jane's joint

Friday, June 17, 2016

Parks and Recreation

It's been such a fun and exciting few weeks! After the Noah love fest that was May, we headed off to Boston to celebrate Uncle Brian and all things Flatley. Incredible weekend of love and faith and reconnecting to my amazing family roots. Here, read about it in Ellie and Jacquie's blogs, won't you?

Then, last week, the Holt family headed west and spent a spectacular week in Moab, Utah. Wow. I'm so sad not be immersed in staggering beauty anymore. I/we kept saying, I can't believe this is what people here get to look at every day. Moab, and what we saw of Utah, is achingly, astonishingly, breathtakingly beautiful.

Let me backtrack.

Inspired by our friends the Kings, about a dozen years ago we decided we were going to be a family that took adventurous vacations and visited our national parks. We started small: took a road trip to Mammoth Caves when the kids were wee.

look at these cute little nuggets!

But when Dylan turned 7 we decided we were ready to roll and took our first big trip, to Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone National Park - geyser basin

Two years later we drove out to Colorado and enjoyed the beauty of Breckenridge in the summer season. During that trip we hit Rocky Mountain, Mt Rushmore and Badlands National Parks.

Badlands National Park

Mt Rushmore National Park

The next big trip was Maine, where we spent the better part of a week in Bar Harbour, visiting that amazing gem called Acadia National Park.

Acadia National Park - after a rainy hike

Next was Glacier with the whole Holt crew, with its geologic majesty.

Two years ago we went to Puerto Rico, which has its own national forest: El Yunque!

And last fall, while visiting NAU, Doug, Noah, Dylan and I visited the Grand Canyon.

Each park we've visited has been so unique and so striking. Yellowstone has so many 'wows' - bubbling, sulphuric cauldrons, erupting geysers, salt flats and rolling valleys with grizzlies and buffalo. Acadia is small and manageable but full of dramatic contrasts: oceans and mountains and harbor seals and whales. Glacier has to be seen to be believed - the geology of the place is fascinating and you really get a sense of Earth time vs human time. Plus, it's just so majestic and beautiful. Mt Rushmore was surprisingly moving and the Badlands were like Yellowstone in their utter other-worldliness. El Yunque is a rain forest nestled in a the Carribean tropics - you literally hike into another climate. The Grand Canyon we expected to be underwhelmed and were stunned at its depth and majesty and grandeur. I've loved them all, I really have. Each park is so different and so well maintained and they truly are a national treasure. And, without a doubt, they have been our most treasured family times.

This week we had the pleasure of hitting two more parks, in Utah: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We've had a long and pretty difficult year so were all pumped to get away and go somewhere beautiful. Moab did not disappoint. I was moved to tears more than once - just overcome by the beauty of the place. It is SO. DAMN. BEAUTIFUL.

We arrived late - Moab is far far away and after a three hour plane ride we had a four hour drive and arrived at night, so didn't know what we'd wake up to. The answer - the roaring colorado river in front of us and on either side, 1,000 foot cliffs made of striated, iron-rich, oxidized and therefore red rocks and soil. Ahhhhhh.

The view from our cabin's deck

Red Cliffs Lodge

The next five days were spent hiking, biking, swimming, climbing, reading, drinking and eating in the splendor of Utah's scenery.

Arches National Park

Arches National Park - Balanced Rock

Delicate Arch - Arches National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Dead Horse State Park - Moab

Dead Horse State Park

Arches National Park - Windows

Rock Climbing at the "ice cream parlor" canyon


Arches at sunset - Windows section

Now I realize this is a food blog so here's an outtake from our first night back. We got into our house at 5pm on Sunday and I could not deal with going to the grocery store. I poured an icy cold glass of sauvignon blanc and set to work, trying to make a meal from what I found in the fridge. Corey described the finished product as "good but weird" and I think that's fair. And about as much as I could muster up upon reentry.

first things first

steam up all veggies you have, in this case cauliflower and green beans

sautee onion and garlic in olive oil and add a huge can of crushed tomatoes and basil, let simmer with salt & pepper

add veggies to sauce when they've softened up a bit

throw in some yummy artichoke hearts

throw it all together with lots of hot pepper flakes and parmesan and voila, dinner. Weird but good.

I miss Utah.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

It's the sauce, and the week, and the son

It's been quite a week at the Holts.
Noah graduated from ETHS on Sunday and turned 18 two days later. High School graduate!! 18!
Corey is finishing up her lit class at Northwestern and will have a transfer decision made by next week.
Dylan's last day of class as a freshman is today, tomorrow he starts finals.
The weather has been insanely gorgeous, my mom came to town, the work on our house is done and the above referenced occasions got us in gear to get the patio ready for prime time.
People? It's starting to feel a lot like summer.

We had a little 'do after graduation on Sunday and I ordered my favorite barbecue from Hecky's.

Hecky's! It's the Sauce!

If you live in Evanston, you know Hecky's and, I hope, its owner, Hecky Powell. Hecky's is an institution for its delicious barbecue and its famous sauce, but mostly because Hecky Powell is a community treasure. He has dedicated the better part of 30 years to not only feeding this town, but also to hiring and training at-risk youth, sponsoring sports teams, serving on the 65 board and creating a foundation to honor his father. He is a truly inspiring guy. Plus, the food is rockin good.

So, graduation.

I decided to make my own sides because I love my sides.

I made a pasta salad and red cabbage cole slaw the night before.

Both are better if they sit.

Greek Pasta Salad

(I cut the dressing in half and used Kalamata vs black olives. really good.)

Melissa D'Arabian's spicy red cabbage cole slaw

Then, graduation morning prep:

Got the table ready, cut the buns, organized and decorated the table, stirred the salads, etc.

Prep for Doug on graduation morning looked like this:

(hey, when you get a chance to ski on lake michigan you do it, right? even if it's your son's graduation day and you have people coming over and you are IN the ceremony, right? right?)

Thankfully I had these lovely women to help me. And Doug set up the bar before he left lol.

The ceremony was amazing: moving and momentous and emotional.

Doug got to hand Noah his diploma (far right). So cool.

The Graduate - he did it!

Then it was party time.

We served pulled chicken

pulled pork

and pulled beef.

Congratulations, Noah, and happy 18th.

UNCA - here he comes!!

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Tools

I'm not one of those cooks who believe that you have to have the finest equipment or a state of the art kitchen to make great meals. You don't. And while I'd love to cook exclusively on All Clad stainless steel, Calphalon's line is pretty good, too. The bigger deal to me for cooking is the tools, those random implements that have a very specific purpose and are essential to me when I cook. Here are some of my favorites:

Cuisinart Mini

I LOVE this thing. I use my full sized Cuisinart a lot, too, but it's big and cumbersome and a pain to clean. This guy is fantastic for smaller jobs, like chopping an onion or peanuts or garlic.

Herb Scissors

For Christmas, my sister-in-law Sue, my kitchen partner in Phelps, gave me this new favorite: herb scissors. The are amazing. Instead of chopping and then scraping up the bits of parsley or cilantro from a now-stained cutting board, you can cut them directly into a pan or bowl. And cut them precisely. Easy to clean, too - they come with their own little cleaning brush.

suggested recipe to use both: crock pot thai chicken

"Baggy Rack Storage Holder."

Sue also gave me this for Christmas. If you are someone who marinades meat a lot, it's phenomenal. Props up the ziploc so you can get the ingredients in without the bag falling over sideways & leaking all over your counter. Not that that's ever happened. .And it folds flat when you don't need it.

Hand Held Mandoline

This is a great tool for slicing everything - potatoes, carrots, etc. It has an adjustable width and a piece that protects your fingers when you get close to the blade. I use it all the time.

Immersion Blender

If you make soup, you must have one of these.

It's got one button, a sharp blade and will puree just about anything quickly and easily without having to transport liquid back and forth into a blender. There are a million varieties available with varying degrees of fanciness. I like the simplest one.

suggestion:

Kale Sausage Soup

Apple Wedger

Pampered Chef. It's a great tool. period.

Pampered Chef Tiny Spiral Whisk

I don't think Pampered Chef makes this in metal anymore, only in nylon. But you can find something similar on Amazon. I love it - great for sauces and emulsifying marinades or dressing. And it's cute.