Pasta with a side of sadness

Like everyone, I think, I associate certian foods with certian people (no? Is this just me? ...).  My sister with Chicken Picatta,  My grandmom with navy bean soup, My Auntie Ange with salmon spread (and Ange Dip), Julie with Velveeta dip, Lisa with Spedie Chicken Pizza... the list goes on.  Mostly because these are the signature things that these people make, and that for me, the very best version of them I've had is theirs.  It forms a taste memory for me, and when I try to make the dish that is "theirs"  I always seem to fall short.  It is tasty, but it's not quite the same as when they make it.  (this could possibly be because I am pretty incapable of making a dish, especially a savory one, without monkeying around with it a little).

There are dishes that remind me of people that I haven't been able to make, because it is too hard- the memory makes me too sad, and when I think about it, I get a lump in my throat, and have to think about something else.  Rye bread with butter and a cup of tea. Breaded chicken wings, apple pie. These are all things that remind me of my Nana so much that if I close my eyes, I can almost see her, walking into my parents' house, arms full of chicken wings, ready for the superbowl party.  Or sitting at her dining room table, with a steaming hot cup of tea, wating for it to cool so it doesn't scald my mouth, and eating a piece of rye bread that has an almost obscene amount of butter on it. Someday, maybe, I'll be able to make these things, but not any day soon.

I have been thinking about my Auntie Jack a lot lately. I can't believe so much time has passed since she's been gone. I miss so many things about her, her sense of humor, her kindness, and her strength.  She, like all of the women in my family, was a great cook. She made lots of great things, but most of what sticks in my head is her orzo salad, her caramel brownies, and her breaded tomato pasta.  Her tomato pasta may have in fact come from her Italian husband Ralph, but I always associate it with her. (Just like I associate donuts from a bakery in North Jersey with Ralph)

My friend Lesley came to visit from Frostburg last night, and when I was thinking about what to make, I surveyed my cabinets, and I had all the ingredients for the breaded tomato pasta.  I didn't have a recipe to go from, but I stumbled my way through it, breading the tomatoes with panko breadcrumbs, sauteeing them in the pan, and setting the angel hair pasta to boil.   I mixed the pasta in with the tomatoes, and served it with salad and bread.  It wasn't as good as hers (I didn't think it would be) but it reminded me of her, and it was pretty decent.

Someday I'll try to attempt her caramel brownies.

Auntie Jack's Breaded Tomato Pasta

4 tomatoes, (on the smaller side) Sliced
2 cloves of garlic
A cup and a half of italian style panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup shredded parmesano reggiano
1 egg
1tbsp milk
salt
Pepper.
Olive oil for the pan
1/2 package angel hair pasta

Procedure: Put water for pasta on to boil.

Take sliced tomatoes, and lay out on paper towels to dry Pat dry.  mix egg and milk, put in a bowl.  mix cheese and breadcrumbs and salt and pepper, and put in seperate bowl. dip tomato slices in egg and breadcrumbs.  Dice garlic, heat up skillet with oil.  put garlic in pan, then  slices of tomato in (do not overcrowd pan, do in two batches if not enough room).   when tomatoes are done, set aside on plate.

Drain pasta, and toss with tomatoes and a little olive oil. I put a little extra grated cheese on here too.

Serve!

Taste Memory: Coffeemate

Empty coffee cup of shots of iced espresso.

There is music, that when I listen to it, I am immediately transported back to the time and place that I first listened to it. For example, Tegan and Sara's first CD This Business of Art, puts me right back in my Providence Apartment, taking turns playing video games with Jamie.  Catie Curtis reminds me of freshman year of college,  Girlyman puts me at Falcon Ridge folk festival, and I have many, many more musical triggers.

But this isn't about music, it's about food. Well, not food exactly, but a food like product. I usually take my coffee black. This habit was learned when I was with the Red Cross, specifically during Hurricane Katrina. I was working in our office, getting volunteers ready for deployment to Louisiana, and was working on average, 14 hour days. We had a lot of coffee around, and while I am not a coffee addict now, I was seriously one then.  I would get my cup of black coffee, a pack of peanut butter crackers, and begin my workday.  I would have 1 or two more cups of black coffee during the day, while making phone calls, greeting volunteers, and watching the four tvs we had in our office, turned to CNN, Weather Channel, Local news, and (depending on who won that day, either Fox News or MSNBC).

It would hit about 3 or 4pm, when I usually would begin to get a little burnt out, and I couldn't deal with another cup of black coffee. So I would make myself a cup of coffee, dump some sugar in, and some coffeemate creamer. I'd take my cup outside, and take a ten or fifteen minute break, sitting under a tree, and I'd call one of my friends, to hear them talk, and remind myself that there was a world outside my office. 

This morning, I went down to get some coffee, and I really didn't feel like black coffee, or hot coffee, So while I was maguyver-ing a solution to my problems, I got two esspresso shots out of the coffee machine, and mixed in coffeemate, and sugar. and when the coffeemate hit the hot coffee, I was immediately back at the Red Cross office, and a wave of nostalgia hit me. I know that a lot of people romanticize their first 'real' jobs, but I really had a great one, even though at times it was epically stressful. I had a great team of co-workers, an awesome boss, and a really supportive environment.

Then I poured the mix over a cup full of ice and drank it down. 

In other news: hi. hi. hi. hi. how are you doing? I am good, hi. hi. hi. hi. hi. two shots of espresso drunk in ten minutes? AWESOME. hi. hi.

The Bridal Shower To End All Bridal Showers

I say that, because it was awesome, but also because it was the first bridal shower that I have ever thrown. My sister, Jackie, and I are bridesmaids (or rather, Best Ladies) for my cousin Kate, who is getting married in April to her most awesome fiance, James.

So once we were nominated as best ladies by Kate, Jackie and I started planning the bridal shower. Jackie, and her mad design and organization skillz, was going to take care of the decorating and invites, and I was going to handle the food.

So I began to plot. and refine, and consider about eight million different options. Soup buffet? picnic style fried chicken? Barbecue? an all sweet bridal shower with three or five different kinds of pie, cookies and cake? fondue party complete with boiling fondue pots of oil? A dips and spreads party? a party of little nibbles, like mini quiche, and pigs in a blanket? Options: endless. (side note to my friends and family: these options are still reserved for future party)

Finally Jackie and I decided on a tea party theme. and so different deliberations began. fillings and bread options loomed large in front of me. also: sweet options, and what kind of teas to serve. Some days, the best part of my day was thinking about the bridal shower menu, it was so fun (also, my job sucks sometimes).

So the tea party menu was

Scones:

Pumpkin maple scones from Here adapted with maple syrup- I would definitely make these again- the pumpkin mad
Buttermilk scones - from Bittman's How To Cook Everything, which is one of my favorite go-to places for recipes

Tea Sandwiches

Cucumber

Crisp cucumbers with a creamy dill yogurt on white bread

Roast Beef

Roast beef with a spicy horseradish cream on Whole wheat bread

Chicken

Savory curry chicken salad with peanuts on Seven Grain Whole wheat bread
I used the Barefoot Contessa's trick of roasting turkey thighs for the meat for the chicken salad, and it turned out really moist.

Turkey

Turkey avocado with a smoky chipotle mayo on white bread

This turned out Spicy with a capital S- less chipotle next time- but tasty!

On The Side

Potato Salad

Roasted Herbed Yukon Gold Potato Salad

Green Salad

Mixed greens with fresh vegetables and balsamic vinaigrette

Assorted Crudite

with creamy ranch dip

Vanilla Cupcakes

Sweet vanila cake with a vanilla buttercream icing

Kate's a fan of owls, so i attempted to pipe chocolate owls and then place them on top of a dark blue vanilla buttercream icing. tasty, but my piping skills definitely need work.

and Assorted fruit



So much tea and excellent time was had by all, and there were amazing decorations:




these pink orb-y deals were really festive- I would definitely use them in more party decorations.













I don't want to name names, but someone was really bad at guessing and her name rhymes with Shmauntie Smangela.




Jackie put together these cute favors with rock candy, jordan almonds and three different kinds of tea.






We got to use my mom's awesome teapot collection, and Jackie knocked herself out making amazing decorations and labels for everything. She also coordinated games, and did 95% of the planning for the whole shindig, which was awesome.




The whole purpose of the party, to shower Kate with gifts to start her new place with James- was also very cool. She opened gifts that I may or may not have been completely drooling over. And we played the game where a if Kate was opening your present when the timer went off, you won a prize, which always adds extra excitement.

I had a blast planning it with Jackie, and hanging out with all the awesome ladies that showed up.

Up next: middle school style bachelorette! let's whip out the MASH and cootie catchers!... and vodka. hee!

more pictures on flickr!