Ossi De Morte (Dead Bones)

Happy Christmas Eve!

I know it has been a while since I have posted, but it has been an interesting few months!! This fall, I have been working at three local colleges which has kept me running in every direction and in July, I had a bit of a surprise visit by some cells that, well, just weren't quite right... (we don't like to use the real word!) It took months, but as we know, bouncing back is what I do!

And now it is Christmas! My little dog and I have made it home to PA and there is so much to be thankful for. I am with the people that I love and in a place that I will always call home. To see my parent's Christmas tree and be with the people who are most dear to my heart is what Christmas is all about for me! I am so happy to be here and I am happy to share this recipe with you. I guess you can say it is my little Christmas gift to you! Thank you for reading and supporting me!

So let's get down to the story of this recipe! This is the perfect time to share the story of my Gram H. who the "Biscotti" portion of this blog is inspired by. The recipe that you see here has been part of the Italian side of my family for a very long time. My great-grandmother used to make this recipe when my Gram and her 5 siblings were young. Like most families in my area, many of my great-grandparents were immigrants who came through Ellis Island. They came from their countries for a chance at a better life and for work opportunities. Upon settling in Western PA, both sides of my family earned their living and supported their families by working in the coal mines. This is what almost every man in my area did for generations.

So, this is the recipe that my great-grandmother used to bake. It has a cute little story that has been repeated many times in my family; especially when my Gram and her siblings get together. After my great-grandmother used to make these little half cookie/ half candy gems, she would store them in a tin in the pantry.  In the winter (before the times of global warming,) my Gram and her siblings would bundle up in their warm clothes and head outside into the snow. On the way outside, they used to sneak into the pantry,  open the tin of cookies and take "just a few" to fill up their pockets; thinking that their Mother didn't notice. The brothers and sisters would head out to the big sled riding hill where all of the neighborhood kids congregated. Unfortunately, they did not have a family sled to join in on the snowy fun. But what they did have was pockets full of Ossi de Morte which they used as cash to buy rides on the other children's sleds. Only two of these small wonders would get them a ride down the hill and a place in the lore of the town. While they didn't have the money to buy a sled, they had the ingenuity and the camaraderie that brothers and sisters have when there was something that was really important to them. There is nothing like the bond of family! Still to this day, in tough times, my Gram reminds me that I am descendant of this strong family and that I can solve any problem or overcome any diversity.

Despite the hard circumstances they ran into growing up, the happy times always float up! You can see it in my Gram's face when she tells the stories of her family. And rarely does she tell a story that is about bad times! It is the good we remember as family and those moments are the ones that hold us together this special time of year.  So, this Christmas. fill up your pockets with these cookies or something else that is special to your heart and hand them out; not as a type of currency but as a way to say "I love you" to family and friends.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

Love,
Rebecca and Dexter

Crockpot Madras Lentils

As of today, I am not longer a partner in my chiropractic office. It has been a hard transition. Since I was in middle school, I wanted to be a chiropractor with her own office. In 2004, with a partner who was also my husband, I achieved that dream. It was not a small task for two people with no real experience. We had the backing of a local bank that believed in us and family support, but other than that we were very much Newbies! It was a grand endeavor and something that I am still proud to say I was part of.  At the beginning of any adventure, there is a lot of adrenaline and excitement. This and the great people of Greenville made us a success in business for many years. The problem was that there was no relationship in my marriage except business. No personal life. Work was 24 hours per day. This was felt very deeply in 2008-2011, when health care began to change, the housing market collapsed and banks suffered. Our business was affected. All of this work stress was brought home every day and it crushed the last inkling of any kind of personal life that was left. Despite my best efforts to stop this pattern, it worsened. It was taking everything out of me as a person, a chiropractor and a wife.

In 2011, I finally made a change. In 2013, I divorced my partner and put into works the ability to leave the practice that in the past years had caused me so much pain. February 27, 2015 was my last day seeing patients. Today, at a meeting, I officially signed over my shares of my business and resigned as corporate president. It was bittersweet.  In these past 2 months, I have felt at peace with my decision and have even looked forward to my last day. Today, signing those papers took a huge weight off my shoulders. I am happy! For the first time in probably 5 years, I am happy!

So where does that leave me? That is still up in the air. I will always be a chiropractor and I am currently an instructor at local universities. But overall, right now, I am celebrating my decision and strength. I am taking some time to nurture ME! I know that can not last forever and I don't want it to. I will be back in some large way soon. I am not sure what capacity that will be or in what city, but I know that I have learned a lot and will use all my experiences to take the next big step.

White Lasagna with Sausage, Spinach and Portabello Mushrooms

Look at me! Baking and blogging up a storm these past few weeks. Am I just overly ambitious? Hmm... I wish!  I am BORED!  I have been iced or snowed in my house for 3 days in the past week with more days off probably tomorrow and possibly Friday! I don't sit still well.(It is how I was raised.) I can not watch any more Netflix or worse than that, daytime TV.  Dr. Oz and Steve Hardy make me want to jump off the bridge downtown.... if only I could get there!

So, instead of causing bodily harm, I have been spending my time reading blogs and recipes and pulling out a lot of the cookbooks that I have stashed away and making things that are on my wish list. That list is actually so long that I could probably have a whole year of snow days and still not complete everything on it!

This has been my new South Carolina "snow life!" Waking up, showering, putting on fresh Pjs, scouring books and webpages and then getting busy in the kitchen. Usually, at some point in this process, some wine or craft beer might come into the mix. My biggest fear is if this weather doesn't clear up and I continue to churn out these rich, comfort food recipes, the only clothes I will be able to wear is Pjs or elastic pants. Ugh.... Praying for no more snow!!!

Moroccan Lamb Chili with Kale, Chickpeas and Sweet Potato

As most people know, I am a craft beer enthusiast. I love all things about craft beer. The atmosphere of the breweries, the people and the laid back culture. I am a huge fan of several of our local breweries here in Greenville, SC and the neighboring Asheville, NC. I am excited to try new places, new beers and new flavors. Just this past weekend, I spent a Saturday with my best friends in Asheville, giving them a brewery tour of some of my favorite places. Of course, we had to kick it off at the brewery that I am obsessed with, Burial Brewery. We then moved on the several others including Green Man Brewery and the new Funkatorium which opened in October. It was a great tasting event and a great time out of town with my BFFS. I was so appreciative that they came out to celebrate me in a way that I adore!

 

A little fun at Burial Brewing with my girls.

Enough about Asheville, lets talk about the best brewery in Greenville, SC and one that I support often. A few weeks ago, my girlfriends and I went to Quest Brewery for their chili cook off. This is my favorite brewery here in my Greenville, SC area. We all had an exceptional time. The event took place in the actual brewery right under the fermenters. I was going to enter with my Turkey Pumpkin Chili but since the event was only a day after I returned home from my big Pennsylvania excursion, I decided to just go and enjoy and imbibe rather than putting a bunch of work into it. As it turned out, there were several great chillies to sample. They had everything from venison chili to an awesome spicy sausage chili with handmade sausage ravioli floating in it, to chili that featured some of the porter that is made by the brewery.  Some impressive cooks were represented. 

A Smoking Mirror Smoked Porter last Friday Night  when we came to see Zac Parks. Check him out!!

I have to admit that I got this recipe idea from there. This chili was the chili that my friends and I loved! The unfortunate part is this was one of the employee submissions so we could not vote for it. When I got home, I scoured the web for the recipe and found this one, which is spot on. And what better way to celebrate it than with a Quest Smoking Mirror Smoked Porter. 

Cheers!

Sauerkraut and Potato Cheddar Pierogi

Today is January 25th and it is a day to be celebrated!!  I got to call my Dad for his birthday!! In August, that was something that I feared would never happen again.

This is the reason that you have not heard from me in a while. As you know, I started this blog in a time that I was going through some hard issues. I have blogged through the separation of my marriage, my divorce and all the heartache that comes with separating that life. I have blogged through finding new love and all the greatness and adoration that goes with that. You have seen me in my highs, my lows and my appreciation of multiple people in my life. I have held little back!! That was the reason for starting this blog. From the very beginning, I have said that cooking is my therapy and MY LOVE begins in the kitchen. This blog has been an outlet for me to speak in times when I needed to get thoughts out and until this time, I have not had any problems with that.

 I have learned to realize that a lot of people don't deal with feeling and emotions well and can not express to others what they want and need. I see this daily with my patients who hold things in until their problems express themselves physically and this lack of feelings has been a problem in the relationships of my past. I have worked diligently to be able to say what I feel when it is pertinent, but, nothing has stopped me in my emotional tracks like this August.

This August my family experienced an event that shook who we were. With out much detail, my Dad became incredibly sick very suddenly and was hospitalized for a significant time. The details are not important and quite honestly too much for me to talk about. But since that time, I have not been the same person. None of us have! In just a few days in August, everything changed for me. Since August, we, as a family have been collectively holding our breath... waiting, hoping, praying and whatever else it took! I have learned there is one thing that happens when you hold your breath. You lose passion and desire to do anything... but wait and hope. That is where I have been. Kind of suspended in time... waiting! I am afraid when my phone rings. I am worried when it doesn't. A lot has happened since August. And most of it I have had little influence on nor have I had the power to create (which I hate to say.) Time has passed, for me relationships have been lost and we are still taking it day by day. I am in no way saying that this struggle has been mine alone. My Dad has had the biggest fight and once again in his life has come out strong, but we have all taken some burden in this ordeal.

In some ways, this past month has been healing for me. I feel like I have rejoined a part of my life. Since I live a far distance away, I was able to take a breath in this situation when I got to spend an extended Christmas holiday at home. It was so empowering to see the progress firsthand. It was good to talk and appreciate and love the people most important in life- family.  It was good to just be present in someone else's life who has done so much for me. There are things that will never be the same and I am careful to not say some things will be better, because we don't really know yet. But there are some things in life that will just be and how you deal with them will determine your character. If there is nothing else I have learned from him; that is it. We can't control everything, we can't change fate but we can deal with in the most powerful way we know.

Today on my Dad's birthday, I celebrate him and everything he has taught me. I appreciate all the times he stood by me and hope in some way, I have supported him in this past few months. And lastly, I hope he knows I am proud of him. He has come back to us in a way we never would have imagined and has shown us again what strength is.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

OK y'all, next week is Cinco de Mayo. And this year it falls on a Monday. A Monday... Uggg!! Well, what does that mean? It means we don't let the "Monday Blues" get the best of us!! We rally!! So, in my opinion... we have two options.
Option 1: You can sit back and celebrate on Sunday afternoon with a large back porch fiesta and make this awesome taco recipe to impress all your friends. Margaritas and Modelo required!! Live it up, but remember work starts very early on Monday morning!!
Option 2: You throw all these ingredients in your crock pot Monday morning and have tasty tacos waiting on you and your friends when you get home from work. This will assure that you have adequate time to mix large batches of margaritas before the party starts. (Those Coronas should be chilling in the fridge before work too!!)

It is not too late to send out those E-vites!! A little planning goes a long way. Due to this gentle reminder, you now have no excuses for missing out on this holiday!!  And don't forget, once you have impressed all your friends with this easy recipe and an awesome party, toast the host/hostess. Yes, I know that is YOU!! That is the point!!!

Cheers!!