February 17 - I Love:: This Chai Tea Recipe

I'm a confirmed, died in the wool, roots in Scotland coffee drinker. It is one of my morning joys. But this lovely recipe is tender and yummy and not too sweet. I might have it again tomorrow.

Indian Chai Tea

Ingredients
* 3 teabags black tea
* 4 cups water
* 1 3 inch cinnamon stick
* 1 inch piece of ginger root cut into 4 slices
* 1/2 tsp (2 ml) cardamom seeds
* 1/2 tsp (2 ml) black peppercorns
* 1/2 tsp (2 ml) whole cloves
* 1 tsp (5 ml) whole coriander seeds
* 1 cup (225 ml) coconut or almond milk
* honey or stevia to taste

Directions
Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Add spices, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Add teabags and steep 10 minutes. Add milk and heat to drinking temperature-do not boil. Strain mixture through a cheesecloth or cotton dish towel. Serve with honey or stevia to taste.

Sharing Christmas - These are a Few of My Favorite Things - Two

I don't have an exact picture, but we had a slow, Christmassy Saturday morning breakfast (with this tablecloth) that lead away from bowls of cereal to a Bacon and Cheese Frittata.

Over low heat and in a covered skillet, I tossed:

• six eggs
• six pieces of bacon coarsely chopped
• half a cup of half and half
• and a little more than half a cup of shredded cheese

The kitchen smelled yummy with some Trader Joe's Winter Blend coffee dripping, and the oil of the orange I sliced wafting past our nostrils. We have much to do, but no great hurry today. A morning, gathered around the table is one of my favorite things.

Food Friday - My favorite Vinaigrette - oh, but I repeat myself

Last night I shared dinner with my lovely friends. Our topic is Simplicity for the Soul, so, I brought a simple salad (see what I did there?) I tossed a little arugula, baby greens, a firm, chopped Ricotta Salata and Heirloom Tomatoes. And topped it with my favorite Dijon Vinaigrette and was reminded, this recipe truly is perfection. If all you have to keep in your pantry is Grey Poupon, Apple Cider Vinegar and good, rich, extra virgin olive oil, you'll never have to buy dressing. Ever. In your life. Pretty pure and pretty yummy. It's also quite versatile.

Here's a link to the recipe for Sheri and I'll recommend these variations:

• Switch vinegars to Rice Wine vinegar, it's milder, tender and subtle, doesn't require so much of the salad
• Throw in pico de gallo for a Mexicany flavor (crush tortilla chips and add avocados to the salad - it's also good as a French dip for tortilla chips)
• Pour it over the Cafe Un Deux Trois  salad: romaine, chopped Granny Smith apples, walnuts, crumbled blue cheese (I beg you, hand crumble, the ready-crumbled stuff has a powdery texture). I note they now serve this with endive, but the original recipe was with romaine. It has a good crisp bite.

Do you have a favorite, workhorse dressing?

This pretty salad is found here. I sure wish they had a location on the left coast.

Nora Ephron's Peach Pie - the Ohio version

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

Turn in a food processor with a pastry blade until it forms a ball.

Pat out into a butter pie tin. Crimp if you like.

Bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees. (Don't worry about beans or pie beans, the crust is forgiving)

3 egg yolks slightly beaten

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup sour cream

Stir together until smooth.

Pour over 4 or more peeled, sliced peaches layered in the crust. (I used 8 smaller peaches today.)

Cover with foil.

Reduce oven to 350 degrees.

Bake 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 10 minutes more OR until the filling is set. (It can take 20 minutes. Just watch.

Enjoy!

Vinaigrette a la Nora Ephron

Mix 2 tablespoons Grey Poupon mustard with 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar.

Whisking constantly,  add 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, until creamy.

Actually, I've been making it so long, I forgot about the red wine vinegar. I've always used organic apple cider vinegar. And Melissa D'Arabian shared a secret, that when making his vinaigrette, a Parisian cafe owner added a few drops of soy sauce as a secret ingredient. Here's that link.

You can always make it more complex, adding minced garlic, minced shallots, fresh herbs you love. I always return to the basic and enjoy it with champagne vinegar and even the subtlety of rice wine vinegar. Leave out the vinegar, add lemon juice and grate Parmesan. Variations and flavors are endless.

For my taste this simple recipe means I never have to buy a bottle of dressing.

Based on a recipe in HEARTBURN, by Nora Ephron

Spanish Eggs -- From the Sonoma Diet

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin bite-sized strips

1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 pounds roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 to 1 1/12 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

4 eggs

salt

pepper

2 T sliced almonds, toasted

1)  In a large skillet cook bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and garlic in hot oil about 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and the 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to boiling: reduce heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.

2) Break one of the eggs into a measuring cup. Carefully slide the egg into simmering tomato mixture. Repeat with remaining eggs. Sprinkle eggs lightly with additional kosher salt and black pepper.

3) Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes or until whites are completely set and yolks begin to thicken but are not firm.

4) To serve, transfer eggs to serving plates with a slotted spoon Stir tomato mixture; spoon around eggs on plates. Sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Derivations: sweat the pepper (red is fine too) with garlic and onion in the olive oil, add tomato and some coarsely chopped mushrooms. I don't always have a jalapeno and don't always add the chili powder. I do use lots of fresh ground black pepper and love a good sprinkling of lemon and a quarter of an avocado to finish. 

It is a remarkably hearty breakfast. A warm corn tortilla is perfect along side.

Spatchcocked Chicken with Tomatoes a la Ms. Stewart

Use a 3-4 pound chicken. Turn it breast side down on a cutting board and starting at the bottom, cut upward with kitchen shears, along the backbone. Cut along the other side and remove backbone. Turn the chicken and flatten it in true butterfly style by applying pressure with your palm. (Here's a video of a more complete method and a more refined method, which makes it easier to cut for serving.)

Spatchcocked Chicken with Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Season spatchcocked chicken with coarse salt and ground pepper and place, breast side up, in a pan (or on a cookie sheet) with 3 unpeeled garlic cloves, smashed. With the tip of a paring knife, pierce 1 pint cherry tomatoes. Add to pan and drizzle tomatoes with 1 teaspoon olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Pour 1/2 cup dry white wine and 1/3 cup water into pan. (we forgot the wine and it was delicious...) Roast chicken until juices run clear when pierced between breast and leg (to 165 degrees at the thickest part of the meat) 30-40 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup basil leaves before carving.

Taken from Martha Stewart Everyday Cooking July, 2010. 
Also see Martha Stewart's website recipe.

Summer Morning Dining

No pictures, just a note to self that breakfast doesn't have to happen in the starch and sugar box.

This morning a tender saute of red onion and spinach in a tiny teaspoon of coconut oil and topped with two poached eggs delighted eyes and taste buds.

A pinch of salt and a sprinkle of fresh lemon finished this plate full of beautiful, healthful eating.

Almost summer and loving lots

I can say that I'm about a half day into summer and have found much intrigue in those Stieg Larsson books. I read THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO with the neighborhood book club. Fun. The book club that is. I'm new and we just ran through thought after thought on the writer, the characters and then, the confessions. One of us had read all three books in under a week. I almost set out for the neighborhood bookstore in my pjs at midnight because I wanted book two. (Didn't.) And we've agreed to meet in six weeks having read two and three.
So far, I like summer.

We've made roasted tomato salsa and had our first super yummy watermelon granita. Avocados are turning into guac and every chef in the house is making their favorite smoothie.

I'm listening to a lot of Sara Lindsay. Especially the songs Beautiful and Fall Kids. We're dancin'.

Oh yes, I'm liking summer.

I also have a notion for a book. Summer is a good time to incubate a notion for a book.
A little sun, a little water and the idea might just turn into pages.

And one last thing, the teenager and the sistersoo are fully invested (again) in the Next Food Network Star.

Summer. Its a good thing.

Then, the final last thing: Mary and Marj and I are sitting in the front yard garden a lot. We think we're on the cape. Even if I've never been there. This means connecting with lots of neighbors - especially the ones we don't all know.

Ah, summer.

In Search of Summer ~ A Fruit Stand Stop on The Memorial Day Trip

We fought our way away from San Francisco on the 101 Highway toward Bodega Bay on Friday. After a couple of hours on the road we read a sign for CHERRIES -  $1 a box. So, the hungry, weary travelers we were, pulled off the road. My sonny boy grabbed a couple of dollars and headed to the canopies fruit stand for some deliciousness.

Well then, it turns out, these are the $4 boxes. The $1 boxes were very, very little with about 12 cherries. (Ah, 12 for a dollar would have made a good sign, too.)
See if you can find them on the table:
Ah, there's the little box -- way, way, way to the right tucked next to the apricots. Bait and switch at it's best. So, there we were with a mouthful of "Oh well!" as we snagged a box of deliciousness anyway.

You have to love the roadside stands.

The nectarines were hard as rocks, but irresistible too. They may be ready for lunches today.

I know there are many things to be done with cherries, but I almost never seem to get past the "bowl of cherries" point. Once in a while the red ones and the white ones make their way into a salad (after pitting them with my 1940's pitter) alongside blueberries and blackberries and a tart and mildly sweet yogurt sauce. Making it all the way to pie has never happened.

So tell me, please, what would you do with a basket or two of luscious summer cherries?

In Search of Summer ~ Muddled Lemonade

Consider the lemon.
Beautiful in color. Tart and refreshing in taste. Versatile as all get out.
Perhaps at it's best in a rich, tart lemonade. I like the kind that has a fair amount of body along with the flavor.
For me, one of the signs of summer is the refreshment found in a glass of lemonade.
Here's my favorite recipe:

Muddled Lemonade
8-12 lemons based on size (you'll be working to your taste)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4-6 cups water (four is tart and allows for melting ice cubes, six is a milder lemonade, five might just be perfection)
Muddle to your delight. (Smash the lemons with a potato masher, mixing the juices with the sugar) 4-5 minutes.
In two or three steps, remove the lemon rinds to a sieve or china cap. Press juices through. Dispose of rinds and seeds.
Finally, run remaining juice through the sieve if you like pulp free, or simply remove seeds.
Add water and, if you like, just a pinch of sea salt.
Stir.
Pour.
Breathe in.
Enjoy.

A Friday Recipe ~ The Sunrise Bowl and Breakfast with My Man

Every once in a while you have to steal away for a romantic adventure with your espoused.

My dear and I ran away for breakfast this morning. He'd been at an early, early appointment and caught me home after school drops. I love the very romantic notion of the impromptu date with my dear.

As we sat at our favorite, favorite breakfast spot, The Coffee Cup, we talked about nothing of importance and enjoyed every minute. I had my favorite, soup and eggs for breakfast.
Here's a recipe for my (other) find of day: The Sunrise Bowl. It's founded in good Black Bean soup. If you'd want to try this at home, you can start with Dave Lieberman's recipe. (I'll credit the picture to his page at the Food Network, too.) For a super simple homemade version try the one below.

The Sunrise Bowl a la mi Casa

• 1 cup black bean soup (I like Trader Joe's Cuban Black beans partially blended with a little chicken stock for consistency)
• 2 poached eggs
• 1/4 avocado 
• Pico de gallo salsa
• Corn tortillas

Assemble in a deep soup bowl as follows:
Place soup in the bowl, Drop in freshly poached eggs. Top with thinly sliced avocado and pico de gallo. Serve with a warm corn tortilla or two. (or not...) High in protein, fiber and yumminess.

Inspired Island Four Step Chicken

My husband and my teen man are enthralled with Robert Irvine on Dinner Impossible. They tape the show and watch it together. They are always amazed at what Robert and his team can pull off. Me too, only I have a little kitchen experience and can almost feel the rhythm of invention as he and David and George go.
This afternoon when we walked in after school, Dad had the TV ready to go. All activity came to a halt. It was the episode where Robert's mission was to serve the LOST cast and crew LOST style. (Oh, some of us are major LOST fans. Major. ) You can see this episode on Food Network or Hulu or somewhere, somehow. It doesn't seem to be on-line quite yet.
Watching Robert cook shrimp in a pineapple inspired me to whip up an island version of Melissa D'Arabian's Four Step Chicken. Oh, and these baby peppers from Trader Joe's called out to me too. (We saw Hurley. Did I mention we have major LOST fans?)

Islandy Four Step Chicken

• Season flour with salt, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Cut 4 chicken breasts into lengthwise strips - toss in flour
• Add to heated skillet seasoned with 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Toss in skillet until nearly cooked through
• Remove from pan and set aside
• Add Maui Onion, chopped, with 1/4 teaspoon thyme, sweat on low
• Add 1/2 cup fresh or frozen pineapple chopped
• Add 6 baby red, orange, yellow peppers cut lengthwise in quarters
• Remove when softened
• Deglaze pan with 3/4 cup chicken stock and 1/4 cup white wine
• Reduce
• Return chicken to pan over low heat
• Return veggies and fruit
• Add sliced about 6 sliced strawberries

Serve over brown and wild rice.

I was tempted to mash a couple of tiny coconut macaroons into the mixture for flavor and thickening. Next time.
Melissa's Recipe has become my favorite fall back. As long as I can find inspiration in a tomato, and olive, lemon or now, pineapple, I'm in great shape.
What inspires you in the kitchen?

Lori's Mom's Cheesy Potatoes

2 bags shredded hash browns

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cube of butter

1 pint sour cream

3 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese

½ bunch scallions

4 cups corn flakes

1 cube butter

Heat soup, butter and sour cream, bring to a boil. Layer potatoes, chopped onions, sauce and cheese alternately. Two or three layers. End with cheese on top add sautéed corn flakes to cover top.

Bake 1 hour at 350-375 or until heated through.

60's cooking in full regalia! This was, apparently, before they invented fat and cholesterol. Oh, and completely outside the realm of green.

Kids Color Week:: Orange

My young photographer referred me to some of her previous work for ORANGE day.

There are butterfly mobiles we oogled at the California Sciencenter.

And this is our world famous Monkey Bread on an orange and blue plate (ok, it's salmon again!).

Here's a link to the step by step recipe for this famous-at-our-house and truly yummy delight.

Potage Magali - Mediterranean Tomato Soup with Rice a la Julia Child

The soup base
3/4 cup thinly sliced leeks and onions or onions only

3 Tb olive oil

1 1/2 lbs. fresh, ripe, red tomatoes

4 large cloves garlic, minced or mashed

4-5 cups liquid: light chicken stock, or canned broth and water

1/4 cup plain, raw, white rice

Bouquet in cheesecloth:

6 parsley springs, 1 bay leaf 1/4 tsp thyme, 4 fennel seeds, 6 large fresh basil leaves

A large pinch of saffron threads salt and pepper

In a 3 quart stainless or enamel saucepan, cook the leeks and onions slowly in the oil to tender. Meanwhile, peel and halve the tomatoes, squeeze out seeds and reserve juice. Chop tomato pulp roughly and stir into the cooked leeks/onions. Add the garlic and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes. Then add the tomato juice and liquid, bring to a boil and sprinkle in the rice. Add herbs and saffron; season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

Finish

Carefully taste for seasoning, adding pinches of sugar to bring up flavor and counteract acidity, and small amounts of tomato paste if needed for color and taste. Remove herb bouquet.

To serve

Serve hot or chilled and sprinkle with minced fresh basil, chervil or parsley.

Recipe courtesy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume Two, Julia Child/Simone Beck. On Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

Finally, a plug for Mrs. Child, I'd prefer not to live without MAF/I & II, so, I highly recommend the investment in cash and time. She provides brilliance. And my family waits for her Zucchini Tian (VII). 

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 large egg beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cookies

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. (No mention of a sifter here.)

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add the beaten egg and vanilla mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour (or overnight) or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter. Cut out shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shapes while baking.

Note: if you are not going to frost the baked cookies, you may want to sprinkle the unbaked cookies with colored crystal or sparkling sugar.

Bake cookies for about 8-10 (depending on size) or until they are just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing and sparkling sugar, if desired. Be sure to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours.)

Frosted cookies will keep several days in an airtight container. Store between layers of parchment paper or wax paper.

Makes about 20 - 3 inch cookies.

For Royal Icing with Egg Whites:

1 large egg white

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg white with the lemon juice. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

Thanks to Joy of Baking 

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ValentinesSugarCookie.html

I Love:: Eight -- Monkey Bread

Monkey bread came into our family in the 70's when my grandma found a recipe and began serving it with dinner on occasion. Edith's version was made like a dinner roll, completely savory (and buttery) and built in bites like the one in the picture. But ours today, the one in the picture, is a cinnamony-sweet breakfast treat - something we love to make, especially with friends or the cousins.

This particular version came from our fabulous friend, Bonnie, who introduced it as a breakfast treat for kids on mornings when she drove them to school. Her big boys (her trees!) love it - it was sure to be a hit. So, on those early, yummy, cozy mornings, when she wasn't delighting them with crepes or breakfast burritos, she made Monkey Bread. My kids wanted, desperately, for me to make it too.So with

This particular recipeis calls for frozen bread dough, butter, sugar, cinnamon and a knife. I learned in my first tries that you must let the dough not just thaw, but rise and that bigger pieces are better than smaller pieces.

Here's our super simple recipe.

1) Thaw a loaf of frozen bread dough. We like Bridgeford.

2) Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
3) Spray a bundt or angel food pan with Pam.
4) Melt a stick of butter, place it in a shallow dish or bowl.
5) Place about 1/4 cinnamon sugar in a shallow dish or bowl.
6) Cut the risen dough into bite sized pieces (we cut the loaf in width-wise strips and then  into thirds).
7) Assemble by dipping cut bread into first butter then sugar and bulid in the pan.
8) Save left over butter or c/s for next time!
8) Bake in 350 over for about 35 minutes. (The dough at the top of the pan will be lighter than that pictured.)
9) Cool a few minutes, then turn the ring of yumminess over on a pan and serve.
There are several recipes for monkey bread. Erin's has ice cream in the mix! And there's even kit you can buy. I'll post more in recipes a little later.

What I love the most about monkey bread is how it makes my monkeys jump for joy!

The Turkey Pot Pie

There might not be anything so treasured in my generational family as Thanksgiving left-overs. I may be overstating this, but I've seen an uncle count the hours until he could make a cold turkey sandwich following the big meal. I once participated in dividing a carcass so more than one pot of turkey soup could be made. And every year I carefully, carefully, dole out the remains in three lots with greedy eyes at what could be done if it were going to only one refrigerator. This year, I decided to think of the turkey as just a big chicken and roast another. The bird sat frozen until it looked like the opportune day was coming. It turned out to be the day we deChrismafied the house. It was a simple undertaking really, largely because the bird was the focus. I roasted this man with just celery, onion, apples and a lemon in the cavity and a little herbed butter under the skin. I didn't reserve the innards for gravy - I doctored the Trader Joe's boxed version. And I served the beast with a little stuffing, cranberry/orange relish (also from my Trader Joe's), boxed garlic mashed potatoes and a green salad.

The results we heart-warming. We had a memorable good-bye to the holiday and we had glorious left-overs. Everyone had turkey sandwiches for lunch Tuesday and Wednesday. One with stuffing and cranberry relish, even. And the soup stock occupied two big bowls - the gelled juices from the roasted bird and the soup stock from the simmered and simmered bones.
From the minute I put the roast in the oven a particular memory began to peck its way into my plans. I have this rich remembrance of a Saturday alone in my mom's kitchen when I was about 20 or so. I'd purchased GOURMET magazine (or it might have been Bon Appetite) with wonderful after Thanksgiving turkey ideas and set out to make the most wonderful deep dish turkey pot pie I'd ever heard of or tasted. And it was magnificent. Flavors, texture, comfort, parsley, sage and thyme, all in an old blue and white pie dish I can't seem to find at the moment. 
Finally today I was free to fly. Off to the computer I went to search for the recipe. I was stumped by what I found. No GOURMET recipe and nothing else that really reminded me in the least of The One. The perfect. None. I read and read. Through Food Network, All Recipes and Cooks. I took a quick spin through the JOY OF COOKING (gravy!) and finally I figured I'd have to conflate a couple to get close. I started with Cooks.com's version*, which really is quite good, and ended up with something a la moi (l'influence francais intentional).

It went a little like this: Melissa D'Arabian's crust (ah!), a minced onion with a couple of stalks of celery sweated in a bit of olive oil, chopped carrots and thawed frozen peas then a flour, butter and garlic roux (I cut the butter and flour in half - no deep dish here) with milk, salt, pepper, thyme and a pinch of cayenne. Load, bake @ 425.

My starving crew had to wait for the cooking and the cooling but oh, when the pie was open that crew began to sing. There was left over salad but not a crumb from the pie. My eldest was requesting we have this at least once a week, while my youngest was using a finger to get the last stitch of the sauce from the dish. Everything baked in a pie and into our new year's memories.

All from a thought of a big fat pie dish consuming the remainder of the turkey and perhaps the aromatic fragrance of something from the past.

*recipe: (http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1939,139167-233202,00.html)

The Long Conversations over Christmas Cookies

Last night, over a failed batch of my Grandma Edith's 1-2-3 Cookies, my sister and I spent our night on the phone. I'd called to see what was wrong with the recipe my mom dictated an hour earlier. Somehow, after Edith's passing, my mom, the one who doesn't bake and doesn't really like to cook, hung on to Grandmother's recipes and gave her Treasured Burgundy Binder to my sister. The binder is something that would have been purchased at a Five & Dime in the day, its about 5 x 7 and filled with loose leaf lined paper. All the very treasured recipes are there. Green Pepper Egg Foo Young, Toffee Bars, Mrs. Blethen's French Dressing, all that she served as we grew up. She must have created it over the years and brought it with her when she moved from the mid-west.

Each recipe is written in Grandma Edith's beautiful cursive, flowing in the Palmer Method,  in fountain ink - mid-blue, from her Parker 51. I inherited a love for the fountain pen from her. (And a Parker 51.) But the style is uniquely her own and a constant in our lives. She wrote hundreds of cards and notes in this lovely hand and we new the curve of every letter, my sister and I. Last night when I opened the 1950's Mirro Cookie Press to make the 1-2-3's, I found a note she'd undoubtedly written to Mom: "Darling's, think of Mother when you use this,  Mother." Uniquely Grandma.

The note has faded from her Azure Blue to a deep midnight and the paper yellowed, but Grandma was there for a few minutes. No doubt she too, wondered what I'd done to the recipe.

My sister quickly identified the mistake, I'd only used one stick of butter, when two were called for. Each is a quarter pound. I'd momentarily lapsed. So the sandy dough, the one gone wrong,  will be used for something else and I moved on to my other grandmother's Orange Meltaway cookies. As I was working. My sister and I just continued to talk. We covered much, kids and cookies and our mother, our grandmother and each other. Familiar, comfortable and uncomfortable things.

My sister and I talk just about every day, touching base, sharing points of view. But this conversation went beyond that and meandered in the history of our family and into the nighttime words in the room we shared and even into the tradition of baking cookies for friends and neighbors with Grandma at Christmas. She never knew that  Grandma's Toffee Bars were my personal favorites and faxed the recipe as we talked. And I never knew she liked the Date Balls best. We both rummaged for the recipe which is noted in the Burgundy Binder, as being found on Page 31 of the Bethany Union Church Cookbook. We immediately called Mom to obtained the precious directions but Mom, who redid her kitchen 10 or so years ago couldn't put her hand on the book and wasn't really willing to get up on a ladder to go through the cook book area. (Recall, this is the mother who doesn't like to bake or cook so these are relics of the past, not treasured friends she touches often.)

This experience lead to the return to our fat-chewing about the holes in our upbringing which lead us back to the thing that's so very important and comes out in the long conversations - the bonds of love. Somehow, when we keep going - discovering, recovering, uncovering and returning - we remember just why we want to talk so very long. It's nice. Lovely and nice and sweet and really, even if it starts with failed cookies, it's about the person we know will be willing to help us get where we want to be, now or much later, because of the thing that unites all things, and us: Love. It's often found in the long conversations.