More Great Local Finds and a Few Cold Weather Recipes

The winter is flying by it seems - get the seed and garden catalogs out everyone! -  and we have been playing in the kitchen and coming up with lots and lots of easy delicious recipes - especially easy delicious recipes for 2 - 4 people.  Of course, we are using either ingredients from our freezer, our larder or that which is seasonally available in the Market right now.  But, before we get to the recipes, here are some recommendations for some great local food and drink experiences which have joined our list of favorites!

Things we are loving right now:

LaDavisa Meats - check out the wonderful meats, sausages and assorted charcuterie house made by Nick Macri at his shop in the Reading Terminal Market.  We are addicted to the Sage Breakfast sausage, the hot Italian sausage, the Country Pate’, and various pork charcuterie. If you shop at the Reading Terminal Market, you must go to LaDavisa meats.  www.ladavisameats.com

Rowhouse Spirits - why yes, in Philly we have another local distillery!  And it is a good one friends. All products are distilled and bottled on site in the East Kensington distillery.  Products include:  Poitin - a white whiskey; Gin; Bear Trap liqueur; Rum; and other liqueurs. Tastings are available as are tours of the distillery. We are currently enjoying the Poitin - it makes a great "Blonde Manhattan", the Rum and the Bear Trap liqueur. Check out Rowhouse Spirits soon!  www.rowhousespirits.com

Kensington Quarters Butcher Shop - located at 1310 Frankford Avenue, Kensington Quarters is a full service restaurant, butcher shop and bar.  We are most excited about the butcher shop.  The mission of KQ is to "support local agriculture and sustainable practices by providing an outlet for small farmers".  The butcher shop, which offers lessons in butchering as well, makes use of whole animals.  All of the drying and butchering and preparing is done behind huge glass windows - no "back room" here. The meats and the Charcuterie are excellent.  You can stop by, have a cocktail, enjoy a few small plates, and pick up fabulous appetizers and meats for dinner.  If you are going to enjoy meat once in awhile, this is another wonderful place to get it. www.kensingtonquarters.com

Kanella Restaurant - Voted the Best New Restaurant of 2015 by local critic, Craig LaBan, Kanella is now in walking distance from our home!  Oh, the joys of city living.  The restaurant started life as a very popular BYOB in Washington Square West.  The move to Queen Village has provided more space, a liquor license, and perhaps most importantly, a huge wood fired grill and oven. It offers a Mediterranean menu - Greek influences with an emphasis on Cypriot dishes.  The owner/chef Konstantinos Pitsillides is of Cypriot origin, and his love for his native food comes through.  The new site also has a beautiful bar, where wonderful, inventive cocktails (and old classics) are served and small plates are available. The service is nearly perfect and the food will have you dreaming of returning.  For example, I have had Bronzino in many places, including in Italy.  The Bronzino at Kanella, stuffed with herbs and wrapped in grape leaves, is cooked on the wood burning grill and is brought whole to the table (they will filet it for you, but it's more fun to play with, plus you get to eat the cheeks!) with a small pitcher of lemon and extra virgin olive oil to accompany it. It was transcendent. Go!  Soon!  Go for dinner or stop at the bar for a great cocktail and some small plates - I guarantee if you do the latter, you will be making dinner reservations.  Kanella is now open for Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM.  Check out their menus at:  www.kanellarestaurant.com

One recent cold weather recipe that we adapted is a dish that had many readers contacting me for the recipe when I posted a picture of it.  It is an old recipe. It is an easy recipe. And it is a delicious recipe.  By the way, versions of the recipe were made by Martha Washington and it appeared in, “The Virginia Housewife” by Mary Randolph, which is widely considered to be the first general cookbook in the Colonies.

                            Recipe:  City Tavern’s Potato, Mushroom and Onion Casserole

Potato, Mushroom, Onion Casserole

Ingredients

7 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 tablespoons of oil (we are using Grape Seed oil generally; trying to break the Canola oil habit!)

1 pound of mushrooms of your choice (for the first time trying this we used sliced Trumpet mushrooms)

2 yellow onions, sliced 

2 garlic cloves, chopped

8 medium red skinned potatoes or 5 large Yukon Golds, sliced very thin (we used Yukons and we scrubbed them and did not peel them)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 bunches of fresh flat leaf Parsley, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Technique

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Heat 4 tablespoons of butter and the oil in a large skillet over high heat

Add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet and saute’ for about 5 minutes until they are light brown and tender.

Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and set aside.

In the same skillet saute’ the onions and garlic for three minutes, until light golden brown.  Set aside.

Pat the sliced potatoes dry. Place half of the potato slices in the bottom of a lightly buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper.  Add the parsley.

Top the potatoes and parsley with the mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Add the remaining potato slices.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Dot the mixture with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter.

Bake for 15 minutes or more.  Test the fork tenderness of the potatoes.

Pour the cream evenly over the potatoes, top with the parmesan and bake for another 10 minutes.  You want a little color - but not a crispy finish - to the casserole.

Let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy.  

Note:  If you have any casserole left over, mix it with some beaten eggs and pour into a buttered hot skillet - it makes a delicious potato torta! Fabulous served with sage breakfast sausages.

Potato Torta

Ever since the food poisoning “experience”, we’ve been researching ingredients and recipes  so that we can make our own delicious Chinese dishes at home.  I will be writing more about this new learning in the future, but for now, here’s a wonderful Beef and Broccoli stir fry with Udon noodles that we tried recently.  It’s pretty straightforward, easy and delicious.

                                                  Recipe:  Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

Beef, Broccoli, Noodle Stir Fry

Ingredients

6 2/3oz udon noodles (A 10oz package of Udon noodles has 3 bundles, we used 2)

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Juice of two limes

1 tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce

3 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons of grape seed oil

1 tablespoon Arrowroot (or cornstarch)

1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets and penny sized cuts from the top of the stem

1/2 pounds of flank steak, in thinly sliced strips (slice against the grain)

Marinade ingredients 

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil

Mix all of the above together

Cook the udon noodles in a large pot of salted water according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

Marinate the beef slices in the mixture for about 15 minutes - not too long, you don’t want to start cooking the beef. 

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, garlic, lime juice, Sriracha, and 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil.  Whisk in the arrowroot and set aside.  This is your sauce.

In a hot wok or large skillet, heat the grape seed oil over medium high heat.

Add the beef strips to the wok and toss and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes. 

Add the remaining sesame oil and toss again. Cook for about another minute.  Push the beef up the sides of the wok or remove from pan.

Add the broccoli florets and 2 tablespoons of water.  Toss and cook until the broccoli is tender, about 5 - 6 minutes.

Add the cooked Udon noodles and the sauce to the wok.  Bring the sauce to a quick boil, it will lose its cloudiness. Return beef to the pan if removed.  Toss until fully coated and warmed through.  Serve and enjoy.

Cherish Real Food!

Dinner in a Box - Really? Two Easy and Delicious Tarts

OK, I have to go on record - and I’d love to hear from you folks about this, too - as saying that these “dinner in a box” companies and their advertisements are getting on my last nerve!  Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Plate Joy (oh that’s cute), and a number of other ‘Services” are out there now constantly pitching, and I can't seem to miss a commercial.  

The concept behind these things is that you have such a hectic life that you can’t possibly shop for your own food, develop your own menus and then - gasp! - cook your meals all by yourself!  You need little index cards telling you what to do next!  Imagine.  I think we used to use cookbooks for that sort of thing.

(Note:  I will say that the only exceptions that I see here are folks who have disabilities that prevent them from getting out of the house or those who live in extremely remote areas where good markets and a variety of foods cannot be found.)

OK, let’s examine how many things are wrong with this whole concept:

1. Know where your food comes from.  If you have followed this Blog, you know that this is the most important aspect of food for me.  I could not eat out of these boxes based on this value alone. These companies have the nerve to tout “local” but the contents are local to where the boxes are put together, if that!  So, basically by ordering these, buyers are reducing business for farmers, growers and producers who actually ARE local to them.  Secondly, who answers the important questions:  how was the meat and chicken raised?  Who raised it?  What sorts of hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals were used?  Saying “Organic” in this case means absolutely nothing. Once a little box shows up on the East Coast with asparagus in it in February, the local/seasonal debate is over.  And that “Alaskan Salmon” TV ad from Blue Apron really sets me off.  The whole soothing voice over is so manipulative and so chock full of misinformation.  Who wants to bet it’s farm raised salmon?  I will be happy to take your money.  And by the way, we know a fishing family in our area who goes to Alaska - actually catches gorgeous real alaskan salmon, and spot prawns, and halibut and cod - all of which is flash frozen on the boat.  It is authentic, line caught and delicious - and actually “wild". And I can buy it right from the fisherman who caught it. I am pretty sure that most folks have the option to buy authentic American seafood and fish as well.

2.  Learning to Menu Plan, Shop and Cook.  If you are trying to eat in what you want to believe is a more healthy fashion, these little boxes aren’t helping you learn anything. Yes, you can open a box and follow an index card of instructions. However, unless you are going to buy this stuff for the rest of your life, how will you learn to be self sufficient in selecting and cooking your own food?  Do you want what you eat controlled by mega corporations for your entire life?

3.  Portion Control Issues.  I’ve had people say this is a big reason for using these services.  So - no leftovers allowed in your home?  No room for creativity?  No lunches made from dinners in your freezer?  Let me guess, you buy lunch mostly everyday - geez, you must be very rich, because those boxes are expensive!  Learning how to shop and how much to purchase given the number of folks eating is all part of the process of becoming self sufficient in the kitchen.

4.  Life is SOOOO Hectic.  This one makes me giggle.  Mostly because everyone is spouting off about this constantly and in addition your time is, to a good extent, under your control.  Really.  It is.  Time management is such a worthwhile skill. If you are eating your meals out of boxes that come in the mail, I suggest working on your time management skills. Not to mention what so many of us have been writing about and urging folks to do for years now.   Get off of the hectic merry go ‘round and begin to take part in securing, and cooking and eating food at home.  Learning to become self sufficient with food and meals and sharing them together on a regular basis, along with being healthier, is a good stress reducer.  Cooking with and for people - actually really cooking - is a wonderful way to express your care for others.  Shopping for food;  going from place to place; and stopping at a couple of markets, a couple of times a week can all be excellent ways to interact with folks, get out and about and learn  what is available and what looks good and what you'd like to cook and eat. 

5.  Getting to Know Farmers, Producers, Purveyors, and Artisans.  I can’t imagine that there are a lot of folks out there who don’t enjoy good Farmers Markets.  Often these markets give us the opportunity to get to know the people who are responsible for the products we are purchasing.  Why would anyone seek to avoid these experiences?  You are taking business away from small producers, small family farmers, and others in your own region. Shop Local!

To me, these services represent a total corruption of the concepts of eating real, seasonal, local food, as well as the concepts of self sufficiency and knowing where your food comes from.  I am hoping against hope that they disappear rather than flourish.  

OK - now on to recipes.  You will have to buy the ingredients, put them together and cook these yourself!  Sorry, I couldn’t resist!

Pre-Oven

Finished Tart

Recipe:  Puff Pastry Ricotta Tart - You can make this with whatever you have on hand, once you spread the ricotta, add toppings as you like.  These are the ingredients that I used for this one. The onion jam is merely red onions cooked down with red wine and finished with a bit of balsamic.  You can also buy onion jam.  Bacon jam would also be great on this.

Ingredients

Good Puff Pastry (I highly recommend DuFours.  It is a bit pricey and it is worth every penny.)

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Fresh Ricotta - try making your own (see my Blog of January 12, 2016).  Whatever Ricotta you use should be fairly dry.

Roasted Red Pepper Strips

Red Onion Marmelade

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Two Scallions, finely diced - white and green parts

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Technique

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or with piece of Parchment paper

Roll out a large piece of Puff Pastry dough - not too thin 

Lay the rolled pastry dough on to the cookie sheet (see photo)

With the tip of a sharp knife make a 1 inch “border” around the dough

Then, staying within that boarder, brush the dough all over with a light coating of extra virgin olive oil

Brush the dough all over with the red onion marmalade, if using

Sprinkle the Ricotta cheese all over the tart

Lay the roasted red pepper strips all over the tart - spread them out well (see photo)

Sprinkle the tart with the grated parmesan cheese

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes - check it often as ovens vary; look for a nice browning on the dough and you want some crispness on the bottom of the tart as well

When the tart is done, let it sit for 5 minutes or so then sprinkle the diced scallions all over it; add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil if you wish
Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy.

Recipe:  Cast Iron Berry Tart.  This is so simple and so delicious and it does not require a lot of preparation.  The cast iron provides for a nice flaky crisp pastry dough.

Ingredients

One pre-made pie crust (I use Pillsbury). Of course you can make your own pastry

2 teaspoons of good lard or 2 tablespoons of softened butter. Note:  "Crisco" is NOT lard.  If you don't have good lard, use the butter.

Two cups of the berries of your choice.  (We have a ton of individual bags of New Jersey Blueberries in our freezer, so I used blueberries).

1/4 cup of sugar (I like Sugar in the Raw for this kind of baking)

1 Tablespoons of good vanilla

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of regular flour

2 - 3 pats of unsalted butter

Technique

Preheat the oven to 400 conventional or 375 convection bake

Coat a 10 inch cast iron pan with the lard or the butter - whichever you are using

In a bowl mix the berries, sugar vanilla, cinnamon and the flour

Roll out the pre-made dough, fold it in half, place it in the cast iron pan and open it up - leave a good deal of pie dough hanging on the edges of the pan

“Dock” the pie dough - just pierce the dough with a fork

Note:  At this point you can pre-bake/blind bake the pie crust for a few minutes.  To do this, you should remove the excess dough around the edges - you will need to add it back to the tart when you fill it.  I do not pre-bake this particular recipe.  We mostly eat this right from the cast iron so I’m not looking for perfection and the berry mixture is not very “wet”.

Add the berry mixture to the pie dough and spread it around

Break up the pats of butter and dot them around the berry mixture

Fold the excess dough down over the mixture a bit (see photo)

Bake at 35 - 40 minutes for conventional oven and 30 - 35 if using convection bake

Remove the tart from the oven; let it sit for 20 minutes or so.

Serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or just pour over a little bit of good heavy cream.  It’s also delicious all by itself.

Enjoy.

Treasure Real Food!

Winter Recipes: Easy, Delicious, Comforting

Happy New Year Everyone! 

I hope you all had some time to catch your breath, reflect a bit, and think about the upcoming year.  I am not one for “resolutions” but I do like to think about the big picture once in awhile.  For months now, you have read here the ways in which we are trying to scale down our home and our lives.  Well, this will be the year that we hope to wrap up a great deal of that.  We have found a couple good sources for many of the things we think others could be making use of - instead of being “stored” in our home.  More about our efforts as the year unfolds.

I do hope everyone is “winterized”.  It looks now like we are going to actually have a winter.  I admit that we took our good old time getting the garden and growing beds finalized, the outdoor furniture covered, the rain barrel emptied and shut down and all of the rest. Thankfully, we had taken that time off so we did get the final tasks done last week.  Now - Come on Snow! 

I did lots of cooking over the three weeks that I was off.  I had the opportunity to tweak and adapt and generally play around with some great techniques and recipes.  Also, each winter I go on the hunt for different cream of tomato and grilled cheese recipes.  And again I found a couple!

Here are some of my favorites. I think that they are straightforward and delicious.  And they will warm you up and comfort you.  What more could you ask?

Recipe:  Thomas Keller’s Roasted Chicken Thighs - The “crunch” on these delicious thighs are adapted from the technique Keller uses for roasting a whole chicken.  It uses High Heat and Slow Cooking, but do not worry - they will be perfect!

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  If you have the Convection Roast option, preheat to 425 degrees.

Ingredients

2 whole chicken thighs

4 whole garlic cloves - peeled with ends removed

2 pats of unsalted butter

1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary or parsley or thyme

salt and pepper

Technique

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil

Dry the chicken inside and outside

Place 2 garlic cloves under the skin of each chicken thigh

Place a pat of butter and whatever herb you are using under the skin as well

Pull the chicken skin back securely over the butter, garlic and herbs

Place the chicken legs on the prepared baking sheet

Sprinkle salt all over the chicken

Sprinkle freshly ground pepper all over the chicken 

Roast the chicken for 40 - 45 minutes; if you are using a convection oven, check the chicken at 35 minutes

Let the chicken rest for five minutes

Enjoy

Recipe:  Real Cream of Tomato Soup (adapted from Fannie Farmer) - This soup is so rich and delicious.  Another Tomato Soup recipe that will keep you away from the red can forever.  It freezes well, too.

Ingredients

5 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of chopped onion or leeks (I used leeks last time I made this and loved the flavor)

4 tablespoons of flour

4 cups of whole milk

1/2 bay leaf

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (this prevents your milk from curdling and you won’t notice it)

3 - 4 cups of pureed tomatoes (canned is the easiest way to go here.  Buy really good, local if you can pureed tomatoes)

Technique

Melt the butter in the soup pot

Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat, stirring until the onion is soft but not browned

Sprinkle the flour over the butter/onion mixture and continue to stir for about 2 minutes

Slowly add the milk, bay leaf, and salt and continue to cook and stir

The mixture should be slightly thickened

Add the baking soda to the tomatoes and stir a bit

Add the tomatoes to the milk mixture and bring just to a simmer

Heat through and check seasonings.

Serve immediately or reheat on medium low before serving. 

Enjoy.

Note:  You can use an immersion blender if you want the soup completely smooth.  If you don’t you will have tiny specks of tomato, which I think makes the soup even more lush and delicious.

Recipe:  Ruth Reichl’s Greatest Grilled Cheese Ever.  I have seen Ruth Reichl demonstrate her favorite way to make a grilled cheese sandwich a number of times - basically this is technique, because in my adaptation, you can use any kind of cheese/s that you want.  Another adaptation here is the use of the mayonnaise - it may sound weird, but you will get the crispiest grilled cheese ever!

Ingredients

Good white bread, medium thick slices

2 scallions for two sandwiches

Cheese of your choice - I always use some cheddar; a smoked gouda works really well; a mild blue in the mix will be delicious.  It all depends on what you like and what you have on hand.  The idea is to mix two or three cheeses together

Mayonnaise 

Butter

Technique

Grate the cheese on the large holes of a box grater

Dice the scallions - white and green parts

Mix the grated cheeses and the diced scallions together

Mound the mixture onto two slices of the bread

Melt butter in a skillet

Top the mounded cheeses with the other slice of bread on each sandwich

Brush the top breads with a light film of mayonnaise

Turn the sandwiches over into the melted butter in the hot skillet

While they are browning, brush the tops of the sandwiches with the mayonnaise

Press down a bit on each sandwich and then flip the sandwiches to brown on the other side

Press down as the sandwiches brown

When the cheeses are melted and the bread is browned to your liking, remove the sandwiches to a cutting board

Let the sandwiches sit for just a minute and then slice

Serve with Cream of Tomato soup

Enjoy

Recipe:  Homemade Ricotta.  Adapted from Ina Garten.  This is a great use for left over milk and cream.  It is rich, delicious and extremely versatile.

Ingredients

4 cups of whole milk

2 cups of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

Technique

First put a large strainer over a large bowl and line the strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth 

Pour the milk and cream into a heavy pot and stir in the salt

Bring the mixture to a rolling boil

Stir the mixture occasionally as it comes to a boil

When it comes to a full boil, turn it off, remove from the heat and stir in the vinegar

Let that mixture sit in the pot for about 2 minutes - you will see curds forming

Pour the mixture into the strainer over the bowl

Let the mixture drain for at least 25 minutes

The longer it drains the thicker and drier the cheese will be - I generally let it sit of about 40 minutes

When it is as thick as you want it, remove the cheese in the cheese cloth and put the cheese into a container

Pour the whey from the draining of the cheese into another container

Whey is wonderful for making baked goods, risotto, and sauces - don’t waste it!

Enjoy

Cherish Real Food!

Next Up:  Apple and Pear Sauce Breads 

A Neighborhood Tale

No Recipes.  No Recommendations. No Rants.  Just a little story to share.

People often ask us why we are “urban homesteaders” instead of rural homesteaders (the latter of course being the more traditional).

They say things like, “You like to grow so much; you’d have so much more room”.  Or “you could have chickens and goats and a barn, you know a real little farm”.  Or, “Oh, It’s so much quieter in the county”. “Less people to put up with”.   

And yes - yes that’s all true and we could have all of that and I am sure it would be divine.  Sometimes I think that this life is preparing me for something fabulous just like that in the next.  But, that said, we have made a very conscious choice to stay in the city AND to grow and conserve and become as self sufficient as possible.  In other words it is our goal to become very good urban homesteaders.

There are a lot of reasons why we prefer our urban life.  I have discussed many of those reasons through this Blog.  We are both aware of how much we appreciate having things close by; we like how if we want we can choose to walk places.  We enjoy the restaurants and pubs that are near to us and the various events that take place in our city  - which is, by the way, steeped in “events”.  And we are lucky to live in an area that has been a real thriving, generational neighborhood for hundreds of years!  The history is a big part of our love for the place.  But perhaps the biggest aspect of loving urban life is right here on our own two block area where so many of us have gotten to know each other and have been there for each other through thick and thin (fires, deaths, celebrations, and life in general).  

One of the first thing we realized when we bought our home was that there were a lot of folks around us, some of whom even then fell into the “elderly” category, who had lived their whole lives on these blocks. They had seen hard times in the neighborhood.  Falling housing values, petty crime, and folks moving away.  But they stayed.  And as we moved in - during a housing boom and some needed gentrification - they were again seeing positive changes happening.  We started to call these long time residents, “The Originals”.   We came to that title not just by virtue of their having been here a long time, but also paying homage to their very distinct characters and ways of being.  For the first few years we would stand at one or another neighbor’s stoop (front steps to the uniformed) and listen to tale after tale of things that happened back in the day - always with a bit of gossip thrown in too!

In the past few years one of the Originals has been on a steady decline.  Her advancing age and her serious health issues have taken a toll and she has started to slip into dementia.  In the beginning it sort of came and went.  Some days as she sat in her folding chair catching some sun, the conversation would be clear and current; other days not so much.  Then she stopped sitting outside in her folding chair.

A few nights ago, we noticed flashing red lights on the block.  This particular woman was home alone for a bit (her son lives with her) and in her mind she needed to “break out” and couldn’t get the door unlocked.  So she called 911 numerous times and got everyone to her front door.  But she wouldn’t let anyone in.  As I tried to talk to her through her big living room window (old Philly row houses have windows on the street - something I have always loved) she tried to break the window with a flowerpot.  She wasn’t recognizing me. She was angry and confused and scared.  Our Fire Department was wonderful.  They got in through a side window and then let myself and another neighbor in so that we could sit and wait with her for her son to get home.  Even when our neighbor let one of the fire fighters have it in the butt with a solid baseball like swing of an umbrella (she was telling him to have some respect!) he was as nice and calm as could be. It took about an hour for our neighbor’s son to get back and when he did the decision was made that she needed to go to the hospital.  She had not been taking her medications and she needed help.  She still was putting up a fight so another EMT unit came and she left on a stretcher, still giving everyone a verbal hard time, still not recognizing any of us.  

I walked back to our house and felt tired and sad knowing that this neighbor, this Original,  will probably be spending most of the rest of her days in a facility getting the care she surely needs.  I do hope she gets home for the Christmas Holidays.  She always decorated, and sent us a card and a box of chocolates.  We would buy her a poinsettia. The house looks very lonely now and may for some time depending on what her son’s plans are for it.

I found myself musing over the situation most of the next day as I did weekend chores.  The sadness of not being able to stay “where you were planted”.  The sadness of being taken away for the remaining days of your life, when clearly you were so rooted somewhere.  The sadness lingered as I reminded myself of the Circle of Life.  We get to know people and we reach out and interact with our neighbors with no actual guarantee of how long we will see and chat with them.  Frankly, for awhile there I was just finding it hard to see the good things.

That next evening, our doorbell rang and it was another one of our “Original” neighbors.  She was at the door holding two huge shopping bags.  Of course, our dogs were howling and jumping around and fussing (I find it a miracle anyone actually comes in our front door!).  As she tentatively entered she put the bags down in front of her.  “Do you like Nutcrackers?” she asked.  Without even waiting for Pat to have a chance to reply, I said, “Oh yes.  I had one once and I lost it.  They are great”.  She then proceeded to tell us that for years she collected Nutcrackers and displayed them at the holidays in her front window and in her home.  She said that she hadn’t done that in a long time now. It was just getting to be too much for her.  She relayed that for many years now her Nutcrackers had remained packed up and stored in a closet (in their original boxes I might add).  

Then she asked if we would like to have her collection!  Her words were something to the effect of, “I see that you enjoy your home and take good care of it and you have people over, and I know you decorate for the holidays.  They should be out so people can see them and enjoy them.  I want you to have them.”

I am not sure if it was the way in which she was honoring us, the events of the night before, or just the season, but I was speechless.  We both were.  That’s not something that happens very often. I could feel tears welling up and I know that I stammered more than I spoke clearly.  I kept thanking her and assuring her that they would have places of honor for the holidays and would be taken great care of when they weren’t displayed.

Now, as those who know us well know, we tend to decorate for the holidays slowly and start a bit later than a lot of folks.  We do not get our decorations out and our tree up right after Thanksgiving.  We like to wait a bit, until we are really in the spirit of the season.  But that next evening, we did some window washing and three of our new Nutcrackers were placed in our front window; the others were placed at various spots around our home.  I am thinking I may rotate them so that folks who walk by get to see all of them.  As I write, an Old Time Santa Claus is flanked by Marie Antoinette and King Louis in all of their finery.  I occasionally catch people who are walking by, look up and see the trio and smile.  Yes.  They do need to be where people can enjoy them.  And they shall be as long as we are around.

Could all of the above have taken place in a rural setting?  Of course.  But I am never going to find out.  Cities of neighborhoods, like Philadelphia, are treasures to be carefully nurtured and maintained and loved.  They are, in some areas of our country, gone forever.  We can’t imagine that happening here.  And so we remain very lucky to have known our “Originals” and  to have this opportunity to be urban homesteaders.  Sometimes “self sustaining” is doing what you can on your own to sustain your home;  sometimes it’s doing for each other to sustain your neighborhood.

Love this place.  Love these people.  Happy Holidays Everyone!

Gypsy Stew: A Story and a Delicious Main Dish

                                     

                                                      A Bowl of Gypsy Stew

We got an idea at the end of last week to make a recipe we hadn't made in quite some time. Don't you love when you remember an old favorite and then set out to make it? 

I thought it would be fun to ask folks on The Philly Foodist Facebook page if they had made this great old recipe - or at least if they had eaten it.  No one had! So here it is.  At this time of year it is perfect. The recipe makes a lot; it's soothing and delicious for these hectic days getting ready for and celebrating Holidays; and it is really cost effective. 

The backstory, by the way, involves tales of folks moving from place to place, living on the road, needing to feed many hungry mouths and not having a whole lot of money. Thus, they decided to create a communal feast, a and would ask each diner to contribute an ingredient.  

I give you Gypsy Stew! 

Note:  this recipe requires a little bit of work, but it is so worth it!  

Ingredients

1 Whole Stewing Chicken (preferably range raised/drug free)

2 quarts of low salt chicken stock

6 medium yellow onions, peeled and quartered

6 whole tomatoes (we've always used canned - a 16 oz can' minus the liquid - save that for something else - is perfect), halved or quartered depending on size

1 bottle of dry sherry - cheap dry sherry. Definitely cheap! Don't go all high end, the flavor will not be the same.  We use Christian Brothers Dry Sherry

3/4 pound block of sharp, white cheddar cheese, cut into thick slices

6-8 pepperocini peppers (the whole ones in the jar are perfect), stems removed, cut in half

Good crusty bread

Technique

Put the chicken and the onions in a very large pot - make sure you have plenty of room to add all of the stock. (Voice of experience speaking here) - leave plenty or space

Add all of the chicken stock

Add half of the bottle of dry sherry

Put a lid on the pot, bring the contents to a boil over medium high heat

Reduce to a simmer and simmer for an hour - check occasionally to be sure it does not start to boil

After the hour, remove the chicken to a bowl (so you can be sure to collect all of the juices) and let it cool

While the chicken is cooling, add the tomatoes, the other half of the bottle of sherry, and the peppers to the broth - put the lid on the pot and turn the heat off

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut the wings off, cut the thigh and leg pieces off - separate the legs from the thigh, cut the thigh in half

Remove the breasts from the bones and cut each breast in thirds

Pick any other visible chicken from the bones

Put all of the chicken back into the pot with any juices that have collected in the bowl

Bring the pot to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for at least an hour (this is a very flexible recipe, cooking time wise; at least an hour on the simmer but if you need to, just leave it on simmer for two hours) 

Check it occasionally - do not allow it to boil!

To serve: if you have them, use wide pasta bowls or soup bowls (see above); lay slices of bread with slices of cheddar cheese on top of the bread and layer the hot stew over the bread slices. Have more bread and cheddar available. Enjoy. And you will. This recipe makes a lot of Gypsy Stew (see below). Believe me, You will find yourself craving it. There is no way to accurately explain here the aroma and the flavor of the broth and the chicken and then the melting cheddar.  It's truly heavenly. 

          Leftovers

For Bill - wherever you are. Thank you for this. 

Cherish Real Food!