40.0 The Rise of Fall

Starring Erin & Mike and Adam & Josh

Filmed on Location in Beautiful Downtown Sellwood

Suggested Reading List: Ultramarine by Raymond Carver

“Lord, it’s almost fall”

It’s the autumn nights I remember most. Dark evenings growing colder; amber living rooms flickering in the candle light. Low shadows dance out of time to the spinning disks. We sink into the couch, breathing in the late dinner. The orangey comfort of summer’s wiser child.

The summer ends tomorrow, though the leaves around town have heralded this days for weeks. I kicked through paper puddles on 13^th, cowed beneath the threatening clouds, stalking the shrinking sun. I drink coffee later in the day. I glance at the spines of the Christmas albums, whispering “patience” while reaching for a country selection.

I don’t necessarily categorize or listen to music seasonally. I unsleeve country, pop, rock, jazz, etc. whenever that desire calls, but I do prefer certain music in certain weather. I grew up with the record player (and 8-track) on. Contemporary pop and country filled the house in my younger years: John Denver; the Carpenters; Peter, Paul & Mary; the Brothers Four; Barry Manilow; the Statler Brothers.

Those same sounds followed me over to the TV, with shows like “The Captain & Tennille” and “Donny & Marie” and other variety shows of that heyday. I watched them all. Perhaps that’s why, after hours of the Flaming Lips, Tom Waits, Circus Devils, I always return to the softer sounds of the youth, and why I still tune in every Sunday for the “Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 – The 70’s.” It’s the effortless comfort my soul needs while my mind wrestles with the 21^st century.

I love a brisk fall walk (what else besides fall and iced tea are brisk?) through the streets of Sellwood in the dimming evening. The shop lights glowing; the silver sky sowing around the moon. My hunger growing from the walk.

And we warm up in the house, in our Sellwood kitchen, warmer with friends. Holiday pumpkin scented oil mingling with supper’s ingredients. Suddenly everything that was summer-centric turns autumnal. The bookshelves, the credenza, the mantle blush an amber hue through their skin.

Josh & Adam are scrolling through their phones and laughing with Erin in the kitchen. I’m in the living room putting on side two of Barbara Mandrell’s The Midnight Oil.

And I remember why! “Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters!” It ran on NBC from 1980-82. That was my Saturday night 30 autumns ago.


Sweet and Sour Chicken:

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt and Pepper
Rice Flour (or regular flour)
Oil for frying
1 Green Pepper, diced
1 white onion, diced
Sesame Seeds

The Sauce:
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbs Soy Sauce
1/3 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbs Ketchup
2 Tbs cornstarch dissolved in 4 Tbs water

Bring oil to medium heat in non stick pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and cut into 1-2 inch pieces. Dredge all chicken in flour so it is evenly coated. Place chicken in hot oil in a single layer. Do not crowd the pan. Cook chicken pieces on all sides until golden brown and cooked through. Set aside to drain on paper towel lined plate. In the same pan, sauté the red pepper and onion in oil, season with salt and pepper. While the veggies are sautéing, make the sauce. In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Bring to a simmer and let cook for a few minutes to thicken, stirring constantly. At this point you can add the cornstarch mixture if it isn’t thickening enough. When the veggies are done, return the chicken to the pan and toss everything together with the sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice. (Serves 4.)

 

 

 

 

The “In the Sellwood Kitchen” cast and crew can be contacted at: erinandmike@sellwoodkitchen.com

39.0 Wrap Music

Starring Erin & Mike
Filmed on Location in Beautiful Downtown Sellwood
Soundtrack: “Rock Box” by Run DMC

“Witty as can be and not for sale”

Back in my day, rap was the sound of hip-hop, which was the culture whose other two primary forces were b-boying (breaking) and graffiti (tagging). Expanding deeper, rap was DJ’ing and MC’ing. I’ve been a fan of hip-hop since the early ‘80s, when Run DMC exploded on the scene. Even earlier, I’d roller-skated around the rink to “Rapper’s Delight.” In a high school music class, our teacher played us Kurtis Blow’s “8 Million Stories.” Although these artists were early builders of rap music, the architects of years earlier would remain in relative obscurity until hip-hop became a cultural movement with a history that could now be taught. Kool Herc, Love Bug Starski, Sha-Rock, Busy Bee…

So what does this have to do with the September recipe (although I imagine that line of questioning has long since been abandoned)? Erin’s created a wrap! There you go. This episode is brought to you by homonyms.

So, how’s your summer been? Not too hot? By which I mean in the literal, non-colloquial sense. I’ve always been proud that I can both spell and pronounce that word correctly: Colloquial. Also, it always reminds me of “El Coqui, the Singing Frog of Puerto Rico.” I used to have an “El Coqui” t-shirt my father had brought back from a business trip. Even with the infinitely-lengthy tendrils of the internets I can locate nary a .jpg or .gif of that shirt. Some things truly are lost to the ages (or were).

I’ve been off this week (whaddya mean this week?) which has been a pleasure. Work. Ugh. Something doesn’t seem right about it. It’s like playing The Game of Life (Milton Bradley) without any instructions, on a grander scale. On a narrow relatively interesting note, I did indeed used to play that board game without instructions. My friend Harry "Do I like cheese? You bet yer little Pecorino!" Carbohydrate and I turned it into a role-playing game by virtue of continuing each session with the jobs, money, wives and children we’d acquired from the our last game. Our wives were always celebrities. If Harry picked Meg Ryan as a wife, I’d be sure to choose Melanie Griffith when I had the chance, and barter her for Megsy. This was the 80s when those two were commodities not oddities.

I spend a lot of time daydreaming in hues of nostalgia. And that’s my own darn business! Especially when I’m on vacation! You know, I don’t remember ever eating wraps back then (and let’s frame this parcel of memory as 1984-1987). We just ate sandwiches. All the time. And why not? What’s better than a sandwich? Bread, cold cuts, mayo – it’s glorious! And you can eat it while walking. My favorite sandwich? That’s a toughie. I’d say a chicken cutlet sandwich on a roll with a slice of American cheese.

And then I got older and moved to the west.

What can I say about this wrap Erin’s made? Only that in a million years I’d never thought I’d eat and enjoy such a thing (harkening back to my younger self). There’s not even any meat in it! And the filling’s so delicious that, sans wrap, it’s delightful gluten-free fare!

On a non-rap/wrap note, the cast of “In the Sellwood Kitchen” will be participating in the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk starting at Pioneer Courthouse Square on September 26 from 9:00am – 12:00pm. I promise not to rap but will not rule out b-boying.


Erin’s Intro: This is a vegetarian meal. Yeah, no chicken this time! Don’t worry, it’s still full of protein, super fresh, and easy to make. Lately I’ve been obsessed with spinach wraps from New Season’s. They’re not those green ones you get at the regular store, you can actually see the spinach, and they are delicious. This recipe is easy to take for lunches if you pack the mix, the dressing, and the wrap separately. When you get to work, toss the mix with the dressing and wrap it up fresh. I prefer to only dress the salad I’m going to eat at the time, so it doesn’t get soggy.

Two Bean or not Two Bean

The Mix:
Toss the following ingredients in a large bowl:
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
½ package frozen corn, rinsed and thawed
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (combination of red, yellow and orange if available)
½ red onion, diced
½ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
Kosher salt to taste
Dash of Allee (optional)

The Dressing:
In a salad dressing container, or a jar with a lid, combine the following ingredients, shake well:
½ Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup mayonnaise or veganaise
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp black pepper 

Wrap it up:
Lay out one spinach wrap, place one leaf of romaine lettuce in center of wrap. Spoon about 1 cup of the bean mixture over the lettuce. Wrap tightly like a burrito.

Gluten Free Option: Serve the bean mixture over a bed of romaine lettuce and eat as a salad.

The “In the Sellwood Kitchen” cast and crew can be contacted at: erinandmike@sellwoodkitchen.com

38.0 The 10 O'Clock Piece

Starring Erin & Mike & their Wonderful Hongerich Friends

Filmed on Location nowhere near Beautiful Downtown Sellwood

Dialect: The Pennsylvania Dutch

“Don’t eat yourself so full already – there’s cake back yet!”

Erin and I bought an $8 bag of books at the Sandy Mountain Festival Book Sale couple Saturdays back. We hauled in, like, 50 lbs of books, not my least favorite of which was a thin, colorful collection of Pennsylvania Dutch expressions. This has nothing to do with the brunch we ate the next day – except here they both are in this month’s ITSK.

Sometime in the distant yet visible vicinity of 11:00 of a Sunday morning, Matt & Felicia (who are such schmutzers) met at our place, from where we carpooled to Jessica’s on the west side of the Willamette, “way out where the road gets all”. Felicia carefully coddled the Blueberry Buckle on her lap (pronounced “blue-BURRY” as if one’s mouth were full of them). The cake smelled wonderful good.

Since I don’t involve myself in any of the cooking, my one job is to record the mealtime proceedings. Although I did bring my pocket-sized notebook to jot down observations (indeed, Matt asked me as I wrote notes in there, “Do you write thoughts in there?”), I failed miserably this time around. So, I’ll improvise, and rely on the gimmick of “ferhoodled English” for a fair piece.

Regardless, there was a brunch, a grand brunch, which would’ve made for a grand breakfast if, collectively, weren’t the types that “doppled” around so much in the mornings. Jessica and Erin served us Fancy Egg Sandwiches! That’s not what we’re calling them (I haven’t found out what we’re calling them yet), but that’s what they were! And they served us the makings – it was a put-it-together yourself affair. Delicious fresh breads, tenderly scrambled eggs (yes, you can), a flavored cream cheese, tomatoes, sprouts! And coffee! Hot or iced!

But Felicia had a piece of her Blueberry Buckle cake first. “I’m gonna have to loosen up my blueberry buckle,” said she. Or maybe it was Matt. Or me. The notes aren’t clear.

Michael (not me, I’m Mike) was on his, I don’t know, eighth sandwich as I was fressin’ my first. “Why do you make so sei-ish (piggish) when you eat – you can’t be that hongerich (hungry)!” But he was. Thank god! Because I do recall there being an awful lot of food.

I don’t remember much talking during the eating, but there was plenty afterwards.

“Come now, Matthew,” I said, “We make the dishes away and then we set ourselves down and talk awhile.” There was much chatter about the General Mills monster cereals (you know, Frankenberry and Count Chocula – not to mention the rarer werewolf variety, the name of which the three fellas in the room (Matt, Michael and I) rushed to our smart phones for confirmation. The womenfolk were discussing the topic of “larpers”.

Although I could google the definition of larpers on my phone, I’d rather not. What’s important is my reference to a gathering of these individuals as a “Larper’s Bazaar”… Well, Jessica and I thought it funny. And if George Will was there, he too might have squeezed out a tight chuckle from his bowtied throat.

What does this have to do with egg sandwiches and the Pennsylvania Dutch? Nothing. You hongerich? Then get on to the recipe! As fer me, I’ve et myself done already.

Erin’s Intro:  It was me! I’m the one who said I had to loosen by blueberry buckle (or rather, loosen up my pants via my buttons, since buttons are either done, or not). Mike is right, sometimes his notes are unclear, especially when in reference to something witnessed on a trip to Disneyland - This argument has been going on for almost two years, that’s how stubborn I am, no matter WHAT the notes say!

Anyway, I’d been dreaming of a breakfast sandwich ever since I used leftover sprouts on a bagel with some avocado, and thought “YES, More of this!” So, since brunch was coming up and we planned to equally contribute menu items, the “build your own sam-danwich” was born. Much like our “make your own stinkin’ pizza”, or whatever it was called, this was a fun, laid back take on brunch. Us, laid back? That’s an understatement.

Build Your Own Sam-Danwich

The Fixin’s:

Choices of fresh bakery breads (Sourdough, Wheat, etc.)

Cream Cheese

Basil Cream Cheese

Tomato Slices

Red Onion

Sliced Avocado

Crispy Bacon

Sprouts

Scrambled Eggs cut into bread sized servings

Build it:

This one is up to you depending on your personal taste. Mine consisted of the following: Sourdough bread, toasted with basil cream cheese, egg, sprouts, avocado, tomato, red onion, bacon, topped with second slice of cheese slathered sourdough.  Follow up with a nice iced coffee and a slice of blueBURRY buckle!

(Samples of Pennsylvania Dutch from Ferhoodled English © 1964 Conestoga Crafts, Gettysburg, Pa.)

The “In the Sellwood Kitchen” cast and crew can be contacted at: erinandmike@sellwoodkitchen.com