sometimes i forget...

sometimes i forget just how much of a pittsburgh girl i am. last night there was a really great episode of the american experience about roberto clemente. my parents, especially my dad, really admired clemente and while i wasn't old enough to remember his tragic death it was always obvious to me that both my parents felt the world lost a great person far too soon. i went out to tell drew how i'd taped it for him, and that i was going to burn a copy for my sister who i recently found out had love clemente as a kid, when he looks at me blankly and asks "who's roberto clemente?" the only thing i could say in reply was "i can't believe you. first franco harris and now roberto clemente?" drew hadn't known who franco was, despite rooting for the steelers as a kid, and when that came to light i said something along the lines of "you don't know who franco harris is? one of the greatest running backs of all time?!?!?!?!" i just took it for granted that if you were familiar with the 70s steelers you'd know who franco was, and that everyone knew who roberto clemente was. guess i was wrong.

i am really missing home. it's been far too long since i've visited (thank you stupid herniated disc for screwing up my trip in march) and it feels like christmas, when we're planning to visit, might as well be forever away from now. i suppose i'll snap out of it but right now i feel generally friendless, and i have so many friends in the 'burgh i could call up. i haven't really had the opportunity to make any new friends here, thanks to the soul and time sucking commute, so it gets kind of lonesome. thankfully we won't have this commute forever, but still....

the best blueberry pie in the world

if, like me, you are a blueberry buying fiend who buys entirely too many pints at a time now that they are in season, you're probably looking for ways to use them before they get moldy in your fridge. if you ever thought about making a blueberry pie, i have the recipe for you! i've made it twice and it's been fantastic and has gotten tons of yummy endorsements. the recipe is from cook's illustrated magazine, one of the best cooking & baking magazines out there, in my humble opinion. my subscription is the best $20 i spend every year.

the directions for the crust seemed completely counter-intuitive to me as i'd never seen anything like it when it came to how to add the liquid, not to mention the use of vodka. i decided to just trust the recipe, which was one of the smarter things i've ever done. just do it like they say to and your crust will be magnificent! do not substitude water for the vodka (it uses some of both) because it's essential to the texture of the crust and you can't taste it since it cooks off. they don't say how it's essential, but i think it has something to do with the rate at which the vodka evaporates out of the crust being different than that of the water. whatever it is, i abandonded the martha stewart pate brise pie crust recipe that i've used exclusively for the past ten years without a second thought. this is seriously the best and easiest pie crust i've ever made. i did make one change to the crust re: assembly. they say not to make a lattice, and just cut some holes in the crust with a cookie or biscuit cutter, but being a purist when it comes to fruit pies i couldn't even consider such blasphemy. it has to be a lattice, end of story, so i did change the assembly step for the top crust. you'll notice the picture has their heretical top crust... pay it no attention and make a lattice. it's the only way to stay in right relationship with the fruit pie goddess.

tips and ruminations: both times i made this pie i found that when it comes time to turn down the oven that the edges of the crust have browned sufficiently, so cover them with foil so they don't burn. i didn't measure the lemon zest or juice, either. i used a small lemon so i just used it all. if you don't have a rasp grater, get one. they make zesting a breeze and you'll wonder how you ever got along without one. they're also unbeatable for grating fresh ginger. i used a mortal and pestle to grind up the tapioca, but it didn't seem to do much to it, so the next time i didn't bother with grinding and the pie worked out just fine. just make sure you use instant tapioca like the recipe calls for. c.i. says you can use frozen blueberries, so if you have a jones for blueberry pie in january you don't have to wait six months to satify it. we had people over tonight so i made the pie again (two times in two days) and added a pinch of nutmeg and a 1/4 teaspoon allspice and it was even better than before. i saw the allspice/nutmeg thing in another c.i. blueberry pie recipe. i put an asterik next to them in the recipe below as it's my addition but i highly recommend it. it's divine.

so... without further ado, the best blueberry pie!

Best Blueberry Pie - from Cook's Illustrated July/August 2008

Foolproof Pie Dough

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka (do not substiute)
1/4 cup cold water

Blueberry Filling

6 cups fresh blueberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated on large holes of box grater
2 teaspoons grated zest and 2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons instant tapioca, ground
Pinch table salt
2 tablespoons unsalted better, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water

* 1/4 teaspoon allspice

* pinch of nutmeg

1. FOR THE PIE DOUGH: Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

3. Remove 1 disk of dough from the refrigerator and roll on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch think. Roll dough loosely and rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave dough that overhangs plate in place; refrigerate while preparing filling until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

4. FOR THE FILLING: Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on oven rack and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place 3 cups berries in medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Using potato masher, mash berries several times to release juices. Continue to cook, stirring frequently and mashing occasionally, until about half of berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Let cool slightly.

5. Place grated apple in clean kitchen towel and wring dry. Transfer apple to large bowl. Add cooked berries, remaining 3 cups uncooked berries, lemon zest, juice, sugar, tapioca, and salt; toss to combine. Transfer mixture to dough-lined pie plate and scatter butter pieces over filling.

6. Roll out second disk of dough on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to 11-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut 1/2 - 1 inch strips, depending on width desired. Work in a lattice pattern, leave at least 1/2 inch overhang on all sides.

7. Using kitchen shears, trim bottom layer of overhanging dough, leaving 1/2-inch overhang. Fold dough under itself so that edge of fold is flush with outer rim of pie plate. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with times of fork to seal. Brush top and edges of pie with egg mixture. If dough is very soft, chill in freezer for 10 minutes.

8. Place pie on heating baking sheet and bake 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake until juice bubbles and crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes longer. Transfer pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. Cut into wedges and serve.

you can also eat it warm with ice cream, it'll just be runny, but it's worth it. :)

their system doesn't work for you

justin sane is writing a blog for blurt magazine, so check it out and leave a comment or two if you have something to say. scroll down and you'll see the blogs on the right hand side of the screen. i could have done a direct link but i wasn't familiar with blurt so i thought some of you might want to check it out, too.

the late, great george carlin

we lost a great comedian and great american recently, none other than george carlin. here's a brilliant piece about him from the nation magazine blog that explains not only why he was such a good comedian, but also such a influential person.

rest in peace, george. a lot of us will miss you.

go amir, go!!!!

for those of you who have no idea who the heck amir is, he's this year's ultimate fighter!!! and woo hoo hooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amir was by far my favorite guy on the show and is a total class act. very funny, very unassuming, lots of self-deprecating humor, just a very likable guy who i was rooting for from the beginninng! yes, we're back in the land of mixed martial arts (mma), my newest passion.

for the uninitiated, the ultimate fighter is a reality television show (this was the 7th season) where mma athletes compete to be the last man standing (literally) at the end of the season. the teams are coached by current mma fighters, this year they were forrest griffin and quinten "rampage" jackson. the winner receives a contract with the ultimate fighting championship and they get fast tracked for a title fight. this year's winner is the dishy gentleman in the picture, amir sadollah.

i just have to say right here that forrest griffin and rampage jackson were really great. i've only seen the ultimate fighter 6, last season, and those coaches, matt hughes and matt serra, couldn't stand each other. they were really, really, really just tolerating each other, barely, so while that made for some drama it was also kind of, well, it was just kind of icky. made for crappy dynamics between the fighters in the house, and that kind of sucked, i thought. forrest and rampage were the complete opposite. they obviously like and have a great regard for one another, so the overall atmosphere this year was just so much better and so much more fun. they were also both very funny. rampage would say stuff sometimes that was completely obvious but the way he said it was so funny, and forrest would say what you were thinking but might not say. they were really great, forrest has a great talent for coaching which was impressive to see, and i can't wait to see their fight july 5th. it's gonna be wild!

back to the fight at hand! it was a really exciting fight, and the first re-match for the winner of the show, ever. amir had already defeated cb dolloway in the semi-final. both drew and i really disliked cb. he's a good fighter, i'll give him that, but he's also an arrogant, cocky, self-important jock and he really rubbed me the wrong way (and judging from the comments on a youtube video of one of amir's kickboxing matches, i wasn't the only one.) anyway, amir was supposed to fight a different guy, jesse taylor, but jesse got kicked off the show after it finished for some bad, drunken behavior. i felt really bad for him because jesse's basically a good kid. not the brightest bulb on the christmas tree, but not malicious and a seriously good fighter. we'll see him again, to be sure. to figure out who amir would fight they brought back the two guys who lost the semi-final matches and they fought each other. i liked cb's opponent in that match, tim credeur, so much better than cb. tim was another guy on the show we really liked, but it was so satisfying to watch amir kick cb's ass - again. using the same move, too! you'd think he'd have figured out he couldn't let himself get stuck in a standing arm bar, but he didn't.

the championship fight was on saturday but i didn't see it until last night because i was waiting for drew to get home from his trip to seattle so we could watch it together. i'd watched the last episode of the regular season, the amir v. cb semi-final fight, the night before. fuck, it was nerve wracking!!!! i was squealing and jumping around and almost biting my fingernails, and i quit biting my fingernails in third grade. it went almost the whole three rounds, too, but amir caught cb in an arm bar half way through the third round! it was an illuminating fight, because the rest of cb's fights during the show didn't go very long and he gassed by the end of the first round, which was but really wasn't kind of surprising, if one thinks about it. even more surprising was his inability to do much of anything once he had amir on the ground. he could take him down (which was frustrating) but he only passed his guard twice and for the amount of punches he was throwing very few actually connected. amir, meanwhile, was throwing very hard punches and great head kicks and his ability to defend himself when cb had him on the ground was really fucking impressive. drew reminded me that he is a jiujitsu guy, which i had kind of forgotten because he's also a kick boxer and i'm partial to kick boxers. don't ask me why, i just am.

i was so seriously thrilled when amir won the final fight. ask drew - i was shouting and jumping up and down and doing the happy dance until drew reminded me i should really be watching my back. so i quit jumping up and down but seriously, i'm still fucking elated!!! it was so great to see someone who is a really nice guy, who's obviously intelligent and reflective and so un-jock like, win the show. and amir hadn't had any professional fights before getting on the show, which was also pretty unusual. amir was just so unassuming all the way through the show that i really think people underestimated him. he wasn't doing the whole "i'm gonna clean up the floor with him" b.s. that so many fighters do, and it was a refreshing change.

the other thing i like about amir, which caught my attention at the start of tuf7, is that from his full and 3/4 profile he looks exactly like my friend, jamie. jamie would never have been caught dead doing something like mma. i just can't even imagine it. but it was really neat to see this guy who turned out to be such a likable, nice guy who also, on occasion, looks so much like my dear friend who i miss so much. i'll always have a soft spot for amir because he looks like jamie. i'm just so glad he won. i've never been so excited about anyone winning a fight, ever, not even gsp. woo hoo, amir!!!!

adventures in bee keeping

well, okay, we don't actually have any bees that we are keeping (yet) but you can learn some of the basics in this really awesome book that drew got out of the library, a slice of organic life. i LOVE this book! i bought a copy on amazon, it's that neat-o. it's full of all kinds of nifty things you can do to live greener, whether you live in a city apartment or have a few acres in the country. it covers everything from growing herbs in pots to keeping bees, chickens, milk cows and pigs to making preserves to using natural cleaners to making your own beeswax floor polish!!!! i really like the floor polish one. when i was a kid we had this floor buffer, which was kind of like a vacuum cleaner but it had these two round brushes and it was kind of out of control wild when turned on. you had to hold on tight or it could totally spin away from you. i have no idea where my mother got it. anyway, it was really fun to use and i remember going through a phase where me and my brothers, joe and justin, andi think my sister, molly, too, would polish the kitchen, dining room and hall floors. there we were on hands and knees putting polish on the floors and then breaking out the buffer. i know it's hard to believe that this could have been any fun for kids but we had a blast doing it and the floors looked so nice. i don't even think you're supposed to wax linoleum floors like the one in my parents' kitchen, and it's the same floor that they have now. they've had that baby for going on 34 or 35 years and there's just this one tile that's a little smashed in one corner. i remember being a squirt when my dad was putting it in and leaning up against his back so i could peek over his shoulder. it's amazing parents get anything done. how that floor has lasted so long i have no idea but perhaps the recreational waxing had something to do with it. if anyone wonders how i grew up to be a martha of the first magnitude, this post should clear that right up.

speaking of which we have a ton of tomato plants! there are the five that jimbo bought that are planted in the garden and they've gone wild! one of them is over three feet tall and most of the rest are not far behind. ironically, it's the smallest plant that we got our first two tomatoes from and they were delicious! then we have the eight or so "volunteers" that drew was experimenting with on the other side of the house in the rose bed. he wondered if we'd get any tomatoes if he just threw some old ones we didn't get around to using on the ground and guess what? they grow. there are easily eight tomato plants over there (roma tomatoes) and that's after me thinning them out. if i'd realized he was going to throw so many tomatoes around i'd have suggested he toss them somewhere other than the rose bed, but oh well.

i've decide i need to learn how to can things because we're gonna have a glut of tomatoes and i use chopped tomatoes so much for cooking, and it would be a crime to let them go to waste. besides, there's nothing like an in-season tomato fresh from your own garden. my mom used to can tomatoes all the time when i was a kid so i will get some tips from her and research it a bit at the library and on the internet. i hated canning tomatoes when i was a kid. the fricking things would make your hands burn after a while because they're so acidic, and i didn't eat tomatoes or any other vegetables if i could mange it, so it seemed doubly unjust that i was being forced to toil over the tomato grinder like some orphan child in dickens story. i also felt very oppressed when i had to pick green beans. it's pretty hilarious now since i love both green beans and tomatoes and can't wait to do some canning. just goes to show... you can never entirely escape your upbringing, not that i've tried very hard.

no moon in june for me

there is still not much going on with me at the moment which is why i haven't been blogging. i have also been kind of bummed because this weekend is the annual moon in june event up at kowana valley ranch near yosemite and i am obviously missing it! lynn & richard are a really awesome couple who own kowana valley ranch and host a mostly irish music and dance festival every year that is loads of fun. i missed it for the five years i was living in pittsburgh and was delighted to be able to go again last year. it was fantastic, as usual!!!!! i have been looking forward to it all year and my stupid back prevented me from attending. argh!!!!

seriously... you have no idea how bummed i am. i forbade drew making any other plans all year so that he could come with me because i knew he'd love it and i really wanted him to come. he gamely agreed to go along with me, because really... those of you who know drew know that there's really no way to forbid him doing anything. he's so contrary he'd do whatever it was just because you said he couldn't. there are so many awesome people who go to moon in june, lynn & richard are so wonderful, there's music and dancing and singing and campfires and hikes and swimming and more amazingly yummy food than you can imagine! it is so much fun!!!! you can always count on a good bottle of bourbon making the rounds of at least one of the campfires by midnight, too, which i mightily appreciate. i took up a bottle of knob creek bourbon last year as a birthday present for richard and it was very entertaining to watch people taking a slug as it made its way round the campfire because the bourbon drinkers really appreciated it while the novices made horrible faces and thought it was yucky. can you imagine anyone thinking knob creek is yucky, fellow bourbon lovers? even thought it was utterly wasted on some folks the amusement factor was definitely worth it. i was planning to bring along several good bourbons this year, but alas! well, i always have next year to look forward to and my brother mick, who is an amazing irish musician, and his wife are tentatively planning to come out for it, which would be awesome! i know they'll love it. it's just next year is so far away. sigh! then again, lots of people never get to go to anything like moon in june, ever, so i guess i should count my blessings.

anyway, that's it for me. hope all is well in the wider world. :-)