The White Pepper Incident

It is a dream of mine to start each morning baking something warm for breakfast like strawberry and cream scones! And one of these days I will have a piping kit so I can fulfill my design fantasies on birthday cakes and waffle-flavored cupcakes. To dream about baking given my track record in the kitchen seems lofty, but this is one persistent dream!

As an adolescent, I began developing a belief that I was a terrible cook, "You don't want me in the kitchen, I burn everything!" As a waitress, I joked with folks, "That's why they keep me out of the kitchen, so you'll come back!"

Sad. I LOVE food and being creative, and naturally felt I should be at home in the kitchen. Further, to raise kids without providing yummy home-spun meals depressed me. I didn't let go of my secret desire to bake and cook, even after a history of mostly failed dishes.

Once when I was fresh out on my own, I tried to make Matar Paneer, an Indian dish I'd never tasted! I figured since I didn't know what Paneer was and I didn't have any, I could leave it out of the recipe. (Ha! I know, can you believe it???) I thought since I liked tomatoes and Indian spices, I would probably like this meal, even though I only tolerated peas at the time. (For those unfamiliar with Matar Paneer, it basically has three main ingredients besides the spices: tomatoes, peas, and paneer, an Indian cheese.) As you can imagine, one bite was awful. One plate was insufferable and the Matar minus Paneer met its fate with the garbage can. (Sorry, Matar.)

Did I learn from this mistake? I certainly didn't learn that following a simple recipe might be the key to my success as a beginning kitchen chemist for more than a decade. It wasn't until age 35 that I decided it was a good idea to select a simple recipe and stick to it! The rebellious creator in me thought I was doing justice by putting "my own spin" on things. This system, or recipe, was hampering my creative flow.

Just ask Chris about the white pepper incident. Needless to say, one dash of this ingredient I used to "jazz up" spaghetti sauce devastated the deliciousness it once had going for it. I had become the butt of my brother's joke. He teased me endlessly about the bean dip I served every time he visited, including holidays. I learned how to assemble the bean dip when I was a teen, it had become my stand-by, and I was standing by it...clinging to it, because it was all I knew I couldn't destroy.

Well, you would be proud to know that I didn't take bean dip for our Thanksgiving feast at my brother's. I actually made rustic stuffing with lots of herbs, boiled the cranberries for whole berry sauce, and made a simple fresh-tasting green bean dish. The cranberries were served in my Grandma's glass bowl. I made WAY too much stuffing. And I want to share the Sesame Green Bean recipe with you.

I have to give credit for our Thanksgiving day prep and cooking to Chris. He really did a lot! And we managed to stay mostly sane as 2 cooks in a tiny kitchen.

Oh, and I make yummy pumpkin scones for breakfast sometimes!




Sesame Green Beans Recipe (Serves 4, ready in 30 minutes)

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sesame seeds. When seeds start to darken, stir in green beans. Cook, stirring, until beans turn bright green.

2. Pour in broth, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook until beans are tender-crisp, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates.



Enjoy!

A New Dream Begins

I am thrilled to write my introductory post celebrating a BIG dream taking place in my life right now! As many of you know, I cherish my role as mother. I feel blessed that my son Graham is enjoying each day of his life surrounded by love from Mommy and Daddy. We, as a family, are living our shared dream of being present and available for each other, nurturing each other through attention and play. It is not through logic that we are achieving this dream, but through instinctual desire and our claim to it.

Our dream is expanding! I have been gifted with a Shaklee Distributorship! My Gold Ambassador PAK arrives anyday! (And you thought it was a sibling for Graham.) I am eagerly awaiting my new Shaklee products, including Basic H2, the organic super cleaning concentrate. I have a list of projects . One lucky subject is my 1971 VW van. If you like dramatic before and after photos, follow me here at Suzanne Dreams.