What I love! | Peaches Prattlings

{March 31, 2013} Castle

As I have probably mentioned, I don’t have cable and if I haven’t, pull your chin back up, not everyone has TV! I say that I don’t have cable because when I say I don’t have TV, most people think I mean I don’t have a TV, just means I don’t have cable.

Now don’t cry for me Argentina, ha ha. I have a TV and I have a DVD carousel that holds up to 400 DVDs and CDs, there are about 350 movies in it and more on the outside (if I put each series in, there would be no room left!), then there are the movies on my two portable hard drives. See…I’m doing just fine, movie wise!

I also have Netflix and Hulu, lucky me! I watch movies on both or I find a TV show that I like and watch the entire series.

I have watched Castle in the past a few times, but I don’t think it was one of the ones I DVR’d when I had cable (possibly, but I don’t remember) and I watch it when I visit my sister, she DVR’s and we watch together.

I found it on Hulu (grrr commercials) and watched this season, now I want more and it only has season 5, bummer. Netflix doesn’t have it, where to look.

Castle is about Richard Castle, an award winning crime novelist who consults with the NYPD, much to their chagrin in the beginning, but as time and cases go on, he becomes a valuable asset to the department and the team he works with. They become more than partners, they become a family.

There are three other main characters in the department, Beckett, the future love interest (spoiler alert?), Esposito and Ryan. There are others that stay for a season, but these three are the team. At home is Castles’s daughter Alexis and his mother, Martha, an actress.

The crimes are inventive, sometimes inspiration for his books, possibly even from his books, the one liners are cheesy as all get out, you might cringe, but you still laugh. (You might have already thought it, you just weren’t going to say it out loud!) Castle will give a new insight or perspective of the crime that might be slightly unconventional, helps add something to the case.

Sometimes there may be a cliff hanger, but in the end, everything works out, it’s a one out drama, dramedy? after all. I recommend it, at least you can find season 5 on Hulu.

{March 28, 2013} Passover Recipes…As promised!

The food from the Passover Sedar is so wonderful. I wanted to share the recipes with you.

Please let me know if you have questions and enjoy!!!

[I have to find the recipe for chicken soup, I do know it has raw chicken, lots of water, parsley, salt, carrots, celery, parsnips, turnips, sometimes consume and bouillon. We have tried to make matza balls from scratch, we were not successful, so we made them from a box and we are ok with that!]

Beef brisket [5 people – 4pounds]
Season the day before
Cover brisket with granulated garlic and ketchup
chop an onion and add to pan filled with 1/2 inch of water
bake at 325 for 3 hours.

Turkey
1 onion
Orange Juice
granulated garlic
Take inards from both ends. Cut onion in 1/2, place inside cavity.
Pour orange juice all over the bird and in cavity, leave 1/2 inch in
bottom of pan.
Sprinkle garlic all over and inside. Cover with aluminum foil tent.
After 2 hours, baste every 1/2 hour [1 lb per person; 20 min/lb]
last 1/2 brown by removing aluminum

Champagne Turkey
1 (12 pound) whole turkey, neck and
giblets removed
1/2 cup butter, cubed
2 apples, cored and halved
1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2/3 (750 milliliter) bottle champagne
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Rinse turkey, and pat dry. Gently loosen turkey breast skin, and insert pieces of butter between the skin and breast. Place apples inside the turkey’s cavity. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place turkey in a roasting bag, and pour champagne over the inside and outside of the bird. Close bag, and place turkey in a roasting pan.
3. Bake turkey 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, or until the internal temperature is 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) when measured in the meatiest part of the thigh. Remove turkey from bag, and let stand for at least 20 minutes before carving.

Veggie Patties
These were a big hit! We got them from a kids Passover recipe list!

2 cups zucchini, broccoli and/or cauliflower [we didn’t use cauliflower]
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
canola or vegetable oil
Accompaniments: Marinara sauce, ketchup or mustard [we thought duck sauce would work well too]

Place the veggies in a food processor, pulse to chop fine. Add the chopped veggies to a bowl with flour, salt, egg, basil and garlic powder. Mix to combine. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat, place 1 tablespoon of batter into the pan for each pancake.
Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side.

We tripled the recipe for 30 patties.

Crispy Potato and Leek Roast
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
4 shallots, thickly sliced, lengthwise
4 medium leeks, sliced thin and rinsed well
Coarse salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes [optional – we didnt use them]
8 sprigs thyme

Preheat oven to 375. Brush bottom of a round 9-inch baking dish with olive oil. With a sharp knife or mandolin, slice potatoes very thinly crosswise. Arrange potato slices vertically in dish. Wedge shallots throughout [it would have been better if we’d place the shallots between more slices of potato] Sprinkle with salt and pepper flakes [if using] brush with remaining olive oil. Bake 1 1/4 hours, add thyme and leeks and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more.
Matza Apple Kugel
6 matzas
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons margarine, softened
1 cup soaked raisins
1/2 chopped peacans [optional – I never add nuts]
2 granny smith apples, grated

Preheat oven to 400. break matza into small pieces, place in a medium sized bowl and cover
with hot water, wait one minute and drain.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, add sugar, vanilla, raisins, [peacans] and apples. Mix with the matza. Pour into greased 3-qt cassarole. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, dot with margarine.
Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, lower to 300 and bake for another 20 minutes. Great warm or cold
[This is my FAVORITE dish for passover!]

Macaroons
1-1/3 cups Bakers Angel Flake Coconut
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp matzo meal
1/8 tsp salt
2 egg whites [I made a batch with 2 eggs and the only difference is they came out a little cakier]
1/2 cup almond extract [I use vanilla extract since GES is SERIOUSLY ALLERGIC to almonds]
18 Planters almonds [again, I don’t add almonds, just as good]

Preheat oven to 325. Mix coconut, sugar, matzo meal and salt in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond/vanilla extract until well blended.
DROP teasponfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto lightly greased baking sheets. Press almonds
into center of each cookie.
Bake 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.Immediately remove from baking sheets. Cool on wire racks

Matza Brittle
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup chopped nuts [optional – and i never add nuts]

Line a jelly roll pan with tin foil [I cover the sides of the pan, this helps with clean up big time!]
Place a layer of matza in the pan.
In a saucepan, combine butter and sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Pour over crackers, bake at 350 for 5 minutes or until crackers float. Remove from oven . When cools, break into pieces.

There are almost never any leftovers!

[for those who keep kosher for Passover more strictly, I have never used margarine, sorry]
This recipe was originally made with saltines, you can also add chocolate chips when it comes out of the oven]
[sprinkle chocolate chips when the pan comes out of the oven, when melted, sprinkle nuts on top, cut into bars]

{March 27, 2013} Bittersweet

Today I came home.

The day started very early, well, not very early if you have an almost 3 and a 6 year old. Get dressed, kids in the car, drop mommy off at the choo choo, come back for auntie J, go to school, drop off lunch in the kindergarten room, drop off MG in the toddler room, hugs and kisses, because I didn’t think I would see them again that day. “Poppa, could you pick us up right after lunch? People do that, it would, be good.”

On the way back to the house, stopped at Zaftig’s, a great restaurant, for breakfast. They have some great shirts, “Happy Challadays”, “Does this bagel make my butt look big?”. Zaftig is a nice/tender way of saying fat. I had a Wisconsin apple, Vermont cheddar cheese omelet, wow! Sounded suspect, but tasted delicious!

Back at the house, conference calls, issue tracking, work work work. Pack my bag, I left a bunch of gifts, only brought back a new jacket and monopoly that GES gave me, the bag was 2 pounds lighter than when I left, what?

Off to get the girls! “You didn’t pick us up after lunch” “Well, it was after lunch, just not right after lunch”. I want a snack, I don’t want that snack, well, that’s what there is and you can get something else when you get home.

We’re going to the airport? Yeah! MG “I want to go to the airport with you”, then, “I want to go on the airplane with you, I want to go with you”. “One day you will come with me, we’ll have a great time”.

We got to the airport and she really wanted to go with me. The tears started, oh how hard to leave! Kisses and run away! Poppa was smart, he brought two iPads to keep them occupied on the way home. When I talked to him later, he said the girls missed me, but luckily, I’ll see them again soon, via FaceTime and then for MG’s birthday.

It was bittersweet…hard to watch the tears, but it made me feel so good. I do love those girls!

{March 26, 2013} A success, part II

So, second night of Passover was a success, how good are we?!

The day started at 8:30, I chose to snooze the 7am alarm, I can do that, you know…I got up at 8:30 and started working. About 10, GES made dad and I matzo brei, it’s a yummy breakfast to have during Passover. You take a few pieces of matzo and soak them in eggs [you use the same number of eggs as you would for any breakfast, typically 2 per person, then scramble them in a frying pan. serve with sugar, maybe some jam, let’s just say… Y U M!!!] http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/matzo_brei/

Continued to work until 5, in between, we made another batch of macaroons, matzo brittle and matzo balls for soup. Everyone started showing up about 5:30 and what a houseful we had!

There were less people, but it was a dear and sweet group and almost everyone was related. There was LS, a fabulous family friend, a fantastic photographer who has taken almost all of the formal family photos [say that 10 times fast!] for my sister’s family and her network of friends. She has also recently become an aunt [she and I are honorary aunties to all these kids] and she is tickled to bits! She has been at so many parties and celebrations of this group that they are throwing her a party next weekend to congratulate her on becoming an aunt! Mazel Tov to you LS! Welcome to the club!

SS and TS, with their fantastic wee tots S and her baby sister S, I know, a lot of S’s, but they are a fabulous bunch! The girls are great and so good with each other, gotta get my hugs and kisses! TS’s brother, SR and his lovely wife LR, their twins, E and S, Q-T!!! As E’s mother posted on FaceBook tonight, “Passover may well very well be E’s all time favorite holidays as he gets to eat giant “crackers” with his dinner.” SR and GES went to college together, it’s great that they’ve been friends this long and that the families are so close!

SR and TS’s parents, D and J [Papa J] were able to join us, D is one of the best knitters I have ever met, my girls have received some amazing gifts from D and TS. They are grandma and grandpa to all the kids, just like my dad, it’s a treat and a joy to watch them all with the kids! I love going to SR and TS’s house for family dinners and to play, TS has such great taste.

Last, but certainly not least! RG and MG and their twins S & A! LOVE them! RG is a runner and I mean a runner! I don’t know how many times she’s run the Boston Marathon and this was the 2nd year I knew about her going to Tel Aviv to run a marathon! Unfortunately, it was too hot, so they cancelled the marathon, she did get to run a half, but it was hard for her, she had trained so hard! I am so blown away by her! MG is a motorcycle enthusiast and it’s great to talk to him about bikes and the rides he’s taken.

There was noise and laughter and stories and food and love, what could be better than that?

Like a gust of wind, they were gone and it was time to clean up and get ready for ‘night nights’. MG played a game and got books and EJ asked me to help her with her homework! Luckily, it was something I could handle!

Tomorrow I am heading home and it’s bittersweet. I miss DCM, my friends, my cats, but I love being with my girls, sister and brother in law and my dad, but the great thing to remember…I will be back in a few months for MG’s birthday! And I get to do it all over again [except the cooking for 4 days part!]

Thank you to my family [related and extended] for making my life full.

{March 26, 2013} A success!

What a day and what a success!

Ok, so I started the day by snoozing until 7:40, I can do that. There were calls and updates and time entry and meetings.

In between there was cleaning, straightening, hard drive connecting, reheating then cooking, (Matzah brittle, home made macaroons, haroset and veggie soup and a brisket).

AS brought the girls him from school about 4:30, his brother, JS showed up earlier in the day and his wife, AS got there early and was such a help, thank you! Then it was time to shower and get ready.

People started showing up about 5:30, we had about 26 people! JK and AK with their kids SHK and PK, what a pair of cuties! “Hey Auntie J!” Hugs and kisses all around! JK’s mom, K, BR and BR with their son JR and grandma, new families who hadn’t been and friends with new babies, so wonderful!

JT, my very good friend from Atlanta, who I met on a job a few years ago is now based in Boston and today was her first day here and guess what, she was able to join us! It was crazy and loud and chaotic and fun!

We did a vey abridged version of the Seder, EJ told the story of Passover that she learned in Sunday School, we were so proud of her! By 8:30, the kids that were left had baths, then everyone went home and the cleanup started. GES and I put everything that was left (we give a lot of care packages) in containers, dad did dishes and AS was moving things around.

Bedtime stories, kisses and hugs, whew…GES and I sat down on the sofa about 10:30 and didn’t want to get up!

All in all, an exhausting day, but there was so much love in this house today, you could probably feel it throughout the neighborhood! I’m so proud of my sister and my family, every day they amaze me and I am so honored to have been chosen to be a part of it.

{March 24, 2013} Cooking is almost done!

Passover starts tomorrow night and we are expecting about 20-25 people tomorrow and 20-25 for second night!

Passover has changed quite a bit since my nieces were born. As a kid, we used to go to Grandma M’s in Brooklyn, until we started having seder, the Passover meal, at mom’s house. The tradition was, mom, GES and I would go a few times during the week to help cook and then mom would stay there and dad, GES and I would drive to Brooklyn, stop for pizza and then head to grandma’s. There would be 20, sometimes more and we would laugh and laugh with the sedar and some [ha ha] food thrown in. It was wonderful, one year we even recorded the seder, it was great to listen to it years later.

As we got older, the seder moved to our house and mom and GES and I would do the cooking, grandma was responsible for the applesauce, we had a ‘thing’; she would make the applesauce and i would tell her it needed sugar, no matter how good it was, she expected it, who am I to disappoint a grandma? She also continued to make the multi-colored layered jello, yeah, not a huge favorite with all of us, but that was her thing and my cousin MS would “decant” the jello, the challenge was to get it coming out looking like the jello mold! We still had about 20-25 people and there was sedar, laughter and food.

Speaking of food, soon I am going to post just the recipes we use for the seder, you can these recipes any time.

After my mom passed, we had seder at our house, there were less people and GES and I cooked all the food mom and grandma had made and taught us how to make. When EJ was born, and how convenient of her to be born right around Passover, we had seder at GES and AS’s house, what a blessing. We were about 8 people.

One of the things we enjoy, I know I speak for my sister, is inviting people to join us, the holiday is not only about food and laughter, but celebrating with friends and opening the door to welcome strangers, Elijah’s message to the T. There have always been people at the seder that were not related to us by marriage or blood and to share this time with them is not only a treat and a blessing, but a mitzvah. A mitzvah could be explained as simple as “doing a good deed” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitzvah].

Growing up, we used to follow the seder in the haggadah, the Passover prayer book, the funny part is, not everyone at the table had the same haggadah, that makes for an interesting sedar. My dad always had the ‘master’ haggadah, it had a kid “dunking” a bay chick, you had to be there and we all had the Maxwell House haggadah you got for free from the grocery store!

Now, we all go to GES and AS’s for Passover, and as you know, I’ve been here since Thursday for EJ’s birthday. Seder has grown as more and more friends of my sister and brother in laws have children, as I mentioned, we are expecting 20-25 people, that’s adults and children and we do an abridged version of seder. It used to take us about 4-6 hours from start to finish, now, seder takes about 30 minutes tops, [think Spongebob] still with all the good food, chatter and laughter, learning, messages and meaning.

It’s the togetherness, sharing the holiday and the moment, doesn’t matter if you’re Jewish or not, please join us, the door is open, the food is overflowing, the fellowship is overwhelming and the love is just right.

A zissen Pesach to you!

{March 23, 2013} Party! Party! Party!

EJ turned SIX on Thursday and it was great to be here on her birthday, to see her blow out candles, give her the tooth fairy pillow I made, read her a princess story and have soooooo many questions asked, listen to her read me “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” (she is reading SO well!) and then get good night kisses.

Today, was the big dance party!

This morning started quietly; GES and EJ volunteered at the local high school for Cradle to Crayons, an organization that takes in toys, clothes, school supplies and so much more to homeless and low income children. http://cradlestocrayons.org/
My sister is very involved in my nieces lives and how they grow into, not only girls and young women, but into human beings, she molds not only their bodies, but hearts and minds. Truly a joy and honor to watch.

Then it was Panera Bread for brunch and then back to the house to make brownies, because EJ didn’t want cake, she wanted brownies for her party, then chill for a bit (felt like, maybe 3 minutes) then on to the Boston Sports Club for EJ’s birthday party.

We got there about 4:40, it was an evening party after all! We set up in Party Room 1; brownies, water, plates, napkins and juice boxes at each seat, birthday signs. The kids started arriving about 5, by 5:15 we followed the leaders upstairs to a dance room.

There were different dancing games, musical mats, the same as musical chairs except there were exercise mats so when the music stops, lie down on a mat. I was partnered with SH and his sister P, they left me and S & A took my hands, what a treat! We ran around and around and around…I was going to go for a run this morning, didn’t need to! Auntie J was beat!

After musical mats, it was music video recording time! The kids were taught a routine, then there was free form dancing and then it was recorded!

After that, back downstairs for pizza, veggie sticks, brownies, water and juice boxes and singing happy birthday!

A few kids came back to the house, we did magic science: made fizzies, glow in the dark fizzies, screams, excitement and fun! They went home and it was time for night nights.

GES and I finished off the chicken soup for Monday and Tuesday, prepped a turkey and had some fantastic dessert from Mike’s Pastry Shoppe, now a movie, really bad one so far with GES, writing to you and just sitting!

Tomorrow is more cooking and baking, a naming ceremony and spending time together.

Hoping to get some sleep! Nighty night!

{March 22, 2013} Brain dead and smiling

Ok, so I sat down to write to you about a few different things and all if a sudden, it’s 30 minutes later!

GES and I had a very busy and productive day. Up early, shopping 95% done, lunch with a favorite customer, dessert from Mike’s purchases, some cooking finished, some work finished, Poppa and La La arrived, magic science experiment #s 1 and 2 done, go out to dinner, come home, dessert is served, yum!

Tomorrow…cooking, baking, birthday party, collapse!

Sunday…Sunday school, cooking baking, collapse again!

All the cooking is leading up to Monday and Tuesday, about 20-25 people descending here each night for Passover!

Collapse, collapse, collapse! A wonderful experience..food, friends, fellowship and love, what could be better?

{March 13, 2013} Jack the Giant Slayer

Love love love! I wish you could hear my sing-songy voice, well, maybe not, I loved this movie!

Even in the middle of it, I turned to DCM and said we must add this to our movie collection! There are some movies that I enjoy the I don’t feel the need to add to the collection, this one was!

What a cast! The boy who played Jack, I knew him from X-Men as Hank or The Beast, but I knew I had seen him in something recently, something where there was a transformation… I know you’re not supposed to use your phone in the theater, but with 2 other people all the way in the back, thank goodness for Internet and imdb.com! He was the lead boy/zombie in Warm Bodies I told you about a few weeks ago; he was cute in this, cute like in X-Men, but not swoon-worthy cute as in Warm Bodies (back off, he’s more than legal!)

Jack was great, shy and adventurous, sweet and brave and clever and you want him to win and get the girl!

Wean McGregor played Elmont, head of the kings guards and he reminded me of a young Kenneth Branagh, and for me, that’s a great compliment! He was brave and dashing and daring and had a good heart.

Stanley Tucci was Roderick, if you’ve seen any previews, you can guess he’s a bad dude and I have to say, he plays a great bad dude! You’re rooting for him to get stomped by a giant!

Ian McShane, who has become famous in recent years for playing Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean. He plays King Brahmwell in this story and he’s a good king who loves his daughter.

A few other faces or voices you might recognize, Bill Nighy, it’s his voice you’ll recognize. The funny thing about Bill Nighy,…I first saw him in Blow Dry, he plays a hair dresser. DCM first saw him in Underworld, he plays a really nasty vampire, go figure. I this he plays a giant, General Fallon and really not nice. Warwick Davis plays Old Hamm, in it for about 5 minutes, 19 max, you may remember him from Willow, as…Willow.

The story is basically how legends become legends and then the possibility of them coming to life. You know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, this is a slightly different take or twist, but the lore didn’t fall far from “the truth”. Boy goes to town to sell horse, boy steps into carny show, girl is getting accosted, boy saves girls, turns out girl is princess who just wants to get out and see the world. Somehow she ends up going up with the beanstalk, the king sends a group, Jack goes with them, they save the princess, giants find a way down to do battle with humans.

By now, you can tell boy and girl like each other, but boy is commoner, but does princess care? Nope!

Boy saves kingdom, after it gets smashed up a bit (not boy’s fault), then boy…do I tell you if boy gets girl! I’ll let you guess!

There were only a few things that made me go..eewwe, other than that, I loved it and recommend it, it was funny, scary even once or twice and not hide my eyes scary, just ooh, suspenseful scary, if that makes sense. I was biting my nails at one point, I squeezed DCM’s hand another and couldn’t wait for some characters to get eaten by a giant, they really did deserve it. There were even some bad one liners, we thought “did they really go there?” There were some predictable parts and that was ok too.

All in all… You guessed it, I loved it!

{March 11, 2013} Wreck it Ralph, Ted, Netflix

I believe that tonight, I have a lot to say, so here goes..

First, the other day when I was talking about all those extra charges (remember grrr) well, I forgot…at the obstacle races, they charge people to come in and watch, a $20 spectator fee! Really?
And Redbox..the beauty of Redbox is that it was $1 for a movie rental, have to have it back within 24 hours or there is a charge, ok, but now, $1.20? Plus tax? What is that?!? How much will it be next?

Everyone (well, a bunch of people) were on Facebook talking about SNL, Saturday Night Live, this past Saturday. So I decided to check it out, and I have to tell you, it’s the first time in years I have watched SNL and I laughed almost from start to finish! Justin Timberlake was hosting, it was his 5th time and if you remember the skit they did for the 5time hosts, this was like that. Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, Paul Simon. All but two of the skits were worth watching and Justin Timberlake was the musical act. It’s on Hulu, so you could check it out and I would recommend it, I haven’t said that about SNL in a long time, I hope that tells you anything about my opinion!

Oh, did I tell you, I made another batch of that great eggless egg salad, this time I added mini orange peppers and fresh peas, y u m! I will say that I really do like it better with the sweet relish, it adds something.

Ok, moving on…Wreck it Ralph. I really enjoyed this movie, Disney knows how to deliver a message. It takes place in the world of an arcade, after the arcade closes and we are in the games. They characters will actually leave the game, go to a train depot and hang out. Ralph is a “bad guy” in a 1980s style game, looked like a cross between Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong. He just wants to be a good guy, ends up in a futuristic attack game and then a candy land on crack racing game. Ralph makes friends and becomes a hero. There is action, adventure, love, laughs and a good moral. I almost shed a tear, those of you who know me aren’t surprised. As the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes, so did mine.

And then my IQ dropped at least that much! I watched Ted. I have been avoiding this movie and I probably could have gone my entire life without seeing it. Ok, it wasn’t the worst movie in the world, but I think I would have been ok if I’d skipped it. Aside from the movie, the actors they got to be in this movie was staggering! Patrick Stewart narrating? Sir Patrick Stewart?! (Swoon!) Patrick Warburton and Ryan Reynolds (unexpected), Tom Skerritt? (LOVE). Norah Jones? Sam Jones?!? If someone had told me Flash Gordon was going to be in the movie, I would have watched it sooner! (Maybe). And Mark Wahlberg singing badly? Yeah right! I know there was a message..I’ll let you know when I figure it out!

I’m sure you’re tired, I am too! G’night!

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