Split Pea Soup

I posted about this split pea soup back in February and have been thinking about it ever since. I loved this soup. It has a clean, fresh taste about it that is hard to describe. T. is still convinced that I have put some ham or bacon in it. I swear I haven't. The only non vegetarian thing that I have done to this is to add chicken stock for some of the water.

I found this recipe on Heidi Swanson's blog 101 Cookbooks. If you haven't checked it out before check it out now. She is a vegetarian so all of her recipes are without meat but the substitutions she makes are incredible. Very well rounded vegetarian meals!


Vegetarian Split Pea Soup (Heidi of 101 Cookbooks)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped (I added 3 cloves of garlic as well)
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 cups dried split green peas, picked over and rinsed
5 cups water (I substituted 3 cup of the water with homemade chicken stock)
juice of 1/2 lemon (reserve the zest)

a few pinches of smoked paprika
more olive oil to drizzle

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and salt and cook until the onions soften, just a minute or two. Add the split peas and water. Bring to a boil, dial down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through (but still a touch al dente). Using a large cup or mug ladle half of the soup into a bowl and set aside. Using a hand blender (or regular blender) puree the soup that is still remaining in the pot. Stir the reserved (still chunky) soup back into the puree - you should have a soup that is nicely textured. If you need to thin the soup out with more water (or stock) do so a bit at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and taste. If the soup needs more salt, add more a bit at a time until the flavor of the soup really pops.

Ladle into bowls or cups, and serve each drizzled with olive oil and topped with a good pinch of smoked paprika and a touch of lemon zest.

Serves 4 to 6.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

www.nofearentertaining.com

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Alex Plank with Aspergers Does Not Want To Be Cured But He Does Not Speak for My Son with Autistic Disorder

The major media is again featuring a high functioning person with Aspergers who claims that autistics don't want to be cured. In the Chicago Tribune.com Alex Plank offers the anti-cure ideology promoted by Jim Sinclair, Michelle Dawson and Amanda Baggs, all very high functioning persons with pervasive developmental disorders which are often casually referred to as autism spectrum disorders. Mr. Plank according to the article " has a girlfriend and is interested in computers, writing and acting." So why should Mr. Plank want to be cured? I am not sure how or why Mr. Plank, or family members, sought and obtained his pervasive developmental disorder diagnosis. Given his own self description it is hard to see why he was even diagnosed in the first place but he certainly is not qualified to make the statements about autistics not wanting to be cured.

Mr. Plank according to the Tribune article:

1. Is a college student and founder of a Web Community.
2. He has a girlfriend and is interested in computers, writing and acting.
3. Had friends and had no problem with eye contact or socialization.

Given the above description I can understand why Mr. Plank would not want to be cured although I am not sure what he could be cured of since it sounds like he is an ordinary functioning individual.

What Mr. Plank is not is a person with Autistic Disorder with profound developmental delays like my son. Unlike Mr. Plank my son does have problems with language and has cognitive challenges. He can not function in the world without 24/7 supervision. Occasionally he bites himself and he has put his hands through windows and smashed holes in walls. He does not understand all the dangers of everyday life like automobile traffic and he will not be able, like the fortune blessed Mr. Plank, to live an independent life with girlfriends, college and computers.

Mr. Plank though is offended that parents like me talk about the harsh realities faced by our severely autistic children because it makes him uncomfortable as an "autistic". He is also offended that parents seek treatment and cure for their own children which, given Mr. Plank's good fortune are almost assuredly more severely disabled than he. Mr. Plank, by his own self description, does not face the severe challenges that are faced by many autistic people with actual Autistic Disorder. He should be thankful for his blessings and quit posing as a spokesperson for all "autistics".

Mr. Plank, Michelle Dawson, Amanda Baggs, Jim Sinclair and other very high functioning persons at the upper end of the "autism spectrum" should be thankful for their blessings and stop attacking parents trying to help their own children. No one wants to cure you Alex, stop trying to keep my son and other persons with Autistic Disorder down so that you can feel better about the "autistic" label you have embraced.

autism

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Deborah Coyne - Time Overdue To Put Autism On The National Agenda

Deborah Coyne has joined the Medicare for Autism Now team and will be one of the speakers when the team visits Oakville, Ontario on April 19, 2008 as part of a national initiative that will include speakers from BC to Toronto to New Brunswick. (AutismRealityNB will also be there).

Deborah has spent her life engaged in public policy work. She is a lawyer, university professor, constitutional activist, public servant, writer, small businessperson and the mother of two children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. She has often been at the centre of the great public debates of our times -she became a leading figure actively engaged in the constitutional debates that unfolded involving the Meech Lake Accord and the referendum on the Charlottetown Accord. She is currently a policy analyst with an international consulting practice.

Deborah has also started a blog site Canadians Without Borders On the future of our great country, the challenges we face and what lies beyond the horizon . Yesterday was World Autism Awareness Day and Deborah wasted no time weighing in on the subject of Canada's need for a national autism strategy in Time overdue to put autism on the national agenda Medicare for the twenty-first century. I encourage everyone to add Deborah's blog to their blogrolls or blog links. Deborah's blog will be a source of well informed, quality, legal and policy perspectives on a number of important issues including a National Autism Strategy to ensure the proper effective treatment and education of all autistic Canadians - wherever they live in Canada.

It is now beyond debate that the most effective type of autism treatment is Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) – something which involves intensive one-on-one assistance to parents and their ASD child at the earliest possible age. ABA is an enormously valuable and justifiable investment in a huge and growing number of young persons who have a great deal to contribute to society and who need not be a heavy burden on the health care system as they grow older.

Provinces do try to meet the needs of ASD children, but in a haphazard ad hoc way generally through social services mainly for respite and support, not medical treatment. And much depends on the uneven ability of parents to access the necessary funding and services available. Only Alberta has complied with a court order requiring the province to fully fund the appropriate medical treatment for autism - ABA intervention - through the health care system.

Effective autism treatment of course impacts both health care and education. We need not only the investment in people to provide the services through the health care system – ABA specialists, speech therapists, child psychologists etc – but also the investment in the people needed to provide the services in the education system, notably one-on-one teachers’ assistants.

autism

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Farmer's Market and dinner last week!

Red Leaf Lettuce, tomatoes, onion, yellow beans, zucchini, scallions, radishes, cilantro, cucumbers, tomatillo's, cucumbers and a huge honkin' eggplant!!!

My week is all messed up now. I am no longer going to the Wednesday Farmer's Market but am now going to a Thursday one that is just in downtown Fort Myers. The location is much closer and the produce is good but not great like the other one...I can't wait until the fall. See everything is completely opposite here! In our hot, hot, hot summers nothing can grow so all of the Farmer's Market close up and we don't see them until the fall again! I am not even finding any of the bitter greens that I was making soup with. I guess it is salad time! I am really loving the nice, tender leaves of the red leaf lettuce. We planted some in a planter box so we'll see if this box planting is successful!

On Sunday T. decided to cook dinner for us. This used to happen all of the time but now I am doing all of the cooking so it was kind of nice just to chill with my wine while my meal was being cooked for me!


He had decided to make Spinach and Cheese Ravioli's (from Costco - picturing me hanging my head in shame!) with a creamy pesto sauce. Yummmm. How could I argue that!

He used up the last of the frozen basil pesto that I had made and added heavy cream and at the end added fresh tomatoes. He topped it with purple and green basil (from our planter boxes) and fresh Parmesan. The raviolis were incredible. If you have a Costco near you need to look for these! Normally I never use processed foods but these were made with organic spinach, eggs and semolina flour. As for the rest of the ingredients I could pronounce and identify everything listed!

This made for a nice quick no mess meal! Great for a Sunday!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon World Autism Awareness Day Comments

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the courage of children with autism and their families on the historic first World Autism Awareness Day as reported on AP:

"Let us pay tribute to the courage of children with autism and their families, as they strive every day to confront the disability with a powerful combination of determination, creativity and hope. Let us empower them and respond to their needs today, so as to make our societies more accessible, enabling and empowering for all our children tomorrow."

autism

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Coming Out of the Dark: Chocolate Blackout Cake

As I was shopping at my local Whole Food's Grocery store, I was inspired to bake after coming across their beautiful bakery case. The case was filled with scrumptious looking fruit tarts, fluffy layer cakes, deep chocolate brownies... it was enough for me to hit the kitchen and bake something myself. The question was, what should I bake? Looking at the random ingredients I had on hand and stashed away, it became clear the thing to make was Brooklyn Chocolate Blackout Cake.

I decided to adapt the recipe from The Best of America's Test Kitchen: Best Recipes & Reviews 2008 (pg 62). This chocolate layer cake is unique in that the chocolate pudding filling doubles as frosting and the entire cake is covered in reserved chocolate cake crumbs. Heavenly! Here's the recipe... enjoy!

Chocolate Blackout Cake
adapted from ATK
serves 10 to 12

Pudding:
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups half & half
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cake:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
(I used cake flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
(I used extra dark cocoa powder)
1 cup brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE PUDDING
1. Cook the granulated sugar,, chocolate, half & half, milk, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat, whisking occassionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture begins to buble, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Transfer the pudding to a large bowl and refrigerate, with plastic wrap pressed flush against to surface, until cold and set, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

FOR THE CAKE
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8"inch cake pans. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the cocoa and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Off the heat, whisk in the coffee, buttermilk, and sugars until dissolved. Whisk in the flour mixture. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and smooth with a spatula.
2. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean, 30 to 35 mintes, rotating the cake pans halfway through baking. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack. Cool the cakes to room temperature before frosting, at least 1 hour.

TO ASSEMBLE
1. Using a large serrated knife, slice each cake into 2 even layers. Crumble 1 cake layer into medium crumbs and set aside. Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or cardboard round. Spread 1 cup of the pudding over the cake layer and top with another layer. Repeat with 1 cup more pudding and the last cake layer. Spread the remaining pudding evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the cake crumbs evenly over the top and sides of the cake, pressing lightly to adhere the crumbs. Slice and serve.

WARNING
This cake is extremely dense, creamy and rich. Be sure to have coffee or a glass of cold milk on hand!

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Life's Luxuries

I'm quite a happy camper these days as I've started working from home a few days a week. It's been a luxury to be able to go to the kitchen and whip up breakfast & lunch instead of deciding on where to eat while I'm at the office. Given this, I've had fun making meals. For lunch today, I made Chicken Marsala over brown rice.

Yesterday's lunch was a simple caprese tortellini w/asparagus:1 1/2 cups dried cheese filled tortellini, cooked
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
handful fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
handful grape tomatoes, chopped
handful of asparagus, blanched & chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (unfiltered italian)

Drizzle the olive oil over the hot, cooked tortellini.
Add remaining ingredients and toss.
Serve hot.

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