Memory is the best of all gardens. Therein, winter and summer, the seeds of their past lie dormant, ready to spring into instant bloom at any moment the mind wishes to bring them to life. ~ Hal Boyle
Simply Winter, Still…
A Dash of Red
Strength
University of Wisconsin Arboretum provides a nature space in our urban setting. I forget I am only a few steps away from a hustling crowd and busy streets when I pass through the park on its numerous trails.
The strength of this oak tree stopped me in my tracks. Only slow growth makes it possible to this tree to support the low, massive branch that extends way past this photo. Seems a fitting lesson from nature in these times of economic troubles.
Comfort Foods Presented by Vom Fass
Everyone needs a little bit of comfort, especially in snowy, frozen Wisconsin in early February. Sure, the groundhog saw his shadow, but that doesn’t make me believe Spring will arrive in six weeks. I know from decades of experience, Spring will show up in 10, maybe 12 weeks. May Day almost always is my guarantee of Spring. So I look for mood-boosters about now.
And I found one. A really great one.
My husband and I put down the photo equipment (though I got permission to take a few photos) and we went to a cooking class, a class where three culinary maestros demonstrated how to make their own personal comfort foods. Yow-za! Yum-my!
They didn’t cook my old favorites – Cream of Wheat or lumpy mashed potatoes and gravy. But they did cook an amazing array of comfort foods found in places world-wide. And then came the real highlight. After watching these three young guys scamper around the kitchen, get in each others way–think Three Stooges–and generally have a rollicking good time, the cooks served up their foods– salad, soups, entrees. The class assembled and we happily filled our china plates and bowls. We also happily cleaned our plates and bowls with barely a sound. Maybe a few sighs of pleasure, but it was a quiet group once the food was in our hands–and mouths.
The class was held at the local Whole Foods Store in their teaching kitchen, and presented by three chefs from the Vom Fass store just down the street. David Eisner-Kleyle, the operations manager at Vom Fass, prepared his dynamic and authentic version of Southwest Louisiana Seafood Gumbo. Since he grew up near the Louisiana bayou, he lent a flavor of the real thing to everything he cooked. I now know how to make a brown roux, a real brown roux–the one, when done properly, that takes a good 30 minutes and smells of funnel cakes. (I kid you not!) I also learned how important the perfect roux is to the perfect gumbo.

Jacob Schenk, left, and David Eisner-Kleyle, maestros in the kitchen. Paul Tseng not shown.
Paul Tseng, a native of Taiwan and a graduate of the Cooking and Hospitality School in Chicago, amazed us all by concurrently making pork or chicken pot-stickers, and sweet and sour soup. He even had the participants each take an opportunity to roll out potsticker dough “the right way.” No easy task, but I think I got the hang of it.
The third chef, Jacob Schenk, who trained at the Scottsdale Culinary School, stayed a little closer to familiar Midwest favorites, and did a smashing macaroni and cheese –not at all comparable to my memories of mac and cheese. Filled with fennel and mushrooms, and concocted with at least four kinds of cheese and heavy cream, this dish bubbled and baked in the oven for 40 minutes while tempting us with “can’t wait” smells. It was a mac and cheese well worth the work, and the wait.
I could go on and on about the two hour cooking extravanga, but if you are in the Madison area, I highly recommend you see for yourself. Paul, Jake and David present their special style of cooking every month. They offer a different class, holding the same class on two different evenings. I know the classes fill fast. We couldn’t get into the February class, but we signed up for the March class on the spot. The Vom Fass store in on University Avenue. In addition to the monthly foray into cooking class, the store carries an amazing array of oils, vinegars, and other food and drink items. Definitely worth a stop.
And So Today the Sun Shines
Happy Ground Hog’s Day, wherever you may be, and whatever your forecast. We all know winter will last as long as winter lasts, no matter what the groundhog does, but it adds a bit of fun in the middle of a long winter. Might as well enjoy winter now, now that the temps are at least tolerable when you need to be outside for awhile.
I don’t mind snow. I don’t like ice storms, though they do offer spectacular photo ops, nor below zero temperatures much, but we shouldn’t see too much more of that, even in Wisconsin.
Soon, soon. . .Spring. I’d be happy to have Spring visit in 6 weeks. (Mid-March! Wow! That would be great!) But the groundhog, whether or not he sees his shadow this far north, he never seems to be too accurate.
I had to cheat a bit – this is a prairie dog, but I figured since I was in prairie land, the substitution would work.
No matter. Hope your ground hog (?) behaves a bit more scientifically than my guy does. 🙂