Author Archives: kzmclain

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful

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It was so cold at 6 o’clock this morning that, despite the fact that I was covered by two comforters and an afghan, my nose was cold. But I was wide awake and decided to face the day.

Yesterday morning I did a bit of Christmas shopping at the big nearby mall, and was surprised to find it very quiet. It was early, but still, I thought I would have to put up with a few inconveniences. Not so. I found what I was looking for and walked right up to a checkstand.

Afterwards, I drove to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant to meet my son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters for delicious pho. (I, by the way, am absolutely addicted to this delicious Vietnamese noodle soup. Can’t get enough of it.) Anyhoo, when I walked into the restaurant, I was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and no coat. The temperature was a balmy 58 degrees and sunny.

An hour later when I exited the restaurant, the temperature had dropped at least 20 degrees and it was cloudy and wintery-looking. Hmphfff.

The weather forecasters have been telling me for three days now that the temperatures, which have been so very pleasant, were going to drop Tuesday afternoon, and around rush hour time, it was going to begin to snow. And it will continue to snow throughout today. Furthermore, the temperatures in the next few days and through the weekend will be in single digits, and well below zero at night.

Somehow, I was hoping the forecasters had gotten it wrong. They often do, but not this time it appears. This cold, cold weather is supposed to wait until we have left for Arizona to arrive in Colorado. Didn’t Mother Nature get the memo?

By the way, the same cold front is hitting a large area, including the Phoenix metro area. My sister who lives in the Phoenix metro area informed me last night that she went for a walk to look at Christmas lights and saw someone wearing gloves, boots, and earmuffs. The temperature was 60. Seriously?

Anyway, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from lunch to get a few vegetables and treats to enjoy over the next few days. Though it was only 1:30 or so, there were quite a few shoppers who were doing the very same thing as I. And it was likely even crazier later in the afternoon after more people got off work. There is sort of an energy in the air at the grocery store when folks are expecting a snowstorm. An alertness. A sense of frenzy. Hard to describe, but definitely present in the shoppers. No one yanked the last carton of eggs out of my hands, however. At 1:30, folks were still civil.

I’m doing my best to continue my healthy eating this week. Last night I made a delicious frittata. Bill asked me how a frittata differs from a quiche, and I explained there isn’t a whole lot of difference, but the frittata is crustless, thereby making it lower in carbs and calories. The nice thing about a frittata is you can use whatever you have in your refrigerator. So again, not really a recipe.

I browned some Italian turkey sausage, and removed it from the pan when it was fully cooked. I used the same cast iron skillet to sauté some green onions and carrots that I got from the Whole Food salad bar (my favorite way to trick Bill into eating vegetables). I also included the other half of the green pepper that didn’t go into my chili the night before. Once the vegetables were soft, I added the meat back to the pan, threw in some baby spinach, and tossed some grated cheddar cheese over it all. I whisked up six eggs seasoned with salt and pepper and poured them over the whole concoction. I let it cook for just a minute until the edges had sort of set up. I placed the skillet into a preheated 400 degree oven and let it cook for about 10 minutes, until completely set.

Nana’s Notes: You can make a frittata completely on the stovetop, but I like to finish mine off in the oven. Make sure your skillet is ovenproof. You can really use whatever vegetables and/or meat you have in the fridge. Bacon is good, as is cooked broccoli or asparagus. The options are endless.

Frozen Solid

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I woke up early yesterday morning and got on Amazon to place my Christmas order. I found everything I wanted and put it in my shopping cart, but decided to wait until afternoon to push the button because I wanted to ask one of my daughters-in-law what her youngest would like for Christmas. I thought I might be able to include it in the order.

By jove, I got her suggestion yesterday afternoon, went back to my computer, and my Amazon world had changed. Some things were no longer available; the price on one thing had gone up significantly; the delivery date for another was not until after Christmas. Holy Moley! Only four hours later. Cyber Monday v. Nana, and Cyber Monday won.

Still, I was able to figure most everything out, and now a big chunk of my Christmas shopping is done. The rest should be easy. As an interesting side note, according to Jeff Bezos (the Amazon czar), in a relatively short period of time (sometime after 2015), my order will possibly be delivered by a tiny little drone that will land in my front yard. Seriously, it gets creepier and creepier.

The four hours I spent not pushing the “place order” button on Amazon.com were not spent unwisely, however. I took two of my granddaughters to see the movie Frozen. It was a 1:15 showing, and after plopping down $23 for tickets and another $12 for popcorn, watermelon-flavored Sour Patch Kids and fruit-flavored Mike & Ikes, I hurried them into the theater, hoping we could still get a seat as the movie was scheduled to begin in a couple of minutes. Much to my surprise, the theater was entirely empty. Apparently, if people weren’t at work, they were either shopping at the malls or sitting at home buying all of my Amazon items. The movie, Friends, was phenomenal. Seriously, I enjoyed it very much. The animation was amazing and the music was awesome. Typical Disney princess story line, only in a frozen tundra. But some of the characters offered dialogue that made me laugh out loud.

I am so happy that they make children’s movies now that are also enjoyable to the adult person taking them to the movie. Back when my son was small, the movies I had to sit through were terrible. I will accept the PG rating for the new kids’ movies as long as I can enjoy them as well. They don’t understand the PG stuff anyway.

I highly recommend the movie.

Tonight, in keeping with my healthy eating post-Thanksgiving, I made a version of my mother’s chili recipe, adding delicious vegetables and a couple of kinds of beans to add fiber. When all is said and done, it really isn’t much like my mother’s chili, but I’m going to give you her recipe, exactly as it is on the recipe card, because it makes me laugh every time I see it.

Beckie’s Chili (originally my chili)

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 t. salt
2-3 T. chili powder
1 T vinegar
1-1/2 T. brown sugar
1 c. water
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can kidney beans
Garlic salt

Process
Brown ground beef and onion. Add rest of ingredients.

Nana’s Notes: It always makes me laugh that she calls it Beckie’s chili, but adds that it was originally her chili. Is my sister Beckie a chili recipe thief? Or is it just that Mom always loved her best so she will attribute her recipe to Beckie? I will never know.

My version uses very lean ground beef (sometimes I use half ground beef and half ground turkey). I sauté a clove of garlic with the onion and beef and leave out the garlic salt. In addition to the chili powder, I also add a tsp. of ground cumin. I leave out the vinegar and the brown sugar. Instead of tomato sauce, I used a can of tomato paste and a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes. I also added a green pepper for flavor and vitamins. Finally, in addition to kidney beans, I also added a can of black beans. I know I was going to go low-carb this week, but beans are good carbs with lots of fiber. I won’t apologize.

If I were smart, I would have waited until Thursday to serve chili as the high is only expected to reach 8. Yikes!

Settling out of/ into the Season

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I slept 10 hours Friday night. I think the last time I slept 10 hours straight through was when I was maybe 7. The only reason Bill didn’t put a mirror under my nose to make sure I was still breathing was because he slept even longer than me.

Don’t know if it was the Thanksgiving festivities, the carb overload, or simply the need to catch up on some zzz’s since I had not been sleeping well in anticipation of our family gathering, but I woke up rested and ready to start the Christmas season.

Our Thanksgiving couldn’t have been better. It isn’t very often that all of our kids and grandkids can gather together since our daughter’s family lives far away in Vermont. The kids enjoyed playing together. It’s fun to see how they sort of pair off, come back together, and then pair off differently. At one point our 3-year-old granddaughter was playing with our 8-year-old grandson. Not sure how they made that work, but they seemed content.

We had amazing food at the Thanksgiving table. All the usual suspects were present, but because we had several people who eat gluten-free diets, there were doubles on some things – i.e. pumpkin pie, dressing, green bean casserole. I don’t think anyone went away hungry.

I must say, however, that the carb overload has definitely made me aware of eating a bit healthier this week. We started last night with roasted chicken wings. I don’t really have a recipe for this. I simply take whole chicken wings, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and either grill them for about 15 minutes per side, or bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, turn them over and bake them 25-30 more minutes. I do absolutely nothing else. No hot sauce. No butter. I think they’re delicious.

I’m ready to dive into Christmas joy! While I didn’t partake in Black Friday festivities (my sister and I went geocaching instead), I will be online at Amazon tomorrow with a kajillion others.

Bleu Cheese Dressing (from Allrecipes)

Ingredients
2-1/2 oz. bleu cheese
3 T. buttermilk
3 T. sour cream
2 T. mayo
2 t. white wine vinegar
¼ t. sugar
1/8 t. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Process
In a small bowl, mash cheese and buttermilk together with a fork until mixture resembles large curd cottage cheese. Stir in sour cream, mayo, vinegar, sugar, and garlic powder until well-blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Nana’s Notes: I use light sour cream and olive oil mayonnaise, so my bleu cheese dressing is fairly healthy. I started my healthy-eating week off right!

Thanksgiving Plenty

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Up until about the time I got married, I spent most Thanksgiving Days at Mom and Dad’s house. In or around 1992, when I got my “instant, just add love” big family, and, more importantly, a house with two ovens and a sizable dining room, we began spending Thanksgivings here.

My sister who lives in Fort Collins (about an hour north of here) and her family would generally come to celebrate with us. My other sister and my brother both lived far away. For a couple of years my mom and dad would join us. With Mom’s help, we could put out a pretty good feast. But after she died in 1995, I recall my sister and me sort of standing in the kitchen looking at each other like the oft-mentioned deer in the headlights, saying, “Holy cow, what do we do now?”

We muddled through the first couple of holidays, and then it became easier. And it also began growing. Kids started bringing friends to the table. Family members from afar would join us. At the same time, Jen and I were getting in the swing of things and handling it all quite well. We put a pretty good meal on the table and everyone enjoyed the holiday festivities.

There have been some memorable Thanksgiving dinners at my house. Somewhere around 1999, for the first (but not only) time, my entire family was present at my table. That meant siblings and nieces and nephews from as far away as Arizona and Northern Virginia, with a few friends thrown in, as well as the usual suspects. I don’t recall the exact number, but it was at least 30. I said earlier that I had a sizeable dining room, but seeings as my name isn’t Mrs. Astor, my dining room isn’t that sizeable. And my table only stretches to fit 12, and that’s only if we are really good friends.

We borrowed banquet tables from the company where I worked, as well as 20 or so folding chairs. We moved furniture out of the living room and set up the tables in that room, in a U shape. We managed to all fit around the table, with my dad at the center of the bottom of the U. He led us in grace, and as I looked around at my amazing family, I really felt gratitude to God. Since then, we have had several large gatherings, and have always found room at the table for everyone. The year before my father died, much of my family from Virginia and Arizona were able to celebrate with us. I recall that year we had a very light snowfall the day before Thanksgiving, and the Arizona gang couldn’t have been happier. That was the year, perhaps, that my now-10-year-old granddaughter asked to lead us in grace, and she stood on her chair so as to make sure we could all see her!

But inevitably, the torch is passed. Last year Thanksgiving moved from our house to a son’s house. It’s not something I think you plan, but at some point it just feels right to let the kids take over. We don’t desert them; everyone brings our fair share of offerings. This year our Vermont family is joining us, and so the gathering will be near 25 people or so, nearly half who are kids. There will be room for everyone at their table as well.

I am thankful for so many things for I have been truly blessed over the years. But this time of year I am most thankful for my family – our four children, their spouses, and all nine of our grandchildren.

And, I learned recently that in May, we will be blessed with our 10th grandchild! Now that’s something special for which to be thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Abbodanza!

Posted in Recipes, Side Dishes by

I have told you how much I love Thanksgiving, but I’m aware that this holiday isn’t as happy for some people. Perhaps, for example, they live far away from home and are looking at the grim prospect of eating a turkey TV dinner in front of their television, all by themselves.

It is for that very reason that I have often included non-family members at my holiday table. Perhaps one of our kids’ college roommate who can’t make it home for Thanksgiving, or a newly-divorced friend facing their first holiday alone. When it comes to our holiday table, anyone who lands there is part of the family.

When Bill was much younger, he was faced with the prospect of a Thanksgiving alone. For most of the time that he was in the Army, he was stationed at Frankfort Arsenal in Philadelphia. It was too far for him to make it home to Chicago on that first Thanksgiving that he was away. He was kindly invited to eat Thanksgiving dinner with the family of a friend who was of Italian descent.

Bill says he sat at the enormous table surrounded by the raucous and joyful family, and he really felt at home. The first food to come out of the kitchen was a huge antipasto plate filled with roasted red peppers and salami and cheese and tomatoes and spicy peppers and artichoke hearts and olives. Delicious, he recalls. He filled his plate.

Soon after, his friend’s mother brings to the table a huge platter of spaghetti and meatballs. Bill says he clearly remembers thinking, “Well, this is certainly not the traditional Thanksgiving meal that I’m used to, but boy, is it ever delicious. I’m just going to enjoy it.” He commenced loading his plate with a big helping of the delicious pasta, and eating and loving every bite.

He was really getting going on the spaghetti when he hears his friend say to his mother, “Mama, how is the turkey coming?” Bill said he laughed out loud, amused at the joke about having turkey after all of the food they had already eaten.

But he laughed too soon, because Mama got out of her chair, went into the kitchen, and began bringing out all of the traditional Thanksgiving food – a great big turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, and so forth. Poor Bill; all that food and not much more room in his stomach!

The meal, he recalls ended with Mama bringing out platters of dates and candied fruit and nuts in addition to the traditional Thanksgiving pies. The meal concluded with cigars and Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey for the men, and washing many, many dishes for the women. Some things are the same in all cultures!

His story always reminds me that every family has its own traditions, even if they aren’t quite as unique as Bill’s meal with the Italian American family. We all have our own dressing recipes. Some families have a special cranberry salad; others open a can of jellied cranberries. Sweet potato casseroles can be sweet or savory. Jello salad or no jello salad?

But what is generally the same, no matter the traditions, is the family and friends gathered together, thankful for the gifts they have been given over the past year. The sound of children playing and noisy kitchens. Football games as background noise. Leftovers somewhere around 9 o’clock. Even if the leftovers are warmed up spaghetti and meatballs.

Now for another Thanksgiving recipe…..

My mother never, as far as I recall, made her gravy any way except from the little packets. I don’t know why this was so, though it perhaps had something to do with the fact that she mostly prepared the meal all by herself. Perhaps making turkey gravy from scratch just felt to her like the straw that broke the camel’s back. All I know is that I grew up thinking that gravy must be really difficult to make, so for many years I did the same thing – gravy from the little packets.

Now I know that making gravy is really very easy, and I do so often (though I must admit that I still occasionally use the packets if I am making something just for Bill and me). But a number of years ago, I found this recipe for gravy that you make ahead, and it is such a cinch that I have done it every year since.

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy, Women’s Day Magazine, November 15, 2005

Ingredients
4 turkey wings (3-4 lbs.)
2 onions, pulled and quartered
8 c. chicken broth
¾ c. chopped carrots
½ t. dried thyme
¾ c. flour
2 T. butter
½ t. freshly ground pepper

Process
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Have ready a large roasting pan, a 5-6 qt. pot and a 3 qt. saucepan. Put wings in a single layer in the roasting pan, scatter the onions on top. Roast 1-1/4 hours, or until wings are browned.

Put wings and onions in the pot. Add 6 c. broth (refrigerate remaining 2 c.), the carrots and thyme. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered, 1-1/2 hours.

Remove wings and allow to cool. When cool, pull off skin and meat. Discard skin; save meat for another use. Strain broth into saucepan, pressing vegetables to extract liquid. Discard vegetables; skim fat.

Whisk flour into remaining 2 c. broth until blended and smooth.

Bring broth in the saucepan to a gentle boil. Whisk in the flour mixture and boil 4 – 5 min. to thicken gravy and remove floury taste. Stir in butter and pepper.

Freeze up to one month. When serving, add pan drippings from the turkey to the hot gravy.

Makes 8 cups.

Nana’s Notes: I frequently have been unable to find turkey wings, so I substitute turkey legs. Also, since I am generally cooking for the mighty hordes, I have to at a minimum double the recipe. That has always worked fine. Finally, make sure you strain out the grease from the pan drippings if you use them at the end. Making the gravy ahead is just one less thing you have to do at the very end when it seems so chaotic getting the food on the table, and the gravy is really very good.

Thanks for the Memories

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Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I like that it’s all about food and family. No need to worry about gift buying for a few days yet. At least, there’s no need to worry about gifts in my world. I recognize that there is an ensuing controversy about stores opening on Thanksgiving. I’m not going to weigh in. I would never choose to shop on Thanksgiving, and never have been one to shop on Black Friday. I would rather watch football any day.

This week I’m going to reminisce about three Thanksgiving memories. I will be taking the remainder of the week off to spend with family and football!

The week of Thanksgiving was always a really busy time at the bakery when I was growing up – probably the busiest time of the year. I can’t even begin to think how many dozens of Parker House rolls we sold the Tuesday and Wednesday before the holiday. And bread. And pumpkin pies. And sweet rolls to munch on for breakfast before the great feast.

So Mom and Dad were very tired by time Thanksgiving Day hit. Nevertheless, my mother put on one heck of a spread each year, and set a beautiful table. If we ever ate elsewhere, it was only once or twice throughout my entire childhood.

Our home was small – probably 1,200 square feet. It had three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen with room for a small table, a living room and a dining room. The dining room was formally used three times a year – Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Informally, that’s often where I did my homework.

My mom and dad earned a modest living. They ably supported their family, but I doubt there was a lot left over. Nevertheless, I recall my mom had nice dining room furniture, all a light colored wood. She had a table that had several leaves which would come out on holidays, and a matching buffet. The room was pretty, with a big window that faced our back yard, and a blonde spinet piano on which each of the girls learned to play (some better than others – sigh). The piano stool had a secondary use as a spare chair on holidays.

Mom didn’t have fancy china. However, one of the grocery stores in town, as part of a promotional effort, offered pretty Currier & Ives dishware. Spend a certain amount and you earn a dinner plate, or a cup and saucer, or a salad plate, and so forth. Over a long period of time, Mom completed a set of 12, and that became our “good china.” She used it only on those same three holidays. One of my sisters has the set. It’s funny; I have a lovely set of Royal Doulton china, but I’m ever so happy when I go to my sister’s house for a holiday and see the Currier & Ives laid out.

We had no surprises as part of our Thanksgiving meal. The feature item was an oven roasted turkey, with traditional sides of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower in a cheese sauce, and her delicious dressing, with the recipe below. Every family has their favorite. For my family, it’s not Thanksgiving without Mom’s sausage dressing. No fancy cranberry salad – just sliced jellied cranberries from the can, and Mom smeared hers with mayo. Yuck. For dessert, pumpkin pie and freshly whipped cream. (By the way, we always used granulated sugar – and lots of it – for our whipped cream. To this day, if I can’t feel a little bit of sugar between my teeth when I eat whipped cream, I’m disappointed. No powdered sugar for me!)

And no Thanksgiving memory is complete without mentioning that the Nebraska v. Oklahoma game back in those days was almost always held the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Man, now that was a rivalry.

As I recall Thanksgivings over the next couple of days, I would love to hear from some of you about your Thanksgiving memories.

Mom’s Sausage Dressing (exactly as written on the recipe card)

Ingredients
1 lb. pork sausage (not hot)
½ c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery (some leaves)
7 c. dry bread cubes
½ c. milk
1 can Golden Mushroom Soup
1 T. parsley (dry will do)
½ scant t. salt
¾ t. poultry seasoning
½ t. leaf sage

Process
Brown sausage. Add onions and celery. Cook until tender. Add 3 c. bread cubes. Cook until moistened. Stir frequently. Combine soup and milk. Heat, do not boil. Stir until smooth. Add seasonings to remaining bread cubes. Combine mixtures.

Nana’s Notes: That’s how my mother’s recipe ends. However, I place the mixture in a large aluminum pan and put it in the oven for 30 to 45 min., depending on the amount of dressing and whether or not it was prepared earlier and refrigerated. If that’s the case, you might want to bring it to room temperature before putting it in the oven. Remember, it is completely cooked, so you only are aiming to heat it through. I think my mother ended her recipe where she did because for many years she would then stuff the turkey with the dressing, leaving a bit for a separate casserole dish. She stopped doing that when they began warning about the possibility of food poisoning.

Kids’ Whimsical Cooking: Flourless Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

Posted in Desserts, Kids' Cooking, Recipes by

Hey everyone, this is Addie. I just made deep dark chocolate cookies. These are a great snack and dessert for everyone. They also are gluten free. Actually the reason I made these cookies is because my aunts from Vermont are coming for Thanksgiving and one of them is gluten free. The last part is fun and messy when you roll the sticky dough into balls. The only ingredient you may not have is chocolate chips. I hope you will try making these as well as some of my other recipes.

 

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies adapted from the Divine Baker

Ingredients
cooking spray
1-1/2 c. bittersweet chocolate chips
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar, divided (plus 1/2 c. for cookie coating)
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt

Process
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Melt 1 c. chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring frequently, about 2 min. Set aside and let it cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 c. powdered sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow cream.

Whisk 1 c. sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Then, on a low speed, add these dry ingredients into the marshmallow cream mixture.

Next, add remaining 1/2 c. chocolate chips to lukewarm chocolate mixture (dough will become very stiff).

Add chocolate mixture to cream mixture and blend well. Place remaining 1/2 c. powdered sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 min. Cool on sheets 10 minutes, then transfer to rack.

Nana’s Notes: The cookies really are very good, light and chewy. I didn’t have bittersweet chocolate chips on hand, so we used semisweet, and they were delicious. This particular recipe required a bit more adult supervision because of the egg whites. Still, easy enough!

Impatiently Waiting for Patience

Posted in Main Course, Meat Dishes by

We’ve had a really pretty and fairly warm autumn. My heavy winter coat still hasn’t seen the light of day. But this morning we all woke up to snow and the temperatures probably won’t get out of the mid-teens. Thankfully Bill got most of the leaves picked up during the warm weather last week, and the snow will make certain the rest will come down this weekend. Our daughter and her family will be making their way from Vermont on Friday, and this weather, which is supposed to last the next few days, won’t be anything new to them.

As you can see, I don’t really have much in the way of a theme this morning. Yesterday Bill had his semiannual checkup with his neurologist/movement disorder specialist. He is always calm; I, on the other hand, am always a wreck. Having survived yesterday, my mind is kind of weary.

I’m happy to say that his appointment went well. His progression remains slow, and he was put on a different medication which is purported to be practically magical in how well it treats the symptoms! Keeping my fingers crossed.

There is no point in dwelling every day on why Bill has Parkinson’s. The reality is that no one knows why anyone gets it. I’ve never believed, certainly, that God sits up on his big white throne in heaven and points at people and says, “You’re going to get cancer, and you’re going to be in a car accident, and you’re going to get PD.” He put us on earth and we have free will and the way the earth was created leads to weather events and so forth. And, frankly, yucky stuff happens to people who don’t deserve it, and nobody understands why.

What I do spend a lot of time thinking about, however, is how Bill and I can handle our life and what we can we get out of it. Bill, for his part, handles his PD with absolute grace and dignity. He pretty much just ignores the fact that he has PD and lives his life, perhaps doing things different ways or asking me or others for help with no embarrasment. I am telling you, the man NEVER, EVER COMPLAINS.

I complain a lot, I’m afraid. Maybe not to others, but to myself, through impatience. But I believe that I am slowly but surely learning to be more patient. The other day I was walking down a narrow aisle behind a woman with a slight walking impairment who was moving quite slowly. I found myself getting so impatient, though I had nowhere I had to be. The good news is that I recognized my fault. She is clearly unable to walk faster, I reminded myself, and she likely wishes she could. Get a grip!

Patience is a virtue, isn’t it? It’s hard for me to wait to gain that particular virtue! (Wow. I crack myself up.)

I was tired after the appointment and knew I wouldn’t want to cook, so we made a stop at the grocery store and I bought the fixings for a really cheating dinner. I bought a half pound of ground beef, a bottle of good spaghetti sauce, and some spinach and grated carrots from the salad bar. At home I browned the ground beef and added the vegetables to the browned meat to soften. I added the sauce and served it over spaghetti. A one-pot meal! I didn’t even have to bother with making a salad.

Far Away Places (With Strange Sounding Names)

Posted in Main Course, Recipes by

One of my best friends is currently working in the Middle East country of Qatar. I only vaguely know the whereabouts of Qatar, but I know it’s very far away from Denver. She has been away since last June, and will be away for a much longer time. I’m trying not to think about how much longer she will be gone.

She is here on a visit, and we had breakfast together yesterday morning. Well, breakfast that ran into lunch, really, because there is a lot to talk about with a good friend when you haven’t seen her for a long while, and she lives in a country where I couldn’t even begin to read the street signs.

Really, it’s one thing to have a friend move away to, say, Boise, Idaho. It’s even conceivable that a friend could move away to London. But Qatar? A country with a name I can’t even pronounce? She, by the way, tried to teach it to me yesterday morning. That took about half of our time together. Something about having to use the back of my tongue. Whatever. I can say Boise, Idaho.

Anyway, we did a pretty nice job of catching up. We talked about my life (grandkids and blogging). We talked about her life (work and trying to figure out how to stay entertained in a country that Netflix doesn’t serve). We talked about what she missed most (pork, with her husband a close second). We talked about getting used to a life totally different from the United States, or even western Europe (e.g., weekends being Friday and Saturday).

Afterwards, I stopped at Steinmart to return a sweater I had purchased for my husband. Handing the cashier my receipt, I anticipated smooth sailing. He asked me for the credit card onto which I had charged the sweater. I dutifully handed my credit card over to him. “No, Ma’am, I need the card ending in 0087,” said the man pleasantly. Surprised, I told him that was the card, knowing that it’s the only card I ever use. He handed it back to me, suddenly looking very suspicious, and said he was sorry, but that isn’t the right card. I looked at the card, and discovered that though it was exactly like my card – Chase Preferred Sapphire – it indeed bore the name of the friend with whom I had breakfasted/lunched. We had split the tab, as we always did, each giving the server a credit card. We each ended up with the wrong card.

Why is it that when something like this happens, I feel compelled to explain every detail to the cashier? There can be no question in the young man’s mind that I was using a stolen card because I instantly began telling him about having breakfast with my friend who is visiting from Qatar and we had split the tab and each of us had given the server a credit card and can you believe her card was exactly like mine and I’d better call her as soon as possible so that we can get our own cards back. I’m sure I was sweating. My only saving grace was that there was no one behind me in line. That, and they didn’t have a security guard to lead me away in handcuffs.

Anyway, I called her and told her about our mix-up before she was placed in an embarrassing situation as well. As we speak, she is probably doing her Christmas shopping on Amazon using my Chase card!

Onto cooking….

While perusing my mother’s recipe box (Oy vey! Again with the recipe box!) I found her recipe for a broccoli/cheese/rice casserole that she always made on Thanksgiving. It came from the woman who had decorated cakes at our Nebraska bakery. I only tell you this because it wasn’t in my mother’s handwriting, and my sister had to remind me whose handwriting it was. More memories. Marie decorated a pretty cake.

Anyhoo, I made the casserole, and it was as good as I remembered. Even Bill enjoyed it, and he isn’t terribly fond of rice. Perhaps its because I told him he needed to eat his vegetables to be entitled to the last piece of Candy Pie.

Cheese Broccoli

Saute 1 large onion and 1 clove of garlic (chopped fine) in butter and a little oil. Add 1 pkg of frozen chopped broccoli, 1 can cream of chicken soup OR cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 c. milk, 1 c. Velveeta cheese (1 small bar), and 3/4 t. salt. Undercook 1 cup of rice (which makes 2 c. of cooked rice. Mix all of the ingredients in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Nana’s Notes: I cut the recipe in half and it was enough for Bill and me with a bit to have for lunch tomorrow. And,by the way, the title of this post — for anyone under the age of 50 — comes from a song that was sung by the likes of Dean Martin and Bing Crosby when I was a little girl. My family is familiar with the song because we had a little neighbor girl who stood at the end of our driveway one year as we left for vacation and sang that song to us. Funny memory. We weren’t (as the song suggests) going to China or Siam, but only to Colorado.