All posts by Clif Graves

The Best Sweet Potatoes—Ever

May 31, 2013 Clif Graves 4 Comments

Yesterday was a busy day. What with spring and gardening and writing and work around the home, there never seems to be enough hours to do everything. (No matter. I still love this time of year.) However, yesterday was also a Winthrop Food Pantry day. I had agreed to go in as a substitute for someone else, which I was happy to do, but how, I wondered, could I slide in a bit of gardening as well as a bike ride with my husband, Clif, and still have a nice supper afterward? Shari Burke, of Craftivist in the Kitchen, came to my rescue with one of her wonderful posts about a Crock-Pot meal involving chicken, sage, and sweet potatoes. Just perfect for a hot day with many chores.

Before I left for the food pantry, I prepared the meal. Shari had told me that I could use whole sweet potatoes, but I must admit I “flinched” and cut the potatoes in half. As it turns out, Shari was right. There was no need to cut the potatoes. However, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I washed 2 sweet potatoes, cut them in half, and poked them with a fork. I put a combination of drumsticks and thighs on top of the potatoes, and I used 8 or 9 pieces of chicken so that I would have leftovers for a salad. I drizzled olive oil on top of the chicken and then added 1/2 teaspoon of dried sage, 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme, and 1 large clove of minced garlic. I put the cover on, set the temperature on low, and pedalled my way to the food pantry, where, among other things, I discussed important food topics such as what to do with leftover sour cream.

“Use it in muffins,” one woman suggested. “It’s especially good in apple muffins.”

What a good idea! For some reason, I had never thought of using sour cream in muffins, even though one of my favorite coffee cakes uses sour cream.

When I came home, everything in the Crock-Pot was cooking nicely. The chicken pieces had generated a fair amount of liquid, and I turned the sweet potatoes so that they would be well simmered. Then, I had a snack on the patio, planted some tomatoes, and Clif and I went for a bike ride, where I was entranced by the smell of lilacs and the sweet greenness of spring.

When we came home, supper was waiting for us. The chicken was done—spicy, moist, and tender. But the sweet potatoes were definitely the star of the evening. Infused by the juices of the chicken, they were very, very soft and mashed beautifully. Smooth and rich with an undertone of chicken, the sweet potatoes were so good that I almost could have skipped the chicken and have made it a sweet potato night.

This is definitely a make-again meal. Thank you, Shari, for the great idea. And next time, I won’t cut the sweet potatoes in half.

Note: This meal is so simple that I’m not going to bother with a formal recipe. Just put some sweet potatoes in a Crock-Pot, cover with 8 or 9 pieces of chicken, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon each of dried thyme and sage, and add 1 large clove of minced garlic. Cook on low for 7 or 8 hours. There. I’ve included the instructions twice.

People, Recipes

A Rainy Day Picnic Last Weekend: Includes a Recipe for Southwest Nacho Casserole

May 29, 2013 Clif Graves 1 Comment

Last Sunday we had our Memorial Day gathering, and it was a good thing we had planned to have the meal inside. Rain had been predicted, and rain we had. Although it was disappointing to be inside and even more disappointing not to have Clif’s grilled bread, we nonetheless had a cozy gathering at our little house in the big woods.

There were eight of us—Mike, Shannon, Alice, Joel, Sybil, Diane, Clif and me—-and we know each so well that finding something to talk about is never a problem. We all love movies, books, and food, and those three things alone can keep us going for hours. Throw in a handful of talk about family, a pinch of politics, as well as a dash of sports, and a whole afternoon can pass in a snap.

This gathering was a potluck, and I must say that I am blessed to have friends (and a daughter!) who are very good cooks. Alice brought a sweet potato tart; Shannon, a wheat berry, dill, pine nut and mozzarella salad; and Diane, a beet, quinoa, and feta salad. I made black bean burgers and a Southwest nacho casserole. For dessert, Sybil made an oh-so-elegant flan, rich yet smooth. And then there were Mom’s gingersnaps.

“Did she freeze some for you to thaw for your gatherings?” Sybil teased me when I called them Mom’s gingersnaps.

No, no, I admitted with a smile, they are mine, made fresh the day before. But somehow, whenever I make those gingersnaps, it feels as though they are Mom’s cookies rather than mine. Maybe it’s because she made them so often that they became her speciality. Maybe it’s because I use her hand-written recipe to make the cookies. Or maybe, as Ida LeClair might say, it’s completely “woo-woo” and I am channelling my mother. Who knows?

By the end of the day, after coffee and tea, those gingersnaps were mostly gone, and the few that were left went home in little baggies with our guests. I promised everyone a rain check, when with any luck, the weather would be better, and we could eat outside and have grilled bread. “Good!” Diane said. “I have to have that grilled bread at least once a year.”

“Mark your calendars for the Fourth of July,” I replied.

Everyone nodded. Duly noted. Our friend Jill, who lives part-time in Michigan and part-time in Maine, will also be invited for our Fourth of July gathering.

Right now, the Fourth of July seems far away. We have a whole month to go before we get there, with lots happening in June. In the meantime, there will be casual suppers, some with just Clif and me and some with a few friends, but all will be enjoyed on the patio if the weather allows.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:24]

News

The Yard in May

May 28, 2013 Clif Graves 2 Comments

Today, this Tuesday after Memorial Day Weekend, is a sunny, busy day with lots of outdoor chores as well as a bike trip to the library to do some volunteer work. Over the weekend, we had an indoor picnic, which I’ll write more about tomorrow, when the weather is supposed to be rainy again.

For today, I’ll keep the post short, with some pictures of the yard in May. Oh, spring is galloping right along. As I wrote on my friend Claire’s Facebook page: “I love spring, too, but I always want to say, ‘Wait, wait! Don’t go by so fast. Take your time turning to summer.’ But, of course, spring doesn’t wait. She rushes headlong into summer.”

News

Here Comes the Rain Again: A Wet Memorial Day Weekend

May 24, 2013 Clif Graves 1 Comment

For the past week, it has pretty much been nothing but rain in central Maine. While everything is as lush and as green as a rainforest, all this wet weather makes it hard to do any amount of gardening. I have managed to plant some annuals in pots, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the rain doesn’t go on long enough to rot my little beauties.

My husband, Clif, and I had hoped to host a barbecue on Sunday, but now it looks as though our friends will be coming to an indoor event. We had planned to serve Clif’s renowned grilled bread, but if the rain continues as forecasted, then we will offer my legendary homemade crackers. (“Legendary” was coined by Kathy Gillis-Soltan, who works on the library expansion committee with me. I brought the crackers to one of our events.) Good though the crackers are, they really can’t compete with grilled bread, and I expect there will be some minor disappointment on Sunday. We were also going to have hamburgers, hot dogs, and black bean burgers, but that, too, has been changed. I’m sticking with the black bean burgers, which are best panfried, but instead of hot dogs and hamburgers, I’ve come up with a Mexican dish that can be baked. The Mexican dish has hamburg, refried beans, cheese, and spices. Naturally, there are tortilla chips to go along with it.

So, a changed menu unless Sunday is sunny and warm, and indoors rather than outdoors. No matter. Mike, Shannon, Sybil, Diane, Joel, Alice, Clif, and I will still have a great time eating and chatting.

And despite the festive nature of this weekend, I will remember the dead—family and friends who are no longer with us: Mom, Dad, Barbara, my grandmother, Ethel, Garry, Aunt Barney, and Uncle Leo. I’ll be making my mother’s gingersnaps to go along with the delectable flan that Sybil has offered to bring. As I’ve noted before, in our family, Mom’s gingersnaps were as legendary as my crackers, and they are a way to honor all those who have passed and who are very much missed.

To end on an upbeat note: If the Mexican casserole turns out as well as I hope it does, then I will share the recipe next week.

Food for Thought, People

Lunch with Laura and Shari and Some Thoughts about Cooking

May 22, 2013 Clif Graves

On Monday, I went to my friend Laura’s house for lunch, and she served spicy beans, barbecued sausage, and seaweed salad. What a lunch! Much different from my usual yogurt and crackers or peanut butter on English muffin. (Sometimes I get really crazy and have an egg.) I also got to meet Shari Burke, who writes a snappy blog called Craftivist in the Kitchen.

We talked of many things, but because Laura, Shari, and I are all extremely interested in food—some might call it obsessed, and they wouldn’t be too far off the mark—the conversation quite naturally turned to cooking and eating. I told them how I was reading Cooked by Michael Pollan and Maine Home Cooking by Sandra Oliver and how the two books both agreed and disagreed with each other.

Michael Pollan thinks that home-cooked meals are the way to go—as does Sandra Oliver—-but Pollan believes that there is too little cooking happening in most American homes. Sandra Oliver, on the other hand, thinks that there is, in fact, a lot of cooking happening in many households but that it is simple, unfussy cooking far removed from the fancy techniques touted in many books and magazines and on some of the cooking shows.

What Sandra Oliver wrote in her introduction to Maine Home Cooking is so worthwhile that I’m going to share it here, even though when I was talking to Laura and Shari, I could only paraphrase Oliver’s sentiment: “I hear a lot about how no one cooks any more. Some of my friends even tell me they don’t cook, but I notice they are feeding their families and they look reasonably healthy to me. When I ask them how they do it, they say, ‘Well, I just roast a chicken and boil some potatoes and make a salad.’ Lots more people cook in a modest, daily, simple fashion than the professionals give us credit for.”

I totally agree with Oliver’s take on American cooking. One only has to go into a supermarket, those hum-drum places where most Americans shop, to realize that Oliver is completely right. I know there is a lot of junky, processed food in the supermarket. I’ll even confess that I like some of that junky food, and I have a stash of Twizzlers in my food closet. However, along with all the junky food that isn’t good for you, there is plenty of fresh, nutritious food. To name just some of the many choices: Lettuce, broccoli, mushrooms, and carrots. Cheese, yogurt, chicken, and tofu. Flour, oil, salt, and baking powder. Peanuts, walnuts, and cashews. Black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans. Garlic. Onions. Apples. Bananas. Oranges. (I’m essentially going through my own shopping list, and I’ll stop here.)

All the food I listed plus many other healthy choices are in abundant profusion, and if people were only buying Hamburger Helper and boxed macaroni and cheese, then the selection of healthy food would be much smaller than it is in most grocery stores. The abundance suggests that many people—indeed most, I would posit—are often buying simple but healthy food to cook for themselves and their families. (And sure, they also throw in a bag or two of chips.)

And why don’t people think they are cooking? I suppose it’s because, as Oliver suggests, they are not using “twenty-seven fancy ingredients and spending half the day in the kitchen.” I do want to make it clear that I think there is a place for “fancy” cooks and for chefs who have elevated cooking to an art. I admire them, but it does a disservice to everyday cooks to look down on simple ingredients and to not consider it cooking to serve chicken, potatoes, and salad for supper. I hope we can, at some point, move beyond this either/or attitude to acknowledge that both simple and complex cooking have their place in our culture.

Anyway, how wonderful it was to talk to Shari and Laura and then to use the conversation as a springing point for something that has been on my mind for quite a while. I look forward to our next get together.

Food for Thought, News

Some thoughts about the 2013 Gathering of Franco-American Artists

May 21, 2013 Clif Graves 3 Comments

Last weekend’s gathering of Franco-American Artists at the beautiful Darling Marine Center was terrific. On Saturday, well over a dozen presenters read, performed, or showed, via the computer, their work. It would be impossible to do everyone justice so very, very briefly: The incomparable performers and storytellers, Susan Poulin and Michael Parent, were at this event, and their talent, energy, and professionalism set a very high bar for the rest of us. Readers, if Susan or Michael come to a town near you, don’t hesitate to go to one of their snappy but moving performances. How lucky Maine is to have them! Denis Ledoux read from a work in progress as did Joan Vermette. David Vermette shared some work from his blog, French North American, to which I have a link on Good Eater’s side bar in the upper right-hand corner. Steven Riel read some of his fine poetry, and he has a book coming out soon. I can’t wait to have my own copy. I could go on and on, but I will not. I’m so sorry to leave out the many other fine presentations.

I do, however, want to touch on one aspect of the conference that brought both pleasure and illumination. There was a handful of young Franco-American artists, and it was great to have them at this gathering. Again, I hate to single out one at the expense of the others, but Rachelle Beaudoin, an artist who performs conceptual art, was outstanding. Her take on social issues such as immigration and on women and body image was both creative and provocative. Here’s a link to her work. It was no surprise to learn that Rachelle has won an art Fulbright grant, and with any luck, she will be one of the important artists of her generation.

The younger Franco-American artists also gave those of us who are more “mature” a much-needed reminder about our obligation to educate them about the role and the history of Franco-Americans in Maine and New England. At the end of the conference, Denis Ledoux noted that he really wasn’t interested in programs that addressed the question of what it meant to be Franco-American. (On Friday night, there was a short film from Quebec that did this.) Denis was more interested in the actual work of other artists at the gathering. I nodded my head in agreement. We elder Francos have been asking this question for decades, and we are a little tired of it. “But wait a minute,” said Peter Patenaude of Boot & Canoe. “We younger Franco-Americans are not that familiar with the history.” In other words, it was new to them. I felt humbled by this—the elder perspective is certainly not the only perspective, and we need to be aware of our duty to pass down Franco-American history to the next generation. So thank you, Peter, for speaking up.

I am happy to report that my mother’s gingersnaps were a big hit. I made a double batch, and they were passed around during my presentation, which included a short piece about “Rochelle’s gingersnaps.” In between bites, Joan Vermette said, “These gingersnaps are crazy good.” By early Saturday evening, most of the gingersnaps were gone, and they had some stiff competition from sweets that others had brought as well as desserts provided by the wonderful cooks at Darling Marine Center. (The cooks were duly and rightly applauded on Sunday morning.)

Mom would have been so proud to know that “her” cookies were such a hit and also to know that this blog is named in her honor, which I mentioned during my presentation.

Here are some pictures from the gathering:

News

A Good Eater Goes to a Gathering of Franco-American Artists

May 17, 2013 Clif Graves 1 Comment

Tomorrow, I’ll be going to Damariscotta to a gathering of Franco-American artists. There will be at least 40 of us, a reflection of the large population of Franco-Americans that came from Canada to settle in New England and beyond.

I will be reading several posts from A Good Eater, two that touch on some aspect of being Franco-American and one that is a tribute to my mother, who didn’t speak English until she was 5. I’ll be making a double batch of my mother’s legendary ginger snaps to share, and I will also be bringing copies of her recipe.

The title of this blog comes from my mother and her appreciation of someone who was “a good eater.” My mother loved to feed people, and one of the most insulting things you could do was not be a good eater at her table. To her, it felt like a slap in the face if you halfheartedly picked at the food she cooked. Conversely, nothing made her happier than to cook for someone who ate with gusto. If you asked for seconds, well, then you had won her heart. We associate this obsession with feeding people to certain ethnic groups, and Franco-Americans mothers can take their place beside Jewish, Italian, and Chinese mothers who like nothing better than having good eaters at their tables.

I would not call A Good Eater a Franco-American blog. Instead, it is a blog written by a Franco-American. In other words, being Franco-American is the place where I start rather than my destination. Yet, part of what I want to do with this blog is to show how a life lived close to home, a life that revolves around food, family, and friends, is a rich and rewarding life. “Livin’ the good life,” as Ida LeClair (aka Susan Poulin) might say. And if that isn’t Franco-American, then I don’t know what is.

News

A Beautiful Blue Day

May 16, 2013 Clif Graves

Blue is my favorite color, and I like every shade, from pale to dark blue. Today, the sky is a deep blue, a great day to hang my blue sheets and to go for a bike ride on Blue Beauty. But best of all, a couple of days ago, my cousin Linda brought me some eggs, some of which are—you guessed it—blue. I will save those eggs for last and use the brown ones first. I know. Eggs are eggs, regardless of the color of their shells, but those blue eggs, laid by Americana hens, are very special to me.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a beautiful blue day.

Food for the Soul, People

Mother’s Day 2013

May 14, 2013 Clif Graves 2 Comments

On this year’s Mother’s Day, there was a small but jolly gathering at the little house in the big woods. Our daughter Shannon and her dog, Holly, came for a visit and for brunch. (Unfortunately our other daughter, Dee, who lives in New York, couldn’t join us, and Mike, Shannon’s husband, had to work.)

This is a perfect time to be a braggy old mom, and I’m not going to hold back. Shannon has become such an accomplished cook. For brunch she brought French toast that had been soaked in an egg and milk mixture that had just a hint of orange. The toasts were baked and then glazed with a crunchy, melted sugar topping. Oh my, they were good. We also had home fries and bacon, courtesy of my husband, Clif, as well as melon, blueberries, and strawberries. What a feast!

After brunch, Shannon and I took the dogs for a walk on a trail in the woods behind our house. (Clif’s leg was bothering him, so he stayed home.) Up the ravine we went. The dogs ran and chased each other. A little frog jumped out of their way, and below us, the stream rushed on its course to the Upper Narrows Pond.

The day was damp, and when we came back, our feet were thoroughly soaked. Off came the wet shoes, and it was time for tea and dessert, flourless chocolate cupcakes—made by Shannon—served with a whipped cream flavored with white chocolate and peppermint. I had two of them. I couldn’t resist. Flourless cakes are my favorite kind of cakes, and these cupcakes are moist and rich and delectable. Besides, it was Mother’s Day and therefore a cheat day for me. This was no time to be dieting.

Dee and Shannon had given me money to buy flowers for my garden, and after dessert, Shannon and I went to Augusta, where I bought begonias, impatiens, and dwarf snap dragons.

We are a family that absolutely loves these simple but lovely get-togethers. Cooking for each other is one of the ways we express our affection. As I recently remarked to my cousin Carol, food does more than nourish the body. It nourishes the spirit as well.

My spirit was thoroughly nourished on this year’s Mother’s Day. The only way it could have been any better would have been to have Dee and Mike there, too.

Nature

A Woods Walk on a Gray Day in May

May 9, 2013 Clif Graves 3 Comments

Today was a gray day with much-needed rain. In between showers, my husband, Clif, our dog, Liam, and I went for a woods walk. The ground was muddy underfoot, and above us a raptor flew, its high-pitched calls echoing around us. Was it a hawk? Was it an osprey? Unfortunately, I don’t know bird calls well enough to distinguish the different raptors.

Various spring flowers are in bloom. In contrast to the circling raptor, the flowers are close to the ground. But like the raptor, the flowers are hard to see, and often only those who have “flower radar” can spot these modest little jewels of the forest.