Are we there yet?

 

It takes a long time to wind down when one goes somewhere to relax and though the body may go through the motions I think my mind is a full two days behind.

It's cold and still up North, and during walks down these roads the smell of wood burn and cinder  brushed my nose. The crackle of  twigs underfoot and echo of  trailing leaves and birdwing caught my ear for more than just a second and was gone, like the wisp of a kite tail caught in an updraft.

My thoughts came to rest on a single leaf, color of pumpkin, army green and red as it caught on my sweater sleeve on it's way to the ground. I held it up to the sun to look through it as if it were a pirate's spy glass and turned it over and again, vowing to press it between two sheets of wax and preserve it for all time before letting it drop to my shoe.

Such things cannot be preserved, I thought, they come and they go with little knowledge that they ever existed but for the unimaginable odds that this very leaf landed on my sleeve at the very moment I walked through the woods.

I came upon an Inn where I feasted  on a salad of Romaine lettuce, gorgonzola and craisins with a rich dressing I can only imagine to be a derivation of something balsamic and nutty. It was delicious, chilly and warm at the same time and filled a void in me.

I continued on my path and came upon three strangers relaxing in adirondack chairs who seemed to be enjoying the weather and delighted in cajoling strangers, calling out ' there's a Berry Picker' in hushed tones and giggling to themselves. A couple of stuffed shirts I thought, not letting them ruin my melancholy.

I continued on my way, kicking up leaves and tiny rocks until the sun came down, a window shade over the lake and it was bed time. A train whistle signaled last call and the stars began their first dance, first one, then another, falling, shooting, while I wished.

All the best, 

Kate

On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese....

Didn't you sing that when you were a kid? I did and I used to regale my parents  after dinner with crazy songs and wild stories of the goings on in our neighborhood which wasn't really all that wild, but for my own imagination. I was lucky enough to have not one but 2 haunted houses on the block, a large hill to skate down, a  public pool on the corner, a park with high swings and a sand pit, a couple of nosy neighbors, a sort of scary farmer with a Peter Rabbit garden, an avuncular Mr. Green Jeans who made dandelion wine in the basement, a neighborhood bully, hopscotch chalk, roller skates, a brother with girlfriends  and working parents so the world was my oyster.  It was a kids paradise. I spent my childhood barefoot and freckle faced and didn't go in until supper time. Really though, I only remember one time that my Mother made spaghetti and it was an all day affair but I truly loved it and thought it was a delicacy. Now it's a staple.

My real introduction to this sauciers dream came with marriage when I learned how to make it for the first time using my  Mother in Law's recipe and then finally I learned how to experiment and came up with my own way of making spaghetti. I think it's one of those things that you just do. Everyone cooks in their own fashion. Some people measure, others throw, I use my senses. I taste, smell and listen. It's probably just a matter of practice and tweaking to get it how you want it to taste. I don't think I've ever made spaghetti the same way twice which is part of the fun. It's adventure cooking! You need a couple of standards:

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

-  1- #10 Can of Tomato Sauce- get the good kind, it really does make a difference

-  2-3 cans of diced tomatoes- I like the extra oomph of garlic and basil so I that's what I use

-  Onion and Garlic and Vegetables of your choosing and seasonings/spices

   Basil, oregano, parsley, sugar, salt, pepper, nutmeg, bay leaf

I add what ever I have available. Peppers add sweetness to your sauce, garlic adds depth, mushrooms add a meaty flavor and squashes round it all out. I like them all so if I have them I add them in with a small dice. If you're adding carrots and peppers you probably won't need to add sugar but these are things you work out with your palate when you're tasting as you cook.  Sugar takes away some of the tartness of the tomatoes if you're not using sweet vegetables. If you taste it after awhile and feel that there's an emptiness there try a little nutmeg or perhaps a little more garlic. Sometimes that's all is takes to fill up that space.

                            

I saute the vegetables together starting with the onions, I give them a little time alone to meditate in olive oil before I add anything else. I suppose I like some of the principles of Chinese cooking and tend to cook in stages starting with the harder vegetables first and sweat them in stages. I add the spices too at this point. When I have a ton of veggies I put the lid on and really sweat them for 15 minutes or so before adding garlic. Add the garlic at the end, cooking just long enough  so that you can smell it, 30 seconds or so, it's delicate and is easily burned. Such a princess.

                               

When the veggies are ready I add the diced tomatoes and sauce and swish the cans out with a little water and add that too. I just let it do it's thing for awhile and mix the meatballs.

                           

I have a couple of different ways to make meatballs. I'm on a veggie kick right now so I buy vegan meatballs because I have yet to make a decent veggie meatball that doesn't resemble tar, asphalt, the stuff on the road at the end of my driveway. There are many varieties of fake meat that one can use to make meat balls and I haven't made a delicious one yet but the frozen ones are tasty so I just drop those sauce that I've set aside for myself.

Homemade Real Meatballs

- 1/2 # of each: ground pork, veal, sirloin

- 2 eggs

- whole wheat bread crumbs- about 2 cups

- grated cheese- Parmesan, asiago, mozzarella, romano, pecorino

- oregano, basil, salt , pepper

- milk

- Worcestershire sauce- 2 count sprinkle-  I can't spell or pronounce that but you get it    right?

- garlic and onion finely diced and gently sauteed in olive oil

Mix it all up and form giant meatballs

Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or so, they'll cook longer in the sauce but you want to make sure they'll hold up.

I think my husband shuddered a little bit when he saw me using whole wheat bread crumbs in the meatballs but trust me it adds a moistness that can't be beat. After baking those meatballs drop them in the sauce and let the sauce finish off the cooking.  The flavors develop over time so a couple of hours on the stove is a good thing and your house will smell so great. When you spoon it over the pasta whoever gets the bay leaf has good luck ! We have 4 kids so I always put 4 leaves in the sauce just for good measure.

If you make it they will come!

All the best!  Kate



Stone Lake, Cranberry Festival and Pie

One of the most beautiful spots that I have ever seen is just at the edge of the lake in Stone Lake, Wisconsin. It's up in the northwest part of the state about 90 miles north of Eau Claire and deep in the heart of G-d's country. My gentleman husband and his 6 siblings were lucky enough to grow up here as children, swimming and bathing in the lake, cooking hot dogs over campfires and picking berries fresh off the vines when they're oh so ripe and juicy. This is the view from the boat landing. The water is so clear you can see through it, and at this time of year, it's a little chilly.

During the first weekend in October each year the little town of Stone Lake,  population a few hundred, grows exponentially to several thousand as it hosts  the Stone Lake Cranberry Festival the quintessential festival of Wisconsin festivals. 

It's a wonderful time, complete with a pancake breakfast at the Firehouse, where burly firemen serve up cranberry and potato pancakess,  a parade, boxcar race, hundreds of crafters, delicious food, brats, ya hey, specialty wines and a pie and bake sale at the Lutheran church.  I can personally attest to the deliciousness of the mixed berry pie which I savored with delight, every morsel, not a crumb left on my plate.

There are little shops in the town which I will elaborate on another time and plenty of things to keep a pastry girl busy for a few days. I spent a lot of time reading and a lot of time carrying a dead cell phone around with me. There's no reception in G-d's country for an ill fated Blackberry which upset me greatly for the first 24 hours. My husband diagnosed me with cellphone-aphobia for which there is no cure.

This type of disease has to be dealt with cold turkey, or with wild turkey whichever seems most appropriate at the time but since I'm a fan of neither I opted for a nice Riesling, and some veggie chips at the little wine shop, after which I purchased a few bottles of wine for home. My favorite was called 'Bitch Bubbly' a nice sparkling wine that I am looking forward to trying. I also purchased a Moscato D'Asti my favorite of the sweet wines and a Cranberry wine.

We talked alot, and walked a lot enjoyed the colors.  The best part by far was my gentlemen husband, it was nice just to relax and spend time with him and he humored me in my quest for pie and coffee, bakeries and book stores.

There was sadness too, it's fall and in some respects things are coming to their final end and nothing reminds me more of that than falling leaves.

All the best,

Kate