Family Dinners
Birthday Celebration
Oct. 19, 2006


Today is our twins’ (grandkids) third birthday. These three years seem to have gone very, very fast for us and not so fast for their parents.  Twins are an unimaginably different experience from single births.  Anyone who has had children knows how exhausting those early months are.  Twins are simply twice as exhausting.  There are twice the worries, twice the work but also twice the fun and more than twice the indescribable joy.  Now that they are three, things are getting easier.  Their parents are getting more sleep, unless the kids are sick, and the bond between the twins makes for a kind of soothing contentment not available to singles, no matter how attentive the parents.  It is a wondrous thing to see.  Parents and grandparents are often outsiders looking in.  I don’t know for sure but I think it may be a special gift to be a twin.

With the addition to our family of our dear son-in-law, the father of the twins, came a new and welcome ethnic injection to the family tree.  He has a Greek father and Mexican mother.  His parents met here in the US when each of them had just arrived.  He is an only child, she is one of ten children!  So one can imagine how gorgeous these two children are…Greek and Hispanic added to Irish, English, Polish and splash of European Jewry.  Like most immigrants who have come to this country as young adults, our son-in-law’s parents are less likely to take for granted the freedoms and opportunities available to all citizens in this country.  They have not gone through the various incarnations of political affiliation many of us homegrown folks do.  They are rock-ribbed Republicans and always have been.  I have generally found this to be true throughout my life, no matter what country the person came from.  The only distressing thing is how so many of our immigrants are likely to be anti-Israel and to harbor its companion pathology of anti-Semitism.  It shameful, in my view, that so many countries, older countries, European countries who endured Hitler, Stalin and WWII, have done such a poor job of rooting out this international malady.  Now it again haunts this country, so dedicated to multiculturalism and political correctness. Anti-Semitism has become almost fashionable, particularly on the Left, especially in Europe but very surely here as well.  This is a shocking and depressing development.  And it is the one thing that is NOT a credit to this nation.  I wish American Jews would wake up and see that only one party is standing up for them.  The UN is lost to us.  It is the UN of anti-Israel nations.  


Americans, particularly young ones and even especially those in university, tend to see so much of what is wrong with America, they completely miss how very much is right with it.  For nearly two generations now, this has been the business of education, to teach our youth how racist, inequitable, homophobic, patriarchal, and class-based our nation is when the facts are really quite the reverse when compared to other nations. Like so many other “trends,” this one stems from academia and the mainstream media.  Do not send your kids to university if you want them to retain the values you hope you instilled in them!  Put the money that education will cost in the bank, discern what they are good at, and set them up in business instead.  It will be money better spent.  And stop paying for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post.  They are on the wrong side of every serious issue that faces us today.

So there will be a crowd for dinner. But tonight will be politics-free.  I am making everyone’s favorite dessert.  It will disarm anyone with a political axe to grind.

Lace Cookies & Ice Cream Dessert


Lace cookies:
            3 oz. blanched almonds, finely ground
            1/2 C. superfine sugar
            1/2 stick unsalted butter
            2 tbl. milk, cream, or half & half

Melt the butter in a heavy pan.  Add the remaining ingredients & cook, stirring,  until the mixture pulls away slightly from the edge of the pan.  Drop by the teaspoon-full onto a heavy, parchment-lined cookie sheet.  The dough melts and spreads so leave at least 4" between cookies.  Bake 6 - 7 minutes at 375 or until nicely browned.  Slip the paper off the pan and let cool.  The cookies must harden before being removed from the paper.

Assembly:

Soften 2 pints of homemade or best-quality vanilla ice cream.  The ice cream will spread more easily if you beat it a little in a heavy-duty stand mixer.  Line the bottom of a 10" deep pie plate or cake pan with a layer of cookies, cover with a layer of ice cream.  Repeat the process, finishing with a top layer of cookies.  Cover and freeze.


Chocolate Sauce:

    1/2 stick unsalted butter
    3 oz. best-quality bittersweet chocolate (Tobler's)
    3/4 C. superfine sugar
    1/4 C. Droste's cocoa
    1/2 C. cream
    1 tsp. vanilla

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a heavy pan over low heat.  Add the remaining ingredients & cook, stirring, until smooth.  To serve, cut the cookie/ice cream pie into wedges and top with the chocolate sauce.

Family Dinners, as an election nears…..

    The midterm elections are upon us so family dinners can get rowdy. I am thankful that each of us knows, instinctively, that family must come first, that we cannot stomp off into the wilderness of political anger and bitterness without doing terrible, maybe even irreparable harm.  Over the years, a fair amount of that occurred.  When it did, it was always the oldest generation heaping scorn upon the “uneducated, illiterate” younger generation.  Many of us, (the middle generation), were huge disappointments to the radicals on one side of the family equation.  We were supposed to be properly educated, teachers…the loftiest of professions.  We were supposed to be like-minded with regard to politics.  During Watergate, we were supposed to be as outraged as they were.  We were NOT supposed to be changing diapers, preparing meals, helping with homework, etc.  Those hopelessly domestic chores were beneath the intellectual class to which some of the older ones had pretensions.  Bottom line?  I had thoroughly corrupted their son, for whom they had greater hopes than the daughter of Republicans.  That was a blow too low to endure with grace and so they were graceless.

    But tolerate each other we did.  Grandchildren can cure almost any cultural or political chasm.  If they don’t, there is really something wrong with the adults involved.  Grandchildren make families of the strangest of strange bedfellows.  Even though my in-laws did not like or approve of me, they loved our children.  They saw themselves in them, wanted to share with them their passions and sheltered them as if they were their own, even if they regretted I was their mother.

    But I digress….that the election Nov. 7 is crucial and completely up in the air is making us all twitchy.  To me, there should not be a question.  Clearly, the dems do not grasp the nature of the threat posed by Islamic fanatic jihadists.  The democratic leadership…Pelosi, Reid, Dean, are all, in my view, seriously challenged in the priorities department.  Each is so desperate to regain power, none has the sense to notice the damage they are doing to the country by making common cause with the terrorists.  Not one of them listens carefully to what the President says.  Instead they leap at every opportunity to say he lied, misled, etc.  The fact is that Bush did not lie or mislead.  Anyone can read every speech he gave leading up to the war in Iraq.  It’s all there.  But they choose to ignore the truth in favor of spin.  It is always thus, as my grandmother would have said.

    But the radicals in the family, and they are radicals, not just lefties, see a grand neo-conservative conspiracy in everything this administration does.  They are no less willingly submissive to conspiracies than the 9/11 kooks who claim that planes did not bring down the WTC, Bush did.  They fear American religious people more than they fear Islamic suicide bombers.  This never ceases to astonish me.  These are not stupid people….or at least I didn’t used to think they were.  9/11 changed everything, especially how friends, families, and colleagues relate to one another.  What is interesting is who can remain friends despite their differences and who cannot.  This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff.   It is those in academia who cannot remain friends with anyone who, like Chris Hitchens for example, woke up on September 11th and was catapulted to other side of the political spectrum. It is the academics, among others, who are the ones who were blaming America on September 12th.  The rest of us, the ones who blame the terrorists are mind-numbed idiots to them.  Go figure.  Here is one thing I know for sure:  academia sets out to, and is surprisingly successful, at defeating common sense in favor of post-modernist, multicultural, politically correct tyranny.  Unless the pendulum swings in the other direction, I don’t want any of the little ones to go to college.

I’m dreading tonight’s dinner…too close to the election.  Here is one of the dishes I am going to make…hopefully it will lull the sharpest edges of political bitterness.  Serve it with a green salad and some fresh fruit.




                Chicken Tamale Pie

3 tbl. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbl. unsalted butter
1 lg. brown onion, chopped
3 - 4 anaheim chiles, seeded and chopped
4 - 5 cloves garlic, minced

In a heavy pan, saute the vegetables in the oil and butter for about 10 minutes or until softened.  Add:

4 cups poached chicken, shredded or cubed
1 1/2 C. corn kernels (C & W frozen petite)
2 lg. tomatoes, peeled and chopped
4 - 5 fresh jalapenos, chopped
1 can pitted olives, chopped coarsely
1 tbl. chile powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 bunch fresh stemmed cilantro

Set aside and make the cormeal mixture:

In a large, heavy dutch oven, bring  4 1/2 C. water and 1 tsp. salt to a simmer.  Add 1 1/2 C. El Molino cornmeal, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer.  Cook over med. - high heat until the mixture begins to pull away from the side of the pan.  Remove from heat and add 1 stick unsalted butter cut into pieces and 1/2 C. grated cheddar cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste and stir until the butter and cheese are completely incorporated.

Spread 2/3 of the cornmeal mixture onto the bottom and sides of a heavy baking pan or casserole, at least 10" in diameter.  Add the chicken mixture and spread remaining cornmeal over the top.  Bake 1 hour at 350.

Serve with sour cream and fresh lime wedges.





    

Family Dinners

Cooking, Kids, Culture, Current Events & Common Sense


    Family dinners are generally cacaphonous affairs.  Everyone talks at once,  Despite the manners the children have been carefully taught, they begin eating the moment they see food.  If people actually wait for everyone to be seated and for grace to be said, it is  in another universe than the one we inhabit.   There are generally grandparents, friends, kids’ friends at the table, in addition to the essential family.  This is a good thing; it makes the adults and the children better behaved than they might be without witnesses!
    The shape and tenor of the conversation depends on which grandparents are present, the radical Lefties or the conservative Republicans.  If aunts and uncles are at the table, it could get dicey.  As the children became teens, everyone had an opinion about what they should and should not be allowed to do.  “Well in my day…..” and so it went.  The teen-agers got annoyed, clammed-up, left the table, came back for dessert, etc. etc.  Later they complained that “they (granddparents) aren’t our parents. Don’t listen to them!”  In the meantime, they were driving our cars without our knowledge, cutting school, drinking kegs and kegs of beer, doing no homework, all under our watchful eyes!  And all the while, we thought we are strict and observant parents.  How naïve we were.
    But they survived, for which we are eternally grateful,  and so did we.  They are each fabulous adults and parents.  We began as a family of five, two parents, three children.  In addition were two sets of grandparents, three siblings collectively, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  Now we are an essential grouping of fifteen; there are three spouses and eight grandchildren, including a set of twins, two great-grandmothers and assorted aunts and uncles and cousins!  Each and every one of them is fabulous, spectacular, brilliant, amazing, especially the little ones. It’s true! And there is another baby on the way! Humankind improves itself generation after generation, if only our universities don’t get in the way.  
    So like all families, the culture of the age intrudes upon each one of us.  It collides with who we were as children and takes over as we parent.  If we are lucky, we can ignore the politics that shape our era.  Many of us actually are that lucky.  But we cannot escape the culture.  It runs over most of us, even the Amish.  None of us can avoid, nor do we even want to, the speed of technology, the information age in which we are assaulted by news from around the world twenty-four hours a day, the manner in which we are all connected by the internet.  It is exciting, as all-consuming and addictive as the most dangerous and/or therapeutic of drugs.  It informs, it teaches, it corrupts, it frightens, it entertains.  One must learn when to stop being led by it.  So to family dinners we retreat, in joy and gluttony.  As a family cohesive, it works.

    Tonight is chile night.  Here’s my recipe.  It’s taken years to perfect it.  It’s a crowd-pleaser.  The little kids might not like it.  Make them cheese sandwiches.

                                    Chile

3 – 5 lb. Tri-Tip or brisket – Preheat oven to 275.  Lay meat on sheet of heavy foil.  Sprinkle with chile powder, cover with sliced onions and 5 or 6 halved jalapenos.  Seal tightly; it may take two sheets to insure  no leakage of juice.  (Or place in heavy pan with heavy lid.  Cover pan with foil, then lid to insure no juisces escape).
Cook  3 -4 hours in convection oven; longer for regular heat.   The meat should be very tender and almost fall apart.  Shred and reserve.  Strain and save juice, remove fat.  This will be added to chile.

3 - 5 lb. Pork butt roast –   - Wrap roast in heavy foil; seal tightly.  Roast 3-4 hours at 275 in convection oven, longer for regular heat, until meat is very tender and cuts into chunks easily.  Alternate method:  place in heavy pan with lid.  Roast 12 hours at 175.  Put in at night. Let cook overnight.  Save any juices, remove fat and reserve.


Pinto Beans – Rinse 1 lb. Beans; cover with 10 C. water; add one brown onion, chopped and 2 tbl. Butter.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Do not stir.  Add 1 tbl. Salt and 2 sprigs of epazote; simmer for another 30 minutes.  Set aside, reserving all liquid.

For Chile

8 best-quality tomatoes (hot-house or vine-ripened), peeled and chopped
3 C. water
2 large brown onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
6 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Simmer the tomatoes, onion, celery, chiles, salt & pepper in the 3 C. water 30 min. covered and another 30 minutes uncovered.  Meanwhile, in a large, heavy pan, saute in 2 tbl. Butter and 4 tbl. Olive oil:

2 brown onions, chopped
4 poblano (pasilla) chiles, seeded and chopped
8 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced

Add 2 tbl. Flour and blend well.
Add:  10 tbl. Chile powder (ancho, chipolte, etc.)
           4 bay leaves
    2 tbl. Salt
    2 tbl. Dark brown sugar
    2 tbl. Oregano
    2 tbl. Red wine vinegar
Add the tomato sauce.  Cover and simmer for 2 hours.  Then add:
    Reserved cooked meat
    2 c.  coarsely chopped black olives
    1 C. jack cheese, grated
Simmer for another 45 minutes.  Add the cooked pinto beans.

Rice:   3 C. brown rice
    1 C. wild rice
    3 tbl. Butter
    2 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp. per cup of rice)
Bring 8 C. water with salt and 3 tbl.  butter to a boil.  Add rice; when water returns to a boil,  lower heat to simmer and cook 45 minutes.

Serve the chile on rice.  Garnish with chopped red onions, sour cream, freshly grated cheddar cheese and lime wedges.    Can also be served without rice, on fresh tortillas with onions,  cheese, sour cream and lime.