What's Cooking at 403bwise?
September 28, 2021
I used the pandemic to cook more. Not necessarily better, but more.
Since both my wife and daughter are excellent cooks, it's easy to get a little complacent on the food preparation front. Thanks in part to The New York Times Cooking app, I have been cooking, err, attempting to cook, pretty regularly. Some of my efforts have come out really well. I favor simple recipes. An easy favorite is Cheesy White Bean-Tomato Bake. It's basically cans of white navy beans simmered in water and tomato paste, topped with mozzarella and baked for a few minutes. But sometimes I even screw up the easy ones. Last week I misread the instructions on a Chipotle Gazpacho dish which is labeled as both "healthy" and "easy." The instructions called for 1 to 2 canned chipotles (in adobo sauce). What did I do? Two cans!! I didn't just add the adobos, I poured in the sauce as well.
The family was generous in their reaction. After a few spoonfuls, my daughter fetched the tub of sour cream. She laddled first one spoonful, then a second and third into the concoction. Upon first bite, my son, who loves spicy foods, blurted out: "This is good." A few seconds later he reached for the sour cream. I too was feeling the heat so I called up the cooking app. Doh! We got through the meal, and a tub of sour cream. I remade the dish a few days later. It was delightfully decent.
403bakery
We have been busy in the 403bwise kitchen as well. We are cooking up three new resources that we think hold the promise of driving K-12 403(b) change. We will announce the first, and easily the most ambitious, in my October 12th column. We hope to release the second in early 2022 and the third in the spring.
While I won’t say what this first project is just yet, I will say it promises to be spicy. Memo to school districts with bad 403(b) plans: Sour cream won’t help you. But starting from scratch might.
Stay wise and well (and double check the recipe).
