Heritage...A to Z through our kitchen

Courtesy mmagallan at sxc.hu

In most everyone's kitchen, there are certain intangible objects that influence the way we cook. In our kitchen, heritage plays as much a part of our meal planning as a love of great food or a desire to experiment.

Harry's family is a blend of Danish and hills of eastern Kentucky. On my side of the fence, I have the roots of eastern Tennessee and the Canadian Maritimes. During our childhood years, we've found a constant. We both come from homes where both parents worked. For the most part, weeknight dinner was usually a meat, potatoes and some sort of vegetable. When Harry and I are short on time for cooking, we usually fall back to those heritage meals.

In my house, corned beef wasn't just for St. Patrick's Day. Mom loved a New England boiled dinner and we probably had it a few times a year. The smell of the slow cooking of the corned beef brisket would fill the house. Then, the aroma got turned up a few notches as Mom added cabbage and rutabaga along with carrots and potatoes. In all these years, 2012 will go down as the year that I finally believe I got my boiled dinner to turn out just like Mom's.

There weren't a lot of dinners Harry would like to repeat from his mother. He told me if he judged pizza by the first one she ever made - which was the first time he ever ate pizza - he never would have eaten it again! But, Harry loved his mother's meatloaf. Through most of my years, while I loved Mom's meatloaf, I was just never able to replicate it on my own. I'm sure the reason is that she has a recipe card somewhere that she still follows to the letter today.

Mom blended her fishing-village family's food heritage with that of Dad's family. Slow-fried southern style chicken with milk gravy. In the summer, I always looked forward to fried green tomatoes (just flour, salt & pepper - none of that batter crap!) and fried okra (these were fried in corn meal, salt and pepper - again no batter!). In the summer, we put up food for winter - strawberry freezer jam, green beans, tomato juice, freezer corn, Lady Ashburn pickle relish.

Through our years, our tastes have changed. Our travels have led us to enjoy foods from around the country and around the world. But, our family heritage still finds its way into our kitchen.

Grill...A to Z through our kitchen

Harry's rolling his pennies for a grill like this! Thanks to Jack880 over at Wikimedia Commons

As a noun, it is a device. As a verb, it is what you are doing.

Grills come in just about every size and shape you can think of. There was a competition where we live, “Monster Barbecue Build Off”. Build or modify an existing grill and then have a cook-off. Voting for the best grill and judging for the best ribs. You can not imagine some of the grills that were built. 

With the arrival of warmer weather our cooking moves outside for at least three or four times a week. A grill is not just for meat, we use it for vegetables and fruit as well. Squash, tomatoes, peaches or apples done on the grill lend a unique and delicious taste as a side dish or incorporated in the main dish. You don’t have to buy your fire roasted tomatoes from your local grocer. And a combination of meat and veggies on a stick, (Kabobs) makes a delicious light meal. 

But I digress; I often do that where food is involved. The GRILL! Stay within your budget but do not go cheap. This is one where you really do get what you pay for. The most important part of the grill is the burner controls and burners. Or if you are a charcoal purist, the gridiron for the charcoal is very important. We have both; we use the charcoal smoker to slow roast and the gas grill for general cooking. We also have a portable grill for our camping trips, one that folds down. 

Pick the right grill for the type of grilling you will be doing. Decide on how many burners you need, do you need a side burner for pots, a rotisserie attachment? (A whole pork loin basted often and turning slowly over low heat…now I am hungry). Infrared warmers, warming racks, the list of features you can have on a grill is extensive and expensive. In one of the stores we shop there was a ready made outdoor kitchen for only twenty seven hundred dollars. Ahh, no. 

It is as simple as this, the grill can be used for weekend gatherings of family and friends and/or used for daily cooking, providing and unique and tasty flavor for whatever dish you are preparing. 

It is time to break out the grill, buy the charcoal or gas, fire that puppy up and let the neighbors know that summer is here. Good grillin. 

And as always, batteries not included.

Bar Glass...A to Z through our kitchen

It's just after 5:00 a.m. and still dark outside. With less than a cup of coffee in me, I know this photo isn't great but it's the best I could do.

I have a LOT of bar glass. I can host a wine-tasting party for 24 or Irish Car Bombs for 16. OK, I have way more than 16 pint glasses, but only 16 shot glasses. Martinis? Margaritas? Brandy Alexander? Irish Coffee? I have the glassware for all.

Keep in mind that this cabinet doesn't hold all of our coffee cups, the tea cups from 2 sets of china (8 and 24 respectively) or our travel sippy cups. Other than those few random plastic cups I've picked up along the way, a pewter shot cup that was handcrafted for me in Louisiana, Missouri, and my cocktail shaker, this is nothing but bar glass.

I started bartending in 1987 in a little beer and shot bar my then in-laws owned in Mount Vernon. Through the years, I've worked in just about every kind of alcohol venue you can imagine - nightclubs, full-serve restaurants and the Olympics of bartending in Columbus, Ohio: the Lobby Bar at Holiday Inn on Lane during Hiney Gate (RIP) during Ohio State's 2002 championship season.

I don't know if it's the bartender in me that desires all this bar glass. After all, it's not like Harry and I are actually that social. We did host my entire family for Christmas dinner a couple of years ago and that number didn't hit 20. There was also very little alcohol flowing.

It could be something else that makes me want to collect bar glass. I've had my own kitchen since 1983. In all that glass up there, there might be 2 or 3 pieces that I've carried from my children's teenage years. Yes, teens and dishwashing didn't seem to mix in my house. I can't count the number of glasses I bought during their years at home.

There's something else in that collection of bar glass: memories. There's the hand-painted wine glasses that we actually use for margaritas. I haggled for those in the straw market on our trip to Nogales, Mexico. There are hurricane glasses from Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans. There's the pair of pint glasses from Three Little Pigs, somewhere in Virginia while Trey and I were on a business trip. There are several pairs of wine glasses indicating that Harry and I completed the Indiana Wine Trail.

While most everything in our kitchen is actually used on a regular basis, I know that my collection of bar glass is just that - a collection. I dream of a glass cabinet someday to display it properly. Do you collect anything in your kitchen? Trivets? Salt shakers? Potholders? Le Creuset? Tell me about your kitchen collection in the comments!