Our friend Walter recently brought over a portfolio of his paintings which we enjoyed at our Devotional Meeting. Most of the acrylics were part of an experiment Walter did about 10 years ago. Since then, Walter has had a stroke and must relearn some of the procedures of his craft. It is poignant, listening to his enthusiasm for his art, knowing that he must work even harder now to regain lost skills. However, the enthusiasm and joy are still there, making our visits so special.

I thought I'd try to get back into some of my drawing and painting, so I hunted through my things to find the 'old bridge in China' I'd started about two years ago. I looked through all my drawers, the closets, the old sketchbooks, cleaning them out as I went along. By the end of my search I hadn't found any old unfinished drawing, but I did discover things I'd forgotten I had, like my mother's old passport, her driving license from Germany, old report cards and test scores from my childrens' school, and a nest of old letters from my dad. It was so enjoyable becoming reacquainted with all these old momentos.

We are in the process of getting ready for Baha'i Pilgrimage, securing flights, making hotel reservations. We arrive in Haifa, Israel mid-April for an 11-day visit and will stay in one of the little German Templar dwellings along Ben Gurion Avenue.

The Haddad Guest House offers wonderful accommodations, a little kitchen where we can cook meals, and is a 15 minute walk from the gardens on Mt. Carmel. It is surrounded by little cafes and restaurants with outdoor tables for visiting and relaxing. When we discussed what we wanted for accommodations, we didn't want the Holiday Inn experience in Haifa, which is something we could get here. We wanted to stay in one of the old stone buildings nestled in the hub of the city, even if comfort levels were compromised. I think we've found just the right place!

I've brought home some books on Israel, one of which is the Insight Guide to Israel by Brian Bell. I like the pictures, and the depth. It explains the cultural mix of the people - Ethiopian Jews, Russian Jews, Israeli Arabs, Orthodox Jews, Secular Jews, and the Zionist Movement. Another book, by Doughty/El Aydi is "Gaza: Legacy of Occupation - A Photographers Journey" features the people of Canada Camp. I hope someday that all areas in Israel will be totally integrated, so there is no separation and exclusivity - people learning to appreciate cultural differences without conflict and willing to share the same neighborhoods together.

Yes, I've been cookin'. I made two beautiful rounds of cheese, one from goat's milk, the other from raw cow's milk. The one on the left is laced with a small amount of turmeric, to give color. Both loaves have chives and seeds, sun-dried tomatoes, and a little walnut coating.

I used my cheeses on a home-made flatbread called 'Naan', making several large pizzas.

Naan is so easy to make, so flavorful and soft, like a puff of air.

This is a corn-tomato succotash, using berbere, an Ethiopian blend. It is baked with a corn-chip/crushed pumpkin and squash seed topping.

I cooked barley in left-over whey from cheese-making and added some of my goat cheese on top.

I've achieved an understanding of how to regulate the consistency of yogurt. I wanted to get a texture that was super-smooth yet ultra-firm, so it could hold its shape in a crepe. With a few experiments, I prepared a wonderful huckleberry-kumkwat crepe using yogurt rather than cream cheese. I made a huckleberry sauce for the topping, featuring crushed pecans and a light crackle-crisp texture that complimented the sweet softness of the yogurt inside. I served these huckleberry crepes for breakfast on Saturday.

This is my first crop of the year - fenugreek seedlings. I've been pulling them up, washing them, and adding them to salads. They have a unique pungent taste which, when chopped, also enhances scrambled eggs.

I wanted to drive up to Seattle last weekend, to visit Pike's Place Market, but George wasn't eager for that, saying it is too touristy. So he took me to Trader Joe's (I just wanted a Market experience), and the place was packed, jammed with people. We ran into our old neighbors and had a nice chat, but I cleared outta there so fast, just knowing that the longer we stayed the more we'd spend! I bought a special sweet lemon that when sliced is stunningly refreshing (my friend Karen recommends it), some 'pasteurized' whole milk (not the ultra-pasteurized which seems to be everywhere so it can retain absurd shelf-life standards. Dead milk, I told George. You can't make cheese or yogurt out of it. Nothing happens.)

And an Armenian flat-bread, Lavash, which I hope to make next week.

I 'got lost' exploring Flickr shots featuring Lavash, and found another bread Romal, or Barbari, which is made all over Iran. It can be purchased at a neighborhood bakery, but in many rural households, it is made daily. This bread has a boiled soda-flour wash that is pasted on top of the loaf before it is baked, resulting in a beautiful glaze. Pieces are broken off during the meal, mopping up stews and gravies. A good bread for hot winter soups, too.

Just a Little of This 'n' That

This week was a flood of activity, with bread-baking, cheese-making, and yogurt experiments. Pictured above: Goat Cheese with Chives and Walnuts.

After I learned how easy it was to make my own cheese I figured I could just as well learn how to make yogurt. The experiments proved amusing: I made something better than my usual store-bought brand of plain yogurt, Organic Nancy's, and something almost as good as my favorite honey yogurt by Greek Gods. So home-made it shall be from now on.

It is really quite simple to make yogurt:

Heat one quart of organic whole milk in the top of a double boiler.

After it has reached 180 degrees, when it begins to froth, remove from heat.
Cool the milk down to 112 degrees by immersing it in a cold-water bath.
Add 1/2 cup powdered milk to the cooled milk, and stir well.
Add a starter culture, either freeze-dried or 2 Tbs of active-culture yogurt.
Mix the starter culture in gently; don't create bubbles.Pour the mixture into two wide-mouth thermoses, and let set overnight. Place thermoses in refrigerator with caps off, to cool down.

Be sure the milk mixture is at least 100 degrees. Also warm the inside metal of the thermoses. The incubating temperature inside must remain above 100 degrees for the culture to do it's little dance.

I hope to work in a little more cream in my next batch, so I can achieve an end result like 'Greek God's Yogurt'. It is simply sublime...and mine will get there with practice. I noticed that mine didn't need honey; it was wonderfully smooth and sweet, perhaps because I didn't incubate it over 8 hours. The longer the yogurt incubates, the more tart it becomes.

We like our yogurt with blueberries.

This was the flaxmeal bread I baked on Monday.

A hearty lentil soup made from left-over whey (cheese-making).

Couscous, pine nuts, and vegetables. East-Indian spices.

Sprouted fenugreek for salads. I'm trying to grow a few plants from these sprouts on my windowsill. The seed-packet was four years old, and it still worked!

.

Hachapuri Cheese Bread ~ Simply Divine

The Georgian recipe is simple, the bread fantastic! I found a recipe in Nigella Lawson's "Feast" cookbook for Hachapuri, a cheese-bread made with baking soda rather than yeast. The crust is chewy, and the filling is a blend of my home-made goat cheese and ricotta (from the market).

Hachapuri is substantial - holds any filling - so I divided the dough into two loaves and filled them differently. This Hachapuri is filled with cherry pie filling and huckleberries from my freezer. Once filled, I flipped one side over the other and crimped the edges shut.

This is Moroccan Chicken Tagine, simmering with plenty of Madras curry powder, fresh ginger root, sliced onions, garlic, and a blend of oregano, cayenne pepper, turmeric, paprika and cumin. It smells wonderful, has a strong flavor, and is delicious. Tiny Israeli couscous is part of the broth.

Naan is east Indian bread, very easy to make.

This last meal was Kheema Shahzada, also east Indian. Although it doesn't look great in this photo (primarily meat and cashews) it was simply wonderful. The trick to east Indian cooking is to make the curry (the gravy), cook the vegetables as indicated in the proper order, and roast-fry the spices before you add them (except for the Turmeric, which is always added at the end. It's impact doesn't sustain long-term cooking.)

We've had some pretty cold, rainy weather lately....I'm sure all of you have heard about the flooding in Washington state. Interstate 5 is flooded south of Tacoma; Amtrac has been routing busses to Vancouver B.C. and Bellingham. If transportation lines remain blocked for more than a few days many imported goods will get stacked up at the Port of Tacoma, and ships leaving for Asia could risk leaving without their cargo. Container trains headed for Puget Sound ports in yards near Portland have to wait out the rain and floods.

I'm currently reading (among many other things), Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle ~ A Year of Food Life". She asks, "Will North Americans ever have a food culture to call our own? Can we find or make up a set of rituals, recipes, ethics, and buying habits that will let us love our food and eat it too? Some signs point to "yes." Better food - more local, more healthy, more sensible - is a powerful new topic of the American conversation. It reaches from the epicurean quarters of Slow Food convivia to the matter-of-fact Surgeon General's Office; from Farm Aid concerts to school lunch programs. From the rural routes to the inner cities, we are staring at our plates and wondering where that's been. For the first time since our nation's food was ubiquitously local, the point of origin now matters again to some consumers. We're increasingly wary of an industry that puts stuff in our dinner we can't identify as animal, vegetable, mineral, or what."

Kingsolver also adds that the drift away from our agricultural roots is a consequence of migration from the land to the factory, then into a world of regulations and high yields, often with the government intervening to promote growing certain crops, like soybeans and corn. The government wrote rules on commodity subsidies, guaranteeing a supply of cheap corn which was used, among other things, to make high fruit corn syrup - the horrible sweetening used in so many sodas and fruit drinks.

70 percent of all our midwestern agricultural land has shifted gradually into single-crop corn or soybean farms, each one of them highly mechanized production system which are capable of producing 3,900 calories per U.S. citizen per day. That is twice what we need. Kingsolver writes, "And here is the shocking plot twist: as the farmers produced those extra calories, the food industry figured out how to get them into the bodies of people who didn't really want to eat 700 more calories a day." That was the job of marketing specialists. Packages and portions got bigger, sugars and fats proliferated. Americans are now feeding a generation of children most of whom will be be afflicted with chronic health issues related to obesity.

Well, I can tell that Kingsolver is exploring the same issues that motivated me to grow my own food in the summertime. I want locally grown, from garden to table ... with no middlemen. Keep the costs down, the flavor up, and enjoy eating good flavorful food.

Old World Wisdom ~ Cheese-Making

I spent last week learning how to make cheese: Researching procedures, talking to the folks at the health-food store about goat's milk, and experimenting with a variety of recipes.

Only a few basic ingredients are necessary, and the procedures are very simple: A gallon of milk, a quart of buttermilk, and vinegar or rennet. Have some cheesecloth and a candy-thermometer on hand. That is all!

Place the milk in a non-reactive kettle, which is then placed in another kettle filled with water. It will act like a double-boiler. Slowly, the milk is heated almost to boiling, then removed from the heat-source. This can be done visually through experience, or with the use of a candy thermometer. I use the thermometer, and prefer to work with pasteurized milk. (Raw milk is available at most health-food stores and makes a better cheese, but there are risks involved that are not worth the worry.)

When the milk has cooled down to 100 degrees, add the rennet or vinegar, and the separation of curds and whey is almost immediate. A thin layer of yellow-green whey remains at the top, and the white curds settle at the bottom. Let this remain undisturbed for several hours on the kitchen counter.

Then place a sterile, double layer of cheese-cloth in a strainer. Pour off the whey and save the curds. They settle into a nice wad in the bottom of the strainer. Pull the cheesecloth ends together and tie up into a bundle. The whey will drain out, leaving the most wonderful curds. This is a time-consuming process, so it is done in the refrigerator - I hang my curds from a spoon handle propped in the refrigerator.

Be sure to save the whey. It is excellent for soups, sauces and gravies. It can be frozen if not immediately used. I used some of mine as the base for a 3-Bean Soup.

At some point you'll want to start twisting the cheesecloth, which extracts more whey. This can be done a number of times, then the soft cheese is ready to be 'seasoned'. Place it in a bowl and cut it up, if necessary, and add salt and seasonings, like chives. Mix it up. Place the cheese back into the cheesecloth, twist it shut so it molds into a shape, and let it cure for several days in the refrigerator. This last step can be fun, if you want to use cheese-molds for a particular design.

My 'Goat Cheese' is seasoned with chives throughout, with a thin scattering of caraway seeds on the outside. It is very rich and creamy, and crumbles like a Feta cheese. I've used this cheese on salads and on bruschetta toasts.

This 'Neufchatel Cheese' has dried, minced apricots throughout and finely crushed walnuts rolled on the outside. This cheese is good on oatcakes and crackers, a beautiful holiday cheese.

My third batch, 'Queso Blanco', is a mild fresh-flavored Latin American cheese. I'll use it with ricotta inside crepes when it has finished curing. (BTW, there are recipes online for ricotta made from left-over whey.)

My sister recently sent me a link featuring well-known chef and scholar Dan Barber. He presents a fascinating challenge to global food production. He not only strives to learn the best ways to grow, harvest and cook food, but contrives to feature old world wisdom with new world technology. Co-Owner and chef of Blue Hill Restaurants, he also owns

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. He speaks provocatively about the bland taste of many super-market foods:

"...after the uprooting of a thousand years of agrarian wisdom, we chefs have discovered something really terrible — no, not that the agricultural system we help support hurts farmers and devastates farming communities, or that it harms the environment and our health. What we’ve discovered is that the food it produces just doesn’t taste very good. "

I've noticed this when I grocery shop. So many fresh fruits and vegetables just don't have any flavor. Food is packaged and over-handled, tasting like chemicals. When I decided to make cheese it was because I wanted to learn how to do it, but also because I wanted natural cheese without any xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum and other stabilizers...or artificial colors or flavorings. I just wanted simple fresh cheese made 'the old world way'.

Alleyway in Down-Town Olympia

We drove Taraz down to Vancouver, stopping in Olympia for a stroll through some of his favorite haunts, one of which is this alleyway. It has been painted with murals.

The abundant snowfall has melted and there are warnings about flooding and unstable mountainsides. The ground is soggy and unpredictable.

I've been shut in for over two weeks, reluctant to drive in the crusted snow. Here in Tacoma the main thoroughfares are plowed, but none of the side-streets. Parking lots were horrendous, with cars getting stuck. Unfortunately, people still had Christmas shopping to do so they ventured out.

A few days ago I finally drove to Metropolitan Market, to get a few specialty items for my pantry. Since we don't really celebrate Christmas, I gave myself a little gift of taste thrills: A fresh pineapple, a tiny box of raspberries for crepes, salmon bisque, Droste cocoa powder, Israeli couscous, some spicy tamarind dipping sauce, and Mexican mole.

While I was there I bumped into two people that I know (always a delight), doing some last minute shopping. The market was packed with shoppers as it was Christmas eve, yet we lingered over conversation, enjoying the festive energies, the wonderful aromas of the deli, the bakery, and the table displaying holiday cheeses and fruit.

I bought a few items for our Christmas meals and planned my menus:

A Moroccan tagine with couscous and fried Greek bread.

Orange-Poppy-seed Salad with Pine-Nuts, Currants and kumquats.

Miniature Raspberry-Huckleberry Crepes.

Millet pancakes, bacon, eggs, and chorizo-onions.

Chickpeas and Rice, Rye Bread and Mozzarella.

Focaccia, my first attempt, using dried tomato and Italian herbs.

Borders had a 40% off sale a few days before Christmas. I went over. The place was just packed. I enjoyed seeing all the customers (being shut-in for over a week) and spent $9.00 on "The Shipping News", which is so wonderfully written with all the local idioms and colloquial language.

While I was there I saw several books I'd love to have, but they were costly: Poopa Dweck's "Aromas of Aleppo ~ The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews". Another was "Turquoise ~ A Chef's Travels in Turkey" by Gary and Lucy Malouf. Both these books are written the way I like, with abundant photos of the country, the markets, the people and the food. Recipes are almost an after-thought, as the writers feature old ancestral photos and the fascinating cultural details that define the particulars of the cuisine.

I was so hungry for this type of experience that I taped the reruns of Andrew Zimmern's travels through India, Ethiopia, and Morocco and played them while I did my cooking! It was almost like I was transported there, with flavors coming from my own kitchen to enhance the programs ~ The Market in Marrakesh, with its mounds of turmeric, cumin, and red pepper; the goats and camels slaughtered for market; the souk with its shops and eateries.

I would have loved to roast a bit of lamb for Christmas, but most of the wrapped meat at our local market was around $23.00 for the choicest cuts, and with just the three of us I settled on one pound of ground turkey and another pound of chorizo.
Seasoned with fresh ground spices, they enhanced my tagine, shown here before I simmered everything for several hours. Only one day of left-overs, unfortunately.

With Taraz gone, we'll get ready for a visit from Ruhiyyih, who arrives from Washington D.C. on Wednesday. She'll be here only through the weekend, spending most of her time with Matt and his family, but I've got to clean the guest-room and check my pantry.

I've got a couple of good books to read: "In a Hundred Graves ~ A Basque Portrait" by Robert Laxalt. It has a lyrical writing style, featuring the sheep-herders in the Pyrenees and the local paysans. And, "A Place to Live" by Natalia Ginzburg. It's about her life in Turin, Italy. Both, exactly the kind of writing I enjoy and beautifully done.

Mocha Cream Puffs

I'll always associate these bite-size cream puffs with my son Taraz, who has been stranded here for a few days due to the snowstorm.

I was reviewing a food magazine from Metropolitan Market that featured holiday desserts - all of them featuring chocolate - he saw a photo and said, "Oh Mom, could you make those?" The photograph showed a French croquembouche, a tower of puffs all glued together with frosting. With a little modification, I knew Taraz could have a taste thrill that evening ... if I only had whipping cream, powdered sugar, unsalted butter, and Droste Cocoa Powder.

When Taraz asked if we could make them I knew someone was going to have to go to the store for the ingredients. We were in the middle of a winter storm, with a good six inches of snow on the ground, streets unplowed, traffic almost at a standstill.

George was recovering from a bout with the flu over the weekend, but he and Taraz went to Fred Meyer to get the ingredients. While they did the shopping, I tidied up the kitchen, did some dishes, read the recipe thoroughly and underlined some key words.

It has been years since I made cream puffs, and to get them to puff requires careful attention to procedures and details. I'll post the basic ingredients here:

Cream Puff Pastry:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs unsweetened Dutch Process Cocoa
4 large eggs

Coffee Whip Cream:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tsp instant coffee granules
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 stick butter, unsalted
3 Tbs corn syrup
2 oz chocolate unsweetened
1 tsp vanilla extract

I'll post this recipe for baking directions. I discovered variations in some of the procedures when I researched a variety of recipes. To get the maximum lift to the dough it is important to have a very hot oven for the first 10 minutes, then a lower temperature to bake them to a nice shiny brown.

I sure had fun making them, and I froze a few for New Years, when Ruhiyyih will be home for a few days.

Of Snow, Food and Shelter

Our two youngest sons are staying here for a few days ~ stranded by the snow. Taraz had hoped to take a bus down to Vancouver, but southbound traffic was stalled yesterday for hours. I told him just to hunker down here! Rahmat lives in a nearby community but works in Tacoma. He rides his bike to work, even in the snow. I imagined spinning wheels and cars sliding on the streets. So, he stayed over too. Having them here offers an exquisite enjoyment ~ cooking in the wintertime.

One of the fantasies that I entertain is an image of an old battered dwelling out in the country, in Newfoundland. Although it is nestled in deep snow, in scanty woods, there is a slight proximity to a community. Killick-Claw, the town in 'The Shipping News', inspired the image - a harsh place of winter storms, rugged coastline and blustery winds.

In the fantasy I've imagined living in a home with none of the modern conveniences. No electricity or plumbing. Wood stove heating, baths in round metal wash-tubs. Yes, I know it would be challenging to cook for a family with such conditions, but that is what I imagine doing. And, as all my children are grown and 'gone', I imagine caring for old people who have nowhere else to go, no family, and I make sure they are warm, comfortable, well-fed, clean and happy.

I try to figure out all the details ~ how I'd grow the garden and keep the woodpile stocked, provide structure and purpose-filled days with everyone contributing something. Keep in mind this is a fantasy ~ I've never chopped wood! I try not to have my contemporary thinking interfere with the practical details of long-ago. You wouldn't be hearing the me say to one of my tenants, "Do some stretching exercises to reduce your cortisol levels; that'll bring your insulin down, and you'll be able to manage stress better." I think in the old days they just brought out the whiskey jug. So, there are some major incongruities.

I told Taraz about this fantasy while we were sharing a cup of tea today. He brought out a mixture called 'Magic Mountain'. It is a personal blend of Hoi Chai, a roasted green tea, oak moss, and a special tea he purchased this summer in Denver. It has twigs in it, and the infusion gives it the fragrance of a forest.

These are my oatcakes, served with white cheddar cheese flavored with malt whiskey. This cheese is unbelievable, so fragrant and robust. The salmon spread is a good treat for back-packing.

This dark Muscovado sugar was blended with a little molasses and cloves for coffee cake. Applesauce and cranberries, oat bran and whole wheat flour. Great with a little yogurt.

Taraz asked for a pie, so I made something similar to 'Black Bottom Pie' ~ chocolate, a little molasses and pumpkin. Left out the rum and heavy cream. Added the crumbled gingersnaps and orange-chocolate biscotti to the top for a little crunch. This pie was mouth-watering and rich, best served warm to bring out the flavors.

George has been home sick today. He's spent all day sleeping, and asked for some soup. Now, you'd think Campbells Chicken Noodle, right? Nope. I made White Fungus Soup, one of his favorites. The dried fungi (tremella) are a Chinese delicacy ( I think they are like rubber). A simple beef-pork bullion is necessary, and I added tiny slivers of beef, vegetables, and noodles.

When Rahmat returns home from work, I have a lasagna ready for him. I made only a small amount, using a bread-pan. That way there are very few left-overs. I've got mustard greens ready in the fridge. George picked the last row before the snow came down!

When I'm cooking in the kitchen the whole house gets heated up, and I enjoy the aromas, the sizzling of onions and garlic, pulling things out of the oven to cool, chopping and slicing. It gives a creative yet practical thrust to my day.

It has been so cold outside that I haven't ventured out into the snow. Fortunately, the temperatures have not been too bad. We've been running our propane fireplace in the mornings to heat the house up quickly.

Ruhiyyih, I just couldn't do any better than this for a snow picture. Your Uncle Frank sent it a few days ago. Sure is cute.

Our son Rue, his wife Annie, and their daughter Daisy moved into their new home this weekend and all of us helped them move.

I started the day early, about 6:00, making chocolate muffins and a hearty pizza for lunch. I packed up a salad and a little fruit, and we drove over to Gig Harbor. We started loading up the U-Haul at 10:30, and finished about 4:30. As we brought boxes to George, he loaded them, making everything secure and tight. Taraz, Rahmat and I helped run all the boxes down to the truck.

I cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed everything while the guys finished up, and we drove to the new house - a four bedroom ranch-style home out in the country. Then, we unloaded everything which went very fast because we didn't have any stairs to climb! Annie brought home some deli salads and chicken, and we ate dinner before we headed home about 7:30.

I took this photo just as we were in the middle of loading up the U-Haul. Just acting goofy, with Taraz in one of Daisy's old Smurf shirts and Rue wearing a Halloween wig. I sure appreciated their attitude because by the end of the day all of us were really tired.

I couldn't help but think off and on all day today about Rue and Annie's new home, and how exciting it is to wake up that first morning in the new place. Such a wonderful milestone.

Caribbean Black Beans & Jalapeno Foccacia

I fixed this meal for lunch yesterday. I soaked the beans overnight the day before and used them in salads, so what was left I turned into Caribbean Black Beans.

This is a slightly sweet, hot and flavorful dish, with limes and orange juice, hot pepper sauce, brown sugar and cumin. Add a little onion and garlic, a tablespoon or two of red wine, a few tablespoons of tomato paste, and simmer it awhile. I added left-over lentil soup to the mix, which made the broth a little more thick and substantial.

I served the black beans with store-bought jalapeno foccacia, topped with cheddar and peppers. Served warm, it's jalapenos compliment the condiments in the beans.

I chopped a high-fiber slaw, drizzled just a touch of Tuscan dressing, and added a fresh fruit salad to the meal - pink grapefruit, mango, orange pulp, currants, grapes, and banana, with a sprinkling of cinnamon. This meal is a nutritious high fiber meal, perfect for an afternoon when I have a desire for carbs. I'll post my recipe, as I've not found anything online that is similar:

Caribbean Black Beans

1/2 cup chopped onions
2 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs red wine
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cups cooked black beans
2 rounded Tbs tomato paste
2 Tbs lime juice
1/3 tsp hot pepper sauce
brown sugar and salt (to taste)

I also made a double-crusted Chocolate-swirl Pumpkin Pie for Taraz who is visiting for a few days. He is down with a cold and is craving 'comfort foods'. I got him some fruit popsicles, ice cream bars and a package of Thera Flu. Although I wish he'd eat better, when someone is sick I give them exactly what they ask for. They are in misery! I know that when I'm not feeling well, I like a fluffy cake doughnut with a cup of hot tea. That's it.