Category Archives: Education

Liverwurst and Buttermilk… and Grapes

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

Isn’t that what Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney had at that lovely Vermont inn, home of the General? Danny Kaye did “choreography” and Bing sang his most illustrious holiday song…..

I want a sappy Christmas movie! Or at least a song on the car radio that makes me break down in tears and be thankful for all my blessings. My blog has snow (must have initiated itself because somehow I asked for it last year). It’s pleasant but the real stuff is falling and Jim’s car spun out this morning and I tried like heck to have him switch cars and take my AWD with brand new snow tires down the mountain. He made it there and back, thank goodness. There’s something to be thankful for.

Yesterday, two of Jim’s colleagues and their children came over for lunch and video games (Star Wars). She brought a nice bottle of Chianti and five pounds of black, seedless grapes of variety I’m unfamiliar. They look like Concords but are twice the size and oblong. She must have read my blog about the grapes!

So, we can’t eat them all and I’m thinking of a grape pie from the new cookbook my grade school music teacher just sent me, or a grape crumble I found from the grape growers’ website, and perhaps schiacciata con a’l uva, a grape pizza of sorts.

Thanksgiving is not the only time to be thankful. I’m thankful to have my dear husband, and to know that most of my family is alive and speaking to one another. Jim’s family is doing well with some losses this year and more babies we didn’t get to meet on turkey day. And every day we’re alive and living in a winter wonderland is precious and should be cherished. With All Wheel Drive. And snow tires.

The coolest thing is that six-year old Michael, upon exiting our home yesterday, said “We’ll be back tomorrow!” So I guess we have to be thankful that we’re not old fuddie-duddies like we thought we were.

Hope you’re enjoying the holiday season and not stressing too much. Cheers! Dee

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Easiest Thanksgiving Soup

Posted on November 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

We were committed to going out for lunch Thanksgiving day and the only restaurant open offered one solution, the family Thanksgiving meal. We brought back the leftovers, a few breast slices and about 1/4 cup of ham. Yesterday I cut up carrots, onions and celery and poured in a quart of chicken stock. Later I added some water and too much stellini (star-shaped pasta). I tried it and it needed salt. Then Jim was resting upstairs so after cooling the pot of soup in ice water several times I anchored a gallon bag in a large measuring bowl to chill/freeze it, it collapsed and I had broth and carrots all over the counter.

Jim didn’t come down to help because he’d spilled his water upstairs and was mopping up as well. All turned out for a family-less Thanksgiving weekend. Perhaps we’re supposed to have our disasters at other people’s homes. No, that doesn’t happen elsewhere, only at home!

As for my easy Thanksgiving soup, I’ll bring it to the boil again, add some fresh herbs and chicken stock, and perhaps a can of drained and rinsed cannellini beans. That could be dinner, with a nice loaf of French bread. Dinner for me. Jim wants meat and potatoes. Hope you enjoyed a long weekend with family and are home and recuperating from your vacation! Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education

Law of Diminishing Culinary Returns

Posted on October 30, 2009 | 2 comments

Chowhound has an interesting piece this week on a subject dear to my heart. I recall making a complicated meat sauce, boiling noodles and basically spending four hours to turn out a lasagne for my husband and I. I asked how he liked it and he said it was “OK.” Now I make the ten-minute version and he likes it just fine. After the four-hour lasagne, I made chicken breasts sauteed and finished with lemon and capers and the result? “Wow! That’s the best chicken I’ve ever had!”

The most time consuming meals I’ve ever made include a cassoulet I made for my family over 20 years ago (now they have a kit with the appropriate sausage, duck, duck fat et al) and an entire side of salmon covered with scallop mousse and topped with 1/2 rounds of zucchini to look like scales. Plus deep-fried parsley as a garnish. That was for graduation from cooking school for my family, godparents and my cousins.

I now buy mainly local ingredients, the best I can find, and don’t mess with them. Local organic butter, good olive oil, local produce. Pop things into the oven or onto a hot grill and they’re delicious. We just bought an inexpensive patio grill so plan to use it even with snow on the ground! Simple things like grilled radicchio (tossed with salt and pepper and a little olive oil) taste fantastic when browned a bit on the grill.

We mainly use healthy ingredients, OK too much beef but that’s Jim’s preference, not mine. I’d have more fish if he weren’t allergic to anything that swims. We splurge on occasion and have scalloped potatoes with half-and-half, or buy a pint of chocolate ice cream (I add milk and a banana and make a milkshake for breakfast).

The holidays will be interesting this year. Jim can’t take any time off from Sunday until Christmas so we won’t get to Thanksgiving at Nanny’s, my first in eight years to miss and the first Jim will miss in his entire life. I may actually have to cook a turkey! We’re talking leftover soup and sandwiches for two weeks! I’ll need to work on that menu and figure out if I can get him to like Brussels sprouts. Cheers! Dee

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What’s Important in Life

Posted on October 25, 2009 | 1 comment

Someone to talk to. A best friend, so you don’t go astray.

If you’re lucky the person above is your significant other.

A loving and cohesive family, whatever the combination of that family.

A job that you love, or at least like.

Things you like to do together (lunch, movies, cooking, bowling, whatever)

Wanting to live life and learn at least one new thing every day.

That’s my version, what’s yours? Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education

Concord Grape Lady

Posted on October 21, 2009 | 2 comments

A few days ago I found the company with the mountain goat logo, a local company that sells mountain gear. I spent some time researching one jacket that I needed to complete my winter repertoire. I still need one pair of silk-lined leather gloves to drive in, and wish I could go to Florence to that wonderful glove shop…. but will have to go down the mountain to a department store to find a pair that fits.

So, in honor of the Concord grape, that has spurred thousands of hits on this site, I bought a purple jacket for half the price, last one they had in the store, goose down with 800 fill power. It weighs ounces but is very warm. So, as part of my winter gear, I’ll be walking around like a large Concord grape! Thank you, Chautauqua County, for entering and staying in my heart since I was three years old. Thanks to the Assemblyman I helped elect 25 years ago for being willing to introduce me to the local grape folks to link to this site.

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The purple jacket is the piece de resistance. The blue jacket I got in Scotland three years ago and will serve as a windbreaker and rain/snow shell with hood. The Pippi hat is a gift from fellow WP blogger pdxknitterati. I’ve polartec gloves and just bought some Hunter boots, bright yellow, for heavy snow and rain. Photos of those later, don’t want to awaken Jim right now.

Now you know how to find me walking down the street! This week I’m working on two trifles. One the berry that I made once for family, and I’m making up another with a cranberry/orange theme.

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Both are for Jim’s folks at work. It’s always good to have a challenge and use my imagination and talent to create food that people enjoy. Cheers, Dee

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Music

Posted on October 14, 2009 | 4 comments

Why take up something at age 50 that I quit at age 12? Why quit a career and spend my life savings on cooking school. I’ve done both.

Yes, I wonder why. Cooking is a no-brainer. I love sitting at table and having conversations with family and friends. I enjoy being the “mom” who takes in “orphans” for Christmas dinner. I love reading and collecting cookbooks and using that knowledge to be a comfort to others. While I was trained in classic French cuisine, I tend to do more Mediterranean foods of Italy, southern France, and Greece. Fresh, great ingredients and don’t mess with them too much.

It’s not that I’ve become the Julia Child or Hubert Keller of the kitchen, of that I’m certain, but I’m confident there as long as the only dessert is ice cream with raspberry coulis or a trifle.

Music is different and I’ve been having a hard time of it the past few months as I took up acoustic guitar. It’s unfamiliar territory and while I have a good ear, according to Dad, guitar is different. One friend, PDXKnitterati (see blog list) asked whether I wanted to play the guitar to play the guitar, or to play the guitar to sing. My new teacher told me my left hand is my band, the right hand is my rhythm section and that I’m the vocalist.

This week I’ve thought a lot about it as I figure out a couple of key songs. I don’t want to just play the guitar or piano. I want to tell a story. It’s all about the lyrics when it comes to rock/pop/country/folk music. It would be great if I learned to write my own songs, but for now there are much better people out there to learn from. Just as in cooking. It’s a joy just to learn (not to practice, sorry K).

It got to the point that I hear songs in my head (even in my dreams) and want to learn to play them. Not for an audience, OK maybe Jim and Zoe, the dog. I have to thank several people for promoting an interest in music: my father (and his father, who died shortly before I was born); all my music teachers in grade school, middle school and high school; singer/songwriter Juni Fisher (www.junifisher.net); Douglas and Korky; and my husband Jim who plays the keyboard every morning before work, mostly doorbell sounds that irritate the dog.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep cooking. Perhaps next week when the weather turns cooler I’ll try a cassoulet. Check out cassoulet on WordPress.com and you’ll find I’m top dog there. Oh, the writing will continue as well. Cheers! Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education

Food Delivery

Posted on October 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

I’m in a quandary about our food delivery service. Normally I get milk, OJ and fresh-squeezed apple juice delivered every week, plus eggs, bread and usually wonderful applewood-smoked bacon and a couple of frozen rib-eyes.

They charge $1.50 per milk bottle, which we rinse and return per instructions. We have never gotten a credit for a returned bottle and keep getting charged a fee every week. The milk has started going bad much sooner than the other organic milks we can get at the grocery or Whole Foods. We tried out a new grill this week and our ribeyes were cooked to perfection but were tough. So I cut out milk and steaks from this week’s order. It means I’ll have to tote more stuff home from the store, so be it. I gave them a second chance with the $20 organic food surprise box so we’ll see what that brings tomorrow morning.

First I was awash in fruits and vegetables and was giving things away, while other items went bad. Since that’s not a responsible way to use food, I’m making changes and may cancel this service altogether. Remember, winter is on its way and it might be a godsend to have essentials on the doorstep every Wednesday morning! We’ll see. It’s a great service to have. Cheers, Dee

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Posted in Editorial, Education, Utah

New Grill

Posted on October 12, 2009 | Leave a comment

We’ve been working off a small gas grill that came with the place for six months now, and it uses micro propane cartridges that cannot be refilled. So yesterday we headed out to buy a real grill with a small footprint. I’d have a larger grill that was more versatile for indirect grilling or smoking but we have very little space so chose a Char-Broil “Patio Caddy.”

We tried it out last night, and it took my Jim an hour to assemble. Our steak was cooked perfectly but was tough, must be the meat. Tonight I think I’m making Julia Child’s French Onion Soup. All I need is some French bread for croutons, and Gruyere cheese.

Trifle will also be on the menu tomorrow, a gift for others but I’ll make a mini-one for us. If you have any ideas as to what to give a group of strangers for a food-related gift, let me know. I picked berry trifle and as the fates would have it, my trifle bowl is in storage 1,500 miles away so first thing, I have to buy another. I don’t bake. Remember that. Cheers, Dee

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Concord Grape Season

Posted on October 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

By the number of hits I see on my blog every day about how to eat a Concord grape, I know there is interest in the product, which is good for grape growers and everyone else employed in making most of these gorgeous clusters into juice.

For those who get to eat one bunch (legally) off the vine it is a treasure and one I appreciated as a kid but not to the extent I do now. I’m thrilled that you want to know this stuff, how to eat a Concord grape is my most-read blog entry. We had a private tour of a Portland NY farm and Jim’s Dad, a rancher and former dairy farmer for 30 years, enjoyed seeing the operation first-hand.

Growers are invited to write in with recipes for people driving through Chautauqua County who can’t possibly eat all the grapes they bought at the farmers’ market. As for me, I miss it. Watching the grapes grow and going to pick blueberries at the farm up the hill was fantastic. Part of it is being a kid and taking off my shoes after the snow was gone and going barefoot for the summer, climbing cliffs, catching crayfish and playing with the local kids along the creek where I want my ashes to be buried, if the then-current owners consent.

The other part is what living next door to a farm we learned a bit about the land and all our neighbors were in FFA (Future Farmers of America) and we were Girl Scouts. No, we never had a heifer, only a dog that we had to give to a farmer when we moved. My dad tried to tame the land, to no avail. I’d love to buy it back to retire on but that’s years away.

As for taste memories, grapes, cherries, blueberries and baby strawberries come to mind. It was a short growing season but farmers made good use of the time they had and grew mainly apples and grapes. Grape season back home now means snow season here. I just looked out the window and the snow is coming down, and sticking, hopefully not to the roads yet. Jim may forget that when I grew up back east I shoveled regularly but never had to deal with snow tires or chains as I was too young to drive. Our weekends were full of chores, nonetheless. Hope you’re having a quiet evening before settling in for another week. Cheers, Dee.

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Salsa and Fajitas

Posted on September 19, 2009 | 1 comment

I made a tremendous salsa, enough to go out to Wal-Mart and find two ice cube trays for $1.88 for the remainder to freeze thoroughly then put in sealed bags to take out when needed. The recipe comes from Epicurious, look for the the steak with tomatillos two ways and the first way is it.

I used it on some ribeyes, then made chicken fajitas tonight and used up some more before freezing it. I don’t know if I can send you the link. Epicurious is picky about what it allows one to do. I once wrote them a paper letter asking for an 18 year old recipe and they said no.

It’s Saturday night shortly before 8:00 and Jim has just gone to bed. He’s been working late nights. Today didn’t help. We went all the way downtown (25 miles) to get the “check engine light” reset and got an oil change then left and within five minutes the car was overheating. We brought it back and it behaved but started up on the way up the mountain, plus he said he had no time to fix his mistake today. I taught Jim my old Honda trick of shutting the A/C off, blasting the heat and keeping the windows open and he kept the tachometer at 2,000 rpm all the way up, frustrating cars and semis alike. He’ll take my car in Monday and on Tuesday morning I’ll follow him in and drop him off at work. It’s not a fun way to spend a Saturday!

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better and we can relax a bit. Zoe (the dog) never lets me sleep in, though she did this morning until nearly 8:00. Bless her little heart. These fajitas are still perfuming the place so I may open the top slider for a while but not the bottom one as it’s slit and I just heard a news report that the “hobo spiders” are trying to work their way inside against the cold. If one gets bitten, at the very least a doctor’s visit is needed. Some cases are worse with skin necrosis and even death. No-one told me about this stuff. I thought “mud season” was bad!

The stoat was back for a day (Zoe and Jim saw it) but I’ve seen the baby Greater Sandhill Crane practice its flying for three days in a row! I’ve trained myself to just look for motion on the preserve. It might be ducks, geese, cranes, coyotes or elk or moose. One just has to keep an eye out while washing dishes or folding the laundry. No photos, sorry. By the time I get topside and grab the binoculars it’s too late so I must live in the moment and just tell you how gorgeous it is up in the mountains.

Remember that when I complain about blizzards and ice! Thanks, hope you’re having a great weekend. Cheers, Dee

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