Books and cooks

 

My troublesome quiche.

I cannot figure out where these caps came from. They aren't in the preview.
But I am unable to change them. So sorry, folks. Really, I don't mean to shout.

I’m in search of the next book for my late-night reading. When I do that, I often check reader-friendly sites. One of those is Shelf Awareness, an online newsletter for booksellers. I glance at it daily, often clicking away without noting much of anything, but sometimes I find interesting tidbits. The other day two book titles, both for young audiences, caught my attention. The first was Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement, a picture book by Angela Joy and Janelle Washington. Who knew that Till-Mobley became an activist after her son’s death, and it was her advocacy for justice that roused national indignation over the brutal murder of a fourteen-year-old boy. She once told a reporter that young Emmett had a speech difficulty, and she taught him to whistle while he collected himself. It was that whistle that got him killed.

Attack of the Black Rectangles, by A. S. King, is the other title that intrigued me. Sixth-grader Mac opens his copy of Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic only to find words inked out in black rectangles. When he protests, his father cautions him not to get involved, but his mother and grandfather have taught him to call out things that are wrong. Mac gathers some friends, and they go to the principal, but she doesn’t take them seriously either. No spoilers here, but this is a book that’s seems so timely in this day of redacted government documents and a call for governmental transparency. Plus I love the title.

Last night was quiche night in the cottage. I made a Quiche Lorraine, but with little room and no enthusiasm for making my own pie dough, I asked Jordan to buy a pre-made pie shell—and learned a big lesson. The recipe I was following came from Taste of Home, a source I usually find reliable. I gradually realized that the pre-made pie shell and the pie dish Jordan brought me from her kitchen (once my pie dish) were totally different sizes. The shell I had was much smaller. So I piled crumbled bacon in—actually I find it easiest to dice raw, slightly frozen bacon rather than cook it whole and crumble it. Then I added strips of Swiss cheese. I had thought I was getting a block but when it came it was slices, so I sliced the slices.

When I poured in the egg/milk mixture, the inevitable happened. I was careful not to let the liquid go over the rim, but when I lifted the pie shell to place it on a pan (so it wouldn’t run all over my toaster oven), it ran all over the butcher block I use as a work surface. The cottage has just a slight downward tilt toward the north, and the liquid headed north, under the wooden bowl that holds fruit and is so heavy I had to have Jordan hold it up while I wiped the bottom and the space where it had sat. And it dribbled onto my clean pants. And Sophie got a lick of two. What a mess.

But the quiche was a success—browned, beautiful, and delicious.

I relish leftovers. My neighbor, who grew up in a family of seven and said he ate enough leftovers to last a lifetime, won’t touch them. But I was ecstatic to have chicken casserole for lunch yesterday and quiche today. Guess what? Neither was as good as when fresh, particularly the quiche. I think that’s another argument for ether learning to make my own pie dough or hiring neighbor Mary to make it for me. Mary teaches online pie-making classes, so she’s an expert. I’m not.

But here’s a quick cooking hack that worked out well. I’m on my own for supper tonight, so I made tuna salad. I’d read a recipe that I didn’t like as well as the way I always do it, but it had two great ideas for tuna salad sandwiches. The first was to drizzle a bit of olive oil over it. I wasn’t sure that made a difference, but the tuna was really good. The other trick was to put potato chips on top of the tuna before you add the second slice of bread. And that was great. Adds a terrific crunchiness to the sandwich. Try it, you’ll like it.

Be sure to check my Gourmet on a Hot Plate blog tomorrow. I think I’ll talk about the sudden popularity of an old tradition—the charcuterie board. http://www.gourmetonahotplate.blogspot.com

 

 

  

The Joy of Cooking

 

I forgot to take a picture of the meatloaf, and it was grand,
so this is me eating leftovers at ten o'clock at night. Still good. 

Where is Irma Rombauer when I want to talk with her and compare notes? The sum total of my accomplishments today: I made a meatloaf. Not just any meatloaf though. The old-fashioned kind with both pork and beef—my mom always combined the two in her meatloaf—and lots of vegetables—onion, carrot, celery, and parsley. It took me a good portion of the morning to put it together, but about halfway through rough-chopping carrots and onions and celery I realized that I was happier than I have been in days (my mind was off Ukraine). I also made my own breadcrumbs. Salt and pepper, Worcestershire, Pecorino, and marinara sauce went into the mixture before I hand-shaped it into a loaf. The marinara sauce was store bought because one can only do so much. The TV was on, but I wasn’t paying attention, lost in my own little world of vegetables. And when I got the meatloaf ready to cook, I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment, as if I’d just written a good blog.

This evening it will go in the oven to bake, and then I’ll slather it with more marinara sauce and mozzarella. It’s large—a pound and a half of beef and a pound of pork. We’ll be eating meatloaf all week, but that’s okay with me. Great lunches.

One thing I did not accomplish: voting. But Lord knows it wasn’t for lack of trying. If you’ve been following my saga, you know that it took me three applications to get the mail-in ballot that I usually get with one try. First, they lost it, then it wasn’t filled out properly (SB1 in Texas stuck in new requirements, in fine print, without alerting the public). When I finally did mail in my ballot, it was rejected because I didn’t put my social security number (last four digits) or my state identification number on the outside of the envelope—another of those fine-print, new requirements.

I am not overly concerned because I didn’t see any tight races that I felt strongly about on the Democratic ballot, and in some down-ballot races, I didn’t recognize any names. (If I’d have voted in the Republican primary I’d have had a long list of people to vote against!) But I am angry that the privilege of voting was deliberately taken from me (along with apparently thousands of other Texans). In a democracy, the goal should be to get as many people as possible to vote, not to eliminate as many as possible. Believe me, come November I am armed and ready for them. My vote will be counted.

My laugh for the day: if you’re on Facebook, you know that standard post with which men try to troll women. It begins something like, “It’s weird talking to someone you don’t know ….” and goes on to say how the writer is charmed by the woman’s appearance or humor or wisdom, but his efforts to friend her have been unsuccessful and could she please friend him. Today, the same man posted his identical message on comments made by not one but five of my friends, each on a different post but all on posts that originated with me (some were shares but all had my name on them). Disqualify that one because he has no brain. I’m never sure what such men are looking for, but I presume it’s lonely, wealthy widows (all five of my friends that he hit on are happily married). Since he posted on my wall, I took the liberty of deleting all of them—with some glee.

And a PS for the evening: The meatloaf was delicious. I did not slather it with as much marinara as the recipe called for, but we did top it with one cup and shredded mozzarella. Ran it under the broiler. Served it with a green salad with Paul Newman’s Own Vinaigrette and grated Pecorino. And fresh green beans cooked with just a bit of white wine and a pinch of sugar. Mom always told me sugar heightens the flavor of fresh vegetables. One of my better meals, if I do say so.

And yes, I watched the State of the Union message, found it powerful and strong, especially in the opening parts about Ukraine. I read today that Politico, that conservative voice, published that Joe Biden has done a masterful job of uniting the free world against Putin and that no one else could have done it as effectively. It is, they said, what his whole career has been building toward. Let’s hope this counters the conservative misinformation machine and raises his ratings.

I may not sleep any more soundly tonight, for I am very worried about President Zelensky and even more about his family. To think that Putin has put a price on their heads. I am aghast if that includes Mrs. Zelensky (is Madame Zelensky the proper address?), as it apparently does, and even more so if it includes their children. But I am reassured by Biden’s resolve and strength and the coalition he has built. I find this week as I go about my life that the Ukraine invasion is like a black cloud hovering over my head. Anyone remember Joe Bftsplk from Li’l Abner?