Autumn's Warning

 

  

Crisp autumn seems to

gently negotiate with those of us used to warm climes.

Bold winds and light sprinkles advertise coming times.

New shows on the marquee,

mannequins with coats,

candy sales and baked brie.

January and February will be nippy,

she whispers among falling leaves.

Is your wine chilled or are you tipsy?

Craving hot appetizers on cool platters,

we want al fresco dining ‘til our teeth chatter.

 

Prepare yourself autumn seems to say.

Before everything turns gray.

Fix the furnace before it’s too late.

Shorter days are worth the wait?

Stock up on tea bags and cocoa,

there might be snow.

You never know.

Time to dig out sweaters and socks,

hide the shorts--ditch the flipflops.

Trade lemonade for pumpkin lattes--

and secretly pray for long summer days.

 

 

Eve Gaal

The Circle of Life Heats Up with Pickled Peppers

 

Remember Peter Piper and the famous tongue twister that’s been around since 1813?

I think I like tongue twisters as much as I love peppers!

Say red peppers-yellow peppers, five times fast!

As far as peppers go, I prefer jalapenos. They are readily available around here, and they add flavor to almost everything. I have a friend who makes jalapeno jam, and it’s delicious. Really.

I’m not sure if there’s a difference between Hatch and Anaheim peppers, but they are both as mild as bell peppers.

If you like a kick, there are poblanos, habaneros, serranoes, Hungarian peppers, ghost peppers and Scotch bonnets, just to name a few. The heat of these varieties is measured on something called a Scoville scale and measured in heat units that go from 2000 to over 2 million. Ever hear of a Carolina Reaper? (I’d turn back if I were you.)

Anyway, here are the tame little peppers from our garden. 

They have no heat whatsoever. 

I think they are banana or shishito, but it doesn’t matter, because they are delicious in this pickled salad recipe.

 

 

Do you have a favorite pepper?

Another Circle of Life-My Neighbor's Figs

 

During a normal, non-pandemic summer, we might go somewhere and miss out on all this glorious fruit! Harvesting, cooking and baking reminds me there's an upside to staying home, in our personal Eden, surrounded by friends, neighbors, and beautiful trees.

 If you've tasted fresh figs, you know how sweet and delicious they can be. The flavor is hard to describe, but I'd say it's like a bite of apple, plums and strawberries all mixed together into one incredible morsel. Magical! 

My neighbor's fig tree

That's not Eve, but my neighbor, picking figs from her tree.

Fresh Figs

Fresh Fig Bar

The Circle of (Apricot's) Life

 

March

June

July

Until next time....

Thank you Bees

The month of November reminds us to be grateful for the little things. Can you imagine Thanksgiving dinner without vegetables, salad, green beans, potatoes, pies or even the centerpiece of flowers? Without bees there wouldn't be honey-roasted carrots, or honey-mustard dressings, all-important herbs such as parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. The delicious and festive holiday would be bland and rather boring. Of course, the bee is not responsible for our cooking or dull and dreary relatives. 😁 

Here’s a little poem I wrote about bees.

Every year,

they forget.

Arms flailing,

they live in fear.

Our hive abuzz with laughter.

But not for long.

Little guy in our garden next to a small twig.

Joyfully busy,

we make time to

land on colorful petals.

Proud part of a team. 

Until they spray.

And my family fades.

Bakery Rebellion

Are you on the Ketogenic diet?

The gluten free diet?

Going Vegan?

Vegetarian not Vegan. (Learn the difference or you will be embarrassed.)

Low Carb?

Mediterranean?

Low fat?

High Protein?

Atkins?

Raw Food?

South Beach?

Paleo?

Grapefruit diet?

Cabbage Soup?

Sirtfood?

Carnivore diet?

Eggs and wine diet?

Apple Cider Vinegar diet?

Cake cleanse?

Smoothie detox?

No.

No, and no.

Eating is harder to figure out then gender identity. But my new trans-

ition lenses help me see things clearer.

With over one hundred newly recognized genders this year, there will be people celebrating.

Hooray! They will probably have cake!

 

I made this delicious walnut cake last week.
Walnuts are very good for you. 😋
 Maybe I'll post a recipe soon.

Anyway, dieting is something I’m supposed to be doing. (Seriously, I replaced white bread with croissants.)😍

The more I read about the dangerous, long term consequences of dieting, the more I rebel.  

"Let me eat cake," is up there with Russian Roulette and cliff diving in Mazatlan. These are perilous times folks. I'm saying folks to be inclusive to everyone.

Husband can cut out one soda and lose twenty pounds! Just like that! Poof! He misses one meal and looks like a haggard, homeless man. 

Men. Yeah, it’s a gender thing and I’m not too keen on the way they can brag about having great metabolisms.  

Meanwhile, I’m swimming my heart out and walking our lazy pooches all over the place. Apparently, I'd have to walk to the moon and back to burn all my calories.

They should have the Exhausted but I Can't Give Up Cake Diet. It could consist of three hundred calories of anything delicious three times a day. Maybe three generous slices of chocolate cake and a few carrot sticks to equal things out? Hmm.

I didn't think so. 

Love and My Fear of Cooking

My people show how much they love you by serving massive amounts of food. Then, if you don’t eat several portions, they feel that you don’t love them back. It’s a common disorder and painfully difficult to navigate. Let’s say I invite family from far away. If we’re not going to a restaurant and the kitchen is available, they will make themselves at home and prepare some delicious comfort food. Gigantic vats of the stuff. During the meal they’ll keep checking my eyes to make sure I love their creation. If I try and act cool, they will ask, “Do you like it?”

“Of course, of course. It’s delicious,” I answer, knowing how hard it is to make a great dinner. Plus, they came from far away and deep inside, I know, I should have cooked. Of course, I thankfully slurp up every morsel of the meal, mainly because I’m pretty easy to please, but subconsciously, I’m looking for a good reason to overeat. How can I argue with home-cooked and mouthwatering? Forgetting my doctor’s warnings about portion control, I inhale every fattening, delicious calorie. I take seconds to prove my love.

The reason I didn’t cook is, I’m not sure they’d like it. I guess it’s called experience. Everyone has varied tastes these days. Honey and nut allergies, milk sensitivities, etc. Few things can be as unsettling as rumors about how your fancy dinner caused a family member to go into anaphylactic shock. Ever since, I have cooking trepidation—there’s really a phobia—Mageirocophobia. (The fear of cooking). Fortunately, it’s not a severe case and I don’t need treatment. When it comes to love, I’m not a quitter.

The younger relations wash sugar-free and fat-free down with copious amounts of craft beer. Moments later, they begin a lecture about a new workout, while smoking. The older ones prefer bland over spicy. Teenage girls are in a vegan phase, which is a good thing but this usually lasts until they taste a brew-house burger. The boys like barbecue, but they haven’t yet studied carcinogens in school.

There's also the internet educational system. It’s enough to make you choke. Suddenly, everyone is a chef. Do I used grass-fed meat and range-free chickens? No, I use what looks  best at the supermarket and just like grandma, I rinse everything. Still, the dinner conversation can turn ugly. I must be out of touch or cruel if I don’t watch those movie documentaries about the truth behind our food. Don’t I know about the unethical treatment of animals? The crowded chicken coops? The thrashed wheat? 

Salad ingredients seem to be controversial too. Especially the dressing. Too sweet—too cheesy—too oily—too tart. Some don't like arugula, others hate cilantro. There's a romaine lettuce recall. Have I heard about it? Yup, I'm not serving it, am I? Help. And why do people pick fruit out of their salad?  I’m back to casseroles. They seem safe enough and contain a fair amount of vegetables.

PicJumbo picture by Viktor Hanacek

And don’t get me started talking about dessert. Let’s say, I spent hours baking, frosting and decorating something amazing.But instead of appreciation, tell me why I'm being quizzed about ingredients? Did I use flour? Did I use sugar? If I pull something ready made from the freezer, “does it have artificial ingredients? Food coloring?” They look at me as if I want to poison their children. “Yes, it has sugar. It’s called dessert.”

But sadly, I’m back at that casserole. I still worry when placing the big dish in the center of the table. After all, I put my heart into it.

Speaking of hearts, it's aflutter. I search their eyes while perspiration breaks from my temples. If they don’t immediately look impressed, I’m all worried they won’t like it. If they don’t take seconds, my day might be ruined. Scooping almost full plates of food into the garbage pail, makes me want to cry.

You see, it’s a vicious cycle, fighting a nation of fast food.  But a cycle of love. Someday, as my family DNA dissipates into the ether, there will be other, worse issues than this one. I imagine my future descendants screaming at each other about carbs, gluten and the Keto diet, which is also called the Caveman diet. The cycle has progressed to the point that the Stone Age has returned. Clubs have been replaced with modern weapons and hunting for the exact taste, the perfect morsel of food to satiate immediate desire, is only one freeway ramp away. And love.....Humans will have to find new ways to express their feelings. 

As for my house, there’s this persistent issue connecting food with love. The slow cooker is simmering and the aroma is floating throughout the house. My husband is a great cook and whether I like his masterful concoction or not, I’ll be taking seconds.

Good excuse, huh?

The Lady Behind Gourmet Jail Food

Yesterday, as fortune would have it, I attended a meeting of The Friends of the Murrieta Library, where author Louise Mathews spoke about her career and promoted her book titled: Jailhouse Cuisine(From the Right Side of the Bars). I’ve listened to many presentations by interesting authors but this one seemed to be truly unique. First of all, the writer held the attention of everyone for over an hour of speaking, with amazing stories of her career as Chief of Food and Nutrition Services for the

Sheriff's Department in charge of food service management for enormous Prison systems. Feeding over 8000 souls a day had to be a tough job and thankfully, Louise Mathews wrote a book about it.




When interviewing for the top spot, she told them not to hire her if they wanted good food. Challenge accepted, she went to work changing things from old and outdated ways to new and improved ways such as the cook/chill system and no strip searches outside of the kitchen. Inmates benefited from her “laws,” her humor and her family recipes. Her 42 years of experience earning her a Doctorate of Food Service and many awards.

   "I would not recommend going to jail in many of our states 

as some places are better than others if you find yourself incarcerated."

--From Jailhouse Cuisine by Louise Mathews

 The audience at the library was doubling over in laughter when she talked about her lunch that scurried away in the South or the cake that moved. In her book, she even explains why pie seemed to have "magical wings." Overall, I learned so many interesting things that I had to share this information with anyone interested in the truth behind prison food. I found out what Pruno is, and even the unsavory methods male prisoners use to make it. Her broccoli soup recipe, in the book, points out that it's best to use white pepper instead of black pepper because inmates don't trust black flakes in a white soup, something that sounds helpful for anyone raising teenagers. I even picked up a tip about how to use leftover potato chips but I don’t want to give her secrets away. Find out more by clicking here. Her book is chock full of hearty, well-tested recipes and fascinating stories assembled by a hard working and phenomenally brave woman that I had the special honor to meet.

Re-Post of Not So Secret Rum Ball Recipe

 My Secret Rum Ball Recipe

(First published on Dec. 15, 2011 at my previous blog The Desert Rocks)

Easy Holiday Rum Balls

These make a perfect hostess gift and will be

 remembered long after the sugar cookies, date nut bread, even the fudge has been scarfed down and forgotten. I’ve made them for years and often hear people on wobbly legs, leaving with their designated driver saying things like,

“Who made those rum balls? I have to get the recipe.”

Five years have passed and I figured you might want to try these again. After all, it's been a tough year and rum might help numb some of the pain or anxiety but please don't use rum balls as a gateway to the harder stuff like Bourbon Truffles or Brandy eggnog cocktails. Try the rum balls and always use caution when operating machinery.  

1 cup powdered sugar

3 cups crushed vanilla wafers (The best part of this recipe is that

you can use up older cookies or cakes instead of the vanilla wafers)

Typically, I use graham crackers but one year I used

Leftover chocolate cake and oh my goodness they were fantabulous!

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

3 tablespoons Karo syrup

½ cup Bacardi rum and three secret drops of German rum flavoring because regular rum evaporates rather quickly. The rum flavoring I mention is more potent and delicious than the stuff in our local  grocery stores. The Dr. Oetker Rum flavor will take your rum balls to a whole new level. It is available in most European delicatessens.

Chocolate sprinkles for decorating
Powdered sugar for decorating

Anyway, add ingredients to your bowl one at a time, stirring between each addition. Size-wise I roll them into one inch round balls.

Then roll half of the rum balls in powdered sugar and the other half of the balls in the

chocolate sprinkles.  Set them on wax paper and try one. I said one. Then, refrigerate them before you place them into cute little gift boxes or onto serving trays.

Super easy and fun too! 

Have you ever made these?

 

17 Ideas for Dealing With Negative News

If times seem tough, it's because we're exposed to much more information than all our combined predecessors saw in their lifetime. Poet Thomas Gray once wrote, 'ignorance is bliss' and while that doesn't sound responsible in today's world, doesn't it sound tempting to act like an ostrich with his head in the sand?

How about these suggestions? Do you think they might work?

17 ideas for blocking out the negative noise 

Could you cancel your cable?

 

Hide your Smartphone? (Once you've picked the kids up from school)

Stop your wireless?

Toss the newspaper subscription? 

Move off the grid? 

Hike a giant mountain without cell reception? 

Start a photo journal using a real camera?

Fly to a remote part of the world? (Enticing, huh?)

Visit a senior center where Twitter refers to the sound of a pacemaker. 

Leave phone at home while feeding/cleaning up after the homeless?

Volunteer for the Thanksgiving Parade?

Join, or at least visit a monastery? 

Teach someone to sail and avoid busy ports?

 

Host a craft class--allowing only emergency interruptions?

Teach scuba or take lessons. It's so quiet down there. 

Hammer your own noise for Habitat for Humanity. 

Plant vegetables and watch them grow in a community garden?

The point I'm making is that by helping others we help ourselves and in the process we clear our minds. Of course, you could also go for one of my favorites, which is to just barricade yourself in a room full of wonderful books!