I Am a Chef - Shrimp & Polenta, An Anniversary Dinner

Sometimes I feel like I am 68 going on 16.  To the chagrin of my baby brother, Fred...Jay and I celebrate many anniversaries.  There is the first time we went on an official date, the first time we kissed, the first time Jay asked me to marry him, the day I actually said yes...
Last night we celebrated the anniversary of when I accepted his proposal of marriage.  When you fall in love at the ages of 57 and 62 you don't have a lot of time to saunter into a relationship.  Jay and I reconnected in May of 1998.  We had worked together many years ago and had always been friends so we knew each other, but this time we knew were considering more than friendship.  By July he had asked me to marry him.  I could not say yes...it was happening too fast. How could he be sure he wanted this?  He asked me repeatedly and I kept saying things like, "Don't ask me yet...it's too soon."  To... "Well probably, eventually."  To...on August 29th... "Yes."  August 29, 1998 was also the first time I had cooked for Jay so it is appropriate that we celebrate with a special home-cooked meal.

The dish of choice was one we both loved... "Smoked Paprika Shrimp with Poblano Polenta and Red Pepper Sauce". It does take some prep time since it involves three separate items but it is not difficult.  I discovered on a McCormick Spices website, here.
Some of my own comments about the dish:

• It is billed as an appetizer but I prepare it as an entree.
• Instant polenta can be difficult to find.  They have it at Whole Foods and at Argentine Markets.
• I use a jar of roasted red peppers from Trader Joe's for the sauce...saves a bit of time and works fine.
• The Polano pepper can also be a Passila or an Ancho...you want a little bite, not as bland as a bell pepper but not too hot.  I would not use a Jalepeno.

Since food connects us to memories, when I make polenta I think of my dad.  The Rinaldi's were from Northern Italy in the Le Marche region and his family always ate polenta.  It is just corn meal and was a poverty dish.  He told the story of his mother covering a large wooden board that she used to make pasta with cooked polenta.  Then she topped the polenta with marinara sauce and in the center of the board she place 5 links of sausage.  Everyone wanted their sausage, but they had to sit around the board with a spoon and begin to eat the polenta off the board, working their way up to the prize, the sausage.  By the time they reached it, they were so full of polenta that just one link was sufficient for them.
Buon Appetito!

Paprika Shrimp, Polenta, Red Pepper Sauce

I Am a Philosopher - Prepare to be Surprised

Yesterday we attended the funeral of a friend. Myron died suddenly last Sunday night of a heart attack, sitting at his computer with his headphones on.  He was 72 years young and was a vibrant, intelligent, techy kind of guy.  He had physical problems resulting from juvenile diabetes that, over time, had impacts upon his body, but he lived life unimpaired...even meeting a friend for weekly bike rides and taking a brisk walk around his neighborhood the day he died.

At the funeral service the pastor commented on something Myron had said, that he would always "be prepared to be surprised" and the statement has been rattling around in my head since I heard it.  Surprise is "to be astonished by something unexpected."  The thought of the unexpected can generate anxious feelings in me.  I can easily shift into the role of Chicken Little, afraid that the sky is falling, so I live my life trying to prepare for the unexpected.  I save money for a rainy day, I have my car serviced regularly and I take any medications prescribed so I won't be surprised by a negative unexpected.
Yet, on the more positive side, I often find myself saying, "What a wonderful surprise!" experiencing a wide-eyed, open-mouth sense of dismay that I love to see on Gabriel's face. Surprise can be a good thing.  Even in our wedding vows, Jay has promised me "surprises and puzzles!" Those surprises are gifts, little nuggets of energy and wonder.  They can be missed if I am not open to them.

At the risk of sounding too philosophical, I guess the message for me is to keep my eyes lifted...not focusing on the cracks in the sidewalk to prevent tripping but rather, to look out at the horizon, eyes open to what might be revealed and be a beautiful surprise.

So often we say, "life is fragile," and "live each day as if it were your last because someday it will be," and these adages are true.  It is also easy to carry the sense of denial that says "it happens to others but I am immortal."  Myron's death makes me reflect on my life and for that I thank him.  I am sure Myron was surprised when he died.  I hope it was a good surprise. I will miss you, Myron.

Myron

I Am a Yogi - Taking a Deep Breath

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape!" author unknown

On Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon, if I am not attending an Omnilore class, or taking my mother to a Doctor's appointment, or dusting light bulbs, I like to attend the yoga class at the local YMCA.  This is not the yoga seen in an infomercial at 2:00 am in the morning with all the young, tanned bodies striking pretzel-like contortions and bouncing quarters off their firm, toned skin as jazzy music plays in the background.  While this class does have some vibrant youthful bodies, most of us are women "of a certain age" who appreciate the pace and methods of our instructor, Denise.  This is not power yoga...I don't even break a sweat.  It is Hatha yoga, slow and gentle with the focus on the breath.  So today, as I slowly pushed my limbs and muscles to reach and my lungs to expand, my body sighed a delicious "yes!"

Yoga Class

I have been practicing yoga for over 30 years.  I began taking classes in a local high school gym as part of an Adult Education Program and then progressed to a regular class when I treated myself to a local gym membership.  Over the years I have come to rely on the physical and mental effects of this exercise...and there certainly are benefits to my aging body.  My muscles remain fit, flexible and limber.  I am able to retain my balance as I climb about in my garden.  I know it does not provide cardio exercise but I feel more youthful.  All this is good.  However, I think the greatest benefit is the mental one.

All the lessons of yoga apply to life:

• There is no competition in yoga; each person focuses on her own body.
• Listen to your body, and if there is pain, back off.
• Stop when you have had enough.
• Don't worry if you are not doing it perfectly; each time you try, you benefit and move forward.
• You are right where you are supposed to be.
• Do not listen to the noise in your head; quiet your mind and focus on the task at hand.
• Relax, let go, relax, let go.
• It is all about balance...and never force anything.
• Don't just do something...sit there!
• When things get tough...all you have to do is breathe.

The dessert of the yoga class comes at the end when I stretch out, lying on my back on my mat in "Savasana," the corpse pose, a pose of total relaxation.  Sometimes the instructor will talk us through a guided mediation, or if not, I just retreat deep inside, into that safe, special place where I sit with my spirit and my overwhelming sense of gratitude for my life.  I have no desire to retreat to a yoga mountaintop but I appreciate having the tools to tune out distractions and be recharged to engage in the busy world.

I Am a Mother - Coffee with Michael

I am the mother of three sons...three men who are as different as figs, fennel and fish.  They are individuals and my love for and my relationship with each one is all-encompassing and unique.  Joe, the oldest (who likes to be called "Primo) is spontaneous and full of life...the child of my spirit.  Marc, the youngest is the thinker and the doer who thinks quickly and deeply on his feet, plans and takes action...the child of my mind.  Michael, the "middle child, is the relationship child who feels and cares deeply and loves loyally...the child of my heart.

Marc, Joe, Michael - 1973

Each of these men have left the nest and forged lives of their own and the years have been a journey of transitioning from an involved parent, an Italian "mamma," to a supportive parent and a friend.  I often interact with them while they are in their various adult roles, but it is also important to me to have one-on-one time with each of them when we can just talk and get caught up with what's going on...on the outside and on the inside!

So it was with eagerness that I set my alarm last night to be sure I was up early enough to meet Michael at a local Starbucks for a cup of coffee before he goes to the office.  Fortunately, Michael lives and works nearby so these coffee get-togethers are easily doable.  So Michael with his double-shot, vanilla-flavored coffee and I with my tall, non-fat latte sat for an hour at a pleasant outdoor table and talked.  We shared the "air-time" telling each other about what was happening that was important in our lives, asking opinions of each other and laughing a lot!  It was so easy to be together and as I sat there looking at this son, I could see the little boy face within the handsome man face.  My heart swells with love and appreciation for the gift of this son.  He told me I looked great and I felt like I did.  I left him with a hug, a spring in my step and a smile in my heart.  Thank you, Michael, for inviting me to share your life.  What more could a mother ask for?

Michael

I Am a Chef - Stuffed Figs in Memory of Sebastiano!

Sebastiano Montalto, born in 1885 in Ferla, Sicily, died in 1958 in Lorain, Ohio... my grandfather.  In 1906 he left his home in a small mountain village in the province of Siracusa, a place where there was hunger and lack of work but a place where the Mediterranean climate provided a welcoming habitat for such delicacies as "le arance" (oranges) and "i fichi" (figs), to settle on the often snow-covered shores of Lake Erie.  An orange became something that was imported from Florida or California and was found in the toe of a Christmas stocking.  A fig became something coaxed from a tiny tree in the backyard of Giovanni Rosso, his father-in-law, a tree that was coddled and cared for, that was tucked away each winter by gentling pulling its main trunk toward the ground and then covering it with old newspapers, hay and burlap with the hope that it would survive the winter and maybe, in the summer, yield a few figs that would recall the memories of "home" in Sicilia.
Sebastiano never returned to his home in Sicily, not even for a visit, but in 1957 he did visit our family in our new home in Hawthorne, CA.  He loved California...it reminded him of Sicily.  He greatest delight was the day we took him to visit a friend whose backyard contained a giant fig tree. They propped a tall ladder against the trunk and Sebastiano climbed the ladder and picked juicy ripe figs.  With his eyes aglow, he stuffed the figs into his mouth while the juice ran from his lips and the tears ran from his eyes...caught up in the memories of his youth and his home in Sicily.

Sebastiano Montalto - 1912 Lorain, Ohio

My friend, Lynn, gave me a bag of figs from her tree on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  She wanted me to have them before the birds got them.  One way I like to prepare them is stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese and wrapped in a piece of prosciutto...a finger-food that can be eaten as an appetizer, placed to dress a salad, or just as a nibble while enjoying a glass of chilled white wine.

Stuffed Figs

They are so easy to prepare.  Clean the figs and remove the tiny stem piece.  Gently cut the fig in a cross, 2/3 of the way down the length of the fig, leaving the bottom intact.  Place a nice sliver of cheese in the created opening.  Cut pieces of prosciutto slices into inch-wide strips and wrap each stuffed fig with a length of prosciutto.  Place on a cookie sheet under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the cheese begins to bubble and the prosciutto begins to crisp.  Cool slightly, pop into your mouth and wait...for the burst of flavor!  Lift your glass of wine and say, "Saluti, Sebastiano!"

I Am a Concert-Goer - Festival on the Green

"A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou."  Or...."some stuffed figs, a tortellini salad, grilled tuna, bread dipped in Sicilian seasoned olive oil, peach cobbler, a bottle (or two) of wine, portable lawn chairs, a blanket, two good friends, the California Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven and Disney, and thou."  Such was our wonderful evening at the Festival-On-The-Green at the Los Angeles Arboretum.  We have attended pleasant concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and while the music and setting are magical, the logistics of getting there and returning home are similar to a root canal.  So the opportunity to have an outdoor summer evening musical experience in a new setting was very appealing.  I have been to the arboretum once before to attend the Los Angeles Garden show and I loved it.  Last night's setting of a large grassy field with a clam shell amphitheater at one end, the San Bernardino Mountains along the northern border, a reflection pool in the center, Venus brightly visible in the west and a nearly full moon hanging in the eastern sky was a little piece of heaven  The area was packed with people, young and old.  Some were true veterans having a complete set up of small portable table, wine glasses, cloth napkins and even a candle to light once the sun had dipped beyond the horizon. Everyone was fully present to the music and I realized that we are truly in a new society when the orchestra played "We are the Champions" and the audience swayed with their hands holding aloft their open cellphones in place of lit lighters to fill the night air with moving shards of light!  The evening ended with a powerful, "Ode to Joy," from Beethoven's 9th Symphony and we said a resounding, "YES!"

We spend our days as scholars of the world.  We take classes and discuss heavy dilemmas such as peak oil, Afghanistan, global warming, the economic melt-down, unemployment rates, the disillusioning political scene.  It nurtured our spirits to set all that down for the evening and just absorb the beauty and restorative nature of the setting and the sound.  We have so many such opportunities in our little corner of the world and last evening reminded us to take more advantage of them.  Even finding the transition ramp from the 710 freeway to the 105 freeway closed for construction that resulted in a slight detour through "the hood" did not dampen our resolve to do this again sometime! Thank you, Cindy and Dennis!

Jay engaged!

Cindy, Dennis and Patricia

I Am a Chef - Tortellini Salad

"Cooking is like love.  It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."  ~Harriet van Horne

One thing that I have been able to enter into since I retired is cooking.  Jay tells me I was always a good cook...but since I have had the time to try new things and perfect my methods, he claims I have reached near-perfection.  Gotta love that man!

I especially enjoy finding ways to make old recipes new ways.  While in a local Bristol Farms recently I was searching for a unique mustard to serve with some Bratwurst and a store employee pointed me to "Anna Mae's Smoky Gourmet Mustard" from Robert Rothschild Farms.  A bit pricey for my budget but she raved so about it that I thought...well, maybe.  Then I saw it was made in the my wonderful home state of Ohio so I took the leap.  The mustard is all that she promised and I was intrigued enough to "google" the farm for other products.  On the website I found a recipe for Cheese Tortellini Salad.  It was love at first sight - my new favorite mustard and my favorite food stuff - PASTA.

I have made this dish numerous times and am always asked for the recipe so here it is.  If you cannot find Anna Mae's Mustard I am sure any unique mustard, with a smoky taste would work.  This dish will accompany us on our outing tomorrow night with friends to the Los Angeles Arboretum Concert-on-the-Green performance of "Beethoven & Broadway." 

Cheese Tortellini Salad

I Am a Farmers Market Shopper

Wednesday morning = Westchester Farmers' Market. Any farmers' market in the month of August is like a trip to the Land of Bountiful.  I have my routine...starting at the south end of the vendor stalls and walking the entire length to check out who has what...what looks especially fresh and enticing...and performing a price comparison.  When I reach the north end, I stop at Jun's Fish stall and buy my fresh cod, for my mother and for me. This man is the greatest!  I asked him to tell me how he gets his fish.  He lives in Long Beach, goes to the airport every night at 12:30 am to pick up the fresh whole fish he has ordered the day before.  Once through customs, he takes the fish to Oxnard where two employees at his warehouse, cut and package the fish. He packs his van with his ice coolers full of fish and heads out for the day's Farmers' Market. The market usually closes by 2 pm and he heads home to sleep until his alarm wakes him at 11 pm. to head back to the airport.  He says it is hard work but it is good work.  His fish is wonderful.

Here my purchases today:  The Cod fillets and also one small Halibut fillet.  I will saute it and make a shallot and wine sauce with some of the crimson seedless grapes I bought.  Yellow and red onions...I never seem to have enough.  Green scallions from the Japanese grower.  Five luscious yellow peaches...I am thinking peach cobbler (Don't tell Marc or he will eat it all!)  A firm eggplant to grill. Some mixed baby lettuce and a cucumber with NO wax coating! Strawberries from Oxnard...sliced with balsamic vinegar...yummy. Black figs, only available for a few weeks but so delicious.  Will broil them stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese and wrapped in prosciutto and lay them on a salad...if I can wait that long.  An assortment of grapes, some muscat and some concord with seeds but so tasty. 

So I bring it all into the kitchen and delight it its beauty...what to prepare first?

I Am a Foodie - Food Trucks!

The latest thing on the Los Angeles dining radar is Food Trucks!  Not the little hot dog vendors associated with the corners of New York City, but rather gourmet dining with full-fledged chefs taking their food on the road and capturing the niche of hungry "foodies" during their lunch hour.  In fact, the latest reality show on the Food Network is "The Great Food Truck Race" hosted by Chef Tyler Florence, where seven celebrity food trucks compete in cities across the US for a grand prize of $50,000.  One of our favorite local restaurants, "Rajin' Cajun" in Hermosa Beach is one of the contestants.

There has also been much noise in the local political arenas about the legality of food trucks parking for extended periods of time on specific streets without permission of the city, so truck owners are being fined and are looking for other locations to park.  Their avid customers follow them on Twitter to be sure to know where they can find them each day.

So amidst all this fervor, Jay and I decided we were up for a new adventure and that we needed to try a Food Truck.  We read about the LA Gateway-To-Go Food Truck Lot located near-by on the rear premises of the Crown Plaza Hotel on Century Blvd. every Tuesday from 11 am to 2 pm.  Each week a different set of about 7 trucks gather there, complete with outdoor tables and chairs and even some mood music.  Yesterday was Tuesday...we were hungry...so we checked their website to see what trucks were going to be there.  We arrived after the lunch crowd so had no lines to contend with.  Jay opted to try the Mediterranean Food Truck and ordered a Pita Plate with a variety of kabob meats, basmati rice, vegetables, hummus and pita bread.  I tried the Komodo Truck and had two gourmet tacos: one fish with grape sauce and one spicy shrimp.  Everything we had was delicious.  The food was not cheap, each plate costing about $10, but we reminded ourselves that this was fine dining on the run.  It was fun.  We will do it again?  Maybe...we heard there is a wonderful Vietnamese truck that people clamor over!

Komodo Tacos

Kabob N'Roll

I Am a Grandmother - Gabe's Hockey Playoffs

This weekend was the playoffs for the end of the current hockey season for the Los Angeles Kings youth teams.  Gabe played on the Black team for his division and Jay and I try to attend all of his games.  It has been a tremendous pleasure to watch as his skill improves with each game.  He loves the game and is a scrappy little player.  He is number 11 this year and all the kids look alike when they take the ice but I can always spot him with the yellow shoestrings on his skates.  He was all fired up for the playoffs and the first game was held on Saturday afternoon.  His team was seeded number 1 and they played the Yellow team who gave them a real challenge, especially in the first period.  Conspiracy theories abounded as some were convinced the Yellow team had brought in a ringer for the goalie!  But the Black team won and were scheduled to play for the championship on Sunday morning.  Gabe had one request...would someone make a sign to hold up while they played...I figured that was a "grandmother's task" and I rose to the challenge. They played very well and won the championship. The scorekeeper had mercy on the other team and stopped showing the goals once the score reached 8 to 2.  Gabe had a huge contingent of fans in the stands and went home a happy little boy.

I think being a grandparent is a special gift.  I have enjoyed my grandchildren in a way that I was never able to enjoy my own children.  Some of it has to do with logistics and circumstances and having the time to be present to them without the demands of life that were present when I was also raising my children.  But some of it has to do with a maturity that reminds me to treasure these moments.  They pass very quickly and one day that child who would climb up on your lap and giggle when you told him a funny joke is now 5 foot 9 inches and is busy forging his own way in the world.  So I tell myself...stop...pay attention...absorb this moment...it is a gift!

Here is Gabe with his Dad, Uncle Joey (up from San Diego for the game), his Poppa and his Uncle Marc.

I Am a Conscientious Carnivore

Once a quarter Santa Monica Farmer's Market hosts a discussion at the Santa Monica library featuring various Farmer vendors discussing a specific topic.  Last night Evan Kleinman (think KCRW "Good Food" and Angeli Caffe) moderated a panel with:

Chef Evan Funke of Rustic Canyon , 

Marcie Jimenez of Jimenez Family Farms (think rabbit, goat, veggies),

Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy (think certified raw milk products), and

Greg Nauta of Rocky Canyon Farms (think humanely raised beef and pork).

The purpose was not to discuss the pros and cons of being a meat-eater, but rather, for those who have chosen to be carnivores...what is the most sustainable and humane way to obtain your meat products?  And...what are the forces that make it so difficult for those products to be readily available to "conscientious carnivores?"

First of all, I just love "talking to the farmer...the hand...that feeds you!"  Up close and personal is the name of the game.  Each of these panelists, including Evan Funke, who represented the chefs who make conscious decisions to have a personal relationship with the providers of the food they prepare, were committed to their organic and sustainable process.  I would like to have each one for a friend.  There is a sense of mission in their message.

They say there is a ground swell of demand for their products and that is what will begin to turn the tide against the forces that now make it difficult for them to grow or deliver their product.  Some of the issues are the regulations that are in place, most from the FDA (which they point out is a drug regulating agency not an agricultural agency...who regulate and "protect pharmaceutical companies).  Another issue for the ranchers is the scarcity of slaughtering facilities, causing them to have only a few available slots for their animals and to have to travel distances to bring their animals in for slaughter and processing.  They credit books (thank you, Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver), movies (thank you "Fresh," and "Food Inc." and model farmers/ranchers (thank you Joel Salatin) for providing the impetus to the ground swell.

The remind us of the education that still remains to be done to bring people closer to the food they consume and related anecdotes where various adults made statements to the such as:

•    to dairy farmer, Mark McAfee, "Do you milk the bulls too?
•    to Evan Funke, "What tree does salad grow on?"

The wheels of government turn slowly and it on when legislators realize that their voting constituents are demanding change in the food systems that change will occur.  One local glimmer of hope is the work of the Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force, on which Evan Kleiman serves, which has developed a policy and a plan for a food hub for Los Angeles and presented their report, Good Food for All Agenda: Creating a New Regional Food System for Los Angeles to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in July.

For me, I am left with a renewed awareness that my responsibility is to vote with my fork...to let my food purchases support the move toward more sustainable, humane and healthy agriculture...to help put the "culture" back into agriculture!

I am a Cheerleader - Jay's Energy Course

For the past four weeks Jay has been teaching a course for the OLLI program at CSUDH about Peak Oil, the Energy Crisis, and Global Warming...three inter-related topics that have consumed his focus for the past couple of years.  Yesterday was the last class and as I sat in the back row watching him, carefully and patiently work through his PowerPoint presentation, I felt myself glowing with pride.  This class has grown each week as the word has spread and more come to take a peek and lend an ear. There is good news and bad news to being retired.  On the one hand...you finally have the freedom to pursue areas of interest and the time to dig deeply into subjects to gain a comprehensive understanding.  On the other hand...being out of the workplace and the mainstream of life,  limits the areas where you can share your knowledge.  However, word of Jay's expertise and teaching style is spreading and he has been asked to "take his show on the road" to some new venues.  Guess I will dust off my pom-poms!