Calzones, Bangkok, & Fatty-Pants Video

I am now 26 weeks pregnant, and facing the 3^rd trimester of this pregnancy head-on. It starts with a cold and a pinched nerve in my lower back. Bring it … or not.

This is a photo of Ruby dancing with one of her teachers at Union Bilingual Preschool on the day that some Dominican students came and taught them how to dance the Merengue! It was adorable!

Adam whipped out an old recipe from Italy this week: Calzones. (see recipe below) They were soooo delicious. We made them with fresh ground wheat instead of white flour, and it worked out very well.

I ALMOST had a husband in Bangkok today. He had an important client meeting set up and suddenly had to schedule a flight out with just a few days notice. It got postponed, however, until March, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. The closer I get to my due date, the more anxiety I feel when he’s gone.

New music anyone? Mumford and Sons is a band my brother was telling me about. Check out this music video and see if you dig it.

As many of you know, Adam (hesitantly) entered a contest in Prevention Magazine called “Picture of Health”. Don’t know if he made it as one of the finalists yet, but to enter, he had to write an essay and make a video explaining why he should win. The idea was to find people who have overcome major obstacles in life and now live an ideal lifestyle of health. Here is his video (that he was a bit resistant to let me show…but I find it VERY inspiring!):

Here is a drawing that Olivia made this week. She explained that the swirl on the forehead of this girl is a Bindi. She got to wear one last summer in a preschool session called “Around the World in 80 Days” when they visited India. I guess it made a strong impression on her, because she remembered and drew it all on her own.

Recipe of the Week: Calzones of Rimini (AKA Cassoni) - Makes appx 4-6 calzones

Dough:
3 cups of Whole wheat flour
2 TB Butter
1/2 c (or as needed) of warm water
1 TSP salt

Sauce:
1/2 to 1 cup of diced ham, sausage, or hamburger (or add zucchini if you want to go vegetarian)
2 bell peppers chopped
1 yellow chopped onion
6 cloves minced garlic
1 TB parsley (dried) or small handful of fresh
1/2 TSP red hot chili pepper
1/2 TSP ground pepper
3-4 TB olive oil
1/8 cup red wine
1 cup of tomato sauce (ideally not from a tin can, see reason number one here)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Combine all the Sauce ingredients (except the tomato sauce) into a frying pan and cook on medium until the meat is browned and the veggies are softened. Then add the tomato sauce and let it simmer.

2. Hand-mix the dough ingredients until it hold together well, but isn't sticky. Break into racquetball sized balls and roll out into rectangles or circles until appx 1/8" thick.

3. Cover 1/2 of the rolled out dough with your desired amount of mozzarella cheese, leaving a 1/2" edge around the outside. Scoop appx 1/4 cup of sauce out of the pan and place onto the cheese area.

4. Fold the dough in half covering your sauce and cheese and seal the edges with a fork. (see photo)

5. Cover a frying pan with a thin layer of butter and place the prepared calzone onto the pan and cover with a lid (if available). Flip and cook other side. When both sides are slightly browned. If desired, additional sauce and cheese can be smothered atop to perfection. Enjoy!