LoveFeast Table

Last Saturday, my family and I attended the wedding of our good friends Diana and Cliff.  I wish all of you could’ve been there.  It was one of the most beautiful examples of Love Feast I have ever witnessed.  They live in one of the ghettos of Baltimore City.  They chose to live there.  When they were planning their wedding, they knew without a doubt, they wanted it to be an open invitation to all their neighbors.

We all know, most weddings are events for family and friends of the bride and groom.  Everyone dresses to the nines, fine food is prepared and the environment is transformed to reflect that of fairy tales.

I was asked to help plan this wedding.  As I met with Diana and Cliff, I quickly understood what they wanted to do…they wanted it to cook it up, Love Feast Style!  The park was a run down area in the middle of their neighborhood.  They tried to track down the “rightful” owners to obtain a permit.  Not even the city wanted to claim ownership.  They decided to press forward.  They ordered the tables, chairs, linens and a port a potty.  For food, they wanted their neighbors to really enjoy what was served.  They found a true soul food caterer and had her prepare baked chicken, meatballs, macaroni and cheese (the best I’ve ever had!), green beans and incredibly moist corn bread!  They asked the caterer to serve the guests and to bring containers for leftovers to be given out to any one who asked.  Diana’s dress was beautiful.  The bridesmaids were stunning.  The men even cleaned up nice!  When thinking about decorations, Diana and Cliff decided to keep it simple.  The reality was, they were in an urban setting with poverty all around.  The thing that would bring beauty to this place, was the people…the Love Feast.

We arrived the morning of the wedding and filled many trash bags.  We set up tables and chairs.  Placed teapots full of bright red roses all around.  We heated up the coffee and got to know the caterers.  Around noon, the place began to fill up.  There was family in from California, trying to stay warm.  Other family hailed from close to the Antarctic…they were loving the warm weather!  The neighbors began to join in.  Some didn’t know what was going on.  One guy asked me if this was a movie set.  “Why would any one want to get married here?  In this run down park?” I said, “This is their neighborhood and Cliff and Diana want to celebrate with their neighbors.”  I think most people didn’t know what to expect.  There were homeless people there.  Hungry people there.  Drug addicts there.  Kids, grandmoms and teenagers there.  There were business owners, unemployed and baristas there.

As the ceremony began and we all took our seats, I glanced around at every table.  Every table had a different story to tell.  Each table was blended.

The day went on and we all shared in the food.  We enjoyed each others company.  We participated in a Love Feast.

This is what this blog and our journey is all about.

Honestly, I didn’t know what Cherimoyas were a week ago. The Minneapolis Tribune did a tiny “meet and greet” this fruit article. So, I thought it would be the perfect “food toy” (see our definition of a food toy at the end of this post) purchase. At $9.99 a pound, it wouldn’t be my everyday go-to fruit! But, for “the blog” I went to hunt them out. Two grocery stores later, I found them high on a shelf at Byerly’s. When I went to pay for them, nobody knew what they were and it sent managers and check- out people a flutter as to what to charge me. They decided that $2.99/lb. seemed fairer than $9.99/lb. I was agreeable to this version of Minnesota Nice.

We waited until they were slightly dark brown and just a little soft to the touch. I sliced them through and scooped out the white flesh. We ate ours for dessert on top of Sweet Sticky Rice, along with mango and kiwi. A great tropical getaway at your own table!

Friends of ours decided to get married…a bit on the fly.  So, after we attended their spontaneous ceremony, we “flew” into action.  We wanted to make their day special.  I went to a favorite Baltimore spot, Pazo.  I wanted to make reservations, make sure the tab was charged to me and give them a heads up that this was a special evening.  Ingrid, the dining room manager, knew just what to do!  She reserved a table and made a note to add on complimentary glasses of champagne.  I left knowing that my friend’s night was in good hands.

They arrived for dinner and said everyone was already clued into their wedding!  They were treated like royalty and enjoyed every aspect of their meal!  (And on a side note, my brother proposed to my now sister in law, at Pazo.  Their experience was just as incredible!)

I can’t tell you how hard it is to find restaurants who really understand the art of hospitality!   Pazo, on the other hand,  has an incredible knack for making all guests feel at home and welcomed.  It’s not stuffy or pretentious.  It is special. The food is always good, the smells alluring and the sights enough to feed your visual appetite!

So, the next time you are looking for just the right restaurant, for a special occasion (or not), and you want to know that from start to finish you will not be disappointed, don’t hesitate to make reservations at Pazo.  They truely have raised the bar for the rest of the Baltimore restaurants!

When I read the Amateur Gourmet’s post on Tuna Noodle Casserole, which included a challenge to reinvent it,  I thought “ick” why bother!  It had been years since I had made it.  I remember it being annoyingly crunchy on the side, or too sour, or too dry, or too mushy, or too tuna-y.  It is not something the peaks excitement around my house as an answer to “what’s for dinner?” either. A few days later  I went to one of my favorite restaurants, Lucia’s.   Picking up something from the takeout side of Lucia’s restaurant is one of my favorite lunches to have.  I chose a container of Lori Callister Free Range Chicken Salad with Cumin Lime Vinaigrette.  It was mixed with wide slices of celery, cherry tomatoes, and fresh cilantro.  It was delish.  Strangely, though it made me think of the Tuna Fish Casserole challenge.  Now that’s just wrong.  Apparently, the challenge of reinventing  Tuna Fish casserole lingered with me.   After all, I grew up in the midwest, and I should be able to rise to the occasion of a  hotdish-challenge. Lucia’s chicken salad brought some “what if’s” to mind.  Like, what if I switched out the chicken for tuna?  And, what if I tried to nearly copy her spices and ingredients?  I say nearly, because I am so certain that a James Beard winning restaurant has some secrets that aren’t revealed.  Also, what if I topped it with potato chips so hot, they were named after Death Valley?   So, here is my recipe inspired by Lucia’s and as imagined and concocted in my kitchen.  This is not your childhood favorite, but might be worth trying at least once! 1 package spiral noodles 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup 2 cans of tuna 1/4 cup mayo sliced celery chopped red and yellow bell peppers Fresh cillantro Cumin Bake 350 degrees for 35 minutes Add  topping:  Bake another 10 minutes. Grated Cheddar Cheese Lime Zest Crunched potatoe chips, Kettle Brand in flavor Death Valley Chipotle “Revolutionize” your casserole?  Tell us how!

Every year, on March 17th, my mom would get the corn beef and potatoes boiling, the cabbage steaming and the Irish soda bread baking.  She would add a bit of green food coloring to the kids milk.  Not knowing a good Irish dessert, she faithfully made creme de menthe brownies.  As simple as the meal was, we always looked forward to it!  I wanted to share my favorite part of the meal with you guys today!  Irish Soda Bread!  For those of you who shy away from ever making bread, this is considered a quick bread.  This bread does not contain yeast, so it does not have to rise.  It’s simple and yields results that will not disappoint even the fiercest of critics!  So, for a very lucky St. Patrick’s Day, pour a guiness and add this recipe to your menu!!!

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

Heat oven to 350 F.                                                                                                                          Combine following dry ingredients in a bowl:

2 C. whole wheat flour

1 1/2 C. white flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 C. sugar

Cut 1 Tbls. of cold butter into small pieces then cut into the flour mixture.

Add 1 3/4 C. buttermilk and stir to combine

Lightly flour a surface and gently knead to form a round loaf.  Place on a baking sheet.  Cut a large cross in the top of the dough and put in oven for 1 hour.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving.  But, this is best eaten fresh!!

Grandma Bessie’s kitchen was always warm.   I remember looking up to the white oven and being shooed away and warned of the heat as I came in through the back door.  In the winter, we came in the back door because often the front porch was covered up in plastic to seal out the North Dakota cold.  That back door led to what Grandma called the back porch, which was merely really a small hallway to enter the house.  To the left, inside the back porch, was a small dresser, lined on top with a row of silver coffee cans filled with wax paper and mostly homemade cookies.  The first chance I got, once I was in Grandma’s house, I would peel back each plastic lid, to see what was inside each can.  When I was very little there were lots of choices:  chocolate chip, crumbly peanut butter printed with the back of a fork, sometimes oatmeal raisin, a sugar topped gingersnap, a cakey molasses cookie with sour cream frosting, and always store bought Cameo cookies.  Now that I am older, I am amazed at how well prepared she was for guests and grandchildren.  Grandma Bessie was also resourceful and inventive.  She made dish towels and placemats out of old flour sack and crocheted the edges.  Another thing she did was bake her banana bread in a silver coffee can; a can just like the ones she stored the cookies in.  That is the one trick I learned from my Grandma Bessie’s kitchen.

So, when I was reading a food blog I like called Whipped, I found a recipe called My Favorite Banana Bread Recipe.  I was looking for a replacement one, since my standby with oatmeal was boring me.  This one calls for real butter, and I used the good stuff.  The only thing I did differently was I baked it in an old coffee can, like Grandma Bessie use to do.  I baked it 70 minutes, a little longer than suggested, probably because of the can.  I greased the can with butter and flour Pam spray.  It popped out just fine!

Do you have a trick you learned from your Grandma’s kitchen?  Please share!

I was sound asleep at my sister’s house.  I had gone to her beach house to attend her baby shower!  When my cell phone rang.  Coming out of my sleepy haze, I let voicmail pick it up.  I called to retrieve the message and my neighbor was checking in to see if everything was okay.  “I see the police and firetruck at your house and I just wanted to make sure everyone was alright.”  I jolted up in my bed, what?!  Now, I knew that tonight my husband was at home, without kids (except our teenage son) or wife and had planned a “boy’s night”!  Boy’s night is all about meat on the grill, including the testicles of the lamb Devon and Bouchaib had butchered, cigars, scotch and fire pit.  My sister’s house was very quiet with everyone sound asleep, so I texted my husband.  “Why are the police and firemen at our house?”  The reply he sent, “How did you know?”  After many exchanges of texts, I found out what happened.  One of our neighbors had called 911 to report the boy’s firepit.

(Let me just set the record straight, we’ve had a fire pit for three years and have never had a problem.  Devon was told that a permit is required in Baltimore city.  So, I wasn’t there to see or hear if that fire was a bit bigger than the pit…or if the boy’s night was getting a bit loud..my hubby says it was fine and they were just having fun.)

Once the firemen accessed the situation and realized they had disruppted a sacred,  gathering of the men folk, they sheepishly apologized and told the boys thay had to extinquish the fire.  “Guys, we’re sorry…don’t let this stop you from drinkin your beer and eating your meat…continue!  But, because we got called, you have to put it out.”  My husband turned on our hose, but is was frozen.  He couldn’t put it out.  So, being protectors of the law, the firemen dragged their hoses to the top of our street, hooked them up, and extinguished the fire with a “man sized” piece of equipment!  It was the perfect ending to, what I hear, was a near perfect evening.

For those of you who are wondering, only three guys stepped up to the plate to sample the grilled lamb balls.  My husband (how could he not lead by example), his brother (could not be out done by his older sibling) and Cliff (a friend who spent most his life in the Antartic) were the only partakers.  When described…Devon said, “It had the texture of tofu and took on the flavors of cumin, salt and pepper.”  All three said they’d probably never eat it again!  Maybe next time they’ll try a more sophisticated recipe!

About two weeks ago, my husband woke up at the crack of dawn to go with our good friend Bouchaib to a farm about an hour away.  Bouchaib and Devon had been planning this trip for many weeks.  Bouchaib is Muslim and he and his family go to this farm to get their halal meat.  We thought halal was a religious ceremony, similar to kosher.  On the drive to the farm, Devon found out from Bouchaib halal means to kill the animal yourself.

So, they got to the farm and went to a pen full of lambs.  They were all tagged with prices, according to their weight.  Devon chose one in our price range and Bouchaib stepped in to get down to work.  For those of you who are vegetarians, you may want to stop reading here.  We don’t mean to offend.  We were on an exploration of understanding Bouchaib and his Moroccan culture.

Bouchaib cut the neck of the lamb in accordance to halal standards.  He then…well, even though I’m not vegetarian, I don’t know that I can share all the details…let’s just say, he cleaned the lamb and butchered it.

Now, Devon found out that every piece of the lamb is used in Bouchaib’s home…every piece!  Devon, being from America, where we tend to go to a nice clean grocery store and pick out cherry red cuts of meat, nicely cryovaced in glistening plastic, wasn’t too sure what to do with the skin, hooves, head, intestines…well, you get the picture!  So, Bouchaib assembled his bag, taking the “choicest” of pieces and left Devon with the rest!  Devon did choose the testicles of the animal, because he was planning a special guy’s night, with grilling, fire pits, apple juice and cigars.  He figured it would be a great way to discover who was the manliest…fear factor style!

Devon left the farm with a freezer full of meat.  We spent about a quarter of what we would’ve if we had bought the meat at the grocery store…and it is fresher!  (for sure!)

I did a bit more research into the meaning of halal…and one thing I discovered, if Devon had done the butchering himself, it wouldn’t be considered halal.  A Muslim has to do the slaughtering.  So, the next time we go to the farm, we plan on taking our dear friend Bouchaib with us again!

My sister-n-law, Kim, who I think will forgive me for sneaking a look into the cookbook Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, that gave I her as a gift, has read the cookbook cover to cover.  She also has agreed to submit to a lie detector test has agreed to an interview.  Kim is in the beginning stages of launching her own baking company.  Let’s see where she gets her inspiration!

What is your favorite food memory? Um, learning to make chocolate chip cookies in 4-H.  We had to measure all the ingredients into butter dishes.  That is my first memory of being taught how to bake.

What inspired you to start your business? I love to bake for myself, my family, and other’s enjoyment.  So many of my friends don’t bake because they can’t, don’t know how, don’t like to, or don’t have the time to.  Store-bought has become the staple at every event and I want to bring homemade back to home.

What’s your three favorite kitchen tools? My kitchen-aid mixer, my apple/slicer/corer gadget, and my hand chopper.

What have you made from the Baked cookbook so far? The Peanut Butter Cookies With Milk Chocolate Chunks, page 140, completely awesome!  The Chocolate Chip Cookies, page 139, not your average chocolate chip cookie.  And, the Peanut Butter Krispie Bars, page 133, super yummy intense adult rice krispie bars, delicious!  A sugar rush!

What do you want to make next from Baked? Black Forest Chocolate Cookies, the Baked Brownie, and the Rootbeer Bundt Cake.

What would you like to learn next? I’d like to take a food science class, to learn the ins and outs of how ingredients interact, so I can formulate my own recipes with less trial and error.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?  Or, where would you like to be? I’d like to have my business up and running.  I’d like to have a retail location where I can bake and teach classes for kids and adults.

If you were going to ask the owners and writer of Baked anything-what would it be? What do you think the key to consistency is, as you start to hirer and expand, to maintain your same quality product.

What kind of satisfaction do you get from baking? Personally, therapeutic, for me it’s relaxing.  When I was younger, and in high school, if there was something going on, you could tell, because I would make a pan of brownie or cookies.  When I bake for others, there is nothing more satisfying than hearing, that was really good!

If you were going to eat your last dessert, what would it be? A hot skillet cookie.  It’s a hot chocolate chip cookie, warmed or cooked on a cast iron skillet, served with icecream and hot fudge suace, whipped cream, with toasted almonds on top.