My Friend Bill Moran

Bill has been gone now for just over a year. I still miss him and think of him often. Kinda dumb I guess but I have saved all his emails and the photos he sent me. He and I talked about everything, we both had a lot of the same interest. I have many of his recipes saved, and do cook them. They are mighty good. I am not going to post any recipes today, but do have one of my best photos of Bill I want to post. I miss Ya Man.

Bill Moran, with one of his favorite plants.

More Fun in the Kitchen Making Homemade Goat Cheese

Lots of wintry weather here in Baltimore lately and Stella has been off from school. We have gone to the movies, played with new toys, baked cookies, but we were still bored. We were watching TV one day and saw a show where they were making homemade goat cheese and we decided we wanted to give that a try!

The process is pretty easy and it was a lot of fun and definitely something different to do on a cold snowy day. So we went to the store and bought a quart of goat's milk and brought it home and got busy. Here are the steps:

First you heat the milk slowly to a temp of 180 degrees. Once the milk is at that temp that is when you add a curdling agent of your choice. We had lemons and unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar and we used a little of both. To the heated milk we added the juice of 2 lemons and about 3 T. of the ACV. Once you add the curdling agents you should instantly see the milk separate into curds and whey. Keep the heat on during this process. At this point you should have ready a fine weave cheesecloth or an old linen dish towel lined in a large bowl. Next, gently ladle the curds and whey ladle by ladle into the linen/cheesecloth lined bowl. Once it's all in gently bring up the 4 corners of the cloth gathering all the curds in the cloth leaving the whey behind in the bowl. Hold the "ball" of curds in the cloth over the bowl and tie the top in a knot or with a tie of some sort. Then tie this to a large wooden spoon and hang the ball over the top of a large pot so that the ball of curds don't hit the bottom and can drain freely. Just leave it hanging for a couple of hours, more if you want a drier cheese. When it's time, unwrap your cheese and place it in a small bowl and add whatever fresh herbs you want. We had lemon thyme and rosemary from the garden so we finely chopped some and added it to the cheese along with some ground pepper and sea salt. The cheese will be a soft "farmer's cheese" consistency. Keep it in the fridge (it will last for about 2-3 days) and eat it as you would any other goat cheese.

I am amazed at how good our cheese turned out. You can really taste the apple cider vinegar and it adds a really nice flavor and tang to the cheese. I've been eating the cheese on little French Toastettes and can't get enough! It was fun to make and Stella loved doing it and it was a welcome and tasty departure from making cookies, cookies, cookies. I would highly recommend that you make some yourself using different herbs; experiment!!! Fun, fun, fun!

Happy New Year to Everyone! Sending the warmest wishes for health and happiness in the coming year!

Nicole

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Cold Weather is upon us

Well, where some of you live maybe its been cold for a while now. Anyway here in Texas its Chili weather. I am sure its the same in your neck of the woods.
Our friend Bill Moran was very fond of a big ol bowl of Texas Red Chili so here is one of his recipes. I can tell you first hand he made some of the best chili in the world.

Original Bowl of Texas Red

"Note from" Bill Moran: If you notice this is not like your everyday now days chili. This is
the way it used to be and is the best way to make chili. The use of Chiles ancho
and chili meat instead of ground beef makes a world of difference. The suet is a
flavor maker . 12 dried ancho Chiles (New Mexico Chiles may be substituted)
4 pounds lean beef chuck, cut in thumb-sized pieces
2 ounces beef suet ("If you are under no diet inhibitions")
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
2 or more garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons chili powder (optional -- "If you want to be
adventurous and add more red color")
2 tablespoons masa harina ("To thicken or `tighten' the chili --
or settle for ordinary cornmeal or wheat flour.")
Wash the peppers and remove the stems and seeds. (Don't touch your
eyes.) Boil the pods in a little water for 30 minutes, or until the skins can
be removed easily. Then grind, chop or run through a colander the now
skinless , seedless , stemless pods .
Save the peppery water in which the pods were boiled. Use it for cooking
the chili and for adding water if necessary. Be as conservative as possible
with water unless you want th e chili to be soupy.

Goodbye to John

Yesterday my friend John died after a long battle with cancer. Those who know me know what a devastating loss this is for me. John was more than a friend, he saw me as I am and got it and loved me for me, the whole package. John was a very complex man, but I got him, too. I can't think of anything to say right now except that I will miss him and I still can't quite get that he is gone. Here is a poem he wrote for me when we were "broken up." I laugh at that because it happened often, but I am so glad our friendship was never ending. Rest now, my darling, now you see the whole of the moon.......

Regretfully, Out of Touch


I always believed in you,
Perhaps even more than you do.
I scorched your heart, as you did mine
Scar tissue never heals right and is displayed
Like a battle wound of a lost campaign
Neither won or lost, oh the emotional cost.
Was it worth it? The price paid was too much
And now, regretfully, we are out of touch.

You got so close to the inside of me
That I could never face, and feeling left out,
I often do, I run away.
I felt you were so cruel to mention
So often the times I hurt you.
I push away what I love and find it hard to trust.
Regretfully, we stay out of touch.

I remember the sweetness of your breath,
The touch of your caress that spring.
It was like a dream, so close so fast
Wanting to make up for lost time.
I lived in hope for a while, rejoicing your smile
And then the battle campaign began anew
Regretfully, we were again out of touch.

Longing to hold you and to be with you
As I braced myself for a new attack
Perhaps the battles were the work of myself,
Once again my insecurity haunts me.
Longing to feel your hair and see the intensity of your eyes
You sip Earl Grey, I don’t say too much,
Except, we are regretfully out of touch.

Excuse me for not sharing the happiness of your new find
Not being in that state of mind, not willing to claim what is mine
I wander through the thoughts and fears of letting go
The lies of omission will not go away.
To say I’m sorry is not enough and not knowing
How to make things right, do I resign myself
To be forever, regretfully, out of touch?


John A. Macdonald