Southern Cooking

Saturday night we had friends for dinner.  They both really love good food, and are very good cooks.  We have had fabulous food at their home.  I wanted to give them the taste treat they had given us.

We changed the menu several times.  I kept coming back to wanting to make spoon bread and Marty wanted fried corn.  Not just anything goes with that.  So we decided to go whole hog Southern.

The menu: 

Appetizers

Benedictine spread, fancy cheeses, duck  pate with truffles, and mushrooms stuffed with country ham sausage.

Salad course

Avocado and shrimp with a remoulade sauce

Main Course

Grilled asparagus, Fried Corn, Spoon Bread, Tri-tip wrapped in country ham sausage

Dessert Course

Creme Brulee

Champagne and various wines served

The table is ready for the guests.

                                             

Country ham stuffed mushrooms ready to go in the oven.

Some of the ingredients for spoon bread: Cornmeal imported from Kentucky, separated eggs.

                                                    

The cornmeal is added to milk and cooked to a thick mush.  This takes a lot of stirring or it will burn on the bottom.  The yolks are added, other ingredients, then butter and whipped egg whites are folded in.  This all goes in the oven to be baked.

 

Corn kernels are cut off the cob and cooked in bacon grease and butter.  Cream is added at the end with salt and pepper.  Notice it is cooked in a cast iron skillet.

Marinated shrimp and avocado, parts of the salad.

Torn lettuce waiting for the shrimp salad.

                                         

The tri-tip is resting before it is sliced.  The sausage has been moved to the right side.

Marty had made the creme brulee and it is waiting to be torched.  His blowtorch has been tested and ready to go.  When he was ready to torch the topping, nothing happened. The blowtorch would not stay lit.  He had to brown the sugar topping under the broiler.  It doesn’t change the taste, but you don’t get that hard shell top.

It was a lovely dinner.  One of our guests was excited to have spoon bread.  He had eaten it years ago on a trip to Kentucky.  And as for the fried corn, there was nothing left.  Someone had three helpings.  Happy guests=happy hosts.

Weddings on Wednesday

Wednesday I had high hopes for a busy time doing marriage ceremonies.  No such luck.  I did very few marriages.

I had two weddings that were Hispanic.  They each had lots of family attending the wedding.  The one thing they both had in common, hovering fathers. 

The fathers of the brides at each wedding were in my face, right beside me, trying to make decisions about the ceremonies, asking questions, grabbing for the paperwork.  The couples were not 18 year old babies marrying.  Both couples were in their mid twenties.  Plus if they are marrying, then they need to handle the legalities and decisions by themselves. You know I didn’t pay much attention to the fathers.  I was polite, but the couples’ wishes are all I consider and the ones getting the paperwork.

I checked a license and then looked over the souvenir certificate.  There was an error on the souvenir certificate.  These are not computer generated.  They are on fancy paper with  blanks spaces to type in the date and place, the names of the couple, witnesses’ info, and Marriage commissioner’s name. I took it back to Clerk K.  She groaned and said, “ I have trouble using a typewriter.  I’d never seen a typewriter until I took this job. I have trouble figuring out how to line up the spaces to fill in the blanks.”

Think about it.  When is the last time you used a typewriter?  This young woman is 23 years old.  She and many of the other clerks have never lived in a world without computers.  There are very very few instances today when typewriters are used.  Try to think of a need for a typewriter.  Let me know if you think of something. 

Why weren’t you here last Tuesday?

Tuesday I made it to school to work with the first graders.  They were all in their groups working on math, reading, creative writing.  I walked around to nudge slow workers and to give help where needed.

One little boy looked up at me and asked, “Why weren’t you here last Tuesday?”  He acted as if I had skipped school without permission.  I explained about the lost voice and that seemed to satisfy him.  I guess the next time I have to miss, I’ll call him instead of Ms H.

Chinese New Year has begun.  I read a story to the children related to the new year.  The story deals with a child having lucky money to spend any way he wants.  But it isn’t enough to buy what he wants, so he is pouting. The child sees a homeless old man who has no shoes, who has nothing.  The children did a great job of understanding the point of your little bit can help someone with nothing.

Most of my work with the children was to hear them read a story and then to work on the Dolch List.  Some of them are still struggling to read. They just need more time to work on basics.  It is late enough in the year to consider holding them back this year.  Parents are resisting and saying no you can’t retain my child. 

That fact is amazing to me.  When I taught (as a paid teacher), you told the parents for the good of the child you were holding them back. You had had conferences all year telling the parents the child was behind, the work was not being done, they needed more time at this level.  The parents really had little say in the outcome.  Some parents fought retaining their child, and went to the principal, and even the School Board,  Every now and then the teacher lost that decision.  The teacher always felt the child had been hurt by going on to the next grade.  The next year that child’s teacher would come back to you and ask why you promoted her/him.  Or if they knew the story, they would ask for worksheets, books, etc. from your level to help the child.

Times change.  Maybe not always for the good.

The Voice is Back!

Monday my voice was almost back to normal, so I felt my voice would hold up to do marriage ceremonies. Thestaff and volunteer had been really busy Monday morning.  It was the first day of the Chinese New Year and an auspicious day to get married.

I was ready to go.  But I sat and read for almost 2 hours.  Where were the couples?  Finally close to 3:00 a license! I married 4 couples that afternoon, and they were spread over almost 2 hours. That is really slow. Nothing for almost 2 hours and then I ended up staying close to 30 minutes after the building was closed. Two couples had punched in close to 4:00.  By the time I received the licenses, it was getting close to quitting time.

Two weddings stand out.  Again it was the contrast of the couples that makes me remember them.

Couple 1:  They were a Chinese couple in their early 20s. This was a first marriage for both of them.
 
The groom wore a black suit and had a boutonniere of Baby’s Breath and a Sterling Rose. The bride was a teeny tiny woman.  She wore a lavender taffeta dress with a square neckline.  It was taffeta almost to the knees, then there was a 6 inch tulle lavender ruffle.  The dress tied at the back, and the skirt was slightly full.  She carried a bouquet of Sterling Roses that matched her dress.  I told you she was tiny, her bouquet of two dozen roses and Baby’s Breath was wider than she was.  It was gorgeous, but overpowered her body.

After the ceremony the groom handed me two cellophane wrapped velvet roses.  Below is a picture of the roses.  This was a traditional Chinese gift for weddings.  I can’t take money for doing weddings, but I think this gift was in the legal limits.


Inside the roses are Hershey Kisses. The are is soon to be were.  I love Hershey Kisses.

The next couple had had several marriages. He had been married 4 times and was now a widower.  She had been married 3 times and was a widow.  I don’t usually have much hope for couples who have that many marriages between them.  But I think this one will last for life.  The groom was born in 1929 and the bride in 1938.  

The Weekend

The past week, as I reported, wasn’t as planned.  The weekend went much better.  And I hope this week will continue to be normal.

Saturday we had a friend for dinner.  We knew we wanted to have Dungeness crab, but how to fix it.  For crab my job is to do research, find recipes and let Marty pick one.  I only help clean crab, I rarely cook it.

I found several recipes and we agreed on Crab Imperial.  Crab Imperial is basically a rich crab cake with a sauce cooked over it.  There are a zillion ways to make it.

Marty bought live crab and cooked them.  We cleaned them and then he did his magic .  I cleaned romaine for a Cesar salad, and parboiled  fresh peas to sauté later.   The meal was rich, lovely, and left me wanting more crab.

Guess what?  Marty had only used the body meat for his dish.  He saved out the claws for dinner Sunday night.  I made a tartar sauce, cut up some tomatoes, added a little seasoning, mixed in the crab and we had Crab sandwiches.  Very good.  But I think I would have preferred the crab hot over a fancy pasta dish.

This weekend we are again having friends for dinner.  Pretty sure we are doing crab again.  I am excited.  It looks like the pasta sauce will win.

Not the week I planned

Sunday and Monday went fairly well.  Fun at the Food Show in spite of the swelled up foot.  Tuesday I was supposed to go to school and help the first graders.  Well, I had the foot I could barely walk on for any length of time.  Also Monday afternoon I lost my voice.  I had a voice, just not mine.  This one was rough and sometimes didn't work. I don't have a sore throat, I"m not sick.  I just can't talk much. So Tuesday I didn't go to school.  I could barely walk or talk. 

I stayed home Tuesday, didn't talk, kept my foot up as much as possible.  The foot got some better but the voice didn't.

So Wednesday I called in come and go voice to the Marriage Factory.  I stayed home, foot up and no talking. Last night the voice was some better.  But still not good.

Today, I declared the foot healed. I had laundry to do and had to go up and down stairs, a lot.  We will see tonight if the foot agrees it is healed.  The voice is gradually improving, but still sounds terrible.

Stupid allergies.

Fancy Food Show 2012 part 2

Monday we went back to check out the other hall of the Fancy Food Show.  If this is your first time reading my blog, read yesterday’s post to catch up.

I was worried about walking yesterday.  I aggravated an old foot injury.  My foot was swollen and really hurt.  How was I going to walk for hours?  I keep all my support and braces for bad parts and I found an elastic sock with Velcro ankle straps.  I wore it, I was slow, but I made it through the day.

So on to Day 2 of eating our way around the world.

This lovely lady is generously spreading humanely produced Foie Gras on little toast.  I did not discover Foie Gras until well over 50.  I regret those lost years.

One of the hundreds of cheese booths.  There was a point I just couldn’t eat more cheese.

From Italy, Parma Ham on the hoof.  Don’t tell anyone, but I almost like the European hams better than Kentucky Country Hams.  Each type of long cured hams have incredible flavors.

The show has a standing rule, no cameras unless you are a registered press person.  No pictures allowed.  Yet many of the booths ask you to take pictures and put them on Facebook or your blog. Very few booths won’t allow pictures.

I am going to hell for this picture.  After I took it they told me I couldn’t take pictures.  I apologized, told them I had been asked at other booths to take pictures.  I would delete the ones I took.  They carefully watched me delete.  Except as you can see I didn’t, I just pushed the picture to the side.  Bad, Bad me.  Marty didn’t get caught.  He is one sneaky dude.

This is an antipasto spread, company shall remain nameless.  After tasting many of the pickled veggies, I didn’t like anything except the cipollini onions.

                           

This is very much a family pasta sauce business.  The pictures are the parents of the people working the booth. The recipes come from their parents.  The sauce was pretty good.

                                                          

More ham, this time Speck from the Austrian Italian border. 

                                                

More ham and cured meats.  Do you see a pattern here?

This booth was fabulous!  They had duck rillettes, duck pate, duck mousse.  They had other pates and terrines.  But why fill up on those when they were serving duck three ways.  I loved loved the duck.

 

This picture is for Luis and his family.  Mexico had a huge section of the floor with multiple booths. They served mole, guacamole, salsas, safflower oil, tequila, and other products.  Great display, and it all tasted great also.

                                                                  

And we are walking out the door.  What an incredible event!  I didn’t even show you the candy, cakes, breads, wines, beer . . .   Can’t wait for next year.

FANCY FOOD SHOW 2012

Today we went into San Francisco for the Fancy Food Show.  This is a three day event we have attended for at least 5 years. There are over a thousand vendors from all over the world who come and show their wares.  Marty and I spent 4 1/2 hours walking the hall and sampling foods.

There was a lot of processed, I can’t cook, meals.  There were chefs cooking or warming up food.  There were little companies trying to break into the grocery world. There were huge companies such as Mezzetta showing their products.  A little something for everyone.

We have arrived.  Let the food sampling begin.

I loved the carved vegetables. These were at the Thai Feast booth. We took a sample of Pad Thai.  It was Ok, but not what we have had at Thai restaurants.  I think it would go over fine in other parts of America, where they don’t have as authentic Thai food as we do in the Bay Area.

Marty has a hard time passing up tea booths.

                                                                  

This would be me with Chef Susan Feniger.  I loved her on Top Chef Masters. The food she was serving today was excellent.

                                                                 

You will have to click on the above picture to read the sign.  They sell chocolate to go with wine. Two perfect food groups.

                                                             

This is the Stubb’s Bar B Q Sauce booth.  It made me sad this year.  They were just barely cooking, and it was just sausage, little pieces of sausage.  Folks, this showed we have a recession on.  Every year in the past they have brought a huge trailer,(almost semi truck size) filled with smokers, grills, tables, sauces, posters. They drove that trailer right onto the convention floor.  They were cooking! It was wonderful.  They barbequed ribs, brisket, and sausage.  They set out dinner size plates, forks, napkins, and lots of sauces.  They let you take as much as you wanted.  Their booth is where everyone came for lunch.  Not this year, we got the tiny cup with a part of a piece of sausage.  It was wonderful tasting, but oh so little of it.

We have had a lovely day.  Our feet hurt, we are tired.  We can’t wait to go back tomorrow to sample the next hall of food.

Wedding fashions and other stuff

Wednesday some of the couples had some good looking outfits, as did their family members.

One bride wore a strapless satin sheath.  The burgundy bodice had ruched roses and the skirt was black.  She had on black tights and black peep toe shoes.  He wore a lavender long sleeved shirt and black slacks. But the fashionista was the bride's 5 year old daughter.  Her dress had a black and white checked top trimmed at the neck with a small burgundy line, a red sash, and a black velvet circle skirt.  She wore black tights and grey suede boots that were trimmed in "fur". 

The next bride wore a one shouldered white ruched dress with a black sash.  Are you noticing that ruching is back in?  The groom wore a grey suit, a tan ivy cap sometimes called a flat cap, and shoes that matched the weave of his cap.  His 4 year old son wore a white shirt, black vest and slacks, with a little cap like Dad's. 

The son walked up to me, stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Nate and I'm four."  He grabbed my hand and held it all the way up to the wedding room.  He was just darling.  He sat down and watched the ceremony quietly.  I pronounced the couple married and they kissed.  Nate went ballistic! He ran screaming," NO!!!! BAD!!!! BAD!!!!"   up to Dad and started hitting him over and over.  He kept hitting and Dad had to pick Nate up and hold him away from him.  Nate calmed down some, but ran around like a crazy child and kept saying BAD.   While we were in the Marriage Desk Office, Dad said that Nate didn't like him kissing girls.  I told the couple they better keep the bedroom door locked. 

Two Extremes in Couples

Monday, there wasn't a single couple to marry.  None.  Wednesday I had one couple, then an hour of nothing, then four back to back.  There was another couple who checked in after 4:00 (cut off time) that would have made five.  I already was running past closing so I didn't offer to stay even later.

Today your assignment is to compare and contrast these two couples and their friends.

Couple number 1:  The couple had been together 21 years. She was in slacks that looked like jodhpurs without the balloon hips.  The slacks were tucked into riding boots.  She wore a loose top with a 3/4 coat sweater over it.  She carried a bouquet of roses.  He had on dark slacks and kept changing coats, one a dark sport coat the other a zip up black windbreaker. She decided he should wear the windbreaker (which was good looking) because she gave it to him.  From the time they walked through the door, their friends were taking pictures.  Everyone was laughing, it was a party in the lobby.  They were close to over the top with happiness.

I went out and took them up to the wedding room. I was immediately the Den Mother. They were thrilled with the room, pictures of just the room were taken.  They joked with me, they laughed, they listened to the rules, the help I gave the bride on holding her flowers to photograph better. Their was a lot of noise going on.  I started the ceremony, dead silence.  Cheering when the couple was pronounced married, and the party of happiness picked back up. When I was leaving them at D's office, the guest thanked me and thanked me.  They were amazed how nice a wedding could be at the County building.   I loved these people.  So much fun.

Couple number 2:  The bride and groom were in their early 20's.  They looked scruffy and a little dirty. They had one person with them, a bored young woman who said she guessed she could take some pictures. The groom posed for the pictures throughout the ceremony, never looking at the bride. The bride spent the whole ceremony chewing gum like a cow with a cud.  She also was smacking the gum.  To add to that she examined her nails minutely the whole ceremony, every now and then picking at polish.  There was no emotion, no happiness, not even sadness.  They were just bored.