Friday Food: A Bit Tardy

Apologies to the two of you who are awake early enough to read this at 4:30 a.m. when it usually posts. I worked more this week, and was very tired last night. My slow brain was convinced last night was Wednesday night, apparently, so I had to write most of this in the morning. But here it is!

Friday 

Short version: Spaghetti and meatballs, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: I used the combination of ground beef and bulk sausage again, although slightly less sausage this time. Good meatballs. And a good make-ahead meal to eat early before going to the varsity football game.

Fresh dill and garlic in the ranch dressing, because I still can.

Saturday

Short version: Pot roast with potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, rice pudding

Long version: I'm down to the last couple of boxes of beef from the cow we got last year, and what was in those last boxes was mostly big pieces that need to be slow roasted. So that's what I did. 

And of course, if the oven is on half the day anyway, there might as well be some rice pudding baking in there, too. I was smarter this time and made the full triple recipe instead of fooling myself that a double would be enough. The triple one was finished this night, so that was obviously the right call.

Sunday

Short version: Chicken enchilada casserole, token cake and ice cream

Long version: We got two old hens from our neighbor that weren't laying anymore, and A. butchered them this day. I pressure cooked them and used the meat to make a casserole. My sister was here to help me strip the meat off the carcasses--one of my least-favorite kitchen tasks--so that made it about half as tedious as it usually is.

I had been planning on making tortillas and having soft tacos, but in the end, laziness won out and instead I layered some of the commodities tomato sauce that I had flavored with onion, garlic, cumin, green chile, and chile powder with the meat, corn tortillas, and cheese. It made a very big casserole that was very tasty. Plus, my sister had brought avocados, so we even had guacamole for one of the toppings. Yum.

I had made cupcakes (Grandma Bishop's chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting) for Poppy to bring to school the next day and had enough batter after filling the cupcake papers to make a mini-cake in a two-cup Pyrex. I cut that in quarters and everyone who wanted it had that with a scoop of ice cream from the big tub.

My sister also brought sprinkles with her, per the birthday girl's request, so they were very festive. (The bare cupcakes were for her brothers, who don't really like sprinkles).

The very small class sizes we have are very convenient for things like birthdays. Five cupcakes--Poppy has only four students in her preschool class, plus her teacher--are much more manageable than 25. And it even leaves some left over for her brothers.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: Mostly the enchilada casserole, although A. also had some soup I had made at his request from the steak bones. I had just simmered them to make a stock and pulled the bits of meat off, then added onion, garlic, potatoes, and pureed squash. It wasn't bad.

There were also leftover cupcakes, which is of course the best leftover.

Tuesday

Short version: Birthday pizza, carrot sticks with ranch dip, cake

Long version: Poppy requested "pizza and carrots" for her birthday dinner. I assumed she did not mean together. So one pizza was cheese, one had bacon and finely sliced onion on it.

I have to admit I was too lazy to go ALL THE WAY out to the garden (fifty steps) to get fresh dill for the ranch dip, so I used the dried. Fresh is better, though.

And the traditional Ugly Cake. This one was a repeat of the chocolate cake/peanut butter frosting, with decoration supervised and somewhat implemented by Poppy.

With more sprinkles. Of course.

Wednesday

Short version: Purpose-cooked leftovers, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: While I was in the kitchen the day before, I had cooked a package of tenderized bottom round steaks in chopped tomatoes/onion/garlic just to have on hand for dinner after my work day. I also heated up the leftover pizza, so there was a piece of pizza for everyone and some meat, and then salad.

When Cubby got home from football, he had the meat with leftover spaghetti heated in the juices, plus butter and cream cheese to make a sauce for the spaghetti.

And there was a tiny piece of leftover cake for each child. Four days in a row with cake has to be a record.

Thursday

Short version: Pork and bean tacos, raw green beans

Long version: I subbed at school, so it was another work day for me, but no more leftovers. So when I got home, I opened one of the big cans of commodities ground pork and fried that with some pinto beans I had taken from the freezer, plus onion powder, garlic powder, chile powder, and cumin powder.

All the powders on work days. Because sometimes, chopping onions is just too much effort.

It was good, though. Three children and A. had it in corn tortillas with cheese. Cubby had it with mashed potatoes and cheese when he got home. He doesn't really like the store tortillas.

I had a salad. I think it's going to freeze next week, so I'm still enjoying lettuce while I can.

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

T.T.: A Birthday Tip

Before Poppy was born, many people said something along the lines of, "That's going to be the toughest little girl ever." I myself thought she couldn't help but be a tomboy with three rough brothers to follow around all the days of her life.

I should have known by my fourth child that I can never make assumptions. They have this way of turning into people completely independent of my own expectations.

Today, Poppy turns five years old. She loves pink, purple, perfume, sparkles, my high heels, jewelry, and dancing. She also loves fishing, camping, eating fish eyes, and riding the horses.

The best of both worlds. And the best girl I know, for sure.

Happy birthday to my girl. Fly high, always.

Snapshots: In Which I Redeem Myself

I took lots of pictures this week, in an attempt to make up for my frankly lame posts in the last couple of weeks. Not that all of them are really artistic or awe-inspiring, but then, that's life.

So! First up: I went to put some dishes from baking in the dishwasher and noticed that this spoon I had dropped into water had made a perfect outline on the surface of the water.

And I thought: "Hey! It's just like those barista coffee foam shapes!" Which just shows you how far I live from actual coffeeshops.

Next up: When we have overnight guests, Cubby very kindly gives up his room with the queen-sized bed and moves out for the duration of the visit. This time he asked to have our extra mattress put on the top of Poppy's bunk bed. I was worried that he would roll around too much, being accustomed to a big bed, so I had to put a barrier to make sure he didn't fall out of the bed.

Overkill for a 12-almost-13-year-old? Yes. But then, I am a mother, and will probably do things like this when he is 23 years old.

My sister is the Halloween Queen, and always brings some new Halloween decorations when she comes. She also helps me hang them up.

Like this lit-up spider web that is impossible to keep up, no matter how much tape we use. Looks really cool, though.

I was working at school last week when the school board president (also mayor of the village and hunting guide) asked if I wanted some apples.

As if he needed to ask. Looks like applesauce to me! 

And now, sheep!

They made a rare appearance, so I took a picture of them.

Ms. Amelia called and said her daughter had "some" canning jars she found in the basement of the house she bought. She wanted to know if I wanted them before they were brought to a thrift shop. Sure, I said.

"Some" turned out to be almost 200 jars of assorted sizes. I will not need to buy jars for several years.

And last, I finally actually went on a morning walk!

All things are possible when I don't have to get anyone ready for school.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Meat and Potatoes

Friday 

Short version: Pizza, green salad with ranch dressing, ice cream

Long version: Another bread baking, another opportunity to make pizza. This time I made one with some of the Sysco breakfast sausage, which made the carnivores among us happy.

The ice cream was one of those big gallon-size tubs that A. got when he was at the store this day. The kids were excited to see that much ice cream. I was excited to have that highly useful bucket for chicken scraps when the ice cream is all gone. 

I'm easy to please, obviously.

Saturday

Short version: Sausage-y meatloaf, baked potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, cookies

Long version: Since I had to take the big logs of Sysco sausage out to slightly thaw and cut them into more manageable sizes, I left some out and mixed it with a package of ground beef to make meatloaf. This is a good combination because not only does it stretch our small amount of remaining ground beef, it adds some much-needed fat to the lean beef.

Cubby made the cookies because it was 50 degrees and rainy and he wanted to bake something. I had half a can of condensed milk left from making the arroz con leche last week, so I looked up a recipe for cookies using that and found this one.*

They're a type of thumbprint cookie, though the dough was more like biscuit dough or shortbread. Kind of crumbly and dry. He filled some with the last bit of remaining condensed milk, some with the last bit of a jar of peach jam, and the rest with apricot jam. Given that all of those things are pretty runny--I don't use commercial pectin in my jams, so they're runnier than store jam--he filled them first, and then baked them.

The apricot (the darker orange ones in the back) looked the nicest, if you're into aesthetics.

They were very good. Not too sweet, as I was fearing, and the apricot gave a particularly good sweet-tart flavor. A good recipe to have, as it's relatively easy, and doesn't require any eggs.

You might notice that I did actually use parchment paper on the cookie pan, contrary to my usual practice. I figured with all that sugary stuff in somewhat precarious little cups, the likelihood of a spill was pretty high, and I did not want to be scrubbing baked-on jam and condensed milk off that pan.

Good call. And then I used the same parchment on the same pan to cook some winter squash, and then yet again to bake the meatloaf. So I feel I really got all the use out of that one piece that I could. It did make clean-up easier, but the dogs missed out on some delicious fat that soaked into the parchment paper instead of ending up in their dinners.

Sunday

Short version: Beef and gravy, noodles, green salad with ranch dressing, ice cream

Long version: I took out a package of tenderized round steaks and cooked them with onion, garlic, parsley, diced tomatoes, and beef stock. This is what made the gravy, in the Italian sense. I did thicken the gravy a little bit with cornstarch.

Egg noodles for the kids, with butter, garlic powder, and Parmesan. Those who wanted it could have gravy on their noodles, too.

I figured Cubby checked the homemade dessert box with the cookies the day before, so the kids got to have more ice cream from the giant tub. They were happy with this.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers, posole, fried potatoes, raw green beans, milkshakes

Long version: A. had his posole again. This is the last big container from the freezer, finally.

I had baked some extra potatoes on Saturday, so I chopped those and fried them. The kids had these, along with leftover meatloaf and the green beans. I had a salad with the meatloaf in it.

The kids also had milkshakes, because Dad is fun and makes milkshakes on a Monday. As he noted, "I didn't buy that ice cream for decoration."

A. apparently considers Ovaltine to be an essential part of milkshakes. So he put some of that in there. The children approved. 

Tuesday

Short version: Pot roast with potatoes and carrots, green salad with vinaigrette, rice pudding

Long version: A big shoulder roast, pot roasted with onion, garlic, tomatoes and parsley. It looked very festive before it all cooked down.

A very Christmas-y roast.

We've had a really good run of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers for salads this fall. Hooray.

Rice pudding because I had the oven on for so long for the pot roast, anyway. I only made a double recipe this time. Should have made the triple recipe.

Wednesday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: The kids had pot roast, noodles, and raw green beans. A. had his posole. I had eggs with some sauteed calabacitas and tomatoes. 

There was also some leftover rice pudding, but not nearly enough. Definitely should have made the triple recipe.

Thursday

Short version: Steaks, mashed potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, candy corn

Long version: Candy corn courtesy of my sister, who arrived this day for a weekend visit.

Of course I made an herb butter for the steaks. Most of the family prefers it, and we could have our killing frost at any time now. Which is also the reason I used fresh dill in the ranch dressing. Gather ye herbs while ye may, right?

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

* When I'm looking for a recipe online, I just do a search and almost always use the first hit. Unless it looks really strange, that is. 

T.T.: Just Call Me the Reduction Evangelist

Much like it took me years to come up with the bright idea of seriously reducing my stock before canning it, it took me until, um, now to realize I could do the same thing with tomatoes.

I have canned a lot of tomatoes. Gallons upon gallons. And just this summer did I think to reduce them to about half their volume before canning them. Just like with stock, there's really no need to have all that liquid in the tomatoes. Almost half the jar will be a watery liquid when tomatoes are canned. This means more jars needed to can the tomatoes, and that means more lids. Which are getting harder to find, and more expensive when I do find them.

What I've been doing this summer is sticking a pan of halved tomatoes with nothing but salt into the oven when it's on for something else and baking them uncovered until the tomatoes have reduced by about half. The amount of time this takes depends on how hot the oven is. 

Before . . .

And after. Water, begone!

After the liquid is mostly gone, I puree the tomatoes, most often with my immersion blender. A regular blender or a food processor work, too. Then I can it, using the Ball Blue Book times for tomato puree. I usually end up with four pints, which I can juuust fit covered with water in my largest pot without having to mess around with the giant water bath canner.

This is much easier than prepping and stuffing seven quart jars full of whole tomatoes, and anyway, I never want whole tomatoes in anything I cook. I always end up mashing them when I cook with them. 

One of the greatest benefits to this is not peeling. I really, really dislike peeling tomatoes. Making a puree that includes the skins means no peeling, but also no curled up bits of skin in the food. Bonus.

What do you think I'll discover I should be reducing next? Probably something I should have been reducing all along.

I may be slow, but I get there in the end.

Snapshots: About that Schoolhouse

Many weeks ago, more than one person asked me about the schoolhouse that I sometimes show in my snapshots. And . . . I never answered.

Mea culpa.

Since I appear to have zero photos to share from this week--I guess my life gets less photo-worthy as the school year goes on--I thought I should get back to that interest in the schoolhouse. So here we go!

This is the schoolhouse. 

Bathed in the lovely light of an early morn. Back when there was still light in the early morn.

As you will have guessed, being the highly intelligent people that you are, it is the old school in our ghost village. It's about a hundred yards from us, down one of the village lanes.

It's a very nice two-story brick structure. I don't know the exact year it was built, but I think around the turn of the twentieth century. Several of our neighbors and acquaintances attended this school. It closed in the mid-1950s, and the students from it began attending one of the other schools in the county, which are ten miles in opposite directions from this school.

Unfortunately, the building was purchased by some guy about twenty years ago who started to tear it down and then stopped. So now it's partially dismantled and falling apart. Literally. The kids heard one of the chimneys collapse a couple of months ago. So it's obviously not safe to be in there, and it's really a shame that it wasn't left intact.

The old gym right next to it, however, is intact, and is a beautifully built stone structure. 

That will be the next building on the tour of our mostly-abandoned village. But probably not soon, given my track record.

Friday Food: Work and Enchiladas

Friday 

Short version: Breakfast tacos, tomato salad, Otter Pops or root beer

Long version: A. took Cubby hunting for elk, which meant an easy dinner for the three kids left at home with me. Cubby is the only one who doesn't like breakfast tacos, so I thought that was a good idea. It's just scrambled eggs in corn tortillas microwaved with cheese, and salsa.

I made the tomato salad because I had half a tomato left from making BLTs for lunch, plus another tomato I had harvested that had a hole in it that was drawing fruit flies. So I just diced those, sprinkled on some onion powder, and added some vinaigrette I had already made.

My parents had left some soda with us when they left, and only one can of root beer was left. So I let the kids choose if they would rather have soda or an Otter Pop (left over from the county parade) after dinner. Two chose the root beer, so they split that, and one had an Otter Pop.

Have an Odin picture, just for fun.

Saturday

Short version: Cheater's pizza, raw green beans, sauteed calabacita/tomatoes/beet greens with chicken sausage

Long version: We got a bag of something labeled "hoagie rolls" from the excess commodities. They were smallish, oblong white-flour rolls. I had a pan of tomatoes in the oven reducing for canning, so I used some of those to make pizza sauce by blending the tomatoes with basil, parsley, and roasted garlic, using my immersion blender.

I cut the rolls in half lengthwise, poured some olive oil on them, and baked them at high heat until they were crisp. Then I spread on the pizza sauce and grated mozzarella from the block we also got from excess commodities this week.

Not as good as my pizza, but not bad.

I still had a few of the unpopular commodities chicken sausages left. I was sauteeing some calabacitas anyway, so I added to that the greens from the two beets I had harvested and roasted along with the tomatoes, some of the pizza sauce, and the chicken sausage diced fine. I sauteed all of that until it was a bit browned, then added some of the extra mozzarella. It was pretty good. Definitely better than eating that sausage on its own.

Sunday

Short version: Beef, mashed potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing, St. Michael cake with whipped cream, late-night peaches and cream

Long version: I took out a package of stir-fry beef, but I didn't stir-fry it. Instead I cut it into smaller pieces, browned it in bacon grease, added sauteed onion and garlic, then a quart of beef stock, and simmered it until the meat was tender and most of the liquid was gone. To that I added a bit of mustard, a lot of fresh dill, and some sour cream.

Fresh dill and garlic in the ranch dressing, too. I'm very pleased that some of the dill plants re-seeded in time for another round of dill before the freeze.

The cake was Grandma Bishop's chocolate cake. We traditionally have this on the feast day of St. Michael, and the kids get to stab the cake with toothpicks. It's supposed to be a devil's food cake, because St. Michael defeated Satan and threw him from heaven. The feast day was Thursday, but I forgot, so we were a few days late. I don't think St. Michael will mind too much. The kids didn't. They always enjoy stabbing their cake. And eating it, too.

A. and Cubby returned from their hunt at 8 p.m. (minus an elk), just as the other kids were getting into bed. Of course, dinner had to be provided to the hunters. There was plenty of mashed potatoes and meat left. Since A. doesn't eat cake, I gave him some canned peaches with the whipped cream. And then I gave some peaches to the other three kids while Cubby was eating his cake, because it seemed kind of mean to have them sit there watching him eat his cake while they had nothing.

Monday

Short version: Breakfast tacos, posole, leftovers, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: A cobbled-together after-work meal. The younger kids had the scambled egg breakfast tacos. A. had yet more posole from the never-ending containers in the freezer. Cubby had leftover beef and mashed potatoes when he got home from football practice. 

And all the kids got to have leftover chocolate cake. No more whipped cream, though. Things get pretty barebones on work days.

Tuesday 

Short version: Chicken with curried split peas, rice, raw tomatoes

Long version: I had some chicken still in the freezer from the last rooster we had, so I took that out to thaw while I was at work subbing for the other teacher's aide. When I got home, I just heated the chicken in with the rest of the curried split peas and made some rice.

Wednesday

Short version: Tuna quesadillas, posole, raw green beans

Long version: Third day in a row of work, and my options for leftovers were pretty limited. A. had the last of his posole (not the last in the freezer--just the last of the container I had taken out) and I made some tuna salad. I didn't have any bread, though, so I made some quesadillas with it instead, with just corn tortillas, cheese, and the tuna salad.

This is actually surprisingly good. Like a tuna melt. It's much more appealing on a chilly, rainy night like this one than a pile of cold tuna salad.

Thursday

Short version: Bull enchiladas, arroz de leche

Long version: A. had mentioned that he thought the processed bull meat would be good in enchiladas.  I didn't have enchilada sauce, so I made some with tomatoes, onion, garlic, green chile puree, cumin, and red chile powder. I didn't have enough, though, so I also used the last bit of roasted tomato and garlic sauce in the refrigerator. The basil in it was undetectable at the end.

And then I still didn't have enough sauce for the top, so I used some pureed salsa.

Making enchiladas with corn tortillas is a pain, because you have to fry each individual tortilla in oil so they don't just dissolve into mush when they're baked in sauce. And then the tortillas are dipped in the sauce before being rolled, so your fingers are just a mess the whole time.

It makes a mess of the kitchen, too.

They are good, though. And A. was right: It was a good use for the bull meat. 

I need more sauce next time, though.

I made arroz con leche because I had four cups of milk that the kids informed me was starting to go off. I didn't want to spend the four hours to make our usual baked rice pudding, so I just made a stovetop version with condensed milk and cinnamon.

It was quicker, but I didn't like the method as much. My stove doesn't cook very low, which was probably most of the problem, because I couldn't get the rice cooked all the way without it sticking to the bottom of the pot. And I didn't want to add a bunch more water. It could have been softer, but it was okay. Tasted pretty good, anyway.

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