Sapere Aude

As I type this, I have my children watching Cosmos on Netflix. It’s an hour of keeping the kids lulled by the sweet, dulcet tones of Neil DeGrasse Tyson and his love of logic and science. I want my kids to be dreamers. I want them to question everything. I want them to question me, you, their teachers, everyone and everything. Every time they don’t find an answer, I want them to dig deeper, search harder, and seek to find. Nullius in Verba.

The place I take the kids most-often in the winter months is the American Museum of Natural History, and the Hayden Planetarium. They love strolling the halls of Science and paleontology, marine life and folk art. They ask question after question about who and what came first, and where it is we’re headed. My son could spend hours in the planetarium, simply mesmerized by the grandeur of the cosmos which is so difficult to see in NYC, with all of its light pollution. “What’s beyond our galaxy, Mama? What happens if you throw a magnet in a black hole? Could Zeus make lightning on Jupiter?” He may or may not have seen me watch a silly documentary called Chariots of the Gods on Netflix. Aliens+gods+pyramids+beer and a sofa=awesome night at home.

I remember watching the original Cosmos with Carl Sagan in reruns on PBS as a kid. I was instantly enamored by his easy manner and fervent passion. He also had some boss blazer and turtleneck combinations. He remained important to me even through my turbulent teenaged battle between where and how my faith and science could fit together. I was taught that evolution was a joke, that we aren’t a changing universe. I was taught this in spite of the fact that I could SEE evolution. I could SEE changes in the universe. Somewhere, deep inside my mind, lived the quiet words of Carl Sagan, just waiting to be given an ear, and a fistful of curiosity. I am so grateful for that.

Now? My kids have ample opportunities to question, to seek, to know. The can go to the museum, or the library, or even just an iPad. They can watch Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking  and then scroll through the Science News and Discoveries App, and see what correlates.

We are lucky to live in an era that between My Little Pony and Transformers, there is NGD and Hawking, open and accessible at the press of button.

On a compleeeetely different note, you know I’ve been training for my first triathlon. You also know I’ve been terrified of riding bicycles. Lately, I’ve been doing REALLY well on the bike. Yes, I’ve fallen, but it WASN’T THAT BAD. I mean, I’m a klutz. I’ve fallen HARD just by walking! So it wasn’t really that bad. I didn’t break both arms, my cheekbone, and grind my teeth! So…WINNING! (I fell down the stairs at fifteen and did just that. You know, WALKING.)

Anyway, I typically like to listen to audiobooks when I cook, but because I’ve been baking and cooking up a storm for triathlon fuel, I’ve been watching documentaries on my tablet. Biking and running documentaries. By the dozen. Yesterday, while making the recipe featured on today’s blog, I watched Rising from Ashes on Netflix, and was immediately inspired and immediately felt like an asshole for eating batter while watching a documentary featuring bicyclists who overcame GENOCIDE to keep on riding.

Yup, asshole party of one.

I got over it by watching Run for Your Life: The Fred Lebow Story on Netflix after the biking movie. I felt SMUG. I like SMUG. Smug is a comfy duvet of self-aggrandizement. The whole thing reminded me of the fact that unlike Boston, my marathon allowed women runners THE VERY FIRST YEAR. (so she got sick and couldn’t run. WHO CARES?!?!?!) Proving once and for all, NYC kicks Boston’s ass in all things, not just city layout and baseball. BOOM!

Now? Food for your Face.

Almond Banana Power Balls

all-natural, nutrient dense, happy balls of yum.

Almond Banana Power Balls

by Cat Bowen

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: bake appetizer bread breakfast dessert snack vegetarian soy-free kosher gluten-free dairy-free

Ingredients (1 dozen balls)

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 1/3 cup whole-grain oats
• 1 egg
• 1 very ripe banana
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp honey

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F

grind together nuts and oats in a food pro

when smooth-ish add in remaining ingredients

stick in freezer for 10 minutes

scoop onto greased baking sheet

bake for ten minutes or until golden brown

Shark Surfing

Like most red-blooded Americans, I spent last night watching Sharknado 2. Who wouldn’t want to watch Ian Ziering and Tara Reid run about Manhattan while being nearly eaten by giant sea creatures? My initial wariness over the near-impossible plot-lines were quickly overshadowed by the utter glee that watching such a spectacle wrought within me. I can only compare my elation to that of a child getting their first taste of cotton candy at a fair. “What is this? It looks…strange. Ok, I’ll try it. WHY HAVE I EVER CONSUMED ANYTHING ELSE EVER????”

I may have cheered when the shark flew into the plane and ate Tara Reid’s hand. I cheered even louder when Ian Ziering found said hand at the end of the film, and rescued the ring from it. Ahh, romance. So sweet.

Watching this wonderful piece of American cinema has made me curious what other movies could be viewed with similar hope for mankind? If Finn could use his girlfriend’s rigored hand holding the gun she also lost, to shoot that evil fish, what can’t humanity do? Solve world hunger? Bring peace to Congress? ELIMINATE CAMEL TOE? The possibilities are endless.

I decided to scroll through my options on Netflix and see what I could find. I struck gold. Here are my top 5 pics, and I’ve even included one you can watch with your kids. Because, summer. (we can only watercolor and play soccer so much.)

Dino King

Tremors 2

An explosion of enormous man-eating worms. This time, we're the bait.

Gamera- Mystery Science Theatre 3000

A Japanese Horror movie. A crew of snarky Americans. This is movie trolling before Twitter.

Godzilla vs Mothra

Because you can never have too many giant, mythical creatures.

Sharknado

The Original. Ian (Finn) blowing up sharks all over the place. His first time being eaten by a shark. It's the first, it's EVERYTHING.

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I have a confession. My favorite movie snack is really unhealthy. Spicy almonds, dark chocolate M&Ms, red hots, and buttered popcorn all thrown together in a bowl. The calorie count huddles around 4986945867304. I can only blame myself. I started this in high school (when spicy peanuts was all that was available) and I’ve never switched anything more than the nuts.

It was time.

I made a recipe for kettle corn that hit most of the notes of the original mix, but with about 1/6 the calories.

Coconut Chipotle Kettle Corn — It’s a win.

Coconut-Chipotle Kettle Corn

by Cat Bowen

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: side snack vegan gluten-free kosher soy-free

Ingredients (12 cups)

• 1 cup popcorn kernels
• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp chipotle powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

in a LARGE stockpot combine oil, sugar, spices, and salt on medium.

stir until dissolved

add in kernels

cover

as soon as you hear the first pop, start shaking every 10-15 seconds

when the popping slows to 1-2 seconds between pops, it’s done.

So It Goes

Ok. I get that ipads are fun and convenient ways of ignoring your children, but I sometimes feel like my kids are missing something. I will grant you that they’re mostly missing out on things like “risk of death” by sitting in the rear-facing station wagon seat without seatbelts, but it was a fun place to sit. 

I will even give you that films like Frozen, and How to Train Your Dragon, were pretty awesome. But, I suppose, because I was watching them as a parent of children instead of as a child, my rose-colored glasses have been tinged with a bit of sepia. My childhood is preserved in the hibernaculum of my mind, preserved with the moss of youthful simplicity. I have no such greenhouse from which to view the current.

I’ve turned into my parents. My parents would wax poetic aboutChitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Mary Poppins, while I begged off to watch The Muppets and Jem. Upon reflection, I’ve noticed that my parents favorite childhood movies have become some of mine and my children’s as well. While I don’t think I’ll ever love Little House on the Prarie, as it makes me stabby, and The Wizard of Oz still retains its collection of terrifying winged primates, I can sing “Hush-a-bye Mountain” at the drop of a hat.

I thought to myself, “time to indoctrinate my children to appreciate the classics!” I played The Strokes and Johnny Cash to them in the womb, gave them sushi as soon as it was feasible they wouldn’t choke on it, and I recite to them random, popular quotes from great books.

The Captain will finish most of them with a resigned expression on his face. My favorite right now is:”ATTENTION!! BILLY PILGRIM HAS COME UNSTUCK IN TIME!!” The kids roll their eyes at me. So it goes.

In the end, I did the only reasonable thing to do under the circumstances. I filled the Peanut and the Captain’s Netflixwatchlist with The Muppet Take Manhattan, The Aristocats, and Jem. 

Of course, my kids pissed and moaned a bit about the lack of digital animation, but then…THEN they realized the magic of the muppet. Fozzie is the new/old Seth Rogen, Kermit with amnesia is genius, and Miss Piggy still kicks all of the ass. And with the new Jem movie on the horizon, it’s only fair they have a base for comparison.

Don’t pretend you didn’t sing along. I wonder if my mom still has my Jem costume. It.was.awesome. I was the perfect “office girl/rockstar.” By the way, why in the hell did they still have day jobs? Did they have the world’s shittiest recording contract? Didn’t their dad own it? IS HE A KARDASHIAN?!?!?

I loved Jem, but I always wanted a guitar motorcycle like The Misfits rode in the show. Jem and the Holograms never had such interesting transportation.  Granted, they were dirty, underhanded, mean-girl bitchfaces, but they may have had a soft spot…somewhere…like where their heads met their necks.

And now, the rest of the story…

I know at least three of you come here for the recipes…I have one. Worry not.

Crostini with sausage, ricotta, and blackberry, wine, and rosemary honey.

At first, I thought of a fig-wine honey reduction, but decided to go completely seasonal with my ingredients. Everything is fresh and wonderful, and it makes for the perfect crostini. You can use either sweet or hot sausage in this recipe, but I prefer the bold flavor of hot sausage.  I prefer to use local ingredients. Berries from the farmer’s market, Faicco’s Italian Sausage, ricotta from Salvatore’s, and bread from whichever local bakery I walk by that day. Who’s the best local purveyor where you live? start there.

It’s insanely good. Try it.

The actual recipe itself is easy, just grill slices of Italian bread, top with salted ricotta, sausage slices, and this reduction..The reduction is also AMAZING on steak OR chicken. I was standing over it, just dunking sausage into it when I ran out of crostini. All of the noises, ever described in a romance novel, to explain the sounds of ecstasy, I made them while eating this. (gutteral moan, breath out on a whisper, a cry from the back of my throat…) you get the picture.

Cabernet, Blackberry, and Rosemary Honey Reduction

by Cat Bowen

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 ish minutes

Keywords: condiment gluten-free dairy-free kosher

Ingredients

• 1 pint fresh blackberries, mashed roughly with a fork
• 1/4 cup good cabernet
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

combine all ingredients on stove

bring to boil on medium

reduce to simmer

simmer ten minutes

pull out rosemary stem.

serve

There’s So Much In This World We Can Learn

Today marks eleven years since we lost one of the most loving and inspirational voices of our time: Mr Rogers. I remember watching episode after episode of “Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood” while eating my rice and milk. (rice, milk, and honey was one of my favorite breakfasts.) I loved his lessons about confidence, peace, and love. I was fascinated by his love of books, as it was so similar to my own, and his vast collection of awesome zip-up cardigans.

He truly made you believe you were capable of anything you put your mind to, and he made it fun to learn. He let you know that learning was something to be done everyday, and that it made you better. He even talked about EXERCISE. Way before it was cool. He talked about how important it is to move your body every day. He had breakdancers and ballerinas and gym teachers on his show kids that loving the vessel you’re given is as important as what you do with it! This was back before Cookie Monster ever saw a vegetable! Living by example!!!

Unfortunately, we no longer have his genius and love and peaceful personality in our everyday lives. Fortunately, PBS has turned one of his most-beloved characters into a cartoon that shares his spirit of learning and love. “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.” My kids are obsessed. My Peanut knows how to find it on Netflix, and always insists on its being played. She likes to watch it while she’s  having her snack. I hoped his love of hoodies would encourage her to maybe not watch it in the nude. So far, no such luck. All snacks and netflixing are still done while naked.

As most of you know, I’m a member of the Netflix Stream Team, wherein I blog about my Netflix experience every month. Every month they give us ideas about what they suggest our theme should be. A recent theme being: “watch while you workout.” Well, I do, occasionally, “Watch While I Workout,” but more likely, my kids are watching while I workout! My daughter is INCREDIBLY shy, and my son has Sensory Perception Disorder, so a lot of the time, the gym childcare just isn’t an option because of crowding, etc..However, if I let them have my tablet in childcare, (in an otterbox because I’m not dumb) they can watch Netflix streaming in a safe environment, while I workout. I just turn on Netflix Kids, and I know they won’t be inadvertently watching “Shaun of the Dead” again. –This happened. I fell asleep on the sofa, and woke to my son watching “Shaun of the Dead” on HBO On-Demand. Parenting Fail. 

As a mother of a child with special needs, I can’t tell you how comforting it is to see my son on the childcare monitor, happily sitting and behaving perfectly in the childcare center. I’m not going to lie, it has made him quite popular in the gym. Also, I should be 100% honest: I may or may not watch “Arrow” streaming on the ‘flix (as none of the cool kids call it) on my phone to get through static exercise, because….

Don’t act like you don’t want to get sweaty with him. Just don’t lie to yourself or me like that. (stream time, around 42 minutes. PERFECT for a run or the elliptical, just don’t slip in a puddle of your own drool, that’d be embarrassing.)

I would bake him cake. He could show me how good his aim really is. 

Banana Peanut Butter Cup Bread

by Cat Bowen

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients (1 loaf)

• 2 over ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (the kind with 2 ingredients)
• 2 eggs or chia eggs
• 6 oz plain greek yogurt (or soy yogurt. NOT coconut milk yogurt)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup DARK cocoa powder
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9″ loaf pan

with a mixer, beat bananas into a paste

add other wet ingredients (the order makes no nevermind as you’re working with bananas and yogurt)

sift in dry

mix on minute

pour into loaf pan

bake approximately 45 minutes or until skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

eat the heck out of it.