Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Thursday, December 7, 2017
A Winter Comfort Food
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| Irish Shepherd's Pie, Garden Tomatoes, And Dutch Crunch Bread |
The long periods of darkness and very cold temperatures cry out for hearty dishes. Cheer up with the ultimate comfort food--Irish Shepherd's pie. This recipe is from Death Of A Foster Child and it pairs well with a Pelican Ranch Cinsault.
Irish Shepherd's Pie
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium chopped onion
2 sliced carrots
4 tablespoons flour
1 can of beef stock
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1 pound cooked ground beef or ground turkey
1 1/2 pounds mashed potatoes
8 ounces of frozen peas
Irish cheese
Preheat oven to 350° F. Brown the ground beef or ground turkey. Remove from the pan.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the chopped onion and sauté it. After adding the carrots, stir in the flour and cook until it is slightly browned then add the stock and herbs.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the chopped onion and sauté it. After adding the carrots, stir in the flour and cook until it is slightly browned then add the stock and herbs.
Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce it a little by cooking for about five minutes. Add the meat and bring it back to a boil. Add the frozen peas.
Place in a pie pan or a deep baking dish and cover with the mashed potatoes. Bake for about 30 minutes. Grate some Irish cheese over the top about 10 minutes before the end of cooking for extra flavor.
Serves 4
Death of a Foster Child explores the guilt felt when the foster placement of a teenage girl in the home of Rick Podowski and his wife failed. To complicate matters, the foster child was brutally murdered and the authorities believe she was selling drugs on the school campus and by implication asserted that the foster parents allowed this behavior. Rick Podowski with the help of Leti Ramos, Erin McGinty and Teresa Spinelli, also know as The Hefty Trio investigate to learn the truth.
In the process of investigating, they discover the world of drug sales on the high school campus, the underlying challenges facing students in a gang-infested school, as well as the difficulties faced by special education students. The reader will experience the frustrations of foster parents when faced with a system that is designed to keep the children dependent. Suggestions to improve foster care and move the children towards independence are provided at the end of the book.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Take A Break From Leftover Turkey Dishes
Are you dreading using the leftover turkey for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Well, forget it
all and make this delicious baked apple pancake.
woo his new girlfriend. When it comes from the oven it is absolutely beautiful.
Batter
4 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Fruit
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 large tart apple (no need to peel)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 large tart apple (no need to peel)
Blend eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in food processor. With the machine running add vanilla, butter, and nutmeg. Let it stand for thirty minutes.
Slice the apple.
In a 10 inch ovenproof skillet melt the butter and coat the sides of the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar cinnamon and nutmeg over the butter. Cover with apple slices and the other 1/4 cup of sugar. Use medium-high heat until the mixture bubbles.
Pour the batter over the apples and place in a pre-heated 425-degree oven for fifteen minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 and bake for ten minutes more. Serve immediately
Makes 3-4 servings.
This recipe adapted from Machine Cuisine Cooking Classes
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Food and Wine Pairings From Death Of a Foster Child
Death of a Foster Child explores the guilt felt when the foster placement of a teenage girl in the home of Rick Podowski and his wife failed. To complicate matters, the foster child was brutally murdered and the authorities have accused her of selling drugs on the school campus and by implication asserted that the foster parents allowed this behavior. Rick Podowski with the help of Leti Ramos, Erin McGinty and Teresa Spinelli, also know as The Hefty Trio, investigate what really happened.
In the process of investigating, they discover the world of drug sales on the high school campus, the underlying challenges facing students in a gang-infested school, as well as the difficulties faced by special education students. The reader will experience the frustrations of foster parents when faced with a system that is designed to keep the children dependent. Suggestions to improve foster care and move the children towards independence are provided at the end of the book.
Food and wine pairings mentioned in Death of a Foster Child include the following:
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Food And Wine Pairings From The Winning Certificate
In The Winning Certificate, Sylvia Medina, a student at Central High joins a teenage gang after her adopted mother's death and is trapped in a life style of violence and hopelessness. Can the school's Literary Club and an image on the computer of her birth mother provide the hope necessary for Sylvia to survive?
Antonio Medina, after his wife's death from cancer, tries everything to get Sylvia back on track. However, nothing helps until Rick Podowski and Leti Rios, advisors to the high school Literary Club, get Sylvia involved. Sylvia reluctantly shares some of her poems. Then, as Sylvia becomes more committed, she begins to change and becomes in touch with her feelings.
As Sylvia develops her ties to the Literary Club, she gets more intrigued by the picture of her birth mother and tries to find her. She learns that her mother lives in New York and when members of the Literary Club go to Columbia University to attend a conference and receive an award for their magazine, Sylvia goes along. Instead of going to the conference, she visits her mother.
She finds out that her mother married a very rich man, and she has two stepsons. The stepfather is dead, and the two sons along with her lawyer are trying to get her farm and include it as part of a land trust being used as a means to launder money for the mob. Murder, kidnapping, money laundering, and mob activities are included in this novel.
The Winning Certificate won the 2011 Global eBook award in the amateur sleuth category.
Food and wine pairings mentioned in The Winning Certificate include the following:
Monday, October 23, 2017
Revisiting: A Baked Apple Pancake And A Word About Friendship
The clocks will soon be turned back and that means more time for a wonderful weekend brunch.
woo his new girlfriend. When it comes from the oven it is absolutely beautiful.
Batter
4 large eggs1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Fruit
4 tablespoons butter1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 large tart apple (no need to peel)
Blend eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in food processor. With the machine running add vanilla, butter, and nutmeg. Let it stand for thirty minutes.
Slice the apple.
In a 10 inch ovenproof skillet melt the butter and coat the sides of the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar cinnamon and nutmeg over the butter. Cover with apple slices and the other 1/4 cup of sugar. Use medium-high heat until the mixture bubbles.
Pour the batter over the apples and place in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for fifteen minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 and bake for ten minutes more. Serve immediately
Makes 3-4 servings.
This recipe adapted from Machine Cuisine Cooking Classes
And Now For Some Advice
Mellow Out--Lessons Learned From Household Cats is a fun read that explores the influence cats have on our lives. The book delves into twenty areas where their behavior provides a calming effect. Each section begins with a quote that reflects mainstream thinking on the topic. This is followed by comments on how this concept plays out in society, and then, how the cats respond. Finally, there is a discussion on how to use the behaviors of the cats to improve our lives. The broad themes of the book focus on how to take care of ourselves, how to tolerate adversity and how to embrace our emotions. Topics include such things are dealing with
getting high, being overweight, love, and brown-nosing at your place of employment.
More Information about Mellow Out--Lessons Learned From Household Cats can be found by clicking here
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A strong friendship doesn’t need daily conversation or being together. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends never part.
Anonymous
Chapter 19
Friendship Requires Work
In 1968, after completing three years, nine months and twenty-seven days, I received my early discharge from the United States Air Force so that I could attend San Jose State University (it was a college back in those days). Since money was very tight, I would hang out in a church-run coffee shop called Jonah’s
Whale. Liberal college students, some ex-military and some people who were into drugs frequented the place—after all, it was the 60’s.
I loved to talk about politics, and I spent most of my time with a guy named Al. Even though there was pressure about ending the Vietnam War, I still believed in the American dream and that our military was keeping us safe. However, the transition was beginning, and within the year, I would be involved in peace marches. In fact, there was a huge march in San Francisco, and I walked behind a flatbed truck where the Jefferson Airplane was playing.
My friendship with Al continued to grow. We played chess, we talked and we took road trips. Graduation came; I got married and started a family. We would see each other a couple of times a year. In 2007, we decided to have monthly dinners together. At first, they were random places; then we established goals.
Our first goal was to eat at all the restaurants on the Capitola Wharf. When that was completed, we decided to eat at all of the restaurants in downtown Campbell and finally all the restaurants between Campbell Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard—a five-mile strip.
We kind of got off schedule and I wrote an email to Al in November of 2011, but he never responded. I later found out that he had died from a heart attack. The point of all this is that long-term friendships are great,
and most of us have very few of them. The friendship between Al and myself grew.
It was a bit different with my cats. The Mitzer didn’t like Willie—end of story, period. Willie would sit next to the Mitzer and the Mitzer would hiss and hiss. This would happen day after day. The bedroom would be dark and the Mitzer would be on the bed with me. I would be petting her. All of a sudden, there would be this low growl and Willie would appear right next to the Mitzer. No matter what we did, Willie would always be there.
Willie is a kitten, and he wants to play, and since the Mitzer is ten years old, she has different ideas.
However, recently things have changed. Willie attacks the Mitzer and they both kind of hit at each other.
You can tell that they are playing because the growling has stopped and their claws aren’t out. The other
day, my wife was asleep and Willie and the Mitzer were sleeping in my spot on the bed. They were less than six inches apart, and I think that they have finally become friends.
The cats became friends because Willie worked at their friendship. In our world, we have good friends at work or in our neighborhood, then we change jobs or move to another area and these friendships go by the wayside. We move on.
I worked with this woman for several years and she got a job out of the area. Of course, we lost touch with each other. A decade later, I saw her at a conference and told her I was so happy to see her again. She
gave me her new address and phone number and said that I would probably never call or write. Unfortunately, she was right. I never called.
My cats remind me that friendships just don’t continue. You have to work to keep them alive.
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