In Cherokee legend it is said that at the beginning of the world people and animals spoke and understood each others languages. “Weep” is a story about a woman whose life changed after just such an encounter with a carriage horse in Central Park. Nikki Twig has spent most of her life hiding from her past. Nikki and her best friend, Belinda Carpenter always wished to be sisters when they were children. Upon the death of their friend and mentor, Wally, they learn that they are related to each other through a Cherokee bloodline, but are left to their own devices to determine exactly how. Set in present day Oklahoma, Nikki finds identity and belonging.
When my husband gifted me with this website he specifically said that he hoped I would marry my love for writing with my love for cooking. As it turns out, the more I write the less I cook! This season as been especially hectic with publishing “Weep” in paperback and on Kindle at Amazon.com
If you like horses, always dreamed of going on a trail ride or sleeping under the stars, if you’ve heard family legends of Native American ancestors, or are interested in Cherokee History, you can read the a sample and see if “Weep” is a story you may like to read.
To view a slide show of the trail ride that inspired part of this novel, click this link.
OKLAHOMA TRAIL RIDE
“Muzungu” (Rwandan for ‘white person’) is a play you will find yourself thinking about for days, even weeks after seeing. Both atmospheric and mysterious, “Muzungu” is playing at The 4th Street Theater at 83 E. 4th Street in New York City now through October 30.
“Muzungu” by David Myers. Presented by Co-op Theatre East & Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group. Starring Nneoma Nkuku as Mattie and Ryan Victor Pierce as Matthew. Directed by Robert A. K. Gonyo. Produced by Richard Aven, Ashley Marinaccio and Casey Cleverly.
Set in a hotel massage parlor in Nyagatare, Rwanda, 2009, Mattie, a Rwandan masseuse, and Matthew, an American idealist who has come to Rwanda to install computers in the local community center, meet when Matthew comes to get a massage after his long flight to Africa. When Matthew has an embarrassing physical response to Mattie’s massage, she reacts with professionalism and in turn he reacts with gratitude and leaves a big tip. Matthew tries to deepen his relationship with Mattie in a variety of ways from showering her with Snicker bars to trading soldering lessons for hearing her confirm what the local gossips say about her: that her entire family was lost in the genocide. Mattie crushes on him a little, but remains skeptical of his motives and maintains her dignified reserve. They develop a multi-layered relationship that is driven, in part, by misunderstanding each other in ways that mirror the larger problem of how different cultures fail to communicate.
The scenes are skillfully played and directed. Nneoma Nkuku’s portrayal of Mattie as a smoldering powerhouse of repressed emotion against Ryan Victor Pierce’s sensitive portrayal of an optimistic American volunteer out to change the world is more than entertaining and more than educational; it is dimensional. The set is tasteful and evocative, in perfect compliment with the space. “Muzungu” runs under ninety minutes without intermission and it all adds up to an excellent evening. The playwright, David Myers, is an exciting new talent not to be missed. I’ve included the Dramaturg’s note from the program that I found very interesting. I hope you do, too. Now, go see “Muzungu!”
“In 1994, Rwanda suffered its greatest tragedy in history, the ethnic cleansing of approximately one million people in one hundred days. Based upon historical and colonial origins, three ethnic divisions reside in Rwanda: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The three groups share the same language, culture and religions. Historically, the Belgium colonists favored the Tutsi regime, but switched alliances after the WWII when Rwanda sought its independence. Episodes of violence continued for two decades, culminating in the Rwandan Civil War in the 1990s and the genocide against the Tutsi population in 1994.”
“Identity cards proclaiming ethnicity were banned in the aftermath of the genocide. For the past sixteen years, Rwanda has enjoyed stability and peace. One of its biggest sources to the economy is tourism, with people arriving from all over the world to see the mountain gorillas. Rwanda also seeks to rebuild itself as the technology capital of Africa, in large part with help from the Bill Gates Foundation.”
First I found my family roots, then I wrote the novel, then I wrote the play, then I invited all my friends and started cooking because I have so much to celebrate!
I researched my father’s side of our family for a little more than five years. I was very close to my grandparents, Edgar and Flora Gipson. I remember my grandpa, Ed, for his twinkling eyes, sharp wit, and practical jokes. His mother, my great grandmother, Alma Burgess Gipson, was very proud of her Cherokee heritage and my cousins and I could never get enough of the stories she would tell about her childhood in Indian Territory.
I found Alma on the Dawes Rolls, then when I visited Oklahoma in June, 2009, I applied to become a member of the Cherokee Nation. I came home inspired and finished my novel, “Weep” which tells the story of a woman who discovers her Cherokee heritage and her true family. Last fall, I finally received both my ‘blue card’ confirming tribal membership and my card from the Bureau of Indian Affairs confirming my blood quantum. I am completely changed yet no different than I ever was. I am today what I always have been, only now I have paperwork to prove it.
Here is the menu from our Osiyo Party.
Pork Ribs
Roasted Chicken Legs
Buffalo, Elk, Venison, and Beef Jerky
Corn Pudding
Sweet Potato-Apple Casserole with Maple
Pinto Beans
Cornbread
Fresh Apples & Pears
Water
The traditional Cherokee diet revolves around corn, beans, and squash (or sweet potato) and whatever game or fish that could be had. The menu I planned for the party featured all these dishes. The only drink I served was water, because that’s what they had. No one complained, but besides the entertainment, “water only” will probably be the most memorable element of the evening.
The main event of the evening was a reading of “The Outlaw Play”. “The Outlaw Play,” is a story about land rights manipulation and exploitation in Tulsa, 1903, while the Dawes Rolls were being gathered. It has humor, tragedy, and it reveals a part of history that has not been explored (probably out of shame). The cast was exemplary with three professional actors, Camille and John Mazurek and Dylan Carusano and three high school drama students, Lily Fischer, Brian Semel, and Anthony Bastone. Kris DiLorenzo read stage directions for us. I love them all!
To my cast and all my guests, Wado! (thanks) You all made my special day unforgettable.
P.S. One of our guests was Isabella Bannerman, a syndicated cartoonist who is one of the Six Chix. A line of “The Outlaw Play” tickled her funny bone and she drew an adorable color cartoon entitled: Cherokee “I love you.” Check it out here:
Hello, dear friends. I thought I’d better get back in touch with you to let you know why I haven’t posted since April. The short answer is that I’ve been busy writing a pilot for an animated sitcom (Still TOP SECRET) and I also finished a new work for the stage, The Outlaw Play.
An excerpt from my novel, “Weep,” will be published by the Cherokee Arts and Humanities Council in an anthology entitled: “Cherokee Writers from the Flint Hills of Oklahoma: An Anthology.” I am honored and delighted to be included in this book. It goes on sale October, 2011. For more information: http://www.cherokeeculture.org/home/projects
The full novel is currently being considered for publication in both book form and in e-format at a small publisher in NY. When I know, you’ll know!
In the meantime feast your eyes on the cover, designed and executed by my favorite artist, Gerry Mooney.
Our friend Gillian, an artist, scholar, advocate for children, as well as an incredible cook, invited us to dinner one night about fifteen years ago and served a variation of this dish. I thought at the time that this possibly the most delicious combination of flavors I had ever tasted. We are no longer Gillian’s neighbors but we still love her dearly and thank her for being the inspiration for this dish.
….then I adapted it a little because I did not want to make the sugary prune gravy that sauces the dish at the end. Instead I poached the prunes as directed, added them au naturel after the gravy reduced then merely drizzled perhaps a teaspoon of honey into the pot for the final warm through.
Beef can be substituted for lamb and is equally scrumptious.
I served this dish over couscous with a shaved asparagus salad on the side. The faint bitterness of the asparagus offset the sweetness of the prunes to perfection. Fried whole almonds are the traditional garnish, but I had pistachio nuts on hand and they were perfectly delicious.
Asparagus Slaw
8-10 Fresh asparagus stalks (medium to thick) woody ends trimmed off
Salt & Pepper to taste
Lemon Juice (about ½ lemon should do it)
Drizzle of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
With a vegetable peeler, shave long strips from the asparagus stalks into a bowl. When the stalks get thin, the flowery heads of the asparagus will pop off and fall into the bowl. Dress with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil to taste.
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did! Happy eating!
Philomena and I were chatting in the lobby of our building when I saw him in a wheel chair being helped into the building by two Ambulette attendants. I recognized him as a nodding-acquaintance neighbor from our floor.
Philomena said, “He’s been ill for quite some time. A pity. He’s a young man but he has no one to look after him.”
I said, “Maybe I should offer to take him some food or invite him over.”
She said, “That’s a fine idea. I’m sure he would be very appreciative.”
Later that afternoon I slipped a note under his door inviting him to have dinner with us and included our phone number so he could respond. When he called, he was touched to know that his neighbors were looking out for him but said he didn’t feel up to coming to dinner. I offered to take him a plate and he readily agreed to accept that.
We shared our dinner with him every evening for the next few weeks, and I was determined to give him good food with a high nutritional impact so that he could regain some of the 30 pounds he had lost recently. As he improved, he was able to get himself fed on his own more often. This was a good thing as Gerry and I were both eating more than we were accustomed to eating and beginning to gain weight. I no longer feed him on a regular basis, but once or twice a week I still invite him to come fill his plate for dinner. He never fails to call and thank me for the “delicious food” and for our friendship. He’s better now — not healed, not well – but better and gaining weight.
The video is a diary of meals we’ve shared. Recipes with asterisks (*) in the captions are featured in previous posts. Armadillo Chili, Fresh Tartar Sauce, Hearty Bean Stew.
We love to spend quality time with our friends. Deb and I have been trying to get together since the beginning of the year, but the heavy snow in the Northeast this year made travel treacherous (and parking on the street an impossibility). Sarah Ann has a glamorous and important new job to celebrate and I couldn’t wait to spend an evening hearing the details. What better way to celebrate and commune with each other than sharing a delicious meal?
Osso Buco is a classic Italian recipe for braised veal shanks in a tomato-ey sauce. The braising makes the meat silky and so tender that it would fall off the bone if it hadn’t been tied to the bone in the beginning. The traditional accompaniment to osso buco is risotto Milanese, a dish made with Arborio rice, flavored with saffron and cooked in white wine and chicken broth then enriched with soft butter and Parmesan cheese to finish. (See previous post: Easy Mushroom Risotto for recipe)
Osso Buco (Braised Veal Shanks)
To serve 6-8
Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. butter
1-1/2 C. finely chopped onion
1/2 C. finely chopped carrots
1/2 C. finely chopped celery
1 Tsp. chopped garlic
6-7 lbs. veal shank or shin (1 piece per person) tied with string around their circumference
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Flour
1/2 C. olive oil
1 C. white wine
1/2 tsp. dried basil (when using fresh basil, use about 1/4 C.
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1-28 oz. can of whole plum tomatoes (crushed by hand when adding to sauce base)
6 parsley sprigs
2 bay leaves
Gremolata (a fresh parsley, lemon peel, and garlic mixture for garnish and perk)
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. finely minced garlic
5 Tbsp. finely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
Mince together and store in refrigerator until ready to garnish the main dish.
Method:
Choose a heavy shallow casserole or Dutch oven tht has a right cover and is just large enough to snugly hold the pieces of veal standing up in 1 layer. Melt the butter in the casserole over moderate heat and when foam subsides, add the chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are wilted and only slightly colored. Remove casserole from heat and set aside.
Season the pieces of veal with salt and pepper, then roll them in flour and shake off the excess. Use a heavy 10-12 inch skillet, heat 6 Tbsp. of olive oil until a have forms over it. Brown the veal in the oil over moderately high heat, 4-5 pieces at a time, adding more oil if needed. Transfer the browned pieces to the casserole and stand them side by side on top of the vegetables.
Heat oven to 350. Discard almost all the fat from the skillet, leaving just a film on the bottom. Pour in the wine and boil it briskly over high heat until it is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Scrape in any by browned bits clinging to the pan. Stir in the stock, basil, thyme, tomatoes, parsley spring, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Pour over veal. The liquid should come halfway up the side of the veal; if it doesn’t, add more stock. Bring the casserole to a boil on top of the stove. Cover and bake in the lower third of the oven, basting accasionally and regulating the oven heat to keep the casserole simmering gently. In about 1-1/2 hours, veal should be tender. Test it by piercing the meat with the tip of a sharp knife. To serve, arrange the pieces of veal on a platter and spoon the sauce and vegetable from the casserole around them. Sprinkle the top with gremolata and serve with risotto Milanese and your favorite green vegetable.
From 1968 Time-Life Book series: “The Cooking of Italy”
This is my birth month and I plan to celebrate a little differently this year. Instead of dressing up and going out to eat (one of my favorite recreational activities) I’m going to make two pots of hearty bean stew and bread-and-butter sandwiches for Midnight Run, who will deliver the meal to folks currently living on the streets of Manhattan. For dessert, we will all have chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles. Happy Birthday to Me!
The soup is a hearty Bean Stew with Chicken, Polish Kielbasa, and Roasted Red Pepper. I’m using small red beans, pink kidney beans, white great northern beans, pinto beans and black beans and will round out the stew by adding onions and garlic as well as vegetables like carrots, celery, tomatoes, and deep green collard greens.
This recipe feeds around 50, so if you make the full recipe you will need to use two big stew-pots.
Ingredients:
1 Lb. dried pink kidney beans
1 Lb. dried small dark red beans
1 Lb. dried white Great Northern beans
1 Lb. dried pinto beans
Clean and wash beans, then soak beans in cold water overnight. The next morning, drain off soaking water and refill the pot with fresh, cold water and bring to gentle boil.
2 lbs. Polish sausages, sliced ¼” thick and set aside in refrigerator.
2- 15-1/2 oz. cans Organic Chopped Tomatoes with juice
12 Oz. roasted Red Pepper, chopped (or cut into decorative shapes)
½ C. chopped parsley
2 Cans Black Beans
1-1/2 Lbs Collard Greens, well washed and sliced into thin strips
In the meantime, wash, dry, and chicken thighs. Sauté chicken in a small amount of oil until skin is light golden color. Add garlic, onion, half the celery and half the carrots and sauté until lightly caramelized. Cover with water and simmer until chicken is ready to fall off the bone. Remove chicken thighs from broth and cool in refrigerator. When chilled, remove skin, fat and bone and return to chicken broth.
When the papery skin of the beans peel back when you blow on them that means that they are ready for salt, so at that point, add salt and simmer for another hour or so, until they are quite tender. Cool. Divide beans into two pots. Divide chicken broth and add to beans. Add canned tomatoes and remaining carrots and celery then cook until tender. When carrots are tender and beans are creamy, add reserved chicken and sliced sausage to the soup.
Cook until warmed through then add the chopped red pepper, parsley, and collard greens. Cook for another 15-20 minutes and serve hot with bread and butter sandwiches, cornbread, or crackers.
Midnight Run wants to hear from you if you know someone in need. To learn more about the wonderful work they do, please visit their website at http://www.midnightrun.org/
Armadillo chili is made with beef and pork, not the flesh of armadillo. Just so you know…
Back in the 1980s when I was working in developmental theater and writing full time as a playwright, I read a newspaper account about a woman who ran a popular tamale wagon in a West Texas town. She was a local fixture who had sold tamales at lunchtime from a humble pushcart in the business district for decades. Everyone loved Serafina’s tamales from the mayor on down.
Then one day, the health inspector inquired after Serafina’s recipe for the meat filling. When Serafina confessed that the tamales were made with feline flesh, she was naturally out of business on the spot. People were shocked. Taking advantage of the confusion, Serafina slipped away and was never held accountable before the law, which was probably a good thing.
In a follow up interview, one of Serafina’s regular customers was asked how it felt to know that he had been eating cat tamales every day for more than 20 years.
He sighed and said, “Oh, I sure do miss Serafina. Them was the best damn cat tamales I ever et!”
That newspaper clipping about cat tamales was the inspiration for a play I wrote (and rewrote, and rewrote) off and on from 1986 to 1994, titled “Armadillo Chili.”
Long Story Short…
Awards: Finalist in the 1988 Purgatory National Playwriting Competition, Purgatory, CO. (Armadillo Chili)
Finalist in the Forest A. Roberts/Shiras Playwriting Competition at Northern
Michigan University, Marquette, MI, 1989 (Armadillo Chili)
Semi-finalist in Dayton Playhouse National Playwriting Competition,
Dayton, OH, 1989. (Armadillo Chili)
Semi-finalist for the L. Arnold Weissberger Award, NYC, 1991. (Armadillo Chili)
Honorable Mention (Top 3) in the Puffin Foundation Competition
for Women Playwrights, PACT Theatre, NYC, 1996 (Armadillo Chili)
Every contest represents a slightly different version of the story. I had the privilege of working with excellent actors on this and other projects at the Writers Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre among other venues in New York City.
I developed this recipe for cast parties.
ARMADILLO CHILI
Ingredients:
2 lb. pork (cubed)
2 lb. beef chuck (cubed)
Water or low-sodium beef broth to cover
Salt
2 oz. Dried Chile peppers (Ancho, Guajillo, Mulatto, etc.*)
3 Fat cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin (grind it yourself if possible)
10 black peppercorns (cracked or ground)
Boiling water
Beans, if desired…
2 Cans Goya Black Beans (rinsed)
2 Can Goya Red Kidney Beans (rinsed)
Method:
Cube meats into bite sized pieces, about 1”x1” (do not trim of all fat)
Place in large stew pot and cover with cold water
Add 1-Tbsp. salt
Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Turn off heat and let meat cool off in liquid
In a heat-proof bowl:
Tear or break dried chiles into pieces, separate and discard seeds
Add 3 cloves fresh garlic, oregano, cumin, and peppercorns
Cover with boiling water and let steep until room temperature
Put chile mixture into blender and puree until smooth.
Add puree to meat and broth in stew pot and bring to a simmer again.
If adding beans, drain well (if using canned beans) and rinse before adding to pot.
Simmer on low for 1 hour. Turn off heat and allow to cool again to room temperature.
Taste, add more salt or more pepper if more heat is desired.
**Ancho chiles are my preference, but others can be substituted according to individual taste. I sometimes toss in a chipotle (smoked jalapeno) if I’m in more of a campfire mood.
This year Valentine’s Day came at the end of a four day weekend staycation for us. We had fun running around, seeing movies, shopping, eating out, and visiting with friends for days leading up to the holiday. When my beloved asked me where I’d like to have dinner on the most romantic holiday of the year, I didn’t hesitate for a second. When I said, “Il Sorriso,” a big smile broke out on his face.
Il Sorriso has become our favorite special place to celebrate anything, but especially all things associated with romance. The food is divine, the service incomparable, and the atmosphere – well, it gets me in the mood for love. Wishing you a go-to spot for all your special occasions… xoxo, vicki
Il Sorriso (The Smile) is a well-known local Italian Restaurant with a superb reputation that serves dishes from a variety of Italian regions. One visit is all it will take to convince you that Il Sorriso is aptly named. Visit their website for details
