Almost there. Another Christmas under our belts. It will be a somewhat quiet one, as usual these days without any living parents. It is interesting how we focus on parents and children on the major holidays.
Now, we celebrate quietly. A special meal. An old wine. A visit to some close friends’ for their annual open house.
We haven’t had a tree for years . This year we changed that.
Frank’s Produce and Greenhouses to the rescue with a lovely smallish Frazier Fir.
They also were the source of fresh pecans in the shell.
I cracked open pounds of pecans and have been making cookies for the past three days.
One more tradition resurrected for the holidays. Real simple eggnog.
Three ingredients. Brandy from a favorite California winery. Egg nog from a PA local dairy. Add a little nutmeg and that’s it.
Sitting here watching football and sipping eggnog. A quiet simple Christmas Eve.
It’s been a while. I haven’t been inspired to write anything that doesn’t seem repetitive.
But, I’m back to trying to find new material.
Like food. We can always return to food, and cooking. Making something different, maybe. Or digging into the origins of favorites.
Today let’s talk about corned beef and cabbage. I made it for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. I don’t believe I have ever made the New England boiled dinner in my 48 or so years of cooking. I have made corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot but never the boiled version.
This one was definitely an improvisation when it came to the potato, and I liked this method. I thought I had red potatoes in the basket on the counter but nope, none there. I did have baking potatoes so they were made separately and served with the finished dish.
I got my corned beef at Boarman’s last week. They have all sizes and I picked up a smallish 2 1/2 pound one. I used the recipe from an old cookbook, The New Basics, by the authors of The Silver Palate.
Simple. Boil the corned beef for three hours in a pot with carrots, celery and a clove studded onion. Discard all those mushy vegetables and save the broth for step two. Cooking the cabbage in the broth with leek, carrots and potatoes but I didn’t have leeks. I used scallions and shallots. I did the potato in the oven since it was a russet potato for baking.
Added the caraway seeds, salt, pepper and parsley. Voila! An excellent meal, with leftover broth to make a cabbage soup today.
I also bought a freshly baked loaf of Irish Soda Bread at Martin’s the other day. A perfect side for the dinner, served warmed up.
The cookbook called for horseradish cream so I stopped on the way home from Westminster and found this gem at Bullock’s.
This stuff is wonderful. It will be used on roast beef sandwiches, and as a side when I make a London Broil from my meat share. It has a slight kick to it. By the way, Bullock’s meat market on 32 near 97 is one of the best around. I picked up a few goodies to use this week, like short ribs.
Our dessert for St. Patty’s Day? A few Irish potatoes. Cinnamon and coconut. Yum!
They were also at Martin’s. We used to get these often at my MIL’s in Shenandoah PA. They are not that common in our area.
Finished the day with a toast to my Irish relatives. A wee bit of Tullamore Dew. Sláinte!
As they say, getting old isn’t for sissies. The challenges are many but rewards for accomplishments feel so good. It’s been a challenging year for sure. A few health scares, cleared thankfully. Some home ownership set backs, finally resolved.
We were supposed to go out for my birthday but I was having diagnostic tests that morning and I didn’t want to go to dinner if they showed any problems.
After two hours of diagnostic torture I was cleared with a recommendation to just schedule a six month follow up to monitor.
The fancy dinner at 18th and 21st will be scheduled later in January. In the meantime we had a simple meal at home. Pan seared filet. Boiled and peeled potatoes. Steamed broccoli. A very good wine brought home from California a decade ago.
My husband did get flowers and a card.
The flowers are always a hit with me. I love having fresh flowers in the house, and when I am not growing them I love the seasonal bouquets from the local stores. Bringing me a smile whenever I walk in and am greeted with the scent.
So here we are at the end of 2022. What did we accomplish? What is in store for 2023? We are home again tonight. It is foggy and rainy. We don’t usually make it to midnight so I think we will sip our sparkling wine and celebrate using Greenwich Mean Time.
We made it through a very frustrating replacement of all of the upstairs windows which required rework and disruption for five months. Finally finished two weeks before Christmas.
We still have work to do on our new laundry room, and being seriously crazy we are designing the new master bath and closet. Hoping to find someone who can do it without massive delays.
All in all, we have been lucky and feel empathy for those struggling through weather disasters. Our tornado experience was not trivial but it pales in comparison to the aftermath of the hurricanes on our friends on the Gulf Coast. Here’s hoping for a better year in 2023.
Small things. Not enough to write an entire piece on one topic. A rambling about wine and tomatoes.
Maybe I’ll use this as a means of getting into writing again. I seemed to be losing the knack of sitting down and writing for hours. But, it’s a beginning, so here goes.
It’s Virginia Wine Month. Which coincides with the leaf peeping we always chase across the two states. VA and MD. The Appalachians host scores of wineries north and south of us.
We recently headed down to do our semi-annual visit to Linden. For a preview of the crush and a comparative tasting.
The red grapes were still on the vines when we were there, but early this past week they all were quickly harvested before Ian could dump rain to ruin them.
Here at home, I pulled the last of the Brandywines off my one remaining tomato plant.
Hopefully they will fully ripen in the window. Leaving them on the vines with three days of rain would make them split and rot.
My makeshift ripening station in the south facing corner of the family room.
This summer the Brandywine plant in a pot off the back deck gave me the most tomatoes.
It was a frustrating summer, where the temperatures soared in July and the plants dropped their blossoms. The recovery time in August and September didn’t make up for the losses. I won’t be having much tomato sauce in the freezer for this winter.
Hopping back to wine. We recently did a comparison between two of our favorite local wines.
RdV and Linden. Ten years old. Both heavily Merlot. Both absolutely stunning. The more we delve into the differences in styles, and in the ability to age, we come to this conclusion. Good Virginia wines age very well. They don’t have the fruit forward punch of California wines, or the austere depth of Bordeaux. They have a balance which allows them to age gracefully.
Both of these wines have years to go before they fade. They both were bright, no browning edges. The RdV was a tad richer in the finish.
We kept one or two bottles of our favorite wines for many years. Just crossing our fingers that we would open them before it was too late.
This was a real treat. On a lovely evening in late August we opened our last remaining 20th Century VA wine, a 1999 Linden Hardscrabble.
Amazing. So soft, yet no off tastes or odors. It took about 30 minutes to open up. It is 23 years old, and would last at least 5 or more years. No fading of color yet. Yes, we can make awesome wine on the East Coast.
Available at a fraction of the price of Bordeaux.
On our last visit, when talking to Jim Law, the owner of Linden, he told us about the Italian varietals he has planted to see how they do. The temperatures are steadily creeping higher and the future in Virginia may be to try varieties from warmer climates. Adapting to the environment.
This roundabout way to bring me back to tomatoes.
This Brandywine was not planted in full sun. Not like the plants up at my community plot, which did poorly in the heat this summer.
This one plant gave me 30 tomatoes, even with the loss of some blossoms in July. I need to find plants that can handle the heat. And change how I plant them. You know, I need to adapt.
Happy VA Wine Month! Go visit a winery. Raise a glass to our local growers who battle the weather to make us great wines.
I grew up a city girl. I have no idea why I became a country lover. Most of my relatives for the past few generations lived in and around Baltimore.
We made the big move out here 17 1/2 years ago, and I can honestly say I want to live out my life surrounded by trees, fields and streams.
What happened to trigger this posting? Just a simple random comment at a mini-reunion luncheon. earlier this month. A few comments there, actually, made me think about sitting down to write more often. It seems my classmates do read the ramblings of mine and enjoy them.
The interesting comment was about my life in the country, down on the farm, so to speak. We don’t consider our property a real farm. No animals. No crops. But we are surrounded by rural residences with chickens and horses. We once had goats a few homes down. We may be getting some cattle close by soon.
We love it here. Now, peace and quiet has been restored. The commuters are gone, finally. The new road behind us is done. It is now safe to cross the street to get our mail. The garbage truck and the recycling truck workers have a much easier job without the long line of impatient commuters threatening them from behind because of their delays.
Our roads are narrow and can be dangerous, but still so scenic.
The wildlife abundant. Last night my husband counted 14 deer in the field grazing on whatever the seasonal weeds are. We now have a resident fox who is marking his territory on all the sidewalks, the driveway and the edge of the patio. Thankfully we relocated the groundhogs last year.
The bunnies still live under our low deck, and the crows have moved on (hopefully) because we did manage to get rid of the grubs in the mulch.
We have a new view out of our bedroom window when we wake.
Our neighbors built a new barn.
Life is lived at a slower pace in our little corner of the country. My gardening takes up much of my time and The rewards are trickling in.
The first tomatoes. Including the green one that fell while I was fastening a vine to the cage. The hot peppers. Okra. Swiss chard.
The flowers from two places I planted them.
Here’s to life in the slow lane. Enjoying the herbs from my garden, and the goodies from my CSA. Cantaloupe and snap pea salad, with ricotta salata and mint.
Probably because this amazingly good pizza from our local carryout triggered memories. Of really good New York Style pizza from my husband’s home town in PA.
Pizza not found in our area, except in a few small local places.
I started digging into pizza history. Trying to remember when pizza became common here in central MD. I don’t remember pizza as a child. Not in my predominantly German American neighborhood. In the 50s.
Pizza Hut was established here when I was in college. The only pizza place I could find in some researching was Ledo. In College Park. Opened in 1955.
We didn’t have frozen pizzas in every grocery store. We cooked traditional simple foods from scratch. Western Europe mostly.
Maybe we had slices of greasy cheese pizza “downy ocean”. You have to be from Baltimore to understand. On the boardwalk in Ocean City.
When I met my husband and he took me up to his home in Northeastern PA we ordered really classic thin crust NY style pizza from Armondos. He lived in a small town, with quite a few garment factories owned by Italian families based in NY. There was a real presence of Italian foods and traditions in his town. Like incredible thin crust pizza.
I have tried, and mostly failed to duplicate it. I finally found a packaged thin crust dough, since my feeble attempts to make my own haven’t produced good pizza.
This stuff works.
I use it with toppings from the fridge. Cheeses. Oven roasted tomatoes. Asparagus from my garden. Scallions. Herbs. Thin sliced ham.
The only way to make this better would be a pizza oven to get to those really high temperatures to make the crust crisper.
But, not to be a one trick pony, we have dabbled in making Sicilian style rectangular thick crust.
I do love the air fryer/oven for making pizza. It has elevated my pizza making.
Find yourself a favored style. Experiment. Use weird toppings. You just can’t go wrong with pizza for dinner.
Every time I look at my phone today, the date jumps out. It was 72 years ago today that my parents got married.
It looked like a lovely May day. Not rainy and cold, the way it is today.
My parents were married 52 years, before we lost my dad. I remember their 50th vividly. I went with them to Alaska, the last state to visit by my dad. They didn’t want to go alone so a friend of mine and me booked a cabin on their ship and went with them. Our better halves were in the midst of major work projects so were OK with staying home.
I love this picture.
My dad and I in Ketchikan.
They really enjoyed this trip, and my biggest regret was canceling the trip for us to get to Hawaii the next year. 9/11 got in the way. My dad had been in Hawaii during WWII, but it was the only state left for my mom to visit.
We rescheduled the trip for 2003 but my dad passed away before we got to go there.
These things make me remember. Life is precious. Don’t procrastinate. Do those wild crazy things before you run out of time.
We still live in the same place. We aren’t looking to move. We really want to “age in place” and are taking steps to make our house even more comfortable for us old folk.
I am happy these days being a homebody, since we spent so much time on business travel when we worked. I also am not enamored of living in close quarters like we would be if we moved to a retirement community.
What are we doing differently than when we first retired? Anything? We are having more outdoor work being done by contractors.
We have been retired twelve years. Are we bored? Certainly not. Could we stay here if we want a single level home? Definitely.
Coming up? A summer of renovation. New second story windows to make the house much more energy efficient.
A newly configured laundry room, and maybe the master closet. Still not ready to tackle the master bath or the kitchen.
I decided to cut back on the garden plantings since we will be dealing with contractors all summer, but I still plan to have tomatoes, onions and herbs. Most of my plot will be planted for food bank harvest.
I did find my first asparagus of the season which will go onto a flatbread tonight with some leftover Easter lamb.
I actually cut these below the soil line to get them out of the ground before our Sunday night frost warning. Gives them that white asparagus stalk.
Besides that, the cooking bug is still alive and kicking. Lots of experimentation using old magazines and a few new downloaded cookbooks.
Yes, that’s a nine year old Virginia Chardonnay, the last one from the cellar. Absolutely exquisite, served with another version of the clams and pasta dishes we’ve made this winter.
Here’s to many more seafood experiments this spring and summer. Can’t wait for crab season to get here.
Some days it just amazes me that I can whip up something and put it out there to “rave reviews”. Well, at least from my husband.
The simplest pork chops, pan seared, quick finished in the cast iron pan.
Mango salsa, because we have an excess of mangos from our CSA.
They were green when we got them a week ago but now they are ripe and ready to use.
Air fried sweet potato fries. We get these monster sweet potatoes in our CSA box. Like these.
One potato. Sliced, parboiled and finished in the air fryer while I cook the pork chops. Avocado oil and garam masala. Served with a drizzle of Carolina style mustard dressing.
A simple salad on the side. One of those 30 minute meals (ah yes, who can forget Rachel Ray).
The star of the meal? Those fries. I am so happy I got that smart oven.
Why am I writing about Lithuanian meatballs? Because a deli in my husband’s hometown had them in their freezer. Along with kielbasa.
We took a trip to “Shen-do”, Shenandoah PA, where my husband was born and grew up. It’s been at least 4 years since we took that three hour drive and all because of kielbasa.
According to my husband Kowalonek’s makes the best kielbo. The absolute best. Fresh kielbasa, heavy with garlic and coarsely ground. I have bought kielbasa many places in MD and southern PA but they don’t measure up to his favorite.
This is a local staple, and one that draws people from out of state to buy their fresh and their smoked versions. Lots of non-PA license tags in the parking lot. Take a number. We were #21 and they were serving #11 when we visited two weeks ago. People were spending quite a bit to stock up. Like over $100 of mostly $5.99/lb rings of kielbasa. Coolers in their truck bed. This is serious Polish sausage love.
We also saw they have a competitor. A Lithuanian deli just down the road off Main St. That’s where we found bundookies, and brought them home. Along with fresh and smoked kielbasa from both places.
Kowalonek’s has the best fresh kielbasa and Lucky’s has the best smoked version.
We did a smoked kielbasa throw down one night, and declared the really smoky, dense Lucky’s kielbasa the winner. Those rings of kielbasa turned into five dinners
Lucky’s is owned by a Lithuanian family. My mother-in-law was Lithuanian and we know she made us bundookies but just called them pork meatballs. They are an interesting blend, using saltines as the binder. You mix them all up, sear them in a pan and finish them in the oven.
I got the recipe from a “coal cracker” website. Doctored it a little, as I didn’t have evaporated milk. The recipe calls for allspice, which most definitely gives it a different profile than our Italian inspired versions of meatballs, The amazing coal cracker blog from Lori has the full recipe.
I will be making these often. Defrosting some ground pork to make them again this weekend.
AnnieRie Unplugged 