Posts: 2

1. Brooklyn's Love and Cooking Weekend

   24.Sep.07, 11:52 EDT
   
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   As far as I know, we were the only participants

   
   

   My beau and I honored the Equinox on Saturday and Sunday by swearing off computer work and swearing in tasty and sensual delights. Our Love and Cooking Weekend — there's no link to the celebration because we just invented it (and we were the only participants) — began without a plan, and without a menu. We just knew we wanted to be together all weekend.

   
   

   Shopping at a local farmers' market, we bought basil and garlic, Italian plums and New Jersey peaches, leafy turnips and cherry tomatoes. Imported Italian cheeses crept into our baskets at the grocery store, and sexy music CDs crawled in at the public library. After a very long nap through the afternoon, we made a late dinner by salting ripe red tomatoes, stirring in basil leaves, and adding tasty buffalo mozzarella to linguine.

   
   

   I gave her a taste of the Parmesan and she showed me her technique for tearing basil leaves. Then we both took a moment to sigh with love. She measured olive oil into the blender and my big old stereo speakers pounded with Maria Callas singing Donizetti's "In mia mano alfin tu sei" from Norma. We stopped to gaze at each other and sigh some more.

   
   

   A brief look at the sky from the roof to see the crispness of autumn in the sky, then we hopped into bed to celebrate the love between us. Sweet sleep was filled with dreams of plum tarts, then Sunday's afternoon breakfast was a scramble of green peppers, onion, eggs, and herbed goat cheese; pancakes with blackberry jam; and a delicious soy protein version of sausage called Gimme Lean.
   
   To make the most of summer's bounty and prepare for winter, we plucked six cups of basil leaves for a triple-recipe of pesto sauce. To freeze and store the pesto, we dug up an assortment of small airtight glass jars — jam jars, spice jars, olive jars — for servings for two (how romantic!) and for four (how thoughtful!). With honor to the great chef, Marcella Hazan, I must share the pesto recipe:
   
   

   Pesto Sauce (from The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan):
   
   2 cups basil leaves
   ½ cup olive oil
   3 tablespoons pine nuts
   2 cloves garlic
   1 teaspoon salt
   ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
   2 tablespoons Romano cheese, grated
   3 tablespoons butter, softened (not melted)

   
   In a blender, puree basil leaves, oil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt. When ingredients are evenly blended, pour into bowl. Stir in two cheeses by hand. Hand-beat in softened butter. Before spooning pesto over pasta, add a tablespoon of hot water used for boiling the pasta.
   
   Later Sunday afternoon, we cooked a simple potato and turnip soup, and listened to Portuguese folk music, The Rough Guide to Fado, featuring Amália Rodrigues (oh-la-la!). It was a beautiful time, punctuated by a bit of dancing in the living room, and a fond farewell. The weekend was incredibly restorative and rich. So, perhaps, next weekend will be another Love and Cooking Weekend Brooklyn — it would be a shame to have to wait for the Winter Solstice. We'll have to see what the farmers' market has for us, and what love we have for each other, hmm?

   
   

   Juliana Luecking, aka Queen Juliana, is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Life & Love.

2. Breakfast Get Yummy!

   10.Sep.07, 17:11 EDT
   
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   Tastebuds Go International
   
   When I was a kid, I dipped white toast in cocoa for breakfast. My brothers loaded sugar on cereal, one sister methodically put banana slices on Raisin Bran and took her vitamin, and one sister ran out the door without eating at all. These days, I see neighbors hustling down subway steps with giant cups of coffee and cake (well, they’re actually muffins).
   
   But one Christmas morning, I had breakfast with friends from Jamaica. It was like a dinner meal, with salted mackerel and boiled green bananas, sweet potato pudding, hard-dough bread with butter, and bush tea (cerasse, lime leaf, black mint, peppermint, soursop leaf, donkey weed, lemon grass, and cinnamon leaf). It was a complete surprise for me, and a welcome change from traditional family Christmas breakfasts of heavy pancakes with syrup, sausage, and scrambled eggs.
   
   That experience changed my thinking, and from then on, I’ve wanted a substantial hot breakfast to start the day. A friend from Korea told me she ate a bowl of soup and rice each morning, and I really liked that idea. So, last winter, I made a big pot of soup every Sunday. During the week, I ladled out a portion for breakfast every morning and got happy indeed. It was fast, nutritious, and warmed my belly before I hit the frigid winds outside.
   
   In parts of China, folks start the day quickly with congee (a porridge, savory or sweet) and deep-fried devils (twisted strips of dough), or dedicate a bit more time to prepare zongzi, a sticky rice pressed into a triangle shape and wrapped in bamboo leaves.
   
   In Thailand, breakfast foods are the same items eaten at other meals throughout the day, with the slight exception of khao tom - a rice soup similar to China's congee rice gruel. Common Japanese breakfast choices include bread, rice, miso soup, yogurt, eggs, natto, jam, sausage/ham, seaweed, pickles, cheese, and pancakes.
   
   Maybe you’re very happy with your weight, but skipping meals often leads to overeating. It’s easier to control weight by eating frequently. In that spirit, All Breakfast All the Time is definitely a place to visit if you’re looking to change your breakfast habit. Mr. Breakfast features recipes for breakfast you may want to try this weekend, like Spanish omelet, sweet potato congee, and coconut rice with mangos. Enjoy!