Cody arrives

Here are the pictures of the birth of my grandson, Cody William Koverman.
It is these moments that give life it's joy.
Cody was born 3:13 p.m. ET, Friday, March 17, 2006. He weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long (that included his cone head.)

Beans

It's been an unusu-
ally cold and rainy March here in Southern California. Actually, I don't mind it. I like the weather to change, and despite popular folklore, Southern California weather does change, just not in synch with the rest of the world -- which pretty much describes Southern California.
To ward off the chill, and because Rob and I are trying to eat healthy food, I decided to make a bean soup. Navy beans are one of Rob's favorite, so I made a soup that incorporated them and the root vegetables that are available this time of year. Incidentally, I just discovered yellow carrots at the Ojai farmer's market and I added them to a pot roast a week ago. They were really good, tender and sweet, but not quite as "carrot-y." I used them in the soup, along with regular carrots and parsnips. I used ham hocks to add saltiness, because the root veggies tend to be sweet.
After I made the soup, I decided to add the lemon and Tobasco because the soup was need to be "lightened" in my opinion. I think the added zing really added to the flavor.

Navy bean/root vegetable soup

1 pound dry Navy beans, rinsed and prepared by boiling for two minutes in water that covers them by about two inches. Then turning off the heat and letting the beans sit for at least a hour, then rinsed one final time.
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped fine
1 tablespoon canola oil
8 cups water
4 smoked ham hocks
4 carrots (see above), diced
4 turnips, diced
6 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
juice of one lemon
Tobasco sauce to taste
Saute onion and garlic a Dutch oven until fragrant in and starting to become translucent. Add drained, prepared beans and water. Add ham hocks, carrots, turnips and bay leaves. Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer and cover. Cook for about 5 to 6 hours, or until beans are soft and starting to break. Cool in refrigerator overnight and skim off fat that forms. Reheat and add lemon juice and Tobasco. Taste and salt and pepper to correct flavor.

I had coveted the Le Creuset Dutch oven and when my daughter bought be a clay cooker at Sur La Table (my favorite cook's store -- pricey, but worth it), which I already owned, I returned it for the Le Creuset. My husband was amazed at how much it cost, but I've found that it is what I've been missing for years. It is so great for soups and stews. Just like Caller ID, I can't understand why I waited so long.

BTW

I just had to comment on this year's Oscar gowns. I know it's off topic, but it's my blog and I can do what I want (do what I want to, you--oo would to if it happened to you)
Total disappointment. No one was transcendent. Uma was the best and Reese was classic, but the rest just managed to make it to doesn't suck.
Here's my take:
Jennifer Aniston: Really not up to Jenny's usual standard. Just an ahhhnnnn dress. And the jewelry was a bit dowage-y. Sure, she's young and fresh and can carry it off, but it isn't flattering, it's distracting.
Jennifer Garner: The dress was kind of sack-y. It really had an unhappy flow and the color was blah and did nothing for her (a theme for the evening),
Hillary Swank: Speaking of doing nothing for her, Hilary's dress didn't do anything for her. She has a fabulous body, but the top was too low and made her head look huge and weird.
JLo: First, what was with the whole swishing of the side chiffon panels of the dress when she walked out? It looked really contrived and silly. Second, the hair, makeup and green dress color combined to make her look kind of lizard-y.
Salma Hayak: What was up with the strap crossing her boob? She has fabulous boobs and her right one was deformed by the dress. What kind of design was that?
Sandra Bullock: Almost. But the sheer, black material that looked like pantyhose on the top really didn't add to the dress.
Naomi Watts: Everyone has gone on about the tattered aspect of the dress, but what was with the thing growing out of her side? Here's a new rule: if a dress has something growing out of it (Charize Theron READ THIS), don't buy it. And her dress was all rolled up at the hips making them look huge. On so many levels, this was a horrible dress.
Charlize Theron: Ewwwwwwwwwwww. Aside from the 747 perched on her shoulder, the whole criss/crossing really didn't work.
Maggie Gyllenhaal: Whatever you're going for, you didn't get there. A big Neah-ru.
Nicole Kidman: The dress was classic, but the hair was dull and drab, which gave the whole outfit a kind of half-hearted feel.
Rachel Weitz: She was among the best, pregnant or not. This was a classic look that that became her.
Keira Knightly: This was a lovely dress, although I could have done without the fan-thing on the boob (there was a kind of conspiracy against boobs in this year's dresses.)
Amy Adams: The dress would have been cool without the weird thing in front (See above note about things growing out of dresses.)
Michelle Williams: She carried off the color, but she had to fight it. A dress should be complimentary, not something you have to overcome. And the fan-y thingies on the side really didn't work. (What's up with fan-things?)
Felicity Huffman: Either show it or don't. No half-faking it with sheer material, especially when it is seamed. She has the body for the full-on plunge -- get the sticky tape out and go for it.
Jessica Alba: Looked classically perfect in a way the perfectly offset her Latina beauty.
Ziyi Zhang: That dress was perfect for her. I saw a larger version and it really needed to be worn by such a tiny woman.

Rob was all, "Why are you going online?" and getting excited during the Academy Awards. I explained it's kind of like my Super Bowl. Award ceremonies aren't about the stupid awards. Most people outside of Hollywood don't care if their favorite star has one an Oscar or not. No, awards shows are about the gowns. Actually it would really streamline things if we could just eliminate the men (except for Johnny Depp, who is the only interesting man around fashion-wise), and just have the women parade in the gowns.
OK, there is also the thrill that someone will really screw up and it will be a huge hairy deal, and you will have seen them do it live. (C'mon, you know how many people brag about seeing Janet Jackson's tittie.)
So shows like this afford us middle-aged, middle-class women the ability to look at women half our age and a tenth our size strut around in gowns and jewels they won't even let us in the room to examine. And we can be catty and say that the gown that cost as much as four months' mortgage is "just OK, nothing special."
Cool, ain't it?

Fresh flowers

I adore fresh flowers. So I go to the local farmers markets every weekend and buy massive amounts. In Ojai, one guy calls me "the flower lady." (And it's not even my favorite flower guy.) He asked last week if I arranged them I said that I like to put all kinds of arrangements around the house.
I have two huge ones in the living room: One on a pedestal next to the fireplace and one in the urn next to the fireplace. The fireplace is so dramatic, I like to frame it with flowers. I add a smaller arrangement on the top of the TV set. I refuse to let the television be the center of the room, and I like to soften the effect of the huge screen.
I have flowers in my bedroom on the dresser and keep an orchid in the downstairs bathroom. There's also a bouquet in the office/dining room.
I just really love the idea of bunches of flowers everywhere and arranging them allows me a creative outlet each week.
Right now it's the spring season and there are tons of different flowers available. I particularly love the stock, which smells wonderful and is beautiful. The daisies were extra, but they're so cheerful, why not?

The dustup

Here are the 3-D ultrasounds of my grandson Cody William Koverman. He's a real, live baby -- and these were taken in the beginning of January. Courtney, pictured in the photos below, is hugely pregnant and is anxious about her first baby.
He's due to debut outside the womb in just a few weeks and looks to be a big baby. Courtney was anxious that she get the traveling "system" she needs for the baby (it has a car seat, etc.)
She was going to get it from her Aunt Mary (who's only five years older than she is), but for some reason they're all in some kind of snit with each other -- which is pretty much how our family operates. Snit by snit.
So I was asked, in a panic, to get the travel system, and I said OK. Actually it's so cool to be able to help Courtney out, seeing as her dad and I got nothing from the family when I had her.
So I went to the Babies R Us Web Site to get it for her and what should I find? Under parents were: "Courtney Koverman and DAVID KOVERMAN(sic)" and grandparents were: "Briggs and Jen Gamblin."
How totally hysterical. My ex's wife had changed the registry information and just included my ex and her as grandparents.
I called Courtney and Lindsay (Daughter No. 2) and bitched them out and Lindsay had her boyfriend, Ryan, (also pictured below) fix the entry.

It's all over

I'm packing up my Christmas stuff, which increased dramatically this year. It's making me sad because we had such a great time. In fact, today I took a break because the end of a good Christmas is depressing and headed off to the beach with the dogs. When I moved to Ventura I said that life is going to happen no matter where I am, at least here there's better scenery. And today's sunset was fantastic, plus it was warm out, so the dogs and I enjoyed a cool afternoon by the ocean.
I found a big, old tooth while I was there. It almost seems to be stone, but has a middle. I also picked up some shells. I love strolling by the ocean and one of these days I'm going to put the stuff I collect together into something. Until then it just collects. I'm not sure what the point of it is, but someday, I'll figure it out.
It's also the time of year to start dieting, so I've been trying to cut down (actually, truth be told, it's only been a day or two.) But it's time to hunker down and eat fresh veggies, whole grains and lean meats. Last year I gave up drinking. This year I want to lose weight and get healthier.
Oh, I'm also posting pictures from the time I spent on nearby Lake Casitas with my daughters and their husband/boyfriend. We went fishing but caught nothing, which is fine with me.

The finish line

It's been an absolute zoo, but totally worth it. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends and Christmas was fabulous also.
My daughter, Courtney, is here visiting with her husband, Dave. She's pregnant with my first grandchild -- a boy, Cody William Koverman. So that's going to be exciting.
The big holiday revelations this year are twofold:
First, even sober, I can manage to be a klutz. I cut my finger badly, accidentally and spilled pumpkin pie insides all over the hot oven.
Second, I made a wonderful wassail that was popular, made the house smell fantastic and all Christmas-y and was non-alcoholic.

Wassail
1 gallon apple cider
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
small handful whole cloves
5 slices fresh ginger
5 to 6 whole cinnamon sticks
about 20 allspice berries
sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg

Mix everything together in a crock pot and put on high heat. You can strain the whole mixture and then serve it with slices of orange and lemon, or if you're lazy, as I am, you can provide a strainer, showing guests how to strain their individual servings -- a much more interactive approach.

Being thankful

I woke this morning after only three hours of sleep (I'm kind of a night stalker) to smoke surrounding my house on two sides. Apparently a fire had started overnight during the Santa Ana winds in the road just north of a lemon field that borders my development. The fire spread around Ventura and threatened structures.
But, amazingly -- it really WAS amazing -- the firefighters from air and land were able to beat back the flames.
It was pretty horrifying to see the flames move down the hill to the east of my house at around 2 p.m. I had packed the car to make a quick exit and had the pet containers ready to go.
But, man, those guys swooped in and managed to extinguish all the flames.
After a day of just pacing around anxiously, I headed out to the store for some Benedryl (all the nasty stuff in the air is making me quite sick) and bought cranberries and potatoes for Thanksgiving.
After all, you never know what disaster lurks around the corner, and you should always be well stocked.

Getting ready

I'm in full planning mode for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I have a very specific menu and start tracking down items well before the holiday.
This year I've ordered two heritage turkeys. These are turkeys with bloodlines closer to wild turkeys that were cultivated long before our current mass-produced birds. Unlike the broadbreasted turkeys that grow large quickly, these birds take a long to develop and have a more even white/dark meat ratio.
I've been fascinated with the concept since a friend gave me a flier about them last year. In the intervening year, more turkey producers are offering them this year.
This year, I'm also making the young women in the family contribute a dish.
I'm kind of a megalomaniac when it comes to the kitchen and preparing feasts. But it's time to realize that eventually I'll need to pass the torch and it would be fun to teach a little of what I've learned.
I've got my Thanksgiving decorations in place and am assembling the required table accoutrements. My husband had the wonderful idea of hollowing pumpkins out and putting flowers in them and they looked gorgeous last year. So we're doing it again this year.
We should have lots of people come over because every year there seems to be more and more people who enjoy having a place to go. It's always been my fantasy to cook big meals for a crowd of people.
We'll be having our traditional meal of turkey with cornbread/celery/almond/current dressing. Homemade mashed potatoes (these are a real crowd pleaser and no matter how much I make (I've made up to 10 pounds of mashed spuds) it's not enough. We'll have green beans with toasted almonds; mashed sweet potatoes with orange, maple syrup and toasted pecans; creamed pearl onions; pureed squash; roasted rosemary turnips; giblet gravy; cranberry orange relish; boiled cranberry sauce; two pumpkins pies and an apple pie. Oh yeah, and rolls.
I'm going to try brining this year. I bought some great plastic bags at Sur la Table, which are perfect for this purpose. I've read that brining is perfect with the somewhat tougher heritage birds.
I'm planning to use one of the birds so I can send people away with leftovers. It's just not Thanksgiving without leftovers in my book.
I just have one hope. I live in Southern California and sometimes Thanksgiving can be quite warm, which makes cooking a rather warm affair -- we've had to move Thanksgiving dinner out one the patio on more than one occasion.

A couple of my "things"

I'm no domestic doyenne, like the formidable Martha Stewart, but I do enjoy certain things that make my home more inviting and comfortable. One of those things is fresh flowers. I'm up to eight vases a week of flower arrangements.
It's become a ritual for me to get up early (for me) on Sundays and get doughnuts for our Sunday treat and then travel to nearby Ojai (Calif.) to the farmers market.
There, I'm sometime referred to as the "flower lady" because I will buy about 10 or more bouquets to arrange and sprinkle around the house. To me, this is a soul-saving activity that always provides me with a sense of peace.
This past week the pickings were rather slim, but that may have been because I was late getting started this morning.
I really enjoy the grand bouquet by the fireplace as my centerpiece and am working out some concepts. There is also the urn on the other side of the fireplace where big, dramatic flowers look great. I have a smaller bouquet over the TV, because I can't stand the idea of people just staring at a Spartan electronic box without some decorative touches.
Finally, I have a bouquet in the kitchen over the sink, on the dining room table, in my bathroom and in our bedroom. I give our housemate a bouquet for her room every week.
I also love to decorate the house for the holidays. This, too follows a rather established pattern. On Oct. 1 each year I put out my fall and Halloween decorations. My husband complains that the kids are grown now and there is no reason to decorate, but I enjoy it and we have lots of people who stop by, nephews, nieces, daughter, friends, so it's nice to have some pretty accents around the house. And it makes me happy.
I put up some Halloween decorations because I love the holiday. I learned years ago not to make them too scary because one year I had a tape of spooky noises and a little 2-year-old was too scared to come up the driveway.
After Halloween, I put away the scary decorations and leave the fall decorations up for Thanksgiving. I call this "trasitioning" and am way prouder of my efficiency than anyone I've told, so far.
I've already begun my Thanksgiving preparations and am actually stocking up for Christmas. Might as well, the holidays are just around the corner.

Get ready, get set ...

Holiday season is upon us. It's time to order the turkey. I always get a free-range bird because they are so tasty. I also like to keep some easy dinner ideas on hand for those days when between shopping, working, and decorating there is hardly room to breathe.
One treat my family loves that is easy to prepare is chili hot dogs. It's time to trot out as many of these time-savers as you can find because the clock's ticking.

Chili hotdogs

Xlint chili
all-beef hotdogs
buns
chopped onion
shredded cheese

Wrap the hotdogs loosely in plastic wrap. Place about a tablespoon of chili to each hotdog on a plate and microwave for 2 minutes. Microwave hotdogs one minute (you can put the hot dogs in the microwave with the chili after the chili has cooked for 1 minute). Place buns in the oven for about 15 seconds.
Place hotdogs in buns, spread chili on top, top with cheese and microwave for about 35 seconds or until cheese starts to melt. Top with chopped onions and serve.

Happy Halloween

I am a total holiday nut. I can't help it. I just enjoy all the preparation, along with the food.
I've always considered myself a pumpkin artiste. I love carving pumpkins and when the girls were younger, I used to spend hours making cat pumpkins, scary monster pumpkins and clown pumpkins. Now I do the scary monster, but Tom Sawyer-like, this year I convinced others to carve their own pumpkins. We had a blast.
I'll probably carve pumpkins as long as I can hold a knife, if only for the pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds are an annual treat that I thoroughly enjoy, despite the fact that my jaw aches for days after because of chewing the tough seed hulls.
I created this recipe years ago. I like to soak the seeds in water as they cook to make the hulls a little crisper. I think it works. Another tip: the seeds from the popular white pumpkins taste "off" to me so I don't use them.

Roasted pumpkin seeds
Seeds from two pumpkins, separated from the orange, slimy stuff, and cleaned
5 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pumpkins seeds, butter and water in a deep-sided high quality baking pan. Cook for about an hour, stirring regularly until water boils off and seeds are nice and brown.

Another Halloween tip:
I like to sprinkle the insides of my Jack O Lanterns with spices (cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, this year) so they will smell good for trick or treaters.

Lima beans

Ever since I moved to Ventura, lima beans have become an important aspect of my life. Sure, I can see you cringing. I did too when I first heard that lima beans were an important crop in the history of the area. Ewwwwwwww. Lima beans. I'd always thought lima beans tasted like a cross between cardboard and waxpaper. When I had children I made a vow, "No lima beans or beets."
But the locals told me,"Try the fresh ones. It makes all the difference."
So when lima beans showed up at the local farmers markets, I pounced. Then I tried to figure out what to do with them. It was obvious. Make a fresh-vegetable succotash.
I did, with the added inspiration of sauteeing the veggies in extra virgin olive oil (or as the annoyingly cloying, pandering to the younger demographic, Rachel Ray says with her-ever-so-perky smile EVOO).
This produces a side dish that was as light and fresh as a spring shower, in the fall. It's also amazingly easy to prepare.
I don't guarantee the same results with frozen vegetables.

Fresh succotash
1 1/2 cups fresh lima beans
kernels from 2 ears of corn
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 red jalapeno pepper chopped fine
olive oil

Heat olive oil in a saute pan, using enough oil to cover the pan bottom. Add all vegetables and saute until just starting to cook through (taste test.) Serve.
Leftovers are incredibly delicious mixed with feta cheese and vinaigrette and served with salad greens.

Welcome

This blog is devoted to cooking, mostly, along with some commentary on the world. I am a food columnist and love creating recipes. I also give people tips on how to cook.
I will also be featuring photos of my Southern California city and dishes I create. So climb aboard. I hope you brought your appetite.