The STUFFING!

My mom called it "filling."  We called it a "lot of work" but necessary and the greatest, all the same.  I grew up tearing the bread for the "filling" as did my sister and brothers (I think my brothers did but come to think of it - I can't remember them actually doing it)........My boys did it for my mom when she made it at our house over the years and then one year she recited the recipe to me over the phone (unsolicited) and said I would need this one day.  It really never occurred to me that I would be making it on my own at some point.  I scribbled it down and tucked it away.  Well, of course there did come the day that my mother was no longer with us and the responsibility came to me.  One or both of my boys was always around to help tear the bread but this year I found myself on my own.  That's no fun plus I figured now is the time to teach the next generation how to make the FILLING.  Enter my niece, Moira!

Moira is a wannabe cook.  Her favorite is Rachel Ray and her non-fave is Tyler Florence (she doesn't think he is very nice)......So Moira tore four loaves of white bread into bite size pieces.  To that she added 2 Tablespoons each of Thyme, Poultry Seasoning, Sage and Salt and Pepper.  We ground a huge bunch of fresh parsley in the Cuisinart and added to the bread.  We then sauteed an onion in one half stick of butter and browned the bread in that.  To that was added 1 cup of water with another half stick of melted butter.  We cooked that for about 10 minutes and the house instantly smelled like home.  Now I realize this "filling" sounds probably a little bland and where are the chestnuts and oysters and sausage and cornbread and all that other cool stuff?  I have been tempted over the years to try something new but there has always been great resistance in the family - it's all what you grow up with - this may have been a depression stuffing - my mom was full of stories of awful food during that time - like ketchup on bread with sugar instead of cookies!  In addition, we are Irish and not so good with the food all those years ago.  Nevertheless - Moira and I made another batch of stuffing and the family will be enjoying it soon at my sister's house for another year.

We weren't finished yet!  We still had to make an apple pie!  Moira doesn't even LIKE apple pie but she humored me and I peeled the apples while she sliced the apples with a little help from Uncle Harry.  This recipe is actually from Harry's mom.  He has many fond memories or her making TWO pies (and not just for Thanksgiving) because they had EIGHT kids and the pies barely making it to the table before they were gone.  He loved when she burned the crust before she even added the filling because he got to eat the crust that she would discard.  Anyway (back to me) - this is the first year I made my own crust.  I was so proud of myself because I had chilled it just like they said and took it out of frig and smashed it on the counter and started rolling and it came apart - just wouldn't work - I was frustrated - Moira took over because she had seen on tv how BARNEY did it.........I let her go and went about my other tasks and when I returned Moira had rolled out a BEAUTIFUL pie crust!

Here is Mrs. Noel's Apple Pie recipe.  

1 Cup of sugar

2 Tbspns flour

1 tspn cinnamon

1/2 tspn nutmeg

1/4 tspn ground cloves

Mix together with 5 or 6 peeled and sliced apples.  Sprinkle with 1 Tbspn of lemon juice.  Bake the pie crust covered in foil for 15 minutes on 450'.  Then add apple filling - reduce oven to 325' and bake for 1 hour.

This is Uncle Harry's favorite pie and if you want to keep him happy you learn his mom's recipe and bake the pie - it's that easy!  It also helps if you have a Moira around!

Bourbon-Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Well I guess it's "that time of year again"...how many times are we going to hear that in the next month........but it's true - and "that time of year" begins with Thanksgiving.  My sister, Sheila is usually the one who hosts the big day in our family.  She does a beautiful job of creating a delicious meal and at the same time making it look decidedly easy - PLUS HER HOUSE ALWAYS LOOKS IMMACULATE - she's one of those people you hate - I am not a cleaner.  I don't see the dirt!  How can two sisters come out of the same family and be so different?? But I digress.

So I always bring a few dishes to the Thanksgiving table and today I prepared the Sweet Potatoes.  I had never made this recipe but thought it looked sweet and simple to make.  The recipe was in the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper.  I found it while I was down there and because they are so big on the sweet potato down there I thought this might be the ticket!  So here goes and I might add they turned out swell and tasted syrupy and succulent and delish.

BOURBON-GLAZED SWEET POTATOES

4 to 6 sweet potatoes peeled and sliced about 1/2 in thick

4 T butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup bourbon

2 T maple syrup

salt and fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 375'

Butter an ovenproof casserole dish.  Arrange sweet potato slices in prepared dish and season with salt and pepper.

In a large saucepan, combine butter, sugar, bourbon and syrup and bring to boil over medium high heat.  As soon as the sauce starts to boil,  pour over the potatoes.  Bake and baste and turn potatoes occasionally until soft and tender, 45 to 50 minutes.  Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

I'd love to hear what other sweet potato recipes you people use out there.  Some people don't even feel the need for them if they have the regular white potatoes but because I try to stay away from the white stuff (as a diabetic) I always come equipped with the sweet potato.  ENJOY!

We should have weighed ourselves before entering South Carolina!

We have been eating our way through Charleston and her suburbs.  Yesterday we ventured to Sullivans Island which is literally down the road from Isle of Palm and had a stupendous lunch at Poes Tavern - I say stupendous because Harry took a gander at the beer menu and his jaw dropped......this from a man who prides himself in locating and tasting the latest brew out there.  He said this was the greatest selection he had seen!!  So, we sat down to a nice lunch of fish tacos and LaFolie New Belgium Flanders Style Brew (which turned out to be too sour) and Hoptober New Belgium (which was delish) and Sweetwater 410 (outstanding).........We could have stayed there all day - we were sitting outside and the sun was shining and the beautiful people were piling in - one gorgeous southern babe after another.......but I said we should visit Ft. Moultrie while we're here - Harry (reluctantly - who is usually such a history buff) agreed and we went down the street to the Fort - which was very interesting because it was the sight of our 1st victory against the British during the American Revolution.  It was also famous for many other wars including the 1812 and Civil War.......pretty cool.

After the tour and mass at a beautiful old world church in Charleston, St. John the Baptist we went to dinner at Cypress on East Bay Street.  Everybody is out and about in Charleston....students and tourists and locals...a very busy happening place and this restaurant was the place to be.  It had a contemporary ambiance and the menu was really different.    I had the Cioppino which was out of this world!  Harry had the Wreckfish which he wasn't that fond of but loved the butter lettuce salad with bacon jam and  pumpkin cheesecake which preceded and  ended the meal.  Then we crossed the street to a European like cafe with open air doors and windows for some coffee - it was delightful and a nice way to say goodbye to Charleston!

Tonight after the beach we ran over to the bay to catch the sunset...and  that was a nice way to say goodbye to beautiful Isle of Palm!

Greetings From Charleston

Charleston has got to be the most MOST city.  There is not a lot to not like about Charleston - the people are among the most genteel I've ever been around and the city is so picturesque it's almost scary!  Everywhere you look there is some beautiful iron work fencing surrounding some awesome historic building or just a delicate brownstone that is not brown but a pink or a corral or a yellow and then there is the Charleston Market that goes on for 6 blocks and is host to many many vendors and their unique wares including the sweetgrass baskets created by the locals and the local foods packaged by the locals and the jewelry and clothing and bags - it's a shoppers' paradise down here for sure.  The boutiques are numerous and antique stores and galleries - you could go on for days but you must stop to eat!  Not a problem there - last night we had a MAGNIFICENT dinner at Magnolias, which came highly recommended by friends and for good reason!  It had all the southern hospitality you would expect and more.  I had the Bouillabaisse and Harry had the parmesan encrusted flounder but for our appetizer we ordered Fried Green Tomatoes like no other!  They were fried to a crisp and served with caramelized onions and a delicious chutney sauce served on a bed of GRITS - out of this world.  A stop in Charleston is not worth it unless you check out Magnolia on East Bay Street!

Because Charleston is so gorgeous and steeped in history we decided to go back this morning. We would have a contest - we would split up (each with our own camera) and take our own pictures and decide at the end of trip (by some unbiased people - maybe our boys) who had the winning photos!  This was an excellent idea because I got to ditch Harry and GO SHOPPING and he got to ditch me and go out on his own to do his thing and not have me yelling at him the whole time - this is how we have come to enjoy 29 years of wedded bliss.......

We did meet 3 hours later and compare pictures and notes and we were very proud of ourselves - I got some neat purchases (and a few photos) and Harry got MANY photos and found a great bar where we tasted some craft brews and had homemade chips and salsa - unbelievable!  He had the Ranger IPA New Belgium and I had the Allagash White Ale from Portland, ME.  The bar was called Griffon on Queen Street and has the look of a dive bar but you're in Charleston so THIS is not possible.  The walls were covered in dollar bills that travellers had written various sentiments over the years - kind of like Captain Tony's in Key West where everyone leaves their business card or the place in Phoenix where they leave their ties.........Then we went for another walk around the town before heading back to beautiful Isle of Palm........NICE.

...On My Way To Carolina...

6AM was our estimated departure and we ended up pulling out of our driveway at 623AM for our destination:  Isle of Palm, South Carolina!!  Usually we are an hour or 2 behind our desired departure but this morning we were on a mission and that was to drive the 95 corridor in as little pain as possible.  We are vacating at the condo of our friends, Chris and Carl who graciously offered us their place for a long weekend and I am thrilled to show Harry this part of the East Coast -

The ride was surprisingly painless.  We ran into traffic at the usual spots like DC but after that is was clear sailing and because we wanted to make it in under 12 hours we whizzed by the countryside.  We didn't even have time to stop at the Ava Gardner Museum in North Carolina.  Who even knew there WAS an Ava Gardner Museum!  But we did stop at the South of the Border because you couldn't miss it and Pedro would have been so upset!  I had a corn dog and Harry had a chili dog and it wasn't good..... but we were there!

We arrived in Isle of Palm at 630PM and it was DARK.  The cable was dark as well as cell phone bars but these are the things you're supposed to get away from when you're on vacation - enjoy the serenity - enjoy the landscape - enjoy each other!  Whatever.......it will be fun!

RED ALERT IN SEA ISLE CITY, NJ

This weekend I spent in Ocean City, NJ at our condo by the sea.....or about 8 houses from the beach........with 2 friends from college, one of which is my sister-in-law, Merl and 1 of my bridesmaids, Chris S. - (this may be scary for some of you to think of.......but I had bridesmaids 29 years ago and they were and continue to be gorgeous and smart women!) ANYWAY.......we spent Friday Night doing our usual beer and wine and nice little picky foods like Asiago Cheese and olives and Abbruzzio cheese spread and whole grain crackers and nuts and Chris made a delicious pizza.  This is how she did it...........she purchased a really thin crust like a flatbread and on it she spread cream cheese with chives and then added thinly sliced tomatoes, sliced red onion (we can do this because our other bridesmaid, Susanne, was not in attendance - she ABHORS anything onion) crumbled bacon and then drizzled olive oil on it before baking in 350' oven for 8 minutes.  Chris said she usually grills the pizza but this was easy and it was delicious!  So after many hours SIPPING and noshing and talking and re-hashing and solving and supporting and yelling and screaming and laughing with each other....we went to bed.  Saturday the sun was shining and the day was crisp and clear.........so we did what what we always do in the Fall, something I wouldn't dare do in the summer......we drove down the ocean drive.  Our 1st stop was Chris' sister's new house in Sea Isle.  This house was just completed in July and we were invited to view it for the 1st time.  Chris' sister, Patty wasn't there so she gave Chris EXPLICIT instructions how to enter the house.......she gave us the code to open the garage.  DONE.  Then walk directly to the back of garage past the sink and reach past the bar that holds up the heater and look for the hide-away key.......this we all did (and we're so proud of ourselves) but we couldn't locate the hide-away key - 20 minutes later we FOUND IT and fiddled with it to open the hide-away thing and then unwrapped the paper towel that the key was wrapped in...........HUGE FOR US........then we put the key in the door - 12 minutes later we figured that out and entered the bottom of the house - but still another hurdle - we had to take an elevator to the main floor - this was a little tricky but Chris navigated us through that maze and VOILA! we are IN the house and what a house it is - gorgeous and gorgeous view of the ocean - just a lovely house!!   On our way out - disaster struck - we tried to go out the front door instead of the way we came in and all of a sudden the alarm went off!!!!  It was quite loud and we were quite confused........after much hair raising and arm raising and Merl and I trying to distance ourselves from the whole fiasco Chris saved the day and stopped the insanity............so we got in our car to continue on down the road and Sea Isle's finest FINALLY showed up......we could have taken all 10 of their tvs by this time.  The policemen checked our IDs and laughed with us for a minute and released us on our own recognisance...

We were exhausted after this.....so we went to Lunch.  It's always an Adventure......

BIG Weekend

Well it all started on Friday when countdown began for PHISH to begin their siege at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City NJ.......this was the long awaited and very-much planned 3 night HOOPLA and son, John was at the epicenter of the celebration.  A packed cooler and many costumes in back pack was all he needed to head down the Atlantic City Expressway...

With Johnny gone all we needed to do was pack ourselves and get on down 95!  First stop was the Convention Center in Washington DC to pick up Harry's race number for the Marine Corps Marathon the next day.  The Marine Corps Expo was packed with runners and marines.  As cool as the expo was this year the big draw was the Jon Stewart Rally a few blocks away!  We could hear the speeches from where we were but by the time we got out there it was over.  This did not deter the husband, Harry - we had to venture down to the Capitol to see what was going on.  When I say there were a LOT of people I mean there were a LOT of people - people streaming all up and down the roads - and the roads were shut down except for pedestrians and characters with Halloween costumes and many many funny signs - 1 of the best....."tights are not pants."  It was a pretty extraordinary sight to see - all ages and shapes - just out to voice their opinion in a mild mannered and fun way - another sign - "I'm mad as hell but in a passive aggressive way!!"

After a very exciting couple of hours in DC we drove to Georgetown to meet my sister, Sheila and brother-in-law, Brian and niece, Bridget at the Tombs for dinner........we had to devise our plan of attack for the next day at the Marathon.....The Tombs is part of our tradition when Harry runs the 26.2........it's a great place to go for a casual meal and see the college kids in action.

On Sunday we were blessed with a GORGEOUS DAY for a runner and his followers!  The Race started across the street from Arlington National Cemetery at 8AM......I wish I could figure out how to upload the video of the guy announcing the beginning of the race and inspiring all these runners and marines to DO THEIR BEST....TO BEAT THE BRIDGE...  TO TAKE THE IWO........

After Harry took off in a flash I had to high tail it to the Key Bridge to catch him at the 4 mile mark and meet TEAM NOEL (Sheil, Brian and Bridge) - needless to say this was easier said than done - the marines blocked me at every way - the security was much more intense this year and I couldn't talk them into letting me jump that fence or crawl under that wire...."no Ma'am , we can't let you do that."... consequently I missed Harry at the 4 mile but the TEAM did get a glimpse of him and we all caught up with him on M Street at the 8 mile mark.  Our next stop was COFFEE at Dean and DeLuca and then over to the Lincoln Memorial for the 16 mile mark.  We had our Phillies Flag so it would be easy for Harry to see us and we got more comments about that.....one runner actually took a picture of US and another runner said "that is HANDS DOWN the best sign I've seen all day - GO PHILS!" - We had a great time all day cheering everyone on - it was a very emotional time watching all these people give it everything they have.  We saw Harry again at the 25 mile marker and he was looking like a star........we were glad to see he was still standing but, not only that, he looked like he was having no problems!  He ended up finishing 4 hours 1 minute and change..HE WAS AMAZING and we were all very proud of him.  After gridlocking our way to the Family Link Up and Linking up with our runner we walked back to Georgetown and had a celebratory lunch at J.Pauls on M Street - this, too, is a sweet tradition......they have delicious omelets and spicy Bloody Marys and cold special brews for the runner and his favorite brother-in-law.

IT WAS AN EXHILARATING DAY