They Are All Our Children, America!

April 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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I live in a food desert — an actual food desert.* I’ve lived in this area most of my life and it has never bothered me that the grocery store is at least 5 miles away and the one with the best prices in town is 11 miles away. There are no buses out here, but I have vehicles that always have gas in them. No biggie. It’s just the way it is. These facts have never stopped me from having access to quality food nor has it made it in any way difficult…for ME. For MY FAMILY. Sadly, that’s not the case for everyone. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Food

Yesterday.

August 27, 2012 By 9 Comments
Yup, that's me on the right.

 

Yesterday was a tough day. Tougher than I expected it to be.

You see, on August 10, my family changed forever when my dad passed away in the evening. Having fought Alzheimer’s Disease for ten years, he had finally had enough. When they say someone dies peacefully, I think I know what that means. He took in one final breath, not as if to hold onto life but I imagine it more like surprise and joy in seeing what was ahead. Who knows what people really see the moment they die, but my dad’s faith was strong and sure and my faith is strong and sure. With all my heart, I know he’s already been dancing and singing and catching up with those that went before him. He remembers everything he had forgotten and even the things he never got to know.

When he died, many of us had already mourned his loss. The body of the man that lay there that evening was not of a man recently full of life and possibility. It was of a man who had become lost to us months and months before. His death had happened a long time before, and his body had finally caught up.

His funeral was all the things he would have loved…lots of family, many friends and a great party with everyone sharing stories and laughing at so many memories. His absence was profound, but not in the way of a sudden tragedy of a short life or unexpected end. In an almost acceptable sort of way.

So, back to yesterday.

We’re leaving for an extended vacation soon and we wanted to have a get together to celebrate our daughter’s 25th birthday as well as spend time with some of the family and friends we wouldn’t see in awhile.

Several had already arrived and the party was in full swing when I heard a small knock on our front door. We have an etched glass door and when I looked up, my heart saw my dad. White hair combed perfectly, looking just so and standing in exactly the right way. In that second, I had forgotten he was gone.

As quickly as the thought came, it was gone. My father-in-law was at the door, not my dad. My head knew that, but my heart had been so hopeful.

Dinner was great and the company was incredible. Every time we all get together, the amount of laughter is second only to the camaraderie. Kids, grandkids, parents, grandparents all had a blast! Even my mom. Even me.

Truth be told, though, it was a tough day. This was our first family gathering where my dad wasn’t there. Despite the fun, my sadness was right there where I could feel it. All my own memories from all those other yesterdays lingered just under the surface of my being.

I know the tough days will be there and I know they’ll be unexpected. What I didn’t know what how it would really feel; how my heart would ache on those days. I miss his silly smile and his wicked sense of humor. I even miss how we’d fight when I was a kid. I miss his very presence.

Yesterday was a tough day. Today is easier.

Filed Under: ALZ, Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Disease, Family, Retrospective Tagged With: ,

Homebrewed to Home Baked: Spent Grain Bread

July 5, 2012 By 18 Comments
loaf

“Two of the more dubious achievements of American culture are white bread and light beer.”
– Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly (Real Beer and Good Eats)

Of all the cooking up of things my family does, one of the guys’ favorite activities is making homebrew. Hardly a weekend goes by when they’re not mashing, sparging and fermenting some sort of grains.  (Of course, one of their other favorite things to do is drink the beer they make, thus setting up this constant effort to keep the fridge full.)

Each batch of beer begins with around 11 pounds of malted grain … all in completely different levels of maltedness. From a light, toasty pale malt to a dark, chocolate-colored malt these grains are used to provide the sugar that the beer needs to ferment. After that, the beer makers discard the spent grain to either the birds or the garbage.

Naturally, as a bread maker I was saddened by the loss of all that lovely grain, spent or otherwise. I knew I could use it for bread, but the recipes I found on the internet really weren’t all that appealing to me. Most were developed by beer makers and seemed a little on the heavy side.

It took me awhile, but I finally developed a recipe that is light and chewy at the same time. I like the texture of the grain, but it’s not overpowering. This is a good bread for toast, since the grains get crunchy and the toast stays tender. It’s a good loaf of hearty bread with just the right amount of sweetness. After all, man cannot live by beer alone.

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Homebrewed to Home Baked: Spent Grain Bread
Author: 
 

Bread and beer making go hand in hand. Why not take it even further! This can be made in your breadmaker, using the dough cycle. After the machine stops, remove the dough and start from the shaping instructions. I save grain from many batches and freeze them in 1 cup portions and thaw as needed.
Ingredients
  • 1¼- 1½ cups water
  • 3 tablespoons Oil
  • 3 tablespoons Agave Syrup
  • 3 cups Bread or AP Flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup spent grain
  • 2¼ teaspoon instant yeast or one package, bloomed.
  • 2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
  1. Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the water, oil and Agave syrup (this is if you’re using a stand mixer to mix it with the dough hook.)
  2. When the dough comes away from the bowl without being too sticky, continue kneading with the dough hook until the dough ball is elastic and shiny, about 5-8 minutes.
  3. Transfer to an oil-coated bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
  4. Shape into whatever shape you want — loaf, round, rolls — cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise about another 30-40 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, turn on the oven to 410 degrees.
  6. When dough is ready, place in oven and immediately throw a large handful of ice into the bottom of the oven.
  7. Close the door immediately and bake for approximately 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of your loaves or rolls.
  8. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
  9. This bread will turn very brown and will have a chewy consistency when eaten. It will save for a couple of days in a sealed container, but will dry out quickly after that.

Filed Under: Cooking, Food Tagged With: , , , ,

Summer Fresh Peach Pie

July 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Peach Pie

 

You’ve seen the commercials this time of year offering visions of families, apple pies, fireworks, American Flags, summertime parties, grilling burgers and big pickup trucks. Well, to me that’s just not completely right. Apples are a fall fruit … to me, they say Halloween, back-to-school, caramel apples, changing colors and shorter days. To me, summer is the time for Peach Pie. During a few weeks in the summer, there is no finer peach to be found — putting the rest of the year’s mealy offerings to shame.

Personally, I am mesmerized by their sweet fragrance and their beautiful color. My resistance is futile.

So, despite the heat I needed a Peach Pie. Desperately.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cooking, Food Tagged With: , ,

A Comforting Old Friend – Porcupine Meatballs

June 27, 2012 By 2 Comments
meatballs

 

My mom could make a package of hamburger stretch so far it would cry “Uncle!” She was a master at feeding the six of us with a finesse that never let on that we really didn’t have a lot of money. In typical weeknight fashion, she’d whip out her trusty pressure cooker and something wonderful and comforting would emerge in record time. So much so that one of the first things I ever bought for my kitchen was a Presto Pressure Cooker, just like the one my mom had.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Family, Food Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Best-Laid Plans…

June 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
MontepulcianoCathedral

This fall, we’re going on vacation. In itself, this is not news — we vacation often. This one is not an ordinary vacation. It’s “the vacation of a lifetime.” Five weeks in Europe (mostly Italy) and doing all the things we’ve dreamed about. We’ll be in Munich for Oktoberfest. We’re spending a few nights in Venice. We’re spending a week at Lake Como and one in Tuscany. We’re visiting family. We’re taking a cooking class in Bologna. IN BOLOGNA!

We’ve been to Italy once before and we called that one our vacation of a lifetime. We were pretty sure we’d never get to go back, but once we got home we began planning this one!

So, what’s the problem?

I guess it’s more fear…fear and guilt. Dad’s Alzheimer’s has progressed dramatically. So much so, that he is now under hospice care. He’s still able to walk around the house, but there’s a hospital bed in their living room. He confuses every woman with his wife and often is angry, but there are still kisses all around.  His behavior has gotten increasingly more random (he washed all the remote controls and the telephone in the sink of hot, soapy water yesterday.) He’s just recently gotten over pneumonia and when he catches it again, it will likely be the end.

Back to our vacation. I am afraid he’ll die while we’re on vacation and my mom won’t have me there. I’m afraid he’ll die before we leave an we have to cancel at the last minute. I feel guilty for hoping he doesn’t impact our trip. I feel guilty for being gone for 5 weeks and leaving my mom. I’m afraid I’ll miss something important and I feel guilty for even thinking of all these things.

We’ve bought the travel insurance. I’ve made sure that I can be reached any time for any reason (even as simple as mom calling to tell me who won Jeopardy! or what silly thing happened at the market.) I’ve made all my plans. The fickleness of life is the only variable. The one thing I cannot control.

Where does that leave me? Fear and guilt.

Filed Under: ALZ, Alzheimer's Disease, Family, Italy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Family, Frank and Finale.

December 6, 2011 By 12 Comments
finale

By its very nature, Charcuterie is a slow food. Preparing to make it takes time, actually making it takes time and it takes time to wait until it’s ready to eat. There is nothing about the process that can be considered quick. Just think about it, even making the least time-consuming sausage takes a couple hours, lots of energy and counter space.

This past year has been a year of enlightenment and great tactile pleasure in the creation of our own Charcuterie. Even the failure of the first Duck Prosciutto taught us a great lesson on procurement and quality of the starting ingredients…after all, without a good start, the end can be no better.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: ALZ, Charcutepalooza, Cooking, Family, Food Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Bresaola on my Mind

December 1, 2011 By 7 Comments
bresaolasmall

This month’s Charcutepalooza challenge was all about curing a hunk of meat. Fully convinced that I didn’t have an appropriate space to hang meat for 3-4 weeks, I figured I was finally unable to complete a challenge. Right at the end, too. Rotten luck.

However, in thinking it out amidst all my whining, I realized I did have the perfect place to cure it, I’d just have to be organized (that’s not as easy for me as it is for others.) My husband had recently gotten a keg/fermenting fridge and had vacated my single door, glass-front fridge in our garage for his own, greener pastures. We hooked up a temperature controller and a hygrometer (something to measure humidity) and I got to work. Knowing full well that I would need that fridge by Thanksgiving, I naturally waited until the last possible minute to get my meat curing.

And cure I did, after all I had the whole refrigerator to myself. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Charcutepalooza, Cooking, Family, Food, Italy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Lady Galantine’s Lover

October 15, 2011 By 4 Comments
daphne

I saw her from across the room. She was perfection. Studying her grace, elegance and beauty, I wanted her. Badly. I didn’t care if she was alone and I didn’t care that others wanted her; she would be mine. Mine to ravish.

I reached her side as she quietly sat there, in the coolness of the morning. She was covered in goose bumps as if she were shivering; as if she knew she was out of place. I knew I could help her…I knew I could make her feel more comfortable in her own skin.  Most of all, I knew she and I were meant to be together. It was kismet. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Charcutepalooza Tagged With: , , ,

A Duck Walks Into a Bar …

September 15, 2011 By 2 Comments
platterweb

A duck walks into a bar. And he says to the bartender “Got any cherries?” The bartender says “No, I don’t have any cherries.” The duck walks out, sorely disappointed.

So the next day, he walks back into the bar, asks the same question, gets the same answer.

The day after, he walks back into the bar, and again, asks the bartender, “Do you have any cherries?” The bartender, having still not figured out why this duck seems to think he may have some grapes, says to the duck, “No, and if you come back in here tomorrow and ask me if I have any cherries, I will nail your bill to the bar!”

The duck frowns, turns around, and walks out of the bar. So the next day, the duck walks back into the bar, and asks the bartender “Got any nails?”

The bartender says, “No.”

So the duck says, “Got any cherries?”


Silliness aside, ducks and cherries are perfect together. Just like ham and cheese. Just like fall and pumpkins and just like football and snacks. Football and snacks. A perfect match and two things my family takes very seriously. We don’t just watch games, we live them. Football watching is verbal, aerobic and darned near a contact sport. We wait for football season all year long and mourn its end every February. Such passion needs great snacks and this month’s challenge fit perfectly with the beginning of football season.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Charcutepalooza, Food, Wine Tagged With:
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