I’ve been going through old photos (in a digital sense, which means I’m clicking on folders), and I came across this photo from my trip to Ireland of the Husband’s and my 3rd anniversary:

Strawberry Merguines

This is a pile of meringues — strawberry, I think — from a bake shop in Galway called Gourmet Tart Company. I didn’t get to try them. It was too late in the day when we got there and the shop girl told me that they sell out of these amazing confections by noon. And regardless, they wouldn’t consider selling them past noon anyway because the consistency would have been shot (too chewy).

I’m feeling inspired. I want to recreate these meringues I never tasted. My dear friend Lisa is coming into town next week…the same one with which I made those scones eons ago. Perhaps she’ll join me in the challenge? I’ll keep you updated. In the mean time…aren’t these just divine?

***Ooh! Edited to add this link to Travel Sweet. Apparently I’m not the only one to have been denied a meringue on a quality contingency!

You knew a baby-related post was bound to sneak in here. But since I do more food-prep with bottles these days than I do with my Kitchen Aid, I thought you might give me a free pass and consdier this entry at least partially in the baking category.

Long story short: For the first three months of Baby E’s life, she was not enthused about taking the bottle. Daddy C and some stalwart friends could get her to take the Dr. Brown’s every once in a while, but she would mostly just chew on the nipple and dribble the rest of the bottle out on her onsie. And as a result, Mama Me was freaked–freaked that I’d go back to work and my wee-one would starve and scream herself to death because I’d failed to introduce her to the bottle early  enough in my selfish desire to nurse and cuddle her.

So, like I’ve done with piping tips and fondant and baking pans, I proceeded to purchase just about every model on the shelf. A particular draw? Anything that sported the assurance:  “best of breastfed babies.” Picture me going through the store and sweeping an entire shelf of  “desperate mother” bottles into the cart and you’d have it about right.  Below you see the collection I amassed.

(Left to right) Adiri Level 3 and 2, Breastflow, Dr. Brown's (two variations), Avent and Playtex Drop-In

Before you get too concerned, fast-forward to the day after Baby E turned 3 months old. She batted me away and literally reached out to Daddy C for the bottle. Fiendish child. Though she still nurses, she’s taken bottles like a champ ever since.  But I thought others might benefit (and save a little money) from a run-down of my panicked purchases.  So here goes:

Adiri Natural Nurser — The most boob-looking of all the variations. It takes some jeers from baby Web sites for being gimmicky and, yes, I totally bought into the premise that the more it looked like a boob, the more likely it was to fool my baby. But though I don’t think she’s actually fooled, this is one of only two bottles types Baby E will take at the moment. Up until the Adiri, she was drooling her milk out when she wasn’t screaming at the intrusion. But from the first moment we put the Adiri to her lips, we had success. It’s essentially a torpedo with a hard back end (you fill it on this end), a semi hard middle for gripping it and a soft top third that the baby can press against her little cheeks with milky glee. Each bottle is a different level. We’re currently on Level 2 – Blue.

Breastflow – Next to Dr. Brown’s this one had the most going for it on the technical front. The nipple is actually a two-layered affair and it falls into the “so weird it must work” category. The outer layer is a soft squishy silicone that, again, the baby can smoosh against her face. But this has an inner layer that is a harder, silcone, tube-like device. The intent is to mimic the whole nipple experience for the baby. When the baby latches on, bearing down on the harder silicone inside makes the milk flow up and fill the space between the inner and outer nipple. So I suppose the baby gets the sensation of sucking on a full breast. I have no idea if it really entices babies. Baby E tried it for about a week and never did more than bite on the nipple and then scream at me for teasing her.

Dr. Brown’s — These bottle have a cult following! When I was registering for baby gear, every mother I knew practically grabbed my hands and pleaded with me to get Dr. Brown’s. From what I gather, they are lifesavers in the colic department. Baby E never experienced colic anywhere near the degree to which it plagues other babies. Which is a good thing because Dr. Brown’s were little more than a chew toy for her. I even tried the large-mouthed,  “more natural” nipple. No dice. Looking back at her first bottle experiences with the Doc, I realize that what we thought was her “taking a bottle” was really her “wearing a bottle.” We’ll see if she comes back around to the good Doctor when she’s a little older, but until then I’m happy not to have to clean that fancy venting system. Keeping track of those tiny brushes was pain.

Avent – A no-nonsense mom I know lent me the Avent when I was freaking out about Baby E’s bottle refusal, which is appropriate because Philips Avent’s tagline is “Sense and Simplicity.” Pretty much describes this unflappable mom. If they were to make a tagline for my bottle, it would be “Frantic and Freakability” or maybe “Sucker and Sellability.”  Clearly, this bottle and Baby E were not going to match up. Too much drama queen in her blood. Another wise mom who actually got Baby E to take/wear a bottle in the early days suggested that Baby E’s mouth was a little too small to take the nipple length of the Avent. As with Dr. Brown’s, we’ll see if this is the case as Baby E — and her mouth — grow larger.

Playtex Drop-In — I didn’t want this bottle to be a winner. I’m not a the best environmentalist, but at least I know that it’s wasteful to use and discard thousands of plastic inserts over the life of a bottle-fed baby. But a friend’s lactation consultant recommended the Drop-In combined with a latex nipple for hard-to-feed babies. Something about the texture of the latex combined with the way the drop-in collapses and creates more suction as the baby nurses being ideal. Another big selling point — the liners are pre-sterilized, so there’s a high convienience factor there. Also, compared to all the other “just like nursing” bottles on this list, the Playtex Drop-In Sytem is pretty cheap — about $12 for 3 4oz.-bottles and the liners run about  $10 for 100. And, yes, the liners are recylable. But did Baby E like them? Yes…of course she did.

(Left to right) The winners: the Playtex Drop-In with orthopedic latex nipple and the Adiri Level 2.

I had a breakfast in Burlington, Vt., a few years back that I’ve wanted to recreate but never got around to it. Now that I’m a busy mom of a 3-month-old and going back to work, I’m inspired to finally give it a whirl.

The original was a steel-cut oatmeal cake topped with whipped cream, fresh berries and maple syrup. The oatmeal is prepared,  poured into a baking pan, cooled in the fridge and then individual, square servings are cut out and placed under the broiler to get all the edges browned and crisp. It was oatmeal the way your mother never made it and I could have eaten by the brick. The way the berries and cream and syrup ran down into the cracks of the oatmeal cake, like water over stones…oh…so tasty.

My version adds some portability, though it admittedly lacks the same flair. Instead of a cake, I’ve turned it into a muffin and baked the fruit and syrup into it. I’ve omitted the cream, too (though in the picture, I’ve added a little half-and-half and maple syrup for kicks). I eat these hot or cold, and they can be frozen and reheated at work for an oaty pick-me-up.

Oatmeal-To-Go "Muffins"

The Recipe:

4 cups old fashioned oatmeal

4 cups water

1 tsp salt

1 diced apple

1/2 cup dried dates

1 cup crushed walnuts

3 Tbs. maple syrup (Grade B from Morse Farm)

Liberal dash of cinnamon

Brown sugar for topping (optional)

Oatmeal mash

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bring water and salt to a boil. Add oatmeal. Lower heat to medium and cook oats for approx. 5 minutes. Oatmeal mixture should be thick. Remove from heat and add apples, dates and walnuts (and feel free to vary the fruit and nuts to your liking). Stir in and then add maple syrup and cinnamon. Spoon heaping helpings into a greased 12-count muffin tin (approx. 1/3 cup in each hole). Sprinkle tops with brown sugar if you like. Omit if you’re counting calories. Place in oven for 25 minutes so tops can get browned and a bit crisp. Remove and let cool. Serve as you see fit.

Fresh from the oven

The last two weekends have been a flurry of action as the workshop production of Couragewas underway, first at Chief Ike’s Mambo Room in Adam’s Morgan and then in the blackbox at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.

It was a trippy way to reenter the performance scene, and I had a blast working with the band, jamming and letting go (kinda) of my inhibitions about playing in front of a crowd. My mandolin enjoyed her time in the spotlight.

Want to listen to recordings from the final performance? Click here to visit the dog & pony dc Courageblog with all the sound files. In addition to playing in the band, I sang on “Home.” Two of the four performances I managed to stay on beat through the whole song. Sadly, this is not one of them. Sorry, Milo.

We’re going to do a studio recording in a few weeks. If I’m allowed to post those songs, I will.

Savage Chickens is one of my favorite comics that I check out online every Monday – Friday. Today’s had a vague baking theme and therefore I share it with you.

We had our first all-cast rehearsal for Courage last night. We did a round-robin read-through with the band playing the various songs we’ve been rehearsing the last few weeks. The violinist and I were the only ones going acoustic up against the guitar, bass, accordian and drums…which was actually kinda freeing for the first “performance.”

I’m still pretty shakey on a lot of the chord changes and strumming patterns, so it was lovely to know not many people would hear me if I goofed up. And also nice to know I could experiment in the realms I was comfortable in to make the performance as much of a practice session as any other.

More practice on Tuesday night! Playtime continues.

I often get asked by people why I enjoy baking more than cooking. Here is why…

Honey, thanks for cooking such a delicious and well-rounded dinner for me!

But wait...there's something missing. Shouldn't the entree be around here somewhere between the green beans and the potatoes?

Why, yes, dear. There is something missing. It’s the oven-bbq chicken. I’ll just nip into the kitchen and ….

BAM!

Honey! I know you're hungry, but that's not chicken! That's a huge shard of Pyrex glass...Pyrex that isn't supposed to shatter like that in an oven you've only set to 375-degrees.

Voila! Chicken en Glass

I spent last night rehearsing with the band for Courage. It was exceedingly cool. The crew was composed of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, violinist, accordionist and me on mandolin. The sound was so…full. It was the first time I’d played with that many people, not to mention played to be heard (rather than just blend into the background).

This Sunday we’ll play for the cast, so I guess it’s a little like our first performance. Maybe more like a try-out. If I can just hit that stupid Bb, I’ll be content. 

I’ll see if I can get the ok from the musical director to record a bit of a song or rehearsal for a preview here.

On Saturday, the Mum-in-Law and I went to the National Capital Area Cake Show in Burke, Va., to view the spectacle and splendor of cake writ large. I’ve been to two shows at this point, but this (oh god, I can’t help it) took the cake. (I know…I know…sorry.)

One of the many cakes competing in the show.

One of these days I’ll actually submit a cake to a show for kicks and grins. The highlight event was an “as seen on the Food Network” type of cake challenge.

The live challenge

The theme? Faeries and Castles. The competitors? Ann Heap, Dianna Lopez, Courtney Clark and Charmaine “The Cake Diva” Jones. All ladies have been or will be on a Food Network challenge show, so it was interesting to see the level of their talents. The winner? I have no clue yet…check the cake show Web site for updates!

Charmaine -- The Cake Diva -- working on her castle.

The show was sponsored by the Virginia chapter of the International Cake Exploration Societe [sic] (yes…pretentious spelling with an accent over the last “e”, and yes…they “explore” cakes). I rag on the name, but really, the group is very supportive and hosts “days of learning” where you can take inexpensive classes in just about any cake decorating skill on the planet. The Food Network celeb from VA-ICES is Norman Davis from The Sweet Life in Annandale, Va. He was the emcee for the cake show along with other Food Network and DC-area celeb Warren Brown of Cake Love.

Warren Brown was the “personality” highlight for me, much to my surprise. While emcee-ing, he held an impromptu Q&A about my favorite of all baking topics — kitchen science. Now I’ve made no secret among those near and dear that while I really like the shop’s cake, I can’t stand Cake Love’s butter cream. Too thick, too buttery…too much in general. Of course, I’m probably just jealous because my  butter cream, regardless of nationality, always turns out looking like baby vomit. But listening to Warren Brown chat it up about gluten and protein ratios and the merits, in his opinion, of AP flour over cake flour erased my misconceptions of him as a gimmick-chef (the whole lawyer-turned-baker thing). The man knows his baking blather. I was impressed.

We sat in on a few demos with marginal interest, spending the majority of our time oohing and ahhing at the approximately 100 cakes-that-don’t-really-look-like-cakes enterted into the show. The things people do with gumpaste and fondant…so artistic, so creative, so flat-out goofy. That’s enough chatter for now. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking…

One of my favorites.

How could you cut it?!

So cute.

The detail on this fluffed-up bird is stunning.

Mice make me happy!

Cocoa butter on pastiage, I think.

I would wear this cake pattern.

I want to make something like this for Aunt Carol, the gardener.

I saw this mosaic style on several cakes. I wonder if it's a new trend.

Here's a close-up of the mosaic on another cake.

Where would you even begin?

These were the supports on an Australia cake.

Last one. Again...adorable.

Hey all,

So I dropped off the face of the blogging earth, huh? Sorry to those who were checking this page out with any regularity. But it makes me laugh a little when I look at the date of my last post — October 29, 2008 — because just a week later I learned I had already embarked on my most ambitious baking project yet. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Me and the Mister are gonna have a kiddo, you see! So I’m hoping you forgive my multi-month absence, as well as what is likely to continue to be a lazy updating schedule.

You know what’s weird? With every week that goes by, my mandolin moves just a little further away from me. The kiddo seems to enjoy the music, though. Speaking of…I’ve been given a really cool opportunity to play and sing in an upcoming workshop production of Courage — a take on Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht. I’ll be one of the minstrel rabble and we’re performing all original music…very gypsy punk stuff. Way out of my comfort zone (but then again, what isn’t at this point?) but so much fun to fiddle with. Lots of minor chords and trills going on…much stretching of the fingers.

It’ll go up early May and is being put on by Dog & Pony DC, a DC theater company run by three terrifically creative ladies. You can keep up with how Courage unfolds on their blog. And I’ll probably be babbling about it here, too.

Cheers, for now!