North Shore Chicken Salad

I can't help but be reminded of my time in Minnesota every time I eat wild rice. I love it... just like I loved the lakes, my northern friends and yes, even the cold and snow. This recipe is from Celebrated Seasons, a Cookbook by the Junior League of Minneapolis. It's a bit time consuming but worth it. Yummm!

Dressing 
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBS. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt 
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. ground pepper 
1/4 cup rice vinegar (I use tarragon) 
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use olive oil) 

Salad
4 cups cooked wild rice juice of lemon 
1 whole chicken breast, cooked and cubed 
3 gr. onions, including tops, sliced 
1/2 red pepper, diced 
2 oz. of pea pods cut into 1" slices 
1 cup toasted pecan halves 
1-2 ripe avocados

Directions
Dressing: Combine all ingredients in a food processor; blend thoroughly. Salad: Toss warm rice with lemon juice in a large bowl; cool. Add chicken,onions, peppers and pea pods. Toss with dressing, cover and regrigerate 2-4 hours. Just before serving, add pecans and avocados. Toss gently. Garnish with lettuce leaves. 

Serves 6.

California Rice

An old standby side dish - easy to prepare the night before. Leftovers are great rolled up in a tortilla and microwaved for a fast and tasty breakfast!

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup plu 2 TBS uncooked white rice 
1 cup sour cream 
1 cup cottage cheese 
1 teaspoon basil 
1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper 
3 4 oz. cans of chopped green chilies 
2 cups cheddar cheese

Directions
Saute onions in butter. Cook rice. Add all ingredients together. Pour into 9 X 12 casserole dish (I have used a smaller, deeper version as well). Cook at 375 degrees, 25 minutes. Serves 8-10.

I love Kansas City

I went for a Sunday drive last night, literally. Out for ice cream. Delivering a few graduation gifts. Running a few errands. Along the way, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful my hometown is. Perhaps I was so keenly aware of it in the aftermath of the destruction left by the Joplin tornado. Maybe it was because my architect husband was with me, and he pointed out all the interesting buildings that continue to spring up around our neighborhood. Kansas City is richly blessed with a great architectural community. Maybe it was because I worked in the garden earlier in the day, and the bouquet of hydrangeas from the yard had been recently arranged in my favorite room (the kitchen). Despite a less than ideal spring, Kansas City has four seasons that deliver amazing landscapes and the flowers now blooming are glorious. The aroma from the orange tree on my patio offers simple pleasures that I am most grateful for.

When I hear in the news about the number of people around the world who have left their homelands because of political strife, economic necessity or environmental disasters, I can only wonder what that must be like. How sad it must be to miss the familiar comforts of home! How fortunate I am to live in a beautiful city that feels safe and has so much to offer. I know it is not a perfect place, but it is home to me and I love it.

Lessons from my Mother - Part II

Later this week, it will be Mother’s Day, so appropriate that I would think and write about my own mother, and all that I have learned from her. I have learned much more from her than just the joy of cooking. She was and is, first and foremost, a caretaker. I watched her effortlessly raise five children (or so it seemed). She was always our best advocate; our steadfast cheerleader; a rock-solid foundation for bad hairdays (you look fine), failed tests (you’ll do better next time) or lost loves (it’s his loss). I watched her love and care for my father until his much-to-soon dying day. I watched her tenderly care for my grandmother, helping her gracefully through the last stage of her long and fruitful life. She is my role model for being a mother, a wife and a daughter.

And she taught me, by example, how to be a friend. I grew up watching how she has nurtured the many friendships in her life. One in particular stands out -- her childhood friendship with Sally, from Lebanon, Missouri. Sally and my mother were friends for 70+ years. Through thick and thin. Husbands and children. Living together or thousands of miles apart. Vacations, phone calls, letters. It was what I grew up with, and what has no doubt shaped my own wonderful, lifetime friendships. What a legacy those two have left me. What a gift.

So this week, I honor my mother, for the many life lessons she taught me. And I honor her friend Sally. For the two of them have shown me how lifelong friendships transpire over time and how they spice up our lives beyond measure.

Seafood Gumbo
(a spicy dish from Sally Milstead; first tasted on Wolf Bay off the coast of Alabama)

3-4 Tbs. butter
5 Tbs. flour
6 cups water
2.5 lbs. raw shrimp
1 lb. andouille sausage, cooked and sliced
2.5 cups chopped onions
1 bell pepper, diced
2 pkgs. cut frozen okra
5 + bay leaves (depending on size)
2 large cans diced tomatos
1 can tomato paste
5 Tbs. Worcheshire Sauce
1 teas. soy sauce
4-5 shakes Tabasco Sauce
2.5 Tbs. salt
½ Tbs. pepper
½ Tbs. parsley flakes
½ teas. celery seed
½ teas. tarragon, thyme, rosemary and savory
2 lb. lump crab meat

Directions: Steam or grill andouille, slice and set aside. Make roux with butter and flour (and any grease from sausage). Slowly add water. Add all other ingredients, including andouille, and cook slowly for 3 hours. Add crabmeat just before serving.

Serve with rice (or not) and a big loaf of crusty bread.

Lessons from my Mother - Part I

My mother did not teach me how to boil an egg or roast a turkey. She did not teach me how to blanch asparagus, make a roux or grow basil in my backyard. She did not teach me to make homemade vinergrettes or how to peel a mango. All these things I learn after I left home. But she did teach me the most import lesson of all - the joy of cooking.

While her cooking was done of necessity (seven mouths to feed, seven nights a week), she did it with grace and skill and love. Our dinner table was the heart of the household - and family and friends were always treated to good food and fun. There was laughter and learning --sprinkled with a few arguments no doubt -- over the course of the years. But always, it was the meal that anchored us. Good simple meals. Bar-B-Q Brisket. Grilled hamburgers. Lasagna. Artichokes dripping with butter. Homemade macaroni and cheese. The list could go on and on. And while I may not be recreating her exact method of preparation, I have tried for the same result: nurturing family and friends with food for their bellies and their souls. What a better place to begin than with a fresh, fruit pie.

Berry Pie
adapted from Joy of Cooking

Basic Pie Dough
Sift together :
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teas. salt

Measure and combine
⅔ cup chilled shortening (I use Crisco)
2 tbs. chilled butter

Cut the shortening and the butter in to the flour mixture with a pastry blender, or work it in lightly with a fork until it has the consistency of peas. Work at it a little at a time. Then, sprinkle the dough with:

4 tbs. water (If needed, you can add a touch more water)

Separate into halves (for a double crust pie) and refrigerate for about one hour. Bring to room temp before rolling out.

Filling:
3 cups black berries, 1 cup strawberries; sliced
⅔ cup - 1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 ½ tbs. of lemon juice or ½ teas. cinnamon (I used both!)

Pour mixture into pie pan lined with crust. Dot with butter. Add top layer of crust. Crimp edges. Make several small slits in the top to let the steam escape. Use pasty brush and brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350° and bake 45 minutes or until juice bubbles through and crust is lightly browned (I sometimes need to turn heat up in the end to promote browning).

Let cool before serving. Enjoy!

P.S. My mother did teach me how to roll out a pie crust!

Eleanor and Andy. Two smart cookies.

I recently sent a belated congratulations card to a young college graduate, with a quote on it from Eleanor Roosevelt that said, "Do one thing every day that scares you." The very next week, as my nephew moved to New York City, I gave him a card with some advice from Andy Warhol - "They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." As I reflect on the meaning of both messages, I realized my twenty-something loved ones should actually have sent those cards to me! Young people (typically) are much more willing to take a risk (change jobs) or do something daring (move). They are much more willing to embrace change (Facebook) or try something new (tatoos). It's ME that needs to heed my own advice. I don't want to get swept up in the proverbial current of change, with no control over my own destination. And I don't want to drown. So I better figure out what I can do to make the changes that will enhance my life. In my fifties, in my sixties, etc. etc. It's a lifelong endeavor. Even if I stumble. Even if it is scary. Thanks Francis and Randy, for leading me to Eleanor and Andy.

Brown Sugar "Cookie" Bars
(an old family favorite, great for graduation or going away parties)

Crust
1 Cup Flour
2 T. Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
(Cut butter in to flour & sugar; pat into crust in a 9 X 5 pan; bake 325° for 10-12 minutes)

Filling
2 Beaten Eggs
3 T. Flour
1 T. Vanilla
1 Cup Coconut
1.5 Cup Brown Sugar
.5 teasp. Baking Powder
1 T. White Karo
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
(Mix all ingredients and pour onto cooled crust; bake 30 minutes at 325°; let cool and cut into small squares)

Slumps Happen. What's a Girl To Do?

It's April, and that means baseball season is officially here. As a true blue Royals fan, that always comes with some trepidation. What will this year be like? Will I sit through game after game of 7th inning disasters? Will I see the starting pitchers walk player after player? Will I witness promising young hitters slide into a slump? Most likely, yes. Because slumps happen. To all of us, on and off the field. At any time. Perhaps when we least expect it. Perhaps for no known reason. And just like struggling baseball players, each of us need help to pull us through the slumps of life. I've been through one just recently, and I'm grateful for my "coaches". I'm grateful for my walking buddies, for my steadfast husband (my number one fan), for my long-distance girlfriend who feels like she's right next door, for my parents who gave me the foundation to know that faith and hard work will win the day, for my lunch bunch who knows me inside and out, and for my siblings who somehow knew what I needed without me ever asking. In this case, food was not the answer. It was about friendship and love, support and advise, new tools in my tool belt. In the big scheme of things, my slump didn't last too long. Now, if only the Royals could be so lucky.