Dear Shaina,

If I didn’t know you, I’d be worried about the depth of your angst and be calling in the white coats…or at least making a parental comfort visit so I could actually touch, taste and experience the texture of this particular life crisis in order to “fix” it … Or more accurately, comfort myself.

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But I do know you, as much as a mother can know her 24 year old daughter, and I know you come by your angst honestly (it’s in the genes) and studiously.  Although, I hate to see you struggle in any kind of way, I know that you are living your life consciously.  Questioning your path doesn’t always make for an easy road, but you are much more likely to find and pursue your personal “hits” if you go through life  looking.

As Dad and I enjoy the Oregon sunsets on this beautiful coast and explore our own next steps, it is with no small amount of empathy that I feel your pain …and possibilities.  Birmingham has been my home for the past 30 years, the longest I have ever lived anywhere.  The life I sought in my 20’s became my reality in Birmingham… rich with family, friends, career and community. But there are still those moments when I wonder, is there yet a new dream for me to pursue?

Dad and I try on new places and examine the “fit”.  There are so many different styles out there and I’ll admit that a more urban, diverse, liberal and walking-friendly environment is calling.

It is hard to let go of the comfort, beauty and familiarity of Birmingham and I don’t know if I have the guts to just walk away from my life to start a new one.  I do know that all any of us have is the present moment and Dad and I are living that cliche to the hilt.

In the meantime, the owners of the beach cottage we are renting in Oregon live next door in the “big house.” In addition to getting some great design ideas from them, we have shared some extended evenings enjoying wine and food. It’s refreshing to know that we are still capable of making new friends (we hope they’ll visit B’ham and maybe even make it down to our beaches) …and I learned a couple new cooking tips.

David, the owner, happened to be marinating a piece of flat iron steak in our refrigerator (so he had to invite us to share dinner with him and Doug). After poking holes in it with a fork and rubbing it with a variety of herbs, spices and marinades, he left it uncovered in the refrigerator for two days and only had me turn it once.

I’m used to soaking my meat in lots of liquid marinade in a tightly covered container and having it slosh around for a few hours or overnight.  This meat was amazing…tender, tasty and moist!  I don’t know what the trick is, but I am never soaking my meat again.  He said it works great with chicken, too.

Don’t despair, Shaina. I wont go on and on about the meat.  Most of the meal was veggie anyway and just the best!

I went to Sunday Market in Astoria and couldn’t control myself… Every color of heirloom tomato, green zucchini, right from-the-dirt bright orange baby carrots, purple peppers, red beets, yellow beets, fresh cut basil, all different colored fingerling potatoes, long thin purple Asian eggplants, sweet walla walla onions, biting fresh arugula, yellow lemon cucumbers and fresh green pickling ones, too…

We managed to do it all…grilling the zucchini, eggplant, pepper and onions and roasting the potatoes, beets and carrots. All were tossed lightly in some olive oil and seasoned with kosher salt and pepper and a little fresh garlic and basil. By the way, my roasting expertise has to do with having a really good oven that has a convection bake setting and gets really hot (you need at least a true 400 degrees in a regular bake setting).  You probably don’t have either in your not-quite-yet-gourmet kitchen.

On to Portland today for the urban leg of our trip.  Ten more days of city life!  I can’t wait to try your green potato salad when we get home.  I never thought of making all that fresh mint we have growing everywhere into a pesto.  It sounds delicious.  In the meantime, we sure are enjoying the wine in Oregon!

Love,

Mom xoxoxoxooxoxoxox

David wanted to try a new recipe (I think he made it up) and I know that not only will you love it… It will bring back some fond childhood food memories!

David’s Burnt Butter Tomatoes:

• 5 tomatoes
• 4 tbs butter
• Sea salt
• Cracked pepper

Slice fresh tomatoes (any varieties) about a 1/4 inch thick and arrange on a platter. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Meanwhile, put 4 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan over medium heat (adjust amount of butter based on how many tomatoes you have and how much you love browned butter).Heat until butter just turns brown and starts to smoke a little. Take off the heat immediately before it turns black. Pour hot browned butter over fresh salted tomatoes and enjoy immediately.

They were GOOD!

David’s Spicy Salad Dressing:

• Olive Oil
• Orange Champagne Vinegar
• Yellow mustard
• Diced jalapeno
• Lemon grass paste
• Finely diced fresh basil
• Fresh Lemon juice
• Garlic

Combine equal parts of oil and vinegar. Blend in remaining ingredients to taste.

Dressing is great over arugula salad:

• Fresh arugula
• Lemon cucumbers sliced
• Pickling cucumbers sliced
• Fresh basil chopped
• Parmesan Cheese grated

David’s Flat Iron Beef Rub:

• Fresh garlic paste
• Sweet chili paste
• Hot paprika
• Smoked chili flakes
• Kosher Salt
• Tomato paste
• Ginger finely diced
• Cracked pepper
• Diced thyme, rosemary, and sage

Rub all ingredients on both sides, fork to tenderize, and dry uncovered in fridge for 24 hours with a flip mid way. Grill til desired doneness.

Leftovers folded into an omelet were great the morning after

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Mint Pesto

• 6 handfuls of fresh mint (About 4 cups)
• 3/4 cup raw walnuts
• two cloves garlic
• Juice of two fresh lemons
• salt
• lots and lots of black pepper

• Red Skin Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Mint Pesto!
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Cut potatoes into wedges and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until brown and crisp at 500 degrees. Meanwhile, wash and trim fresh green beans.  Bring water to a boil. Add green beans to boiling water for no longer than one minute, and immedietly transfer to bowl of ice water to pause the cooking process. You will be left with bright, crunchy green beans. One potatoes are done, mix with green beans and pesto for a delish potato salad in several hues of green.

Mom,
That. is. so. gross.

When an email with a picture attachment and subject line of “foam residue from first boil” popped into my inbox, I was expecting  tofu-made-from-scratch or berries boiled down to a reduction.

And then I opened it. A picture of a naked chicken in its foam residue. Really?

Ew.

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… And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes. Homegrown tomatoes.

Dear Mom,

I’m feeling homesick.  This whole summer has really put me in a funk. It’s been averaging a sticky 100 degrees in DC, and I still have to put work clothes on and spend my days in an office. It throws me off when my life activities don’t change with the seasons.

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Summer is eating tomatoes and peach ice cream and never changing out of my bathing suit. But I’ve been doing the same things since December and I can’t wrap my head around how time moves so freakin fast. Wahh.

I just miss home. I miss our front deck and Alabama tomatoes and squash and okra.   All I want to do is go blackberry picking at the farm and then come home and watch dad make tomato sandwiches. Remember last summer when you and dad had your okra battles? He came home with bushels of okra every week – you roasted most of it and he’d boil whatever you allowed.  Then I’d have to judge the winner. I ate your roasted okra like peanuts – dozens at a time. The slime dried out and they were crispy and salty. Dad’s were super slimy, but so watery sweet. The flavors were incredibly different, but both delicious. A few days ago I explained okra to a friend who had never tasted it. I told her it’s like eating a sweet, seedy loogie.  Okra…

Anyway. Yesterday I attempted to live summer.  In sandals and a tank, I biked with Arielle and Adam from DC to Arielle’s family friend’s house in Potomac. It was a 15 mile ride on major roads and it poured rain the entire ride– miserable. At one point, we biked around a dead deer on the side of the road. I screamed the whole time. Traumatizing. The point of going to the family friend’s house was to swim in their pool, but the rain and thunderstorms made that impossible.

The upside to the trip was that the family gave us a huge bag of yellow squash from their garden – alas, summer! And this morning I came back from the farmers market with okra and baby tomatoes. While I’m pining for a big, juicy Alabama tomatoes, the baby tomatoes from the mid-atlantic region are about as phenomenal. My favorites are sungolds – they are teeny and yellow and pop in my mouth. They are acidic candy. And next to the other tomatoes – maroon and green and red – they are gorgeous.

I made an okra, squash and tomato salad and it is SO summer.

It’s so summer that it almost fulfills my longing for lazy Alabama heat. It doesn’t really, but it’s time for me to face summer as an adult.  I can’t lounge around in swimwear eating tomato sandwiches and popsicles my whole life (I resent this). So I’ll suck it up and go into my office everyday in my professional attire – as long as I can come home to summer in a salad bowl.

Love,
Shaina

Ultimate Summer Salad

• Okra
• Yellow squash
• Best tomatoes of your region
• Fresh basil
• Arugula
• Salt and pepper
• Balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Toss squash and okra in olive oil, salt and pepper and broil for 30 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, chop it up with tomatoes and basil. Toss all ingredients with arugula. If you want some protein, add goat cheese. Live summer.

Dear Mom,

I know this entry is out of turn, but I have to tell you about last night. Arielle and I hosted Shabbat dinner, and cooked a meal for 25 guests.

I have a headache.
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This was the menu:

Gazpacho

Topped with Celery Sorbet

Challah

Glazed with honey and poppy seed

Frisee Salad

With hearts of palm, apples, sugar snap peas and chevre

Chipotle Grain Salad

Wheat Berries, squash, apricots, basil, kale, tarragon, beets, spring onions, chipotle spice, balsamic

Ricotta Dumplings/Vegan (tofu and flax) Dumplings

Served with roasted Aleppos and honey glazed carrots

Snap Crackers and Dip

Whole wheat crackers scented with Fennel served with smoky babaganoush and pea dip

Spinach and Jarlsburg Frittata

Green Potato Salad

Roasted potatoes and green beans smothered in mint pesto straight from our front yard

Massaged Kale Salad

With Roasted Peppers

Bubbie Cookies!

Cupcakes

I think my favorite thing was the Wheat Berry salad. I was attempting to make a barley salad, but all of our grains and flours are in unlabeled jars. I grabbed one that looked like barley, added water and salt,  and then I had wheat berries. Hardy wheat berries + tangy vinegar + basil + sweet apricots + spicy chipotle squash = incredible. I’m obsessed with chipotle. Lately, I’ve been putting peaches and chipotle in all my salads.

Chipotle Peach and Grain Salad

• 1/2 c dry hard wheat berries (substitute quinoa if desired)
• 5 FRESH apricots (or 2 large peaches*)
• 4 medium yellow summer squash
• Handful fresh basil
• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• Salt
• Generous dash of Chipotle seasoning
• Generous dash of cayenne or chili
• 1 tbs honey
• 6 tbs aged balsamic vinegar

Bring 4 c water to boil, add wheat berries, cover and simmer for one hour. You may need to add more water throughout. For  a quicker cook time, you can soak berries overnight (but it’s not necessary). Drain and rinse. Wheat berries should be hard and chewy.

In the meantime, heat oven to 475. Wash and cut squash into small circles. Coat with mixture of olive oil, salt, chipotle and cayenne spices. Roast until crisp on outside (about 45 min).

Create mixture of balsamic vinegar and honey (and go ahead, add another dash of chipotle!). Cut peaches/apricots into chunks. Chop basil into ribbons. Soak basil and peaches/apricots in balsamic/honey mix until remaining ingredients are ready. When squash is crisp and wheat berries are chewable, let cool and mix with peaches and basil. Enjoy cold/hot/over a bed of spicy arugula.

** I’ve made this dish several times since Shabbat dinner and have found that peaches are out rock apricots. Especially juicy farmers market peaches omg. Another amazing salad discovery is a salad with peaches, avocado, balsamic/honey, fresh basil, lots of chipotle/chili and a small bit of chopped arugula. It’s seriously the best salad I’ve ever created. Soak peaches in balsamic and chipotle overnight for an extra punch. Don’t worry, the avocado cools it down so creamily. Holy cow.

The gazpacho wasn’t great. I think because I kept wanting it to be a bloody mary instead of a soup. I made the sorbet by pureeing celery, pear, and caraway seed in my vitamix, and then freezing it in an ice tray. I pureed the celery ice cubes, and the texture was perfect sorbet. Next time I make bloody marys, I’m using celery ice cubes. Best. discovery. ever.

Celery Sorbet (for Gazpacho)

OR

Celery Ice Cubes (For Bloody Marys)

• 2 stalks celery
• 1 green apple
• sprinkle of carraway seeds

Puree all ingredients in food processor and pour puree into ice tray.  Plop into bloody marys.

OR

Freeze. After frozen, release back into food processor and puree. Viola – a creamy sorbet! Perfect for topping off gazpacho!

Celery Sorbet!

❤ Vitamix.

Below are some photos from our preparations. Thank God neither of us works on Fridays

Arielle lit the grill ALL BY HERSELF. Look at those beauties. Wow. 

Mom,

White finger nails from bleach? I think I’ll stick with the fruit flies. There’s no need to go to extremes.

It’s just that I live with 5 people and what can I say… We’re all busy bees in our 20s with no sense of personal or communal responsibility.  But we have homemade fruit fly catchers set up everywhere (fill a bottle with vinegar and cover with saran wrap – easy as pea dip!). And you’ll be very proud that we recently implement a system to keep our sink area more tidy! Each time a housemate washes extra dishes in the sink, or puts away dishes in the sink rack, he/she get’s a sticker! Look at mine.

Are you beaming? If Bubbe saw my sticker chart, she’d call me a balabusta and life would be complete.

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I made her cookies.

And when a dinner guest asked, “Are these cookies Vegan?” I responded with a better question: “Are they edible?”

I’m not sure whether I should take, “Are these cookies Vegan?” as a complement or an insult. I really can’t decide. I think it’s an insult. But vegan food is trendy and complex, so maybe it means the cookies seem fancy… which would be a complement. But if they have butter and eggs, shouldn’t they taste like they have butter and eggs? Isn’t that the point?  Do these cookies taste like sandpaper?

Are they edible?

Remember how Bubbe asked that about all of her food?

As we’re shoving her food into our faces — is it edible?

But sometimes her cookies were not edible.  You were spared because Bubbe knows you can’t eat sugar. But she forced those freezer-burned, sandpaper rocks onto all of the kids each time we went to her house. It was a treat when I was little — I ate the cookies four or five at a time, and felt great about it (hence my childhood obesity) because it made Bubbe happy!

Is it right that she put 3 chocolate chips in each cookie? Or was it 6? And the memories of eating them right before bed paired with chunks of velveta cheese! What a delicacy!

Velveta cheese by the chunk for a special bed time snack. Omg.

In the later years, I perfected the art of fake cookie eating. I quickly situated Bubbe cookies in my pockets so that they wouldn’t bulge too much and plunged them at sidewalks from my car window after I had driven out of sight, always fearing that the chocolate would melt in my pants if I kept them there too long. Though it would probably take hours for those rocks to thaw after a lifetime in the freezer. Emptying my pockets of cookies crumbs before I put them back in my closet became habitual.  And Bubbe still thought they were my favorite food – mission accomplished.

I wanted to take a stab at your recipe for nostalgia. Can you believe it’s almost one year since her death? I can still feel the cookie crumbs rubbing against my thighs. What happened to the contents of her freezer (and the ginormous tub itself!)  when you sold her house? Surely there was a stash of goods.

I think my versions of Bubbe cookies were edible.. at least no one hid them in their pockets.

I added the juice of a whole orange instead of half, and lots and lots of zest, which is key. As for the maraschino cherries… where do you even find those? Ew.

I also used half the amount of butter you call for.  And, I didn’t count the chocolate chips – a luxury that I should thank you for.  (Whose mom sends her home with a 15 pound bag of dark chocolate chips after each visit?  Mine, Arielle’s, and probably hundreds of other Jewish mothers across the country.) Thank you for enabling me to use chocolate chips freely.

To conclude, these cookies shouldn’t be marketed as chocolate chip cookies, because it confuses people. They ask, are these cookies vegan?

No. They’re Bubbe cookies. And no one talks about my Bubbe that way.

Love ya!

Shaina

Bubbe Cookies Redefined Again

• 1/2 C Butter
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• Lots of Vanilla
• 3 C Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• Sea Salt
• Zest and Juice from large orange
• Dark Chocolate Chips Galore

Mix and mash – Bake in 375 degrees.

I can’t believe you’re writing about mold and flies and dirt in your kitchen on a cooking blog! No one will want to even try your recipes, let alone eat in your house!

Surely, you exaggerate (a well documented family trait).

Bubbe Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375*
2. Mix softened butter and sugar together. Add eggs and mix thoroughly.
3. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together and blend into butter, sugar, egg mixture.
4. Add zest, juice and vanilla and blend thoroughly. Dough may be a little stiff. Mix in chocolate chips.
5. Roll into balls and press lightly onto a greased cookie pan (or use parchment paper) an inch apart.
6. Maraschino cherries cut into small pieces may be pressed into the top of the cookie for added color if desired.
7. Bake at 375* for 12-15 minutes or until tops and bottoms are lightly browned.
8. Makes 3-4 dozen.

For true vintage Bubbe cookies, don’t add the chocolate chips to the batter mix. As you roll each cookie, fold in exactly 3 chocolate chips into each individual cookie dough ball before placing it on the cookie sheet. Then every once in awhile, put 4 chips in for a surprise treat, just to keep the cookie eaters on their toes.

This recipe is a guesstimate of the amounts of ingredients in my mother’s (Bubbe’s) version of these cookies because she never gave us a precise recipe…for anything! 

Dear Mom,

Mmm.. lime in the Clementine cake sounds delish! Did you use the lime as a supplement or a substitute  to the clementines? Look at how nicely you decorated it with the glaze! I cook so hapharzdly here that nothing I make could ever turn out that pretty. I’m blaming it on the nature of my kitchen (though let’s face it, I think we can both agree blame it on the nature of my self).

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My kitchen is cluttered, cramped and hot.  There’s mold on the cutting boards. There are fruit flies hovering the sink and greasy pans hanging from the walls and crusty brown stuff everywhere. Yes, Bubbe would be horrified.  Does it make you nervous that this is where I’ve always envisioned myself at this age?

I’m not telling you these things to complain about my living situation or brag about roughing it in the kitchen. I simply want to say that it’s not my fault that everything I make comes out so ugly. It’s my kitchen’s fault.

It’s like when you drop a whole bag of walnuts and it’s clearly dad’s fault because he put them on the wrong shelf of the freezer. Of course it’s not your fault. And it’s not my fault that I simply cannot make the things that I eat look elegant.

Cooking is the same as making art. And the space where I cook compels me to approach food aggressively – mashing it, mushing it, throwing it all together (and all over everything that gets in my path). Measuring cups? What are those? But, I promise it’s always a true work of art – maybe reckless but always tasty.

When I studied abroad in Bolivia, I learned about the ritual of honoring Pachamama – mother earth — by dropping or spilling food and drink on the floor.  If someone spilled wine, there was no whoops…  It was more, this one’s on me, Pachamama!

Towards the end of study abroad, we contemplated how we’d integrate the experience into our lives at home, and we were warned that different insights would creep up at different times in our lives. Well, here I am, 3 ½ years out, celebrating Pachamama like it’s my job. I drop a few chocolate chips… Enjoy, Pachamama.. they’re Ghirdellhi!

Reckless.

It’s my kitchen’s fault, really. It doesn’t inspire care or grace. I just throw things into bowls, blenders and all over.

And that is why I saved the Clementine recipe for when I came home for Passover. And why you did such a better job at it than I. And why I don’t think I could ever make it here in DC.

To make my case, I present you with this pea dip.  A bright tasting mush, perfect for dipping. It’s vegan, gluten-free and raw – perfect for all the hipster eating habits in my hood.  It takes two minutes to make and you’ll be shocked by it’s natural sweetness.

Of course, I always pay attention to the color of my food. Duh…  that is in my nature.

Love ya,

Shaina

Pea Dip

• 1 bag of frozen peas
• A handful of fresh mint sprigs
• A few leaves of fresh tarragon
• Juice of half fresh lemon
• A little bit of garlic
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Throw all the items into a Cuisinarte or blender. If you loose some peas along the way, pachamama thanks you.

I tried to score some pretty points by serving it with a dollop of plain yogurt on top. I don’t think it helped the appearance, but the flavors were WOW.