Friday
Short version: Cheeseburgers on homemade buns, oven fries, green salad with vinaigrette, baked apples and cream
Long version: The younger three children and A. were working down the hill on a masonry job all day, so I knew they would want a very substantial dinner. I was making bread, which is why I made the buns. They make hamburgers much more filling.
We got two five-pound bags of Granny Smith apples from Rafael. Thus, baked apples.
Saturday
Short version: Chicken and chickpea curry, rice, cheese sandwiches later
Long version: I had made stock with the rooster carcasses from Thursday, and then used the meat I picked off the carcasses to make the curry. I also opened one of the giant cans of chickpeas my sister brought me to supplement the chicken.
Sunday
Short version: Asian-ish pork, rice, collards, pickled radishes, baked fruit with cream
Long version: Another of the Wow! pack pork butts, this time flavored with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and maple syrup.
We had a week of two birthdays and class Christmas parties coming up, which is why we just had baked fruit for dessert. Relatively wholesome. I used one quart jar of canned apple slices and one of canned pear slices, with extra cinnamon and cloves added.
Monday
Short version: Ground beef gyros, malva pudding with custard sauce
Long version: This was A.'s birthday. I had originally thought to make lasagna for him, as he does love Italian-American food, but then I had the other half of that big can of chickpeas in the refrigerator. So instead, I made (a LOT) of hummus with those, sourdough pita bread, yogurt/garlic sauce, and gyro-seasoned ground beef (onions, garlic, oregano, cumin, thyme). We even had tomatoes and cucumbers.
He was extremely happy with this, as I knew he would be.
His original request for his birthday dessert was tiramisu, but he likes it with all the liqueurs, and I didn't think that would be a great family dessert. His second choice was malva pudding.
Malva pudding was a completely new thing to me. It's apparently a common thing in South Africa, and pretty much only there. A. saw it online somewhere and immediately thought he would like it. I think the apricot jam in it was one of the main attractions.
It's not very hard to make. I used this recipe, because it had slightly less sugar than some others I saw. There didn't seem to be a lot of apricot jam in it, and I thought it would be good with more apricot flavor, so I substituted apricot jam for half the brown sugar in the sauce poured over the baked pudding.
The recipe said you can serve it with either custard sauce or ice cream. We had ice cream on hand, but A. wanted to try custard sauce. I used this recipe for the custard sauce, but I only made a half recipe. This was actually more work to make than the pudding itself, but it was also definitely the right call. Warm custard sauce poured over this pudding is perfect.
The pudding itself was very dense and sweet. The apricot wasn't a dominant flavor, but I think the acidity of it did balance out the sugar even if the apricot flavor wasn't noticeable. The texture of the pudding was much like bread pudding. It caramelizes on the outside and is very soft on the inside. It was delicious, but you definitely would not want to eat too much of it. It's very heavy.
The amount of custard sauce I made was just right for this amount of pudding. My children thought I should have made a double recipe of the pudding, but I think they would have made themselves sick eating more than one serving of such a rich dessert.
In any case, this will certainly be a repeat dessert in our house.
Tuesday
Short version: Leftover curry and rice
Long version: First Communion day, in which I get home at 5:45 p.m. and heat up leftovers. The end.
Wednesday
Short version: Birthday steaks, pureed potatoes, carrot sticks with curry dip, pots de creme
Long version: Youngest son's birthday was yesterday, but an away basketball game meant we wouldn't all be home to have his requested dinner and party. So we did it this night. He wanted steak with herb butter and caramelized onions.
I have lots of caramelized onions on hand, as I made a big batch of them with the many pounds of onions I've been working through. I have parsley for herb butter. I did not have steak. We're not getting our cow from the neighbor processed until next month, which meant that I had to buy steaks at the store.
I knew they would be expensive. They were. The least expensive per pound, oddly, were the t-bone steaks, which are some of my favorites. I got three of those. They were very good.
This child never wants cake for his birthday, preferring instead something dairy-based for his dessert. This year, that was pots de creme. I made a double batch--which is the full recipe as I posted it here--since it was a birthday. It's just solid enough to hold the candles, thankfully.
Thursday
Short version: Subway on the road, leftovers at home, ice cream variety
Long version: This was the youngest boy's actual birthday. I went to the middle boy's basketball game. Because it was in a town only an hour away that happens to have a Subway, youngest son and Poppy came with me and I got them Subway after the game. Sandwiches are the youngest son's favorite food, so this made him happy.
A. and the eldest had leftover steak and potatoes at home.
I had the last few bites of Poppy's ham and cheese sandwich, and the crust of a grilled cheese sandwich left over from lunch. Such a cliche of a Mom Dinner.
When we got home at 6:30 p.m., I got out the many flavors of ice cream I had purchased for a birthday taste test.
2 comments:
I love the ice cream taste test- definitely a win for a dairy-lover's birthday! The cookie dough is my kids' current favorite.
Fri- trying to use up stuff in the freezer, chicken nuggets, fries, fruit.
Sat- homemade individual pizzas.
Sun- pasta, garlic bread that was really cake-like- I messed something up. Also, all the leftover bits of sausage from the freezer., broccoli.
Mon- basketball game- I made hamburgers, cut up fruit, chips,also some baked chicken for those who don't like hamburgers. I had popcorn at the game. Cinnamon rolls to make up for the previous days failed bread.
Tues- gift cards came in the mail, so Domino's. I put a bunch aside for some future game night.
Wed- leftover chicken in a stew with carrots, mashed potatoes, lovely dinner rolls. I shaped them and left the in the fridge for 4 hous before raising - deepened the flavor.
Thurs- French toast and bacon. No vegetable to be seem. A storm front blew through and we had 50°temps in the morning, followed by rain, then sun, dropping temps, a wicked windstorm with sleet snow, and then 30+ mile per hour winds. We needed comfort food.
Enjoy the weekend!
That’s ice cream looks so good!! And yeah, steaks are absurdly expensive.
Fri- quesadillas. Husband and 3 older kids were gone exploring caves for the weekend and I refuse to cook for less than 10 people
Sat- older kids and husband still gone so the kids ate whatever they could find in the house.
Sun- take out from the Mexican taco place down the street. The kids know my weakness and if I’m tired because of night wakings with the baby (And older helpers being gone then bringing home loads of muddy laundry), they recommend tacos “so you can rest mama” and it works like a charm!
Mon- sausage corn chowder, bread, and not a vegetable or fruit in sight
Tues- breakfast burritos at basketball games. The kids also bought all sorts of concessions because we were there for 5 hours.
Wed- Philly cheese steak sandwiches with caramelized onions and green beans
Thurs- pizza with friends because of an out of town basketball game. The gym people weren’t thrilled to see five X-Large pizzas brought into the gym with 17 kids eating them!
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