Friday Food: Hangin' in There

Friday 

Short version: Pork chops, rice, tomato and cucumber salad

Long version: The pork chops were still frozen in a solid lump when I put them in a skillet with a bit of water, salt, a few Roma tomatoes, and the rest of an onion from Cubby's morning onion omelet. I simmered them until they were tender, and then poured off the liquid. At dinnertime I fried the tender chops in bacon grease with some of A.'s rib rub on them to make them crispy and more flavorful.

I used the strained liquid from the pork for the rice, plus a bunch of butter, and got many compliments. Easy audience.

Saturday

Short version: Fried bottom round steak pieces, garlic bread, raw green beans, summer skillet

Long version: I always get a package of bottom round steaks out intending to make chicken fried steak and . . . then I don't. Too lazy, I guess.

This time I just cut the steaks into small pieces and fried them in butter with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. 

More calabacitas, tomatoes, and garlic? Yup. Until the freeze, anyway.

Sunday

Short version: Meatballs; spaghetti; raw green beans; roasted calabacitas, green beans, and sweet potatoes; chocolate-covered peanut butter balls

Long version: It was too hot to have the oven on for meatballs, but I did it anyway. Mostly because I had made pesto this day, and then used the food processor to also puree some tomatoes and cooked those down on the stove. So the meatballs were baked with some of the tomato/pesto sauce, and the rest went onto the spaghetti with some heavy cream.

Because I roast meatballs at a high temperature in the oven rather than frying/simmering them, I also put a bunch of vegetables to roast at the same time. If they are cooked, they will be eaten. And a couple of the children discovered that they actually really like roasted calabacitas. Hooray. We have PLENTY to roast.

Also tomatoes and green beans in larger quantities.

Monday

Short version: First day of school celebration! With leftovers.

Long version: The first day of school is also a work day for me, and this one was a doozy. I was very glad there were lots of leftovers that just needed to be heated in the microwave.

Meatballs, spaghetti, rice, and roasted vegetables got everyone fed. Hooray.

I also brought home two leftover cinnamon rolls that had been in the office since last week's teacher in-service, so each child had half a cinnamon roll. Who says I don't do anything special to celebrate the first day of school?

Well, I say. But they did appreciate the cinnamon rolls. And I was very proud of myself for not stress-eating the cinnamon rolls or doughnuts that were in the office all day as I ran in and out. It wouldn't have really helped anything, so I'm glad I didn't.

Tuesday

Short version: T-bone steaks, boiled potatoes, sauteed calabacitas, raw tomatoes

Long version: I had a pan on the stove with some bacon grease still in it from breakfast, so I used it to cook some more calabacitas. This time it was just the calabacitas and garlic. No tomatoes. Still good.

I had intended to make an actual tomato salad, but forgot about it until I was actually dishing up dinner. Thus, small tomatoes put directly on children's plates. Fine with them

Wednesday

Short version: Leftovers, green salad

Long version: One more dinner of cobbled-together leftovers for my second day of work. 

The children had some diced round steak I had fried plain just to cook it and have it on hand. I heated it up with some barbecue sauce for them. They also had bread and butter.

A. had some of the leftover steak, plus three fried eggs and the rest of the boiled potatoes.

I had salad with the last leftover meatball in it.

And when Cubby got home from football, he had the rest of the steak, bread and butter, and some cucumber.

Thursday

Short version: Pot roast, spaghetti with tomato sauce, sauteed calabacitas, raw green beans, calabacita bread

Long version: I cooked the pot roast in the morning, as well as a casserole full of tomatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a clove of garlic. Because I had the food processor out anyway to shred a bunch of calabacitas for freezing, I used the food processor to also puree the tomatoes with basil for a spaghetti sauce.

Pre-puree tomatoes and garlic.

While the oven was on for the pot roast, I also made two loaves of zucchini bread, but with calabacitas*. Of course. It was a nice bit of efficiency that also resulted in a celebratory treat for the children finishing their first week of school.

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

* Other changes from the original recipe: I skip the sugar crust on top, used half white whole wheat flour, and added some walnuts. It's very good.

T.T.: A Modern Switchel Recipe

Cubby started football last week, so of course I bought him a case of Gatorade to bring with him to his three-hour practices.

. . .

If you believed that, you have not been reading here long enough.

I don't like the disposable plastic bottles or the ingredients in Gatorade. But there is no denying that it goes down easy for boys who have been running around a football field in the sun for over three hours. They can't drink too much cold water without getting cramps.

So what to do?

Grandma Post knew!

Grandma Post was the MiL's mother. She was the daughter, wife, and mother of farmers, all of whom spent many, many hours haying in punishing upstate New York heat and humidity every summer. She knew how to keep them hydrated. And how she did it was switchel.

My first experience of switchel was at her house in the summer. She had some in her refrigerator for her son who was running the farm. Switchel is the traditional drink for summer hydration because it can be consumed in larger quantities than plain water. 

The primary reason for that is that it has ginger in it. That's what allows a person who is exerting himself to drink it without getting cramps, as he would with plain water.

The traditional ingredients for switchel are water, vinegar, ginger, a bit of lemon juice, and a sweetener like maple syrup or honey*.

 I made traditional switchel for Cubby last football season, and he really didn't like the vinegar in it. 

He never would have made in on a haying crew.

I suspect the vinegar was mostly a lemon juice stand-in for farmers who didn't have access to fresh lemons, anyway, so now I just use all lemon juice. Not from fresh lemons, though, because I also don't have regular access to fresh lemons. Also, you would have to squeeze a LOT of lemons. The bottled stuff is fine.

All of my switchel ingredients come in bottles actually, but if you have fresh ginger and lemons, knock yourself out.

The resulting drink is pretty much like a slightly gingery lemonade. Very palatable for those of us not raised on traditional switchel, and just as refreshing.

So if you, too, have a child sweating their life away on a field somewhere (or it you yourself are the sweater), give switchel a try. No plastic bottle, no food dye, no strange ingredients. Perfect.

Modern Switchel

Ingredients

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey (if using honey, you'll probably need less, but I haven't tried it)

1 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 quart water (warm if using honey, to dissolve it better)

Method

Add all ingredients to a quart-size canning jar and shake it all up. Either keep the jar cold in the refrigerator, or pour the switchel into a big water bottle filled with ice to take to the football or hay field. Cubby has a 32-ounce insulated water bottle that I fill with ice in the morning before adding the quart of switchel to it, and it's still icy for afternoon practice. 

Although I measured so I could write out a recipe for you, it will probably not surprise you that I don't actually measure anything when I make it myself. I just go by taste. As should you. Start with the measurements if you want, but add more or less sweetener, more or less ginger. You can even try some apple cider vinegar in place of some of the lemon juice if you want it more traditional.

Salud!

* Molasses is also traditional, but the one time I made it with molasses, A. was absolutely horrified and actually spit it out. So I guess it wasn't traditional for his family. Molasses does have a very strong flavor, so unless you're a fan of molasses already, I wouldn't recommend it.

Snapshots: What Have We Here?

What we have is whatever I found that I had already taken pictures of and not yet posted, because I have not done much worth photographing this week, what with working and gimping around on a swollen ankle.

So! Let's see what I found.

Some nice carrots from the garden.

Two cowboys and a dog.

Funny dog photo.

Why do I have this photo of laundry? I think to show how tall the asparagus behind the line will get. 

And . . . yeah, that's all I got. That's my life, snapshotted.

I'll do better next week. I hope.

Friday Food: Everyone Fed, the End

Between the county fair last weekend, starting work for teacher in-service this week, and a pretty bad sprained ankle mid-week, my only goal was "everyone fed." 

I met that goal, but not much more.

Friday 

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, bread and butter, cucumbers and carrot sticks

Long version: I actually managed to make cheeseburgers from the ground beef I had thawed. Given that we spent another five hours at the county fair, I was quite proud of myself for the accomplishment.

Standards are low these days.

Saturday

Short version: Extemporaneous tacos, cucumbers, hot chocolate with marshmallows, parade candy

Long version: It's our tradition to buy the kids dinner at the county fair concession stand on the last day after the kids' rodeo. There's only one concession stand, and by the end of the fair, they usually only have hot dogs and chips left, but the kids always enjoy it.

However.

Just as the calf riding was getting underway, a storm blew in and the torrential rain put a quick end to the event. That's the last event of the rodeo, anyway, so we just went home. 

These young cowboys were very disappointed to miss their chance to ride. Disappointed to miss the hot dogs and chips, too.

Luckily, I still had a pound of ground beef from the day before that hadn't been cooked, so I browned that, added half a pint jar of pinto beans, garlic powder, chile powder, mild salsa, cumin, and salt, and put that in corn tortillas with cheese. 

I made the hot chocolate to console disappointed children, forgetting they had bags stuffed with candy from the fair parade. And then, when I was reading in bed after dinner--county fair exhaustion always drives me to my bed--they got into their bags and ate . . . a lot of candy.

Oh well. The fair is but once a year.

Sunday

Short version: Pot roast, spaghetti with pesto, summer skillet, raw green beans, chocolate ice cream sandwiches

Long version: I made the pot roast in the morning, but I didn't quite let it cook long enough. So then I had to slice it and simmer it again just before dinner. Oops.

It was fine.

The ice cream sandwiches were left over from a social sponsored by a local group at the county fair. The lady who supplied them didn't want to take them home and offered them to me since we were about to head home. My children were more than happy to take them off her hands.

Once the calabacitas and tomatoes start coming in larger numbers, I pretty much always have some of this on hand.

This is the (uncooked) summer skillet. Sometimes I put onions in there, too. This time it was just the calabacitas, tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, cooked down until very soft and bit caramelized. So good. My children do not agree, but that's fine. More for me!

Monday

Short version: Leftovers skillet, raw tomatoes

Long version: And here's where the crazy really started. I worked all day, and then had to go pick up Cubby from his first football practice of the year. But since I wasn't sure how long their practices were going to be, I got there way early and sat there for over an hour. I didn't get home with him until about 7:30 p.m.

Luckily, I had started dinner before I left home, so A. could feed everyone else easily. 

I had baked half a dozen potatoes in the oven with the pot roast on Sunday, so I just chopped those up and fried them with the leftover taco meat and beans in butter, along with some more spices. I was going to add shredded cheese when I got home, but it was fine as it was.

Well, I thought so. The younger boys told me there were too many potatoes and not enough meat. 

Unrepentant carnivores, the lot of them.

Tuesday

Short version: Leftovers again

Long version: I was gone at an off-site training all day and didn't get home until A. was leaving with the kids for judo* at 5:45 p.m. So he fed them his own combination of leftover pot roast, spaghetti with pesto, and the summer skillet.

Pretty sure they picked around the calabacitas, but that's fine. I wasn't there to see it.

Wednesday

Short version: Bull tacos, cucumber spears

Long version: I had taken out a bag of prepared bull meat before I left for work. When I got home, I found most of an onion in the refrigerator from Cubby making an onion-heavy omelet for breakfast. So I used the onion, all the Roma tomatoes on the counter, and the bull meat--plus a lot of butter/oil, garlic powder, cumin, and chile powder--to make taco meat to go in corn tortillas with cheese.

Thursday

Short version: Yet more leftovers, plus some raw green beans and giant donuts

Long version: I had to stop at the tiny store in the village to get milk, and while I was there, I saw a package of flour tortillas. I very rarely buy flour tortillas, but I did this time. They made for a very quick dinner when I put the leftover bull meat and some cheese in them and fried them in butter.

The donuts were brought to school by our very nice team of IT guys. They brought three dozen giant donuts from a city bakery. There were only 16 staff members at the school, and not all of us even eat donuts, so when I saw the boxes were still almost full by the end of the day, I figured nobody would mind if I took four of them home. 

I chose four identical chocolate-frosted donuts (because then there couldn't be any fights over who got what), each the size of a toddler's face, and the children were very happy.

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

* I think I haven't mentioned before they've started judo. The guy we used to buy milk from is an instructor and started classes for kids in the community center of the village about ten miles from us. All four of them have been doing it since about July, and they all like it and will continue. 

T.T.: Fair Footwear

Before I met A., I had never been to a fair. I had been to carnivals, with the rides and all, but I had never been to an agriculturally-based fair.

In the past twenty years, however, I have been to many. County fairs, state fairs, some very tiny (here), some very big (The Great New York State Fair--always in caps, always with the "Great" adjective). And one of the most important things I have learned is what to wear on my feet.

Comfortable, closed shoes.

County fair shoes, Day 1.

County fair shoes, Days 2 and 3.

This is no time for cute sandals. If you're going to a fair, chances are you're going to be walking a LOT. Hence the requirement for comfort. 

And where you are walking will almost certainly not be paved. It will probably be a combination of dirt, grass, dust, and mud. Or worse, if you visit the livestock barns. That's why the shoes should be closed.

So that's the main tip for today: If you're heading to a fair, make sure your shoes are comfortable and protect your feet.

A secondary tip: It always feels ten degrees hotter at a fair no matter what the actual temperature is. And you will almost certainly be in the sun at least part of the time while you're walking around. Therefore, you should either be fully covered by clothes--pants, long sleeves, and a hat that covers your neck--or wear sunscreen. AND, brings LOTS of water. LOTS AND LOTS. Water bottles that have been half-filled and put in the freezer the night before work well, because they'll stay cold.

Oh! And! Bring food. Especially if you will have children with you. You will not want to be buying them food at a fair all day. I mean, unless you want to spend a small fortune on funnel cakes and french fries. I never went to The Great New York State Fair with children, but I remember being a bit shocked at how much it cost just to feed A. and me. 

Okay, this was supposed to just be what to wear on your feet--remember: closed and comfortable--but then I remembered a couple of other important things.

So. Good shoes, sun protection, water, and food.

And probably a nap afterwards, because man, fairs are tiring. Fun! But tiring.

Snapshots: Summer's End

I go back to work tomorrow for the in-service week at school, and then the kids start back the week after that. So this is pretty much it for our summer break.

We took advantage of our last week off to go fishing at the lake near Cubby's friend's house.

And a little wading, too, of course.

Adventure Van waited patiently at the top of the hill.

Calvin caught the only fish, but it was too small to keep. (His hand is in a sling because he landed on it when he jumped off the pony. He's fine now.)

The county fair is the real culmination of the summer. It's a big deal in our county. A large percentage of the kids raise animals to show and sell at the livestock auction. My children don't do that, but they do all enter something for the indoor exhibits. 

This year we had a flower collage from Poppy; a diorama of a pig farm from Jack; a wood carving from Calvin; a forged pony bit and a wooden plane from Cubby; and canned pickled beets, sourdough bread, and calabacitas from me.

The family crafts (that's the pony bit on top of the diorama box.)

Every single thing up there got a first place ribbon. Poppy's collage got Reserve Champion (not sure of the category for that), Cubby got Reserve Champion for the pony bit and Grand Champion for the plane, and I got Grand Champion for my pickled beets. 

Cue Queen's "We Are the Champions."

The first day of the fair is the day all the exhibit items are turned in, and is also when all the animals are brought in and weighed. That was the day of the horse show, as well.

I believe this is the gelding class, but don't quote me on that.

The second day is the rest of the livestock showing, including sheep, goats, bottle calves, and steers. All of my children had friends who were showing--even Poppy's friend, who is only five and showed a bottle calf way bigger than she is--and their friends all placed, so that was nice.

The last day is the parade, the horse racing events--barrel, pole, and flag--activities for the little kids, and the kids' rodeo.

The parade on Main Street, at which insane amounts of candy are tossed.

And Poppy's much-anticipated first try at goat dressing. That's her in the blue shirt on the left. All they have to do is get the t-shirt over the goat's head, and the little kids always get some help from the older ones. The little ones also all get a dollar for participating, which is very exciting.

The boys' highlight of the fair is calf riding, and this was Jack's first year trying it. He did well, and didn't get hurt at all.

As it happened, he was the only one of the boys who got to do it, as a big storm broke just after he had his turn. So the bigger boys didn't get to ride, and they were very disappointed. 

There's always next year.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Fishing and the Fair

Friday 

Short version: Barbecue bull, boiled potatoes, raw green beans

Long version: I should probably be saving the easy things--like the already-processed bull meat fried with barbecue sauce--for the beginning of the school year, when I have much less time. But, well, I didn't. And there's plenty of bull still in the freezer.

Saturday

Short version: Meatballs, garlic bread, tomato and cucumber salad

Long version: I had to bake bread, so while that was in the oven, I also roasted a small pan of tomatoes and a few cloves of garlic. Then I used my immersion blender to puree that with fresh basil and balsamic vinegar, and that was the sauce for the meatballs.

I had a mostly empty bottle of mustard, so I added olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to that bottle and shook it all up to make a salad dressing. That's what I used for the tomatoes and cucumbers. Yum.

Sunday

Short version: Steak, mashed potatoes, carrot sticks with curry dip, brownies

Long version: I don't know why mashed potatoes seem like a cold weather sort of food, but I certainly don't make them much in the summer. Maybe because all that mashing makes me too hot.

Monday

Short version: Pork, leftover mashed potatoes, tomato and cucumber salad

Long version: Pork country ribs cooked in the morning in the oven (along with some blueberry/oat muffins), then fried in their own rendered fat at dinnertime.

I am very happy it's the season for tomato and cucumber salad. It's one of those things that is really not worth making with the tasteless produce from a grocery store.

Tuesday

Short version: Tuna/rice skillet, apricot popsicles

Long version: We went fishing!

This big lake is an hour from us, but only about fifteen minutes from Cubby's friend's house. He stayed there Monday night, so we took everyone--including his friend--fishing after we picked him up on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the only fish caught was a small catfish, so we had canned fish for dinner instead. I didn't actually plan that, but I'm always wrecked after a fishing expedition, and tuna is easy.

All I did was dump some cooked, frozen rice into a skillet with a bunch of butter and bacon grease and fry that with two cans of drained tuna and some frozen peas. And then mayonnaise and shredded cheese. Sorta white and bland, but serviceable.

Wednesday

Short version: Barbecue stir-fry, fresh bread and butter, carrot/cucumber sticks and raw green beans

Long version: I had taken out beef stir-fry meat, but didn't actually have the motivation (or the appropriate vegetables) to stir-fry. So instead I marinated it in the last of the mustard vinaigrette, fried it in butter, and added barbecue sauce.

This is the time of year when our vegetable is whatever I pull from the garden, usually raw. Although when I start to get calabacitas in greater numbers--like next week--there will be more cooking of vegetables.

Thursday

Short version: Pork tacos, cucumbers, canned peaches

Long version: We spent over five hours at the county fair, watching animals get prepared for showing, viewing the horse show, and running around like maniacs with friends.

Well, that last one was what my kids did. Despite my lack of actually running, I was still totally wiped out when we got home. The fair has that effect.

Maybe I should have taken a break midday like Jack did.

So all I did when we got home was fry a can of commodities pork in butter with garlic powder, chile powder, and cumin, then put that in corn tortillas with cheese.

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