Category: Food & Drink

Living gently

The reluctant travelers have returned from a two-night stay in Morro Bay, a casual beach town in San Luis Obispo County. We mainly go to smell the ocean and eat seafood. Mission accomplished.

Even though we had a lovely trip, it’s good to be home. Everyone has to find their own retirement rhythm, and my hat’s off to those who are taking this time to see the world, but I can’t imagine being gone for weeks at a time. We enjoy our cozy lifestyle and couldn’t wait to get back in the kitchen. Other than the golf course, I don’t want to go anywhere for a while.

Dale made pizza last night. I’m making bison curry in the Instant Pot tonight. I already made naan in the pizza oven and will just have to heat them up. So delicious! Dale has some beautiful jalapeño peppers from his small garden, so he’s going to make beer batter-fried jalapeños stuffed with cheddar cheese. We’ll have that as an appetizer.

To celebrate our return home, I ordered the pasta attachment for the KitchenAid mixer. I’ve been using a hand-crank pasta machine, and while it works fine, I want to be able to use both hands to guide the pasta.

It should arrive later today, and that means homemade pasta tomorrow! Our basil is looking gorgeous, so I believe it will be pesto.

I also have some homemade lobster stock thawing in the refrigerator. I’ll use that to make miso seafood chowder later this week … probably Tuesday. Monday’s a golf day, so  I can start a no-knead loaf of bread in the evening when I get back from a hard day of sport and bake it the next morning. I prefer bread over oyster crackers.

Certainly, there are more important things in the world than what I’m eating, but for sanity’s sake, I am learning to disengage from politics and global trauma. For lack of a better term, I think of it as living gently. For now, anyway, I’m happy and grateful to enjoy the simple pleasures that define my retirement – golf, cooking, art, walking, swimming, reading and writing.

You had me at croutons

I’m making Caesar salads for dinner tonight, and I wouldn’t even bother if it weren’t for homemade croutons. Such a simple pleasure and so damned good.

Easy, too. I used Italian rolls from the freezer. Thawed them out, cut them in cubes and then tossed the cubes with melted butter and salt. Then you just spread them out on a sheet pan and brown in a 400-degree oven.

For the salad, I start with romaine lettuce and whisk together a dressing made with anchovies mashed with a couple of garlic cloves, olive oil, a one-minute egg and fresh lemon juice. Then toss the whole thing with freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano.  

Top each salad with those amazing croutons.

I was trying to start the second Louise Penny book while the croutons were browning, but I didn’t get very far. You do have to watch them. But I have some time after I’m done here, and I’d like to see how far I can get in the book before dinner. That’s when I do my best reading.

If I go horizontal after I’m fed, it’s all over.

Lupin, one of my favorite Netflix shows has new episodes. I watched two last night! The French mystery follows Assane Diop, the son of an immigrant from Senegal who had come to France to seek a better life for his child. The father gets framed for a theft and hangs himself in prison. Assane is orphaned but grows up to become a professional thief and master of disguise who avenges his father’s death.

Speaking of simple pleasures, I’ve been buying artisan chocolate instead of the drugstore varieties I used to favor. One of my favorites is Dick Taylor, and I just toured the factory in Eureka when I visited my sister last week.

They had bins, yes bins, of samples in very small pieces, which I liked a lot. It doesn’t take much to fully enjoy the experience of chocolate. I bought a few bars of the 72% Belize dark chocolate to take home. With a discount for taking the tour!

Here’s my indulgence. I break the bar into roughly dime-sized pieces and store it in a zipper-lock bag. I pull two pieces out after breakfast and begin with several sips of hot coffee to pre-warm my mouth. Then I slide in one little piece and let that luscious chocolate melt slowly on the tongue, swishing it about the mouth, savoring the complex flavors. No chewing allowed.

And then I do it again.

OK. It’s just two small pieces of chocolate, but it’s almost like meditation.

Friday traditions

We thought being trapped in the mud after the heavy rains would be the worst of it, but then, exhausted and still a little hung-over, we ventured out from our soaked and filthy tent to join 70,000 other desperate souls trying make their way home after an epic adventure at the Burning Man festival in Nevada.  

Um, well, not us, exactly – but somebody, maybe? Just having a little fun over here at Chez Boring … which is just how I like it.

No holidays where we have to fly anywhere, thank you very much. I spent most of the summer playing golf early to avoid the heat. I played with a guy the other day who told his wife he didn’t want to go anywhere anymore – just to the golf course and back. I bowed my head in silent admiration.

Oh, I got new glasses and had to drive 30 minutes to find the same frames so I wouldn’t have to get anything different. When I was online trying to find identical frames, I saw an ad for an optometric shop with the slogan “Life is too short for boring frames.” I was like, no, no, not for Donna. I’m sticking with black until something darker comes along.

Our Friday tradition is Dale’s homemade pizza and a movie. In preparation, we made a liquor store run to get “back-up beer.” We have a kegerator, and there’s no gauge to tell you when it’s getting low. You can pick it up and see if it feels lighter, but Dale prefers to go with my recommendation, based on my reputation as “the beer whisperer.”

What can I say? I just have this second sense when the keg is getting low.

A second keg will fit in there until the first one kicks. That’s the back-up beer. Today’s choice is Panic IPA by Track Seven Brewery. Before the pandemic, a few of us in the cul-de-sac used to have driveway parties, and Dale would wheel the kegerator out onto the front porch for the neighbors to enjoy. We were the envy of the hood, and not just because we’re young and good-looking.

Then everyone went inside their houses and never came out.

Tonight’s pizza has a OO crust topped with a creamy white garlic parmesan cheese sauce. Then two more cheeses – whole milk mozzarella and smoked gouda. The rest of the toppings are smoked salmon, capers, red onion and diced fresh tomatoes. It’s one of our favorites.

I’m not sure which movie we’ll watch. We’ve been focusing on bad 50s monster movies and have watched 30 of them to date! The Amazon watchlist keeps expanding. Most are pretty awful often involving an inquisitive scientist with a beautiful (unattached) daughter and a confident (unattached) military man sent to investigate strange goings on. Surprisingly, the monsters are few and far between.   

We laugh a lot, so there’s that.

I’m reading The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly. This is book four of seven in the Lincoln Lawyer series and it parallels the second season of the TV show, which puts a different spin on the character Lisa Trammell. I like both versions, but they are quite different. There will be a new book in the series published in November, so now’s the time to catch up!

The weather is really beautiful here in Northern California, so we’re just trying to enjoy it. Dale and I always talk about hiking when it’s not too hot, but then we never do it. We agreed this week to try and do a hike every Thursday. There will be some weeks when it won’t work for various reasons, but I wanted to pick a specific day so when I book appointments, I’ll know to keep Thursdays open.

I know, so busy am I.

Enjoying the career afterlife

Although I absolutely love retirement, of course I understand there are some significant setbacks that can prevent us from having a wonderful time as we age. Sickness, pain, loss, loneliness, financial distress. Those can be very difficult to overcome.

Then there’s ego. You’re not all that and a bag of chips anymore. You don’t look the same. You miss being somebody. Sure, I went through a little of that, but it’s actually chump change and easy to leave behind. My advice? Let it go. Enjoy your career afterlife and save your strength for the big guns.

Lately, my career afterlife has been even more enjoyable than usual. I attribute a lot of that to my back no longer giving me fits. The official diagnosis was herniated disc at L4-L5, sciatica and spinal stenosis. The neurosurgeon said I was more active than most people with these problems and to consider myself lucky. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need surgery.

Everybody’s different, but I started reading about piriformis syndrome. Symptoms are similar to what I was experiencing. I found these exercises and for about six months now, I’ve been doing them daily.  Unbelievable. I feel like a new person. I still experience a little pain from time to time, but it’s no big deal.

On the entertainment front, I’ve been reading more than watching, although I did enjoy the latest season of The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix. I seem to recall reading the first book in the series, and now I may go back and read them all.

Today was kind of a bonus day at the library. I went to get the next Easy Rawlins novel, and another book in my queue popped up. The book, Sing her Down by Ivy Pochoda, is described as a gritty feminist Western thriller. Sounds right up my alley.

Then, in the Lucky Day display at the library, I saw All That is Hidden, a new Molly Murphy mystery by Rhys Bowen. This is number 19, and I’ve read them all in order (as I am wont to do).  Molly is a detective in turn-of-the-century New York City. I usually go for the darker stuff, but I do like historical fiction, and these are highly entertaining.

Food-wise, we continue on our path of delicious eating. I made sourdough bread last week, but it didn’t last long. Toast in the morning, sandwiches for dinner one night and then served on the side for dunking with miso fish chowder from the freezer. Here’s a link to the recipe for the chowder if you subscribe to the NY Times cooking section. Dale’s from Maine, and he loved it!

I made the soup a few weeks ago and used frozen cod and added some shrimp. Instead of bottled clam juice, I pulled some homemade lobster stock out of the freezer. I made the stock with picked out lobster shells after Dale made lobster rolls a month or so ago.

The white miso was a game-changer. Now, I’m on the lookout for any recipe with white miso. Where has this been all my life?

Saturday I made quiche with bacon and Gruyère cheese. We both thought I used a little too much bacon, but it was still quite yummy. I used to make quiche in a deeper pie pan, but I’ve switched to the tart shell with the removable bottom, and we like that better. I prefer the tart pan because I pre-bake the crust for a bit, and you never have to worry about a soggy bottom.

Dale did a whole roast chicken yesterday, and I’m going to use the leftovers for Tom Kha Gai later this week. There are a million recipes for this Thai chicken coconut soup. I’ve been using this one for years.  I’ve made it both ways – raw chicken thighs or leftover roast chicken, and they’re both great.

I’ve been itching to make it because the recipe calls for makrut lime leaves, which are difficult to find. One day I happened to be in Whole Foods, and there they were! I bought what they had and froze them.

For the rest of the ingredients, we went to 99 Ranch, which is a fantastic Asian supermarket chain. They usually carry my favorite Chaokoh coconut milk, but they were out last time we were there, so I ordered it on Amazon. Thankfully, I saw it was back in stock today.  

I browsed the fresh noodle aisle while we were at 99 Ranch. Very interesting!! I’ve tried cooking Udon before but didn’t have good results. Maybe ramen?

My week in food

Sometimes I think food is the only thing that matters. Eat well, and all is well. We spend a good deal of our waking hours thinking about dinner, shopping for dinner and preparing dinner. Then there’s breakfast, lunch and happy hour, but I’ll save that for a different day.

News of the world has distressed me, so I’m trying to stay off the internet and focus on the simple pleasures that make me happy. That’s probably good advice for all of us.

I guess it’s not much of a blog post, but I thought, why not just list what we’ve been eating? It’s a pretty awesome list. Maybe not the healthiest – I’m looking at you dairy – but  awesome nonetheless. I hope reading about food takes you to your happy place.

Monday – Dale made grilled bison cheeseburgers. I made a grated carrot, fennel, hazelnut and orange salad to go with. We each had a handful of potato chips. The brand is Gibble’s. They are from Pennsylvania. The chips mysteriously arrive in the mail when Dale is left at home without adult supervision.

Tuesday – Dale’s homemade chicken tortilla soup from the freezer. We top it with crumbled queso fresco, diced avocado, fried tortilla strips and cilantro. Oh, and a squeeze of lime.

Wednesday: Dale made his original version of pork curry with green beans, corn and eggplant in a spicy tomato sauce. I made raita (cucumbers and yogurt) to go with. We also had a dollop of apricot chutney I made from some fresh apricots a neighbor plucked from his tree.

Thursday – I made whole wheat crepes stuffed with mushrooms and asparagus in a creamy pecorino Romano sauce. Spinach and arugula salad to go with. The mushrooms were cooked in a bit of water first and then almost caramelized with a little oil. This is my new favorite way to brown mushrooms.

Friday: Dale’s homemade pizza with whole wheat crust, shrimp, kalamata olives, basil, fresh tomatoes, habanero peppers and goat cheese. I pick the peppers off, and it’s still crazy hot. Dale is a machine.

Saturday: Donna’s tomato pie with cheddar cheese, basil and chives in a double biscuit crust. I used half lard and half butter in the biscuit dough, and we both thought it was better than all-butter.

Sunday: Grilled lamb chops with rosemary and garlic, grilled asparagus (the other half of the bundle I bought for the crepes) and tabbouli salad. Dale did the grilling, and I made the tabbouli, which is bulgar, tomatoes, parsley, mint and green onions in a vinegarette.  I was generous with the olive oil and lemon juice, and Dale thought it was a wee bit too wet. I thought it was perfect, but next time I’ll back off the juice.

Monday: Leftover tomato pie reheated in the oven.

Tonight: BLTs on Donna’s homemade sourdough bread. The dough felt kind of dry, but I got the best rise ever on this loaf. Great for sandwiches. Something to be learned there.

The tomatoes were late this year, but the farmer’s market starting carrying them two weeks ago. So, it’s really a race to the finish. How many tomatoes can we eat before the season is over?

Oh, and on the tomato front, upon a tip from the NY Times, I made a tomato sandwich for lunch one day with salt, mayonnaise and a generous shake of furikake, a Japanese seasoning made with sesame seeds, nori and maybe some salt and sugar. Delicious!   

Tomato Pie

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

For the filling

  • 2 pounds fresh tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup minced chives
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise thinned with 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

For the crust

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 stick butter cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup whole milk

Instructions
 

  • Peel and slice the tomatoes and let them sit in a collander about 30 minutes to drain. Freeze the butter for about 20 minutes.
  • In the food processor, blend flour, salt and baking powder. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is roughly incorporated. Add milk and blend until it comes together. Divide the dough in two, and gently roll out the bottom crust, using more flour to keep it from sticking.
  • Line a 9-inch pie plate with the bottom crust.
  • On top of the crust, add the sliced tomatoes and then the basil and chives. Sprinkle 1 cup of the cheese on top, and then drizzle the mayonnaise/lemon mixture over the top and then add the rest of the cheddar.
  • Roll the remaining dough and fit it over the filling, pinching the dough around the pie plate to seal the edges. Cut several steam vents in the top crust and bake the pie at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown on the top and bottom.
  • Cool on a rack for a few minutes before slicing.

Retirement phases

I’ve heard it said retirement comes in phases. One would assume it’s different for everyone. I only know when I retired, I couldn’t quite let go of the need to feel successful. That first phase was frustrating, because I was no longer particularly successful at anything.

My plan was to keep dabbling, see what interested me, what stuck. After five years of enjoying simple pleasures and indulging in creative pursuits, that burning desire to achieve something beyond daily existence started to subside.

The turning point was lunch with my childhood friend, who shocked me by the details she remembered from my troubled youth. Her insights were enlightening, and I came to realize my life turned out way better than anyone could have expected. And whatever success I had in my career was plenty.

In this new retirement phase, I feel different. Like I’m just part of the ecosystem, at peace with the rest of the flora and fauna that share this space, with no need to measure up or justify my existence. It feels great, although accepting that I’m enough has changed my motivation for writing.

For me, writing was often about trying to feel validated. But it seems I don’t need that validation anymore, so I’m in search of the sweet spot that’s more about creative expression and personal connections. I’m not sure how this new focus will reveal itself, but I’m thankful you read my stuff and hope you’ll go along for the ride.

Which brings us to a topic foremost on my mind these days, and that would be Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs). They are getting a lot of buzz lately, so I read the new book, Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind the Food That Isn’t Food by Chris van Tulleken.

The book is heavy on science, hence the name, and it tells a compelling story about the food industry … how and why it delivers tasty addictive foods that make us fat and unhealthy. Most of us realize by now that sodas, flavored yogurt, snack bars, frozen meals and the like are on the naughty list.

We don’t eat that stuff at our house. But I was surprised to learn some foods we eat frequently are UPF. Most commercial breads. English muffins! Some peanut butter. Flour tortillas. Some fruit juices. You have to look at the ingredients, and if it’s a long list of unpronounceables, you’re looking at UPF.

Are you concerned about UPFs? Do you have a strategy?

As for us, Dale and I agreed we’ll still eat some of the bad stuff occasionally, but we’ll make simple changes where we can. I bought some natural peanut butter, and I actually like it, although I miss the mouth-feel you get from the hydrogenated oils they add to the highly processed kind. We bake a lot of bread, so we can get around that one with a little planning.

The biggest challenge would be flour tortillas. They are a pain in the ass to make, but I see that day coming. Another option would be to check out the local mercados.  I would assume if they’re making flour tortillas from scratch at the facility, they don’t have all the extra junk added. I could freeze them.

A change of pace

My bum wrists are acting up, so I’m taking a break from golf, even though golf has never been the culprit. Just experimenting a bit to see what makes them feel better. I have a doctor’s appointment in June, so the question is will I last that long without even hitting a few balls?

So far, reading a heavy book hurts more than golf. I’m switching to my Kindle until these wrists are under control.

On the bright side, not playing golf gives me so much time back. It’s like, where did all these hours come from? I’m somewhat a slave to routine, but I’m finding the change of pace is good for the soul. Doing different things makes me think about different things and helps me gain a little perspective in how I spend my precious retirement hours.

I’m walking a lot. This is another experiment to find the best balance of distance and frequency. So far, I think I’m better off keeping the distance to three or four miles but walking every day. I never have pain when I walk, but if I overdo it, the leg on my sciatica side hurts at night and messes with my sleep.

I can sort of see the beginning of the end of my dream to do a long-distance walk. I don’t think my body will hold up. But I can still do a lot, so I’m not complaining.

The NY Times recently featured a recipe for chocolate overnight oatmeal. I made it their way first and then tweaked it to my liking. The taste of chia seeds was fine, but I didn’t like the texture. Same for dates. I adore dates, but they were gummy in this oatmeal.

The chocolate is another variable. I used cocoa powder the first time, and it was delish, but then I saw a bag of cacao powder hanging around the pantry and decided to use that. They are equally yummy. I believe the only difference between the two is the degree of processing.

For one serving, here’s my modification:

In a mason jar, add ½ cup old-fashioned oats, ¾ cup milk, 1 tablespoon of cocoa or cacao powder, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract. Cover tightly, shake well and refrigerate overnight. I like to add 1 tablespoon of grated coconut.

I had low expectations, but I love this oatmeal.

Speaking of low expectations, I was pleased Trump was found liable in the E. Jean Carroll case. For some people, it was a long shot, but I’ll share a conversation I had after playing golf with my women’s league a few weeks ago.

Our group is a mix politically, as everything is, so we try to be careful about delicate conversations. I was talking with K. about how we wanted Trump held accountable when another woman sat down, overhearing the tail end of the discussion. She was incredulous. After all this time? How could this so-called victim remember anything? Come on!

K. was quiet and then looked up. She said, “I was sexually assaulted 30 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.”

Well, there you go. Mouths open, mouths closed.

By the way, this is irrelevant and possibly offensive, but I liked E. Jean’s hair and the way she dressed. Although I am not nearly as chic, I had a similar style when I was working. Pleated skirts, tights. Heeled Mary Jane’s. Fitted jackets. She made me want to wear skirts again. And bangs! I don’t think I’ll go there, but they looked great on her.

A hint of spring is in the air

We went to Napa for a one-nighter, and it was lovely, but I don’t think we’ll do it that way again. We stayed in downtown Napa, which was not cheap. The restaurants didn’t excite us, so we ate overpriced burgers at the rooftop bar in our hotel.

One highlight was the Silver Oak winery, which is quite famous for their cabernet sauvignon. The whole experience was ridiculously expensive but thoroughly enjoyable. We now have a special bottle to go with next year’s Christmas roast beef.

The other highlight was the spice shop at Oxbow Market. I’ve been on the hunt for fennel pollen, and they had it. I wanted it specifically for this recipe. I hope you can get through the Washington Post firewall to access it. Or email me, and I’ll send you a PDF.

Anyway, this rigatoni dish with sausage and fennel caused quite the fuss when the Bidens both ordered it at a restaurant. Some people have a thing about not ordering the same food off the menu. Dale and I order whatever we want, and actually, we often order the same thing. I didn’t see what the big deal was.

But I made the dish, and it was exceptional. This was the first time I’ve used tomato passata – pureed strained tomatoes sold in a bottle. Also the first time for fennel pollen, but we love fennel, so I wasn’t scared. The clerk double-bagged it, and yet my purse smelled like fennel for days. It was fantastic.

I would buy fennel pollen air freshener.

As for other wine country trips, maybe I’d stay in Santa Rosa next time and do tastings in Sonoma. We still haven’t been to Paso Robles, so that’s on the docket. Of course, we live in great wine country, so there’s no shortage of options.

I’ve been trying to avoid politics, but sometimes it’s in me, and it got to come out. Please feel free to move along while I share a few of my left-coast perspectives.

Early yesterday I read about Disney snookering DeSantis and thought it couldn’t get any better than that.

While I do understand Disney is no saint, as I understand it, DeSantis wanted to punish them for supporting LGBTQ rights after he passed the “don’t say gay” law. The governor hand-picked a board of conservatives and fundamentalist Christians to control much of the Disney World footprint in Florida. But Disney quietly did things by the book with public meetings and notices, all toward essentially stripping the new board of its power.

DeSantis and his folks didn’t even see it coming. I’m sure some sort of battle will ensue. There’s probably no moral high ground. In the end, it seems most things boil down to profits. However … Disney spoke up in support of the LGBTQ community, so I’m calling it a win for progressive values. And a loss for DeSantis, who in many ways, is scarier than Trump.

Which brings me to my earlier question … can it get any better than this? Well, it could, but I’m delighted Trump has been indicted or as he wrote on his social media platform, INDICATED. In the grand scheme of things, do I think this is the worst of his bad deeds? No, but at least we now have some evidence no one is above the law. He may very well be found innocent, and that’s fine, but at least he’ll go to trial like everyone else accused of such crimes.

To say he has a get out of jail free card just because he was president is unAmerican. You want to be a patriot? I don’t know – maybe you could join the military or pay your taxes.

As for indications, I hope this is the first of many.

Then, on top of it all, the sun came out! We got a blockbuster year of rain and snow to put a dent in the drought, and now we’re headed for some lovely weather. To celebrate, I thought I’d buy a six-pack of Bud Light. You can have all the fancy wines in the world, but nothing says spring like Bud Light.  

In other words, if it’s Bud Light, you must indict.

Random Sunday thoughts

Number 33

Goodness, I’m still messing around with blog design, so be forewarned. Just when you thought you knew what to expect, it will change. While I do love sharing my art, I’ve come to realize I need a simpler banner image. I went with a plain background of rippling water until something better comes along.

I’ll continue to feature examples of my art on individual blog posts such as this one … and continue to update the gallery. As you can tell, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. But I can’t seem to give up, either.

Number 33 is a little different, and I don’t expect to make statements like that all the time. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to see this particular piece as the blog banner. I like it a lot, and it’s a reflection of how I feel, but for me, not everything has a message. Sometimes it’s just crazy colors, pizza or cats. I do love that art can take you any way you want to go.

We’ve talked a good bit on this blog about back pain and various activities that can help or hurt. My particular ailment, according to medical professionals, is a herniated disc at L4-L5, resulting in spinal stenosis and sciatica. I’ve been doing great and only have a little pain. And that’s with golf, walking, swimming and light hand-held weights.

My neurologist said yoga or Pilates would be OK, but I hate messing with a good thing. Both seem fraught with peril. However, the club where I swim posted a flyer about a new class – chair yoga – and I went.

The class was only 30 minutes, and you sit in a chair the whole time. I absolutely loved it and felt great afterward. I went for a walk later that day and wanted to run! Of course, I didn’t, but I think the yoga loosened me up.

I’m going back for more and plan to ask the instructor what she recommends for an online chair yoga program. Our Covid situation is pretty good right now, but I’m assuming it will go downhill this winter, and I’d like to have options. I also want to hear her thoughts about slowly progressing to another class they have called Gentle Yoga.

To celebrate, I bought some yoga tights. Because now I do yoga, right?

My final random thoughts on this lovely Sunday. I’m so glad Halloween is almost over. I used to love it, but it’s so over the top these days. We watch a lot of Food Network, and it’s all Halloween all the time. Just get me to Thanksgiving safely.

And for dinner … I’m introducing Dale to something I invented while he was in Maine. I’m calling it a Hot Dog Reuben. Just like a regular one, except I use hot dogs instead of corned beef. I split them lengthwise (but not all the way through) and sear them in a pan.

Pretty darned good if I must say so myself. Not that hot dogs are a dietary staple at our house, but sometimes you just have to go for it.

The extra-slow cooker and me

I haven’t been writing much, and that’s never good. But I have been thinking a lot about writing, so go me.

In the absence of words, I decided to update my blog pictures. Updated banner and “About me” photos now feature my 67-year-old face and my current hair, a bob I refused to get when I was working because it seemed so cliché. But now that I’m a woman of leisure, it’s like, look at me, not the slug you thought I was!

My big news is that I bought the KitchenAid slow cooker and used it for the first time this weekend. Dinner was Dijon and Cognac Beef Stew from the NY Times. The cooking section is now subscription-based, which originally pissed me off. I was reluctant to sign up, but I did it and have no regrets. I like the variety of recipes, which you can save and organize in a recipe box.

The comments are particularly entertaining. There’s always somebody who says something like I’m allergic to kale, can I substitute canned beets? Or, I was born in wherever, and this recipe isn’t anything like the way my mother made it. Eventually, somebody says, no, if you can’t eat kale, find something else to eat or if we wanted your mother’s recipe, we would have asked for it. While the substitutions can get carried away, there are also some great tips from home chefs who have actually made the dish.

But I digress. We loved this stew when I made it on the cooktop, but there’s also a slow cooker version, so I thought I’d check it out.

Although I cut the beef up the night before, I chopped the vegetables and browned the meat in the morning. So, this is embarrassing. But Dale does most of the grocery shopping. I really didn’t know how much chuck roast cost. Now I do, and let’s just say I was careful trimming, as I didn’t want any of that precious jewel to go down the drain.

Anyway, I also now understand why I didn’t buy a slow cooker when I was gainfully employed. Who has time to do all that before work? I got up at 4 a.m., and it was a close run thing to make it out the door on schedule.

The slow cooker, in concept, now seems rather perfect for retirement. Some prep in the morning, but no super-early rise. A little clean-up, and then we can pretty much goof off all day. Ideally, it’s golf-friendly appliance. Returning home after a long day of recreation, dinner awaits! But then I have Dale for that, so I’m not really sure I need a slow cooker.

I like to make soups and stews and missed tending to it. It made me nervous. Like, is this thing really going to cook? I’ve read you’re not supposed to take off the lid, so no tasting as you go, but leaving it completely alone is kind of weird. Now that I think about it, if I had actually gone somewhere, I wouldn’t have even noticed it.

But it was Sunday, and we usually do our fun things during the week, when it’s less crowded. So, we just hung out, avoiding the siren call to stir that damned thing. Instead of bread, I made two small rounds of pie crust, baked them on a cookie sheet and then used them as toppers for the stew.

Dale had to toss our other little treat so as to save us from ourselves. The meat was browned in the fat from rendered chopped salt pork. Those crispy pork nuggets are salty but rather delicious. Dale said his mother used to fry up little chunks and sprinkle it over fish chowder or boiled potatoes – just mash them right in with your fork.

The outcome? Well, at low, the stew never reached a simmer, even after six hours. That’s when I breached the seal, and the beef was still tough, the carrots nearly raw. I had a slow cooker cookbook from the library, so I studied up a bit and set the heat at high for two hours. The book said some cooks use high for an hour at the beginning to raise the temperature and then set it back to low.

The stew was good, but Dale thought it was hammered. But yes, that’s feedback from the human slow cooker, who just might want to preserve his legacy as the best cooker in the house. My complaint is that I thought these things were supposed to be “set it and forget it.” I went back to the Cook’s Illustrated review, and it appears I purchased the extra-slow cooker, which they still claim is a better machine.

But it still has to reach a simmer in this lifetime, so there’s that.

After reading all that and the consumer reviews, it appears I have to tinker with the times and settings, which annoys me, but OK, I’m in.

I’m ready to try again and would welcome any tips you may have.