1960's Ginger Snaps

        

        There are lots of Ginger Snaps that claim to be the best, but these really are.  Just ask my kids, or my friends, or my kids’ friends.  Everyone who has ever tried these cookies agrees that they are the very snappiest ginger snaps ever.  Mom makes them, I make them, and now my daughters make them, as do my sister and sisters-in-law.  We have come to think of them as the MacAvoy family ginger snaps, but I must admit the recipe did not originate with our family.  It was actually introduced to us by my friend, Anne Woodbury.

        Anne and I met in Corning, NY when I was three years old and she was three and a half.  My family lived on 4th Street; the Woodburys lived just around the corner on Pearl.  Like other girls across America, we spent the late 50’s and early 60’s roller skating, jumping rope, playing hide and go seek, etc.  Later as teenagers we amused ourselves with learning the domestic arts.  All the girls studied Home Economics in school- cooking in 7th grade, sewing in 8th.  I guess these subjects are no longer required, or if they are there are probably boys in the classes.  In the 1960’s girls enjoyed cooking and sewing together, while boys prepared for their careers as firemen and outlaws.  It was a happy time.  My sister, Ellen, and I spent many afternoons and evenings perfecting our culinary skills, not that we knew what the word “culinary” meant.  Anne and her sister were probably doing the same thing in their kitchen.  Our mothers baked too, of course, so there was never any shortage of home made cookies, pies or breads at the MacAvoy or Woodbury houses.  

        By the time we got to high school we were pursuing other activities, but we had not lost our interest in baking.  Anne and I used to spend study hall time looking through cookbooks in the school library, copying down recipes we found particularly intriguing.  One of Anne’s finds was a recipe for ginger snaps, which she later passed along to our family.  I assume these cookies were popular with the Woodburys, but they have become embedded in MacAvoy family tradition.  Anyone would think we had brought them over with us from Ireland.

        After we graduated from high school, she in 1971 and I in ’72, Anne and I both moved away from Corning and lost touch with each other except for the occasional FaceBook sightings.  Then last summer when my daughter Mavia moved to Portland, Oregon, I discovered that Anne lived there also.  We met for the first time in almost 30 years.  Although there was a lot to catch up on, I remembered to ask her about the beloved cookie recipe.  Yes she knew the recipe; she still had a copy of it, but she didn’t think she knew where it was from.  All she could recollect was that it was from some “hippie, earth-mother cook book”.  

Notes on Ingredients

        Our 1960’s Ginger Snaps are simple to make, and they will vary somewhat depending upon the ingredients used.  Mavia baked some last week while she and her husband were visiting his family for Christmas.  Mavia generally uses corn oil, ground ginger, and regular dark molasses for this recipe, but she improvised with the canola oil, fresh ginger, and blackstrap molasses in her mother-in-law’s kitchen.  She told me the cookies were a great success, perhaps a little darker than usual but very flavorful.  They are pictured at right.  

        This afternoon I made ginger snaps, and discovered that after my holiday baking the only cooking oil I had enough of was light olive oil.  It was satisfactory, though I would not recommend it.  Mom favors canola oil; her cookies always turn out well.  I prefer either corn or safflower oil.  As for molasses, I love Brer Rabbit, any variety, while some cooks use only Grandma’s.  And apparently Plantation Blackstrap also works.  Use whatever you have!  

The recipe calls for the cookies to be rolled in coarse sugar before baking them, and that is what we have always done.  Recently, however, I began leaving out this step, which I feel is unnecessary since there is already so much sugar.  When I announced this at the dinner table during a family get together last summer, everyone was so shocked I had to assure them I was “just kidding”.

Notes on Equipment

This recipe works best with a heavy duty stand mixer.  In the old days we all used Sunbeam “Mix Masters”, which we loved; mine was avocado green, like the one shown here.  They were wonderful except that you had to stir in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.  My sister-in-law, Lane, told me that she had burned out the motor of her old Mix Master on the family ginger snap recipe.  Now we all have Kitchen Aid “Artisans”.    

A vintage Pyrex Cinderella bowl is still the best thing for combining and pouring the dry ingredients.  

1960’s Ginger Snaps  

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat together:

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups cooking oil

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

In a large bowl, stir together:

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

Add dry ingredients to molasses etc. and mix well.  Chill the mixture for a couple of hours if you have time.

Shape dough into balls.  Roll the balls in coarse sugar, such as Demerara. (if you like!)

Place balls on un-greased cookie sheet. (lined with parchment paper if you have it)

Bake 15 minutes.  

Cool on wire racks.

Goodbye Crisco

       

        Do you remember baking in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s?  If you do, then you probably remember that we had a choice of shortenings- Crisco and Fluffo, both made by Procter & Gamble.  Crisco was the boring white shortening in the blue can; it is still available today.  Fluffo was the golden yellow shortening in the yellow can.  It is no longer available in the U.S., but back in the day Fluffo was the only shortening for those of us who really cared about our baking.  Just listen to Mike Wallace in this T.V. ad from 1955.  

Mom always bought Fluffo, and it was the one I used also.  Fluffo was great for Snickerdoodles, roll & cut cookies, and especially for pie crusts.  

        In the 1970’s I got married, moved to Ohio and had three children.  Ohio was a very nice place to raise a family, but there was one important thing missing in my life- Fluffo Shortening.  Fluffo was still sold in New York state, so when I went home for a visit Mom would buy an extra can for me to take back to the midwest.  All too soon that can would be gone, and I would be left with the depressing white Crisco.  My pie crusts were flaky, but I longed for the yellow shortening of my childhood.    

        Then in the 1980’s, Butter Flavor Crisco was introduced, and it was available everywhere- even in Ohio!  This wonderful new shortening was a pleasing, golden yellow color, and came in a yellow can with red letters- just like Fluffo.  Best of all, they had added artificial flavors to make it taste and smell like butter.  We all loved it!  Every once in a while I would experiment with more natural fats for pie baking.  Butter crust were very tasty but lacking in flakiness, and I never could get used to the taste, or the idea, of lard.  After these experiments I always came back to Butter Flavor Crisco. 

        Everything was fine until about ten years ago, when we all started to worry about trans-fats.  I had always known that canned shortening wasn’t exactly a health food, but I told myself that the nutritious, natural foods I served most of the time would compensate for the scary list of ingredients on the Crisco label.  By 2007, though, public pressure had become too much for the J.M. Smucker Co., who now owned the Crisco brand.  In 2007 the product was re-formulated to drastically reduce the trans-fat content.  Although no one complained, I knew that my pie crusts were not as flaky as they once had been.

        Finally, at the suggestion of my daughter Melissa I decided to try Spectrum organic shortening, which has no trans-fats at all and a much shorter list of ingredients.  In fact there is only one ingredient- pressed organic palm oil.  Unlike Crisco, Spectrum shortening is “non-hydrogenated”, obviously a good thing or they wouldn’t advertise it on the label.  The company also brags about the “family farmers in Colombia who cultivate and press our palm oil in an environmentally sustainable manner.”  

        Okay that’s all good, but how would my pie crust turn out?  The white shortening in a blue container put me in mind of my early days in Ohio, but I am older and theoretically wiser now, more concerned with health than with appearance.  Spectrum was easy to mix into dough for a crust, and rolled out nicely.  I found the dough to be a little softer and more fragile than one made with Crisco, so I did not try to fold the crust.  Instead I got both hands under the rolled out dough and carefully dragged and lifted it onto the pie plate.  Then I baked it as usual.

        Good news- the pie turned out great!  I was a little unhappy with the paleness of the crust, but when I mentioned this to my daughter she had a suggestion.  Melissa solves the white shortening problem by brushing the pie crust with an egg wash before baking, so I tried it with my next pie.  Not only was the pie gorgeous, but my husband (unprompted) pronounced it the best pie I had ever made. 

I'm not sure that pie crusts made with Spectrum are as flaky as those made with Fluffo or the old Butter Flavor Crisco, but they are absolutely delicious and they are healthier.  Other bakers must have complained about pale crusts made with Spectrum, so there is now a golden colored Spectrum Butter Flavor Shortening. 

I just tried it, and although the result was very good I think I may prefer pie crust made of the original Spectrum with egg wash, which is pictured above.  

        Now that I have converted to Spectrum, my only problem is that Giant Eagle has apparently just decided to stop carrying it, and we don’t live close to a Whole Foods.  Luckily I can order Spectrum shortening from Amazon.      

Shoofly Pie & Apple Pan Dowdy

        

        

        The movie “Dead Reckoning”, starring Humphrey Bogart, was on television recently.  Bogart was in some great movies- The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, African Queen- but this 1947 film noir is not one of them.  A ludicrous plot is encumbered by a dialogue so silly and contrived even Bogart can’t make it work.  In one scene his character calls the hotel desk to inquire (in a fake southern accent no less),  “Listen, honey, haven’t you got any radio news programs in this city?  All I get is commercials and a lot of that Apple Pan Dowdy.  Not until 12:00?  Well, thank you kindly, ma’am.”

        My husband is an avid fan of old movies, but it took him a couple of days to get through this potboiler.  I gave up after half an hour and have no idea how the movie turned out.  The above dialogue, however, left me with a tune going through my head.  One has to assume that in his complaint to the hotel, Bogart is referring to a hit song from 1946, “Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy”.  Popular versions were recorded by Dinah Shore, Stan Kenton with June Christy, Ella Fitzgerald, and Guy Lombardo.  Of course, even the most fabulous song becomes tiresome when it is on the radio constantly.   

        Strangely enough, my husband had never heard the song, and was equally unfamiliar with the desserts.  While growing up in Brooklyn surrounded by his Polish and Italian relatives, he was apparently never exposed to these homey American classics.  Shoofly Pie is a Pennsylvania Dutch treat, which is very similar to southern Chess Pie and British Treacle Tart.  All these desserts can be thrown together with basic ingredients from your pantry.  Apple Pan Dowdy is a rustic variation of apple pie, which probably originated in the early 1800’s in New England. 

        I decided that the next day I would make a Shoofly Pie, and when that was gone I would follow up with Apple Pan Dowdy.  Although I had not made a Shoo-Fly Pie for many years, I was pretty sure of where I could find the recipe.  As I suspected, even my favorite old baking books had no such dessert listed.  In a situation like this I knew there would be only one source- my falling apart copy of The New York Times Heritage Cook Book by Jean Hewitt, from 1972.  And for the Apple Pan Dowdy I turned to a newer addition to my library (2003), The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.  Needless to say, I couldn’t help humming the song as I made the Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy.   

Shoofly Pie  (from the New York Times Heritage Cook Book)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 tsp. salt 

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2/3 cup water (I used a little less)

2/3 cup dark, full flavor molasses 

1 unbaked pie shell

Directions:

Begin with your favorite one crust pie recipe.  Here is mine-

1 1/2 cup King Arthur flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup Butter Flavored Crisco shortening    

3 - 4 Tbs. cold water

Preheat oven to 350.

Follow the directions for pie crust in my August 20, 2013 blog post, with one exception-  For a one crust pie I flute the crust.  Place the crust lined pie plate in the refrigerator while you make the filling.  This will not take very long.

Note- I use the medium/small Pyrex Cinderella Bowl for a one crust recipe.  

In a medium/large bowl, combine flour, sugar and butter.  Rub the mixture with your hands to form crumbs.  Set this aside.

I a smallish bowl combine water and baking soda.  

Stir in molasses.

Pour the molasses mixture into the pie shell.  Sprinkle with crumb mixture.  

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the filling is set.  

This pie should be allowed to sit for awhile before cutting into it. (hence the name Shoofly)

Both these recipes call for molasses.  My favorite is Brer Rabbit, which is available in Mild Flavor, Full Flavor and Blackstrap.

Apple Pan Dowdy 

 adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

Ingredients

About 8 pie apples

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup molasses (I use Mild Flavor)

2 Tbs. cold butter

A little milk and sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Get out an 8 inch cake pan, or a 9 inch pie plate.

Cut up apples into the cake or pie pan.  When you have enough, pour them into a large bowl.  

Combine sugar, salt and spices.  Mix this into the apples.

Make the pie crust.  For this recipe, refer to my blog post from August 20th, 2013.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces, with one slightly larger.  Roll out the larger piece and place it in the cake pan.  

Pour the apple mixture into the crust.

Measure 1/4 cup water in a glass measuring cup.  Pour in enough molasses to bring the level to 3/4 cup.  Pour this over the apple filling.  

Dot with cut up butter.

Roll out the rest of the dough and carefully place it over the filling.  Don't worry if it falls apart; just patch it up the best you can.  Press the edges together.

Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar, if you like.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until top is nicely browned.

Cool for about 15 minutes.  Then use a sharp knife and a fork to slash through both crusts and mess it up a little.  There should still be large sections of crust intact, submerged in the juicy apple molasses filling. 

Serve with Reddi-Wip. (This is a staple at our house)

King Arthur's Hungarian Goulash

        

         A few years ago when I married my second husband, my good friend Jean sent me a gift subscription to “The Baking Sheet” from the King Arthur Flour company.  Jean and I both love to bake, and she knew that I would enjoy this publication as much as she does.  The first issue was full of great recipes for breads, muffins, cookies and cakes, many of which I have made.  But my favorite recipe was for "Hungarian Gulas" (Goulash), presented as a companion for their "Czech Dumplings".  Soon after magazine arrived, I made the dumplings and the goulash.  

        The Czech dumplings are, quite honestly, not worth the trouble.  First you prepare a yeast dough, which you form into logs, allow to rise for an hour and a half, then carefully immerse in boiling water for 15 minutes.  After you remove the dumplings from the water, you must pierce them several times, and let them rest for another 15 minutes before cutting them into slices.  The resulting dumplings are decidedly less awesome than those you could throw together with Bisquick.    

        The Hungarian Goulash, on the other hand, is excellent.  I make it whenever I think my husband needs a break from salmon, fresh beets and arugula.  Tonight for an extra special treat, I will forgo my usual healthy whole grain bread and serve the goulash over Mrs. Miller’s “homemade” wide egg noodles.  If that isn’t comfort food I don’t know what is.  Plus the noodles are organic.  

Here is the recipe.

                                            Hungarian Goulash

Ingredients:

5 Tbs. vegetable oil

3 or 4 large onions  

2 - 3 pounds chuck or shin beef, cut into 1 inch cubes

11 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup sweet Hungarian paprika

2 Tbs. tomato paste (optional)

24 oz. beef stock

1 tsp. marjoram

1 tsp. caraway seeds

salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbs. flour

1/4 cup cold water

Notes about the ingredients:

Vegetable Oil-  I don’t measure it, but you can if you want to.

Beef-  I rarely use chuck because it is too fatty.  And I have never seen shin beef for sale at our grocery store.  My favorite cut for a stew-type recipe is eye of round roast.  This cut is nice and lean; any fat is around the outside so it is easy to remove.  Eye round is always available, and this week it was on sale two for one at Giant Eagle.  

Garlic-  I always use the jars of minced garlic.  Who doesn’t?  Just estimate 11 cloves.

Tomato paste-  This is not really optional.

Beef Stock-  I buy the 26 oz container of Swanson’s unsalted beef stock.  You don’t have to worry about the extra 2 oz. if you are generous with the tomato paste.

Hungarian Paprika- I’m not sure what would happen if you used regular paprika, but I don’t want to find out.

Marjoram-  If you don’t have this herb, you can substitute basil, thyme, savory or even Greek oregano.      

Caraway Seeds-  There is no substitute.  You need caraway seeds.

Salt-  With all the herbs and spices, you will not need much salt.

Flour-  I use King Arthur, but I daresay any brand will work just as well for this recipe.

Directions:

1. Heat 3 Tbs. oil in a large frying pan.  Cut up the onions and begin browning them.

(Actually the recipe says to “caramelize” the onions.  It’s the same thing.)

2. While the onions are cooking, cut up the beef.  Heat 2 Tbs. oil in a large pot or Dutch oven and brown the meat.

3. By this time the onions should be sufficiently caramelized.  Add them to the beef, along with the garlic.  Stir together and cook for a minute.

4. Stir in the paprika and tomato paste and cook for another minute.

5. Add the beef broth, marjoram, caraway seed, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil; then cover and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours until the meat is tender.

6. Mix the 2 Tbs. flour into the water and add this mixture to the goulash.  Cook for a few minutes. 

7. Serve over noodles, dumplings, or whatever you like.    

Taking Up Quilting- How To & Why

     

        Quilting is many things.  It is means of expressing your creativity while decorating your home, an opportunity to socialize and make new friends, and a good way to spend a rainy day at home.  Quilting is a relaxing, enjoyable hobby, by which you can challenge yourself to hone your skills and broaden your knowledge.  And you can feel more connected to our ancestors as you explore the history of this traditional pastime.  But above all- quilting is an excuse to buy fabric!  With this in mind, I think that as you take up quilting your first priority should be  accumulating a “stash”. 

        This advice might seem counterintuitive.  A more sensible approach might be to take a beginning quilting class, where you will learn to make a very basic quilt from a few very simple, coordinating fabrics.  How interesting is that?  Actually there is nothing wrong with this plan, but it should not interfere with your main goal of buying fabrics you love.  This hunter-gatherer activity will put you in touch with your inner self, and help you to define your style.  “Who am I really?” you may have asked yourself.  A few fabric shopping expeditions should provide the answer.  

     

  I have been sewing and embroidering since I was a young girl, but I just took up quilting about ten years ago.  Before giving any thought to specific projects, I went on a quilt store “shop-hop” with my friends in Ohio.  By the end of the week I had laid the foundations of a very respectable stash of fabrics that worked together.  Eventually I used many of them for my first project- the scrappy “blended” quilt pictured here.

Simple piecing and beautiful fabric- this is the perfect combination for a first quilt.    

Other fabrics from this first shop-hop are still in my stash, waiting for the right project.  A couple of years ago I found the perfect use for the pictorial fabric pictured at the left. 

It became the center square for a feathered cross wall quilt.  I brought the block to Quilter’s Corner in Finleyville, PA, where the owner helped me find some Jo Morton prints that would be perfect with my sheep.  A Kansas Troubles print pulled together the color theme, and fabrics from my stash made up the saw tooth border. 

Here are some Do’s & Don’ts to remember when it comes to shopping for quilt fabric:

Do- seek out the best shops in your area.  These shops are not on every corner or in every mall & shopping center, so you may have to drive half an hour or more.  

Don’t- go to Joann’s for fabric.  Joann’s is fine for basic supplies and Viking sewing machines, but their quilt fabric is of poor quality.

Do- Enlist your friends to shop for fabric with you.  Just be sure these friends will be supportive of your choices and will not try to impose their tastes on you.  And find friends who have roughly the same shopping style.  My friend, Patty, and I are a successful shopping duo because we like shops that specialize in historical and traditional fabrics.  And both of us can spend a couple of hours at a quilt shop without realizing how much time has gone by.  This could drive some women crazy, so compatibility is essential.

Don’t- bring your husband fabric shopping, if you can possibly help it.  Husbands have notoriously short attention spans, and they tend to ask annoying, irrelevant questions like, “What are you going to make with that?”  

Do- Buy what you love.  Many shops have a large selection of “fat quarters”, which are great for stash building.  Half yard cuts are even better.  If you find a large scale print with lots of colors, consider purchasing it either for a border or for alternate setting squares.  Three yards is enough border fabric for even the largest bed quilt; setting squares will require about two yards.  And if you are into “modern quilting”, you may not even need a border fabric.  So you can just start collecting fats, halves, and a few one yard cuts.  

Don’t- worry about what you are going to do will all your fabric.  Sooner or later you will be inspired to make something.  In the mean time you can enjoy looking at your beautiful fabrics.  

N.B.- While you are collecting fabric be sure to acquire a few books as well, as they will provide  inspiration as you begin your new hobby.  Even the smallest quilt shops often stock a wonderful selection of books.  Whether your taste runs to traditional, modern, primitive, or Civil War era, you can find books to suit your fancy.  You will need one good "how to" book.  I recommend the Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to QUILTING; this book is widely available.  The rest of your quilt library should be fun books with beautiful pictures, which you will look at for hours until you finally decide, "I want to make that!"  Then start looking through your fabric stash.

Cooking with my Daughters- Grilled Brie & Apple Sandwich

        My husband retired from his job in May.  Since then I have been hearing those words every wife dreads- “What’s for lunch?”  I usually make an effort with dinner, and breakfast can be exactly the same thing every day, but I am not used to planning lunch.  Can’t he just have some of whatever I am eating?  Unfortunately he isn’t interested in stir fried tofu.  Quinoa tabbouleh doesn’t go over so well either, nor does Greek yogurt with fruit and ground flax seeds.  What about leftovers from last night?  That works, unless last night’s dinner was leftovers.  He could probably eat a salami sandwich every day, but since I don’t approve of processed meats that’s a no-go.  

        So now I am always on the lookout for uncomplicated lunch ideas- soups, salads, sandwiches etc. that my husband will eat and that are not dreadfully unhealthy.  A couple of weeks ago I was visiting my younger daughter in Denver, and one she made grilled brie & apple sandwiches.  I love brie, apples, and the super healthy bread she used.  What a great lunch!  Normally I don’t pay attention to sandwich recipes.  Just  put stuff between two slices of bread; how difficult is that?  But this particular variation is one I had not thought of, and it makes a nice change from my usual grilled cheddar and tomato sandwich.

Here is what you will need to recreate Melissa’s Grilled Brie & Apple Sandwich-

Brie Cheese- sliced fairly thin

Apple- also sliced thin

Ezekiel Bread-  You could use any bread of course, but Ezekiel is the best.  It’s available in the frozen section of your health food or grocery store.

Spread-  I use Olivio; Melissa uses Earth Balance.    

If you have ever made grilled cheese sandwiches I’m sure you can figure out what to do, but here are the directions anyway.

Spread Olivio (or whatever) on one side of two pieces of bread.  Place the slices on a plate with the spread sides together.  

Layer brie, apples and brie on the top slice.

Heat a non-stick pan.

Place the top slice of bread, spread side down, with cheese etc. in the pan.  Place the other slice on top.  

Grill for a few minutes; then carefully flip the sandwich over.  Press down with a spatula and grill for a few more minutes until done.  Flip over again if necessary until both sides are nicely browned and cheese is melted.

Serve with Mavia's beet salad.

Cooking with my Daughters- Beet Salad

Have you ever had a recipe from a mother or grandmother that included instructions like “some of this” and “a little of that”?  I haven’t.  Any recipe I have ever gotten from Mom includes exact amounts, plus detailed instructions for the procedure, cooking time, and even what kind of pan to use.  There are few recipes handed down from Grandma MacAvoy, and these are also pretty specific about ingredients and directions.  

Recipes from my daughters, on the other hand, are not so specific.  My daughters often seem to just throw things together, and it usually works.  When I was visiting Mavia in Portland recently she served a delicious beet salad, which I decided I would have to make when I got back home.  Not having written anything down, I called her for the recipe.  She told me what went into the dish, with no amounts of course.  It’s a salad, so cups and tablespoons are not that important.  Here are the ingredients-

Beets 

Tomatoes

Feta Cheese

Fresh Mint

Arugula

Trim the beets, wrap them in foil, and roast them in the oven at 350 until you think they are done.  Mine took about an hour, and were probably more well done than they should have been.  Next time I won’t cook them as long.

*Hint from Mavia- Place the wrapped beets on a cooking sheet with sides when you put them in the oven.  Otherwise you could end up with beet juice all over the bottom of your oven.  Then it will start to smoke.  Then your smoke alarm will go off and you will have to open all the doors and windows.  (Guess how she knows this.)

When the beets are done peel them, cut them up, and place them in a nice salad bowl.  Add chopped tomatoes (preferably heirloom, which I did not have), chopped mint, and crumbled feta cheese.  

At this point I realized that something was missing.  Shouldn’t there be some kind of dressing?  I called my daughter.  She told me to add some rice vinegar, which luckily I had in my pantry.  Then it would have been just like the salad I’d had at her house, except that I had forgotten to get arugula.     

My Daughter's Home in Denver

        Last week I was in Denver, Colorado visiting my younger daughter, Melissa/Maya, and her husband.  Their house is also her studio and home base for her ceramics business- Melissa Maya Pottery.  While her older siblings went to law school and business school, my youngest went to art school and yoga teacher training.  She decided that Denver was the place to pursue both these vocations, and it seems to be working out well.  Her pottery has kept her so busy that she has had to cut back on teaching yoga, but she is not complaining.  You can see her ceramics work here on Etsy, and she will be exhibiting at the Denver Raw art show in October.   

        I arrived just a the beginning of Denver’s “rainy season”, also known as “last week”.  Apparently it is almost unheard of to have several days in a row of continuous rain there, but I’m here to tell you that it does happen.  Or you can just watch the news. Fortunately it was not nearly as bad in Denver as it was up in Boulder.  It was just rainy.  Despite the inclement weather, though, we managed to find plenty to do.  

        

        Being women, we can always entertain ourselves with shopping, and in Denver there is no shortage of shopping.  One day we went to the nearest Wild Birds Unlimited, where I got my daughter set up with their APS- Advanced Pole System.  Now she can watch finches, chickadees and blue jays while she works on her pottery. 

Next I took the opportunity to visit one of my favorite quilt shops- Harriet’s Treadle Arts.  I bought more fabric; I couldn’t help it.  And when we really decided to go shopping, we spent a day at the Cherry Creek Mall and surrounding area.    

        Another great rainy day activity was the Molly Brown House Museum.  Some of you may have seen the 1964 movie The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which is a very fictionalized Hollywood version of the life of Margaret Tobin Brown.  During this  interesting house tour we learned that Margaret was never actually called Molly and that she was not related to Debbie Reynolds.  Then we walked around the corner to the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art.  This unique museum features “a retrospective of Colorado’s distinguished painter, Vance Kirkland”.   It was not something I would have necessarily done had the weather been better, but it was so fascinating I was actually rather glad about the rain.  

        All week it was great to see my daughter in her own house, and to observe her home-making skills.  Like her older sister in Portland she recycles, composts, and uses all “green” cleaning products.  I used to be happy with my Procter & Gamble detergents and my neon colored sponges, but now I feel rather out of touch.  

        My younger daughter is more into vegetable gardening that flower gardening.  Here she is stirring home-made pesto she has just whipped up in her Ninja, while she sautes freshly picked green beans.  Although I have grown basil and other herbs I have never grown vegetables, so she must have learned vegetable gardening on her own.  That happens.     

  At the end of the week it finally stopped raining.   We went to Red Rocks!

                                 

My Daughter's Home in Portland

       

         Last week I traveled to Portland, Oregon to visit my older daughter and her husband in their new home.  If you want to know what Portland is like without actually going there, just watch the show Portlandia.  Nothing in the show is an exaggeration.  I have never had a waitress be so genuinely supportive about my ordering a Greek salad.  As you can imagine people ride their bikes everywhere, and they recycle everything including gum wrappers and used aluminum foil.  Don’t even think of going into a grocery store without your re-usable bags.  Obviously there is also curbside compost pick-up.  And many of the public rest rooms are unisex.  I will probably wander into a men’s room when I get back to Pittsburgh.  

     

No trip to Portland would be complete without taking in some of the natural wonders of the surrounding area.  The Pacific Ocean is about an hour away by Prius, and there are also plenty of scenic rivers, waterfalls, and hiking trails.  Fortunately my daughter and her husband love the outdoors.

They met a few years ago when both lived in New York city and worked at the Botanical Garden- she in development and he in education.  Now she is with Outward Bound and he has a new job at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), but they both retain an interest in horticulture.  So I took the opportunity while I was visiting to pick up a few gardening tips from Mavia.  

Gardening Tip #1-  Move to Portland.  Everything grows like crazy there.  Known as the City of Roses, Portland is home to the International Rose Test Garden.  There are public rose gardens all over the city, roses along every street, and everyone grows roses in their yards.  I think it’s the law.  If you get tired of roses, there are also plenty of dahlias, fuschias, petunias and passion flowers.  And I’m sure in the spring you can’t walk anywhere without stepping all over tulips, daffodils and hyacinths.

 Gardening Tip #2- Plant hydrangeas.  Not only are they wonderful in the garden, they also make excellent, long lasting cut flowers.  My daughter has the variety of hydrangea that combines subtle shades of blue, pink and purple with green- all on the same plant.  The flowers manage to be both opulently beautiful and tastefully restrained, just like my daughter.     

Gardening Tip #3- Don’t plant bamboo.  This hardy, fast growing plant will soon take over your yard and your neighbor’s yard.  I didn’t think the bamboo next to their house looked that bad, but it was probably taking up space that would have been better served by something more decorative.  Like hydrangeas.    

        

As I write this post I am on an airplane flying from Portland to Denver, where I will visit my younger daughter.  The next post will be My Daughter’s Home in Denver.