Coming Soon!

I only know of one person who still checks in here, and just to let that person know... I am working on a new post for this weekend.  Hope my pictures turn out ok!

See you soon. No. Really.

Oops forgot the poem

I wrote this when Bullet was very sick but not close to death,  please indulge me:
Let me lie down in the rain
Nature fills in balance
Drops will wash away the pain
And Spirit shall be pulled on high

Let me die right in the storm
While wind and tempest toss
The Trees take on a priestly form
And lift me up above

In fear I sought the shelter here
the roofs and rooms secure
But as I die, put me outside
In God's Almighty hand.

He intended our beginning and end on earth
Who can claim his own birth
Who can direct his own death
None.
God Bless us and Keep us all.


Love.
Sally


Thanks for reading and any comments

The Eulogy

Our Bullet girl died at 9:58 Decmber 29, 2010. She went peacefully and was ready to die. Up until the 27th she staging amazing comebacks, but by Wednesday morning it was clear that she was ready to go.

I wrote a few words about how she came to us, I will write a few now about how she became Bullet the Wonder Dog and what has happened since she left this life. I have held off on this post because her boy, Ken, has been on vacation in Ireland and I didn't want to impact his time off, or let him learn of her death on a blog post.

The wonder dog:
I never worked while she lived with us and we rarely take vacations, so I have spent more time with this wonder dog than I did with my Mom, or with my husband or even my son. She was at my side constantly; except in the summer when dogs shouldn't go to the grocery store in cars. She was with me when I gardened, she was with me when I cooked, she watched out the window for the school bus every day when Ken came home. She greeted Jim at the door every night he was not out of town. When Jim retired they walked 2 miles a day together every day until July of last year.

At 4:58 every single day, she did a dinner dance, in the play stance jumping and boucing to get attention for her supper. She upstaged Snoopy.

She never barked unless she was playing with Jim in a play fight over protecting me.

Every time her boy's car pulled in the driveway, she recognized it and wagged her whole body to greet him.

Every time we came home we heard the tick-tick-tick of her nails on the hardwoods with whole body wagging to greet us. We always ordered from the menu with Boo left overs in mind.

She sniffed, sniffed, sniffed, sniffed, sniffed everything

She was afraid of loud noises so July 4th and New Year's were bad nights for us. We cuddled to no avail.

Our neighbors said their eyes were filled with tears at the news, and all of them said she was the most happy, sweet, loving soul they had ever met.

I hope to see her in heaven. God rest her soul.

Amen.

A New Year, A New Life

Last week (which seems like last year--yes it's a joke and no  it isn't for those of you familiar with the situation)  I had a birthday lunch with my dear friend Audrey, who is 25. Well, she may be slightly older than that but she is one of the coolest people I know. Anyway, for her Birthday we went to Grace 17-20 which is a nice restaurant very close to my house. We exchanged a few gifts seeing as we missed our Christmas lunch and got to the business of ordering. Since Audrey was on vacation we started with a nice glass of Chenin Blanc . We had such a wonderful time! We laughed and talked and laughed and laughed. We discussed the deepest mysteries of the universe (hair treatments) and wondered why brothers give M&Ms for Christmas. It was one of the best days I've had in months. Thank you Audrey!


She ordered a spicy grilled shrimp on salad greens and I ordered a roasted vegetable Strozzapreti (pasta) dish. I looked up Strozzapreti and wiki tells me it literally translates to Priest Choker. I have nothing against Priests. In fact I have been quite fond of a few of them throughout my life. But I'd never had this pasta so it sounded interesting to me. Dear Friends,  It was freaking amazing! roasted olives, peppers, zucchini, spinach leaves and maybe some other things were served in a big bowl with this amazing pasta and a white wine butter sauce. It was soo good I only ate half and then as we got up to leave, I left the "to go" bundle on the table   :'(

So I had to try to make it. Roasted Veggies, no problem, do that all the time... err well, I used to. Getting it back together now. White Wine butter sauce was nixed due to NY resolutions so I opted for adding mushrooms to the mix and roasting with olive oil and salt and pepper to bring out the juices. Chopped up a jar of roasted peppers, smashed some pitted nicoise olives, cut up 2 zucchini and broke into manageable bits some wild mushrooms, tossed it all in Olive oil and a generous sprinkling of Salt and Pepper and roasted on a baking sheet at 400 for about 15-18 min. I don't have pictures, sorry. But WSH said at least 8 times what a fantastic meal it was, and the pasta was exceptional... it really was the star of the show, I felt I had to write.

And with no further ado here is the star:

As you can see, my friends, my camera skills have not improved. But this pasta is truly extraordinary. I have eaten at some of the best Italian restaurants in this country, and I've never had a dish where the pasta shown through like this.  This is Montebello Organic Strozzapreti. Established 1388!!! I bought it at Whole Foods and I think the 1 lb bag set me back about $3.50.  It was so totally worth it.  And the whole Priest Choker thing? What's really funny/interesting/weird is that the place where this pasta is made was once a monastery.
A secret war between priests and Monks? Someone should write a videogame around that.

See you soon, getting better each day.
Love
Sally

Christmas

I'm still here, are you? Belated Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas. Time has flown by since my last post. I can't believe it was over two months ago! I've been cooking but all stuff I've posted about before. Most of our energies have been devoted to our beloved Bullet who enjoyed some Prime Rib this Christmas night.  We have had more visitors this December than in the last 3 years combined! It was very moving to have people spend time and resources travelling to see us, just because they wanted to spend time with us.
We are grateful for all our friends and family.

We watched our next door neighbor working his a** off for the last few days, wondering what the heck he was building in his backyard. At first I thought a sandbox for his 5 kids... but 2 are middle school age. So then I thought a raised bed garden.  On and on he worked, from daybreak to twilight for 3-4 days. We watched and wondered until Christmas Eve. as he put the finishing touches on the trampoline, complete with safety nets. I don't think I've ever seen a father work so hard (physically) to make his kids surprised and happy.  This morning they came tumbling out... all together with squeals of delight and JUMPING JUMPING JUMPING!! It was so incredibly heartwarming just to watch.

We had a minimalist Christmas, no tree, no lights, no baking or candy making, we did have a wreath, and a few presents, none wrapped. Jim was so clever... he placed my presents in inconspicuous places around the house so it was sort of like a treasure hunt... very thoughtful. I highly recommend the "less is more" approach, it allowed us to focus much more on the real reason for the celebration and strengthen our faith and together ponder Christmas for the mystery it really is.  And to all those who didn't receive presents from us, you know we will catch up with you on another date.

Since this is a food blog, I'll tell you our menu. It was simple yet so declicious:
3 rib Prime Rib of beef ( rarer than it looks in the picture)
Horseradish sauce
Mashed potatoes with St. Andre Triple Cream Cheese and Creme Fraiche
Green Beans

As I write this, a beautiful snow is falling in Atlanta, coating the ground. Besides a pony, a white Christmas is my inner young girl's biggest wish. Thanks, God! I needed it today!

Best wishes to all for a healthy and happy new year.

More posts in the new year I promise.

See you soon

Quiche Me Quick! Bouchon Quiche Lorraine

Adjusting to our new normal, I decided it was past time to do this recipe. With great resolve, I picked up the book, announced "I'm making that Quiche" and marched to the kitchen. I lugged out the Kitchen Aid stand mixer, measured my ingredients and went to take a picture.  Hmm.....where did I put that camera? After about a 30 minute search and rescue mission, the camera was located. Relief!  I composed my first shot and the camera refused... low battery. So I plugged it into the charger. A multitude of obstacles I had to overcome to bring you this Quiche, my friends, inertia being the biggest.  Now that I am finished, and it took 3 days to make this... I probably would have chosen another recipe.  Quiche Lorraine is filled with onions, bacon and cheese, only nothing is ever that simple with T. Keller and crew.

Two cups of sifted flour, (yes Loren, I see what you will likely see in that picture) 1 tsp salt, 8 oz. unsalted butter cut into not quite 1/4 in cubes. 1/4 inch would have make the process easier I think. You also need 1/4 c ice water at the end.

This is a pate brisee (I don't know how to do the french accents on the computer) which means short pastry. All the references I looked at compared it to pie crust, but this is really not at all like pie crust. In fact, in the ELEVEN pages devoted to Quiche in the Bouchon cookbook, the author makes quite a fuss about how Americans have never had real quiche. Assuming, that is, until Bouchon opened. He assailed the pie crust as absolutely wrong for quiche. In any case, devoting 11 pages to one concept tells you it is a very important concept within the confines of the cookbook and authentic French Bistro fare. Heck, I even had to search the city for a 9" ring mold 2" high. 8 3/4 by 1 7/9ths was as close as I could come and it was the only ring mold I found. Thank you Cook's Warehouse.

Ok so on with show--I mean dough. You place half your flour and all the salt into the mixing bowl with a paddle attachment fitted and on low speed, add the butter in small handfuls. The most important thing is to completely incorporate the butter into the flour. Once it's looking mixed, turn the speed up to medium and continue.

When fully incorporated, add the remaining flour and go back to low speed (unless you want a dusting). Over and over the recipe stresses that you must not have any discernable pieces of butter. This is where it differs from pie crust. Pie crust needs little pieces of butter for flakiness, this dough must not have them in order to keep it's integrity when filled with the custard.

At the last, add the 1/4 c ice water and mix until it "comes around the paddle"  then shape into a 7-9 in disk, wrap in plastic and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hr, up to 1 day.  I chose the overnight option ! (what a surprise!)

On a cleaned and flour-dusted work surface, roll your dough out to about 14" diameter, it should be 3/16" thick.

Roll the dough up on your rolling pin and unroll it onto your ring. You're supposed to coat the mold with canola oil but I forgot. Gently work the dough downward to form a shell and use extra pieces of dough to patch and holes or cracks. Save the extra dough pieces for later patching.

Place a piece of parchment in the shell carefully working it to the the edges and then fill with pie weights or dried beans.

Bake in a preheated 375 oven on the center rack for 30-45 min. The outer crust should be lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the parchment and beans (or weights if you're fancy). Inspect for holes or cracks and patch as needed.  Return to the oven for about 25 min when the bottom of the crust should be a deep golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheet. My shell won't win any beauty contests but I like its rustic looks.

Meanwhile, start on the Onion Confit. Slice 3-4 large onions along the grain, thats root to tip. Heat 1/4 c water into a medium pan and whisk in 4 oz of butter, 1 tsp kosher salt and add a bouquet garni. I didn't have any leeks so I just made a sachet instead.

Add the onions and cover with a parchment lid. These onions need to cook very slowly and should never brown, it takes about 2 hours to accomplish this. The process softens them and really intensifies their flavor.



 Take 1 lb. of slab bacon and slice it into lardons 1 1/2 long by 1/4" thick. I didn't have slab bacon but I had the most wonderful bacon I've tasted yet: Applewood Smoked from Pine Street Market in Avondale Estates, outside of Atlanta. The proprietor has a booth at the Peachtree Road Farmer's Market and we always buy a bunch and keep it in the freezer. Anyway, bake at 375  on a baking sheet until the fat is rendered but the bacon is not yet crispy, then remove and drain on paper towels. Warning: Food Porn!





Once the onions are done, combine the onions and bacon in a large skillet and cook through until warm, then drain on paper towels.  Grate 1/2 c Emmentaler cheese.  In a medium saucepan combine 2c cream and 2 c milk and heat until a skin forms on top; let the milk mixture cool 15 mins  In your blender place 3 eggs, 3 gratings of nutmeg, some salt and white pepper, add half the cooled milk and blend away.

Place a layer of onion mixture on the bottom of the quiche shell and sprinkle half the cheese on.  At this point it became obvious that I had waaayyy too much stuff for my rustic little quiche shell.  So I decided not to make the other half of the batter. Now for the moment of truth!  I poured my quiche batter into the shell......

The shell  had cracks (I made a thorough inspection and I never saw them)  and it leaked and leaked and leaked... I wiped it up yelling... what should I dooooo!?!??? Cook it anyway? WSH said sure, the cracks will seal in short order. So I slid it in the oven and waited.  That husband of mine.... he's so cool in a crisis and is (almost) always right.  It turned out fine!  I can't tell you what it tastes like though, because it has to cool to room temp, and then in the fridge for 1-3 days and then be reheated before eating. I think French cooks must be into some serious self-loathing....  Photo with burnt leaked eggs :(

Cleaned up nicely!

So if your quiche shell leaks, try it anyway and use the leftover fillings for omelettes! It's a win-win!
Thanks for reading! I'll have something new next week.
See you soon!

Making it day by day

Sorry for the lack of posts. We have been pretending to be professional hospice workers at home. Bullet is very, very ill but doing very well. I realize that doesn't make any sense. But she is the toughest little pup I've ever met, and stubborn as a mule. She has had 3 close encounters with death and has bounced back from each. This is, needless to say, very difficult for us to deal with emotionally, physically, psychologically  and every other ally. But anywho, she is with us, and most of our energy goes to caring for her. We've never loved a pet like this, she is a very unusual dog. But I guess everyone has that one special pet in their lives.... there will never be another Bullet.  **Edit: Just so you know, she is walking, eating, tailwagging and doing all those other doggy things. We are not holding on to her while she suffers, we wouldn't do that.

In the meantime.... we must eat. Not Keller, thank you. Look in the cupboard and the freezer, what's there? Actually I stood in the kitchen staring at a package of defrosting chicken for a good 15 minutes thinking oh dear.... But I looked around and found canned black beans, rice, salsa, onions garlic and corn tortillas. Starting to come together here!!! Defrosted the chicken and cut it into chunks and marinated it in olive oil, chopped garlic, cumin and some chopped onion. The marinade went on about 30 minutes.

Make the rice" 2 parts water 1 part rice , a pinch of salt and a drizzle of white vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, but still boiling, cover and cook exactly 12 minutes... dont peek. After 12 minutes remove from heat and let water absorb 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork when ready to serve.

Black Beans: heat some canola oil in a pan and add onions, cook till translucent about 5 min. Add garlic (chopped) and cook for 30 secs more. Add beans. Salt and pepper and cumin to taste. I added some Ro-tel.  Chopped jalapenos are good too but I didn't have any on hand. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

I am off the chart into canned stuff on this one, usually not my preference at all.

Put a littke canola into a nonstick skillet and fry up your corn tortillas. A little goes a long way. Just brown them up and flip and then remove to drain.

FINALLY, heat canola in a large skillet and on hight heat sautee the chicken and marinade mixture. I like having the chicks brown but if you have too much liquid, they won't. It doesn't matter, do it either way, it will taste great.

SERVE: Rice, beans, chicken grated monterey jack, salsa, and fried corn tortillas.

AWESOME... I am serious... It was really really good. And sometimes presentation just isn't all that important!

See you soon.. pat your pets, hug your special people