Traditions like birthday cake and candles have been around for as long as any of us remember. We don’t think about it; it’s just always been so. Every party has it’s cake. The cake is the spotlight of the birthday celebration. What’s a birthday party without cake?
As I thought more about it, I started to wonder–why cake? Why not bread? Or steak? Or lobster? Why specifically is it cake? Made me curious, so I went on the hunt for the origins of the birthday cake.
Cake Goes Waaay Back
Celebrations of birth began in ancient Egypt, but in a different way than we do today. When a pharaoh was crowned, it was considered the “birth day” of them becoming a god. The coronation was celebrated with festive food and drink. A special cookie known as Khak was made with butter, honey, flour, milk and warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The general population celebrated their own birthdays in honor of the sun god Ra, as it was one more trip around the sun. Khak cookies are still made today for birthday and holiday celebrations in Egyptian households.
In ancient Rome, cakes were made to celebrate birthdays and weddings. The cakes were round in shape and made with flour, yeast, nuts and sweetened with honey. The 50th birthday was the one mostly celebrated. (Women’s’ birthdays weren’t celebrated until the 12th century…but I bet they baked the cakes..)
In ancient Greece, moon shaped cakes were made to honor the goddess Artemis, Goddess of the Moon and the hunt. The cakes were brought to her temple and were lit with candles to simulate the moonlight. It is believed this is where the tradition of birthday candles started. Pagan religions also used candles, and believe the smoke warded off evil spirits. The smoke would carry your wishes up to the gods, hence the “make a wish”tradition when blowing out the candles.
In the 1400s, birthday cakes were becoming commonplace in Europe. Germany began making birthday cakes specifically to celebrate a child’s birthday. The parties were known as “Kinderfest” and the cakes were called “Geburtstagorten”. These cakes were exclusive to the wealthy, as sugar was not readily available and very expensive.With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, sugar was more affordable and cakes were seen at all levels of income. During the 1700s candles were added to the cakes. The candles totaled the child’s age, plus one year. This was to ensure a healthy and happy new year to come.
Birthday cakes are seen all around the world today. They are as varied as the individuals who are celebrating. Multiple layers, frostings, fruit and elaborate decorations make for a festive occasion. Pretty much everyone loves a birthday cake.
Except for me. Yup. I am not a fan of birthday cake. I am, however, a huge fan of pie. So every year, I make myself a Strawberry Rhubarb Birthday Pie. This is my favorite pie, and was the subject of one of my early blog posts which you can read here.
So enjoy your cake, pie or whatever you choose to celebrate you! Another trip around the sun is always a reason to celebrate. Happy Birthday!
I was chatting with my son about our days living in the Catskills in New York, and what some of his classmates were up to. We had moved there shortly after 9/11, along with everyone else who thought it was a good idea to get away from living near New York City.
Where we moved to was inhabited by two main groups of people: the “locals” who had lived there for generations, and the “flatlanders”, people who owned vacation houses and came up on the weekends. And then there was a smaller population of people who were “transplants”, people who moved there but had no roots or family. That was us.
Long story short, the living was not easy for transplant families. The was a lot of resentment and animosity from the local population. And the weekend tribe did treat many of the residents with disdain and looked down on them. We just didn’t fit in.
Many of the “transplant” students in my son’s class couldn’t wait to get out of the Catskills. They had not grown up there, and many had traveled and had life experiences that were not available to them in this small rural town. They went off to college and moved to metropolitan areas. We relocated as well to the Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania.
So imagine my surprise when my son told me that one of his classmates, Alexis deBoschnek, had returned to the Catskills. Alexis was a highly motivated young lady, and completed high school in three years just so that she could leave the area. She had gone to college in New York, and had moved to Los Angeles and was in charge of the test kitchen for BuzzFeed. So what was someone who had lived in the two biggest cities, was creating content for BuzzFeed and had worked with Marcus Samuelsson doing back in the rural hills of the Catskills? I had to find out.
I caught up with Alexis last month to see what she was working on and what had brought her back. A little more background:
Alexis graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, but rapidly discovered that the fashion world was not as expected and the “glamour of the fashion industry was shattered”. Interested in cooking, she went on to receive a certificate in Culinary Techniques from the International Culinary Center. But she found that she didn’t want to be in the restaurant industry. Then she discovered Ruth Reichel, who had gone from working in restaurants to becoming the editor for Gourmet Magazine until it shuttered in 2009. Alexis found her niche in the world of food writing. She moved to LA and became one of the culinary influencers of Tasty, creating videos of recipes and techniques like the perfect pancake or roasted chicken. She also had her own video series, “Chef Out of Water” where she has to create a three course meal using only a coffee maker or an iron. You can watch the coffee maker video here. Alexis has great screen presence, and is delightfully funny in this series. Alexis says she is really “quite shy” but her videos say otherwise!
Enter the pandemic. With changes in her employment, Alexis decided to head back to the Catskills for six months. Her mother still lives there, and she felt it made sense to go ride out the pandemic with her. But still thinking of it as a temporary move. Reminder, this area is remote. The closest Target is ninety minutes away… not lying. So moving from LA is beyond a big adjustment. It is culture shock. She was concerned about moving back to a place where she had very little in common with the people who lived there, flashbacks of high school and her escape. Alexis was now doing freelance work and creating recipes. Her recipes have been featured in Food52, The Kitchn, BuzzFeed’s Tasty, Chowhound, and Tasting Table. Her mother has a beautiful home with amazing gardens, and Alexis found a great sense of place and balance, which allowed her to concentrate on her creative side. The area has changed, with a larger and more diverse population now living there. Since the world has finally embraced remote work, it is now possible to live in a place like the Catskills and have your career.
Six months became several years. It’s now 2022 and Alexis is still in the Catskills. She has found her creative groove in the mountains. When I asked her what was a source of inspiration, she said ” Most definitely, my Mom’s gardens.” Alexis’ mother is a landscape designer, so she is surrounded by beauty and bounty.
When I asked her about her perspective on food, she said” It is so important to use all of the ingredients so that there is no waste.” In her experiences in the food industry, she was appalled at the amount of food waste. This became her inspiration to write her first cookbook, “To the Last Bite“. Growing up with her Mom’s garden, Alexis learned how to make every ingredient last. The cookbook focuses on using the entire ingredients to cut down on food waste, save money and have an impact on climate change. Go to her website to learn more about Alexis and her life in the Catskills and to order her cook book.
I was delighted to hear Alexis’ story, and how her path has lead her full circle to a place she never expected to live in ever again.
You just don’t know where life will take you, so Never Say Never.
I’m going to be adding posts here and there about names of foods and their origins. Today is the first- Coleslaw.
Since it is barbeque and picnic season, I love to make this staple side dish. Crunchy, cool with enough sweet and savory flavors to balance out any main dish. We all have had it for years, whether purchased at a deli or made from scratch. As I was making it for one of the summer dinners, it occurred to me:
Why is it called that?
So I did some quick poking around and it turns out that the name comes from the Dutch word “koolsla” meaning “cabbage salad”. When the Dutch settled in New Amsterdam in the late 17th-early 18th century, they brought their recipe for a chilled cabbage salad with a mayonnaise and vinegar based dressing with them. Over time, “kool” became anglicized to “cole”.
Coleslaw has turned into a side staple in the summer. We all have our own versions, whether cabbage, broccoli or the more exotic kimchi slaw. If you are looking to mix it up, try this link for a bunch of variations:
On to the dressing. For years, I would buy the Kraft bottled coleslaw dressing. It was what my Mom did, and I went along with that. I would open the bottle, use some, and then the remainder would sit in the fridge….for a while. While it sat, it got thick, sticky, unusable and took up space in the fridge. I hate food waste, so I looked for a coleslaw dressing recipe.
Turns out, the dressing is super simple to make. It takes like 5 minutes, and it is fresh and delicious. No more bottles! See the link for the recipe I use from Allrecipes.com. I add 1/4 teaspoon of celery seed, just rounds out the flavor.
Or longer. As with the rest of the world the pandemic threw me for a loop. And I haven’t made a post to this blog in over a year. Finding the motivation has been difficult, and 2021 into 2022 has had a streak of losses and challenges.
First set of challenges:
I’m an animal person. Our family had 2 dogs, 2 cats and my beloved horse. From August 2021 to March 2022, I lost 3 of them. I know pets are not people, and I am beyond fortunate that I didn’t lose any family or friends to COVID. But this hit me hard. My sweet Welsh Corgi, Abby ended up with an incurable genetic disease. My beautiful cat, Bandit ended up with lymphoma. And my partner of 18 years, my horse Hugs, at 28 years old, was failing and we lost her in March. I believe in being a good steward to my animals and made the hard decision to painlessly end their suffering and was with each of them as they passed. But the loss has been profound.
BanditAbbyHugs
Challenge # 2-The Job:
Due to the pandemic, I joined the many who worked remotely. And also like many, discovered that my job was sucking the life out of me. Lots of changes within the company compelled me to make the big decision to join the Great Resignation. I retired, earlier than planned, but there was no moving forward in my current role. The stress was no longer worth the paycheck.
So here I am trying to redefine myself.
The one thing I did love was writing my blog, so it is time to get back to it. My posts may not be as long as my previous ones, maybe only a snippet here and there, but it is my way of finding connection in a disconnected world.
The focus of my blog is the rituals of what we eat and why. But we can “Bring Something to the Table” in so many ways.
Here is a quick ritual of a meal that I love–grilled sardines.
When I was in Portugal I dined on these delightful fish. We all think of sardines as little fish packed into a can. Those are fry-basically baby sardines. Mature sardines are about 6 inches long. They are only harvested in the spring and summer, when the sardines are plump after feeding. It is a simple recipe; simply clean whole sardines, removing innards and scales but leaving the heads and tails on. Rub them with kosher salt inside and out and let them sit for several hours. After they have sat salted, rinse them under water and pat dry. Brush them with olive oil and grill on an oiled grill, 2 to 3 minutes each side. I cut up fresh thyme and oregano, bruise the herbs in a mortar and pestle and add to the olive oil. Serve with a vegetable of your choice and crusty bread. Allow 2 to 3 sardines per person. You will be able to pull the entire set of bones out starting from the tail. The flesh is tender and smoky-sweet.
Portuguese Grilled Sardines with Green Beans
It’s good to be back to writing. I hope you will continue to follow me as I venture forward into what we eat and why.
“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” _Joseph Campbell
Being stuck at home has forced me to change pretty much ALL of my routines. We are all going through a huge upheaval in our favorite rituals. No date nights at the movies, no Happy Hour with friends, no birthday parties at your favorite restaurants. And being creatures of habit, we do love our routines. And I know that many of us have gotten creative about substituting an old ritual for a new one.
My husband and I do love to cook, but even so, we had fallen into a rut of making some of the same things over and over again. Partly because we have pandemic fatigue, and partly because we don’t want to think any more. We are both exhausted after a day on Zoom.
But the same old, same old is boring. We have scads of cookbooks and subscribe to cooking magazines. We watch cooking shows. We have the resources, and clearly, now we have the time. So we made a pledge to try one new recipe each week that we had never made before. Enter, New Ritual.
On the weekend, we take time to go through our cookbooks or magazines and select something to try. It can be something that we have had but never made, or something we have never eaten. This forces us to dig into what interests us, what we are curious about. We have some successes, and some questionable results. Here’s what we have been up to:
Jamaican Oxtail Stew
When I worked in Philly, there was this Jamaican food truck that made the Best Oxtail Stew. Tender braised meat, so flavorful. I would get it for lunch whenever they had it. So I thought we would give it a go. First, I had to find oxtail, which is not your everyday cut of meat. Originally it was from an ox, it is now cow tail. And before you wrinkle your nose, it is just another cut of meat. It is one of those castaway bits that cultures have adopted and used. It is similar to the African one pot dishes that developed out of the slave culture in the Caribbean. We located oxtail at a great local butcher shop. No longer inexpensive, it was close to $10 a pound!
I used a recipe that was for my pressure cooker, but if you don’t have one, you can do it in a slow cooker. The oxtails are very gelatinous, and need to cook for a while to get to that tender consistency. The flavors are a combination of sweet and savory, with garlic, onions, allspice and either habanero or Scotch bonnet pepper and some butter beans. The results:
Delicious. It was easy to make in the Insta Pot, and only took 45 minutes. Unfortunately, as much as I loved it, the cost of oxtail has relegated this recipe for special occasions, but well worth it! Get the recipe here.
Jamaican Oxtail Stew
Rabbit Season
While we were shopping for the oxtail, I also found rabbit at the butcher shop. I’ve never had rabbit, so we added that into the shopping cart. Funny rabbit story-we were in France in the town of Bezier, and they have a wonderful market there. A group of us had rented a house and we took turns cooking. My son, who was about 12 years old, went to the market with my sister. He came back totally distraught. “Mom, they eat dog here!” He was inconsolable. I assured him that dog is not eaten in France, but he was unconvinced. We went to the market the next day, and I had him show me the alleged dog. It was a whole rabbit. He saw the skinned whole rabbit with no ears and he thought it was a dog. Crisis averted.
In honor of the French Rabbit episode, I decide to make a Rabbit Pot de Provence with Potato Fondant. The recipe has the typical southern French flavors; tomato, fennel, olives, a little orange zest and is a simple braise in a Dutch oven. I had to cut up the rabbit into pieces, but it is very similar to cutting up a whole chicken, so no big deal. The potatoes are also a French recipe, with them being first browned and then baked in chicken stock. You can do a rustic cut or a more fancy cut on the potatoes. We went rustic, since the rabbit was a rustic stew.
The results:-Rabbit- very tasty! The meat was tender, and the flavor is mild like chicken but with just enough of a slight gamey flavor and texture. This recipe combines such lovely flavors with the fennel and the tomato blending beautifully. I do want to find locally sourced rabbit. What I didn’t notice was that the rabbit that I bought was sourced in China. I’ll reach out and find a local source. The carbon footprint alone makes me feel guilty for not reading the label better. You can find the recipe here.
The Potato Fondant-not as successful as I had hoped. The recipe calls for 4 waxy large potatoes, like russets. You shape the potatoes and cut them in half, then brown them in butter on both sides. Then into the oven for 30 minutes. Even after 45 minutes, the potatoes weren’t cooked through. I think my potatoes were too large, so I suggest going for a medium size potato. I’ll give it a go again, they flavors were delightful. You can find the recipe here.
Rabbit-a home run . Potato Fondant, not so much…
Duck Season
Since the holidays this year were a bust, socially, I decide to try something for New Year’s Eve dinner. I have always wanted to cook duck breast, so here we go. On the search for duck breast for 2 people, I discovered that it was absurdly expensive for such a small amount of meat. I went to another store, and they were out of duck breast, but hey! Whole duck and it was on sale! The breast was going to cost $20 and I got the whole duck for $28. Cue foreboding music…..
I found a whole roast duck recipe that involved salting the duck for 6 hours prior to roasting. And then you had to submerge the legs into a Dutch oven and simmer the tough parts, keeping the more tender breast out of the water. Then, you moved the whole bird to a V-rack and finished it in the oven. Okay, kind of involved, but it’s not like I’m doing anything else. So I take the duck out of the package. And I notice that it smells kind of..gamey? I’m in unknown territory, and I know how fatty they are, so I chalked it up to “if it smells like a duck, then it’s a duck.” More foreboding music. So I salt and I simmer and I roast and I glaze. Really committed to the process! And it looks AMAZING!
Looks fantastic, right?
But it still smells. Only worse. I mean, what a weird, unappetizing stinky odor. But I refuse to give up. So I make the wild rice and make some gorgeous roasted golden beets. We plate it up and it really looks like something you would order out.
So impressed with myself!
So we sit down and dig in. And it still stinks. But now the whole house stinks. The odd thing is that it tasted fine. So, I don’t know if the reason it was on sale was that I should have cooked it that day, or if that is how duck smells. So much air freshener…
The result? Calling it a technical epic fail. But I have another whole duck in the freezer, so I am going to try again. Consider it research… You can find the recipe here.
Here, Pig Pig!
Not what you think, this is a different kind of pig-tale. I used to live in Denver and I would go to a little place in the 5 Points neighborhood called Casa de Manuel. The specialty there was a wet beef burrito with cheese, smothered in green chili. They are so good, that when I visited there one time, I order 10 and froze them and flew them home. But this story isn’t about the burrito..
Next to the restaurant was a Mexican bakery and they sold a cookie that was like gingerbread and always in the shape of a pig. After consuming said burrito, I would always buy a bag of Ginger Piggies. The spiced cookie settled the tummy after burrito consumption.
I left the Denver area and moved back to the east coast, and really didn’t think much about Ginger Piggies. Years go by, and after living in a remote part of New York for a number of years, we rejoined civilization and moved to near Philadelphia. In our area, we have a number of small central American food shops. One makes totally kick ass tamales on Sunday mornings. Get there early, they will sell out. This brought back my fond memory of the Ginger Piggies. I looked in several stores and asked, but none of them made them. Time to make them myself.
I went recipe hunting and found a simple pan dulce recipe for Marranitos, the official name. It is a soft cookie, fragrant with spices and molasses. They are wonderful after a meal, or with coffee or tea. I did purchase the pig cookie cutter, got to be authentic! You can find the recipe here.
Plate full of Ginger Piggies, plus some honey bees with the leftover dough
Fear not the Unknown!
I’ve had some successes and some failures in to this foray into the unknown. The successes were fun, and I loved going to where I had not gone before. The failures? Eh, no big deal. Because there is NO PROGRESS WITHOUT FAILURE. Read that again. No failure, no progress. You just have to give it a go. And cooking is a great way to fail. Yup. Because it will be obvious. Cooking will show the failures in taste, texture, doneness and smell…like stinky duck.
So while you have some time on your hands with the pandemic keeping us home, give it a go. Try something. Fail at it. And learn. And try again. Don’t worry about what others think, and please don’t judge yourself. There is a world of difference when you DON’T know what you DON’T know, to when you DO know what you DON’T know. And once we can get back into the world, you can share what you learned. So give it a go!
It’s 2021 and I’m not going to belabor the point that 2020 was an epically horrible year. We all know it. We are all tired of talking about it. And we all want life to get back to whatever normal will be. During this lockdown, all of our norms have and will continue to be challenged and challenging. Since my blog is about ritual, I’m highlighting what I kept doing and what I did differently.
Experimenting Out of Complete Boredom
I think most people tried recipes or skills that they hadn’t done before. Everyone was baking bread. I have made bread in the past, so I got on the bread wagon, too. My husband loves semolina bread, so that was my first attempt. And it came out great!
Semolina bread-first attempt, not too shabby!
My second bread attempt was a rye bread. And it was an epic fail. Turns out, rye flour is waaay different from regular bread flour. The gluten is stubborn and you have to knead it for what felt like a year until the flour stops being sticky. I don’t have a mixer, so no bread hook. Now seeing where that would have been handy.. It ws a dark rye and the recipe called for molasses and orange zest. Sounded questionable but, okay, let’s give it a go.
Horrible. The loaves came out like flat round disks and the molasses and orange did not translate well into a rye bread. So off it went to the chickens. Who didn’t eat it either.
The takeaway :
-kneading dough is very therapeutic. Working with your hands and watching something change form , texture and shape is very gratifying.
-breadmaking does not always go according to plan. Hence the rye bread. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying new things.
Out with the Old
My husband and I have been married for 15+ years. But we still had dishware and place settings from our previous marriages. Everything was now chipped, mismatched and worn out. We love to entertain-when we could actually entertain- and so we took the plunge and ordered all new dishes and flatware. We are into the mid-century modern look for our home so we went with Fiestaware. A mix of colors, from orange, turquoise, yellow and chartreuse.
So…many…colors!
The takeaway :
-leaving the old behind can be very cleansing. While there was nothing wrong with any of it, none of it worked together. And it was fun for us to buy something together.
-just because something is still good or serviceable, doesn’t mean it’s good or serviceable for you. We packed up all of our old stuff and drove it to a vendor who will sift through it and buy what he wants. The remainder will get donated. Things can still be of service, but to someone else. It’s okay to move on.
Routine Creates Structure-a Double Edged Sword?
2020 blew our routines out of the water. We couldn’t go to our favorite restaurants. We couldn’t get ingredients because of panic buying. We couldn’t invite people over. I now worked from home, so no lunches in Center City Philadelphia. Forget holiday celebrations. I initially felt like I was floating in the sea with no sails or oars. Humans are creatures of habit, and our routines give us comfort. I mean, my blog is all about ritual and tradition, so this was a huge upset. Or was it?
Routines can become ruts. And ruts can get very deep, which makes them hard to get out of. And they are sometimes so ingrained in us that we don’t even know we have been locked in to a routine until the floor is swept out from under us.
So what to do? Many people found new ways of keeping engaged-hello, Zoom Happy Hour! We used to go to a restaurant every week with friends to play trivia. Instead, we did Zoom trivia. Still fun, and we got to see our friends, even if it is on a screen.
This was also the time to support local restaurants. So many people have been helping our restaurants stay open. We order take out weekly from our favs to help keep them open.
We also vowed to try a new recipe every week. We have a ridiculous amount of cookbooks that were seriously under utilized. Our new ritual is we go through the cookbooks and select our menu for the week. We then create the shopping list. Date Night is now Friday night at the grocery store (less crowded than on the weekends).
But the best change up in routine came from my son. He made the request that we don’t buy Christmas presents for each other. He wanted to just do stockings and then spend time together. Initially, I wasn’t enthused about the idea. But think about it. We give each other lists of what we want, then we get those things, then we open gifts pretty much knowing what they are. So I got on board.
And you know what? This was so much fun! Instead of working off of a premeditated shopping list, I had to go find things that he and his fiancée would enjoy. Shopping became an adventure, and it forced us to really think about who they were and what they would find delight in. Christmas shopping is very stressful for me, and I do not find pleasure in it. This was like a treasure hunt, and each and every small gift had a thought behind it. Really, best Christmas in a long time. So thanks to my son, this will be our new Christmas ritual. We do, however, need to invest in large capacity stockings…
The takeaway :
-take a look at your routines. Are they adding to your life or are they stopping you from being creative?
-nothing is permanent. Be open to creating new experiences.
-keep your routines, but add a new twist. Like our new holiday tradition, you can find delight in a variation on a theme.
There is No “Normal” Anymore
It’s now 2021. And things are still going to be hard for a while. Hope is on the horizon, and I am feeling optimistic for the first time in a long while. I know people want to get back to “normal” but that has all changed. And while there is so much to be sad about, we also can celebrate what we have discovered about and within ourselves.
The takeaway :
-working from home has made people realize that our workplaces and ourselves have been giving lip service to the term “work/life balance”. Companies were forced to realize that a majority of the workforce can work from home and still be productive. And employees have now really seen what they were giving up, with long commutes and daily grinds into offices. I foresee this way of working continuing in some form, and people will be more productive and happier. I know for me I can now get a walk in first thing in the morning. And I can throw a load of wash in during the day between Zoom meetings.
-the pandemic has -hopefully- shone a light on our humanity. There has been so much mobilization to help with food insecurity. Groups have donated meals to our frontline healthcare workers. Food bank usage is at an all time high-so donate when you can.
-Enjoy the small things. A walk in nature, time with your children, hanging out with your pets. Lots of little things add up to a big pile of good things.
Onward
To my readers and followers, I wish you all good health and new opportunities. I hope you find solace and joy, and I that you have found some delight amidst the chaos.
I have always been fascinated by the tradition of Dia de los Muertos-the Day of the Dead celebration. Held on November 1 & 2, this festival is held primarily in Mexico. It is a time to remember and celebrate your ancestors that have passed. October 31 to November 2 are sacred days in a number of religious and pagan traditions. It is believed that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead are the thinnest on these days, enabling the spirits of the deceased to communicate with the living. November 1 is known as the Day of the Innocents, and celebrates children that have passed. November 2 is All Souls Day, when all of the adults that have passed can reach back to their living family members. Graves are cleaned and decorated with candles, brilliant orange marigolds and offerings of favorite foods and drinks are left on the graves. Alters known as “ofrendas” are also built in homes, and photos of family members are placed on the alters.
Skulls are a major icon of Dia de los Muertos. Participants wear elaborate skull make-up and costumes, and skulls made of sugar are part of the offerings. They are highly decorated and extremely beautiful. I have always been captivated by them.
So when November 2 was on a Saturday this year, I decided to hold my own celebration. Guests were instructed to bring a photo of their loved ones and to make a dish that was their favorite. I asked everyone to bring their recipes, and I would compile the recipes into a cookbook from the party. I set up an ofrenda for everyone’s photos, and decorated with sugar skulls and paper marigolds.
The ofrenda adorned with the guests’ photos.
Everyone visited while the food was being set out. Then we all gathered around the food, and people were invited to share the story of their loved ones. I started with my family, as I have lost my father, my sister and my mother. November 1 was significant to me, because that is the day my mother died. She passed peacefully in bed, and I am convinced that my father and sister came to her and took her back with them. She was 93.
Each person then shared their photos and their stories. I expected some tears and some laughs, which there were.
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The telling of the stories
What I didn’t expect was the powerful impact that the TELLING of the stories would have on all of us.
We learned that one friend had lost her father when she was only 7 years old. We learned about a new friend’s roots in the Caribbean. We learned about people who were integral to their communities, who were artistic, and who were really terrible cooks. We heard about loss, but we also heard about the love and power of family.
But for me, the most powerful moment was that the TELLING bound all of us together as another type of family. The sharing of food and story is a strong and binding ritual. And a number of guests thanked me for holding the party and allowing them to tell their stories. It was cathartic and uplifting. In fact, we all got so involved in the stories, that the food started to get cold! (Next year, stories first, then the food goes out.) So it looks like I will be adding this celebration as an annual event.
So much food!
Our past and our heritage is important. All of our stories need to be shared and remembered. Passing down your history to friends and family is what keeps your stories alive and vital. So next November 1 and 2, think about celebrating your past. Share your food and stories with your friends.
Since my workload has been ridiculous, I haven’t had the time to think and research my usual blog posts. So, instead of trying to find the time for full on inspiration, I’m going to go with some quick snippets until I get my life back.
This topic-guilty pleasures. You know you have them. The foods we shouldn’t eat because they have zero nutritional value. The ones loaded with sugar or fat. Or super processed with artificial flavors and scary colors. The ones you are embarrassed to admit you like, because you have become a foodie and you have reputation to maintain. Well, I’m ripping off the Band-Aid and I’m going to admit to mine. Here goes..
1. Marshmallow Peeps
Indeed. These are a favorite from the days when I got an Easter basket as a kid. Back then they only came in yellow. I was so in love with these as a child, and I still am.But for the full on Peeps effect, I have to let them get slightly stale. The staleness makes the marshmallow more chewy and the sugary coating gets delightfully crusty. Now I buy one package at Easter and poke a hole in the wrapping, letting them sit to achieve staleness Nirvana.
Peeps have expanded to all holidays now. You see hearts at Valentine’s Day, pumpkins at Halloween and candy canes at Christmas. So far I have been able to limit my consumption to one pack at Easter. So far…
The Just Born company, maker of Peeps is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, not too far from my home in Bucks county. They have expanded to retail shops, where you can get all kinds of Peeps swag. And Just Born is now the maker of Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews, another Pennsylvania confection, first made in Philadelphia in 1917. For a look at the history of Just Born, check out the link here.
2.Hostess Sno Balls
Yup. Again, once a year, I will indulge in these. Coconut, marshmallow, and cream filled chocolate cake. Oh, and it has to be the pink ones. Not white, not yellow, pink. Sticky sweet, the coconut and marshmallow give you that first hit of a crunchy texture. Then you hit the chocolate cake, finishing with the cream filled center. Actually, they are so sweet, I can only eat one anymore. How did we eat this stuff as kids?
Continental Baking is the brainchild behind Hostess cakes. They began in 1917 with the now iconic Hostess cupcake. They come two to a pack with that distinctive swirl on the icing. They added other cakes, like Twinkies and Ding Dongs to the line up. To see more about the history of Hostess and Continental Baking, go to the link here.
3. Horseradish Bacon Dip and Fritos
Full disclosure. I have no control around a bag of Fritos. I mean, none. Salty, crunchy, and since they now make them in Scoops, it’s over. And the best bacon horseradish dip? Helavagood brand. No really, that’s the name. Creamy, bacon-y, with just enough kick from the horseradish. My husband and I can down a whole container in one sitting. So it’s not permitted very often, because we make pigs of ourselves..
Fritos started in 1932, when C.E. Doolin was in San Antonio Texas and bought a locally made bag of corn chips. The maker wanted to sell the business, so Doolin bought the recipe and Fritos was born. To see more about the Frito-Lay company, go to the link here.
Helavagood started as a cheese company in Sodus NY in 1925. That’s when a customer who was sampling the cheese said “that’s a hell of a good cheese!” And the name was born. To learn more about their products, go to the link here.
4. Rolling Rock beer
I know, I know! It’s a shit beer. In fact, I’ve looked on several beer rating websites, and apparently the whole world thinks it’s a shit beer. But it’s MY shit beer.
I’m not a beer connoisseur (clearly), and I don’t like all of the funky craft beers that are out there now. You know, the ones with notes of grapefruit and cinnamon? What the hell? I like a good crisp, unpretentious beer. And that is what Rolling Rock is. Plus it has a horse on the bottle, and I ride horses, so, yeah.
Rolling Rock was introduced in 1939 by the Latrobe Brewing Company in Pennsylvania and has been making it ever since. So it can’t be all that bad…
To see more about the history of Rolling Rock, and to explore the conspiracy theories about why the number “33” is on the bottle, go to the link here.
5. Popeyes Chicken
Now we’re talkin’.
First, let me state that I do not frequent fast food places at all. You will never see me at a McDonald’s or a Burger King. Except for Popeyes Chicken.
I grew up with Kentucky Fried Chicken, and it was a fun treat as a kid getting a bucket of chicken. My Mom would get this, especially if we were picnicking. I have fond memories of taking KFC to the Garden State Arts Center in NJ for concerts. My friends and I couldn’t afford real seats, so we would get lawn seats. And it ALWAYS rained on us. The chicken got wet, so we started referring to it as “sog fry”.
Years later, enter Popeyes Chicken. No contest. It is so much better than KFC. For a fast food, the seasonings are well blended, and it is always just the right amount of crispy. Match it with their coleslaw and some biscuits, and I am good to go. Oh, and a Rolling Rock.
In 1972 Alvin C. Copeland, Sr. started making traditional Southern fried chicken in a New Orleans suburb and called it “Chicken on the Run”. It wasn’t a big hit, so he rebranded the restaurant to Popeyes, named after the Popeye Doyle character in the movie “The French Connection”. (I don’t get that connection, but whatever…) He changed the recipe to a more spicy version New Orleans style and the franchise started in 1976. To see more about Popeyes Chicken, go to the link here.
So, there you have it. I have bared my soul to you, my readers. I have come clean and admitted my rather embarrassing culinary guilty pleasures. But I declare them proudly, because each one has a memory for me. So, break free, say it loud say it proud. Wear your GP food badge of honor.
My poor, poor blog, so neglected. 2018 was not kind to my blog.
My year began with being really, really busy at my job. Actually, busy is an understatement. The company I work for is growing at breakneck speed and my job is to oversee the design, construction and move-in into new laboratory and office space. Because this is a young company, they don’t know what they don’t know, so things got very hectic. Honestly, this was the most difficult project in my career. So I spent many, many hours in meetings, talking , redoing stuff, fixing stuff, etc. This went on from February until mid November. Finally, things have slowed down and I have some space in my brain again.
I was also very involved in our local politics. Here in PA, I live in a county that ends up being pivotal to elections. I decided to help make the change I want to see, and ran for a local office, which I won. OK, so I ran unopposed, but hey, I made the commitment and now have to fulfill local responsibilities for the next 4 years. And I have learned so much about how very critical and important local, county and state elections are. I also volunteered on a campaign for a candidate who was running for State House of Representatives. Like me, she had had enough, and against all odds ran and won. She will represent us well in Harrisburg, and that effort was so inspiring and gratifying.
The state of our country and the world has been draining for me this year. With the current insanity in the White House, I have been angry, depressed, frightened, and just plain pissed off. Every day, or multiple times a day, things got worse. Gun violence, children separated from their parents and then dying, lies from the President, a complicit Congress, more lies. Just when I think I have seen the worst, it gets worse. Never have I felt so disenfranchised from my own country.
So when I would try and write a blog post, I struggled. I mean, people are dying, losing their homes to floods or fires. It felt trivial to write about some type of ritual or story and food. People are suffering, how can I expect people to want to read about local ice cream or my latest favorite cookbook author? Writing my blog made me feel like I was being disrespectful to all of the troubles in the world.
It felt insignificant.
So, I didn’t write. I guess it was a form of writer’s block, but I couldn’t find anything that felt valid or inspiring enough to put out there.
But then I found the fix.
I was listening to a podcast the other day, and they were talking about that annoying topic of New Year’s resolutions. But what one of the guest said was transformative to me.
She said she doesn’t do resolutions; she does intentions.
Think about that for a minute.
A resolution is an act-I’ll go to the gym more, I’ll quit smoking, I’ll spend more time listening to my kids. An intention comes with something you value. It includes what you find ethical or moral. Intentions require more of you. More thought, more purpose, more conversation, more soul searching.
Instead of a making a resolution to write more blog posts, I will have intentions of writing what speaks to me. I’m going to turn off the judgmental internal critic that held me captive this year.
And I will write. Because I love what I write about. And I hope you will too.
Wishing everyone an inspiring, loving and Happy New Year, filled with all of your intentions for 2019.
Memorial Day weekend was coming up and I was looking for something to do. On my way to work, I heard about a festival that sounded perfect for my Regional Ritual type of blog post.
The Taylor Pork Roll Festival. For those of you from Jersey and the southern Pennsylvania area, you get it. For those of you who aren’t from here, let me give you some history.
Taylor Ham, as it was originally called, was made by John Taylor in 1856. He kept the recipe a secret, but was force to change the name to Taylor Pork Roll in 1906, as the product did not meet the definition of ham in the new Pure Food and Drug Act. It was made in a cloth sack for easy transportation, and was rumored to have been a provision for soldiers in the Civil War. Production was set up in Trenton, NJ, where it remains today, made by Taylor Provisions. It still comes in the sack, but also come pre-sliced and ready to fry or grill. Tradition dictates that you cut a slice in the the edge of the round pieces so that it will stay flat when you cook it. Looks like PacMan…
So what is in it? The recipe is still secret, but it is similar in consistency to SPAM. A blend of herbs and spices, and ground pork.
Whether you call it Taylor Ham or Taylor Pork Roll depends on where you are from. Central and northern New Jersey tend to call it Taylor Ham, but South Jersey and the Philadelphia area call it Taylor Pork Roll. You can check out the divide here.
So, off we go to Trenton, NJ. The Taylor Pork Roll Festival is sponsored by Trenton Social , a bar and restaurant who has been hosting the festival for 5 years. The festival invites local vendors and food trucks to set up and offer their specialties, but they must include pork roll. My first stop was a Bloody Mary, with a tiny pork roll sandwich as a garnish. Great way to get started!
Off to what looked to be all thing pork roll, The Pork Roll Store located in Allentown, NJ. I met Robbie, the self proclaimed “Pork Roll Princess”. Her family has owned their store for 98 years. Robbie is a bubbly ambassador of pork roll, and will gladly tell you all about her family’s business, which she now runs. They were grilling up Pork Roll kebabs, which consisted of pork roll, pineapple and a cherry. The combination of the salty pork roll with the caramelized sweetness of the pineapple is quite a taste treat.
Delorenzo’s The Burg food truck was offering the traditional tomato pie (another food ritual I will save for another blog post) with pork roll included. If you read the Stephanie Plum book series by Janet Evanovich, you will understand the reference to “The Burg”. The Burg is the nickname of the Chambersburg section of Trenton. A diverse neighborhood, it was home to Poles, Slovakians, Germans and Irish before becoming predominately Italian.
For the classic pork roll sandwich, it has to be Johnny’s Pork Roll. Johnny’s has your pork roll, egg and cheese on a hard roll, but also offers variation on the traditional, like the PBLT-pork roll, bacon, lettuce and tomato; The Western-pork roll, provolone, pepper and egg; and The Reuben-pork roll, kraut, Russian dressing on rye bread. Johnny’s embodies the story and the love of pork roll. Check out the video here.
There was also pork roll versions by the Bacon Broads, and all types of hot sauce to try on your pork roll by Dirty Sexy Sauce.
But you have to have dessert, right? Go for the Pork Roll Ice Cream. Yup. Made by Jake Hunt of Windy Brow Farms, the ice cream had a bourbon-y-caramel-y base with chunks of pork roll in it. Salty and sweet, it was delicious! Don’t knock it until you have tried it.
This had everything a food festival should have. Recipe contests, music, and the crowning of the Pork Roll Queen. What’s a festival without a pageant? Oh and every festival needs a mascot. Not sure what he was called, but Trenton Social is located near the courthouse, so hence the”Meat of Justice”.
So why does pork roll rate a festival? South Jersey and Philly folks are passionate about their food products and sports teams. We are a scrappy bunch. We love our pork roll and our Eagles. Any reason for a party. Super Bowl win or Pork Roll Festival, we are there!
The summer is still young, and there will be more food festivals to attend. Check out the link here in the Philly area.
Which food festivals are in your area? Go check them out, and post about them here! Would love to see what is your favorite.
Sidenote: We had to try the pork roll kebabs ourselves, so here is a picture of our version. We still had the pineapple, but added yellow pepper, and mushrooms. It is brushed with a Mandarin Orange Ginger salad dressing while grilled, which added a sweet and tangy punch to the kebab. Grilled eggplant was the side.
Bring Something to the Table 