Friday, December 31, 2010

Food for Thought: Marking the end of 2010

David's Snow Tulip
Tonight we will gather with good friends to share the end of one year and the beginning of another.  It's so arbitrary, isn't it?  Really, every moment in our lives is the end of one thing and the beginning of another, seamlessly and endlessly, until we die.  But that concept is too much for me to comprehend.  Artificial timeposts, like New Year's Day, are invested with such significance because those times symbolize the millions of beginnings and endings in our lives.  We can say at such times, "Now I can start over.  The slate is wiped clean and I can write whatever I want and this time I'm going write great things."

My resolution for the New Year is to try to live more in the present, to "waller" in it, as my friend David used to say.  I'm going to give up on perfection - or try to, at least - and just accept that I'm doing the best I can at any given moment.  My inspiration for this resolution is something that the poet Leonard Cohen wrote:

Ring the bells that still can ring. 
Forget your perfect offering. 
There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.

So love your family, love your friends, and love yourself.  It's all good.

Happy New Year.



Saturday, December 25, 2010

Food for Thought: Christmas Day 2010


Woodblock Print by Tsuchiya Koitsu, Suijin, Woods in the snow along the Sumida River, Tokyo

Christmas Sparrow

The first thing I heard this morning, was a rapid, flapping sound, soft, insistent…
wings against glass (as it turned out) downstairs,
where I saw a small bird
rioting in the frame of a high window
trying to hurl itself through
the enigma of glass into the spacious light.

Then a noise in the throat of the cat,
who was hunkered on the rug,
told me how the bird had gotten inside,
carried in on the cold night
through the flap of the basement door,
and later released from the soft grip of teeth.
On a chair, I trapped its pulsations in a shirt
and got it to the door,
so weightless it seemed to have vanished
into the nest of cloth

But outside, when I uncupped my hands
it burst into its elements
dipping over the dormant garden
in a spasm of wingbeats
then disappeared over a row of tall hemlocks.

For the rest of the day I could feel its wild thrumming against my palms
as I wondered about the hours it must have spent
pent in the shadows of that room,
hidden in the spikey branches of our decorated tree, breathing there
among the metallic angels, ceramic apples, stars of yarn,
its eyes wide open, like mine as I lie in bed tonight
picturing this rare and lucky sparrow
tucked in a holly bush now
a light snow tumbling through the windless dark.

—Billy Collins

from the Parabola Newsletter, December 17, 2010

Merry Christmas!

We woke this morning to a lovely snowfall and as I write this at about 5:00 pm, it's still snowing.  We're supposed to get 6-12 inches by Monday evening, which I'm afraid will delay the delivery of our Murphy bed.  Oh, well.

I haven't posted very much about cooking this week.  Mostly we've been cycling through some stand-bys like spaghetti and beef stew.  This morning we had my family's traditional Christmas morning breakfast:

Fried oysters
Bacon
Scrambled eggs
Biscuits

Walter's plate at the point I thought about a picture
 After breakfast we took a walk through the town and around our house.


Walter beside our lamppost
Me in front of The Last Straw in downtown BR


The lake at Broyhill Park - frozen over!

My bottle tree - Save your blue bottles!


My new red-winged blackbird sculpture out in the snow!


Martha's simple and beautiful gate decoration

Our friend Martha had to spend last night in the hospital because she was having trouble breathing as a result of a tumor pressing against her wind pipe. She's home now and resting and will start chemo on Monday.  Walter's sister was admitted to the hospital this morning due to severe cramps in her legs and nausea.  We're waiting to hear from them.  Our friend Dan is in Houston for the next four to six weeks undergoing another round of chemo.  Please keep these friends and family in your prayers.

On a cheerier note, my son Cort proposed to his girlfriend Emily last night, the anniversay of their first date, seven - yes, seven - years ago!  She said YES, so we're very excited and so happy.

For our Christmas Dinner, we fixed:

Best Ever Beef Tenderloin (Walter pulled the grill into the garage and managed to keep it hot enough)
Green Bean and Artichoke Casserole (from the Commercial Appeal)
Yeast Rolls
Cheesecake (rolls and cheesecake from Stick Boy Bread)

We took a meal over to Albert and Martha and Martha's sister, Becky, who is here from Wilmington to help Martha.  Feel better soon, Martha!

I hope that your Christmas Day 2010 has been festive and full of family and love. 

Best Ever Beef Tenderloin

Best Ever Beef Tenderloin
Ingredients
    • 4 1/2-5 lbs filet of beef (whole) or 4 1/2-5 lbs beef tenderloin ( whole)

    Marinade

    • 1/2 cup soy sauce
    • 1/2 cup honey
    • 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
    • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
    • 1/3 cup dry red wine
    • 2 tablespoons black pepper
    • 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
    • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
    • 1 bay leaves

Directions

  1. Combine all marinade ingredients in heavy saucepan; mMix well.
  2. Bring just to boiling point.
  3. Remove from heat, and allow to cool.
  4. Place beef in a glass, enamel, or stainless steel pan.
  5. Pour cooled marinade over beef, and cover.
  6. Allow to marinate overnight in fridge.
  7. Remove from fridge several hours before roasting.
  1. Place meat in shallow baking pan, and pour marinade over it.
  2. Roast for 20 minutes, basting with marinade from time to time.
  3. Reduce heat to 350°F.
  4. Continue roasting another 20 minutes (or until beef reaches desired doneness).
  5. Remove from oven and let cool in marinade.
  6. Cut into thin slices and serve at room temperature.
  7. NOTE: This is best served rare to med-rare. It is most often done after 40 minutes of roasting, so please be careful not to overcook.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 (313 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving   % Daily Value
Total Fat 80.9g            124%
Saturated Fat 32.1g     160%
Cholesterol 238.8mg     79%
Sugars 23.7g                 95%
Sodium 1556.2mg          64%
Total Carbohydrate 32.1g  10%
Dietary Fiber 1.1g          4%
Protein 64.2g               128%

Green Bean-Artichoke Casserole

Green Bean and Artichoke Casserole

2 lbs. fresh green beans
1 (9 oz.) package frozen artichoke hearts
1 onion, finely diced
6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup Italian bread crumbs (plus extra for topping)
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for topping)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

  1. Blanch the green beans in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes, or until tender.
  2. Medium-dice the artichoke hearts. Sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the beans, bread crumbs, cheese, hearts and the oil with the onions and garlic. Season liberally with black pepper; salt to taste.
  4. Put the mixture into a 9-by-13 baking dish, and sprinkle the top with additional bread crumbs and cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Serves 8.

Source: Mike Whitfield"

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Food for Thought: Positive Attitude

There's a webcomic called xkcd that I think is hilarious/thought-provoking.  The author has a family member going through some serious health issues.  This was a recent strip:

Positive Attitude
 Speaks for itself...

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for education in Shelby County

The reason I was still up at 2:30 this morning is that I listened to the Memphis City School Board meeting on streaming radio.  At least I tried.  I got most of it, but it kept going in and out - why is that?  And it was extremely annoying, to say the least, when the signal crapped out completely just as they called the vote.  So I had to wait until this morning to see what happened.  Anyway, I was wired.


What happened is that the MCS Board voted, 5-4, to surrender the city school charter.  This is big.  This is momentus.  This is an opportunity for us to finally end the ongoing and tedious discussion about city schools vs. county schools.  This is an opportunity for us to finally have more transparency about where our education dollars go and who is paying for what.  This is an opportunity for us to concentrate on a good education for all of the children in Shelby County.  The Board's resolution will come to a vote before city voters within 45-60 days, by state law.  During this period we'll have lots of fear mongering and lots of misinformation.  Please do your best to become informed with real facts and make a thoughtful decision.  And don't be swayed by the argument that things are moving too fast and we don't have a plan and we don't know what will happen.  As one of the speakers last night said, there wasn't a plan when the Supreme Court handed down Brown v. Bd of Ed and we didn't know how it would turn out.  But it was the right thing to do. 

As Al Pacino said in Scent of a Woman, "When you get tangled up, sometimes you just have to tango on."

Food for Thought: Winter Solstice


An Ansel Adams photograph, but it could be the view from my window today

From today's The Writer's Almanac:

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere.

Poets over the ages have proffered plenty of advice for the coming months. Poet Pietro Aretino, born in the 15th century, said, "Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius." William Blake wrote, "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." There's a Japanese proverb that says, "One kind word can warm three winter months."

Emily Dickinson wrote, "There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons — That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes." Existentialist Albert Camus wrote, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." Victor Hugo once said, "Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart."

American writer Minna Antrim gave these instructions-in-verse:

"Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair."

     ---compiled by Garrison Keillor
_________________________________________________________________

At about 2:30 this morning we (Earth) experienced a total lunar eclipse.  NASA reports that the last time these astronomical events took place in sync was on Dec. 21, 1638, and it won't happen again until at least 2094.*  I didn't see it, although I was still awake, because of a total cloud cover here in Blowing Rock.  You may recall that in a lunar eclipse the earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's rays from reflecting off of the moon so that the moon is dark.  Here's a picture of last night's eclipse at almost the point of totality:


NASA's Bill Ingalls captured this photo outside Washington, D.C., of a nearly total lunar eclipse as the winter solstice arrived early this morning.
Think about a dark moon on the longest night of the year.  Think about living at a time when there was no nighttime illumination except the moon, the stars, and maybe your fire.  As the moon slowly disappeared from the sky, you would be filled with dread.  As it disappeared entirely, I imagine that my heart would be beating hard and fast and that I would be seeing the faint afterimage of the last sliver of the right side of the moon on the inside of my clenched eyelids.  But then I would open my eyes again, because that's what we do, don't we?  Even when our lives are darkest, we open our eyes, we go on.  And what would I see?  The left side of the moon, appearing out of the darkness.  Then my dread would flicker into hope, then into awe.  The moonlight would be restored, my heart would calm, and I would sleep. 

Everything is a cycle:  the rotation of the earth, the orbits of the earth and the moon, the economy, empires, our lives.  I have friends who are going through tough times right now, health issues, economic troubles, marital strains.  I have friends who are in the good times:  a daughter's happy wedding, a new and healthy baby, a new love after the loss of a beloved husband.  We never know what the day will bring.  All we can do is keep our eyes open and look for the left side of the moon.

"Your brightness is my darkness.
I know nothing of You and, by myself,
I cannot even imagine how to go about knowing You.
If I imagine You, I am mistaken.
If I understand You, I am deluded.
If I am conscious and certain I know You, I am crazy.
The darkness is enough."

—Thomas Merton, prayer before midnight mass at Christmas, 1941 courtesy of The Beauty We Love




* This lunar eclipse falls on the date of the northern winter solstice. How rare is that? Total lunar eclipses in northern winter are fairly common. There have been three of them in the past ten years alone. A lunar eclipse smack-dab on the date of the solstice, however, is unusual. Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. "Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21," says Chester. "Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one...that will be on 2094 DEC 21."

Here's another picture and a description of the eclipse as observed from the surface of the moon:

Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside down, completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is underway. You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it's not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb. (nasa.gov)



Chris Hetlage via nasa.gov


Week of December 12 - 18

Sunday the 12th we had split pea soup with friends at their house.  I took appetizers and some bourbon balls.  I went retro on the appetizers and took two different ones from the Heart and Soul cookbook:  Chicken-Pecan Bites and Cheese-Filled Phyllo.  Sorry, I don't have that cookbook with me.  If I get time when we get home, I'll copy and post them.  The chicken bites were good.  I even froze some to bring to BR for our Boxing Day party.  Where are they now?  In Memphis, in my freezer...  The phyllo things were too greasy for me.  But I'm posting the recipe for the Bourbon Balls, which were goooood!

Monday I fixed 9-Bean Soup from the recipe on the back of the soup mix (Barzi's.)  I forgot to soak the beans overnight, so I followed a shortcut method I found on the internet for softening the beans.  It didn't work so good.  Note to self:  look at the menu the night before to make sure no day ahead prep is required. 

Tuesday was pretty simple:  pork tenderloin rubbed with a spicy paprika rub, baked sweet potatoes, and steamed broccoli.

Thursday I attended the ArtsMemphis board meeting at the request of my friend Susan Schadt, who is the executive director.  I've been doing some consulting for them on a volunteer basis.  I was surprised and extremely honored when they recognized me as their volunteer of the year.  Really, this is too much.  They were very gracious and I got to meet some of the board members, which I enjoyed.  Thank you, ArtsMemphis staff.  I love working with you!

After I got home, I sauteed some shrimp, shallots, chopped tomato and garlic and made a sauce with marsala, chicken broth, and cornstarch.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Served over linguine.

Friday night we ate at Paulette's then went to see Black Swan.  OMG.  If Natalie Portman doesn't get an Academy Award for this, something is wrong.  Her performance and the movie were both amazing.

Saturday morning we woke up to a "dusting."  My friends in Blowing Rock, and especially my friend Donna in Minnesota, will laugh to see these pictures.  But it was fun - and shortlived - for us Southern folk.


my mailbox
my neighbor's Santa
entrance to my garden

Saturday night was HUGE.  Our friend Barney Rolfes' daughter, Ellie, got married to Rev. Ollie Rencher.  The service was at Grace St. Lukes and was pitch perfect.  They had a full choir from Holy Communion, where Ollie is a priest, and members of the Memphis Chamber Choir.  I felt like I was at St. James, watching a princess get married.  It was wonderful.  The reception was at Bridges.  It was very loud.  But I got a chance to catch up with my "sister from Chicago," Becky B's sister, Taylor, and to meet her husband, Eli.  Fabulous night - congratulations, Ellie and Ollie!

Early Sunday we were on the road to BR for Christmas.  Lots of snow here and more to come - even new snow on Christmas Eve!  I don't do a lot of cooking here, to Walter's dismay, but hey.  Do I ever get a vacation, besides my permanent one? 

Most of you know that Walter plans on being my "number one personal assistant" when he retires.  I suggested to him this week that a good job for him would be to take over the meal planning and cooking duties.  He didn't think that was such a good idea.  We have different definitions for NOPA.

I'm working hard on the Jean Hilton needlepoint project.  I'll post a progress picture when I get the Jessicas finished.

Bourbon Balls

BOURBON OR RUM BALLS
Printed from COOKS.COM

Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.
2 1/2 c. vanilla wafer crumbs
1 c. finely chopped pecans
1/2 c. bourbon or rum
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 tbsp. white corn syrup

Combine wafer crumbs and pecans. Place remaining ingredients in bowl and beat thoroughly with rotary beater or mixer. Roll into balls 1 inch in diameter then roll balls in either confectioners' sugar or finely chopped nuts. Makes 40-48 balls.

Chicken Paillard with Tomatoes, Fennel and Olives

Chicken Paillard with Tomatoes, Fennel and Olives
Reprinted with permission from Avec Eric: A Culinary Journey with Eric Ripert (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010). Copyright © 2010 by Avec Eric LLC.

Serves 4

1 cup diced seeded peeled tomatoes
3/4 cup thinly sliced fennel
1/2 cup green olives, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup minced shallots
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup raisins, plumped in dry white wine
2 tablespoons capers
4 thyme sprigs, leaves removed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and lightly pounded flat
3 tablespoons fresh basil chiffonade
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

1.Preheat the oven to 450°F.

2.Toss the tomatoes, fennel, green olives, shallots, pine nuts, raisins, capers, thyme leaves and garlic in a mixing bowl. Drizzle most of the olive oil over the vegetables and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3.Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a single layer on a large baking dish. Cover the chicken with the tomato mixture and drizzle the remaining olive oil over and around the chicken. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle the basil and parsley over the chicken and serve immediately.

Via Lynn Rosetto Kaspar’s Weeknight Kitchen

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Food for Thought: The blossom fades, but...

From whiskey river:

"'Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. It's true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above the ground lasts only a single summer. Then it withers away - an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civilizations, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost the sense of something that lives and endures beneath the eternal flux. What we see is blossom, which passes. The rhizome remains.'
– Carl Jung
Memories, Dreams, Reflections"

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Week of December 5 - December 11

I'm kinda mixing up the length of my weeks, aren't I?  It just depends on when I get a chance to sit down and put the menus and recipes together.  I'm doing this on Sunday (12/12) morning, which seems to be working out to be the best time.

I forgot to mention that December 4 was my sister's birthday - Happy Birthday, Allison!

Clockwise, Allison (with glasses), husband Doug, son in law Chance and daughter Cara

So, going back to last Sunday (12/5), I intended to fix the slow cooker barbeque that our nephew, Todd, prepared for us over Thanksgiving in BR, but got busy that morning and didn't get it started in time.  So, Memphis Pizza Cafe to the rescue!

On Monday I finally fixed the barbeque.  Easy cheesy - well, not cheesy, but you get my point.  I bought Schnuck's creamy coleslaw from their deli and also gussied up some canned beans to go with it.  It was gooood!

Tuesday night I fixed this Stuffed Pepper Casserole from a Schnuck's recipe.  Frankly, I've been shocked to find that I like a lot of their recipes!  They have a Schnuck's Cooks kiosk set up in the store I usually go to (on Truse) and you can taste the recipe of the week there.  And I also want to put a little plug in for that store.  The employees there are so nice.  They always say hello and ask if they can help you find something.  Even the manager has walked aisles with me.  And - this is big, iPhone users - Schnuck's has an app called "Aisle411" that you can use to find things in the store, scan barcodes, get coupons, and more!  I don't know if Memphis has it yet, but I read about it on their website when I copied the casserole recipe.  I didn't spend a lot of time on the website, but it looked like it had good stuff.  If you're a Schnuck's customer, you should check it out.

On Wednesday Walter had a dinner meeting so I just had the leftover casserole.  It was better the second night.  Oh, remember my post about cleaning up around the Poplar-White Station Library?  I had contacted the library director on Nov. 19 about the sad state of the trash and weeds there.  Well, Ms. McCloy emailed me within a couple of days and told me that the district director would be contacting me.  So Wednesday I met with Ms. Norvel Adams-Walker and the branch manager and we discussed ways to improve the curb appeal of this branch.  You know, it's the same old story, not enough people and not enough money.  But we came up with a plan to get started.  Hopefully, you'll see some improvement there soon.  I was very gratified to have such a quick response and these ladies are genuinely interested in doing a good job with the limited resources they have.

Thursday night I went to a Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting at the main library to help give input for the Imagine 2040 transportation plan.  This evening was one of a series of public meetings hosted by the MPO and Livable Memphis.  I was thrilled to see the turnout, mostly young people who are intensely interested in improving Memphis.  Gives me great hope.  Walter says we're wasting our time because the MPO will do what it's always done, but he's so cynical.  The MPO staffer who facilitated our small group was definitely on board with our ideas and helped us articulate them.  He said that they had been hearing the same things at every public meeting:  less sprawl, take care of what we've got, better public transit, better walk/bike opportunities, more greenways.  So we'll see.  But if you don't ask, you'll never get, right?

Ok, back to food.  Thursday morning I made this Chipotle Chicken and Tomato Soup that I've made many times since the recipe was in Cooking Light in 2006.  Walter was able to just warm it up when he got home.  He also made a grilled cheese sandwich, judging by the dirty dishes...

A big day for us on Friday.  We sold Chase the house that he's been living in while he went to college.  He finally graduated, has a great job that he loves, and he's ready to be a real grownup!  Congratulations, Chase!



Friday night we went to the Half Shell and ran into Barney and Becky, so we sat together and visited.  Barney's daughter, Ellie, is getting married next Saturday night, so this is a busy and happy time for them.

Saturday morning I had another episode of some muscle spasms in my back, so Walter helped me go to the grocery store, then he headed off to Dallas to visit his Aunt Nell.  I just scrounged around for supper, cause I wasn't feeling too hot.  Took a muscle relaxant and went to bed at 7:15!  As I write this on Sunday morning, I'm feeling ok, but the spasms are still there.  Very annoying.

Ok, everyone, we're on the countdown to Christmas!  Are you about ready?

Chipotle Chicken and Tomato Soup

Chipotle Chicken and Tomato Soup

A chipotle chile (canned smoked jalapeño pepper) adds smoky heat to this soup. If you want to tame the spice, substitute 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika for the chile.


Yield: 4 servings


1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15.5-ounce) can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added stewed tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce, finely chopped
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 1/2 pound)
1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Partially mash tomatoes and beans with a potato masher. Stir in chicken; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in oil. Place 1 1/4 cups soup in each of four bowls. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons sour cream and 1 tablespoon cilantro.


CALORIES 325 (28% from fat); FAT 10g (sat 3.6g,mono 4.4g,poly 1.1g); IRON 3.1mg; CHOLESTEROL 58mg; CALCIUM 120mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.4g; SODIUM 741mg; PROTEIN 28.9g; FIBER 7.5g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2006

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

Stuffed Pepper Casserole
Prep: 15 minutes • Bake: 25 minutes • Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pound Meat Masters 90% extra lean ground beef
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 green, red and/or yellow bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 package (8.5 ounces) precooked whole grain Santa Fe rice (I couldn't find this at my Schnuck's, but I found some pre-cooked brown rise in a two-cup package.)
1 jar (26 ounces) Culinaria tomato basil pasta sauce
1/2 teaspoon Culinaria Italian seasoning
1 cup Kraft finely shredded Italian five cheese blend, divided
Crushed red pepper, to taste (I added this.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In large skillet, cook ground beef, garlic, bell pepper and onion over medium-high heat until beef browns and onion is tender, breaking up meat with side of spoon. Massage bag of rice to help separate grains. Stir in rice, pasta sauce, Italian seasoning and 1/2 cup cheese.

Transfer beef mixture to 9 x 9-inch or 2-quart glass or ceramic baking dish; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned and sauce bubbles around side of pan.

Each Serving: about 380 calories, 17 g total fat (8 g saturated), 65 mg cholesterol, 630 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 23 g protein

Slow Cooker Carolina BBQ

1 (5 lb) bone-in pork shoulder roast
1 T salt
ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 T brown sugar
1 1/2 T hot pepper sauce
2 t cayenne pepper
2 t crushed red pepper flakes

1.  Place the pork shoulder into a slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.  Pour the vinegar around the pork.  Cover, and cook on low for 12 hours.  Pork should easily pull apart into strands.

2.  Remove the pork from the slow cooker and discard any bones.  Strain out the liquid, saving 2 cups.  Shred the pork using tongs or two forks and return to the slow cooker. 

For the sauce,stir the brown sugar, hot pepper sauce, cayenne pepper, and crushed red pepper into the reserved sauce.  Mix into the pork in the slow cooker.  Cover and keep on low until serving.  (I made this sauce, but ended up using bottled Corky's sauce to taste instead.  Todd used Sticky Fingers Carolina Mustard Style and it was good, too.)

From allrecipes.com

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Meeman Center at Rhodes

Rhodes College Education

Spring semester courses at the Meeman Center are open for registration now.  PLEASE consider taking a class, I guarantee you'll be hooked.

The website is here.  You can request that a catalog be mailed to you here or by calling Cissy Whitaker at 843-3965.  Tell her I told you to call!

I'm signing up for Lore of Literature, Search, and Examined Life.  Whew!

Week of November 28-December 4

It takes nine hours to drive from BR to Memphis.  Walter grudgingly allows a stop whenever I request one, but he makes us get lunch and gas in one place and eat on the road.  So it's a pretty hard nine hours without BR to look forward to at the end.  We got back to Memphis about 4:00 Sunday evening and both of us were dog-tired. I pulled some Costco lasagna out of the freezer and we had that for dinner with some buttered bread.

Monday night I tried a dish that was one of the Cooking Light Reader Recipe winners: Spicy Chicken Sausage Cacciatore on Creamy Polenta.  It was so easy and very good.  This will be a new staple!

Tuesday was Walter's birthday!  We went to dinner at Andrew Michael on Brookhaven Circle.  He had the Maw Maw's Ravioli and I had their lasagna (can't have too much lasagna!)  Theirs has a white sauce instead of a red sauce - different and good.

Wednesday I just sauteed some shrimp in some olive oil and seasoned it with Tony Chachere's seasoning.  He's my relative in some way, you know.  My maiden name is Shassere, so we're different branches of the same tree!  Added a salad and we were good to go.

Thursday.  Oh, man.  I made one of our favorite comfort foods, Beef Daube Provencal.  Just throw away all of your other beef stew recipes, cause this is the one.  Make it and let me know if I'm not right!

Friday (aka International Date Night) we headed over to DCI Gallery for their open house.  Our friend Ami Austin recently purchased the Designers Choice business and she's making lots of great improvements inside and out.  You need to check it out!  Then we went to Grove Grill for dinner. The bar was hoppin' - lots of partying going on in there.  But the dining room wasn't crowded and we had a nice time.  I had the Butternut Squash/Lobster Bisque and couldn't really detect much lobster in it, so I'll have to take their word for it.  And I have to say that I was disappointed in my crab cake.  Usually they're good, but this time it tasted floury, if that's a word.  Walter had the rotisserie chicken and cleaned his plate, so I guess he liked it.

Saturday afternoon we drove over to Jonesboro to visit with Walter's Uncle George and Aunt Margaret.  He's 93 and she's 83, and both are sharp as a tack.  Margaret is an insanely good cook.  She put together a spiral bound collection of her favorite recipes and we started paging through the book while we were there.  I've had a copy that I got about 10 years ago, but it's kinda slipped my mind.  No more.  I'll be getting that baby out for sure.

Saturday night we ate at Salsa and got to catch up with our friends, Ann and Jules Wade.  We sat at their table til our food arrived and thereby avoided eating our usual two baskets of chips and dip!  Then we went to see Burlesque with Cher and Christina Aguilera.  The story line was totally predictable, the acting was so-so and the singing and dancing were spectacular!  The movie ran for an hour and forty minutes and Walter slept for an hour and thirty minutes. 

This morning we got out early and walked the new section of the Wolf River Greenway.  We couldn't go over the new bridge 'cause it doesn't open til this afternoon.  But we got an idea of how it's going to work and it's awesome.  I'm worried about parking, though.  We parked on a street in River Oaks and walked about a block to get there, crossing Humphreys Blvd.  What's going to happen when lots of folks want to be there at the same time?  I guess someone smarter than me is in charge of this.  Wouldn't you know I didn't take my camera.  I'll get some shots next time.

When we got home we put out our Christmas decorations with the exception of the front door wreath which I will go purchase shortly.  Look at this wonderful wreath that we bought at The Last Straw in BR last year on the day after Christmas for half price!


We hung it on the french doors in the breezeway so you can see it from the living room, or even from the front door.  It's 26" across and gorgeous!

Here's the back door.  I'm going to do a front door wreath just like it.  Wish I could find another wreath-hanger like this one.  We got it half price, too.


We don't do a whole lot of decorating because we're not usually here during most of the holiday.  But this year we'll return from BR early as Matthew and Martin are coming in from Seattle for a few days at the end of December.  We last saw Matthew when we went to Seattle in April, but we haven't seen Martin in forever!  He was in Budapest in April, doing a mathematics seminar - very smart guy and we're very proud of him, maybe you can tell.  So we're really looking forward to having all our boys in Memphis at one time. 

Have a great week!

Beef Daube Provencal



Beef Daube Provençal


Best Beef Recipe. This classic French braised beef, red wine, and vegetable stew is simple and delicious. It stands above all of our other beef recipes because it offers the homey comfort and convenience of pot roast yet is versatile and sophisticated enough for entertaining. Garnish with chopped fresh thyme. --Recipe by Lia Huber (November 2004)

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat olive oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high.

Add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf) to pan; bring to a boil.

Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles. Garnish with chopped fresh thyme, if desired.

Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours.

Wine note: This satisfying beef stew deserves a rich, earthy, and soulful wine--one with a soft, thick texture. I love the complexity and juiciness of the Kuleto Estate Syrah 2004 from Napa Valley, California ($45), which elevates this stew into a princely dinner. --Karen MacNeil


Yield:  6 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup stew and 1/2 cup noodles)


2 teaspoons olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Dash of ground cloves
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf
3 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)
Chopped fresh thyme (optional)


CALORIES 367 (31% from fat); FAT 12.8g (sat 4.3g,mono 5.8g,poly 0.9g); IRON 4.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 105mg; CALCIUM 76mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.4g; SODIUM 776mg; PROTEIN 29.1g; FIBER 3.9g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2007



Spicy Chicken Sausage Cacciatore on Creamy Polenta

Spicy Chicken Sausage Cacciatore on Creamy Polenta

2 1/2 cups water
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
1 T butter (optional)
1 tsp olive oil
1 16 oz package sweet Italian chicken (or turkey) sausage
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire-roasted tomatoes
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp fresh chopped rosemary

1.  Mix the first 4 ingredients in a 2-quart saucepan.  Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until mixture boils and is the consistency of mashed potatoes.  Stir in Romano cheese until melted.  Stir in butter.  Place lid on pan and keep warm over very low heat.

2.  Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Add sausage and cook until brown all over and cooked through.  Move sausage to a plate.  Add mushrooms to same skillet and cook until lightly browned and softened.  Stir in tomatoes, wine, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, and rosemary.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Add sausage back to skillet and heat through.

3.  To serve:  spoon 1/2 cup polenta into each of 6 bowls.  Top each with sausage mixture and a sprinkling of grated Romano cheese.  Garnish each with a basil sprig.  Serves 6.

From Cooking Light Reader Recipe Contest - Gilda Lester, Millsboro, DE

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Food for Thought: The Everything of the Present

"We need not think of rebirth only in a future life. We are in actual fact reborn every moment with new thoughts and feelings, and we bring with us the karma that we made in past moments. If we were angry a moment ago, we are not going to feel good immediately. If we were loving a minute ago, we would be feeling fine now. Thus we live from moment to moment with the results of our karma. Every morning, particularly, can be seen as a rebirth. The day is young, we are full of energy, and have a whole day ahead of us. Every moment we get older and are tired enough in the evening to fall asleep and die a small death. All we can do then is toss and turn in bed, and our mind is dreamy and foggy. Every day can be regarded as a whole lifespan, since we can only live one day at a time; the past is gone and the future may or may not come; only this rebirth, this day, this moment, is important." - Ayya Khema

via Whiskey River