Daily Archives: November 23, 2008

An Old Fashioned Holiday

Posted on November 23, 2008 by tdl1501| 3 Comments

I’m getting into the spirit of the season with a weekend of cooking and preparing for Thanksgiving, plus a new holiday CD, Loreena McKennitt’s “A Midwinter Night’s Dream.”

Right now there’s a Cornish game hen (which I just learned is neither Cornish nor game, thanks Barbara Kafka, author of “Roasting” which is on my essential cookbooks list) perfuming our place.  I wanted mashed potatoes and Jim wanted baked.  So he picked out french fries instead.  I’ll saute some cherry tomatoes to go with everything.

NOTE: Jim’s brother John can read this but I’ll spoil the fun for the kids if they read it so BEWARE!!!

We don’t buy each other Christmas gifts and Thanksgiving is the real holiday for Jim’s family.  Everyone is tightening their belts this year so we thought we’d go back to basics and give the kids a gift to keep at their grandparents so that they do more than watch tv when they visit.

John’s three children range from age 6-12.  Youngest to oldest, but with hopes they’ll be shared with us and Grandma Margie and Grandpa Joe, are Tinker Toys, Jenga and Scrabble.  We had fun shopping for them today and hope they’ll be enjoyed for years.

If they want Monopoly they can have ours which has only been used twice.  Jim and I bought it on New Year’s Eve the first year we met, 2002.  He bought Park Place and Boardwalk and put hotels on them.  I paid for two hotels on them and landed on them every time around.  That $200 for passing “Go” didn’t even buy a gallon of gas.

Second time my sister Lisa was visiting and no matter how many times we lent each other money or mortgaged or traded properties, he wiped the floor with us.  From now on it’s Scrabble or Backgammon.  No more Monopoly.

My Mom had the turntable Scrabble with raised spaces for the tiles, which I couldn’t find today.  When we’d play as kids she had the original worn wooden tiles and we shook them in a purple Crown Royal velvet (?) bag.  I always thought the bag was beautiful but had no clue what Crown Royal was!  Mom was the master of the triple word score, and I believe she passed that on to my youngest sister (Happy Birthday Lisa!).  I probably won’t play that one with her.  Dee has a score of 31 and Lisa has 168.  Great.

Anyway, we’re going back to basics and look forward to some family fun this weekend.  Christmas is on our own, and we look forward to catching up with the family this year.  Happy Thanksgiving!  Dee

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French Onion Soup Bowls

Posted on November 23, 2008 by tdl1501| 2 Comments

I had a request for a photo of the lion-handled soup bowls by Emile Henry but couldn’t add them as a comment.  So here they are, PDX!

Soup Bowls

Soup Bowls

They’re pricey at Sur La Table, but I look forward to making Julia Child’s master recipe for Jim soon.  Dee

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Harris County Brides

Posted on November 23, 2008 by tdl1501| Leave a comment

I’m really not a fan of Rachael Ray on TV Food Network.  She really bugs me, and does even more because her site won’t let me say Thank You!

Apparently she helped a number of couples, whose weddings were compromised by Hurricane Ike, get married at Minute Maid Park.

The focus is always on Louisiana and Galveston, but perhaps her show has put Harris County on the map.  Yes, people in Harris County lost their homes and were without power or water for days or weeks.

We were gone after the storm for a week so didn’t have to touch down and get gas until the crisis was over, but it was a trip going shopping in the dark in my local groceries and buying fruit in the parking lot of another.

I hope these couples are happy and will live good lives together.  Dee

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Sharing

Posted on November 23, 2008 by tdl1501| Leave a comment

We believe in sharing meals, knowledge and books.  Friends brought back two cookbooks after ordering one, Deborah Madison’s The Savory Way (see cookbooks on my site).

They’re trying to cook healthier, which is a good thing as they just adopted a newborn two weeks ago.  He is tiny and loud and precious above all.  And they make a happy family, about to move into their new house.

Unfortunately, we only get our baby fix through friends and family and are looking forward to meeting the three new ones this year at Thanksgiving.  At least one more is on the way.

If the men spend their day watching football and playing Risk; the ladies prep, cook, serve and clean all day long.  They should be allowed to hold a baby or push a swing for a few minutes between chores.  Or neuter a stray cat.  Yeah, only one lady is allowed to do that and it’s our dog’s hip surgeon, Val the Vet.

Otherwise it’s general mayhem and Stevie, love that he is, always has a project.  I’m looking forward to it.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Dee

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French Onion Soup

Posted on November 23, 2008 by tdl1501| 6 Comments

Julia Child’s recipe is the best.  This soup does take time and attention.  It is featured in The Way To Cook, reference it in cookbooks on my site.

I spent my life savings to go to cooking school at ICE, Institute for Culinary Education.  Back then it was Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School (aka PKU).  After grade school, middle school, high school and a college degree it was my favorite school experience.

Graduation was dependent upon an internship (unpaid) for four weeks.  They tried to set me up at a yacht club in New Rochelle where I was supposed to microwave hot dogs for bratty four year-olds.  I didn’t see my life savings going in a good way with that offer.

So I drove to California and worked for Margaret Fox at Cafe Beaujolais, 5-gallon bucket at my feet to catch carrot peels that the organic farmers picked up every night.  Fresh-caught Pacific salmon to cook for staff meal.  Freshly picked chanterelles delivered to our door.  A view of red chard and the Pacific ocean from the sink.  Work for free?  If I could have afforded it I would have paid Margaret.  As it was rentals (cabin and car) took nearly all the money I had and the rest went to wood for the stove which only burned until about 2:00 a.m.

I worked nearly every station in that month, while I nearly froze in my country cabin.  I spent a lot of time in the Brickery, with a wood-fired pizza oven.  While there I had a large sink to wash salad greens and keep my hands clean at all times.  There was a beautiful vegetable garden there and a view of the Pacific Ocean.  There were always challenges at hand and I learned a great deal and taught younger cooks a bit as well.

After meeting Diana Kennedy and having terrific learning experiences in the kitchen, I drove to my new home in southern California.  I got a job at a four-star hotel and was given the pants and jacket of a 300-lb. man, pants to be held up by a rope.  I worked there for two days, scraping cheese off lion-headed French onion soup bowls after they’d gone through the dishwasher.

Sixteen hours, then I quit.  I broke my finger after interviewing for another job, which I was offered but couldn’t use my knives for six weeks.

So, when I bought these two Emile Henry lion-head soup bowls for Jim and me today it was with some trepidation.  Most of the labels came off, but I had to soak a few for a while and scrape them with fingernails and it brought back memories.

They’re clean now, and in a good place so that in a few weeks if I want to make Julia’s French onion soup with croutons and gruyere, I’m ready.  Always ready for the next challenge.  Cheers!  Dee

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