Early Easter

It's a rare year when the St. Patrick's Day celebration runs right into Easter; when you can use leftover cabbage for corned beef to make coleslaw to go with the Easter ham. This year Easter fell extraordinarily early -- in fact as early as I'll ever see in my lifetime. I ended up writing a story for the Ventura County Star that looked at the way Easter Sunday is determined and all of the other odd and fun traditions associated with the holiday.

This year's Easter was a real celebration for us. The weather here in Southern California couldn't have been any nicer. The temperatures were in the mid-80s by mid-morning, but then they cooled a bit. We were able to eat outside on the patio, which was great.

One of the things I noticed about Southern California is the lack of bugs. Pretty much everywhere I've lived, whenever the weather gets warm, the bugs come out and having picnics and outdoor dining becomes annoying at best as mosquitoes try to feast on you as flies try to feast on your food. Here, even though it's warm all year 'round, we don't have many bugs.

I've always posited that it's because they spray so much insecticide around here -- Ventura County tops the lists for strawberry and lemon production. Whatever it is, it sure makes for some pleasant dining al fresco. As a result of the bucolic settings, outdoor picnics are part and parcel of life in this part of the world. As Rob and I came home Easter morning from the Ojai farmer's market (No. Our good friends Mary and Ted weren't there this time.) we noticed that Foster Park, which lies right next to the Ventura River was almost full and there was a line of cars waiting to get in.

I was pondering all of this when I got an email from my cousin John, who lives in northern Vermont and spent Easter snowed in under piles of snow.

Um, ewwwwwwww! as we say here in SoCal.

This year everyone came over. Lindsay and Dena have arrived at some kind of detente, which is wonderful for those of us on the sidelines who just wanted them to get along, so we could all get along. This meant that not only did we have the usual suspects for Easter dinner -- Rob's nephews Sean and Colin, along with Gen, Kaia and Tracy, but we also had Lindsay and Ryan and Dena and her boyfriend Chris (who BTW has a man-crush on Rob, but doesn't everyone?). Then Shelby and Casey came by and Tressa stopped over.

So we had the whole big passel of people I love to have around during holidays. We were able to get a super-duper bargain on the ham and the lamb was also on sale. I also made everyone's favorite scalloped potatoes, the recipe is from Epicurious and Rhodes rolls. I grilled the lamb outside and it got away from me even in a turned-down grill, but I just cut off the burnt parts and the inside was delicious. The ham was a departure from Honeybaked Ham, which I love, but I found one on sale for $.79 a pound and cooked it up. It was fabulous.

The key is to pour about a cup of apple juice with a splash of vinegar and wrap it with parchment paper topped with aluminum foil and cook in in a slow oven for about three hours. It made the meat really tender and sweet. I finished it off with a glaze of brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, horseradish mustard and cloves. I got this recipe also from Epicurious.

Kaia came over the day before and we died eggs and made cupcakes. This recipe from Cook's Illustrated is the best I've tried for yellow cake and foolproof chocolate frosting. I put them on one of those three-tier-thingies they sell at Linens and Things-type places, nestled in Easter grass. They were quite the hit.

I used leftover cabbage (organic from the farmers market)to make coleslaw to go with everything. This is a recipe I got from my former mother-in-law. I've fiddled with it a bit.


Coleslaw
1 large head of cabbage or 2 small cabbages, sliced and chopped into fairly small slaw-like pieces
4 peeled carrots, shredded on a box grater
3 large stalks of celery cut into small (1/4-inch) pieces
1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1-2 tablespoons sugar (use more if you're using buttermilk
1/4 cup milk or buttermilk
salt
pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed

Mix everything together and taste often for seasoning. Put in refrigerator and prior to serving taste again and adjust seasonings as necessary.


Kaia ended up sprawled on the coach complaining, "I think I've had too much sugar," which is actually probably not far from the truth. Rob and I sat around as everyone chatted before they headed out, enveloping ourselves in the warmth of their companionship.

It was definitely a wonderful day.

Seeing famous people

One of the things that's cool about living in Southern California, besides the weather, the scenery and the produce, is knowing you always have a chance to see someone famous. Not boring famous, like the people my mom let everyone know she knew -- Nobel prize winners, leading academics of all sorts. The people here are the flashy, trashy kind of famous that attracts people like moths.

Unfortunately I rarely ever see anyone famous. I'm always a few minutes too early or too late when I visit The Grove or the Malibu Mart. It's not like I'm transfixed or anything, I just like seeing famous people. I don't want to talk to them -- I really don't like talking to strangers in general. I just want to note that I've seen them.

But today when we went up for our weekly pilgrammage to Ojai to the farmer's market(they have the best flowers -- cheaper than at the Ventura farmers market)we saw Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. You'd notice him even if he weren't famous. He's about 6'4" and has a shock of "glowing" (Rob's word) white hair. The man doesn't blend into a crowd. Mary Steenburgen looked like a run-of-the-mill Ojai matron. She's tall -- my height (5'9") and thin. She's an attractive woman who looks her age, not all plastic-y and freaky the way so many do.

They had these annoyed/wary/scared expressions on their faces. I kind of understood. Back when I was younger, I used to be fairly attactive and, for some reason, men felt they could approach me or honk and yell at me. It really sucked. There you are wandering around in your own little world, entertaining yourself by observing and just enjoying a nice day and someone feels they can come up and be all in your face. Father Time has taken care of that problem for me, but for Ted Danson, the attention must be constant. Even in Ojai, where people pride themselves on their cool, there was a ripple of "That's Ted Danson" and "Where's Mary?"

The most famous person I've seen since I moved here was Ray Charles who was on a flight Lindsay and I were taking home from Ohio. He was reading braille, which is weird because you almost never see people reading braille (BTW Does anyone besides me find having braille on the key pads at ATM drive-thrus to be hysterical?). The flight was actually delayed a bit so they could load him and his band and everyone looked annoyed until word got out that it was Ray Charles, and then no one seemed to mind. And if one more person replied to my "I saw Ray Charles." with "He didn't see YOU!" I was going to smack him/her.

I saw Corbin Bernsen once at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. I heard a kid screaming, "Daddy, Daddy!" really hysterically and the mom in me immediately looked to find out what was going on. I ascertained it was Corbin Bernsen and a dark-haired kid who looked about 6 or 7. I must have given Corbin Bernsen a dirty what-are-you-doing-to-that-poor-child look because he hustled away looking worried.

We see people like Peter Strauss and Bruce McGill in Ojai from time to time. We've never seen Larry Hagman, despite his claims to the area. I see Michael Pare from Eddie and the Cruisers all the time because he lives near here and loves Tony's Pizzaria even more than I do. Bonnie Franklin also lives nearby and I saw her at the Ventura farmers market one time.

Oh yeah, we saw John Travolta when he was filming Swordfish in downtown Ventura. We took Jersey (our dearly departed cocker spaniel)there to get her discovered, and also because we could later see the movie and know we were there. He was really gracious and got out to wave at the crowd before being whisked off by limo to his house in nearby Montecito.

I'm not going to count the people we've seen at the local repertory theater -- The Rubicon -- because I don't think it counts when you see someone performing. They have to actually intersect your life randomly for them to count as your new best friend.

Like our new good buddies Mary and Ted.

Update!
I sent an item in to Defamer, a gossip web site that has a Privacywatch section where readers end in items about famous people they've seen. Yes. I'm THAT shallow. Anyway they put it in this week's editions.

I TOLD you things were looking up.

Keepin on keepin on

Not much to report here in the House of Pain. We went to Smell-A to see Rob's doctor and it was stinky. As you crest the hill outside of Calabasas, you can see the layer of yellow smog that enveloped the city. Ewwwwwww. I'm SO glad I live in Ventura.

As far as Rob is concerned, his eye is doing well and healing nicely -- as nicely as could be hoped for. His surgeon got that "Damn! I do good work" face that we -- as patients -- just LOVE to see on our doctors. My foot doctor had the same reaction to his work on my ankle and I must say it's getting better and better, which is good because it's being pressed into service as the good leg, now that the left knee is shot.

All of this convalescing is driving us a bit crazy. Rob has taken to such activities as making Fuser into a Butter Cup (See photo of the poor dog's shame above). Dena says he's crossed the line and she's right. At least I'm starting to get some freelance work, which gives me something productive to do. This has been wonderful for my overall outlook and Rob needs the same thing.

Poor Courtney is trying to get her second baby Alex Baptized and she wants her parents there but we're all falling apart. Courtney's Dad -- my ex -- has just been hit with health problems of his own. Damn! We're only in our 50s and we're all falling apart. Fortunately, there's light at the end of our tunnel. Rob's eye should be better soon. And my surgery is looming -- which really sucks -- but when it's over, we should be on the road to recovery.

Food-related tips I wanted to pass along:

We're trying to eat healthier and cheaper, what with the shaky economy and all and to do so, we're looking at our shopping habits. I've always been a HUGE fan of farmer's markets and they are a fabulous source of fresh produce. Those of us in Southern California have no excuse for trying to buy as locally as we can, seeing as we really live in the best area for produce in the world IMO. Our diet is now full of such things as chard, collard greens, arugula and spinach.

We've also been looking for better, less expensive sources for meat. We live in the part of town where there is a large concentration of people of Hispanics. This seems to scare a lot of people around here, but we've found the entire neighborhood to be pretty nice, actually. One thing we've discovered are the Hispanic grocery stores. I've mentioned them before. But I just love the fact that they actually have butchers who work behind the meat counter. And there's not just one there are always a few taking care of customers and cutting meat to order, which is a real luxury in this day and age of pre-packaged plastic packs. The meat always looks really fresh, which stands to reason because they do a lot of business. The prices are always good, which appeals to the many families you see there.

Rob says write it down

I made a really delicious pork tenderloin tonight with a cream sauce. It was so scrumptious that Rob told me to write down the recipe so I can make it again without "getting all fancy." It really did come out well. I've been playing around with flavors and this is one of my better efforts.

Pepita-crusted pork tenderloin with smoky cream sauce
1 cup shelled pepitas -- pumpkin seeds. I used salted and roasted ones. You can use raw for more salt control
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
1 pork tenderloin
5 tablespoons canola oil

Grind pepitas in a food processor until you have a coarse texture. Mix with spices and granulated onion and garlic. Coat the pork tenderloin with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Heat the remaining three tablespoons in a large deep-sided skillet. Cook over medium to medium-low heat, covered. Turn every five minutes until the tenderloin is browned on all sides -- about 20 minutes for medium-well to well done (Rob and I were brought up in the days of eating well-done pork and still have trouble bringing ourselves to eat it less well done).

Smoky cream sauce

1 shallot, chopped
3/4 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Clean the skillet of excess oil and roasted pepitas -- you don't have to be too careful, just pour off the excess. Add shallot and cook until starting to become translucent. Add wine and chicken stock and cook over medium high to high heat until reduced by more than half -- the liquid should be getting visibly thicker. Add heavy cream and smoked paprika. Check for flavor and adjust as necessary. Serve with pepita-crusted pork tenderloin.

Grandbabies

 

 

 

 

Here are some shots Courtney took today of the boys. In some shots, Cody is really starting to look a lot like my brother Rodger did when he was little. In others he looks so much like his dad. It's always amazing to see what happens with each generation -- how the old morphs to re-form into something unique and wonderful. I really miss these guys and wish we could be a bigger part of their lives. Sigh.

This are looking up -- even if Rob isn't

This guy is Dexter, Colin's new dog. He and Fuser have found they have similar sensibilities -- if you can call a lot of licking each other's penis a sensitivity.


Actually Rob's eye is healing quite nicely. It helps that he's in overall good health--aside from the elevated cholesterol (My new goal in life; trying to convince Rob that green leafy vegetables aren't poisoned). Of course, he's going completely crazy sitting around the house, being unable to drive or do any strenuous activity. The doctor -- who thinks Lindsay is cute;-) -- said Rob is recovering well and his eye looks good -- well actually it looks pretty gross, but healing-wise it looks good.

I, on the other hand, have found out that the surgery I just went through was a complete and total waste of time. The doctor FINALLY decided to do an x-ray after the physical therapist said I wasn't getting any better and moved the post-op appointment up from the middle of March. The x-ray revealed that my knee is completely beyond repair, that I still have a big, old bone spur in the joint and that there was no hope that the surgery was going to do a thing. The doctor says the joint has "completely collapsed." And that MRIs sometimes make thing look better than they are. Seriously? We couldn't have x-rayed the damned thing BEFORE the last surgery?

Yes. I'm pissed. I have to get a knee replacement, which is severe. They actually are making me take a class before I get the surgery. Great. I have to sit around with a bunch of seniors -- I mean a lot more senior than me -- for two hours as we're told how to get our homes in order for post-op. Of course, I've just made it through tendon repair surgery, which had me on crutches for six weeks, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to get ready. Actually this is easier because I'll be on two feet -- albeit hobbling, not just hopping around on a gimpy knee -- remember my bad foot is on the opposite leg as my bad knee-- the way I was after the tendon repair.

They gave me a big folder with pictures of Golden Girls all learning how to walk again. Great. They have a list of questions to bring to the class. I have some questions. What's the hospital's rate for staph infections? How about MRSA? The LAST place I want to spend any time is in the hospital, and this is an in-hospital operation. Plus, everyone, the doctors in the HMO system and people around town, say our local hospital sucks. Seriously. But if I push for going to L.A., my choice of a new knee is restricted by the HMO and I get a crap one, rather than the gender-specific one. So long-term, I'm (hopefully) better off here. At least the hospital has great views of the ocean and the mountains.

In the meantime, I'm hobbling around, very slowly and in a LOT of pain. As I was leaving to go to the doctor's, I said, "I'm going to run." My husband, the one-eyed wonder, said, "Run Forest Run!" Oh, and I STILL have the damned lump on my hip -- smaller, but still there.

So what's this good news I've heard tell about, you're wondering -- if you haven't gotten tired of my bitching -- well I FINALLY got some freelance work. Glory! Alleluia!

Kim, who is a dear, dear friend, has been pushing to get me some freelance work at the Star, so I've been picking up assignments for them. It's so great to be doing some writing. Besides this blog, I haven't been doing much, so it's so good to be back doing interviews and telling people's stories. I absolutely love these community-kind of stories because I love getting people to tell their tales and I have so much fun drawing those stories out and organizing them into compelling (hopefully) narratives.

On top of that I got an assignment from Sunset magazine. Back in October 2006, I'd emailed a former colleague who had gone on to become the web editor at Sunset Magazine -- one of my very favorite magazines ever. She referred me to another person there who did the custom publishing and he said he'd keep my name on file. Then I heard nothing, but I'm used to that since I've sent off about a zillion queries and job applications and rarely hear back. Well a few weeks ago, I got an email from a woman in Berkeley wanting to know if I wanted to do some fact-checking. Did I!!!!

So I spent a few weeks working on going through these tour guides fact-checking them. When I fact check, I make sure EVERYTHING is correct. If you say you went to a little place about 7 miles south of town, I Google map it and find out exactly where it is. If you tell me you had the rabbit al dente, I find out if it's still on the menu. If you say you can sit on a wrap-around patio, I find out if the patio does, in fact, wrap around. If you say you can eat lunch at a wooded park , I look at the satellite image to make sure there are trees at said park. It was tedious, hard work and it was a blast. So, hopefully, this will develop into something more.

Before I started my spate of work, I made up a couple more recipes. One is a Moroccan-inspired dish, made with dried apricots, chickpeas and chicken. It's designed to bring more healthy foods into our loves. The other is a pasta dish with roasted red pepper sauce.

Chicken with chickpeas and apricots
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot finely diced
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 can chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
4 ounces dried apricots, chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add shallot and cook on medium heat until starting to become translucent. Add chicken and cook until starting to brown. Add spices and stir, heating through about 1 minute to let the flavors bloom. Add chickpeas and apricots. Add chicken stock and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. Add cream and bring to boil. Serve. I used Trader Joes Harvest Grains blend, which was quite tasty.

Roasted red pepper pasta
1 pound penne pasta prepared al dente
3 large red bell peppers
olive oil spray
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 12-ounce package Trader Joe's Quattro Fromaggio cheese
1 cup cooked chicken, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
bread crumbs

Cut peppers in half and take out the seeds and white membranes. Flatten both halves by pressing down. Get them as flat as possible. Broil directly under the heated coil or flame until the pepper skin becomes black and bubbly and all of the skin on the pepper appears to have been cooked. Put peppers in a brown paper bag and let sit for about 10 to 15 minutes. Melt butter in large saucepan. Add flour and whisk, cooking over medium heat until the roux loses its raw taste. Add milk and whisk until the sauce begins to thicken. Peel the red peppers and process them in the food processor until they're finely chopped. Add the pepper mixture to the sauce. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste (It really doesn't need much because the cheese is pretty salty and the red pepper provides a lot of flavor.) Mix the sauce with the prepared pasta and pour the mixture in a 13 x 11 baking dish. Top with bread crumbs. Broil for just a few minutes until the top is brown and bubbly. Serve.