Archive for the 'Domesticity' Category

Living with Love

Published
by
Garnet David
on January 11, 2008
in Buddhist Thinking, Domesticity, Healing, Inspiration and Spirituality
. 5 Comments

Love FlowerI just brushed one of my cats before letting him out. At first I did it without thinking, then I let myself relish the pleasure of connecting with this little soul and giving him pleasure while grooming him.

Whatever you do, do it with love. By that I mean do it as if it were the only time you do it, perhaps the last time. We all live as if there is ALWAYS another chance, which there usually is. However, living fully means expressing the poignant urgency, the wistful beauty of each moment, without bitterness, as it passes us.

We tend to see every event in terms of what it isn’t. We measure and parse accordingly, allowing happiness when something happens which averages better that usual. But that’s not the way it really is. Each moment is unique. Live to that idea and you will live fully.

Weep with your whole being when there is great loss. Smile with your whole self when life offers a gift, as it so often does.

Write your name on today, a gift you will never get again in the very same way.

Ratatouille!

Published
by
Garnet David
on July 11, 2007
in Culture and Domesticity
. 0 Comments

Ratatouille ingredientsIf you love food, go see the movie. It’s a sweet, meaningful story about a rat who has a gift for cooking and who ends up in a famous French restaurant. As usual, Pixar creates a beautiful animated world. There’s lots of fun voice acting, especially by Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens) and Peter O’Toole.

And I LOVE the dish ratatouille. It’s one of the first things I learned to make. What’s great about it is its flexibility. Once you have any combination of the basic ingredients you can do just about any proportions and it turns out nicely. Lots of room for creativity, which I love.

Ratatouille!The veggies are the usual Summer bumper crop: tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, onions, garlic. The spices are all the basics: thyme and oregano, though the mix called “Herbes de Provence” is the traditional, colorful flavor mix. Sauté it all in wonderful olive oil and, voilá! It can be served alone or with rice or on bread or stuffed in crêpes. I like to top it with some yummy mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and broil it to bubbly perfection.

The way it’s prepared in the movie looks like art and I want to try it that way someday, with rows of thinly sliced veggies lined up and drenched in some savory sauce. Even though it’s just animation, the dish looks delicious.

Smoked Turkey Soup

Published
by
Garnet David
on December 1, 2006
in Domesticity
. 3 Comments

Of course, after Thanksgiving, I had to make soup with the carcass. I decided to make it a spicy, Cajun style. I make a pot of wild rice and set it aside. In a big pot I sautéed some garlic and onions, added a bunch of veggies, including carrots, eggplant, cabbage (savoy), celery. I used some powdered veggie stock to flavor the broth, but added a bunch of a salt free Cajun spice mix my sister gave me. (most Cajun spice mixes are FULL of salt) Plus I added some fresh oregano I had leftover from the week before. Oregano is a universal spice. It goes with everything savory. Then I added a pinch of star anise powder, which is quite fragrant and sweet. I did this to sweeten the spicy flavor. I added a bunch of water and plopped in the turkey, meat left on it and all. (This was only a turkey breast, still plenty big)

After the soup was done simmering an hour or so, I turned it off and removed the carcass to let it cool and remove the meat. I then added the meat back to the soup and added the cooked rice. I had to season it a bit more with cayenne and salt, but it was wonderful! The subtle smoked turkey flavor tasted great with the spicy flavors.

Update on Smoking a Turkey

Published
by
Garnet David
on November 26, 2006
in Domesticity
. 0 Comments

It tasted gorgeous. (The salmon was even better!) I recommend a smoker to anyone. For a 5 lb breast it took about 5 hours. The way it works is to steam the meat with smoke flavor. It wasn’t dry. It wasn’t too salty, as some smoked meat is. It wasn’t even that smoky and had a subtle, fresh cooked flavor. I also added some wood chips directly to the heating elements, which added a bit more real smoke taste.

Smoked Turkey

Published
by
Garnet David
on November 22, 2006
in Domesticity
. 4 Comments

This week I borrowed a smoker from a friend. I’ve wanted one in the past, but resisted, wondering if I would use it. Now I can give it a try. I plan to smoke a turkey breast. I’m using hickory chips, purchased at the local store, nothing special. I’ll add some bourbon to the water and perhaps a lemon rind. Since there are two racks to smoke on in the model I borrowed, I thought I’d try smoking a piece of fresh salmon. I’m not a huge fan of fish, but I LOVE smoked fish. So here goes. I’ll let you know how they turned out.

For Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll be serving smoked ham, which I get fresh from a local meat farmer, “BluesCreek Farms Meats“. They raise most of their own meat, free range and healthy. They also do their own smoking. Now I know you’re asking “Why’d he smoking everything”? (I’ve been asking myself that since I was in High School, but I can’t remember why. Ha-ha.) It’s become my tradition to have a ham, since turkey is not my favorite. So smoked turkey sounded appetizing.

For veggies; I found a sale on potatoes, so TONS of garlic-chive mashed potatoes will be on the menu. Acorn squash is a favorite of mine. But after years of preparing it with maple syrup and butter, I’m going to season it with walnuts, Parmesan cheese, fresh rosemary and thyme. There will be NO STUFFING this year. My dinner, my menu. Tradition, Shmadition. I will, however, serve one traditional dish: green beans baked with mushroom sauce. The mushroom sauce will be from scratch, with cream, butter and sherry for richness.

The best part of the meal will be: a huge, luscious, gorgeous, mouthwatering, SALAD! It will include escarole (a touch bitter), romaine, crunchy fennel bulb (anise flavor), roasted beets, cucumber, carrots, avocado, canned (oh my god) mandarin oranges (always loved those as a kid), candied walnuts, and a garlic balsamic vinaigrette. (garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, French mustard, maple syrup, thyme, salt, pepper)

Oh, and dessert will include homemade key lime pie. Made with real key limes; I love squishing all those cute little green balls for the pie! And a friend will make his to die for apple pie.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.