Anglo Saxon Whattitudes?

I loves me a ham sandwich.   My favorite ham sandwiches are those that are cut on the diagonal, especially if they are packed in one of those triangle "sealed with plastic" boxes that you might get in an Amtrak dining car or any place that sells pre-made "fresh cut" sandwiches in England or the US (in England you do not "make" sandwiches, you "cut" them).

The reason the diagonal cut makes them taste best is due to this Tenniel illustration for chapter 7, "The Lion and the Unicorn" from Lewis Carroll's "Through The Looking Glass".  As soon as I realized that the messenger was handing the King a ham sandwich, I decided that a ham sandwich should always be cut this way.  For some reason, when I was a kid, I thought he was handing the King a slice of pizza or something.  I knew it could not be that, but that picture sure did not look any ham sandwich I had ever seen.  All the ham sandwiches I knew were either on rye or pumpernickel bread and cut straight across, never on an angle.

I still don't know how they got that ham sandwich to have that shape (it still does not resemble any ham sandwich I have ever seen) but I content myself to cut my ham sandwiches, no matter the shape of the bread, on the angle.  Then I can remember Alice, the White King and his messenger with the Anglo Saxon attitudes.  If you do not know what that means, don't feel bad.  Neither does anybody else.  For proof, google Alice Anglo Saxon Attitudes and see what you get.  Or just forget about it and re-read Through The Looking Glass.  It's worth it.

Quotable Quotes; in the category But How Many Does It Feed?

"Hors D'oeuvre:  A ham sandwich cut into forty pieces."
Jack Benny

Oh It's The Nuts!

When I posted about Garlic Fried Rice a while ago I promised I would tell you about Garlic Peanuts and Adobo. Well I kept my word on the Adobo so now it's time to come through on the peanuts.

Peanuts fried with garlic can be found at Asian markets all over Chicago, mainly Filipino markets. They are sold in little plastic bags or in little plastic cups - some homemade, others commercially done. I have not met a garlic peanut I did not like. Essentially, they are shelled peanuts cooked in oil with fried garlic bits and whole fried garlic cloves. They are delicious, salty and aromatic. If you like garlic and peanuts you will like these. Here is how I make them - probably not at all authentically, some recipes seem to pre-boil raw peanuts then fry the nuts and garlic separately.

I take a jar of dry roasted or roasted and salted peanuts and put them in a skillet with oil and garlic. I usually chop the garlic fairly fine because I am not cooking the peanuts for very long (they are already roasted). I suppose you could cook whole or sliced garlic cloves until almost crispy. The commercial peanuts often contain garlic cloves still in their papery skins.

When the garlic is almost done I toss in the peanuts and stir and toss until they are coated with oil and heated through. Salt them unless they are already salty enough (the only way to be sure is to taste) and remove from heat to cool before storing in airtight containers or plastic bags.

Alternatively, you can put the peanuts and minced garlic in a baking pan large enough to hold them in a not too deep layer. Toss with some oil and roast in the oven at 250 f about 20 - 40 minutes, stirring every 10 - 15 minutes (imagine you are making that cereal party mix). When the garlic is done, remove from heat, cool and store but not before eating a good handful of these bad boys.

I once took a large container of these nuts with me on a fishing weekend with my brothers. Although we did not finish all the nuts, I was not allowed to bring the leftovers home with me. it was Jon who suggested the oven method. Both yield pretty good results.

If you need amounts figure about 2 tablespoons oil (olive, peanut, corn or whatever) and 4 - 8 cloves of garlic (depending on your love of garlic) for every cup or two of peanuts and go from there.

Quotable Quotes; in the category There weren't any peanut quotes and besides I like this one better.

"You can never have enough garlic. With enough garlic, you can eat The New York Times." Morley Safer

Mollycoddle?

Last week the subject of soft boiled eggs came up. We agreed that there is something inherently comforting about eating them. I also find comfort in preparing them.

When I was a child my brothers and sisters and I all ate breakfast together before school. In younger days, mom made soft boiled eggs. We ate them over toast, which we crumbled into pieces in our bowl. We did not have egg cups (a friend has egg cups in her cupboard and says she uses them). Instead, the cooked egg was laid on the toast and it was up to us to crack it and scoop out the insides. In those days we probably buttered the toast as well.

As we got older mom left us on our own for breakfast, which by then consisted mainly of toast and cereal, although sometimes fried baloney or salami would find its way into the menu. The toaster would be placed on the dining room table along with cartons of milk and boxes of cereal (or actually bags of cereal since mom had a proclivity for buying generic puffed rice at the A&P - a false economy since few of us actually ate it).

I later learned of an implement called an egg coddler. This was a small ceramic cup with a metal screw on lid. China companies like Royal Worcester made these in patterns to match or complement their china designs.

I heard about and decided I needed to buy an egg coddler. Don't asks me why. I went to J. L. Hudson at the Oakland Mall and asked for an egg coddler. I wanted a bird or flower from the Worcester collection. All they had was a Peter Rabbit. It was made by Wedgewood. At that time Wedgewood owned the licensing privileges for Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter's illustrations.

I was a little dismayed that a Peter Rabbit egg coddler was the only one available to me - no other stores seemed to have them in stock at the time. But no matter, I bought the coddler and today it is one of my most prized possessions (I also have some by Wade, an Irish potter, and two floral Worcester bought at e-bay or le shoppe junque. A cursory search of e-bay reveals the Peter Rabbit cup is worth a fair amount of scratch).

The way an egg coddler works is this; butter the cup (or spray with vegetable spray) and crack an egg into it. Butter, salt and pepper may be added (I prefer to add these later). Screw on the lid and place in a pan of water. Bring to the boil and time your eggs. I like mine at just four minutes. The advantage of using the coddler is that the lid can be removed and if it's not done, you can replace the lid and pop it back into the boiling water for another half minute or so.

Coddlers are sized for one or two eggs. Mine are all "singles". I find that the Wade coddlers do not cook at the same rate as the others. Either the porcelain is a different thickness, or the ceramic lid makes a difference or there is some other force at play. No matter, I prefer the other cups anyway.

Soft boiled eggs require a different timing method. They cook faster since they are not sheltered by a thick layer of porcelain. If you want to soft boil eggs and have not done so before, try cooking three, removing one at three minutes, one at four and if necessary, one at 5 minutes. You should then know know long you like your eggs. Make a note and don't forget.

Place your soft boiled egg in an egg cup or just lay it on the toast which you have torn into pieces into your bowl. Crack the shell all around and scoop out the yolky egg. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and tuck in.

The disadvantage of an egg coddler is a somewhat oddly shaped "boiled" egg. No matter, you will scoop it onto your toast and smoosh it all up anyway so shape is of little importance. What is important is the comfy cozy feeling you will have eating your warm egg and toast with a spoon.

Find an egg coddler, or just soft boil your eggs, and feel like an English child breakfasting with your Nanny in the Nursery School Room. Be glad I did not instruct you to eat dripping toast for tea.

Quotable quotes; in the category Well At Least She Knows What She Means!

“This recipe is certainly silly. It says to separate the eggs, but it doesn’t say how far to separate them.” - Gracie Allen

Nut & Honey

I made baklava last week. In case you do not know what this is, it is layers of phyllo dough, buttered and layered with chopped walnuts, honey and cinnamon. In case you do not know phyllo is impossibly thin sheets of pastry dough (you can read a book through them) that is often used in making strudel and other pastries.

I bought the phyllo on sale, intending to make a pastille (a Moroccan dish of chicken and phyllo layered with spices and dusted with powdered sugar). But the leftover chicken I had intended to use became Bill's supper one night so I had to find another use for the phyllo. I decided on apple strudel.

I have a friend who makes apple strudel from scratch, including the dough. This involves much resting and rolling and stretching of the dough to get it thin enough. It also requires much patience as the process is long and tedious and the dough is practically guaranteed to tear. Since I already had the phyllo I decided to go ahead with that. I diced apples and tossed them with cinnamon and sugar, layered the phyllo dough (which also requires patience that I do not have) and rolled up a pair of lumpy, crooked strudels. No matter, I baked them and they tasted just fine. The only problem was I still had half a box of phyllo left over.

I considered other dishes and perused my cookbooks but baklava seemed to be the most likely suspect. I coerced Bill into cracking all the walnuts we had in the house and chopping them coarsely. I based my recipe on two different versions from two different books, one proclaiming to be a prize winner. As I made the baklava I remembered the last and only time I had made it before.

When I was in sixth grade I found a recipe for baklava in a girls' magazine. Not knowing what it was I asked my mom who told me I would love it and we would make some. To my knowledge this is the only time I cooked with my mom, a possible exception being a time I baked (burned) a batch of cookies. Mom bought the phyllo, we layered it with butter and cinnamon, walnuts and honey and baked it.

At that age I had never been taken to a Greek restaurant. The wonders of braised lamb and roasted potatoes, Greek salad, flaming cheese and baklava were unknown to me. I agreed the baklava was delicious. For an unknown reason we never repeated the experience.

I layered and baked and thought of mom. I called brothers and sisters to chat about mom, about baking with her, about baklava and about anything else that came to mind. It felt good to connect with them by phone, and with mom by baklava. In case you want the experience, here is a fairly easy recipe for baklava. Warning: working with phyllo dough is a thankless task. It is temperamental and fussy. Maybe you know somebody like that?

I made a half recipe but here is the full recipe. Makes a 9 x 13 pan full, or 30 pieces.

4 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 package (1 lb.) frozen phyllo dough
2 - 3 sticks of butter, melted
cinnamon & sugar
pinch of ground clove or nutmeg, (optional)

Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup honey
orange flower water (optional)

Thaw phyllo according to package instructions. Toss walnuts with 2 tsp. sugar and 2 tbsp cinnamon.

Divide phyllo dough sheets into five equal portions. layer one portion in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish, spreading the layers to cover, if necessary. Top with 1/4 of the nut mixture. Repeat layers until there are 4 layers of phyllo and nuts. Top with the final layer of phyllo. Tuck in the edges of the phyllo and cut the baklava into squares or diamonds with a sharp knife. You should get 30 pieces depending on size.

Melt butter and pour over the baklava, making sure the entire surface is covered with butter. You can insert a knife around the edge of the pan to make sure melted butter flows down between all edges. (I used rather less butter than called for and thought it was almost too much). Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over the top, if desired, and bake in a 350 f. oven about 35 - 45 minutes until very brown.

Meanwhile, bring sugar and water to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes. Add honey and lemon juice and simmer 5 minutes more. Add orange water (optional). Pour the syrup evenly over the partially cooled baklava. Serve at room temperature (or slightly warm if you cannot wait that long). Bill suggested serving with a spoonful of Greek style yogurt.

Quotable quotes; in the category You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me!

"How about a little more baklava?"

Robin Williams as the Genie in the Disney film "Aladdin"

Fun At The Fair

Years and years ago I went to the Illinois State Fair with Bill and his family. It was a sort of de facto Nelson/Lockwood Family Reunion since many of Sallie's relatives lived in Springfield and many more came to town for the fair.

We stayed at the home of Sallie's Aunt Katherine & Uncle Harv (Harvard, not Harvey). This was the uncle who owned a vintage 1970s red El Dorado (could it have been a convertible?) and who arrived in Chicago every fall with a trunk full of fruit from his trees. He did not really have an orchard but they did live on a lake on a large parcel of land on which were planted several fruit trees - apple, peach, pear, plum - and each autumn he loaded up the trunk of the Cadillac with fruit (I mean loaded) to bring to friends and relatives.

Uncle Harv also had a large garden to which he rode a bicycle and where he harvested endless butternut squash. Probably there were other vegetables but I only remember seeing rows and rows of squash. He brought several back and Uncle Tom at once cut one up and cooked it with butter, salt and pepper, proclaiming it delicious.

Also staying in the house were other relatives. The camper trailer was set up in the side yard and Sara's family stayed there, while others stayed at the Holiday Inn in town. Believe it or not on the day we went over to enjoy the hotel pool, there was a beauty pageant in progress in the rather huge atrium/auditorium. Probably the Miss Teen Springfield pageant and likely in conjunction with the fair doings. We did go to the fair and I did enjoy it although we did not partake of the rides or the stage shows.

I had only been to the fair once before, the Michigan State Fair, and as a 12-year-old I thought the only reason to go to a fair or carnival was to ride a Ferris wheel, eat carnival food and buy souvenirs. As an adult, I learned that looking at prize cows, sheep and poultry and watching pigs race for a pan of Oreos was equally entertaining.

The most fun (to me) was viewing the prize winning canned goods - fruits, jams, jellies, preserves - and cakes and pies. Even floral arrangements were awarded blue ribbons. Although most of the fair was winding down (the animals were being removed even as we watched) the cook-off was yet to be decided. This year, it was a beef contest and I had the dubious honor of watching some of the finalists prepare their entries.

The kitchen contained four cooking stations, each equipped with its own range, sink and counter top. Contestants had brought their ingredients and cookware in bags or boxes. A few of them gave me icy stares when I approached their work stations but one seemed willing and even eager for observers and chatted them up. I watched her prepare her prize winning "Mexican Lasagna" (I might have called it tamale pie or enchilada casserole but what do I know). In a 9x13 glass baking dish she layered her sauce, refried beans, corn tortillas, her secret recipe ground beef and her shredded cheese.

I marvelled that she used pre-packaged versions of everything, including pre-shredded cheese. Thrift conscious, I would have opted to shred my own and save a few pennies. Most wondrous of all were her tortillas. I had never seen any like them for sale. They were small - much smaller than the corn tortillas generally available for sale. Those were about six inches in diameter. Here were only four or five inches and they intrigued me. Anything different than we are used to seems inherently more interesting and desirable. (I saw some of these small tortillas for sale in a Chicago Groceria y Carniceria just last week).

She noted my interest and held up her package of tortillas, which were sold six to the pack . The tortillas I routinely purchased were packed no less than a dozen and often 20 or more to a pack. "This is a new kind of Mexican Lasagna noodle" she informed me, in her down-state drawl. "They're called tor-tellas". I nodded and attempted to appear rapt. I knew what they were, having eaten tortillas, tostadas, tamales and tacos nearly all my life, and having made authentic homemade tortillas on more than one occasion.

She finished her ministrations and slid her concoction into the oven to bake. I wandered over to the other stations, hoping to engage the other contestants in similarly scintillating conversation, but they were having none of it. I did not take their aloofness personally and instead wandered about viewing partially eaten pastries and wondering about the criteria for judging.

I have been to a few smaller fairs since, namely the county fair held in Barraboo, WI with Mary on a sisters' weekend, but have never returned to a State Fair. I would love to attend the Iowa State Fair which is often touted as one of the best. I even sent away for the judging guidebook for everything one might enter in the Illinois State Fair. Maybe one year my marmalade will be on display. Maybe I'll win the bake-off! Maybe, but probably not.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Let's Put The 'Fun' Back In Dysfunctional!

"If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty."

Jeff Foxworthy

It's The REAL Thing!!

Years and years ago I was in the Sondheim play "Company". The theater group met in the Oak Park (MI) High School auditorium and easily half the cast members were from Windsor Ontario, Canada. True theater lovers think nothing of commuting to a different country three nights a week for rehearsal. Okay, so it was essentially a drive across the bridge and a ride across town but still . . .

I remember lots of tasty nuggets from that show but leafing through and old "church lady" cookbook from the 1970s and coming across a particular recipe triggered this memory.

Anyone who knows "Company" knows that the inimitable Elaine Stritch played the unforgettable Joanne and sang "Ladies Who Lunch". In case you do not know, Joanne was something of a lush and the song was performed (at least in our production) as Joanne sat at a table drinking cocktails. Each verse ended with the line "I'll Drink To That!"

The 1970s saw the demise of the classic glass soda pop bottle. Some people objected to cans and plastic so Pepsi (and other companies) put their sodas in a new style glass bottle. People liked to wash and re-use these bottles for lots of things. Drinking water from bottles was not yet a universal practice but juice, other soda flavors, tea or lemonade might be put in the bottles, as might other things.

The lady playing Joanne in our production carried such a Pepsi bottle with her at every rehearsal. It was not unusual for actors to have a bottle of water, tea or other beverages with them at rehearsal. Joanne's bottle held Pepsi . . . or so I thought. I learned later that the bottle held in reality home-made Kahlua! That may have explained why she was such a shoe-in as Joanne! She played a very realistic lush!

In case you decide you want to make some Kahlua (and maybe carry it with you in a recycled glass or plastic bottle) here is a recipe.

Combine:
4 cups water
3 cups sugar
10 teaspoons instant coffee
bring to a boil and simmer about 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool.

Add:
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 fifth Vodka

Strain into dark glass bottles or ceramic canisters. Allow to steep 3 months, shaking occasionally, before "mixing" or serving straight up!

Quotable Quotes; in the category Let's Not Forget Mahler!

"A matinee, a Pinter play,Perhaps a piece of Mahler's. I'll drink to that. And one for Mahler!"

Stephen Sondheim "Ladies Who Lunch" from the musical "Company"

Party Food For Breakfast!

Everyone knows cold pizza is the perfect breakfast food, followed closely by cold spaghetti. Nowadays I generally reheat cold pizza and spaghetti before eating but back in the day I ate the pizza cold from the oven (leftover pizza was traditionally left in its box in the electric – not gas – oven). Likewise cold spaghetti, which was usually left in a plastic container in the fridge.

You may wish to heat the spaghetti in a skillet or saucepan with a bit of water, or you may wish to zap it in the microwave. Or go whole hog, add extra sauce and/or cream and some shredded mozzarella cheese and bake it in the oven. Restaurants in Chicago sell “baked mostacciolli” at a higher cost than it cost the first time around. What're the odds they are using up yesterday's leftovers?

These standards notwithstanding, Party Food for breakfast is a special treat, especially after your new year’s festivities have mostly ended. This year, in the days following new year's, I breakfasted on leftover sweet & sour meatballs, cream cheese & crab dip and that most delicious of delicacies, leftover spinach dip and dippers. Luckily (or alas) the shrimp cocktail was all eaten the night before.

Forgive me. New Year’s is long gone but my New Year’s Day breakfast was tasty enough to remember and to write about at this later date. Don’t wait until next Christmas or New Year’s to enjoy a party for breakfast. Any time you have yummy leftovers you are free to indulge. And I think spinach dip in the morning is hard to top . . . even with spaghetti or pizza!

I expect everybody knows how to make Spinach Dip but in case you don’t here are instructions. This is one of my favorite recipes. And one of the easiest. Many people use Knorr vegetable soup mix. I far prefer Mrs. Grass, which was apparently bought out by Wyler’s and then by Lipton. Use whichever instant vegetable soup & dip mix you prefer, or whichever one you can find!

1 packet vegetable soup mix
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed completely dry
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup each mayonnaise & sour cream (low fat or fat free will work if you wish)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Stir very well to be sure all the salty mixture is well blended. You can serve this in a bowl or in a hollowed out loaf of rye or sourdough bread. Serve with vegetables, bread chunks, crackers, bread sticks or sliced bagels for dipping.

Cream Cheese & Crab Dip

My mother-in-law used to make this. I must have made it once for my sister as she said this dip always reminds her of me. I don’t remember ever making this more than once so sis must have been there that day. Bill asked for this dip for this year’s holiday festivities so I happily obliged. Can you say stupid easy?

Unwrap and place on a plate an 8 oz. block of cream cheese. Open a can of crab meat (or a can of tiny shrimps). Drain and remove any bits of shell. Scatter the crab or shrimp over the surface of the cream cheese. Open a bottle of shrimp cocktail sauce and pour a generous amount over the cream cheese and the seafood. Serve with an assortment of crackers.

Party Meatballs or Sausages

This recipe should prove to you my propensity for those dishes that are so simple the recipe makes you say “duh”. But the finished dish must also make you say “mmmmm”! I can vouch for these meatballs.

Buy a package of frozen meatballs. Doesn’t matter if they are made of turkey, beef or tofu as long as they are meatballs you would normally eat. Be sure to buy the kind called mini meatballs. They should be about an inch in diameter and come about 30 to a package. Careful not to buy the kind that are tennis ball sized. Those are intended for spaghetti dinner. They will still taste good but you will be limited to serving one per guest – unless you have unexpected company, then you’ll have to share. This recipe is even easier if you buy precooked meatballs!

Place frozen mini meatballs on a baking sheet and bake according to package directions, probably about 25 minutes at 350. Meanwhile, empty a small jar of grape jam into a sauce pan along with a small bottle of your favorite cocktail sauce. Yes, the same sauce you use for shrimp cocktail. You may, if you wish, add a little barbecue sauce, a little sweet/hot mustard or a few of those packets of egg roll sauce that come with your Chinese takeout. Heat and stir to combine. When the meatballs are done, drain briefly (if you feel like it) and add them to the sauce.

You can serve these bad boys in a bowl, in a chafing dish, in a fondue pot or in a mini crock-pot, the kind meant to keep party dips hot for serving. Be sure to place a shot glass of toothpicks or bamboo skewers alongside! Little Smoky Link Sausages can be substituted for the meatballs, but don’t bother making this sauce, just open a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce and let it go at that.

Leftover Pizza & Spaghetti

Reheat leftover cold pizza in a nonstick skillet. Put it over medium heat and cover with a lid. In about five minutes the bottom should be crisp and the pizza should be hot. Or try the toaster oven (but never the toaster). Reheat cold spaghetti in a nonstick skillet with a lid and a little water. Give it a couple of stirs until it is heated through. For a “spaghetti pie” add a little extra sauce or some cream to your leftover pasta and a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 30 minutes until brown on top and bubbly. Think lasagna. You are saving $6.95 in take out costs.

Quotable Quotes; in the category I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Do Know What I Like To Eat!

“Art is what's left over after you've defined everything else”. Michael Vitale

Penny For My Thoughts

A few days ago I was walking with a friend when she found a penny and picked it up. She told me that when she finds a penny, she picks it up and looks at the date. She then reflects on that year and the things that had happened that had relevance to her life. Okay, whatever.

I was used to picking up pennies for good luck, and had even heard that if the penny was laying tail-side up, then picking it up could bring bad luck. Not that I believed in that much. A penny is a penny and worth just as much heads or tails up, so I generally pick up coins of any denomination. But this was the first time I heard about reflecting on the penny’s date of issue.

A few days later, I passed several pennies on the ground. I was in a hurry and there were a lot of people around so I did not stop to pick them up – but the next day, when I passed that spot, one of those pennies was still there. I picked it up and looked at the date. It was the year of my high-school graduation (we really don’t have to concern ourselves with the actual date, do we)?

I carried the penny for a few moments, reflecting on that year, before slipping it into my pocket. Graduation day was also the day of the choir picnic. We had spent the day at the beach, feasting on Kentucky Fried Chicken (nowadays they just call it KFC) and christening the choir director’s balding pate with soda-pop.

Of course, on the way home, the car I was driving (dad’s van, his pride and joy) broke down, stranding me and everyone driving with me. A long afternoon of guessing what was wrong, tow trucks, bent drive shafts and other headaches left me with the prospect of lengthy explanations to my dad, expensive car repairs and being late for graduation. My friend was hardly speaking to me because she wanted to wash, dry and set her hair for the event.

I took a shower when I got home and resigned myself to attending the ceremony with wet hair and a pair of cut off shorts that would not stay buttoned. At least I would have a robe over them for the ceremony. After that, I hardly cared.

When dad got home from work he looked at me, bewildered, and asked where the van was. I told him what had happened and where the car was, at a gas station 20 miles away from home. I fully expected to be blamed for the mishap and even to be expected to pay for the damage caused by the tow service. Instead dad floored me by merely saying “oh” and “I guess we’ll have to go pick it up tomorrow”.

That is when I finally broke down. Now that I knew there were to be no yelling or recrimination, I was able to let go. Dad watched for a moment then said “you need a drink” and went to prepare one for me (people of my age were legal at that time and in that place). It was my first sanctioned drink at home – a bourbon and water on the rocks. I am sure it helped.

Soon, my friend arrived in her dad’s red convertible (we knew exactly how to assign the chauffeur service, the right vehicle for the occasion) and arrived at the high-school in style, our hair air-dried and wind-blown. I remember little else about the ceremony except that my shorts would not stay buttoned and the principal mispronounced my name. Typical. There were a few other notable occasions that year – my first date with my now husband and a presidential election among them.

It was interesting to take that trip down memory lane, inspired by the date on a penny. I will keep an eye out for future coins and future remembrances. Maybe I’ll let you know about them, too.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Look What A Penny Can Do!

"To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon."

proverb

Some Dim Sum?

I love dim sum. But I hate crowds. If we go for dim sum on Sunday mornings there are lots and lots of people. There are also many extra goodies on the tea carts that are not available other days of the week. If we go on Saturday mornings, there are fewer people but usually only the basics are available - shiu mai, shrimp dumplings, funn roll and other favorites. We go on Saturday. It's a toss up. We miss out on some of the fancier (read expensive) things like lobster roll, but we don't have to battle the crowds for parking and maybe our bill is a little smaller.

I love sticky rice at dim sum, the kind that comes wrapped up in a lotus leaf. I also love the sticky fried rice at dim sum, the kind that comes on a small plate covered with an inverted clear plastic dome. There are always a few slices of Chinese sausage on top of the rice. I love that sausage. Nothing else tastes like it. Not even chicken.

We usually get the fried rice. Why? Because Bill says the sticky rice I make at home is better than the version we get at dim sum. I'm sold. Compliments go far, and we have the added bonus of not having to unwrap that ungainly lotus leaf all over the table and try to neatly portion out the rice and goodies inside.

Sticky rice is not hard to make. I takes a long time because the rice and lotus leaves have to soak in water overnight, and it takes an hour or more to cook in the steamer basket. But the actual preparation is not difficult or time consuming, and the ingredients are readily available. Sort of. If you live in Chicago or another bustling metropollis with a vibrant Chinatown. And getting the special ingredients, while a challenge perhaps, is also a part of the adventure.

If you would like to make sticky rice at home, here are the ingredients and methods I use. Give it a try - or else try dim sum next time you have the urge to eat something "different", fun, and tasty.

Sticky Rice Steamed in Lotus Leaves

3 cups glutinous (sticky) rice
3 large dried lotus leaves
½ cup dried chestnuts
8 dried black mushrooms (or shitake)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Filling

2 teaspoons vegetable or peanut oil
2 Chinese sausages thinly sliced diagonally
¼ pound diced boneless chicken thighs
4 thinly sliced green onions
2 minced cloves garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
¼ pound thinly sliced Chinese Barbecue Pork
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 salted duck eggs (optional) whites discarded and
yolks cut in half (I use regular hard cooked eggs, white and yolk)

Allow time for overnight soaking to prepare this dish. Although the preparation and cooking are lengthy, it is a fairly simple dish to prepare and requires little hands on work. If you do not have a wok and bamboo steamer you can substitute a large stock pot (the one you use for boiling pasta) with a steamer rack. If you have a pizza pan that is full of holes (intended to brown the pizza crust) that would work too. The fragrance of the lotus leaves steaming will make your kitchen smell like a Chinese tea room. Settle down with some Pearl S. Buck and enjoy a good read.

Soak the rice overnight in water to cover; Soak the lotus leaves in a large pan, dishpan or basin with water to cover; Soak the dried chestnuts overnight in a small pan of water to cover. Next day, drain and cover with fresh water and parboil for five minutes, then drain again; Soak the mushrooms in warm water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain, remove and discard the stem, and slice the caps.

Line a bamboo steaming basket with 2 of the lotus leaves, pointed centers downward, overlapping and allowing the edges to drape over the edge. Drain the rice and season with salt and pepper. Spread it evenly over the leaf lined basket.

Heat a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and heat. Add sausages and chicken and stir fry one minute. Add 1 tablespoon of the green onion, the garlic, ginger and mushrooms, and stir fry one minute. Add the barbecue pork and dried chestnuts and cook another minute. Remove from the wok and add the oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and sesame oil.

If using duck eggs (or regular eggs) arrange them over the rice. Spread the remaining filling evenly over and sprinkle with another tablespoon of green onion. Place the 3d lotus leaf over the top with the pointed center facing up. Tuck the edges of the leaves into the steamer and place a heatproof plate upside down over the top to hold them in place.

Cover the steaming basket (if using a stock pot, cover with the pot lid) and place it over a wok of rapidly simmering water. Steam over medium heat about one hour until the rice is tender and translucent. Add more boiling water to the wok or pot as needed.

Remove the lid and the plate (careful, it’s HOT) and unfold the lotus leaves, draping over the edges of the steamer (you can buy a darling, if flimsy, set of tongs just for removing plates from the steamer at a Chinese grocer). Garnish with the remaining green onion if desired. Place the entire steamer basket on a platter and serve with fragrant Oolong tea and fortune cookies.

Notes: Glutinous rice, also called sweet rice or sticky rice is very short grained rice that becomes starchy and sticky when cooked. It is often served as a dessert with sliced mango and is usually soaked before cooking. It can be found in Asian markets.

Lotus leaves can be found in Asian markets. I have found them stacked and wrapped in a plastic or cellophane wrapper, about a dozen or so leaves per package.

Chinese Barbecue Pork, Chinese Sausages, dried chestnuts, black or shitake mushrooms and dark soy sauce can be found in Asian markets, especially if you have a Chinatown area near you. If you cannot find or do not like some of the ingredients they can easily be omitted or substituted. Regular soy sauce for dark for instance, roast pork instead of barbecue, etc. You can also use regular button mushrooms. The sesame oil and oyster sauce are fairly essential but should be readily available. I know of no substitute for the sweet Chinese sausages.

If using salted duck eggs, they must be cooked before using. Scrape off the black coating and wash, place in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Rinse, cool and remove shells. Use only the yolks in your recipe.


Quotable Quotes; in the category Where Shall We Go For Dinner?

“Never eat Chinese food in Oklahoma.”
Bryan Miller (NY Times Restaurant Critic)

The Palms

Tomorrow is Easter. Last week was Palm Sunday. I used to love Palm Sunday as a kid. We were given palm fronds at church. Anytime I was given ANYTHING I thought it was special.

At home, we placed the palms over and around crucifixes, paintings of Mary, and any other place that was appropriate. When we were very young we even had a little holy water font on the wall - a small dish to hold holy water, with the likeness of a saint or an angel behind it. We were supposed to dip our fingers into the holy water and bless ourselves each time we entered or left the house.

There was a large container of holy water in the vestibule of the church. Occasionally, we brought a small bottle to fill and take home, to keep our little font filled. Our home font eventually disappeared. I have not seen one in a home for many, many years.

The palms I received in Baptist or Methodist churches were different from the palms I used to receive at our Catholic church. Ours were long and slender. Theirs were a single branch with many short leaves branching off the center stem. I liked ours better - what you're used to, I guess. Since I have been singing in the choir at the Community Church, I get the same kind of palms I used to get as a kid. I like them. They remind me of the "old days".

At one time I became intrigued by palms folded and woven into crosses, roses and other shapes. I determined to learn to make them. On Palm Sunday, I take home extra palms and fold them into numerous palm crosses, which I then take back to church on Good Friday and leave them on the table for everyone to take home. Lately, the children have been making palm crosses in Sunday School, but I still continue to make mine.

Sometimes I give them to friends and neighbors and once, I sent them to my brothers and sisters, hoping they would be mailed before they dried out completely and were crushed to bits in the envelopes. The crosses twist and curl as they dry - you could dry them in a phone book or under a heavy weight to keep them flat, but I don't bother.

I made palm crosses this year. I was going out with friends and brought a couple of crosses for them. To my surprise, they gave me two crosses they had brought home from church. Theirs were folded the same way mine were, only the palms had been cut short before folding. Thus the crosses were uniform in size, and appropriately scaled to be worn as pins (a straight pin was stuck into each, for attaching to one's lapel).

This year's palm crosses were placed on the table in the vestibule. I hope they will be taken home. Last year they were left and later someone had laid them on tables and desks all over the church, apparently unwilling to throw them away.

If you would like to fold palm crosses and don't know how, here is a link that can show you. Leave your palms long as I do, or cut them short, about 6 - 8 inches long should do it. Split the palms to about 1/2 inch widths, or try folding a cross from an un-split leaf and enjoy the bulky cross that results. You can fold the long points into the middle, or leave them hanging long, or wind them around the cross piece and thread them through the final wrap. I make them all ways. They are all pretty and fun.

Happy Easter!

Quotable Quotes; in the category But I Spent All My Money On Jelly Beans And Marshmallow Chicks!

"Those have a short Lent, who owe money to be paid at Easter."
Benjamin Franklin

Happy Valentine's Day!

Or as I used to say in grade school, Valen-Times!

Over the past several years I have given Bill a hand made valentine to mark this occasion. Sometimes it's a paper confection adorned with ruffles and paper lace doilies, vintage illustrations and artistic embellishments. Other times it is a knitted, crocheted or tatted heart.

Patterns for new designs are getting harder and harder to find. In case you are inclined to create a unique handmade valentine for someone, here are links to a few of my favorites.

This is a darling chubby 3D heart in the Amigurumi style.

The instructions for this heart were a bit of a challenge to decipher, but the result is a charming granny-square style heart with a picot edging.

Here are instructions for a whimsical garland of hearts. Try making the hearts in multi-colors for use year-round.

I usually stuff the hearts with lavender to make sachets. Bill seems to like them. I know I enjoy making them, and I hope you do too.

Quotable Quotes; in the category What's Love Got To Do With It?

“From Jesse James to Loeb and Leopold, from the perpetrators of the St. Valentine's Day's massacre to the Lindbergh kidnapper and beyond, our celebrated delinquents have become a part of the national heritage.”

F. W. Dupree

Chicken Salad

My sis and I got into an email exchange about chicken salad (it started with Spam - don't ask me how). The emails and links she sent were so entertaining (at least to me)I decided to post them as a blog entry. Enjoy.

From sis:
All time favorite chicken salad EVER in the history of the world:

Chunks of cooked white meat chicken – don’t you dare shred it or mince it or let it turn to mush
Celery cut in small dice
Green or red grapes or both, sliced in half
Roasted salted pecans, some halves, some roughly chopped – note SALTED pecans
Best mayo you can find
Salt and pepper to taste

Proportions are up to you. Probably something like four parts chicken to one part celery to one – two parts grapes to one part pecans? Maybe?
Mix it all up together with enough mayo. Put it in a pretty bowl and garnish with pecan halves and some grapes.

The sweetest old Jewish lady in the world used to bring this to a writing class where we would do a potluck for the last class every semester. It’s excellent on crackers, divine on croissants, perfection in puff pastry shells, delicious as a salad on a plate with some sliced melon, berries, pineapple, lettuce and whatever, with maybe a dribble of poppy seed type dressing for the salad part. And unless you want mom to return from the grave and haunt you for the rest of your life, do not even think about putting anything remotely like an onion anywhere near it. Seriously, she’ll have a cow. I used to make this for her and she loved it, but she was positively militant about no onions in chicken salad. Ever.

And my reply:
Best Chicken Salad memories

1-ate with mom at (I think) Schraft's - that used to be in the Somerset Mall, not in a store, out in the mall. It later became that restaurant where Josh worked and we went after mom's memorial.

I think this was my formal intro to chix salad and mom talked about Schrafts and "lady lunch places".

(side note 6 huge Canada geese just flew by my window and something made them turn around and go the other direction - sun on their bellies).

2 - friend at work whose daughter got married - her girlfriends threw a shower. Entire menu consisted of
Mimosas
Chicken salad (chicken chunks, grapes, slivered almonds)
on mini croissants
bowl of beautiful fruit salad
cake
end of story.
most elegant shower EVER.

3 - with a friend at standard diner/cafe/coffee shop. A lunch special was a half cantaloupe filled (FILLED) with chicken salad.

It was very good chicken salad and in that moment I understood why women like this kind of food. It could turn me off burgers . . . maybe . . .

4 - Deli/diner that serves half sandwich and soup or salad. I order the chicken salad. One time they served it on Challah bread. I may convert.

mmmmmmmmmmm. . . . . . . chicken salad . . .

Sis countered with these links to a pic of ladies dining in Schraft's circa 1978, and a lovely remembrance of Schraft's just after midnight on an Easter Sunday. Lovely.

Now, go and make some chicken salad and be sure to make extra for me!

Quotable Quotes; in the category Which Came First?

"You can't set a hen in one morning and have chicken salad for lunch."
George M. Humphrey

Look At The Orange Marmalade!

Citrus fruits are at their best right now and as usual, I bought too much. Clementines from the grocery store, grapefruits from the place in Texas where I buy pears and cheese for the in-laws for Christmas, something called "Honeybells" from a place in Florida that runs a half price special in the women's magazines every few years. The result is citrus that I have to use NOW or else throw it away, which is something I hate to do.

So I decided to make marmalade.

I love to make marmalade and I love to eat it. Marmalade was something I hated as a kid (I think it's a rule that kids have to hate it) unless it was the generic Smucker's brand that had too much sugar. Marmalade is basically a way to use the whole citrus fruit (including seeds) to make something bitter and sticky to spread on toasted English muffins. As an adult, I love it.

I have made marmalade from grapefruit, from oranges, from the can of Seville oranges you can buy at Le Store Expensive, from the calamondon oranges I got from a little tree that I bought at the grocery store. Twice I got about 6 little oranges from this tree (before it died) - enough to make a jar or two of delicious marmalade. I've even made marmalade from kumquats (the BEST)! This time, I made marmalade from the clementines that were not going to be nice to eat in a few days. The resulting spread is quite tasty.

I am a casual gourmet. I start out with great intentions and slice the fruit as thin as possible. After a while, though, I get a little careless and my slices are less exact, a little chunky, a little misshapen, but I figure the fruit is going to cook for a long time and the rinds will be tender, if chunky, so it really doesn't matter (ask me about the first marmalade I ever made, which found its way to my dad, who loved it).

I have a recipe that I always use. I may look at other recipes but I always return to this one. Mostly because I don't even have to look at the recipe to remember exactly how to make it. It's so easy I can write it down from memory. Making marmalade may look like a lot of work (it's a three day process) but the actual hands on time is only a few minutes a day, once you have sliced and measured all the fruit.

You may wish to process the finished marmalade in sterilized canning jars. Or you may wish to simply put the finished jars into the fridge where it will keep for quite a long while. Either way, you'll have a superior home made product that will be delicious on your morning toast or especially good on a toasted English muffin. And be sure to try it on a toasted bagel with a little cream cheese.

My Favorite Marmalade Recipe

Citrus fruit (use any fruit or any combination of oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines, kumquats, Meyer lemons, Calamondons, etc).
Sugar and Water

Slice the fruit, peels and all, as thinly as possible. I usually cut it in half (quarters for the larger fruits) then slice across into thin strips. Place in a large measuring cup as you go and keep track of how much you have. Pull out the seeds and keep them on the side.

Place all the sliced fruit, pulp and juice, into a heavy pot at least twice as deep as the amount of fruit you have. You may place the seeds in a little bit of cheesecloth and tie it into a bundle and place that in the pot. Some recipes say the seeds add flavor and the cheesecloth makes it easy to retrieve them from the pot. They will be discarded later - or just trash them now if you don't want to bother.

Measure water equal to the amount of fruit you have and add it to the pot. Bring to a boil and boil about five minutes. Allow to cool, then cover the pot and place it in a cool place for 24 hours.

Next day, bring to a boil again and boil for 10 minutes. Again cool, cover and let stand in a cool place overnight.

Next day, measure the fruit again and add an equal amount of sugar (I usually skimp a bit on the sugar, adding maybe 3/4 cup sugar for each cup of fruit). Bring to a steady rolling boil and cook until it thickens and gels (or until it measures 220 f on a candy thermometer - 12 degrees above the boiling point of water).

Meanwhile, you will have washed your jars and lids and bands and kept the jars in hot water and simmered the lids and bands in a small saucepan of water, and prepared a canning kettle of water for processing.

Ladle the hot marmalade into the hot jars, wiping off the rim and topping with a lid and band. Place each jar in the canner and when the canner is full, process for 10 minutes, remove jars from the canner and allow to cool in a draft free place. Next day, check the seals and remove the bands. Your marmalade is suitable for gifting if you use a pretty jar and a fancy label.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Do You See What I See?

Q: What did the chick say when he saw an orange?
A: Look at the Orange Mama Laid!!!

Last time, I blogged about this picture and the black shoes. Now I am going to tell you about the coat.

Back in the day, this was popularly known as a "cotton candy coat". Do you remember them? They were very lightweight spring coats, always jacket length and always with wide sleeves and wide cuffs. They were made of an obnoxiously fluffy material not unlike the fleece we know and love today, but without any of the warmth and cuddle quality of today's fleece fabrics. Instead, this was scratchy and had no insulating quality. Not warm enough for cool spring days, too hot for warm spring days, the kind of garment that could only be worn one or two days in alternating years depending on the whims of the weather patterns.

All the girls wanted one.

We used to get boxes of "hand me downs" from friends of our parents. The dress I'm wearing in the picture was another hand me down, possibly from these very same people. They had a grown up adult daughter with the fabulous name of Kippy! Probably her name was really Katherine but who wouldn't rather be called Kippy?

Kippy was tiny, probably not much taller than five feet or so and probably no bigger than a size 6 (the equivalent of today's 2 or even 0). That's why we girls were able to wear her adult clothes, the simpler styles anyway. Mom probably had to hem some of them but at least we had something to wear, even if it might not fit just right or be a season or two out of style.

Kippy must have belonged to a country club or been married to a doctor or some other circumstance which required her to have expensive and glamorous clothes. We suspected her of shopping at Jacobson's in Detroit - not the more globally oriented Hudson's and certainly NOT Federal's or any of those department stores!

How else would she be able to pass down to us pink satin formals cut just like Jackie Kennedy's, or those amazing and wonderful clear acrylic see-through high heels? When we saw those in the box it was every dress-up girl for herself. Can you say Cinderella? And they fit ME!!!!! For a few weeks, anyway, until I had to admit defeat.

But that pink cotton candy coat was the creme de la creme! The magnum opus! The Piece de resistance! Too small for my older sister, too girlish for my mom, it could only be meant for me, and for one glorious spring I got to wear it. So it was a season or two past its prime, who didn't keep a coat and wear it for another year? (Look closely at the picture and you'll see it was too big - but wait another year? Not when I had a genuine fashion item within my grasp! A lifetime of hand me downs and catholic school uniforms made me hungry for any fad or fashion and I was not going to let this one pass me by!

Sadly, the coat came to an unfortunate end. A classmate, who shall remain nameless, fell under the spell of the "popular girls". You probably already know I was not nor was I ever to be a "popular girl". Not then. Not ever.

Funny thing was, this girl and I were friends. We were in scouts together. I went over to her house after school. We played together on the playground at recess (schools still had recess in those days).

But for some reason, the popular girls decided to cause some mischief. Probably they made up some story about something I had said about her or some such thing. Who knows really, all I remember is that suddenly and without any apparent reason, she and I were no longer friends.

One day, open warfare erupted on the playground. I cannot tell you how it started because I have forgotten, if I ever knew. All I know is that suddenly the popular girls were yelling at her to "get her" (meaning me) and then she was chasing me around the playground and throwing an orange from her lunch at me. Of course, I ran.

Although she missed, orange juice found its mark on the fluffy non-washable coat. And then she caught me. She ground both halves of that cut orange deep into the fabric of the back of my coat. Without even looking I knew the coat was ruined. And there was no chance there would ever be another. Even had my mother been willing to buy one, they were out of date and no longer available for sale.

Like air escaping from an popped balloon, like a dream fading in the waking moments of morning, like a gull wheeling on the horizon - - - okay, let's reel it in a little - the point is, that was the end of that fabulous episode in my life. Ground into a sticky, pulpy mess of orange and acrylic fiber. Gone, never to be recovered.

This was just one in a series of childhood disappointments - like the favorite nightgown, outgrown and worn to a tatter, the toy elephant that disappeared mysteriously (probably right at the time my mother decided I was ready to outgrow it), and countless other disappointments, I would get over it. I did get over it. Until a picture from the past arrived in the mail to remind me.

Quotable Quotes; in the category I Guess I Don't Have Either . . .

"Fashions fade, style is eternal."

Yves Saint Laurent

Free Food!

If you have never made soup from your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey bones, you owe it to yourself to do it. I am an advocate of free food and when it is easy and delicious too, all the better.

The first time I saw this miracle was the year we had Thanksgiving dinner with a friend. As soon as we finished eating and had relaxed briefly, we cleared the table. She went into action, tearing all the meat off the bones and tossing the bones (along with any bits of fat or skin) into a large soup pot. Scrapings left in the roasting pan that did not make it into the gravy went in too, along with any juices from cooking the giblets or from the carving platter.

This was turned on to simmer for hours and eventually became a delicious turkey soup. I have been a convert ever since. One of the best soups I ever made was from the carcass of a turkey cooked on the grill and begged from the hostess, who was going to throw it away, from another Thanksgiving with friends. I have even brought home the carcass from Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws for making soup without having first made a turkey. Free food!

I now make soup stock from any kind of bones including those from beef or pork roasts and chicken bones - either from chicken cooked at home or fried chicken from the take out place. Sometimes I save them in the freezer until I have a large potful, sometimes I just cook up what I have and then I have enough stock to make gravy or a sauce. Here is how I do it.

After removing all the meat from the bones, toss the bones into your largest pot (break some of them to fit, if you have to, with a meat cleaver or a meat tenderizer hammer). Also add any bits of fat or skin and scrape any juices or drippings from the pan or the platter. I also add things like onion skins and peelings from the scrubbed vegetables I might have cooked with the meal - anything except those from the cabbage family like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, which will give the stock a strong, unpleasant flavor. The vegetable trimmings - everything from onion skins to carrot scrapings to celery trimmings - will add flavor and color to the stock.

Cover the stuff in the pot with water to cover, even filling it to within an inch of the brim. Add a few bay leaves and several pepper corns and turn the heat on to low. Allow the stock to simmer at the very lowest heat, hardly even shimmering. This will ensure a clear stock. Heavier boiling will cause it to be darker and cloudy. The low simmer extracts all the flavor and goodness from the bones. Allow it to cook several hours or all day long but leave enough time to cool it and to discard the bones and strain the stock.

Strain through cheesecloth lined colander for the clearest stock, and portion into tall narrow containers. The kind that Chinese take-out soup comes in. This allows the fat to congeal in a thicker layer that is easily removed. Chill the stock overnight in the fridge. If you plan to freeze it, remove the fat first. Otherwise, leave the fat layer on until you use the stock for soup or sauces.

I also save the fat for cooking things like hash brown, turkey hash or fried potatoes. It adds flavor and it's free! The stock and the fat will keep a day or two in the fridge and much longer in the freezer.

To make gravy, heat a couple tablespoons of the fat (or butter or olive oil) with an equal amount of flour over medium low heat. Cook, stirring with a whisk, for a minute or so. Add a cup or so of your stock, stirring with the whisk to avoid any lumps. Continue whisking and cooking until the gravy thickens and boils. Season with a little salt and pepper and dried herbs. You can also add a little milk for cream for a "country" gravy to serve over noodles, mashed potatoes or biscuits.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Talk Is Cheap!

"I live on good soup, not on fine words."

Moliere

O I Love Hash!

Anyone who watched Sesame Street In the early days (1970s PBS) will remember that each character had their own song - Kermit and "Being Green", Ernie and "Rubber Duckie" and the curmudgeonly Oscar The Grouch and "I Love Trash". To paraphrase Oscar, I Love Hash!

You can make hash out of anything - corned beef, roast beef, roast pork, ham, turkey, chicken or just vegetables even. Hash is a great way to use up leftover ingredients and have something warm and comforting to sustain you.

My mom used to make hash from the leftover roast beef that was too small to become a French dip sandwich (if there was not enough for hash, it went into a pot of soup). When mom made corned beef hash it was always for breakfast and always from a can. Roast beef hash was supper. I am not sure if dad liked or hated roast beef hash - he had a penchant for meat and potatoes but generally in their own separate and distinct places on the plate, not all mixed together, and he detested anything he called "slop".

We never had, for instance, creamed chipped beef on toast or chicken ala king - dishes my husband grew up on, loved, and craves even to this day. Unfortunately, I did not learn how to make these so they are not a part of my culinary repertoire. Consequently, he only gets them on rare occasions or when we eat at this mothers house. And since she does not generally cook this way any more, those occasions are becoming rarer and, I hope, more special.

But it seems to me roast beef and less often, turkey hash, were not so rare at home. We had roast beef quite often. Of course, it was bought on special, and keep in mind there was a lot of food in a good sized roast. Dinner for the family with leftovers for sandwiches, hash and soup at subsequent meals.

One of the best hash dishes I had was ham hash at a diner. Chunks of ham carved from the bone, potatoes and onions, crisped in the skillet or on the grill and served with the requisite ketchup. Delicious.

I make hash from anything, even leftover lunch meat. The routine is pretty much the same. Dice an onion and toss it in the pan with a little butter, olive oil or bacon grease if you have any. Dice up the leftover potatoes and other vegetables, or a raw potato if there are no leftovers. Finally, dice up the leftover meat and toss it in at the end to finish and heat through. Serve with or without a poached egg and toast and don't forget the ketchup.

If I am using a raw potato I will add it soon after the onion and cover the pan, giving it a stir every few minutes, and letting it cook about 15 minutes until the potato is cooked through. A leftover potato requires just enough time to get it hot and a little crispy before adding the meat.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and a little crushed red pepper flakes, if you like it spicy. A dash of Worcestershire or Tabasco is a good thing.

Enjoy your hash and know that meals like this can feed your soul as well as your tummy. Lets see if I can add a verse to Oscar's song - sing along with me!

I have an old skillet of leftover meat,
potatoes and onions that cannot be beat.
I'll cook it all up over plenty of heat.
I love it because it's hash!

Quotable Quotes; in the category But Gimme The Good Stuff!

"There is nothing worse for the health, or for the palate, than a poor hash, while a good hash is not only a favorite dish in most families, but an essential article of economy and convenience."

Catharine E. Beecher
'Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt-Book' (1846)

But What About Those Shoes?

I received this picture in the mail a few weeks ago. It was sent by a friend, tucked into a Christmas card even though it was September. On the envelope, with an arrow pointing to the picture of the shepherds, was written "not yet" and in the card was a message that she was packing to move and this was the only thing she could find in which to mail the picture.

If you go to my sister's blog, you will see the companion picture to this one. Mary is standing in profile, probably to show off the huge bow (no doubt the precursor to the 1980s butt-bow bridal gown). I hope you will agree that these photos epitomize the beauty and innocence of a major childhood event. As Mary said, "Jesus clearly loved us that day, you can tell because our socks aren’t all scrunched down in our shoes like they are in every single other picture that was ever taken of us."

Mary looks beautiful and innocent, as she should. I look like I am about to skin my knee. I think this is the only picture of me as a kid without a band-aid on my leg.

The picture was taken years and years ago in front of the friend's house, maybe by her mom or her dad. The occasion was my sister's first communion. Big sister like, I have my arm around her - either through a protective urge or, more likely, because the photographer told me to!

Click on the picture and enlarge it. I want you to see the beatific expressions on our faces. And the fact that our socks are not all scrunched and falling down. And the fact that I am wearing black shoes.

They are probably not the same shoes I wore for my own first communion two years earlier. As I recall my feet grew rapidly and a few years after this picture was taken I was probably wearing my mom's shoes.

I did wear black shoes at my first communion (see how I make this all about me?) and I suffered because of it. One of my darling little classmates had told me that my black shoes were a sign that my soul was not pure. Of course, I accepted this as gospel. Even though my mother told me my classmate was wrong, I still walked up the communion aisle with a wormy feeling in my tummy, hoping God could not see my black shoes. Luckily they were not black patent leather - that would have been a whole other ball of wax.

Take a good look at the picture. I'll tell you about that coat another time!

Quotable Quotes; in the category This Is What I Should Have Told Her!

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”
Mark Twain

Patches

Once again, the recent postings about Chris have resurrected yet another memory - patchwork quilts.

Sometime around fourth grade, Chris and her sisters invited friends over to her grandmother's house in Ferndale after school for quilting "bees". We would learn to piece patchwork quilts, have an after school snack and a good time, and make new friends.

Actually, the most fun was hearing Chris' grandmother ream out one of the girls for cutting her material in mid-air instead of laying it down on the table. She cut crooked and wasted fabric. A big no-no in the thrift centered world of patchwork quilts.

Chris' grandmother would pick us up in her car (a sedan, not the requisite station wagon that everybody else drove) and drive us to her house. Down to the basement we went to learn to draw and cut out our four-inch-square cardboard template; how to trace it onto fabric (placing it just so to get the greatest benefit from the design of the material and making sure not to waste any); how to stitch the patches together to create our four patch design (Cathy was making a nine-patch - a more advanced pattern that we novices were not yet ready to tackle).

There was some kind of snack of the cookies-and-juice variety and probably some form of gossip, although in the 1960s fourth graders were a bit less worldly than they seem today and we probably did not have a whole lot to gossip about. What was happening at the next Girl Scout meeting, who had a new pair of shoes, who had seen Sister Mary Cool Nun at the dime store the previous Saturday. Still, it made for an enjoyable afternoon, and there was the excitement of the ride home and the beautiful scraps of fabric from somebody else's scrap bag to tide us over until next week.

I don't think many of us ever finished a quilt. I know Chris has made countless quilts and her sister Cathy did as well. At least, I'm sure she finished the nine-patch, I'm not sure about any further progress.

I have made exactly five quilts in my lifetime, including the four-patch I started that year. I first sewed the whole thing together, but later learned that if I pieced out my meager stash of quilt blocks with solid fabric blocks, I would not only have enough for a bed size coverlet, I would have a more interesting design as well. I think I took it apart and finally put it together when I was around 18 years old - a mere nine years after its genesis.

That original quilt lived on my bed for years and went with me to Chicago when I married. Eventually, the backing fell apart and the stuffing disintegrated. I did not replace it but instead cut down an old blanket for a new lining, and added a new backing of fabric that I had purchased for another purpose, then decided I did not like. When that second generation also went the way of all quilts, the remainder became a sort of slip cover for the couch, then for the front porch glider and eventually a sort of de facto picnic blanket. I think we last used it as a moving pad some 14 years ago.

If you want to make a similar quilt, cut a pattern of stiff card four inches square. Using this pattern, cut two patches from solid color fabric, and two more from a coordinating or contrasting print. Mix and match your fabrics for the most whimsical look.

Sew a solid and a print square together with a 1/4 inch seam by hand or by machine. Repeat with the other two patches. Now sew these two together, flipping them so that the two solid squares are next to the two two print squares, with all four corners meeting in the center. Your finished block will be about seven inches square.

Once you have a supply of these "blocks" you can lay them out on the floor with space in between. Twist and turn them and move them around until you like the arrangement. Now, buy some material to coordinate or contrast with your quilt blocks. Chris usually favored small gingham check, the one with the 1/4 inch square checks. This fabric comes in many primary and pastel colors and makes a good background for your quilt.

Cut squares from the gingham the same size as your finished quilt blocks. You will need at least as many as you have pieced blocks. Once again, lay them out alternating the plain and the pieced blocks. Begin sewing the blocks together in strips, then sew the strips together until you have one solid piece. This is your quilt top.

Measure the top and purchase sufficient material for the back. Most material comes 44 inches wide. Your quilt top will be wider. You can sew a seam down the center, but it will look better if you have one 44 inch wide piece down the center, and cut another length of fabric in half, sewing the narrower pieces to each side of the center strip to make your quilt backing. The backing and the top must be the same size.

You will also need a quilt batt. These are sold in standard sizes for single or double beds. You may have to fudge a bit to get your quilt top and your batting the same size. If you trim the batting, you can use leftovers to make pillows, mini quilts, or for other craft projects.

Lay the backing down on the floor, face down. Lay the batting on top of this, then lay the top over all, face up. Line up all the edges and safety pin the whole thing together, all over. There should be a pin every 4 or 6 inches or so. You will need a lot of pins.

Now, thread a heavy darning needle with a length of knitting yarn or embroidery floss. You will want to use this doubled. In the center of every pieced block, where the four points come together, you want to take a double stitch with the needle. The needle goes in one corner and comes out another, then goes in and out the other two corners. Keep your stitches close. Leave a tail of yarn and tie in a double knot. Snip the yarn, leaving tails about 1 - 1/2 inches long.

Repeat this in the center of every pieced block and in the center of every plain block. Repeat also at the corner of every plain block. Eventually, you will have knots all over the quilt about 3 - 1/2 inches apart. This holds the whole thing together.

To be fair, this type of quilt is often called a knotted coverlet to differentiate from a quilt which has been quilted all over with millions of tiny, tiny stitches. I have a quilt I have been working on for 31 years - a wedding gift to my husband, Bill. The pattern is called "Nelson's Victory" and resembles a series of naval flags. It is named for Lord Nelson's battleship, The Victory. It was originally knotted, then I decide to quilt it about 15 years ago. So far, I have not been victorious.

To bind the edges, you can buy quilt binding or make it from strips of leftover fabric. Or you can simply fold the back of the quilt up over the top of the quilt and hem this down, using stout thread and firm stitches. Be sure to leave your backing a few inches larger than the top to allow extra for the hems.

Your quilt is finished, ready to place on the bed or on the wall, or folded over one of those cute little quilt racks at the foot of the bed. Be sure to make a label to sew on the back of your quilt. Or just embroider your name, the date, and the name of the person the quilt was made for on the back. This is important - it gives your quilt "provenance" so that when it shows up on Antiques Roadshow in a few years, they will know it is incredibly valuable and will appraise it for thousands of dollars.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Couldn't I Just Have Some Lemonade?

“When life gives you scraps make quilts” Anonymous

SPAM!

For some reason Mary and I were talking about spam. Probably because the spam blocker on my email has a "spam of the day" recipe. Unfortunately, they are pretty bad recipes and they recycle often - there are probably only about six or seven different recipes - but it's fun to mock them and it brings us together. What can I say.

Just to scare you, you can google many recipes for spam sushi, among others, and lots has been written about the peoples of the world who favor the taste of spam for reasons I will not divulge here. Spam was never a regular at our house. Either it was too expensive or my dad did not like it - seemingly the most common reasons food was or was not purchased by my family. But once in awhile we got to have a taste of it, and Chris often had a spam sandwich in her school lunch. IMHO, spam is nearly inedible unless heated in a skillet or, better, over a charcoal grill or campfire.

Years and years ago, I went camping with Chris and her dad. I think one of her younger sisters came too. It was the most amazing camping trip I've ever been on. Understand that we went camping every summer as a family from the time I was a toddler until I was almost through high school. Dad brought everything including the kitchen sink. A veteran scoutmaster, he was skilled at turning a campsite into a three bedroom suite complete with kitchen, dining room, lounge, and all without electricity or an RV.

On the trip with Chris, we brought next to nothing. A tent for the girls to sleep in, a little grill to put over the fire to cook on, a large spoon, fork, knife and can opener. Instead of a giant cooler and cabinets full of food, Chris' dad brought a grocery bag of goodies. He was amazing. He urged us to drink a whole can of Hi-C right off the bat so we would have a large "pot" to cook in and, later, to wash up the few utensils.

He placed an open can of Dinty Moore beef stew right on the fire grate to heat up, configuring an ingenious method of turning the hot can with the tongs and serving up with the big spoon. Did I mention there were potato chips and Hydrox cookies, delicacies unknown in my world? I told you everything was better at Chris' house.

Chris' dad slept in the car. To stay cool and keep out the bugs, he rigged some kind of mosquito netting into the windows and slept on the back seat of the station wagon (everyone we knew drove a station wagon in the 1960s. That was the law, I guess).

For breakfast the next morning, we had grilled spam sandwiches. The spam was sliced and laid on the grill to brown. Hot dog buns were set there too, to toast. We spread them with mustard and ate them just like that. The most succulent breakfast I ever had the pleasure of eating.

I thought Chris' dad was awesome, and I was floored that he was able to camp, have a great time and get everything done with the barest minimum of fuss, equipment and (need I mention) clean up! It was only years later, when I mentioned this trip-of-a-lifetime to Chris, that she exclaimed that it was the most horrible trip ever because her dad forgot to bring any of the camping gear.

Once again I was stunned. But I learned that not only beauty, but most things, are truly in the eye of the beholder!

Quotable Quotes; in the category I Know It's The Obvious Choice, But This Was All I Could Find

"Shut up! Bloody Vikings! You can't have egg bacon spam and sausage without the spam." Monty Python's Flying Circus - the Spam Skit

Autumn Annual

Last year around this time we went to the Hesston Steam Museum, as we do every year, to ride the steam trains and enjoy the fall weather (there was none) the apple cider (there was none) and Joe Jackson's Fruit Stand (there was none).

The weather was in the 80s. Not bad in and of itself but not appropriate for a "crisp, fall day".

The cider shed was closed. It was closed the year before, too. There are other places to get cider but unfortunately the only cider you can get around here has been pasteurized AND costs about $5 a half gallon.

The cider shed presses the cider on the spot, charges $2.50 a gallon (maybe it's $3) and the cider is guaranteed to get "hard" in a couple days. Anybody who knows their cider knows that that's the whole point.

Joe Jackson's moved sometime in the past couple years. On the old site they are building a condo development called "The Cornerstone". Joe Jackson's was the farm market in New Buffalo, MI, that carried produce from local farmers. Apples, melons, squash, onions, potatoes, just about anything you could want. Louise was good for at least an hour, comparing the relative merits of carnival squash against delicata, ambercup against acorn, and did she need three bags of apples or four?

That's all in the past. The new Joe Jackson's is just not the same. It's farther up the road, well away from traffic and the parking lot has lost its chaotic dodge-em-cars charm.

We go to Hesston every year at this time. Several years ago we celebrated our 25th anniversary there with train rides, stops at the apple barn and the sausage shop, and dinner at Hannah's in New Buffalo. It was a great party.

Last year, only Bill's folks made the trip to join us. What the party lacked in numbers it made up for in grim humor. We rode the "ghost train" and took delight in making sure the wussy kids in our car were genuinely scared by the lame witches, ghosts, goblins and silly "scary" story told by the conductor as we chugged along.

But the creepy guy with the chain saw - - - THAT scared the kids, even the ones that were too big and too cool to be scared by ghost stories. I guess there's something about crackly autumn leaves and the smell of burning coal, the chug, smoke and hiss of a vintage steam locomotive, that really sets the mood for an insane lumberjack to emerge from an abandoned sawmill, chain saw growling, as he rushes at the passing train. I think some of the littler kids had to change their costumes before trick-or-treat.

We did not make it to Hesston this year. Beth asked me about it. Our friends were not able to go and Bill and I did not have the heart to go alone. As more of the "attractions" disappear, the disappointment increases. Maybe we'll have to find a new autumn destination - or maybe a year off will put new allure into the outing. We'll let you know next year whether we resume the annual tradition. Maybe you can join us.

Quotable Quotes; in the category Well That's The Way I Remember It!

"It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life." P.D. James