More Cape Cod Summer, Now With Red Sauce.

On another night of disgusting winter weather (waahh! Ice storm!) EnD brings you another Cape Cod Summer Vacation Memory.

I believe that I have mentioned my Grampa's strong opinions on food. Never challenge him on burgers, & never, ever dispute the glory of his homemade red sauce & stuffed shells. Apparently he had an Italian friend growing up in Brockton, Massachusetts, aka The City Of Champions, in the 1930's, & his mother taught my Grampa all her red sauce secrets. Yeah, so he doesn't believe that fresh herbs from the garden could possibly work as well as a jar of dried "Italian seasoning." There's no arguing with the man: his stuffed shells & homemade red sauce are the best dish known to the food community wordwide, no exceptions. Take that, Thomas Keller. You would so lose in a throwndown with Bob Diamond.
During our family vacations, Grampa waits around with anticipation for a rainy day. Why? STUFFED SHELLS. He gets up first thing after his 7am donut & coffee on the beach & starts the sauce, & fiddles with it all day. I believe he wakes up happy that first rainy day of vacation, just thinking sauce.

Rainy Day Italian Diamond Family Dinner: Grampa's Stuffed Shells, Pesto From Mum's Back Porch Basil, Garden Salad, Tomato Basil Bread from the Underground, Extra Cheese, Extra Sauce.
& Since Ali made it down from Turner's in time for dinner, the whole family: Mum & Barb, Gramma & Grampa, Ali & Katie, Liz & Owen, & Stella & Roxie (RIP sweet dog).

Guess what else we love in this family & on this blog of course? LEFTOVERS. What does it all mean? PIZZA PARTY because you can bet Grampa made way too much red sauce. Owen whipped up a bunch of pizza crust, Mum brought out the pesto & some chicken, & there you go.

Pizzas: Red With Cheese, Pesto With Chicken & Goat's Cheese, Pesto With Carmelized Onions & Cheese, A Calzone From All The Extra Ingredients.
& Blueberry Pie, Because It Was A Cape Cod Summer.

Surprise, surprise, Grampa Diamond wouldn't go anywhere near either Pesto based pizza. & the next day, the Brockton Pizza, specifically the pizza from the Cape Cod Cafe (confusingly located in Brockton, which for those not versed in Massachusetts locations, is not on the Cape at all) vs. All Other Pizza On Earth Wars began when my Aunt Jean innocently drove down with about a million Cape Cod Cafe pizzas. Don't ever talk down very thin crust around members of the Diamond side of my family, in fact, don't say any pizza not produced in Brockton is good at all. Really. Just don't.
Any way, it was a gorgeous July day on Cape Cod, our small family had enough pizzas for an army, & we brought it to the beach & ate it inches from the shoreline. Imagine that, back when the earth wasn't buried under ice, sleet, slush, & snow.
I love my Grampa Diamond, he won't eat green food or let me cook but I love him anyway. By some standards my red sauce kicks his red sauce's ass, but really, he wins.

Sunday Night One Pot Dinners: Lamb Stew.

Winter Survival Strategy #1: Warm cozy Sunday Night dinners, rich meaty things that can be cooked in one pot, & take hours so that the house fills up with warmth & good smells. This has definitely become a tradition around here this winter, & some of our favorite choices involved LAMB. Lamb has a long, yummy history on this blog, & on this particular dark & gloomy night,

Lamb Stew, with jed & owen, january 2011.

Lamb stew meat, a purple turnips, a carrot, a rutabaga, some potatoes, onions, & garlic, all simmered in lots of red wine & meat stock (we used duck stock this time because there was still some left in the freezer from this meal). Jed unexpectedly showed up on our doorstep with a magnum of Rex Goliath right before the stew was ready. Perfect Winter Sunday Night. Friends & food & wine & conversation around the table in winter, a classic New England winter survival tactic.

Cali Part Four: George's Drive-In aka The Conclusion.

Here we are, at the end of our journey, begun just a bit more than a week previous. Pretty much losing our minds with good reason at this point. But we are DIAMONDS, goddamn-it, & so we rallied.

I promised you a good, brilliant, unarguably totally & completely awesome meal, & so I present to you:

George's Drive In, Magnolia Ave, Riverside, California.

& Ali,

with our delicious food, aka A Giant Coke, Two Carne Asada Burritos, Fried Zucchini, & Hot Sauce & Magic Dipping Sauce, Eaten By Two Girls In A Parking Lot In Old California.

& Then Those Girls Flew Home, After Eating the Leftovers Waiting In LAX.

Behind the burritos, the day we thought we couldn't take anymore & then found George's (because the sign said "Homemade Fried Zucchini" & we said "Why Not?", & a Goodwill bringing us cowboy boots for Ali & a rainbow Wrangler shirt for Owen & Ali put our dipping sauce into the ice left in our massive Coke in the trunk of our Grampa-borrowed Mustang Convertible so we could eat it later with the leftovers (& yes we did).

It took me way too long to finish telling this story, but it took me way too long to get around to living it also.

So there you have it, the Liz & Ali California saga 2010, dedicated to my very dearest sister Ali, of course, without whom none of the good bits would have been possible. xoxo

A Snowy Night In January, Remembering Chanukah.

We are having some sort of ridiculous blizzard in Western Massachusetts, & can be considered officially snowed in here on South Street. Welcome to horrible Winter 2011, where it snows every minute. Snowed in with a glass of wine, I find myself examining my sketchbook, which has been tragically neglected lately. There I found this:

First Night Of Chanukah 2010, Liver & Latkes.

Back on the first of December, it was also a shitty night, weather-wise, although back then we didn't realize quite what we were in for. But it was rainy & chilly & blustery, & Owen unexpectedly had the night off, & it was Chanukah. You can't have a holiday without a special meal, right? (At least I can't). We were kind of broke per usual & I hadn't planned anything, so leaving work that afternoon I channeled my Gramma Bess & bought some liver, onions, & potatoes, & we stopped off on the way home for a big bottle of Manischewitz. Hence, a 133 South Chanukah celebration of homemade chopped liver, latkes, & terrible kosher wine, eaten around the kitchen table after lighting the first candle. Liver reminds me of my Gramma, although her chopped liver came from Sol's Deli in new Bedford & her latkes came from a box & she would have made a brisket, too. There is a balance to recreating a tradition, keeping some things the same as you remember but making your own memories too. I think the Liz, Owen , & DustyRose family is off to a good start, we have certainly made homemade latkes & special Chanukah meals a memorable occasion. So enjoy the snowstorm, everyone, & remember being snowed in for days = much eating & drawing.

Cape Cod Summer.

That last post got me thinking, & going back through my summer sketchbook, back to this past summer's family visit, to Cape Cod. & about my family. Yes this did indeed happen on this blog last year. I am apparently quite the creature of habit. So my family, we gather in a little house by a lake in the woods in Brewster, Massachusetts during the summer months, & we spend a great deal of time in the water & in the sun, & being us, we eat things.

Meals on the deck (this happens frequently):

Mum's Famous Panko Fried Cod, Purple Beans & Snap Peas & Basil from our garden, sauted with olive oil & garlic, a broccoli cheese casserole (cause hey, you can't leave your fridge in Noho full of those things while relaxing on the Cape for a week, can you?) & "yummy crusty bread" from the Underground. Good way to arrive anyplace, right? Mum never disappoints with the fried fish thing.

Owen reading with Stella on a summer evening.

No visit would be complete without a visit to Clancy's & drinking white wine with Gramma at the bar. Here it is in all it's glory, the Fisherman's platter. Yes, Owen & I both ate one. Yes we did. & A Fried Oyster appetizer, too.

HELLS YEAH FRIED SEAFOOD!!!

Owen, Grilling On the Deck.

& Owen & Mum, On The Porch, With Wine & Cigarettes. Oh Summer.

Now that Ali & I have been to Cali & back, & now that it's SO FREAKING cold & time for roasting ducks & not grilling on decks, I like to remember these warmer times. Here's to surviving another winter, & getting back out there on the lake in about six months.

Cali Part Three: Family Drinking & Mall Culture

& We're back.

At this point in our trip, I can say truthfully that we were losing our minds.

Here's what that looks like, Cali-style:

A Pair Of Chicken Dinners:

Part A: Old School Chicken, Carrots, Potatoes & Peas with Gramma, Grampa & Cousin Amy (following pinto grigio at 5 pm in the hot tub as went our Corona custom)

& Part B: Chicken, Onion, & Green Pepper Sandwiches at Uncle Bob's House, aka The Diamond Family Bar. With Top Gun (Ali, was it Top Gun? Now I'm blocking out the details?!) & copious amounts of scotch. Yup, weird night. Thank Christ it included the adorable puppy Bailey!

What could follow up a night of drinking at your family's own personal bar better then a truly old fashioned day of SO-CAL MALL CULTURE. Oh yes, the Diamond sisters meet a GIANT MALL. In the desert.

In short, our visit caused us to become addicted to Jamba Juice & Ross Dress for Less (actually, these are both re-addictions for me, I acquired them living in San Francisco & have been coping with the withdrawal ever since).

When Liz & Ali drove a red Ford Mustang convertible through the Hills:

to drink smoothies in flavors such as Green Tea Matcha & Pumpkin Pie & purchase discount Marc Jacobs scarves, gigantic Le Sportsac totes & sequined dresses of no brand name whatsoever but still beautiful,

(thank you Ali, I stll remember that is one of my Christmas presents)

So I mentioned Romano's Macaroni Grill? Same mall as the smoothies & shopping, 4:45pm on the dot, Diamond Cousin Reunion.

This type of crap food still makes me angry, but on the other hand I haven't had dinner with all four Diamond grandchildren in about ten years, so maybe I'll let this one go (Cousin Erin seems to have become a grown-up now, who knew?).

However, I must mention the following: that the waiter drew on the table with a crayon, offered the house Chianti as his wine selection, took his half hour break during our dinner, & served me a glass of wine I had ordered approximately 45 minutes before after the check came. Did I mention the food was crap? & Really quite expensive? How do places like this shithole get away with these shenanigans? Are we really that stupid as a food culture? (yes yes I know I know) (I guess I haven't let it go but REALLY?! In ten minutes with $3 I could have made better food for four with ten dollars I could have had better wine too) But anyway,

Seafood Linguine & Loster Ravioli, aka Mediocre Food & An Excellent Family,

(love&thanks Ali, Gramma, Grampa, Amy & Erin)

We did have one truly great meal, Ali & I, & eventually, I'll end this saga on that note.

Hint: Deep Fried Zucchini & Carne Asada. & That meal carried us through LAX & home again.

Bunny & Root Vegetables.

Question: What do you eat as a side along with Roast Duck & 40's of Olde English 800?

(Yup, more from our pre-Thanksgiving/Harvest Moon dinner. )

Answer: The Bunny & Veggie Course, obviously.

Quartered Rabbit roasted in butter & garlic with Butternut Squash, Scarlet Turnips, & Yellow Onions (all Western Massachusetts locally grown, if you care about that sort of thing), Wilted Broccoli Rabe in olive oil, & Owen's homemade Last Minute Dinner Rolls.

Helpful tip from EnD: Several times during the course of the day in which we made this meal, it was pointed out to us that rabbit is not a complete food. Very deficient in amino acids or something, damn you vegan animals that aren't cows. Who knew everyone knew this fact? So, if on a wilderness adventure, I urge you, cook a duck, too.

Roast Duck & A Triad of 40's.

A little pre-Thanksgiving get together at our house with the always fabulous Izaac

(Yup, the infamous gentleman who inspired the Bacon Lasagna, always an EnD Classic).

Roast Duck & three 40's of Olde English 800

(thank you Izaac),

Under a Theatrical Harvest Moon.

Roast Duck = Marinated in Soy Sauce, Cheap Red Wine (thank you, Carlo), Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, Fresh Rosemary, & Chopped Garlic, Roasted with Stuffing of Bread, Onions, Garlic, Pumpkin Seeds, Slab Bacon, & Duck Liver.

& we cooked other cute little animals in the course of this meal, also (sorry bunnies).

Yay chilly dramatic November weather & Meat n' Beer fests with friends.

Cali Part Two: Grilled Cheeses at Old Spanish Missions, Burger Arguments, & BACON.

So Diamond Daughters in the great state of California, continued.

In which Gramma drives us to Riverside, & we get lost & end up at the city limits with the auto parts stores, & we eventually arrive at the Mission Inn, see some parrots, & eat grilled cheeses in Mum's (allegedly, Gramma tells these stories sometimes) favorite lunch spot, Simple Simon's.

Grilled Cheeses In Old Spanish California, After Being Lost In The Urban California Desert.

At some later point, we had this burger conflict. First, Grampa Diamond is self-admittedly terrible at grilling. Only burgers he is good at. This makes him a burger crazy person. I, as an adult, have formed my own burger preferences, & mine include Hellman's mayonnaise as a must & Sriracha as yes yes please & crazy additions as hells yeah what have you got? As you can see here. Sooooooo...I wanted my mayonnaise, some chopped jalapenos, & a sliced perfect avocado & whoah was I shot down. Oh families. PEOPLE FROM BROCKTON, MA DO NOT PUT FING AVOCADOS ON MEAT. END OF STORY. I forget this.

(Note, Ali, a burger girl is anyone is, did agree with him, so I give his taste buds the benefit of the doubt).

Anyway, I present,

Grampa's "Perfect" Burger.

To comfort us from all this terrible family burger conflict, Saturday morning breakfast. The most essential one, the Platonic ideal of breakfast, why bacon smells good like nothing else to me, & why I can never be a vegetarian.

Breakfast with Bob

(Fried Eggs, Bacon, Thomas' English Muffins, Always & Forever).

Coming up: We find our perfect Liz & Ali restaurant after almost dying of depression in a giant California mall, we purchase sparkly discounted things while drinking smoothies, have a more odd than even usual for us family evening, & a moving & memorable in emotional terms but so upsettingly bad foodwise Anthony Bourdain would cry Macaroni Grill experience. Seafood Linguine. Shudder. All coming up next. Stay Tuned.

Cali Part One: 3000 Miles From Cheezits to Red Snapper

Some things have happened since my last long ago post, mostly spring & summer & hence gardening & nightswimming & long evenings outside & much less internet. Also some family happenings, & what says family history memory the most?

Yup, food (which shapes our lives, etc.).

My dear sister & I flew on a plane to California in October.

Being us, we ate things. Lots of things.

Through the Sky to Dallas & LA.

Airports, airplanes, drive-thrus, & our Gramparents' House: Cheezits in the air, Starbucks' Iced Caramel Macchiatos, a Blimpie's BLT sub in Dallas, "El Potato Burrito" @ Miguel's Jr, Grampa's Famous Stuffed Shells back on Eureka Street.

So we knew we were home, in that sense of being at home in one's own past,

Grampa's Roast Beef & Sides, AKA The Taste Of My ChildHood.

The meal that I thought of first when we planned the journey. The smell that still means "FOOD" to me. Roast beef covered in pepper & onions, whipped mashed potatoes with tons of butter, canned peas, steamed carrots.

I think this meal is why I like to eat, why I learned to cook. So I could produce this feeling myself. I still can't cook this right though. Better maybe, but not right.

A classic shopping adventure with Gramma, to a (at least to me) fabulously insane California mall restaurant, The Elephant Bar.

The Elephant Bar, where two girls from Massachusetts meet Americana + Sushi.

Seriously. We split a tempura shrimp roll, & then I had ahi tuna over brown rice with seaweed salad & smoked tofu, & Ali enjoyed mac n' cheese & coconut shrimp. All presented in a completely over the top fashion with oddly low lighting as befits a fancy/trashy mall restaurant. According to Gramma, the bar was also an excellent place to meet men. We unfortunately did not get a chance to check this out theory.

Although the Elephant Bar was a tough act to follow & Although I am 32 & Ali is 27 we will always be "the kids" to our grandparents, one night they actually let us cook dinner. This was a very difficult trip in many ways while it was also perfectly wonderful in others, & in one of our worst early moments we found a grocery store we liked, the delightful Henry's, & it saved everything. Shows what food, & the option to purchase the food you want, will do to save a situation. We took many, many a trip to Henry's to enjoy the lovely cashiers who did not look at us & our outfits like we were crazy freaks like pretty much everyone else in Corona, & buy very cheap but delicious California white wines to drink in the jacuzzi & avocados & tomatillos & chilis & lemons & grapefruits & other amazing California things. What can I say? We like to eat in our family. Those first bags of groceries we brought home from Henry's were a turning point.

On this particular night: Red Snapper, with Asparagus roasted with garlic & olive oil, Baked Potatoes, & Salad with excellent California tomatoes & bermuda onions.

I will admit I caved under pressure so this is my mom's classic recipe for baked fish with butter & bread crumbs (my Grampa's favorite, always), usually as we are from Cape Cod done with cod. & I never make baked potatoes & had to actually ask Ali how to do it. But Oh well I wanted Grampa to like it. At least I snuck in the asparagus, kind of controversial in that house as not a pea or a carrot.

Us two transplanted Massachusetts girls spent ten days in our second childhood home, & as you have noticed, it was complicated. Stayed tuned for the rest, Family & Food & Feeling, here we go.

& Red Convertibles! & Shopping! & Pumpkin Smoothies!