Thank you, WordPress. This NY gal never thought she’d be the top post on your Marty Robbins blog. It’s a long story but I have to thank husband Jim, his Nanny, PDXKnitterati, Juni Fisher and that little cowboy Joseph. Thanks, y’all for some fine family music memories. I dedicate this gift to Jim, because today is his birthday and he sang El Paso in a restaurant in Scotland at our going-away party that started everything….
Cheers, y’all come back now, hear? Dee
I just bought myself “Save The Deli” by David Sax. Checking up on recent Amazon orders, tracking packages, I was sent ten top cookbooks by Amazon and had to check them out. Especially since it mentioned there may be one good deli here in Mormon Country.
Deli was not what I grew up with, in a small village in upstate New York. It was after college that I learned about bagels. I read about how they were made and know the feel and taste of a really good one. I also knew when our Irish assistant bought “bagels” for our legislative committee that included several NYC Jewish bagel experts (she also bought a bagel slicer, laughingstock of the meeting) I told her they were not bagels at all but rolls with a hole in the middle. I explained the water bath process yet she insisted on serving them for breakfast. What did they say? “These aren’t bagels, they’re rolls with a hole in the middle!” ‘Nuff said.
I did get to Dairy Planet in NYC once, for pierogies. Stage Deli, Carnegie Deli. In Texas I had to go to Katz’s every couple of months for a hot pastrami on rye and one latke. Sour cream and applesauce. Once I made matzoh ball soup with a NYTimes recipe that called for 1T vodka. I’ve tried for 20 years to find the recipe again as those were the lightest matzoh balls I’ve ever had. Very delicate. No luck.
Digressing from my story as I become more excited and hungry for deli foods I’ll tell you that my first adventure into smoked meats was in Montreal. My mother grew up there, and Ben’s was their favorite Deli. There are family stories of sweethearts meeting there for the first time. It was a big deal in the Depression (the 30′s, not this one). Smoked meat was a treasure my dear Aunt Joan used to buy and make at home for us, steaming it until just warm and serving it on good rye bread with deli mustard. When I was old enough I’d go to Ben’s when visiting and add a Molsen Ale to that order. The book I just ordered, when it arrives, may tell me more of the smoked meat tradition in Canada (Montreal) but I find it much more delicate than pastrami or corned beef.
Now a funny bit: a lady asked the butcher at a local grocer for corned beef for her father-in-law who was visiting. We’re talking Utah! Even in TX they sell corned beef “kits” to cook at home, plus mesquite brisket that I miss terribly. The butcher couldn’t think of a source around here for good deli meats. Hot pastrami, rye bread, deli mustard, a pickle, a latke. I can almost smell it. My husband got a car for Christmas. I got a music book. Perhaps he can find me a sandwich… Cheers! Dee
Morning in the mountains, sunrise during or after I walk Zoe. Sometimes I rush home just to get the camera. We don’t have a tree. Jim’s allergic so we’ve never had one, so this year we have a red and gold jingle bell wreath in the front hallway and an evergreen wreath on the front door.
Our front door is at least 9′ tall and made of knotty alder. Beautiful! Don’t worry, we didn’t put a nail in it! We got an evergreen and pinecone wreath from Whole Foods and decorated it with just a few ornaments. Ornaments were always sacred in our family. We each got one every year then when we left home we got our own in a box to take to college or work thereafter. I’ve tried to get themed ornaments for Jim and me over the years, starting with wooden painted stockings, right up to the Scottish ones I bought while we were there. Everything is in storage. Thus the wreath.
When we first came to Utah earlier this year, we had no idea how long we’d stay or where we’d live. Early on we passed a gift shop with all kinds of Utah items and I found ornaments. Since Jim has actually gone fly fishing, he’s the moose on the trout, I’m the bear on the sled. This weekend we found one for Zoe and one for the family. Zoe’s is a hand-knit mitten and ours is a star made of recycled glass, both from the Swaner EcoCenter down the road.
I know you always love photos, and I haven’t been taking many lately. As for wildlife, I’ve seen a few geese over the past few weeks, nothing else. As long as we’re here, I’ll keep an eye on the Preserve and perhaps get you a photo of moose or elk. Cheers! Dee
Big buy this weekend, snow tires for Jim’s “new” car that arrived last week. We’re supposed to get another snow dump tonight and tomorrow and the tire store was not crowded with holiday shoppers at all! It took me 20 minutes to drive two miles home, however, because cars were lined up for a mile to get to the outlet mall nearby. Jim wants a boot for snow, but we’re not going near Columbia or Bass or Track & Trail until AFTER the day after Christmas.
With the frig and freezer full to bursting I’ve taken to keeping mineral water and some juices in the garage. Imagine a one-car garage filled with eight all-season tires and other sundry items and adding refrigerator items? It’s time to shop the refrigerator! There are no traffic jams between my desk (the dining room table) and the frig.
On Saturday I made a comforting cauliflower-cheese soup. We had a cup of it with dinner Saturday night and it was the mainstay of last night’s dinner. There’s a new bakery down the street and I bought a sliced loaf of gorgeous Pumpernickel bread. My Friday delivery included a package of Dietz & Watson smoked Black Forest ham. And I had some extra-sharp Vermont cheddar on hand. I sliced the cheese thinly, put a very thin layer of butter inside the bread with some grainy mustard, and placed the cheese on both sides of the bread with two slices of ham in between, buttered the outside and grilled it until it was all toasty and melted. It was great!
I told Jim I’m going to come up with some new soups and we’ll do an interesting soup and sandwich combo for dinner one night a week, at least during the winter months. The mountains look gorgeous up here, and ski season is nearly in full swing. We’re thinking of trying cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. There’s a six-foot wide trail right at our back door and it’s not plowed during the winter, it’s groomed, so XC skiers glide by during the day and it’s a sight to see. We wouldn’t glide at first, we’d probably be on the ground or trying to prevent ourselves from falling down! I’m thinking snowshoes might not be a bad thing to have around when it comes to walking Zoe in new snow.
Jim has two days off this week (yea!) for a four-day weekend. We’re spending Christmas Eve with friends and Christmas Day together. I’ve ordered a rack of lamb and will make a simple meal. With my family, I was always too busy to go to a blockbuster movie during the day, but my brother and sister always found the time… This year we make our own traditions and decisions. Jim got a car and snow tires for his birthday (the 23rd) and Christmas. I still have a “cranberry tree” and some hors d’oeuvres to make. That said, I can’t wait for the new movie “Crazy Heart” to come out nationally, as it’s now in NYC and LA. It may inspire me to get back to the guitar. Jeff Bridges already has a Golden Globe nomination for portraying a down and out country singer. Can’t wait!
In the meantime I have taken out the guitar not to practice but to figure out a few Christmas tunes and find easier chords for Edelweiss for the nieces as that song has been requested by my brother-in-law. I’ve also been toying with the keyboard. We gave the girls my first guitar, which they’ve already opened, and they have yet to see the Yamaha keyboard (same as mine) that we mistakenly sent to their grandparents house so they’ll get that in a few days, finally a surprise!
Music and cooking, holiday spirit, and lots of snow. We miss our families and old friends this time of year, in this new place. Wishing you well, Dee
You probably haven’t learned yet that everything that goes around, comes around. Oh, you must be focused on the past. Something was missing in your life. Now it’s the present and something is gone from your heart. Perhaps it’s bad times, the economy, or perhaps family situations that cause great stress.
Will that the future beckons and allows you to be kind to your fellow humans, treat them with the respect and kindness they deserve and your heart will grow and your life will change for the better. * * *
There are many versions of A Christmas Carol, some I’ve seen on stage, some in the movies. There’s also the Grinch version that I love (the original cartoon). I’ve known several Scrooge’s in my lifetime and wish them well. Some are lonely or depressed, they come to our table for Christmas dinner. Some are spiteful or hateful for no reason and there is no getting through to them. May they find some hope in their lives to change and know that they’ll be forgiven and welcomed, perhaps even into the lives of those they’ve emotionally hurt.
I wish you love and peace this holiday season, hope you are with loved ones and, hey, you, those cookies were meant for after dinner! Cheers, Dee
Posted in Editorial
Luckily we’ve been regularly donating food, through recognized programs, for the past few months. Money for specific items, not food from our stores. Perhaps it’s a feeling that everything’s OK for a while. Earlier this year, I wrote about eating from our pantry and winnowing down foodstuffs in case we had to move. Last minute, before we left, I brought up a student neighbor and gave her three beef filets from our freezer. As they were individually frozen they were small and got pushed to the back and there was no way I was going to toss them out and no way we could take them with us on our journey.
Full Frig
This approximates what our frig/freezer looks like today. The freezer is the worst. The ice maker takes up at least 1/3, dog food 1/4, bread 1/4 and the rest frozen… stuff. Our organic delivery schedule is changing but we keep up the milk in glass bottles, apple and orange juice. Our pantry is pretty well stocked, too, but a lot of it is herbs and spices, flour and sugar and tea. Perhaps we should take a lesson from earlier this year and start seeing how long we can go on current stores.
Oh, today, the company who delivers milk and juice et al sent us a complimentary pumpkin pie, which I found a spot for in the freezer. I’ve never liked pumpkin pie, but am sure a neighbor will. We’ve 5# of pecans from NE Texas from Jim’s folks, ratatouille left over from summer, cranberry bread for bread pudding, ten-grain bread for toast and sandwiches, store-bought pound cake for trifle. Oh, and a new bakery opened up down the street so I bought a fresh loaf of Pumpernickel bread and Jim won’t eat it so I’ll take a slice or two at a time out of the freezer for me.
For Christmas, I ordered a rack of lamb, even though I now remember at the farmers’ market a few weeks ago I bought a “culotte” of lamb that needs to be thawed and used. No, I’m not a hoarder. Perhaps a bit of it has crept in not knowing what our first winter in this climate will be like. I have boots and coats and hats and gloves for mix and match depending upon the weather, and Jim just got his used AWD sedan that will be great once we get snow tires. We’re pretty much set to go but I worry about blizzards and power outages and all the stuff we had back in TX (OK, there it was hurricanes instead of blizzards).
And we probably have 1/5 of the stuff Jim’s mother has on hand at any given moment, and there are only two parents at home now. She shops her own freezer. One time we visited I opened the large chest freezer in the mud room and found a black plastic bag, huge and filled! I was trying to find a place to put our dog’s frozen food and just hoping this wasn’t a dead animal or something like that from the farm. Turns out it was filled with local pecans that needed to be shelled and picked. Now that’s an operation to see, Jim’s Mom and Dad as a well-oiled machine cracking and picking the pecans. The few I was able to do looked dreadful and it took an hour for me to get a quart bag with skin and shell and it was useless.
I admire people who can amass food for any contingency, such as Margie, Jim’s mother. I’m more of a day-to-day planner unless there’s a special event or weekend or week when we have guests. Also people who know more than anyone else about a given subject, whether it be catching a fish, cooking a fish, raising Angus beef, picking pecans, excising my dog’s hips, creating a dance company or setting up the financial wherewithal for a home for Alzheimers patients. Writing a poem or play, composing an opera, building the first Mercury spacecraft or first bicycle or airplane.
In the future, I’ll try to do better at things I do better than most, and those I do not. This year has brought us so many changes it would be tough to make a New Year’s resolution right now. Can I make Zoe wear dog booties? Who knows, as Margie has sewn four of them to keep her paws from being eaten by salt on the sidewalks/roads so we’ll see, that’s a resolution I may be able to keep. Cheers, Dee
Posted in Editorial
Thanks for reading and writing in. I hope my first full year of posts was informative and, at times, even inspirational. As a child I was too shy to speak my mind and unsure of how to express myself through words. In my thirties I started speaking out, and there was a lot to say aloud and through negotiating and opining upon issues about many things I believe in. After a few letters to the editor were published in our local paper and others in the NYTimes, I was floored! I tried bad poetry but the best I could do was an ode to my husband-to-be shortly after we met. Of course I didn’t show it to him!
My husband and I don’t buy each other birthday or Christmas gifts. This blog was his gift to me 1 1/2 years ago and it has inspired me to do the best I can to reach out and learn from others, talk to people, find out how our soldiers’ parents are doing, what people are cooking or even knitting (that’s for you, girl) or playing on the guitar. For someone who cringed at the thought of a class called “creative writing” I still don’t know if I can do that. I tell stories. Like some people, some of my stories have morals.
We’re alone this Christmas, not such a bad thing. I’ve ordered a rack of lamb and will make scalloped potatoes, spinach with garlic and olive oil (spinaci aglio e olio), and braised carrots. That’s what I think now, anyway, that I’ll marinate the lamb in olive oil, thyme, rosemary and garlic then roast it on high heat.
We moved halfway across the country from all our family for a job. We will spend time with them, and several have already ventured out here to visit so we don’t feel so bad about not flying to see two families this Christmas. In the meantime, I wish you and your family every happiness and hope you enjoy your time together. It’s not about gifts, it’s about family. Cheers, Dee
I wish you warmth and comfort and family memories not only during the holidays, but all of the year.
Last night my husband and I had the good fortune to attend a holiday concert ably performed by the University of Utah Singers under the direction of Dr. Brady R. Allred, conductor. It was held in the beautiful St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church down the road apiece.
Now this is what a choir is supposed to sound like! I only made it through two years of high school chorus and we didn’t sound anything like this. My favorites were an interesting amalgam of Lo, How A Rose (from the traditional hymn) and The Rose, the song popularized by Bette Midler. Also, Three Nativity Carols (The Holly And The Ivy, This Endris Night, and Wonder Tidings).
The cookies were wonderful and the brownies, sinfully delicious. I didn’t get to the cocoa but it certainly smelled heavenly. Thank you, U of U friends, for inviting us to this concert that would have put even old Ebeneezer in a holiday mood! Cheers, Dee
Yesterday
We’re learning about how fragile life is up on the mountain. Jim assembled a winter “kit” for me at Wally World yesterday (jumper cables, flashlight, food, blanket, tow rope) only to have it snow again today and steal my car to get to work down the hill. Our absent neighbors’ pipes burst the other night and flooded two homes, thankfully not ours.
Jim needed better shoes/boots for the weather and I wanted to get to the local outlet mall when it opened because of the holiday shoppers and weekend craziness. We didn’t arrive until after eleven but due to heavy snow, the place was empty. No luck on the boots. Our dog didn’t know how to do her “business” in the deep snow, so just bounded through it and had a blast.
We’ve been in good and bad corporate housing. Several things distinguish where we are now from past digs. We’re used to the four cups, four forks… routine. This place has a vase, covered butter dish, sugar and creamer china. Games for rainy and snowy days. We have become comfortable here and I feel safe in the snow. I’d feel safer with all-wheel drive and snow tires (my car) but that situation should be fixed by the end of the week when Jim’s AWD vehicle arrives.
Take care in the winter weather. Don’t drive like a crazy person in the mall parking lot trying to get that last toy on sale! Try to spend more time with your family on Christmas day and less time slaving over a hot stove. Stay warm. Cheers, Dee
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