Celebrating & Remembering

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Ann Lovejoy
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Giving Thanks & Acknowledging Sorrow

This weekend, I met with a group of friends, all students of Pat Moffitt Cook, who gather more or less monthly to offer an hour or so of traditional sacred healing chants we learned through Pat’s Spiritual Health & Sound programs. During the chanting and later as we met around the table to share a meal, an empty chair sat waiting for whatever guest might come our way. In the Hebraic tradition, an empty chair is placed at the Seder table for the prophet Elijah. In some families, a chair is set at celebrations to honor those who have died, someone who might be estranged, or travelers who are far from home and family.

I’ve been swamped with feelings of deepest grief for the past two weeks, and realize that I feel the recent election results like a big, resonating death. Today marks the first anniversary of my mother’s death and I’m remembering watching her take her final breath, gently and peacefully and then simply stopping. It is not my mother’s death that grieves my heart, but what feels like the death of my country, land of liberty and justice for all. So this year, my celebration table will have an empty chair, and the empty plate will hold a candle. When we sit, we’ll extinguish all the lights, have a moment of recollection for all we have lost, then light the candle to remind us of what we still have in abundance, and what will remain when we ourselves are gone.

We Gather More Or Less Together

Thanks to complex schedules and multi-family events, my family often replaces traditional celebrations with several smaller reunions. It can be refreshing to allow change to reshape tradition as well as habit. Just as clearing out crammed closets lets us re-home a host of unneeded and unused things, renewing the way we celebrate holidays lets us keep whatever is most treasured, let go of stressful parts, and make space for pleasant new experiences. My own thanksgiving is really about sharing gratitude and celebrating belonging–to family, community, or the fellowship of humanity–not spending most of a day (or more) making a heavy, rich meal that will be over in the blink of an eye.

I still enjoy making the traditional foods (especially because the leftovers are so much fun to work with). However, my extended family now flows into others, presenting an interwoven net of connection and sometimes obligation. As my sons reached adulthood, I made a clear decision that I do not ever want being with me to be an obligation for my family or friends. That sometimes means that on the actual day of certain events, I am cooking for just one or two, which requires some imaginative adaptation.

Graceful Change

There is an art to changing up long standing patterns, and new ways to celebrate are best introduced as intriguing innovation, not some sorrowful second best. Though I can still enjoy the friendly chaos of large gatherings, I find myself increasingly more comfortable when there are just a few guests at our table. Though the huge dinners-for-dozens had their own crazy joy, this new holiday pattern lets conversations be relaxed, rich, and rewarding.

Most families have an established menu for each holiday, but these days, we are very apt to need to tweak some of those basics to accommodate various dietary needs and desires. The tweaks can seem the most difficult to manage, so here’s an array of vegetarian and vegan treats that complement each other beautifully, some rich, some tart and citrusy, some crunchy, some like edible velvet.

Sugar Free But Scrumptious

This sparkling, tart relish relies on super-sweet oranges for flavor balance, but if need be, add a tad of maple syrup to taste.

Sugar Free Orange Cranberry Relish

2 organic Cara Cara Oranges
1-1/3 cups organic cranberries
few grains sea salt
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)

In a food processor, grind oranges and cranberries, add salt and maple syrup to taste. Chill for 2-3 days before serving. Makes about 2 cups.

Vegan Happiness

Everybody loves mashed potatoes with gravy, so here’s a really delicious vegan version made with buttery-tasting avocado oil. Reserve some potato water (the cloudy stuff at the bottom of the pan) for the gravy, and recycle any leftovers as potato cakes.

Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
3-4 tablespoons avocado oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Peel and chop potatoes, cover with cold water, set aside. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, add drained potatoes, garlic, and half the salt and cook until tender (12-15 minutes). Drain, reserving cooking liquid, and mash or put through a ricer (it gives a lighter texture). Thin to desired thickness with avocado oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with mushroom gravy (see below).

Rich Vegan Gravy

To give plant-based gravy a fuller, richer flavor, use buttery avocado oil, and umami-rich mushrooms, adding a little nutritional yeast to round it out. Use your favorite mushrooms, or a mixture of white buttons (highest in antioxidants) and tasty brown field mushrooms, or chanterelles or shaggy manes, or whatever you like best.

Leek & Mushroom Vegan Gravy

1/4 cup avocado oil
1 large brown or yellow onion, chopped
4 medium leeks, chopped (white and palest green parts only)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
2-4 cups fresh vegetable broth or red wine
2-3 teaspoons nutritional yeast

In a wide, shallow pan, combine oil, onion, leeks and salt over medium high heat and cook until soft (10-15 minutes). Add mushrooms, cover pan, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes to sweat mushrooms. Add broth or red wine and simmer until mushrooms are tender (20-30 minutes). Puree with an immersion blender to desired consistency and serve hot. Serves 4-8.

Winter Sparkle Salad

2 cups Savoy cabbage, finely chopped
2 cups Napa cabbage, finely shredded
1 bulb Florence fennel, finely shaved
2 clementines, sectioned and peeled
1 Honeycrisp or Opal apple, chopped
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup stemmed cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped roasted hazelnuts
2-3 tablespoons flavored rice vinegar

Toss all ingredients and serve. Serves 6.

Roasted Cauliflower, Sweet Potatoes, & Cranberries

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced (1/4 inch)
2 tablespoons avocado or high temperature oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups raw cranberries, washed and picked over

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss vegetables with oil and spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet (or two). Sprinkle with salt and roast for 30 minutes. Stir with a spatula, add cranberries and roast until well caramelized (15-20 minutes). Serves 6.

Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie

This tastes rich and old fashioned, perhaps much like the early Thanksgiving pies made when sugar was scarce.

1/2 cup dark molasses or maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, coriander and ginger
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups (15-ounce can) cooked pumpkin pulp
1-1/2 cups plain almond or hazelnut milk
1 unbaked nut crust (see below)

In a large bowl, combine all but crust and blend well. Spoon into unbaked nut crust and bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake until set (40-50 minutes). Let stand for an hour or more before serving.

This vegan version is more like pudding than custard.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

1/2 cup dark molasses or maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon each cinnamon, coriander and ginger
12 ounces silken tofu
1-1/2 cups cooked pumpkin pulp
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pre-baked nut crust (see below)

In a food processor, combine all but crust and blend well. Spoon into baked nut crust and chill for at least an hour before serving.

Vegan Nut Crust

1-1/2 cups almonds or walnuts
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
few grains sea salt

In a food processor, grind nuts coarsely. Add remaining ingredients and process briefly to blend. Pat into a pie dish. For chilled filling, prebake at 350 degrees F until golden (20-25 minutes), cool before filling.

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After The Fall

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Ann Lovejoy
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Love Rules

Autumn has always been my favorite season, yet over the years, it’s become a time of sorrow as well. Both my parents died in November, on the same day, though twelve years apart. Six years have passed since my husband died on Halloween eve. I still experience autumn as an enticing time of change, with warm chinook winds blowing toward new horizons, but I am increasingly aware of my own horizon drawing in. Perhaps because I qualified for Medicare on November first. Perhaps because the recent election results left me grieving for so many vulnerable populations. As much as anything, I grieve for the earth and all that inhabits it, animal, mineral, and vegetable. Whatever the reason, I feel more strongly than ever that both we who grieve and we who rejoice must choose something precious to protect.

I say “something”, because there are so many, many causes in dire need of protecting, yet if we flail about trying to do a bit here and a little there, we dilute our energy and strength. That’s not to say that what we do must be on the grand scale; we don’t all have the gifts required to sway opinions and move national and international programs forward. However, all of us have something we love passionately enough to protect, and that’s where our energy and our love must be directed now, every single day.

Discovering The Layers Of Love

We all have many loves, of course: family and friends, our own community, our larger loyalties to state and country and the world itself. Among those many loves, most of us can identify something that calls us out of complacency, even out of fear, commanding our attention and our service. If you already know where your heart lies, go out and do everything you know how to do, and be willing to add new skills to your tool kit. If you aren’t so sure, set aside time to ponder and meditate and listen for that deep heartfelt call. What can you bring to the world to promote peace, compassion, healing, justice, hope?

My heart weeps for the natural world, for the greed that drives environmental pillage and destruction, for blindness that sees value only in human use, for short sighted policies that prefer quick gratification over sustainability. I grieve for everyone on the gender spectrum who does not fit rigid rules of what’s acceptable. I grieve for refugees who are not made welcome, despite the fact that all of us but Native Americans come from refugee families. I grieve the ways we invaders have stripped this country’s original inhabitants of everything they had, breaking every treaty and promise with total impunity. I also grieve so deeply for educational systems that have left so many people behind, untrained in critical thinking skills, confused about the differences between reality and reality tv, swayed by hateful rhetoric, frightened, worried, and angry.

Balancing Hope And Heartbreak

To many of us, it has felt so hopeful and exciting to watch the world changing, to watch acceptance of differences grow, to watch new generations become more concerned with economic injustice and environmental destruction than the rapidly shifting social mores. I have been fascinated to be drawn into unknown territory when my first born announced that she is now a woman, and has been all along, but lacked the skills and abilities to make that transformation until this summer. I was amazed and grateful and intrigued again when my daughter-in-law patiently explained to me that instead of not very subtly wondering when my younger son would “wake up to his responsibilities” I might consider that he is an exceptional father, a highly talented coach, and a brilliant musician and that she herself is willing and eager to work full time as a teacher. On every front, changes offer us an opportunity to change ourselves as well, to learn, to grow, to strengthen and develop.

Knowing that changing ourselves can also be uncomfortable and even terrifying, I can find some compassion for those whose fear drives them to act in ways I find both horrifying and incomprehensible. I don’t understand how anyone can feel such blanket hatred for so many people and ideas and situations I find joyful and hopeful, but I do understand that this is so. Finding common ground is going to take a long time and a lot of work, yet it is the work before us. Still, I am in no hurry to let go of my grief, to push it aside and pretend it doesn’t flavor every breath of every day. It does and will and always has. The core of that grief is my inability to have pat answers for such complex questions: How can we be so different and still be the same people? How can we communicate cleanly and clearly with each other? How can we respect each other despite those differences?

Soulful Soup

I can’t yet answer those questions, but I can feed the hungry in my immediate circle. In my house, the soup pot is nearly always on the stove, and my fridge holds tall jars of this quintessential comfort food. Today, I’m dropping a few salty tears in the pot as I blend South American white beans with Tuscan Black kale and Asian Turban garlic. I’m also planting garlic into the sandy loam of my garden berms, where it will grow all through the cold, dark winter to come. As I cook and as I plant and as I eat and feed others, I will be offering intentions for courage and strength, for peace and good will, for neighborliness, for hope and healing. In my vocabulary, hope is not a word of weakness but of encouragement and endurance, of vision and inspiration. So, I continue to hope, to love, and to act with all my being to protect what I hold most dear. And that includes you.

World Of Love Soup

2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons minced rosemary
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 large bunch kale, chopped (stems included)
2 cups cooked white beans
1 cup refried beans OR mashed beans
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 cup stemmed parsley

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon oil, 1/3 of the garlic, half the rosemary, and a pinch of salt, set aside. In a soup pot, heat remaining oil with onion, remaining garlic, rosemary, salt and the onion over medium high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Add celery and kale, cover pan and let sweat until slightly wilted. Add water to cover, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add beans, stir in mashed or refried beans and return to a simmer. Season to taste with paprika and salt and serve, garnished with parsley and a swirl of the reserved garlic oil. Serves 4.

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Dog Salmon Not For Dogs

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Ann Lovejoy
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Recipes And Disasters

Salmon is pretty much the chicken of the Pacific Northwest; many of us eat it frequently in a variety of ways. Right now, in spawning season, it’s best to let them do their reproductive thing unhindered, so we rely on canned, smoked, or flash frozen fish. I know folks who scorn canned salmon, but I also know old timers who have lots of tasty recipes from back in the day, when canned salmon was a lot better than none. Salmon quiche; salmon and rice souffle; salmon, potato and leek casserole; salmon hash, all are quite toothsome uses for canned fish (and prime fresh salmon would be wasted in such recipes).

I often use soft smoked salmon in a favorite version of Standby Pie, my go-to speedy dinner when unexpected company arrives. It’s also delightful in omelets, sandwiches, casseroles and appetizers, not to mention a great protein pick-me-up with crisp apple slices and a little soft goat cheese. Frozen salmon is excellent these days, thanks in part to pioneers like Bainbridge Islander Bruce Gore, one of the first to embrace sustainable catch methods, high-quality preparation, and flash freezing at sea. I don’t recall seeing anybody else’s name on packaged fish, but Bruce Gore and his company Triad Fisheries have been names to reckon with for nearly 40 years.

Dog Salmon NOT For Dogs Anymore

Back in the day, coastal people fed their dogs on chum salmon, which many still call dog salmon. However, these days, that’s a very risky idea, since here the maritime northwest, dogs can die from eating raw or undercooked salmon (or their trout cousins). What?!? Yup, sad but true. Here’s the scoop; because of a complex series of parasite-host relationships, fish raised in northwestern waters can cause Salmon Poisoning Disease, which can kill dogs (and coyotes, and wolves, and foxes) in a week or two. Most commonly, dogs get the disorder when they eat fish guts or raw kitchen scraps, or find dead fish along spawning streams or riverbanks.

There isn’t really any poison involved. Instead, salmon may be hosting a bacteria called Neorickettsia helminthoeca which is carried by a flatworm-like trematode, or fluke (Nanophyetus salmincola).  These flukes may infect any of nearly three dozen hosts, among which aquatic snails (Oxytrema silicula) may be the most common. The infected snails then poop out fluke eggs, which may be eaten by salmon (or Giant Pacific Salamanders), which in turn become infected. When a dog (or wolf or coyote or fox) eat an infected fish or salamander, the bacteria make themselves at home, damaging the lymph system and causing often fatal hemorrhaging within a week or two.

How Many Way Is This Disgusting?

So if your dog has gotten into raw salmon, you may notice lethargy after a week or so, as well as poor appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, fever, and eventually seizures. Caught soon enough, a combination of worming treatments and antibiotics can reverse the disorder within a few days. Why am I telling you this horrible story? Because in recent weeks, several friends have had their dogs diagnosed with Salmon Poisoning Disease (and successfully treated, thank goodness). Vets in the Maritime Northwest are generally quite aware of the disorder, since this is the only part of the country that the snail is found. The point? If you even suspect that raw salmon (or trout) may have been eaten, get your dog in to the vet as soon as possible. The sooner treatment starts, the better the outcome.

Still Hungry?

Me too. How about that Standby Pie? This is one of the most versatile recipes I know; it started off as a traditional Italian ricotta torta, enlivened with spinach and asiago cheese. Over the years I’ve given it all kinds of twists, from ham, leeks, and mushrooms or kale and sharp cheddar to Greek olives and myzithra or chili peppers and fresh corn. The key is not to load it up with soft, watery vegetables, but stick to fairly firm ones. Here’s the smoked salmon version (just don’t feed it to the dog, please).

Smoked Salmon Torta  

1 pie crust (gluten free or any)
1 pound ricotta
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/3 cup flour (gluten free or any)
1 cup grated hard cheese (pecorino is nice)
1 bunch spinach or kale, chopped
4-6 ounces soft smoked salmon, skinned and flaked

Preheat oven to bake 350 degrees F. Line a pie dish with crust, flute edges, set aside. In a bowl, combine ricotta, egg, salt, and paprika, then stir in flour and cheese, reserving a little cheese to sprinkle on top. Add kale and smoked salmon, stir to combine, fill pie shell, top with remaining cheese and bake until set and lightly browned (40-45 minutes). Let stand for 10 minutes, then serve. Serves 6.

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A Parade Of Pumpkins

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Ann Lovejoy
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From Nuts To Soup

This year, my three year old grandson is enchanted with pumpkins, and so am I. For one thing, they are so beautifully plump and rounded, whether symmetrical or pleasingly eccentric in shape. Warty or smooth skinned, tawny or palest cream, they stand out like glowing lanterns in the browning fields. Carving pumpkins has always been one of my favorite fall activities, though I hadn’t bothered in recent years, since my house has never had trick-or-treaters. This year I was also invited to help carve pumpkins for a clever, inventive Haunted Hayride put on by our local Parks (this year, a purple water-snorting dragon was a special guest).

It’s been delightful to reclaim this happy pastime, and I am already planning to grow plenty of pumpkins and gourds next year. I can imagine groups of arty gourds dripping gracefully from the trellises and arbors at Hannah’s Garden, a delightful mixed planting tucked into our island’s accessible play space, Owen’s Playground. It will be fun to show kids how to gently scratch patterns on the swelling pumpkins in late summer, so the scar tissue makes images of flowers and foliage, birds and animals as well as the usual funky faces.

Gut Issues

It always seems a shame to waste the pumpkin innards that get removed to make room for candles. However, though I’ve experimented with recipes of various kinds, the sad truth is that this stuff isn’t very nice to eat. However, I’ve noticed that newer varieties bred to be carved rather than eaten often have dry, stringy innards instead of the sloppy, gloppy kind. I saved some seeds to grow on and will be intrigued to see what comes of them. Anyway, unless it’s raining, I clean pumpkins on a picnic table near my compost, so it’s easy to toss the slimy goop right onto the pile.

It’s quite easy to clean the inside of my pumpkins with a trowel or a huge serving spoon, getting all the stringy bits out. If the sides are scraped as clean as possible, the inevitable rot will be slowed down. I pick out as many large, ripe pumpkin seeds as possible, putting them in a bowl of water to rinse off the sticky stuff. Once clean and dry, they can be saved for next season’s planting and/or used in the kitchen for snacking and garnishes.

Nuts (Ok, Really Seeds)

When carving, I always save some pumpkin seeds, perhaps better appreciated by their Spanish name, pepitos. Like most seeds, pepitos are very high in protein yet low in carbs, making them a healthy choice for snackers. To roast pumpkin seeds, rinse them well, then dry them in a single layer on parchment paper. Toss with a little avocado or olive oil, give them a light sprinkle of sea salt, then place them on parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 325 F. until crisp (8-12 minutes).

If you want to play with flavoring them, toss them while still hot with a little chili powder, smoked paprika, curry powder, cumin, or even cinnamon sugar. Store pepitos in a tightly sealed jar out of direct light for up to 2 months or freeze them for longer storage. Mine rarely last that long, since I like to use them in salads, as garnish for soups, and in rice or pasta dishes. I also use them in pestos and hummus, where they can replace pinenuts, walnuts, or almonds.

Roasted Pumpkins

There are so many ways to enjoy eating pumpkins that pie is really the least of them. For instance, you can roast chunks of pumpkin with potatoes and carrots, then toss with herbes de Provence or a spicy masala powder and serve as a savory side with chicken or fish. For a heartier entree, saute diced cooked pumpkin with garlic, onions, and sliced kalamata olives, then toss with hot pasta. Sprinkle with grated hard cheese and lots of pepper and serve with a green salad garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin can work as well as any winter squash in lasagna or risotto, and of course makes marvelous soups.

Creamy pumpkin soup was an autumn treat in my New England girlhood, but these days I’m more apt to spike it with smoky chipotle peppers, stir in fresh peanut butter and coconut milk, or give it a more sophisticated French or Italian treatment. Here’s a festive version to serve for a party or a holiday. Be sure to use a heavy walled cooking pumpkin, not a jack-o-lantern type, which are often thin skinned and stringy, with rather watery pulp.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

1 large cooking pumpkin
1 head garlic, broken into cloves, not peeled
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1-2 teaspoons powdered ginger
1 teaspoon powdered coriander
2 quarts vegetable or chicken broth, hot
1 cup organic heavy cream, warmed
1/4 cup soft goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup roasted pepitas

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Remove top inch of pumpkin with stem and scrape out seeds. Place pumpkin cut side up in a baking dish, tuck garlic cloves inside and bake at 425 until tender (about 30-45 minutes). When tender, gently scoop out pulp, taking care not to damage outer shell. Mash pulp with peeled roasted garlic  and salt, paprika, ginger and coriander to taste. Stir in broth (start with 1 quart and add to almost fill pumpkin shell). Stir in cream and serve at once, garnished with cheese and pepitas. Serves 4-6.

Baby Pumpkinspumpkin-hedgehog

To cook mini pumpkins whole in the oven or microwave, poke a few holes in the top, then cook until barely tender (about 20-30 minutes in the oven, and 3-4 minutes in the microwave). Cut off the top, remove the seeds and refill with something yummy for individual servings.

For a savory version, fill tiny pumpkins with spicy chili, topped with pepperjack cheese and fresh cilantro. For a sweet-hot treat, mash in a spoonful of orange juice concentrate and some chopped ancho peppers. For a totally cute dessert, fill little pumpkins (raw, and cleaned) with pumpkin pie filling and bake on a rimmed baking sheet until set (about 30 minutes).

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