A Charmed Life

A Is For Agita

You Are 94% North Jersey

 

You are totally North Jersey!  You really know the area and have Jersey pride. Chances are you just got back from being down the shore! Unless you're taking this test in wintertime in which case you just got back from Christmas shopping in Paramus. Unless it's Sunday, in which case... Hey how come I didn't see you in church today? =P

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Wouldn't this be a great title for a New Jersey-inspired children's book?  I never knew what "agita" meant  until my long-suffering Italian grandmother was called in by my mother to get on my third-grade, Catholic school case for not doing my homework and she sighed and told me that I gave her agita.  (A note to the uninitiated: agita is Italian-American slang for acid indigestion.)

That evening, Grandma alternated between lecturing me about my schoolwork, teaching me to put a rubber band around my wrist and snap it when I got bored and drifted off in class, and bribing me with the box of Italian pastries tied with red-and-white striped string.  I don't remember a word of the lecture, but if anything will give you agita, it's rich food!  At least, that's what I hope it is, because I'm sitting here listening to my stomach attempt to digest itself!

It serves me right, I supposed.  Last night I came back from a long weekend trip, my first away from Sephie, and solo to boot!  It was my reward for losing 41 lbs of "puppy fat", so where did I go?  New Jersey, of course!  Nothing says love like diner-hopping to put the weight back on, right?  I hadn't seen a diner in twelve years, and my stomach hasn't seen anything much richer than low-fat ice cream in the last four months.  Not a good combination, apparently!  I'm not sure if it was the Taylor ham on a hard roll, or the super=sized portion of French toast.  Or, maybe the enormous rye bread sandwich?  Or, um, the slightly vintage Bailey's I had in my coffee.  In any case, my formerly wooden stomach is growling and rumbling and doesn't even want to hear about the dozen or so NJ bagels in the freezer.  Traitor. 

I suppose I'm officially a grownup now.  You know you're getting old when you use Pepcid as an aperitif! Till tomorrow, when I tell youse guys the best thing about going home to Jersey...

Snack Charmer

Ever notice that when you're trying to diet, everything becomes all about food?  Here's an example.  A couple of years ago, my husband and I were following the Weight Watchers plan.  On our way into the video store, we saw a sporty-looking car with a vanity plate that said, "SNAKBTN".  We looked at eachother. puzzled, and said "Snack biting??".  A few minutes later, upon leaving, we saw the owner of the vehicle and asked about his strange license plate.  You guessed it...the car was a Dodge Viper, and the proud owner was snakebitten.

No doubt about it, food=love, especially if you've grown up in (or near) an Italian family like I did.  I'm lucky enough nowadays to have a very good friend who is an excellent cook and makes me my favorite yummy treats in lower-fat versions.  Nothing like having a buddy who will give you comfort foods without sabotaging your diet.  But, since not everyone can have a great friend like that, here's a consolation prize...my great-grandmother's recipe for rice pudding.  She's gone now, as are my grandmother and more recently my mom, and the dish is sort of a family inside joke, but make no mistake, it is scrumptious, and like no other rice pudding you've ever tasted.

Nonna Ida's Rice Pudding

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook 1 c. white rice; cool to room temperature.

In 9x9 glass pan, combine 4 eggs, 3 c. whole milk, 1 c. sugar, 2t. vanilla and 1 t. cinnamon.

Chop up one bar of good-quality dark chocolate.  Test for quality, perhaps twice =)

Mix cooled rice with zest of one orange, 2T. orange juice (I use this recipe as an excuse to much on the rest of the orange), the chocolate, and 1 c. loosely-packed raisins.  Half-and-half with regular and golden raisins is even better.  Mixing the dry ingredients with the rice is what keeps all the raisins from sinking to the bottom, so try not to forget this step!  Carefully pour the rice mixture into the egg mixture.  I like to put the glass pan onto a baking sheet, since sometimes the milk boils over during baking, and I truly detest cleaning my oven.  Bake for about 50-60 minutes.  It will appear slightly liquidy when it's ready.  You can always put it back in the over if you need to, but don't overcook it, or you'll lose the nice custardy texture.

You can eat this warm, but in my experience it's best served chilled.  I think it's a great dessert to have after a spicy Mexican meal.  Also, don't substitute a lower-fat milk, or brown rice for white.  And if you substitute milk chocolate for dark, a pox upon you =)  Yes, this is a fattening snack, but that's Italian grandma-love for you.  Just hop on the elliptical trainer for a few extra minutes, and while you're at it, do a few extra crunches for me.