This post coming to you from the Gulf coast of Texas. Surprise! Our kids had never seen the ocean, and at least some of them were excited about saltwater fishing. So we decided to make the long (looong) drive to the nearest ocean to us, which is the Gulf of Mexico. That is why I am typing this from our rental house in Port Aransas, Texas. That is also why I don't have any photos. They don't seem to be loading.
Don't worry. We'll be home Sunday and I can post all the photos then. Until then, photo-less food!
Friday
Short version: Stir-fry, rice
Long version: I had taken out a couple of quart bags of already-cooked and shredded beef rib meat. I used one to make tamale filling, and one to make the stir-fry. The stir-fry also used up quite a lot of the vegetables I brought home from the school salad bar, including mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, and carrots.
I got all the kids into the kitchen with me to actually make the tamales this day too, so I wouldn't have to do it on Christmas Day.
Saturday
Short version: Baked ham, scalloped potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, chocolate roulade
Long version: This was a ham I bought before Thanksgiving when I was getting our turkey. Cubby had requested I cook it for Christmas, but the rest of the family was unwilling to give up their tamales. So we had the ham on Christmas Eve instead.
It was a spiral ham, which I've never cooked before. Not as wet, but easier to dry out while cooking, as well. I baked it covered, and then poured over a mixture of mustard, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and water for the last half hour or so. I didn't have pineapple juice to make the Best Ham in the World that my family raves over, but it was still good.
Scalloped potatoes are definitely a special occasion side dish for me to make, because I really dislike slicing all those potatoes with the mandolin part of my grater. Since I was doing it, though, I made a full 13"x9" Pyrex of them (potatoes, salt, pepper, Parmesan, milk, and cream). And then I forgot to put a pan under the casserole, resulting in dripping milk/cream all over the bottom of my oven and SO MUCH SMOKE.
Rookie mistake.
Good thing it was warm enough to open the windows. Not warm, you understand, but warm enough. At least not as frigid as the previous two days.
I always make a chocolate roulade for Christmas or Christmas Eve, using the recipe in my old Jacques and Julia Cooking at Home cookbook. The recipe is online, too. Apparently, Martha Stewart has discovered it. She also posted a video of Jacques and Julia making the roulade, which is fun.
This was the show that A. and I used to watch in our basement apartment in Albany, NY. That's where I got the cookbook, too, from the bargain bin of a Barnes and Noble.
One of these years I'll think ahead enough to get good chocolate to make it, but this year, as all previous years, I've just used store-brand chocolate chips, and it's still delicious.
Sunday
Short version: Tamales, eggnog, molasses cookies
Long version: Tamales are a New Mexico tradition for Christmas, and a delicious tradition they are. I make mine with beef and beef tallow instead of lard and pork, because I find they re-heat better that way. Also, I have a lot of beef on hand.
I use this recipe for eggnog, which neatly takes care of all the egg yolks leftover from the roulade.
And this recipe for the cookies. Of course.
Monday
Short version: Carnitas, leftover scalloped potatoes, sauteed spinach
Long versio: A. brought home some giant packages of pork shoulder that I separated into pieces and froze. This was one of the pieces, cooked slowly in the oven in my enameled Dutch oven. When it was tender, I just pulled it into pieces and fried it in its own rendered tallow to crisp it up.
That in combination with the potatoes made for a pretty heavy meal.
Tuesday
Short version: Grudging chili, tortillas and cheese
Long version: We left about 7 a.m. this morning for Texas and didn't stop until around 5 p.m. in Eden, Texas. There was a microwave in our hotel room, but I didn't plan very well for dinner. I had grabbed a couple of containers of frozen chili and put them in the cooler, but our cooler is so good that they were still mostly frozen solid. And the containers weren't really microwavable. So I ran hot water on the outside of one container until I could gouge out bits and put them in a jar to microwave.
I managed to get enough for everyone to eat this way with their microwaved corn tortillas and cheese, but it was a battle.
Wednesday
Short version: Sausage sampler, crackers and swiss cheese, raw tomatoes and broccoli
Long version: I took Cubby and Poppy to the grocery store when we arrived at our rental house in Port Aransas, Texas, and Cubby requested sausage. This small store actually had a good sausage selection, so we ended up getting four kinds, including the two we ate this night: smoked beef sausage, and boudin. Boudin is a Cajun sausage of mostly rice and pork. I guess we were close enough to Louisiana for it to be in the store.
It was quite spicy, but very tasty, and Cubby declared it his new favorite sausage.
Thursday
Short version: Fresh whiting, yay!, and leftover french fries
Long version: We went fishing in the morning on a charter boat that took us out just beyond the bay and into the gulf. This isn't a great time of year for fishing, and the deckhands said last week's cold snap drove the fish away, so all we (I use this term loosely, as I do not actually fish) caught were catfish and whiting. The catfish were thrown back. The whiting were kept by the boat's crew for bait.
But when we were disembarking, A. asked if he could have some for our own bait, as he was planning on fishing all day the next day. They obligingly gave him about a dozen, the largest of which were maybe 12 inches long. A. cut up the smaller ones for bait, but the three largest ones he cooked. He had some vague memory of hearing whitefish is used to make fish sticks and so forth, and is actually a good eating fish.
They were, indeed, delicious. Although I can only say that secondhand, because I didn't eat anything. Neither did Poppy or Calvin. After our fishing trip in the morning, we went to the seafood restaurant next to the wharf for lunch, and there all the boys absolutely stuffed themselves with enormous platters of various fried sea things. They ate every bit except the french fries. I brought those back to the rental with us and re-heated them in a pan on the stove in some butter.
The three fish and the leftover fries were enough for the three who ate.
Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?
This sounds like such a great vacation!
ReplyDeleteFriday-cabbage soup, biscuits
Saturday-chicken pot pie, coleslaw, Christmas cookies
Sunday-Christmas dinner at my vegetarian daughter's house. So vegetarian mac and cheese, broccoli, salad, and I brought two eggnog pies (not vegetarian but eaten to the last crumb).
Monday-family birthday party, tacos and ice cream cake by request.
Tuesday-ham sandwiches, frozen mixed vegetables
Wednesday-leftover chicken pie, coleslaw
Thursday-ham, leftover mac and cheese, broccoli
How do you make vegetarian Mac and cheese? Isn't Mac and cheese vegetarian by definition? Do you use lard in the crusts for your pies- I'm told that it makes the best pie crusts.
DeleteI have vegetarian kids and they usually make their own meals, so I like to be on the lookout for something everyone can and will eat.
My macaroni and cheese usually has ham in it. So if I leave it out, that's vegetarian! But actually, my daughter made this version and it was vegan. It's from a cookbook called Vegan at Times and it was approved by vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters alike.
DeleteI use shortening in my piecrust because I got the recipe from an old 1930s cookbook in which dear old "Aunt Jenny" from Spry shortening (no longer made) recommends Spry because a nice fresh-baked pie will put your husband in a good mood. I still think that's funny. Anyway, a nice pie should put anyone in a good mood, made with Spry or not. Do you use lard?
I don't make pie crusts anymore- my first attempt was perfect followed by massively tough failures. Bread is more my thing- I do not have the delicate touch needed for pastry. Maybe I should try again. I have shortening in the cupboard from my daughters attempt at butter tarts.
DeleteFri- grilled cheese? Festivities starting so I lost track. Cheese cake made in a flat pan by adult son. Surprisingly good.
ReplyDeleteSat- frittatas brought by adult daughter: bacon and broccoli and a broccoli only. Pasta for the young ones. Daughter also brought chocolate babka, gingerbread, and dough to make sugar cookies for Santa.
Sun- midday dinner of pulled pork, hot dogs, beyond burgers, chips, homemade applesauce, string beans, crusty bread, assorted treats. I did make scrambled eggs and bagels in the evening for the little kids as well.
Mon- leftovers, cheese and bean burritos, tortilla and cheese for Littles.
Tues- grilled cheese maybe? It wasn't scrambled eggs as one son asked for a break. We had gone out for lunch so often I have a smaller dinner those days.
Wed- burgers, chicken strips, fries, pineapple, applesauce. Basketball practice started up again, so we eat in shifts.
Thurs- grilled cheese, salad with leftover chicken for husband, chips, applesauce.
Your vacation sounds like a great time- I hope everyone has a fun adventure and you continue to eat well!
Your food always sounds delicious and your cooking is an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteIs Gulf whitefish the same as Lake Superior white fish? The latter is very common to eat here in Chicago restaurants of all sorts. It's a pretty bland fish so even non-adventurous kids usually like it. It's a huge draw at a local Persian restaurant and regularly sells out...even though they also serve salmon and various other types of fish, as well as meat, etc.
Thanks for including the recipe and video for the roulade. Can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: I know nothing about fish--my presence on the boat was merely as child wrangler and so there would be an extra pole to increase our odds of catching anything--so I googled it. Whitefish is a general term for any kind of white fleshed fish, including things like haddock or pollock. Whiting is one of those white fleshed fish. It is quite mild in flavor.
ReplyDeleteIn England we make a Yule log at Christmas which looks a bit like the roulade. Do you make them in the US? Any connection between the two?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: It's not really a big tradition to make a yule log here, although my recipe for the roulade mentions that Jacques Pepin uses that recipe to make several yule logs every Christmas, so it definitely can be used for that.
ReplyDeleteI hope y’all are having a lot of fun on your trip! I’m sure the kids are loving it!
ReplyDeleteSaturday: I was exhausted and having some pain from my procedure. We did chili in the crockpot and rotelle dip, and I think the kids had some fruit… I have no idea. I put the food in crockpots, then headed to bed and then I got up again to do our Christmas Eve tradition which we were able to do on Christmas Eve since my husband had the evening off. Yay for not being assigned an overnight trip on Christmas Eve. He was then on cleanup duty as were the kids. I headed back to bed.
Sunday: lasagna, French bread, kale salad
I prepared ahead of time with a frozen lasagna, so I was able just to pop it in the oven. My dad supervised the kids while I napped off and on throughout the day. My husband was able to spend Christmas morning with us before he had to fly out on his next assigned trip. And we usually do not do paper products, but this was the exception so clean up was easy.
Monday: baked chicken with cheese, green beans, and broccoli, and air, fried red potatoes with peppers. Another day of recovery so another easy meal for prep and clean up.
Tuesday: leftovers. I was finally feeling much better so we decided to take the kids to a local amusement park to do the winter event since we were unable to go before Christmas. We did not want to spend money on food there so we quickly ate leftovers before we headed out. Although, my daughter did talk my husband into getting a funnel cake while there.
Wednesday: my husband and I went out for a date night to a local restaurant and my dad took the kids out to my daughter’s favorite restaurant.
Thursday: fish, rice, green beans
Friday: I have no idea. I’m winging it. I need to get back into menu planning.
Also, I have never gone saltwater finishing. Did your family enjoy it?
ReplyDeleteI bet the kids are loving this trip.
ReplyDeletemeals at two different families on sat. & sun.
chicken taco casserole over rice, salad
Italian wedding soup, garlic knots
shrimp taco's
fish fillets, roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables
and for tonight chicken barbeque sandwiches, coleslaw
Linda
Mother left. Now I am once again the house chef. It is best that it is me because Jared is a disaster in the kitchen. Never have I met someone that requires so many dishes.
ReplyDeleteSunday: Steak, creamed spinach fried potatoes
Monday: Thai Basil Chicken, basmati rice, green salad
Tuesday: Parmesan crusted fish with zoodles
Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan (What can I say? I had a lot of Parmesan.), pickled green beans
Thursday: Beef and broccoli with black rice
Friday: Chicken Karahi
Saturday: Shrimp and cauliflower grits
Hey! You're in my neck of the woods!!
ReplyDeleteWhiting are pretty good eating. That's probably the fish my husband catches the most, though he just went out on Wednesday and limited out on black drum (with Noe Garza's fishing boat, he's got a Facebook and website https://www.captnoegarza.com/. It'll be about an hour drive from where you are to meet up (He usually launches from Billings Bait by the JFK causeway). It costs money to book him, but might be worth it for y'all. If you book him, tell him Hess's wife sent you).
The beaches are also going to be nice right now: no stinky seaweed. It's probably too cold for swimming, but it's nice just to take a walk out there.
And the breakfast tacos at the Laredo Taco company restaurants in the gas stations actually ARE worth eating.
Another Texan here! We love to visit Port A and Corpus. Sounds like you had a great trip! Lauren
ReplyDeleteMy sympathies for the oven! I hope it cleaned easily and completely.
ReplyDelete