Several weeks ago, before it got pizza oven hot outside and we were all planning what we are grilling for the fourth of July, I had experienced a genuine Julia triumph. Since the film debut of “Julie & Julia” I’ve wanted to make Julia’s French Onion Soup. I gave it a try last year using a recipe I found on the web that touted itself as “based on Julia Child’s recipe.” (Note to self: beware of culinary disclaimers “based on,” it’s a real game changer). The resulting soup was just okay, edible, but nothing to write home about and certainly not worth repeating. This left me discouraged, wanting more and wondering…what was different about Julia’s recipe? I added “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” to my Christmas list; I now wanted the real thing in my quest for French Onion Soup perfection. With Julia’s tutelage in hand, I set about making the perfect pot of French Onion Soup…I must confess, I started to waver over 3 tablespoons of cognac, really what was I going to do with the rest of the bottle? Then those two little words drifted back into my mind “based on.” That “faux” Julia recipe didn’t have cognac…I quickly reined myself back in and committed to staying true to Julia’s recipe. With fingers crossed (ever tried to sauté onions with your fingers crossed? It’s not easy) I again embarked upon my quest for the perfect French Onion Soup. I painstakingly followed each step, carefully measured & re-measured my ingredients and waited…patiently (okay, somewhat patiently) for those onions to caramelize. People, I am here to tell you, my patience was rewarded and, yes, those three tablespoons of cognac made all the difference. After just one bite my sweet husband proclaimed this “the best French Onion Soup I’ve ever tasted.” Thank you, Julia, I will never, ever trust a “based on” recipe again and will never question whether “just three tablespoons” of something is worth it. Clearly, it is.
This Julia triumph bolstered my confidence and turned my thoughts to other dishes I wanted to cook, but had never tried for one reason of the other. These thoughts developed into a culinary bucket list of sorts, things I really want to make in my lifetime, but haven’t:
• Lobster stuffed beef tenderloin; I came across this recipe almost 20 years ago in “Dining by Fireflies,” from the Junior League of Charlotte. I immediately wanted to try it, really, how delicious must that be? Yep, been meaning to try that for 20 years. Crazy, right? All I can think is how much money I will have wasted if it doesn’t turn out well.
• Marshmallows; I find delicate confections to be daunting (this, I believe, is firmly rooted in my childhood when my sister made a batch of Divinity that went so badly our mom had to throw the pan away. Yes, that’s correct, the actual pan, not just the Divinity). Humidity is the sworn enemy of treats like marshmallows and Divinity and I do live in Florida.
• Chocolate truffles; every year I think “this Christmas, I’m making truffles” and every year, I do not make truffles.
• Hushpuppies, really great hushpuppies from scratch. I’ve made them from a mix many times and they’re fine, but not great, not a wow. I want a wow.
I’m sure there’s more to add to my list, while I'm cogitating on that, I’ve been asking those around me what dish is on their culinary bucket list. The responses have ranged from chocolate soufflé to orange chicken and everything in between. I was having a text conversation with my dear friend Sherry yesterday; when I mentioned this post she hit me with a powerful, inspiring four word response:
“Live the bucket list.” Thank you, Sherry, live it, I shall.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Gatherings, Large & Small
Some of you have recently asked if I’d fallen off the face of the earth (well, actually, off the face of the blog). It seems I’ve been so engrossed in cooking and eating and feeding people that I haven’t taken time out to write about what I most love writing about (coincidentally, cooking and eating and feeding people).
Allow me to look back and share some highlights:
Starting off the season, the evening before Thanksgiving our dear friends Sherry & Kerry had a fantastic open house. Yes, the night before Thanksgiving. Bold, right? That’s just how they roll and now, frankly, I have open house envy. For about five or six years I’ve wanted to have a dessert party the night before Thanksgiving. It goes without saying Thanksgiving typically offers us some of the very best desserts possible, but do we ever truly enjoy them to the fullest because we’re so, well, we’re so darn full from Thanksgiving dinner. My plan would be to have a buffet of traditional Thanksgiving desserts with assorted beverages and maybe a cheese board then invite people to stop in whenever suits them. The monkey wrench in my plan is the sad, but true fact that I have to work the day before and the day after Thanksgiving, with this little glitch I can’t see me pulling off Thanksgiving dinner and a Thanksgiving Eve dessert party. So, I keep this plan tucked away in the back of my brain for “someday.”
Then, there was, of course, the Thanksgiving feast (always a crowd pleaser in our house). That was followed up by an open house at our associate pastor’s home for small group leaders from our church (who knew one of our fellow parishioners made cream puffs from scratch? Rest assured I parked myself next to that serving tray for a good long time!)
Next up was a wedding renewal/reception for John & Melanie, a pair of our most fun, colorful friends. Also bold in their choices, John & Melanie asked each guest to prepare and bring their favorite “whatever” for the reception buffet. This, as it turns out, was pure genius. There was enough food for an army and a variety of choices any caterer would have been challenged to match. Later that same weekend was an early Christmas celebration with the kids and grandkids (tons of fun as only a three and six year can provide, plus we left there with homemade caramel corn, bacon candy and a hearty pan of homemade lasagna for our freezer.)
The good times continued when our small group from church (Bread Breakers, as we call ourselves) met for a pre-holiday dinner (dear friends and fantastic cooks Phil & Debbi gifted each of us with homemade granola and homemade peanut clusters.) The next night was dinner with Dan & Dixie (Dixie of the caramel cake fame) to celebrate my sweet husband’s birthday. Following closely was a fantastic family Christmas that included said husband’s famous city ham, my mom’s legendary sour cream coconut cake, red velvet cupcakes (of course, we’ve established how deep and true my love is for red velvet anything), my sister’s version of Martha Stewart’s pumpkin pie in a shortbread crust, and my older (I think she prefers “higher ranking”) daughter by associations’ green beans and life altering sweet potatoes with olive oil & rosemary.
The next weekend the holiday season of gatherings and feasting was capped with a lovely, relaxing New Year’s Day open house at Linda & Charlie’s. There was food galore and plenty of time for friends to share holiday stories and prognosticate on what 2012 might bring. (It should be noted that the scope of the prognostications seemed to be in direct proportion to how many mimosas the prognosticated had consumed.)
So, my point (and I did have one when I sat down at the computer today) is that we shouldn’t wait until the holiday season to have this much fun. Gather together, break bread, laugh until hurts…I once saw a very wise candy box with this message on the lid “There are only 52 Saturday nights a year. Celebrate food & family every day.”
Who’s with me?
Allow me to look back and share some highlights:
Starting off the season, the evening before Thanksgiving our dear friends Sherry & Kerry had a fantastic open house. Yes, the night before Thanksgiving. Bold, right? That’s just how they roll and now, frankly, I have open house envy. For about five or six years I’ve wanted to have a dessert party the night before Thanksgiving. It goes without saying Thanksgiving typically offers us some of the very best desserts possible, but do we ever truly enjoy them to the fullest because we’re so, well, we’re so darn full from Thanksgiving dinner. My plan would be to have a buffet of traditional Thanksgiving desserts with assorted beverages and maybe a cheese board then invite people to stop in whenever suits them. The monkey wrench in my plan is the sad, but true fact that I have to work the day before and the day after Thanksgiving, with this little glitch I can’t see me pulling off Thanksgiving dinner and a Thanksgiving Eve dessert party. So, I keep this plan tucked away in the back of my brain for “someday.”
Then, there was, of course, the Thanksgiving feast (always a crowd pleaser in our house). That was followed up by an open house at our associate pastor’s home for small group leaders from our church (who knew one of our fellow parishioners made cream puffs from scratch? Rest assured I parked myself next to that serving tray for a good long time!)
Next up was a wedding renewal/reception for John & Melanie, a pair of our most fun, colorful friends. Also bold in their choices, John & Melanie asked each guest to prepare and bring their favorite “whatever” for the reception buffet. This, as it turns out, was pure genius. There was enough food for an army and a variety of choices any caterer would have been challenged to match. Later that same weekend was an early Christmas celebration with the kids and grandkids (tons of fun as only a three and six year can provide, plus we left there with homemade caramel corn, bacon candy and a hearty pan of homemade lasagna for our freezer.)
The good times continued when our small group from church (Bread Breakers, as we call ourselves) met for a pre-holiday dinner (dear friends and fantastic cooks Phil & Debbi gifted each of us with homemade granola and homemade peanut clusters.) The next night was dinner with Dan & Dixie (Dixie of the caramel cake fame) to celebrate my sweet husband’s birthday. Following closely was a fantastic family Christmas that included said husband’s famous city ham, my mom’s legendary sour cream coconut cake, red velvet cupcakes (of course, we’ve established how deep and true my love is for red velvet anything), my sister’s version of Martha Stewart’s pumpkin pie in a shortbread crust, and my older (I think she prefers “higher ranking”) daughter by associations’ green beans and life altering sweet potatoes with olive oil & rosemary.
The next weekend the holiday season of gatherings and feasting was capped with a lovely, relaxing New Year’s Day open house at Linda & Charlie’s. There was food galore and plenty of time for friends to share holiday stories and prognosticate on what 2012 might bring. (It should be noted that the scope of the prognostications seemed to be in direct proportion to how many mimosas the prognosticated had consumed.)
So, my point (and I did have one when I sat down at the computer today) is that we shouldn’t wait until the holiday season to have this much fun. Gather together, break bread, laugh until hurts…I once saw a very wise candy box with this message on the lid “There are only 52 Saturday nights a year. Celebrate food & family every day.”
Who’s with me?
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