Egg & Bologna

I'm not sure how this story ended up here...I was writing up an announcement for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and had also been thinking about recipes I grew up with and...voila!

So these are the facts: My parents were married 50 years ago on December 22nd, 1961, in Hudson, MI. Isn't the picture above cute?! Some time later I was born, and then my brother, and my mother hunkered down to make 7 dinners a week, 52 weeks a year. We didn't go out all that often because we lived in a very rural area and there weren't a lot of restaurants. I now feel somewhat sorry for my mother, having to sling out all those dinners, though I think she's gotten her revenge since my father now cooks at least as much, if not more often, than she does. In any case, I was raised on a handful of recipes, circa 1950s-'70s, and this one is sort of infamous. It was popular after Easter when we had an abundance of hard-boiled eggs. My dad called it SOS (shit on a shingle) and refused to eat it. But I have to say...I think it is a comfort food I would still eat today!

Basically you make a cream sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

salt, pepper, paprika to taste

You know how to make a cream sauce right?! When the sauce has reached a creamy consistency, stir in the ground up egg & bologna...

2 hard-boiled eggs

3 oz. bologna

I do not have a food grinder, so I would just finely dice these things. Then serve the slop over saltine crackers. I kid you not, I used to love this SOS!

Here are my parents, 50 years later. Aren't they cute?! Maybe I will make some Egg & Bologna for them and my Dad will roll his eyes...

Cook's Illustrated

After 10 years, I have finally decided not to continue my subscription to Cook's Illustrated. It's kind of sad because I've always been a big fan and have given gift subscriptions to several friends and family members. I've never had a subscription with one particular magazine for such a long time, and I've kept all my issues (60+). One of the reasons I'm not renewing is that I just don't cook from it very often anymore, so I've decided to go through and index all the recipes (or most, not every single variation and occasionally there's one I just can't stomach) in the hopes that I will reference these more when I'm looking for a particular type of recipe. This project, too, has been traumatic...realizing how my life has changed over the past 10 years, seeing some of my favorite recipes again, coming across the Sept. '01 issue (more for the date than the content--though I still use the Spaghetti alla Carbonara recipe!), realizing how many recipes I haven't made or even given a second glance...

Some of the things I will not miss:

• Charlie Kimball's folksy, Vermont-laden introductions. I live 5 miles from Vermont now and just find it over the top. Enough already!
• Chicken recipes. Holy crap! While doing the index I realized just how many chicken recipes they have published (approximately 10% of the almost 700 recipes). In fact, it's standard for every issue to have a beef and pork recipe, and at least one chicken dish.
• Brussels sprouts recipes...because they haven't done any in the past 10 years!
• all their self-promotion ads--usually one or two wrap-around covers, and two sets of inserts

Some of the things I will miss:

• the funky and often funny "quick tips" readers send in (even if some seemed ridiculous), and also a lot of the technique and taste test features (best ever product recommendation: The Unicorn Magnum Peppermill which can be ordered from Unicorn Mills. Quite ugly, but otherwise magnificent!)
• the pretty ingredient drawings on the back cover

So, I still hope to consult these issues often--perhaps more than I have recently. And I also use their "Best Recipes" book on a regular basis. But I think I've accumulated enough now. To commemorate this occasion, I'm printing my ALL-TIME FAVORITE RECIPE that first came out in the March/April 2001 issue and that I still make at least once a month. (FYI, this is my second favorite.) Most people who know me well know how attached to this recipe I am. Some may argue that I'm a little too attached to it, and especially the amount of garlic I use! Without further ado, Pasta with Garlic & Oil:

1 pound linguine (the original recipe calls for spaghetti)

kosher salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup (or more!) minced garlic

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons (or more) fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and salt liberally. Cook to al dente, reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain the rest. While water is heating, add the olive oil, all BUT 1-2 teaspoons of the garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt to a large skillet. Cook over low heat. Once it starts to sizzle a bit, stir constantly until garlic foams and is sticky & straw-colored, 10-12 minutes. [It's very important to cook the garlic slowly, you don't want to rush and burn it.] Remove from heat and add remaining raw garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, parsley and half the pasta cooking water; adjust seasoning as needed (may need more salt or lemon juice). Pour this over the pasta and combine. If it's too dry add more of the pasta cooking water. Dump in a warmed pasta bowl or bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan.

(Apparently this picture is pre-Parmesan!)

Mom's dishes

A lot of my photos (see here, or here, or here) have a common trait: they feature pieces of pottery my mom has made. She has been a potter since the early '70s and while she often complains about the tedious, repetitive nature of "functional" pieces (e.g. dishes), I adore them!

platter

the best cereal/soup bowls--really!

oblong casserole/bread pan

This may look like any old plate, but actually it is quite extraordinary! The clay was dug from the river banks near where I grew up--the Sturgeon River, to be exact. The clay is somewhat red and comes through beautifully under this thin white glaze.

And my all time favorite!

This has been glued back together several times, and even when I only have shards left I will still keep those!

The Humble Wooden Spoon

A friend of mine was recently trying to figure out if she should get a food processor or a stand mixer. Having never had big kitchens to work in--or a desire to spend a small fortune--I have always done without these appliances (though I may get my mother's 10-year-old food processor one of these days). I also do not have a microwave.

But this got me thinking about what "appliances" I do have..and treasure. #1 are my wooden spoons. Love them!! From stirring almost everything I cook or bake to the perfect utensil for non-stick pans, I use several every day. Here's to you humble wooden spoon!

Recipe Box Favorites

A little explanation about this recipe designation... These recipes are basically pure nostalgia from my recipe box! (Though hopefully they have other merits as well!) My first recipe box was this green one on top—it seems very appropriate for the '70s. That filled up a few years ago and I couldn't find any I liked in stores, so I ended up getting the white one on eBay. I didn't realize it when I ordered it, but I'm almost positive my mother's recipe box was this very same design when I was a kid. (Unfortunately it was thrown out years ago and she now has an ugly plastic one.) I like the fact that these are a sort of history, containing artifacts from throughout my life, going back to age 7 or 8. And it includes not just hand-written recipes from friends and relatives, but also many snipped out from newspapers, magazines and, increasingly, the internet.

So the recipes in this subset go way back. I've included the actual index card, often somewhat stained and with dubious spelling and handwriting!

4-H Pledge

Just in case you've ever wondered what those "H"s stand for! I took numerous 4-H cooking classes as a kid, which explains the presence of this in my recipe box.