I have always loved “Gone with the Wind.” I am not sure why. I have seen it dozens of times. I keep it on hand in case I need to watch some mindless drama. Mostly, I love watching Vivian Leigh. She was radiant in that movie. She progresses from the young love struck and willful girl with flashing green eyes to a sad and lonely mother who has lost her child. Her eyes are dead in the last scenes.
In between she secretly drinks, pouts, survives, and acts horribly to everyone she loves. It is easy to see her as selfish. But I have always thought of her as a survivor. She did what she had to do. Some of her actions were spiteful. But more often than not, she did what she thought was necessary to save her land and her family’s heritage, even if in the end it meant marrying that awful Rhett.
That is what makes it so hard to hate her. She is not completely evil. There is some moral underpinning to her actions. She even takes care of Ashley and Melanie in her own strong way. She can pick cotton if she has to. She can marry a fool and run a business too, and at the same time give Ashley something to do. When I watch the story, I am like Rhett. Why on earth does she fawn over that weakling Ashley Wilkes? She is so much better than he is. But then, that may be why she fawns. She wants him to accept her and give her some legitimacy. If he loves her, she is not the selfish, self-centered woman everyone says she is. She is worthy. But in retrospect the only person who gives her legitimacy is Melanie because she sees something there. She understands that Scarlett has to do what she does.
Oh, I could go on. What got me started on this was that I opened my Bradford Exchange plates commemorating Scarlett’s costumes. I bought them almost 20 years ago. I did not buy the whole set because after two plates I decided it was lame. I just checked on Ebay, and they are actually worth something. I put them on the wall in my closet. Then I got on-line and bought a few more to add to my set.
I needed a break. So a few days after Christmas, we drove to North Carolina to spend a few days contemplating the ocean, resting, and not doing anything in particular. We did just that.
The trip down took 10 hours because I-95 is nothing less than Satan’s punishment. A miserable black hole where your life gets sucked into interminable traffic jams for no apparent reason except that there are too many cars and not enough lanes. it took us 3.5 hours to get to Fredericksburg, a drive that should have taken maybe 1.5 hours.
We were well behind schedule so we had to stop in Wilmington for dinner. I got on the phone and started looking up barbecue joints and found raves about Jackson’s Big Oak Barbecue, home of the authentic Eastern Carolina style barbecue. Their motto? “We ain’t fancy but we sure are good.” Amen, brother. Carolina style barbecue sauce is our favorite. What does that mean? It means a thin, vinegar based sauce with lots of spices. It is nothing like the ketchup thick, tomato, sugar sweet stuff they use in Memphis and beyond. Rather than a thick consistency, Carolina BBQ sauce is thin and it permeates the meat as it cooks giving it a flavor that makes you pucker. Well, we went right for it and had pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on top. The coleslaw had a mustard based dressing that just set off the BBQ sauce. On the side, we had hush puppies and collard greens. Lord, you should not eat this stuff every day but for a treat, there is nothing better than a hush puppy done right. Matt was so enthusiastic he then ordered ribs to see if they would be as good. Well, the sauce has been thickened and that kind of killed it for us. I got the banana pudding for dessert, made fresh every day. That was a fortuitous stop and I am pretty certain we will see them again.
By the time we pulled in and got unpacked it was late and we were exhausted. I slept ten hours the first night. The next few days we did not do much of anything except rent movies from the Redbox and look at the ocean. I cooked some dinners, one day we had stuffed cabbage, one day we had buffalo half-smokes with a black-eyed peas salad.
We watched “The Conjuring,” which I did not think was all that scary. We watched “Stories We Tell,” a documentary about family perceptions and hidden lives. We tried to watch “Anchorman.” I must confess, I did not find it funny and we turned it off after about 20 minutes. I knew I would not like it but so many people told me to watch it. Yeah, I’m not a big fan of Will Ferrell. Sorry. We watched “Admissions” with Paul Rudd because we love Paul Rudd who I do find very funny and charming.
On New Year’s Eve, we did the things we like to do. I cooked a dinner of lobster sautéed in butter and olive oil served over a black truffle pasta with roasted asparagus and a salad with baked goat cheese. Add to that a little champagne and caviar and viola, great New Year’s Eve dinner. We watched the movie “Up,” because we love Mr. Frederick, Russell, Doug and Kevin. This movie makes me laugh and weep and sigh. It is truly one of my all time favorites. If I am sad, I watch it. If I want to laugh and be happy I watch it. The sky was kind of clear and using my ipad, and my 3-D star map we looked at the constellations and the stars.
New Year’s Day, January 1, 2014.
We woke to a cloudy, cold New Year’s Day. I was determined to go into the ocean. It was in the mid-40’s outside and the water was just COLD! I donned my bathing suit and flip flops. Matt put on his swim trunks and we walked to face the water. The wind was blowing and it was really cold. But I took off my sweat shirt and pants and made a dash for it. Matt cannot run so he took pictures while went in. It was not a polar bear plunge. It was more of a run in and out as fast as I could because yikes! it was cold and my feet and legs went numb. Then it was Matt’s turn. He can’t run so he walked in and splashed with water. YAYYYY!!!!!!!!!
COLD!
Okay that woke us both up. Now it was time for breakfast. We love eggs benedict. I made it with smoked salmon and lemony hollandaise. It was yummy.
We had been watching a weather front coming so we decided to pack it up and drive home a day early. We managed to get home in 7.5 hours, which is how fast you can travel the distance without any traffic.
Matt and I agreed not to exchange presents this year because we bought a new television. And then he bought me little things anyway. It was nice of him but it brought back memories of my mother and how she slowly changed Christmas over the years.
When we were kids she bought lots of presents and we decorated the house with fake holy, a tree, lots of lights and Christmas cards from family and friends taped to the pantry door. As we got older, she seemed to lose interest. By the time I was in high school, and she was about the age I am now, she really stopped caring. If we were going to decorate and have a tree I had to make it happen because I was the only one still living at home. My dad not really participate at all so he was no help.
As for presents, she would hand me money and say go buy gifts and make sure you get something for yourself. I went shopping and then wrapped all the gifts, including my own. Hey, why not? She insisted she really had everything she needed and she did not want presents. We bought them for her anyway, usually clothes we thought she needed and maybe a knick knack. She tried to be excited but more than anything she just fussed about how nothing fit and she didn’t need that new blouse or sweater anyway. What she had was fine.
As I was facing Christmas this year, I began to think that I might be arriving where my mother was. First, like my mom, I have come to the point that I just don’t need anything. One hundred and fourteen catalogs arrived in my mailbox in one week, selling all sorts of trinkets and googaws. As I leafed through them, all I could think was–have it, have it, have it, don’t need it, don’t need it, don’t need it. There is no longer the allure of objects, or jewelry, or anything else they are selling. If I am interested in something, usually having to do with cooking I just buy it for myself.(I bought cheesemaking kits this year.)
Then there are the traditions of Christmas. There was an article in the paper recently written by some young mother who confessed that she and her friends were killing themselves trying to be everything at Christmas–baking cookies, decorating, buying presents, sending cards and trying to keep up generations of traditions. They felt that if they did not do all of those things, somehow their kids would suffer and where were the spouses? I just thought, man, you need to relax! Stick to the priorities. Figure out what is worth doing and forget the rest. All that stuff does not bring true meaning to Christmas anymore than a giant diamond wedding ring ensures a good marriage.
I think that I have sorted through everything that is important to me and have concluded that I like the tree and outdoor lights. That is really what matters to me. So I have reduced my decorating inside to putting up a tree. I have an entire collections of Santas and snow men that I used to display. Now I don’t take the trouble. It just disrupts my house, it takes time to put them up and take them down and in the end, what difference does it make? Does it make Christmas any more special? Honestly, I don’t think so. I think that for my mom, it was not the decorating that was important, or even the gifts. She wanted us to be at home making noise and laughing. That was what mattered to her. The rest was just piffle.
Is it nice to give presents? Of course. And really, isn’t giving so much better than getting? That sure is how I feel. But somehow Matt and I carry on without exchanging gifts. Some years we do buy presents for each other, it depends on how we feel. When I am inspired I might buy presents for my family, or even strangers through organizations that set up gift giving for those in need. I have no set plan. Mostly, I prefer that we just enjoy each other with some good food, some good wine and lots and lots of talking and laughing with people we love.
Christmas celebrations and packing up for the beach. On Christmas Eve we had oysters cooked in a champagne sauce and then went to Janice’s for her annual Christmas Eve party where we laughed our fool heads off.
On Christmas day,Matt’s mom Barbara and her friend Mary over for dinner. I cooked lamb shanks with oranges and olives that I served over spinach fettuccine tossed with pesto. Afterward, we visited Matt’s aunt and her family.
On Friday we packed up for a trip to the beach in North Carolina.
I spent the week getting things done. I have been writing recipes for Manna, the local food bank. I have also been creating recipes for myself. This week I worked up a curried cauliflower dish which will follow in another blog post. We also had crepes with cheese and vegetables, and stuffed squid with an apple curry sauce (from Cucina Italiana). We spent December 21 at a party eating authentic Bolivian food, which was fantastic by the way. On Dec 22 we had dinner at Matt’s dad’s.
I read an article about chocolate helping to ward off cardiovascular disease. Chocolate has been found to lower the risk of heart attack or stroke by relaxing your blood vessels, i.e., lowers blood pressure. The recommendation was to add a tablespoon of unsweetened chocolate (not dutch processed) to your coffee everyday. So I started doing that. Hey, why not a little chocolate everyday?
I also drink a small glass of beet juice twice a week. That is all I can stand because I hate beets. I hold my nose and gulp it down followed by something, anything sweet. There have been several studies that show beet juice increases oxygen uptake and also lowers blood pressure. This was all the rage at the last Olympics. They have also tested this on cyclists. So I gulp down the terrible stuff. (For me, beets taste like dirt. I just cannot get past that taste.)
Then I add kale to my breakfast shakes because aside from being a superfood, it helps with blood vessel function. I bruise easily and it is supposed to assist with blood clotting. (If you are prone to clotting problems, for heaven’s sakes, stay away from kale!)
All these home food remedies may have worked. When I swim I usually spend 15 laps just warming up and getting my lungs working so that I am not sucking for air. This week, I swam like a fish. I had no problem with breathing or fatigue. Or maybe it was just in my head and I was having a good day. It is hard to say. But if I have a choice between pharmaceuticals or supplements and foods, I’ll take the food. There is no harm in them. Except for those nasty beets. Yuck! (And no, family, I never ate my mom’s pickled beets.)
There are three sports that I wish I could watch regularly but are not on American television–curling, rugby and sumo wrestling. ESPN used to have a half hour Japanese sumo wrestling show, which we watched regularly. But that has long since been taken off the air. So I sit around wishing and hoping. I joined the email list of U.S. Sumo and every year they have a tournament and every year I can’t go. Well, a few days ago, I got an email that said they were coming to D.C.
I shouted to Matt who was in the other room, “We have to go and see sumo!!!”
“What?”
“SUMO!!!!”
So I bought the tickets to the Living Social event. We started off at Ren’s Ramen in Wheaton for their delicious Sapporo-style noodles. This small restaurant seats maybe 30 people. It is always packed but we got there just in time to grab the last table. It was miserable out and that comforting bowl of noodles and broth and veggies and meats was exactly what we needed. I also tried the amakaze, a hot fermented rice drink, non-alcoholic. It tasted like warm liquid rice pudding. I had two.
Now we were fully prepared for the sumo demonstration and sake tasting event. The two sumo wrestlers were Kelly, a 435 pound American and five time American champion and Byamba, a 365 pound Mongolian and three time world champion. He had spent time on the sumo circuit in Japan and was on his way to superstardom but at 20 years old decided to move on.
In my humble estimation, Byamba was awesome. He was far smaller and he won every match, even twice picking Kelly up and throwing him out of the ring. He was simply magnificent. You could see why he is a world champion. He did not want to lose. If you know nothing about sumo, I don’t think I can explain it here. But it is not just two fat guys pushing each other. Think of it as two bull elephants trying to push each other off balance and out of the ring. There are techniques for forcing your opponent off balance, and for bringing them down. They expend a tremendous amount of power. Sweat was streaming off them as they tried mightily to move the other colossus. The host explained that usually the sumo wrestler will have one match a day and it might last a few seconds. These guys were doing three demos a day with five matches at each demo. That is a lot of effort. Then they entertained us by pretending to wrestle with some audience members. And Byamba still did not want to lose. He tossed every guy that tried to move him. He finally let a woman beat him. And look at him. The face of an angel.
This was one miserable day. It snowed, then sleet and freezing rain fell. Unfortunately, I had planned to put up the Christmas lights. Matt is still not agile enough on his feet to venture out into the snow and ice so we could not do our usual over the top lights this year which requires a ladder and lots of time and energy.
I decided I would put up whatever I could in two hours and that would be it. i could cover a couple of bushes, maybe get something hung around the door. When I started it was snowing. Then the ice started falling. So I had to stop to shovel the sidewalks and get some ice melt out. Matt helped with decorating the door and we finally got it together. I was soaked and frozen by the end. But no matter because we were on our way for Japanese Sapporo-style noodles and a sumo demonstration.
After the noodles, we went to the 9:30 Club to see Matisyahu on his annual Hanukkah tour. It was not his best show. In fact, he seemed kind of distracted. Oh well. I guess I have seen worse.
The snow and ice are falling so we got cozy in front of the fire. Some got more cozy than others and by that I mean our cat Izzy, who is an inspiration in relaxation to one and all. This is our winter room. It has a gas fireplace and the room is painted a cheerful yellow, perfect for dreary winter days. We have a table so we can sit and eat and read the paper. We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast and tea after in front of the fire, kind of like staying at an inn.
Dinner was rabbit with an orange sauce and chestnut served over polenta with roasted Brussel sprouts.
December looks like it will be the month of music. On a whim we went to see Arturo Sandoval at Blues Alley, which is really a jazz club in Georgetown. It was a good concert but too much modern stuff not enough Latin jazz. He was very personable and funny, making jokes with the audience. He seemed to play every instrument. He is a trumpet player but he played the piano, very well I might add, on one song. He had a whole percussion set to play with, and he had a synthesizer that he used as often as it moved him.
Woo Hoo!!!! The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is still alive and kicking and they are on tour with new band members.
PHJB has been around for fifty years. My mother loved Preservation Hall. I think she first saw them on PBS. One of the first iterations of the band had a tuba player named Alan Jaffe, who also happened to be the founder of Preservation Hall Jazz Band. She loved that tuba. Mr. Jaffe passed away but the Hall and the Band carried on. She introduced me to them and hey, how can you not love New Orleans style jazz?
I have since been to the Hall in New Orleans twice including once on a lark, when Matt and I took my mom to New Orleans and we went to see a show. She had a ball.
So I was tickled when I learned they were coming to Baltimore. The newly formed band is headed by Ben Jaffe, the founder’s son. He plays tuba and stand up bass. He pulled together some of the best musicians in New Orleans and they put out a new recording. How could I resist? By the time we found out, the show was a few days away but we got great seats.
What bothered me is that in a setting like a symphony hall, you can’t get up and dance. Everyone sits. This is not sitting music. There can be no sadness when New Orleans style jazz is playing. There is toe tapping, there is clapping, there is dancing. Even for the sad songs. These bands play for funerals and it is a celebration. But alas, a symphony hall crimped my style.
Finally, one of the band members got everyone to stand up and clap and dance. That lasted for a few songs and then all the old folks got tuckered out and had to sit down again. One older gentleman was so incensed at the rowdy behavior that had been fomented that he stalked out giving them the old wave of the hands saying, I’m done with this. Seriously.
Well, my joy was not daunted. We clapped and danced even if we were just sitting. I loved all of the musicians but my greatest joy was watching the band’s tuba player dance around while playing his sousaphone. Talk about some lungs. He was marvelous. I wish my mom had been able to see him. She would have loved it.
We gave thanks for not being in the traffic and weather that created numerous headaches up and down the East coast yesterday. We also gave thanks for having a nice relaxing movie day.
We watched the movie, The Grand Master, the story of Ip Man, a kung fu grandmaster and his journey from pre-Communist China, the invasion of Japan, and his exile to Hong Kong. It was a gorgeous movie to watch, the scenes so carefully planned with color, texture, lighting and costumes. The story focused on Ip but the larger history of China and kung fu were also part of his personal history, which made it a big, lush cinematic movie about a historic figure. Plus, there was a lot of kung fu which made it that much better. He is reputed to have taught Bruce Lee.
After the movie, I had to focus on dinner.
I had a bee in my bonnet that I was going to have game for dinner. I started off thinking buffalo but as I investigated Colonial history, it was clear that the likely food would have been game birds or venison. I went with pheasant.
I found a recipe for pheasant with a rustic cranberry sauce that turned out to be a true plate scrapper. It was an odd combination of cranberries cooked in red wine, sour cream, bacon and honey. We could not get enough of this sauce. As I was cooking the pheasant, the gamey smell started to worry me. But the sauce mellowed out the flavor of the bird and complemented it completely. Sometimes game birds need something sweet to offset the game flavor. This sweet-tart combination was so much the better. I wanted to take a picture but alas, we had scarfed it down before I remembered. All that was available were clean bones and scrapped plates.
On the side, I had a wild rice dish from The Mitsitam Cafe Cookbook. The Cafe is attached to the National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall. If you every want a fantastic meal when you are checking out the museums or monuments, stop in. It is pricey but this is fine dining in a cafeteria. The recipe called for the rice to be tossed with a simple apple cider vinaigrette, pumpkin seeds, green onions, and I added some micro-greens instead of carrots and tomatoes.
For dessert I made mini pecan pies.
After dinner, we went out to a movie. All is Lost with Robert Redford, and only Robert Redford, is a tale of one man’s battle with the sea. What we learn is that the sea and weather are formidable opponents and we are at their mercy. You can take all of the action movies with monsters and super villains and they can not match what nature throws at him in this movie because this is actually real life stuff. What happens to him could happen to anyone.
This movie has only a few words of dialogue. It is just Redford acting. It was gripping. To watch him alone trying to figure out what to do when a hole is blown in his yacht was absolutely worth watching. I had to know what was going to happen. Redford carried that movie with only his face and his body doing the acting. We watched in fascination as he tried to survive. I cannot say enough about this movie and if he is not nominated for an Oscar, indeed, if he does not win the Oscar, there is no justice. I cannot think of anyone who could pull this off. But he did it. Just see the movie.
THE FEISTY BLOG 