Tastes of Henry

At last

2010-09-25T16:24:00.003-04:00

It was a busy summer. The Michigan vacation exceeded all expectations - fun, food and frolic. Almost the whole family came to have fun together, reconnect and just hang out with our warm, incredible family. It was a wonderful time.

For the third year Lee and I hosted the Texas barbecue. We started this party to give our Ohio friends a taste of the West - Ms. Lee's country. The first year nearly 30 people gathered to feast on Kreuz' (Krites) market sausage and brisket, pico de gallo and guacamole, coleslaw, Mexican fruit cup, a vegetarian entree, Texas sheet cake and peach cobbler made from the recipe of the Anadama ranch. This was all capped off with Lee's fabulous pinto's and Texas beers and my sangria. Lee recorded Texas music - anyone who was from Texas and traditional Texas music as well.

This year we imported my parents from Ohio and Lee's brother and sister-in-law from Texas. Nothing like adding a few more authentic Texans to the mix. To go one step further I decided to home smoke three briskets for the party. Sweet Sue, Tom and Lee tasted the maiden voyage for brisket earlier this summer and pronounced it nice enough for company. So 15 pounds of meat later the party was on. The menu didn't have big changes just - queso and pico, but the number of people grew to nearly 40. At the end of the party there was no brisket, coleslaw, a tiny amount of fruit cup and no dessert. People seemed to be happy and well fed and genuinely enjoyed getting to know our families better. Next year's barbecue is already a topic of discussion.

We had a great time hosting our families and watching them get to know our friends. In fact many of the friends said they loved the families and really loved being able to check our our roots. Ted and Suzanne came in on Thursday and we had a wonderful time with them. Blessings to them for all of the help with getting ready for the party. I didn't know how we did it without them. Sunday sadly came and the party was over. Our last hurrah was a trip to Yellow Springs for brunch at the Winds.

On the way back from the airport Lee and I stopped at the apple orchard to pick up some apples. On display were pie pumpkins and a promised recipe. We love pumpkin pie and I was sure a pumpkin pie would welcome fall. The orchard supplied an unusual recipe for the pie. This recipe was contributed by Jane Van Deusen of New York. The pumpkin was opened and scraped of seeds and loose fibers. Then sugar and cinnamon and salt were dusted on the interior of the pumpkin and baked. Once tender the pumpkin is cooled and the meat is blended and mixed with traditional pumpkin pie ingredients. I have to say we were the beneficiaries of fresh eggs from two of the barbecue guests. Those eggs were part of the pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Patch Pie

1 medium pie pumpkin
2/3 C sugar, divided
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 eggs, beaten
5 oz. evaporated milk
1/2 Cup milk
pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

Cut a five inch circle around the stem of the pumpkin and remove the lid. Scrape and remove seeds and loose fibers. Combine 1/3 C sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and the salt. Replace the lid and bake on a greased tray at 325 degrees for an hour and twenty minutes. Cool. Remove the meat of the pumpkin to a blender and blend until smooth.

Take 2 C of pumpkin and add the rest of the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Stir and add the evaporated milk and milk with the beaten eggs and pour into the pie shell. Bake at 375 for 75-80 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

For Father's Day

2010-06-19T19:27:00.003-04:00

My Dad will be celebrating his special day tomorrow in East Lansing with my sweet mama by themselves. My baby sister entertained them early as she would be out of town on Dad's day and would not miss an opportunity to celebrate our great Dad. I sent him a card and asked for a date for lunch during our annual vacation. I did it last year and truly enjoyed my special time with him. My other sister will find a special way of her own to celebrate him as well.

This is my Dad's 62nd Father's Day. He's enjoyed many gifts and wishes through the years - some very sweet and thoughtful, some crafted with little hands and some pretty traditional gifts. One gift was very funny and as I think back on it he even wore it! When we were quite young we saved our money and purchased Dad a hat that had the top covered in artificial grass with a fisherman perched on the grass with the line cast over the side of the crown to the brim. What a gift! What a Dad to be willing to wear it - much to our great pride.

As my sisters and my parents and I age we seem to understand that a real gift is time together or an experience with them. Rebecca and David planned an opera weekend for this fall with a trip to the Lyric Theatre in Chicago and the opera Carmen that we will all join. We're all in a great state of excitement over this weekend but truth be told we would be excited to get together if we were all sharing hot dogs and chips in the backyard. Our family vacation which we have pursued over 25 years for family fun is way beyond hot dogs and chips but it is a splendid gift from my parents to our family. Mom and Dad started this tradition when the grands or Generation 3 as we refer to them were pretty young. The purpose in this was to give us more opportunities to celebrate and share time even as many other families moved and found it harder and harder to get together. It also caused us to strengthen our family and simply to enjoy being part of such a special group.

Dad and Mom's plan worked quite well and we are one tight group. We have shared good times and bad and came through those times ever stronger. It is a great source of pride to both of my parents but particularly so for Dad. I will never forget grilling with Dad and listening to him extoll the virtues of a strong family unit. In fact grilling with Dad is just an all round favorite experience for me in general. He's an expert griller and as he's taught me about life he has taught me about grilling. I'll never compare to him in his expertise but I will always be a willing student made better by his good words as much as his grilling lessons and wonderful company. Dad fills my need to plan about food and timing and amounts. I have a tendency to think we are feeding the army and Dad brings me back to earth on that one. Gently and with laughter. Grilling at home is a bit lonely but I tend to use this time to reconnect with some happy and tender memories of time with Dad.

One of the things I have most appreciated of late is my Dad's counsel with financial planning. He could have a second career as a financial planner and could create success for his clients and great satisfaction at helping others for himself. As I approach retirement he has been wonderful sharing his thoughtds and perspective. We've poured over my accounts and he's given me some great guidance on investing for the future. He isn't afraid to turn it over to the experts when necessary and plan on his own when he sees that it could be better for us to do that. Just the other day Dad called me excitedly to ask me to make a specific article required reading so we could talk about it after I read it. I so value having him help me with this I hopped right to it. At an age when other folks are content to rest on their laurels he is very sharp and is right on with his guidance. These conversational experiences have been another gift of time with Dad.

Not the last of his many gifts but like the two I've written about is one of my most cherished gifts. Dad inspires me to be a better person. Through my life he has shared his thoughts and views on the world and the nature of people. He truly is a teacher at heart. I have listened and heard him and taken opportunities to follow in his footsteps as he modeled his wonderful character and integrity to me. Sometimes I have failed and failed miserably but he teaches that one gets up and goes at it again continuing the journey. Every day I have the opportunity to be a better person and start anew thanks to Dad. What a great gift!

So to my wonderful Dad on Father's Day thank you for being a gift that continues to share its treasure every day in every way. You're a Dad worth celebrating every day! I love you.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:12:00.002-04:00

Today is Mother's Day and at a time when one would think I have lots to tell I am somewhat at a loss for words. How does one adequately - sounds so poor - express the meaning of the gifts in her life from all of the mothers. I have one mother but I am blessed to have been surrounded by mothers. My Mom was very young when I was born. Just twenty. My Dad sometimes thought she was one of the girls and we would be happy to include her in our ranks. Mom is the mom every child dreams of. Lots of hugs and laughs except for the infamous "Oh, Anne's". Home made costumes, help with science projects, willingness to let me experiment in the kitchen. Without her willingness to let me experiment I would be without one of my life's passions. There were times when I know she wondered where all of this was going but I do know and my sisters would agree she endured all with a sense of humor and a light hand. I remember pot roast made into hash, fried chicken, white gravy, strawberry pie, pecan sandies and apple cream pie. There was much more but those are some simple faves. My mom is astounding and unique in her own Mimi way. I love you and adore you Mom. She led me to know how I wanted to be as a Mom.

My grandmothers taught me to be a granna and my mother taught me to be a mom. I had grandmothers who were very different. My Dad's mom was an earth mother with big arms for hugs, a deep genuine laugh and the ability to see the joy in childhood and live with the wonder she saw in our eyes. She too understood food to be the great gatherer and her meals were much like communion to me - filled with love and deliciousness. Grandma was unconditional love.

My Mom's mother was more formal but greatly loving. She had a life or purpose and expected the same accomplishments for all of her progeny. She was greatly proud of us and shared her love of music. She also taught me card games. We played solitaire and listened to Karl Haas as we sat at the breakfast table. This grandma wanted us to go far. She didn't live to see me graduate from college but I think she would be very pleased with all of her grandchildren.

My sisters taught me the strength of family and treasures in relationship. These two women are wonderful examples of motherhood and sisterhood. We are very different but have much to share and rejoice in. My sisters are wonderful mothers on their own but together we are known in our family as the sisters and wield some influence. As kids we were competitive and often on different paths. But as adults we are very close and these relationships are among the ones I hold most dear.

My children taught me to love in good times and bad, through joy and sorrow. My daughter teaches me new ways to be a mom and birth young people who are bound to be good citizens of the earth. Children are agony and ecstasy and through them we experience every emotion. Fortunately we also experience mostly joy and happiness as time goes on. I am so fortunate to have two wonderful children who share their lives with me. Jon's move back to Dayton has been a real joy to me. Jen is far away but I feel like I am a part of things from afar.

How will I celebrate Mother's Day? Jon wanted to take me to dinner but I told him I didn't want to go out and battle crowds on Mother's Day. I want to have dinner with him and Lee sharing good food and happy times with just us. I made a rhubarb upside down cake this morning. I went to the garden at 6:30 a.m. to cut rhubarb and make it into the cake. I am going to Dorothy Lane to pick up an entree and an appetizer. We'll have a salad made with the tender lettuces and baby radishes in the garden. They will require a very light dressing. It's a meal made with love to celebrate a very special kind of love. Happy Mother's Day to all of my family and folks everywhere.

Missin' my babies

2010-04-11T08:15:00.004-04:00

I have been so busy with work and life that there is no time left to blog. I have missed blogging and setting memories to ether. One of the good things I have been doing is quilting and making some sweet little things for my grandchildren. This Granna makes sewn gifts for them to reach out and touch them when I can't be there. My most recent gifts are called placemats 101. They are placemats in kid prints - think snakes and flowers in bright colors. Appliqued on each placemat is a plate with a cup and knife, fork and spoon. The notion is they can help set the table. A very important job to help the family when you are a little guy or gal.

I now know how lucky I was to live so close to my grandparents that we saw them regularly and shared their lives and happy times. When I plant seeds to start veggies for the garden I think of my Oechsler and Henry grandparents and their gardens. Patty pan squash is not merely squash but a trip to a Toledo farmstand to see the vegetables in bulk that made it to the table. I spied the little scalloped squash and grandpa bought some for our dinner. I will never forget eating the vegetables steamed with a little butter and seasoning.

I will send some seeds to my babies so they can plant some of Granna's plants and we can share the growing experience. I am excited to have a great home vegetable garden to amaze my grands. I have my grandma's garden basket and we use that to "pwuck" vegetables together. Pwuck is three year old talk for pluck. In addition to regular crops we are planting scarlet runner beans and golden pea pods. Grandma Lee received a pyramid trellis for Christmas so the plants will grow up the trellis and their veggies will be easy for the little people to reach. The peas have bright yellow pods. The beans have scarlet flowers and deep purple bean pods. The beans inside the pods are black and red and could easily be Jack and the beanstalk beans. That should be fun. I'll also attempt a five hundred pound pumpkin. I know it won't be five hundred pounds by August but it should be on it's way.

I'm also trying to create a teepee out of some long wood tied together and a canvas tarp. I am hoping we can paint symbols of fun and love on it and spend the night in the teepee. Uncle John has agreed to sleepout with us so it will be an amazing night of fun. WooHoo!! Maybe even Doris will decide decide to keep company with us. Every indian needs a faithful animal. We'll pretend she is a tame wolf that looks out for us. In most cases it may be Dude who loves new people and will do anything for attention. We probably won't last all night but it will be fun and we can cook breakfast on the grill.

Granna's have to plan the magic ahead of time!

Granna also made a Rick Bayless salad to share at a friendly dinner with some great people last night. My recipe is a simple one for a great spicy dressing. I made it to dress spring greens topped with strips of roasted poblanos and red pepper. Two large poblanos to one red pepper. I used six total for eight people and had a little left over. I sprinkled the salad with thin slices of red onion - about one-fourth of an onion and three tablespoons of toasted sunflower seeds. for eight people.

The dressing is based on a bottle of ranch dressing but if I had time I would have made a homemade ranch dressing.
I added 1 chopped jalapeno - chopped very fine.
1 tablespoon of lime zest and the juice of a fat half-lime
1 avocado pureed

Stir together and serve.

It's a great dressing and really different.

A unique recipe

2010-02-12T09:18:00.005-05:00

Today there is no traditional recipe. I am just going to spend some words talking about my beloved Dad. Before I go further I must remind folks that the other half of the dynamic duo has previously been lauded in this blog so don't think I am ignoring Mimi. She remains and always will be the very best Mom ever.

So what prompted this outpouring of affection...a valentine gift from my Dad. The gift was a box of two dozen delicious Cheryl's frosted chocolate and sugar cut out cookies with pink frosting. YUM! I adore these cookies and they are a real fave. The scent of vanilla and chocolate the way the cookie feels when I bite through the frosting into the tender cookie. The taste is incredible and makes we think of all kinds of wonderful, homey things. Despite all of this wonderfulness the most endearing part of the gift was the sweet gift card from my Dad proclaiming love from my very first love - my Dad.

I have always adored my Mom and Dad for the great parents and wonderful people they have been and continue to be. As a child and a teenager and college student they and Dad in particular went to great effort to assure each of us would be "good people" and have a way to make a living and and an ongoing commitment to integrity and a purposeful life. I cannot judge their success with me. I always feel like a work in progress. My sisters are awesome and a real credit to our family.

As a parent of young adults Dad switched gears from being a parental unit to being more of a guide and supporter. He cautioned us about some decisions - some advice was taken and some was ignored much to my eventual chagrin. See Dad you are right a lot of the time! Well most if truth be told. He supported us through graduate school and early career moves.

When things went awry he wouldn't spend a lot of time feeling bad about your situation or commiserating with you. Dad is the person who got you up and moving and pushing forward no matter what. He is always interested in promoting planning for the future and making great financial decisions. As a person who chose a career path that was less financially rewarding I didn't know at first just how valuable Dad's teaching could be especially for those with less funds. But I learned they were probably even more important to someone in my position. I do know that it was a challenge for Dad to see the way of the not for profit in terms of retirement and benefits when they differed so much from the for profit world. Dad was a great businessman when he was working and in retirement he continues as a wise counselor and investor. Some of my happiest times have been talking to Dad and looking over my retirement. I often see how much people are missing who don't have a person like my Dad to go to to discuss financial concerns.

While Dad has had many great achievements I think the best lesson he and Mom taught all of us is the value of family and the importance of commitment to your family through thick or thin. It's easy to be a happy family when times are good but to be a strong family when things are rough takes some guts and compassion. I think one of the best tributes to my Mom and Dad and their commitment to family came when we were celebrating one of their milestone anniversaries. Dad had engaged a table at a very nice restaurant overlooking Grand Traverse Bay. There were flowers and champagne on the table and the meal was wonderful. After dinner the sisters and a granddaughter each wrote and read their tribute to my parents. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. After dinner several of the people at surrounding tables asked to be adopted into our family.

One of Dad's many contributions has always been his steadfast hand on the tiller of the family. Always keeping his eye focused on the end result of a strong family unit as he refers to it. If things weren't quite right he could always bring us back to what was good about the circumstances and never let us stumble over the missing piece. He intuitively showed us survival and moving forward while working never to alienate those who were not always in sync with the group. Having sometimes been a person out of sync I can attest to the warmth and love that was unending. I can also speak to the power of a voice that could firmly work to help you realign your stars.

My sisters and I feel such good fortune and gratitude having these parents. After all birth is your first piece of luck or not being lucky and we know how grateful we are. So I was one lucky girl to have such a wonderful person who was my very first love. He set a high bar of excellence and as a role model in the love and devotion area of relationships. So Dad here's to you on Valentine's Day. You were definitely our first love and that was your first most wonderful gift to each of us. We return that love to you on Valentine's Day and every other day.

Be Our Valentine!

This one's for Mimi

2010-02-07T08:08:00.003-05:00

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. It is almost a national holiday for some given the parties and festivities attached to the game. Celebrities gather and party in preparation to watch the big game. At my house we have no celebrities. Just the average football fans looking for some fun. Part of the fun is the commercials. I still remember the donkey aspiring to be a Clydesdale. So if the commercials are as good as the game food needs to be hot and ready at the beginning of the game or warming for the half-time - whoops they have a show at half-time can't miss that! So this all comes together like a well oiled machine.

Lee as always wants chicken wings with blue cheese dressing. I will make carmelized onion dip and another dip. This dip is actually for Mimi. She is a huge fan of the Buckeyes and is passionate about their games. Dad says she can get pretty worked up. Yes she can about a number of things. One thing Mimi can get pretty worked up about in addition to football is the players. This year she has a sympathetic favorite in Drew Brees. She thinks he is a fine person who has done much for New Orleans. She would like New Orleans to win. She worked me over about my appreciation for Peyton Manning.

So I decided to bring something for the game to appease my mom. She would like nothing better than to savor crab cakes and I found a recipe to rock her socks - Crab Cake Dip. Kelly at Evil Shenanigans created this dip based on her own love of crab cakes. So Mama this one is just for you!

Kelly's Crab Cake Dip

3 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 mayonnaise
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. butter
1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
1 T. butter
1/2 C diced onion
1/4 C. red bell pepper diced
1 clove of garlic minced
salt and pepper
6 ounces lump crab meat
1/4 C. panko
2 T. parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a small casserole dish with PAM. In a small bowl stir together cream cheese, mayonnaise Old Bay Seasoning, mustard powder and lemon juice.

Melt 1 T. butter is a saute pan. Add onion and red pepper and saute until soft and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and add the garlic. Cook 30 seconds.

Add the vegetable mixture to the cream cheese mixture and stir to combine. Add the crab and stir gently. Put the mixture in the casserole. Mix together the panko and parmesan. Cover with the panko and parmesan.

Bake until brown and bubbly about 45 minutes.

Serve with baguette slices.

I've been up to.....

2010-01-26T17:54:00.003-05:00

It's been a month since I last posted. After the recovery from surgery I went back to work and have been working a challenging schedule. I started working on a new lap quilt for me. I usually make quilts to give away but I decided to be selfish. Like many quilters I have a stash of fabrics and items I picked up here and there. One of the items in my stash is a quilt kit. The kit is in the Jacob's ladder pattern and is done in 48 squares. The fabric in the quilt is Wyndham reproduction of fabric from the 1870's. The colors are beige and pale roses, dark reds, browns and grayed greens. I've wanted to make a Jacob's ladder quilt for a long time and when I saw the kit it was like a voice saying sew me. Well not quite but it certainly beckoned to me.

One of the pleasures of quilting is my new Viking Quilting machine that makes sewing easier. It's very quiet and is so accurate and easy to use. I have my machine set up so I can watch football or movies while I quilt. Another pleasure is pairing fabrics to make a light square and a dark square out of each pair of fabrics. It takes a while to really look and see what goes with what given the variety of patterns. I try to keep things complementary and watch how "busy" the paired fabrics are. Part of the square is two fabrics cut into two squares each and sewn together to make a larger square. I do chain piecing for this step and when I sew the squares in a long chain they form a line that reminds me of Tibetan prayer flags. Well they are quilter's prayer flags.

It's been so cold and snowy I've been making foods that are braised in a sauce and served with a starch and a vegetable. Today I chose a recipe for chicken paprikash from the Saveur magazine. My aunt is a world traveler. On her last trip abroad she brought me a trio of Hungarian paprikas. I used the sweet paprika for this recipe and made homemade dumplings tossed in butter and parsley and carrots as the sides. Leftovers are always available when you cook for two so reheating chicken paprikash brings out even more developing flavors. I've missed blogging but have been too busy with work and other duties and hope this recipe will elicit some forgiveness from those who have missed these posts.

Chicken Paprikash

1 cut up chicken skin removed
1/2 C flour
pepper to taste
1/4 C canola oil
2 T sweet paprika
2 large tomatoes peeled, cored and seeded
1 large yellow onion chopped
1 Italian frying pepper chopped
1 1/2 C chicken broth
3/4 C sour cream
2 T flour

Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Season the flour with pepper and dredge the chicken. Place the chicken in the dutch oven and brown turning once. Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the paprika, onions, peppers and tomatoes and cook 5 minutes until the onion is transparent. Place the chicken back in the dutch oven and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and let simmer until tender about 20 minutes. In a small bowl mix the flour and sour cream together. Add 3/4 C of sauce from the pan and stir well to combine thoroughly. Add the sour cream mixture back into the dutch oven and stir gently to combine well. Serve the paprikash hot over noodles or spaetzle.

A Bark for Becky

2009-12-27T09:14:00.003-05:00

Today's blog doesn't focus on a cookie - more on a holiday confection. The person who loves this is quite a confection herself. This would be my niece Becky Ford. Becky Ford is a teacher for special needs children who recently received a promotion in the Denver Public School system to a manager of special needs teacher. This promotion is well deserved for someone who loves to teach and loves her students. In this job she'll have the ability to bring a better learning environment to many students and teachers and she is just the person who can make it happen. Becky is passionate about people and children. She cares deeply about the quality of their lives and that they have an opportunity to live to their potential. When she first started teaching she saw the hard lives her students had. They came to school hungry and tired and not ready to learn. Becky worked to make things better for them so they could learn. I believe she worked hard to make innovations so school was a more supportive environment for the students as people and that school could be a home away from home for them.

Becky loves her family and for her brother's wedding made a collection of family recipes from members of the family combined with candid pictures of family and our times together. What a great gift. It was meaningful to everyone in the family and very exciting. For Christmas, Becky changed some of the pictures and had copies printed for those who hadn't received the earlier version. I was one of the proud recipients of that gift and it is something I will always treasure. I will cherish it especially as it really demonstrates the true nature of Becky as well and the thoughts of her are as dear as the collection of recipes and pictures itself.

Becky is one of the three March girls in our family who share many traits and being the babies of each of their families. All are passionate, loving people with wicked senses of humor and devotion to those they love. Like all the members of our family their have personality traits that render them vulnerable to teasing. She is incredibly fun but her passion for life makes her a little less vulnerable. She is lovely in so many ways in person and personality both. Becky Ford our family is blessed to have you.

Becky's choice is Peppermint Bark made with white chocolate. It's a casual fun food with many variations. You can use any kind of chocolate for the base. You can multiple layers of chocolate as the base and while peppermint means that you top it with peppermint you can also use almonds or other toppings.

Peppermint Bark

When I make peppermint bark I have about two pounds of chocolate. I line two half sheet pans with parchment. I melt the chocolate slowly over simmering water. I stir it to help it melt and become smooth and creamy. When it's reached this state I add a half teaspoon of peppermint extract. I then divide the melted chocolate between the two pans. Spreading it out to the edges yet maintaining about 1/3 to a 1/2 inch of thickness of the chocolate.

I crush 3 C of candy canes or peppermint candies and strew half over the top of each pan. Press the candies lightly so they will adhere to the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to cool and set until firm. Break the bark into irregular pieces and store in a tin between pieces of waxed paper. It's a true winter treat.

Thoughts of cookies and Cardamom Butter Squares

2009-12-20T17:31:00.004-05:00

Today, I am not blogging about one person's favorite cookie. I decided to give family hearts a break and just blog about a cookie I happen to like. My cookie favorite would be a molasses or gingery type cookie or a cookie that's based in butter with frosting. Nothing fancy or sophisticated there. Just full of taste and texture. But first I have to write a little about this season of cookie baking and what it means to me.

When I started baking cookies for family I developed a process that brings me immense pleasure. I make a list of all desirable cookies. This is a large and cumbersome list and would scare the faint of heart. I won't bake each cookie but I am developing a list to assure the best will be included. I include family favorites as the base then cull my cookie recipes for additions. I have 5 cookbooks exclusively for cookies, 6 cookie magazine collections and then a stack of cookie recipes that I collect throughout the year. So part of the pleasure and process is reading and eliminating, noting some as maybes, others as musts and compiling the initial list. Then I code the cookie list as to type of cookie - bar, rolled, drop, sliced, etc. The second coding is for chocolate, nut, frosted, fruit, butter, citrus, fruit, spice or some other standout ingredient. The final step is to cull the list to develop a list of cookies that are balanced by type and ingredient. I try to make sure that there is a balance of flavors and textures so we don't have an over abundance of any one type or kind of cookie. While some may see this whole process as pretty picky or even anal or perhaps compulsive it is a critical time for me.

The process is so much more than making a list. It gives me a sense of what the platter will look like and the variety of tastes. But mostly it starts the anticipation and excitement of the reality of cookies and baking and smiles. As I've written before, I have thought about each person and their cookie and them. I think about my memories of them through the years and the more recent past memories. I have hopes and dreams and gratitude for the presence of each person in my life. I think about the history of the cookies in my list. There are always some made from a recipe from someone who has passed on. Making those cookies allows me an opportunity to connect with all of them and bring so many happy memories back to the present. This is a most spiritual experience for me and without meaning to offend I see this process and baking and sending and enjoying cookies when they reach their destination to be a unique form of communion among the generations and the ones loved so well. Communion in shared meals is one of my beloved rituals of life and when family and dear ones are so far apart it brings everyone a shared experience to mark the time until we can unite at our summer vacation.

Today's cookie is a cardamom butter square. The recipe was developed by the McCormick Spice Company. Cardamom is an exotic spice and in my mind underused in cooking. This cookies combines several favorite flavors - spice, butter, espresso and bittersweet chocolate. They are rolled into a log and chilled. When ready to bake they are sliced and baked then decorated with drizzles of bittersweet and espresso frosting. They are very contemporary looking and just delicious.

Cardamom Butter Squares

3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp gr. cardamom
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 C softened butter
1 1/4 C granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a bowl.

Beat together sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixture for two minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture until just combined.

Form dough into two 12 inch logs wrap each in plastic wrap. Use your hands to roll, press and square the sides of each log. Chill logs on a baking sheet until slightly firm, about 1 hour then smooth logs with plastic wrap and flat side of ruler to achieve straight sides. Chill until firm, 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut scant 1/4 inch slices from a log to fill two ungreased baking sheets. arranging slices about 1 inch apart. (Chill remaining dough in plastic wrap.)

Bake cookies switching positions of the sheets midway during baking, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on sheets 3 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining dough.

Icing

1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 T milk
1 C confectioner's sugar

Mix the above together to make a thick but pourable frosting. Spoon into a sealable bag and snip 1/8 inch from corner. Use the bag to drizzle thin strips of espresso icing on the cookies.

3 oz melted bittersweet chocolate

Put 3 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate into another sealable bag, snip 1/8 inch from the corner and drizzle over the cookies. You have a two layer drizzle on each cookie. Let cookies stand on the racks until the icing is set about 2 hours.

This makes 6 dozen cookies.

Matt Ford's Cookie

2009-12-19T09:27:00.002-05:00

After a chat with his mom Sue, I learned that her son Matt Ford is a chocolate chip kind of guy. Matt is a graphic artist and very talented musician who migrated to California with his new wife Halle years ago. Matt and Halle were married in October at a beach side wedding with immediate family only. The pictures are beautiful and really convey the special day as a sublime experience. Matt is a very funny guy. He is so intense about his passions and he lives life large. He loves to experience his life fully and jumps in to life with all of his being. Matt is a redhead and has that sparky personality to match. As a little guy, Matt took up fishing and at one point managed to cast himself off the dock in his enthusiasm. He also tormented his younger sister by putting his thumb through the bottom of a shoebox and putting ketchup on it and displaying it much to Becky's horror.

Several years ago he had the opportunity to take a trip with some colleagues near Baja to run cars in the desert over several days. Matt brought many pictures and regaled the family for over an hour with stories from the trip. He summoned the excitement he felt during the trip and we all could feel his excitement. Matt is exuberance and passion personified. He is a party in a person.

Matt's cookie according to his Mom would be a chocolate chip cookie. That notion of a cookie for him didn't sit well with me until I remembered an article in the NYT about chocolate chip cookies. Apparently someone whipped up a very fine batch of chocolate cookie dough and allowed it to sit in the fridge for several days before baking. The notion was that holding the dough in this way allows the texture and the taste of the cookie to be transformed into something even more rich and delicious. I can't imagine making Matt sit for three days to bring his passion to a higher level but I can see Matt experiencing this cookie in a new and different way that really ramps it up for him to a higher level of pleasure and excitement.

This is a recipe for the cookie adapted from the baker and chocolatier Jacques Torres

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 C minus 2 T cake flour
1 2/3 C bread flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
\1 1/4 C light brown sugar
1 C plus 2 T. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks (chips) at least 60 percent cacao
sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
Using a mixer fixed with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5-10 seconds.
Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.
Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or nonstick baking mat and set aside.

Scoop 6 3 1/2 ounce mounds of dough onto the cookie sheet making sure any chocolate pieces that pop up are horizontal. (makes a more attractive cookie) Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies to another wire rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches.

Makes 1 1/2 dozen 5 inch cookies.

A Tom Ford Kind of Cookie

2009-12-18T16:29:00.003-05:00

Tom Ford is the husband of my sister Sue and Dad of Matt and Becky. He is a graduate of Purdue with an advanced degree in engineering. Tom is laid back and can be quiet but he is an keen observer and will contribute a dry remark based on his observations that will surely make you laugh. He also laughs and has a fine sense of humor which has served him well being the last man standing as one of the husbands of three siblings. He has more than paid his dues through the years and knows the Henry's backwards and forwards. It would be fun to be a little mouse and hear some Henry stories as he would relate them from his perspective.

We have some great Tom stories that we have laughed about that brought us to tears of laughter. Tom is a devoted fisher and golfer. On one fishing adventure he returned home with a hook attached to the back of his head. He apparently landed his biggest catch ever - himself! He clipped the line and went to the ER where they helped him release his catch to fish again. He approached this whole experience with a look of chagrin and quiet fortitude and perhaps a small degree of disgust that he had to share this situation with many different people. He didn't grin but he really bore it. Tom is quite handsome and in my mind reminds me of Howie Long. Tom can't see it because there is a height and size difference but it is apparent to me. Last summer he appeared at vacation with very short hair and suffered a lot of teasing about his "do" from Aunt Buck and generation 3. It had a very military style to it and someone ended being called Sarge but it may not have been Tom.

One of my favorite pictures of Tom is him bending over on one side of a glass door to make a smile at Jon my son when he was such a little guy. It is a sweet picture and so much captures Tom's kindness and affection for family. Tom is a person who is warm and kind and a person of quiet strength. He'll stand with you through thick and thin but can help you see your strength and the humor of a situation. He has character and purpose that anyone would want to have and a better partner for my sister could not be found. I am proud to have Tom as a member of my family and each of us are better for having him there. He is just a great guy and such a treasure. I couldn't ask for a better brother or brother - in law.

When I asked Tom about his favorite cookie he described a cookie Mimi made that was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and of course chocolate. He further stated that if I didn't know what he was talking about I could just post a chocolate cookie recipe and that would be heaven. Well, surprise Uncle Tom. Your favorite cookie is known as the Really Good Christmas Cookie. The cookie came to us by way of our back fence neighbor Helen Johnston. Helen and her husband Doc were characters of the first order and great people to have as neighbors. Mimi baked these cookies just for Tom year after year.

Really Good Christmas Cookie

2 pkgs Bakers German Sweet Chocolate
1 T. butter
2 eggs
3/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter over hot water. Stir and cool.

Beat eggs until foamy add sugar 2 T. at a time. Beat 5 minutes. (Don't cut this corner!)

Blend in chocolate mixture.

Add dry ingredients. Blend

Stir in vanilla and nuts.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 6-8 minutes and cool.

A Cookie for Cammy

2009-12-18T09:01:00.002-05:00

Cammy is my niece, daughter of Buck and the tail end of generation three. She is actually the bridge between generation 3 and 4. To the very young members of generation 4 Cammy is Miss good time. She will play with the boys endlessly, entertaining them with games and activities and just having a lap to sit in and cuddle. For Miriam she is a connection to be a member of the Henry girls - an awesome cadre of women with personalities that are pretty big and wide. Don't feel bad Henry guys. You are each unique and special and have big personalities but as Bobo can tell you there is some disparity with the women that tends to give things a unique tilt. It all works doesn't it. When Cammy was a toddler she hokey-pokeyed endlessly with the family and played and watched the laughter and craziness of her family. One night as her Mom was tucking her into bed she asked, "Who are those crazy people?" Her Mom steadily replied "Cammy that's your family." I think it was a lot to sleep on but she has grown into her role. When we celebrated Cammy's birthday Sue created a quiz based on Cammy's social life. The best question dealt with the number of text messages and Cammy had over 5000 text messages per month. Take a deep breath. So when I wanted to learn to text I consulted Cammy who taught me patiently and I text her from time to time along with my other texting buddies. Jon my son was texting me and when we got together he shared a very telling observation when he told me I texted like a 13 year old. The mark of Cammy.

Because Cammy was the tail end her two aunts had great experience and raising children before their baby sister got her chance. However Rebecca was very helpful to her older sisters and had great advice from her experience as a psychologist to offer her sisters. Cammy was is a special and unique person in her own right but definitely shares many Henry girl and guy traits. She is fun loving and athletic and all about an adventure. She is a senior in high school and her Facebook lists her friends as well over 500 nearest and dearest people in her life. Cammy is an accomplished ice skater and skates competitively and teaches ice skating at the rink where she skates and holds down a part-time job. Her academic career is going well and we expect great things for her future from what we know about her as a person. It's been fun for Sue and me to watch Becky and Cammy's relationship over the years. Beck 's done a great job with Cammy working to give her daughter freedom and the opportunity to make her own choices yet protect her from the challenges people Cammy's age experience. They survived the challenging time and continue to travel forward.

Cammy's cookie choice is Peanut Butter Blossoms. The cookie with as Beck describes as peanut butter with a blob of chocolate in the middle.

Peanut Butter Blossoms
48 Hershey's Kisses Brand Milk Chocolate unwrapped
1/2 C shortening
3/4 C creamy peanut butter
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C brown sugar packed
1 egg
2 T milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees
Beat shortening and peanut butter together in large bowl until blended. Add granulated and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla, beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt and beat into peanut butter mixture.
Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a kiss into the center of each cookie. The cookie will crack around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 48 cookies.

Love you Sk8rgrl!

Rebecca's Bar

2009-12-17T18:05:00.003-05:00

"We live by the mantra: We never met an Annie cookie we didn't love!" That was the response I received when I emailed my sister Rebecca and her daughter Cammy and asked what might be their favorite cookie each. Great answer. That's the kind of answer that inspires a baker and helps us break out of the baking box. And I must share that Rebecca or Buck as she is known can be very inspirational when it comes to fun and living life to the fullest with great care and love for her family and others. I would tell you she is thoughtful and you would say oh she thinks of others. That certainly is true but she is thoughtful meaning turning on her thinking processes to bring out her best when we talk about the things and people that mean the most to us. Like the rest of my family she is caring and has a huge heart for others. Rebecca wears her heart on her sleeve for others and is filled with compassion. She is a softy with a very strong and keen intellect.

She sounds like Mother Teresa doesn't she but good as she is she is not quite there. Buck balances her kindness with her keen sense of fun. It's a family trait I tell you! Rebecca is the person who is always up for a game or a good time. She will tease and mock during the nightly slip a$$ game on vacation to throw her opponent and secure a win. She nicknamed Elijah E-Z-E and recognized his rockin' nature as a little guy. She proclaimed her star role as the funniest kid in class when confronted by a dad who thought she might do better academically in grade school but she also won the annual MUGS award from that same school. Quite an honor. She has no patience with long processes and has been known to announce as we drove on the first leg of a family vacation "If I knew it would take this long I would have stayed with Grandma Henry!". She didn't appreciate the cooking process and met the right guy (Thank you David). She confronted me about a recipe I shared that had more than 4 ingredients and took about 6 hours to produce. David would say I was the beneficiary of a Buckburst. So at risk of the more atomic Buckruption I will cease to share more sister stories of this beloved sister. Just know that I love her with all of my heart and it is my good fortune to have her as a sister!

So Rebecca's favorite cookie ........it would be a lemon bar. Like Rebecca tart but sweet, crisp yet creamy , multi-layered and an all around great choice to balance other flavors on the Christmas cookie platter.

Luscious Lemon Bars

Crust:
2 C. flour
1/2 C confectioner's sugar
1 C. butter or vegetable shortening

Topping:
4 large eggs
2 C granulated sugar
1/3 C fresh lemon juice
1/4 C flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
zest of a lemon - I use this for extra kick but it is optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan
To make the crust, combine the flour and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the butter or shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake 20 minutes

While the crust bakes make the topping.
Ina large bowl beat the eggs until thick, and light-colored. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the lemon juice. Beat in the flour and baking powder.
Pour the topping over the baked crust.
Bake for 20-25 minutes longer until light colored and firm to the touch.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
You can substitute lime juice and make lime bars as well.

Adapted from 1001 Cookie Recipes.

Mimi's Cookie

2009-12-17T07:27:00.002-05:00

My mom AKA Mimi is the person who enabled me in the kitchen. She pretty much gave me free reign and let me experiment and bake to my heart's content. She was gracious through my culinary highs and lows. Mimi refers to herself as a plain cook and not gourmet but she definitely makes great food and wonderful meals. She also has some dishes that people just love and ask her to make. Mimi's applesauce is a family legend. Her cottage potatoes and potato salad are wonderful. Growing up, her fried chicken with white gravy was a birthday treat. Every Christmas Mimi made a braided tea ring from the Betty Crocker cookbook. It was a beautiful yeasted ring with filling and decorated with frosting almonds and candied cherries. When I started baking Christmas cookies Mimi quickly asked me if I was making gumdrop bars. Mimi's cookie is a brown sugar based cookie filled with chopped gumdrops. It's a very sweet cookie but it is called a Jewelled Cookie because of the pieces of gumdrops in the cookie. They are glazed with a thin lemon frosting.

There is another member of the family that appreciates gumdrop bars. My dog Jack the beagle in his younger days was quite a devil. One year I baked the bars, cut and frosted them and put them on foil on the counter. Jack was able to stand on his hind legs and tease the foil to the edge of the counter where he ate half a recipe of gumdrop bars! That's 2 C. of gumdrops and a C. of sugar and butter people and the results were lovely. I will not describe anything beyond that. I will never forget making gumdrop bars without thinking of my Mom and of course Jack.

Gum Drop Bars

Mix together thoroughly:
1/2 C shortening
1/2 C. unsalted butter
2 C. packed brown sugar
2 eggs

Stir in:
1/2 C sour milk or buttermilk

Sift together and stir in:
3 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt

Mix in 4 C. chopped gumdrops

Place in a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool and frost with a lemon glaze

Lemon Glaze

2 C confectioners sugar
3 T lemon juice
1 T. melted butter
zest of a lemon

This is a great cookie. Thanks Mimi and Betty Crocker

Back to the Bars

2009-12-16T18:45:00.004-05:00

Well not literally the drinking establishments but bar cookies. As one of the basic types of cookies bars are fundamental. They lend themselves perfectly to layering and a resulting composite of tastes. Infinite combinations of favorite flavors can produce hundreds of different cookies. Mathematic in scale it would take an engineer to assess the number and layered shapes.

One of my favorite engineers is a software engineer my son in law Josh. Josh is another cookie lover. Josh is a master of fun and fantasy for his little crew of kids. He is expanding his woodworking skills and makes wooden toys and projects for the children's school. He takes time to listen to the children intently and converse with them. He is working on creating his home through cooking, canning, barbecuing and home projects. He and Jen are great partners in creating their home and family and he is a blessing in our family.

Josh happens to like peanut butter in cookies. I discovered this during one of my recent visits to Seattle. So of course I made a batch of peanut butter cookies for him. He liked them and they were a hit with his two young sons as well. Jen was telling me she was planning to make some cookies during my baking hiatus. Jen asked for some recipes and discussed cookie options. One of the options was a cookie for Josh based on peanut butter. I searched through the cookie files and found one for chocolate peanut butter layer brownies. They have a peanut butter base with a chocolate brownie top. Given Josh's love of fun and dry humor about all things of life these should tickle his palate and evoke some happy times with his family.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Brownies

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick softened unsalted butter
1 1/4 C sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C chunky peanut butter
3 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 9 in square baking pan. Knock out the excess flour.
In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate stirring , until smooth and remove the top of the double boiler or bowl from heat. Cool chocolate to room temperature.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy and beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and vanilla.
Into a small bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and beat into the butter mixture just until well blended.
Divide the batter between two bowls. Whisk peanut butter into batter in 1 bowl. Whisk the melted chocolate into other bowl and add the chopped chocolate and stir to combine.
Spread peanut butter evenly into the pan. Drop chocolate batter by large spoonfuls onto the peanut butter base and spread carefully to form an even layer.

Bale brownies for 35 to 40 minutes in the middle of the oven. Cool brownies completely in the pan before cutting into 16 squares.

Hey Josh, enjoy with my love to you.

A Chocolate Blog

2009-12-16T12:45:00.004-05:00

Like most of America and the world, I live amidst a family of chocolate mavens. One particular maven is my sister Sue. Sue is my middle sister and the organizer of the family. She is affectionately called Miss Mom by the family and my parents conjecture that she has Grandma Henry's drive to run the family and rule the world. She is intense and perhaps not to that degree of ruling the world but she has definite ideas about how things need to be. Are you seeing a continuing theme in the Henry family?

She is amazingly fun and a laugh a minute. She staged a picture to look like she fell down the dunes and was clawing her way to the top of the hill. In another picture she plastered her nose with chocolate cake batter and staged a shot of her lunging for the bowl of cake batter I held. There are more stories but the stories could fill a book. She is one of two very special sisters I have and I love them both to distraction. Sue as a chocolate maven had a challenge with my Mom over Sue's desire for a chocolate wedding cake. Mom believed at that time it just wasn't done. A great aunt told Mom that the Groom's cake could be chocolate so the wedding cake was half chocolate and half white. Knowing her love of chocolate and my love for her I am dedicating this special recipe to her. This is a triple chocolate espresso cookie that will sate the chocolate desire of any chocolate maniac. So Miss Mom here is your cookie. Love you!

Triple Chocolate Espresso Cookies

1 3/4 C flour
3 T. cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 C softened unsalted butter
1 C dark brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C (6 oz.) chocolate chips

Sift flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally so it melts evenly; remove from heat when smooth.
In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars on medium speed for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
Pour in melted chocolate and beat until combined.
Add flour mixture and chips and mix on low until just incorporated.
Cover dough and refrigerate 15-20 minutes until firm enough to scoop.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line several cookie sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
Roll dough into 1 1/2 " balls and place on sheets 2 inches apart.
Bake 8-10 minutes - cookies will appear soft but will firm up on cooling. Cool cookie sheets on wire racks before moving with a metal spatula.

Enjoy!

Cookie Blogs III

2009-12-15T15:08:00.004-05:00

Today I had a wonderful experience. One of my dear friends emailed me and asked me to visit. She thought I might be missing Christmas cookies and baking because of my knee. She and her daughter baked and she wanted to share some with me. She dropped off a beautiful platter of eight different assorted cookie varieties. How nice. I never receive Christmas cookies. It was such a treat to look at the variety and sample a cookie. They are delicious. I said to Nancy the giver , "You have rugelach." "Oh you mean sour cream roll ups?", she asked. Isn't it funny that so often the things we see as the same are different or vice versa. But the enjoyment of tradition and flavors though different can evoke fond memories of tastes, smells and experience.

Today I offer another bar cookies. In the process of making over 1000 cookies you learn some efficiencies. Lots of bars, lots of slices created from rolls of refrigerated dough and drops. Spritz are individually shaped but by a cookie press which makes a pretty fast process. Little time for rolled cookies - plus they may be too fragile to travel.So yet again a bar cookie. I'll go a bit further and tell you it's a sleeper cookie. Sleeper because it looks pretty average. Crumbs adorn the top but it is a pretty plain undecorated cookies. Your eye wouldn't be drawn to it as you might an iced cut-out or a frosted drop or swirled marbleized cookies with sprinkles. But it is a mouthful of caramel and crumbs. It's an easy cookie because it's based is refrigerated cookie dough. I know that's kind of a trick from a cook who likes to make things from scratch but it is a delicious cookie none the less. The cookie is one of Miss Jen's favorite. She is a cookie lover and I thinks she loves the exotic name with the very simple caramel note of the cookie.

Dulce de Leche Bars

2 rolls refrigerator sugar cookie dough (18 oz each)
1 3/4 C. rolled oats
2/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tsp. vanilla
1 bag of caramels (14-15 oz.)
1/2 C. butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)
3 T. caramel topping

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Break up 1 cookie roll into a large bowl. Add 3/4/C of the oats, 1/3 C brown sugar and 1 tsp. of the vanilla; mix well. With floured fingers press the dough mixture evenly into the bottom of ungreased 15x10x1 inch baking pan to form the crust.
Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown.
Meanwhile in the same bowl break up the second cookie dough roll. Add the remaining oats, 1/3 C brown sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla; mix well.
In a large heavy saucepan heat caramels, butter and condensed milk over medium low heat, stirring frequently until caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth.
Remove partially baked pan of cookies from the oven. Spread caramel mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining cookie mixture evenly over the top of the caramel.
Return to oven. Bake 18-22 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Run knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Cool completely - 2 hours. Using a small spoon drizzle the caramel topping over the top of the cookies. Cut into bars.

Here's to you Miss Jen. Enjoy the cookies.

Cookie Blog

2009-12-14T17:45:00.004-05:00

Jon came over yesterday to spend some time and he said he read the Grasshopper Squares blog. He asked when would I blog about his favorites - Golf Balls. I had to tell my sweet son that I had already posted about his favorite cookie at the end of last year. You can search under golf balls or Christmas cookie to go to that particular blog. Jon is really craving golf balls and it was almost as if by blogging they would become reality. Oh the wishes of the young. I would so make him golf balls if I could.

His wishing reminds me of one of the most important steps of any activity I do when I'mmaking something for someone else. Whether quilting or cooking or any other activity when I am making something for someone or someones special. I spend time thinking about the person. I remember happy times together, the little quirks and eccentricities of the person. I imagine the look on their face when they see or taste the outcome. In so many ways to me it is a communion of spirit that transcends mere baking and sewing and brings something unique to the experience of making the cookie or the quilt or whatever. The process can become almost meditative particularly when the process is another step in a long tradition.

I love making golf balls for several reasons. They are a cookie beloved by my family in general. They are especially loved by my Dad and my son - two very important men in my life. My mom and I made this cookie together so many times and I have wonderful memories of cooking with her that I will treasure forever. Finally the taste of the cookie itself is nutty, buttery and slightly sweet and the cookies just melt in your mouth. Go find that recipe! They are alternatively known as Mexican wedding cakes or Russian tea cakes.

So for today's cookie I have a very fun cookie beloved by my children and friends. It's a year round cookie good anytime but its incredible chocolatey, caramelly sweetness can bring you to your knees. So it's a great cookie on a cookie platter at Christmas. The cookie is also special because the recipe was found in a cookbook given to me by my children when they were quite young. It is one of the first cookbooks in my collection and it still stands proudly on the shelf. My dear friend Khristopher loves the cookie. Khristopher is a friend of long standing who is a mortician/drag queen. He lives in LA and is now a mortician to the stars. Khristopher asked for the recipe for a bake off at the funeral home in Columbus where he worked. Let it proudly be known that this cookie won first prize at the Schoedinger Funeral Home staff picnic. I hope you'll enjoy this cookie.

Turtle Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan

1 package German Sweet Chocolate cake mix
1 small can evaporated milk
1 12 oz package of chopped pecans
3/4 C. softened butter
1 15 oz package of caramels

In a bowl combine cake mix, 1/3 C evaporated milk, and butter. After spraying your hands with cooking spray press 1/2 of the cake mixture into the bottom of the pan spreading evenly. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes.

Melt the caramels with 1/3 C. evaporated milk in the microwave stirring frequently until smooth and creamy.

Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the partially baked cookie base. Drizzle the caramel mixture over the nuts and cookies using it all. Then crumble the rest of the cake mixture evenly over the top of the cookies base. It doesn't need to cover perfectly. The crumbles will melt and nuts and caramel will peek through after baking.

Bake the cookies for 15 - 20 minutes and allow to cool. For best results I bake the cookies the day before serving so the caramel can solidify and make cutting in squares easier. This is a great cookie and wonderful as part of a holiday selection.

The next cookie is a favorite of Miss Jen's Dulce de Leche bars!! Stay tuned.

The Christmas Cookie Blogs

2009-12-13T09:30:00.003-05:00

Due to recovery from knee surgery - how many times will I have to say this? -I cannot follow my usual holiday tradition of cookie baking for my family and Lee's. In past years we baked 12-15 different kinds choosing family traditions and mixing with new and exotic cookies. They would be sorted and boxed according to families and numbers of people and sent across the United States. All told more than 1000 cookies were baked and sent. It is fun and a time filled with spirits of Christmas past, the joy of Christmas present and hope for Christmas futures.

Because I cannot bake I've decided to do a series of posts of Christmas cookies that I have baked for loved ones. There will be a little story with each recipe that talks about the cookie, its tradition or the people that love the cookie.

I am starting off with the youngest generation of folk. Eli and Gabe ages 7 and soon to be 4 live in Seattle. They are great Christmas aficionados and love tradition. Their favorite cookie happens to be grasshopper squares. Grasshopper squares are a lovely combination of chocolate and mint. The boys love this flavor combination and the creamy, minty frosting. The recipe description says, "These cookies fairly explode in the mouth with silky, fudgy chocolate and cool mint ganache. " Yowser! Jen asked for the recipe as she will bake some cookies for the season as her momma couldn't come through. The boys will help her bake and as it is with most child bakers we have to wonder how much will end up on faces and hands and how much cookie will be left. I'll be waiting for pics of baking on their web site www.diamondfamily.org in the Picasa gallery.

Please oh please if you choose to bake any of the cookies use high quality ingredients. Follow quantities and directions explicitly. You'll have the best results. I promise.

Okay so I won't keep you waiting a minute more.

Grasshopper Squares adapted from Gourmet

Brownie Layer

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
10 1/2 oz fine quality bittersweet chocolate finely chopped (no more than 60% cacao)
1 1/2 C packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/4 C plus 2 T. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
3/4 tsp. salt

For Mint Ganache
1/2 C heavy cream
10 0z. fine quality white chocolate chopped
2 T. creme de menthe
1 tsp. peppermint extract

For Chocolate Ganache

1 C heavy cream
10 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened) finely chopped

Brownie Layer
Put rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375. Lightly butter a 13 x 9 baking pan and line with two criss-crossed sheets of foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang on the sides. Butter foil.

Melt butter and chocolate with brown sugar in a 3 qt. heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined. Whisk in flour, cocoa, and salt until just combined.
Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake until set and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs adhering, about 20 minutes.
Cool completely in a pan on a rack 90 minutes.

Mint Ganache
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2-3 qt. saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over white chocolate in a bowl. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Stir in creme de menthe and extract and chill, stirring occasionally until thick, 1 hour.

Chocolate Ganache
Bring cream to a simmer in a 2-3 qt. saucepan and remove from heat. Pour over bittersweet chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Chill, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 30 minutes.

Assemble layers

Spread mint ganache over brownie layer in a thin even layer using an offset spatula, then chill until firm but still slightly sticky, about 30 minutes.
Spread chocolate ganache over mint and chill until firm, about 2 hours.
Lift dessert out of pan using foil overhang. Run a heavy knife under hot water and wipe dry, then trim 1/4 ' edge off each side of dessert. Cut dessert into small squares and peel foil.

This makes 6 dozen cookies.

Traditions

2009-12-06T05:58:00.003-05:00

Holidays are days of traditions laid end to end to bring family and loved ones together in joy, peace and connection to the past, present and future. People at the festivities change or may be absent for a time or two but the traditions celebrated near or far unite loved ones. Like many families my family has rich traditions that have been continued and celebrated through the years and passed on to future generations to keep and tend and even modify a bit as new traditions are forged out of old. My grandparents were great at keeping traditions and welcoming family. Special foods of course, but Santa's visit on Christmas Eve at the farm, a meal crowded with cousins around a huge dining room table, a special gift chosen with great care for each child, great aunts and uncles sharing a meal on a cold evening and tales of parents as young ones over the years. Participating in traditions always evokes stories of events past and memories dying to be shared.

In my immediate family, traditions have been passed down and been created to weave the familiar personalities and fun with foods and activities. On Christmas Eve a tradition was built to serve charcuterie which is a divine mixture of cured meats, cheeses and pickles as a first course with breads and crackers and condiments. The second course is James Beard turkey in lettuce leaves - a recipe already on this blog. Finally Christmas cookies are served. In years past I am the cookie monster er master. Each year I bake about 13 - 15 kinds of cookies to share with my family scattered throughout the states. Cookies are a mix of bars and drops, shaped, molded and flavors. There are some cookies that are always there - golf balls, turtle bars, chocolate mint brownies and much, much, more. This year the Christmas cookies are giving way to knee replacement. There is no way to make cookies to send 10 different ways with this knee. My family assures me it will make the cookies taste better next year.

I have been watching the younger generations as they build their families to see what traditions they keep and what they add for them. Facebook has shared some clues as to what is ahead for the family. Last night Jen and Josh and the kids put up their tree. They had a family expedition to select a live tree and brought it home to put it up. Gabe has been asking for the tree daily so finally he is getting his wish. According to Jen Eli has matured and you can tell as he places his ornaments in a variety of sites on the tree. Gabe follows early Eli and tends to decorate one spot on the tree. Miriam gazes up from her spot on the floor and parents try to plan for safety for some low hanging ornaments.

Jen loves tradition and has been trying to find the holiday time that is right for them to add charcuterie. Well tree decorating night seems to be the perfect time. Jen and Josh prepared a plate of charcuterie and like any good tradition added several new options. She added shrimp cocktail and mini-pizzas. Of course with two boys of such different personalities there must be not one but two kinds of pizza. Eli likes the silver dollar sized pizzas and Gabe likes medium mini pizzas. Jen and Josh have really added to the wonder of tree transformation by combining a tradition from another holiday time. The time is a festive family party of rediscovering ornaments and adding new ones to the tree remembering occasions and why we have which ornament and how it came to the family.

With our family separated by states it is a joy to see what they are doing to celebrate occasions and create traditions of their own as well as keeping family traditions. I hope each of you celebrates your own family traditions in the way you love and cherish this holiday season.

Support and Revelations

2009-12-03T08:48:00.003-05:00

Since my knee replacement and the long recovery I have been the beneficiary of gifts that are the best not as material objects but the gifts of revelation. I had underestimated the challenging nature of this surgery and throught I would be back to normal within a few short weeks. LAUGH NOW ALL OF YOU I WAS REALLY CRAZY WASN'T I. I now awaken every day waiting to see how the day goes as a barometer of progress in the road to recovery. I evaluate the pain, number of pills needed yesterday versus today and the stiffness of the knee and its perceived mobility. I do the exercises and try to gauge my progress in degrees and ability to tolerate knee positions. It is exhausting. While I have been recovering my family and friends have come forward to support me at a level which I never expected. I have received gifts of food, meals and I do mean complete meals with extras for the freezer, magazines, fruit arrangements, cookies, restaurant lunches and each comes with a visit which is very nice. These friends have been such a revelation of kindness. I had no idea that we would be the recipients of such generosity. Amazing and wonderful. I feel like Sally Field - You like me! It is the best feeling in the world and I will never underestimate the meaning of support and showing up for the people in your life.

Lee is also the beneficiary of this kindness and she too marvels at people's kindness and generosity. Lee has been saved many nights of cooking thanks to this kindness and generosity and for that we are both grateful. Last night Lee made pasta and salad which was lovely. It was the first meal she actually cooked. So this is Lee. "Anne when I cook the pasta does it go in the pan with the cold water or do I do something else?" Sigh. The pasta was lovely but slightly undrained. I asked about this and she told me she drained the pasta by spoonfuls. Such commitment. By the way I froze meals before surgery so we had marinara sauce for the pasta. Lee makes an excellent salad. Last night's was romaine, carrots, kalamata olives, pignoli and freshly grated parmesan with purchased dressing. After three weeks of TLC from Lee I would tell you she is the second revelation. She is eager to offer assistance whenever needed and for anything. She is patient and kind and almost never says no - she refused to make turkey tetrazinni and we had one more Thanksgiving meal in a row. When I am frustrated and down she is upbeat and encouraging. She makes me laugh and she has really stepped up to a huge plate. We have three dogs and feeding the dogs and me can be an ordeal. Jack the elderly beagle has warm broth and rice mixed with medicine and he eats that first. When he finishes that he gets his kibble mixed in. Dude and Doris are not so picky but require the kibble and broth mix with meds for Doris. Then she gets to feed me. Our only debacle has been oatmeal. I love old fashioned oast undercooked, sprinked with brown sugar and granola and sliced bananas with milk on the side. The first time she prepared oatmeal she boiled it and it was overcooked and gloppily inedible. The second time she tried the micowave and it wasn't as overdone but could have cooked less. She then mixed it all together - yech! So now no oatmeal ever again. I guess I can live without oatmeal until I can do it myself. Lee has been my second revelation in patience and kindness. Thank you Lee, you are the best!

The third revelation is much more mundane and in keeping with my usual focus on food. The other day I expressed an urge for a cupcake and Lee said "I will get you a cupcake". This involved a trip to the Ele' Cake Company and a beautiful white cupcake with pink frosting. This cupcake looked so traditional yet the cake was a specialty cake of raspberry cake cloaked in white cake topped with raspberry frosting. OMG. I could only eat half at a time it was so very rich and the tastes so true to fresh raspberry. I have been watching Cake Boss with Lee and we marvel at the specialty cakes produced. I wonder how would they taste? Well if they are anything like my cupcake they are unbelievable as a dessert and as well as a design. Now I am on a quest to understand cakes and will be returning to Rose Levy Berenabum's Cake Bible. Rose took cake baking to a science and spent years studying baking science to produce luscious and beautiful cakes. One of the things I most love about her cookbook are the sections that she terms "understanding" that convey information about baking that really changes the concept of baking. Studying Rose gain should help me take another step up in my baking ability. The other part of this revelation in taste that is so exciting is that one of the owners of the Ele' Cake Company is the cousin of Mr. MW. Mr. and Mrs MW are celebrating their 25th anniversary and will be serving three cakes from Ele'. However the best news is that the owner may be attending the party. I so hope to meet her and drag her into a corner to talk about baking and her business - cake business that is.

The recipe below is the cake I made for Mr. MW's birthday. It is not an Ele' cake but it is a cake from a recipe by Dorie Greenspan of baking and Julia Child fame. Mr. MW's favorite cake is a carrot cake and this is Big Bill's Carrot Cake. The only problem with the cake is that there was no pineapple and in my mind one must have pineapple in a carrot cake. So I decided to make a filling of rum and pineapple to put between the layers and on top with cream cheese frosting on the sides. I added dark rum to the cream cheese frosting to hit the ball home so to speak!

Mr MW's Carrot Cake adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Cake:
2 C all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder.
2 tsp. gr. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
3 C grated carrots
1 C coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 C moist plump raisins
2 C sugar
1 C canola or safflower oil
4 large eggs

Filling
28 oz can crushed pineapple drained
2 -3 T. dark rum
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 C brown sugar

Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter
1 lb. confectioner's sugar (3 3/4 C)
1 T dark rum
1/2 C shredded coconut

325 degree oven butter and flour 3 9 " cake pans. For the cake: Whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake. In another bowl combine, carrots, coconut, nuts and raisins. In a mixer beat the oil and sugar togetheron medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture mixing until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix in the fruit and nut mixture and divide the batter between the three pans. Bake 40 - 50 minutes rotating the pans in the oven so they bake evenly.. When done a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean and the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Let cool 5 minutes then invert the cakes, unmold them and allow the cakes to cool to room temperature.

Filling
While the cake is baking combine the filling ingredients and cook over medium heat until thickened. Cool.

Frosting
In the stand mixer beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the rum and coconut and beat to smooth.

To assemble the cake put one layer on a plate or stand and frost the top with one-third of the fiulling. Repeat for the next layer. Top with the third layer. Using the frosting frost the sides of the cake. Finally using the last of the filling dress the top of the cake.

This is a wonderful cake.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T10:44:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a wonderful holiday for me on so many levels. Mom and Dad in from Florida, Jon joining us as a Dayton resident, Becky Ford in from Colorado and then Sue and Tom, Aunt Dorr, Tom's dad Bob and Bob's wife Jane. A traditional gathering from near and far. It was especially wonderful for me because I actually was able to go. Surgery 16 days ago and lots of hopes and wishes to be able to go. Being able to go was a little iffy from the beginning but particularly so after a grueling day Monday of doctoring, PT and recovery. The rehab PT on Tuesday gave me my marching orders to do nothing but ice my knee, exercise the proscribed number of times and relax and see. So I did just that and was able to go. Going was not so simple and required generous spirits on the side of my precious sister Sue and her husband Tom. They went out of their way to make me comfortable and welcome. For me going was like taking a baby - pillows, cooler with bags of frozen veggies for knee icing , meds and patience. I planted myself in the recliner and iced while the holiday activities unfolded.

My perch on the recliner was the perfect spot to watch all of the activities in the kitchen. It was very hard to sit there and see all of my favorite activities occurring without being in the middle, helping, advising and chatting and admiring. Sue and Tom and Mom and Dad took major leads in preparing the wonderful meal. Sue's meal is always traditional and it really touches the core of what I understand Thanksgiving to be. Yet like many dinners it is a compilation of traditions. The main meal is always pretty much that of the past. Sue does get wild and crazy with appetizers and desserts. So it is very fun and full of surprises. Appetizers were a delicious creamy bleu cheese dip with celery and onion served on crackers and a hot crab and artichoke dip with red peppers, cream and parmesan cheese baked and served with toasts. Oh those yummy chunks of crab were to die for.

The main part of the meal was a beautiful juicy turkey sliced by the engineer and beautifully displayed on the platter. Sides included mashed yukon gold potatoes with gravy, peas and onions, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, rolls and two kinds of stuffing. The sweet potatoes come from niece Becky. They are peeled and steeped in water and baking soda. After that they are drained and poached slowly in a brown sugar, butter and cinnamon syrup. They are so awesome. Each bite has butter and cinnamon. The flavor just permeates through the potatoes. So unlike sweet potato casserole where there are potatoes souffleed and covered with a glaze of nuts and brown sugar and butter. With that you eat through layers of flavors. These potatoes are simple and incredibly delicious.

Our family enjoys simple bread dressing baked in the bird. Tom's family grew up with stuffing balls. Balls of stuffing are scooped on to a cookie tray and baked to crispy goodness in the oven while the turkey rests. So you really have to savor stuffing both ways. Dessert was a cheesecake made by Sue and Tom together. Pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust topped with marshmallow creme glaze. It is so rich you have to have a very slim piece to savor. It is a sneaking up on you dessert - you take a bite and then another, each bite accruing flavor and sweetness and your tummy just leaps with joy at the last bite. This was as Lee described the best cheesecakes she ever ate.

That wonderful food combined with joy and laughter, sharing and stories was the perfect day - the Thanksgiving I dreamed about. We had calls from those not present wishing everyone well so we had more opportunities to share being family. My sister Sue is the person we call Miss Mom and tease her about her energy about the family. It's an energy we all share and treasure because it is what makes each occasion with our family so unique and special. Sue and Tom make their home a gathering place for all and welcome everyone with open hearts and warm spirits. Laughter overflows and loves bounces off the walls from hearts together. Sweet Becky Ford their daughter is a warm heart and spirit who is loving and joyful. They worked together to make a very special holiday for their family and we all say thank you to them from the bottom of our hearts.

I am including Sue's recipe for Bleu Cheese Dip. It is simple and delicious and is a great appetizer.

Bleu Cheese Dip with Celery and Onion

1 8 0z package of room temperature cream cheese
1 C crumbled bleu cheese
1 C sour cream
1 C mayonnaise
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1/2 C finely chopped celery
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Combine chill 1 hour and serve with crackers or veggies.

Catching Up

2009-11-25T14:04:00.003-05:00

Way too long since I've blogged. Not that there haven't been themes and topics but I haven't been available. October is breast cancer awareness month and November is Knee month - well not for everybody just for me. On November 10th I had a total knee replacement. I am recovering from surgery and doing rehab. What I've learned about knee replacement surgery and recovery is that there is not a single path. There are multiple paths in recovery. Those paths are not always coordinated and interdependent. On the one path I have a new knee. The knee straightens and flexes and will allow me to have more mobility and comfort as I go about my days. I'll climb stairs, can walk on hikes and stand without discomfort. The other path is that my knee was opened, bone and joint sawed and removed and the prosthesis was hammered and glued into place. That path sounds like something out of a horror movie and therein lies the rub. When I had my gallbladder removed I rested and gained strength over two weeks and was back to work and normal routine in two weeks. Pretty simple as it all seemed to work so well together. With the knee, the new joint is in a cocoon waiting to erupt in usefulness. The only barrier is that the new knee has to break out of a shell of stiffness, swelling and pain. Do you know among knee patients OW is the most common word used in the lexicon of recovery. I do mean OWWW! So to help the butterfly knee emerge from its' strong cocoon there is PT and rehab. Rehab is a commitment to the future. A true opportunity to teach one the meaning of keeping your eyes on the prize. I am gritting my teeth and surreptitiously whining inside as I go through this. Well six weeks more I will probably be recovered and on my way back to life as a I knew it. I have missed all of the events of my normal life. I am so convinced that it just can't happen without me. Oh my delusions are huge. But I am getting better and it is something that doesn't happen alone so I am grateful.

Along the path I didn't blog about a number of things. I didn't blog the birthday of my precious 7 year old grandson Eli. I did complete his Frogs, Lizards and Reptiles of my quilt. I was rewarded with a picture by cell of a boy wrapped in the quilt like a burrito and I get reports that he sleeps in his snuggy quilt every night. He is a precious, precious boy with a very old soul and wit and intelligence that will light the future.

I missed blogging about the wedding of Matt and Halle. Matt is my nephew through Sue and Tom. He and Halle chose an intimate beach side wedding in California. Though many of us didn't go we were so joyed at their wedding. Matt and Halle are musicians and artists and very fun members of the family. Matt and Halle are an integral part of family times and we love Matt's stories about life in LALa land. They are two treasures who we all hope will share a long and happy life together.

I so missed blogging about my Mom's birthday and all that she means to me. She is awesome and ever her warm special self. She is genuinely loved by so many because of her warm smile, interest in connecting with others and true enjoyment of the family and social scene. Mimi loves her family and friends and we are all rewarded with her lovely grace and warmth. She is fun and lovely and treasured by her family. We have heard that there are other Mimi's but we always know ours is da bes!

I didn't blog about my brother-in-law Tom's birthday and what he means to me. Tom has been a part of our family for nearly 50 years. To me he is the brother I never had. He is joyful and has a wonderful hearty laugh. We are very different people but probably alike in the ways that really count. He listens to my stories of life with interest and humor and can add an observation that truly enhances my own perspective. He is one of my very favorite people because he relates to me as if I am fun, interesting, unique and playful. Plus he really likes me I can tell. I love Tom and his dear presence in my life. He is the kind of friend that makes you feel alive.

The day after my surgery was Veteran's Day. Veteran's Day is an important day for me because my Dad and my uncle are veterans. When Aunt Jimmie died this past summer we lost another veteran. I blogged about her many contributions to us and her own family. Her husband Uncle Jack and my Dad have long been two of my very important heroes for the wonderful people they are. Their love of country, sacrifice for others, and commitment to making life better for everyone and genuine valor is inspirational to me as I go about my life and my purpose. Thank you gentleman for all you are.

The last but not least event I missed blogging about was Jon's birthday. Jon came over to share an evening pre surgery and we had smoked Texas brisket, Lee's pinto beans and macaroni salad and beer. Jon requested no dessert so there was no traditional Mexican Chocolate cake. It was a fun evening with laughter and sharing. I blew it though when I forgot he hated hardboiled eggs and added some very fine minced hard boiled eggs to the macaroni salad. Poor Jon couldn't eat the salad. He has to be vigilant against hardboiled eggs lest they appear in food and shock his sensitive palate. Despite my teasing he does have a great palate and is one of my favorite appreciative eaters. He has even been known to share kitchen time as his Mama's sous chef. He is great at chopping despite no formal training. Jon is newly back in the Dayton area having a promotion. It is a huge treat to have him nearby. We've been able to have several dinners that have been so fun. He even came and brought pizza post surgery to tempt his Mama. What a great guy!

We talk a lot about comfort and what that means but recovery from surgery for me is the time I am having revelations about comfort. My family and friends have gone over board sharing meals, fruit, reading materials, treats, flowers, cards, calls and laughter. Sometimes comfort food is described as homey, plain fare. To me comfort food is so much more. The taste of love and care. The search for the right food to bring warmth and security. In lovingly prepared dishes the infrastrucure of the ties of love and support. It is awesome to experience and singular in its feeling. It is achingly beautiful to sore bones to feel such love and caring.

So as I catch you mid Thanksgiving preparations and gathering of your respective clans treasure the time you spend anticipating and working on that holiday meal. It's equally part of the fun and extends the joy of the special day. Take time to think of those near and far away. Those who we don't know who take care of our safety and security around the world. There are many people everywhere who share our hopes and dreams and work toward their being. Happy Thanksgiving each and every day to all of you.

Spaghetti Pie

2009-11-02T18:23:00.005-05:00

It has been a long time since I posted but October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and it is packed to the gills with activities and so little spare time. October is an eventful month even without breasts. Eli had his seventh birthday and Mimi had a birthday too but in the interests of family civility I will not share her age. I finished a frog, lizard and dragonfly quilt for Eli for his birthday. Made from batiks and adorned with appliqued critters it is quite cute. I received a lovely picture by email of Eli bundled in his quilt like a burrito. A boy burrito with a happy toothless grin I might add. Last summer Mimi and I investigated some quilt shops on our Michigan vacation. At one shop she found a very nice pine tree fabric with royal blue and white background and a complementary fabric. She chose a purse pattern that had three pockets with a sling handle and a wood button closure. I made the purse thinking of Mimi and all of the warm and wonderful things about her. I sent her the purse and I am waiting for a picture of Mimi sporting her new purse on her arm. She tells me changing purses is somewhat of an ordeal - a perspective I do not share. So I am waiting with toe tapping impatiently.

Our dear friends the Memas invited us to their lake home on Indian lake for Saturday and Sunday. It was just great to get away and have some time away from the house and our routine. The Memas' home is quite cozy and despite the high winds we had a great time in doors. I had to work Saturday morning so we arrived at lunch to see a pot of soup on the stove and a beautiful green salad. Lunch was pumpkin soup with a green salad with pecans and pears and bread. It was delicious. My task was to make dinner so I made a traditional pot roast with potatoes, onions, and carrots baked with the roast. I poured a lovely Austin lager over the meat to keep it moist as it roasted. The lager formed the base for the gravy which was really lovely. I quartered an acorn squash and mixed butter, brown sugar and rubbed sage together and put it in the cavity of the squash. The baked squash with the other vegetables and meat were well received. I made a pecan pie with a touch of dark rum for dessert. It too was appreciated. We chatted, played games, laughed and laughed. It was very therapeutic.

We were able to go because Jon served as caretaker to the canines. There aren't enough blessings for Jon for doing this. Doris woke him up at 5:30 a.m. to be fed. Dude objected a lot! Much dog barking and carrying on. I asked Jon to stay for dinner Sunday to say thank you and have some time just to hang out with him. For enticement and reward I made one of his favorite meals - spaghetti pie with salad, bread and dessert (pecan pie). This recipe combines spaghetti with a custard, two cheeses and sopressata. It's baked in a springform pan and served with marinara sauce. It is just too good. The recipe came from a fan of Martha Stewart. Personally I am not a fan of Martha but this recipe is delicious. Lee loves it too and it makes her very happy when she gets to eat it. It's a perfect fall meal and just the thing for a Sunday night.

Spaghetti Pie adapted from Eleanora Scarpetta

1 lb. spaghetti cooked and rinsed with cool water and thoroughly drained.
6 eggs beaten
3/4 C. cream
12 ounces spicy Sopressatta cut into 1/2 cubes
1 C. parmigiano regiano grated
4 C. Italian blend grated cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 C chopped parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Spray a 10 " springform pan with Pam
Cut out two pieces of parchment to fit in the pan. Place one of the circles of parchment in the pan and spray with parchment.
Combine everything except the spaghetti in a large bowl until well mixed. Add the spaghetti and toss and stir until evenly mixed. Pour the mixture into the springform pan and cover with the second circle of parchment.

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven about 45 minutes. The top should be brown and crusty and the spaghetti set. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the parchment. Trace a knife around the inside of the pan to release the contents. Undo and lift off the outside of the pan. Place a serving plate over the top of the spaghetti and turn the dish over. Remove the parchment and flip onto another serving plate.

Cut in wedges to serve and top with spoonfuls of marinara sauce.

This meal was just the nicest end to a wonderful weekend. The food was great but the highlight was the Memas and my sweet son. They are such good people to spend time with.

A Perfect Soup

2009-09-29T21:53:00.003-04:00

Saturday, Lee and I did something awesome. My mom and dad shared a set of tickets to the Ohio State game. Last year was Lee's first trip to a big college football game and she was immediately addicted. So when my parents asked if I wanted tickets I leaped at the chance. We chose the Illinois game. We watched the weather reports to prepare and dutifully packed rain gear and something warm in case we needed an extra layer. We drove to Columbus arriving 90 minutes early. We love to see the teams practicing and we have to be sure not to miss anything. We parked at the Expo center and took the shuttle to the stadium. Once there I bought a pretzel to munch while we watched the pregame festivities. The teams practiced and went back to their locker rooms. The exciting thing is when OSU takes the field the team joins arms and closely pivots to face the opposition as a human block then they rush to center field. Of course the Illini rushed the Bucs and it looked like some mischief was afoot. It didn't look good for sportsmanship.

Once the field cleared it was time for my favorite tradition when we heard the announcer bring in the OSU band. The drums, the crisp march and the band poised on the field and playing OSU songs is awesome. Then my absolute favorite part - Script Ohio. It doesn't get any better than this. Aren't I gushing like a teenager! Oh my it is sublime to experience this in a stadium that holds thousands of people. It also feels pretty special to think of my mom and dad watching the game when dad was an intern. The story is when he had to go back to the hospital the staff would hang a sheet out of a window as the signal for him to return. He would hurry back to take care of patients. Dad has always loved football and he and Mom are avid fans. They have been season ticket holders for decades.

As you may have heard the game was wet. We experienced some drizzle and suited up in our rain gear. This lasted through the first two quarters. We didn't leave and watched the first quarter interception by OSU and the awesome defense shutting out opportunities for the Illini to score. Just before the second half the sky opened up and buckets of water came down. Literally buckets. It was so wet we repaired to the under stadium area to dry off and change to our warms. We discovered Lee had a big hole in the back of her rain hood and her jeans were soaked. My rain jacket turned out to not protect against torrents so we were a little wet. I told Mom and Dad the last time I was that wet was when I was born. We were joined by others escaping from the rains. I walked around the crowds and thought of the people trapped in the Saints stadium during Katrina. No one was ill or starving at the 'shoe but it gave me a brief glimpse of masses of humanity in close quarters. We enjoyed a hot dog and waited for the end of half-time. When we thought it wasn't raining we found our seats and cheered through the middle of the fourth quarter. At this point it began raining and we decided it was time to get the shuttle.

Sitting in the shuttle wet and happy, reliving the game and the pageantry Lee asked her daily question - "What about dinner?" . I thought and said I had an idea. We would not stop for dinner but drive home and I would make tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Her look of delight told me this idea resonated with her. So we drove home and once there I got busy. I assembled a quick homemade tomato soup and assembled grilled cheese and bacon to grill. Sitting in front of the fire and sipping on soup and eating toasty sandwiches was really wonderful. The perfect ending to a perfect game and a drippy day!

Homemade Tomato Soup

2 T. olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion cut in small dice
1 28 oz can Muir Glen Fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 fat free can of chicken broth
1 minced clove garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 C whipping cream

In a deep pot heat oil and saute onions until transparent. Add garlic and stir to cook for one minute. Add the broth and tomatoes and heat. Add thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender or food processor process the soup until it is mostly blended but not totally. I love about a third of the diced tomato to remain in diced form. Remove from heat and slowly add cream while stirring. Heat to a simmer on medium heat. Turn off the heat and serve.

Tex Mex Squash Casserole

2009-09-20T15:57:00.003-04:00

This casserole was one of the hits of the party. One of my favorite blogs is The Homesick Texan. Lisa the blogger writes of Texas food and family as a Texan transplanted to New York City. Her recipes are awesome and delicious. Growing summer squash we have lots to use and experiment with. Favorite ways to prepare squash include a saute with dill and butter, a southern cheesy gratin and this new take on squash with southwest flavors. It is so worthy of a try. I'd serve it with a salad with avocados and some Mexican Chocolate cake.

Tex-Mex Squash Casserole

2 yellow squash and 2 zucchini cut in coins (4 Cups)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 T. butter
1 can of Ro-Tel drained
1/4 C diced green chiles like jalapenos
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 C chicken or vegetable broth
2 T. flour
1/2 C half and half
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C cilantro, chopped
2 C. total grated pepper jack and cheddar cheese
2 C crushed tortilla chips
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Heat the butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Add squash, onion and jalapeno and saute until the onions are translucent and the squash is soft (10 minutes).

Add garlic and spices including salt and pepper and cook for a minute. Stir in the flour and and cook until a light-brown paste forms (1 minute)

Add the broth and tomatoes and stir until the mixture thickens which should take only a couple of minutes. Add half and half, sour cream and cilantro and remove from the heat.

In a greased casserole, layer the bottom with the tortilla chips. Pour the squash mixture on top then cover the dish with cheese.

Cook for about 30 minutes uncovered or until brown and bubbly.

Serves 6-8.

I love casseroles and this is really great. The whole brown and bubbly concept just has such a wonderful picture of home and coziness.

The Week in Review

2009-09-19T08:14:00.004-04:00

Last week was the Texas Barbecue and it was a great success. We had lots of very fun people, beer, sangria, corn hole and food and music. Lee played her ipod with the Texas music all afternoon into the evening. Our guests are so nice. Everyone brought something to say thank you. We received wine, flowers, cookies, delicious candies and home made peach preserves. That's pretty awesome. Such wonderful people. They are the best. Plans are afoot for next year already! Lee's brother promises to appear from Texas so it will be ramped up a notch or four!

The food was really great according to the guests. I thought so too but I don't want to brag. My sister and brother in law came and they became kitchen maevens helping to carve slices of juicy smoked brisket. Sue helped put things out and generally organized the display of foods. I had adapted lots of recipes from the Homesick Texan blogsite and there wasn't a whole lot left of anything. I made a vegetarian entree that the carnivores consumed rapidly. I'll share the recipe later. One of the big hits was Lee's fabulous pinto's. I think some people looked at the big pot of beans with pieces of salt pork and wondered but they bravely had some and loved them. Lee picks through her beans then soaks them overnight and drains and rinses them in the morning. She covers the beans with water had 1/2 a large chopped onion, adds a chunk of salt pork cut into pieces, ketchup, a jalapeno and simmers them until they are tender. The beans retain their shape and are served drained with a slotted spoon. They were very popular. These are beans that are tender but not beans awash in bean gravy like you'll see in a Mexican restaurant. Miss Lee is very particular about the beans.

Corn hole was popular with the brand new Dallas Cowboys cornhole games. Our friend Mary of the MeMa's painted and decorated the set and it was lovely. Passionate corn hole players played with a variety of teams. Finally sister Sue and brother in law Tom took on grandma Nancy and grandson Alec Rogers. The Fords given 25 years of corn hole playing and recent practice for a week actually won! It was fun.

The youngest guest also came the farthest. Jamie Lian Alduino newly adopted Chinese daughter of my boss John and his wife Amy is just a year old. She got much attention and had a fun time. She even ate the food despite the fact I put some plain choices aside for her. Evidently she enjoys Texas mustard potato salad and Mexican fruit with lime. She is practicing standing. She did however have lots of arms to hold her and new friends to make.

The worst guest was my dear beagle boy Jack. At one point he buried his face in a bowl of seasoned oyster crackers and chomped away! Lee and I were reviewing the party later in the evening and she said "Jack was dreadful. Wasn't it nice?" She told me that he had sinned and after everyone seeing his trangression Sue offered the crackers to people who viewed the crime. I don't think there were takers. I didn't know if I thought he was being dreadful -just more being a beagle - which he happens to be. Lee explained when we first moved in Jack could not be trusted and was always into everything. Jack stories can go on for hours. He's aging and hasn't been really well until our alternative vet decided he needed to be on a new course of antibiotics. He's more perky and appears to have bounded back from the edge of death. In Lee's mind it was great to see Jack being Jack that is dreadful Jack. Future guests fear not. New crackers will be served and placed out of the beagle's reach at future events.

So it's a wrap for another year. It's all fond memories except for some pieces of Mexican chocolate cake Lee froze and half a brisket I tucked away for a time when we want to revisit Texas. It was great fun. The people who couldn't make it missed a very fun time. We're making plans for better and even more fun. Maybe we'll honor the German heritage in Texas and my own. We do order our meat from Kreuz after all and they do offer sausage which we served last year and it is also part of barbecue heritage. We'll see and hope to see y'all too. Next year Be There!

The Big Texas Barbecue

2009-09-12T07:40:00.002-04:00

Today is the day my friends. Four p.m. is the time and fun is the name of the game. For those dear hearts that are far away I thought I would give you the run down for the menu and the fun. First we have about 38 people who may be coming. I say may be because 10 have told us they'll either be late or may not make it. This a collection of people we love and hold dear either by blood or close ties. It's just too fun to bring these folks together. Lee has 8 hours of Texas music on the ipod. She'll play from the docking station in her workshop. She has the workshop spic and span for tours. Hers is the only workshop I know with its own art collection of two wall quilts, a Texas flag and pictures. She'll be giving tours.

She built a corn hole game and our dear friend Mary a graphic artist painted and created the Dallas Cowboys theme. It will be awesome. Lee's friends and family from Texas so wish they could be at the party. They have never heard of corn hole but would love to play anyway. They want to gather with us to listen to music, eat drink, talk and laugh. Lee purchased a variety of Texas beer for the occasion. She has four different kinds with names like A Little Sumpin, Longboard, Lawnmower, Independence, Bombshell Blonde Ale, Austin lager and Freestyle. She'll also have some Lonestar. I am making my famous sangria, lemonade and iced tea.

My contribution is you guessed it - vittles! I've used a lot of recipes adapted to my own taste from the Homesick Texan blog. She writes and cooks wonderfully. For snacks we'll have seasoned oyster crackers, pico de gallo. Texas caviar, queso and assorted tortilla chips and scoops. I know folks don't think of seasoned oyster crackers as Texas food but Lisa the blogger says they were a part of gatherings at their family occasions. I had some oyster crackers left from my family occasion so I said "why not?" Of course we have brisket 14 lbs to be heated and sliced from the famous Kreuz (Krites) market in Texas. For the Texans for a day vegetarians I made a homemade squash casserole with a southwest flair. The squash is from our garden. So as go togethers Lee is making her pintos. We'll have mustard potato salad, spicy cole slaw with a creamy dressing and radishes and Mexican fruit plate with chile powder and salt. For dessert there will be two Mexican chocolate sheet cakes or sheeeeeet cakes as Lee's brother calls them. So after this we'll be fat as ticks and hopefully satisfied. Yee doggies it will be fun.

So for all of the beloved who cannot make it, I for one will be thinking of you and the great times we've had together. I'll look around and imagine you in the thick of it laughing and talking and sharing this good time. So truly dear ones you will be with me in spirit. Love you and miss you all.

Summer's End

2009-09-07T07:40:00.002-04:00

It's the end of summer. Labor day weekend is the official last hurrah. Lee's hurrah hasn't been as loud because she's been pretty ill. Three weeks ago she started complaining about her ears being stuffed up versus down (I don't get it.). After two weeks she finally went to the doctor expecting an ear cleaning. She had an external and inner ear infection in both ears! So armed with medication and steroids she hoped to feel better immediately. Well two days after she started her meds she had her infection transmogrify into the monster upper respiratory infection of all time. She's been very tired but still wanting to help with errands and do things around the house. She's not at death's door so I've been trying to make her feel better through food. Saturday I grilled blackened snapper with a lime butter sauce. We had some delicious late summer corn and a grilled zucchini. It was beautiful so we ate outside. As we were sitting at the table and I glanced left as a hawk flew by. He or she was about five feet from us on her flight path and it was amazing she swooped up to land on a limb overhead. Of course no birds to be seen anywhere. This hawk hangs around a lot because we are avid bird feeders and watchers. Another time, Lee was outside and a hawk landed not five feet away. I was in the house another time when a hawk flew to the house and struck a window. It was quite a hit. The hawk and window both survived.

Yesterday I decided to saute some squash with dill so I went to the garden to see what was there. There was some very nice squash but also some bees. I've heard that the bees are disappearing but they were in my garden. They were dining from the flowers on the basil and broccoli. I wonder what basil honey would taste like? I so love honey. I bought some honey in Glen Arbor, Michigan when we were on vacation. It was thick spun honey and we went through a huge jar with toast every morning. I also smoked pork tenderloin on my smoker. It was just delectable with the rub and smoky flavor in the meat. I added a poblano rice casserole with chihuaha cheese and sour cream. Just to tempt Miss Lee on her survival I made her favorite dark chocolate pie with mile high meringue. It was adapted from a recipe in Bob Appetit. I love it because the crust is stirred together and patted into a pie pan and baked. It is always perfection. The filling is a chocolate pudding made of cocoa and dark chocolate. It takes six egg yolks so I use the whites to make a thick tall meringue. The deep chocolate, the sweet meringue and the slight saltiness of the crust are awesome taste wise. It is Lee's very favorite dessert.

Today it's raining so if rain continues the grilling choices may be very limited. I've been baking up a storm since Friday night. I made black and bleu burgers with homemade buns. After that I made whole grain bagels with salt and a loaf of 10 grain bread. Fall is bread baking time for me. I also am making a starter for sourdough from water, flour and cumin. It is a three day process and of course I ran out of flour so I'll make an early run to pick some up. I asked Dorothy Lane if they would sell me some of their 250 year old starter and they informed me they didn't sell their starter. So I will make my own young starter. Bread is a few days away but I could make an Italian loaf today and make bread salad with some crab and fettucini for dinner. Or I could make some leftover pork tenderloin into pork barbecue to serve on some of those delicious homemade buns. I'll start with asking Lee what she has a taste for. She'll ask her choices and I'll give her some notion of what is available. She'll say I don't care make what you want and I'll be back to pondering.

Happy Labor Day to all who labor or have labored. Everything works because of what you do and the contribution you make to life. My roommate told me she would be laboring on Labor Day. Of course there are people who labor on the national holiday for workers. We count on those people. The shops will close early but some folks won't be home to gather with friends. They'll be protecting our country or keeping people safe, standing by in an emergency or making sure our need for immediate gratification can be met through retail therapy. They'll be keeping things going for the rest of us. Whatever you do if you are retired, just off for the holiday or laboring. Thank you fellow laborers.

Dark Chocolate Pie with Mile High Meringue (adapted from Bon Appetit)

Crust:

Butter a 9 inch glass pie plate

In a bowl stir together 10 T. melted butter (1 1/3 stick unsalted)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C sugar
1 1/3 cups flour

Pat the crust into the pie plate and make a decorative crust. Bake it for 18 minutes and cool completely.

Chocolate filling

In a pot bring 2 C of milk to a simmer
In a bowl blend 6 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue), 6 T of cocoa, 4 tsp. cornstarch a dash of salt, 2/3 C brown sugar and 1/4 C milk

Gently pour the milk into the cocoa mixture while stirring continuously to blend. Pour the mixture back into the pan. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it thickens stirring constantly. Add 1 T. rum, 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate and 3 T. butter. Stir until the chocolate and butter are melted and the mixture is glossy. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Meringue

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Beat 6 whites until foamy. Add 1/4 tsp. cream of tarter and 1/2 C. sugar and beat to stiff peaks.

Pile the meringue on top of the pie and spread to the edges so that no filling can be seen and the meringue touches the crust. Bake the meringue for 20 minutes. The top will be a luscious brown.

Cool for several hours before serving.

The Party's Over

2009-08-23T20:17:00.003-04:00

Today was the last of my many birthday celebrations. After all of the previous celebration my dear friend Bob took Lee and me out for lunch at P. F. Chang's. PFC is always a treat. I know it's a chain but the food is so well prepared and just delicious. I love it that they offer brown rice. I will routinely have chicken lettuce wraps and Kung Pao chicken. The chicken is sauced perfectly with peanuts and hot chile peppers. I also have a wee bit of a chopstick fetish. I adore eating with chopsticks and the way using them slows down consumption to nibbles of meat and vegetable with rice. I think about Pearl S. Buck and her descriptions of Asian women eating so delicately bringing chopsticks with food to their pink rosebud mouths. I read those books so very long ago but the image remains. I will never eat so delicately and with the same dexterity. Do you know that some people can bring a boiled egg to their mouths with chopsticks. That is awesome. Maybe I could practice with some golf balls. Such a picture.

So you get the picture lunch with a dear friend who I don't get to see much. Of course having lunch out doesn't mean I get to skip preparing dinner for Miss Lee. We ate very late. I made a very simple dinner of barbecued shrimp and corn on the cob. Of course Lee had a piece of Julia Child's cake I made - Reine de Saba. It's a single layer chocolate cake made with butter and rum with eggs separated and whipped and gently folded into the batter. The frosting is butter, rum and semisweet chocolate melted together than whipped over a bowl of ice water to chill the chocolate mixture as it thickens to a frosting consistency. After frosting the cake I toasted almond slices and sprinkled them over the top. That cake is "over the top".

I snagged the recipe for the shrimp from a Weber grill display at Home Depot. In the recipe shrimp is marinated with barbecue sauce. After grilling the shrimp is tossed in a bag with spices. Of course I changed it or as we say "adapted" it. It is yummy and great and the shrimp stay plump and juicy on the grill as I grilled them in the shell. Of course Lee detests getting her hands messy shelling spice coated shrimp but it was all worth it. It was a pretty simple but fun meal that signaled the end of my birthday week. I think you'll like it.

Sack'Em Shrimp

1 lb large shrimp (15 - 20) shell on from Trader Joe's. The recipe calls for peeled and deveined 26-30 size shrimp. I like Trader Joe's because they are easy peel.
1/2 C barbecue sauce
1 1/2 T. chile powder
1 T. parsley flakes
2 tsp. lemon pepper
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp.onion powder
melted butter for dipping

Marinate the shrimp for an hour in barbecue sauce in the fridge. I used Hendrickson's marinade and salad dressing. In a sack place the remaining spices and toss well together. Remove shrimp from the marinade and discard the marinade. Thread shrimp on skewers and grill 3 minutes. Flip and grill another 1-2 minutes. After grilling remove the shrimp from the skewers and toss in the spice sack. Serve out of the bag. Guests can dip shrimp in the melted butter.

This was very messy but very good. I would definitely do this again. So birthday done :(. I so loved seeing and talking to everyone. Next adventure is surgery to remove and biopsy a mass on my arm. I think it's pretty harmless. Just a remnant from life as an alien in my 40's. One does need to pay for one's past.

My Orgasmic Birthday

2009-08-20T19:34:00.003-04:00

I knew that title would get your attention! I realized something wonderful. When you are little everyone makes sure your actual birthday is special and there is a large amount of birthday energy concentrated on that day. It is so nice and lovely for the very young. At my tender age I still work and have a demanding schedule but the birthday gets spread over a few days with get togethers and fetes and wishes delivered as people can, the special day and then the birthday celebrations after. It means that you celebrate a much longer time and I love it. I do love spending time with and hearing from special people in my life.

So my birthday stated last Saturday with the Julia and Anne celebration preparation I shared in the last blog. The Sunday celebrants had a great time and it was delicious fun. People started wishing me hap birthday as my little son used to call it. Yesterday I had a grueling day that started at 5:00 a.m. and involved a trip to Columbus then on to Cincinnati. I had to be in Cincinnati early this morning so I spent last night with Sue and Tom. When I arrived about 6 I found plans for a special dinner. Sue lovingly prepared grilled shrimp over a spinach salad with lemon vinaigrette. The shrimp were sauced with tzatziki sauce (yogurt, dill and cucumbers with lemon) and feta. Tom gardens so Sue also made a salad of eggplant, lemon and garlic. As is that weren't enough we had "cuppycakes" as they named them with mini fruit tarts. Served with a large amount of fun and laughter and with a call from my youngest sister it was incredible. Such sweet kindness and celebration from people so dear is incredible. I heard from Mimi and Bobo with a card and a call with a fun chat. They are in such good spirits it's another gift for my birthday.

This evening Lee and I went to dinner at the Meadowlark where I had an orgasmic dessert. We love local restaurants and this one is great. Lee had Jamaican spiced chicken thighs with rice and grilled bananas. I chose a thick slice of eggplant fried to crunchy goodness with mushrooms and capers teamed with mashed potatoes and broccolini. After this dinner with a glass of wine I was in fine birthday fettle. I decided to go for dessert and it was incredible. Perfect Leo summertime dessert - it was Pavlova.

I've seen it and wanted to try it but never have. That was a huge error on my part. Pavlova is not too sweet, crunchy and creamy - perfect for a texture maeven. It is beautiful and yes I'll use that word orgasmic. I will just tell you that after I ate it I surreptitiously and much to Lee's chagrin gave my plate two licks with my tongue. It was that good. So Pavlova is a nest of crunchy meringue filled with whipped sweet and sour cream. On top of that are strawberries, blueberries and kiwi. To gild this lily it is drizzled with raspberry sauce. OMG!!! The server asked if we would like anything else and I laughed and said I would take 6 more Pavlova's. I'm joking but they were delightful and I cannot wait to eat more.

So this is my birthday wisdom: Don't wait 62 years to eat Pavlova or don't wait to try something new and different and tempting. Your life can be made immeasurably better and fun.

Love to all and thanks for all of the birthday sweetness. You are all my Pavlovas and you know who you are!

Happy Birthday Julia

2009-08-15T17:23:00.003-04:00

Today is Julia Child's day of birth. As a young homemaker I watched Julia, read her cookbooks and experimented in the kitchen. I read a lot about French cuisine and while I admired Julia's devotion I didn't feel the same. It wasn't me. I chose to slave over other cuisines and learn about them and make the dishes best known. Like most Americans I enjoy Italian but I'm crazy about all Mediterranean cooking, Asian and Latin and Spanish flavors. I also adore regional American cooking . Of course many American dishes are rooted in older cuisines and no doubt lots of French cooking lurks in those dishes so I'll have to be a little less judgemental.

To celebrate the woman who is one of my muses I chose to make some French dishes from Julia's collection. I am creating a somewhat casual summer meal to be enjoyed outside. Julia's birthday is close to mine so I am celebrating my cooking as well. For the hors d'oeuvre I chose a recipe from another of my muses - my Dad. Can men be muses? I don't know but he is. He makes a toothsome brie with brown sugar, scotch and pecans baked on top. It is awesome. I'll make Salade Nicoise with fresh grilled tuna, vegetables and nicoise olives napped with a lemon vinaigrette. I ran across Julia's recipe for vichyssoise. It is a pureed leek and potato soup served chilled. I decided to make it because I have a wonderful memory from my childhood. On one of our family vacations we toured New England. For dinner one night we had a great meal at the Woodstock Inn in Vermont. Dad ordered vichyssoise and I just couldn't understand what it was. So he explained and shared. I chose to add that to the menu for the sake of history. I made it today and it is silken in texture.

For dessert I made Julia's flaky pie crust. It makes enough for four crusts so I froze some. This dough has 6 ounces of butter and 1 3/4 cups of shortening! Oh my! I made the dough into a tart shell. Apricots are gorgeous so I poached fresh apricots and then allowed them to drain. On the bottom of the tart shell I painted strained apricot preserves with a little triple sec stirred in. On top of that I put in a filling of cream, egg, cream cheese and spices. Finally I placed the poached apricots on top and baked the tart. When it was done baking I spooned more of the apricot/triple sec mixture over the top as a sweet glaze. The filling isn't sweet so the glaze and the preserves painted on the bottom of the crust should give it a very French sensibility.

So that's the simple meal to honor a wonderful American who changed home cooking for ever! Bon Appetit!

Truth in Blogging

2009-08-06T21:45:00.004-04:00

As you may or may not know dinners at family vacation are occasions. We plan and think for months and make the meals an occasion. You've read about the luau, the tailgate and the steak extravaganza and the first night tradition. As my second meal I chose a Texas barbecue and from there it all goes south.

I wanted to avoid accounting for this but I was encouraged by family for truth in blogging. So I lay before you my sadness and sorrow over a meal not great and certainly not up to my desires. Josh and Jen and I planned the said barbecue with guacamole and tortilla chips, brisket smoked low and slow over hickory wood, corn with butter, lime, salt, cheese and chili powder and Lee's beans with a vinegar cole slaw. For dessert we would have our take on flan with a vanilla creme brulee.

All started well beans soaked, slaw made and brisket rubbed. Josh and I awoke early to start the fire and smoke the brisket. After a few false starts we got the fire ignited and made packets of hickory chips for smoking. Chips and brisket were laid on the fire and grew ever more delectable as they cooked. At one point as is usual with smoking we added charcoal and another packet of chips. I left to go to the airport and later Josh called to tell me the brisket had ended up charred because the grill temp couldn't be regulated due to some faulty valves on the grill. The sadness and disappointment are huge. To make things worse the beans I've mad a bazillion times were quite salty. My family is precious and they knew the amount of effort and planning that went into this meal. They did their best to help us feel good about dinner. We made a delicious barbecue sauce to wet the brisket but it really didn't work. It was delicious sauce made by four people together over dry chewy brisket. You get my drift.

It was one of those times that happens to any cook who cares about food and thankfully it isn't a frequent event. For me it's been a rarity and for that I am grateful. I tell this sad tale to offer encouragement to other food lovers who try to make great food for those they love as a sign of their love for those dear ones to enjoy. I think what is most frustrating is that if food is love what have I said to those dear ones? I do love them with all of my heart and there is nothing more satisfying than seeing smiles and hearing murmurs of enjoyment.

However I learned that there is another side to food is love. It is love as the food for family. While chatting with Dad and ruing the course of the brisket my Dad showed his true self when he said, 'I couldn't imagine no0t enjoying any meal that my daughter cooked for me." My sweet younger sister lauded all of the effort and planning to create such a meal and acknowledged that even with all of that there is still an opportunity for disappointment but it was mostly the thought that counted. My sweet Mom loved the creme brulee and it was delicious. She had two servings and stated she loved the meal. How can anyone go wrong with a family like this?

So I have been truthful in describing the highs and lows of the meal. The lows of course are the dishes that failed and the high points were guacamole, fish dip, cole slaw, corn and creme brulee. But the point that was the highest was my wonderful family support and their recognition of the love intended through my cooking. Tomorrow is another day to win the food battle. I will not go down twice in a row - especially for the last supper. Tomorrow we'll have steak with paprika parmesan butter, Mimi's sauteed corn, Sue's twice baked potatoes, some slaw or a salad and for dessert watermelon. It will be an awesome meal that brings love full circle love through food and the food of love from those most dear.

The Tailgate

2009-08-06T08:35:00.002-04:00

Pix will be on Facebook until Miss Lindalee teaches me the tricks.

Last night the Fords hosted a tailgate for the fam. It was awesome. Given the fact that we have Ohioans and Michiganders teams were developed for MSU and OSU. The first battle was a water balloon toss. MSU won - boo. The little guys particularly liked this event. Gabe and Eli flung mightily and the sturdy water balloons made it through many a toss. Of course eventually there was a water balloon fight and the wise ones avoided splats and general wetness. The boys loved flinging the balloons against the big trees and watching the balloons break.

The second event was a scavenger hunt of 50 items. Team MSU won by cheating and bending the rules - a familiar issue for them. When they couldn't find the objects they drew them and not too well at that. Oh well some people do not share the same high ethical standards in others. Even our family cannot escape the decline experienced by others. Sigh....

Dinner was awesome. We backed my element up to the grill near the house. John bought a pony keg of Oberon so we had that plus other wine and drinks of choice. On the back of the tailgate we started with spicy dill dip and crudites with spinach artichoke dip in a bread bowl. Tom grilled burgers with swiss cheese and bacon. To go with the burgers we had a tortellini pesto salad and grilled corn salad. Everything was incredible.

After dinner we adjourned for a trivia game whose topics included MSU/OSU facts and trivia. While they established an early lead the MSU team was tied in the last round. Mimi proved her mettle despite an early stumble when she said she didn't know the OSU fight song. This from someone who attended games for decades. It was a Mimi moment.

For dessert we had brownie yum yums. Chocolate frosted brownies topped with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. That was pretty delectable. And the Slip Ass game went to MSU!!!!

A Typical Day

2009-08-05T08:03:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was a bag of mixed pleasures as is often the case at Wheeler. Tom and Sue's son Matt is engaged to Halle. They have a wedding this fall in California that will be a small immediate family only event. In order to acknowledge this event and share some preliminary nuptial bliss Sue and Tom organized a brunch. Tables were decorated with Fiesta plates and cut flowers. For the meal we had brunch casserole with sausage, eggs and cheese, fruit salad, blueberry coffee cake with streusel on the top and mimosas. Becky F. Sue and Tom's daughter made a cookbook of family recipes and pictures of the entire family which is being printed and is on its way to them. It includes favorites from family - many of which I've included from the blog. It was a lovely cherished time and the newly weds to be were touched by the cookbook and warm wishes.

The Fords and Diamonds went hiking and Bobo and Jon declined my invitation to go to the quilt store in Cedar. Mimi and I went the short distance to Cedar. Cedar is a charming little town settled by Polish autoworkers as a retirement/vacation community. It's near a beautiful lake. The town is known for its meat market that makes Polish sausages and Plevalean a beef mixture with cherries that is 98% fat free. There is a quilt shop there we visited. I am searching for batiks for a mini quilt. Mimi saw some purses she liked and I told her to choose fabric and I would make a purse for her birthday. She found some beautiful north woods type fabric and she'll have a Michigan purse.

Jen and Josh finished their walk and called us to go to lunch with them at Dick's Pour House - a local establishment. Lunch was fun. Gabe loved his lemonade served in a monkey cup. After lunch the boys played ball while Mom and Dad rested and knit or just hung out. The boys' play was inspired by the baseball game. They acted out numerous combinations of play and of course they won. The front steps are the dugout and Eli comes to sit in the dugout and have talk with himself to improve his play. Of course they always win.

Last night's dinner was a smaller affair. Five of our members had to return home so now we are 13. By the end of the week the Diamond parents will be the remnants of generation 3. Beck made a great meal of a special Greek salad teamed with potato salad. Mimi remembered that on trips to Florida they went to Pappa's restaurant a place that served Greek food. One of the specialties was a Greek salad mounded on a bed of a scoop of potato salad. Atop the lettuce and vegetables Beck served slices of rare, tender flank steak grilled by Dad - the master griller. We had 8 pounds of flank steak and Dad was convinced we would have huge leftovers. As a meal among us would have it all of the food disappeared. Dessert was peanut butter bars with chocolate frosting and the salty peanut cookies with the chocolate frosting was a definite hit. Eli wanted seconds before he finished firsts!

After dinner cards ensued while Granna held Mira and the bathed two boys. It was a lovely day with the people who are most dear to me.

Mimosa's

We served Mimosa's at brunch. They were awesome and potent.

Mix together and chill:
3 cups of orange juice
1/3 C of Grand Marnier

At service add 1 bottle of prosecco and serve with a flair!

A Recipe for Fun

2009-08-04T09:12:00.003-04:00

We were all on pins and needles over the weather. Each year our family goes in to Traverse City (TC) for a Traverse City Beach Bums game. This is very minor league baseball. With Sun Burn and Sun Tan - two giant bears - as mascots. The bears lead games between the innings and contribute to the overall craziness. We weren't sure if the weather would hold to be game worthy so we made a last minute decision headed out to the game. There were 15 celebrants and we bought tickets in two rows as a block. We were right behind the home team dugout. The baby stayed behind with Mimi and Bobo as the babysitters extraordinaire. Mimi's raised and grandparented and greatgrandparented 10 and Bobo is a retired pediatrician so Mira was in the best of hands.

We were there in plenty of time to see the pregame fun. Generation 3 is particularly rowdy. These are the party people who stay up until 2: a.m. and bake brownie and play cards and laugh and remember. Uncle John took his nephews to purchase Beach Bums gear. Brews all around - served in plastic bottles! So the game starts and Eli and Gabe are glued to the action. Someone actually has to feed them as they are just so focused on the game. Gabe who was really nervous about the bears last year declared he would hug Sun Burn this year. Well we got to the game it was all over. He exercised his prerogative and changed his mind. While shopping in the gift shop the bears came in to go to the back room of the store and Gabe climbed up his Dad pretty quickly. When asked if he wanted to meet the bear he announced he would like to meet the bear without his suit. He really watched the bears throughout the game.

I took pictures with the blackberry through the game and have some great shots. People change seats and converse with new partners throughout the game. It is an awesome time. Eli changed into his new gear and Gabe soon followed. Two little guys seated side by side with their garb and gear is very cute. Of course Gabe wore his mitt on the wrong hand so that added to the sweetness. I taught Eli Take Me Out to the Ballgame when he was 3 so he could sing when we went to the Dayton Dragons games. So they sing their hearts out at the 7th inning stretch. They are so cute and Gabe is Eli's mini-me. The game was a shut-out! TC over the Florence Freedom. Another fun time on vacay.

We returned home and the babysitters won too! One three month old was a little squawky. The pediatrician declared her a little over stimulated from all the family lovin'. He got her to sleep for about 90 minutes before finally getting her settled for the night. She took her breast milk bottle pretty well for Mimi so the evening was a great success for all.

Last nights Refreshments - This is as close to a recipe as you'll get.

30 various beers
2 waters
2 boy drinks
2 regular nachos
1 deluxe nacho
1 burger
4 brats
1 caramel corn
1 cotton candy
2 bags of peanuts
1 dozen hot dogs
2 sour lime candies

Miriam had hiccups this morning we think it was the beer.

Day 2

2009-08-03T09:42:00.003-04:00

Last night was the grand event. We celebrated Sue and Tom's 60 th birthdays and Tom's retirement. Their daughter Becky organized decorations, celebration and games. The decorations were awesome with leis, hats, special table settings, favors and more. Tiki torches decorated the perimeter of the sun porch. We started the festivities of two wheels of brie encrusted in macadamia nuts with aplle and crackers and spam glazed in pineapple juice, brown, sugar, mustard and ginger. I don't want to hear castigations about spam. Hawaiians consume more than 6 times the amount of spam than mainlanders. To go with I made a passionate punch of rum, pineapple juice, gingerale and papaya nectar adorned with mango, berries and parasols and orchid straws.

The game was a men vs. women trivia game with categories of questions that include Proctor and Gamble slogans, highlights of Tom's career at P & G and current events from 1949. As always the hilarity and laughter rocked the house. The teams are highly competitive but alas the girls won 19 to 11. We had it down! Hula hooping and limbo claimed the teens and the little guys.

Dinner was a luau feast with orange baked chicken, pania'olu steak and prawn curry. We enjoyed this with jasmine rice, a stir fry of broccoli and bok choy and a tropical fruit salad dressed with a papaya, yogurt and honey sauce. For dessert there were individual souffles of passionate cake with strawberry compote. It was such fun.

After dinner schmoozing and fun included the inevitable slip ass game. Generations 1 and 2 and 4 went to bed leaving the generation 3 cousins to play and laugh riotously into the wee hours. They consumed much popcorn and a batch of brownies that once baked were consumed in seconds. They are sleeping in as I write this trying to recover.

The morning after is spent recollecting and laughing over the fun of the night past. It is so great to wake to the stillness - I am up first and see family and chat as they awaken and come for coffee and toast with some local honey. We don't talk much about the mornings and the laughter isn't quite as loud but it is a warm family time of love and fun.

Brie in a Macadamia Nut Crust adapted from Sam Choy

1 8 ounce wheel of brie
1/4 C flour
1 egg
1/2 C. panko
1/2 C. finely chopped macadamia nuts
chutney
crackers and apple slices

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the panko and nuts in a shallow pan. Unwrap the brie and dust it with flour. Beat the egg and add a tablespoon of water and mix well. Dip the brie in the egg mixture. Then coat the brie with the panko mixture.

Place the brie on a tin in the oven and heat for 8-10 minutes. The brie just needs to yield to your fingertip. Take the brie and place chutney along side on a platter and serve with crackers and apples.

The First Day

2009-08-01T21:00:00.002-04:00

Today is the first official day of family vacation. Jon and I take a run from Haslett up to Treaverse City to piuck up five Diamonds at the Cherry City Airport. Everything arrives less one car seat and Josh's luggage. Boys run through an empty baggage area to expend pent up energy. Eli wiggles a loose front tooth and Granna checks out the two new lower teeth emerging from his gum. Soon his mouth will be a jumble of baby teeth and adult teeth. Gabe is perky and ready to play. He shows everyone the big scar from seven staples in the back of his head when he flipped and cleaved his head on a paver. Uncle Jon tall as the sky holds his new niece who nestles against his neck for a sleepy snuggle. Little Miriam is kissed and held and passed from great grandma to auntie, to auntie to cousin. Eli is off to cavort and flirt with the teens Cammy and Crystalle. Cute girls who love little guys and are willing to play endlessly. Fords arrive with kids from Colorado and California. Armed with guitars and other instruments Halle and Matt will share music as they practice for an upcoming wedding where they will play. Becky Ford and the aunties and Jen catch up on life and laugh about adventures in motherhood. Tom and Sue sit back, observe and laugh taking it all in with the comfort and sense of another year, another week we made it!

Mimi and Bobo as the keepers of tradition offer dinner on the first night every year. It's always the same - Tony Packo's hot dogs. Tony Packo's came to fame when Jamie Farr as Klinger on MASH touted Tony Packo's restaurant as he tried to escape the Army by dressing in drag. Tony Packo's restaurant was home to the Hungarian hot dog. An oompah/jazz band played on the weekends and the accordian player was known for his flips mid-song. Hot dogs in buns encased in plastic are signed by celebrities and adorn the walls. To accomapny the dogs Mimi makes potato salad and we have beans - tight beans named for the beans that are not sauce laden but "tight". Bobo grills the Tony Packo's and heats the buns on the grill. Those beautiful dogs are nestled in toasted buns and are laced with hot dog relish, ketchup pickles and condiments of choice. We always have Tony Packo's sweet hot pickles and regular Tony Packo's pickles.

My role in all of this - I stand and laugh and feel goosebumps tracing up and down my arms as I see these dear ones, hear the love and laughter echo through the house to the rumble of little feet racing through the house. We are together at last

Tight Beans

4 large cans of Bush's bacon and brown sugar beans

In an sluminum pan from the grocery store dump the beans. Place in a 325 degree oven and bake. Every half hour you stir them and bake until the bean liquid has cooked off and the beans ar5e dark brown. Remove them from the oven after several hours. Cover with foil and rest on the stove. Pack up the car and take it to the Wheeler Cottage for dinner. Honestly there is nothing else in them. Per Mimi

The Countdown

2009-07-26T07:32:00.003-04:00

In one week the week of all weeks will have arrived. Sitting on my counter are three - so far - bags of grocery supplies. Recipes are tucked inside the bag and spices have been gathered. Menus are formed and activities planned. Let the fun begin! This is an incredible time for our family. This week, family will gather from Ohio, Michigan, California, Washington and Colorado. There are four generations to hug and kiss and bask in the glow of shared activities. There will be an Asian grill, a Texas barbecue, a tailgate party, a Beach bums baseball game to be enjoyed and more! Every night over drinks and apps there will be an ongoing cornhole game that pits in ever changing permutations and combinations all family members.

After dinner we'll pit men against women in a gin game called Slip Ass - there I said it! Facing each other across the table a couple plays a gin game. Scores for the round are tallied and whichever side wins slips to face a new opponent. My Dad - The Iron Duke - is the master of the game and teaches the uninitiated. His team of men receives admonishment and coaching from him throughout the evening. Believe me you don't want to let him down. Even the youngest generation participates. Cammie learned years ago and plays well. Eli anticipates the time he can stay up to play. After being snuggled in bed he sneaks down to sit on his dad's lap and help his Dad play. He asks when he can stay up to play. His Momma and Daddy assure him he needs to be older than he is. He goes after playing cards with a vengeance. Mom and Dad have a deck of cards with 26 pairs of trout flies used to play Go Fish. Before he even had hopes of reading Eli learned all of the cards by name! He could look at the card and announce the name of the fly.

Since we have so many little guys aged 6, 3 and 3 months lots of time is spent in child thrilling activities. Gabe and Eli love soccer and baseball so there will be lots of that and Mira will be cuddled and passed from person to person to meet and greet her family. Cammy will bring a friend who has some history with us and knows the drill of the Henry week. We'll have a bonfire one night with somemores. We can canoe and paddle and swim and the sun worshippers will be risking melanoma.

The food is incredible. We start the week with Mimi and Bobo's Tony Packos hot dogs and pickles with beans and Mimi's potato salad and brownies. Various people take nights and plan meals for the family to enjoy. I am generally the culinary risk taker. This year the Asian grill will be my personal challenge. It will be comprised of three entrees with sides and a souffle cake dessert. The entrees will be smaller more so people will have bites of different things rather than a normal portion. Should be great fun. My Dad makes an incredible brie with nuts and sweet topping. I found a recipe for an Asian version with macadamia nuts which should be great. I'll share the recipe later.

So for the people who always require a recipe I'll share a dish I made last week for Lee from the garden. It was a great meal shared with laughter and new tastes. An ode to the week to come with my precious family!

Eggplant with Summer Squash

2 medium eggplants peeled and sliced lengthwise

2 eggs

panko bread crumbs

1/2 salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

vegetable oil

2 summer squash cut in chunks

1/2 onion chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

1 green pepper cut in med chop

2 roma tomatoes cut lengthwise and then sliced in medium chunks

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. capers rinsed and drained

1 tsp lemon zest

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp. herbes de provence

salt pepper

2 T. butter

Heat pan and add vegetable oil to 1 inch depth in a large frying pan. Bring the oil to a high temp. Beat the eggs and add 3 Tbsp. of water and combine thoroughly. In a shallow dish put the eggs in another dish place the panko and salt, pepper and garlic powder, mix well. Dip the eggplant in the egg mixture then dip in the panko and then fry in the oil. When one side is brown turn the eggplant to the other side. Alternatively you can place the eggplant on a greased pan and spray with a little PAM. Bake in a 425 degree own until done. Flip over once after about 15 minutes. The eggplant is done when a fork easily pierces the crust and eggplant beneath. Keep warm.

While the eggplant cooks, heat a large pan with a Tbsp of olive oil. Add the onion and saute about 5 minutes then add the garlic and squash. Saute until tender. Add 1 tsp of herbes de provence, lemon zest and juice, and capers with pepper and salt. Toss gently and add the knob of butter to melt and combine with the juices and herbs to make a butter sauce.

Put some eggplant on a plate for each person. Top with the squash and serve. It's really yummy and so rewarding thinking that most of this came from your garden!

The Garden of My Familiar

2009-07-19T14:44:00.003-04:00

As a young child one of my life's greatest pleasures was going to a farm stand. My mom's parents initiated me taking me out into the country surrounding their home in the west end of Toledo to purchase vegetables and fruits. The stand was actually near the farm home and the produce was displayed in baskets on tables. My grandparents loved vegetables and they were pleased when I spied pattypan squash. Pattypan squash are shaped like a flying saucer but with beautiful ruffled edges. They can come as small as a walnut or as large as an egg. Those particular squash were green and were the smallest I've ever seen. Grandma bought some and took them home to prepare for dinner. She trimmed the stem end and the button on the bottom and steamed them. She served them with butter and a little salt and pepper. Their wonderful flavor haunted me and I seldom had pattypan squash.

When Lee and I moved to our home I literally begged for a vegetable garden. What started as 100 square feet of raised bed is now 300 square feet surrounded by a picket fence fortified with chicken wire attached to the picket fence to defend against small critters like rabbits. We grow a host of things and enjoy them all summer long. Like many amateur gardeners we've had both splendid and failed crops. I am the only person who cannot grow zucchini - until this year. We have garlic, green beans, tomatoes, fennel, rhubarb, lettuce, okra, broccoli, collards, peppers- green, jalapeno, poblano, habanero, and eggplant. It's all just too good. Oh and we grow herbs as well.

Every day I go out and see how the plants and their fruits and vegetables are coming along. I am the proud owner of my grandmother's garden basket. It is a long elliptical basket with a sturdy handle. I know it's over 60 years old and it is a treasure to me. Armed with a knife and the basket I pick my rewards from the garden. I bring them inside and plunge them into cold water to remove dirt and any bugs. I treat myself to some sweet tomatoes off the vine or the smell of the basil, oregano and thyme. Then it's on to dinner and a home grown dinner.

Several years ago when shopping for plants for the garden I found my beloved patty pan. I've grown them when I can find the plants and they always take me back to my trips to the country with my grandparents and the joy of beautiful produce in vibrant colors. It is one of the most meaningful ways for me to connect to these two marvelous people I love so dearly.

For the recipe this time I will share one of Lee's favorites. Lee is the worker bee of the garden. Each spring she amends the soil with Posey Power, waters, feeds and debugs the crops. She is a real trooper and loves the garden. It's for her that we plant okra and the garlic we love to cook with. One of Lee's very favorites is Broccoli Rice and Cheese casserole. It isn't fancy but to her it is home and what better way to make it than with the broccoli she worked so hard to grow.

Broccoli Rice Casserole
3 thick stems of broccoli rough chopped
1/2 yellow onion chopped
3 Tbsp. butter
1 large clove of garlic minced
2 C of cooked brown rice
1/2 - 3/4 C. milk
1/2 lb. Velveeta in med cubes (if you're not a Velveeta lover and want to upsacle this dish use a mild cheddar)

Melt the butter and saute the onion until transparent. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds. Add broccoli and saute until wilted. Add the cooked rice, milk and cheese and allow the cheese to melt stirring gently. Pour the mixture into a greased casserole and top with buttered crumbs. Bake at 350 until browned and bubbly.

Independence Day Food

2009-07-05T12:06:00.002-04:00

I see from comments that people are curious as to food over the holiday weekend. All right already! Here is the scoop. On Friday two dear friends came to dine early so we could eat and play games and just have fun. I'll call them the MeMa's as we have two other friends we call the M & M's. The MeMa's are two ladies I have known since my children were young. Like many dear friends we can talk about anything and do and laugh until we just almost faint. Somehow we are always so funny and clever. Could it be the wine? So the MeMa meal went as follows: Greet guest with wild barking and cavorting - the three dogs not us! Walk Lee's beautiful back yard and stand in amazement at her gardening. Back to the patio for appetizers of hummus and olive tapenade with mint and organe on pita crisps. We had riesling and chardonnay. I grilled Mediterranean shrimp and tomato skewers and steak with peppers and onions in a balsamic marinade. I used my grandpa's skewers so I thought about him and happy family times as I threaded the meat and shrimp. I made grilled smashed potatoes, and a salad with lettuce and broccoli from our garden with a homemade lemon vinaigrette and salt focaccia rolls. This was fine except Lee and Ma left me and Me to go on a propane run. We had a lovely chat and they returned and grilling commenced. For dessert I had made strawberry ice cream with a strawberries romanov topping - strawberries macerated in orange, sugar and triple sec. The macerating liquid was reduced to a syrup and then spooned over the ice cream. We played one game and the MeMa's went home with a promise of future engagements. Woo Hoo!

For the Fourth of July we were very traditional. It was raining so I grilled hot dogs inside. We had corn on the cob and the broccoli/lettuce salad from Friday. I dress salad individually so you can make a large salad and have it for several meals. For dessert I made some very awesome brownies that were long on chocolate and short on flour so they were cakey/fudgey. Not quite a confection rather than a cookie. I always add coffee to deepen the flavor and complexity of the chocolate. I guess Emeril would say Bam! but for me it's about the stealth ingredient that makes it complex and rich. Just a lingering flavor you can't quite name.

Thank God it's a three day weekend! Day three launches another meal on the grill. Sticky balsamic ribs with balsamic glaze, zucchini pancakes and broccoli. Lee is just obsessed that the broccoli will "ruin". So I have promised to make yet another broccoli dish. Broccoli three days running. Ay yi yi. It's really a plot to keep George Bush, Sr. from dropping in by parachute. For dessert I might try a peach caramel tart.

So yes I have been my typical self cooking and sharing time with some of those I call friends and thinking of my family. I've been channeling my Dad trying to become a person of his grilling stature. I try to emulate him in other fine attributes as well but this weekend I focused on grilling. Cooking for the MeMa's and Lee is always rewarding. They are so appreciative (as are most of my people I choose to cook for) that it's a sincere pleasure to cook for them.

Happy Holiday y'all! It's not over yet.

Grilled Smashed Potatoes (Before you ask why would she give us this after all of those other things...keep your mouth shut until you make them and taste them. Then I rest my case.)

I will not tell you how many to make. Just estimate the number of potatoes your group can eat.

Boil small red potatoes in salted water until just tender. Let cool about 10 minutes then smash lightly with the heel of your right hand (just plain' I'm right handed) The goal is to compress the potatoes to the point the sides crack and expose some of the tender flesh. Do not destroy the potatoes they are your friend. Four potatoes to serve 4 people I place 1/4 C. olive oil in a boil with 2-3 large cloves of garlic grated or made into a paste. Add 1/2 tsp salt and blend well. Add the potatoes and toss very gently to coat with the oil.

On a hot grill, grill the potatoes until they are hot and the skin is brown. Salt with kosher salt and serve.

The Declaration of Independence

2009-07-04T11:09:00.002-04:00

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offencesFor abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1 Georgia: Button Gwinnett Lyman Hall George Walton
Column 2 North Carolina: William Hooper Joseph Hewes John Penn South Carolina: Edward Rutledge Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton
Column 3 Massachusetts:John HancockMaryland:Samuel ChaseWilliam PacaThomas Stone Charles Carroll of Carrollton Virginia: George Wythe Richard Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Harrison Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee Carter Braxton
Column 4 Pennsylvania: Robert Morris Benjamin Rush Benjamin Franklin John Morton George Clymer James Smith George Taylor James Wilson George Ross Delaware: Caesar Rodney George Read Thomas McKean
Column 5 New York: William Floyd Philip Livingston Francis Lewis Lewis Morris New Jersey: Richard Stockton John Witherspoon Francis Hopkinson John Hart Abraham Clark
Column 6 New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett William WhippleMassachusetts: Samuel Adams John Adams Robert Treat Paine Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins William ElleryConnecticut: Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington William Williams Oliver Wolcott New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton

Independence Day

2009-07-04T06:30:00.005-04:00

Another 4th of July dawns and I am up with the sun. The Fourth is a favorite holiday because it's the birthday of our country. As a child of the 60's I demonstrated against the war in Vietnam and worked to change politics and tried to make life better for those less fortunate. There is much criticism of boomers and some of it may be warranted however through Facebook I've connected with classmates. Now in our early 60's I feel gratified to discover that many are teachers, ministers, social workers, and in other professions that continue to seek to create life as better for others. None of these folks are narcissistic or selfish. They intentionally live in community with others and are conscious of the community being created.

My own family enfolds many of the same people working to make the world a better place for others through medicine, education and human services. It's our family passion. I am so pleased to be a part of this family by the happy "accident of birth" When I pause to think about how my generation was created in this way I see it as a natural outcome of World War II. As the children of the greatest generation we were loved and cherished by parents who knew what the world was capable of creating both good and evil. Coming back from the war and seeing its tragedies and triumphs they chose to create a better world of their own choosing that celebrated security and opportunity that was created through the same time war time commitment applied to postwar life . Heroism abroad became as heroism at home as they built families, careers and homes.

In the current global crisis and crisis at home people are revisiting the values and behaviors of a previous generation and going back to basics. Again it's a salute to the parents who created safety and opportunity. Many of my friends and fellow bloggers celebrate the lives of parents and their legacies in their own lives to create home and security like they enjoyed for their own families and others. While the 4th of July is a birthday celebration it's also a celebration of heritage of generations long ago and family remembered for their sacrifice and commitment. We enjoy the benefits of that sacrifice and sometimes we just forget for a while and become more focused on our own lives and that of current generations. I try to take time to connect to the past through my growing interest in genealogy and the lives of my family. I celebrate them in my own way by trying to share my love with them and my appreciation for their hard work and vision and dedication to their families.

There are many heroes among the generations but the ones I know the most are the ones I'm best able to celebrate. I regularly celebrate my wonderful uncle who had a career in the military that spanned many global conflicts. I celebrate him and his family and offer my sincere gratitude for their actions and commitment. This year we lost my sweet Aunt Jimmie who was the soldier at home. Her passing touched us all deeply and made us cherish even more the time we have left with that generation. My Uncle Jack is one of my personal heroes and I am thrilled to enjoy a relationship that gives me so much. I just hope that my love and affection provides something for him. He's a great guy.

My Mom is a shero in my life because she taught me about being a Mom and caring for family and home. She also taught me a lot about fun and being a Granna as my little ones call me. I've never been able to do laundry in the way that my daughter loves as much as her Mimi's . I try to make up for it with cooking love. The other veteran in my life is my Dad. He is not the kind of person who likes to be made the center of attention but he takes great pride in his accomplishments as he should. He served in the Army in the Korean war. We were stationed at what is now Fort Polk in Louisiana. He was a physician and worked hard. He is proud of his military service as we all are. A year ago I visited him in Florida. We went to see the Glen Miller orchestra. At the end of the concert that last song was dedicated to the veterans and they were asked to stand. My heart lept as Dad stood. Looking out at the sea of older men was an awe inspiring experience.

So to all of the veterans in the United States and soldiers thank you for your sacrifice. You are in my heart and I think of you daily with gratitude and hope. I hope and want to create that we don't need soldiers and sacrifice from families like Aunt Jimmie's and Uncle Jack's and my parents in the future and that we all have the opportunity see our nation's Declaration and Constitution lived out in the lives of all.

Worshipping at the Grill

2009-06-30T06:26:00.003-04:00

A week ago Lee and I received a wonderful invitation. Mr MW and his sweet bride purchased a new grill and wanted some grilling lessons. We arranged to cook for a week on Sunday. Mr. MW chose chicken and pork to learn to grill. Ms. MW purchased a whole chicken, pork tenderloins and chicken breasts. She purchased 8 WHOLE boneless chicken breasts! The breasts could have floated Tom, Huck and Jim down the Mississippi! They were huge! The MWs opted to cook 5 whole breasts and freeze the rest for later use. Fabulous decision.

To prepare for the grilling event I consulted my favorite grilling master - my Dad. Dad's grilling is a wonderful process that consistently delivers the goods! Fabulous to be his daughter. I worship at the feet of this Grillmaster! Dad reviewed his basics: Control temperature, bring meat to room temperature before grilling, don't fuss with the meat on the grill, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Armed with the basics I prepared two rubs to use and share with the MW's for future use. One is a spicy rub that can be used for any meat and a sweet rub with spices for pork.

We arrived and admired the new altar to summer food at its finest. It is very nice with two burners and a side burner for pots. Warms sauces for basting meats or cook a side dish exing the need to mind the stove and the grill. Lee showed MW how to connect the grill to the propane and we had liftoff! After letting the grill heat for 15 minutes per manufacturer's instruction we rubbed a whole chicken with the spicy rub and mounted it avoirdupois on the beer can. The can should be 2/3 full so Ms. MW took some beer in her OJ in the style of Germany. This was new for me. After the chicken cooked over indirect heat (one of the two burners was turned off and the chicken placed on the unheated side) it roasted to a delectable brown juiciness. After that we grilled two pork tenderloins rubbed with the sweet rub and the aforementioned huge breasts. Ms MW and I speculated on the size of the chickens that surrendered those beautiful breasts ( I was jealous of those bubbies). Clearly they were huge chickenzillas! The MW's marinated some of the breasts in an Asian marinade with sesame and soy and a creamy marinade that was suspiciously white! I didn't go there because if we enter the debate over MW or mayo a certain gentleman is rendered senseless in his many diatribes against mayo. The poor thing just doesn't understand that one chooses appropriate ingredients based on the dish. Oh well I don't want anything to rear its ugly head again.

Finally Ms. MW prepare beautiful peppers to be grilled with olive oil. Lee peeled small potatoes that were cooked almost to doneness skewered on some bamboo skewers and grilled until brown then bathed in a honey lemon sauce. It was all very good! Mr MW made a beautiful salad with grape tomatoes, lettuces, strawberries and avocado with a mandarin orange vinaigrette. It was so delicious. For dessert I made Rose Levy Berenbaum's Canyon pie. The pie had a chocolate wafer crust with chocolate ganache, fresh raspberries, chocolate chip whipped cream with grated chocolate and finely ground bland almonds and capped with cocoa meringues that simulated boulders. It was such a yummy meal and so fun with great companions.

Lest you think I am under the influence of a weed or drug - yes, Mr. MW tormented me throughout in his own style. Every time I said something to Lee I was condescending . If I talked about cooking I was accused of being perfectionistic. I smiled and told him I was giving him something to aspire to! At other points he said you are such a "4" referring to my enneagram. The MW's are dear friends and they balance this with caring conversation and affirmations of one's gifts of spirit and love to them. I rejoice over this teasing as it means MW is feeling good and ready to play! It was a wonderful time for all.

One-derful Rub for Meats (Adapted from Smoke and Spice)

Blend together:
3/4 C. paprika
1/4 C. gr. black pepper
1/4 C. salt
1/4 C. sugar
2 T. ancho chili powder
2 T. garlic powder
2 T. onion powder
2 T. Dorothy Lane Market Cajun seasoning
2 tsp. cayenne (adjust to less if two spicy)

Store in a cool place in an airtight jar or sealed plastic bag.

As I agonize over color and the egg and I

2009-06-28T12:40:00.003-04:00

When my college buddie (feminine form) and her bro came to visit we went to my old house in the Oregon District. We were actually able to go inside my former home. Going back and seeing it again made me fall in loft with the soft soothing colors I chose for that space. The mossy greens, of the main rooms, the colors of the canyon in the little family room were wonderful spaces. It made a lovely haven for me for five years.

After seeing those colors, my current home looks a little light and not my tonal comfort zone. The living room and dining room and two of the bedrooms are fine. Lee is ready for a change in colors and is a believer in freshening up. Lee and I decided on some creamy colors with a hint of brown for kitchen and sunroom. The hall and the big bedroom will be heavy cream. Perfect for a cook. A note on Miss Lee. Lee is getting revved up for projects. She's dug a 70 foot oval trench to prevent bamboo from migrating through the yard. She's doing 12 yards of mulch and now is taking on painting. The tree man came as we lost part of a tree in last week's storm. We have suffered with our current sink and faucet in the kitchen. We are putting in a composite sink in slate and a brushed nickel faucet. Lee will have helpers of course. She cannot climb trees and she has an aversion to plumbing.

So what has all this got to do with food. I was reading the New York Times and they are focusing on deviled eggs. Reading the article, the author said most deviled eggs are spicy. That was a revelation as my eggs are not spicy. There is a creamy yolk filling with a hint of mustard and a secret ingredient and the cooked white that has it's firm texture against the smooth creaminess of the yolk filling. To me spiciness would be overwhelming. My mom makes hers with a little bit of sweet pickle relish which is great. However I am in some sense a purist. Let's just say the deviled egg filling reminds me of my living room color. Spicy would be edgy not eggy and wouldn't be the soothing comfort I want from my home or my deviled eggs.

Deviled Eggs

6 eggs cooked starting out in cold water. When the water comes to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes and remove from the heat and fill the pan with cool water. Crush the egg shells against the side of the pan. Peel the egg shell and add to compost.

Cut the eggs in half horizontally if you like your eggs flat or for some real excitement trim a bit from the fat bottom and slice a third off the narrower top. Carefully remove the yolk and place in a bowl of a food processor. The empty white can be placed on a plate traditionally horizontal or top up.

To the yolks in the food processor add:
1/4 C. mayo or MW
3/4 tsp poultry seasoning - secret but obvious don't you think

1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Whirl until smooth. If' it's a bit dry add another tablespoon of mayo and check again.

Spoon or pipe the creamy mixture into the whites. Dust with paprika.

This is really good.

Visitors from the North

2009-06-21T08:41:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a great day for me. My college roomie and her brother came for the day. As with all great times there was a plan afoot. Linda is a genealogist and bon vivant and quite fun. A devoted mother and blogger and an extraordinary person. Her brother Ken is a kindred spirit. A teacher, musician and thinker he is great fun to be with and share conversation.

So they arrived before noon and took the requisite tour of the grounds and the WORKSHOP and met the three dogs. We headed off for lunch at Culp's cafe on the grounds of Carillon Park. Culps is named for an old Dayton eatery. The decor is very 50's and the menu is a salute to food popular in that era as well. We had a great conversation about Texas music and our annual barbecue. Ken loves Texas musicians so he scored many points for that alone.

The plan for the day was to see my former home in the historic Oregon District. While I lived there I shared space with Electra Collins Doren a local librarian and daughter of John Doren publisher of the Dayton Democrat. Well Electra died in 1927 so her spirit made her presence known on many occasions. After the Jackson street viewing we were to go to Woodland cemetery to investigate and locate the graves of relatives of Linda, Dayton luminaries and Electra and her family!

The home on Jackson street is for sale. Seeing us armed with cameras, the owner who was doing yard work and came over to greet us. I shared that I lived here for a number of years and she invited us in to see my former home. I was so touched by her generosity. I was amazed to see that she had retained many of the colors that I used to paint my home. She did say that the upstairs bath was a very dark grey and they changed that to make it lighter. I told her that was me and that I loved the color. I think she was worried she offended me but I assured her that she did not. Not much had changed with the exception of the kitchen. The kitchen which was originally a galley kitchen so narrow that if you fully opened the dishwasher door it would just clear the fridge on the opposite wall. Previous owners removed the wall adjoining the dining room and rotated the cabinets 90 degrees so the line of cabinets was perpendicular to the wall with the refrigerator. I so loved that cozy home but the stairs were and I can confirm this today a killer for these old knees.

I asked the owner if she ever felt that she was living with someone and she put her hands to her cheeks and said I don't want to think that. Then she proceeded to share an experience that attested to some of the strange goings on I experienced. What fun! Ken who has some psychic abilities said he didn't feel anything when he was there. I think Ms. Electra was waiting for me at Woodland Cemetery!

So we traveled to Woodland Cemetery. Woodland Cemetery is an important place in Dayton. It is home to the graves and memorials to Dayton's many inventors and notables. The mausoleum has a beautiful collection of stained glass windows. One window which is a major attraction is a stunning Tiffany window. Our interests were more to the actual cemetery. Our first stops were to locate Linda's relatives. Her husband has a great grandmother and great aunts and uncles interred here. After a walk up a steep hill we were only able to find one head stone and that of another person Linda wanted to see. She didn't get her "money" shot. Many of the grave stones were overturned or may have washed down the hill. Some stones were so worn by weather that the names were unrecognizable. She did get some pictures so she was happy about that. We also looked in the infant section of the cemetery to see if there were any folks there they were related to.

For me the highlight was spending time with Linda, Ken and Lee. Linda is passionate about genealogy and Ken is a devoted brother who not as passionate about genealogy applies his intellect and support to Linda's passion. Electra's grave is located in the same section where we found those of the Wright brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar. In addition so many names Shaffors, Schantz, Deeds, Mead and on. All founders of Dayton from the 1800's to early 1920's. After much trekking I found Electra, her dad, mom and siblings. All were buried in separate plots adjacent to a huge stone memorial with another family name. Clearly some work lies ahead to unravel these connections. I took many pictures of Doren graves and even had my picture taken on Electra's grave! I cannot describe to you how thrilling it was to find that grave and see more unfold. I am so thrilled to have owned the home of John Doren where his daughter Electra lived. I've felt such closeness to Electra. She was a noted librarian in Dayton and after the flood established the first mobile book "mobile" to outlying areas of Dayton. In her time this was a horse and cart. When I lived in North Dayton the book mobile was a refitted bus. I took my children to the bus where we chose reading material until the next visit. My mom was the person who really instilled the love of reading in us and nurtured my love of books. Thank you Mom for giving me one of life's greatest treasures. One of my fondest memories was Dad reading Treasure Island to us over the course of some weeks. It was heavenly to share that time and closeness with him.

On our way out of the cemetery we saw some memorials to other Daytonions. A statue of a boy and his dog - the boy drowned and his dog visited his grave daily for a long period of time and their connection is memorialized in that statue. There is a bench with two bowler hats placed on one end for the Wright brothers. I think the one that touched me deeply was Erma Bombeck's grave. For all of the words and laughter she brought to so many her grave is marked by a huge piece of stone from Arizona. After she left Dayton she retired to Arizona. Her marker is just that huge beautiful stone. To me it says I have said all there is for me to say the rest is up to your imagination.

After leaving Woodland we went to the memorial of yet another great Daytonian - Esther Price. This was Lee's part of the trip where she found $30 dollars worth of dark chocolate so she could remember Esther and her good works in Dayton. At home we had a very fun dinner together. I had guacamole for apps with wine and sangria and a blueberry spritzer for the celebrants. A meal of skirt steak rubbed with chipotle and spices and grilled was served with chinmichurri sauce, Lee's pinto beans, Mexican Fruit Plate and Mexican Chocolate Cake. A fine and memorable day was had by all.

Chimichurri Sauce adapted from the Joy of Cooking

1/2 C olive oil
1/2 C red wine vinegar
1 small onion minced
1/2 C parsley finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic grated finely
salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp mexican oregano dried
1 tsp dried cilantro

Mix together and let rest for at least 3 hours before serving. It keeps overnight in the fridge. Spoon the sauce over grilled meats.

The Professor

2009-06-17T20:32:00.004-04:00

This is posted early. I am jumping the Father's Day gun. My Dad is an excellent physician. Before his retirement, he had a wonderful career as a pediatrician. He was wonderful with both parents and kids. When we lived in Toledo it was not unusual for the kids to come over to see if "Dr. Henny" could come out. He would go about his gardening while visiting with the kids. He never talked down to them he just chatted away, listening and taking in the child with the stories and conversation. He genuinely enjoys children and I think his career brought him much satisfaction. His great grandsons enjoy his company. Particularly Gabe who is quite comfortable chatting with Bobo and learning to fish at the Slagle cabin. Gabe's sense of humor and easy smile and laugh are quite fun and he can really bring a smile from Dad.

Dad's career was as a physician to me he is and was always a teacher too. He loves nothing more than sharing knowledge or some skills with others so they can enjoy what he knows and he can do. When my youngest niece was young she would travel to Florida to spend time with Mom and Dad. Of course, she missed school and came packed with work to do while she was gone. Dad arranged that he and Cammy would have school together every day. Dad would make sure she kept her promise to her mom and teacher and Dad was able to enjoy time with Cammy getting to see the student side of her personality and sharing his values. They were close then and close to this day.

Dinner with Dad during the week was always a rush job. Mom would spend hours cooking. Dad would race in after office hours and sit down to dinner. He would share his day and ask us about ours. Sue would spill her milk, Dad would be the target and would change clothes before leaving for the hospital or a meeting. I used to think this was his way of connecting and keeping tabs on his girls. But it was so much more. In retrospect I see his desire for connection but more about using experiences to teach us a view of the world and people that was bigger than we were or are and founded in selfless work and generosity and respect for others.

In my junior year I thought I would spend the summer in Tiffin instead of going home to work. I knew I would need to make money so I hatched the infamous plot of printing a limited number of raffle tickets and selling them to people in the community. The prize being raffled off was me! I would agree to work for 40 hours at whatever task the lucky winner would assign me too. Because there were no more than 100 tickets for sale at $25.00 a ticket purchasers would have great odds of winning 1 in 100. I would make $2500 when I usually cleared $600-800 in a summer's work. I thought it was brilliant. Dad thought it was ridiculous so I won the grand opportunity to spend the summer working in Dad's office. Lucky Dad.

I worked as a receptionist. Let's just say that the partners and other staff were warm and friendly despite my shortcomings. They were incredibly supportive and I learned a great deal that summer. (I did not make $2500.) I saw where education, self discipline, passion, commitment and caring met laughter, pain, illness, crisis, sadness, hope and humor. Measles, chicken pox, sprains, viruses, broken bones, fevers, bad or questionable behavior and lacerations were the rule of the days. Arising from all of this was one experience that taught me a life lesson that informed my choice of work and how I wanted to pursue it and my relationship with those I served.

One day a mom called and her toddler had a fever that wasn't going away. The mom and child came to the office and were seen by Dad. As things unfolded and testing was required the young one was diagnosed with cancer. Forty-two years ago, the prognosis was poor. As I watched the family come for visits and care the sadness of their experience was overwhelming to me. It caused me to ponder life in a way I had few opportunities to do so in the past. Our family experienced such loss when I was a junior in high school four years earlier and seeing it unfold in a similar way was a huge challenge for me. I needed to talk to Dad. I related the story from my experience and told Dad how sad I was. I could tell it was challenging for my Dad as well. After some discussion I finally said "Dad how do you stand it. Doesn't it make you cry?". He sat back in his chair at the table and looked at me. He said"I can't cry. This family has people who will cry with them. They need me to take care of their child and them. I'm the guy that guides them through this and is strong for them. That's my job." I was shocked by this unexpected response but I knew he was right.

Over the years we've discussed people in crisis and considered choices and actions in their lives and our own. Being my Dad's daughter taught me that helping people offers great personal rewards. However helping them is always about those struggling and not about us. It's about being strong enough to risk taking a stand for someone to help them; to put yourself beside them to see them through a crisis or a long term challenge. It's about the ability to care for someone by listening and affirming their strengths to deal with the challenge. That learning changed my life and brought me great happiness. In my jobs I've experienced the wonder of seeing people live through a crisis and become more than their challenge rather than being defined by it. That learning has enabled me to become a trusted partner sharing the road. It's a huge honor to be trusted and to have someone share that part of their lives and I don't take that trust for granted.

I can say how really blessed I have been to be a member of the family I was born into. They are all great people who have carved wonderful careers of purpose and worth to the world. We're not perfect and we have the same kind of highs and lows that others experience. They are people you can laugh with til you cry or cry with until you laugh! I think my siblings and our progeny would concur when I say we have been taught by great teachers through our Mom and Dad. I would have to name Dad as the tenured professor in life lessons with the highest commendations confirmed upon him. Dad you're the best. Thanks for being willing to teach and helping to make me teachable through some 'splainin'!

Real Reason

2009-06-13T15:50:00.004-04:00

As you may or may not know I love Story People by Brian Andreas. I developed this affection for his work almost 20 years ago. In fact there is a connection to the Story People Blog on this blog - so if you haven't been go now! Many of his thoughts presented in his work really resonate with me. Today was particularly true. It is titled Real Reason. The words are as follows:

Real Reason
There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good.

Okay is this not me in a nutshell - pecan please. The pattern of my life is connection and sharing time and experiences with people who are important to me. Of course when I am hosting or primarily responsible it is an event with - you guessed it food. My goal is to create a shared experience that brings laughter and warmth and all over good feeeling with a tingle in your heart from the love and a tingle in your taste buds.

Several weeks ago I traveled to WA to welcome baby Miriam and help the rest of the family get a little TLC and special Granna/Mama attention. It was splendid. We cooked through the week and made yummy meals. Jen wanted to see some friends so we made Mexican with puffy tacos, pork filling, mexican fruit, mexican chocolate cake and a side or two. We had sangria and guacamole - it was fun and divine.

One of the things Jen and Josh like to have me do when I am there is cook for them. I cook ahead as it were and prepare meals frozen so dinner is just a little easier. So Josh smoked brisket and a pork shoulder, I made spicy pork, marinated flank steaks in 3 different rubs and marinades, eggplant parmesan, chicken cordon bleu, mac and cheese, meat loaves, meatballs and lots of sauce for pasta. Notice that they are "comfort" type foods. Perfect for two stressed out parents who've wrangle work, kids and car pools and smiles and tempers. You just need something that rights the earth and helps you connect to what is normal or what you would like to see. It's hard in the middle of parenting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

After 10 days in Seattle Lee was pining for food - cooked by me. Her comfort food is penne with marinara sauce and cheese with a salad and bread. I can take the basic home marina and switch it around with vegetables in it - mushrooms, squash, artichoke hearts - pine nuts, or meatballs which she loves as well. Her absolute favorite Saturday night special is a ribeye grilled with a twice baked potato and an artichoke with a sauce of mayo and lemon juice for dipping. It's hard to go wrong with an appreciative eater like Lee. Just do not serve chef salad with delicately sliced meats and cheeses. She thinks you made dinner with cold cuts and that is a sin in the book of this Texan.

But back to Seattle. The time spent with my children is so dear. Jen and Josh are incredible parents. If we could bottle their patience we could make the world a more peaceful place. The boys are just full of life and adventure. Gabe is so funny and he is truly Mr. Goodtimes. At one memorable meal Eli announced he was going to use number 2 to push waste out. Gabe looked and listened and jumped announcing - not to be outdone - that he would use all the numbers to push out waste.

Part of the fun was a soccer game. Eli is a sports nut and soccer is his game. We went to see the Sounders play the Columbus Crew. Every day Eli would count down the number of days left before he could go. Each day the excitement was a level higher. Day of was most exciting. They donned hats and shirts in Sounders colors. Gabe and Eli had hats and sunglasses and Gabe wore ear phones to drown out the big noises. They were just present to every moment of the game. We took pictures and of course Eli refused to smile to torment his Granna. The game was a tie and much to Eli's chagrin Tyrone "X" was red carded and thus could not play in the game against the arch rival Chivas. Very fun to hear him spout knowledge about the game. Josh shared that he doesn't know where Eli gets his information but he is pretty accurate.

Miriam is a very cuddly baby. She appears to be so small after two brothers over 9 lbs each. She is a lovely blend of both her brothers. You can watch her for a while and see both Gabe and Eli's expressions on her face. She has very full kissy cheeks and her brownish hair is as soft as down against her head. She has a very nice demeanor which makes you want to just hold her and snuggle her all the more. Miriam is perfect for cuddling and nuzzling. What a perfect addition to our family!

It was apparent to me watching Josh and Jen that they are working to create a wonderful life at home for their family. Eating together, trying bites of this and that, thinking of games to keep little ones at the table for chitchat. Suddenly Josh grabs a strip of cloth used to tie the curtains back and announces he is a ninja. The boys jump up in delight and declare themselves ninjas too. The head ninja announces no ninja activities until baths and pj's are in place. The boys scamper upstairs to complete their tasks. I do dishes and after that's complete Jen and I rest on the couch awaiting the ninjas. Josh and Eli bounce down the stairs and then the smallest ninja appears. He is wearing a big magic cape, a fireman's hat and has a hobby horse tucked between his knees with his ninja head scarf in place. No pj's but big smiles and a heart full of play. Chapter two takes a little man back up the stairs for a more appropriate sleepy time costume and the ninjas go to bed.

I have never been so happy or so tired. It was incredible fun and after a rest for a week and a trip to the doc for a cortisone shot in the knee I am ready to go again!

One of the boys favorite treats is an outrageous apple. They are sold at the shops near Pikes Market. It's an easy treat to put together and it is outrageous!

Big perfect apples
short sticks to make a handle for the apples
Bag of caramels melted with 1/3 C. of evaporated milk
12 ounces Dark or milk chocolate melted (if you want to be true to Seattle try Theo chocolate!)
12 ounces white chocolate
Chopped pecans or crushed candy bars 8 ounces or both

Wash and dry the apples thoroughly. Assemble the apples with stick handles in the top of the apples.
Place each topping in it's own separate deep bowl. Carmel, then dark/milk chocolate then white chocolate, then nuts, then candy bars

Dip the apple into the caramel about 2/3 of the way down. Drip and rest is handle down on top of a glass with the uncoated apple touching the rim of the glass.

When firm dip in the milk chocolate not as far down but putting enough on so it drips down the sides of the apple. Rest as before until firm.

Repeat with the white chocolate but before the chocolate is firm sprinkle with nuts of candy or roll it in one or both.

Finally drizzle the chocolates over the top of each apples. Just to gild the lily do not dip.

Let rest until firm and enjoy. We cut each apple in wedges and share.

It really says I love you in the most real way - as if you need a reason for making something for someone you love.

Happy Birthday Dad

2009-05-17T17:26:00.004-04:00

I have been trying to write this blog and the universe is either saying don't do it or I am simply having trouble. Several months ago my "e"key fell off and I have been struggling to hit the right spot in the vacant key spot to iterate an "e". E is the most common letter in writing so you can gauge my level of frustration. So today because I am out of home most of this week and next week I surrendered my computer to the geek squad to repair the errant key. I tried to log-in on my work computer and ran into the google/blogspot morass of wonder. So after a good bit of time I am on! Thank you!

Last year at this time my Dad escaped from the hospital after wrestling with his a-fib issues. We all held our breath and wanted his health to return. Things didn't improve much and he was scheduled for a trip to the Cleveland Clinic to have the medical cognoscenti scrutinized and analyze and strategize. In the middle of all of this was the Henry vacation. Twenty plus years of family ecstasy in a gorgeous location. Needless to say we were on pins and needles over whether Dad was going to make it. We needn't have worried because he made it in typical FC Henry style. All of the medical trials and tribulations were a non-issue for the week - he was here to have fun and be with the people he loves and those who love him back to the nth degree. He reigned over the week, helping with the cooking, hanging out and giving advice and comfort to the enemy (men's side of the table) in the nightly game of slip a**. We went to a beach bums ballgame, savored meals, cornhole cocktail hour and the general joy of four generations playing, laughing and celebrating. It was awesome. Spending this time with Mom and Dad and the rest of the family is a soulful time for me. I connect. I breathe in these people of my blood and choice who are dear beyond measure. This time always helps me get my groove back. I love watching Mom and Dad's reactions to this time. Mom exults in being in the middle of all of this and her laughter and sidling up to be with someone working in the kitchen or gathering laundry to add to a load speaks her love of being in the middle of all the brouhaha and chaos. Dad loves this as well but he seems more to soak it all in and you can see the happiness on his face as he reflects on his and mom's success in creating a strong supportive family. He is far more introspective about all of this but his eyes shine in delight when Gabe strolls over to him to show him a treasure from the yard or look up at him with a big grin. Dad looks at each of us and considers the person and enjoys their happiness reflected through the filter of their personality and it generates many a chuckle for him.

It's always been my goal to be like my Dad. Like Mom, he was one of my first role models. I saw his high standards and desire to do the right thing. His compassion for others and respect for his patients were characteristics I treasured. Not always his politics but you can't have everything. I most wanted to create in me and my own family the sense of being protected and cared for and being a beacon for the future. I don't know that I'll ever be able to recreate the incredible sense of being safe I felt with him though I've tried and tried.

I love the sense of adventure and fun in him. When we were little he would speed up on hills so we would temporarily leave the gravity behind and our stomachs would roll with fun. It was so exciting. Again Daddy do it again we would cry and he would find another hill. He and Aunt Lil taught us to water ski and when skiing on his own he literally walked on water - ask Uncle Ralph the Tennessee cannonball. He took us snow skiing. We went out with him to gig frogs at night and he found an opportunity to show us frogs mating. We also went canoeing with the Polks to catch snapping turtle for dinner. A grand adventure was learning to drive. He had me drive the family from Toledo to Monroeville to practice. My sisters were in the back seat screaming about their impending death. That was crazy! He took us for airplane rides when he became licensed to fly. We would fly together over the city and fly past our house. On one occasion we looked up to see someone parachuting in front of us. A quick turn of the wheel saved his life and ours.

At one point he decided he would read a classic to us and we gathered together to read Treasure Island. I don't know if we finished but I do remember his voice reading the story of adventure with pirates. He loved history and arranged historical vacations that celebrated American history and allowed us to see our country. We canoed and were taught to fish and even had opportunities to learn to shoot a rifle. The last time Dad canoed he was paired with me. Within 100 feet of the place we put in I managed to get us stuck on a log and ended up tipping us in the water. Dad was so not happy and his grim smile to my apology let me know being wet from a canoe snafu was not in his list of favorite things to do. He took us on some wonderful fishing adventures. One was at a club in Canada he belonged to - Wabe. It was such fun. We had to fly in on a float plane. We fished and laughed and spent a night at Benoit. That cabin had no electricity. We slept in sleeping bags on cots and listened for bear. No bear just the scratching of mice through the night. I didn't know who taught him to fish and asked him. He shared that he wanted to learn so he did and he became an accomplished sport fisherman who fished in some exciting and exotic places. Dad taught his grandchildren fishing and shooting. His two great grandsons have fishing poles sized to them to begin their fishing skills taught by Bobo. He hated golf and had some choice opinions of golfers but for some reason decided to take up golf in retirement and did pretty well. So much like Dad, he shot a hole in one on the Veronica Valley golf course near Leland, MI. Walk on water, hole in one - you get the picture.

Dad loves to laugh. He has some great stories from his life and experiences. When he gets tickled he chuckles and chuckles. He has a circle of friends who are like him larger than life and the source of some great fun and laughter. He laughs over their misadventures and delights in the fun he shared with them over the years. We vacationed in Hawks Michigan on Lake Nettie for a number of years. One summer Dad and Uncle Ralph rented a catamaran for us and a little sailfish. In true Dad style he and Uncle Ralph decided to take the cat out to see if it could be upended and how hard he would have to work to make it happen. In other words were the kids at risk or was the cat safe. Dad and Uncle Ralph took the family dogs out for the sail. Cricket Jones and Mandy Henry were willing sailors and quite at ease. Finally Dad and Uncle Ralph managed to tip the cat. They moved the dogs to the side of the pontoons that were in the air. Seeing this, the kids fired up the outboard and raced to rescue - of course - the dogs. Dad and Uncle Ralph were a little challenged by our priorities but saw the humor in the situation. Dads are invincible, dogs are not. When we visited Mom and Dad in Florida Dad found a video that tickled him endlessly. A bull wandered into an English grocery store and terrorized a shopper. Dad laughed endlessly as he described the image of the man being chased by the bull through the aisles of the store. He would laugh again just thinking about the video.

This post hasn't really documented Dad's professional career, his financial wisdom or his medical accomplishments. It is more some recollections of one special Dad who created a legacy of love and family that he inoculated in his family and the generations. He is modest and doesn't want to be in the spotlight but he takes pride in his accomplishments nonetheless. It's his birthday on the 18th of May. It's a day for celebration, joy and remembrance that I'll honor to the end of my life. My Dad has shared much wisdom with me through the years. I think we could write a book with Dad's pearls. My favorite is this. You will never see a greater return on investment than the effort and love you invest in your family. I believe it from my own life and know this to be true for me and my family. Thank you Dad for being you! Happy Birthday!

Dad grills a superb anything. One of our favorite meals is a 2 1/2 inch thick porterhouse steak grilled and served with a compound butter.

Heat the grill to high and then regulate the flame to about 350 degrees. Season the steak with Montreal seasoning on both sides. Put the huge hulking 2 1/2 inch wonder on the grill. Do not fuss with it but watch it. Let the steak roast for about 20 minutes and then turn it. Continue to cook until a thermometer reads about 135-140 degrees. Remove the steak from the grill to a platter and tent with foil. Let the steak rest for 15 minutes then bone and slice. When everyone comes to vacation we grill 3 of these for our family. Sometimes there is some left over. We slice it thinly for steak salad the next day.

Paprika Parmesan Butter

4 ounces softened butter
1 clove of garlic minced
3/4 tsp. paprika
1 T. chopped parsley
3/4 C grated parmesan cheese (fresh please)

Mix thoroughly. On a sheet of waxed paper shape the butter into a log. Roll the waxed paper around the log and roll until evenly shaped. Chill.

Serve a slice of the compound butter with the warm steak. It oozes over the top and is quite delightful.

She's my mom!!!!

2009-05-10T10:39:00.006-04:00

I am so late with this post. My connection to the internet was out until this morning. Not a good day. You know about Miriam Steven Diamond the newest woman to join the clan. I'd like to let you know my mom Mary Knisely Oechsler Henry. Mom or Mimi as we call her was born in the late twenties. Her dad was a banker and her mom was a legal scretary in a law firm and then secretary of her national music sorority Mu Phi Epsilon. Mimi has an older sister Dorothy Anne or Dorr. Dorr taught nursing for many years before her retirement. My grandma and Aunt Dorr focused on work, cultural activities and gardening. Granpa was a golfer and if he wasn't at work he was probably golfing and enjoying socializing with his friends. Mom was also social and an appreciator of current culture. She had a boatload of friends in high school and was very active on clubs and committees. She was and remains a social person loving dances and parties and a general good time. Grandpa had a favorite story of Mimi and her friend Suzette Halbert. One day they went to the movies and didn't come home. Grandpa went down to the movies and found the girls sitting through yet another movie. I think this captures my Mom's early focus on friends and the joy of being with them. My Mom had a short career working in a soda fountain. A perfect job that could afford her the opportunity to see everyone.

After graduation Mom went to OSU where she joined Aunt Dorr. Aunt Dorr had an invitation to a blind date but couldn't make it so she fixed up Mimi with - you guessed it! - Bobo. Thanks Aunt Dorr for being busy! Mom and Dad married when she was 20 and he was 23 and 14 months later I was born. Mom and Dad wanted to have children while they were young. That started the whirl of a medical practice, having 2 more children, a pediatric residency, a stint in the army and ultimately a move to Toledo.

Mom is a wonderful wife and a fabulous mother, Mimi and Great Mimi. She is a woman who kept a sparkling home despite her children's best efforts. I grew up listening to big band music and my mom's voice singing along. One memorable time involved watching mom singing and dancing with the dog. She tripped, fractured her foot and wore a lovely cast for weeks. It is amazing to watch the looks on people's faces when they heard the source of the injury! In addition to dancing and singing skills my Mom was a seamstress. Her creations included Halloween costumes, party dresses and dance recital finery.

She spent years in the PTA and supporting a huge variety of school efforts. She helped with school projects and field trips and was active in church. My younger sister Sue was in confirmation class and I will discreetly offer that her academic prowess in that class didn't match her efforts at school. It was a source of some chagrin to my parents who really liked the minister and valued his regard. So Mom became a confirmation class mother diligently seeing that Sue showed her acadmic gifts. It was really important to my parents that we do well in school and Mom worked hard to do what she could to support our academic careers. My youngest sister had some grades that were disappointing. Dad and Mom decided to counsel Rebecca about her grades. Rebcca listened to their advice and consternation and then said vehmently , "But Dad, I'm the funniest kid in the class!" Mom doubled her level of academic support. Today my sisters are a college professor and teacher so Mom's efforts didn't go to waste. I will spare you more stories of my sisters' misadventures. Just know that many of our friends would stop in to see us and stay to hang out with Mimi.

I challenged Mom and Dad in a different way. Most of my reblliousness caused more chagrin for Mom and Dad and my teen years with her were not always rewarding for her. In one episode I went shopping and purchased a lovely corset with long elastric tabs to attach stockings. I returned home and mom wanted to see my purchase. Needless to say a quick return was made. On another occasion a dance was scheduled at my high school. There was no one from my school I wanted to go with so I invited a young man from the Junior Council on World Affairs. Mom was horrified that I would do this - you just didn't do that in the 60's. The JCWA was definitely not hooking up on facebook because it was a meeting ground for geeks. She needn't have worried. I think the Sadie Hawkins Dance was enough of a challenge for her. My freshman year in college my parents dropped me off and to my mind beat a hasty retreat. After going home for Thanksgiving, Mom and Dad drove me back to school. Mom helped me drop off my things in my room. When I opened the door and she saw my room in disarray - clothes piled on the bed and desk stacked with stuff it was a bit of a shock. My Dad told me she cried all the way home. I don't recount these stories as a matter of pride but more to inform you dear reader of the challenges my mom faced as a mother. As she could tell you this is the tip of the iceberg.

When I married and became a mom myself my mom became much smarter. She supported me as a person and a mother and loved my children with her wonderful Mimi brand of love. She would help us get settled after moves, help new moms get adjusted and even coming for a short visit would gently say, "Would you humor me and let me run the vacuum?" Mimi washed the lightbulbs! She and Dad had the grandchildren visit for a week at a time and outdid themselves helping guide their family and keep us all going no matter. My Mom would tell me she couldn't bring herself to wash fingerprints off the windows after we left bcause she wanted reminders of those little people she loves so dearly.

Jen would be sad if I didn't mention Mimi's laundry. Among my mom's many achievements in many areas is her laundry. Jen is a particular admirer and continually asks for Mimi's laundry tips bcause her goal is to make her laundry smell like Mimi's. Mimi continually recounts that it is the Tide and the Downy but we know better. It is that little touch of Mimi that makes everything special. It is the way she puts herself in her family that we treasure.

Almost 20 years ago my Dad gave me, Mimi and my two sisters a trip to the Caymans. It was during that time when my sisters laughed when during a conversation my mom turned to me and said OH Annnne that caused us to laugh and remember. For me it was fun to be able to laugh about those times that caused that reaction. I must confess some chagrin that I hadn't always brought her joy and pride; that I couldn't see how hard she was working to be the best mom in the way that she thought was best for me and yes that I saw she loved me but I was resentful that she didn't like me as the free spirit I found myself to be. If I could go back I wouldn't change a thing about my mom. I would however be more patient, more willing to really share with her my deep love and affection for her even in the face of frustration. I would want to make her know in her bones what a wonderful unique person she is and how much I treasure that in her.

So Mom I want you to know that I understand from my own life as a mom and a Granna that the people who are best for you are not the people who are just like you or agree with you. You learn from the people who by their lives cause you to ponder your own life and the person you want to be so you can carry in you the parts of them that you love and want to grow in yourself. Mom you are so much one of those people for me. So you are up there with the people I admire Thomas Merton, Teilhard de Chardin, Annie Sullivan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Malcom Boyd, Tina Turner, and other authors, writers and heroic people. I hope going forward you will have many opportunities to know what you are to me and my gratitude to you for being who you are. I love you!

Annie

A Diamond Trifecta

2009-05-08T22:56:00.003-04:00

OOOOweeee! Today is a big day. Miriam Steven Diamond was birthed this morning in Seattle. Josh and Jen got up very early left their two sweet little men to anxiously await their chance to meet their new baby sister. At about 2 I received a happy phone call announcing that everyone is well and healthy. Mira is 7 lbs 14 ounces of cuddly love. She has very light hair and to me looks like a lovely blend of her two big brothers. Later, her two bros stopped by to see her and Mom and Dad. Both held Mira and were captivated by this new member of their family. Gabe and Eli were leaving and Gabe asked his Mom and Dad who would stay to care for Mira. Being cared for is huge for Gabe. Jen and Josh assured him all is right with the world and Mommy and Daddy will be there for her. Jen and Mira return home on Sunday.

Jen and Josh are wonderful parents. Each is incredibly attuned to their children and are firmly grounded in each child's unique personality and perspective. Jen and Josh are so present to their children. They have a saint's patience. For me there is an incredible sweetness watching them. At Eli's birth, he was taken to a bassinette to be cleaned checked and measured. Jen lying on the surgical table urged Josh to be with Eli and soothe him with his voice. I had the wonderful honor of carrying Eli back to Jen's room. To hold this precious being and understand the weight you carry is the weight of generations in one tiny form. Babies carry the past but are our prayer and hope for the future. To place a young one in life is faith and trust despite the world's harsh realities.

I am thinking of my grandmas and grandpas and Josh's grandma Miriam and wish they were here to share in this exciting time. They would feel keenly the presence of the past, present and future in this new life and see themselves going forward. Maybe it's a bit like Our Town. The characters in the play who had passed on observed how oblivious those they left behind were and how caught up in every day humdrum. Those characters wished for their loved ones the ability to sense how precious it all is and how fleeting. The birth of this baby like all births slows things down and calls us to sense anew the meaning of love and commitment to our children and family for the time we have.

I talked to my Mom and Dad several times today. They are thrilled and anticipate holding Mira and seeing the big brothers in August. Our family time will be wonderful. Aunties' and cousins' arms ache to hold the baby. Mimi wanted to know what the recipe for this post might be. She suggested pablum. This recipe is more about people and what it takes to make a family.

Josh gives his presence as a stable ship in both calm and stormy seas - sailed with a wry grin
Jen is heart and fierceness as she stands for her family
Eli is the watcher and visionary seeing opportunity and creating possibility
Gabe is adventure and laughter, life lived with abandon and joy
Miriam is a cuddly sweetness, a touchstone, a connection
Love stirred in gently on some days, shaken on some - they are a family.

Before there was Dancing With the Stars

2009-05-02T19:36:00.004-04:00

We are back from a wonderful time in Florida with my Mom and Dad. We ate, we saw sights, we swam, we relaxed, I worked a little but mostly we talked and laughed with my Mom and Dad. Of course a significant amount of time was spent reminiscing! We laughed over stories from Dad about Bill the goat his beloved and pesky childhood pet, Mom's summers at Devil's Lake while she was growing up, trips and happy memories. We talked about Dad's carer and Mom's life wrangling kids and a household. One of the many fun conversations was the one about the Big Apple.

Not the city but the dance. This dance was formed in the African American community out of church. Apparently a church became a club. Three white boys heard the music and saw the dancing and begged to enter. The man who owned the club charged them 25 cents a piece and made them sit in the balcony to watch. The boys were so enraptured by the dance they brought their friends. When the music stopped the boys would throw down nickels to get the music and dancing started all over again. The dancers had to the nickelodean. One of the boys was related to someone who was a choreographer. He described the dance to the choreographer and the dance appeared in several movies.

When Mom and Dad were younger they were part of a review sponsored by the Academy of Medicine. Their role in the review was to be a part of the dance called the Big Apple. They had costumes and Mom wore a big skirt with apples on it. I am sure they were quite the thing that night. I remember seeing the skirt and hearing about the event but I never knew specifically what the dance was. When I returned home I googled Big Apple Dance video. I will tell you it was a dance! I've included the URL so you can see it too. The URL shows the dance from one of the movies where it appeared. (The other movie starred Judy Garland - no comment) You can also see a later version from a club in Seattle in 2006. Just search Big Apple Dance Seattle 2006. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hruwaXe8Frc Enjoy the view and imagine your Mom and Dad hoofing it. Cheryl and Gilles Little Kim and Derek eat your hearts out!

So the recipe? - Big Applesauce

I learned to make applesauce from watching Mimi whose applesauce is a family legend.

You can make this with any amount of apples you like. The trick is to apply sugar and cinnamon judiciously. You can add more but you cannot take it out.

Use your chosen quantity of firm apples. I wouldn't necessarily use apples rated for sauce because the joy of Mimi's applesauce is in both the taste and the texture. Put the pared quartered apples in a pot. Put water up to 1/3 of the height of the apples. Bring to a simmer and cook the apples until they are tender and chunky but not broken down totally. The goal is to have sauce with yummy chunks throughout. Begin by adding 1/4 C. sugar, stirring gently until the sugar is dissolved in the sauce. Add sugar stirring gently after each addition until the sauce has some sweetness but remains very appley and a bit tart. At the very end add cinnamon to give a hint of spice. Serve cold if you can wait!

My Family's DNA

2009-04-27T21:20:00.005-04:00

Ahhh, Florida. We are having a wonderful time. Friday when we arrived we went to dinner at Shrimpers and ate under a thatched roof beside the water. Laughing and talking with my wonderful Mom and Dad as we basked in the glow of their company. Saturday my dear cousin and her great husband came for a family dinner party. Her sweet mom, my aunt, died recently and as you might guess we had much to catch up on. We celebrated her Mom and her wonderful Dad in reminiscing about fun, family facts - we all have them. Dad and Mom clearly loved bringing us together for a special time. We talked about life and teased my Mom and Dad endlessly. My mother worries about what might appear in the blog. To tease her I say, "I think I'll post this in the blog." which prompts an "If you do I'll disinherit you!" Truly what some think are secrets are things that to others are just too good not to be shared.

The high spot of the night was my Dad recounting a video he saw online. Apparently a young bull entered a grocery store and terrorized the shoppers. One man used a grocery cart to defend himself against the bull. For my Dad the part that caused him to literally laugh so hard tears rolled down his cheeks was the sight of one man running down the aisle of the store being chased by the bull. Dad loves these vignettes where people are confounded by a situation and they react in a primal way. He shared that he watched the video many times with the same result. Seeing Dad laugh so deeply and with his whole self was wonderful for us. It was a happy time.

Last night we had an impromptu cocktail party with the children of Mom and Dad's friends. They've taken over the condo and were spending a few days enjoying Florida. They are great company and share Mom and Dad's passion for OSU and things football. Today we started the formal process of their departure from Florida. They are packing some things to be shipped and sorting the things we'll transport back in their car. Dad and I made an Alaskan King Crab dinner with prosecco and spinach salad we enjoyed on the porch overlooking the St. Lucie river. Happy times are cooking with my family - Dad and I discussing earnestly what we need to do and Mom darting in to offer her own pearl of wisdom or ask a question that prompts a look from my Dad. Lee loves to sit in a chair with a drink and gaze out at the water. My Mom says Lee is waiting for her captain to return. We're planning an eco tour by boat for tomorrow. The captain called while we were eating dinner last night so that started more levity. Lee's captain didn't return but at least there was a call!

Dad couldn't make it this past weekend to the opening of his trout club. My sisters and their respective partners were there in Mom and Dad's stead. Dad was obviously missed as he received several calls and emails from folks who care deeply for Mom and Dad to let him know they were thinking about him and wishing he could join them. This is the first time he's missed an opening in decades and I know he would have liked to have been there. Mom and Dad have committed themselves to making sure our family and friends have opportunities to create memories in wonderful places. There is the trout club, the Florida condo, our family vacation in the summer and wherever Mom and Da are living at the time.

In very Mom and Dad fashion they offer these places to people they hold dear. This weekend there were several calls to my sisters to check on things. Mom and Dad relished hearing from my sister and her husband about the great time they had, the state of fishing there, the evening card games and who all was there. They'll be checking with my other sister when the return home, too. Mom and Dad are overjoyed when family and friends enjoy themselves in a place they hold dear.

All of this is ever a reminder of the importance of family and friends, memories and events and the rituals we hold dear that form the glue of our lives and our hearts. All of this will form the core of conversations and generate numerous recountings of stories and activities that will fill us with laughter and memories in the years to come. Seeing how much all of us love and feel connection to these places and the time shared together is almost is so grounding and to me so much the story of my family. This shared DNA surrounds us and connects us as a web which is spun from love and joy, generosity and selfless enjoyment of the pleasure of others that feels as good as our own and the appreciation of what it means to be a part of this wonderful network of people. Thank you Mom and Dad for one of life's best gifts - you!

Our dessert tonight was Palm Beach brownies. I made it the easy way - not from scratch. For the purists I will redo the recipe with the scratch ingredients at a later date. This is vacation! In an example of my parents' thoughtfulness of others my Mom told me several times I had to make these for my brother-in-law Tom who is a chocolate maven.

Palm Beach Brownies

1 package dark chocolate brownie mix (9x9 pan size)

prepare batter according to package directions but DO NOT BAKE.

1 19 ounce bag of York peppermint patties

1 small canister fudge frosting

Spray a 9X9 pan with Pam. Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Unwrap the patties and place a single layer of them on the brownie batter. Because they don't fit perfectly cut some of the patties in halves or quarters to cover the brownie batter. (You will have some patties left over to enjoy while the brownies bake.) Carefully spoon the other half of the batter over the patties and spread to cover. Bake about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool the brownies and spread with half of the frosting. Eat the rest of the frosting if you are Lee, waiting until you can consume a brownie.

I had communion at Max and Erma;s

2009-04-25T22:44:00.005-04:00

We are in Florida with my parents enjoying their company relaxing, seeing family and just having fun. I woke early and went for a walk and listened to my ipod. For some reason when I walk I love to listen to gospel music. Today it was Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Awesome and so comforting. As I walked I realized that whenever I am with family I feel like all is right with the world. The talking and laughing and sometimes being very serious about life and its challenges brings me back to the very sweet spot in my life. I feel whole once again.

Friday we were in the airport in Northern Kentucky and had lunch. I had a reuben and Lee had a club sandwich. Of course these are our respective faves and for me the subject of one of my blogs. Our waitress was so friendly and she asked us if we were enjoying our food. Being a foodie I had a deep discussion with her about the merits of Lee's club sandwich and the reuben. She loves the reubens there too and I of course had to tell her about my decades long reuben phobia and my eventual return to the bosom of reubens courtesy of my mom. She looked at me with a deep wistfulness in her eyes and said when she was young her Mom grew rhubarb and made delectable rhubarb pies. She left home at a very young age and didn't have opportunities to visit with her family. The last time she saw her Mom was five years ago and she now has a daughter approaching adulthood who hadn't had much time with her grandparents let alone time to enjoy a pie that was the family holy grail. I was so taken aback and a rush of sadness washed over me. She clearly understood and experienced that sense of time that can never be regained. Somewhat haltingly she told me she didn't know what family meant when she was younger. It was apparent that as a parent she now saw clearly both sides of the coin of youth and connection. There were some long moments when we just looked at each other and shared that deeper knowing. I think we were both teary eyed - not the usual fare for lunch at Max and Erma's.

Just when I thought all was lost for her she perked up and said, "but now my Mom is coming to live with me." I was so excited. She explained that her Mom lived in North Dakota and had just had it with the winters and was coming to stay. Her Dad had five more years to work until retirement and her parents were willing to be separated to deal with weather and the lack of family in their lives. Her Dad had come out for her daughter's high school graduation and brought boxes of her mother's things. She told me how excited she was just looking at the boxes carefully labelled in her mother's writing. I told her she needed to get some rhubarb and freeze it to finally have wonderful pie to make up for the long years of sacrifice. A big smile arced across her face as she blurted out "Mom is digging up her rhubarb roots and all and bringing it with her!" I was thrilled to think that she would soon have pie from those same wonderful plants that fed her in childhood. Better than rhubarb pie would be the time she would share with her Mom.

It was certainly a humble meal in most respects. However it became communion over a reuben and a club sandwich. It was a wonderful reminder of the precious times with those we love over good food and talk that becomes a celebration of communion and love in the face of life's challenges. Amen.

Rhubarb Compote

This is good warm or cold and especially a treat with ice cream or angel food cake.

10 stalks of rhubarb cleaned and trimmed. Cut each stalk in 1/3 inch pieces.

1/2 to 3/4 C. sugar

1 1/2 C. orange juice

Place the pieces of rhubarb in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and simmer gently until just tender. Drain the water and add 1/2 C. sugar and orange juice. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until the rhubarb begins to fall apart. Stir frequently. Check to make sure the rhubarb is sweet to taste. If it is too tart add a little more sugar and cook to dissolve the sugar. Cool and serve warm or place in the refrigerator to chill.

I like it all by itself. You can also substitute unsweetened apple juice for the orange juice.

Tex-Mex Dinner with Sue and Tom

2009-04-19T09:37:00.002-04:00

One of the couples I cannot get enough of is my sister Sue and her husband Tom. As I've written before Tom is a sincere appreciator of my cooking and like Sue always up for a good time. They love to participate in the cooking process especially if we are entering uncharted territory - we are pioneers! They love to have fun, food and family. Sue and Tom recently did a beautiful redo of their kitchen. It is gorgeous with beautiful cabinets and floors, lighting and upscale appliances. It is wonderful to cook there. An island with chairs assures seating for people who just want to watch the action.

My kitchen in comparison is much more pedestrian. It has several special features - there is a futon for the three dogs, a separate pantry in the laundry room because I couldn't store everything in the cabinets and a big cabinet in the garage to store all of the appliances and baking equipment that doesn't fit into the kitchen. The piece de resistance is a bookcase devoted to my never ending stash of cookbooks. This kitchen will never be on a cooking show but we can create some pretty good chow. (I am lobbying for a cork floor and new countertops. We'll see.)

Many years ago as a new employee of the state social services I attended a two week orientation in Columbus. My colleagues and I were eating on the cheap and we tried some out of the way ethnic places. My fave was a little taqueira. We ate there 4 times over two weeks and I loved their crispy tacos. As a curious cook I talked to the owner about the taco process and those particular crispy tacos. The secret was a metal spring utensil that shaped the corn tortilla into a V-shape while it was deep fried. When I went home I made crispy tacos. I searched our small Ohio town for masa harina the corn flour used to make the tortillas. Luckily the town was a temporary home to the migrant workers who came every summer to harvest the local crops. So 40 years ago I began my relationship with homemade tortillas.

Sue always plans a great meal and I wanted to treat her and Tom to something fun and casual. We are dogsitting so we had 4 dogs for the night so no formality allowed. I adore Tex-Mex and Lee is a committed Texan so... I planned guacamole, cheese enchiladas with chili gravy and queso fresco. fruit plate, carne guisada, puffy tacos and Texas sheet cake. Carne guisado is cubes of beef stewed with tomatoes, chiles, spices and Mexican beer - Negro Moledo. After 5 hours of simmering the meat is tender and is spooned into the puffy tacos. Puffy tacos are a Tex-Mex tradition and are part of San Antonio cuisine where they are fabled to start. Other towns argue about the Texas gnsis of puffy tacos but I think San Antonio wins. Of course Austin - the sit of all things Texas cool thinks they were first but that is Austin for you. We had Mexican beer and Sue made some white sangria. My only complaint about the evening was that we weren't sharing the meal and the fun with Mimi, Bobo, Rebecca, David, Cammy, Jon, Josh, Jen, Eli, Gabe, Becky, Matt and Halle and anticipating a game of cornhole and Slip A$%. Oh and the rest of the people we love.

There are two ways to make puffy tacos. They can be fried and shaped into a V or they can be fried flat and after frying, drained and a slit cut into the puff to stuff with filling and topped with traditional toppings of lettuce, salsa, onion, tomato and cheese. Awesome. It was so fun to make the puffy tacos because I am the proud owner of a tortilla press and we had such fun rolling the dough into balls and pressing each ball into a fresh tortilla with the press. Tom being an engineer quickly got the hang of it. Sue fried the tacos and I supervised. Lee observed and laughed at our antics.

Puffy Tacos

The tacos need to be served fresh and hot. Have the filling prepared and ready to serve along with the toppings before you make the tacos. This is the very last thing to do before you serve.

2 C masa harina
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 C water
1/4 T. salt

Start with a cup of water and add water to the masa and salt to make a ball that comes together and stays easily. If it is dry add more water until it can be formed into a ball. You can make it ahead and refrigerate it in a plastic bag until you are ready to make the tacos just before serving. Heat 2 inches of oil to hot in a deep pan. Have the oven on warm to keep the tacos at the correct temperature until they are filled and served.

Divide the dough into 12 balls. Take a heavy plastic baggie and trim the sides off but not the bottom. Place a ball in the middle of the plastic and press it with a tortilla press or roll it into a thin disc. Take the disc and place it in the hot oil. Spoon oil over the top to encourage the puff process. You can leave it flat and fry until golden or you can take the end of a spatula and make an indentation across the disc and fold to make a V. Fry on both sides until golden. Drain the taco shell on paper towels and place on a plate in the oven until you finish cooking the tacos. Stuff if a V-shape or make a slit in the top of the flat disc and fill. Serve allowing happy eaters to adorn the puffy tacos.

Gospel Brunch and a Peep Diorama

2009-04-12T15:09:00.002-04:00

Today is a beautiful spring day and I am ready to celebrate the change of seasons to warmer weather. Being enthused about the warmer weather I decided to celebrate with a simple brunch. I invited two dear friends who we hadn't seen for a while. They love to laugh and tease and it is always special to share some time with them. He is Mr. MW and she is his sweet dear one who always has a joke and a laugh.

Brunch is a fun meal to share. Lots of preparation can be done ahead and it's easy to put together. I wanted to do a brunch cassserole, fruit, sausage and a sweet. Lee adores Mexican fruit cup so I made the fruit plate with lime, salt and chili powder and cayenne if you're Lee. For the sausage I bought some turkey sausage links. I consulted Ina Garten's cookbooks and made her easy sticky buns using puff pastry. Brunch is pretty healthy so far and I opted for a vegetable strata. I adapted an Elie Krieger recipe using asparagus, sun dried tomatoes, thyme, cheese and cubes of multigrain bread. It was really delicious and the kind of meal that you sat and talked and ate and talked and ate.

Because we love to laugh and are a bit prone to the outrageous I decided to do a peeps diorama for the table. Annually I go to the Washington Post website to see the finalists and winner of the peep diorama contest. The entries are odes to popular culture with peeps as the stars. I determined the theme "give peeps a chance" would be great. I found a large plastic chicken that could be wound up and laid colored bubble gum eggs as she stalked across the table. In her path I placed bunny peeps and chicks who were demolished by Chickzilla. Facing her was a tank with two bunnies with licorice guns sticking out from the front of the tank. Beside the tank were two phalanxes of bunnies armed with tortilla chip shields and freeze dried green bean rifles. Peep protestors held signs that said "make love not war" and "all we are saying is give peeps a chance". It was my ode to the Beatles and the creature movies that were so popular in the 60's.

Having attended the Sweet Honey in the Rock concert with this great couple I had Sweet Honey playing in the background. I made Easter baskets for all. For the mister I had something very special. Given his love of MW I placed a small jar of the wonderful stuff in the center of the basket. I was ready to tease him and see his amazement when he saw his basket. At the appointed time, the doorbell rang and they entered bearing a tissue wrapped gift with grape hyacinth peeking out of the top. Tissue paper and flowers hid a large jar of MW!! I took them to the table to see the baskets. We laughed hilariously at our tricks. Too, too funny.

Vegetable Strata adapted from Elie Krieger

4 tsp. olive oil
1 larg onion chopped
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
10 oz. sliced mushrooms
12 oz. asparagus steamed until crisp tender and cut into fourths
1/2 C. sundried tomatoes cut in narrow strips (plumped in hot water)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 C. fat free half and half
8 eggs
8 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
5 cups multigrain bread cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/3 C. parmigiano freshly grated
6 oz. vermont white cheddar grated
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. gr. pepper

In a skillet warm 2 tsp. olive oil and sute onions until tender. Remove to a large bowl. Add 2 more tsp oil to the pan and saute the mushrooms. Add those to the bowl. In a large casserole 9 x 13 spray the pan with PAM. Strew the bread over the bottom of the cassrole, evenly. On top of that layer the onions, mushrooms, asparagus and sun dried tomato. Place the cheeses on top of the vegetables. In the bowl used for the mushrooms combine thoroughly the eggs, mustard, half and half, thyme and salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the layered casserole. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours of over night.

Preheat the oven to 350. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the casserole for 60-70 min. or until browned and bubbly. Serve.

How Judy Garland torpedoed my life

2009-04-10T19:19:00.004-04:00

Sunday is Easter. It's not a favorite holiday for me, but not for the food and the company. In my childhood Easter was dinner after church at my mom's mom and dad. Traditionally the meal was ham with a condiment of horseradish stirred into unsweetened whipped cream, grandma's chili sauce, cottage potatoes, vegetable and dessert. It was wonderful. Grandma and grandpa didn't have a long dining room table that could seat everyone so there was often a children's table. The children in question were me and my two younger sisters. The table was set as nicely as the adult designated table but we had the distinct impression that dining with us wasn't a high point of dinner. We were just us, typical kids with pranks, bickering and laughter. Our conversation was pretty mundane and childish. However, as in fairy tales a knight came to our aid. Invariably Dad or Grandpa would opt to sit with us and we had a very fun time.

Holidays in the 50's were always painful in one respect. We had to dress up. My youngest sister and I were the biggest protestors over this ritual. Our middle sister came to this naturally and actually seemed to enjoy wearing a scratchy ruffly, big slip, a fluffy dress with short sleeves, tight waist, a big skirt and of course it tied in the back. The ties were perfect targets for people to pull an end and untie the bow and we were rendered rumpled. Add to that the slippery bottomed shoes with anklets that creeped down your ankles and bunched at your heel so you could stop and pull them up after every 15 steps. It wasn't quite like foot binding but it was torture none the less.

The worst was the obligatory Easter hat that sat on your head with little clamps on the side to hold it in place. The last bit of accessorizing was the pair of gloves and a tiny purse. We have Judy Garland to thank for doing her part to continue this indignity. In one of her many musicals she sang a song called The Easter Parade. Singing about her &%^$*^ bonnet and prancing along, she touted the joys of Easter finery and that hat. I am not a hat person. I hate hats. The closest thing I will wear to a hat is a ball cap. A classic family photo captures the three Henry sisters on the front steps of our home. We are posed with our new dresses, shoes, gloves, shrugs - that's another story - and our hats. Of the three of us the only one with her hat on straight is my middle sister. My youngest sister had her hat tipped to the side of her head, her shrug off kilter and her purse clutched at her naval. I was a 50's approximation of Mamie Eisenhower with a hat with a slight brim clamped on the top of my head. I even had Mamie Eisenhower bangs! Dad trimmed our bangs and his method included holding down the bangs with the flat of his palm while he trimmed the bangs. When he removed the hand securing the bangs the hair popped back in a slight curl under further shortening them. Mamie Eisenhower in the flesh.

Please do not read into this that my parents and extended family were anything less than wonderful to us. This experience was a product of the culture of those times and culture and time before then. Lee who hales from the state of Texas recounts her own trials with dresses. Pictures of her in dresses have been carefully locked away never to see the light of day, lest her seeing the picture trigger an unfortunate incident. I know in my DNA that parents have dressed their children for special events since the beginning of clothing and it continues to today.

I wouldn't be honest if I failed to confess my own motherly sins in this regard. Yes, I have dressed my children in holiday finery. Jen really suffered as a preschooler and can recount her scars today about a kelly green smock dress with loud contrasting fabric pockets and huge collar. To make matters even worse (is that possible?)the dress came with a pair of knit tights with multicolored horizontal stripes. Like generations of moms before me I thought she looked precious in an outfit I found to be truly unique. I broke the mold in one respect. Jen was saved after the baby bonnet stage from wearing frilly hats. Jen is now expecting and will meet her new daughter in May. And so time marches on and a new mother-daughter takes her place in the line of mother daughter trials. I'll be wearing my jeans or a pair of khakis and watching this continuing saga unfold.

Horseradish Sauce

1/2 pint whipping cream
prepared horseradish

Whip the cream in a cold mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. As you lift the beaters from the cream the peaks will hold their shape.Gently fold in horseradish. The zest and sharp tone of the sauce is yours to determine. If you really love horseradish, drain the horseradish to remove excess moisture. Too much liquid added will render the sauce to the consistency of a batter rather than something that when spooned on a plate would hold its shape.

Life is just a bowl of chicken......

2009-04-05T19:16:00.005-04:00

This weekend I vowed not to work. Immediately I broke my vow Saturday morning. I sorted, I made ready for the week. I organized, I emailed. I am clearly challenged in my abilities to walk away and do something not related to work. The great thing about being a remote worker and having a home office is that you can work anytime! A little insomnia - check email. Report needing to be completed - you can work on it sitting in your chair with your ipod. Planning and strategizing is so much nicer at a time when the phone won't ring and no email notice to disturb your reverie at midnight. The sad thing is there is a group of night and off hour workers who see the emails and chuckle and tease but it is a group none the less and I think it's growing. I sinned again on Sunday.

To further my organizational skills I am reading books on managing GenX workers because I am truly blessed to have several! They are smart, enthusiastic, go-getters with very different skills but equally passionate and committed to our work. They are sublime.I so enjoy their vision and approach to work. We have lots to learn from each other so we're scheduling those opportunities.The first is a Siebel work period. Siebel is the database we use to document everything we do. It's a trail of contacts, committees, accounts, volunteers, programs and opportunities. With the amount of work done to achieve our goals regular opportunities to document are critical. It's a great opportunity to work together and strategize work.

I decided I would indulge myself and pack my lunch. Usually days are so filled with meetings and travel and calls there is no time or place to enjoy a homemade treat. So tomorrow is my day. While I multi-tasked making dinner and granola I made chicken salad. This is a beloved recipe. When I visited Lee in Texas we would travel the state seeing the sites or visiting her family and friends. We enjoy picnics - especially if I make the food. For one trip to see her Mom we drove the route from Corpus Christi to Burkburnett. It's a long drive and it was fun to have a picnic. We had chicken salad, fruit, some veggies and Lee's favorite cookies chocolate chip with pecans, apricots, pecans and dried cherries. When we arrived at Lee's Mom's house she wanted to try the chicken salad. She loved it. I was then required to make another batch so she could have more tomorrow and share some with friends. It's made with chicken breast poached in water with peppercorns and salt. When cooled the chicken is cubed and combined with celery, grapes, green onions and pecans. I add some spices and mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. Yes, there are choices. I hate to even bring it up but a certain someone who rants about MW is on his way to Cleveland and I might not be trounced for a couple of days. It is a very crunchy salad which I adore. As the mood strikes me I'll add some dried cranberries or cherries for a hint of tart on my tongue.

Chicken Salad

3 boneless chicken breasts (these were really big today!not min the chicken's)poached,cooled and cubed
4 stalks of celery, trimmed and diced
6 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 C. green or red grapes halved
1 C. chopped toasted pecans
1/2 C. dried cherries or cranberries
3/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/8 C. chopped parsley
3/4 cup of mayonnaise or the miraculous

Toss everything except the white stuff in a bowl Start with 1/2 C of the white stuff and stir to coat. Add more until the salad is dressed to your taste. This is great as is, used as the stuffing for a big tomato or between 2 slices of 15 grain bread.

I am so looking forward to lunch at work tomorrow!

Aunt Jimmie

2009-03-30T22:10:00.004-04:00

This weekend I blogged about the people in my life who show up. I made brief mention of my aunt and uncle whom I visited with a weekend ago. Today I received word that my aunt died Sunday evening. She, like so many people I love and am lucky to call kin and friend was one of my heroes. My uncle is a retired career military man who achieved the rank of Lt. Colonel before his retirement many years ago. He has combat experience on many fronts and was a paratrooper. Jumping out of a plane is one thing. Jumping out of a plane into enemy fire is quite another. Aunt Jimmie never received a formal rank from the military but her commitment to her family and her partnership with Uncle Jack through his career and their life together are worthy of a formal decoration in honor of her sacrifice and achievement.

In a world that decries single parent families as a source of dysfunction yet expects military families to endure long periods of absence of a parent, Aunt Jimmie had times when she cared for her children while Uncle Jack was away. Like other women in similar circumstances, she made sure her kids felt loved by two parents and helped them know and feel pride in their Dad's commitment to his responsibilities as a dad and to their country. In times that would cause other people's relationships to crumble it's apparent that theirs grew stronger.

Uncle Jack and his family traveled the world, but seldom enjoyed shared family holidays or family reunions because we were separated by thousands of miles and duties. Our connection to them was a tape recorder my grandfather purchased. When we gathered together at Grandma and Grandpa's each of us would speak into the microphone our love and wishes for them so far away. Our first reunion with everyone was I think when I was 12. I was the oldest of the grandchildren and all 11 of us were posed on two saw horses in order of birth for a picture to commemmorate the visit. I held Gussie who was a toddler and my cousin Jeff held his baby brother Todd. I think it is the only picture of one of the very few times we all may have been together at once. Last weekend when Uncle Jack and I stopped in at his daughter Gussie's home I reminisced about that picture and Gussie quickly pulled it out. It was such a wonderful experience to see that picture with the little girl I held on my lap.

After Aunt Jimmie and Uncle Jack returned stateside and ultimately retired we had more time and opportunities to be with them. When they moved to Florida I began to see them more often and formed an affection and admiration for them that only grew as I came to know them as an adult. We emailed and shared holiday cards and it was always a good visit when I saw them on a trip to see Mom and Dad in Florida.

Aunt Jimmie was a person who laughed and loved wholeheartedly. She was quick to observe and tease about people's idiosyncracies. Spending time with her family and connecting with them was a huge priority in her life. Her kindness was wonderful to experience and to see her look at you with love and sheer pleasure in being with you could fill your heart to the top. I saw that look and smile when I walked into her room last weekend. Sharing time with her and Uncle Jack was an incredible gift and most generous of them to be willing to welcome me. I would have driven anywhere to have experienced that time with them.

As you know, I take great store in the importance of showing up for those you love in your life. Showing up can be a call or an e-mail, a trip or a word of grace. Showing up can be risking someone's ire to tell them you have some concerns about a decision or situation. It may not achieve the desired result but none the less you were willing to risk something you didn't want to lose to be there for them. Showing up says the other is important to you in a way that compells you to be there for them. I am incredibly fortunate to have people who show up for me. Those acts made a difference in my life that that restored me long after they were received. My aunt and uncle are two of the many who have shown up for me and made my life better.

At the time of my dear aunt's passing I will grieve the loss of one who was so loved by so many. Aunt Jimmie know that you will live on in my heart and the person I try to be to those I meet. I will be sure to give your smile and greeting that is as welcoming as the sun. Like you, I will use humor to bring others joy and love. I will love with all my heart those dear to me extravagantly and generously. You live on in the lives of those you have touched.

Recipe for life

Show up.

In which I ponder the heroes of my life and Thurber and friends return me to laughter

2009-03-25T19:04:00.006-04:00

I am tired. It's been five weeks since I started in the new job and like many changes it isn't easy. I am covering several positions and it is a bit of a challenge. The transition ocurred two weeks before the scheduled date for completion of the restructuring process for the team I work with. Our beloved AA is leaving at the end of April to devote full-time to nursing school and we have yet another resignation. All positions are posted and we begin the process of screening, interviewing and hiring. After hiring comes orientation - another process. We'll be hiring for positions that cover 17 counties so that's a lot of territory to orient new folks to. I am fortunate to work with great people and they'll be wonderful resources and colleagues for anyone new.

It has been hard to find time for the things that restore me -family, friends, cooking and books. I did steal some time last weekend to drive to North Carolina to see my aunt and uncle. They are dealing with some health challenges and I really wanted to connect with them. They are wonderful people and it is centering to share some space and time with those dear people. Like so many people in my family and my dear friends they are my heroes.

I am so blessed that among those I count as dear in friends and family are people who embody everything that is good about people. These family and friends are people who will never be in popular media but they make everyone's lives better for their presence. At every opportunity they show up for others and the things they believe in. We don't always agree or think alike but we share a passion for our beliefs and are committed to what we think is good in the world. I am grateful everyday for your presence in my life. You are all my heroes and sheroes

So many times you have showed up for me, it would be impossible to recount them. But, I will share the most recent. Among our treasured friends are Meribeth and Mary. I go way back with Meribeth and Mary. I met Meribeth at church when our children were little and we have bonded over many years. Mary is also a friend from that church. Mary is a very talented artist. I love her art that is such a personal expression of her wonderful personality. Her work is bright, familiar, and catches your eye in a way that is playful and comforting. Mary observes the wry twists of life and can find humor in most of life. It shows in her work and art.

Meribeth is an entrepreneur and has managed several businesses. Meribeth is a connector. She connects to people and really listens to what they are saying. Taking in all of those thoughts and words she is a poet and writer. She loves to present the written word in a most expressive way. Last night after a wonderful dinner and several games of Clue (Mary won both!) we were discussing books and Meribeth talked about a Thurber book she was reading. So she pulled out the book and read in earnest those very funny words. I laughed so hard I cried and laughed and cried. It was a great escape from what has been the normal pace of life these days.

Mary and Meribeth didn't share their recipes with me though I am sure they would. I do however remember an appetizer I made for a dinner we shared some time ago. It is a blend of a hummus and red pepper dip with feta. So easy because you can just whirl it in a food processor and enjoy. It is a perfect prelude to a bottle of wine, talking, laughing and sharing with those who are dear in your life.

Red Pepper Dip

1 can of chick peas drained and rinsed (save the liquid from the can)
3 T. tahini
3 whole roasted red peppers (jarred are fine)
4 oz. feta
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. garlic minced
1/8 tsp. cayenne

Add all of the above to the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. If it's dry adda Tablespoon of the liquid from the chickpeas until the texture is just right. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. It is really great with pita crisps or crudites.

Thank you to my dear family and friends for showing up in my life! You know who you are.

Pi Day Pie

2009-03-14T16:18:00.003-04:00

Last year I learned about Pi Day. It is annually on March 14 so designated for the formula for Pi 3.14159. I love it when math intersects with a celebration and food. A pie I absolutely love - of many - is the Peaches and Cream pie Mimi made. I think she received the recipe from Dad's partner's wife Audrey Brookfield.

Audrey is a wonderful cook and I cooked with her as a young teen several times. Mimi and Bobo were at Audrey and Ernie's playing cards one Saturday evening when I was out. I forgot my house keys so I stopped in at their home to pick up a spare set to let myself in at home. Audrey made a pizza pie to share that night. I had never had pizza pie so it was an adventure. It was really delicious. It was simple with a homemade crust, tomato sauce and cheese melted on the top. It was so delicious. At that point it was a very exotic food and there were no pizza restaurants in Toledo. That would quickly change! Forty some years later it is a go to meal after a long work day or a snack in more combinations than you can count. As well it is no longer considered to be a pie but simply pizza.

Peaches and Cream pie is pretty much just that. Peaches spooned into a crust with a mixture of cream, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon poured over the top and baked. This pie is amazing and fun in that you can substitute other fruits of combinations for the peaches and have a delectable dessert.

Peaches and Cream Pie

1 deep dish unbaked pie crust (I make my own but you can buy one)
Fill the crust with sliced peaches

Mix together:
2/3 C sugar
4 T flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 C cream (Mimi always rinsed out the half pint box of cream with a little extra milk and add it to the other ingredients)

Pour over the peaches in the crust. Tap the bottom of the dish several time on the counter to help the cream permeate all of the spaces between the peaches.

Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. You might want to fold and attach a strip of foil or a pie shield around the edge crust to protect it from burning.

This is great with apples and a little nutmeg too! So Pi Day hurray!

In which I capitulate to his insanity

2009-03-13T21:58:00.002-04:00

My dear friend Stephen - you all remember the post about him - is at it again. The poor thing really cannot contemplate why one would find specific uses for mayo vs. Miracle Whip and vice versa. I can see that he is starting to escalate publicly about Miracle Whip. Now it's on Facebook. The innocent posters have merely responded to his MW post and he is restarting the cycle. This is like the stealth virus so I must warn you. Any emails with the word miracle or whip, placed alone or together, spelled backwards or forwards, or any letters appearing in the two words in the subject line of the email MUST I repeat MUST be deleted from your inbox. If you mistakenly open this email a virus will unfold in your computer spewing creamy, off white, tangy fatty whiteness all over your motherboard and central processing unit. It will render your computer useless unless you can remove the substance and serve it with a BLT or in a potato salad.

I understand there is a galaxy wide movement forming to interrupt the supply of MW to the stratosphere for one day. You can support this worthwhile endeavor by going to www.miraclewhip.com and selecting an item from the file of unique recipes. Please purchase necessary items, and prepare the recipe completing the selected dish no later than 11:55 p.m. on March 31, 2009. At one second after midnight the world will lift the dish to their mouths and consume the dish in unison with all other planetary participants. This action will interrupt the flow of MW thus creating a world devoid of the product for a 24 hour period.

For those of you too lazy to go to the site, I offer this classic. Note: To meet the 11:55 p.m. deadline on March 31, you must complete the cooking process several hours before time of consumption to allow for chilling and assembling the dish in a bread bowl.

Broccoli Dip in a Bread Bowl

1 cup MIRACLE WHIP Dressing
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1 env. GOOD SEASONS Italian Dressing Mix
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, well drained
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1 loaf round sourdough bread (1 lb.)
MIX dressing, sour cream and dressing mix in large bowl until well blended. Add broccoli, water chestnuts and red pepper; mix well. Cover. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.
CUT slice from top of bread loaf; remove center, leaving 1-inch-thick shell. Cut removed bread into bite-sized pieces.
SPOON dip into bread loaf just before serving. Serve with bread pieces, NABISCO Crackers and assorted cut-up vegetables.

Three Women and a bowl of red

2009-03-08T08:42:00.005-04:00

In our family, there are three women who were born in the month of March. My youngest sister Rebecca (Buck or Aunt Buck), Jen, my daughter and Becky, my niece. Family members have long thought that the March women in our family are a very special group. They have strong personalities, are very funny and pretty much a great time. They are also women of deep convictions about family, love and caring. All are also oriented to caring about the world and other people and make personal scarifices to make life better and help create a better world.

Rebecca is a professor at Michigan State in the medical school. She balances work, her daughter, her special guy and Mimi and Bobo in busy days, work travel with fishing, the arts and being Miss Carhardt on the farm. She chops wood and is devoted farm worker. She has an incredible heart and compassion. When she was in elementary school my Dad was worried about her ability to apply herself academically and would have some chats with her about it. Our favorite answer to his concerns was her reply that all of that really didn't matter because she was the funniest kid in the class.

Jen is the mom to Eli and Gabe and partner to the awesome Josh. Their family is waiting for child number 3 said to be a baby girl. I refer to the baby as the mermaid. Jen is a health educator and has a master's degree in student development. She is using her degree to rear her wonderful children and Elliott the little guy she cares for. Elliott's Mom and Dad are adding a new one to their family as well so Jen will care for the tribe of five this fall. Jen and Josh are extraordinary parents and community members. They are pursuing Landmark Education to create the possibility of a better world and life for everyone. Jen is one of the most intentional women I know. Jen is a warrior who fights for life and love. Bobo's nickname for Jen when she was little was Screech. This was a great name because she truly screeched. She told Bobo she didn't like that name at all. Dad told her that if she didn't want that name she needed to change her behavior - which she promptly did.

Becky my niece is named for Aunt Buck. She is a teacher of children with special needs. Becky and Jen received their Master's degrees in the same year and of course we had a family celebration. Becky is smart, witty, fun, committed and lives with a wonderful outlook on life and what it means to be Becky. Becky is a person who loves with a great fire. I tell her she is a comet. Becky is a pretty woman and she was adorable as a little girl. She had brown hair in ringlets, blue eyes and freckles sprinkled across her nose. She and her Mom would run errands together. Once on the way home Becky burst into tears. Sue asked her what was wrong and she wailed, "No one told me I was pretty!"

You would be disappointed and think me remiss if I did not describe their culinary orientation. Rebecca long held a somewhat distant relationship with cooking. She was a meat and potatoes girl and pretty much survived childhood with peanut butter. She liked dishes made with fewer than four ingredients and made in 1 step. She called me years ago for a pork recipe. I gave her a delicious recipe for pulled pork that required boiling the pork in water and spices, baking the pork to tenderness and using some of the broth to create a baste that would be applied during the long roasting to further season the meat. I thought it was easy and I described the recipe and the process to her and she decided to make it. I received a call from her that her lovely David terms a "buckburst". Basically she was extremely miffed that I would subject her to this. Love can do wonderous things and she and David are wonderful cooks and entertainers. Beck's skills have really advanced. One of the few recipes I have from this sister was a recipe for Moo Shu Pork with home made Mandarin Pancakes. This is a recipe from the same time period as the pulled pork buckburst. Go figure!

Jen grew up in a house that was food oriented and she loves to cook and enjoy times with friends and family around food as the lubricant for a special time. Like me she creates community around food. She and Josh are adventurous eaters and cooks. They participate in a CSA, she goes to many different grocery stores depending on the items to be purchased and they shop the farmers market. They love ethnic foods and search out the little hole in the wall places that are so good and so fun.

I am not sure about Becky's cooking skills but she is a devoted appreciator of food and is a great partner in the kitchen for family vacation meals. Being single there isn't much reason to acquire lots of skills in cooking. She is a person who is a lover of life and friends and lots of fun is related to music and those same friends. If she has a culinary spcialty it would be potatoes. She has a great potato casserole recipe and at Thanksgiving directed her mother in making sweet potatoes that were slowly cooked and carmelized in a bath of butter, brown sugar and spices. It was a long process with awesome results.

One of Aunt Buck's primo recipes is a chili recipe. Coming from a family of chili lovers we've all configured our own take on this beloved dish. Rebecca called hers Michigan Meltdown. She took this recipe to a chili cookoff at her department of the university. If memory serves me correctly it was a winner. So in honor of lingering snows in Washington and Colorado and iffy Michigan weather here is the last winter recipe as we wait for spring.

Michigan Meltdown (I write this in the style of Buck as she gave it to me)

Simmer 8 ounces pinto beans cooked with 2 16 ounce cans of tomatoes for 5 minutes
Saute 4 chopped green peppers in oil for 5 minutes. Add 3 large chopped onions and cook until tender. Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 1/2 C. chopped parsley.
Saute 2 1/2 lbs ground beef and 1 lb lean ground pork for 15 minutes.
Combine with the onion mixture and 1/3 C. chili powder, simmer 10 minutes.
Add beans with 2 T. salt, 1 1/2 t. pepper, 1 1/2 t. ground cumin, 1 t. oregano, 3 cloves and 1 bayleaf.
Simmer covered 1 hour, uncovered 30 minutes. Skim off fat.

Happy Birthday to three incredible women we are blessed to have in our family.

A cozy family lunch

2009-02-28T21:48:00.004-05:00

Today was such fun. Sister Sue, Lee, Aunt Dorr and I had a wonderful family lunch in Cincinnati. Sue started a tradition of taking Aunt Dorr and me to lunch every year as a Christmas treat. Sue graciously included Lee who loves spending time with our family. Lee's family is in Texas and her Mom passed away last summer. Most opportunities for her to get a fix of being with family come through mine. She's found similarities to her own parents in Mimi and Bobo. She and my Mimi are two chatterboxes when they get together. Lee loves to talk about family issues with Mom and thinks its critical to share important news with her as well. Lee also is very fond of my sisters and my aunt so getting together is fun for everyone. The bonus was we were able to see Tom, Sue's husband and my very favorite brother-in-law. It was too cold to golf so Tom was home making chicken divan and planning to work out.

The lunch at Parker's was delicious and fun. It's an old house with fireplaces and cozy seating. Aunt Dorr returned from a 3 week trip to Petra, Egypt and other haunts last month so we needed to hear about the trip. Pretty amazing for a woman in her mid-eighties to travel half-way around the world. She had a great time. She and another woman friend arranged to travel through a group. She did lots of sight seeing, a cruise on the Red Sea and lots of shopping. Aunt Dorr is well known for her awesome shopping and bargains. I have to digress to tell an Aunt Dorr shopping story. When my children were about 4 and 2 one of the things we loved to do was to go to Cincinnati to visit the Christmas display at the Krohn Conservatory. Aunt Dorr's been a volunteer there for many years and knows just what to see. Outside the conservatory was a nativity display with live animals. We were gathered in front of the display when Jon yelled and said "Aunt Dorr, the sheep are on sale!". All of the sheep had tags on their ears and Jon was convinced there was a markdown and that this was a real buy. Needless to say it's been a great story that touts the fact that Aunt Dorr's found some very interesting bargains.

Time together today included some reminiscing about her Mom and Dad - Grandma and Grandpa Oechsler. Aunt Dorr recounted that Grandma was very social. She had bridge club and garden club, civic duties and her work as secretary for her national music sorority Mu Phi Epsilon. She usually arrived home from these activities about 30 minutes before Grandpa returned from work. Aunt Dorr told us that often there were written instructions for Aunt Dorr and Mom about getting dinner started. After these duties, Mom and Aunt Dorr went up the block to stay with Mrs. Randall until their parents returned home. Grandma was very organized. She was the manager for the team of secretaries in a Toledo law practice when she met Grandpa who was a cashier at the Toledo Trust bank. They dated before Grandpa went off to WWI. They corresponded through the war and married after he returned. She carried her organizational skills through to her home.

She loved us deeply and was very proud of all of her family. She was affectionate and warm but she really believed in holding fast and firm to society's rules. She had definite ideas about women's roles and what little girls should do and not do. Granma called my Mom every day to offer lots of guidance to my Mom about how to run her home and her family. Grandma was convinced that Mom was very lucky to have married my Dad. My grandparents loved music and in particular loved classical music and music from the theatre. She and Grandpa were also avid gardeners. Their backyard was incredible and when they moved to a smaller home after retirement they lavished attention and hard work on the new garden. They loved fresh vegetables and would drive to the country to purchase vegetables from their favorite farmers. It was wonderful to go with them and see the array of vegetables and some choices that were unique back then. Some of the best was patty pan squash and eggplant. At our house eggplant was fried and Dad loves it with maple syrup. Grandma made a wonderful scalloped eggplant baked an served in the shell that is still a favorite with me. Here's Grandma's recipe for scalloped eggplant. It's great as a dinner sid and wonderful for lunch with a salad.

Scalloped Eggplant

1 large firm eggplant
3 T. olive oil
3/4 C. onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 C. chopped celery
1 C. chopped raw mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 C. milk or half and half
1 C. crushed cracker crumbs (Ritz)
3 T. melted butter
1/2 C. grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Grease a baking dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.
Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. Carefully remove the eggplant from the shell leaving a 3/4 inch shell. Cut the eggplant pieces in small cubes.

In a large skillet, heat the oil to medium high. Saute the onion, mushrooms and celery for 7 minutes then add the garlic. Add the chopped eggplant and saute until lightly cooked. Transfer to a large bowl. To the contents of the bowl add mushroom soup and milk. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and spoon the eggplant into the shells.

In a small bowl mix together the crumbs, cheese and melted butter. Sprinkle the crumbs over the eggplant. Place the eggplant in the baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes. It should be bubbly and brown. If you'd rather not use eggplant shells you can place the eggplant mixture in a greased baking dish, cover with crumbs and bake.

This is one of my quintessential Grandma Oechsler recipe memories. Thanks again Sue for a wonderful lunch and an opportunity to make more family memories!

New Orleans and the Family

2009-02-22T09:58:00.007-05:00

New Orleans is a favorite haunt for members of my family. My Dad became friends with members of the McIlhenny Tobasco clan and spent a weekend at the plantation enjoying a wenderful weekend with the family. It is one of his fond memories that I love to hear. He and my Mom have been there to enjoy good food and music and happy times. My parents gave me and my husband a honeymoon trip to New Orleans that was so fun. We ate at Court of the Two Sisters and had Breakfast at Brennans. We listened to jazz and had Hurricane's at Pat O'Brien's. We had beignet at Morning Call and toured the Jax brewery and the Pontalba mansion on Jackson Square. We even had informal portraits in chalk done by a sidewalk artist - one of many who had booths around the square. The St. Louis church at the top of the square across from the water is amazing. I could spend days Jackson Square and the shops on surrounding blocks. We had an evening at Pete Fountain's bar that was just too fun. Years later I returned for business trips that included jazz, muffalettas and alligator sausage at Chez Paul.

As a young bride and fledgling cook I subscribed to the Time Life Cookbook series. It was a wonderful set of books. One would arrive each month. The book would be dedicated to a specific cuisine and was accompanied by a spiral cookbook. The books were wonderful education about culture and cuisine. I made many of the recipes and would return often to reread the books and the writing. That series really informed me about the diversity of American and world cultures, food, cooking and started me on a relentless journey. One of my aboslute favorites in the series was the cookbook devoted to Acadian and New Orleans culture and cuisine. I cooked many times from the recipes. Not a bad one in the bunch! One of the stories recounted was an evening at Corinne Dunbar's.

On one of Mom and Dad's trips to New Orleans they had dinner at Corinne Dunbar's in the Garden District. Corinne Dunbar was a Creole woman and much loved hostess who opened her home for a unique dining experience that was a beloved tradition for New Orleans residents and tourists who were fortunate enough to Know about Corinne Dunbar's. You either knew or did not know. It was pretty exclusive to New Orleans culture and if you were a tourist you were not likely to know about this tradition. Corinne Dunbar's home was a beautiful traditional 1840'2 New Orleans home and the exprience was like being a guest in a home for a dinner party. Her home was furnished with period antiques and you dined using china and silver pieces from the home's collection. You would make a reservation and arrive at the appointed time. The home was originally on St. Charles street and you only knew it as Corinne Dunbar's because there was a small brass plate on the wall near the entrance. A butler would answer the door and seat you in the parlor for drinks and hors d'oeuvres with the other guests - no more than 12 total. After this course you were invited to come to the table in the dining room. A wonderful New Orleans meal was served. There was no menu. You enjoyed the preset menu created for the evening. It was a meal of many courses of wonderful southern foods. One of the signature dishes most loved was a dish called Oysters Dunbar that included oysters and artichokes. After dinner, the guests were invited back to the parlor for coffee and a goute'. A goute' is what is referred to as a sweet taste. Just a little something served with coffee. I remember my father's amazement as he described this. We expect dessert after such a wonderful meal. It would be a dessert as cake or pie or some elegant creation. It would fit with the home wouldn't it. He recounted his surprise as he was served coffee and small squares of peanut butter fudge! Now it was peanut butter fudge but it was creamy, delicious peanut butter fudge. So New Orleans where confections are an integral part of the cuisine and culture. Corinne Dunbar's was sold in 1956 and was moved from St. Charles street to another location where it continued for a time until it was sold again and the business closed. Those who loved Corinne Dunbar's said it was never the same after it was sold for the second time. Thank fully the happy times live on in memories that still are cherished and taste wonderful though the place is gone.

Another Party

2009-02-22T09:08:00.005-05:00

Christmas Eve traditions is a previous blog but I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about a wonderful dish we enjoyed for years thanks to Uncle Ralph. Uncle Ralph and Aunt Lill and their family are not blood relatives. But they are related in the best way - by choice, time and genuine love. The Henry's and the Jones have been friends for about 50 years. Mimi and Bobo met Aunt Lill and Uncle Ralph, quickly bonded and our families merged through fun, shared vacations, canoe trips and time. Uncle Ralph took me for my first drive in his convertible when I had my 16th birthday and a learner's permit. Uncle Ralph's affectionate nickname is the Tennessee Cannonball. It exclaims his love of life and fun and willingness to get on board for a good time. He and Aunt Lill are nothing if not spontaneous, joyful and incredibly loving people. Their friendship has meant so much to our family and is cherished to this day.

One Christmas Eve, Uncle Ralph called and offered a treat for the whole family. It was Oysters Rockefeller to be served with our charcuterie, turkey and lettuce leaves and champagne. He asked how many of us there would be -12. A short while later he came to the door with 12 tin pans filled with rock salt beds with oysters in half shells. The oysters were napped in a beautiful green sauce topped with Parmesan cheese. The oysters were broiled until the sauce and oysters were cooked and the cheese was a lovely brown. The briny oysters, the herby sauce, the taste of anise from Pernod and the slight bitterness of the cheese were incredible. I cannot eat Oysters Rockefeller without thinking of Uncle Ralph and his wonderful spirit.

Oysters Rockefeller were created in 1899 by Jules Alciatore of Antoine's Restaurant's. Antoine's is a New Orleans landmark that opened in 1840 and lives on as a mecca for people who want to eat New Orleans elegant cuisine. Culinary legend has it that Jules created the dish when the taste for snails was waning among customers and snails became increasingly hard to obtain. The recipe for Oysters Rockefeller is a closely guarded secret and even former staff refuse to disclose the recipe. People who have developed their take on the dish have substituted spinach to achieve the green color of the sauce. Antoine's does say there is no spinach in their recipe. The spinach version is delicious as I will testify readily to that. It does make sense though that the sauce would be created from ingredients that were "at hand" in a New Orleans restaurant kitchen - herbs, green onions, celery leaves perhaps. The herbs and greens are an integral part of another much loved dish Gumbo Z'herbes. So it seems that one recipe could be closely aligned with the other.

Oysters Rockefeller

Two dozen fresh oysters on the half shell, oyster liquor reserved
4 sprigs flat-leaf Italian parsley
4 green onions (including the green part)
A handful of fresh celery leaves
At least 6 fresh tarragon leaves
At least 6 fresh chervil leaves
1/2 cup dried fresh French bread crumbs (not out of a can)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Tabasco or Crystal hot sauce, to taste
2 tablespoons Herbsaint or Pernod
Parmigiano Reggiano grated finely
Rock salt or kosher salt

Mince together the parsley, green onions, celery leaves, tarragon and chervil as finely as you possibly can. Take as much time as you need. Mince them more finely than anything you've ever minced in your life. Mix this together with the bread crumbs and the softened butter into a mortar and mix the whole thing together into a smooth paste, but do leave a little texture to it. Season to taste with salt and pepper, Tabasco or Crystal and the Pernod.

Preheat your broiler. Lower the top rack to the middle of the oven. Spread the rock salt (preferable) or kosher salt over a large baking sheet; this will keep the oysters level under the broiler, so that they won't tip over. Moisten the salt very slightly. Plant the shells in the salt, making sure they're level. Place one oyster in each shell, plus a little bit of oyster liquor. Spoon an equal amount of the prepared herb/butter mixture over each oyster. Dust with a little Parmesan cheese

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack and broil until the edges of the oysters have curled and the herb butter is bubbling, about five minutes. Watch carefully to make sure you don't overdo it. Serve immediately.

You can also put the salt in tin pie pans and divide the oysters to serve four or six depending on the appetites of your guests and other dishes being served.

Six servings of four oysters each (regular people-sized serving), or four servings of six oysters each (New Orleanian-sized serving)

A Special Request

2009-02-21T10:27:00.007-05:00

My dear friend Stephen asked me to write about my party days and wanted to see something about N'Awlins. The crazy parties were always college, immediate post college days, and celebrations at a watering hole. The parties I've hosted are primarily family occasions or a food themed event. We have fun, we laugh, we play games and it is all about good food and good times with people you really care about. I have never been an "invite the masses" person.

My family vacation has it all down for parties. We have a team of confirmed fun addicts that so enjoy each other's company, being a part of each other's lives and celebrating milestones. My sister Sue will confer with me and Rebecca (Aunt Buck) to determine the celebration. Sue will create a host of games based on the theme or honoree. She starts in April and is ready to send out teasers about the games starting weeks before vacation. I do the food and menu. I'll ponder and strategize and research and come up with a menu for the family. It is all about the taste to the max. It is incredible fun. Everyone pitches in to help which makes it even more fun. All four generations participate in some way though the youngest generation just throws themselves into the participation and the fun with looks of a little bit of shock and awe until they decide we're safe to be with and it's all good. My niece Cammy who is now 17 is the youngest of generation three. As a toddler she saw all of this craziness and merriment with a little bit of concern. Her Mom, Aunt Buck was tucking her in bed one night after a particularly vibrant evening. Cam asked Buck, "Who are those crazy people?". Buck laughed and said "Cammy, they are your family.". I hope she didn't have nightmares.

To get back to the N'Awlins theme I'll tell you about a family event that was so fun. It was Christmas time and Mimi and Bobo were staying with Sue and Tom. I invited them all up for dinner. We would be serving 14 people plus some hangers on. I decided to make a New Orleans shrimp recipe that was over the top. It was a very spicy shrimp cooked in butter and I do mean butter! We had very healthy eaters so I purchased close to 14 pounds of large shrimp. I served it with wine, salad, very crusty bread and a great dessert.

My wonderful brother-in-law Tom has always been one of my devoted fans. He is awesome in so many ways and he came into our family as an only child of a more reserved family than ours. He's been through thick and thin and he is still standing. He has a dry sense of humor and I think it's been a help through the years. Tom came to dinner and he was under the weather. Despite that he ate a little shrimp and I sent him home with shrimp to enjoy when he felt better. He loved that shrimp and I think he ate more that night. The next day everyone returned for brunch. One of the dishes was piles of hash browns - totally homemade. As people started to leave we looked for Tom and found him at the kitchen table eating ends and pieces of hash browns out of the pan. His appetite was resurrected!

Acadian Peppered Shrimp adapted from Mary Ann Firth

this recipe serves 8

3 C. butter
1/2 C. freshly ground pepper
1/2 C. freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 medium garlic cloves, minced
4 bay leaves, crumbled
4 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 T. Hungarian sweet paprika
1 T. minced fresh basil
1 T. minced fresh oregano
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground red pepper cayenne
6 lbs medium to large shrimp with shell on and head removed

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet. Add everything except the shrimp. Cook, stirring for about 20 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until just pink. Do not over cook!

I've been making this for over 20 years and it's a keeper. Okay Stephen, are you ready to cook?

3 A.M. is muy loca

2009-02-18T18:57:00.005-05:00

I have had sleep issues for years. When I was five, I woke up earlier than everyone else and rambled through the house. One morning I earned my Mom's frustration when I climbed up on a counter and opened every jar of baby food in the cupboard. I repeated that act the next day.

A few years later I woke up very early to "read" the paper and make doughnuts. These doughnuts were not from scratch but were in a refrigerated tube like biscuits. You remove the label, press the tip of a spoon on the seam and pop, the tube unfolds and you can separate the doughnuts and the holes. I found the cast iron skillet and filled it with oil and turned the burner to high. I strolled into the living room to read said paper. A few minutes later I looked up and saw a huge cloud of gray smoke coming down from the ceiling. I jumped up and ran into the kitchen. There the skillet was generating enough heat and smoke to resemble a locomotive. The only thing I could think to do was to carry the skillet to the sink and pour it down the drain. As I lifted the skillet, the oil burst into flames. I set the pan down on the time floor, flames getting higher and higher. Just in time my Dad came racing into the kitchen and lifted the pan from the floor and carried outside where he extinguished the flames.

He came back in and looked at me and asked if I was hurt. I said no. He said, "Do not do that again.". Miraculously there were only 4 tiles that needed to be replaced and no one was hurt. I expected to be grounded for life, chastised to the nth degree and permanently lose cooking privileges and frustrate any cooking aspirations I might have. Sometimes in life luck and gratitude can help a bad situation or maybe my parents just saw a desire that couldn't be stopped. They continued to be supportive and pretty much left me to my own devices in the kitchen. That generated more adventures, missteps and hilarity. I guess they could say, "I knew her when!".

Last night I went to bed at 9:00 and lived to regret it. After waking about 4 times, Doris jumped up on my bed and wanted me to get up. I resisted but she wasn't going to stop. By that time I was awake so I went out to the family room to hang out with my Law and Order shows I had DVR'd and the computer. Fifteen minutes later Dude ran through the room exiting to the back yard through the doggy door barking furiously. Doris ran out and started barking. I went to the door and called. Doris came in but Dude wouldn't stop. I went outside to get the little b^$(&Od. He was under a birdhouse Lee installed on a tall post. At the top of the birdhouse clinging to the roof of the birdhouse was a fat raccoon. The last thing I wanted was to have to tangle with the raccoon or to have Dude tangle with him. I tried to catch Dude. I would go one way he would go the way and vice versa on and on. I am in my t-shirt and flannels with barefoot chasing the nasty little dog. At one point I looked up trying to make sure the raccoon wasn't going to lunge and he had a look that said, "Jeez these two are so nuts. They call us wildlife?.". Finally, I captured the dog and carried him back in.

One hour into my day and things didn't look very promising at all. It's times like these I think back to doughnuts. Hot, fried and so good. You can't buy the tube but I could make something else that says comfort - potato pancakes. So calm, so normal, so comforting.

Potato Pancakes

2 large potatoes
1 medium onion
1 large egg
1/3 C. flour
1 T. dried parsley

In the food processor, place chunks of potato and onion. With the steel blade, process until the mixture is pretty smooth with no large pieces of potato. Add the rest of the ingredients and process quickly just to mix.

In a large skillet add vegetable oil to about 1/2 " from the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil on medium high until it is hot. Carefully place about 1/2 cup of the potato mixture around the pan and spread into a circle. Leave enough room between the pancakes so the oil can brown them nicely. When they are brown on one side, turn over. When they are brown on the second side remove them from the pan to a stack of paper towels to absorb the oil. Complete the process until all of the batter is gone. You can keep the first pancakes hot in a warm oven. These are good with a little butter and salt and pepper on the top. Of course sour cream or applesauce is traditional as are strips of crisp bacon.

Thankfully no fires or more dog raccoon battles Anne 1 Animals 0.

A Return to Civility

2009-02-15T08:18:00.005-05:00

After months of eating at our trays in front of the television we surrendered. As the proud owners of three dogs and erstwhile canine visitors eating is a little bit of a challenge. At the trays, the dogs sit patiently watching every forkful transferred from plate to mouth. If a drop slips from the fork they lunge under the tray seeking the taste on the floor. Doris is particularly a pain as she stares at you intently and cries sotto voce. Enough!

So we have been dining in what else the dining room. It is lovely. The dogs are barred from the room with baby gates. We sit, we chat, we taste. Dinner time has doubled. It is so pleasant.

Last night we had a great dinner in our dining room. I gave Lee a choice between roast chicken and butternut squash or a Greek dish called pastitsio. Lee I always opts for pasta. Much like lasagne pastitsio has multiple layers. A layer of perciatelli miked with egg white and cheese topped by a red meat sauce with wine and rosemary, another layer of pasta and finally a lovely bechamel enriched with egg yolks and seasoned with nutmeg. Baked, the top is brown and lovely hiding layers of sauce and pasta. A salad with kalamata olives, tomato and pignoli with a plain vinaigrette and crusty bread completed the main part of the meal.

For dessert, I made a citrus tart with raspberry, creme anglaise and moro orange sections. You can make this tart so many ways. You can put chocolate on the bottom, use any fruit butter or jam and change the fruit topping. For the truly time pressed, you can use commercially made pudding. I would use canned rather than instant because of the smooth, creaminess. Be sure to add a zest or flavoring to make it more home made in taste.

Citrus tart

1 sheet puff pastry
egg, beaten with a T. water
seedless raspberry fruit butter
creme anglaise (recipe to follow)
1 moro orange, cut into sections

I used a rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom. After thawing the puff pastry, unfold the sheet of puff pastry. Cut the pastry to fit the bottom of the tart pan and place it in the pan. Using a fork press the tines in the pastry every 1/3 inch in rows and columns to cover the pastry. Take thin strips of pastry and place along the edges of the pastry to build a crust. Discard remaining pastry. Brush the edges with the egg wash. Bake in a 400 degree oven until the pastry is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the crust cool. When cool, spoon fruit butter over the bottom coating to the edges. On top of the fruit butter spoon the creme anglaise. Place the orange sections along the top of the creme anglaise. Chill until served.

Creme Anglaise

3 egg yolks
1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
2 C. half and half
1 tsp. lemon flavoring
1 T. butter

In a bowl mix the sugar and yolks together. Heat the half and half in a pan until it is hot. Pour it into the egg mixture, combine thoroughly. Pour it back into the pot and heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and flavorings. Whisk for about 3 minutes. Let cool.

I Live With a Pirate - Arrrrrr

2009-02-13T19:48:00.004-05:00

This is a week Lee has long awaited. She had her first cataract surgery yesterday. I must share that she is a little strange about surgery. She had to give up riding her bike so she wanted another hobby. She chose surgery not performing surgery, having surgery. She's had 5 hip surgeries, two hip dislocations, surgery on her chest combine with one of her hip surgeries. You ca see she is really pursuing her hobby most diligently. Her sight has really worsened over the last couple of years, but her opthamologist wanted her to wait until the cataracts were "ripe". She's seen him every six months and always expected to be told it was time. Finally, he said the magic words, "You need surgery." She has been very excited and spent the days leading up to surgery telling me how many more hours until she could see again. It's been moments right out of Helen Keller. I am no Annie Sullivan.

We arrived at the surgical center early and observed all of the pre-op rituals at this point we are pros. They walked her back to the OR and told me she would return in 15 minutes. Right on schedule she arrived back in the room. Shortly after we were out the door. She hadn't been able to eat before surgery so she was anxious to break the fast. We went to her favorite breakfast spot Bob Evans.

After being seated across the table from each other I got a good look at her. She had a patch over her eye with a metal mesh cup taped in place over gauze. Most attractive. After ordering, she looked at me and said, "Arrrrr". "Arrrr"?, I said. Thinking quickly I said, "Oh you're being a pirate.". Nodding, she said, "Arrrr, do you have any balloons?". She can be so strange. "Arrrr," I said back. "Do you mean doubloons?" Ever the quick one, she stopped and pondered and laughed aloud and said "Er, yes, doubloons." Quite the sharp pirate that one. I think she is half pirate half clown.

Today, she's a pirate no more. This morning we went back to the doc for the post surgical check. All is good and she sees well and her sight will continue to improve in the days ahead. So I took the former pirate home a very happy traveler of the seven seas of surgery. One to go. In honor of the pirate I made a dish from the seas for dinner - Shrimp, artichokes and spaghetti.

Shrimp, artichokes and spaghetti

1 lb. Trader Joe's 25-30 count shrimp from Argentina (They taste like lobster)
1/2 med. onion, peeled and diced small
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 10 ounce box of frozen artichoke hearts
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
2 T. butter
8 ounces spaghetti , Barilla Plus preferred
1 T. capers, rinsed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper, freshly ground
parmigiano reggiano cheese
1/2 C. dry white wine

In a large pot boil water for spaghetti. When it starts to boil add some salt and put the pasta in the pot to cook. When the pasta is almost done add the shrimp to cook. The shrimp just needs to cook and be heated through.

While the water comes to a boil, melt the butter in a large skillet. When the butter has melted saute the onions until transparent and add the garlic and mushrooms to cook. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Add the wine to simmer for a few minutes.

When the pasta and shrimp are cooked, drain thoroughly and add to the skillet with the capers. Check for seasoning. If you are a pirate from Texas you may want to add red pepper flakes at this point. Toss well and serve on plates that have been warmed. Grate fresh cheese on top of the spaghetti and shrimp. Enjoy!

The pirate is very anxious to get the next surgery on the schedule. Arrrrr!

Addiction

2009-02-08T14:06:00.006-05:00

I am powerless over my addiction. It renders me senseless. I stay up to the wee hours. Get up early. Help me cast this demon off - but I don't want to....

It starts with someone close to you. You sit quietly, ask what have you been doing. It starts as they tell you about what they did, what they know, how they got to know that. They speak of a joy of knowing more than they did before, a broader sense of what it means to be them....I am hooked.

The people who do this to you are people you trust. They come in the guise of mothers, fathers and friends of longstanding. They show you the pictures of their adventures, who they met and what they know now. Then they offer to let you in, to help you. It is so sinister in the most delicious way. A new way to be connected to all of life to know you are part of a bigger family. It is genealogy.

This Christmas, Rebecca and I gave my Dad a consultation with a genealogist to help him solve questions about his family. To make this happen, I gave the genealogist a summary of the family history. The gift was given. I have also talked to my college room mate who is a genealogist of long standing who has been sending me pictures of census, birth and death certificates and other things she finds about my family. She even started a family tree for me on ancestry.com. Of course I have added to it. I now have 156 of my nearest and dearest listed. I have several generations left to list....My Mom gave me the Swisher book that has many generations. The Oechslers are a mystery that will require further sleuthing. Then there is the entire Henry side. Dad's been working dilligently with his cousin Meta to track down our relatives. The genealogy consultation given at Christmas was meant to help him solve some mysteries and break down a wall. I love to sleuth and solve mysteries so this pursuit is pretty captivating.

Committed genealogists visit the lands of their forebears, track down gravesites, email strangers (soon to be named family) to track down information, and make visits to the historical society, libraries, family research centers and any other places you can think of to track down the persons in question. When you have success you can feel joy and rest on your laurels. That is until you determine the next quest. There is a cycle to this addiction.

One of the many interesting people in my family history is George A. Blair. He is one of the great great grand children of John and Mary Magdalene Swisher from the 1780's. I must confess I've known of him for a long-time because of his special place in our family lore. His nickname is "Banana George". He is known as a barefoot water skier, certainly an unusal skill he practiced well into his later years. He is said to have been the only man to have performed barefoot, water skiing on all of the continents, including Antartica. He is now approaching 95! His official website bananageorge.com.

At this point, you no doubt are wondering what could be the recipe that would fit with all of this. I'll give you a clue: nuts - every family has them. Personally I am a pecan. I've decided to reach across the generations and families to share something new to me. As you know I collect family recipes. My Mom wrote Dad's cousin Meta (who is named after my grandmother Meta Amelia Collins Henry) to ask her for some family recipes. She was kind enought send me recipes from my grandmother's sister Esme taken from a cookbook when Esme was in the 7th grade. It is a recipe for nut bread. I know you'll enjoy it and think about this recipe and ones of your own passed down to share history in a bite or byte if you are a blogger geek like me.

Great Aunt Esme's Nut Bread

1/2 C. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. salt
1 C. milk
1 C. nut meats
3 C. flour
3 tsp. baking powder

The directions didn't state an oven temperature. Similar recipes call for a slow oven which to me means 325. Just keep an eye on it and make sure it isn't over baked.

In a bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder. In a larger bowl mix well the sugar and egg. To the egg and sugar add the flour and milk alternating and beginning and ending with the flour. Mix well, gently and don't over mix. Stir in the nut meats.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Let raise for 30 minutes. Bake for 40-45 minutes checking for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf. The tooth pick should come out clean - no raw batter clinging to the toothpick.

A family reunion

2009-02-04T17:29:00.002-05:00

This weekend we are having a family reunion. No we're not crazy. We will not be picnicing outside. We'll be by a warm cozy fire at my sister Sue's home near Cincinnati. We have much to celebrate.

Last May Dad phoned me to let me know he was in the hospital in E. Lansing due to atrial fibrillation. The plan was to do some tests and a cardioversion to jump start his heart back to its normal rhythm. It worked he went home and two weeks later he was back in a-fib. More attempts were made medically to correct his heartbeat which were not successful. Plans were started to go to the Cleveland Clinic for some testing, evaluation and a recommendation about what to do. Before this started Dad suffered some pulmonary complications and was started on prednisone. He had some nasty side effects with prednisone but being the trooper he is he persevered. The visit to the Clinic was scheduled for August. Before that we had a wonderful family vacation together near Traverse City. At the end of the vacation Dad had a significant episode of shortness of breath so he hiked it back to E. Lansing to consult with his docs and avoid an admission to a very small local hospital up north that wouldn't be able to help him. He ended up in the Lansing hospital and missed the trip to the Cleveland Clinic. You can imagine our disappointment.

After a prolonged recovery and some improvement, Dad was able to go to the clinic. Initially they planned medical management but the results of his tests showed some significant issues with valves and regurgitation that needed to be addressed. Dad and Mom returned to the clinic for more testing. Testing indicated that the only help would be a valve repair and a maze procedure. The family moved into motion to plan the trip to the clinic and support for Dad and Mom for the surgery and recovery in Cleveland. Dad had his surgery the two weeks before Thanksgiving and was able to be discharged to share Thanksgiving with family in Michigan.

Despite a very successful surgery, his recovery was quite protracted due to some really pesky complications that were really troubling. It was back in the hospital where they did some more tests and basically confirmed that the surgery did a great job for his heart but his issues were more pulmonary. He went home and was able to get off some of his medications and off the day-time oxygen. We were all stewing about them spending the winter in Michigan and the picture wasn't pretty. Mom and Dad worked hard on their end to make the trip to Florida happen. Finally, the stars and the docs aligned and Mom and Dad could plan a trip. Today the diocs confirmed they could go. So Saturday they are on their way.

Saturday they'll stop and spend the night at Sue and Tom's. Lee and I will have dinner with them along with Mom's sister and Tom's parents. The group will not be as large as a traditional family reunion but it will be equal in spirit and joy at being together. Rebecca, Cammy and David will have wished them well and happy trails from the start in Lansing. Generation 3 and generation 4 will be far away but they will share our excitement and send wishes for the reunion and the road trip.

Sue's planned a celebratory meal. I of course must share in the efforts so I'm contributing a simple appetizer and a fun dessert. I'll be making Lady Bird Johnson's Mexican Chocolate sheet cake. I made it for the Texas barbecue we had in August and I took the cake to Mom and Dad's when we had a mini Texas barbecue in E. Lansing. Dad loves chocolate. Mom loves it too so it's a winner for everyone. I found the recipe at www.cdkitchen.com

Mexican Chocolate Sheet Cake

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Combine and heat until melted:
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1/4 C. margarine (no butter!)
1 ounce square unsweetened chocolate or 2 T. cocoa
1/2 C. water

Sift together:
1 C. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In a bowl stir together:
1/4 C. sour milk
1 beaten egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine the three mixtures well. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

While the cake bakes make the icing.

Icing

In a large saucepan combine
1/4 C. margarine
2 T. cocoa
3 T. milk

Heat until bubbles form around the edge of the saucepan. Remove from heat.

Add:
8 ounces of confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. chopped pecans

Beat until smooth.

When the cake comes out of the oven let it cool for 10 minutes. Pour the icing over the top and spread to cover.

This is so good!.

A Life Changing Recipe

2009-02-03T07:05:00.004-05:00

My wonderful mother is incredible. She met my Dad when she was 18 and new at OSU. (Ohio not Oklahoma) Lore has it that he was supposed to have a blind date with my Aunt Dorr but Dorr was busy. So the date went to Mom and the rest is history. They married when she was 19 and he was 23 and I was born a few months before she turned 21. Mom left her academic career and became the wife and mother keeping house and making life great for her family of 3 daughters and her busy pediatrician husband. After dad finished medical school, he set up a general practice in Berlin Heights, OH. This was not his heart so he pursued a specialty in pediatrics. To do this he went to Detroit and we stayed in Toledo seeing Dad when he was off. When Dad was gone, every night Mom pushed the dining room hutch in front of the door to keep intruders out. I don't know what she did with the back door. This is so dear because it so depicts Mom and Dad's partnership in his career and in their relationship. The sacrifices they made together is what makes them strong today!

Mom sewed dresses and Halloween costumes, helped with school projects, kept pets, kept a sparkling home and ran everyone to appointments and meetings and activities. She also volunteered in the community doing mobile meals with one of her best friends and volunteering at the art museum. She is amazing. She had 3 children under the age of five by the time she was 25. Whew! She also did the laundry for Dad's office.

Mom made meals that were very good and she worked hard to please the tastes of young children and her husband. Mom and Dad's commitment was to have dinner with us every night as a family. Dad would come home after the office and have dinner and leave to go to a meeting or see more patients. Meals were of the meat, starch, vegetable variety of the 50's. Mom 's chief complaint was that she would spend hours making dinner and it would be done in 5 minutes. Though she made great meals, she was not passionate about cooking. She often would enjoy something new at a friend's home or at dinner out and would make the dish for us.

When we were in high school Dad's practice now included two other physicians and there was some more time for a social life. In true form Mom and Dad made sure we had dinner before they went out. Saturday dinner was more casual and did not have to closely adhere to the meat plus formula. One weekend Mom had a great new recipe. Reuben sandwiches. She made the first sandwich and served it with Tater Tots - those frozen logs you bake until crispy. The sandwich was delicious and we liked it very much. One thing about Mom when she finds a formula it becomes a keeper. We had reubens and tater tots every Saturday forever. I ate so many reubens and tater tots I reached the point I could not eat another reuben sandwich or tater tot to save my life. I couldn't even consider a reuben ingredient. I vowed off reubens and tater tots forever.

Decades went by and about 10 years ago I was having lunch with some friends. On the menu was my nemesis. For some reason - absence makes the heart grow fonder - I ordered a Reuben - no Tater Tots. It was delicious. The crusty bread, melted swiss cheese with the tart sauerkraut and the tang of the thousand island dressing. WoW! It was the first Saturday night all over again. My sisters and me at the kitchen table laughing at something very silly. Dad dressed up laughing with us and teasing and Mom walking through the kitchen, her high heels clicking on the tile, perfume wafting through the air. OMG! I had been saved through a reuben resurrection!

Needless to say I've continued to enjoy those reubens,

Reuben sandwiches

artisan rye bread very seedy with a salty crust
thousand island dressing - homemade
sauerkraut, rinsed and pressed with a paper towel - no excess water
sliced corned beef
Jarlsberg cheese or Emmentaler, sliced

Assembly

On a slice of bread, spread the dressing
lay several slices of corned beef
place some sauerkraut on top of the corned beef
on top of that place the cheese
on all of this a slice of bread

Melt a little butter and oil in a skillet. Add the sandwiches and toast on each side. The heat should be medium. Your goal is to toast the bread, heat the sandwich contents and melt the cheese.

Serve with chips, french fries, anything but those dam#@d Tater Tots.

Superbowl Snafu

2009-02-01T18:43:00.003-05:00

Like those poor Steelers whose first touchdown was rejected by the refs - my Superbowl menu is in jeopardy.

Know this:

I have conferred with Miss Lee daily about the Superbowl menu
We've discussed the merits of a healthy menu - she agreed
I described the lovely panini and crunchy slaw with the OH Henry bars - she said "Great!"

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER

She had asked earlier in the week about chicken wings and we agreed on the menu. Today she wanted to have wings for lunch. We're having chicken on the panini or the sandwiches and cole slaw as she called them. I knew I was in trouble. We had Chinese for lunch. On the drive home she began reviewing this week's evening schedule. She quickly noted that if I had a meeting tomorrow she would have Jose Ole Mexican mini tacos 42 to a box and queso (cheese dip). A beloved treat for her. Then she said, "I should make the cheese dip today. Oh I can have cheese dip and tortilla chips." I once again offered the notion of a healthy meal. At this point she shared her opinion on Super Bowl food. According to Miss Lee you are never supposed to eat healthy food for the Super Bowl. Wings, loaded skins, queso, KFC, fritos, fried cheese stix, lots of beer need I go on? That is the ideal menu. Oh you can have celery sticks with the bleu cheese dressing for the wings. I guess it is a very healthy meal...sigh...

I lost the game before Jennifer Hudson sang and the teams even played the first down.

Queso Dip

1 can Rotel - hot, or medium if you are not a Texan
1 lb. velveeta cheese food cut into cubes

Combine the Rotel and the Velveeta in a medium bowl. Melt the cheese in the microwave a minute at a time. Stir after each heating cycle.

I have nothing more to say on this topic other than we will be eating the panini and the brocolli slaw with Asian dressing and we will LOVE it.

From Stephen

2009-01-31T18:13:00.003-05:00

so ms. henry.... i am sooo curioius. what would be on the menu if you were asked to create YOUR favorites. and any stories that go with them...

appetizer
soup
salad
entree
sides
dessert

That was a post from my dear friend Stephen. Stephen is a very special friend who brings out the extremes in me - a dangerous place. He loves to be bad. He loves to torment and tease. He is that little brother that drove you nuts who is still acting that way 40 years later. Oh jeez! He reads every post and has a comment or a rant. That leads to an explanation to him of the point I was trying to make which I give in the most descriptive prose I can. This invariably leads to his accusing me of snobbiness and madness and then the gloves come off. I respond to him in a cynical manner and then he dismisses me by saying he will not particpate in my madness or offers to use professional skills as a psychologist to help me with my "issues". Then I read his blog - his soul's journey which is his most vulnerable, and then his Facebook page which is his patchwork quilt of what he's doing, tormenting his friends, musical selections that are gifts from his heart and a recap of his days. He has 11 different personae that he uses to quickly switch and present a new path of thoughts. This is his means of being anything he ever wanted to be no matter how bad or good! He is also a person I trust to tell me the truth - when he is being Stephen- Stephen and not one of his other hyphenated characters. I am so glad he wasn't my little brother. He would have worn me out. At my mature age I can laugh, rant and enjoy him as a true friend. Thank you Stephen for being my friend and being who you are with me.

So I will try to answer Stephen's post.

Appetizer - Mediterranean antipasto platter, guacamole
Soup - Italian Sausage Soup
Salad - something with nuts, fruit, cheese over greens with a homemade dressing
Entree - Pork, Barbecue, My Dad or Tom's Grilled food, Ethnic, Vegetarian, Pasta, Beef, Chicken
Sides - Cottage Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Eggplant, Any vegetable - prefered cooking method roasted
Sandwich - I added this Reuben (Huge story here!) Burger Grilled, flat, on a homemade bun with pickle, onion , mustard
Dessert - I am not a big chocolate lover except for Theo's Chocolate confections, frosted sugar cookies, molasses cookies, golfballs, fruit tart, if I had to eat a cake it would be a white cake with vanilla frosting

These are not the only things I like but they are the things I can think of at this moment.I would name as a favorite anything cooked for me by a family member or a friend just because they cared enough to want to make something to share with me. I eat seasonally as a rule much to the chagrin of Lee and others who shall remain nameless. It's part of the experience. A crazy thought: I would like to have a meal cooked by me for me but I would like to taste it not as my own cooking but as someone I cooked for. I know that makes no sense at all but I am convinced a cook cannot taste her own cooking the way a guest might.

Stay tuned. Stories and recipes to follow.