Cooking with Dee

Extinction

July 4, 2009 · 2 Comments

Dad sent an email today with a lot of things expected to expire in the near future.  Unfortunately for Jim’s family, #1 on this list is The Family Farm.  Also included are VCR’s, answering machines, land lines, yellow pages, ham radio licenses (Jim has one and, of course, had to learn Morse Code for it) and others.

One that saddens me is the Cheapeake Bay Blue Crab.  Years ago my roomate and good friend Liz moved to Washington, D.C. and the very first weekend she was there she asked me to come down.  Yes, I’d lived in D.C. so I wouldn’t need to go to any monuments or stuff like that!  We went to the market and got a bunch of Maryland Blue Crabs, some Old Bay seasoning.  We got to her place and covered the dining table with butcher paper, she started water boiling and brought out a couple of small mallets.

If you ever want to lose weight, start on a diet of blue crabs.  From what I recall (this was 25 years ago) you could pound away at the legs and perhaps get a teaspoon of meat from each crab.  But what we did get was delicious.

I don’t mind losing certain technologies because newer and better ones came along.  But newer and better trees and seafood will not come along so we have to think about what we’re doing to our planet.  That’s not because I’m living in an eco-friendly place, which I am.  I just want to think more about what we eat and all the pollution we’re creating that is killing us and our food supply.  And no, I’m not going vegan again.  Only did that 2 months and by cutting everything out I realized what was bothering me, so it worked.  At different ages our bodies change and can no longer deal with some things we love, even if they’re healthy.  Cheers!  Dee

Categories: Editorial
Tagged: ,

Happy 4th!

July 4, 2009 · 3 Comments

We went to Old Town today and saw some of the parade and had lunch.  Then we went to see Public Enemies, the film with Johnny Depp as John Dillinger.  It was long (they could have cut at least 20 minutes if not more) but good.  I was mesmerized by the cinematography and costumes.  The detail in a regular guy wearing high-waisted wool pants with suspenders or the head G-Man (not Hoover) and his suit were incredible.

I got a good deal on chicken breasts today so made fajitas.  They were really good.  First time I’ve made them here, with large flour tortillas, and one pan instead of two.  I’m sure I gave you my made-up recipe!  If not just ask for it.

I wore a new shirt today, country-style with snaps.  It’s white with red and blue paisley.  All for the Fourth.  And I put on Zoe’s flag-inspired bandanna but we didn’t get a photo.  The “big” fireworks were last night.  We ate dinner, watched a movie then put on sweaters and sat out on the bedroom balcony to see them for about 10-15 minutes.

Tonight there will be more fireworks in Old Town.  Jim’s asleep with Zoe and I’m here writing.  It’s nearly 9:30 but the sun goes down late here so it may be a while before they start.  Oh, I just heard one.

So we wore western garb to the hippie parade and ate Mexican (pseudo-Mex) food to celebrate July 4th.  Just wanted to make sure you got all that!  More later.  Thanks for reading and writing in and I hope pdxknitterati has a wonderful vacation.  All that knitting and cooking, she deserves it!  Dee

Categories: Editorial
Tagged:

Missing Things

July 4, 2009 · 1 Comment

I didn’t remember how big music was in my life, in my family’s life.  I gave it all up at age 12 and never took violin or piano again.  I did get a guitar for Christmas that year and played it for a few months with no lessons but C, G, D and E were all I could coax from it with no music or mentors.  So I led our little three-guitar band out on stage in eighth grade when 2/3 of the band was tone deaf.  How, I don’t know.  Perhaps with the grit I needed to get out there in my last school and sing the first stanza of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” solo.

I’m sure to be making my new teacher bonkers, because I pay him (aka I’m not a kid on the parent’s dime) and could do what I want.  He tries to do otherwise and succeeds often but that’s because I need to learn.  Every lesson I learn something new and remember songs I want to learn how to play.  So I download lyrics during the week and like to figure out and learn the chords myself.  He knows that so challenges me in other ways, every week.

Much better organized than my life or our receipts is my notebook.  It includes scales, chords, lessons, items in progress and a library.

But I didn’t tell you that this  week I played Dylan and Cash at our lesson.  My interest is in folk et al, country, acoustic guitar.  These songs are about love and life and loss.  When I’m at a loss playing one I think of the author/artist sitting at home with Mama eating pie or whatever Mama cooked.  Sitting there and wanting to play music with voice, guitar, mandolin, violin, or piano.  All to thank her for this wonderful gift.

I’m dedicating this blog entry to my guitar teacher, Douglas.  He plays bluegrass gospel, electric guitar.  Talented guy.  Sorry Bob D. but I have to give your man his due.  Same to Johnny C. for what comes next:

In the end “you gotta serve somebody.  Might be the devil, might be the Lord, but you  gotta serve somebody.” Cheers, Dee

** I believe Bob Dylan wrote this but it took hours to find it and his version and I finally have it on iTunes, along with two other singers.  Interesting journey.

Categories: Editorial · Music

Twitter

July 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment

A bon mot, perhaps

Is what Twitter was after

No luck this time ’round

* * *

Try Haiku.  This isn’t good, but some folks need to think before they speak.  Actually, that’s a good guideline for everyone, verbally and online and writing to your great-grandma.

My last blog was 650 words.  I can remember when my teachers required that in high school and college and 500 or 1,500 words was torture.  Now it’s a pleasure to write to you about good food and think of new ways to share thoughts and recipes.

Spurting out a few words about … Michael Jackson on Twitter is probably what someone can easily do on the John, oh now I get it!

With all the news these days on practically every channel, all MJ all the time, it’s a marvel that I wake up every morning to find out he’s still dead but not yet gone.  No, I’ve nothing against the artist Michael Jackson, but there are more important things going on in the world today than hearing that he’s dead every hour, every day on CNN et al.  How about U.S. job loss statistics?  Iran?  Iraq?

Yes, my culinary musings are an escape but I’m passionate about them.  A non-twitterer, let me try one:

steaks grt tonite, and fireworks. J/Z miss me xo d

Wrong terminology of course.  I prefer English.  Cheers and Happy 4th of July!  Dee

Categories: Editorial

Life

July 4, 2009 · 1 Comment

Patriotic Zoe

Patriotic Zoe

In the end, what one does with his/her life is what is most important.  Today, Jim had the day off (unpaid, of course because he’s a consultant).  We drove to the Big City to check out a country/western store where he got one shirt, I got three.  All had red, white or blue in them so each was 15% off.  They do also have golf bracelets available, which are not normally found.  I wear two, both magnetic.  Left hand eight 1,000 gauss magnets, right hand 11 magnets at 1,200 gauss apiece.  It holds at bay my arthritis, ten years at a time.

Then we went to get a gift for Jim’s Dad, had lunch at a local diner and headed back up the hill.  It took 1.5 hours to go 20 miles.  And I was very upset to get home (after dropping off Jim, who was snoozing in the car) after lines at the grocery and drycleaner, to find that my garage was blocked by a non-existent new neighbor who’s only here for the weekend but chose to park in front of our garage to unload.

All the while I was trying to remember why I’m here and what we’re doing.  SO, we had two lovely steaks on the grill, NY strip rubbed with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Organic frozen french fries.  Corn on the cob with sage butter.

Simplifying our life, especially after the 1.5 hour  commute, was a choice to see fireworks from our deck upstairs rather than brave traffic and parking once again.  A muted, brief fusillade came from The Canyons, then another community farther away let go with their brief barrage.  We’ve lived next door to the largest land-based fireworks in the US for five years so didn’t need to be underneath them to have a brief celebration or pre-celebration of our nation’s glory.  It was a few quiet moments watching in the distance with my love and our dog.

I put on my fishermans’ knit cardigan from the ladies in Oban, Scotland and it warmed me up twenty degrees.  It was perfect.

There is a tax for living here, though.  I put on my Utah plates today (Jim did but I went and did the inspection and got them) because I had to, so I now have a dual registration with our home state.  For a state that welcomes temporary residents it’s already cost us $200 for the car and $100 for the dog.  Do wives need to be registered?  Whoops, wrong state to ask that question.

Our bird cranes seem to have left as of a week ago, but construction cranes abound as they finish off this shopping paradise next door.  The great thing is that when it’s done we don’t need to see or hear anything.  The guest bedroom is loud during the day, especially when I open up in the morning to get cool air in to close off for the afternoon when it may get to 80+ outside.  Other windows look out on the nature preserve and aside from walkers, runners, strollers, and the like it’s quiet out there.

It’s good to have a bit of time to read.  I didn’t bring a single book with me and our neighbor just gifted me with her cookbook which I will read and review.  I’m no pastry chef so really appreciate what they are able and willing to do to further their art and science.

I’m thinking of a new feature for this blog.  Give me a day or two and I’ll flesh it out for you.  Meantime, read, write and recommend this blog to your foodie friends.  I dispensed with the ‘rithmatic so you owe me that one!   Cheers and Happy USA Birthday!

Categories: Editorial
Tagged: , , ,