Stories

A September 11th Tribute to Abdoulaye Kone

Abdoulaye Kone, Age 37

Abdoulaye Kone was from the Ivory Coast and a father of two who lived in the Bronx.

He went to culinary school in France before immigrating to the U.S., and there he practiced his French along with his native Mandingo.  He also spoke English, German, Spanish and a little Italian.

Pastry was Abdoulaye’s passion, and that’s why he was in the World Trade Center towers when they collapsed on September 11th.  A skilled pastry chef, he worked at Windows of the World, and perished along with many of his coworkers.

His wife Celestine said that pastry was indeed a passion – he collected his recipes with photographs in large binders.   Incredibly intelligent and well-educated, he had worked his way up to Windows of the World after starting work in the states at a 5 and Dime store.  He had ambitions to open his own business.

On rare days off Kone would spend time with his two children, whom he liked to say he “worked for”.  This family man proudly lived to provide for his family.

Unfortunately not much is to be found on Abdoulaye Kone on the web, but I’m positive he lives on in the hearts of his wife, children, family and dear friends.

This tribute was written as part of Project 2996.  I picked the first six names on the list who had not been written yet, and am posting one every day in the week leading up to September 11th, 2011.  To read my initial post on this organization and to donate to The Feel Good Foundation, an advocacy group for first responders affected by serving on September 11th, please CLICK HERE.

A September 11th Tribute to Aaron Jacobs

Aaron Jacobs, Age 27

On July 26th of this year I turned 30 years old.  While I embraced my coming decade with confidence and peace, I had occasional tremors of fear – the passing of time, goals left unaccomplished, a heart trying to make her way in the world.

On that day, as well, this plaque officially adorned a bench in Central Park for the first time, near Strawberry Fields on the west side, shadowed by elm trees:

Aaron Jacobs was a vivacious 27 year old, a Vice President on the international trading desk of Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm that lost all of the 658 employees that were in the building that day (including Aaron Horowitz, of who I wrote a tribute to yesterday).  Aaron was on one of Cantor Fitzgerald’s floors on the upper levels of One World Trade Center, above where the tower was struck.

A Boston native, his parents had met and married in New York City, and were not surprised that Aaron moved back to New York to find his own way.

While he worked in his incredibly lucrative position, he also was incredibly generous, often volunteering to teach work skills to people on welfare.  Containing an incredibly capacity for joy, he had bacpacked through Europe, taught English in Cozumel, studied abroad in Madrid, climbed a volcano in Greece, and was contemplating Africa for his upcoming honeymoon with fiance Jeannine McAteer.

In one particularly memorable tale, he soothed a seething coworker, who was ranting in a dramatically powerful fashion, by getting down on one knee and singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”.  It cracked everyone up, breaking the tension in the room.  That was how he often dealt with pain and anger – by evoking laughter.

Aaron was also in love with the city he called home.  He sought out a wide range of ethnic restaurants, frequented museums and ran regularly through Central Park.  His brother described him as “a secretly silly and tender Wall Streeter”.

Aaron’s fiance remains close with his family, and his parents are comforted having a memorial to visit when they come to NYC – a place where people can sit and rest, read, take in the city and remember the man who loved it so much.

This tribute was written as part of Project 2996.  I picked the first six names on the list who had not been written yet, and am posting one every day in the week leading up to September 11th, 2011.  To read my initial post on this organization and to donate to The Feel Good Foundation, an advocacy group for first responders affected by serving on September 11th, please CLICK HERE.

A September 11th Tribute to Aaron Horowitz

Aaron Horowitz, Age 24

Aaron Horowitz, from what I can gauge from the words said of him from friends and family members, was exactly the kind of person I want in my life more.

An infectiously happy, funny person, Aaron was an institutional bond broker for Cantor Fitzgerald, the company that occupied several of the top floors of One World Trade Center.  On the morning of September 11, 2001, 658 employees of Cantor Fitzgerald (about a third of its global work force) were on the 101st-105th floors, several floors above where the hijacked plane made the initial impact.  Aaron was on the 104th.  He perished along with the entirety of his company, the greatest single loss to a company on that day.

Aaron loved that job, and it suited him well.  He was responsible for entertaining clients, making them feel like the most important, respected, worthy people in the world.  This job was laughably suited for him: he was known to charm waitresses at four star restaurants into arranging a last-minute table for eight, cheering up a sobbing concierge after a bad break up and calling her hours later to make sure she was feeling better, and initiating a hula-hooping contest with a stranger in a toy store.  Or, my favorite, drawing his own masterpiece in the chill of a window right next to a Rembrandt.  He made small moments big, dull moment creative.  He “seized souls”.

A former college adviser said, “I always knew Aaron would thrive in a career in which success was built on one’s trustworthiness, likability and good communication. He had a zest for life that provides me with some comfort. Aaron truly enjoyed his time here, and made the most of every minute and opportunity.”

Aaron’s friends and family celebrated that zest for life, that love and happiness he resonated and his ability to make friends with anyone.  But they obviously mourned the brevity of his life, a life that was seemingly coming together perfectly.  This respectful, friendly, warmhearted man had a beautiful future in front of him.

This year Aaron would have been 34.  It’s heartbreaking to think about how many more lives he could have touched, the family he could have started, the work he could have accomplished.  Reading about him across the web I’m sitting here, tearing a bit for this man I never knew.  This happy, infectious, energetic, respectful, hardworking man.

His college roommate relayed this at his memorial service:

“It’s funny how God seems to take people when they are on top of their game and on top of the world, because that’s exactly where Aaron was. He truly lived an amazing life for a 24-year-old. He accomplished more in his time than most people do in a lifetime.”

And please see the comments below for a reflection from Jon, someone who knew Aaron since they were 17.  I am so thankful he shared.

 

This tribute was written as part of Project 2996.  I picked the first six names on the list who had not been written yet, and am posting one every day in the week leading up to September 11th, 2011.  To read my initial post on this organization and to donate to The Feel Good Foundation, an advocacy group for first responders affected by serving on September 11th, please CLICK HERE.

For more information on Aaron Horowitz:

Related articles

A September 11th Tribute to A. Todd Rancke

A. Todd Rancke, Dec. 23rd 1959 - Sept. 11 2001

To read friends and family members describe Todd Rancke, it’s no surprise that it was joked he would be the future mayor of his hometown of Summit, New Jersey.  The father of three was on the 104th floor of the second tower on September 11th, 2001.  He had called his wife at 8:45am upon getting to his office at Sandler O’Neill and Partners, as he did daily, to wish her and his children a good day when the first tower was struck.  That phone call was the last they heard of him.

While he apparently had plenty of time to make it to safety, those close to him speculate that he stayed behind to help others – that was just the kind of person he was.  He was so well loved in his town, seemingly knowing almost everyone and attending the same church weekly he had since childhood.

Todd met his future wife Debbie when he was attending Duke University and she a nearby Carolina college.  A brother of Phi Delta Theta, Todd was intelligent, warm and full of life.  They got married years later in the chapel at Duke, were huge supporters of Duke basketball, and were part of a community there that miss him very much.

Todd’s love and devotion to his family, his excitement for life, his strong family values and his belief in the good in people permeate through memorials and articles that followed after his death.  Many friends remark how jovial he was, always able to make someone laugh at themselves in the most friendly of ways.  He raised his children to work hard and embrace athletics.  He was the all-American boy.

After the towers collapsed and Todd was missing, family and friends searched the island for him, going to makeshift morgues and hospitals.  But as the hours and days stretched on, they knew they had lost him.  This warm, loving man touched so many, and I’m sure the goodness and peace he brought to others will be remembered in his wife, his children, and those who love him.

This tribute was written for a collection of tributes on Project 2996.  To read my initial post on this organization and to donate to The Feel Good Foundation, an advocacy group for first responders affected by serving on September 11th, please CLICK HERE.

Several articles and online memorial links are below, and if you’d like to contribute to the A. Todd Rancke Memorial Fund, you can do so by writing the  Hilltop Community Bank, P. O. Box 800, Summit, N.J., 07902-0800.

Dairy-free Molasses Cookie Coffee Ice Cream Pie! A Recipe Swap!

Coconut Milk Coffee Ice Cream in a Molasses Cookie Crust

Did I stay in nights this weekend to make cookies and coffee ice cream?  Yes, yes I did, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  Nor am I ashamed to admit that I ate the piece of ice cream pie in the photo above as I started typing this entry – at 11am on a Sunday morning.  And another one later at night while watching True Blood.

I have no shame because this dessert – coconut milk coffee ice cream in a molasses cookie crust – is one of the most insanely delicious things I’ve ever made.  And it happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free  and sweetened only with date sugar, molasses, maple syrup and honey.

Other than watching movies and walking miles on end, this weekend was devoted to a BURWELL GENERAL STORE VINTAGE RECIPE SWAP!  Yep, it’s that time again, when a group of twenty or so bloggers get sent an old recipe that we each have to adapt, changing at least 3 things about the ingredients or process.  This month is an already gluten-free molasses cookie!

Please check out the other swappers!!  It’s always incredible to see how a talented group of inspiring chefs take one idea and run with it.  Details and links are below the recipe.

So, I actually didn’t really want to alter much of the recipe, as it looked simple and delicious.  I just changed the combination of flour and used date sugar instead of white sugar and a little maple syrup, bourbon vanilla and cocoa powder to add even more depth. 

The result?  These cookies taste incredible!  Soft, almost cake-like, and you can taste everything in them: the molasses, cocoa, vanilla, maple syrup and coffee.

But my version looked horrible.  Puffy, no spreading, rough.  I told my roommate they too closely resembled deer turds.  So I needed to take them a step further.  What to do with delicious but ugly cookies?

PIE CRUST!! And what better to put into the pie crust than coffee ice cream?!?!

So I followed the recipe in Simply Gluten and Sugar Free, using honey as a sweetener and maple syrup instead of Stevia.  An overnight chill and 20 minutes in my ice cream maker, and voila! One of the best desserts I’ve ever made and a new favorite.

I’ve been chomping down too many of these cookies this weekend.  And ate that pie with a huge pot of tea made with leaves my friend Jonathan gave to me from a monastery in China.  It think it’s time to get my Physique 57 on and then walk the 8 miles to my yoga studio.  So while I go do that, I leave you…

Coconut Milk Coffee Ice Cream Pie!

Coconut Milk Coffee Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup coconut flour
  • 1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 1 cup sticky / sweet rice flour
  • 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
  • 2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup shortening
  • 3/4 cup palm or date sugar
  • 2 eggs, thoroughly beaten
  • 1 cup dark molasses
  • 3/4 cup coffee, cold
  • 1 tsp bourbon vanilla extract

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter or grease thick baking sheets.
  • Sift together all dry ingredients in medium bowl.
  • In the bowl of a standing mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, cream the shortening and sugar until smooth and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs and molasses and beat to combine.
  • Add the vanilla to the coffee, then add dry ingredients alternatively with the coffee, starting and ending with dry.
  • Drop in tablespoons onto sheets, flatten, and bake for about 15 minutes or until slightly soft.

To make into an ice-cream pie, simply crush about 16 of the cookies in a food processor and press into a shallow pie plate.  Place in the freezer to harden while you either process your ice cream or melt some store-bought ice cream to pour in.  I made and LOVED the recipe posted on Simply Gluten and Sugar Free.

Recipe Swappers
Lindsay is a gem with honesty and simplicity written into her recipes. She loves Oregon, its ingredients and Portland’s lifestyle, and it shows.
Chef Dennis. A veteran chef in his own right, we are lucky to have his Italian Lemon Pear Cae contribution to the swap.  The rest of his fantastic food blog can be seen at morethanamountfull.
Mari lives in Oregon wine country and is a budding wine connoisseur.  I fell in love with her use of Pinot Gris in the glaze for her (gluten-free!) Lemon Cake swap, which was her inaugural recipe with us. Visit her at The Unexpected Harvest.
Boulder Locavore’s  starting point for the recipe swap is always a local-seasonal-organic combination, though her love of international cuisine and cocktails often work their way into the mix!
Joy, holding down a dairy-intolerant household, doesn’t let that restrict her love of flavors and food, in fact, I think it inspires her to do what she does. When you visit her blog, be sure to check out her “ubiquitous about page” and the balcony gardening category.
Monique has been food blogging since 2007, her Fat and Happy blog is about food, recipes, cooking, baking, drinking, eating and friends! As the former owner of the Monkey Bean Cafe and Bistro, she still loves to create recipes from scratch. If you send her an unusual ingredient, she’ll create a recipe for you!
Shari Good Food Week is almost like my diary as I search for a house, plan the perfect veggie patch, stumble through farmer’s markets with my eye half open (because you need to be there at 6am to get the fresh eggs), gather family and friends around a shared table, laugh out loud and enjoy life to the fullest! Blogging from Canberra, Australia, I hope to bring a different perspective to the Recipe Swap.
Priya is also joining us from Australia. She’s a vegan who loves baking, cooking and eating, having chosen the lifestyle after being a vegetarian most of her life. She caters hand-crafted vegan and vegetarian food, and also delivers hand-crafted  vegan and vegetarian cookies and cupcakes.
Jennifer‘s tag line says it all: Life is too short to eat bad food.  At her blog, Adventuresome Kitchen, you will find a passionate food-type, feeding her family amazing meals and living to blog about it. Jennifer joined in at Grandma’s Chicken Pie and Drop Biscuits.
The Cake Duchess.  The name says it all, and Lora’s recipes are rock solid, creative, decadent, inspiring. What other adjectives can I throw at her?  Her innaugural recipe was Grandma’s Chicken Pie and Drop Biscuits, a rare savory recipe for her to develop.
Pola is a new blogger from Italy, transplanted to the cold Midwestern plains. After years of calling mom to check on cooking times and temperatures of family Italian recipes, she started writing them down. In the process, she is hoping to help new friends discover how to cook simple and authentic Italian food.
Mary is a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Peninsula and was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2007. Her search for a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie that didn’t taste, look or feel gluten-free inspired her blog and she’s been happily baking ever since.
Jamie blogs at Random Acts of Food and has a love for food that only an Italian could! She enjoys cooking and baking in all cuisines for her family and friends.  Originally from Long Island, Jamie now resides in Boston with her amazing fiance.
Crissy and Lauren are two So Cal natives and recent college graduates who are embracing their passion for all things culinary in their Little Yellow Kitchen. They blog at From The Little Yellow Kitchen about maintaining a balanced diet of equal parts healthy, savory, and sweet.  From a zesty Chocolate Mojito Key Lime Pie to a nutritional Rosemary Parmesan Kale Chip snack, this kitchen has it all.
Claire blogs with Texas pride from Dallas. She loves chicken fingers, Law and Order SVU and is left handed. We are excited to have her!
Sabrina Modelle  is the girl behind The Tomato Tart, a blog about the unadulterated love of food and cooking. Farmers markets, ethnic groceries, high-end restaurants and tiny taquerias all provide inspiration for the Northern California native who was raised in a French family with food at the center of life. From rich chocolate cakes to vegan curries, the Tomato Tart is full of flavor both figuratively and literally and like food, best enjoyed with a nice glass of wine.
Nicolle writes the joyful Rhythm of the Seasons from Boulder, Colorado and is looking forward to offering more recipes and menus as the spring, summer and harvest seasons heat up.
Linda is an award-winning journalist, food writer and nutritionist and Founder/Editor/Publisher of EENews, for sustainable food and sustainable life. She has written 20 cookbooks that have garnered prizes including the James Beard for one she wrote with her daughter, Katherine West DeFoyd, entitled Entertaining 101, Doubleday. Their follow-up book, Stylish One Dish Dinners, Doubleday, was also nominated for a James Beard prize. Her ground-breaking book, Bread in Half The Time, Broadway Books, was named the Best Cookbook in America by the prestigious IACP, The Julia Child Award.

Jaclyn is a writer, baker, perpetual daydreamer and the author of the cooking and baking blog Food+Words. She has a degree in Creative Writing and is currently studying Baking and Pastry at Le Cordon Bleu. Jaclyn loves poring through old cookbooks she inherited from her grandmother and reinterpreting those recipes with modern, updated twists. Jaclyn has a panchant for baking, laughter, a nice glass of Riesling and anything lemony.
Alli is a research nutritionist by day, transforming into a creative cook by night. She lives in Seattle and scours through her piles of cookbooks, magazines and restaurant experiences for easy ways to transform recipes into healthy and flavorful dishes.
Rachel Saunders is the owner of Blue Chair Fruit and author of The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook. She produces all of her jams and teaches classes from her space in Oakland, California.
Lana is a native of Serbia, who has finally found her home in Southern California, after living for ten years in Michigan and ten years in Ohio. She is mother of three girls and wife to a token household male. her blog is a place where the love for words meets the love for food, a place where family and friends, old and new, gather around the virtual kitchen to reminisce, laugh and cry.
Emily thinks that no matter what it is, all foods taste better when made with love. From growing up in North Carolina with a Palestinian father with a passion for food and an American mother who really did not, to being the holiday sous chef to her real-chef brother, to moving to Brooklyn, the love of a good meal pumps through her veins. From her CSA to nostalgic junk food cravings, from the food truck to the fine dining scene, kitchen inspiration is around every corner.
Alex: I live in Seattle and while I have a typical desk job, my heart is in my home, baking, cooking and eating! I love reading about what other people are creating, so I decided to share my own creations. My blog is about food, but also things that I generally love in life. Since I love eating, I also have a huge love of fitness…so I can eat more!
Shumaila:  After I got married in March, 2010, and shifter to a town where take-aways and restaurants are next to none, I started cooking for the first time in my life. I have always loved baking, but cooking to me was completely new. I started experimenting with recipes for my husband and myself and found blogging the perfect way to keep track of things in the kitchen and also a way to document my first year of marriage. Being Indian, I also started a weekly blog posting “Garam Masala Tuesdays” to try, to the best of my knowledge, to explain the Indian recipes I try at home. I blog from Arizona, USA.

Cookies to Cure Cancer!

Survivors walking into closing ceremony

Hello foodie friends!

Two weekends from now I’ll be walking in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer 3-Day.  My team, Walking for Udders, has been participating in this 60-mile walk since 2004, choosing a different city every season and raising thousands of dollars of the cause with every event. 

This year we’re walking in the Twin Cities, our 10th event! 

In order to participate, the two walkers on our team EACH need to raise $2,300!  If we don’t raise it, we pay for it!  After this event we’ll have raised $55,000 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is one of the industry leaders in raising awareness and funding life-saving research.  Over the years hundreds of friends of ours have donated generously, but this year we’re running a little under in our fundraising.

So I’m combining my love for this event with my baking explorations:

For every $10 donated to my team between now and the middle of September, I’ll donate a cookie to a local Breast Cancer organization in thanks for all their hard work in finding a cure!

If we get our necessary $4,600, that’s 460 cookies!  And even more than that…

Whoever makes the largest donation will get 24 of these cookies delivered to their home and will help me choose the charity or organization(s) to receive these cookies!

I haven’t made them yet, but they’ll be flavorful shortbread cutout cookies in the shape of pink ribbons, with beautiful piping, along the lines of these cookies I’ve made for other events.

Friendly Cut-Outs

Cookies for Smith Street Stage's Macbeth

For Jesus Christ Superstar Benefit

Please tell your friends, pass this along, and help us raise money for the cure!

Visit OUR WEBSITE!

Donate by CLICKING HERE!

Thank you!!!

Team Walking for Udders, Boston 2005

“Sleep no more! Macbeth hath murdered sleep!”

Cookies for Smith Street Stage's Macbeth, running in Carroll Park

“Sleep no more! Macbeth hath murdered sleep!” is an unforgettable line from one of Shakespeare’s darkest plays, where a seemingly good man and admired soldier eventually murders his way to a throne, his bloodthirsty, unsexed wife at his side.  The play is considered cursed by many in the theatre world.  In fact, you can’t even say the title within the walls of the theatre, or you may have someone make you exit the space, turn around three times and knock to be given readmittance.  Actors have broken limbs, shows have gone down, and luck has befallen those who utter that name.  Instead, it’s referred to as “The Scottish Play”.  When spoken of at all.

This week was all about Shakespeare’s Macbeth for this little Dusty Baker.

Punchdrunk

Sleep No More by Punchdrunk, UK.

SLEEP NO MORE by Punchdrunk

Tickets and Information

Company Website

Punchdrunk, a theatre company out of the United Kingdom, has brought New York City an incredible treat with their version of Macbeth, one that contains few words and where you have to go (literally) chasing for a storyline.  I can’t give you too much, because what this company offers is a completely different experience for everyone who walks in the doors of the McKittrick hotel they’ve created on 27th street by 10th.  Let’s just say this is a piece of physical theatre, a throwback to the “happenings” of the 60s I so crave and admire, and a breathtakingly designed work.  The friend who went with me and I had completely different experiences; she was following characters through their journeys of the 3-story, walking exploration.  I sat with an actor in an empty room, watching him sew silently, observing the audience walking about and how they did or did not become more bold by their anonymity.  For Punchdrunk gives everyone a mask they must wear for the duration of their experience, and insists on silence.  They purposely try to break up groups of friends so that you explore on your own.  They suggest a cocktail (horribly expensive at the bar) before you go in.  I second them on that.

For those who are sheepish, you can hold someone’s hand and search the cavernous space together.  And if you’re ever overwhelmed, there are black-masked crew members ready to take you to safety.  But I recommend doing exactly what Punchdrunk suggests: go in alone, a tad tipsy, and find the story of Macbeth.  Touch things.  Sit quietly.  Seek out dark spaces and be still.  Watch beautiful bodies give you glimpses of this horrific story.

And then grab drinks with your friends after and marvel at how awesomely different your shows were.

Macbeth by Smith Street Stage, Carroll Gardens, BK

MACBETH by Smith Street Stage

Runs through July 24th

Smith Street Stage Website

Friday night was the polar opposite of Sleep No More.  Well, not polar opposite.  Both shows utilized incredible performers and were smartly directed.  But where Sleep No More contained no text and was all about design and space, Smith Street Stage’s Macbeth was all about the story.  And damned good actors performing it with little more than a few daggers and chairs.

I love what this company is bringing to Carroll Gardens, a part of Brooklyn that I want to live in every time I visit, with an abundance of delicious-looking restaurants, green stores, boutiques… everything.  But until Smith Street Stage came about, the area didn’t have any free theatre in its gorgeous little park.  And it still doesn’t have much by ways of children’s art classes or family-friendly theatre events.  So I am incredibly energized by the creation of this talented company and their growing presence in the neighborhood.

I was blown away by their Macbeth last night.

Their performance space is in the middle of the park, this time set in front of a shelterhouse where they could use doors and have somewhat of a backdrop.  There’s a noisy playground to one side, neighborhood kids come and go around the space, and now and then a large truck rattles down Smith Street.  But these actors know how to work the space, and with minimal effort you get every word.

Which is the most important thing about getting to enjoy this piece.  The play contains some of the most beautiful lines the bard ever wrote.  And with some actors playing double parts and a script that’s heavy with military talk and royal titles, if you miss something you’re off for a while.

Which is where my praise for this cast comes in.  From Ben Horner’s Macbeth to Sam Rosenberg’s Banquo to the weird sister trio of Beth Ann Leone, Leal Vona and Patrick Harvey… I truly admire all of them.  I was especially moved by Mary Cavett’s “will this little hand e’er be clean” (paraphrasing) madwoman scene as Lady M. and Gordon Tashjian’s Macduff, who literally made my heart shake when he learns that his wife and children have been murdered.  It was a particularly incredible scene, very well directed (awesome in general, Jonathan Hopkins), treated with such gentleness and genuine respect despite the chaotic scene offstage in the park.

I’m not a fan of theatre in parks with craziness surroundings.  I produced a version of the Oresteia in Central Park a few years ago, and while I loved my cast I’ll never do it again.  And as much as I love Shakespeare, I know many of the plays so well that it’s hard for me to be moved.  So bravo, Smith Street Stage actors and directors.  Ruark Downey – excellent music again that shaped the piece and pulled it together.  Jessica Weiss – way to make fight choreography in the park fly.

Snag Macbeth Cookies at Smith Street Stage's MACBETH in Carroll Park

Oh, so why was I watching Shakespeare in a park when I’m generally not a fan of ANY theatre in a park?

Because (a) I love this company and (b) I had to bring them Macbeth cookies!  This is the same company that I recently did a benefit for, a concert version of Jesus Christ Superstar, for which I made Cookies for Jesus Christ Superstar.  So we chatted about what I could make for this show and voila!

This recipe is not my own – I simply made Saveur’s Classic Sugar Cookie Recipe and a basic royal icing.  It took a long time.  I definitely don’t charge enough to make up for the ingredients and time I put into them.  But I LOVE making them, and love this company.  So there you have it.

Now go see some Shakespeare!

Bloody Dagger Cookies - ooooh, so dark...

 

Country Road Take Me Home

It’s been too long since I’ve been in my kitchen.  Or blogged, especially when I had prepped blogs of recipes I created before packing up the car once again and heading out of New York City.  This time I trekked across open fields on seemingly endless highways to Cincinnati, where I lived briefly for a year and where many lovely people I treasure still live.

I stayed with friends who so generously opened their home to me and my increasingly energetic and brave pup.  I taught acting to 5-11 year-olds at two different schools, and enjoyed an immense feeling of fulfillment in their growth and my own as a teacher.  I attended pot luck dinners, watched the sun set at a winery while listening to quiet music with a friend, met new faces at my favorite underground jazz club, took in an opera, and watched fireworks dance atop the Ohio River post baseball game.

I caught up with many friends – most of whom I keep in touch with regularly but also a surprise visit with someone I haven’t spoken to in a long time.  The trip was a delightful reminder of how flexible time is, and how transient your feelings towards people and places may or may not be depending on time and circumstance.  There were many ghosts with me – friends who I shared countless memories in moments I would live over in a second.  But it was also refreshing to see how much has changed here.  And how little.

In about 12 hours I pack up the car once again.  My trunk is full of single barrel Kentucky bourbon, clean Ohio wine, Grippos potato chips and updated lesson plans.  I’ll stop at my favorite market, Findlay Market, to pick up some mouth-watering bacon from Kroger and Sons and sample Michael’s newest sorbetto creations at Dojo Gelato.  I may just stop at Ms. Helen’s for some soul food and Taste of Belgium for some waffles to bring home for the family (even though I can’t eat them they’re so good SOMEONE has to).

Then back to  New York City, where I’ll spruce up my apartment for summer visitors (new kitchen tiles and such – yay!), remind my dog that she lives in an apartment in Washington Heights and not a house in Kentucky, and get back to baking.

I rarely put out blogs without recipes or reviews.  And I can’t wait to tackle both again.

Until then, check out my review of ‘inoteca on Bromography and here’s a few favorite photos of the past two weeks.

Teaching my 5-7 year olds how to create robot characters with their bodies. They succeeded admirably, but really shined the next day with zombies, monsters and ghosts. Photo Tuesday 6/28, 2011. The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

Schwartz Point Jazz Club in Over the Rhine

Tree in the garden of Highland Coffeehouse, Clifton

Tucked in a corner of Highland Coffeehouse, Clifton

Highland Coffeehouse, Clifton

The Great American Ball Park on the Ohio River - downtown Cincinnati

“The Dusty Review” on Bromography – Discoveries of New York Foodies

Bromography.com!

I’m incredibly excited to join the team at Bromography.com, a New York City based food website that develops recipes, reviews restaurants and attends the big food events that unite we urban dwellers and our obsession with food.

My column, The Dusty Review, takes on markets, restaurants, cafes and coffee shops from the allergy-friendly perspective.  I mostly concentrated on the service and the communication with the wait-staff, reporting on how presenting my food allergies is received and the options on the menu for those of us with allergies or those who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet.

My second review came out for Bisous, ciao Macarons, a delicious bakery in the Lower East Side.  This review is paving the way for my review of an incredible book, Mad About Macarons, and interview with author Jill Collana.

I also reviewed the adorable cafe, Fatta Cuckoo, also in the Lower East Side.

Please check out Bromography.com and get the scoop from New York City’s obsessive foodies!

bisous chio, Macarons

Fatta Cuckoo

Rosewater Lavender Shortbread

When traveling to perform, I get to glimpse into the lives and the vibes of different homes and cities. I’m currently performing in The Enchanted April at the Hampton Theatre Company and living in the director and producer’s peaceful, beautiful house right on the bay. It’s filled with plants and artwork from all over the world.  I take their dog, Mia, on morning walks past fields of flowers and houses with perfectly manicured laws.  From my attic suite (which makes me feel a little Louisa May Alcott as I write and draw), I can see water. When I open the window, the scent of flowers fills the rooms.

I feel extremely fulfilled from working with this character and this incredible cast, who have been so warm in welcoming me into their lives. And with some time to spare during the day (with rehearsals coming to a close), I’m baking some cookies for concessions. I couldn’t quite put a gluten-free, allergy-friendly cookie out there (both to limit costs and appeal to the appetite of this particular audience), but knew my contribution had to be something special.

The show is about four women who escape from their troubles in rainy London to a castle in Italy, where “in April it is simply a mass of flowers” as “bushels and bushels of wisteria” flank the terraces.  Eventually, they all find their happy endings, their hearts warmed by the Italian sunshine, the “unusually fresh” sea air and facing their demons amongst the company of strangers who soon become friends.

So my contribution is a traditional English shortbread cookie, laced with rosewater and dried lavender.  Simple ingredients, a little time and patience, and a beautiful, garden-scented result.

Rosewater Lavender Shortbread

Ingredients

  • 20 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened (I used Kerry Gold for the higher fat content)
  • 1 cup white sugar plus more for dusting
  • 2 eggs (plus egg whites for brushing)
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 2 scant Tbsp dried lavender flowers
  • 3 scant Tbsp rosewater

Directions

  • With a hand mixer (or in a food processor) beat butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about two minutes.
  • Add eggs and blend to combine.
  • Add flour, cornstarch, lavender and rosewater and mix just until a dough ball forms.
  • Remove from mixer, separate into two balls and flatten into disks.  Wrap in plastic and put in refrigerator for at least one hour.
  • Preheat oven to 350°
  • Line baking sheets with parchment paper and flour work surface.
  • If the dough is still too soft, knead in a little more flour.
  • Roll each disk into 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes (I made both 1 1/2 inch and 2 inch cookies with success, both with round and fluted cutters.)
  • Use a spatula to transfer to lined sheets, wash lightly with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on size), switching racks halfway through baking, until slightly golden at edges.

Notes: I made two sizes (one to sell and smaller ones with the extra dough).  Other than rolling the smaller size a bit thinner and baking for a shorter amount of time, they came out with equally beautiful results.  The pictures above are of the larger ones that I brushed with egg white before sanding with sugar.  The picture below shows the smaller cookies that weren’t brushed.  To keep with the traditional sheen of a shortbread, I think from now on I will not egg wash the cookies before baking.

Smaller version of Rosewater Lavender Shortbread

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