The Barefoot Contessa

I have long been a fan of Ina Garten and own some of her wonderful cookbooks.  Recently I read her newly published memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens.  This woman is phenomenal!

From what little I knew about her, I assumed she lived a charmed life.  Wrong!  She grew up in a home with strict, authoritarian parents.  She was in a dead end job in the government in Washington, DC that brought her no joy.  But she had the tenacity to go after what she wanted in life, despite any risks along the way.  By chance, she saw an ad for a small bakery for sale in Long Island, the Barefoot Contessa.  In a leap of faith, she bought the business and overcame multiple obstacles to grow it into a big success.

You don't have to be a passionate cook and baker to appreciate this book.  It is a story that speaks to all of us.  Early in their life together, she and her husband, Jeffrey, traveled to Europe "on five dollars a day!"  They dreamed of someday coming back to Paris and that someday came years later when they bought an apartment there.  

If you are looking for a feel good, inspiring book to read, this is the one!

Look what I saw in the Home Depot parking lot!

 

Cheap entertainment!

It doesn't take a lot to entertain me!  Last week I was aimlessly scrolling through ebay while watching TV and the dogs at my side.

"Lot of 29 community and church vintage cookbooks" caught my attention.  My finger stopped scrolling.  I had to know more.  After all, if you know me, you know I am a "cookbookaholic."  One of my cousins has already laid claim to all my cookbooks when I die!

When you buy books in lot on ebay, you don't get to choose specific titles.  I find it exciting to see what you get.  The package arrived today.  I felt sorry for the mail lady walking up my long driveway with this big box!  I eagerly cut the box open to see my treasure trove.  With each cookbook that I pulled out of the box, I got more and more excited.  There is a 1934 Hershey's Cookbook updated for today's kitchens, several Southern cookbooks, Amish cookbooks, many church cookbooks.  Oh! And a firefighters' cookbook.  Now those guys know how to cook.  These are from all over the country.

The Keiffer Family Cookbook is a collection of recipes handed down from multiple generations of Keiffers.

I was particularly drawn to the soup and stew recipes as this time of year I build up my inventory of soups and stews to freeze.  Avocado Soup!  Never heard of it but you can bet I'm going to try that one!

Cooking and baking are among my passions.  I thrill at the chance to try a new recipe.

Some of these have handwritten notes that are fun to read.  There may be one or two that are really tattered and worn, but scotch tape will remedy that!

Now I really must get back to my To Do list that I was vigorously attacking before this package distracted me!

The drawer underneath your oven

I didn't know this!  That drawer underneath your oven is not meant to store pots and pans.  In fact, storing plastics or other flammable materials can be dangerous.

It actually is intended to keep food warm until everything else is ready to serve.

Another reason for not storing pots and pans there is crumbs or tiny food particles left on them can attract pests.

Some newer range models place the broiler down there.  That would not be desirable to me having to get down on my knees to take a platter of food out!

My current stove does not have a bottom drawer and I was disappointed with that.  For my needs, I can't see the value of the warming drawer!   

The joy of smoking meat

Smoking meat is my passion.  For many years I wanted to try it but was put off by the unreasonable belief that it was difficult.  Ten years ago I decided I was going to learn how to do it, no matter how many pieces of meat I ruined in the process.   Poking around on the internet, I decided the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker was probably best for me.

I amazed myself that I could actually assemble it all by myself!  I started out with all the pieces spread out on my living room floor.  It was much easier than I expected.  With the dogs looking on, I took it one step at a time and soon it was standing - fully assembled - in my living room.

After ten years of smoking all kinds of meat - whole chickens, a roast, baby back ribs, even briskets - I am proud to say I have never ruined any meat!

There is nothing finer than sitting beside my smoker, enjoying the warm, sunny weather and watching the puffy white cumulus clouds above in the blue sky with a glass of wine and the dogs running around the backyard.  Oh, and the aroma coming from the smoker is divine.  I buy my wood chunks online from a very reputable company.  They store their wood indoors, away from the bugs and other undesirables that can infiltrate the wood.

Whenever anyone asks me about getting into smoking meat, I am more than happy to oblige!  Meat coming out of the smoker not only tastes delicious, it is so very tender.

There are all kinds of smokers on the market.  I am a strong - very strong! - advocate of the Weber Smokey Mountain.  It has worked well for me.  Many smokers on the professional circuit choose the WSM.  I now have two, my original one is the 18 inch (diameter) and a few years back I got the 22 inch.  I believe a charcoal type is the very best for flavor and wouldn't have an electric or pellet for any reason!  Admittedly, those types do have their proponents.

Retail has changed over the years

I'm old enough to remember when you put on your best clothes to go downtown shopping.  You could even find street parking close to the stores you wanted to go to.  Stores had high quality merchandise and knowledgeable sales people.   For children, like me, there were street vendors selling all sorts of wind up toys that I still remember playing with hours on end.

Then downtown entered a decline and the malls, out in the suburbs, became the go to place to shop.  From one parking lot, you could shop a multitude of shops.  One such mall opened in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida.  As part of the grand opening, three Shetland ponies were given away in a drawing.  I was 10 years old and dreamed of owning my very own horse!  Every time we went to the mall for weeks, I would fill out a card with my name and address and drop it in the large wire basket in each of the stores. The day of the first drawing, I had a strong feeling, that to this day, I cannot explain.  I just KNEW my name was going to be drawn.  It was!!!

For decades, the malls became bigger, more glitzy, and THE place to shop.  Why would we ever want another alternative?

Enter the internet.  I remember struggling to learn to use it, wondering what is the big deal?  How is this going to make my life better???  What does online shopping mean?  What are blogs?  What does facebook mean?  What is an e-mail?  What does "point and click" mean?  Pay bills online?  How do you do that???

Today we find many vacant malls, totally abandoned, or headed in that direction.  They are being repurposed.  In my city, Marketplace Mall, once a thriving, bustling place, has many empty store fronts.  What used to be Sears, is now the Orthopedic Center for the University of Rochester Medical Center.  At the other end of the mall, once stood Sibley's, then it was Kaufmann's and then Macy's.  All of those are history.

Like many of us, I prefer online shopping.  I can sit in the comfort and privacy of my home and browse dozens of sites, any time of the day or night.  Online retail has become very convenient.  Quick delivery times and easy returns if need be.  Who among us has never shopped dozens of times from Amazon, L. L. Bean, and all the small businesses that have popped up?  

Kind of makes you wonder what is next on the horizon!

I'm on a Greek food kick!

I love to cook and try new cuisines.  Somehow I never got around to trying Greek food.  Man!  What an exciting array of dishes.

I discovered Diane Kochiles' "My Greek Table" cookbook, filled with 400 pages of truly wonderful recipes.

Suddenly, my once favorite Spinach omelet has become boring after her zucchini omelet filled with fresh dill, lemon zest, feta cheese and yogurt.  And her Spanakopita Grilled Cheese is a taste delight.  There are dozens of recipes that I am anxious to try.

I'm in heaven!

Look how far we've come!

It's funny how a simple thing can bring back a flood of memories.  A long time friend's birthday is today and it was on facebook.  Wow!  How many years ago did I meet her???  Oh, gosh!  We were young teens.

There were a dozen or more of us. . . going to beach parties, pajama parties, dreaming of meeting our Knight in Shining Armor. . .  We were "good little girls" and life was always going to be wonderful.  Along the way there were good times and bad. . . graduation from high school and for some, college. . . weddings, breakups, children, grandchildren.

It brings tears to my eyes.  Tears of great joy and tears of deep hurt.  But isn't that what life is all about, really?  Would we all be the same person we are today without our share of heartache?  Heartache that eventually made us the strong person we are today?

There's an old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going and when you walk through a storm, keep walking, one step at a time, till the sun comes out again."

Clearing out the shed

My son and two of my grandkids (well, they aren't "kids" anymore, but whatever) were over one day this week to help out around the house.  We tackled the storage shed out back.  

I've lived here 27 years and admittedly, some of the things in the shed have been sitting there for that long or almost.

"Mom, you need to get rid of a lot of this stuff, either sell what you can and toss the rest."  

Okay, I don't need to be on a pair of rollerblades anymore and they looked kind of "worn" to put it lightly.  And my downhill skis and cross country skis.  Yep, I probably couldn't get down a slope without ending up on a stretcher.  I think one of the boys took them, not sure. My ski boots had seen better days.  They got tossed.

My high school and college yearbooks and multiple photo albums were in plastic totes and they stay!

I thought I had gotten rid of all my camping/backpacking stuff but these three managed to find things up in the top level of the storage shed that I had forgotten about.  They took what was still usable that they wanted.  There was an old electric drill and tool box that belonged to my father, who died over 20 years ago.  John took that.

There were some funny moments in all this upheaval.  I had a nice pair of Sorrel boots that are for heavy duty walking in snow.  Although I got a lot of use out of them in the Adirondacks back in the day, they still looked brand new.  One of the boys texted someone who might want them and wears the same size shoe as me to ask if she wanted them.  He got an immediate text back:  "HELL, YEAH!"

There was a big box of old tents and river bags.  I don't think we found everything - we were getting hungry so stopped to go up the street for lunch!

We ended up with three piles of things in front of the shed.  One was to toss, one was things they wanted, and a few things that went back in the shed.

"MOM, what are you doing with all these gas cans?"

There was a time when New York State outlawed the old fashioned but easy to use red plastic gas cans.  Several new versions came on the market and it took me awhile to find one that was idiot proof that would work for me.  It wasn't like I went out and bought a handful at one time!

I can just imagine when I die and all the kids converge on the house to go through my belongings.  Wish I could be a fly on the wall that day!!!

On Tupperware

Okay, so I'm showing my age. . . that's okay.  At one time, Tupperware was a prized possession in every kitchen.  I still have - and use - several pieces from "way back", okay, I'll be honest. . . in the early 1970's.

Then I noticed some years back that the price of Tupperware had risen substantially.  Without realizing it, I went from buying Tupperware to Rubbermaid and then silicone. . . much cheaper and good quality, long lasting products.  I once thought nothing would ever replace metal collanders.  I now have a great set of three silicone collanders in varying sizes that I use all the time.  They collapse for storing.

Today I noticed on a news website that Tupperware is closing its last US production plant and moving everything to Mexico.  That, alone, would stop me from buying Tupperware.  But then I went on the Tupperware website, something I haven't done in quite a few years.  Have you looked at the current array of products???  The few items I might consider were way overpriced.

It's sad, really. Tupperware was the Gold Standard at one time.