Friday Food: Schoool's Out for Summer

"Schoooool's out forever. School's been blown. To. Pieces."

Name that song!*

Anyway. Food . . .

Friday 

Short version: Pretzels, ice cream sandwiches, pork with green chili, garlic bread, raw radishes

Long version: I was outside weeding my asparagus at 3:30 p.m. when the phone rang. It was the mechanic, telling us the van was ready to pick up.

The mechanic is an hour away, and they would be closing for the weekend at 5 p.m. Our next opportunity to get the van wouldn't be until the following Friday. 

Road trip, kids!

Luckily, everyone was already outside, so all I had to do was pile them into the Honda. I quickly filled a few water bottles and grabbed a bag of pretzel sticks from the pantry to placate the hungry children. We also promised them ice cream after we got the van.

It was really hot on the ride down--the Honda doesn't have any air conditioning--but it started to rain right before we got the mechanic. There was no thunder, so while we were waiting for A. to pay and get the keys, I let them all get out to run around in the (light) rain.

Because we know how to have a good time.

We got them ice cream sandwiches at the gas station before we headed home. Very luckily, I had already made garlic bread and cooked some pork country ribs, so when we got home all I had to do was pull the meat off the ribs and mix it with some of the green chili sauce. I also threw some green beans right in with the pork to up the vegetable content.

Saturday

Short version: Leftover pork, chicken patty sandwiches, carrot sticks with curry dip

Long version: I had a plan involving some of the pressure-canned bull meat, but then I punked out with those frozen chicken patties and leftovers. A. and Cubby were helping Rafael fix his windmill and they didn't get home until 8 p.m., so it was just me and the other three kids anyway. They were happy with the sandwiches.

Sunday

Short version: Roast beef, roasted potatoes, sauteed sprouting broccoli, blueberry/apricot dessert oatmeal

Long version: Sprouting broccoli is a new thing for me. I bought the seeds at Baker's Creek Seeds when we stopped there a couple of summers ago on our way home from Blackrock. They're a fall-planted plant that's supposed to overwinter and produce the broccoli florets in early spring.

The first fall I planted them, they didn't even germinate. Too dry, I suspect.

Last fall they germinated and grew pretty well, but the only ones I got through the winter were the ones that were in one of the sunken box beds. They survived because I could cover them to protect them from both the voracious rabbits and the cold. They're supposed to be winter-hardy, but I don't think they're hardy enough to withstand zero degrees without some protection.

Anyway. They grew nicely in the spring and I finally harvested enough for a side dish.

Sprouting broccoli doesn't form heads, just individual florets on a kind of bushy plant. It looks sort of weedy, but it tasted really good.

This is a purple variety, although they turn green when cooked.

This was the sleeper hit of this meal. Every single person said how good it was. Even A., who doesn't even like broccoli, told me I should grow it again. 

Done.

The dessert was supposed to be a crisp to use some apricots I bought on Thursday that were not as flavorful as I would have liked. However, the frozen blueberries once again released so many juices that they overwhelmed the topping. Also, the topping was mostly oats--trying to use up the crazy quantities of quick oats I keep getting from our neighbors--so it actually ended up tasting sort of like very fruity oatmeal. It was good with whipped cream, though.

Monday

Short version: Cheater's pizza, pizza omelets, green salad from MY LETTUCE, HOORAY!

Long version: I did back-to-back bread bakings this weekend so I could make bread for end-of-year teacher gifts, which means I made garlic bread two nights. Rather than give the kids garlic bread on Sunday, though, I saved that loaf and cut it in half to serve as pizza crust. A bag of Finny's sauce from the freezer, grated asadero cheese, and there's an exciting workday dinner for the children.

A. and I ate the omelets. I've never made these before, or heard of them, but I'm sure there are recipes for them somewhere. All I did was season the eggs with dried basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then fill the omelet with asadero cheese, and top the finished omelets with the tomato sauce. They were quite good.

The salad, though, was what made me very happy. It was my lettuce (hooray!), as well as some of my arugula, green garlic, and the flowers from some wild chives Cubby found when he was herding sheep and brought home for me.

I was so proud and touched when he showed up with plants he had foraged and brought to me, for several reasons: 1) He identified them on his own. 2) He knew I would be happy to get them. 3) He was excited to eat some himself. 

That's my boy.

Tuesday

Short version: Beef stew meat with vegetables, pasta, steamed broccoli

Long version: I cooked the package of stew meat I took out with four cubes of green garlic puree from the freezer, a quart of pressure-canned beef stock, and the remaining half cup or so of Finny's sauce from the pizza. It was very good. I just love it when all the flavor comes from things I prepared in the past, so I can just dump stuff in.

In the same pot as the meat, I put in the last half of a bag of chopped calabacita (like zucchini) from last summer, and a few carrots cut into chunks.

The pasta had two cubes of basil pesto from last summer, plus butter and cream cheese.

Wednesday

Short version: Steaks, leftover rice or roasted potatoes, frozen green peas

Long version: I only cooked four steaks ("only," ha), but the boys had been eating treats in their classrooms all day because it was the last full day of school, so they didn't eat as much as they normally would.

Thursday

Short version: Hot dogs, tater tots, baked beans, leftover peas

Long version: Last day of school! When I was actually in the grocery store myself last week, I was able to buy such indulgences as hot dogs (with buns!) and tater tots. Which I saved for the last day of school.

The baked beans were some from the last batch I had made and frozen.

The children were very excited about this meal. I was not excited by the actual hole that was kicked in my living room wall while they were wrestling as I was preparing this meal.

Welcome, summer! Ugh.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

* School's Out by Alice Cooper. And here it is! You're welcome.