Happy Anniversary

Dear Tia Fia-

Did you get that Fulbright application complete? When do you hear back? I just know I'm going to be visiting you in Bangladesh next summer. I can't believe the whole process is about to be done, do you feel a little let down and depressed or jubilant?

I think I'm going to have to send B to you for the next three weeks. He positively drooled over your chili. Poor thing, every time I make him something he douses it in ketchup, ranch dressing, or Siracha. For the first time in my life, I identify with those skinny little girls that pick at their food- I have no interest, I don't care to cook and when I do I take no time with it. Yuck. Although he might be reticent to leave because my cooking isn't the only thing that's changed.

I have HUGE breasts. Tia Fia, my prayers have been answered about 17 years too late. My little shirts no longer fit (I don't think my sugar-induced tummy is helping that much) and when wearing them I look like a sausage with outrageous boobs stuck in a turquoise v-neck. Really. Then, at night, when I unleash the monsters from their too small brassiere B takes one glance at my pendulous Tatas and starts screaming "they're ALIVE!, they're Alive! AHHHH!" and runs from the room. I've convinced myself that he is only being funny.

With all the growing going on, I almost forgot that today is our five-year anniversary. For B, I'm going to pick up a bottle of wine- a habit I stopped when he knocked me up. For me, I made pudding. I planned on attempting homemade from this recipe, but with all the intricate instructions it seemed akin to the scientific knowledge needed for baking and I just couldn't handle that. So, I just picked up a box of instant in the baking aisle instead.





Anyway, I miss you and I wish we could hang out in person this weekend. Only five weeks 'till Philly! See you soon and let me know about your weekend.

Love,
Tia Tay

A Whip Cream Kinda Day

Dear Tia Fia,

The weirdest ingredient I ever cooked with? Hmmm. I've racked my brain, but I can't come up with anything out of the ordinary. As a white girl from Central Texas, I'm really into things like burgers, fried chicken, mac and cheese, enchiladas, beans, and cow. Stepping my sneaker out of the culinary box makes my heart pound and not in a good way. Think J, but with a little broader palette. I mean, B has to bribe me to make a vegetarian meal. By the way, he really thanks you for the Eggplant Pizza, without your influence he never woulda got to try it. I usually detest eggplant, but I loved it drenched in olive oil. What's the weirdest thing you ever cooked with? Were you disappointed or did you like it?

My preferred food group is comfort and today I really needed it. For no apparent reason it was the most frustrating day EVER! It started with the way B picked up his fork at breakfast, continued when my shirt didn't feel right on my clavicle and ended when, just because a customer asked, "How are you?", I had the distinct urge to step on his big toe.

Years past, this exasperation would've been cleared up immediately with a smoke, but since I no longer carry around a pack of Camel Lights and a lighter I had to turn to something different. That's when I said to myself, "it's a whip cream kinda day."

Usually I have fruit after a meal. It's light, sweet, and is good for ya, but if I need a treat I whip some cream to dollop on top. It's easy and if you have company over you can call it Chantilly Cream.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1-2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla

1) Put large bowl, beaters, and cream in freezer for 15 minutes.
2) Pour cream in large bowl and using a hand mixer mix on high for about one minute.
The cream will first have alot of bubbles, but then they will start to dissipate and the cream
will then get fluffy and smooth. Try to make sure there are stiff peaks, but don't be too concerned it still tastes good if they are soft.


Gotta go! I hope you have a good day.

Love,
Tia T

Chocolate and Cheese

Dear Tia Tay,

I'm glad to not be alone in a universe of self-imposed arbitrary rules. I hardly ever make anything I don't have at least the majority of ingredients for. This is true especially for baking. It's such a high maintenance task already - who wants to leave the house on a rainy afternoon for something as ultimately useless as whole jar of instant coffee granules of which you are going to use only ONE freaking teaspoon just for a chocolate ganache?

These are the kind of injustices that haunt me late at night. By the way, "granule" is a word that bothers me, though I'm not sure why. I don't think I can shun it entirely, but it makes me think of having sand in my mouth, and that's gross.

Ganache, on the other hand, is a word I love. It instantly makes me think of creamy, glossy chocolate rippling over some baked good. My love of this glorious concept compelled me to make Ina Garten's Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake to accompany the huge trays of my mother's delicious Bengali food (left over from her recent visit) I served at the party Friday night.

I chose this recipe, in part, to get rid of a lot of foodstuffs that were about to bite it: almost-mushy navel oranges, buttermilk on its last leg, the remaining few eggs in the carton. I almost always have semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate on hand (dangerous, but sometimes necessary in emergencies), and heavy whipping cream as well.

The combination of citrus and chocolate, I thought, might complement the spiciness of the main course. I served slices of it warm with a scoop of tangerine sorbet. Judging by the look on AC's face and the empty cake plate left at the end of the night, I think it was a success:

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake (adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Parties)

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup grated orange zest (from 4 large oranges)
3 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups good semisweet chocolate chunks

Syrup:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Ganache:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules (which I did not use, obviously, and I don't think it mattered)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the orange zest.

3. Sift together 3 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately in thirds to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour. Toss the chocolate chunks with 2 tablespoons flour and add to the batter. Pour into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook the sugar with the orange juice until the sugar dissolves. Remove the cake from the pan, set it on a rack over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.

5. For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

How was y'all's weekend? I just used the last of the whipping cream to make that goat cheese sauce, by the way, which was perfect since I had leftover goat cheese from the eggplant pizza. I added some shrimp to it and baked it in the oven for our Sunday evening dinner. It ended up being kind of a creamy stew, and I had to stop myself from tipping my bowl back and drinking it. J loved it too - he sends his thanks and his love.

Mine too,

TF

Temperate Summer

Dear Tia Fia,

O.K. don't be jealous-it's 77 degrees and breezy here in Uptown, Chicago. We've had the most mild summer I've ever seen. No air-condition hopping for us, only open windows, sweaters at night, and hot coffee in the a.m. Our lone window unit resides in our bedroom, not because it's too hot to open the window, but because I'm afraid the bad men will break in and steal me. The weather has been so balmy that it has taken 'till August for B's strawberries to ripen-


Because we only have a few plants, B and I each have one strawberry a day. If we had more I'd make this for dessert.

For eating out, I just require that it be really good and that I can't make it. Like for pastor tacos with homemade corn tortillas, I'd require a roasting spit and an altogether new place of family origin. Posessing neither, I have to go to Carmela's (so small they don't have a website) for lunch when I can't stand another day of Yankee food.

The aguas frescas recipe you sent looks great. I'd love to try the mint cucumber.

Love ya,

TT