Daddy and the Jersey Blues

One friend online who used to have lobster feasts with his family blogged about it.  It reminded me of home in NJ and my dad.

My dad loved the Jersey blue crabs and growing up we would have summer feasts with these. Dad would buy them fresh and alive and add all sorts of spices to the boiling water we cooked them in. I remember them in the paper bags scrambling around trying to get out. Sometimes we would take one or two out and let them race. But I was always afraid of them as a kid. Those claws looked so evil and I was afraid it would bite my finger off.

Dad always seemed like such a brave guy doing battle with them. Later on as a chef, I watched the guys I work with argue over who was going to cook a few lobsters that were alive. The sissies wouldn't touch them, they were afraid! And so I mustered up my courage, remembering my dad doing battle with the crabs and grabbed that sucker and tossed him into the boiling water. The guys I worked with were stunned I did that. Here are grown men being sissies and I grabbed it and did it. But it was remembering what dad did that gave me the courage to do it. I guess at that moment I finally grew up......sort of a rite of passage.

But dad would cook several dozen of these crabs and he would clean them too. I remember it being an all day thing, cooking and cleaning and packing them up to chill. And when picnic day came, oh how we couldn't wait!

I remember sitting outside at the table, bowls of crab parts, bodies, claws, legs all for our choice of what we liked. I remember my grampa eating them too, he loved the legs and I never understood why cuz to me there was nothing in them. But he would be sucking away at the juices I guess. And we would eat and eat till we couldn't eat anymore, covered with juice, sticky fingers.

Dad is alot older now and doesn't do that much. Now he buys them from a crab shack already cooked and cleaned. But as a special treat, when I go to visit, Ill have dad order some for us. We drive to get them, then get all set up to have a feast together , just me and dad. Now we sit side by side at the counter in his kitchen. My friend who's blog I read today reminded me of this. I haven't been home in a couple yrs now and dad isn't well, mom says. I think I need to do it once I know whats going on with this house. And I need to take Dad shopping once again for the crabs for a feast. I miss that, sitting by dad, eating and talking about everything and anything. I better do it soon while hes still here.

Sometimes when QVC has a deal on the big lump crabcakes, I send dad a pkg to enjoy. Here's one way to eat them.

 Blue Crab Cake Panini

1 lb. blue lump crab meat
2 small garlic cloves
1/2 c. fresh washed basil leaves
1 egg
6 T. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1/2 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. freshly grated parmesan cheese
3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1/3 + 1/4 c. minced green onions
1/3 c. minced celery
1/2 c. cracker crumbs
2 T. minced parsley
1-1/2 tsp. seafood seasoning

 Sauce:
Mix garlic cloves, basil leaves, 3 T. olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste and mayonnaise in a food processor and set aside.

Relish:
Toss together red onion, red wine vinegar and fresh oregano in a small bowl and set aside.

Blue Crab Cakes:
1. Heat 3 T. oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Saute 1/3 cup minced green onions and minced celery until soft.
2. In a large bowl, mix cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup of minced green onions, egg, parsley, seafood seasoning and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add the sauteed onion and celery, then gently mix in the crab meat.
3. Form the crab mixture into eight cakes using a round mold or hands. Place the cakes, not touching, on a metal baking sheet. Broil the crab cakes under the broiler for about 4 minutes. Gently turn them over, careful not to break them, and broil on the other sides. At the end of 8 minutes, they should be nicely browned.

Assemble The Dish:
1. Heat a stovetop grill on medium heat.
2. Crown 8 semi-hard round buns by cutting off the rounded tops with a bread knife. If not already split, cut in half, lengthwise. Brush the outsides with olive oil.
3. On the inside of the top half of each bun, spread about 1 tsp. basil sauce and 1/2 T. onion relish. Place a crab cake on the inside of the bottom half of the bun.
4. Grill each sandwich for a minute or two per side, pressing down on the sandwich with an egg turner. The sandwich is done when lightly browned on each side.
5. Cut the sandwiches into two halves or quarters and serve.

Sorry for lack of posts

At the moment Im going thru a family crisis and so I haven't posted anything here lately. I am hoping it will be resolved this week and hope to be back to work on here. Stick around, I'm not gone, I will be back soon! And for those who believe in prayer I ask for a prayer that things are resolved this Wed. and that those others who got involved see the error of their ways and back off.

Just What are Traditions?

" It's good to grab life and let go of some of the traditions of the past, make some new ones, go on an adventure, don't get stuck in a routine as that can stifle the human spirit. Don't let your traditions become obligations."

I saw this on another blog as I wandered around and it just spoke to me. You see this year I didn't do some of our usual traditions. In fact the last few yrs. its been hit or miss depending on the time I had and the mood I was in. My kids mentioned one or two this yr and it got me thinking about our traditions.

When my children were babies, we used to go to my MILs house for an Italian Christmas Eve dinner. We would get there at 5 or so and it would go on for hrs. Dessert was served after midnight and the children were allowed to open one gift since technically it was Christmas Day. Most times when they were really young they fell asleep long before that time. My MIL tho would cook for days and for hrs while we were there. There were many courses and things were cooked when they were needed so she was in the kitchen most of the nite. I don't know how she did it, honestly. Even tho I ended up doing it years later, I really don't know how she made so much food all alone in that tiny kitchen. We couldn't help, there was no room plus she really didn't want anyone in there.

The menu was much more than I made. It was antipasto, shrimp, mussels in marinara sauce, two kinds of pasta with marinara sauce and one with squid in the sauce. There were oysters cracked and shrimp. There were fried zeppoli. There was fennel and olives in between. There was broccoli salad with fried flounder, fried eel, bacala salad, and fried scallops. Then came out the fennel and nuts and such to nibble. Wine flowed, even when the kids got older they got a lil on the bottle of a glass but filled with 7-up.

But this meal ended at midnight and then desserts came out. Mom made Italian cheesecake, there were Italian pastries, and onion pie. We often didn't leave till 3am. I was wiped out by then and I had the kids and had to get up for Christmas morning with them. The next day I did my thing with the kids and my MIL expected us to come back for lasagna. She got mad when we didn't, after all I had to have a day with my family too.

But while that was hard to do and chaos, I miss it cuz I didn't have to do it all! Then my MIL lost her sight due to diabetes. She couldn't see well enough to do all this anymore so my other SIL and I took a holiday to do so she wouldn't have to. Of course I got stuck with Christmas since I wasn't working then, I was home. It used to take me 3 solid days of cooking from morning to nite to be ready for this day. Of course the house had to be perfect too since they were all coming and I had to do my usual Christmas stuff too for the kids. When I look back I don't know how I did it all.

When I moved to CA. it was hard to get some of the things we loved. We used to go to SF a few days before this holiday to shop for the things I needed like breads, cheeses, antipasto items and pastries. And while I enjoyed doing that, it made the rest hard cuz I still had to cook and wrap presents and decorate, etc. Taking this time out was hard on me. Often family flew in for this too. My ex used to get the fish for me and would clean it too so it was ready for me to cook. But over time he stopped doing that. Over time he just flew in with his sister like I was a restaurant. I started to resent this holiday stuff cuz it wasn't my holiday but his familys. As he became more remote from us, this became an ugly holiday for me, doing all this with no help. He used to give me extra money for it and over time that stopped too. Once again, how I managed to produce all this food with the money and time I had.......well I'm amazed as I look back.

Now I left him and am in my own house. The first yr. I traveled to SF and did my usual thing with all the food. I cut back on the amts tho. I started to do that when with my ex still , cuz we always had too much left. Seems tho no matter how much I cut back there's always too much. I hate it. Ive since stopped going to SF now. I used to make a day of it and had a nice lunch and such. I would shop for all the things I needed and then come home exhausted. I miss doing that but I don't miss being so tired from it when I still had tons to do.

Each year now Ive cut back on stuff or eliminated it. Some years we haven't been able to get together on Christmas Eve so I started doing Christmas Day. Since my bfs family does prime rib that day, I do too now. We all love that but its not our usual traditional stuff. So I still make antipasto and crab and shrimp to have before and assorted desserts after. My son mentioned I didn't make the zeppoli the last couple yrs but the last couple yrs we did Christmas Day, so I wouldn't have thought of it.

A couple of years we went to my daughters house but she cant make all this so I had to make it all and bring the whole darn meal over her house. Often I would have my SIL stop by on the way home from work the day before to bring alot of it. My daughter would then make whatever the main part of the meal was that we decided on. We did away with most of the fish stuff and the marinara spaghetti. In its place we had lasagna or chicken parmigiana. But once again I was cooking for days. The only good blessing was she got all those dishes to do alone. Still I did have days of dishes here before that.

And now they mention things missing and I think to myself....when? When are they going to take over? When will I get to be a guest? I'm tired. Now I'm moving away. I spoke to my bfs dad the other day, he wished us a Merry Christmas when they got my pkg. I found out that he made a prime rib too. I said oh great then you can do the cooking when I get up there. I'm thinking gosh, maybe I can actually be a guest now and then. He says to me ........WE will do the cooking , you and me. Sigh.

So when I read that passage up there about traditions becoming ruts and being adventurous it struck something deep in me. How many of us do things because we feel we HAVE TO? Traditions I feel are for continuity but also for pleasure. I haven't really had alot of pleasure for many yrs during the holidays. I think that needs to change. It will be a bit easier for me up in Oregon if its just me and the man. We can make new ones or just keep what we like. Of course if the kids come to visit they will be looking for tradition. But I think its time they do it for themselves.

There are things I still love. I love to put my grammas ornaments on the tree, the first ones each yr. I love to decorate the house this time of yr, it just feels cozier. I love to cook a good meal but perhaps not as much as in the past. When my mom asked me about Christmas eve this yr. I told her , you know, this was never MY holiday, this was my exs familys holiday. Why do I have to keep doing this? I'm not going to anymore, just the parts I like. She agreed. When I was growing up, Christmas eve was me and my brother putting up our tree and mom baking cookies. Christmas day was dinner and family. I don't even remember what mom cooked. Traditions should be fun for all......not an obligation. Yup things are gonna change around here, I'm tired.

Day of the dead and food memories

I'm reading this book.....It talks about the Mexican day of the Dead. Its not a holiday I know much about but it was interesting to read about it. The author used to live in AZ. and so celebrated it with Mexican friends. She talks about how it was for people to spend time with the ancestors. But because it was a celebration the Catholic church frowned on it. They didn't understand why they were celebrating. The church thought it was about paganism and you know they always tried to eliminate that by changing it. So they changed the date from June to Nov. to coincide with All Saints day. They hoped it would change them since its a somber day. But it didn't, they still celebrated , just on the different day. The author tho spoke of it, not as a death/pagan type thing but that people did it as a way of remembering those who passed on. They would share the family stories but because sometimes the parties were at the gravesite on top of those very graves, the church thought it was sacrilegious.

One catholic priest started to write a Treatise on the Superstitions and Heathen Customs that today live Among the Indian Native to This New Spain. He meant it as a guide to other priests to recognize and exterminate the native practices. As he wrote tho he grew sympathetic. He realized that the people celebrated sacred in the ordinary and encouraged living and spirit realities to meet up in the here and now. Death as an ending didn't exist for them. They just figured the ancestors were in a different body on a trip thru the ether. They felt it was a way of visiting them. The peoples sadness was not for them but for themselves, so it became ritual visiting.

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The author tho realized for us today we have no rituals to do this but we do it anyway in many ways and she mentioned several memories of family members. I thought about this and I like this .......our memories really are a celebration of sorts. When we remember gramma cooking over a stove, shes not really dead, she lives in our thoughts and hearts still. So I thought about some of my own ...day of the dead memories.

My Mothers mom was Hungarian. As a little girl I spent many summers there. Grampa would ask me what I wanted to eat for dinner and I would say Palasintas! These were very thin crepes filled with jam and such. Grampa would command that the lil princess wants Palasintas and by the end of the day, I had them. As a child I didn't realize the work that went into them but I do now. Poor gramma in the middle of summer with no AC, standing over the stove making many Palasintas for me, sweating alot but doing it anyway. I miss gramma, and I miss Palasintas but now as an adult, I feel so guilty for asking that of her. But its a great memory. It brings her back to me.

And grampa, he had his big garden and I loved to be in it and help him. And when I garden now, that memory comes back to me. Of running fast past the dog cuz it barked all the time and scared me. He was tied up but he could get close to the entrance of the garden and as a child it scared me. And then running under the grape arbor which was the entrance to the garden. I ran thru that too cuz there were tons of creepy Japanese Beetles on it that grampa would pick off by hand. He would drown them in a jar of water. Once I got past that tho, I was in heaven. Rows of all kinds of veggies and grampa would fill a watering can for me and let me go crazy there.

Grampa would let me pick a tomato right off the vine to eat. Ill never forget that, so warm and juicy. To this day the first tomato of the year when I grow them, brings back that memory. And he would grow kohlrabi a weird veggie that tasted like broccoli. He would pick one and peel it like an apple for me to eat. I loved it , so crunchy and crispy. So when I garden, many times I think of grampa in his. I think this is where my love it it started and I'm carrying on a tradition.

I remember holidays as a kid. A big table filled with aunts and uncles and the kids running around. And after the dinner all the women and girls ended up in the kitchen doing dishes. I hated doing the dishes but at least with all hands on deck it went much faster. It was interesting tho because the women would of course talk about everything and anything and you could learn alot. Ive been away from family a long time now and all those aunts are gone now. And since most holidays have been here at my house by the time I'm done cooking and feeding everyone, I'm exhausted so I don't do my dishes till the next day. I just put the food away and crash. But because of that I started to wait till my daughter and grand daughter got here to set my table. I would have them do that and in a way it became a reverse tradition.

Unless I have a huge group and food is buffet style, then we always eat at the dining room table. I grew up eating together at the table. My own life didn't quite go that way with the ex on the road so I made sure holidays were like that or when the grandchildren come to visit. My granddaughter just loved that tho. She made my daughter change her ways because of that. They used to sit with TV trays and watch tv. Her table was cluttered with the usual daily stuff. But one day after being here my lil one told her mom she wants to eat at the table like we do at grammas. I was happy to hear that, to know that she wanted those family traditions already at her age.

My grandkids and I have made cookies for the holidays over the yrs. Even me and my children have done that. And there are certain things that must be had for certain holidays or no one is happy. I like to think when I'm gone.........my own will have their own Day of the Dead memories of me and smile. I would love for them to visit me often.

Palasintas (Hungarian pancakes)

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons salt
6 eggs
1½ cups milk
6 tablespoons melted butter
About 1½ cups sparkling mineral water
3 tablespoons cooking oil

Put the milk, eggs, salt, flour and melted butter in a blender, in that order. Blend at top speed for about 1 minute, then scrape down the sides of the jar and blend another few seconds. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Just before making the palacsinta, shake or stir the batter and add just enough sparkling water to make a thin batter, the consistency of light cream. Heat a small frying pan with sloping sides until very hot, then brush with cooking oil. When it starts to smoke, remove from the heat and pour a few tablespoons of batter into the pan (work with a ladle the right size, if possible). Quickly turn the pan around so the batter flows to the sides, thinly coating the entire bottom. A palacsinta is supposed to be very thin, as thin as it can be without getting lacy. Put the pan back on the heat for about a minute, then give it a couple of good jerks to loosen the palacsinta, then turn it over by hand, using a spatula to lift it up out of the pan first. Cook briefly on the second side and slide it into a warm dish or pie plate. These can be made several hours ahead.

From “The Hungarian Cookbook” by Susan Derecskey. 1972.

My Grandmother would fill these with levar or prune butter, jams , or even cottage cheese. I could sit and eat them all afternoon while she was making them.

Aunt Marthas Tropical Fruit Pie

Yes there really was an Aunt Martha. The lady in the middle of the picture here is her when she was still alive. My Uncle Frank is sitting next to her. He was my dads oldest brother. Aunt Martha used to make this pie for picnics when we had them. They were so good on a hot summers day that it became a regular request when we knew she could make it to a party. This can be made into two 8in. pies or 12 tarts. And it can be frozen ahead of time too. We actually even like it frozen cuz its like eating ice cream.

I looked online tho for a picture of it since I don't have any here right now. Its summertime and I haven't made any yet. I was rather surprised that I couldn't find any pictures since its made with some store bought items. This picture I found tho is very close to what it actually looks like. The filling looks just like this when done only of course its a wedge, since its a pie......or round if you use the tarts.

I even looked on the Cool Whip site and the Eagle brand site. So I don't know if this is her version of another kind of pie out there or she just made this up. Either way, Aunt Martha was a good cook and when we make this we think of her.


Tropical Fruit Pie Makes 2 8inch pies or 12 tarts

1 lg. container Cool Whip
1/2 pt. sour cream
1 small 14oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4c. lemon juice
1 small can mandarin oranges
1 small can pineapple chunks (or tidbits if you can find them)
1 small jar maraschino cherries, chopped
2 graham cracker pie crusts (8in.) or 12 graham cracker tart shells

shredded coconut

Drain fruit and chop. Mix first 4 ingredients. Add chopped fruit and mix well. Fill graham cracker crusts. Refrigerate 3-4 hrs. Top with coconut (opt.)

Sometimes when I know Ill be busy Ill make these and freeze them. They keep well. Then when you need a dessert, just thaw a few hrs in the refrigerator. I will say it does taste good frozen too, just like ice cream.

Kitchen Memoirs

(No thats not any of my kitchens, but it is one I really like!)

I've been thinking alot about kitchens and the ones I've had over the years. I've done alot .....and I do mean alot .....of cooking over the years. Some of those kitchens were tiny and some were large but I've always managed to put out some great meals. I remember our first tiny apt., it was a sublet for the summer. I was newly married, pregnant and in a temporary apt. till we could find one better. It was the apt. of one of the College professors nearby so it was small but in a renovated huge old home. We lived upstairs in a one bdrm, one bathrm...living rm and kitchen set up. It had a gas stove, some cabinets, a sink and one of those tiny refrigerators...you know the ones for drinks and stuff like that. So I had to shop daily, there was no room. I had cooked for family and such growing up but this was my first time on my own. I didn't even have my own pots and pans yet.

I remember tho cooking in that tiny kitchen. I had to light the gas oven when I wanted to use it and I remember almost blowing the place up one day. I lit it and it looked lit.....then closed the door and walked away. Good thing I did......the build up blew open the door and scared me to death!

I made BBQ chicken in the oven my first meal. And I remember trying to please my new hubby by making Stuffed Shells for dinner one nite. Hes Italian and I'm not and I had never even heard of these things before I met him. So I called his mom to find out how. She said buy the large shells. Well I didnt know they made them sm,med, lg and jumbo... so I bought lg. Omg!! I filled over 150 of those things! I told my hubby then dont expect me to make this ever again! Its nuts. Later on his family had a good laugh. I bought the wrong size. I needed to buy the jumbo, duh.........then I would have had only about a dozen or so to fill. Sigh....



Our first real apt. had an eat in kitchen in an attic. Thank God it was eat in cuz I had a sink and stove thats it. One tiny cabinet and no counter space. But it had two bdrms which was good cuz my daughter was born while we lived there. Eventually we needed to move cuz that house was being sold. So we did......to another town where the big homes near the water used to be the summer homes of the rich many yrs. ago. They were turned into apts. We had the downstairs and it had another eat in kitchen. It was a large one tho so at least I had room to move around in. But still no counterspace, set up alot like the previous one. So when family came over, we would move the table into the living room and sit around it there so we all fit. I remember making my first Thanksgiving turkey there while we all sat at the table in the living room and watched Willy Wonkas Chocolate factory while we ate lol. This one too had an old gas stove that refused to light. After the first incident at the other place, now I was truly scared to use this one. Eventually I had the gas company come in and fix it cuz it just wouldnt work for me. While I love cooking with gas.........I hate lighting pilot lights! We moved from there into our first home, an old cape cod style house in an old farm neighborhood, where land was sold off piece by piece. It was a nice quiet neighborhood and great for kids. Once again the kitchen wasnt great but it was bigger and it had counter space. It was L shaped and it was also an eat in kitchen. It worked for most things and I put my pantry stuff down in the basement. When we had alot of company tho and wanted to eat together I would have to drag in my picnic table and benches and use it to extend my table. That left just enough room around the perimeter of the room for me to get to the stove, sink, refrigerator and the back door to put out the garbage. It was cramped but boy did we have some great family holidays back then. It was also where my friend wolfswoman and I baked tons of Christmas cookies together with our kids. They still remember these times. It wasn't till we moved from there that I finally got a dining room.

The next house had a big U shaped kitchen connected to a family room and breakfast nook. I had alot of space there, lots of counter space to work too. I loved it. And we could eat as a family in the breakfast nook and did so many nites. I loved those times together. Then off the kitchen was a nice dining room. We went out and bought a dining room set and I was so thrilled. I had that set all those yrs until I left the ex. He kept it. I had no room here to take it but I miss it so much, it was my pride and joy. Many family holiday dinners were held there and since I now had a nice space to entertain in, our Gourmet group was born while I lived there. Many wonderful meals were made in that kitchen. Tons of cookies baked too. And when my Mother in law passed away I took over the Christmas holiday in her place. While in this house my Father in law passed away a year or so later. The holidays were never the same again. Eventually we moved away from this house and New Jersey, to California.



My kitchen in California was huge. A big U shaped kitchen with a huge snack bar with tons of storage on the outside edge of the U. My hubby bought me a butcher block island to use in the middle of that kitchen since we didn't use it as an eat in. We had the snack bar. He was on the road alot and the kids were in and out so sit down family dinners didn't happen much anymore. But when we did have holidays and birthdays and such , this house has a big L shaped Dining and living room set up we used. The dining room was one step up from the living room. It was big enough for most of our family times. But there were times that I would throw parties or have tons over for a holiday and I had to expand. He was now a manager so entertaining became a big deal for me. Im glad I had all that room in the kitchen now and that big snack bar area. I used every bit of it cooking up a storm. We often set up buffets on that snack bar and I could never seem to get people outta my kitchen! Because that area was so open they all would venture in to see what I was cooking. But because all our family was back east, unless they came out at the holidays, those times were just us.


So we made a family rule that still holds today...anyone with nowhere to go could come to our holiday. So my kids would invite friends whos folks were divorced or travelling. And sometimes their friends would stop by anyway to eat, they all called me mom. And many times my ex had clients in on business that got stuck here so he invited them over then. We had friends away from their own families too and it became a big community meal. But some of the most interesting times happened because of this rule. My kids have eaten dinner with people from all over the world.Eventually they grew up, my daughter got married and my lil grand daughter was born. She ended up in that kitchen too. She used to have a lil duck to sit in that attached to the doorframe. She could make it bounce up and down with her feet. So there she would sit while gramma would cook. Eventually we moved again.......to a brand new house the next town over.




This is the one I showed you my holiday pictures of awhile back in a blog. It was my dream house with my dream kitchen. It was big kitchen with solid oak cabinets and granite countertops. It had double self cleaning ovens and a Jenn aire stove top set in a big island. I had wood floors and a garden window. Next to it was a breakfast nook. On and off now I only had my son home and sometimes we would eat at that nook.

I loved the table and chairs I bought for that spot....solid oak. I loved them so much they came with me when I left the ex. My grammas hutch was in that room too. It was the center of my life, my heartbeat, that kitchen. And whenever people were over that where they would all hang out. I couldn't get them out of my kitchen no matter what. I had a beautiful dining room and I would set it up so we could all fit nicely. That worked for dinners but for parties, I just couldn't get folks to stay out of my kitchen. So I often threw spaghetti parties for my ex and his clients and our friends. I would precook the pasta and get everything ready. Then I would use that island with the stovetop on it to keep everything warm. I let folks serve themselves. It worked out great. But I loved that dining room. It had my set in it that I loved from the old house. It was an octagon shaped room with windows along the front that looked out onto the big wrap around porch. We put in crown molding, a medallion where the chandelier connected to the ceiling and wood flooring with an oriental rug on it. I just adored that room. I would often sit and pay my bills in there I loved it so much. I really used that house and kitchen. I would hold our church picnics in my backyard and the kitchen was full of food from everyone. Even then people just didnt stay outside they hung out in the kitchen. And I had a big yard and a pool too. lol. I miss that house and kitchen and always will. Eventually I left him........and all that behind. I had to. The next place I lived in was a mess...I rented a room from some friends but the kitchen was a disaster and I would eat out all the time, I couldnt stand it. And then I moved in with a friend temporarily until I found a home of my own. Again it was a tiny kitchen so I generally just made my coffee and breakfast and went out to eat.


And then theres this house. I stumbled on it by accident and it became home. I thought I would live here forever, at least that was the plan but Ive learned God doesnt always consult you while your making plans lol. It had a nice and fairly new kitchen, not very big but not tiny. It had a ceramic top stove with two ovens, counter space and room for a sm. refrigerator. For one person it was enough I thought. But I was wrong. I guess if you dont cook much it might be but I always end up cooking alot. When the kids were here we ate in the dining room, I didnt have a breakfast nook or eating area in the kitchen in this house. But I had the oak table from my old breakfast nook in there. Its nice, its country looking... but it only seats 6. With me and the kids and grandkids thats 7 .....and now plus the bf...8. And if you try to put the food out on the table......theres just no room for it and the plates and such. So now I've got gate-leg tables from long ago that sit along the wall and I pull them out when I need extra table space. I use them to extend the table. (Just like I did long ago with the picnic table in my first house). If I do that then we can all fit comfortably around it and all the food fits too. And when I have the holidays and there are more people........I open another gateleg table and make that the buffet. This house is a bit too small for me to have my real life in. I have a nice backyard but we rarely sit out there. It gets windy late afternoons and if its not that , then its hot. So even summer is difficult and we end up eating inside. Now its me, the bf, and my son and grandson. Me and 3 males. They do not want to eat at the table. I tried but they did it awhile and always complained. So now we sit in the family room with trays watching tv. I HATE THAT.

I had one more kitchen too.......one that I cooked for thousands in, at the restaurant. Theres a picture of that too in my blog about being a chef. I loved it. I was there while it was being built. I was the first to clean its stainless steel beauty at my station. I watched the walkins being built. This was brand new state of the art at that time. I just loved it. I also cooked at the tasting room kitchen there and also at the owners house. But Ill always remember this kitchen cuz it was the big time. I was commander of my part of it. I am still amazed at all I learned while being there and the sheer volume of people I got to feed. An example: The one summer of the concert series there I worked the restaurant AND the series. We fed 2500 people in the restaurant in 3 summer months and 12,000 at the concert series buffets held outside, that includes what we call family meals. Those were someone also cooking lunches and dinners for us, the workers. Many times we did prep for both while someone took some of that prep to use for our own meals. Back then we chefs did the cooking for both at the same time. Later on they eventually got a catering staff to cook for the concerts.

If I could only have one kitchen... I have this dream of one of those old fashioned farmhouse kitchens. You know.......reallllllly big with lots of room for cabinets and storage. And a great big table in the middle that seats everyone. And room for a big refrigerator AND freezer. And a nice big pantry. If I cant have that then Id love a house with a Great room. One big kitchen with a snack bar that over looks a huge room with a fireplace. Then I could get a new dining room set and everyone would finally fit. I do know one thing, this next kitchen and house I will spend the money on to make it what I want. It will be my last kitchen.

DADS SAUSAGE SAMMICH

This is just a simple sandwich but to me its all about family memories........
When I was little we would go to grammas house after church. Gramma always made some yummy stuff and this was one thing she made that I loved. After she passed, my dad took on the job. I will post his recipe but add my variations after it. Today dad and I still swap recipes. He will tell me the latest he cooked or ask me questions on how to do stuff. ( I'm a chef.) And I will tell him my latest yummy things Ive made. Many times dad takes my recipe then adapts it to his life. My mom used to cook beef stew on top of the stove. When I first married I did too but I hated it because it always scorched. Then I found an oven beef stew recipe that I just loveeeeeeeeeee. A few yrs back I told my dad about it and now hes adapted it to the microwave. And that's how it goes all the time, round and round. He tells people he talks to this chef he knows in California lolol. I had professional photos done once for a food demo I had to do at a big dept. store in the mall. I sent my dad a pic and now he has it framed on his wall. That's "his kid" as he says when I call on the phone. (The picture below the About Me section is the one on his wall.)

DADS SAUSAGE SAMMICH Makes 2

1 dozen breakfast sausages (ok dad uses big dinner sausages, I cant find them out here so I use these but they are the same sausage just different size)

1 large onion, sliced

Kaiser rolls (we called them hard roll on the east coast) or toast

butter

Mustard (we use Guldens spicy)

Saute the sausages in some butter, add the sliced onions when sausages are about halfway done. Cover and cook till done. You want it to be nicely browned and onions caramelized. Fill rolls with sausages and top with onions. Spread on some mustard and eat!

Ok now for my version....

I frequently buy bulk breakfast sausage because the bf loves it. I freeze them in little bags for when I need it. So for me to start this recipe, I take out the frozen sausage and put in pan with about 1/4c water. When sausage seem thawed thru, saute, add a pat of butter and the sliced onions. Cover and cook for about 15min. Onions should be soft by then. If they are take off cover, raise heat to hi and stand there and watch em. They need to be browned and if you walk away you will be eatin out lol. Stir as needed till all liquid is evaporated and sausage is brown and onions caramelized.

I like this on Kaiser rolls too but I don't always have that around. We like it on sourdough toast tho. I use Guldens spicy mustard too but any kind you like will do . I do all as above with dads only we add sliced provolone cheese on it. Its delish! Told my dad about that one too.

This will make the whole house smell like onions!

And yes that's a pic up there of my breakfast today! hehehe

My holidays and Fruitcake to die for

On another site we do a thing called Friday Five. Its 5 questions each week to answer......usually something about our lives. This week was about the holidays and food so I thought Id post it here with my recipe.






1. What is your favorite holiday . . . and why, if you care to elaborate, especially those holidays not widely known . . .

My favorite time of year is from Halloween to Christmas. I love to decorate the house for each. Christmas tho is the grand finale. I go crazy in the house decorating and making cookies and planning for our Italian Christmas Eve Dinner. I start right after Thanksgiving with making my fruitcakes for family. They must be started this early because I soak them each week with brandy and then the final week with Grand Marnier. And yes folks EAT these, in fact they request them and are disappointed when I don't send them one.

SOUTHERN FRUITCAKE Makes 4 loaves

5 beaten eggs

1c. raisins

1c. figs

1 c. dates

1 c. apricot jam

2 c. granulated sugar

1 c. butter

1 c. nuts

3 1/2c. flour

1 c. sour milk ( make it by adding a tb. vinegar to it or use buttermilk)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

Mix butter and sugar together and add beaten eggs. Mix fruit with some of the flour and combine with remaining ingredients. Bake 1 1/2hrs at 325 degrees.

I put four loaf pans on a baking tray, sometimes it just rises so much I get a bit of over flow. Ive changed this recipe which was my mother in laws. I now also add some candied orange peel and substitute some of the other fruit with dried cherries. I never liked that candied citron and stuff. I soak the dried fruits in Grand Marnier or Brandy first. Once baked and cooled, I pour 1/4c. of brandy over each, each week. The week that I mail them out I pour 1/4c. of Grand Marnier over them and pkg them up. I wrap these in saran wrap so I can undo it ez to soak, then rewrap. I have some wonderful old fashioned enamelware boxes so I just store them in there till they are ready to be mailed.

Your four favorite foods or drinks associated with this holiday . . . appetizer, main course, side dish, dessert . . . your choice . . .

2. Italian Antipasto- I make many of the things myself and add to it with store bought.... marinated artichoke hearts, marinated mushrooms, stuffed cheese peppers, eggplant capananto, roasted peppers, olives, imported provolone cheese, pepperoni, tiny breadsticks rolled with prosciutto. Frankly with just this and dessert I could skip everything else :)

3. Italian Zeppoli-I can never make enough of these. I make mine with ricotta cheese and they are nice and moist and I always hide some cuz I love them the morning after with my coffee. These can be quite filling and yet everyone that comes here just sucks them up so fast! One year a friend of my daughters came and he loved them so much. The basket later on fell off the buffet somehow and the dog started to eat them. I just scooped the whole thing up and tossed it in the kitchen to toss them out later. My daughters friend started to eat them and I said NO! they were on the floor and the dog got to them! lol He didn't care , he just ate them all up!

4. The seafood-Italian Christmas eves consist of 7 fishes as tradition. We have cut back on that alot. Now I only serve shrimp and crab with cocktail sauce and the mussels with marinara sauce. I did away with oysters, spaghetti with squid, fried flounder, scallops, eel, and baccala salad. Altho sometimes I still made the baccala if I know enough will be here to eat it too. Many times I make it and add that to my antipasto dish instead.

5. Italian pastries-This is the only time of year I get these anymore, not like when I lived in NJ and there were bakeries everywhere for this stuff. I try to get to San Francisco if there's enough time to do that depending on what day Christmas falls on . But now Ive found something better. I can order canolis right from Ferraras bakery in NYC. Yea they cost bank but I only do this once a year so I make it worth while. I order chocolate covered canoli and another pastry I just love called Sfogliatella. They are clam shaped pastries with lots of layers filled with a ricotta cream filling. BTW for those that don't know ...Ferraras is THE BAKERY for Italian things and just screams HOME to me. If your curious heres the link http://www.ferraracafe.com/

WHAT DO YOU EAT FOR THANKSGIVING?

Every year we have almost the same things for Thanksgiving but many of my recipes were here, there and everywhere and when I needed them I couldn't find them all. Long ago I found this bound blank book and I started to put in all the family recipes. It works great, they cant fall out, and they are all in one place. I could throw away all those scraps of paper stuffed in the drawer or other books. The only ones I kept were ones written by family members who are no longer with us. Those are heirlooms, their handwriting and sometimes a story of how you got the recipe are worth keeping in a scrapbook or album.

Eventually I found some in other cookbooks too and when the holidays came I would go nuts trying to find them. So one crazy holiday I decided to leave those books out on my counter till the holiday was over. Then I took some time to go thru each one , writing that recipe in my family book. Now they were all in one place. I went one step farther too. There were some blank pages in the bound book at the back. I wrote my menu for each holiday on those so when the time came I could remember all that I needed to make and also make my shopping list. Now that I'm getting old here and CRS is kicking in its helped alot!

So this is what is written in that book for my Thanksgiving day dinner......

Turkey
Stuffing
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Corn Soup
Sweet Potatoes
Mom's Mushrooms
Cranberry Sauce
Caramelized onions
Peas
Brussels Sprouts
Cornmeal Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie

Over time of course things might change a bit. I now brine my turkey overnight and that's a new recipe Ive forgotten to add . I also now make that Apple Cider Pie I posted awhile back instead of a plain pie. Ive taken to making my own flavored cranberry sauces now....last yr I made cran/orange and cran/raspberry. I'm thinking about changing the soup this year and I might roast the brussels sprouts with garlic cuz they are so yummy that way. But this at least shows me what we always had and what the family will look for.

So what are your family Thanksgiving menu traditions?