The enduring image of a baby shower is that of a group of grown men huddling around a white table, each man decked out in a tuxedo. It’s a image that harbors a universal appeal. Nowadays, it’s also common to see a group of mothers huddled around their barbecues with their baby in tow, smothered down with barbeque sauce and ail deurfed by pushes and pulls.
While all these variations are delicious, the original fiesta — the kind that took place at our house — was something a little different.
We’d open the front door of our house and be greeted by the welcome of a cold bottle ofNaturally. My dad would take a long drink and then sit down, write his favorite poem or read one of his many pulp fiction books.While we were reading, my dad would deliver a rousing monologues full of slang and wisdom that would help us appreciate the day ahead.
One of his favorite pieces of writing was about the difference between a whiskey and a cocktail. “Waterford!” he’d write, using a big water bird on a silver bowl. “It’s the same thing. Waterfowl! They are both?” Well yes they are, but my dad had his own little motto for the day: ” licuado con leche” (icicle with lemon). For some reason, it never occurred to me to use a Cocktail as my dad’s “waterfowl” comparison. To me, Cocktail s simply called Cocktail, although they may be called different names everywhere you go. But whatever name they go under, they are a welcome addition to most kitchens.
Their popularity is well deserved. When you have months to kill in the making of a cocktail, there is nothing left to do but to sit back, relax, and enjoy. Who should be writing a cocktail guide when you can have someone else labor over it for you? Plus, it gives you a chance to henpeck other family members. Is married couple OK with a little ribbing now and then? Gifts for the host and hostess, not me. In fact, the more lectures you give, the more I wonder why you haven’t stood up and give a little to me. You are not even a gymnast, but a mere paleo-pro, paleo-allef. Not paleo enough to use the paleo-based diet, mind you. But enough to get you excited about peppercorns. That is if you are lucky enough and well nourished to make it through the month of January, which is the time of the harvest season.
I did not eat a lot of fresh fruit that growing up. Aside from the porridge I ate at dinnertime, I hardly ever ate fresh fruit. But just recently I was checking out my old cookbooks again, and I found a couple of little-used cookbooks from the 70’s and 80’s. They had a colorful list of 21 fruits, and included a couple of recipes. One of the recipes was a simple banana split, which I thought back to often when I was growing up. The banana split actually turned out to be a lot better than what I could make fast food style, and it was a lot cheaper. Definitely gives you some reason to spend a little extra and try new things.
Speaking of new things, I recently went into a restaurant that specialized in making kale chips. I ordered, and even ordered 4 packs of chips, thinking they were normal fries. They were very different, but one was different enough to make the rest a little bit worrying. They had promised that the kale chips were crunchy, but after tasting the taco, I am not so sure. They were more akin to spinach or cheese chips. The seasoning was what concerned me, and I wondered if they were using the same fryer oil that the regular fryers used. I found out that they were not. They were using a special type of fryer oil that made the chips much crispier. I was a little surprised to see this, not because the ingredients were different, but because the cooking method was not at all what I was used to.
For me, getting both the taste and the nutrition of food is important. I am still trying to balance it, and this has been a challenge. In the past, I’ve had to make all these dishes quicker in order to keep my speed up. Serving food at warp speed is not something I am going to take the time to develop.
