A Rare Personal Account

I tend not to get too insanely personal on my blog, but here you go.

Today was a no good, very bad day. Up to a point.

I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 9:15 a.m.

At least, I had on my calendar that the appointment was at that time. I planned for it for two weeks. I had my notes all written down, my list of prescriptions, and I was prepared to go in there and launch a full-scale assault on this thing I've lately been calling MenoMania.

I arrived at the clinic 10 minutes before the appointment time. When I checked in, I could see the receptionist was concerned.

They did not have my appointment in the system.

I stood there in stunned silence for a moment. I was afraid to speak. I had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth.

"We'll figure out something," she said. "I'll find some time today when you can get in. What are you here for?"

When I told her I was there for menopause issues...well...you can imagine the expression on her face.

I held it all together long enough to hear their apologies and agree to come back at 2:30.

I went home and stayed there. Watching TV and staring at the walls. By around noon I started to feel a bit better.

I went back at 2:30 and locked my keys in the car in the clinic parking lot.

"How did the appointment go?" You may be asking.

Fine. He's a very very good doctor. Validated my feelings and suspicions, did some medication adjustments, and I came out of there feeling like I have a new plan.

And when I got out of the appointment, my keys were laying there on the counter. Thank you, dear Kristen, for driving half-way across town with Mensa Boy's keys to get mine out of my car.

As I was saying good-bye to the doctor, he said "By the way...locking your keys in the car? Classic menopause!"

Community Policing

We have a campus resource officer from the sheriff's department at our high school. He actually covers all three of the schools, but his primary office is at the high school.

Today I realized that the scope of his job is much more than handling assaults and traffic issues.

Today he was spray-painting the school rock.

He's covered one side of the rock with orange paint and then sprayed "buckle up" on it.

I didn't see him do the deed. I saw him walking away from it after he'd completed it. I stopped and said "Boy. I wish I'd gotten a photo of that for the paper."

He said he does that periodically, to cover up less-than-uplifting messages that get painted on there from time to time.

Dumb Yankee

Every once in a while I say something that shows that I'm still not completely "with" this southern life.

The other day I said "I like it when the birds come back."

HUH?

The Pizza Alarms

The smoke detectors in our house are kind of getting to be the bane of our existence.

There is one right around the corner from the stove and any little thing makes it go off. Browning chops, a big spill on the stove top. Even cleaning the oven.

And they are hard to get off. Once the first one detects smoke, all of them start in. That's 10 detectors going.

We used to be able to get them to shut off by waving a towel under the kitchen one and maybe opening a couple of windows. But now that doesn't seem to have much effect most of the time. I've had them going for up to 40 minutes.

And I cook to relax.

Now this morning at 5:45 a.m. the one in the office here is chirping. We change the batteries (they are hard-wired but have battery backups) twice a year, but we still end up with detectors chirping for low battery power. The sound echoes in the house so a lot of times you really have to work hard to figure out which one it is. One night we chased around in the middle of the night for some time looking for the chirper, only to discover it was a CO detector.

I can see why people disconnect them. It's a dumb thing to do but you are tortured less that way.

His Scary Sponsor

I mighta accidentally scared a typing student today.

Sort of on accident. I actually wanted to shake him up a bit.

Our middle school typing classes are doing a "Type for Life" service learning project. They set goals for increasing their words-per-minute scores by March 30. They gathered pledges for the American Cancer Society.

I wanted to sponsor my best friend's daughter, but she never asked me and today I found out she's already made her goal anyway.

So I was at the typing class this morning, listening to a breast cancer survivor tell the kids about her battle and about cancer in general and about the American Cancer Survivor. (I'm writing a story about their project)

At the end of the class, the speaker brought out purple rubber "4 the fight" bracelets. She asked who had made their goal. Gave them bracelets. Then she asked who had sponsors and were working toward their goals. Gave those kids bracelets.

A kid named Tyler was just sitting there. Tall, sharp-looking guy.

She asked him if he had even one sponsor. "No ma'am," he said.
"But you have a goal, right?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," he answered.

She gave him a bracelet.

I passed a note over to him. "I'll sponsor you for $20 if you make your goal." And I signed my name and put my email address on there.

After class he thanked me. I told him he'd better reach his goal or I'd dog him til he was dead.

"Yes ma'am," he said.

I saw him a few minutes later and he said "Y' know, I made my goal, but the teacher raised it on me."

"Well, good! Because I don't want to sponsor some slacker who sets their goals too low," I replied.

"No ma'am."

I could be the scariest sponsor for a charity he's ever had.

Fiesta!

fiesta
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

This is why I like to have Mensa Boy label boxes for me.

On Saturday my parents arrived and brought with them the two new placesettings I'd bought on my fiesta-buying junket to RedWing in February.

The addition of the new place settings necessitated the removal of two other settings.

It was not a hard choice to make. I'd moved the apricot and white dishes to the bottom of the stacks and told the kids that, when they set the table, I expect my place to NOT have the apricot. It just looked...vomitous.

29707!

Voting for the Worst

Mensa Boy reminded me last night that there is a conspiracy underfoot with American Idol:

Vote for the Worst

I don't know if they really work, but SOMETHING is keeping Sanjaya "milquetoast" Malakar alive on American Idol.

My Preciousssssss

The story has to be what? Maybe 350 words? About a missing cat.

Yep. Page 3A of The Lancaster News has a story about a missing cat.

It "showed up missing," a phrase that never ceases to crack me up. Do I need to explain why?

I feel badly for the 90-year-old woman whose cat is missing, but I'm pretty skeptical that someone would enter the home and carry her away, as the owner asserts. "I think somebody opened the door, came in, put her in their jacket and walked away with her."

Huh.

There's no mention that the owner is missing anything else. No TVs, jewelry, crocheted toilet paper covers....just an orange tabby cat.

In other local news, I hear there is a group that wants to pay to paint the new Indian Land water tower. The water tower, which was a subject of much controversy when our school board decided to sell an acre of land right besmack in front of the main entrance to the school, will be set right on the corner of Doby Bridge and Highway 521. This group from Lancaster would like to offer to beautify the tower by paying to have it painted.

What would they paint on it, you ask?

Something to point visitors to Lancaster, of course. Something to encourage them to drive 20 miles south to shop at Wal-Mart and Eckerds in Lancaster rather than 7 miles north to Carolina Place Mall, Target, Barnes & Noble, Harris Teeter...I could go on.

But my readers are not stooopid...

Rob & Amber

Well well well well well! "Rob and Amber, I'm sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from the race."

The magic words were finally said to the couple we loved to hate.

Actually, if Rob weren't such a trash-talker, we probably wouldn't have hated them so much. They are actually a pretty nice couple. And poetry in motion when going through all the hurdles "Amazing Race" could throw at them.

Until "THE SPELLING ERROR."

To me it just proves that having good spelling habits is an important life skill.

At the end, Amber said "Well, if you're going to be eliminated, what better place than the end of the world?" (or something like that)

Would have been even funnier if she'd said "Well, it's not the end of the world. Oh. Wait. It is!"
(They ended at Isla Redonda, A.K.A. The End of the World, as it's on the southernmost tip of South America)

It's good that they are gone. Now the show can be more about the race and less about them. They pretty much overshadowed all the other competitors.

Is America Just Stupid When It Comes to Music?

I just watched the results show from this week's "American Idol" and I all I can say is:

"America? What were you thinkin'?"

To keep Sanjaya and kick Sundance? And to keep Haley and bump Sabrina? What? Are all the text messengers on drugs? That was just simply insane!

I have to say I think Sundance made a terrible song choice last week, going to rock with his song by Pearl Jam. I think he's more a Sammy Kershaw kind of guy. He could have done "Tennessee Girl" or one of his older ones. Didn't they say near the beginning that Sundance's dad was a country dude? He completely stole the show last week with "Mustang Sally."

Sanjaya is sooooo boring that we have fast-forwarded past him every week. And Haley? Isn't she the one that Simon said he couldn't even remember her name? The only one that came close to being as dull as she was Antonella. At least America got that one right.

Although I think it was a travesty to choose Sabrina over Haley, I don't see Sabrina going too much further. She's just not that great.

But definitely better than Haley.

I'm delighted for Gina Glocksen. I had her pegged for a rocker the moment I first saw her. My suspicions were confirmed when the took the stage by storm last week.

I do love this show. I'll admit. But it's also frustrating as all get out. And it makes me worried for some of the truly great singers. They tend to get kicked before the very end.

A Respecter of Plungers

It began as an innocent conversation on the phone with my friend Sarah. We each were enumerating the errands we planned to run yesterday afternoon.

"Target," I said. "I have to go to Target. Prescriptions filled, Kleenex to buy..."

"Oh, Target!" she said. "I have to get there and buy a plunger."

"Well, you said you were just passing Home Depot. Why didn't you just stop in there?" I asked innocently.

"Because there is a certain plunger at Target that I want," she replied. And proceeded to describe it for me.

I began to laugh. Kind of snort, actually, I admit.

She paused.

"Most people do not have preferences when it comes to plungers," I ventured.

She exploded. "Oh. My. G*d! How could you not have a plunger preference?"

The Human Alphabet

This morning I got up and googled "human alphabet." I'm looking for letters that have been shaped by people. I'm not necessarily looking for real people. What I have in my mind's eye are drawings.

Colorful drawings of the alphabet where the letters are people.

I want to print out two particular letters to give to a friend of mine. I thought it would be cool.

I stumbled upon a wealth of information about people and alphabets. None of the sites I visited were what I was looking for, but one was a very interesting website about the history of artists using the human body to make letters of the alphabet. This particular site had naked people making the alphabet.

It was an interesting and...informative...way to start the day.

I'm still looking for an alphabet comprised of people.

Free, of course.

Self-taught Camera Games

Taylor
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

This weekend I played with my new camera, a Nikon D40. My beloved Fuji FinePix quit a couple of weeks ago. Well, it didn't exactly QUIT...it developed (sorry...no pun intended) a tendency to not open its' lens all the way. This made my photos very short! So I took it to Best Buy and had them send it for repairs.

Estimate: $263.

YIKES! That's more than the camera would be worth to replace.

So, at my request, Mensa Boy commenced researching the next camera. It's just too much information for me to digest.

He recommended a Canon Sure Shot. We both wanted a Canon Digital Rebel, but felt it would just be too spendy...because I needed more zooming power.

But I wanted a digital SLR.

So, after he did all that research, and asked his band of freelance photogs what they suggested, I went out and got exactly what he didn't want me to get...a Nikon.

He was wistful in his disappointment. Which, of course, heaped burning coals of guilt on my head.

I?

Personally?

Love it!

The book that came with it is good, too. (Although after you've had a Fuji, pretty much any instruction book is going to be better.)

So I've been carrying it around since Thursday night, shooting photos with and without flash and on different settings, trying to learn some basic techniques to get me through the next few stories. My friend Jenny, also a writer/photographer, will go with me to take some camera classes this spring. That will be fun.

This photo of Taylor was taken in the "sports" mode. I consider it to be a great feather in my cap because the first attempt at this mode yielded a lot of blur. Apparently, you can't just set the thing to sport and expect it to capture motion well. That doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, Mensa Boy mentioned increasing the ISO sensitivity, so after I checked the book on that, I found that was the thing to do and learned how to do it. I set this one to 1600. This allowed the camera to continuously focus and "freeze motion" enough to capture it. In this photo, Taylor is doing this odd, burlesque-style shuffling thing he does with this feet and arms, sort of running in place and waving his arms.

Marsha Davis

Marsha Davis
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Do you suppose Marsha Davis had a bad day?

A Story from Lis

I stepped across the lobby of the Hopkins Fine Arts Center on the night of Feb. 28 and stood in front of the Information Desk. The youngish (mid-20's) man behind the desk reluctantly interrupted his phone conversation.

"Yes?"

"I'm here for the writing class with The Loft."

He was impatiently confused. "A reading class?"

"Writing."

He was still confused. "Here?" He looked at his computer monitor. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure it's here."

"Are you sure it's not the Ellison Center?" [not sure if that's the name he said, but that's what I heard]

"Yeah."

I opened my padfolio and pulled out the course description and location I'd printed out earlier. "L-27 2, maybe? Is that a classroom?"

He was still puzzled. I handed him the sheet of paper.The course I am taking is on "Capturing Memory." It's about getting details to stay in your mind.

Here's a detail: It starts on March 14.

I don't even want to try to figure out how I made this mix-up. I took the paper back from the young gentleman, who was almost managing to keep a courteous tone (he's probably an actor), although his face said, "This may, indeed, be the dumbest person I've ever met."

"Well," I said, tucking the sheet back in the padfolio pocket, "I'll be back in two weeks then. Maybe I'll see you, if you're here."

"Oh, I'll be here," he said.

Darnit

Nate is 17!

Nate17
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Here's the birthday boy!

A Peek Inside my Brain

This

Space

Intentionally

Left

Blank

A Peek Inside my Brain

This

Space

Intentionally

Left

Blank

Pull Over! Pull Over! For Pete's Sake!

This is for all the people who fail to pull over for emergency vehicles:

You.

Suck.

Yes, I realize that is not a very refined phrase. But people! When the doohickies are flashing on the top of a firetruck, TURN THE VOLUME DOWN ON THE RADIO and listen for the siren! Then? Pull over.

I used to think people stopped pulling over for these things because they just didn't care. But I honestly now think that people just don't notice. They are so tuned into the tunes or NPR or whatever book they are "reading" that they don't notice traffic around them. Even when it's barrelling toward them with lights and sirens flashing.

What prompted this tirade? No, I have no tragic story of "failure to pull over." But you know, it coulda bin a little tragic.

Yesterday, I'm driving along to have lunch with a friend. I see the lights of a firetruck coming toward me. Maybe it's 1/4 a mile away. I start to slow down. Guy in the car behind me creeps up to my back bumper. I start to pull over. Guy in the car behind me gets so close that I doubt a slice of bread could be slid between our cars. He jerks his wheel toward the center line...obviously thinking he's going to pass this nut in the green van that has suddenly, inexplicably decided to pull over on a busy street.

Just in time he sees the firetruck.

He yanks back.

We all breathe.

I mutter "idiot."

Firetruck passes by and life goes on.

Pay attention people!

Of Garbage and Bets

I had to chuckle when I read this story (the link will probably not work after March 1) about British trash customers being upset about microchips that have been stuck to their wheeled carts. "Wheelies," they call them...the carts. They are calling the chips "bugs."

Apparently Britain has one of the lowest recycling rates in Europe. (SHAME ON THEM!) Chips were stuck to more than 500,000 "wheelie bins" to "monitor collections."

"Germans Plant Bugs in Our Wheelie Bins," was a headline in the Daily Mail in August. (Apparently two of the bin manufacturers are German companies.)

The story tells of "small-scale revolts" erupting across the UK as customers have found the devices and ripped them off the carts.

There's the whole "Big Brother" concern but there's also the idea that the chips could be used to calculate garbage charges. And officials have admitted that is a long-term goal.

The article doesn't say it, but I guess if I were a municipal garbage customer, I'd be wondering about my dollars being wasted on the devices themselves.

This afternoon I watched the movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Cute, cute movie! I was never attracted to the title before, and skipped going to see it in the theatre and never really have felt much like renting it. But it was on AMC yesterday afternoon so I recorded it.

And a good soundtrack. I'm listening to Chantal Kreviazuk on Napster right now. She had two songs in the movie, "Feels Like Home" and "Weight of the World," both enjoyable songs. I'd never heard of her before, but I think I'll put her in my playlist for a while...she's good for cooking to, I think. I'm not finding "Feels Like Home" on Napster, though.

And speaking of cooking...this afternoon I've been roasting a duck. I used to make a duck recipe of Alton Brown's that involved steaming the pieces and then roasting at a high temp in a cast iron skillet in the oven. The kids raved about it. This time I really didn't feel much like going to all that, so looked in my "Joy of Cooking" book and found recipe for slow-roasting. 3 hours at 250 and then another 45 minutes or so at 325. It's just about done and I think it's going to be great. No flame-ups, either. Pricking the skin all over and roasting it low and slow has done the trick.

It's been a good afternoon for roasting something and vegging in front of the TV. Dark and rainy all day.

Yes. He Really Talks Like This

While I was visiting Minnesota a couple of weeks ago, I called home to ask Mensa Boy a question.

Nate answered the phone.

"Hi! This is your mother. Is Dad around?"

"Yes. But currently he is conducting a transaction with a kid at the front door."

Last night I came home from an appointment right at 6 p.m. It was suppertime. I had no idea what to have. I didn't feel like going back out to pick up something.

"I'm not sure what we should have for supper. Any ideas?"

"Well, there is still a pizza in the freezer, unless you were thinking we should eat in unanimity."

das my boy....

Hippo Dreams

There is no polite response to this question:

"Did I tell you about my hippo dream?"



Yes, he did tell me about his hippo dream. Once was enough. It seems he was out walking in the Sahara desert when a miniature hippo threatened at him. Yes...miniature. Shorter than his knees.

No. It did not bite him.

No. He doesn't know why he was in the desert.

And no. He doesn't know why a hippo was in it.

But it must have made quite an impression on Mensa Boy, because he's mentioned this dream twice in the last two days.

It's Gone...For a While

Today I had to take my Fuji FinePix camera to Best Buy for repair. The little lens covers don't open all the way, for some reason. It is apparently out of warranty, so I'll be paying something and waiting 2-4 weeks for that something to happen.

It will be a little tough to work without a camera. But the school has a couple I can borrow.

As I walked out of there with just the neckstrap in my hand, it kind of reminded me of taking the dog to the vet for the last time.

That was a dramatic statement, wasn't it?

Today is President's Day. What does that mean? Usually no school. But our district is in session today to make up for a snow day we had a few weeks ago. Better we make it up now than during Spring Break.

What does this mean for me? Well, when I worked in an office I used to love days like President's Day. We never had the day off, but there'd be no mail. NO MAIL!!! So that meant it was a good day to get caught up on the stuff I already had to do without worrying about new stuff coming in.

Now in my pathetic, work-at-home state, it just means that there's no mail to break up the monotony of the day.

S.C.U.M.Y

It's going to be a SCUMY weekend for Mensa Boy and our oldest son Nate. They are going to the beach for the South Carolina United Methodist Youth Convention. Preacher Tony boy is going along as a chaperone, too. The youth group at church has really grown. I have no idea how many kids are going, but I know it's in the double digits. Pretty good for a small church like ours.

So Taylor and I are batchin' it this weekend. I bought King Crab Legs for supper as a surprise. I did this a couple of years ago and we had them with neighbor Mary. This year Taylor's buddy Freddy may be with us.

Earlier this week Nate did some job shodowing with a biology professor at the University of South Carolina-Lancaster. He liked it a lot. Didn't come home saying he wanted to teach at the college level, but he did think that whole teaching thing was pretty cool.

My buddy who works for the county picked Nate up that morning and took him to work with her, and then ran him over to the campus at 9:30. During the 40 minutes they were in her office, she had him do a task for him. Stuffing envelopes. Here's what transpired:

"I'm not licking these shut, right?" Nate asked.

"Nope. That's someone else's job," she replied.

"Well, I guess I'm done then. What else would you like me to do?"

"There is nothing else. You should have paced yourself."

"Well, what else do you do all day?"

"Hmmm...at 11 I go pick up the mail." (it was 9 a.m.)

Off, On

School.

It began with the power unceremoniously blinking off at 6:40 a.m. One never knows the extent of an outage until the cold is braved and the neighborhood is scoped out. It was obvious from the start that it involved at least our street...everyone's porch lights were out.

Mensa Boy left for work and when he called a few minutes later I asked if he could tell how far the outage went. "Just past the school," he said. The building had some emergency lights on, and the traffic signals ("red lights" in southern-speak) were out.

Then buddy Rena called. "No school today," she said. "We can take the kids to school but they will sit in the gym until the power comes back on around 10 or so." She said if the kids don't come today they will not be counted absent. She took hers back home.

So I decided to go to the school to pick up Fred, the little guy who comes to my house after school each day. I knew his mother had dropped him at school.

But when I arrived, the lights were back on. Everything back to normal.

So I called Rena. She was just leaving the house and circled back to the get her kids again. I picked mine up and took them to school. Passed Rena at the 4-way stop by our house. She was delayed getting her kids back to the school because she'd already had them change into play clothes. "I told them they could wear those school clothes (uniforms) tomorrow, so to change to play clothes," she said.

So now it's 8:40 and things appear to be back to normal. Except that I appear to have pulled a muscle when I tried to keep the garage door from sliding down on my head.

A.M. and P.M. Yoga

I wrote about Candelight Yoga the other day. I still don't have that DVD...it's supposed to arrive at Barnes & Noble sometime today (and since I'm such a procrastinator, I'll have to get the guys' Valentines when I go pick up the DVD).

I was very stiff and sore Friday night and just felt like I needed to get some sort of yoga thing going before the other DVD came in. So I checked out several on Amazon and found that this one is the top-selling one. Lots and lots of great customer reviews.

And every one of them is well-deserved. This is truly a wonderful DVD.

The A.M practice is done by Rodney Yee...the guy on the cover. The P.M one is done by Patricia Walden. The music is very good and I've found myself leaving the disk in the player turned on and letting it loop as I get ready for bed. Both instructors are a joy to watch and have great, soothing voices with no weird stuff. They don't get into a lot of mystical conversation and they don't have funny ways of pronouncing words. Yee is on a beach in Hawaii and Walden is in the desert, so the scenery is very relaxing, too.

What I like is that the practices are really part meditative as well as the physical stretching. Julie and I did a meditation CD while I was there and I found it to be very relaxing (although we had a hard time not cracking up at the way the guy said the word "warm"). But you'd have to carve out time to do the yoga and then time to do the meditation. This DVD pretty much wraps it all together and you can get done in 20 minutes.

Pulling the Plug

The other day I received copies of Mom and Dad's wills in the mail. I was talking to Mom on the phone and I had asked her if Dad happened to mention that I was hoping to get 2 of her 10 wineglasses that she brought back from Germany. She said he'd mentioned it, but that she didn't want to part with any of them.

"You can't take them with you, you know...," I said.

"I know. But I want them for as long as I'm around," she replied.

I told her I would be too old to taste wine by the time she kicks the bucket at 110. She said she didn't care.

So later in the conversation I said that the wills had arrived.

"No living wills?" I asked.

"No," she said.

"I wish you had done those," I told her. "I won't have trouble with the other two when you are cold and dead in the ground, but I'll have to work hard getting them to let me pull the plug."

She agreed that they should do those.

"I'll be rushing to get that plug pulled, you know," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"SO I CAN GET THE WINE GLASSES!" I told her.

My New Fun Thing-Yoga

While I was visiting my friend Julie, we tried out a couple of yoga DVDs. We'd talked about it before I came...plotting to attend a class or two during my visit. But we weren't able to find a class that fit in with our schedule. What does that tell you? We didn't have a schedule! The yoga options in Rochester, Minnesota are kind of limited.

Anyway, after we had supper Friday night, Julie remembered that she'd not checked the mail. When she opened the front door, she found a gift from some one of her husband's coworkers...a yoga DVD called "Candelight Yoga." What great timing!

So, despite our having full stomachs and at least one glass of wine already, we trooped down the family room to give the DVD a go.

It was EXCELLENT! I've ordered my own copy from Barnes & Noble now.

I've only done yoga a couple of times. There is a small class that meets here in Indian Land at our Boy Scout hut on Mondays at 3:30. But that time does not work really well for me. And I kind of hated to get all excited about it because it only meets once a week. The class was quite hard, too, as it's an hour long and some of the stretches are held for very long periods of time, which tended to make me sore at the end.

This practice is 43 minutes long. I'll use it for days when I don't go to Jazzercise as a "long practice." It was easy to follow and the instructor is not annoying. She's in a class so you can see other students, some of whom are doing slight variations based upon their abilities. There is also a short "energizing" practice that I liked, too.

MP3 Challenged

I think God doesn't want me to have an MP3 player. Well, I'm actually pretty sure God doesn't care. But he's sure not waving any magic dust that allows me to overcome MP3 obstacles.

It all began with Napster. Have I mentioned that I love Napster? Oh yeah! Here (ignore the menopause drivel), and here and here...it goes on and on.

So Napster? I'm happy with. The $50 MP3 player I bought when I joined? Not so much. I've actually burned through 2 of them now. After a month or so of enjoying them, they tend to freeze up or go blank. Napster has cheerfully replaced the first one and they say they are cheerfully replacing the second one, although it hasn't shown up since my conversation with the Napster person on January 9.

But it gets worse. I appear to have burned out my son Taylor's IAudio player, too. It's certainly not a big deal to him...it was not compatible with Napster and so we'd bought him a new player for Christmas.

I was planning my trip to Minnesota and thought I should carry along some tunes. For the plane, you know. Or those middle-of-the-night stints of wakefulness. It took the better part of a day to go through our CD collection, load the music onto the guy's computer and convert them to MP3 files, meticulously naming all the songs (for some reason the track names would not convert). I had this little 1 MB player completely full of great music. Everything from Trace Adkins to R. Carlos Nakai, Go Fish to Adie. I was excited.

I used it for the flight to Minnesota. Put it away. The battery was low. I plugged it into my friend Julie's computer to charge it back up and it froze.

On.

The screen was lit, a song was listed (K T Tunstall: "Another Place to Fall"), and it just stopped. No navigating, no nothing.

Just a few minutes ago, as I started to write this missive, I decided to try plugging it back into the guy's computer, now that I'm back home. The software for it is on there. Maybe it will just come back. I doubt it.

But usually I'm not the technologically challenged. I can't figure it out.

Somewhat Clueless at Times

I'm ashamed to admit how long it sometimes takes for me to notice things.

Today for the first time I noticed that the Harris Teeter grocery carts have these cool wire rings soldered on them for coffee cups. I noticed it today because I considered buying a cup of coffee at Target and decided not to because it would be too hard to navigate my grocery cart with one hand.

Duh.

But there are times when I realize others can be as goofy as I. Like when I send a text message to multiple recipients about mormons and later realize they thought I said "morons!" I'm still chuckling over that one.

Today I'm making Mardi Gras King Cake and a pressure cooker Chicken Gumbo for a food story I'm writing this weekend. I'm going to encourage people to have a Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday party. I'll post photos and recipes later.

Just How Cold Was It?

So. I'm back home now and it's much more reasonable here, temperature-wise. My smarty-pants friend Julie said to me today in an email:

"It is still flippin’ cold here. Below zero again. Do you want to know how much below? Ha."

This got to be a bit of a joke with us. I basically froze my toes from the time I landed there until I landed in Atlanta on the way home. I tried not to complain too much, but these things have a tendency to just slip out! So of course Julie was concerned the entire time. She wanted me to be comfortable. Offered me a robe. Offered me socks. Built nice fires in the fireplace for me to roast my feet.

And yet, for all that concern, she somehow felt compelled to ANNOUNCE THE TEMPERATURE every time it occurred to her!

"It's -4."

"really?"

[time goes by]

"It's -9."

"hmm..."

When someone is so cold that it's pretty much more than 50% of what they think about, it's not really that wise to keep reminding them exactly how cold it is.

I'm Baaaack! (maybe)

Well, my other blog is pretty much dead. I poured a cup of coffee into my laptop (of course it was by accident, silly!) and now I am unable to update my "Gone to Carolina" blog.

I thought about giving up blogging altogether, but I seem to be missing the writing exercise.

I'm still not sure that this is where I'll land, but at least it's somewhere for me to write my thoughts and adventures until I decide what to do.

This blog, "No Food Left Behind," is titled after my food column that I do perodically for our weekly newspaper. My intention with this blog originally was that it would just be photos and recipes. But I'd gotten hopelessly behind on that since July, too, so it's been just lying dormant for half a year.

Today I am writing from Rochester, Minnesota, where I am visiting my friend Julie. We have been hanging out in the subzero temps since Friday morning, mostly consuming wine and sitting in front of the fireplace. But also we've eaten out a couple of times, cooked together at home, and done some yoga and pilates. Right now I'm waiting for my friend Lis to hit town. She's coming down from the Twin Cities to spend the day and night with us before taking me back up with her to drop me at my sister's.

It's -10 here. The first email of the day was from my friend Don, who informed me that highs at home on Wednesday will be in the 60s. My response?

"Shaddup!"

Peppered Tuna

This is about as quick a meal as you can make. It is, however, a bit tricky to get the fish cooked just right...done all the way through without being overdone.

Peppered Tuna
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

4 tuna steaks or other firm, meaty steaks, approximately 3/4 inch thick (6-8 oz each)
Coarsely ground black pepper
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons minced or chopped garlic
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Juice from 1 orange

Liberally cover the tuna steaks on both sides with pepper and salt, pressing into flesh. In a large, heavy skillet, heat oil over high heat until shimmering. Add tuna steaks and sear for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove tuna from skillet, reduce heat to low, and add wine, garlic, vinegar and orange juice, scraping to loosen browned bits. Cook until mixture is thick and syrupy, 3 to 4 minutes. Return tuna to skillet and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, turning once.

From “The Saltwater Cookbook: Fish and Seafood from Ocean to Table,” by Tim Lauer. 2004 Creative Publishing.

For The Lancaster News

Fiery Cajun Shrimp

Cajun Shrimp
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

This is a dish you just don't get over. Once you have it, you just have to have it again. But I don't use all this butter every time.

2 cups (4 sticks) melted butter
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons ground pepper
2 tablespoons hot sauce (recommended: Texas Pete)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
5 pounds unpeeled medium shrimp
2 lemons, sliced thinly
French bread for dipping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Stir together the butter, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, pepper, hot sauce, garlic, and salt. Pour half this mixture into a large heatproof dish (9 x 13). Layer half the shrimp and half the lemon slices in the dish; then form a second layer with the remaining shrimp and lemon slices, and pour remaining sauce into the dish. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink, stirring twice. Pour off the sauce into individual serving dishes. Serve the shrimp with plenty of French bread for dipping in the spicy butter sauce.
Note: This recipe can be easily halved or even quartered. Alternatively, use peeled shrimp and then toss it all with pasta for a main course.

This is a Paula Deen recipe.

For The Lancaster News

Apricot Pineapple Gelatin Salad

I'm not really a big jello fan, but Mom did this for the Easter feature I did for the paper. It wasn't too bad, but I think I'd not put in chunks of cream cheese.

Apricot Gelatin Salad
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1 small box apricot gelatin
1 cup hot water
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup crushed pineapple, well-drained
4 oz cream cheese (optional), cut into a small dice
1/2 cup pecan pieces
9 canned apricot halves
Salad dressing, such as Miracle Whip, for garnish

Dissolve the gelatin in the hot water. Add the cream. Do not whip. Stir in pineapple, cream cheese and pecans. Pour into an 8-inch square casserole dish. Arrange apricot halves in the gelatin, so that each serving has one piece of fruit. Cover and refrigerate until set, 2 hours to overnight.
To serve: Cut into 9 pieces, place each piece on a plate and dollop with a 1/2 teaspoon of salad dressing. Add more pecan halves or fruit for presentation.
Cooks note: This is also delicious with orange gelatin and/or mandarin oranges.
Recipe courtesy Mary Goetsch, mother of “No Food Left Behind.”

For The Lancaster News

Hot Cross Buns

Yeah, I know this is a traditional Easter dish. And I wrote about these in my Easter feature for the paper. But I'm still trying to catch up with posting the recipes from the paper. These are really good any time of the year. They are a nice, sweet breakfast roll, but not so sweet that you go into sugar shock.

Hot Cross Buns
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup raisins
1 slightly beaten egg white

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour, yeast and cinnamon. Heat milk, oil, sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon salt until warm (115-120 degrees). Add to dry mixture; add eggs. Beat at low speed with electric mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping the bowl. Beat 3 minutes at high speed.
By hand, stir in raisins and enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl; turning once. Cover; let rise until double (about 1 1/2 hours). Punch down. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
Divide into 18 pieces; form the pieces into smooth balls. Place on a greased baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Cover; let rise until double (30-45 minutes).
Cut shallow crosses in each; brush tops with egg white. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from sheet. Decorate with frosting crosses.

For The Lancaster News

Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk Biscuits
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and baking soda. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, then add buttermilk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface. Quickly knead the dough by gently folding and pressing the dough for 10-12 strokes or until it is nearly smooth. Pat or lightly roll dough to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut dough with a floured 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, dipping the cutter into flour between cuts.
Place the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are golden brown and delicious.
Makes 8-10 bisuits.
From http://www.cooks.com

For The Lancaster News

Bean Soup

Bean Soup
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1 package 16-Bean Soup Beans
2 small onions, chopped
1 small or large can diced tomatoes
Water
1 package Polska Kielbasa or other sausage

The night before, wash the beans and check for foreign material, such as small rocks. Soak them in 4 quarts of water in a bowl overnight. Reserve the seasoning packet from the bean package.
The next morning, drain the water from the beans. Place them in the slow cooker with the seasoning packet, onions and tomatoes. Add water until the cooker is almost full, leaving about 1-1/2 inches of space on the top.
Cook the beans on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or on HIGH for 1 hour and then LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
About 30 minutes before serving, slice the sausage into bite-sized slices. Brown the sausage in a skillet and then add the slices to the slow cooker.
Serve with cornbread.

For The Lancaster News

Asparagus Fontina Tart

Asparagus Fontina Tart
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1 1/2 bundles fresh asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off
3 large egg whites
1 large egg
3 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
16 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Cooking spray
1 cup shredded fontina cheese, divided
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together egg, egg whites, milk and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Place 1 phyllo sheet on the pan and lightly coat it with cooking spray. Repeat the layers of phyllo dough, spraying each layer. Gently press the sheets of dough together.
Fold the edges of the phyllo dough in to make a narrow crust, about 1/2 inch. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cheese evenly onto the dough. Arrange the asparagus spears next to each other on top. Pour the egg mixture over the asparagus. Some may leak out. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the tart.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Check to see if the dough is browning and the cheese is melting. Check every 2 or 3 minutes until the top looks the way you want it.
Cut into slices and serve. Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine.

For The Lancaster News

Asian BBQ Pork

Not really the best photo, but this is a super-fantastic pulled pork recipe. The Cooking Light recipe had 5 spice powder, which I don't keep around. I mean...really...you can make your own 5 spice powder from all the little jars in your spice rack. Why waste money having it already pre-mixed? Anyway...the pork...this stuff just gets better and better with each passing day.

Asian BBQ Pork
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 Tablespoons ketchup
3 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons minced ginger root
3 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Roast:
2 pounds boneless Boston butt pork roast, trimmed
Sauce:
1/2 cup chicken stock or water

Whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Place the roast in a zip-top bag and pour the marinade over it. Squeeze out excess air and close tightly. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to overnight, turning occasionally.

Place the roast and the marinade into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

Remove the roast from the slow cooker using a slotted spoon. Cover it and let it rest for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, turn the slow cooker to HIGH and the stock or water to the meat drippings. Cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, allowing the sauce to thicken. Shred the pork and serve with the sauce.

Adapted from “Cooking Light Magazine,” March, 2006
*note: Hoisin sauce and dark sesame oil can be found in the Asian food section of your supermarket.

For The Lancaster News

Black & White Chocolate Cake

This was one of the recipes for a food feature about buttermilk. Buttermilk lends a fantastic texture and taste to baked goods. I don't know why we don't use it as much anymore. Anyway, I like this cake recipe because it makes a good, fairly impressive cake to take to a family or church picnic. The layers make people think you are really talented. But it's not that hard...the bottom layer is thick enough from adding the cocoa that it's not really that much of a challenge to spread the yellow layer over top.

Black & White Chocolate Cake
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1 package vanilla cake mix
1 1/4 cups buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
4 eggs at room temperature
1 cup white chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with non-stick foil or grease liberally with butter.

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, buttermilk, softened butter, and eggs. Beat on low speed only until combined. Some small lumps may remain. Pour half of the cake batter into a separate bowl and set aside.
To one half of the cake batter, fold in 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, reserving the remaining 1/2 cup for later use.
To the other half of the cake batter, add the cocoa powder, mixing until combined. Fold in 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, reserving the remaining 1 cup for later use.
Pour the dark chocolate batter into the prepared pan and smooth to even it out.
Carefully spoon the vanilla cake batter on top of the dark chocolate layer. Gently spread to an even layer without disturbing the bottom layer.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle the top of the cake with the reserved 1 cup of semi-sweet chips. Wait 5 minutes, then use a spatula to spread the melted chocolate on the top as a frosting. Let the cake cool to room temperature. Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of white chips on top and gently press them into the frosting.
From http://www.homecooking.about.com

For The Lancaster News

Layered Salad

Layered Salad
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Salad
6 cups torn lettuce
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper(any color), thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced on the diagonal
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons real bacon bits (like Hormel)

Dressing
6 tablespoons lowfat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain, nonfat yogurt
3 tablespoons sugar

Layer the lettuce, peas, onion, bell pepper and celery in an attractive manner in a clear bowl.
Combine dressing ingredients and spread over the top of the salad. Cover, refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Prior to serving, sprinkle parmesan and bacon bits over the top.

Adapted from a recipe in “Empty Nest Cooking” by Family and Community Leaders of York County. Thanks to Denise Murphy of Indian Land for sharing it.

For The Lancaster News

Salty Fruity Summer Snack

Salty Fruity Summer Snack
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1 3/4 cup dried fruit bits
1 cup M&M® chocolate candies
1 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts
3 cups Crispix® cereal
3 cups pretzel twists

Combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.

Suggested serving size: 1/2 cup.
306 calories, 7 g fat (19.5% calories from fat), 56 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber.

Recipe courtesy No Food Left Behind
For The Lancaster News

Strawberry Sauce

This sauce is so easy it's almost a crime. I'll try it with peaches, too.

Strawberry Sauce
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups strawberries, halved

In a medium skillet, combine the sugar, water and lemon juice. Heat on medium, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter. Stir well until melted. Mix in the strawberries. Heat through, but do not cook.

http://www.gardenguides.com

For The Lancaster News

Ham Snowpeas Teriyaki Salad

Hamsnowpeasteriyaki96.2.05
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

This is one of my favorite summer salads. It works for the kids too, because it has deli ham in it. My kids will eat big salads for supper but they always feel a little ripped off if there is no meat for supper.


Ham, Snowpeas & Teriyaki Salad
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic. Salad
6 cups torn salad greens
1/2 lb deli ham or other meat, thinly sliced and cut into strips
1-2 cups snow pea pods
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup chow mein noodles


Dressing
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes


Trim the ends and strings from the snow peas. Blanch them by placing them in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse with ice water.
Place the salad greens on a serving platter. Top with deli meat, snow peas, bell pepper and green onions. Drizzle the salad dressing over the salad. Top with chow mein noodles.


Note: Kids may not care for teriyaki dressing. For them, serve the salad undressed, with dressing choices and noodles on the side.
Adapted from Pillsbury’s “Fast and Health Magazine,” July/August 1997

For The Lancaster News

Citrus Vinaigrette

This dressing is truly my own. I like vinaigrettes but not usually the bottled varieties. For a feature on spring salads I decided to try to find an orange vinaigrette recipe to offset the Green Goddess dressing I planned to include. I found one on About.com, but it just really lacked "zip." So I added some Dijon mustard. Well of course then it needed a little more of this and a little more of that...and before I knew it, I'd changed every ingredient.

Citrus Vinaigrette
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1/2 cup orange juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced scallions
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons canola oil, or light olive oil (do not use extra-virgin olive oil)
Freshly-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a jar and shake thoroughly. Keep refrigerated.

Karen Paulson for No Food Left Behind

For The Lancaster News

Strawberry Pie

Strawberry season is nearly over here in the Carolinas. We are ready to start focusing on peaches. But I know in Minnesota strawberries are probably just starting to ramp up.

Strawberry Pie
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

2 (9-inch) unbaked pie crusts
1 cup white sugar (or slightly less)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 Tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups fresh strawberries, cut into chunks
2 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with one crust. Mix together the sugar, flour and cornstarch. Add the mixture to the strawberries, stirring gently but thoroughly. Pour the filling into the pastry-lined pan and dot with butter pieces.
Cover with the second pie crust. Seal the edges and cut slits in the top.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the crust is slightly browned.

Recipe courtesy Don McCorkle

For The Lancaster News

Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Yes, it has anchovies in it. But you really don't know that is what you are tasting. I kept this in the refrigerator for about a week with good results. It was great with pretzels dipped in it, too.

Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup minced scallions
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed, patted dry, and minced
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl until well blended. Taste and adjust seasonings. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator.

From the “All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking,” by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker.

For The Lancaster News

Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars

I included this recipe in a feature I did for the paper about summer snacks. They are very good, but rather high in calories for the size bar you get. So I'm pretty certain the kids were consuming almost 500 calories a day in these things as they ate 3 or 4 of them at a time.

Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

3 cups crispy rice cereal
3 cups toasted oat cereal
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, roasted
1 cup honey
3/4 cup granulated sugar
16 ounces natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine cereal, raisins, sunflower nuts and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine honey and sugar. Heat over medium, stirring constantly, until it starts to boil. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Stir in peanut butter and vanilla, mixing until the peanut butter is completely melted.
Add the peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Stir gently until well-mixed.
Press into a greased 15x10 baking pan. Allow to cool completely. Cut into 1 1/2 inch bars.
Makes 60 bars
119 calories, 5 g fat (40% calories from fat), 16 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber.
Recipe from Smuckers® All Natural Peanut Butter

For The Lancaster News

Swiss Chard Pies

Swiss Chard Pies
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

I love these pies because they are like quiche but not as "quiche-y." No heavy cream, not nearly as many eggs and they taste more like the green than the egg. I like to freeze one for later, but a lot of times we'll eat all of one and part of the second. The pies in this photo are such different colors from each other because I used cheddar in the one in front and swiss in the back one. Any kind of cheese and pretty much any kind of green works well.

1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons oil
1 bunch swiss chard, or other greens
6 eggs
1 cup shredded cheese
1 teaspoon salt
couple of grates of fresh nutmeg
2 pie crusts

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown onion and garlic in oil. Trim and chop chard, add to pan and cook down until wilted. Beat eggs in a bowl; mix in cheese, salt and chard mixture. Pour into pie shells and bake 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

From "From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Farm-Fresh, Seasonal Produce," by the Madison Area CSA Coalition.

Peach Soup

I will admit to you right here that, even though this is fantastic stuff, I was the only member of my family to eat it. To be honest, I have a sneaking suspicion that if I'd poured it into glasses and called it smoothies, they all would have been on board. I may just try that.

Peach Soup
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

2 to 3 large peaches, peeled and chopped
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 ounces vanilla yogurt
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
optional: mint leaves, peach sorbet or peach slices

Combine the peaches, cider, honey, lemon juice, and nutmeg in the bowl of an electric blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into a bowl. Fold in the yogurt, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
Before serving, stir in the blueberries and ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with mint leaves, a couple fresh slices of peaches or a small scoop of peach sorbet.

Recipe from “The Healthy Plate”, June 2005

Roasted Root Vegetables

This photo is from Thanksgiving of last year. The only vegetables I roasted that day were carrots and brussel sprouts. But I do roast all manner of veggies ... particularly roots. In the winter I do them in the oven, but all summer I roast on the grill in foil packets. Very easy cleanup!

Roasted Brussels and Carrots
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Carrots
Brussel Sprouts
Rutabaga
Turnip
Parsnips
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Clean and cut the vegetables so that they are fairly uniform in size. Place them in a colander. Drizzle them with olive oil and toss until coated.
Spread the vegetables on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Roast, turning every 10 minutes, until vegetables start to turn dark and caramelize, approximately 30 minutes.

Note: Vegetables can be roasted at any temperature, adjusting the roasting time. If you are not sure how long they will take, start them early. When they appear to be about done, pull them out of the oven and let them rest. Pop them back in for 5 minutes or so just before serving.

For The Lancaster News

Lean Pulled Pork from a Pressure Cooker

My friend Mary Ann told me she likes to make pulled pork barbeque in her pressure cooker. Using a pork tenderloin instead of a Boston Butt. The real key to success for this is that the moist cooking in the pressure cooker really counteracts the lack of fat in the tenderloin. I loved this because I knew it was lean and yet it had just as much moisture as the regular pulled pork with all that fat from the butt.

Pulled Pork
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

2 lb. pork tenderloin
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup water

In a 6-quart pressure cooker, brown the pork tenderloin in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté until softened. Add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Bring to a boil, cover the pressure cooker and bring to pressure. Cook for 45 minutes at 15 psi. Release the pressure and, using two forks, pull the pork into shreds. Toss the shredded pork in the pan drippings, if desired. Serve hot on rolls.

Adapted from “Speedy Pulled Pork” by Ronda L. Carnicelli at http://www.seasoned.com

For The Lancaster News

Moussaka

Every year around the time of my birthday (August), my mom makes moussaka. I've never made it myself. Too much work. But it's probably one of my all-time favorite foods. It's not really that difficult. It's just time-consuming. We have it in August because the eggplant is plentiful and the tomatoes are at their peak (In Minnesota, anyway. In South Carolina they are pretty much done by my birthday). There are no tomatoes in moussaka, but when you eat it, you pretty much need to alternates bites of moussaka with bites of freshly-sliced tomatoes.

This is a putzy dish. And hot. There's lots of cooking in a hot kitchen during the hottest time of the year. But I guess when you are making it for your daughter because it's her birthday and it's her favorite food, you do it. Because you are a mom.

Thanks Mom!

Moussaka
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

Meat Sauce
1 1/2 lb ground beef
2 teaspoons butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon ketchup, diluted with 1 cup water
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 egg whites (save yolks for béchamel sauce)
Brown the hamburger in a large skillet. Drain and rinse the hamburger with warm water. Return to skillet and add butter and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent. Add wine and diluted ketchup, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over low heat until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add the breadcrumbs and the parmesan. Allow the mixture to cool completely and then stir in the egg whites.

Eggplant
2-3 eggplants

Preheat broiler.
Peel and slice eggplants the long way. Keep the slices fairly uniform in thickness, approximately 1/2 inch thick. Soak the eggplant slices in salted water for 10-15 minutes (this step can be skipped if you are using eggplants that are not as bitter –see cook’s notes at bottom of this recipe).
Drain the eggplant slices and pat them dry with paper towels. Brush them with olive oil, or spray them with cooking spray. Lay the slices in a single layer on cookie sheets that have been sprayed with cooking spray, or on silicone cooking mats.
Place the eggplant slices under the broiler. Do Not Walk Away! Watch them as they turn golden brown under the broiler. Pull them out and turn them over. Brown the other side. Remove and hold at room temperature.

Béchamel Sauce
3 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons flour
3 cups milk, scalded
dash nutmeg
2 egg yolks (from the hamburger sauce recipe)
In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until smooth. Gradually add the milk. Cook until fairly thick. Add the dash of nutmeg (take care that the nutmeg does not overpower the sauce). Cool to room temperature. Add egg yolks, one at a time.

Assembling the Moussaka
Hamburger sauce
Béchamel sauce
Eggplant slices
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Moussaka is essentially put together like lasagna. The eggplant slices take the place of the lasagna noodles, and the béchamel sauce is used instead of a tomato sauce.
Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Coat the bottom with 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs.
Begin building the moussaka by placing 1/2 of the eggplant slices, overlapping if necessary, to cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the parmesan. Cover with 1/2 of the hamburger mixture. Spread 1/2 of the béchamel sauce on top. Layer the remaining eggplant on top, cover with the remaining hamburger mixture and spread on the remaining béchamel sauce. Finish by sprinkling the rest of the parmesan cheese on top.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until heated through (165 degrees) and golden brown on top. Serve with tomato slices
Serves 8-10

For The Lancaster News

St. Pat's Party Place Setting

St. Pat's Party Place Setting
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

We had a St. Pat's party with a friend's Home Ec class a few weeks ago. Of course we explained the whole St. Pat's thing and how it's really more of an American holiday now. The Irish don't really do anything more for St. Pat's than for any other feast day.
But the traditional dishes we eat on that day are great for teaching students about stewing and braising and other food prep techniques.
They really enjoyed the cooking and all ate the food, even though none of them had had lamb or corned beef before. Here is the recipe for the Irish Stew with Lamb:
Irish Stew
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 lbs. boneless lamb stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes, or 3 lbs. lamb shoulder chops
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or ¾ teaspoons dried thyme
6 medium potatoes, peeled & slice 2 of them, halve the other 4*
3 cups chicken stock
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
8 medium carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into ½ inch slices
¼ cup pearl barley
¼ cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Heat butter and onions in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. Stir in the meat, thyme and salt and pepper. Add potatoes, chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce. Salt and pepper liberally.
Cover tightly and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and add carrots, barley and heavy cream. Stir well to incorporate.
Cover and return to oven. Bake until the meat is fork-tender and barley is softened, 45 – 60 minutes more. Adjust the seasonings. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
*The potatoes are cut two different ways so that the sliced ones will break down and thicken the stew. The halved potatoes will remain intact for eating.


From “The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking,” by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker. Scribner. 1997.

For The Lancaster News

The Story Behind No Food Left Behind

Boys and Girls Cookbook
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

I got started cooking the way most people did. I watched my mom. When I was about 9 or 10, I had a Girl Scout project assignment to cook an entire meal for my family. My mom and I sat down and decided on meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I can’t say for sure what recipe I used, but I’m willing to bet that it was the recipe from “Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cookbook.” I still have that cookbook. Most of the pages are falling out of it and the meat loaf page is very stained and worn.

The first few pages of the cookbook have all kinds of hints for preparing and eating a meal. That’s right … there is even a page covering “Setting the Table,” “Fun at Dinnertime” and “Good Manners at Mealtime.” Re-reading that page, I see that I follow a lot of their suggestions still today. We set the table and take care that it is set correctly, and we stress good manners at the table, unless it’s “elbows on the table night,” which we have sometimes.

When I was growing up, we moved around a bit. My Dad was in the Air Force, and we always lived quite far from my parents’ home state of Iowa. My Mom was the one in who family that kept us from going nuts with all the moving. Each time we moved, she treated it as a new adventure … another chance to learn about the customs and culture of our new location. One of the main ways she did that was through food. When my family and I moved to Indian Land from Minneapolis in 2002, our new friends would sometimes say “bet you don’t get too many grits up there in yankeeland, do you?” Well, the fact of the matter is, a frequent guest at our Saturday morning breakfasts at home was grits. My Dad would cook them up with fried eggs and bacon. I also ate red beans and rice a lot growing up. Along with moussaka (a Greek dish with eggplant), rolladen (a German beef roll) and other ethnic dishes.

I became a cook in my own right after my wedding in 1982. We had no money to speak of. We watched every penny and never did anything for entertainment that cost money. Except grocery shopping. Every other Friday night, my husband and I would go to the grocery store and buy groceries. We worked from a two-week menu and listed every single item, right down to the ketchup. If we were feeling flush, we would each get a “treat,” like a special jar of pickles or a box of brand-name cereal.

It was the menu writing that really got me to try new recipes. I cooked meals for four to six people, even though there were only two of us, because then we would have leftovers for lunches. We could not afford to buy our lunches. Each day I would come home and make a full meal of two or three items – usually a main dish and vegetable side, maybe a starch too. Every Sunday night we ate at my parent’s house. It saved money, and my Mom and I would cook together most of the time.

I still jot down a sketchy menu before I go to the grocery store. Now I go once a week so I can take advantage of any specials that are running and so my produce is fresher. From May to November, I also get a half-bushel of organic produce from Sammy Koenigsberg, a farmer in Wesley Chapel, NC. He grows a wide variety of veggies for some restaurants in Charlotte and also has about 24 of us “shareholders” that reap what he sows. I’m never quite sure what is going to show up in the box from farmer Sammy, although I can make fairly good predictions based upon the season. But it is this box of goodies that continues to stretch my culinary talents. It’s from the farmer that I learned how to roast garlic, make basil pesto, and sauté greens with olive oil and garlic, tossing them with hot spaghetti with for a magnificent lunch.

My philosophy on eating is that everything deserves to be tried at least once. And so my philosophy on cooking is that food should be prepared in such a way as to make people want to taste it. It’s always easier to taste food that is not intimidating or ugly.

And now for the bombshell. There is one food that I have left behind. It is lima beans. I’m telling you … no matter how many times I’ve tried them, I haven’t found any that I’ve liked. If there are a couple in my food, like in a stew or a pot pie, that’s one thing. But if there is a pile of limas on my plate, I’m likely to leave them behind. A friend of mine says I just haven’t had them prepared the right way yet. So if you have a lima bean recipe that you think I should try, send it on in to the newspaper. I’ll try it. I’ll try anything.

For The Lancaster News

Broccoli Raab Spaghetti

Broccoli Raab Spaghetti
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

12 oz thin spaghetti
2 or more cloves of garlic, chopped
red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups chopped broccoli raab
4-6 cups chicken stock or water
salt
parmesan cheese

Break the spaghetti into 2-4 inch lengths. In a large skillet, sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes in oil. As soon as the garlic turns translucent, add 1 cup of chicken stock or water. Add the spaghetti and salt to taste. Stir until all the pasta is well-coated with oil and water. It may take some time for the spaghetti to wilt enough to settle into the water.
When the spaghetti has become flexible, add the broccoli raab. As the mixture cooks, add more stock or water – 1/2 cup at a time – stirring constantly, to keep the pasta from sticking. Stop adding the liquid when the pasta is almost done. Continue stirring until all the remaining liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Adapted from a recipe by Edward Giobbi in Fine Gardening Magazine.

For The Lancaster News

Dried Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscotti

Coffee Cookie News
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (about 6 ounces)
1 egg white
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker’s), chopped, or white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large heavy baking sheet with parchment paper, foil or a Silpat® baking sheet. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift or whisk to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, 2 eggs and almond extract in a large bowl until well-blended. Mix in flour mixture. Stop the mixer and stir in the dried cranberries.
Divide the dough in half. On the baking sheet, with room for some spreading, shape each half into logs approximately 2 1/2 inches wide, 9 1/2 inches long and 1 inch high. Whisk the remaining egg white until foamy; brush the egg white on the top and sides of each log.

Bake the logs until golden brown, about 35 minutes, until they crack and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The logs will spread a bit. Remove from oven, but keep the oven turned on. Cool logs on a rack for about 10 minutes. Using a serrated or electric knife, cut the logs on a diagonal into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Arrange the slices, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes; turn biscotti over. Bake about 5 minutes longer, or until they are dry.
Stir the white chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water until smooth. Using a fork, drizzle the chocolate over the biscotti. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes. The biscotti can be stored in an airtight container for a week or frozen.
Makes about 28

From Bon Appetit magazine, posted on http://www.epicurious.com
For The Lancaster News