In the rush up to the Christmas holiday and with my often crazy work schedule I have to make a date to distribute all the homemade gifts I've prepared. Today the 10-year-old and I pulled our red wagon loaded with jars and strolled the neighborhood. We managed to get all but 6 delivered out of 21 names. It was nice to see everyone, and chat a bit, and hear about everyone's holiday plans!
Tomorrow I will bring gifts for my riding partners and instructor and at some point the kids will take some to their teachers. I have gift cards for the mailman and the sanitation crew. Thursday I will deliver 24 jars and 6 dozen cookies to work and spread some holiday cheer to the staff. Oh, yeah. And gum. I bought LOTS of gum. The ER staff really likes gum. It might even be better than chocolate.
Well, no. But almost.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Chain Reaction
1. My dryer was finally failing for good.
2. We decided to buy front-loaders. My husband wanted to stack them.
3. That required removing the shelves over the washer and dryer, and the platform that was built underneath by some previous owner of our house. The platform had to go or I would never reach the top of the dryer once they were stacked.
4. That required a complete overhaul of the laundry area, including new paneling, moving the electrical socket and a lot of paint.
5. An unforeseen side effect of moving the electrical socket was that the basement refrigerator is on the same circuit.
6. It was unforeseen for 2 days before it was seen.
7. A lot of my stockpiled meat needed to be eaten Right Now. Thankfully the freezer and fridge were not as full as they could have been.
8. We eat meat quickly, but not that quickly. Monday we had spaghetti with turkey meatballs and chicken sausage in the sauce. Tuesday there was a pork roast. Wednesday there was a London Broil.
9. Today, while we wait for the washer and dryer, we will eat Korean broiled eel with noodles - I took the leftover spaghetti from Monday, added soy sauce, sesame oil, 5-spice powder, garlic and white pepper and made "Asian inspired noodles."
10. Today, I have a lot of paint on my hands and arms. And in my hair. Yesterday it was even in my ear.
11. I also have 5 pints of BBQ pulled pork, thanks to Punk Domestics and another freezer-casualty (pork roast), plus a quick run to the store for pineapple and apple juices, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, and an additional pork butt.
12. Yeah, Mom, I said that word.
2. We decided to buy front-loaders. My husband wanted to stack them.
3. That required removing the shelves over the washer and dryer, and the platform that was built underneath by some previous owner of our house. The platform had to go or I would never reach the top of the dryer once they were stacked.
4. That required a complete overhaul of the laundry area, including new paneling, moving the electrical socket and a lot of paint.
5. An unforeseen side effect of moving the electrical socket was that the basement refrigerator is on the same circuit.
6. It was unforeseen for 2 days before it was seen.
7. A lot of my stockpiled meat needed to be eaten Right Now. Thankfully the freezer and fridge were not as full as they could have been.
8. We eat meat quickly, but not that quickly. Monday we had spaghetti with turkey meatballs and chicken sausage in the sauce. Tuesday there was a pork roast. Wednesday there was a London Broil.
9. Today, while we wait for the washer and dryer, we will eat Korean broiled eel with noodles - I took the leftover spaghetti from Monday, added soy sauce, sesame oil, 5-spice powder, garlic and white pepper and made "Asian inspired noodles."
10. Today, I have a lot of paint on my hands and arms. And in my hair. Yesterday it was even in my ear.
11. I also have 5 pints of BBQ pulled pork, thanks to Punk Domestics and another freezer-casualty (pork roast), plus a quick run to the store for pineapple and apple juices, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, and an additional pork butt.
12. Yeah, Mom, I said that word.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Another Batch
Since yesterday's compote creation was so good, I made another batch using the last 1.5 pounds of the rhubarb in the freezer. This time I added a second apple and ended up with 12 cups of compote. Considering my gift list keeps expanding, I'm now up to needing 48 jars. With this batch, I have 45 completed, only 3 to go! Well, maybe I'll be adding a few more, I just thought of a few more names!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Working on the Gift Stash
I found this recipe for Cranberry-Rhubarb Compote and scaled it up for my frozen rhubarb. Some organized part of my brain had thought ahead and weighed the rhubarb before I froze it, so it was easy. I had 1 pound, 6 ounces of rhubarb so I scaled the rest of the ingredients up by 2.5, except the apple, because I only had one in the house. I started to peel the apple but then I realized the pectin in the skin was required for this recipe so left it alone:
2.75 c. water
2 heaping cups sugar
5.5 cups cranberries
1 pound, 6 oz. chopped rhubarb
1 large apple, finely diced
This scaled-up version made 11 cups of compote, enough for 9 half-pint jars, 3 half-cup jars, and some for me. It's nice and tart, not very sweet, but sweet enough. I am guessing a little bit on the processing part but based upon similar recipes in my books, have decided upon 15 minutes in the boiling water canner and let them rest for 5 minutes before removing them. I'm sure that will be more than enough. This makes 33 jars in my stash and I need at least 8 more. Maybe I'll make another batch!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Under Pressure
Not in a bad way, but I do have to go to work in a few hours and wanted to get the leftovers processed into stock and soup. I started around 8:30 today, it is now almost 1:30 and the soup will be in the canner for another hour. But I did make 6 pints of turkey stock and 5 quarts of turkey soup.
Since the kale and brussels sprouts salad was not a success, I had a bag full of shredded kale and sprouts. I decided to add those to the soup. First I simmered the turkey bones with a lot of the leftover meat (there is still plenty for sandwiches for at least 3 days) and then I got the bones out, added an onion and some celery, some pepper and thyme and, at the last minute, the kale and sprouts. This is being processed for 90 minutes since it is in quart jars. I didn't add any salt because of the brining of the turkey, but there may be a need to add salt when we open the soup. We'll see.
I also used up the mashed potato leftovers by making potato pancakes. The 6 year old did not like them and had a bagel instead, but the rest of us ate them up. They are better with cranberry sauce than with syrup. Here's how I made them: 2 cups of mashed potatoes, 2 eggs, 1/4 c. flour, and some buttermilk, with a teaspoon of sugar. I mixed this all together and fried them in a pan. That made 10 pancakes. It took a little figuring out to know when they were ready to be flipped, the first ones kinda broke apart. Even though they weren't pretty, they tasted fine - a little bit like potato chips.
Since the kale and brussels sprouts salad was not a success, I had a bag full of shredded kale and sprouts. I decided to add those to the soup. First I simmered the turkey bones with a lot of the leftover meat (there is still plenty for sandwiches for at least 3 days) and then I got the bones out, added an onion and some celery, some pepper and thyme and, at the last minute, the kale and sprouts. This is being processed for 90 minutes since it is in quart jars. I didn't add any salt because of the brining of the turkey, but there may be a need to add salt when we open the soup. We'll see.
I also used up the mashed potato leftovers by making potato pancakes. The 6 year old did not like them and had a bagel instead, but the rest of us ate them up. They are better with cranberry sauce than with syrup. Here's how I made them: 2 cups of mashed potatoes, 2 eggs, 1/4 c. flour, and some buttermilk, with a teaspoon of sugar. I mixed this all together and fried them in a pan. That made 10 pancakes. It took a little figuring out to know when they were ready to be flipped, the first ones kinda broke apart. Even though they weren't pretty, they tasted fine - a little bit like potato chips.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Stuffed!
And tired!I've been up since 6:30 am. I rinsed and stuffed the turkey and got it in the oven by 8:30 am, and it was ready at 1:30 pm on the dot. Amazing! And the brining was a success - my father could not stop saying how wonderful the turkey was, which made me so happy! I thought I was the last person on earth to get on the brining bandwagon but, if I'm not, and you haven't brined, you have to try it.
The kale and brussels sprouts salad was challenging, even for me. I think the kale was too chewy for my taste, others found it too bitter. My husband very politely avoided it. I have some of the greens left that didn't get tossed in the dressing, I will likely cook them up sometime. Maybe add them to some soup... which I need to make with all that leftover turkey. Hopefully tomorrow, before I have to go to work.
The mashed potatoes were made with buttermilk this year, also successful. Almost everyone chose the cranberry habanero sauce over the plain sauce, the spiced crabapples were a hit, and between the 10 of us we ate one and a half pies. I totally missed out on the beets and eggs, they never even made it to my end of the table. The kids were at their own table; there were lots of giggles and not a lot of eating going on. But they did make a big dent in the pumpkin bread. I froze the second loaf - we had, as usual, WAY too much food. My fridges (I have 2) are full of food. I do not need to cook for a week, I think.
I talk a lot about food, but the best part of the day was just having my family around. My sister called during the festivities and joined in long-distance. My brother and his family hung around for a while after dinner and it was fun just to sit around and talk. That's what I'm thankful for - all the people in my life!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
New Things
Happy Thanksgiving!
As usual, Thanksgiving for us is whenever we can have it. This year, it's Saturday.
I have my list. I'm checking off things as I make them. The other day I made the creamed broccoli. Today I made:
1. A pumpkin pie, with homemade pie crust. Added bonus: since I didn't have evaporated milk, I used egg nog. Mmm.
2. Pumpkin bread: 2 loaves. I was going to make 4 and freeze 2, but I was one egg short. (I went through 17 eggs today, between the pie, breakfast, pumpkin bread, and:
3. Pickled beets and eggs. I hard boiled 6 eggs and added them to the liquid of one of my jars of pickled beets. Since I always have trouble with eggs cracking when I boil them, this time I set the eggs in cold water and waited to see which end floated. I then poked a hole in that end and boiled them for 14 minutes. None cracked. They were easy to peel. I will do that from now on.
4. Brined the turkey. This is the New Thing. I have never brined a turkey. Fortunately, the turkey fits in my lobster pot so I didn't have to sanitize a cooler and worry about keeping it all cold. I added 2 gallons of brine, 2 T. peppercorns, some sage, some thyme, and some celery seeds. Tomorrow I will turn it over in the brine.
Tomorrow I need to make the stuffing, toast almonds for the salad (another New Thing: a raw brussels sprouts and kale salad from Bon Appetit. Most of my extended family is a little apprehensive about this one, but I think it'll be awesome), and go to the store for all those last minute ingredients. Plus we are going to buy a new washer and dryer (my dryer is almost ready to give up the ghost, one can only repair these things so many times...) and there is this thing in the afternoon at the MIT Museum about kinetic/chain reaction sculptures that we must attend.
Saturday, I will do the rest!
As usual, Thanksgiving for us is whenever we can have it. This year, it's Saturday.
I have my list. I'm checking off things as I make them. The other day I made the creamed broccoli. Today I made:
1. A pumpkin pie, with homemade pie crust. Added bonus: since I didn't have evaporated milk, I used egg nog. Mmm.
2. Pumpkin bread: 2 loaves. I was going to make 4 and freeze 2, but I was one egg short. (I went through 17 eggs today, between the pie, breakfast, pumpkin bread, and:
3. Pickled beets and eggs. I hard boiled 6 eggs and added them to the liquid of one of my jars of pickled beets. Since I always have trouble with eggs cracking when I boil them, this time I set the eggs in cold water and waited to see which end floated. I then poked a hole in that end and boiled them for 14 minutes. None cracked. They were easy to peel. I will do that from now on.
4. Brined the turkey. This is the New Thing. I have never brined a turkey. Fortunately, the turkey fits in my lobster pot so I didn't have to sanitize a cooler and worry about keeping it all cold. I added 2 gallons of brine, 2 T. peppercorns, some sage, some thyme, and some celery seeds. Tomorrow I will turn it over in the brine.
Tomorrow I need to make the stuffing, toast almonds for the salad (another New Thing: a raw brussels sprouts and kale salad from Bon Appetit. Most of my extended family is a little apprehensive about this one, but I think it'll be awesome), and go to the store for all those last minute ingredients. Plus we are going to buy a new washer and dryer (my dryer is almost ready to give up the ghost, one can only repair these things so many times...) and there is this thing in the afternoon at the MIT Museum about kinetic/chain reaction sculptures that we must attend.
Saturday, I will do the rest!
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