Stout?

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It‘s Ann here today. Andy is in OurLittleCorner with a stamp of approval.

My interest in “stout” began a few weeks ago when our food-writer daughter said I should make a sticky toffee pudding recipe with a “Stout Caramel” sauce for a dinner party we were having. She had written an article for The SF Standard raving about the delicious food at San Francisco’s new Dingles Public House. I was supposed to figure out how to replicate this dessert she’d been served. I knew from her article that it had Guinness Stout in the sauce and Earl Grey tea in the pudding.

Rather than tackle the challenging sauce and pudding project and do some friction maxxing (remember Andy’s last blog?), I took the easy way out and sat and day-dreamed about other things, such as…

What does the word “STOUT” really mean?

STOUT: A dark, full-bodied ale?

Clearly a stout – from St James Gate, Ireland

STOUT: having physical strength and vigor?

These three women seem pretty stout. Photo from Netflix and How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, a series we just enjoyed.

STOUT: Someone who is brave, bold, resolute, full of courage?

(note here to all my CC Gamma Phi Besties: didn’t we used to sing, “With our crescent of pearls, we are stouthearted girls”?). Below is a statue of a woman who was really stouthearted, probably more so than me and my Besties! 🙂

Statue of Grainne Mhaol Ni Mhaille , Grace O’Malley, 1530-1603), the Irish Pirate, located at Westport House, Co. Mayo, Ireland

In case you’re unfamiliar with Grace O’Malley, here’s what Anne Chambers, author of the biography about O’Malley (entitled Granuaile ) writes: O’Malley was a “fearless leader by land and by sea, political pragmatist and tactician, rebel, pirate and matriarch, the ’most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland’ GRACE O’MALLEY challenges and manipulates the turbulent politics of the 16th century. Breaching boundaries of gender imbalance and bias, she re-wrote the rules to become one of the world’s first documented feminist trail-blazers.” You can read more about this Irish Pirate here.

STOUT: A person who has a thick body?

Is one of them stout?

When I finally got up the nerve to try to develop a recipe, I was a little anxious about the potential calorie content…after all, at my age it’s easy to get a little stout. So I looked up some exercises…the kind I might actually do. Please turn the sound on so you can fully appreciate why I think this fits today’s blog.

Sea shanties came along probably 200+ years after the Irish Pirate Grace O’Malley lived – but I think she would have liked this song, “The Wellerman ,”even though the lyrics refer to whaling ships in New Zealand in the mid-1800’s and the singer, Nathan Evans, is Scottish, not Irish, and didn’t record it until 2021, 418 years after her death. Would she have been happy that it became a huge TikTok hit?

Facebook reel by Doc H.

After picking and choosing ingredients and measurements and instructions from about eight online Sticky Toffee Pudding recipes, I’m pleased with the way my recipes turned out – even if it was a struggle. Whew.

Hope you have a happy and fun St. Patrick’s Day next Tuesday. We suggest you enjoy a Guinness, watch the How to Get to Heaven from Belfast series, read up on pirates (especially Irish women pirates), and have a (small) piece of Sticky Toffee Pudding – served on top of a big spoonful of Guinness STOUT Caramel Sauce and topped with vanilla gelato. Then do a wee bit of exercise.

Guinness Stout Caramel Sauce

This is adapted from a Food52 recipe.

  • 1 12-ounce bottle of Guinness extra stout
  • 3/4 c light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 c cream
  • 1/4 tsp Diamond kosher salt

Pour the stout into a medium saucepan and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the stout is reduced by about half.

Stir in the brown sugar and vanilla. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and let mixture cook for 8-10 minutes without stirring.

Remove from heat, add the butter, cream and salt and gently stir. Put into a glass container and let cool. Refrigerate – and use within 2 weeks.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

The cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, and ginger can be omitted – and the cake may actually be more traditional and just as delicious…but I like the flavor they add.

  • 1/2 lb (about 8 oz) pitted dates , roughly chopped
  • 1  1/3 c boiling water (optional: add 3 bags of Earl Grey tea to the boiling water and steep for 4 minutes before pouring over dates)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 8 T butter, softened
  • 3/4 c light brown sugar , loosely packed
  • 3 eggs 
  • 1 T golden syrup (optional but delicious)
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cardamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp Diamond kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 3/4 c flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9″x12″ baking pan.

Place dates in a medium bowl and add the boiling water. Stir in the baking soda (it will fizz).

Put the flour in a medium bowl, then whisk in the cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, ginger, salt and baking powder.

Place butter and brown sugar in a bowl or food processor. Beat or process until smooth. Add eggs, syrup and vanilla and beat until well-blended. Add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Then add the date mixture and mix or process until combined well – but don’t over mix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes – or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool the pudding in the pan on a wire rack. To serve – cut into small squares, ideally while it’s still slightly warm and place each square on top of a generous spoonful of Guinness Stout Caramel Sauce, then top it all with with a little vanilla gelato.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

When “Friction-Maxxing” Can Be a Piece of Cake

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It’s Andy here today. Ann is in OurLittleCorner staring at clouds.

Our son, Travis, recently sent us a link to a New York Magazine article entitled In 2026, We Are Friction-Maxxing by Kathryn Jezer-Morton (who has a PhD in sociology I might add). The term “friction-maxxing,” which she coined for the article must have touched a collective nerve; reactions almost immediately appeared in on-line publications such asThe Guardian, Forbes, Elle Decor, Financial Times, Slate, Cybernews, and the HuffPost, not to mention a slew of blogs, Instagram posts, and YouTube videos.

Illustration by Hannah Buckman from Jezer-Morton’s New York Magazine article.

The crux of Jezer-Morton’s argument is that our culture is increasingly being defined by the desire to avoid the “frictions” of everyday life. It’s a desire fostered by the marketing strategies of tech companies whose “friction-elimination tools” are reaping huge profits:

Tech companies are succeeding in making us think of life itself as inconvenient and something to be continuously escaping from, into digital padded rooms of predictive algorithms and single-tap commands: Reading is boring; talking is awkward; moving is tiring; leaving the house is daunting. Thinking is hard. Interacting with strangers is scary. Risking an unexpected reaction from someone isn’t worth it. Speaking at all — overrated. These are all frictions that we can now eliminate, easily, and we do.

Rather than trying to escape from the frictions of our daily lives, Jezer-Morton argues that we should try to meet these inconveniences (or frictions) head on. And it’s not simply a matter of abandoning “friction-elimination” tech tools. We must learn to tolerate the uncertainties of “living with other people in spaces that are impossible to completely control.” This is essential, she says, to “preserve our humanity.”

The catch is that facing friction is not for the faint-hearted. It takes will power and self discipline. This spartan attitude is being echoed in most of the on-line discussions of Jezer-Morton’s article — toughen up, deny the lures of escapism, and avoid the paths of least resistance.

Jezer-Morton offers few suggestions to begin “your friction-maxxing journey:”

  • Stop sharing your location with your kids and your partner (on smartphones)
  • Stop using ChatGPT completely.
  • Invite people over to your house without cleaning it all the way up.
  • Babysit for someone who needs a night out

While I found Jezer-Morton’s argument to be compelling, she is largely addressing a relatively young audience (her article appears under the tagline “Brooding: Deep thoughts on modern family life”) and fails to consider an important segment of our population — the nearly invisible cohort of older people (aka, the “elderly”) who endure a lion’s share of daily friction. As a card-carrying member of this cohort I thought it may be valuable to share some of my own thoughts on friction-maxxing.

The way I look at it aging is a process of “frictionization.” As we get older, friction increasingly becomes an unescapable part of our daily routine. This means that for us older folks friction-maxxing is not some illusive goal requiring will power or self discipline — it’s how we roll. Let me provide a couple of personal examples.

To start with, a not-surprising affliction for many of us in this age group is being “techtarded.” This dramatically limits our ability to deploy the latest technology to even get fleeting moments of escape from our friction-filed lives. The amount of friction I encounter while trying to figure out how to use these so called “friction-elimination tools” by far exceeds any friction–saving advantages I might gain. The other evening Ann and I thought it might be fun to take a little friction break via Crossplay, a two-person word game app recently launched by the NYTimes. After more than a frustrating hour trying to synchronize our smart phones in order to play the game we gave up in exasperation. Instead of an escape, our efforts ushered even more friction into our lives (along with considerable tension).

A NYTimes “friction-elimination app” ? Ann and I would play if we could ever sync our %#*@ smart phones .

Composing this blog is another example of how friction has become an integral part of my life. Writing has never been easy for me, but nowadays it seems to require much more effort. WordPress (the program we use for our blog) records a copy of each revision; at this point while writing today’s blog I can see that I’m up to 95 revisions (and the program only keeps track of 100 revisions). That’s a hell of a lot of friction (although it’s a type of friction that brings considerable satisfaction). [Editor’s note: I should add that I stubbornly refuse to use the “Improve with AI” option that WordPress dangles seductively on the right side of my screen — however, I do shamelessly (and frequently) use the spell-check option].

I could go on (and on) with examples, but because the number of revisions allotted to me for this blog is maxxed out I’ll conclude with a couple of thoughts. First, I believe that Jezer-Morton is spot-on with her her observation that tech companies have developed addictive apps and methods for eliminating many of the frictions of our daily life. However, I also believe that unless an app is miraculously developed that allows us to bypass the aging process, friction will eventually become a reality we will have to learn to cope with. And from my experience that’s not bad.

Snug Solitude-Part 1

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It’s Ann here today. While I’m busy cooking with canned tomatoes, Andy is in OurLittleCorner griping about off-season fresh tomatoes that taste like wet cardboard.

The first entry of M.F.K.Fisher’s 1948 series, Alphabet for Gourmets, is “A Is for Dining Alone.” It begins “…sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should be indulged in lightly…There are few people alive with whom I care to pray, sleep, dance, sing, and (perhaps most of all, except sleep) share my bread and wine.” And she concludes the essay with “…snug misanthropic solitude is better than hit-or-miss congeniality.”

Lots of great writers in this 2008 book (which includes the essay by M.F.K. Fisher)

In sharp contrast to that, Michael Pollan in his 2008 In Defense of Food advises, “Try not to eat alone.”

So should we side with Fisher or Pollan?

Among our extended group of family and friends we have many who are eating alone these days, for a variety of reasons. And, to be honest, most of these folks would side with Pollan.

I’ve been wracking my brain for months about how to advise these solo eaters, and it’s not easy. Of course, you can suggest that they invite folks over often for a super-simple, home-cooked meal – or that they go out often for casual dinners with friends, but ultimately, the majority of the time they will come back to their kitchen to cook and to eat alone.

Today’s blog will be my first – but not my last – on the subject of solo eating. More blogs will come – but not back to back. It’s all too important and challenging – and, yes, rewarding to figure out.

My personal criteria looks something like this:

A main dish for solo eating should need…

  • a very, very short prep time
  • a short cooking time
  • not too many ingredients (except spices)
  • very, very little dicing and mincing
  • no frying – except in a wok or dutch oven
  • little effort to clean up

And that dish should be fairly nutritious, provide lots of leftovers both to freeze and to eat a few days later – and shouldn’t be ridiculously expensive.

I’ve been searching all of my favorite on-line sites for inspiration…SmittenKitchen.com, Food52.com, NYTimes.com, BarefootContessa.com, SeriousEats.com – and smaller ones such as TheMediterraneanDish.com, PinchofYum.com, CookieandKate.com, and TheWoksofLife.com. A few cookbooks have been useful too – What We Eat When We Eat Alone by Deborah Madison and a brand new one by Caroline Chambers (mother of 3 young boys…so in a different cooking world than we are) – What To Cook when You Don’t Feel Like Cooking (note: Chambers has a very active online presence too, including a Substack site and a weekly newsletter with recipes and ideas – and products to buy :).

There won’t be many recipes that can fulfill all of my criteria, but here’s one that comes pretty close. Plus, it has 6700+ positive reviews on the NYTimes website: Crispy Halloumi with Tomatoes and White Beans. And as far as being “alone in the kitchen with an eggplant,” I’ll have a simple recipe with eggplant up soon!

Note: halloumi is often made with “non-animal rennet,” so it works for vegetarians…just check the label.

Crispy Halloumi with Tomatoes and White Beans

Halloumi should be served immediately after frying and does not rewarm well, so fry only the amount you think you’ll use in one sitting and refrigerate any unfried halloumi for later. Don’t omit the honey and lemon…they’re vital to the flavor. This is a riff on a NYTimes recipes by Nargisse Benkabbou.

  • Olive oil, as needed
  • 1(8-oz) block halloumi, cut into about 9 slices 
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed (or buy a jar of Christopher Ranch Chopped Garlic and use that to simplify your prep even more)
  • 1 (15 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (or, if you have amazing summer cherry tomatoes, substitute 1 lb of them, halved)
  • 1 tsp honey, plus more for serving
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano or thyme
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 1(15-oz) can cannellini beans, butter beans or navy beans, drained
  • 2 T lemon juice
  • Minced parsley for serving (optional)
  • Crusty bread or rolls for serving (optional)

Heat 2 T olive oil in a medium-sized pan over medium heat. Add 4 slices of halloumi and cook them for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove the halloumi from the pan (it will be added back in later). Add the 2 cloves of minced garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, then add the canned tomatoes, honey, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 2-3 minutes (if you are using fresh cherry tomatoes, you’ll have to cook the mixture about 10 minutes).

Stir in the beans and then arrange the fried halloumi slices on top of the tomato-bean mixture in the pan. If you want the stew to have more broth, add a little water or vegetable broth. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Drizzle with a little olive oil, squeeze the lemon half over it all and then add a light drizzle of honey. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately with bread.

There are tons of ways to vary this recipe – which makes it even more useful. You might stir in a big handful of fresh baby spinach leaves to the hot mixture or add 1 T minced anchovies or add 2 tsp of white miso paste. Consider frying an egg and serving it on top. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes during cooking – for some spice.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

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