Comfort Food

We had extra peppers to use so I made stuffed peppers for dinner. This is a version I’ve been making for years:


Stuffed Peppers

6 peppers (or 3 large peppers cut in half)
1 lb. ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 1b. can tomatoes (sometimes I add a little tomato sauce if the mixture seems thin)
½ cup rice
½ cup water
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (4 ozs.)
Salt, pepper

Drop the peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes if you want them precooked. If you prefer crispy peppers, you can just leave them raw.

Brown the ground beef and onion. Add tomatoes, rice, water, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese and stuff the pepper cups. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes.


SEPTEMBER BREAD

We decided on Potato Rosemary bread for September. The biga is in the refrigerator and the potatoes are mashed. Tomorrow I bake.

KNITTING:

I have been working on making booties in the round with a neat kitchener stitch on the sole. My first pair made with variegated yarn turned out ok, but on the next pair I made, I wasn't able to get the kitchener seam neat. Perhaps I pulled too tightly. I'm starting another pair and hope I get the hang of it this time.

Dancing Through My Sixties

I'm a Grandma now!! Booties are the most fun to knit! They're so cute and knit up so fast. These were knitted in the round with the sole closed up using the kitchener stitch. I admit I ran out and bought quite a supply of baby yarn immediately.

Since I can't have my little guy with me 24/7, I still pursue my passions--food, for example! My friend, Karen, sez to me, "I think we should both use the same bread book and make the same bread once a month for a year. Sez I, "Yes! And I'll blog about it!" Now before you think this is copying "Julie and Julia," I've thought about cooking and blogging way before I ever heard of "Julie and Julia." I've also thought about knitting and blogging about it and dieting and blogging about it and growing old and blogging about it. . .

Anyway--we're on our way. We chose The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart to make bread from. This coming year we intend to master "the art of extraordinary bread."

Expect to read all about it.

Along with my first overseas trip this spring to Italy (which was amazing and has changed my life) I spent a few days in Bar Harbor, Maine, this summer with my son. We went out on a lobster boat, saw harbor seals and ate lobster and blueberry pie every day. I had never spent much time in Maine--it was beautiful! I went sailing in Baltimore on our boat--first time out for me. It was quite breezy, but I was with two excellent sailors who were always in complete control. (I may have to make a little trip somewhere with boats and seafood this fall. ) Then, when the summer was almost over, along came this little, tiny grandbaby!

It's been almost a year since I've posted. Teaching science to 7th graders is sometimes exhilarating, sometimes surprising, but always consuming. Summer is here again and time to recharge. A trip to Italy over spring break was quite something--more about that later. Right now it's time to catch up on home, garden and myself. I'm still dancing for fun and exercise, eating small amounts of really good food and wanting to do more things than I can ever have time for.

Breakfast today: Mushroom Frittata (Small amount, remember - serves 1, barely)

Put 1/2 Tblsp. olive oil in a skillet, add 1/3 of a chopped shallot, 1/3 of a chopped clove garlic and 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves and saute until soft.

Slice 1/2 (I like a little more) cup of mixed mushrooms or just use white and add to skillet. Saute about 5 minutes. Add 1 slightly beaten egg with 2 tsp. chopped fresh flat-leaved parsley and salt and pepper. Cook until egg is done. Add a slice of rye toast, a chunked roma tomato with fresh basil and a cup of hot, sweet tea. Mmmm.

There will be a wine festival in New York City in October. My favorite stars from the Food Network will be there. I can’t attend this October—we’re invited to a wedding that weekend, BUT, I could get there! The addresses given for the festivities are familiar to me now. I could get there by train, then go by taxi or bus (I didn’t quite master the subway). The city was opened up to me by Carolyn—a New Yorker, a friend, a woman of the world, who came into our lives when she met my brother on a trip to Russia. Carolyn traveled extensively on assignments for “Modern Bride” and “Better Homes and Gardens” as well as other publications. And she knows New York City and how to get anywhere she needs to go. When I was in New York she not only showed me around, she showed me how to get around. We went by foot, taxi, bus, subway and boat. I learned what a “New York minute” was as we sped around from place to place and probably saw more in a week than I could have seen any other way. Carolyn was an amazing tour guide, showing me the big picture of Manhattan and surrounding areas by boat as well as intimate glimpses into local shops and independent movie theaters. In a little French restaurant I met her friend in whose art studio I stayed for the week. Rachel was Editor of Country Living magazine for many years—for its best years, actually. That was the magazine that inspired me for those same years—I still have many of those copies and they still inspire me. I get them back out for every Thanksgiving and every Christmas. I don’t buy the new ones. They’re not the same. While I was there, in Rachel’s studio, I had the lights of the Chrysler building shining in my window like a lit-up Christmas tree every night. It was a wonderful place to stay. I spent some time every morning just looking out that window across the city--I miss it. From there I could walk to a little park by the Hudson River or to Central Park and everything in between. I learned that New York City on an early Sunday morning can look like "the morning after" just like a person and that it quickly whips back into shape by Monday morning, as if nothing had ever happened. I'll always remember the flowers and fruits on every street corner and the buses and taxis that took turns blowing horns at each other. The Broadway show was wonderful and Indian food and the borscht were the best. I saw Bergdorf Goodman's, Tiffany's, Wall Street and I saw the statue in the Conservatory that was inspired by one of my favorite stories, "The Secret Garden." I saw where the World Trade Center used to stand and heard protesters shouting in front of the Chinese Embassy. I left, knowing movies of New York and stories in New York would now be familiar and that I had become a tiny bit of a New Yorker myself.

"Thank you, Carolyn” and “Thank you, Rachel” for a week I’ll always remember.

What I loved most about my recent trip to New York City was the discovery of neighborhoods! There was such a diversity of neighborhoods—all within an easy walk or bus ride. I wasn’t so much blown away by the skyscrapers and the fancy stores and glamour of the city as by the little Italian shop that had the best parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar and the little rice pudding café that had only rice pudding, but the creamiest, best, rice pudding I’ve ever had outside of home. Chinatown was like a little piece of another country and the fresh produce in the neighborhood groceries, especially Eli’s, was amazing. It’s rather fascinating to imagine going home every day with all those neighborhoods, rich and poor, ethnic and glitzy—skyscrapers and saltwater—all around. I’ve always lived in the country—it’s my home—it’s beautiful and my first choice for where to wake up in the morning, but while I’m sitting on my deck watching the leaves change over fields and mountain this fall and the snow drift in from the west this winter, I’ll think about all those people in all those neighborhoods up there in New York City.

Over The Rainbow

Do you know how those special family scenes in movies sometimes have a soft, afternoon light haze over them with stirring, beautiful music informing you that these are moments you will never forget? That was Laura’s wedding on Friday, June 20, just before sunset.

We were on an upper deck overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. The sun was low in the sky and the evening summer breeze was soft and warm, making the apple green, peach and lemon lanterns sway gently under the white lattice where Laura and Jake would soon promise to love and cherish forever. My two sons, in black tuxes with green orchids were tall and handsome as they escorted me in to an instrumental, “Piano Man.”I memorized each moment, wanting to keep it. Then the music changed to a Hawaiian version of “Somewhere, Over The Rainbow,” and little Madison, the flower girl, came, shyly and perfectly, down the aisle, hurrying a little when she was close to her destination, her grandparents, waiting in the front. Following her came seven bridesmaids in short apple green dresses, carrying yellow summer bouquets, faces beautiful and full of emotion of the moment. Then Laura, absolutely breathtaking, came in with her Dad to “How Deep Is Your Love.” The breeze, catching her veil and her hair made the moments even more deeply etched in memory. She looked young, happy and totally beautiful in her ivory, satin wedding dress, her long veil and gardenias in her wedding bouquet. With the background of the bay, the twinkling lights of cars over the bay bridge in the distance, the changing colors of the cloudy, evening sky in the west, and the air of a summer evening all around, the seven bridesmaids in green and the seven groomsmen in black with green orchids stood on each side of Laura and Jake while the minister reminded them and all of us of the importance of the vows that were soon to be said. Laura and Jake poured sand to symbolize the blending of their lives. They spoke to each other, they smiled and laughed to each other and made promises. Emotions flowed freely when a reading from Carson told them that, after this day, they would say to the world, “This is my husband, this is my wife.” And, at the end of the ceremony, the music played, “I’m Gonna Be,” as they came back down the aisle, beautiful, happy, and husband and wife.

The rest of the evening was a wonderful celebration of food, music and dancing. Laura traded her veil for a gardenia in her hair. Jake removed his jacket. The fragrance of lilies and gardenias scented the night. There were speeches, dedications, special dances, cake cutting and joy. As the sun set, guests walked down to the water with little stones to toss into the bay to make their wishes come true. The wedding day ended too soon, but the pictures are coming in and the memories are safe!

"I like you because you're a nice person to like"

It's been a long while again since I've written my thoughts, but that doesn't mean I haven't been having any. It's 2 days until my daughter's wedding. The place is beautiful--on the water, the weather's beautiful--blue sky and white clouds, and she's beautiful, but I'm sort of panicking just a little. I have no reason to. Her fiancee is the right guy--part of the family, already, and we have no doubts about that. But, still, she's getting married. . .When I'm not being sentimental, I'm pretty excited. Their wedding website is awesome--laura-jake.com and they have planned everything well. Our car is packed, the dresses are altered, I've lost 19 pounds, and it's time to go. --I'll have a lot more to say next time.