Racing Horses, Reminisces
Well, it's been so long! Because I am back to my life. Alger Heights has embraced me and mine once again, and construction on our home continues--looking amazing:) Meanwhile I am teaching myself to be a very good cook, and to clean house like the houusewives of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.
Every night I mop the floors of the back of the house; it has gone from four smaller rooms to a palacial bedroom and bathroom with a small office! It's going to be wonderful. The two stall garage that is largely useless to us has become a cozy and beautiful oasis; the wooden frame of a double jacuzzi with room for a sauna! Then of course there's still one stall to protect the cars of future guests (we can't wait to have you all!)
Tonight before I fill the bucket with water once again for a nightly sponging, I had to write and gloat about the wonderful thick, tasty burgers I made with a cookbook by Rachel Ray--Just in Time. I wanted to celebrate my first time watching the Kentucky Derby in my own home, so I found a recipe based on delicious Kentucky Burgoo--"Kentucky Burgoo Burgers".
As the beef-and-pork burgers chock full of spices slowly cooked to perfection on the stove and savory, tangy aromas filled the kitchen, I threw some fresh green beans into a sautee pan and added butter, lemon juice (Mikel's favorite addition to anything), and thyme....a symphonic addition, if I do say so myself:)
To my astonishment I managed to cook the super thick burgers perfectly, topping each with Rachel Ray's take on burgoo; a saucy, tomato-y mix of onions and green peppers with a delightful zip of apple cider vinegar. When I had it in Kentucky it wasn't like that. It was more barbecue and beef, less vegetables or tomatoes. But that's the wonderful thing about a recipe; nothing is engraved in a stone tablet. Regional tastes set the standard more than anything, and when I'm sick of cooking like a Midwesterner, I can always turn to a cookbook.
The whole dinner followed the two thrilling seconds of the Derby, when I teared up as the crowd sang "My Old Kentucky" home, remembering my dad. Kentucky was one of the last trips the family ever took together, with him at the wheel of a big RV. He bought me a coffee mug I admired there; blue with an outline of a horse, that I cherish. Every time I drink from it I hum a few bars of the Kentucky anthem and think of him.
And there's a "supermoon" out tonight--perfect for this month's feast of Erin (like the feast I made) and enjoying the special ocassion with a man who reminds me of my father almost every day; a living, loving embrace that I thought I'd lost.
Every night I mop the floors of the back of the house; it has gone from four smaller rooms to a palacial bedroom and bathroom with a small office! It's going to be wonderful. The two stall garage that is largely useless to us has become a cozy and beautiful oasis; the wooden frame of a double jacuzzi with room for a sauna! Then of course there's still one stall to protect the cars of future guests (we can't wait to have you all!)
Tonight before I fill the bucket with water once again for a nightly sponging, I had to write and gloat about the wonderful thick, tasty burgers I made with a cookbook by Rachel Ray--Just in Time. I wanted to celebrate my first time watching the Kentucky Derby in my own home, so I found a recipe based on delicious Kentucky Burgoo--"Kentucky Burgoo Burgers".
As the beef-and-pork burgers chock full of spices slowly cooked to perfection on the stove and savory, tangy aromas filled the kitchen, I threw some fresh green beans into a sautee pan and added butter, lemon juice (Mikel's favorite addition to anything), and thyme....a symphonic addition, if I do say so myself:)
To my astonishment I managed to cook the super thick burgers perfectly, topping each with Rachel Ray's take on burgoo; a saucy, tomato-y mix of onions and green peppers with a delightful zip of apple cider vinegar. When I had it in Kentucky it wasn't like that. It was more barbecue and beef, less vegetables or tomatoes. But that's the wonderful thing about a recipe; nothing is engraved in a stone tablet. Regional tastes set the standard more than anything, and when I'm sick of cooking like a Midwesterner, I can always turn to a cookbook.
The whole dinner followed the two thrilling seconds of the Derby, when I teared up as the crowd sang "My Old Kentucky" home, remembering my dad. Kentucky was one of the last trips the family ever took together, with him at the wheel of a big RV. He bought me a coffee mug I admired there; blue with an outline of a horse, that I cherish. Every time I drink from it I hum a few bars of the Kentucky anthem and think of him.
And there's a "supermoon" out tonight--perfect for this month's feast of Erin (like the feast I made) and enjoying the special ocassion with a man who reminds me of my father almost every day; a living, loving embrace that I thought I'd lost.
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