January 2, 2020 – Old tricks to share in the New Year
It
is as easy as riding a bicycle – once you learn it, you use it, and you never
forget how.
As a
child, my Mom taught me that food is all about “presentation”. She would cut the crusts off my bread for
sandwiches and then cut it from corner to corner. Then, turn the two halves
around so that the two triangular points would meet and it would look like a
butterfly. It is an automatic for me – I
do this all the time, makes my husband smile.
Makes me smile too, as I know my Mom is looking down on me and smiling
that “she trained me well.”
I’ve
always cooked for the two us for all special occasions. I will have to be dead before I don’t
celebrate all the holidays on the calendar with some sort of special food, with
special presentation, on special plates.
This
New Year’s Eve was no different.
Our
special dinner for two consisted of ginger seared deep-sea scallops, steamed asparagus,
and a double baked potato. Of course, I
put a fresh lemon garnish on the side of the plate so that one can squeeze fresh
lemon juice across the top of the perfect scallops and the asparagus. Lovely
glass of wine on the side, no driving anywhere, no expensive bill or tip at the
end of the meal – just us, quiet, and still romantic.
I
also served this entrée on a Poisson [fish] plate. No one who knows me would doubt that is how I
would serve it. See the story below.
I
never knew the name for the lemon garnish. I’ve always called it a star lemon
or star tomato, but there is a chef’s name for it:
Vandyke.
To Vandyke means to cut decorative zigzags in
round fruit or vegetable halves. This is
often done as a decoration for lemons, oranges, or tomatoes.
I
use this technique on several things. Cantaloupe
done this way, seeds scooped out and then the interior filled with Jello and
fruit for a party [done the day before so that it sets.] To serve, cut it in quarters. I did that at my first apartment party out
around the pool at the apartment complex. I received a remark of, "It is too pretty to eat!”
I
will dress up a tuna salad stuffed tomato this way. It is always fun when the
ripe tomato is fat and squatty. Pretty
and YUM! Visit the following for how to
do this at:
Now
the story about the Poisson dishes.
When
we first moved to the area, we had a Waccamaw Pottery in Spartanburg, South
Carolina, that had house wares and dishes and glasses and pottery, and
Christmas ornament – you name it – it was the place to go shopping.
Of
course, it went out of business and the last one I was aware of was the one in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
On
my parent’s first visit to North Carolina, we went shopping so that Mom could
buy us a house-warming gift. It was sort
of a tradition that when my parents came to visit our new location, a new home
on our corporate Merry-go-Round that they would buy us something we needed or
wanted.
My Dad
had fashioned two heart-shaped wooden curtain-pull-back holders for my kitchen
sliding glass window drapery – which he promptly installed on arrival.
My Dad
looked at the foundation, at the exterior doors and windows and even checked in
the attic, to see if we’d bought a sound house. Then he checked the plumbing in
the basement and under all the sinks, as he was a plumber by trade before he
retired. It passed his inspection.
During
that visit, the four of us went to Waccamaw Pottery in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In the store, Mom and I went one direction
and my husband and Dad, went another direction. Later, we would meet back up in
the mall area.
Mom
and I went to the dish section and looked at the sales, at what was new, and at
what I had fingered on previous expeditions.
We came up on a display of speciality dishes.
At
the same exact moment, Mom and I reached for the same dish. I let her pick it up and finger it while I
looked at the boxed set of eight.
“Would
you like some of these,” her soft voice lifted up to my ears.
“Yes,
they are beautiful,” I took the dish from her and turned it over, stroked the
ridges on the back of the fish design, and then held it out to admire it. A beautiful fish plate. She even taught me
the proper pronunciation of the French word for fish, poisson.
“There
are eight in the box – you get four and I get four – I think we can wrap them
good enough to shove in my suitcase for a safe trip home.”
They
were the perfect thing for our house-warming gift. Thank you, Mom. Thirty-five years later, I
still have them, in perfect condition and they have a special place I keep them
so that I can easily retrieve them when needed.
My
husband actually noticed and commented on the star [Vandyke] lemon, as I
expected, but I had to point out the poisson
plates. I raised my blue stem wine glass
for a toast, [Dad had secretly purchased those at Waccamaw as his part of the house-warm
gift.]
It
was nice of Mom and Dad to drop in – through nice memories – for New Year’s Eve
2020!
Recall it as often as you wish,
a happy memory
never wears out.
– Libbie Fudim
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