Friendships are amazing and wonderful things. Especially those which have lasted the test of time and/or distance. My longest standing childhood friendships are with Jayne Meadows McKay and Sheri Wigodsky Thal, both of whom were neighbors and school friends. Jayne lived across the street and is the second of six kids and Sheri is the second of three girls and lived five houses down from me. After grade school our friendships changed as we all moved on, but even so, when I see either of them, it’s like we were never apart… we just pick up where we left off. That truly is a beautiful thing!

Jayne in my childhood backyard before the first day of school in 1972

Sheri in front of my childhood home in the summer of '75

Then there is Laura Galloway Heffron. Laura and I met during the first month of my freshman year at Saguaro High School.  We quickly learned that our birthdays are only a day apart and that we shared many of the same interests..so that was that, BFF’s for life! Laura’s parents and two sisters were truly my second family during those formative years and have always been such a true blessing in my life. Laura was my maid of honor and is Marissa’s godmother. Her sister, Mary Galloway Freeman, was one of my bridesmaids too. Shawna Galloway Reynolds is daughter number three and now all three girls, along with their own wonderful families, live only blocks from each other, along with their mother, Coleen, who is just down the street. I love and admire those four strong and beautiful women more than I can say.

Laura's wedding in December 1986; clockwise from the beautiful bride- sisters Mary and Shawna, me, and Laura's stepdaughter, Andrea

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So you may recall that back on December 1st, for her birthday, we gave Marissa a gift certificate to go skydiving. You may also recall that part of the gift was that I would dive with her… well today was the day. The fact that I am posting this lets you know that we survived and in fact thrived! It was a blast and we have photos, t-shirts, and certificates to prove it.  One thing I will say though-  the g-forces put upon your face when you are free falling are not kind to faces over 30, as evident in my photo compared to my 22 year old daughters young, tight, sweet and gorgeous face! Love you Marissa!!!

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Preserved lemons are a common ingredient in Moroccan and other North African cuisine. The pulp is sometimes used in stews and sauces and can be used sparingly in Bloody Marys or added to homemade seafood cocktail sauce. But the true treasure of preserved lemons is the peel. The flavor is slightly tart, intensely and wonderfully lemony. Preserved lemon peel is the key ingredient in many Moroccan dishes such as tagines.

Not all preserved lemon recipes call for olive oil, but I like to add it after the fermenting process to help “seal” or cover the lemons and prevent spoilage. Since I have Meyer lemons from my yard and also have the Queen Creek Meyer Lemon Olive Oil, I’ll be using both of those, but regular lemons are more than fine, and in fact, are the traditional lemons used. Limes and grapefruit can be preserved, using the same method and are delicious with curries, seafood, and lamb.

Make your own preserved lemons along with me today, because next week I’ll be posting delicious recipes to get you started using your new bounty!

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In April, it will be two years since we remodeled our backyard and this winter has, literally, shown the fruits of our labor. We added a blood orange, Meyer lemon, and Mexican lime tree to our existing navel orange, Lisbon lemon, and pink grapefruit – for a true citrus grove!  Last year did not produce any of the new fruits, but this year, the proof is in the colorful picture above and I am one happy girl! The Meyer lemon has been the most prolific of the three new trees. These cookies are delicious with regular lemon zest too, so don’t discount them if you can’t find Meyer lemons.

The almond meal can be found at most grocery stores under the Bob’s Red Mill brand and at Trader Joe’s, or you can make your own almond meal. For about 1 1/3 cups almond meal, place 2 cups whole, unbalanced almonds in a food processor, pulse several times until a medium-fine textured meal forms. Do Not over-process or you will end up with almond butter! Put the ground almond meal in a clean flour sifter, sift and place any large almond particles back into processor and pulse again, sift. That’s all it takes!

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When I wrote about how we were out at the Queen Creek Olive Mill on Valentine’s Day, I failed to mention that we made a stop at The Pork Shop, which is just down the road. You wouldn’t think that a little shop that sells only pork products would be packed on Valentine’s Day at 1PM, but there was barely room to turn around- or as my dad says, “It was so crowded, you didn’t have room to change your mind.” So, of course we were caught up in the frenzy, and bought just tons of stuff; brown sugar cured bacon, pepper cured bacon (both sliced to order), brats, maple syrup sausage, jalapeno-cream cheese summer sausage, and these huge pork chops! During the summer, I mentioned The Pork Shop in a post, but at that time they did not have a website, now they do, so please be sure to check it out HERE.

I went back through the “tags” on the site to see if I had ever talked about celery root, also known as celeriac, and was shocked to find that I haven’t! Shocked, because I adore celery root and use it often. It actually is a type of celery, but is grown as a root vegetable rather than for its stalks and leaves. Unlike most other root vegetables, celery root is relatively low in starch. And unlike potatoes, which are stored at room temperature, celery root needs to be refrigerated and loosely wrapped in plastic where it will last for a couple of weeks. It is used raw (shredded or julienned in a classic Celery Root Salad), braised, boiled, baked, roasted, or even grilled.

As you can see, the outer surface is ugly and knarly and should be thinly sliced off with a knife instead of a vegetable peeler. It is fantastic added along with potato chunks for mashed potatoes or thinly sliced and added in for a potato-celery root gratin. I once enjoyed the hollow stalk of the plant used as a straw in Bloody Mary at a high-end resort brunch, but I have no idea where to purchase the stalks.

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It’s been raining here in Arizona all week. Yesterday and this morning have been especially harsh; flooding, high winds, closed airports, several feet of snow up north, (plus a leaking roof for me!) – just crazy stuff for our dry desert state! This weather makes me want to bake and the chilliness and dark skies make pumpkin and spices seem like the perfect thing to pop in the oven.  I was planning to make a regular Bundt cake, but while digging through the cake pans, I found my mini-rose shaped Bundt pan. These pretty little cuties bring a little warmth and sunshine to an otherwise cold and rainy day.

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Today at 4:30 PM, a new weekday half-hour show is debuting on Channel 12 (Phoenix NBC) called Valley Dish. Host, Tram Mai, will be cooking with a chef/cook each evening. “The new local lifestyle program will spotlight the best of Arizona people, places, and pets. The cornerstone of the show will revolve around cooking up simple, creative dishes viewers can easily make at home.”

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My husband, Dave, made me dinner last night. And it was not one of the two things he knows how to make well -which would be; grilled filet mignon, garlic bread, along with his mom’s caesar salad recipe… or the Male Chauvinist Pig Chili recipe that he cut out of our local newspaper’s food section some 26 years ago! No, he made jambalaya! I’m sure there are many of you reading this right now, who have never made jambalaya… so as you might imagine, this was really something. I believe it was the New Orleans’ Saints victory over our Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, that inspired him. Although we are both sad that the Cards didn’t go all they way, we are proud they took the NFC West title for the second year in a row and congratulate them on their great season. Now we’re going to put our hopes on the Saints to get to the Super Bowl. Dave, thank you for the night off and for the truly delicious dinner! xoxo

To make jambalaya, you begin with the Cajun/Creole “trinity”; a mixture of onion, bell pepper and celery. Most cuisines have their own “trinity”, here are a few: French= carrots, celery, onion; Italian = tomato, garlic, basil; Chinese = garlic, ginger, scallions; Greek = lemon juice, olive oil, oregano; and Mexican = corn, chilies, beans.

I do not care for the flavor of green bell peppers (too much of a “green vegetable” taste for me), you may have noticed that the majority of my recipes use red, yellow or orange bells (sweeter and not green tasting). You, of course, can use green bells instead. There are a wide variety of proteins used in jambalaya; from chicken and sausage, to shrimp and ham, to duck or even alligator. The roots of Creole jambalaya are in the French Quarter of New Orleans, it is a close relative to Spanish paella. It began as an attempt by the Spanish to make their beloved paella in the New World, but the key ingredient, saffron, was not available, so tomatoes were used instead. Next came the French influence on the dish and the spices from the Caribbean changed it into the dish it is today.
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There is very little time allotted in my schedule for posting today – the Arizona Cardinals are in the second round of the playoffs and it is almost impossible for me to concentrate on much else! After the heart-stopping victory against Green Bay last week, I’m not sure how much more I can take – so here’s hoping for an easier victory over the Saints today.

We’re having family over to watch the game, so of course a few munchies are in order. These mushrooms are one of my “fallback” appetizers. Quick, easy, and oh so satisfying. I talked about sririacha sauce and had a link to a wonderful article about it on my January 9, 2010 post, go there if you don’t know what it is.  I’ll get around to posting the other munchies I made, later in the week… but for now – I’m off to put on my Fitzgerald #11 jersey, take a few deep breaths, and watch the Cardinals continue on – to the road to the Super Bowl!!!

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There are some dishes that should be saved for company, just like some people save the good towels for the guest bathroom. This is one of those dishes, it is a treat and should only be had on rare occasions to keep it that way. We’ve had a special guest for the weekend, so I made this for the family on Sunday morning. So nice to have you stay with us Albert, have a great semester at UA and practice up on the ping-pong!

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