startcookin.com

We went to book club on Saturday night, and I brought dessert.  Strawberry Tiramisu is one of my favorites because it’s both easy and delicious.  I hope you try it.

STRAWBERRY TIRAMISU

1 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup powdered sugar

7 tablespoons Marsala wine (divided)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1-pint basket strawberries

3/4 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder

2 1/4 (about) 3.5-ounce packages Champagne biscuits (ladyfinger-style cookies)

1 ounce bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, grated

Blend cream cheese, powdered sugar and 5 tablespoons Marsala in processor until smooth. Mix in sour cream. Slice half of strawberries; cut all remaining strawberries in half.

Combine boiling water, 2 tablespoons sugar and espresso powder in medium bowl; stir to dissolve. Mix in remaining 2 tablespoons Marsala. Dip 1 Champagne biscuit briefly into espresso mixture, turning to coat. Place flat side up in bottom of 8-inch square glass baking dish with 2-inch-high sides. Repeat with enough Champagne biscuits to cover bottom of baking dish, trimming biscuits to fit.

Spread 2/3 of cream cheese mixture over Champagne biscuits. Cover with sliced strawberries. Dip more biscuits into espresso mixture and arrange atop sliced strawberries in dish, covering completely and trimming to fit. Spread remaining cream cheese mixture over. Sprinkle with grated chocolate. Arrange halved strawberries around edge of pan. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.) Cut into squares and serve.

Serves 4 to 6.

Bon Appetit

April 1992

My sweet mother decided she wanted to go on a trip to the beach so she took all four of her children and their spouses to Paradise Island in the Bahamas for five days.  The adventure began last Saturday when we all arrived midafternoon within an hour or two of each other.  We were all in the hotel pool immediately, soaking up the sun and wetting our whistles.

The first evening, the hotel had a band that did pop music and rhythm and blues.  If there’s one thing the Arnold clan has, it’s rhythm.  We were singing and dancing all night long.  We formed a dance line and boogied down to funky town.  Even my 82 year old mom got in the act.  Everyone in the room got up and danced with us and it was a real party. 

On Sunday, LJ and I decided to go into old downtown Nassau.  Some of the old buildings were beautiful and I loved the government buildings.  They were all pink with white trim and green shutters.  And the landscaping was gorgeous.  There were, of course, hundreds of little shops selling junk for tourists to waste their money on, and I contributed my share.  There were also a ton of high dollar jewelry shops.  We couldn’t really figure out why since the prices seemed very similar to prices in the states.  The only thing one would save would be taxes - not that significant in my mind.

Sunday afternoon we were back in the water.  Sunday evening the hotel activity was karaoke to rap songs we weren’t too familiar with.  So, as Arnolds sometimes do, we got drinks in the lobby bar and proceeded to have a song fest on our own.  My brother Steve and I sang big band songs from the 40’s.  It was such fun!

Monday we decided to go to the Atlantis Casino.  Mom and I played slots and my brothers-in-law played roulette.  And the winners were - Mom and Rob!  Mom won $100 and Rob won $150.  Good job!  In the Atlantis complex, there was a wonderful aquarium that wrapped around the building.  It was stocked with hundreds of beautiful fish, large and small, all brightly colored and some really cool manna rays.  That was fascinating.

Our Paradise Island resort was all-inclusive and we ate most of our meals at a buffet that offered a variety of choices.  Generally, we found the food was quite good.  They had a nicer restaurant that required appropriate dress and reservations, so we decided to have a more formal evening there on Monday night.  The food was good and there was lots of conversation and laughter, as always happens when my family gets together.  The evening would have been perfect if Mom had not fallen getting on the elevator at the end of the evening.  She had to be taken to the hospital the next morning to be x-rayed and get everything thoroughly checked out.  She sustained a pretty bad sprain and was in a lot of pain, but meds and sleep helped her get through Tuesday.

On Tuesday, with Mom back at the hotel sleeping, we went to the beach.  The water was unbelievably beautiful and the waves were pretty powerful.  We had so much fun playing in the ocean.  Jen declared it the best thing on the whole trip.  Tuesday night the hotel put on a show of native dances and a limbo specialist.  LJ got picked from the audience because he was the tallest guy there.  He had to “assist” the limboist go under the lowest bar by holding another guy standing on the limboist’s abs.  Funny.  It was a good last evening.

Wednesday was travel day back for all of us.  It was a lovely vacation and a really memorable one to have with my whole family.  Thanks, Mom!

LJ and I have been campers since we were first married.  His family camped all of his life.  Most of their vacations involved camping in some way.  However, we decided a couple of years ago that the fun had gone out of putting up and taking down a tent and sleeping in 90 degree Texas heat.  I thought that was the end of it until LJ decided it would be cool to get a pop up camper.  He would never want a full fledged RV with a toilet and shower.  That’s way too bourgeois for my salt of the earth guy.  But getting the sleeping bags off the earth sounded a little better every year.  So we did it. 

It was a beautiful spot!

He found a really good deal on a new camper that had been repossessed.  I thought the timing was a little too soon, but he convinced me that this deal wouldn’t come along that often.  So along with trying to put together a new kitchen, we had to try out a new camper.  Our first trip was a short one just to make sure everything worked.  We went to a beautiful little RV part between Palestine (pronounced palesteen for those non-Texans out there) and Rusk in deep east Texas.

I was not in the best of moods when we pulled into the campground.  I really wanted to stay home and unpack my kitchen stuff.  So I sat my rear down and told LJ the work was his.  But the more he worked, the more fascinated I became.

Almost there

Roomy

Just relaxingThis is fun

Well, we’ve done it.  LJ and I have completed a total remodel of our kitchen at the lake.  We were lucky enough to be able to do this while we were living somewhere else.  I can’t even imagine what hell it must be to try to live in your place while the kitchen is being completely gutted and put back together.  At one point, our refrigerator, range, dishwasher and upper oven were all sitting in the middle of the living room.

That’s behind us now, and all we have left is the clean-up, which is no small feat.  I won’t be able to start the major unpacking and cleaning up until this Friday and Saturday.  But I’m happy.  Before I do the official unveiling, let me show a couple of “before” shots.

Looking from the dining room back into the kitchenFrom the counter

This island replaces the old counter

The transition from the kitchen to the hardwoods

By the way, the contractor was Dee Nichols at Dunn’s Floors and More in Gun Barrel City, Texas.  I can’t recommend him highly enough!

Let’s have an appetizer and cocktails:

 

Marinated Olives with Feta

 

1 cup Kalamata olives

1 cup green olives

1 cup e-v olive oil

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

10 oz. feta, cut into ½ inch slices

 

Mix all olives, ¾ cup oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon oregano and red pepper in plastic bag.  Marinate, refrigerated, over night. 

 

Place feta on a platter, drizzle with remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with oregano and black pepper.  Refrigerate overnight.

 

Serve both with pita bread.

I do not understand how two people can look at the exact same set of circumstances and see things so dramatically differently.  I am one of many folks on an e-mail list of my high school classmates, and I periodically received newsy e-mails.  Many are the kind that let us know that someone’s mother or father has passed away; sadder still are the ones that let us know one of our classmates passed away.  There are invitations to “mini-reunions” and occasionally to clubs where some band we all liked in high school is playing. 

I’m not particularly close to any of my classmates because I didn’t exactly feel like I fit in in high school.  I was most assuredly a late bloomer.  But I’ve allowed my e-mail address to remain on the list because I just like keeping up.  When sappy “remember how much better things were being a child in the 50’s” come in, I just delete them and don’t give them much mind.  I’m of the opinion that if that sort of thing appeals to you, you’ll think your childhood times were better than the present no matter when you grew up.  My memory is too good for that sort of mind game.

Anyway, something happened this week that kind of threw the high school newsy e-mails topsy turvy.  One of my classmates sent out a ranting about how Obama wouldn’t provide a legitimate birth certificate to prove his citizenship, and when we get to the bottom of this constitutional travesty he won’t be “much of a president from Leavenworth.” (Huh?  Leavenworth??)  I went to snopes.com where my belief that this pronouncement wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit was confirmed.  I went back to the e-mail and responded to the address list that the statements were false and that could be confirmed at snopes.  I also opined that our high school newsy thing was probably not an appropriate forum for the political agenda.

Boy, were the hounds ever loosed.  The original sender made all sorts of pronouncements about how snopes.com didn’t have all the information, and went on to justify all things evangelical and Palin and warning us that our country was falling apart.  Soon after, another of my classmates talked about pots and black kettles and reminded us about the current administration’s penchant for getting us into wars that have killed thousands, undermining the Constitution with warrantless wire taps, torture, and rendition, and removing statutory constraints on lending institutions to the point that we’re ecomonically drowning.  It was beautifully written, if you ask me.

But I’m pretty sure it’s not over, and I’ll get another e-mail explaining how the last one completely misses the point.  Which is my point with this post.  What makes us see the same thing through such different glasses?  Is it perspective?  Priorities?  Fear?  I would welcome your ideas, no matter what color glasses you peer from.

Well, not exactly my hero, but he is the reason I love to cook today.  I watched every dexterous move of his fingers, and practiced making mine move the same way.  They never have, mind you, but I keep trying.  He made cooking an art form for me.  He’s the king of the kitchen.  But a hero?  Webster’s Collegiate says a hero is, among other things, “an object of extreme admiration and devotion. Idol.”  And idol is “a representation or symbol of an object of worship.” 

I think we’ve been throwing those two words around a bit lightly these days.  For me, Jacques’ kitchen quests are certainly admirable, but worthy of devotion?  Give me a break.  And all those underage wannabes who have loud, mostly on key voices and funny hair – worthy of worship?   Maybe we ought to reorder some priorities here and change the name of that show to Next American Hot Body.  It would be more honest.  Why does Tom Brady become a hero instead of just a really good football player?  What else has he done in life that is heroic besides toss that ball?  (It looks like this year he isn’t even going to do that.  What a drop in status!)

I’m re-thinking my heroes today.  My Mom is a hero because she takes care of my Dad with Alzheimer’s every day.  Not that she doesn’t ever complain, but I don’t think complaining about the hell that is Alzheimer’s keeps you from being a hero.  My sister, Sarah, is my hero because she backs up my Mom and keeps her sane.  I think most of the heroes out there are just everyday people who do extraordinary things that help others keep their lives livable.

Recipe of the day is Cilantro Chicken Breasts because I cooked them the other night and LJ called me his hero.  Maybe he should re-think that.

Cilantro Chicken Breasts

4 chicken breasts, skinned and boned

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

salt and pepper

1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons light cream

1 teaspoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

¾ cup unsalted chicken stock

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot

1 small tomato, seeded and chopped

1/3 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

Heat oil over medium-high heat in skillet.  Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and sauté until cooked through.  Transfer to plate and keep warm.

In a small bowl, stir the yogurt and cream into the cornstarch mixture.  Set aside.

Add garlic and shallot to skillet and sauté for 1 minute.  Add stock and lemon juice to skillet, and stir to deglaze pan.  Boil slowly for 3 to 4 minutes until liquid has reduced slightly.  Remove from heat and stir in the tomato and yogurt mixture.  Add cilantro. 

Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Hello, folks.  Neophyte blogger here.  It’ll be nice to get to know you over time.  I’m a woman, married (no kids), who works because she has to, not because she wants to; cooks, because she wants to, not because she has to; and travels because she has to whenever she’s able.  I hope to share a little of my love of life and its adventures with you.

LJ and I have a little lake house about an hour and fifteen minutes from the city, and we spend weekends there as often as we can and not piss off our friends in the city too much.  We were there this weekend and the weather was sunny, blue perfection.  (Personal note:  we’re Texans.  We think 90 degrees is mild summer weather.)  We had friends down to join us, and we cruised the lake on a pontoon boat in the late afternoon.  Perfect pontoon boat snack: watermelon!  I had cooked a pork shoulder in the slow cooker overnight, and it was sitting in a 200 degree oven waiting for us to return and “pull” it to bbq perfection.  Pulled pork sandwiches with potato salad and ranch style beans put smiles on all faces.  My peach crisps with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert nearly made bulimics out of us.  OH, GOD, we were full!

I mentioned LJ, my most special spouse.  The remaining members of my immediate family are my cats, Scout and Zooey.  Unfortunately, they don’t join us on our trips to the lake.  We’ve tried, but Scout just can’t do the car thing.  About 20 minutes into this hour and 15 minute journey, he is simultaneously pooping, throwing up, and hyperventilating.  (You’re laughing now.  Yes, you are.  I wasn’t; the stench was too awful!)  Of course, all this sickness gets to Zooey eventually, and she joins the puking party.  Not fun for any of us.  So anyway, I’m always glad to return to the home front and hug the kitties.  They always act like they’re glad to see us, but really I think they’re just excited to get Fancy Feast again instead of dry food.

Zooey & Scout

I thought I’d end each blog entry with a recipe.  Sometimes they’ll be mine which I either created on my own or adapted from another source, or sometimes they’ll be from someone else and I’ll give credit.  So I hope you enjoy these ramblings, and I welcome your comments.

 
Recipe of the day:  Cynthia’s Peach Crisps

Filling:

3 large peaches, peeled and chopped

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cinnamon

zest of 1 lemon

juice of ½ lemon

pinch of salt

Topping:

½ cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

½ cup flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter

Mix filling ingredients well and divide among 4 1-cup ramekins.

Mix dry topping ingredients well.  Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or work in with fingertips until crumble is the size of peas.  Sprinkle over tops of peach filling.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cool on a rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream.