My One Regret

I really do not regret mistakes, missed opportunities, misjudgments and so on.  I've always tried to learn something by my screw ups and move on.  Like Rafiki says to Simba after hitting him over the head with a stick, "Oh yes, the past can hurt.  But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it."

Yes. I try to learn,  but I will live out the rest of my life with one stinging regret.

Let me take you back to 1987. I was a buyer for a metal coating company in Elk Grove Village, a suburb of Chicago.  I was sitting alone at an O'Hare airport terminal, in one of two business suits I owned, sensible heels, hose, and big hair.  I was on my way to scenic Detroit, to visit a paint and chemical plant there.  I was uncharacteristically early for my flight. 

I was absorbed in reading a book when the lighting in the room dimmed.  I looked up, and saw ridiculously tall men filing into the room.

The entire Bulls basketball team took seats all around me.

I froze.

John Paxson, Dave Corzine and a little Caucasian man (some sort of an assistant?) sat to my left.  All the African American guys sat behind me. (But let's face it - back then, we were black and white.)  I found it interesting and a little sad that the two races didn't sit together.

But enough of that.  When I got up the nerve to turn around, Michael Jordan was sitting next to Horace Grant, facing me.  The rest of the team was there, but I couldn't see them for the enormous shoulders of the men facing away from me. I didn't see any coaches.

I almost got up the nerve to say to something to John Paxson, the player sitting closest to me.  I was going to say something like, "Good luck with the Pistons.  I'll be there, rooting for you."  And that was true.  The supplier I was going to visit had Piston season tickets and they were the Bulls arch rivals.  It was the perfect line!  I knew enough about basketball to speak intelligently to these guys!  Well, at least I could fake it for a few seconds. Good grief, I'm from Indiana!  Show me a Hoosier who doesn't know about basketball?!  It didn't hurt that my husband was and still is a huge Bulls fan, and I watched most of the games with him.

Just before I was going to say my one liner, I glanced back at Horace and Michael.  Horace was looking at me.  I don't mean he was just glancing around the room, passing the time and caught me peeking at him.  He was looking at me like he could see into my soul. 

I froze all over again. 

Then I started thinking how incredible it would be to get autographs from all of them!  I was trying to figure out a way to approach them with that, and at the same time, thinking too much time had slipped away.  It would be very awkward to go from not even acknowledging them to wanting their signature. 

And as I sat there, still stunned in silence, they got up and boarded the plane.

My chance of chatting with one of the best teams of all time, meeting a basketball icon,  getting incredible autographs and therefore making my husband one of the happiest people on earth - gone. 

Walking down the aisle to my narrow, uncomfortable seat on the plane, I passed them in first class.  I was tempted to say something then, but chickened out once again.

Opportunities like that are gone for good.  They won their first championship the next year and started traveling by a private plane.  I probably would have gotten autographs because (a) nobody was a mega star yet (Jordan made $845,000 that year, only $145,000 more than Dave Corzine), and (b) I was a semi-attractive twenty-something with pre-pregnancy hips, capable of batting an eye or two.  At least I like to think I had a chance.

That day has replayed over and over in my head over the years - with every championship, with every Nike commercial, with every special cheer my 2 year old son would do during the starting line up announcement before a game, and with every Bulls player gingerbread cookie I would make at Christmas time.  My Rodman cookies always had pink hair.

I should have never told John.  It breaks his heart every time he thinks of it.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have made a fool out of myself from the moment they sat down with something like, "Oh my gosh! You're the Bulls! I love you guys! You're the best!! Can I have your autograph?!?!?"

Lesson learned, a little too late.

 

Instant Gratification

I discovered something disturbing about myself yesterday afternoon.

I am an instant gratification kind of gal.

This is not a good thing.

I visited my crafting lair in the afternoon.  I have hundreds of dollars wrapped up in crafting and beading supplies.

Some people would say that beading is an instant gratification kind of hobby.  I disagree.  83% of the time invested in making jewelry is figuring out what you are going to make and how you are going to make it.  I try to find inspiration among my beads.  I look for the beads, wire and thread to somehow speak to me and tell me how to assemble them into a gorgeous adornment.  They practically ignore me.  I look on my Pinterest board and only get frustrated when I can't duplicate the beautiful jewelry found there.

http://pinterest.com/jmkrajewski/jewelry-hair-and-clothes-stuff/

Nothin.  No gratification whatsoever.

But I decided that's why I love cooking.

There is no better instant gratification activity (keep it clean here, people) than cooking.  Well, OK - eating the fine meal you prepared is pretty darn special.  Especially since moving to St. Louis, cooking the evening meal has become one of the highlights of my day.  It's not a bad thing when John comes home and suggests an "easy" meal - frozen, pre-made or takeout - but I feel like I've skipped an important part of my day when we do that.  

I love cooking so much that I made red pepper pesto sauce today and after the peppers were done roasting, I made - are you ready for this? - homemade dog treats.

I have become a person I used to make fun of.  

It was suggested that one of the dogs could use a little more fiber in her diet, and pumpkin is a good source.  Pumpkin, rolled oats and powdered milk, baked for 20 minutes.  I am now Super Dog Mom!  Making homemade cookies for my pookies!

My Super Dog Mom gratification was officially squelched when we were jolted awake in the middle of the night, not once but twice, by a pup puking in our bed. 

Back to beading.  No instant gratification, but far less clean up.

Rum Chata Balls

It's Christmas Day.

Our family celebrated last weekend, so we are the epitome of lazy today.  We've had breakfast, consumed our annual dose of A Christmas Story, had leftover pizza for lunch and are currently in the middle of a 4 hour documentary about Monty Python.

Not your typical Christmas.

But I decided to do one thing today that I'm calling "constructive."

Along with a good percentage of our friends, we've recently discovered Rum Chata.

Sweet, milky, slightly coconuty rum.  It's good over ice.  It's good hot.  According to Hannah, it's good in coffee.  There are numerous recipes out there for baked goods that list Rum Chata among the ingredients.  But I looked for, and couldn't find, the obvious RC recipe:  rum balls.

So let the Christmas Day experiment begin!

My recipe for Rum Chata Rum Balls

1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Rum Chata
2 1/2 crushed Nilla Wafers
2+ cups chopped pecans, divided

Put the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Stir and zap for 20 second intervals until melted and smooth.  Stir in Rum Chata, Nilla Wafers and 1 cup of the pecans.  Chill for at least one hour.

Roll the mixture into balls. I couldn't exactly roll the balls in chopped pecans - I had to "press" the chopped nuts into the balls.

I have to say, the end result was quite tasty.  The Rum Chata balls even got a stamp of approval from Hannah.

Too bad my last name is not Schweddy.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Twas the night before Thanksgiving....

Back in the day, Thanksgiving Eve was one of the biggest party nights of the year.  All of us twenty-somethings arrived back at our parent's house, just in time for the festivities the next day.  Leaving all the big meal preparation to more responsible family members, we met our old crew at a favorite bar.  It was an easy celebration - reconnecting with friends, having too much to drink and sleeping in the next morning only to wake up to an amazing meal.

29 years ago tonight was a very special Thanksgiving Eve. I wasn't at my parent's house, but John's.  We had been dating since August - long distance. He was working in the burbs and I was three quarters of the way through my last semester at Purdue.

When we left the house that evening, the console television was set to MTV and the song One Thing Leads to Another by The Fixx was playing.  I remember it because it was the first song video I had ever seen - back when MTV had the little guy planting the flag on the moon and they actually played music videos. 

We met up with friends at Butch McGuires. The evening progressed just as you would think it would. We consumed lots of beer and greasy food.

When we returned to the house, we greeted John's mom, who was watching TV, and went down to John's lair (the basement).   It was there, on the sleeper sofa, that he presented me with a solitaire diamond ring and asked me to marry him.

Obviously, I said yes.

We went back upstairs to give Dorathy the good news, and she was very happy about it.  She suggested that we celebrate the occasion by having a slice of pie. 

I should remember what kind of pie it was, because I saw it twice - one time going down and another coming back up.

Booze, bad bar food, the excitement of getting engaged and dessert were more than my stomach could handle in a 5 hour time frame. 

He married me, regardless of my sensitive stomach.  At the wedding, a lot of those same friends we met that Thanksgiving Eve were making bets that we wouldn't last.  We hadn't even known each other a year when we got married, so I guess that's fair.  But a lot of them are divorced and we're still plugging along. 

When it comes to choosing your significant other, if your gut tells you it's right - it's right. 

Even if it makes you puke. 

Doing it the French Way - The Follow Up

Last week, I posted the menu with recipe links for our Dinner Club feast featuring French cuisine.  It was probably the most fattening meal I've ever had.  I think 80% of it consisted of some combination of butter, cream and eggs.  But my taste buds loved it, despite the ongoing protest from my arteries and thighs.

So to review...

French Onion Marmalade - Confit D'Oignon
http://whatscookingamerica.net/LindaSandberg/Appetizers/FrenchOnionMarmalade.htm
This was really good on bread.  I love the sweetness that is released when onions are caramelized.  It was nice that the recipe recommended making it a few days ahead - that it mellows after sitting in the fridge for a while.  I think it would be really good served with pork.  Note to self:  buy chops for later this week.

Chicken Liver Pate with Pistachios
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-liver-pate-with-pistachios
I didn't even see it in the recipe comments, but it suggested stuffing the pate in Cognac poached prunes.  Dave and Barb are always up to the task and brought stuffed and unstuffed.  Dave said the prune step was a general pain in the behind.  From what remained on both plates, I'd say half of the guests would agree that stuffing was not worth it.  I was bi-pate.  I liked it both ways.  I don't eat pate often, but I'm keeping this recipe for when my other foodie friends come to town.  Perfect noshing material.

Cream of Artichoke Soup - Creme D'Artichauts
http://whatscookingamerica.net/LindaSandberg/Soups/CreamArtichokeSoup.htm
And speaking of pains in the rear, I don't know if Don will ever ask for a challenging recipe ever again.  This was a very time consuming dish and had enough steps to put it over the is-this-really-worth-it top.  But for those of us who didn't have the daunting task of its preparation, it was wonderful. Smooth and creamy with a nice, rich flavor...  mmmmm... Someone else can make this for me any day.

Zucchini-Tomato Verrines
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/zucchini-tomato-verrines
This can be classified as an appetizer or a salad, but I called it a salad. I really couldn't find a vegetable dish that rang my French bell, and with 2 kinds of cheeses, eggs and prosciutto, this  matched the fat and cholesterol content of the rest of the menu.  We wouldn't want sneak anything healthy in there now, would we?  And what's not to love about a tiny, multi-textured salad, layered in a glass?  I thought that would be cute.  It was cute - and very tasty.  If you ever have to make something for one of those bite-sized dishes parties (you know, where you serve food already on the spoons and such?) this would be perfect. 

Cheese Souffle
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/best-ever-cheese-souffle
I told John and Marla to bring all the ingredients for the souffle so we could assemble and bake it just before we sat down to dinner. Since none of us had ever attempted a souffle before, our actions hinged on every word of the recipe - which told us to melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a "paste."  When we added the cream to it and everything turned into a gooey, curdled mess, we knew we had done something wrong.  When attempt number two was successful, we decided recipe author's definition of "paste" was a little different than ours.  We looked for something short of wall Spackle, when they wanted Elmer's.  It took a little longer to bake because we doubled the recipe.  The outside edges were done to perfection, so we scooped out what we could and let the rest bake a little longer.  We weren't treated to the beauty of a perfectly crusted, un-fallen souffle at the table, but wow.  It was delish.  I'll be making this again.

Beef Bourguignon - Beef Burgundy
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Soup/BeefStew.htm
This was really yummy, but I screwed up and made it late Saturday afternoon.  Had I been thinking properly, I would have made this the day before.  Like the onion marmalade, it would have been even yummier after resting for a day.  Oh well.  It was still really good.  This will replace my old beef burgundy recipe, but I'm still going to leave out the pearl onions.  I couldn't find them in the produce department, and I refuse to dump a jar of them in with all of the fresh veggies and choice sirloin. 

VanillaCrème Brulee
http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/vanilla-creme-brulee-dessert-recipes
Going into it, I thought creme brulee would be hard to make.  It sounded simple enough, but I kept thinking there was something sinister lurking... sort of like the "paste" in the souffle.  But it was actually pretty easy.  My mistake, once again, is that I didn't make it ahead of time. They barely had time to chill before it was batter up time at the table.  But they were wonderful.  Without a torch, the broiler worked well - the glaze on top cracked perfectly.  If I make this again, I'll cut down on the sugar.  It was a tad too sweet for my taste.

The recipe that was omitted from the original post was the casserole that we made for the next morning. Eggs Benedict Casserole
http://www.food.com/recipe/eggs-benedict-casserole-121583
John added 2 extra eggs and we used one package of good ol' Knorr hollandaise sauce.  This is a keeper.

I would say the evening was a success. Great food, along with the resurrection of the old dart board, a beautiful night to sit out by the fire, and borrowing a pinball machine from a dealer friend of ours - an AC/DC pinball machine no less - helped tremendously.

Yes, nothing says oo-la-la like French cuisine and eardrum rattling bings, bells and Highway to Hell.

Bobby and Me

Have you ever forgotten about something for years decades, only to have something bring the memory crashing back in glorious Kodachrome color?  That happened to me this week when my niece texted me this:

Albums that you could cut out of the back of a cereal box.  Pure marketing genius.  Especially when your mother wouldn't let you cut up the box until you finished the cereal.  (How many bowls can you eat in one sitting?)  If you click on the link below, you will see some of the cereal box records that I played at full volume and danced to (i.e.made a fool of myself, watching my reflection in our large living room windows) prior to my double digit years.

http://wfmu.org/MACrec/cbmany.html

I'm positive I owned the Archies album.  I had a Jackson 5 album, but not the one pictured here.  I owned the Sugar Bears one too, but who were they trying to kid with that one?  They weren't a real group! Even though I was a huge fan of their music, the Bobby Sherman and Monkeys records eluded me.  They must have been on the back of boxes containing healthier cereal.  I could have cared less about the Sugar Bears, but I was all about the sickeningly sweet stuff inside the box.

And now 4 decades later, thanks to my niece's keen consignment store shopping skills and the instinct to know when to notify me of her discoveries, I will finally own a cereal box Bobby Sherman record. 

Now only if we still had a record player.

Doing it the French way

My niece reminds me that I have a blog and that I should post something every now and then.  Truth be told, without the daily drama of having the kids around, John and I can be pretty boring.  And since the pugs sleep 22 1/2 hours a day, they don't provide much to write about either.

This coming weekend will be exciting - at least for us.  It's Dinner Club weekend and we are hosting.  With everyone driving 3 hours to get to us, that means a sleepover.  With nobody having to drive home that night, things might usually will get out of hand.

We decided to go with French food this time around.  I'm not typically a fan, but for dinner club, why not try some new things?  As I was searching for recipes, I discovered that quite a few clubs like ours have blogs of their own where they post the recipes.

Because I can't seem to find the time to write one blog, two might be out of the question.  I'll have to put it to a vote this weekend.  In the mean time, this is our menu for this weekend.  Make your own meal and we can skype you in.  The more the merrier!


Hors d'oeuvers  -
Various cheeses
Bagguette
French Onion Marmalade - Confit D'Oignon
http://whatscookingamerica.net/LindaSandberg/Appetizers/FrenchOnionMarmalade.htm
Chicken Liver Pate with Pistashios
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-liver-pate-with-pistachios

Soup -
Cream of Artichoke Soup - Creme D'Artichauts
http://whatscookingamerica.net/LindaSandberg/Soups/CreamArtichokeSoup.htm

Salad -
Zucchini-Tomato Verrines

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/zucchini-tomato-verrines

Main Course -

Cheese Souffle

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/zucchini-tomato-verrines

Beef Bourguignon - Beef Burgundy
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Soup/BeefStew.htm

Dessert
VanillaCrème Brulee

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/vanilla-creme-brulee-dessert-recipes