Showing posts sorted by relevance for query jane. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query jane. Sort by date Show all posts

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

For Jane


Jane Lauer Maddox June 16, 1959 - May 31, 2014

Say not in grief that she is no more
but say in thankfulness that she was.

A death is not the extinguishing of a light,
but the putting out of the lamp
because the dawn has come.

-R. Tagore


Lamar and Clarke and John have asked me to express their heartfelt appreciation to Birdie Porter, who devotedly took care of Jane at home for the last three months, and to the incomparable Dr. Eric Minenberg, physician assistant Amy York, and the staff of Peachtree Hematology/Oncology.  Jane was their amazing patient – Dr. Minenberg called her one of a kind – and they worked together as a team for the last six and a half years.  A very special thank you to Stan Thomas, Jane’s unsung hero, and to everyone at Thomas Enterprises and the Jordan Company, and to all the family and friends who kept the Maddoxes company, as well as fed and watered, whenever they needed it.  Please accept my apologies to any of you special people I have inadvertently forgotten. 

I met Jane – appropriately - at a party on March 20, 1978.  She was 18 years old and had driven to Atlanta from her school in Virginia, to join the festivities surrounding the purchase of WPCH from her dad’s company by the Meredith Coporation, where my husband worked.

From then on, I watched her go from a carefree freshman in college to Lamar’s fiancé, and finally to the extraordinary woman she became - a dutiful daughter to Carolyn and John; a close sister to Amy and sister-in-law to Wright, Joel, and Laura; an exuberant aunt to Emily, Graham, Will, Kipp and Katie; a loving great-niece to Aunt Marjorie; and a supportive wife and devoted mother to her three darling boys, Lamar, Clarke, and John.

 The rest of us were lucky enough to call her friend, including all these young men sitting here who came and went and ate and slept at what is basically their second home and her enduring legacy, the Happy House of Jane. 

Kerry Izzard once told me that every man who met Jane fell in love with her, and she should know since she has a husband and four sons, to a man, completely besotted with Jane.  But I think that is true of us girls too.  We all fell in love with Jane.  Throughout her illness, she was unwaveringly optimistic and unflinchingly brave. She saw only the flowers, never the weeds.

And she was magical.  After spending years of vacationing at Sea Island, hoping each and every morning at 6:00 a.m. to see a turtle as we walked on the beach, on the final morning of what we knew would be the last time the whole family was there for its annual vacation, we headed out for our walk and, not believing it was happening, stopped to watch a sea turtle as she headed back to the ocean after laying her eggs.

Jane was the happiest person I have ever known.  She lived by what turned out to, unfortunately, be her too true motto “Life is far too short not to have a little umbrella in your drink.”   

In time, Jane’s passing will seem real, but right now it doesn’t.  I can’t imagine I won’t hear her voice at the end of the telephone, or cook with her, or see her beautiful hair turn gray.  Jane and I have the same birthday, and one way or another have been celebrating them together for thirty-six years.

I always thought we would have many more.

Jane would surely scold me for ending my tribute to her on a sad note.  So I will leave you with what I know Jane would herself tell you today:

Think of me; miss me; but don’t mourn me.  And most of all, in the words of my second favorite, Jimmy Buffett, "count all your blessings, remember your dreams."

Spoken By Victoria for Jane at Her Memorial Service on June 6, 2014 


BG Christmas 2012 at Jane's

Jane's group of special friends is called the BG's, which stands for Birthday Girls. They have been friends for the past eighteen years when they met as a result of having children in grammar school together.  In the photo they are Tiana, Judy, Betsy, Barbara, Lisa, Joanna, Jane, and Melody.  They celebrate each other's birthdays and get together every December for a Christmas party.   
Jane and Me
December 2012
Photo by Melody

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Monday, November 5, 2007

Jane's Wild Rice

I was in Atlanta when Clarke was born, staying with Carolyn and John and finishing my own degree, and I was still there five months later on the day he was christened—which also happened to be my birthday, as well as Jane’s birthday andFather’s Day.

Since Jane was in charge of activities, they were many, varied, and started early in the morning, ending late at night. There was a brunch for company, the christening itself, a Father’s Day lunch for John and Lamar (his first Father’s Day), and then a family birthday dinner for Jane and me. Every meal was wonderful, but the dish I remember most was served at dinner: this wild rice.

This isn’t a real recipe—more of an explanation of what I think Jane did, and the way I make it now.

Start with wild rice. It doesn’t have to be truly wild; the cultivated kind is just fine. Cook as many servings as you need according to the package instructions, but use chicken broth instead of water or Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base for more flavor. The grains will swell and split as they cook. That’s expected and perfectly okay.

Once the rice is done, you’ll want to add a few flavorful extras. The amounts will depend on how much rice you’ve made. Here's what I usually add:

– A handful (or more) of slivered almonds or pecans, cut in half lengthwise and toasted
– A handful of golden raisins (or another dried fruit—whatever suits your taste or what you’re serving it with)
– 3 to 4 scallions, sliced on the diagonal

If you’re serving the rice hot, melt a lump of butter in a frying pan or saucier.
If you’re making it ahead to serve cold, as a salad, use a generous glug of olive oil instead.

Sauté a small to medium onion, coarsely chopped, in the butter or oil until translucent. Add the nuts, wild rice, and dried fruit, and stir gently until everything is warmed through. Just before serving, scatter the sliced scallions over the top.

That’s it. The proportions are flexible, and the additions can be changed to suit what you have or like. It’s a forgiving, memorable dish—just like the day I first tasted it.

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Saturday, January 20, 2007

Coronation Chicken

Adapted from Great British Cooking by Jane Garmey

Serves 4 to 6

Now that we've had a British invasion of cooks and chefs (Nigella, Nigel, Jamie, Delia to name a few), I think we can pretty much agree that great British cooking is not an oxymoron. This book, however, has recipes for standard British fare and might not appeal to everyone. But this dish will.

This recipe for what is really a cold, curried chicken was invented in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. The coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey was extremely long, and at one point during the proceedings, the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting are reputed to have slipped behind the scenes and fortified themselves with a quick helping of Coronation Chicken.


Coronation Chicken
Adapted from Great British Cooking by Jane Garmey

1 cooked chicken (about three pounds of cooked chicken), chilled
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons tomato puree (you could probably use ketchup instead, because 2 teaspoons of tomato puree might be kind of a pain, I never have)
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons mango chutney
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup heavy cream, whipped

Shred the chicken into bite-sized (but not tiny) pieces, and set aside.

Cook the onion in the oil in a saucepan over low heat until it is soft and trranslucent but not brown. Add the curry powder to the onion, and cook for a few minutes. Add the stock, tomato puree, lemon juice, and chutney to the pan. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, cool a little, and puree in blender or food processor. Put this mixture into a bowl. When completely cool, add the mayonnaise and whipped cream and mix in. Chill this sauce.

Place the chicken pieces on a serving dish and spoon the sauce over the chicken.

Print recipe
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Thursday, January 3, 2008

Recipe Index

Appetizers
Bruschetta - Real Garlic Bread
Caviar and Egg Mold
Eggs in Tuna Sauce
Pesto Torta
Stuffed Mushrooms - For Bill

Breads
Banana Nut Bread
Savory Bacon Bread Pudding
Southern Cornbread
Tiny Corn Muffins
No Knead Bread

 Breakfast
Tartar Sauce

Desserts

Miscellaneous
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Olivia's Brownies

Adapted from Lila Jenkins Cruikshank in the Atlanta Junior League's Cooknotes from Jane



You can use this recipe to make traditional brownie squares in an 8-inch square pan or make a brownie "cake" by baking it in a 9-inch round cake pan, preferably a springform. It is delicious served with sweet cream or vanilla ice cream.

 Olivia's Brownies
Adapted from a recipe by Lila Jenkins Cruikshank in the Atlanta Junior League's Cooknotes

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
113g (1 stick) unsalted butter
200g sugar
68g all-purpose flour
2 large eggs at room temperature
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional) - I use pecans.
Softened butter and cocoa powder for the baking pan

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Prepare your baking pan by coating it with softened butter and then coating it with cocoa powder. Alternatively you can line to pan with parchment paper. In a square pan you can make a sling; in a springform pan, just line the bottom. If you use parchment, do not use butter or cocoa powder.

Melt the chocolate in a pan over simmering water, being careful not to let the bottom of the pan touch the water.  Alternatively, use a microwave, but check at 30-second intervals, stirring with a silicone spatula, so you know as soon as the chocolate is melted and to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.  If you have a high-powered microwave, you might want to reduce the power.  If you do it in the microwave, use a bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients.  If you do it in a pan over water, put the warm melted chocolate into a bowl.

Add the 8 pieces of softened butter to the warm melted chocolate, and stir until the butter melts and is incorporated into the chocolate.  The heat from the melted chocolate should be enough to melt the butter.

With a wooden spoon mix the eggs into the mixture, then add the rest of the ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake for 30 minutes.

Cool on a rack for 20 minutes before cutting into squares or to a platter like a cake.

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Saturday, January 22, 2011

French Apple Cake




In two weeks’ time, I’m going to spend the afternoon with my childhood best friend. We haven’t seen each other in - I hate to say how long - 42 years, if I’m counting correctly. We’ve been able to keep track of each other all these years because our parents were friends. In fact, when my dad died in 2006, Sharyn’s father sat next to me at the funeral, holding my hand.

I have lots of memories of Sharyn - her bronze patent leather Capezios for Easter Sunday; her New Year’s Eve birthday; trick or treating in the snow after an early winter storm; taking tap dancing lessons together. I never pick up a jar of Kosciusko Mustard without thinking of her because I remember how much she liked it.


The big question now is where should we go to lunch?

We can’t go to Pearl Oyster Bar. Sharyn’s from Maine, so taking her to a restaurant in New York City that is modeled after a Maine lobster shack would be rather ridiculous, even if Rebecca Charles’s salt crusted shrimp is one of the best things to eat in the world.

Should we go to The Four Seasons because it’s fancy? Swifty’s because Jane recommended it? Brio because the Italian food is so good tourists from Italy eat there? Girasole because it’s in my neighborhood? The Lincoln because it’s hot? The Lexington Candy Shop with its old fashioned soda fountain because it’s fun?

Ah ha. The Trustee’s Dining Room at The Metropolitan Museum.


The food is excellent, the room is comfortable, the view is lovely, and we can talk without interruption. After lunch if it’s a nasty day, we can wander around the Museum; if it’s nice, the Park.

Then we can go back to my apartment and have a cup of tea (everybody drinks tea, right?) and a piece of this plain, not-too-sweet but lovely cake before Sharyn meets Doug for a dinner where he is the guest speaker.

This cake is just the ticket for a restorative afternoon snack. It’s adapted from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan - the creator of World Peace Cookies, which, I believe, would get democrats and republicans working together if someone would just make a lot of them and lug them to Congress.

World Peace Cookies

French Apple Cake
Adapted from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan

¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
4 large apples - 4 different kinds are best because you can have crisp, soft, sweet, and tart
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum - I use Goslings Black Seal
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 American stick)
Softened butter for coating the cake pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter an 8-inch springform pan.

In a small bowl stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together with a fork.

Peel the apples. Cut them in half, and cut four large pieces off around the apple, leaving just the cores, which you will discard. I find this easier than using an apple corer. Cut the pieces into chunks, about an inch big. A little larger than an inch is fine.

Break the eggs into a large bowl, and beat them with a whisk until they foam a little. Add the sugar, whisk to blend, then whisk in the rum and vanilla. Add half the flour and whisk until incorporated, then whisk in half the melted butter. Repeat this step by whisking in the other half of the flour followed by the rest of the melted butter, and mix until the batter is smooth and thick. Using a rubber or silicone spatula, fold in the apples, turning until the fruit is coated with batter. You will find there are more apples than batter; this is how it’s supposed to be.

Scrape the mixture into the buttered springform pan, and spread it around with the spatula until it’s as even as you can get it. It won’t be perfect because there are so many apples.

Put a piece of parchment on a baking sheet - I use a half sheet pan - and put the springform pan on it. Slide the baking sheet with the springform pan on it into the oven. Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. This will take about 50 to 60 minutes.

Transfer the cake to a cooling rack, and leave it for 5 minutes.

Run a blunt knife around the edge of the cake. This should be easy as the cake will probably have already pulled away from the sides of the pan, but still be sure to open the springform pan slowly to make sure no apples have stuck to the sides.

It may be eaten warm or at room temperature and is particularly delicious with some lightly whipped cream with a little sugar and rum in it. The cake should keep well for 2 days, but do not cover it. You can put a strip of wax paper on the cut ends.


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