Self-Rising Flour
I've gone all my life without using self-rising flour. Until today, that is...
A while back a great couple I know gave me a recipe for a quick beer bread. Really easy. Very basic. As is typical with me, I get a recipe, and then file it away for weeks or months, and then finally decide to make it.
I'm making a pot of Mulligatawny Soup today and thought that the beer bread would be good with it. That, and there's actually beer in the house from the party last Saturday. (The Asinine Socialist Pennsylvania Liquor Laws force one to go to a 'beer distributor' to purchase beer - by the case only. No single bottle or 6-pack sales allowed. That, somehow, promotes responsible drinking. Needless to say, we don't often have beer in the house.) But I digress...
I have beer in the house. I don't drink it, often, so I might as well cook with it, right?!?
First thing I did was pull out the recipe and notice that it calls for self-rising flour. Now... I can make my own self-rising flour (2 tbsp baking powder and 2 tsp salt per pound of four) but I also just got my first issue of Gourmet magazine (a freebie from Amazon.com) and it's all about Southern cooking - and lots of the recipes call for self-rising flour. So, during my weekly shopping trek today, I bought some.
I must admit I am intrigued! I've gone from never, ever having it in the house to seeing how many recipes I can now use it with. Thank goodness it's wintertime! the oven is going to be going full-tilt-boogie!
Family Fun
It started with an innocent phone conversation... Who wants to get together after Christmas? Every year - except last - we've had a family Christmas with some of Victor's cousins a week or so after Christmas. What used to be just the Martorano's and the Rinaldi's grew this year to include the Peditto's, as well as the eldest surviving Monaco. 40 people, give or take. What a blast we had!
The emails started flying - who could make it, who couldn't. Emails saying we're coming even if you don't invite us... (Actually, we didn't officially invite anyone except Uncle Victor and Aunt Lonnie.) Usually for these things we do all the cooking. Both of us really enjoy doing it. Cooking for 40 is infinitely easier than cooking for 4. Really. However, this time it was suggested that we pot-luck it a bit to try and give us a bit of a break. One said they'd bring this, another that... Ideas and recipes were burning up the internet. Now... it's not that I'm a total control-freak or anything (okay, I am, but that's another story for another time) but the thought of having people to my home and having said people bring the food frightens me. What if there's not enough?
I mean, I can see it happening... Everyone getting into their cars and heading off to the closest fast-fooderie saying "Can you believe it?!? They didn't have enough food..."
Okay... so I'm neurotic. But no one ever leaves our house hungry! Ever. It's a rule.
Naturaly, I had no reason to fear... We had food. Did we ever have food... We made meatballs and sauce (excuse me... gravy) as well as sausage with onions and peppers, baked ziti, and a big ol' salad. And then the food started arriving... Hot crab dip with homemade Italian bread toast. Bags and boxes of chips, crackers, dips and tapenades. An antipasto tray of every conceivable Italian meat, marinated mozzarella, roasted peppers, stuffed hot peppers... Platters of vegetables and tapenades... A half-dozen different breads and rolls... And sangria, and wines, and beer, and sodas of every flavor...
And desserts...
It was Steve's birthday a few days back, so - because he specifiically said no birthday cake - we got him a birthday cake. Well - his sister did. From an Italian bakery in North Jersey. It was a Napoleon cake. Layer after layer of flaky dough filled with a rich cream filling and topped with a silky fondant-type icing... OMG! Leah made a Cranberry Pear pie with a crumb topping that was fantastic. Aunt Lonnie brought pumpkin and apple pies from her favorite Philly bakery, and Joanna brought her famous wedding rings - that 8 year old Elizabeth made! Plus brownies and, and... I'm drawing a blank. I know there was more...
My fear of not enough food were unfounded, of course. We had more food than many small emerging nations. We started pulling out the tupperware to make doggie bags for everyone to take home. and still saving lots and lots for us!
It was just so much fun sitting around and talking with everyone, laughing and joking, talking politics, andjust enjoying being with one another... It's what family is all about.
And just think - in less than 3 weeks we get to fly to San Francisco and do it all with my family to celebrate Pop's 84th birthday! Definitely what family is all about!
Christmas Cookies 2007
In just a few, I'm off to pick up the last few ingredients for the 2007 Christmas Cookie-a-thon. A couple more bags of flour and a few more nuts should suffice.
I did an Excel spreadsheet to figure out quantities. About 96 cups of flour, 44 eggs, 14 pounds of butter...
Gino will be down on Friday to assist.
I'm adding Pfeffernusse to the mix this year, as well as my cousin's Nutmeg Logs.
'Tis the Season. More to follow.
Pennsylvania Bans rBST-Free Labeling
*** The Governor’s Office has intervened in this issue and is initiating a review of the decision. The implementation has been delayed at least a month past the original January 1, 2008 date. Call the Governor's office at (717) 787-2500 or EMAIL and voice you opinion.
In a giant step backwards for consumers, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has ordered dairy producers to stop labeling their dairy products as rBST-free. The hormone is banned in the European Union, Canada, Australia and Japan.
State Agriculture Secretary Dennis C. Wolff said advertising one brand of milk as free from artificial hormones implies that competitors’ milk is not safe. No, Mr. Wolff. It gives consumers a choice of whether to ingest dairy products produced with artificial hormones or not. If a consumer does not want to feed their children products produced with artificial hormones, that should be their choice.
It should not be the policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to ban free labeling of dairy products. The labeling of dairy products as being rBST-free does not state health benefits, it does not make medical or health claims. It allows consumers to make their own decisions about what they want to feed themselves and their families. It is a funamental right of consumers to be able to spend their money as they see fit. It is NOT the right of Monsanto - or any other corporation - to write the laws that govern our food safety.
Michael R. Taylor, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for policy, wrote the FDA’s rBGH labelling guidelines. The guidelines, announced in February 1994, virtually prohibited dairy corporations from making any distinction between products produced with and without rBGH. The FDA announced that labels on non-rBGH products must state that there is no difference between rBGH and the naturally occurring hormone. Micheal R. Taylor was a lawyer for the Monsanto corporation for seven years. HELLO?!?
rBST/rBGH (they are the same thing) is used to speed up the metabolism of cows. Farmers who do not use Monsanto's drug are at a disadvantage, because their cows produce less milk. The only advantage they have is consumer awareness and the desire for natural and environmentally friendly products.
And now. the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has taken Monsanto's stance that consumers should not have any knowledge at all about how their food is produced.
This is nothing more than another instance of our government regulators kowtowing to big business at the expense of consumer information. Monsanto is finding that less dairies want to use its drug, so they are now using every means they can to keep consumers from knowing when it is being used.
The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act states:
Informed consumers are essential to the fair and efficient functioning of a free market economy. Evidently, this doesn’t apply to someone wanting to know how their milk was produced. An “informed consumer” is bad for business.
An “informed consumer” also doesn’t need to know where his or her food comes from, either:
- On May 13, 2002, President Bush signed into law the 2002 Farm Bill. One of its many initiatives required country of origin labeling for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts.
- On January 27, 2004, President Bush signed Public Law 108-199 which delayed the implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006.
- On November 10, 2005, President Bush signed Public Law 109-97, which delayed the implementation for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised and shellfish until September 30, 2008.
Anyone want to place bets that the country of origin labels won’t be in place on September 30, 2008?
Mike's Crusty Cornbread
I have been having a great time chatting with and getting recipes from a friend down in South Carolina. His name is Mike and has a great wife, Barbara, who bakes - and wins all sorts of ribbons and such. Lots of them. I admire folks who have the patience to create recipes and enter contests. It's a lot of work. And I really love recipes with a story. Real food with history.
I won 2nd Prize in a Cherry Pie Bakeoff once - and the People's Choice Award for my White Bean Chili when I was on staff at UCSF. Neither were State fair-type competitions, but they were fun. But I digress...
This recipe (as all great recipes do) comes with a great story - and pictures!
Crusty Cornbread
Mike Amason
Rural South Carolina during and after the Great Depression was a lot like a third world country. There was little to eat if you didn’t produce it on the farm. Everyone had a few chickens and a couple of hogs, both very efficient animals at producing meat from whatever could be foraged. Lots of farms had a single cow for milk and butter. With chickens came eggs. The only groceries that were purchased were coffee, flour, salt, corn oil, and on occasion a bag of sugar. Everything else was grown at home or done without.
Many farms had small patches of corn of a variety suitable for grinding at the grist mill for grits and cornmeal (My grandfather grew a white corn called “Hickory King” just for this purpose). The miller ground and bagged your corn and kept a portion as his payment which he later sold. Biscuits ruled at breakfast, but cornbread was the staple quick bread for lunch and dinner. Many a child in the South in the 30s and 40s went to school carrying a pint jar of buttermilk and a large slice of cornbread for lunch, with a slice of fried fatback if times were good.
The secret to the crust:
This is the way all six of my great aunts and my grandmother made it, baking it in a cast iron frying pan which gives it a crust like no other bread in the world. Cast iron holds heat better than anything else, and that is really the secret of this bread. You can make suitable cornbread in a roasting pan or a casserole dish if you have to, and some modern cookware may be up to the task, but I have never been able to get this crust from any other cookware I have owned. Other materials simply lose too much heat while you are pouring the batter into the pan. If you don’t have a cast iron pan, you can pick one up at a junk store or thrift shop for a couple of dollars. I use a 7” pan for mine, but an 8” works just as well. My Mother still uses a 6”pan she bought in 1944 for fifteen cents, and her cornbread beats mine every time. But I think she cheats.
Serves 6-8 Quick breads are only good the day they are baked. Leftovers don’t freeze well for reheating to eat, but should be frozen to use later in pan dressing to go with chicken or turkey. If you already have a freezer full, toss the leftovers out for the birds. They love it.
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 450.
- Two cups self-rising white or yellow cornmeal, or add 3 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt to plain cornmeal
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- One egg, beaten
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil or melted fat
- 1-1/4 cups buttermilk (or plain milk with 2 tsp vinegar to sour it)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil to coat pan
Take the 1/4 cup of the vegetable oil and put it in the frying pan. Turn the pan to coat the bottom and sides well. Too much is better than not enough. You should be able to see a shallow pool of oil in the bottom of the pan. Put pan in oven to heat.
Put dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir to make the batter.
When the oil is HOT! (smoking slightly), pour the batter into the pan and enjoy the sizzle. Return it to the oven for 20 minutes. It is done when a knife inserted into the top comes out clean.
Turn out of pan upside-down onto a plate. Stand and be amazed at the reddish brown crackled crust approximately 1/8” thick covering it. Do not sample at this point if you plan to serve for dinner. You may not have any left by the time everyone gets to the table. It slices better when it cools for a few minutes, anyway.
Outstanding with any vegetables (especially a thick vegetable soup!) or by itself with butter.
WARNING: South of Pennsylvania it is illegal to serve collard or turnip greens or any type of beans without cornbread.
It is a capital offense in some states to serve black-eyed peas and collards with pepper vinegar on New Year’s Day and not cook a cornbread to accompany them. And it well should be.
Variations:
1) Any type of onions are great chopped and sautéed for a couple of minutes before adding to the batter. The result is like a hush puppy but not as greasy.
2) A chopped jalapeno pepper added to the batter improves any bland side dish.
3) ½ cup whole corn makes a good addition. Drain whole corn well if you use it. For creamed corn, use ¾ cup, reduce the milk to 3/4 cup and reduce sugar to 1 tsp.
4) ½ cup finely chopped broccoli florets gives the bread a flavor that surprised me the first time I tried it.
5) Cracklins. Many people have never heard of them. These are bits of pigskin (cured bacon rind) that have been chopped and cooked and are available in groceries all over the South. ½ cup of them make a cornbread you will talk about for years.
The 20 Worst Foods in America
I just read an article in Men's Health magazine that lists the 20 worst foods in America. My first thought was "Who eats this junk, anyway?" and then realized I am the abnormal one, here. People eat this stuff every day. While we just went over the top with our Thanksgiving dinner, that's not the norm around here.
The worst food in America was determined to be:
Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing
- 2,900 calories
- 182 g fat
- 240 g carbs
Not bad for a side dish, eh? Some of the other ones were pretty interesting, too.
Folks tend to think that ground turkey is much more healthy than ground beef. Not so. In the supermarket it can be the same as 85% ground beef, but in a restaurant?
Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger
- 1,145 calories
- 71 g fat
- 56 g carbs
Or, how about a lovely kid's meal?
Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese
- 1,210 calories
- 62 g fat
- 3,450 mg sodium
That's a kids meal, alright. And I want dessert, mom. And a Coke.
And it's not just dining out. The worst supermarket meal was:
Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole pie)
- 1,020 calories
- 64 g fat
- 86 g carbs
The nutritionals on the label call for it to be two servings. Sure. It's like the can of Coke being two servings, or the premade burrito being three servings. Anything to confuse the consumer.
You can decry the food industry all you want, but if people weren't buying this crap, they wouldn't be making it. And they wouldn't be introducing more and more and more of it every day.
The Day After The Night Before
I'm stuffed.
We just had Thanksgiving Dinner, again. It was just as good the second time around - and just as filling. It's 8pm. I'm ready for bed.
Yesterday was a blast. Everything went off without a hitch, the turkey was perfect, the food fabulous, and the company even better. Who could ask for anything more?
A couple of slight revisions to the menu. I didn't make the Pumpkin Wontons. When I pulled the skins out of the refrigerator wednesday night, they were moldy! (And dated mid-December.) I wasn't about to head to a grocery store on Thanksgiving Eve, so... delete. We still had more food than we needed. (I tried to cut back. Really, I did!)
I also saved the Brie Fondue for today. I heated it up whilst we were doing our Christmas Decorating. It was a great afternoon snack.
I simmered the carcass all last night and most of today. I have an extremely rich broth out there right now. It's strained and ready for Turkey Soup tomorrow. I'm psyched! Turkey Soup is my most favorite part of Thanksgiving (well... other than the 10 different desserts!) My mom made great soups. They're the ultimate in comforty foods for me.
Back to last night's dinner... Marie made the best sweet potato casserole! The potatoes are whipped and topped with brown sugar and pecans. If you put them in a bowl and topped 'em with whipped cream, they would be a fantastic dessert! I love 'em. She really liked my pumpkin polenta. The fresh peas were a hit - even with the youngsters. Gino went back for seconds.
Speaking of Gino... we're going to have him down here with us again in a couple of weeks to bake Christmas Cookies with us. We had a blast last year and were hoping we'd do it again. Last night we found out his sister, Elizabeth wanted to join us this year. Gino was bummed because this was 'his' time with us. A guy weekend.
The solution: We're having a Boys vs Girls Cookie Bake-Off! Gino will stay with us and bake cookies, and Elizabeth will be with her mom and Aunt Marie making cookies. Each side will get to submit one cookie for judging by the rest of the family on Christmas Day. We're a shoe-in, unless Aunt Re-Re makes her Jelly Strips. Marie makes the best Jelly Strips...
It was a great time. We cooked for days, had a houseful of people, ate for hours and still had the house completely put back together before we went to bed.
And about 80% of our Christmas Decorations are up! Since neither of us would be caught dead at the mall - or any other national retailer, Black Friday is our day to decorate for Christmas! Today is also our 13th Anniversary. What better way to spend it than to transform the house to our Santa's Workshop?
'Tis the Season to be Jolly, indeed!
Thanksgiving Dinner
We're rapidly approaching my almost most favorite holiday! I love Thanksgiving - a day devoted to family and food. Especially food!
Thanksgiving is our holiday. Christmas is in North Jersey with Victor's sister, and Easter is down the road with his brother. So - we have to make a big deal out of it. (Of course, big deal is all relative - we never, ever lack for food in this house!) And it's a day to cook from scratch. No premade turkey from Boston Market and pies from Costco. This is the ultimate sharing of food with the family day. And that means fresh. Yes, it takes time, and since I'm working right up to Thanksgiving day, I shall have to organize well. It is so worth it.
I've been slackin' this year. Usually by this time I have planned the menu, made the excel spreadsheet with menus, recipes, shopping lists, etc. I finally figured out the menu a few minutes ago. I don't necessarily have recipes together, but at least I now know what we'll be serving - more or less. I am really, really trying to cook less this year. We always have an obscene amount of food - and leftovers - literally - for days. Wish me luck.
The menu itself is fairly traditional. There are certain things that are here every year: Roast Turkey - not brined - with gallons of gravy, Nonna's stuffing, Marie's Sweet Potatoes, and that one can of sliced jellied cranberry sauce in my mom's little crystal dish that she served it in every year. I'm adding the Pumpkin Polenta this year, the hors d'oeuvres always change, and other than Pumpkin Pie, the desserts are what I feel like doing. The two fruitcakes were made last month and are sitting in the basement. I just added more brandy.
(Just back from the Farmer's Market with a few additions to the menu!)
Hors d'oeuvres:
- Baked Brie
- Brie Fondue
- Cheeses and Salami with Asst Breads and Crackers
- Puff Pastry Cranberry and Cheese
- Pumpkin Wontons
The Dinner:
- 32+ lb Turkey
- Gravy
- Nonna's Stuffing
- Apricot Walnut (or Pecan) Stuffing
- Mashed Potatoes
- Pumpkin Polenta
- Marie's Sweet Potatoes
- Candied Sweet potatoes
- Green Beans
- Fresh shelled Peas with Butter
- Green Salad with Pumpkin Dressing
- Marie's Cranberry Relish
- Triple Cranberry Sauce
- Canned Cranberry Sauce (one can for sentimental reasons)
- Pumpkin Rolls
- Cranberry Butter
Desserts:
- Pumpkin Pie
- Eggnog Pie
- Eliza's Buttermilk Pie
- Pecan Cranberry Tart
- Apricot Macadamia Nut Fruitcake
- Traditional Fruitcake
If I can keep the amounts in check, I think we'll be fine.
Okay, scratch that last sentence. I keep adding things. We're going to have a lot of food. Oh well.
John Grogan and Shameless Self-Promotion
No food today - just shameless self-promotion.
Both of us have always been avid 'letters to the editor' writers and have had scores of letters published over the years.
About four years ago (former) Inquirer columnist John Grogan came across one of my letters, happened on to ourtimandvictor.com website and, intrigued, emailed me about doing a column on us. Being the shy, quiet person I am, I immediately said "YES!" and a few days later found John at the house, notebook in hand. The following column is the result of those couple of hours sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee.
John went on to become famous writing "Marley and Me" (now being made into a motion picture) and we went on with our lives.
Yesterday, Victor got a call from a woman he works with out west. She had picked up a copy of John's latest book "Bad Dogs have More Fun" a collection of his Inquirer columns and was reading about us! What a surprise!
**NOTE: We just found out the book was put together by the Inquirer - not John Grogan. The Inquirer owns his past columns... It doesn't change the fact hat we're in the book (pages 164-167) but John had nothing to do with the publication...
So... we're currently #34 on the NY Times best seller list!
We're also wondering who we should get to play us in the movie. I think George Clooney and Brad Pitt would be fine - and Cybil, of course, would play herself.
Here's the original column:
John Grogan | Ordinary people vowing to marry
By John Grogan Inquirer Columnist
In many ways, they are a typical suburban couple.
They spend their weekends remodeling their tidy three-bedroom house, which sits on a quiet street in the Main Line community of Strafford. They enjoy gardening and cooking and spoiling their dog, Cybil.
They both come from large, traditional Catholic families, and they dote on their 17 nieces and nephews.
Now in their early 50s, they prefer quiet nights at home to going out on the town. They pay their taxes on time, look in on sick neighbors, and vote each election.
They are ordinary in all ways but one: Tim Dineen and Victor Martorano, a couple for nine years, are homosexuals. And that puts them squarely in the middle of the national debate on same-sex marriage.
They are not the ones protesting on courthouse steps or trying to force change by seeking marriage licenses where they know none will be issued. As the debate rages, they have written letters to newspapers, but otherwise go quietly about their suburban lives. It was for this reason - their very ordinariness - that I sought them out last week. I wanted to see for myself just how different from the heterosexual majority a gay couple in a long-term relationship is.
Marriage of the minds
They give me a tour of their house and show off improvements they have made
- new tile, enlarged kitchen, hardwood floors. On the table is a vase of pussy willows brought in from the garden. Outside, a pile of rain gutters sits in the yard, next weekend’s project.
In their own minds, Dineen, a demonstration chef at a market in nearby Wayne, and Martorano, who works in the travel industry, already are married. On their first Christmas together, they privately exchanged gold bands that have remained on their left ring fingers ever since. Still, says Dineen, “we will get married the day we legally can do it.”
Some of the motivation is practical. If one is incapacitated, the other right now would need a written power of attorney to make medical decisions - a precaution they already have taken. And as Dineen pointed out over a cup of coffee, “If Victor died tomorrow, I would have to pay inheritance tax on his half of our house.”
Adds Martorano: “The law does not recognize me as his next of kin, and that is wrong. It’s just wrong.”
But more important to the couple is what marriage stands for - a public acknowledgment of a couple’s love and lifelong commitment. “Marriage is a stabilizing force in society,” Dineen says, “and we want to be part of that stabilization.”
After all, they consider themselves solid members of the community. And so do their neighbors. As Peg Schwartz, 73 and a registered Republican, told me later: “I can’t say enough about them. They really could not be better neighbors. They are delightful. They’re just nice, kind, caring people, and that’s what you want in a neighbor.” Having them next door has softened her position on gay marriage, she said. “If that makes them happy, then that’s all that counts.”
Battling stereotypes
And yet, for now at least, Dineen and Martorano will remain the one couple on their street for whom the civil contract of marriage is not an option. Until that day comes, the two men believe stereotypes and prejudice will continue.
“Gay people have a reputation for being extremely promiscuous,” says Dineen, whose full beard and wire-framed glasses give him a professorial air. “Well, not all gay people are.”
Some of them lead their lives not much differently from the straight people on their streets, sharing the same worries and joys and dreams. And that brings Dineen to his main point.
“If we were married tomorrow, the only thing that would be different would be the piece of paper that grants us our rights and responsibilities. Nothing else would change. We would still be here just as we are today, putting new gutters on the house, going to work, grocery shopping, taking the dog to the vet.”
He adds: “I think that’s what so many people fail to realize. We’re here already. We’re a couple already. For all intents and purposes, we are married. We just lack the legalities.”
Pumpkin Done Right
I just got home from a Pumpkin Recipe Contest at work. OMG! I am stuffed - but more than stuffed, I am impressed! What an unbelievable collection of foods in one place! Each employee came up with their own recipes and without prior consultation, we had no duplicates. Each item was totally unique with its own distinct style and flavor. I didn't even think to bring a camera. I guess I just wasn't expecting to have my socks knocked off - but knocked off, they were!
We had:
Pumpkin Ravioli with a Brown Sage Butter
Pumpkin Apple Almond Potstickers with a Ginger Honey Scallion Sauce
Pumpkin Cheese Cannelloni with a Cranberry Sage Butter Sauce
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Lasagne
Puff Pastry filled with Fresh Pumpkin Chunks and Sour Cream topped with India Relish
Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin Muffins topped with a Cream Cheese and Pumpkin Icing
Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Toffee Sauce
Pumpkin Pancakes
Pumpkin Smoothies, and
Pumpkin Crème Brûlée
I'll start at the top with my own observations...
The Pumpkin Ravioli were something you would find at a fine-dining establishment. A pumpkin dough filled with a delicate pumpkin and cheese mixture. Light, yet substantial. And the browned butter sage sauce was the perfect accompaniment. You could actually make a meal of them adding nothing more than a glass of wine (and bread to sop up the sauce, of course!). Just divine.
The Pumpkin Potstickers were an OMG! surprise. Totally unexpected and totally delicious. I had more than one and could see a tray of them disappearing quickly. The flavors in the filling were perfectly matched, and the dipping sauce worked great with them.
Pumpkin Cheese Cannelloni was yet another fantastic taste sensation. Very similar to a blintz in texture, it's another item that could be found at an upscale eatery. Also light and delicate - yet substantial. Two of these on a plate with a salad would be a perfect meal.
The Pumpkin Soup was a vegan entry (full disclosure here - I made it!) that took its cue from the Caribbean. Pumpkin, coconut milk, rum, hot peppers - plus tomatoes, hominy, black beans and black rice. Sweet with just enough kick to be interesting. It was hearty and thick. Definitely a full meal during the cold months.
The Pumpkin Lasagne was layers and layers of tantilizing pumpkin, cheeses, greens, and pasta. It was the type of dish that if set on a table would be empty in minutes with people clamoring for more. Warm crusty bread, a mixed green salad, a bottle (or two) of a good red wine. Heaven.
The Puff Pastry was the only entry that used fresh pumpkin! The sweetness of the pumpkin worked perfectly with the spiciness of the India Relish. It also made a great presentation - and would be a great addition to any appetizer table. Come to think of it, they could also make a great plated first course.
The Pumpkin Bars were another (last minute) entry of mine. A fairly traditional pumpkin pie filling topped with a basic cake mixture and walnuts. It would be better served cold with whipped cream, but I took them out of the oven minutes before heading off to work, so they were served warm. They were pretty darn good warm, too!
The Pumpkin Muffins were good enough for dessert! They were a perfect balance of moist and sweet and the icing was another perfect balance of flavor. These were any-time-of-the-day muffins, for sure!
Bread pudding is one of my all-time favorite desserts, and the Pumpkin Bread Pudding exceeded every one of my expectations. It was just perfect. The texture of the bread, the lightness of the custard, the wonderful sauce... Just perfect. I ate lots.
The Pumpkin Pancakes were light as a feather! They were perfectly puffed up and airy - unusual for a pancake with something as dense as pumpkin added to it. (The secret is the yogurt!) And they were really decadent with some of the Toffee Sauce poured on top!
Pumpkin Smoothies - who wouldda thunk?!? But what a great taste sensation. I could definitely see these with a float of dark rum and a little paper umbrella. Too good just for breakfast!
And Pumpkin Crème Brûlée. Yes - Crème Brûlée! Talk about another show-stopper! Light, creamy, rich, flavorful - all at the same time! The sugar topping was perfectly crisp and crunchy, contrasting superbly with the silken pumpkin custard beneath. One would not be enough.
Everything was superb in its own right. The tastes and textures were as varied as the individuals who brought them in. Everything was over the top. There wasn't a single "ordinary" item in the bunch. I can't even imagine trying to actually judge them. It's a 12-way tie for first place in my not-so-humble opinion!
And the variety of items really illustrates just how versatile the humble pumpkin is. From sweet to savory and everything in between.
And another great benefit of today is that I now have some great ideas for Thanksgiving! I did a ham and gorgonzola won ton one year, but I'm thinking potstickers might work this time around, I could do a large creme brulee instead of individuals... Ravioli as a first course?!?
It's gonna be fun - thanks to some great people today!
Pass the Bromo Seltzer!
Everyone's gone. The house is eerily quiet after three days of non-stop eating, drinking, laughter, and fun. Did I mention eating, drinking, laughter, and fun?
It was a late Friday arrival from San Francisco (thank you, Delta and the baggage crew at PHL...) but as the arrivee's were on Pacific time, we ended up staying up until three ayem eating, drinking, laughing, and having fun. We were up ridiculously early Saturday and started off eating right away... Bagels and cream cheese and stuff like that, and then a light lunch of sandwiches and chips and stuff because we were saving ourselves for a bit of a BBQ with Victor's family. (Thin-sliced real German Bologna from the Farmer's Market on kaiser rolls... YUM!)
I figured an absolute maximum of 20 people, so I cooked for about 40. I kid you not. I cooked for three or four armies. Victor's brother walked in, looked at the table, rolled his eyes a bit and said "I see you've done it, again." We have a bit of a reputation when it comes to having people over and quantities of food being served. And we definitely didn't let anyone down. We had food.
Wednesday I had picked up 2 chickens at the Farmer's Market, cut them each into 10 pieces, and soaked them for 2 days in buttermilk, garlic, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and probably a few other spices from the cabinet. On Friday afternoon, I mixed pretty much the same spices with flour and a bit of cornmeal. I dredged the chicken in the flour mixture and set on racks to dry a bit. Then I deep-fried it in peanut oil... Cooled, and then refrigerated.
I made my mom's potato salad - potatoes, green onions, pickles, hard cooked eggs, celery, mayo, catsup, mustard, a splash of worcestershire, garlic, S&P... And a pasta salad - tortellini, onions, sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers, diced celery, carrots, currants, and a dressing of olive oil and raspberry balsamic vinegar.
I grilled a ton of homemade chipotle chicken sausages I had made a couple of weeks ago and then mixed them with Italian peppers and onions...
Plus a couple of London broils I marinated in the now-infamous Pumpkin Butter and Organic Steak Sauce. And Phoebe's Chipotle Baked Beans. Plus salami and cheese and crackers and chips and dips and guacamole and breads and rolls and... and...
Oh. And four (yes, four...) Pineapple Cream Pies. I can't imagine why Steve rolled his eyes.....
We proceeded to eat all day, all night, and into the wee hours of the morning.
Bright and early Sunday morning was just your typical light breakfast... Sausage, bacon, fried potatoes, eggs, and more toasted bagels. One of the great Mysteries of Life is the amount of pots and pans one can dirty making breakfast, and I did my best to uphold the mystery.
We did a quick trip into the city to show Eileen the Liberty bell, took a stroll down South Street, and grabbed a Philly Cheesesteak. (Eileen had never had one IN Philly!) then back home to the Italian Sunday Dinner Victor was preparing...
He made a great sauce (Italians call it 'gravy') with homemade Italian sausages, homemade meatballs and hunks of pork, and served it on a couple of pounds of spaghetti. Plus garlic bread and a great savory bread ring that Marie picked up in Manayunk.... And more pie.
All I know is there's no way I could cntinue eating like this! I am soooooo out of practice!
But what a great time it was! And Eileen reminded me that when we hit San Francisco in February for my father's birthday that it will be the begining of Dungeness Crab season...
If I start dieting now, I may be ready for it.
A Full House
My father is coming East for a visit this coming weekend! A Friday-to-Monday hit-and-run visit, but since he's pushing 84, I'll cut him some slack! He's been back east before - my parents did a lot of travelling back in the day - but it's his first visit here since we moved from San Francisco back in 2001.
My sister Eileen and her best friend Renee are flying back with him, and Renee's daughter Samantha will be driving up from Maryland where she's a nurse at Johns Hopkins. A dual family reunion! It's going to be one big slumber party weekend!
Saturday afternoon we're going to have a BBQ, inviting Victor's family and a few friends. About 20 folks. A small, intimate gathering! :)
I'm working on the menu... I've already made homemade chicken chipotle sausages, and will pick up a couple of chickens Wednesday at the Farmers Market to start soaking in buttermilk. Cold fried buttermilk chicken is definitely on the menu, too - along with a couple of London Broils in a Pumpkin Butter and Steak Sauce marinade... Simple, yet tasty!
And, of course, lots of homemade potato salad, pasta salad, and whatever else I can dream up between now and Saturday afternoon. (I always panic about not having enough food - as if.....) And we're going to have Pineapple Cream Pies for dessert. My mom made the best pies and this was a favorite of my dads (and me!!!)
So... I'll keep ya posted on what's what - and I'll post some pictures after everyone leaves!