food and beverage

How can you tell it is almost Thanksgiving at our house? My kids would say that the precursor for Thanksgiving is the smell of silver polish, Windex,and Guardian furniture polish. For me, I really can't get to the food until the house is clean. I usually begin with the most dreaded task in my home- defrosting our extra freezer and cleaning the fridge and pantry. Besides helping me organize and taking stock of what I have and what I need for the Thanksgiving feast, It helps make room for the frozen birds that I buy on special (this year $.49/pound) and for the quarts of frozen stock that will result from our turkeys. This time I even wrote down an inventory and typed up the list to help me keep track of what I am using out of my freezer, so I don't end up with no chicken and 20 pounds of stew meat!

Since at my Thanksgiving table I use all my best serving ware, it means that I have to open up my corner hutch and clean all the crystal and silver that will find its way to the table. Here is another of my tips- if you have beautiful things- china, crystal, linens and they sit unused in your cupboards, get them out! For years I would not usemy Waterford since I was afraid it would get broken or chipped and with the decline of the dollar, I could never afford to replace it. But then I realized- What am I saving it for!!? Since then, I use my very best things for festive family dinners. It says to your family and guests, "You are worth the best that I have to offer", and makes your meal really memorable.

My daughter has made acorn napkin rings, and I have purchased dark chocolate turkey placecard holders to mark each person's place. I have stocked the pantry, printed out all my new recipes and made my first batch of brine (we are making two turkeys this year so one will get roasted this evening).

What are the things that preceed your Thanksgiving day cooking? Do you have to iron your favorite linen tablecloth, or clean your oven? Or do you just dive right in?

Can you imagine a more bucolic name for a place than Nellysford? Just the name of the little hamlet conjures visions of green pastures with cows and goats, long slow days and country stores. In fact, it is the home of Wintergreen Resort, a four-season resort in the mountains of Virginia. While being near Wintergreen and its winery is a nice part of Nellysford, our favorite part is a tiny vine-covered building that houses Basic Necessities, a combination cheese-wine shop and cafe that has become part of our routine when we head to the mountains to camp. Our love affair with Basic Necessities started when we began heading to Crozet for lunch at La Coccina del Sol on our way to Crabtree Falls. Nearly halfway between Crozet and Crabtree, we found this lovely little shop and stopped to check it out.

When walking in, you are immediately assailed by the smell of freshly baked breads and whatever soups and specials are on the menu for the day. While Basic Necessities is tiny, it is packed with culinary treasures from their assortment of outstanding cheeses, to their fresh-baked breads, to their wine room- the focus is on offering customers the best of the best. We got a bottle of wine, some cheeses and a baguette that was still warm and decided to forego the dinner we had planned and instead have fruit, cheese and bread after we set up camp.

The staff at Basic Necessities is always helpful, no matter how busy they are. When they had run out of a cheese we had had before, they took the time to write down the name for our friends so they could look for it in their own area. Owners Kay Pfaltz, Bev Lacey and Keith Dix are a part of the slow food movement and in the summer months offer organic produce for their customers as well. Their affiliation with Blue Heron Farm, a pesticide-free farm less than two miles away enables them to provide local produce to their many devotees.

I can't imagine a more delicious meal than being surrounded by the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, ripping into a fresh baguette and slathering it with soft and creamy Tallegio cheese. It has become part of camping routine, and now we have taken to stopping on the way down the mountain so that we can bring a bit of Basic Necessities home. If you live near Nellysford or travel to the area, be sure to check it out- you will not be disappointed. They offer high quality, delicious food in a warm, friendly atmosphere. And try the cafe - my family has not done so yet because of our Coccina del Sol addiction, but people line up to eat in their cozy back room, and if the food tastes as good as it smells- you are in for a real experience! If you are near Nellysford, stopping by this shop is a basic necessity!

A food blog is not necessarily a place for politics, but
I was inspired by Tanya Steel's election night menu on Epicurious and so I put one of our own together to give us sustenance through what promised to be a long election night. In putting a menu together I wanted to have a dish that represented each of the major four candidates. For John McCain, I did a Tex-Mex dish of Chiles Rellenos with Black Bean Sauce (these were an ugly, but delicious dish served with a mango-peach salsa).

For Sarah Palin, since I couldn't find moose I settled for a smoked salmon with capers.
For Barack Obama, I strayed from the usual
Chicago deep dish pizza, and chose a dish that commemorates his time as a youth in Hawaii - Spam Musubi, a sushi made with Spam (Hawaii is the state that consumes the most Spam). When I saw this I was intrigued, so I decided to give it a try. I had a hard time finding something specific to Delaware, so I went to the state's agricultural page and found that Delaware produces chickens, so I opted for oven-fried chicken, maybe a bit Southern for Joe Biden, but a great option for my less adventurous diners.

Everything turned out great, and the surprise of the evening was definitely the musubi - it was surprisingly good, and made us anxious to try our hand at more homemade sushi. It definitely won my vote.

In case you want to give it a try (maybe for Inauguration day), here is how to make you own Spam Musubi.

Hawaiian Spam Sushi

2 cups uncooked sushi rice
2 cups water
6 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 finely chopped scallions
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tbsp Splenda
1 (12 ounce) container fully cooked Spam (I used light)
5 sheets sushi nori (dry seaweed)

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey

Cook sushi rice according to the directions. Set aside and add rice vinegar, sesame seeds, scallions, soy sauce and splenda, and mix well. Let cool until rice can be handled.
Slice luncheon meat lengthwise into 8 slices, or to desired thickness, and brown on both sides in about 1 tablespoon oil. Add soy sauce and honey to make sauce for the spam, and then turn off heat.

Put slice of cooked Spam in the bottom of the Spam can and pack in rice mixture to a depth of about 1 inch. Turn upside down and wrap nori around musubi. Repeat until all slices have been used. Serve at room temperature or chilled with wasabi and soy sauce.
(The nori makes the musubi look burned in the picture, but they are not).

I am just back from the polls, where at 6:30 AM we waited about 20 minutes. Seeing the incredible crowds of friends and neighbors, I wondered where many of them have been in the many smaller elections that affect their lives everyday. It is great that this election has energized people who normally don't vote, but I hope this enthusiasm will get people to educate and involve themselves in the political process on a regular basis, not just 2008. After all, men and women for generations have fought to allow us this freedom,and we owe it to ourselves, our children and our country to exercise that right. So whether you support Obama or John McCain, when you vote today, make yourself a pledge to vote every time you have the opportunity, and to carry your enthusiasm past November and past January to every first Tuesday in November!

Note: I will be posting later on my Election Night dinner party.

Food plays a big part in our family traditions and holidays and Halloween has been a big family deal since our children were small enough to push around in a stroller. With my brother-in-law,his wife and two cousins living nearby, it has become a family tradition to get together on Halloween night. When our kids were small, food was not such an issue since they were too excited and too busy getting into costumes to grab any more than a bite, but as they have grown up (this was the first year we had no one of "legal" age to trick or treat), food and decorating has become a bigger focus, and as usual, the kids look for "traditional foods that they remember from their childhood. Though I experiment every year,the most popular food on the Halloween Boo-Fay is still Pigs in a Blanket!

This year the kids scoured the internet and found some horrifying recipes such as cat litter cake (refused to make it!), and dip that was placed so that it looked like jack-o-lantern vomit (not appetizing). What we chose to make was a bit tamer,but we gave our dishes all disgusting names, and the kids got into carving pumpkins and getting into costumes.

I did a lot of the prep ahead of time so there was less to do when the doorbell started ringing with little ghouls and goblins. Here is the translation of our dishes:

Bloody Eyeball Punch - A punch made of cranberry juice, diet ginger ale and frozen mixed berries (with some plastic eyeballs to add a little horror!)

Troll eye salad- Using a lettuce leaf (or basil,if you have it) as a base, put two slices of tomato (I used Campari) and cut mozzarella balls in half for the eyeballs and sliced pimento-stuffed olives as the pupils. I made a pesto vinaigrette to put around the troll eyeballs, adding taste and effect! This was a great way to get people to eat veggies in the midst of carb-laden comfort foods.

Mummified pigs- The beloved pigs in a blanket - tube biscuits wrap 1/4 slice of American cheese and a small smoked sausage

Roasted witches fingers- Blanched asparagus spears wrapped in strips of puff pastry brushed with pesto and sprinkled with parmesan. I used a sliced almond to simulate the fingernail at the end of the witches finger-these looked and tasted great!

Good and evil bean dip- I made two bean dips- one with a white bean base and the other with a black bean base. The white bean dip included parmesan, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and fresh cilantro. The black bean dip included chipotle pepper, bacon bits olive oil and shredded cheddar cheese and green onions.

Flesh cups of hot cheesy guts - Take premade biscuits and pressinto muffin cups and fill with your favorite chili recipe and shredded cheese. Bake until biscuit is brown and top is hot and bubbly.

Stuffed vampire hearts - I used mini red peppers,removing tops and slicing open one side so they laid flat. Put on a greased cookie sheet and fill with a mixture of italian sausage with queso fresco cheese. Bake about 15-20 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through. These are a favorite among males!

My advice for a fun Halloween evening for the cook as well as guests:

Plan ahead - Decide your menu, decorate, find your jack-o-lantern design and carve

Choose foods that can be made ahead and stand up to sitting around for awhile. Appetizer-type foods, soups, stews or chili in a crockpot, make for easy entertaining.

Little details make a difference- Dress in a costume, print out a special menu and decorate your table to make your meal an event. Good food that is also fun will encourage kids to fill up on nutritious foods before diving into Halloween treats!

Use disposable plates and utensils to make less work.

Have the dishwasher empty so everyone can rinse and load their dishes and keep the mess to a minimum.

Create your own family traditions on Halloween that are meaningful to you and your kids-Tell ghost stories, watch a scary movie together, play games, whatever your family enjoys.

Enjoy!!!

Above: A ghoul, A VP candidate, and a guest on Jerry Springer hit the Halloween Boo-Fay!