I Never Left

We never left home. I really don't know what to say...I just hope that most of my dear friends have pets...cause the reason we never left was Buddy. Problem number 1. As some of you know back in December he was diagnosed with a collapsed trachea.And most of the time he is just fine. But he started coughing...and to be perfectly honest with you, I couldn't leave him.My brother Mark and his wife Julie were coming to stay..they have done it before and they do a great job, but this was different. I just would have been too worried. Problem number 2 was our destination. We had decided on Lake Tahoe...but a huge storm is due to blow in the day we were due to leave and to make it home it would mean driving on Interstate 5...known as The Grapevine in California and it is no fun. It runs up and down the center of the state and it is a very dangerous road even in good weather....so now I am laying awake at 3 in the morning wondering what would happen to Buddy and Whiskey and Dande and Pixie and Mumbie, not to mention my hummingbirds, doves,goldfinches,Tony the blue jay and all the other assorted critters that depend on me. What if we crashed...oh, I have to tell you I was making myself crazy. So we skipped the trip. We'll wait for another time.It just didn't feel right. I did not want to go. So instead, I went to the yarn shop here in downtown San Luis and am taking a knitting class. I am so excited about it. The lady, Anne got me started yesterday afternoon, but the class is tomorrow at 10. It is for making a pair of pretty fingerless gloves. You use 4 needles, number 2, very tiny... Anne got me going ...and I think I am getting it. Buddy is fine, it was just a scare,but I couldn't leave him behind. There was no way. So we're home, knitting, waiting for rain and holding Buddy close.
I am gonna say it.....I really did miss all of you and our visits and am I glad to be HOME.

Nothing Fancy

So yesterday afternoon I am watching Ellen and she has on her chef. This man named Tal and he has out a new cookbook called The Conscious Chef. All vegan. Ellen's vegan. And I am thinking maybe I could just try the vegetarian thing that I failed at twice last year...again. Not vegan..cause of my pizza love...just no meat.

Now the weatherman comes on for his update and he says RAIN. What? Rain? Are you kidding me? Does he really mean it? We have been bbqing out in the garden for weeks.You mean I could get my crockpot out? At last. Winter? Here? For me?

And what do I want to put in that crockpot? POT ROAST. How can I do a vegetarian pot roast. I can't. Why do I even consider it? I am thinking gravy and mashed potatoes.

So off I go to Scolaris and there it is. A beautiful pot roast. So I put it in my cart and head to the soup isle. I want the Lipton Onion Soup mix to make the pot roast like my mom made.And YES. You are seeing that right. Canned corn and gravy from a jar. Someone sometimes gives me a hard time about my Heinz gravy love.... (you know who you are.)

So this morning out came the crockpot....I browned the roast first, then put it in the crockpot with the soup mix, some water and a couple of splashes of red wine.

And it already smells good. So tonight, no Julia Child.No Alice Waters. Just old fashion and farmy.

And for dessert....did you see it...isn't it cute? We will each get two bites of that tiny berry pie...

Skillet Supper

Well ..we are finally getting some COLD weather..and rain is on the way. We even had frost and freeze warnings last night. It actually got to 28 degrees. That's cold for here. And I love it...

When Julie and I went to New England our last night was in Portland, Maine... and we hit the lottery of food world. We had supper at Fore Street.And it ended up being a night we will never forget...that's for sure. It was so good...we cried.....were we tired? Sad to go home? No..the food was that good. Cry - worthy. It was late October and as we walked in we were greeted with a big long farm table with just a few pumpkins and gourds on it.Simple. Maine-Style. Perfect. We ate dinner there that night and we were served in cast iron skillets. Old ones...from the antique shops in Vermont and New Hampshire and Maine.After our supper we went back to our room at The Pomegranite Inn...yeah..you read that right... The Pomegranite Inn .How cute is that? And talked till 3 in the morning about the food..the restaurant...and one long and very beloved trip to New England.

Since it is so cold here tonight I decided to make lasagna in a cast iron skillet a la Fore Street...

I just did my own version...really simple.

Farmhouse Skillet Lasagna

Saute some shallots till soft
Add in some chicken italian sausage and brown
Add 1 large can organic whole tomatoes
Add some red wine...a splash or two
Salt
About 3 scoops of tomato paste

Simmer about an hour

Add some chopped fresh basil....I still have it in the garden..maybe not for long

Boil some lasagna noodles

Layer sauce, pasta and grated cheese in cast iron skillet

I just used mozarella...nothing fancy


Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour till hot and bubbly

Red Plaid Recipe Box ...Recipe 1.

We're getting close to Halloween and it got me to thinking about Holiday Cooking. So I got out my mom's red plaid recipe box. I think I have mentioned it before. It's one of those"if the house was on fire what would you grab" kinda things. I treasure it. So as I was going through the box...I am thinking...all these recipes look so good..and what I really liked about them was that each recipe seemed to have a history behind it and told a story. Who's recipe was it? Where did it come from? A relative? A neighbor? An old friend? I love old recipe boxes . Each one so different...each one someone's own private treasure box.

Alot of the recipes were from Bessie. The lady that introduced me to "The Treasury Of Great recipes" by Mary and Vincent Price. My other "house is burning" grab. Bessie came every afternoon when my little brother was a baby and got supper started. Alot of the recipes are from relatives too. Since we are getting into the Holidays and winter, I thought it would be fun to work my way through the box and share the recipes with you...my friends.

The other day I wanted to make a lasagna. Not one of those all day make your own pasta affairs... I just wanted something simple and easy. So I tried the recipe for spaghetti sauce from the recipe file of Enide Allison. What a way to start. I don't know Enide.I have never heard of her. Ever. She must have been a real person..her recipe card has her name engraved right next to the little pot bellied stove.She must have taken her cooking pretty seriously to have her name engraved on the card.

So I made the the spaghetti sauce. And it was good. I just layered it with lasagna pasta and cheese. That was it. Simple.


from the recipe file of --- Enide Allison

1 onion, diced
1 large can whole peeled tomatoes (I'm on a San Marzano kick)
1 teaspoon oregano
Chopped italian flat leaf parsely (I used about 1/2 cup)
Salt and pepper

Saute the onion in olive oil till soft
Add tomatoes
Add oregano and parsley
Salt and pepper to taste. (to be perfectly honest, I just add salt, it's just a personal thing I have going on)
Simmer for about 40 to 50 minutes

Layer in a casserole dish lasagna and cheese with the sauce

Baker 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes till bubbly and hot

Waiting And Watching

Out here in on the Central Coast of Califoria we are waiting for our first BIG STORM of the season. And we are ready. It has been one long hot dry summer. We need some rain. So in anticipation of the big event, I decided to make my Julia Child French Onion Soup. I go back and forth between Julia Child's and Vincent Price's recipe. And back and forth on the beef stock or chicken stock thing too. I can never decide which I like better. Truth be told, I like them both the same. Cause when you get right down to it...for me anyway, it is all about the cheese..Went to Scolaris this morning praying they would have Gruyere cheese. It is a small neighborhood market and I was worried that anything beyond swiss and cheddar might be out of their reach. But I got lucky. I scored. They had some gruyere. It is really the only one that will do here. And I needed the vermouth too. I have used white wine before, but I don't know if it's in my head or what, I just like it better with the vermouth. Maybe it makes me feel like I am really doing it Julia's way. And at the very end...right before you serve it..it has got to have a wave of cognac. It's got to. I was watching PBS on Saturday...they had on those vintage shows of Jacques and Julia from like the 70's. And it made me remember how much I love her. So tonight when that big storm slams in from the Pacific...we will be all cozy inside with our bowls of soup and to go with it...grilled prosciutto and cheese sandwhiches. A cozy autumn night, by the fire.Soup and grilled cheese night. Julia-style.And YES..that is scotch tape holding that beloved book together.....