JUST VISITING

It’s been fun cooking with my friend Sandee, enjoying the view out her back window of the beautiful mountains and seeing Sandee’s artwork and collections.

An artist herself, she is working on this bobcat. She has routinely seen a bobcat walking her back fence and she thinks the  bobcat may identify  with the sculpture. We keep watching for the real thing, but he hasn’t shown up while we’ve had cameras poised.

She has a friend with a pooch in the National Kennel Club Trials and her dog and cats enjoy seeing other animals on television and watched the dog show intently. Who knows?

Judy and Mike stopped by to visit and discuss full-time RVing with Jim and share their experiences. They’ve just sold their trailer and haven’t gotten a new rig. We were supposed to have left by now but we are still dealing with a signal problem. Jim got a new device and is cursing it as I write. I’m on a signal from Sandee’s neighbor.

The only wildlife we’ve seen is a few birds. This dove came to visit.

Sandee is multi-talented and  makes jewelry, and I photographed gobs of it just because it is so beautiful. Not all of it was jewelry she made.

As I walk around her house, I continually spot stuff I hadn’t noticed the day before because there is so much to attract the eye.  Better than visiting a gallery.

I particularly liked this kitty…

…and his outdoor painting of sunflowers.

And this cute glass frog.

I have a recipe of Sandee’s to share, too.

Prepare 1/2 inch eggplant slices to fry in olive oil until tender by dipping them in egg and bread crumbs first. Then slather them with blue cheese, put on the lid, and when the cheese is melted, serve them. Yum.

 

 

THE COOKIE FACTORY

Peg Bracken, noted cook and cook book author, claims the best way to keep cookies is in a can marked Rat Poison. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is tempting to save your favorite ones for a later time when you can savor them the more.

Doug arrived first and we made room for his tins. He has several to deliver to the neighbors since I’ve given over the cookie baking to the kids.

Then Laurie unloaded her stash of tins and bags until there was no room.

But, somehow, we stacked tins and Virginia unloaded her treasures.

The many types are the result of Doug trying to out-do Virginia and Vice-Versa. Laurie brings the family favorites and adds something new each year, which happened to be gluten free almond chai cookies and marzipan stollen, so the list goes on and grows. With 22 different kinds of cookies, Virginia wryly commented, the ratio of cookie bakers to cookie eaters is out of kilter with four cookie eaters missing. She was referring to Daughter Kristannne, her husband and two boys who were unable to come for Christmas because of their son Alec’s work schedule.

The cookie factory started years ago when I made cookies with the kids, and sometimes the neighbor kids, allowing them to cut and decorate sugar cookies with paint brushes and bowls of colored frosting.

We traded painted cookies each year with the Evans/Dollar family and one year Joanne Evans said enough, and brought a variety of yummy cookies that didn’t have to be decorated. A nurse, she worked full-time,  often with duty hours during the holidays.  So, the cooky factory got started with more and more different types of cookies, easier to make and better tasting.

It is hard to pick a favorite, but, you might try this one:

1 8oz. package dates chopped., 1/2 cup firmly pkd. brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 tsp. grated fresh orange rind. Cook first five ingredients over low heat, stirring until slightly thickened. Remove from stove and cool a bit.

Beat in two eggs, 2 1/4 cups flour that has 1 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp. of baking soda mixed in it. Add a 16 oz. package of chocolate chips, and 1 cup chopped walnuts and stir.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls  2 inches apart on ungreased sheets. Bake at 375* ten minutes. Remove at once to cool.ing racks.  Makes 3 dozen. If you cool the ingredients a lot, the chocolate chips stay chunky. If you leave the batter quite warm, the chips get melty. I like them melty.

Ciao!

CHOCOLATE, CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE

Can’t think, brain numb, inspiration won’t come. My destiny for today.

I worked apples yesterday, putting up bags of apples in the freezer for later use. Since I had a bag of frozen cranberries I thought I’d make cranberry sauce. With a sink full of apples, the combination intrigued me so I put them together and found it very tasty. After dinner, I thought about the ways I’d used cranberries. I remember putting them still frozen in the brownie mix  just before putting them in the oven.  A huge success. In the market, cranberries, cherries, ginger, nuts of all kinds and pomegranate seeds are paired with chocolate.  I decided to have a dish of warmed cranberry applesauce with chocolate.  It was okay. Not great, just okay. I guess I could experiment with the amount and type of chocolate and come up with a better result. A chocolate sauce instead of grated. Or perhaps chocolate chips. Maybe a bit of brandy? You know, somethings are just best left alone. I like chocolate and I liked the sauce.   Nuff said.

MOVING ON AND A RECIPE

Leaving the cousin “spoilers” yesterday, we headed for Marthas Vineyard. Everyone describes it as beautiful and appealing with no fast food places or billboards. Its expensive to bring cars on the island so traffic is light. At one time the best mode of transportation on the island for day visitors was hitchhiking. The locals biked. They now have a good bus system.

We’re hauling our motor home over on the freight ferry with the trucks that deliver goods. We spent the night at Buzzards Bay; walked around town under a huge black cloud that rained in the distance. A railroad bridge over the Cape Cod Canal, connects the island with the rest of Massachusetts. This bridge lifts up 135 feet to allow boats under it. It was put in service by the WPA in 1935 and for many years was the longest lift span in the world. Now, at 544 feet, its the second longest. Its a beauty.

Five trains a day still run over this amazing bridge. We parked at the Eagles Club in Buzzards Bay and had an impromptu concert by a bagpiper. Later the drummers came to practice as well. How cool is that?

Yesterday, I promised a recipe for French meat pie, and here it is:
You make a double pie crust, a bit short. The filling:
Brown a half lb. ground pork and half lb ground beef, 90% lean, if you can get it. Mix in one chopped onion and a stalk of celery and continue cooking until soft. Salt to taste.Then add to the pan two large previously cooked russet potatoes, mashed but unseasoned. Stir this around until everything is well mixed. Add a bit of water if it seems dry. It should be the consistency of hash.  Season liberally with poultry seasoning, about a 1/2 package of Bells. Then a tsp each of nutmeg and cinnamon. Fill the pie, top with crust, and bake for an hour at 350*. Hope yours turns out as good as mine. Better second day if you can leave it alone that long.