Hi Everyone!

So glad I was here for our walk yesterday - thanks to Andrea we discovered a "walk" that most of us (Barb, Mary, Jan, Andrea, Laila and me) hadn't been on before - with all that training we did for the 3-Day, I thought we had covered every square mile of Boulder! This was the Twin Lakes Trail in Gunbarrel (off of Nautilus Drive). It was a lovely trail and beautiful views. We followed our walk with coffee and such at the Page Two Cafe in the Gunbarrel Shopping Center. In addition to being a very comfortable cafe, it also has a very nice gift shop.

Book Report:

Barb is reading Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien. Although it seems to have gotten high praise from the reviewers, Barb isn't so sure about it.

Amazon.com
"In October, near the end of the month, Cacciato left the war."
In Tim O'Brien's novel Going After Cacciato the theater of war becomes the theater of the absurd as a private deserts his post in Vietnam, intent on walking 8,000 miles to Paris for the peace talks. The remaining members of his squad are sent after him, but what happens then is anybody's guess: "The facts were simple: They went after Cacciato, they chased him into the mountains, they tried hard. They cornered him on a small grassy hill. They surrounded the hill. They waited through the night. And at dawn they shot the sky full of flares and then they moved in.... That was the end of it. The last known fact. What remained were possibilities."
It is these possibilities that make O'Brien's National Book Award-winning novel so extraordinary. Told from the perspective of squad member Paul Berlin, the search for Cacciato soon enters the realm of the surreal as the men find themselves following an elusive trail of chocolate M&M's through the jungles of Indochina, across India, Iran, Greece, and Yugoslavia to the streets of Paris. The details of this hallucinatory journey alternate with feverish memories of the war--men maimed by landmines, killed in tunnels, engaged in casual acts of brutality that would be unthinkable anywhere else. Reminiscent of Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Going After Cacciato dishes up a brilliant mix of ferocious comedy and bleak horror that serves to illuminate both the complex psychology of men in battle and the overarching insanity of war. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review"Simply put, the best novel written about the war. I do not know . . . any writer, journalist, or novelist who does not concede that position to O'Brien's Going After Cacciato."--Miami Herald"A novel of great beauty and importance."--Boston Globe"Stark . . . rhapsodic. . . . It is a canvas painted vividly, hauntingly, disturbingly by Tim O'Brien."--Los Angeles Times


I'm getting started reading writers who will be featured at this year's Literary Sojourn in Steamboat Springs. Best known is Jane Hamilton (Book of Ruth and Map of the World). I'm now reading Disobedience. Check out www.literarysojourn.org for details about the event. Our book group has been going for the last several years and enjoy it so much.

Websites of the Week - https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing - cut down on junk mail, save a tree!
https://www.zingermans.com - wonderful mail order food site - great for gifts for friends and family - Don't forget about Mother's Day!

Podcast of the Week - http://www.slate.com/id/2119317/ - Chris has been enjoying this one.

Food and Cooking: Lots of great recipes to share this week!

From Fine Cooking Magazine - Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Bacon, Onions & Peas http://www.recipezaar.com/223043 - a take-off on Carbonara

From Giada DiLaurentiis - Berry Strata - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_36602,00.html - kind of like a berry filled bread pudding - yum!

From Viola Capodici (Mandy's friend Connie's mom) - "Gravy and Meatballs" - this is the real deal - perfect on Soprano Sundays!

VIOLA CAPODICI’S GRAVY AND MEATBALLS

1 lb ground round
1 lb ground pork
28-oz. can whole peeled Italian tomatoes (blended on “puree” for a couple of seconds)
28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
6-oz. tomato paste plus one can of water
Shredded pecorino Romano cheese
Breadcrumbs w/Italian seasoning
4 eggs
Olive oil
Spices: dried basil, parsley, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper

Cover bottom of fry pan with olive oil, let sit. Sprinkle about ½ t. salt in the bottom of a mixing bowl; add a sprinkle of ground pepper. Add beef and pork; salt and pepper the meat again and add a generous sprinkling of garlic powder, along with the basil and parsley flakes (4-6 healthy shakes of each). Add 2 handfuls of the shredded romano. (Mrs. C says, “Don’t be stingy with the cheese—that’s the flavor.”) Add about ½ c of the breadcrumbs and 3 eggs. Mix well with your hands. If it’s too dry, add a fourth egg; if too moist, add a bit more crumbs. (For 2 lbs of meat you will most likely need 4 eggs.) Using water to moisten your hands, form meatballs just shy of baseball-size. Roll them until they hold together and put them on a platter. When the meatballs are ready, place them all in your cold pan w/oil. Turn heat to medium-high to cook, turning gently but frequently til they’re browned on all sides but not cooked through (and not crusty brown!)

When the meatballs are done, place them back on the platter and begin making the gravy. Scrape the fry pan’s drippings and brown bits into your stockpot. Add the tomato paste and can of water. Blend the pot’s contents and then add the whole tomatoes (pureed) and crushed tomatoes. Lightly sprinkle surface with garlic powder and about 2T each of basil and parsley flakes. Add a few turns of ground pepper. (No salt!) Add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper, to taste. Mix well. Gently place the meatballs back into the stockpot, along with the juices that have accumulated on the platter. Put over medium high heat, covered, until gravy comes to a boil. Then, immediately uncover and lower heat to a simmer. (“If you leave the cover on, you’ll have soup!”) Cook at least an hour, if not 1-1/2 hours. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, only.

(Note: Mrs. C also uses these meatballs, crumbled, in place of ground beef in her baked ziti.)

"Editorial comment: These are the best meatballs and gravy I’ve ever had—they got me through 4 years of college! –Mandy"

I'll be in New York this coming weekend with Libby and David - I'm so excited to be going wedding dress shopping with Lib!

Have a great week!

Love,
Susan

Saturday Morning Walkers - April 23, 2007

Hi all,

It is Sunday afternoon here in Los Angeles. I'm sorry to say that we didn't get to have Jacob's birthday bash yesterday since he had an ear infection. The good news is that we all got to spend some nice quiet time together. All the Wadle "kids" were together and that was terrific!

Book Report:

Linn sent us a list of books she has read recently - check them out! FYI - Linn had been working at a book store in Estes Park - Guess where her paycheck went? Great news to share - Linn is starting work at Whole Foods this week!

The first two books haven't been released yet - we'll have to watch for these - also, this list is lengthy so I'm just providing links to the reviews on Amazon:

Merle's Door
Lessons from a Free Thinking Dog
by Ted Kerasote - http://www.amazon.com/Merles-Door-Lessons-Freethinking-Dog/dp/0151012709/ref=sr_1_1/102-8509221-3488140?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177277824&sr=1-1

The Last Chinese Chef
by Nicole Mones - http://www.amazon.com/Last-Chinese-Chef-Nicole-Mones/dp/0618619666/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8509221-3488140?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177277938&sr=1-1

A Pig in Provence
by Georgeanne Brennan - http://www.amazon.com/Pig-Provence-Simple-Pleasures-France/dp/081185213X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8509221-3488140?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177277993&sr=1-1

The God of Animals
by Aryn Kyle - http://www.amazon.com/God-Animals-Novel-Aryn-Kyle/dp/1416533249/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8509221-3488140?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177278044&sr=1-1

Nineteen Minutes
by Jodi Picoult - http://www.amazon.com/Nineteen-Minutes-novel-Jodi-Picoult/dp/0743496728/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8509221-3488140?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177278098&sr=1-1 - (Libby just read this one and recommends it - particularly timely, having just gone through another school shooting)

Catching Genius
by Kristy Keirnan - http://www.mostlyfiction.com/contemp/kiernan.htm

The Conjurer's Bird
by Martin Davies - http://www.amazon.com/Conjurers-Bird-Novel-Martin-Davies/dp/1400097339

Website of the Week - Ariana Huffington's blog - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ - I just heard an interview with Ariana Huffington and was quite impressed with her. I'm also anxious to read her book that is now out in paperback - On Becoming Fearless - http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Fearless-Love-Work-Life/dp/0316166812

Podcast of the Week - The Ethicist - http://www.nytimes.com/ref/multimedia/podcasts.html Randy Cohen, Times Magazine columnist, answers readers' questions on ethical issues each week. Schedule: Fridays

Cooking and Food
No cooking going on at our house this past week but I do have two LA restaurant reviews:

Lunch at The Oinkster in Eagle Rock, CA - http://www.oinkster.com/ - slow, fast food - featuring pastrami and pulled pork sandwiches - we sampled the pulled pork, great chicken salad and great fries with aoili mayo.

Dinner at Pace in Laurel Canyon (very near the Hollywood Bowl) - Jack was eager to take all of us here for a celebration dinner in honor of Libby and David's engagement - I mentioned this place a few weeks ago but definitely worth a second mention. http://peaceinthecanyon.com/ -

That's it for now! Missed our Saturday morning walk but will be there next week!

Love,
Susan

Saturday Morning Walkers - April 14, 2007

Hi everyone!

So happy that the "blizzard" that was predicted never actually happened. We had a lovely Saturday morning - Jan, Barb, Andrea, Mary, Laila and I met for coffee and bagels at Moe's. I sent everyone off on a walk through the Whittier neighborhood to Hawthorn and over to the Community Gardens and back on 13th to Community Plaza. I had to leave early to take Jack to the airport.

We had lots to talk about - here goes...............

Book Report:

Andrea is reading an interesting collection of essays called E = Einstein by Donald and Bartusiak Goldsmith

Abbey Bookshop Description
In the history of physics, there has been no greater visionary than Albert Einstein. Through his revolutionary Theory of Relativity, he fundamentally changed the way we look at the universe. But there is more to Einstein than just E=mc2 - and this anthology of 30 fascinating essays, presented by three renowned scientist/editors, captures his various facets. Complete with more than 125 colour illustrations and explanatory sidebars that make the information accessible to the layperson, these revelatory articles explore his life, theories and legacy.

Barb is reading the very funny book about aging, I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron.

From Publishers Weekly[Signature]Reviewed by Toni BentleyThe honest truth is that it's sad to be over sixty," concludes Nora Ephron in her sparkling new book about aging. With 15 essays in 160 pages, this collection is short, a thoughtful concession to pre- and post-menopausal women (who else is there?), like herself, who "can't read a word on the pill bottle," follow a thought to a conclusion, or remember the thought after not being able to read the pill bottle. Ephron drives the truth home like a nail in your soon-to-be-bought coffin: "Plus, you can't wear a bikini." But just as despair sets in, she admits to using "quite a lot of bath oil... I'm as smooth as silk." Yes, she is. This is aging lite—but that might be the answer. Besides, there's always Philip Roth for aging heavy.Ephron, in fact, offers a brief anecdote about Roth, in a chapter on cooking, concerning her friend Jane, who had a one-night stand, long ago, with the then "up-and-coming" writer. He gave Jane a copy of his latest book. "Take one on your way out," he said. Conveniently, there was a box of them by the front door. Ephron refuses to analyze—one of her most refreshing qualities—and quickly moves on to Jane's céleri remoulade.Aging, according to Ephron, is one big descent—and who would argue? (Well, okay—but they'd lose the argument if they all got naked.) There it is, the steady spiraling down of everything: body and mind, breasts and balls, dragging one's self-respect behind them. Ephron's witty riffs on these distractions are a delightful antidote to the prevailing belief that everything can be held up with surgical scaffolding and the drugs of denial. Nothing, in the end, prevents the descent. While signs of mortality proliferate, Ephron offers a rebuttal of consequence: an intelligent, alert, entertaining perspective that does not take itself too seriously. (If you can't laugh, after all, you are already, technically speaking, dead.) She does, however, concede that hair maintenance—styling, dyeing, highlighting, blow-drying—is a serious matter, not to mention the expense. "Once I picked up a copy of Vogue while having my hair done, and it cost me twenty thousand dollars. But you should see my teeth." Digging deeper, she discovers that your filthy, bulging purse containing numerous things you don't need—and couldn't find if you did—is, "in some absolutely horrible way, you." Ephron doesn't shy away from the truth about sex either, and confesses, though with an appropriate amount of shame, that despite having been a White House intern in 1961, she did not have an affair with JFK. May Ephron, and her purse, endure so she can continue to tell us how it goes. Or, at least, where it went. Toni Bentley is the author, most recently, of Sisters of Salome and The Surrender, an Erotic Memoir. She is writing about Emma, Lady Hamilton, for the Eminent Lives series.

Website of the Week - recommended by Rae - www.conversationcafe - These Conversation Cafés are about free speech. Not as something that can be taken away in an era of repression, but as something one strengthens through self expression in the presence of those who do not agree. Free speech is our birthright. Repressive societies can change the consequences of speaking, but they do not govern our souls.
"I envision a culture of conversation — a culture where people talk freely — without fear or taboos — with friends and strangers alike. I once asked a Dane how Denmark had resisted the pressures of globalization. He said two words: study circles. Most Danes throughout their adult lives have the habit of conversation about things that matter in small groups.
"We can do that here. In cafés. In Britain in the 1700s the government shut down the cafés where people met to discuss politics because they were sites of revolutionary thinking. Here, we get our news from the TV, retreat into private sub-cultures through online chats and interact only with people who see the world as we do. This is a formula for weakening society enough to allow forces of repression to take over. Conversation Cafés are an attempt to reverse the trend."

Podcast of the Week - recommended by Chris - http://www.twit.tv/DGW - a network of shows with the latest info and news about technology

Cooking and Food - lots of yummy recipes to share:

Mandy made Giada de Laurentiis Ricotta Pancakes for a brunch this weekend - she served them with wild blueberries and accompanied them with proscuitto-wrapped cantalope slices - topped everything off with Mango Bellinis - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_31908,00.html

Libby had a major cookfest today during the "Nor'Easter" in New York today:

From Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, Chicken Chili - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_27660,00.html?rsrc=search

From Giada de Laurentiis, Foccacia Panino - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_33447,00.html?rsrc=search

From Lisa Yockelman's Chocolate by Chocolate (featured in Food & Wine's Best of the Best Cookbook) - Giant Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Muffins - these are outstanding - unfortunately, I can't find the recipe on-line and its a very long recipe. I will put it in a word document and will send it as an attachment to anyone who would like to have this one.

Susan had two winners this week:
We had a Soprano's opening night Italian dinner last Sunday - Bobby Flay's Chicken Parmigiana - molto bene! - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_33031,00.html?rsrc=search

Another was Giada de Laurentiis' Pork Chops alla Pizzaiola - the sauce was terrific and I would use it with steak or even chicken - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_32171,00.html?rsrc=search

A few random notes and hints:

Jan saw Susan Love, breast cancer expert, at the World Affairs Conference - she was so impressed her and the work she is doing - check out her website - www.susanlovemd.com

Mary shared the names of a couple of contractors that she highly recommends:
V & A Doors - installation and repair of garage door openers - family business - 303- 429-2770
Foothills Appliance - 303-665-3333

Barb has a handy hint - Distilled white vinegar is a great organic weed killer - works well for those weeds peeking through stone walks and patios - http://www.moscowfood.coop/archive/VinegarKillsWeeds.html

That's it until next week - we'll be in LA next weekend to celebrate Jacob's 5th birthday.
Have a great week.....
Love,
Susan

Saturday Morning Walkers - April 8, 2007

Hi everyone!

Well, we're back to winter again - hopefully, not for long! Saturday morning found many of us gathered around our usual "spot" at Caffe Sole - Terri, Cass, Barb, Jackie, Mary, Jan and myself (really felt like old times!). Freezing drizzle (or snizzle as our weatherman back in Boston used to call it) kept us from walking but we stayed warm and cozy.

Book Report:

Cass shared with us that she has developed an interest in reading spy novels based on an article that she read in Vanity Fair Magazine - http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine - She has read John Le Carre's classic, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and she is about to embark on a very ambitious read of Robert Fisk's The Great War For Civilization.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

Amazon.com
It would be an international crime to reveal too much of the jeweled clockwork plot of Le Carré's first masterpiece, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. But we are at liberty to disclose that Graham Greene called it the "finest spy story ever written," and that the taut tale concerns Alec Leamas, a British agent in early Cold War Berlin. Leamas is responsible for keeping the double agents under his care undercover and alive, but East Germans start killing them, so he gets called back to London by Control, his spy master. Yet instead of giving Leamas the boot, Control gives him a scary assignment: play the part of a disgraced agent, a sodden failure everybody whispers about. Control sends him back out into the cold--deep into Communist territory to checkmate the bad-guy spies on the other side. The political chessboard is black and white, but in human terms the vicinity of the Berlin Wall is a moral no-man's land, a gray abyss patrolled by pawns.

The Great War For Civilization

From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review.
Combining a novelist's talent for atmosphere with a scholar's grasp of historical sweep, foreign correspondent Fisk (Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon) has written one of the most dense and compelling accounts of recent Middle Eastern history yet. The book opens with a deftly juxtaposed account of Fisk's two interviews with Osama bin Laden. In the first, held in Sudan in 1993, bin Laden declared himself "a construction engineer and an agriculturist." He had no time to train mujahideen, he said; he was busy constructing a highway. In the second, held four years later in Afghanistan, he declared war on the Saudi royal family and America.Fisk, who has lived in and reported on the Middle East since 1976, first for the (London) Times and now for the Independent, possesses deep knowledge of the broader history of the region, which allows him to discuss the Armenian genocide 90 years ago, the 2002 destruction of Jenin, and the battlefields of Iraq with equal aplomb. But it is his stunning capacity for visceral description—he has seen, or tracked down firsthand accounts of, all the major events of the past 25 years—that makes this volume unique. Some of the chapters contain detailed accounts of torture and murder, which more squeamish readers may be inclined to skip, but such scenes are not gratuitous. They are designed to drive home Fisk's belief that "war is primarily not about victory or defeat but about death and the infliction of death." Though Fisk's political stances may sometimes be controversial, no one can deny that this volume is a stunning achievement. (Nov.)

Podcast of the Week: Randy Cohen's Ethicist Column from the New York Times Magazine and NPR - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4464216 or go to Itunes and search for The Ethicist. Cohen answers readers' questions on ethical issues each week.

Website of the Week: I am so excited about this find! Check out www.librarything.com. You can catalog your entire library on this site. I have attempted to keep journals of what I've been reading but I haven't been terribly consistent. This site really makes it easy and has so many tools to play around with. You can actually use this for book groups to keep track of what they're reading and I've actually set up a group called Saturday Morning Walkers - you can join this group and add your collection so that we can all have access to each other's catalogs.

Food and Cooking Report: Not much cooking going on in our house this week but here's a "restaurant runners" selection and a couple of restaurants:

Jack has a favorite meal that he orders from The Trattoria on Pearl - www.trattoriaonpearl.com - the Fettucine Bolognese with Ground Beef and Veal is one of the best he's had. We love their Caesar Salad served with fresh white anchovies - yum! We figure we're among the Restaurant Runner's best customers - sure comes in handy sometimes - www.http://restaurant-runners.com/

I had dinner this week with Gaye at the Niwot Tavern - a great neighborhood place! http://www.niwottavern.com/ - Gaye had the veggie burger which she loved and I had a great hamburger with grilled onions and onion rings - mmmmm-good! It was good to catch up with Gaye - we had a lot of wedding talk to cover. One of her sons was married last summer in California and her other son is getting married this summer in Ohio!

Last night, Jack and I had dinner with a business associate of Jack's - Dave recently moved to Boulder and we thought he might enjoy The Sunflower Restaurant at 17th and Pearl - http://www.sunflowerrestaurant.net/ - Dave had the Caesar Salad and Buffalo Steak, Jack had mussels (I tasted those and they were outstanding) and New York Strip Steak and I had the seafood special - Hazelnut Crusted Halibut with a Mozzarella Croquette topped with Asparagus and Tomatoes - it looked gorgeous and was delicious. I really like the atmosphere at The Sunflower - low-key, relatively quiet (important to me) and attentive service.


Random Cooking Tip - Are you ever puzzled by which type of potato works best for frying, baking, mashing, etc? Check out http://www.ochef.com/167.htm - to clarify that "burning" question.

Buyer Beware - For those of you who have Comcast as your cable and internet provider, don't be tempted by their recent offer to switch you from Qwest phone service to Comcast phone service. It will save you money but apparently will cost you in quality of service. Several people who made that switch were very disappointed. Check out this website - http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/comcast_local.html

Have a great week!

Love,
Susan

Saturday Morning Walkers - April 1, 2007

Hi everyone!

Sorry I missed yesterday's walk and coffee at Vic's Downtown (I love that place!). I do have lots to share this week - especially in the food department.

Book Report: After seeing The Namesake at the movies last week, I was motivated to read the book that it was based on, by Jhumpa Lahiri. The movie was a bit slow but a good story. Needless to say, the book is is a much fuller, detailed story. Our book group read Lahiri's collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. She is a wonderful storyteller and really brings her characters to life.

Amazon.comAny talk of The Namesake--Jhumpa Lahiri's follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning debut, Interpreter of Maladies--must begin with a name: Gogol Ganguli. Born to an Indian academic and his wife, Gogol is afflicted from birth with a name that is neither Indian nor American nor even really a first name at all. He is given the name by his father who, before he came to America to study at MIT, was almost killed in a train wreck in India. Rescuers caught sight of the volume of Nikolai Gogol's short stories that he held, and hauled him from the train. Ashoke gives his American-born son the name as a kind of placeholder, and the awkward thing sticks.
Awkwardness is Gogol's birthright. He grows up a bright American boy, goes to Yale, has pretty girlfriends, becomes a successful architect, but like many second-generation immigrants, he can never quite find his place in the world. There's a lovely section where he dates a wealthy, cultured young Manhattan woman who lives with her charming parents. They fold Gogol into their easy, elegant life, but even here he can find no peace and he breaks off the relationship. His mother finally sets him up on a blind date with the daughter of a Bengali friend, and Gogol thinks he has found his match. Moushumi, like Gogol, is at odds with the Indian-American world she inhabits. She has found, however, a circuitous escape: "At Brown, her rebellion had been academic ... she'd pursued a double major in French. Immersing herself in a third language, a third culture, had been her refuge--she approached French, unlike things American or Indian, without guilt, or misgiving, or expectation of any kind." Lahiri documents these quiet rebellions and random longings with great sensitivity. There's no cleverness or showing-off in The Namesake, just beautifully confident storytelling. Gogol's story is neither comedy nor tragedy; it's simply that ordinary, hard-to-get-down-on-paper commodity: real life.

Podcast Recommendation: You can download a weekly podcast from The Splendid Table website - http://www.splendidtable.org/ - a great food site and a very entertaining podcast.

Website Recommendations: Mandy sent me this one - http://www.hungrygirl.com/ - she wanted me to know about a featured snack on the site - Thou Shall Snack Latke Crisps, Original Flavor - the site is a light-hearted, fun nutrition and food site.
The other site I heard about is http://www.toptipsforgirls/ - a fun, young "advice" site (for all of us fun, young girls!)

Food and Cooking Report:
Here's the recipe for the Baked Cod with Stuffing on Top and White Risotto that we had at book group last week at Rita's house - it is from Rachael Ray's 2, 4, 6, 8 Cookbook - just luscious!
8 cups chicken stock
3 T extra virgin olive oil (plus some for drizzling)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine8 center-cut cod fillets ( 8 ounces each)
salt and black pepper
2 cups seasoned stuffing mix
2 small garlic cloves, chopped
Generous handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 stick butter, softened
1 large shallot or 1/2 medium onion, minced
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese (4 generous handfuls)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the stock in a medium sauce pot over medium-low heat.

Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 2 -3 minutes, then add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the wine and let it evaporate entirely, stirring occasionally. Add a few ladles of the warm stock. Stir the stock into the rice and cook until it is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Continue to add the stock to the rice, stirring with each addition, as you make the fish.

Pat the cod dry, drizzle it with olive oil, arrange it in a baking pan, and season with salt and pepper.

Place the stuffing in a large food storage bag. Press out the air and seal the bag, then crush the stuffing into crumbs with a rolling pin. On a cutting board, sprinkle the chopped garlic with some large-flaked salt and smash it to a paste b pressing the heel of your hand against the flat blade of a chef's knife. Combine the paste with some pepper and the parsley. Mix the paste with the softened butter and combine the softened butter thoroughly with the crumbs and the shallots or onions. Top the fish evenly with the butter crumbs and bake it in the center of the oven for 15 - 18 minutes. If the fish seems slow to firm and the stuffing isn't browning, you can switch the oven to broil for the last 2 - 3 minutes and that'll do the job. The rack should remain at the center of the oven.

Add the last of the stock to the risotto and stir until absorbed. The risotto will take 22 minutes, total and will become very creamy if yo stir it frequently as the liquid is added. The stirring process will release the starches that cream the rice. The rice should absorb all of the liquids in that time. If you need a bit of extra liquid, water will do. In the last minute or so of the cooking time, fold in the cheese and turn off the heat.

Serve the fish with white risotto alongside. Rita served this with steamed asparagus tips - perfect!

Dessert was Ina Garten's Frozen Key Lime Pie - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_23370,00.html

I made a couple of great meals this week:

Stracoto with Porcini Mushrooms from Giada De Laurentiis - very tasty pot roast http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_28425,00.html?rsrc=search

Basil Chicken Hash from Ina Garten - a fair amount of prep but well worth it - very colorful and fun dish - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35293,00.html?rsrc=search

Dark Chocolate Mousse from Ellie Krieger of the Food Network - this very dense, rich dessert has a secret ingredient, tofu!- Jack loved it and has no idea that it had tofu in it.

That's it for now - have a great week!
Love,
Susan