Music and Memories

This week, the school my children attend (a small private Baptist school) has been host to an evangelistic team that comes every year around this time.  They come and host a variety of activities from fun school-day events to special evening programs.  They teach, entertain, preach, and perform.  Today was their last day at Trinity.

On Monday evening Katherine wanted to attend the evening program because they had special "spy" activities planned for the elementary aged students...and boy was Katherine excited to go.  She had so much fun that she wanted to go on Tuesday, but it just wasn't going to fit in our schedule so I told her she could go to their final event (last night).

Patrick was also eager to hear them perform.  The Pettit Team is more than just a group of energetic young people (except for the leaders, most of the members of the group are in their early twenties) leading fun activities for the kids.  They are actually quite skilled musicians...all of them.  In fact, musical skill is what gets them into the group.  Most of them sing and play at least one instrument; guitars and mandolins, harp, penny whistles, dulcimer, bodhran (Celtic drum), accordion, cello, string bass, and piano.  And they are quite good.

Last night's concert was Celtic in style, but what really got my attention was the longing I had for "the old days".  In this case, "old" means college...back when I was part of a well trained vocal ensemble that traveled the country giving concerts and doing public relations for the university.  It was such a real treat to be able to work with a great group of musicians who were so skilled and so well trained.  Seldom since that time have I been part of a group of people who could sing such tight harmonies and sound so awesome (with lots and lots of practice, of course).

Obviously, I can't go back to that time (and, frankly, I wouldn't care to repeat it), but I miss that kind of musically challenging singing (and I probably miss performing, too). The last time I felt like this was when Patrick was a baby and I was "missing" a creative outlet in my life.  It was during that time that I rediscovered knitting.  I wonder what I'll rediscover this time.

Indonesian Awesomeness

A few months ago I was planning to make a Balinese dish that called for Tamarind. I had no idea what the stuff was and I certainly couldn't find it at my local grocery store so I did what I always do when faced with this situation...searched the internet.  I found some and ordered it and then lost the recipe.

So, with an inventory of Tamarind and no idea how to use it, I went back to the Web and found this recipe.  I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect much.  I couldn't imagine how these flavors were going to go together, and the Tamarind itself looked like something that my car might ooze during an oil change.

However, to my pleasure and surprise, the whole thing was quite yummy.  The salmon with coconut crust was a nice base for the unique flavors in the Tamarind Barbeque Sauce (oh, by the way, I used Cayenne pepper instead of red pepper and doubled the amount).  This Coconut-crusted Salmon with Tamarind Barbecue Sauce was a real papa-pleaser, too (despite the coconut, of which he is not a big fan).  The extra heat I added sealed the deal. :)

We will definitely be seeing this recipe again (especially since I still have half of a container of the Tamarind).

Stuck in My Head

For the better part of the last twelve years, some of the things that stuck in my head I had little or no control over.  For example, "The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout.  Down came the rain and washed the spider out.  Out popped the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy b...".  What's the matter?  Is that song stuck in your head now?  Uh huh.  What about "This little light of mine...I'm gonna let it shine.  This little light of mine...I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine.  Let it shine. Let it shine."  At least this one has a nice message, but the monotony of some of these children's songs can turn your brain to ratatouille (Hey.  I'm running a high class blog...no mere soup here.).

In the past couple of months I have been faced with the reality that my kids are growing up...fast.  My son has facial hair, and his voice took a dive into the lower register, to say nothing of the melodrama that goes with becoming a teenager.  And my daughter, well she's growing up...literally...so fast that her clothes can't keep up.  It's a good thing all those new skirts her grandmother made started out near her ankles, because they're not (near her ankles) any more.  Their taste in music has changed as well, and still their songs get stuck in my head.  There's something about the way kids listen to music...over and over and over and over and over and...yea, you probably get the point.

So this morning, I was stunned to realize that the song stuck in my head was not something that the kids drove in there, but instead was one from my old church choir days.  Perhaps you'll recognize it.

Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy!  All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy!  Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love and purity.

Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

Oh no!  Speaking of Trinity, I need to get the kids up for school (they attend a school named Trinity).  Time to get out of my head and into the kitchen!

Just...meh.

Almost thirteen years ago I set to work going through all the recipes in my "favorites" cookbook. It turned out that many of the recipes that were in that cookbook I had never tried (so how, exactly, they became "favorites" is beyond me). But I digress.

I implemented "experiment night" on which I would try one of these recipes and the family (smaller back then) would evaluate the dish. There were three rules;
1) Be honest - if you don't like it and don't say anything, it may come back to haunt you.
2) Erika can't take the critique personally (yes, I had a habit of this...on occasion), after all, it was about the food - not the cook.
3) There's always pizza.

It didn't take me long to get through that "favorites" cookbook, but by the time I did a habit was born. Now I was in the routine of trying new recipes...regularly. A family of guinnea pigs had been born.

Thirteen years later, we have never once had to order pizza because of a botched dinner.  In fact, a whole second "favorites cookbook" has been born; I now have so many recipes that I'm converting them all to digital using recipe management software!  And in that time we've only had a small handful of "it's fine, but you don't have to make it again" dishes.

So, tonight's dinner - the Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas - falls into that small category of dinners we call "it's fine, but you don't have to make it again".

CSA Challenge

Challenge accepted! That's what my son says when I say things like "that chair isn't big enough for both of you" or "smaller bites, please" (as he crams a fistful of something into his mouth).

I received two Delicata squash in my CSA and wasn't sure what to do with them.  My husband doesn't like squash (usually I puree it Sneaky Chef-style into a "secret sauce" that goes into other dishes...but don't tell hi that), these were small enough that it wouldn't have been worth the effort.  So, I checked out my favorite recipe sources (Martha, Cooking Light, etc.) and found this recipe for Nut-stuffed Delicata Squash in Cooking Light.

The ingredient list sounded a bit weird, but the result was fantastic.  Even my squash-loathing husband liked it.

Challenge accepted!

Taste Bud Heaven

There are very few meals that I stuff myself with; Carbonara is one, and, as it turns out, this Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Strawberry Gastrique recipe.  Normally I can eat enough to satisfy hunger and be done, but the flavors in this recipe are a real treat for the taste buds.

My husband isn't a real fan of fruit-with-meat dishes, so it won't be a regular fixture on our meal table, but this recipe is definitely going in the "Keeper" pile.

I served it over a bed of wilted spinach, with a salad.

Make Ahead

Tonight's dinner was about planning ahead.  I had a meeting at the same time as the rest of the family had Tae Kwon Do, and I wasn't going to be home to feed everyone when they got home.  I needed something for dinner that could be prepared ahead and baked at a pre-programmed time (I love my programmable oven).

This Three Cheese Penne recipe worked really well for that. Make sure to choose a good quality sausage, or at least one you trust - I didn't and the sausage gave it a funny flavor.  It could also work with ground beef, but I usually try to stick to a recipe when it's the first try. I can take artistic license in the future.

I'll probably try this one again.  It's a good one-dish dinner, and it would also be a good take-along for potlucks.  It's pretty easy to prepare and doesn't take that much time.  It also gave me a chance to use some of my CSA tomatoes and green peppers.