Besides doing 30 minute meals, Rachael Ray is also known for having countless hamburger recipes, even going so far as to dub herself Queen of the Burgers.  You can add French Bread pizza recipes to that list as well.  We’ve made her Nacho Bread Pizza, the Mega Meatball, the Bacon Avocado and Watercress Griddle Pizza, the Carbonara Pizza, the Cheese and Caramelized Onion Pizza, the Smoked Salmon Pizza and her Really French, French Bread Pizza (my favorite I think).  Geesh, now that I’m looking at the list, perhaps she should write a pizza cookbook next!  Over the weekend, we checked another one off the list…  Ham and Gruyere French Bread Pizza.  A recipe from the May 2008 issue of her magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, I ripped this out ages ago to make.  There happened to be a fish recipe on the other side, and I made that first and promptly forgot about the pizza recipe.  That was, until my friend Madeline mentioned it recently.  Up to the top of the pile it went.

Now technically Rachael calls this recipe French Bread Pizza.  To me, that’s a tad misleading since it’s on French Bread, that name gives no description about the actual pizza itself, so we’re going to call it Ham and Gruyere Pizza around this neck of the woods, thankyouverymuch.  For those that are quick to protest that her recipes take longer than 30 minutes, this is a good one to tackle.  I had it tabled in 20.

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Miss Madeline on the Move …

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You know you’re on the right track if, when given the choice of being able to have anything they want for breakfast, your kids choose something that you make.  It totally warms my heart.  This past Friday, I took a day off so I could hang out with the kids.  With summer quickly coming to a fast close, I wanted it to be all about them, and the day was ours.

I told Nicholas that we would do whatever he wanted for breakfast.  We could stay in and make something, or we could go out to eat, it was all up to him.  What did he choose?  My banana pancakes.  We actually make this one often enough that although I should probably know it by heart, the recipe is taped to the inside of one of our kitchen cabinets. 

He’s been on a major pancake kick lately and can eat three without coming up for air.  Recently though, I added another pancake option to his recipe rotation, and you can read about it right here, in my latest article for MyRecipes.com.

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For the past two years and counting, if you ask Nicholas what he wants to be when he grows up, he answers without hesitation, “an artist.”  Although he is a master at monkey bar wrangling and delights in digging for worms, give him a mass of crayons, markers and a stack of fresh paper, and he can keep himself busy for quite awhile.

So when I caught a news clip the other night on the Jeff Koons exhibit at the Met, I thought that would be right up his alley.  Who wouldn’t smile at huge, shiny, metallic structures fashioned into hearts and balloon art?  And it’s even more fun that it’s a roof-top exhibit. 

Koons, an artist from Pennsylvania, has said that he wants “his art to communicate with as broad an audience as possible,” and he definitely succeeds with this latest exhibit.  His current artwork in progress includes, “a full-scale steam locomotive [that] is to be suspended nose-down from a Liebherr crane and [will] perform several times a day—wheels accelerating while chugging, emitting steam, and blasting its whistle.”  How cool does that sound?  Coincidentally, there is also a Superhero exhibit currently running too, so it’s a perfect time to take your child to the museum.  Mixing authentic superhero costumes from the movies, along with vintage comic books and fashion inspired by the comics, it was a popular exhibit … and has now enticed Nicholas to start collecting comic books.

Surprisingly enough, although he loved both the Superhero and the Koons exhibit, he was equally enthralled with the Greek statues and Parisian furniture on display, and loved learning about Medusa.  To the point that he asked for a trip to the library this week so he could learn more.  I love that kid.

There is convenient parking right past the museum (although we got lucky with on-street parking today), and kids under 12 are free, so if you’re looking for a fun outing to bring the summer to a close, this might be up your alley.  Our only regret was that they didn’t have any postcards of either the Koons or Superhero exhibit; my guess is because they’re temporary installations.  No matter, the Medusa’s head card did just fine, thankyouverymuch. 

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Over the past few days, there has been a list of 100 food items floating around various bloggers’ sites.  Originally the brainchild of Andrew from Very Good Taste in the UK, the Omnivore’s 100 is a quick, fun and very unscientific look at people’s eating adventures.  As he says, “The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all.”

The premise is very simple. 

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uklinking to your results.

Besides seeing the results from fellow bloggers, I’m also on a listserv for the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), and I’ve been catching their results and comments about it as well, which have been an interesting read.  I think the highest score of things eaten that I’ve seen so far is 98 - wow!  Mine clocked in at a modest 54.  The first time I counted, it was 39, which totally bummed me out since I think I’m an adventurous eater that will try almosteverything once.  I felt better after recounting.  In a way, I was surprised by the number, but in a way, not.  A lot of the items are just not readily available in the States. (I didn’t go through and cross out the things I’d never try, since that would mean looking up more than a few).

So take a look and see how you fare.  I’d love to hear your number and ruminations!

54/100 My Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison (completely by accident, and won’t eat it by choice)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue (in the words of Rachael Ray, “yum-o!”)
8. Carp
9. Borscht

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