Kate Miller 3: Ice Cream and Elephants

3. Ice Cream and Elephants

            The spread on board the Norwegian Jewel was everything a pregnant lady could hope for. There was greasy pizza, sausage links, and bacon, spicy Chinese or Indian fare and fresh na’an, yogurt and fruit, not to mention a beautiful daily rotation of desserts—and that was just the cafeteria! Of course the dining rooms had less daily variety, but each dish was cooked per order.

            Kate’s favorite was eating a leisurely dinner in the Czar’s Palace—an exotic room with rich carpet, ceiling murals, and Russian portraits—which looked out low over the water from the sixth deck. After the appetizer and the main course, the real dilemma was whether to get the classic cheesecake or the unknown daily ice cream, which had always been delicious. Sitting there, in her Christmassy red rose dress, across from the handsome Mister Miller, she beheld the true magic of a cruise boat.

            The waiter came to take their orders and she querried, “Which do you think is better today, the cheesecake or the ice cream?”

            After thinking and trying, the waiter could not answer such a difficult question. But he said with a dimpled grin, “I bring you both.”

            What a beautiful existence this was!

            After dinner, if it was warm out, she and Mister wandered the decks down to one of the lounges for music and dancing. Their favorite cover duet was very good and played every style. Kate and Mister swung on to the empty floor as soon as they walked in. Spinning and twirling and dipping, sometimes they even got special applause from the audience in the middle of a song. The singers loved it. Kate and Mister danced with enthusiasm, and the musicians picked more and more dance songs, enticing the happy couple to the floor at every possible occasion.

            But every dance must come to an end, and more often than not, it led Kate back to the cafeteria, ready for her next installment of food. The pineapple was divine. Ripe, sweet, and only slightly tangy, it melted in her mouth. Salty chips, sweet pineapple. Mmmm. Mister just shook his head when he saw her plate and raised his eyebrows silently at her cup, which was (more) ice cream topped with hot (decaf) coffee…another favorite. They sat and looked at the sea foam and white breakers and talked about baby names.

            “How about ‘Hortense’?” Kate started off. She had more fun thinking of terrible names than good ones. “Of course,” she mended, “’Hortense’ is French, and pairing that with a German ‘Miller’ would hardly do. She’d probably have an identity crisis. What about ‘Archibald’?”

            Mister laughed and shook his head, “We could go with ‘Pericles’,” he teased.

            “Pericles? Ugh,” Kate said with relish.

            “You know, I actually met a guy named Pericles once.”

            “Poor fellow.”

            They bantered back and forth as Kate finished her snack, then made their way back down to their cabin. On the bed was an elephant made out of a towel. Kate laughed delightedly and crouched down to get her picture with it.

            “Hey!” she said, struck with brilliant inspiration, “What do you think of ‘Babar’?”

            “Like ‘the babar of Seville’? Mozart would love that…but he’s dead.”

            Kate laughed and attacked with the elephant. “That’s the barber of Seville, you goof! Barber. Hey!” she paused, “What about ‘Barbara?”

            “The Barbara of Seville?” Even as he said it, he laughed and put up his hands in defense.

             By now, the elephant was officially gone, but Kate wielded the towel just as efficiently.

waiting for dinner at the Czar's Palace (by the gingerbread town)

       

the elephant

     

Kate Miller 2: The Longest Line

For those who want to hear more about our Christmas trip, here's the next Kate Miller story:

2. The Longest Line (Dec 16)

            The dock at New York was its own Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Kate had never seen the movie, but she liked to think about the title at convenient times like this one. For two cruise ships, there was no particular line for luggage drop off. She and Mister Miller had brought only two bags. But, she thought philosophically, where there is nothing to do with your bags, even one is too many. In the confusion, she had let go of her own roller to follow a string of people who were in turn following a porter, who was spouting (what she thought might be) rash promises of easy delivery to their cabins. After a momentary heart failure when she realized it was missing, she spotted her roller fifteen feet behind her, looking lonely and stranded…just how she felt.

            Wisely or unwisely, the porter was trusted with the two bags, and Kate and Mister were subsequently squeezed—really squeezed—into a freight elevator…where they will promptly gas us all and steal our things, Kate thought dramatically. But they made it safely to a concourse, where they had to go through security and afterwards find their own check-in line. Security was fine. A little tedious, she thought. But after the first half hour of standing in the check-in line, she felt that security…and the outside chaos, for that matter…had been downright efficient.

            Up and back, up and back, the line was maneuvered so that it looked deceptively short. Another half hour passed by. Mister brought the nuts out of his backpack. Kate finished the water bottle and peeled an orange, savoring the beautiful citrus smell as she dug into the peel, (and as always, feeling a little superior that everyone else in the line must be wishing they had brought oranges.) The oranges being done away with, and the prunes being dug into, and another half hour having passed, Kate was beginning to feel an insistent urge to find a restroom.

            Mister looked at her with apprehension. “You’d better go,” he said, “I think we’ll be here for a while.” Kate hated leaving a line for any reason. What if everyone thought she was cutting when she came back? What if Mister made it to the end of the line without her? She looked desperately around. It didn’t matter, she had to go. She ducked out of the line and ran down the concourse to the ladies room. When she came back, Mister had merely turned the corner and was standing one row over, facing the way they had just come. Oh dear, she thought, this will take forever!

            Hours later, they made it to the counter to check in. On the last stretch of the line, Kate and Mister had amused themselves by rating the efficiency of the various attendants, one lady stood out above the others. She actually had people come down and form a line in front of her station because she checked them in so much faster than anyone else. They approached the counter, but the attendant in front of them couldn’t say anything. He had just taken a large bite of food. Kate all but glared at him.

            “Everyone who comes up looks so angry,” he said, as he checked their tickets and stateroom numbers. “You’re all going on a cruise, for goodness sake. I’d be thrilled, no matter how long the line was.”

            Kate felt goaded. Her feet ached. Her backpack had been weighing on her neck and shoulders. Her head hurt. She was famished. She was tempted to point out, as the attendant took another bite of sandwich and leisurely looked up the credit card information that it was partly his fault that the line was so long and that people were angry.

            But, she sighed as they made their way down the hall to board, he’s still right. We ARE going on a cruise…then, rebelliously, After I eat something, and put our bags down, THEN I’ll be happy about it. 

Introducing Kate Miller / An Announcment

Recently I've been writing some one-page stories as a kind of journal. They are real-life events (sometimes with a few minor adjustments), but I've just written about them as a story, in an attempt to make them more enjoyable to read. So for those of you not perceptive enough to note the similarity between "Kate Miller" and my own name.... go ahead and note it. We're one and the same. I hope you all enjoy it! There will be more to come.

1. A Day in the Life (Dec 16)

Kate Miller tore the plastic wrapper off a new journal and flipped to the first page. She smiled at the beautiful creamy pages with the silver grey lines running across them. She could never get over just how beautiful were plain straight lines on plain white paper. This time, she thought to herself, I’ll be more faithful. These pages deserve that much. Then she smiled ruefully. Resolutions made in the middle of the night are often of the kind that can only be kept in the middle of the night. But then of course, she was up now. Who’s to say she wouldn’t be making a habit of it? More likely than not, she thought, not unpleasantly. She always felt that there was something mysterious about being awake in the middle of the night, like things might be seen that otherwise wouldn’t even be believed in.

            But what to write? She wondered again. This journal was for her, but maybe someday others would read and care about it. Someday, people might want to know my thoughts or hear about my life…no one prestigious, just the people that love me… she thought. Well, then she would give it her best shot!

            Across the top of the beautiful white page, she wrote, “A Day in the Life.” A little trite, but apt. Besides, she got a thrill from the line, so she knew it was right. The thrill wasn’t from the thought itself, but from the thoughts beneath the thought. As soon as she wrote it, she pictured life as a beautiful tree and “a day in the life” as one ripe plum, particularly chosen, to be delighted in and savored and sucked on because no plum like it would ever grow again. And there was certainly plenty to savor! She began writing.

            “Dec. 16: Yesterday I walked to the store to buy a pregnancy test. On the way home, I stopped under the pines to smell the trees, and instead got a large whiff of fresh laundry! I suppose that American suburbia does have some delightful surprises (even if not many.)

            “I took the test when I got home. I wasn’t thinking about the timing. Mister and a friend were in the house, and I didn’t think about what I would say if it was positive because I didn’t expect it. But it was! Ever so faintly. I thought that I ought to cry of happiness, or yell for joy. But I just looked at it and felt… nothing. Nothing but surprise, that is. I suppose I only half believed it.

            “This morning I believe it. (And I’m delighted!) It’s 3 AM and I’m sitting in Uncle and Aunt’s living room next to the Christmas tree, eating a ridiculous amount of pizza. In the last 24 hours, I keep thinking that I don’t feel at all different. (And that I ought to, for some reason.) But the real truth is that I do, just not what I expected. I’m SO hungry, SO OFTEN!”

            Here, Kate underlined the last two words for extra emphasis.

            “We were reading aloud last night, and at 10:30 I had to get up. Then I ate someone’s leftover Chinese. And here I am eating pizza. And when everyone else gets up, I’m bound to be eating again with them! And what’s more, I’ll probably be starving on the bus to New York.”

            Kate and her husband were spending the night with their aunt and uncle because they were leaving on a long Christmas trip, beginning with a luxurious cruise. They would be dropped off at the bus stop to take a bus to New York, where the cruise would depart for the Bahamas, and return on December 23, when they would fly west to be with the Millers for Christmas. Kate took a sip of coffee and kept writing.

            “The last few weeks have been kind of hard. Mister. has been working to the bone finishing papers, rewriting, and getting them turned in early so we can leave. I’m proud of him, he’s been so diligent. But we haven’t had much time together. This trip will be perfect, and it seems we’ll have lots to talk about.” 

Chocolate and Orange Filo

 Since the filo dough that I bought came in a 1 lb package... and since I just happened to have some chocolate glaze icing leftover from a cake that I had made... and since I had an orange that was drying out but I didn't want to throw away, I decided to combine them all. *grin*

*I probably used less than half a roll of filo dough to make this. So being generous, it was probably about 1/4 lb.

I started by layering the filo dough in the bottom with melted butter brushed between the sheets. I used 6-8 sheets.
Then I spread about half of chocolate around the middle of the filo dough. Then I cut up 1 orange and sprinkled it around amidst the chocolate. (And, I didn't do this at the time, but as I was eating it I realized it desperately needed some spice to it. When I do this again, I'll probably sprinkle some cinnamon, a little brown sugar, and maybe even a little ground cloves in with the orange and chocolate.)

5-6 more sheets of filo dough, with butter in between of course. Then more chocolate...


And THEN, you roll the whole thing up and turn it sideways!

Brush the top with butter....


About 25 minutes in 375 degrees...


And Viola!  (we have a very messy but delicious dessert.)

One way to make this prettier and less messy is to make several individually sized rolls. (next time...)

Filo Dough with Meat Filling

Here is another one of my creations. I started making this sort of thing when I was in college, only with regular tortillas dipped in butter instead of the filo dough. Only a few months ago did it graduate to this form...which is probably where it will stay for a while, since it is truly fabulous just like this. Once again, I'll remind everyone that I never measure anything, so all the measurements are approximations... and especially with my main dishes, it's easy to play with the proportions and still get it roughly the same. 

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 lb filo dough

1.5 lb ground beef

2 large onions, diced (white, yellow, or sweet -- I've used all of them before)

1/2 lb of mushrooms, chopped

garlic

cinnamon

salt

oregano (I have some wonderful Turkish oregano from Penzey's Spices--but sometimes I use regular Italian seasoning too...and sometimes I use both!) 

1. Saute the ground beef with the onion and mushroom in a large skillet. When it starts losing its juices and becomes brown around the outside, add about 2 tsp of minced garlic and 2 tsp of cinnamon (I know it's a lot, but that's part of what makes it so good!). Sprinkle salt generously over the whole skillet and follow it with a healthy dusting of oregano (or Italian seasoning.) Once the meat is cooked through, test the mixture to see if you like the flavor. I usually end up adding more salt and cinnamon.

2. As the meat mixture simmers, prepare the filo dough by laying sheet by sheet in a casserole dish and brushing lightly with melted butter between each layer. Use about half for the bottom. 

3. Spread the meat mixture in the middle of the filo dough.

4. Layer the second half of the filo dough on top of the meat, pressing down around the edges. Fold the sides of the bottom layer of filo over the top layer. Brush the very top with whatever butter is left, and sprinkle a couple caps of lemon juice over the top. Bake at 350 till the top is puffed up a little bit and it's crispy and golden. Serve by cutting into squares. 

Chocolate and Cherry Puffs

Bachelors, this ones for you. The skill level and time commitment is low and the result is very impressive. This recipe is once again from Kathryn Hawkins amazing Chocolate! cookbook.

1 lb ready-made puff pastry
6 oz semisweet chocolate
cherry pie filling
1 egg, beaten

When a recipe only has 4 ingredients, you know it can't be too bad. Here are the instructions.

1. Preheat the overn to 400 degrees. On a lightly flours surface, roll out the pastry to approximately 16 in square. Cut out sixteen 4 in diameter circles. (I think mine were more like 3 inches--I used the largest rimmed glass I could find.)

2) Arrange eight circles on a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Divide the chocolate into 8 pieces (I used chocolate chips, so I just sprinkled some in the middle and didn't bother with the dividing or measuring.) and place in the center of each circle. Top each piece of pastry with 1 tbs of cherry pie filling. Brush the edges with beaten egg and cover with the remaining pastry circles. Seal the edges well.

3. Brush the tops with beaten egg. Bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed up and golden. Best served warm.


Paul and I rated this one a 6/10. But here's what I wrote down the day that I made them: Don't let the 6/10 rating fool you! These taste fantastic and are SO easy to make. (Paul gave it an 8). The reason I gave it a 6 was because of the cherry pie filling--to me it tasted hackneyed. I'd rate it much higher if there were a more exotic filling. I like the fruity flavor, but would prefer a different texture than pie filling, and probably something a little spicier (like with cinnamon.) With 1 lb. of puff pastry, I think we could make 12 pastries." 

and a couple days later... "Took these to the CHBC marriage workshop and a lady said that they were like poptarts! Which I guess they are..." 


So there you go. Basically homemade pop tarts. Easy, delicious, comfort food desserts. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Soup with Celery and Mushrooms

I just threw this together for dinner tonight, literally having no plan for what I was doing as I was cutting up the chicken... but marvelous creativity pulled through once again, and I'm writing this blog post not just to share it with everyone (who should all try it...) but so that I myself will actually be able to make it again! 

2 large chicken breasts

bacon grease

white pepper

salt

italian seasoning

2 cups celery, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 cups mushrooms, chopped large

1 tbs minced garlic

4-6 tbs lemon juice

salt

1 can cream of mushroom soup

milk

1) Slice the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and saute in the bacon grease over medium heat. When the meat starts to whiten, sprinkle white pepper across the top, a little salt, and a generous amount of italian seasoning. Leave uncovered until it cooks through, then take off the heat. 

2) Put a couple tbs of vegetable oil in the bottom of your soup pot and let it heat up. Add the celery and let it cook while you chop the onion. (roughly a minute or two) Add the onion, and let it cook while you wash and chop the mushrooms. (3-4 min) Add the mushrooms, garlic, and lemon juice. Let everything cook and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the mushrooms start loosing their water, sprinkle salt all over the top of everything in the pot, and add the cream of mushroom soup. Refill the soup can twice with water and once with whole milk. Bring to a rolling boil. 

3. After the soup has boiled for about 5 minutes, add the chicken, and turn the heat down. Let the soup simmer for 30 min for the flavors to mix.