What is that thing?

Quote of the Day:  Of all my inventions, I liked the phonograph best. - Thomas Edison

For my Favorite Friday Photos, I'll show you the treasure I brought home from my parents' house. This belonged to my mom's parents.

My kids and my piano students look at this odd piece of furniture, slide open the top, peer in, and say, "What is this thing?"

I hear they're all the rage, now, with young people who want vintage stereos.

I show them the large black disc and explain, "This is a record."  I show them how to put it on the player.  I taught them that in the olden days, we sometimes had to put a penny on the arm so it wouldn't skip so much.  I needed a quarter for this one, must be inflation.

I thought it was a nice addition to my music room, and now, I can play my old vinyl records, like Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, and Pat Benatar.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Do you have some vintage pieces in your home? What music did you like in your younger years?

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The theme this month for the Crazy Cooking Challenge (check out all the great links below!) is chocolate chip cookies.  I'm so glad because it forced me to try a new recipe, it has changed my view of my old cookie recipe.  After I tried these cookies from Megan over at WhatMegan's Making, I discovered that I had been settling in the Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe department.  

These cookies aren't skimpy on the chocolate, oh no!  They are loaded with chocolate pieces nestled into a fabulous cookie batter and then topped with coarse sea salt.  The ingredients come together perfectly creating a rich and decadent cookie.  Truly, I would call them the Ultimate, the Best, the Awesomest, the Tastiest, which ever adjective you like, to describe them. I made a double batch for my son's game and every crumb was gobbled up before I could blink.  

Please, please, please go make a batch of these cookies they are my new favorite!! ENJOY!


P.S. Don't forget to check out all the other great recipes linked up to the Crazy Cooking Challenge below.  If you want to vote, mine is number 69.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe Source: Modified slightly from What Megan's Making 

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, very soft but not melted all the way
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup  granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks 
coarse sea salt (optional)

Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions and heat the oven to 325. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate.

Roll about 1/4 cup of dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough's uneven surface. This will give the cookies a bakery-like appearance. Place the the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.

Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and the outer edges start to harden, yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15-18 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets to retain their chewy texture.

Insecure as a Playwright

Quote of the Day:  I am profoundly uncertain about how to write.  I know what I love or what I like, because it's a direct, passionate response.  But when I write I'm very uncertain whether it's good enough.  That is, of course, the writer's agony. - Susan Sontag

I have joined the Insecure Writer's Support Group started by the super Ninja writer, Alex J. Cavanaugh.  (Click the badge on the right to learn more and read about other writers and their insecurities.)  It started in September, but it was during my birthday week, and I was feeling less insecure at the time, due to all the celebrating, so I'm starting today.  I searched my photos for something to depict the insecurities I feel.

It's not a great shot. I was taking a walk in the neighborhood and brought my camera because we are at peak fall colors.  A car drove by, kicking up dust and creating a haze.  The gravel road, the haze, the dust in my eyes, the thickness in the air as I take a breath - that's what my insecurities feel like.  I'm not sure if I'm even on the right path.

I went to the children's writers conference in Grand Forks, but thought maybe I don't really belong there because I haven't had any books for kids or teens published.  I've been working on a play that is for adults, although I do have an 18-year-old girl in it.

As I was writing my first full-length play, Coffee Shop Confessions, I'd go to the Coco Moon where I imagined it would be performed.  As I walked through the door, I could picture the "real" theater people standing outside, banging on the windows, heckling me, saying "Who are you to write a play?" ha ha ha ha.  "You don't have any training or theater credentials." pfftt. They'd stick out their tongues and make rude gestures.  "You don't belong!" They'd shout.

So, I brought along a friend, at first, to help quiet the voices.  She actually laughed at them. That shut them right up.  I learned. I gained confidence. I heard her always encouraging voice saying, "Of course, you can."  Then, I shut off my inner critic. Snapped her mouth shut and zipped her lip.  I closed the shades on those hecklers, and got down to business.  You see, I had other voices in my head, the voices of my characters, and they wanted to get out. They had stories to tell, lives to share, and relationships to be formed.

And, now, it's done. I'm ready to cast the show and watch it come to life.  Right here, in my local coffee shop.

Here I am explaining my play to this young woman. She's not acting here, she was truly interested.  In fact, she inspired the character Micki.  Also, the photographer is Joey Halvorson who was doing a photo shoot for my article in Her Voice.  Joey's voice offered encouragement that day. She also used it to bring my character Lolly to life at a table reading of the script, and will be Lolly when it's finally performed.

Now, all I can hear in my head is I get by with a little help from my friends! Thanks, Beatles! (JeMA, Joey, Roxane, and all my friends who kept saying, "Of course, you can!")

Journaling Prompt:  Who are your cheerleaders? Who tells you that you can do it? Who quiets those insecure voices in your head?

Pasta e Fagioli~Pasta with Cannellini Beans

I love to cook Fagioli.  So much so that I keep them cooked, in their water in the freezer.  Preparation for Soup making takes place days in advance, sometimes weeks.  I try to cook the beans in advance so that they are always ready to go at any time and avoids a lengthy step when one is hungry and craving a wholesome soup. 

For the Beans:  4 cups rinsed dried /Cannellini Beans

a pinch of salt

A large pasta pot enough to acommodate the beans

Water to cover

Method:  Rinse your beans and place them in a bowl, set water to cover and add a pinch of salt overnight.

The next day, drain your beans, place them in a large pasta pot with a pinch of salt again, water to cover, and some fresh sage leaves. I always have some leaves frozen ready to drop in if they are not available fresh.   Bring to a slow simmer for 2-21/2 hours. Test your beans with a fork and be sure that they are soft.  If you need to boil longer, you may, just add some additional water to cover.   Remove from heat, cool, and place in 2 containers, reserving some of the water to cover  and freeze.

Special note about beans:  There are some good quality canned beans in your supermarket.  This above step can be avoided by using them out of a can. Please remember that fresh is always better.  However, when necessary, rinse beans thoroughly and bring to a quick boil in water, drain and set aside. 

Pasta con fagioli

2 cups fagioli (Cannellin beans)

1/2 pound round shaped pasta like Ditalini or Rotini, etc. (Anything that will hold your fagioli well)

This recipe serves 6 good size bowls

4-6 cups good quality chicken stock

2  tablespoons olive oil

1/4 pound diced pancetta

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup diced white onion

1/4 cup diced carrot

1/4 cup diced celery

2 tablespoons tomato paste

5-6 sage leaves

Place your olive oil in a pan tall enough to accommodate your soup.

Heat your olive oil.   Add your pancetta and mix.  Cook until crisp.  Remove half of your pancetta from the pan and set aside. Add your garlic, onion and cook for a minute until fragrant. Add your carrot, celery and tomato paste.  Mix and add a pinch of salt.  Place your cover on your pan for one minute.  Remove cover from your pan and mix again.  Add your beans and mix.  Place your cover on your pan again for one minute.   Remove your cover and add your chicken stock.   Make sure your stock is sitting above your beans by a good 2 inches.  Let it boil, reduce some and add your pasta directly to the pan.   Cook following package directions minus one minute as your pasta will continue to cook while resting in your bowl.  Add some Parmigiano Reggiano, some additional sage leaves and parsley to garnish.  Serve a salad after your soup  with some good crusty bread.  Buon Appetito

Children's Writers Conference at UND

Quote of the Day:  When I want to take a vacation from myself, I eat something different, read something I wouldn't normally read. Kurtis Scaletta, author and speaker at the 32nd Annual Writing for Children and Young Adults Conference in Grand Forks, ND.

Here he is with Janet Spaeth, conference coordinator extraordinaire.

The conference panel:

Elizabeth Law, Vice President and Publisher of Egmont Publishing. She's been in the business for over 25 years. She knows good writing, trends, and common sense of writing and publishing. She has a fun sense of humor and great intuition about the world of books.

Jennifer Arena, Senior Editor at Random House. She explained what "Write what you know" really means.  It means writing from your experiences, your emotional core, and what makes you unique. Don't try to write someone else's story, write your story, the one that comes from all the experiences and history that only you know. Although you might be writing historical or fantasy or murder mystery, and you haven't lived in those times or done those actions, you do have personal experiences to draw from, as well as the research, to make the story come alive from you.

Brian Farrey, acquiring editor for Flux, and also a writer. He gave us an entertaining talk about online presence. All of the presenters promoted having a Twitter account. (I plan to start one this week.) He gave us some practical do's and don't's for what to write on blogs, facebook, and Twitter. To sum it up, don't post in anger, don't reveal too much personal information, and act like a professional. That doesn't mean you can't write about your family and post pictures of your new baby, cat, or beautiful surroundings. It means, don't rant and criticize, and don't go on and on about yourself. Be socialable, interact, and promote others besides yourself. It will attract readers and real friends and build your reputation.

Elizabeth Law, Janet, and Ursula whom I've known since my college days at UND (University of ND).

Thank you all for another great conference!

Oh, and here's the secret to getting your work accepted by editors, agents, and traditional publishers:  write an interesting story with characters that they fall in love with, in a style they can't resist.

Got it?

Good.

Go. Create. Inspire!

(I also visited family and brought home some treasures, but more on that another day.)

Journaling Prompt:  (This was something Jennifer Arena suggested we do.) Write down what makes you unique. (She was suggesting we write three things as she was speaking, but I think making a list would be good. I started mine. Mother of four boys - including twins - came to the top!)

CHEAP CHICKEN!

We eat a lot of chicken at my house...I mean a lot (many of them are here on the blog). This is thanks in large part to the great deals I get by ordering it in bulk through Zaycon Foods.  Every fall they have a chicken event and this year I am getting my chicken for $1.49 p/lb. The chicken is boneless, skinless breasts that have never been frozen.

All you have to do is go to the Zaycon foods registration page, register, place your order, then pick up your chicken on the day of the event in your area (there is a list of locations on their website).  You don't even have to get out of your car.  Then go home and package it however you like and throw it in the freezer.

I don't normally do promotions on my blog, but for this kind of deal I had to share it with all of you.  I mean, who doesn't want chicken for a price like that? Plus, they sell beef, bacon, and regional produce throughout the year as product is available.  I have never been disappointed with the products I have ordered from them.

 If you decide to register, and feel so inclined,  please list me as a referral using my referral code ZF1851 or following the registration link above and then tell your friends and family to do the same for you.  It means you can start getting discounts on top of the great price and so can I.  Enjoy your chicken!

Jenn

English Apple Shortcake with Brown Sugar & Cream-Cheese Crust . . .

Household circumstances sometimes have a way of forcing your hand. You know what I mean. There's the long front hedge bordering your neighbor's driveway, so shaggy at times it demands to be trimmed lest it bring shame upon the family. There's the faucet that gasps and yawns and refuses to put in an honest day's work until the plumber is finally called in.

And, this morning, there was the problem of the ignored bookshelf. I'm talking about the big 7x4-footer with six really deep shelves. It was barely 9 a.m. when that thing finally gave up the ghost, collapsing under its burden with a mighty crash.

I was in the basement, romancing the ironing board again, when thunder rumbled above my head. Instantly I knew what had happened. I'd been expecting just such a catastrophe. I merely nodded to myself in acknowledgment and kept on ironing. I'd confront the monster soon enough.

The warning signs had been staring me in the face for months, but I'd ignored them. I'd ignored the obscenely overladen shelves, each one sagging in the middle like a tired mule. I'd ignored the fact that the brackets holding up each shelf were pathetically inadequate even to my untrained eye.

Eventually I trudged upstairs and stood there silently, gazing in resigned disgust at the aftermath. Books that had been packed together sardine-style had thunked to the floor willy nilly, a few stragglers still plummeting now and then in solidarity.

The resulting pile was about 18" deep, easily six feet wide, and thoroughly impassable. It was the Niagara Falls of literature. I thanked the fates that my husband hadn't had to face this right before heading off to work. It would have been too much for him. There would have been copious cussing. Better it happened this way.

About this recipe . . . 

As in so much of life, such mishaps often reveal their own silver lining. As I was sorting and stacking the  victims, one volume fell open at my feet and a particular page caught my eye. It was The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater. (Slater, in case you're unfamiliar, is a British food writer and a passionate home cook.) I sat down amidst the destruction and read through  the recipe that inspired today's dessert.

I made a few small changes to Slater's formula and ended up with something wonderful. Instead of using Bramley apples (which I've never seen in Michigan), I used Sweet Tango apples; they're firm, crunchy, and they'll make you pucker. Instead of turbinado sugar in the crust dough, I used light brown sugar, and I subbed some cream cheese for part of the butter, also adding in a generous pinch of kosher salt. I added a mixture of superfine- and light brown sugars to lightly caramelize the simmering apples, instead of just using a very small amount of superfine alone. We served this with a dollop of delicately sweetened whipped cream on top. Especially when served slightly warm, this makes for a comforting and rustic dessert.

English Apple Shortcake with Brown Sugar & Cream-Cheese Crust

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a metal baking sheet in the oven to heat up. Butter a 9" or 10" pie, cake, casserole, or quiche pan.

For the crust:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, large, at cool room temperature
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached.)
1 and 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 generous pinch kosher salt

For the filling:

2 and 3/4 lbs. firm, tart, and sweet apples (I recommend Sweet Tango or Honey Crisp apples.)
half of a lemon
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar

For the top of the crust, before baking:

A couple tablespoons of milk, half & half, or cream
2 Tbsp. superfine sugar



Peel and core all of the apples, and slice them as you would for apple pie (I made my slices at least 1/4" thick). Put the slices into a big bowl of cold water and squeeze the lemon-half over them; this will help keep them from turning brown while you're preparing the crust. Set the bowl aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the large bowl of your mixer, on medium speed, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg.

On low speed, add in the dry ingredients and blend until combined.

Dump the dough, which will be very soft, onto a heavily floured surface (do not skimp on the flour!).

Flour your hands, and knead the dough a few times, just for a minute or so, until it's smooth.

Divide the dough into two equal parts. Use a rolling pin to roll out half the dough; it will be thick. Carefully transfer the rolled out dough into the buttered pan and press it gently into the corners. It doesn't have to look perfect. Wrap up the second piece of dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge along with the dough-lined pan, while you finish prepping the apples.

Drain the apples in a colander. Heat a large frying/saute pan, and add the 4 Tbsp. of butter. Toss the apple slices into the hot butter and let them simmer over medium heat until the butter looks frothy and the apples start to just soften around the edges, stirring now and then.

Raise the heat and sprinkle the 1/4 superfine sugar and 1/3 cup light brown sugar over the apples. Cook the apples until they just begin to caramelize; they should be slightly soft and have taken on a deeper yellow color. Take the pan off the heat.

Remove the second dough half from the fridge and roll it out as you did the first piece.

Remove the dough-lined pan from the fridge. Spoon the apple slices into the dough-lined pan.

Carefully place the top crust over that.

Pinch the edges closed.

Use a pastry brush to coat the top crust with milk or cream, but don't brush it on the outer edge (that'll be the first area to burn). Sprinkle liberally with superfine sugar.

Bake the shortcake for up to about 40 minutes, or until it's fully golden and feels firm. Let the finished shortcake cool on a rack until it's no longer hot.

Good served warm or cold, with sweetened whipped cream.

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