The spice of life

The spice of life

January 15, 2024 / 3 Comments

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal claimed that you don’t need dozens of spices in your kitchen. You just need eight.

Which eight, you may ask? The writer suggested: sumac, mint, cumin, coriander, pepper, aleppo pepper, cinnamon and aniseed.

Of those, I probably use three on a regular basis and I literally make every meal at home.

For the ordinary person, someone who cooks several meals a week and bakes once in a while, I’d say you need 25 basic spices: basil, bay, cajun, cardamom, cayenne pepper, chili powder, chipotle powder, cinnamon, clove, cumin, garlic powder, garlic salt, ginger, Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, nutmeg, onion powder, oregano, paprika (smoked and sweet), pepper, red pepper flakes, rosemary, salt and thyme. These will serve you in making just about any recipe, from barbecue to babka.

But if, like me, you do a lot of cooking and baking, buy whatever spices suit your fancy. Experiment with spices unique to different cultures. Try using the spices you already have in new applications. Or be adventurous and combine some of ’em — you might just create a great new mix.
A feast to remember

November 12, 2023 / 4 Comments

Sorry it’s been so quiet here of late. In addition to work (war/shootings/elections/etc.), I’ve been dealing with a few medical issues. But that’s a post for another time.

Today, I’d like to talk about Thanksgiving. One of my favorite holidays, it’s an annual celebration that seems to be specifically designed for people like me (i.e., those who love to cook, bake and feed others). I always go overboard, filling folks’ bellies to the brim with a mostly traditional feast. And though it’s an exhausting endeavor, I love the whole process, from planning to plate. I just wish I had a second fridge because mine always runs out of room.

This year we’ll be having a small gathering: M and I and another couple. One of them is a vegetarian. One of them is on a diet that’s gluten-free and low FODMAP. As I started to plan the menu, I told myself that while everyone will need several dishes they can enjoy, I don’t want to spend three days prepping the meal.

So after researching recipes and whittling down my list, I’ve decided to make only…. 12 dishes! Wait, how the heck did that happen?!?

Anyway, here’s our menu:

Appetizers:

Deviled eggs
Caprese salad bites

Main:

Roasted butternut squash with browned butter and hazelnuts
Turkey

Sides:

Broccoli cheese bake
Buttered corn
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Cranberry sauce
Biscuits (regular and gluten-free)

Dessert:

Pumpkin pie
GF chocolate cake bites with fresh berries
Cherries jubilee

What are you making?
The need for a secular sabbath

August 21, 2019 / No Comments

“If you dread a day of rest from the digital world, then you probably need one.” –Sharon Samiento

Most of my daily life is plugged in to technology. I spend a minimum of 10 hours a day working, sitting at a desk, utterly focused on my computer and cellphone. When I’m “off the clock,” many of life’s pleasures also take place in front of screens: writing, reading on a Kindle, watching movies or Netflix, browsing the internet or playing video games.

Such a technology-based life feeds my curiosity — and pays the bills — but when combined with the madness of the news cycle, it can be hell on the body and soul. I don’t breathe normally anymore, in that I have to remind myself to do it, deeply and purposefully, or else the air I consume is shallow. Sitting upright in a chair takes mindfulness; the posture of slumped shoulders is so easy to assume when you’re focused outside of your body.

I crave quietness more than I used to, quietness of environment and of the mind. At least for a little while.

So, I’m going to reclaim a day each week to unplug and decompress. Abby Falik takes a similar secular sabbath. The founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year, a nonprofit that channels teenage wanderlust toward social good, recently told the Books of Your Life podcast that the practice had made her more productive in the rest of her life.

Just what will I do with that day? Why, I’ll read, of course, but books in a dead-tree format (paperback and hardcover) rather than an electrical one (audio and ebooks). I’ll bake new recipes instead of just collecting ideas from food blogs. I’ll write letters and poems, stories and novels in longhand; such scribblings can easily be transcribed into the computer later for editing purposes. And, I’ll do my best to get outside more. As a writer, it’s so easy to become homebound and isolated. Yet inspiration comes from outside forces as well as imaginative ones.

Trying new activities, exploring unknown places and generally saying yes to non-techy adventures will, I hope, make me a little less stressed and a lot more inspired.
“You usually have to wait for that which is worth waiting for.”

November 18, 2018 / No Comments

The hardest part of baking isn’t the measuring and weighing of ingredients, the kneading and folding of dough or even cooking food at the proper temperature.

It’s the waiting.

Waiting for yeast to blossom. Waiting for dough to rise and rise again. Waiting for pastry to chill. Waiting for cream or egg whites to whip into clouds. Waiting for butter to brown. Waiting for butter to soften in a cold room. Waiting for cakes to come to room temperature so you can frost ’em. Waiting for mousse or puddings or creams or custards to set. Waiting for caramel to form. Waiting for pie to get cool enough to eat.

All of this waiting feels uncomfortable when one lives a life in the rush of now, the breakneck pace of busy. Which is also why I appreciate baking’s long wait times. Waiting forces me to slow down, to take my time, to recognize that I’m trying to create good food — not fast food.

Waiting requires patience and I feel like that’s a virtue few, if any of us, cultivate anymore. Perhaps we should.

–Title quote by Craig Bruce
Ouch! Whoops! Oh no!

March 31, 2018 / 2 Comments

A lack of coordination is one of the rarely discussed side effects of migraines. It’s almost as if the brain is so busy dealing with the onslaught of throbbing pain that it simply cannot set aside the required effort to deal with a paltry matter like remaining balanced.

On Friday, a storm pushed through the area and gifted me with a 19-hour migraine. I was able to sleep through some of it, for which I was grateful, but during my waking hours, I became an utter klutz.

My sweater pocket caught on a drawer handle and nearly gave me whiplash when I attempted to step away.

Then, I tried to refill the bird feeder. In the process, my elbow brushed against the seed container and the whole thing toppled off the table. The impact caused the top of the container to pop open, spilling avian food everywhere. Oh, and did I mention that bird seed rolls on hardwood floors? I will surely be sweeping seed for years to come.

But the worst act of gracelessness occurred as I put the finishing touches on dessert. At M’s request, I had baked a Victoria sandwich, a treat often discussed on “The Great British Baking Show.” Despite feeling like a bungling buffoon, my version ended up looking as pretty as the one featured in the magazine where I found the recipe. And in my hubris, I decided to take a photograph of the dessert to mark the occasion.

As I proudly carried the treat into the dining room, the cake slid off the tray, did a back flip and landed with an inelegant splat on the ground. The tender confection crumbled apart. Whipped cream and powdered sugar exploded all over my shoes and clothes. And raspberry jam painted the ground and walls with seeded blood stains.

I had killed the cake.

Needless to say, my husband was very understanding. And my cat, Dany, took great joy in licking the spilled cream before we could clean up the mess. Yet it was clear I would be useless until my equilibrium returned.

Time to head back to bed.

–Photo by Gordon Plant.