as part of my plan to cook meals from different parts of the world this year, i made a hungarian meal for a couple of friends this week. i managed to get the stamp of approval from chris, whose dad is from hungary. not too shabby for my first attempt, i suppose. i made goulash (which, contrary to popular belief is not actually macaroni, ground beef and spaghetti sauce - that’s actually beef-a-roni, people), chicken paprikash, some viennese cucumbers (ok, so it was an austro-hungarian meal) and a linzertorte. some things i learned along the way:

1. hungarians have the highest suicide rate in the world
2. hungarian wine is like $50 a bottle
3. you can buy a large amount of paprika in bulk at whole foods for 2.99
4. if you buy one large amount of paprika, then forget you have it and buy another large amount of paprika, then you just have a whole ton of paprika
5. goulash can be a soup or a stew and the recipe actually calls for 1-5 cups of liquid. quite a variance.
6. many hungarian chefs refuse to put tomatoes in their goulash. we used tomoato paste. the color comes from the massive quantity of paprkia.
7. this pot is awesome, tested as well as all-clad and le creuset (according to cook’s illustrated) and is super fantastic if you get it at half off like i did
8. linzertorte is the oldest known cake in the world
9. there is a crust that is harder to work with than my pie crust - linzertorte crust. in order to get the lattice effect, you had to freeze it for a while, then use two icing spatulas to lay it on top of the tart. i did learn a new method to make lattice top pies look like they’re woven, when they really aren’t. there was no way you could have woven this crust.
10. hungarian sausage livens up any party. unfortunately, we had none.

in the works - february will be italian. been dying to try homemade ravioli and tiramisu. march will be irish - shepherd’s pie? stew, maybe? its more about the accompanying beverage in ireland anyway, right?

making some new playlists and being reminded of some awesome songs…this one’s thrice “between the end and where we lie”. i’ve narrowed my running playlist down to just shy of 300 songs..you know, just the ones i really like. also, i wonder if i hold some kind of record for being the mac owner who holds out longest before opening itunes on their mac? had the laptop for just shy of 10 months and opened itunes for the first time today. ugh…itunes.

Is this everything? I’ve dreamed of so much more between the end and where we lie.
here all our hopes and dreams are scavenged from the floor and fed into machines that feed on vacant eyes
all of my dreams, always find me far beyond these fake fluorescent skies
I know there must be something more, if I could only find the door then I could free myself and see the world outside

where daylight breaks on you and shines into the grey that sleeps beneath your skull
daylight breaks on you and burns away the grey that suffocates your soul

for now I hold a key, and though I may be lost I know that I will find my way
I search endlessly but every time I’ve thought that I was near the smoke and mirrors lead me astray
see the pit boss, steal each tick tock; time it seems will suffer at our hands
I look for exits in the haze, the dense electric twilight maze, I’ve heard that there is one that leads to sunlit lands

where daylight breaks on you and shines into the grey that sleeps beneath your skull
daylight breaks on you and burns away the grey that suffocates your soul

daylight, they tell me that it’s just a myth, they try to betray you with a kiss
daylight, they tell me that it can’t exist, they might never know just what they missed as

daylight pours fire into my grey eyes, pours grace into my grey life
breaks in and lights the way I can’t live without the day

as you may recall, we had a bunch of stuff damaged in our dishwasher a while back, including our super awesome stainless steel flatware. details here. after not being able to find our flatware pattern in the store any longer, i emailed the best flatware company ever to see where it was sold so we could pick up another set. i told them what happened, and even sent a link to my blog. in response, a nice lady named jane emailed me and said they’d like to send me a complimentary set. that’s right, people. try that one with oneida. what’s that? got your pricey silverware at williams-sonoma? i bet they’re just itching to send you a free set. ha - doubtful! i bet they don’t even answer their phones.

now i’m itching to have as many people as possible over to eat so we can fully utilize all this flatware…

here i am basking in the reflection of my freaking awesome new cake turner that doubles as a mirror. i could carry it around in my purse and be ready for any cosmetic/cake-serving emergencies:

this rather deceptive shot shows only about 2/3 of our bounty:

i heart you, gourmet settings.

Originally uploaded by xetark.

the luxury of being spared the hard part, you’d think would be enough for me to pull this off

that’s gotta be one of my top 10 favorite song lyrics ever, except it makes no sense without the rest of the song. (keep reading, they’re below) the lyrics are narrative, and you just never really see that thought/perspective coming, at least it caught me by surprise the first time i heard it. maybe you did see it coming. and if so, maybe you should be a singer/songwriter and write more music that i like.

9ish hours of music on my mp3 player and i managed to get these two songs back to back on my run today…as a train ran alongside the greenway where i typically run:

Engine severs lower legs, I feel my bruised heart beating.
Spinal cord remains intact, still sending and receiving.
Lying back on shoulder blades, the cargo rushing past.
Missing limbs beneath the cars, twitching on the tracks.
Click Clack now handicapped, North Am Transcontinental.

I remember, as I bleed, certain tails of bravery.
A man whose legs were crushed beneath a fallen evergreen tree.
He decided he would chop them off above the knee.
Sacrificing shins and feet, to make his torso free.

The luxury of having been spared the hard part
you’d think would be enough for me to pull this off.
But I’m left to bleed to death, now all the man I’ve ever been.
North Am Transcontinental.
-pedro the lion, “transcontinental”

I’m past the point of return, For you I’m ruined and broken
There is no way of me turning, You’ve got my heart in the open
I see it shrink in the distance, In the glow of your glory
And I never will miss this bottom line of the story
I see the ocean come crashing under lavender skies
I see clouds come flashing, now tell me, who am I?
You’re the air that I’m breathing, while I’m lying there sleeping
You’re the cool of the evening, now you got me believing

Trainwreck, I’m a trainwreck for you.

I’ll kiss it all with a farewell, goodbye, how you doing
And let it echo in stairwells, all these songs of my ruin
Now watch me climb my own cross, without a loss for these words
As I motion a moment’s silence, let it fly with the birds
All else I got without you is much ado about nothing
I’d rather stand by you gone than on the throne of another
You had me all from the start, I count it lost every part
I’ll sing it out in the dark, you’ve got a grip on my heart

Trainwreck, I’m a trainwreck for you.
-mat kearney, ‘trainwreck’

a themed run, no?

i’ve recently started reading cook’s illustrated magazine. holy crap. it’s like alton brown meets chow.com and reads like the finest novel ever written. once i start reading an article, i can’t put it down. they’ll take a recipe, like chocolate butter crisp cookies and try every possible variation - 2 whole eggs vs. 2 yolks 1 white vs. 2 whites vs. 2 whites 1 yolk; baking at 350, 375, 400, 425; hershey chocolate vs. nestle vs. dutch processed - (you get the picture) until their tasters deem it “perfect”. until now, i’ve just been swiping cooks illustrated recipes from various food blogs when i get lucky enough to find them. but then i purchased an issue to read during christmas travels and now i am not sure i can continue to live if i miss even one spectacular bi-monthly* issue. last issue was holiday baking (i have at least seven recipes to try from this one) and this month - soups and stews. its possible that i got a little misty eyed when i saw it there on the magazine rack in books a million. i love soups and stews. and just in time for national soup swap day. (yes, we are having a soup swap this year, and yes, you are invited. better start thinking about it.) thank you, cooks illustrated!

anyway, back to the point. last issue had a recipe for homemade waffle batter. i guess all waffle batter is “homemade” to some extent. so i guess its homemade (non bisquick) waffle batter. it has yeast in it, and you let it rise in the fridge over night, and what resulted will change your life (or maybe just your breakfast palate) forever. i got all crazy and used a raspberry sauce that went in between layers of a big cake i made last year as a topping and it was sooooooooo good. watch out, pancake pantry. we don’t need you anymore.

YEASTED WAFFLES
From Cook’s Illustrated, Dec 2007

The batter must be made 12 to 24 hours in advance. We prefer the texture of the waffles made in a classic waffle iron, but a Belgian waffle iron will work, though it will make fewer waffles. The waffles are best served fresh from the iron but can be held in an oven until all of the batter is used. As you make the waffles, place them on a wire rack set above a baking sheet, cover them with a clean kitchen towel, and place the baking sheet in a 200-degree oven. When the final waffle is in the iron, remove the towel to allow the waffles to crisp for a few minutes. These waffles are quite rich; buttering them before eating is not compulsory and, to some, may even be superfluous.

INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cups whole milk , or low-fat milk, or skim milk
8 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 8 pieces
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter is melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool milk/butter mixture until warm to touch. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk/butter mixture into flour mixture; continue to whisk until batter is smooth. In small bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla until combined, then add egg mixture to batter and whisk until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours.

2. Following manufacturer’s instructions, heat waffle iron; remove waffle batter from refrigerator when waffle iron is hot (batter will be foamy and doubled in size). Whisk batter to recombine (batter will deflate). Bake waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions (use about ½ cup for 7-inch round iron and about 1 cup for 9-inch square iron). Serve waffles immediately or hold in low temperature oven (see above note).

RASPBERRY TOPPING
(i think i stole it from smitten kitchen)

10 oz frozen raspberries
1/4 c sugar
1 tbsp corn startch

thaw then puree the raspberries. heat raspberries, sugar and corn starch over medium heat until it thickens. pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of the seeds. use a spoon to press mixture through the strainer.

*did you know bi-monthly can me 2x a month or every other month. what a stupid system. the magazine is published 6x a year.

i swear that i couldn’t run for any length of time without listening to some music. now that i don’t commute, i wouldn’t get to listen to music nearly as much as i used to if i didn’t run. yesterday the ny times published this article about running playlists which has some research to back me up that running is easier and sometimes better for most people with some motivating music. i’ve posted my favorite running playlist before as well as some of my favorite running songs (which, looking back, seems to change about every 3 weeks). i used to only set my favorite 15-20 songs to play while i ran, but now that i’m going on longer runs (8 miles last weekend!) i just added a playlist with about 8 hours of my favorite songs on it and was pleasantly reminded of some of my favorite music. looking for some new songs for your playlist? give these a try…

sting - s.o.s
238 - modern day prayer
238 - anything from the regulate the chemicals album. seriously, anything. geeze, how have i not listened to this for over a year?
jimmy eat world - chase this light, firefight, here it goes (< --total guilty pleasure song, its so retarded)
zao - skin like winter
mat kearney - trainwreck

i ran out to cvs for a minute tonight. there was a pretty big storm moving through. when i came out of cvs, which is on the corner of a pretty major intersection, something looked weird. the entire block across the street was completely black - the electricity had gone out. it was kind of weird to see such a bright part of the city all dark. then we turned the corner to head home, and realized the electricity was out at walgreen’s as well as shoney’s.

this made me think…

what happens when the electricity goes out at shoney’s? do you keep eating? if you are at the buffet, do you keep ladeling that gravy over your potatoes? do you finish off that last little bit of meatloaf? i’m just wondering. anyway, i just wanted to report that there’s a pretty good chance that some fried chicken, meatloaf and gravy were all consumed in the dark in west nashville tonight.

we had a freak accident in the kitchen over the holidays. no one lost any fingers, however, the casualties are still being tallied. in case you didn’t know, something called “permanent etching” can happen in your dishwasher. this means all your nice stuff comes out looking like its been sitting in a puddle in the basement for 200+ years. when we first took the stuff out of the dishwasher, we thought we just needed to add rinse agent. so we did and washed again. same thing. if you got the dishes wet, they looked ok, but as soon as they dried, they looked awful, spotty, cloudy and feel powdery, like a layer of them is missing or something. take a look:

what my pans used to look like:

what my pans now look like:

(to be truly horrified, view it large, if you think you can stomach it)

we’ve been able to find very little information about why this happened. here’s one article. we used the same dishwasher, same detergent and same wash cycle as usual. we tried the vinegar test to no avail.

so sad. not that i was particularly attached to my gourmet settings flatware (holy crap their site is as cool as their silverware), which was given to us as a wedding gift over five years ago. but, yes, i would have happily eaten off of those beautiful windmere forks, spoons and knives, which are quite possibly the finest pieces of flatware i’ve ever seen (maybe even the ferrari of flatware?), until i was old and unable to feed myself. and even then, you may have had to pry a perfectly weighted, smooth and shiny tiny dessert fork from my dead, lifeless fingers when it was my time to go.

unfortunately, i’m not able to find this particular pattern anywhere online, but i’ve emailed the fine folks at gourmet settings on the off chance that its still available…somewhere, out there…

its a sad day in our kitchen. don’t let this happen to you. i’d tell you how to prevent it, but i’m still not sure i understand why this happened.

on the to do list for 08:

-learn to cook some dishes from other countries. namely, i want to try making my own spaetzle, sushi and ravioli.
-finish a half marathon, or maybe two if the first one (march 15th!) goes well enough.
-do another 10k - the first one sucked
-run the chicago marathon…? (yes, that is reluctance that you sense in that statement, but it seems that i know at least 10 other people doing it, so this is a completely peer-pressure inspired goal for the year)
-12 books in 12 months (i can almost hear michael laughing as he finishes his 12th book of the week)
-12 sewing projects in 12 months
-visit houston (leftover from 07’s list)
-visit wichita (its a tourist hot spot, i’m telling you)
-use the new bikes and bike rack to ride in a new spot every month

things to check off the 07 to do list:

-become self employed
-run a 5k in under 30 mins
-find a church group we love
-12 cakes in 12 months
-12 races in 12 months