Lillian

Last week my family bade farewell to my Aunt Lillian Corey Nelson. 

She was 92, tired, at peace and ready to go. 

But still, it felt, and feels, so final, as she was the last of the Corey siblings to go. 

Marion (aka Babe aka Uffie), Dad (aka Joseph M Corey Jr), Lillian and Gloria 

As so many American immigrant stories do, theirs goes back to the turn of the 20th century, when my four grandparents immigrated to America, two from Ireland (see here for detes) and two from Lebanon.  My Dad's mother, our Sittoo,  came over with her immediate family, and my Dad's father, our Jidoo, with a couple of his brothers.

Ellie shared this family history with me last week - written in Dad's handwriting.  I love staring at it, re-reading it, imagining all the  decisions and heartache and bravery and excitement all these transitions entailed.

My aunt Lill led a rich and interesting life, as my sister Ellie chronicled so beautifully in Lill's obituary.  She had a career,  albeit constrained by the limitations of her era.  She graduated from Merrill Business College in 1946 and spent two years in the early fifties in Japan, serving as an administrative assistant to the Army Colonel of the 8th Army Headquarters in Zama, Japan. She kept loads of pictures from these two years, which were wonderful to pore through.

Lill married our Uncle Rod, a widower with three grown children, later in life.  They spent 37 happy years together before he passed away in 2004, and they were regulars at our house in Norwalk growing up.

Lill was funny and direct and smart and warm.  She let her opinion, and her love for us, be known.

We had a lovely sendoff, reuniting with cousins  we haven't seen in years. 

It wasn't sad, but it was poignant.  And funny and reverent and absolutely perfect.  

When we were going through Lill's condo each of us tried to find something meaningful to take home and remember Lill by.  I found, wrapped up in old newspapers in boxes in her basement, a gorgeous set of delicate tea and demitasse cups and saucers, some of which came from her time in Japan.  I come home for lunch every day and make myself an espresso or a latte after lunch.  

Now I get to enjoy my afternoon treat with these.

When I opened one of her kitchen drawers I found this nondescript folder, which turned out to be her recipe box, of a sort.  

 It held a ton of recipes, most written in my dad's hand, organized by category within folded pieces of paper. 

I am particularly excited to dig into this group, which contained no fewer than six variations of kibbie and tabouli.  But that's for another day.  

Today we're going to talk about sausage bread.

In her obituary, and in every set of remarks at her service, someone mentioned Aunt Lill's legendary sausage bread.   Lill was hugely proud of her Lebanese heritage but at our Lebanese feasts I think she was more of an appreciator than a chef.  But sausage bread?  That was Lill's specialty.  

So yesterday, in Lill's honor, I made some.  The response was nearly ecstatic.  Dylan, 'This is really good. Can I have seconds?"  Noah, "Oh My God this is amazing.  You have to make it all the time." 

 I will.

We will miss you greatly, Auntie Lill.  But we will think of you often, especially when wolfing down your sausage bread.  Godspeed.  I love you.

KNIVES

One of my favorite wedding gifts in 1992 was our knife set.  It was a generous gift from Mr & Mrs Gardella (I looked it up last night - I still have the little file box in which I recorded all the invitees and all the gifts!) and I still use it.   Many of the items my 24 year old self put on my wedding registry seemed so formal, and although I believed my mom when she said they would all come in handy - and they have - it's the knives that have, hands down, gotten the most use these 25 years.  Daily use.  But, I regret to say, they've sort of had it.

 The initial knife set has grown, incorporating a few that I inherited when my parents downsized, and a few I've purchased over the years.

But they aint as sharp as they used to be, and if I miss Tony Delciello, the knife-sharpening-guy, during his annual walking tour around the 'hood, I am left to my own devices and my own devices aren't that great.

So I'd been saving some of my birthday money from my big day this summer, and this week, I pulled the trigger.  And I bought me some NEW KNIVES.

Before I did this, though, I felt compelled to do exhaustive research, as I do for every major purpose, because I am neurotic diligent.   So I went to my favorite, tiny, Pulitzer-prize-finalist, food writing college roommate, Laura Reiley, to get her recs. Conveniently, she had recently written a story on that very topic.

Isn't that so serendipitous? 

Don't you love the word serendipitous??

ser·en·dip·i·tous

ˌserənˈdipədəs/

adjective

adjective: serendipitous

occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

"a serendipitous encounter"

synonyms:

chance, accidental, coincidental;

But I digress.  Back to KNIVES!

So tonight, these beauties arrived. Well, all but the bread knife, due in Wednesday.    F Dick knives.  Chef's, serrated/bread, 2 paring and a slicer, plus a new set of steak knives, a sharpener and a gorgeous bamboo magnetic stand. If you need me, I will be in my kitchen, slicing and dicing.

for the whole story please read

Knives 101: How to choose and maintain the right knives for your home kitchen

ps. don't you love the word scunge?

quiche-o-rama

Have I mentioned that I love my family?  I do. I was born into a bevy of babes who are a)supportive b)fun c)fierce and d)great freaking writers.  The volume of daily emails is staggering and sometimes overwhelming.  Take yesterday, for example.  Ellie put out the innocent and altogether reasonable query, "Do you guys make quiche?  Do you have any tricks or tips?"  I just tallied the 30 responses to the chain, some of them classic Corey.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ellie Corey
Sent: Wed, Oct 25, 2017 11:21 am
Subject: Quiche

Do you guys make quiche? Do you have any tricks or tips?

Jacqueline Corey wrote:

I have a great tip: buy them at costco.

Janecoreyholt wrote:
I never make them.  But I should, because I like eating them.  

Ellen Corey wrote:
Ditto

MB Corey  wrote:

never. but yum!

Ellie Corey wrote:
You have all been very helpful. 😜

 On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 11:36 AM, elllen corey wrote:
Happy to help you out xoxo 
 


this was all within about five minutes.
   
Jacquie jumped in with this:
Could someone please bring me some quiche? It really is so delicious. One of my teachers makes a mean quiche, we demand it at regular intervals. I think I've tried making it before but the recipe contained all sorts of automatic disqualifies and called for like 12 sticks of butter so I tried to make a healthy version and it tasted like shit. The broccoli quiche at costco is delish. 

to which I replied: 

It probably has 12 sticks of butter in it.

I am DEFINITELY making quiche tonight. I think I have frozen crusts in freezer. They might date back to  the bush administration but who cares right?
 
now do you understand how hard it is for me to get work done?

So guess what we had for dinner last night???  I am wondering what percentage of Corey women did the same.  It's so easy and delicious and you can basically clean out your fridge.  So here's how it went.

I extracted the ancient pie crusts from the freezer and let them sit for a bit.  I inventoried my fridge and found spinach, bacon, zucchini, fresh mozzarella, fresh parmesan and one lonely tomato.  And 8 eggs.   So I decided to make two quiches:  zucchini, bacon & parmesan, and tomato, mozzarella & spinach.

First I cooked up some bacon and chopped it. 

 Then I sliced thin and sauteed two zucchini in olive oil, salt & pepper about ten minutes, until tender.

 I chopped them up a little bit then dumped in pie crust with three pieces of chopped, crisp bacon.

I added about 1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

 

Meanwhile, let's go to pie #2

 I chopped up the mozzarella.

 added a chopped tomato

 Then I chopped and sauteed a big bunch of spinach.  I would have done more if I had it.

I dumped the wilted spinach on top of the cheese and tomato.

 I mixed 8 eggs with about 1-1/2 cups 2%milk and a good dose of half-and-half.  I would have used whole milk if I had planned ahead, but, um.... 

Mix well.

 Pour over each veggie situation.

 Cook at 350 for about an hour, until eggs in center are set.  

Check at 45 minutes - the zucchini quiche took about ten minutes less than the spinach one.

 And there you have it!  

YUMMMMM.  They were both delicious, although I'll give the nod to the zucchini numba.

When Dylan got home from football he asked, as he always does, What's for dinner?  I replied, excitedly, QUICHE!  Now,  Dylan loves my cooking (I was reading the food section while we were eating and saw all these great recipes and said, out loud, wouldn't it be great to  have a chef? and he said, "I kinda do.")  He responded to my enthusiasm with what I can only describe as skepticism.  I explained that my sisters and I had been emailing about quiche so, naturally, I had to make it that night.  He said, in his monotone way, "why were you and your sisters emailing about quiche?"  I explained. He replied, "I'm generally not a huge fan of quiche."  "Really? Why?"  "Whenever I go to a brunch I'm so excited about a big meal and they always serve quiche and I'm like, I don't want quiche, I want waffles."    

Love that kid.  And he loved the quiche.

boring and by the seat of my pants

Life is sort of unremarkable these days, which is remarkable.  After a busy summer, a big birthday, getting Corey home from Europe and back to school, getting Noah settled into a new school and Dylan back to the HS routine, and a huge work event I've been planning all summer behind me - life feels quite, well, boring.  I love it.

So you know that thing that happens when you have a ton of time to get ready and you find yourself late?  Like, you weren't hurrying and then suddenly you are totally behind? Happens to me all the time - I do much better with small windows.  Same thing with food lately. I have a small family to cook for and things are much calmer, and I've completely dropped the ball on planning.  So I've been cooking again but the meals have mostly been seat-of-my-pants variety.   Here's the evidence:

Dinner with no plan

Kitchen sink frittata

Heat up a skillet with olive oil.  Slice up some sausages (I had pre-cooked turkey sausage links on hand, for some reason) and cook them for ten minutes on med-high heat with some large-dice  potatoes and a chopped onion.  After ten minutes add some chopped red peppers.  After ten minutes add some spinach.   

 Add about 8 eggs, beaten with a little milk (1/8 cup?)

 

 Simmer on low-med heat, scraping up from bottom with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula every so often. 

 Serve with heated tortillas and tons of salsa.  Delicious, filling and ready to go in a half hour.


dinner with minimal plan 
I had a pork tenderloin defrosted but not marinated, and no plan when I got home at 5.  In my pantry I had some red potatoes and onions and in my fridge some baby carrots.  Here's how it went:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with vegetables and potatoes.

 Wash and quarter about 2 lbs of red potatoes

Peel and quarter 2 -3 medium onions

Arrange them in a pan with a 1-1/4 lb pork tenderloin (rinsed and dried, fat trimmed)

Sprinkle the whole situation w a generous tsp kosher salt, tons of fresh ground pepper and  rosemary. 

I had some fresh rosemary in a pot on the patio.  If you don't have fresh, dried will do. I used about 2 tsp minced fresh, if it were dried I'd use 1tsp.  

Fresh garlic or garlic powder would be good to add, too.

Cook in a pre-heated 400 degree oven about 35 minutes, until meat registers 160.  Remove from oven and tent with foil (temp will continue to rise) - let rest about ten minutes.  Slice and serve.  YUM.

Dinner with a plan, vegetarian

Lastly, my sweet girl is home for fall break.  And she's a vegetarian, so last night I decided to tackle a veggie meal.  Man, was it good!   I didn't photograph all the steps, but here's the recipe (from CookieandKate) and the result. Note:  I substituted chopped kale for snow peas and it was awesome.

Crunchy Thai Peanut and Quinoa Salad

Salad

• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa 
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups shredded purple cabbage
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup thinly sliced snow peas or sugar snap peas (Jane's Note:  I couldn't find snow peas so substituted chopped kale and it was awesome.)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted and salted peanuts, for garnish

Peanut sauce

• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Cook the quinoa: First, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander under running water. In a medium-sized pot, combine the rinsed quinoa and 1 ½ cups water. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and gently simmer the quinoa until it has absorbed all of the water. Remove the quinoa from heat, cover the pot and let it rest for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set it aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, make the peanut sauce: Whisk together the peanut butter and tamari until smooth (if this is difficult, microwave the mixture for up to 30 seconds to loosen it up). Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. If the mixture seems too thick to toss into the salad, whisk in a bit of water to loosen it up (I didn’t need to do this).
3. In a large serving bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, shredded cabbage, carrot, snow peas, cilantro and green onion. Toss to combine, then pour in the peanut sauce. Toss again until everything it lightly coated in sauce. Taste, and if it doesn’t taste quite amazing yet, add a pinch of salt and toss again. Divide into individual bowls and garnish with peanuts.
4. This salad keeps well, covered and refrigerated, for about 4 days. If you don’t want your chopped peanuts to get soggy, store them separately from the rest and garnish just before serving.

Recipe Box

Do you have a recipe box?

I do.  It's 25 years old, and it's fantastic. 

 

This was given to me as a bridal shower gift by Doug's Aunt Diane Dalberg.  Diane is an artist and a calligrapher and she hand-wrote dozens and dozens of family recipes and presented me with this box all those years ago.  Isn't that such a sweet gift?

To be honest, I reach for my phone or iPad more than I do the box, or physical cook books these days, and many of these recipes call for ingredients that have fallen out of favor (shortening, margarine, cream of anything soup..,)  but there are some treasures in there. I reached for it the other night looking for a grilled salmon recipe I knew was in there, and got lost looking at some of these recipes.  It's a lovely gift and a  food history, of sorts, of the Holts' extended family.

 

 Here's what I was looking for:
My recipes  don't look as pretty as Aunt Diane's.  

Illegible, as usual, but this is a delicious and easy way to prepare grilled salmon.  I remember this recipe was given to me in a mom's group I joined in the city when Corey was a year old and I had just found out I was pregnant with Noah!    It holds up.

 Salmon Steaks with Lemon Mustard Sauce

Whisk together in a small bowl:

1 ttsp paprika

1/8 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp mayo

2 Tbsp dry white wine

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper.

 Grill four, six-ounce salmon steaks.  Or one large fillet.  1 1-inch thick individual portion takes about 8 minutes to cook, grilled over medium heat, flipping once.  

Let them rest about five minutes loosely covered with foil.  Then serve with generous dose of sauce.  

It's really good.