Friday Food: Wrinkly Potatoes

Friday 

Short version: Cheese pizza, ranch dip, raw bell pepper

Long version: The older boys were still gone at their FFA convention, so I only had three people eating pizza. That meant I could get away with just one half-sheet-pan pizza. It was just cheese.

Saturday

Short version: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas, mango-coconut popsicles

Long version: The quintessential Mom Meal to welcome back our weary travelers.

How you know Mom loves you.

The popsicles were a departure, and were solely the result of my getting an entire box of ripe mangos from commodities. They were very good mangos, but some of them were starting to get black spots on them. 

I used several of them to make the popsicles, which handily also used up the last half cup of coconut milk I had frozen after making Poppy's First Communion coconut cake. The recipe I quickly consulted called for two and a half cups of mango to one cup of coconut milk. Because I didn't have enough coconut milk, I made up the difference with milk, cream, and coconut extract. And then I added maple syrup until it seemed sweet enough.

Popsicles are very easy to make, but there is no way to cut up mangos that doesn't make a huge, sticky mess.

Juice everywhere.

They were very good popsicles, though.

Sunday

Short version: Leftovers, chocolate pudding with cream

Long version: I had leftover Italian sausage, meatloaf, and the brisket my mom had sent home with me. I let everyone choose which meat they wanted, and then I portioned out leftover macaroni and cheese from a previous lunch, as well as leftover mashed potatoes. Plus some frozen peas.

I still use this recipe for chocolate pudding, but I double it, use half a cup of heavy cream and the optional cocoa powder, and split the chocolate chips between semi-sweet and dark. This makes a very good pudding. Sieving is also not optional for the best texture. This is unfortunate, because I dislike sieving anything, but it's worth it for pudding.

Monday

Short version: Cheeseburger casserole, leftover peas

Long version: A. came home with a bag of wrinkly potatoes from our elderly neighbor. I put them immediately in a big pot and boiled them whole, figuring if they were cooked, they would get used more readily.

They did. I used about half of them this night in a casserole that also included diced leftover meatloaf, grated American cheese we got from commodities, milk and cream, onion and garlic powder, and all the condiments for cheeseburgers. So ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.

This sounds suspect, but it was actually delicious and everyone loved it.

Tuesday

Short version: Pork, fried potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, rice pudding

Long version: I put a big pork shoulder in the oven early in the morning, along with the rice pudding, and let that cook most of the day. I just broiled the pork with rendered lard and spices, and the fried the rest of the boiled potatoes in more of the lard.

You'd never know they were sad, wrinkly potatoes to start with.

Wednesday

Short version: Ham and beans, rice, garlic bread, carrot sticks

Long version: The very large ham bone left from Poppy's First Communion meal was taking up a lot of room in my little freezer. And we had gotten three pounds of dried pinto beans from a couple different places. It was quite cool in the morning, which meant I could simmer all those beans with the ham bone comfortably.

This ham bone had more ham on it than most, which made for better beans, of course. I also added already-cooked onions, garlic, and tomato paste to them. And then I cooked the rice in some of the ham and bean broth. This made for a very flavorful meal.

Thursday

Short version: Pork fried rice, un-staled cookies

Long version: Leftover pork and rice, plus eggs, already-cooked onion, frozen peas, garlic powder, ginger powder, soy sauce, vinegar, and a bit of maple syrup.

I used all the rest of the rendered lard from cooking the pork in this, which was a lot of fat. Predictably, my family said it was the best fried rice I've ever made. 

Edited to add because I forgot to explain: The cookies were the chocolate chip ones I made before our trip to Arizona. I had thought the boys at home would eat the ones in the cookie jar, but I guess they didn't know they were there. They were a little stale, but perfectly fine after thirty seconds in the microwave on a plate under a damp paper towel.

Refrigerator check:

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

Room to Roam (and Park)

Although there are many things about the place I live that are markedly different from mainstream America, one that I am always reminded of when traveling is parking. 

Parking, you say? How can that be much different?

Well, let me ask you this: Do the places you park frequently have enough room to pull through in a crew-cab truck pulling a livestock trailer? No? Mine do.

Where I park at the bank.

Most places here--including schools, municipal buildings, and everywhere in the village--are set up that way because many people are driving such a set-up at any given time. That sort of thing can't be easily backed and turned, so pull-through parking is pretty much always an option.

I don't ever drive trucks with trailers, but I appreciate having parking set up for them. Back when I drove our 12-passenger van daily, I hated going into town and having to park in a small parking lot somewhere. So nerve-wracking to back that thing up in a tight space with cars hemming me in. But it's not something I have to worry about here.

Wide open spaces for cattle, people, and cars. Just the way I like it.

Snapshots: Desert Living

Of course these are all from our trip to Arizona. Because that's where I was most of last week.

I didn't have a chance to go to the grocery store ahead of this trip, so I didn't really have any particular traveling food. I made a completely ridiculous statement to A. that I could just stop for lunch at a fast food place. There were only three of us, after all. It wouldn't cost that much; it would be so easy; I wouldn't have to bring a cooler . . .

Yeah, sure. I was definitely fooling myself.

That was our lunch stop. We had egg salad sandwiches to use up the last few hardboiled eggs in the refrigerator. I also scrounged up the last of some deli ham, cheddar cheese, Triscuits, half a bag of tortilla chips, carrot sticks and radish slices, and all the candy the kids got on the last day of school. Oh, and the chocolate chip/oatmeal/peanut butter cookies I had made the day before.

It's always interesting to stay in rental houses. I encounter things I don't even know exist.

This is the microwave. It is a pull-out drawer. I was not a fan.

The first morning, I brought my coffee out by the pool.

Warm enough for bare feet, but still cool enough for jeans.

Then I got tired of listening to the humming of the air conditioning units and the frequent burbling of the pool as it cleaned itself and went back inside.

A good coffee spot.

After we got to my parents' house in Tucson, I actually went for a walk before I even had my coffee, so as to take advantage of the only time of day when I wouldn't have to walk in the merciless sun.

Light enough to see, but still no direct sun. Perfect.

Then I moved around the house to the various patios, searching for the best coffee spot.

This was the front patio, but it didn't have a particularly interesting view.

I eventually ended up on the patio right outside the back door, which has a view of the mountains. No picture, though. Sorry.

We spent much of our time swimming in four different pools. And when I say "we," I mean my children. 

Synchronized cannon balls with the cousins.

I don't actually like to swim, and I only got in my parents' pool once, for about five minutes. That was after I accepted a challenge to sit in my dad's cold-plunge tub for a full minute. The water in that is fifty degrees. That is very unpleasant. I did it, but I don't want to do it again.

He also has a sauna, which I also have no interest in.

Our last day in Tucson, we had many exciting events. First, my mother insisted we had to bring my car through a carwash. She said it was because the children would love it. I know it was because my country car covered in bug guts and dust was making her twitchy.

This is the first time I have ever gone through a car wash. It was an experience.

Next we went to play mini golf at a place that has been there since I was a kid. This was also my children's first time playing mini golf.

Golf 'n' Stuff has not changed in thirty years, God bless it.

And for one last new experience for Poppy and her brother, we went to a movie theater.

They were thrilled by the escalator.

And they loved the movie.

It was pretty funny. I enjoyed it, too.

One last lunch on the road . . .

Brisket sandwiches courtesy of my mom.

And we were home again.

There you have it! My Arizona life, snapshotted.