Okay, so I have to say that one of the great joys in life, if you're a cook, is good stock. I mean good beef, chicken or veggie stock that you make yourself. It's like liquid gold. I think I make pretty good stock...and I always have some in the freezer...I use it for everything.
After Thanksgiving, and after we eat a roasted chicken, I love to make pot pie. My mom always made it, and it's one of the great comfort foods to me...warm, rich and yummy. And biscuits! Who doesn't love biscuits?
I've been fooling around trying to find the perfect recipe for Turkey pot pie...the kind made from leftover turkey from Thanksgiving....using the stock that you make the day after. Today I tried the Pioneer Woman's recipe and I have to say...it's like cooking perfection. It's warm, it has a good thick gravy, and it tastes perfect: nothing fancy...no weird chipotle gravy or anything else. Just a good, sturdy pot pie-type stew. Do yourself a favor and make it today...make a lot of it....we just ate ourselves silly!
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Adventures in eating, weeks One and Two
So, the CSA... For the past two Tuesdays we've gotten a delivery of fresh veggies, and while I thought this would be the hardest part (the beginning, when we get lots of greens), it's really been okay! Last week we again received two kinds of kale, three kinds of lettuce, some turnips, and radishes. Hubby doesn't like radishes, which is good for me, because I really like them! Last week we did wind up cutting the tops off the turnips and storing them in the crisper...they are still there...we'll probably roast them for dinner tonight.
Though I like greens, I've never really cooked them before. I add them to soup a lot, but not much else. It's been kind of fun to think of ways to eat them...easy also.
Some things I've made:
* sauteed greens over cous-cous and chickpeas: pretty good...added parm cheese on the top and wasn't impressed with the cheese addition..it just wasn't needed. Also, there was nothing added into the greens, so the flavor was kind of flat. This was my first attempt at cooking mixed greens, and it was okay but needed some work.
* pizza: we made pesto from Kale and turnip greens, spread it on pizza dough, added feta cheese and roasted vegetables (potatoes, turnips, parsnips and shallots). The roasted veg was DELICIOUS. I should have blanched the greens before making the pesto...the flavor was a little sharp. This would be great with goat cheese, also.
* Ravioli, cheater style: We used frozen ravioli, but I served it with carmalized shallots, toasted pinenuts and sauteed greens...delicious. Just delicious.
And last night? I made veggie Lasagna...oy....so good. It was a typical lasagna recipe: noodles, a ricotta mixture. The veggie part was a large onion sliced and carmalized, mixed with sauteed greens. I diced the greens up a little so the pieces were smaller and the Lasagna was easier to cut. I also added some breadcrumbs to help absorb any extra moisture from the vegetables, but it wasn't needed. I found the crumbs stayed pretty crunchy...that wasn't to bad, either. :)
I have to say that the carmalized onion or shallot really complements the taste of greens well...I can see why you can really use any kind of flavorful green interchangeably: chard, kale, rapini, turnip greens, radish greens...they are all really good. This is going to help us branch out from spinach!
As far as lettuce goes, we've been eating it on sandwiches and as salad. The salads we eat are dressed lightly, if at all....the varieties of lettuce we're getting are pretty flavorful, so a little olive oil and lemon juice with some salt and pepper are all that's really necessary. I really like that, it's much lighter and a nice change from "what kind of dressing do you want" as I peer into the ten bottles of salad dressing in our refrigerator. I did make a chicken salad last week, and it went well, but probably needs a "stronger" lettuce leaf like romaine.
Though I like greens, I've never really cooked them before. I add them to soup a lot, but not much else. It's been kind of fun to think of ways to eat them...easy also.
Some things I've made:
* sauteed greens over cous-cous and chickpeas: pretty good...added parm cheese on the top and wasn't impressed with the cheese addition..it just wasn't needed. Also, there was nothing added into the greens, so the flavor was kind of flat. This was my first attempt at cooking mixed greens, and it was okay but needed some work.
* pizza: we made pesto from Kale and turnip greens, spread it on pizza dough, added feta cheese and roasted vegetables (potatoes, turnips, parsnips and shallots). The roasted veg was DELICIOUS. I should have blanched the greens before making the pesto...the flavor was a little sharp. This would be great with goat cheese, also.
* Ravioli, cheater style: We used frozen ravioli, but I served it with carmalized shallots, toasted pinenuts and sauteed greens...delicious. Just delicious.
And last night? I made veggie Lasagna...oy....so good. It was a typical lasagna recipe: noodles, a ricotta mixture. The veggie part was a large onion sliced and carmalized, mixed with sauteed greens. I diced the greens up a little so the pieces were smaller and the Lasagna was easier to cut. I also added some breadcrumbs to help absorb any extra moisture from the vegetables, but it wasn't needed. I found the crumbs stayed pretty crunchy...that wasn't to bad, either. :)
I have to say that the carmalized onion or shallot really complements the taste of greens well...I can see why you can really use any kind of flavorful green interchangeably: chard, kale, rapini, turnip greens, radish greens...they are all really good. This is going to help us branch out from spinach!
As far as lettuce goes, we've been eating it on sandwiches and as salad. The salads we eat are dressed lightly, if at all....the varieties of lettuce we're getting are pretty flavorful, so a little olive oil and lemon juice with some salt and pepper are all that's really necessary. I really like that, it's much lighter and a nice change from "what kind of dressing do you want" as I peer into the ten bottles of salad dressing in our refrigerator. I did make a chicken salad last week, and it went well, but probably needs a "stronger" lettuce leaf like romaine.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Adventures in eating, prologue
I'm going to be doing an ongoing series of entries this summer regarding our CSA, or farm share. Hubby and I decided this year to buy a farm share, and after picking up our first shipment last night I realized what an adventure it's going to be. I say that not because we got stuff we'll never eat, but because there are new ways to PREPARE what we are getting. We do not, for example, cook greens at home very often. Usually it extends to me throwing them into something else... So I thought I would document what we're getting and what we do with it.
So, a little background. Yesterday I tweeted that we would be getting a CSA, and I had several people on Facebook ask me "what's that?" CSA stands for Community Shared (or supported) agriculture. It began in Europe and Japan in the 60's by people who wanted more security regarding their food safety and purity. When a family purchases a CSA what they are doing is essentially purchasing part of a farm...when everyone buys a part of that farm they are all supporting the growing and harvesting process with their dollars. I believe I heard that about 50 families are together in our CSA...so it's a rather small one. The dollars go toward supporting organically grown local food. Members of the CSA sink or swim, so to speak, depending on what grows and what doesn't do so well. Some farms have a "work share" where they ask members to work, either in the planting and harvesting, or in the distribution. Some farms offer discounts for this work, some offer it as an option, and some require it in addition to your purchase. Our farm offers it as an option, they have an open door policy where we can visit at any time, have lunch, work or see what's going on. Sometimes farms will purchase or share food with other farms, in order to increase the variety their members receive.
Farm shares have existed for years on the west coast (where they are extremely popular) and in some other parts of the country. They are just beginning to catch on here....I found ours by going to the Local Harvest website. This is, by the way, a great resource for finding local produce: farm stands, farm shares, local growers..it's all there. All you do is input your zip code and away you go!
Another question I hear a lot when I tell people about our CSA is "How expensive". Since we're on a budget, it was a big question for us too. The initial outlay of money varies by farm, but it is usually between $300 and $500 dollars for the season..for us the season is mid-june to late October. Each week we receive a box of vegetables, fruit if it's available, recipes and descriptions of our food. The price may vary depending on how much you get (we are getting a half share, which is 6-8 lbs of veg per week), whether you work (if your farm has a work share), and where you live. For us, the price amounted to about $15 per week, which is completely reasonable.
So why do it?
Hubby and I had lots of reasons we wanted to try this. I heard about the concept from a friend who lives in Philadelphia and was pretty entranced. As I began to think a little harder about this, I got a little nervous. One comment I heard a lot (and said myself more than once) is "what am I going to do with five pounds of kale? One potential drawback of a CSA is what you get is what you eat...no matter what. It isn't an option (for us) to waste it. The more I thought about it, though, the more I viewed this as a challenge. Hubby and I both grew up in families that had HUGE gardens. My parents always grew what we ate, and there were even summers where we sold sweetcorn we grew in the large field behind our house. Our neighbors as I was growing up had large fields and did pick-your-own, a farm stand. I love vegetables, and I'm not shy about trying new ones...neither is Hubby. I think this is kind of a must..you need to be willing to try new stuff..to seek out recipes for things you don't really know a lot about and give them a whirl. One does not have to LIKE everything you get in a CSA, but you've got to be willing to try new things and go into it with an open mind.
In addition to the challenge aspect, I like knowing where my food comes from. I grew up in a family that purchased meat directly from farmers, or raised our own (the pigs we raised are another post entirely). When I get things in the grocery store, I can tell that it's been grown somewhere else and trucked to me. When people tell me they don't like vegetables, I know that part of the reason is that they may not have eaten a lot of fresh stuff..it makes a huge difference. Sometimes I don't like Tomatoes in the middle of the winter either! I want to make sure my dollars support local farms. I want Toast to grow up knowing where his food comes from, like Hubby and I do. It tastes better, it looks more appealing, it's just a little bit healthier.
We eat a lot of vegetables, but the variety is no where near what is out there...I just want to expand our horizons a little bit.
So this leads me to this weeks delivery. We picked up our first box of produce yesterday. As with most programs, ours has a central drop off point. Once a week on the same day I go and pick up our share of veggies from that point. Here's what we got this week:
* Three kinds of Lettuce
*Arugula
*A bag of kale
*Two kinds of radish, one is a daikon
*Turnips (this surpised me, I always associate Turnips with fall)
*Two kinds of mustard greens.
We also got a handout that explains each variety of what we got (many of the things we will be getting this year are heirloom varieties); the handout also gives us some recipes.
Since we're going out of town this weekend it will be a challenge to use everything...we're having sauted greens with scallions and garlic, tossed with Cous Cous tonight, and probably some roasted turnips. Pretty much any root vegetable is good roasted. I'm hoping to branch out in my cooking techniques this summer...I do a lot of roasting and sauteing...I'd like to learn some new recipes.
So stay tuned, I'll be letting you know what we like, what we didn't, and how we cooked it. Should be interesting!!!
So, a little background. Yesterday I tweeted that we would be getting a CSA, and I had several people on Facebook ask me "what's that?" CSA stands for Community Shared (or supported) agriculture. It began in Europe and Japan in the 60's by people who wanted more security regarding their food safety and purity. When a family purchases a CSA what they are doing is essentially purchasing part of a farm...when everyone buys a part of that farm they are all supporting the growing and harvesting process with their dollars. I believe I heard that about 50 families are together in our CSA...so it's a rather small one. The dollars go toward supporting organically grown local food. Members of the CSA sink or swim, so to speak, depending on what grows and what doesn't do so well. Some farms have a "work share" where they ask members to work, either in the planting and harvesting, or in the distribution. Some farms offer discounts for this work, some offer it as an option, and some require it in addition to your purchase. Our farm offers it as an option, they have an open door policy where we can visit at any time, have lunch, work or see what's going on. Sometimes farms will purchase or share food with other farms, in order to increase the variety their members receive.
Farm shares have existed for years on the west coast (where they are extremely popular) and in some other parts of the country. They are just beginning to catch on here....I found ours by going to the Local Harvest website. This is, by the way, a great resource for finding local produce: farm stands, farm shares, local growers..it's all there. All you do is input your zip code and away you go!
Another question I hear a lot when I tell people about our CSA is "How expensive". Since we're on a budget, it was a big question for us too. The initial outlay of money varies by farm, but it is usually between $300 and $500 dollars for the season..for us the season is mid-june to late October. Each week we receive a box of vegetables, fruit if it's available, recipes and descriptions of our food. The price may vary depending on how much you get (we are getting a half share, which is 6-8 lbs of veg per week), whether you work (if your farm has a work share), and where you live. For us, the price amounted to about $15 per week, which is completely reasonable.
So why do it?
Hubby and I had lots of reasons we wanted to try this. I heard about the concept from a friend who lives in Philadelphia and was pretty entranced. As I began to think a little harder about this, I got a little nervous. One comment I heard a lot (and said myself more than once) is "what am I going to do with five pounds of kale? One potential drawback of a CSA is what you get is what you eat...no matter what. It isn't an option (for us) to waste it. The more I thought about it, though, the more I viewed this as a challenge. Hubby and I both grew up in families that had HUGE gardens. My parents always grew what we ate, and there were even summers where we sold sweetcorn we grew in the large field behind our house. Our neighbors as I was growing up had large fields and did pick-your-own, a farm stand. I love vegetables, and I'm not shy about trying new ones...neither is Hubby. I think this is kind of a must..you need to be willing to try new stuff..to seek out recipes for things you don't really know a lot about and give them a whirl. One does not have to LIKE everything you get in a CSA, but you've got to be willing to try new things and go into it with an open mind.
In addition to the challenge aspect, I like knowing where my food comes from. I grew up in a family that purchased meat directly from farmers, or raised our own (the pigs we raised are another post entirely). When I get things in the grocery store, I can tell that it's been grown somewhere else and trucked to me. When people tell me they don't like vegetables, I know that part of the reason is that they may not have eaten a lot of fresh stuff..it makes a huge difference. Sometimes I don't like Tomatoes in the middle of the winter either! I want to make sure my dollars support local farms. I want Toast to grow up knowing where his food comes from, like Hubby and I do. It tastes better, it looks more appealing, it's just a little bit healthier.
We eat a lot of vegetables, but the variety is no where near what is out there...I just want to expand our horizons a little bit.
So this leads me to this weeks delivery. We picked up our first box of produce yesterday. As with most programs, ours has a central drop off point. Once a week on the same day I go and pick up our share of veggies from that point. Here's what we got this week:
* Three kinds of Lettuce
*Arugula
*A bag of kale
*Two kinds of radish, one is a daikon
*Turnips (this surpised me, I always associate Turnips with fall)
*Two kinds of mustard greens.
We also got a handout that explains each variety of what we got (many of the things we will be getting this year are heirloom varieties); the handout also gives us some recipes.
Since we're going out of town this weekend it will be a challenge to use everything...we're having sauted greens with scallions and garlic, tossed with Cous Cous tonight, and probably some roasted turnips. Pretty much any root vegetable is good roasted. I'm hoping to branch out in my cooking techniques this summer...I do a lot of roasting and sauteing...I'd like to learn some new recipes.
So stay tuned, I'll be letting you know what we like, what we didn't, and how we cooked it. Should be interesting!!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Bonus days
Had to share, just because every once in awhile I make something for dinner that is kind of yummy.
Put your corned beef in the crockpot, but instead of putting water to cover, use a beer. Yum. That's tip number one that I learned today. Today I used a Killians, but I think Guiness is the way to go here. Next time, next time.
Tip two? When you put your cabbage in, put a skewer through it to keep the pieces together (I hate when my cabbage falls apart and looks bad...just me). I cut mine into quarters, then I took a small piece out of the "point" of the wedge and stuck the skewer through.
But then. THEN.
When everything was done, I took out the meat and let it rest on a plate, covered in foil. Then I took the cooking juices and put them into my gravy strainer. Using a large frypan, I melted two Tbsp. butter, and whisked in two Tbsp flour (do you know how to make gravy? I just learned about a year ago....it's pretty easy...this is how you do it). Let this cook about a minute, as you whisk, then slowly begin pouring in the "broth" part of the pan drippings...it will clump and look strange KEEP WHISKING....don't pause to think about it. The whisking is key to making sure you don't get lumps. Pouring slowly is also important, because it changes consistency as you cook, and if you proceed with caution you can judge the consistency of your gravy just right. Okay now, this is the magic part right here...pay attention): whisk in a goodly amount of fresh ground black pepper and about 1-2 Tbsp of dijon or stone ground mustard. I used dijon, that's what we had. You now have a creamy mustard sauce that will be YUMMY on your corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage. Serve with lots of carrots and parsnips too. mmmm. I know. You want this for dinner again tomorrow. Me too.
Cheers!
Put your corned beef in the crockpot, but instead of putting water to cover, use a beer. Yum. That's tip number one that I learned today. Today I used a Killians, but I think Guiness is the way to go here. Next time, next time.
Tip two? When you put your cabbage in, put a skewer through it to keep the pieces together (I hate when my cabbage falls apart and looks bad...just me). I cut mine into quarters, then I took a small piece out of the "point" of the wedge and stuck the skewer through.
But then. THEN.
When everything was done, I took out the meat and let it rest on a plate, covered in foil. Then I took the cooking juices and put them into my gravy strainer. Using a large frypan, I melted two Tbsp. butter, and whisked in two Tbsp flour (do you know how to make gravy? I just learned about a year ago....it's pretty easy...this is how you do it). Let this cook about a minute, as you whisk, then slowly begin pouring in the "broth" part of the pan drippings...it will clump and look strange KEEP WHISKING....don't pause to think about it. The whisking is key to making sure you don't get lumps. Pouring slowly is also important, because it changes consistency as you cook, and if you proceed with caution you can judge the consistency of your gravy just right. Okay now, this is the magic part right here...pay attention): whisk in a goodly amount of fresh ground black pepper and about 1-2 Tbsp of dijon or stone ground mustard. I used dijon, that's what we had. You now have a creamy mustard sauce that will be YUMMY on your corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage. Serve with lots of carrots and parsnips too. mmmm. I know. You want this for dinner again tomorrow. Me too.
Cheers!
A cautionary tale
Since it's St. Patrick's Day, and since St. Patty is the patron saint of Ireland and all, I thought I would give you a little parable. I'm not sure what St. Patrick did, I think it had something to do with snakes and all. Okay, okay, so sue me. I'm Polish, not Irish. St. Casimir* I know, St. Patrick not so much. But I digress.
Back when I was teaching, I used to try and do a lot of activities in my classroom. Part of it is that I myself am a bit ADD, and sitting makes me stir crazy. I hated to inflict that same torture on my students. Another part of this is that when you are learning, activity is fun and interactive and just better in all ways. So anyway. We're learning about Acids and Bases (I taught High School Chemistry. I'll give you a moment to recover your swoon ...) and a big part of that is indicators....how do we know when something is an acid or a base... Many many plants have pigments in them that act as indicators, one of the better known is red cabbage. So I'm all about boiling a cabbage in my house to make indicator.
The procedure is simple...you boil the cabbage for, oh, awhile. Timing is not important. When you get done, the water is this lovely purple color. You pour the water into a container, and use it on all matters and sorts of things to watch it change color and "indicate" (hence the name) the presence of acidic or basic properties. You can do this at home...it's an easy thing to do and lots of fun.
I get done with the boiling and pouring, and I have this cabbage now. I don't mind cabbage, so I butter and salt a little of it and eat it. But I cannot eat a whole cabbage. You may be able to eat a whole cabbage. You are more of a man than I...and you are someone I don't want to spend a lot of time around post-cabbage, if you get my drift. I had to get rid of this cabbage, and so I put it down the garbage disposal.
Now, I WAS thinking...despite all the evidence to the contrary. I thought to myself "yeah, I know I'm not supposed to put fibrous stuff down the disposal, but this is cooked, so I'm all good, right?" Grind away. I don't know why I didn't just throw it in the garbage. Silly question. Obvious, but silly.
The next morning I awake and the first thought in my head is WHAT IS THAT STENCH? I look over at hubby, make a face, mentally note to have a speak at him later about his diet, grab my bookbag and container of red cabbage juice, and trot off to work. When I get home that day, however, the stench is still there. It is worse, if that is possible. That's when I get the idea to look in the basement.
Coming out of the drain in our basement floor is this amazingly beautiful little fiber sculpture made of cabbage....okay, not quite cabbage, more like what is LEFT of the cabbage. It's a pretty lavender color because the cabbage was once red. The rest of my basement floor is COVERED in some unspeakable black goo which has backed up out of the drain (the sewer drain, that is).
24 Hours and $50 spent on a power snake later, I had learned a valuable lesson. One I am sharing with you now. One that comes back to me every St. Patrick's day when I make Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner. A lesson that we all should hold dear to our hearts and never forget.
Never, NEVER, put cabbage down your garbage disposal. If you feel the urge to learn how to play with dangerous and exciting power tools (see above, re: power snake), rent one and play with it. Do not feel as if you must create a situation which requires said tool in order to justify the rental. Just rent it. You don't need a reason.
*St Casimir is the patron saint of Poland and Lithuania. He refused his father's order to lead an army to overthrow the Hungarian empire, and was imprisoned. He died of consumption and his tomb has been the site of miracles.
**Want to look up your favorite saint? www.catholic.org. I kid you not....
Back when I was teaching, I used to try and do a lot of activities in my classroom. Part of it is that I myself am a bit ADD, and sitting makes me stir crazy. I hated to inflict that same torture on my students. Another part of this is that when you are learning, activity is fun and interactive and just better in all ways. So anyway. We're learning about Acids and Bases (I taught High School Chemistry. I'll give you a moment to recover your swoon ...) and a big part of that is indicators....how do we know when something is an acid or a base... Many many plants have pigments in them that act as indicators, one of the better known is red cabbage. So I'm all about boiling a cabbage in my house to make indicator.
The procedure is simple...you boil the cabbage for, oh, awhile. Timing is not important. When you get done, the water is this lovely purple color. You pour the water into a container, and use it on all matters and sorts of things to watch it change color and "indicate" (hence the name) the presence of acidic or basic properties. You can do this at home...it's an easy thing to do and lots of fun.
I get done with the boiling and pouring, and I have this cabbage now. I don't mind cabbage, so I butter and salt a little of it and eat it. But I cannot eat a whole cabbage. You may be able to eat a whole cabbage. You are more of a man than I...and you are someone I don't want to spend a lot of time around post-cabbage, if you get my drift. I had to get rid of this cabbage, and so I put it down the garbage disposal.
Now, I WAS thinking...despite all the evidence to the contrary. I thought to myself "yeah, I know I'm not supposed to put fibrous stuff down the disposal, but this is cooked, so I'm all good, right?" Grind away. I don't know why I didn't just throw it in the garbage. Silly question. Obvious, but silly.
The next morning I awake and the first thought in my head is WHAT IS THAT STENCH? I look over at hubby, make a face, mentally note to have a speak at him later about his diet, grab my bookbag and container of red cabbage juice, and trot off to work. When I get home that day, however, the stench is still there. It is worse, if that is possible. That's when I get the idea to look in the basement.
Coming out of the drain in our basement floor is this amazingly beautiful little fiber sculpture made of cabbage....okay, not quite cabbage, more like what is LEFT of the cabbage. It's a pretty lavender color because the cabbage was once red. The rest of my basement floor is COVERED in some unspeakable black goo which has backed up out of the drain (the sewer drain, that is).
24 Hours and $50 spent on a power snake later, I had learned a valuable lesson. One I am sharing with you now. One that comes back to me every St. Patrick's day when I make Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner. A lesson that we all should hold dear to our hearts and never forget.
Never, NEVER, put cabbage down your garbage disposal. If you feel the urge to learn how to play with dangerous and exciting power tools (see above, re: power snake), rent one and play with it. Do not feel as if you must create a situation which requires said tool in order to justify the rental. Just rent it. You don't need a reason.
*St Casimir is the patron saint of Poland and Lithuania. He refused his father's order to lead an army to overthrow the Hungarian empire, and was imprisoned. He died of consumption and his tomb has been the site of miracles.
**Want to look up your favorite saint? www.catholic.org. I kid you not....
Saturday, November 22, 2008
My husband's favorite week.
Tomorrow is the first day of Pie Week.
I didn't actually know that it WAS pie week, until I was talking to Hubby today. I had just come back from doing the grocery shopping, and was listing the few things we need to facilitate nine people and a dead bird at our table on Thursday.
"Can I get the bread?" he says to me. We always get our bread from a special local bakery for Thanksgiving, because it's so good. Well, that and I'm a stuffing snob. That's for another day, though.
"Sure" I said. "Why?"
"Because last year they gave out free pie"
I give him the look. The one that says "I love you, but you are a ten-year old"
"So if I get the bread, at the time I get there, there's a chance that there will be free pie. And you know, free pie."
This is when I found out he has been going around work telling everyone that "next week" is "Pie Week". This is why, when I visit him, I get glances that say "you are such a strong woman".
Once, about a year ago, a very close friend of ours got his U.S. citizenship. We attended the party, and I called the day before to ask if there was anything I could bring. As we were having the conversation, our friend asked if I could bring Apple Pie. This being a Citizenship celebration, it HAD to be Apple.
"Sure" I said, glancing at the clock. It was about four. "But I might buy the pie, I don't know if it will be homemade".
As our friend was telling me that was fine, I glanced at hubby. The color had drained from his face, his jaw had dropped, and his eyes were glazed over with a look that said "I can't believe you can birth children, and will not make pie for me". That's how I wound up making two Apple pies from scratch in one night, in the middle of July, for a party. Shame.
Now, you have to understand where this comes from. My husband is born of a long line of pie makers. Nana (his grandmother) once served me a quarter of a homemade apple pie and was amazed when I couldn't eat it. So was I, it was so good...but it was a quarter of a pie and about five or six inches tall. And it came with milk. Before we got married, I asked his mom to teach me to make pie, and she said "oh, just follow the recipe"...which she gave to me...I've learned there's a little more to it than that...but not much. It really is (cliche' alert) EASY.
I won't be making the pies for Thursday, my Mother in Law will...because she makes superior pie. I can guarantee you, however, that many conversations this week will revolve around pie, that hubby will be bringing it up over and over, and that he will bow down and pray to whatever God made up pastry after dinner on Thursday.
It will be great pie, though.
I didn't actually know that it WAS pie week, until I was talking to Hubby today. I had just come back from doing the grocery shopping, and was listing the few things we need to facilitate nine people and a dead bird at our table on Thursday.
"Can I get the bread?" he says to me. We always get our bread from a special local bakery for Thanksgiving, because it's so good. Well, that and I'm a stuffing snob. That's for another day, though.
"Sure" I said. "Why?"
"Because last year they gave out free pie"
I give him the look. The one that says "I love you, but you are a ten-year old"
"So if I get the bread, at the time I get there, there's a chance that there will be free pie. And you know, free pie."
This is when I found out he has been going around work telling everyone that "next week" is "Pie Week". This is why, when I visit him, I get glances that say "you are such a strong woman".
Once, about a year ago, a very close friend of ours got his U.S. citizenship. We attended the party, and I called the day before to ask if there was anything I could bring. As we were having the conversation, our friend asked if I could bring Apple Pie. This being a Citizenship celebration, it HAD to be Apple.
"Sure" I said, glancing at the clock. It was about four. "But I might buy the pie, I don't know if it will be homemade".
As our friend was telling me that was fine, I glanced at hubby. The color had drained from his face, his jaw had dropped, and his eyes were glazed over with a look that said "I can't believe you can birth children, and will not make pie for me". That's how I wound up making two Apple pies from scratch in one night, in the middle of July, for a party. Shame.
Now, you have to understand where this comes from. My husband is born of a long line of pie makers. Nana (his grandmother) once served me a quarter of a homemade apple pie and was amazed when I couldn't eat it. So was I, it was so good...but it was a quarter of a pie and about five or six inches tall. And it came with milk. Before we got married, I asked his mom to teach me to make pie, and she said "oh, just follow the recipe"...which she gave to me...I've learned there's a little more to it than that...but not much. It really is (cliche' alert) EASY.
I won't be making the pies for Thursday, my Mother in Law will...because she makes superior pie. I can guarantee you, however, that many conversations this week will revolve around pie, that hubby will be bringing it up over and over, and that he will bow down and pray to whatever God made up pastry after dinner on Thursday.
It will be great pie, though.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Blah Blah Blah
Oh, NaBloPoMo, you had me at hello. Then I missed two days of posts and cursed your name. :)
Really, this is a day I would not ordinarily blog. I mean, nothing really happened. I didn't have any deep thoughts. I didn't hear anything terribly fascinating (Sorry, C and M...it doesn't mean we didn't have a good time at playdate!)...Toast and I played, did laundry, went to our Tuesday playdate/lunch, came home and played/made dinner. Then I crafted for an hour, did the bath thing, and here I am. Not much.
I did make a killer dinner, though, so that's what I'll write about today. Pork chops, sweet potato fries, brussels sprouts. I love sprouts, hubby can take them or leave them...but once a year, when they are in season, I have to have them. I love them that much. Tonight I fried up some bacon (see, I had him at bacon...that's the way it works in this house), then drained the pan and used the "sticky parts" left to carmalize some onion. Added some steamed sprouts, and put the bacon back in, well chopped. Sauteed until everything was nice and golden. They were killer.
We're trying to get Toast to feed himself more...like with utensils other than his porky little hands. Tonight I handed him a sweet potato fry, and he shoved the whole thing in his mouth. It made his eyes water and his face turn red. Apparently we still have a ways to go.
Really, this is a day I would not ordinarily blog. I mean, nothing really happened. I didn't have any deep thoughts. I didn't hear anything terribly fascinating (Sorry, C and M...it doesn't mean we didn't have a good time at playdate!)...Toast and I played, did laundry, went to our Tuesday playdate/lunch, came home and played/made dinner. Then I crafted for an hour, did the bath thing, and here I am. Not much.
I did make a killer dinner, though, so that's what I'll write about today. Pork chops, sweet potato fries, brussels sprouts. I love sprouts, hubby can take them or leave them...but once a year, when they are in season, I have to have them. I love them that much. Tonight I fried up some bacon (see, I had him at bacon...that's the way it works in this house), then drained the pan and used the "sticky parts" left to carmalize some onion. Added some steamed sprouts, and put the bacon back in, well chopped. Sauteed until everything was nice and golden. They were killer.
We're trying to get Toast to feed himself more...like with utensils other than his porky little hands. Tonight I handed him a sweet potato fry, and he shoved the whole thing in his mouth. It made his eyes water and his face turn red. Apparently we still have a ways to go.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Ahhhhhhh
Planned a long day at home today, just sitting and playing with the Toast (our nickname for T is T___ Toast, or the Toaster, or sometimes just "Toast"...). Well, that and soup, which I'll get to in a minute. So imagine my surprise when, on a mission of mercy to Meijer, Hubby calls and says "do you want to go to the DIA (the Art Museum) with my parents?". I LOVE the DIA...so of course I said yes.
Then I started to think.
If Hubby and Toast went with mom and dad, I could have a minimum of three hours. THREE HOURS of completely unadulterated SILENCE and peace. It started to give me the twitches just thinking about it.
I broke the news slowly to Hubby: "Hey...so....uh....I have this pot of soup on...do you think, maybe...uh...you and Toast could to to the museum and I would stay here, you know, for a little me time?" And this, my friends, is why I love him: "Sure! We could do that"
Joy! Rapture!
So they tromped off to get cultured, and while I am very very sad at missing time with my In-laws (who I love) and the Monet/Dali exhibit (which I really want to see), I also was overjoyed at having my whole entire house to myself.
Of course, a good amount of time was spent finishing the soup task I mentioned earlier. My mom and her friend took the turkeys they raise in to the Happy Turkey Hunting Grounds this week, and I was presented with two fresh turkeys (20 lbs and 24 lbs, I think), all cut up (because really, when do three people eat a 20 lb turkey?) and with carcasses in tact. I brought out my huge gazillion-quart canning pot and worked up a little homemade turkey stock magic with the non-roastable parts and the veggies (it's a secret mix...sorry). Okay...small exaggeration. It's an enamel pot that will boil seven quart jars of spaghetti sauce or whatever else your canning. So thats...what, a million quarts? We had six quarts of stock, three had meat in them, for freezing; plus a two cup plastic food container full, and fed all four and a half of us and have leftovers. Put that with the chicken stock I made a few weeks ago and we are stocked with stock now. Hooray! Oh, and the soup was great, I added meat (deboned what there was plus threw two wings in there for extra, so there was plenty), carrots, cannelinni beans, corn and spinach. With a loaf of yummy bread it was a great dinner.
I got a whole scrapook page done today..well a two page spread... I consider this a day well spent.
Then I started to think.
If Hubby and Toast went with mom and dad, I could have a minimum of three hours. THREE HOURS of completely unadulterated SILENCE and peace. It started to give me the twitches just thinking about it.
I broke the news slowly to Hubby: "Hey...so....uh....I have this pot of soup on...do you think, maybe...uh...you and Toast could to to the museum and I would stay here, you know, for a little me time?" And this, my friends, is why I love him: "Sure! We could do that"
Joy! Rapture!
So they tromped off to get cultured, and while I am very very sad at missing time with my In-laws (who I love) and the Monet/Dali exhibit (which I really want to see), I also was overjoyed at having my whole entire house to myself.
Of course, a good amount of time was spent finishing the soup task I mentioned earlier. My mom and her friend took the turkeys they raise in to the Happy Turkey Hunting Grounds this week, and I was presented with two fresh turkeys (20 lbs and 24 lbs, I think), all cut up (because really, when do three people eat a 20 lb turkey?) and with carcasses in tact. I brought out my huge gazillion-quart canning pot and worked up a little homemade turkey stock magic with the non-roastable parts and the veggies (it's a secret mix...sorry). Okay...small exaggeration. It's an enamel pot that will boil seven quart jars of spaghetti sauce or whatever else your canning. So thats...what, a million quarts? We had six quarts of stock, three had meat in them, for freezing; plus a two cup plastic food container full, and fed all four and a half of us and have leftovers. Put that with the chicken stock I made a few weeks ago and we are stocked with stock now. Hooray! Oh, and the soup was great, I added meat (deboned what there was plus threw two wings in there for extra, so there was plenty), carrots, cannelinni beans, corn and spinach. With a loaf of yummy bread it was a great dinner.
I got a whole scrapook page done today..well a two page spread... I consider this a day well spent.
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