Playing Chopped

Have you seen the Food Network’s show “Chopped”? The basic premise is that participants are given a few core random ingredients and challenged to make a dish that will impress a panel of judges. While you may, or not, be a fan of the show, it is fun to play the game with a few random ingredients.

We were up in Canada helping our daughter Jenn and her husband Ethan get ready for a move to Albuquerque NM. As we were cleaning out the refrigerator, I decided to play the game to make an appetizer for a neighborhood birthday party. In the freezer was a package of phyllo dough that had probably been there for quite a while. Our grandkids are major consumers of cream cheese, but a Costco purchase of two containers of cream cheese was too much. Hence the question.

What can be made with phyllo dough and cream cheese?

Phyllo dough, while not easy to work with, became a wonderful base. Using a mini cupcake pan as a shaper, I was able to bake up a good set of phyllo cups.

Cream cheese became the base for a homemade Boursin. Combining the cream cheese with butter, and:

Dried spices from the pantry (dill, black pepper, and marjoram),
Fresh chives, thyme, parsley, and basil from the herb garden
Sauteed shallot and garlic

This resulted in a tasty product that was easy to make and better than the store-bought version.

With these bases in place, I raided the refrigerator and came up with two version of

Phyllo Cup Boursin Appetizers with: (check out the recipe)

Bacon, Scallion and Tomato
Blue Cheese, Strawberry and Apricot Preserve

The best part of the game was the audience. Jenn and Ethan have been in Ottawa for close to 4 years and have the best set neighbors. After corporate stints in Virginia, Saint Louis, and Charlotte they have found that all neighborhoods are not that receptive to short timers. Their neighbors in Ottawa have been the best, especially given the difficult environment caused by Covid over the last two years. The group in Ottawa doesn’t need much of an excuse to party and are particularly appreciative of whatever I make. They loved the Phyllo Dough, Boursin Appetizers

The moral of this story is that sometimes the combination of Impromptu Appetizers, an Impromptu party and a great set of friends can be more than a lot of fun.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/ blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

It’s A Gift

My mother celebrated her 99^th birthday on August 10^th and she continues to amaze. We had lunch with her recently along with my daughter Jenn and her children. (See the featured picture). At 99 she still has an amazing ability to engage with anyone, but especially with children. She soon will have 12 great grandchildren and the older ones in particular love their time with mom-mom. She somehow makes each of them feel like they are her favorite. It’s a gift.

A friend of mine once said about mom: “She is both interested and interesting”. My dad used to refer to her as the “Brains of the Operation”. (Click on this link to read the story about the night I realized why) Unlike most of us, mom is a good listener. Last week, after our lunch with the grandchildren, I asked her how she does it. Mom explained that throughout her life she has been around people who like to talk. She said that she has always enjoyed listening, because that is how she learns. She followed that up with: “Did you know that your cousin Maureen’s husband Bob McGee, had a master’s degree in speech therapy. I know a few things about Bob, but that I didn’t know. My cousin passed away last year and Bob still calls mom. He is one of the many, caught in her spell. At 99 she is still learning. It’s a gift.

Mom at lunch with my son Brian and his family

For the readers of this blog you might remember the piece we did on Mom Mom’s potato salad. (Click on the link for the full story) It is one of her specialties that is a family favorite. A few years ago I did a FaceBook live piece with her. She was great. Her years in front of a classroom made her particularly good in front of the camera. After we finished the live take and turned the camera off, she took one last taste of her masterpiece potato salad and exclaimed: “Boy that’s good”. Mom can cook and communicate. It’s a gift.

The last year hasn’t been easy for mom, as it hasn’t been for many. Mom continues to talk about the “Little Miracles” in her life. (Click on the link for the full story) She talks about how she likes something sweet with her toast in the morning and the homemade jam that my cousin Virginia from Maui made and how it magically appeared. And how her iPhone continues to automatically display pictures of her great grandchildren. She doesn’t know how it works, but she loves it. Through it all, she decides to focus on the positive. It’s a gift.

A favorite picture of Mom doing a reading at our daughter Jennifer and her husband Ethan’s wedding.

Mom started doing readings at weddings years ago. Our son Brian asked her to read something my father had written. Mom called me and said that might be difficult given that most of dad’s writings were commencement addresses and political speeches. I told her to pull a piece of something dad had written and just tell a story. From that she has developed an art that provides a memory for the special couple and all in attendance. An investment banker friend of my sister came up to her after a recent performance and asked her: Did you ever think of starting a business? We could call it: “Rent a Mom-Mom”. Again, it’s a gift

Happy birthday mom-mom. You are a gift!

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

A House In The Hamptons Is Like Having A Lake House

If you tell someone that you are going your mother’s house in Westhampton, you usually get asked if you are going to “The Hamptons”. As in where the rich and famous spend their summers. It is true that there is a lot of stupid money, and stupid people, in the Hamptons during the summer. However, there are lots of normal, very nice people there as well. And yes, you might have seen Shaquille O.Neil eating an ice cream cone in Bridgehampton last week.

I try to explain to my friends in Memphis that having a house in the Hamptons is a lot like having a lake house in Iuka Mississippi. The more you try to explain this, the worse it gets. Then I try to explain that my mom lives in Westhampton which is the “Poor man’s Hampton”.

The story that I think categorizes this fact the best is told by Ina Gartner the Barefoot Contessa. Ina opened her first Barefoot Contessa shop in Westhampton. After a few years she decided to move to Easthampton. Early on in Easthampton she noticed a customer hemming and hawing over her Lobster Salad. Her initial reaction was that her (then) price of $40 per pound was too high. She asked the man if she could help him and he said: I am just not sure if I need 5 or 8 pounds. She knew then that she was in the right Hampton. There is lots of stupid money in Easthampton.

So maybe you can’t buy $40/lb. lobster salad in Iuka Mississippi. My buddy has a lake house in Iuka and he loves the practice where when you come to a four way stop in the road, drivers exchange finger waves by raising their index finger off the steering wheel. In New York a finger wave usually involves the middle finger, but that is different story.

Another, itty bitty difference between Iuka and Westhampton is the weather. As I write this, it is a bright sunny July day and the temperature is 75 degrees with a cool breeze off the bay in Westhampton. It takes pretty good air-conditioning to get to 75 degrees at mid-day in July in Iuka. OK, so maybe there is a difference.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

Dinner under the arbor in Westhampton

Brian and Lauren enjoying a cool breeze on Moriches Bay.