Whatever Radio with Alexis and Jennifer

healthy food

February 8th, 2010

unadorned with artificial colors, flavors or meat...vegan too if you leave out the cheese

winter herb pasta (I left out the breadcrumbs and most of the oil and used the organic farro spaghetti from rustichella d'abruzzo...I don't know what to say to those of you who don't like the farro or whole wheat pastas - I think they are fantastic, but I don't use the "cheaper" brands...)

big green salad

linguine with spicy tomato sauce (made plenty to freeze - a little goes a long way if you add the pasta water to the sauce as indicated)

look ma, no cans!

farro linguine

a tip for those of you with slippery cake layers: put a dowel in the middle cut just shy of the top of the top layer...

and a movie to make you want to slit your writs (either from the subject matter or just having to watch it) Import/Export (actually quite interesting...but it seems like all these movies show the same thing - Lilja 4-Ever (great film), etc...which must mean this shit is real -ugh!!!)

comments unrelated to this blog post (as well as incomprehensible, insane, and out-of-control-nasty comments) will not be posted.
we have an email address for unrelated questions and criticisms: it is whateverradio@gmail.com

i had a great birthday!

February 7th, 2010

as many of you know, i was apprehensive about my bday.
birthdays aren't the same without my mother,
but i chose to enjoy the day and not dwell on what makes me sad.
and frankly, my sister was not going to allow me to wallow in ridiculousness on my 40th.
so she made sure i was showered with love. and friends. and gifts.
and did everything my mom would've done...and probably more!
when we came back from early am exercise (during which i wore the tiara paulie gave me!), here is what i saw.

and inside:

and what's a birthday with out m&ms.

because i love pizza, and i had planned to order in a bunch so when friends stopped by i had food to give, stacy hired mark to come bake fresh pizza in my kitchen. it was FANTASTIC. so delicious. and i am so full.

and throughout the day, friends came over. some stayed a while, others not as long. it was easy, nice, perfect. we had a cake. too much cake.

oh and boy did i get gifts... that's the thing about turning 40... GREAT presents!! and i am sharing them because i know you want to see! and i realize (before the comments get nasty) that i am lucky beyond lucky that people gave me such wonderful things and i know that what matters much more than these sparkly items is the thought and friendship/love behind them.

my friend in chicago sent me amazing jennifer miller gold hoops.

a group of friends here got together and pitched in (along with my sister and my brother) and got me the most gorgeous faraone mennella heart ring... the picture doesnt do it justice.

my dad got me funky/hip/cool/awesome earrings by yossi harari- they are oxidized silver (black) with diamonds:

my friend holly made me these pillows (yep..they are now in my closet!)

and keith and my kids gave me a magnificent cartier "love" bracelet.

thanks for all the happy birthday comments. and all the kindness.
40 is going to be fun.
xxx
jennifer
fb: jennifer koppelman hutt
twitter: @jenniferhutt

40 tomorrow!!!

February 6th, 2010

in studio yesterday, alexis brought a delicious cake that she baked (see her blog!) it is so cold in the studio that i'm wearing a dress, a cardigan and my velvet coat which makes me look like a wizard. oh and an (awesome) purple tiara from paulie.

alexis's gift to me was "the gift of longevity"- well that's what i'm calling it! she gave me the necessary vitamins/supplements to take along with dosage amounts... plus two amazingly clear (and pretty) mirrors (uses: chin hairs etc).
tomorrow, some of my friends will take exercise class with me in the morning. and then we will have a mellow day. no party. yay.
xxx
jennifer
fb: jennifer koppelman hutt
twitter: jenniferhutt

jennifer's bday

February 5th, 2010

heaven and hell cake - no, it is not good for you

making the angel food layer/s

I don't think I cooked the angel food layer/s long enough, so I had to bake another since the first one fell in the center so much that by the time I made the top flat, it was only one layer thick

good thing about layer cakes is you can always fill that nasty mess in the middle with filling or frosting

gave in recently and purchased a cake "shovel"!! it is great!...forgot how angel food doesn't cut/slice easily

nothing like two jars of peanut butter, three bricks of cream cheese, conf. sugar and whipped cream to mess you up for life!

best shot of an ugly cake - transported it in a japanese box that I stole from Kevin

in retrospect, I would whip the ganache before frosting

should have payed (sorry - otherwise know as paid) better attention to making the layers even...

Intern Courtney's gluten free version (icing and filling only)

thrilled she ate it!!

jennifer's gifts:

some magnifying mirrors (all the better to see the wrinkles, pores and unwanted hairs!! ugh!! I use mine every day!)

and vitamins (d, iron, flaxseed oil and calcium)

penne

February 5th, 2010

while I was finishing jennifer's bday cake (which is definitely a front runner for ugliest cake ever) I made penne with lemon and root vegetables. Have been meaning to make this for a while, but somehow thought all the peeling and chopping would be annoying, but it was quick and delicious

sauteeing

right before adding water and covering

finished, with lemon rind and celery leaves

what exactly are they looking at?

February 3rd, 2010

minimally displaced spiral fracture of the tibia

February 2nd, 2010

my daughter fell while ice skating.
en route to the setting of her leg after a very painful 36 hours:

and finished!

we are keeping her out of pain and working on her mobility.
any advice is welcome.
whole thing sucks, but thankfully it is just her leg that is broken and it will heal!
i know it couldve been so much worse.
xxx
jennifer
fb: jennifer koppelman hutt
twitter: @jenniferhutt

food + books

February 1st, 2010

bulgar with herbs

thought I'd hate the almonds, but it is delicious

the february issue of Martha Stewart Living has a great recipe for black beans with brown rice ... I lost the end of the recipe so only followed it through step 2 and then winged it (used water only, no broth and of course no meat).

soaked the beans overnight first

before cooking - cooked for a couple of hours, let cool covered on the stove, refrigerated for a day, and then cooked them again for a couple of hours

had short grain brown rice...sauteed it for a few minutes with the onions

it turned out perfectly, and I suck at cooking rice. I used a cast iron pot...don't know if that made a difference

pickled onions and jalapenos

Added goat cheese and lots of lime and it rocked.

giant chocolate toffee cookies (had a bunch of toffee bars to get rid of - they were from Poco Dolce and are very, very good - (grown up heath bars))

the recipe asks you to refrigerate for 45 min...I did it overnight, which meant it was a nightmare to "dig out" the cookies...so I baked just a few small ones for Kevin downstairs and left the batter out for a while to "thaw"

someone asked about the cooling racks...made by wilton

also, listening to Last Night in Twisted River and really enjoying it

just finished A Man Walks Into a Room... (of course I love the cover!) and loved it...there was a point in the middle that made me put it down, but I got back into it and Nicole Krauss is amazing (wish she'd write another book)!!

listened to Spook Country...it kinda sucked...read Neuromancer way back when and liked it a lot...maybe it was the novelty of it at the time...

reread half of Gallatin Canyon before I figured out that the reason my copy was already dog-eared might be because I'd already read it?! Anyway, excellent the second time around too...

almost finished with There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales...pretty good, although one story seems not much different from the next...makes you so grateful to live in America

and liked The Pursuit of Other Interests a lot - easy read

listened to Lark and Termite ... it was fine...nothing great, a little silly at the end

comments unrelated to this blog post (as well as incomprehensible comments) will not be posted.
we have an email address. it is whateverradio@gmail.com

yes, the process is slow

January 26th, 2010

but I did take plastic off dining table and chairs!

(will look so much better with a rug and curtains and hanging lamps...if I ever find 3 that match that I like....)

and off the library sofa

got four "new" chairs - two are in upstairs office and am lining the drawers with cork (leaving the sticky stuff on the back though so as to not ruin the paint)

stove is a viking

love it so far...oven is huge and love the top - crumbs and spills stay on top...no space to drip down

and someone asked earlier about the juicer I use - it is THE BEST

comments unrelated to this blog post (as well as incomprehensible comments) will not be posted.
we have an email address. it is whateverradio@gmail.com

crap

January 25th, 2010

making one of my "favorite cookies" (I don't like them but everyone else goes nuts): the unfortunately named "mulattoes" and forgot to add the sugar to the first batch...thought they felt greasy and weird when I was placing them on the baking sheet...here they are after baking:

had tons of dates and walnuts, so made date nut bread (like the stuff from the old chock full o'nuts coffee shops)

soaking the dates with butter and water

baking in bulk! didn't chop the walnuts, but broke them to make big enough but not too big pieces

the butter and breadcrumbs worked perfectly on the inside of the bundt pans! no sticking!

and the second batch of cookies, with sugar, were a success as well (made 1 batch with walnuts and one with pecans...the batter was made all at once as a double batch and separated before adding nuts)

packed up a bunch of sandwiches with cream cheese (like they used to serve at cfo'n) for kevin to take to work...left them outside his door this am...then worried all day he had already left for work - but he hadn't

and buttermilk spice cake

cut the cake before icing since I didn't think the caramel frosting would look nice cut...brushed some of the crumbs off beforehand...and made a double batch of icing in order to have enough to let it drip down the sides of each piece

comments unrelated to this blog post (as well as incomprehensible comments) will not be posted.
we have an email address. it is whateverradio@gmail.com

18 months later...

January 22nd, 2010

i grew up not wanting for much (except a little more attention from boys maybe!), did well enough in school, graduated college, law school, met my husband, got married, had two kids, fell into an amazingly fulfilling career...it was all good. (and this is, of course, completely revisionist history because like most people, i was a miserable teenager/20 something who felt like a complete and utter loser who would never find actual happiness...like ever!)

then cancer showed up and took my mother, wrecking me really for a considerable amount of time.

and although i am recovering, living, even thriving, i am hardened.

having been through the trenches with my mother i am now full of knowledge and experience that i can share 18 months later in an almost clinical, emotionless and detatched way. probably much the same way that oncologists handle their patients.
i can assess how sick someone is by symptoms and i can be the one to warn a loved one about how little time left the person suffering may have, i can talk through what might happen next, and i can certainly offer solace for a friend who's grieving and i can do all of this now without falling apart.
which is great on the one hand and incredibly sad on the other.

because although helping others, keeping it together and being emotionally stable is infinitely preferable to uselessness and inconsolable sadness, i like my mushy overly feeling self and i don't want to be hardened.

luckily, it takes just the running into an old family friend who's real link to me is my mother to send me back to that familiar emotional place that rests two layers beneath my recently hardened exterior. and for a minute, after i am initially annoyed that i've been reminded about what makes me sad, i relish the emotion. i cry. and i am comforted that i haven't lost all of my ability to feel.

and maybe, down the road, i won't be hardened anymore. and maybe i won't be sad either.

xxx
jennifer
fb: jennifer koppelman hutt
twitter: @jenniferhutt

who am i!

January 21st, 2010

so i got a random facebook friend request from a guy named peter- a guy named peter whom i've never met before. no personal message with the request...just the request. here is our interaction which was, frankly, not even necessary... i couldve just ignored the request..but i am HAPPY to interact with ANYONE who wants to talk to me...getting to know people i would never had met were it not for this job is one of the (best) perks of doing what i do. oh and i cannot have more than 5000 fb friends...when i get extremely close to that number it practically paralyzes my account.

me:
hey, i cannot accept all fb friend requests now that i am close to 5000 fb friends...but i do have a fan page (cheesy i know)! www.facebook.com/jennyhuttfanpage ...and typically i do respond to messages sent to me here (on my regular friend page)... thanks for the request.

peter:
I don't even know who you are? I saw we had friends in common so I "friended" you.... WHO ARE YOU? GET OVER YOURSELF!

me:
Lol. I have a satellite radio show...so my listeners make up most of my fb friends although the people we have in common I do actually know!!! Totally over myself just have the other page bc of work.
Have a great day! And perhaps we will meet some time.

questions:
1. why did he friend me in the first place since obviously he (now) thinks i'm a loser. and
2. who am i! (kidding)

xxx
jennifer
fb: jennifer koppelman hutt
twitter: @jenniferhutt
ps : will be talking about this on our show (duh).

split pea soup

January 20th, 2010

made a huge pot of it...brought lunch to Paulie and Michael...M said it was the best lunch he'd ever had (that's because he waits 24 hours between meals so every meal is the best he's ever had!)

it was great plain

and with goat milk yogurt

oh, another picture of the focaccia before transport...I happen to love the "crispy" tomatoes

comments unrelated to this blog post (as well as incomprehensible comments) will not be posted.
we have an email address. it is whateverradio@gmail.com

what I consider a voice of reason

January 19th, 2010

Julie Ann said...
The food looks delicious, but that isn't why I am writing..... I have several celebrities on my Google Alerts page, including Martha, Jennifer and you, Alexis. It lets me know if anyone is mentioned in a news or blog article. It has blown up with blog articles about you, Alexis, since you and Jennifer were on Martha's blog show. Whenever you are mentioned, it is with a Victorian shudder at how you behaved towards you mother. "How dare she?" "She should have been nicer in front of the camera!" I imagine I am not telling you anything you haven't already heard. I hadn't seen the episode until it was online yesterday and didn't see any of the rude, off-putting behavior that I read about. I was ready to see you flip off Martha and tell the audience to kiss your ass they way they were blogging. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your candor and honesty. I used to have Sirius/XM and would listen to your show and think how you both represented beautifully what makes up a woman. Compassion, honesty, fierce loyalty, intelligence, wit, sarcasm, sexuality, drive, the list goes on. I truly believe that if more women stopped worrying so much about how others perceived them as you seemingly do, we'd be much better off and living a more true life. So, while my Google alerts continues to blow-up, I wanted to say that I thought you were great on the show. Cheers.

Paulie and Michael

January 19th, 2010

you'd better be hungry!

focaccia with tomatoes and olives

comments unrelated to this blog post (as well as incomprehensible comments) will not be posted.
we have an email address. it is whateverradio@gmail.com