Eggs

The Bible talks a lot about St. Paul, but it never mentions Minneapolis…

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Back of house.  Driveway needs a bit of shoveling, huh?

 After a few days driving, living in hotels with two dogs,  (also one man and 55 tote bags they all wanted to get into), we are “at home” in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Home of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Prairie Home Companion.  Home of Macalester College and University of St. Thomas.  Home of the Minnesota State Fair.  Home of Scusi and The Groveland Tap.  Home of Dave, Alyce, Tucker and Gabby.  (We just watched the population sign go up.)

While Tucker loved the hotel, we’re not sure the hotel loved Tucker.   On TV, President Obama addresses the country about the earthquakes and tsunamis, which we heard little about until we stopped for the night.

 Two days of driving from Colorado drove the dogs crazy, but gave me two days alone (nearly) with my husband with them gated in the way back of the car.  Thanks, God.  Lovely weather (cold, but no rain or snow) and mostly clear skies led us most of the way and the first several hours (we went the back way), we saw about two cars.  Overnight in Kansas City and a leisurely breakfast yesterday lent a feeling of almost vacation.  But if it were vacation, my cream soups wouldn’t have been packed.  And packed they were.

Dining Room, Office  and nearly everything else for now.

 Moving is not vacation, despite the necessity for eating out, picnicking on the dining room floor or on the blow-up bed, and generally having no place to hang your hat or sit down as there is no furniture.  Moving means getting in a small room with several other people intent on spending the afternoon signing their names over and over again  with only stale coffee to drink.  Moving is getting on a first name basis with the cable guy.  Moving is driving by, stopping to peek in windows, and trying to remember what color the living room is.  (Who bought this house?)  Moving is walking in only to find no one cleaned the refrigerator or inside the cabinets.  Moving is a big sigh of relief to find that everything else is definitely clean, which would include the bathrooms.  Moving is remembering your niece, nephew and kiddoes live just up the road a piece and are already coming to see you.  It’s finding two comfy folding chairs and a bottle of Glenlivet on the front porch without a note.  It’s seeing your piano teacher appear at the door beautifully coiffed with two huge baskets full of plates, cups, breads, wine, cheese, fruit, roses and A SHARP KNIFE!  (All while she’s on the way out of town.)

Look at it now; the living room will never be that clean again!

While we treated ourselves to a celebratory first night at the Italian restaurant and wine bar across the street and down two buildings, we woke up the next morning needing breakfast.  There is little eggs and bacon can’t solve.  And all you need is one skillet, a spatula, the eggs and bacon.  I toasted the bread in the oven.

This is how my mom cooked eggs in bacon grease.  A real treat these days.  Broke in the stove but good.

And we were home.

We’ve spent the first couple of days cleaning up, unpacking, going to the store three times, figuring out what foods the birds want in their feeders, trying to make the gates work in two feet of snow, getting phones, tv and internet working (and then not working) and walking the dogs in mud and big puddles. Once the temperature rose a little above freezing, the stuff began to melt (I’m wet 8 inches up my jeans, not something common in Colorado.)    I must say I’m really wondering where it’s all going when it melts.  We made it to worship on the first Sunday in Lent and were warmly welcomed back to Mac Plymouth United Church, which is a combined PCUSA and UCC church four blocks from our house.  We joined the Wednesday Lenten soup and study night; this year focuses on a reading of TAKE THIS BREAD by Sara Miles.  I have this book, but it’s packed a thousand miles away.  So I downloaded it to my computer, where I have Kindle.  We’ll have to share my computer, tho. 

Side yard.  Thanks to previous owners, I know exactly what’s planted here.
Here’s Tucker waiting to skid getting a ball.
Here’s Gab in the new Two-Dog Kitchen

Come visit soon.  Well,  maybe you should wait til we get chairs.

Cooking with Music-French-Session II

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If you haven’t been here before, I occasionally teach cooking classes at home.  Each class teaches a whole menu and each menu is focused upon a culture, country or culinary form.  This is the second session of Cooking with Music-French and there were two students–mom and four-year-old daughter. 

While August isn’t, perhaps, the very best time to learn how to bake quiche, it IS the very best time to learn how to make a great salad.  And is anytime a bad time to learn how to make a pie crust?  And, hey,  the quiche tastes wonderfully for lunch.  Chocolate mousse?  Whenever.  Here’s today’s bunch:

Chocolate Mousse = First, of course
Life is short
This is a no-egg chocolate mousse as eggs are bad boys right now:
Just melt 3/4 c chocolate chips with 3T butter and let that cool.
Whip up 1 cup of whipping cream and add 1T sugar at the end.
Fold a tiny bit of whipping cream into the chocolate to lighten it up a bit and
then fold into the chocolate the rest of the cream in three or four batches.  Spoon into pretty glasses or ramekins and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours.
Garnish with a dollop of whipping cream, some berries or grated chocolate
Et voila!  Mousse au chocolat!
Moving on from mousse to pate brisee, the super easy crust for the quiche.
“Hey, I can make a pie crust; who knew?”

Getting dirty…but eating fresh!  Like two minutes old.
Talk about organic food.  Making Jamie Olivers’s chopped salad. (click here to see the video)
Pixie dusting the salad with kosher salt and the pepper she ground.
FINALLY getting to eat dessert.  Took long enough.
We did it.
We not only cooked, we cooked together.
What a day.
We can now make–for ANYONE!!–the following menu:
Menu
Salade Printemps (spring salad w/ fresh herbs)
Quiche avec jambon et fromage (Ham and Cheese quiche)
Mousse au chocolat  (Chocolate mousse)
Fromages (cheese)
Baguette (long, thin loaf of bread) avec buerre (with butter)
Vin: (wine)
Bourgogne (blanc) (2007)-Laboure-Roi, Meursault, Cote d’Or, France
Beaujolais (2008)- Pierre Chermette, Saint Verand, France
Next Cooking with Music is
ITALIAN
Pizza as an appetizer
Two main course soups (one vegetarian)
Apple crostada (free form pie)
Offered Saturday, September 18, 2010
12:30-?
We’ll cook and eat together.
Students may invite one guest for dinner each- approximately 5:30pm
Includes wine
Cost:  $50 per student
I have one opening for this class at present, but am happy to repeat it if I have requests.
This is a meal wonderful to learn for a dinner party because everything but the pizza (and it’s nearly ready) can be done in advance so that you can be…
NOT NERVOUS
HAVE TIME TO BATHE AND DRESS
ENJOY YOUR OWN PARTY
————————————————————————–
 
Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood or Kitchen:
Grilling Colorado peaches for a peach salsa or dessert…a blog to come!
There’s the grilled peach salsa–perfect for bbq grilled pork chops, shrimp tacos or salmon.
Skippy Jon Jones–visiting Aunt Alyce and Uncle Dave again
And they called it “puppy love.”
A few things you might do around the kitchen this week:
Buy a bunch of green beans, trim them and blanch them (2-3 min in boiling water) and throw them in freezer bags into the freezer for the winter.  I got mine for 88cents a pound.
Ditto zucchini or summer squash.
Ditto corn on the cob.  Cook it, let it cool, cut it off the cob and put it in freezer bags.
Buy a dozen red, green, yellow peppers and cut them up and freeze them in small quantities.
Go to the nursery or wherever and buy some herbs to pot and take indoors for the fall.
Stake out your apple-picking spot.  Plan a picking date.
Clean out your freezer and defrost it while it’s still warm so you’ll be ready to cook, bake and freeze this fall.
There’s still time to make peach freezer jam while the peaches are very inexpensive.  I saw some Colorado peaches for 99 cents a pound at King Soopers’.
Eat lots of salad with lots of fresh herbs and great tomatoes.
Try a home-made Cobb or a Greek Salad with grilled chicken.
Make gazpacho.
Make caprese salad.
Consider making and freezing tomato sauce.
Blueberries from Canada are still available if you want to freeze some.  Just throw them in the bag unwashed.  (Rinse them when you use them.)
Sing a new song,
Alyce

Easter Brunch or Howling Wind Precedes Mimosas

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Green Bean Mustard Rosemary Salad..

Note:  This blog was begun late in Holy Week and has been added to throughout.  The last entry will be on Easter Monday  when I will hopefully have time to pull the whole shebang together.  Until then, sing a new song, friends.
.
Earlier in the week:

The wind is blowing, oh, about 50 miles an hour–no joke.  It kept me up half the night.

Hippity, hoppity, Easter’s on its way…………….

Perhaps in the south, way in the south, the weather is conducive to and making like Easter.  Maybe in Mississippi or Alabama, the grass is way green and the tulips are waving their pretty little heads, showing off their Easter bonnets.   Maybe in Mexico.

But here, up on the Mesa near the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, winter must howl its way out of existence.  There is no ushering in like a lamb.  Out here, it’s all lion.   While the air has warmed up enough to turn off the heat for one or two days (and to give up baking), every few days there is still a snow or wind storm and we’re reminded that we are not in charge here.  Snow and Easter lilies; these are my favorite sorts of (and the typical Colorado spring) combinations.  So, it’s really like this:

Baby, it’s cold outside….

There is one hopeful, tiny row of daffodils in an extremely sunny spot down the street.  Huh.

And once more, the seasons of Lent and Advent mix and murk-up life.  I once had a friend who said, “It isn’t Christmas unless you find a piece of Easter grass under the sofa when you’re cleaning.”   As I dig through the junk drawer, looking for a little Easter bauble for the table, I come across Christmas ornaments that didn’t make it into the box in the attic.  Or I see a snowman I missed at the top of a bookshelf.  Just when I think I am ready to believe grace is mine, it seems I’m thinking about waiting for the messiah to be born in my heart.  Ah, gee.

No only that, but in my faith, huge, magnificent, screaming winds are not for Easter.  The are for Pentecost, the birth of the church.  I dunno.

And, by golly, I blogged unleavened bread last week.  Ok, I’m confused for sure.  But, if you’re celebrating Passover, check out our Chinese meal and  fix the green onion pancakes, which are not really pancakes, but tasty chewy flatbreads cooked on top of the stove in a skillet.  Rolling the eyes and taking a big breath here.

Meantime, I’m believing Easter will come.  The winds will die down.  I’ll make it through Maudy Thursday and Good Friday services.  I’ll cook through the Saturday vigil.  And, like the rest of the world, I’ll wait to be saved.  Or free.  Or sinless.  Guiltless.  Clean.  Loved.  New slate.  Ready, set, go.

Again.

This year, our brunch is capital “S” Simple.  Friends are coming and bringing part of the meal.  I won’t be putting the whole thing together until Sunday after church, but will do a trial run of a quiche for grins, giggles and fotos.  I’ll gear up the table (which will be filled with grass, eggs, chocolate, etc.) a bit and get it all together for you, but will try to get more complete photos as I work on the meal over the weekend.  Perhaps I’ll be better with the camera than I was on a regular writing/photography gig today.  When I arrived at Patsy’s Candies to take pictures for an article, my battery was dead in the camera.  This from a woman who spent the $50 to have a BACKUP BATTERY and left it at home.

You see how it is this week.  This blog will be a work-in-progress.  Like all of us at Easter.

 Or anytime.

Ok-The bread- Columba de Pasqua- is first.  I couldn’t get it to work in the shape of a dove, the traditional shape.  Instead, I have a braid.  I guess we’ll eat it.  Made on Thursday afternoon-evening, I’ll freeze it and unthaw it Sun.

  Ok, it’s Saturday afternoon, April 3-Happy Birthday, Emily- (and I promised this would be a work in progress.) and next up are two of the quiches.  There were three.  One was in an old tart pan that gave way in the oven and leaked.   (Like a lot of old … oh, for goodness sake, I’m not going there, but you get the drift. ) The custard baked in the bottom of my big oven.  I’ll include a pic of that, too.  So, oven cleaning was part of the mix…  Anyway.  One quiche is bacon, ham and swiss and the other is a green chile quiche that is called “Betty White’s Mexican Quiche” and I’ve had the recipe for 30 years from Sue.  Fun.

Above:  Bacon and Ham Quiche  outdoors on the deck table. It’s now 65.
               (Read all about making quiche in my Quiche 101 article.)

Above:  Betty White’s Mexican Quiche
Above:  This is how a quiche that wants to bake on the bottom of an oven looks.
The oven was so dirty anyway that it was a blessing that this thing happened.  Right.

Above:  Lidia’s Limoncello Tiramisu.  Good thing I made it before the oven disaster because I might have stopped cooking at that point if tiramisu was still ahead.  This stuff is limonsinful.  Recipe at epicurious.com.

I still have to do the table.  No, it isn’t done yet..  Sunday morning I’ll do the beans and Sunday at 12:00 noon, I’ll put the last quiche in the oven.  The shell is chilling and the filling is cooked and in the frig.
Sunday promises to be 60 and sunny.  Thanks, God.

Sunday night:  Well, the brunch went on for 4 or 5 hours, depending on who you were.  We had four more people show up than I thought were coming.  Good thing I always cook for a crowd.  I made one more quiche (no pic–maybe tomorrow of the leftovers) that was turkey Italian sausage and veg from http://www.perfectpantry.com/ (go Lidia).  There was more than we needed and here we are at Sunday night and I’m just reading MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather for my book club.  That’s all.  More later!
—————-

 Pftzz:  Here’s my current plan.  For food, that is. (Written Wed or Thurs? Alyce plans; God laughs.)

Menu
Starters:  Smoked salmon/ lemon, capers,  minced red onions
                 Deviled eggs (Dave will make- out of my dyed eggs.)
                 Mimosas
                Mains:   Quiches:  Lorraine, Italian sausage/veg, and seafood
                Manicotti (Jeanne brings)
               Fresh Green bean salad (blogged last year)
               Fresh Fruit Salad (Sara brings)
               Polish Easter bread (Jeanne brings)
               Alsatian Riesling or Australian Rose (Carlei)
Dessert: Limoncello Tiramisu (a Lidia recipe!)
              Colomba di Pasqua (Italian E. bread shaped like a dove) (left in freezer after all-next week?)
              Coffee
How I’ll accomplish it:
  • I planned the menu a couple of weeks in advance and located my recipes.
  • I did some of the dry-goods grocery shopping last week.
  • I went to the candy store, liquor store and grocery store today, leaving only produce for Sat.
  • Thursday I’ll make the bread and the quiche pastry.  Into the freezer they go.
  • Thursday I’ll dye eggs. 
  • Friday I’ll clean a little house, make sure my clothes are ready, teach a lesson and go to 3 hours of worship.
  • Friday night, we’ll listen to a few requiems.  Verdi is my favorite, but Mozart, Faure and Brahms will show up, as well.
  • Saturday, I’ll send Dave to the store for the produce (I won’t go near a grocery the day before Easter) and I’ll set up the buffet and drinks station and set the tables.  I’ll make the green bean salad and the dressing, only dressing it a little that day. (More dressing on Sunday.) I’ll make the Limoncello tiramisu and refrigerate it.. Oh, and I will chill sparkling wine for the mimosas.
  • Dave will make the deviled eggs, taking care not to over-salt them.  Old recipes are very salty.  One time, we couldn’t eat them.  Agh.
  • We will not cook or sit at the table Saturday night.  I don’t know what we’ll do; maybe we’ll go out or maybe we’ll eat on trays watching a movie.  Waiting, watching.
  • Sunday morning I’ll take the bread and quiche pastry out of the freezer to unthaw.  I’ll make the quiche fillings before we go to church.   When we come home, I’ll fill the quiche pans and bake them.  Hot, warm or room temp–it’s all good for quiche.  I like it cold.  I’ll set up the coffeemaker and put out cups, cream and sugar.  Maybe a little something to nip up the coffee a bit.  Bailey’s?
  • I’ll give the bathrooms a last lick and a promise.  I’ll light the candles gratefully.
  • I’ll grab a basket of eggs and hide them.
  • I will probably shovel and sweep snow.
  • I’ll be wiped clean myself…ready to begin again.
  • And try not to eat so much chocolate.  (Though, if you read my examiner articles, you’ll know it’s ok now to eat some every day!!)
  • I’ll welcome our guests, “He is risen!” (I didn’t do this….how could I have forgotten???!)

Are you glad Lent is over?

Friday Night Chinese in One More Snowstorm

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Green Onion Pancakes .. or you could call them Spring Onion Pancakes.

Last summer, before I went away to school for two months, I picked up a little book called QUICK & EASY CHINESE by Nancie McDermott; photography by Maren Caruso (San Francisco:  Chronicle Books, 182p., 2008, $19.95).  I had every good intention of using the summer, where I’m cooking away from my own kitchen (and need easy recipes),  to drum up some great Asian dishes.  I thought I’d increase my Asian cooking skills, which are nil, and also make great use of the St. Paul, Minnesota Farmer’s Market.  A little extra in the way of vegetables wouldn’t hurt us.

Well, the book came along for the ride, packed with my music books and one Ina Garten cookbook.  What I didn’t know was that the courses I had chosen would take over my whole life and I would be lucky to eat at all. Ha.  Of course, Dave and Emily pitched in when they saw me working night and day, but we didn’t get to the Chinese. More’s the pity.  Back home came the book in August.  Boohoo.  Dave loves Asian food and I am so stuck in French and Italian (or other Mediterranean) meals.

Occasionally, I’d grab the book off the shelf and start to whip something up only to find I had no Black Bean Sauce or fresh ginger.  You must make a commitment to Asian food in your pantry as well as in your cookware.  Though, truthfully, the cookware can be fudged. Ginger can’t.  A few months went by before recipes began to be chosen, the appropriate condiments purchased and  stored, and we finally began to cook from the sweet little book.  I should say that I shopped and Dave cooked.  He is, after all, great at chopping and using a wok.  Among many other things.

Meantime, this week we have taken a few days off for “spring” break.  Even went out to The Summit at the Broadmoor (another blog–how wonderful).  Snow just kept arriving every other day or so, despite plans for a trip to Denver, to the movies, etc.  So, we just stayed home and warm…cozy up on the mesa.  What a spring.  Obviously time to try another great Chinese meal.  All the time in the world as the snow flew and the wind and the dogs howled.

So here is the menu (this is the second or third one he’s tried) and then some pics from Dave’s  Friday night foray into QUICK AND EASY CHINESE… I’ll put in one recipe at the end, with appropriate credit to Nancie McDermott.  Thanks a lot….  Check out her book.

  I love Chinese in the snow.

menu:
Egg Flower Soup, page 38
Green Onion Pancakes, p 39-40
Broccoli with Ginger and Garlic, p 127
Almond Chicken, p 49 (Cook’s note:  We added a bunch more vegetables here because we had them.)
Rice

wine:  dry riesling (German)
dessert:  none

                                                                      (Two-Dog Ktichen Above!)

Green Onion Pancakes (Taiwan street-food flatbreads)

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c water
About 1 T vegetable oil, plus 3T for frying
1T salt
1/2 c thinly sliced green onion

*Med bowl:  combine flour and water. stir well to mix and turn into soft dough.
*Lightly flour work area and your hands, and then scrape the dough onto the floured work surface.  *Knead the dough for 5 minutes, turning and pressing to form it into a soft, smooth dough.  Cover the dough with the bowl and let rest 5 min.
*Divide the dough into 3 portions, cutting it apart with a butter knife or pastry scraper.  Leaving the other two portions covered while you work, place one portion on the floured work surface, and roll it out into a big, round pancake, 6-8 inches in diameter.
*Use about 1t of the oil to lightly and evely coat the surface of the pancake.  Sprinkle it with 1t of the salt, and then scatter about 1/3 of the green onion over the pancake.
*Starting with the far edge and pulling it toward you, carefully roll up the pancake into a plump log.  *The soft dough will need a little coaxing, and it won’t be perfectly even, but that is just fine.
*Shape the log into a fat spiral, turning the righ end toward you to make the center and curving the remaining log around it.  Tuck the loose end under and gently but firmly press to flatten it into a big, thick cake.  Using your rolling pin, roll it gently into a 7-in pancake.  The green onion will tear the dough and poke out here and there, but that’s not a problem.
*To cook, heat a heavy, medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add about 2 t of the oil and turn to coat the bottom of the pan evenly.  When a pinch of the dough and a bit of green onion sizzle at once, place the pancake in the hot pan and cook until handsomely browned and fairly evenly cooked on one side, 2-3 minutes.
*Turn and cook the other side for about 1 min., until it is nicely browned and the bread is cooked through.  Use the remaining dough to roll out, season, shape, and cook two more pancakes.  Use additional oil as needed.  Cut into quarters, and serve hot or warm. (QUICK AND EASY CHINESE, by Nancie McDermott.)

Cook’s note:  This is a bit salty in a good way…If you are watching your sodium intake, you should cut the salt accordingly.  Dave cooked these 1/3-1/2″ thick and they were done and chewy like fat flatbread.  If you’d like a tender, more quickly cooked pancake, roll them out thinner and cook quickly.  I thought they might have been good with a soy-ginger sauce for dipping…a la Asian dumplings.  These are a little time-consuming, but not much.  Might be fun to take somewhere as an appetizer…They are fine at room temp and could be transported all-ready-to-go cut in a cloth-lined basket.

Also, some people call green onions “scallions,” and some call them “spring onions.” 

Sing a new song; eat green onion pancakes,
Alyce
—————
In Memoriam—

Lois June Valentine
 
                 June 28, 1917-March 20, 2010

Ever ready for a new adventure, she’s now on the ultimate trip.

New Year’s Day Brunch for Eight

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Do you want to just sleep away New Year’s Day?

Maybe you want coffee and coffee and coffee and coffee… and maybe a football game later. Much later.

But if you’d like a touching, warm beginning for the New Year (and, honey, it really is 2010), this sweet and savory meal is for you. You might not need anything else the rest of the day.. especially if you don’t make it until 3pm. Smile.

I’m praying your Christmas and Hanukkah were great… This is just the eighth day of Christmas; did I do the math right?

8 maids a milking……………… Whoa. Just the thought makes my hands hurt.

Our tree stays up for the 12 days of Christmas. When the wise men arrive on January 6 is when I’m comfortable beginning to take down an ornament or two. Why not give it it’s full due?

Epiphany is an incredible season of its own. I love the word

EPIPHANY

Look it up and read the definitions. You need an epiphany; I know. I do, too.

Meantime, the menu.

Pomegranate Sparkler
Fresh Fruit Salad
Balsamic Fried Tomatoes
Sweet Potato and Black Forest Ham Frittata
Whole wheat toast/butter and jam
Stollen (an easy one)
Coffee, Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

Recipes are in the order in which you should make them………
–
COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE
Make your coffee just how you like it. Make lots.

POMEGRANATE SPARKLER

Into each of eight flutes, pour equal amounts of pomegranate juice and champagne or cava (an inexpensive and super Spanish sparkler) or prosecco. No New Year’s Resolutions needed.
A few frozen raspberries or cranberries in the bottom of the glasses add a dash of seasonal red.

STOLLEN
2 loaves. Each serves 8-10.
–
Great to make ahead and freeze. This recipe makes two. Keep one for later or take one to a friend. This is an easy stollen… not to worry about a thing. If you can make banana bread, this is just a T-tiny step above. No yeast. The original recipe that I’ve changed over a couple of years and bakings at sea level and at altitude came from Susan Westmoreland @ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, linked here.
.

2 c ricotta cheese
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
2 c dried tart cherries (other dried fruit works)
1 c toasted walnuts, chopped roughly
2 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
4 lrg eggs (use extra large at altitude)

4 2/3 c unbleached white flour
1 c white, granulated sugar
3 t baking powder
1/2 t kosher salt
–
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease two large, rimmed cookie sheets or baking pans.
Mix together ricotta, cherries, nuts, vanilla, lemon peel and eggs. Set aside.
In food processor, mix (using steel blade) flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in cold butter and process until meal-like. Pour flour mixture into a large bowl. Mix in ricotta mixture by hand until the dough hangs together.
–
Do try this at home…………….or ask kids to help. They aren’t afraid of bread!
You’ll have a lovely dough by now and you need to turn it out onto a floured board or counter and divide it in half. With floured hands, gently knead each piece of dough about three times. With floured rolling pin, roll one piece of dough into 10” by 8” oval. Fold oval lengthwise, bringing top half over or that the bottom of dough extends by one inch. Repeat for second
piece of dough.

Pat /roll out; roll over…….Place each stollen on a prepared baking sheet. Bake about an hour until lightly browned and toothpick placed in center of bread comes out clean. Transfer bread to wire racks and cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar. Slice as desired. 1 1/2 inches is good serving.
Wrap extra stollen in double layer of foil and freeze or deliver to friend.

FRUIT SALAD

Cut up 2 cups each of four of your favorite winter fruits and mix well in large bowl. If desired, mix in 1/2 c sour cream and top with shredded coconut.

Suggestions: Apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, pineapples…….Whatever’s good at your market!

BALSAMIC FRIED TOMATOES

Slice two large tomatoes and saute them in a little oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 2 T top-quality balsamic vinegar and cook 1-2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and serve with frittata.
SWEET POTATO-BLACK FOREST HAM FRITTATA

2T olive oil
2 small red potatoes, chopped roughly
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2# asparagus, chopped (remove bottom couple of inches)
1/4# Black Forest ham, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
8 eggs, well beaten
1 c Gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large (12-14″) skillet, measure oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add both kinds of potatoes and onions. Saute until tender, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Add asparagus and ham and saute until the crisp has just worn off the asparagus. Add beaten eggs and cook, stirring, for five minutes or so, stirring often. When the eggs are about half-cooked, add Gruyere cheese and place in oven. Bake until crispy and the eggs are set to your liking. Turn pan over onto large cutting board and shower with Parmesan. Cut into 8 pieces and let your friends or family serve themselves. (While frittata bakes, make your toast.)

Share with someone you love!
Happy New Year, friends………….as you sing any new or “auld” song,

Alyce–Could there be anything better leftover? Add a little butter.

September Staples-Leftover Frittata

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Leftover Fritatta

Labor Day–wonderful three-day weekend with a myriad of possibilities. Walks, talks, cooking, a few put-off chores (deck painting) and some neighbors in for a meal or two. Also a day to babysit a golden retriever with an injured leg and her new pal, a Great Pyrenees named Rocket.

————————————————————Gab loves Rocket

Now Rocket is a new addition and is only 10 months old; he weighs about 100 pounds and thinks he can sit on your feet and lap. He also thinks our queen-sized bed belongs to him. Try to get one hundred pounds of anything off your bed. (Where else would he sleep? No where else is big enough.) So far, he’s as sweet and calm as the day is long, but he has one big problem. He doesn’t like closed doors. If a door is closed (like the one to the garage), he simply stands and whines and whines and whines… You get the idea. I think he misses his old family and may be contemplating and/or planning his escape; he definitely wants to be wherever Dave is and, right now, Dave is golfing. Can you hear this puppy crying? A newborn baby’s fussing cannot hold a candle to this galoof.


—————-Why did you say this door was closed? No bed for me?

Despite the new family member, or maybe because of him, we had next-door neighbors Mike and Sara Hillman over for dinner last night. It appeared I had four 2″ thick pork chops in the garage frig that needed to be eaten or frozen. Much better fresh, why not share with friends? Tyler Florence has a great brined pork chop recipe that he serves with a sumptuous tapenade and roasted vegetables. We made that; it’s easy and pleasing to everyone. Mike toted over a nice Oregon Pinot Noir and the night began. (Puppy lying at my feet, quiet now…Has he given up?)


The night was so pleasant, in fact, that we were able to spend a little time on the deck before it was too chilly. Lovely meal, but three of us couldn’t eat all of our chops; I sent Sara’s home with her and kept the rest of ours along with the cold roasted vegetables (new potatoes, zucchini, asparagus, onions, yellow peppers, flavored with rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil).
When I woke up this morning (100 pounds of white fluff jumping up–ready or not….) to the smell of Dave brewing coffee–heaven’s smell, I think–Dave had out on the stove a small omelette skillet and asked if I needed it for breakfast. I had not yet thought about breakfast, but gave the idea a whirl while I had my coffee. The little skillet wouldn’t do, because I just knew the leftovers from last night would make a super frittata that would feed us for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we wanted. Not only that, it would make a good addition to the September Staples blog–all about using things that are already in the house for meals.

————————————Out came the cold roasted vegetables


I grabbed the cold vegetables and pork chops out and gave them all bit of a hearty dice and set them aside. Adding a little butter to the pan, I sauteed 1/2 a small chopped onion, a clove or two of garlic and some fresh mushrooms.


On top of that went the cold veg and pork and a slew of beaten eggs, parsley, some cheese (hoop cheddar–what was in the drawer) and a few extra tiny tomatoes for garnish, taste and color. Cooked a couple of minutes on the stove and popped into the oven for another five minutes or so- et voila, breakfast. Out of the oven, Dave showered on some parmesan.


I have done this same thing with leftover sausage, ham and a variety of vegetables and starches; pasta works well and what else do you do with it? One of my favorites is to use the toppings from take-out pizza. Use what you have; have what you use…whatever. A morning of thanksgiving for the beautiful day, beautiful leftovers and, well, maybe for the crying baby dog, who now sleeps peacefully at my feet. He barely fits under the table as I write. Certainly thanksgiving for a morning with enough time for breakfast. Here’s how:
—————–

Leftover Frittata
serves 4

2 cups leftover meat and/or vegetables cut up roughly into 1″ pieces or less
1t butter
1/2 c onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c fresh mushrooms, optional
8 eggs beaten
1/4 c parsley, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 c grated cheese of your choice, divided
1/4 c tiny tomatoes
1/4 c parmesan grated
—–

Preheat oven to 400 F. Set aside cold veg and meat. Heat over medium flame an ovenproof 12-14″ skillet with butter; add onion, garlic and mushrooms, sauteing until soft. Add cold veg and meat and warm through. Mix parsley into beaten eggs and season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over meat and vegetable mixture and stir in half of the cheese of your choice. Sprinkle with the rest of that cheese and add the tomatoes. Let frittata cook until eggs are about half-way set and then place skillet in the oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and eggs are set. Remove from oven and shower with parmesan. Cut into quarters and serve hot or cold, today or tomorrow.
—

———————–Glads at our table————————————

Sing a new song; make a new breakfast………..

Alyce

Summer in the City-Breakfast Pita

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My view as I go to practice each day at the chapel.

The back of the organ in the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel

SAY I LOVE BREAKFAST 3 TIMES FAST….

Is there something about the weekend that makes us want to cook breakfast? Well, of course there is, but what exactly is it? While I love practicing every day and spending time reading conducting textbooks (can be a kinda odd thing to do all alone), I am thrilled when Saturday comes! My own family is entranced with the idea. Let’s make frittata; let’s make blueberry pancakes. Quiche. Egg casserole. Waffles and eggs with toppings (mushrooms, salsa, cheese, shallots). Huge pots of fresh coffee drank while it’s hot. Why do we so often find our morning coffee sitting cold somewhere when we come home at night? Something wrong somewhere, hon. I vote for hot coffee ALWAYS.

In fact, we like eating breakfast on the weekend so well that we will go out and pay for that meal after church. We’ll spend a good chunk of time sitting together, drinking coffee, enjoying the meal, enjoying our time that is not in a hurry, is not rushed, is not ending pretty soon now. We sometimes take friends along…an old and perfectly good tradition. Inviting folks for Sunday lunch, I mean. The French, I’m told, rever the Sunday afternoon meal so much that it is said to be their favorite meal. Just because it is the longest stretch of time during the week where nothing else has to happen——just food———-just togetherness. Ok, there could be wine, too.

As the weekend draws near, think about how you’ll spend that time (other than the ubiquitous chores). Other than grocery shopping. Other than mowing the lawn. Make a little vacation time at home with breakfast. Plan it a bit ahead. If not, you’ve aways got pancake mix, right? Think about NOT running around. How about cooking a little something (really easy) for your loved one or a friend? Add music; add a good newpaper; add the magazines you have no time to read. Re-read A YEAR IN PROVENCE and see what Peter Mayle did in all of his free time around the pool in the summer (when he wasn’t supervising workpeople).

Here’s an easy breakfast pita that’s ready to help make your weekend what weekends are supposed to be. It’s also a great meal for cooking away from home because the ingredient list is short and sweet. Good quick supper, too. Just the right thing to make you give thanks for your loved ones and “fast” food. Lovely right now when the tomatoes
are tomatoes, not some oddly colored, hard facsimile we sometimes see in the winter. Squeeze some oranges for fresh juice. Yes, you can do it. You’re hardly cooking. Or try a dry rose–lots of 2008s about.

Where’s the fresh juice?
Coffee, hot, lots of it……
Real cream?
Breakfast Pitas
two servings
5 eggs
2 t butter
1 whole-wheat pita cut in half
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese
1 tomato, roughly chopped
1/4c chopped kalamata olives
1/2 t dry oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground
pepper
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 c fresh spinach leaves
1 c red grapes (separate on plate)

Place half a pita on each of two plates
In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt butter. Crack eggs into pan and stir thoroughly. Cook until about half set.

Add feta, tomatoes, olives and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and taste for seasoning. Spoon half of the egg mixture into each pita half and garnish with parsley. Stuff spinach into pita alongside egg mixture. Place 1/2 c grapes on each plate.

Sing a new song,
Alyce

P.S. Might be a break in the blog. We are off for a spot of travel to see a new family addition and to celebrate a couple of birthdays “up north” before my intensive conducting class begins next Monday.

Memorial Weekend Breakfast in the Living Room

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Memorial Day Weekend….Do Breakfast Slowly…Remember it’s a Holiday?…
The food magazines and papers are most likely full of barbeques; it’s time to light the grills and bring out the brats or ribs. Time to stuff the coolers full of beer and white wine and head for…wherever you head for when the great, warm weather arrives. However, if you live in the Rockies, I can just about promise you that 1. The chance of your grilling this weekend , in good weather (unlike almost any other time in our lovely geographic area), is nil. 2. The chance of you finding ANYWHERE warm or dry to go is even less likely. In fact, it’s probably a good time to make beef stew and hunker down in your family room with a stack of movies and magazines and a lovely bottle of Pinot Noir. As I add a photo and publish this post Friday morning, it’s 50 degrees and foggy with rain imminent. You can’t SEE the mountains, much less decide to camp there.

…
We’ve tried tent camping Memorial Day weekend exactly twice. Both times were unmitigated disasters due to freezing rain, snow and early departures for home where warm showers and furnaces existed. Talk to anyone out here who’s ever tried to do anything on Memorial Day weekend and you’ll get a similar story. Once, we had the same story over Fourth of July. Gospel.
So, instead of great bbq recipes, I’m putting up a delish fast spread for breakfast because, if you live where I live, you might actually have time to cook it indoors this weekend. (Get some soup out of the freezer for dinner.) Continue reading →