Sunday Dinner

I can't promise that this will be a weekly feature, but I thought since last week I gave a main course recipe, the least I could do was also give out a dessert recipe.

I think that the idea of a "homemade" dessert can be a source of panic for someone hosting a dinner, but this fruit crisp recipe is an easy one. I really like recipes where I can keep the ingredients on hand and then always have something up my sleeve, just in case I need to bring something at the last minute (it travels perfectly) or my sweet tooth is screaming at me. Of course, as with most things I love, this too comes with a story...

If I have the details of this correct, our neighbor down the street passed this on to my mom when I was in my mid single-digits. Apparently, I responded so well to this that when my second grade class put together a recipe book for Christmas gifts, this was my entry with the footnote: "Bobby's favorite!" It is sweet/tart and the topping has the perfect bite your looking for in this type of dessert, without the fuss of having to "cut in" the cold butter. I'll give the recipe as is and then tell how I make it work for myself.

1 3/4 lbs. frozen berries
1 stick of butter, melted
1+ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the cinnamon, brown and white sugar, and flour together. Mix in well the melted butter (it will be a "crumble" consistency). Spread the frozen berries in oven proof baking dish (8x8 Pyrex). Evenly sprinkle the crumble mixture over the berries. Make sure you work some of the topping down into the berries with a spoon. Bake for 45+ minutes or until bubbly and nicely browned.

Now, for the new millennium corrections (you can also easily go "all organic" if this is important to you):  Since frozen berries now mostly come in 1 pound bags, I just use 2 bags. Because I don't have a weight scale in the kitchen, I would have to guess-timate the 3/4 of a pound so I figure, "better a little more, than a little less..." Another note on the berries: I prefer blackberries or Marionberries for this. Trader Joe's sells a "Fancy Berry Medley", which is a mixture of blue, black, and raspberries, that works really well, too. My mom always used the more tart berries (never strawberries) so that's what I do, too. For the baking dish, I have a beautiful white Vista Alegre porcelain oval dish (of course I do!) that's 11x8, which holds the extra berries and the topping well, but I've also used the 2 lbs of berries in the 8x8 Pyrex, it is a little snug, though. I suppose you could fill individual ramekins with the frozen berries, as well, but I've always used the one dish.

By the way, there is no shame in using frozen berries. These are picked at their ripest and then flash frozen and are full of flavor. I tried to use fresh fruit once, and it just didn't work quite right. Plus, the berries aren't always available fresh, but I can and do keep a stash in the freezer, just in case. I don't understand it, but the recipe just works with the frozen fruit. The other ingredients are usually pantry staples, so there is no need to run out and get random ingredients.

Served warm with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of lightly whipped cream (equally easy!), this is an easy, delicious,  no-fail dessert. It's fancy enough for company (it's a go-to for Christmas Eve) or travels to a summer pot-luck.

Kids say the darndest things!

In speaking with families with whom I've worked, I can say that I've almost heard it all. One very prominent sports figure's son came right out and said that every night, each member of the family eats something different for dinner and after what they are having is served, he, his sister, and each of the parents collect their plates and trail off into their individual rooms to eat dinner while watching their own programs on their own televisions. His mother was mortified and countered that he wasn't "supposed to tell people that!" Kids. What are you going to do?

I think everyone is guilty of wanting a little "down time" after busy days, and eating a meal while watching the television might have replaced baseball as the great American pastime. But apparently, this isn't uniquely American. A survey funded in Europe by Birds Eye came up with some very startling similarities: in the UK, the survey also found that only one in five British youngsters eat at a table, compared to 7 per cent in France, 42 per cent in Germany, 61 per cent in Italy and 40 per cent in Spain. For 78 per cent of the British youngsters polled, a TV dinner is the norm, with meals taken in front of their favorite shows - this is compared to 61 per cent in France, 62 per cent in Germany and 68 per cent in Italy.

As quoted on the website parentdish.co.uk, childcare and parenting expert Professor Tanya Byron said the breakdown of family mealtimes could be damaging to families. "By eating together, focusing on each other and learning to enjoy each other's company, families gain a variety of benefits, including improved communication and trust - and of course, the ability to have some fun over a delicious meal. We need to lose the dash-and-eat mentality and get better at table talk."

Break the trend. Teach your kids how to set the table, help prepare the meal, and yes, do the dishes. These are life skills that can help your family in the short run, and be of real benefit to your kids later on in their lives! Who knows, maybe the dining table can make a comeback. Crossing my fingers...

Sunday Dinner

So, I said I would help, and help I will. Or I will, with a little assistance from Ina. I have been a fan of Ina Garten's from the moment I saw her on the old Martha Stewart show (which, by the way, I really miss- it was one of the most beautifully produced shows on television...). Ina is now famous in her own right and has taken on the mantel of domestic fairy godmother. She has tips for all occasions, but the one I lean on time and again is her no-fail chicken breast recipe. It's an easy pick for a mid-week gathering and satisfying enough for a Sunday dinner. Any recipe that can be dressed up or down is a keeper!

To feel a bit of confidence in the kitchen will help even the most reluctant host get over the hurdle of planning a meal, and this is just the ticket. I know that food isn't the thrust of this blog and that there are a million cooking websites and blogs out there, but it is an essential aspect of gathering at the table and anything that can ease anxiety about calling friends and family to the table is worth mentioning.

Ina recommends breasts with the bone in and skin (gasp!) on, and her reasoning is all about flavor. Anything on the bone, when roasted, will have more flavor, and the skin will keep the chicken moist, even if you decide to take it off, but I'm telling you that would be a mistake! The recipe is quite simple, just place the breasts on a sheet pan and drizzle them with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Then, put the breasts into a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes and you're done. Now, having said that, I am here to tell you that everyone's oven is a bit different. Mine I need to have at a bit higher temperature and for a bit longer, so the first time or so, depending on your oven,  you'll need to experiment. I always roast a few more breasts than the number of people at the table, just in case some one wants seconds. If not, then you have lunch for the next day.

Having a main dish that you can keep in your back pocket that's perfect for a family dinner, or elegant enough for a company one is, as Martha would say, a "good thing". And to quote Ina, "How easy is that?"!

Just do it...

Looking back over the last few entries of mine, I realize that I need to periodically adjust my compass. Yes, I love great decorating, rooms with a view, sparking tableware, beautiful flowers, and fine food, but I also realize that the important aspect here isn't what's on the table, but who's around it. No matter the setting, a meal is better when it is shared.

I often hear people say they are intimidated inviting guests to dinner because they don't have 'x' or 'y', or when they finally have 'z', then will they have people over. My advice is to just do it. Pick a date and make a phone call or send an email and plan an evening. Because, at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter about plates or glassware, or paper or cloth napkins. What matters is that you cared enough to be hospitable to those important to you.

I share a lot about this concept of Tabletop and how gathering around the table and sharing a meal is one of the last links we have to civility in our society, to a time when people cared. Cared about the food they ate, about how to have polite conversation, and through this conversation connect with one another. Cared about manners and etiquette, which really is about respect for others rather than what fork to use and when to use it. (By the way, a great tip from the 1940 Vogue Book of Etiquette is that if a guest happens to pick up their finger bowl and drink from it, then the host/hostess should immediately do the same, least their guest feel like they made a social blunder- how great is that?!)

I fear that, as time slips by and more and more of us eat in our car or literally while walking, trying to jam the food in as fast as possible because there is a deadline, or a meeting to get to, or we're just too tired to care, we won't know how to do this. How to listen to each other rather than talk over others with whom we may disagree (I would hate to think our role models for conversation are the shows on television that pass for news...), how to be gracious to one another, and how to be just plain, unselfishly hospitable. For it is being hospitable that the great religions of the world tell us is the most crucial aspect of how we treat each other.

So, it'll be fine. We'll walk through this together, you're not alone. Get your calendar out, pick a date, and just do it.

It's not just for dining rooms...

Tabletops aren't just for rooms traditionally associated with eating. Any place where one would want to linger, either alone or with friends and have a place to set a drink or a plate or bowl of something to indulge in, constitutes a "tabletop" as evidenced by the beautiful editorial in this month's  Traditional Home. In the photograph is a getaway within the magnificent Chicago area home of designer Denise Macey, which was designed by Bobby McAlpine and Greg Tankersley, the Alabama based architects.

A simple upholstered chaise set in a beautiful window with no doubt an amazing view, an interesting gueridon, which is the perfect tabletop spot to place a book, as in the picture, or a glass or two of wine. Sublime.

Take-away messages

Invariably, your monthly allotment of shelter magazines comes all at once- it can leave you scrambling to the previous month's issues ripping out those inspirational images that you'll want to hang on to or deciding to save the entire issue because it's "all good!" While there is always something in these editorials that is beautiful, sometimes it can be tricky to see how these images can speak to us, what we can "take-away" from them.

I'm all for seeing hand-blocked wallpaper in dining rooms and tables set with museum quality tableware that seat 12, but I don't live like that. What I try to take-away from these spreads is the structure of the table setting or the mood of the dining room.

Case in point: Veranda has Carolyne Roehm as a contributor who writes a regular piece on entertaining. This month, she shares how she transitions from summer to fall in her dining room much like she transitions her wardrobe. Her tables (yes, plural) get the equivalent of cashmere sweaters. There is a changing of the guard in terms of linens, dishes, glassware, even centerpiece ideas. Flowers transition into bowls of fruit (apples, pears, grapes, etc) as her garden gives its last deep, satisfying breath of dahlias and chrysanthemums. Take-away: fill a bowl with fruit and set it on your table.

Now I know this isn't earth shattering or won't put the economy back on track, but having a bowl you can fill with fruit that you can then eat or juice seems like a great way to set a table.

Further into the issue, there is a editorial of a Manhattan townhouse with interiors designed by Timothy Whealon. There is a pair of pictures of the dining room, one "at rest" and the other "set", and sure enough, the "at rest" table has a great bowl filled with oranges. Impactful, colorful, and practical!

I, too, have a great alabaster bowl that is sitting on my table that happens to be filled with green apples. Even without fruit, this bowl is a beauty, but with that splash of color and realization that in a few days, the apples will be a great glass of juice, it really puts a smile on my face. Carolyne would be so proud!

Well, that was quick!

The John Derian plates arrived from Target! 8 Small appetizer plates in 4 patterns: CHECK!; 8 salad/desserts in 4 variations of "candy cane carnation": CHECK!; 8 dinner plates in 4 variations of foliage: CHECK!; 8 cups in the same patterns as the appetizer plates: NOT-SO-MUCH...
I am very happy with the quality/beauty of the plates. In truth, if you relate to Derian's work, these are for you. The cups, however, seem like a complete afterthought and will be returned. I still am waiting for the beehive tray, which is on back order. Crossing my fingers... Looking forward to patio and poolside entertaining with these!