Tag: Food

The Effect of a Good Church

D. Michl Lowe1 Comment

This past Saturday, my family and I went down to the local IHOP for some breakfast. This is a relatively normal thing for us to do on the weekend. As we walked into the restaurant, my youngest daughter tripped and fell to her knees. An older gentleman reached down to help her up. He smiled and asked her if she was okay. She said yes, I thanked him, and we walked on to our table.

As we sat down to order and later eat breakfast, it became apparent that this older man was sitting alone. He was seated in the middle of our section, and nearly every table around him got a smile and brief conversation. Before long, it was our turn. He asked about the kids and commented on the current state of politics and some other things.

“My kids won’t have anything to do with me,” he commented. “I had open heart surgery and they didn’t even come to visit. No phone call to check on me, nothing.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

“They did come to talk to me once though,” he continued. “To ask me about their inheritance. I ain’t given them nothin!”

He laughed at that and, soon after, smiled and said goodbye. As he walked out, I thought about this man. He was so lonely that he obviously came to the local IHOP so he could talk to random folks. It was clear that this was why he was there; he didn’t order any food, just a coffee.

This might sound odd, but it made me think of my church. This coming year, my wife and I will have been at our church for 20 years now. It is the longest I have spent at a single church in my entire life. Nearly half of my life has been spent around my church family. Sunday after Sunday, we come to this house of worship to spend time with these people and the God we serve.

Sometimes, I am grim in my thoughts about the future, but this time, I was uplifted. God forbid I would end up alone like the man at the IHOP, but if I am, I would not need to go down to my local eatery just to get a human connection. I know that for a certainty. The family of God would be attending to me. I have seen it over and over in our church. Tragedy strikes, or there is a need and the people of God respond.

I wouldn’t need to attend IHOP; I could just attend church. It’s like God understood the need for fellowship in humans. Go figure.

D. Michl Lowe

Marrow Morel Toast

D. Michl Lowe3 Comments

-A warning from the start, always make sure the morals you use are safe. If you don’t know for sure, please replace morels with your mushroom of choice from your local grocery.-

In my upcoming fantasy novel, there is a character named Marcum Wiggsnem who runs a famous restaurant in Charles Gate called The Pig Pen. He is famous for making Marcum’s King-bowl Toast, which is basically morel mushroom toast. So here is that famous recipe from Marcum’s restaurant in the heart of the city of Charles Gate. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices of whole wheat bread
  • 1/2 lb. of morel mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 beef bone marrow pieces, about 1 inch each, soaked overnight in water to whiten
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 tbsp. of butter
  • 2 tbsp. of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
  2. Toast the slices of whole wheat bread in the oven until crisp and golden, about 8-10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, in a pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  4. Add the minced shallots and cook until softened, about 2-3 minutes.
  5. Add the sliced morel mushrooms and minced garlic to the pan and cook until the mushrooms are tender about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Remove from heat and keep warm.
  7. In another pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.
  8. Sear the beef bone marrow pieces for about 2-3 minutes on each side until browned and soft.
  9. Place a piece of beef bone marrow on top of each slice of toast and spread gently to cover.
  10. Place the toasted bread and beef marrow combination on a baking sheet and top each slice with the morel mushroom mixture.
  11. Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the bone marrow is hot and slightly softened.
  12. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.

This rich and savory toast combines the nutty flavor of whole wheat bread with the earthy taste of morel mushrooms and the indulgent creaminess of beef bone marrow. Please use mushrooms you are sure are actual morels, or substitute your own favorite grocery store mushroom instead, to be safe.

For additional flavor or something different, top with a sunny-side-up egg fried in bone marrow grease.

D. Michl Lowe

River’s Edge Cabbage Soup Recipe

D. Michl LoweLeave a comment

I considered writing an article about this recipe first so that you all would have to scroll through it to get to the recipe, but I hate it when websites do that, so here is the recipe at the beginning. You’re welcome!

Cabbage Soup Recipe

Yields around 6 quarts. However, I often double this recipe and freeze what my family can’t eat in one sitting.

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium-sized cabbage chopped into 1-inch squares, (or enough to fill the bottom of the pot several inches up with chopped cabbage).
  • 5-6 stalks of celery (enough to cover the top of the cabbage).
  • 1 (28-ounce) can of crushed tomatoes.
  • 8 ounces of tomato juice or V8.
  • 1.5 tablespoons salt.
  • 1 teaspoon of black pepper or white pepper, if you want a cleaner look.
  • 1/2 a teaspoon of crushed red pepper.

Directions:

  • 1. Take your cabbage and cut it into 1-inch squares. Place this in a large steep-sided pot, enough to hold all the ingredients.
  • 2. Put the chopped celery into the pot on top of the cabbage. I usually just do a rough chop to the size I want.
  • 3. Fill the stock pot up with water to cover the cabage and celery a good 5 inches.
  • 4. Place the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat just enough to keep it at a steady simmer and cook until the cabbage and celery are tender but still firm; around 35 minutes.
  • 5. Then add the remaining ingredients (crushed tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper) and cook an additional 5 minutes to allow the ingredients to get to know one another.

Notes: You may want to adjust the salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to suit your taste. I personally like to add some chopped Polish Style Smoked Kiolbassa Sausage, the pre-cooked kind. I know it’s not traditional to the Rivers Edge Restaurant, but I really like it with this addition, your mileage may vary. Anyway, enjoy the soup!

The River’s Edge Restaurant was originally a restaurant located in Saint Albans West Verginia. It was closed around 2010, unfortunately.

D. Michl Lowe

Addendum: I did not come up with this recipe myself, I found it years ago on the web at Delishably.com and have rewritten and reworked it over the years into the format you see here. To be completely fair, this is as close as I have been able to get to the original recipe that I remember it as a kid. It’s the closest to the original taste and trust me I have tried a lot of other versions. Howie, the original website author writes a very good article that goes into a lot of details about the town of Saint Albans, the restuarant, and the recipe, so check out his article below.

https://delishably.com/soup/Cabbage-Soup-RiversEdgeStyle#gid=ci026c5f58300727c9&pid=cabbage-soup-riversedgestyle-MTc0NjE5MzE3NjU5NTc2MjY1