Tag: Fall

  • Nabemono – My New Food Fixation

    We are in the middle of Summer, and I am already thinking about Fall. Anticipating might be a better word. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I have the flannel and sweaters to prove it. There is the apple picking, leaves changing, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Autumn also means a switch to our menu at home, as we start eating heartier things due to the colder weather; soups, stews, and baked goods. While searching for new recipes for Fall, I came across nabemono, or Japanese hotpot cooking, which I have become fixated with.

    Nabemono is simple in concept, and complex in flavor and execution. It just means one pot meals, with a protean, vegetables, broth, noodles, and a dipping sauce. The pot is placed on the table, in some cases while on a heating plate, and people take what they want out of the pot and eat communally, or family style.

    I came across nabemono when I was looking up fast family meals from all over the world. I mean, America can’t be the only place where feeding a family quickly and cheaply is a major concern, and I was correct – seems to be a concern all over. If one doesn’t have a traditional nabe pot, a Dutch oven can be used as a substitute. And I have a Dutch oven! Also, nabemono has several different varieties – like shabu-shabu, chankonabe, and sukiyaki – as well as regional variations, which means that there are tons of different recipes out there to experiment with.

    I have been doing my research, and counting down the minutes until it is Autumn. I could give it a shot now, but it is like 90 degrees in NYC, and with 75% humidity so the thought of having a soup on a day like that doesn’t sound like the best idea. I need it to be like 65 outside, which is like late September. That’s a bit of a wait, but I can be patient.

    I’ll just keep searching for YouTube videos… like this…

  • The Pumpkin Blaze

    There is an annual Autumn/Halloween event that my family takes part in, which is The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze at Croton-on-Hudson. My wife was the one who found out about it, and when my parents came to visit back in 2017, she got tickets for all of us. It was perfect for everyone, as we were new parents with a one year old, and the pumpkins were just flashing lights to our daughter, and that captivated her attention. And for my folks, it was just enough walking, and also something rather unique that they didn’t have in Texas. After walking through the Blaze, we drove down to Tarrytown for dinner, and then showed my parents the real Sleepy Hollow, along with the bridge and the Old Dutch Church of Headless Horseman fame. Since then, we try to make it out to The Blaze every year.

    This year was no different. Got tickets, and made plans with another family to all go together. Like most years, things happened and we left late. Traffic was awful getting out of the city. We were all late getting to the restaurant, and had to eat quickly. Luckily, the kids were all in a good mood – no melt downs.

    And it was worth it. The kid is getting old enough now that none of the jack o’lantens are scary to her, and even some of the joke carved pumpkins she gets and finds funny. There is still enough innocent excitement with her there that makes the experience special, and also transforms Halloween into more than one night of fun, but a season of events. (We apple pick, and visit a pumpkin patch as part of our Halloween traditions as well.)

    For me, I enjoy this night of being close to Sleepy Hollow, and the historic location where The Blaze takes place. Something about driving home through the woods of Westchester county, knowing that somewhere out there the Horseman is supposed to ride, and like clockwork every year, the kid asks from the backseat if Ichabod was a real person who escaped from that ghost. And then there is the connection of The Blaze being an event my mom was able to do with my family. We only got three years with her, to do grandma things, and let her shower her youngest granddaughter with attention. The kid has virtually no memories left with her Mim, but I have this one. And though my daughter doesn’t remember doing it, she was one after all, but she knows that it happened. We just continue on the tradition.

  • An Autumn Music Break

    Bit of a Bisy Backson Day…

  • Soup Season

    (I’m going to sound like a very old man, and I don’t care.)

    Autumn for some people means sweaters. Others, it’s Halloween. For the annoying, it’s pumpkin spice in everything. Cooler weather, leaves changing, sports on a weekend afternoon – all that stuff – you know, Fall. And for me, it is the start of soup season; I’m talking homemade soups. The cooler the weather, and the cloudier the day, all the better.

    First is just making the stock, which most of the time coincides with the leftover bones from a roasted chicken. If I have time, I’ll do the stock pot on the stove, but most of the time I have to use the Instant Pot. In about 2 hours, or less, I can have 10 cups of deep golden broth, but the best part is the warm, homey smell that fills my home as it’s cooking.

    Actually, I take that back. The best part is that my kid gets in on the action of making stock. We have done it enough times, that she’s got the recipe down and, with some guidance using a knife, can throw the whole thing together all by herself. That’s pretty cool, as a parent.

    This year, I chose to kick off soup season with a simple and hearty recipe – Potato Leek. I go with this recipe from Robert Irvine, as it is pretty simple and fool proof. I can say that there are more flavorful recipes out there, but they are rather involved, and some nights you just want to eat sooner than later.

    Besides, in my theory of soup making, soup should be simple.

    I do cook often for my family now, and I have some pretty good go-to recipes that I can now make off the top of my head. But there is something about making a good soup, or stew, for my family on a cold evening that is deeply satisfying. More so than any other meal I prepare. It does feel a little like kitchen magic; putting the ingredients in a pot, letting it boil to create something new. Then more ingredients, and simmering, and more time. Maybe it’s the amount of effort that goes into it – maybe. It could be that the meal is basic, and simple. A simple act that takes a long time. Maybe.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Autumn Morning, Lunch with Friends, and Sports Season

    (In this house, we narrate the dog’s thoughts.)

    Finally, and I mean FINALLY, it was an Autumn Morning around here in New York City. It was in the upper fifties, there was a breeze, you could put a sweater on – all the boxes were checked. For me, a person who hates the heat and humidity of Summer, this was like my birthday and Christmas morning all wrapped in one. Now we can turn the A/C’s off, leave the windows open, hell, maybe even have a cup of hot tea in the afternoon, but that one might still be a month off. Anyway, the season has changed. We are no longer stuck in something, but moving towards something different, and new.

    The other day, a friend from college was in town, and we got together for lunch. This particular friend I hadn’t seen in close to ten years, so I was looking forward to catching up. It was a good time, and I wish it could have been longer, but we made the most of what we had. As I get older, and have more of these catchups with friends, I am still impressed with how much people can change, while at the same time still stay that core person I met twenty years ago.

    It’s sports season for me, which on some level still feels odd for me to say. Growing up, my identity was brooding artist, so I couldn’t like sports. I have evolved out of that (A story for another day) and now I find myself enjoying the sports time of year. The Premiere League has started, as has the NFL. And let’s not forget about the Champions League and all of their exciting corrupt bullshit that is amazing to watch. Baseball is heading for the playoffs, and I will flirt around with following the Knicks, but I never go through with it. As I was sketching out this idea, I started wondering why have I latched on to sports so much in the last ten years? What is it about being middle aged and following as many different competitions as possible? I wonder if there is something to not wanting to admit that the people playing all of these sports are half my age, and by living through their accomplishments, I attempt to regain youthful physicality? Ha! I was never physical! I think it’s because sports are the only appointment TV left.