In the paper this morning, on the front page, was the big news about finally finding Abby Sunderland, the 16 year old girl that was allowed to attempt to set a new world record for being the youngest person (ever) to go around the world on a 40-foot sailboat (ALONE!)–in what proved to be treacherous (extremely life-threatening) conditions (duh). Her brother had done it at 17–and you know what sibling rivalry does… 16 became the number that would beat her brother–What if instead of finally being located–if she had gotten irrevocably swallowed up by one of those 50 foot waves? Is that what it would take for her parents to be charged with child endangerment? I doubt it. Who’s idea was this anyway?? Oh, that’s right–it was Abby’s passion for sailing (and for beating her brother’s record)–I guess that makes it all OK.

Two pages later, there was an article about a 2-year old baby boy that was taught (by his father!) to chain-smoke cigarettes and, in this article, the father was boasting about how he had gotten the boy to “cut back” from two-packs to just a mere 10 cigarettes per day! If I hadn’t seen a video of this baby smoking like an out-of-control fiend (on a TV news show), I wouldn’t have believed that this was possible!  (Did I mention that this baby is also clinically obese?)

On the next page was an article about a 12 year old girl who was left home alone for a week because her mother decided to get married and go on a honeymoon (sans her child)! At least this woman was locked up and is being held on $100,000 bail.

Has this world gone crazy? Has the word “parent” totally lost it’s meaning? Listen, I’ve raised three kids–and several dogs–and, just this morning on my walk with Mango, while she was on a leash, we met another dog who was also on a leash. The dogs were pulling, twirling, sniffing, snorting–pleading to be set free to play–Did I and the owner of the other dog look at each other with empathy and compassion for how our dogs felt? –Of course. Did we ever doubt that there was anything but the purest of intentions to their desires? No. Did we also know that if we let them off leash, that they could run into the street and get injured by a moving vehicle? Yes.

So what happens? Do we, as dog owners, decide to throw caution to the wind, remove their leashes and just hope for the best?

Do we, as parents, allow our children’s desires to outweigh our first job–which is to protect them? I think not.  I hate to use a dog example, but I think there are a lot of parents (and pet owners) out there that need to wake up! Abby S. is a very lucky young lady, despite her parent’s lack of back-bone. There should be laws that protect children from an ineffective parent–She should have never been legally allowed to take this trip alone. (And these parents have an 11 and 12-year old at home and they’re already “accepting” that these kids might make this same attempt… Help!)

And, all I can say about the big, fat smoking baby is that his parents should be arrested and locked up (for a long time) for child abuse.

All three of these stories are examples of how people are actually able to live with themselves after blatently disregarding the most consequential job given to humanity: Parenting. It’s just horrifying.

Tags: Abby Sunderland, bad parenting, child abuse, children left home alone, children's rights, effective parenting, home alone, parental rights, Parenting, smoking baby boy

Ok, so my back tooth (that broke at a wedding) now has a temporary crown–which I don’t trust–so I will eat only soft things until I get the permanent one. ( Sheesh. This could get old quick)…Having said that, could there be anything more delish than eggplant parmesan, when needing to eat soft, soothing things?

This was din-din two nights ago…

Of course, I thought there could be NOTHING as soothing as eggplant parmesan until last night, when we had …

Wild mushroom stuffed agnolotti, by Buitoni (a great product).

First, I sweated the leeks in melted butter on the stove under a lid made of parchment.

This is to keep the condensation extremely flavorful–which will drop back down and into the leeks.

Then, I added leftover cooked fresh green peas that I served the night before (with the eggplant parmesan).

Then came some delicious chicken stock (thawed from the freezer) and the shaved black truffle…

Jon bought me a truffle on Arthur Avenue for an amazingly low price!

I brought the whole lot to a simmer, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Then added the cooked agnolotti.

Just to remind you of what we ate.

So, I figure–this could be kind of fun–having to eat soft things (for a while…)

Tonight’s dinner…

Oh baby–Now, THIS is the best. (Stay tuned for my meatball story.)

Tags: eggplant parmesan, soft foods to eat when having dental issues, wild mushroom agnolotti

Today, when passing my “set” dinner table, I saw that the roses that I clipped just yesterday had released a lot of petals. One by one, as I picked them up, their intense fragrance captured me, as if each one contained the magnificence of the whole flower. So, instead of throwing the petals away, I decided to put my bud-vase on a coaster and then surround the base with all the fallen petals.  

Doing this not only bought me another day, without having to clip more flowers, but it also made my table more beautiful and seemingly twice as fragrant–Becoming present to these fallen petals deepened my understanding of the overall potency–and power for flowers (especially roses) to provide sensory pleasure.

The Point: Just like when we’re about to shrug off a “person of years” (or some really ripe, speckled bananas) if we take the time to stop, rethink and open up–that’s often when some of life’s most unexpected gifts are revealed.

Tags: fresh roses on the table, how to extend the life of a fresh rose centerpiece, what to do with rose petals

Being my dentist. 

No joke, just ask my mother– Trust me, this is something she would remember.

All throughout my childhood, poor (aptly named) “Dr. Silver” would end our appointments MUCH more silver-haired than he was at the beginning. Literally having to chase me around the dental chair (his breath reaking of Luden’s licorice-flavored cough drops)–I would shreak the same way I would when my mother would come at me with a comb after washing my waste-length hair (these were the days before the invention of cream-rinse or conditioner–so don’t judge me harshly until you’ve experienced this nightmare yourself). 

Anyway, the doctor would beg (I mean beg) my mother to ”pleease” take me to another dentist–but no, Dr. Siver was stuck with me.  

The only thing worse than being my dentist is being my husband either before or after I visit the dentist–especially if it was like today–when I HAD to go because this past weekend, when having a grand-old time at a wedding, my back tooth split in half and I had to spit it out into my napkin (lovely, I know).

Here’s the $64,000 question: How does someone break a tooth while eating quinoa??

So, I went to see my dentist today and I just felt so badly since she happens to be the MOST WONDERFUL dentist–actually she’s one of the kindest, most gentle, caring people I’ve ever met…and the poor thing is the lucky dentist that’s now stuck with me. (No, I didn’t make her chase me but I was shaking (quaking) like Mango does before she gets her yearly shots)… I kept trying to snap myself out of it by reminding myself (internally) “Lauren, there are people enduring chemo therapy!” Oh, today I was a mess–it’s so embarrassing.

Then, poor Jon–When I got home–he answered the door (and, after seeing me leave the house this morning all bent out of shape in fear) I could see him looking at me–wondering if I was going to snarl or smile.

Can you guess?

So, I did what I always do when I need to feel better. I started to cook…and cook…and cook. I even decided to make a celebration birthday cake since we’ve got a birthday girl on June 24! (Oh please, you already know that, two blogs back, I spoiled the gnocchi surprise–And, anyway, in this family, this particular cake is not ever a surprise–after all these years, it’s considered a birth-right.   

So, what did I learn today?

1) It’s not easy to be strong when you have people putting needles into your gums.

2) Using ones bare hands to crush Oreo cookies is EXTREMELY therapeutic when feeling unraveled.

3) My husband still loves me, even after being a brat. I’m a lucky girl.

Tonight’s din-din: grilled whole fish, fresh vegetables and garlic toast. I’m looking forward to being able to chew! 

To read my blog on how to make the ice cream cake, click here. And, click here for to see the video and here, for the printable recipe.

Yesterday, I got home late in the afternoon–Jon and I were planning to go out for dinner since I’ve been cooking like a maniac all throughout the holiday weekend and beyond…. As soon as I got home I learned that Mango, my dog, had quite a hard day–Her birthday was the day before (her fourth) and, apparently, she was too much of a party girl!–To help her celebrate we (OK, I) gave her a HUGE beef knuckle (one of those gross dark-bony-crispy-smoked things that looks like it came from a dinosaur–a heavenly site to a dog).  Mango opened her jaws wider than ever before and, as she finally latched down on it and ran into the yard with a crazed look of glee–my intuition spoke–”we’re all going to pay for this.”   

Sheesh. I was right.       

Anyway, Mango ended up with a really bad case of the runs (which she had all day long, both IN and out of the house). Not a pretty picture. I tried to give her plain boiled rice but she wasn’t interested–Then I really got worried. Mango has NEVER refused food–ever. I called the Vet and was instructed: “don’t give her any food at all–wait to see what happens over night.”    

So, after spending A LOT of time with Mango in the back yard (over and over again) I knew I couldn’t leave her to go out to dinner. Jon was also somewhere “out there” at a golf tournament and called to say he was in the midst of a rain-delay–so I had no idea what (or when) dinner would be.   

I wanted something easy, cheesy (soothing) and flexible in terms of timing. I decided to make pizza. Since it was late, I thought I would go to the neighborhood pizza shop and pick up a dough–but, then it started to rain (I mean POUR–along with thunder and lightening–) So, I had to rethink things. It was now six o’clock.   

It’s certainly not that I was opposed to putting up my own pizza dough–It just never occured to me that I could, should, would make a yeast dough at 6 pm and end up with a great-tasting pizza crust–in such a short time. (Thus, the reason why I’m writing this blog…). My pizza was SO DELICIOUS!!   

It only took me 10 minutes, from start to finish, to make the dough. I divided it, and formed two taut rounds and placed each on it’s own shallow baking sheet that was first generously brushed with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with freshly cracked black pepper. 

I covered one sheet with a kitchen towel (that one was to be for our dinner) and the other I covered with a towel and then plastic wrap (over the towel) and put it in the fridge (That one is for tomorrow’s dinner, when I’ll turn it into focaccia.  

I’ll bet you didn’t know you can do that!…   

Here’s what a Focaccia (made with pizza dough)  looks like before baking …   

Here (above) the chilled dough is allowed to rise on a bakers peel that’s heavily doused with a mixture of cornmeal and white flour (rubbed into the peel), then the dough was brushed with a fresh-herb-garlic-oil and allowed to rise until billowy (at least 2 hours for a well-chilled pizza dough). The oven gets preheated to 450F for at least 30 minutes (preferably longer) –I use the convection mode. 

(Note: This dough is on the sticky side–especially after having risen on the peel. If not experienced working with a baker’s peel, I suggest allowing the dough to rise on a square of parchment paper, first brushed or sprayed with extra-virgin olive oil and then sprinkled with cornmeal (and why not add some sesame seeds?!). Then, just slide the dough (with the parchment) onto the hot stone. By the way, when using parchment to bake artisan breads, use the unbleached kind–it’s darker color will encourage more heat retention by the dough–thus a darker color. Expect the paper to become charred.  Just discard it after baking.) 

Then, once risen, instead of poking the dough (to give a focaccia a traditional dimpled look) I just planted halved heirloom cherry tomatoes (cut sides up) into the dough. I gave the top a light application of Kosher salt and black pepper then slid the dough onto a hot pizza stone (with steam) for 18 to 20 minutes. Then, I opened the oven and carefully sprinkled the top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and baked for another 3 to 5 minutes.   

Here’s the Focaccia after baking:   

Then, immediately upon leaving the oven, I brushed the top of the Focaccia with more of the herb-garlic-olive oil mixture (actually, I had added just a bit of lemon zest, which gave the finish a nice perky taste-but that’s optional and only one of a gazillion ways to flavor/season focaccia).   

Anyway, (so sorry to deviate).  Back to my impromptu pizza…   

I preheated the oven to 500F (I always keep a pizza stone in my oven) with a cast iron skillet on the rack underneath (this is how I create steam–just before shoving the raw, shaped pizza onto the hot stone, I place about 6 ice cubes with a tiny bit of water into the hot skillet–then shut the door, go get the peel with my pizza–open the door and slide the pizza into a steamy oven, on a very hot pizza stone).   

For my topping (on the pizza) I used some of the leftover marinara sauce from the night before.   

Anyway, with the pizza dough made and rising at room temperature, the sauce in a bowl, I went through the fridge to see what else I could use for my dinner. I found some sliced mushrooms, peeled garlic, marinated long-stemmed artichokes, roasted red and yellow peppers, cleaned lettuce, hot soprassata and (of course) a hunk of Parmigiano Reggiano–and some shredded cheese (muenster and mozzarella). Needless to say, I had more than enough to make a delish impromptu din-din: A big salad and a crisp, sizzling hot pizza.  

Here’s a completely hand-driven, homemade 15-inch pizza–made at the end of the day–using just what I had on hand.   

Baked at 500F for about 12 minutes or until it looks the way any great pizza should–golden, crispy and bubbling on top.   

The point: With all the talk lately of “no-knead” dough–with having to wait 18 hours before using it!–I thought I would remind you of how incredibly easy it is to make a yeast dough the old fashioned way–even spur of the moment!   

Oh–and the aromas from all my cooking made Mango feel MUCH better! She came to me with that oh-so-familiar look…   

"I'm SO hungry, Mama!..."

So, the food was great, Mango felt better and JON WON HIS GOLF TOURNAMENT!!! Life is good. To see me making a pizza dough (and learn a sane way to make pizza for a crowd), watch this video. And, to see the recipe for the dough, click here.

Tags: easy homemade pizza recipe, focaccia recipe, homemade pizza recipe, pizza dough recipe, pizza recipe, ways to use pizza dough