For you

I sat on the kitchen counter with my legs folded like a pretzel while Grandmother scooped flour into a metal bowl. She added salt and baking powder to the flour and then asked if I would like to mix. Of course, I agreed, the whisk already in hand. She creamed butter and sugar together in the avocado green KitchenAid until lemon yellow waves rippled in the bowl. Grandmother cracked several eggs, one at a time, on the edge of the bowl.

Next came the vanilla and then the dry ingredients. The dough was ready to be shaped into bite-sized cookies and bathed in egg then rolled in a fine dusting of walnuts. They went into the oven and halfway through their cooking time, the trays came out and we pressed our thumbs into their heated centers. When they reached a slight golden brown, we let them cool then filled the shallow indentations with green or red icing. We packed the thumbprints in tins along with an assortment of cookies and candies, such as, snowballs, kiefles, buckeyes, peanut brittle, and date pinwheels between layers of parchment paper and wrote the recipient's name on each tag.

Thumbprints are still my favorite holiday cookie to eat and to make. This year, I added a few new cookies to the mix, a clear break from Grandmother's tradition and packed them in small recycled boxes wrapped with ribbon. If only the snow would let up long enough for us to deliver them to your door, then we wouldn't have to sneak one or two when you're not looking. Until then, maybe you should bake a batch of your own, just in case...




Rolled Sugar Cookies frosted with Lemon Icing (Cookie Cutters: Bear, Owl, Rabbit, and Heart, Recipe from The Joy of Cooking)

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (Recipe Variation: Use Dark Chocolate instead of Semi-sweet Chocolate)

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Recipe from the New York Times, David Leite and Jacques Torres)

Thanksgiving Feast

We had a smashing feast for Thanksgiving. I was in the kitchen for three days in between editing photos and caring for L, our wee 6-month-old. Ultimate multi-tasking challenge. 

For you, I have no pictures of the feast, only a menu and my word that somehow everything came together and turned out to be absolutely wonderful.

Thanksgiving Menu (2008)

Sparkling Apple Cider

Appetizers

Cheese Dip with Crackers (made by my sister, R)

Vegetables with Dip (made by R)

First Course

Pumpkin Soup (made by Mom, S)

Sweet Potato Rolls (made by S)

Anadama Bread 

(recipe from Melissa Clark in the NYT's Dining and Wine)

Main Course

Salted Roast Turkey with Herbs 

(recipe from November's bon appetit)

Herbed-Shallot Gravy (made by my Brother-in-Law, J)

Sides

Roasted Root Vegetables

Cranberry Sauce

Scalloped Yukon Gold and Sweet Potato Gratin with Fresh Herbs 

(another winning recipe from November's bon appetit, 

really you must make this for the upcoming holidays)

Mixed Mushroom Stuffing (made by R)

Desserts

Coffee/Tea

Maple Pecan Pie (recipe adapted from Moosewood Cookbook)

Blueberry Peach Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuits

Pumpkin Pie (made by S)

Still eating turkey sandwiches...

The house always wins...

I'm back. November turned out to be one long month filled with several house challenges. I told myself I wouldn't write about our mold and heat issues, but I want you to know why I have been MIA for some time. 

We discovered a high population of mold growth in our old turn-of-the-century bungalow. I tried to clean the house myself, but my efforts were no match for the mold spores. I managed to tame the mold, but not eradicate it. Needless to say, weeks spent wiping the mold away with a hydrogen peroxide and water solution (this, by the way, does not get rid of the mold, it just keeps it from spreading) kept me occupied and mostly out of the kitchen. After finding several centimeters of fuzz, especially on the windowsill in our bedroom, we were desperate. 

So we called a professional mold remediation expert. The expert and accompanying team tested the air for several mold types and found two to be at high toxic levels. They came in one day and cleaned the house from top to bottom, ceiling to floor. No surface was left untouched and after they re-tested the house, I am happy to report that we are now at low levels of mold, less than the air quality outside our home.

We also had a drainage system and sump pump installed in our basement as a second prong attack to the water/moisture issue along with an update to our gutter system. 

Then the ignitor for the furnace stopped sparking which meant the heat stopped working. We were all bundled in layers for a day. 

In the end, I cannot talk about food and mold in the same post. I just wanted to let you know where I've been.