Sunday, September 21, 2008

Finally fall and chicken Little was right, the sky IS falling


Like everyone we're shaking in our boots as our government works feverishly to avoid the complete and total meltdown of our economic system ... which would be bad. We're hanging in there, but we're having to cut out more and more. Nightly fires are a thing of the past -- the logs are really expensive. We don't eat fast food any more. We're cutting back at the grocery store. In case you haven't noticed, food prices are soaring and the options are becoming limited for good bargains.

It's becoming an art form to try to figure out the day meat goes on sale -- usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays and swoop in a snag a 69-cent a pound chicken, such as the ones I found for our Labor Day feast. I make ground beef into hearty spaghetti a la Bolognese and I pound out the odd sale-priced pieces of pork, bread them and make them into cutlets, which are tasty served with pasta and veggies from our garden.

I'm finding that I tend to do better when faced with adversity. If there is a crisis brewing, there's no time to be depressed or to wallow in misgivings and self-recriminations. Not that I'm masochistic, I do appreciate it when things are going well, but there's something to be said for a respite from mid-life self-reflection.

As usual, I find solace in the kitchen. We've been able to make some really wonderful Salad Caprese with the tomatoes we've managed to grow. Unfortunately, the tomato plants have been attacked by tomato worms. Rob's found a few, but they did a number on the plants. We still have had a bunch of grape tomatoes that I made into a really delicious topping for our steaks one night.

I'm not going to write out a recipe for salad caprese because it's just tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil drizzled with oil and vinegar or whatever dressing you like.

The cutlets are just pieces of pork pounded out with a meat mallet between two sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4 in thickness. Mix some bread crumbs with herbs and spices. I use oregano and sometimes a garlic powder, onion powder and light salt (be really careful adding salt because the Parmesan cheese is salty and the cutlets can become too salty easily).

To make the crumbs adhere to the pork use mayonnaise (it's the idea featured on the side of the jar), it works really well and makes the pork a bit more flavorful. This literally stretches the meat out so it can feed twice as many people, and it's really tasty.

Tomato and provolone-topped grilled steak

2 small steaks, use a cheap cut of meat for this -- it really helps a tough cut of round or chuck
2 cloves garlic
Red wine
Worcestershire sauce
1 pint grape tomatoes
4 or 5 sliced to 1/4 inch Anaheim peppers
Three sliced shallots
olive oil
fresh oregano
fresh thyme
salt and pepper
sliced provolone

Take meat out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking to bring it closer to the temperature of the grill. Let it sit in a marinade of Worcestershire, red wine and garlic cloves that have been cracked by banging them with the side of the knife and the papery skin removed. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss tomatoes, peppers and shallots with olive oil on a high sided baking sheet. Add springs of thyme and oregano and lightly salt and pepper. Place in oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Grill the meat according to taste -- about 4 to 5 minutes a side. Remove from heat. Let sit for five minutes. Top with grilled veggies and two slices of provolone and place in oven for five minutes, to melt the cheese. Serve.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

The best Labor Day ever




Courtney, Dave and the boys came out for a long Labor Day weekend. It's been more than a year since I've seen them. Rob and I haven't really been able to travel what with all the surgeries and in Rob's case there is a specific prohibition against him flying because his eye isn't yet stabilized.

It was great to see them all. The boys are growing up so fast. But it was a delight when it became obvious that Cody remembered our house and remembered me. My very favorite moment was when Courtney, Cody and I went to get some carryout seafood from Andria's Seafood, which is the favorite of locals for fresh, delicious, basic seafood.

After ordering, I waited inside and Courtney took Cody to look at the boats. Cody is at that delightful age when everything is a wonderful and fascinating discovery. He loved the big fishing boats and watching the birds and fishermen working. After I got my order, I went outside and Courtney and Cody were coming up the walk from the docks. Cody looked up and his face lit up and he yelled, "Me-ma!" I replied, "Cody!" and ran over and hugged him. What a cute little guy. He looks so much like my brother Rodger did at that age. Cody has the hardheadedness that runs in the Gamblin family and he's also got a big heart.

Alex is coming into his own and despite lagging a bit in the walking department -- I'm afraid it appears he has inherited my exaggerated sense of personal physical danger. But he's quite precocious verbally and is saying a few words with great gusto. He can say "see" and "uh-oh" and "bye, bye" and his very favorite "no."

The two boys seem well on their way to forming one of those incredibly close, contentious and complex bonds siblings of the same sex who are close in age form.

We went to the beach each day because although we Venturans forget, others love to see our beaches when they visit. And the boys loved the water. Cody kept saying we were visiting Nemo.

Dena and Chris are living in our upstairs, so we had the boys stay here with us and Courtney and Dave spent the nights with Lindsay and Ryan. This arrangement worked out really well for Courtney and Dave, who were able to sleep in and enjoy some time away from the boys. I ended up sleeping with the boys.

The first night they both woke up scared and I took them into my bed. They're both twitchy kids, just like their Me-ma, so sleep was impossible. Cody loves to cuddle, which is no problem, but he can't stay still, So I'd move him away to try to doze off, but he'd always come back over and start wiggling around. Then my lump, which is back, started leaking. I thought the wet spot was the boys, but worse, it was me. The next night they slept in their Pack N Plays, but the third night, Cody came back to bed with me. The fourth night they both slept through the night.

They both had colds and I discovered quickly, it takes a village to keep the snot wiped off their little noses. Those poor boys couldn't pass an adult in this house who didn't grab a tissue and wipe their little noses. We all ended up with colds for our efforts.

We all went out for dinner Sunday night. We wanted to go someplace that would be family friendly. Eventually we settled on Boccalis in Ojai because they have pizza and Italian food, which Dave wanted, and they have picnic benches set outside in a grove of oak trees at the base of the mountains outside of town. It's absolutely gorgeous. One of the amazing things about California, which I've never figured out, is there are very few bugs outside. The air is fresh and cool, but comfortable and on a late summer evening the setting was delightful.

There was a bunch of kids running around and it soon became obvious that they were from different tables. They ranged in age from about 2 to 5 or 6. Cody wanted to play and soon he was just running after the pack, having the time of his life. The highlight of the evening was Cody running by the table, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm running FAST," he yelled. He managed to kiss two little girls, one of whom kicked him. It really was one of those moment of pure happiness and contentment that you file away for those sad days when you need to find a happy place.

I also had a chance to go out with Lindsay and Courtney, something I don't think we've done for years. We had a fun, giggly time. We enjoyed sharing some memories, along with our usual goofiness. It was one of the most happy and relaxed evenings I've had for a long time. There's such a deep connection and bond between the three of us.

The final night, we had everyone over -- Colin, Tracy, Sean, Gen and Kaia, along with Shelby, for a Labor Day dinner. I made heaping mounds of food -- two grilled teriyaki chickens, eight hamburgers, 12 sausages cooked in beer with onions and bay leaves, potato salad, beans, chips and dip. Rob was going to chide me for making too much until everyone just ate and ate and ate. It was great to have everyone over -- a real all-American holiday.

The trip ended way too fast for everyone. Courtney said when they pulled up to the house Cody started yelling, "No." He wanted to go see Nemo again. We haven't worked up the heart to take down the Pack N Plays and car seats, although the toys are all put up. I really miss having them all around, but I'm sure glad they came.