For The Record

Submit birth, marriage and obituary records online.

Personal Ads

Meet new friends today!

Advertising

Put your message in front of 19,000 readers.

PDF documents on this site require the free Adobe Reader:

Get Adobe Reader

Cooking and company

posted by Kate Good on 02/21/11 at 07:59 PM

One night years ago, my parents came home from an evening out and discovered our dog, Jorg, streaked with white flour. Curious, they followed Jorg to the kitchen where they found me, wearing red plaid pajamas and elbows deep in dough. Bored, I was teaching myself how to make bread.

 

This was not the first time I had made food to entertain myself. When I was little, I would whip up all kinds of concoctions at my toy stove and sink with the help of an eggbeater for my family to taste. Cinnamon soup or poultry-seasoning stew—whatever combination of spices and water I could get my hands on while my mom was making dinner. I also gathered plants from the backyard and canned them and stored them in the basement.    

 

My mom, who is a fantastic cook, taught me the basics. But I was always more interested in experimenting with ingredients rather than following a recipe. I made up spice rubs for popcorn, invented my own soups, and threw together pasta dishes. Not much of what I made was very good, but my parents, bless their hearts, always tasted every dish, complimenting me on my skills. 

 

Maybe that's why I love to cook. Plus, there is something wonderfully cathartic about kneading, chopping, and stirring. I flip on the radio, an audio book, or my iPod as I step into the kitchen, but I often tune it out as I get lost in the rhythm of whatever I'm preparing.  I do my best thinking when I'm cooking. I'll often land on the solution to a problem that's been plaguing me while measuring out ingredients or washing dishes.

 

This is not to say that I haven't had some disasters along the way.  There was the pizza that tasted like ketchup and the eggplant dish that was so bitter I spit it out and then threw it away. Nor am I as an accomplished or dedicated a cook as many of my family and friends.  I do not, for instance, churn my own butter like my friend Tina or grow and grind my own wheat as my friend Val does. But I do okay.

 

I do my best cooking in the winter when it’s cold and windy outside.  I get home in the dark and flip through cookbooks and magazines, tasting the different recipes in my head. Because I can't eat it all, I invite people over. Sharing a meal is a great way to spend time with the people I like best in the world. It's also a good way to make sure my jeans still fit in March.

 

I also love to cook with other people. Recently, I put together Lasagna Soup while my best friend, Heather and her toddler, James, visited. My mom first made this soup over Christmas and it's a delicious combination of flavors. While James chased my dog, Sam, around the kitchen, Heather and I talked and chopped. The soup turned out so well, we ate it twice that day.

 

Lasagna Soup

 

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage

2 cups onions, chopped

1 cup carrots, diced

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

4 cups chicken broth

1 14.5-oz. can Italian-style crushed tomatoes

1 10 ¾ -oz. can tomato sauce

1 cup dry pasta

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

1 cup provolone cheese, diced

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

 

1.  Brown sausage in large pot or Dutch oven.

2.  Add onions and carrots and sauté for 3 minutes

3.  Add mushrooms and sauté for 3 minutes.

4.  Add broth, tomatoes, and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil.

5.  Drop in pasta and cook according to package directions.

6.  Stir in spinach and cook until wilted.

7.   Put ¼ cup provolone cheese into each serving bowl and pour soup on top. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

 

I love inviting friends over for brunch on winter Saturday mornings. Brunch is the perfect excuse to make all of those fancy dishes I've been dying to try, but which aren't quite appropriate for weekday lunches or dinners. The most recent menu included quiche, fruit salad topped with Perseco and a grapefruit and vanilla sauce, beet and gorgonzola salad, and cinnamon rolls.

 

I had never made the cinnamon rolls before, and I worried that they wouldn't turn out well. But they came out of the oven buttery and golden brown. We sat around and laughed and visited while we ate.  It's great to catch up with some of my favorite people on a winter day and a wonderful chance to take a break from our busy schedules, and to relax. 

 

Spring is about a month away. But the warm weather won’t bring an end to my cooking or hosting friends. Already I'm hungry for tomatoes, peaches, strawberries, lettuce, well, the list goes on and on. I'll make shortcake and caprese salad, and smoothies. I'll serve the food up in the backyard, not just the dining room. I can't wait.

Good_kate Kate Good lives in Lancaster City, Pa.  She is a member of Blossom Hill Mennonite Church, Lancaster. She is assistant publisher at Good Books.