How accurate are our memories? That’s a question Andy and I discuss frequently. The answer has such an impact on everything, and it’s pretty clear that there is no 100% correct response.
But I’m 98% sure I’m remembering correctly that every evening my parents would sit down and have a bourbon and water – to toast the end of another day. The bourbon was always Ancient Age.
Another childhood memory is of my mother giving me a mixture of honey, bourbon, lemon juice, and hot water when I had a cold or cough. I don’t remember whether or not I ever faked a cough and cold in order to get that elixir. But I really did like it.
My fondness for bourbon remains to this day. And I’ve managed to successfully blend bourbon-based dishes into my holiday repertoire, making the whole family’s spirits a little jollier.
Bulleit is our preferred brand of bourbon these days
Here is my “adults-only” remedy for a cough or cold or sore throat:
To add to that we’ve got three other delicious bourbon recipes to offer up. And Andy is offering up a MOST unusual and “spirited” greeting card in Andy’s Corner.
Maida Heatter, who passed away this year at the age of 102, was known for her excellent dessert cookbooks, with cakes being her specialty. Her 86-Proof Chocolate Cake is superb and keeps well for days. Just beware of over-snacking!
The Classic Manhattan cocktail is…well…a classic. Perfect for holiday entertaining.
And the Steamed Persimmon Pudding with Bourbon Sauce has been a part of our family holiday tradition for years. …
Our friend Alan rocking it in their Boulder kitchen
Isn’t that a fabulous photo? When our friend Jina posted this Instagram shot of her husband, Alan, stir-frying Pad See Ew for their fam, I knew it had to be the “lede” on this blog. Jina wants you to know that she too cooks, but that they divvy up the time in the kitchen.
Moss, our younger grandson, wearing aprons and cooking at a very early ageOur son Travis, focussing on his Belgian heritage as he fixes his famous Brussels Sprouts
How times change….and often for the better. My dad learned to fix a few meals when he was 81. His specialty was microwaved eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice. Other than that, I believe he subsisted on Arby’s roast beef sandwiches. My brother, at about that same age, is finding the George Foreman Grill a helpful resource in his entry into cooking and the kitchen. Microwaved frozen vegetables are another healthy addition to his repertoire.
Andy, on the other hand, is from a slightly-younger generation…a War Baby (alas…he’s too old to be a Baby Boomer). He’s been in the kitchen since Day 1 of our marriage. If you believe that, I’ll tell you another funny story.
Really, though, through most of our 52 years together Andy has not only been the faithful clean-up person but he has mastered breakfast – witness our many recipes stemming from his early morning cooking skills. And then check out today’s Andy’s Corner to see how making Swedish Pancakes can be an Extreme Sport! But Andy’s cooking has not been put to a serious test until this last month (see our last blog).
Now that I think about it, maybe this blog should be titled: Cooking for Ann.
Andy cooking for Ann
For those of you who aren’t cookbook aficionados, that would be a twist on Ina Garten’s 2016 Cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey. Mind you, I love Ina Garten and almost always love her recipes, but how can a woman in this day and age write about cooking for “her man!?” Consequently, I am delighted to be blogging about how Andy has been cooking for “his woman” the last month or so….all the while believing in my heart of hearts that there should never be one mate who is always in the kitchen!
My criteria for recipes to help Andy adjust to his new super-simple evening meal cooking included the following:
no sautéing
no dicing
no prep time longer than 15-20 minutes
a recipe good to freeze or re-warm
healthy (ish)
Sandy and Stacey, our neighbors, joined us for Andy’s first foray into cooking for others: Roasted Chicken Thighs with New Potatoes (for this Mini-Dining In, they brought a scrumptious salad to share). When we warmed up the leftovers from this sheet-pan dinner a few days later, we both declared it (again) a keeper! Delicious, easy, fast to prepare, re-heats well.
When all else fails, we revert to Andy’s standby – grilling. Nothing could be simpler than a grilled steak or pork chop – and a simple salad (the Broccoli Edamame Salad fits our criteria and is healthy and delicious) . And we often add a Japanese baked sweet potato. After all, this is Cooking for Ann – and baked, mashed sweet potatoes with butter could totally be my Last Dinner.
We’re not Crock Pot people generally speaking, since we’re usually around and can just as easily simmer on the stove-top or slow roast in the oven. But the Crock Pot sounded worth a try for simplicity’s sake – and a bit of a new adventure for Andy in the kitchen. These two recipes are easy, yummy – and even a little exotic. …
Her name was to be Ancho Antwerp Walden Hill (long story) and we were to pick her up at SFO on Friday, October 25 at 1:30 p.m. Now she lives in Maine and is instead “Rhea.” Her given name when she was born near Fairplay, Colorado, was Baby Ruth.
Being totally bonkers about our 9-year-old Aussie, Oakley, (check out Andy’s funny/clever video on today’s Andy’s Corner!) we were (I was?) bound and determined to have another dog with her bloodline. There had been some serious discussions amongst friends and family about whether an 8-week-old puppy was something we really needed. House too small for 2 dogs? Check. Puppy too active for two older people? Likely check. Oakley pretty bent out of shape? Check. Two Siamese cats unwelcoming? Two checks.
Fortuna intervened. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Fortuna is often represented bearing a cornucopia as the giver of abundance and a rudder as controller of destinies, or standing on a ball to indicate the uncertainty of fortune. Andy wrote a nice bit about Fortuna on Andy’s Corner a while back.
Fortuna – as depicted in this Vienna statue
On Wednesday, October 23, PG&E declared they were shutting off power in our area due to extreme fire risk (another long – and not happy – story). Our neighbors were vacationing in Hawaii, and we were caring for their place, so Andy and I decided we needed to check on their generator (we really should invest in stock in generator manufacturers given the number that have been sold in our area in the last 2 years).
Did you know that every few years oaks produce an overabundance of acorns? This appears to be one of those years for Northern California. Joan Morris, a local wildlife columnist, explains, “Scientists still aren’t certain why oak trees produce massive amounts of acorns on a semi-regular basis. They know that the weather makes a difference, but it’s not recent weather, rather weather from a year or two earlier.” She continues, “Scientists also believe that oaks might reserve their energy, building up to a massive release of acorns as a way of self-preservation. By putting out fewer acorns some years, the trees may actually be keeping in check certain populations of animals that eat the acorns. Then, when the oaks do mass produce, the acorns stand a better chance of becoming trees because there are fewer animals to eat them. As it is, only about one in 10,000 ever become trees. The others are eaten before they can establish roots.”
Did Fortuna, as the giver of abundance, provide us with these acorns?
Long story short – winds had blown tons of acorns off their oak in the week since our friends had left their home for their Hawaiian holiday. Andy and I dodged the acorns successfully for a bit, but then I came rushing down their backyard hill, stepped on a spot particularly loaded with those little slippery things, slid, fell, landed with my ankle twisted underneath me – and badly broke it. Sh*t. Actually, I may have said something worse.
I should have read this bit from Scott Aker, head of Washington DC’s National Arboretum, before heading out that day: “Clearing your garden of tenacious acorns can be a chore…acorns are sort of like ball bearings or marbles.If they get on walkways, we try to be very conscientious about clearing them. We don’t want anybody to break a leg. I would caution your readers to pay attention to that. Try to get them off walkways as early as they can. It may be a daily chore.”
Our agonizing decision had been made by the time I had surgery on my ankle, Friday, October 25. Ancho, instead of arriving at SFO that day, was now on a flight to Maine, not San Francisco. And Andy and I came home – along with my walking boot and crutches and the prospect of 8 “non-weight-bearing” weeks – to a one-dog household.
Is Oakley sad that Ancho didn’t join our little Glen Ellen familia? Maybe yes; likely no. Is Andy sad that Ancho didn’t join us? Maybe yes; likely no. Note: photo taken just before October 25.
Was it just bad luck when I fell on the acorns? Was it Fortuna intervening in my life and the life of little Ancho Antwerp Walden Hill? Should I be comforted by this statement regarding Fortune?
Luck – good or bad – never lasts.
And now on to recipes. At first I was going to post a recipe using Ancho chiles – but then decided that a more fitting recipe would put acorns at the forefront. TENACIOUS ACORNS! Andy found this recipe when he did this blog. These cookies are delicious. BUT – it’s almost impossible to find acorn flour. And I don’t think you’re going to want to make the flour yourself (see these instructions from Mother Earth News). So if you don’t have it, simply substitute almond flour and the cookies will be gluten-free and delicious (though golden, not chocolate brown).
