Book Review- "You Had Me at Woof-How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness" by Julie Klam

You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness by Julie Klam

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was an utterly charming and laugh-out-loud-funny read. I am a Boston Terrier mommy; perhaps I found it particularly humorous because I am so charmed by the breed. I think that this is a book for all dog lovers despite how "Boston focused" it is. It will also appeal to animal lover's in general as Julie Klam's overall message is that companion animals can be very important in our lives and can help us work through our larger life issues, such as grief, loss, depression, sadness, lonliness, etc. I am not completely sold on the format- the organization of the chapters just doesn't flow well- but each chapter could stand alone as a short story, so that is the way that I read it- one chapter at a time, cuddled with my reading buddy, Punky.



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I love brunch. And it loves me back!

"There are very few things this New Yorker loves as much as Sunday brunch. You can sleep until noon and still get eggs anywhere in the city, alcohol is often included with the meal, and Sunday is the one day a week you get the single woman's sports pages: the New York Times wedding section."- Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City


I think that I have decided that brunch is my favorite meal. There are so many options!  I think it is the most flexible meal of the day; there is so much freedom in menu planning, timing, and you can even serve alcohol.  Brunch just makes me happy.

If you are entertaining, brunch is a very budget-friendly choice.  I have a miniscule entertaining budget, so hosting a brunch is the way to go for Brian and I.  There are also a number of make ahead or overnight brunch recipes that allow you to do most, if not all, of the preparation the day before so that you can relax with your guests and a cup of coffee.  Ahhh.... :)

I hosted two brunches recently.  At the first, we entertained Brian's mom and two sisters.  It was our belated Christmas celebration with them as we were away for the holiday.  It was very successful and relaxing.  I made way too much food, but the leftovers were put to good use.  We hosted the second brunch this past Sunday.  Brian and I had gone to a concert on Saturday night with my best friend, Jess, my mom, and my step-dad.  They all spent the night and we had a nice meal before my mom and step-dad had to head home.  There were fewer leftovers this time as I learned my lesson after having made way too much for Brian's family.

I have listed some of the recipes that I used for the brunches below.  All of these recipes can be made ahead.  With these recipes, you'll just need to add some fresh fruit or fruit salad, a green salad, and some bagels or other purchased bakery items to flush out the menu.  I hope you have a reason to enjoy these recipes sometime soon.   

Brunch Recipes

Overnight French Toast

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
12 3/4-inch-thick French bread slices
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
confectioners' sugar


Preparation

Spread butter over bottom of large baking pan (jelly roll pan) with 1-inch-high sides. Arrange bread slices in the pan. Combine eggs, milk, sugar, syrup, vanilla and salt in large bowl; whisk until well blended. Pour egg mixture over bread. Turn bread slices to coat evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 400°. Bake French bread 10 minutes. Turn bread over and continue baking just until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes longer. Transfer cooked French toast to plates and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve hot, with maple syrup or your favorite topping.


Cheese Strata

Ingredients

1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
12 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons thinly sliced fresh chives
2 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
1 pound sourdough bread (boule preferred), crust removed and cut into 1-inch cubes  or french bread


Directions

Grease a 3-quart gratin dish or casserole with 1 teaspoon of the butter.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, nutmeg, cayenne, chives, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
To make the strata: Scatter a 1/2 cup of the cheese over the bottom of the buttered dish and cover with one-third of the bread. Repeat. Top with a final layer of bread and remaining cheese.
Pour the egg mixture over the strata and gently press it down with the back of a large spoon to make sure the top layer is moistened with the custard. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and drizzle it over the strata.(Or spray with butter-flavored cooking spray) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the strata, uncovered, until golden brown and slightly puffed, about 45 to 55 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.


Brown Sugar-Glazed Bacon

Ingredients

24 slices bacon
2 to 3 Tbsp. pepper
2 to 3 Tbsp. dark brown sugar


Preparation

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with foil; place a baking rack on top. Mist rack with cooking spray. Arrange 12 slices of bacon on rack. Sprinkle on 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp. pepper and dark brown sugar. Roast until bacon begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove sheet from oven. Place bacon on a paper towel-lined plate. Pour grease out of tray into a bowl. Repeat with 12 more slices of bacon, pepper and brown sugar. When bacon is cool, wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight. Reheat in batches in microwave.


Pumpkin Bread

One 9 x 5-inch loaf
This loaf can be made with any cooked mashed squash, yams, or sweet potatoes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
Whisk together:
  1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  1 teaspoon ground ginger
  1⁄2 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
  1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
Combine in a small bowl:
  1⁄3 cup water or milk
  1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
Beat in a large bowl until fluffy:
  6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) butter, softened, or 1⁄3 cup vegetable shortening
  1 1⁄3 cups sugar or 1 cup sugar plus 1⁄ 3 cup packed brown sugar
Beat in one at a time:
  2 large eggs
Add and beat on low speed just until blended:
  1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin puree
Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Fold in:
  1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
  1⁄3 cup raisins or chopped dates
Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.



Cola Baked Ham

Ingredients

1 spiral-sliced, fully cooked, bone-in half ham (7 to 10 pounds) or any similar size ham
½ c dark brown sugar
1 bottle cola (20 oz)
3/4 cup cherry preserves (or jelly)
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 large oven bag (plastic) (usually used for turkey)


Preparation

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Unwrap ham; remove and discard plastic disk covering bone. Trim the rind and excess fat from the ham (if necessary), leaving a 1/4-inch thick layer of fat. With a sharp knife, score the fat in a crosshatch diamond pattern. Rub brown sugar over ham. Place ham in oven bag. Pour ½ bottle cola over ham, remove as much air as possible, gather top of bag tightly so bag fits snugly around ham, tie bag, and trim excess plastic. Set ham cut-side down in large roasting pan and cut 4 1” slits in top of bag with paring knife to allow steam to escape.
In a medium saucepan, combine the cherry preserves, remaining cola, and orange juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the preserves are dissolved, about 2 minutes.
Bake ham until center registers 100 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 1 to 1 1/2 hours (about 10 minutes per pound). Remove ham from oven and increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Cut open oven bag and roll back sides to expose ham. Brush ham with one-third of glaze and return to oven until glaze becomes sticky, about 10 minutes (if glaze is too thick to brush, return to heat to loosen). Remove ham from oven, transfer to cutting board, and brush entire ham with another third of glaze. Let ham rest, loosely tented with foil, for 15 minutes. While ham rests, heat remaining third of glaze with 4 to 6 tablespoons of ham juices until it forms thick but fluid sauce. Carve and serve ham, passing sauce at table. You can bake the ham the day before and reheat in the oven or in the microwave.

Getting started- Thai-Inspired Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup

Thai-Inspired Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup

I had an over-abundance of unused produce floating around in my kitchen and I was looking for a recipe that would use them all in a cohesive manner. I peeped into the pantry and saw two containers of College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth that we had picked up on clearance at Big Lots. "Soup!", I thought.

I love Thai flavors and use them often in my kitchen. I also have access to some pretty amazing ethnic grocers and a Whole Foods store. I added specialty ingredients that you need not use to make a variation on the recipe. I also added a few things that I needed to use up or I thought might add to the texture or flavor that you could certainly omit. I have starred * the must use ingredients to make a soup that works, it will be less Thai tasting, but I am sure it will still be tasty. I love to riff on recipes so I have annotated this one heavily, not only so you can make the recipe in a way you would like to eat it, but also so I can remember my thought process to make it again in a different way. So, don't be frightened off, it is a very easy recipe with lots of variations.

Happy cooking!


Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes *

1 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped or sliced fine *

1 lb potato, peeled and diced (I added this to lighten the texture)

3 stalks celery, diced (I had celery to use up)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil *

1 Tbsp butter (I like the mix butter & oil bring to the flavor, you could use all oil or use another oil. Grape seed oil would be a healthy choice but it has no flavor)

1 onion, chopped * (or 4 chopped shallots would be even better or part onion and part scallion would be good, too)

1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger root, thinly sliced * (You could use more ginger if you like it)

3 cloves garlic, minced *

3 tsp-1 Tbsp red curry paste * (I used Thai Kitchen Brand. The brands vary in heat levels. I used 1 Tbsp and it was spicy, and though not overpowering, I would reduce it next time. You could omit this, but I wouldn‘t. It adds a needed complexity to the soup)

1 Tbsp curry powder (I wanted to reinforce the spice flavors without adding extra heat.  If you omit the red curry paste, I would definitely use it)

1 Tbsp tomato paste (I added this to boost the umami flavors. This is a way to make you feel satisfied without animal protein)

1   15 oz can pumpkin puree (I had used a 29 oz can of pumpkin puree to make bread and had about this much pumpkin left over, it is not necessary.)

2   32 oz. containers of College Inn Thai Coconut Curry Culinary Broth * (I happened to have this on hand. You could use chicken broth or stock or vegetable broth. You could also use just water, but I would do that only if you used the specialty ingredients or made a Thai stock from scratch as the soup would be pretty bland that way)

1   15 oz can unsweetened light coconut milk * (you could use regular coconut milk or even coconut cream but it will increase the levels of saturated fat. You could also add more, but it will increase fat & calories significantly)

Zest and juice of 1 lime *

Zest and juice of 1 lemon (I had an extra lemon in the fridge)

1 Tbsp tamari soy sauce (Also an ingredient to increase the umami. You could just salt to taste)

1 Tbsp fish sauce (This is one of the specialty ingredients that makes Thai food taste “Thai”. You could certainly omit, especially if using the Thai culinary broth)

1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil (I love this flavor and it is very Thai tasting, but if you don’t have or like it, it is easily omitted)

1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro (Again, another Thai essential, but you can omit it if you don‘t like it.  You could also substitute chopped parsley)

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper *

Salt to taste

Directions

(To avoid peeling and chopping the sweet potatoes, you could: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place the sweet potatoes directly on the rack and bake until tender enough to easily pierce with a fork, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Remove the skins from the sweet potatoes and cut into bite size chunks. Add at the last 5 minutes of cooking. You could also use leftover cooked sweet potatoes. I chose to simmer the chopped potatoes in the broth because I prefer the texture and I feel they pick up more of the seasonings that way)

Heat the oil and butter (if using) in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion (or shallots or scallions) and ginger (and celery if using); cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic. Cook 1 minute, being sure not to add color to the garlic as it can add an unwelcome bitterness to the dish. Stir in the curry paste, tomato paste, curry powder, and citrus zest, and cook until fragrant and beginning to thicken. Add pumpkin puree if using and cook 1 minute also. Add the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender. If you are going to puree the soup, make sure the vegetables are very tender or the texture is not as good.

Turn off the heat. Stir in coconut milk, {soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, lemon juice, and cilantro (if using any of these, they would be added now)} and lime juice. Season with salt (do not add salt if using fish sauce and soy sauce unless it really needs it) and pepper.

You can leave the soup as is; it is really very good with the chunky vegetables and would lend itself well to the addition of chicken or shrimp in this state. Or, you can puree it in a blender, food mill, or food processor (or use an immersion blender). If they texture is not right, add liquid (more coconut milk, broth, water, etc.). If you have made it too spicy, add more coconut milk. Ladle into bowls and garnish.

Additions that would be good

Lemongrass ^, kaffir lime leaves ^, peanut butter (I would add at the end and be aware it will make the soup thicken a lot after it is refrigerated), scallions (in the soup or as a garnish), basil (Thai basil would be especially good, in the soup or as a garnish), chicken (could add cooked chicken or poach chicken in the soup), shrimp (could poach the shrimp in the soup or top with crunchy shrimp), rice noodles (cooked separately and stirred in or floated on the top), cooked rice, red lentils (these would increase the protein and add good flavor), red kidney beans (would also increase the protein but wouldn’t add much flavor) ^ if you used these, you definitely could make your own stock.

Garnishes that would be good

Toasted or raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, chopped scallions, chopped herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley, mint), fried garlic chips, yogurt, slices of red pepper, citrus zest, toasted coconut, croutons, minced chili (if you like heat), sesame oil drizzle