The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

I'm not going to hit that thankful thing right away, rather meander over to it - consider yourself forewarned.

Today at work it was slooooow, and I did a far amount of reading on the interwebz.

Here's a sampling:
First, Can the Bulldog Be Saved? Good question. After reading the article, I needed to see what a Leavitt bulldog looked like, and ended up here: http://leavittbulldogassociation.com/

Then I looked at an American Bulldog for comparison. http://www.bulldoginformation.com/american-bulldog.html

I'm pretty sure that's the kind of dog my dad had - he LOVED that dog. It killed snakes.

My favorite, the Bull Terrier (the Target dog). http://www.terrificpets.com/dog_breeds/bull_terrier.asp

Tired of dogs now, I read about Demi Moore's past relationships in the Huffington Post, and about porn that women like in Slate.
Also at Slate, I perused several Dear Prudence articles, the pictures of the day, an article about Joan Didion's new book, learned the difference between macarons, macaroons and macaroni, and in 20 pies for 19 guests, found out what a Ecclefechan tart and a funeral pie was. Erm...is. Mmmmm, mincemeaty. (seems people either love or hate mincemeat pie. No mince middle ground. I am firmly in the lover of mince category.)

Keeping on the food trail, there's sweet potatoes and greens in the Durham paper. Here's how to make gluten free gravy as well as a couple of GF desserts: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/health-tips-from-the-thankgiving-help-line/

BPA in canned goods possibly a cause of diabetes: http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/local/hampden/study%3A-bpa-in-canned-foods-harmful

Elephants dying from drought in Zimbabwe: http://allafrica.com/stories/201111180028.html

At the LA Times (Europe section): Hugh Grant becoming the spokesperson of sorts for the phone hacking scandal; most British critics are loving Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher - if not the movie.

The Shadow Wolves were also in the LA Times.

But I think the best thing I read all day was this story on prison hospice.

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Mom is about the same. Her care rate went up about $1000 - but if they cut out a lot of her meds it will be about $500 instead. She often refuses to take them and it really doesn't matter if she takes her Plavix anymore.
A bill from UNC hospital came, says she owes about $1200. I'm not sure they submitted it to Tricare though.
Fiddle dee dee. Will deal with that on Monday.

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Who do these guys sound like?

This video is slightly creepy, but I like the song.

When I watch the video below I wonder what it would be like to look like this girl (oh yeah, she is a girl).
I think of power - the power of youth and sex appeal.

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Finally, the thanks giving part. I told you it would be a meander. One final article on the health benefits of gratitude: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/science/a-serving-of-gratitude-brings-healthy-dividends.html

A few days ago, I received an email from Local Harvest. The last paragraph said:
"A few months ago someone sent me a quotation from a Native American prayer which says, "Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." 
So may we express our gratitude around our Thanksgiving tables, for those blessings already manifest, and for the capacity to sustain the hope that what is needed is on its way."


Well said.

Thanks ya'll for the known and the unknown blessings.

Oh, And...

I have a new phone.

Still not sure I like it. I've already taken one [of the same phone] back because it went through the battery overnight when it wasn't doing anything.

Cons:
- I have zero reception at work in my windowless office. Or anywhere else at work for that matter, except the parking lot. While the other two people who are on the same freaking network/plan have coverage all over the place and come into my office talking on their phones to taunt me. Joshua, my reluctant BF over at the AT&T store, said I should get reception in my office - since other people do.

- It's a smartypants phone with a big screen - yet videos are crappier than they were on my smaller not smartypants phone. What's with that?!

Pros: 
It takes pretty good pictures.

Yesterday, after seeing it in the Southern Season weekly email, I bought some of this:

It is good but salty (lots of salt - 200 mg in 1 teaspoon); slathered some on my eggs this morning.
Figure it was offset by the lower sodium bacon.

I can see it pepping up soup or stews come winter. Or meatloaf.

Photos of the Day

On my walk at Booker Creek this morning, there was a blast of summer:

Last of the honeysuckle

Then some of the Gals met at in Pleasantville to get the low down on one of our own who was in the hospital last night after a possible heart attack. Enzyme tests say no. (yay!) She is home now and resting comfortably.

Three of us went out to Woodcrest Farm for the CSA, which is in a slight between season lull; there are still eggs, peppers, eggplants, melons, Roma tomatoes, and Tucker, the best, sweetest Border Collie ever. (no picture of him this time)

My first art purchase was a pastel of eggplants

Swiss Chard time again

After that CP and I went to Heavenly Garden Kingdom or Gourmet Garden or Holy Moly This is Good - a Chinese restaurant in Carrboro.
(real name is Gourmet Kingdom)

This is not your standard Americanized Chinese restaurant.
There was tripe, duck tongue, fish maw (great word!), lamb (not the first meat that comes to mind when thinking Chinese right?), Stinky tofu appetizer, and egg plan (hahaha).


We had the Salt and Pepper Prawns and Stir Fried Green Beans. We ate every last one of every last thing (no rice). The mystery stuff in the beans (which were delicious!) was pickled cabbage.
I stopped at the next table on the way out, embarrassing CP with her good Southern manners, and asked about their dishes. Tripe soup that looked amazingly good, (was informed it would be too hot for me), and the Pecan Prawns, those are on for next time.
(do you say pee-can or pa-con? I'm ambidextrous.)

This is going to be a European evening, meeting a friend at Saffron at 8 for dinner, then a movie at 9:45.

Friday Wrap-up

My next door neighbor's a nice girl. We share the garbage can and split the bill.
Her father has a brain tumor.
He's my age.
I can't stop thinking about it.
She told me yesterday that his scans don't look good, but they're getting to spend lots of time together.
In a weird way something like this is a blessing - because we have a chance to be with them, kinda wrap things up a bit. Something you don't get when they die suddenly.

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After work I wandered around Kohl's because there were not one, but two coupons - 20% off and $30 in Kohl's cash - burning a hole in my pocket. I'm not walking outta there without using them.
I avoided the Petite section since it makes me sad.

Feck off sad.

And it did, for a while.

After Kohl's I went to see Mom.

She was sitting outside with two other women, enjoying the not sweltering almost fall weather, having a conversation. Conversation is a relative term I guess, but they were all on the same page and enjoying it. Mom pulled up her pants leg and the others did the same. Then they compared whiteness.

We left their fine company and went off to her room to try on the new clothes I procured last week. On the way I discerned something was rotten in Denmark. Oh la.

And then...I had to do the thing I said I NEVER WANTED TO DO AGAIN (hello?! Is anyone listening?) and change my mother's Pull-ups. We both felt better when that was over.

She tried on two pairs of pants and two shirts, which is like an Olympic event for her. The third pair of pants - we're saying they fit because the other two did.

Say cheese came out something like sprayed knees.

That ship has sailed = he's healed?

Okay, you are going to think I am SO mean, but she reminds me of a troll doll in this picture. (I LOVED my troll dolls - so there.) But even more way cuter.  See?














She wanted to leave the room and walk about in her new finery. We sat for a few minutes in the living room without the TV (no one is ever in there), holding hands.

"Light of God, light of God," she said out of the blue.
"I'm going..." (to sneeze I think)
"The ladle thing. How'd he look?"
"I don't know. I was done one one one."

Then it was time for her shower and my release back into the real world.

I was heading like a horse towards the barn for Only Burger when I realized the cats were out of kitty crack, which necessitated a drive in the opposite direction to Phydeaux.  Burger King is right next door. I am now regretting my dinner choice.

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Check this out: http://www.jeanniejeannie.com/2011/08/29/the-art-of-clean-up-sorting-and-stacking-everyday-objects/

Know What I Like?

Thousand Island dressing. I really, really like it. A lot. I could eat a million hard boiled eggs with Thousand Island dressing.

Here's the white trash way of making Thousand Island: Mayo, pickle relish, ketchup - in proportions you like.

Here's another way, using Stonewall Kitchen's Country Ketchup. (for the local folks, Southern Season carries it)

Cuts out the relish middle man and elevates it to just-above-white-trash magic.

Yes, there is a bit of sugar in there and on the "meat" diet, sugar is technically not admissible.

Don't care.

I'm "modifying", as CP called it (when she modified at the movies with Junior Mints).

Fried Corn - Start to Finish

CSA Silver Queen corn

Google "fried corn" and you'll find a lot of recipes out there that add sugar, water, and whatnot. Really not necessary.

I make it the way my mother made it (the way your mother makes it is, as everyone knows, the right way), except I substitute olive oil for bacon grease. (she used vegetable oil in the later years)

The one rule - it HAS to be done in a cast iron skillet.

Shucked and clean

Thirteen ears of  corn - off the cob

Here's the recipe: corn, salt, pepper and some kind of fat. I can't tell you how long to saute the corn, you just know when it's done.

I put a lot of pepper in mine because, well, I like pepper.

When you pull this out of the freezer in winter - it's like a summer miracle.
I could eat this all day and all night. It was one of the foods I asked for when I came to visit.

Great-grandmother's cast iron skillet

The finished product - ready for the freezer

Yum Yum Supper Club IV

Yesterday = busy. Walk at 7:30 AM, followed by CSA pick-up, (eggs, cabbage, fingerling potatoes, yellow squash and cucumbers), dash over to Foster's to connect with those who braved the heat to walk at 8:30, home for a quick second, off again to watch the "X-Men" movie, then it was time for Yum Yum!

I'd heard about YYSC; I know (in a loose convoluted way) some of the people involved (they are relations of the people I worked for for many years), but this was my first YY experience and I was really excited.
It did not disappoint.

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked as the camera ran out of battery juice, alas no dessert picture; it was a lovely flaky lemony pastry cup filled with blueberries and topped with chamomile cream. The weather got windy with a bit of rain right at the end, but it brought a welcome cool down.

My favorite beer, (as discussed in Fullsteam Ahead), was served with the appetizers - Cream Ale Shandy mixed with lemonade, deliciously refreshing in the heat. I resisted the urge to chug-a-lug about twenty, since I was driving. Good call on my part I think.

All the food for YYSC was grown, cured, smoked, and otherwise prepared by Boxcarr Farms (and friends) of Cedar Grove, NC. They do the always incredible small plates at 3Cups' First Fridays.

I'm looking forward to the next one!

Bull City art

Outside Motorco

First Course

Clean plate club!

Second Course

It was hot out there (photo by DF)

Talk about HOT - here's where all the cooking was done. (photo by DF)

Fellow Yummers (photo by DF)

Third Course (that's a big slab o' smoked ham)

One of five beers served - this went with the ham

Kale Chips, Yo

I made 'em.

I realize that my AWESOME food photography skills makes them look almost 'xactly like the chard I made last week, but it is, in fact, a different vegetable all together.

So there.
Kale is done for the season and I'm ready to be sick of the next vegetable - bring on the zucchini!

Fullsteam Ahead

Finally!
Allison is visiting from DC and as she is a fellow beer liker, last night we made the pilgrimage to Fullsteam Brewery in Durham. They use local ingredients to brew up some tasty beer - like sweet potato lager or hogwash smoked porter, (good but strong smoky flavor; not sure I could do a full pint of that.)
We had half pints so we could share more beer. :)
We also tried the sparkling pear (9% alcohol!), the cream ale - which was my favorite, and summer basil farmhouse ale (had the taster size of this one).
Outside, The Sausage Wagon was waiting for us with a bratwurst with caramelized onions and homemade stone ground mustard that cleared my sinuses! Oh so good.

The Pie Pushers truck was across the street at Motorco. Several people had some of their wares inside Fullsteam and they looked delicious. Motorco is where Yum Yum Supper Club, (provided by the fine folks at Boxcarr Farms - they of the First Fridays deliciousness at 3Cups), will be next week!

Dogs and children welcome

Pick your local brewed beer!

When we left, several people were looking up at the sky. So of course, we did too. This is what we saw:

Tonight - Drag Bingo!
Durham - I love you.

CSA Produce

Yesterday - CSA Saturday. Broccoli, chard, kale (I am starting to feel about kale like people do about zucchini), and eggs. There was talk of honey the week before, but Chris was out tending to her sick mother and the new intern didn't mention it. And I forgot about it until later in the day.

Anyway, as we speak (so to speak), last week's kale is in the sink with ice cubes; hoping it will rehydrate because I'm making kale chips dammit.

I sauteed the chard with garlic in a little olive oil and finished it with a couple drops (that stuff is potent) of toasted sesame oil and a splash of rice vinegar.
FYI...food photography is an art form not meant for camera phones. It tasted a LOT better than it looks in this picture. It looks like it has spores growing on it, but I think it's the sheen of the olive oil.

Lillie, the noisy girl cat, loves her some greens and goes crazy for me to feed her romaine lettuce, kale or chard.

Lunch tomorrow: cucumbers and broccoli.
Making up for the Five Guys burger (oh, okay. true confessions: and fries) that was yesterday's supper. And the strawberry tart at book club today.

What Five Dollars Will Get You

Woodcrest Farm, site of several canning and cheese making adventures, is now offering ~$10 a week melange of organic produce, meat, free range eggs, and honey (not necessarily all at the same time).
I'm splitting the box with a friend - making it just $5.00 each!

This is my haul from yesterday (our first): HALF of a red leaf lettuce (it was monstrous!), half the swiss chard, half a kohlrabi (related to cabbage), snap peas, and half a dozen eggs. You couldn't get that for $5.00 in a store.

If you read this blog and are in the Chapel Hill/Durham area - give them a call and sign up (click on their name above). It's a great deal. They will also do an all meat/egg box, although that is more than the $10 average price.
I can't wait until the tomatoes come in!


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This is what a whole kohlrabi looks like:

I'd never had it before.
It tastes like a cross between cabbage and a mild radish. The texture is more radish than cabbage; it reminds me a little of jicama, but not as sweet.

Jicama

I like it.

Farm Tour

This afternoon, CP, the mascots and I went on the Piedmont Farm Tour. It was a beautiful day, sky all scrubbed clean from the terrible killer weather system that rolled through yesterday (most of the people who died from that system were in NC. The Gov declared a state of emergency.).

We went to Celebrity Goat Farm, where we partook of some deviled eggs and other delights, and I bought some banana butter (like apple butter, except...you know). I'm not a fan of goat cheese unless it's really mild, so I passed.
Then we went to some other place that was so unappealing that I've already forgotten its name, then on to Spence's farm where the mascots showed us their familiarity with a banty rooster named Henry and all the horses, having done some after school time there. Ending up at Maple View and ice cream - just like last year.

Did I take pictures of animals? No.
(Although the little donkey at Maple View was adorable)

It's Pajama Day

Not to be confused with The Pajama Game - my least favorite Doris Day movie. (My favorite, Pillow Talk.)

Pajama day is just what it sounds like - stay in my pj's all day, glasses (not contacts), no make-up, drink too much coffee, radio on 88.1, cinnamon rolls (Pillsbury). It's drab and gray outside, which is perfect for PJD. I'm looking forward to organizing some drawers later, (I know! the weird things some people get pleasure from); one load of laundry done, another to go. (Lillie - shut up! - you cannot have my chair!)

Friday night some of us met at Foster's Market for Sara Foster's latest book signing - conveniently right next door at Flyleaf Books. Small plates and drinks (wine, beer, Salty Dogs) were to be had. Goat cheese canapés with pepper jelly, hushpuppies with jalapeño mayo, catfish, grits and tomatoes (how my mom made them!), shortbread cookies. It was a pretty good FREE spread. :)

Yesterday afternoon a friend and I went to Craven Allen Gallery for the opening reception for Beverly McIver; nice work. Her sister, Renee, the subject of many of her paintings, was there, selling potholders and showing people the pictures that were of her. Beverly also has a documentary about her and Renee's life coming up at the Full Frame Film Festival.
Then we went down a few doors to Watts Grocery for a little nosh. The strawberry rhubarb tart was worth every penny of the $8. The crust was perfect.

I drove home in a downpour, flinching every time a pink exclamation point of lightning punctuated the grey wet. I hate lightning. In Florida, I once sat in my truck for 45 minutes waiting for a storm cell to pass, too frightened to make the dash up the stairs to my apartment.

On an entirely different note: if you ever come upon a funeral procession down here in Dixie - pull over! Even if you're on the opposite side of the street.
Yesterday on my way to the walk at Bolin Creek, I was behind such a procession for most of the way and was appalled (okay - judgmental. Whatever.) at how many people didn't do that. WHAT?! Some [completely rude] jerks even had the nerve to take advantage of the people that did pull over and pass them. Wow. The police car in front should have alerted even the most oblivious driver that something was up.
Now you can't say you didn't know.

This video is Breathe Owl Breathe - Dog Walkers of the New Age. I heard it on the way home last week and loved it.
I'm off to organize - appropriately enough -  my pajama drawer.

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While we're on the food topic: after our Saturday walk we replace all (and then some) of the calories we might have walked off by having breakfast/lunch at Foster's or Weaver Street Market, depending on where we perambulate.
So yesterday - Foster's had mac & cheese + pepperoni.
Shut. Your. Piehole.
That was not my selection, (bacon, spinach and avocado sandwich on sunflower bread), but I did get a bite. Man, was it good!

Boxcarr Farms on First Fridays

Friday evening a few of us went to 3Cups in Chapel Hill for Boxcarr Farms on First Fridays. This used to be an every Friday occurrence. Personally I think the shift to once a month will get a better turnout and make it more of an event. The deal is five small plates for $25 or individual plates for $6 each. They suggest about four wines as well (which are extra).

I wasn't going to go at all, it was raining and cold, had been all day and I was kinda beat from my first full week of work.
But faced with a choice of doing taxes or being with friends while enjoying some good local food - I managed to find the strength to drag myself out for dessert and ended up having the soup and dessert.


Here was the menu:

• black bean soup with cilantro pesto, creme fraiche
• roasted winter vegetable salad: beets, brussels sprouts, baby carrots, tarragon dressing (the last of the veggies from boxcarr garden until spring)
• gnudi (ricotta dumplings) with guanciale (hog jowl bacon), thyme, lemon zest, brown butter
• smoked pork shanks with gremolata, mushrooms, herbed barley risotto
• lemon semolina cake with macerated cherries, lavender cream

The black bean soup was just the thing to take the chill off - spicy and full of flavor. The lemon semolina cake was nicely presented and very light. I didn't get any lavender flavor from the whipped cream - but that didn't stop me from eating every bit of it!
The gnudi (a type of gnocchi made from ricotta cheese and a little bit of flour.) looked fabulous and everyone who had them said they were really great. The pork shanks looked wonderful too, and again, was pronounced delicious by everyone who had them.

3Cups is a small place. That makes seating um...creative, especially if you have a group of more than four. The eight of us shared the only large table with several other people and perhaps made some new friends that we can look forward to seeing at the next First Friday.


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ChemoToxic, the photography exhibit I went to a few weeks ago, was reviewed by the Indy (Independent - the free "what's happening around town" paper).

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There is an event Wednesday night at the Carolina Theater called Ignite Durham. Sounds fun and interesting, but it's on a "school" night, so I probably won't go.
From what I can glean, it's people speaking for a short period of time - 5 minutes - on something they are passionate about.

What I'm Reading

"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver. Her and her family took a year off the food grid and bought/ate only local food for one year. They grew a lot of their own vegetables and did not eat anything if it was out of season.
The book's been out for about three and a half years, but it took me awhile to recover from "The Omnivore's Dilemma".
If you haven't read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" - it could cause you to become, at the very least, a vegetarian - if not a vegan, or it will put you off anything but grass fed beef (and truly free range chicken/eggs) for the rest of your life. And since I can't foresee my future without an occasional burger, I choose GF.
Yes, when I consume a burger in a restaurant (McDonald's is not a restaurant people), I am not getting GF beef. But when it comes to making purchases for home cooked meals, I buy local GF beef. All the meat, from hamburger to T-bones, comes from one animal at a time.

Barbara's book came out a little after The OD, and it has a similar message - we spend WAY too much money and fuel getting out of season food to us all year long.
When Fawn was here she noticed how much of the produce in Whole Foods was from California. And usually the stuff doesn't even taste good. (Tomatoes being a prime example.)

Some of the "big farm" (i.e. Monsanto) stuff will just curl your hair.

Listen to this - Peru used to grow over four thousand (!!) varieties of potatoes - now they only grow around twelve.

We are heavily dependent on two crops - corn and soybeans - they feed just about everything other thing we "grow" - especially protein sources. Not to be a doomsayer - but being too dependent on one food source is what caused the deaths of one million people in Ireland. (the potato didn't take a lot of effort to grow or a lot of space. It also served as food for animals. They did grow other crops, but they were "cash" crops for paying the rent, as the Irish were not allowed to own land. That's right - not allowed to own land in their own country.)

She mentions that (it is true in my case) - we have gotten away from farming in about two generations. Our school year is still a hang over from those times - when children were needed at home to help with agricultural chores. My father grew up on a farm; the chickens were really free range, until one got caught for supper. They raised one hog a year, slaughtered in the fall. Milk and butter came from cows in the barn, that grazed in a pasture all day (not on a feedlot being force fed corn and antibiotics). Vegetables came from the garden, fruit came from trees or bushes, not from a grocery store. Now I would no more know how to pluck a chicken than I would knit a sweater.

Anyway, I don't mean to sound preachy, sorry. These kind of books make you me think. I know I'm fortunate to live in an area where people value heirloom tomatoes and goats (yes even domestic animals are in danger of extinction) and raise pigs fed only organic vegetables and table scraps. And I'm also fortunate enough to be able to afford the choice.

I'm going to try to do better.

Sadly, only the pottery is local.

Contrary to Popular Belief

Crack does not look like this:

But like this:

Imagine Cocoa Puffs and popcorn got together and had a baby.
A delicious crunchy chocolaty baby. That's what this is. Times ten.




That Best By date of March 14, 2011?
Completely unnecessary Popcorn, Indiana people.

It won't make it to tomorrow.

I Am NOT Like That!

Remember Phil Hartman's character Cooking with the Anal Retentive Chef on SNL?

That was my mother.

She said she wasn't like that, but oh, yes she was.
Toast had to be buttered all the way to the very edge all the way around - I swear it took her five minutes to prep her toast. Her hamburger bun had to have the mayo on the top bun and the mustard on the bottom one.
If it was done wrong, she got a little squirrelly about it.
Yeah, not OCD at all.

Who else would slice each individual pecan for cookies or Cherry Nut Cake? Slices, people. Not chopped all willy-nilly into different sized pieces. No, each sliver of pecan was the same size.

Speaking of cookies:
If the recipe said "makes five dozen" - then by god she was going to get five dozen - or more.
All the cookie dough blobs were exactly the same size and placed precisely the same distance from the next cookie dough blob. Actually, it is not fair to call them blobs - that would be what mine looked like. I used a tablespoon and she always told me they were too big, not to mention my pecans were um, diversely shaped. It drove her crazy. (Bwaahahaha...)
Hers were rounded from one teaspoon to another until they were smooth perfect orbs of doughness. If one cookie had the balls to spread into another cookie - oh my god. Defective! She hated that.
They'd cool, on a wire rack of course, for the exact amount of time called for. Later they would be packaged into plastic baggies. This was before zip-lock style bags came in a small version, we're talking the sandwich bags that had the fold over flap.
Two cookies (no more, no less) would be placed in the bag. The flap was folded down (need I say it?), neatly, two or three times, and stapled. Two staples. These little packages were then placed in the freezer - after being labeled with the type of cookie and the date it was made. All ready for school lunches.

I suspect this attention to, ahem, quality control was why my dad never made the potato salad. The potatoes (and eggs and onions and sweet gherkins) must be cut precisely for potato salad, each piece was exactly a bite-sized cube.
Dad often made the dressing for the potato/macaroni/coleslaw salads. Mayo, mustard, and vinegar, which in the correct combination will get you right in the "gill slit", that spot where the earlobe and jawbone meet. (you know the place). I liked my dad's version better because his was more tart.
If there was extra, it became "squeezy" dressing - so called because it went in a leftover picnic ketchup "squeeze" bottle. Nothing better over a slab of iceberg lettuce. If you're a Brit - Salad Cream is a good equivalent.

Grinder at far right.

Dad made the coleslaw. He'd get the grinder (a.k.a. old school food processor) with its multiple attachments down from the cabinet over the stove and clamp it to the counter. We were not allowed to touch it because it was sharp.
Then we'd wait impatiently for the core of the cabbage that he would slice, salt, and distribute. You'd have thought it was candy the way we gobbled it up.

An item that held great promise was the giant green Tupperware bowl. If Dad got out that bowl and the electric skillet - popcorn was in our future!
He'd melt the butter, (oh okay, it was margarine. We didn't know any better then), in a small one-cup Revere Ware pot. (My brother got that. If I'd had room in my kitchen for the electric skillet it would be here now) That giant green bowl also held Chex Mix.
Oh laws how I love Chex Mix. I could eat the entire bowl myself (I never did, but I could have!).

You can rest assured each piece of cereal was equally coated...

Turkish Cooking

This afternoon after the walk, three of us went to the Divan Cultural Center in Cary for Turkish cooking class where a couple of absolutely charming young woman cooked three recipes and we helped.

We made a meatball soup (my favorite), a pea, carrot, and potato side dish, and simit - little pastry rings - imagine pie crust with sesame seeds.

Oh and halva, a sesame paste and honey confection, which was already made.

While we were making tiny meatballs, it started snowing! This is early for us.


Snow conveniently corresponding with post UNC game traffic made the ride home from Southern Village where I parked for the walk, usually about ten - twelve minutes drive, take about thirty.
But people were mostly well behaved (except in Cary, several honkers there) and we all made it home unscathed.


I made a video (of the snow) but can't get it to post for some reason.
You'll just have to imagine it.
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Here's the recipe for "treated soup" or meatball soup.

 Meatballs:
1 lb. minced meat (lamb or beef)
2 slices stale bread, crusts removed & insides crumbled by hand
3-4 tbsp. uncooked rice (they used short grain rice)
1 tbsp. black pepper (their recipe calls for a dessert spoonful)
1 egg
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 bunch of parsley - finely chopped

Mix together all ingredients except parsley. She kneaded the mixture for at least 5 minutes and said her mother throws the mixture down on the table 30-40 times as well.
There was some discussion between the two instructors about the parley. One advocated adding the parsley to the meat, the other wanted to roll the meatballs in the parsley. They compromised by doing both.

Make the meatballs small, about the size of a shooter marble. 


Soup:
1 med. onion, finely chopped
1/6 of a cup oil
1tbsp tomato paste
1 quart (or so) of water (their recipe calls for 1.5 liters - there was some conversion math going on)
1 tsp. salt

Saute the onion in the oil. Add tomato paste and "turn them in the pan for a bit." Add the water, salt and meatballs. Cook for 10-15 minutes.
You may also (they did) add a can of drained chickpeas (garbanzo beans) OR 2 chopped potatoes and carrots.

The meatballs were very tender and light. I attributed this to the amount of kneading the meatballs received.

Cranberries - Saucy Little Things

I love all things cranberryish. (remember the 90's Irish band The Cranberries and the song "Zombie"? That song still gives me the goosebumps)

Anyhoo, I'm glad they're [the fruit] popular and available most of the year now. I used to hoard them in the freezer. Yes, I was the maniac with twenty bags of cranberries in her cart every November, so I could make cranberry bread or sauce throughout the year.

Homemade cranberry sauce is ridiculously easy to make. Some water, some sugar, boil until the cranberries pop. I usually throw in additional things, whatever is handy - grapefruit peel, dried tart cherries or blueberries, (always have some around to jazz up the oatmeal) - whatever suits your fancy. There's no excuse for canned sauce (unless of course, that's what you like :)

I really love this cranberry walnut conserve recipe I heard on The Splendid Table and make it every year.
Obviously it's terrific on a turkey sandwich, with chicken or the other white meat [pork], but if you're a white trash girl such as myself, you'll love it just spooned on saltine crackers (just hush-up 'til you've tried it). Here's the recipe, in time for Turkey Day.

Cranberry-Walnut Conserve

 (from A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider)

1 1/2 cups walnuts

3 navel oranges, well washed

5 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

2/3 cup wildflower honey, or more to taste

1 1/4 cups dark raisins or currants

A few teaspoons fresh lemon juice if needed to brighten flavors

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast until they are fragrant, about 9 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Cut off the ends of the oranges and discard; slice the oranges in quarters through the stem. Then slice each quarter crosswise as thinly as possible, discarding the seeds as you work.
3. In a heavy non-reactive 3 quart saucepan, combine 4 cups of the cranberries, the oranges, honey, and  1 1/2 cups hot water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate and cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture has thickened and the cranberries are soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in the raisins and the remaining cranberries and cook until the raisins are plump, another 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.
4. Chop the walnuts coarsely and stir them into the conserve, along with the lemon juice to taste. Transfer the conserve to clean dry jars and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate.

Storage: The conserve will keep for at least 1 month in a covered container in the refrigerator. 

I Heart Durham Again

Somehow I missed the Only Burger truck phenom. (Food trucks are the new trendy food thing.)
But that's okay, because now Only Burger is also in a building (do you know how hard it is to type with a purring cat using your arm as a pillow?), right next to Rick's Diner.
They just came in second place on the Food Network's “The Great Food Truck Race”.

Very small inside, a couple of booths and a couple of tables. Couple more outside. It's hopping at lunch.
Long, patient line. On the recommendation of someone waiting for their food, I started with the basic burger and fries. The onion rings looked amazing, but they were 86'ed by the time it was my turn at the counter. Next time. The fries were great, hand cut, almost shoestring, with salt and pepper. Burger was delicious, nice and drippy.

Art on the wall. For those of you who are not Durhamites, that's our beloved Lucky Strike tower and and a pair of Duke Blue Devil hands holding Duke Chapel.