Jan 24
I saw the first daffodil in bloom on Friday. I think this is about as early as I’ve seen it happen. (Apologies to my friends digging out from the snowstorm.) The rate things are going, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival north of us may need to be moved up to March.
A view of the tulips on display at Roozengaarde in 2013.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/24/i-dont-mean-to-gloat-but/
Jan 24
I’ve lived through my share of snowstorms, having grown up in the Snow Belt of upstate NY. My benchmark storm was the blizzard of 1966. Between 9 feet of snowfall (yes, you read that right) and high winds, we had six snow days in a row off school. We lived at the foot of a hill, and the snowplows couldn’t break through the wall of snow at the top of the hill for days. This offered a great opportunity for my sister and me to use the road for sledding without any pesky cars in the way. We carried our aluminum saucer sleds up the hill, and down we’d fly. After several days of this, even we got stir-crazy away from school. Finally the snowplow was able to bust through the snow wall, and we were back to our normal routines.
Some of the more memorable snowstorms of my adult life occurred in places where snow isn’t common. A month before we moved from North Carolina to Seattle, we had a snowstorm where we lost power for two days. One night we heated Lean Cuisines in the gas grill for dinner. Seattle doesn’t get much in the way of snow, but all hell breaks loose when it does.
So what can one do when snowed in? Cook and/or bake. The gas grill and a Coleman stove saved our bacon when our power went out. I made bagels during another snowstorm when school was closed. A pot of soup or chili is a natural thing to make in nasty weather. You can couple it with cleaning out the produce bin of excess carrots, onion, and celery. Make plenty so you can have leftovers for lunch once the plows come through and you can go back to work.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/24/snowstorms/
Jan 23
Here’s another contribution from my friend Michele.
Eight or ten years ago I started buying these absolutely delicious medjool dates from Israel. They are fat, tender, and outrageously sweet. Can’t eat too many at a time. We mash these dates with crushed nuts to fill hamantaschen and thin mashed dates for dipping apple slices and hallah at Rosh Hashana. In November, while reading Jerusalem, A Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (Ten Speed Press, 2012), I came across a recipe for “Baby spinach salad with dates & almonds.” The photo shows red onion, bits of nuts, pita, and dates sprinkled over baby spinach. Inspired, I determined to have this salad “pre-plated” in front of each seat at my Thanksgiving table before the guests sat down.
My daughter, who’s not a big salad fan, objected. She’d rather a salad that she likes: how about tomatoes chopped with red onion and avocado? First objection: neither tomatoes nor avocado were in season in November. Ok, so avocados are never in season in NY state. And while we eat bushels of tomatoes when they are in season, I refuse to buy the pale colored crunchy things that pass for tomatoes the rest of the year. Second objection: I wanted to try the date salad. Yes, we could offer both, but then they would need to be in serving bowls and I really wanted the color on top of each dinner plate in advance.
The compromise: mixed greens (mesclun) lightly dressed with lemon juice and olive oil on each plate in advance and two bowls of “salad toppings:” (1) dates and red onion macerated in wine vinegar with toasted pecans and (2) tomatoes chopped with red onion and avocado, drizzled with lemon juice to deter browning.
The surprise: most people took both toppings, on either side of their plate of greens. Including my daughter.
Moral: All in season is better, but sometimes you just have to compromise!
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/23/dates-and-compromises/
Jan 21
I have a weird memory for music. Sometimes a song I haven’t heard in years will suddenly pop into my head, complete with lyrics and the right musical arrangement. The scientific term for this phenomenon is earworm. I prefer to think of it as my internal iTunes.
There are bad earworms and good earworms. The bad ones are sappy pop tunes where the choruses can run through my brain for days. An example of good earworms occurred in the last two weeks, after learning of the deaths of David Bowie and Glenn Frey. I’ll admit that I don’t know much of Bowie’s oeuvre, but “Space Oddity”, “Changes”, “Young Americans”, and “Under Pressure” came to mind. This week the internal iTunes featured “New Kid in Town”, “Desperado”, “Best of My Love”, “Lying Eyes” , and “Heartache Tonight”. After seeing the latest Bernie Sanders political ad, the complete version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” appeared.
Tomorrow I’ll probably return to something more aggravating. I don’t dare mention an example, lest it get stuck in my internal iTunes for days.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/21/the-internal-itunes/
Jan 17
It’s a good thing I didn’t participate. Donald Trump would have given me an epic hangover. He was mentioned more than any of the other terms combined.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/17/democratic-debate-drinking-game-postmortem/
Jan 17
Julian said, “I may need hard liquor for this.” So we devised a drinking game. Not that I’m going to have any alcohol, since I had a beer mourning the Seahawks’ loss.
Income Inequality: Take a drink.
Progressive: Take a drink.
Top 1%: Take a drink.
Donald Trump: Two shots. (Julian made the universal sign of a pistol to the temple.)
Results later.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/17/democratic-debate-drinking-game/
Jan 15
We were out celebrating Julian’s birthday last night, so we didn’t watch the Republican debate. I read about the disparagement of New York values by Senator Ted Cruz, and my native Upstate New Yorker blood commenced to boil. First, I don’t want my values conflated with Donald Trump’s. Second, I lived in Dallas for 10 years and got a glimpse of some of the worst of Texas values by their politicians. This isn’t to disrespect my friends who are from Texas and who still live there. However, let’s compare and contrast New York values versus Texas values in a few areas:
Highest-Paid State Employee
New York: The chief of Gynecologic Oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, ~$500,000
Texas: The University of Texas football coach, $5.1 million
Source: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/09/11/highest-paid-employee-in-each-state/
Percent Uninsured, Adult
New York 8.7%
Texas 19.06% (highest in US)
Percent Uninsured, Children
New York 3.26%
Texas 11.03% (highest in US)
Source: https://wallethub.com/edu/rates-of-uninsured-by-state-before-after-obamacare/4800/
Minimum Wage
New York $9.00/hour
Texas $7.25/hour
Source: http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx
Yes, I cherrypicked these statistics. (Who doesn’t?) These reflect MY New York values.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/15/i-got-your-new-york-values-right-here-bubba/
Jan 14
I’m not one who subscribes to feeding my friends only pre-tested recipes. I’ve experimented on my family and friends so many times that they should sign consent forms every time I feed them.
As luck would have it, about the time I uploaded Michele’s post I got an email from our mutual former roommate Suzanne. (I took Michele’s room in the apartment when she graduated.) Suzanne’s son is working his way through music school at Boston University at a gourmet grocery store called Pantry, and had one of his recipes featured on the website. By sheer coincidence, it’s a recipe for chicken with figs, polenta, and arugula.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/14/postscripts-to-tasty-rules/
Jan 13
I lived in North Carolina and Texas for many years, but never tried shrimp and grits until we moved to the Northwest. Most recipes I’ve seen involve obscene amounts of bacon fat, butter, and cream. I may work with cardiologists and heart surgeons, but I don’t want to become one of their patients. So I produced a quick gemisch with what I had hanging around the fridge:
I made grits for two people, using chicken broth as the liquid. I altered the ratio of liquid to grits to keep them a bit on the thin side. Adding salt wasn’t necessary, thanks to the broth. While the grits were cooking, I frizzled up some Canadian-style bacon in a nonstick pan. I removed the bacon, added a little olive oil, and briefly sautéed a shallot. I then threw some peeled, deveined shrimp into the pan. I cooked them until they were cooked, adding a little Cajun seasoning along the way. Just before serving, I grated some Parmesan cheese and stirred it into the grits. The shrimp and grits were served with steamed kale. This was a relatively quick dinner, since I used quick grits.
This dish can be gemisched in a number of ways. The shrimp mixture can be augmented with bell pepper, celery, or tomatoes. Cheddar cheese can be substituted for Parmesan. Ham can be substituted for bacon. Even vegetarians can use vegetable broth in the grits and red beans or black-eyed peas in place of the meat. Of course, then it’s beans and grits.
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/13/shrimp-and-grits/
Jan 13
From time to time I’ll post content from others. Julian’s already posted one or two items. Today’s feature is by my longtime friend Michele. Enjoy!
I’ve tried to teach my daughter the rule of thumb that the first time you make a recipe, you should follow it exactly, to see how it is supposed to taste. After that, feel free to tweak. Of course, some recipes are easier to tweak than others – pastry being the hardest.
There’s another “rule,” so I understand, that says something about not trying recipes for the first time for company. What if it fails? Won’t this be embarrassing on two levels: the food isn’t tasty and guests might go home hungry? (I suppose that embarrassment could work the other way: guests would be too embarrassed not to eat and, thus, go home full albeit not satisfied.)
But, as many people have done before, I brazenly ignored both these “rules” last Thanksgiving. I wanted to serve the traditional sweet potatoes, but not plain baked (too boring) and I’ve never understood the appeal of sweet potato casseroles. Fortunately, Jerusalem, A Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi (Ten Speed Press, 2012) offered a recipe for “Roasted sweet potatoes & fresh figs.” The supporting text rhapsodizes on the glories—and availability—of fresh figs in Jerusalem, and reports that the success of this dish “wholly depends… on the figs being sweet, moist, and perfectly ripe.”
Yes… well… I live in the northeast (no local figs, ever) and it’s winter, so what the heck. I bought a pint of dried black mission figs from Trader Joe’s and forged ahead. The result was wonderful, and my guests thought so too!
So, the heck with cooking rules! Tasty rules!
Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2016/01/13/tasty-rules/
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