Life with Fred & Lucy, Part 26: Grandmom's Exploding Chicken

                                                                        

     Aunt Anna,                                Grandmom Marie                                              Lucy

I loved my maternal grandmother. She was a loving, funny, generous woman who made each of her grandchildren feel special. My mother was not allowed to hit us if Grandmom was around, and when we were very young, Grandmom was at our house a lot.

                                                              

My mom was not your Betty Crocker type of housewife and had no interest in cooking, so while my dad worked at as a conductor on the old Trolleys, Grandmom would come over and help my mother prepare the meals. Sometimes she would bring her dog, Blackie and sometimes she would bring her pet chickens. She traveled by taxi. She was afraid that Grandpop Chiusolo would kill the chickens and eat them while she was away. The chickens had Italian names, but I don’t remember what they were.                                                                            
                                                                   

I’ve always thought it strange how nice the taxi driver was with Grandmom, helping her out of the cab as she clutched both birds in her arms. She paid him from her black change purse. Do you remember those change purses? Every Italian grandmother had one.                                                

Once inside our house, Grandmom put the chickens in our yard and began helping mom with dinner while Jane and I played with the chickens. The chickens were not at all happy with Jane and me dressing them in doll’s clothes. 
                                                                                                                                     
These chicken visits went on for a while, until one of the chickens got hurt in Grandmom’s yard. It became Sunday dinner….well it would have been dinner if it wasn’t for the explosion. Grandmom had an old kitchen. Her stove looked just like the one on the Honeymooners.

                                                                           
 She had to light a match and ignite the oven, which she did after she put the roasting pan and chicken in the oven. Grandmom’s kitchen was small. All the houses on Ellsworth Street in South Philly were small. Grandmom had two windows in her kitchen. The one directly across from the oven faced her neighbor’s kitchen window. The distance between houses maybe six feet, so by now I think you know where this story is going, right?

Somehow, the flame went out in the oven while the chicken was cooking and Grandmom, for some strange reason, took too long striking the match to re-ignite the oven. There was a loud blast and the door of the oven flew open, knocking grandmother to the floor.  The roasting pan with chicken flew through the closed window and continued through the neighbor’s window to land on their table.

 

My mother got the call and packed Jane and I into the car and rushed over to help Grandmom. The Fire Department was there because of the gas explosion, as were all the neighbors. My poor Grandmom was a bit shaken and covered in soot, but otherwise, okay. The neighbors returned the roasting pot with a chicken that was burnt and covered in glass. Later that year, they build a concrete block wall. I wonder why?
                                                                                                                                    
After we helped Grandmom clean up the mess, my mom ordered cheese steaks from the famous Pat’s Steaks on 9^th street and we ate in the yard because the kitchen still smelled like smoke. They had to get a new range.

                                                                 

Grandmom continued to visit with her dog or chicken even after we moved into the grocery store. I still remember the expressions on our customers’ faces whenever Grandmom walked into our store, clutching the chicken tightly in her arm.

Love you, Grandmom.

Author Loretta Lombardi Talks about her "I'm Hot, You're Hot" Cookbook for Lovers

                                                                          

I’ve known Loretta Lombardi since we were both kids. We both grew up in South Philadelphia’s St. Monica Parish and we are both Italian, which means that we love to cook good food. Loretta has published a cookbook for lovers. What a great gift for Valentine’s Day!

                                                               

While Loretta prepared a delightful lunch for us, we chatted about her book and why she feels eating the right foods will not only fix what ails us, but put more oomph in our sex lives.                                                                     

Marie Gilbert: “Loretta, before we talk about the book, tell us about your teaching career.”

Loretta Lombardi: “I’ve taught school for forty-one years and one of the extracurricular activities close to my heart while teaching parochial school in South Philadelphia was the drama club for the seventh and eighth graders. We would have competitions with other catholic grammar schools for a one act comedy. We had all year to practice our choice of play then perform at Bishop Newman High School. Lo and behold, with a lot of hard work and a lot of fun times, we put on a lot of good plays and, two of the four years that we did the competition, we got first place trophies. It was a worthwhile part of my life and they were like my own children.”

                                                         

Marie Gilbert: “After retiring from teaching, how did you get involved in cooking and what prompted you to write the I’m Hot Your Hot cookbook?”

Loretta Lombardi: “A few years ago, a friend of mine was over for a nice lunch topped off with a couple of glasses of wine, and she said to me, “You know, you’re a really good cook. Why don’t you sit down and write a cookbook?”

I never ever thought of myself writing a book, but soon after, we had a horrible snowstorm in November of 2009 and plus I had an accident. I fell and hurt my foot and so I was left with the options of sitting and doing nothing, or doing something constructive. The seed was planted and I started writing poetry. I’m not a poet per say, but on occasion I might write some poems in my journal which led to me writing some food poetry, but, I was thinking what am I going to do with this?                                                                 

I’ve only been learning about whole foods for six years, so I wasn’t the most experienced in the business of writing. But, I had enough knowledge and I was willing to do the research. I picked out some of my recipes, looked at some others and modified a few things that I would like to make. I got started and tested a few and if they tasted good to me, I’d invite friends to taste a recipe or two and if they liked it, I’d include it in the book and that’s how I got started. 

I wanted this book to be for lovers because everybody is a lover not only of food, but of each other. This book is especially for couples so they can take the time to express their affection through food and know how good it tastes and how satisfying it is. Food is just a stepping stone to sensuality. It is sensual in itself and promotes sensuality in a relationship.”

                                                                

                                                             

Marie Gilbert: “Because they are healthy?”

Loretta Lombardi: “Because they are healthy. So, that’s how the idea started to work. I decided to write some love quotes. I wanted the love quotes to come from me and I wrote some one and two liners that I would like say to someone in my circle of intimate partners. I continued writing some kitchen and bedroom poetry and then I began with the recipes. I wanted to create a cookbook that contained simple but delicious recipes that were easy to make with a recipe for each month.”

Marie Gilbert: “One for each month?” as she flicked through the pages.

Loretta Lombardi: “Yes, for lovers, whoever they are, in an intimate relationship to set aside one day a month and have a book that was already planned out. The recipes are simple, nutritious, and energetic and have aphrodisiac qualities. I set the atmosphere and ambiance on how to set the table and what wines and beers to serve with what foods; they (the couple) could take it from there.

At the very end I got in touch with Christina Pirello, author of macrobiotic cookbooks and star of the television series “Christina Cooks”. This came about because I was on a Holistic Cruise...”

Marie Gilbert:  “Was this a special cruise?”

Loretta Lombardi: “Yes, one that I’ve been taking for many years. “Holiday at Sea” takes us to the Caribbean Islands, east or west, every year. They close off half the ship and have one dining area for people who just eat macrobiotics like vegans and vegetarians, and the other half of the ship eats regular food.

                                                                     

On this trip, one of the chiefs was Christina who I’ve seen several times on the cruises or conferences and she’s even been at the Essene Café at 719 S. 4th Street in Philadelphia doing monthly workshops back in the day. There was a talent show for all the macrobiotic and vegan people the night before our last day of the cruise and I volunteered to read a couple of poems from my book saying these poems were from my holistic cookbook that contained love and sensual poetry. There must have been around seven hundred people there and they were applauding and one man shouted out that he wanted to be the first to buy my book.”

Marie Gilbert: “But, you’re book wasn’t out at that time?”

Loretta Lombardi: “No, it wasn’t, I was just feeling out the crowd with my poems.”

Marie Gilbert: “You were testing out the water.”

Loretta Lombardi: “Yes, testing out the water, putting my book out there and planting the seed. The next day, Julia Ferre, who has a foundation out in California with her husband and also writes the magazine “Macrobiotics Today” said she wanted to publish my poems, but I wanted to hold off until my book was published and then release the poetry for her magazine.

That night at the farewell party on the ship my friends called over Christina Pirello’s husband and I introduced myself. He had written a book called “Bones” on how to reverse osteoporosis. He and Christine had sent out flyers looking for volunteers for an educational program. I was speaking to Mr. Pirello about my helping at the school when Christian walked up to us and asked if she could read my manuscript; we met later and I gave her my hardcopy. The next time we met up, Christine told me that she liked the way I had set up the book with the poetry and recipes, but wanted to know how I was going to explain to Joe Blow from South Philadelphia that this was a book that he would like to read.”

Marie Gilbert: “So, what did you say?”

Loretta Lombardi: “Well, I guess I have to find a way to motivate him on the idea that whole foods are not only good for his body, but it would make him more sexually active because everything would be in working order, so to speak.”

 I decided  on adding headers to each recipe which not only explained the nutrition in my recipes but the energetics using a combination of history and folklore and the food’s aphrodisiac qualities with each recipe ending with how I felt the couple would feel after eating one of the meals. After four years, I finally got this book together. I didn’t use photographs because I wanted people to zone in on the headings to motivate them to cook the recipes. It gives them their own visual of what the food is about.”

Marie Gilbert: “I like that idea. So, you went from teaching to writing this cookbook. You’re certified in macrobiotics?”

Loretta Lombardi: “Yes, I started macrobiotics in 2003 and did an intensive workshop with Denny Waxman, who is head counselor in macrobiotics, and his wife Susan Waxman, head chief of the Strengthening Health Institute, SHI.

I was so enamored with the philosophy of the workshop and it was an incentive for me to take better care of myself and encourage others to heal themselves. I’ve always wanted to help my family and friends heal themselves. People get to a certain age and take their bodies for granted thinking their body is supposed to fall apart, but according to this philosophy; that is not necessarily so. You can reenergize your cells because number one, your cells have a memory and secondly food is healing. Hippocrates, the father of medicine said, “Let food be thy medicine.”

The ancients used herbs and food to heal throughout history and people would die of natural death and not from all these crazy diseases that we have today. They had a diet that consisted of grains, vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts and fruits; this was their mainstay and it wasn’t until much later in history that meat became so popular especially after World War One with the promotion of the Beef Industry, which has come to the ruination of our Western Civilization especially the United States of America.”

Marie Gilbert: “So, you feel with this diet, it would reverse certain diseases?”

Loretta Lombardi: “I think it would promote healing and whatever ailment the reader would have, it would give the reader the incentive to do research on their particular ailment, if they are diabetic, or have heart disease or cancer. If they are terminal and in the later stages of their disease than I would recommend them getting a top nutritionist like Denny Waxman from Philadelphia, who has been doing this for over forty years. I’ve seen with my own eyes, people come back their illnesses reversed.

Marie Gilbert: “Would you consider meeting with people to help them with their diets?”

Loretta Lombardi: “Yes, I do private counseling and one on one cooking classes in my home; I also do lectures for groups who are interested. My book is about the energetics of food and what part of the body the food will help with vitamins, minerals; the way food was used back in the days of old in different countries.

                                                                               

With specific ailments, there is one very good book called, “The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health" by Michio Kushi. This is the bible of health books. This book explains the cause of the illness according to Chinese medicine, it tells you the symptoms and then how to reverse certain conditions using certain foods and drinks. Another book which I recommend is “The Complete Guide to Natural Healing” by Tom Monte.”

                                                                    

Marie Gilbert: You’ve made me a delicious lunch today. Would you like to tell my readers what you prepared for us?”

                                                                       

Loretta Lombardi: “We’ll start with the soup, which was pureed butternut squash, parsnip, carrot, miso and chopped cilantro on top. For the beans, I used pinto beans cooked in boiling water and as the beans came to a closing, I added mustard and a postage size amount of kombu which is a seaweed and helps you to better digest beans and not worry about the gaseous results.
                                                                    
Then we have a Chinese vegetable, which is like a mustard green, sautéed in olive oil and added delicious cut up apples and added an ounce of pumpkin ale. We had French couscous, and for dessert, we had sweet potato, parsnip and Japanese potato all cut in three quarter of an inch slices that are steamed and drizzled with a light cover of rice syrup topped with nuts.”

                                                                 

 
Marie Gilbert: “I was surprised that you used the rice syrup instead of honey.”

Loretta Lombardi: “Honey is a simple sugar and in whole foods we lean towards complex carbohydrates and two very good sweeteners used in macrobiotics is rice syrup and barley malt.

                                                        

                                                

Marie Gilbert: “Loretta, will we be seeing more cookbooks from you?”

Loretta Lombardi: “I’m restudying the five elements of nature concerning food and there are certain foods that would help, for example, in Chinese medicine if you had back problem you find a food that pertains to the water element. That element has foods that strengthen the kidneys. The metal element that is also on that element wheel has foods that strengthen the kidney.

I’m studying this more and more every day because these elements would also help with emotional problems. If you’re exhibiting erratic behavior or you’re not able to focus; there are foods that could help in this area as well.

I would like to use the five element chart to address pre-teens and teenagers through rap music or video to teach these children the right way to eat. The school lunches for the most part are not nutritious and they are making the kids sick; they’re lethargic, sleeping in class.”

Marie Gilbert: “Thank you so much Loretta for being a guest on my blog and for this lovely and healthy lunch. For all my readers, Loretta’s book can be found on Amazon and if you order it now, you’ll have it in time for Valentine’s Day. Bon appetite!”
                                                                    
You can find Loretta's book here. Below are the tentative dates for her book launch.

Tentative Book Launch/Lecture in March of 2014 at Essene Café 719 S. 4th Street, Philadelphia, Pa 215-922-1146
Book Launch /Lecture on July 17, 2014 at 7p.m. at Daily Grind Café 261 Old York Road, Jenkintown Pa. 267-287-8243

 

Life with Fred & Lucy, Part 9: The Cake that Ate South Philly

                                                                   

My mother had issues with cooking and when my siblings and I were younger, we never knew what to expect on our dinner plates. 
                                                                         
Chef Boyardee, she wasn’t, but bless her heart, she tried to keep up with working in the store, raising four wild children and feeding us healthy, if not tasty, nutritious foods. It’s just that her food never looked like the pictures inside her cook books, and her children were quick to point out this discrepancy.

                                                               

I was the worse of the dissidents. “This doesn’t taste like grandma’s gravy,” I would whine whenever my mother placed a bowl of macaroni in front of me. I loved my grandma’s cooking and licked the plate clean whenever I ate at her house. She made the best gravy.

                                                           

                                 Grandmom (center) at Sunday Meal

But, let me take a break from the story to explain the difference between gravy and sauce. To Italians in South Philly, gravy was made with fresh or canned tomatoes and it often included meatballs made from beef, alongside chunks of lamb, sausage, and pork. This gravy would cook for hours until ready, and then it was served with pasta. This was our special meal every Sunday.                                                                     

Now back to my mother and her attempt to bake a cake from scratch. We sold Betty Crocker Cake Mix in our store, but Lucy wanted to try out a new recipe given to her by one of our customers. So, out came the 5lb bag of flour, sugar, yeast and other ingredients. In between helping my dad in the store, my siblings watched my mother make her cake. She wanted to make a special cake for her father’s birthday.

“You can pick up a cake from Termini’s Bakery,” my father said on one of his visits into the kitchen to check on Mom's project. “I don’t know why you’re driving yourself crazy with this mix?” 
                                                              

                                        Lucy and Fred                        

“Leave me alone,” she snapped. Flour covered every surface in the kitchen as it floated down from the ceiling. We couldn’t figure out what she was doing with the flour or why it was all over the place, but we kids knew better than to ask. After placing the cake batter into the greased cake pans, Lucy then placed the pans carefully into the oven. After we helped mom clean up the mess, we all headed back into the store for the heavy rush of noon time shoppers. 
                                                                      

                                                                      

She sent my brother Michael into the kitchen to check on the cake after the timer had dinged. “Use the toothpick,” she instructed him. “If the toothpick is dry; the cake is done.”                                                                                                            

 “Mommy, I don’t know where to stick the toothpick,” Michael yelled running back into the store, toothpick in hand.

“Just stick it in the center of the pan,” mom instructed as she handed a customer their change.

“I don’t know where the center is.”
                                                                                                                             
My mother, father and all four children rushed into the kitchen to check on the cake. I don’t know how much yeast my mother used for that recipe, but the cake had grown and grown while baking and covered all four sides of the oven. 
                                                       
                                                          

                                                              

“How the hell…what the *&$%@&...how will we get this out?” my father stammered as my mother began using a butter knife to dig around the edges of the cake with the hope of freeing her creation from the oven. My mother and father argued, while mom tried her best to tackle the Blob inside the oven, but it was a mess.

                                                                   

                                                              

“It tastes good,” Michael announced after pulling free a piece and taking a bite.

“It does?” my sisters and I asked, before digging in.

It tasted yummy, and we began to eat the cake right from the oven. We sat on the floor in front of the oven eating cake, until it was small enough for my mother to dig out the rest. My mother never made cake from scratch again and my grandpa got a Termini cake for his birthday.

                                                              

                                    Grandpa Enrico, Uncle Ralph and Uncle Mario

Years later, after Lucy took off to California (that is an episode for a later time) she took cooking lessons and became quite the gourmet chef. Her meals were scrumptious, but we would  often joked about the cake she made from scratch.
                                                                      

                                                   Mom and me cooking                                    

 

                                                           

Life with Fred & Lucy, Part 7: The Stuffing War

                         Aunt Ann, Grandmom and Mom                                                     

My mother could not cook and I was told that when she and dad first married, my maternal grandmother would come over and cook the meal while my father was at work. Eventually, Fred found out about the old switch-a-roo and Lucy had to start cooking on her own.
                                                                      

This led to many strange culinary nightmares while my siblings and I grew up. One day, I’ll tell you about the invasion of the cake batter that ate Philadelphia, but for now, I’ll stick with the stuffing story.

 I guess different sections of Italy make food differently and my father’s family was from Rome and my mother’s from Naples. My father thought he could cook; he couldn’t. My mother cooked but she didn't enjoy it and thus the daily culinary adventures that her four children experienced.

One Thanksgiving, my father and mother got into a big argument about the correct way to make stuffing. We four kids were upstairs (probably doing something that we shouldn’t) and knew right away this was going to be a Thanksgiving meal that should be avoided at all costs. The ‘War of the Gravy’ still had us hiding under our beds every time my mother opened a can of crushed tomatoes. Yes, that kind of gravy, or what the non-Italians call spaghetti sauce.

When mom called us down for lunch, we sat at one end of the table eating while mom was at the counter chopping and dicing ingredients for her stuffing and my father was doing his own culinary preparation at the other side of the counter; they were arguing the whole time.

“You don’t know shit about stuffing,” my mother yelled.
 "And, you do" dad countered.                                              
                                                              

                                                                 

Ah, yes, the happy sounds of holiday cheer surrounded us four kids as we ate our baloney sandwiches. “We need to scram,” I whispered to my siblings. We made good our escape and headed back to the roof where we played firemen and space aliens. But...even on the roof we could hear bits and pieces of their continuing argument which centered around the ingredients each used in that damn stuffing. This was to be a long day for the Maratea spawn.                                             

We only had the one turkey, so I was curious as to how and where they were stuffing this bird with two different stuffing. They found a way; mom took the bottom half and dad the, neck; what didn't fit into the neck went into a little pan to cook next to the turkey.

When it was time to eat, the four of us kids walked down the stairs and to the kitchen like a man walking to the gallows. We had seen this scene played out before with several of their culinary wars. The table was set and soon the turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, strings beans and two bowls of stuffing were placed on the table.                                                                    

My mother scooped a heaping spoon of her stuffing on each of our dishes with my father doing the same with his stuffing. “Which one tastes better?” my father and mother asked simultaneously.

My siblings and I laugh about that day, but it wasn’t funny at the time it was happening. We couldn’t choose; wouldn’t take sides; so we remained silent while the two argued over the stuffing. To tell you the truth, both stuffing tasted exactly the same. Side note: Over the years my mother learned to cook gourmet meals and even my father's cooking improved. But, I still get flashbacks to that day every year as I prepare stuffing for my Thanksgiving meal. Maybe, that's the reason I down a glass of wine, before I start the preparations. Hope your Thanksgiving was great and stay safe, healthy and happy. Love you all.

Next week’s blog will be about one of my father’s funniest practical jokes, ever.

Boys, Bugs, and Bug Fest at The Academy of Natural Science

                                                                     

                                    Nathan and Granny getting their spider tattoos

 

On Sunday, 8/11/2013, I headed over to the Academy of Natural Sciences with two of the desperadoes to have fun at the Academy’s yearly big crawling Bug Fest. It was a lot of fun.

                                                                        

We visited the changing exhibit hall where Joshua, Nathan and I made believe we were captured fireflies.

                                                                     

 

Then we spent the day checking out all the amazing insects that the Academy had shipped in for this special day.

                                                                         

The highlight of the boys’ day was the cooking show in the auditorium. There were two featured chefs: Cajun Chef Zack Lemann and Chef Chuck Ziccardi of Drexel University of Culinary Arts. They were doing an on-stage cook-off with yummy bug recipes. They asked for volunteers and Nathan volunteered.

                                                                         

                                          Chef Chuck on the left and Chef Zack on the right

The selected recipes for this contest would include dragonflies, wax worms, and cicadas; yummy right?

                                                                         

                                                                      

Karen Verderame and Michael Kaczmarczik along with Jill Sybesma were busy collecting questions from the audience for the chefs to answer while they prepared the food to be judged.

                                                                

                                                   Karen is on stage and Jill is with Nathan

When the finale moment arrived for Nathan to judge the food, I was a bit worried that he would chicken out,

                                                                                     

                                   Nathan taking the first bite of bug polenta while Michael watches 

but he not only wolfed down every sample, but he wanted more. The other two contestants were just as pleased with the food. Chef Chuck won the cook-off and I might be calling him, soon; very soon. My grandson Nathan liked the bug polenta and the wax worm hushpuppies so much, he wants more! He wants me to learn how to make them.

                                                                               

                                                   Nathan wolfing down the good bug snacks

 

It might not be a bad idea to learn how to cook those tasty bug meals; you know, in case of a zombie apocalypse. We won’t ever need to worry about running out of food, and there are plenty of bugs for everyone! bon appetite

                                                                     

                               

I hate to cook, but love to eat

Normally when I post, I try updating my facebook friends of my continuing search for an agent, but this week, I needed to vent about cooking. While food shopping early this morning, I spent the hour at the market dodging the bottled water marathon( because of upcoming storm), and running to the safety of the makeup section, happy not to be trampled on, as carts zoomed past me at break neck speeds, heading for the bread section. Apparently, looking good while surviving a hurricane, wasn't on the top of most shopper's lists, and I took advantage of this little known fact to hide among the Cover Girl and Maybelline products.

Now shopping is not one of my favorite things to do. Hitting two markets, spending an hour in each until all items are found and purchased, and unloading the groceries after I reach home, is to me equivilante to getting your teeth cleaned at the dentist, necessary but dreaded, but as much as I hate to shop for food, I hate to cook even more. Now, don't get me wrong, there are some dishes, which I still take pleasure in preparing, but unfortunately, my husband balks at eating the same think every night.

I wasn't always this way. As a young bride, I looked forward to preparing the evening meal, grateful, when compliments flowed my way, but I'm almost Medicare age( another painful subject, which I'll go into with another post) and by my estimations, I've done forty years of cooking. That is a lot of pasta, soup, pot roasts, and chicken cutlets.

I know what you're about to ask, "Does your husband like to cook?"

My reply, "Hell, no."

Which leaves me with a few solutions until we have food replicators, like the ones used on Star Trek. You know what I mean, Captain Kirk or Spock ordering their food already prepared, the way they like it, no one slaving over a hot stove, no dishes to wash, my type of cooking.

My number one solution is to eat out, but this can be expensive, so I found a second solution which is these prepacked frozen meals for two in the freezer section of the market. They're actually good, and they can be cooked in one pan, but my dream is to get my husband interested in cooking. Right now he has no interest in boiling water, but I'm planning on using subliminal messaging to trick him into trying. I'll let you know how this goes.