Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Costco Is Serious
For many of you, this is old news. Or perhaps you have taken for granted the gravitas with which your favorite big box wholesaler conducts its business. As a new member, I'd like to remind you.
First, you cannot enter without showing a card. Second, in order to obtain said card, you must 1) pay money, 2) produce a valid driver's license, 3) get your picture taken and printed on the card, just in case you intend to loan your card to a friend who's in dire need of bulk mustard. Third, you cannot stand near your cart while checking out. As the sign instructs, "Carts on this side ---> Patrons on other." If you forget this, you will be reminded. Fourth, you mustn't bring a bag into the store. Not even a fabric Baggu. This is to "prevent theft." Not really sure how a bag makes it easier to sneak away with 2 gallons of olive oil, but okay. Lastly, you must keep your receipt and your membership card out for the man (not the same guy who checks you when you enter) to cross reference your receipt to your cart, "you know, to make sure you weren't double charged," explained the well-meaning cashier who initiated me into these Eyes Wide Shut-type rituals. I left feeling like I must look very suspicious. And also proud that I escaped without spending over $250* -- they should give out prizes to anyone can spend under $100.
After transferring my smaller items into my Baggu bag before putting them in my car and unloading all the other massive items into my trunk, I wheeled my cart into the cart-wrangling area. (Mr. SevPrez yells at me when I don't do this). Running back to my car in the rain, I felt a twang of fear that a large man was going to materialize and yell at me for not returning my cart correctly and strip me of my membership. Is this what it was like in the U.S.S.R.?
If I am uncomfortable with my card-carrying status (it may be the final rite of passage into adulthood?), my gigantic bag of Stacy's pita chips and tremendous hunk of manchego cheese will console me until I feel better.
*My biggest act of restraint was taking the box of 80 pigs in a blanket for $15 out of my cart. You can't see me but I am bowing.
First, you cannot enter without showing a card. Second, in order to obtain said card, you must 1) pay money, 2) produce a valid driver's license, 3) get your picture taken and printed on the card, just in case you intend to loan your card to a friend who's in dire need of bulk mustard. Third, you cannot stand near your cart while checking out. As the sign instructs, "Carts on this side ---> Patrons on other." If you forget this, you will be reminded. Fourth, you mustn't bring a bag into the store. Not even a fabric Baggu. This is to "prevent theft." Not really sure how a bag makes it easier to sneak away with 2 gallons of olive oil, but okay. Lastly, you must keep your receipt and your membership card out for the man (not the same guy who checks you when you enter) to cross reference your receipt to your cart, "you know, to make sure you weren't double charged," explained the well-meaning cashier who initiated me into these Eyes Wide Shut-type rituals. I left feeling like I must look very suspicious. And also proud that I escaped without spending over $250* -- they should give out prizes to anyone can spend under $100.
After transferring my smaller items into my Baggu bag before putting them in my car and unloading all the other massive items into my trunk, I wheeled my cart into the cart-wrangling area. (Mr. SevPrez yells at me when I don't do this). Running back to my car in the rain, I felt a twang of fear that a large man was going to materialize and yell at me for not returning my cart correctly and strip me of my membership. Is this what it was like in the U.S.S.R.?
If I am uncomfortable with my card-carrying status (it may be the final rite of passage into adulthood?), my gigantic bag of Stacy's pita chips and tremendous hunk of manchego cheese will console me until I feel better.
*My biggest act of restraint was taking the box of 80 pigs in a blanket for $15 out of my cart. You can't see me but I am bowing.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Butternut Everything
I love butternut squash. I love the taste, the texture, the color, the shape. I love that now that I have a big-girl knife set, I'm no longer afraid of cutting them in half. I love that I now know that you can peel them with a vegetable peeler. With these problems solved, butternut squash is probably the vegetable I am most comfortable experimenting with in the kitchen.
So when I stumbled upon this recipe on the site of Puritan & Genesta, a health food store in Mystic, CT, I knew I would make it. And that I did, after a long day of work, some sample sale and grocery shopping, and a long, local train ride. (I only exhibit this kind of commitment to cooking on a weeknight for things involving winter squash.)
I substituted spinach for chard, because I had a lot of it lying around (with a spoon in the bag to keep the greens fresh, a Heloise tip via Aunt D). I would advise you to be free with the lemon juice. I used more than the recipe called for initally, and every time I reheat the dish in the microwave, I add some more, with pepper, for more life and zing.
The recipe yields a lot of food -- so far we've eaten it three days in a row, and we're not even sick of it, which is a testament to the variety of flavors and textures going on here.
PASTA WITH ONION, GREENS AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH
1 (13/4-pound) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice (4 cups cubed)
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 cups chopped onion
8 ounces mixed-grain bow ties or penne
1 pound chard, trimmed and shredded (about 12 cups shredded)
2 (15-ounce) cans low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Toss squash with 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and cumin. Place in single, uncrowded layer on baking sheet and roast until squash is fork-tender, 20 to 24 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large, nonstick skillet over medium high. Add onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is very soft and browned, 15 to 17 minutes.
4. Cook pasta in plenty of lightly salted boiling water according to package directions. Three to 4 minutes before it is finished cooking, add the chard to the pot. Just before draining, add the beans.
5. Toss pasta with the lemon juice, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss with the squash, caramelized onions and Parmesan. Makes 6 servings.
Nutritional analysis for each serving: 446 calories, 19 g protein, 68 g carbohydrate, 15 g fiber, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 859 mg sodium, 242 mg calcium
So when I stumbled upon this recipe on the site of Puritan & Genesta, a health food store in Mystic, CT, I knew I would make it. And that I did, after a long day of work, some sample sale and grocery shopping, and a long, local train ride. (I only exhibit this kind of commitment to cooking on a weeknight for things involving winter squash.)
I substituted spinach for chard, because I had a lot of it lying around (with a spoon in the bag to keep the greens fresh, a Heloise tip via Aunt D). I would advise you to be free with the lemon juice. I used more than the recipe called for initally, and every time I reheat the dish in the microwave, I add some more, with pepper, for more life and zing.
The recipe yields a lot of food -- so far we've eaten it three days in a row, and we're not even sick of it, which is a testament to the variety of flavors and textures going on here.
PASTA WITH ONION, GREENS AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH
1 (13/4-pound) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice (4 cups cubed)
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 cups chopped onion
8 ounces mixed-grain bow ties or penne
1 pound chard, trimmed and shredded (about 12 cups shredded)
2 (15-ounce) cans low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Toss squash with 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and cumin. Place in single, uncrowded layer on baking sheet and roast until squash is fork-tender, 20 to 24 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large, nonstick skillet over medium high. Add onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is very soft and browned, 15 to 17 minutes.
4. Cook pasta in plenty of lightly salted boiling water according to package directions. Three to 4 minutes before it is finished cooking, add the chard to the pot. Just before draining, add the beans.
5. Toss pasta with the lemon juice, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss with the squash, caramelized onions and Parmesan. Makes 6 servings.
Nutritional analysis for each serving: 446 calories, 19 g protein, 68 g carbohydrate, 15 g fiber, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 859 mg sodium, 242 mg calcium
Friday, November 13, 2009
Inspired By Rene Gruau
A few years ago my sister-in-law gave me a wall calendar featuring the artwork of Italian illustrator Rene Gruau. At the time I had never heard of him. But twelve months later, when it was time to take down the calendar, I had become wildly attached to the brightness, ease, simplicity, and sophistication of his work. My heart grows ever fonder to this day. My favorite image from the calendar, above, hangs over my dresser. I think it was probably the subconscious inspiration for my yellow chairs. Who wouldn't want to be that woman? Or any of the women in his images, for that matter.
His posters and prints sell for several thousand dollars, and I can't find any new calendars or other low-price point items in the marketplace right now. Thank god I saved my calendar. And thanks to my sister-in-law for having such discriminating taste in the first place!
Gruau, who died in 2004, said, "I'm self-taught. I never had any formal instruction, I simply taught myself by studying other artists. I never took myself seriously but I took my work very seriously." Amen to that.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sharing A Poem: Melancholy Autumn, Autumn Ablaze
I love this poem by W. S. Merwin. It's so solid, clear, to the point, and yet, transcendent. Love him.
A Single Autumn
by W. S. Merwin
The year my parents died
one that summer one that fall
three months and three days apart
I moved into the house
where they had lived their last years
it had never been theirs
and was still theirs in that way
for a while
echoes in every room
without a sound
all the things that we
had never been able to say
I could not remember
doll collection
in a china cabinet
plates stacked on shelves
lace on drop-leaf tables
a dried branch of bittersweet
before a hall mirror
were all planning to wait
the glass doors of the house
remained closed
the days had turned cold
and out in the tall hickories
the blaze of autumn had begun
on its own
I could do anything
one that summer one that fall
three months and three days apart
I moved into the house
where they had lived their last years
it had never been theirs
and was still theirs in that way
for a while
echoes in every room
without a sound
all the things that we
had never been able to say
I could not remember
doll collection
in a china cabinet
plates stacked on shelves
lace on drop-leaf tables
a dried branch of bittersweet
before a hall mirror
were all planning to wait
the glass doors of the house
remained closed
the days had turned cold
and out in the tall hickories
the blaze of autumn had begun
on its own
I could do anything
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