Ice, Ice Baby

After Sis had so much fun at an ice-skating birthday party, we offered her the opportunity to take real lessons. She already takes gymnastics, but only once a week; this would give her another sport--and she's so strong (and the fastest runner in her class) that she'll probably be really good at skating.  At least it is fun and different (very different from me; lest I forget that the Northeast is a different culture from the Texas one I grew up in, I just need to look at ice skating and hockey and horseback riding/equestrian not rodeo to remember that it's not just the accents and foods that are different.)  We signed her up this morning and she'll start next week.  She'll get her skates from the rink, rental, and will wear a coat, bicycle helmet, and mittens for warmth and protection.  She's very excited.  Last night she even dressed up her doll Felicity in her ice skates and outfit.  And then, of course, there will be the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, with lots of ice skating.

Adventures in Cooking Our CSA Share: Collards, Glorious Collards

I grew up eating greens but couldn't distinguish between turnip, mustard, or collard if my life depended on it. And I'm not sure my mom cooked or served them differently: they all were long-simmered, sometimes with a ham bone, and then served with hot pepper vinegar (for Pop) and sometimes sliced boiled egg. I didn't love them; I didn't hate them. They just were.

And today, I have a pot of collard greens on my stove, sans ham bone and egg, though there will probably be vinegar. The recipe comes from Johnna Albi and Catherine Walthers's Greens Glorious Greens and is a low-fat, even vegetarian, almost anti-Southern version of the dish. But I'm in love with liquid smoke these days, the vegetarian's answer to ham bones and bacon, and have included it liberally in my pot.

I just might have to make cornbread tonight. Too bad we're out of peaches for crisp!

=-=-=-=-=-

Southern-Style (but Low-Fat) Collard Greens

3/4 lb collard greens (about 6 cups chopped)

4 cups lightly salted stock

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

apple cider or herbal vinegar

hot sauce

Wash collards, remove stalks, and stack 4-5 leaves. Roll like a cigar and slice into strips, approximately 1/2" wide (actually, I just tore them into pieces).

Bring the stock to a boil in a 3-4 quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Add the liquid smoke.

Add the greens to the stock, pushing the greens down to submerge. Return to the boil, reduce heat to a slower bubble, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. (I'll actually cook mine a lot longer, it's just what you do).

Lift greens from stock with slotted spoon. Season to taste and serve with cornbread.

NOTE: I made some late additions, mainly a chopped onion and a cup of lentils, plus some vegetarian bacon salt for more flavor. Delicious.

Greens Glorious Greens

On "Being Dead is No Excuse"

I got a new book for Christmas, Being Dead is No Excuse by two Southerners from the Mississippi Delta who are interested in the particularities and peculiarities of post-bellum funerary practices, specifically the food. In a light and amusing style, the authors catalogue the traditions of Greenville, MS, including the different cooking styles of Episcopalian ladies and Methodist ladies. I must admit that, as a Texan--not a Deep Southerner--and as an urbanite--not a small town girl--and as a member of a non-churchgoing family, several of the customs were foreign to me. I don't recall any funerals besides that of my grandmother when I was a little girl. There was hardly a regular funeral scene among our young families; perhaps if I'd grown up Catholic in my mom's small town, it would have been different.

But I can certainly imagine several of the incidents described. And I know the food. My grandmother even had her own favorite tomato aspic recipe! And I've eaten any number of (Methodist lady) casseroles with cream of ___ soup, corn flakes or Ritz crackers or fried onions, and some vegetable or meat in them. They say if you have any of those three, you have a funeral casserole! There were several pimento cheese recipes, fancier than my mom's tasty version with just cheese, a drained can of pimentos, and some mayonnaise (now she also adds chunky salsa). And lots of different deviled, I mean stuffed, eggs. And in all of these, an obsession with homemade mayonnaise and a snobbery about Miracle Whip. Also the love of Lea and Perrins and something called Durkee's Famous Sauce (which I almost bought in my store yesterday just to try it out).

Of course, now that I am on my own church's pastoral care committee and live up here amid a network of Yankee friends, I will say that the obsession with food during funerals is not limited to the South. Perhaps there isn't the same adherence to a traditional menu, but there are a lot of "dump casseroles" and sweets that appear at times of crisis. Though, most of this is delivered for the funeral reception at the church or given to the family privately; I have not been to a post-funeral reception at the home of the bereaved.

The book also contained the usual Southern tidbits about "Coke" being generic for soda and not a specific brand, the obsession with geneaology and names, and the assertion that Southerners are obsessed with manners because during and after the war they had nothing else. My favorite part was about how no one is more Southern than when he or she is in New York City. To that, at least, I can personally attest. So I'm going to take myself down to my kitchen and whip up some homemade mayonnaise and pimento cheese sandwiches. No need to wait for someone to die.

-=-=-=-=-

Mom's Deviled Eggs

4 hard-boiled eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon powdered dry mustard
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 to 4 drops bottled liquid hot pepper sauce or 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/8 teaspoon paprika
salt and white pepper to taste
pickles, onions (optional)

Cut eggs lengthwise and gently remove yolks. Mash yolks with a fork, but do not pack. Add mayonnaise, dry mustard, Worcestershire, pepper sauce, paprika, salt, and white pepper. Also, add finely chopped pickles and onions, if desirable. Garnish with paprika, pimiento strips, or sliced olives.

Mom