And A Side Dish of Politics...

It's been a while since I have felt inspired by anything political. Whether I am jaded, or cynical, or perhaps just burnt out after living a majority of my life as a cause I needed to defend and fight for, I don't know. Maybe it's because nothing will ever again be like the late 60s, with the sit-ins, rallies, demonstrations. Perhaps it's because we have no movement leaders like Yippies Abbie Hoffman or Jerry Rubin, who I had the pleasure of meeting, along with Assata Shakur, during a demonstration at Columbia University.

The last time I was so moved, I was sitting in the Castro Theatre watching a showing of The Times of Harvey Milk, not unlike those watching the sanitized Milk movie playing there now. I haven't gotten this choked up watching video since I attended the premiere of Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt.

And yet, Keith Olbermann's recent piece on the idiotic passing of Proposition 8 here in California has stirred me. It should stir you, too.

Let the Food Feast Begin!

Here's a shot of the chiles en nogada, albeit not the ones I made, since I was way too hungry and scarfed them down, after giving half of them away to starving souls here at the loft. I will totally make them again!

Serving as a springboard, to get me geared up for Thanksgiving, I've done all my food shopping, created my menu and schedule in Excel, and posted it on the fridge. Of course... I'm still adjusting the menu.

Now, I'll admit, when it comes to this dinner, I like the traditionals. I use Alton Brown's brining recipe for the turkey, make a plain stuffing with only apples as the most exotic ingredient, and indulge in that American mystery called the green bean casserole — made with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and French's fried onions. There is someone who always insists on mashed potatoes (maybe I'll add a little garlic and parmesan), to go with the voluminous amounts of turkey gravy, and I must have my mother's sweet potatoes — roasted, pureed, blended with a small can of unsweetened, crushed pineapple, some unsweetened shredded coconut, a splash of orange juice, and topped with marshmallows during the last five minutes, until they get golden brown.

To that I add my cranberry-orange relish, something I learned to make during an after-school cooking class my mother sent me to, when I was eight years old. I'm sure it was to keep out of her hair, since it was during our weekly half-day. I loved it! Anyway... nothing more simple then a simple brief popping of cranberries and sugar on top of the stove, then adding some orange peel and orange juice. It's a sloppy little mess that macerates nicely, when made a few days in advance, and the sugar syrup that forms, along with the natural pectin firms it up a bit.

Normally, I'm the one making the pies... pumpkin and pecan, but this year, there are other takers doing the baking. My recipe calls for a very light mixture with orange peel and grated candied ginger, which adds a refreshing touch. I might just have to make one for myself (and to share with the neighbors) after. My pecan pie is mixed with semisweet chocolate, which I find cuts back a bit on the gloppy cloyingness that is corn syrup.

So, the others are rounding things out with their versions of the above desserts, and there's a pumpkin cheesecake coming, too (which I hope is better than the one we tasted last year!). I'm going to round it all out with a New England Indian pudding, and individual chocolate souffle cakes served with a Fleur de Sel caramel sauce.

I'm out of my mind. I'm considering an amuse-bouche mini-stack of fresh foie gras (please let me not screw up the cooking on this) and duck confit napped with a cherry-fig balsamic gastrique. I bought most of the ingredients to make caramelized balsamic onions, if I can make a dash to Whole Foods for the baby cippolines. I created this lovely appetizer involving roasting mini-sweet peppers and filling them with a mixture of goat cheese softened with a little creme fraiche and blended with some Meyer lemon zest. You get this lovely blend of warm, sweet, sour, and cool all together in your mouth.

Please stop me before I add more to my growing list!

Quickly It Turns

Lovely California.  One of few places in the U.S. where one week it's 80 degrees outside, and the next it barely creeps above 60 degrees.  Alas, I am afraid it's definitely a sign that summer, or what we have that passes for one, is over, and autumn is here.  Then again... two weeks later, we're having warm weather again.

Certainly, the advantages, when coupled with a good rainy season start-up, is the lovely green to red display the sugar maples make.  And the golden yellows of the ginko trees.  This kind of see-saw weather sometimes keeps the fall foliage around until as late as January.  By then, if we're not in a drought season, the hillsides are greening, the acacia mimosa is in full furry fury, and spring is making an early appearance.

Autumn always makes me melancholic, while spring rejuvenates me.  Either way, I love them both for their ability to stimulate the senses in ways that extreme cold and extreme hot don't.

Managing the loft community has provided a lot of challenges this year: who knew I'd have to arrange for an apiarist to remove a 3,000-bee hive off a window lintel (they're doing fine, making lots of honey), get 100 pigeons drunk (in an attempt to set up their "panic" mode and have them fly away) thanks to the stalkerish and malicious pigeon feeder, start setting up fire (and earthquake) drills, and deal with a supposed dominatrix who was more bottom than top when it came to paying her damn rent.

I just finished making chiles en nogada, a dish I have wanted to make for at least four years.  Sort of a jump start to get me ready to prepare for the Thanksgiving onslaught.  I make a pretty traditional, pedestrian menu, saving my creativity more for Christmas/Hanukah.  I absolutely must have the dishes my mother would make on turkey day, or else... I feel deprived!  So it's basic turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed white potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and cranberry-orange relish for the dozen guests coming to my house!