Sunday, November 25, 2012

Simple Gifts



I seem to be rushing though this year, no sooner is one season ending that I'm diving headlong into the next.  Wasn't I just saying how much I wanted to put the summer behind me and now I'm chomping at the bit for the first snow and putting up decorations? Sheesh!


The two mini feasts I had during the fall have got me all excited for hosting more over the holidays.


This was mini feast number two, an Armistice Day Tea with Miss H, an obscene amount of food for just two ladies but we put up a good fight. Next up, Naria marathon! Need to go find some Turkish delight and to ponder weather or not sardines on toast is a good or a very very bad idea...


Of course I really shouldn't be thinking of food at all considering all the eating I did on Thanksgiving...but I am...duh.

My family's Thanksgiving menu has been almost the exact same for ages: turkey, gravy and stuffing, Mrs. Baker's cranberry sauce, peas and pearl onions in white sauce, mashed white and sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie to finish.  There's usually a minor debate over if we really need both potatoes which is usually a draw and they both appear on the table anyways. Though we did shake it up a bit this year by trying a recipe from my paternal Grandmother, Sweet Potato a la Sandin, which no one had ever eaten before despite thee of us being Sandins by birth.


It was good, a bit sweeter than sweet potatoes need to be as they are delicious on their own, but a nice new thing to eat anyways. Though I have to admit I was completely lazy and my total contribution to the meal was mixing the ingredients for the sweet potatoes (but not the topping) before wandering off to do something else. Which may explain why today I not only made a breakfast that wasn't toast and tea, but an onion tart for dinner too! Not making food for myself for five days apparently makes me twitchy.





That last one, the tart, was remarkably delicious since it was made with random pantry things as I didn't manage to get to the grocery store today. Possibly because it is impossible to do much of anything after you eat an entire plate of pancakes by yourself. Delicious, and I'll be making them again, but definitely not a breakfast for champions.

Anyways, I had a lovely trip home and am already looking forward to my longer stay in December. Especially as it means spending more time with this little man!


Wee Jack!!


Miss Linda and I got to meet him my first day in town, and I later got to spend a delightful afternoon with him and his Mom, the lovely Lizbeth, where we laughed at his hiccups, his funny trick of throwing himself about when you try to burp him, and almost swooning when he fell asleep in my arms. And it all felt as if it was the most natural thing in the world!



(photo added 11/26 as was too precious to wait until next post!!)

Okay maybe not the burping part, I totally had an "oh my god wtf am I doing?!?" moment when he was squirming all over the place and I was supposed to be doing something maternal and useful but kept giggling instead. But the rest of it, taking turns rocking him while the other ate their lunch etc, was weirdly normal. Though deep down the Me who ran track with her in middle school is probably freaking the fuck out.


The rest of my visit was good too: saw the new James Bond with the family (thank you Mr. Mendes, thank you), paid money to have a bit of fried egg thrown at me by a Japanese chef, was informed by an insurance agent friend of mine that Armageddon would fall under "An Act of Nature" but damage from war or a nuclear fallout is not covered, had a lovely chat with a chihuahua and his people, learned that badgers may be much larger than I thought, heard a light first snow hitting the dry leaves in the trees behind the house, salivated over southern tunes with Dr. Karl, and clambered through the woods with Miss Linda.


On the bus ride home I kept thinking back to my last trip to Ohio back in October, when I was still a little shaky on my feet. Trying to figure out who I was, and what I was going to do if I couldn't make a living through it. I'm still holding my breath a little, but so far it looks like I may be able to continue living my life as a craftsman. And more importantly I've stumbled into a place that respects me as such, and will allow me to stretch my wings and grow. So when a friend referenced 'Simple Gifts' in their Thanksgiving status, I couldn't help but smile since watching a documentary of the Shakers a few months ago helped me cement who I felt I was. This year, and ever, I'm thankful for the simple things: my family, my friends, my job, my apartment, my city.



Joseph Brackett (1797-1882)
Shaker dancing song


'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 
  'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.


When true simplicity is gain'd, 
  To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight, 
  Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.


'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,

'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,


'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.



'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be fair,
'Tis a gift to wake and breathe the morning air.
And each day we walk on the path that we choose,
'Tis a gift we pray we never shall lose.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

"Be fearless, and above all have fun." Julia Child 'My Life in France'


This is my absolute favorite photo of Julia Child. It's perfect. Someday I want to have it framed and hanging in my kitchen, but until I buy a new ink cartridge and get a frame this will have to do. 

Anyways, it's very appropriate today because at this moment there is a chicken roasting in my oven.  
My first roast chicken
I'm 26 and I'm only now roasting a chicken! Even worse, I'm the author of a three years old this week food blog and had never roasted a whole chicken! For shame, for shame!!

But the truth is the prospect of roasting a chicken for some reason has filled me with nervous dread. I kept pretending I was just saving it for a special occasion or something like that. All lies! But when I realized on Sunday that Mumble's big day was on Wednesday...and as I'd been making so many sweets lately I wanted to make a non-dessert celebratory dish...something that would feed me for several days...o God...it had to be a fuckin' roast chicken. Damnit.

Of course I decided to ignore that decision until this morning when I was already running late for work, realized I hadn't made a lunch, had left my CTA card in my other coat, and remembered I don't own a roasting pan, twine, or meat thermometer. An excellent start!

So I frantically looked at about six million recipes on my lunch break, and narrowed it down to the "Best Roast Chicken You'll Ever Have" on a Cup of Jo. Chicken, herbs, lemon, garlic, butter, S&P. I can handle six ingredients right? 

I hauled my groceries home, got my bleach wipes out from the bathroom cabinet, lined my big glass pan with aluminum foil, assembled the cavity stuffers, and then began the inner freak out about E. coli and salmonella that happens every time I handle raw meat. It's not the fact that it's a dead animal that gets me, oh no, it's the evil germs. Once I told myself to shut up and get on with it I actually found it rather funny as it kind of felt like holding a baby (and yes, I know how fucked up that is especially considering my last post!). 

As there were no balls of kitchen twine to be had at H. Time, even for ready money, and knowing what happened when Bridget improvised I decided I'd be better off with a splayed chicken. Turns out I didn't need to worry about that but the explanation would make a vegetarian hurl so I'm going to leave you in ignorance. 

Once the chicken was safely in the oven I bleached my kitchen like I was cleaning up a crime scene and settled down to munch on cheese and crackers until it was done.


The cooking part got a little interesting when the wee herbs started to burn a bit towards the end which set off my smoke detector right when a nice man from the Illiniois government called to have me do a phone survey. "Wave towel at detector while deciding if you rate labor unions at a hundred "very warm" or one "very cold"." is not anywhere on the recipe. So after 45 minutes I poked it hard with a knife and clear stuff came out. Huzzah!



Took this little beauty out of the oven to cool. It then drained juice all over my chopping board and I had to put it on my cookie sheet to stop it from getting everywhere. Smooth. I cut a leg off and it was all good until I put it on my plate and there was a bit of pink in the juice. Freaked out and did the rational thing, emergency G Chat with Anwen:

me:  ps i just roasted a chicken
but i dont have a meat thermometer
 Anwen:  KJHGFADS
 me:  so i hope to god its done
im scared to eat it
 Anwen:  HOUSEWIFE PROBLEMS
 me:  E COLI IS REAL YO


Debated and decided to stick it back in for a few more minutes (tented with foil) and after only one beep from my smoke detector it was done...for sure this time. Not a speck of pink to be seen!


It was chicken-y, and herb-y, and while I'm taking off five points for a complete and total lack of elegance in the cooking process it gets an 'A' for effort and taste. I'm not going to be doing a chicken roast every Sunday, but maybe for special occasions or something. I was pretty fearless, kind of had fun...and now I have to go clean a shit ton of dishes and come to terms with the fact that there are giblets in my trash can.

Happy Birthday to my terrible toddler!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

For the Little One


I've been taking walks almost every day now that the weather is chilly enough that I'm not a hot sweaty mess because I walk too fast. My odd collection of jobs come with nice commutes which allow me to discover new neighborhoods and take different streets in long familiar ones.


Sometimes I like to listen to the leaves, my clicking heels and the sounds of the city. Sometimes I crank up my iPod and walk along with Nora Jones, or the Avett Brothers. My songs are slowing down, whispers of Winter and snow are creeping in, and it seems a little odd to be hearing of the blazing Alabama sun when my fingers are pink with cold.


Sometimes I like someone to talk to so call a friend who walks me home. Yesterday Lizbeth was on my mind, and I was on hers, and we shared news of our lives as I wandered my way to my apartment. She'd had some false labor contractions the night before and we kept saying silly things to try and express how we were feeling. So much waiting, and changes, and now it's finally going to be happening! A little baby!


So this morning while scraping the bottom of the jar of jam Lizbeth and Amy made for the shower and realizing it was almost gone I decided to save a little for when the baby came. Maybe for another omlette confiture? More toast? Hmm. I walked, plate in hand, over to my table to sit down and eat and my phone chirped with a text message.


 And there he was. Little Jack Eliot, Lizbeth and Paul's baby boy arrived into the world today. With a grin on my face I skipped back to the fridge and put the rest of the jam on my toast. Welcome to the world sweet boy! Words can't say how happy we all are to see you!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Falling Back


Did you fall back an hour today? I was a good little girl and turned my alarm clock back an hour when I went to bed and woke up to discover that the thing had turned itself back an hour of it's own accord...so was an hour late. Good thing it's Sunday! Also, a little creeped out by an alarm clock that thinks for itself. I'm going to have to keep my eye on it. Just to make sure it doesn't try anything. Maybe I should turn it to face the wall...

...it's staring. right. at. me.

We're all gonna die.

...

Right! So! It's fall now, which is making me ridiculously happy. The air is crisp, the dead leaves smell amazing, and I'm bundled up in scarves and hats.  I even love the rainy days that happen so often this season. Which is good because I was outside on a particularly rainy and windy day a few weeks back for the annual Chicago Open House. It's my favorite weekend of the year!! Sad. But so true.

On the Saturday Miss Moshka and I started off at the History Museum where we got to tour the behind the scenes preparations for their upcoming fashion exhibit. I almost died it was so amazing, there were raptures. I calmed down a little over brunch but the next stop, the James-Charnley House, just set me off again as it was designed by my Architecture Boyfriend and some lowly draftsman you might of heard of, Frank Lloyd Wright. I didn't get any good shots of it as we were huddled under umbrellas and the wind was nasty (see evidence below)


But! I did snag a shot of the highlight of the tour:


I know! The Charnleys and I used the same brand of marmalade!!! I texted that photo to Miss Linda I was so excited.




















After Moshka brought me out of my swoon we scuttled past more lovely old rich men mansions to this one, the Madlener House, Richard E. Schmidt and Hugh M. G. Garden's 1901's prairie style house. 



A gorgeous facade with lovely windows and huge rooms. Here you can see Miss Moshka demonstrating the scale. She's about 5'4"...


Once we finished daydreaming of living there we tore ourselves away and headed home to our (much much smaller and less grand) homes.



But we did find this gem of a finial on the way to the train. Mini swoon.




The rest of the day I spent curled up with a cup of tea, eating open faced sandwiches, and watching the Swedish TV Wallander on Netflix. 



Sunday was a bit cheerier outside, more sunlight less gross rain.  And Miss Ashley and I gorged ourselves on gorgeousness in the Prairie District of the South Loop.


This is the Clarke house, the oldest domestic structure in the city, built in 1836. At the time Chicago was not even incorporated so it truly represented James McConkey's quote that the Greek Revival style was "a dream of order and balance and proportion set down in a rude wilderness".


Set in a little park with a garden on either side, it reminded me of Monticello and Montpelier, a period of time that is so hard to find in this city that was decimated by the fire.



There was a circle of hand sculptures dedicated to Jane Addams who was a great lady, and did much for the people of the city.


Ashley and I popped into a few more homes, this one, the Kieth House, had lovely floors. Made me think of quilts.


We also toured the servants wing of the Glessner House, which was basically like being on the Downton Abbey set, and I think I want to live there. But alas the tour was so quick and crowded I have no photographs!


But I did take copious photographs of this snuggle bug! I love this dog. And she loves me!


And luckily for all of us Dottie dog enjoys eating fancy pies and watching Foyle's War as much as Ashley and I.


Did you have a happy Halloween? Any tricks? Or treats?


I opted for the 'treat' and went all out and make a mini-feast for the mini-Harry Potter marathon Miss H and I did to celebrate Halloween.


Her sister, M, joined in the fun and got her hair curled as a bonus.


Baked brie was also a bonus. We took it down in seconds. It was a little scary...but there was enough to go round so it didn't turn violent and we were sluggish as we were already full of chicken pot pie, and pumpkin bread, and handpies, and pumpkin pastries, and more mulled cider than you could shake a stick at. I might have gotten a little too excited in the kitchen but it was such fun to spend the weekend Pottering, and it was nice to celebrate a new season. Bye bye summer!


H had me over for dinner on Halloween eve, she made a delicious pumpkin cream sauce to go on penne and I had fun MacGuyver-ing the pumpkin puree can open with a hammer and screwdriver as she doesn't have a can opener (yet). It was scrumptious!


And incredibly, I've now found a place that makes an apple pie as good as Miss Linda's! Hoosier Mama, I'm impressed!


But I refused to share my slice with Finn, so he was NOT impressed. Silly cat, pies are for kids!


And the next day I got to glue feathers on this guy. It may not be the real Big Bird, but it's close enough for me. Fingers crossed he's not an endangered species after Tuesday!

Well, I'm off to read up on my state representatives before going to bed, thanks daylight savings day for that extra hour!!