snowangel

I scored! I didn't want to go throught the hassel of cutting, heming, etc. (give me a break, I'm quitting smoking), so I've been on the prowl. Stopped at Fleet Farm today, and they had nice substantial ones (34 x 36) for $.99 each. They also had sets of 6 (what's up with that? there are 7 days to a week!). A friend who lives in a little town in S. MN stopped at Ben Franklin and they had a huge selection of Aunt Martha's Hot Iron transfers, so I'm in business.

I'm back from the volleyball thing, and am tag-teaming with Paul, who will leave in a few minutes to do the parental thing. He's going to call when they leave, and I'll start dinner (if anyone in the family is interested in eating at almost 10:00 tonight). If I don't roast tonight, I'll roast Monday. Promise. The volleyball thing is really screwing up my life. They announced that Saturday is an all day tournament, which should make smoking butts fun! But, I have a plan, so a week from today, I'll be smoking butt. And, I could almost kill for a cigarette. This is awful. And, I'm still feeling unbelievably disorganized. I'm starving because I haven't had anything since lunch. Better go scrounge and then do a bit of house cleaning, since I am having guests. And, do some more planning for food tomorrow. BTW, my mom has come through. She called and said "tomorrow, I'm bringing boiled shrimmp, coctail sauce, guac, hummus, chips and veg." Phew. Saved once again.

Wise words, coming from Marlene?

Dinner will be VERY late here. Due to Diana's volleyball sked, she and Paul probably won't get home until shortly after 9:00 pm, but they will be hungry, so the tenderloins are making more and more sense so we can actually get to bed tonight and get up tomorrow for church. And, no blog of mine would be complete without a home-ownership disaster (flood last time as I recall). Well, the exhaust fan in the bathroom is dumping copious amounts of water on the bathroom floor when we turn it off. Off to help the handyman and get to volleyball on time. I want a cigarette.

Dave, hope you feel better soon. A couple of friends who have quit noticed that they got colds right away. Maybe the body cleansing itself? Isn't toast wonderful? My kids love toast. Peter thinks that butter toast is one of the greatest foods ever!

I don't think there's anyway that big roast will thaw in time, now that I think about it. And, I'm sort of thinking that some of these big roasts will need to be roasted in a bag or something. I really need to read all of those venison cookbooks I checked out of the library. And, I'm hard pressed to roast a big cut of meat tonight because of the damned volleyball schedule.

Debate. I just got a couple of things out of the freezer. I have two venison backstraps, but they aren't very big (about 3/4 lb.) and I also pulled out something marked "roast" that is about 2.5 lbs. Given that Diana won't be here tonight, and Peter may or may not eat meat, I'm debating whether to roast the tenderloins and add a venison steak to the mix or doing the big roast. ???

Marlene. What, no bacon? My kids and husband are insistent that we have some sort of smoked meat with bacon, and I'm not about to argue! BTW, I always make more waffles than we'll eat. Freeze the rest and the kids can pop them in the toaster for breakfast before school.

Hummus is very popular with my kids, and I even have some frozen mashed chickpeas in the freezer. Thanks, Rachel, for the suggestions!

We've had breakfast. I got my bacon fix this morning. Since I hadn't been to the meat market, cooked up supermarket bacon. Farmland, which is pretty darned good and the supermarket bacon of choice in our household. The bonus was that this week it is 2 pounds for $4.00, so I should really stock up. No, I didn't eat it all myself. I shared. And, I made a mess of waffles on my nifty oh-so-keen Nordic Ware stovetop waffle maker. We have one of these up at the cabin (no electricity) and when I saw two of them at a thrift store for $1.69 each, I snapped them up. We have two at the cabin, one here. Great recovery time, no cord to misplace, and the thing doesn't take up much space. I store mine in my rack cabinet. Finally, the cook eats! Neither the bacon nor the waffle were as dark as they look in the photo. Since I'm not a morning sweet eater, no syrup on my waffle. The kids really like them with raspberry yogurt. I took plain yogurt and added some raspberries I picked and froze last summer. Alas, no photo of that; they ate it all before I could get the camera out. The obligatory bite shot. Hmmm. A little blurry. I really need to work on my photgraphing techniques. I think I'll take the manual with me while I do some serious bench time at the volleyball game. So far, doing quite well this morning, but then again, this has been the best time of day for me.

Good morning! It is a beautifully sunny day. The troops are rising and I'm starting to think breakfast. Diana has a volleyball tournament today, so I'll leave her about 1:30, return to fix dinner then after dinner, Paul will take the evening stretch. They won't be home until sometime between 9:00 and 10:00 pm. I need advice about tomorrow. Although we don't watch football, we do have a small Super Bowl gathering every year. This stemmed from the day when the company I was working for produced a Super Bowl Half-Time show, so we watch just for that portion. Need food ideas. I have a big pack of chicken wings that I'll pull out of the freezer. What else should I do? Needs to be simple and kid-friendly (the other kids who are coming are not as adventurous). Also need to keep my dad's food needs in mind; he had quintuple bypass surgery last year, so low fat, low sodium is a good idea. I'm toying with the idea of smoking a small turkey my cousin has (that he wants me to smoke), but not sure. Inspire me, please!

Brad, you forgot about 3.2 beer, which is what can be sold in gas stations and stuff, but only during the hours that liquor stores are open. I wonder if there are any still 3.2 bars around? There was one in Northfield.

Thanks. I needed that. After 9:00 pm, it is hell. Pure and utter hell. This is, at times, worse than labour and delivery. I have three kids. I know. Off to eat more char sui with jalapenos. I may sub sliced Thai bird chilis.

After dinner, I found six of these on top of the fridge Diana espied them and immediately had to bake. And talk. Recipe is from the new Gourmet Cookbook -- Banana Bread with Macadamia Nuts and Coconut. I chose to do this as muffins because they are so transportable, and the kids don't get crumbs all over when the cut the stuff, and don't leave knives laying all over the counter. Neater all around. I also use those muffin tin liners. They also help contain crumbs. (the white things are macadamia nuts, not butter) (note to self; Peter needs a nail trim) Peter loved his muffin. The kids have pronounced the muffins wonderful. I really don't care for banana anything (I suppose that is a holdover from wiping up entirely too much banana ick off of babies?). Diana does a wonderful job baking. But, the funny thing is that when I bake, I clean. When anyone else bakes, I clean. Something's not right with this equation.

Beautiful dinner, Marlene! Love your dishes and my don't they look familiar!

Sure. I do it all of the time. It cooks fast though. Pay attention. Better wait until you thaw out. You might need to move fast. ← Brooks, we're tough up here. We don't freeze until it gets to the 30 below range.

HELP! Can I make banana bread but use muffin tins instead of a bread pan?

Dinner. I decided yesterday that I wanted a burger. And, I wanted potato salad. Potato salad. I make many, many different kinds of potato salad, but today, I wanted regular "yellow" potato salad. I used to always use red or new potatoes, but a weekend at the cabin that included a craving for potato salad, no red potatoes, but a mess of russets started something new. Peeled, diced russets cooked til done in salted water. Drained thoroughly and tossed (while hot) with vinegar. I use a Meyer lemon and dill vinegar from the Epicurian Fig, out of Minneapolis. My friend buys me these vinegars when she's at the St. Paul Farmer's Market. These are wonderful vinegars, but it beats me why someone would pay almost $10 for a bottle of vinegar with stuff that's easily available. And, in the case of the lemon/dill vinegar, call it a limited edition and get an even higher premium. Anyway, I digress. That pepper vinegar is also really wonderful. I went to pick up Diana and let this mixture cool off. Got home, diced up some onion and celery, chopped up a whole mess of hard-cooked eggs (I wanted this one to have lots of eggs) and made a dressing of mayo (Hellman's), some rice vinegar and yellow mustard -- the regular French's kind. The reason I wanted this potato salad heavier on the eggs is that it is one of Heidi's favorite foods and she wouldn't touch a burger with a 10-foot pole. Last night, I pulled a package (1.5 lbs) of ground elk out of the freezer and stuck it into the fridge. My uncle and his son had been hunting (I'm thinking on a game farm) in central Nebraska. This stuff was processed in Friend, NE. It is very lean, but the patties held together well. I made six 1/4 pound burgers. I always poke a little hole in the middle of them so that they don't turn into balls. Paul was none to happy about grilling outside tonight. It is 14 degrees (F) with a howling wind. Wind chill of about zero. But, being the game chap that he is, we had grilled burgers. But, before dinner, a picture of my table, which is pretty darned special. My parents bought this table when we lived in Thailand in the early 70's for a paltry sum. They had it at their house for many years, but when they moved into a town house that with a dining room too small for the table, it went on loan to some friends. But, we bought a house with a dining room that just screamed for this table, so it is back in the family. The table didn't come with chairs, but I think I found a perfect match. The center of the table is a built in lazy susan. Serving dishes on our table always have the handles of the serving implements turned in! (Less spills). We love this table and it seats 9 comfortably. So, to dinner. Potato salad, burger and caesar salad. So, OK, the salad was a bagged one. It was free at the grocery store for answering three questions, and the rest of the greens looked like they had seen much better days. On my burger, I had lettuce, lots of onions, mustard (yellow this time) and ketchup. The Heinz "kickers" with tabasco. Their idea of a "kicker" is certainly different from mine. I really wanted tomatoes on my burger, but what was available at the grocery was an insult to tomatoes. A great meal. The elk was very mild, almost indistinguishable from lean beef. We think we prefer a fattier grind for burgers, but the kids got a big kick out of eating elk, and my freezer is 1.5 lbs. lighter. Wish me luck tonight. It's been a tough evening. I really want some dark chocolate. That's a big new crave.

Keep the faith, Matt. I'm hoping not to backslide tonight. Stay tuned. Winter grilling up next!

I dreamt of bacon candy last night. I'll have to get over to my favorite Twin Cities bacon supplier next week.

I had a little char sui snack! This stuff is really, really good. It doesn't have the intense red ring that I see in restaurants, but who cares. It tasted wonderful. I think the cut of meat I used was more loin-like than butt-like, so next time I'll do it with butt. I sampled a slice. Then another, and wanting that peppery kick, I added a bit of pickled jalapeno pepper. Nirvana! Slightly sweet. Slightly sour. With a kick.

I called my doctor today and we talked. She suggested the patch, an lo and behold, it is covered by my insurance company, so she called in a script. I went to pick it up, and apparently, she has to call the insurance company and they will pre-authorize it. What a bunch of malarkey, if you ask me. The pharmacist said it could take a couple of days. WTF? Anyway, the pharmacy is in my grocery store, and I needed a few things, so, clutching my list, which I had written out in store order, I got absolutely everything on the list, plus a treat for me (Dr. Pepper; I hardly ever drink pop and we almost never have it in the house). For the first time this week, I did not walk into the house and immediately say "Oh, shit. I forgot..." Oddly enough, I'm not eating constantly. I don't quite know what I want to eat.

My char sui is done. I think it could have benefited from a blast of heat, but I haven't tried it. Breakfast/lunch today: Half a row of Saltines, each methodically buttered. Sick, isn't it?

My char sui is in the oven (set to 250 degrees F). Paperclips to the rescue!

Back to my char sui. How low and how long? Edit: Is a paperclip food safe?