National Day of …….

Cakes, Cookies and Pies, Oh My!

It’s National Gingerbread Day. In June? My sentiment exactly. Where is the picture of a hard brown man-shaped cookie that should represent this day. There is a lot more to ginger than just a ginger cookie at Christmas time.

It is said ginger has been used to calm an upset stomach since the late 900’s. No, that’s not a misprint, I do mean 900A.D. It has been used to flavor breads, cakes, pies, and our most memorable Christmas cookie for a very long time. Now it is even used to flavor beer. What will they add it to next? Shampoo, maybe?

When I was in grade school there was usually a box of Nabisco Gingersnaps in the cupboard. I can envision the yellow box now and smell the aroma as if an open box were right in front of me. A cup of warm milk to dip the cookies in after playing out in the snow was a traditional winter treat. I would dip the cookie, suck off the goo, then swirl the ginger flavor in my mouth finally swallowing it slowly so the warm mush could coat my throat to make the flavor last longer.

These days there is always a bottle of ground ginger in my spice cupboard. I use it in my baking and even in a couple of stew recipes. It’s great to sprinkle some on a nice piece of white fish or chicken breast for a different zesty flavor. I also like candied ginger. I chew it a long time so it adds a hot zing of freshness to my mouth.

We are only six months away from Christmas (groan) when the hard brown man-shape cookies make their appearance once again. I suggest you don’t put much frosting on the ones you make, or choose to purchase so you can really taste the ginger. Oh, and don’t forget to get extra milk to go with them.

06/05/2017 2

Black, Green, or Other

It’s National Olive Day. The olive, one of the world’s oldest fruits, is part of a traditional meze/tapas culinary experience. The olive branch is a symbol of peace, hope, love and friendship. It is also one of the most versatile fruits as it is used in breads, drinks, salads, stews and as a snack. (I’m not sure I knew it was a fruit.)

Growing up, Thanksgiving dinner was always at our house. The cousins would come down from the city to our country house 50 miles away. One year, I must have been around seven or eight, the dishes of black and green olives had been put on the adults table before dinner. Our big old house was designed so you could walk from room to room in a full circle, the bathroom having a door on both sides. I walked the circle enough times to be able to sneakily consume the whole dish of black olives before people were called to the table. It was the one and only time my mother sent me to my room. I remember being really scared because she had never done that before. She came upstairs to scold me about being selfish and let me go down for dinner, but you can bet I never did that again.

We often serve a dish of black olives when my grandchildren are here. Usually it is available before dinner to snack on. If the little ones don’t finish them by the time the meal is over, their uncle empties the bowl so none have to be put back in the fridge. My husband has green olives on his daily lunch salad, and I eat a few while I make it. We also have them on our pizzas. Wegman’s is our local grocery store and they have an olive bar so you can easily get all different kinds of olives, prepared antipasto fashion, or just plain. They sure make it easy.

Olives have good health benefits. They are an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and cancer preventive food. They also provide copper, iron, fiber and vitamin E. The bottom line, eat your olives, but make sure you share.

06/01/2017 0

My First Choice

It’s National Macaroon Day. Whenever there are holiday cookie trays in my reach, my first choice is the coconut macaroon. I never have liked those really dry, tasteless little coolies with lots of frosting. In the Jewish section of big grocery stores there are cans of Manischewitz macaroons. I have to resist buying more than one can, because I eat them all. What a treat! A moist morsel of coconut already prepared for me.

Macaroons are very easy to make. The National Day of Calendar gave two recipes; one made with egg whites and the other with condensed milk. I can’t tell you which one is better, but the fact one had you dip the cookies in melted chocolate got my attention. Chocolate at any time is a good thing.

In the novel I wrote, that is still just a pile of paper on my desk, I have my main character, Millie, making macaroons. It’s a cookie you can make as soon as you think about it because there is no waiting for the ingredients to warm to room temperature. They bake quickly and disappear even more quickly.

I think I need to stop writing and go put coconut and condensed milk on my shopping list. The next time my grandchildren are here would be a good time to serve macaroons, that way I won’t eat all but the two my husband enjoys.

05/31/2017 0

Use Sunscreen

It’s National Don’t Fry Day. This is another title that got me. I expected something about cooking, good thing I know enough to read further. It’s also National Heat Awareness Day so the days go hand-in-hand. In western New York state this is the long-awaited weekend people go to the lake to open up their summer cottages. If Mother Nature co-operates, the weekend is warm or hot, lots of cobwebs disappear, the beds are made, picnics happen and summer neighbors see their friends.

I remember doing this as a kid. I would sit in the un-air conditioned school room with the sweat dripping under my arms from about the first of May. We couldn’t wait to go to the lake. My summer was spent making a labyrinth of roads on the pebbly beach to “drive” trucks and construction equipment toys around. (We sifted the sand from the pebbles in order to get a smooth surface to make the roads.) We spent hours in the lake, trying to swim above the weeds that felt like monsters trying to grab our legs. We also didn’t step on the muddy lake bottom if possible because we were sure to come out with a leach/bloodsucker attached to our foot. Thinking about picking one off still makes me cringe. Our cottage had no running water or indoor plumbing. There was a pump in the kitchen to get water for washing and cooking and a two-hole outhouse in the woods that I hated to walk to in the dark. We carried drinking water in jugs from home and did the laundry at a laundromat. Those were the days! Fun for me as a kid, a lot of work for my mother, though I didn’t know it at the time.

I don’t remember using sunscreen as I was never one to get a sunburn. I do remember being so darkly tanned my heritage could be questioned. Thinking back, the city kids tended to use sunscreen, us country kids couldn’t be bothered. I’m lucky to have the gene for good skin. All the hours in the sun haven’t affected my appearance and I’ve been lucky to never have a skin cancer scare. I know other people who have not been so fortunate.

This is the start of Memorial Day weekend in the U. S.. Please take a moment to remember all the fallen military that gave their lives for our country. Freedom isn’t free. And please, if you are going to be out in the sun, do yourself a favor and use sunscreen. Skin cancer kills a lot of people.

05/26/2017 0

Take Your Own

It’s National Brown Bag-It Day. For you young people, that means what you carry your home-made lunch in, to where ever you are going. We used brown bags before metal lunch boxes/pails and before zippered insulated plastic cooler bags. I still send my husband to work with one on occasion. Sorry, I’m old school. And yes, he is expected to bring the bag back home because it has handles, is the perfect size and can be reused.

What does one put in a brown bag. Well, when I was in grade school, there were thin sandwiches, bags of chips, an apple, and home-made cookies. Wait! Think about how many carbs there were in that. I guess a growing child could handle them at the time as we still played outside and didn’t have video games to veg in front of.

I recently visited two different people close to me in the hospital. One is a diabetic and when the first, liquids only, meal arrived, we just stared at the tray which held juice, Jello, ice cream, and milk. He drank the milk. The sugary things he left where they were. It took a day or so before he could get a meal that wasn’t a load of carbs. One young lady was very helpful in seeing he got what he could eat. His sister came to visit too. She had a bag with her, unfortunately not brown. It held radishes, cooked green beans and sushi made with no rice, plus cashews for dessert. His eyes lit up. I have to admit, I wouldn’t have thought to bring that type of meal, but I would have enjoyed eating it.

The second person was in a different hospital, but the meal she got wasn’t much different; loaded with carbs, salt, and sugar. If you think about what I was taught as a young person and the five food groups, the meal fit it to a tee. I think with all the new facts about nutrition and the overweight problems of Americans, the five food groups pyramid needs a major overhaul and so do hospital menus.

The moral of the story; no matter where you go, making your own lunch to fit your own dietary needs is probably a good idea. I’ll give you a break, forget the brown bag and use one of those nice insulated mini-totes made especially for the purpose.

05/25/2017 0

I’ll Claim Alan

It’s brother’s day. I’m not sure why they picked the picture above. I would have picked a bunch of young people sitting around a picnic table so everyone could identify with it. I envy all of you that have a brother because I didn’t. Sisters are fine, but you can’t go to them and ask how a male thinks. I claimed my friend Mimi’s brother, Alan, as my own. I used to stay overnight at their house and Alan and I would have talks. When I got stressed in school, it was him who I sought out because he knew what to say to unruffle my feathers. When I had questions about other guys, I went to Alan. He would always take time for me.

I have a young man in my life who I call my bonus-son. The definition of that is someone I claim as a son, but didn’t have to give birth to. I have decided it would be all right to call Alan my bonus-brother; a male I could depend on like a brother and who cared about me like a sister. He was even better than a brother because he never tried to scare me with a snake, put a frog in my bed or steal my Easter candy. He was a really good friend and confidant. Unfortunately Alan died way too young, so I have been without him for the last 17 years. His sister and I still have lunch together once a month, she remains my most trusted secret-keeper, even as old as we now are, both over 60.

I hope you have siblings in your life that you can depend on and talk to. I know sometimes friends are better than siblings so I hope you have a special few you are close to. Brothers and sisters, in lots of cases, can make life so much easier to deal with.

05/24/2017 0