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Make new friends, but keep the old.

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I invited some dear friends and former coworkers over this week. These ladies helped me through one of the darkest stages of my career, at a place where we each experienced all manner of hell and persecution. I know that everyone has had an unpleasant job of some sort before — but whatever you’re picturing, quadruple it. To survive the day-to-day, we leaned on each other and cooked, ate, laughed and commiserated together. We all shared a love of food and fellowship, which led to plenty of potluck lunches and flurries of emails and conversations about recipes. I found many of the food blogs I read today through their recommendations: Pioneer Woman, David Leibovitz, Brown Eyed Baker, Smitten Kitchen, Orangette. Even though we don’t see each other every day anymore, like soldiers who fight on the battlefield, I will be bonded to these women for life.

It’s been several months since we had quality time together, so everyone came to my home to catch up with wine, heavy hors d’oeuvres and stories about ridiculous work escapades. Their visit served as a good excuse to pull out a few dishes already in my repertoire but also to experiment with some new ones. For appetizers, it was bruschetta three ways: fig-mozzarella-prosciutto, classic tomato (my good, ole standby) and smashed pea with mint.

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A cure for what ails you.

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I went to the grocery store yesterday, which is a frequent but not especially momentous occurrence. But this was my shopping list:

Because my name is Sicky McGee.

For the second time in two months, I am wrestling with that unpleasant affliction known as “the common cold.”

(By the way, I’m not totally sure what the celery is for. Maybe I thought I would make soup. Or perhaps a medieval poultice sounded like a good idea. Who can know.)
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Reinventing an heirloom recipe.

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I am related to an amazing array of women who can cook. And I do mean cook. I associate every one of them with a special recipe that has defined my childhood and holiday occasions since, whether it’s my mom’s cold oven pound cake, Taffy’s mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, Mimi’s okra soup or Grandmama’s cornmeal fritters. My Aunt Dell is not allowed to attend family functions unless she brings her collard greens. Well, I’m exaggerating … only sort of. That food is just a part of our loving and sharing with each other.

Most of these family recipes are well documented, or at least those who have perfected them are still around to share their tips. But one family heirloom recipe has eluded us as of late. My grandfather’s sister, Aunt Ida, was famous for her caramel cake, which she brought regularly to family events. Regularly enough at least that it made an impression on my young taste buds. Aunt Ida passed away more than 10 years ago, and we’re just now discovering that no one has her recipe. Egads!

Caramel cakes are very southern, if not very Easterly. But I had a craving to attempt one a la Aunt Ida’s for Easter Sunday dinner. I Googled recipes all week, which resulted in a concoction of cobbled together cake and icing instructions. Then I updated them to reflect the tastes of the 2010s — a dash of sea salt makes it a salted caramel icing. Keep reading »

Stick to your ribs.

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When it’s cold and gloomy outside, I need comfort food. The stick to your ribs kind of fare.

My go-to as of late is this beef stew, which I make all the time. You can’t beat a dish that allows you to throw some meat and chopped vegetables in a pot, pour a bottle of wine over it and then forget it for a couple of hours. (It would probably do really well in a crock pot, though I haven’t tried that yet.)

This recipe is a little different, because of its surprise ingredient — barley. I know, I know. That sounds totally weird, but it’s delicious. And you can feel healthy about eating your whole grains, right? The original recipe called for a topping of potatoes, but I like roasting them separately. Or serving it with mashed potatoes.

Enjoy, and stay warm out there! Keep reading »

No place like home.

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Today marks my 6th day in a row being at home. Last week I was felled by the plague (again), but I worked from home while chugging soup, hot tea and Delsym. Then I canceled all plans for the weekend to rest, except for one short jaunt to the grocery store for the requisite pre-storm eggs and milk. Come Monday, half a foot of snow and ice fell. And here’s the scariest part:  I haven’t minded one bit. I’ve been completely relishing in my homebodiness while “snowed in” — I’ve watched TV, I’ve cleaned my house, I’ve read a book, I’ve talked on the phone, I’ve watched some movies, I’ve made dinner. I’ve even had time to bake two loaves of bread.

Bread might be my favorite food, and I will eat it in any form:  a sandwich, toast, crackers, rolls, scones, pancakes, even croutons. (I obviously would fail miserably at the Atkins diet.) You probably know that I a) enjoy a culinary challenge, b) am wary of what’s in my food, c) bake to offset stress and d) like preserving the slow ways of cooking. For those reasons, I started baking my own bread about a year ago. I used to be afraid of yeast and the finicky nature of dough, but I’ve learned that I like working with it as much as I like eating the finished product. Sure, there’s all that kneading and rising and punching. But it’s kind of a miracle when you can put some flour, butter and water in the oven and a light, flaky baked good comes out. Keep reading »

Sherlock and shortbread.

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I finally watched “Sherlock Holmes” this weekend on HBO — the Guy Ritchie version, not to be confused with PBS’s recent “Sherlock” series. (I loved the PBS series, which cleverly updates the characters to modern times.)

I’m a huge fan of Guy Ritchie’s, ever since I saw “Snatch” at the movie theatre by mistake. I like his cheeky take on things, and I find his camera angles and direction to be really interesting, dare I say genius. Ok, I’m easily impressed. I don’t usually care much about Robert Downey, Jr., or even Jude Law, but I thought the movie was entertaining, and definitely watchable. More importantly, it inspired me to bake.

Something about the cold, somber shots of industrial, 19th century London made me crave a spot of hot tea … with shortbread. So in my usual, rash display of weekend binge cooking (or baking, as it may be), I made homemade shortbread at 10 pm. Keep reading »

Sick of being sick.

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Hello, readers. I’ve unexpectedly been away for a long, eventful couple of weeks. Mostly I’ve been knocked down by the worst cold known to man that won’t respond to antibiotics, Mucinex, antihistamine, Sudafed, Robitussin, cough drops, lemon tea (see below) or even my old friend Nyquil. I’ve spent much of the last two weeks laying around in my bed or on the couch partially buried in a mound of used tissues. (You’re welcome for that lovely mental image.) When I was little, my family went to these Saturday library sales,  and I found an old book called “The Sick of Being Sick Book.” Inside were dozens of games you can play while bedridden, like shooting a basket from across the room with your balls of Kleenex or cough drop wrappers. I sure could have used that self-entertainment recently, and I wonder where that book could be …

In the midst of all of that, my mom had unexpected, emergency surgery the week before Thanksgiving. I ran down there in time to check her out of the hospital and wait on her for a couple of days while she regained her strength. (Well, until I became the patient.) I was completely amazed at the generosity of family and friends, a whole community that came out of the woodwork to help us. They cooked meals and even organized a food delivery schedule to get us through Thanksgiving. They’ll pick up again with more deliveries on Monday. Keep reading »

Cooking Spree: Pimento Cheese

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Growing up, I thought pimento cheese was disgusting. I guess it was because the only kind I ever ate was from a plastic tub in the grocery store that had been sitting there for who knows how long. It was pink and overly mayonnaise-y, had no distinctive taste (especially not of cheese) and was just grody all around.

One year, I went to a July 4th picnic and someone brought homemade pimento cheese — a revelation. You could see cheese in it, the pimiento wasn’t overpowering and it had a hint of garlic. That was the first time I realized there was another kind of pimento cheese.

I’m not sure why it’s a southern staple (or why we spell it wrong), but you’ll find pimento cheese on menus and in homes all over the South. The classic way to eat it is sandwiched between two slices of white bread, but you’ll also see it stuffed into celery sticks, in grilled cheese or melted atop a burger. Yum. I prefer to eat it with something crunchy for texture, so I serve mine with Triscuits. Something about the salty crunch with creamy cheese just works. Keep reading »

Cooking Spree: Blueberry Scones

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I’m a big freezer.

(I mean, I freeze a lot of things. Not that I’m a large appliance.)

(But you probably knew that.)

As you saw earlier, I’m in the midst of a cooking spree. I noticed that I had some leftover frozen blueberries for some reason. Sometimes when I buy fresh blueberries, I pour them onto a sheet pan, freeze them and then store in a Ziploc bag to preserve them. I hate throwing away food, so I decided to seize this perfect opportunity to make scones. Keep reading »