Counting the Days till the (grand)Boy's Arrival 

Name Still Under Wraps

Travel mode is definitely upon the (grand)man. His communications to the couple-in-waiting have picked up frequency, even as I tell him in the background that they are well aware of  the due date, and also that the baby has not decided to come, just yet. the (grand)man now has several sequential pairs of hotel reservations advancing to the outer limit of what he feels will be the baby’s arrival. This is good, though, as it gives him something to do. He is in charge of tracking these and canceling the right ones in the timeframe allowed. 

Today we have workmen felling a couple of trees in our yard, and an electrician coming to finish up some lighting in the den. This seems to be a likely time for baby to come, but he may not have a calendar on hand to note that he now is right between the two due dates that had been projected.  

Besides, if he were going for inconvenience, he would have opted for the power outage during the recent record-breaking heatwave, wouldn’t he? Of course, my phone weather application  suggests that the high for Saturday in the baby's city is forecast to be over 100 degrees. 

Boy, oh Boy! When that phone call comes, though, won’t we both be ready?

I'm Cuckoo for Coconut!

One of the things I have never quite mastered with consistent results is cream pies. A friend gave me a recipe for coconut cream pie that I have attempted from time to time; sometimes with success, (even).

Lately I have found that these cream pies do not have to be done in a double boiler or saucepan on very low heat. Enter the microwave. In fact, one can have equal success/failure whether using stove-top or microwave cookery.



Stove-top Method: 

For custard filling: In a saucepan combine 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1/4 tsp. salt; gradually stir in 2 cups milk. Cook and stir over medium high heat for two minutes. Remove from heat. Stir about 1 cup of this hot mixture into 3 beaten egg yolks, immediately returning to hot mixture. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook another two minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add 2 T. butter and 1 tsp. vanilla. Stir in one cup flaked coconut. Pour into a nine-inch baked pie shell. For meringue, using a chilled bowl, beat 3 egg whites, gradually adding 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar, 6 Tablespoons sugar and 1/2 tsp.vanilla. Beat until peaks form. Spoon over pie. Optionally, you may sprinkle meringue with 1/3 cup coconut before browning for 12 to 15 minutes in a 350 F. oven. Cool and refrigerate.

Hmmm. No wonder the phrase is not "Piece of pie!" to indicate simplicity. ;o) By the way, in Japanese an equivalent idiom for simplicity is directly translated as: "Before breakfast." Meaning, that is so simple, I could do it before breakfast.

FYI...you can find microwave versions of cream pies, custards and puddings on the web. And they actually do work. A good recipe to practice this method with is AllRecipes' Microwave Lemon Curd.

I.C.E.

Grill Date: 6/3/2011 9:05 AM 

I.C.E. = In Case of Emergency

  It's been four days since our grill purchase...an "intro level" gas grill by Weber. We decided on gas because I was more likely to be the one grilling, and though during the recent five day power outage I did finally resort to charcoal, as I found that candles under a fondue pot require two hours to heat two small cups of water for "almost hot" tea. The day of my charcoal grilling was a dawn to dusk affair, as I cooked our food, and heated our bathing basins, attempting with near-tepid results to carry hot water through the night by storing in Thermos®-like vessels.

When we finally got to a grocery operating on partial power, in our otherwise primarily powered-down city, my husband grabbed the cart while I scouted about on my own for "finds" of the fast-emptying shelves. When I found him again he had garnered the following "emergency foodstuffs": two apple turnovers, two doughnuts, a pack of cookies, a box of honey-intense granola bars, and a carton of soda pop. I confiscated the cart at that point and went back through for some actual food. (Sigh.) Just between us, I think if I "go first", he'd stock the cabinets just that way...and live to be a hundred and ten. 

Prior to nature's onslaught throughout the South, was the March 11 quake/tsunami/radiation triple hit in Japan, my other home for so many years. Then Missouri's awful suffering and now Massachusetts' following so closely leave us all wondering what next?

I cannot say, but THAT day, the charcoal mini-grill day, was quite temperate. Alabama had some beautiful Spring-like weather during the days immediately following our tornadoes. There were dusk to dawn curfews enforced for all but those who had some means of proving their business. And quiet?

You've never HEARD so much quiet at one time, at least until folks began finding and running generators. Cell towers were down, even the tornado alarm sirens were non-operational for the last two local tornadoes on the night previous. So, the starry evenings were amazingly calm; and yes, we could see the stars. Our neighborhood was spared any significant damage from the storms, and people got out and spoke to one another like it was 1959 all over again. "Are you okay?", "Do you need anything?" And children appeared. Children DO live in this neighborhood. On day 2 my husband and I took an afternoon walk and purchased lemonade from children who hawking their hearts out in their front yard. I knew this oasis of peace and good will was bought at a terrible price of devastation elsewhere throughout our state, and even in another part of our city, but I could not help enjoying the short-lived cultural throwback to simpler times that followed so closely on the heels of destruction.

It is true. Though we have family members whose home will have to be rebuilt, still I will remember those quiet days as a gift.

And here and now the heat is back and I am grill master of the manor. As I was saying, only four days we've had it, and due, in part, to a non-weather-related kitchen malfunction, I've grilled daily since its arrival. Yellow squash, red onion, green pepper, zucchini, burgers, hot dogs, steak and last night Caribbean Chicken. 

 

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Longest Christmas Eve Ever!

On silver wings we flew.

 Had I been a child hanging my stocking, the delay might have done me in. As it was, we just teased the flight attendants about whether or not they had glimpsed the jolly old elf from their perspective.
We left Tokyo on Christmas Eve and flew to Hawaii, where we had another Christmas Eve awaiting, due to Ye Olde International Date Line.

We did spot him after we landed, and a new song jingled forth: "I saw Santa on a mo-tor-bike; riding down to Wakiki just now."

(Yes, we stayed over in Hawaii for a few days, since this was the last time I expected it to be on our way home.) Good choice, even though there was rain toward the end of our visit. We actually got caught in a deluge and sprung for two designer garbage bags ($1.29 ea. rain jackets) which kept us relatively dry from the knees up as we forged our way back to the hotel our final night there.

What were we doing out and about? Where did we go for that final evening in "paradise". We dined at Duke's in Wakiki, and had a beach side table with one of those thatch umbrellas, which actually came in handy, as the rain did begin (though pre-deluge) while we were seated there. 

My entree was white fish with tomato, red onion, and cilantro. The rice had wheat berries in it, which added a nut-free nutty flavor and nice body to the rice.

The man just "gots to have" his beef, so he went with the surf and turf selection. Oh! Look! He also got his "taters"! Yes, he is definitely a "meat and potatoes" fellow at the core of his being.

This chocolate cookie/pie thing was dessert. No, we did not really NEED a dessert, but forced ourselves to split this. We pretty much fought over the last bite: "You eat it." "No. YOU eat it!"
 

Our final meal when out and about in Tokyo was shabu shabu...restaurant style. This food choice always makes me want to break into song: "Shabu, Shabu. Na na na na na na na na na na. Shabu. Shabu. Na na na na na na na na na na. Life would be a dream..." ;o) For those not familiar with Shabu Shabu, here is my posted home style version of it: 

Na na na na na na na na na....!

One of the first "food" things we did on our return was to bake a birthday cake for my daughter. She always liked Devil's Food cake with 7 Minute Frosting topped with strawberries. So, DH brought home some winter strawberries that looked a bit odd, and when I began to frost the cake, the top layer began to slide, so I grabbed wooden skewers to secure it. A bit of overkill, but since I had strawberries, I just stacked them up on the skewers, which resulted in a Dr. Seuss-like confection in appearance. We had a good laugh, and a tasty slice of cake. Gotta love that 7 Minute Frosting.

Strawberries on Ours

A little history on DD's cake choice... In Japanese, "strawberry" is "ichigo". Also, in Japanese "one" is "ichi" and "five" is "go", so they refer to the 15th birthday as the "ichigo" or "strawberry" birthday. When DD turned 15 we had a sleepover party and bought the beautifully heart-shaped strawberries to adorn her Devil's Food and  7 Minute Frosting cake. That was the year that settled her birthday cake preference.

And I should mention that even before the "day of the cake"... DD and DS-Inlaw  hosted us with a fondue dinner at their place. For your viewing pleasure: 

Cheese Fondue served with Granny Smith apples, cocktail weiners, and some kind of brown bread.

So, Happy New Year to all!

Peach Dessert for One...or Two...

Inspired by two recipes seen on Allrecipes website.They were:

1. Peach Beehives with Hard Sauce 
2. and
3. Peachy Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

The idea for wrapping the unpeeled peach in dough for baking came from the first recipe; and the basic ingredients for a simple caramel sauce from the second.

 The peach I used was really big. I don't know what kind it was, but it was at least four inches in diameter.

You'll need one large peach, enough phyllo dough strips to wrap the peach loosely, either some melted butter or some butter flavored cooking spray to help moisten the dough for wrapping and to prepare the baking dish. For the caramel sauce, you need brown sugar, butter, light corn syrup, and your flavoring extract of choice (like vanilla, brandy, rum, orange, etc.) Cooking foil to tent the cooking peach after the phyllo begins to brown.

Wash and dry the peach. Do not peel it. Either spray or brush the phyllo dough, which you've cut into strips, with cooking spray or melted butter. Wrap the peach loosely, placing it in a lightly greased baking dish. Put dish in oven and THEN preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook for an additional 35 minutes beyond the time required to preheat the oven.  Watch closely in the early minutes of cooking, as you will need to make a foil tent to protect the crust from browning too quickly. Once it begins to brown (after about 5 minutes...this may happen in the preheat stage of things), tent the peach in foil for the remainder of the cooking time.

Once it is tented and baking, get a saucepan and combine 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon light corn syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon flavoring. Cook on medium heat till it boils and thickens.

I sauced the peach straight out of the oven, but you could wait until you split and pit it. This is where you decide if it is to be one or two servings. You can put the pitted peach in a bowl and pour the sauce over it. I know that vanilla ice cream or whipped cream would be good on this. However, with the sauce, it really is fine without the extra calories, if that's an issue.

Of course, too, you could be waaaay more fancy with the dough wrap. It's too bad that peach season is a while away now. I think I may have bought the last one of the summer.

Smelled too great to go crazy with presentation. Yum.

My Favorite Strings

Aprons on mothers and sometimes on daughters,

Guys wear 'em, too; or at least sometimes ought-er.

Pockets in front, and backs tied up with strings,

Here's what makes 'em the handiest things:

Wipe down the counter, and dry off those fingers.

Dab away tears, a sweet memory that lingers.

Carry in eggs, apples, pine cones and mail;

when they get old they can be your kite’s tail.

                 //When the door knocks!//

            //When the grease pops! //
//And your clothes stay clean!//

       The apron’s your friend ,

you can so, “tie one on”;

So, why stop at one?

Get sixteen!

♥♥♥♥♥

_Thanks to Gitano, fellow-AllRecipes member who inspired me to think about aprons through her Sept. 7 "The History of Aprons" blog entry. The first draft of this poem appears as my (Hezzy_tant_Cook's) comment beneath her blog.
_Also, of course, inspired by the rhymes and rhythms of Sound of Music's "A Few of My Favorite Things".

Sushi: not all fish; not all raw.

Not all of it's fish

Nor is it all raw

So grab your chopsticks

And open your jaw!

This week in the AR pictures I noticed someone having made sushi. Looked very good. The recipe they used from AR site is:  Mom's Sushi Rice

Here are pics from a recent office party for a sushi combo you may not have considered:

Yes, that's sushi with a side of pizza...or pizza with...? Where East meets West, gastronomically speaking. By the way, one of the pizzas is seafood pizza.

I tend to steer clear of the seafood pizza since it is generally heavily decorated with mayonnaise. Though, pizza is not really my "fave" for sushi days. I take a slice to be polite; especially since I think it is ordered on our behalf...so, we'll "have something we'll like".

The salad had heads...and not of lettuce. Can you find all three in this photo? I'm told they are calcium rich. Anyway, the "eyes" have it. ;o)

And the gelatin/pudding/cereal/brownie cup is my b'day tribute. Make a wish!