fought so couragously to secure. Harness their courage. Act on their spirit of change....

photo via Ramsay Stirling's Flickr

Passing it around the Playground

Ms. JC of Mystic Domestica was gracious enough to tag me with a fun questionnaire, so I'm playing along.

First I must give a caveat...I don't really believe in owning books and DVDs. I would much rather borrow them from the library or the internet and save the space in my apartment, the money in my wallet, and the resources from the earth. Therefore, most of the books and all of the DVDs in our apartment are Jesse's and don't really qualify as favorites of mine. With that said...

1. What books are on your favorite shelf?
Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, cookbooks (see below), travel guides to Buenos Aires and Belgium, a couple music history books from college, and a couple books of piano sheet music I rarely play. I wish I still had my copy of The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin.

2. What DVDs are on your favorite shelf?
None, see above.

3. What are your two favorite cookbooks?
My food bible, The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters; and the book that taught me how to bake bread, The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

4. Select 1-3 recipes you would cook for your special guests.
Bruschetta to start; Pizza to continue with my love for Italian food, bread, and tomatoes; and German chocolate cupcakes for dessert.

5. What will we be drinking?
Red wine, white wine, growlers of beer, and as the night wears on and we start to make bad choices, bourbon from the bottle.

And 5 random facts:
I'm going to spice it up and make it five guilty secrets:

1. I am a sucker for highly processed snacks such as Cheez Its and M&Ms when someone puts them in front of me.
2. I am obsessed with weddings even though I wish I could stop the crazy
3. I am a feminist throwback who wishes I could stay home and cook all day
4. I often contemplate how much easier life would be without a dog or two
5. I sometimes go days without showering due to laziness

I don't like picking out favorites, so if you're reading this and would like to answer the questionnaire, consider yourself tagged.