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10 Legs in the Kitchen

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10 Legs in the Kitchen

Tag Archives: Christmas

Old Fashion(ed) holiday cheer!

26 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by Stacey Bender in family gatherings, holidays

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bulliet rye, Christmas, holiday, spiced old fashion, Thanksgiving

 

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We pulled off the ferry late (one somewhat recent) Thursday night after spending a memorable Thanksgiving on Bainbridge Island at the Gil-wards Holiday gathering.  Tom and I are grateful for having secured two of the most-coveted seats on that Island for this year’s celebration between two households, shared with Family and Friends.

For those of you in the know, Tom and I have had a years-long tradition of spending Thanksgiving beachside in Hawaii, grilling our dinner mere feet from the ocean with our  toes in the sand.  It is easy to be thankful while romping in the clear water and warming in the sun all day before setting up a mini-kitchen on the beach, cocktails in hand.  Grateful to be watching the enormous sun slowly disappear beyond the horizon while simultaneously leaving a magnificent glow of color in the sky for those who patiently stay around.  Grateful for waves serenading us with their gentle rhythm as families, dressed in linens, pass by on their way to the nearby resorts for their turkey dinners.  During those precious moments, we always feel amazingly grateful for our lives here on earth, especially on Island.

This year, as I mentioned, Thanksgiving was different.  It was spent in the company of our Family, on an island that poured rain more dramatically than the ocean waves sang and was warmed not by the sun, but by the love (and heaters) in the home (and on the beautifully curated porch).  This was not a tropical island, but I would not have traded that night for one in the tropics. Not this year!

I was reminded of how important it is to spend moments of meaning with Family (and with Friends that might as well be Family).  As we all sat down to dinner, each of us had a name card at their plate, which I assumed was there to indicate where we were to sit.  It was there to do that, yes, but there was more.  After the meal, we were directed to pass our card to the person on the left and to write something for which we are grateful about the person on the card of that passed from the person on our right.  This would go on until the cards with our names made it back to their original spot.  At the end, we all had a card that was filled with things about us for which people were grateful. How fantastic is that?!

I am not one to write something so quickly, so I am sure to have stumbled on my words and on my pen.  To all of you seated around the table that night, I hope you each know how much I love and adore  you (well, I did just meet one of you but if you continue to make Katie happy, I will certainly love you too).  I am thankful to be a part of your lives and that you are in our lives (Tom, Ginger, Buddy and my (life)).  I am grateful for your guidance (Scott), all of your musical talents (not Scott) plus the enthusiasm to experience it all (known and unknown), including family at all important (or not so important) occasions (all of you)!  Grateful for good food, accompanied always with strong drink as well as witty, entertaining conversation, and of course, love.  Grateful that the kids have all grown up in loving and happy homes with the guidance, resources and community support needed to flourish, love and be their best selves!  And they are all amazing, individualistic and loving souls.

As we are now full bloom into the Holiday Season, Tom and I send our official Aloha, having recently returned from the (Hawaiian) beach.  We are warmed, well-fed and happy for the respite, as incredibly short as it was.  We are most grateful to be back with our pups and in our cozy home.  Just as we held up our glasses of prosecco spiked with pineapple last week, we now hold up our glasses filled with happy spirits and say, “Happy Holidays” and then clink our glasses with an a ‘Old Fashioned’ cheer.

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HOLIDAY SPICED OLD FASHIONED (big batch)

If having a party, it is a good idea to make a large batch, set it out on the bar with garnishes, glasses and ice for guests to easily pour their own.  I used Spanish orange bitters here, but it is also good with chestnut bitters, or you can use Angostura or Fee Brothers old fashioned aromatic bitters.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups of your favorite bourbon or rye (I use Bulliet Rye)

3 TB spiced simple syrup (recipe to follow)

2 tsp bitters (see note above)

Peel of 1 orange (in long strips)

TO MAKE

Add all ingredients into a glass pitcher and stir.  Be sure to set out craft maraschino cherries and orange wedges for garnish.  The best cherries are Italian, brandy-soaked cherries that can be found in specialty stores.  I use Luxardo brand cherries.  If you are able, use a big block ice cube tray to make ice for your guests so that the drink remains cold longer and does not get diluted straight away.

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HOLIDAY SPICED OLD FASHIONED (made to order)

If you are making it to order,  which I prefer, simply add a cherry and a slice of tangerine to a glass and mash it with a muddler.  Add a large piece of ice to each glass.  Fill a cocktail shaker 1/2 way up with ice and pour in a healthy pour of your favorite bourbon or rye.  You can make two or three at a time this way; approximately 4 oz per drink.  Add a few dashes of bitters, 1/2 teaspoon of the spiced simple syrup (recipe to follow) per drink (or more if you prefer your drink sweeter).  Stir with a long spoon then strain into prepared glasses.

SPICED SIMPLE SYRUP

Simple syrup is great to use in drinks or sauces that are typically served cold because the sugar is already dissolved when you add it to the ingredients.  The traditional syrup consists of one part water to one part sugar, brought to a simmer and left to cool.  This is no different except that the sugar is slightly reduced (because I try to consume less sugar) and there are spices added to the simmer to infuse it with a little bit of the holiday spirit.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup water

3/4 cups (or 1 cup if you prefer) pure, unrefined coconut sugar (or raw, natural sugar)

1 cinnamon stick

1 cardamon pod, slightly smashed and lightly toasted (in the oven or in a pan on the stove top)

3 pieces candied ginger

A few shavings of freshly-grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cloves

TO MAKE

Add all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a light boil.  Reduce heat to simmer for 1 minute, then turn off the heat, remove the pan from the stove top and allow to cool completely.

When cool, press on the ginger to help release some of the flavor and then strain.

You can reserve the cinnamon stick and candied ginger for another use, such as mulled cider or wine.  You can also use the cinnamon sticks as a garnish for stirring.

Store in a small jar for up to 6 months (may or may not refrigerate, I don’t to keep it supple).

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“…and that’s a wrap!”

 

 

First things first

18 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Stacey Bender in holidays, the kitchen

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Christmas, pasta, spaghetti, tree trimming

20131218-200936.jpgSaphire martini – a tradition

I have never much liked trimming the tree at Christmas. I did a poor job of verbalizing the reason to my family who thought I was just being lazy, sleepy or bored. What I did know was that it wasn’t to do with the old metal (albeit shiny) trunk chest that belonged to my Father that needed retrieving, year after year, from under the stairs. Also required was a good under the stairs closet cleaning, first. This, so we could actually reach the trunk; important because it housed all of our Christmas ornaments (and trust me, we had more than a few). I actually liked this ritual, minus the cleaning. Seeing the shiny chest opened to reveal centuries worth of sentiment was good enough for me to play along.

It wasn’t because I kept pricking my finger with the re-purposed ornament hooks that needed a good deal of untangling before one could be set free. I was used to fishing (actual fish) so, I could put up with that.

It wasn’t even because of the tinsel, which Dad made us put on s t r a n d by s t r a n d (and yes, they came down that way too – back into the box… o n e by o n e). Those of you that have never had the happy fortune to experience real lead (yes lead, as in, red-list lead) tinsel – well, let’s just say, “they don’t make it like they used to”, as my Dad would explain in the same breath that instructed us the correct way to remove it from the box and apply it to the tree… no cheating by the way; no choosing more than one strand at a time… maybe three is okay – if he isn’t looking!

Now before you say that I’m a bah humbug, hear me out, because actually, I’m quite the Christmas bug (in an equally cute sort of way). I am! It’s just that I prefer to sit on the sideline, watching everyone happily discover old memories from the ornaments as they unwrap each of them individually, and box by box. There is always a story. The story accompanies every single ornament before finding that perfect spot on the tree. From my seat on the couch, curled up by the fire, I have the best view. I have always loved Christmas, and to me, it starts with the tree (usually the day after Thanksgiving, but NEVER before). Thanks to Dad, we always had a glorious tree, 20+ boxes of meticulously laid tinsel, a 100 year-old Santa doll, part home-made/part store-bought ornaments, and all!

Christmas-time begins with the tree. No matter how many fake Santa’s lined the malls with their so called “elves”, and fake snow sprayed onto stage sets. No matter how many shelves of candy, wrapped in red, green and gold that eventually turn stale. It is the tree that puts off the scent of Christmas, and can fill the home with a magical spell. For us anyways.

Since Tom and I recently returned from Hawai’i, and immediately got thrown right back into the rat race, I forgot, just for a moment… or two, that it IS indeed the holiday season of which we are usually fully emerged by this date. Why is it that we are not? We began the Holiday tunes in Hawai’i. Heck, even Ginger and Buddy had decorated themselves in antlers and bells (did any of you notice their antics up top?).

I looked around our house and it just felt the same. No snow was outside, no lights were shining (okay, maybe a few lights, which we leave in our backyard year ’round – holiday lights, turn to winter lights, turn to late night mood lighting, and then back to holiday lights…). It donned on me suddenly, we were still lacking a tree.

So, first things first, to start our festivities and bring in the spirit that makes me smile from within, we have gone out and fetched a most splendid tree, put it up and trimmed it (actually, real elf Tom did the trimming, as is often the case). Each year we proclaim this year’s tree to be more spectacular than the last. It can’t be too perfect or too tightly filled in. There needs to be character and openings to fit ornaments cradled just right. Tall ones and short ones, fat, skinny or wobbly ones.

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Keeping with the traditionalist in me, Mr. Crosby (not to be confused with Bill Cosby in a reindeer jumper) is singing in the background as our first, most important ornament is hung. Tom bought this for me from a little country store outside Madison, New Jersey during our first Christmas together at my brother Scott’s old place; it began our tradition of snowmen-only trees. The second to go up is a silly picture frame ornament purchased at Eddie Bauer a zillion years ago, which contains a picture of Buffy, in my brother’s room as we wrap presents during the same trip; she was laying on the floor next to Christine’s red pumps and ended up wearing them thanks to Tom (not really her style, but we cherish the picture nonetheless).

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With our traditional tree-trimming martini, we toast first to Buffy and then to “us”; this year marks our 20th Christmas together.

“Almost Christmas” spaghetti (not to be confused with Christmas fettuccine) serves 2 (possibly 3)
Since it is a work night and a very long week, I decided to make dinner simple and comforting. A good quality Italian jarred tomato purée, lovely unfiltered, extra virgin olive oil, red wine and Unami paste, make for a remarkably quick but tasty sauce. Thanks for the much-appreciated treats Paula and Jeff!

LINGUINE BOLOGNESE the shortcut version

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INGREDIENTS

1TB olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium shallot, chopped
1/2 lb ground beef, seasoned with sea salt and pepper and brought to room temperature
1 cup cooked tomato puree (I used Mariangela Prunotto organic tomato purée)
3/4-1 cup red wine
1 tsp Unami paste (or more to taste)
1 tsp oregano

6-8 ounces good quality dried, Italian spaghetti noodles (such as Montebello)
Olive oil for tossing
Fresh parmesan cheese

Garnish:
Soft baby mixed greens
Lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Freshly grated Parmesan

PREP

HEAT A SAUTÉ PAN over medium heat then add the olive oil to the pan. When it is warm enough to move freely when tilted, ADD the garlic and shallot, cooking for just a minute or two. ADD THE BEEF and BROWN undisturbed for a few minutes then stir and continue to let it brown. ADD 3/4 cup red wine and let it simmer down. ADD the tomato purée, Unami paste and oregano. BRING TO A SIMMER then cover the pan and turn down the heat to low.

This will be fine on it’s own for bit while you munch on a piece of cheese and pour a glass of wine while admiring the tree (and it’s decorator). It will want to cook for at least 15 minutes in order to let the flavors blend and the beef soften. This is a good time also to fill your pasta cooking pan with water and let it begin to come to a boil.

COOK

COOK the pasta as the package instructs. When cooked, drain (saving a little of the pasta water to refresh the sauce if needed). DRIZZLE the pasta with some nice olive oil then GRATE some Parmesan over top and TOSS.

CHECK ON the sauce and adjust the seasonings or consistency as you desire. ADD the pasta to the sauce to heat through.

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PLATE

DIVIDE the pasta between two warmed pasta bowls.

DRESS a handful of greens with lemon juice and salt, a little olive oil if you like, TUCK them into the pasta mound. GRATE over some fresh cheese and enjoy with a piece of crusty bread, with olive oil for dipping and (of course) a glass of red wine.

Buon Natale!

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