Sunday, March 17, 2024
Snapshots: Flowers and Tea
Friday, March 15, 2024
Friday Food: Roly Poly Fish Heads
Friday
Short version: Fish head chowder, garlic bread
Long version: There has been a bag of carp heads in our freezer for almost a year now. A. and the children caught the carp when they were fishing, and A. saved the heads to make fish stock.
What better time for fish soup than Lent, right? Also, I really wanted to get that bag of fish heads out of the freezer. So I thawed them and A. made stock with them.
The one child who didn't want to eat it did eat at least few bites, and then mostly garlic bread. Which is fine.
If you are unfamiliar with the title of the song that I used as the title of this post, you can see the lyric video for it here, along with some really unappetizing photos of, well, fish heads. Really weird song, and I have no idea why I know it.
Saturday
Short version: Elk stir-fry, rice
Long version: One bag of elk stir-fry meat, the rest of the broccoli we got from commodities, some bell peppers I had, carrots, green peas, onion and garlic.
Sunday
Short version: Pork, cornbread, green salad with vinaigrette, rice pudding
Long version: Big ole pork butt, cooked until tender, shredded, then broiled with mustard and maple syrup.
Do I make this every time we have company? Yes. And everyone likes it. Or if they don't, they're too polite to tell me.
I also pretty much always make rice pudding when I have the oven on that long for the pork. It's getting warmer, and the days of slow-cooking in the oven are going to end soon, so we should all enjoy rice pudding while we can.
Monday
Short version: Sausage, leftover chowder, leftover rice, leftover cornbread, green peas, chocolate ice cream
Long version: We had quite a lot of the fish chowder left, which about half the family ate. They also had sausage if they wanted it--I cooked andouille and plain smoked--and then a choice of rice or cornbread. Or both.
Tuesday
Short version: Traveling food, tortillas with pork and cheese
Long version: This was the day we went to Chimayo, so we were traveling all day. I brought all the leftover sausage, cheese, bread, mustard, a small jar of peanut butter, a quart bag full of carrot sticks, raisins, apples, oranges, and two sleeves of crackers.
The kids wanted to eat at the Mexican restaurant right across the plaza from the church, so we did that. That was at around 3 p.m. I thought maybe this very late lunch/early dinner would prevent the usual voracious consumption of any and all food in the car on the way home. It did not. By the time we got home, the only thing left was half the jar of peanut butter. And they were still all complaining of being hungry.
So when we got home at 7:30 p.m., I microwaved corn tortillas with corn, leftover pork, and salsa to feed the hordes.
Wednesday
Short version: Pork tacos with homemade tortillas, chili beans, pureed squash
Long version: There was quite a lot of pork left, so I made corn tortillas and fried the rest of pork with spices for a filling. I had one bag of chili beans in the freezer, which I pulled out to thaw. While I was doing that, I saw the bag of pureed squash that was also in the freezer and also took that out, because the MiL, who was still here, likes squash a lot.
Thursday
Short version: Bull Big Macs, oven fries, squash
Long version: A. ground twelve pounds of yet more bull meat on Monday. I used some of it to make cheeseburgers this night.
A. had asked if it would be possible to make the same kind of sauce that Mcdonald's uses on Big Macs.
Why, yes. And here's the recipe I followed. I didn't have any pickle relish, so I just diced up some dill pickles. I also used the optional ketchup, because I thought it tasted right that way. Not that I'm a great authority on McDonald's. I haven't had a Big Mac in probably twenty years.
I was also making bread this day, so I made hamburger buns as well. The only thing missing for an authentic Big Mac experience was tomato slices. Well, and the fact that they weren't gross because I used good meat, cheese, buns, and toppings.
Refrigerator check!
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Chimayo
We have returned! Intentions have been prayed for*! Wow, that was a LONG DAY!
Let's see how it went, shall we?
I was shooting for an 8 a.m. departure, and finally managed to get everyone in the van at 8:15. Not bad.
A. is a great proponent of the backroads style of road tripping. That is, he avoids freeways if possible. It is possible to avoid the freeways to get to Chimayo, if you're willing to drive winding mountain roads. That is what we did to get there.
This route brought us to Fort Union, which was supposed to be a field trip destination for the elementary children a couple of years ago when the wildfires closed it down.
There are very extensive ruins to explore, but I stayed with the non-ambulatory child at the (quite thorough) little museum while A. took the others to run amongst the ruins.
Then it was back in the van for a rather, um, nauseating ride. At least, for those of us in the back. I had been sitting in the middle seat with two of the children, but had to switch with one of the children who was all the way in the back and found the curvy road to be too much for his stomach.
I had to admit, though, that the nausea was worth it for the spectacular views.
We stopped one more time, in Trampas, to see the church there and to eat lunch. Construction on this church started in 1760, which makes the church older than the country in which it currently sits.
* Several of you are dealing with some very heavy things, and I am very sorry to hear that.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Road Trip!
We're on Spring Break! Hooray!
Also, the MiL is visiting for the week. The confluence of these events inspired me to suggest a road trip.
This is very out of character for me. I do not like driving long distances--unfortunate, given our location--and I really don't like driving long distances with all of my children. At least one of those children hates the car and has since he was an infant, which is challenging.
But I do really want to see Chimayo.
Chimayo (accent and spoken emphasis on the "o") is a somewhat famous Catholic pilgrimage site in the mountains north of Santa Fe. During Holy Week--the week leading up to Easter--many thousands of people travel there, some walking for days, some on their knees.
I want nothing to do with those sorts of crowds, but I did think it would be an appropriate place to visit in Lent.
It's going to take us probably a bit over three hours to get there. The plan is to stop where we turn off the main road and unload everyone who can walk so they can do a mini-pilgrimage to the church. It's about three miles, which I think is about as far as our youngest family member will want to be a pilgrim. I'll drive the one child who can't walk the rest of the way.
Despite the distance and the no doubt unhappy children we will have at some point during the day, I am looking forward to it. And I promise to take some pictures and tell you all about it tomorrow. Or possibly the next day, depending on how long it takes me to recover.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Snapshots: Sneaky Winter
Friday, March 8, 2024
Friday Food: Many Cheesy Things
Friday
Short version: Scrambled eggs with chili beans and cheese, cornbread, raw broccoli
Long version: We have a lot of eggs on hand now. Our chickens have started picking up their laying, so we get four or five a day from them. My friend at school with way more chickens has a lot right now, too, so I've been buying them from her.
I like having excess eggs. I can preserve the really clean ones in lime for future use, and I always have a quick meal at hand when I need one.
Like this night, when I opted for very easy scrambled eggs. Adding the chili beans and cheese gave them more flavor, though. And I did take the time to make cornbread, so it was slightly more like a dinner and less like breakfast.
Saturday
Short version: Fried chicken in sandwiches (or not), baked beans, bread and butter, raw radishes
Long version: We had quite a bit of the grocery-store fried chicken left. Two boys wanted the pickle and mayonnaise sandwiches again. The others had the chicken just re-heated (in the oven, because chicken should never be heated in a microwave) and plain, with the bread and butter.
We had a lot of beans this week. Because I cooked a lot of beans, both chili beans and baked beans.
Sunday
Short version: Elk burritos in homemade tortillas, chili beans, custard
Long version: I had thawed a bag of elk stew meat, but didn't want to make stew. Instead I made basically a chili with it, but cooked it down until it was more saucy than liquidy. That was the filling for the burritos, along with more of the chili beans I already had.
Because it was Sunday, I took the time to make homemade flour tortillas. I wanted to make them like those translucent ones you can buy from the ladies in Tucson who sell them door to door in apartment complexes and things. I figured the translucence comes from lard. So I used a recipe that called for lard.
They were very good, but not translucent. Needed more lard, I bet.
I made this custard, which I haven't made in awhile. But now is the time for it, because we have lots of eggs.
I didn't overbake it. Yay.
Monday
Short version: Elk skillet, more radishes
Long version: I made rice before I left for work for the child staying home with a sick stomach. When I got home, I used that rice, plus the rest of the chili elk and the last of the chili beans, and grated cheese, to make this skillet meal.
Tuesday
Short version: Bacon and cheese omelets, bread and butter
Long version: I had to sub this day, and didn't have anything made ahead of time for dinner. Fast eggs again. The omelets also used up the three egg whites left from making the custard. I fried a few pieces of bacon to put in the omelets, which was my great effort for dinner this night.
I didn't manage a vegetable. Oh well.
Wednesday
Short version: Toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, Snow's clam chowder, apple slices
Long version: Still working! Still no prepared food! But we did have some deli ham with which to make toasted sandwiches.
It made A. very happy to sit down to a melty sandwich and Snow's. Incidentally, should you ever feel moved to buy Snow's, make sure to get the condensed kind. You add your own milk to it, which means you're not paying for water in the can, and also you can add whole milk and/or cream to it. This of course makes it better.
Since I served cheesy sandwiches with the Snow's, I made it with just milk this time.
And look at me, serving produce! Very proud of myself for cutting up some apples, yes.
Thursday
Short version: Lamb, mashed potatoes, sauteed zucchini, raw radishes, lemon jello
Long version: Finally not working, so I had time to make something that did not involve melted cheese.
The lamb was a boned leg roast that I marinated for a few hours, then browned in a skillet, sliced, and returned to the pan to finish cooking. I also added the rest of the diced onion from burrito night, chopped garlic, apple cider vinegar, and cold butter to make a sauce.
The zucchini was from commodities. All I did with that was slice it and saute it in olive oil with garlic and salt.
I made the jello for the most recent child with an upset stomach. I buy lemon juice in bulk, so I pretty much just made lemonade, then added gelatin. I added more this time--five tablespoons of gelatin to about 10 cups of liquid--and it gelled properly this time. This made a very large Pyrex of jello. Luckily, although the child I made it for didn't like it much, the rest of the family did. A. was particularly enthusiastic about it.
Refrigerator check!
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
A.P.D.: Books!
I have to sub at school today--today I will be imparting wisdom to the second and third grades--so it seemed like an opportune time for an Audience Participation Day. Also, I have a question for you. Which we will get to at the end.
So! Let me tell you what I'm reading right now. (Can you guess the question yet? Bet you can.)
I don't actually have a lot of time or mental energy for reading at the moment, since life seems to be moving at a rather breakneck pace right now. But that doesn't mean I don't read. It just means I usually re-read something.
I'm a big re-reader. And my favorite books to re-read are my Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters books. I have a couple dozen of the many she wrote during her career, and they're good for re-reading because they don't require a lot of brain power, and are entertaining.
My current re-read is Houses of Stone, which I must have read at least eight times, if not more.
The second re-read right now is one I've only read once. I'm re-reading it at work on my lunch breaks. It's 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement, by Jane Ziegleman. It is, as you might have guessed from that very long and descriptive title, a food history book.
The last thing I'm reading is the Bible. Despite being a reader (obviously), I have never read the entire Bible. I thought about doing one of those guided reading things, that give passages to read every day with little lessons about them, but that seemed like too much work. So I just started reading. I'm currently finishing the Book of Numbers. I only have the mental strength and focus to read the Bible first thing in the morning when no one else is awake, but it's going fairly quickly. Luckily, I'm a fast reader.
And now, the question! What are you reading? I need some new ideas. Hit me.