teacher by day - chef by night
I’m sorry for the lack of posts this past week-ish, but this has been last priority! About 2 weeks ago my grandmother (on my mom’s side) told me that my grandfather had pneumonia and the doctors wanted to send him to the hospital, but his …
I’m not sure about anyone else, but fondue has been something that has not worked out so well for me. I LOVE cheese, and anything that involves cheese (and when its melty & warm too – yeah, its good stuff!) A few weeks ago I …
Kids are AMAZING!
Our staff (at DeFranco Elementary – Bangor Area School District) organized a canned food drive (“Pack the Pantry”) to help those in our community. We have an organization (Slater Family Network) that helps families in community with all sorts of things ranging from food to clothing to classes to making a stronger school-home community. Because of the tough times our area (and the country) seem to be having right now – the Slater Family Network has been suffering, as many organizations that help others have been. Our gym teacher always seems to have something up his sleeve and this fall was a driving force behind this food drive.
We knew once we gave the kids a challenge to help others they would come through (our 5th & 6th graders raised as much, if not more, than any other building last year when we collected money to support Haiti). The first challenge we set out for the kids was basically for bragging rights between 2 of our teachers (gym & math specialist – those two put themselves out on the line for our kids so much, thanks!). Then the challenge progressed into “if we can get x-many cans we will throw pies in the face” – which of course the kids rose to the occasion (3 pies were thrown at each of them). And all along the staff knew this final challenge – but if in the last 2 weeks if they could bring in (200??) cans the guys would dress up in formal dresses.
Daily we would get updates on how many canned foods
were brought in (and the Slater Family Network was also coming to take cans as the kids were bringing them in to fill their needs). There were some days that more than 200 cans were brought in by the 500 students in our building. We are not even sure of the final count – but our stage/risers was PACKED with food for the drive. Never underestimate the power of kids (with help from their parents) – when these kids want to make a difference…. they do!
Disclaimer: this is not a blog post about food! My dear friend Adrian Rosas has an amazing voice, started his career in college as a Jazz singer & then turned to Opera when people encouraged him to pursue that avenue. When Adrian first went into …
I know that we are well past Halloween, but before heading out for Halloween a few weeks ago we had friends over. I had seen a recipe for a Squash Soup in my November Food & Wine that I wanted to try, but then saw …
On our trip to New York for Scott’s Pizza Tour a few weeks ago Rich got to NYC hungry (what else is new) before the tour. He really wanted to get a good NYC bagel, but we didn’t pass by any. Finally we passed Bird Bath Bakery and we decided that was a good place to stop. After viewing the tasty treats all over the green/organic bakery counter he settled on something called a “Candied Ginger Pear Muffin”. After taking 1 bite I was informed that “OMG, Rachel you HAVE to learn how to make these” at which point I laughed (remember, I am a cook – not a baker)!
BUT – I decided to be a good girlfriend took a few bites & tried to get ideas. Then pizza fun started & eventually the weekend was over and I decided to see if I could locate this bakery online and maybe get some insight from them about these muffins. I emailed them and told them the back story & asked if they would give me any advice. Their advice was: favorite cornbread recipe (I located one, haha), add candied ginger & pear. WELL – that didn’t seem TOO helpful, but I was willing to give it a shot. Right before I headed into the kitchen I decided to do a search for “Candied Ginger Pear Muffins” and lo & behold – Maury Rubin, the owner of Bird Bath had been on Martha Stewart in May…. cooking these exact muffins!!
My search for my “favorite muffin with those things added” turned into the bakery’s own version! The taste was right on, but the texture was not quite right – these were too “muffin-ey” and not “dense/airy” enough… I know those don’t make sense together, but it could be “chunkier” while also being lighter (I didn’t have the oat flour or course cornmeal – so next time, thats the change).
Read more at Marthastewart.com: Corn Muffins with Pear and Candied Ginger – Martha Stewart Recipes