A RECIPE PLUS

Thirty four years ago our daughter Karolin married Bob, a nice young man who was a member of the United States Coast Guard.  Shortly after the marriage Uncle Sam assigned him to the Guard’s installation on Governors Island in New York.  It was quite a place at that time and almost totally dedicated to the Coast Guard.  It had the only golf course in Manhattan. It had churches, it had a movie theater, and it had nice apartments for the military families. We visited them many times during his term of duty. Good friends of ours were able to join us on some of our visits.  We were only a short ferry boat ride away from the city and our daughter and son-in-law guides took us on walking tours to places in New York we had never seen before.  On one of these occasions, instead of staying in the city for dinner, Karolin prepared a wonderful salmon dinner for us and our two very good friends Alecia and Bill who had joined us on this visit.  Not so long ago Alecia made the dish for us……still very tasty. I had included the recipe in my Rhino cookbook.

Governors Island is a 172-acre island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately 800 yards south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the 400-yard-wide Buttermilk Channel. The National Park Service administers a small portion of the north of the island as the Governors Island National Monument, including two former military fortifications named Fort Jay and Castle Williams. The Trust for Governors Island operates the remaining 150 acres, including 52 historic buildings, as a public park. About 103 acres of the land area is fill, added in the early 1900s to the south of the original island.

Established: Jan 19, 2001

Annual visitors: 443,000 (2010)

Area: 958,320 sq. feet

Points of interest: Fort Jay

Did you know: Until 2015, Governors Island was open to the public only on weekends during the summer, and was rarely open at nighttime except when holding concerts?

Salmon with Mustard Sauce

2 pounds salmon fillets

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup white wine

 2/3 cup heavy cream

1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 shallots, finely chopped

Juice of one lemon

1-1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Arrange salmon in single layer in a large baking dish.  Drizzle with butter and lemon juice.  Cook uncovered in 400 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes. In a small saucepan, simmer shallots and wine together on low heat until wine has evaporated and shallots are tender, about 8 minutes.  Stir in cream, mustard, salt and pepper.  Pour sauce over fish, return to oven and bake for additional 5 minutes or until fish is glazed but not browned.                                       Serves 6

THINGS I MISS

201,481 hours ago, (as of 1:00 pm today), 8395 days ago, 1,199 weeks ago, 278.84 months ago, and 23.23 years ago.  These are the lengths of times I’ve gone without a puff of a Pall Mall cigarette, my constant companion (had a pack on me at all times 2-3 a day) and favorite vice. 

Do I miss those days?  Sure I do, but not that much anymore.   I’m 85, so there’s a lot of other things I miss like getting up out of a chair with no pains in my joints.  Staying up to watch the late shows instead of jumping in my bed right after 9:00.  I miss my teeth.  Store bought aren’t the weapons my own were.  I even miss going deer hunting since they made the damn mountains so high.  I miss cutting my own lawn and shoveling snow.  I even miss my hair although the tight crew cut is real easy to maintain and pretty easy to wash.  I miss some of my old friends who are no longer with me and yes I even miss sex.

I could go on and on and bore the hell out of you but you know I have to say something about that damn Corona thing.  It's more fun to talk about Corona Extra.

 Corona Extra) is a pale lager produced in Mexico for domestic distribution and export to all other countries besides the United States. The Corona brand is one of the top-selling beers worldwide, and in the US Corona Extra is the top-selling imported drink and third most popular overall in the United States. Outside Mexico, Corona is commonly served with a wedge of lime or lemon in the neck of the bottle to add tartness and flavor. In the US, Corona Extra is the top-selling imported drink.

Look at that, a no charge beer lesson, but back to the “I miss thing”.  The self and family imposed isolation caused by this Pandemic has given us old folks a lot of thinking time as evidenced by my first paragraph.  The extra thinking time recently made me aware that I have many little “goods” in my life beyond those I missed from the past.  Without realizing it these little goods have begun to be very important in my daily life and have begun to be sorely missed:

I miss my daily trips to the super market to browse and say hello to my new friends.

I miss going to Church on Sunday.  Even started watching in daily on television.

I miss the weekend breakfast get together with our friends.

I miss driving Miss Daisy (Marge) to the hair salon for her weekly beautification procedure.

I miss all the church meetings I had to go to.

I miss getting a haircut with my brother.

I miss my brother.

I miss seeing my kids.

I miss going out to dinner.

Making this list opened my eyes to the good things I had in life and what I can look forward to after isolation.

Back to you soon with recipe time.

Thanks for reading,

Bill

The Sheila Archer Recipe

Yesterday my daughter let me know that a new member of the "Rhino Roars Blog Readers" questioned the lack of a recipe in my last Blog entry.  I'm sure that my recent forced isolation is beginning to mess with my head. It was difficult for me hear this, especially because of my extreme love of food, cooking and anything relating to it.  I splashed some water in my face in an attempt to shake up the gray matter and sat down to contemplate this scary situation.  Although the world has become a real mess all around me, I at least I had my food dreams that I could rely on to pass the lonely hours.  How could I forget to include a recipe in the Blog?  How can I make up for it?  

I know how.  This little Blog will include and remembered as the Sheila Archer recipe.

Cranberry Pork Roast

1 pork loin roast, boneless or bone in (about 3 pounds)
1 can jellied cranberry sauce (14 -16 oz.)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cranberry juice
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water
salt, to taste

Place pork roast in a slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, mash cranberry sauce; stir in sugar, cranberry juice, mustard and cloves. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove roast and keep warm. Skim fat from juices; measure 2 cups, adding water if necessary, and pour into a saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Combine the cornstarch and cold water to make a paste; stir into gravy. Cook and stir until thickened.      Season with salt

Serve with sliced pork.                                          4-6 servings