FOOD AND FIREARMS

In 1971, when I was 15, I learned two things: I loved the restaurant business and having a gun in my possession empowered me. I remembered that as I prepared a salad for dinner last night and was reminded of my first official, go-to-work, get-a-check job. I was hired at the Westwood Inn on Green Lake to work in the kitchen as a “salad girl.”

The salad bar concept was making its debut out this way in the early 70’s. Our salad bar at Westwood was a long table covered with a white linen cloth in the corner of the dining room. No sneeze guard, no ice compartments. It was laden with lettuce and all the fixings, salad dressings and soups and other accompaniments like cole slaw, potato saladin larger ice-filled bowls, and mountains of freshly baked popovers under a heat lamp.

My job was to prep dozens of heads of iceberg lettuce, the only choice of greens back then, by peeling the outer leaves, knocking the stem out of the bottom with one swift blow on a hard surface which left the core on the counter, and placing the heads in tubs covered with damp dish towels. On a Saturday night, we could go through at least a dozen or two heads. I also made up the dressings, exotic French, bleu cheese and Italian, and cruets of oil and vinegar available for the calorie conscious. I diligently patrolled the table, replenishing the bowls and keeping it tidy.

I loved my job and worked my way up to other positions: hostessing, waiting tables in the restaurant and serving and bartending in the cocktail lounge. Burt Lundberg played the organ on weekend nights and couples danced on the lower level glassed-in patio as the moon rose over Green Lake. Pretty romantic. It was a beautiful place to learn the ins and outs of food, which I never stopped being passionate about. 

On weekends, I didn’t get out of the kitchen very early and, after breaking down the salad bar and cleaning up my station, I would have to walk across the dark parking lot, lit only by tiki torches, across the road and into a gravel lot next to a wooded area to get into my car. My mother, always safety-conscious, made me carry a gun in the car. That was to protect me if I went in the ditch or had a flat tire on the way home and encountered a thug on a lonely country road. Where I really should have had the gun was on my walk to the car. For weeks, I was stalked by one of the creepiest men I have ever seen, with wild hair, a cock-eye and one black glove. But that’s another story. He disappeared in a night, never to surface again. Much like the old Westwood Inn itself. It burned to the ground on December 7, 1974. I, along with most of the staff, stood shivering in the snow, tears of sadness sliding down our frozen cheeks as we said goodbye to our dear friend.

I often relive my years at that lovely place and remember the fun we all had and the bonds that were forged. I think it is safe to say, most of us, if things were different, would be working there still.  

WESTWOOD WEDGE

1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 4 wedges

Cherry tomatoes, halved

Bacon, fried crisp and crumbled (reserve 4 slices for garnish)

Bleu cheese

Bleu cheese dressing

Fresh cracked pepper

Place iceberg wedges on 4 plates. Top and surround with tomatoes. Drizzle bleu cheese dressing over lettuce. Sprinkle bacon and bleu cheese crumbles over top. Add fresh cracked pepper. Place 1 slice crisp bacon on top for garnish. 

SALAD BAR POPOVERS

1-1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

1-1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, room temperature

1-1/2 cups milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Generously grease popover pan or glass custard cups with softened butter. Place pans in oven for 2 minutes to preheat. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, salt, eggs, milk and melted butter until smooth. Batter will be thin. Fill popover pan or cups less than half full and bake for 30 minutes. Don’t open oven while baking. Remove and serve immediately with honey butter.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS BUCKSHOT BROWNIES

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup toffee bits

Powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. When totally combined, blend in toffee bits. Spread in a greased 8 inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top. Cool and cut into squares.  

THE THREE R's

It’s getting to be that time of year when we batten down the hatches and make ready for Old Man Winter. I have been doing just that this past month by putting things away in the potting shed, where I store my garden tools, hoses, pots and watering cans. The shed also holds a fair share of non-gardening items, like Christmas lights, sunflower seed and suet for the birds, burlap potato sacks, picnic baskets, even my old loom which ceased to live in the house after my frustrating weaving experiences. So much for becoming a hippie.

I had completely forgotten an old milk can that was also among the bric-a-brac, covered as it was by a mountain of clay pots. There it was, my Home Ec. project from high school. For a home improvement unit, we were to Reclaim and Recondition an item to Reuse. The three R’s. I confiscated the can from my Dad’s pile of stuff in the machine shed and decided it would be fun to paint and fashion it into an ashtray, since most people I knew back then were smokers. I personally preferred to get my smoke quota by burning incense in my room. My favorite scent was “Campfire.”

To complete my school project, after thoroughly cleaning the can, I painted it blue with an “antiquing” overlay, all the rage in the 70’s. I then cut and pasted flowers out of wallpaper leftover from what I had on the walls in my room. Lastly, I sealed it with a protective coating and placed a dish in the cover for incense ash. It was well received at school by all who saw it but garnered an “F” from my teacher. She wasn’t fond of me, I guess. I protested and won. The grade was changed to an “A,” but she contended that my attitude was questionable and therefore felt I deserved what I got the first time around. All that creative energy, passion and ambition. Sprinkled with just a touch of rebellion, I guess.

I used and enjoyed that handy-dandy household item throughout high school and college and must have liked it well enough to keep it around for 40 odd years. As I remembered where that milk can/ashtray sat at different times in my old bedroom, I pictured my dresser, matched by my skilled paintbrush with the same blue antiquing, the mule deer mount above my bed, the birch branch with the bird’s nest in the corner, the steamer trunk upon which sat my stereo blaring my favorites, Carole King, Boz Skaggs and Neil Young, along with some occasional Gypsy. On one wall was a portrait of an Indian Chief I painted in art class and, above my dresser, my mirror was draped with hippie beads, headbands and feathers.  Just above that, hung a slab of wood (we were all about something from nothing back then) upon which I mounted the railroad spike I put in the tire of Dad’s ’69 Dodge truck. I still have that, too. It was a symbol to me of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, what that meant to me and what He’s done in my life: Reclaim, Recondition, Reuse.

POTTING SHED SUNFLOWER SEED COOKIES

1-1/2 cups butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 cups flour

1 cup coconut

1 cup sunflower seeds

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add baking soda, baking powder and flour. Mix well. Stir in coconut and sunflower seeds. Shape into 1 inch balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

HOME EC BAKED POTATO SOUP

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup flour

5 cups milk (can use half chicken broth)

7 pounds baked potatoes, peeled and cut up

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 ounces cheddar cheese

4-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (save a little for garnish)

1 cup sour cream

Fresh parsley

In a stock pot, melt butter. Stir in onions and celery. Saute. Sprinkle in half the flour and stir well with a whisk. Gradually whisk in milk and the rest of the flour. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Stir in potatoes, then add salt and pepper, cheese and bacon. Once heated through, stir in sour cream, stir and serve. Garnish each bowl with a sprig of fresh parsley, a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese and a few bacon crumbles.

HIPPIE BARS

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups brown sugar

3 cups peanut butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-1/2 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup coconut

1/8 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup walnuts, lightly chopped

1 cup pistachios, lightly chopped

1 cup almonds, lightly chopped

1 cup chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Blend in peanut butter. Stir in baking soda. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla. Stir well. Mix in all other ingredients. Press into a sheet pan. Chill for 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into bar