Funny is as Funny Does

Just so you all know who you're dealing with here, yeah that's me doing my best Julia Child impersonation. And yeah I really am such a big dork I've watched this video of MYSELF 101 times and laugh every time. The way I see it life is WAY to short and complicated and messy to take yourself very serious. I love to laugh and I love getting a laugh out of other people even more. Now whether the laugh is intentional or by something stupid I've said or done it doesn't really matter. Funny is funny no matter which way you spin it. This was part of an self introduction video I did for our annual company meeting back in November 2012. The subject was, "Your most favorite thing to do in the whole world." Well obviously my favorite thing is cooking. My children actually asked me why my most favorite thing in the whole world wasn't them and I told them, "Well I can't eat you"!

 

Enjoy!

Serena

PS Sorry about the little logo thing in the video, novice blogger here.

Food for the Soul

Yep my MO seems to be post, take a few months off, post take a few months off, as I assume it is with many novice bloggers. Well what can I say, not only do I work a full time job, have two young children, two step children, try to maintain some semblance of a fit body, mind and soul, and do all that other stuff that keeps my life together that blogging just isn't a full time priority. So along the lines of feeding my soul and keeping my mind engaged I've discovered I have an addiction. Not an all together unhealthy addiction but rather a food addiction of sorts without all the added fuss of counting calories or feeling remorse after the indulgence. Yes ladies and gents I have discovered there is an entire realm of food related literature other than cookbooks! If you're anything like me and have accidentally ended up in a career path that is, well umm, anything other than what you intended it to be and feel your creative soul slowly shriveling into an unrecognizable grape of it's former self you too might need a little sustenance to revive it. So here's a little list of some of the books I've devoured over the last few months if you are looking to feed your culinary spirit:

***The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid
Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland
The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister
Pie by Sarah Weeks
***The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball
The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels and Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by   Mildred Kalish Armstrong
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl
The Owl & Moon Cafe: A Novel by Jo-Ann Mapson
Charlotte Au Chocolat: Memories of  a Restaurant Girlhood by Charlotte Silver
***The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
***The Garden of Happy Endings by Barbara O'Neal
***The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture by Lily Prior
Clara's Kitchen: Wisdom, Memories, and Recipes from the Great Depression by Clara Cannucciari
Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking by Julia Child
***Good Enough to Eat by Stacey Ballis
***The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate
***Off the Menu by Stacey Ballis
***Angelina's Bachelors: A Novel with Food by Brian O'Reilly
***Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson

I've starred my absolute favorites, some are more tasty than others and certain more well written than others. I'm not proud to say I'm not a "reader" just like I'm not a "runner" but I do it anyway and seem to find satisfaction in making it through a good book or crossing the finish line of my first 5K. If you are looking for more great food reads check out Goodreads.com for more lists and reviews. I'm a woman of precious little time so the more I can find out about a book before I purchase it the better. I also tend to be fairly frugal so check out halfpricedbooks.com where I have purchased most of these titles for mere pennies on the dollar.

Bon Appetit all!

Serena

An Open Letter to My Kids....

Maybe someday you will ask or maybe you won't but hopefully this information will tell you more about what made me who I am.

• Loved to ice skate by myself for hours at the local outdoor ice rink when I was in grade school.
• A new housing development was going up one year and there was a gigantic pile of dirt, must have been 25 or 30 feet high, Grandpa would take Aunt Vanessa and I to it during the winter and we would sled down it out onto the frozen pond.
• Before Aunty Ness was born I used to go with Grandpa to the model airplane fields and spend all day watching him fly the small planes. There was a funky old outhouse that he would take me too and always hold the door open a little because it was dark and full of spiders. He would give me rides on his shoulders and taught me to suck the nectar out of the purple clover there. I remember riding in his pickup, in a brown plastic booster seat (like you see in restaurants) and hitting a bump on the way out of the field and sliding down the seat and under the seat belt.
• Sometimes I'd go with Grandpa to the airport when he needed to check on something over a weekend. The hangers always seemed so huge and scary and smelled like oil, they were cool and dark. He'd always tell me to watch my head as we walked under the airplane wings, but really I think he did it to remind himself not to hit his own head.
• Grandpa would take me up in a bright blue and yellow stunt plane that he took care of for Albert Baggs, the name of the plane was the Funk.
• Grandma was full of adventures when we were kids. We traveled all over, Chinatown in Chicago was always a favorite. We would stop in the funny shops and get rice candy and surprise gift. The surprise gift came wrapped in Chinese newspaper and was usually $1. We would get lost a lot and often end up in not so nice neighborhoods but Grandma always figured out where to go. We went to the hologram museum and played at the beach. One time Grandma to my best friend Cheryl and I to the beach at Lake Shore Drive. We got all wet and didn't have any extra clothes so we took our clothes off quick in the parking lot and put on tee shirts for the ride home. We thought it was very funny. When I got older Grandma and I would always go to Penny's Noodles in the pot for Thai food and then we'd go to the shops on Belmont, The Alley, the army surplus store and the thrift stores were always my favorite.
• One of the funniest trips we took with Grandma was to Indianapolis, IN. I don't think she had much of a plan during that trip. We were in a restaurant when she asked the waitress if there were any good and cheap places to stay. The waitress replied that her roommates were out of town touring with the Grateful Dead and we could stay with her if we wanted, we did!!! We ate at a funny little diner called The Canary Cafe and Grandma scared us by driving down a big one-way street the wrong way!
• Dawn dish soap, the original blue, and saw dust remind me of my Dad. He'd always come home after work and scrub up and Dawn removed the grease. The house smelled like saw dust most weekends I can remember as a kid as Dad was always working on the house.
• Grandma Nonie, your great great Grandma, was feisty as anything. She always wore sequined tops to family gatherings, demanded real wine, and was sharp as a tack right up to the very end.
• From 6th grade through 8th grade I played the flute and marched in the Mokena Meteors marching band. Band was always before school started so I was always up very early. During the summer I would ride my bike up to the junior high for marching band practice and loved marching in the parades. Our uniforms were wool and scratchy and hot and the hats were heavy but it was still fun. I was 2nd chair flute all through junior high even though I challenge the first chair flute, Amy Rice, a few times I never did beat her. I always thought our band instructor, Mr. Lamb, could tell who what playing during the challenge. He had one bad eye, I think it was glass, and he seemed like he was 1,000 years old back then. He loved classic rock, well what we kids considered classic rock, and those were always the songs we learn in band and music class. I played in the pep band too. Louie Louie was always my favorite song to play. I hated solo and ensemble competition as I had horrible stage fright, sometimes not even making it through my piece without crying. I won many medals and eventually learned to get over the stage fright. I decided not to keep going with band once I reached high school as it was like a full-time job at the high school level and I wanted to do other things.
• I started Girl Scouts in 1st grade and stayed with it through 8th grade. My favorite part of Girl Scouts were the trips we would work toward each year. One year we went to Mackinac Island in Michigan, one year Washington DC, and one year to Turkey Run Indian (that's where we tipped the canoe).
• We went to Great Grandma Tippy's house almost every summer when I was a kid. (Grandma with the Cows as you guys called her). She got her name when I was little. She had a dog named Tippy that I recall walking with a limp but I might be wrong. I couldn't keep the Grandparents straight so I started calling her Grandma Tippy and the name stuck.
• I used to make mud pies at Grandma Tippy's house for fun and look at the shells she always had in the gardens.
• Often I would walk down to the levee from Grandma Tippy's house. It was always fun and mysterious because it was such a different place than home. Walking down the dirt road in between the tractor ruts looking for ducks and muskrats and the occasional skunk in the fields or in the drainage ditch. Sometimes I would see decoy ducks floating that a hunter had left. The levee was always fun. I'd look for shells or pretty rocks but mostly it was just neat because I was up high and could see all around and it was always cooler there by the river.
• Your Great Great Grandmother Melba's house was just across the cow pasture from Grandma Tippy's house. I only remember going in it once but it hadn't been lived in for many many years. When Great Grandma Tippy grew up there they didn't have electricity until she was maybe 8.
• I remember Great Grandpa George (Grandma Tippy's husband) taking me for rides on the tractor and he let me "drive" it once. I remember feeling like I was going to crash it. He would take me into town to the general store and I'd get candy corn when I'd come to visit. I'd always eat the white ends off first. They taste the best. He passed away when I was about 6 or 7.
• Grandpa George worked at the grain elevator up by the levee where they would store the grain and fill barges with it. He took me up there once when they were filling a barge and it was very very noisy.

To be continued....

What We Don't Know.....

I have become painfully aware of how little I know about my parents, not who they are as my parents, but who they are as people. What did they accomplish as children, what things did they do that they aren't so proud of, who did they dream of being, what sort of things did their parents do that they hated as kids, what were family gatherings like, etc. Maybe I just wasn't listening those twenty some years I was home, maybe I was too self-absorbed being a kid or trying to figure out who I wanted to be to care about who they were.

As my Dad's 60th birthday has come and gone and a recent visit to Chicago I'm left with a lump in my throat telling me I don't have forever with them. This may be a morbid thought but it's also a progressive one. Humans are innately sentimental, at least I believe this to be true, over our past, our history, and what events have shaped us to be who we are. We wouldn't spend billions on therapy, self-discovery, and self-help books if we didn't give a shake about the things that happen to us and to those that came before us. We'd simply be one sheep following one another until we met our maker.

My Grandma Tippy had the forethought to compose two small booklets about her childhood some years ago in which she presented copies to all of us each Christmas. I cherish those books and actually keep them in my safe. They are a story, in her own words, of what life was like back when. Tales that seems like fiction, that just couldn't be true; riding horses to school, deep poverty, an orange as a prized Christmas gift. It was after reading those booklets, complete with images she'd drawn herself, that I understood a bit more about who she was as a person, as my Grandmother.

I don't think I am alone in that we so often long to know more about someone after it's to late to ask questions. We don't want to be rude or pry about what their lives were like and unless that person is forward and open about their life we just never assume to ask. Do my kids know that I was second chair flute all through grade school? Do they know I won several first place ribbons in my high school senior art exhibit? Do they know that I once canoed down a river and tipped over in chest deep rapids? Do they care, will they want to know?

This blog was created not as a place of self-promotion but almost as an open working journal, that if kept up long enough, might just become a place my children can come to learn about their crazy mother and her life's experiences. Make a list of all the things you've done in your life, good and bad, add to it as you remember them, ask questions of your parents and Grandparents, keep it in a safe place and someday that might just be the best gift you could ever give to your kids. Sometimes understanding the way someone came to be who they are can give you a greater appreciation for why they do the things they do. There may just be a reason or ten why your Mother does that thing that makes you crazy!

These Ain't Yo' Daddy's Ribs

Let's hear it for the ladies! Yeah the ladies who have boldly mastered the grill and taken over a small piece of masculinity from the men in their lives. The primal urge to conquer the fire and sear large hunks of meat over an open flame no longer calls to the testosterone laden cave men of yore. I have a new found thrill and am learning to master the grill one piece of flesh at a time.

I grew up in your typical male-dominated grill household, as probably most of us did. The difference being my Dad was/is also a rather accomplished self-made amateur chef and multi-BBQ/chili-cook off competition winner. Wheew, talk about some shoes to fill, good thing for such a tall man he's got rather small feet. Not yet having found the need to compete "professionally" I still compete internally challenging myself to master new techniques, new tools, and new foods.

Well with summer in full swing and a BBQ, seemingly every weekend, for some various celebration of sorts ribs always seem to be the holy grail of who has mastered the grill. Are they tough, are they rubbery, maybe they're too fatty for some, or flavorless for others? Were they purchased from an artisan butcher or were they the 1/2 price bargain of the day off the grocery store rack, and does it really make a difference?

Long story short I've agonized for years, yes really, about ribs. Never having really been a huge fan and always too afraid to screw 'em up and be told to never touch the grill again I had kind of written them off as a food that "others" cook. With all of my Food Network knowledge, billions of cookbooks (including a few BBQ books), and the right tools I decided what the hell just go for it! You know what the were FREAKING AWESOME! So awesome in fact my own daughter proclaimed at dinner they might just be better than her Dad's, SCORE! So to all the ladies out there pick up the tongs, fire up the grill, and grab your rack (come on, your rack of ribs). Let's get grillin' and show the good ole boys club just what the ladies can do!

Ribs for 6 (ok there'll probably be leftovers)

3 Racks of baby back ribs (doesn't matter where you get them from just make sure they're meaty and fresh)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup loose brown sugar
1/8 cup salt
1/2 cup orange juice
18 oz bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
1 tsp of chili powder

Prep the ribs by removing the silver skin from the back of the racks, slide your knife under a corner of the silver skin making a whole big enough to get a fingertip or two between the silver skin and bone, then start pullin'. Once the silver skins are removed grab a large stock pot (you may need two) and add the cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt and enough water to cover the ribs. Cut the ribs into 3-4 bone sections (makes it easier to get everyone to the party and will give you more surface area for saucing later) and add them to the pot.
Preheat your grill. Depending on the number of burners you'll want them on low and preferably only the outside burners. (Charcoal you'll want to let the coals burn down and place them around the outside of the kettle.)
Boil the ribs for 15-20 minutes until they are no longer pink. Add the OJ, chili powder, and full bottle of BBQ sauce to a sauce pan and warm on low until the ribs are ready for the grill.
Once the grill is warmed up place your ribs, unsauced, on the grill for approximately 20 minutes, flipping after the first 10. Next start saucing, you'll want to apply the sauce to the ribs at this point too. Sauce one side then flip after 5 minutes, sauce the back side and flip after 5 minutes, give one final saucing to the meaty side and pull off the grill after the last 3-5 minutes. Allow the ribs to sit under foil for 5-10 minutes before cutting into individual segments and serve.

I prefer my ribs on the sweeter side and so do my kids. Add a dash of cayenne or hot sauce to the mix if you prefer a kick. And voila you've got some kick ass ribs and you did it all by your pretty lil' ole self!

Happy grillin'

Holy Sabbatical Batman

Today's totally random blog post brought to you by memories, bbqs, failures, laughter, and the Food Network.

Have you ever "Bing mapped" your childhood home? http://binged.it/LUEjhl I did and I was sad, sad that the giant garden we had as kids was filled in and now just more sod, sad that the old full service gas station up the street had been bulldozed to make way for some other giant change store, and sad that well it just wasn't MY childhood home anymore. It brought back a flood of other memories though. The two great big Locust trees in our front yard and how every fall they would create a mess of tiny yellow leaves that would stick to everything after a rain; the memories of the shared suburban driveway leading to two tiny single car garages and learning to navigate the numerous protrusions while backing the car out when I learned to drive. The early morning visits with my wonderful retired neighbors in the wee hours of the morning when I was little; the garden window with its sharp corners that my Dad always managed to smack his head on at least once a year. The cedar siding that was more work than it was worth and the carefully crafted 10 ton wood front steps my Dad built. So many memories came flooding back and I realized what an awesome childhood I was blessed to have. If you haven't Google Earthed or Bing mapped places from memories past I recommend you do so. It can give a sense of where you've been and where you want to go.

After a sabbatical from the blog it became very obvious to me that I am great at starting things just not so great at keeping up with things that have no intended end point or goal. I think we all like to feel a sense of accomplishment, I know I do. The older I get and the more gray hairs I discover the more I realize I am at a point in my life where my goals are to keep my kiddos happy and healthy, teach them manners, respect, and how to fend for themselves. While I'd love to be climbing some corporate ladder or earning some higher degree I figure maybe just maybe with any luck I'll have lots of time to reinvent myself when they are older. Excuse, yeah probably, reality most certainly.

I figure with the amount of cooking shows I am addicted to and had watched as a kid I should have the equivalent of a culinary arts degree in about 20 years. I find GREAT joy in my culinary creations and honestly I'm not sure I would love it as much if I did it for a living. I work well under pressure when it's something someone needs me to produce for someone else, but turn the table and I get antsy and ornery and well kind of mean when the pressure is self-inflicted to produce something fabulous for others. (Make sense?) See we had a group of friends over for a casual get together and while I grilled wonderful pork tenderloins, made all the sides from scratch, and even produced dessert I was a mess and testy with everyone, who dared to cross my work zone, all day. My Food Network inspired dinner was a great outlet for my culinary prowess (kind of became my own personal version of Chopped), however why the heck did I put so much pressure on myself? It all turned out great and we all laughed and had a wonderful time.

Today's lesson: lighten up!

(Totally random blog post but eh who cares.)

Here's the menu from our summer adult bbq!

What does a nosey pepper do? Get's jalepeno business! (bwahahaha)
These jalepeno poppers have become a huge hit (thanks to my other half's sister for discovering them).
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/cheese-bacon-jalapeno-rellenos-53897.aspx#.T_L8cqm1R4w.facebook
Use the full 8oz of cream cheese if you dare. I've discovered baking them for 10 minutes then about 2-5 minutes under the broiler works best for a nice crispy top.
Marinated Grilled Pork Tenderloin

http://shar.es/teQ0e

I used four tenderloins for eight people. Increase the oj and let them marinate overnight. These are fabulous and soooo easy. I prefer my pork done to about 145 degrees and slightly pink (which is now acceptable), no you won't get worms.
Smokin' Potato Salad
http://shar.es/teQeg

This is fantastic potato salad! I used quite a bit more smoked paprika but the beauty of this is making it to taste. I dressed the potatoes while they were still warm so they would absorb more of the flavor and also pureed the capers. (I have someone in my life who is anti-caper, though he never knew the difference once I snuck them in there.)

Long Beach Coleslaw
http://shar.es/teF0q

This was a totally new take on your traditional coleslaw and received rave reviews from the peanut gallery. It's a great "make-ahead", then just cut up the iceberg lettuce right before serving, mix and enjoy.

Killer White Peach Sangria

And by killer I mean yeah its so good you'll swig it back and realize you're going to have a killer headache the next day good. This is my own concoction and had everyone cheering for more.

1 giant bottle Pino Grigo or your other favorite white wine (about 8 cups)
1 regular bottle peach vodka (about 4 cups, eh or just use the whole thing like we did)
4-8 cups Sprite (for the sissies who like their booze diluted)
1 can frozen lemonade (do not dilute)
1 bag frozen fruit cut into bit size chunks (I used peaches, pineapple, and strawberries)

Freeze the Pino and Vodka overnight, then mix everybody together in a large pitcher and serve over ice.

Dessert (shhhhh I lost the recipe but I'll add it as soon as I find it)

Easy Easter Wreath

Spring is in the air, well summer really. Us hearty Minnesotans, yes I am starting to identify more with the folks native to the great white north rather than those of my native Chicago, manage to embrace the outdoors even is subzero temps but when spring arrives we come truly alive. Unusual March temps in the 80's have us all dizzy with spring fever. I also find my need to create is much stronger when the sun shines again, maybe it's the whole rebirth thing that spring brings about. I found myself anxious to take down the Christmas lights and joyfully cleaning out the gutters yesterday. Normally a disgusting task I was just happy to be up on the roof without fear of launching myself 20 feet into the air with a quick misstep onto some ice.
After removing the remnants of Christmas and winter paraphernalia from our house it just looked so sad and naked and colorless. I went digging through my box of seasonal decor and discovered a plethora a pretty plastic Easter eggs. Not having any bushes to decorate or trees with branches low enough to hang them from I thought...hmmm....a wreath. I scoured the town high and low to find a simple wreath form that wouldn't break the bank as it would be covered by pretty plastic eggs. Ah ha, Goodwill. If you haven't already discovered go check out your local Goodwill. I was elated with the wide array of wonderful Easter decorations and once loved floral arrangements and slightly tattered wreaths that were available. I managed to score a sad little grape vine wreath that had obviously seen better days. The clerk agreed $.99 was a fair price and with two bags of lime green plastic Easter grass at $.49 each I was ready to go! 

Here's what you'll need:

1 12" diameter wreath form of some sort
1 bag of plastic Easter grass
An assortment of sizes and colors of plastic Easter eggs
A hot glue gun and glue sticks

First using the hot glue, stick generous amounts of the Easter grass on your wreath form so as to cover it completely. I used one large egg to help mash the grass into the glue so I didn't burn my fingers.
Next glue individual eggs to the form/Easter grass. You'll want to vary the sizes and apply glue to both the side contacting the wreath form and sides adjoining any other eggs.

And voila! You have a pretty, weather proof decoration! This was a fun little craft project and something that should last for quite a long time, unlike the 80 degree weather we are experiencing in March!