glaciers and falcons and picnics, oh my

Last week I wrote about the joy and fun of seeing one of my oldest and dearest friends, Laura Reiley. Part of the magic of that visit was experiencing the comfort of spending time with someone who knew me as a  teenager.  I don't get that often, living 850 miles from where I grew up and 750 miles from my college town.

Doug grew up about an hour from Evanston, in Wheaton.  Wheaton is lovely, but we knew we wanted to live closer to the lake and to the city. And most of Doug's high school friends who have stayed in the area have also moved to Chicago or its north shore.  So we get to see them, and we do, because they are FUN.

This weekend we got together and we had ourselves a time biking and picnicking in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Let's start with some geology today, shall we?  I love geology.  (Doug reminded me that when we got back from Glacier National Park a couple years ago I announced I was going to become a geologist.  Perhaps a touch unrealistic,  but I find this stuff fascinating.)  Anyway,  let's talk about glaciers.    Glaciers are hard to fathom.  They are gigantic ice fields that  sloooowwwwwly move, carving out giant potholes in their wake.

A glacier is made of thick layers of compressed ice formed from accumulating snowfalls that has the ability to move. It flows like a slow river of putty and changes the shape of the land in the process. Glacier size can vary from as small as a football field to hundreds of kilometers. As a glacier moves, it carves away land by erosion and also sculpts and deposits new landforms such as moraines, kettles, drumlins, and eskers. The glacial melt water is a key factor in the creation of depositional features, and can also create rivers and lakes.

So while the whole of the midwest was once covered in glaciers, their remnants produced distinctly different flavors in Illinois vs in Wisconsin.   Here in Chicago it is super flat but we have Lake Michigan - a tremendous, gorgeous natural resource whose size is hard to articulate to someone who's never seen a great lake.  (Where I come from, lakes are small and picturesque.  Great lakes are fresh water oceans.)  In Wisconsin, especially around Madison, the topography is totally different.  It is hilly and lush and filled with craggy rock formations and rolling farmlands.  It's beautiful.  And about 45 minutes west of Madison sits Spring Green.

Spring Green, Wisconsin, home of Taliesen,  the former house and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and the heart of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, where artists still live in residence.  It is a cool place and its influence is keenly felt in the town that surrounds it.  Right on the banks of the Wisconsin river, Spring Green is a sophisticated slice of bucolic heaven right in the middle of midwestern farm country.

Our friends Dan and Jean Thompson have a place in Spring Green, right on the Wisconsin River.  In fact, this spot has been in Jean's family since the 1850's, when her grandmother, Genevieve Schuberth, purchased a parcel along the river from her aunt, Leone Peterson.

from Jean:
My grandmother's family immigrated from Germany and settled there early.  My grandmother summered up there from Chicago all her life, working the farms for her Aunts and Uncles.  When she brought my Grandfather up he fell in love with the river and would go fishing every chance he could.  There was an abandoned prohibition hut by the river that my grandfather begged to make over for my grandmother and kids.  We have been going there ever since.   My grandparents had 4 daughters and these 4 families share it today.  We call it Schwilharlindoh, it is the first 3 letters of my Grandma’s name and all 4 girls' married names.

Great story, right?  So we, as lucky friends, we have been able to visit and enjoy Spring Green many times over the years.  Two years ago, Dan and Jean had the brilliant idea to plan a couples' bike trip up there, and we got to experience 2.0 this past weekend.   The weather was phenomenal - it was 82 on Saturday - and the leaves had just started to turn, and this summer was super rainy so the farmlands are still lush and green.  In a word?  Perfect.

Doug and I headed up early Saturday and joined the other three couples in attendance:  Dave and Celeste Lee, Dan and Jean Thompson, and Barb Stewart and Peter Bowie.   These guys go wayyyy back:  Doug, Dave, Jean and Barb all went to high school together!  Wheaton North Class of 1981 - GO FALCONS!  Here they are in 1980/81.  (pictures c/o Nancy Cederquist, one of the key '81 falcons who could not make it this weekend.)

Barb Stewart

Jean Doherty Thompson

young Doug Holt

Dave Lee

Here they are now, with a few non-falcon interlopers.

me, Doug, Dan, Jean, Dave, Celeste, Barb & Peter

It was an idyllic day.  We drove the DDK truck to the end site, about 12 miles from the cottage, then a few of us rode back and others drove back to the starting line.

 From there, all 8 of us biked over hill and dale, up and down some badass hills, past Taliesen, picturesque churches and farmland, to our destination, a chapel from the 1850's that's listed on the national historic registry.

Hyde mill and Chapel.  Our picnic spot.

We opened up the van and pulled out a picnic table, tablecloth, two vases for wildflowers, six bottles of wine for the tasting that ensued, and loads and loads of delicious snacks.   Jean had packed texas caviar & chips, cheese and crackers and sausage and fruit, a fruit tart and nuts.  It. Was. Spectacular. We ate.  We drank.  We laughed and laughed and laughed, the way you only do with your sisters or very old friends.

Afterwards, a couple of us were crazy enough to take that hill one more time, 

That night, back at the cottage, we had a feast with the windows open, watching the river go by then ended the night sitting by the fire pit for hours.

As Jean said when we were heading home on Sunday, "this will tide us over for a while."  Amen, sister. Thank God for Genevieve Schuberth and the '81 Falcons!

"Texas Caviar" dip
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained
1 large avocado, peeled and chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

dress with: 4 Tbsp fresh limes nice
2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
salt & pepper

let sit for a while and serve with tortilla chips

Dinner:  Marinated skirt steak, salad, roasted potatoes & bread

Steak Marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground pepper

grill a couple minutes per side, rest, slice and serve

Oven Roasted Rosemary Potatoes:
3lb red potatoes, quartered.  Toss with several tablespoons olive oil, 3-4TBSP fresh rosemary, chopped, 1-2 tsp kosher salt, lots of fresh pepper.  Spread onto cookie sheets, cook at 400 for about 30 minutes, turning often, until outside is brown and a little crunchy & potatoes are tender,

life of reiley

Let's go down memory lane.   The year is 1985. Here are some of the news & pop culture highlights:

Reagan/Bush sworn in for second term
Gorbachev took the reins in Russia
The Titanic was found
Back to the Future was the top movie
The Cosby Show and Family Ties ruled the tv ratings
Windows 1.0 is released by Microsoft
Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple
Madonna, Duran Duran and the Cure topped the pop charts.

And yours truly,  from Norwalk, Connecticut, graduated from NHS and headed to UVA in Charlottesville, VA.  Founded and designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, UVA is a spectacularly beautiful college campus that is firmly rooted in the south.

That summer, the local UVA alumni chapter had a little meet and greet. It was all very exciting - all us KIDS from Fairfield (CT) and Westchester (NY) County were heading off to Charlottesville to get it all started.  It was there I met the lovely Laura Reiley.  Tiny, whip smart, hyper articulate, hilarious.

We hit it off that day and found, to our delight, that we were assigned the same floor in the same dorm, Dunnington.  Laura and I were kindred spirits, NY-area girls in a decidedly southern climate (I remember being in line at a student cafeteria and finding it hilarious that 'barbecue' was on the menu.  I was like, barbecued WHAT? Where's the NOUN?) We got to campus and had us a time;  we trolled the campus and the town looking for fun and we found it.   And we kept finding it for the next four years.  We studied together, we ate together, we made music together, saw music together, we shared a lot together.  

Laura, with Annette Kaufman and Rebecca Fenneman, really anchored my time at UVA.  

Now, Laura lives in Tampa, Annette is back in Charlottesville and Rebecca in the DC area, so we don't get to see each other much. But this weekend? Laura was right here in Evanston, Illinois.

Laura's husband, Jon Rottenberg, who she started dating in high school and who I first met when he was a wee lad of 17, is a Professor of Psychology at USF.  Jon has done some amazing work on the study of depression - he just wrote an incredible book called The Depths - buy it -  and he was in town for a conference at Northwestern.  They, too, just sent their daughter off to college but, unlike our nest, theirs is now empty.  So Laura came too!  Yeah!

I had lunch with Laura Friday and she came to my boot camp class on Saturday but the real fun transpired on Saturday night when we had these two over for dinner.

Sooooo, did I mention that Laura is the food critic for the Tampa Bay Times?  She is!   After earning a degree in English at UVA, Laura went to culinary school to immerse herself in the world of food, launching her career as a food and travel writer. And she's killing it.  No  surprise - she is a fantastic writer with a razor sharp wit.  She's written about food in San Francisco & Baltimore, she's written several travel books and is now making Tampa/St. Pete chefs sweat.   So, naturally, I invited her over for dinner.  One might be intimidated to have a food critic over for dinner, mightn't one? One who graduated from the California Culinary Academy and who analyzes/criticizes food that others prepared for a living?   But here's the thing:  I knew Laura when, to use her phrase, she couldn't boil water. Her skills in that apartment on 15th street fell decidedly in the cleaning vs cooking column.  So yes, she's a kick ass writer and a kick ass chef and just generally a kick ass girl, but I've been cooking for her since we were 19 so, really, it aint no thang.  

And boy oh boy did we have a time.  We reminisced.  We talked about kids and college and politics and food and journalism...  And we got silly.

Late in the night,we formed a pyramid for some inexplicable reason.  
These pictures are so hilarious and ridiculous I feel compelled to include them all.  Because that's just how it gets with old friends - you regress, you re-bond, and you just laugh your ass off.

And, lastly, we had ourselves a feast:

On the menu:

Appetizers: (thank you, Margaret Pezza!) 

Roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic reduction for dipping

Pan fried spicy sausage served with spicy mustard

Trim the brussel sprouts and toss with salt, pepper & olive oil. Roast for 30 min at 400, serve as is or with a balsamic vinaigrette reduction on side.

Slice and pan fry sausage slices (I used spicy organic beer brats), drain on paper towel then serve with spicy mustard on the side.

 Entree:

Barbecued Pork Tenderloin with a coffee rub
Quinoa

Roasted vegetables, potatoes & fennel

Arugula salad with a lemon vinaigrette

Marinate  two 1-lb pork tenderloins (4 hrs to overnight)  in a ziploc, turning occasionally, with

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 Tbsp dark molasses.  

Prepare a rub of 

1/4 cup finely ground coffee

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

Remove pork from marinade, discard marinade and rub over pork.  Let stand for 15 min at rm temp

 Put on hot grill for first 3 minutes, turning pork on all sides.
Reduce heat to medium and cook until temp reads 160, about 15 minutes.  

Baste with a mixture of 1/2 cup barbecue sauce and 2 Tbsp cider vinegar while grilling.

Add a little extra bbq sauce at end then let rest five minutes before slicing.

Barefoot Contessa's Oven Roasted Vegetables:

Voila!

I adore these people.


Old friends, great food, great time.  Nothing is better.

It's a grind

Food is strangely regional.

When I moved to the midwest, for example, I was very confused by the term "mostaccioli".  On the east coast that pasta is called ziti.  People here pronounce gyro what I assume is the correct way - yeeero.  Out east?  jy-ro.  I got made fun of here (by my husband) when I called it that.




Pizza here is totally different.  In addition to the whole Chicago deep dish option, which is awesome, even thin crust pizzas are different; they're typically cut into squares vs slices.

And slices just aren't a thing in Chicago.   I've never heard anyone ask if I wanted to 'get a slice' nor have I seen many of those countertop heaters in pizza joints from which you could procure a slice.  They are ubiquitous in the northeast.


Chicago hot dogs rule.  Hot dogs on the streets of NYC and in Shea stadium are epic, no doubt.  But Chicago has truly perfected the art of the dog, the kraut, the hot peppers, the spicy mustard, the heat, the whole shebang.

I'd never had a brat before moving to Texas.  (At Wurstfest in New Braunfels, Texas, you actually get a beer cup with a hollow handle where you can insert your brat-on-a-stick and alternate between delicious bites and sips. Kinda gross but kinda awesome.)  And in Wisconsin brats are de rigueur. No coincidence that both states had a huge German immigrant influx.  Wisconsin wins for inventing the beer brat - the concept of poaching the brat in beer before grilling.

Italian beef is a delicious Chicago tradition - slow cooked roast beef cooked in broth and spices and sliced super thin, served on a roll with giardiniera. Never had it before I moved here.  Pepperoni  is common on a cheese tray out east, here it's hard to get a stick unless you ask for it special.

But one thing I never see out here, but which I grew up savoring, is a grinder.  Long loaf of crusty bread prepped with some class of dressing and stuffed with a combo of meat and cheese and veggies and toasted.  Outside of the northeast, and specifically the tri-state area (CT/NY/NJ), people tend to  call them subs.  Or hoagies.  Or heroes.  Or po' boys.  But in my mind?  And my heart?  And my stomach?   It's a grinder, baby.

What is a grinder and how is it unique, you ask?    Bon Appetit magazine did a piece a few years ago entitled, "The origin of hoagies, grinders, subs, heroes and spuckies"  and here's what they had to say:

Grinder: You’re most likely to find one of these in New England, though the more common “sub” has taken over most of the terrain. “Grinder” shares some flimsy nautical roots with the sub – some claim that it was named for “grinders,” Italian-American slang for dockworkers (who were often sanding and grinding rusty hulls to repaint them)–but the more widely attested origin is about the sandwich itself. Subs, with their Italian bread and piles of fixings, were harder to chew through than your typical ham and cheese on white bread. That toothsomeness got translated into “grinder,” since that’s what your teeth had to do to get through a bite.

Grinders to me are tied up in memories of the beach, tailgating, high school and my beloved Connecticut.  My sister Ellie loves herself a grinder and mentions them frequently via email and her blog. Last week's post even included  a picture.    That right there?  That's a grinder.

 

She even wrote a whole post about grinders once, seeing as she lives in New London, which claims to be the home of the grinder, and they have a whole festival devoted to the grinder. Grinderfest!

So what's a Connecticut yankee in the midwest to do?

Make it.  Or buy it.  

And this is where La Rosa comes in.  Our favorite neighborhood pizza place.  In business since 1957. The place where they answer the phone "La Rosa" and I say, 'hey Dom, it's Jane".  Now La Rosa doesn't call their sandwiches grinders, but they should, because they are about as close as I have gotten to a grinder in these midwestern states.

Here's La Rosa

Here's Dom and the oven from the 50's (we love their pizza, too!)

And here is dinner. Grinders.

Eggplant parmesan with hot pepper, meatball, chicken parm &  italian beef....

It's a popular dinner at the Holt house.  

On the menu for the rest of the week - recipes and pictures to follow next week

Chili

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Grinders

Fish Tacos

Beef stir fry

soul season

Summer is over.  After a couple super hot days last week, we had a vicious storm and then boom, fall kicked summer to the curb. 

the filthy and happy Dylan Holt

Suddenly we're turning on the lights at dinnertime and it's dark when I get up at that ungodly hour to hit the 5:45am WOD.  School's back in session.   The nighttime discussion has moved from, "what movie should we watch tonight?" to "what's your homework?"  Helmets, pads & cleats have supplanted bathing suits and towels.


And I love it.

The lovely Becca Vasko.

In Phelps this summer my niece Becca and I were quizzing each other about our 'soul spice' - if you were an herb or spice, what would you be?  I decided I'm cilantro.   I was going to go with basil but determined I wasn't worthy.  Becca said, "that's like Ina's (aka barefoot contessa's) soul spice."  Agreed.  Cilantro it is.  Becca is dill. Sue is rosemary.  


 
But my soul season?  Most definitely fall.  I love summer, but I always feel energized when it's time to get back to it all.  I love the sense of order that returns in the fall.  I love the smell of fall.  I love the crisp nights and the extra blanket at bedtime and the first fire in the fireplace.  I love marching band.  I love football.

And I love the food.  As soon as the temperature dropped this weekend to a gorgeous high of about 70, my week's menu changed in turn.   Soups!  Crock pot!  Red wine!  Spaghetti sauce!  BRING IT.

Here's to fall!  And cilantro.  What's your soul spice.  And season?

This week's menu:

Sunday:  pulled pork, corn on the cob, spicy red cabbage cole slaw

Monday:  chicken fajitas

Combine:
2/3 cup fresh lime juice,
1/2 cup red vinegar &
1 cup olive oil.
Add salt & pepper and a little oregano.
Pour over 6 chicken breasts and let marinade overnight in fridge or a couple hours at room temp.
Slice up some onions and red and green peppers (slice long)
Cook the whole shebang up in a 350 oven for about 30 minutes then slice the chicken, return to pan & serve with warmed tortillas, beans & rice.


Tuesday:  orzo with shrimp

Wednesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad & bread

This recipe makes a ton  -  I usually freeze half.

Spaghetti sauce

Chop up a couple large onions and 4 or 5 cloves of garlic

In a large sauce pan combine 1-1/2 lb ground beef 

 1-1/2 lb hot italian sausage, casings removed

Break up the meat with back of wooden spoon

 Add the onions & garlic 

 Cook the whole mess up for a good 15-20 min at med-high heat, until the sausage is cooked through

Hubble likes to plant himself RIGHT UNDER my feet while I'm cooking any class of meat

Drain the fat

Add 2 lg cans of tomatoes (puree or crushed? depends on my mood. 1 of each is good)

1 lg can tomato paste

Refill the paste can with water and swish it through all the cans to get all the tomato yumminess

Add 2 tsp dried basil & 2 tsp oregano

2 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp kosher salt & lots of fresh pepper

and a splash of red wine if you've got some opened (it's fall so you should)

Mix it all up

Let it simmer for hours and hours.  

Taste to see if it needs more salt & pepper.  Add a little crushed red pepper for fun.

Thursday:  favorite family chili

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 8 ounce jar salsa

1 can kidney beans

chili mix - assemble the following and use half. Save the rest for next time in an airtight container.

2 TBSP chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried minced onion

crushed red pepper - to taste

brown the beef, drain the fat, add the rest, cook for ages on low heat.