Remembering Mesrop

My Grandparents
Mesrop & Arusyag Ohanessian

Today is April 24th. That date doesn't mean much to a lot of people, but to an Armenian it means everything. My paternal grandfather, Mesrop Ohanessian, was a young man living in Van, Turkey when on April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Turks rounded up and began executing Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, beginning their systematic killing of up to one and a half million Armenians.

Even though there are numerous eye witness reports from the period and the term genocide was coined after researching accounts of the massacres of Armenians, the Turkish government continues to deny genocide ever took place. Armenians are still persecuted in Turkey, and to refer to what the Ottoman Turks did to the Armenians as genocide is an offense punishable with jail time.

After my grandfather's entire family was annihilated, he relocated to Iraq where he started a new life and a new family. We're not certain of exactly when he was born, but we're pretty sure he was at least 105 when he died. He rose above his past to become a respected local businessman. He owned the Piccadilly Bakery in Baghdad and was affectionately referred to as Caketchy (cake maker) Mesrop. He was grateful for what he had, and at the end of each day, he would send his children out to deliver bread and other items to those in the community who were less fortunate.

My Uncles & Aunts
Sarkis, Ishkhan, Arshalouys, Angel

Dad didn't come along until later!
Varant Ohanessian

My grandfather was already around 20 years old in 1915. However, you'd never know what he'd been through by looking at or even talking with him. I often wonder how he managed to carry around all those horrific memories for so long. He was a wise man with all kinds of interesting food and health advice. He was also one of the most patient people I've ever met. I never saw him lose his temper or even raise his voice in anger. He was the ideal Hairig (grandfather).

It's easy, especially on this day, to become fixated on all the negative stuff around us, but every April 24th, I try to take a little time to remember Hairig. Maybe I inherited his optimism, but he makes me feel as though I can overcome just about anything.

I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia. ~William Saroyan

Curried Vegetables & Bulgur

Audrey asked me for the recipe to a curried vegetable dish I made a few days ago. Since I don't really measure ingredients much, I'm going to do my best to document the curry sauce. It's actually a very easy one pot dish!

I've also included a recipe for bulgur pilaf, which I almost exclusively use these days instead of rice. Whole grain, high fiber bulgur is simple to prepare and very nutritious with a higher fiber and protein than white rice.

Potatoes, onion, red peppers, and string beans are among my favorite vegetables for this dish.
This batch includes asparagus, portobello & shitiaki mushrooms, and corn.

Enhancing a prepared curry paste makes the process so simple. I have made my own curry base and you can too. It will require picking up ingredients many people don't normally have in their pantry, such as turmeric and tamarind. Getting a good pre-made base is less time consuming and cost effective. I like many of the various Patak's curry pastes. I have also included a list of additional spices to help supplement a pre-made base. Feel free to add as much or as little based on your preferences.

Curried Vegetables

Ingredients:
4 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Medium Russet Potatoes (peeled & cubed)
1 Large Onion (sliced)
1 Cup Green Beans (chopped into 2" pieces)
1 Cup Asparagus (chopped into 2" pieces)
1 Medium Bell Pepper (cut into strips)
1 Cup Mushrooms (sliced)
1 Cup Corn (fresh or canned)
1 6 Oz. Can Tomato Paste
2 Tbs Patak's Vindaloo Curry Paste (Hot)

Additional Seasoning to add to taste:
Salt, Pepper, Aleppo Pepper, Garlic Powder, Ginger Powder, Curry Powder
Ground Cumin, Gharam Masala, Ground Cardimom, Ground Coriander

1. Heat olive oil in large pan big enough to hold all the vegetables and sauce. Sauté potatoes until they begin to brown. Add onions and continue to cook until onions begin to soften.

2. Stir in tomato paste, adding a little water if mixture becomes too dry. Stir in curry paste. Potatoes should be almost but not fully cooked at this point.

3. Continue to add vegetables, starting with those that take longer to cook. The ingredient list above is in the order I added my vegetables. Add water as necessary to keep the vegetables moving but the mixture should not be too saucy at this point.

4. Once the vegetables are almost cooked, add enough water create a thick sauce that almost covers the vegetables. Cover and continue to cook until vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Curried vegetables and bulgur served with a chopped salad and potato roll.
FYI, Armenian stores/bakeries generally have vegan option (like this potato roll) for lent.

Bulgur Pilaf

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup Orzo Pasta
1 Cup Bulgur
2-1/4 Cups Water
Salt to Taste

1. Sauté orzo in non-stick pot on medium heat until it nicely browned but not burned.

2. Stir in bulgur, add water, increase heat to high until water boils.

3. Once water boils, stir one last time, reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook for about 15 minutes.

4. Turn heat off and fluff bulgur before serving.

Other items can be added to the bulgur instead of the orzo, like sautéed onions or garbanzo beans. Butter can be used instead of oil, and the water can be substituted with broth.

Another Zachary's Run

We just got into Berkeley last night and headed straight to Zachary's to pick up two pizzas for dinner. Too bad (or maybe it's actually a good thing for my waistline) we don't have a Zachary's closer to home. It's basically crust, cheese and toppings, more crust, and finally tomato sauce and pesto.

Andrew ordered a pepperoni pizza with pesto, and I had my regular spinach, mushroom, pesto on a whole wheat crust. Each one of our large pizzas weight at lease 5-7 pounds, and I've estimated one slice to be almost 500 calories. Totally worth it!

Since we both ordered pesto (which is swirled on top), they look similar from the outside. This ones all mine!

Had to get a picture of the inside.

Got to go! Breakfast is ready... a slice of leftover pizza, of course. We're definitely taking a half baked with us when we leave. This is too good not to share with friends and family at home.

Best Sticky Buns in Toluca Lake

I think I can say that. Toluca Lake is fairly small, so the chance of finding someone with better sticky buns is probably very slim... unless they happen to be using Susan's recipe, too!

Our friends Dan and Micheal had never been to Palm Thai nor had they ever tasted my sticky buns. All that changed last night.

Assembled, covered, and refrigerated buns before heading out to dinner.

Baked them after we came back from dinner. Longest 15 minutes ever!

The dough proofs faster when not refrigerated but yields a gooier texture.

That's not necessarily a bad thing!

I've altered altered the recipe slightly by including brown sugar in addition to the regular sugar, doubling the cinnamon, and drizzling the top with butter before baking. Enjoy!

Susan's Sticky Buns Recipe...
http://www.ineedamom.com/stickybuns.html

Eat Your Green

Burning 1,000 calories or so on a 6.4 mile hike made me pretty hungry, so I treated myself to a half grilled cheese sandwich on cranberry walnut bread and half a Greek salad from The Oaks Gourmet Market in Hollywood. The cranberries added color and unique flavor. The vibrant veggies in the salad were dressed with olive oil and a touch of Greek honey.

After a somewhat decadent lunch, we decided to do a simple dinner. We paired some pesto Andrew made a few days ago with Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Gnocchi. The vegetable side was broccoli that had been in the refrigerator since Wednesday and needed to be eaten.

It wasn't until I started assembling that I realized it was green on green!

Hoping the avocados we got today will be ripe soon. A chopped salad with lots of colorful vegetables and homemade croutons can be so satisfyingly delicious.

It's Been a Colorful Couple of Days

Our effort to eating more vegetables is going very well. Now, it's time to up the amount of fruit we consume. That's going to be tougher. I buy fruit and it just goes bad before we get a chance to eat it, like that pineapple currently rotting in our kitchen.

Organic green beans sautéed with onion and bell pepper added much needed veggies to one of my favorite quick meals, Trader Joe's tuna curry. Under all that is a hearty scoop of bulgur, which is as quick and easy as white rice yet more nutritious than brown rice. Give it a try!

We bought some sweet potatoes the other day and then almost forgot about them. Here they are paired with Chik'n patty, spinach, rice cheese, and pesto panino. That red stuff is Aleppo pepper, which goes on practically everything in this house.

Tonight we decided to get out of the house and try a new place, Summer Canteen in Toluca Lake. These Leaf Wrapped Savory Nibbles appetizer with tamarind caramel was a great treat. It reminded me that I should probably make something using the tamarind in the pantry.

 

For dinner, I had the Green Curry of Greens and Tofu. Extra spicy, of course, which just means it had some flavor. The unhulled brown rice was a delicious and nutritious addition! Andrew enjoyed his Beef Panang Curry but wished for rarer meat (which is not uncommon for him). Our server brought us some Thai Iced Tea crème brûlée on the house. What a great idea! I have my eye on the Burmese Tea Leaf Salad for our next visit.

No Need for Roses

Give me a colorful pile of veggies over a bouquet of flowers any day, especially Valentine's Day!

Sautéing the Broccoli, Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

with a little Szechwan Pepper Salt and Aleppo Pepper.

Wrapped some Spinach, Tomato, Bell Peppers, Veggie Patties,

Cheese, and Pesto in Lavash and grilled it on the Panini Press.

It was all so satisfying and filling. Andrew cut up some strawberries and cantaloupe for us to enjoy for dessert.

A Look Back

I feel like I'm just waking up from a six month nap. It was so easy to allow myself to get lazy and do practically nothing. I'm still not sure how I got away with doing so little for so long, but I think I'm finally paying the price. It would be nice to go back to a time not so long ago when sitting around doing nothing all day was possible. Maybe reminiscing about China will help...

Our Kunming hosts were looking out for me and insisted my soup be made with plain hot water. The restaurant's owners, however, were confused by the request and kept coming by to make sure I was happy with my meal. It was delicious! Loved the chrysanthemum petals.

This long lost cousin of Zuzu's belonged to our horseback riding guide. He had very similar mannerisms to our beloved Tibbie.

Drifting through Lijiang after horseback riding.

One of my favorite pictures from the entire trip! The higher the elevation, the smaller the horses.

The Potala Palace, the the main residence of the Dalai Lama until he fled Tibet, is now mainly a museum and tourist destination. I feel fortunate to have been able to visit such a historic place.

Emma, out Lhasa expert, made sure we each had offerings of flowers. The man behind me in line said flowers are the Buddha's favorite gift. Thinking about that still makes me smile.

This is one of my most memorable moments of the trip. Words cannot even describe what it was like to look out at this glacier while the wind whipped through the prayer flags above our heads.

At the temple in Gyantse, Tibet with the smell of the roasting tsampa coming from the oven below. From this vantage point, we could see several different weather systems around us.

We all get back in our little green bus and start going down the road when Adrien realizes he can't find his glasses. The driver immediately pulls over and asks the men to get out and direct traffic as he expertly turns the van around on a road with two huge ditches on either side and not much wider than our vehicle is long. We go back to our last stop, men again help with traffic, driver again turns bus around, and we all get out to look for the glasses. After several minutes, we hear Bill yell, "Adrien!" We look up to see him holding up the glasses that were on the floor of the bus the whole time.

This little businessman completely forgot his lines as soon as he saw the hair on Andrew's arm. I pointed out that it was like a monkey. From that moment on, the kid just followed Andrew around trying to get his attention by calling out, "Monkey! Monkey!"

We were told there are no traffic cops in China. They do have these these plastic cops posted every so often as a reminder to obey the rules. We also went through speed stops where paperwork was timestamped so we couldn't get through the next speed stop until after a certain amount of time had elapsed without facing a fine.

 Street food in Chengdu. Our hosts were eager for us to try the local delicacies, so Andrew sampled the squid feet dipped in chili peppers. Think Chinese calamari with a kick.

Telefreeking to the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. The ride alone was worth the price of admission.

It's a tourist destination but still pretty cool.

 Hong Kong skyline near the Avenue of the Stars on Kowloon right before the oh so cheesy light show.

It turns out there aren't a lot of vegetarians in China and serving rice at banquets honoring your guests is not done, so I had very little food (let alone anything nutritious) for the couple of weeks in mainland China and Tibet. So, it took a few weeks for body to recognize that it could come out of starvation mode. Even with that, I would not change a thing. It was the adventure of a lifetime!

How Was Your Week?

When I finally saw Andrew again yesterday after he was away working on an especially time-consuming episode, I was excited to hear what he'd been up to and share some interesting news with him about a new marketing campaign I might be doing for my business.

Andrew said he had interesting news as well. Andrew never says he has news, let alone interesting news. All of a sudden my brain was filled with a series of horrible thoughts. Did someone die? Are they canceling the show? What could it possibly be? I knew from the look on his face, whatever it was, it wasn't good. I told him to go first.

He started by saying he would have told me earlier but he didn't want me to worry. Well, that me even more anxious... and scared! He then preceded to tell me a Muslim group issued a message stating the producers of the show would probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh (gruesome pictures included) for insulting their prophet. What? The show censored all images of Muhammad. Isn't that the rule? Showing the likeness of a costume bear is against the rules now, too?

I want to be the type of person who stands up to this kind of bullying, but I don't want to see people I care about hurt by people who mean nothing to me. The fanatic is a paradox to me. If it's worth dying or killing over, it's got to be pretty good. If it's that good, why can't it stand on its own merits? Why does it need someone dying or killing over it?

My news was pretty mundane compared to Andrew's stories of death threats and armed guards, but he listened anyway. We moved to the couch and chatted a little more until he took an impromptu nap.

Imogen missed Andrew, too!

As you can see, Andrew fell asleep in a very uncomfortable looking position. He stayed that way for several minutes. It's strange the picture tuned out so fuzzy. Maybe it just reflects how Andrew's brain was feeling at the time.

When we watched the controversial episode last night, it was filled with a whole bunch of bleeping and big black boxes with the word CENSORED on them. I was, however, glad the creators were still able to get their message across without outwardly violating the arbitrary rules set up by a bunch of extremists. Actually, the additional censorship might have added to the message.

The Lamb of Easter

The First Easter Pizza

We had our Easter dinner on Holy Saturday at my parent's place. My mom says that when Armenians have dinner. We don't hide eggs, but we do play the egg tapping game. I introduced my nieces to the egg game and warned them not to play with Dede Vartan (my grandfather, their great-grandfather) because he cheats by using a fake egg. The nieces giggled excitedly as they hit the eggs against each other until they were all broken.

My parents and my sister's family were invited to come to my place on Sunday for lunch which included Easter pizza (a tradition since the First Easter Pizza in 2003) and leftovers from Mom's dinner. I spent all morning preparing the dough and making the pizzas completely from scratch. In addition to two large ones (a tomato with basil and a spicy pepper with mushroom) I made two small cheese pizzas for the nieces. I also made some brown rice to supplement the white rice, fish, and curried peas my parents supplied.

My mother made sure not to forget the lamb cake my grandfather brought with him on Saturday evening. I don't know where he gets them from, but he seems to have one of these freaky things every year. Sevana had asked her grandmother to give her the head on Saturday, but she was told she had to wait until Easter for that. After lunch, my mother decapitated the lamb and proudly presented the head to Sevana. The headless lamb was so morbid I almost cried... right before I sliced off a piece of the neck to taste it for myself.

Sevana finally gets her hands on
the head of the Lamb of Easter.

By the time Alique got to it, it was missing
an ear but she didn't seem to mind.

After everyone was done eating, the adults went back to my parent's house for chai. The girls hung out and played for a while. Once Alique started getting sleepy, she could no longer suppress her fear of the cats and dog. That's when Linda came to pick up the nieces and I started cleaning up.

Vegetable Lentil Soup

The collard greens and red chard at Whole Foods looked too good to pass up. I knew I'd figure out something to do with them later.

The vegetable lentil soup was awesome!

Emmetaler and Portobello Boreg

Book club is tonight! This month's selection is Catcher in the Rye, in honor of J.D. Salinger's recent passing. I'm looking forward to good company and good food. We're supposed to bring something inspired by the book. I love thinking up dishes that fit the criteria, like today's Emmetaler and Portobello Boreg. I'm sure Holden would rather eat my version than the boring old regular Swiss cheese sandwiches he talked about in the book.

My mother prepares a tray of boreg for just about every family gathering. Since before I could remember, Mom would ask me to help her put it together. I would layer and butter filo dough one sheet at a time into a baking tray. Once half a standard package of filo was used, I would add jack cheese. Then, I would layer and butter the remaining filo dough, paying special attention to the last piece which had to look perfect sitting on top. The last step for me was to carefully cut the boreg into squares right before Mom beat an egg with some milk and poured it over the top.


For this batch, I'm substituting the jack cheese for Emmentaler to make it more like a Swiss cheese sandwich. Since I can never leave well enough alone, I'm using half the butter Mom does (adding olive oil to make up the difference), and including sauteed portobellos in with the cheese. Hope it tastes as good as it looks.

How To Train Your Dragon

My mother is always calling me to ask a question. Usually, the conversation ends with me agreeing to help her with some random thing around the house or putting a letter together for her office. That's okay, though. She's always there when I need help with Zuzu and the cats.

When my Mom called a few days ago to ask me a question, the last thing I expected was to get free passes to a press screening of How To Train Your Dragon, but that's what happened. We didn't think we could make it, though, because Andrew had already started back at work. Since the run wasn't in full swing yet, Andrew's boss, Ryan, let him leave a little early so he could attend. We invited our friends, Varoujan and Allison, to use our two additional passes.


How To Train Your Dragon revolves around Hiccup, a misfit viking living on the island of Berk where fighting dragons is just what you do. I have to admit the story is a bit predictable and left me with some unanswered questions, but the stunning visuals more than make up for that. The movement in Stoick the Vast's beard was mesmerizing, and I was glued to the screen during the dragon flight scenes. All in all, it was the most fun I'd had at the movies in a long time.

We then walked over to Umami Burger down the street for dinner. Andrew ordered the Umami Burger, and I got the vegetarian version. Andrew's burger was nice and pink inside, just the way he likes it. The onion rings and sweet potato fries were delicious, too. I'll definitely go back.

Love the Harvest Grain Blend

It's amazing how time-consuming it is to set up showings for clients. Tools created for the real estate agent are pretty bad, and everything takes at least five times as long as it should. I needed to break for a bite to eat and blogging.

For lunch, I had had some bok choy with Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Blend. The bok choy was stir-fried with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. I pretty much followed the instructions for the Harvest Grain Blend, but added some dried shiitake mushrooms and one packet of vegetable broth concentrate. Oh yeah, and a little soy sauce.


It was a good counterbalance to my breakfast of bread and Nutella. Okay, Nutella isn't that bad and the bread was Whole Foods Organic Wheat Batard and I only had a very little bit, but it was still nice to get some veggies in me. I had to keep it light, though, since we'll probably be eating out after our sneak preview of How To Train Your Dragon. Review coming soon.

Walking to Porto's

Andrew and I did our semi-regular eight and a half mile walk around Burbank today. We started at our house, walked up to the Chandler Bike Path which we took to the end, and walked back on Magnolia Boulevard right by Porto's. Lesley came along for the exercise and for lunch at Porto's.

It did start to drizzle, and Andrew came prepared. He did look a little silly walking Zuzu in his shorts and sunglasses while holding an umbrella, though. Lesley and I braved the rain without anything more than light jackets.

On this visit to Porto's, I had a feta sandwich on crusty french bread with tomatoes, basil, and olive oil dressing. Lesley went with the feta sandwich as well and was quite surprised at what she got for under four dollars.

Andrew had a hard time deciding on an item from the list of meaty options and finally settled on the Pan con Lechon, a Roasted Pork Sandwich. He also had a Pastel de Chorizo, a Spanish-style empanada filled with pork, which we'd never seen at the Burbank location before.

Porto's has an extensive selection of sweet pastries and cakes. As always, I got a pineapple empanada. The cheese rolls are a must for first timers like Lesley, so we all got at least one.

Lesley also got something even I had never tried before, the triple chocolate mousse. Oh my! It was so delicious that it might now be my favorite thing on the menu... at least, until the next time I try something new. It's all that good.

My First Risotto

We had mushroom risotto tonight. It's too bad that so many people think it's difficult to prepare. It was actually quite easy.


I sauteed some onions then added the risotto. A little white wine, some mushrooms, and the rest was easy. As the liquid was absorbed, I added vegetable broth one ladle at a time for about 20 minutes.

The risotto was served with stir-fried Chinese broccoli along with chicken for Andrew and salmon for me. Delicious!

My Aching Calves!

The planning stage started the night before last. Audrey wanted to take a break yesterday from showings to get a bite to eat and hang out at the beach. While we were working out the details, Andrew was making plans to do the Santa Monica stairs after work with some of his friends.

It all went off without a hitch! I was able to get all my followups for work done in the morning. Audrey and I had lunch at The Griddle and then headed for Santa Monica for a walk on the pier and sand. I was then dropped off at a Starbuck's where I got through about a third of my book before Andrew came to pick me up so we could go to the stairs.

Andrew and I did four loops down a set of stairs and up another. We estimated it to be about 50 flights. Even though I spent 30 minutes on the stair machine at the gym just a few days ago without any ill effects, my legs really felt the workout last night. They were shaking after only one loop, and my calves are quite sore this morning.

I plan to go back tomorrow, so I'll be doing some stretches on the reformer today. It's a long drive in traffic but well worth it.

Rembrandt & Elvis

We spent yesterday evening with two great masters, Rembrandt and Thai Elvis. How can it get any better than that?

A few days ago Andrew and I found out that the Rembrandt drawing exhibit at The Getty was ending this weekend. We asked a couple of friends if they wanted to come along, and off we went for an evening of art, music, and food with Lesley and Jeff.

Rembrandt's drawings compared side by side with those of his pupils truly highlight his genius. Even an untrained eye could see the depth and expression in the generally more simple looking but clearly not simple Rembrandts.

We then headed to Thai town for some dinner and Elvis. Palm Restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard not only has pretty good Thai food, but they also have the only Thai Elvis I've ever seen. He's always a real treat to watch. And, as everyone knows... Real Elvis is dead, but Thai Elvis lives forever!

We started with the shrimp cake appetizer. Yum! Lesley and I ordered the Pad Kee Mao with fried tofu and Coconut Soup with steamed tofu. The boys had the Pineapple Fried Rice with pork and Shrimp Panang.

We ended the evening with a little Beatles RockBand. The perfect day!

Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

Last night's macaroni and cheese was pretty good. The béchamel-like base turned out wonderfully, and the variety of cheese used made it extra special. It can be put together in about 30 minutes, especially if the cheese is already grated.

I reduce the guilt a little bit by using non-fat milk, non-fat cottage cheese, some low-fat cheese, and high fiber pasta. It's still deliciously rich and creamy without making me feel like a complete glutton. I also try to serve it with nutritious veggies. Yesterday, we had my new favorite side, Trader Joe's broccoli and colorful cauliflower mix which comes in it's own ready to microwave steam tray. Yum!

It's important to note some cheeses are better for making the sauce than others. I stay away from the super-stringy cheeses such as mozzarella. Last night, I used Manchego, low-fat Jarlsberg Swiss (Swiss adds a tanginess I like), Trader Joe's Mexican blend, and lots (about half the cheese used) of Tillamook cheddar. FYI, too much cheddar can make the sauce oily.

Many people have asked for the recipe. Since I really don't work from recipes much, especially when not baking, this is my best guess at proportions and technique. Anyone trying it should definitely let me know if something needs adjusting. Good luck!



I just realized my macaroni and cheese doesn't have a name, and I can't think of anything cleaver to call it. Maybe someone can help me name it... Amber?

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
4 cups grated cheese (for sauce)
1 cup grated cheese (for layering/topping)
1 pound pasta
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or pinch of red pepper flakes)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg (key ingredient)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Equipment:
Sauce pan
Whisk (any other tool and you're sauce will likely be clumpy)
Mixing Bowl
Baking dish
Large serving spoon
Ladle

1. Begin boiling water for pasta.

Note: It's okay for the sauce to be done before the pasta is ready but not the other way around. Make sure you are ready to use the pasta as soon as it's done. I generally put the pasta in the boiling water just as the sauce is finishing up.

2. Make the béchamel-like white sauce.

• Heat butter and olive oil on medium heat until butter is completely melted.
• Add flour and whisk until combined.
• Reduce heat to low. Add small amounts of milk and whisk until all milk is incorporated.

Note: When you first add the milk, the mixture will become sticky and may be clumpy. Continue to slowly add milk and whisk until the mixture is the consistency of runny mashed potatoes. At this point, you can add the remaining milk to the mixture a little more quickly.

• Continue to slowly whisk until sauce begins to thicken into a beautiful white cream sauce.

3. Preheat oven to 350º.

4. Begin cooking pasta.

Note: Boil until slightly undercooked (1-2 minutes before al dente).

5. Flavor up the sauce.

• Add about one cup of cheese at a time and whisk until completely melted.

Note: Cheese will be stringy until it melts completely. If stringiness does not go away or worsens, something went wrong with the sauce -- heat too high, not enough flour, too much cheese, the possibilities are endless. Adding a little wine will eliminate the stringiness. It will also alter the flavor so only as much as necessary (about one teaspoon at a time).

• Add all the spices and whisk. Taste and add spices as needed.

Note: Take into consideration the sauce will be combined with a whole bunch of pasta, so season accordingly. I make mine a little saltier than if I was eating the sauce straight. Yes, sometimes I eat the sauce straight!

6. Mix, layer, and top.

• Add cottage cheese to large mixing bowl.
• Add cooked pasta and mix thoroughly with large spoon.
• Slowly ladle in sauce and thoroughly combine with pasta. Reserve about a cup of sauce.
• Place half of the pasta mixture in baking dish and layer with 1/2 cup shredded cheese.
• Add remaining pasta mixture, top with about 1 cup cheese sauce, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, and panko bread crumbs.
  

7. Bake until top begins to bubble.

Note: If the pasta is baked too long at high heat, some of the creaminess is lost. I like it this way too, but Andrew doesn't. To ensure creaminess, I bake at 250º for about 15 minutes. Then, I broil it for a couple minutes until the top is golden brown.

Daylight Is Coming!

Since Andrew is such a night person, any activities we do together can't start until half my day is over, unless I want a grumpy husband on my hands. I also can't bring myself to do anything around the house that makes too much noise until after he's out of bed or it's after noon. He's less grumpy when he doesn't have to be awake during morning hours. Adjusting to Andrew's schedule is generally not an issue for me... until Winter.

With every day that becomes shorter, my anxiety level increases. When Daylight Saving Time ends, I completely lose it. I get this overwhelming sense that there's never going to be enough time to get to those things on my list of things to do. The closet needs purging. The office needs cleaning. The kitchen needs organizing. I'm sure it's all just going to pile up and become too much to handle. The next thing I know, I'll be on TLC's Help! I'm a Hoarder talking about how I got myself into this mess, literally!

As soon as the days start getting longer, even though it's only by a few seconds per day, my energy level increases and the time issues resolve themselves. Andrew agreed to wake up by 10:00 AM (which is quite early for him) a couple weeks ago and help with the office. I'm planning on purging the master bedroom closet soon, after I finish going through a couple of boxes left over from the office project and Andrew takes the Goodwill pile away.

Today it's all about the kitchen pantry. I have a pretty small kitchen that needs to hold a lot stuff. The pantry is exceptionally tiny, especially for someone who stores as much food as I do, and needs to be reorganized periodically to avoid items falling out when the door is opened.

Andrew's still asleep, but it's after twelve and time to start working. The sticky buns I made this morning should help reduce the grouchiness he experiences from waking up and moving around.

Fatboy sniffing away... and they're not even baked yet!

Andrew needs to wake up soon, so we can eat these.