Fricassee of Heart

 

(SL, thanks for the deeply needed inspiration. I agree that every author has certain taboo words, one of mine is tears, and you won’t find it in this one.)

She cooked it herself.
Sliced away fragile
threads
that had always held it in place,
kept it safe,
secure in its cavity chamber.
Had to break a few stubborn bones
but managed, without too much damage,
to set it free, get it to stand alone.

Sautéed it with a bit of butter,
turning it frequently so it browned
evenly, then let it simmer in its own juices
with a few drops of vintage wine,
while she created succulent side dishes
out of nothing but hope-filled wishes
and fine-lined dreams.

Sprinkled in a bit of this,
a dash of that,
tossed it all with a vinaigrette
of fancy verbiage, a touch or two
of regret for fuller flavor.

Then sat alone
at the table she’d set,
waiting for a single guest
who would never know
he’d been
invited.

Elizabeth Crawford  9/30/09

The Pioneer Woman Cooks

She’s one of my favorite bloggers and she’s written a cookbook and I have already pre-orderd my copy and she’s gonna be in St. Louis for a book signing Tuesday, November 17, 2009-7:00 PM at LEFT BANK BOOKS, the Downtown Location (321 N 10th ST).  I’m planning to go get my copy signed by fellow homeschooling mom Ree Drummond. Her cookbook can be ordered HERE at Amazon.com.  To try out some of Ree’s recipes, to read about her homeschooling, or just to read her blog posts and see some of her pretty pictures you can visit her blog… The Pioneer Woman

Boiled Peanuts and Home

I went home this weekend. By home, I mean I went back to the place where I grew up, where my parents still live. My folks actually moved from the house I grew up in almost two decades ago. They moved from that suburban neighborhood to a plot of land in a much more rural area.

They have acres of green space and a garden that would be the envy of a good survivalist. They preserve the food they grow and freeze it and sometimes even dry it. There is nary an aluminum can in their pantry. Instead, the shelves are packed with jewel-colored jars full of blueberry jam, fig preserves, apple butter, pepper jelly, and tomatoes in every form (juice, diced, salsa, etc.). They have two freezers stuffed with bags of purple hull peas, corn, pecans, fillets of bream and white perch (thanks to my father’s post-retirement fishing hobby) and, my personal favorite, boiled peanuts.

If “boiled peanuts” pulled you up short, you are what is commonly known as a Yankee. I’m so sorry.

I know that the South has its shortcomings. I’m no fan of the politics, the heat, the mosquitoes or the mildew that accumulates in a shower about five minutes after you’ve scrubbed it. There’s a reason I no longer live there and have no desire to live there in the future, but let me speak out in praise of the boiled peanut.

If you’ve never had a boiled peanut, then you probably cannot be won over to its charms. Boiled peanuts, like Cream of Wheat (yuk) or Jello (gross), must be introduced early in life to be appreciated, preferably before a child can ask for them by name. My husband was raised in Ohio and while he enjoys many of the culinary curiosities of my Mississippi heritage, he does not care for the boiled peanuts. Fine with me. I get them so rarely that I’m not interested in sharing.

I brought back a gallon bag full of boiled peanuts and I’m eating a bowl full every day. They are salty and soft, but not mushy. Delicious.

Currently, I am writing a novel that is set in the Mississippi Delta, a place where they sell boiled peanuts on the side of the road and in every convenience store. The taste of these peanuts and the smell of them makes me realize that I’ve been remiss. Though I’ve already included a number of scenes featuring such delicacies as cornbread, fried okra and blackberry cobbler, I am suddenly compelled to put boiled peanuts into my characters’ hands. They are demanding it. Rain is falling and their hands are cold and empty and tired of gesturing at meaningless objects. What they need is something useful to do and I can think of nothing more satisfying than supplying them with a pot of hot boiled peanuts. I can see them now, prying apart the shells with their teeth and sucking out the soft nuts inside. Someone will allow the salty brine to drip down his chin. Someone will complain about the mess of discarded shells. I can’t believe I haven’t given them boiled peanuts already. I’m 200 pages in and now this omission just seems cruel.

I am off to write and to rectify the situation. If you are a fan of the boiled peanut and have moved away from the place of your upbringing, I urge you to seek out a batch. Eat them warm and with a good book on your lap. Be sure it is a good book by a Southern author. I recommend Flannery O’Connor or Eudora Welty. I promise you will not be sorry.

Happy reading and happy eating,

The Hungry Bookworm

cooking mama 2: dinner with friends

Buy Cheap Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends
Buy Low Price From Here Now
Hot on the heels of her award-winning debut title’s sales success, Mama returns to the kitchen with new recipes, ingredients and friends in Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends. Think your dishes are delicious? This time, only your hungry friends will be the judge of that!…….
Readmore

Technical Details

– Improved graphics and real-time effects make you feel like you’re actually cooking
– Recipes progress from simple to complex, from small to large and so do the expectations
– If you friends think your dish is delicious you’ll unlock another new friend
– Earn bronze, silver and gold medals from Mama based on the quality of your cooking
– Keep a diary of your best creations and add earned seals to dress it up and share with your in-game friends
See more technical details

 “Cooking Mama……..Excellent!” 2009-07-14
By L. Preece (Florida)
Cooking Mama has it all…..Hours of fun for the kids….boy or girl. Can’t say enough about it. Try it; you’ll like it!

 “Not what I expected” 2009-06-09
By Kathryn (Culpeper, VA)
Maybe I’m playing this game wrong, but it’s dumb. It’s like: get the kernels of corn off the cob, so you take your stylus and rub it back and forth and back and forth on the screen. Or you stir a mix and take your stylus and spin it round and round and round on the screen. Or you flatten dough and you take your stylus and tap it 100 times on your screen. ??? How is that fun? It’s stupid. And it was expensive.

My favorite DSs are Cake Mania, Diner Dash, Touchmaster – I thought this would be similar but it’s not.

 “Mama is still cooking.” 2009-04-19
By Ellen L. Wojdyla (APO, AP Japan)
Cooking Mama 2 is good fun. There is more talking and the game is easier to navigate than the first one. I also think this version is more sensitive to the stylus. I find I don’t have to press as hard when doing the movements such as slicing and flipping. I also like the option of customizing mama’s clothes, kitchen,and utensils. This version also seems much more colorful than the last and the graphics have improved.

 “The Godfather II of DS Games” 2009-04-02
By Steven R. Shroyer (Kent Ohio)
When you ask someone what is the best sequel of all time they’ll say either Godfather part 2 or The Empire Strikes Back. Back in 2006 a game came along that was so unique so original that it drew world wide aclaim and a boatload of fans. That game was Cooking Mamma and now we as DS owners have our own Godfather 2 or Empire with Cooking Mamma 2 Dinner with Friends.

This is the best video game sequel I have played since I first got my DS this and the orginal have endless replay value even after you’ve unlocked all the recipies.

The gameplay is the same as the first which is performing kitchen tasks with a time limit to complete a dish. Yet the people at Office Create have added a few twists. For one you can unlock new outfits for mamma and can control how her kitchen looks. Then there are her friends. Mamma’s friends are picky, mess up just one time on one of their recipes and you tick them off(My heart breaks every time I see David cry).

I pre ordered Gardening Mamma, the spin off to this series, and it looks as good as the first two Hopefully they make a third one for this console.

If you like this game I would also recomend My Pet Shop, a game that is a cross between nintendogs and cooking mama.

Enjoy

 “davis10ac” 2009-03-18
By Beverly Davis
Purchased game for my granddaughter – she loves it. Plays it ALL the time.

Images Product
Buy Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends Now

top (independent) news stories

1. i’ve been forced to stop reading a paper newspaper (morgunblaðið) i never read anyway, plus, which is a tad more sad, the online news (mbl.is) i read daily. this all due to one of iceland’s former pms & the most recent former head of our central bank, ie the man who gleefully embodies arrogance, self-righteousness and unconcern for other people, mr davíð oddsson, having been hired as these news sources’ editor in chief. where will i get my local news from now? i post a link – here – from a likely candidate, which carried the story of davíð being hired, and included a flattering picture of the man.
2. ninjai has returned to her old cuddly self. with some slight mishaps along the way. like miscalculating distance and need for claws when jumping from sofa to my chest. she came in short, and it hurt when she clawed herself into position. but i forgive, bc the little meowing needy ninjai is back, and that’s just cute.
3. nala finds new ways every day to disturb the peace & tranquil order in the flat in general, and also between me and flat mate even more so. she does this in a variety of ways, but mainly by being messy (she’s literally a snotty brat! when you have a flat mate who doesn’t ‘do’ bratty, snotty & pet, then your fkcd), and by not leaving all the things alone which ninjai leaves alone. in nala’s defense, she is the more normal kitten of the two. this is obviously why i adore ninjai so much, though! you know me and normal … not exactly bff;) her most recent stunt is jumping up to ‘hunt’ the enticing flower decor on the living room wall. i admit that perhaps telling her off while holding my camera in one hand ready to record this misdemeanor might not send the right signals, but while it’s super annoying it’s also, you know, a little cute.
4. i’ve had an epiphany! this should really make the top of the list, shouldn’t it? i’ve had a crafts and diy epiphany. i had some ideas abt stuff i wanted for myself, and to give to others, and my online research led me to sites which gave me ideas on how to actually make the things myself. this all started really with me having a smaller epiphany re: the dreary curtain situation in my room. sheets for curtains are only cool & kosher for so long. i decided to use the curtains i’d initially bought as a 2nd / thicker layer of curtains for the living room in my room, and put the ones already in the living room on a nicer curtain rod, and voila! it opened a portal of creative thought like you wouldn’t believe! here are some things i am going to make, for me and perchance others: (a) jewellery holders; (b) cat litter box hiders / easy-to-make furniture which camouflage the so-not-sophisticated poo’n'pee receptacles; (c) cat nap places (shelves really) in high places, complete with ’stairways to heaven’ fit for my kittens to frolic on; (d) knitting projects for which i’ve finally found the right ‘recipes’.
5. i’ve started cooking. not more, or fancier, just … i’ve started cooking. i will be happily astonished if this continues after my making it public. things tend to stop or vanish after i’ve said them outloud / put them down in writing. does that happen to you? but for the time being, both me and flat mate are thrilled:)

The Poor CookBook: Pan Fried Chimis

Ah, college living.  As a true middle class American and now flat broke college student I am having to make creative meals out of the bare minimums, then on a budget. Needless to say the ramen and beer diet is in full swing.  So here are recipes impromptu using the cheapest food out there. Enjoy, if you can…..

Needed:

Pan (duh)

cooking oil (preferably extra virgin olive oil, butter will also due)

2 chimis/burritos/

Cheese (I had pepperjack, munster, and swiss deli slices)

Cholula  (or similar hot sauce)

Cooking:

So as cheap goes we have have ElMonterey frozen burritos (chicken rice and beans) at ~$4 for a pack of 12 at your local kingsoopers, the cheeses which were 3/$5 on sale, and the cholula which is in the $3 area or easily lifted from a local Chipotle for the more desperate and less moral.

Now, the cooking instructions for the burritos dont give pan fry instructions… thus i thawed the burritos first which you can do a few hours before by putting them in the fridge or microwaving them for about 2 min (1 on each side).

Next heat your skillet to medium. We have the typical wire range which seemed to work ok on medium. It was hot enough to allow the burritos to cook a few minutes on each side without burning the wrap.

Add your olive oil (approx 1Tbsp)

Pan fry on each side for 2-3 minutes or until browned (avoid blackening the wrap)

Transfer to a plate, apply gratuitous amounts of cheese

Throw into the oven on broil until cheese is sufficiently bubbly

Here you can splash on some hot sauce and dig in. Beware the plate if you will be eating off it as it will be unforgivably hot by this time. A trifolded kitchen towel can easily double for an oven mit, adding to the long list of things they do for you.

Now you can always toss some sour cream and salsa on the side if you have the option, and of course if you want to go whole hog you could spring for some green chili and smother it post pan fry before the oven.  Be creative, make every night you have to eat this meal a little more bearable.

So the ingredients come to $12 divided by 6 meals (at two burritos per meal) leaving us at $2 per serving. Less actually considering the hot sauce will continue to haunt the fridge, and you probably wont use the cheese up.

The Aichmophobic Chef

I love cooking. And I live in fear of knives.

I’ve always had an irrational fear of slicing myself wide open. I’m a pussy about pain in general, but even more so when it comes to the thought of gaping wounds in my own body. My aichmophobia wasn’t helped when, early into my second marriage, my wife told me about the time when she was preparing food as a teen and accidentally knocked a Ginsu knife off of the counter, sending the blade tip-first into her foot. I cringe even thinking about that. I cringe even thinking about thinking about that.

Perhaps “live in fear” is too dramatic. It’s not like I think my chef’s knife is going to sneak up and stab me in the heart while I sleep. Better: I respect knives. I’m all too aware that the same finely crafted J.A. Henckels edge that can slit potatoes like paper could also cleave off the top of my index finger.

Having never experienced a severe knife injury myself, I can tell you that they are the most painful form of mutilation imaginable. (I have a vivid imagination.)  Which is why, when I’m cooking, I treat even the dullest knife with tender mercies. When using them, I am Zen-absorbed: there is nothing but the knife, the food, and the distance between my free hand and the blade. When I’m not using them, I set them far (faaaaaaaaaar) away from the cliff of the counter, edge toward wall.

Hand cleaning (you don’t put your premium cutlery in the dishwasher with the peasant knives, right??) is a delicate ritual that approaches pampering: I wipe the blade as gingerly as possible, then pad it dry like a baby’s ass. After it’s clean, it goes back into the butcher block, where the possibility of it piercing my flesh asymptotically approaches zero. I say “asymptotically” because, well…I’ve seen Dark Willow in action.

Never underestimate a witch in your kitchen. It throws the safety quotient all to Hell.