HOME– I would not make a good spy. And to use some of our choice new household language (developed just for Mazy), I might describe myself as “Bad spy. Bad spy girl.”

Prime example:  I never knew a secret subculture of society (yes, our red-blooded American brethren) exists and will only openly approach you if you are walking with a dog. YES! Walk by yourself or walk with a friend and you will walk for years without so much as a head nod from some of these very same people. Grab a leash, a plastic bag, and a happy-go-lucky puppy and you are a card-carrying member without so much as an interview.

Mazy, sitting pretty.

Honestly, I am not much for clubs or organizations, of any ilk. I try to avoid crowds and public shows of affiliation or doorways that lead to socially-respectable meetings following protocol such as Robert’s Rules of Order or obligatory ties for men.

However {pause for emphasis}, I am rethinking my anti-social leanings. This canine club has a powerful pull on me. They rarely gather- it seems to be more of a chance street encounter with the option of a secret pawshake, which ~thankfully~ Mazy seems to know. I’m becoming quite taken with this overt declaration of neighborliness and freewheeling profession of puppy love.

Are you in this society? You are a friendly bunch. You want to know all sorts of personal information about Mazy. You want to pet her and you laugh when she kisses you; you don’t seem to mind that she’s got a leaf hanging out of her mouth. I hope that’s a leaf.

You never seemed very interested in my cat. Which, by the way, is his preferable relationship with you, too, so it’s all good. In fact, for the life of him, he cannot understand what all the fuss is over this clumsy, barking, overly-friendly fur ball. He finds her intellectually stunted and socially unrefined.

Mazy, however, is craaaaazzy to meet you. Her tail is thumping at the very thought of it. Oh, the exhilaration –it’s too fantastic to even imagine!! Oh happy, happy day!! This is possibly the very best moment of her life, EVER.

Mazy’s got baby status. She’s not with me? I bring out the iPhone with her photos and you gush. Funny thing is, I want to ask you questions about your dog, too. I am genuinely interested. What kind? Boy or girl? How old? What color? Do you have a picture? “Oooh, what a doll baby!”

I do believe this is my kind of club. I am Kim Byer, Secret Dog Society member for 14 weeks and counting.

February 7th, 2010 | Category: Issue no. 10 | Leave a Comment! (5) people are talking...

HOME–On a recent blustery afternoon, we made reservations for the evening at a new Italian restaurant.  In my mind’s eye, I conjured up a plate of thick, al dente, hand torn pasta. This is what I would order: chewy squares of semolina pasta drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with fried capers or lemon peel or flakes of red peppers.

Checking out the restaurant’s site, I acquiesced my pasta dream dish wasn’t on the menu, but surely it would be a Nightly Special. Surely. Surely, steaming, thick squares of hand torn pasta is on everyone’s mind (including any Italian chef worth his sale) during these frigid months.

Or surely not, Crazy Lady.

Undeterred, I continued to envision the rustic torn pasta. I’d first fallen in love with this type of pasta on our trip to the Amalfi Coast a couple of years ago. So, last night, like any sorceress worth her salt, I conjured it up myself.

We’ve actually been making a similar sauce for weeks. In fact, while I was knee deep in fatigue, Rich commandeered the kitchen and the shopping. {gasp!} After six years of dating and six more of marriage, letting Rich take control of my domain was a sure sign something was amiss. Not that he can’t cook. He’s actually a very good cook. He’s the guy who follows a recipe precisely and turns out perfect plate after perfect plate. If you know Rich, you know that he is the Rule Follower in this family. I am the refrigerator scrounging, five pots for a one-pot meal, interpretive, expressionistic, flour-in-my-hair, who-needs-a-measuring-cup, wonder-what-a-pinch-of-this-will-do, black sheep member.

My biggest request was for his fresh Sea Bass with Tomato, Olives, and Capers by Ellie Krieger. Her hearty tomato sauce almost overwhelms the fish. And being the reluctant fish eater that I am, I am cool with that. As expected, I’ve altered Ellie’s recipe and created my very own fiery tomato tapenade sauce. And although I assure you this dish doesn’t need a protein, it would go brilliantly with chicken, veal, pork, beef, or obviously, sea bass.

Hand Torn Pasta with a Fiery Tomato Tapenade

—
Dough
—
3/4 cups of Semolina Flour
3/4 cups of Unbleached White Flour mixed with 1/2 t Kosher Salt
2 Eggs, beaten
2 T Water
2 T Olive Oil (optionally substitute Chili Oil)
2 T chopped Parsley (for topping only!)
—
Knead the dough for 10 minutes until it’s pliable and smooth. If you have a stand up mixer with a dough hook, knead on medium speed for ten minutes. Large humming appliances tend to make the dough much smoother and our lives much easier, but honestly, the cooked result will not be noticeably different. And personally, I think kneading dough is one of life’s greatest pleasures. The semolina is a textured flour. Be sure the texture has been smoothed when the heel of your hand flattens it.
—
Next, rest the dough beneath a dish towel for 20 minutes while you make your sauce and heat your pasta water. When ready, roll the dough into a large, pizza-sized round. The dough will thicken as it cooks, so roll it out thinner than you want it to cook up. If you use a pasta roller with six depth notches, pass it through until you reach three or four. I prefer my dough a bit thick for this recipe.
—
Tear the round into approximately 2 x 2 squares or 2 x 3 rectangles. Don’t worry about being uniform. Cook squares in salted, oiled and boiling water until al dente. Cool and top with parsley and additional olive oil.
—
Tomato Tapenade Sauce
—
2 T Olive Oil (optionally substitute Chili Oil)
1 small Yellow Onion, diced
2 cloves of Garlic (optional)
1/2 cup Chardonnay
28 oz. can of Tomatoes (e.g. Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes)
1/2 cup pitted, Spicy Green and Black Olives
2 T Capers, drained
2 Anchovies, minced (optional)
1/4 t Red Pepper Flakes
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
—
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the yellow onion until tender. Add the garlic and saute another minute. Add the wine and cook until it’s reduced by half. Add remaining ingredients and cook for fifteen or so minutes. Season with Kosher Salt and Pepper.
—
A handful of Pine Nuts, lightly toasted
Parmesan for shaving (e.g. Parmigiano-Reggiano)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
—
In low pasta bowls, layer your pasta and sauce. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the top. Top with toasted pine nuts and Parmesan shavings.

January 31st, 2010 | Category: Issue no. 10, Savory | Leave a Comment! (15) people are talking...

HOME– If Paper Apron were a real business, I’d be announcing All Sales Are Final.

Five posts in eight weeks and I’m still scratching my head at where the time went. Sure, there were Christmas and New Year’s, puppy training and my wedding anniversary and that whole depression thing and the buzz-killing cold winter weather advisories. But, still…five posts?!! Issue No. 9 is inexcusable. Ah, well.

Let’s heat up these winter doldrums with a new issue and a little Love and the Art of Household Maintenance. We’ll give this issue a twenty-eight day lifespan, mainly because I’m not sure I can handle the Mary Kay pink-a-boo masthead for much longer than that.

What will Love & the Art of Household Maintenance be about? Well, we’re all still in the mood to organize and reconstruct our lives. We’ve swept up the holiday glitter and packed away the twinkling lights. But, looking around, it seems dull without the shiny baubles. We need to rethink our decor; fluff up our nest.

As we reevaluate surroundings, we’re also reevaluating ourselves. We know we need to eat healthier, but we’re willing to splurge in the name of romance. Before the month’s end, I know I’ll order a large slice of Death by Chocolate cake and slurp down a ceramic mug of creamy hot chocolate. And in between popping a few truffles into my mouth, I’ll focus on healthy versions of comforting foods. February is a contradictory time lapse of good habits versus naughty moments. February is a test.

And what’s Love got to do with it? Love is the drug. Love is the most important ingredient in every dish we make. Without love, a meal may as well be eaten in a fast food parking lot, by yourself.

~~And a note to all of you who kept coming to visit, despite the half-empty reception, Bless You. My staycation is over. My head is back in the blog. It’s time once again, to share the love.

January 30th, 2010 | Category: Issue no. 9 | Leave a Comment! (6) people are talking...

I, uh… I’ve been taking a mini vacay.

I, uh. I should’ve said something. I know. I didn’t set out to be inconsiderate. I guess those things just happen.

{ Wince }

I actually didn’t know I was going to be gone so long. However, my imagination seemed to wander off, too, and for the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything that I was doing that you’d be interested in.

So, tonight I made an ~avatar~ if you will, of my (younger) self and what I’ve been sitting around doing, with apologies to Satchel Paige.

Yes. I am on vacation this week and last- in between projects at work. But, I’m actually just hanging out at my house. I’m on one of those trendy, oh-so-not-glamorous staycations.

In truth, I have nothing much to do, nowhere in particular to go. I am staying up late and waking up late. I am lounging through entire episodes of the Today Show. I am praying for the Haitians. I am mad at Congress. I am reading, but not recommending, Cleaving. I am hanging out on Facebook, looking at strangers’ photos. I am frying eggs over easy for breakfast and rolling out homemade cinnamon bread and drinking entire pots of French pressed coffee. I am ironing napkins. I am watering houseplants. I am playing fetch with Mazy and hanging out down by the river with Rich. I am considering things.

It is the very essence of nothing.

I should flaunt my leisurely, unoccupied self by skipping around the neighborhood at ten o’clock in the morning. If it weren’t so cold, I’d prance around the block in my fluffy yellow slippers. Oh, yes I would.

What am I actually doing? Pretty much this: I have uncovered my inner housewife. And she is the bomb.

More on this to come on this fascinating revelation…and no, it won’t be two weeks this time.

January 25th, 2010 | Category: Issue no. 9 | Leave a Comment! (10) people are talking...

HOME–Brrrr, it’s cold. So. Very. C-c-cold. We’re not used to shivering; we’re used to sunshine. Thank goodness today brought a little bit of both.

Because today, my aunt and uncle drove up from Florida hauling boxes of sunshine in the form of sweet, homegrown grapefruits, big-as-your-fist Meyer lemons, and juice-filled Florida oranges. These cannonballs of citrus sunshine will heat up the coldest kitchen and transport you back to the healthy eating days of summer. And after a month-long binge of sugary treats, healthy is exactly how our minds need to think.

This sunny salad is a textural symphony. The fennel and celery provide the bass crunch. The garam masala in the dressing will kick up a cancan on your tongue. And the citrus sings like a sultry siren from some exotic far-away island.

Plus, it’s pretty and cheerful. Which, reminds me:  I have been smiling for days now. In fact, I am smiling in my head before I even get out of bed in the morning. I now clearly recognize this as my old, normal state of mind! Very similar to putting on teeny tiny pound a week– you don’t realize you’re full blown fat until your belly is full on fighting your zippers and buttons for the heavy weight title. Depression, much like fat cells, is insidious.

I am declaring myself officially cured. Whew, right?

Winter Citrus Salad with Toasted Almond Goat Cheese Rounds

Serves 2 to 4 persons
Goat Cheese, 2 1″ rounds per person, sliced from cheese log
Sliced Almonds, 1 T per goat cheese round
1/2 bulb of Fennel, shaved thin
2 stalks of Celery, sliced thin
2 Grapefruits, sectioned
2 Oranges, sectioned
Baby Lettuce Greens, 1 large handful per person
Fennel fronds (garnish)
Cilantro leaves (garnish)
Dried Black Olives (optional)
—-
Marinade/Dressing
Juice of 1/2 Orange + 1/2 Meyer Lemon ( or enough citrus juice to equal 1/2 cup)
2 T Honey
1/4 cup light salad oil such as Safflower
1/4 t Garam Masala
Kosher Salt (2 generous pinches) and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

—

Freezing temps haven't stopped our lettuce crop, yet.

First, assemble goat cheese rounds by rolling in sliced almonds. Place in refrigerator while mixing the dressing and assembling the remaining salad. If you intend to thoroughly warm/melt cheese, then refrigerate for at least one hour.
Combine Dressing ingredients in a covered glass jar. Shake vigorously. Optionally, the marinade can be heated. Marinate fennel, citrus segments, and celery in dressing. Gently wash and dry greens and place in bowls. Spoon generous helpings of marinated citrus, etc. onto lettuce greens. Heat cheese rounds until almonds brown and cheese is melting. Place atop greens. Top with snipped fennel fronds and cilantro. Serve immediately.

January 9th, 2010 | Category: Issue no. 9, Savory | Leave a Comment! (13) people are talking...

WARNING– This post is not a pick-me-up, warm and fuzzy, let’s-start-the-year-off-soaring kind of post. Rather, it’s the antithesis of the typical Paper Apron post– a real downer, and quite possibly TMI. So, if you stop reading now, you just may go on about your day, as happy-go-lucky as you were when you started reading this fair warning. No worries. And please, do check back in a few days, when all is back to normal in Paperapronland.

I’ve been on hiatus. Sure, I’ve been crazy-busy over the holidays, (just like you) meeting up with old friends, hosting family gatherings, shopping, wrapping presents, baking biscotti, popping handfuls of rum balls and rearing our new puppy (with whom, I am completely smitten, BTW).

However, I haven’t posted lately, for another reason:  Zero desire. {yikes!} But, it’s not like it sounds! I can explain…

You see, I haven’t recently desired much of anything, except a long winter’s nap on the couch.

This little tale starts a few months ago:

Just before Halloween, I notice that my body is gearing down and my heart is overwhelmed with sadness. I am having surges of unwelcome, unreasonable, unrelenting unhappiness, served with a too generous portion of fatigue. Although it’s alarming, I am pretty sure it’s an anomaly. Depression is somewhat of a foreign concept to me; I am a happy, smiling, positively upbeat kid. I may not be young, but I’m very young-at-heart.

I quietly (okay, perhaps not so quietly, Rebeca) blame the whole emotional lapse on my latest contract, which, as you may remember, has landed me once again, inside a gray cubicle, on a gray floor, which is slid like a cafeteria tray into a hermetically sealed larger gray box of a building, humming with piped-in white noise, and the glaring florescence of unreal, artificial daylight. I mean, seriously, that could depress anyone, right?

Turns out, it wasn’t my cubicle’s fault.

When November arrived, in a desperate attempt to snap out of it, I did the NaBloPoMo, 30 Posts in 30 Days thingy, stretching myself thin in an effort to ward off the happiness thieves trying to break in through my head and duct tape my heart.

Alas. All of November’s daily posting mania couldn’t pull me out of my slumbering dirge. I was in trouble. Rich heard it loud and clear. This isn’t like me. Something is wrong with me. I’m not like this, am I?

Woooohhooooo. My first depression!!! It zings with all of the merriment of getting your first period, your first college loan due date, your first gray hair, your first wrinkle…. Oh help me, oh help me, oh help me, oh help me.

And although I’d never had one, (as if depression is a singular entity that arrives in a mini casket, draped with a black bow) my family, and extended family, is no stranger to depression.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve urged loved ones to just get out and go take a walk. As if they could shrug the depression off, if they would only make an effort.

Now I get it. You can’t wish depression away. And you can’t kiss it away. All the puppy kisses in the world didn’t cure me.

And so, we fast forward the story to a doctor’s visit and a test result of hypothyroidism. {Insert quick prayer of thanks for modern medicine here.} It seems that somewhere in the past few months, I’d signed up for a new club. Indeed, a wildly popular club of lifers.

And sure, I watch Oprah. And no, I didn’t take notes on the hypothyroid episode. I just thought, oh you know…that will never affect moi. This thought actually occurred, even though my father had thyroid cancer, which was as frightening as it reads. Did you have this it’ll never happen to me thought, too, or are you one of the many members signed up for the hypothyroidism-for-life club?

Anyway, all is getting better. I had a pretty normal day today. No sleeping all day. Not a whiff of sadness. Perhaps my little white pills are starting to work. After all, I actually found myself wanting to post tonight! Yes, Paper Apron, there is a Santa Claus!

{gush} I missed you guys!!!!

Topic #2: Somber Reflections on a Remarkable Year

When I wrote the title, “Somber…” this morning, well, I was somber. But, tonight, I’m feeling pretty good and I’m thrilled to report that I was able to underline the vast majority of my 2009 goals this year (see chalkboards). I didn’t make a mole sauce, but I was triumphant with my soufflé! And although I never made it to Brussels, I did get to live in Paris and pretend like I was a Parisian over the summer. That was my absolute highlight. My puppy, Mazy, may be highlight number two. And “Get a Dog” was on last year’s list, so I’m doing something right with this continued list of dreams.

I’ve erased my boards and will be collecting my dreams and wishes for my 2010 chalkboards. I usually give myself a few weeks in January to ramp up my top sixty or so wishes and goals. Depression blip aside, economic slip aside, I am visualizing another truly wonderful year. I hope you are, too. Any ideas you want to share?

January 4th, 2010 | Category: Issue no. 9 | Leave a Comment! (16) people are talking...

HOME– This is Miss Mazy Grace, my Christmas present. It was puppy love at first sight. Now you see why I had to draw her in this issue’s masthead. What a baby doll!

December 21st, 2009 | Category: Issue no. 9 | Leave a Comment! (20) people are talking...

HOME– Divinity was the forbidden confection of my childhood. It taunted me through the holidays. It would be made in secret batches (Aunt Donna was the usual suspect responsible for the most delectable morsels) and kept under tight security in special Tupperware containers, passed around furtively to card-carrying, Adults Only.

Children were never offered divinity. And if we begged, we got one piece per batch, never more; it was out of the question.

I always assumed this was because divinity was made from expensive ingredients that underwent a laborious candy-coating process of the utmost delicacy and focused intensity. One piece took hours to create– a tiny frosted treasure to behold in your cupped hands. It glowed like a glossy white nougat. It smelled like ice cream. It tasted très taboo.

But, Nah. Divinity is actually quite easy to make. And the most expensive ingredient is the tablespoon of good vanilla. You see, I know this because I crossed that knowing threshold today. I made my first batch of divinity and it was easy. Easy as PIE. And kids can have piece of pie. Pie is hardly elusive or unattainable.

Discovery: Divinity is nothing more than pure, unadulterated sugar melted with pure, adulterated corn syrup, which is whirred together into liquid candy, then whipped into a buttery, frothy, peaked frenzy.

Aha moment:  Children should be kept very, very far away from these intense sugary blobs of carbohydrate finery or they will quickly ruin a perfectly calm evening.

There are no kids here tonight for me to torture with my Adults Only divinity. So, I will eat all of the divinity I want, bounce around like a madwoman for fifteen minutes, and go to bed early with a mysterious tummy ache. Ah, the joys of adulthood.

Divinity

—

4 cups Granulated Sugar

1 cup Corn Syrup

3/4 cup Water

3 Egg Whites (at room temperature)

1 T good quality Vanilla

2 cups chopped Pecans

—

Melt sugar, corn syrup and water together in a large, heavy bottomed pan. After the sugar melts, stop stirring, but continue to heat until a candy thermometer shows 260* degrees. While the sugar is heating, whip egg whites in a mixer until peaks are stiff. When sugar reaches the hard ball candy stage, slowly pour into egg whites. Add vanilla. Whip/beat at high speed while pouring liquids. In 10-15 minutes, the mixture will be sufficiently thickened. Stir in chopped pecans. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment/wax paper. Allow to cool completely.

—

Note: You’ll want to make divinity when the humidity is low. When forming your nougats, add drops of hot water to the mixture if it thickens.

December 6th, 2009 | Category: Issue no. 9, Sweet | Leave a Comment! (12) people are talking...

HOME– I am so full. I have been full since early September when we started this issue. Surely it’s time to turn over a new leaf and stop eating every pie in sight. I have twelve freshly grown grapefruit in my refrigerator, courtesy of my Uncle Bill’s tree. Maybe I can change the twelve days of Christmas into the twelve days of grapefruit and curtail this silly pie, cake and cookie fest before I turn into jolly ole St. Nick.

But, that’s not what we do now. Not yet.

In November and December, we eat every pie in sight. It’s the law.

Issue no. 8 was the Paper Apron’s biggest issue ever with over thirty-eight posts- a new record!

Wow. Just writing that reminds me that I’m tired, too. Full of good food and ready for a long winter’s nap.

Oh please. Who am I kidding? I am just getting warmed up! The winter brings us so many opportunities to look ourselves, straight in our frozen reflection, and figure out what the heck we’re doing with our life. And why, exactly, are we here.

But tonight, I’m just anxious to put up a new Issue header and get on with it.

So bear with me through Issue no. 9– one more month of sweet abandon and delicious over-indulgence. Hooray for the holidays!

December 5th, 2009 | Category: Issue no. 8 | Leave a Comment! (3) people are talking...

HOME–With the press of a “Publish” button, I cross the finish line of my month-long blogging marathon.

The bright-eyed idea folks over at NaBloPoMo, hardly put me up to this, but they’re the ones I’ve been lobbing &*%$@#!s at, over the past thirty days and thirty late nights. I also kicked myself a few times. But, no more. Tonight it’s OVER! I can relax now. I actually did it– and I can hardly believe it!

(And for those of you paying attention, yes, tonight is actually December 1- my hosting service was down again last night, so I couldn’t hit “Publish” until this morning.)

I cannot thank you enough for coming by as many times as you did to walk alongside me on this strange little blogging adventure. It would be an understatement to say that I have any idea why I did this. It was truly a fluke of a decision. November was as busy a month as I’ve had in years, without my blogging commitment.

Did I enjoy it? Was it as much fun as I thought it might be? Yes and Yes. In fact, there were only two nights out of thirty when I found myself with zero desire to post. Not bad odds for a creative endurance challenge.

My favorite surprise was Day 18: A Spontaneous Soufflé! I can’t wait to make another one. My favorite taste of the month, was, hands down, the Carrot and Leek Tart. My favorite new sport? Blind Olive Oil Tastings. My favorite discovery? I had enough time. I suppose we all have enough time to do whatever it is we want most in this life.

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” ~Life’s Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Now, I think I’ll take some time and find out how you’re doing.

December 1st, 2009 | Category: 30 Days. 30 Posts., Issue no. 8 | Leave a Comment! (6) people are talking...

HOME– A warm bowl of soup is my go-to meal on cool nights. All I want for an accompaniment is a small glass of wine, a crisp piece of toast, and cheese- the most expensive hunk I can afford- dense, rich, at room-temperature, and softly beaded with oil.

Soup nights satisfy my need to slow down, stop the noise and stress of life and bring spoonfuls of nourishment, slowly, up to my mouth. My favorite soups are purées– pure sips of rich, creamy flavor.

On soup nights, I like to eat next to the fire, watch a good show and unwind. There is something primal and comforting about a warm bowl of soup, cupped in your hands.

Tis the season to make soup. This soup is for true allium lovers– it’s full of rich onion flavor– strong, and like garlic chicken– best eaten with the one you love. And you know, I’ll bet garlic would be great in this soup.

Purée of Roasted Leek and Sweet Onion

Makes 6 small servings.
—–
2 Leeks, washed well and chopped into small pieces.
3 Sweet Onions, such as Vidalia, chopped
8 cups Chicken Broth
8 cups Beef Broth
1 T Sugar
1 T Kosher Salt
1 t dried Thyme
1/4 cup dry Sherry
1/2 cup dry Vermouth or White Wine
2 dried Bay Leaves
Kosher Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
Baguette, sliced and toasted
Gruyere or White Cheddar (Holland Gouda Goat cheese shown), sliced and warm
—–
Roast leeks, onion, salt, sugar, in a roasting pan at 425 degrees for one hour - or- saute on stove top until onions are brown and caramelized. Place all ingredients in a large pot. Simmer and reduce liquid for thirty minutes or more. Puree soup with an immersion blender. Ladle soup and top with toasted baguette slices topped with melted cheese. Flavor with freshly cracked pepper.

November 29th, 2009 | Category: 30 Days. 30 Posts., Issue no. 8, Savory | Leave a Comment! (5) people are talking...

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA– Today is a special day; ninety years ago today, in 1919, a mischievous twinkle first sparkled in a newborn’s eyes; Susie Willena Kornegay had arrived, and by golly, she was going to enjoy her life.

Aunt Sue

Sue is the third girl and the fifth child born to this, still growing, family. Her oldest sister, Mary, only lives for five months. Her next oldest sister, Connie, is my mother’s mother, and the grandmother I never had the pleasure of knowing. But I am so lucky to have known her younger sister, Sue. My Great Aunt Sue.

Growing up on a farm in Vance, Alabama, Sue learns how to be a formidable cook, gardener and homemaker. In 1940, she marries the love of her life, Jimmy Lee Junkin (Uncle J.L.). For years, she works as a beautician and manicurist.

My mom remembers Sue flying to South Carolina one year, and how, when she got off the plane, she looked just like a movie star. She dazzled her niece and nephew in her high heel shoes and big city style.

The Aunt Sue I would come to know in my childhood was simply one of the best Southern cooks I would ever meet. And according to a friend, “It’s not just that she’s a great Southern cook. There are lots of great Southern cooks around here; Sue is special because of the way she shares her cooking. She’s always giving a Peanut Butter Pie to someone. She’s always sharing what she makes with others. I’ve never known anyone who is so giving with her food.”

Growing up, I remember her hands, her strong fingers, in particular, working peas out of shells and corn off the cob, snapping ends off of beans, peeling shrimp and slicing tomatoes. As a child, I understood that she knew how to handle food. She really knew how to cook.

Aunt Sue looking glamorous at the airport. My Grandfather, Red, on the right.

Over the years, I would see Aunt Sue at family reunions, weddings and funerals, including my uncle J.L.’s funeral.

At ninety years old, her opinion is strong, her looks still kill, and her heart is bigger than ever.

Aunt Sue has given me many things over the course of my lifetime. She shared her own recipes as well as a lifetime of recipes that her good friend, Bert, collected. She gave me boxes of treasures for my kitchen and table: tiny glass shell finger bowls, an apron, a cake stand, a metal vegetable press that I’ve yet to figure out how it works, and a hand-crocheted linen table cloth that she and my grandmother made for my mom’s wedding present. It is an exquisite work of art.

This afternoon’s birthday party will bring together over a hundred people who love her. I feel blessed to be among those attending.

Happy Birthday Aunt Sue!

Aunt Sue would want to share her Peanut Butter Pie recipe.. so I’d better do that for her, before I get in trouble.

Aunt Sue’s Peanut Butter Pie

—

8 oz. Cream Cheese

1/2 cup of Extra Crunchy Jif Peanut Butter + 1 extra heaping spoonful, for good measure

3/4 cup Confectioner’s Sugar (sifted)

16 oz. Cool Whip

Graham Cracker Crust

—

Whip Cream Cheese and Peanut Butter together until fluffy. Add the Confectioner’s Sugar and most of the Cool Whip. Pour into Graham Cracker crust and top with remaining Cool Whip.

November 28th, 2009 | Category: 30 Days. 30 Posts., Issue no. 8 | Leave a Comment! (9) people are talking...