Monday Musings – 07.13.2009 July 13, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in Musings, random stuff.add a comment
Somebody just looks awfully pleased with herself, doesn’t she? One might almost say she looks like the cat who ate the cream, only we know she’s not getting any cream – skim milk, maybe, but no cream! 
I’d love to get her on the scale, but I have a hard enough time getting her to stand still for a picture – she’d never stand for a weigh-in. 
Of course, we know why she’s so pleased with herself, don’t we?
After months of trying to get him in trouble and whispering her not-so- sweet nothings through the kitty door at the dog. . .
You’re adopted!
You’re going back to the POUND!
Drooly dogs smell!
. . . he finally managed to rip it off – now NO ONE is going through it, and the solid part of door got slid closed.
Yeah, she thinks her work is done here. We’ll see. . .
Aww. . . look at that!
It’s the Tiniest Green Bean Ever!
Suddenly, after all the rain last week, the beans are just loaded with blossoms, and some of those blossoms are starting to become beans! Yay!
Stay tuned next week for “what the heck am I supposed to do with all these beans?”
So I asked last week whether anyone would be interested in a cooking challenge – and the response was a resounding . . . yawn. 
So for the moment, this idea will be put on hold – for the summer. I’ll spend the next couple of months trying to come up with something Fun! and Exciting! and Challenging! – and I’ll make an announcement in September. Oooh. . . I’ll bet you can hardly wait, huh?
Oh, and as always, suggestions are always welcome – either leave a comment, or feel free to email . . . whatever makes you feel comfortable. 
Just like everything else around here, the herb garden has been happy happy happy with all the recent rain – I’d almost say it’s starting to get out of control! Especially the tarragon. Don’t get me wrong – I love tarragon. In fact, I’m planning to use a goodly amount of it in a marinade this week. But I wonder if I should just hack it back, like we did to the oregano?
I’m a little nervous about that, though. I mean, we’ve already cut the Greek oregano back twice, and every time we go after it, it just comes back stronger than ever.
I’m just afraid that if I do the same to the French tarragon, it might just . . . surrender. 
I just couldn’t resist trying to capture some raindrops on the petals of those gorgeous lilies.
I’ve been wishing I was a better photographer, then I realized that, just like with anything else, practice will help! So here I am, practicing!
If you don’t take anything else away from today’s entry, you should always remember this one thing:
It is NEVER a good idea to pick lettuce for a salad right after it rains. I mean, yeah, sure, it just pulls right up out of the ground so easily and all . . . but, DUDE.
You can thank me later. Maybe after I’ve removed the quart or so of dirt from the sink . . .
And here it is, everyone’s favorite part of Mondays – the Monday Menu Plan.
You may be wondering why, with just the two (occasionally three) of us, we bother planning our weekly menu, especially given the hours we work – Peeps is almost almost home by noon (which is what happens when you start at 5!) and I’m usually home well before 4. Plenty of time to figure out and cook dinner, right?
Well, yeah, probably. If, of course, it’s not frozen, or if you’ve got all the ingredients handy.
We find that it’s just nice to have a written plan laid out, so we know what we need to do (maybe pick some lettuce for salad the day before so we’re not scrambling at the last minute for a green vegetable) or if one of us needs to pick up something at the store (if we’re going to have burgers on Thursday, we really don’t want rolls sitting around all week!).
So here we go!
Monday - The forecast is calling for 74 and sunny – perfect weather for grilling. We haven’t had any seafood in a while, so Peeps is going to grill some tilapia – one of his favorites! I’ve already got salad cleaned and in the fridge to go with dinner.
Tuesday – Since the tarragon is threatening to take over, I figured it would be a good idea to actually do something with it! I’ll do a simple chicken marinade with some orange juice, tarragon, a little garlic – YUM! That will be perfect with some basmati rice and some garden-fresh peas. Peas and tarragon are a classic pair anyway.
Wednesday – I’ve got some errands to run after work Wednesday, and it’s supposed to be raining anyway, so Peeps suggested that tuna-pasta stuff that we tried a while back – it’s quick, cheap, tasty, and he brought home a couple of pounds of fresh linguine the other day that are sitting in the freezer wanting to be used up!
Thursday – Thursday, I’m going to try something a little different – pork tenderloin “medallions” with Herbes de Provence and a white wine-scallion pan sauce. I’m debating whether to use dried Herbes or just make a fresh “almost” version . . . I guess I’ll see how I feel Thursday!
Friday – Pizza night! Boy, are we predictable, or what? It really is nice, though, to just relax in front of the TV with our pizza and Jarly’s Kong toy! His new favorite “pizza night” treat – peanut butter and kibble in the Kong!
Be sure to click on over to The Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday post for loads and loads of other ideas.
How I spent my summer vacation July 10, 2009
Posted by Peeps in Cooking, Eating Down the Fridge, Food, Home.2 comments
Wow, when was the last time I actually wrote that title?
I mentioned before that my boss closed his stores for a week during the Fourth of July holiday. This was the first time in my working life that I’ve taken a whole week off. I used to take vacation a day here, two days there.
So, I spent two days of it preparing for the in-laws to arrive. Then another day with them actually here. Sunday was spent recovering from it all. That was kind of nice. We tried to catch up on some of the things we watch that we never have time for. We even almost napped.
Monday is normally my day off anyway. That’s my day to do laundry and other domestic household stuff. Holy crap, my vacation is pretty much shot already, isn’t it?
Well, I had two days left. Let’s get the smoker going. I had pulled some stuff out of the freezer over the weekend that I had wanted to smoke. Two beef briskets that we’d gotten on sale a couple weeks ago and a large package of beef short ribs. All of the short ribs I’ve ever seen are usually cut into three to four inch segments and cost far too much. The ones in out freezer we got at BJ’s last year were two four-bone racks that totaled about twelve pounds.
Tuesday morning I made up a rub for all the meat. I turned to Cook’s Illustrated again. They honestly do know a great deal about food. Once all the meat was nicely coated, it went back into the fridge until it was time.
Wednesday. Last day of vacation. Crud. The dog woke us up a little after 4:00. Thanks. But I know that brisket is supposed to take a while, so I didn’t mind too much.
When I went downstairs to get coffee, I also got the briskets out of the fridge to come up to room temperature. Or at least lose a little of the chill. Whatever. It’s early.
When Toys got back from walking the dog, it was time to get started. I got some charcoal started while it was still dark out.
This is what I was seeing, pretty much. Did I mention that it was really early?
Once the coals were ready, they went into the smoker to get it warmed up a bit. Then it was time for the brisket.
Two 9 and half pound briskets went on a little after 5:00. I had a probe thermometer in one to let me know when I reached my target temperature.
Nothing to do now but monitor the fire and make sure everything is going according to plan.
Until about noon. The brisket is doing nicely, but could still take a very long time. And we’re going to be doing the short ribs for dinner. I had pulled them out of the fridge a couple hours previously, so lets get them going.
Wow. That’s a lot of stuff. Seriously. That’s the one problem with having so much room on the smoker. You’re tempted to use it. I did.
Now, it’s back to waiting.
Shortly before Toys got home, the thermometer told me that the brisket was done. Not even eleven hours. Not bad. I was expecting something close to eighteen from all the research I’ve done. Cool. The briskets come off and get wrapped in foil to rest.
The ribs come off not even an hour later. They also rested in foil while the rest of dinner was gotten ready.
We each got a rib along with skillet roasted potatoes and garlic scapes.
The brisket got put into the fridge to be dealt with later.
Later came the next day after getting home from my first day back at work. It all got sliced and put into foil pans for later meals. All except enough for dinner Saturday and a little left over for sandwiches and as samples to various people.
Oh, the leftover rib meat got chopped and put in the freezer for later use in various applications.
Was it worth it? To have a freezer full of pretty good barbecued brisket? For the price of waiting around most of the day? You tell me.
Tight-Arse Hobo Picnic July 9, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in Cooking, Cooking Challenge, Food.7 comments
OK, so first, to get us all in the mood for the latest Formerly Monday But Now Tuesday Hobo challenge at Thursday Night Smackdown, here’s a bit of a cartoon.
So, the rules. This month, we’re serving two for $5 or less (4 for $10, etc., which, I guess, means 3 for $7.50) and we’re doing picnic food. That was my contribution – the Smugness Prize is, apparently, choosing the challenge for the following month, and, what with it’s being July and all, what would be a better hobo challenge than a picnic? After all, isn’t that what hobos do anyway – picnic? 
OK, so we started with two (yes, two) chicken breasts that we dug out of the freezer. These babies were HUGE – about 3/4 pound each. When we put them in the freezer, Peeps had cut them in half – I filleted them the morning of our “picnic” – while they were still kind of frozen (it’s SO much easier that way). This will ultimately serve four – Peeps, me, Surly Boy, and either my lunch or the Boy’s middle-of-the-night snack.
Anyway.
We rubbed the chicken breasts with a nice blend of spices and let them sit in the fridge for the day:
- 1½ Tbsp. kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. chili powder
- 2 Tbsp. paprika
- 2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne
So while the chicken was doing its thing in the fridge, I was working, and Peeps was doing his thing on his second-to-last day of his vacation.
Now we had intended to serve leftover mac salad from the 4th of July – because one thing I’m sure hobos don’t do is they don’t waste food.
Unfortunately, remember what I said about Surly Boy’s middle-of-the-night snack? You thought I was kidding, didn’t you? Yeah, not so much. What had been enough macaroni salad for the three of us for dinner when we went to bed was no more than an empty Tupperware bowl in the dishwasher the next morning. 
However, far be it from us to be caught carb-less – especially for a picnic!
While it’s not my mother’s potato salad, Peeps tossed together a warm, mayonnaise-free simple potato salad with stuff on hand – some potatoes, olive oil, garlic and parsley.
So simple – how can it be bad?
We did, however, have coleslaw leftover. I don’t know if the Boy didn’t see it, if he was full, but he didn’t devour that like a horde of locusts.
So. Time to cook the chicken. Actually, it’s very simple – just take it out of the bag, and toss it on the grill.
And cook until done. Remember, if you’ve got breasts like mine (heh) and need to fillet them, they’re going to cook fairly quickly, which is all the better – dinner in mere moments!
Oooh . . . grill marks!
But wait, you say! What about the picnic? Shouldn’t a picnic be served al fresco?
Yeah, probably. But here’s the thing. I had quite enough nature over the weekend. I was outside most of the day Saturday, and my eyes are still itching and I’m still sniffling. So here are some lovely, lovely flowers for you to enjoy. We good?
So. Breakdown time.
The numbers for 4 servings of:
BBQ-ish chicken
1.5 lbs. chicken @ $1.87/lb (on sale at the meat market) = $2.80
A bunch of spices = pantry staples
Potato Salad
1 lb. new potatoes = $.65? Maybe? Actually, that’s another pantry staple, but we do replace them fairly often.
olive oil & garlic = definitely staples
fresh parsley from garden
Coleslaw
Left over from the 4th of July
Grand total for 4 servings = $3.45 = $.86 per serving. Really?
Cool.
Thing #83 – Home for the Holiday July 8, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in 101 Things, Cooking Challenge, Family.9 comments
And I’ll bet you thought I’d forgotten all about my 101 Things list, didn’t you? Oh, ye of little faith . . . you just don’t know me very well, I guess.
So anyway, we decided to host the 4th of July at our house this year. I will admit, it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I made my List, but, well, it’s a holiday, and I hosted it, right? So I guess it counts.
First, a little background, by way of explanation.
I am the oldest of four children – my sister has three kids of her own, the older of my two brothers has no children, but he does have a dog, and the younger of my brothers has four children and a wife. (The four kids cry a lot. All of them.)
I’m not going to go into detail about my sister-in-law. That’s really all I need to say, isn’t it?
Most of our family holidays are spent at my parents’ house, which is about an hour and a half drive. Except that one Christmas, where we got sandbagged and ended up traveling an extra half hour to satisfy my sister-in-law. But since I’m not going into detail about her, I’m keeping my opinion to myself.
Anyway. As you’ll recall, Peeps started his new job back in May. So then Memorial Day rolled around, 4AM was our new regular getting-up time, and, honestly, we were tired. Not just any old tired – TIRED. Tired as in the last thing we want to do is spend 3 hours in the car (an hour and a half each way) either with a restless puppy (who doesn’t quite fit on the back seat), or, even worse, rushing to get home by puppy-walking-time. So we took a pass.
Even though my mother
would love to get all four kids together for the holiday.
Oh, yes. The guilt, it was thick.
And we skipped out on the whole Father’s Day-my birthday-my sister’s birthday celebration, as well. (My sister’s birthday is THE DAY BEFORE mine. How unfair is that?)
So along comes the 4th of July. Peeps is on vacation and would like nothing more than to spend the entire week smoking stuff. (An aside – I told him that he’s FAR TOO OLD to be uttering the phrase “I’ll smoke anything.” I’m just saying.)
I’m tired and don’t want to drive an Hour And A Half Each Way for anything. So we decided to get smart. We’ll invite the parents and the sister HERE for the 4th.
The thought being that THEY’RE not going to want to drive an hour and a half each way either, and WE can escape the guilt trip. Pretty clever, huh? The youngest brother (with his 4 kids and wife), I assumed, will have other plans anyway.
Until the plan backfires, and the parents and sister said “sure.” Really?
So now we’re on the hook for a Fourth of July Barbecue. I asked my mother to bring a couple of salads – her choice, as long as she brings potato salad, and we’ll take care of the rest.
Great. Then she mentions that, gee, she’d love to come up early enough to go to the Public Market, which, we’ve already learned the hard way, is much better earlier.
They’ll be here around 6:30.
In the morning.
Am I bad daughter in that I instituted a Parent Pool? I got my husband, son and brother involved in a wager as to what time the parents would ACTUALLY show up. I mean, getting here by 6:30, with an hour and a half drive? When you’re old? REALLY?
I had 7:00 and I lost – they pulled in at 6:31.
So in addition to the turkey breasts and pork butts that Peeps was handling, and the coleslaw, mac salad and baked beans, we were also going to want to provide a bit of a nibble for between the Market and the BBQ dinner.
I was going to make a bunch of mini muffins, decided after the first batch that I’d be there ALL FRICKIN’ DAY, so I made several different mini-loaves of “quick breads” – I did two each of a cherry-lime loaf, a double chocolate loaf, gingerbread, and strawberry-banana.
That’s a nice selection, don’t you think? Along with some coffee, it should be just perfect for a quick nibble before the Main Event.
Except that, apparently, the chocolate was too chocolate-y, the cherry-lime could have used a shot of almond (really?), the strawberry-banana was too banana-ry and the coffee was too strong. I guess the gingerbread was OK.
I thought they were good. 
So my sister drove up separately – she had some shopping she wanted to do while she was here in the Big City. And my brother (the winner of the Parent Pool) brought a friend who happened to be a female.
Who knew?
And our neighbors and friends, the Harley Parents also came by. It eventually shaped up to be a nice day, for which I am grateful, so we were able to overflow onto the deck. My dining room just can’t handle a dozen people at this point.
We did serve “buffet-style” – the food was in the kitchen, and everyone just helped themselves:
Pulled pork and turkey
The sides – our beans, mac salad and coleslaw, and my mother’s potato salad, broccoli salad (I don’t have a recipe for that, but I’m trying to get it!) and some new experiment – it was kind of a 3-bean salad, only with just 2 beans and artichoke hearts.
Yeah, I don’t know either, but it was not half bad!
And, of course, the beverage station. In addition to a cooler full of soda on the deck, we also offered iced tea (unsweetened, thank you very much) and some lovely white sangria. The sangria was quite a hit among those who weren’t driving.
My brother also brought his dog over – she’s been here before, and she and Jarly had a great, exhausting time playing. Though I just don’t know. I mean, between her freaky one-blue-one-brown-eye thing, and the perky ears and the clown eyebrows, I think she looks kind of like some sort of psycho-dog.
Peeps happened to mention that she reminded him of Harley Quinn . . . I can see it.
Even though I’m not a comic book sort of gal, and if I was, it wouldn’t be DC Comics. . .
I’m just saying, that’s all.
What do you suppose Harley-Pup is whispering to my dog, anyway?
So, at the end of the day, it wasn’t a bad holiday at all – AND we didn’t have a long drive to look forward to afterward! Since the parents got here so early, they were ready to take their leave fairly early, which means, once we woke the dog up, we still had plenty of time for a good walk.
Heh. A tired puppy is a happy puppy.
Spinach Frittata – With Help July 7, 2009
Posted by Toy Lady in Cooking, Food, random stuff.2 comments
So the other night, while we were thawing meat for the holiday smoking extravaganza, we got to a point where we were NOT going to try to cram anything else in the fridge – in fact, we were working very hard to get stuff OUT of the fridge.
Still are, actually.
So anyway, I found a recipe for a Spinach and Bacon Frittata and I said to myself,
Self, we have some bacon in the fridge, some spinach in the garden, and, of course, eggs. Let’s try this.
So we put it on our menu plan. Sort of, anyway.
And I got home from work and Surly Boy had someplace to go, or something to do, or something . . . and he wanted to know whether we could have dinner early.
Sure. You wanna help?
And so he did.
I know, right?
First, we picked some spinach from the garden. After all, you can’t have spinach frittata without spinach, now can you?
We cleaned it and soaked it in some cold water in the sink.
While the spinach was soaking, getting clean, I dug about a half pound of bacon our of the fridge.
Now I know this may look like just a few slices of bacon, but actually, it’s a few slices of Burger’s Smokehouse thick-sliced country bacon, and it is fabulous. And there are about 8 slices to a pound.
So anyway, the 4 slices or so of bacon got chopped into, well, lardons , to be fried for flavor and fat.
Meanwhile, while the bacon is frying, we preheated the oven to 450° and I had The Boy whisk 8 eggs with 1/4 cup of milk and a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
He said he wanted to help, right? He should know how to work a whisk anyway.
Once the bacon is reasonably cooked, we added the onion – in this case, it was about half a red onion that had been residing in the fridge – diced fairly coarsely, right into the bacon grease.
The cool thing about this dish is that it kind of builds on itself – first you fry the bacon, then you add the onions.
When the onions are fairly soft, you add the spinach.
Cook that until it’s well-wilted, about 2 minutes.
Stir the bacon-onion-spinach mixture, then have Surly Boy add the egg mixture.
Or get whatever Boy you have available.
And if you have it easily available, it won’t hurt to add a few grinds of nutmeg – nutmeg and spinach play well together. I’m not sure why, but they just do. Trust me.
Shake the pan until everything is fairly even looking, then you’ll just want to lower the heat and let the whole mess cook about 5-10 minutes or so, until the egg mixture has set around the edges. Shake the pan to make sure it’s not sticking, if you want. I’m actually not very good at that, but Peeps is aces at it. Nothing dares stick to the pan when he’s around.
Once the edges of your frittata set in the pan, but are not stuck, just shove it in the oven (remember how we preheated it?) for about 5 minutes, or until the whole thing is set.
Then, and this is the good part, sprinkle some cheddar cheese over the top and shove it back in the oven until the cheese is all melty and GBD. I do love cheese, don’t you? 
Remove from the oven and give the frittata a few minutes to set before you cut it.
We cut ours into six wedges, which was perfect for three people, but less perfect if you were hoping for leftovers for lunch.
That’s OK, though – it was a delightful, light and ultimately simple summer dinner, one that we can easily repeat and adapt to whatever veggies we have on hand.
And surprisingly, The Boy was also satisfied with what was, essentially, scrambled eggs with spinach – I suspect the fact that he helped with dinner had something to do with that. . .
Huh. It really is never too late to start getting your kids involved in the kitchen, is it?
