Back up and punt

I had my week planned. Cooking at my MIL's house and cooking at the rental house until I left Sunday morning and returned home to make a triumphant Sunday dinner at home with my husband. And then... yeah. That didn't happen. My poor MIL's cold turned into something much worse. She couldn't sleep for the terrible coughing and breathlessness and of course I couldn't ask her to watch my energetic children when she clearly needed to rest. So I skipped out on my conference and headed home. I got a late start and so we didn't get home until 10 p.m.

I made cereal for dinner.

At first I felt defeated and sad but then I thought about it. There was cereal in the house, and milk and bread to make sandwiches for my daughter's lunch. There were vegetables in the crisper, potatoes in the bin, and fresh meat in the meat drawer and in the freezer. There was a new case of juice boxes and lunch snacks in the storage over the cabinets.

Who caused this joyous accumulation of well-planned and nutritious foods? My husband. While I was gone he had done our quarterly trek to Costco and bought all of the supplies we were running low on; a chore we normally do together. When I came home the dishes were washed and the kids drawers were stuffed with clean folded laundry.

So even though my plans fell through, I have a partner who keeps things going for me and thinks ahead about my needs and the needs of our family. That is pretty sweet and makes even cereal for dinner feel like a feast.

At my MIL's house, steak and asparagus

My in-law's are big on steak, and I love them for it. 1 rib-eye at their house can easily feed me, my husband and one of our kids. They also do an incredibly simple seasoning and marinade routine that I think everyone should know about.

Season steaks all over with Montreal Steak Seasoning Blend, then marinate the steaks in half Worcestershire sauce and half soy sauce. Turn the steaks half way through whatever marinating time you have as little as an hour even, though these are really great the longer you marinate them. I think I accidentally marinated them for 2 days once and they were delectable!

So the steaks were seared in a hot pan and cooked on the stove-top and were great, as usual. The real star of the show was this new asparagus recipe my MIL wanted me to try and make. She got it from Pier 1 and it called for some ingredients that come from the Pier 1 store. Well, we didn't have any of the ingredients, so here is the recipe with notes on what I subbed in for the missing stuff.

Grilled Asparagus

1 bag of Pier 1 Apple Cider (yield 2 cups) -- I used 2 C apple juice
1/3 C Pier 1 Apricots in White Vinegar (use a few pieces of apricot) -- I used my MIL's homemade pickled peaches
1/4 C fresh squeezed orange juice -- I used 2 rounded tablespoons of OJ concentrate
1 TB fresh thyme chopped -- I used 1 tsp of dried ground thyme
3 TB sugar
1 TB salt
1 tsp pepper
32 stalks of asparagus (are you KIDDING me? I used 2 packages that totaled about 2 pounds. Who has time to COUNT asparagus??)
Oil to coat
Garnish with organic baby greens, feta (we used bleu cheese) and orange segments (didn't have any, skipped it.)

Make apple cider with 2 C of water, let steep for 10 minutes. (I put the juice right in the blender.) In blender combine cider, vinegar with apricots (vinegar with peaches), OJ, thyme, salt, sugar, and pepper. Puree and reserve. Grill asparagus for desired amount of tenderness (4-5 minutes). (I cooked my asparagus on the stove top in olive oil and butter with a dash of coarse grained salt.) Place on serving tray and pour vinaigrette over them, garnish with greens cheese and orange.

These were possibly my favorite asparagus of all time and I LOVE asparagus. They are so tasty and awesome it is worth having funny smelling pee later. The lovely little mesclun salad on top with the creamy, dreamy bleu cheese was a wonderful combination of tastes, textures and temperatures. I literally could not get enough of the stuff. I did not pour the dressing over all as I like to let people add their dressing to taste, so I think you could safely halve this recipe and have plenty to put a few tablespoons over each portion. As it is we had lots of leftovers, but we are going to put it in the fridge for a salad tomorrow. What a treat! A great new side-dish for dinner and freshly made salad dressing for the next day! SCORE!

****If I were doing a vegetarian meal with this, I'd pair the asparagus salad with a nice warm rice pilaf and some crusty bread and call it a day!! ****

Amtrak -- what we ate

So the kids had a late lunch/early dinner by having pizza before we got on the train, but I knew they'd be hungry later. Fortunately my Mom and I packed the World's Most Awesome Snack Bag for dinner. I have an insulated tote bag so we froze some water bottles and packed some:

*juice boxes
*yoo-hoo chocolate drinks
*baby bel cheese
*pepperoni slices
*ritz crackers
*small bags of peanuts
*red grapes
*gummi fruit snacks
*Go-gurts (yogurt in a tube)
*toaster pastries
*nutri-grain bars
*cheez-its (individual bags)
and one coca cola for me!!!

The kids ate a good cross-selection of the contents of the bags, especially the grapes which were great. I made sure they had plenty of juice and water as well as their "treat" of Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Drinks because I think children can get dehydrated on trips very easily. I know I do anyway, and if I am cold they have to wear a sweater, and if I am thirsty... well, you get the picture. The food lasted us for our "dinner" as well as a decent breakfast which we ate unbelievably early on the train.

Despite not falling asleep until well after 11 p.m. the kids woke up at 6:30 in the morning (!!!) because they were SO EXCITED to be on the train and heading home. They were up almost an hour before the dining car was even open and they woke up hungry! I woke up craving a large coffee and a voluntary coma, but I made do with a toaster pastry like a champ. Like a champ who's right butt cheek had gone numb or possibly had permanent nerve damage from "sleeping" like a pretzel to accommodate a a grouchy toddler. Seriously, if I were not such a CHAMPION butt-sitter I am sure my tailbone would be permanently fused to the metal bar that separates the two Amtrak seats from each other. OY! On the other hand, if Butt-sitting becomes and Olympic sport, then I am going for the GOLD, for my COUNTRY, for my glorious peasant butt, long may she reign.

What are your road-trip staples? Do you get food on the go or do you pack a hamper or some combination of both?

Okay, I am going to be out of pocket for awhile

Tomorrow night I am making dinner and breakfast on the Amtrak train back to Florida. For dinner we will be having muchos, muchos snacks. Cheese, crackers, pepperonis, a can of vienna sausages, cheez-its, juice boxes and Yoo-hoos. Complete balanced nutrition? Oh hell no! A way to stay quiet and entertained on a train with a five child to one adult ratio? You betcha! Breakfast will be Pop-tarts, grapes, and frozen yogurts in a tube (AKA go-gurts) and more juice boxes. Mommy will probably have a coca-cola and a Vicodin. We will be on the train 13 hours, most of it HOPEFULLY sleeping. We get into Orlando around 10 a.m.

I will be making dinner the next night in my mother-in-laws GIANT marble counter topped kitchen with her full range of appliances. Her stove/oven has more dials and buttons than the Starship Enterprise. Her dishwasher is a quiet, efficient, stainless steel interior dream machine. I covet it like I have never coveted anything in my life. It's a good thing the Bible only mentions wives and asses or I'd be in real trouble! The rest of the week I will be sharing a rental house with some women from my church as we attend a spiritual retreat and workshop. I will be making dinner at the rental house! Looking forward to learning some new recipes from my friends too!

I went to last year's conference and completely enjoyed it, even though it didn't seem like the kind of thing I'd really like to do. I sort of went out a sense of duty, and then was completely shocked to find it entirely peopled with my kind of folks! Life can be surprising like that. I learned I am not the only foul-mouthed, free-wheeling, liberal Christian on earth. Of course I am not some special freaking snowflake! Good times all around.

I hope you get to do something inspiring in this first month of the New Year, be it a new job, new hobby, new book or even a new haircut (hoping to get one of those too!) I'll be making some short but sweet posts from my phone if internet connectivity is a problem. Later!

The skinny on casseroles

Here's the thing, in the depths of winter (and winter in NC is pretty depthy to me) I want comfort food. Casseroles, stews, soups, roasts, baked goods, basically anything that warms the soul and the house makes me happy. Casseroles are not the most elegant or sophisticated of dishes but they are tasty and filling and just the very definition of home-cooking. I mean when is the last time you saw any type of casserole on a restaurant menu?

Today's casserole takes the very last bits of the New Year's day feast and transforms them into a bubbly, cheesey delicious main dish. Serve with a side of steamed veggies or salad depending on your climate and enjoy.

Ham and Rice Casserole

Chopped ham
3 cups of cooked white rice (can be leftovers from NY dinner)
1 cup (or more) of shredded cheese (I like a 4 cheese blend)
1 can of cream of something soup (or make a white sauce) (Or more than one can if you like a moister casserole.)
Panko, cracker or bread crumbs for the top
Melted butter

Mix cooked rice and chopped ham, cheese, and soup and place in a buttered 9 x 13 pan (or smaller if you aren't cooking for a crowd. You can cut this recipe in half and make it in an 8 x8 pan.) Cover with bread crumbs of choice and pour some melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 degrees (170 C?) covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes. Take off foil and brown for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

If you do not eat ham or meat simply replace the ham with broccoli florets or chopped spears and follow the recipe as indicated. You can also make this with cooked brown rice and it is even better. I can't tell you how many times I have intended to make my MIL's famous broccoli and chicken casserole and FORGOTTEN TO PUT IN THE CHICKEN. This has happened so often as a matter of fact that it is known in my house as "Chicken Surprise-- Surprise! There's no chicken in it!"

I will serve these tonight with a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower which I am fortunate that my kids love. My sister-in-law's kids won't eat them plain, but they do like them with cheese sauce. Another friend's kids won't eat them cooked but will eat them raw with ranch dressing. My sister's kids won't eat them AT ALL but clamor for more of my Mom's spaghetti sauce which is packed with (you guessed it) broccoli, carrots, onion, and celery. My Mom was the Sneaky Chef way back in the 70's.

**UPDATE** The casserole dish I was using was SO BIG that I added the frozen vegetables right into the casserole. I did take the extra step of cutting them up a bit into smaller, uniform pieces and they cooked beautifully right in one dish. Even the strenuous anti-vegetable crowd at the table couldn't resist them. Score!

Hope your dinner is really good tonight and that you have one of those good parenting days that don't make you fantasize about a long restful stay at the local hospital!

Day after dinners

When you make a BIG meal on one day, like Thanksgiving for instance, you get the benefit of guaranteed leftovers the next day. You can always use those leftovers just as is, which is terrific, or you can get creative. I mean, who doesn't love a turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving?

For New Year's Day leftovers here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy leftover greens, beans, and pork.

* Chop leftover ham and heat it up in barbecue sauce and make BBQ sandwiches.
* Use leftover black eyed peas to make "Cowboy Caviar" it is a sort of fabulous "pico de gallo" with your leftover black eyed peas. Mix cubed avocado, chopped roma (or other smaller) tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and kernel corn together. Top with some fresh lime juice, a bit of apple cider vinegar, a splash of good olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Stir gently and serve with tortilla chips. Add some tabasco if you think it needs to be a little bit spicy.
* Hopping John stir fry, fry leftover white rice in some peanut oil in a wok or large skillet. Mix in fresh chopped onion, peas, and a moderate amount of well-drained greens. Add a lightly beaten egg and stir fry together. YUM!!!
*Mix leftover, well-drained greens into cheese grits, press into a well-greased baking dish and bake until edges are set. Cut into cubes and serve for any meal, even breakfast. DEEEE-lish.
* Mix creamed corn into a thin batter made from about 1 cup of flour, one beaten egg and maybe 1/4 C of milk. Make thin corn pancakes and pour onto a hot greased griddle. Serve as pancakes with or without syrup.

I really hope the New Year is already treating you well. Here is a brand new recipe for you, another great Southern American dish.

Gramma Tallent's Ambrosia Salad

Take 3 pounds of small Florida oranges, cut off the skin and outer membrane. Pull sections from their membranes and drop into medium mixing bowl, Squeeze leftover bits of orange over the bowl to extract juice, but strain with fingers to keep seeds out. To the sections add 2 small handfuls of chopped coconut. Then add 1/2 C chopped pecans (or more to taste) and the juice of 2 more oranges. Stir together and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Serve chilled. A delicious fresh appetizer, salad or breakfast dish, even a light dessert!

It begins! New Year's Day menu

Hello and Happy New Year!!! Today begins my Dinner 365 challenge and it has already been, um, challenging.** The kids stayed up to ring in the New Year and still woke up early, so they are a little it cranky already. I am in my parent's tiny cabin in North Carolina, super charming, but space is at a premium. There are 5 kids here under the age of 10 and 3 adults. The kitchen doesn't have a garbage disposal or a dishwasher and the counter space could best be described as "miniscule" but we forge ahead. I have a friend in Australia cooking her New Year's dinner over a camp fire today, so things could be a mite more challenging still.

The menu:

Baby Back ribs; the kids' preferred method of eating pork and a catchy jingle of the late 90's, ("I want my baby backs, baby backs, baby backs..." )These are liberally seasoned with my trusty Adobo seasoning blend "con pimienta!" and then squeeze a fresh lime over all. I wrapped them in heavy duty foil and they will sit and "marinate" for awhile before we cook them "low and slow" in the oven. 275-300 for maybe 3 hours should do it.

We also made a picnic butt roast, a small but fatty piece of meat. We rubbed it all over with my father-in-law's super secret dry rub and tented it with foil in a shallow baking pan. Use any good BBQ spice rub or make your own seasoning blend with salt and spices, some people even use brown sugar in their rubs. The roast went in at the same temperature until a meat thermometer reached a minimum of 140 degrees. When you bring the meat out of the oven to rest the temperature will rise by 5-10 degrees.

Collard greens; the greens are best purchased pre-washed in the bag if available. They will still need an extra rinse or two, collards, mustard and turnip greens are notoriously gritty. If you like the frozen ones work well too. Greens are great with a bit of tabasco sauce or peppered vinegar, or my preferred way, just a dash of salt and pepper.

Plain white rice; I usually make brown rice, yellow rice or wild rice, but on New Year's Day it is typical long grain white rice for me. This is one of those recipes I have memorized, 2 cups boiling water, 1 cup of rice and salt to taste (maybe a teaspoon). Boil the water, add the rice, bring back to a boil for 1 minute then turn down, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Black-eyed peas; these can be taken dry from the bag, rinsed and then placed in a large stock pot with salted water. You can also add a bit of onion and garlic to the water. Usually mine are boiled up with a piece of ham, ham hock, or bacon, but I also make them vegetarian by adding chopped carrot, onion, celery and garlic and maybe a bay leaf for flavor and then adding a few tablespoons of olive oil when they are almost done. They take about 45 minutes. Today, due to space and time constraints we made frozen field peas with snap beans (aka black eyes peas with green beans). They were my first attempt at using frozen beans and they were great actually. If I had more freezer space I'd probably make them that way more often.

Cornbread, use any mix or recipe you like for the cornbread, but my tip to you is to get the pan hot in the oven with some oil or grease in the pan. When the oven is preheated, the pan will also be hot and ready. Pour your batter directly and quickly into the pan and let it bake according to your recipe or package directions.

Creamed corn; again, a frozen food I was not aware even existed. When I make creamed corn usually I am cutting corn off the cob and then "milking" the cob by scraping it with a spoon. Then I cook the corn for 25 minutes in the microwave with an entire stick of butter and some salt and pepper. Here my mom just took a frozen package of creamed corn, mixed it with a package of kernel corn and microwaved it all in about 10 minutes. It is not as good as fresh corn off the cob, but it is winter time and not the season for fresh ears of corn and it makes a fine winter substitute.

Our garnishes were home-made salsa and chow-chow from a local farm store. Chow-chow is a sweet relish and terrific with the beans and rice.

If you wanted to make this meal vegetarian, it would still be delicious. Skip the pork, use extra spices in the greens and beans and rice, for instance, using vegetable broth to make the rice (super flavorful!). Mixed black eyed peas and rice is it's own special dish called Hopping John, round out the plate with the hot cornbread and that is a wonderful meatless meal.

** Right after I wrote this post, we put the meat in the oven, set the temperature to 275 and left to take the kids swimming at the Y since the weather was so miserable today. We returned from the Y prepared to make rice and cornbread, heat up the greens and eat only to discover the oven had never turned on!!! We quickly cranked the heat in the oven to 350 degrees and cooked everything for an hour less than planned. We staved off hunger with a big platter of cheese, crackers, sliced meats, and grapes. The kids were remarkably calm after ingesting the entire platter in about 5 minutes and then ate a good dinner when it was finally ready. The cabin was quite cold so the meat had stayed fresh and probably the extra time "marinating" in the spices made them even better, so alls well that ends well!