capturing memories

 We had a glorious sunny day to greet three members of the family that we had not seen for a long time. We spent the day eating and catching up and there was a puzzle to be completed. (That did not happen though Kathy put in the most pieces, I must admit.)We had two nice meals and Kathy brought lovely banana bread to add to the table.  Since I have sworn off baking of any kind, I was glad to see that contribution. Tales of the past flowed freely as drinks were consumed and refreshed.  We were able to spend some time sitting in the sun because it blessed us all day here in mid-January 2021...maybe an omen of good things to come in this new year. One can only hope.

So, I've made a soup of left-overs which is what I usually do so the slow cooker is burbling away and we will have a delicious memory of all being together yesterday. Again, Kathy brought some tasty white wine meant to be heated, like a mulled wine, and it was really good.

We talked briefly about a picture day with everyone gathering all the loose pictures of relatives and events in our lives to create yet another album to preserve the past for future generations. We would spend the day eating and sorting and inserting these memories into albums and selecting someone to be the care keeper of these albums showing people in our lives. Maybe as soon as we have been given the shots needed for safety.  I think Andy and I are due in the next couple of weeks according to our doctor.

Talk to you later.

Shhh, company's coming

 I hardly know how to act.  We are having company for the first time in about a year. Only three people from Cincinnati, but we have not seen any of them for ages. They are breaking rank and coming to Columbus-, It is hard to imagine what we are all in store for after yesterday's debacle at the Capitol. Of course, we had seen it in Oregon and other places but it is unsettling. Now foreign countries can see how easy it was to do that because we were unprepared. Who knew?? I read where the UK is shut completely down due to the virus until mid-February. I feel sorry for those in business.

I am cooking for the three like it was for 20.  It feels good to cook big again but there will be leftovers...I may send them to Cincinnati. I will ask Matt to bring his little family over; they can polish off some of the food. 

 I have a few new items to try out on the guests, so I will let you know how they turn out.

Later then.

Happy 2021

 Things are looking up already in 2021...the return of my favorite television show Escape to the Chateau, only 20 rooms to go, starts the new series Monday night at 10:00 on channel 7 in Columbus; WOSU public television. I could not have come at a more needed time; something to look forward to as we continue to stay home. Nate, the traveler, however, is in Florida and loving every minute.  He took an apartment on the beach and is playing it safe but interesting. He is also communicating to me, at least.  He normally disappears for three months and we only know he is alive by Facebook pictures. Things are indeed looking up.  He wants us to come to Florida and cited happy older couples everywhere. That's us all right.

I have not cooked a thing today, nor cleaned a thing. It is a lazy day and a take out eating day for the two of us. I told you things would be better starting a new year. Enjoy yourselves.

Note:  Don't get excited about Escape to the Chateau...another rerun instead of a new series! Very disappointing.

Many Branches 2021

Hang on to your old appliances

 We had best keep our old appliances in good condition.  I first noticed the strangeness of washing machines about four years ago when we gifted our grandson and his wife with a washer and dryer as a house warming present.  Then, when Stacy had a baby I was helping out at the house and tried to do some washing.  I had bought the large capacity washer and dryer and noticed the washer was struggling during the wash cycle.  I looked in the tub and it had no standing water at all just a bit of water around the clothes and the clothes were tight and fighting to move for lack of water.  Matt said that is how the new appliances are nowadays and there is no way to make the machine add more water.  It is very stressful on the fabric of the clothes. Beth and Mike just bought a new washer and I fear they are in for a big surprise.

Anyway, I read that an environmental group is suing the president for his comments about the regulations on appliances and showerheads and the like.  I agree with the president, this is not the business of the government, since they cannot take care of the business for which they were elected.  They act like children and yet they take the rights of the people paying their salaries. I hear that all appliances are affected and I shudder to think about dishwashers; they are my favorite appliances. The repairmen are going to make a lot of money in the future so you best find one and make him a cake because you will be seeing a lot of him in the future. And, if you have an old appliance to sell, you might rethink the price you are asking.

I told you about the potato soup I was making and that I was scattering in a bag of mixed seafood.  It was a delicious concoction and the bagged, frozen, seafood mixture came from...who else, Trader Joe. 

This is New Year's eve day and I rush to wish you all a better coming year, and a happy one. I don't know what is coming but I think it will be better than 2020.

Now you see him, now you don't

 Nate has started his three months of touring the world, but this time he is sticking to America because of the virus. Southern, winter -warm America probably with some skiing here and there. Little is said about it and poof, one day he is gone, and today was the day.

I have been getting cheese bread from Carfagna's for years but had never toasted it. Ohhhhh, you are missing out if you have never done that for your mouth. Made into croutons it is even better to snack on or to dab in your soup or sprinkle on your salads...I know salads are big in January, so I hope you will try it. Weiland's on Indianola also bakes it fresh for your pleasure.

I have an urge for potato soup with added seafood today.  I don't know what you call that, and maybe I made it up, but that is the way we like it. I have a nice frozen package of various seafood items and I thought I'd sprinkle them in at the last moment. I am getting hungry as I think about this.

We are looking forward to the new year with great anticipation. We are not free yet, but I think we are getting there. I have started cleaning cupboards and drawers and kitchen areas like the long baking counter which I look at with love remembering the Newark flea market in England where I discovered it, paid for it, then forgot the tent that it was in--there were hundreds of dealers, tents, buildings, but my shipper found it and there it is in all of its pine glory in my kitchen along with many fond memories of my trips abroad.

Beef blowout

I am sure you have been wondering how the log of beef from Carfagna's served on Christmas day. That was quite a day with my first meltdown in years. The poor roast and anyone who got in my way did not fare so well.  Let's just say it was not my best shining moment but Beth brought me down, soothed my nerves, and saved the day. (That and wine.) She's good at both. The roast was perfect, the sides were delicious and especially the corn.  I still can't figure out what made the corn so good.  I think I put a lot of thyme that I had been drying into the corn with red sweet peppers and some Hidden Valley dry seasoning.  Anyway, I hope to replicate that someday.  The leftover beef has been used in two dishes and the third will be today: beef stew with the beef dropped in at the last moment so it would not overcook; beef and noodles, and today for the third round, and the last, stir-fried rice with beef. Beth had made cheese grits and sweet bacon for breakfast for us all--all five of us. It was a good start to the day. But the day was not what I had expected of 2020 and I cannot wait for the year to shuffled on out of here on Friday.

The furnaces are working overtime around here and I am up early to start the day for some reason. I keep checking the heating system and each room to make sure nothing is amiss. I am not sure what has brought on this angst. I usually don't mind winter, but somehow I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop this year...or what is left of it.

On a happy note, only two and a half more months until spring.

Happy new year and may it settle us all down so that we can get a grip.

Merry Christmas

 Beth and I had a glorious run yesterday.  We covered five stores and had lunch...we were the only people in the large restaurant at Easton.  The other five places were hardly crowded.  The only place that was humming was Whole Foods and I must say Whole Foods is back in my good graces, not that they care, but it was not quite as elegant as it once was, but I can trade that for their reasonable prices. I remember when Whole Foods came to town and opened at Sawmill. It reminded me of the markets in California sixty years ago.  Now it is a bit shabby and there is no big display of iced down fish...My neighbor and I would select a whole salmon, I would cook it and give her half. They had fish of every kind.  The produce was so fresh and the bakery was simply glorious... like a French patisserie. I was having a Christmas open house for around 75 people and I bought all of the baked goods from that glorious spot in the Sawmill Whole Foods. (The prices were wonderful for about a month and when they had us hooked, up they went, and out I went.) People started calling it Whole Pay Check instead of Whole Foods.

So, after our runaround, we had a chance to relax for an hour and then new troops arrived for the first Christmas meal and unwrap.  Matt's little family arrived and I must say those two little girls must be outstanding. (We never had girls, so we think everything they do is proof that they are exceptional.)  Madeleine, just four, can hold an intelligent conversation which amazes us. She also tells EVERYTHING she knows, has heard, and a bit more. One serious discussion was how Mother had to call Santa twice this week and he had to put her in the naughty book. She's not too worried, however, because her grandpa will take care of any of her wants and needs. Mike is simply over the moon about those two girls.

Have a glorious Christmas and please pray that 2021 will restore peace and prosperity to our nation.

The company we keep

We can't say we are in the elite line for the vaccine.  We are in the second string along with the prisoners.  Words fail me when it comes to the people running our lives. There are fifty million in our group nationally, so chances are they will forget about us altogether as being a nuisance.

I haven't been blogging, as you may have noticed. For, as mentioned, words fail me during the tail end of this dreadful year, more dreadful for some than others to be sure.

I am not looking forward to cooking Christmas dinner even though I have a glorious beef tenderloin roast marinating as I write. There will be five of us, those who live here. So I hope the five will be hungry because when I bought this roast at Carfagna's I was planning on a crowd.  We will be eating beef for a while, that's for sure. (I can think of worse things.)

Thursday night Escape to the Chateau Christmas is on public television at 9:00.  That show cheers me up.  Reading makes me happy and my Kindle bill is proof of my glee. I read one entire book yesterday afternoon into the early evening. I read fiction, so it is not like studying for the bar.

I am wondering what you all are doing this week. I hope you are having fun while kicking 2020 out the door.

Note: Beth and I are running around today and going for lunch...they think I need to get out and I think they are right!

Then around 4:00 Matt, Stacy, and the girls are coming over--my cup runneth over today.

Harry and David to the rescue

 The three over-ripe bananas shame me each time I enter the kitchen.  They know they should have been put in mighty fine banana bread by now, but, I just can't make myself bake anymore.  I think Nordic bunt pans caused this blow to baking and many fine desserts' recipes are in the recipe drawers now being lost as far as I am concerned. I bought several of the new Nordic bundt cake pans when they came out.  I was giddy with joy planning these elegant cakes that looked so professional.  The first cake from each pan came out beautifully and many people carried on about their beauty.  So. I was having a party and decided to bake three cakes in three different Nordic pans and I could not get one damn cake out of one damn pan. Andy and the dogs fled outside while I made up cuss words when I ran out of the ones I knew. Now before you think she didn't grease the pans well enough, I can assure you each and every crevice was hand greased with great care.  Some were greased with butter and some with Pam, and some with another oil. I wanted to throw the pans away, but I thought better of it. I tried one pan one more time and the same thing happened...it would not leave the pan intact. So now sweets are off the menu here at Many Branches.  That is why when David, our son, sent us a Harry and David Christmas gift box with wine and pears and any number of sweets the fruit cake was the first to be attacked...that can't happen too often because fruitcake has a bad rap, but I must say it was boozy and delicious. The Harry and David box was packed with goodies and it was the best box of that type to be delivered to us.

Merry Christmas to you all.

On to the next...

 Good morning.  I hope your Thanksgiving was better than mine.  I won't bore you with the details because you would not believe them. I hasten to say it was better than a lot of people's, so I will hush.

I just returned from getting gel inserted by needle into my knees.  Now that is a fun birthday present.  I hope it works, but if it does not I hope to stay afoot anyway. It does not work for 4-6 weeks so I can get along as usual.

I crave shrimp salad this day.  I wish I had brioche buns or lettuce leaves for the salad but will have to make do with some other vehicle.

Our first snow is a sticker except for the roads. That is always a good thing.

The Kitchen on tv had a great party dish that I am going to try if we can ever gather again...brie, a round bowl of bread. Cut the top off of the round of bread, pull out a nest of the bread for the circle of brie which has had the top crust sliced off too for this recipe. Making sure the brie has enough room, lay it on the round of bread which has been sealed with cranberry sauce or pepper jelly... any kind of jam so that people can scoop deeply getting some sweet with the brie and then make cuts for single servings of the bread all the way around so the melted brie oozes between the cuts. Put the lid back on the bread, that's the best part because it will be covered with cheese in the end.  A fight for that will break out, but show them how to get a helping by pulling off one of the cut areas that ring around the bread bowl.

 On a baking tray at 350 until the cheese is melted...maybe 20 minutes but each oven is different. I will look for a picture of this to show you. (Or when I make it I will picture it.) This shows the red stuff on top, but then you won't have that luscious lid to fight over.  Put it under the brie. I don't know how long this picture will stay on because it belongs to the food network and the Kitchen show.

Go to the Kitchen on Food network, there are pages of brie/bread recipes...I don't know why I thought this was so different.  Those bread bowls hold a lot of good stuff.

Mild comfort

 I just finished Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah and it was so good. I am starting Angel Falls by the same author who, by the way, is a very good writer of fiction. Don't miss her work, I started with The Nightingale and was hooked.

I was still in my robe at 10:30 on Thanksgiving day when Eric and his crew came to put the property away for the winter. This forced me out of slovenly and made me get dressed, but not for company. It worries the people here when I have an all-day robe day and am not cooking but that is what I wanted to do today until Andy tested one of the Stouffer's Bowl Fulls ahead of the 1:00 eating time for today.  He liked it, I tasted it and immediately started baking potatoes and making chili.  The mashed potatoes looked and tasted like I would imagine wallpaper paste would taste and look like. I have a freezer with several of these awful bowls and I don't know who will eat them.  Maybe Andy???

It's a strange Thanksgiving.  I pulled out some holiday pictures from the past to share again on Thanksgiving.  It is some comfort.