May Neighborhood Meeting & Ice Cream Social

Commissioner Romney Rogers and Cookies and Ice Cream Headline May 28th CPCA Meeting - Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center 245 West Park Drive (south side of school next to pools)

Commissioner Rogers has confirmed that he will attend our May meeting on Tuesday the 28th. We have asked him to come prepared to answer questions about the half-way house situation in the neighborhood, the lack of enforcement in the code enforcement department, the "Wave" streetcar, paving the streets throughout the neighborhood, installation of sidewalks on at least one side of 15th Street - and of course - any other subject that interests you, or him, so come prepared for a lively discussion.

I had no idea as to the depth of opposition to the Wave until people started talking about it in water aerobic class the other day.  As most of you know, properties in a fairly narrow band adjacent to Andrews are going to be specially assessed to pay for a portion of the project costs. The way it was presented to me at a recent meeting with Downtown Development Authority staff -the funding proposal didn't seem to have a big impact on our membership.  There were only 3 or 4 residential units that were affected and the tax increase for them was around $90 per year. The rest was going to be assessed on businesses and that seemed manageable- at least on the surface. Once we started discussing the concept while treading water (a true mind and body workout) the potential flaws in the proposal started to surface.

First of all, there are a lot of small businesses that will be affected and their cost will be much higher than the residential assessment. Secondly, the basis for the assessment is that these properties will be "specially benefited" by the project - thus justifying asking them to pay for it. That concept seemed to make less sense the more we talked about it.  Don't get me wrong, I (personally) am totally on board (are you tired of my bad puns yet?) with the Wave.  I love the idea of being able to get downtown without driving and the hassle of parking but the discussion made me think more about who should pay for it. Why should a resident nearby who may not ever use it pay for it? How will they be specially benefited? A business such as Tap 42 may be benefited with downtown workers taking the Wave there for Happy Hour, but how would a business like the Farm Store or dentist office receive a special benefit?

It raised a lot of questions and was a good reminder that we tend to view things based on how they affect us.  I like the idea of the Wave partly because I foresee using it and, since I'm not being asked to pay for it, it sounds like a great idea. Then I put  the shoe on the other foot and started  thinking about  how big of a supporter I would be if I were the one paying for it.

As I said - come prepared for a lively discussion.

The "putting the shoe on the other foot" line is a perfect segue into another part of our May meeting agenda- the cookies.  As with our annual "pie night" we are asking you to bake and bring some of your favorite cookies to share with your neighbors. We will be providing ice cream and toppings and Susie from Expresso Coffee on Andrews Ave. will, once again, be providing coffee (keep her business in mind when you need a jolt of java to start your day!) but are relying on you all for the cookies. What, you may ask, is the link between cookies and thinking of others? It's taking me awhile but I will eventually get there.

When we started talking about cookies for the meeting I was in the process of sending another package of goodies including homemade cookies to Afghanistan. My faux (it's a long dull story) son-in-law is a Captain in the Army serving in a small and very  remote forward operating base (FOB) base near the Pakistan  border- FOB Spin Baldac in Kandahar Province. I bake a couple of big batches of cookies every few weeks to send off to him to share with all of his "guys" (and girls).  The cookies are generally a big hit and have in the last few months become even more than a reminder of home and an unexpected treat because they are drawing troops down at these forward bases.  They have stopped serving lunch so pretty much the only thing available is MRE's (meals ready to eat) or chips or other packaged foods from the PX . There is a U-tube video from 2011  www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-N1HvH8BCU that is pretty interesting – though with the draw down – the days of 4 hot meals a day and a pastry chef are long gone. Homemade cookies make a good alternative.

Since this weekend is Memorial Day - what better way for us to remember our troops than by baking an extra batch of cookies to send? Hey - you know it is going to rain - it pretty much always does - so while you are stuck inside looking at your rained out picnic fire up the oven and bake 2 batches of cookies- one to bring to the meeting to share, and one for me to pack up and ship on Tuesday. If you are going to make cookies to send, keep in mind that they go through some temperature extremes and a lot of bouncing around so nothing with icing or very perishable, nothing too fragile, and nothing with alcohol. You can pack them in a tin, a box – or simply put them in a baggie and I will take care of the rest. What a nice easy way to feel like you have done something that will make a difference to some young person a long way from home. As the guy on the video says – they all love getting mail and there are some that simply don’t receive too much – so this is a nice way to spread the wealth.

Now doesn’t that beat sitting on the couch watching a Law & Order marathon all weekend ?  See you all at the meeting on Tuesday night!

Pat Rathburn

CPCA  President

Just to give you all some ideas- these are a few of the recipes that I’ve made that have gone over really well – but don’t let me influence you – they adore chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies.  My last shipment was Snickerdoodles and triple chocolate chip. Make whatever your favorite is.  I’m sure they will be appreciated!

This was my first effort in baking cookies to send to Afghanistan. It was also a learning experience as I previously had no idea what the difference was between Dutch processed and non-Dutch processed chocolate - although you see the command in recipes all the time - “not Dutch processed”. Turns out it really does make a difference and if you are looking for it in the grocery store you may not see it right away.  Look for Hershey’s Extra Dark Special in one of those boxes next to regular Hershey’s cocoa- then in little print it will say “Dutch processed”. Don’t use the regular stuff- it will not turn out.

Cherry Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried sour cherries
• 2 cups shelled pistachio nuts
• 1 3/4 C. flour
• 1 3/4 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 3/4 c. unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder ***** SEE NOTE ABOVE
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3 large eggs, room temp.
• 4 Tbs. unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 1/2 Tbs. coffee extract
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 8 ounces extra bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

Directions

• 1. Place the cherries in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn of the heat and let cool. Drain the cherries (this can be done up to several days in advance, and you can also plump them up with a little rum instead of water- when you drain the cherries- save the rum and have a cocktail).( I know I said no alcohol – but if you want to use it- this is so little – and it burns off).                                                                                                                       
• 2.  Preheat the oven to 325. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast them in oven, stirring occasionally, until they are lightly golden- about 5-7 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool. Keep the oven on.                                                                                                           
• 3. In mixer with paddle attachment, mix at low speed flour, sugars, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the butter and extracts and mix to combine. Stir in nuts, cherries and chocolate. After mixing,            let the dough rest for 5 minutes.                                                                                                                       
• 4. With wet hands, divide the dough in two and form 2 logs, each 2 inches in diameter. Place logs on parchment lined baking tray and bake until firm, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on rack.                                                                                                                       
• 5. Lower the temperature to 200. Use a bread or other serrated knife and slice the logs on the diagonal into 1/4 inch thick slices. Arrange the biscotti slices on parchment lined (you may need 2-3) baking sheets and dry them in oven until firm and crisp- about 1 hour (or up to 1 1/2 hours- depends on humidity, oven, etc.) Transfer to wire rack to cool                                   
• 6.  I made these first when George’s daughter- a nurse in Army – was in Afghanistan – now it is her husband who is there and he and his friends seems to like them as much as she did.  She said they turned out really well (actually - I knew that as we tasted them – a lot- before shipping)- but I wasn’t sure how they would hold up- and was glad these did.
•  

Pistachio Brittle

I’d been trying to come up with some different ideas for homemade treats to that could withstand the rigors of travel and thought of peanut brittle - but that seemed a little too ordinary. It turns out though -  that no matter how they get knocked around in shipping - home made treats are everyone’s favorite. A slight change up of the nuts made these ideal - they are really simple and last forever.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts (try and get the un-roasted/unsalted kind- but use whatever you have on hand in a pinch.
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp. PLUS 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions

If using raw nuts, preheat oven to 350. and spread the nuts out in one layer on a baking sheet and bake until they are golden brown- about ten minutes, stirring from time to time. Let cool.

Butter a baking sheet or line it with a Silpat. Set the pan on a cooling rack or trivet. Grease a spatula and set aside.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, corn syrup and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring at first to dissolve sugar, until the mixture is light caramel in color- about 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it!! Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in baking soda, salt and nuts.

Working very quickly (it is hot and it hardens really fast - so be careful) spread the mixture on greased pan with the greased spatula. Spread it out as much as you can - and again - be careful -this stuff is HOT!. Let cool completely and then break into pieces. Keeps quite a while in a cookie tin - but not really - since it is irresistible - it really never lasts that long.