Thursday, May 14, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Food with a Story May 5, 2020
There's a lot of food on Cape Cod! Mostly seafood, though, most of which we don't much enjoy. But OUR food is still the best for US! So I'll share about it as I tell a bit of our story.
John and I had met at the church there, then got married and lived for 3 years in nearby Taunton, where the Cape was always our favorite playground. We embarked on a 36 year western sojourn after three years of marriage. First to Santa Rosa then Vallejo, CA, where our two girls were born, then on to Wisconsin where John became a pastor for five years, then six years in Lebanon, Oregon, and finally eastward to Missouri. That's where the previous details of this blog happened.
The opportunity to move to Cape Cod was facilitated by star recruiters, Charlie and Lori Case. The move was confirmed when I was offered the job of Health and Nutrition Services Director at Cape Cod Child Development. It was a glorious 2 1/2 years living back on the East Coast and among old friends who welcomed us like family.
The church was large and active, a welcome change from our small and often dying Missouri churches. We loved inviting new and old friends to our home for a meal and these were our first guests, Ubis and Karen Esparza. Ubis is Queen of healthy salads and the large bowl was her masterpiece. I had made steamed gluten with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, and a favorite holiday vegetable dish of cauliflower with peas and corn.
Any gluten recipe is a bit time-consuming so I will spare you the details, unless you specifically ask for them! An elderly lady in our first church district in Wisconsin made us the cauliflower dish. I steam the head whole. While it is cooking, I dice carrots and start them cooking. When they have cooked five minutes or so, I add a bag of frozen peas, and cook till done. The whole head of cauliflower is placed on a platter. The cooked peas and carrots are arranged around it. A quarter cup of butter is browned in the same pan in which I cooked the cauliflower. This browned butter is then poured over the cauliflower and peas and carrots. It is beautiful and tasty.
The greatest privilege was having a houseful of old friends over for a Sabbath meal. It was Floyd and Rose Hansen, Terry and Toni Copsey, Kevin and Sherrie Wall, and Charlie and Lori Case. Tony and Sherrie and Lori are friends from Stoneham, Massachusetts, while Rose came along when we were at Atlantic Union College.
Another favorite meal was Mexican, with guacamole, beans and chips, salsa, and all the fixins' like olives, pepperoncini, fresh lemon, and finely chopped lettuce.
My friend Sherrie would often say, "You've seen more of the Cape than I have!" John and I acted just like the local tourists, constantly checking out the beautiful place that was our new home. With 400 miles of shoreline, 384 lakes and ponds, PLUS rivers and creeks, there is so much WATER. We were less than a mile from Nantucket Sound and just a few from Cape Cod Bay. The National Seashore on the eastern side was perhaps our overall favorite place. It was the body of water with the most spectacular waves and water.
This
dish to the left was created by me for just John and I. It was a pizza
of sorts, using a toasted sourdough sub roll. It's really more of a vegetable
sandwich than a pizza, with sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms, a little
cheese and some tomato sauce on top. This is John's plate. My plate
ti the right had just one half a sandwich AND a pile of carrots and celery, for obvious reasons.
One blessing of living in a resort area is that people do like to come and visit. Our girls and their husbands came that first summer. My sisters and brother and his family came, along with our cousins Kathleen and Tim and their families. Picnics are always a summer favorite. Here's one with my sisters. Heidi was so impressed with my color coordinated picnic set. I had purchased it at an Estate Sale on Squaw Island, a very elite and private area near where the Latimer family lived, those old friends mentioned earlier, Toni, Sherrie, and Lori. This picnic was the first stop in a favorite Cape Cod tour for my sisters: Chatham, National Seashore, Rock Harbor.
This picture to the left was a Labor Day Cookout with whatever friends I could gather. The main course was Shish-ka-bobs. I use some gluten and marinate it in soy sauce, molasses, and olive oil. Then put it on skewers with colorful peppers, white and purple onion, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and pineapple. The BBQ is just to the left in this picture. As you cook them, you brush more of the marinade on. They always are such a HIT! Crusty bread is a good addition. We had lots of other great goodies, too. Afterward, we played some outdoor games AND did the mandatory walk around Sandy Pond which is 1/2 mile from our home. It was my favorite close spot either on foot or on my bike. And I loved bringing friends of that walk with its pine-needle strewn paths. Friends in this picture include Josh and Laura, Almarene, Alio and Cindy, Kaydian and some of her family, and of course, my husband, John.
The Chick Pea Salad shown here was my creation with ingredients I had on hand. All the chopped vegetables looked so pretty: onion, colored peppers, green onion, fresh parsley, and green chili. I used about 2 cups of cooked garbanzos (one can), gently whizzed in the food processor, along with mayonnaise and salt to taste. I served it on a leaf of fresh lettuce. A crusty sourdough bread would be my choice for the sandwich. 
Is it just me or do others also like the rhythm and motion of chopping? The other night I made a pecan loaf with lots of chopping and it was comforting and enjoyable. That recipe will come later!
It was in June of our second year on Cape Cod when the most delightful news came our way...not one, but both of our daughters were pregnant and due to have babies in early 2019.
It was also near that same time when I could see that our agency was destabilizing. But because I was soon to be a grandma, the news did NOT trouble me! Without my good job, however, there was no way we could continue to afford to live on Cape Cod. John was working 32 hours a week for Hy-Line, the ferry company that takes passengers to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. He hated the thought of leaving his job but it was not sufficient to finance life in a resort!
Molly Grace was born on February 27, 2019, and I flew out to Oregon on March 2, knowing that Natasha was herself in labor. As we touched down in St. Louis for our layover, Jeremy texted, "Ezra Elliott has arrived!" I FaceTimed with them soon after and was assured that everything was fine and so I proceeded to Portland for a week with Molly. Flying in to Chattanooga for a week with Ezra followed. What a whirlwind...I mean, couldn't these girls have planned better than THAT?! Being grandparents is just the BEST!
Natasha planned to go back to work while Karissa chose to stay home full time. So being needed for Nana-duty suited me just fine and so it was decided to move to Tennessee.
More about that to come!
There's a lot of food on Cape Cod! Mostly seafood, though, most of which we don't much enjoy. But OUR food is still the best for US! So I'll share about it as I tell a bit of our story.
John and I had met at the church there, then got married and lived for 3 years in nearby Taunton, where the Cape was always our favorite playground. We embarked on a 36 year western sojourn after three years of marriage. First to Santa Rosa then Vallejo, CA, where our two girls were born, then on to Wisconsin where John became a pastor for five years, then six years in Lebanon, Oregon, and finally eastward to Missouri. That's where the previous details of this blog happened.
The opportunity to move to Cape Cod was facilitated by star recruiters, Charlie and Lori Case. The move was confirmed when I was offered the job of Health and Nutrition Services Director at Cape Cod Child Development. It was a glorious 2 1/2 years living back on the East Coast and among old friends who welcomed us like family.
The church was large and active, a welcome change from our small and often dying Missouri churches. We loved inviting new and old friends to our home for a meal and these were our first guests, Ubis and Karen Esparza. Ubis is Queen of healthy salads and the large bowl was her masterpiece. I had made steamed gluten with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, and a favorite holiday vegetable dish of cauliflower with peas and corn. Any gluten recipe is a bit time-consuming so I will spare you the details, unless you specifically ask for them! An elderly lady in our first church district in Wisconsin made us the cauliflower dish. I steam the head whole. While it is cooking, I dice carrots and start them cooking. When they have cooked five minutes or so, I add a bag of frozen peas, and cook till done. The whole head of cauliflower is placed on a platter. The cooked peas and carrots are arranged around it. A quarter cup of butter is browned in the same pan in which I cooked the cauliflower. This browned butter is then poured over the cauliflower and peas and carrots. It is beautiful and tasty.
Another favorite meal was Mexican, with guacamole, beans and chips, salsa, and all the fixins' like olives, pepperoncini, fresh lemon, and finely chopped lettuce.
My friend Sherrie would often say, "You've seen more of the Cape than I have!" John and I acted just like the local tourists, constantly checking out the beautiful place that was our new home. With 400 miles of shoreline, 384 lakes and ponds, PLUS rivers and creeks, there is so much WATER. We were less than a mile from Nantucket Sound and just a few from Cape Cod Bay. The National Seashore on the eastern side was perhaps our overall favorite place. It was the body of water with the most spectacular waves and water. 
This
dish to the left was created by me for just John and I. It was a pizza
of sorts, using a toasted sourdough sub roll. It's really more of a vegetable
sandwich than a pizza, with sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms, a little
cheese and some tomato sauce on top. This is John's plate. My plate
ti the right had just one half a sandwich AND a pile of carrots and celery, for obvious reasons. 
One blessing of living in a resort area is that people do like to come and visit. Our girls and their husbands came that first summer. My sisters and brother and his family came, along with our cousins Kathleen and Tim and their families. Picnics are always a summer favorite. Here's one with my sisters. Heidi was so impressed with my color coordinated picnic set. I had purchased it at an Estate Sale on Squaw Island, a very elite and private area near where the Latimer family lived, those old friends mentioned earlier, Toni, Sherrie, and Lori. This picnic was the first stop in a favorite Cape Cod tour for my sisters: Chatham, National Seashore, Rock Harbor.
This picture to the left was a Labor Day Cookout with whatever friends I could gather. The main course was Shish-ka-bobs. I use some gluten and marinate it in soy sauce, molasses, and olive oil. Then put it on skewers with colorful peppers, white and purple onion, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and pineapple. The BBQ is just to the left in this picture. As you cook them, you brush more of the marinade on. They always are such a HIT! Crusty bread is a good addition. We had lots of other great goodies, too. Afterward, we played some outdoor games AND did the mandatory walk around Sandy Pond which is 1/2 mile from our home. It was my favorite close spot either on foot or on my bike. And I loved bringing friends of that walk with its pine-needle strewn paths. Friends in this picture include Josh and Laura, Almarene, Alio and Cindy, Kaydian and some of her family, and of course, my husband, John.
The Chick Pea Salad shown here was my creation with ingredients I had on hand. All the chopped vegetables looked so pretty: onion, colored peppers, green onion, fresh parsley, and green chili. I used about 2 cups of cooked garbanzos (one can), gently whizzed in the food processor, along with mayonnaise and salt to taste. I served it on a leaf of fresh lettuce. A crusty sourdough bread would be my choice for the sandwich. 
 |
| Winston and Karissa Tonack with Natasha and Jeremy Micheff |
It was in June of our second year on Cape Cod when the most delightful news came our way...not one, but both of our daughters were pregnant and due to have babies in early 2019.
It was also near that same time when I could see that our agency was destabilizing. But because I was soon to be a grandma, the news did NOT trouble me! Without my good job, however, there was no way we could continue to afford to live on Cape Cod. John was working 32 hours a week for Hy-Line, the ferry company that takes passengers to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. He hated the thought of leaving his job but it was not sufficient to finance life in a resort!
Molly Grace was born on February 27, 2019, and I flew out to Oregon on March 2, knowing that Natasha was herself in labor. As we touched down in St. Louis for our layover, Jeremy texted, "Ezra Elliott has arrived!" I FaceTimed with them soon after and was assured that everything was fine and so I proceeded to Portland for a week with Molly. Flying in to Chattanooga for a week with Ezra followed. What a whirlwind...I mean, couldn't these girls have planned better than THAT?! Being grandparents is just the BEST!
Natasha planned to go back to work while Karissa chose to stay home full time. So being needed for Nana-duty suited me just fine and so it was decided to move to Tennessee.
More about that to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)