More snow in Vancouver

Enough already. We are to get 8 more inches of snow today. It is beginning to drop from trees, so I took a few shots after breakfast, from the inside warmth of the house. I hope Mother can move the picture to the left and see the old plant that is parked under the deck. That is the basket of plants she and Dad sent to Janice after her cancer operation in May of 1988. Janice kept some of the plants alive for a full decade, but they were waning this fall.

Thanksgiving in Cutchogue

Thanksgiving in Cutchogue is a four day affair beginning Wednesday evening and ending Sunday afternoon. The last four years, Kara, Katherine and Bernard have been a constant. We have our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday as a tradition which gives us plenty of time to make the pies and everything else that can be made ahead. We play lots of games the favorites being long-jump chinese checkers, scrabble and bocce ball in the backyard if weather permits and this year it was beautiful. Bernard and I have our annual chess tournament when the girls go shopping at the Tanger Mall, and yes, there is plenty of time. This year they left to shop at 10 am and got back at 4:30 pm. Don't know how they do it, just glad I'm not there! They all got neat stuff, the best being Kara's opera dress. So pretty. Saturday evening after the shopping we had a fondue dinner, the wine supplied by Bruce from afar. The wine was a most unusual wine, an elderberry wine from a Kansas vintner, not sweet, very dry with just a hint of berry. It paired perfectly with the fondue of which we all ate too much.

Saturday Fondue Dinner

28 Lbs. of Cinderella Pumpkin

Kara's New Opera Dress

Thanksgiving in Seattle, 2008

The Thanksgiving menu (on fridge; "TJs" = Trader Joe's)

Appetizers included two heritage cheeses from near Hoquiam, Steve's pickled red radishes, assorted dips, glorious soft cheese, washed rind cheese (the so-called 'stinky cheese'), and cukes, which make delightful "crackers" for cheese slices.

The Soft cheese, possibly the top attraction of the first course

Part of an 18-pound turkey, nicely presented by Chef Stan

This year's wines were from Argentina

Serious fresh chanterelles from Hoquiam (end of the season, frost is coming). The can is being used to convey sense of size of the box.

Steve preparing a few chanterelles

Food starts to arrive (left to right: veggies, Chinese greens, vegan gravy in hot pot, Steve's Mom's pearl onions, chanterelles, potatoes, stuffed squash, my cranberry/orange/apple relish, two stuffings--wild rice and bread, turkey)

First sitting, 5:00 p.m. (suddenly, it became very quiet, mouths were busy chewing)
Brenda, Jesse and Christine

Various pies (sweet potato, apple, pumpkin), more stuffing, several teas, whipping cream, etc. "There was no room for them in the inn."

Preparing care packages for guests. Steve likes to give away the leftovers (starting with garlic mashed potatoes). Early Friday morning, he is flying to Washington DC to see his brother (leukemia) and parents.

We just returned from another enjoyable feast put on by Stephen, with assistance from Vivian. As is his custom, Stan bought, stuffed and roasted an 18# turkey at his place and triumphantly brought it to the feast. As usual, it was done to perfection and the stuffing was excellent. Jamie's stuffed squash was pleasing to both eye and tongue, Christine's apple pie was a big hit, the cheeses were a delight.

We drove down for the day (after my Photoshop class) and when we were returning to Canada after midnight, were surprised to see a 30-minute lineup of cars waiting to get into the States. Seattle's Black Friday sales seems to be popular with Canadians. We also wondered whether some stores opened at midnight.

Stephen's mashed root vegetable recipe

Stephen is not into blogging (understatement), but last week he created a dish I really enjoyed at Hoquiam in its reheated version this weekend. So, with his permission, here is his recipe. I should add that as far as I know, if Steve does own a cookbook, he certainly never uses it. Since he has an instinct for what works, he proceeds by feel, measuring nothing, no matter how complicated the recipe or how many courses his meals entail. For this recipe, he suggested we use 5s as a point of reference:

After peeling and cutting quarters or so, cook together in water until soft:

• 5 sweet potatoes
• 5 yams
• 5 parsnips

In olive oil in a pan, gently fry:

• 5 garlic cloves sliced
• 2 6" springs of fresh rosemary (leaves only, chopped)

When done, combine, season, and mash.

Steve promises to make this dish for our Boxing Day Feast this year. He and Vivian will be flying from Washington, DC to Seattle on Christmas Day and then driving up to Vancouver, so we will feast on the 26th. This dish is naturally sweet. The idea developed when he was faced with a plethora of root vegetables and guests .

I will only add that during my visit, I met their elusive mushroom gatherer in Hoquiam who sells them a big box (24"x16"x8") of fresh chanterelle mushrooms for about $16 (if I heard correctly). The guy is an absolute character . . . only a video with sound would do his banter justice. Anyway, Steve has been concocting recipes for these jewels, including something that used up some of my Argentinian Malbec leftover from Vivian's birthday party and a lovely hunk of beef.

Vegetable Stock

Brother Evan sent me an email requesting my veggie stock recipe in anticipation of Aaron's arrival for the holiday.  This recipe is the result of thirteen years of experimentation as we've had vegeterian guests for Thanksgiving that many years (Amy's sister Katherine and husband Bernard). I make a seperate stuffing and gravy from this as well as some soups as our Thanksgiving runs from Wednesday through Sunday. We have turkey and since they eat seafood, lobster has to do.  I'd like to know if anyone gets acceptable results trying this, and please let me know if you come up with any improvements. I'm all ears.

Amy, Kara, Katherine and Four Delicious Pies (photo by Bernard)

Ready to Roast

A Little More Water, Then Begin to Heat

Simmering

The Stock

Vegetable Stock Recipe

2 bunches of celery with leaves chopped in 2" pieces
3 large carrots peeled and chopped in 2" pieces and quartered
3 large parsnips peeled and chopped in 2" pieces and quartered
1 pound of button mushrooms roughly chopped
3 large portobello mushrooms in large slices
8 ounces of shitaki mushrooms roughly chopped
1 package 0.75 ounces of dried and reconstituted exotic mushrooms for stir-fry with liquid
4 large leeks cleaned and split lengthwise and cut into 3" pieces
-- water from soaking 1 lb. great northern beans (use the beans for something else)
6 large onions with roots cut off and quartered including skins (for color)
1 head of garlic cloves, each clove mashed under a knife blade
20 peppercorns
-- any cheese rinds (I save them in the freezer for stocks and soups)
4 bay leaves
1 1/2 - 2 cups of low sodium V8 juice
2 cups of a nice white wine (maybe a little sherry too)
5 sprigs of rosemary
10 sprigs of thyme
-- light soy sauce for salting to taste (I use very little as freezing the stock seems to
intensify the salt taste)
1 tablespoon or more of asian fish sauce adds umami but skip it and the cheese rinds for vegans

Put half of the celery, carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, onions and garlic on a baking sheet and roast until they begin to caramelize. I don't roast any of the leeks. The mushrooms will need to come out of the oven before the rest are finished. When the veggies are done roasting, add them to a stock pot along with the remaining raw vegetables. Add the bean soaking liquid and all of the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover it all by an inch. With medium-high heat, bring it to barely boiling, then bring it down to a very low simmer and continue simmering for an hour, no more.

When all is cool enough to handle, strain it through cheese cloth (you may need to change the cheese cloth once or twice). At this point you may choose to reduce the stock to intensify the flavor, though it might be just fine already. Clarifying the stock is up to you. If you want it clearer, add egg whites from several eggs and stir on low heat. The albumin will capture most of the particles. Continue removing and adding egg white until the clarity you want is achieved. I don't normally clarify as I think I lose some flavor doing it. One other ingredient can be added to give it all a more meaty taste and that is nutritional yeast. I think a tablespoon or two is plenty.

Good Luck!

Serious goulash

Hans starting to peel 9 pounds of onions

Our recipe from Sheila's cookbook

Don't knock it--it works (covering eyes and nose, very tightly)

Recipe called for 3 cloves of garlic but we concluded they really meant 12, home-grown of course

Browning onions in three pots (1/2 pound unsalted butter helps)

Coming along nicely, about halfway there, time for lunch

Cooling in a water bath

Hans and I devoted today (Saturday) to making serious Hungarian goulash (as we have three times before). In Sheila's memory, we use her copy of Marcia Colman Morton's The Art of Viennese Cooking, with other unusual recipes from the Austrian Provinces (Bantam Books). She bought so much Hungarian paprika that we are still using her supply, with abandon. We get boneless chuck roast and faithfully follow the rule: 1 pound onions : 1 pound meat. Today's production line required the peeling and dicing of 9 pounds of onions. I can only help at this stage if I wear my scuba diving mask (or work outside in a stiff breeze). We started at 9:00 and concluded by about 5:00. The recipe asks that things cook for two hours, but we feel four barely suffices. We also increase the paprika by 1/3. This concoction tastes best on noodles. It must fall apart as the fork starts the descent to the plate.

November 4, 2008

I am so relieved, so pleased with tonight's victory. I am so proud and thankful that so many of my loved ones voted as they did. Tomorrow I am going to tell everyone who will listen that my sister-in-law was a volunteer for Obama's campaign in the crucial state of Ohio.

(Duke, I'm not entirely clear on how you voted, but I know your heart is in the right place.)

Cantata Singers Novemberfest

Our choir is perpetually broke, and although last night's fundraiser should help, broke we will remain. This annual event is held in a stately old house now owned by the University Women's Association. We form little groups, like the informal octet I joined, sightread music at 6:00, then meet guests and perform later in the evening--after everyone is thoroughly sloshed. Yes, we have several wine merchants provide unending samples of their wines. I was so busy taking pictures that I got seriously behind in the main festivities. (I had to shoot at ISO 1600, which is the limit for my camera.)

Halloween

The one day out of the year that I hate the most come twice for me this year...Halloween. Thusrsday I had the pleasure of spending it with 4 year olds and Friday was soent with 3 year olds. I do have to say that kids were very cute it their costumes. We had a Spider Man, Iron Man, Power Ranger, Princess, lion, scarecrow, ladybug, butterfly, Superman, witches, and to my horror a rat! I will definately bring the pictures to the wedding this summer. First we fot the kids into their costume if they weren't in them already. Then we promptly had to get them out of their costumes when they whined about having to go potty. Next we trick or treated aroud the church for awhile, starting at the church offices and ending in the Fellowahip Hall where some of the parents were waiting with candy. When we were done parading we took the candy bags from the kids, much to their dismay, so that we could continue on with our day. We sany Halloween songs with the parents and kids and then of course it was time for the best part of the day...taking off the costumes. We did this while this parents slyly slipped out of the room. The rest of the morning was spent carving a pumpkin, playing outside, and decorating paper pumpkins. After two morning full of Halloween activities and a night of trick or treaters ringing the doorbell while a drugged Duke is peeing on my bed and still giving a defiant "woof", I was exhausted.