Procrastination Frustration and BBQ Dreams

I am overwhelmed. Trying to accomplish and complete a million tasks at work prior to my planned two week leave beginning April 15; trying to get everything ready for the upcoming 2 week visit from the Runessons; and trying to do all the every day things that must be done too, has me on the edge. I have been irritable and grumpy and the weather is deciding to make things even worse. The forecast--snow for tomorrow night!!!

So this week I have sanded and polyurethaned 2 tables and 2 chairs for outside. I have one love set to finish, and painting the beautiful Azul Anil (just think of Taos blue with attitude) around the edge of the salvaged round table for outside. However, this morning I hear on the weather forecast that we are to have snow Friday night! Yup, "snow showers and windy down to 4500 feet"--that would be us as we are at 5000+. Great! I didn't finish the chores after arriving home yesterday evening at 5:15pm because I was grumpy and cold and the wind was blowing and temps dropping. So I just crawled into my warm jammies, made dinner, and then crawled into our wonderful Tempurpedic bed under the soft, warm and cuddly down comforter and read my book. Until my sweet hubby set up the laptop on the dresser and came in with me and we watched "Seven Pounds" with Will Smith. A heart wrenching movie, a bit difficult to follow in the beginning, but well worth watching. Then I went to abc.com and watched the final episode of Life On Mars. I can't believe they took that show off the air...I loved it!!! Oh well.

Anyway, because of my bad attitude and the windy cold weather, I did not continue my work of polyurethane, paint and sanding, so tonight, no matter what, I must finish it to avoid the weather coming in. Ah, procrastination thou art the enemy!!!

So, no wonderful cooking has been taking place. I did do a "quickie" that Roy loved one night and I named Quick and Spicy Shrimp Scampi With Linquine. We purchased the SeaPak Shrimp Scampi (in the freezer dept. at your local market). I put it into a pan to heat, and in a bowl I put 1/3 c. white wine, 1 t. dijon mustard, 1/2 t. dry mustard powder, 1 t. lemon pepper, and 1/2 t. garlic powder. I whisked them about, and when the sauce on the shrimp had melted, I poured the liquid in and let it cook until the shrimp were pink and the sauce had reduced somewhat. I put it on linquine for the hubby, and just ate the shrimp & some salad for me. It WAS good!!!

But as a real recipe posting for today, as I was sanding and polying and planting stocks, columbine, delphinium, peas, and other wonderful flowers and plants, that will bring such joy later in the spring and during the summer months, I realized that warmer days and bbq time was near. And I thought of ribs...my favorite food in the world. And of course with bbq ribs comes to mind my Mom's recipe for Gramma T's Spicy BBQ Sauce. It's delicious on ribs, chicken, and any other bbq meats. I've even had it on portobella mushrooms and it was good. So, I will share it with you today.

Hopefully wherever you are, and whatever the weather is at this point in time, you'll soon be enjoying those sultry summer days. And along with them, you'll be having over friends and family, firing up the bbq grill, and be enjoying this sauce. And if you knew her, give Mom a "thank you". She'll hear you, as I know she's not far off from us. I hear her talking to me each and every day of my life. I see her sparkling eyes and hear her giggle and see her "Gramma Dance" and know she will be with me for the rest of my days in this reincarnation...and maybe after.

GRAMMA T'S SPICY BBQ SAUCE

1 T. Butter 1/2 c. finely chopped onions 1/4 c. white vinegar

2 beef boullion cubes 1/2 c. maple syrup 1 T. worcestershire sauce

3/4 c. water 1/8 tsp. pepper 1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. catsup 3 T. brown sugar 2 T. Tabasco

1/2 tsp. dry mustard 1 T. sweet chili sauce (Chinese/Vietnamese)

1 tsp. liquid smoke

Melt butter and saute onions until light brown. Add rest of ingredients and stir well. Boil slowly on low temperature over 15 minutes or until sauce is glossy and thick. Can be water bath canned--cans very nicely and makes a wonderful gift.

En, Två, Tre

When you get married, you inherit a whole bunch of new people. Friends, relatives, acquaintances, co-workers, ex's and more come as part of the package with a new spouse. Sometimes that's not a good thing, but I have to say for the most part (exception...Joanna!!) I have inherited interesting, bright, loving, and wonderful people in my life since marrying Roy Boy.

Two of those that I've heartily fell in love with are Bo & Lisbeth Runesson. Bo is Roy's cousin--Roy's grandmother and his mother were sisters if I remember correctly. Separated by the Atlantic Ocean when Grampa Karlssen moved the family to the U.S., and forbidden by him to communicate with anyone from the old country, both Annies thumbed their nose at the patriarchal mandate, and continued to sneak letters to each other across the years and miles, thus keeping the families linked through the oldest son, Roy's Uncle Harry.

Bo & Lisbeth live in a bucolic area of southwest Sweden--the Swedish Riviera--in the tiny town of Lur. It's a picture postcard; a close knit, farming community by history, and a slice of rural Swedish life. Small country roads, lined with well kept homes painted yearly to maintain thier viability through the cold harsh Swedish winters. The Runesson's home is no different--a beautiful home with light wood floors, beautiful staircase with wooden bannisters sleek and shiny, a sun porch (known in the winter as "the big refrigerator"), and with gardens, a large barn, fields of corn, and woods used ecologically as wood lots for heating their home and water. After just a few visits together, Bo & Lisbeth are deeply embedded in my heart. More than just inherited relatives, I feel kinship beyond the ordinary, perhaps from a previous lifetime. After all, Thompson (my maiden name) is a Scandinavian name, so Viking blood is in us all.

As of April 15, we will again be enjoying their company. Fourteen years ago they came to visit us in Aptos, CA and what a time we had. Parties and breakfast on the beach; trips to Big Sur; surprise birthday parties for Roy; whirlwind tours of San Francisco; Lisa and Anders playing in the ocean and Lisa swimming with dolphins--it was such a fantastic time and that's when they welded themselves to my heart and soul.


Since then we have twice been to Sweden and have considered moving there. However, as I have found out this year, I am suddenly much colder than I used to be, so if we leave the country, it will probably be for a warmer clime, not colder. But there could be no place where we felt more at home, and more warmed in our hearts than in Siverbo.

And I know deep in my DNA, there is this Scandinavian background that makes my entire system sing when it encounters sweet succulent Bohuslan Shrimp, flakey white cold water cod, Oust (any number of smooth delectable cheeses in a tube), and the blue bright beautiful waters of the North Atlantic.

While in Sweden I of course picked up some recipes. It was amazing to watch Lisbeth pull out her huge mixer and cooling rack, and within what seemed like minutes, have a dozen loaves of bread ready to go into the oven. At another point she went out into the surrounding woods, and came back with nettles and chantrelle mushrooms, and made Cream of Nettle Soup and used the chantrelles as a side dish for the Roast Moose w/Juniper Berries. I brought home frozen nettles with me and tried to duplicate the delicate fresh and lovely flavor of that soup, but to no avail. Johnsson's Temptation is a shredded potato & Swedish sardine casserole (Swedish sardines are not strong as we are used to in this country, but delicate and slightly sweet) which I thorougly enjoy and have made many times since returning after that first visit. I can get it very right, I'm happy to say. And during our last visit, we had dinner at Lisbeth's mother's home.

Annie is a funny and delightful woman, and although she doesn't speak English and I am a cretan when it comes to speaking Swedish, we understood each other quite well through our hearts and cooking. Annie made Fish Pudding. No, not Jello Instant with sardines, but a delicate casserole of eggs, milk, nutmeg, butter, cod and rice that is so delicious and delectible it's hard to describe. When baked to a golden brown and served with boiled potatoes with dill and butter, I don't believe there is a more satisfying and comforting meal in the world. Not heavy, but light--some rice and white flaky cod in a cloud of egg custard that's easy on the palate and sits filling but light in the stomach.

Last year we visited during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Traditions abound, and although schnapps is not one I brought home, Agg Oust certainly is a favorite. Agg Oust, translated to be Egg Cheese, is a delicate lovely concoction of milk which has eggs beat into it, then heated slowly over light heat until delicate curds form. At this point, it is set to cool a bit, and then the curds are scooped out and put into an artistic and adoreable mold with tiny holes, that allows the milk whey to drain off, and leaves the soft curds. You fill the mold half full, but a light layer of vanilla sugar (you can buy this in Sweden, but can make it by infusing a cup or two of sugar with the miniscule but aromatic seeds from a vanilla pod), finish filling, and then sit over a bowl to drain in the refrigerator. When drained, you remove from the mold to a plate, and decorate with a light sprinkling of the vanilla sugar and if desired whole berries--lingonberries are traditional, but raspberries are superb. It is served with a side of berries cooked a bit with a little sugar as desired and a touch of cinnamon. Heaven, pure heaven.

In respect and contemplation of their upcoming visit, I am sharing this delicious recipe with you. You will need to find an Agg Oust mold--a high end cooking shop, or on the internet will carry this product. Enjoy and let me know how it goes. If you have trouble with developing the curds, a drop or two of liquid rennet will help. But don't be heavy handed here or you will lose the delicacy of this dish. You DO NOT want a hard commercial cream cheese texture--not even cheesecake texture. Much lighter, much more delicate, and so much more satisfying.

Now, if I can just get Lisa to send me the recipe for the Fish Soup she made for us in Gotteburg in her adoreable little flat, my life would be complete!

EGG CHEESE (Agg Oust from Sweden)

Use Egg Cheese mold. Serve with berries or berry jams.

2 liters (1000 cc) whole milk

5 eggs

2 dl sour cream

Vanilla sugar

Mix sour cream & eggs (beaten).

Heat milk to 80 degree centrigrade (candy/kitchen thermometers that slip over the lip of the pan while not resting on the bottom, show both Farenheit and Celsius temperatures), pour in egg/sourcream mixture. Stir constantly but very gently—DO NOT BOIL. Stir often, and gently so as not to break up the small tender curds when they start to form. In about 30 minutes, it will separate into small light curds. Remove from heat to cool 20 minutes. Scoop w/strainer into mold. Put in ½ of mixture, shake to settle and sprinkle with some vanilla sugar. Scoop in remaining curds. Sit over bowl to drain. Once mostly drained, empty the bottom bowl, and put form and bowl in refrigerator to cool completely, preferably over night. Once cool and solidified, put large plate over top of form and flip upside down. Tap plate until mold empties onto plate and then remove form. Sprinkle with a light dusting of vanilla sugar, and decorate with whole fresh berries. Serve with berries (lingonberries are traditional but raspberries or strawberries are also delicious) and/or jams. The berries can be cooked with a bit of vanilla sugar and cinnamon and then cooled prior to serving.