A program like this makes perfect sense in a city where one in five kindergartners is obese, and when you consider the environmental impact of not producing those weekly orders of thousands of pounds of meat, it’s a no-brainer.

After looking through my Grandma Mangan’s recipe book at my mother’s house last fall, I decided to buy a scanner and archive the book’s contents on my computer. My father has now loaned me the recipe box of his mother, my Grandma Cahill, and I have started scanning her recipes as well.  Grandma Cahill’s collection has more recipes in poetic verse (total: 2), and Grandma Mangan’s collection has more clippings of famous dishes from local restaurants, but overall, their contents are similar. They include a recipes scribbled on scraps of paper, clippings from newspapers and processed food packaging, and index cards from friends and family. Lots of jello molds. Lots of “whipped topping.”

The first recipe I chose from my Grandma Cahill’s collection was for molasses cookies. Internet sleuthing while the cookies were baking yielded many similar—if not identical—recipes on the web, so it must have appeared on the side of a molasses container at one point and now graces the index cards of many collections. Recipe and photos after the jump.

Grandma Cahill’s Molasses Cookies
[yields ~3 dozen]
-3/4 c. shortening
-1 c. sugar
-1/4 c. molasses
-1 egg
-2 tsp. baking soda
-2 c. sifted flour
-1/2 tsp. [ground] ginger
-1/2 tsp. [ground] cloves
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. salt

Melt shortening in a 3 or 4 qt. saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; let cool. Add sugar, molasses and egg; beat well. Sift together flour, soda, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and salt; add to first mixture. Mix well; chill.

Form in 1 inch balls, roll in granulated sugar and place on greased cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake in moderately hot oven, 375º F, 8-10 min.

Cookies rolled and ready to bake:

I read a tip that if you want your molasses cookies to be chewy, you should cool them on a flat surface and not a rack. Unfortunately, I read the tip after my cookies were fully cooled on a rack and tucked away in tupperware, so if you try it, let me know if it works for you. These were crunchy, but still good.

My mouth is still not fully healed from my surgery, but this weekend was the first time I branched out beyond pasta and I may have gone a bit overboard. Saturday dinner was barbecue from Fette Sau, Sunday morning brunch was vegetarian eggs Benedict at Brooklyn Label, and Valentine’s Day dinner was a chicken taco by Ramsey at my request. The whole weekend was rounded out with a game of Scrabble and an assortment of Italian pastries from Fortunato Brothers in Williamsburg. Oof.

I felt a recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook was in order for dinner tonight, and I chose Polenta Pie. Photos and a short recap after the jump.

This recipe calls for a simple polenta crust topped with cheese and sauteed vegetables, but I made a grievous rookie mistake. I used a pie plate that was too small and my crust was too thick, lacking crispness near the middle. I also should have made the polenta with 2 cups of vegetable stock instead of the suggested water as it was a little bland. Still, the crust looked nice before I popped it in the oven, lightly brushed with olive oil.

Vegetables for sauteeing and topping.

The finished pie, looking well-browned around the edges, but mushiness was lurking underneath.

Thoughts for next time: more cheese, a dash of red pepper flakes, some vegetable stock, and a bigger pie plate (or less polenta). Despite my mistakes, it was a hearty meal and still tasted good in a pile on my plate.

• The nutritional drinks typically consumed by the old and infirm taste pretty good. Chocolate Ensure is like a thin milkshake in a handy little bottle. The only downside is that the second ingredient is sugar. The third? Corn syrup.
• Organic pureed soups in a box are also surprisingly good.
• Despite my love of mashed potatoes, no amount of butter can make them satisfying four meals in a row.
• Chocolate pudding is very easy to make from scratch. I chose a recipe from Simply Recipes because it didn’t require a double boiler, and with an egg involved, I convinced myself eating two cups in one sitting helped my protein intake.
• Do not schedule wisdom tooth extractions before major food-related holidays. Today should have involved a chicken finger sub, but instead I nibbled on some boiled dumplings.
• No amount of painkillers could make The Watchmen seem like a good movie. All I wanted to see was a giant squid attack.
• It’s difficult to focus on reading post-extraction, but I was able to get some design work done. You can see the redesign of my personal website at mocahill.com.

Undergoing major oral surgery is bad enough, but tomorrow also happens to be a big potluck at work. I’m lucky to have a number of colleagues that are avid home cooks, so the fact I will be unable to consume any of their dishes is a culinary tragedy. There is a regional theme, so I made a batch of Irish cream cookies as the boiled foods of my homeland aren’t the best crowd pleasers.

I’ll see you on the flip side, AD readers. If I believed in a higher power, I’d ask you to pray for me, but instead, just eat a whole lot of crunchy, spicy food on my behalf.

I had an intense smoked meat sandwich today from a new Brooklyn delicatessen called Mile End. The options for the sandwich are not a choice of meat varieties but a choice of fat level: lean, medium, or fatty. It was a delicious, heart-stopping, and slightly overpriced meal that drove me to finally join the gym this evening. And yet, I don’t regret my lunch choice because I’ve been enjoying lighter vegetarian meals the rest of the week.

A prime example is the butternut squash pasta I made on Sunday. It was easy to make and it used almost five ingredients, but a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese put it over the top. I’m placing it under my “Five Ingredients” category anyway because the amount of cheese is minimal enough to count as a seasoning.

Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
-1 medium butternut squash
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 tbs. fresh sage, finely chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 lb. pasta
-2 tbs. olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Parmesan cheese to taste

1) Pre-heat the oven to 400°.

2) Peel and cut the butternut squash into 1″ by 1″ cubes. Toss the cubes in a bowl with 1 tbs. olive oil and pour onto a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender.

3) While the squash is roasting, add the remaining tablespoon of oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic until fragrant (about thirty seconds) and add the onion. Cook until tender, stirring often. Add the sage and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat.

4) Cook the pasta according to box directions. Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.

5) When the squash is done roasting, add to the skillet, return to medium heat, and stir often for one to two minutes. Add the cooked pasta, pasta water, and stir.

6) Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese to taste.

After a weekend of parties, movies, and a trip to Teddy Roosevelt’s house in Oyster Bay, I spent Monday winding things down and preparing for the week. As I was cleaning items out of the refrigerator in the morning, I discovered that I had a pound of unused carrots on the bottom shelf. I turned to the New York Times’ Recipes for Health, where recipes are broken down by main ingredient and, as the title of the website section suggests, they’re good for you.

A pureed carrot soup looked like a perfect option. I had most of the ingredients on hand, and other than peeling and chopping two pounds of carrots, preparation was simple. You can find the recipe here and some photos from my adventure after the jump.

Make sure to leave ample time for peeling and chopping, or employ the help of a friend or significant other. This soup can be a team effort.

After sauteing my onion and carrots, I added vegetable broth instead of water. I think it added a lot of flavor, but if I were to make it again, I would go low-sodium.

Once the soup simmers for thirty minutes, you’ll be able to see how the addition of the abborio rice helps to thicken the broth. Here’s the soup pre-hand blender.

You can use a hand blender, regular blender, or food mill to puree the soup, but the hand blender comes highly recommended. It’s so easy to use and dishwasher safe (most of the time). It took the soup from from chunky to potage in about fifteen seconds.

To complete my meal, I made an SAT: sprout, avocado, and tomato sandwich. Overall, a healthy, vegetable-filled dinner for one (with plenty of leftover soup for freezing).

December was a month of gluttony. Dozens upon dozens of cookies were laid to waste by my holiday appetite, and honestly, I don’t regret a single peanut butter blossom or cornflake wreath cookie. Food and family are what the season is all about for me, and if I can’t spend a few weeks a year consuming all manner of fattening treats without guilt, what’s the point of Christmas?

The only downside to this indulgence is that my clothes are not quite fitting like they should, and I can’t afford to purchase a new wardrobe if I gain a few more pounds. In response, I decided to get back to healthy meals by following the simple rules set forth by Michael Pollan: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” A roasted vegetable wrap featuring beets, turnips, arugula, hummus, and more seemed like the perfect fit—a recreation of a wrap I had a few weeks before at Angelica Kitchen in the East Village—and it kept well for leftovers throughout the week. 

Roasted Beet Wrap
Makes 4 servings
-4 medium beets
-3 turnips
-1 medium zucchini
-1 cup sprouts
-4 cups arugula
-1 cup hummus
-4 whole wheat wraps
-Dill pickles to taste
-1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
-1 tbs. olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste
*Turnips and zucchini can be switched out for vegetables of your choice.

1) Preheat oven to 400°.

2) Wash and dry the beets, then loosely wrap them in aluminum foil in groups of three. Place them on a baking sheet covered with foil and roast for 1 hour.

3) During the first half-hour of roasting, wash, peel, and cut the turnips into 1″ cubes. Cut the zucchini into 1″ cubes as well.

4) Toss the turnips and zucchini in a bowl with 1 tbs. olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Once the beets have been roasting for a half-hour, spread the zucchini and turnips on the beet baking sheet and place the back in the oven. Roast for the remaining half-hour or until the vegetables are tender.

5) Once the beets have cooled down a bit, peel them by rubbing the skin off with your fingers (you may want to wear and apron and gloves). Remove the tops of the beets and cut into cubes, then place them in a bowl and toss with balsamic vinegar.

6) Allow the vegetables to cool until they are just a bit warm and start to construct your wrap (the amounts are up to you, but I use the following proportions). Spread 1/4 cup hummus on the wrap, then top with 1 cup of arugula, 1/3 cup roasted vegetables, a sprinkling of sprouts, and 5-6 dill pickle chips. Wrap them up, slice in half, and serve.

After a month of limited cooking, it felt good to make my shopping list, grab my reusable canvas bags like a true Park Sloper, and head out to the market for the ingredients for a mushroom ragu. My first recipe of 2010 is not a complicated one, but it is a satisfying, simple dish that reheats well the next day. It can also be doubled (or tripled) to serve as a layer in a vegetarian lasagna.

Before I get to the recipe though, I want to do a quick follow-up on my New Years resolutions. I admit I have not brought my lunch to work this week and I have not written in my journal since Monday. However, I’ve made dinner four nights and I made an appointment to have my wisdom teeth removed. (Can you hear the joy in my prose?) If you have any suggestions for good post-wisdom tooth removal recipes, I’d love to hear them. Now, on to the recipe.

Mushroom Ragu
Makes 2 sizable servings
-8 oz white or cremini mushrooms (or a mix of both), cut into 8ths
-1 small yellow onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 12oz can diced tomatoes (with liquid)
-1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
-2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
-2 tbs. olive oil
-Dash of cinnamon
-Dash of sugar
-Salt and pepper to taste

1) Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, stirring often. Add the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds.

2) Add the diced tomatoes, thyme, sugar, cinnamon, and a dash of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and then add the chicken broth. Simmer for 8-10 minutes over medium heat, or until most of the broth has evaporated and the sauce has thickened. Taste and season as desired.

3) Serve over pasta with a sprinkling of fresh Parmesan.

I have posted my New Year’s resolutions on the web since 2005, believing that if I post them in a public forum and revisit them at the end of the year, I am more likely to follow through. I’ve never accomplished every single one, but I believe I’ve completed more of them as a result.

Before I launch into a review of last year’s resolutions and provide the new list for 2010, I have to say that 2009 was the most difficult in my quarter century of existence, with months of unemployment and fighting to find freelance work taking its toll. I felt crippled creatively, devoting all of my energy to job hunting and stressing about finances, but cooking and this blog provided a welcome relief.  When I put on my headphones and entered the kitchen to cook dinner or bake, everything else fell away.

Despite its hardships, I ended 2009 in a good place (particularly with the holidays). I’m employed full time and doing work that I enjoy, my love life is back on track, and I also love where I live. Things can only go up from here.

2009 Resolution Review:
1. Find a job in this lovely financial meltdown: Done. Both freelance work and my current full time employment.
2. Post on Apartment Dining once every two days, post on my personal blog once a week: Well, I posted here three times a week for a good stretch, but definitely not on my personal blog. I wrote four posts there all year.
3. Finally send out some work to publications. I really have no excuse at this point: Submitted to a handful of publications, but nothing was accepted.
4. Be more conscious of spending and increase balance in my savings account: I was very conscious of spending, but didn’t have much left over to put in my savings account.
5. Once finances stabilize, take another writing class and make sure it’s an actual workshop, not reading work aloud once a week: Finances didn’t stabilize (and still haven’t completely).
6. Related to #5: take a cooking class: Again, no stable finances.
7. Increase overall creative output: Done.
8. Read more, both fiction and food writing: Done.
9. Explore more of Brooklyn: Well, I moved to another part of Brooklyn, so mission accomplished.
10. If finances improve, take a real vacation: Again with the finances. I was so optimistic last January.

Resolutions for 2010
1. Continue to increase creative output, and if enough suitable work is ready, submit to at least two publications per month.
2. Maintain a daily journal.
3. Increase the balance in my savings account.
4. Take care of myself, both physically and mentally. This means regular check-ups at the doctor and maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
5. Attend more cultural events in New York.
6. Go on a culinary adventure at least once a month.
7. Cook dinner or have leftovers four days a week. Related: Bring lunch to work four days a week.
8. Post here at least twice a week, ideally three times a week.
9. Redesign my personal website.
10. Go on weekend adventures. Montreal? Jersey? Boston? Anything’s game.

To help ring in the New Year, I’ve posted a few of my favorite photos from the holidays after the jump. You can see the full album in my Flickr set.

The roommates at our holiday party:

Erin’s Spritz cookies:

The morning after the party/blizzard:

My mother’s baklava cookies:

The Christmas Eve table at my mother’s in the Adirondacks:

The toppings of the Peppermint Stick Roll from Friendly’s are precious:

My sister on Christmas morning:

Cake at my Aunt Pam’s on Christmas:

The Christmas dinner table at Aunt Pam’s:

The Cahill cousins (plus two significant others, but I bet you can’t pick them out of this line-up):

An ornament on Alison and Nick’s tree on New Years Eve:

A deer on their side table:

Ramsey and I:

Alison counting it down: