Come Sunday

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

I'm nearing the end of our month in Carmel. The signs are everywhere. The kitchen larder is depleted, the last glow of the sunset now disperses around six in the evening, and the tents are up at Pebble Beach for the upcoming clambake (AT&T Pro-Am for you youngsters).

About a third of our stay here in Carmel is spent with house guests, and with all those house guests, there is always the ubiquitous laundry. I do all my own housecleaning here, and while I probably couldn't pass a white-glove test, I do like things clean and tidy. I spend one-third of my time here alone. This is the time that is meant to be productive. In addition to my blog, I am editing a novel, working on the outline of another novel, and writing a self-help book which I intend to publish online (I know, I know . . . another self-help book and what do I know, anyway?). So, I'm kept busy. And, right now, I am alone.

For the other third of our time here it is just the two of us. We walk each morning, go to Carmel Basilica for Mass on Sundays, go out for drinks and/or to eat, and to the movies occasionally. We cook a lot, enjoying the luxury of the six-burner Wolf range at the home we rent here (though I've never figured out a meal that would require firing up all six burners). When Billy is back in LA, I talk to him several times during the day, as well as at bedtime. We are partners in our business, so we need to touch base regarding taxes, finances and other sundry issues. And, I like to phone him when I'm, say, driving past Carmel Mission on my way back from Safeway. Just to give him a visual. I let him know what kind of a sunset there was. And how far I walk each morning. But it's not the same as having him here.

I don't want to sound too soppy here. After all, we've been married for decades. On the other hand, maybe that is why I never get used to being without him. I feel as if he is a part of my life much like air and water. Essential. He makes me smile, he makes me laugh. He makes me crazy, and sometimes I want to kill him (there it is -- the smoking gun!). But I am still enraptured of the life that I have spent with this man who talked me into marrying him shortly after we met.

Billy's mom always says that I was the "making" of him. But I don't agree. Billy was always destined to be who he now is -- responsible, successful, and infinitely generous. He enjoys life and the people in his life. He has a family-instilled work ethic with a business mission to help people get what they want. And, more importantly, a personal mantra for his life which is Happy Wife, Happy Life (ok, he got this from our friend, John. But I have to say, to my good fortune, he has embraced it!) . I hope I make him happy as well, outside of the times when I make him crazy, and when he probably wants to kill me (again with the smoking gun . . .). Well, we always said that divorce wasn't an option. Homicide, perhaps . . .

So, potential marital violence aside, as the time approaches, when Billy returns to Carmel to help me pack up; after which we will leave our Brigadoon and drive back down Highway 101 towards Los Angeles; I begin to hear Jimmy Buffett's song Come Monday. Except Billy will be returning on Sunday. This Sunday.

I always like to prepare something special when I am expecting him back into town. But right now, at the end of our trip, I need to make something that won't require buying a lot of ingredients. Something that we will be sure to use up in the few days that are left. And, preferably something that will leave the house with a wonderful fragrance so that he will notice it when he walks in. I'm not going to bake bread though that probably gives the most fragrant air to any home. But no, and no. So, here's what I came up with that has a minimum of ingredients with the maximum of flavor and aroma. Dos recipes, the first originating in the Los Angeles Times, the second adapted from an upcoming cookbook from NYC chef April Bloomfield. I found the original recipe for it in the January 2011 Food & Wine Magazine, but have adapted it as follows down below. But, first:

Caramelized Onions

6        large onions
1/2   cup oil
2        teaspoons kosher salt

Cut off stem and root ends of the onions, then halve lengthwise, and peel away brown skin. Cut onions lengthwise into one-fourth inch slides. Place in heavy-bottomed pot.

Pour over oil and salt; toss together. Set over medium heat, cover, and cook until onions begin to wilt, stirring every ten to fifteen minutes to keep from sticking. As onions soften then will significantly reduce in size.

After twenty or thirty minutes, onions will be quite soft and will begin to stick to the bottom. Reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking with the pot covered, stirring every ten minutes or so to keep from sticking. Continue cooking and stirring as indicated above for another twenty-five or thirty minutes. At this point the onions will be silky and swimming in moisture. Remove lid and increase heat back to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, until the moisture has mostly evaporated and the onions have begun to turn golden, about twenty-five to thirty more minutes.

Once again, reduce heat to low and continue cooking, stirring every fifteen minutes or so until onions really begin to brown more deeply, about two more hours (yes, two more hours! You weren't planning to go out, were you?). At this point you'll need to watch the onions very carefully, stirring every couple of minutes or so. Cook until the onions have reduced to a deeply colored, mahogany marmalade, watching that they do not dry out, which may take up to an hour. There is a fine line between the deep richness of caramelized onions, and charring them, so watch out. Color is the key, and it may not take the full hour (when I have cut this recipe in half, the time is definitely shorter).

Approximately eight servings, depending upon how used (*see below).


Apples in Balsamic-Caramel Sauce

2     tablespoons unsalted butter
3     pounds Granny Smith apples (approx. 6)
        peeled, cored, and cut into thin wedges
1      cup sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1      cup water

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add apples and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until browned in spots, about five minutes. Sprinkle sugar over, reduce heat to medium, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about two to three minutes.

Add balsamic vinegar and water, and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until the apples are tender and the sauce is syrupy, about four minutes. Serve warm.

Six servings


*Now, both of these can be used in a lot of diverse ways. The onions can be layered between potatoes and baked in a gratin. I have stirred them into macaroni and cheese made with gruyere cheese. They can be used in scrambled eggs, spooned on toast spread with ricotta cheese, or piled on top of sausage served in buns. Think of them as a ingredient, as well as a condiment.

The apples are wonderful as a side dish with anything cheesy -- the aforementioned mac & cheese, for example, or a cheese souffle. They are also excellent with chicken and with pork chops or tenderloin. And, guess what! They can also be spooned on toast spread with ricotta as mentioned above. Last but not least, they can be deliciously ladled over vanilla ice cream. Wow. I think I've just decided on Sunday night's dessert . . .

You see the thread that runs through these dishes: caramel. Yum. I even thought about entitling this post Sweets for the Sweet, but I knew that anyone who read that would never stop throwing up. So, a cooler head prevailed. You can get into a lot of trouble when writing a blog if you give way to your impulses. Besides, that song kept running through my head.

So, on Sunday, I will get up in the morning, drink my tea, and make my way to the Basilica for Mass. I will go directly from there to the little Monterey airport where Billy will be waiting for me after having flown in that morning from LA. As always, I will glad to see him again, even though we will have spoken that morning. Amidst all the satisfying things there are to do here in Monterey County, one of my favorite things to do while I am here in Carmel, is to welcome Billy back. And that is what I will be doing . . . come Sunday. Thank you for reading my blog (and welcome back, BH).