It's Almost Spring!!

Yes, I know - it is early yet. But my favorite season of all time is just around the corner, and I can almost taste it. There may very well be more snow coming, but that's part of Spring - or at least it used to be here in southeastern Massachusetts. Still is, I'm pretty sure, in the more "normal" winter climes of northern New England and western Mass. Weather that makes the maple sap flow - cold at night, sweater-warm during the day. But I've started checking my flower gardens for the first arrivals from beneath the soil, and I was rewarded yesterday with the discovery of three little pairs of leaves:) Not sure just what they are (I never can remember precisely where I planted what, and I'm not that good at recognizing them when they're newborn), but it gave me that sweet and sudden delight at their appearance on the topside of the planet.

There have been so many years with precious little snow that after this fabulously snowy winter, it makes the thought of Spring that much sweeter. I do love four distinct seasons, though we've done so much damage to the ozone in my lifetime that we probably can no longer depend on the distinctions there once were among them. Or maybe my terrible memory has fooled me into thinking they were more easily discernible, one from another, when I was a kid [too many] decades ago!

But now it's time to start watching for robins and, soon, listening for peepers. I can hardly wait!

euggism

Just left a question for standstillandknow, and the word-to-prove-you're-not-a-robot to fill in was "euggism" - such a charming, curious little word! Kinda round and cuddly in form (ok, so this font does help on that score!). What interesting images come to mind - I propose it be added to Webster's, but first we have to come up with the definition(s).

(sidenote) I actually have a Webster's, circa Nov. 1, 1957 (on the first page, in my Dad's hand), 5 inches thick, another precious relic from my childhood home.

The first thing that came to my [warped] mind goes something like this (ok - the actual wording wasn't instantaneous, just the gist):

EU-ggism, n. 1. the characteristic reaction to something judged to be totally disgusting 2. one of a collection of facial expressions and/or vocalizations stemming from the observation of something repulsive

So, anyone?

ttfn -
Ru

The Wisdom of Eleven

Here is one of my reasons for living. Meet Hannah, my one and only grandchild, heart of my heart. She's 11 and she can really drive me crazy sometimes. Well, okay, pretty much on a daily basis! But she inspires me in so many ways.

Today she blew me away with the sweetest gesture. I had been in a hide-under-the-covers-and listen-to-the-cat-purr kind of funk for a good portion of the day. You know, thinking about the overdraft letter in today's mail, wondering how the mortgage was going to get paid when my already-spent paycheck might not be posted in time to cover what's written against it. Stupid stuff.

And here comes this bundle of energy and sparkle who hands me the Mother's Day card she gave me last year, trimmed and revamped for the occasion of cheering up her "Mimi." Inside, under the pre-printed mom's-day message of "Bee Happy!" she had written, "we'll make [it] through! Promise!!" with a curve under the dots of the exclamation point to make a smiley-face.

Then she showed me the poem she'd written on the back:
Please don't cry
We'll pull through
Me and you
You and I

Did I say she drives me crazy daily? She amazes me at least as much.

Grandma B's Hamburg Soup

Happy New Year! When I first sat down to write, it was yesterday and snowing to beat the band. Forecasters here in southeastern Mass. predicted 4-8 inches and I think we ended up with at least that. The more the merrier, if I may put in my request! I've always maintained it's the Vermonter in my blood, but I'll always have a child's delight when it comes to snow!

Arctic cold and snow are the perfect conditions for a crackling fire in the fireplace and a nice steaming pot of soup or stew bubbling merrily on the back burner (or over that crackling fire if you're set up for it!) One of my lifelong favorites, handed down from my paternal grandmother, is Hamburg Soup, and I've never come across a recipe anywhere else that even comes close. Before it's lost forever - it seems my family's younger generation never acquired a taste for it - I'd like to share it with the "wwworld" at large.

What makes this hearty soup unique is that the hamburg is not browned first, but rather crumbled into cold water before the heat is turned on under the pot. For one thing, it gives the meat a fine, softer texture. I'm not sure just how my grandmother cut up the veggies, but my mother used her Saladmaster with the finest grater attachment, so the meat and vegetables were all a similar texture. Delightful! Since I didn't inherit the Saladmaster, I have always just cut up the veggies by hand, not minced but smaller pieces than you'd use for stew.

A 3.5-qt Dutch oven is perhaps larger than you need, but it does give enough elbow room for stirring. Start with 8 cups of cold water, into which you crumble 1lb. of lean hamburg. (Set the burner on medium until the soup comes to a boil, then turn it down to low-to medium-low and simmer until veggies are the desired tenderness). Add the vegetables and herbs to the cold water right after the meat. The vegetables my family always used, therefore required for "authentic" Hamburg Soup (all diced or sliced): 1 medium onion, 4-6 carrots, 5 medium potatoes, 2-3 stalks celery. Herbs "required": 1 bay leaf, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Also 1 can whole tomatoes. My version includes basil and beef bouillon, sliced stewed tomatoes instead of whole, and I like to make sure that the potatoes don't out-number the carrots in density within the broth; ie. there have to be carrots as well as potatoes in every spoonful! (I suspect that's one reason my daughter isn't fond of it!!)

Like a number of dishes, including lasagna, Hamburg Soup is even better the next day, in part due to the fact that you can easily pick off the hardened fat that has risen to the top. This is, of course, less an issue if you use very lean hamburg, though I never have since I fear the flavor may become diminished. Next-day or whenever reheating also allows further marriage of the flavors, but freezing is not an option, as the potatoes deteriorate to a really unsavory consistency.

Bon apetit and Keep Cookin'!
RuCooks

Love to eat, love to cook

The title pretty much says it. I've never been a chef, a gourmet, or a gourmet cook, but love to eat and love to cook, and mostly simple (or simplish), home-style comfort food is my comfort zone. Not to say there's no interest in learning - what's life without it? Enjoy experimenting, trying new recipes, though that's somewhat limited by the palates I cook for! (OH!! to be able to use mushrooms to my heart's content - or even now and then! Alas...)

Busy time right now, eh? This is going to, hopefully, be my shortest blog. 'Til next time...

Keep Cookin'!
Ru Cooks