Tag Archives: food

But It Was Only A Dozen Cupcakes! Or, The Perfect Holiday Meal

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I know that Christmas is over and we’re all enjoying a break from Forced Holiday Baking, but I can’t stop remembering all that great Christmas food — mainly because a lot of it’s still in our refrigerator. As we were talking over our first Christmas in our new house, my husband commented that all the meals were good except that on Christmas Eve afternoon, when we set up a buffet of holiday goodies, there simply was too much food. But I ask you: Is cheese (good cheese) and crackers and pistachio nuts and hummus and cheese straws and cocoa-ginger straws and toffee bites and Pepperidge Farms Ginger Man cookies and cupcakes and walnut-espresso brittle and white-chocolate/cranberry/pistachio bark and dark-chocolate/peppermint bark too much? Plus Chex mix. Plus the sugar cookies we made and decorated. Plus assorted pumpkin and cranberry breads. Plus a yummily delicious fudge pie with homemade sweetened vanilla whipped cream — although we had that for Christmas Eve-dinner dessert. On second thought, never mind. I think I know the answer my question. But it wasn’t all my fault. Everybody contributed: Younger Daughter brought the excellent cheese and made the whipped cream. Older Daughter perfected the bark and brittle recipes, which I hope she’ll make her signature holiday dishes. And what’s Christmas without Chex Mix and decorating sugar cookies? So there.

And speaking of food, here are some recipes from friends and family for some cozy and warming hot drinks. I’m always amazed at the great ideas people have. Look here for ways to use up leftover holiday ingredients and tips for jazzing up instant cocoa as well as a recipe for homemade coffee liqueur and some wonderful tea punches. Now all I need is a roaring fire and a soft fuzzy blanket …

Welcome, 2011 — Come On In and Stay A While

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Happy New Year’s Eve! Go forth and have fun tonight. With safety, please. And if you decide to stay home — whether you’re hosting a crowd or a romantic dinner for two — you’ll need something special and sparkly to drink. Several friends shared their favorite bubbly cocktail recipes in the food story I did this week for the TimesDaily. Check it out — it’s not too late to run to the store and stock up on beverage supplies. I did leave out one recipe from my friend Steve, who started off his list of ingredients with “Get some moonshine.” I love the South!

And then take a minute to read my weekly newspaper column for inspiration on making resolutions. Oh my goodness — I could fill pages and pages with promises to do things better. But then it would take me so long to sit down and write all my resolutions down that I wouldn’t have the time to actually, you know, do them. That’s my excuse, anyway. Like right now. I really should go out and walk before it starts raining. But it looks like it might rain any minute. And it’s windy. And cold, maybe. So I’ll just stay inside where it’s nice and warm and dry and THINK about going out to walk. I mean, that’s almost as good, right???

This past week I did get a headstart on one of my resolutions, which is to write more fiction. Of course, friends and family will argue that my newspaper columns already have touches of fiction but they’re all good sports and don’t mind that I might perhaps slightly edit things they say and/or do — for journalism’s sake, of course. Except for almost-3-year-old grandson Capt. Adorable, whose adorability is an absolute fact that needs no exaggeration whatsoever.

Oaty Bites and Robert Redford

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Here’s one of the things I like about Christmas: Friends and family giving you presents that you never ever would buy for yourself. And by “you,” I mean me. And by “friends and family,” I mean the wacky gift givers I hang out with. Such as my dad, whose sense of humor somehow takes a creative turn during the holidays and he picks out and wraps up items such as … a box of cereal. Specifically, a box of Nature’s Path Organic Oaty Bites cereal that he thought I might like. Because he likes it. And the thing is, I do like it. But how my dad knew I would is beyond me,  because whenever I visit my mom and dad, I usually have toast or muffins or cinnamon rolls or something equally warm and yummy. But this cereal is crunchy and slightly sweet and slightly nutty and good for you. Thanks, Dad. You still know best. Then my brother and sister-in-law who live in Chattanooga gave me something I’d been entirely ignorant of but which I now find out is something everybody in the whole world knew about except for me: Wine-bottle candelabras. You save your cool bottles and then put this candelabra in one and light the candles and you’ve got instant wine-bottle chic. Plus, my bro and sis-in-law ordered mine from Sundance – one of their favorite places to shop — and whenever I’m lucky enough get something from Sundance I always imagine that Robert Redford himself packed it. It could happen!

We Take Over Chattanooga, But In A Nice Way

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Chattanooga, Tennessee, is pretty much the coolest town ever. Especially when my both of my daughters and Capt. Adorable — my 2-year-old grandson — are there. Well, Younger Daughter (center) always is there, because she’s living and working in Chattanooga. But recently Older Daughter (left) and Capt. Adorable and I went to visit for a day, and those three spread coolness and adorability everywhere we went. For example, nobody could resist commenting on the Captain’s incredibly cute dinosaur hat — we made friends all over the place! We had a great time browsing through the fun and funky North Shore shops, eating scoops of Clumpies Ice Cream one creamy spoonful at a time and trying to limit our choices at Whipped Cupcakes to only a dozen pieces of deliciousness. (What??? Don’t judge us. You know that food always is the most important part of a road trip. And, besides, it was the Captain who demanded the ice cream and the cupcakes. Yeah, that’s it — the Captain made us.) So of course we had to walk all that off on the Walnut Street pedestrian bridge over the Tennessee River, where the Captain insisted on walking as close to the barrier as possible — while holding a trusted hand.

And this is why I am not home decorating for Christmas. Well, this, and I’m lazy, too.

Purple Potatoes

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Thanks to everybody who’s worried that I’ve already dropped my plan to cook supper for my husband at least one night a week. It’s true that the week of Thanksgiving I did take a break (hey, I’d cook two or three times by then!) since we were fed practically everywhere we went, but I got back in the groove this week and for our weekly-supper-at-home, I fixed … wait for it … stir-fried vegetables. But the big surprise was the PURPLE baked sweet potatoes. Yes. Purple. I got the potatoes and the broccoli, onion and red pepper at the Jack-O-Lantern Farms market in Muscle Shoals (I think fall broccoli has a sweeter taste than its spring version) and added some mushrooms and baby carrots from the grocery. We liked the potatoes — which I’ve seen in specialty grocery stores, too, such as Earth Fare — although they weren’t what we expected. They have the creamy consistency of sweet potatoes combined with the subtle  taste of white potatoes. But how much fun is it to eat purple food? I think purple mashed potatoes would be sort of wonderful. Husband got a kick out of them, anyway. So score another victory for Week No. 3 of Cooking Supper At Home. And before you start congratulating us for unpacking all the boxes that have been evident in the previous CSAH photos, I have to tell you that they’re still there — Husband simply was sitting on the other side of the table for this photo. I know, I know, but surely you don’t expect me to cook supper once a week AND unpack boxes, too???

A Friend of Frankensteins

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Oh, yes! You know that any eatery that can boast this espresso maker jumps to the top of my list — and Aretha Frankensteins in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is now one of my new favorite spots. Younger Daughter, who lives and works in Chattanooga now, kept promising that I would love this restaurant and she was so right. This funky spot is in the city’s cool NorthShore area, which is full of the hip and the hungry. Well, not hungry after they’ve been to Aretha Frankensteins, home of the biggest, most filling and most declious pancakes ever. EVER. Even Rachael Ray says so. So there. And there’s all sorts of other yummy things for all-day eating, from breakfast to late-night noshing. You have to be patient, though, YD warned, as we walked up the winding stairs. And she was right again. Because you see the shot above, on the right? You see the bar and a couple of tables in the shot on the right? Add in about maybe three or four more tables, constant coffee takeout traffic, a usual line out the door and one server — and you’ve got Aretha Frankensteins. In good weather folks can eat outside and enjoy the NorthShore neighborhood vibe. You’ve got to go. Just don’t be in a hurry. And, really, isn’t that a good thing?

Thanksgiving Dinner — or Why I’m Glad We’re Honorary Behels

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I’m not going to embarrass myself by telling you how many of these desserts I sampled at Thanksgiving dinner, but let’s just say I can tell you without a doubt that every one of these yummy pies and cakes and cookies and trifles was absolutely delicious. My daughter’s in-laws always have a big Behel-family feast — and luckily they consider my husband and me as family. My daughter’s mother-in-law made the chess and pumpkin pies from her grandmother’s recipes and her brother-in-law’s wife made the dark chocolate and buttercream cupcakes. As you can imagine, my husband and I started out sharing a plate of dessert goodies but quickly realized that we each needed our own. And there was my husband’s favorite: Green bean casserole. And my daughter’s famous corn casserole. And Paula Deen’s broccoli casserole. And light and soft homemade rolls. And now I’m making myself hungry all over again.

We’re still unpacking and settling in to our new house. And that’s good, because I’ve wrung two newspaper columns out of the experience and I’ve got a couple more percolating. When that last box is empty, I’m not sure what I’m going to write about. Maybe that’s why I keep putting off tackling all those boxes in the garage.

I Cooked Supper Twice! Now What?

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I know! Shocking, isn’t it? But it’s true: Now that my husband and I are in a house together after five years of having a commuter marriage, I actually truly really cook supper for him. This mainly is for my mother, who was properly skeptical as I heaped praise on the possibilities of our new kitchen in our new house — “But don’t y’all usually go out to eat?” she said, puzzled about why I would care about granite countertops and tons of cabinet space. But Husband and I made it a goal to cook and eat supper at home at least one night a week. Baby steps, you know! And here’s the proof. The photo on the left documents our first meal in Week No. 1: Sweet potato fries and sautéed vegetables straight from Jack-O-Lantern Farms market in Muscle Shoals with slices of Niedlov’s bread from EarthFare grocery in Chattanooga and some seasonal Samuel Adams. The photo on the right is from Week No. 2 — roasted vegetables from the JOL market with grilled Dubliner cheese-on-pumpernickel sandwiches and a bottle of Ravenswood. And that, folks, pretty much depletes my repertoire of cooking supper. Sad, isn’t it? Not sure what I’ll come up with for Week No. 3. But promising to post it here will motivate me to do something besides fall back on my childhood tuna-fish casserole, so stay tuned. Also, you can see that the boxes behind my husband haven’t moved from Week No. 1 to Week No. 2. Hey — I was busy cooking supper!

Random Mutterings of a Cluttered Mind

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I don’t mind not having TV at our new house yet. I don’t mind not knowing where my good boots are, or my blue leather purse or black leggings I just bought. I don’t mind that I still have to wind my way along a path between boxes or that we still have bath towels covering up a couple of windows. These are all temporary glitches along the Road to Completely Unpacking and Feeling At Home, and I embrace every challenge. (Also: I’ve been reading Anne Lamott.) But I really really really don’t like not having Internet yet. I’ve hit every WiFi spot and skulked around street corners and parking lots in my new town until the convenience of actually sitting in my own living room on my own couch with my own coffee cup and my own Internet kicks in — hopefully, my husband says, this weekend. We’ll see. In the meantime, here are some of the things that have been going on: 1) My 12-year-old nephew in Chattanooga had some dastardly kind of resistant staph infection in his elbow and was in Thompson Children’s Hospital all this past weekend. He was brave and put up with all sorts of IVs and needles and other unpleasant things and was worried mainly about missing school work — which is all his mom because his dad (my brother) would have considered a week off from school a major and unexpected gift. 2) While I was in Chattanooga hanging out with the family, I also got to visit with Younger Daughter, who recently moved there to work and go to school and live in my brother’s basement, which is a much cooler place than it sounds.  I went to the grocery story where she works and met all her super-sweet co-workers and admired her handiwork in building her first display of chocolate and cheese — two of our most favorite foods. I’ve taught her well. 3) But in more family medical news, a couple of days later, Older Daughter went in for some allergy tests to try to find out why she’s constantly congested and she found out she’s allergic to — you’ll never believe it – glycerin. Glycerin! Who knew this was something to be allergic to? Of course she couldn’t be allergic to something simple like dog hair — which she actually was hoping for as an excuse to pass their annoyingly yappy dog on to another family. But, no. It’s glycerin. Glycerin!!! I don’t even know what glycerin really is. But whatever it is, it’s in EVERYTHING. Go to your bathroom right now and check all your makeup and lotions and creams and toothpastes. It’s there.  It and its evil siblings — glycerol and glycol and other gly-names — are in foods and fabrics, too. apparently glycerin is poised to take over the world. Who knew??? Older Daughter is in for a huge overhauling detox. Or she may just shrug and say, “Oh, well.” She hasn’t decided yet.

How To (Not) Write A Blog Post

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Let’s just say, for instance, that you’re in the midst of decluttering and packing up your house of 15 years to move to a new house about half the size. And let’s just say, for instance, that you’re also trying to get your normal jobs done and sneakily trick impress the people who sign your paychecks by making them think you’re organized and responsible and can handle moving and writing a food story about pumpkins-as-ingredients  and your weekly newspaper column at the same time. And let’s just say that you’re also trying to do your normal life things and keep up with friends and family and the cat-feeding schedule while you’re rationing boxes and figuring out if you need packing tape or sealing tape. But, despite all that, you still want to write a thoughtful blog post. What do you do? Recycle! Point your readers to other things you recently have written but they may not have seen. They won’t notice it’s second-hand material and they’ll be awed by your juggling skills and entertained by your mindless babbling well-reasoned insights. Not that I would ever do anything like that. I’m just saying.