Rock of Ages...

By now, it should be clear from my body of work here at "The State I Am In," that I love musical theater. I think I may just love movie musicals even more, because you can watch them from the comfort of your own home whenever you want, and the production values are usually better. The need for Hollywood star-power sometimes means that the quality of the singing is often less than one typically finds in a live-theater production (I'm looking at you, Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia!, or you, Gerard Butler in Phantom of the Opera), but I'm usually willing to overlook that shortcoming.

Hence, it should come as no surprise that I would head out to the movie theater to catch Rock of Ages, especially after I was entertained, but not blown away by the stage version earlier this month. Even then, I was eager to compare it to the film, since I was not impressed with the staging of the version I saw, and thought it would be better with a bigger budget. 

For the most part, I was correct in my suspicion that the movie would be better. The script underwent serious changes from the original, including a complete revision of the story's villain. Instead of foreign real estate developers hungry to turn the Sunset Strip into a shopping mall, the film envisions the Strip under siege by 1980s "Moral Majority" political crusaders, led by Catherine Zeta-Jones. The change, I felt, was a good one, and the shuffling of musical numbers that accompanied it made little impact on the flow of the story. Besides, anyone who has seen the film version of Chicago (for which Zeta-Jones won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award), knows that Catherine Zeta-Jones was practically made for movie musicals. 

Unfortunately, the main storyline of Rock of Ages, the love story between aspiring singers Sherrie and Drew, was as forgettable as it was in the original stage version. Plus, the song "Oh Sherrie" was cut from the film, which was the entire reason the character was named that in the first place. The producers would have been better off cutting the entire character.

Much more interesting is the relationship between club-owner Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) and his employee Lonny (Russell Brand) who support one another through the difficulties faced by the club and end up finding unexpected love in the process. However, the best part of the entire film is the performance of Tom Cruise, whose dark, nuanced interpretation of rock icon Stacee Jaxx seems like it stepped out of an entirely differently film. Whereas the rest of Rock of Ages is a fluffy, pop confection perfect for light, summer entertainment, Cruise's turn as Stacee is almost disturbing in its intensity. It alone makes the film worth seeing, and it made me want to see a rock bio-pic with Tom Cruise in the lead role. 

I didn't go into Rock of Ages expecting brilliance, and I wasn't disappointed. Still, the film was quite enjoyable, if you manage your expectations properly. Plus, it doesn't hurt if you're a huge fan of movie musicals as a genre...

Piece of Cake...

As if all of the baking, cooking, and fussing in the kitchen in preparation for last week's baby shower wasn't enough, I signed up to take on this week's Cake Day at work. I've probably shirked my duties in that regard, as I don't think I've done one since April, when I used the leftover frosting from my birthday cake to top a store-bought mix, and called it a day. It wasn't quite up to my usual standards, but I didn't want that frosting to go to waste, and I didn't have the time to bake a whole new cake.

To make up for my perceived shortcomings last time, I decided to go all out with an elaborately frosted, completely made-from-scratch creation. For a recipe, I chose the maple walnut cake with maple cream cheese frosting that I had been considering for my birthday. Though it came with its own frosting recipe, I was eager to use the maple cream cheese frosting I discovered when I celebrated my blogiversary with carrot cake last year. I usually don't care much for cream cheese frosting, but this one won me over, and I was eager to see what else I could put it on besides carrot cake, and carrot cake sandwich cookies.

I was a little concerned about baking the cake itself, since my oven continues to cook inconsistently, though I haven't had another incident with it completely losing power. The cake's already long bake time of 50 minutes took nearly 65 minutes in my oven, though I started checking it at about 35 minutes because the commenters on Bon Appétit's website said that their cakes had cooked much faster than the originally specified time.

The cakes turned out rather dense, which I attribute to being made with a liquid sweetener. Usually, when you bake a cake using the creaming method, you cream together the sugar and the butter until the mixture is light and fluffy. This action causes the sugar to carve thousands of tiny holes into the butter, which form the seeds for the chemical leavers to expand those tiny pockets of gas into a light and fluffy crumb. Without granulated sugar to do that, the cake came out more dense, though it still rose.

Despite the seemingly enormous quantity of maple syrup in the cake, it wasn't overwhelming sweet. In fact, the maple flavor was subtle, though it certainly came through. I thought the walnuts were a perfect accent as well, though I've yet to meet a dessert that wasn't improved by the addition of nuts. The flavor combination actually reminded me of Maple Nut Goodies, the retro candies from Brach's that I used to share bags of with my mom when I was growing up. That connection alone would probably be enough for me to love this cake.

My beloved maple cream cheese frosting also went perfectly with the cake, though Justin found the combination of the frosting with the dense cake to be a little rich for his taste. It was very well-received by my coworkers as well, though there might have been something to Justin's richness theory, as everyone was content with a single slice.

Overall, I wish I'd made this cake for my birthday instead of the snickerdoodle-inspired confection that I ultimately chose. That cake was good, but this one was better, and the frosting was better by a long shot. I'm not sure when I'll have an opportunity to make this again, but I will certainly keep it in mind for special occasions to come. 

Maple Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from Bon Appétit

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, at room temperature

2 c. pure maple syrup

3 large egg yolks

1 large egg

1 1/4 c. whole milk

1 c. walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1 recipe maple cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Butter two 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper; butter parchment. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Sift 3 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and shortening in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolks and egg 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions. Fold in walnuts. Divide batter equally between prepared pans (about 3 1/2 cups for each); smooth tops.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes. Run small knife around sides of cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto racks; remove parchment. Cool cakes completely before assembling and frosting.

Family Ties...

Traditions have always been very important to me, whether they are habits that you observe with a friend, drawing on shared memories to renew a sense of closeness, or long-established family rituals that create unity through a sense of common identity. My love of tradition is why I trek to Daley Plaza in the cold every December to take a photo with Lisa in front of the municipal Christmas tree; why I continue to bake "S" cookies for my father, even though few people truly enjoy eating them besides him; why I join Sarah for girls' nights at La Madia at least once at month; and why I pull Justin aside next to a particular vending machine at the Roosevelt El Station whenever we happen to find ourselves there in order to reenact our first kiss. The traditions I choose to uphold are a vital part of who I am.

Now that I'm becoming more of a part of Justin's family, I find myself in the position of observing a whole new set of traditions. Today, for example, I joined Justin's family for their annual apricot dumpling party, after I nagged him into picking up some of the fruits on sale at a store near our house. He and his sisters gathered early for a full-day of dumpling-making with his grandma.

Lizzie and Carrie boiling dumplings and toasting breadcrumbs, respectively.

The dumplings, known as marillenknödel in German, are an Austrian specialty, and a favorite of Justin's entire family. In his family's version, a complete apricot is wrapped in a dough make with mashed potatoes (it's not as weird as it sounds -- remember that some hamburger buns are made with potatoes and they're perfectly light and fluffy), boiled, and rolled in breadcrumbs that have been toasted in butter. When they are ready to eat, they are cut open, the pit is removed, and they are given a generous sprinkling of sugar. The apricot brings its assertive sweet-tart flavor to the mix, while the toasted breadcrumbs add a nice textural contrast. With sufficient sugar, they make a very nice dessert.

The finished product.

Apricots are never going to be my favorite fruit the way they are for Justin and most of his family. It was still fun though, to try one of Justin's most beloved dishes and share the experience with his family. Even if I never love apricots, I can certainly get behind adopting apricot dumplings as a new tradition in my life.

A Skewer Runs Through It...

Justin and I are settling in to life with our new Weber grill quite comfortably. Last weekend, we used it to make some simple brats, corn on the cob, and a marinated pork tenderloin that came out perfectly cooked. We worked out some kinks with our chimney starter (a more eco-friendly way to get the coals going that forgoes the traditional lighter fluid method), and learned heat management techniques through trial and error. Another visit to Home Depot netted us a fire extinguisher, which has greatly increased Justin's grill confidence, even though we hope to never need it.

Tonight, we thought we'd put kebabs to the test, using a recipe that employed both chicken and Italian sausage, because encased meats automatically make any dinner better. I was hoping that the chicken, which we marinated overnight in a combination of rosemary, olive oil, and garlic, would share some of the characteristics of the pork tenderloin I made last weekend, which has all of the same ingredients. Mom has been making that tenderloin for years, and it's long been a family favorite, so I was hoping to capture some of its magic albeit in a different context.

As it turned out, I should have just used the same marinade, as this one was surprisingly bland, given its components. I'm not sure how something so similar could have gone so far astray, but the chicken was practically flavorless, aside from the smoky quality imparted by the grill. I was also underwhelmed by the sweet Italian sausage, which I had used because the recipe called for it, despite the fact that we universally use hot Italian sausage in the other dishes we prepare in our household.

Between each piece of meat went a fresh sage leaf, which was the instruction of which I was most skeptical. Sage can be a very dominant flavor, and I was concerned that it would overpower the duo of meats. In reality, the sage was actually the part of the dish that worked the best, as it imparted a touch of extra herbal flavor without being too much.

We also could have made a better selection with our choice of vehicle for getting the meat onto the grill. We used bamboo skewers, soaked in water for about an hour before grilling, because that was what we had on hand. The soaking was supposed to keep the skewers from catching fire and burning, but the technique didn't work for us, and some of our wood disintegrated on the grill. Next time, we'll know to procure some fire-resistant metal skewers.

I still think there's some merit to the idea of a mixed grill using flavorful marinated chicken and juicy pork sausage. When I get around to making the appropriate tweaks to my technique, I'll be sure to keep you posted on the resulting recipe...

Bringing Up Baby...

Everyone kept warning me that I was on the cusp of entering a time in my life when all of my vacation time and disposable income would be spent going to weddings, and I didn't believe them. My group of friends, so it seemed, didn't seem to be in any rush to make it to the altar. Suddenly, however, I heard that three of my friends had gotten engaged within a span of four months, and we received news of a family wedding as well. It's official -- I'm in my mid-to-late 20s.

After the wave of weddings passes, it will only be a matter of time until the next round starts: baby showers. If you think about it, it's unfair how much disparity there is between the money men have to spend on celebrating their friend's life choices, and how much women spend.  Men throw bachelor parties and have to rent a tux to be a groomsman, but tuxedo rentals can't possibly compare to the expense of buying a hideous dress that will only be worn once, matching shoes, and a coif and makeup scheme to please the bride on the day of the actual ceremony. Women are also on the hook for wedding and baby shower gifts -- events that are more or less the exclusive domain of the female sex.

All complaining aside, I was actually very pleased to be able to co-host a baby shower today for my work colleague, McNulty (she goes by her last name.) She and her husband had tried to conceive for a long time, before turning to IVF treatments. Their first attempt with the IVF was successful in October of last year, and she's due to deliver a baby girl next month. If anyone deserves to have a big fuss made over her impending delivery, it's her.

I had to loan them some aprons to keep the icing off their work clothes.

My coworkers Jess and Erin partnered up with me to throw a shower for McNulty. We opted to hold it at my parents' condo, my former residence, as it was the most mutually convenient location for the various invitees, with the most plentiful parking opportunities. A Muppets theme seemed like the way to go, both because McNulty is a fan, and I could tap Mom's extensive collection of Muppets paraphernalia for use as decor. We also decided to make the event an after-work potluck, for the ease and convenience of everyone involved.

Jess, Erin, and I worked during the week to decorate cookies for the event. McNulty had expressed her preference for no pastel colors on multiple occasions, so we opted for an unconventional palette of green, purple, and white, which tied into the bright, multicolored Muppets theme. Though it was hard for me to give up control when it came to the cookie decorating (my perfectionism dies hard when it comes to baking), we had a great time working on the project together.

I also contributed a fruit salad, and the now-famous guacamole that is somehow becoming my signature dish this summer. I'm a little bewildered as to how I've managed to become so skilled at making a dish I can't stand to eat, but at least it seems to make people happy, which is all that matters. Erin brought the chips to go with it, along with some extra salsa, and Jess made one of those crazy punch concoctions that involve soda, sherbet, and flavored ice cubes that one generally only finds at events like baby and wedding showers.

The remainder of our office clique showed up to celebrate McNulty's new addition, along with one of her former coworkers. It was a small, intimate gathering, focused mostly on eating, gabbing, and opening gifts, though we did complete a crossword puzzle that Erin had made containing trivia about the mother and father-to be. (McNulty has an aversion to the traditional games played at baby showers that range from the humiliating, i.e. guess the circumference of pregnant woman's belly, to the disgusting, i.e. identify the melted candy bar that's been placed in a baby diaper. Frankly, who can blame her?)

McNulty and her husband Dan, opening a Spiderman dish set -- Dan is a huge fan.

Together, we had a lovely evening. I wouldn't say I'm eager for another one of my friends to turn up pregnant so I can have the chance to host another baby shower, but I was happy to celebrate this occasion. I do enjoy the occasional opportunity for entertaining, and I'm glad that tonight's affair turned out so well.

Tally Me Banana...

No matter how much kitchen experience I accumulate, no matter now many new techniques and new recipes I get under my belt, there are certain dishes that continue to elude me. I can make an excellent panini, for instance, but I can't seem to tackle a humble grilled cheese sandwich. I've never been able to make a decent stack of pancakes; they're either burnt on the outside and raw on the inside, or anemic all over and dried out. I've also never baked a decent loaf of banana bread.

I've tried many recipes over the years, including my mother's, which my friend Sarah fondly recalls from our shared childhood, but for some reason, whenever I try to replicate Mom's banana bread, it always comes out dry. Every recipe I try seems to have it's own problem -- too dry, moist to the point of being wet, lack of concentrated banana flavor -- you name it. Still, I'm reluctant to give up on banana bread the way that I have with pancakes (I've completely outsourced pancake cookery to Justin along with most breakfast foods). Not only is banana bread delicious, but it also provides a vehicle for disposing of uneaten fruit, and I always seem to run out of steam halfway through a bunch of bananas.

Lately, I've been craving a warm, comforting slice of banana bread, so I went out and purposely bought more bananas than I knew we could eat, and bided my time until they inevitably started to turn blackish-brown. For a recipe, I turned to Cook's Illustrated, who seldom let me down in baking matters, though I do prefer the famous chocolate chip cookie recipe from the New York Times to their brown-butter version. Given that their recipes are often overly fussy and complicated, this banana bread wasn't any more difficult to assemble than your standard loaf.

Even so, I think I went astray when I was making it. Wise bakers will tell you not to overwork a quick-bread dough, and I did just that. Instead of just barely folding the wet ingredients into the dry, I was forced to stir and stir again, as every subsequent agitation of the dough revealed a new, unincorporated pocket of flour. Unsurprisingly, I ended up with a loaf that was rubbery and tough.

The flavor of the banana bread was good, and it was sufficiently moist without being soggy. Aside from the texture (which I firmly believe was my own fault), my only complaint was that it could have used more nuts. Then again, I tend to think that about most desserts, so I've altered the recipe to reflect my own personal taste. I'm not ready to write off this recipe just yet. After all, it was still quite tasty after a brief trip through the microwave, complete with a slathering of butter. I have hope that this recipe has brought me one step closer to the end of my banana bread quest. With a little less stirring, I may just have a perfect banana bread...

Best Banana Bread

adapted from Cook's Illustrated

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 c. toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

3 very ripe bananas, soft, darkly speckled, mashed well (about 1 1/2 c.)

1/3 c. plain yogurt

2 large eggs, beaten lightly

6  tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Grease bottom only of regular (not nonstick) 9-by-5 inch loaf pan, or grease and flour bottom and sides of nonstick 9-by-5-inch loaf pan; set aside.

2. Combine first five (flour through walnuts, if using) ingredients together in large bowl; set aside.

3. Mix mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with wooden spoon in medium bowl.

4. Lightly fold banana mixture into dry ingredients with rubber spatula until just combined and batter looks thick and chunky–it might look at first like there is too much dry ingredients and not enough liquid, but don’t fret! It will come together, just keep folding gently but consistently. Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan.

5. Bake until loaf is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 55 minutes to an hour. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

The Big Chill...

It's no secret that I am no fan of hot weather. My gas bill in the winter is always lower than my electric bill in the summer because I prefer to keep my home approximately the same temperature year-round, and that temperature is on the chilly side. I figure it all evens out eventually.

With the forecast calling for another scorching, humid weekend here in Chicago the next couple days, I decided to do my part to beat the heat -- I would make another icy cold batch of sorbet. Sure, I still have some of that blackberry-lime sorbet in the freezer from last week, but for me, that was a bit of a failed experiment. Justin may have loved the tart, citrus-dominated flavors of that particular frozen treat, but I was still in the market for something that would appeal to my palate.

When I got an email from Mom announcing a 99-cent sale on apricots at the market near her house, I knew I had found my answer. She had passed along the information because Justin's grandma likes to make a wide array of apricot desserts, from apricot dimple cake, to whole apricot-filled dumplings, to homemade apricot preserves to use in other desserts, such as Sachertorte. Every summer, she asks her family to look for them on sale for her, so she can stock up for the rest of the year, and last year, we struggled to find them at an acceptable price. In fact, I'd been monitoring their price so far this year, and hadn't spotted anything under $2.99 per pound.

Aside from nagging Justin to pick up some fruit for his grandma, this year I actually wanted some apricots for myself. Given Justin's deeply-rooted love for apricots, I knew that I wanted to give apricot sorbet a try, since being made into sorbet improves pretty much any fruit. (Even lime was better as a sorbet, just not enough so that I wanted to eat it; some aversions die hard.) So I had Mom pick some up for me, and I used them today to whip up David Lebovitz's simple recipe from The Perfect Scoop.

Though I generally avoid cooked fruit sorbets in favor of quickly whirring everything together in a blender and churning it, this apricot sorbet turned out quite well. I might have preferred just a touch more sugar, as the sweet-tart nature of apricots has never really appealed to me, but the texture of the finished product was smooth and almost creamy.

More importantly, my resident apricot enthusiast enjoyed it. The fruit flavor was pronounced, and received his stamp of approval. I think peach sorbet will always be my favorite, but I'll hang on to this apricot recipe in case I find a good deal on apricots in the future and want to do something nice for my man. 

Apricot Sorbet

adapted from David Lebovitz

2 lbs. squishy-ripe fresh apricots (about 10-15)

1 c. water

1 c. sugar

3 drops vanilla extract

Split the apricots in half, remove the pits, and cut each half into thirds. Combine the apricot wedges and water in a medium nonreactive saucepan and cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Once cool, puree the mixture in a food processor or blender until smooth. Taste a spoonful and if there are any small fibers, press the puree through a mesh strainer. Stir in the almond or vanilla extract. Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.