Welcome to pre-K for Aaron in 1995. He was a scarecrow and signed up to bring the Halloween cake for his daycare class. Back then he went to Milestone EduCare in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I was more Martha Stewart-y back then so instead of doing what a sane mother with a job would do – order one from the bakery I made it. I have to say to this day I am proud of how the “Monster ARGGGHH!!” (make claw like hands beside your face while saying it) cake turned out. I do not want to know what it looked like when 8 3 yr olds and 2 teachers were finished. I like to remember it as it was. I’m sure no one else remembers, not even “Monster ARGGGHH!!” Aaron but I remember it fondly as my BOO! Cake.
Now back in the day women made the meal and men ate the meal with them. Well welcome to the 21st century where everyone has a job in the kitchen when it comes to feast time. Here are my guys helping out in 2012. Yes the meal was delicious. Aaron makes mashed potatoes. Mike does the relish tray and turkey carving/picking. Both do the various veggie and fruit chopping needed for dressing. Hope you are having a great Thanksgiving. I promise there will be a table picture of our feast this year and maybe more kitchen shots of these good-looking men.
Thanksgivings for me have changed over the years as I’ve matured. Sure there are some foods that are tradition – turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberries (real whole not that can shaped jelly), rolls, and such. But things evolve as the years went on. (more…)
This is me at my maternal grandparent’s house in Laurens, South Carolina. I would guess this to be about 1969. It is a tradition in my family to make a picture of the table laden with the feast. So here I am not having done any of the work but going to do my best share of the eating. Enjoy!
Last night a friend suggested lunch and movie on my day off. She wanted to see The Hundred Foot Journey I’d never heard of it. Much to her surprise I’d not seen the trailers. Actually we’ve not watched TV for a week reading on the porch in the evening instead. I agreed to the movie and we hooked up for lunch where we had the week before.
Thus I went into the movie without an idea what it was about. I was ready for a story and boy did I get one. It’s a food unites hearts type of story. An Indian family loses their matriarch and restaurant when it is set fire during riots after an election. The patriarch takes them to Europe to found a restaurant there. After some wandering they wind up in France buying a place 100 ft across a small road from a 1-star Michelin French restaurant where Papa in all his wisdom opens their restaurant.
This is a feel good movie from Disney. It’s family affair stuff. But you know what, it works. There is a dark night of the soul, but don’t worry it’s not too dark. There is romance but don’t worry it’s not too syrupy. There is comedy but not just for the sake of going for the laugh. But most of all there is hope and faith that in the end all will turn out as it should. Being Disney of course it does.
Along the way to the inevitable happy ending we are treated to a feast for the eyes. The cinematography is breath taking from the colorful streets of India’s spice markets to the breathtaking vistas of Southern France to the I can almost taste it shots of food the eyes feast at every turn. I could smell the delicious spiciness of Indian cuisine and taste the subtle blends of the French sauces. I felt the heat and heady scents of the market as we jostled to buy fresh sea urchins in India and felt the soul healing energy as Papa looked down into the town that would be their new home, the pristine visage of an old village that blended with the slopes of the alps.
Yes it is at it’s heart about the journeys we all take. The journeys inside to find ourselves and answer our callings. The journeys we take on the outside to find a place of our own. The journey where 100 foot wide road separates them but they start out a world apart. Then how in time and shared experiences they could be a world apart but nothing could come between them. Two cultures who find common ground and mutual respect in the love of food. Because as the movie states more than once, “Food is memories.” Sometimes flavors need to blend to make new dishes and new memories for all to treasure.
If you need a soothing boost… If you want a story that’s comforting over joke filled action of next Summer Blockbuster – then this journey is for you. Take it – you’ll enjoy it. But don’t go on an empty stomach!
So it’s not like I’ve got enough to do… I mean work is about to get swamped. I’m flowing on a novel. I’ve got jewelry projects out the wazoo. Genealogy is only adding more people as I type this. Summer is coming and that’s photography time for me… BUT I needed one more thing to keep up with. Yes, apparently I did.
I know the internet can be a big help or a big time waster. I do my best to keep up with Google+, Twitter, Flickr, favorite blogs, and writing here regularly. So I’ve avoided Pintrest like the plague. Not because I thought it was bad or any thing (like the evil Facebook) but just because I didn’t want another thing to keep up with.
Then it happened. I had all these visual references for this story I’m writing. I was wanting a place to keep them so I could access them from any computer/device where I was writing. That’s when a friend who shall not be named or blamed suggested using Pintrest for this. “But I don’t want them to be publicly seen as I’m working.” That was my comeback but quickly they disarmed me “Oh but then you could make a secret board. Then to access it from say your phone, netbook, desktop or any where just sign in.”
So I did. It’s great but then I thought well I should have a public board… I made one to keep all my Wolverine links to images, scans, fan art, previews, etc. So if one hobby has it why not the other – thus the bead board was born. But wait! I like books too! and coffee, and writing, and so on, and so on…. until it became THIS!
Now part of my unwinding to go to bed is pinning stuff… At least hop over there (link in the THIS above) and look around. If you are Pinterest let me know and I’d love to follow you. Now to make sure I don’t waste too much time there…
Except there’s this great Logan over at Comic Art fans… I’ll just pin that… .
So if Aaron’s done it Mike can’t be out done. That’s the rivalry between father and son. Back some time ago, Aaron went to Buffalo Wild Wings and took the hot wings challenge. He beat it and got his picture on the wall just after completing it – a smiling sweaty snotty saucy mess but victorious. Since then, Mike has wanted to go to the same place (the one here in Kenosha) and beat it to at least tie Aaron.
Well Saturday, February 16, 2013 was the day! We went to lunch there before grocery shopping. He decided it was time. The challenge is 12 wings in 6 minutes, one napkin, no drink, have to remove the meat with your mouth not your fingers. Here’s the photo post of the challenge.
He starts out well with a full basket of 12 Blazin’ Hot Wings
What I found most impressive is he wore a white shirt AND KEPT IT CLEAN!
Even his face was fairly clean…
They POURED on the sauce a lot more heavily than they do the normal order. Mike said it wasn’t that spicy (this from a man who eats habaneros raw) but the temperature hot got him more.
Here’s his victory!
Afterward he started turning pink as the spicy heat hit him. That stuff builds ya know…
What did he get for his victory? A great new T-Shirt
There are traditions in areas of the country that don’t translate nationally. Just like there are words that are regional – a knit cap can be a toboggan, toque (my favorite word for it), bob hat, sock cap, tossle, cora cap, stocking hat, or beanie all depending on where you are in the US. I’ve enjoyed adopting various traditions of areas we have lived.
One that I was raised with was the tradition of black-eyed peas and hogs jowl for New Year’s Day meal. The tradition goes – if you keep count of how many black-eyed peas you eat that day each will turn into an extra dollar in your pocket the following year. Sadly, I could never keep count. Don’t freak out about hog jowl it’s just like a thick cut bacon. Honestly when I’ve needed a substitute living where that’s not a tradition I’ve gotten thick cut bacon and couldn’t tell the difference. So if you want you can do that.
Mike had no traditional New Year’s Day food. Only tradition he had was to mock the other tradition my family had – watching the Rose Parade. Since I’ve married him, I’ve never watched a parade on TV in peace. Still I could make the traditional dinner for New Year;s Day and we’d toast the year in with champagne back when we stayed up to midnight.
Then we moved to Charleston and the traditional New Year’s Day meal was expanded. There it was Hoppin’ John you ate. That’s black eyed peas, rice, and salted pork. Debb over at Sunshine Factor posted a great recipe for the traditional meal. This was a more flavorful way to do the tradition than just beans and bacon. So I adopted Hoppin’ John and tweaked it to be a bit healthier – used lean cuts of ham or turkey ham, upped the veggies and enjoyed getting the fiber of the peas.
Actually we’ve had Hoppin’ John every year since. We’ve introduced people to the tradition complete with the challenge of counting peas for dollars in the new year. I have to say even the skeptics walked away Hoppin’ John lovers. It’s a tasty dish, that just fills you up and has almost a comfort food effect. I think we might have started a new tradition in a few homes along our moves since Charleston.
Now Hoppin’ John is a beloved dish in the Low Country (Charleston area of South Carolina) much like She-Crab Soup and 7-Bean soup. It’s a warm meal and Charleston summers are very hot and humid (It’s said you shower in April and dry off in December). So making the beloved dish in the hot summer doesn’t suit. However, when we lived there the morning newspaper in Charleston (then they had two) solved the problem by posting a Hoppin’ John Salad recipe for the summer months -a cool tasty dish based on the beloved recipe. I make it every summer and we enjoy the heck out of it. It’s become a tradition at our house for cook outs in the summer months. Since Debb shared the basic Hoppin John I’ll share the salad…
HOPPIN’ JOHN SALAD
2 cans (14.5 oz each ) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 can (15 to 16 oz) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced red and/or yellow bell pepper
1 cup thinly sliced celery
3/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/2 cup herb or Italian vinaigrette salad dressing
In a medium saucepan, bring broth and 1/4 cup of water to a boil. Stir in the rice. Cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until rice is tender and all broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
In a very large mixing bowl combine black eyed peas, bell pepper, celery, and scallions. Add warm rice and vinaigrette. Stir gently to combine. Chill for 12 hours to allow for marination. Serve.
Yields 6 main dish servings or 10 side dish servings.
Now you’ve got two recipes for a New Year’s Tradition be you in a cold climate or a hot one. Let me tell you that Hoppin’ John has many variations – each home puts their own spin on the dish. The main core of it is a flavorful black eyed pea and rice dish usually with pork, but in some homes it’s not. I’d suggest taking the basic recipe to follow for the first time then add what you think would make it better for your family. True Southern Cooking isn’t about following recipes but instead about cooking flavorful dishes that vary from cook to cook. If you’ve ever been to a covered dish dinner south of the Mason Dixon you know what I’m talking about. There maybe four green beans there and each one is different and delicious. So customize! It’s expected. The recipe is only a starting guideline not an absolute this isn’t chemistry!
Now the question is how did it get its name? Honestly no one knows. The origin of the dish is American but there are strong African, French, and Caribbean roots to it. At least that’s what the food historians tell me and from tasting variations with pineapple and tomatoes in them I’d agree. Some forms definitely have a strong Creole flare. The tradition is the first man to hawk the dish in the streets of Charleston was a Freeman called Hoppin’ John due to his peg leg. Another tradition is that to share a meal the African family would tell you to Hop In and John is just the John Doe fill in for a name. Finally the last one I’ve heard is that children would hop around the table in anticipation of the tradition and to get the luck from it as it was served.
Ahh the luck – I’ve shared my family’s tradition of counting the beans. Another variation is to serve it with greens (Collard, mustard, turnip doesn’t matter) and the more you eat of greens with the beans the more greenback and coins you’ll get in the new year. Still another tradition that’s more toward Louisiana than South Carolina is placing a shiny dime in the dish. Whoever gets the dime in their serving gets the best luck in the New Year. No matter if you count beans, eat greens, hide a dime, or just eat Hoppin’ John it’s said to bring good luck for the year. So I figure what’s the harm the new year can use all the luck it can get and I love seasoned beans and rice!
Ours this year will be vegetarian but served with greens, cornbread, and thick cut bacon. Pictures will be posted at Flickr, G+ and thus feed to Twitter and Facebook. So keep an eye out for our good luck!
Ahh this mug hits at the core of the truth, I need my coffee. Good thing caffeine is an acceptable addiction.
I love my morning coffee. It’s my joy and comfort. I don’t pollute or dilute it with anything. The darker and richer the better! Ahh, nothing smells better than coffee. I love it. From good old Folgers to the expensive favorite of Jamaican Blue – I adore my coffee.
When I first started building a home of my own I thought I had to have matching coffee cups. Since then I’ve given way to MUGS. They keep the precious fluid hotter longer. I also have given way to mugs that express or remind me of things. Matching is boring. Matching is bland. Matching is so June Cleaver. I want expression and the morning nectar of the gods. So my morning mugs have become a collection of favorites. All give me a bit of cheer in the morning. Here are a few of my favorite mugs.
This mug is from the Chicago’s Untouchables Tour It’s a great historic bus tour of the gangster history in Chicago. Years ago Aaron and I took the tour with my BFF Patricia and her family. When I use this mug I think of history and happy memories two things I always enjoy.I’ve had this travel mug for years. It’s the style and weight I like. Also the map on it is a reproduction of a map showing the first coffee trade routes to Europe. History and functionality – great combo in a coffee mug.My favorite season if Fall. I love the color and the crispiness. I bought three matching fall mugs one year after going to Dubuque to have a girls weekend away. I sent the other ones to my dear friends. I filled the mugs with candy and wrote a note telling each of them what dear friends they are and how much I treasure our visits. Now when I use my mug I smile with warm memories of friends and good times know they have one too.This one is history, crafting and friends. I have taken many classes at the local Kenosha Museum. From pottery to fused glass, from ancient Egypt to local history, from writing (the start of my writers group) to silversmithing. I have taken many classes with friends or alone. All are good times and excellent things to remember over a steamy cup of joe in the morning.This mug came from Aaron’s orthodontist. Dr. Crawford straightened Aaron’s teeth beautifully. Every time I use this mug I think of my son’s beautiful smile. It’s a warm proud Mom feeling even before I get my first sip of coffee in the morning.
One of the Summer things I look forward to is fresh Gazpacho made from Mike’s garden. So far this year we’ve made and consumed gallons of the stuff. It is WONDERFUL! So here’s the basis of it. I never cook by a recipe (much to my mother-in-law’s chagrin) I tend to cook by feel, taste, available ingredients, and health requirements. So this is the source of my inspiration when making Gazpacho but the results always vary a bit depending on how many tomatoes, peppers, onion, etc. are coming in from the garden.
Gazpacho
1 ½ pounds tomatoes peeled and diced
1 medium white onion chopped
1 medium cucumber peeled seeded chopped
1 cup green bell pepper seeded chopped
2 cups tomato juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup lime juice
2 large cloves of garlic peeled and finely minced
Seeded chopped jalapeno to taste
½ teaspoon of Nature’s Seasoning (or ¼ teaspoon each of salt and black pepper)
Combine all ingredients in large bowl refrigerate for several hours before serving. Serve each bowl with 1 Tablespoon of fat free sour cream on top.
It’s a team effort to make it. There’s a lot of chopping and peeling and seeding involved. Sometimes when there’s lots of tomatoes I puree tomatoes with salt and pepper to use for the tomato juice part. The nutrition information was estimated by my MasterCook program. I usually don’t use that much olive oil, about half that. I at times I add a bit more lime juice just so the color stays bright and I like the kick it adds. It’s really better if it sits in the fridge over night before eating. Then enjoy! It’s worth the effort!
Mary Louise Eklund 