tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58922971167935019802011-09-17T06:53:09.090-04:00Lollipop Goldsteinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-58080641099334840602008-08-21T13:34:00.000-04:002009-03-30T13:49:45.834-04:00

I am drowning in chicken. The next lesson also used chicken, though the skill was sauteing. The accompanying recipe was a saute with onions, garlic, and basil. I'm not the biggest fan of basil, so I left it out. Maybe the dish would have been more impressive with a chiffonaded basil leaves.My sister came over for dinner without her child and husband in tow. It was her first time seeing my

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-44561508242732045562008-08-17T14:04:00.001-04:002009-03-27T12:52:37.164-04:00

I solved the roasting pan conundrum for the time being with a disposable roasting pan from the food store. I know, it's environmentally irresponsible and I'm going to need to suck it up and buy a real roasting pan at some point. It's not just the money thing and how many tools I'm picking up just to do these lessons. It's a space issue. I'm not sure what other New Yorkers do, but my drawers

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-42334571722559067962008-08-14T13:32:00.001-04:002009-03-16T12:52:21.336-04:00

The textbook is difficult to figure out because sometimes, the lesson does not actually contain a recipe. For instance, when I opened the book this morning before I went food shopping, I realized today's lesson was on broiling. Which is fine--I know the oven has a broiler. But there was no recipe attached to the lesson. The picture showed some shrimp being broiled and the instructions

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-80712027085494701022008-08-12T13:14:00.000-04:002009-03-12T13:32:30.321-04:00

The lesson of the day today was making bread crumbs. Which, I know, sounds as dull as shit and it is. I truly had a moment where I stared at the textbook and thought, "this is cooking? This is seriously a skill I need to learn?" But I'm committed to doing all of the lessons in the book so I hauled my ass to the Bed, Bath, and Beyond on Sixth and bought a Cuisinart.This, by the way, is not my

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-82249044018023502422008-08-04T14:10:00.000-04:002009-02-15T14:17:37.610-05:00

I absolutely didn't mean to be away that long. Some of it was actually a good excuse that will require another blog post to unpack: Beckett was in the NICU for a bit, my friend needed me, and I just didn't have the energy to tackle lessons in the book some nights when I got home.The other excuse is a bit lamer (is lamer a word? More lame? More lamer?): I started getting hung up reading other

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-5595862878427764442008-06-04T22:46:00.000-04:002008-12-17T22:46:41.154-05:00

I'm home and exhausted. I can't believe how tired I am from sitting all day. Literally, all I did today was read food blogs and run out for Thai and ask nurse practitioner Judy for the box of tissues eight dozen times. And I waited at attention for any chance to hold Beckett or hold up Arianna or hold back my own tears. Being there today made me miss Adam.Because when Arianna was doing

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-83750209977210806742008-06-04T15:40:00.000-04:002008-12-17T15:43:20.571-05:00

I'm still sitting here at the hospital. I have read a ton of food blogs--I'm just clicking down this big list I found and choosing titles that sound interesting. It's making me anxious to get home and cook again. Isn't that crazy? A few weeks ago, my idea of cooking was opening the carryout menu. And now, I'm actually figuring out how to create my meal from scratch. Okay, so I may not be

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-55432564722609678012008-06-04T14:58:00.000-04:002008-12-17T15:02:21.769-05:00

I got to hold Beckett after the noon feeding. He is so tiny! I was terrified that I was going to drop him or break off one of his tiny limbs by holding him too tightly. I realized that I've never held a newborn baby. I mean, I've held babies. But until today, I had never held a two-day-old baby.It was hard to give him back when my time was up.Afterwards, I took Arianna back to her room to

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-15951118519219181532008-06-04T11:31:00.000-04:002008-12-17T15:03:10.076-05:00

I think this recipe will show me how far I've come when I look back on it after I master making real goulash. But this is also one of my go-to comfort meals. My mother taught me how to make it.Ingredients:(3) hotdogs, sliced into discs(2) white potatoes, cut into small chunks(1) small can of baked bean(1) tsp paprika(2) tbsp chopped onionsSaute the onions in a little bit of oil until they

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-55534854217062944452008-06-04T11:21:00.000-04:002008-12-17T11:21:28.667-05:00

I decided since this is a food blog, that I should write down a few of the things I do know how to make. This should be a very short series of posts. But this is a recipe that my grandmother taught me called farfel. My ex-husband used to love this and it is still my go-to comfort food.Ingredients:(1) container barley-shaped noodles from the Jewish section of the food store(1) package of

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-65137453450085540662008-06-04T11:11:00.002-04:002008-12-17T11:16:39.855-05:00

I am sitting in the NICU waiting room with my computer. I have my tea, a book, a bag of trail mix, and my cell phone off. Do you think that sends a clear enough message that I'm planning to stay here all day.Arianna is feeling much better and they're letting her hold him during feeds. They're using an ng tube and trying out the bottle except he keeps falling asleep. They've told her not to

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-70267697821464827482008-06-03T20:32:00.003-04:002008-12-16T21:04:55.105-05:00

You may have noticed that I've been absent (who am I kidding? I believe only one other person reads this blog. I got my first comment!)--Arianna started having these deep contractions soon after I wrote that last entry and she gave birth to a boy, Beckett, yesterday.On Thursday night, I got a call around one in the morning from the hospital. She had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-3526389743250113292008-05-29T21:30:00.002-04:002008-12-16T23:00:02.090-05:00

So today was all about toasting bread crumbs (and burning bread crumbs), toasting hazelnuts and rubbing off their skins (I'm still finding bits of nut all over the kitchen floor--those suckers are like dandelion fluff), and learning how to make bouquet garni and sachet. I now have these beautiful little herb packages and no knowledge on how to use them. I could skip ahead in the book and try out

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-68139128447640937882008-05-27T15:04:00.009-04:002008-12-16T23:01:06.195-05:00

Well that last post was a little embarrassing. Can we...um...just pretend that didn't happen?This morning I went with Arianna to her OB appointment. She's now at 32 weeks and the baby barely has any room to move. His head is down and the doctor didn't think he'd move out of that position before the birth. So it looks like smooth sailing from here.How does it feel to accompany your best friend to

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-44227302010913178492008-05-23T23:51:00.000-04:002008-12-16T22:51:29.765-05:00

I worked again on knife skills this afternoon--namely, chopping onions. Sometimes I step out of my life and look at the situation and it looks like a scene in a veeeeeeeeeery bad chick film. Semi-newly divorced woman (at what point are you merely "divorced" instead of "newly divorced?") chopping onions with tears streaming down her face. Then she cuts her finger and she's crying over that and

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-77172147574144938872008-05-22T22:49:00.001-04:002008-12-16T22:50:25.423-05:00

I feel like I should start with a confession: I sort of skimmed the opening of the cooking text book. It's not that I want to be unknowledgeable about kitchen sanitation but...I'm ready to do. Not just read about doing, but create a huge mess. Or cook myself out of my mess. Either/or.The other thing I have to confess in skimming the section on professionalism is that I haven't really thought

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892297116793501980.post-12969263028775754392008-05-20T20:09:00.001-04:002008-12-16T22:49:41.071-05:00

Um...hi. I'm Rachel.Which feels like I've just kicked off my blog as if I'm at an AA meeting. Though perhaps this blog will be as supportive and enlightening as group therapy. I'm not really sure how this is going to go. I guess I should just begin and stop talking about beginning.I'm a 34-year-old graphic designer. Ex-graphic designer, actually. I recently left my job at the New York Public

Rachel Goldmannoreply@blogger.com1