Family and Food

The holidays are a time for thinking about family and food, so here's a bit of each from my corner of the world. Both pictures were taken when Jordan, Jacob and I visited the Houston Alters right after Thanksgiving. The top one shows cousins Jacob, Morgan and Kegan. The Houston kids were on their way to a football game (don't ask which team but they had field passes and it was a big day) and Jordan, Jacob, and I were headed  home but Aunt Lisa kindly gave Jacob an extra football shirt so he'd "match." Below, Morgan and I were celebrating completion of the Sponge Bob floor puzzle in front of us, in spite of "help" from Jacob, who also took credit for finishing the puzzle. Note the late wearing of Halloween costumes!
The food part of this post is less about the holidays, except that I stayed up way too late last night thumbing through the cookbook John and Cindy gave me, The Silver Spoon. Probably not much I'll cook over the holidays but lots that I will fix for company during the coming year. Sometimes I have to find the right people who will eat things with me--like anchovies and carpaccio. There are great suggestions for carpaccio in the book. Wonderful lamb recipes and plenty for chicken, chapters on antipasto (one of my favorite ways to entertain), all kinds of fish, met and variety meats--tongue (I love a good smoked tongue sandwich but who else will eat that?), kidneys--I was raised eating sauteed kidneys with bacon and ketchup but last time I inquired you can't buy lamb kidneys in a quantity smaller than a case. I just wanted two to see if I still like them. But kidneys with mustard, kidneys in Bordeux--I'd love to try. Some recipes I probably will try: salmon tartare, smoked salmon terrine, roast leg of lamb in an herb crust. Roman spring lamb which looks like a stew rather than a roast, lots of the sausage recipes, hot veal in tuna sauce and cold veal in tuna sauce, chicken, anchovy and caper roulades--I could go on and on with recipes that caught my eye. There's a whole section on cooking mutton, which I thought you only cooked by mistake when you thought you were getting lamb. I notice that this cookbook always calls for whole salted anchovies--I've never used anything but canned and am wondering if Central Market has the whole ones. For canned tuna, it always specifies in oil (olive oil I presume) but I religiously use albacore in water. Hmmm, some adjusting to do.
Meantime my holiday cooking is much more mundane. Tonight I made a ham terrine for Saturday's no-tree Tree Trimming party. Got it all put together and in the fridge when I realized I'd left the butter in the microwave to soften; had to get it all out, blend in the butter, repack the terrine in the refrigerator container, and rewash the dishes. Sometimes I wish I'd keep my wits about me when I'm cooking. Tomorrow I'll make chili/cheese and bourbon hot dogs, both family favorites for years.
Speaking of food, I actually lost .7 lbs this week--but I worked at it. Until I entered the results in Weight Watchers, I thought I'd gained and said the heck with it, fixed hot dogs and a fried potato for supper. Turned out not to be bad--stayed under points for the day and had a piece of chocolate to boot.

Rejection and the joy of cooking

Tonight, about five on a Saturday, Five Star Press, who has had the mystery that is the first in my projected series, decided to pass on it. Odd time of day and odd day for such a communication. They've had it, as an exclusive, for ten months, once asked for more time, and after a second query assured me that it was at the second tier (what does that mean?) and they'd get back to me in two weeks--that was about ten weeks ago. The rejection came without constructive comment, just "I've decided to pass," which is doubly frustrating. Tonight I don't know if I'm angry or just numb. Will have to decide what to do next but I sure don't have to decide that tonight. Still, I know it's unfair to have kept it that long as an exclusive, and I'll never again give an agent or a publishing house an unlimited exclusive (I'm learning from Sisters in Crime). I think a part of me always thought that getting a yes from them was a pipe dream, but a part of me still thinks the mystery will be published. Got to do some serious research now on publishers.
On the other hand, it was a good day because I spent much of it cooking. Jacob had spent the night, and his mom told me to have him ready at 8:15 because they were going to do a charity walk. Easier said than done, and when she rushed in here, late and impatient, both Jacob and I were taken aback--he fussed, wouldn't wear the pants she wanted, wouldn't wear the race T-shirt because it was too big for him. I kept quiet--no sense talking to that mood. But after they left I ran to the grocery and came home and cooked.
By noon I had made a huge batch of chocolate chip squares (like cookies only you do them in two 9x13 pans) for tree trimming, basil mayonnaise for tomorrow night's dinner, a squash casserole that I had a bit of tonight, and fromage fort--Jacques Pepin's recipe for using up leftover bits of cheese by making a spread, adding garlic, black pepper, and white wine. This evening, Sue came for a quick glass of wine, and then I began packaging the squares for freezing--almost as much trouble as making them. Had squash casserole, sauteed ground sirloin, and asparagus spears for dinner--who could ask for a better dinner? Though my back was tired, I felt sort of self-satisfied. When I cook these days, I find after an hour, I need five minutes in a chair, then I'm back in the kitchen.
My annual tree trimming party which this year is going to be a "Recession/Retirement/Belt Trimming" party--no Brie, no caviar, lots of Mexican dips, etc. Tomorrow I'll make sausage balls and bake them. My freezer is rapidly getting overcrowded.
Tonight I'll read a novel and cogitate on rejection. But I'm not as distressed as I thought I'd be.