Fitz!

Thanks, Christy!!!

Good morning, friends. Hugs all around.

Greta, Jane and Pam!

Greta!

Jane!

Bon voyage, Greta!

Mrs. al-Scooter’s Ro*Tel Chicken

If you aren’t familiar with Ro*Tel, there’s more info here:

http://www.texmex.net/Rotel/main.htm

1 tsp. minced fresh garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 10-oz. can diced Ro*Tel tomatoes and green chile
1/4 can orange juice concentrate
2 tsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. chili powder
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
shredded cheese (optional)
avocado slices (optional)

Prepare the barbecue grill (medium heat) or broiler. Saute garlic in olive oil. Add Ro*Tel, orange juice, soy sayce,and chili powder. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove 1/2 cup sauce for basting. Keep remaining sauce warm. Barbecue or broil chicken, basting as it cooks.

To serve, top each breast with remaining warm sauce, cheese and avocado.

Mrs. al-Scooter notes: “This is a very versitile sauce. Use it as a marinade for chicken or beef. Instead of broiling, simmer the meat in the sauce. If there are leftovers, they make great tacos!

“The sauce works on baked potatoes, rice and pasta. Once I started the sauce and I discovered I was out of Ro*Tel, but I still wound up with a decent orange chicken.”

So when you bite into this chicken, the chicken bites you back. That’s fair, innit?

Greta!
Jane!

Bon Appetit!!

Won’t be around this morning, as it’s a busy day for us – but as we sit down to eat today, I’ll be thinking of you all.

I made this last Christmas and it was beyond awesome. Use less salt than the recipe requires, maybe even half. Definitely marinate it overnight. Otherwise, succulent and absolutely delicious:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/foo…..98,00.html

Roasted Pork Shoulder (Pernil Al Horno)

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Ratings and Reviews
User Rating: 5 Stars

1 boneless pork shoulder (about 4 pounds), skin on
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 handful fresh oregano
4 tablespoons Kosher salt (1 tablespoon for every pound of meat)
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Place the pork, fat-side up, in a roasting pan fitted with a rack insert, and using a sharp knife, score the surface of the meat with small slits. Mash the garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper into a paste on a cutting board with the flat side of a knife (this is the adobo); place the adobo in a bowl and stir in the oil and vinegar. Rub the garlic paste all over the pork, being sure to get into the incisions so the salt can penetrate the meat and pull out the moisture – this will help form a crust on the outside when cooked. Cover the pork with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

Allow the meat to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Roast the pork for 3 hours, uncovered, until the skin is crispy-brown. Let the meat rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before slicing.

For Greta, Jane, Christy, and the whole FDL community

Olive Butter

1/2 cup diced kalamata olives
1 lb softened butter
Substitute 1/2 lb of goat cheese or feta for a 1/2 pound of butter

Take butter (and cheese if your using it) and let it soften about 1 hr. Place in a bowl, add the olives and use a spatula or the back of spoon, to mash the two together. Stir and mash until mixed.

Serve with crusty bread.

(The spatula/back of the spoon works best. I’ve tried mixing with my hands, a potato masher and an electric mixer.)

A couple things to keep in mind, if the olives you are using are salty, or if you add feta, use sweet butter, not salted butter. Kalamata olives work the best. I’ve tried many varieties of green olives, and it’s just not the same. You can add herbs to enhance the flavor, rosemary, parsley, thyme and chervil have all been used successfully. Also, some lemon zest is nice.

You can also use this for cooking, roasting potatoes or chicken, in mashed potatoes, or when preparing pasta sauces, or omelets.

I made this and brought it to a party. I had strangers come up to me to and say “You’re the olive butter guy”. It’s become legendary in this circle of friends that I have, and at gathering I show up to, I wonder if it’s me or the olive butter that they’re happy to see.

Mmm, already!

The dish I’m bringing to Jane and Pam hails from Iraq. Long ago on “Baghdad Burning,” Riverbend blogged about her favorite Iraqi foods, mentioning something called Bamia. Intrigued, I Googled around and found several recipes from various places in the Middle East. Because they were different enough to confuse me, I emailed two or three to Riverbend, asking whether they were close to her family’s. She replied:

Yes, those are similar, but here’s how we do it. First, we saute 4 or 5 pieces of garlic in corn oil, then we add the okra – whole – only the heads are chopped off. The okra and garlic are sauteed a little bit longer with about a cup of shredded tomatoes, then the cooked veal or beef is added (a few small pieces at most) and about two cups of broth. The whole mix is allowed to simmer for about 5 minutes. About 3 tablespoons of tomato paste is added with some black pepper and salt and the whole thing is covered and allowed to cook over low heat for around 20 minutes. You must be sure to turn it off before the okra gets mushy. Serve with rice.

It’s a favorite food here … just amazing. Riverbend.

Ah yes, there are many roads to Bamia in the Middle East, some crossing the stovetop, others entering the oven. One version I found calls for a teaspoon apiece of coriander and cumin, with a tablespoon of tamarind pods (soaked in water then drained) added toward the end of cooking. An Egyptian one, oven-baked and featuring 3 tablespoons apiece of plain yogurt and sour cream, calls for garnishing with thin slices of tomato and lemon. Well, I diddled around on my own a bit and finally came up with this version (because I especially love Greek flavors, I zing it up with dill and mint instead of coriander and cumin, but suit yourself as to savory spices or herbs):

Bamia Riverbend (sorta-kinda)

1 lb ground beef (I use ground sirloin)
1 large onion, chopped
4 good-sized cloves garlic, minced
2 medium to large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced (or one 14.5-oz can)
3 tablespoons tomato paste (add a pinch of sugar to cut the acid)
1 lb whole fresh okra pods, stalks trimmed just above pod
1 14-oz can low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
1 tablespoon dried mint flakes
salt and coarsely-ground black pepper to taste
olive oil for browning beef

Heat a large skillet or other stovetop pan on a burner set to medium high, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to pan, and brown beef (may need to do this in batches to avoid overcrowding). Remove beef from pan and set aside. Lower heat to medium-low, add onion and garlic, and cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion softens. Return beef to pan and add remaining ingredients. Stir to mix well. Cover pan and let cook over medium-low heat until okra is fork-tender but not mushy, about 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice. Serve over hot rice with salad and hot crusty bread.

Serves 4.

P.S. If you’d like to learn more tasty Iraqi cuisine (with a good big side of Iraq’s cultural history), I suggest Nawal Nasrallah’s Delights from the Garden of Eden. From Christy’s description of her interests, I bet Greta would have loved it.

My Mother-in-law passed away in March of this year and I had the responsibility for making the dreaded “arrangements”. Instinctively, I made plans for family time alone just before interrment. It was the most wonderful half-hour I’ve ever experienced in those circumstances. Stories of childhood memories were shared among the members of the family, joy at the little things that she liked and did were expressed and final goodbyes were personal and heartfelt. There were no guests to consider, only those of us who knew her best.

I never understood the term “celebrating” the life of a loved one before this. I can understand the loss that Jane feels, but I also hope she can experience the joy of the celebration of her mother’s life like my family did.

We’re with you in spirit Jane.

Hizzhoner

Okay, this recipe is almost embarrassingly suburban, but it is a powerful source of comfort on a cold rainy night when you don’t have much money:

RexMama’s Tuna Noodle Casserole

You will need:

1 large bag wide egg noodles.
1 medium sized can of solid white albacore tuna.
1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup.
1/2 cup mayonnaise.
1 tbsp. curry.
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 block sharp cheddar cheese, grated.

Boil noodles until tender. Drain. Mix mayonnaise,

Oh, fuck, the cat just brought a live chipmunk in here.

I’ll be back.

To Jane,

I’m so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you and your family.

My sincere condolences to all.

Shaw Kenawe

My Mom loved to travel too. She went on cruises all over the world but her favorite was Alaska. She passed away three days after Christmas in 2003 in Carmel, California after a long battle with ovarian cancer. My sisters and I were there. During her last week she had travel magazines spread all over her bed that she looked at!

Here’s my dish! Enjoy.

Cozumel’s ‘Hermosa Beach’ Gazpacho – Chilled Spanish Soup.

Serves – 6 – 8 large bowls…

Mix….

1 – Huge can of tomato juice (46 fl. oz.)
6 – Fresh Jalapeno Peppers (chopped, seeded)
1 – Tablespoon, Tabasco Sauce
3 – Shakes, Ground Black Pepper
2 – Table Spoons, Red Wine Vinegar
3 – Beef Bullion Cubes (ground up)

Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally and then turn off the heat as soon as it boils.

Add….Stir in…

6 – Romano Tomatoes (chopped)
3 – Celery Sticks (chopped)
1 – Bell Pepper (seeded, chopped)
1/2 – Onion (chopped)
3 – Table Spoons, Cilantro ( ground)

Chill in the fridge for a few hours and serve…

Note: Cilantro is a MUST, it takes the “burn” out of the “hot” among other things.

(I hope this thread means the covered dish-bringing starts now)

It sounds like Greta knew to live well. Tasting where we are is so important, and shows a willingness to adapt and learn and grow.

This recipe (below) that I’m offering is fairly healthy and you can use for almost any of a season’s fresh fruits. It’s from “Simply in Season: Recipes that celebrate fresh, local foods” published by Herald Press (an MCC cookbook in the spirit of More-With-Less)

I wish I could bring it to Jane, warm, with a half gallon of homemade vanilla ice cream. My heart is with you at this trying time. cgreen.

Four Fruit Crisp

1 1/2 c each of four fruits, 6 cups total. Use any combination of fruit if that’s what you have on hand, e.g. 3 c apples and 3 c peaches)
Mix together and pour into 10-inch, deep dish pie pan.

3/4 c flour
3/4 c rolled oats
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil
3/4 c brown sugar
1/3 c chopped nuts

Mix until crumbly. Evenly sprinkle topping over fruit. Bake in preheated oven at 375, until fruit bubbles and top is golden brown, about 30 min.

RE combining travel with food/cooking . . .

I spent some time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and learned to cook:

Enchiladas Verdes

2 cups cooked tomatillos (Mexican green tomatoes)
2 chilies serranos
3 sprigs cilantro
1/3 cup milk
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons sour cream
12 tortillas
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
2 oz crumbled white cheese (Monterey Jack works well)

Blend the green tomatoes with the chilies, cilantro, milk, garlic and salt until smooth. Heat oil over medium-high heat; add sauce and cook until reduced and seasoned, about 5 minutes. Stir frequently. Remove from heat, add sour cream, and set aside. Fry or microwave tortillas until soft and flexible; dip one at a time into green sauce. Fill with chicken, roll and place into baking dish. Spread remaining sauce over enchiladas, garnish with cheese and onion, and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until warm.
# # #

Also, EPU’d from last thread: Grandmato — How do you like Elizabeth Peters?

Here’s something I’m doing right now, for my wife’s office picnic tomorrow. If Jane lived up the road, I’d bring some by. It takes a little time–three days!–but it’s worth it. The dry rub is from Steven Raichlen’s indispensable The Barbecue Bible.

North Carolina Hickory-Smoked, Pulled Pork Barbecue:

Serves 10-12

1 Boston Butt (bone-in pork shoulder roast, 5 to 6 pounds), covered with at least a 1/2 inch layer of fat

For the rub (optional):
1 tablespoon mild paprika
2 teaspoons firmly packed light brown sugar
1 and a half teaspoons hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt to taste

Two days before serving, combine the dry rub ingredients in a bowl. Rub this mixture into the pork on all sides, wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight. Soak at least 4 cups of hickory chips in cold water overnight as well. If you’re not using the rub, generously season the pork with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper immediately before cooking.

Use a charcoal grill, and lump charcoal. Toss in a cup of drained hickory chips, and place the pork, fat side up, on the grate. Cover.

The name of this game is “low and slow.” Don’t let the heat get above 250 degrees F. Be vigilant: the hickory will want to burn, and the heat will quickly rise out of control.

Toss another cup of hickory on the coals every hour or so. Pork is done when its internal temperature reaches 195 degrees F; 4 to 6 hours. Tent the pork with tinfoil and let it rest for several hours.

You may want to wear gloves when pulling. Simply pull the pork off into pieces, discarding the rendered fat and bone.

Here’s a good vinegar sauce recipe, from my part of the state, courtesy of the late Bill Neal, author of Southern Cooking:

Vinegar Sauce:

Yields about 2 cups

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
1/2 cup minced onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
Two-thirds teaspoon thyme
2 to 3 teaspoons dry mustard
4 to 6 teaspoons cold water

Combine all the ingredients except the last two in a small saucepan. Bring to a rapid boil, then simmer five minutes. Remove from heat. Dissolve the mustard in cold water, then thin it out with some of the hot vinegar sauce. Stir the mustard into the sauce. Let cool.

Transfer the pulled pork to a non-reactive roasting pan. Stir in enough sauce to keep pork moist, 1 to 1 1/2 cups. Cover tightly with foil until serving.

A full-on NC picnic would also include a good slaw and a good corn bread or macaroni and cheese. You can make BBQ sandwiches with hamburger buns, a little slaw, and the vinegar sauce.

As I throw the next few chunks of hickory on, I will do so in honor of Jane, her family, and this community.

Good luck to TRex — WEAR THICK GLOVES!

I want to start off by making a couple of book recommendations to everyone. If you have not yet discovered the food writing of Laurie Colwin, and you love to read about nourishing the soul as well as the palate, then you need to pick up her Home Cooking and her More Home Cooking. They are infused with so much spunk and love and fantastic recipes and humor — I absolutely adore these books, and I think that Greta would have loved them, too.

It made me smile to read that Greta read cookbooks like novels, because I do that, too…

As those of us who have experienced death in our familes know, those days that follow are so crazy that it can be easy to forget to eat. Having some food in the fridge that only needs heating or plating is a godsend.

Here are a couple dishes I would bring to someone:

Hot Chicken Salad

4 cups cooked, diced chicken
2/3 cup mayo
2 cups sliced almonds
2 cups diced celery
4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 tbsp diced pimento
1 cup cheddar cheese
potato chips

Mix all ingredients. Top with cheese and crushed chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Confetti Mashed Potatoes
7 medium russet potates
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green opions
1 2oz jar chopped pimento
1 egg, beaten

Cook peeled potatoes until done. Put through food mill or mash well. Add butter until absorbed, then milk. Beat in cream cheese and sour cream on low speed. Stir in onion and pimento. Stir in beaten egg. Transfer to 9 x 13 glass pan, or large casserole dish. Bake 25 minutes @ 350 degrees.

I had a great life experience that I would like to share – the death of my father. I am the third of three sons and definitely the one who had the closest relationship with my father. This is because, mostly, we grew up pretty poor – semi-rural poor – and my dad worked 70 or 80 hours every week when I was very young. He would come home on Thursday night (payday) for dinner, worked half of most Saturdays and didn’t have to work on Sunday, although in the summer he would spend half of that day golfing. So, up to the point my brothers were 13 and 12, and I was 6 we rarely had any time with the man.

But that changed in the late ‘60’s and he worked less and I got to know him pretty well. He still went golfing Sundays, but I would sit with him in the evenings and build flying wooden plane models with him (his passion/stress reliever) in the evening. He’d smoke and drink coffee and we would listen to the Yankees on the transistor. It was, sadly, a little late for my other brothers who were already on with their lives (i.e. girls). My brothers both stayed on in the same home town, but I left after college. One of my older brothers even worked for my father, but they were never close.

I went to law school in Boston, worked in Miami, then Boston again and then went in 1989 to Texas to represent folks on death row. In 1990, my father learned he had pancreatic cancer which had already metastasized to his liver. Chemo followed, pain, that slow slide to death. I was able to travel up and go to many of his Doctor appointments and chemo sessions. The only time I saw him cry in the process was when he worried out loud about my mother remarrying (she never has yet).

In Texas at work, we were buried – pun intended. There were execution dates everywhere, and no attorneys willing to take cases and those who were willing were not generally capable…. At that time, each lawyer in the office probably had a caseload of twenty or more death row inmates. We were working over 80+ hours per week – no golfing. The most we could do was get a stay of execution for one client and move on to stop the execution of the next. It wasn’t like we were doing great law work – just acting as the brakemen on the train.

I got a call from my Aunt – “Your Dad’s not doing well.” I had planned on going home in four weeks, “Should I come now or wait?” She couldn’t say. I went and within 36 hours my father died — at home (with some great hospice help — I heart Zennurse) with my Mom and me by his side. Early in the morning he called for us, said “bolet” which is “hurts” in Czech, looked at my Mom, said her name, squeezed her hand and died. Being there at that moment was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me. My brothers, who were not around much at all at the end, are still suffering and working through all that they missed.

My Father, Josef Bohus _______: hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of him. Now with smiles much more than tears. He loved the following simple comfort food for meatless Fridays and Holy Days of Obligation:

Macaroni and Cheese

Cook 3 Cups elbow macaroni
12 oz extra sharp cheddar
1 cup milk
2T flour
Salt,
Pepper
Pinch of Paprika (for color, mostly)
Crush (not too much!) a sleeve of saltine crackers (I like whole wheat ones)

In a pan, put the cheese, milk, flour salt, pepper and paprika. Slowly melt the cheese – no boiling! Put the cooked macaroni into a large generous casserole dish, pour on the cheese mixture and stir it up. Spread the crushed saltines on top and
Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour or until top is golden brown

Fast recipe for a fast hors douvre . . .

Ham Tortilla Rolls

1 lb diced ham (1/4″ cubes – small!)
18 oz cream cheese, softened
1 7 oz can of diced green chilies
1/2 lb. black olives, chopped
tortillas – 6-8 burrito-sized

Mix the ham, cheese, chilies and olives in a bowl.

Take a tortilla, and spread a thin layer of this mixture down the middle of one of the torillas. Cut off the sides of the tortilla w/o the mixture, then roll up the tortilla into a log. Place it in a casserole dish and cover with a damp towel. Repeat until the mixture is gone. Refrigerate the dish for several hours or overnight.

When you’re ready to serve them, take the logs, cut them into 1″ rolls, and serve as is or with salsa for dipping.

Here is some comfort food for a hot summer day.

ZESTY GAZPACHO
1 Can (15 oz) Tomato Sauce (Del Monte works best)
1 Can (14-1/2 oz) Diced tomatoes.
3/4 Cup finely chopped celery
3/4 Cup finely chopped cucumber
1/2 Cup finely chopped onion
1/2 Cup water
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
1/4 Cup finely chopped green pepper (Bell pepper)
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/4 Tsp pepper
Dash garlic powder

Combine ingredients; mix well. Chill several hours (best overnight). Serve with dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt, it desired.

6 to 8 servings.

MODIFICATIONS

First, I like to substitute mild red onions for the plain white onions.

Next, to add color, I use yellow bell peppers — and instead of a 1/4 cup, I just use a whole small pepper.

Also, just to make things simple, I use one whole cucumber, peeled, and two large stalks of celery. Both chopped to less than 1/4 inch sizes. You can use a food processor if that is what blows your hair back.

I don’t bother pureeing the diced tomatoes — gives it more body.

The only thing that should be name brand is the tomato sauce; it has a certain flavor combination that seems pretty good.

I use a very course grind of pepper, or even cracked peppercorns.

For vinegar, I use Balsamic vinegar (but seasoned rice vinegar is interesting too)
For oil, I use extra virgin olive oil or sometimes walnut oil.
You could experiment with this and give it a hint of oriental flavor by adding a few drops of toasted sesame oil (it’s pretty strong).
Also, instead of 2 Tbsp of olive oil, I put in a scant 1/4 cup. This is a BIG recipe, so don’t worry about the amount of fat, and the flavor of really good oil is worth it.

Finally, the “secret ingredient.” I like to add two heaping tablespoons of capers to the soup. I love the taste of capers and would add more if I thought I could get away with it.

Another possibility is pickled okra. It is crisp and not at all slimey, and has such a distinctive flavor that it would be a good addition. Besides, the pickled okra, when it is sliced crosswise makes little pinwheel like pieces that would add to the appearance of the soup.

I frequently add a small can (or – I like a big can) of black olives.

Gazpacho, like so many summer dishes (potato salad, macroni salad, etc.) has as many variations as there are people.

Make sure you chill it long enough. Overnight is best.

Enjoy!

TRex –

I’m sure someone here must have a recipe for chipmunk . . .

I’d offer one, but my chipmunk recipes all call for a dozen of the critters.

Quick summer dish – CATFISH MORCELS

1 pound catfish morcels
3 cloves garlic – pressed
2-3 spoons olive oil
3 tomatoes cut in circles
salt and pepper to taste

HEAT the olive oil and add the pressed garlic. Saute the garlic for 60 seconds.

Add the tomatoes and cook for one minute.

Add the catfish and cover the pan for 10 minutes.

You’re done.

For more Mediterranean flavor you can add 1 spoon chopped parsley to the garlic…

Whaddya do, Peterr, fry ‘em like squirrels or quail?

To Josef Bohus!

immanentize @ 19

Dude you made me cry.

For me, food cooked slowly overnight is comfort food. Here’s a recipe I enjoy a lot:

Slow-cooking—braising—works wonders on things like beef short-ribs, shanks, oxtails, and the like: the highly flavorful meats that require long, slow cooking to become tender. You can use a slow-cooker on “low” or—exactly equivalent—a covered pot in a 200-degree oven. Cook overnight, or all day%u2014a long time, at any rate. The meat should be falling off the bones.

The secret ingredient that adds a lovely flavor is horseradish. It takes about 2 Tbs to do the trick. Here’s a recipe:

Salt and pepper the beef (oxtails, short ribs, shanks, or a combination) and then brown in a little oil. You can use olive oil, but the fat will congeal at the top better if you brown 4 pieces of chopped bacon in a saute pan and then remove the bacon to the cooking pot so that you can brown the beef thingies in the bacon grease. Remove browned beef to the cooking pot.

Saute a large chopped onion (or two, depending on the amount of beef) in the saute pan, using a wooden spatula to stir and scrape up all the brown bits left from browning the meat. Put the onions in the pot, and add juice of 4 lemons, 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, a cup of red wine, one bunch of Italian parsley chopped, 6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped, 2 Tbs of horseradish, 1 Tbs of Worcestershire, several dashes of Tabasco, 1 Tbs each of dried thyme and dried basil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. If you want, add enough crushed red pepper to add some body, but not enough to make it noticeably spicy.

Cover the pot and put it into a 200-degree oven all day or overnight. Use tongs to remove bones, leaving meat in the pot, torn into pieces. Put pot in fridge uncovered until fat on top solidifies. Remove the disk of fat, add about a cup and a half to two cups of small crimini mushrooms and a half cup of pearled (or hulled—your choice) barley. You might have to add a little water as well. Bring it to a boil and then simmer covered for an hour, then turn off heat and just let it sit until ready to eat.

This same recipe also works well with lamb shanks.

To All,

Does anyone have any good Vegetarian recipes. My girlfriend is a vegetarian and I’ve really had my fill of looking at tofu and tortellini. My own cooking skills are atrocious. My idea of a different meal every night it to change the sauce on my spagetti.

Millenry Man (#8) — your Olive Butter sounds absolutely delish! Thank you so much for sharing it. Am heading to the farmer’s market later and will pick up the kalamatas and crusty bread and give try it this afternoon.

Jane, losing a parent is one of the worst feelings in the world — no matter what age you are, there’s a sense of being ‘orphaned’ somehow. I’ve experienced that feeling and it hurts.

My heart goes out to you in this sad time. From what Christy wrote however, it sounds like you have some wonderful memories of your mom and that’s so good. Let them sustain you in the years to come. May her spirit and all the good times you had together envelop you and soothe you, now and for the rest of your life.

There is a P.S.to my Dad’s death — and as promised yesterday, how I know — beyond peradventure — that Antonin Scalia is a heartless bastard who does not deserve to have so much power over actual humans:

I included all that background about what I was doing then to supply this punchline: While I was out for about three weeks (getting the funeral reading, being with my mom, insurance, banks, etc.) one of the triage clients I was assigned, Karl Hammond, had a petition for certiorari due in the United States Supreme Court. Up until the time that Justice Ginsburg was added to the court, the Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit was Justice White. He had a limited policy of granting some extra time in death penalty cert. petitions. Well, when Ginsburg was sated, the Court shuffled the circuit justices and the Fifth ended up with Justice Scalia. So I file my motion for continuance and he issues an opinion saying that the death of my father is not sufficient cause for any extension of time in the case. No shit. Which is why I hate him.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/…..invol=1301

At least if I ever want to relive that time, all I need is a Supreme Court Reporter!

And what I am taking to Jane and Pam? Here is the ultimate/classic Texas comfort casserole:

King Ranch Chicken:

5 or 6 Split Chicken Breasts and/or thighs (You can use a whole chicken if you like)
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Rotel Tomatoes (ed. Note: This is an eight ounce can which is diced tomatoes and jalapenos together. There are other brands, but Rotel is the classic)
4 Cloves garlic crushed
2 T Chili Powder (or to taste)
Salt, black pepper to taste
1 Large onion diced
1 medium Green Bell Pepper diced
1 medium Red Bell Pepper diced
1/2 pound grated cheese (mixed Cojita and Asadero are best, or just use your favorite cheddar)
1 Dozen corn tortillas (softened in chicken broth)

Cook the Chicken in salted water. Cool, de-bone, tear apart a bit and set aside, reserving the broth. Mix together the soups (no water!) Rotel, garlic and chili powder. Put the softened tortillas in the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan or casserole. Layer chicken, diced onion and diced bell pepper. Pour the soup mixture over it all. Top with the grated cheese.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes (until cheese is toasted a bit)

lisadawn82, I’ll be back ASAP with a couple for you.

A quick (and easy) one before jetting off to work:

CEVICHE

1 lb of a flavorful white-fleshed fish
-I’ve been using Ling Cod lately
and loving it, other cod family
or not-too-oily rockfish will work
3 limes, juiced
1 tomatoe
1 medium shallot
2 jalopena chiles
1 small clove garlic

Juice the limes, cut the fish into 1 inch cubes (or so), dice the shallot and one of the chiles; put all this into a container that will let the fish be wholly submerged in the lime juice, put in the fridge 8 hours/overnight. Chop everything else the next morning, mix in with the fish, salt and pepper (lightly) to taste, let sit in the fridge again until the ‘que or dinner party – or just the end of the work day. Garnish with thin strips of Basil or parsley, dip into with crackers of your choice.

I love this at the end of a long, hot day. The lime ‘cooks’ the fish well without loosing the taste or the texture of the uncooked flesh – think sushi, with a slight tang of citrus. If it ends up being too juicy, drain off some of the lime juice. Lighter beers are better.

Blessings to you all -

I’m going to tell a story about how i found that moms still care – even at the other ends of the earth. Well, during all the anti-war protests in Washington, DC, i was driving my 1941 Chevy down to the Mall to check out the protests and the car stalled out. I and my car looked funky enough that obviously we were a credible threat, so four plainclothesmen jumped out from the four corners of the intersection, put their handguns to my head and told me to get that car in gear and get out of here. I did so. In fact, upon hearing of someone going hitchhiking in South America, i decided to go, too. So, right after Richard Nixon was reelected, we jumpstarted the hitching by taking a train to Mexico City and then hitching from there. Seven months later, i found myself in a huge marketplace in Cuzco, Peru, and one section of the marketplace consisted of a row of young women and their Waring Blenders. They were liquado makers and behind them was a slate board with the flavors they offered; the basic mixture of milk, banana, and your choice of mango, pomela, etc. Each made ‘come to me’ noises and gestures, but i was attracted to the mom at the end of the counter who was smiling at the whole scene, because i, too, was doing a bit of theater, reading the boards, hmmmmming, making appreciative noises, etc. So, i sat down on her bar stool and chose my drink, made more appreciative noises, drank with gusto, and thanked her profusely, saying it was delicious, and paid up. (PS, everywhere i went,there was the Gringo tax = slightly {or egregiously} higher prices.)
Just as i was hiking my backpack on again, the mom called me over and gave me an orange so i wouldn’t be hungry on my travels. Thanks, mom. I remember you to this day.

TRex, your kitty brought you a present, how sweet! Well, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Sorry cozumel, I posted my recipe and yours was already on when I looked. So, I will post an alternate. We live in coastal northern California (we call it Baja Oregon), and seafood is important to us. Here is a recipe for baked fish in pie crust.

Baked fish in pie crust

Firm-fleshed fish of any kind – fillets (we use salmon or halibut, but cod is good too)

One six-inch fillet per person, or more if you wish.

Make a pie crust dough, and roll it out very thin.

Cut enough of the pie dough to completely wrap each fillet with a little left over for pinching it to seal it.

Put one fillet on a sheet of pie dough and sprinkle the fish with a little soy sauce. Dice a clove of garlic and sprinkle on the fish. Salt and pepper the fillet and then put a long sprig of fresh rosemary along the length of the fillet. Smear a little butter on the fillet.

Close up the pie dough and seal it by pinching. Brush with butter and bake at 450 until crust is brown.
Serve with steamed asparagus and mushroom slices, along with sliced tomatoes with vinegar, oil, a drop or two of seseme oil and sprinkle with parmesan.

Mama’s Chili

2.5 lbs ground beef
2 chopped onions
2 garlic cloves
2 whole garlic cloves
2 cans chopped tomatos
2 tsp cumin

1.5 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp flour

Brown onions in oil. Take out, put on dish. Brown meat in the same pan. Add spices and flour. Add tomatos and 1/2 tomato can of water. ut onions back in. Simmer 2 hours. After one hour, add 2 cans kidney beans .

I lived for four years in a Greek village on Lesvos with my icon-painter (now ex-)husband. I learned to cook Greek food from the women, who were canny, opinionated, gossipy and kind…kinda like FDL folks. To honor Jane’s mom and her fondness for authentic food, here’s a recipe I learned for stewed leeks. Don’t be put off — this is a savory vegetable dish, excellent on its own for lunch or light dinner, with a dollop of feta or Greek yogurt in the center that melts like cream. Or, it can be a side to grilled meat or chicken. (Millineryman, I like your Olive Butter. All the recipes thus far are fab!) There are no exact measurements, typical of most of the recipes I have from Greece.

Stewed Leeks (pronounced “PRAH-so” in Greek)

1. Fry a very large, sliced onion in olive oil in a heavy casserole until soft.

2. Add leeks (around 6 large ones, well cleaned and rinsed and sliced about 1-2 inches wide, some green OK) and a little water.

3. Add thinly sliced carrots (two or three) and big chunks of potato. Add chopped flat-leaf parsley if desired.

4. Add salt and pepper.

5. Stir a half-teaspoon of tomato paste with a little water until smooth. Add to pot. You don’t want a thick sauce, just a light tomato flavor. You can also use fresh chopped peeled tomato or a small can of stewed tomatoes, chopped if necessary.

6. Cook on the top of the stove under low heat 1-1-1/2 hours until leeks and all ingredients are soft. Add a little water if necessary during the cooking.

This is better the second day. Also freezes well.

lisadawn — sorry. kinda made myself cry, too.

immanentize #20–Very moving story.

I am a horrible cook but I want to share in this wonderful FDL potluck.

I do a mean artichoke dip. It is easy–you can’t make a mistake b/c less or more of any of the ingredients will work out nicely.

1 can of artichoke hearts
2 or more heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon (give or take) of garlic (minced or fresh)
1/2 cup of shredded parmesan
pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the artichoke hearts with the mayo, the garlic, the pepper and the parmesan. (I do it in the food processer but you can do it by hand too–I recommend if you do it by hand, that you break up the artickoke hearts a bit.) Sprinkle some parmesan on top and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Serve with pita bread.

All my love to the FDL community and especially to Jane and her family. And to dear Greta, I hope that you are cooking up a storm in Heaven.

Whew, okay. I think it ran out the front door when I was running around the house shutting all the other rooms. I was trying to corral it with the broom. Of course, Juan Carlos dropped the little rodent and completely lost interest when I opened the door to the patio. “OoooOOOoooh,” he said, “I want to go outside through this door now.”

Anyway.

RexMama’s Tuna Noodle Casserole

You will need:

1 large bag wide egg noodles.
1 medium sized can of solid white albacore tuna.
1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup.
1/2 cup mayonnaise.
1 tbsp. curry.
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 block sharp cheddar cheese, grated.

Boil noodles until tender. Drain. Mix mayonnaise, condensed soup, curry and lemon juice in a bowl. Pinkie taste. Add curry and lemon to your preference.

Drain tuna, fold into soup mixture. Mix with cooked noodles and pour into a casserole dish. Top generously with grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-23 minutes. It’s kind of important not to undercook it. Until it reaches a certain bubbling, browning at the edges point, it’s just going to taste like the sum of its parts. But once the cheese gets good and melted, the flavors kind of synergize and it gets really, really yummy.

Ohh, imm – my dad had pancreatic cancer, too. His wasn’t diagnosed until he had fluid that built up around and was compressing his heart. The fluid was filled with cancer cells, so things were definitely not confined to the pancreas.

My dad died three months after he was diagnosed. God must have realized how fearful he was of the pain and agony that awaited, and chose to take him quickly – he had a massive heart attack while in the hospital for yet another session of having fluid drained off his lungs. My poor Mom arrived to have dinner with him while they were trying to resuscitate him, to no avail.

Seeing abject fear on the face of the father who was always the strong one was as heartbreaking for me to see as it was for him to show me. What he hated most was that people no longer saw him, they saw the disease, and so I tried to focus on just him – not all the constant talk of how are you, and what are you feeling, but just normal father-daughter talk.

I still miss him. Am forever grateful he experienced the arrival of two grandchildren who were the light of his life. Ache that he never saw my brother’s kids.

January of 2005, my brother and I were at the bedside of my father’s brother, who was dying of lung cancer. His wife had died 10 years earlier, and they had never had children. I’d never been present for death before, but it was peaceful and loving, and I was glad to have been present to ease his passage.

I suppose this week has, for all of us who have lost loved ones, taken us back to those losses, and in some small way, that pain has connected us to Jane in a way that we had not been connected before.

Love to Jane and to all of you who have lost people you loved.

For lisadawn at 26 — this is one of my fave recipes, completely vegetarian, and very easy (if slightly time consuming in the assembly). It is from the Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook — highly recommended, btw, and one that we use often, even though we are no longer vegetarian in our house. The best part of this recipe is that it is incredibly flexible, and is great for cleaning out the remnants of your vegetable drawers in the fridge.)

PAN-FRIEND VEGETABLE WONTONS WITH SESAME DIP
Makes 24
DIP:
1/3 c. rice vinegar
1/3 c. soy sauce
1/3 c. water
2 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
1 tsp. chili oil (or 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste)
WONTONS:
1/2 c. shredded cabbage
1/3 c. shredded carrots
3 scallions (green and white parts, minced)
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
24 wonton wrappers (in refrigerator section at the grocers)
1 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/8 c. water

DIP: Combine all ingredients in small serving bowl. Place in center of serving platter. (NOTE: I also like to add some grated, fresh ginger.)

TO FINISH THE DISH: In bowl, combine cabbage, carrots, scallions, cilantro, garlic, cayenne, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Mix well. Put small spoonful of this mixture into center of wonton wrapper. Fold corner to corner to make a triangle, then fold in sides, like an envelope. Repeat with remaining cabbage mixture and wonton wrappers. (NOTE: I use water to seal — just dip your finger tip into a cup of water, and rub across the edges — the liquid will seal the edges of the wonton together so you don’t get filling leakage.)

COAT the bottom of a nonstick skillet with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Gently place filled wontons in skillet and let cook until the bottoms are golden and crusty, about 3 minutes. Then pour water into the skillet, cover and let steam for 2 minutes. Arrange on a platter and serve with dipping sauce.

lisadawn82– this is so easy and delish– no crust(sparing calories) and versatile (breakfast, lunch or dinner)

Italian Spinach Pie

1 container 16 oz lowfat cottage cheese
1 pkg 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained (squeeze it and get the liquid out!)
1 cup shredded cheese– (preferably reduced fat mozzarella)
4 eggs beaten
1 jar –7 0z– roasted red peppers well drained and chopped (can substitute fresh red bell pepper)
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1 tsp oregano (I prefer fresh Italian parsley and/or fresh basil)
1/4 finely chopped onion

a tad of salt and as much pepper as you like to taste.

Preheat oven to 350, mix all ingrediants until well blended. Pour into a greased 9 inch pie plate, bake 40 minutes until center is set.

Christy, I have one of Laurie Colwin’s. Simple, flavorful home cooking (for while she wrote, no doubt–could also work for bloggers!) I like her chicken baked with some whole garlic cloves and a cut up lemon inside, and I share her affection for roasted red peppers. Laurie is dead, but I expect her family often feels her presence in one of her favorite meals.

Every momentous occasion in my south-western West Virginia family centered around the meal, whether it was a holiday feast, a birthday dinner and party, a wedding banquet, or an after-funeral buffet. This is the time we all came (those of us who are left still come) together and reminisce, cementing and tightening our blood ties that become somewhat loosened by the great distances between us.

My dear, sweet Grandparents passed away in the last few years and it was (and still is, for the most part) their home where we met over the enormous dining room table to conduct our family business and catch up on the comings and goings of each other. My memories are so rich and fulfilling and I will always associate my family with the foods that they lovingly prepared and shared with us so many times.

Here is a simple summer recipe, in honor of Jane and Greta, that is quick to fix, refreshing and delicious!

Old-Fashioned Pickled Cucumber Salad

1 large (or 2 or 3 small) cucumbers from the garden, peeled and sliced thin

(of course, my garden is now the local supermarket and I use a mandoline to slice the cucumber and onion)

1 small sweet onion, peeled and sliced thin

3/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

cold water from the well (or tap, or bottle)

Combine the sugar, vinegar, and about 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Heat until sugar dissolves.

Add 1 teaspoon fresh dill weed, chopped fine, or 1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed. Stir to combine.

Pour over sliced cucumbers and onions and let marinate over night.

(if necessary add enough additional water to cover the sliced vegetables)

Fresh tomatoes from the garden can also be quartered and added to the pickle. This tasty dish gets better the longer it sits. It is a delicious accompaniment to freshly steamed or roasted corn-on-the-cob, boiled new potatoes, West Virginia-style half-runner beans (slow cooked at low heat for hours with a piece of fatback/bacon/smoked ham and/or sliced onions until dark green and rich with pot liquor), and fresh bread.

My absolute favorite summer meal, which I often fix in one pot, cooking the beans first and then steaming the corn and potatoes on top of the heated beans until tender. This is the meal that makes me think of family most; it is inexspensive, which got us through the hard times, easy and quick to prepare, and takes advantage of the bounty of summer.

Blessings and friendship to all!

Anne. Just so.

For Greta, Jane,Pam and the Firedoglake Family,
Laurie Colwin is the best!
Some other favorite cookbooks, most with stories too:

Clementine in the Kitchen, Samuel Chamberlain
Seductions of Rice, Jeffery Alford & Naomi Duguid
Flatbreads and Flavors, Jeffery Alford & Naomi Duguid
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Marcella Hazan
The Greens Cook Book, Deborah Madison
Bugialli’s Italy, Giuliano Bugialli
Asian Cookbook, Charmain Soloman
French Cooking in Ten Minutes, Edouard de Pomiane
Cooking with Pomian, Edouard de Pomiane
Choice Cuts Mark Kurlansky
The Gastronomical Me, MFK Fisher
French Country Cooking. Elizabeth David
The Food of Italy, Waverly Root

Christy, I LOVE Laurie Colwin and her food! I also love the French writer Colette, who beautifully wove food references into her writing.

Lisadawn, I have several simple Greek vegetable and legume recipes that make good main dishes. Can I e-mail them to you?

Here’s one I adapted a few weeks ago from the “Corn Oyster Fritters” recipe in the book, Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking.

Corn-Crab Fritters

1 cup lump crab, picked through and shells removed
4 eggs, separated
1 cup fresh corn, shaved from the cob, w/ corn milk (scrape the cob with the blunt edge of a knife)
1/4 cup minced chives
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks, add the corn and chives. Slowly add flour while stirring until evenly mixed. Add the seasonings. When ready to start frying, heat 1/2 inch of canola or peanut oil in an iron skillet to 360 degrees. Stir the crab into the egg/flour mixture. Beat the egg whites until stiff; stir a third of the egg whites into the egg mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Drop by spoonfuls into the hot oil. Cook about 90 seconds or until golden brown on one side, then turn. Remove to a wire rack to drain, and serve immediately.

They should be fluffy pillows of fresh lump crab and summer corn. Great with tartar sauce or a roasted-red-pepper remoulade.

Demetrios,

I also used one of Bill’s recipes above. I knew Bill, and worked with him at Crook’s Corner in the nineties.

Thanks Christy,

After reading that I’m hungry again and I just had a bowl of cereal.

My longish post follow up just came out of pergatory/moderation @ 31. Great casserole recipe to boot!

Katheryn in MA — great tale!

My father died in October 2002, after many years of Parkinson’s disease. When we got the call, they thought it would be very quick, 24 hours at most, because he had lost his swallow reflex. But his heart was still so strong, despite the Parkinson’s, that it took several days.

The wait was both the worst thing and the best thing, because my brothers, my mother and I gathered in his room, and told stories, and jokes, and reminisced. If dad was aware at all, that’s what he was surrounded with in his final hours. I hope it gave him comfort.

I don’t have a lot of time to cook, and when I do I don’t use written recipes; I’m more of a concoct-something-with-whatever’s-on-hand type of cook. I will say, however, that I’ve discovered that toaster ovens are a great way to cook fish, because they don’t dry the flesh out as much as a full-sized oven. One of my favorite meals is Toaster Oven Teriyaki Salmon.

To me, “comfort food” almost always means meat & potatoes. But I don’t hardly eat red meat, so here’s a simple (but foolproof) roasted chicken. Since Jane hails from the NW, this is a recipe I’ve liberally (!) adapted from Judy Geise’s New NW Kitchen. And I add garlic mashed potatoes to go with. If you’re dieting…well…

ROAST CHICKEN WITH ROSEMARY AND GARLIC

2-1/2 to 3 lb chicken
2 lemons
3 or 4 springs fresh rosemary
about 1 tsp. dried herbs
1 head garlic, broken into cloves
3 tbls butter (room temp and soft)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1-1/2 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 450*

Heat stock to low simmer. Meanwhile…

Wipe chicken inside and out with cut side of one lemon. Into the cavity put one or two sprigs fresh rosemary, the cloves of garlic, the lemons cut in half, 1 tbls butter, and light sprinkle in salt & pepper. Truss chicken tightly. Make two slits in each breast. (Otherwise lemon cooking inside chicken could cause explosion. You probably don’t want that.)

Rub remaining butter all over outside of chicken. (This will ensure the crispiest skin ever!) Sprinkle remaining rosemary and dried herbs, plus salt & pepper over chicken. Place on a rack in a large oven proof dish or roasting pan. Pour chicken stock into the bottom of pan.

Turn the oven down to 400* and cook for about one hour and 10 minutes, basting the bird every 15 minutes. When done, remove from oven, cover with tin foil (don’t use the one from your hat) and let sit for 30 minutes.

ROASTED GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

3-1/2 lbs red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 or 9 large roasted garlic cloves
2 tbls (1/4 stick) butter
2 tbls chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup or more low salt chicken stock
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cut off top 1/4-inch of garlic head, drizzle w/ olive oil, wrap in tin foil (not from hat!) and roast in oven for about 30-35 minutes. Obviously, it would be good to “kill two birds with one stone” and roast it in the oven with chicken.

Meanwhile, cook potatoes in large pot of boiling, salted water til tender – about 30 minutes. Drain.
Transfer potatoes and garlic to large bowl. Using electric mixer beat potatoes and garlic. Add butter and chopped rosemary until smooth. Bring 1 cup stock to simmer (again, you could heat all the stock for the chicken and the potatoes at same time). Gradually mix stock into potato mixture Stir in parmesan, season with salt and pepper. (The ingredients can also be mixed in a food procesor, but in batches).

I’m not a wine expert, but I would likely pair this with a nice Bordeaux. Also good would be the (California) Marietta Old Vine Red.

Salut!

A beautiful post that brought tears to my jaded eyes. The description of Jane and her sister sitting with their mother in the last hours is strikingly similar to my mother-in-law’s passing, where my wife and her sister were with her at the end.

A rite of passage each of us will complete if we are lucky, because it’s tragic if our parents bury us.

I second the motion on Laurie Colwin. i have one of her novels, too. Talk about spunky!

Italian Sausage Soup

1 1/2 pounds mild Italian sausages, cut into 1/1 inch slices
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 large onions, chopped
1 large can (28 oz) Italian-style tomatores
3 cans (14 1/2 oz) beef broth
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 medium green pepper, chopped into chunks
2 medium size zucchini cut into 1/2 inch slices
5 oz medium size bow-shaped noodles
Fresh grated parmesan cheese

In a 5 quart soup pot over medium heat cook sausage slices until slightly browned. Drain off all but 3 tablespoons of the drippings. Add onion and garlic, cooking until onions are soft. Add peppers and zuchinni, saute for a few minutes.

Stir in tomatores (break them up) and their liquid, broth, wine, parsley and basil. Bring to a rolling boil and add noodles. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until noodles are al dente (approx 20 minutes). Skim off any oil if necessary. I have used Linquesa sasuage with great results.

Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese on the soup with fresh crusty rounds of sourdough bread and a glass of Lambrusco, merlot or other hearty red wines.

~~Anyone thought about compiling a FDL cookbook dedicated to the memory of Jane’s mother?

This soup can be cooked in a crockpot or on the stove top. It is one of my favorite quick cook meals.

For some of us, cooking is not just food on the table, it’s sustenance, community, comfort, expression, escape, even a zen state of mind. Greta sounded like such a person.

Here’s a easy to make, healthy, intensely flavored but not burn-your-taste-buds-off chicken dish that we make frequently.

GREEN CHILI CHICKEN

Cut up (and, optionally, skin)
1 whole chicken.

Rub outside of chicken with a mixture of:
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground caynenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin

In a Dutch oven heat:
1 Tbsp. oil.

Brown the chicken on all sides. Add:
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 finely diced onion
4 oz can diced green chilis, or green chili sauce.
1 cup chicken stock

Cover, simmer 35 minutes.

Remove chicken to platter (or don’t if you’re lazy)
Skim any fat from sauce in pan.

Blend together (shake in a jar):
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. water
and stir into sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
Stir in:
1 cup yogurt at room temp.

Add salt to taste. Excellent with rice.

Optional but highly recommended: stir in lots of chopped cilantro just before serving.

Hint: double it and freeze the leftovers.

I liked reading that Greta read cookbooks like novels – I enjoy reading them that way, too.

Here’s a recipe for a marinara sauce that my sisters (all 6 of them) say cures anything. Good on any type of pasta and on polenta, too.

1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 head of garlic (that’s right, one head)
To taste: fennel seed, dried oregano and hot pepper flakes
Fresh basil
Good red wine, the kind you drink
Extra virgin olive oil

Head olive oil in bottom of deep frying pan. Add the coarsely chopped garlic and saute a couple of minutes. Add in the dried oregano, fennel see and hot pepper flakes – sorry, I don’t have exact measurements for these as I sprinkle them into the oil and garlic by sight and smell.

Add in the canned San Marzano tomatoes and stir to break them up – I like sauce that has pieces of tomatoes in it. Add the can of tomato paste and stir again. Fill up the tomato paste can with the red wine and pour into the sauce – stir to combine thoroughly. Turn the heat down to simmer and let this mixture cook for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally.

Take a nice handful of fresh basil and chop roughly. Add to the sauce, stir to combine and let cook for another 1/2 hour. Stir frequently to prevent sauce from sticking to bottom of pan.

I usually turn the flame off while I cook the pasta. Don’t forget to grate some asiago or parmaggiano cheese.

Serve with grilled chicken Italian sausage, grilled zucchini/yellow squash combo, along with a green salad with fresh baguette. Goes well with a nice Petit Sirah.

Lisadawn – grill some polenta rather than the chicken sausage and serve with ravioli, along with the salad and zucchini.

I borrowed my mother’s recipe boxes for a month after she died and scanned all of the cards. (How else to divide the recipes?) To honor Jane’s mom, Oklahoma A&M chili sauce:

CHILI SAUCE
5 quarts chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped sweet red pepper
2 cups chopped green pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
3 tbsp salt
1 cup sugar, preferably brown
3 cups vinegar
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine chopped vegetables, salt and sugar, and simmer until the mixture begins to thicken. Then add vinegar and spices and cook down until it becomes a thick sauce. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. Store in a dark cool place.
Yield about 3 quarts.

–Oklahoma A&M

“There aren’t any chilis in it” I hear you say. Back then, sweet peppers were called chili peppers, too, when they weren’t being called mangos. (And if that doesn’t confuse you when you’re reading a recipe for ‘chili sauce’, you’re doing better than me!) This sauce is really good on turkeyburgers.

Last week someone brought bread and butter pickles. Here’s another version, this one from my mother’s mother (died early of metastasizing breast cancer; her sisters made it past 80 and even 90).

BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES
1 gal cucumbers
3 large onions
Cut in slices and soak in salt water (1 cup to 1 gal water) overnight.
2 qt vinegar
4 cups sugar
1 tbsp turmeric (level)
1 tbsp ground mustard
1 tbsp celery seeds
Bring to boil and boil 5 minutes.
Drop cucumbers and onions in and bring to boil. Can.

I like to read MFK Fisher’s books about food and travel and life.

My dad was my hero and although he left us 17 years ago I think of him nearly every day. One of his best gifts was travel, I can honestly brag that I have been almost everywhere. While I was in the army, I spent almost a year in Oklahoma and I can tell that of all the places I have ever been the nicest people come from Oklahoma.So when you think of Jane and Greta know that if they are true Oklahoma women they are undeniably the nicest people on the face of the earth.

Clam Chowder

2 ribs celery chopped
5 red potatoes diced
2 small onions chopped
2 8oz bottles clam juice
1/2 tsp thyme
2 can canned clams
1/2 tsp basil
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup fish bouillon
1tsp white pepper
1/4 cup flour
1/2 stick buter
1/2 gallon milk
cup heavy cream

combine celery, onions,potatoes, clam juice,clams,thyme,basil bouillon, and pepper covered by water cook 30-45 minutes until potatoes are soft.

melt butter add flour and garlic and cook until slightly browned combine with potatoes and add milk and cream cook until thickened.

hmmm.. mine doesn’t qualify as comfort food so I’ll just post it next week.

Well, it’s comforting to me, but….

This is, in my opinion, the best tasting pound cake in the world. The recipe is on a yellowed piece of paper, stuck in my mom’s “Southern Cooking” cookbook. The book itself is missing the cover, and I keep it wrapped in brown paper to preserve it. Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Cream Cheese Poundcake

18 oz cream cheese
3 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour (self-rising)
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients, pour in tube pan and bake at 250 degrees for two hours (my mom said the baking time was what made it so good). Et voil! Comfort food :)

You guys have done a GREAT job under strenuous and emotional circumstances.

Keep up the great work.

Anyone like chicken gumbo, scampi, conch salad, harvard beets, black-eye peas with okra and jalapenos, potato coquettes and rice pudding? Margarita-Cointreau with maraschino slush for after dinner. That would be supper tonight.

tommy yum:

I dropped a few those crab fritters off at your house when I made them three weeks ago :)

jayt at 64 — I say post it anyway. :)

From ye olde Mayo Clinic…

Quinoa Risotto with Arugula and Parmesan (serves 6)

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Cup quinoa, well rinsed
2 1/4 cups vegetable stock or broth
2 cups chopped, stemmed arugula (rocket)
1 small carrot, peeled and finely shredded
1/2 Cup thinly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
1/4 Cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute’ until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and quinoa and cook for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Don’t let the garlic brown.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the quinoa is almost tender to the bite but slightly hard in the center, about 12 minutes. The mixture will be brothy. Stir in the arugula, carrot and mushrooms and simmer until the quinoa grains have turned from white to translucent, about 2 minutes longer.

Stir in the Parmesan and season with the salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
~
It is the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet, tender joy.
Fyodor Dostoevsky

Much joy to Jane and Pam as they bask in the tender memories of Greta.

Okay, kids, I have to do some stuff out in the Big Room. Y’all play nice. Christy, let me know if you need anything.

It’s a little sick that I will miss the blog while I’m gone, isn’t it?

I love to travel and especially love New Orleans. One year we went for the Jazz Fest and ate to our hearts content. There was a wonderful pasta salad that I came home and kept working on until I came up with my own version. It is sort of a dump recipie, hope it works for you.

About one to two inch of summer sausage, cut in very small pieces. (Chopped hard pepperoni is also good.)

A 4 ounce bag of baby salad shrimp, thawed and drained on paper towels to get rid of the moisture. (Sometimes I buy whole shrimp and cut into small pieces, whatever is available.)(You want equal parts of sausage and shrimp.)

Cooked Zita pasta, (8 ounce bag).

Small bottle of chopped pimento, drained.
Small can of sliced black olives, drained.

A 12 ounce bottle of Zesty Italian Dressing, preferably without sugar in it. Spike this (in the bottle) with Tabasco sauce until pink and of desired heat. (You can use “lite” dressing but not fat free.)

Mix well and let sit in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Before serving, stir well (to get the oil well mixed with the pasta again) and then mix in 1/2 cup of grated Ramona (or Parmesian).

I call this Cajan Pasta. It is Yummy.

I couldn’t get out to Buffalo, so I went down to Gilchrest (OR) and spit in the millpond as they buried m’da a week ago. We were close, though never spent a great deal of time together. I’ve always been alone, but never lonely. Wow.

Thanks for the sense of community.

For cookbooks, I have three faves, classics all:

Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain: Penelope Casas
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking: Marcella Hazan

and really the finest careful and clear cookbooks ever:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.s I&II: Julia Child and Simone Beck

Really, I recommend the Child/Beck books. Following their recipes is like making majic happen.

lisadawn82– here’s another recipe from Giada De Laurentiis that I cook often. Truly comfort food.

>>>>>>>>>
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound escarole, chopped
Salt
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (1-ounce) piece Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the escarole and saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt. Add the chicken broth, beans, and Parmesan cheese. Cover and simmer until the beans are heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the soup into 6 bowls. Drizzle 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil over each. Serve with crusty bread.

>>>>>>>>>

I cook this a bit longer but add a bit of lemon juice to the escarole while wilting to preserve a bit of the green. You can substitute veg broth instead of the chicken stock. (For non vegetarians, I often make tiny turkey or chicken meatballs to add to the soup.)

lisadawn – you didn’t say if she eats dairy or not, but here’s one that is easy and yummy (and can be made with canned crushed tomatoes if fresh are looking scary in the stores):

Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta with Feta

4 medium ripe tomatoes chopped (3 cups)
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
8 oz. pasta (I usually use rigatoni)
1 pkg. (4 oz.) crumbled feta cheese

Mix tomatoes, basil, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook pasta as directed on package then drain. Toss pasta with tomato mixture and feta cheese. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

Good morning, Christy, and big hugs to Jane and Pam.

It’s a gorgeous morning here in WY and my offering is less a recipe than a trick, but one which should dispel all fear of this marvelous sauce.

Bombproof Hollandaise (without fear, double boilers or blenders)

Ingredients (scale up as needed)

1 stick (1/4lb) of butter FROZEN
2 egg yokes
2/3 lemon (juiced)

Mix the egg yokes and lemon juice.
Put the frozen butter in a saucepan on medium heat. When it melts enough that the eggs and lemon won’t stick, add them and stir intermittently as the butter melts. (If you’re making eggs bennie, this is a good time to start the eggs poaching). When the butter is nearly all melted, pay a little more attention; turn the heat down and keep stirring – this is the point it can separate and curdle, but usually won’t. (If it starts to separate add a few drops of water and stir briskly.) As soon as it thickens you’ve won. Give it a couple of stirs, and you can set it aside til whatever else is going on (usually lots for eggs bennie) is done. If it thickens too much while sitting, just add a few drops of water and stir.

The trick, of course, is the FROZEN butter, whose melting controls the rate at which the butter, eggs and lemon mix to minimize the chance of curdling.

Thanks and best regards to all.

In memory of my own mother, who left this plane 10 years ago and whom I miss to this day:

Dorothy’s Stuffed Mirlitons (chayote squash for you non-New Orleanians)

6 mirlitons, peeled, cut into large chunks
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
several pods of garlic, chopped
olive oil
saltpepper
thyme, crushed
parsley, chopped
basil, chopped
1 loaf stale French Bread crumbs or cubes
1 lb shrimp
1 link andouille sausage, sliced thin
Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs

*Boil the mirlitons in salted water. When a fork can penetrate them easily, drain and put to the side.
*In a deep saucepan, saute garlic, onions, peppers and celery (the holy trinity) in olive oil until translucent. Add salt, pepper, herbs and drained mirlitons to pan and stir until the contents look like a somewhat watery mush. Then start adding the bread until the mixture is the consistency you like.

Place this mixture in an 8×11 baking pan, sprinkle with seasoned bread crumbs and dot with butter. Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes.

*The “stuffed” part is actually a misnomer – it’s silly to try to cut the mirliton flesh out of the skin, but if you must stuff something, try bell peppers.

“The true way to mourn the dead is to take care of the living who belong to them.” Edmund Burke

I could offer none other then a true Florida concoction from Miss Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ (author of The Yearling) Cross Creek Cookery. Oh and Christy, this is a BRILLIANT way to get children to eat veggies.

Carrot Souffle

2 cups carrots
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup very rich milk or thin cream (fat free 1/2 and 1/2 ROCKS)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
Serves 8-6

(directly from the cookbook in Miss Rawlings own words)
Put the carrots through a sieve. Stir in the salt and the honey, the milk, in which has been dissovled the cornstarch, then add the well beaten eggs, and last, the melted butter. Pour into a buttered casserole and bake forty-five minutes in a four-hundred-degree oven. People like this who usually turn up their noses at carrots.
As far as I know, this ia my own concoction. It tastes almost too good to be true.

Peace Jane. Be good to yourself.

Love, Florida Mom

To a celebration of life, in honor of Jane’s mom, Christy, and the FDL community, I bring to the table a dish from India. It’s simple to make, tasty, low fat, and takes about 30 minutes.

Masoor Dahl

1 small onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped (optional)
vegetable oil
1 cup masoor lentils*
3 to 4 cups water
salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric*
1 potato (cauliflower is also delicious – about 1 cup cut up)
1 teaspoon or more chopped fresh ginger root
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro (more or less)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala*

Saute onion and garlic in vegetable oil for 2 or 3 minutes. Add lentils, potatoes (or cauliflower), water, turmeric and salt. Bring to boill and then simmer about 20-25 minutes. When done the dish has a stew consistency. Turn off the heat. Add ginger root, cilantro, and garam masala.

Serve over rice or with warm flour tortillas. I like the hand made kind from Trader Joe’s.

*These items, i.e., garam masala is a mixture of spices that can be bought at an oriental grocer, but I buy mine at a local health food co-op.

Today would have been my Mom’s 78th birthday. She died two years ago ona a sunny September afternoon. Just five months later, my Dad died, missing her too much to live without her loving attentions.

Of all of the many, many things they taught us children, they taught us how to cook.

Though we were broke, we were spoiled in that we could view food as part of our social thread, not merely sustenance,as so many millions are forced to around the world.

Cooking with my parents was never a chore, ro a job one had to endure, like vaccuming on a Saturday morning before I could go play with my friends.

Nope, cooking with them was like being granted time in the Hall of Mysteries. The sounds the smells and the lovely little bites of food we would sample before dinner was assembled we part of a ritual that bonds my family to this day.

When we reminisce about my parents, as we often do when more than one of us is together at any time, the subject invariably turns to a memorable meal, or food, or cooking, um, adventure.

For example: Remember the time that Dad tried to make Peking Duck? He tried to get the skin crispy by blowing air into the skin with a bicycle pump. Or…remember the time they sent us to Chinatown to get a pig for a luau, and Dad dug a pit in the backyard and smoked the neighborhood out with the wet banana leaves? Or…Remember the time Mom made spaghetti sauce and put in cinnamon instead of fennel and Dad tried to tell us it was Greek spaghettia sauce and all of the little children in Greece ate it right up–and then my sister threw it up on the table.

There’s a million of these stories, and just like my parents, Jane’s very wise mother realized that we share our love with people by feeding them, and by eating things they have made for us with their loving hands.

In her travels, Jane’s mother learned about other cultures by sharing their tables and culture with them. It’s little wonder that Jane is so smart, curious and has a well developed sense of world justice. She learned from her mother example.

My contribution to this morning’s Food and Family Festival is simple, and easy, and as messy and clean, calorie rich or fat free as you wish. What it is, is fun…

We couldn’t afford pizza from the store, so my folks would make dough, so my Dad woul make cough in the morning before work, and we would come home and make homemade pizza. Everyone could have whatever they wanted. In a family with eight children, having something exactly the way you wanted was a very big deal. So here’s my recipe, sans the Greek Spaghetti Sauce…

Family Pizza

Buy the dough. It’s 89 cents at the grocery store. If you like sauce, but that, or wait until later in the summer when the tomatoes are fresh YUMMY. Get the big honking this of shredded cheese. How many times do we need to recreate the bloody knuckles episode from when I was little?

Toppings

Pepperoni
Fresh chopped tomoatoes
Fresh basil from the plant on the back porch
Goat cheese (my son likes this because it’s sticky

or

Leftover chicken, tossed in barbecue sauce
Red Onions
Mushrooms
Monterey jack cheese
red peppers
green peppers

or

Smoked ham
Gouda cheese chunks
yellow pear tomatoes
chopped spinach

Preheat the oven to 400-450F. Olive oil up a baking sheet and your hands. Stretch the dough out and form little ridges. Shape it into a square if you’re a Republican, and a tetrahedron if you’re a Democrat.

Then splat onto it whatever your like. Top it with whatever you like. Talk to people and drink wine while you do it.

Throw it in the oven and take it out before it smokes, usually about 12-15 minutes.

If you burn it, pick up the phone and order some. It’s about having fun.

Have fun.

Celebrate life.

And Happy Birthday, Mom. Wherever you are, I am there too, in spirit, having a nice cold glass of Pinot Grigio with you. And thanks for all of the memories. Even the Greek Spaghetti Sauce. I love you.

Oops. Please correct that to read “Kinnan”. I know better then that.

DUTCH BABY

This is a classic, easy-to-make giant puff pancake that will make your kids forgive you all your mistakes, even after they grow up and go into therapy. (Christy, try this on the peanut, but only if you’re willing to make a lifetime commitment to Dutch Babies every weekend. My 13 year-old has *finally* learned how to make them himself.)

Preheat oven to 425.
Whisk together till smooth:
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup flour
3/8 cup sugar
3 large eggs at room temp

Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a 12″ cast iron or other 12″ round oven-proof pan.

SIZE MATTERS! If you have only a 10″ pan, use these measurements, or your pancake won’t puff.
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temp

Coat the pan with butter. When bubbling, pour in the batter and let it sit on a medium flame for 1 minute, then stick it in the oven. Cook for about 12 minutes, till puffy and brown at the edges.

Serve AT ONCE, at the table, making a big production out of it. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and lemon juice, or drizzle with diluted jam, or pour on syrup.

Quantities: Figure one egg per little person and 1 1/2 to 2 eggs per adult.

Re: Stuffed Mirlitons

Forgot to say that the sausage and shrimp should be added with the mirlitons too.

Oh just YUMMY,great recipes.Imagine if we all could gather and really sample all this stuff,the tables would be sagging with the weight of such a feast.Some of my best times in life have been at potluck dinners,I’m a huge fan of the potluck.

Apple Cake:

1 pkg of yellow cake mix(and the requisite oil and egg)
1 box(small)of instant vanilla pudding
4 cups of peeled,sliced apples(I like Rome apples,but any baking apple will do)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup regular sugar
1 Tablespoon(yes,tablespoon)of cinnamon
1/2 cup of sour cream

I like using a bundt pan for this,but any cakepan(s) will do.Make sure you grease and flour the pan(s).

Peel and slice the apples,add in the sugars and cinnamon and mix well.

Prepare the cake mix per directions and add the sour cream and the vanilla pudding mix(dry,don’t make the pudding and add it,lol).

Place half the apples on the botton of the pan,add the cake batter and drop in the remaining apples.

Bake per directions on cake mix box,but note that because this cake is quite moist,baking time will be longer,by approx 15-30 minutes depending on your oven.When a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean(with no cake batter on it)it’s done.

This cake is super yummy with caramel/vanilla ice cream.Store the cake covered in the fridge,it should keep for 4-5 days,but it won’t last that long,you’ll eat it first.

Hey–I’m friends with Demetrios!

We’ll have a drink to Bill tonight.

“Animals are for eating.”

Saturday Night Pizza:

1. Take one 16″ round baking pan, and spray lightly with PAM. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Set table for: one if you’re a realist, two if you’re an optimist (I choose 2) – with tablecloth, and a few spring flowers in a vase. Pour two glasses of wine (after consulting Graham Kerr cookbook: Pizza = red wine).

3. NOW, race to grocery store for extra-fresh ingredients.

4. Check tomatos, mushrooms, onions, peppers, cheeses, spice and pastry aisles. Try to find someone who can explain why some tomatos, which are indeed properly round and properly red, are better than other tomatos, which are red and round too, and don’t seem to be causing any kind of tomato-related problems there in the produce aise. Ponder whether or not you really want to become a produce snob. At meat counter, look closely both at fresh sausage and fresh hamburger.

5. Wait calmly for that moment of clarity wherein you realize that this nonsense isn’t gonna happen. Ahhh.

6. Head back to Deli aisle and purchase one strawberry cheese-cake. Leave grocery store.

7. Return home, remove place settings – drink one glass of wine. Clean PAM off of pan. Call Domino’s, order to taste. Set timer for twenty minutes, turn off oven. Drink the other glass of wine. Clean and replace wine glasses – take rest of bottle to wherever your computer is. Bring up FDL, wait for pizza. Timer going off knock on the front door means – it’s done!

8. Tip generously.

Enjoy! (but save room for cheesecake).

P.S. For all bachelors and wannabes, this recipe works well for Chinese food too.

Milleneryman, my Mama’s cake was a favorite at church suppers. She laughed at the sight of several older men lining up to be the ones who’d be sure to get that chocolate cake with the special icing.
Devil’s Food Cake (from a box mix)
Fudge Icing a la Christine
Combine in tope of double boiler:
3 squares chocolate
1/4 cup butter
melt over hot water. Put into small bowl. Add:
2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup hot milk
Beat Last 3 ingredients on Low till blended, then beat in chocolate mixture on high. Beat till thick enough to spread.

This makes a glazed icing that is so good!
Hugs to everyone.

genoasail — that was great! Here’s to your Mom and Jane’s Mom and all the Mom’s! [Glass of white wine in hand]

Lovely Steichen photograph. Thank you for publishing that one. And they sit under a chestnut tree.

The Village Blacksmith

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long;
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter’s voice
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother’s voice
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,–rejoicing,–sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend.
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Everyone and especially Christy:

On Easter morning 1950 the Bulgarian police came to our apartment (I wasn’t born yet) and asked for my grandfather. My grandmother who was an amazing cook and could put “Babette’s Feast” to shame, ran up to the door and argued with the three policemen. “You can’t take him. He hasn’t had his baklava yet!”

And so they waited until my grandfather ate his baklava as was the Eater morning tradition and off he went to a labor camp where he starved to madness.

I’m telling you this story because I was very disturbed by a guy who calls himself ’starazagora’ and popped on yesterday’s posts.

I want to counter his posts but my questions wouldn’t go through. If he pops again, may I have the privilege of taking him ‘mano a mano or ‘womano a mano’?

Meanwhile, I’ll get the baklava recipe from my mom and will post it next week.

And Christy – you and Jane are role models for what smart women need to do. Keep up the good work guys!

All of you are making me very hungry. And an important lesson my mother (an FDL reader) taught me is NEVER GO TO THE GROCERY STORE HUNGRY!!!

Laissez les bons temps rouler (New Orleans/Cajun folk celebrate a lost one’s life) avec du comfort food gumbo;

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/gumbo.html

I read FDL several times a day, but have never commented until news of Jane’s loss moved me to reach out and offer condolences. What a remarkable woman Greta must have been and how delightful to learn that she navigated the potentially belittling expectations of her generation by confidently embracing the arts of the kitchen. I, too, love to cook, but my own mother only engages in cooking with a degree of caution precisely because it was expected of her at the expense of more satisfying pursuits. She loves the food I prepare, but we joke that I cook to rebel against her.

I don’t know Jane, but what she has created with FDL plays a valued roll in my daily life. For her keen insights, courage to speak out, for her firm resolve to stand up for what she believes in, I am grateful and I thank Greta for her influence in shaping Jane’s extraordinary voice.

I humbly offer a recipe for Strawberry Bread given to me by a Texan friend whom eveyone lovlingly called, “Mama Honey,”

Mix well:

3 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 TBS cinnamon
2 cups sugar, sifted

In a separate bowl, mix:

4 eggs beaten
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid mixture, stirring enough to moisten.

Pour into greased 9″ x 5″ x 3″ bread pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for an hour or so.

Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to complete cooling on baking rack.

This is a wonderful, warm thread that I hope will gladden the hearts of Jane, Pam and their family. Thanks, Christy. The FDL community sure eats well!

To Tommy Yum
Animals are for eating.

Whenever my gf and I go out and I have a nice meat meal she asks me “How is that seared animal flesh?” I usually respond that it’s awesome.

To Payt – That was great and what makes it most funny is that is used to be sooo true for me.

Kathryn in MA ~ Great story..

Have one from living in Greece. On a bus tour through the USAF Base rec center of the interior of Crete during lent. Brousing through the little shops selling their wares, pottery, hand made rugs and other wool items. Many were a combined home/shop with their kitchen right there. Snoopy me stopped to see what was cooking in the pot on the shop owners stove since the Greek Orthodox observe meatless lent and the wonderful smells drew me. It was a pot of new potatioes and artichoke hearts in a lemon dill sauce.

The shop/home owner grabed me and pushed me into a chair serving me a hearty bowl with fresh bread and wine. As I was protesting and asking assistance of our tour guide, I was being told that I had to eat…. for the new baby… over and over again…. for the new baby…. I was pushing my 8 month old son in a stroller. She knew I was pregnant weeks before a lab test would show positive.

Stewed potatoes & Artichokes with lemon

2 1/2 peeled and quarted new potatoes
1 large call artichoke hearts
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups hot water or beef broth
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
chopped parsley
1/2 cup butter

In a large heavy bottom pot, combine all the ingredients except artichokes and parsley. cover and cook slowy until potatoes are tender. Add artichokes and parsley, simmer until sauce thickens.

Serve as a side dish to grilled pork or lamb chops.

dang, lison @93. that sounds “good enough to slap your momma.”

For vegetarian cookbooks, to pick only one it’s

Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

For a recipe, while not necessarily comfort food, it’s always part of our breakfast at twice yearly “girls weekend” in the mountains of CA. I also pack them along if I’m doing an away cycling century for good nutrition that can be eaten early in the a.m. (along with the Peets coffee I carry with me everywhere)

Joy

OVERNIGHT CARROT MUFFINS

2 cu flout
1 cu rolled oats
1 cu lt. brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp allspice (or other spices to taste)
1 cu raisins (or blueberries — dried or fresh)
2 eggs (or 1 eggs plus some egg whites)
1 cu buttermilk
.5 cu vegetable oil
1 cu shredded carrots
sometimes I toss in walnuts

In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, salt
and allspice. Add raisins and toss to coat. In another bowl, beat
the eggs, buttermilk, oil and carrots until well blended. Pour over
the flour-raisin mixture and stir just until blended; do not overmix.
Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 2 days.

To bake, preheat over to 375 degrees. Oil 12 standard muffin pan
cups. Spoon batter into cups and bake until golden and a toothpick
inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove from
over and let cool in the pan on a rack for about 5 minutes. Serve
warm or transfer muffins to rack to cool completely.

336 calories, 6 g protein, 52 g carbs, 12 g fat, 335 mg sodium, 2 g fiber

Genoasail @81

“…Blowing air into the skin with a bicycle pump” !!!

You just gave me my first doubled-over laugh of the day! Your dad sounds like a real card.

Ooh, Laurie Colwin. the best. I’ve read all her books. The thing I remember about “Home Cooking” was that she lived in a NYC studio with a kitchen the size of a postage stamp (what else?) and she said she learned that all you really need for cooking is one good pot and one good knife.

the original Silver Palate Cookbook is time-tested, creative, comforting, and most importantly – ALL THE RECIPES WORK.

immanentize – I thought my disgust of Scalia couldn’t grow any bigger. I was wrong.

katymine,

That was a Bill Neal quote. It was his pithy way of shutting down a conversation among the waits about their pets. If memory serves.

It’s an opinion I don’t entirely share–but I’m the guy cookin’ up some pigmeat!

Katymine @ 96: Great story! And, great recipe.

immanentize, glad you had that time with your dad near his passing.

Cooking is one of the things I love to do with friends, especially my friend Karen – who is a true master. We crack a bottle of wine and delight in the smells and textures of all we cut and cook and taste.

Her’s my recipe for Greta, simple home cooking.

My grandfather was a fisherman, so we ate tons of fish, mostly simple grilled or baked or fried.

I don’t have an official recipe for this one, I always approximate it, keeping the vision of my grandmother in mind – she was like the tasmanian devil in the kitchen, all 4′8″ of her – always cooking for a host of people, very cheerfully with her Lucky Strikes never far from hand.

My dad loved this recipe and I made it for him whenever he came to visit, which fortunately was often, until his last painful year. I love you Thomas ….

Chrissie’s Cod Cakes

I lb. salt cod
about four spuds mashed plain (russet are good – the drier and flourier the better)
2 onions
1 egg
milk to texture

Cover cod with water bring to boil, dump water, add more and soak throughout the day occasionally rinsing and changing water.
At last drain water and flake fish, adding the four mashed spuds, the 2 onions chopped, and the egg. Add milk enough to form patties that are solid and will stand up to frying.

Dredge patties in flour and fry in canola oil.

Serve with baked beans – home made are good but B & M out of the can are fine too.

A nice crunchy salad is a good foil but Thomas would have preferred peas.

A great dessert for this would be from my favorite dessert cookbook
- Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Plum Upside-Down Cake

Fruit Layer
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
5 or 6 red or purple plums

Cake Batter
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk or yogurt
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 350, lightly spray or butter 7 x 11 baking pan

Srir together the butter and br sugar for the fruit layer. Cut each plum into 6-8 wedges, arrange fruit in pan and top them with butter and sugar.

To make the cake batter, cream the butter and sugar together, beat in eggs and buttermilk or yogurt. In separate bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients in to the creamed mixture.Fold in the vanilla. Spread the cake batter evenly over fruit.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pan. When cool run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert cake onto a platter. It may need a bit of gentle coaxing.

I’ve made this using ripe peaches and pears. It is delummy and Christy, so good with tea!

One of my all time favorite restaurants was The Cafe Pongo in Tivoli, NY. Being there was like being at a big party, lots of conviviality, great vibes, and the most delicious and healing of foods. Val, the owner was like love personified and her food was all of that.
We were so sad when we learned that The Pongo had closed. Val wrote a cookbook called – The Cafe Pongo Cookbook, it has become one of my very favorites. Published by Simon & Schuster by Valerie Nehez.
Highly recommended!

Enjoy all and love to Jane and Greta!

Athenawise @38: I’m mostly vegetarian so appreciate your dish. Did you ever have the Greek version of Ratatoulle when you were in Greece? I used to go a Greek restaurant in L.A. Unbelievably good!

Here’s my Mama’s recipe for Men’s Chocolate Cake — she got it at a wedding shower where everyone exchanged recipes, and my Dad proclaimed that making one of these cakes every week was part of the wedding vows. I still miss them both so much — my Dad was a white hat, six guns kind of attorney who worked for the government for 30 years, then founded his own law firm to fight for the causes he believed in. He passed away quietly in his sleep just two days after Congress went Republican in 1994 — we smiled a little at that, because we figured it was a final commentary from him. My Mom, a nurse who stayed at home to take care of us, and later to travel to each of her kids’ homes to enjoy her nine grandchildren, passed away after a long illness, with her daughters and four of her grandchildren at her side. We were so grateful to have been able to be there.

Mom always did a confectioners’-sugar icing on this cake. I substitute ganache.

Men’s Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup 2 tbs cocoa
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water

Directions: Preheat oven to 250. Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs and egg yolk. Beat well. Sift flour, cocoa, salt, and soda together in a separate bowl. Gradually add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk. Begin and end with flour mixture. Add hot water and stir to mix. Pour batter into greased 9″X13″ pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 250 for the first 20 minutes, then increase temperature to 350 until done.

Ganache:
1 1/4 cup whipping cream
12 oz bittersweet chocolate (highest quality you want to spring for)
1 tsp vanilla

Just heat the cream in the microwave, then stir the chocolate and vanilla in. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until it has set to a good consistency.

Thanks Imanentize.

I loved yours, too.

I am glad to hear that someone else had a wonderful experience of theirr parents death. I did, too. Both of my parents died at home, with hospice (God Bless Zennurse), and it made all the difference in the world. It was peaceful and beautiful and life-affirming, if that makes any sense. I renewed my faith and understanding of God in that it confirmed what I had always believed.

I have no doubt whatsoever that my parents are together, and they come and visit me, my siblings and our children, usually in dreams, but not always.

Though I miss them everyday, I feel them with me so strongly at time, that they could be in the same room.

And their lesson bring me joy evey day of my life. I have been blessed. So have you, and so has Jane.

I wish you all peace.

This thread is filled with too many wonderful treats. Gosh, I’m never gonna lose that extra 10 pounds now. Guess I’ll have to stop referring to it as “Christmas weight”.

Jayt @84-Bwahahahaha! You’re my kind of realist. :)

Ah, for comfort food my Grandmother had the best casseroles, no real recipe, just the standard make a chicken stock sauce with butter and flour, with onions salt and pepper, toss in enough shredded cooked chicken, add veggies if you want them, toss in some shredded *EXTRA* sharp cheese, top with biscuits (frozen or homemade) bake until the biscuits are cooked. And serve with Harvard Beets. Just having these makes me feel better. They’re love on a plate, really.

Harvard Beets
2 large cans of sliced beets (fresh isn’t enough better to bother)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar (Use White, the others don’t work)
in a large enough saucepan (for the drained beets) mix the sugar and cornstarch, add the water and vinegar and boil for 5 minutes (use a timer) Add beets to the hot sauce, and take off the heat for at least 30 minutes (overnight is best)
Just before serving bring to a boil and add a good heavy 2 tablespoons of butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Jane my heart goes out to you, and your family.

Tell you what– in honor of Greta & Jane, Christie and all you wonderful fdl folks– I’m going to take up cooking.

I’ve been lurking here every day for months, getting to know you all. But that’s going to change now. You guys are really great! And smart!

“a good heavy 2 tablespoons of butter”

Aw hell yeah.

In my quest for the best chocolate cream pie ever, not having found a good one to purchase, I looked for a good pudding recipe. This is what I use and it is amazing! Lots of work, but worth it.

I use Splenda instead of sugar and it works just fine without the extra calories.

Sorry, Bill , Chocolate Pudding (and cream pie filling!)
from J. Bildner & Sons Cookbook
yield 6 servings

Some of us yearn for the good old days, when chocolate mousse was called chocolate pudding, and Bill Cosby had his own spy show. Is there still such a thing as a great pudding recipe that doesn’t hail from a box? You bet there is, and here it is. With its double dose of chocolate, this creamy pudding will invariably invite comparison to the smoothest, richest chocolate mousse you’ve ever had. But don’t get confused. This is pudding, pure and simple. We’ve dressed it up a bit by adding Meringue Stars and the Cocoa Cream (recipes follow), but a pudding purist can happily leave it plain.

2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
3 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
l egg
2 egg yolks (save the whites for Meringue Stars, if desired)
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
11/2 teaspoons vanilla
Meringue Stars and
Cocoa Cream (recipes follow)
or lightly sweetened whipped cream for garnish (optional)

1. Sift the cornstarch and cocoa into a small bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of the sugar and stir to combine. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the milk. Continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth.

2. Place the remaining 13/4 cups milk, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and the salt in a medium saucepan over medium- high heat. Bring the milk mixture to a point just below the boil. Whisking constantly, add the cocoa mixture. Continue to whisk while you bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring, until the cocoa mixture thickens, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and egg yolks together. Gradually and slowly, whisking constantly, pour the hot cocoa mixture into the eggs. Then pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and return it to the heat.
Cook, whisking, just until the pudding begins to boil (1 or 2 bubbles), about 2 minutes. Pour the pudding back into the bowl.
4. Add the chocolate chips and the butter to the pudding and stir to melt both. Stir in the vanilla and let the pudding cool to room temperature. Place it in a large serving dish or six individual serving dishes. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap or wax paper (press it down onto the surface if you don’t want it to form a skin) and refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour, If desired, garnish with the Meringue Stars and Cocoa Cream (recipes follow low) or lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Meringue Stars
2 egg whites (saved from Sorry, Bill, Chocolate Pudding) 1/4 cup sugar Butter for baking sheet (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 275 F.

2. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat them just until soft peaks begin to form. Slowly and gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the whites are firm but not dry.

3. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe the meringue onto a Teflon or lightly buttered baking sheet. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until dry. Set aside.

Cocoa Cream
3/4 cup whipping cream, chilled 1 tablespoon cocoa 2 tablespoons sugar

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks begin to form. Sift the cocoa over the whipped cream, add the sugar, and continue beating the cream until stiff.

2. Spoon the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a wide ribbon (plain) tip. Pipe the cream in a wide ribbon around the rim of the pudding. Top the ribbon of cream with a row of meringue stars (see above) and serve.

I did this last week for the first time and brought to work social – Big Hit.
It’s been modified from the recipe inside LoL butter package.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Crumble

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter – softened
1 1/2 c wholewheat flour
1 1/2 c quick oats. It’s ground a bit more than regular
1 c sugar (or less). I use raw cane sugar from Florida Crystals (great product, big time Repub-dick owner)

Mix till crumbly. If the butter is soft enough, you can do it with a fork.
I added 1/3 cup wheat germ the first time to get it better. Next time I am going to try finely chopped almonds.

Put 2/3 of mix in 7×11 (or similar) and press down all around.
Bake 350 for 15-20 minutes. Edges browning.

Fill with 21 oz can cherry pie filling. Recipe said add 1 tsp. almond extract; I put the extract in the dry mix since I didn’t wanna dirty another bowl mixing that up. Next time I am trying some extra fresh or frozen cherries.
Top with rest of mix. Bake 350 for 30 minutes.

Cover with bag of semi-sweet chips and let those soften in the oven. I then spread the chocolate around and dusted with very finely-chopped nuts. LET IT COOL – except I should have scored thru the chocolate before I stuck it in the coolerator for the night.
Recipe said to melt the chips with 1 tablespoon of shortening and drizzle on top. Right – another dirty pan ….

Silliness aside – best to Jane.

“a good heavy 2 tablespoons of butter”

Aw hell yeah.

I have a recipe for a chicken-in-wine stew that starts:

“Cut up several strips of bacn and fry in butter until crispy.”

My wife freaks everytime I start cooking a meal like that….

RevDeb. I love love love good chocolate pie. hard to find indeed! I think I just fell in love with you — “way to the heart” and all….

Coq au vin, imm. Lardon in butter. At least the bacon is boiled for 10 minutes first!

Welcome tulip — once you move from “reader” to “commenter,” there is no going back!

Kludge’s mom was Acadien stock from here:
http://www.yarmouth.org/villag…../index.htm

Her family used something akin to this to earn a living:
http://images.google.com/imgre…..f&sa=N

Although the younger Kludge son hasn’t inherited her skills in the kitchen, she would have been very happy if anyone shared in her delight with a bite from here:

http://www.1st-for-lobster.com/

Dessert would be a freshly cooked blueberry pie using freshly picked blueberries from around the homestead.

Bon Appetit! et, oui, Laissez les bontemps roulez!

Much love to Jane and her family. My father passed away five years ago and though I cannot touch him, my relationship with him continues to grow and change, sustaining me everyday. May your family continue to be nurtured in Greta’s love.
Thank you Jane for all you do.

Nassi Goreng (Indonesian Baked Rice)

2 cups rice
4 tablespoon oil
3/4 pound lean pork (cubed)
2 onions ( chopped)
1 teaspoon sambal or hot pepper (crushed)
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper
2 leeks (cut in rings)
1/2 cup baby shrimp (peeled)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons celery tops (finely chopped)
2 eggs
2 tomatoes (sliced)
4 gherkins (sliced)

Cook the rice according to the package directions and set aside to cool. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan and brown meat quickly over high heat. Add onions, garlic, salt, pepper and spices and saut for 5 minute. Add leeks and saut another 2 minutes. Add, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add shrimp, soy sauce and celery greens and heat through.

In the meantime, make an omelet with the 2 eggs and cut into long strips. Serve the Nassi Goreng on a warm platter and garnish with the strips of omelet, sliced tomatoes and the gherkins.

You got it, Tommy!! But I don’t generally boil th ebacon. I always assumed that was for when you had fat back only with the rind.

Ok, Italian soup is my families comfort food, new potatoes & artichoke hearts in lemon-dill sauce is my foreign treat and now I have my grandmothers apple cake that we made together when the house was full of family during our summer reunions visits. Great cake to make with kids because you just throw things in a bowl and mix.

Apple Cake

I use a kithenaid mixer large bowl – just add to the bowl

3 large yellow delish apples chopped unpeeled
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup oil

Run mixer for a few minutes

Add:
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda

Run mixer until mixed well. Pour into greased & floured pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 pound powder sugar
dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Soften butter & cheese, add sugar, salt, vanilla. Stir well. Frost cake while still warm but not hot.

Also, just do not frost the cake and serve with Breyers French Vanilla Ice Cream while the cake is still warm.

YUMMMMMMM …… Thanks Grandma… Great memories from you, making the cake with my own mother….. and with my own children…. now… I will do that this summer with my own grandaughters…

Good morning friends and family. I want to post a very simple recipe for an appetizer. My family, for as long as I can remember, has always had a veggie garden. I don’t have the space for a big garden but still manage to grow tomatoes, onions and assorted peppers. For this recipe you can use jalapeno or hot banana peppers (aka hungarian wax peppers).

Split the pepper in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and rib portion. Stuff each half with cream cheese and then wrap with a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a broiling pan and bake at 350 degrees until bacon is crisp. You can also cook these on the bbq grill. You can make as few or as many as you want.

Jane, my thoughts are with you and your family and there is a candle burning for you in Alabama…

You people are making me hungry! Stop it!

The other night, in an email to Jane, I referenced this wonderful diary at Kos about how love is the fuel that drives progressives. I’d go further and say that love unifies us, too — and it’s that honest caring we have for each other that mystifies and frightens the already frightened creatures on the right.

I’m not a frequent commenter here but I am an addicted reader, and I admit freely that I consider the regulars here part of my extended family. So, Jane’s grief is my grief, but I look forward to her having such a big loving extended family to return to when it’s time to get back in the swing of things. Thank $DEITY for the blogosphere, letting progressives find each other again after decades of solipsism — now we can carry each other again and all be stronger for it.

Jane, my sincere condolences to you, your family, and your mother’s friends on your loss. I hope the outpouring of affection and respect here is of some comfort.

Summer Tomato Salad

vine-ripened tomatoes (heirlooms of various colors are great, as are a combination of regular and cherry tomatoes)
fresh basil leaves
salt (sea salt or kosher salt, if you have it)
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil

Slice tomatoes and cut cherry tomatoes, if you decide to use those, in half. Arrange on a large serving plate (on individual plates)–glass or plain white porcelain looks great. Have fun making an artsy collage with the different colors and shapes of tomatoes.

Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Stack basil leaves, roll up into a bundle, and slice into thin strips and strew over tomatoes.

Especially good with toasted French or italian bread and a fast, light lunch or supper on summer days when the tomatoes are perfect and it’s too hot to turn on the stove.

So many recipes, so little time ….

Butter, and bacon, and lard oh my !

hi, everybody. last week’s recipefest was so much fun. and how perfect to do this today… with jane’s mother, greta, loving to cook and read recipes.

here’s a great recipe for turkey meatloaf. it’s easy to make and goes together quickly. it’s very adaptable. it freezes well. reheats well. and is great cold, too. if it did floors i’d marry it!!

and, being turkey, it ’sits light’ on your stomach. great in emotional times when you need to eat but may not want to. it’s the perfect comfort food. serve with mashed potatoes [sweet potatoes are great with this] for extra comfort. i rarely make just one. i double the recipe and freeze one after baking.

southwestern turkey meatloaf
[makes 1 loaf]

1/2 pound ground turkey
1/2 tsp. chili powder [or to taste]
1/4 cup corn kernels
1/2 med. onion, chopped
1/3 cup cornmeal [approx. enough to bind the mixture]
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons red bell pepper, chopped
3 tablespoons barbecue sauce

your favorite salsa to serve with it.
[variations below]

preheat oven to 375.

combine all ingredients, except salsa, in a bowl mixing lightly but completely, using your ‘impeccably clean hands’ [credit: julia child!] or forks if you must.

shape loaf on a baking sheet and bake for 50 min to 1 hour, until cooked through.

variations:
this is such a simple meat loaf base. you can add just about anything that feels right to you.
1. i sometimes replace some of the barbecue sauce with chopped chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. killer!
2. 1/4 cup black beans
3. jalapeno jack cheese to melt on top added in the last 5 minutes or so.
4. chopped jalapeno or habanero peppers…. to taste and/or bravery.

thanks everyone for sharing your stories. it’s been so moving… and inspiring! and a relief to read about love and families to offset some of the cynical, uglier stuff that surrounds us these days. so in the spirit of storytelling i’ll add a ‘mother story’ to the thread.

my mother died a few years ago after a 14 month battle with kidney cancer. a graceful, determined battle. she met every new challenge with courage, a positive attitude, a joke and a smile. if i inherited a fraction of her strength and composure i’ll do fine with anything that comes my way.

after her first surgery, i moved in to her house with my computer to take care of her and ran my business from a couple of bedrooms. it was the worst year of my life. and the best year of my life. anyone who’s done that kind of caregiving will know what i mean. i always had a close, easy relationship with my mom and it didn’t seem possible that we could grow even closer during her illness, but we did.

about 5 months into it, there was a serious emergency. there were complications and days of transfusions before she was stable enough for a second surgery. days and nights at the hospital and non-stop fear was taking a toll on me. i don’t know where my faith went, but it seemed to be awol. after surgery, when she was in icu and i was allowed to go in to see her… it took me three tries to get in the door. i wanted to be calm and strong for her. so i paced the halls, and talked to myself, i got a good grip. i was good. i was together. i was ready to go in.

she had her own room in icu and i stood in the doorway, seeing her lying there with eyes closed and monitors everywhere. not wanting to wake her, i just said ‘mom?’ very softly from the doorway. eyes still closed, she said ‘don’t be upset!’ i walked in, not quite laughing, but almost. shaking my head in amazement. i said ‘you had your eyes closed! you’re barely out of surgery and full of drugs! you don’t even have your glasses on. how could you, how did you…?” and eyes still closed, she said quietly, ‘i’m your mother.’

it’s so hard to describe the feelings on hearing that. holding back tears of gratitude. joy mixed with pain and fear. recognizing just how much i had been given and how much i was going to lose. i held her hand as she slept, still amazed, wondering who else would ever see me, know me, that well? so well that just out of major surgery, a single nearly whispered word from 20 feet away told them everything that was in my heart.

several months later, when my mom died, she was home in her own bed, not in a hospital. she was asleep and holding my hand. i’ll always be grateful for that. there isn’t a day i don’t think about her. or my dad, who died quite suddenly, and unexpectedly, of a heart attack when i was 24. two very different kinds of deaths. there’s no better or worse about it. just different.

i’m four years into a wonderful relationship with a man who is so good and knows me in ways no one else ever has. but i don’t know that he would be able to read me from one word, barely out of anaesthetic. i usually have trouble making myself understood when he’s just waking up from a nap. *g* i don’t mind. he’s just great as he is. besides, i have a feeling that level of soul detecting is something only your mother can do.

my love to jane and her family. and everyone here… for stories and food. and all things fdl.

My Gramma’s Rice (until now a family secret)

Makes 4 large portions

1 large, well-seasoned, cast iron, frying pan
1 cup pearl rice (or basmati, long grain if desparate)
1 3/4 cup water
1 16.9 oz. can of chopped tomatoes (or fresh + 1/3 cup additional water)
2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 fresh lemon (Juiced)
1/2 cup fresh chopped, fresh, cilantro
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Dash of chili flakes (or to taste)

On medium high heat, add the rice, water, onion, tomatoes, the lemon juice, salt, cilantro, chili flakes, and finally the oil.
Combine gently to distribute all ingredients.
Once the mixture has begun a slow, rolling boil, reduce heat to medium low. Cover, and check at 20 minutes. Stir once again to redistribute ingredients, cover, do not stir again, once all moisture has been absorbed. Cooking time and temperatures may vary depending on your stove but at about 40 minutes remove lid, turn the heat back up to medium high for about 5 to 7 minutes. This high heat at the end produces a ‘golden brown crust’ on the bottom of the rice. Remove from heat, let cool 5 minutes. When serving, use a metal spatula and scrape the bottom of pan to remove and serve rice with crust intact.

This is an incredible side dish to any meal. We serve it with Pinto Beans, but any bean will do. My gramma made this all through growing up and the recipe lives on with me.

I just woke up. It’s almost noon but I have an excuse. My neighbor has these huge sheepdogs…the breed is on the tip of my mind but can’t recall it. They’ve already attacked my American Shorthair Pointer who’s only half their size…to give you an idea of how big they are. They were here three times last night and I was busy chasing them off. Decided to read FDL because I couldn’t sleep with all the commotion. But that’s not why I’m telling you this.

I had this awful dream. I was at DKos (Not YKos) and it was a total circus over there. A real circus. I was in charge of the poisonous reptiles and someone let them loose. I think it was the same someone that stole all my mother’s potluck dishes that she had brought. She was upset because some of them were borrowed. Anyway, that meant a serious dent in the food and I went looking. There were some cakes and pies — but the only ones cut up were the kind I didn’t like but there was a chocolate cake. Robin Scorpio (from General Hospital –Gawd this is dumb) was tearing it up with her bare hands. I had to wrestle her for a piece–er handful.

But there was still the problem of the runaway poisonous reptiles that I had to collect and contain. I asked Philip Seymour Hoffman if he’d seen them but he was all excited about running off with the strawman, so I was on my own. I eventually found them and rescued them from all sorts of curious people who didn’t realize they were poisonous. The last one tried to bite me because the poor thing was so upset! But I caught him in a cosmetics sample case and all was well in the end.

Any dream interpreters out there? Think I should maybe get out more? ;)

Love and Hugs to Jane.

mmm, katymine – new potatoes and artichokes in a butter, lemon, dill sauce – got a recipe?

katymine – found it!

So sorry to hear about your loss Jane, try to enjoy the celebration of her life as everyone comes together, we’re thinking of you.

Here’s a simple recipe that’s a winner every time. It calls for paglia e fieno (which is apparently a flat linguine like pasta…but I use ziti and it works just fine).

Pasta with Shrimp and Vodka

2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 large onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1-2 tbsps sun-dried tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
12 oz. pasta of choice (ziti)
12 large raw shrimp, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsps vodka
salt and fresh ground black pepper

1. Heat oil in med. saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook gently, stirring frequently, for about 5 mts. or until softened.

2. Add the tomato paste and stir for 1-2 minutes, then add the cream and bring to a boil, stirring. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let the sauce bubble until it starts to thicken slightly. Remove from heat.

3. Cook the pasta according to instructions on pkg. When it’s almost ready add the shrimp and vodka to the sauce; toss quickly over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.

4. Drain the pasta and turn it into a warmed bowl. Pour sauce over and toss well. Serve immediately.

Peace!

the problem of the runaway poisonous reptiles that I had to collect and contain.

In the dream, were you on a plane?

http://1.aamoviez.com/movies/Snakes_on_a_Plane

oh, and yes a BIG hug to zennurse, and to Cindy (who helped my Dad).

btw, the Downeast pronounciation of our favorite crustacean is ‘lobistah’…

peace

Man, this thread is making me seriously hungry. *g* Immanentize — this is the best idea ever. Thanks so much for suggesting it for Saturdays…

Off to the grocery store –
Thanks again Christy for this space.

Jane, stay well and hurry back to us.

peony @103: Here’s a good ratatouille I learned from my Parisian friend married to a Greek and living in Greece for years. (I still have the food-stained original in her hand, and, again, no exact amounts.):

Ratatouille

1. Saute chopped onions and chopped bacon pieces until “golden” in a big, heavy frying pan or heavy casserole. Add a bit of olive oil if necessary.

2. Add about a pound of peeled tomatoes, large dice. Saute until soft. Tomatoes will yield moisture.

3. Add a pound of diced zucchini, a pound of peeled, diced eggplant and two diced green peppers.

4. Add two or three chopped garlic cloves, fresh or dried thyme, 2 bayleaves, salt and pepper. Add a LITTLE water if it looks like the mixture needs it.

5. Cover and cook on low flame for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. Add a little water from time to time, if needed. Remove bayleaves before serving.

This is knockout delicious. The bacon is the secret. (I know you said you’re mostly vegetarian, so I hope this isn’t heresy. You need only a couple of slices to impart the taste.)

I used to get fresh bayleaves from the tree that grew in the monastery courtyard down the road from my village. It was closed to women, so I’d get the handyman to cut me a leafy twig, and I’d dry them at home.

Genoasail # 81 — That was wonderful. Your parents sound like they were very special people. I was laughing and crying at the same time as I was reading.

I am the kitchen-averse klutz who shows up with 3 bags of store-bought cheezy poofs and a sixpack as my dish to pass. (The cheezy poofs always mysteriously vanish nevertheless.) I’m really gorging myself on the delicious offerings the rest of you brought; THANKS. (Jane, Pam, care for a cheezy poof?)

Am finishing up the html tags for the 2:00 pm post — but when I get it done, I’m going to share my recipe for homemade chicken tamales with red sauce.

This isn’t a low-cholesterol dish, but it is tasty! (from the Pillsbury Kitchen’s Cookbook) The family always wants this Potato Salad at a BBQ:
3-4 Medium Potatos, cooked, peeled & cubed
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
(I don’t like celery so I don’t include it)
1/4 cup chopped pickle or pickle relish
(I use sweet relish)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup mayo or salad dressing
(I mix equal parts of each)
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

In large bowl, combine all ingred. & chill.

Lena, I was EPU’d, but did respond in the last thread to your ? about Elizabeth Peters books.

Hey Blank Kludge, greetings from a fellow downeaster!

Christy and others, I’m betraying my tech ignorance here, but how do we access this thread on the FDL site in the future? I want to get some recipes and re-read some of the wonderful posts. Will they be available indefinitely? Thanks.

Genoasail at 81 — I was laughing and crying at the same time reading your post. Thank you for sharing those stories.

Can’t believe I did that.

I had these all ready to send, thought I hit “cut” before refreshing the browser, but I hadn’t. Okay, second try:

I don’t know whether you like okra or are among the many who say, “Ewww, slimy!” I love it, and here are two reasons why. The first is direct from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ 1942 Cross Creek Cookery, which she was obliged to put out after many homesick soldiers and sailors wrote to her about the food she’d mentioned in Cross Creek.

Okra a la Cross Creek

Have ready boiling, lightly salted water. Choose only tiny very young fresh okra pods. Wash. Do not cut off the stem end, as you trust me. Drop whole pods in rapidly boiling water and boil exactly seven minutes from the time the water resumes boiling. Not a moment longer. Drain quickly. Arrange like the spokes of a wheel on hot individual serving dishes. Place individual bowls of Hollandaise [recipe follows] in the centers of the dishes. The okra is eaten as one eats unhulled strawberries, lifting with the fingers by the stem end and dipping into the Hollandaise. I recommend this to those who think they don’t like okra. It is firm, not slimy, and with the sauce, superb. I usually serve twelve okra pods per person.

Hollandaise Sauce

Measurements for individual serving.
1/4 cup butter
Yolk of 1 egg
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Increase according to number to be served.
Divide butter in three pieces. Put one piece in the top of a double boiler over boiling water with the egg yolks and lemon juice. Do not allow the boiling water quite to reach the bottom of the top of the double boiler. Stir rapidly and constantly. As the butter melts, add another third-portion. When mixture begins to thicken, add the third piece and the salt. As soon as thickened, SNATCH from the fire. The tricks in successful Hollandaise are constant stirring; not cooking one second too long; and being ready to serve it the moment it is taken from the fire.

Okay, while I can attest to the excellence of Marge Rawlings’ Okra a la Cross Creek, my all-time favorite form of the pod is crispy fried. Here’s that trick:

Black-Skillet Okra

1 lb fresh okra pods, stems trimmed, pods sliced into 1/3-inch rounds
1/2 cup mixture of equal parts white cornmeal and flour OR 1/2 cup seafood-breading mix
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons peanut oil

Heat your largest black-iron skillet to medium high. In colander, rinse okra rounds under running water, then shake colander to knock off excess water. Salt and pepper okra and shake. With colander still in sink, shake 1/2 of breading over okra, shake to agitate, and add more breading if need be.

Place enough peanut oil in hot skillet to make a thin film on bottom. Place one layer of okra in skillet and cook undisturbed for a few minutes, until downsides begin to blacken. Stir okra occasionally until all sides are crispy and have blackened spots. If pan is small and you need to cook more than one batch, place finished okra on paper towel-covered pan in 200-degree oven or toaster-oven to keep warm until all okra is finished. Serve hot.

Serves 2-3.

Now to back up and gather all the goodies above!

Athenawise and peony, I haven’t made rataouille in a long time.

I used to make polenta and fold in some cheddar or other cheese and serve the ratatouille over it.

Yum, yum, yum

Athenawise at 144 — all you have to do is click on the “Pull Up a Chair” topic in the right-hand column marked “Categories.” That will give you this article and the prior one from last Saturday. I’ll archive all these Saturday threads in that category. :)

immanentize,

way to a man’s heart indeed . . . .and both of our waistlines!

hence the Splenda.

So far my spouse hasn’t been a jealous type, but he hasn’t had any reasons . . . yet.

op99, here’s something for you:

4 ears of corn, with the leaves still on
soak in water for a minute
Put in microwave for 9 minutes or so
take out with towel and peel with towel—very hot!
slice a lime, put butter and salt on a plate and roll the corn in it. SO good.

op99

How are you doing? Miss you and the gang so much already.

Christy,

“2:00 post” sounds like the 2:00 feeding . . . I guess that fits.

Angie @ 75

Its possible to substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock, right? We’re vegetarians too….Hi Lisa’s g/f!

Margot, yummy, even I can do that!

RevDeb, Doing well, hope you are too. The FDL-at-YK experience was quite the phenomenom, wasn’t it?

I see a few chocolate recipes here. I was thinking about my recipe for devil’s food cake because it’s so easy and so good. I think that’s why I dreamed about it.

No Imm…not on a plane. LOL I relate them being in the dream to the discussion about the unusual number of nasty people saying nasty things lately. ‘Nuff about that. They

EZ Devil’s Food Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Gather up the dry ingredients:

1 cup of white pre-sifted unbleached flour
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (shy)
1/3 cup dutched (aka dark) cocoa

Dump it all in a mixing bowl. Mix and fluff with a fork.
In a pint jar or small bowl mix the liquids:

1/3 cup liquid (or soft) shortening
1/2 cup cold strong coffee
1/2 – 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
2 eggs

Pour about half the liquid into the dry and mix to moisten. Add the rest and beat for about 2 minutes. Pour into a prepared pan and bake until done. About 30 min or passes clean toothpick test.

Great with old fashioned butter frosting made with cocoa, coffee and vanilla.

After my son passed in ‘95, I leaned heavily (literally) on comfort food. I developed all sorts of recipes then. This became a favorite.

susan -

‘ayup’

Jane,

I am so sorry for your loss. Like Christy, I believe that you should be joyful that you could be there with her in her last hours. My Grandmother (I am not ashamed to say that I was her favorite), died suddenly, and was in the hospital asking for me. I was camping and did not get the message until I got home. It was a very sad day and is one of my few regrets in life.

My receipe is simple:

One tenderloin steak grilled over medium heat. Put a fresh sprig of spanish rosemary with a pat of butter over the top to let the butter melt over the rosemary and into the steak. Do this on each side and cook medium rare. This is the best steak ever. Period.

I’m loving all these summery recipes. It’s hard to believe I am almost 53 years old and have not made gespacho once! This is more a wintery food, but if you let it cool it makes a fabulous breakfast pastry (I hear).

Sour Cream Apple Walnut Cranberry Pie

Pie crust for a two-crust pie.

Filling:
5 to 7 tart (I like Granny Smith) apples
1 – 1 1/2 cup dried cranberries (I like a lot of cranberries)

2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 Tbsp flour

Peel and slice the apples, put slices in a bowel. Add the cranberries.

Mix the other ingredients, then pour them over the apples and stir them up to coat.

Put this mixture into a deep dish pie plate lined with bottom crust.

Cover the apple/cranberry/sour cream stuff with as many walnuts as you like.

Topping:
6 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Mix this up and sprinkle over the walnuts.

Slice a cold stick of butter into thin butter pats and place them on top of the cinnamon/brown sugar topping. You can leave this step out if you’re trying to be good, but what’s the point?

Put on the top crust. Slice some slits in it with a knife, rub it with some milk and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top.

Bake for one hour at 350 degrees.

Yum!

Jane: in the space of two years, I lost my father, my maternal grandmother, and my 25yo brother-in-law. There are no words to tell you just how sorry I am for your loss, and for the pain and sorrow your family is experiencing.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds, but eventually you will reach a point where you can smile and laugh and remember, and the terrible ache doesn’t hurt quite as much as it did that first day. The pain is still there – and will always be there – but it is blunted by the memories of the good times you shared and by the love of the people still surrounding you.

This recipe was one of my gramma’s classics. She used to make it for special occasions, and it became one of Eddie’s favorites after she made it for his birthday. He loved to try out various substitutions and call her with the results.

My family often jokes that the two of them are spending their time in heaven playing cards (and cheating!) and whipping up incredible meals – while my dad watches the races and torments Dale Earnhardt. (Even death could not make my dad like him…)

Orange-Ranch Chicken

3-4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. orange juice
1/4 c. ranch dressing
1 c. water
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
salt/pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients except chicken in a bowl. Lay chicken in oiled baking dish and pour liquid/spices over. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until chicken is tender.

Can also be done in a crockpot, on LOW for 3 hours. Reduce water to 1/2 c.

Many thanks, Christy. I’ve been an FDL fan for awhile but hadn’t posted before (every one of you is brilliant, which is a mite intimidating). I’m sorry it took the passing of Jane’s mom to bring this newbie to the circle. But I am so heartened by the warmth, intelligence and caring here. Oh, and you guys are wicked funny.

Oh man, I’m not much of a cook anymore, but THE BEST food ever is:

South Tucson Green Corn Tamales.

South Tucson Green Corn Tamales differ from regular tamales, in that they use fresh white sweet corn instead of dried white corn. I don’t remember the proportions, but it barely matters. (If I’ve forgotten any ingredients, maybe someone can help out.)

Fresh White Sweet Corn
Crumbly Mexican White Cheese
Lard or Vegetable Oil
Cooked Green Chiles (mild to hot — your choice)
Mild Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Strip the corn off the cob; grind fine or leave coarse.

Mix with oil and crumbly cheese. Add salt as needed; the crumbly cheese is very salty.

Place mixture in corn husk, with chile (and optional cheese) in center; wrap corn husk around it.

Stand tamales on end in large pot; steam until cooked.

That’s it — they can be frozen and reheated, and are absolutely delicious.

After reading Pachacutec’s Roasted Pork Shoulder recipe, I thought a nice complementary side is this wonderfull Cranberry Sauce. It is great with Turkey and a nice side all year round and not just for the holidays. The recipe as it stands makes a lot. For family settings, you might want to cut the recipe in half.

1 small orange (unpeeled)
2 1/3 cups orange juice
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 12 ounce bags of cranberries
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon triple sec or other orange liqueur (I use grand marnier)

Finely grind orange in processor. Combine orange juice, sugar, and lemon juice in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Once boiling reduce heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add ground orange and cranberries and cook until berries begin to pop stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in triple sec or orange liqueur. Cool completely.

It tastes better if you do it a day ahead.

A wonderful pina colada for a summer day.

1. Fill an ice tray wth pure pineapple juice (no added sugar).
2. Chill a can of crushed pineaples in its own juice (no added sugar)
3. When frozen place place frozen juice cubes in blender.
4. Add 1 can of unsweetened coconut milk (best kind is from Thailand).
5. Blend to make a smoothie.
6.Add some crushed pineapple to smoothie.
7. Add a touch (or more) of Jamaican rum.
8. Blend quickly again, but not too much.

(Will make about 4 cups of pina colada.)

Pull up some chairs and serve, and “talk story” (reminesce) as we say in Hawaii.

I think Greta would have enjoyed it.

susan @147: Polenta…ummmm…oh, now you’ve got me thinking about my Italian side of the family and those recipes, which I wasn’t even going to mention. And, there are my Mom’s Hungarian recipes from her grandmother….

Addendum: Chill coconut milk first!

op99

Indeed the FDL flock was extraordinary! We may need to do our own thing one of these days, but in the mean time, we need to grow our ROOTS!

So simple even I can make these, and they are great year round (thanks to my friend Phyllis, who also recently lost her mom – xoxox, for the recipe):

Hello Dolly bars are also known as seven layer bars.

INGREDIENTS:
%u2022 1/2 cup unsalted butter
%u2022 1 cup coconut
%u2022 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
%u2022 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
%u2022 1 cup butterscotch chips
%u2022 1 cup chopped walnuts
%u2022 1 can (15 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

PREPARATION:
Melt the butter; mix in graham cracker crumbs. Pat crumb mixture in a 9-x13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining ingredients over the crumbs in order given, in layers. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over all. Do NOT stir. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Athenawise #57
In Greece, Athena symbol is the owl, wise and knowing. Welcome …

Watching the Food Channel… after watching the C-span pannel discussion on privacy & phone records investigation. When the corporate muckymucks claimed the 5th… the hearing ended… Sad, no one is accountable for anything these days

katymine in your artichokes recipe, what do you mean by “one large call artichoke hearts”?

great story, too btw. a friend of mine told me i was having twins before i even knew i was pregnant. she was a seer and truthseeker – sadly she’s passed from this life.

Athenawise@ 157

I second that! I don’t get to see my own family and this site goes a long way to fill that empty space. I need the good folks here a lot more than they need me. As my 79 yo Mom likes to say, “fer sher”.

This is a great thread. Thanks to all for the comfort. This recipe it incredibly complicated but if you get it right it is the spiciest (read extremely hot) but wonderful chicken in the world. WARNING: lots of heat. It took me years to be able to eat it. Even when I couldn’t handle the spice I loved it.

In honor of Jane’s Mom and her adventurous spirit I am posting the recipe of my best college friends’ mom who is originally from a small villiage near Bangalore, India. They have lived in New Orleans for some time and we all have enjoyed some great times eating this chicken over the years.

Please note that measurements are approximated as closely as possible and where multiple names are given for an ingredient, they are both named. When a food processor is used, a blender may also be used.

Recipe for Mrs. T’s Awesome Chicken

You must procure or make the Cayenne Mixture and the Garam Masala. Garam Masala is available at Indian stores but will not necessarily be the same as that described below.

Cayenne Mixture

1 and a ¼ cup of coriander seeds (roasted)
3 tbsp of methi seeds (fenugreek seeds) (roasted)
¾ cup of whole cumin seeds (lightly roasted)
two packages of cayenne pepper (4 coffee cups)
3 large whole bulbs of garlic
¾ of cup of salt

First toast the coriander seeds in a very hot pan with no oil. When about 1/4th of the seeds become brownish add the methi. Empty the pan and place the cumin on the hot pan for about a minute. Grind the coriander, methi, and cumin and add it to the cayenne. Mix it a little. Break up the garlic bulbs taking the main parts of the skin off. It is not necessary to peel it entirely. Place all ingredients in a food processor and process with a grinder blade until well blended and smooth. This is a very large batch of powder that can be used for many dishes.

Garam Masala

1 and cup of coriander seeds (roasted)
¼ cup of cinnamon or cinnamon sticks
2 tbsp of cardamom seeds
¼ cup of whole cloves

First roast the coriander until slightly browned then add the other spices for less time. The cloves should be roasted the least. Grind the ingredients and blend well. If using cinnamon sticks break them up into smaller pieces before toasting with the other spices.

Chicken Preparation
Please note these measurements are for preparing two whole chickens. If you use one you can use half the ingredients.

Step 1 Ingredients
2 whole chickens
6 teaspoons of salt
2 heaping teaspoons garlic and ginger paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 spoons of cayenne pepper mixture described above

First cut up the whole chickens in cubes of meat and wash them with a little water, salt and turmeric. This is in addition to the quantities of salt and turmeric for browning listed above. Drain the water and add chicken to a hot dutch oven along with the other ingredients listed above. Brown the above for 10 or 15 minutes. Keep the chicken in this pan for now.

Step 2 Ingredients
½ cup vegetable oil
11/2 onions
2 heaping teaspoons of ginger and garlic paste
2 large green chilies
4 teaspoons of cayenne mixture described above
2 heaping teaspoons of garam masala
½ cup of fresh coriander (handful)
4 curry leaf branches (without the branch) approximately ½ handful of leaves
¾ cup of water

In a separate large deep fry pan heat ½ cup vegetable oil and add the onions. Fry them for a minimum of 5 minutes but it is not necessary to brown them. Add the ginger and garlic paste, chilies, cayenne mix, garam masala, and coriander. Fry for a few minutes. Then add the chicken and liquid from browning to the fry pan. Now add the curry leaves and fry this whole thing until the oil separates from the sauce. This should take approximately 15 minutes. Put ¾ cup water in the browning pan and swish it around. Add this to the fry pan. Let this cook a little more with the lid on to create the sauce and fully cook the chicken. Enjoy with your favorite rice.

Peace and love to all…I am off to lunch!

For those of you who have not experienced the sweet pacific northwest, you must. Jane can vouch for that. It will be good for her to get back to the beautiful Oregon coast for healing.

Here are my favorite cook books, two of them by Jimella Lucas and Nanci Main, of the Ark restaurant in southwestern Washington.

Bay and Ocean Cookbook: Ark Restaurant Cuisine
ISBN 0 14 01.1187 5

The Ark Restaurant Cookbook
ISBN 0 14 046.731 9
This one has an introduction by James Beard, who would, from time to time, fly out from New York just to eat at the Ark.
Comments: I have eaten at the Ark, and there is nothing like it anywhere I have ever eaten; after the meal, I went back to the hotel, went to bed, and to quote Jimmy Buffett, had some tremulous dreams.

The New West Coast Cuisine
by Linda West Eckhardt
ISBN 0-87477-359-8 (pbk)
This book has recipes from California at the Mexican border to British Columbia. Tips for where to get the best of each ingredient include the following: Best asparagus comes from the coastal regions of B.C., while the best blueberries and strawberries come from Oregon. (contrary to what Californians believe)

Sorry, typos get you everytime, no
One large can of artichokes hearts… not the pickled kind

katymine – thanks, i’m going to dream about that one ’til i get all the ingredients together, and i know my kids will love it too.

Again, so many hugs and condolences to Jane and her family.

Regarding recipes, I have a recommendation for your next batch of tacos, nachos, or burritos: Whatever your favorite seasoning (mine is Ortega, way less salt), add a half-jar of your favorite salsa per pound of meat or chicken while simmering. The flavor blast is amazing.

Lotus…146

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. I was in this grand lady’s house once. My old boss, from when I worked for U. of F., (Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, IFAS) in Gainesville, took me there. Her house is a state museum. There’s a letter on display in her place written by Spencer Tracy telling her he could no longer continue with production of “The Yearling” (one of her books of course) because of the relentless Florida humidity and summer heat. The part of the father, in the movie ultimately went to Gregory Peck. Did you know also that Rawlings had a still in her attic. My old boss knew Rawlings and as a youngster visited with her and sat, while she sipped her brew on her front porch. I have spent many fine hours on the air boat fishing and hunting green frogs in Cross Creek, on Orange Lake. Fond memos indeed. Just fyi only. Nice recipes.

MsAnnaNOLA,

That looks beautiful! I love cooking Indian food, and have yet to see that many curry leaves in a recipe. Yum and more yum.

For folks who like a touch of fire, I add the following to a cup of cocoa (either hot or cold).

Vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg,and..YESS!..a generous sprinkle of red hot pepper powder (cayenne). Vary the spices according to your taste, but it should be pretty fiery. The more pepper you add, the more sweetening you will need.

Hint: By all means do not used packaged or pre-mixed cocoa. Use pure unsweetened cocoa powder (Ghiradelli or Droste are reasonably priced and fine), and sweeten with a mild honey.

This is an update of an Aztec recipe called xocolatl (chocolate).

I seem to be in a “south of the border” mood today.

Did Greta perhaps enjoy travelling to SA?

I can’t cook worth a damn, but I’m determined to join in, so here’s my “recipe” for a delicious meal.

Ingredients

1 bottle sake
12 Euros

1. Dial the number of the sushi bar, the really good one two streets down from my apartment (it’s called mikawa)

2. Tell the friendly person on the phone that you want number 652, that’s “Bento 3″, with 3 nigiri, 12 maki, sashimi, garnish and miso soup.

3. Open bottle of sake and help yourself while you wait for delivery to arrive.

4. When delivery arrives, pay up your 12 Euros and collect the Bento box.

5. Pour another glass of sake, get out the chopsticks and a spoon, open up the Bento box and enjoy.

chris @ 123… you are so right!

…love is the fuel that drives progressives. I’d go further and say that love unifies us, too… and it’s that honest caring we have for each other that mystifies and frightens the already frightened creatures on the right.

coalitions and groups that form around issues can break down over time as ideas/allegiances/policies change. that’s not the case when people form bonds of friendship, respect and caring and THEN work together on issues. groups like that are not so easily dissolved. or attacked.

the right has good reason to fear what’s going on here.

A few years back, my mother found out that she had less than a week to live. She was dying of ovarian cancer. At the time, she was living in Colorado, my sister was in Honolulu, and I was in Tokyo. Both my sis and I rushed back to be with her. We continue to be grateful we had that time to spend together.

So, in honor of my mother –a great painter and cook, and of Greta, let me offer this recipe for a family favorite.

El Cholo’s Green Corn Tamales:

Makes 12 tamales (8 oz. each)
24 ears yellow corn (best May through October)
1/2 lb. cornmeal
1/4 lb. shortening
1/4 lb. unsalted butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. half and half or cream
1 t. salt
12 1-oz. strips cheddar cheese
1 24-oz. can Ortega chiles
Parchment paper, cut into squares
White cotton string

Cut both ends of the corn, remove the husks and save for wrapping. Cut corn kernels off the cob. In food processor, grind the kernels with the cornmeal. Set aside. Beat shortening and butter together until creamy. Add sugar, half and half and salt. Add corn mixture and mix well.

For each tamale, overlap two corn husks. Spread some of the corn mixture onto the husks. Place one cheese strip and one chile strip on top of the mixture. Top with more corn mixture.

Bring the edges of the corn husks over the filling to cover completely. Place one husk on a square of parchment paper. Fold ends of corn husks up, over the tamale, then fold sides of parchment over tamale and fold up ends. Tie string around the little package to hold in place. Continue until all tamales are prepared.

Place on a rack and steam 35 to 45 minutes.

wonderful resonances

unfortunately, i am to cooking what donald rumsfield is to military planning, or scalia is to justice

you would not want to be burdened with it

My culinary range is narrow – mostly stuff I picked up during a year studying in Florence many years ago. We had a cooking class, went to the open market for fresh ingredients, had a lot of fun. Those recipes are in a book at home; alas I’m at work. The recurring denominator: garlic, tomatoes, herbs, and a dash of pepperoncino.

Best wishes to Jane and her sister; hoping that this community brings them some measure of solace.

remembereringgiap, see Margot at 150; a nice treat for those of us who could screw up a 2 car funeral, cooking-wise.

My mother’s mother lived in WVa while I was growing up. My grandfather died when I was about 4, so she lived alone, both her daughters having moved away. We used to drive to WVa every t-giving for a chaotic family get together, and that was most of the time I spent with my grandmother – there with 10 or so other grandchildren, her siblings, their children etc. (I got carsick EVERY trip, there and back – W Va roads were not straight shots).

She came to visit us once and while I’m not going to say I was a put upon child ;-) she told my mother to let me go back with her for a chunk of the summer when I was 12. It was heaven and in particular there were no rules on food. So almost everyday my Grandmother made “spoon bread” for me (aka grits bread) and I would have it with fresh tomatoes for breakfast, with corn for dinner, with milk for whenever.

Years later my grandmother was in Louisville and had been in and out of the hospital several times. I had been told by my mother and cousin not to worry with coming to visit, they were there, things were fine, but on almost a fluke I left work and drove through. When I was at the hospital, she was on a morphine drip and did not really seem that aware that I was there. Still, no one thought that circumstances had really deteriorated and at 96 she had weathered worse times.

A few hours after I drove home the call came that she had passed away. I very seldom cook and can’t help but think, anytime I do make grits bread, about my Grandmother making this EVERY day, just to please me (along with all her other cooking and baking).

Spoon Bread
1 qt sweet milk – steam in a double boiler
stir in 1 up grits until mixture thickens
take off stove and add one stick butter, 1 teasp salt.
Cool
Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time
Pour into a buttered dish and bake 40 minutes at 350-375

ooh, can’t forget sgroppino, the wickedly good venetian (?) adult desert drink:

1/3 vanilla gelato
1/3 lemon sorbetto
1/3 vodka

blend and serve. limit one per customer. trust me on this….

Christy et al, thank you for the wonderful family reunion. It has been years since our family had one.

Great food, warm friends, great fresh ground coffee and sharing our memories. We are bonding, strengthening our family ties, ok…. going for lunch… just getting toooo hungry.

BTW… going to make my Apple Cake this afternoon…

favorite “foodie” movies:

Babette’s Feast
Big Night
Like Water for Chocolate
Mostly Martha

When my mother was dying a hurricane stood between us. Before I could get home, she had already passed and I was devastated that I hadn’t been with her at the end. With only my brother and I left, it fell to us to arrange for her funeral. I dreaded it, wished I could just leave up to my brother to make all the arrangements, but of course I couldn’t. At first it seemed agonizing, choosing a casket, deciding on the service, the flowers, the hymns. But after a while I began to see the purpose in all of it – every time we had to make a decision, we had to concentrate on her – think what she would really want. It made us look at her in a way other than that of orphaned children. We had to think about her as the woman she was. Even such mundane chores as picking flowers brought her more sharply in focus. White flowers? Never – she was a colorful woman and her flowers had to show that. I found that by the time the funeral was over, I was beginning to heal in a way I hadn’t expected and that I was loving and admiring her as more than just my mother. I wrote her obituary and it gave me a chance to put into words the diverse things that made her such a wonderful person. It seems to me now that I can hear her voice more clearly than ever and that she is truly with me every day. I hope, Jane, that you will feel your mother’s loving presence as strongly as I do mine.

My mother wasn’t much of a baker, though my father was. He died while I was a teenager and it fell to me to take up the cookie sheet. Which I did with a vengeance. I came up with this recipe based on a combination of several cookies I’d tried. It was my mother’s favorite and I made them for her every year at Christmas and her birthday. I’ve never shared the recipe with anyone before. It’s labor intensive, but the cookies are beautiful and delicious.

Etoiles de Jeanne

lb unsalted butter
C sugar
1 egg
3 C sifted flour
tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Rind of one lemon, grated
Juice of one lemon
C ground almonds
Seedless raspberry jam
Confectioner’s sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and rind. Sift the flour and salt together and resift into the butter mixture. Add the ground almonds. Mix thoroughly and chill the dough for 1 hour. Divide the dough in half and roll out one portion approximately 1/8″ thick on a lightly floured board. Cut with a round cookie or biscuit cutter about 2 1/2″ in diameter. Roll out the second portion the same way and again cut the circles. Then use a very small cutter in the shape of a star or heart in the center of each circle. (Aspic cutters are a good size for this.) Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely. Warm the raspberry jam slightly and spread over the plain cookies. Put the cookies with the cutouts on top making a sandwich. Dust the tops lightly with confectioner’s sugar and fill the cutout holes with more jam. Enjoy.

We met Tom when we where stationed in England in the late seventies. An enormous teddy-bear, he was gruff on the outside, marshmallow on the inside. Over the years we knew him, sharing his family history became a little easier for him. He was born in Poland. His family managed to survive Hitler, but when the Soviets arrived his father decided they had had enough. They escaped to Switzerland and eventually to the US.

He joined the U.S. Air Force to get an education and to feel connected to his adopted country. He became my husband’s big brother and mentor. At every group gathering, pot luck was common (military pay made it impossible to host a big party on your own). Tom always brought his potato salad that he adapted from his memories of Switzerland. After five years he relented and shared the ingredients with me, never the amounts. We lost track of Tom. He stayed in England after retiring from the Air Force, got married, divorced, etc. I sure wish we could find him.

It became our family favorite and something that relatives expected me to bring to every gathering. My mom, who passed away in March, got rave reviews from her neighbors at the senior housing complex where she lived every time she made Tom’s Potato Salad.

So here it is as best as can figure out the quantities:

Tom’s Nutrionally Incorrect Swiss Potato Salad

1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled (reserve the bacon fat)
2 large onions, chopped
5-10 lbs. potatoes (I use Yukon Golds, but just use your favorites, the amount varies depending on the size of the crowd)
Miracle Whip
1 large jar bread and butter pickles
6 -12 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Cook the bacon, crumble and reserve the fat. While you are boiling the potatoes, saut the onion in the bacon fat until carmelized. Keep warm. Peel and dice potatoes (keep warm). In a huge bowl, combine HOT potatoes, onions including the bacon fat, and Miracle Whip to taste. Dice about 1 cup of bread and butter pickle and add to bowl along with the hard boiled eggs. Add some of the pickle liquid, (including the spices at the bottom of the jar) to taste and mix gently so that you don’t end up mashing the potatoes. Best made a day ahead.

new thread — new ingredients for a new Congress

That’s funny. Did I end up on the cutting room floor? I posted one recipe for gazpacho, and it didn’t show up. Then another for baked fish, and it did, and then another for some cookbook recommendations, and it didn’t. There were no strange keywords in the two missing ones that I know of.
Oh, well, this is still the best group I have ever met, with love and wit and community; and the characters and plots make Vineland seem like child’s play.

sofistic at 192 — sometimes your IP addy can get caught in the SPAM filter if it is similar or identical to someone who has been a troll or who has been spamming the list with adverts. I really wish everyone would stop taking the SPAM filter stuff personally. We work as quickly as we can to clear things out — honestly we do — and it is set up to keep our threads as a conversation, and not some massive, brawling yawp of adverts and name-calling and crap.

If a post disappears or is labeled as “moderation” — what that means is that it is trapped in the SPAM filter, when we see it we’ll check ot for spam and, if it’s fine, we immediately set it free. Please, everyone (and I’m not just saying this to Sofistic, but EVERYONE) — the folks who help us out with moderation do so voluntarily, out of the goodness of their hearts, to keep our community running as smoothly as it does. I could not have survived the last week without all of them, and they deserve not just my thanks, but everyone’s considering the crap we’ve had to deal with this week.

All this to say, patience would go a long, long way this weekend — as everyone at the Servce Desk has had a long, long week and we are all bone weary. Thanks.

SEASONED SALT (similar to Lawry’s, ‘cept WAY cheaper ;->)
1 cup salt
2 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Just mix thoroughly & store in airtight jar.

We use it on roasts, in cheesy sauces, hash-brown potatoes, omlets . . . . Handy stuff.

———-
TASTY BROCCOLI IN A HURRY

Put broccoli florets in a pan with about 1/2″ inch of water. Sprinkle a little chicken bouillon powder (Wylers is good), and dried oregano overtop the broccoli, and drizzle with a little olive oil. Put lid on tight, and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and let steam to desired doneness. Give it a toss before serving, to mix the seasoning throughout.
Pretty good seasoning combo for anything in the cabbage family.

There is an oolong grown on the high mountain slopes of Formosa called Ming Xiang. Oriental Beauty. These tea plants are left to themselves pretty much. The leaves are allowed to rest on the branches beyond the normal prime picking time and even to be munched upon just a little, by the neighboring cicadas.

I don’t know whether it is the plant sending it’s own healing balm up through the wounded leaves or the juice secreted from the insects gourmandizing, but the deep amber tea brewed from these old timer plants is healing of itself.

In some way … we all of us .. are old, wounded and weathered, bug eaten tea leaves that in the end … provide warm brewed healing nourishment for each other.

I can attribute to the wonderful grace of Greta, as she was my Aunt and I am truly honored to be associated with such a positive role model. Greta was unique, even though she was a twin, and I have very fond and vivid memories of her and the rest of the family. I feel for Pam and Jane, as I know the loss of a parent is very hard (My father, Virgil passed in 1979, was Greta’s brother) and Greta, as always, was there to comfort me in times of sorrow. We’ll miss her.

As a frequent FDL reader and an admirer of Jane Hamsher and the community you all have built here, I would like to offer my condolences to her. And in the spirit of this thread, I brought a pair of fine summer soups.

These soups and the stories behind them, along with many other amusing things, may be found on my sister’s food blog (http://fingerineverypie.typepad.com/my_weblog/).

Both recipes evoke memories of our own mother, an extraordinary woman, lifelong progressive activist, and great cook, who died four years ago.

Chilled Beet Soup, or Summer Borscht

2 250-gram vacuum packets of cooked beets (or 18 oz. of home-cooked beets)
1 16-oz. can of tomatoes in puree (or an equivalent of freshly blanched, peeled and seeded tomatoes)
2 large scallions
A large fistful of dill
2 tsp. of beef or vegetable stock concentrate (I use Better Than Bouillon), reconstituted in 2 cups of water
2 tsp. sugar
pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

Combine 3/4 of the beets in a blender jar along with everything else, and whirl until smooth. Taste for seasoning. Go for a balance of sweet, tart and salty, adding more dill if necessary. Stir in the last 125 grams of beets, julienned or chopped into little dice. Chill, and serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, sour cream or cr譥 frae, and more minced dill. Chopped cucumber, hard boiled eggs and boiled new potatoes can also be added for a more substantial soup. Another alternative is to add some yogurt or sour cream at the blender stage for a bright pink soup rather than a dark garnet bowlful. Accompany with good pumpernickel bread and sweet butter.

Sour Cherry Soup, or Cherry Borscht

6 cups sour cherries (Montmorency preferred), washed and stemmed, but left whole
6 cups water (or enough to cover by about an inch in a shallow pot)
1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)
pinch of good ground cinnamon
2 eggs

Sour cream, creme frache, or Greek yogurt for serving

Place cherries, water, sugar and cinnamon in a pot. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until cherries are tender but not falling apart or losing their skins. Beat the two eggs well in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in hot cherry juice from the pot, a tablespoon at a time, so that eggs become hot but don’t curdle. When a cup or so of juice has been amalgamated, pour the egg mixture back into the hot pot of cherries and liquid and stir well. Taste for sweetness, and add more sugar if you like. We actually like this quite tart. It should taste richly of sour cherries, but the flavor deepens exponentially once the soup is chilled. Let the mixture cool to room temp, and then chill for several hours.

Serve cold with sour cream or one of the other options dolloped on top. Warn others about the pits, and bring a dish to the table for spitting out pits. (Or you could pit the cherries before you make the soup.)

Peace, Jane.

This recipe is from my dear friend, Jen, who lost her mom a few years ago. Her mom was a former nun, and a hell of a cook!(She quit the convent before she met Jen’s dad) The topping is what pushes this pie over the edge to ‘divine.’

Sour Cream Apple Pie
Filling
2 T. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
little bit of cinnamon
3 cups of diced apples (skin on is fine. fiber, you know)
9″ pie crust (unbaked)

Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 T. butter

Sift together flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add egg, sour cream, vanilla and nutmeg. Beat to a thick, smooth batter; stir in apples. Pour into 9-inch unbaked pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Mix flour, sugar, dark brown sugar (trust me, it makes a difference) and cinnamon. Cut in butter. Remove pie from oven and top with sugar mixture. Return to 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

all things in moderation –

when I get a comment ’stuck’ in moderation, I try to do a brief follow-up/heads-up comment w/o links. Then just sit back and wait, no hurry. I’m sure the moderators have their hands full, and te original comment will get posted eventually.

Of course, none of this explains the mess I made in one thread yesterday trying to post a link to the picture of Markos as Dr. Evil….

My mother taught herself to cook after her marriage from The Joy of Cooking. To this day I know that anything I cook from that book will be something I like. This recipe, however, is from CordonBlueGrass. It’s perfect for potlucks.

Beth’s Mean Beans

2 cans (18 0z.) pork and beans
1 can apple pie mix
1 pound hot sausage, browned and drained (Jimmy Dean’s works fine)
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup barbecue sauce with onions (Kraft’s used to make this, but apparently no longer. You can use any other brand, but go for one that’s fairly bland.)

Combine all ingredients in a large baking casserole dish. Stir well and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Elizabeth Adams, the “Beth” who contributed the recipe, suggests taking it to the next family reunion, which I thought made it particularly apt today.

So many friends, so much love and so much great food! I’m just there in the background reading and totally appreciating the intelect and drive of Jane and Christy. Here is some comfort food adapted from a great on-line recipe source. I hope it is some comfort to Jane (and anybody else):

ZESTY CHICKEN OREGANO (Kotopoulo me Riganates Skaras)
(from recipegoldmine.com improved by yours truely)

1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) broiler- fryer chicken, cut up (or 3-4 lbs chicken legs)
1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
juice of 1 lemon plus a few thin slices of the rind
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped
white dinner wine (I used cheap Rhine wine)

Place chicken in container for 36-48 hour marinade. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over chicken, adding enough wine to almost cover. Marinade in refrigerator, stirring or shaking a few times during this time.

Place chicken in oiled 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Pour marinade over the chicken. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F, spooning oil mixture over chicken occasionally, at least 30 minutes. Turn chicken; cook until thickest pieces are done, about 30 minutes longer. Remove chicken pieces to serving dish and keep warm.

Place baking pan over medium heat. Remove excess oil and chicken fat. Add corn starch shaken with cold water to thicken juices. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve thickened sauce over chicken pieces and potatoes (I like mashed potatoes). Add a veggie and a salad and you have a great meal!

Yields 4 to 6 servings.

welcome, Andrew Hamsher.

and to Joe Conason, too.

Woo, Joe at 197 — that Sour Cherry Soup sounds amazing. Thanks so much for sharing it!

So sorry, Jane. My father passed away last November, in his 88th year.

Next Sunday, I’ll be able to find the time to share one of his favorite recipes from the Texas bayou country here at fdl. Right now, I’ve got to deal with the catch from my annual subsistence fishing trip?
Q: How do you fill a freezer to capacity?
A: catch 59 Copper River sockeye salmon, fillet them, vacuum seal them and put them in.

Welcome Andrew,

Thanks so much for coming by. We feel so much appreciation and love for Jane, that her family feels like our family, too. We are all so sorry for your loss.

Audrey

Andrew at 196 — I’m so sorry for your family’s loss. Please do give Jane and Pam a hug from me if you see them in the near future. And thank you for sharing memories of Greta. From what Jane has told me, she was an amazing woman — full of life, and laughter and a lot of love.

Mesclun@189

Beautiful story, and so true.

I am adding your wonderful recipe to my cookbook now.

(I write in my cookbooks all the time. I am very naughty that way).

My condolences to Jane, and props to the FDL community for their generosity and support.

I have to recommend this completely vegetarian butternut squash soup, which is tasty and comforting, and keeps well in the fridge for several days:

4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
4 cups (32 oz) Veggie stock (try to find lower sodium versions)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
Nutmeg (fresh ground, if you’ve got it), salt, & pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions & celery and cook until transparent.

Add cubed squash and veggie stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cover.

Simmer for ~ 30 minutes or until squash is tender.

Either use a hand mixer (Braun, Cuisinart, etc. – the greatest kitchen inventions known to man) to puree the soup in the saucepan, or transfer, in batches, to a blender or food processor and puree it there. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste.

Enjoy.

Andrew,

I am sorry for your loss as well. Our Aunt and Uncles are so important in the support net of our families. It soulnds like you were very lucky in having one as lovely as Greta.

Joe Conason and Andrew Hamsher: It’s a pleasure to have you here. Andrew, thank you for sharing with us memories of your aunt, who, by proxy, is “related” to us all, though we never knew her. Joe, it’s a delight to have you among us. Welcome!

Oh man, these Saturdays around here are getting to be killer, aren’t they!

OK kiddo — yes, I’ve been to the Rawlings house at Cross Creek several times and love it there (makes a great little day-trip with visitors). I always populate it in my mind’s eye and ear with Marge, Idella, and all their guests — even old evil-tempered Dora out in the barn. Uproarious, well-lubed times, those (so though I didn’t know about her still, it’s no surprise).

I was really sorry when The Yearling restaurant, down the road a piece, closed. Used to love their fried gator-tail. Nummy.

A true story from our family:

Music filled our house while I was growing up. Neither parent performed, but they “enabled” in every way they could. Every morning as my dad started off to work, mom was “serenaded” (to put it kindly) by 2 violins & a viola, all simultaneously playing totally different music, on all 3 floors of the house (imagine ages 4, 8, & 12 – at one point – yep, w/ piano lessons on the side).

Bless her. She said she loved it (even tho she later admitted to having begged the music teacher PLEASE to have me, the youngest of the 3, play ANYTHING BUT “The Happy Farmer,” when I got to ‘that’ level.

When our mom, at 92 was very near the end of her life, my brother came to be with us. Mom was, by that time, slipping in and out of consciousness — very much as you so beautifully phrased it, Christy — all you can do is hold a hand, brush the hair back . . .

And??? . . . on a crazy impulse, my brother and I picked up our fiddles and played the Double Bach Concerto literally all afternoon long, all the way through, him on 1st, then me on 1st – sibling rivalry being what it is, even into your 60’s *g*.

Somewhere in the midst of our impromptu ‘concert’, I looked over at mom in her bed, by that time too deeply into coma even to open her eyes or to exhibit any noticeable reaction to people talking to her.

I honestly think mom thought she was entering heaven and hearing the angels welcoming her with her favorite ‘tune’ because, coma or no, she had a huge smile on her face! We paused and tried to talk to her — eyes still closed and no response. But there was that wonderful smile, which continued as we resumed playing.

Indeed, those were among mom’s very last hours, as she died that evening. But, after she and we had endured some particularly difficult times during the preceding years, we took solace in knowing she was truly at peace at the end.

Adie at 212 — beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us. *sniffle*

spending a quiet saturday reading this wonderful thread and thinking of Jane and her family and my own and fdl …

what a warm circle and what a lovely way to honor Greta’s step off the wheel of life

my dad died when I was 16 and to this day I miss him and celebrate him … he loved food and made meals an adventure of debate and laughter

our family shares many good cooks and more formal recipes but we all devour what my mom calls colecannon whenever we can get away with it:

Boil a smoked ham butt or daisy roll for at least 2 hours in a large covered pot… in the last 45 minutes add peeled potatoes cut into quarters … in the last 10 minutes, add quarters of cabbage

when the ham almost falls apart, spoon out the potatoes and mash on your plate with butter, salt and lots of cracked pepper

top the potatoes with a nice helping of cabbage and cut with knife and fork into bitesize pieces

add some slices of ham to your plate then the most important part … drizzle good cider vinegar liberally over all

my ex used to find our family positively terrifying when we had our ham&cabbage since we ate like Dad ate … with gusto

to this day, my daughter when asked what we should make for a special family meal immediately asks for this

For lisadawn … russian vegetable pie solves my vegetarian/meateater meals:

make pie crust or use pillsbury’s … line pie tin with crust then spread an 8oz package of cream cheese over the bottom
next layer, sliced hard boiled eggs
next layer, sauteed cabbage and onions seasoned *very* liberally with marjoram and a little tarragon
next layer, mushrooms sauteed in butter with a little more marjoram
top with second crust, bake at 350 about 45 minutes

hearty veg meal and awesome served with lambchops!

ein guten!

Just got back from Hqt.opening for my Congressman Dennis Moore. He thinks taking the House is doable.

When my Dad died two years ago, I was with him in his room at the retirement center. My brothers had come the previous evening to say their goodbyes. I slept on the floor beside his bed and gave him his last Dilaudid at dawn and as his breathing became more shallow, I crawled into bed with him and held him, strokes his head (didn’t have much hair), told him I loved him and gave him permission to let go–that we would be alright. I told him to go to be with Mom. He died about 7:00 a.m. He had struggled that whole weekend and it was a relief to see him at peace. I miss him and every once in awhile, my mind flits across the thought that I need to call him and the stab of loss revisits.

My recipe contribution is simple but yummy. It’s like injecting cholesterol right into your veins but oh so good………

Chocolate Marshmallow Bars

3/4 c margarine
1 1/2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/3 c flour
1/2 tsp baking pwd.
1/2 tsp salt
3 T. cocoa
1/2 c chopped nuts

Cream marg. and sugar.All eggs and vanilla and beat til fluffy. Combine the “drys” and add to creamed mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread in a greased jelly roll pan and bake @ 350 for 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle 4-5 c miniature marshmallows evenly over brownies and bake 2-3 minutes. Cool
Topping:
1 1/3 c chocolate chips
1 c chunky peanutbutter
3 Tbsp margarine
2 1/2 c Rice Krispies
Put chips, pb, and marg. in a glass cup and microwave 1 min. on Hi. Stir until melted and mixed. Pour over cereal and AFTER brownies have cooled, spread over cake. Chill in frige til firm.

My sympathies to Jane and families.

Death is a part of living, though knowing that doesn’t make any of it any easier.

My dad died during emergency surgery, behind closed doors and surrounded by well-meaning strangers.

I was with my mom when she died, in the hospital; and with my mother in law when she died in her home.

I’m a nurse and have closed many others’ eyes over the years, most recently on the night before leaving for YearlyKos. That sure put airline delays in perspective.

Being with someone when they die, whether a loved one or a stranger, can be a sacred gift. We’re all going to die, and I don’t think we really fear that so much as we might fear that we’ll die alone, or in pain.

It’s good to hear that Greta was not alone.

Cup of Coffee

- cup
- coffee

Pour coffee in cup. Sip.

Optional: Milk, cream, sugar, brandy.

You know what I love best about the Saturday morning thread? All the readers who usually don’t comment, that suddenly do…welcome. :)

For the love of cooking read any James Beard cookbook you can find.
I made this sauce last night, in my cyber minds eye. Wanted to spend this special day outside in the cool breeze under my favorite oak tree. With such a large family I thought the grill would be a perfect spot. oilfieldguy doesn’t have a clue just how much help I will need :) Trex! No fingers in the sauce. Help me Jane..

Progressive Barbecue Sauce

Start in the Civil Saute’
1/2 C bacon grease for controversy
1 C water
1/2 C white vinegar
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic

Add at your liberty
1 C brown sugar
1 14 oz bottle catsup
1 can tomatoes
1 t cayenne
1 t black pepper
1 t salt
2 t dry mustard
2 t chili powder
1 t louisiana hot sauce don’t vote for tabasco this time it be to hot
2 t worcestershire
3 t cumin seed this really helps your party
4 or 5 lemon slices 4 for conservatives 5 for everyone

Now then
boil this lil brew like a fifty state strategy
just a bubblin’ like an afternoon of canvassing in Phoenix
for about a half an hour or so

Good thoughts being sent to Jane and her family. While I cannot add to the recipe fest, I can surely add memories.

I have my mother’s recipe box. Unfortunately, I have tried to make some of these and there always seems to be a step missing (altho could be my lack of cooking expertise) because they never taste like my memories of her cooking.

But the most vivid memory is of my Grandma’s sugar cookies. Made from the rendered lard sitting on the counter — always. Cookies from heaven we called them.

And sitting in her back yard in Thornton, Iowa, surrounded by her flowers, bodies warmed by the sun, eating her mouth melting cookies, and listening to her tell Grandpa to keep his hands of the ‘grandkids cookies’ stays alive in the mind as if I am watching a moving picture.

Jane’s memories will live long and prosper. ‘Bye Greta. The love you gave to your kids and others just keeps on giving. Thanks.

As a frequent FDL reader, and an admirer of Jane Hamsher and the community you all have created here, I would like to offer my condolences to Jane. And in the spirit of this thread, I also bring a couple of fine summer soups.

These recipes, the stories behind them, and much more may be found on my sister’s brilliant food blog (http://www.fingerineverypie.typepad.com/). Both of these traditional soups evoke memories of our mother, a marvelous woman who was, among many other things, a lifelong progressive activist and a great cook. She died four years ago. We still miss her but we were fortunate enough to be with her at the end and to have had many wonderful friends who comforted us — like those who have come here for Jane and her family.

Chilled Beet Soup, or Summer Borscht

2 250-gram vacuum packets of red beets or 18 oz. of home-cooked red beets
1 16-oz. can of tomatoes in puree (or an equivalent of freshly blanched, peeled and seeded tomatoes)
2 large scallions
A large fistful of dill
2 tsp. of beef or vegetable stock concentrate, reconstituted in 2 cups of water
2 tsp. sugar
pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

Combine 3/4 of the beets in a blender jar along with everything else, and whirl until smooth. Taste for seasoning. Go for a balance of sweet, tart and salty, adding more dill if necessary. Stir in the remaining beets, julienned or chopped into little dice. Chill, and serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, sour cream or cr譥 frae, and more minced dill. Chopped cucumber, hard boiled eggs and boiled new potatoes can also be added for substance. Another alternative is to add some yogurt or sour cream at the blender stage for a bright pink soup rather than a dark garnet bowlful.

Accompany with good pumpernickel bread and sweet butter.

Sour Cherry Soup, or Cherry Borscht

6 cups sour cherries (Montmorency preferred), washed and stemmed, but left whole with pits intact
6 cups water (or enough to cover by about an inch in a shallow pot)
1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)
pinch of good cinnamon (Penzey’s Vietnamese, for example)
2 eggs

Sour cream, creme frache, or Greek yogurt for serving

Place cherries, water, sugar and cinnamon in a pot. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until cherries are tender but not falling apart or losing their skins. Beat the two eggs well in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk in hot cherry juice from the pot, a tablespoon at a time, so that eggs become hot but don’t curdle. When a cup or so of juice has been amalgamated, pour the egg mixture back into the hot pot of cherries and liquid and stir well. Taste for sweetness, and add more sugar if you like. We actually like this quite tart. It should taste richly of sour cherries, but the flavor deepens exponentially once the soup is chilled. Let the mixture cool to room temp, and then chill for several hours.

Serve cold with sour cream or one of the other options dolloped on top. Warn others about the pits, and bring a little dish to the table for spitting out pits. You could, I suppose, pit the cherries before you make the soup.

You know what I love best about the Saturday morning thread? All the readers who usually don’t comment, that suddenly do%u2026welcome. :)

For myself, I try not to read the comments here because when I do I end up engrossed for hours.

‘Nothing says ‘Summertime delicious’ quite like a pork roast on the rotisserie‘

;>)

My mom died in 1995 at the age of 89. Unfortunately it was unexpected and I wasn’t able to be there for her as Jane and her sister were for Greta. My mom and I were on either coast – she in the Philadelpia area and I was here in Oregon. I had plans to go visit in March that year but she caught a cold that rapidly went into pneumonia. She died in less than three days after getting sick.

She was 43 when she had me so we were also separated by two generations instead of the usual one. We had many differences over the years but had reconciled when I learned to treasure the memories that were wonderful and let the others go.

Here’s one of the best memories -

This cake is very special to me. My mother wrote the recipe on the
back of the receipt for my brother’s tricycle back in 1937. The title
reads “Mrs. Byrd’s Chocolate Cake.” It’s paired with the frosting
recipe: “Mrs. Moody’s Chocolate Icing.” My parents lived in Durham,
NC back then and my mother had lots of handwritten recipes from friends
and neighbors. I understand she made this cake for my brother’s
birthday every year – and I make it for myself each November.

Mrs. Byrd’s Chocolate Cake (1937, Durham, NC)

6 tbsps cocoa
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
3 eggs
2 1/4 tsps baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk

Combine cocoa, butter and water in a small saucepan. Heat over low
heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve cocoa. Make sure no lumps
remain. Cool to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees while
waiting for mixture to cool. In a large bowl, sift flour and sugar.
Add cooled cocoa mixture slowly, beating until smooth.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. In a small bowl, mix
baking soda and buttermilk. Mixture will be bubbly. Add to batter
last, blending well. Do not OVERBLEND or rising action will be lost.
(My note: Batter will be quite thin compared to commercial box-mix
cakes.)

Pour into two well-greased and floured 9″ cake pans. Bake for 20-30
minutes. Test for doneness with toothpick. Loosen and turn out layers
to cool after five (5) minutes. Frost cake after thoroughly cool.

Mrs. Moody’s Chocolate Icing (1937, Durham, NC)

1/4 pound butter
5 tbsps cocoa
1 pound powdered sugar

Enough milk, half & half or coffee to moisten

Let butter soften in medium-size bowl. Cream cocoa and butter together
until smooth. Add powdered sugar to bowl, then beating constantly, add
milk, half & half or coffee until mix is stiff, but spreadable. If
frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar

Sinfully rich for today but outstanding for a special occasion.

My heartfelt condolences go to Jane and all of her family today.

Sorry I couldn’t get in on this sooner. My culinary contribution is actually quite simple: I scanned back a little just to make sure there are some deserts to have this with – when you make whipped cream, instead of sweeting it with sugar, pour in a little Bailey’s Irish Cream; pretty close to heavenly, with a mousse or eclair. Grand Marnier probably works too. Bon appetite!

Mmmm…tpres at 224 — that sounds heavenly. The grand marnier whipped cream would be fantastic on some cocoa in the winter as well. Yummy!

Where’s EPU to bash these italics for us?

mesclun 189, thanks for a lovely story. I’d love to try your Etoiles de Jeanne, so could you please clarify what goes in the place of those questions marks that Word Press supplied?

Thanks.

lotus — I fixed the ital — you just need to refresh your browser.

T’anks, Christy!

Oh how I love this conversation.

When I was a kid,the best place in the whole world was in my dad’s mom’s kitchen.It was the only place in the whole world where I felt safe and loved.My Grandma was quite the woman,a tough old broad(she’d tell you that herself)who took no crap from anyone,and who loved having kids around.She used to whisper in my ear that I was her favorite and it was our secret,though I suspect all her grandkids heard that same thing at some point when we were growing up.

Grandma specialized in what I’d call American Farmhouse Cooking.Making noodles by hand,white gravy with sausage and biscuits with honey,homemade pies,three bean salads,lots of fresh or homecanned veggies and fruits,corn on the cobb,meatloaf,mashed potatoes,chicken and dumplings(or chicken with those home made noodles,with carrots,peas,celery,ahhh),and they had a guy who gave them deals on all organic meats and eggs in exchange for produce,flowers and herbs Grandma grew.Her greenhouse supported her and Grandpa’s retirement, til he died first,she followed 15 yrs later via Altzheimer’s.I miss her terribly.

The woman lived to feed people.Two ALWAYS full freezers,a full pantry of home canned and some store bought non perishibles,plus a huge regular fridge.Livng through the depression led to my grandparents wanting to be less dependant on other sources of food and keep it close to home.My grandparents were never wealthy,they were blue collar middle class,and actually didn’t mind a bit.They did recycling and organic small scale farming the way it was done in pre world war America,and convinced other farmers around them(those farms are mostly gone now,which sucks.There’s a power plant where Grandma’s house and that wonderful kitchen used to be)to do the same.They were proud of what they had earned by hard work and they shared.No one ever left their house hungry.And grandma said that food was a way to bring people together and bring out their better natures.Alot of baggage and personal”stuff”got worked out over that table,with Grandma there to keep the focus on the issue,so stuff didn’t ever get out of hand.We mostly had fun though,lots of laughter,teasing and general silliness,and smart assery,lol.

She was an organic gardener,and worked outside the home before that was “acceptable”.She took a bunch of shit for having a job with kids at home.She also took a fair share of shit at work,since she was only one of a handful of women in that factory.She really didn’t give a shit what anyone thought though,she knew who she was and no one walked on her.While raising 8 kids,one who died very young.And dealing with a philandering husband.She took in her children’s friends who had it tough at home,and fed them,loved them,even let a few of them move in so they could finish school and have a nest to eventually leave.She was the Mom of this tiny town,all the underdogs,and many of the jocks(my dad and uncles played fierce high school football)hung out together around Grandma’s table.

I loved the summer potlucks,especially the 4th of July one.All the women used to enter their food(pies,cakes,canned goods,casseroles,jams,jellies,along with various crafts) in the Fair too,that was a HUGE deal,but it also signaled the end of my Summers at Grandma’s house.School usually started the week after the Fair was over.

Sounds like a postcard of small town America,don’t it?It was,but there was also alot of dysfunction in alot of small town homes behind closed doors.Such was the case in my home with my parents.My Mom is pretty messed up.Grandma kind of saved me from that,she let me know my Mom was messed up on her own,it wasn’t my fault,that I was lovable and OK,and I always had her on my team no matter what.Unless I was in the wrong,then she still loved me,but didn’t accept the wrong I did.Did I mention I miss her?

I cook almost every day,I think I like to mostly because of Grandma’s kitchen.Sometimes it gets to be a chore,but I like the idea of giving people I love sustainence.It’s one thing I can do to make the world have some softer edges.There’s nothing better than sharing a wonderful home cooked meal with great people.

To An Angry Old Broad: I’m glad you had your grandma (grandpa, too). She sounds like a terrific … well, … angry old broad!

Food is love. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor two weeks ago. My older daughter immediately rushed home, 55 miles thru heavy traffic, to cook me dinner. Very sweet of her! Then last week a definative MRI showed I don’t have a tumor.
Anyway, here’s one for the chocolate addicts.

Chocolate pudding and/or pie
Scald (warm unto hotness):
3 cups milk
Mix completely in top of double boiler:
1/2 cup minus 1 tsp cocoa
1-1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
Stir in scalded milk.
Cook uncovered over (not in) water in double boiler, stirring, til thick.
Cover and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat.
Stir in:
3 Tbsp butter
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
Put in baked piecrust, chill, then cover.

Wow! Angry Old Broad. That could be my Grandmother. Except she lived in town and couldn’t garden. But she did everything else. (Grandpa wasn’t a philanderer. He was an alcoholic–drank up his paycheck as a fireman.)
Grandma somehow fed and clothed all her kids despite him. I never knew anyone so resourceful. She taught me everything I know of value…especially how to survive, how to pray, how to love.

I miss mine too.

Ummm…if anyone here has been told to eat prunes or gets them forced on them somehow: They are great chopped fine and added to chocolate recipes.

Just sayin’

;)

AngryOldBroad, my grandma was a tough old broad too. No one messed with her! She aslo took stray kids in and was a great cook.

Man, did she make a mean pot roast!

Aurelia – glad at the good news – you and your daughter must be relieved.

A couple of years ago, as we were all getting used to my mother’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and the consequent closing up of the family home of 54 years, I got a call from my sister. Seems our brother had had a major stroke.

For a couple of weeks we all waited for phone calls from my niece in LA, CA, who was very upbeat for a while. Then things became more clear about his dire condition.

One sister flew from Philadelphia, I flew in from Maine, and a third sister flew into LA from Hawaii.

It was a long few days. As my brother lay there unconscious we knew it was only a matter of time. Everyone said it was hard to see him, but seeing is always better than imagining. We’d visit the hospital, go to the beach, then go back to the hospital. I was startled when one of my sisters decided to give him a shave. She was the sister he always picked on and called “Bucky Beaver”. Families are fine and delicately balanced..

My brother was divorced, but his ex-wife was there as well…his current girlfriend didn’t care for that much. The new girlfriend decided to move into his house after his stroke so we, his sisters, ended up staying with in a hotel. What a time!

My 30-year-old niece was my brother’s closest relative, and the responsibility for “pulling the plug” rested heavily on her shoulders. As I arrived at the hospital that first day, she met me at the door to his room and said, “Let’s pull the plug!” I asked her to wait a little while to give me time to get used to it. I was surprised how much she relied on the assent from “the sisters”, but I also appreciated it.

The final night, we three sisters and my niece were there when he eased over the edge. We put a beautiful lei from Hawaii around his neck and waited until he was gone. At that time, we all grabbed each other and cried. It was 1:10 am in CA, so we waited all night (we found a Denny’s and had breakfast) then placed the call to my mother and other sister in Philadelphia.

Oddly enough, I think my mother’s Alzheimer’s protects her from some of the pain of losing a child.

On a brighter note: Here’s my contribution to the pot luck. From the Hershey’s Cocoa Can. Mom used to make it for my birthday.

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING(recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13×9×2-inch baking pan.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. 8 to 10 servings.

ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S Dutch Processed Cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

HIGH ALTITUDE DIRECTIONS (Cake):
– Decrease sugar to 1-3/4 cups
– Increase flour to 1-3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons
– Decrease baking powder to 1-1/4 teaspoons
– Decrease baking soda to 1-1/4 teaspoons
– Increase milk to 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons
– Bake at 375°F, 30 to 35 minutes for both pan sizes

Audrey at 233 — I’ll second that. They make chocolate brownies much more moist (and it’s a great way to sneak in fruit for your family — along with some finely ground zucchini as a veg…I’m just saying…).

Wait a minute. Prunes and zucchini in brownies? Sounds like something a sneaky conservative would do. ;)

Athenawise at 236 — Nah, just something a sneaky wife will do with a hubby who is committed to meat, potatoes, and not much else. lol

I second that, no brownie ammendments, except nuts !! This is family lol

Exactly Christy. I think that’s where the idea for ex-lax came from. And neither the prune nor zucchini flavors would compete with the original recipe.

Athenawise, all I can say is:
Bwahahaha!

Like An Angry Old Broad, and others, I have many fond memories from my grandmothers’ kitchens. I grew up with some stark contrasts between the two, however. Near where I grew up, my “country” grandmother in rural Louisiana put on nearly the same menu every Sunday after church. Chicken, rice with “red” gravey, stewed okra and tomatoes, creamed corn, grean beans, etc. I loved that food so much that I’ve tried many times to replicate it (to varying degrees of success). In contrast, my northeastern “city” grandmother would frequently serve a menu that was likely to include things like lamb chops, garlic mashed potatos, etc. Her dishes were nmore sophisticated and varied. Notice which one I mstill crave and try to do myself. I loved both my grandmothers and loved their food. There’s just something about simple food.

So sorry for your loss.

I’m feeling kind of full. I’m thinking it’s time to start drinking.

Very nice tribute Christy.

Well, as promised yesterday, I’m not much for recipes and I slept for most of the day, but I have a story about one of my heroes and role models, my grandmother. She’s a great example for anyone of how you can be what you want to be.

My grandmother and her sister were twins. My grandmother was the first woman in her family to go to college (in the 1920s!) After that, she moved from her hometown in western New York to New York City and got a job with the phone company. There she met my grandfather (who, sadly, I never knew, but whose AT&T stock, passed down, was part of the down payment on all his grandchildren’s houses), raised three daughters who are great mothers and aunts. Once she was on her own again, an older woman in the 60s and 70s, she traveled. And I mean traveled. She went on safari in Africa, climbed a pyramid in Egypt (one of my favorite pictures of her is on top of the pyramid), as well as all over Europe. She brought us wonderful things, and had great stories.

Her twin sister never lived outside the town where she was born.

Grandma died in the late 70s, but she’ll always be with me. You can be what you want to be; that’s what she means to me.

TRex @ 11:

That’s hilarious about the live chipmunk!!!

Now, the curry in the tuna noodle casserole! I have GOT to try that!

Deviled Eggs:
Make whatever recipe you usually do, but add a tsp or so of curry (dozen eggs). That works beautifully!

A O B…229

There ain’t nothing like a grandma. Mine left over a quarter century ago. Gosh how I miss her. I take some comfort, “country comforts” that is, in staying at my ninety-eight year old Aunty’s house every night. She’s one fine lady. Never got beyond the third grade, she had to help her mom, while her brothers and Papa dealt with the cotton. This old girl still fixes me “American farmhouse” fixins. God, how I love this woman. She’s not even gone, and I miss her.

This is the coolest thread ever–the combination of great food talk with the memories and support. Wow.

I’ve been a reader for months, but hadn’t commented before. Hopefully y’all will find this an auspicious start.

My recipe is Lemon Cloud Cheesecake. It’s a no-bake kind and positively yummy. I’ve been making it for years–I originally heard the recipe on the radio in the early 80s (on KOA for any Colorado residents). I lost the hardcopy of the recipe in a move a while back, but I’d made it so often I could do it from memory. So here’s my memory:

1 can (13 oz., I think–I just know what it looks like) evaporated milk
1 box lemon jello
1 package of cream cheese (the standard brick size, whatever that is)
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. lemon juice (I usually get a good sized lemon and squeeze it, which means I usually use more than just 3 tbsp. I like it lemony)

Pour the evaporated milk into a shallow dish and freeze it till ice crystals form around the edges. (I’ve found you can use it all the way till it’s nearly frozen, if need be.) While that’s freezing, take a cup of water and bring it to a boil, then add the lemon jello mix. ONLY 1 CUP WATER! Don’t add the cold water afterwards, either. Just take the mixed up jello and refrigerate it till it’s slightly thickened, but not solid.

While all that’s going on, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the lemon juice and the slightly thickened jello. Mix it all together until it’s smooth.

Take the evaporated milk and a large bowl (very large is good) and be ready for a long haul. This part can take a while. You’ll beat it with a power mixer (it’s impossible to do by hand–trust me) until stiff peaks form. It helps to freeze the beaters before you start–the cold helps the stiff peaks to form faster.

Once you have the stiff peaks, fold in the cream cheese/jello mixture.

Take the whole concoction and put it into a dish with a graham cracker crust and freeze it till it sets solidly (several hours).

I used to make my own crusts (with much banging on graham crackers) till some brilliant person created the pre-made ones (bless you!). This will fill two of the larger size pre-mades with a little left over (just eat the leftovers–you may get a little sick, but you’ll be glad you did). You can also do your own in an 11 x 17 pan. It’s good to have the sides covered with the graham cracker crust–it’s easier to get out that way.

Sprinkle the top with graham cracker crumbs if you like. (I usually covered it entirely because that helps to prevent freezer burn when you make it for just you ;-) ).

It’s lighter than ice cream, but just as good on a hot day. And it’s GREAT to take to potlucks. Just make sure you do a double recipe and save some at home, ’cause this stuff always goes fast. I’ve done it a zillion times and never taken home leftovers.

My condolences to Jane and to all here at Firedoglake–these situations are hard on everyone who knows the person suffering. You want to take the hurt away, but you know you can’t. In my experiences, just being around can help. That’s why this thread is so great.

I’m lucky enough to still have both my parents, but this is making me value that even more. My only recent loss was my cat, Clio. Believe me, that was hard enough. She was instrumental in getting me through a very dark time in my life. Losses like that can make you wary of loving that hard. But you always do again in time. When it’s right, there’s nothing more powerful than the love between a parent and child. I think it’s why we’re so driven to have children of our own–so we can have that feeling again.

Anyway, thanks for having this thread. It made for a wonderful (and weepy) Saturday afternoon. What a great community this is!

BANANA BREAD…my son went crazy over Greta’s banana bread. We spent alot of time with her in Seattle and any time she came our way, she brought Kramer banana bread. We have many memories of Greta, always beautiful with her hair and make-up and clothes absolutely perfect.
We often went to breakfast and many dinners but would keep to our favorite restaurant’s!! I have memories of Greta pacing the floor over the Seattle Mariner’s back in 95 when they made Seattle go crazy. It was so much fun!! She would go outside and come back in pacing and pacing when the game was close. I could go on and on and have tears of great memories for a beautiful person that touched my son and me forever. Jane, Pam and Jacob and family can be very proud!!!!

Kristi in Seattle

Audrey, Christy, you’ve got me laughing so loud, my cat jumped off the bed in mid-nap, all four legs at once.

Christy, I’m not complaining; I was just curious. I know you are bone weary, and I have no wish to be a problem.

As for taking things personally, I have been on hundreds of discussion groups over the years, and I never take things personally anymore.

If there is anything I can do to help, let me know. I am not familiar with typepad, but I was once a systems guy in another life. BR (before retirement, heh)

-sofistic

I tried one recipe from last week
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ent-147768
Creamy Jalapeno Soup by posted by Sara
Very easy to make. Always wear gloves when chopping up jalapenos. I think half and half vs. whole cream would be fine, or half of each. I like this soup especially as a cup sized portion before a main course. Finally I would add a healthy portion of shreaded sharp chedder or jack cheese served on top of a hot bowl/cup.

Is this not the most delightful place in the cyber-world? Especially on Saturdays, and even when we cry a little?

But I do worry about Christy and her stage-hands working themselves to the floor. Y’all be as careful with yourselves as you can, y’hear?

Lordy, I love me some Firepups!

Thanks, Peony (at 80), I could smell it, aaah, as I read the recipe. All this virtual gifting and grieving is moving, and all these feelings swelling together will, we pray, reach Jane and buffer her in this moment. I am most struck by the repeated confessions of how we never stop grieving and loving the ones who leave. Thanks everyone.

After reading so many recipes and comments, it suddenly occured to me that this is a wake — indeed, a virtual one — but a wake nevertheless. People gathering and exchanging feelings and memories, all joined by a common sense of sorrow of someone dear passing over to the “other shore” (as in Buddhism). That most of us have never met Greta does not matter. We have met her daughter Jane, and that connection is not virtual, it is real.

#80 I was curious about ‘garam masala’ what is it and where could I buy it?

Eureka, I think someone on down the thread put in a make-yer-own recipe for it (MsAnna NOLA, I bleeve). But if not, you can order it and just about any other spices you can think of from penzeys.com. I get all kinda goodies from them.

punaise @ 199:

‘Of course, none of this explains the mess I made in one thread yesterday trying to post a link to the picture of Markos as Dr. Evil’

In addition to the myriad other handicaps suffered by LGF and their minions of muddle…Narrow bandwidth low-wattage sophomore humor, miniscule processing capacity for eruditeness and rational thought, faulty cooking skills…They also labor under the sad burden of CPFS.

‘Can’t Photoshop For Sh*t’, whereby the intended abstractedly clever juxtaposition is lost due to hamfisted, omnithumbed application.

…Qu’elle tragique.

Of course, every right-thinking lockstepper knows what Dear Leader looks like.

‘All kneel and praise..Remember, those big internet checks don’t write themselves’

;>)

Still room to pull up a chair? It is a sunny Sunday morning, but a good hard frost here in NZ. I want to heartily recommend two books by Rachel Naomi Renen, which are as good as their titles. Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings. The wisdom of each is the wisdom one gets when one pulls up a chair and listens.

(Renen is a doctor who often works with end of life patients.)

Now I’ll go make a cup of tea, pull my robe a bit tighter for warmth (temp in the house is only 9 degrees C….why, oh why, don’t kiwis insulate their houses and install central heating?), and read the rest of the thread.

Idunno…prunes (but not too many) in brownies sounds okay to me. I tend to put mild green chilies in mine — along with the nuts.

I enjoy reading recipes also. ‘Reading cookbooks is zero calories. You’re only in trouble if you eat the stuff.’

This afternoon I’m going to make a small batch of Miss Teresa’s Habanero Oil (http://www.nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/ and search for ‘Listening to habaneros’) and light up my life.

Good Sunday morning to you, NZ expat! My best pal is headed your way in a week or so, and do I envy her.

lotus – thanks x 2 will of course make it, if possible. love food links.

LisaDawn82 – If you are still here, I suggest you get yourself a copy of:

The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet
by Nava Atlas

Everything is super simple to cook, the book is very clearly written, and the recipes I have tried have really been quite good. Not gourmet exactly, but good everyday cooking.

Janet

Eureka, it’s at 171 ^.

oh thanks, lol reading this thread like i’m running from the NSA, all over the map. *g*

The Bread Pudding everyone asks me for

A colleague of mine in UT taught me this recipe–we were two of the few people who hadn’t been raised on lime jello out there. And he was, slowly, teaching everyone the joys of food. He also had a nasty trick of making foods with liquor in them (vodka in his gravlax, whiskey here). But boy is this good:

1 1/2 loaves of day old French bread (about 12 cups)
3 large eggs
2 cups milk
1/3 cup vanilla (yup, that’s a lot, dump it in!)
3 tablespoons 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I gring this up fresh with the nutmeg)
2 3/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup raisins (I actually halve this, and make half of the bread pudding with no raisins because mr. emptywheel doesn’t like them)
2 large ripe bananas, mushed
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

Soak the bread in water for 5 minutes, then squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Put the bread in a 13X9 pan.

Whisk together the eggs, , milk, vanilla, sugar, 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 3/4 teasoon nutmeg and pour over the bread. Add the raisins and bananas to the mixture.

Dot the pudding with the butter and sprinkle it with remaining spices.

Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes in 325 oven. Serve with Whiskey Sauce.

Whiskey Sauce

2 sticks unsalted butter (nope, this is not a diet happy dessert)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Scotch whiskey
2 large eggs, beaten slightly

Melt the butter. Add sugar and cook until bubbly.

REMOVE THE POT FROM THE HEAT.

Stir in whiskey VERY SLOWLY (or it will all explode an you’ll lose the whiskey). Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir 1/4 cup of whiskey mixture into eggs. Then stir egg mixture back into the rest of the whiskey mixture. Stir over low heat for 10 seconds, until thickened.

Whoa, emptywheel, does that sound luscious. I LOVE bread pudding (and will happily accept mr. e’s raisins). I’ve got a “bananas Foster bread-pudding recipe” around here somewhere. Hafta hunt that one up for you one of these Saturdays . . .

For Jane, her family, that they find comfort and peace in their loss. . . . we pray to the Lord.

This is a Middle Eastern salad. I’ve seen it called Israeli salad, but my wife (Arab) just calls it salad. The quantities of each is up to you. It works every way.

Fresh cilantro — remove the largest stems (leave the rest) and chop fine.
Tomato — chopped fine
carrots — boil them for about three minutes. They should be cooked slightly but not soft. I put them in a mug in the microwave. Chop fine.
onions — the sweet ones are the best. And yes, chop fine.

That’s the base. You can add olives, feta cheese, and other good stuff. If you add chick peas (Garbanzos) it becomes a different Middle Eastern dish called Balila. If you add toasted pita bread broken up (like croutons) it’s called fatoush.

You season it with extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I like to put the lemon pulp in it too. Salt and pepper to taste.

Eat with pita bread and sweet tea (even in summer).

It’s my new comfort food. I haven’t made a salad with lettuce since we got married.

I grew up near a college town in the rural Midwest. Near our house we had many “pick-it-yourself” farms. The gold standard was set by one “Cary’s Garden of Eatin’ “, run by the inimitable Cary herself. She necessarily wasn’t what you’d think of first when you think of a Midwestern farm woman; she was a thin, middle-aged, always dust-covered woman. She once even hitched her tractor to my (at that time newly-acquired) car, to pull it out of the deep ruts of mud on her farm. Cary actually set my standard for how I judge farmer’s markets, as she was at the local one every early Saturday morning. There’s got to be at least one dirty, exhausted-looking farmer there at 6 AM, or it’s not the real thing!

My junior year in high school I started frequenting these pick-it-yourself places (originally, of course, to impress a girl that I could cook, even though I couldn’t. I knew if you started with fresh fruit, you could only screw up so badly.) I started with baking pies; in retrospect, this should have been an error, as pies are hard to make. But over the summer, I managed to perfect the crust (homemade, of course), and I’ve hardly tinkered with it since. A true legend would require me to claim my grandmother taught me how to make the crust. However, in truth my grandmother was not such a great cook, and instead I started with a recipe in the Joy of Cooking. I then incorporated various tricks and techniques from my own experience and other reading. (In books, I might add, in those pre-internet-recipe days.)

If you were lucky, in the last week of July or first week of August, you could find at least one of these places that had the tail end of blackberries and the beginning of the blueberries. So I submit the recipe for Blueberry-Blackberry Pie with Perfect Crust.

Perfect Crust

2 Cups flour, sifted
2 T butter
2/3 cup of lard (yes, lard–I’m not responsible for it if you substitute Crisco)
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1 cup of ice water

Pie crust takes technique if you really want it to be good, and it takes time! No shortcuts. Measure carefully; too much flour or water make for a tough crust.

Preheat the oven to 475. (Yes, 475)

1. Put the pie tin and mixing bowl in the refrigerator so that they are cold when you work.

2. Let the lard and butter out to soften (but do not melt them under any circumstances), then mix them together thoroughly. Put the mixture into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to get cold.

3. Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt in chilled mixing bowl.

4. Cut in 1/2 of the butter/lard mixture, using either a pastry cutter or a pair of knives. Work them until the flour mixture is roughly the consistency of cornmeal.

5. Cut in the second half of the butter/lard mixture, until the flour mixture balls into small pea-sized clumps.

6. Add, one tablespoon at a time, 3-5 tablespoons of ice water. Do not add any more than is needed to make the clumps stick together into a single mass. How much you will need to add will depend on the weather.

7. Using your fingers (and not your palms) ball up the mix into two large balls. Put them in the refrigerator while you make the fruit filling.

8. When the filling is ready, put each ball between two pieces of wax paper, and roll it out flat. Peel and replace the wax paper often to prevent it wrinkling and getting caught. You will end up with two sheets of pastry filling–the bottom and top of the pie crust.

Blueberry-Blackberry filling
3 cups blueberries
2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup sugar (nb this is adjustable to taste, but I implore you to try it with this little.)
1 T lemon juice
1 T corn starch
2 T melted butter

Crush 1/2 cup of the blueberries, mix in the lemon juice and melted butter, then the corn starch. Mix this into the remaining whole berries.

To Make the Pie

2 T melted butter
1 T sugar

Put one rolled-out pie crust in the pie tin, fitting to the pie form. Brush the bottom with melted butter. Pour in the filling. Cut a small (1 inch diameter) circle out of the middle of the other pie crust, then lay it on top of the filling. Use your fingers to pinch them together. Then brush all of the top with melted butter. Sprinkle sugar all around the top.

Form a pie collar by folding a piece of Aluminum Foil in quarters and tearing a quarter-circle out of the center. Unfold it out, and then place it over the edge of the pie crust. This protects the crust edge from the high temperatures.

Place the pie in the oven at 475 for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 375. After 20 more minutes, remove the collar and reduce the temperature to 350. After 20-30 more minutes (you’ll have to watch), remove from the oven. Let it cool for 2-3 hours. Eat with ice cream.

Unclosed tag causing havoc (should go after “under any circumstances”!)

Even with what we have to pay for blackberries down here in central Florida, Professor Foland, that pie’s GOT to be worth the investment.

Please bear with me for a few minutes as I tell you a story.

My father died 4 years ago and my sister had to beg me to be at the funeral and finally I went. Not for my mother, not for my father, but for her.

You see, he was an abusive asshole. And a mean drunk on top of it. And I’ve spent the last 20 years doing any kind of inner work you can imagine trying to get better so that some how, some way, I might have a life of my own, the voices in my head gone quiet. Maybe (dare I hope it) a woman in my life. To excel at a vocation. To just feel some peace before I die. I’m not out of the pit yet, but I’m making some progress.

And it’s not his fault. He had a disease, alcoholism, that went untreated. He came home from World War 2 with a horrible case of PTSD and he couldn’t deal with it. I guess it’s just an unfortunate twist of fate that I was the oldest son and had to receive his angry projections.

He was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco on Pearl Harbor day and he was in the MP’s. So he had to go round up people of Japanese descent and put them into camps.

Then later on, he was in the battle of the bulge, that horrible winter. And as they liberated one small town after another through France, the low countries, into Germany, there was more than one time, he said, when he was on a firing squad. You can see where this is going.

My mother’s father left their family twice, the last time when my grandmother was pregnant with my uncle. And this was in the depression, and my mother had to take care of an infant when she was only 8 years old, so her mother could work 3 jobs.

My mother thought she had to do anything she could to keep the man in her life around. So while, my father was abusing me psychologically and physically, my mother was the classic 1950’s Leave it to Beaver mom and stood by and said, isn’t my husband a smart man. And it wasn’t her fault.

If you have stuck with me this far, you know what’s coming up inside of me as I come here today. To see how this community has honored Jane’s mom and all the others that have passed that we are reflecting on, I cried. And I am so thankful and glad that you had the parents you had and that you are the parents you are to your children.

Once, driving home listing to Terry Gross, she was interviewing the author of the book on which the movie Mystic River was based who was a social worker. And something he said stuck with me: It’s always the parents. The kids and the adults they become aren’t the way they are because of some congenital defect. They’ve been brought up a certain way. When they become adults and have to take responsibility for their lives, they don’t do so in a vacuum, they’ve got all this stuff coming up on which they are basing each choice.

That’s why, when I see how Jane’s mom was with her, how Christy is with Peanut, when I see my neighbors with their precocious 3 year old they adopted from China laughing with joy, when I read blogs like Dooce or Mimi Smartypants, I have hope that things can change that the world can get better.

And this teaches me also that when I encounter a freeper or somebody who is clearly damaged, I mean this isn’t just a difference of opinion in many cases, I just do my best to have compassion. Certainly, a frying pan upside the head is sometimes called for (my recipe contribution), but then when things calm down, and I see myself as I once was in that person, I just hope they get the help I got and are able to turn things around.

Thanks to all of you for saying what you’ve said here today.

Mike in Seattle

Whew. I am here alone, thinking about Jane and how important FDL has become in my life–and just read all comments. I, too, “read cookbooks like novels.” I was present a few years ago when my mother-in-law passed away and was the only sister present when my 90 year old mother was dying. I held her in my arms and told her it was “ok” to leave me. I made up this recipe in honor of her and my new grandaughter. It’s called “Pasta Aiyana)

Prepare:
braised baby onions (use package of frozen onions–cook with a bit of butter, wine vinegar, sugar, salt and thyme until glazed)
thawed, frozen baby peas
fresh baby spinach (saute lightly)
handful of toasted pistachios
handful of dried cherries
grated rind and juice of one orange

Toss:
above ingredients with one pound of linguine, sprinkle with shaved parmesan

Today (in the US, the 24th) would have been my dad’s 94th birthday. Having gone through a famine during the early 20’s in the newly Soviet Russia, he ate with gusto throughout his life in North America. Even when he couldn’t eat much, at the end, he loved the taste of things and said of the food brought to the house, “Oh, Jacquie puts so much cabbage in her bierrocks and it is so gooood!”

He was a grateful man, and at every meal, he thanked for the food, and ended his prayer with “and bless the hands that have prepared it.” Even as a child, I knew that this blessing on my mother’s hands was part of what made us a family of love.

Good afternoon, Jane. Late as usual but I wouldn’t miss your party for anything.

Two of the biggest blessings I’ve received in my life were being able to be present at my parents’ deaths, to hold them one last time, to love them to the end. I have deep sympathy for you tempered by the fact that you were there for her in the end.

There was an amazing restaurant in Pasadena 20 years ago called the Casbah Cafe, a Morrocan delight. The 5 woman who ran it had all studied cooking in Morocco. It was near the CalTech campus and was often filled with profs and students sitting on pillows on the floor, sipping Turkish coffee or Moraccan tea and arguing about gluons and muons. When the women closed the doors forever, they held free cooking classes for a week. This was one of my favorite menu items:

(So sorry to those of you who measure. I’m giving my best guess on measurements, but it’s not exact)

Tuna Brik

Egg Roll Wrappers
Fresh or canned Albacore tuna
butter
Parmesan to taste (1/2 c. per can of tuna? It holds the mixture together, so add more if it seems crumbly)
Capers
onion
one egg per brik
oil for frying

In a skillet, melt butter
Add chopped onion, saute until translucent
Add tuna, stir to mix all onion into tuna, saute until hot
add parmesan and capers to taste to tuna and stir to mix well

Place 1-2 heaping TBSP (or more) of tuna mixture onto center of egg roll wrapper, fold into a triangle.

Using egg white which will act like a glue, smooth along edges of egg roll wrapper and pinch together, leaving a hole in the top.

(This part gets messy and you can skip it if you wish. If skipping, completely seal wrapper)

Pour whole egg into hole in wrapper, seal immediately. Once brik is sealed, fry on both sides in oil until golden brown.
Egg should be fully cooked.

Serve with lemon slices.

It takes practice to get this right but it is soooo worth it.

Namaste, family. I’ll try to catch up later.

I’m not sure why Wordpress ate my ingredients, but here they are again for Etoiles de Jeanne:

one-half pound of unsalted butter
three-quarters of a cup of sugar
one egg
three cups of sifted flour
one-half teaspoon of salt
one teaspoon of vanilla
rind of one lemon, grated
juice of one lemon
one-half cup of ground almonds
seedless raspberry jam
confectioner’s sugar

Mike in Seattle (at 270) – As there are some poor parenting issues in my extended family, I’ve found some very healing words and concepts (particularly about absent or abusive fathers) in Thomas Moore’s The Care of the Soul, if you are interested in looking there. Just wanted to share a thought and some good wishes for you on your journey while we are sitting at this virtual kitchen table….(and also, you might look at the Renin books I recommended earlier, Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings).

Meanwhile, breathe some of the Puget Sound salty smell for me….there is nothing that smells as good as Seattle with the flowers blossoms and the salt air. Ah, I do miss that place….

Ah, thanks, mesclun!

Mike in Seattle, my father was alcoholic too, so I share your awe of “quieter” families. It makes for extra work for us, but when I run into good people like these — why, it’s no work at all.

Lucy, I happen to have all those ingredients on hand (well, must sub almonds for the pistachios), so “Pasta Aiyana” it is for supper tonight. Can’t wait! (And it’s even beautiful to look at too, huh?)

Mike in Seattle,

Thanks for sharing. I had a bit of that myself.

Always feel better for taking a dip into the lake.

Welcome and nice recipe.

I am late to lurking today…always keep smiling!

GOOD MOTHERLY ADVICE
I remember my mother gave me a memorable piece of advice when I was a little kid .
Somehow the topic of choking came up, and I remember my mother having one simple rule … that still managed to confuse me. I nodded, and she began to walk away, confident that she had just saved her child from death at the hands of Jif or Skippy.
“You mean…” I began, still trying to take it in, “… you mean, alone like alone by MYSELF … or alone, like, alone by ITSELF … straight out of the jar?”
I could almost see the scene playing through her head as she came up with answer;
the police outlining my corpse with chalk … a peanut butter jar and spoon lying by my cold dead hand.
“What happened here?” The detective asks. “Was it a case of him eating the peanut butter alone, all by himself … or alone, straight out of the jar?”
“I’m afraid it’s a worst case scenario, “an officer answers … “both.”
“Good God. Didn’t his mother ever tell him …?”
“Neither,” my Mom snapped out of the daze. “Neither … never eat it alone either way.”
So, while I can no longer be with you, I’ll be sure to eat a peanut butter sandwich … WITH jelly … in a room full of people … just for you, Mom. I will always love you.

Best restaurant to visit in Tuscany: Dorando in San Gimignano. The steak is beyond description, served with tender white beans and fragrant olive oil. Yummm….

And now for something completely different. This recipe is from my supervisor’s husband. They are French and introduced me to Tartiflette two Christmases ago. The dish is best served on a chilly winter night with a simple green salad and a crisp white wine. Bon Appetit!

Tartiflette

6 large potatoes sliced thin (yukon gold preferred)
1/2 cup butter, melted, plus 1 tbsp
1 Medium onion diced
1/2 lb Canadian bacon, diced
freshly gound nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
1 wheel Reblochon cheese*

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Saute the onions and bacon in 1 tbsp butter in frying pan until onions are translucent. Place potato slices in a single layer in the baking dish. Brush with melted butter and a little fresh nutmeg. Sprinkle 1/3 of onion and bacon mixture on top of potatoes.
Repeat layers two more times. Pour cream over all. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from oven. Slice cheese wheel in half sideways. (Like a bagel) Do not remove rind. Place halves, cheese side down, on the potatoes. Return pan to oven for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately. Variations: Substitute chopped porcini mushroom for the bacon.

*Reblochon cheese is a raw milk French cheese that is not easy to find. Any wheel of mild, nutty, meltable cheese may be substituted.

Athenawise #144, I had the same question, so letting on about tech challenges (small risk) served others. Athena is wise, indeed. And thank you for ratatoulle recipe. I don’t eat bacon but will certainly make it for company now that fresh, ripe tomatoes are in season. I find quality tomatoes are key.

Susan @147, ratatoulle with polenta, yum! I guess this could be considered an EU dish, rather than a French and Italian one.

My dad died seven years ago this month at age 64, from esophagial cancer. We all anticipated having more time with him — he’d been diagnosed five months before — but he went into a sharp decline just after I got back from visiting him, and I wasn’t there. I’ve since made my peace with that, and with not having had conversations with him that we should have had, but it still saddens me that my three-and-half-year-old daughters never got to know him. I rarely talk about how much I miss him — I got my introversion from him — but now, for some reason, I’m sharing this with a bunch of strangers on the Internet. Go figure. This is a lovely thing you’ve all created here, and as a catalyst for such a community, Jane, you must’ve been raised right. God bless you and your mom.

It always seems incongruous to commemorate a death in June, when the weather here in Portland has turned outrageously beautiful, baseball season is in full swing and the farmers’ markets are starting up with loads of fresh local produce. But what better time to be surrounded with warmth and life.

So here’s my potluck offering; it’s late in the thread, but it takes little cooking, so I think there’s still time. Back in Vermont, corn is supposed to be “knee high by the fourth of July,” but here sweet corn shows in the store up as early as May. Take three ears of corn, boil or steam them briefly, and shave off the kernels. Dice (into corn-kernel-sized pieces) two yellow bell peppers, two small fennel bulbs, two avocados (not too ripe, or they’ll get mushy when you stir everything up) and a large cucumber. Mix everything together with a handful of finely chopped Italian parsley and enough mustard vinaigrette to moisten it all (about a quarter cup of good olive oil, roughly third as much vinegar — for this salad, champagne vinegar works well — and a tablespoon or so of Dijon mustard, whisked up smooth). This recipe is endlessly variable; you can add black beans for substance, jalape񯳠for bite or whatever else you like. It’s pretty, it’s fresh, and you only have to fire up the stove to cook the corn (or not, if you don’t mind the extra crunch).

Christy, thanks for all your work. Is there perhaps an FDL cookbook in the works?

Oh lord, goldberry. Oh lord.

Now for a chill winter’s night . . .

Goldberry, how big would that wheel of cheese be? Would something like Jarlsberg cheese work?

To Joe Conason:

I make borscht every year in honor of my late father. He made wonderful borscht. He was born in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and fought in the Russian Army during the Russian revolution. Being in the White Army (the losing side), it was too dangerous to remain in Russia so he fled the country and went to China where he met my mother and where I was born. Then, the Cultural Revolution happened in China and our family left for South America and finally the US. So, I relate to your story and am delighted that you posted a recipe which reminds me of my dad!

Come to think of it, there’s something of a parallel between my father’s story and the people from New Orleans, now living in Houston who are enduring floods once again.

mike in seattle @ 267,

it was no trouble sticking with your story. it made me want to send you this in return. my dad, now gone, grew up with a brutally violent, abusive father. and the man didn’t have the trauma of a war as a reason for it. my grandfather died while my dad was overseas in the war and while he could have gotten leave to come home for the funeral. he wouldn’t. and didn’t. i always marveled at that. he could have come home and gotten drunk in every bar in chicago. or danced on his father’s grave. but he wouldn’t even take that much from him… leave from the war.

all the statistics you hear about the odds of abused children becoming abusers didn’t bear out in my dad’s case. he made his decision to be the exact opposite of his father… and he was. he never raised his hand, let alone his voice to us. and only spoke of his father twice, and then in the most limited way. the mention of his father turned my warm, funny, wonderful dad into pure ice. so we never asked. keeping it all to himself was what he wanted and we all respected that. i will never know at what personal cost that silence came.

i say this because even the most horrendous childhood circumstances can be overcome. grace? character? miracles? i don’t know how, but i know it happens. we lived it. my dad survived a brutal father and a brutal war, to find love and marriage and finally peace with a family that loved and adored him. idolized him, really.

i think you will find the healing and happiness you’re seeking. just a feeling.

Jeepers, peony, I hope you’re writing a family memoir!

darkblack 256 – rides to the graphic rescue….

Qu’elle tragique.

pssst: quelle tragedie, or que c’est tragique.

(now back to our national language broadcast)

Sorry, I was out all day and just saw this post…I don’t have a recipe, although my mom was a fantastic cook.

Jane, I lost my mom 6 years ago. But, I have never been without her love since that day. I carry her love in my heart every moment of my life and it gives me solace. I wish you happy memories and all your mother’s love.

Hang in there.

Peony….makes me wonder about intersections. My father was a child in an area of fierce fighting that lasted quite long between Reds and Whites….The whole family was imprisoned by the Reds (and soldiers garrisoned there) in their house when he was quite young. His memories (which I begged to hear) were of battlefields, beheadings, and the hanging of collaborators. This was a Mennonite settlement, Halbstadt, near the Sea of Azov, in what is now the Ukraine. One has to wonder how many of our ancestors met elsewhere, or passed by each other on a journey.

baba ganoush ganouge ganoughe ganouj
My favorite healthy comfort food

-Put broiler in oven on high
-smear 3 large eggplants with olive oil
-smear baking pan with olive oil
-broil eggplants on baking pan or 20-30 minutes turning every 5-10 minutes, unitl skin of eggplants is blistered and insides are gooshy
-let eggplants cool about 10 minutes
-take off skin
-smash up eggplant innards with
2-3 chopped garlic cloves
2-3 lemons, juiced
1 tsp of ground cumin
1/2-3/4 cups tahini
salt, pepper, olive oil to tast
some chopped olives
and put in anything else that seems like it might go well

Eat it with something.

If the above is too complicated (and it almost is for me) then just take broiled eggplant innards and mix in favorite brand of hummus to taste. You can eat that with something too.

I never mess around with squeezing out the supposed bitter eggplnat juices, unless the eggplants are old or withered, in which case, it might be a good idea.

I can’t find my dang recipe for muskmelon horchata, but if I find it will post.

Best wishes to Jane and her mother’s loved ones.

Spaghetti with garlic, oil, peppers and Parmesan

~1/3 C olive oil
3-5 cloves garlic, crushed
~1/4 to 1/3 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 box spaghetti (1 lb)
1/4 to 1/2 C chopped parsley
salt & pepper to taste
1/3 to 1/2 C grated Parmesan Cheese

bring pot of salted water to boil & add pasta (reserve ~1/c water when pasta has finished cooking)
in large skillet heat oil, add garlic, cook for ~2 min, add crushed pepper flakes for 30 sec then turn off heat. Discard garlic.
drain pasta except for ~1/2 C water. Reheat oil in skillet, add drained pasta and ~1/4 C reserved water, & add parsley, toss well, add salt & pepper, turn off heat, mix in Parmesan cheese and serve.

Mutant Poodle at 208:

Some excellent variations on that recipe are to add one peeled and finely chopped granny smith (or any kind, really) apple and one finely diced carrot to the veggies as they saute, 1/2 c. of apple cider to the stock, and if you like curry, add some curry powder (start with one tsp. it g r o w s during cooking) for a curried butternut squash.

If the person eating this soup isn’t a vegan, I also recommend adding a bit of butter to the saute in addition to the olive oil. It helps to caremalize the veggies, and gives a “rounder” mouth to the soup.

Also, if I leave off the curry powder, I serve it with a tumeric/sea salt dusted lavosh, or if I do use the curry powder in the soup, I serve it with a dollop of creme fraicheor plain yogurt or sour cream on the top, and onion lavosh on the side.

Icy cold Pellegrino with fresh lime ROCKS as a beverage to serve. Followed by a baby scoop each of mango, raspberry and lemon Sorbet served with a plate of tiny cookies like ginger snaps, piroulines, and sugar cookies.

I have to go EAT now!!
Also, if

This is my 85-year-old mother’s recipe for chopped chicken livers. She’s making a point of teaching us how to do it now. And she loves cookbooks and anything on the history of food.

NINA’S CHOPPED CHICKEN LIVERS

Pound of Chicken livers
Preheat 350
Take a brown paper bag, cut it, dampen it (no excess water) put it on pan, put livers on bag, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Put them in the preheated oven.
Two good sized onions diced sauteed in rendered chicken fat.
Set aside to cool.
Four hard cooked eggs.
When chicken livers are no longer pink inside take out and put all together in brown bag and
CHILL
When cold, put in wooden chopping bowl. Take a Foley food chopper (three blades and the middle blade is on a spring) and chop. NO BLENDER.
MUST BE HAND CHOPPED. Or it gets mushy.
When nicely chopped, add raw onion to taste. If texture is dry, add more chicken fat.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on matzoh, saltines, celery.

Children like it. People who hate liver, don’t tell them what it is.

Jane,
Sympathy, condolences and wishes for
strength in the days to come.

Here is one of my favorite recipes
for bread: it is also great topped
with caramelized onions, or used as a
base for a homemade pizza.

Enjoy,
BB.

Basic Focaccia Recipe

5 cups of bread flour
2 cups of warm water
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
Olive oil for brushing or spraying the dough
Herbs, kosher salt, to sprinkle on the bread
Cornmeal

First mix the yeast and the sugar with a little of the water, and whisk
to dissolve the yeast. Whisk in the remaining sugar. Leave to stand
for about 5 minutes until the mixture is frothy.

Whisk in about 2 cups of sifted flour, to make a thick batter: cover
with a kitchen towel, a plate or plastic wrap, and leave in a warm
place for about 20 minutes. The yeast should have fermented to the
extent that the batter will be full of large bubbles and will have risen
up in the bowl.

Whisk in the olive oil. Gradually beat in the salt and more flour
until the dough has a stiff texture, but is still very moist, but not sticky;
at this point you will need to switch to working by hand. Put some flour
on a clean work surface,and knead the dough, gradually adding flour to keep
the dough from sticking, until the consistency of the dough is right (you
will learn this from practice: it should be very moist, almost but not
quite stick) Continue kneading until the dough is ready: the way to test
this is to stretch the dough between your fingers: it should stretch into
an almost transparent “window”.

Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl, turning the dough so that it
gets a very thin coating of oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap,
and leave to rise until the dough has doubled in size. (Most recipes
say “doubled in bulk”, but it seems that they actually mean that it is
about twice as high and twice as wide, which is actually about 8 times as
big in volume!)

Take the dough out of the bowl, press it down, and cut it into three
equal size pieces. Take each piece, and form it into a ball. Place
inside an oiled ziplock bag, and refrigerate for between 12 and 36 hours.

A couple of hours before baking time, remove the dough from the fridge,
gently take it out of the plastic bag (cut the plastic bag away if this
is necessary). Cover the dough, and leave it to relax for about an hour
and a half.

Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit.

Gently stretch the dough into a flat rectangle: don’t knead it, or try
to press it hard into shape; concentrate on stretching it, not pushing it.
If you have a baker’s peel, dust it with cornmeal, and place the dough
on the peel. Otherwise dust a baking stone or baking sheet with cornmeal
and place the dough on it. Leave it to rise for about 20 minutes.
Spray or brush the top of the dough with olive oil, and sprinkle
with fresh herbs (my favourite for focaccia is rosemary) and a little
kosher salt. Place it in the middle of the oven, and spray the oven
with water every few minutes during the first 10 minutes or so of baking.

The bread will take about 20 minutes to cook: it is done when
it is a golden brown, and is perhaps speckled with little bubbles
on the top. Remove from the oven, and place on a wire rack. Brush
or spray again with a little olive oil, and leave to cool for 10-15
minutes.

Late to the conversation as usual. I’ve been ill with pnuemonia for weeks. Today my mother sent me flowers signed Mum and Dad.

My father died last November but she still signs everything from both of them. It just made me weep to see it.

I’m still too sad to write about him without choking up, but I will say he was a good man.

Take care Jane, during these hard days. And know that the measure of your sorrow is also the measure of your love.

Ooo, homemade focaccia — THANKS, Breadbox!

Professor Foland promises a Perfect Crust huh? Well, I got news for Prof. Folan -not after I get my hands on it. I’ve tried the crust thing a couple of times and it always comes out like water logged saltines. Well, this if from a physics professor, so I assume it has been exhaustively tested under extreme conditions. So I will try it.
When does the FDL cookbook come out?

carolyn urban — I’m so sorry. I hope you recover from both your physical and your emotional pain as soon as possible, and that coming here will help.

My Recipe Contribution First:

Orange-Fennel Rye Bread

The Liquid Part

1.5 cups Orange Juice
1 cup Milk Skim works fine, if you’re watching calories
1/2 cup Molasses
2 tbsp. margarine or butter
2 tbsp. fennel seeds

The Dry Part

1 package quick rising yeast
3 cups rye flour
4 cups bread or all purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp dried orange peel

Put all the liquid part (including the fennel seeds) in a pyrex 1 quart measure and microwave it about a minute to 90 seconds, until its a little cooler than the temperature most people drink coffee.

In the meantime, mix all the dry ingredients except about a cup of the white flour in a large mixing bowl. Put the reserved cup aside for later. When it is all mixed well, make a depression or well in the middle.

Pour the wet stuff into the well in the dry stuff, and using a wire whisk or a wooden spoon, stir the dry into the wet stuff. This is great for the forearms. Eventually the flour mixture will all be incorporated into the liquid mixture and you should have a lump of shaggy soft dough. It will smell great and look like, well, you don’t want to know what it will look like.

Turn the soft dough out onto a floured surface. (This is what you reserved the flour for) I have a metal topped kitchen table (circa the 1930s, and it works great for this). Sprinkle the dough with a little more flour and commence kneading it. Stretch it, pull, slam, pound, pummel, and squish it, flouring your hands and the table as necessary, until you have a shiny, smooth, and elastic dough ball. You can’t overwhack it, so if all your aggressions aren’t out by that time, just keep pounding it. On occasion I name the dough after someone I’m furious with, and pound the heck out of it. This makes the bread better and doesn’t get me sent away for manslaughter.

Sometime by now you’ll have decided whether to use loaf pans or to make free-form peasant style loaves (I like the latter, myself). If you decide to make peasant loaves you will need to add a little more flour so the dough is stiffer. I test it by sticking a thumb in up to the first knuckle. If the dough springs back to about round in a few seconds it will hold its shape for baking pretty well.

When the dough is to your liking, put it in a greased bowl at least three times the volume of the dough ball (if you’ve been efficient you’ve wiped out the bowl in which you did the original mixing and it will be available for your use).

Turn the dough ball so it is greased on all sides, cover it with a piece of waxed paper or a damp dish towel (or use plastic wrap if you want to contribute a bit to the oil companies, poor dears), and leave it alone in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours to rise. Use this time to catch up on Firedoglake and leave several pithy comments to the excellent posts.

When the dough has doubled in bulk deflate it by gently squeezing it, divide it into two equal sections (I never get them equal try as hard as I might) and either place them on a greased cookie sheet (make them round, make them cigar shaped, makes no never mind) or in greased bread pans. Cover and let them rise a second time for about 30 minutes. They’ll about double in bulk again.

In the meantime you’ll have heated your oven to 375 degrees. Just before you pop the loaves in the oven, score the tops of them with a single edged razor blade or a sharp knife. Make the pattern as simple or fancy as you wish. Then finish them off with a light dusting of more dried orange peel if you like, or don’t, if you don’t want to.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Thump them to test if they’re done.. if they are, they’ll sound hollow like a drum.

A slab of cheese on this bread is gourmet heaven.

I like a very dense loaf like my grandma used to make. Sometimes I substitute corn meal (up to a cup) for some of the white flour.

SECOND: AN IDEA AND AN OFFER TO VOLUNTEER SOME TIME

The idea isn’t entirely mine, as I’ve seen it mentioned in the form of a wish several times in this thread and in the previous recipe exchange. Why not a Firedoglake Cookbook? It doesn’t seem an impossible task to cut and paste the recipes into a word processing file, organize them, and make a .pdf file out of them. I’m out of the classroom until September and could devote some time to this.

I’m still not able to preview. I hope this is o.k.

All these incredible recipes – I’m definitely downloading this thread.

Regarding the “journey” Jane and her sisters were on this week, it is such a gift to be able to be there and help a loved one pass over. My mother, sister & I were with my father when he passed away as a result of lung cancer, and it was such profound experience %u2013 a gift, really. As with Jane’s experience, love just permeated the room (and we are eternally grateful for hospice).

A month later, to the day, 9/11 occurred – and the three of us felt that my father had been so lucky to leave this world surrounded by people who loved him – holding his hands, hugging and touching him and telling him it was okay to go.

Again, Jane – my deepest sympathy to you and your sisters. Clearly your mother was an incredible person

Dear Jane,

My mother died very suddenly a few years ago and all I remember about the first moment I heard is how the news hit like a ton of bricks. But over time I want to let you know that the good memories crystallise and become stronger than ever, and the
‘bad’, well, they’re viewed from a different perspective. This is another gift from our mothers.

HopeSpringsATurtle says:
June 24th, 2006 at 10:23 am

sorry to get back to you so late, just got back– yes, veg stock is fine, my sis is a fish eating veg and does just that. ;)

Ok, one more. The ultimate exotic comofort food for me.

Carrot halvah

7-8 large carrrots, chopped (1.5 to 2 lbs worth)
1 1/2 cups sugar (or a little more or less to taste. I usually start with less and see how things go)
About 3 cups milk, any kind, or enough to cover the veggies
1/2 stick butter, or 1/4 cup of healthy heart margarine gunk if you want.
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (for me, a little more is better)
1/2 teaspoon saffron, toasted and crumbled (Expensive and hard to get, so if don’t have, throw in something to replace, rosewater, a little almond flavoring, orange liqueur, etc)
Chopped nuts or raisons for garnish. I think lightly toasted almonds the best.

makes enough for 5 or 6, or maybe 2 if I am there

-chop carrots
-put in heavy saucepan
-bring to boil and then simmer on low for 2 hours, stirring frequently
-throw in everything except butter and garnish
-when almost thick enough for you, turn heat to medium, put in butter and cook until it is the way you want it.
-put in garnish
-eat any you like, warm or chilled or room temp

You can also use winter squash, or summer squash. If using summer squash, use less milk. If you want it high class, use cream instead of milk.

RubDmc at 216:

Just popped on to get some recipes for dinner, found your thread and loved it. This is a good place.

Jane, so glad you and your sister were with your mom.

No doubt you’ll be surfing some very powerful emotional waves in coming months (and years); waves that other commenters (esp. Oklahoma Kiddo, Sophist) are also riding, or have ridden. I have a well-used surfboard myself, and find it takes me to sentimental places at the oddest moments, but so far… I’ve managed to stay aboard. Good luck to you as you ride waves that a familiar fragrance, picture, or song can mysteriously conjur up without warning.

As you return to FDL, I rather suspect that you’ll find more of us a tad more pudgy — after ingesting added calories from the tempting recipes posted here. I will think of you when I make the Pakistani Meatballs and Buttermilk Chess Pie that I grabbed off last week’s postings. I will also think of you when I drizzle olive oil over mozzarella, per Peterr’s instructions of last Saturday’s foodie thread.

I’m sure your mom would relish all the simmering, stirring, tasting, seasoning, roasting, braising, shredding, and boiling that FDL has cooked up to nurture, feed, and sustain so many of us during the past year.

Peace and kindest wishes to you and your sister.

Thanks Angie…

Christy,

Thanks for the photo link.

This is such a wonderful community. I have laughed and wept my way through the comments over the course of the day. I also support the idea of a cookbook as a fundraiser for the lake. There are some great recipes here, and as spontaneous in the kitchen as I am, I often forget the rest of the wealth of options beyond what I create from ingredients at hand. (I am a great cook as long as I don’t try to follow a recipe, as I am sure others are here as well.) I find, however, that when something tastes a little blah, the addition of a few drops of toasted sesame oil and balsamic vinegar brings out the flavours.

RE: Carrot Halvah recipe #303

Oops sequence a little out of order there.

-chop carrots
-put in heavy saucepan
-throw in everything except butter and garnish
OK, THEN
-bring to boil and then simmer on low for 2 hours, stirring frequently

Typically, simmering the carrots works better if you put them in the milk and sugar first. Unless it is a very humid day.

Sorry. If the recipe is not simple enough to keep in my head, signs point to poor outcome. I have to be more careful writing them out.

FDL cookbook = good just keep copyright issues in mind. Make sure these are in the public domain.

OT Hope y’all can help us make our goal to raise $1200 for Howie Klein’s recommended Larry Kissell in NC. Can you help please??

In the South [where there aren’t any Aspens turning together], slo’ cooking isn’t a recipe thing – it’s a spiritual experience. While there’s nothing quite like the pork roasting for 12 hours in a warm pit, there are plenty of “inside” adaptations. My favorite is the holiday Turkey.

Put an apple and an onion in the cavity [for moisture]. Wrap it in Aluminum Foil [water-tight, sprayed with PAM]. Put it in the oven at 225 to 250 overnight. In the morning, open it and suction off the collected juices [for gravy and dressing]. Throughout the day, you can take it out to use the oven for other things. An hour before serving, unwrap it and put it in the oven at 325 to 400 degrees [depending on your patience] so it can brown [it’ll stay white until then].

Guaranteed perfect, moist turkey 100% of the time. The cooking time doesn’t matter. Anything “overnight” will do.

Variation: Add generous branches of Rosemary or Tarragon or both to the cavity for a very interesting taste.

My mom, who died to young after a long illness, never had much interest in cooking. But she always did her motherly duty, and as was her nature, never complained about anything. “People don’t want to be around people who moan and complain,” she said. I can testify that everyone loved being around her. She’s been gone sixteen years, but I still think about her most every day, and I dream about her several times a month.

Mom’s roots were southern, and she learned to prepare maybe 20 down-home dishes that cycled throughout the month. If it was Thursday, meatloaf and navy beens cooked with salt pork. Fridays, salmon patties and mac ‘n’ cheese (made with Velveeta, of course.)

I’m no cook either, but I learned to make the “special” dish, the one trotted out at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s positively foolproof, unhealthily delicious, and I’ve never needed any other recipe for potlucks and other gathering. On the few occasions I’ve shown up with a substitute, people have kindly asked that I not deviate from tradition. They want those Killer Sweet Potatoes!

Here’s the recipe. Easy and very, very rich.

1/2 cup butter, melted 2 eggs
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes 2/3 cup milk
or yams. Canned is fine, 1 cup sugar
but drain the liquid, 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix and pour into a buttered casserole dish.

Topping, Mix and sprinkle on, yes, the top.

1 cup chopped pecans 1/3 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup softened butter

Bake uncovered at 350 for 40 minutes.
This can be made ahead, except for the cooking, and kept in the refrigerator until finishing-up time.

Would have been here earlier, but by the time the thread opened, I happened to be at my mom’s doing some chores. She’s 86, and lost her husband, my dad, last year after 64 years of marriage.

This recipe is from a friend, Frannie, who died long ago but loved having a few of these in the freezer for friends who needed comfort food — so I keep a few in the freezer, and the hard copy on my hard drive.

When I take it to a friend’s house, it’s always accompanied by a hug and much love.

I regularly take liberties with this recipe %u2013 e.g., omit mushrooms (I’m allergic), add chopped sauteed celery, substitute canned cream soup and cream for cream sauce, etc. It doubles or even triples well for big groups, or for freezing. I also usually top with a mix (about 1/4 c total per single recipe) of parmesan and breadcrumbs for a better-looking finished product, especially if it’s frozen. If frozen, allow to thaw a day in fridge before cooking.
– - -
Frannie’s Chicken, Sausage and Wild Rice Casserole

(Allegedly) Serves 8-10

1 lb. pork sausage (if doubling, etc., try going halves with regular and hot sausage)
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 med large onions, chopped
2 1/2 -3 lb. chicken breasts, poached, boned and cut into bite-size pieces (about 3-4 c. finished) *
1 box Uncle Ben’s wild and white rice, original recipe with herbs

sauce:
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. heavy or light cream
2 1/2 c. chicken broth (canned is fine; don’t use nonfat if you want richer flavor)
Salt, pepper to taste (plus poultry seasoning, sage, savory or whatever else you fancy)

[Optional topping: 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs]

Preheat oven to 350 F if cooking immediately.

Prepare wild rice mix according to package instructions. Saute sausage, remove from pan with slotted spoon and transfer to large work bowl. In the fat, saute onions over medium heat till translucent; add mushrooms and cook through. Drain and transfer to work bowl, along with chicken pieces and wild rice mixture.

For the sauce, melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir to mix until smooth. Stir over medium heat 5 minutes to remove flour’s raw taste. Whisk in chicken broth and cream, and continue stirring over heat until thickened. Season to taste.

[Optional topping (go for it): 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs mixed with 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese.]

Pour sauce over meat/vegetable mixture and rice. Toss to mix thoroughly. Adjust seasoning. Place in casserole (shape is unimportant; ramekin works well, but a flatter casserole gives more of the crispy top, which I tend to like better) and top with crumb/cheese mixture, if using. Dot with butter, if desired. Either bake immediately, or cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 48 hours (allow to warm half-hour out of refrigerator before baking) or freeze up to a month. Cook until bubbly and browned, 25-30 minutes or so.

* Cover bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, 1 peeled/quartered medium onion (plus some chopped celery/carrots if desired) with cold water in a heavy pot. Add several peppercorns, 1 tb. parsley (dried is fine), herbs ad lib. (herbes de provence, fines herbes, savory, poultry seasoning or whatever). Bring heat to high. Allow to reach rolling boil, skimming foam if necessary. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 20 mins, or until chicken reaches an internal temp of 160 F. Remove chicken from liquid and let cool on wire rack. Broth can be de-fatted (easiest way: let cool to room temp, then cover in fridge till fat on top can be lifted off), strained and used as a soup base, reduced for stock or *really* reduced for glaze, or for the broth in this recipe.

Comfort food, and bless ya. — John

“One has to wonder how many of our ancestors met elsewhere, or passed by each other on a journey.”

NZ expat, that’s an intriguing question that brings up matters of fate and destiny, affinities, perhaps what the Gurjieff school calls “lines of affinity” and Jungians call archetypes. I wonder if the violent dualities and conflicts that our ancestors lived are meant for us the descendents to synthesize or bring harmony to. That we’re part of the same narrative as our parents and are perhaps meant to refine that narrative or hopefully bring it to a higher level of expression…

Let me post this recipe again. I kept trying to preview it, but was getting error messages. I’m sure there are some typos, but the preview function never worked. And when I finally got the message posted, the text got mushed up. Can’t type, can’t post. I’m a mess.

Here I am complaining, like my mother said not to do! The recipe is good, though.

Killer Sweet Potatoes

1/2 cup butter, melted
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
or yams. Canned is fine,
but drain the liquid.
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix and pour into a buttered casserole dish.

Topping, Mix and sprinkle on, yes, the top.

1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup softened butter

Bake uncovered at 350 for 40 minutes.
This can be made ahead, except for the cooking, and kept in the refrigerator until finishing-up time.

About the grief thing: I spent my career as a psychoanalyst, and studying grief, being around grief, was a big part of that. The wisdom is that grief is part of being, and that the problems come from not having it. “Blocked Grief” is a pretty big problem. It just waits around causing problems until the person lets it happen.

But like all things, when my own mother died, I learned some things that weren’t in my books. The one that stands out was that grief is not about losing something, it’s about getting something back. In the months that followed her death, I felt an uncomfortable emptiness. When I thought of her, my mind saw her in the end of her days, pictured her illnesses and infirmity. It was always on the side of my mind, either the loss or the final times. Over the months, I experienced the phases of grief, more or less like they were in the books, like I’d seen in my patients, but the images stayed the same.

But then one day, to my surprise, I found myself thinking about her as before. I recalled her as she was when I was a child, when she was mad, when she was happy, as she was on visits home in college, during adult times when I’d needed whatever it is that moms alone can provide. All of a sudden, it wasn’t the darkness of her death and illness, it was the whole of my experience with her again. I later came to see that as the marker for the end of my grief. I’d gotten her back with me in my mind, and the emptiness lifted.

Best wishes for the coming days…

Tommy Yum at 16– thanks! Have been looking for a pulled pork recipe for a while. My southern-born-and-bred wife will appreciate it!

emptywheel– *laugh* re: jello! I lived in Utah for a while, and jello recipes definitely a staple there…

So many other good recipes too! I agree- a cookbook compiled from these offerings would be fantastic!

Here’s my contribution to this week’s virtual feast– quite a few of you have mentioned ratatouille and polenta, and while there was a good ratatouille recipe posted, so far I haven’t seen anything for polenta. So here is my parents’ recipe:

POLENTA
1) combine 1 & 1/2 c corn meal
1 c cold water
1 tsp salt

2) mash into uniform paste
3) add into rapidly boiling water
4) lower head and beat continuously as it cooks for 10-12 minutes. Should be the consistency of thick breakfast cereal (best to beat with a wire whisk to avoid lumps)
5) stir in 1 c grated cheese (I use cheddar) and some parmesan to taste
6) serve ASAP!

I usually serve this with veggies, and cook the veggies as I would a ratatouille.

Mickey at 317:

What a beautiful comment. I can relate, I think, to how one retrieves one who is lost when their entirety returns–the memories, the love, the pain–and your existence within it. I think its a gift from the dead to the living–to remind you that nothing is lost–that your carrying on and forward is part of the plan. The continuum is unbroken. We move along in the flow of Life.

Amazing how death reminds all of us that instead of an end, death’s part in Life is actually a flow–a river that moves.

An odd jump perhaps, but not really–for me to introduce this recipe–an old Filipino recide for chicken and rice soup. Its based on the old Spanish Arroz con Pollo, but it has its own “tilt”. My grandfather used to feed it to me when I was sick as a child. I’ve used this receipe to cure the flu and mend broken hearts. As my niece Felicia says: “It fixes you rught up”

Arrozcaldo

1/2 to 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 fist-sized fresh ginger (crushed, not chopped–and left mostly intact)
8 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 to 1-1/2 cup white rice
salt to taste

Cook rice in 2.5 to 3 times its amount of water until soft and cooked through (not soggy). Set aside.

While rice is cooking, gently boil the chicken thighs, ginger and salt in 6-8 cups of water. Skim off residue while cooking. Should take 40 minutes.

Add the cooked rice to the chicken-ginger broth and simmer until rice starts to soften (should be the consistency of a porridge).

Cook garlic in 1-2 TBS olive or peanut oil until golden. Remove immediately from heat and pour oil-garlic mixture into soup. Let all ingredients incorporate.

Great for cold winter nights, apres-ski warm-me-up, or pre-bedtime meal (especially when you’re sick!)

A quick search on Switchboard seems to indicate Jane’s family may live in northeastern Oklahoma. Which is where I’m from (far from as they say) orginally and where members of my family still live. I was last there for my father’s funeral in November.

So, what I’d bring to the potluck would be my mama’s family’s Applesauce Cake.

4-6 cooking apples
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2tsp cloves
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup nuts
3/4 cup raisins
1tsp vanilla
2t baking soda in 1/4 cup hot water

Peel apples and cut in chunks. Place in pan with bottom just barely covered with water. Cook over low flame stirring occasionally until you have applesauce.

Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and
1 1/2 cups of applesauce. Mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and add to mixture. Add nuts and raisins. Beat well. Add soda/water mix and vanilla. Pour into greased and floured tube pan. Bake 1 hr. 325 deg F. If you can stand to, it’s better if you let it cool, wrap in foil and eat the next day.

Mary Kay

Mickey #311: thanks! If you come back, does that same method work for other meats too?

If I could only think when I had to think…

The other best-used file on my hard drive forever is my mom’s advice. I don’t know who she stole it from, but it works for me, and it now sits (among other places) on the ceiling of my dental hygienist’s office so people can see it while reclining.

I’ve found the “unkind people” rule particularly challenging, but it wouldn’t be a good rule if it weren’t.

- – - – -
Betty’s Secrets to Happiness

Live beneath your means.
Return everything you borrow.
Stop blaming other people.
Admit it when you make a mistake.
If you haven’t worn something in three years, give it to charity.
Do something nice and try not to get caught.
Talk less. Listen more.
Take a half-hour walk every day.
Strive for excellence, not perfection.
Don’t make excuses.
Be on time.
Get organized.
Don’t argue.
Be kind to kind people.
Be even kinder to unkind people.
Let someone cut ahead of you in line.
Take time to be alone.
Re-read a favorite book.
Cultivate good manners.
Be humble.
Realize and accept that life isn’t always fair.
Know when to say something.
Know when to hold your tongue.
Go a whole day without criticizing anyone.
Learn from the past.
Plan for the future.
Live in the present.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Realize that it’s all small stuff.

I’m very late to the party, but I’ve brought dessert!
In honor of Greta, Jane, and Pam. And to honor the unrelenting beauty and bounty of fresh fruit -

Strawberry Balsamic Sorbet

1 pound of fresh and fabulous strawberries
3/4 C sugar
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 C heavy cream

Combine fruit and sugar in food processor or blender. Add balsamic and blend into a puree. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. Strain the mixture if seeds bother you. Add cream and spin in your ice cream maker.

I love the idea of a cookbook fundraiser.There’s so many recipes here,you could do a volume or two.Part of the money to FDL,part to a charity(Operation Helmet for the troops,or a hospice organization or,anything really).Look at all these responses,wow.