The End of a Reading Rainbow

Is anyone else dismayed by the fact that PBS is no longer going to run Reading Rainbow after 26 years on the air? It was always one of my favorite shows as a child. I heard on the radio that ultimately it came down to a change in education philosophy that shifted the focus of literacy programing to teaching things like phonics, rather than teaching a love of reading. Apparently no one wanted to fund Reading Rainbow any more.

But don't we need television programming that teaches both? Sure, a kid can now how to read, but without showing him/her the doors reading can open, they are more likely to stick to their X-Box 360 than open a book. I loved that the book reviews at the end were by the kids themselves, recommending their book with such enthusiasm. I remember wondering (1) how those kids got to be on TV, and (2) if I wrote down the names of the books they recommended I could find them in the next Scholastic book fair.

It just seems like such a shame! Reading Rainbow, you will be missed.

Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Slaw

This is going to be a quick one, but I have enjoyed these tacos so many times in the past few weeks that I just had to share it. About a month ago, Deebs made these babies for dinner when Andrew and I were over at her apartment, using a recipe I had seen on Smitten Kitchen, but never tried. While she was crisping up the tortillas, she warned that once she started making them, she started getting sudden cravings for them all the time. Let's just say she was right on. These tacos have put me at Whole Foods at 9:30 p.m., after full day of work and class, simply because I HAD to have this awesome flavor combination.

I don't have a picture of my own, basically because we eat them too fast to take one, but SK always does a fabulous job of that for us.

Seriously - try these tacos! And do not, I repeat DO NOT skip the hot sauce.

Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw
Smitten Kitchen, 2009 via Bon Appetit

Makes 4 or so Tacos, depending the size.

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1 teaspoon ground cumin
5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons (or more) fresh lime juice
2 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 white or yellow corn tortillas
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Hot sauce

Place beans and cumin in small bowl; partially mash. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix 2 teaspoons olive oil and lime juice in medium bowl; add coleslaw, green onions, and cilantro and toss to coat. Season slaw to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add tortillas in single layer. Spoon 1/4 of bean mixture onto half of each tortilla; cook 1 minute. Fold tacos in half. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Fill tacos with feta and slaw. Pass hot sauce alongside, or if your name is Alex, drown your taco in a puddle of it.

Classic Italian Lasagna

I don't make a whole lot of Giada's recipes, not for any particular reason, I just have so many Ina Garten cookbooks I usually fall back on hers. But this one is fantastic. I made it for the third time at my parents house last week. It's a little putsy because you have to make the bechemel sauce, so I'd save it for an evening where the cooking is the main event. The leftovers are plenty and get better by the day!

Classic Italian Lasagna
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis (slightly revised)

Ingredients

For the Bechamel Sauce:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups milk at room temperature
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 jar favorite tomato sauce
Salt and white pepper

For the Rest of the Lasagna:
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground chuck beef
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1 pound lasagna sheets, cooked al dente
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3 cups shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the Bechamel Sauce:

In a 2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When butter has completely melted, add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of wooden spoon. Remove from heat and add the nutmeg and tomato sauce. Stir until well combined and check for seasoning. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

For the Rest of the Lasagna:

In a saute pan, heat extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Brown meat, breaking any large lumps, until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain any excess fat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix the ricotta and eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch baking dish (or larger even), spread 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the pasta sheets side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish. Evenly spread a layer of all the ricotta mixture and then a layer of all the spinach. Arrange another layer of pasta sheets and spread all the ground beef on top. Sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella cheese on top of the beef. Spread another 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Arrange the final layer of pasta sheets and top with remaining bechamel, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place lasagna dish on top, cover and put on the middle rack of the oven and bake until top is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue to bake for about 15 minutes.

'Tis the Season

'Tis graduation season, and I have to say, I LOVE a good commencement speech. The hardest assignment I ever got as a speechwriter was to write a commencement speech. So much pressure!

I watched both of Obama's graduation speeches this year -- at ASU and Notre Dame. I think he exemplifies the power of the commencement speech and knocked both of them out of th park (per usual). I'm holding out hope that he'll speak at my law school graduation...it's just down the street after all! :-)

A friend pointed out that Time Magazine has listed Bradley Whitford's speech to UW-Madison as one of the Top Ten commencement speeches ever. They say it was in 2006, but it was defintiely 2004, because he spoke at my graduation. Honestly, it's worth a read -- it's funny and inspiring and reminds you of everything you feel at your college graduation.

It's been awhile...

So...April and May weren't good months for Anne in the Lup. It's basically because I didn't do anything in April and early May worth blogging about. I basically sat in front of my computer or in a cubicle at the Library. I got an email from a friend saying that this production company is looking for young DC women to follow around for a new reality show. I thought for a minute what my contribution to said show would look like and had a good laugh. Not exactly a Kim Kardashian over here.

Anyway, I thought I'd let you know what has been keeping me busy since my last post. It's all very exciting...and by exciting I mean not exciting at all.

In early April I wrote my legal writing final. CRAZY, right? It was a brief based on the facts of Summum v. City of Pleasant Grove. The argument centered on whether or not maintaining a monument dedicated to the Ten Commandments in a public park while refusing to erect a monument to a competing religion (Summum, it's a religion -- really), was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (gov't shall make no law establishing religion).

I was particularly interested in the Establishment Clause because right now there is a storm a brewin' in my hometown about whether or not holding high school commencement ceremonies in a non-denominational church is a violation of the Establishment Clause. My class was the first to have our graduation there, and I remember at the time it caused some controversy. Since then the high school has continued the practice, and other high schools without their own auditoriums have followed suit. AND...now there's a lawsuit. Perhaps I'll write something real about it in all of my free time...

The other interesting aspect of this project was that I was selected to be a Law Fellow next year! It's a couple credits a semester helping 1Ls through the legal writing course, commenting on their work, etc. My law fellow was super helpful this year so I'm excited to be a part of the program.

So after that was done I moved on to Civil Procedure. Learned an entire year of it in about a week. Glad that's over. (The pig image is because the exam centered on a story about "porcine romance." This was right around the time swine flu was taking hold.) Don't ask.

THEN...Property. I liked this class. I thought the land use stuff was really interesting. Plus my professor may moonlight as Santa Claus. Great guy. Maybe a sign of things to come? Not sure...



FINALLY, Torts. Torts got the short end of the deal. One of my oldest friends Andrea was in town and there was a surprise b-day party that I obviously couldn't miss. We'll see how that one turns out.

But, its over now. Over until it isn't anymore at least. Class starts again May 27. Le sigh.

I was able to take a very quick trip to Wisconsin the past few days after finals were over to see my parents and catch up with some folks (sooooo good to see those of you I connected with by the way).

This week I'm working on putting something together for the infamous Write-On competition where all us first years vie for a place on the Georgetown Law Review. Wish me luck!

I should be back in action in June.

Synthesizers are Back...Apparently

Andrew and I went to a great show at the 9:30 Club last Saturday. Andrew has been on the hunt for new music lately, and in his search he ran across Mates of State, a husband-and-wife indie rock duo from Kansas. They are currently touring with The Black Kids, a band from Jacksonville, Florida.

Both of these energetic shows made creative use of the synthesizer to create their own unique sounds. The Black Kids, arguably the better of the two groups, were tremendously electric -- people couldn't help moving to this music. Mates of State, somewhat more subdued, had a more emotional feeling to them.

Who knew the synthesizer was back in action? Now, admittedly I am notoriously behind the times when it comes to music, so perhaps this is news to no one else. Regardless, check out both these bands, on tour together now. You can listen to one of their shows here.

So Long Tanya!

Tanya and I at her final goodbye party at the Reef

Today is our good friend T-Marie's last day in Washington after something like six years of living in the District. By DC standards, T is a lifer. But like so many others, she is leaving for greener pastures on what she likes to call the "best" coast. She leaves to go back to Portland tomorrow.

T and her boyfriend Andrew H. have been a huge part of our life here in DC. Andrew went to law school with both of them and they made us feel instantly welcome when we moved here. From fondue parties turned karaoke sessions to countless nights at the Raven, it has been an absolute blast getting to know them. T also started the infamous "Sip 'n Knit," shortly after I arrived where she got together a fantastic group of women every Tuesday night. While there wasn't much kitting that went on (except for T, who became quite good might I add), we definitely did a lot of sipping, and I made some great friends in the process.

T -- you and Andrew will definitely be missed! DC won't be the same without you. We hope to see you soon in Portland!