Cooking for Dad's 94th Birthday Week
Aug 16, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
This year we were able to time it so that Dad’s week here in Hope coincided with his 94th birthday!
He’s been working in his barn and in better shape than I’ve seen him in years, in fact I only remember seeing him without a belly in photos. This predictably changed in the course of his one week stay and I gained the same 2 pounds as last visit.
Here’s the complete rundown:
Cocktails and Wine
Gin and tonic with loads of lime
Several excellent reds including an AC Côte Roti and 1994 Titolo exported by my friends from Montecastelli in Tuscany, but the highlight was a 1996 Muller Catoir Spatlese, the sweetness and receded but was still like nectar with an enchanting tinge of acidity. (He asked for more of this one.)
Dinners
(2) Aged rib eye steak and Yorkshire popovers, grilled Vidalia onion halves, endive gratin
Roast duck on the grill with kasha varnishkes
Devilled short ribs, encrusted with morel mushrooms and bread crumbs and beet and potato blue cheese salad
Wild king salmon grilled on cedar sheets, seaweed salad
Grilled baby back ribs, corn spoon bread
Spaghetti and meatballs
Aged beef hamburgers with Vidalia onion slices on golden sweet potato buns (he was winding down by now and left 1/4 of his for lunch the next day which did not keep him from eating a big piece of grilled pizza)
Lunch
French ham for sandwiches on the 50% whole wheat bread he pronounced wholesome
Fabulous grilled pesto and oven dried tomato pizza from Elizabeth Karmel’s new pizza book.
Bread
Apricot walnut, 50% whole wheat
Breakfast
(2) Blueberry pancake breakfasts
(2) Bacon and basted country eggs, toast on the 25% whole wheat bread with my marmalade and also green tomato jam—a great recipe Melissa Clark wrote about in the New York Times last summer.
Windfall blueberry muffin (I just happened to find enough tiny blueberries ripe for the picking by the side of the road for 2 perfect muffins)
Dessert
cherry pie (actually churrant pie as each cherry was stuffed with a currant), with Turtle Mt. Ice Cream (his favorite was the chocolate mint chip and then the cookie dough—mine the plain coconut—see Notes and link below) This was technically his birthday ‘cake.’ I think it was the most perfect one I’ve ever made and was deeply thrilled when his comment was “It is a masterpiece!” (I’ve never heard him say the word before!)
Hot chocolate cake and coconut ice cream
Special Treats: bacon candy (bacon sprinkled with brown sugar and baked til crisp)
Our last day before departure he asked to go for a ride in search of some mill he remembered and I didn’t. We drove through the Jenny Jump state park and then ventured down some dirt road I thought were posted but with my Dad’s encouragement and my threats that it would take me an hour to drive backwards if it was a dead end we discovered this exquisite farm which is for sale. I was ready to move but the voice of reason, Elliott, vetoed it.
Notes: Cherry pies slices reheat beautifully even on day 3: Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Set the slices on a pan lined with foil, preferably non-stick. Curl up the foil so it supports the back edge of the pie crust and around the sides to cover any exposed fruit area and bake for 10 minutes. The crust recrisps and the fruit warms just the right amount.
Turtle Mt. Ice Cream—this creamy delicious ice cream doesn’t get rock hard in the freezer but magically doesn’t melt quickly on the plate either. Check out this link to find who carries it in your area: www.purelydecadent.com, 866-388-7853
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Julie
03/29/2009 10:08 AM
Elena, I have made Rose's pizza dough with 50% semolina/durum flour. It makes it hard to shape, because the protein in durum isn't as extensible (stretchy), so the dough has a tendency to tear when stretched. But it patches up so easily- not detectable when baked, and the flavor is wonderful. For me, it's worth it.
I think whole wheat flour would have a similar effect, as the bran particles tend to cut the gluten and reduce it.
It might work with just the straight substitution of whole wheat for part of the white flour (say 25-50%). If you try it and it is too hard for him to shape, you could switch to a higher protein white flour, like bread flour, to increase gluten.
I think it's great that your son likes to make pizza! Please check back and let us know how it turns out.
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Jeannette
03/29/2009 06:30 AM
I always put whole wheat flour into my Pizza dough, sometimes half and half sometimes just 25%. It is not Rose's recipe adtually, just one from my breadmachine manual, but it works fine for me and I prefer a dough with wholewheat flour rather than all white.
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elena
03/28/2009 10:10 PM
my 11 year old son Jordan loves to make the pizza dough recipe from the Bread Bible. He makes it just about everyday.
Has anyone made it with some whole wheat flour.
Thanks.
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RisaG
08/25/2008 05:54 PM
Isn't Jenny Jump so pretty! I live about 1/2 hour away. All of the food sounded amazing - mmmmm - that ice cream sounds so good along with the pesto and sun dried tomato pizza. Wow, you're making me hungry.
Happy birthday to your dad! Wow - 94!
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Christine
08/18/2008 11:01 PM
Rose,
Happy birthday to your dad! He looks great in that picture, and I'm so pleased to know that he's fighting the pneumonia - it's a scary one.
All of the food you cooked sounds so utterly delicious, and I've got a package of premium dry-cured bacon in the fridge right now which is suggesting candy treatment...
The farm is gorgeous - maybe Elliott can be persuaded? As Spring approaches here in Melbourne and we have, for the first time, a little balcony, I'm considering trying to grow some tomatoes and fraise de bois in pots. How wonderful the idea of a little farm sounds to me!
On a side note, I was at the National Gallery of Victoria yesterday, viewing the Black in Fashion exhibition. I was admiring some particularly beautiful pieces of couture from a private collection and looked to see who the collector was...and it was none other than Anna Schwartz! It's a small world, and the internet makes it smaller everyday!
Christine in Melbourne.
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Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/18/2008 05:09 PM
christine, my dad will be very amused by your question about his writing his memoirs, especially because he was hard pressed to write even a letter! but it will cheery him up--he's in the albany va with a bad case of pneumonia but seems to be recovering nincely. scary at this age.
hector--20 years ago, when my brother asked me if i thought the upcoming cake bible would sell well all i could say was that i hoped and really felt i had done a worthwhile and exceptional book, but there are never any guarantees. the important thing is not to care but just to do what is in your heart and you are very good at that!
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Hector
08/18/2008 04:15 PM
Gorgeous Dad, and what a privilege to step into your family.
Love your pie plate, and that wonderful beaded glass platter, too!
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Hector
08/18/2008 04:02 PM
Gorgeous Dad, and what a privilege to step into your family.
QUESTION: I have a few done already. If I document in writing and write a recipe for EVERY thing I bake/cook, do you think by the time I reach 45 I can author some cookbook hit like you did?
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Christine S.
08/18/2008 03:37 PM
Rose, has your father written his memoirs, or somehow had his life story recorded? He looks like he has a lot of interesting stories to tell.
I loved the picture of the farm. I don't blame you for wanting to move there. I gazed at the picture a long time, letting myself imagine what it would be like to live there.
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Julie
08/18/2008 06:42 AM
Rose,
You're dad looks wonderful! And what a feast you prepared, each cherry stuffed with a currant? Wowie-wow-wow. It reminds me of my grandmother, who used to send us kids out to pick wild grapes, then peel each little one to make the most memorable pies of my childhood.
thanks for sharing,
Julie
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Jeannette
08/17/2008 04:02 PM
What a great looking fellow! My dad would have been 95 tomorrow! He passed away 4 years ago but was active up to the end and he enjoyed his food too, he came for Sunday lunch every week and always ended up with a slice of bread to clean his plate, the gravy was toogood to waste he said!! I really miss him. All the best to your Pa!
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Esther
08/17/2008 03:31 PM
What a feast you laid out for your great looking Dad! Such wonderful pictures.
The dream house would sure tempt me too!
I can't match your menu, but I did have a BLT after baking your Whole wheat sandwich loaf recipe. So good!
Thank you very much.
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Patrincia
08/16/2008 06:44 PM
Wow, your father looks so good for his age - the food looks good too :).
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SarahM
08/16/2008 10:19 AM
Shame on you, Rose! I haven't had breakfast yet so the descriptions and photos have set my stomach grumbling... particularly that pie! Pie for breakfast is a cozy way to start the day...not to mention great motivation to run around working the calories off.
I have your exquisite chocolate cream pie in my fridge right now and I'm so sorely tempted to toss "cozy" (and all reason) to the wind and just be completely self-indulgent.
Maybe if you feed Elliott the chocolate cream pie he'll change his mind about the house. That beautiful house is worth a little coercion. :)
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