Several years ago, I was asked to to write an article for the Duluth News Tribune Taste Section. They run a section titled In The Kitchen. What follows is the published article. I'll post the questions that were furnished and maybe some of you would like to try your hand at answering them and post them here too.
Occupation/background: I'm a retired business consultant. I grew up in the Denfeld neighborhood in Duluth. My mother is an excellent cook. Her specialty is baking which, oddly enough, is one area I have never totally mastered. When I got married I developed a fascination with cookbooks and was fearless in tackling just about any recipe. I think back to the time I was throwing a baby shower and decided to make cream puffs from scratch. Now when I read the process for making puff pastry, I wonder why I ever attempted them but they turned out great.
I guess I would describe my cooking as eclectic. I love looking at photos of food and trying to recreate just about anything if it looks and sounds good. Cooking to me is like putting a picture together; I like to create something that is visually appealing.
I love the holidays and entertaining. Thanksgiving has to be Turkey 101-seasoned bread stuffing with dried cherries and apple cinnamon sausage, toasted pecans packed inside the turkey, cheese cloth dipped in butter and white wine, draped over the turkey and basted every 20 minutes. Sweetpotatoes with candied orange peel, brown sugar sauce and nutmeg, green bean casserole, whipped garlic red potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce. Christmas is the perfect time to create sugarplum treats like chocolate truffles, meringue mushrooms and hand dipped chocolate orange peal.
New Years is great for a standing rib roast, French onion soup and twice-baked potatoes.
Easter commands a garlic-laced leg of lamb, popovers, oven-baked hashbrowns and fresh asparagus with brown butter sauce.
Summer at the beach is one big holiday, there is always someone stopping by to nibble on deviled eggs, fresh salsa from the garden, honey basted chicken on the grill, country salmon pie, lots of fresh salads, French silk pie, strawberry brownie torts, blueberry clafoutis.
What's your favorite food/genre? Since I am putting this together on a beautiful summer day, I would have to say, Planked Salmon. I grow dill in my garden especially for this and had a special cedar board made to cook it on. Unfortunately it is quite seasonal because of the need for fresh dill and an open fire.
What's comfort food for you? I would have to confess that I love Chocolate.
What are your favorite Web sites? I have my own web site at www.marciahales.org I do use the Internet to search for recipes and have found www.recipesource.com, www.bonappetit.com , and www.marthastewart.com to list a few. If I have a specific dish in mind, I like to read more than one recipe to see what ingredients sound best.
What do you have in your refrigerator/pantry? My husband use to fondly refer to the freezer in the basement as the 'in box only' because I love to grocery shop and have a little of everything just in case we had company or a blizzard. My refrigerator always has sour cream, butter, fresh herbs, garlic, and a variety of cheeses, fresh fruits and vegetables.
If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would it be? I love to prepare food for friends and family. It's great fun to be able to entertain a large group of people who don't necessarily know each other but bring many different and interesting ideas to the conversation.
What's your most memorable food experience? About 15 years ago, some friends and I decided it would be great to hold a New England style clambake. I had read about it in a gourmet magazine. We put a list of interesting people together, sent invitations and planned a menu. Live lobsters, steamer clams and huge shrimp were flown in. The bill of fare also included New-England style clam chowder, fresh corn on the cob, crispy vegetable salad, baked pumpkin stuffed with pecans, apples, dried fruit, butter and brown sugar..
The day of the first party, we realized that digging a pit, and throwing all the fresh seafood in might provide ambiance but could prove disastrous if we failed. We devised a new plan and actually, the 'Annual Autumnal Equinox Beach Party' was held each October for the next 9 years.
Who/what is your culinary inspiration? My friends and family who keep telling me they like what I cook.
What's you favorite throw-together meal? Beef and pork roast with garlic mashed potatoes and sour cream gravy.
Your favorite time-saving tip/technique? Wild rice in the can. All you have to do is open the can, drain the liquid, brown a quarter pound of butter in a pan and add the rice. The rice takes on a wonderful nutty flavor.
Worst cooking crisis? One time I offered to bring dessert to a friend's dinner party. I scanned my dessert recipes and chose a lemon tort that looked great in the picture. I took it out of the oven just prior to leaving. This dessert needed to cool before serving. When we arrived at our friend's home my husband opened the trunk to find it had sloshed all over the inside of the box. My friends were gracious and insisted on serving it anyway. One bite revealed an error in the recipe, it was so sour nobody could eat it. I brought it home and a friend visiting from Germany polished it off insisting it was wonderful…..go figure.
Favorite cookbook? I have a very large cookbook library and since I like to combine recipes I may use three to prepare one dish. I also like Taunton's fine Cooking magazine.
Your culinary indulgences or guilty pleasures? Homemade ice cream and just this summer I started smoking my own sugar cured salmon.
Favorite drink? I love fresh ground flavored coffee, raspberry ice tea and Italian soda made with any of the Torani syrups.
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