Daily Archives: November 12, 2008

The more you read, the more you know.

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My BFF Lauren always reminds me of a quote from our childhood:

The more you read, the more you know
The more you know, the smarter you grow
The smarter you grow, the stronger your voice
When speaking your mind, or making a choice

It was on a libary poster when we were in the 4th grade, and we’d spend lunch line time trying to memorize it. 12 years later, we still remember it, so it worked! In light of reading, here’s some information about my reading love…

*A book that made you laugh: Straight Man, by Richard Russo
*A book that made you cry: Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
*A book that scared you: Scary Stories III, by Alvin Schwartz
*A book that disgusted you: In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
*A book you loved in elementary school: Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson
*A book you loved in middle/junior high school: The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
*A book you loved in high school: Night, by Elie Wiesel
*A book you loved in college: The Wall, by John Hersey
*A book that challenged your identity: Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
*A series that you love: Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
*Your favorite “coming of age” book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
*Your favorite classic: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
*Your favorite romantic novel: The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
*My favorite book (non-fiction): An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore

Adventures of Phyllo Dough 2: Going Greek

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This week, after I made the phyllo dough pie, I had so many leftover sheets of dough I decided I needed to tackle another recipe. I remembered my friend K using her extra dough to make baklava, so I asked her which recipe she used. Turns out, she used the “Simple Baklava” recipe from Giada. It’s a good one, but I’m not all for using too many ingredients. So here is the original alongside my final recipe.

Giada’s recipe

*1/2 cup almonds
*1/2 cup walnuts
*1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
*1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
*2 tablespoons sugar
*1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
*1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
*Pinch of salt
*1 stick butter, melted, divided
*3 tablespoons honey
*12 sheets phyllo dough

My take on it…

*1 cup almonds
*1/4 cup raisins
*2 tablespoons sugar
*1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
*Pinch of salt
*3/4 stick butter, melted, divided
*3 tablespoons honey
*6 sheets phyllo dough

Turn your over to 350. Then, all you have to do is stick the almonds in the blender with the cinnamon, blend, add the salt, blend and dump in a bowl. Then add your honey and sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and mix. It works itself into a nice little paste. Then you have to take your sheets of dough, layer 6 of them sheet, butter, sheet, butter, etc.

(I had WAY too much butter left over, so I would suggest starting with 3 tablespoons and melting more if you need it. Seriously. I made Jeff make popcorn so we could use the rest of the butter, and the popcorn tasted like movie popcorn–THAT is how much I had left over. And I can’t waste, so we ate baklava and popcorn.)

Then you cut it into squares (I did in half then made each half into three) and stick the sheets into a muffin tin. Giada says to use mini-muffin tins, but as I don’t have such things, I used a muffin tin, and they came out fine. Scoop your honey/almond mixture into each phyllo/butter-lined-muffin-hole and then fold the top of the phyllo dough over the top. Bake for about 25 minutes (or until they turn brown and smell delicious.)

Let them cool for 5 minutes. And devour! Voila!

baklava

They may not be beautiful, but they sure tasted good, and they were a hit in my office when I brought them to staff meeting!