Tradition, Key West and Cuban Bread

Tradition, an interesting word for me, after thinking that I didn’t grow up with any, I began to remember that we always had certain dishes at the holidays, corn bread dressing with oysters, cherry pie and sugar cookies. My mother didn’t particularly like to cook, and only did so out of necessity. My love of cooking developed much later in life. I’ve never cooked a holiday meal, but always bring dishes to the holiday table. Anyway enough of going down that path.

My current family’s tradition is going to Key West during the first part of December. MJOL and I always try to celebrate our anniversary there. We’ve missed a few years, (only 3) but have made 12. This year we continued tradition and were accompanied by MJOL’s sister and brother-in-law. It’s fun seeing our favorite place through someone else’s eyes. I’ve discovered through the years that people either love KWF or they don’t. We saw old friends that we meet there every year and of course made new friends that we hope to see there in the coming years. We did a sunset cruise, Hemingway’s house and many of the tourist things that we don’t do that often. My most vivid memories usually revolve around the friends, food, and relaxation. Grilled grouper with a Thai curry sauce over sushi rice at Seven Fish, Cuban roast pork with yellow rice, black beans and plantains at El Sibonay, and lobster fresh out of the sea at Pepe’s.

So, I decided to extrapolate our Key West tradition and attempt Cuban bread. Pan Cubano, that loaf with the creamy interior and crisp crust, pressed with meats and cheese. Yum. So, after a little research I found that “traditional” Cuban bread is made with lard..yikes! At the store, I found my little tub of lard and put it in my cart, carried it around the store and in the end, just had to put it back. I opted for using solid shortening, probably not much healthier, but it made me feel somewhat better. I thought it turned out well. Since most recipes called for a starter, I just used my sourdough. I can’t wait to make some Cuban roast pork and make my own Cuban sandwich.

"Anna was a lovely bride, but Anna, damn 'er, up and died."

The golden-colored Anadama bread is a specialty of New England that is always made with cornmeal and molasses. Many cookbooks relate stories about the origins of its unusual name. One being the quote above that was supposedly on Anna’s tombstone. I like this one best, only because it reminds me of an epitaph on the tombstone of B. P. Roberts, a notorious hypochondriac, in one of our favorite places, Key West. “I told you I was sick.” I’m drifting slightly here because our annual trip to Key West is only 12 days away.

Anyway, Anadama bread has been around a least since 1850. According to Wikipedia, it is thought it came from the local fishing community in Rockport MA. but it may have come through the Finnish Community of local stone cutters. During the turn of the century around 1900 it was baked by a man named Baker Knowlton on King Street and delivered in a horse-drawn cart to households in Rockport by men in blue smocks.

I modified a recipe from “The Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook” using my active sourdough starter. Wow, when baking, this bread smells amazing and lingers in the house for a while. It’s great toasted for breakfast and I don’t expect it to hang around for very long.

Thanks to Michelle for suggesting this historical challenge.

Public Art

P.A.I.N.T. Producing Art in Neighborhoods Together

Saturday we had the installation of some public art that was sponsored by The Center for Neighborhoods and designed for our community garden. The artists, David Bibelhauser and Lauren Argo, came to the garden and invited the gardeners, neighbors, and friends to help assemble two geodesic domes. The domes were designed to complement the garden and to show that connected we are all strong. Each piece of the dome supports a part of the whole structure’s weight. If just one piece weakens or is removed, the entire structure becomes unstable.

The day started with the installation of the dome on the lower part of the garden. This dome will eventually be covered with trumpet vines.

Throughout the day, there were workshops on composting, bee keeping, creating a community garden, and harvesting rain water.

For lunch, The San Diego Sandwich Works food truck offered great sandwiches and soup. MJOL and I had the La Jolla wrap. It was so tasty and they even substituted Havarti Cheese for me. Maybe because I said I could eat my weight in that cheese? While talking to the owners they invited me on the truck. Heaven! Cause you know I’m fascinated by food trucks. The truck has been totally redone and the electrical can run on quiet batteries instead of not so quiet generators.  Totally plumbed by a master plumber and up to code. Totally cool.

The Mayor, Greg Fischer, stopped by and helped plant some of the vines for the lower dome, and took our electric goat for a spin.

Then the installation of the upper dome started in the afternoon. This dome has painted canvas panels, with colors taken from the garden logo, to provide shade. When the dome was finished it was dedicated by our Councilperson, Tina Ward Pugh. A beautiful fall day.