Friday Food: Ham and Potatoes To Rule Them All

Friday

Short version: Christmas dinner in January

Long version: I didn't set out to re-create a Christmas celebration at the table, but then I hauled out the giant shank ham I bought on clearance at Cubby's request. And then I decided I should cook the fresh cranberries he had also requested I buy. And of course, we have potatoes.

So I baked the ham for hours--it was like 16 pounds, so it took awhile--slathered in my last half-pint jar of the overly-sweet rhubarb sauce I canned at Blackrock years ago. According to this very blog, four and a half years ago, to be exact.

Yikes.

For the cranberries, I simply simmered them until they were soft with water, sugar, and the last bit of apricot jam from a jar in the refrigerator, then mashed them with my potato masher and cooked it all until it was thick.

I made a huge pot of boiled potato chunks at A.'s request. Literally my largest pot full of about ten pounds of potatoes. For this meal, I just put some of those chunks in a bowl and heated them with butter, salt, and pepper.

Amusingly, it snowed most of the day and every single family member was randomly wearing either red or green. I found this more entertaining than I should have.

Good dinner, though. And we had a few leftovers.

Yeah.

Saturday

Short version: Ham/potato/cheese skillet, roasted bell peppers and onions, leftover cranberry sauce

Long version: Also like Christmas, it's time to get creative with leftovers! Although it's not really necessary to get too creative with any combination of ham, potatoes, and cheese. It always tastes good. I did add some garlic, though, which was a good addition.

Sunday

Short version: Ham and potato break! Ground beef tacos with homemade tortillas, crispy peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips

Long version: I finished up a bag of masa while I was mixing the dough for the tortillas, but I added a wee bit too much water. I knew as I was mixing it that it was a little too wet, but I didn't want to open a whole new bag just for a quarter cup of masa. So I didn't, and guess what? My first tortilla stuck when I pressed it.

So then I had to scrape that tortilla off and then open the new bag for that quarter cup while the griddle pan was already hot and starting to smoke.

There's a lesson there. Take from it what you wish.

I asked Cubby to make the cookies. I didn't even go in the kitchen because he wanted to do it himself. The cookies have all of four ingredients, so I figured he'd be okay. The only snag was that he didn't line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

He also didn't take them out when he should have. I was out with the younger two, trying to coax them to walk back home after both of them had separate meltdowns on our "quick walk," so I wasn't in the house to tell him the cookies were done. Thus, they were, ahem, extra crispy.

They were still all eaten, though.

Pause for toddler action photo:

I wish I could borrow even a tenth of her energy.

Monday

Short version: Taco meat and potato skillet with cheese, home-frozen green beans

Long version: We had a lot of taco meat left over. We had a lot of cooked potatoes on hand still. It was a workday. This was easy, and everyone liked it.

Tuesday

Short version: Ham/mushroom/onion skillet, garlic bread, green salad

Long version: Diced ham, mushrooms, onions all fried together in butter until the ham was crispy.

Charlie, who dislikes all three of those things, had a couple of fried eggs. "Oh boy," said Charlie, "I love eggs! And, "Oh boy," said Jack, "I love ham and mushrooms!"

So nice when everyone is happy.

We didn't go a day without potatoes: A. ate potatoes with his ham instead of the bread. And I actually had to cook another ten pounds of potatoes this day. We sure can plow through potatoes when they're already cooked.

Break for random photo and an appropriate song:

Don't fence me in.

Wednesday

Short version: Dad's Special Stew, carrot sticks

Long version: I had taken out a large bag of elk the day before that didn't thaw in time for me to do anything with it Tuesday. I told A. it was in the refrigerator and if he felt like it, he could make something with it for dinner while I was at work. Otherwise, eggs for all.

He made a stew with elk chunks, garlic, dried red chiles, and potatoes that was a bit too spicy for the children. They all ate it, but did note the heat.

Thursday

Short version: Elk/potato/cheese skillet, carrot sticks with ranch dressing

Long version: I cherry-picked some of the elk out of the stew and fried it in a skillet with plain cooked potatoes, garlic powder, and paprika, then added cheese to make something a bit more palatable for the children. A. ate more of his stew. I ate a salad with some of the elk meat in it.

Didn't we just have carrot sticks the day before? Yes, but this time I made ranch dressing to dip them in, so obviously, they were fancy carrot sticks.

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

The Woodstove Smackdown

All day, every day.

Charlie: "I suddenly completely understand Flat Stanley."

Friday Food: Lambs, Ponytails, and Other Frivolity

Friday

Short version: Restaurant for me, Daddy food for everyone else

Long version: This was the night I was away at a hotel, where I got a cheeseburger and french fries in the hotel bar. I had that because everything else had chiles in it, and I didn't feel like burning my mouth.

I also had a double gin on the rocks with lime. It was a highly satisfying meal.

A. made a stew with a rabbit he had shot, carrots, cabbage, and a bunch of leftovers from our New Year's Day meal, including rice, pork, black-eyed peas. I was impressed he actually cooked the night I was gone.

Saturday

Short version: Leftover stew, fried eggs, mashed potatoes, raw radishes and tomatoes

Long version: I tried a bite of the stew while I was heating it up for Jack, Poppy, and A. It was pretty good, actually.

My children have a great love for raw radishes, so I got some for them when I stopped at the grocery store before leaving the city. They were pleased. They probably would have been more pleased by doughnuts or something, but that's not the kind of mom I am. Sorry, kids.

Look! Lambs!

Well, I tried to get a photo of the lambs, but they scurried away as soon as I approached the fence. 

Sunday

Short version: Chicken-fried elk, leftover mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli

Long version: Every time I make chicken-fried anything, I am reminded anew of why I really dislike making chicken-fried anything. It makes A. happy, though, and so I occasionally suck it up with the pounding and dredging and grease spatters.

Monday

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, fried potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, frozen green peas

Long version: Back to school/work. I had boiled the potato chunks the day before, which made this a very quick meal to make after work.

Tuesday

Short version: Barbecue elk, garlic bread, coleslaw

Long version: I cooked the elk chunks pretty plain, with just tomato juice, onion, and salt. Half I mixed with barbecue sauce for dinner this night.

The coleslaw took care of the last quarter of a cabbage that really needed to get out of the refrigerator. Victory. Tasty victory.

Look! Dogs!

Brothers fighting, man. Can't get away from them.

Wednesday

Short version: Elk tacos, leftover coleslaw

Long version: This is what I used the other half of the cooked elk for. I had put in all the spices and everything the night before and just stashed the pot in the refrigerator. Good thing, as we got home almost an hour later than we usually do, so it was not a night to be doing anything requiring time.

Also this day, I got off of work and found that Poppy had demanded A. do her hair in a ponytail. She has not allowed me to so much as put a barrette in her hair in months. But the ponytail is now a requirement. Daddy Magic.

The ponytail in action.

Thursday

Short version: Restaurant food, pineapple

Long version: The school where I work gave all of the teachers and staff a gift certificate to the restaurant in the village for Christmas. I decided to use it this night, as we had to be in the village anyway. Everyone had either a hot dog or a hamburger and french fries, because that's the sort of gourmet fare you can expect when patronizing a restaurant 60 miles from anywhere.

I didn't even use all of the gift certificate, so I guess there are more hot dogs in our future.

The pineapple was one I bought when I was in the city and that finally got ripe. It wasn't the best pineapple ever, but it wasn't the worst either, and the children were happy. One benefit of living so far from fresh produce is that they get really excited about things like pineapple. Or bananas.

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

Mom's 29 Hours Out

Yes, yes. It's been a few days since I returned from my brief stay in the outside world, so this is far from timely, but I took pictures that I really feel must be shared.

Try to contain your excitement.

Okay!

I left the house at 9:10 a.m. on Friday morning, driving off down our dirt road with nothing but a large cup of coffee for company. The coffee was necessary because Poppy woke up before 4 a.m. and I had to drive 90 miles.

Brutal.

Unfortunately, the radio doesn't work at all in the Honda, so I had lots of time to think and talk to myself. It's a pretty straightforward drive, though, and thankfully I didn't encounter any of the snow that was moving around that part of the state.

I had some time before check-in when I arrived in the city, so I went to get my hair cut. It had been, um, six months since my last haircut, so it was very overdue.

That little chore taken care of, I got lost trying to find my way to the historic plaza but did eventually make it to the hotel.

It was a very, very nice hotel. It's an old one, built in the 1800s. Its age means that the proportions of the building are old-fashioned and, thus, very pleasing.

I usually feel claustrophobic in hotels, but it's kind of hard to feel claustrophobic when the hallways are this big.

Maybe a bit of a "Shining" vibe, but pretty!

I was most pleased with my room:

Check out the height of those ceilings. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

There were bookcases full of books all over the hotel, including in my room:

I definitely approve, though I bet housekeeping hates dusting this.

The towels were even folded into decorative flowers.

So was the toilet paper, but I didn't get a picture of that.

All the photos I took were in the hotel, which is appropriate, since I basically didn't leave the hotel the whole time. The only exception was a short exploration of the plaza, during which I went across the street to a real bookstore and got a book for each child.

Otherwise, I stayed in the hotel. I read. I watched movies. I ate dinner in the bar downstairs. I took a bath. I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. (PAAAAARTY!!!) and slept in until 5:30 a.m.*

Yeah, I pretty much did nothing. It was glorious.

By the time I checked out around 10 a.m. the next morning, I felt somewhat prepared to take on the wretched Walmart in this city and then head home to re-enter the maelstrom of my household.

It was exactly what I wanted to do. Happy birthday to me.

* I habitually get up at 4:30 a.m., so yes, this is sleeping in.

And the Award for Earliest Seed Order Goes To . . .

Not me.

Yesterday when I was playing with Jack and Poppy, Cubby found a Seeds 'n' Such catalog that had recently arrived and informed me that he and Charlie were planning their "dream garden."

I didn't pay too much attention, as I was being smothered in 80 pounds of small children. But then, about fifteen minutes later, Cubby reappeared with his list of seeds and announced that he was ready to place an order. He had added the seeds up already and knew how much it would cost. He told me that since it was his idea, he was going to pay all the dollars for the order, and Charlie was going to pay the cents, plus shipping.

Charlie sure got the better end of that deal.

I showed Cubby how to look up the catalog number for each kind of seed they wanted, where to enter it on the order form, where to put the sub-total and totals, and where to check the tiny box informing Seeds 'n' Such that we do not want them to share our information with other companies "for marketing purposes."

Sneaky.

Anyway.

You want to know what they ordered, don't you?

Only three things. They ordered one pack of seeds for a giant cabbage variety, one pack for a variety of sweet corn, and one pack for a variety of watermelon*.  Because they ordered early, they're also getting a free packet of basil seeds and one of tomato seeds. They thought this was a great deal.

I wrote a check for them and collected the cash myself. A. promised he would help them stake out their garden area and spread manure and everything on it, though they were disappointed to learn that they can't actually plant their seeds for quite some time yet.

They found another catalog today and wanted to order more things, but we persuaded them that they had plenty of seeds coming and shouldn't overextend themselves in their first year of real gardening.

That's a common newbie mistake, you know.

Anyway, they're very excited to get their seeds in the mail soon. The next generation of gardeners has discovered the joys of seed ordering.

I'm so proud.

* A seeded variety, of course. My watermelon prejudice has definitely been passed down to my children.

Friday Food: Late Because I Am OUT OF THE HOUSE, WHAT?

Friday

Short version: Salad for me, Manfood for everyone else, chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches

Long versions: I had been planning to use a gift certificate I had for the sole restaurant in the village so that I wouldn't have to cook or clean up on my birthday, but then it rained/hailed/snowed all day and we were sitting in a cloud that made it hard to see more than a couple hundred feet. So I decided it wasn't worth driving anywhere and deputized A. for dinner duty.

He made a skillet of bacon, potatoes, garlic, and cheese. I made myself a salad with toasted walnuts, cheese, avocado, and sweet potato.

I also deputized Cubby. He was on dessert duty. He made chocolate chip cookies from his cookbook. I stayed in the kitchen and answered questions (and, okay, reminded him when he was about to forget the granulated sugar), but otherwise did nothing. He made them on his own.

We had a little vanilla ice cream left from Jack's birthday, so we made ice cream sandwiches with the cookies. Two thumbs up.

Saturday

Short version: Vegetable soup, elk and chile stew, garlic bread, cheese

Long version: I had the gnarly end left from the piece of elk I had cooked a few days before that I wanted to use up, along with the chicken stock left from simmering the tamales on Christmas Day. Some of my tamales fell apart, so the stock had thickened with the masa mixture from the tamales. I cooked the elk in that with garlic, chili powder, and some of our roasted green chilis, then added in some chopped carrots and, as an afterthought, some of the elk/potato/chili dish A. had made the week before.

Not sure what'd you call this, but it turned out pretty spicy. A. really liked it. Everyone else had the vegetable soup.

Sunday

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, bread and butter, cucumber slices, leftover stew and soup

Long version: We all ate the cheeseburgers. A. had some of the leftover elk stew, and then Cubby wanted to try some. He ended up eating two bowls and finishing it. The boy does love his chili. He told me it made his tummy warm. He has obviously assimilated to New Mexican food.

Jack and Poppy wanted some of the stew when they saw A. and Cubby eating it, but it was too spicy for them, so they ended up eating some of the leftover vegetable soup.

Monday

Short version: T-bone steaks, mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, home frozen green beans

Long version: Last package of T-bone steaks. Well, unless I unearth another one while shifting the remaining bags of elk in the freezer. That is possible.

I took all the children to the school playground this day, because it was really time to get out of the house. It was only about 38 degrees, but the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing, so out you get, kids.

It was a stroke of luck for them that the sand toys had been left out.

Tuesday

Short version: Roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, sauteed swiss chard, chocolate pudding

Long version: The chicken was the extra rooster that A. finally butchered in the afternoon. I was going to spatchcock it so it would cook faster, but I forgot how freaking HARD it is to break through the bones of a home-raised chicken. Nothing at all like cutting through the soft bones of a commercially-raised chicken. I got part of the backbone out and then had to give up. It was pretty mangled looking.

Then I read a method online for roasting a skinned chicken without drying it out (A. always skins the chicken because I have never managed to pluck a chicken well enough that I would actually want to eat the skin) that involved making deep cuts in the meat through to the bone and then rubbing in salt, lemon juice, and spices. I did this. It wasn't notably dry, but I wouldn't say it was particularly juicy, either.

Still. Clean chicken is always a great treat.

The potatoes were from a box of potatoes Rafael brought us, along with a ton of string cheese and some caraway bread that only Cubby will eat. We really didn't need any more potatoes, as we still have three boxes of the giant Idahos in A.'s office, but I will continue to doggedly work my way through them.

The swiss chard I discovered in the bottom of a crisper drawer when I was getting out the broccoli. My parents brought it. My dad grew it.  There were a few leaves that had gotten pretty yellow, but I cooked the bit that was left.

I made the pudding only because I had seven egg yolks left after making the chocolate roulade on Christmas Day. I used this recipe, doubling it and using my seven egg yolks instead of six. This makes a TON of pudding. Like, more than half a gallon. The children were very excited.

It is much richer than the recipe I've been using, and also slightly less chocolate-y, and was of course preferred by the family. I told them I won't be making that except for when I make the roulade, though, because who's going to want seven egg whites hanging around just because they wanted pudding? Not me.

Wednesday

Short version: Health, wealth, and happiness for 2020. Plus rice and leftover chocolate pudding.

Long version: Pork shoulder, slowly cooked, then shredded and fried in some of the rendered fat was this year's insurance for health.

The greens were frozen kohlrabi greens from the summer garden.

The black-eyed peas were actually the other half of the bag I bought last year and that have been sitting in the pantry all this time. I kind of screwed them up by totally spacing when I was making the roux and putting in butter instead of a neutral oil like canola, and I didn't have tomato paste, so I just used the rest of a can of tomatoes that were hanging out in the fridge.

I didn't even use any smoked pork product in the peas, but I did have a lot of the smoked venison stock on hand, so I used that. The peas ended up good, despite all my changes.

Thursday

Short version: I did not orchestrate food in any way.

Long version: I had a cheeseburger and fries (and gin) at the hotel I'm staying at. I assume A. and the kids ate the leftovers from our New Year's Day feast, and possibly A. fried the rabbit that's been sitting in the refrigerator for a couple of days. But maybe they just ate cereal or candy or something. I wouldn't know, because I wasn't there. Whee!

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

I'm Off

I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen today ensuring our health, wealth, and happiness for the year, as well as making stock from the rooster A. finally dispatched a couple of days ago. This all produced many dishes, thus adding to my kitchen work for the day.

But tomorrow, I'm not planning on cooking anything but breakfast. I'm not cleaning up anything, either.

And how am I doing that? By leaving.

See, I told A. about a month ago that all I wanted for my birthday was to go stay a night in a hotel. By myself. What A. called, "An introvert's perfect 40th birthday."

Yup.

I'm going to a small city 90 miles away and staying just the one night at a hotel there. I'll only be gone about 36 hours, but none of those hours will involve cooking, cleaning, or caring for anyone but myself.

I asked the boys what they would do with Daddy while I was gone.

Jack said: "Mommy, it's going to be totally out of control."

Cubby said: "Lots of snacks, lots of videos, and candy."

Charlie said: "It's going to be chaos. I have big plans. The remnants will be obvious."*

Cubby wondered what Poppy thought about my being gone. I said that she doesn't have much of a sense of time yet, so until I was actually gone, she wouldn't have any opinions. "Yeah," said Charlie, "And you're not wearing your earrings yet, so she isn't suspicious."

Indeed.

I must admit that I'm going to miss these four whackos:

But I also must admit that I'm very much looking forward to not being on call for them for even a short period of time.

* I swear that's EXACTLY what he said. Ominous, to say the least.