I had to, just had to hit the Grand Central Station Oyster Bar while I’m in NYC. The place was only a short subway ride away from my hotel – in fact, all I had to do was hop on the shuttle from Times Square and 42nd to Grand Central Station.
I quickly found a place at the bar and ordered, then sat back to watch the cooks at work.
Since it was only 39 degrees outside I decided to have the oyster stew. It came dusted with paprika.
I could have had lots of different oysters:
What would a trip to the Big Apple be without some cheesecake?
When I was 17 I had some bad cheesecake and it put me off this dessert for decades. This creamy, feather-light version has restored my faith in cheesecake. All’s right with the world tonight on 45th Street in Manhattan.
Today I got an unexpected birthday present … about 7 months early.
My dad gave me the Queen of Mixers … the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. In cherry red. Picture to follow. As well as many cupcakes, cakes cookies and breads.
He asked me a week or so ago what type I would like, and I thought he was planning to make this a birthday present for me later this year. When he called earlier today to tell me he and Mom were coming over with a present, I thought, oh, no, you didn’t. Then I burst into tears. Unless you cook, you just wouldn’t understand. It’s the Cadillac of mixers.
I can’t wait to make this and this and this and this.
Thank you, Dad and Mom. You’ll never regret giving me this!
…or as nephew Dylan says, “I’m living the dream!”
A trip to Shealy’s is always a treat.
Ahh, contentment.
Easter Sunday 2011, the flowering cross outside Riverland Hills Baptist Church after the 9 a.m. service.
After church I cooked Easter lunch for Mom and Dad. The menu featured veggies from my first spring weekly share from my coop – Pinckney’s Produce. We had:
Spring Onion Soup
Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges
Baked Ham Slices
Cabbage-Celery-Cucumber Salad
Broccoli-Grape-Bacon Salad
Crispy Turnip “Fries”
Rolls with Butter
Angel Food Cake * Fresh Strawberries * Whipped Cream
Happy Easter, everyone.
This past Saturday I was making banana bread for my drop-in guests. I’d already cracked one egg yolk into the bowl when I cracked the second egg yolk in – and it had a double yolk. That’s supposed to be good luck. (Or depending on which Web site you use for quick and dirty research, bad luck. Six of one, half-dozen of another.)
Yes, those are just two eggs in that bowl – but three yolks.
Each year everyone thinks about what they’d like to do differently for the new year. Most (98.9%)* of those resolutions involve health, diet, losing weight, etc. This year in our Adult Bible Fellowship class (Sunday School for all you traditionalists) the guest teacher even asked us if we had any resolutions.
One guy said his resolution was to not make any resolutions. He had too much trouble keeping them.
That’s a copout, I wanted to say. But I didn’t want to start something in class so Continue reading “Resolutions for the New Year”
A day off and I am spending it getting ready for a drop-in on Saturday, as well as doing many tasks on my to-do list:
I need to be in the car on my way by 10 a.m. … better get a move on.
Today I turned the kitchen into a factory to make Christmas gifts.
I just realized that I made cookies for gifts one year before I even had a mixer. I have no idea how I managed to mix up the dough for 60 dozen cookies that year (yes, that’s right, I made 60 dozen. Baked for days.) I was much younger then.
I just took these right out of the oven. Yum!
After they cool a couple of minutes in the pan you have to let the cookies cool completely on the rack so the bottoms get nice and crisp.
After five dozen cookies I decided to stop and see the latest Harry Potter movie. Very good!
Now I’m ready to play Santa’s helper! My friend and next-door neighbor Kim got the first bag. She sampled them all for you. Her eyes rolled back into her head when she took that first bite. Then she groaned. I think that’s good.
So, all you lucky cookie recipients – you have a great present coming to you!
Last night’s dinner party was a success!
Menu:
Guests
The timing was just great for a celebration. Originally it was planned for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 9. But as the USC-Alabama game kept going, I called everybody and said don’t even think about coming over until the game is done!
I don’t think they were planning on leaving their TVs anyway until it was over.
We all celebrated, except Jill. She’s an Alabama fan. Bless her heart.
Oddly enough she came over early, with five minutes left in the game. “I just couldn’t watch it any more,” she said.
The dinner was the first time I’d had guests over to try out the new dining room table. Please note the beautiful tablecloth and cloth napkins.
We started with a chicken, bean and hominy chili. Hominy is good – it’s where we get grits.
Then we added the butternut squash and ratatouille to our plates. You can see the butternut squash in the photo below. Never got a shot of the ratatouille. The only sad note was the biscuits. Turns out you can’t use double-acting baking powder that is several years old. Doesn’t work. Nope. Ah, well. Actually, they were tasty, just not fluffy. Sigh.
The piece de resistance was the pie – a Lemon Curd Mousse heaped in a cookie crumb crust made of gingersnaps. Nine tablespoons of butter went into the crust. Two cups of cream went into the pie. Lord, have mercy.
I sent what was left of the pie home with Dad. It was evil and could not stay in my house.
By the end of the evening my feet were killing me and my back hurt – I’d been standing all day making goodies. Next time I don’t think I’ll try to make every dish from scratch. But for the first event, it was a success.
Notes from Aunt Gem 