Saturday, December 31, 2011

What Keeps us Going

Sometimes I feel like I've spent the past two years in a constant state of "stressed out" with living in the real world.  But it's always nice when something happens to remind me that for now, I'm in the right place.

Ask anyone who works at a summer camp and you will be told that we "don't have favorites" when it comes to campers.  But it's all a load of crap.  We all have our favorite kids over the years.  Some are lifers at camp, and others only come once but manage to leave a strong enough impression that they make the list.  One of my favorites is here at New Year's Camp this week.  

Tonight, at the big NYE bash, he was sipping sparkling grape juice from a plastic champagne flute with his pinky finger extended.  I told him that I liked how he was holding his cup like that, to which he responded, "I don't know why I do that I just have this problem with my hands."  I told him that in fact, he did not have a problem, that it was the classy way to hold a fancy drinking glass, and that his hands were perfectly normal.

He then proceeded to thank me...for calling him normal.  

It kind of broke my heart that being called normal seemed to make his day better.  It's really ironic, though, because around here, nobody is normal, and that's what makes us all our very own kind of normal.  

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

An Ode to Fungus

It's the holidays.  I would like to spend my money on holiday-like things.  So in an effort to be more financially conscious, I am making it a point to make more meals at home.  On tonight's menu is Kung-Pao Crab Stir-Fry.  Super easy and SUPER delicious.  (fry up a pack of Uncle Ben's instant Jasmine rice, 2 eggs, peanuts, shredded carrots, cabbage, soybeans, mushrooms, bean sprouts, chopped red onion, whatever meat you've got, and whatever else you like with a little olive oil and the stir fry sauce of your choosing...tonight I used Panda Express's Kung Pao sauce).

Anyway, as I was standing over the wok, tossing in obscene amounts of mushrooms, I thought to myself, "Is this too many mushrooms?"  To which I quickly responded, "No such thing."  But it got me thinking about shrooms and just how incredibly delicious they actually are. I realize and appreciate that not everyone loves to eat fungus, but I was so into thinking about how much I liked them, I did a little research and learned that they're actually delicious AND interesting!!

The average American eats four pounds of mushrooms per year (good to know I'm well above average) while the average Japanese person consumes 26 pounds per year.

Ancient Egyptians called mushrooms the "plant of immortality" and commoners were prohibited from even handling them.

Mushrooms, unlike most plants, consume oxygen during digestion and metabolization and produce carbon dioxide waste (like humans!!!)

There is an estimated 1.5-2 million species of fungus on the planet, but only approximately 80,000 are properly identified.

Some South American Amazon tribes use the same word for mushrooms as they do for meat, as they believe they have the same nutritional value.

All of this mushroom talk reminded me of a great book by Elinor Lipman called The Inn at Lake Devine.  I think I may  have actually blogged about the book before.  But mushrooms play a surprisingly big role in the book...which only makes me want to eat them more!!!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

What's the Secret?

I like to think that I'm pretty decent in the kitchen.  I cook and bake and nobody ever complains.  I try fun new recipes, I make the classics.  And I get the feeling that people genuinely enjoy the food I make for them.

So why is it that when I go to recreate my favorite dishes from home, that they just aren't quite as good?

Today was a perfect example.  My sister came to my house this weekend to help me get it all organized before we have the big family Christmas here.  I keep telling her she should go into business as a personal organizer.  In a matter of about four hours, the kitchen, dining room, living room, and pantry were perfect.  The Christmas trees I bought last weekend were set up, plugged in, and decorated.  Furniture was moved and I had started on the colossal task of sorting out my own room.  In the process of sorting and organizing the pantry, Emily proclaimed that I wasn't allowed to go grocery shopping again until I needed perishable items.  Apparently I have to many jars of red plum jam in there.  

So this afternoon when I started to get hungry, I looked at what I had and thought about what I could make.  I realized that I had all the ingredients for Chuck Wagon Round-Up, one of my all time favorite dishes from when I was a kid.  It's basically a beenie-weenie pie with a sort of cornbread-ish crust.  I know, it sounds kind of awful.  But it's beans and hot dogs and cheese and sour cream: what else could you possibly want?!  It was so delicious tonight, but not as good as I remember.

Another recipe that does this to me is Creamed Beef Cheesy...probably my all-time favorite dish.  It's a cheese sauce with chipped beef served over hot biscuits. Amazing.  But every time I try to make it, I somehow ruin the sauce and end up eating biscuits with butter and jelly.

And then I realized why.  It's because no matter how I try, I will never be able to make anything that will taste as good as when Mom makes it.