This weekend, I’m off to Portsmouth, NH to visit my mom for the holiday weekend. I generally don't like to brag, but I hit the Mom Lotto. A “foodie” long before the term was coined, my mother is the reason I’m able to write this blog. She is a far better cook than I will ever be, she bought organic and local produce two decades before it became trendy, and she taught me some of my most important lessons in the kitchen – lemons are a girl’s best friend, don’t buy cheap meat, always wash your produce, be very careful with raw chicken, and if something can’t get past your nose, it shouldn’t get past your mouth.
On top of these practical lessons, I learned something far more valuable from my mom – how to enjoy food. This wasn’t taught through lessons and instructions, but through practice. If I wanted to try something, she allowed me to try it. If I didn’t like something, she didn’t make me eat it. And never – not even once – did she express that certain foods were “bad” or that eating them should make me feel guilty. In her house, white chocolate raspberry mousse didn’t lead to self-loathing, it led to seconds. We always ate dinner together, even if it was on the run before one of my ballet lessons or after one of her grad school classes. Many of my best memories are centered around food, and to this day, I always smile when my mom taste-tests one of her creations and proclaims, “DAMN, I’m good!” Yes, Ma, you certainly are.
I’m not sure what we’ll cook together this weekend. Usually, unless I have a craving and request something in advance (her cold cucumber soup is one of my favorites – recipe below), we shop together, and if we see a certain vegetable or a cut of meat that looks especially good, we’ll center the meal around that item. When we’re in the kitchen together, it’s not always smooth sailing – she hides bacon from me and makes fun of the way I chop (“Honey, are they going to taste different if they’re not all the exact same size?”). I eat half the ingredients before they even make it into the pot, and I get agitated when the vegetable slices aren’t all the exact same size (“It’s just better that way, don’t you think it would be better if you cut those two more evenly?...[pause]...Dude, why are you giving me that look?”). Differences aside, I never eat better than I do when I cook with my mom.
The one thing that I know for sure is on this weekend’s menu is pancakes. I can’t cook a pancake to save my life, so for the sake of this blog, I’m making my mom supervise me and guide me through the process. Feel free to laugh – I’d laugh at me, too, because someone who makes raviolis from scratch should be able to flip a flippin’ pancake. Other possibilities? Fried Green Tomatoes, Grilled Radicchio, Walnut Chicken? We will probably visit the Portsmouth Farmers’ Market, Applecrest Farm, the Meat House, Seaport Fish, Stonewall Kitchen, and/or Golden Harvest; whatever these markets have in stock will determine what we cook and eat.
If I get some downtime this weekend, I’ll post pics and recipes, but until then, follow Bacon, Butter & Booze on Facebook and Twitter for sneak previews!
Cold Cucumber Soup
1/4c. minced onion
2T. butter
1 baking potato, peeped and diced.
1 organic English cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2T. chopped parsley
2c. chicken broth
1/4t. dry mustard
Pinch cayenne
1c. evaporated milk
Salt to taste
Saute the onion lightly in butter. Add remaining ingredients except milk and salt. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. Cool on the stove. Chill in the fridge, then puree in a blender. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Whisk the milk and salt into the strained soup. Chill again, if necessary, and serve cold.
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