05/07/2007

In the Kitchen

Write the recipe for your own family

By Sally Ketchum
Local columnist
ketchum1985@
gmail.com

Read Sally's past columns here

Some friends and I were talking about writing the other day.

Doris, a mom of four and a grandmother, mentioned that her daughter had completed a remarkable little family book to give them as a wedding anniversary present. It was special, Doris said, because the book was born of a dream her husband, Clyde, had 20 years ago. He dreamed about two funny cartoon characters names Whisper Kitty and Shillelagh Boom, a mouse. The family remembered Clyde's dream over the years, but nothing was ever done about it.

Then their daughter, Gayle Cartland, an Ishpeming wife and mom, wrote and illustrated the tiny book called, "Family Soup: From the adventures of Whisper Kitty and Shillelagh Boom.”

Although I can't capture the charm of the tiny book, its pages tied together with ribbons, I'll try to give you an idea of the content. It goes something like this:

(Cover: The title and a good drawing of a fluffy, friendly cat. The book continues page by illustrated page, each one featuring a family member.)

Kitty Whisper narrates, "Tonight before dinner I took a little nap. I smelled somethin' cookin' as I slept in sister's lap.” (Illustration: Kitty Whisper sleeps on a young girl's lap as the child reads in a large comfortable chair.)

"I dreamt of my family and their different ways of lovin'. . . As something boiled and gurgled on the stove over the oven.” (The faces of family members surround the copy.)

"Mother is a tasty broth that warms me through and through.” (Mother, a pleasant good-looking woman stands, cradling Whisper Kitty in her arms. A ball of yarn is on the floor.)

"Father is the hearty meat, sustaining, tender and true.” (Father sits rather formally with his hands on his knees. Whisper Kitty is sitting on his head.)

"Sister is my vegetable, adding color and appeal.” (A pretty girl, curly hair piled up high on her beribboned head, poses formally with Kitty Whisper and a bouquet. The page is bordered with vegetables and hearts.)

"Brother is the spice that puts a zing in every meal!” (The page's art is quite modern; it is filled with a half face of Kitty Whisper, delicate whiskers and part of a pink nose showing. The kitten's eye, however, is the surprise part since the pupil of it is her brother, a sweet boy.)

"Oh dread! Here comes Shillelagh Boom slinking into my Dream! Why couldn't he keep his grimy paws off my family tureen!” (A shillelagh-carrying mouse peeks around the corner of the porch. Small as he is, he has tipped a pail of water over.)

"I suppose I must include him and this lovely scene give up.” (The illustration explains the sarcasm as Shillelagh Boom has, indeed, tipped the water pail over the porch rail on top of Kitty Whisper.)

This nearly ends the book, but at the bottom, Kitty Whisper gives us her opinion of Shillelagh Boom: "He really is a hairball at the bottom of my cup.” (A bomb with a long fuse edges up the page and the last word — a surprise ending, perhaps, is "BOOM!” Of course, no one appears hurt.)

I was even more impressed when I tried to write a similar book about our family. My thoughts took a turn of their own; they became a book about a zoo with both domesticated and exotic animals. I forced my focus back to food, but this resulted in a stew rather than a soup, and one with some very odd ingredients. Without naming family members, the ingredients they represented include artichokes, beef jerky, smelt, sunflower seeds, many fruits and a few pepper flakes. I had to give up.

Try to envision your own family as a soup, stew or zoo — or place them in cabinet positions in the White House, if you prefer. Let me know what you come up with.

Ketchum Family's Beef Stew

• 1½ lb. sirloin steak
• Flour and Montreal Steak Seasoning to coat
• 1 T. canola oil
• 2 14-oz. cans beef broth, divided
• 3 medium carrots, sliced on the diagonal into chunks
• 2 stalks celery
• Celery leaves, chopped
• 2 large onions, chopped or 5 small ones, halved
• 1/8 t. each of dried thyme, rosemary and sage
• 1 good dash of red pepper flakes
• 3 beef bouillon cubes
• 1/3 c. cornstarch
• ½ c. V-8 juice, tomato juice or cold water

Heat a slow cooker to medium. Sprinkle sirloin well with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Pat the seasoning into the steaks. Cut steak in to 1-inch chunks, trimming off fat. Put enough flour (about ¾ cup) into a plastic bag, add the steak chunks and shake to coat the pieces.

Heat oil in sauté pan to medium hot. Brown steak pieces. Add to slow cooker. Deglaze pan with the beef broth and add to cooker. Add carrots, celery, celery leaves, onions and bouillon cubes. If necessary, add water to cover. Cook until the meat is tender, about four hours or more.

(Raise or lower the heat of the cooker to shorten or lengthen the cooking time as desired.) In a small saucepan, mix the cornstarch with the V-8, tomato juice or water. Add 1 can beef broth. Bring to a boil, and boil one minute to thicken. (Often slow cookers will not thicken sauces.) Return thickened broth to slow cooker and stir.

To serve: Remove the celery pieces, leaving the chopped leaves in. Serve stew along side of mashed potatoes or over cooked egg noodles. (He-Who-Must-Be-Fed likes to add a jar of Bistro Beef Gravy to the leftover stew and serve it over white bread the next day.)

Sally Ketchum writes, cooks and gardens from northern Michigan. Reach her at ketchum1985@gmail.com or through the Record-Eagle. Ketchum realized she might have a calling to write about food when, years ago, a neighborhood toddler called her Salad Ketchup.