Lunch in Lawrence

It's not every day you dine with a friend who you last saw 35 years ago. I had created a profile on Facebook so I could access the page for a professional organization. Two days later, I received a message asking if I was this person's 'Irish sister from Mt. Lebanon High School.' My theater 'brother' and his family had lived only 40 minutes away from our house, for a decade. We scheduled lunch in Lawrence, Kansas - his hometown and location of the University of Kansas.

25,000 students call Lawrence home. Sprawling houses with generous porches and large front yards line Massachusetts Street before the retail district - half a dozen blocks filled with unique, student friendly shops, a sprinkling of chain stores and some truly wonderful restaurants. When I arrived early I played with my new camera. This mask and brightly painted building injected life into the chilly, gray February morning.

My 'brother,' Mark, and I ate pasta at Genovese while looking at his high school yearbook and my ancient script. A year later, we and our spouses have become friends, and Lawrence holds a special place in my heart.

Grown in New Mexico

Melinda Bateman holds a plump carnival acorn squash and a magenta-hued, fresh-cut beet while she describes her life as a Northern New Mexico farmer. Garlic bulbs the size of fists lie on the front porch. "I love to be outside, eating the fruits of my labor," says the owner of 10-year-old Morning Star Farm, located in the village of Arroyo Seco.

Bateman supplies biodynamically grown, pesticide-free produce to upscale Taos restaurants, Doc Martin’s and Lambert’s, and serves as a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) source for area residents. Each week’s delivery reflects what Bateman has recently harvested and, over the course of a year, the variety is astonishing.

By late September, enormous kale leaves and plump carrots are ready for harvest. Through wintertime, customers also may receive leeks, potatoes, parsnips, onions, turnips, pumpkins, winter squash, cabbage and rutabagas. Spring deliveries may feature a salad mix, herbs, radishes, spinach, and turnips. And Bateman’s summer deliveries often include Swiss chard, bok choy, heirloom lettuce, green beans, fennel, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, summer squash, and peas; plus basil, sage, dill, oregano, thyme and tarragon.

“The idea of a CSA is to create a partnership between growers and consumers in which the bounty and the risks of the farm are shared,” says Bateman, in her brochure. “By purchasing food at a local farm your food dollars stay in the local economy [which] further helps to promote and preserve agriculture in the Taos Valley.”

Mini Cinnamon Almond Cheesecakes

It all started with a cinnamon-flavored cereal that my college-age daughter requested during her Christmas visit. Unaccustomed to buying this product, I didn't notice the box touted '75% less sugar,' and my daughter was less than enthusiastic about the change. Because I wanted to use up some of the cereal, I made a cheesecake crust with it:

Mini Cinnamon Almond Cheesecakes
Makes 12

3/4 cups Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup melted butter
cupcake papers

1 1/2 packages lowfat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk

Grind cereal and almonds fine, in food processor. Combine thoroughly with butter and then press 1/12th of mixture into bottom of 12 cupcake papers.

Beat together cream cheese, flour, almond extract, cinnamon and sugar. Add eggs and beat together on low. Stir in milk by hand. Fill cupcake papers approximately 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool completely in pan. Remove papers and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Topping:

1/4 cup almonds, rough chopped
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon almond extract

Before serving cheesecakes, melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in sugar until dissolved. Stir in cinnamon and almonds, and combine thoroughly. Pour one teaspoon warm topping over each chilled cheesecake.

VOE - Add topping immediately after cooking as it hardens very quickly.
VOE - If you're not serving all 12 cheesecakes at once, save the topping and add 1/2 teaspoonfuls of butter to mixture while reheating, until topping becomes slightly liquid again.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Neighborhood

Japanese art and culture, and a desire to bring the outdoors inside, heavily influenced Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style of architecture, which typically included wide, overhanging eaves, long horizontal lines, a central chimney, tall windows topped with bands of smaller windows, and low pitched roofs.

Nowhere is the Prairie Style more evident than in Oak Park, on Chicago's outskirts. Wright and his wife lived in the area from 1889 to 1909 and he built 25 structures there by 1913. His open, light-filled home and studio still draw approximately 100,000 admirers to the city, each year.

Although Wright's buildings can be seen in many places, from rural Pennsylvania (Fallingwater) to Phoenix (Taliesen West and Arizona State University), Spring Hill, Wisconsin (Taliesen), and New York City (the Guggenheim Museum), this is, by far, the greatest concentration of his architectural designs. Here, in a single afternoon, you can appreciate Wright's genius, imagination, and passion for his life's work.

Day of the Dead

Since I learned about the importance of Dia de Los Muertos in New Mexico, two years ago, I'll never look at pumpkins the same way again. Mexican-Americans throughout this country honor loved ones who have died on November 1st and 2nd - 'the Day of the Dead' - because they view death as the continuation of life.

Around Halloween sugar skeletons appear throughout the Mexican community, in preparation for this celebration. Families who visit cemeteries together, on the 1st and 2nd, may share picnics there too. Bread of the Dead, music, and entertainment are other ways to celebrate.

Altars are created for each deceased person, with photographs of that individual, and his or her favorite food and drink. Each altar also features natural elements of earth, wind, water and fire. A crop represents the earth, a moving object represents the wind, a container of water is meant to quench the soul of the deceased, and a candle represents fire.

It's a ritual that has thrived for 3,000 years.

Teddy Bear Cookies

Whenever the holiday season rolls around there are two cookies on our 'must make' list - Walnut Crescents (see previous entry, 'Thanks Joy (of Cooking)') and Teddy Bear cookies. I started making the latter many years ago, when my daughters really loved cute things, especially if they were edible. For these now 20-something girls and their friends, it wouldn't be Christmas at our house without Teddy Bear cookies.

I didn't create the recipe, and the only change I've made is to use equal parts of chocolate and peanut butter chips, because one daughter isn't wild about p.b. But these cookies are so darn cute, easy, and fun that they're well worth sharing. As for a source, my original copy of the recipe is on a tiny, yellowed piece of the Kansas City Star, but that's all I know.

I hope you enjoy making what has become a holiday tradition in our house. And best wishes to all for a blessed season of celebration!

Cheery Chocolate Teddy Bear Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen (VOE - I'm lucky if I get 3 1/2 dozen)

1 2/3 cups peanut butter chips (I use 1 1/3)

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (I use 1 1/3)

(VOE - these are the best alternate proportions I've found; something about the peanut butter amount is important to the consistency)

2 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 package chocolate sandwich cookies

1 box teddy bear-shaped graham snack crackers

Cover tray with wax paper (or foil). In medium microwave-safe bowl, place peanut butter chips, chocolate chips and margarine. Microwave at high for 1 to 2 minutes or until chips are melted, mixture is smooth when stirred, and chocolate and peanut butter are thoroughly combined.

With a fork, dip each cookie into chip mixture and cover completely. Place coated cookies on prepared tray and top each with graham cracker. Refrigerate, uncovered, until set, or about 30 minutes. Store in refrigerator and bring individual cookies to room temperature before eating.

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VOEs - You have to work fast before the mixture begins to harden, so pour the teddy cookies and the sandwich cookies in separate bowls for easy access. And don't answer the door or phone unless absolutely necessary.

-Have a rubber spatula on hand so you can move mixture off sides to bottom of mixture bowl.

-After you dip each cookie, scrape the bottom side of the fork on the edge of the bowl to 'recapture' excess mixture.

-You may have to 'frost' the last half dozen of cookies, as the mixture is used up.

-Make sure each teddy bear cookie has both ears and all limbs :)

Kansas City's Beautiful Link

Sometimes, an image of glass and steel can become an art piece, if your camera is positioned just right. Such was the case on a chilly, bright September morning, in Kansas City's Crown Center complex.

After attending a conference at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, I followed "The Link" across the street to the Crown Center shops and the Westin Crown Center (hotel). The Link is a gently curving, climate-controlled structure that provides visitors with safe, comfortable passage from hotels to shopping, restaurants and theaters while crossing high above traffic-filled thoroughfares.

Built in 1988, The Link from the Hyatt to Crown Center is 180 feet long and has 2,000 panes of glass. In 2000 a second, 810-foot "Link" connected Union Station - one of the neighborhood's oldest landmarks - to the modern complex. Simultaneously functional and beautiful, this unusual structure offers great views and great comfort to visitors.