Snapshots: Holidays Past and Future

Flashback to Thanksgiving, when Poppy wanted to label another freezer bag for me.

I will miss it when she spells everything properly.

Also related to Thanksgiving, let me share with you one of the very few disposable things I buy.

Throwaway turkey roaster.

Although I am for the most part pretty militantly against anything that only gets used once, I make an exception for the turkey roasting pan. I do not want to store anything that big for one day of use a year. Also, those giant roasting pans are expensive. These disposable ones are 99 cents. I can buy one every year for twenty years and still not spend as much as I would on a pan that I would have to store the rest of the year. So I buy one every year and then just . . . throw it away.

Scandalous, I know.

Okay, now that we've covered the holiday that we've already celebrated, let's move on to the next one.

We decorated for Christmas, which includes putting out every one of the Epsom-salt-covered candle jars all the kids have made.

It's a lot.

And last, I subbed in the classroom with the phrase cube again this week. This is what was facing me when I got in there on Thursday morning.

You're not the boss of me, cube.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Illness and Elk

Friday 

Short version: Elk and ram stew, crackers, cheese

Long version: We butchered our older ram last month (keeping one of the ram lambs as our flock ram), so I took a bag of stew meat from that out of the freezer. It wasn't a lot of meat, though, so I also took out  bag of elk stew meat.

I made this stew the day before and left it right in the pot to refrigerate. I knew I would be getting home right at dinnertime after a trip to physical therapy in the afternoon and the obligatory stop at the grocery store afterward, followed by an hour and a half drive.

That is indeed what happened. I got home right at 5 p.m., put the pot of stew on the stove, heated it while I put away groceries, and served it with the crackers. Also cheese for those who wanted it.

Incidentally, I used the last of the turkey stock in this stew. Always a good feeling to finish the very last of the turkey from Thanksgiving.

Saturday

Short version: Fried elk strips, mashed potatoes, frozen green peas

Long version: Elk steaks, cut into thin strips, then fried and finished off with onions and cream to make a kind of gravy. Simple, but tasty. Especially with mashed potatoes.

Sunday

Short version: Elk stir-fry, rice, baked custard

Long version: I had mushrooms, carrots, and onions to add to the bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables, which were heavy on the green beans. 

I can never resist taking a picture of stir-fry. It's so colorful and pretty. Something that cannot be said of most of my food.

I made the baked custard for the sick child with a bad sore throat. Custard is a favorite sick-child food in our house. It is very easy to swallow, and incredibly high in nutrition, given all the eggs, milk, and cream in it. A good thing to eat for skinny kids who don't want to eat a lot of anything, but need the calories.

Monday

Short version: Elk fried rice, or eggs and leftover mashed potatoes

Long version: I had made a very large pot of rice the day before, counting on it for other meals this week. This was the first of those. I just chopped up the rest of the stir-fry and fried that with the rice and some scrambled eggs.

Fried eggs and mashed potatoes for the one child whose throat still hurt, and the one child who isn't a fan of fried rice.

Tuesday

Short version: Spaghetti and meatballs, green salad with vinaigrette

Long version: I made the meatballs with--what else?--elk. I had also roasted what might be the last pan of garden tomatoes from the box in the kitchen. Since I was planning on making the spaghetti, I also roasted garlic along with the tomatoes and used that and the tomatoes to make the sauce for the pasta and meatballs.

Wednesday

Short version: Sandwiches, grapes, yogurt

Long version: I got home at 5:45 p.m. from the First Communion class. Luckily, I had already planned on sandwiches. I had fresh bread I had baked the day before, and both deli ham and salami, so everyone got to choose what they wanted. They could also have leftover spaghetti if they were still hungry.

Grapes because I was too rushed and lazy to even cut up carrot sticks. And yogurt for those who were still hungry after what was, admittedly, not the most filling of dinners.

Everyone was satisfied in the end, though. And actually, they were pretty excited about having sandwiches for dinner. It's a rare treat for us to have deli meat sandwiches like that.

Thursday

Short version: Elkloaf, rice, chicken-rice soup

Long version: I used some of the meatball mixture to form a small meatloaf on Tuesday. That was just waiting in the refrigerator to be baked. I was scheduled to substitute at school this day, so I planned on sticking that in the oven when I got home. Despite its somewhat small size, it still wasn't quite done when it was time to eat. So I just sliced it and fried the slices in some butter to cook all the way through.

I knew that meatloaf wouldn't be enough for everyone, but two different kids had come down with the latest plague and had sore throats, so I made soup for them.

I had a couple of cups of chicken breast from the last chicken I had roasted that I had put in the freezer for just this situation. I didn't have any homemade chicken stock, so I used Better than Bouillon. I did saute onion and garlic, but for the rest of the vegetables, I used a can of something we got from excess commodities called Veg-All. It's a mixture of canned vegetables, including carrots, green beans, corn, and potatoes. 

I've never used this before, and I was a little wary about the flavor of canned vegetables, but it was fine in the soup. I added the last bit of tomato sauce to boost the flavor a bit, too, along with a teaspoon or so of vinegar.

The soup expanded, as soup always does, until there was very little room in the pot.

Soup's on!

This made a very respectable soup that was ready to eat half an hour after I walked in the door. Not too shabby.

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

Growing Food: Aunt Belva's Pickled Beets

Okay! I failed last week to give you this recipe, but now Aunt Belva's recipe for pickled beets is going global.

Or as global as this blog gets, I guess.

Aunt Belva was not my aunt. She was actually the aunt of A.'s uncle by marriage. He (the uncle) is from southern Indiana, and so, presumably, was Aunt Belva. I got this recipe from A.'s aunt. The one that's married to the uncle. Who was Aunt Belva's nephew.

Got all that? Yeah, never mind.

In any case, this is an excellent recipe for pickled beets. One of the different things about it is that it uses equal amounts sugar and vinegar. I had never tried making any other kind of brine for pickled beets, so a couple of years ago I tried a recipe from a newer canning cookbook I have* that promised a much less sweet pickled beet, using about half the amount of sugar.

They certainly were less sweet. They were also almost inedibly vinegary. I managed to finish them by using them in very small amounts in salads, but it was not enjoyable. Lesson learned: Equal amounts of vinegar and sugar make for much better pickled beets.

I didn't have enough beets from the garden to pickle this year, because they, like everything else, succumbed to the hail and grassphoppers. 

Chickens in the garden, but not in the beets.

However, my sister brought me three big beets from the store when she visited a few months ago. I decided the best use for them would be to pickle them, so I went back to Aunt Belva's recipe. And I found I love them just as much now as I did when I first tried them. They have plenty of vinegar in them, too, but it's balanced by quite a lot of sugar. They taste just as pickled beets should.

I have to note here, as this is a canning recipe, that this is not the vinegar ratio approved by the USDA for water bath canning. All the recipes for water bath canning pickled beets use twice as much vinegar as sugar, which is similar to the newer recipe I tried and didn't like. 

This recipe does, however, have the same amount of vinegar per pounds of beets to be canned as the approved recipes, it's just that it also increases the sugar a lot. I don't have any problem canning it in a water bath. Neither did A.'s aunt, who always canned hers in a water bath. If that makes you nervous, though, you can just skip the canning and store them in the refrigerator, or pressure can them.

Aunt Belva's Pickled Beets

Ingredients for Brine

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 cups cider vinegar

1 teaspoon ground allspice (I don't have this, and have never used it)

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Method

1) The recipe I got didn't specify an amount of beets, but A.'s aunt told me it's for about three pounds. I typically roast them whole, then peel them and cut them into a dice. I like them diced because I use them in salads, but you can also leave them whole or slice them.

2) Heat all brine ingredients together until hot, either in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.

3) Put the prepared beets in clean, sterilized, and hot pint jars, cover with the hot brine, put on the lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes at low altitude. Or, in my case, for 40 minutes, because I am not at low altitude.

* It's called Canning for a New Generation. I've tried a couple of recipes from it, and honestly, I was not all that impressed with them. It's a fun book to read, but I can't really recommend the recipes. It's a little too modern for me, I guess.

Snapshots: Snow and Sunrise

When I went for my run/walk on Thursday, it was 38 degrees with a bit of snow blowing around. 

Cozy.

I needed something light and waterproof, but I don't own a windbreaker. However, one of my sons is now about my size (or . . . taller, ahem), and he has a windbreaker. So I borrowed it.

I knew my dad would appreciate this. (He's an Air Force Academy graduate and is the reason we have this.)

Construction at school meant that I had to find a new office. The lack of space, and the fact that I only work two days a week and don't have to have students in my office, resulted in a, um, unique space.

I now work in half of the old concession kitchen. The stove and everything is on the other side of that divider.

I do have a pretty rad mural right above my computer monitor, though.

Can you find Nemo?

I went for a walk in a different direction yesterday morning.

I waved to the bulls at sunrise.

Then I fed Bill.

And the sheep.

This one stuck her head right where I was tossing the hay over the fence and ended up with a green wig.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Turkey and Tortillas

Friday 

Short version: Leftovers in casserole form

Long version: I don't know if it's because we only got an 18-pound turkey this year instead of 22 pounds ("only," ha), or if everyone just ate more of it, or if it's because we had a guest and I sent leftovers home with him, but we really didn't have a ton of leftovers from Thanksgiving this year.

There were a few cups of dressing, about a cup of mashed potatoes, and some turkey, plus gravy, which I unceremoniously mixed all together with some frozen peas in the casserole dish the dressing was in and baked. That was dinner.

It tasted good, but half the family apparently does not like dressing soft. I don't like it mushy and tend to make it on the crispier side, so they've had no experience with wetter dressing, and they did not like it. Good to know.

There was also a selection of leftover desserts, although since everyone had pie for breakfast, the servings were pretty small. 

This was also the day I put away the Thanksgiving decorations.

So long, Sight-word Turkey. See you next year.

Saturday

Short version: Elk burgers, oven fries, green salad with vinaigrette, maple snow

Long version: The elk burgers were very well-received. I guess we need to grind more of the elk.

The children collected clean snow in the morning specifically so they could eat it with maple syrup, like Laura does in Little House in the Big Woods, which is our current book for reading aloud at bedtime. Some wanted just the syrup on their snow, some opted to have heavy cream on there, too. All were happy.

Sunday

Short version: Bull and elk chili, crackers, peanut butter cookies

Long version: I wanted to make cornbread to go with the chili, but I didn't have any yogurt. I use yogurt in place of the large quantity of buttermilk in my cornbread recipe, so . . . crackers instead.

And these peanut butter cookies, with chopped almonds added in.

Monday

Short version: Rice+leftovers skillet meal, carrot sticks

Long version: I used a container of turkey and turkey broth that I had meant to put in the freezer to make dinner this night after work. All I did was dump that in a skillet, add rice, and salsa, spices, simmer until the rice was soft, then stir in some grated cheddar cheese.

Tuesday

Short version: Chorizo+egg burritos, grapes

Long version: Unexpected work day thanks to subbing. I took out a bag of elk chorizo to thaw before I left for work. When I got home, I fried the chorizo, scrambled some eggs in the pan with it, and stirred in shredded cheese. Then I went for a run.

When I got home, I found everyone eating burritos with the chorizo and egg mixture in flour tortillas, which was my plan all along. Nice when things work out like that.

The grapes came from the commodities lady. She gave us three bags of red grapes, and miraculously, they were crisp and tasty. The grapes that make it to us out here in the hinterlands tend to be in the soft and wrinkling stage, so it was nice to get some that were in good shape. Also nice because I didn't make a vegetable for this meal.

Let's have a photo here, slightly related to food:

Can you spot the horse in this photo? This is what I see on my laps past our house on my runs: Cora staring at me, willing me with the power of her mind to give her hay.

Wednesday

Short version: Re-combined leftovers

Long version: I got home around 5:30 p.m. with the first communicant to find that eldest son had prepared dinner for his sister and dad using the leftover rice skillet meal. He added some other things to it and served it with corn tortillas. So that's what the kid who came home with me had, too. A. filled in his meal with some canned beef stew from commodities. 

To the rest of the rice mixture, I added the bit of leftover chorizo and eggs, and put that in tortillas for the other two boys.

For myself, I used the last container of turkey and broth to make a soup that also included leftover roasted carrots and onion, leftover mushrooms, and frozen peas. A surprisingly good soup. Good thing I never did get around to freezing all those containers of turkey and broth.

Thursday

Short version: Various things

Long version: I was at our school's annual holiday craft party with the younger two. We ate the finger foods and snacks there. I must confess to a particular liking for taquitos.

At home, A. made bean and cheese tacos. He fries the tortillas for these, which is something I never do, so it's a fun version of my boring ones. 

And that's the third night in a row that featured tortillas of some kind for dinner.

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

Some Randomness

I had a plan to post Aunt Belvie's recipe for pickled beets today, but just as I was about to start writing that at 5:30 this morning, I got a call asking if I could substitute for one of the elementary teachers.

So that's what I did instead of sharing Aunt Belvie's pickled beet recipe with all of you today. Not to worry! I will make sure to do it next week, because the world--in the form of the wide web--needs this recipe.

But in the meantime, I'll just write out a few things that come into my head. Because my head is fun sometimes.

Remember how I told you about my online student who joined his English Zoom meeting on the back of a horse while gathering cattle? I had another student this past week who joined for only the last two minutes of his meeting, full of apologies because he was helping his dad move bulls and it took longer than they thought it would. 

That has always been my experience when moving sheep, and they're nowhere near as difficult as bulls, so I could appreciate the situation. I was amused, though.

I'm following one of those Couch to 5K plans that are all over online as a way to motivate me in my return to running. I do much better following a schedule, because then I have no excuses. I run on the days that schedule tells me to run. I chose a plan that has me running on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I could do it when I was home. Except I wasn't home today, and I didn't get home until 4:20 p.m. 

It gets dark about 5 p.m. I had a pot of bread dough overflowing on the counter--another inconvenience to working unexpectedly--and dinner to make for everyone so they could eat before going to judo. 

I was very impressed with myself that I got the dough kneaded, chorizo and eggs for dinner made before I left for my run, and my run done just before it got fully dark.

I don't want to do that again, though, so I really hope I don't have to be at work on Thursday.

Speaking of chorizo and eggs . . . I also added some shredded cheese to that before putting it all in tortillas, and it occurred to me that burrito sure packs a powerful protein punch (alliteration alert!). I should make those more often for my extremely rapidly growing sons.

Okay. I think I'll stop there with this mental meandering. Though I feel I should leave you with a photo.

An early morning run with the dogs.

Catch you on the flip side.

Snapshots: Light in the Dark

This is the time of year when I feel we need more light indoors. That's why I don't wait until Christmas to put up the lights on the decorative iron thing in between the kitchen and dining areas.

We'll call them winter lights.

Those are the lights the MiL gave me last year when I said the old lights we found here at the house had started to burn out and I couldn't find any replacements that weren't bright white and glaring. She got these at Tractor Supply. They are certainly less glaring than most modern white lights, though not quite as mellow as the old lights. Then again, those old lights probably have some toxic ingredient that is no longer permissible in light manufacturing, so I'm happy with the new ones.

Thanks, MiL.

Of course, we still have our candles on the table.

Before Thanksgiving Day, the candles were complemented by this turkey my mother gave me twenty years ago, plus the pine cone candles my sister brought us.

On Thanksgiving Day, I put new candles on the table, along with a festive arrangement of dried weeds gathered on my morning run.

I took that run before the sun was even up. It was the only way I could get it and a shower done before waking everyone up for church at 8:30 a.m. It was nice, though, because I got to watch the sun rise as I chugged along.

Yesterday we had our first significant snow of the season.

Less than an inch, but exciting nonetheless.

Woodstove season has definitely arrived, which means the top of the stove is now covered in warming clothing in the morning for a toastier dressing experience.

Just make sure the clothes don't touch that stovepipe in the back, unless you want some pyrotechnics to enliven your morning. As I know from personal experience. Sorry about that scorched shirt, son.

Lastly, and speaking of the woodstove, I bought myself an early Christmas present.

Aren't log holders what everyone wants for Christmas?

We had been using one of the old drawers from the boys' bunkbed as a wood box, but it fell apart. I never liked it anyway. It took up too much room and collected dirt and trash from boxes and so forth. This rack looks much better. Handy for hanging damp snow apparel on, too.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.