Creamy Polenta

We are Rome bound! But just before leaving we managed to make yet another delicious Italian dish that we had forgotten how much we love it. Polenta--it is a versatile side dish, which can have great mouth feel without all the fat. This is adapted from Cook's Illustrated March-April issue has a great recipe that does not require much in the way of stirring.

Creamy Polenta
7 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 c. course polenta
pinch of baking powder
2 Tbs. butter
1 c. parmesan cheese
Boil stock in a heavy covered pot. Add polenta and pinch of baking soda, stir, let boil another minute, stir again, turn to lowest possible heat, cover. After 5 minutes, stir quickly and cover again. Should still be bubbling but not as much. Cook another 25 minutes. Stir, add butter and parmesan, turn off heat. Cover another 5 minutes, stir and serve.
Can be served topped with vegetables, a simple tomato sauce, both, or something else. Delicious!

Lit by Mary Karr

Mary Karr, who is impossibly thin and good looking despite her despotic lifestyle of yore, has written a book where it is possible to laugh out loud at some of the saddest revelations about a life revolving around alcohol until it is almost too late to rescue the good parts of it. In her defense, her parents saddles her with addictive genes and a childhood where she never once managed to feature in their top ten most important things in their lives. Her mother is the very picture of narcissism, wrapped in an alcoholic stupor with the bow of entitlement to finish off the package. Her father is going going gone, leaving his off spring to pick up the pieces of their lives and then to cope with their mother.
That said, the author started in a hole and kept on digging. For quite awhile. And she was an excellent digger. As noted above, she was born with good genes in the natural beauty arena, which she does not dwell on, but she also was bright enough and charming enough to have a good education, a good job, and a good man. She didn't spend enough time working on herself in a serious way--despite lots of therapy, which really entailed her running the show rather than the therapist.
It is not until she has a child and is getting up and drinking one to nine drinks to get up and out that she begins to call it a problem. From start to finish this is a gritty, ribald, hilarious, heart-breaking, hopeful tale of crawling out of that hole and back into the world of those who think life is worth living. Don't miss it. Ignore the swearin, or get into it, but this is a good one.

Love Soup by Anna Thomas

It has been over thirty years since I bought my first Anna Thomas cookbook. Vegetarian Epicure, published in 1972 when the author was still in college, was my first cookbook when I was in college. My signature dish, macaroni and cheese, comes from this cookbook, and while many women in America may have had Julia Childs teach them to make a bechamel sauce, Anna Thomas taught me. Vegetarian Epicure and The Moosewood Cookbook are two cookbooks from my youth that still receive active use today, along with my 1975 edition of The Joy of Cooking. So it was with great anticipation that I opened this cookbook.

I have been making soup on a regular basis over the past decade, and recently make one to two a week--it is my usual lunch, along with a salad. I have focused heavily on grain, bean, and vegetable soups, and benefited greatly from my spouse's passion for making stock. My favorite two soup cookbooks are Deborah Madison's 'Vegetable Soups' and Moosewood's 'Daily Specials'. I have sought out another resource and rejected several, including some by highly regarded authors, be cause they do not augment what I already have.

This cookbook is a perfect addition to make a threesome--it has menu suggestions (like the 'Daily Specials' cookbook) and the focus is on healthy soups--there are a number of soups here that are intriguing and not present in my other two favorites--pictured here is the mung bean soup. I have had dried mung beans in my pantry for decades, but used them only to make sprouts. Thomas' recipe include details on how to cook them, as well as how they should appear. The only thing missing from this that I would add is pictures. I include a picture of the heirloom tomato salad--it represents the simple approach to soup and salad encompassed in this welcome new soup cookbook.

Methland by Nick Reding

This was a really hard book for me to start. I have lived in Iowa throughout the methamphetamine epidemic. We are third in amphetamine arrests in the nation--by total number, not per capita. I have taken care of countless addicts. I have had repair people in my house obviously tweaking while trouble-shooting the problem they were called to fix--often not successfully. I get it. But I am very thankful that I picked this book up and read it rather than assuming that I knew it's contents before I started. In many ways, I had not given the roots of the problem much thought, so I missed some of the complexity within. But start it I did, and I got rapidly caught up in the story, thinking about the interconnectedness of problems we face, both as a rural state, and as a country. I smile when people start off the conversation "the problem is...." because of course that isn't the whole problem at all, it is only part of the problem. Poverty, opportunity, education, class divisions and difference, these all play a role in what happened. There is a bigger picture to look at as well, and Reding tries to get us to look at it all--the close up as well as the 30,000 foot view.

The book focuses on methamphetamine in Iowa in general and in Oelwein, IA specifically, but there is a message that we should all take to heart and think about the responsibility we bear in the overall problem. The contributions to drugs in general and meth in particular being an attractive nuisance are in many communities--but why did this take place in rural America? The role of Big Agra and Big Pharma, mixed with illegal immigrants in rural America and smuggling through the southern border, are real. They are not overblown in the telling, and they each have a role. The recession is another factor--economic hard times seem to hit farm economies first.
Reding does a great job of sympathetically portraying the people who have been personally devestated by methamphetamine addiction, juxtaposed against those who face just the realities of rural Iowa life. The best in Oelwein is pretty hard. The worst is hideous. Reding does a masterful job of portraying people who have robbed their parents, poisoned their kids, and blown up their homes not as monsters, but as people. Mistakes were made. There is someone for everyone to relate to in the story. We do not pull back to an entirely moral stance, but rather have more of a "but for the grace of God go I" reaction to at least someone in the story. There are no real solutions put forward, but there is some hope offered--mixed with caution that we really need to think in a bigger and better and more connected way. The author demonstrates the value in carefully unfolding the factors that got us here and studying them. The book encourages us to look for the places that share these risk factors because it is unlikely to have gone away.

University of Iowa Dance Marathon

The 16th University of Iowa Dance marathon weekend, and our family's 8th Dance Marathon, is upon us. Sigh. On the upside, this is an incredible fundraising machine. There is the event itself, which is a twenty-four hour extravaganza of college students, childhood cancer survivors, and their families, all trying to put their best foot forward in the fight against something awful. Almost better than that is the group of college kids who do service projects at the Iowa Children's Hospital throughout the year, all in the name of Dance marathon, which provides what money has trouble buying, which is enthusiastic youth for the inpatient unit. Ethan was hospitalized at Boston Children's Hospital a couple years ago for neurosurgery to remove a radiation-related problem, and he commented on how much more poorly equipped the pediatirc unit was in every way compared to the amenities at the Iowa Children's Hospital. His hypothesis was that this was a public institution whereas the Iowa Children's Hospital was a private one--actually, the opposite is true, and in great part, the luxury he noticed and benefited from was provided by Dance Marathon dollars and volunteerism.


The sadness stems from the very fact that we are a Dance Marathon family. That we have a dog in the fight against childhood cancer. Luckily, the sadness I have around this event is not shared by my family. Not at all. They commune with their fellow childhood cancer survivor and their sibling friends, Best Buy provides an incredible game room, local food puurveyors provide snacks and meals, and it is an all out party for them. It is also a chance to commune with those who know what life threatening illness can do to a family, and celebrate that what they have at the end of it all. Not all bad. There is a little good as well.
This year, I have a dancer! Abe is dancing, and will be the first Kline boy to do so. He has done an excellent fund raising job, and is still accepting support, should you be so moved: http://www.kidsmiracles.org/abekline
Go Abe!

Momofuko

The book 'Momofuko' is a book that you could have in your kitchen or in your living room. It is gorgeously produced with fabulous photography. The concept 'Momofuko' is the tale of a whole new kind of restaurant(s) and in this cookbook David Chang tells that story well. If a little abruptly. With the occasional f--word. And some grammatical blips. But he also tells it engagingly, as if you were in a conversation with him and he was telling you about a series of events that have happened to him over the last few years. There are recipes, there is philosophy, there are diatribes, and there is almost a diary of the events leading up to each new venture. I liked reading this, and I sense that the recipes are strong. Maybe not doable, but strong. I am not, for example, going to be singing the hair off of a pig's head. The mantra that noodles are king and then moving forward from that idea is one that apeeals to me. He toots his own horn as well as sharing the credit for the venture's success. It is an added bonus to know one of the chef's (Sam Gelman at Ko is an Iowa City boy) and to read his praises is very nice. Here is a sauce that can be used in a number of different ways--a pantry staple, so to speak--use on noodles, on vegetables, always have some on hand.
Ginger Scallion Sauce
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions (greens and whites; from 1 to 2 large bunches)
1/2 cup finely minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
1 1/2 teaspoons usukuchi (light soy sauce)
3/4 teaspoon sherry vinegar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
(Makes about three cups)
Mix together the scallions, ginger, oil, soy, vinegar, and salt in a bowl. Taste and check for salt, adding more if needed. Though it’s best after 15 or 20 minutes of sitting, ginger scallion sauce is good from the minute it’s stirred together up to a week or two in the fridge. Add to any kind of noodles, and top with things that stir in--the cookbook has all sorts of ideas on this.

Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers

This is the first book by this author that I have read. He apparently has a reputation for meshing the world of science into his fictional stories. That does occur in this story, and to my taste, to an extent that is a little bit pedantic, but not unwieldy.
The book has three swirling, co-occuring narratives. The overarching story is that there is a woman with a highly traumatized past, Thassa Amzwar. She is a Berber Algerian who has seen countless people die, including some closest to her. She is not dismissive of the trauma, nor is she in denial about them. She simply appears to be unaffected by them in a way that disturbs her teacher. She is too happy for his taste. She is happier than anyone he know, and she is always happy. it doesn't wax and wane, it is a constant. She is tremendously engaging, the center of every group she is part of. The book doesn't point this out, but her popularity doesn't have a detrimental effect on her personality. She is not entitled because of it, which makes her even more attractive. He wonders if she is ill, and consults a psychologist about her, who reassures him this is not mental illness.
It is at this point the book takes a leap, a blend of an improbable attack on Thassa combined with an improbable response to a comment that Russell makes. He unwittingly unleashes his thoughts about her onto the world. The improbable thing is that someone, in this 24/7 era of information overload, actually listens. With disasterous consequences for both Russell and Thassa. It works, this spin out of events, and the book's perspective is that you can forsee each ensuing disaster just a moment before it happens, so the reader feels pretient. Always a nice feeling, and it keeps you hurdling onward to the end. The book is exceptionally well written, so even though I might quibble about the science, the story itself is a finely woven one that is both hyperbolic and believable, a rare blend.

What Would I Wish?

I spent the weekend in a very pretty place. I wouldn't wish to live there, but I would wish to spend more time there. I have never thought very much about what I am doing in life, or what I want to do, so thinking about what I might like to do when I retire, or when I work less (which is how I would structure my "retirement" if I get to choose). There are people and places that I do not get to often enough with things as they stand now, and I would enjoy changing that. I think it is easy to get out of the habit of traveling to favorite spots, but that getting back into that habit is attainable.
So far, 2010 is shaping up to be a good year for reading, writing, and film viewing. Surprisingly, our exercise equipment is getting quite the workout early on, and with some enthusiasm, which had been lacking in 2009. It is hard to get too many things going, but I do think once you have a good rhythm, it is easier to add to it.
Here are a few things I would like to enhance my commitment to this year:
1. Cooking for friends.
2. Camping in National Parks.
3. Quilting.
4. Travel, both near and far.
5. Home repair and improvement projects.

Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed

We have involved ourselves in a colossal muddle, having blundered in the control of a delicate machine, the working of which we do not understand.”
So wrote the great economic iconoclast John Maynard Keynes, in an essay titled “The Great Slump of 1930,” published in December of that year. Thirteen months had passed since the crash of 1929; the world was living, in Keynes’s words, in “the shadow of one of the greatest economic catastrophes of modern history.” Keynes comes off well in this story, by the way.
The lords of finance who constitute the title of this book are the four central bankers who dominated that postwar era: Benjamin Strong of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Montagu Norman, the longtime head of the Bank of England, Émile Moreau of the Banque de France, and Hjalmar Schacht, who headed the Reichsbank. Ahamed says he got the idea for this book when he read a 1999 Time magazine cover story headlined “The Committee to Save the World,” about Alan Greenspan (then the Federal Reserve chairman), Robert Rubin (Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary) and Lawrence Summers (Rubin’s No. 2). He realized that in the 1920s, the four top central bankers had acquired a similar mystique and fame. They were sometimes described as “the most exclusive club in the world.” He decided to tell the story of “the descent from the roaring boom of the ’20s into the Great Depression” by “looking over the shoulders” of these four men. And so rather than bemoan our modern tragedy, Ahamed, a hedge fund manager, decided to write this cautionary tale, where we know both the beginning and the end of the story.
I am not a big fan of non-fiction books, but from a literary point of view this is a beautifully written book. Ahamed has a gift for storytelling that many a full-time author would envy — the decision to build “Lords of Finance” around these four men was brilliant, and he carried it off well. Each of them was a powerful personality, with the full range of strengths and weaknesses, insights and eccentricities. Because much of the book concerns decisions, for instance, to raise or lower interest rates, you need great characters to pull the story along, and Ahamed not only has them but also knows how to make them come alive. Strong is the domineering American; Schacht the arrogant, headstrong German; Norman and Moreau the prideful Europeans. Strong and Norman became close friends, and their letters to each other are a rich source of material.
I am no finance whiz. I probably could balance my check book but I do not. This book was remarkable in it's ability to pull one of my ilk along with the story. I am sure there were many details in the book that I failed to understand the importance of, but this book made understandable financial concepts and the interconnectedness of the world even a century ago--the world was pretty dang flat before Thomas Freidman declared it so. If you read only one non-fiction book this year, let it be this one.

Gobi Taktakin

I spent another wonderful weekend in Weston, and had the usual array of inspired food. The sheep-milk cheese is always a highlight of any visit to Green Dirt Farm, but this cauliflower dish was a close second.
Gobi Taktakin
1 head cauliflower, chopped into very small pieces
2 T olive oil
1 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. sweet curry powder (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp. cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup or more fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
1 fresh lime

Use a large frying pan which will hold all the cauliflower in a single layer. Preheat the pan for 30 seconds over medium-high heat, then add oil and heat about 1 minute. Add cumin seeds and saute 30 seconds, then add cauliflower and spices and cook 10 minutes, stirring only occasionally so the cauliflower gets slightly browned.
Take off heat. Add most of chopped cilantro and stir, then put on serving dish. Top with the rest of the chopped cilantro and the red onion and squeeze fresh lime over prior to serving.
This is adapted from Mark Bittman's cookbook "Best Recipes in the World", which is another of Bittman's successful cookbooks.