Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! I hope you have a lovely day.
I’m a kitty mommy to Riley, and I’m pretty sure he wanted us to celebrate with our “Triple B” breakfast … biscuits, bacon and bloodies. I whip up the drinks, while Dale cooks the bacon and makes the biscuits from scratch.
Pro tip: Dip the rim of your glass in lemon or lime juice, and then coat it with a mixture of kosher salt and Old Bay Seasoning.
I use the salty coating as a rub for my celery. Dale just licks the glass. Riley wanders around looking for butter.
Preparing and enjoying delicious food is probably our number one priority in life. We’re both retired, we’re both avid cooks and we both have hearty appetites. Damn, we eat well. The biggest disappointments usually involve restaurants!
The artichokes were in abundance at the farmers market this morning. We brought home these big boys for dinner tonight. I trimmed them up, doused with lemon juice and steamed the artichokes upside down for about 35 minutes. When they are cool, I’ll pry apart that middle section and scoop out the choke (the inedible part).
UPDATE:For such large artichokes, 35 minutes wasn’t enough time. They were delicious but slightly under. Next time I’ll cook them for 45 minutes or try the Instant Pot.
If you are unfamiliar with artichokes, you pull off a leaf and scrape the “meat” off with your teeth. When all the leaves are gone, you’re left with the heart, which is a disc-shaped bit of artichoke flesh that might be the best part.
Most of us like to dip the leaves and the heart in some sort of sauce. We like homemade mayonnaise. I’ve been making mayonnaise for years with many failures. It seems like the whisk of the food processor isn’t wide enough to fully emulsify the ingredients. I annotated the recipe below after one miserable experience.
Enter one of our favorite food guys, Kenji. I’ve adapted his recipe just a smidgen, and it’s amazing. So easy. But as always, you need the right tool, which in this case is an immersion blender that comes with its own blending cup. I suppose there are other ways to do it, but the blender head needs to fit snugly in the cup.
A big artichoke is filling enough to spoil dinner, but light enough I still want more. This is kind of decadent, but Dale is making shrimp cocktails to go with! Maybe some wine? I usually pick out the wine. With apologies to Tolkien, Dale started calling me the Silmarillion because we can never pronounce Sommelier.
A white or dry rosé? I’m just a Silmarillion with no real wine expertise. I make it up as I go.
Easy Mayonnaise
Homemade mayonnaise is an unparalleled treat. This is the easiest way to make it that I know of. It’s hard to mess it up. You will need an immersion blender with the blending cup that comes with it. I’ve adapted this recipe from Two-Minute Mayonnaise by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats.
Put the egg, lemon juice and mustard in the bottom of the blending cup. Add the garlic (optional) and pour the oil on top. Let it sit for 15 seconds or so.
Using the attachment with the mixing blade (not the whisk), place the head of the immersion blender at the bottom of the cup. Turn the speed on high. Do not pulse or move the head. As the mayonnaise forms, slowly tilt and lift the head of the immersion blender until all the oil is emulsified.
If you want basic mayonnaise, use one full cup of the vegetable oil. Add salt to taste, and you're done. You can do the same with all olive oil, although some people find it bitter. If you want to experiment with a stronger flavor, you can mix oils to your taste and make the mayonnaise per the instructions.If you are worried about bitterness, make the mayonnaise using 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and transfer the emulsified mayonnaise to a bowl. Slowly whisk in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of olive oil. Go slow and stop when you like the taste. Add salt to taste.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
The strawberries are finally here! I’m such a fruit snob and always struggle with what fruits to eat over the winter months. While there are plenty of choices, this year I ate frozen blueberries with my homemade granola and yogurt. The berries were delicious and predictable. Oh, the disappointment of unripe fruit.
To keep strawberries fresh, I learned a little trick from a vendor at the farmers market. Line a rectangular tub with a paper towel. Lay the unwashed strawberries in a single layer over the bottom and cover with another paper towel. Store in the fruit/vegetable bin in the refrigerator. Mine last the entire week.
The joy of ripe strawberries! Such a simple pleasure, but lately I’ve come to believe that’s what it’s all about. Advice columnist Carolyn Hax recently wrote a column about purpose, suggesting it’s OK to not have one. She talks about the pleasure of coffee and the satisfaction of completing a chore.
These are tiny pleasures. Connecting one to another to another across a day might not feel grandly productive, but the constellation it creates is pleasant enough to behold.
I’ve been slouching toward purposelessness since I retired, but sometimes I’ve wondered whether I was moving in the right direction. Realizing others are seeking the same path helped validate my own experiences. Such a relief to realize we don’t have to beat ourselves up forever.
My purposeless life is brimming with pleasurable hobbies and satisfying activities. I made a list, which is in no particular order because that would be too purposeful.
Golf – Practice & Play
Cook
Arts & Crafts
Walk & Lift Weights
Read
Write
Yard work
Housework
Home Maintenance & Repair
I estimated the number of hours a week ideally dedicated to these activities. It added up to exactly 40! So there you have it. Being purposeless is a full-time job.
Although I have occasional sugar indulgences, I actually don’t eat many sweets and mostly stick to savory dishes in the kitchen. However, Dale was craving these cookies, so what’s a girl to do?
We watch a lot of cooking shows on TV, and you often hear people say, “It’s to die for.” Dale says you shouldn’t have to die for good food. Better to say, “It’s to kill for.” Although neither one of us is a killer, these cookies might inspire greedy but non-violent behavior.
What I love about these cookies is they are so pure. I think of them as the health food of cookies. No flour, no oil, no butter. Mostly just chocolate, nuts, egg whites and sugar. The egg whites form a slightly crispy crust, and the inside is deliciously gooey.
You can use plain old Hershey’s Cocoa, which is perfectly yummy, but I like to mix it about half and half with cacao powder. I think it makes for a richer tasting cookie. The original recipe calls for crushing the chocolate much as you would the walnuts, but I have had no luck at all in the chocolate chopping department. Whole chips work fine.
I tell friends who crave sweets to always go for the absolute best. Don’t eat chocolate pudding from the cafeteria (I’m talking to you, Monica) or some stupid cookie from a package. Focus on eating the real deal, and usually the real deal is hard to find or hard to make, so you don’t have it as often and you end up appreciating it more.
This advice applies to a lot of foods, including french fries. Make them from scratch, and you won’t get fat eating french fries. Which reminds me of Dale’s secret fantasy. No, nothing like that. If he had an unlimited supply of money, he would have an outdoor deep fryer and a cleaning service to keep the oil fresh. That’s my guy!
This recipe is inspired by the original from Jacque Torres. A special thanks to Linda at Retired Introvert, who turned me onto this recipe plug-in.
Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
Inspired by the original recipe from Jacque Torres, these cookies have no flour or oil but plenty of pure chocolaty nutty goodness.
1 1/3cupsCocoa PowderI like to mix regular cocoa powder with cacao powder about half and half.
4 1/4cupsPowdered Sugar
1 1/3 cupsDark Chocolate ChipsI like Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Baking Chips (63% cacao)
1cupWalnuts
1/2tspSalt
1tspVanilla Extract
5Egg WhitesUse large eggs NOT extra large or jumbo.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top and spray again with cooking spray.
Put walnuts in a sealed plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin until crumbs. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the Cocoa Powder, Powdered Sugar and Salt until there are no lumps. Switch to a wooden spoon, and stir in Egg Whites, Vanilla, Chocolate Chips and Walnuts. Mix until combined. The dough is very stiff.
Use an ice cream scoop to scoop dough and drop onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool the cookies completely on the cookie sheet.
Following my fall from last week, the good news is my chin looks fabulous (if chins ever look fabulous). The stitches are out, and it’s almost healed. Doesn’t look like I will have a scar. The bad news is a few ribs took some of the impact, so I’m not able to play golf. I am grateful nonetheless. In the grand scheme of things, this is a tiny nuisance.
It rained today, and for some reason, if I can’t play golf, I’m always happier if no one is playing golf.
From the outset, one of my retirement strategies was to balance my activities and focus on building both physical and intellectual reserves. Think of it as diversifying your portfolio, except this is about fun not money. Not that money can’t be fun.
Reading, writing, cooking and artistic pursuits counterbalance golf and other outdoor fun. I figured at some point I would be reminded you can’t have it all. Being down for the count after my accident seems to validate my strategy. I’m annoyed I can’t play golf, but I have plenty to keep me amused at home.
I made a batch of no-knead bread. I’ve been experimenting with the technique, and I love it! The dough rises for at least 18 hours. We keep our home pretty cool, so it has taken more like 24 for mine. I noticed today’s batch had a better rise, as it has gotten a bit warmer. To get me started, I got Jim Lahey’s book from the library.
The book is great, but I probably won’t buy it. I’ve made it a few times now, and there are tons of free recipes for no-knead bread on the Internet, so I think I’ll make do with what I have. One more cookbook might make our whole house implode, and no one wants that.
The rest of the afternoon I hung out in the garage making coasters and listening to Amy Winehouse. The garage is exactly the same as the shower … I sound just like her. A super-pleasant afternoon.
As for the coasters, I have no idea what I am going to do with them. Some will be gifts. I just keep making them. The process relaxes me, and I feel happy as I’m out there puttering away.
I’m currently on a drink theme. They are coasters, right? I’m giving myself permission to go with whatever my brain comes up with. I’m not allowing that nasty bitch masquerading as my inner voice to stop me with her harsh criticism. My current approach is fake Shakespearean advice. I uploaded two new ones to the gallery:
Quench thy thirst with a pure and earnest alchemy of barley, hops, water, and yeast.
Behold the gift of fermentation, and seek ye the merry pleasure of beer, wine, and cheese.
A note for word nerds. Over the course of my entire career in corporate communications, we used the AP Style guide for grammar and punctuation. I adopted AP Style for my personal use, because I figured at least I’d be consistent. Even personal emails, letters to my mother. It’s a sickness.
In AP Style, one does not use the Oxford comma. That’s the last comma in a series such as beer, wine, and cheese. You will notice I used the Oxford comma. A hundred little communicators just dropped over. I decided the Oxford fit better with this style. So, guess what, AP Style? I’m over you.
One last punctuation nit. This is how I’m wired. There’s a comma after fermentation in the sentence above, “Behold the gift of fermentation, and seek ye the merry pleasure of beer, wine, and cheese.” That’s because they are independent clauses. The two parts can stand on their own, so they should be separated with a comma.
I forgot to add the comma when I made the tile. I know, big deal, but I do plan to fix it next time around. I guess that means I still have a ways to go when it comes to balance, but you know, baby steps.
Dale and I want to live long and healthy lives, but we’re
not obsessed with every study or every trend that purports to buy us more time.
At some point, you just have to tune out the noise and go about your business.
However, this week’s headline about eggs got my attention. I remember when eggs were on the naughty list. Now they’re good again, but I was skimming the news and read eating more than three eggs per week increases your risk of heart disease and early death.
I was devastated, because I eat about three eggs a week, not realizing, of course, the clause about early death. I’m no stable genius, but I’m proud of my adult-like response.
Fuck it, I’m eating eggs.
I mentioned the sad egg news to Dale, and he said no! It was three eggs per day. Surely, he was wrong, but it turns out he was right. I misread the headline. I would never eat three eggs a day, unless it was a cheesy three-egg omelet, and I had no free will.
So, yes, eggs are still on the menu. I sometimes eat a fried egg on toast with just a smidgen of butter for breakfast, but I do fry the egg without fat in a non-stick pan. Soft-boiled eggs are a tasty alternative with the potential for cute accessories – special cups, plates, spoons, snippers and even cozies to keep them warm! It’s like a cult.
As for evening, I might make a spinach souffle or omelet. My sister taught me to make fluffy omelets in high school. For years, omelets and tacos were the only two things I knew how to make … limiting for sure, but at least I chose well. Regrettably, those were days when I knew not of what I ate, and I recall putting chopped Vienna Sausages in my omelet.
But onto better times! Behold, Spaghetti Carbonara, where raw eggs mix with Parmesan cheese and Pancetta and cook with the heat of the pasta. Another favorite is Caesar Salad. I make the dressing with a 1-minute egg, olive oil, lemon, garlic and anchovies.
One of our favorite egg dishes is something I made up. I actually have several recipes in the category of Made-Up Mexican. We call this one Huevos Dineros. I know the translation is wrong, dinero means money not dinner, but it just sounds funny to me. It’s a heartier dish than the Huevos Rancheros I make for weekend brunch.
For Huevos Dineros, I fry corn tortillas in vegetable oil until crisp. Two each, slightly overlapping on a sheet pan or other broiler-friendly dish. Top with homemade red chile sauce or canned enchilada sauce that has been warmed and doctored up with cumin, cayenne and whatever else suits your fancy.
Gently slide a lightly fried egg on top of each serving and cover with grated cheddar cheese. Broil until the cheese is bubbly. Use a spatula to transfer each serving onto a plate and add shredded iceberg lettuce, chopped tomato, maybe a few radishes and perfect slices of ripe avocado. Don’t forget a dollop of sour cream. Serve with salsa on the side.
You can always make it with two eggs each if you are all ungry like.
Even though I grew up surrounded by California’s wondrous bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, my mother did not like to cook and thanked the Blessed Virgin Mary every day for packages and cans. And, of course, she was witness to the Miracle of Swanson TV Dinners.
I don’t think I tasted a fresh peach until high school. Potatoes were powdered out of a box or the small white ones out of a can. Believe it or not, when I joined the Army shortly after high school, I considered the mess hall fine dining.
Back in the day, Mom frequently served canned pickled beets. A lot of people say yuk to beets, but I loved them! Now I buy beets fresh at the store or the farmer’s market and pickle them myself. But it’s kind of a pain in the rear. Today I had the brilliant idea of making them in the Instant Pot.
The grocery store usually sells beets in little bundles of
three. I actually wanted yellow beets, but I didn’t like the looks of them so
went with red. Gave them a good rinse in the sink and then peeled and diced
them raw. I would guess it was about two cups, which I tossed into the pot.
I checked several references for cook time and liquids and found inspiration at Plant Based Instant Pot. I decided on 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. Tossed that in the pot and added a cinnamon stick, a few whole cloves, a few allspice berries and one tablespoon of maple syrup.
Popped on the lid. Made sure the pressure valve was closed and pressed manual, high pressure for five minutes. It didn’t take long for the pot to come to pressure, so I’d say less than 10 minutes all together. When the timer went off, I very carefully released the pressure manually.
They’re in the fridge now, but I taste-tested, and they are delicious! Next time I might add a bit of sliced Maui onion. Maybe a Bay Leaf.
Yesterday was whole roast chicken with Dale’s Maine-style potato stuffing and steamed baby broccoli. We’re going with chicken sandwiches on sourdough for dinner tonight , so I thought some sort of dark red or green vegetable would be good on the side. I’ve been craving beets.
What a perfect use for the Instant Pot. I wonder what else we can pickle the same way. Ginger? Carrots?
By the way, I’m not completely dissing canned vegetables. You have to pick and choose. Beets and corn seem to survive nicely. To me, the worst canned vegetable is asparagus. But I bet you somebody out there has a happy canned asparagus memory, and they eat it to this day.
Tuesday is my favorite day of the week because it’s Chopped night on TV. I could watch it for hours. OK, I do watch it for hours.
I’m kind of a complicated person, and I’ve often joked my goal is simple needs, easily met. Sadly, I’m usually all about complex needs that are difficult to meet. Cooking in retirement puts me closer to my goal.
The slab pies continue to fascinate. I wrote author Cathy Barrow asking about reducing the size, and she said the recipes aren’t designed for round pies. She uses 1/4 sheet pans. I happened to notice 1/8 sheet pans do exist, and she agreed they would be perfect for her pies. Either cut the recipe in half and make one, or make two and freeze one.
I got my 1/8 sheet pans in the mail yesterday, and I’m at it again. This time it’s Cowboy Beef Stew Slab Pie with lard crust. I guess the “cowboy” comes from Ancho chili powder and coffee. Not that lard is a health food, but it’s not as bad as you think.
So many things to love about retirement, but cooking has to be among my favorites. I have more time to pay attention to what’s going on in the world, and it seems to me the world has gone crazy. The kitchen is my shelter from the storm. Something about chopping, mixing, weighing, baking, roasting, stirring and browning mellows me out. Plus, we eat well!
It’s a good thing my other favorite hobbies involve exercise.
I’ll try not to beat the slab pie drum again, but I did want to share an update about downsizing. The author provides metric weights for all ingredients, and I’ve found that to be super-helpful for cutting the recipes in half.
For example, the full recipe calls for 1/4 cup or 30 grams of all-purpose flour. I don’t have an 1/8 cup measure, but our digital scale does metric, so I just weigh 15 grams. Most of the crust recipes include versions for both one and two-crust pies, and the one-crust recipe is perfect for a two-crust pie made in a 1/8 sheet pan. Wow, say that fast three times in a row.
Cathy also tells you what steps can be completed in advance. I made the crust today – the dough rests in the refrigerator overnight. I also made the filling, as her pies call for chilled crust and chilled filling. The filling will also rest in the refrigerator overnight. Tomorrow, all I have to do is roll out dough and make pie! Splitting up tasks is also easier on the dishwasher.
The weather is cold by California standards, certainly by my standards, and it’s supposed to rain hard tomorrow. Crusty beefy pie sounds perfect to me.
Dale’s on tap to cook this evening. He’s making a breaded pork cutlet known at our house as Schnitzel on a Stick. It’s basically a pounded-out pork schnitzel made from a bone-in chop. Side dishes are steamed spinach and maybe some pan-fried potatoes (bratkartoffeln).
To drink? Dale just loaded the kegerator with Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery.
All that and Chopped. Clean jammies. A cozy fire. Perhaps a cat in the lap. Did I say simple needs, easily met?
When it comes to beer, I’m no Brett Kavanaugh, but I do enjoy a brew or two. Many years ago, I drank Milwaukee’s Best Light, which was the cheapest beer available. I’d invite friends over and offer them a beer. Everyone was like, um, no thanks. Dale said it was time to upgrade my beer.
I switched to Bud Light, and that was my beer of choice for years. After living in Germany and collecting those gorgeous steins, it’s safe to say I love regular beer, but I believed it was fattening, so I mostly stuck with lights. About 10 years ago a friend suggested if I really truly loved beer, I should consider drinking the real thing.
Real beer has barley, hops, water and yeast. No corn syrup, no rice.
Not that beer is a health food, but one does one’s best to heighten the pleasure and minimize the downside. Lots of commercially brewed beer includes corn syrup and/or rice.
Of course, I did not watch the Super Bowel, but I saw commercials for Bud Light bragging about not using corn syrup like Coors Light and Miller Lite. I think they all use rice. Not like it’s poison or anything, but I have come to appreciate the taste and quality of “clean” beer.
Dale was morally opposed to light beer anyway, so my switch was good news for him. We started buying microbrews, and there was no turning back. The interesting thing is I did not gain weight when I switched to the heartier beers. Maybe because you drink less of it? Or maybe light beer is like diet soda and can actually make you gain weight?
If I wanted a light mass-produced beer these days, I would go for Amstel Light, which is tasty and seems devoid of extra stuff.
For $15 each, we purchased beer passports, which encourage people to get out and visit local breweries. There are more than 70! Each brewery stamps its section of the passport, and after four stamps, you get a bottle opener. Sixteen stamps, and you get a pint glass. Fill up the passport, and they create a custom map documenting your travels.
So far, we have three stamps. We went to one brewery not far from our home and the other two within a 30-minute drive. Our practice to date has been to arrive around 2 p.m. and have one beer each. The breweries were great, the beer was delicious and we enjoyed talking to other beer aficionados. Our passports were quite the hit with some, although others were familiar with the program and have already filled up the pages.
While your area may not have a passport program, I’ll bet you have a good selection of local breweries. If you like beer, I encourage you to visit. Most have sampler glasses, and I was also surprised to see a good selection of beer in the 4 percent ABV range, which is quite nice for an afternoon beer. Another little retirement pleasure!
By the way, I totally get it if microbrews aren’t your thing. Beer preferences are often a mishmash of taste, culture, brand loyalty and memories. Do you have a favorite beer? What makes it special to you?
It’s a windy, rainy day and a good one for hanging out in the kitchen. The weather report said occasional rain, but so far it has been occasionally raining steadily since last night. Oh, yeah, I forgot. It’s the Super Bowel. I hate football, so nothing there for me.
I was thinking this morning how much I love being retired and having the opportunity to cook from scratch and eat great food that doesn’t come out of a box. In the ongoing adventures of my cooking life:
I’ve temporarily stopped making yogurt. Two batches in a row failed, so I decided to take a break. I’m enjoying whole milk European-style yogurt from Straus Family Creamery. No thickeners or stabilizers or any of that weird stuff. The yogurt is advertised as pourable. I add fruit and homemade granola, and it works just fine for me.
Yesterday I made Butter Mochi. I had never heard of it, but a friend sent me the recipe, and I’ve been itching to try it. Wow! So unusual, but right up my alley. I like chocolate, but my tastes in food lean blonde. Butter, vanilla, butterscotch, caramel. Luckily, we have neighbors who will eat anything we give them, so it’s not hanging around pointing a gun at our heads. I think it would be a nice dessert for an outdoor barbecue party.
I bought the slab pie book. Today I am making chicken pot pie with leftover roasted chicken. I made the all-butter crust that worked so well last time, but I only made enough for one crust. I divided it in half and will make two small free-form rustic pies. The dough is resting in the fridge now. I’m cutting the filling by half, but I suspect there will still be too much, so I’ll freeze the rest. I love the recipes from this book, and it just doesn’t seem like it should be that hard to downsize. We shall see.
The Instant Pot is primed to make chicken stock, using up the frozen chicken carcasses we saved from previous roast chickens. I’m waiting on grocery boy to get back from the store with the leeks I need for the chicken pot pie. Seemed less wasteful to use some of those instead of onions in the stock. The stock takes about an hour in the Instant Pot.
Cannabis tincture! I am almost out of the batch I made last year. I’m using the Magical Butter Machine. You just add 1 ounce of decarboxylated cannabis and 2 cups of 190 proof Everclear. Set the temperature, push the timer button and four hours later, I have tincture. It’s cycling through now, and the machine makes the strangest noises, but it’s easy and safe.
Let me say a few words about tincture. As I’ve written before, I was not using cannabis while I was working. I had a mastectomy shortly before I retired and experienced neuropathic pain throughout the scarred area. The first thing I tried was Kikoko tea, which is a low-dose cannabis product. I love it. I wouldn’t say the tea cured the pain, but I felt really good and didn’t notice the pain. I started reading up on other cannabis products to see if I could get the same results cheaper.
Enter tincture. Tincture is either made with alcohol or glycerin.
You can put a few drops under the tongue for quick results, although the
alcohol-based tincture burns. That’s why I mix it in juice. Or you can even add
it to a spoon of honey. It takes longer to feel the effects, and it does go through
your liver, but the alcohol content is quite minimal, so I don’t worry about
it.
I started with a few drops and added a drop a day until I got the right dosage. I was not seeking a high. I just wanted that pleasant feeling that starts when I feel myself starting to smile. One does build up a tolerance over time. After a year of one dropperful in the morning with my juice, I gradually increased to two dropperfuls. I think that’s about ½ teaspoon.
Tincture, to me, is nothing short of a miracle. I feel happier than I have maybe in my whole life. Granted, some of that is being retired, but I can feel the difference if I miss my dose. I tend to be very anxious about everything, and a small dose of tincture daily keeps those demons at bay. My neuropathic pain is almost non-existent. Some of that can be attributed to the cannabis cream I use as well.
For people who are curious about cannabis but don’t want to
smoke it, I highly recommend tincture. Dispensaries sell it – if you live in a
state where they have dispensaries. It’s worth getting a medical recommendation
if that’s what it takes to purchase cannabis legally where you live.
