Issue #11, humans are funny and ridiculous and other obvious statements

Let's Get Lost, May 11, 2024

Hello from our home state of Colorado! Both Steve and I were born and raised in Colorado and lived here until we sold our house and moved into our RV in early 2020. Our daughters live here as do both sides of our family and many of our closest friends so our time is always packed with activity. And even though we do our best, we never manage to see everyone we want to see.

These return trips to the place where we spent the first 45 years of our lives is an interesting experience. I thought that I would always think of Colorado as home, but as the years go by, it feels like home less and less. It’s strange to be in a place that’s so familiar but in which I feel like the visitors that we are. 

Being in Colorado also causes me to spend more time in the past. I’m sure anyone reading this who has moved away from the place they were raised knows exactly what I mean.

For me, there is value in trying to understand the past. And anyway, I’m compelled to introspect on where my thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors come from. It’s who I am. I try to understand the systems in which my life has played out, how I’ve contributed to and been affected by the whole mess, in ways both good and bad. We either repeat the past or repair what’s broken and do something different and I don’t know how to do that except by thinking about it.

But at some point we have to recognize that who we were in the past is over. Those moments no longer exist except in my mind. All I can ever do is be who I am now.

The only tangible thing I can do with the past is decide today to be better than I used to be and recognize that joy comes from being present.

This is a daily practice, isn’t it? Being present in each moment is a gift we give ourselves. 

I actually laughed out loud a little bit when writing that last sentence because what a funny, ridiculous thing us humans are to have to remind ourselves to be present. 

A couple of other tidbits I’d like to share with you…

• I heard this quote on a podcast this week and truer words to live by have never been spoken: “Don’t wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”

• Jen, who writes The Makist shared this in one of her recent newsletters and entire books have been written to communicate the message of these 10 words: “Figure out what you’re good at without trying, then try.” -Isabel, via twitter

The week in photos

After all that talk about being present I must confess how terrible I am about taking photos when I am enjoying the people I’m with. We’ve had dinners with friends and family and spent days with our daughters and I’ve taken photos of mostly none of it. But, I did manage to snap a few…

• Like this darling photo of our daughter Annie with her cat. We were helping her move and cats do not like to move. He was distressed and she was trying to comfort him. Both our girls have cats and I love how much they love them.

• We are in Lyons, CO and the deer that live here make an almost daily appearance. They are very courteous deer. I’ve seen them wait at a crosswalk for traffic to stop before trotting across the road. No joke.

• Our campground is close to long walking paths and I will never get tired of parking ourselves in areas with beautiful places to walk right outside our door.

• I spent a few peaceful minutes of an early morning rolling out fresh pasta and was captured by how the light filtered through the hanging noodles.

• The first actually good strawberries of the season! Oh berry season, how I love you.

• I pulled out this photo of my girls and I for the Mother’s Day Brunch issue. These girls are witty, wicked smart, funny, and kind and they make my life better every single day.

5 Things to make next week

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and if you need some last minute brunch recipes and missed the bonus issue sent earlier this week, we’ve got you covered: Mother’s Day Brunch Recipes

Here are a few other recipes to add to the week’s meal plan

1. Beer Battered Fried Fish

Beer does several fantastic things for fried fish batter, but the main effect comes from the carbonation. The bubbles in beer aerate the batter, which helps to make it light and crispy. The same effect can be achieved by adding plain club soda, but beer also adds flavor. Recipe: Beer Battered Fried Fish

2. Skillet Vegetable Lasagna

This cheesy, saucy vegetarian lasagna is packed with zucchini, cauliflower, walnuts, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, and garlic all layered up with creamy parmesan béchamel, pasta, and three kinds of cheese.

The veggies are chopped up in a food processor and create a meaty texture that's as close to cozy lasagna perfection as you can get. Recipe: Skillet Vegetable Lasagna

3. Crispy Coconut Lime Chicken

This recipe is such a great example of how salty, spicy, sweet, and sour can balance and complement each other to create interesting layers of flavor that keep you going back for more.

And, holy smokes, the sauce. If you love tart citrus flavors, you're going to want to pour this sauce on everything. Recipe: Crispy Coconut Lime Chicken

4. Cherry Crumble Bars

These buttery cherry crumble bars are little slices of heaven, that's what they are. The buttery shortbread base is topped with orange liquor-spiked cherry preserves and crispy, crunchy, sweet butter crumbs for bars that resemble cherry crumb pie in cookie form. Recipe: Cherry Crumble Bars

5. Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Fudge Icing

This easy Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake is extra soft and fluffy, with the most delicious balance of chocolate chips and buttery cake. Topped with Peanut Butter Fudge Icing, it's the kind of crowd pleasing cake recipe that's perfect for nearly any occasion, including your run of the mill Tuesday night. Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cake

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Red lentil and oxtail stew

Oh my, this recipe was a happy accident. I have never before in my life purchased or cooked oxtails and honestly, wasn’t interested in trying.

But, while my intention was to purchase 4 packages of short ribs, what I actually purchased was 3 packages of short ribs and one of oxtails. Not knowing what else to do with them, I added them to this red lentil stew and wow! So good!

The thing I love the most about this recipe is how meaty it tastes without containing much meat. An oxtail is just the tail of cattle. Most of the time it’s sold in pieces that include a tailbone with some marrow in the center, and a bony portion of meat surrounding the tail. It’s mostly bone and marrow with a little bit of meat.

For this stew, I simmered a few pieces of oxtail in broth flavored with onion, celery, garlic, paprika, cumin, and tomato for a couple of hours, until the meat was tender. This long simmer created the most luxurious and rich broth in which to cook red lentils and rice.

The meat from the oxtail is pulled from the bone and added back to the stew - there’s not a lot of meat, but honestly, you don’t need more. This stew is richly satisfying in a rustic, homey, super comforting way and I hope you’ll love it as much as we did.

• 3 tablespoons vegetable, canola, or extra virgin olive oil

• 1 large yellow sweet onion, peeled and chopped

• 2 stalks of celery, chopped

• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

• Salt and pepper

• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika (more to taste)

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin (more to taste)

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon Sofrito Base (optional)

• 2 pounds of beef oxtails

• Water or broth (If using Better Than Bouillon Sofrito Base, use water. Otherwise use any kind of flavorful broth or stock, or just use water.)

• 1/4 cup long or medium grain white rice

• 1 cup red lentils

• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. Add the oil, onion, celery, and garlic to a saucepan or braiser and cook until the onions are soft and beginning to look translucent. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt and pepper and add the paprika, cumin, tomato paste and better than bouillon sofrito base (if using). Cook, stirring for another minute or two to open up the flavors of the spices and caramelize the tomato paste.

2. Add the oxtails to the pan and pour in enough water or broth to come about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the oxtails. Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover the pan and lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Let the oxtails simmer for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender. Lift the lid of the pot every now and then to check the volume of liquid. Add more as necessary to keep enough liquid in the pot to come 3/4 of the way up the sides of the oxtails.

3. Remove the oxtails from the pan and set them on a plate or cutting board. Add the rice and lentils to the pan and bring the liquid back to a boil. Cover the pan, lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook until the lentils are very tender and falling apart, about 30 minutes. (*The thickness of this stew is up to you - as the rice and lentils cook, add more water or broth to achieve the desired consistency.)

4. When the oxtails are cool enough to handle, tear the meat from the bones, and cut or tear it into small pieces. Add it back to the stew and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if desired.

5. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley.

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Double chocolate rye cookies

If you are not a chocolate lover, move along, these cookies are not for you. BUT, for all you chocolate and brownie lovers, gather up your ingredients and get baking because this is about to become one of your new favorite cookie recipes.

Chocolate and rye is a delicious combo (have you tried these double chocolate rye muffins from issue #5???) The rye flour adds a subtle nutty complexity that balances the bitterness of the chocolate and just makes everything sing.

These double chocolate cookies have a brownie-like texture, with a soft, fudgy interior and slightly crispy edges.

Makes 16 large cookies

• 9 ounces bittersweet, semi-sweet, or milk chocolate bars - OR 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips

• 17 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar

• 1 cup packed dark or light brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste

• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons dark rye flour

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 7 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. If using chocolate bars, chop them into small-ish pieces that are about the size of chocolate chips. Add half of the chocolate to a heatproof bowl and set it next to the stovetop.

2. Add the butter to a light colored saucepan and set it over medium heat. (Dark bottom pans make it difficult to see when the butter is browned.) Heat the butter, stirring often, until it’s melted and begins to boil. As you stir, pay attention to the color of the butter underneath the foam. When it's done, the butter beneath the foam will be golden brown with dark brown specks on the bottom of the pan and will smell nutty. (For images of the process of browning butter, take a look at this recipe for brown sugar cookies.)

3. Immediately pour the brown butter over the chocolate. Let it stand for 10-15 seconds then stir until all the chocolate is melted.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Add the butter and chocolate mixture to a bowl with both sugars. Beat briefly with an electric mixer (or whisk vigorously with a wire whisk) to combine then let rest for 10-15 minutes to allow the mixture to cool slightly.

6. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the egg and egg yolk together with the vanilla. Add this mixture slowly to the butter, chocolate, and sugar mixture, using an electric mixer to beat the dough as you pour it in. Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds after all the eggs have been added.

7. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and the remaining chopped chocolate or chocolate chips to the batter and use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir until everything is combined.

8. Form the dough into 16 balls (approximately 1/4 cup of dough per ball) and set them on the baking sheets, spacing them at least 3 inches apart.

9. Bake the cookies for 8 -10 minutes then remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let the cookies rest until they are firm enough to be removed from the sheet without breaking. When done, the edges will look set but the center of the cookies will look under-baked. As the cookies rest, their centers will firm up.

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Breakfast tacos

Having made these earlier in the week, there was a container of rice and beans and some tortilla dough in the refrigerator when I sat down to write this recipe. Immediately after adding the photo, I went to the kitchen and made some for my lunch because writing about tacos without eating tacos is an unreasonable ask. (And I can hear my daughter laughing bitterly because she is my assistant and I am always asking her to do just that. 🙄)

I have been making these simple, nutritious, delicious tacos every single week since returning from Costa Rica earlier this year. We mostly eat them for breakfast and keep it pretty simple - a few warm homemade corn tortillas filled with flavor-packed rice and beans and some salsa. Sometimes I add some chopped cherry tomatoes and usually drizzle mine with hot sauce.

But there are an endless number of variations on this theme and so I’ve listed a few ideas below to get you started. But first, the basics:

All you need to make these tacos is corn tortillas and a pot of rice and beans. My favorite recipes for each are in Issue #6, The Costa Rica issue. Most of the recipes in this issue are for paid subscribers, but I’ve left these two recipes open to everyone:

• Homemade corn tortillas

• Beans and rice

I make a pot of beans and rice at the start of every week along with some corn tortilla dough. I pile the beans and rice in a covered container, shape the corn tortilla dough into balls, put them in a zip-top bag, and store both in the refrigerator.

Cooking the tortillas only takes a few minutes so after reheating some of the beans and rice in the microwave, we are eating tacos in about 10 minutes.

You can roll out the corn tortillas with a rolling pin, or use a tortilla press. I have a heavy duty cast iron tortilla press and it makes pressing a ball of dough into a perfectly round tortilla ridiculously easy.

That’s it. Pile some rice and beans into the warm tortillas and pour on some salsa or hot sauce or both. Here are a few ways to elaborate on this theme:

• Add more protein: The combo of beans, rice, and corn is a complete protein but if you want to really boost the protein content of these tacos add scrambled or fried eggs, bacon or ham, sausage or chorizo, tofu, or pork carnitas.

• Add some veggies: top your tacos with diced tomatoes, bell peppers, thinly sliced radishes, shredded cabbage, marinated bell peppers, quick pickled onions, or roasted corn. We also often have some leftover crispy fried potatoes in the refrigerator and they are so, so good in these tacos.

• Sauce it up: Drizzle some vegan nacho cheese sauce, chimichurri sauce, or roasted tomatillo sauce over your tacos. Or, top them with almond salsa with green chilies or homemade pico de gallo.

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Sangria mocktail

This is my new favorite summer drink. It’s light, refreshing, and fruity and even though it contains exactly 0% alcohol, it comes with strong carefree, day-drinking vibes and no regrets.

Ingredients:

• Brewed black tea - any kind you like. For the sangria pictured here I used peach black tea which made it extra fruity.

• Orange juice - fresh squeezed, or 100% juice

• 100% cranberry juice or 100% pomegranate juice (not cranberry juice cocktail)

• 7-up or zero sugar 7-up, or ginger ale

• Fresh fruit 

So, I do understand that it’s difficult to believe that this list of ingredients could produce something that mimics sangria which is made with red wine and brandy, but you’re going to have to set your skepticism aside for the time being and just try it.

The combination of black tea and cranberry or pomegranate juice mimic the acidity and tannins of red wine especially when mixed with orange juice. Also, it’s just plain delicious, which is all I want anyway from any beverage, with or without alcohol.

How to make:

1. Brew some black tea and let it cool.

2. For each cocktail, mix 2 parts tea with 1 part orange juice, cranberry juice, and 7-up.

3. Add some fresh fruit and ice to a cocktail or wine glass. Pour the sangria into the glass and garnish the glass with a slice of whatever fruit you like.

To make this for a crowd, I like to mix everything except the 7-up in a pitcher. Allow guests to pour their own and add as much or as little 7-up as they prefer.

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This month’s featured cookbook is Baking with Dorie by Dorie Greenspan.

Alsatian style blueberry tart

Blueberry Custard Tart

This is one of the simplest tarts I have ever made and wow was it delicious. Dori’s sweet tart dough is basically a shortbread cookie - buttery, crispy, and the perfect amount of sweet. To make the filling, simply fill the partially baked crust with blueberries, bake for a bit, then pour in a simple custard made from an egg, some cream, vanilla, and sugar.

And let me tell you something about baking: There is more room for error then people think. I realized the second I pulled this tart from the oven that I had forgotten to add any sugar to the custard. So I poured some honey over the top of the tart and let it cool. The honey soaked down into the tart and made it sweet and delicious. No one would have known I forgot the sugar.

So now you have two reasons to buy this book - the miso maple loaf from last week’s issue and this gorgeous blueberry tart.

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The bake club is a monthly baking challenge with a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. To participate simply bake the challenge recipe and leave a comment on the recipe telling me what you thought of it. By commenting on the recipe, you'll be automatically entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

Important: When you comment on the recipe, use the same email address that you use to subscribe to this newsletter. This is how I’ll contact you if you win.

The May challenge recipe is Lemon Bars!

These easy homemade lemon bars are bursting with tart lemon flavor thanks to a triple whammy of lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon oil or extract. The filling is silky smooth and the shortbread crust is so buttery it literally melts in your mouth.

"I made these Lemon Bars today and I must say that they are the best I have ever made. They are soooo DELICIOUS. I have made lemon bars for many years and used many different recipes but have never used one that was as good as this one. A real winner. Thanks for sharing it." - Del

To participate in the Bake Club Challenge: bake this month's challenge recipe and then leave a comment on the recipe telling me what you thought of it! By commenting on the recipe, you'll be automatically entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Bake the challenge recipe and leave your comment before June 1st, 2024.

A Funny Story About Living in a Family of Lemon Lovers

I live in a family of lemon lovers. Lemon Blueberry Muffins and Lemon Loaf Cake are two of my oldest old daughter's favorite foods. And, my youngest daughter loves lemons so much that she eats them straight - like an orange. I blame their father.

When our first born was a baby, my husband decided to put a drop of lemon juice on his finger and place it in our son's mouth just to see his reaction. (Oh, come on. We were young and poor, and in desperate need of cheap entertainment.)

My husband was all geared up to laugh at a scrunched up baby face. Instead, our infant son, opened his big eyes wide and licked at his lips like it was the best thing he'd ever tasted. And just like that, the evening's entertainment crashed and burned.

My husband tried this trick with both of our girls as well only to receive the same reaction. It was our first lesson in the fact that as parents, you have shockingly little control over your kids. They are born with their own little personalities, likes and dislikes largely hardwired in there, and you can't really do a damn thing about it.

Which is fine because... who needs that kind of pressure? 😊

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Reading, watching, and listening recommendations

Years ago I read A Gentleman in Moscow and it inspired me to create a recipe for Latvian Stew, a dish in the book to which the author devotes much mouth watering description.

Since publishing the recipe, I’ve received hundreds of comments and emails from other readers who, after reading about Latvian Stew in the book, turned to google to find a recipe and found mine. It’s been so fun to connect with other book lovers who love the book as much as I do and found the description of this pork and apricot stew as intriguing as I did.

Over the past couple of weeks, Steve and I have started watching the 8 episode limited series on Peacock, also titled A Gentleman in Moscow, based on the novel and it is so good! Good casting, direction, cinematography, writing, all of it. The characters are my favorite part of the book and the show brings them to life in living color.

The book and the show are worth your time and attention. My mother-in-law read the book for the first time over the weeks when she was also watching the show and felt that the show made the book even more enjoyable. So I hope you’ll read and watch - and if you do, let me know what you thought of either or both.

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