Dinner with Family

Not long ago we were invited up to have dinner with my son Vinny and my new Daughter-in-Law Kendelle at their home.  We try to get together every couple weeks or so and it is always a very relaxing evening.

We offered to take them out to a local pub for dinner, but Kendelle had a new recipe she and Vinny wanted to make for us.  I’m really glad that she insisted on making the dinner because it was one of the best meals that I’ve ever had.

When we arrived Kendelle told us we were having Salmon with Pesto, Garlic Roasted Potatoes, and Fresh Green Beans that I had pick from our garden the day before.  For dessert I brought Double Chocolate Banana Bread, which was also a new recipe that I had wanted to try out.

Ken and I raised 2 sons and I always felt that making sure they knew how to cook was important to their survival.  I taught them the fundamentals of using fresh food from local sources and what was in season before it was popular.  That is how I was raised, eating things from the garden all spring, summer, and fall.  Then putting a few things up for the winter and supplementing from the grocery store in the winter.  They added their own love of new foods and the fact that they are both adventurous cooks.  Kendelle has brought her own flare and willingness to try new recipes to the mix.

While I enjoyed Kendelle’s company in the kitchen Ken and Vinny manned the Grill.  The Salmon was brushed with Olive Oil and the pesto was divided into two dishes.  One dish held the pesto that would go out to the grill and the other held Pesto for later as a topping for the cooked Salmon.  Vinny placed the Salmon on the hot grill to cook one side and spread some of the Pesto on the other side.  When the Salmon was part way done on the first side, about 5 or 6 minutes, he flipped the Pesto coated side down and covered the cooked side with Pesto.  He placed the lid on the grill for another 5 or 6 minutes.  With gentle pressure he checked the Salmon for doneness, it should be firm but give slightly to the pressure.

As we served ourselves and went out to the deck to enjoy dinner together we topped off the salmon with some of the fresh Pesto that was in the second bowl.  The Pesto was divided into 2 bowls so that no cross contamination could occur from the raw Salmon.  The Meal was wonderful, the Family being together is adored, and Life is good.

Here is good Pesto recipe to try out.  It is not only good on Salmon, but on chicken, roasted potatoes, pizzas and even grilled ham and cheese!  There is enough in this recipe to freeze some for that fresh taste of summer basil during the winter.  What to heck else are we going to do with all this basil?

Pesto

4 Cups Fresh Basil Leaves, Packed

4 Cloves of fresh Garlic, Crushed

¼ Cup Pine Nuts, Toasted

1 oz. of Parmesan Cheese, Grated

1 oz. of Romano Cheese, Grated

¼ to ½ Cup of Olive Oil

In a food processor mix the first 3 ingredients and pulse to chop very fine.  Add the 2 cheeses and pulse to blend well.  Switch to constant high speed and pour the olive oil in a steady stream until you have a thick sauce about the consistency of mayonnaise.

Pesto can be frozen then thawed for later use.

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The Cooking Connection

My pie recipe, made with my Grandma's rolling pin, in my Mom's pie plate, on a hot pad that my Grandma crocheted.

As the snow swirls around outside the best thing I can do for myself and my husband is bake.  He has had a real craving for one of my Apple Pies, but it got put onto the back burner with all the cooking that the holidays require.  So with peeler in hand and apples that were crying to be used before they went bad, I resolved that this was the day!

When I’m doing something that doesn’t take a lot of concentration I either have to make a game out of it, i.e. how fast can I peel an apple or how long can I keep the peel intact without breaking it.  Or I can let my mind just drift.  Today it drifted.

It started when I spotted my cast iron fry pans that are a perpetual inhabitant of my stovetop.  Ken’s Mom entrusted these pans to me soon after we were married.  She had them stored in the attic of her house and asked if I would like them.  They had surface rust from not being used.  Young and dumb I thought to myself, “Who would want these old things”, but I was eager to please her so they came into my care. They had belonged to her mother and they needed to be used.  She told me how to care for them and then she told me stories about the women who had used them.  She told me stories about the family that they helped to feed and the food that they produced.

Then the stories all started to come back.  I was 5 or 6 years old again, standing by as my Grandma Skopec took a small disc of dough and set it on my Moms round kitchen table.  With rolling pin in hand she started to roll the dough out in all directions.  Larger and larger it got as I stood by asking endless questions.  Finally, she stopped for just a minute and explained that if she didn’t work quickly the dough would dry out and be unworkable.  I was welcome to stay, remember my questions and she would try to answer them when she was done.  As I watched, as quietly as was possible for me at the time, the dough became thinner and thinner until it hung off all sides of the table by at least 10 inches.  It was so thin you could almost see through it and there wasn’t one tear.  I can still see the look of satisfaction on her face.  That pastry recipe is in my mother’s recipe box in my cupboard, though I still haven’t attempted such a feat.

I remembered my Aunts and Mom gathered in a kitchen, cooking and talking, getting the food ready for a family get-together.  The food flowed from the kitchen to the tables that were set up.  My Mom’s special recipe potato salad was always served in her pretty ruby colored antique bowl.  I had just used this same bowl when I made my her Potato Salad recipe for Christmas.

My Dad liked to bake, and when he was laid off from Clark Equipment he made the best cookies and biscuits.  Much of this was learned when he Managed Thomas’s Restaurant in Niles for a short time.  He would explain why he mixed the ingredients the way he did and how you didn’t handle the biscuit dough too much or it would get tough.  He told me why he would flour the biscuit cutter after cutting each biscuit so it wouldn’t stick, and then gently lay the biscuits on the baking sheet.  They were the flakiest biscuits I ever tasted.  When he made cookies he would let me help mix the dough near the end when it was too thick to use a spoon on.  We would wash our hands and plunge our fingers into the thick gooey dough mixing in the chocolate chips and oatmeal.  The best part was licking our fingers when we were done mixing before he showed me how to drop the cookies onto the cookie sheet and put them into the oven.  The biscuit cutter and baking sheets are in my cupboard waiting for the next batch of biscuits or cookies.

My Grandma Quick would always let me help make piecrust.  She would flour the table in the kitchen to roll out the crust on, and then she would add a little flour to the top of the dough.  After rolling out the disc of dough to the right size she would drape it over her rolling pin and ease it into the pie plate.  She would trimming the dough to fit then hand me her rolling pin so I could make a small crust with the leftover dough.  As I roll out the crust for my pie, I remember the feel of her standing behind me with her hands on mine guiding them over the dough as we rolled.  I can feel the rhythm of the gentle back a forth motion and the feel of her wooden rolling pin in my hands as I shape and flatten the dough.  Yes, I’m using that rolling pin today and maybe someday I will stand behind one of my grandchildren helping them roll out their little pie crust.

Yes, many of the things that my family cooked with have taken up residence in my kitchen.  The bowls and biscuit cutters, rolling pins, and pie plates are all there, along with their recipes and the cooking heritage that they have bestowed on me.

As I drape my dough over my Grandma’s rolling pin and ease it into my mother’s pie plate I can feel all of my family’s cooks gathered around murmuring their approval.  What better thing to do on a snowy day than to invites these wonderful people back into my memories to warm my heart as their recipes baking in the oven warm the house, filling it with incredibly yummy scents and a feeling of home.

 

Lake Effect

Lake Effect 1

There a phenomenon in Michigan and the surrounding Great Lake States called the Lake Effect. Though it happens in every season it’s at its best in the winter. Lake Effect is a fickle creature whose rains and snows are at the mercy of the direction and strength of the wind. If you’ve ever lived in this area you understand.

One minute it can look like the Lake Effect 1 Pic. 

Magnificently big snowflakes cascading to the ground.  Covering everything in sight and five minutes later –

You get this, the Lake Effect 2 pic,with the sun reflecting off the snow-covered landscape.

Lake Effect 2

For us it is Lake Michigan that gives us this wonderfully fickle weather.  In summer our area can be bathed in sunshine with the temperature around 90 degrees and 80 percent humidity.  Then the rumbling starts off to the west and black storm clouds begin to rise on horizon.  The leaves of the trees curl their underside upward and air turns an odd greenish color.  The heat is suddenly replaced by a chilly breeze that brings goosebumps up on your skin.  Then the downpour begins as puffs of dust rise with each raindrop and all you want to do is dance in it with your face turned up to the sky.  As suddenly as it started it is over, but there in the sky in all it’s jaw dropping wonder is the Lake Effect 3 pic.

Lake Effect 3

Lake Michigan moderates our weather.  It’s not quite as cold in the winter and for the most part not quite as hot in the summer as some of the surrounding area.  I lived for a while in Florida and I wouldn’t trade it for Michigan.  I couldn’t give up the long Summer days of garden bounties, vibrant colors of Fall, the pristine snow coverings of Winter, and the long-awaited colors and smells of Spring.  The seasons are the circle of my life.  I am totally, comfortably, excitedly, and passionately in love with where I live.

 

Tell Me A Story

My Uncle Gordon and Mom at my Grandfathers gasstation/Grocery Store at Walton Rd and Old US 31 in Niles MI around 1930

     Listen.  Can you hear it? The hum in the air as friends and family gather
together. Really listen as the humming harmony of voices begins to
separate into each familiar voice. The voices tell of life past and
present, of comedy, tragedy, and drama. It’s all playing out right
there if you listen.

     With the starting of the New Year maybe it’s
time to learn about your story. When I was little my Grandfather
was always telling me about how he grew up. Of course he had found
a willing audience. Then sometime in the mid to late 1960’s my mom
talked him into writing down the things and events that he
remembered. He didn’t think it was that interesting, but he granted
her request in long hand. Mom carefully typed it out on our old
manual typewriter not once, but at least 6 times. Ah, the good old
days. I keep my copy in a safe place, pulling it out now and then
to share with someone. Someday I will take the time to put it into
the computer.

     I believe we all have a story to tell. Maybe because
we’ve been the ones living our lives we feel, like my Grandfather
did, that it’s not interesting. You would be surprised at the tales
that can be told to the willing listener, and the pleasure it
brings.

     One place to find out about your story is with older
relatives. Now that the colder days are setting in it is the time
of year that is lonelier for our older friends and relatives. Many
have a hard time getting out and would love a visitor. Sure, it’s
nice to talk about what is happening now in our lives, but many
age-challenged people don’t have a lot going on right now to talk
about. What they do have is history and when encouraged to do so
they love to talk about. Our older population has so much to teach
us about history and our ancestral background, if we take the time
to ask. You could start off asking things like: “Where were you
born?” “What was the house you lived in like?” or “What was the
depression like?” Many of the elderly population have first hand
knowledge of growing up in the 1930’s. The things that shaped their
lives and in turn the lives of their children are sometimes taken
for granted now. Ask permission first, but write it down or even
ask the person if they would consider writing things down. Even
just jotting down short memories that they happen upon when no one
is around can be great areas of discussion when you do visit.

     When family or friends gather together is another time that the stories
will fly. Sometimes each one is bigger than the last and, believe
me, they are told from many different perspectives. In this relaxed
atmosphere the brain tends to open up. One memory will trigger
another and another. This brings up long forgotten events,
emotions, and names of friends that have moved on to other places
and new adventures. This can also be a little scary when everyone
is talking about the girl or guy in our 4th hour history class in
high school and the only name we can come up with is “You know who
I’m talking about, get out the yearbook”. Of course this adds a lot
more memories to the discussion or fuel to the fire. It’s always
good for a few laughs and also a few sad reminders.

     Before there was written history there were stories told around the campfire.
These stories were passed down from one generation to the next.
Slowly as families grew farther apart the family connections were
lost and the stories were forgotten. Maybe it’s time we got
reconnected. While there is still time to learn about past
generations, talk to the older people in your life while they are
still here. You might be surprised at what you find out. All it
takes is asking someone “Please, tell me a story about your past.
Tell me what your life was like. Tell me what the depression was
like. Tell me about the war. Tell me about my Family. I will make
time to listen.”