Cooking Up a Storm

We smoked some Steel Head Trout (they looked like Salmon) on the smoker and then I made my soignee appetizer with endive leaves, cream cheese with scallions and dill, and a piece of trout on each leaf, garnished with a dill spring.  Took them to a party last night and they disappeared.  A bit of trout and cream cheese remains for breakfast.

This morning I got up early (for me) and put a spinach quiche in the oven for a neighborhood brunch.  There is enough left for dinner.  Forgot to take a photo of it, but it was yummy looking with a nice brown crust and a mushroom design on the top with some parsley as garnish.

My friend from Riverwoods, Illinois, Lynn Zaremba gave me her quiche recipe years ago.  I have to confess I used a ready-made pie crust due to time constraints.  The original crust is delicious as are the various permutations of quiche Lorraine the various flavors.  A spinach quiche is good for vegetarians.  I'll publish this recipe in a future post.  Quiche makes a good Sunday supper. 

We visited the Mark Twain house in Hartford yesterday on a group tour.  Such an interesting place, and no one was cleverer with tongue and pen than Twain.  Some of the gew-gaws and cut glass reminded me of things my grandma had, a sweet-sad memory.  We schlepped the trout, cream cheese, dill and endive around in a cooler all day until we arrived at the party where I assembled it.  Someone had smoked ribs, and were they ever good.  The taste of smoked food always provokes a visceral reaction.  Did our ancient ancestors sit around the camp fire eating smoked fish and mammals?

The Ryder cup had a big surprising finish.  We sat in the Papparazzi bar in Framingham and watched a bit in the late afternoon waiting for the party to start. I dig their Beef Carpaccio big time.  Too much food this weekend.  Must be good all this week.

I put a notice about my book, World of Mirrors on a bunch of bulletin boards by the mail boxes in our condo area, and have actually got some sales and notice.  It never hurts to advertise.  May even get a speaking gig. 

So much for the weekend.  On Sundays I have horrible conflicts with various television shows:  Masterpiece Mystery, Copper, Boardwalk Empire, and even The Good Wife.  Thank heavens for taping and On Demand.  Now I need to write something.  And maybe take a walk.  Slothfulness is not good.


Grapeshot  

The Snow is general over Boston

Heard the plows on our street in the middle of the night.  They are backing up more than going forward, and you know what that means. Beep.  Beep.   Of course the paper wasn't here when I  awakened, but it actually came soon thereafter.   What's Sunday without the Globe and the Times? Last week at this time we were trekking home in the snow, ice and rain from Mohonk Mountain house. 

I  made cookies,  wrapped a gift, did 2 loads of laundry--but you don't want to hear about that.  There were tiny paw prints by the woodpile where the chipmunk is hunkered down for the winter, so I put out some seed for him.  The juncos came and feasted, too.  No sign of anyone else. 

Yesterday we went to a lovely Christmas concert of Mediterranean Baroque Christmas music,   played on period instruments. The group was the  Musicians of the Old Post Road, and the venue was the Old South Church on Boyston Street,  and  the church looked tastefully festive with lots of greenery, white Italian lights and even a tree.

The Copley subway station is under construcion which means no escalator, and even seniors and the lame have to heave their bodies three flights out of the earth.  After that one needs sustenance and strong drink, so we hied ourselves across the street to the Back Bay Papparazzi on Dartmouth Street, my favorite of all the Papparazzis.   A half-bottle of wine, a salad, and entrees later, all was well with the world and we went across the street to the concert.                                    

I have really been into people watching lately, and  had two great couples yesterday, one young, one mddle aged.   The subway is always a united nations, and yesterday was no different.  The snow didn't begin here until almost eleven, and we were all snugly indoors.

Thisbe, the junior cat, was horrified his mornng.  Can't you do something about this?  I don't like it all all? Amazing how one's cats give one  omnipotence.    

The soggy cheese twists were nice and crisp after being baked, while still frozen, in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.  Yes!  I am planning a holiday buffet with a variety of foods that everyone can enjoy, at least 2/3 of everything.  Catering to picky eaters  is a cook's nightmare.  No cheese, no tomatoes, no meat, no mushrooms, no eggplant, no olives, no capers, no this, no that!   Bummer!    

Mois?  An omnivore.

Stay warm!