The beauty of autumn gets me every year!
Lisa Johnson
{You Pick Six} An Interview with Instructor & Food Blogger: Karen Zgoda
The best things about blogging is the people that you meet. I first “met” Karen Zgoda several years ago online through our mutual love of dessert.
Then we met in real life on a plane to New York for a food blogging trip to Greyston Bakery, where they make the brownies that go in Ben & Jerry’s ice creams. We had a lot of dessert.
Over the years since then, we’ve gotten together for more blogging adventures, though Boston based, that usually end with dessert. Besides having a sweet tooth, Karen also has a strong sense of justice that I really admire. Which is in keeping with being a social worker and instructor. What can I say? She’s a real sweetie! So now let’s get to the ninth part of the interview series, You Pick Six!
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What is a favorite simple recipe to prepare at home?
Campbell’s Tomato Soup and noodles. I dump the soup into a pot, slowly add a can of whole milk while it warms, and add shell noodles. It’s filling and delicious. As an adult I’ve tried different soups but this is the only one that brings me back to my childhood. I grew up poor with a single mother so money was always tight (a Happy Meal was truly a happy experience). While I’ve had enough scrambled eggs, fish sticks, and Chef Boyardee ravioli to last a lifetime, Campbell’s Tomato Soup and noodles is still a favorite comfort food.
What brings you peace every day?
Reading and laughter. I make time for reading everyday, preferably scanning Twitter and mental junk food web sites in the morning, finding something awesome and sharing it, and reading from a hardcover at night. My favorite is when I find something so ridiculous or funny or inspiring that it stays with me the entire day.
What inspires you?
Love. Connection. Weird people. Nerds. Passion.
What is a favorite quote?
“All that survives after our death are publications and people. So look carefully after the words you write, the thoughts and publications you create, and how you love others. For these are the only things that will remain.”
— Susan Niebur
What do you think that most people don’t understand about food?
There is a food glass ceiling. High end dining is more and more inaccessible and I grow frustrated with its inevitable dominance in the local food scene. High end can be awesome. My favorite cake in the world is the Momofuku Milk Bar Birthday Cake and while every bite is worth every penny, it is discouraging and deflating to look at the recipe to recreate it, which seems more impossible than the dissertation I worked on. 
On the other hand, I have friends who see food like this as a challenge and pull it off successfully both professionally and in their own kitchens, and may I forever be in their address book for dinner parties! However, this is not me. In my current tax bracket I’m aware that in no way, shape, or form am I the target demographic for these experiences. At the end of the day, I feel that food is just food.
I’m a full time college instructor but due to gentrification creep, I find I am avoiding wider and wider swaths of the city that seem out of reach in terms of my income, experience, and perspective. I miss working class places that served good, cheap food with no courses or expectations and were just fun. I used to love finding unexpected gems to blog about on Fussy Eater and I’d love recommendations for finding places like this. I am hoping to blog more and would like dessert suggestions. I let the dessert blog go a bit when focused on work life, and feel like I need to be more connected to the food scene.
Tell me about what you’re working on now.
As part of my work with #MacroSW, I’m working on a study to evaluate how social workers use Twitter to connect, collaborate, and network. I’m very interested in exploring how Twitter and social media can be used for social change activities.
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Thank you so much for participating Karen!
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Cake Screenshot: Milk Bar | Book stacks photo provided by Instructor Karen Zgoda.
Pear Crisp: Breakfast For Grown-ups
Breakfast or dessert? I’ve asked this question before. Since I’m a grown-up, I’ve decided that it’s breakfast.
When I was a kid, I remember looking forward to being one of the grown-ups and being able to make my own decisions about things just like this. Because in the greater scheme of life, shouldn’t I be able to eat what I want for breakfast? Now is certainly the time to reap the benefits.
Last Sunday, I salvaged some subpar pears by baking with them. The inspiration for the crisp came from the apple crisp recipe shared by Amy Traverso. I made several changes, but her recipe served as a nice framework.
I cut the ingredient amounts in half, so it worked for the amount of pears that I had. I left the skins mostly on, but removed some of it because of brown spots. I changed the sugar to half brown and for the other half decided to finally use this coconut sugar that I bought about a while ago. I was a bit concerned that it might taste like coconut, but I didn’t notice it.
I used regular salt instead of kosher. Instead of all cinnamon, I used some cardamom too. For the flour, I keep a mixture of all-purpose and wheat in a container that I use for everything. It’s not measured, but it’s mostly all-purpose.
The crisp was really good and G loved it. He said, “That’s what grown-ups eat!” I happen to agree.
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Pear Crisp
(4 servings)
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups pears (cut up)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup butter (melted)
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom
INSTRUCTIONS:
Place the pears in an ungreased baking dish, then set aside.
In a medium bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugars. Combine ingredients, then stir in egg. It will be crumbly. Spread the mixture over the pears. Drizzle the melted butter over the top. Then sprinkle the cinnamon and cardamom.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. You should probably let it sit and cool for a few minutes before cutting it. But we were hungry and watching CBS Sunday Morning as we were waiting for the crisp to finish baking.
Once it was done, I took a few quick pictures and we ate it. Because sometimes grown-ups are as impatient as kids!
Happy November to you!
Craving Boston: A New WGBH Food Blog
Some of you may remember reading about a surprise announcement coming up. Well, here it is! Recently, I’ve become a contributing writer for Craving Boston! A new food blog! I’m so excited! For those of you not from the local area, WGBH is one of our local PBS and NPR media outlets.
I’ve been a WGBH sustaining member for several years and a fan for even longer. Most of my life actually! As a kid, watching Sesame Street on WGBH may have been one of my first ever long-term television watching experiences. So I’ve come full circle.
Craving Boston is a food blog exploring the deep connection between the New England region and its cuisine.
My first article for the food blog, Prison Gardens Grow Food and Skill Sets, came about because I learned about the large vegetable harvest from the garden at Bridgewater State Hospital.
Also, I have been thinking about the issue of incarceration. It’s been in the news a great deal lately. From President Obama being the first president to visit a prison to Pope Francis visiting inmates as well. A Washington Post article quotes the Pope’s words.
This time in your life can only have one purpose: to give you a hand in getting back on the right road, to give you a hand to help you rejoin society. All of us are part of that effort, all of us are invited to encourage, help and enable your rehabilitation.
The New Garden Society provides “therapeutic and vocational horticulture training” to the students as part of the facility’s Horticulture program. The Horticulture Society of New York talks about the benefits of gardening.
Horticultural therapy is an ancient practice that uses plants and gardens as tools in human healing and rehabilitation. Its benefits include stress reduction, mood improvement, alleviation of depression, social growth, physical and mental rehabilitation, wellness, and vocational training.
Since today is Halloween, I am especially reminded of a statement by one of the students. He said that he hadn’t seen a pumpkin in 20 years. I cannot even imagine that.
Seeing pumpkins is a signal for the change in seasons and something that we take for granted this time of year. Sometimes the simplest things can be the most important.
I hope you’ll click over and take a look at the full article. Happy Halloween!
*Updated 12/12/2020* I should have updated this post years ago. Craving Boston no longer exists, but most of the articles that I wrote have moved over to WGBH website. Unfortunately, this original article wasn’t moved over, but I found it archived on The Wayback Machine.
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Screenshot: WGBH
Choose New MBTA Train Design
Have you voted yet? I just did! The MBTA has invited the public to vote on the design of the new line of subway trains for the Orange, Green and Red Lines. The image to the left was my choice for the Red Line.
Although, after last winter, my main concern is more whether the trains will run on time or even run at all. The design is secondary, but it is nice to be able to provide some input. According to the website, we will have to wait a bit to see the new trains though.
Delivery of the first of 152 new Orange Line cars is set to begin in 2018. The first of 24 new Green Line trolley cars will be delivered in 2017, and the delivery of the first of 132 new Red Line cars is scheduled to start in November 2019.
It’s rather disappointing that the Red Line trains will be the last be delivered, since that’s the one that I use most often. And the one with the most problems. At least in my view. Oh well….
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Screenshot Image: SurveyMonkey
