Cheating

A couple months ago I was on a plane on my way to New York and sat next to a lovely woman named Allison.  Our plane was late to take off and she was fretting that she might miss her NYC flight to London.  It was going to be tight.  So I tried to keep her distracted.  Two hours passed very quickly, talking about our kids, our towns, our jobs - it was one of those super easy stranger interactions.  At one point I said to her, if you lived in my town we would definitely be friends.

(She later wrote: "I can't thank you enough for being so supportive on the plane ride. I think I may have lost it if I didn't have you to talk to." Did I mention we would totally be friends if she was here?)

Food was definitely a common passion.  We traded tips and tricks and the names of favorite cookbooks, then she asked me if I'd ever used Blue Apron.  I had never heard of it.  So when she returned from London (she made the flight!), she sent me a coupon for a free order.

It's been a pretty fun experiment.   It's a fantastic concept and the company is hot - Under Armour's CFO just jumped ship from UA to BA.  The concept is simple and brilliant:  The Blue Apron food whizzes secure fresh, seasonal food from their sources, package it up perfectly, print up their original recipes with step-by-step instructions, and ship you your food in an insulated container.  Every single food item you need is included and pre-measured- all you need are the pots and pans.  So it's cooking, but it's all thought out, shopped and measured for you.  And it's pretty reasonable.  I did two shipments, each with two meals for a family of four (sob), and they were about $60/shipment.

So here's how it goes.  The doorbell rings, and this is on your stoop.  It's like StitchFix with food!

Which has this inside

which has this inside.  

Included are all the ingredients plus all two recipe cards.  Plus one card that contains interesting tidbits about some seasonal food. This one's for Julie:

 The recipe cards are gorgeous.

 So is the packaging.  And there is zero waste.  All these adorable little containers and labels are fantastic.

 Then you just follow the step-by-step instructions. 

 

Week one's meals were Chicken Tetrazzini and Seared Cod with Pickled Grapes.

The tettrazini was delicious. Doug literally had fifths. 

I thought the cod was ok, but Noah literally spit it out. 

 This week's menus were Cajun shrimp and cheesy grits, then a weeknight Bolognese   

Both were outstanding. 

 So it's been an interesting experiment.  Here are my observations:

The ingredients were gorgeous.  Fresh, beautifully packaged, and seasonally appropriate.  And the recipes were extremely healthy, limiting fat and sodium.  The packaging was pleasing, and it was very very convenient.

The cons?  A bit pricey, although not unreasonably so.  When I think of how much I spend at the grocery store every week, 30/meal for a family of four isn't bad.  And it's free shipping anywhere in the country.  It definitely got me cooking meals I had never tried before.  But a couple of the recipes were a bit bland unless they were zealously salted, and, fun as it was to try new things, they were all a bit labor intensive!   So although I appreciated the convenience of literally opening the box and following instructions, a coupe of the meals took longer than I'd normally spend on a weeknight meal.

The bottom line is, for people who like to cook and value fresh meals and ingredients  but find the hunting and menu-planing part of cooking a drag, this is an outstanding option.  For me, it was a fun experiement but at the end of the day it felt a little like cheating and, as it turns out, I like the planning and the shopping.  I"ll definitely try it again, just not every week.

But for some of you this might be a dream come true!  Thanks for the tip, Allison!

October 5, 1935

The party, sadly, is over, but the celebration of my mom's birthday keeps on going.  And it should, because she is one fabulous girl. And she's rocking 80.

My lovely mom, Ellen Flatley Corey, had a big birthday Monday, so last weekend all of my sisters, my brothers-in-law, my kids and all of my nieces and nephews,  several of mom's sibs and some very dear friends gathered to celebrate HER.  It was magical.  After days of fearful hurricane watching, and a couple crappy, cold, rainy days, Sunday was gorgeous.  We gathered at Shorehaven and we toasted mom and we heard and shared stories about this beautiful Irish girl who has touched so many lives and is SO WELL LOVED. 

Ellie posted the greatest hits photos from the weekend on her outstanding blog, but I'm going to crib a few of Billie's pics here, too, because they're superior and I need them and he said I could.  

October 5, 1935  was a Saturday.
1935 The years of depression continued in 1935 with unemployment still running at 20.1% , and the war clouds were gathering as Germany began to rearm and passed the Nuremburg laws to strip Jews of their civil rights, and Mussolini's Italy attacked Ethiopia. The Gallup Poll was introduced and a reformed drinker named Bill Wilson formed Alcoholics Anonymous on June 10th , also for the first time a completely synthetic fibre was produced called nylon by a Dupont chemist. Also this was the year of the birth of "Swing" by Benny Goodman and the world was ready to boogie. Persia is renamed to Iran.  

Average Cost of new house was $3,450.00,   
Average wages per year $1,600.00  
Cost of a gallon of Gas 10 cents  
Average Cost for house rent $22.00 per month  
A loaf of Bread 8 cents  
A LB of Hamburger Meat 11 cents  
Average New Car Price $625.00
Canada Dry Ginger Ale 20 Cents  

Key Events in 1935 in the United States:

• The Boulder (Hoover) Dam is completed.
• The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act creates The WPA or Works Progress Administration to create millions of jobs 
•  President Roosevelt signs the US Social Security Act Providing Unemployment compensation and pensions for the elderly.
•  The Great Plains are struck by one of the worst Dust Storms in U.S. history.
• Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Pacific.
• The first technicolor Mickey Mouse short film is released.
• Babe Ruth hit the 714th and final home run of his career.

 But, you ask, what about the FOOD?    

Enjoy this excerpt from a book popular at the time:

"The Kitchen, A Workshop of Color and Charm.The kitchen should be the pleasant room in the house. There is not good reason for the millions of ugly kitchens in the world. Nor is there any good reason for kitchens that look like white tile lunchrooms. In a kitchen that is gay, cozy, and pleasant, half the labor of cooking seems to be eliminated. In many houses that have been restored and kept in memory of another day, the kitchen is a most interesting and delightful room. When a tour of the house has been made and the kitchen is reached, there is always a sigh of pleasure. A sense of comfort and jollity pervades the place. The mellow walls, the lovely old containers for flours and spices, the gay platters, bowls and cups, the gleaming copper, the rocking chairs!...The modern housewife should try to bet her kitchen the same jolly atmosphere, while preserving a convenient arrangement of furnishings and utensils.  ---Bamberger's Cook Book For The Busy Woman, Mabel Claire [Greenberg:New York] 1932 (p. 18-21)



I would agree that there is "not good reason for ugly kitchens", but what I've really come to understand is it's the not the way the kitchen looks, it's the way the kitchen, and the house, feels.  And the house I grew up in felt pretty great.   It was a house brimming with love.  It was chaotic (six girls in eight years, remember), and yes, we fought -for the shower and the phone and the food - but that house was overflowing with love, support, laughter,  music, order and genuine warmth. That kitchen was the hearth and that home was the rock, the foundation for me and I'm guessing for all of my sisters, too.  And that, Ellen Flatley Corey, we owe to you.  Thank you for providing such an amazing example and being such a phenomenal mom.

A sense of comfort and jollity?  You nailed it.  Happy birthday, mom.

east, south, northwestern

It's so good to be home!  I was gone for two weeks, traveling with two groups of Northwestern students to New York City and then to Washington DC.

I run a program at NU that connects students with alumni, to help wtih career planning and exploration.  These annual treks to NYC/DC and other cities give students the chance to visit tons of interesting businesses and workplaces where our alumni and/or student's parents work.  We visited so many cool places, including the supreme court, Google, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, The Food Network, the state department, and capitol hill to name a few.  It was a blast.  And, during breaks, I got to see my peeps!

Here, take a look.

I saw my mom:

 And my sister Mary Beth

 And my lovely high school pals

 And I got to walk the high line

and I saw my friend Amy, who I forgot to snap a picture of.

In DC, I got to see my college roomie Rebecca, who I also forgot to snap a picture of,

and my niece Rebecca and her boyfriend Kalle

and my cousin Sarah Butler.

And, of course, THE MAN

and THE HOUSE

and THE MALL. (the only one I love)

And my own slice of heaven on earth!!

Back at the ranch, before I left, I cooked a ton of food and left detailed instructions.  With Dylan.

And I think it went really well the first week - hah!    

But now I"m back and SO HAPPY to be back in my kitchen!  This week:

Sunday:  turkey meatloaf, rice pilaf, salad

Monday:  ziti with meat sauce, salad, bread

Tuesday:  hot dish/loubbe

Wednesday;  baked tilapia, sweet potatoes and salad

Thursday: chicken fajitas.

Enjoy the week!!  

Turkey Meatloaf.  It's really, really good.  Kudos to Kelly Fitzpatrick, from whom this recipe came years ago (as you can see by the debris).

Loubbe-ish Hot Dish??

Sautee a huge onion in olive oil and garlic.  Add 1 lb of ground beef.  Brown and drain. 

Add a big pile of trimmed green beans and a large can diced tomatoes and lots of salt & pepper.  Bring to a 'boil', then reduce heat and simmer covered for about a half hour.  Serve over rice.  

It's YUMMY

Tilapia and sweet potatoes.  Peel and large-slice sweet potatoes.  Toss with olive oil and salt & pepper and cook at 425 for half hour.  Turn with a metal spatula halfway. 

Hubble thinks a stray sweet potato is a bone.  

Rinse and dry tilapia filets.  Toss with a little olive oil and sprinkle with either S&P or this yummy Spice House mix of everything yummy in life.  Cook at 425 for about ten minutes.

Home sweet home.  Enjoy the week!!