Category Archives: Food

Here we find gastronomical items from recipes to food lore to food love to food adventures.

Quote of the Day

20 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in Family, Food, Philosophy, Random Thoughts

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“People who love to eat are always the best people.”

                                                                                 – Julia Child

Ironically, this quote comes directly from a dish towel.  I don’t know if Julia actually said it, and I suppose I could look it up on the Encyclopedia of the Internet for veracity’s sake.  But I want to believe she said it, so I’m taking the word of my dish towel.  I also want to believe that it’s true because I love to eat, I love to prepare food, and I love to hang out with other food lovers.  My family is very good in this regard.  In fact my niece is responsible for the towel – it was her contribution to our family’s Christmas gift grab, and I grabbed it.

pie -2My family and many of my friends and I love to prepare food and then talk about food while eating.  In fact, in an act of extreme self-sacrifice and good food sportsmanship several of said friends and family members showed up to eat pi-e when I planned a last minute celebration on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53.  It was a monument to our desire to commemorate a once in a lifetime mathematical event.  Plus, I make damn good pies.  They were the talk of the evening.

Blogging101 – Renewing My Neglected Blog

03 Tuesday Mar 2015

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It has been over a year and a half since I posted to my blog.  So much has happened during that time.  Why didn’t I write about it?  I’m not sure.  Well, many reasons.  Probably the greatest one is the inertia that hits me when I contemplate a writing task that requires some form of introspection and creativity.  It’s difficult to write.  And it’s difficult to adequately and honestly express one’s feelings.  I have very little difficulty when it comes to writing tasks that are instructive, factual, or straightforward narrative.  It’s the “deeper,” more personal stuff that daunts me.  Also, maybe I’m a little lazy.  And I want my writing to be perfect – which fosters procrastination.  Ok, so enough about NOT blogging.  Let’s just get on with it.

I signed up for Blogging 101 to force myself to return to Sillisoup, the aforementioned neglected blog.  It’s interesting to revisit my original purpose in starting the blog.  Almost immediately, I deviated from that purpose, because really I just wanted to be able to post thoughts, experiences, and photos.  Also, I discovered that although other family members thought a location to share recipes, ideas, etc. sounded like a good idea, the collaboration never materialized.  Metaphorically, the blog tittle, which originally referred to my family’s signature soup (sausage soup – that name was already taken), could be taken to refer to the “soup” of content that represents the constantly shifting smorgasborg that constitutes my consciousness and interests.

I hope that as the days progress in the Blogging101 experience, I’ll be able to write about some of the significant things that happened during the year and a half I was absent from Sillisoup.  And of course, I look forward to opportunities for contemplation about the now. Further, I will look to my fellow bloggers for input, inspiration, and camaraderie.  Most of all, I hope that this experience will turn into a habit that generates a newly revitalized ongoing blog!

One thing I know about any creative endeavor is that in order to do it well, one must do it, then keep doing it, then do it some more.  That’s certainly true of writing.  Whenever I go into agonies about writing I remember the truest thing I ever read about writing – at least as it pertains to my perspective on it.  It was on a poster put out by a publisher of college textbooks: “In writing, the only hard thing is to begin.”  So here I am, beginning. Again.  Then tomorrow, another beginning.  Perhaps after a while it’ll feel like I’m in the middle and it won’t be as hard.

Wedding Season – Part 1

19 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in Art and Creativity, Family, Food, Lore, Weddings

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Amanda and Jedd Willis
– photo by Erin McCracken

My family’s Wedding Season, as my sister Madeline has dubbed it,  is over, and the confetti is settling.  Amanda Harris (my niece) and Jedd Willis were married on May 26, and Rachel Silliman (my daughter) and Bret Aaker on June 30.  The weddings, like the couples, were very different; but both unions were sources of great happiness for the brides and grooms and for those of us who love them.  I have so much to say about Wedding Season that I’ll have to do it in installments.  This is Part One.  And let me just say that my musings will not necessarily be in chronological order.  On something this big, I find that a more stream of consciousness approach works much better.

The first “official” photo of newlyweds Rachel Silliman Aaker and Bret Aaker from the wedding photographer

Rachel and Bret’s Wedding
One thing I’ve learned as I contemplated writing about the week of my daughter’s wedding is that it’s difficult for me to blog without photographs.  My role as mother of the bride, or as we call it, MOB, limited my ability to walk around shooting pictures of everything.  In retrospect, I wish I had photographed more of the casual moments when no one would have cared that I was poking a camera into her face.  Ah, well, the lifelong list of lost photo ops is long.  I did take some.  As we go along, I’ll illustrate with those taken by others and  with the ones I did take.

The wedding party as depicted by flower-girl daughter Lucy Aaker, age 7

The wedding party as depicted by daughter and flower girl Frances Aaker, age 7

So, the wedding.  First of all, in my mind I’m calling it our Big Fat American Wedding.  Not original, I know, but the description definitely gives you the flavor of  its social complexity.  But first some general statements:

  • After a year of planning, the wedding event was beautiful, happy, and as flawless as these things can be.
  • In spite of all surrounding chaos before, during, and in the aftermath of the wedding, Rachel and Bret were the sanest, calmest bride and groom I’ve ever seen .
  • Many people contribute to the success of such an event and, more importantly, such a union.

Frannie and Lucy Aaker strewing petals along the bridal path
– photo by Amanda Harris Willis

By way of follow-up to my earlier post about the dresses I made for Frannie and Lucy,  here’s Amanda’s picture of the girls as they led the wedding procession.

Since the MOB role prevented me from taking photos during the ceremony, I’ll refer you for now to the wonderful images posted by Rachel’s cousin Emily Gibson on her flickr account.  Her video of the dancing is especially appealing and features the children, the flower-girl dresses, and the bride and groom (not necessarily in order of importance). And here’s her image of the ceremony with the bride’s sister Rebecca officiating and Bret’s son, Henry serving as best man.

More to come on Wedding Season…. I warned you about the randomness.

Gardens, Weddings, and Superheroes

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Art and Creativity, Food, Random Thoughts

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Since I began this blog as a means of sharing and inspiring creative efforts – be they art, writing, crafting, sewing, cooking, cooking, or cooking – I though a little update on that front would be in order.  I must confess that in the wake of Mark Bittman Month, I’ve been pretty uneven on the cooking front – sticking pretty much with the old and new familiars.  (But I’m discovering from casual conversation with those around me that just cooking is more adventurous than average.)  I did bake a banana cake with white chocolate buttercream icing from The Cake Bible for my friend Ann’s birthday.  It was my first attempt at buttercream, and it did turn out well.  And, incidentally, it goes straight to the top of the Beyond Decadent food list.

Since my daughter Rachel is getting married in June, I turned my efforts to a sewing project.  I made dresses for her soon-to-be daughters, who will be flower girls in the wedding.  (I thought it was interesting that they chose this designation over junior bridesmaid.)  Frannie and Lucy are fraternal twins and are six years old – and adorable.  It was great fun making their princess dresses.  Because I wanted the dresses to have it all, it was a challenging project, but it helped that I had the consultation services of my friend Sarah, an excellent and well-equipped seamstress.  Here’s a picture of the dresses.  I’ll share another filled with little girls at a later date.

I just recently completed a gardening project that was long in the planning.  It’s a flower bed around the edges of my screened-in porch.  Now I can gaze upon beautiful flowers while sitting in my favorite room.

Well, I’m hoping that this justified my creative existence for now.

Apropos of nothing, I’m headed off to see a matinee of The Avengers this afternoon.  I love superheroes – and Robert Downey, Jr.   Fun!!

Creativity Month: Output

20 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Art and Creativity, Food

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I’m sitting this morning in a ray of sunshine in my favorite room in my house.  It’s my study/sewing/sitting room, a converted bedroom with cozy club chairs and an ottoman in addition to the desk, files, supply closet, and sewing machine.  All of this is very appealing to me, but the key element is the east-facing window that allows the morning sun to wash in and fill the room.  It’s hard not to feel happy here in the morning – especially with a cup of coffee at my side.

So, as declared in my last post, February is Creativity Month, which works out well for me because in the past few years my friend Jane and I have had a lot of fun creating home-made valentines.  This year we drew upon the resources of one of my favorite artists, Robert Sabuda.  Mr. Sabuda, if you are not already aware, is the creator of many exquisite pop-up books, several of which are in my collection of children’s books.  He also has patterns for do-it-yourself pop-up cards on the Internet:  http://robertsabuda.com/popmake/index.asp .  We downloaded patterns for some of them and used old (fabulously beautiful) calendar pictures and watercolor paper to create valentines.

I also got busy sewing and made a set of cocktail napkins out of coordinating fun fabrics for Rebecca and a yellow lobster pillow for Rachel.  I failed to take a picture of the pillow before sending it off, but the fabric is one of my all-time favorites.  Here’s a shot of it.

Nothing like holding yourself accountable for enhancing productivity!

On the cooking front, I also created a new favorite soup.  It all started when my friend Ann guilted me into making a coconut cake.  (This was not difficult to do, as just the thought of coconut cake makes me salivate.)  At about the same time, I found myself craving mashed potatoes, so I invited Ann and her husband Wall and my friends Sarah II and Paula II (more on the IIs in a later post, perhaps) over for dinner and made roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and steamed broccoli as a preliminary to the coconut cake.  Remarkably, and perhaps because we knew there was cake for dessert, there were leftovers.  So, the next day I boiled the chicken carcass for broth, added chopped onions, celery, and carrots (the mighty triumvirate) and then the leftover gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and chicken.

Leftover Soup

The potatoes gave it a creamy texture and the seasonings from the roast chicken (thank you, Barefoot Contessa!!! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-chicken-recipe/index.html ) added incredible savor.  The soup was almost as good as the original dinner, although two things were missing – the fun friends and the coconut cake, the leftovers of which I made sure left my house promptly.

OK then, only a week and a half left of Creativity Month.  I’d better get busy.

Bittman Month Concludes – Where to from here?

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Art and Creativity, Food

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Random Beautiful Food

Wrapping Up Mark Bittman Month

Granted, it’s now February 3, but I don’t want to enter a new month/era without concluding the reportage on my month of Mark Bittman.  Let me be clear, however: I plan to continue cooking from The Food Matters Cook Book.  I have in no way exhausted my appetite for his style of cooking.  It is time, however, to move on to a new  blog topic and a new monthly challenge.  More on that to follow.  As January drew to a close, I tried the recipe for Super-Simple Mixed Rice, a Zillion Ways (don’t you love that title?).  This approach takes brown rice to a whole new level of tastiness with dried porcini mushrooms, tomatoes, herbs, cannellini beans, and parmesan cheese.  The end product is a creamy rissoto-like concoction without all the stirring.  I must say that “super-simple” might be a slight overstatement, but it’s fairly easy.  Mark offers several variations.  I really like how adding the beans to the dish adds protein and substance.  With a salad and some nice bread, this could be a meal in itself.

My next recipe was Creamy Navy Bean and Squash Gratin with Bits of Sausage.  I made it to take over to my friends Bob and Laurel when I invited myself for dinner – and brought dinner.  This really was easy to make and allowed me to use Italian sausage guilt free since it’s more of a seasoning than a main player in this dish.  Even though there was only four ounces of sausage in the whole batch (four generous servings with leftovers), it added a lot of flavor.

Last Thursday I made Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables for my book club.  [Just a side-note about book club:  this is a group of women who have been meeting once a month for many years.  We read and discuss wonderful books, talk, drink wine, and eat.  We take turns hosting the meeting and providing the food.  When we started out, food would consist of a dessert.  If you were in charge of food and had a busy day you might even stop by the supermarket bakery and pick something up.  There are several good cooks in the group, and gradually the food bar rose.  Maybe an appetizer and dessert.  Then someone added soup or a main dish.  Now, the food is always plentiful and includes either several appetizers and dessert or a full meal.  We’ve tried to lower the bar – after all, this creates something of a burden for the person in charge of food – but it never works.  Nobody wants to be the one to show up with a supermarket cake and some cheese and crackers.  Besides, we all love to eat!] The cassoulet was tasty and hearty on a winter night, but I think I overcooked it.  I used sausage and pork chops for the meat and was worried that they might not be done in the time indicated.  I think next time I’ll use thinner chops so I won’t have to worry about that.  Nonetheless, my fellow bookclubbers seemed to like it.  But they’re a generous group.

In concluding the Bittman chronicles, I just want to add that I think the man owes me royalties.  At least four people I know have either purchased the book or plan to.  They won’t regret it.  But c’mon, Mark, really.  I think you owe me.

And Now, Where to for February?

I’m designating February asCreativity Month.  This is a direct challenge to myself to get out there and do some photography – although I don’t plan to limit February’s creativity to photography.  In fact, I already have some creative projects in the works spurred by the imminence of Valentine’s Day.  I really don’t like Valentines day for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is my cynicism.  However, I like to react to it creatively and have had fun in years past making valentines with my best friend, Jane.  We already have plans in the works for this year’s version, which I will share after the fact.  Also, I’ve begun some projects for Valentine’s gifts.  In addition, there’s a very exciting sewing project afoot wherein I plan to make dresses for my granddaughters-to-be for the wedding of their Daddy, Bret, to my daughter Rachel.  More on that as we progress.

OK, now here’s a direct challenge to my fellow Sausage Soup blog participants.  We created Sausage Soup as a vehicle for family/friend creativity.  So join in!  After all, February is Creativity Month! (Because I said so.)

More Mark and Memories of Mecca

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in Art and Creativity, Food, Lore, Travel

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Cooking with Mark Bittman
So this week it’s the Rice and Grains chapter in The Food Matters Cook Book.  Last week was my introduction to bulgur in a chickpea and chicken recipe, so thought I’d venture further into the great grain adventure.  After reading the introductory material in the chapter and most of the recipes (drool…..), I made a trip to Fresh Market and stocked up on ingredients like Quinoa (pronounced keen’-wah or alternatively, kee-noh’uh – I had to look it up) sunflower seeds, unsweetened coconut, chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, rolled oats, etc.

I started out the day Tuesday making Mark’s Granola.  It is a thing of beauty and deliciousness and, in spite of no added fat, calories.  I tell myself that they’re healthy calories.  For dinner the same day, I made Chipotle Quinoa with Corn and Black Beans.  This was my first exposure to quinoa and the first time I’ve cooked with chipotle chiles.   It will not be the last!  This is a hearty vegetarian – vegan, even – dish and is filling and very flavorful.  The quinoa has a slightly nutty texture.  I’m a bit of a chicken when it comes to hot peppers, so I used the canned chiles but omitted the adobo sauce, which is very hot.  Next time, I’ll use some of the sauce.  There was some heat from the chiles, but the smoky flavor is fabulous and more heat would add even more flavor, I think.  I have the ingredients for several more dishes from the chapter and can’t wait to try them.

(Re-)Visiting Mecca

"I cannot live without books."

On a dreary winter day it’s nice to remember the adventures of autumn.  Last October my friend Corinne and I visited Washington, DC.  We drove out and stopped in Charlottesville, VA, on the way to see the University of Virginia and Monticello.  Both were intriguing and a great warm-up for a visit to our nation’s capital.  Is it a coincidence that this is the mug I’m drinking from this morning?  I don’t think so. If you’re interested in seeing pictures of our trip, here’s a link.

The highlight of the trip for me, however, was our visit to the Library of Congress.  For a a hard core, card-carrying bibliophile, it was a trip to heaven.  First of all, the place is a temple to learning.

Also, it is filled with art and is an architectural feast.  We lucked out because we were there on Columbus Day and in honor of the national holiday the Reading Room was open for visitors.  Employees of the LOC were on hand to answer questions and (joy!) photography was allowed.  Usually visiting the Reading Room requires a research pass and only quiet study is allowed – and no photography.  In addition, access was allowed to the card catalog room – a huge vault with drawer after drawer of entries.  Of course, I’m sure the catalog of holdings is largely digitized now, but for someone who well remembers using a card catalog to find books, seeing this vast collection was thrilling.

Update on Mark Bittman Month

13 Friday Jan 2012

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I mentioned in my earlier post that I’d made a pot of chickpeas and used some in Mark Bittman’s Curried Chickpeas and Cauliflower with Chicken – delicious!  So continuing the week of using the chickpeas in his recipes, I also made Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Bulgur, which I shared with five of the Gang of Six.  Let’s just say that there wasn’t a grain of bulgur or a stray chickpea to left in the pot at the end of the meal.  I could make it again right now and eat the whole thing myself, I think.  The next day, I used the remaining chickpeas and their broth to make Creamy Carrot and Chickpea Soup.  I had it for dinner one night and for lunch the next two days.  Both dishes are full of wonderful spices.   Furthermore, they’re from MB, so they’re healthy, right?

I LOVE Mark Bittman month!  Excuse me, I need to go read the cookbook to figure out what to make next.  The month is young.

Jeane Silliman
January 13, 2012

A Celebration and Celebrating Eating

09 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Food, Lore, Random Thoughts

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A Big Event
Saturday night we celebrated Madeline and Dave Harris’s 40th wedding anniversary with a party hosted by me, their daughter Amanda, and our sister Anne.  Forty years!  Same person.  Still sane. Still loving.  Now, that’s something to celebrate.  Friends, family, food, flowers and balloons abounded.  In fact, here’s a picture of Amanda and Anne as they spent a couple of hours detangling balloons whose ribbons had thoroughly embraced one another on the ride home in Amanda’s SUV. They were determined to do it without cutting the ribbons.  At the end of the game, balloons one, women zero.

So, how about a little before and after perspective on the honorees?

Dave Davies, David and Madeline Harris, Jan Davies - Dec. 31, 1971

Dave Davies, David and Madeline Harris, Jan Davies - Jan. 7, 2012

Happy Anniversary (Dec. 31) Madeline and David!  Click here for more pics from the celebration.

Mark Bittman Month
I’ve always had a bit of a No New Year’s Resolutions policy.  For one thing, everybody’s doing it – something I tend to resist.  Secondly, it seems to run counter to my “denial is our friend” mantra.  However, on January One this year, in a moment of let’s just call it weakness, I decided on two resolutions: 1) blog more, and 2) January is Mark Bittman Month.  I also added a couple of New Year’s suggestions, which I may or may not discuss in a later entry.

Rachel and Bret gave me Mark Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook for Christmas, so, in keeping with resolution two, last night I made a dinner of Curried Chickpeas and Cauliflower from the book and Chicken and Roasted Squash with Kale.  The latter recipe illustrates one of the things I love about Mark’s recipes.  Sometimes they’re more suggestions for combinations of ingredients than actual recipes.  Both dishes were delicious.  (I’d say, “amazing,” but am trying to not overuse that descriptor.)

Mark’s cookbook includes a panegyric to the pot of beans, and so far I’ve cooked a pot of mixed beans for traditional bean soup and a pot of chick peas.  I used some of the chick peas in the recipe mentioned above and plan to use more of them later this week in his recipe for Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Bulgur from the book.  It sounds amaz…, er, yummy!

Jeanne Silliman
January 9, 2012

Time and a New Year

01 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Food, Random Thoughts

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So here it is, the first day of 2012.  I lay in bed this morning thinking about time.  It’s such a mysterious phenomenon, and really, something we just made up to glue ourselves to some sort of reality.  If we all agree that this is 2012, then we’re all connected and attached to the same real estate. We’re not just drifting out there bumping into each other occasionally but unable to compare notes.  It creates relativity: just in time, it’s about time, time to get up.  So, OK, happy New Year!  I need coffee.

I spent last evening with my neighbors/friends Ann, Wall, and Sarah.  We had agreed that we would see in the New Year by watching favorite movies at home and eating snacks.  At the last minute, Ann, a wonderful and creative cook, decided that she would make crab Benedict for dinner, so we began the evening with that.  She used crab cakes from Fresh Market (Note to self:  these exist and are fabulous! Place on grocery list.), and placed them on a bed of fresh arugula and chopped avocado, then topped them with poached egg and homemade hollandaise.  Here’s a picture (This is a food blog, right?).

Ann Wallis' Crab Benedict

And let me just say, it was every bit as yummy as it looks!  We did, of course, also have the aforementioned snacks while watching the movies.  I brought green dip (recipe follows) with Krunchers potato chips (AKA, crack) and carrot and celery sticks just to create the illusion of  “healthful,”  dried fruit, and Godiva truffles.  I discovered a lovely bubbly white wine at Schnucks that is a nice compromise between too dry “champagne” and too sweet Asti.  It’s Mumm Napa Cuvee M.  We watched Mars Attacks! – a satire from 1996 starring everyone alive in Hollywood at the time, and a Steven King story starring Johnny Depp (my man) called Secret Window.  Johnny does crazy/spooky/funny so well.  The triumph of the evening was that I managed to stay awake, without dozing even, until past midnight and through the entirety of two movies.

Green Herb Dip (From Ina Garten, I think.  I clipped it from a magazine and don’t have the context.)
(Makes 2 cups)

8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

½ c. sour cream at room temperature

½ c. good mayonnaise, such as Hellman’s

¾ c. chopped scallions, white and green parts

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1/4 c. chopped cilantro or parsley

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place all in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Pulse 10 to 12 times, until just blended, but not pureed.  Serve at room temperature.

Jeanne Silliman
January 1, 2012