Sandy's Super-Scary Squirrel

Just in time for this weird and spooky time of the year, a super-scary squirrel has surfaced in our neighbourhood. Every night my friend Sandy keeps putting out pumpkins - some of them as big as 6lbs - in her porch display... to find they have been eaten through by the following morning. Day after day. Poor Sandy is running out of patience and pumpkins.

Cheeky squirrel

What Super-Squirrel ate this morning for breakfast 

This afternoon I drove around and caught sight of the culprit - a squirrel. Not a big tubby guy, but actually a quick-as-you-can chap who was munching with all his might, then scarpered up into the trees.

Saturday night we spent a pleasant evening sipping red cocktails under a pink sunset keeping a vigilant watch for Scary Squirrel.

Sandy, Mike'n'Kenny and Buster watching for Scary S.

I would write about what my kids are wearing tonight but they are actually cast to the four winds. Harley, 14 and Jackson, 12, took off with their friends after school and we won't see them until the end of the night. Think Harley is some kind of Hawaian-shirt guy, Jackson is building something with his friends from boxes, Tallulah is a vampire soccer player and was in two minds about me coming along. Cy (aka Bart Simpson) is trick or treating with his mates.

Pirate Wendy with Tallulah and friend Ariana

So after years of Halloweens, driving them around to parties and parades all day, being subjected to equal measures of sugar highs, meltdowns and costume dramas, I now find myself slightly redundant. Halloween still kills me though -  you're smiling all day as a gorilla opens your car door at school, Spock drops his kids off next to you, an I-phone walks past with two Dead Riding Hoods and crazy bunnies pack your groceries.

Speaking of pumpkins (as you do) most are not that great to eat. Butternut squash is way better. It's about time the Idle Hostess (moi) shared another of her recipes. I make this so often there are groans (and not of delight) from my guests when I bring it out. New recipe or new friends required - what do you think?


Quick and Dirty Roasted Veges:

1. Butternut squash, parsnips, carrots, sweet potato ("kumara" to the Kiwis), onions, pears, lemons, cloves of garlic with shells on. Warning: this is a "Looks ugly tastes great" dish.

2. Chop veges and pear into big slices or chunks (You have to say "choonks" with a Mancunian accent just like my Grandma's) or slices. Butternut squash and kumara are a bugger to peel so buy the pre-prepared bags from Trader Joes. Failing that, leave the skin on - the meal becomes a fabulous interactive experience for your guests. My guests also compete for how many produce stickers they can find in the dish.

3. Squeeze loads of lemon all over it, glog a log of oil, salt and pepper and put in oven at 250C for three hours (or just blast it at 350 if you can't be arsed hanging about)

Cy insists on helping me squeeze lemons...

...and discovers they don't mix well with cuts

The pears, oil and lemon make a goopy syrup and cooking whole garlic cloves produces a sweet paste you can push out with your knife. If you've made too much, whack it into the cuisinart next day and heat with a dash of milk for a great soup.

Or...just leave it out for Sandy's squirrel.

Hammertime Valentine!

Thanks to all who participated in our First Friday Giveaway! I loved your comments and your enthusiasm! All of you went into the (random) draw. And...drum roll...the lucky winner of the $100 Hobo clutch-purse is Beth of Social Climbers. Congratulations Beth!

Just to show I'm not a total Kiwi curmudgeon about Valentines I thought I'd share a pinky-red dinner that you can whip up on Monday night. Tried and true, both dishes have a well-earned place in my Idle Hostess portfolio for their min fuss and max effect.

The first requires a hammer, not the first tool that comes to mind on Valentines, but my Tallulah, nine, made it a little work of art with sticky jewels. Both recipes are from Jamie Oliver, but re-named and re-jigged by me, the slap-dash Queen.

HammerLove Ice-Cream:

This is the easiest dessert in the land. The hammer is the key.  Any hard chocolate candy that breaks up is fine but Maltesers are the best. I've added pomegranate seeds for Valentines Day. I'm showing off in the photo by including a whole pomegranate. Fancypants me! Usually I just buy seeds from Trader Joes'.

1. Hammer

2. Your favourite ice-cream. I'm usually a purist when it comes to sheets, towels, toilet paper and ice-cream - white!

3. Maltesers (UK or NZ) or Whoppers (US)

Bash up Maltesers with hammer and throw over ice-cream. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

The baked salmon came into my life via my wonderful Kiwi friend, Diana and to be honest I wasn't too sure I would like it. Because it centred around salmon - during my 15 years of London-life, salmon was a dinner party staple and I had grown tired of it. Plus it contained olives, which I go back and forth about in cooked dishes.

But after tasting I was a believer. For those who can't stand anchovies - I adore them -  don't worry, cook it anyway! I suppose anchovies are not the best offering for a first date dinner, but good news is - you'll find out if you're suited! Plus the anchovies act like bacon and make a crunchy salty topping, a veritable piece de resistance.

In fact after I made this today I actually bought The Naked Chef and for the first time read the recipe!  I had vaguely watched Diana making it years ago and I realised for years I had been making it - let's say differently! - we're too close to Berkeley to ever say wrong. The official recipe requires fresh anchovies, not tinned, black olives not green and includes lemons and basil. Plus Jamie cooks the topping separate from the fish. Oh well!

It's best to buy the highest quality salmon you can afford for this dish, you can taste the difference. After considerable research am totally confused about which salmon is most ecological. Let me know if you have further insights into this. Also I don't like green beans al dente so I always cook the heck out of them.

Flirty Fish:

 1. Fresh salmon, squeezed with lemon juice

2. Sliced green olives, cherry tomatoe and cooked green beens, ripped up basil

3. Tinned anchovies

Plop all the stuff in 2. onto 1. In layers, in any order. I love millions of anchovies so put them over everything and I think green beens look prettiest on top (with more anchovies).  Salt and pepper. I use all the oil from the anchovies on top, but otherwise glog some oil over the whole thing.

Put in a tray in oven at 475F for 15 mins or until fish only just cooked.

What is your tried and true Valentines' dinner?

Radish Ravish

When we were kids, once a year Mum and Dad would carry us to the car at 4am and we would drive the six hours to see my grandparents in Wellington. I remember my very debonair grandfather dressed, as he usually did in a full suit and tie, digging up radishes from his garden and we would eat them dipped in Vegemite, a sticky, black, yeasty paste. Lost a few of you right there. You either love radishes or you don't and for the latter, I have a recipe using beetroot and salmon roe. Oops, lost some more people there...

You know the Idle Hostess is always looking for simple, doable and scrum dishes with which to dazzle her guests. I know, I know, bit weird to talk about myself in the third person, but also kinda fun.

Well, the other night at a fabulous birthday bash I found myself nibbling (doesn't that sounds more elegant than scoffing?) some divine canapes made by a friend Kyle, who is a personal chef. One canape had radishes and the other featured beets. Both recipes by Martha Stewart and pics from her website, but obviously Kyled a bit - and I'll bet the better for it. All ingredients can be bought at Berkeley Bowl.

Endive Boats with Marinated Vegetables:

Kyle: "With the veggies, we roasted the beets rather than boiling--makes them sweeter.  And added some tarragon to the vegetable mixture to just round it out and make it a bit more intriguing."

Idle Hostess: "The piece de resistance is the salmon roe (Ikura). It's the most delish thing, I promise you. Even my kids love it - it's pink, round, salty and pops in the mouth - what's not to love? I could see this recipe as a salad too, just chuck it all in together."

Ingredients (makes 36)

1 small fresh beet, (about 3 ounces)

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 medium carrot, peeled

1/2 (about 8 ounces) bulb fennel, trimmed

1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 pounds (5 large heads) Belgian endive

2 tablespoons salmon roe, (optional)

2 teaspoons chopped chervil leaves

Directions

1. Place beet and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a saucepan of water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; boil until beet is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and peel beet; grate on large holes on a box grater, and place in a bowl. Grate carrot; add to beets.
2. Cut fennel into very thin 1/2-inch-long slivers; add to beets and carrots.
3. Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss with vegetables. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Trim endive, separating leaves. Reserve large leaves for another use. Fill lower half of small leaves with 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable mixture. Top with 1/8 teaspoon salmon roe, if using; garnish with chervil.

Radish Canapes with Black Olive Butter:

Kyle: "We used the watermelon radish and red radish to mix it up and get crazy.  In the butter, we added  some capers and lemon zest to make it pop a bit more than the original.

Idle Hostess: "The radish crunch freshens the palate for the meal. Kyle's use of watermelon radishes makes it  pink and red and prettier than the stock pics above, but my on-the-night pics were horrible - it's so hard to photograph food! - so you'll have to imagine it."


Ingredients (serves 6)

16 oil-cured black olives, pitted and finely chopped

2 scallions, finely chopped

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Freshly ground pepper

1 baguette, thinly sliced crosswise and toasted

4 red radishes

Directions


Mix olives, scallions, mint, and butter in a bowl. Season with pepper. Spread olive butter onto each baguette slice. Thinly slice radishes. Layer 2 or 3 slices on top of each canape.



Next time: Kyle's own invention: a "Dino" Kale (whatever that is, we'll find out!) Caesar salad. "Much more interesting than that old Romaine and more seasonal" Kyle reckons.

Modern Family Holiday

Fond readers it was a tranquil Thanksgiving. There was quality time spent with and - as importantly? - away from family. There were many reasons to be thankful; a stress-free day with friends and our kids and a meal cooked by Mike of Kenny'n'Mike. And the next morning saw Kevin and I blatting off over the bridge to San Francisco for a kids-free mini break.

At Kenny'nMikes' house in the Oakland hills we were joined by their neighbours Clyde and Scott so we were a small-ish and happy group. The heavens blazed, the wine glug alugged and the turkey browned... See how lyrical you get when you're not the cook? Red sky pic by Mike.

First, how embarrassing that I am a week and half late for this post. More slug-alot than blogger and my only excuse is I am utterly exhausted by too much enjoyment of life. Again with the princely problems and I have promised myself not to drink and eat (well, not constantly)...until next Saturday.

For my Kiwi and UK friends who have not experienced the phenom that is Thanksgiving, it is a day for family and friends sitting around a table of plenty and brown and orange everything, recounting good times and precious moments. That is the advertised holiday anyway. It honors a time when the pilgrims invited the Native American Indians for a three day food fest. This cannot of course have eased the pain of the scenario a century previous when the early settlers bought the island of Manhattan for $24 worth of beads and blankets from the Native American Indians.

Peace and gratitude with gravy is is not as common as you would think. One of the my friends describes her Thanksgiving Day with the relatives as Little Miss Sunshine meets The Royal Tenenbaums meets Deliverance with all the main characters heatedly debating health care reform.

Here we are leaving home and I thought I would experiment with the coloured tights trends with my bow dress. In retrospect, I should have worn a purplelicous ring or bright necklace or cardigan - what do you think? Tallulah looked just right in her new Holiday dress which will be perfect when we travel to New Zealand summer for New Years'. Why is fashion so effortless for little kids? I guess they don't overthink things.

Mike made  Daniel Boulud chestnut celery and apple soup followed by a perfect traditional turkey, mashed spud, gravy and green beans, which is hands down my favourite meal in the world.  I don't usually like creamy soups but this recipe included just a half cup of cream and was sublime. The only problem is you can't drink too much of it  - you'll spoil your dinner. Mike forwarded me the recipes below. Good news: I have persuaded Mike to write a column for AboutLastWeekend every two weeks, reviewing restaurants and the meals he cooks at home. I'll let you know about his first guest appearance.

The kids then pulled out Twister and however contorted their limbs got, the sight was not as surprising as when I snapped them later, watching Harry Potter looking relaxed and - dare I say it - friendly. Bottom photo not posed by models.

While the kids were watching Harry Potter downstairs and out of earshot, the adult conversation somehow drifted to the machinations of the new dating apps on I-Phone. One of apps in particular is practical rather than romantic, a Mapquest-type guide showing the closest "available" person to you. Kevin expressed disbelief about the authenticity of the photos being posted - that guy is really 500 yards away?! Maybe the guy pictured in the Men's Health magazine on his living room floor...

Anyway, yikes: don't ever send me out there again! Mind you it's not as if my Wellington University (NZ) dating experiences were that Jane Austen either. A raised eyebrow over a beer resulting in being "shouted" (treated) a second beer... There was no being asked out or anyone requesting to fill my embossed gold dancing card. But maybe that's just me.

The next day there was more giving of thanks as Kevin and I loaded our stained bags (Tallulah calls them "rolly trollies") into our battered Dodge Caravan and waved farewell to the kids. I rested my boots on the dash and we were off for our mini-break in San Francisco.

Tell me about your holidays...

Mike's Thanksgiving Dinner:

The soup recipe is from Daniel Boulud’s cookbook Café Boulud.   Boulud is a famous chef from NYC.  His flagship restaurant is Daniel – one of the best rated restaurants in Manhattan.  Café Boulud is his more casual restaurant.  Here is the recipe for the Chestnut, Celery Root and Apple Soup.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 medium leek, white part only, trimmed, thinly sliced, washed and dried

2 McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

10 ounces celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

3/4 pound peeled fresh chestnuts from 1 1/4 pounds chestnuts in shells, or 3/4 pound dry-packed bottled or vacuum-sealed peeled fresh chestnuts

2 quarts homemade unsalted chicken stock or storebought low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

1) Heat the oil in a stockpot or large casserole over medium heat. Add the onion, leek, apples, celery root, bay leaf, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the onions and leeks are soft but not colored. Add the chestnuts and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, skimming the surface regularly, 35 to 40 minutes, or until the chestnuts can be mashed easily with a fork. Add the heavy cream and simmer 5 to 10 minutes more, then discard the bay leaf and thyme.

2) Purée the soup until smooth using a blender, food processor or hand-held immersion blender, then pass it through a fine-mesh strainer. At this point, you should have about 2 quarts of soup. If you have more, or if you think the soup is too thin - the soup should have the consistency of a veloute or light cream soup - simmer it over medium heat until thickened. Taste and, if necessary, adjust the seasoning. (The soup can be cooled completely and stored in a covered jar in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or frozen for up to a month. Bring the soup back to a boil before serving.)

To serve: Reheat the soup, if necessary - the soup really needs to be hot - and ladle it into warm bowls

The other parts of the recipe – the turkey is really simply roasted.  Seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon.  Butter is rubbed on the outside as well as placed under the skin.  Roast at 425 degrees for first half hour, then reduce heat to 325 degrees – baste every 20 minutes.

For the turkey gravy, I start by roasting turkey wings and thighs in the oven with onions, carrot and celery for an hour or so.  Then all of that is added to pot of water and cooked for 4 hours.  This makes a nice brown stock.  Then I reduce it, add white wine, salt, pepper and a roux to thicken.  Add drippings from the roasting pan (with grease skimmed off). 

Other stuff:  1)  Cornbread, apple and sausage stuffing; 2) Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese and Chives; 3) Haricot Verts with Ginger Butter; and 4) Creamed Fresh Corn.

  

Cheat tricks of an idle hostess

A fellow blogger Kayce, whom I quoted in my last post, writes: "A wise woman knows when to cook a yummy meal and when to cheat".  I'm unfamiliar with the first concept but a master of the second and Friday night dinners at my house, see pics below, are always the blatant scene of a cheat.

For me, it's all about the assemblage (is that a word?).  See pic above, of my usual Friday night pick-ups from the Village Market half an hour before dinner with the usual suspects, Kenny'nMike and David'nMartin and Lesley'nCurtis. My main aim when I invite people around is selfish. I want to have a good time and talk to my friends. I do not want to be faffing (real word) around the kitchen doing unsuitable stuff like cooking.  Call me lazy, but I'm...lazy. But the art is to make it look like you've gone to a lot of trouble.

I don't worry how people descend on us on Friday night because more guests doesn't make it harder. I resolved many years ago not to be a martyr: guests always offer to bring something and I always accept the offer. I always ask them to bring a side. This is because sides are tricky. Often, shockingly, there are recipes involved.

Don't ask people to bring a green salad as it's too easy. You can do it yourself. Also you will get people turning up with bags of leaves and asking if you have oil and vinegar and salt and pepper and maybe some seasoning and maybe even a bowl and even some salad servers...

Kevin and the kids get the leaves from the garden and tomatoes from the bush that has taken OVER our whole backyard, hereafter referred to as The Thing. I also plop pomegranate seeds from Trader Joes over the top. Plus I have a wooden bowl from my fab friend Carson and it's too beautiful not to use. Kevin below uses the runaway parsley, tomatoes and lemons to make tabouli.

Which leads me to... put out all your bowls and fill them with trinkets from the fridge. Trinkets, right, being deli food you bought because it looked pretty in the store, but you forgot to use during the week.  Putting trinkets in the fridge is like putting things in baskets. Once in, they no longer exist.  This week, my fridge trinkets consist of Berkeley Bowl olives, fresh slices of beet, pickled peppers and and artichokes.

I have one drawer full of the bowls and I bring them all out: the green bowl from Nicole, the hand-made Masaki Asaoka ceramic plate from William, the silver leaf from Kenny'n'Mike, the wood and paua shell cheese board from Mum.  I buy only one cheese, usually a goats' cheese called Humbolt Fog. Nice to pour honey over it,  but not vital. I've learned from years of throwing out boatloads of cheese scrag ends that returning cheese to the fridge post dinner party is a fool's game. Or, at best, the mark of an optimist.  Kevin loves cheese but tries not to eat it because he's lactose intolerant. I don't need to eat it because I'm 48 and let's not get into that. And the only crackers I buy now are Lesley Stowe raincoast crisps in cranberry and hazelnut.

Drinks should have been mentioned first. Like the bowl thing, have the glasses all out, they looked so pretty lined up, an undervalued decoration.  As are cloth napkins, pic above. Beautiful glassware is nice but I stick to Ikea. Then no stress with breakage and you can easily put in dishwasher. Have one cocktail ready.  Kevin is great on the margaritas but GandT's are quicker. Splash out on some good tonic -  this Friday night it's Q Tonic, which looks more oh la la and does taste better. Or bubbles and you don't have to fork out for proper French champers. Our latest option is the Kiwi Quartz Reef.  Pic below of me in second hand Burberry. For white I just stick to good old Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, and whatever reds are good at the Wine Mine. 
 

The second thing is meat. The most successful for summer has been BBQ-ed chicken soaked in  Trader Joe's Soyaki marinade.  For winter, pork tenderloin marinated in FisherandWeiser raspberry chipotle sauce. Leave in while cooking for a piquant non-greasy sauce.

In winter I do root veges roasted for two hours with a generous dollop of oil, loads of  lemon juice and whole un-shelled garlic cloves. My favourites are butternut squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, already cubed by Trader Joe's and slices of pear. Everything comes out caramelised and very yummy.

I copy some of Mike's triumphs - I hope for all your sakes you have a Mike in your life. But I totally dumb it down. One of my wintry green favourites is kale with red wine vinegar garlic, oil, chill flakes and chicken stock.  In the summer, it's cubed watermelon, tomatoes, avocado, balsamic, cucumbers and mixed fresh herbs. 

Yes, I agree children should eat the same food as adults but after years of scraping Friday night kid's leftovers into the garbage, now I just order Cybelles pizza and Harley, 12, oversees the Make-Your-Own Ice Cream Sundaes outside ..er..mostly.

For adults I stew up some dark berries and slap oatmeal, butter and flour over the top for a crumble. Whatever the measurements it always seem to work. Or bake whole pears, peeled but still with their with their stalks on, in red wine, loads of brown sugar and a shake of cinnamon. For this Friday I just bought scones,  plopped strawberries over the top with provide pouring or whipped cream. I also love good dates, but few other do. This week my husband said after our dinner, "I knew we were made for each other when we were the only ones at the table who had the pouring cream and ate the dates". See how romantic people feel after my Friday night dinners?

Well I've never had a complaint about my slothful style of entertaining, not to my face anyway and that's where it counts. What cheap tricks and non-recipes do you have?