What to Cook for Christmas?

First of all, we're not really celebrating Christmas in this house.  Aside from taping bows to things like the front door, the electric meter, the water tap, the car's gas tank door...you know, the places where our money HAS to go right now.  Don't get me wrong!  I am extremely grateful there's money enough for those things!  I have plenty of "stuff," so I really don't need much of anything, though of course there're always plenty of "wants."  I have a a set of three packages from an artist friend to open, and have snagged some items over the past year from various places that are wrapped and ready to give to V, but there's no tree, no ornaments, no Who-pudding, no Who-roast beast. Still, it's a special day, and as such deserves a special meal.  So I'm going to make a nice brunch, and a couple of yummy deserts, plus some savory muffins just to munch on...what'd'ya think?

Cheesy Cajun Bacon And Andouille Strata

• 5 cups non-sourdough French bread
• 12 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 14 to 16 ounce package smoked Andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 pound bacon, diced
• 5 green onions, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (I often use a blend of green, red, and yellow for the added colour in the final dish)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (I create my own: recipe follows)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2 quart (preferably glass) baking dish.
2. Saute sausage, half of the onions, and green peppers until the sausage is lightly browned and the peppers are tender.
3. Cook bacon until crisp, drain and blot to remove grease
4. Mix cooked sausage and pepper with the bread
5. Mix remaining onions, cheese, and bacon with the bread/sausage mixture; pour into buttered baking dish and level.
6. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk and beat until blended, then pour over bread mixture.
7. Let sit for about ten minutes to give the bread time to soak up the liquid, pressing gently on the bread to assist the process.
8. Drizzle with the melted butter, cover with foil
9. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until set in the middle (check with a butter knife or skewer. It shouldn’t come out with any loose dripping mixture on it.) and nicely browned.
10. Let rest for about 5 minutes before cutting.

Cajun seasoning, blend together:
1 Tbls salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Broccoli-Spinach Casserole

2 bags fresh spinach, washed and thoroughly dried
3 pounds of broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces (You can use frozen veggies if you like, just make sure to defrost and drain them thoroughly. Plan on two boxes/one bag each chopped spinach and chopped broccoli.)
16 ounces sour cream
1 package French Onion Soup Mix
1 cup grated cheddar
grated cheddar for topping


If using fresh veggies, parboil them until the spinach is soft and the broccoli is bright green, then chop coarsely.
If using frozen veggies, cook, drain, and squeeze excess liquid out.
Mix veggies with the sour cream, onion soup mix, and one cup of cheddar. Top with the rest of the cheddar cheese and bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes until hot, bubbly, and the cheese is toasted.

Savory Breakfast Muffins

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 1 bunch)
• 3/4 cup diced Canadian bacon (3 ounces)
• 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup finely diced red bell pepper

• 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
• 2. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, pepper and salt in a large bowl.
• 3. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, oil and butter in a medium bowl. Fold in scallions, bacon, cheese and bell pepper. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until just moistened. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan (the cups will be very full).
• 4. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges and turn the muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
• Reheat & Run
• Bake muffins on weekends and enjoy the leftovers for grab-and-go weekday breakfasts. Wrap leftover muffins individually in plastic wrap, place in a plastic storage container or ziplock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. To thaw, remove plastic wrap, wrap in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds.

Bacon and Bourbon Brownies

1/2 lb bacon
8 oz butter
10 oz baking chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
5 large eggs
Freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp smoked salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Bourbon

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cook the bacon until it is very crisp, drain off the grease and set aside. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels, crumble into tiny pieces, chopping in food processor if possible. Set aside.

Place the pecans in a bowl and just cover with bourbon. When roughly half of the bourbon has been absorbed, scoop out the pecans with a slotted spoon, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until nearly toasted. Reserve one teaspoon of the bourbon, pour the remainder over the pecans, and let them finish toasting. Remove them from the oven and set aside.

In a double boiler, over simmering water, combine the butter and chocolate. When the mixture is nearly melted, remove it from the heat and stir together until blended. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized bowl and let it cool to room temperature.

Once the chocolate mixture is cool, add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, several grinds of black pepper, smoked salt, eggs and reserved bourbon and whisk well to combine.

Add the cocoa powder and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Then stir in the flour 1/2 cup at a time, making sure it is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next portion. Stir in the bacon and pecans.

Use the reserved bacon grease to lightly coat an 8x8 baking pan, and pour in the batter. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the edge comes out dry, but inserted near the center, comes out lightly coated in batter. Let the brownies cool, and cut into squares to serve.

Apple and Cranberry Tart        

A single pie crust
3 medium tart apples, peeled
1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1/4 c sugar mixed with 1/4 tsp. each grnd cinnamon and nutmeg
1Tbls butter, cut into small pieces
Powdered sugar


Heat oven to 425F
Directly on baking sheet, roll out crust to approx. 12" round, edges will likely be uneven
Cut each apple in half, remove core, turn halves cut sides down and slice crosswise into thin slices
Leaving a 2" border, arrange apple in a circle on the crust, overlapping slightly.  Pile remaining apples in center.
Dot with cranberry sauce in 7 or 8 places
Sprinkle apple with sugar-spice mixture, dot with butter
Fold pastry corners over apples
Bake 15 min., then turn oven down to 375 and bake an additional 15 min., or until apples are tender and pastry is golden. 
Cool completely on sheet atop a wire rack or slide off sheet onto a serving plate if not rewarming.
To warm before serving, heat tart in a 400F oven, 5-8min.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Tart can be baked up to a day ahead.  Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate on baking sheet if rewarming to serve.

I'm in a mood this morning, and it's time for a rant.  This one is about GOD.  I'm tired of people choking their god down my throat!  I don't care what they believe or don't believe in, they're WELcome to their beliefs, just stop trying to make ME believe that way.  And don't bloody asSUME I believe in god, either!  I tell ya, I've started to feel really bullied by all these Christians walking around, spewing evangelism.  Reminds me of the early 70s, when what we then called "Jesus Freaks" would prowl the streets, accosting people with "Have you been saved?" or "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour?"  Nothing drives me faster or further from religion than that kind of behaviour. 

No other religion prosthletyzes the way Christian's do.  Oh sure, there are Muslim extremists who have made themselves noticed in a big way the past ten-plus years, and wack-job extreme extremists (I'm thinking of the followers of Aum Shinrinko who released the Sarin gas in the Tokyo subway back in 1995), but they're not the norm.  Most people, including a lot of Christians, follow their beliefs without talking about them.  Unfortunately, it has become some badge of pride to declare one's belief in God, and worse for those of us who don't want to hear it, in Jesus Christ. 

Time Tebow Praying Before/After/During

Just last weekend, I watched a report on one of the Big Three Network Newscasts about the Quarterback for the Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow.  His religious beliefs are being given credit by a LOT of Christians for his winning streak.  "Prayer WORKS!" one of them declared in his best "Thank you JEsus" voice.  "God loves the Broncos," said another with absolute sincerity.  What, so god DOESN'T love all those other teams?  Come ON.

And if prayer to that invisible white guy in the clouds (don't even get me started on THAT imagery) works so well, why are so many children hungry and/or in terrible pain?  And if prayer works to cause the Broncos to win, why on EARTH aren't you praying for more important matters?  Drives me NUTS.

 

George Carlin, whose voice I miss more and more as the days go by in these Mad Times, spoke for me in HIS beautiful, perfect, spot-on rant about religion and God when he said:

You know who I pray to? Joe Pesci. Joe Pesci. Two reasons; first of all, I think he's a good actor. Okay. To me, that counts. Second; he looks like a guy who can get things done. Joe Pesci doesn't fuck around. Doesn't fuck around. In fact, Joe Pesci came through on a couple of things that God was having trouble with. For years I asked God to do something about my noisy neighbor with the barking dog. Joe Pesci straightened that cock-sucker out with one visit.

I noticed that of all the prayers I used to offer to God, and all the prayers that I now offer to Joe Pesci, are being answered at about the same 50 percent rate. Half the time I get what I want. Half the time I don't. Same as God 50-50. Same as the four leaf clover, the horse shoe, the rabbit's foot, and the wishing well. Same as the mojo man. Same as the voodoo lady who tells your fortune by squeezing the goat's testicles. It's all the same; 50-50. So just pick your superstitions, sit back, make a wish and enjoy yourself.
     And for those of you that look to the Bible for it's literary qualities and moral lessons; I got a couple other stories I might like to recommend for you. You might enjoy The Three Little Pigs. That's a good one. It has a nice happy ending. Then there's Little Red Riding Hood. Although it does have that one X-rated part where the Big Bad Wolf actually eats the grandmother. Which I didn't care for, by the way. And finally, I've always drawn a great deal of moral comfort from Humpty Dumpty. The part I liked best: "and all the king's horses, and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again." That's because there is no Humpty Dumpty, and there is no God. None. Not one. Never was. No God.

I realise that few people reading this share my (dis)belief, and I have zero problem with that.  What I have a problem with is YOU being unhappy about MY beliefs, and constantly trying to change them.  Pray all you want.  Pray for me - maybe it'll make a difference somehow.  But don't go on and on and on about how glorious is your "Blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ."  I'm glad you've found the key to coping with this unjust and erratic existence, really I am.  Just keep that to yourself, okay?


 

Feeling really vulnerable to Cosmic Truths today, and this made me cry.  If you know me, you know that I simply don't believe in absolute truth.  But after so many years of saying that, I realised while watching this "happening" that I do; I believe in the absolute truth of LOVE.  We MUST stop hating and get back to loving one another. Christian or Muslim, Black or White, Straight or Gay, Rich or Poor, Human or Animal, Individually and Collectively, love is the key to our survival.

Do you like chai?  I sure do, but I don't like either the cost of premade, or the ingredients and/or taste of some commercial brands.  So I make my own.  It's easy, takes about 40 minutes, and tastes yummy!

So here's my basic recipe, followed by some shortcuts and variations.  This recipe can be doubled or even trebled without negative effect.

Combine in cook pot:
3 cups water
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
2 small sticks of cinnamon
8 cardamon pods, broken open
ground ginger to taste

Cover, bring to boil, then simmer on low, 30 min.
Add 1 black tea bag & simmer another 3-5 min.
Strain, then return liquid to pot.
Add to liquid:
     1 Tbls. maple syrup
     1/2 cup milk
     Brown sugar to taste

Bring just to boil, then remove from heat.  Serve immediately.

When I triple this recipe, I start with 10 cups of water, a Tbls. of cloves and peppercorn, and 3 long cinnamon sticks, broken into three parts each.  Sometimes I use fresh ginger instead of powdered, and I break the cardamon up in a mortar and pestle, throwing both the seeds AND the pods into the water.

I'm pretty loosy-goosy about the time factor, especially after I've added the tea bags.  Sometimes I use 2 Chai tea bags and 2 black tea, but if using just black, I stick with 3 bags for the triple recipe instead of four.

I haven't had any maple syrup in the house for awhile, so instead, I make my own dark brown sugar by combining pale brown sugar and dark (blackstrap) molasses, and I add it until I like the taste.  I don't add milk at all, preferring to put that in when I'm ready to drink the chai.

The ratio of chai to milk is 1:1, so I fill a cup half full of chai, top it off with milk, then heat the whole thing in the microwave or on the stove until hot.  And SOMEtimes I throw a marshmallow in, too!

Pot Luck?

Not my Mac&Chz, but the closest picture I could find to how mine looks fresh from the oven.

Last night's "pot-luck" turned out to be a sit down dinner for ten, complete with crystal and silver! My mac & cheese was most welcome, and aside from a turkey breast someone brought, was the only "real" food on the sideboard. A LARGE casserole was completely consumed and highly praised by all the men and two of the women, and what cook can ask for more than that? It was an interesting group, and the most intellectual fun I've had in a very long time. V and I enjoyed a lengthy postmortem over breakfast and our usual card playing (gin rummy). This is a funny town. V likes to say it's full of human flotsam, in that so many of the residents are from far and (world)wide, landing here after many adventures and often a wild and varied life. Certainly that describes the two of us. There's a high degree of educated intellect in this town, which is essential to my social contentment, and V's, too. And after five years of making zero dents in the closed armour of the town various cliques, it seems some doors are finally creaking open and we're being invited in. cowabunga...

Of course, the initial contact with people is entirely attributed to V's racing and work as a Master Rigger (and for 20+ years as a Sailmaker), but given a chance, I have a lot to offer any intellectually curious group. Dolts and dunderheads need not apply, as we seldom get along.

I always worry about talking too much or seeming like a know-it-all, but I feel mostly okay about last night's performance. It makes SUCH a difference to be amongst others who have traveled as extensively and are apparently as intellectually voracious as me. Nice to be amongst my tribe...a very unusual experience for me.

I'll end by giving you my - or rather my grandmother's recipe for Macaroni & Cheese. Thanks, Ida Adelle Whipple Canaday, for this and apple pie and so much more!

No White Sauce Mac & Cheese

Ingredients
Small elbow macaroni, cooked until al dente
A brick of cheddar - longhorn if you can get it, but a Tillamook Baby Loaf will do nicely - cut into slices 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick
Salt, Pepper
Butter
Milk
Cracker/Bread crumbs or potato or tortilla chip leavings (the crumbs at the bottom of the bag)

Butter (not Pam) a large - 2 or 3 qt - baking dish
put a layer of cooked mac noodles in the dish - enough to cover with no dish showing through.
Atop the noodles, place a single layer of cheese, cutting to fit as though it was a mosaic
Salt and pepper the layer, and put two or three dabs of butter equillaterially spaced
Repeat the noodle, cheese, and spices/butter steps as many times as required to fill the dish.
Pour enough milk to come up the dish a third of the way...sorry, I do it by eyeball and have no real feel for how much that is.
Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a skillet, add enough bread/cracker crumbs to make it a thick crumble - this is the final layer for the top, so make it however wet/dry, thick/thin you want, and use whatever you think would taste good or have a texture you like. I occasionally use potato or tortilla chips; V likes the tortilla chips, I like the potato, but we agree the bread/cracker are really good, too. You can just forego this step altogether if you wish, it makes no real difference except for adding crunchy top layer.
Cover with a lid or foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. At the 40 minute mark, remove the lid/foil and allow the whole thing to crisp up a tad.

This is good cold for picnics, too, something my mother used to serve along with cold fried chicken. Hey, in the days before microwaves, a LOT of food was served cold. I think cold food is sadly overlooked these days as a good option.

And that's it. I've experimented with the addition of ham or fowl or tomatoes, but none of seems to be as good as the very basic comfort food that Mac & Cheese is for so many of us.

Random Thoughts

Good News On the health front, I have been diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis. The bad news is that IC is a mystery disease, without a clear (or even hazy, as far as I can tell) idea of what causes it, and thus how to eliminate it. But I HAVE moved from Idiopathic pain to a "functional somatic syndrome," meaning a condition with no known medical cause. I figure knowing what the condition IS, even without knowing the cause, is better than not even knowing what the condition itself is. Much like fibromyalgia and irritable bowel, it's an uphill battle with the Medical Establishment to gain understanding and acceptance, and because of that, it's an even bigger battle to gain official disability approval from the various Governmental Departments/Administrations. Experiential wisdom says keeping a daily journal is extremely useful in the hearings that always ensue, so I'm doing that.

News of the Weird I have suddenly begun growing my nails out, keeping them manicured, complete with coloured enamel! Bizarre, given how thoroughly they get in my way when I'm working on any of my projects, but seeing lady fingers at the ends of my hands gives me some strange thrill. Who knew I'd take such pleasure in being so girlie?

Old News Revisited You'd think, as I did, that after so much good health news (no cancer, no polyps, no nothing that has dire consequences), I'd be chipper and happy and reenergized. But that's not the case, at least today (and yesterday, and the day before). Today The Black Dog is back for his dark visit, and with his presence, my vision has dimmed and my view, narrowed. I watched two films this morning, back to back, You've Got Mail and The Color Purple. You've got mail always gets me when the scene in which Meg Ryan's character is leaving her lovely little shop for the last time, and looks back to envision she and her mother twirling as the music swells. Today I realised as I watched that I have absolutely zero memories of my mother and I playing like that. None. Dad, absolutely, but I only remember my mother being angry and/or dangerous. And that, my dears, is very very sad. The Color Purple, on the other hand, causes me to cry at the end because of all the terrible heartbreak that went before for all the characters, and which never had to be except for the misery of the human pattern. I may not care much overall for my own species, but I grieve for the pain we carry and repeatedly deliver one another. Just tears me up.

The photo at the top of this post was taken by my computer a minute ago. Tonight I'm off to a pot-luck for V's sailing buds. I loath these gatherings, always have, always will, but sometimes you have to step and support the one you love. So the yummy, gooey dish of macaroni and cheese is cooked, I'm all cleaned up (the miracle of a good scrubbing, the right clothes, a little curling of the hair and light application of make-up still works! Hallelujah!) and ready when V is. He's not a fan of these affairs, either, so he's dragging his heels.

Haiku

I'm a big fan of Haiku. The elegance of the form pleases my esthetic; the three lines with 5/7/5 syllables are the most efficient and elegant means of communicating the natural poetry and daily details of life all around. And once I start to write haiku, I can't seem to stop. This glorious sunny morning, for example, two haiku emerged fairly effortlessly:

Garage sale Sunday
Strangers picking at the piles
Discarded treasures


Dancing on the Bay
Diamonds sparkle, glittering
Sun and Water wed


So how about it? Look around you, write some haiku, and post it in the comments section here. I'm most eager to have such a perfect view of your life today.

The Future Has Arrived

You know how one animated movie or another always seems to insist that their film takes animation into the next era, but when you see the thing it's either too dark (Beowulf and Polar Express spring readily to mind) or stiff and unrealistic, pulling you out of the story over and over (the two I just mentioned are examples of this flaw, too)?

Well folks, I have SEEN the future and it is RANGO. From Industrial Light and Magic, the studio owned by George Lucas that changed special effects with Star Wars), comes a Spaghetti Western with a touch of Hunter Thompson, Chinatown thrown in, the storyline is just okay (SPOILER: a weak stranger comes to town, becomes town sheriff through lies, gets found out and leaves, comes back, saves the town and gets the girl), but the animation is breathtaking. Just glorious, and this is from an old computer graphics nrrd grrl who knows her good vs bad when it comes to animation.

It's important to note that this is NOT a film for children (MANY jokes they simply won't get, and some imagery that scared the bejeesus out of all the kids around me - from 5ish - 10ish), but rather for those of you who are real movie aficionados. I kept hearing Johnny Depp (who voices Rango) channeling George Clooney's O Brother Where Art Thou? character, but go see for yourself. I recommend the late showings so there are fewer children, and oh, if you speak some Spanish, there are some laughs, too. For whatever reason, get yourself to a theater and see this. I doubt it'll be around long, because of the target audience, so GO. NOW. And let me know what you think.

Guilt Trip

I rather enjoy resolutions of the New Year ilk, and look forward to making new ones each year in a constant struggle for self-improvement. I've had pretty good fortune with past resolutions, perhaps the result of not over-reaching my goals rather than innate good character. I never had to stop smoking (never started) or stop lying (not one of my faults), so things like "exercise once a week" or "find something to smile about every day" have been fully possible. But this year, I haven't made but a single resolution yet.

That resolution I shan't tell you, as it is inTENSEly private, but I will tell you that I broke my inner vow within 24 hours of making it, and, in spite of a series of stern talks with myself, have continued to break it almost every day. I tell you, I despair of ever improving that one, small thing within me. I say "small," but it feels monstrous humongous to my inner critic. The Greek Chorus that likes to serenade me in the dark of the night with Tales of Great Ulysses (sorry, fell down a lyric hole there)...but the voices that haunt me, taunt me...they say I am bad, bad, BAD. Unloveable and a miserable excuse for a human being because I cannot seem to stop doing this one thing.

Now then. I'm really not going to share my flaw with you, but I will give you a bit of background, and perhaps that will ease your undeniable itch to know.

My mother set me on this path when I was eleven. She set my sister and niece on the same path, by the way. And she knew she had sewn the seeds, for I reminded her frequently. See? Told you I had no talent with lying. Worse, I often insist on telling the truth when the kind thing would be to simply smile and walk away. Ah well...that's a fault I'll have to tackle in my next life.

I have had two or three periods in my life where this fault lay dormant within me. I say "dormant" because of course it erupted again and again over the years. My 30s and 40s were largely fault free, but then I fell over the precipice and my sleeping Madness came roaring back to life.

Now before you ask, let me assure you that it's probably nothing you're considering. Oh sure, I had a period of drinking (thursday nights, always thursday...fridays were murder at work *groan*), and a brief attachment to the errant stimulant or other, but I was on guard against anything that even whispered "addictive," cutting it cleanly from my life with a surgeon's skill. Well, anything but this one little thing.

A therapist once told me that I wanted people to know, and I spent a good long while considering the veracity of her claims. But I tell you most sincerely, she was wrong. I want nothing more than to live a happy life, free of the strife this malady causes me. And I do NOT want to people to know!

So what to do, what to do? I suppose I will take each day as it comes, step by step, and do my best not to step over the boundaries I find must be set anew on a daily basis. Being human is SO bloody difficult, isn't it?

Marching Toward the Abyss

Gerry Rafferty in 2003

There is music that I consider the Soundtrack of My Life; almost anything by the Beatles or Joni Mitchell, one album by Bob Seger, a couple from Stan Getz, a Mills Brother's album, and others. Of these, there is a slim set that when played, result in me feeling stronger, braver, more alive somehow.

Gerry Rafferty's City To City album (yes, album...it was originally released on vinyl) is one of those. With perfect pitch and a rich voice, Gerry reaches in, fills my soul, and singing along to his music always results in feeling better.

So when I read of Rafferty's death this morning, it was with a genuine sense of loss overlaid with sincere gratitude for having made his music. Gerry battled demons and it would seem the demons ultimately won (you can read more at the Guardian), but he left behind what I consider a nearly perfect disc. Only 11 days younger than my first husband (Rafferty was born April 16, 1947), I find Rafferty's death also serves to remind me that my generation is now within easy sight of the end. But not yet, not today, not for me, not for many others...maybe tomorrow.

My Blackberry Isn't Working

Enjoy this brilliantly written piece from the BBC (where ELSE?)...