Tis the season of sweaters and scarves -- and grilled cheese

Grilled cheese is great for when you're in the "curl up with good book and cocoa" mood, or even for when there are 10 children running around the house and you just want to throw down a big tray of sandwiches in front of them and say "Eat!" In our house, the magic of the gooey deliciousness is in the cheese. I grew up on Tillamook cheddar, and no other cheddar will do. The bread may vary, but the cheese is a given. Pair it with some Campell's tomato soup (adding water, not milk) ... and all the generations are happy and smiling.

But I'm no snob. I'm a grilled cheese fan! Wait, grilled cheese connoisieur! And I'm happy to report that Tacoma is a great place to love grilled cheese. I have three go-to places right now for when I'm not at home and craving cheese, and can't wait to find more.

Capers Downtown, 701 Pacific Ave.
This three-cheese grilled goodness is toasted to perfectly browned perfection. The cheesey magic does not get lost or overly dominate from its place between not-too-thick-not-too-thin slices of rustic bread, the perfect amount of toastedness, and a subtle smothering of some sort of herbed buttery yumminess that has me dreamily licking my lips for hours after lunch. It's a grilled cheese that comes closest to my own but with that "I don't regret paying someone money for this" flair. The sandwich can come with Capers' oh-so-cozy tomato basil soup, one of their several tasty side salads, or a smattering of other sides. I'm rather partial to the side Caesar salad. A light layer of dressing that gives the lettuce enough zing to make it interesting, but doesn't overwhelm you with thoughts of "and how many calories are in this?" A few slivers of a hard sharp cheese (I assume Parmaesan?) throughout the salad always make me smile, and I can never leave even one of their croutons on the plate. Capers has subtle fabulousness down to a T!!!

Paddy Coynes, 815 Pacific Ave.
The Ultimate Cheese Sandwich here is definitely worthy, and in an atmosphere that definitely facilitates the gift of gab without having to kiss a gross Blarney stone. (If you don't know why it's gross, you'll have to ask ... I'm not mucking up a post about grilled cheese with that gory detail.) The Ultimate Grilled Cheese is like none other I've encountered in T-town. I'm guessing it contains some sort of Irish cheddar ... it's sharper, cheddary-ier, and comes topped with bacon and tomato. Yum. The bacon was a new concept for me, but the tomato in the grilled cheese was a scrumptious trick I learned while living in Cork, Ireland, for a few months. Though I did learn it from an American. But hey! You like tomato soup with your grilled cheese? Then why not just stick a tomato in the sandwich to start with? Awesome. The sandwich also comes with Paddy Coynes' signature shoestring fries. And while they're great fries, the cumulative amount of salt between the cheese, bacon and then the fries usually has me leaving most of the thinly sliced potatoes on the plate. It might be worth the extra buck or two or whatnot to sub a salad -- or maybe I'll just ask for no fries next time.

Over the Moon Cafe, 709 Opera Alley (Court C)
This gooey goodness (appropriately named "Not your ordinary grilled cheese sandwich") was my first foray into downtown T-Town grilled cheese splendidness. They're pretty proud of this cheesy baby at Over the Moon. It is a French recipe, a "Croutes de Fromage" "from the mountains of Bura, France, and includes thick slices of freshly baked sourdough bread and Gruyere cheese and mellow and moist Swiss cheese that has been soaked in a sweet white wine sauce before grilling," according to the Volcano's 2007 grilled cheese review. While tradition would have me pairing this baby with their tomato basil, I actually prefer their crab bisque. It's not always on the menu, but if it is -- and you can handle both dairy and seafood -- the very not ordinary grilled cheese with crab bisque will easily make your comfort food list. Add the cozy, friendly conversation space and the little London-like alley for ambiance ... and Over the Moon is the perfect place to find a little slice of gooey gladness even in the dark of a drizzly winter.

Where else? In Tacoma or out ... where does one find grilled cheesey greatness!?!?

Barefoot in the kitchen, part VII: Grandma Vina's Chili

Made chili the other night. Oddly, while the children ofter rebel and protest "mixed up food," chili is one that has passed the test. This is a family recipe from my husband's side of the family. And the kids know it. When they asked "what's for dinner?" and I said "chili" ... the immediate next question was whether it was Grandma VINA's chili. When they were eating it, they wondered if this was how Grandma VINA ate it. Is this how Grandma VINA made it? Lordy children, yes. Or at least I will tell you this. I only minimally doctored the recipe. It was a double-batch, so I used some of my garden-fresh (yet frozen by me) homemade tomato sauce in replacement of half the canned tomato goods ... but they don't need to know that. They ate it. They loved it. The Boy asked for more. Yay for them willingly eating something other than ramen or macaroni and cheese. Boo for the fact that tomato products give me heart burn. Oh well, this stuff is yummy and worth it. :)

Grandma Vina's Chili
(pretty much add "more or less" to every ingredient on this list ... you can also add more and different beans and leave out the meat altogether if you're so inclined)

1 medium-sized onion
1-1/2 pounds of ground round steak or hamburger
1 (10-3/4 oz) can tomato soup
1 (15-16 oz) can of kidney beans (liquid and all)
1 (15 to 16 oz) can whole tomatoes
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt (t0 taste)
1/8 tsp. pepper (t0 taste)
1 tbsp. chile powder (to taste, approx. 1 tbsp. chile powder to 1 lb. meat)

Chop the onion, and brown with the ground beef. Drain off any liquid. Combine meat and onions with tomato soup, kidney beans and whole tomatoes. Mix well, then add sugar and spices, to taste. Simmer for several hours on stove. Serve with crackers and/or cheese. (Freezes well.)

Afternoon TV just ain't what it used to be ... (a sign of hope for newspapers)

This blog post is not about people watching less television and reading more newspapers. I'm not THAT naive. Instead, it's about my revelation today that the current mainstream media vs. the Internet paradigm shift seems to have shades of the network vs. cable battles from approximately two decades ago.

I seem to (vaguely) recall the doom and gloom claim among the networks when cable started to grab hold. I remember celebrating when our rural home was finally plugged in. I remember switching over from network mainstays to Nickelodeon and Disney distractions.

And perhaps this kind of behavior IS to blame for the fact that this week's network television schedule is not riddled with the types of programming that beckoned me off the bus during my childhood afterschool hours. Things like: The Smurfs (it's their 50th anniversary this year!), Gummi Bears, Scooby Doo, Thundercats, Animaniacs, Small Wonder (not a cartoon, but close!), Ducktales, Heathcliff, My Little Pony, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Talespin, Inspector Gadget, She-Ra, He-Man, Jem, Voltron, Muppet Babies, Transformers, Darkwing Duck and others. (I even remember someone I knew in high school had a Darkwing Duck TATTOO -- wonder if that's still there ...)

A peek at this coming week's afternoon television on the major networks includes soap operas, the news, talk shows and sit-com re-runs. The closest thing to a cartoon is King of the Hill and The Simpsons at 5 on Fox. Oh, and some Cosby Show re-runs. Seriously. Instead of Brainy Smurf and Strawberry Shortcake, we get Dr. Phil and Tyra.

The public television stations still have their good thing going, but definitely cater to the younger child with items like Arthur, Reading Rainbow and Curious George.

Afternoon programming for kids is still out there, it's just that cable has taken over all facets of afternoon television for the younger set with fare like The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, SpongeBob Square Pants, Total Drama Island, Chowder, etc. They're not that bad. If I were a kid nowadays, it would likely be this set of shows that I talked about on the bus with friends about who got home in time to see what, who got to watch what, which were your favorites, which show's paraphernalia toys did you get for your birthday, etc. So it's there -- you just have to have cable.

Nowadays, it's the doom and gloom among traditional media that the Internet is killing them. I remember when we finally got fed up with dial-up and got a high speed connection. And I know that I've started to read more newspapers online, and watch more TV online, and stream my radio online.

And it's true: The explosion of the Internet is hurting mainstream media, it's pretty obvious right now as more and more newspapers are putting significant percentages of their staffs on the chopping block. But is it the death of mainstream media? I think not.

We are in transition. (And ask any mom who's gone through labor au natural: Transition sucks.) We are still wondering what content is best played where, when, how and by whom? Good question. If we knew the answer, we wouldn't have the questions.

We'll have to wait and see while everything sorts itself out. But traditional media will not die; it will evolve. (Perhaps heavily relying on the very medium that wounded it so very deeply.)

I dare say that when we look back 20 years from now, there will still be television ... there will still be radio ... there will still be print media.

But we will have reason to be nostalgic.

It won't be the same.

And nothing ever is.

Barefoot in the kitchen, part VI: Clam chowder

Wandered into the Proctor Farmers Market this last Saturday (still going until November 22) and tripped across my favorite weekend sustainable seafood purveyer: QuilBay Seafoods. Fresh oysters! And this week: clams! Never dealt with clams. But the woman standing next to me mentioned making clam chowder, which sounded good. Sold!

But mind you: I've never made shellfish before. It didn't quite occur to me that the clams might be ... um ... alive. Not until I had them in the strainer and was rinsing them off. And they were moving. And opening. And closing. Ewww! (And I totally realize how ridiculous this is. Once upon a time pioneers raised their own meat, killed their own meat, cooked it and ate it -- sans problemo. But let's just say I came really close to becoming a vegetarian this weekend.)

I survived, however. And despite my paranoia that I must have cooked it wrong and poisoned it, my husband and son both had multiple bowl fulls and LOVED it. Yay! (My girls? Nope. Wouldn't touch it. Thanks, kids. Thanks a lot.)

Anyhow, the recipe ... inspired by the one the seafood folks gave me, but I embellished. You heard me ... my FIRST TIME making chowder and I EMBELLISHED. This whole temporary husband-not-being-around-to-cook-dinner thing might be turning into a good thing. For him. (I'm learning I can make something beyond casseroles, spaghetti and sandwiches ... and baked goods ...)

TC's Homemade Clam Chowder

18 large littleneck clams, scrubbed (or, for me, a bag o' teeny tiny Manila clams that were already clean)
3 slices of bacon, chopped (ok, I used 5)
1 medium onion, chopped (shhh ... I put in 2)
(I also put in a leek that was in the fridge)
1 tbsp. all purpose flour (heaping)
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (or whatever I happened to grind out of the grinder)
1 pound all-purpose potatoes, pelled and chopped (about 5 or 6)
(I also added a bunch of rainbow carrots -- 6 to 8, washed and chopped)
2 cups half-and-half (I added a bit more)
1 cup of milk
3/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
(I also added a bunch of Chardonnay ... that totally made it better)

Directions:
In a 5- to 6-quart saucepot, heat water to boiling over high heat. Add clams, heat to boiling. Reduce heat slightly; cover and simmer until clams open, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer clams to a bowl as they open. Discad andy clams that have not opened. ... When cool enough to handle, remove clams from their shells and coarsely chop. Discard shells. strain clam broth through sieve lined with paper towels into measuring cup; if necessary add eough water to equal 2 cups. ... In same clean saucepot, cook bacon over medium heat until lightly browned. With slotted spoon, remove bacon to paper towels. Add onion (and leek) to drippings in pot; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and pepper until blended; cook 1 minute. Gradually stir in clam brother until smooth. Add potatoes (and carrots); heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until potatoes (and carrots) are tender, about 15 minutes. ... Stir in half-and-half, milk, and chopped clams; heat through (do not boil). Stir in bacon. Tste for seasoning; add salt as needed. Add chardonnay as needed. Makes about 6 cups. (A bit more with my additions.)

Barefoot in the kitchen, part V: Veggie Pasta Toss

My weekly box of organic produce from Tacoma's Terra Organics "Pacific Northwest box" arrived this last week with the most wonderful of recipes -- "Sweet Pepper Pasta Toss with Kale." So good for you. So, so yummy. So, so, so, simple. And such an easy way to use one of my big bunches of nutrition-packed dark greens.

Sweet Pepper Pasta Toss with Kale

1 8 oz. package of bow tie pasta (I used sea shell pasta -- what a rebel am I)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1-2 red bell peppers, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped (or more)
1 pinch dried basil (I used several leaves of fresh basil)
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (I did skip this one)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (I probably used more)
Kalamata or black olives

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in red pepper (and/or yellow pepper), kale and garlic. Season with basil, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender. In a large bowl, toss cooked pasta with skillet mixture. Mix in olives, if desired. Sprinkle with feta cheese to serve.

* Could also add Italian sausage or grilled chicken to make this dish a little heartier.

Barefoot in the kitchen, part IV: Tequila salsa

Yet again, it's a tale of me using up my many harvested tomatoes, my backyard jalapeno plant and my weekly treasure trove of veggie-delivery-goodness from Terra Organics. This week it's my own version of Tomatillo Salsa Verde.

So, I seriously thought that after more than five years of produce home delivery that I'd seen it all. I'd learned how to use eggplant, bok choy, fresh ginger, chard, blood tomatoes, fava beans, squashes of many makes and models, fresh beets and leeks, and so much more. But then this week's delivery appeared on my doorstep: tomatillos. What the heck? Apparently the kids and the babysitter had played "guess what this is" with this piece of produce. A small, green, round goodie encapsulated in a leaf-like shell that leaves a slightly sticky residue upon the fruit. What the heck? They did trial and error ... and guessed that it must be a plum of sorts. But nope: A tomatillo, the Mexican cousin of the tomato. And oh so made for salsa. And so it began ...

We decided to make fajitas for dinner ... using some steak and eggplant for the "meat" of the fajita, and a corn and black bean mix, the kids grated the cheese, a bit o' sour cream, and some "experimental" salsa by yours truly. As mentioned in the headline to this post, it's "Tequila salsa" ... because I did not have any limes or lemons, or lime or lemon juice, I had to ponder: what liquid should I add? It's salsa. Mexican in nature. So what the heck: I substituted tequila. That and a few other subsitutes and adjustments in this recipe based on a few internet finds for "tomatillo salsa verde" and I bring you my very own, and very yummy, recipe for Tequila salsa verde ... which I consider very sentimental seeing as tequila was basically the first alcohol I ever tasted, in Mexico no less. Here you go ...

TC's Tequila Salsa (chunky - if you prefer otherwise, blend the sucker)
And as is my mantra, the exact quantities are up to you or what's in your cupboard. Chop it up, mix it up, and you should be good ...

3-6 tomatillos, roasted (remove husks, cut in half, stick under the broiler for 5-10 minutes -- untill skin is slightly blackened)
2-3 roasted tomatoes (can be green or less than ripe ... see above for roasting instructions)
1/2 a chopped-up small to medium onion, preferrably red
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
2 splashes of tequila
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of sugar
salt to taste

Chop onions and cilantro. Add sugar, tequila and salt; stir. Add freshly roasted tomatillos and tomatoes, squish with a potato masher until desired texuture is achieved. (Or put through food processor.) Enjoy with chips, or use wth burritos or fajitas. Yummers!

* This might be an appetizer for the over-21 crowd only ...
1 jalepano pepper

Barefoot in the kitchen, part III: Lovely lasagna

So, once you have a bunch of spaghetti sauce, what do you do with it? In my world, you make lasagna. Perhaps one of the most perfect foods as it includes my favorite ingredient: cheese. And then there's the fact that you can make it in advance, freeze or refrigerate it, and it only tastes yummier when you finally take it out and cook it. And it can easily be vegetarian or meatatarian. I'm a big fan of preparing food beforehand and then getting to relax and socialize while an amazing meal bakes to perfection in the oven.

And then there's the sappy quotient: It's a food my now-hubby taught me how to make once upon a time, a long time ago. Fourteen years ago, he was a much more adventurous chef than I. I could rule the kitchen when it came to making, and had a few "other" dishes, but lasagna was one of those things I considered "too complicated." No longer.

Today's inspiration for lasagna? Perhaps it's an unconscious nod to hubby's and my first date 14 years ago, to the Pacific Lutheran University Homecoming. Today? We're playing hooky from our 10-year homecoming festivities (there isn't much actually going on for the reunion specifically, so I don't feel bad) and going up to Seattle to see Weezer perform live. The kids are jealous. They sing Weezer songs day and night, and so I made them pork and beans for breakfast. Only Baby Girl was excited, but by lunch they'd woken up enough to appreciate the humor.

Back to the food ... so, really, there was beef that needed to be cooked in the refrigerator, and I finally harvested my six tomato plants the other day and had sauce coming out of my ears. This version was a little different than the last couple batches ... no bacon in this round, and no added nutrition in the form of blended up chard and carrots.

This week's base sauce ... consists of about nine different kinds of tomatoes (from my six plants, plus the tomatoes that came in my weekly Terra Organics produce order), a green peppers, onions, a jalepeno, some red wine and olive oil, a bit of salt, a ton of garlic, all cooked for about two hours until it got a more sauce-like consistency. It was fun watching my rainbow of yellow, green, orange and many different reds tomatoes cook down into a deep red sauce. I didn't use fresh herbs this time around because it was dark out, and I just wanted to cook the darn tomatoes.

Plus I figured making some food in advance for this week might be a good idea. Especially food that has my Basement Brother and Hubby drooling for more. The kids still look at it suspiciously (they don't like their food touching food -- so lasagna still elicits skepticism), but we'll try again ...

Anyhow, enough chit-chat, here's my recipe for this week's lasagna ...

TC's Easy Lasagna (2 batches)
based off of Ronzoni's Healthy Harvest Easy Lasagna recipe

2 lb. ground beef
2 tbsp. Yaya (or Johnny's) seasoning
1 tsp. oregano
3-4 cups of homemade tomato sauce (or 1 26 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce)
1 (28 oz.) can of stewed, peeled whole tomatoes
2 (15 oz.) cans of tomato sauce
1 large container (32 oz.) of ricotta cheese (or small curd cottage cheese)
4 cups (16 oz.) o shredded mozzarella (or other favorite cheese)
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
18 pieces (generally one package) of lasagna noodles, uncooked

In a large cast-iron pot, brown the meat. Sprinkle seasoning on it while it cooks. Drain the grease. Add spaghetti sauce, whole tomatoes, tomato sauce and oregano (or any spices you like), simmer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, one-half of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. Pour about 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of each of two 13x9-inch baking dishes. Arrange 3 UNCOOKED pasta pieces lengthwise over the sauce in each dish; cover with 1 cup of sauce. Spread one-fourth of the cheese filling over the sauce in the first dish, then spread one-fourt of the cheese filling over the sauce in the second dish. Repeat layers of lasagna, sauce and cheese filling. Then top with a layer of lasagna and remaining sauce; sprinking remaining mozzarella cheese over the top of the pans of lasagna. Cover with foil.

Now's your choice ... you can refrigerate, freeze, or stick one or both in the oven for 45 minutes (with foil on) in a preheated 350 degree oven, then remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Let satnd 10 minutes before cutting. Each pan makes about 12 servings.

NOTE: If you freeze it, remember to give it time to thaw, and you might need to cook it a little extra. Luckily with lasanga, you can generally over cook and it should be fine.

Enjoy!