I live with my Mom and Dad and their weimaraner "Spencer". My Dad has multi infarct dementia

We all come from Vermont and we grew up during the 60's and 70's. One of our favorite things is cooking and so we try and stay sane by writing about cooking. I have an old cookbook from Rutland VT called "Out of Vermont Kitchens that we are going to try and cook from and see what the food tastes like.

The cookbook has some prepared foods in some of the recipes. But we will try and adapt them perhaps to modern cusine.

We also try other recipes but will dive into our Vermont roots as often as we can.

Marion Ballou Smith
The daughter of Orris and Margaret (Mageen) Ballou, Marion Ballou Smith grew up in Rutland, Vermont, graduated from Mount Holyoke College (1914), and taught botany and mathematics. In 1927 she married Esme A.C. Smith, a businessman in Rutland. Active in local business and civic affairs, Smith was the co-compiler, with Alice Chaffee Bowker and Ruth Sutton, of a fund-raising cookbook entitled Out of Vermont Kitchens, published in 1939, to benefit the Trinity Mission of Trinity Church in Rutland, and the Women's Service League of St. Paul's Church in Burlington, Vermont.

2.21.2010

Sourdough Downhill

We make bread about once a week thanks to a sourdough starter I soured in our back closet a year ago. There is a jar filled with happy bacteria living in the back of our refrigerator and they love a weekly super-shot of flour and water to devour.

The weather plays a big part in baking bread. When the sun shines and the air is crisp, the bread rises so much better than at any other time. We spend time wondering what day to bake bread and how much longer to gamble the days and the sourdough's appetite by not baking it.

But even if we bake on an overcast days and the bread texture is denser, it still tastes good toasted with coffee in the morning. The toast is so good, you don't need butter on it.

When the weather is a little overcast, sometimes we bake rolls. My sister came home from Pennsylvania and brought Amish baked bread laced with pecans and brown sugar and cinnamon. So we tried them androlled the dough out into a flat pancake and scooped the brown mixture all over the pancake and then rolled it up and formed a jelly roll loaf or sweet rolls.

I'm trying some of the regional flours I found at Ludgate Farms in Ithaca, NY. The flours are from small regional mills. I hope the flour tastes better than the Wegmans or Wal-Mart flours.

We have been watching the Olympics together. Thank God for downhill events and hockey. The Olympics has become our babysitter throe much of this week. Dad sits quietly tapping his cane watching Bode redeem himself as a medal winner and the hockey games. He becomes confused when he figures out that many of the players are now women. Women hockey players do not make sense in my Dad's eyes.

2.17.2010

Zen and Chowders

I am starting to crack up as the winter of 2010 begins its descent into Spring. Dad is getting the best of me and I am ready to strangle him.

I feel guilty when I keep telling him to go to bed so I can have a few minutes of peace.

"Where are we going tomorrow?", "Where are the car keys?", "Where's the ax", "Give me the keys!!".... over and over.

Somewhere in his mind he is back in Montpelier. This is not his home. We all happen to be here as far as he is concerned. It is bizarre to sit near him as he asks continual bizarre questions. By the end of the day, I'm exhausted. I never read in bed anymore. I just fall asleep.

He walks with a cane because his legs are giving out on him. He paces back and forth upstairs while I type away on my laptop. I think of Captain Ahab on the deck with his peg-leg bonking along as he walks... and the crew down below listening to the bonking. Its very spooky.

We had chowder tonight made from haddock. It was very good.

Chowder

We just fried some onion and (shallots if you have them) until they are golden in some oil. Add some cut up potatos and and watch closely until the potoatos begin to sear to the pan, (you want to get some of that brown stuff at the bottom of the pan). Then you add some water enough so they steam and cover for awhile. After potatoes have become soft you add cut up fish and put cover back on (add more water if necessary at this point). Then wait just a little for the fish to cook and then turn off heat. Add some milk to your taste. We use a little evaporated milk a la "Out of Vermont Kitchen" era.... or you can use a little half and half. I only like a little bit of milk and half and half. You just want to add a creamy texture without it being too thick.
Then add some parsley if you want and some salt and pepper and some bay seasonings and a touch of butter. And just let it stand for awhile. Its very easy. Add some home-made toasted bread on top for a floater.. that's it. Bon Appetite Julia!!!


We had cookies for dessert. They were wonderful although my mother says we should have added stronger molasses rather than the light stuff we used.

Molasses Cookies:

1 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup sour milk

Sift dry ingredients. Cream in shortening. Beat in sugar and eggs. Then add molasses and then the milk. Add to dry ingrediants and mix well. Chill dough for a few hours or overnight. Take dough in small amounts and flour the board well and roll out the piece of dough a little on the thick side. Use the top of a drinking glass as a cutter. Puff up some raisins in a bowl of water, covered in the microwave for a minute and leave to puff for a little while. Keep surfaces all floured very well because the dough is sticky. We put it on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 12 to 15 minutes.

2.14.2010

Bread Pudding

We decided to try bread pudding. I had it often as a kid but for some reason, we never think to bake it now.

Now however, we are getting about 8 or 9 eggs daily and the egg boxes in the fridge just keep filling up. I thought it would be fun to try bread pudding again. I've heard they serve it in some very upscale restaurants in Manhattan. I figured our chicks are upscale girls and will serve up some pretty good eating pudding.

"Out of Vermont Kitchens" has quite a few pudding offerings that I like to read over. They use lots of eggs! But somehow graham cracker or grape nut puddings don't sound as good tasting as simple bread pudding.

The bread puddings are as good as the ingredients that we put into them.

We have been baking sourdough bread all year from a starter we made from soured milk. It makes a great bread with big holes and dark crusts. With the cost of flour now, its a good idea to try and use the leftover bread for breadcrumbs and toast. In sourdough baking, you have to use the starter at least once a week and that makes for some creative thinking on how to use the leftover bread.

Here's our very basic bread pudding recipe:

- 1 egg to 1 cup of milk
(we used 3 eggs and about 3 cups of 2% milk combined with a little half and half. ("Out of Vermont Kitchens" uses condensed milk).

- About a cup or cup and a 1/2 of dried bread chunks.
- About 1/2 cup of sugar depending on the sweetness of the bread..(we threw in a couple of stale oatmeal cookies.)
- A little salt, some spices that you like such as cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla
- A few dried fruits like raisins, cut up dried apricots and nuts
- A few chunks of cut up apples

Put the bread chunks into a buttered casserole or any oven-proof serving dish. Beat the eggs and milk, sugar and fruit and/or nuts together and pour right over the bread chunks. Garnish the top with some cut up apples if you want.

We added some thawed frozen strawberries from the freezer.

Bake in 350 oven for about 40-45 minutes or until set. Its yummy.

2.12.2010

My Rooster

He is a mixed breed rooster. He has some easter-egger in him from his little sideburns and he has barred rock and Rhode Island Red and probably some Delaware. He's all things to all hens.

He has to fertilize 13 hens every day and sometimes at the end of the day he's the first one in the roost. He's had it.

We are learning alot about chickens this winter. We have one that has gone broody as they say and won't get off her nest. She's very sweet though and I shove her off and put her on the floor of the roost. She eats and poops and then gets right back on the nest.

I've been reading thru forums and what I have to do is isolate her from the nests for a few days to get her mind off of the nest. I guess I'll put her in Erika's catbox for a few days in our washroom. If that doesn't work, the next tac is to put her in a pen alone with the rooster for a few days... and he'll get her mind off nesting for awhile.

My Mom doesn't think either idea will work. But I will have to go ahead and try it or she'll be on that nest the rest of the winter.

I've burned a Million Calories and I'm STARVING!

I can't understand people who work out all the time and then eat only minuscule portions of a meal. I'm damned hungry when I've been holding a pose with my left leg in the air and my stomach pulled as taunt as a drum. It hurts!

Yesterday my sister showed up with her snowshoes and we set off, pounding the snow for a few miles. She jogged ahead of me as I tried to keep up using long strides that pulled the muscles in my butt to painful limits.

The blue sky and sun were truly beautiful above the fresh snowy countryside and I enjoyed the hike. When I got home, I collapsed into a chair surrounded by wet socks and a bad case of hat-head. My hunger almost immediately kicked in and I began to pull leftovers out of the fridge. Exercising just makes me hungry.

When I do eat a large lunch I try and make a salad for later that evening. I have come to love salads that contain no dressings. I like them with lime juice and honey and perhaps some sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Oils and cream dressings seem to weight the salad down and all I taste is the glossy coating of oil or heavy mayonnaise soaked witches's brew. When I worked in Boston, I'd open the refrigerator at work where the side compartment was lined with bottles of salad dressings from mostly women employees. The bottles had little taped messages stuck to them like "please don't use"...."this belongs to Shirley"...."get your own dressing!" I'd read the ingredients off the labels and they would contain words I'd never be able to spell or pronounce. If I dared to twist off the cap and sniff the contents, there was a strange, unnatural smell that had no discernible or recognizable origin. Maybe the stuff helped Shirley stay slim but I'm not sure what it would do to her gut.

In the winter, the salads are never as good as the summer months when I can get fresh greens from the garden but I try to make them interesting. I even throw corn chips heated in the toaster on the salad for an added crunch or my Mom bakes cornbread to go along with the meal.

Foodie critics sometimes say that salads are expensive and not affordable in these hard economic times. I don't agree that they are expensive. I don't eat massive amounts of it and I don't add exotic stuff flown in from South America two weeks ago. A few romaine leaves from a package that says its from California, a carrot, some onion and cabbage with some crumbles of domestic cheese or a few nuts makes a salad a perfect evening meal.

2.11.2010

Talking with Dad

My conversations with my father have become very different than they were a few years ago. Now he walks with me down the driveway and asks if I am going back to Montpelier this evening. I turn to him and tell him no, I'm staying here tonight. Its easier to continue the fantasy and answer with a statement with what I think he will want to hear.

Once in awhile he'll take some of the cord wood and cut it into tiny useless bits of kindling. At first I didn't want to let him have the ax but we've given in for now and let him cut up some wood. He only cuts up about three pieces of wood. I don't like to watch him doing it.

Bean and Potato Soup

We raised a few rows of dry beans last summer. What's very fun about the beans is that we don't have to soak them. They puff up almost as soon as we begin to simmer them in water.

The potato and onion crops too are still going in our combination washroom root cellar. We added some frozen kale and seasonings. I like the flavors of the beans and potatos and the colors look pretty with cheap china from TJ MAXX.

2.08.2010

Risotto

We made some risotto yesterday evening using plain long grain rice, some dried shitake mushrooms from NYC Chinatown, shallots, garlic, butter and white wine.

We used some of the chicken broth from my first rooster I butchered the day after Christmas with my sister helping. The homemade broth made the risotto much smoother and mellower than the commercial canned or packaged broths.

For Risotto:

Chop some shallots, a few garlic cloves, and some minced parsley and saute in some olive oil mixed with canola oil. You saute the mixture until its blended and the onions and garlic are lightly browned and wilted.

Next add the dry rice and stir that around with the saute in the oil until the rice is golden and smelling very good. Add some salt and pepper and maybe some thyme and other Italian seasonings to your liking. I add some dried, mushrooms that I've soaked in water and cooked lightly for a few minutes and left to sit for awhile. I squeeze the water from them and chop the tops of them into thin slices and saute these into the browned rice. Then you add a big splash of white wine and stir. After the wine is all rendered off, then start adding splashes of chicken broth a little at a time and just stir all this till the broth is absorbed by the rice. Just keep doing this with about 4 cups of broth to maybe about 1 1/2 cups long grain rice. The idea is that the stirring of the broth into the rice makes he rice creamy. When the rice is cooked to where its nice and soft and tastes real good, then just add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and stir and stir until blended.

You can also pan sear about a 1/2 tsp of saffron in a cast iron pan and toast it a little and then grind it in a mortar and add to the rice mix for extra flavor.

PS - I save the dried mushroom stems and chop them up in a blender and use them for soups later.

2.07.2010

Sneaking Chocolate

I have become a great liar. My Dad came into the kitchen as I was biting into a piece of chocolate my sister brought back from Ithaca. He came into the kitchen and asked if I was eating chocolate and I told him...."no, I don't have any candy!" I hid the piece of chocolate under my tongue and shook my head. He kept asking if it was candy and I kept saying "no".

The chocolate was an expensive piece of candy. They are called truffles and are hand made. My Dad eats sweets almost exclusively now. Its the last taste that he really understands. Sweet according to Michael Pollan is the most primeval taste that we as humans understand. Sweet means the food is good to eat. The savory and tart tastes are acquired with time. My Dad no longer eats food that has more complex tastes like a quiche Lorraine or even shepherds pie. He only really likes ice cream, cookies and pie.

I wasn't about to waste the expensive chocolate on someone who can't understand the difference between a Twinkie and a truffle. So I kept shaking my head like a fool and saying "No, there is no candy around". I felt like a fool.

Bran Muffins

This morning we made bran muffins for breakfast. They have molasses, raisins, nuts, and honey in them to make a racehorse blush. But they have a great taste with coffee.

My sister Erika brought home this recipe from the midwest. When she was thinking about becoming a nurse, she began her career as a home-health caregiver and would bring these muffins to her elderly patients.


Bran Muffins:

(1 dozen muffins)

1/2 cup unprocessed bran
1/2 cup boiling water

Mix together in small bowl and let stand.


1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg slightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbs molassas

Mix these 4 ingredients in med mixing bowl and then add:

1 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cups raisins (I use white and dark raisins)
1/3 cup pecans or other nuts
the cooked bran cereal

Mix these ingredients together and then add:
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup bran
1/14 tsp salt

Bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes

Variations or additions:
a grated carrot
a grated apple
1/2 cup pumpkin

2.04.2010

Sticky Rice Creations

Okay here is my entry into the sticky rice sculptor contest. That dirty little monkey , I'm just shocked, shocked at what he did!!

I used my recipe for Thai sticky rice that uses the heavy black glutinous rice. I have to soak it for 24 hours, then cook it in a slow cookerwith some coconut cream for another 12 hours, then blend it with eggs and coconut and bake it for 45 minutes or until set. Its very rich and is fun to mold into shapes.

Tomorrow I'll see if I can make a statue of my weimaraner Spencer using sticky rice.

This is a distinguished bunny who is about to deliver a great speech. He's so distinguished!

2.02.2010

Planning the garden

I am missing the fresh vegetables from our garden. I'm one of those salad-eat'in ladies that looks at the salad offerings on a menu before anything else. This is the part of the winter where the salads get made with greens from scary places in California flatlands where the air is seasoned with bug sprays or even worse, chemically green Chilean fields.

I bought some hydroponic red-leaf lettuce while in Ithaca last week and its slightly better than the stuff we get from Wegmans or Sams but I'm still missing the lettuce and greens from the garden. There was still life in the leaves. These winter lettuces from far away have so little taste.

I've got so many ideas for this coming season. I think more ideas than I have time. Plus I'm not sure what's going to be happening with my father's health. But I've got to sit down and order seeds, think about where I'm going to plant them and if I'm going to have my farmers market canopy happening this coming summer.

I am going to try and get involved with Rep Eric Massa's re-election and hopefully protest the Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to fund their choice of candidates and buy their way into office. The Supreme Court never saw any of the Terminator movies I guess.

Dad sat down to breakfast and poured almost an entire pitcher of maple syrup into his coffee. I think its better to just feed him easy food like cold cereal and toast and not entrees that require condiments like maple syrup. He can't seem to put associated things together now. He can't find the cupboard or the container for the donuts we buy him anymore. Spencer points at the cupboard while drooling on the kitchen tiles to give him a hint but he doesn't get it.

2.01.2010

My name is Clarise Precious Jones


..."
Bitch, can we change the
subject?"
Precious the chicken loves to get her head in the trough. She loves fruit except citrus and lettuce ends. She's got a heart of gold for her eggs. ...until you put some applesauce mash in her trough and she forgets all about what she's doing.