Pickled Herring

Saturday evening Golden Hour tonight. Dale made steak and brussels sprouts. For an appetizer he picked up some pickled herring. I grew up with pickled herring. We mostly had it around the holidays and I absolutely loved it. So did my Dad.

The following is from The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion:

herring: This huge family of saltwater fish has over a hundred varieties. The popular herring swims in gigantic schools and can be found in the cold waters of the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In the United States, two of the most popular members of this family are the American shad, and the alewife, both of which are anadromous, meaning that they migrate from their saltwater habitat to spawn in fresh water. Herring are generally small (ranging between 1/4 and 1 pound) and silvery. The major exception to that rule is the American shad, which averages 3 to 6 pounds and is prized for its eggs - the delicacy known as shad roe. Young herring are frequently labeled and sold as sardines.... Pickled herring have been marinated in vinegar and spices before being bottle in either a sour-cream sauce or a wine sauce. The term can also refer to herring that have been dry-salted before being cured in brine.

Silver Hour - Wednesday January 26, 2011

The Silver Hour is a dressed down version of the Golden Hour. Usually held mid-week. Tonight the menu was tuna steaks, steamed green beans, rice pilaf, and salad.

Dinner and a Movie - 1

Last night Dale and I went to visit our friends Julie and Regina for dinner and a movie. Julie made some very scrumptious burritos. Dale and I brought the leftover tres leche cake from the other night. It was all very delicious. The movie was High Anxiety with Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, and Harvey Korman. It was all very funny.

Good food, good fun, good movie, good friends.

Oh, yeah, and the werewolf scene gets me every time.

Dinner Party - Saturday January 22, 2011

Last night Dale and I hosted a dinner for some friends Dale knows from a spin class he takes on Saturdays at the gym. Michelle, Dale's spin instructor, and her husband Steve along with his classmate Fred and Fred's wife Linda all came over at about 6:00 pm. This dinner was rescheduled from a December date during which the city experienced 18 inches of snow and caused us to cancel. Appetizers and drinks came first. Dinner included lasagna (made by me using Mom's recipe), steamed green beans with olive oil and salt, and garlic bread (both made by Dale). Dessert was a tres leche cake from Cafe Latte in St. Paul which was brought over by Fred and Linda. It was all amazing and tasted fantastic.

W.S. Gilbert said "When planning a dinner party, what's more important than what's on the table is what's on the chairs." This get-together was a nice combination of wonderfully warm people. Dinner was lovely and the conversations were engaging. We talked of Christmas, our families, religion, and politics. I know the latter two are usually to be avoided but everyone was pretty much on the same page and respectful of everyone's opinions. Everyone was surprised when we discovered it was already midnight. This is again proof to me that some of the best times in life revolve around shared good food and good people.

Christmas Traditions: The Christmas Pickle

It's a sham! Well, at least I think it is...

About a year ago I was shopping with a friend and I came across a glass pickle ornament. I mentioned that I thought it was a funny object for a Christmas tree ornament. She informed me that it was some German tradition and that because I have partial German heritage I should know all about it.

Well.

According to "tradition" the pickle is supposed to be the last ornament hung on the tree on Christmas Eve. The first child to find the pickle on Christmas morning gets an extra gift from Saint Nicholas. This doesn't hold up as the German St. Nick doesn't arrive on Christmas Eve but on the 5th or 6th of December. Also, German children don't open their presents the morning of Christmas but on Christmas Eve.

One story says that a Bavarian-born man who fought in the American Civil War was captured and began to die while being held prisoner. He begged a guard for a pickle before he died. The guard granted his wish and the pickle gave the man his strength and health back.

In another story, originating in Berrien Springs, Michigan, two medieval-era Spanish boys are traveling home from school for the Christmas holidays. They stop at an inn for the night but the innkeeper is a rotten fellow who stuffs the boys in a barrel of pickles. Saint Nicholas soon stops by and taps the pickle barrel with his staff and the boys are freed. Berrien Springs is the self-proclaimed Christmas Pickle Capital of the World. A parade which is part of its December Christmas Pickle Festival is led by a Grand Dillmeister who gives out real pickles along the parade route. You my then purchase German glass pickle ornaments at the town's museum.

Oddly, few in Germany ever have heard of the Christmas Pickle.

Scam or not, it looks like the 'legend' of the Christmas pickle is here to stay. I bought the one pictured above just for fun this past season. I even found smaller pickle ornaments packaged in a pickle jar at the Sur la Table kitchen store.

From The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion:

"pickle n. Food that has been preserved in a seasoned brine or vinegar mixture. Among the more popular foods used for pickling are cucumbers, pearl onions, cauliflower, baby corn, watermelon rind, pig's feet and herring. Pickles can be sour, sweet, hot or variously flavored, such as with DILL for the popular dill pickle. pickle v. Top preserve food in a vinegar mixture or brine."

New Year's Day 2011

Woke up late this morning thinking about what a glorious time I had during the progressive dinner we participated in last night. What a great way to end 2010. Dale and I have spent the day lounging around reading and napping.

Over the past holiday season I've had a chance to share meals with a lot of people who are important to me. I am spending time thinking about how the meals we share enhance our lives and our relationships with one another.

One of my favorite books is Life Is Meals by James and Kay Salter. Here is the January 1st entry from the book:

"The meal is the essential act of life. It is the habitual ceremony, the long record of marriage, the school for behavior, the prelude to love. Among all peoples and in all times, every significant event in life - be it wedding, triumph, or birth - is marked by a meal or the sharing of food or drink. The meal is the emblem of civilization. What would one know of life as it should be lived or nights as they should be spent apart from meals?"

Dale and I ate canned chicken noodle soup from a can along with leftover brioche and tapanade. We then watched Christmas in Connecticut and then Shop Around the Corner. Steve stopped by to pick up the lens cover from Mary's camera that she forgot last night. He told us that they woke up this morning talking about what a wonderful time they had last night. We told him that we had done the same thing!

New Year's Eve 2010

This year we were invited to a progressive dinner for New Year's Eve by our neighbor from across the alley, Mary. Dale and I took the appetizer course and served crackers and brioche with the options of brie with fig jam, basil pesto, or a sun-dried tomato tapanade as spreads. We also served red grapes, honey crisp apple slices, wasabe peas, and cashews. For drinks we offered a 2009 Beaujolais nouveau, champagne, beer, and mixed drinks. I was surprised how many people wanted martinis. Our neighbor Gary wanted his usual vodka martini. I used Shaker's vodka which is made here in Minnesota. Gary likes his with a healthy portion of vermouth. Mary also wanted a vodka martini but with no vermouth. I just passed the bottle of vermouth over the drink a couple times. She said she didn't even need that much! Our neighbor Kevin decided he'd like to try a gin martini. I used Tanquerey and I think he was surprised by how strong it was. He said he liked gin but, sensing his inexperience in regard to martinis, I made him a smaller one than I usually do. He wasn't able to finish it and took it to the next course which was salads at his and Jenny's house. I thought this was funny and have to say I really admire his commitment to finishing it. I put a glass pickle ornament on the tree just for Gary to find. He found it almost immediately and got a special present for his effort which was a small Christmas troll pin. The troll was dressed up like Santa Claus.

Like I said, the next course was salads at Kevin and Jenny's home. The salad was delicious and I think Jenny said it was from the Nordstrom department store menu. I'll have to ask her for the recipe or google it.

Next we went to Warren and Gary's for the main course. Warren made an Indian dish called tiki masala, I think. It was also fantastic and I need to get the recipe. I think he said it was from Cooks Illustrated magazine. They have a fireplace and Gary had a lovely fire going when we got there. Their cat Big Boy laid himself out in front of the fire and seemed to have a fine time lounging there as we ate dinner.

The final course was dessert at Steve and Mary's house. Mary made a delicious goat cheese cheese cake with a pineapple compote and also pot de creme. Merriment ensued with dancing (I particularly remember moving to Hot Sauce by Thomas Dolby) and watching the countdown on ABC with Dick Clark who I think was looking particularly good for his age. Jenny brought out her medicine cards and everyone got a reading for the new year. We stayed until one a.m. It has been quite a while since Dale and I have stayed up until (or past) midnight on New Year's Eve.

What a delightful evening.

Christmas Traditions: Orange Pomanders

Ever since Mom told me about getting oranges in her stocking as a girl in the 1940's, I've tried to incorporate oranges into Christmas decorating. I've read that in the 19th century, the well-off would use orange pomanders as part of their Christmas decorations because oranges were considered a rare treat and something of an extravagance. The citrus scent combined with the smell of cloves smelled heavenly and probably helped to alleviate basic household odors. How to make them? I used a pin to help start the holes for the cloves and then simply added the cloves. Nothing could be easier and they look great.

Christmas Traditions: Fondue

I've written a couple of times about my family's tradition of fondue on Christmas Eve. I decided to do a little research on this thing I've eaten for 45 years on December 24. Here's what I found out...

According to James and Kay Salter in their book Life is Meals, the town of "Gruyeres is about seventy miles northeast of Geneva as you head into the heart of Switzerland. It produces one of the two cheeses - the other being Emmenthaler - that are the basis for fondue, which comes from the French verb fondre, 'to melt.' "(p. 391) Also, "Fondue likely originated in remote mountain villages during winters when food was scarce and people softened their old, hardened cheeses over a fire, scooping from the pot with pieces of bread." (p. 391)

I know that my mom uses Gruyere cheese, but I'm not sure about the Emmenthaler. I guess more research is in order.

Holiday Brunch 2010

On December 23, Dale and I hosted a holiday brunch. We invited our friends Chris and Alyn who brought along with their very mobile and delightful toddler son Ellis. We also invited our friend Eric who brought along his delightful boyfriend Erich. The menu included champagne, mimosas, an egg bake, sausages, hash browns, mixed fresh fruit, and a maple pecan bundt cake. Everything turned out quite well but I was particularly excited about the bundt cake as it was the first one I ever made.

The recipe for the bundt cake is from Nigella Lawson's book Nigella Kitchen and can be found on page 239. Use of the fleur de lis bundt pan that I bought a few months ago made this particularly fun.

The recipe for the egg bake is from one of those Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks (you know, the kind you get at the grocery store check-out lane) and is dated from May of 1993. The recipe is found on page 21 of that publication and is as follows:

Confetti Egg Bake

Ingredients:

Half cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 (9 oz.) pakage of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain

Half pound bulk turkey Italian sausage, cooked

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

Half cup chopped green onion

1 (2 oz. jar sliced pimiento, drained [I used a 4 ounce jar]

6 eggs

1 cup half-and-half

Half cup shredded Swiss cheese

Half teaspoon paprika [I forgot to add this]

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8-inch square (1 1/2 quart) baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Layer Cheddar cheese, spinach, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green onions, and pimiento in spray coated dish. In medium bowl, combine eggs and half-and-half; blend well. Pour egg mixture evenly over layered mixture. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and paprika.*

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving. 6 servings.

*Note: This can be assembled a day in advance. Cover and refridgerate. Bake at 350 F. but increase the cooking time to 40-50 minutes.

Christmas Day 2010

Dale and I had a lovely and quiet Christmas morning. We spent time relaxing and enjoying each other's company and looking at our beautiful Christmas tree. We also spent some time getting ready for having Mom over for Christmas dinner. The plan was to eat at about four o'clock so I began getting the beef stroganoff ready shortly after eight o'clock am. Last year we prepared Julia Child's recipe for beef bourguignon and, while incredibly delicious, it took a huge chunk of time to prepare on Christmas Eve. This year we decided to go the easier route and use the crock pot beef stroganoff recipe that we've been using for years. I'm pretty sure that this is the first year we've made it for Christmas dinner. It's one of our favorite winter recipes and this is the first time we've made it this season. It's also extremely easy to make.

Mom came over at 3 p.m. and we had drinks and appetizers (crackers and hummus). We watched the ending of Ben-Hur on Turner Classic Movies while Dale got the egg noodles for the stroganoff and the broccoli ready. We were eating by about 4:30. It was all very delicious. Dessert was a Buche de Noel from Kowalski's (at 54th and Lyndale Ave. So. and also my favorite grocery store) and coffee.

We then spent some time reminiscing about how Mom celebrated Christmas as a child. I've recently been doing a lot of geneology research into the French Canadian branch of my family tree. My great-grandmother Cora (Alma) Driscoll (Fugere) was from French Canada and I was curious to know if she had passed any French Canadian Christmas traditions down to my grandmother Jean Wagner (Driscoll). Mom said she didn't think so. She told me that my Great-Grandma Cora had never taught any of her children French and that Grandma Jean (hereafter referred to as Baba) resented that. Mom said she didn't think my great-grandma passed down any specific Christmas customs to Baba.

Mom talked a little bit about how her own Christmases played out as a child. She said they never did anything on Christmas Eve but that she and her siblings opened their stockings on Christmas morning. She said she always got an orange in her stocking. They would go to church and then come home and open presents. Each child got only one present because money was very tight when she was younger. She said that one year she got a slip as her Christmas present.

I remember quite clearly my own Christmas traditions while growing up. Christmas Eve day was usually pretty relaxed (for us kids at least). Mom I'm sure was getting ready for Christmas Eve's fondue dinner and doing last minute preparations for Christmas Day. Dad always did his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve day. I remember going with him to the Southdale shopping mall one year when I was probably 12 or 13. I was surprised how dead it was as the mall that day. I had supposed more people would be doing last minute shopping but that was not the case. I don't know if that was an anomaly for the time or not. It sure isn't that way today. We'd start the fondue dinner at about 5:00 pm with the cheese fondue. I remember helping to stir the cheese on the stovetop while Mom slowly added more cheese the pot. It would then be added to the fondue pot on the dining room table. We'd then dip chunks of stale French bread into the cheese. It was delectable!! We'd move on to the meat in oil fondue after the bread in cheese. Mom always had beef stew meat for the oil fondue. She'd mix together a special ketchup-like mixture for dipping the fried meat in. In maybe the late seventies or early eighties she added scallops to the oil fondue. She made a special herbed butter to dip the scallops in after they were done in the fondue pot. After the meat fondue she would get the chocolate fondue ready. I remember dipping strawberries and bananas in the chocolate. It was divine! I remember being amazed at how much I could eat when we'd do fondue. It was easy to pack it all in due to taking breaks between the courses to get the next course ready and because we had to eat slowly during each course. That's just the nature of fondue. It takes time to prepare each little morsel!

Christmas morning began with opening stockings once everyone was awake. Stockings were always chock full of good stuff. One year Mom put an orange in each of our stockings and I was very perplexed. Not disappointed, just perplexed. Why would I have an orange in my stocking when I could walk to the kitchen and grab one from the fruit basket? Mom explained how she always got an orange in her stocking as a child and what a rare treat it was to have citrus fruit in the winter. It made sense as far as I was concerned and I appreciated the mini-history lesson. Due to this story I try to incorporate oranges with cloves stuck in them into my Christmas decorating as an adult.

We'd go to mass at Annunciation Catholic church after opening stockings and eating a light breakfast. After mass we'd open the presents from underneath the Christmas tree. At about 2 p.m. we'd have a Christmas feast. The meal was usually a repeat of Thanksgiving dinner but some years we had ham instead of turkey. After dinner I'd call whoever my best friend was at the time to wish them a Merry Christmas. We'd then talk about everything we got as a Christmas present. The evening of Christmas day was usually spent recovering from the food and excitingment by watching Christmas programming on T.V. Once the VCR came along we'd spend the evening watching Christmas movies.

Christmas Eve 2010

Dale and I sang together at the 4 p.m. Christmas Eve service yesterday. Mom and her friend Lynne attended. Before the service began I had a small glass of champagne. After the service we went to Mom's where we started dinner with cheese fondue. My family has been doing fondue on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. We also used to fondue meats in oil for many years but for about the last 10 years we have not been doing that as our tastes have changed and the oil now tends to be a gut bomb on our digestive systems. When Sam was home for Christmas a couple of years ago his wife Becky prepared the whole fondue shebang starting with cheese (bread being the dipping item), then meats (mostly beef and scallops) in oil, and finally chocolate fondue with fruits. Again, we've been doing it as long as I can remember so it was quite a trip down memory lane.

Back to the present. Following the fondue we had spinach salads with Mandarin oranges and walnuts. Dale and I brought the dressings namely Annie's brand raspberry vinaigrette and Annie's papaya poppy seed. Dale and I chose to use the papaya poppy seed while Mom and Lynne had the raspberry vinaigrette. Both went very well with the Mandarin oranges. Mom broiled steaks after we finished the cheese fondue. Mine was rare and very delicious. Dessert was Baba dessert which I named for my baba, Jean (Driscoll) Wagner, because I could never remember the name of the dessert itself. It was a very lovely dinner and evening and nice to continue with our traditional Christmas Eve foods!

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!!