Sweet Peas and other Delights ~

Bella resting during a BIG party May 2012.

The backyard ready for a party 2013.

JD Lechler

 Sweet Lechler faces.

Johnna greeting Andy at Disney World.

Thanksgiving at the beach house 2012.

My husband and his brother at Christmas.

Nate as a senior.

Summer treats.

A thank you bouquet for me from Tony and Connor for hosting the graduation party 2013.

Johnna Lechler

David Lechler

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JD Lechler

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Andy and my wedding with my father~1959

 Christmas in New Orleans 2012

 Matt, Mike and Nate in New Orleans

 A graduation party 2010.

 Chee and Tom, Easter 2013

Card game Easter 2013

Mother's Day flowers 2012

Michael, Daniel and Andrew

Adam

The Little Sisters of Pain: Kathy, Pam, Chee.

Mushrooms ~

How often to you get enough sauteed mushrooms?  Well, if you are in Columbus, now is your chance.  At Giant Eagle, Matt picked up ten cartons of button mushrooms and we are having them on everything!  At $1. a carton, why not?  Everyone who is eating here tonight, and there are many, adore this treat...all except Andy.  Andy is afraid for his life and will not knowingly put a mushroom on his tongue for fear of instant death.  Matt made a spectacular run to the store today and also bought sweet corn.  Where it is coming from, I know not, but it is delicious this year and we are trying to enjoy every cob.  My kitchen looks like a test lab today with every surface filled with fresh stock.  The party supplies, those that were left, are put to use as well, so dining will be odd tonight, to say the least.  I am still finding bottles of wine partly full and I am putting them (some of them) in a crock pot filled with carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, mushroom stems, and a nice roast.  At the last ten minutes add some ears of corn and you have a lovely one pot dinner with sauteed mushrooms on the side,( of course.)

                                                 The mop-heads are lush this year.  Our entire side garden is filled with varieties of hydrangeas and they make the most wonderful cut flower.

This is a good idea:  Menonite Girls Can Cook (blog) has wonderful ways to feed large crowds such as the baked potato bar as shown below--to add more interest use sweet potatoes as well as regular spuds. (This is a bar for 20 guests.)

Cherry,Pecan, Buttermilk Cake~at last !

Collectors of antiques are very competitive, but when it comes to keeping a recipe secret, unless you are in business, then it is a step too long as far as I am concerned.  I have searched for years for the maraschino cherry, pecan cake made with buttermilk.  Once I stopped begging and searching, it came to me. Chopped pecans and maraschino cherries perk up this pound cake-like bread.  The pretty slices are rich and moist with a crisp golden crust. Melissa Gentner, Tecumseh, Michigan, thank you. Even if it is not the one from 'a collector' it is right for me.  The batter is soooo heavy but lightened up with beaten egg whites. I am baking it as I write and I will do the step by step pictures, but first the recipe:

Don't be afraid:
2 cups of butter, softened--YES
3 cups sugar
5 large eggs are room temp. separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, but I used almond extract--makes more sense
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 (10 ounce) jars maraschino cherries drained and chopped
1 cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks and vanilla; mix well.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk just until blended (batter will be very thick.) In a small mixing bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold gently into batter. Fold in cherries and pecans.
Transfer to four greased and floured 8-in.x4-inx2-in. loaf pans.  Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes depending on your oven. Cool ten minutes before removing from pan. (I did not use these types of loaf pans. I'll show you mine in the pictures, just use what you have and judge the amount to go in them. They are French timbale pans.)

I make a lot of trifle desserts and I think this left over cake would be delicious in a trifle.  I am sure you know that a trifle is a dessert pudding of sponge cake or cookies soaked with sherry or other liquor, topped with custard and whipped cream, usually garnished with sliced fresh fruit and or jam. I made this and also Ina Garten's tiramisu and  bread pudding for the party on Monday. There were many more desserts, but none left over.

                        Wait 10 minutes to de-pan.

Ahhhhh...Now when I do it again, I will put in many more cherries and pecans.  I will use the cherries whole.  I'll let you know how that works out.

If you live in Columbus, try the Buckeye Asian Express on Indianola Ave.  A young couple own and operate it and the place is very clean.  Each dish is prepared as ordered rather than prepared ahead of time.  Take-out and delivery only. Telephone 268-8802
4402 Indianola Ave. Col.,Ohio 43214

Our herbs are growing like weeds so today it's pasta with herbs and zesty mini meatballs for the motley crew.

                                                          Jackie Casey from England has a green thumb.  I have not seen the pink and cream peonies until now. They are lovely with the flow blue ware.

Mobile Munchies Ideas

Since the beginning of the show Food Truck Race on TV I have said that young people looking for a way to make money that does not tie them to a specific place and time should look into the food truck business.  Now Columbus alone has 70 different food truck jamming the city...that is not counting the Mexican trailers parked in parking lots and at stations like that.  These are grand scale and grand named luxury trucks with colorful paintings and names such as: The Hungry Monkey serving fun burgers with amazing taste, Tatoheads paying homage to the potato, Per Zoot old-school Italian flavors and New World style, The Pickled Swine featuring European-style deli, The Green Meanie serving eclectic street food, and Sophie's Gourmet Pirogi, to name but a few. I still think it is not too late to choose something you are good at making and go into business.  I always say if you don't like the customer's attitude, drive away, something you cannot do in a restaurant. One vendor says a bad day is around 20 orders and a good day is 50 orders or more.  Some places charge a collecting fee for parking.  One truck owner says she stops around 2:30 to scrub and restock and to prepare for the next day.  She starts cooking about 8:30 in the morning which begins her day.  I think it is an exciting way to make a living, but then for the last ten years of my 30 year teaching career, I taught from a reading van that was equipped like a luxury class room and I drove that huge vehicle with ease. Most mobile entrepreneurs use social media to inform diners about menus, hours and locations.  Like anything else, dedication and homework would be the keys to success. It might be a good idea to rent the truck for a year (too) to try out the business to see if it suits you; or work in one for a year to see how it is run and how much money comes in.  It's an idea.

Paris has another idea and it will be a hit I am sure.

Paris gets its first 24-hour baguette dispenser – feel le pain

Bread is partially cooked before being put in the machine, then finished off when ordered and delivered crisp and hot – for one euro.

• Kim Willsher in Paris
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 9 August 2011 12.58 EDT

French baker Jean-Louis Hecht stands next to his baguette dispenser in Paris. "My business is answering a real need," he said. Photograph: Michel Euler/AP

Cooking for 100~

                                 

     

Sooooo much fun.  Great people and happy graduates. We had over 100 people and the day was perfect.
                      
This is a fairly large crowd, many of whom I do not know, but it is not the biggest crowd that I have served.  My son's wedding reception here at home was the largest with 250 guests.  I thought I had two weeks, having lost track of time, but this is the week to bring it on. Brooks, Connor (a friend of Brooks), Daniel and Katlin (Andrew's girlfriend) are graduates who will be honored and Andrew, home from Afghanistan, will be hero- greeted as well. As I have said before, this is a macho menu. So far I have completed: chicken and noodles, ham and beans, chili, pulled pork, meatballs, pasta ears in meat sauce, pepperoni mac and cheese,  riblets (mini ribs.), and pasta- crab in alfredo sauce. I have three servers, one of whom will man the grill, serving mini fillet sliders, hot dogs, a variety of sausages, hamburgers and salmon. He will also create pizzas for the grill and quesadillas.  There will be dips and balls and other starters, the pasta dishes, an entire table of salads and a table of desserts. The Cincinnat Lechlers are bringing three salads, some gin, wine and beer, deviled eggs and some other things that I have yet to read about.  Pluckit bread will be served with drinks for sure.  It is delicious and something most of the guests will be trying in their own homes.  Brooks' father and his wife are flying in from Singapore, Singapore where they live and Beth's parents are coming from New Orleans.  Others across America are planning to be here as well. ( I had better put in my request for good weather.)  There will be plenty of pictures from before, during and perhaps, if I can still push a button, after. Wish me luck.
Doris

Note: This is the night before the event.  Tents are up, refrigerators are bulging, the house is at its best, the weeds have been pulled and I am done!

                                               

Finally!  Someone had the nerve to say, what I have been saying for years: Don't order steak in France. It may look like a steak and smell like a steak but unless you slice and grind for time on end, you will not be satisfied when the ordeal is over.  I would try a steak once a year just to see if they learned their lesson, as they did with coffee, but no, it was the same tough mess as always.  One time I was eating, or trying to, at an outdoor cafe.  I was actually glad when a big dog came along and grabbed the meat right off my plate--the waiter only made me pay for the part that I actually had eaten. David Lebovitz showed this lovely picture of a steak he was about to tenuously try because he craved steak and fries.  He has learned to be VERY careful where he orders this plate and this time a restaurant in Les Halles satisfied his craving.

Since I am turning the rest of this blog (from May on) into a book, as I did before, I want pictures from the party included, so I am adding them here.  They will only be of interest to the family, but this is an easy journal entry, doing it like this.  So please excuse my indulgence.

Foodie Fleet

Giant Eagle is launching a new Asian Street Food truck selling fabulous (according to the ad) foods all around town.  To learn more follow them:  marketdistrict.com/foodie-truck or facebookcom/MDFoodieTruck or MDFoodieTruck.  I think 'we' are missing the boat on this way to sell food and am encouraging young people to make their way in this manner if they have any interest in the food industry.

Foodie Truck 

Chef-made food on the move!

I got some of the pictures of their fabulous menu, but here is a list of their offerings: pork pot stickers, vegetable egg roll, Singapore sticky wings, vegetarian Samosa, vegetarian jaifrezi;coconut chicken curry, grilled tandoori chicken, char siu beef, traditional pork on French baguette... I'm excited for them.  Love truck!

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Flowers make me happy~

English bluebells (picture from Jackie Casey)

                                              

                                         

hydrangeas in an antique Haviland punch bowl