Cooking at 90
Ninety is no longer old. More and more people are living longer and longer. I will not use the cliché, ninety is the new eighty. We live longer in a variety of ways. People are single, married, in relationships, living with children or are in senior residences. Physical health, arthritis, balance and walking problems as well as eyesight, hearing, mental and emotional concerns annoy most of us.
Eating Is an every day joy or problem. Men living alone may not have cooking skills. Women alone know how to cook but just don’t do it much any more. Couples may cook at home a couple of days a week and order take-out foods other days.
One woman now in her eighties ran cooking schools for years. Now retired, she no longer cooks and buys deli salads, hor d’oeuvres, Italian cheeses, and desserts; no more animals. She says, “I know what to do to the prepared foods I buy to make a delicious meal.
About once a week we order take-out meals delivered to our home, Indian, Thai and Pizza are our favourites. We can usually get two meals out of each order for two. We loved to entertain and did so for many years. Now, we invite people to dinner at our house and order in a take-out choice.
I cannot get out much to dinners at other people’s homes. When invited out, we asked them to come to us and bring a take-out. People oblige willingly.
Jacques Pepin, a French Chef, uses frozen, canned and bottled products from time to time in his simple recipes. He points out that some frozen vegetables' nutrients’ color and flavour is often better that fresh. However, he prefers fresh.
My wife is eighty and I am ninety-one. I do most of the cooking, in self defense. She cooks slowly, I’m whiz bang. My only rule is I don’t prepare and cook anything that takes longer than an hour, or less.
As our taste buds age, we like spicy and herbed foods. Test and see for yourselves. Our eyesight dims. Reading cookbooks is no fun anymore and not so useful. No worries, our computers and iPhones bring dozens of new recipes every day. They are easier to read. They also provide cooking instructions. For us who like it the old way, the local libraries carry cookbooks in large print, even braille.
We adhere to the Mediterranean Diet pretty well. Lots of of grains, nuts, fruit and vegetables
Dinner and lunch in restaurants give us more variety and ideas for our own cooking.
Recipes
I want to share with you two weeks of our menus. The items are mostly interchangeable. For instance, the vegetable and rice go with any of the main course items. Broccoli can go with fish, chicken or meat. Rice or yams can go with chicken, fish or meat.
Chicken-- Here is my favourite chicken recipe. I read it in Jaques Pepin’s The Short-Cut Cook. Published when I was 60. I do like some things the old way.
Heat the oil in a large pan, and when it is hot, add chicken thighs (or legs) for five minutes. When skin is brown, turn heat to medium low, cover and cook for twenty-five minutes. Remove to warmed plate and put sauce on it. We like a Mango-Tomatillo Sauce from Trader Joes. Shop around for sauces that you might like.
There are millions of ways to cook chicken. Many of them are for whole chickens. Already cut up pieces are best for us elders as our appetites are diminished too. We like thighs and drumsticks. Breasts are often too large, dry and tasteless for our
liking.
Fish -- We like small portions of salmon, cod and petrale sole. These cook easily. Heat butter or olive oil in a medium pan; when hot put fish in the pan and cook for three minutes. Turn over and remove pan from burner and let stand. The fish is still cooking in the cooling pan. We like it rare and take it out after three minutes. Do not let the fish get too dry.
We cut the 1/2 pound fish in half and serve the 1/4 pound of fish over portions of rice. The small amount of fish is satisfying at our age.
A simple butter and lemon sauce is always welcome. A bit of cooked onion, lemon and capers on top are good too. K-Paul’s Blackened Fish Magic is good.
We also like sushi for lunch and sometimes even for dinner. Six pieces of raw salmon and tuna over rice and a salad or vegetable are plenty. In San Francisco, sushi can be bought in many stores.
Cooking vegetables in the microwave is the safest way for us seniors to go. No boiling water or much hot steam to handle. Want green beans, broccoli, asparagus, snap peas, beets or zucchini? Place the amount you want in a microwave-safe covered dish. Rinse the items and shake out the extra water. Place covered in the microwave oven for two minutes. Using pot holders, remove from oven, uncover, add olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix and serve. You can use your favourite dressing.
Rice Noodles are the easiest to cook. The ones we get from Costco are in small bags full of rice noodles in water. Remove them to a sieve and run really hot water over them until they are warm enough for you to serve.
Brown rice, potatoes, yams and corn on the cob are all good “starches.”
Pasta, a sauce and a vegetable make a fine meal. Pesto and tomato sauces are easy to mix in with the pasta. Smoked salmon, garlic, lemon and capers over hot pasta is a delicious delight.
Either lamb chops, rack of lamb or steak once a month give an old fashioned oomph to our eating pleasure.
Schedule of daily menus to follow. These are suggestions, not recommendations
Sunday
Chicken
Asparagus
Brown Rice
Fruit
Monday
Salmon
Brocoli
Rice
Fruit
Tuesday
Chicken
Green Beans
Corn on the cob
Ice Cream
Wednesday
Fish
Rice
Peas
Fruit
Thursday
Pasta Pesto
Broccoli
Pie
Friday
Salmon
Cucumbers
Potato Salad
Fruit
Saturday
Lamb Chops
Carrots
Yams
Fruit
Sunday
Indian Take-Out
Ice Cream
Tuesday
Salmon
Rice
Green Beans
Fruit
Wednesday
Indian Left overs
Fruit
Thursday
Chicken
Asparagus
Yams
Pie
Friday
Fish
Rice
Zucchini
Ice Cream
Saturday
Chicken
Corn on the Cob
Fruit
I really enjoy cooking small things for my limited appetite and patience. It is a simple and creative activity that happens every day. It has a beginning, middle and an end. Ann sweetly puts dishes and glasses in the dishwasher and cleans the pots and pans. We empty the dishwasher together in the morning as our first exercises of the da,y bending and stretching.
By the way, to prepare for cooking each day, I and sometimes Ann have a cocktail hour at 5:00 PM. I like Martinis, with Bombay Gin and two garlic- stuffed olives. Ann joins me sometimes as she enjoys an occasional Manhattan with a Maraschino cherry.
