lela's "extended family cookbook" project

kin from kinderhook

lelapalooza — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:08:58 +0000

Well, Sunday seemed to be a slow response day, I just don’t get it, doesn’t everyone lay in bed all day glued to their computer like I do? Anyway. I did get a nice response from my Aunt Vicki who lives in Kinderhook, NY (the same Kinderhook where Tony Blundetto was hiding out from Tony Soprano, I might add.)

Vicki is my mom’s youngest sister and definitely a foodie, so I am excited to see what recipes she’ll send. She’s also sending my Uncle David’s recipe for Eggplant Charlotte, an appetizer, and we all know how I love eggplant (I’ll NEVER be “gasmoosh” again!).

That’s a a photo of their (Vicki, David, and their daughter Julie) home in Kinderhook. It’s an historical home in the Hudson Valley.

two of my favorite new people in parker

lelapalooza — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:14:36 +0000

…are De and Selah. They are mother and daughter. De works at the Parker Chamber of Commerce and Selah, her daughter just opened an amazing cupcake boutique – she makes absolutely the moistest (I like that word) cupcakes I have ever had, and keeping them moist at this altitude is quite a feat, but they are the moistest. You can check them out at Nomelie Cupcakes. (and the picture above is one of hers too).

Selah said she’d be sending along recipes for Dark Beer Chili, Buttermilk Onion Rings with Roasted Tomato Aioli & Candied Apple Walnut Pie. Maybe we can even get her to share some secrets about the moistest cupcakes ever. De is from Maui, so a I’m hoping for a great Hawaiian recipe from her!

how this is all gonna go down…

lelapalooza — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:32:19 +0000

I realized that I hadn’t really explained how this blog part is gonna work or what it’s for…and actually, I just figured it out myself.As friends & family reply to my email, I’ll post a little bit about them…and how I know them, so you can all get to know each other in a nut shell (cut to Austin Powers miming as though he’s stuck in a nutshell, “look, this is me! In a nutshell!).

Then once I receive recipes and create each item, I will take a picture of said item and post my thoughts on this item and any anecdotes that go along with that. For anyone who chooses to read the blog, you can read all about it here…all three of you who know about it…and hopefully by the fall, we’ll have a hard copy version for easy reference.

So here goes…

xoL

baba ghanoush/baba gasmoosh

lelapalooza — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:06:24 +0000

Lisa is one of my best friends, I’ve known her since Kindergarten. We’ve know each other since we were 4 years old, almost 29 years, in 2009 we’ll have to have a 30th anniversary party with lots of baba ghanoush. Somewhere along the line we developed nicknames for each other beyond the generic “be fri” and “st ends”. (She always got to be “be fri”, and I got “st ends”…) and adopted the monikers “Babaganoosh” and “Babagasmoosh”. (Again, more often than not, she was “ganoosh” and I was “gasmoosh”…hmmm.)

Now Lisa lives in La Jolla, CA with her husband Shawn and their adorable kid Ben. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them again in June when we get out to California, it’s been since our wedding – almost two years. Lisa is a busy mom so I’ll forgive her not sending a recipe, and will just pry one out of her when I see her. Maybe the two of us, nowadays commonly and communally known as just “bubs”, will create an out-of-this-world babaganoosh recipe to share with the extended family!

You decide , which eggplant is ghanoush and which is gasmoosh?

fusion meets fusion meets fusion.

lelapalooza — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:04:50 +0000

I just got a reply from one really cool chick named Anne, who lives with her husband John, and their dog Max in NYC. Anne & John & Max are extended family through my Aunt and Uncle Sandy & Ranganath, who have hosted many students in their home over the years, most of whom have become part of our wacky extended family and are familiar faces at family get-togethers throughout the year.

Anne & John are the ultimate fusion couple. Her side of the family is Spanish-Filipino-Chinese and John’s side is Vietnamese-French…She said she’d send recipes when her finals are over at the end of May. I am excited to see these recipes- the flavor combinations sound amazing, I am excited just thinking about the possibilities. Can’t wait to see what she sends. Good luck Anne!

first recipe from the unlikeliest of suspects – classic cakes!

lelapalooza — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:18:47 +0000

The first recipe, actually TWO recipes have just come in, and from THE most unlikeliest of suspects- my Dad, Richard. Dad sent along two recipes that he has adapted from The Joy of Cooking, 1964 edition. For as long as I remember Dad has been making these two cakes for Mom’s birthdays- Sponge Cake & Angel Food. Since today is Mom’s birthday, maybe that’s why he sent the recipe so quickly, perhaps he was in the kitchen baking – how fortuitous.

Dad likes to ice the cakes with a simple sugar icing flavored with orange or lemon juice and orange or lemon rind. He advised me that when I make mine, I should adjust for the altitude levels since I’ll be baking in Denver. He’s right – I’m not a baker, and my oven sucks, but in the words of Tim Gunn, I’ll “make it work.” (PS- If you ever have the good fortune to meet Eric, his Tim Gunn impression is SPOT ON).

I’ll post the recipe once I get the formatting issues figured out! Oh, and Richard prefers the Sponge Cake over the Angel Cake, in his words, it’s “less finicky.”

I’m posting a picture of Richard here that I found on the net when I googled him. So it’s already out there…

forget me not!

lelapalooza — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:58:45 +0000

My Aunt Wendy, whom I love dearly (and will be seeing in 3 weeks when I go home to Boston!) sent a quick reply. She loves the idea of the cookbook and reminded me to bug her if I don’t receive a recipe in a reasonable amount of time. I have a feeling I’ll be collecting many, many of these recipes upon my trip to Massachusetts. She’s the one who makes kick ass zucchini bread and an amazing zabaglione two christmases ago that we served with lemon-ginger angel food cake.

I love the way Wendy cooks, she has always used whole grains, organic ingredients and cool, healthy alternative stuff. (Perhaps as this blog grows, you’ll get a better understanding of my family: my mom and her sisters- they were definitely, and some still are, total hippies!) She gave me a jar of Agave Nectar that I love to use in place of sweeteners, and it’s just fun to add to different thing, cause it sounds cool to say, “oh that has agave nectar in it.” Sweet.

professor eric’s noodles & cottage chess – *update: eric’s “food bio”, mmmm donuts.

lelapalooza — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:46:48 +0000

Another response, from another one of my best friends: Eric, or Professor Eric to those who know and love him. Some of you probably know Eric – we met through Tim, (everybody who knows me, likely knows the story of Tim, and I’ll leave that for another post.) Eric and I have spent a lot of time together traveling back and forth from Wichita – we even stood on a corner (the wrong corner albeit) together in Winslow, Arizona all in the name of the Tallgrass Film Festival (this October 20-23, in Wichita, KS, shameless plug. Hey I just realized it’s my blog, I can pimp my stuff as much as I want – woohoo! Tallgrass Film Festival – submit your films now!)

Back to Eric, he’s going to send me some family recipe’s for Stuffed Cabbage with Ginger Snaps and Noodles and Cottage Chess with Cinnamon & Sugar. I asked him if it was made with bishops or queens, and haven’t heard back yet…He also said he might send me the “Matzoh Ball Soup” recipe…maybe…IF I am nice to him.

*UPDATE: Eric just sent me the following “food bio”. See below for photo of “eric with food”.

Eric J. Moore is obsessed with food enough that he has driven an hour from Los Angeles to Glendora just because he heard rumor of the best peach donut. In that case, the rumor turned out to be true, and after the fresh peach pastry was devoured he was very sad. Growing up in Boston, and having adventurous parents and friends, Mr. Moore was exposed to many cultures’ culinary delights, and quickly became a food snob. He likes food from all over, as long as it is vegetarian. He easily converts recipes to be veg friendly when needed and improvises when ingredients are missing. He has been know to make a mean matzoh ball soup thanks to his family’s secret recipe.

Apparently even the Moore’s dog know the recipe, and he aint talking.

and then there were two…

lelapalooza — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:51:46 +0000

My second reply has come in! This time it’s from my dear friend Vikki , with whom I went to high school, boarding school outside of Philadelphia, Westtown, to be more specific. Hard to believe we’re having our 15 year reunion this year, and to be honest, *&#! scary. I don’t feel that old. Do you ever?

Anyway, Vikki, who lives in Brooklyn, has been in Ecuador doing her dissertation and fieldwork. She’s an anthropologist and a kick ass woman. The best thing about Vikki is I can go for years without seeing or talking to her and whenever we reconnect, it’s like no time has passed.

Vikki told me that when she gets back to the States in June, she’ll send me her recipe for Picadillo, a Puerto Rican dish. (her mom’s side of the family is Puerto Rican…) Yay! Oh, and Vikki is marrying Robert, her boyfriend of a long time, and a great photographer, in September!!

first reply! (*update – Amy’s sent her fava bean recipe!)

lelapalooza — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:46:57 +0000

Well Amy, one of my best friends who lives in Chicago, was the first to reply. Amy (of fava bean fame) and I met for the first time about six years ago when she was in LA for a wedding and we were living there. We have mutual friends, who grew up and went to college together. We reconnected when J/B and I moved to Chicago in 2005, and realized that we share a passion for many of the same things – from food…to Sex & The City. It was all serendipitous really.Anyway, we are plotting and planning a career advancement in the culinary field. More to come on that.

So Amy asked if she could forward it to her good friends Sandra and Sarah to which my reply was “of course”! Tu famiglia es mi famiglia, or something like that…Anyway, I always said it’s never a party until someone you don’t know shows up, so things are looking up. (I have met Sarah once I might add, years ago at the Standard Hotel in LA…and have heard so much about both of them, I feel I know them!).

*UPDATE: Amy has sent her fava bean recipe. It looks awesome. She’s derived it from Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook. Now I have to go out and find some favas…(and below is a picture of us on a cruise this February)