Couldn’t Resist Those Adult Beverages?
Photo: IKONIX Studio
So, you and Capt. Morgan engaged in a sorrow-drowning affair?
Not the best heart-healing approach perhaps, but there are ways to settle the sloshing and muffle the morning-after throbbing.
Part of the reason your head feels like it’s stuffed with fluff after a night of extreme imbibing is that you’re dehydrated. Yup. There are other factors involved, but who cares about science at a time like this?
You need Hangover Helpers. STAT.
Many old wives’ tales offer hangover remedies. Some scientifically sound. Some, well, maybe not. But why not give ‘em a try?
Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate. We’re not talking about drinking more alcohol, which is a diuretic. We’re talking water, straight up. Hoist one tall glass of water for every adult beverage you consume. Best to consume during party time, but it also helps just before you stumble into bed with that lampshade on your head. Or slurp it down as soon as you’re able to peel your eyes open the morning after. Or knock back some soothing tea laced with ginger. You get a two-fer when you sip ginger tea: Ginger chases away nausea, and the tea helps with that hydration.
Consume ample asparagus. Apparently young asparagus shoots and leaves whomp up the effect of enzymes in your body that break down alcohol. (Asparagus has leaves?) Anyway, the research—in Korea—was done on drunken rats who were given asparagus extract, but still.
Gobble carb-laden foods. This may be a fabled cure, but it works for us. Carbs seem to soak up a lot of whatever’s sloshing around in your stomach. You also could try the mnemonic BRAT treatment suggested for people with, um, gastrointestinal distress. BRAT stands for Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast.
Lindsey swears by her hangover cure-all: Fried Rice with Portuguese Sausage.
Fried Rice with Portuguese Sausage
2 Tbsp. oil (divided)
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 large jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (remove hot, hot, hot seeds and veins first)
3 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz. Portuguese sausage (linguica), Andouille, or Polish sausage, coarsely chopped
3 cups cooked rice (leftover…or cooked rice in a pouch)
2 tsp. hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp. soy sauce or fish sauce
Sriracha or hot sauce, optional
4 green onions, sliced
1. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or deep skillet. Add onion, carrot, and jalapeno. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until onion softens. Add garlic, stirring for about 30 secons. Add sausage slice; cook and stir for 3 minutes more.
2. If needed, add remaining oil. Stir in rice, hoisin, and soy sauce. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes more or until rice is heated through. Taste. If desired, splash in Sriracha. Sprinkle with green onions.
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2010. Done.
To sum up 2010:
1. First full year as a freelancer without COBRA. Cost of health insurance is stunning. The treadmill and I are new best friends.
2. Published Heartbreak Recovery Kitchen cookbook including tales of comeback from trauma and recipes that make you forget your woes. Celebration party with recipes from the book: Easy Frozen Lemonade Margaritas, Tropical Sangria, Korean Barbecued Beef, Asian Shrimp Noodles, Poblano Pepper Slaw, Walnut-Studded Dark Chocolate Brownies…
3. Summoned friends to sop up water in basement after a monsoon night in Iowa. Papa Murphy’s Pizza.
4. Bought shampoo and conditioner for the first time in 1 year after using up my supply of hotel 
sample-size bottles.
5. During a no-income spell over the summer, I survived for 2 weeks on $7 (and zucchini, see #6, below). Amazing how many meals can be made from 1 whole chicken (which I had in my freezer). I splurged for a pound of carrots and celery to finish off the carcass in a batch o’ soup. Then went on a chicken moratorium.
6. My zucchini crop was HUGE. Little friends Claire and Bren, right, show off one that took off when my back was turned. Double Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread.
7. Kitchen floor damaged after roof leak crept between walls and spread moisture beneath old vinyl flooring. New flooring. Roof repair. Martini time.
8. Baked up a storm for the holidays. Then my oven died 4 nights before my holiday party. Ho ho noooooo. New oven installed in the St. Nick of time. Short ribs with gremolata. Garlic mashed potatoes w/ celery root. Good friends.
9. Winter weather prohibited Christmas eve gathering with family. Just me, Jimmy Stewart, and an egg salad sandwich.
10. Christmas Day. Weather cooperated. Cooking extravaganza with Lindsey. Ahhh. Joy. Roast ham. Cranberry chutney (wow). Roasted parsnips, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes.
11. End of year meeting with my financial advisor. Ouch. Chocolate ice cream with hot fudge sauce.
12. Thankful for friends and family…and the comfort of the kitchen. It may be time to make a batch of Change-Your-Fortune Cookies from Heartbreak Recovery Kitchen.
13. Farewell 2010. Stop stalking me!
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Dark Chocolate and Almond Toffee Crisps
I keep a stash of those crisp little squares—perforated with perfect little holes—for emergencies. A bowl of tomato soup is naked without saltines.
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Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Crust
Photos by Liz Banfield
I am not one to deny food pleasures. But I do realize that ALL pleasure without restraint can be painful. If I eat too many muffins I develop doughy-soft muffin tops that spill over the waistline of my jeans.
However, the holidays are fast approaching and I intend to eat my way through them. Starting with the Knock-Your-Socks-Off Pumpkin Pie. The recipe is from a family of organic dairy farmers in Wisconsin run by 6 sisters, ages 11 through 19. Yup. The Holm Girls Dairy is run by a bevy of diversely talented young beauties who happen to be farmers who get up at dawn and work ’til the cows come home. (The dairy is part of the Organic Valley co-op.)
And they have fun while doing it. I spent some time with the family when they celebrated a harvest feast. It was crowded around the farm table, but that’s what keeps the family close.
The whole Sibling Revelry story is in Organic Gardening magazine and includes other recipes you might want to make room for on your holiday table. But this pumpkin pie recipe with its fresh ginger crust and streusel-pecan topping is not to be missed. (The girls top the pie with freshly whipped cream with cinnamon.)
FYI: I do go into holiday-eating training mode starting…TODAY. I lighten up on most meals so I can indulge a bit when the occasion presents itself. Made veggie-laden beef barley soup last nite. (Stand by for that recipe.)
Knock-Your-Socks-Off Pumpkin Pie
Ginger Pastry (recipe below)
1 15-ounce can organic pumpkin
1 1/3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Streusel Topping
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. On a floured surface, roll Ginger Pastry into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Trim pastry to 1 inch beyond pie plate. Fold edges under crust. Crimp decoratively, forming high-standing crust (about 1/2 inch above rim of dish). Freeze for 15 minutes.
3. Line crust with foil and then fill with pie weights (dried beans work well). Bake crust 10 minutes. Remove foil and beans and bake another 10 minutes or until crust is set and light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. In a large bowl whisk together pumpkin, cream, sugar, eggs, honey, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and salt until thoroughly combined. Pour into pre-baked piecrust.
5. Bake pie for about 50 minutes or until it begins to set. Remove from oven and let pie stand for 10 minutes to set slightly. Meanwhile, make Streusel Topping. Sprinkle topping over pie. Return pie to hot oven. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes more or until pie is set and streusel is golden brown.
Makes 1 (9-inch) pie
Ginger Pastry
1 1/3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fresh ginger root, minced
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice-cold water, plus more as needed
1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, minced ginger root, allspice, and salt.
2. Using a pasty blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. In a small bowl combine egg yolk with 2 tablespoons water.
4. Add yolk mixture to flour mixture; toss with a fork until mixture forms moist clumps. (Add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if dough is too dry.)
5. Form dough into a ball and flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 to 24 hours. Allow dough to sit at room temperature about 10 minutes before rolling into a piecrust.
Makes 1 (9-inch) piecrust
Streusel Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter
1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and ground ginger.
2. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans and crystallized ginger. Sprinkle topping over pie before baking.
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Got the tight budget blues?
Spend just a teensy bit on a trinket for a hit of happy. Studies show that little treats are proven pick-me-ups. I just bought Falsies. Not THOSE. The mascara by Maybelline. Or, I occasionally succumb to a magazine or a wild pair of socks.
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Rum and Coke Chicken Wings
Photos for A Life of Spice by www.veggiebelly.com’s Sala Kannan
I have to admit this is the only good color photo we have of a recipe from our cookbook. Yup. The only photo. Don’t you hate being on a budget?
Anyway, the wings photo was posted on food writer Monica Bhide’s blog, A Life of Spice. She ever-so-kindly plugged Heartbreak Recovery Kitchen and mentioned the Rum and Cola wings after checking them out for herself. Wanna see what Monica wrote? Click here.
When Monica and I originally connected, it was over food, but not literally. She pitched a food story or two to me when I was a full-time editor. Then, when I was laid off, Monica shared tips to ease me into the freelance world. In hindsight, it’s kind of funny. I’ve been a magazine editor/writer for years. I hired freelancers regularly. I knew the drill, yet all of a sudden I was floundering because I WAS LAID OFF. I felt worthless. My career? Gone in one swell foop. I was devastated.
But Monica, a writer I had never met in person, reached out to help, making suggestions and offering support when I was down and almost out. (She has the most mellifluous voice. Just talking to her on the phone is a soothing experience.) She helped me realize that I was still the editor and writer I always had been. Maybe even better, now that I was free of the corporate shackles.
Yup, to quote a cliche: “When one door closes, another opens.” Because I was downsized, our cookbook was born.
And I wanted to include essays of others who had bounced back from heartbreak. So when I heard how Monica Bhide met her husband, I had to include her story in Heartbreak Recovery Kitchen. “Love in the Time of Cardamom” begins: “I was a lonely graduate student in an unfamiliar land.”
In an effort to ease her homesickness, Monica decided to make her mother’s rice pudding. The comfort food spread an enticing aroma that went beyond her apartment and caught the attention of a young graduate student. Monica’s tale tweaks at the heartstrings. Want to read the whole story? Let me know and I just might post it here. Or you can read it in the book.
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From Dismay to Dessert
Join us for tips from Heartbreak Recovery Kitchen—and happiness-inducing desserts. Thursday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m., Illahee Hills, 8308 Colby Pkwy, Urbandale, Iowa. We share advice on going from sad (or mad) to glad simply by stepping into the kitchen. It’s all about mending and moving on with good food and good friends. Cookbook signing too.
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Halloween Finger Food
High-five for Halloween Finger Food.
Harumph. I’ve never been a big fan of Halloween. Adults in costume? Puh-leeze. But I do like to entertain. And Halloween is yet another good excuse for a party. The year I was laid off, boo-hoo, I rented out a room in my house to help ease my financial burden. It was late October. The new roomie talked me into hosting a Halloween party. With costumes. Ick.
I had been laid off after 13 years of editing and writing about food…and developing recipes…for one of those publishing companies who pays CEOs obscene amounts of money to lay off hundreds of employees to cut costs in tough times.
“Bitter, party of one, your table is ready.”
Yes, I was in a witchy mood. But in the spirit of the holiday I adopted a devil-may-care attitude. (OK. That’s enough of the Halloween puns.)
Although I don’t do costumes, I felt somewhat obligated to come up with appropriate attire for my Halloween gathering. Read More >>
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Public Humiliation
Why do some workshop leaders feel the need to be rude and condescending? People attend workshops/conferences to learn and improve, not to be treated as if we are idiots (which some of us are…but still…that’s why we attend these workshops…to become less idiotic).
I had a heartbreaking experience at a writers’ conference over the weekend…as did many of my fellow attendees. Lots of public humiliation and badgering in the guise of critiques. In hindsight I should have protested—not only when I was the target, but as I watched one after the other of the writers get verbally punched and jabbed. The less-than-tactful agent—whose dramatically pliable face reflected disdain, horror, and disapproval as writers shared their work—was the buzz of the event. His questions and tone of voice mimicked his facial expressions. He was disrespectful, to put it mildly. Read More >>
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Better than Valium?
Listening to 30 minutes of classical music has the same stress-soothing benefits as taking 10 mg. of Valium, according to research.
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This is so terrible. I am so sorry you had to go through it.