Falling Back

Here's the thing about blogging, at least the way I do it.  I cook something, and then I write about it after we eat it*.   Days, weeks, or even months pass between consumption and posting, because honestly, that's just how s@#$ goes around here.

The problem with this system** for the reader***  is that there can be a bit of a timing issue. For example, last year I posted the recipes for a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner shortly before Christmas.  I have been known to suggest making eggnog scones when the aisles of the grocery store are full of frilly red boxes of chocolate.  And recently, I dangled tantalizing images of heirloom tomato pies just in time for people to head out to their local U-Pick apple orchard.

As Charlie Brown**** would say, "Argh!"

I think about this sometimes and despair.  Like today. I was driving through vast stretches of the midwest admiring the spectacular foliage while having a mild panic attack about the fact that daylight savings time is ending soon and I'm still grappling with a post about summer corn salad.  Then, it hit me.

I could truly fall back.
As in, resurrect some autumn favorites from the archives, and share them ahead of time*****.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! Why didn't I think of this sooner?******

Carpool Wars: Cease Fire!

WE INTERRUPT OUR NORMALLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING TO BRING YOU THIS IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.

Anchor:  There has been a startling development in the long-running South of the Boulevard Carpool War hostilities.  For more details, we go live to our reporter on the ground.  Are you there?

Field Reporter:  Indeed, I'm here in Encino, where we have learned that a cease fire has been declared by the warring Carpool Moms.  The impetus for this radical shift in the tenor of the dispute was, I am told by my sources, bacon.

Anchor:  Would that be Kevin Bacon? I had heard that both John Kerry and Hillary Clinton have Bacon Numbers of 2 . Given his relatively close connection to those diplomats, is it possible he was involved?

Reporter:  They are not ruling that out, but for the moment, it appears that regular, smoked bacon is responsible.



Anchor:  Can you give us some background here?  How did things reach this critical juncture?

Reporter:  If you will recall, during the most recent skirmish over the braising title, the combatants vowed to take up their oven mitts again, waistlines and livers be damned. Ensnared by the spatula-wielding women and the promise of yet another outstanding meal, innocent children and husbands chose to remain in the thick of the conflict as well. It certainly seemed that there was no end in sight to this dire situation.  In fact, the stakes were raised even higher when it was suggested by a bystander that the next confrontation be focused, not on a particular dish, like bolognese, steak, or tacos, the type of meal, or even a proscribed preparation method, but on just one, single ingredient.  That ingredient? Bacon.

Anchor:   There is precedent for this on the Food Network, I believe, but that battle is massively edited for television, and they have trained staff with them in the arena. These brave women probably had no idea of the danger they were setting themselves up for.

Reporter:  That's exactly right. The whole plan was fraught with peril.  But, as we know, bacon does exert an uncanny power over the human brain.  Experts now believe that just the idea of a bacon-based meal somehow created a unity of purpose in the minds of these former enemies. Instead of pitting their bacon creations against each other, in an unprecedented step, they agreed to collaborate on the dinner.

Anchor: What about the coveted "taste" prize? This is one of the most divisive issues of the whole campaign, is it not?

Reporter:  Stunningly, that was thrown out completely. There was no vote. I repeat, there was no vote, rigged or otherwise. They just happily stuffed themselves and went home.  I spoke with one of the diners on condition of anonymity, and she said it was a tremendous relief not to feel disloyal for voting against her mother, and also that the bacon potato things were really good. Apparently, the new mantra here at Carpool headquarters is, "Everybody wins when dinner is full of bacon."

Anchor:  Incredible. How long can this cease fire possibly hold?

Reporter:  I have it on good authority that Carpool Wars, as we know it, is no more, but that we can expect many more Carpool Truce dinners in the months and years to come.

Anchor:  I think I speak for all of us when I say, "Phew." Thank you.  We'll be following this story closely, very closely, in case they have leftovers, and will bring you updates as we have them.

THIS HAS BEEN A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.



Carpool Wars:  The Bacon Accords

We did, indeed, come together and lay our Le Crueset cookware down for greater glory of an entire meal honoring bacon.  It was a moment for the ages.

The appetizer course was Christy D.'s drool-worthy and addictive Bacon Wrapped Potato Bites with Spicy Sour Cream Dip.  Recipe from The Kitchn.

Christy F.'s tender, smoky bacon-braised chicken dish.   Find the recipe from Fine Cooking here.

Christy D's spectacular BLT salad with Feta, Candied Bacon and Cherry Tomatoes. 

My Mac & Cheese with Bacon, after two teenagers had been through and helped themselves.  

And yes, there was bacon dessert.

Maple Bacon Sugar Cookies 

And the over-the-top Vanilla Ice Cream Sundaes with Pecan Bacon Crunch* and Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce.

Peace out.

Big Easy Balls*

Thinking of having some souvenir t-shirts made up.  Let me know what size you want.

When the yard gives you carrots, make Tandoori chicken

The carrot crop came in, big time, this weekend.
The guinea pigs were beside themselves.

Everyone else was kind of frightened by the wild and crazy bunch.
I decided to ease the crew into the fresh and yummy carrot spirit by making our chicken dinner orange, too.
I put one teensy, tamed, grated, barely-discernable carrot into a non-threatening green salad*.

On the side.

Keeping the pounds on for you

Humor via George Takei's facebook page

Crispy little chicken wings, via my oven

Given what we ate on Sunday*, next year's Super Bowl will be watched at the gym.  Meanwhile, I just hope the lights go out when I have to put on my jeans.

Facebook Official

Apparently this is a thing now, going "Facebook Official":

Putting it out into the world that you're with someone and it's real. A milestone of note, etched wide across two timelines, open for comments and likes and discussion.

Except, of course, from your parents*.
They should just calm down and stop being so nosy all the time.
What's for dinner anyway?

Carpool Wars: Battle Taco!

Given how intense this thing is getting, I clearly need to update the "Feud" entry on Wikipedia:

"A feud (ˈfjuːd'), referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans.

Famous blood feuds

The Hatfield clan in 1897.

• Three Kingdoms period, (184-280 AD) feuding Chinese warlords during the fall of the Han Dynasty.
• Njál's saga, an Icelandic account of a Norse blood feud (960-1020; Norway, Ireland and Iceland)
• The Mackintosh-Cameron feud (1290s-1665)
• The Battle of the North Inch, Michaelmas, 1396, Scotland; the battle is fictionalised in the novel The Fair Maid of Perth bySir Walter Scott
• The Percy–Neville feud (1450s; England)
• The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487; England)
• The Talbot–Berkeley feud (1455–1485; England) (concurrent with the War of the roses)
• The Gunn–Keith feud (1464-1978; Scotland)
• The Campbell–MacDonald feud, including the Massacre of Glencoe (1692; Scotland)
• The Regulator-Moderator War, (1839-1844, Republic of Texas)
• The Donnelly–Biddulph community feud (1857–1880; Ontario, Canada)
• The Lincoln County War (1878–1881; New Mexico, USA)
• The Hatfield–McCoy feud (1878–1891; West Virginia & Kentucky, USA)
• The Clanton/McLaury–Earp feud (see also Earp Vendetta Ride), also known as the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1881; Arizona, USA)
• The Pleasant Valley War, also known as the "Tonto Basin Feud" (1882–1892; Arizona, USA)
• The Capone–Moran feud, including the St. Valentine's Day massacre (1925–1930; Chicago, Illinois, USA)
• The Castellammarese War (1929–1931; New York City, USA)
• The Great Mafia War (1981–1983; Sicily, Italy)
• The Feud of Scampia (2004–2005; Naples, Italy)
• The Maguindanao Massacre (2009; Ampatuan, Philippines)"
• Carpool Wars (2011-2012; Encino, California, USA)

Carpool Wars: Battle Taco!
The latest skirmish between the carpool clans was brutal, as usual.

First, the battle lines were drawn:

A taco, by definition, is a tortilla folded around a filling, so that's the basic limit. 
Tortillas can be corn or flour, homemade or store bought. 
The filling can be anything -- meat, veggies, combination, etc. 
The tacos themselves can be fried or not, rolled or soft. 
Because condiments are such a personal thing, I'd suggest we each have a "recommended" configuration (including specific toppings, if any), but allow the judges to customize their own if they choose from your available condiments.

Available condiments?
Try five different homemade salsas, freshly chopped mangos, various types of crumbled and grated cheese, quick-pickled onions, shredded lettuce, thinly sliced radishes, chopped cilantro, ripe tomato wedges, sour cream, dill cucumber spears, olives, diced white onions, and fresh avocado.

Now picture them rigidly separated into four distinct sections of a big table, and pity the fool that tried to put one woman's cotija cheese on another woman's chicken taco.

Smack!

The tacos themselves?
Two fried, two not.

The tortillas?
All corn.  Some grilled, some freshly heated on a cast iron griddle.

The fillings that could be anything?
Shredded chicken.
Grilled swordfish.
Slow roasted beef brisket.
Smoky sirloin and chorizo.

Homemade guacamole and chips, in a gorgeous authentic molcajete.
Caesar salad.
Seasoned refried black beans.
Fresh Hibiscus tea.
Margaritas, too.
Juicy watermelon.
Mexican bread pudding and salted caramel shortbread bars.

And after all that work?
The verdict was perfectly split, four ways.

Yep, this this particular vendetta may go on for years**.

And now....The Battle Taco contenders!

Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.

Gittes: A memorial service was held at the Mar Vista Inn today for Jasper Lamar Crabb. He passed away two weeks ago. 
Mrs. Mulwray: Why is that unusual?
Gittes: He passed away two weeks ago and one week ago he bought the land. That's unusual.

Somehow, this particular exchange really resonated, given that we were watching the movie outdoors in a Los Angeles cemetery.

Along with hundreds of other people (living and dead), blankets, lawn chairs, various smokeable substances, wine bottles, a DJ spinning atmospheric background music, and all kinds of picnic suppers.

The sun went down, the palm trees were silhouetted against the moon, and the side of the mausoleum lit up.

The crowd cheered as the opening credits rolled. John Huston, buried in this very spot, got an especially loud round of applause. As Morty (the coroner) says in the movie:

"Only in LA*."

Naturally, we had a theme picnic:

Not so namby-pamby Jambalaya

I was...

...so excited about this cookbook*. (yay!)
...so less than thrilled with this recipe. (boo!)
...so not gonna let that be the end of it. (ooooh...look out now!)

I fixed it. (You go, girl!)

It's like an albino, but without the red eyes or the sunburn

In a house where we swear by a chili recipe that calls for 25+ lbs. of ground beef and another 10 lbs. of pork sausage, a bowl of white chili was about as rare a sight as an actual albino*.

Until now.  

A Listless Best of 2011

At the end of every year, there's always a big flurry of "Best Of" lists.  The Top 10 Movies.  The Notable Books. The Must Read Blogs*.  The Coolest Apps.  The Best Meals.  

I read them all, avidly.
But my year wasn't like that.

There's no list.

My year was little wonderful moments, and big awful ones.  Plus all the ordinary moments in between. Some I'll remember and lots that I've already forgotten.  Very few came from movies, books, blogs, or apps.

But food?  Ah, yes.

Fancy meals with my husband, burgers with my niece, crab cakes with my sister and meatball subs with the FGs.

Teaching friends to bake bread, inventing sorbets from cider, savoring soup on a rainy night in Cusco, finding comfort in a casserole, or making Christmas magic from flour, sugar and a whole lot of butter.

Grilling cheese sandwiches with my daughter and interfering while my son made dinner as a homework assignment.   Folding fortunes for a funeral and celebrating a new job with a pan full of blondies.

Discussing books over salad, arguing with my mom over tuna fish, battling fiercely over bolognese sauce with my carpool.
Fretting over pie crust and my kids being far from home.

Making supper on a chilly weeknight, or brunch on a sunny morning.

Making people smile**.  

The smell of bacon, of a cake in the oven, of the slow cooker bubbling away.  The sound of the grill sizzling or the timer going off in the kitchen.

The taste of warm biscuits with butter and honey.

There's no way to list all of what was best about 2011, without recalling the worst of it, too. It was a turbulent, emotional, roller coaster year. But almost every day had a moment that was made better by the gift of good food.

Here's to a calmer 2012, but one that is quietly, tastily, memorable too.

Quietly Memorable Weeknight Roast Chicken
This recipe comes from Patty, a member of my mah jong crew, who made this for us on a chilly Wednesday night.  Do I remember if I won or lost, or what we talked about or why we were laughing so much?  No.  But boy did I remember her chicken.

1 whole roasting chicken, cut in half
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dried oregano
Garlic salt (optional)
Paprika (optional)
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter

Crusty bread, for serving and scraping up the pan drippings

Preheat oven to 425.

Rinse the chicken thoroughly in cool water, pat dry, and cut in half along the back bone.  Place chicken in a large bowl, and coat completely with olive oil.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  If you like, substitute garlic salt for all or a portion of the regular salt.  Place chicken, skin side up, in a large roasting pan.  Sprinkle skin liberally with oregano, and paprika, if using.  Cut butter into large chunks, and place a few on top of each piece of chicken.

Roast for 45 minutes, or until skin is crispy and brown on top, and juices run clear in the thigh when pierced.

Set chicken aside to rest on a platter.   The pan will be full of yummy butter/oil/pan drippings.  Collect a good portion of those into a warm bowl, and serve along with the chicken and a loaf of crusty bread for dipping.

Click to print this recipe!

Equally Memorable Green Salad Dressing
I served the chicken with a simple salad, but even that was out of the ordinary, thanks to the salad dressing recipe that Amy, another of the mah jong ladies, brought for me***.

2 Tbs. each flat leaf parsley, tarragon, and fresh basil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. light sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth.

Delicious!!

Click to print this recipe!

* Somehow Cheesy Pennies wasn't listed.  Must have been an oversight.
** Making myself plump in the process.
*** I admit that I'd been stalking her for it ever since she served it at her house one night.  I may have even said something like, "Don't even think of showing up to the next game without it," but that's one of those moments of 2011 that wasn't so memorable for me.