Miss Macchiato

Tom and I have been discussing canceling our cable. After a long discussion, we determined our DVR is currently set to record three different kinds of programs:

1. Programs we like (10%)
2. Programs we watch when there’s nothing else to watch (15%)
3. Programs we thought the other person liked so we sit through them and pretend to be happy about it (75%)

To make matters worse, if we want to watch a show on our 1980’s tv, we have to warm it up for 15 minutes before it works. The damn thing is on its last legs and we’re waiting for it to die before we cough up the money for another one. As of this moment, no dice. Like Joan Rivers, it keeps hanging on.

More and more, we are turning to Netflix streaming. It’s free with our current subscription (it’s $10 a month or something), we can watch a multitude of shows that are almost immediately available to watch (takes 1 – 2 minutes to upload), and we can watch it up in the computer room on something that doesn’t need a warm up. My favorite thing about Netflix streaming is that I can watch a lot of British comedy, which Tom and I love. British humor seems a little offbeat to the average American, but I guess after so much Monty Python and Red Dwarf, it’s perfect for us.

Our current favorite is a show of sketch comedy, called “That Mitchell and Webb Look”. A lot of their different skits are recurring themes. One is nonsensical game show called “Numberwang” where the same two contestants appear in every single show, and they just spout out random numbers for no reason. At random times, the host will shout “That’s numberwang!” No one knows what any of it means, and that’s because it means nothing — and that’s what’s so funny about it.

Numberwang, episode 1:

The other clip I attached is a recurring theme they do about Nazis (the Brits love doing comedy about Nazis for some reason). In their Nazi-themed skits, the characters always change, but the general idea is the same.

Mitchell & Webb Nazis:

If you have Netflix, or if you happen to see this at your local movie rental, check it out!

Hey, here’s a public announcement just for giggles: If you get into a relationship with a married man who gets caught, you have NO reason to complain and demand a personal apology. You’re a slut and no one cares about your feelings — except Jesus, and that’s only because he wants you to stop acting like a slut, too.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about some piano and music theory lessons I was teaching to a friend. The agreement was for me to teach piano for a month, and at the end of the month we would reevaluate their progress and see if they could continue to learn from me. The reason I made that deal was because I was nervous — this friend seemed very adamant about learning to play, and I worried they would voraciously absorb everything and excel beyond what I could give them, and their expectations would not be met.

That’s not what happened.

Today will be their fifth lesson. My plan is to make it the last. Reason being is that this friend hasn’t been practicing at all. When they come over to the house, the lesson becomes their practice time. There’s been very little growth; they are still trying to play the three pieces I assigned at the second lesson!

To be honest, I feel that this person is wasting my time so, tonight, I am going to keep our lesson to the strict one hour (or less) and then tell them this is the end. If they decide they want to continue to learn then they should find someone else.

Tom’s been listening to a new online music station called thesixtyone.com. One of the songs he heard had a funny accompanying image with it and he sent it to me. So funny. Had to share.

This morning, I woke up to warm sunshine – a treat we haven’t had much of in the last few months. Wanting to enjoy it as much as possible, I got out of bed, grabbed my laptop and went downstairs. I made a strong Americano and parked in the dining room, where I had a very productive couple of hours working on my book.

In the morning, when the sun is shining, the dining room is my favorite spot in the house. I love how the sun comes in through our tall window and alights the wall.

It’s hard to see it in this photo, unfortunately, because the sun hits the wall behind the chair. But this is my setup this morning, facing the large, open window…

…where I can watch the squirrels taunt my cat. Three of them were running around this morning, and the fattest one kept stopping on the porch, strutting up close to the window, and showing off. Maggie-Toes was going crazy, trying hard to get through the glass.

Maybe next time, attack cat.

The ice is finally starting to melt. Here’s a shot from my front door. I’m hoping that the snow, for the most part, is over.

Probably not, though. We’re talking about New York.

A few months ago, the girls at church had a Dessert & Movie night. Special events like these give me ample opportunities to try out new recipes. Sometimes it works out and I end up with a wildly successful morsel, and sometimes it doesn’t, leaving me with a disaster.

Luckily for me, these Butterscotch Brownies with Chocolate Ganache ended deliciously! The only thing that disappointed me about them was the lack of texture – and that was totally my fault. I had toasted up some nuts to mix in, but forgot them. If you decide to give these a whirl, I strongly recommend adding the pecans; they’ll give you a bit of texture to break up the incredibly smooth, very sweet brownie. Without the nuts, it’s a little too much.

Butterscotch Brownies
From Cookie Swap: Creative Treats to Share Throughout the Year, by Julia M. Usher

Caramel Topping
8 ounces caramel candies (about 27 cubes)
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4½ teaspoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Butterscotch Brownies
2½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3⁄8 teaspoon salt
1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, chopped into tablespoon-size pieces
2¼ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons dark rum (optional)
2 cups pecan halves, toasted and coarsely chopped

Ganache Glaze
16 ounces premium semisweet chocolate finely chopped or ground in a food processor
1½ cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions:
Make the Caramel Topping. Unwrap the caramel candies and combine with the cream and butter in a small nonreactive (stainless steel or coated) saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring regularly to prevent scorching, until the caramels and butter are completely melted and the mixture has boiled. Remove from the heat. Stir in the flour, mixing well to break apart any lumps. Add the vanilla extract and set the topping in a warm place so the caramel stays fluid while you prepare the brownie batter.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 10 x 15 x 2-inch glass baking dish (sometimes called a roasting pan, p. 10) with foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang around the top edge of the pan. Smooth out any big wrinkles in the foil and then lightly coat the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the Butterscotch Brownies. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Place the butter in a medium (3-quart) saucepan over low heat. Once the butter has fully melted, remove it from the heat and stir in the brown sugar, mixing until smooth. (Note: Don’t be surprised if the butter and sugar do not completely come together at this point; some separation is normal.) Cool a few minutes; then add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and rum, if desired.

Gradually add the flour mixture, whisking all the while to keep the batter lump free. Stir in the pecans. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and level with a small offset spatula. (The batter will be less than 1 inch thick, but it will bake to about twice its original thickness.)

Drizzle the caramel topping evenly over the batter. (If the caramel has thickened and is difficult to drizzle, gently reheat it.) Marble the top (and break apart any large caramel blobs) by drawing a spatula through both the topping and the batter in a random pattern.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs on it, and the brownie has pulled away from the edges of the pan, about 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely in the pan. (Areas that had larger helpings of caramel topping may sink slightly, but don’t worry; the ganache will completely cover any holes.)

Prepare and apply the Ganache Glaze (below). Make the glaze only after the brownies have completely cooled.

While the ganache is fluid, pour it evenly over the brownie. Gently tilt or shake the pan so that the ganache completely coats the brownie top. Cover with foil, taking care to keep it from touching the ganache. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, or until the ganache is firm enough to cut cleanly.

Remove the brownies from the pan in one block by gently pulling up on the foil overhang. Place directly on a cutting board. Remove all foil, and trim any uneven edges before cutting into 1½-inch squares. For the neatest cuts, slice the bars while the ganache is firm and wipe the knife clean with a warm, damp cloth between slices. Serve at room temperature.

Ganache Directions:
Place the chopped (or ground) chocolate in a large bowl so it forms a shallow layer. Set aside.

Pour the cream into a medium (3-quart) nonreactive (stainless steel or coated) saucepan. Place over medium to medium-high heat and scald the cream. (That is, heat the cream to just below the boiling point. The cream will put off steam, but no bubbles should break on its surface.)

Immediately strain the hot cream through a fine-meshed sieve directly onto the chocolate. Let the mixture sit 1 to 2 minutes without stirring, and then gently whisk until the chocolate is entirely melted. (If the chocolate does not completely melt, set the bowl over barely simmering water in a double boiler and stir regularly until smooth. Do not overheat, or the ganache may break.) Stir in the corn syrup.

To use the ganache as a glaze, pour it while lukewarm. Alternatively, for piping ganache, pour it into a shallow pan to a ½- to ¾-inch depth, cover, and refrigerate 20 to 25 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Stir occasionally during chilling to maintain a uniform consistency. (Hard, overchilled pieces of ganache should be broken up, as they can easily clog pastry tips when piping.) Chilling time will vary with starting ganache temperature, refrigerator temperature, and depth of the ganache. Watch the ganache closely, as it can quickly overchill and become difficult to pipe.

I forgot to mention this — a couple of months ago I changed my twitter name. I am no longer using the missmacchiato moniker because I associate it with AwK, which is mostly defunct. If you’re on twitter and you want to follow me, I can be found at jleigh612. I try to post something there daily, sometimes with pics.

Prepping for my Saturday Sabbath is a big deal. Not only am I preparing breakfast and finishing up chores, I have to make a meal that will serve as leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day — I’m not cooking on my day off! One of our favorite dishes that I pull out for this occasion is Lasagna-Style Baked Ditali with Meat Sauce.

I know what you’re thinking when you hear the word “lasagna”: Heavy. Saucy. Salty. Cheesy. Though the dish incorporates all four of those elements, it’s a wonderful example of restraint and is still a satisfying meal. The white topping you see in the photograph below isn’t cheese, it’s a simplified bechamel that is spread over the top of the pasta and baked.

Serve this with side salads and garlic bread.

The recipe below serves 10. I cut the ingredients in half, serve Friday night, and still have more than enough to serve for Saturday lunches and dinner.

Lasagna-Style Baked Ditali with Meat Sauce
Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine

1 pound pennette or ditali
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 pounds ground meatloaf mix (or 1 pound lamb, 1 pound veal)
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons marjoram
2 tablespoons chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart milk
2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain well.

In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the ground lamb and veal and cook, stirring to break up the lumps, until the meat is beginning to brown, 10 minutes. Drain all fat from the pan.

Remove from the heat and stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, marjoram and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over moderate heat, whisking, for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and cook over moderately high heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce is very thick and boiling, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and the Romano. Stir all but 1 1/2 cups of the sauce into the meat mixture along with the pasta and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the pasta into a 3-quart baking dish. Spread the reserved 1 1/2 cups of sauce on top.

Bake the pasta in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until bubbling. Preheat the broiler. Broil the pasta 8 inches from the heat for about 2 minutes, until the top is browned and bubbling. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

The change from worship to any other, structured music is like going from the game “Operation” to actual brain surgery. For me, worship has been largely unstructured and improvised – a single sheet of lyrics are attached to general chords and that’s it. No grand staff. No notation. No symbols. The system (rather, lack of) provides a great amount of adaptability during the song and everyone can jump in and just do “whatever”. For worship, it works.

When you’ve got a specific vision for a song that you need to communicate, it doesn’t.

Music theory has been on my mind for the last couple of months. I knew that this transition from worship to “other” music (strange, ambiguous term that I’m still struggling to define) meant that I would need to refresh my music theory. I had taken a lot in junior high, high school, and even some in college many, many years ago. But I procrastinated.

A few weeks ago, I happened upon some sheet music. Shockingly, I realized I couldn’t remember what any of it meant. I couldn’t remember what the note names were, could barely remember what the numerical values were – it took me nearly five minutes of brain-wracking before I could finally remember what the lines and spaces were!

And that was when I realized I had a problem.

Meanwhile, a couple of people at church had asked me to teach them piano or give voice lessons and I turned them all down. All except one. He sang with me a couple of times on the worship team for the evening worship services. I had always felt that I was supposed to take him under my wing, in a sense. Until he came up to sing with me one night, I had no idea he even had any desire for music. Turns out he’s been “composing” in his spare time. He can’t play any instrument and he has no idea what any musical notation means, so he just opens up a program on his computer and clicks randomly to write a piece, then subtracts notes, one at a time, until something sounds “right”. Then he repeats the process.

Hell, if he’s that passionate about writing music, I’ll teach him. Plus, when you teach someone, it forces you to learn/refresh, too. I agreed to do it — but covertly, because I don’t want anyone knowing that I’ve turned down other people but not him. I don’t know how much he can learn from me, since I’m trying to refresh myself as well, so we agreed to do this for a month and then decide if it’s worth it for him to continue with me or go to someone else. I bought him a theory book and play book, and I also bought a theory book for myself. Tomorrow night he’ll take his first theory quiz and start theory lab. If I can figure out how to do it correctly, I’ll make the quizzes and lab assignments that I create available for download/viewing as pdf’s. Just for fun!

Over the weekend, I ended up having a lot of time to myself in the house, so I did get a chance to sit down and write music. I feel really good and excited about it. At this point I can’t even tell if it’s any good or not, and I don’t care – just sitting down and doing it feels good, almost like the novel-writing process. Music, like any other art, is about making choices. Creativity doesn’t just possess you like a demon, making your art pour out of you. Making art is about deciding where you’re going to take it.

For now, it feels good. Still waiting for the sound room to get done. Walls, door and insulation is up. Electric is getting done this week. Not sure what else. Tom’s in charge of that.

Whatever your artistic goals are for the year, I hope you are well under way with them! I hope eventually you’ll feel good enough to share…