Dear mom,

I love that our past few posts have been wholly dedicated to turnips and kale. Yum. I wish I had more turnips here, but every time I buy them at the store I’m disappointed by their waxy, tough skin… so different from the ones we get at the farm. But let’s switch the subject. I want to talk about your naked turkey pictures so that I can retract my insults…  because I’m about to up the gross factor a few notches. And I’ll make a confession that I think you’ll be proud of.

I spent last weekend in the woods of Connecticut at Hazon’s Food Conference as an AJWS Food Justice Cohort participant. I learned about domestic food security, probiotics for maintaining gut health, the Farm Bill, international food aid and pickling. But the most memorable part of the conference was a four hour participatory session about shechting (kosher animal slaughter).

Yup. I saw a Rabbi slash through a goat’s neck. I was there as its blood flooded the grass and I watched its body twitch until all life was gone. I observed the meticulous process of making something Kosher – a perfect cut, perfect organs, perfect preparation. We passed around the goat’s lungs and some practiced blowing into them  like blowing up a balloon to make sure there were no perforations (which would nullify Kosherness). I plucked the feathers of bloody chickens still warm with life…  still letting out occasional squawks despite their deadness. I volunteered to rip a chicken’s head off, but it was too slimy with blood to get a good grip and I wasn’t strong enough to make the full tear. Yes, this is your daughter speaking.

The night before the slaughter, I attended a panel discussion about the shechting process and realized why there are so many Jewish vegetarians:  in our culture, animal slaughter is real. I don’t think that most people recognize food-meat as dead animal. But in elementary school, I learned that in order for us (Jews) to eat meat, an animal has to be cut with a knife sharp enough  sever all of its arteries in one deep blow. And it’s stayed with me.

During the panel discussion, some asked why Kosher meat is considered more elevated in God’s eyes than meat that is humanely raised/free range. I’m not sure that kosher slaughter is any more humane than other forms of animal meat processing – but I do know that it’s meticulous regulations connect me to the life of the animal and the process in which it’s killed. And maybe that’s the point? If we’re conscious about where meat comes from, maybe we won’t eat it so recklessly.

The night before the slaughter, I had the most vivid animal dreams. My best friend was a camel who sat next to me in math class every day. There were bears in my class too. We could talk to one another.

I woke up nervous. I’ve been a vegetarian since childhood. Could I handle watching a goat beheaading and decapitation? I felt my stomach drop as I walked to the site.

Surprisingly, I was totally fine. In fact, I was mesmerized. The goat’s insides were beautiful. The color of its liver was deep and its the texture of its lungs was like spongy foam; its flesh held patterns like computer generated art –  concise angles, lines and repetition; the way that the hide separated from its muscle without breaking the tissue was perfect. I almost enjoyed the transformation from goat to food.

Here’s my confession. I tasted goat that day. I could barely swallow, but I had to do it.

I don’t have the desire to eat meat again, but realized that putting a McDonalds hamburger to my mouth (who knows where that meat comes from?) is way grosser than sticking my hands inside a freshly slaughtered goat. I think my vegetarianism is on the right path.

Phewww.

And I appreciate your confidence in the things you’ve enabled me to do that you expressed in your last letter (even if it is shechting a goat)… but I’m not totally sold.  Who let’s their kid sit down in the middle of the field during a game? And then tells her she did a good job? Opting out from boredom without repercussions may be the root of my problems. I’m gonna whoop my kid’s butt if he/she pulls something like that.

Anyway. This will be my first full weekend in DC since mid October and I can’t wait to have a few days to breath. Despite the chill  outside, I can’t believe we’re into the thick of Chanukah and Christmas is on its way.

When we were trying to think of some Chanukah classics while I was home, you reminded me of the blue jello Chanukah “jigglers” in the shapes of Jewish stars you used to make for me and my friends when we were kids (and the following urgent calls to my pediatrician, why is my daughter’s poop BRIGHT GREEN?!). Those jigglers were the best, and I was inspired to make something just as fun (but a bit classier) for Chanukah this year. So I made the cookies featured below for my office cookie swap. If your jigglers married Bubbe’s kasha and bows, they would birth this newest cookie invention. Just trust me on this one. These Chanukah honey buckwheat shortbread were a HUGE hit.

Chanukah Honey Buckwheat Shortbread

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 sticks butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 tbs sea salt
• 6 dates chopped
• 1/2 c hazelnuts chopped
• dash of clove powder
• 1/2 tbs vanilla

Mix flours together. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar, salt and butter until smooth. Add chopped dates, hazelnuts, vanilla and clove powder. Add flour and mix until dough forms. Form dough into ball and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into a sheet that’s 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to shape cookies. Place cookies at least an inch apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush glaze onto cookies before putting them into oven.

Bake for 10 – 13 minutes, until edges begin to brown. Let cool completely and enjoy!

Zesty sesame glaze:

• 1/3 of a small avocado
• 1/3 c honey
• juice of one lemon
• 2 tbs lemon zest
• 4 tbs sesame seeds
• dash of clove powder
• blue food coloring

Mash avocado until creamy with the back of a fork (or blend in food processor) until fibers can no longer be seen. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Chocolate Buckwheat Dreidles

I need to keep experimenting with these to get them right… I tried using spelt flour, but the “dreidle” shape melted in the oven. They were tasty despite their ugliness and I have hope for them in the future. If anyone has any suggestions, send ’em my way!

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 sticks butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 tbs celtic sea salt
• 4 oz shaved dark chocolate
• 1/2 tbs vanilla

Same directions as above. The chocolate “topping” was avocado, cocoa powder and honey.

Dear Shaina,

Thanks for the compliment (?) on my photography.  I got photography lessons for my birthday, so watch out! I still don’t get what you have against naked birds.

Speaking of photography, thank you for enabling this new pursuit of mine.  Per the ongoing family discussion, I think the concept of “enabling” has been given a bad rap. Enabling isn’t all bad.  Sure it can be crippling and disabling and undermining, but it can also facilitate growth and independence and self-pride.

My first blog pictures sucked and you let me know it…and you told me how I could make them better.

Kale Salad with Feta

You enabled me to not only acquire a new skill, but also to think in a new way about the possibilities of what I might yet learn. You told me I could figure out how to do my own posting on the blog.  I didn’t think so, but you signed me up anyway, gave me a few tips and some encouragement and told me you didn’t have time to post my letter and I would have to do it myself. You empowered me! It took me six hours and I had to get some help from the trainers at the Apple store, but I did it…and I was proud…and now I own it!

Too much enabling?

It could have gone differently.  You could have said to me, “Mom, I’ll take care of it…I’ll do all the pictures and the posting…you just write.”  I might have felt supported, but I never would have found my own abilities.

You believed in me and you facilitated my growth. Enabling, the good or the bad kind, requires a willing partner…and I did my part, too.

I would like to think that we were enabling parents…that we enabled you to think for yourself, to see yourself honestly and to fully engage in the pursuit of meaning and happiness in your life, despite the angst.  In truth, you were a willing partner to our enabling.  You used what we gave you to fuel possibilities that we didn’t even know existed. You took advantage of opportunities without ever taking advantage of us or taking for granted what you had. And you always let us know when we were stepping over the line. Even at 4 years old, you let us know, sitting down in the middle of the soccer field during a game to let me know, unequivocally, no matter how much I pushed, that you were NOT playing soccer…and I never tried to make you do anything again (you may feel differently about that, but I did try to stay out of your way…really!).

You OWN your life…and that is the best that any parent can wish for their child… even with the burdens and obligations that live with that ownership.

Garlic Roasted Smashed Turnips

So, maybe our definitions of support/enabling differ slightly.

I can live with that. I do, however, take issue with your representation of the paralyzing turnip noose.

I cop to the overbearing love, but that’s old news…deal with it.

But the turnips?…that was self defense.

More Greens!

Your father brought home another huge black garbage bag full of kale and assorted unnamed greens and yet another bag filled with dozens of very dirt laden turnips.

There are only so many ways to fix turnips and to eat kale and turnip greens, despite the number of recipes you come up with.

I have had turnips …and greens…raw, cooked, fried, mashed, roasted, boiled and mixed with any number of edible any-things-I-can-think-of…every night this week!

Now that’s a TURNIP!

Dad is obsessed with turnips and greens!

He loves them, especially when I make the recipe below.

And he’s talking about picking more this weekend!!!  HELP!! If I thought I could mail you a crateful, I would…and it would have NOTHING to do with overbearing love or my womb!

Can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!

Love,

Mom

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

This is my all-time favorite turnip recipe (and Dad’s).

BUTTERY TURNIPS AND ONIONS

(With or without the greens)

• 1 large onion cut up in small chunks
• 3-4 turnips cut into ½ inch chunks (peeled or unpeeled)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped or garlic powder
• A large bowl of Greens, washed, stems removed and torn in large pieces (kale, turnip, beet, any greens will do)
• 1 T Olive oil
• 1 T Butter (more if you like)
• Salt and Pepper
  

  We ate them all!

Saute the chopped onion in a large frying pan with olive oil until translucent.  Add the garlic and saute until onions and garlic are lightly browned.  Add the cut-up turnips to the frying pan and continue cooking for a minute or two. Add the butter and continue cooking the onion and turnip mixture until tender. Add salt, pepper and additional garlic to taste.

If you don’t like greens, the turnips and onions cooked until tender are delicious and can be served without adding the greens.

This dish is also delicious with the added greens.  While the onions and turnips are cooking, massage the washed greens with a little sea salt and let sit until the turnips are just tender.  Add the greens to the frying pan, stirring the greens into the turnip-onion mixture and continue cooking over medium heat until the greens are wilted and desired tenderness.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

Dear mom,

First I’ll congratulate you on your much improved photo skills. Mazel!

… But not without hesitation.

Should I regret encouraging you to learn how to take in-focus pictures? To hold your camera still so the image doesn’t blur? Each and every stretched, salt-plumped pore of your turkeys make me think that I might should have left you and your fuzzy photos alone.

Yes, it was a lovely Thanksgiving. But bald turkey butts…

Not so lovely.

You know it takes a lot to gross me out. The image of bearded orthodox men slathering Nair on Kosher turkeys to melt their stubble doesn’t phase me. But I do worry about the stomachs of those who stumble across this in search of wholesome eats.

Unintended consequences…

I made my bed and now I’ll lay in it.

Though I did have a nice time at home over Thanksgiving. I’m thankful:

1. For not having to put my bags of Alabama dirt dusted kale and turnips through customs to get back to DC
2. That my answer to why I was sipping on muscle recovery tea in the office on Tuesday was, “too much massage.”
3. For Thanksgiving stamina til 1am… Yup, I knew dinner would stretch past reasonable hours when Abe roused us with the following question:

Moving forward as parents, how can we find balance between enabling our children and supporting our children?

It’s a loaded topic. I know that if a parent does his/her child’s math homework, then the child will not learn math – the parent is setting the child up for failure and dependence, and is depriving the child of critical problem-solving skills. But if the child really doesn’t understand math, how is the best way the parent support him/her to learn? There is no clear answer.

For me, the damage has been done. You never did my homework for me. But you did pay for me to see a math tutor. Who knows if I would have made it through high school without Ms. Cousins’ extra help sessions? Thank you! Thank you?

You and dad supported my drive for adventure, learning and success by allowing me to live abroad for much of my early adulthood, covering tuition for all of my fancy schooling, and providing emotional guidance and unconditional love. But in doing so you’ve enabled my current inability to settle, my constant questioning and torturous decision-making patterns – requisites of boundless opportunity, and my unclear, unstable and confusing career path. I am SO grateful for all of the privileges you’ve provided me (and slapping myself on behalf of those with less material fortune than I –  I know a slap doesn’t cut it). But as the cousins, you and dad and Abe and Gail sat around the living room discussing examples and consequences of enabling parenting behavior, I wondered if I too have been set-up for failure. Am I ever going to be content with a job that’s not perfect? How can I even define perfect? Will I get worn out shooting for the stars without a clear star to shoot for?

I know my angst/anxiety is not your fault. But I’m nervous about my future… and your love has enabled me to blame you. So thanks (thanks?).

I realize that my future is my responsibility. At home you wash my bed sheets and tuck me in at night… and I know that the way you make my bed is how I’ll lay in it. But I wash my own sheets in DC (just don’t ask me how often). I hold myself accountable for the way I lay in my bed.

I urged you to learn how to use a camera. I supported and enabled bald turkey butt pics on our blog. You’re welcome ☺.

There’s so much to be thankful for. Usually, you send me back to DC with chocolate chips and bags of nuts from Costco. But this time you crossed the line,  flattening  kale we picked at the farm into a big plastic bag, and stuffing dirt fresh turnips into my suitcase. Abe may argue that you’re “putting me back into the womb,” and I may wince at the week’s worth of veggies as a representation of the overbearing love that’s created a paralyzing noose of responsibility around my neck. But I can’t tell you how grateful I was for farm fresh kale and turnips when I got home from work on Tuesday. And for the memories of our kale and turnip-picking outing to the farm as I munched away.

You gave me the veggies and I went wild… so today my recipes will be all about our turnips and kale. Thank you, I am grateful. – And in appreciation, I’ll keep on with wild.

Love ya,

Shaina

Zatar and Garlic Roasted Turnip Wedges

Turnip “chips”

• 6 medium turnips
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs zatar
• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• 2 tbs sesame seeds
• sea salt

(Note: You can alter this recipe by incorporating whatever spices you have on hand. I’ve made them with curry powder and cinnamon, cumin and garam masala, and plain ‘ol salt and garlic. Turnips have a bit of a kick to them, so I’d avoid  spicy flavors like cayenne and black pepper.)

Cut turnips into small vertical wedges (like fries). Coat with olive oil and spices and lay flat on cookie sheet. Make sure that the wedges do not overlap and that they are not too squished together. Roast for a total of 20 minutes (flip them over at ten minutes) at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. They should be brown and crispy on the outside and watery on the inside.

Arielle’s Best Turnips

• 3 tbs  butter
• 6 turnips cut into 1 inch wedges
• 1 1/2 cups water
• Juice of 2 fresh lemons
• Sea Salt to taste

For Topping:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 cup breadcrumbs (or flax seed/almond meal/crushed nuts for gluten free option)
• 1 tbs poppy seeds
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley

I learned this one from Arielle. She is totally the turnip master.
First, melt butter in pan and add turnips, water, lemon juice, salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes covered. Then, uncover and increase heat while stirring turnips until liquid has evaporated and turnips and tender.

Meanwhile, cook garlic in oil for about a minute. Add bread crumbs (or crushed nuts for gluten free option) and poppy seeds and stir until brown. Add parsley and salt. Top turnips with breadcrumbs right before serving. The turnips melt in your mouth in contrast to the crunchy breadcrumbs.

Ginger Baked Sweet Potatoes with Garlicky Kale

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 cups sautéed garlicky kale (see recipe below)
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 tbs grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 2 crushed cardamom pods (or 1 tsp cardamom powder)
• 1 tsp clove powder
• Honey or agave to taste (optional)
• Sea salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Crushed almonds, walnuts, shredded coconut and/or pumpkin seeds for topping

Cut sweet potatoes in fourths and roast in oven at 350 until soft. Meanwhile, chop garlickly kale into one inch pieces. Once cool, mash sweet potatoes (with skins if desired). Stir in chopped kale, agave/honey, coconut milk, spices, salt and pepper. Top with crushed nuts, coconut shreds and extra sprinkle of sea salt. Bake until nut-topping browns (for about 30 minutes) at 375 degrees.

Garlic Kale

• 1 large bunch of kale, chard, collards, turnip greens – whatever
• 1 tbs olive oil
• sea salt to taste
• 5 chopped garlic cloves
• zest of 1 lemon
• fresh juice of 1 lemon

Clean and de-stem greens. Then chop or tear into small pieces.

Heat olive oil in pan. Add salt and greens – stir until greens turn really green and remove from heat before they shrivel and wilt. Stir for about two or three minutes, and stir in garlic for just thirty seconds before you remove from heat.

Dear Shaina,

Reading your letter made me want to make those scones and muffins so badly, but I was a little overwhelmed getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I will make them, someday…and I have a great rye scone recipe to share with you…someday. In the meantime, here’s a tip for keeping butter cold when making scones. Freeze a stick of butter and then grate the butter into the flour using the larger holes on a box grater.  It’s easier, less messy and the butter stays really cold.

I have to say this year’s Thanksgiving was one of the best I can remember, ever! From the minute you walked through the door (leaving a trail of suitcases, bags, shoes, clothes…) until you left a week later, we didn’t stop…talking, cooking, eating, shopping, eating, cooking, cleaning, talking, eating and cleaning some more…with family, friends, more friends, more family…I LOVED it!!

And so many firsts… I will take full credit for inviting our favorite massage therapist and her family to Thanksgiving dinner, that is if she wanted to work during the day doing massages in our downstairs “spa-for-the-day” den. She did. All the women in the family scheduled an hour massage and enjoyed our transformed “spa” basement complete with scented candle and refreshing citrus infused water as they indulged in the pleasure and pain of an Eleanore massage.  Our masseuse, who is now like family, earned a little cash, didn’t have to cook and enjoyed a wild Thanksgiving dinner, with her family, at the Schuster/Shealy household. All agreed that this was a new tradition worth repeating!

Then there was the turkey…my first KOSHER turkey. (see Recipe below) I must say, the Rabbis know nothing about depilatory techniques. Little did I know I was opting for a bird with a 5- o’clock shadow and a serious case of in-grown stubble that defied the usual turkey wash-and-rinse once-over. I scrubbed and scraped and pulled at those feather nubs till my fingers cramped. What?!…No electrolysis, laser hair removal, Nair?  There must be a better way! I dug around in my kitchen drawer for some modern day feather-plucking kitchen tool that surely I had picked up because I knew I would need one someday. And there it was, a relic from the seventies waiting to be repurposed, a hemostat.  It was the perfect tool! Time consuming? Yes, plucking each hair follicle one by one! Two hours later, my turkey (we got real up-close and personal) was clean, exfoliated and stubble-free…I mean, this turkey got the full Brazilian!  It was delicious…and I would do it again…but I sure do wish those Rabbis would get some advice from their wives about hair removal before sending their turkeys out that way.

Shaina’s Sweet Potatoes and Kale?!

And finally…Shaina in the kitchen with Mama…did I say cyclone? My turkey and dressing (see Recipe below)…your sweet potatoes with coconut milk and kale(?)…my green beans with lemon zest and parsley (see Recipe below) and your lemon scented basil quinoa, again, with kale.  We had sugar free, gluten free, non dairy, vegan, vegetarian and every other option too. Was everyone happy? How could they not be? They’re coming back next year…all 25 of them!

Most of all, I loved trashing the kitchen with you…watching you slice and dice and taste and mix and adjust and taste some more until it was just right. You take risks with flavors and ingredients and trust that they will turn out alright…and they do, in fact better than alright. I promised myself that I will try some of those strange spices that sit in my spice drawer waiting for you to come home.  I even enjoyed cleaning up the trails of droppings you left in the wake of your cooking experiments.

This was the first Thanksgiving that we really did together! I really love being with you always, but the kitchen…is a really special place when you’re in it. 

Oh, did I say how thankful I am? I am so thankful for my life, for my family and friends, for our good health and good fortune and… for all the blessings that I enjoy every day!

Love, Mom
xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo

ROASTING A TURKEY (It’s Easy!)

Two – 14 pound turkeys fed 25 people and left plenty of leftovers.

• 1 Turkey (or 2 smaller ones if you have a lot of leg and thigh lovers)
• 1 Garlic bulb, peeled and minced (more can be used if you have a very large turkey or if you like a lot of garlic)
• 3-4 Celery stalks with the leaves
• 4-5 Carrots cut into 3″ chunks
• 2 Onions cut up
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive oil

If frozen, thoroughly defrost the turkey so it will be ready to clean and season the night before you plan on roasting it. Clean the inside and outside of the turkey thoroughly, removing the neck and any other parts from the cavity. Kosher turkeys only come with the neck which I clean and roast with the turkey. Kosher turkeys also tend to have a lot of ugly stubble, so leave extra time for cleaning.  Pat dry and place breast side up on rack in the roaster that you will be roasting the turkey in.

Mix a little olive oil with the minced garlic and rub all over the turkey inside and out, including a little under the breast skin.  Salt and pepper the turkey liberally inside and out.  Place celery, carrots and onions in the bottom of the roaster around the turkey. Reserve a piece of carrot, onion  and celery and place inside the cavity of the turkey.

After seasoning, I truss the turkey using string and tying it around the legs and breast horizontally and vertically. It makes it a little easier to get it out of the roaster when it’s done.  Cover the turkey with the roaster lid, or aluminum foil if you are using an open roaster, and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

On cooking day, take covered turkey out of the refrigerator a few hours before cooking time and let the turkey come to room temperature before placing in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Place covered turkey in oven and check after one hour and then every 45 minutes after that until almost done.  When checking, baste juices over the top and sides of the turkey.  Cook turkey about 14 minutes per pound or until legs separate slightly from the body of the turkey and juices run clear. Roast turkey uncovered for the last half hour to brown the outside.  A little oil may be brushed on the skin to facilitate a brown crispy skin.

Remove turkey from the oven when done and let it “rest” uncovered for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving.  Remove the roasted carrots and place on the serving platter with the turkey. Enjoy!

GRAVY
Pour the turkey juices from the roaster into a pot.  The onions and celery can be strained or removed with a slotted spoon if you like a clear gravy.  Add some parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (or poultry seasoning) and salt and pepper to taste.

Heat over the stove while turkey is “resting”.  If you leave the celery and onions in the gravy, you can use a stick blender to chop and blend them into the gravy to add a little substance. Small scraps of turkey from the carving process can also be added to the gravy.

If you like a thicker gravy, place a tablespoon of flour or potato starch into a small cup and stir a few tablespoons of turkey juice into the cup stirring the flour and gravy until smooth.  Continue adding turkey juice to the mixture in the cup and stirring until the flour mixture is soupy and not lumpy.  Pour flour mixture into the pot of gravy/juice and bring to a boil. Cook over low heat until gravy thickens and serve with sliced turkey.

DRESSING: NORTH MEETS SOUTH
I never stuff my turkey, but my family loves dressing. I have always tried to appease both sides of the family by making two separate dressings; a southern style cornbread dressing sans veggies and a typical northern bread stuffing with onions, carrots and celery.  This year I combined the two and everyone was happy, especially me! This dressing is vegetarian and can be made vegan by leaving off the eggs. It makes  about 20 servings.

• 1 Bag Cornbread Stuffing Mix
• 1 regular sized loaf of whole wheat or white bread toasted and broken into pieces
• 2 Onions, chopped
• 4 Carrots, chopped
• 3 Stalks of Celery, chopped
• Olive oil
• About 2 quarts of  Chicken Broth (vegetarian chicken soup powder and boiling water
• 3 Eggs
• Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme or poultry seasoning mix
• Pepper

Sauté chopped onions, carrots and celery in a little olive oil until soft.  This may be done the day before.
Mix together cornbread mix and regular toasted bread.
Add cooked veggies to the bread mix.
Add “chicken” broth to bread mixture.
Add enough broth to make a very loose liquidy dressing (the consistency of cooked grits for the southerners out there).  You can add boiling water if the mixture is too thick.  You don’t want to see any pooling liquid in the mixture, but you want to be able to pour the mixture into a casserole.
Taste and add spices as desired.
Lightly beat 3 eggs and thoroughly mix into dressing mixture.  Eggs may be omitted for vegan diets.
Pour a little oil into the bottom of an oversized casserole dish or 2 smaller casserole dishes and preheat in a 350° oven until oil is heated.  Pour dressing mix into hot casserole dish and bake uncovered until done.
30 minutes for smaller casseroles and up to an hour for a large casserole.

The dressing should hold together loosely but not be dry. Top can be slightly browned.

GREEN BEANS (inspired by the Barefoot Contessa)

• 1 pound Haricots Verts (French Green Beans)
• 1/2 Bunch fresh flat leafed parsley, chopped
• Zest of 2 lemons (1 TBLSP)
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• Olive oil Salt and pepper

Microwave Haricots Verts for 3 minutes on high or until slightly undercooked for desired doneness. Mix lemon zest and chopped parsley and set aside. Heat olive oil in large sauté pan toss in Haricots Verts and minced garlic and cook until beans are done to desired tenderness. Remove form pan and toss with lemon zest and parsley.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Dear mom,

If I eat one more kale chip, spoonful of almond butter, slice of vegan cheese or clif bar, I’m either going to vomit or be constipated for life. Life as an eco carny has me drowning in “green” foods samples  – and I think you know plenty about my struggle with free samples.  All I want is my chopping board, loads of veggies, and plain yogurt. I love to travel but am having serious kitchen withdrawal.

This is a rare letter that truly (and regretfully) feels like a substitute for actual communication with you. So I hope people don’t get bored with it as I catch you up on why I haven’t called in a while.

Spirit fingers

November is a whirlwind. I’m on the eco-carny train working festivals in California in order to inform people about my org’s mission and recruit new members. First stop: San Francisco. And I’m completely smitten. The festival ended yesterday and since then I’ve been roaming… seeking funky street murals, popping into bakeries and cafes, sorting through smelly racks of clothes at thrift stores. Can I move here? Job shmob… who cares. I just want to live.

The people in San Fran are weird. Especially the people who come to our events… senile bag ladies, people dressed only in twigs, those who define “green” as marijuana use, unsupervised children with dreadlocks. A weekend at the festival in San Fran served the same purpose as a trip to Wal Mart in Birmingham – it made me feel almost normal… almost sane… and privileged for my token competency.

Coast

When tens of thousands of people come under the same roof to celebrate all things green, the conversation possibilities are endless. I’m on my feet, chatting about the environment and economy all day… and despite my exhaustion come nightfall, I feel pressured to keep up with my coworkers who are always ready to rage throughout the night. And if my boss tells me  to drink, then I have to drink :). Since our crew has been coming here for years, we have our regular digs… the favorite is a piano karaoke bar called Martuni’s, where broadway actors chill after shows. On Sunday night, we sipped martinis while the cast of the Lion King competed over karaoke. It. was. amazing.

This is where I landed during my run today

And about the visibility issue… I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but… I am writing letters to my mother visible to the whole freaking world! I challenge you to name any action more visible than that. Yes, I am shy by nature and yes, when I was young, I didn’t speak (is a selective mutism self-diagnosis pushing it too far?). But I’d like to think that I’ve exercised my shyness comfort zone plenty.

I’m just not a chatty person and that’s that. Verbal communication is overrated (which is why I miss India where all I had to do was  smile, nod, make funny faces and stir my hands in the air). So maybe my take on boys is hypocritical. I hate the way that boys act towards me, but is it my fault for not giving them opportunities to act in other ways? I guess I don’t give people much to work with. Am I too defensive? Too insecure? Ugh I’m over this conversation. I embrace my single-lady-ness and should stop attacking its persistence.

Anyway, right before I left for California, Arielle and I hosted a brunch that lasted til 6pm (success). We decided last minute to post the brunch as an American Jewish World Service Global Hunger Shabbat event, which lured friendly strangers. We started the brunch with ice-breakers (my fav!) and quickly cut the awkwardness with alcohol.  The menu is below.

Cucumber grapefruit gin fizz

Bloody Marys with Celery Ice Cubes

Spinach Feta Pumpkin Muffins

Buckwheat Fig Scones

Ricotta Cardamom Pancakes

Big Beautiful Porridge with Nuts and Dried Fruits

Radish Cucumber Salad

Fall Veggie Hash

Spinach Onion Frittata

Blintzes (thanks Ilana and Molly)

Pumpkin Muffins (thanks Sami and Ayla!)

Me: How did we drink so much?
Carolyn: We’re grown people… uhh… grown ups. We’re grown ups. It’s very possible to drink so much.

You would have loved the celery ice cube bloody marys (minus the cheap vodka).  I’m including my two favorite recipes from brunch in this post – the buckwheat scones and spinach feta pumpkin muffins. They were the first dishes to run out and are both perfect for fall. I adapted both of these recipes from 101cookbooks.com. Heidi, the site’s blogger always posts the most beautiful, healthful recipes!

As it gets colder, I’m obsessed with buckwheat and these scones are perfect… not too sweet but just enough to complement the nutty buckwheat.  I know buckwheat is not a normal flavor to love and I’m blaming bubbe for pushing kasha on me since childhood. Maybe we can make them for Thanksgiving.

I’m in San Fran for another day and then off to Los Angeles. And then I’ll be home for Thanksgiving! Can’t say that I miss DC yet.

Love,

Shaina

PS. Mark said that I refer to you by your first names? …huh? Right back atcha. I would never. Ever.

Fig Buckwheat Scones:

(Adapted from 101cookbooks.com – thank you, Heidi! Original recipe is here.)

These scones are the most beautiful, photogenic baked good I’ve ever created. Usually, I have a hard time making things that are supposed to come out pretty, but this recipe inspired me to (try) to follow instructions. And even though I wasn’t precise in my measurements or process, they came out beautiful and delicious.

Dry mix:

• 1 1/2 C buckwheat flour
• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 1/3 C sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt

Wet mix:

• 4 Oz cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/4 C heavy cream

• 1 C Fig Butter ( recipe below)

First, mix dry ingredients. Then, add butter. You can either make dough in food processor or rub butter between your fingers, rubbing it into dry mix until it feels like grains of rice. It’s important that the butter stay solid and cold, so do this quickly!

Then add the cream and gently mix into flour.

Transfer dough onto a well-floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into your best rectangle (Heidi says it should be 8 inches wide, 16 inches long, and 3/4 inch thick… but I just did my best to get it to look like a square). Make sure the dough does not stick by using plenty of extra flour.

Spread the fig butter on the dough and roll the long edge of the dough into a log so that the seam is on the bottom.

Slice the log in half with a knife and place the halves on a baking sheet. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (can be kept in fridge for two days).

Preheat the oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

After 30 minutes, take  logs out of the refrigerator and cut into 6 equal pieces. Place each scone flat on baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, rotating halfway through.  The scones are ready to come out when their undersides are golden brown. They are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day.

Makes 12 scones.

Fig Butter:

• 6 dried figs
• 1/2 C water
• 1 C nuts (I’ve used cashews, walnuts and/or almonds)
• dash sea salt
• clove powder, ginger, cinnamon and vanilla to taste

Add all ingredients to food processor and puree until smooth. Whenever I make this, I always double or triple the ingredients – even though I intend to make it for a specific recipe like this one, I use it liberally throughout the week – it’s great stirred into oatmeal or yogurt, or spread onto apple slices or a cracker.

Pumpkin Spinach Feta Muffins

(Adapted from 101cookbooks.com, original recipe here)

• 1 tbs unsalted butter
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 C cubed pumpkin or butternut squash
• 2 tsp sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large handful of chopped spinach
• 4 tbs chopped parsley
• 3 tbs sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• 3 tbs toasted walnuts in pieces
• 3/4 C grated Parmesan
•  1/2 C cubed feta
• 5 tsp  mustard
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 C buttermilk or plain yogurt
• 2 C flour
• 4 tsp  baking powder

Preheat oven to 405F  and grease a muffin pan with butter.

Toss squash in salt, pepper and olive oil and roast on baking sheet for 15 minutes until cooked through. Set aside.

Mix two-thirds of the squash with chopped spinach, parsley, sunflower seeds, Parmesan, two-thirds of the feta, and all of the mustard. Add lots of salt and black pepper!

In a separate bowl, beat eggs and buttermilk/yogurt  and add to the squash mix. Sift the flour and baking powder onto the  mix. Add salt and a generous dose of freshly ground black pepper and fold together – do not overmix!

Spoon the mixture into muffin pan and top each muffin with a bit of the remaining squash and feta.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes  until the tops of the muffins are golden. Let cool slightly before serving.

Dear Shaina,

What tiff?  I thought we were having a little spirited discussion about your hatred of boys. I knew what you meant then and I absolutely understand what you hate and why you hate it.  I would like to think that your father and I had a hand in raising you to hate being objectified and… to hate the objectification of others, as well. I do NOT think you should get over it!

But I would like to talk more about the visibility thing.  The visibility thing is not about hating boys or posting Arielle’s picture instead of your own. It’s about the remnants of your shyness and your hesitancy to show the world, people, even boys… who you really are, what you think, how you feel…beyond the surface.  Putting a picture of yourself on your blog (or not) is just a metaphor for how you are in the real world. You have to admit, you do play things pretty close to the vest.  And that is not a bad thing. I’m just sayin…if you want boys to notice more than your physical attributes (which they will notice regardless), you may have to let them know a little more about the rest of you, at least in small doses.  I feel privileged to be able to have an insider view of your life and I just want you to feel more comfortable showing your whole self off a little more!

Your friend Mark, the photojournalist from NYC, arrived just as we drove in from the beach.  He is staying with us while working on a project to tell the Alabama immigrant story.  I learned from him that you have been referring to us (your parents) in the presence of your peers, by our first names. When Mark asked us why you do that, we both responded with… “huh?”  We didn’t have a clue that you call us ‘Esther’ and ‘Allen.’  Although this is not a huge deal for me, I will have you know that I would get severely reprimanded by Bubbe (she didn’t even know the meaning of reprimand) if I even called her “Mother.”  She insisted on “Mom” or “Mommy” and of course later in life, everyone affectionately called her “Bubbe.”  So, just don’t be thinking about calling me “Esther” to my face!

In the meantime, this week has been totally crazy! I think I may have too many things on my plate.  Right now I am cooking Shabbat dinner for Goldie’s 90th and nothing seems to be coming together. I am cooking my traditional Chicken and carrots and potatoes recipe which usually turns out great…and I hope it does this time too.

Have fun in California and I cant wait to see you in a couple weeks for Thanksgiving. I need your cooking inspiration!

Love, Mom
Xooxoxoxoxoxoxox

One Pot Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

The following recipe is for 10 – 12 people, but can be doubled or tripled for large crowds.  Just make sure to leave plenty of cooking time if you are making a large quantity.

• 1 onion sliced in thin wedges
• 3 – 4 carrots peeled and cut in 2 inch chunks
• 2 – 3 pounds of red or yukon gold potatoes
• 3 – 4 cloves of garlic chopped

Place all vegetables in the bottom of a large roaster. Add salt, pepper and dried parsley liberally and mix together. Cover the bottom of the roaster with the veggies.

• 3 – 4 Chicken Breasts on bone with skin on
• 6 Chicken legs with skin
• 6 Chicken thighs with skin

Clean chicken and remove any excess fat, but leave skin on. Salt and pepper the chicken liberally.  Add chopped garlic, parsley and any other seasonings you like.
Layer chicken on top of vegetables in the roaster.

I sometimes use Kosher parve chicken flavored powdered soup mix to season both the chicken and potatoes. Leave off the salt if you use the powder mix.

Preheat oven to 350°
Roast in covered roaster. Check after about 45 minutes to see if juices from chicken have begun to fill bottom of pan.  Cook covered until chicken is almost done and juices are visible.  Uncover chicken and baste with juices periodically while continuing to roast chicken in the oven until it is golden brown and skin is crisped.  A little paprika and parsley can be added if desired.  This may take a couple hours depending on the quantity of chicken and potatoes you are cooking.  Don’t be afraid of overcooking.  It actually gets better the longer it cooks.

This dish can be cooked partially the day before and put in the oven for the final browning before serving.  The excess fat in the meat juices can be removed after cooling leaving the remaining clear juices for basting in the final browning.  Leave at least an hour to reheat and brown.  More time will be needed if you are preparing a large quantity.

For vegetarian guests, roast seasoned potatoes (regular and sweet potatoes can be used) carrots and onions with a little olive oil in a separate roasting pan.

Vegetarian version

This recipe, with or without the chicken, is naturally gluten free.

Add a green salad and a steamed green vegetable and dinner is done. Pick up a Challah and a bottle of wine and you have Shabbat dinner.

Dear mom,

I’m on my way back to DC after a week of being stuck in Destin with you and dad, avoiding Hurricane Sandy’s wrath. I’m writing this letter on my slow, clunky computer and hadn’t realized how bad it is until now, after working on your brand new one all week.

I understand your excitement. Your new computer is so fast! And beautiful! And though you’re still slow – really, it’s painful to watch –  I’m proud you’re taking a stab at new technology. Projects are fun.

I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful Dani’s wedding was. The beach weather was perfect, her dress was amazing and love was in the air. It made me think about what kind of wedding I might want to have. The dress, the venue, the food, the… boy?

Ew.

At the beach we had a conversation/tiff that was prompted my adamancy of hating boys.  I feel like I need to clarify.

I said that I hate boys. You said that I don’t hate boys.  Dad asked if I like girls. You said I only hate boys because I’m afraid of being visible.

I still don’t get the visibility thing.

But I hate to admit it – gritting my teeth – you’re right (you don’t know how hard it is for me to say that publicly), I don’t hate boys.

I do hate when boys I don’t know talk to me at bars like they’re trying to get to know me. I hate when boys smile at me and think they’re doing me a favor. I cringe when they tell me I look pretty. And when strange men look me up and down or try to brush up against me, I just. can’t. deal.

You tell me that it’s my fear of visibility. In your mind, my rage against boys is somehow linked to the fact that I posted pictures of Arielle picking apples instead of me on my last post on this blog. You think that I don’t like boys because I don’t like to be seen?

I don’t like to be seen as an empty shell.  And when a strange boy says hey at a bar, it makes me feel like exactly that… A small empty shell. I’m sure you understand.

But you are probably going to say that I need to get over it. That it’s my own problem and no one else’s. And you’d  probably be right… again.

So I’m going to revoke my I hate boys statement and replace it with right now, at this time in my life, I am disturbed by x, y and z actions of boys. Because for now, that’s the most I can muster. Next time I state my hatred for boys, there’s no need to get all worked up.

Anyway. The recipe I’m sending you is linked loosely with my boy-hating.

It’s an Indian recipe, Kichdi.

Where I lived, in Kutch, Gujarat, people slurped big bowls of Kichdi under pools of ghee as an after-meal digestif. One of my neighbors routinely brought me a big bowl around 11 pm, claiming that it would make me stronger. In Gujarat, where many stick to a pure vegetarian diet, this simple combination of mung beans and rice is considered an everyday essential. Most of my neighbors ate Kichdi with ghee, curd, sour pickle and chapatti (flat bread). But I ate all sorts of Kichdi preparations that varied from state to state and restaurant to restaurant.

When I got home, it took my body awhile to adjust to not having Kichdi in my system. It’s now my favorite comfort food – a remedy for illnesses of all sorts. It also has Ayurvedic relevance… Some of my friends talk about doing a Kichdi “cleanse” (I can’t imagine) to rid themselves of impurities. I like to spice it up, add a lot of veggies, and cool it down with plain yogurt.

I hope you enjoy this small dose of India. And that you’re closer to understanding what I mean when I say I hate boys.

With love, hate and everything in between,

Shaina

Spicy Kichdi with Veggies

• 3/4 c whole green mung beans
• 1 c white rice

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbs chopped ginger
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 3 tbs oil
• 1 onion
• 3/4 tsb dill seed
• salt
• 1 or 2 chilis

• 2 medium tomatoes
• 1 green pepper
• other veggies to taste

Bring rice and beans (in same pot) to boil. Let stand for 25 minutes. Pound spices together. Cook onion, pepper and veggies in oil, cumin seeds and dill seeds until brown. Then add spice mixture and tomatoes. Add to rice and beans. Garnish with chopped cilantro and eat with plain yogurt (curd).

Dear Shaina,

Loved your letter and recipes and your total engagement with your life, despite the stress. I am also feeling the speed of the days flying by, even though, I technically have “nothing” to do!

My newest obsession also has to do with APPLEs, just not the pick-off-the-tree and eat kind.  I am seduced by my new MAC Pro laptop.   I can’t say its been the easiest of relationships, but the more I get to know it … well, I may actually fall in love. Learning new things, especially when they involve technology, is totally time-sucking and HARD! I am at the Apple Store for training almost every other day when I am in town.   I know almost all the trainers, where the bathroom is and… some really cool things I can do with my MAC.  And I just purchased a new camera which I also have no idea how to use. I have decided that I am going to spend all my time learning new technology, just to prove I can! That is, unless I have a mah jong game.  I do have my priorities!

Next week is November already!  Thanksgiving is practically here.  We are expecting about 40 this year (OMG)! I keep reminding myself that I used to do this and work 50 hours a week…so Thanksgiving should be a breeze this year.

Although Turkey is standard Thanksgiving fare, for me, it’s about the soup. I like to serve soup as an appetizer to warm up people while waiting for everyone to arrive.  My favorite is Mushroom Barley Soup; hearty, healthy and part of the tradition.  I always make a second soup just in case someone hates mushrooms.  I am big on having options so everyone’s happy.

Not sure what I will do for the second soup this year, but I did make some very healthy and easy cauliflower soup last week.  It was good, but a lot of people hate cauliflower so I may reserve that for family only (they’ll eat anything).  I am including the recipe because I liked it and I think this recipe could be easily adapted to other vegetables.

One more thought; I noticed that you had no pictures of yourself in the apple orchard last week. Ordinarily, it wouldn’t have been an issue because you usually only post pictures of food.  But it stood out for me because you did put in Arielle’s picture, which I loved, but you were missing.  If I were reading your blog and didn’t know you, I would think Arielle was you. It was odd to me because you put so much of your heart and your passion into this blog, yet you are invisible in a visual sense. I know that, on some level, invisibility is comfortable for you. You have nudged yourself beyond your comfort zone in so many areas, yet invisibility seems to have a stronghold on you.  I thought about your earnest quest to find yourself, to search for your path in life, to honor your urge to go for it, what ever it is…and all I kept thinking about was ‘what is lost cannot be found unless it is visible.’    I challenge you to practice visibility.

I better get back to my recipes so I can get to bed.  I loved our day at the beach and I look forward to hearing about the adventures you are sure to have the rest of this weekend.

Love,

Mom      xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoo

COMFORT IN SOUP

Making Soup is one of the easiest and comforting food items to prepare.  For one, soup recipes are very forgiving and provide lots of room for personal preferences and tastes.    These Soups are heart healthy, vegetarian, gluten free, and can be made using little or no fat. There is nothing like a steaming hot bowl of soup to warm up a cold day and nurture family and friends.

The quantities noted in these recipes are very flexible. Taste frequently and adjust to your taste.  Start off with the biggest pot you own as the soup tends to grow as you adjust flavors and ingredients.  Soup freezes well and is a treat to pull out of the freezer on a cold winter night.

Mushroom Barley Soup

• 

  Raw Pearl Barley

  1 ½  cup pearl Barley

• 1 large onion diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 4-6 cloves of fresh garlic minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 – 2 lbs sliced mushrooms
• drop of olive oil
• vegetarian soup broth
• 1 Tblsp oregano
• 1 Tblsp basil
• Salt and plenty of black pepper to taste

Cook barley according to directions and do not drain or rinse after cooking. Sauté  onion, carrots, garlic and celery in a drop of olive oil in a large soup pot.

Add 1 to 2 pounds of sliced mushrooms to the soup pot and continue sautéing until all vegetables are tender, but not soft.

Add 4 to 6 cups of water seasoned with vegetarian broth. Add the cooked barley with the liquid to the soup pot. Add the seasonings, salt and pepper. Simmer until flavors have blended.  Adjust seasonings and ingredients to taste.

More barley if you like thicker soup, more water for thinner.  More (or less) carrots or onions or garlic to taste. This soup tastes better the longer it cooks and even better the next day.

Optional: A splash of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar can be added.

*If you don’t want to use any oil, just add all raw vegetables including the mushrooms to the cooked barley with with water, spices and vegetarian broth and cook until done.

**I used white button mushrooms, baby portobellas and even added some enoki mushrooms this year.  Vary the amount and type according to your preference.

Cauliflower Soup

• 1 large onion, diced
• 3-4  cloves garlic, minced
• 3 shallots, sliced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 head of fresh cauliflower broken into chunks
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Shallots

Sauté onions, garlic and shallots in a tsp of olive oil in the soup pot until slightly translucent. Put entire head of cauliflower broken into chunks into the pot. Add just enough water to barely cover the cauliflower.

Add salt and pepper.

Vegetarian or Chicken flavored bouillon can be used instead of salt.

Cook until cauliflower is soft and cooked through.

Remove from heat.  Using a stick blender or food processor, blend all vegetables in the pot until you have a creamy white puree.  Adjust seasonings.  If soup is too thick, add a little water.

Simmer and adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve hot and garnish with cut up green onions.

Can be frozen.

If cauliflower is not your thing, butternut squash can be substituted or try a combination of yellow squash and sweet potatoes.  Experiment with adding other spices and enjoy!

Dear mom,

I don’t have time to write this letter. I’ve been totally crazed at work and somehow my personal obligations have picked up.  I’m writing, auditing two classes, making new friends, doing my job… so this letter will be brief. My eye is still twitching (2 months!), my supervisor (who I share an office with) caught the eye twitch, and Arielle’s eye just started to spasm.

It’s something in the air.

This transition to fall has been the weirdest. The leaves have turned and nighttime starts early, but every other day is a different season.  Right now I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Yesterday I was wearing a fleece jacket and boots. Global weirding.

I’m dedicating this post to the apple because it is my autumn marker this year.  Just like tomatoes kept me present this summer…. now, in autumn, apples are my rock. As global warming/weirding takes it’s toll, I’ve become more dependent on food to mark the seasons.

Anyway… they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but what about three or four apples a day? Apples in yogurt, apples in oats, apples in rum, apples in salads; apples roasted, apples pureed, apples boiled (only when I’m sick). And so many different kinds! My recipes for this post all include apples…  I hope they will inspire you to crunch and munch away!

Fall is exciting. It’s fresh and new. I’m starting to feel like the world has something for me to find, and the overwhelming lost-ness that I was feeling this summer is transforming into a streamlined GO GET IT,  girl. And even though I still don’t know what “it” is, I still feel pulled towards… it.

We went apple picking

For example (not quite sure if this is an example?), last night Arielle and I changed all the furniture in our house. Our dining room is now our living room and vise versa. We had been talking about it for long and our house couldn’t come to a consensus about our unified feelings. But last night we just did it. And it’s amazing. I’m blaming the fall air.

Changing the furniture changed my life. I can’t wait to eat breakfast in our new dining room with light streaming in from the windows.
And now I need to wrap up this letter and get this posted so I can move onto my next project.

So here’s to apples. And the things we make with them.

Hope you enjoy these apple-licious recipes! They’re all on the cleanse!

Love,

Shaina

Charred October Slaw

• 1 c dry quinoa
• 2 c Roasted Moroccan Carrots with Raisins (recipe below)
• 1/2 c chopped cilantro
• 1/2 c chopped arugula (or other greens)
• Sea salt to taste
• Black Pepper to taste
• Crushed roasted almonds for garnish
• 1 c Apple relish (recipe below)

Dear Shaina,

Well, your Dad and I fell off the “cleanse wagon” for real this past weekend in New Orleans. But “cleanse consciousness” was never far from our minds as we made the lesser-of-the-evils kinds of food choices throughout the weekend.

Jump To Recipe

We knew we were up for a challenge when we got on the ferry to Gretna (the site of Beast of the Southern Wild) to attend the Gretna Music Fest.  Most people on the boat looked older, grayer and significantly larger than us.  I’m not judging…I’m just sayin… The baby-boomers have arrived and they are partying hearty! The Gretna Fest, aside from music, features the most extensive array of fried delicacies you can possibly imagine …the usual powdered sugar coated doughy fried fair food along with fried turkey legs, fried shrimp, fried fish, fried chicken, fried Oreos, fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (I am not kidding!).

NOLA has a culture and essence like no other city I have ever been in and it always leaves me a little sad and bewildered.

So much of the French Quarter seems weary and worn to the bone. Hundred year old homes stand steady with peeling paint and last year’s faded mardi gras adornments still hanging on to windowsills and door frames in anticipation of next year’s new set of beads and feathers and voodoo dolls.  A couple blocks away is the familiar Bourbon Street bouquet of alcohol, cigarettes and vomit mingling with the throngs of Saints fans, convention goers and street people… Gentrification never quite made it to the Quarter…or maybe it has come and gone.   Even much of the art feels too bright, too harsh, too distorted  – as if its subjects have been pushed beyond the boundaries of their natural form. But that is NOLA. Another slice of life. I don’t think it’s going to make our top ten list of places we would like to live someday.

Of course, we had our share of pleasure and partying, too.  We saw old friends, went to the Art For Arts Sake annual art galleries event, heard great music (even did a little dancing) and ate incredible food!  We ate at a quasi vegetarian restaurant where I had a  Freekah Salad made with Freekeh grain, a tasty cold smoked “green grain” I had never heard of before.  I haven’t been able to find it here, but if you happen to come across it in D.C., buy me some. Dad had bread pudding with apples and a whiskey sauce at Brunch one day. My ever-present “cleanse conscious” brain immediately thought about how I could make some form of this pudding using oatmeal instead of bread. I was ready for a little more “cleanse” healthy take on life by that point.

In the few days that we were away, it seems like the summer ended and fall arrived with cool nights and kamikaze acorns falling from the trees onto our deck.  I went straight from the airport to the Asian store to buy fresh veggies. I didn’t even unpack before I got out my big pot and started cutting up vegetables to make my first fall pot of soup.

Two things  about me and soup: 1.) I can’t make a small pot of soup. 2.) There really is no such thing as a recipe for soup.  But I did write down the basic ingredients.  The problem is, I just keep adding stuff that I find in the frig or think of in the middle of the night.  So the Black Bean soup of yesterday is now a Chipotle Chile Black Bean soup.  It is cleanse friendly, of course, and can be garnished with plain Greek yogurt and cilantro or just a little grated fresh parmesan cheese.  It’s going to be lunch for mah jong group tomorrow, along with a green salad and fresh fruit.

I am also including my experimental Oatmeal Pudding concoction.  It will never be a true Bread Pudding dessert recipe (although Dad did pour some amaretto and cream over his), but it would make a healthy Brunch dish  as the weather cools down.

I know we’ll see you soon when you come for Dani’s wedding, but I am really excited that you will be home for Thanksgiving, which will be here before we know it.  Preparing for Rosh Hashana in the kitchen with you was nothing less than a spiritual experience for me.  And I cant wait to do it again for Thanksgiving!

Hope you enjoy these recipes – they’re both very forgiving dishes and the ingredients are only a starting point – Enjoy experimenting and adding your own tastes and touches!

Love,
Mom
oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Black Bean or Chipotle Black Bean Soup

Start with a very large soup pot and sauté the following lightly a Tblsp of olive oil.

• 2 Large Onions chopped
• 1 T chopped fresh garlic (about half a bulb)
• 1 Cup chopped carrots

Add to the pot

• 4 Cups water
• 2 tsp sea salt

Cook until carrots are soft and add:

• 2 to 3 cups of cooked Black beans with a little of the liquid from the beans (canned black beans can be used, but precooked dried ones are better)

Then, add:

• Four 14oz cans of diced tomatoes (overripe fresh tomatoes can also be added after peeling)
• 1 Tblsp oregano (or to taste)
• Black pepper
• A handful of chopped fresh basil
• 2 Cups Chopped Bok Choy
• 1/2 Cup raisins

Cook until all veggies are done and flavors blended. Seasonings and ingredients can be adjusted to taste. Add more beans if you like a thicker soup or more water and seasonings for a soupier variety.
At this point, you have basic Black Bean soup.  Garnish with grated parmesan or cheddar cheese.

To make Chipotle Chile Black Bean Soup add:

• 1 tsp of Chipotle Chile powder and cumin to taste.

Taste frequently and adjust seasonings.  I added more Bok Choy after adding the Chipotle Chile powder.  It always tastes better the next day when all flavors have  cooked together.

This makes a huge pot of soup.  Enjoy some now and freeze some for later.

Oatmeal Pudding Casserole

Sauce

Cook the following ingredients in a sauce pan until soft and mushy.

• 1 overripe pear cut up in small pieces
• 1 overripe banana (I always freeze my overripe bananas in the peel so I have them whenever I need them)
• 3/4 C fruit juice from a fresh pineapple or orange
• 2 Tblsp cashew butter

Add

• 2 chopped apples

to the sauce and cook until apples are tender, but not mushy: (about 10-15 minutes)

Meanwhile, mix together in a large bowl:

• 1 1/2 Cup uncooked rolled oats
• 2 Cups cooked (liquidy) steel cut oats
• 2 Cups plain organic yogurt

Let stand for 15 minutes

Then add the following to the oatmeal mixture and mix thoroughly:

• The cooked apple/banana/fruit juice mixture
• 4 cut up ripe bananas
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 Fresh apple cut up
• 1/2 tsp grated whole nutmeg
• 1 Tblsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tblsp vanilla

Adjust seasonings for taste. You can add brown sugar, honey or agave  if you like a sweeter oatmeal, but the fruit adds plenty of sweetness.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour oatmeal mixture into a casserole dish greased with 1 tsp walnut oil. Top with chopped walnuts, raisins and additional cinnamon. Bake mixture for 30 minutes or more (until apples are tender).

This is a great way to clean out your pantry of dried/ripe fruits, nuts, grains, etc.

Can be served warm or at room temperature – Garnish with greek yogurt or brown sugar.