Feels Good:Inside and Out

Today was a nice day. It's been a while since I have been able to get back in the yard and do what I need to do. With today's beautiful balmy weather...for December...I was able to go out, turn the compost pile, pull all the old plants out of the vegetable garden, compost it and pull a nice warm blanket of leaves and mulch over it for the winter's rest. The garden surprised me with a last gasp harvest of chives, sweet potatoes, green peppers, arugala and jalapenos. Interesting, as I haven't watered it in months, and goodness knows I haven't tended it, thinking it was "done" for the season. In any case, Otto the pitbull hung out with me in the yard all morning, and we both came in happy, tired and sweaty in that "yard labor earthy" way that is so satisfying.

I cooked up a storm this weekend as well, but I will tell that story piecemeal. Right now I want to talk about the banana bread I made for breakfast and the empanadas (photo) I made for dinner.

The Banana Bread

I am not a fan of banana bread. I prefer non-sweet items in the morning and as you know, usually make savory items, even with bananas, such as my banana soup...when I have overripe bananas to deal with. Today I decided I would do the bread thing. Well, I came up with a highly successful, low fat, low calorie, moist result. I honestly could care less. It was almost too rich for me, but the boy raved, and I am sure others who like this sort of food would really love this recipe. Here goes:

This was adapted from allrecipes :

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter & 1/2 cup applesauce

1 1/2 cup sugar & 1 1/2 cup Splenda or Aspira (Generic Splenda)
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans ( I used 1 giant loaf pan and 1 giant muffin tin, having nothing else). In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, cream butter, applesauce and sugar/splenda. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

The Empanadas

It occurred to me in retrospect that empanadas have always been part of my history, and it is bizarre that I would try to make them now. Bizarre, yet timely. You see, we have always had Christmas dinner at my parents' house in Cleveland my whole life. Christmas consisted of some 30+ extended family members, children and the Torres family. The Torres, Dr and Mrs., shared a duplex with my parents when all four of them were young married couples. Ever since then, having no stateside family, the Torres spent Christmas with our family. My parents had three daughters who practically mirrored their two boys and one girl. My parents kids grew up to be a lawyer, doctor and an advertising professional...so did their three kids...Weird huh? In any case...Every Christmas, Mrs. Torres always made empanadas for Christmas dinner. This was the only time of the year we had them. And we always fought over their exotic richness. The hints of latin american spices, the combination of the sugary sweet crust, the light dough, and the savory filling. Getting an empanada for breakfast, the day after Christmas, was an honor like no other. That is, if there were any leftovers.

Last year was the last Christmas at my parents' house. The little ones who sat at the kids table are all in their thirties and have children of their own, so my mother has passed our tradition on to my oldest sister who welcomes it with much enthusiasm. I look forward to our first Christmas in Charlotte this year...and we start there with 15 people for five days...so that should be interesting. But I also realize, I will probably never have Mrs. Torres empanadas again, and possibly may never see the family I have known for the past, ahem, 30 something years.. This makes me overwhelmingly sad, but is probably why I decided to try and make these now, two weeks before Christmas, for the very first time ever. I am happy and proud to report they were wonderful. They did not taste like Mrs. Torres', but they taste like Aunt Ree's (Me).

Black Bean, Sausage and Cheese Empanadas

12 oz. ground spicy Italian (or chorizo) (turkey , pork or vegetarian) sausage in a tube

1 small onion, chopped

1 15 oz can of black beans

3/4 cup grated jalapeno jack cheese

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped

1 15oz package pre-made pie crusts (soft, from the canned biscuit section)

1 egg, beaten

1/8 cup sugar

I cooked the turkey sausage on the foreman grill and set it aside. Saute the onion for a few minutes till soft and add the can of beans, and the bean liquid. Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing the beans a bit till the mixture is thick, about 10 minutes or so. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400. Take two shallow baking sheets and spray with nonstick or grease.

Grate your cheese and chop cilantro. Mix both into the cooled sausage mixture.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the crust circles as thin as you can. Using a 4 1/2 inch bowl (standard small soup bowl) press out circles on the dough. Between the two crusts in the package you should be able to get at least 12-18 circles.

Place about a heaping tablespoon of mixture onto each circle. moisten the inner edge of the circles with water and fold over half of the circle to make a crescent. Press gently to seal. Use a fork to crimp edge of seal. Place on prepared cookie sheet. After they are all done brush each with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for 5. Eat!

It occurs to me, as the boy moaned and groaned while he ate both breakfast and dinner, that I made him feel good in his tummy, but also in his heart. I like to cook for him and others, as well as myself because for me, it is my gift. I love to please people. I love to make them happy and content and smiley. I remember eating those empanadas and being sooo smiley. I remember dozens or Christmas pasts...And I remember smiling in the garden this morning, smelling the air and gazing over at my Otto von rolling in the grass. Marveling at the worms squirming about as I got to "the black gold" of the compost pile and took it bucket by bucket to the veggie garden. I felt like today I smiled and gave smiles inside and out to me, to Sam, to the puppies, to the garden, to my memories. And I hope with this new recipe to Christmas family memories for years to come.