Category Archives: Food & Wine

oopsie

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oopsie

It’s deer season here in the Hudson Valley, so when I heard a “bang” slightly before 6 this morning, I just assumed some hunter shot his Thanksgiving dinner and rolled back over. When Laura woke up and I walked into the den, I looked out the window and realized that the noise wasn’t a shotgun after all. No, it was one of the woodpiles. Somehow it had fallen over. Poor Drew was not happy to know this, since he now has to restack it all.

In other news, I’m so pleased! Last night I put 328 photos from this year into photo albums. I’m caught up through Halloween. I have a couple years’ worth of photos in envelopes in my closet that need to be put in order and in albums, but I’m thinking that with all the deals going on right now on various photo processing sites, I just might limit it to 200 photos per year that I need to catch up (I use albums that hold 200 photos), order them a year at a time, and get them in albums just so I can have everything up to date. I can use the prints I already have as extras or let the kids use them for photo albums of their own.

One thing I wish I had a photo of is this ridiculous camper that’s on someone’s property en route to the library. It’s a complete piece of junk, but it’s “FREE!!!” (as the crudely spraypaint-on-plywood sign proclaims). It can’t be driveable. There’s no way you’d get motorhome insurance for it. I haven’t the foggiest idea what someone would do with it. I have to return some books on Saturday so I’ll be curious if it’s still there.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving this year? We’re having a very low-key dinner at Drew’s mom’s house. I’m bringing my Tastefully Simple grapefruit cheeseball (YUM!) and I’m also making stuffed celery because to me it just isn’t turkey day without it. We’re also in charge of wine (big surprise, right?). Originally I was going to make dessert, but my MIL had an apple pie in the freezer and someone brought her a tray of cookies, so there’s no sense in going crazy on the sweets since no one really feels like dessert anyway. I’ll save my cheesecake for another time.

the chicken stock experiment

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Asian chicken soupI read a lot of natural living-type blogs and over and over again I keep seeing the term “bone broth” come up. Bone broth this and bone broth that. What on earth is this magic bone broth? Well, come to find out it’s exactly how I make chicken stock. I think “bone broth” must be a buzzword or something because it’s certainly not new. In fact, I don’t even call it stock I just call it soup.

Soup is something I eat a lot of, and I prefer my own chicken soup (well, my mom’s is the best naturally, but I think I do okay). Since I’m still trying to meet my weight loss goal, and I’m still nursing, a cup of soup and a sandwich is my standard lunch — easy, healthy, and nourishing. The best diet pills can’t possibly taste as good!

At any rate, a lot of the blogs suggested making the stock, bone broth, whatever you call it in a slow cooker. Now, I’ve always made mine on the stove in a pot. There’s no rhyme or reason, really. I basically take a stock pot and fill it with a chicken carcass (from either a chicken I roasted myself or a rotisserie chicken when I’ve been short on time), celery tops, a couple carrots, a large onion (skin and all, quartered), some peppercorns, and a couple garlic cloves if I think of it. Sometimes I’ll add some dried dill as well. I cover it with water and I allow it to almost reach a boil, then turn it way down to simmer for a couple hours. I’m left with a very rich stock that turns gelatinous when I put it in the fridge. That’s exactly how you want it.

Well, the slow cooker method is supposed to work very well. Many recipes call for the addition of apple cider vinegar — something I forgot to add. Now, I’m not sure if maybe that’s where I went wrong but after cooking on low for about 14 hours, the stock had achieved a deep color, but the depth of flavor wasn’t there. And it didn’t have the gelatinous quality even after it spent the night in the fridge. So I won’t be making it this way again. Have you ever made stock in the Crock Pot? How does it come out for you and what do you do differently?

menu plan monday, the “haven’t blogged in a week” edition

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mpmfall1

How did I let all of last week go by without writing anything? Honestly I am not even sure what I was doing, LOL… I didn’t think I was all that busy but the days do go by and sometimes the computer just doesn’t take priority. Well, I am proud to say that I did stick to last week’s meal plan (pretty much). There were a couple minor changes. For example, we just made the cube steaks our usual way (with Dijon mustard), and I didn’t make Cobb salads — we just had sandwiches with the soup. The spiced parsnip soup was OK. Drew liked it better than I did. I’m not a huge fan of the parsnip, but it was a way to use them up. I probably wouldn’t make it again, but I’m glad I tried it. Now, on to this week’s menu:

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Chicken Scarpariello with potatoes, tossed salad
Tuesday: Steak, broccoli, tossed salad
Wednesday: Slow cooker turkey and bean chili, tossed salad
Thursday: Chicken fajitas with fresh pico de gallo and guacamole, black beans and rice
Friday: Cheeseburgers, tossed salad, chicken soup
Saturday: Celebrating J’s birthday, so no cooking for me!

Drew is trying to do South Beach again so I’m trying to prepare meals that lend themselves to Phase I pretty easily without having to make something totally different. For example, tonight he just won’t have the potatoes with dinner. On Thursday he’ll skip the rice and use lettuce leaves instead of a tortilla, and no bun on Friday’s burger. I’ll be making my own chicken soup (as usual), so I don’t add any kind of grain until the last minute anyway. Not a very adventurous week, but one that should not meet too many complaints from my peanut gallery. Sometimes that’s important too!

CSA 2009: final share

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CSA 2009: final share

Please excuse the remnants of dinner on the table in this photo. (Ravioli cooked with tomato sauce, onions, and peppers in the Crock Pot, by the way. It was really good!) Yesterday afternoon I picked up our final CSA share for the season. I was disappointed we didn’t get any butternut squash (I’d been hoping for it so I could make soup), but it is still a great share. We got a head of lettuce, arugula, greens (I chose kale), broccoli, carrots, parsnips, rutubaga, turnips, garlic, three delicata squash, and “take what you want” for peppers. I’m not even sure what the dark ones are or the long, skinny ones but I was excited to try them. Drew and I both love peppers.

With the kale and potatoes I plan to make a copycat recipe of the Zuppa Toscana served at The Olive Garden. I just need to pick up some cream or half-and-half. I’ve been planning on roasting a chicken this weekend anyway so I think the parsnips and carrots will go well with that. I’m determined to make something with the rutubaga. In the newsletter there’s a recipe for maple roasted root vegetables with walnuts that I might try.

So that’s that. We’re not particpating next year, but I do plan on making better use of local farmer’s markets for fresh, local produce. And I don’t have to purchase things we don’t eat (I’m talking to you, bok choy). Of course, now the challenge will be to keep our veggie consumption up over the winter when I don’t have a big basket of pre-picked veggies every other Tuesday. I think with a little inititiative I’ll do OK.

playing catch-up

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I feel like this has been such a long weekend, and yet it seems weird that it’s already Sunday night. The time dragged, yet where did it go? Friday morning we were off early, heading to WMass to my grandmother’s funeral. It was very nice and I think she would have approved of her send-off. My mom kept things simple, just as Babci would have preferred. The service was private, just immediate family. Afterwards we had lunch at Steaming Tender and everything was delicious! I opted for a bowl of lobster bisque and a garden salad and I really enjoyed them both.

After lunch we headed back to my parents’ house. Drew and Jake stayed for a few minutes before heading back here. Jake had a birthday sleepover to attend on Friday night and there was no reason for him to miss that. I stayed up at my parents’ with Noah and Laura. My cousin gave me a much-needed haircut and I basically hung out with my family for a couple days. It was quite relaxing. I came home early this morning and then we all picked up Jake from his religion class and then hit Friendly’s for lunch.

As for Drew’s aunt, she continues to do well. It is still crazy to think that a week before all this happened she was in Sicily. If I ever do extensive travel I think I might consider travel insurance after all this, just in case.

So now I am just hoping for a boring, quiet week. Noah is on the mend from a slight case of pneumonia. I think my cold is finally gone and Drew is fighting off something. I’m thinking that a week of comfort foods might be in order. I’m done with excitement for a while, thankyouverymuch.

menu plan monday

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mpmfall1

Although I’m making up a menu plan for the week, I’m not sure how closely I will stick with it. My husband’s aunt was admitted to the hospital last night. Without going into details, I’m just not sure what the week will hold as far as being able to cook and eat together, but hopefully things will track on a positive path. So with that, here’s my tentative plan:

Sunday: Cheesesteak sandwiches
Monday: Quesadillas, salad
Tuesday: Meatballs and spaghetti, green salad
Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner: scrambled eggs, pumpkin waffles, bacon
Thursday: Soup & sandwiches or leftovers
Friday: Chicken breasts, CSA veggies, buttered noodles
Saturday: Steak, baked potato, green beans, salad

For more meal plan ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

menu plan monday

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mpmfall1

After a week where I was flying by the seat of my pants, I’m looking forward to a little more structure. I did not create a meal plan last week since for most of the week I wasn’t eating anything besides Jell-O, clear and smooth soups, yogurt, and various other types of mush. Then Jake got sick for much of the week, so there was a lot of quick and easy “no-brainer” kind of meals. He started to feel better over the weekend and Saturday I made a meatloaf, mom-style. That is, no ketchup and no bacon. Until post-college, I didn’t even realize that people did that to meatloaf. No, mom and I make it Italian-style using a mixture of ground beef, ground veal, and ground pork; diced green peppers and onions; Italian spices; and tomato sauce. The boys weren’t exactly thrilled with it, but in order to get to the apple crisp I’d made for dessert, they had to eat their dinner. And they did, however begrudgingly. Last night for a treat we ordered pizza and everyone obviously enjoyed that!

Here’s what I’m thinking about for this week:

Monday: Split pea soup, salad, beer bread
Tuesday: Chicken piccata, pasta salad, steamed squash
Wednesday: Cheese tortellini with ham and peas, arugula salad
Thursday: Turkey burgers, fries, cole slaw
Friday: Chicken fajitas with fresh pico de gallo, black beans and rice
Saturday: Pizza (maybe I’ll try this dough for a change) and wings, salad

I also have a recipe for pumpkin-ginger scones that I’m thinking about making. I’ll let you know if I do and how they turn out!

For more meal plan ideas, visit Organizing Junkie.

no, i won’t eat that

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The last few days I’ve seen lists on people’s blogs of things they do not like to eat. (See Lisanne, Cady, and Shanny.) I thought it would be fun to add my two cents on this topic. I’ve found everyone’s lists interesting and I’m so surprised at what people won’t eat! (LOL, you’d think that people would need to search for term life insurance rates online the way they think they’ll die from eating raw fish!) Of course, I have my own quirks. Truthfully, I’ll eat most things if they are put in front of me. A lot of the things I don’t like… it’s more like I don’t care much for them such as eggplant. I’ll eat it, but prefer not to. But here is a short list of things that I really, truly do not like:

  • Offal: just the smell of organ meats cooking makes me ill. I guess the exception is high-quality foie gras, prepared the right way. Otherwise, that is pretty disgusting too.
  • Beets: I’ve tried, I really have. I want to like them, but I can’t get past the earthy (read: dirt) flavor of them. I’ll bake them into a spice cake, but that’s about it.
  • Bok choy
  • Tat soi
  • Collard greens
  • Venison: It’s been a long time since I’ve had it and I’d be willing to try it again
  • Corned beef: This is something that I really hate. Just the sight is unappetizing to me, forget the flavor
  • New England Boiled Dinner: Ham, potatoes, cabbage and carrots boiled for like 8 hours in a pot? No. I’d cry when my mom made this.
  • Grits
  • Green salads where the only dressing is mayo: I see this in cooking mags like “Taste of Home” — I think it’s a southern/midwestern thing. Usually they are layered salads. I have eaten them before but really — yuck.
  • Tofu dogs: I like tofu. I like hot dogs. But this is a combo that just doesn’t work for me.

That’s really all I can think of for foods I downright dislike. What about you?

CSA 2009: Tenth Share

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CSA 2009: Tenth Share

It became apparent to me on Tuesday that winter is on the way. Yes, I know that fall just started, but already it feels blustery. As I was picking the tomatillos, I was actually shivering — my light sweater was not cutting it. I think we probably have two more bi-weekly shares left.

Nevertheless, a great farm share this week: one head of lettuce, 1.25 lbs of greens (I split them between chard and arugula), a head of cabbage, 1.25 lbs. of onions, a head of garlic, a bunch of turnips, a bunch of radishes, two eggplants, three summer squash, as many cukes as you wanted (they were considered “seconds” but looked great to me), and PYO tomatillos. I skipped the PYO basil because I was too lazy to walk to the other field and the PYO flowers were looking sad. I’m thinking of using the chard tomorrow to make Dara’s Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Chard and Onions. I also plan on making some salsa verde this weekend with the tomatillos. Such a treat! Maybe I’ll do some quick freezer pickles with the extra cukes. Jake has been sick this week so he hasn’t been eating them like he usually does. We’ll see.

CSA 2009: Ninth Share

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CSA 2009: Ninth Share

I was desperate for this week’s share because we ran out of lettuce sometime on Friday. Alas, only one head this week. But it’s pretty big. We also had 1 1/4 lbs. of greens coming our way so I divided it up between arugula and mixed Asian greens. The rest: three squash (I have no idea what those little guys are in the corner left, but they’re so cute I just had to try them along with the summer squash), two cukes, two tiny eggplant, one pepper, radishes, onions, fennel, basil, cilantro, garlic, and a teensy little watermelon. I passed on the green beans because they looked tough and seedy to me — blech. Also, I skipped over the PYO flowers, parsley, and scallions because I was in a rush to get home. The flowers were looking tired last time anyway. Look at how small the watermelon is:

teensy watermelon

I’ll cut it into fourths for tomorrow’s dessert. Tonight for dessert I made apple sandwiches. I cored an apple and the sliced it so the hole is in the middle of the slice. Slathered on some peanut butter, added a few chocolate chips, and topped it with another apple slice. It was a big hit. Jake told me that it didn’t belong on the “cool dessert list,” but it belonged on the “AWESOME dessert list.” So there you are.