Big Little Meals

Men in Aprons

December 3, 2019 / 2 Comments

Screen Shot 2019-11-13 at 7.22.12 PM — 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.

Screen Shot 2019-11-25 at 5.59.36 PM — Moss, our younger grandson, wearing aprons and cooking at a very early age

Screen Shot 2019-11-27 at 12.48.15 PM — Our 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.

Screen Shot 2019-11-26 at 4.11.06 PM — 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.

Chinese Jook Chicken is a no-brainer, fulfilling my criteria with ease. Chicken Pozole Verde can be streamlined to come together quickly and easily.

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. …

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God She Works in Mysterious Ways

November 19, 2019 / 10 Comments

Screen Shot 2019-11-05 at 12.37.21 PM — Rhea – FKA Ancho Antwerp Walden Hill

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.

Screen Shot 2019-11-01 at 2.48.19 PM — 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.”

Screen Shot 2019-11-05 at 3.26.08 PM — 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.

Screen Shot 2019-11-05 at 3.55.47 PM — 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).

…

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The Lambkins

October 22, 2019 / 2 Comments

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 11.36.08 AM — A banana slug

Really this blog should be titled “Big Horn Sheep, Lambkins, and Longevity.” But that seems too convoluted.

Let me start by saying that my family has been associated with two really questionable team mascots. Our daughter, Sara, is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz. For those who are out-of-the-UCSC loop, their mascot is the Banana Slug. And my mother, father, brother, 2 cousins, and I are all graduates of Colorado’s Fort Collins High School. Our mascot? The Lambkins.

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 11.42.54 AM — Circa 1962

A quick survey of friends’ and family’s team mascots results in feisty mascot names like Bulldogs and Hornets and Seawolves and Dragons. Even Andy’s team, the Chino H.S. Cowboys, sounds a little tough (see his bittersweet/funny blog in today’s Andy’s Corner). But Lambkins? Really? At least we’re unique in that we’re the only high school in the country with that name. And at least today’s Lambkin emblem is a little feistier looking than when I was in attendance.

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 12.24.40 PM — Circa 2019

Why did they ever get that name? Well, Fort Collins is the home of Colorado State University, and their mascot is the ram. Not surprising, since the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is the state animal of Colorado. So is a baby ram a lambkin? That’s what we were taught at school.

Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 1.38.16 PM — Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

In case you’re a hunter, Bighorn sheep can be hunted in Colorado – but it might take you 20 years in a lottery before you get your chance to bag ONE. And – vegetarian alert – a Sonoma friend whose son just got his license to shoot one says that their meat is absolutely delicious.

But back to Lambkins. And longevity.

I recently spent a grand 3 days and 4 nights touring around Brooklyn and the Lower East Side/Nolita/Soho/Tribeca with four of my Class of 1962 Lambkin friends. Two of us have known each other since we were kindergartners at Dunn Elementary School. Two more became Besties during a memorable 5th grade year. And the 5th Bestie started Lincoln Junior High School with us. We’ve managed to keep in contact for 65+ years and have had previous get-togethers in Glen Ellen and Santa Fe and Cincinnati. How is that for a friendship’s longevity?

I fixed dinner one night in Brooklyn for my BFFs. I thought about serving a Colorado dish – but didn’t have any Bighorn sheep meat at my disposal – plus a lamb recipe for the Lambkins just didn’t seem quite right. I thought about one of my all-time favorites: Longevity Noodles, a recipe from our daughter’s New Yorker friend and cookbook-writer Grace Young. It’s the recipe we chose to post when we first began this blog some 2 1/2 years ago. But we were staying in our son’s condo and I was terrified I’d set off their very-sensitive smoke alarm and evacuate the whole building if I tried stir-frying in an extremely hot wok. So I ended up with my version of a Colorado green chile stew, omitting the pork and adding potatoes. Even with that, Bestie Janeene stood valiantly on a stool, frantically waving a towel under the smoke alarm, while I roasted the green chiles over a hot flame. Thanks, J!

So here’s to longevity! And to BFFs! And to Bighorn sheep! And to the Lambkins! But maybe not so much to Banana Slugs…or are we supposed to be embracing them, as we are bugs, as the next wave of our dining future? If so, vegetarianism here I come.

Colorado-ish Potato and Green Chile Stew

Servings: 4
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This is tweeked from a Deborah Madison recipe. Frankly, I never remember having Green Chilie Stew, growing up in Colorado, but I love the simplicity of this recipe, even if it’s authenticity is dubious. It’s easily made vegetarian and can be made even more nutritious by throwing in a handful of greens – such as chopped spinach or chard.

4 long green chiles such as Big Jim or Anaheim or poblano chiles, roasted and peeled
3 T vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs Yukon gold or red potatoes, chopped into 1-inch chunks (no need to peel)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 c chicken broth or water or vegetable broth
Sour cream, Mexican crema, or Greek yogurt to finish (don’t omit – it adds so much)
Chopped cilantro to finish

Chop the chiles coarsely. Heat the oil in a wide pot; add the onion and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, garlic, and potatoes, followed by the chiles, along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir. Cook together of a few minutes, then add the water or stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.

Cook and cover until the potatoes are completely softened, about 25 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. At this point you can mash the potatoes, or at least a few of them to give the dish a creamy sort of background, if desired.

Pour into a bowl; add a dollop of sour cream and the chopped cilantro.

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.