September 06, 2006
TMK and Ryan Expand Their Culinary Horizons
We knew this long holiday weekend was going to be unusual; we just didn’t know how unusual.
We were recently invited by (sadly, now blogless) Elaine and Leslie to join a dinner club, essentially a potluck with a college education master’s degree. We were thrilled to be invited...until we heard what the September “Ingredients of the Month” were:
(1) Apples. Snap! No prob! You can do anything with apples: appetizers, salads, entrees, sauces, breads, even Angry Pie. The all-purpose ingredient. Easy-peasy. As good as done.
(2) Rose hips. Yep, those weirdly alienesque, bulbous, reddish berries that appear on rose bushes after blooming, used by Native Americans (which we are not), natural-healing juju types (which we are not), medieval reconstructionists (which we are not), people who drink herbal teas (which we do not) and, apparently, Swedes (which we are not).
And the ingredients had to be used together, in the same dish. And we had been assigned appetizers, often the artistic showpiece of a meal.
That’s about when little beads of sweat began to form on our upper lips and we started to exchange anxious, sideways glances, playing a fruitless (pardon the pun) mental game of "chicken." Rose hips?! What do we know from rose hips? We wanted to impress the people at the dinner club, not (a) kill them or (b) look like a coupla bush-league rookies. So, we rushed home and squeezed together in front of the computer, only to find this:
“Anyone using rose hips for cooking should remove all the seeds. They are covered with sliver-hairs that, when ingested, irritate the digestive system and cause what the aboriginal people call 'itchy-bottom disease.'"
“Itchy-bottom disease?” Well, this was not going well.
But we soldiered on, and eventually decided to make miniature phyllo-dough cups (store-bought, pre-baked, ready to go; we weren’t stoopid) filled with brie (no rind, for those of you who remember the infamouse brie rind entry) and home-made apple, rosehip and wine jam, which would then be baked and sprinkled with toasted and diced almonds.
Proof of our insanity, jars of apple, rosehip and wine jelly made by none other than the infamous TMK herself.
Ultimately, though, we had fretted and sweated for nothing. The dinner was wonderful (although next time we’ll bring sparkling apple cider and stemware so we won’t look like such rubes clutching our cans of Coke amidst what turned out not to be just a gathering of gastronomes but wine connoisseurs as well). Everyone made us feel very welcome, and we even received a smattering of applause for our offering. Huzzah! And, remarkably, almost every single dish served—the other appetizer, the salad, sorbet, pork loin, stuffing and vegetable—included, yes, both apples and rose hips and was out of this world, both sweet and savory and unquestionably delicious!
And no one, as far as we know, has come down with itchy bottom disease. Elaine?
To top off our unusual weekend, we had the privilege of spending considerable time with La Stephanie, including during her book signing, a dinner, a lunch, and a leisurely wander around downtown Seattle.
Here, La Stephanie photographs La Sock against a background of La Puget Sound...
and, here, La Stephanie and I ham it up for the camera. (I have no idea where that ultra-casual, arms-flung-wide stance of mine came from. That’s just not me. Perhaps it's the look of someone who has successfully avoided itchy-bottom disease.)
In-between playing bon vivant and being a gibbering, fawning celebrity fan, I did get two Dulaan items finished. Photos on Friday!
First: TMK's Rosehip jam is fantastic with cream cheese on an english muffin, and generously stirred into my weekday oatmeal. This could be a cottage industry, I'm just sayin.
Second: No reports of itchy bottom disease from the North.
And Third: Does anybody remember what I'm supposed to bring to the next dinner?
The rose hip/apple/wine jam on brie is brilliance incarnate. I bet it was way yummy.
Kirsten, the "brilliance incarnate" was actually the toasted almond idea, which was all TMK's. The phyllo/brie/jam combo tasted "okay" but the almonds made all the difference, combining the salty and the sweet and the creamy and the crunchy all together.
Elaine, puh-leeze--we can hardly remember what WE were assigned for next time! :-) We think it was Angry Pie. We do remember that the general "theme" is "harvest." Er, does that help any?
Posted by: Ryan on September 6, 2006 01:46 PMHey, that arm-around-the-Harlot thing almost looks like... gasp... a HUG! Holy crap!
And if I'm gonna eat something with hips, it had better be MEAT! (I grew up on the red and white cookbook. There is no culinary adventure for me, unless it's trying a different beer when they don't have MGD in bottles.)
I actually just saved the photo of you and La Steph together. Is that a bit weird? I mean, it is my 2 very first Stalkees in one overwhelming picture. I mean...seriously, wow. I promise not to print it out and keep it under my pillow. Maybe.
The jam sounds woooonderful. And Elaine? Wouldn't reports of itchy bottom disease be coming from the South? *snerk* Sorry. I'll go back into hiding. *giggle*
Posted by: Stalker Angie on September 6, 2006 02:50 PMAngie, I am very impressed by your commitment to stalking. You got it bad, girl!
Posted by: Ryan on September 6, 2006 03:07 PMWow, the dinner sounds great, but truthfully, the real envy down here is all about your day with Stephanie. I'm going to see her tonight in Portland (yipee!) and I'm going to try really hard not to be a ninny (who am I kiddin', I'm always a ninny about meeting new people). Now, should I take a sock with me or a little something for Dulaan . . . ?
Posted by: Janice on September 6, 2006 03:22 PM"La Stephanie"?
I do like the ring of that. What a wonderful time I had with you two. Truly.
Looks like you and TMK had a blast with La Harlot. [*jealousy*] I'm taking 3 knitting friends with me to see her in Eau Claire on Sunday. Can't wait!
(Did you notice? I have a blog now. Sure, it only has one post so far, but it's a start...)
Posted by: kmkat on September 6, 2006 04:52 PMsteph.....in red..... thats a first.
the sea, the sock,so swell.
thanks for showing the harlot a GOOD time.
we miss her, but she's in good arms.
luv denny
Posted by: denny Mcmillan on September 6, 2006 08:17 PM"I have no idea where that ultra-casual, arms-flung-wide stance of mine came from. That’s just not me." Au contraire, my dear. You are one of the warmest, arms-flung-wide and ready-to-hug, and yes, casual people (in the sense that you put everyone you're around at ease)I've ever met. No pretensions, and always with a smile, and ALWAYS interested in others. Yup, that's you. Funny how you got into this Dulaan thing....
Can't think of a better pair of folks than you and TMK to show the Harlot a good time in Seattle. I was so hoping she'd have some great tour guides and not have to find her way around on her own. She is delightful, isn't she? EmBe
Posted by: Mary B on September 6, 2006 08:19 PMGeez, next thing you know TMK will be whipping up croque monsieurs all 'round...
Posted by: Lee Ann on September 7, 2006 04:05 AMAnd I saw you front and center in Stephanie's photo of the Third Place knitters, too! Would that have been an actual, slightly blurry, TMK sitting on your left??
Posted by: CarolineF on September 7, 2006 05:10 AMCarolineF: Nope. TMK knows better than to sit in the front row at a Yarnharlot reading/signing. I was in the back of the crowd. TMK
Posted by: The Mysterious K on September 7, 2006 07:04 AMThat dinner club sounds like fun! And TMK's jelly looks divine. I wonder if there are any such groups here in the hinterlands of South King County? Hm.
What a lovely day you got to share with Stephanie. She definitely had top notch tour guides! I *so* wanted to go to hear her talk, but was unable to make it (pout). At least I got to see her at the Madrona Fiber Arts winter retreat earlier this year.
Posted by: Denise in Kent, WA on September 7, 2006 07:48 AMI will vouch for the fact that TMK does not appear in the Stephanie's photo. What you see instead is, on the aisle, Patti (of the late blog Pasticcio), MaryB, and moi. However, I want everyone to know that TMK did attend the event with me and also stood in the line for the entire 1.5 hours or so that it took for us to reach Stephanie's book-signing table. Now THAT'S a knitting groupie!
Posted by: Ryan on September 7, 2006 10:20 AMSo...jealous...head...exploding.
I am always out of town when Stephanie is in town. This time it was a wedding in the Chicago burbs. No knitters except me. No yarn shopping. It was freakin' tragic. And I missed Bumbershoot - and Stephanie!
Posted by: Melinda on September 7, 2006 05:30 PMMay I just say that "itchy-bottom disease" is about the funniest phrase I've heard in a long time? The words "itchy" and "bottom" should never be allowed in the same sentence together, let alone side by side followed by "disease"!!
I'm glad neither you nor TMK were so afflicted. Can you imagine having to tell La Harlot you couldn't make it because you had itchy-bottom disease? (Not that anything in the world could keep one from getting to spend the day with her [not that I'm jealous or anything, nooo.]) But can you also imagine what she would write if she herself had the disease? The mind reels.
Thanks for the chuckle.
Posted by: Lisa on September 9, 2006 06:39 AM