WRAP IT 'UP'!

Wrap it up!

            The passing of old and beginning anew get mostly associated with arrival of the New Year in midwinter. And yet, we anticipate the arrival of summer with equal feelings of letting go as well as expectations for the new.  This seems especially true this year, when letting go of snow was such a slow process. However, the season of graduations and weddings inevitably announces change accompanied by both trepidation and joy.

            At our house the anticipatory activities seem multiplied, since most of the children and all the grandchildren have birthdays in the summer.  While we  may turn a jaundiced eye to birthdays in later years regretting the passing of time, but for children and teenagers birthdays are definite marks of passage and achievements and PRESENTS!

            Which brings me to the process of wrapping gifts for all these celebrations. Tantalizing elaborate wrappings may lead to unrealistic expectations that the contents will measure up to the cover, an unfortunate assumption for anything in life.  This I often take as an excuse for being a relative minimalist in this activity. Two of the best gifts I ever received had such wrapping. One was, a notebook wrapped in newspaper at Christmas during WWII in Europe, when I could expect nothing and the second was, a birthday gift many years later from my sons wrapped in brown paper and “tied up with string” for “some of my favorite things” (Sound of Music, Rodgers and Hammerstein).

            Fortunately for this column, food wraps are easy, decorative and edible together with their contents, so there is never a question about the equal importance of cover and content. They also fit in well with summer entertaining when time is of importance and it is helpful to prepare things ahead of  time. Pairing fruit or vegetables with thinly sliced deli meats on an appetizer platter can produce interesting variations for your taste buds.

                                                Fruit and vegetable wraps

            Prosciutto wrapped around melon (cantaloupe or honeydew) cubes or sticks is a well-known standard. Prosciutto also pairs and looks elegant wrapped around the center of an asparagus spear that has been cooked for no more than 3 minutes in boiling salted water. A special treat for this is to layer a thin line of cream cheese on each asparagus spear before wrapping with prosciutto.

            Thin sliced salami, ham or smoked turkey make excellent wraps for pickled string beans or thin spears of dill pickles. Anyone on a Paleo-diet would also enjoy them wrapped around a stick of cheese, instead of a sandwich.

            Mandoline or thin wide peeled slices of cucumber or even young zucchini, are good wrapped around strong flavored cheeses or cream cheese blended with bacon crumbs. Tender red or green lettuce leaves make wonderful wraps for chicken, tuna or shrimp salad.

            And then there are sandwich wraps. They first became popular certainly more than ten years ago, when suddenly Lavash bread pinwheels appeared on everyone’s cocktail party plates. Now that wraps are advertised at every supermarket as the sandwich alternative, they have all but disappeared.  However, despite the passing food trend, they make an attractive and easy to handle appetizer for any celebration or to accompany cold soup at lunch served in the shade on a hot day.

                                                Spicy beef or turkey pinwheels

            Soften 8 oz package of cream cheese and blend with 2 Tblsp. sour cream or Ranch dressing and 1 tsp. drained of horseradish. Spread on one side of each Lavash bread or  large flour tortilla. Sprinkle some arugula or baby spinach leaves on top and layer thin slices roast beef or smoked turkey (or ham) on the surface. Cut thin strips of roast red pepper or pimento, drain, blot dry and arrange one or two of the strips lengthwise on top of the meat. Roll each wrap tightly lengthwise, wrap tightly in saran or aluminum forl and chill at least 2 hours. Cut the rolls into 1 inch pieces, discarding the ends.

            The infinite variety of wraps extends also to warm luncheon and supper dishes, but that will have to wait for another column. But how do you wrap a Maine summer? With the best of smiles of course!

I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)