Friday, December 31, 2021

Friday Food: So Much Celebrating

With three family birthdays, Christmas, and New Year's within a two-week period, this is a very celebratory time of year in our house.

Friday 

Short version: Tamales, chocolate roulade

Long version: Such a simple meal . . . that takes so long.

This was the second year I made tamales, and, as with anything, it was faster and easier this time as I implemented my own shortcuts. 


Like soaking the corn husks in the sink, because no matter what all the recipes say about using "a large bowl," I'm pretty sure almost no one outside a commercial kitchen has a bowl large enough to fit these things.

I started it the day before by pressure-cooking beef ribs, which makes stock, meat, and rendered fat. All of those things are in the tamales. Most people, of course, use purchased stock and lard, but I figured it was a good way to use up some beef ribs. Plus, as a general rule, the fewer the purchased ingredients in anything, the better it tastes.

Tamales are a lot of work, but they are worth it.

Ditto the roulade.

Next year, though, I need to remember that the quantities in the tamale recipes I consult ("follow" isn't really the right word . . .) don't really make enough. The recipes say they make about 30 tamales. This year I made one recipe's worth and ended up with only 21, so I made another half recipe and had 34 tamales at the end of it. But really, I should just double the masa mixture to start with so I can have 50 and can freeze some. Because if I'm going to all that effort, I should definitely get at least one more meal out of it.

Anyway. That's just me talking to myself. 

Saturday

Short version: Spaghetti and meatballs, Christmas mushrooms, green salad, eggnog, molasses cookies

Long version: The tamales were actually our big Christmas dinner, albeit on Christmas Eve, but this meal was almost as popular.

The meatballs were some I had made a month or so ago and froze, so all I had to do was make the spaghetti, to which I added a bag of roasted tomato sauce from the freezer and some Latino cheese.

The Latino cheese is made by a local-ish cheese factory that sells their cheese in the grocery store of one of the small towns we go to sometimes. I think they made up the name entirely, because an Internet search revealed nothing about it. Anyway, it tasted like a slightly less aged Parmesan, so I grated it and added it to the pasta. The kids didn't notice any difference, which is great, because I can't get blocks of Parmesan here. Having a local substitute--like the asadero cheese we use in place of mozzarella--is really useful. I hope they keep making it.

The mushrooms are a Christmas tradition going back to Cubby's toddler days. When he was very small and offered some mushrooms to try, he declined by saying he only ate mushrooms on Christmas. I suspect he was just trying to delay the mushroom consumption to some far later date and randomly chose Christmas, but it has now become an unalterable family tradition to have mushrooms on Christmas Day. Three of the four children actually like mushrooms now, but the one who doesn't still gamely eats his yearly Christmas mushroom piece every year.

The molasses cookies are a recipe from the MiL's Grandma Bishop, of chocolate cake fame. The recipe as written uses lard and would make something like 100 cookies, which is what farm women used to make to fill their cookie jars. I made half a recipe, with butter, and they are delicious. The combination of spices is very Christmas-y, and they make a perfectly seasonal dessert with some eggnog.

I made the eggnog, too, using this recipe. It used up the seven egg yolks left after making the roulade, and was perfect with the cookies. Mine was too thick after chilling, but I just thinned it out with some milk.

Sunday

Short version: Beef stew, bread and butter, cheese

Long version: I had taken out a random bag from the little freezer labeled "beef for BBQ," which I think was from the last time I made beef stock with soup bones. I actually used that for the tamales, and so I didn't need the beef from the ribs. I used that beef for this soup, which also included beef stock left from pressure-cooking the beef ribs, the last of the roasted tomato sauce, some already cooked onions, potatoes, carrots, and frozen green peas.

Monday

Short version: Birthday chips and meat, cake and ice cream

Long version: I do cook my own birthday dinner, because that way I'm assured of getting exactly what I want. I had bought some tortilla chips awhile ago, so I just combined the last of the tamale meat and the rest of the rib meat with more salsa, shredded cheese, some leftover canned black beans, and sour cream, and served that with the chips. Everyone scooped up the meat with the chips, and yes, that is what I consider to be a celebratory meal. 

I still believe chips make everything better, I just don't often indulge in them.

I made the ice cream using this recipe and the last of a bag of Oreos Cubby had bought with his own money at the store last time we were there (he gave me permission). You may recall I had tried this sort of condensed-milk-based no-churn ice cream before, with overly sweet results thanks to too many chocolate chips. This one was not too sweet, although it does have an odd mouthfeel. It sort of coats. I suspect it's our ersatz "heavy cream," however, which has thickeners and nonfat milk and all kinds of weirdness in it. And is the only kind we can get. Sigh.

Anyway.

The ice cream was good with the cake, though, which was, of course, Grandma Bishop's cake and which Cubby made for me.

Oh! And the MiL's brother, who is the family historian, sent me some photos of Grandma Bishop. Including this one that features the MiL herself (in a baby bonnet!) on Grandma Bishop's lap.


No cake or cookies in sight, though. Bummer.

Tuesday

Short version: Rooster pot pie, biscuits with strawberry jam

Long version: I got a call the morning before from a lady we know slightly who had heard we would take roosters. 

How many calls like this have I gotten over the years? Dozens. Which is how we've gotten hundreds of pounds of home-raised chicken for free.

This particular delivery was seven roosters. That's a lot of roosters.

Anyway. 

A. killed them Tuesday morning and skinned two of them for dinner. (The others he hung for a day or so to age.) These two I pressure-cooked and used for the pot pie.

Instead of a regular pie crust, I made a biscuit crust for the top. The children were very happy with this meal.


I was feeling whimsical, hence the vent slits in the shape of Christmas trees.

I had a little of the biscuit dough left, so I made some biscuits and let the kids have one each with strawberry jam for dessert. That was popular.

Wednesday

Short version: Cubby's tomato soup, leftovers

Long version: The "creamy" tomato soup from Cubby's ATK kids cookbook is one of the recipes out of it that we make somewhat regularly. Actually, that he makes somewhat regularly. He makes a quadruple recipe of it (which is not actually that much, since the original recipe only serves 1-2), and this time we got to use my brand-new immersion blender to puree it.


Thanks, MiL!

The soup doesn't have any protein in it, so the kids had it with tortillas and melted cheese. The classic pairing of a grilled cheese sandwich is overkill with this soup, because the soup is thickened with a bunch of bread.

A. had a bowl of chicken soup made with rooster stock and pot pie filling. And I had the last of the leftover meatballs.

Thursday

Short version: Bull and potato skillet, frozen peas

Long version: I used the immersion blender again to break down the pressure-canned bull meat even further before I added it to the potatoes and tallow in the skillet. I can tell this immersion blender is going to get a lot of use.

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

12 comments:

  1. I definitely think chips make everything better.
    meatballs, shrimp cocktail, quiche, salad
    takeout
    roasted potatoes with taco'ish ground beef & cheese on top, green beans
    chicken/carrots/potatoes in crockpot, peas, garlic knots
    fish taco's
    homemade mac n' cheese, sauteed squash cubes/mushrooms/garlic
    steaks, potatoes, broccoli for tonight
    Linda

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  2. Never having made tamales, I think I will do so for next Christmas Eve. This year I cooked a duck, which is always a treat. And this is also the year I make real mincemeat. So many resolutions!!I think the picture must be Easter 1950, judging by how dressed up we were.

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  3. Don't remember if I've ever commented before but I found your blog on The Frugal Girl. You amaze me at the way you make use of food items which others would throw out. At this point in life I'm just trying to use up our leftovers; even though we've been empty nesters for many years, I still cook more than husband & I can eat - leftovers are our friend. Thank you for sharing your life - we live in a very rural area in Missouri but are only about a half hour from Walmart. Happy New year blessings to you and your family!

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  4. Linda: I smiled at taco'ish ground beef. Sounds like my kind of food.

    MiL: Tamales should be no problem for someone who has successfully made Lobster A L'Americaine.

    JenG: Thank you! There are some very beautiful areas of Missouri we have driven through. Happy New Year to you, as well.

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  5. I saw the pot pie picture and thought you'd cut vents to look (kinda...I'm nearsighted) like chicken footprints. I continue to be impressed with your ability to "process" roosters, rabbits, injured bulls, etc. Anyway, Belated happy birthday, and happy new year!

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  6. Happy Birthday a few days late!
    Friday: I can't remember but it was probably leftovers
    Saturday: Our Christmas meal had to be reduced in size because my husband brought a nasty virus back with him from Ohio and nobody was allowed to visit. The plan was for lots of appetizers to eat while our granddaughters opened gifts (also the parents). I made a cocktail sauce of sorts for meatballs, pull-apart cheesy rolls baked in the shape of a Christmas tree with a marinara dipping sauce and pan roasted brussels sprouts with garlic. The brussels sprouts were really good. The bread was good but too sweet and the sauce for the meatballs was just ok. I was trying to use up some quince sauce that my husband made this fall. I'll have to find some other way to use it. I will also have to make my own meatballs next time. For dessert there was strawberry/blueberry pie with a Christmas tree vent that looked nearly identical to your pot pie vents
    Sunday and Monday: Even though we reduced what we were cooking there were a lot of leftovers. There's still a lot of the pull-apart rolls and I am cutting it up and using it as croutons in my salad at lunch.
    Tuesday: turkey and bean tacos
    Wednesday: lentil and sausage soup with just about every vegetable I could find in the fridge and with a container of broth leftover from a crockpot pork roast. We dipped some delicious bread from Zingermans in the soup. This was a Christmas present from my SiL and BiL and is the first of a 3 month subscription
    Thursday: more lentil soup with more of the delicious bread
    Pam in Maine

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  7. Sounds delicious and interesting! My grandparents were immigrants and we continue to follow the European custom to have the Christmas meal and big celebration on Christmas Eve, then a very relaxed, low-key Christmas Day.

    I only made tamales once...it was a ton of work (but delicious), and we did make enough to freeze and those were even more enjoyable, as the amount of work to make them had faded more in my memory.
    Would you consider posting the molasses cookie recipe? I'm looking for a good one, and have some molasses to use up.

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  8. Lauren: I am totally goig to cut chicken footprints into the pot pie top next time. Ha.

    Pam: A monthly bread subscription sounds like an excellent idea.

    Anonymous: Sure. Coming soon to a Tuesday Tips near you . . .

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  9. I thought those were chicken tracks on the pot pie.........looks scrumptious.

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  10. Happy new year!!
    Like Lauren and Gemma I totally thought these were chicken feet on the pie 😆
    Love the chips & meat for your birthday: easy and delicious, it sounds perfect.

    Monday still at my parents in law we had buffalo in a spicy marinade from the store, really good. I made green beans and we had leftover potato gratin
    Tuesday back home easy meal of sausage cooked in white wine and onions sauce, with rice
    Wed at my mum's my brother cooked veal saltimbocca, eggplant parmigiana and rice. Very tasty!
    Thu after an afternoon at the farm feeding baby cow and scratching goat heads, i tried a new recipe for fried chicken, from Delicious Magazine (Wun's chicken kung pao if you want to google it) so so good! We had it with stir fry and noodles
    Fri My boyfriend's request for NYE was fish tartare, which we had 3-way (salmon, tuna and dorade) with toast and champagne

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  11. Friday-venison chips, baked potatoes, frozen peas
    Saturday-sticky buns, sausage, and eggs for breakfast; for dinner at my daughter's we had ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, kale salad, broccoli, and I brought the (traditional) raspberry trifle
    Sunday-split pea soup, cheesy biscuits
    Monday-at my daughter's for grandson's birthday-tacos and homemade ice cream cake
    Tuesday-leftover ham and mac and cheese, broccoli
    Wednesday-leftover split pea soup, bread and butter
    Thursday-ham sandwiches, green beans
    Thursday-

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  12. We use a turkey roaster full of hot water for the husks, lol. The struggle is real.

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