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Irish Soda Bread

I hate dealing with yeast bread, so back in college when I needed to make a whole bunch of bread fast I started making this delicious Irish Soda Bread. You can literally have a loaf done in an hour if you’ve got your ingredients together. I almost always use cranberries, but you can experiment with anything you want. 

Ingredients

4 c flour
2.5 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
dash salt
1 egg
2 c buttermilk
8oz cranberries

Prep

Pre-heat oven to 375°
Grease a standard cake plate or bread pan

Process

Mix all the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then mix them together into a dough, then mix in the cranberries. It’s admittedly much easier to mix the cranberries into the dry ingredients first, so if you’re lazy you can do that, just know that your cranberries will wind up with some flour in their nooks and crannies.

Plop the dough in the pan and bake for 50 minutes.

We’ll Meet Again

Vera Lynn

[C] We’ll meet [E7] again, don’t know [A7] where, don’t know [A+] when,
But I’m [D7] sure we’ll meet again some sun - ny day. [G] [G7]

[C] Keep smiling [E7] through, just like [A7] you always [A+] do,
‘Til the [D7] blue skies chase the dark clouds [G] far a - [C] way.

[Bridge]

So [C7] will you please say “Hello” to the [C+] folks that I know,
Tell them [F] I won’t be long,
They’ll be [D7] happy to know that when you saw me go
I was [G] sing - ing this [G7] song.

[Chorus]

Sam’s Minestrone

This is a great soup based on an exceedingly delicious creation my friend Sam made for me once. I don’t make a lot of soups, but this one is easy and always delicious. It’s completely healthy except the ravioli, which you can always switch out if you want, using just penne or removing the pasta entirely and adding extra mushrooms or something. 

Ingredients

1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1/3 lb. crimini mushrooms
1 bag spinach (4-6oz, I prefer baby)
1 container (usually 1/2 lb) ravioli or tortellini
1 can diced tomatoes (I think these come in 16oz?)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red pepper flakes OR serano peppers, 1-3 depending on how hot you want it
1 tbsp cumin
1/3 bottle cheap red wine
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Process

Cut the onion, mushrooms, and pepper into fairly large, equivalently sized pieces. Sweat the garlic and onions in olive oil for a few minutes, then add the mushrooms, peppers/flakes, and spices and cook on medium-high for another 4-5 minutes. Then add the can of tomatoes (including water) and red wine and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the ravioli and enough extra hot/boiling water so that the liquid covers everything. When the ravioli is done, add the spinach and keep on heat just long enough to wilt the spinach.

My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It

Hank Williams, Sr.

INTRO: [D] …[A7] …[D] … [D7]

[CHORUS]
Yeah my bucket’s got a [G] hole in it
Yeah my bucket’s got a [D] hole in it
Lord my bucket’s got a [A7] hole in it
I can’t buy no [D] beer.

Well I’m standin’ on a [G] corner - With a bucket in my [D] hand
I’m waitin’ for a [A7] woman - That ain’t got no [D] man.

[CHORUS]

Well, I went upon the [G] mountain - I looked down in the [D] sea
I seen the crabs and the [A7] fishes - Doin’ the be-bop-[D] bee.

[CHORUS]

Well, there ain’t no [G] use - of me workin’ so [D] hard
When I got a [A7] woman - in the boss man’s [D] yard.

[CHORUS]

Well, me and my [G] baby - we just bought a [D] Ford
And now we sit [A] together - on the running [D] board.

[CHORUS]

Carrot Cake Cookies

The original recipe for these was a vegan recipe with some substitutions (margerine, fake egg) with which I have never bothered. If you felt like frosting these, a cream cheese frosting would work great just like with carrot cake. But they’re damn good on their own, my only note being that unlike many cookies they actually taste a lot better once fully cooled.

Ingredients

1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 sticks butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups finely grated carrots (about 3 large carrots)

Process

Pre-heat oven to 350°.

With an electric mixer, cream the sugars and butter until fluffy, then mix in the eggs and vanilla. 

In another bowl, mix all dry ingredients except the carrots and oats. Mix gradually into the wet ingredients, then add the carrots and oats. 

Standard cookie practices: put spoonfuls on a baking sheet, bake for 12-15 minutes, and cool on wire racks.

Big Rock Candy Mountain

Folk Traditional (Recorded by Haywire Mac)

One [C] evening as the sun went down and the [F] jungle fire was [G] burning
Down the [C] track came a hobo hiking and he [F] said boys I’m not [G] turning
I’m [F] headin for a [C] land that’s [F] far [C] away [G] beside the crystal fountains
So [C] come with me we’ll go and see the [G] Big Rock Candy [C] Mountains

[C] In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there’s a [F] land that’s fair and [C] bright
Where the [F] handouts grow on [C] bushes and you [F] sleep out every [G] night
Where the [C] boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the [F] birds and the [C] bees and the [F] cigarette [C] trees
Where the [F] lemonade [C] springs where the [F] bluebird [C] sings
In the [G] Big Rock Candy [C] Mountains

[C] In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the [F] cops have wooden [C] legs
And the [F] bulldogs all have [C] rubber teeth and the [F] hens lay soft boiled [G] eggs
The [C] farmer’s trees are full of fruit and the [F] barns are full of [C] hay
Oh, I’m [F] bound to [C] go where there [F] ain’t no [C] snow
Where the [F] rain don’t [C] fall and the [F] wind don’t [C] blow
In the [G] Big Rock Candy [C] Mountains

[C] In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you [F] never change your [C] socks
And the [F] little streams of [C] alcohol come a- [F] trickling down the [G] rocks
The [C] brakemen have to tip their hats and the [F] railroad bulls are [C] blind
There’s a [F] lake of [C] stew and of [F] whiskey [C] too
You can [F] paddle all a- [C] round ‘em in a [F] big [C] canoe
In the [G] Big Rock Candy [C] Mountains

[C] In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the [F] jails are made of [C] tin
And [F] you can walk right [C] out again as [F] soon as you are [G] in
There [C] ain’t no short handled shovels, no [F] axes saws or [C] picks
I’m a [F] goin to [C] stay where you [F] sleep all [C] day
Where they [F] hung the [C] jerk that in- [F] vented [C] work
In the [G] Big Rock Candy [C] Mountains

I’ll [F] see you [C] all this [F] coming [C] fall in the [G] Big Rock Candy [C] Mountains

Super Easy Chocolate Soufflés

This is a ridiculously easy soufflé recipe that effectively cheats with a bit of baking powder. I don’t mind cheating when it makes the cooking vastly easier and more accessible. Please note that I will now cease using the accented e when typing soufflé.

While I suppose one could make a single large souffle, this is just the right amount to fill four rammikins for individual souffles, which of course are way awesomer. I actually use (oven-safe) Chinese rice bowls rather than rammikins, and have also tried coffee mugs and such.

I usually add rasberries or some such thing. I’ve been meaning to experiment with chocolate the same flavor as the berries I add, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Ingredients

6oz chocolate (if it’s not obvious, good chocolate is essential)
3/4 stick unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c granulated sugar
1 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
powdered sugar

Prep - Important for your timing!

Bring eggs to room temperature (easiest if you immerse them in lukewarm water)

Pre-heat oven to 350° F (175° C)

Mix/sift together flour, baking powder, salt and reserve

Melt 6oz of bittersweet chocolate with 1 stick of butter (2 minutes on medium in microwave)

Set up a water bath in a baking dish of some sort so your rammikins are sitting in an inch or so of hot or boiling water rather than on a tray

Process

Mix eggs & vanilla on high for 1 minute until they get foamy. Slowly add 1 cup granulated sugar and decrease mix speed to medium-high for another 2 minutes until it lightens to a pale yellow. Mix chocolate into egg mixture on medium. Carefully fold in flour mixture, then mix in any berries or such you might have.

Fill ramikins most of the way and bake for 35-40 minutes, basically until tops are slightly cracked but not dried out. Serve dusted with powdered sugar and any other garnish you feel like adding.

Ghostbusters Costumes

This is my proton pack. Nick and I made three of them. The best guide to do so is here, although I wired mine with a series LED array rather than the recommended incandescents, which has drastically improved my battery life. We agree with most of the default recommendations from the GBFans site, though. We wear standard military issue jumpsuits obtainable online or from most army/navy surplus shops (such as Galaxy here in nyc).

These are great costumes that got us lots of cred for years at top costume contests in nyc and boston. When we walked into the costume contest at Kresge (@MIT) a few years back, the whole auditorium went up in applause — to them we were almost as good as the real thing. People constantly shout things from “who ya gonna call????” to “duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh” [ed note: to the tune of the GB theme song] to “what’d you do with the black guy???” Down-right hilarious, I’m telling you.

Anyway, these are not-too-hard and very fun to build and will serve you for the rest of your life whenever you don’t have time to put together something new, or when your friends are lazy and want to borrow your great costumes. As of 3 years ago I’ve formally retired mine in favor of newer costumes, but I thought I’d post it here anyway.

Tetris Quilt

This is a quilt I made a while back for an ex-girlfriend. It’s a tetris board with her name (Amy) spelled out in the pieces (it is not to scale with a regulation tetris board). Some day when I have more time I’ll better document my quilt making activities. I don’t quilt a lot, but on occasion they make really unique and personalized gifts.