How Feeding Homeless Teens Helped Inspire Dinner at Home

If, or hopefully when, you read my newest book, Dinner at Home, you’ll encounter Hank Mellinger, a homeless twenty-something who, when we first meet him, is staying at a Charity called Haven, where he gets room, board, and training in how to be a professional cook. Two similar charities exist in Seattle, where the book is set, Fare Start, which teaches cooking skills to the homeless, and YouthCare, which provides shelter, food, clothing, and vocational training for homeless youth, an astoundingly (or maybe not) large number of whom identify as LGBT.

I volunteer for YouthCare, cooking lunches and dinners once or twice a month with a group of my friends—we call ourselves the “It Gets Better” group. There’s not many things I do that are as satisfying, rewarding, and inspirational as this service. It warms my heart to know that the food I made with my own hands is feeding kids who may not have anything else to eat the rest of the day. Their happiness at seeing what we made that day can bring tears to my eyes.

My experience with YouthCare is part of the reason I love my character Hank, in Dinner at Home so much. He’s like the kids I feed: streetwise, tough on the outside, but vulnerable too. They’re really barely more than children and they’ve been forced to grow up too fast and have seen too much. Hank is no different.

Here’s a little excerpt that shows you what Hank is all about—tough guy outside, but all heart on the inside:

“You really want to feed people this crap?” Hank Mellinger snapped at his new boss. Lined up in the kitchen of Haven, a charity that housed and fed the homeless of Seattle and provided chef training for some of its residents, were several industrial-sized boxes of generic mac and cheese mix. Alongside the boxes were sticks of no-name margarine and boxes of powdered milk.

His boss, E.J. Porter, an African-American woman with her hair braided tightly to her scalp and oval-rimmed frameless glasses, shook her head as she took in her latest charge.

“Hank. We have to face reality here. Now, as much as I would love to serve people mac and cheese with real cheddar, cream, and maybe roasted red peppers, we just can’t afford that kind of stuff on the measly funds we get from the state and what donors kick in. Hell, honey, we might as well do a béchamel and throw some lobster in too.” She patted his shoulder. “It’s a nice dream, sweetie. Now you need to get cookin’. Lunch is only a couple hours away and I still need you to chop and prep the salad.” She pointed to the sorry pile of heads of iceberg lettuce in the sink.

Hank shook his head. “So because people are poor, they have to eat this fucking shit? Why can’t we get some fresh vegetables? Is it that pricey? This stuff gives ‘em nothin’. Artery-clogging crap that might fill up their bellies, but doesn’t do a thing to keep ‘em healthy. Fuck.”

E.J. moved in close to Hank, so close he could feel her breath and maybe even a bit of her spittle on his face. She spoke softly, but there was an intensity, perhaps even a fury to her words. “Look, Hank, you just got here. I have been trying to run this place for the last nine years. You have no idea what I go through just to get the food we have to work with. You have no idea how grateful some of these people are for this ‘shit’ as you call it. It tastes pretty good when the last meal you had came out of a dumpster, if you had anything at all. We work with what we get. Some days it’s healthier fare than others, but all of it’s food. For hungry people. And you might not think that’s something, but it is.

“Now, you are just starting here. We gave you a roof over your head, food to eat, and we’re trying to help you find a career path as a chef. Haven may not be Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, but we will get you ready to work in a kitchen. We’ll give you knife skills, teach you how to make simple sauces, stocks, and soups, we’ll make a real cook out of you. Maybe not a chef, but a cook.

“Now you need to watch your language, watch your attitude, and get to work.” E.J. stormed away.

BUY
from Dreamspinner Press in ebook or in paperback
Amazon Kindle

If you want to know more about YouthCare (and maybe even donate), here’s a little more information:

YouthCare History

For 40 years, YouthCare has been a leader in providing effective services to Seattle’s homeless youth.

In 1974, a group of concerned citizens started a three-bed shelter for homeless and runaway youth, the first in the Western United States.  Since then, we have grown to become a community-based agency with six sites serving the greater Seattle area. During that time, we have led the way in creating effective, innovative programs for homeless young people:

• In 1989, YouthCare created one of the first transitional living programs in the Northwest. Straley House now houses Catalyst, one of the first low-barrier housing programs for homeless youth in the region.
• In 1998, YouthCare opened ISIS House, the first transitional living program in Washington State to focus on the unique needs of homeless LGBTQ youth.
• In 2003, YouthCare was one of the first agencies nationwide to contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement to house a shelter/case management program serving the specialized needs of refugee youth.
• In May 2010, YouthCare partnered with the City of Seattle, the King County Prosecutor’s Office, and others to open the Bridge Program, the first residential recovery program in the Northwest for sexually exploited children. Today, the program operates as a full continuum of services for sexually exploited youth and  young adults, and includes dedicated beds in both emergency shelter and transitional living programs.

Contact

For general inquiries, including program information and donation options: info@youthcare.org or (206) 694-4500

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Note: This blog post originally appeared on The Novel Approach.

Food, Memories, and Love

It might just be me, but I believe one of the most powerful ways you can show someone you love them is through feeding them. Growing up, the maternal side of my family was Sicilian. And let me tell you, the Sicilians believe in three things: love, family, and food. You simply did not turn down food when you visited my relatives (and you always sat around the kitchen table when you visited, never the living room).

My mom, who passed away from cancer in 2007, was a product of her Italian roots. Her best food was the simple Sicilian peasant fare she grew up and learned to cook from the aunts and grandmother who raised her. One of her best recipes, and the one she was known for, was her spaghetti sauce and meatballs. To this day, I make her all-day-simmer sauce on lazy Sundays. The smell of it brings her memory back to me more powerfully than any photograph and, yes, that aroma often brings a tear to my eye.

I could not write my “romance with recipes” Dinner at Home, without including that recipe. I share it with you below. I also would like to share a little excerpt from the book, in which my main character, Ollie, remembers making meatballs with his own Italian mom. The excerpt reminds me of the special times I shared with my mother, almost always in the kitchen.

Ollie and Meatballs (an excerpt from Dinner at Home)

“Go ahead, you do it.”

Ollie looks up at his mother, her warm smile, her dark hair and green eyes as she stares down at the five-year-old, expectantly. 

“Like this?” Ollie asks and he upends the jug of milk over a couple of slices of white bread his mother has placed in the sink.

“Rub it in. Get the bread all nice and wet,” his mother says.

“Like it’s getting a bath?” Ollie asks.

His mother laughs. “Like it’s getting a bath.”

Once the bread is thoroughly wet, Ollie picks it up and holds it, dripping, over a bowl of equal parts ground beef, veal, and pork. 

“Now grind it all up,” his mother says. And Ollie squeezes the bread, squeezing and twisting it until it drops in damp crumbs to the meat.

“Very good.” His mom pats his head. “What comes next?”

“The eggs?”

“That’s right.” His mom hands him the first egg and Ollie awkwardly cracks it against the side of the glass bowl. Some of the white runs down the outside of the bowl. “That’s okay,” his mom says when he looks up at her, lower lip out and eyes wide. “You’ll get it right with this one.” And she hands him another egg.

He does, cracking the egg and opening it over the meat and bread mixture so the yolk breaks when it hits. He looks down at the mixture, then back to Mom. “What’s next?”

“You know what’s next.”

“Garlic?”

“Lots of garlic.” She has already chopped the cloves fine and she gestures for him to cup his hands. When he does so, she delivers the pungent smelling stuff into his palms and tells him to scatter it around.
They add dried basil, oregano, onion powder, and salt and pepper. “Now get your hands in there and mix it all up.” She rubs his back as he combines everything, giggling at the wet mushiness of the mixture. She giggles too.

“Now the best part!” Ollie says. “Meatballs.”

His mother pulls a chair from the kitchen table and sets little Ollie on it so he can work more easily. She rolls up her sleeves and says, “Let’s get to work.”

Ollie awakened from the dream with a smile. One of his favorite childhood memories was helping his Sicilian mother make her spaghetti sauce and meatballs every Sunday. He did it throughout his life. He could now make her simmer-all-day-thick, rich, and delicious sauce with his eyes closed. Even though he used all the same ingredients in all the same proportions, it never tasted quite the same. Good, but just not quite the same. There was no substitute for a mother’s love.

Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs
(Serves 4-6)

1 29-oz. can tomato puree
1 12-oz. can tomato paste
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon each oregano, basil, and onion powder
2 handfuls grated Romano or Parmesan cheese (half a cup?)
7 cups water or 1-2 cups red wine with the remainder water (I usually use wine)

Note: Most all of the above ingredients can just be eyeballed. Mix everything in a big pot, add meatballs and pork and simmer for at least four hours. Highly recommended: brown some pork (ribs, chops, whatever’s cheap, a little less than a pound in the pan you’re going to cook the sauce in. Just caramelize it. Once it’s done, pull out, deglaze with a splash of red wine, and begin making your sauce.)

Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef (or beef and pork, or turkey)
1 egg
1 slice bread
¼ cup milk
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, onion powder, basil, oregano (just eyeball all of this)

Take a slice of bread, wet with milk, crumble into meat, and add seasonings and egg. Mix with hands, form into balls, brown in hot fry pan on stove in a little olive oil, and drop into the sauce.

Read another excerpt

BUY
from Dreamspinner Press in ebook or in paperback
Amazon Kindle

Turkey Burgers

I used to think turkey burgers were bland, the ugly stepsister of the more robust hamburger.

Then I started tinkering around...

And now, I think I prefer the turkey burgers I make to the ones made from beef. Try these and see what you think.

Rick’s Turkey Burgers(Serves 4 or two hungry men)

Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, finely chopped
1-tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1-teaspoon stone ground mustard
1 egg
¼ cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Top with cheese, if desired (I like sharp Cheddar)

Directions
Combine all, form into 4 patties and fry or grill (I make thick patties so my burgers take 5-6 minutes per side). I like to serve with sliced avocado, tomato and more mustard.

Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit: Red Lentil Soup

Slow Cooker Red Lentil Soup

This is one of those recipes that I have to confess I came up with by throwing together pantry ingredients when I was looking for a quick and easy supper to make. I had some red lentils leftover from another recipe and thought, “What can I do with those?” A quick look around and I saw a can of diced tomatoes, chicken stock, herbs and the usual mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot) and thought they’d make a great hearty soup, especially in the slow-cooker, which really shines for cooking beans.

The soup (or stew—it’s thick) was amazing, if I do say so myself. Very flavorful and even better when reheat it a day or two later. I also had some Irish banger sausages in the freezer that I threw in, but you could substitute a different kind of sausage and still come up with a great main course soup. You could even go vegetarian—just leave out the meat and swap the chicken stock for vegetable.

Ingredients
½ onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced (or do what I do—use baby carrots already peeled and ready)
2 stalks celery, sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 quart chicken stock (homemade is best, but who has time for that?)
2 cups red lentils (I suppose another color would suffice too)
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder
½ lb. sausage (I used bangers, but a good chicken sausage or Andouille, would also work well—just, for God’s sake—don’t use breakfast links)
Salt and pepper to taste (I am generous with my S&P); the best way to do salt and pepper is be conservative at the start of the recipe and taste and adjust just before serving.

Directions
Really, this couldn’t be easier. Simply dump all the above into a slow cooker, stir, cover and set to low for 8-9 hours. The great thing about dried lentils is they need no pre-soaking or prep (you might want to pick through quickly to make sure there are no stones mixed in).

At the end of cooking, remove sausage, halve lengthwise, then slice, and return to soup.
(Serves 4-6)

I served with grated cheese and more freshly ground black pepper. A loaf of crusty bread is almost a must-have with this.

Cover Reveal: Dinner at Home

BIG COVER REVEAL!

My "romance with recipes" just got a new face, courtesy of cover artist extraordinaire, Reese Dante. I'm just thrilled with it. Here's the blurb for the book, which comes out in May:

It only takes a few days for Ollie D'Angelo to lose his boyfriend, his job, and his home. Instead of mourning what he doesn’t have, Ollie celebrates what he does: the freedom to pursue his real passion—cooking. He begins Dinner at Home, a home-catering business, and it takes off.

Late one night, Ollie catches Hank Mellinger, a street-wise hood down on his luck, about to rob his car. Ollie soon discovers that appearances aren’t necessarily what they seem. Hank isn’t a criminal caught red-handed but a hungry young man trying to make a life for himself and the four-year-old niece he’s trying desperately to take care of. 

Instead of calling the cops, Ollie offers Hank a job and a way to pull himself up by his bootstraps. Together, they discover they can really cook... and that their shared passion for food just might lead to a passion for each other.

Dinner from Home will appear soon on Dreamspinner Press's Coming Soon page and you can pre-order. It will be widely available beginning in May.

A Guest at the Table: Reader & Mom Kari Higa Makes Shares Her Recipe for Chocolate Waffles

Kari says: I love making chocolate covered treats for special occasions.  It's not an indulgence I allow myself often but these are so good.

Sometimes, I make way too many treats for one day.  I had leftover ganache and chocolate cover fruit.  So the next day, when trying to decide what to make for breakfast, I decided to make chocolate waffles. It turned out so much better than I'd hoped.

No need for syrup. Just sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar and top with chocolate covered fruit!

Chocolate Waffles 

Ingredients
4 tbsp chocolate ganache (see recipe below)
1 1/2 cups waffle mix (Bisquick or see recipe below)
1 large egg
Milk (about 3/4 cup)
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sugar
Berries (I used chocolate covered strawberries and raspberries)

Directions
Preheat the waffle iron.  In a large microwaveable bowl, warm the ganache (mine was refrigerated). Add the waffle mix, sugar, egg, oil, and stir enough milk until the batter is cake-like batter consistency.

Fill the waffle iron with batter and cook until done.

Top with fruit and sprinkle powdered sugar.  Enjoy!

Makes 6 waffles

Chocolate Ganache

The ratio for ganache is 1 cup heavy cream to 8 oz. chocolate chips.  I like dark chocolate so I use Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips.

Warm the cream in the microwave for about a minute in the microwave.  Keep an eye so that it doesn't boil.  Add the chocolate chips and stir until shiny and the chocolate completely melt.

Waffle Mix

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

This can be stored in an airtight container. I make a huge batch so I can use it during the week to cut down on preparation time.

A Guest at the Table: Andrea Speed, author of the Infected Series, with Vegetarian Puttanesca

Thanks for having me today, Rick. Food doesn’t play a huge part in the Infected universe, but then again, it sort of does. Roan has to eat lots of food after shifts, since it sends his metabolism haywire, and while he’s a meat eater, Dylan, his significant other, is very much a vegetarian, and also the better cook of the two. There isn’t much conflict over this, because Dylan doesn’t care if Roan eats meat, and Roan doesn’t care that Dylan is trying to make him eat more vegetarian fare. They’ve worked it out. (And, if left to his own devices, Roan would eat nothing but takeout.) 

Here is where today’s recipe is from, in Infected: Freefall  -

Excerpt from Infected: Freefall
From the stairs he glanced down at his television and saw that Dylan was watching Doctor Who as he cooked. Roan was nearly at the base of the stairs when Dylan finally noticed him. “Hey, should you be out of bed?”

“I was shot in the hand. I’m not an invalid. If I play my cards right, I won’t even have a limp.”

Dylan gave him a warning frown, tearing a sheet of aluminum foil off the roll. “You must feel better. You’re back to being a smart-ass.”

“Hard to keep a good smart-ass down.” As he entered the kitchen and went to the fridge, he saw a couple of pans on the stove, steaming away. He’d almost forgotten he had pans like that. “Smells great. What is it?”

“Penne alla puttanesca.”

“Wow, I love puttanesca sauce.”

“I know, that’s why I made it. It’s ready if you’re hungry.”

Roan pulled an old Gatorade bottle from the back of the shelf and gulped it down. It was disgusting, but he had to admit he felt a little less logy afterwards. And as disgusting as it was, he drank it all. He had to get his fluid levels back up; he probably hadn’t lost that much blood, but he was bleeding pretty good there for a while. “Yeah, I guess I am, thanks.” He paused for a moment. “Doesn’t puttanesca sauce have anchovies in it?”

“Mine doesn’t.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Roan got a plate down from the cupboard—at least he remembered where they were—and helped himself to a ladle full of pasta (whole wheat, of course, and probably organic; he was dating a hippie) and sauce, which were in separate pans. The sauce smelled really good, anchovies be damned.

**

This is a variation on the recipe I found here: http://easylifecooking.com/vegetarian-penne-alla-puttanesca.html  I'm big on modifying recipes to suit your own taste, and I've done that here by adding a bell pepper, mushrooms, and thyme,  giving a small boost to the red pepper flakes, and omitting orange juice (not sure why that was in the original recipe). I've also included the textured protein variation, where you add some meat substitute. Not everyone's a fan of that, so it's just included as an option.

Dylan’s Vegetarian Penne alla Puttanesca

Ingredients
2 Tbs.  olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced and peeled
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper (I prefer red, but it's up to you - green or yellow might give you more of a color variation)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/3 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine (you could also use red - I won't tell)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (I like brown cremini, but you can add any kind you like)
One 28-oz. can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped, juice reserved
1/3 cup pitted olives, quartered (I prefer black, but you could use green, or even use a mix of green and black)
2 Tbs. capers, rinsed
8 oz.  penne pasta (or whatever pasta you like - this is good with angel hair, spaghetti, macaroni, you name it)
1/2 cup grated  Romano cheese (Or Parmasean - it's totally up to your preference)
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or basil
Salt & black pepper (at least a dash of each)

Optional:
If you'd like, you could also add soy protein meat substitute meatballs or sausage, chopped (Morningstar Farms makes some, but so do others, such as Tofurky - again, all a matter of personal preference). Make according to their package directions, and add at the end, when assembling the dish.

Directions
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, mushroom, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender (5 to 6 minutes). Add the wine and simmer until it has almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, olives, thyme, and capers. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer, and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta per package directions. (I don't need to tell you how to make pasta, do I?) Everybody has a favorite way to do it, so do that.

Pour the pasta into the pan or a separate bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve as you will, and sprinkle with cheese and parsley (or basil).

I've found this tastes even better after a day or two, or maybe that's just my perception. You may not have that many leftovers. As I said, this sauce is good on any pasta, and if you really like heat,  feel free to double the red pepper flakes, or add a bit of cayenne. Cooking is no fun if you can't modify the recipes to suit your own tastes. Have fun, experiment; remember recipes are really just guidelines, not hard and fast rules.

**
Blurb for Infected: Freefall

In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds.

Conceived bearing the lion strain of the virus, Roan is the only fully functioning virus child in the country—maybe in the world. But that doesn’t mean he’s okay. He’s still struggling with the death of his husband and the guilt of finding new love; his old enemy, the Church of the Divine Transformation, is becoming increasingly hostile; and he’s taken on a tragic cold case involving a long-missing boy.

As Roan fights to control the lion inside him, his world explodes with all kinds of trouble. The leader of the church is ramping up the violence against him, calling Roan out as a traitor to his kind. There’s a loose Infected terrorizing the city. And Holden, male prostitute and Roan’s unofficial assistant, brings him a case involving the suspicious death of one of Holden’s clients, which puts Roan far too close to a murderer for his state of mind....

BUY.

Andrea Speed Bio
Andrea Speed was born looking for trouble in some hot month without an R in it. While succeeding in finding Trouble, she has also been found by its twin brother, Clean Up, and is now on the run, wanted for the murder of a mop and a really cute, innocent bucket that was only one day away from retirement. (I was framed, I tell you – framed!)

In her spare time, she arms lemurs in preparation for the upcoming war against the Mole Men. Viva la revolution!
Website