Thanksgiving 2010

I still find myself thinking a lot about how much the holidays have changed for me over the last few years; the loss of Dad with whom I spent 41 Thanksgivings and Christmases; the loss of the family home where many of those Thanksgivings and most of those Christmases were spent. I have a new understanding of being thankful for being able to spend this Thanksgiving with Mom and Dale. Sadly, the shadings of this newer understanding are colored by the loss of my father.

In 2005 Dale and I started the tradition of cooking the turkey and cranberry sauce here at 4309 and then bringing it to Mom and Dad's. For Thanksgiving 2006, the Thanksgiving just before Dad died, we did the same thing. Dale, Mom and I celebrated Thanksgiving 2007 on Stevens Ave at Mom and Dad's house. Sadly, Dad was not with us. In 2008 we brought the turkey over over to Becky's house to celebrate with her and the boys as Sam was in Iraq. In 2009, Sam, Becky, and the boys were in Leavenworth, so we did the whole meal for the first time at our house with Mom joining us. With the just the three of us it was quite different than the Thanksgivings I remember at Grandma Lex's house in Two Harbors with 20 or so people but still just as fun and quite cozy at that!

That brings us to 2010. It'll be the three of us again. I got up this morning and had coffee while reading the holiday issue of Martha Stewart living (my own little Thanksgiving tradition). I watched a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC but decided to turn in off when they brought the U.S. Pizza Team onto Rockefeller Plaza to toss pizza dough in the air. At this point I made the pumpkin pie and just pulled it out of the oven. It smells great. Here's the recipe I used:

Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust [I'll admit I didn't make my own crust but used a Pillsbury refrigerated one instead. Still very delicious.]

3/4 cup white sugar [I used C&H bakers sugar.]

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground gingerm [I used one full teaspoon]

1/4 teaspoon gound cloves [I used a heaping quarter teaspoon]

2 eggs

1 (15 ounce) can Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

1 (12 fluid ounce) can Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Combine sugar, salt cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.

3. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 digrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. [Note: I checked after 50 minutes and the knife did not come out clean. I checked at 55 minutes and the knife did not come out clean. The edges of the crust were not burning so I put it in for another 5. The knife STILL did not come out clean so I set the pie on a hot pad on the stove to cool. I seem to remember this is what happened last time I made this recipe.] Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)

Dale and I started warming up the oven for the turkey just after noon and opened a bottle of champagne. We made a toast to a Happy Thanksgiving.

Ginger

After the church service today at Gethsemane Episcopal Church in downtown Minneapolis, Joanne, the hospitality guru, directed me to the spread of cookies she had laid out. "You're own personal recipe?", I asked. Joanne's response: "Yeah, right." She pointed out the chocolate chocolate chip, butterscotch, oatmeal raisin, and the ginger cookies. Ginger snaps have long been one of my favorite cookies and not having had one in a long while, I went for those. Mmmmm. Even though they were store bought they were very tasty.

I love my mom's cookies. She recently brought me a bunch of her chocolate chip cookies. I usually put them in the freezer and eat them right from there. In fact, I have some on hand now and just ran to grab a few as I write this. She used to make ginger snaps too. I remember moving to my apartment on Girard Avenue in Minneapolis and mom phoning and asking me if there was anything I missed from home. My response?: "Ginger snaps". She made me a batch.

The following is from The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst:

"Ginger; gingerroot. A plant from tropical and subtropical regions that's grown for its gnarled and bumpy root. Most ginger comes from Jamaica, followed by India, Africa and China. Gingerroot's name comes from the Sanskrit word for 'horn root,' undoubtedly referring to its knobby appearance. It has a tan skin and a flesh that ranges in color from pale greenish yellow to ivory. The flavor is peppery and slightly sweet, while the aroma is pungent and spicy. This extremely versatile root has long been a mainstay in Asian and Indian cooking and found its way early on into European foods as well. The Chinese, Japanese and East Indians use fresh gingerroot in a variety of forms - grated, ground and slivered - in many savory dishes. Europeans and most Americans, however are more likely to use the dried ground form of ginger, usually in baked goods."

Yes, I love that peppery and slightly sweet taste. Note to self: ask Mom for her ginger snap recipe. It's high time I start making these on my own.

Not too long ago Martha Stewart had an article in her magazine about ginger snaps in a February issue. It may have been in the Good Things section. Anyway, it said that ginger snaps go mighty well with raspberry jam. I thought I'd give it a try. Not having Mom's recipe, I went to the grocery store to look for some ginger snaps. In the cookie aisle along with all the Keebler brand cookies I found a bag of Rippon Good brand ginger snaps. The cookies come out of Rippon, Wisconsin and were quite good if but a bit drier than homemade cookies. And yes, they go extremely well with raspberry jam.

Christmas 2009

Christmas becomes more meaningful every year. I've been doing lots of reading this season about the traditions of Christmas. I've known for a long time that so many of the traditions found at Christmastime predate the Christian era. During the time of the solstice attention naturally turned to the hearth, home and family due to shortened days, colder weather, and extra time that came with the completed harvest. More time indoors due to the weather and winter vacation allow me to focus on hearth, home, and family. As a teacher I've always enjoyed having a two week winter break during the last part of December as a time to turn my attention to getting ready for Christmas, ponder the past year and think about what lies ahead. It is a natural time to reflect. The religious aspect of Christmas has always meant so much to me and I grow in that appreciation year after year as well. I think of the stories in the Bible in which Jesus shares a meal with others and appreciate being able to do just that with my own loved ones. I'm sure Christ's birthday celebrations looked quite a bit different than what we've created to help commemorate his birth. I admit that part of the energy I get in all the preparations for the season come from actually wanting to create a welcoming place for Him as an actual guest.

I can't believe the holiday season of 2009 is past. There were many wonderful experiences this past Christmas and New Year's that will live on forever in my memory. Corny but true. Christmas Eve was lovely this year. Dale and I went to Mom's condo for cheese fondue and steak. This is the first time we've done a Christmas dinner at Mom's new place. It was difficult not having Dad with us. I found myself really missing him as I stirred the fondue cheese and listened to the Kingston Trio Christmas album. During Christmas Eve day Dale and I worked on the beef bourginon recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I wrote an entry on that book so long ago and finally made a recipe from it. I once played sous chef to a friend who was making that same recipe 20 years ago. All I did then was get the film of skin off the mushrooms and the skins off the pearl onions. We weren't so fussy with the mushrooms this time around and boiled the skins off the pearl onions. The gently falling snow made it a magical day and contributed to the beautiful atmosphere for the 5 hour total prep/cook time that the recipe took. A couple martinis helped to make it even more magical. I ate too much at Mom's that night and probably had one drink too many. I was not quite recovered from my cold and hit a brick wall after the processional song at midnight mass. This caused me to conk out and I ended up on the couch of the church gathering room for the remainder of the service. Ah well. It was a magical Christmas Eve none the less. On Christmas Day Mom came over for the beef bourginon we worked so hard on the day before. My good friend Noel joined us as well. I felt much better on Christmas Day.

Dining Alone Part 2

The tastes in last night's smoked salmon pizza were fantastic. Not a bad evening for having to dine alone. Of course, the only thing that would have made it better would have been having Dale here with me...

Dining Alone

"Solitary dinners ought to be avoided as much as possible, because solitude tends to produce thought, and thought tends to the suspension of the digestive powers. When, however, dining alone is necessary, the mind should be disposed of cheerfulness by a previous interval of relaxation from whatever has seriously occupied the attention, and by directing it to some agreeable object."

-Thomas Walker, 19th-century writer

OK, it's difficult to avoid dining alone lately as Dale has been on Madeline Island for the last 2 1/2 weeks and has about 3 1/2 left to go. The most recent events to occupy my mind have been a lower body workout at the gym followed by visits to Lunds and the former Ken & Norm's Liqours. I am now helping to make my mind cheery with a Bombay Sapphire martini. Kay Salter has said that "solitary dinners are inevitable and, far from being avoided, can be pleasant, providing you like your own company." I find myself to be mostly tolerable (and somewhat pleasant with a martini under my belt) so I'm going to try to make eating alone tonight an event.

When Dale and I are together, dinner is usually a joint venture. Except for our Golden or Silver Hours (basically a mid-week Golden Hour with less to drink and a part of a chocolate bar instead of a full dessert), meals are mostly low frills. Dinner is made together and eaten in front of the TV. Sometimes the entertainment is a show on HGTV. Sometimes its a reality show, Family Guy, a DVD, or what have you. In addition to sustenance, it is also equally important the event of preparing the meal separates the events of the day from winding down for the day.

Tonight's music is Trip Tease by Tipsy (just downloaded from iTunes) and the dinner will be a smoked salmon pizza from Jacques Pepin's most recent cookbook More Fast Food My Way.

Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2007

Okay, the Golden Hour Kickoff was last Sunday with beef stroganoff and pumpkin pie, but, tonight really feels like the Golden Hour Kickoff as it is back to central standard time. Dale and I are having a chicken pot pie with canned (oh well, no one's perfect) turkey gravy. It will be delicious! We'll have asparagus as a vegetable and we're listening to Anita O'Day on the stereo hi-fi system as it all cooks. What could be better? Jo Stafford was playin' earlier. Before that was Dave Brubeck.... Sophie got a little chicken and Homer was asleep. Victoria (rest her soul) could not be with us. I miss that cat.

Tonight we'll have PUMPKIN PIE for dessert. Whipped cream will most certainly be available as the topping of choice. Desk Set with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey (beard and purse that they were) will play as dinner is served. Meet Me in St. Louis will be the movie of choice next time around.

Drinks: I started with a Sidecar but didn't have enough brandy for a second. The second and third were martinis. I like to have a martini... Two at the very most... Three I'm under the table... Okay, technically I've only had two since I didn't have enough brandy for a second Sidecar but I'm on my third drink but I'm not under the table... I'm still standing (although I'm not done with the drink yet)... Okay... I hear the plates coming out of the cupboard in the background... I better check on how things are going....

Music for April 15, 2007

By the way...
The Golden Hour music tonight was Organs in Orbit from the Ultra-Lounge series and also Ole Torme by Mel Torme. There are a number of discs in the Ultra-Lounge series and they are great fun for cocktail hour.

April 2007 - Yummy Brussels Sprouts

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted. There have been quite a few good Golden Hours since the Fall Golden Hour Kick-Off. I suppose we could call this the Spring Golden Hour Kick-Off. It's warm enough in Minneapolis today to have cocktails outside this evening. Golden Hour consisted of Tahini humus and crackers, olives stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes, a martini for me and wine for Dale. Sophie chewed on a stick. Dinner included a rice pilaf, New York strip steak, and Brussels sprouts. Yum, yum, yummy. Dale discovered on his own how to prepare the Brussels sprouts. They are patterned after the ones our beloved Kowalski's grocery store used to carry. They are Brussels sprouts with chopped garlic tossed with olive oil and then baked in the the oven for 40 minutes. Quite delicious!!

Fall Golden Hour Kickoff 2006

Tonight is the Fall Golden Hour Kickoff. What a Sunday dinner it will be. There is no official date for the Fall Golden Hour Kickoff although it usually starts on a later September or early October Sunday when it starts to feel like fall weather as opposed to summer weather. It is also when the Golden Hour is devoted to more substantial and hearty fare than in summer time. Pumpkin and other squashes as well as root vegetables begin to enter the picture. It is much more likely that the oven will be used. Cocktails are more likely to be red wine and hard liquor rather than a light rose wine.

Tonight the menu will include beef stroganoff and a steamed green vegetable. Dale will have red wine and I'll have a martini. Have I given directions for how I make a martini. It's been such a while since I've posted! I should have probably checked past postings rather than just jumping in and making a new post.

Anyway, I line a glass with Noily Prat vermouth and pop it in the freezer. Then at cocktail hour I'll fill another martini glass with Bombay Sapphire gin which will then be dumped into the shaker. I'll add a drop of vermouth and shake the whole thing up. The martini is said to be better if it is shaken in waltz time. Once properly shaken I'll pour it into the frozen vermouth lined martini glass. Cold is so very key. I've begun keeping the gin in the refridgerator again even though I'm told it is not good for the gin. My non-refridgerated gin martinis have just not been cold enough even when shaken on ice Also, I haven't been getting ice crystals when using non-refidgerated gin. Anyway, I got some sun dried tomato stuffed olives at Kowalskis which I'll have on the side instead of in the drink.

I'll have apple pie for dessert and Dale I believe is having carrot cake. I'll tell all about how it all turns out in the next post...

Beef Stroganoff

Wow! Last week's beef stroganoff was incredible. Again, it came from Natalie Houghton's 365 One Dish Meals. What's great is that it is such an amazingly simple recipe and the prep time was minimal - only about 10 minutes. The cook time was just 15 minutes. The results were delicious! The ingredients included stew meat, butter, mushrooms, scallions, cooking sherry, beef broth, cornstarch, sour cream, and mustard. It was the mustard that really made it. We used Grey Poupon's Country Dijon which really gave it a kick. We had the stroganoff over egg noodles with steamed asparugus on the side.

Note: I love to have music playing while cooking. Last week while making the stroganoff we played the soundtrack from the movie Four Rooms. Most of the music is by Combustible Edison although a couple of tracks are by Esquivel. It's very lounge-y and fun to cook to while drinking Bombay Sapphire martinis and wine.

Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

We celebrated my friend Noel's birthday today. My partner Dale and I joined her and her friend's Caroline and Stephen for brunch at a restaurant called A Rebours in the Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny spring morning so we ate outside. From the sidewalk there's a lovely view of Landmark Center and the Saint Paul Hotel. Anyway, Dale and I gave her a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's been on her wish list on Amazon.com forever and with her love of so many things French I thought it would make the perfect gift. I told her how much I love my copy of it although I have to admit that my love of this book is rather bizarre since I never make anything from it - too hard and time consuming! She agreed but, remembering her mother's copy, noted that just reading it is a pleasure. I had to agree. There's also just something about the weight of it when you hold it in your hands (I have the hardcover) and the look of it (it's the 40th Anniversary Edition with a red dust jacket that's covered with those little French flower things) that adds to the enjoyment of the experience of reading it. We all noted that the French tend to view eating as a pleasureable experience while here in the States we tend to view eating as more utilitarian. I think one of the things that comes out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking is that the process of making food should be just as pleasureable as eating it.

Part of what Dale and I like most about making our Sunday dinners is the act of preparing the meal. It's a time to wind down from the day and the previous week and set the tone for the coming one. If you're looking for a way to deal with the Sunday Blues, a relaxed cooking session works wonders. We usually start by pouring drinks for ourselves. Dale is a great lover of red wine. I am too but I have a penchant for stronger booze and when faced with a choice will usually choose a Bombay Sapphire martini over wine. (I love the kick, baby!) Anyway, having a drink before and while making dinner is fun and it also slows the whole process down just a tad which is definitely not a bad thing in our over-hurried lives.

Tonight we're trying a new beef stroganoff recipe. The one we usually use is from Natalie Haughton's The Best Slow Cooker Cookbook Ever. We've always had great results with this recipe. Today we thought we'd try a new one that's from Ms. Houghton's 365 Easy One Dish Meals. Due to brunch today we weren't able to come home right away after church to turn on the Crock-Pot at the time needed so it would be done at 7:00 p.m. The untried recipe does not require the Crock-Pot. Next time I post I'll let you know how it turns out...

Notes:

Wine: Dale is currently loving a wine called La Vieille Ferme. He says it's organic and that it tastes fabulous.

Martini: I measure out the Bombay Sapphire gin by filling a martini glass with it and then dump it into a shaker. I pour a little dry vermouth in the glass and swoosh it around and then dump that into the the shaker also. I know some folks can't stand the idea of vermouth but to a purist(which I am) it is part of the drink so I always include it. Not so much into olives in the drink but love having sun dried tomato stuffed olives on the side. Anyway, I usually shake the drink until I can't take the coldness of the shaker. I heard once (can't remember where) that a martini should be shaken in waltz time. I tried it and now it's a habit. When done, I pour it back in to a martini glass. (I try to remember to stick a martini glass already lined with vermouth in the freezer to get it cold but I haven't been good about remembering to do this.)

Sunday Dinner

Watch this spot for postings on sharing meals and memories with family and friends...

Part of the challenge of life in the early 21st century is slowing down and enjoying life.

I have fond memories of Sunday dinners with my family. These were perfect times to celebrate the weekend and look ahead to the coming week. A good part of my early socialization was done around the dinner table. Sadly, the family meal is something that is dying in our great United States. Recently Paul Douglas, one of the local weather guys here in the Twin Cities, included a quote from the Dalai Lama in his weather column for the the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It said: "It is fascinating: in the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you have endless conveniences, yet you never seem to have any time. You can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don't bother to cross the road to meet your neighbor. I don't think people have become more selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoiled them. They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly compare themselves to others and they have too much choice, which brings them no real freedom." (Don't ask me how this relates to the weather but I'm glad he included it. Thanks Dale for pointing that out to me today!)