A week ago today, I awoke from a deep and refreshing sleep. I could see that the light of a new day had come as my body and mind slowly focused. No alarm had called out the time; only the natural end of sleep prodded me awake. Outside the cocoon of blankets, the room felt chilly and fresh. I sniffed the air; there was just something there. Everything felt right with the world and I said aloud to Jim, “ It feels like Christmas morning.”
Have you ever had that feeling? It’s a feeling that gives you comfort, a sense of wonder, a satisfied fullness and maybe a realization that despite all the bad news, there’s a place where I’m free from all that because the good things outweigh the bad, even if it’s just for that moment.
I think the reason I felt this way came from the day before. With the season slowly turning from summer to fall, and the first few days of frosty weather knocking at the door, I planned a seasonal get-together with my coworkers. Just as I do for any holiday, before I have people over, I like to get my house in order for myself. So we did our recycling, picked up our magazines and papers, vacuumed and mopped and generally made the little house sparkle a bit. Then there was the shopping. I went to the market and bought acorn, butternut and kabocha squash and long island cheese pumpkins, bags of McIntosh apples, a jug of fresh cider and lanky leeks. I brought up some tomatoes from the canning shelf in the basement. I bought some cheeses, including ricotta, parmesan and goat, and found a lemon in my fridge. I brought out the black currant wine that our friend, Vicki brought back from South Dakota, made from currants grown on her brother’s farm. I brought home some of the plump, smooth chestnuts that Darrel Weirich brought to me in his bucket from his farm. And I also found a pomegranate at Martin’s! It is a joyful thing when I’m gathering good things to eat and thinking of good friends.
So now I was ready to make some good food in step with the season. We started with cheeses and nuts, coupled with black currant wine. Then we dug into roasted vegetables with pumpkin goat cheese dip, a butternut squash and leek gratin, wontons filled with a butternut and cheese filling, baked and served with a spicy tomato sauce, bread as needed, and an arugula and greens salad with sliced apples, asiago cheese and pomegranate seeds. For dessert, I whipped up some chocolate lava cakes and we ate them piping hot from the oven with good vanilla ice cream. Then I remembered the green tea with roses that a friend brought back from India. As the tea steeped, I roasted chestnuts. So we pushed back our chairs and relaxed with our mugs of hot tea and warmed our hands peeling chestnuts to eat. Good food, good conversations (yes, we had to pull out the dictionary!) and some entertaining cats gave our bodies good memories. And that’s why, the next morning after everyone is gone, there is still that feeling in the air of Christmas.
Later on that week, Jim and I make a comforting casserole after a brisk walk at the park. I’ll leave you with that recipe which came to me from Elizabeth Bauman, a friend who has passed on but was a mother to me for a little while and shared Christmas with me.
Hawaiian Rice Casserole
Brown in large skillet:
1 lb. ground chuck
1 medium onion, chopped
Add:
2 c. chopped mushrooms
Stir in:
1/4 c. flour
Then 2 c. milk until slightly thickened
In a casserole dish, put:
1 1/2 c. raw rice
2 1/2 t. curry powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can pineapple chunks, in their own juice, drained
2 c. water
Stir in the meat mixture and make sure it is evenly distributed.
Bake, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees, or until liquid is nicely absorbed and rice is tender. Serves 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment