Freezer Pleasers

Our freezer saga began when we got back from our vacation this summer.  The house was in great shape, the animals well taken care of by my niece,  and a freezer that had just quit.  Thank goodness we had gone down to get something for dinner!  Our freezer was an upright, frost free, appliance that we utilized to the max.  Meats, bacon, fruits,vegetables, bacon,  bread, cookie dough, freeze pops, and bacon...(did I mention bacon?) were all in jeopardy.  Luckily, we discovered it shortly after it had quit so the food was still frozen.   We phoned my Mom who has an upright freezer and asked if we could move our groceries to her house until we either got the freezer repaired or replaced.  We called it the "Massive Meat Mobilization" and fortunately saved everything but a few bags of vegetables.  (The  bacon and the pepper sticks were safe, that's all that matters!)

Over the summer, we looked for a good freezer deal and we used up as much as we could of the food that was in the upstairs refrigerator freezer.  It was quite an adventure.  I'm a total fan of upright freezers.  When I was a kid we had a chest freezer, and my grandparents had a HUGE chest freezer in their garage.  I would be sent out to get something, and I couldn't reach very far down.  I'd have to stand on a chair or step stool to see what was in there.  My favorite part of the freezers was both my Mom and my grandmother would freeze  molasses cookies in foil  packages.  I would be standing on a stool, bent over at the waist, butt up in the freezer hunting for those cookies, when I had been sent out for onions or ground beef.  The reward was awesome when I would find one of those shiny, metallic packages.  I would eat the cookies ice cold, and rock hard.  They were that good!

Change is coming to our family in many ways, and we had been blessed to have a great deal on a freezer that benefited both my Mom and us.  We now have an upright freezer to store food in.  Hubby has a promotion, soccer is starting up for the boy child, and play rehearsals are gearing up for me.  Dinner needs to be something quick, easy, and  hearty. We were also blessed to be given a whole bag of fresh garlic cloves.  Dinners this week will be from the freezer and will be using the fresh garlic.   Many meals prepped ahead can be stored in the freezer and their ingredients can go directly from freezer to oven or Crock Pot.  After I gave birth to my boy child, many friends and family members made dinners that could be frozen and go directly from freezer to oven.  When I went back to work, that was an invaluable gift.   My sister has announced that  she is "expecting" and I'll be stocking up meals and recipes for her.

The apple pie pictured uses my Grandmother's no fail pie crust recipe.  The beauty of this recipe is the pie dough can be refrigerated up to a week, or frozen up to 4 months!  The recipe is not in this blog, as I'm planning an entire "Pie Blog."  I'll include it then....Maybe.....

Freezers sure are "cool"!  (Especially when there is bacon in them!)

***Indicates a recipe included
Weekly Menu



Shrimp and Scallops in Garlic Cream Sauce


Sunday
Shrimp and Scallops in a Garlic Cream Sauce***
Cheesy Flat bread
Grilled Asparagus
Apple Pie

Monday
40 Clove Garlic Chicken  (Chicken from the freezer cooked in the Crock Pot)***
Green Salad
Mandarin Orange Salad

Tuesday
Sweet and Sour Meatballs (Meatballs from the freezer, cooked in the Crock Pot)***
Pineapple Chunks
Brown Rice

Wednesday
Sausage Orecchiette Pasta (Turkey Sausage defrosted from the freezer)***
Green Beans
Raspberry Strata (can be frozen up to 2 months)***

Thursday
Tortellini with Pesto, Shrimp, and tomatoes (Tortellini and Shrimp from the freezer)***
Apple sauce

Friday
Rotisserie Chicken (Defrosted from freezer)***
Mashed Potatoes
Carrots

Eating with Grandparents

Check out the suit! 70's at it's finest!

This weekend is designated as Grandparent's Weekend.  When I was a kid, there was no such designated day.  Every weekend was designated as Grandparent's Day. Weekends were  when you visited.  That was when you shared a meal and spent time together. You helped around the house.  Hallmark didn't need to specify a day.  That's just the way it was.

This week's blog  is dedicated to my Grandfather Fleming.  I was so blessed to have him.  (All of my grandparent's were special.  I was so blessed to know and love them  There will be a blog for each one of them as it strikes me).  Bill Cosby says "The reason that grandparents and grandchildren are so close, is because they have a common enemy...the parents!"  My grandfather would chuckle over that quote every time.  He had a cupboard that had candy in it and when I would go down to help with chores, I would raid that cupboard.  Twix, Hershey, Reese's, Whoppers (YUMMY), Chunky bars, Baby Ruth, or Whatchamacallits, were all in there at one time or another.  I would raid the cupboard and before I would head home, Grandpa would check me to make sure I didn't have any chocolate on my face so we wouldn't get in trouble.   Wouldn't want to ruin dinner, you know.   The freezer usually had Klondike bars, and if I was scared of a thunderstorm, my fears were smoothed over with chocolate over vanilla ice cream. (Little did I know that my parents knew every time!)   God is getting even with me, however, as my son gets goodies EVERY time he visits ANY of his grandparents! 

My favorite "Grandpa meal" was Sunday afternoons.  God Bless a Farmer. Grandpa had farmed and worked with animals all his life. He was a widower and raised my father alone.    Grandpa  cooked good old fashioned food.   There was nothing light about the Sunday  meal.  It would sustain, hearten, and exhaust you.  We would get home from church and dinner would be cooking.  Grandpa  would get up early and put 3 loaves of bread on to "proof" on the heater in the kitchen.  His dog "Dummy" (sorry Mom..that was the dog's name) would be banished to the porch so that he would stay out of the dough.   The kitchen was red hot with steam and all burners and the oven were fired up. 

Sunday dinner was held between 11 and noon.  Supper was for evening.  When you farmed, you ate a big meal in the middle of the day so that you could get through afternoon work and evening chores.  Sunday's menu was heavier than during the week. 

Sunday dinner was steak, marinated and fried in a cast iron skillet.  Big slabs of perfect Angus beef, served with "A1 Sauce".  My teeth were wimpy when I was a kid and I couldn't chew the steak.  I got hot dogs." Ballpark Franks".    As an adult,  I think back on all the steak I missed out on.  Don't feel too sorry for me though.   The hot dogs were cooked in the steak pan ( that usually had bacon in it).  How bad can that  be?  Grandpa would also peel and soak pounds of potatoes in cold salt water.  Then he would cut  them into french fries.  He would  dry them so that they would be crispier,  and then cook them in a dutch oven filled with corn oil, or in later years in a "Fry Daddy".  Remember those?  The fries  would be crispy,  hot,  mealy, and delightfully salty.  I got to salt the fries.  That was my job.  Grandpa  would pull the fries out of the bubbling oil and put them on paper towels.  While they were hot, but not in the grease,  I would salt them.  One of my favorite memories is my Dad and I having french fry eating contests.  Dad beat me every time!!   

The meal would be rounded out with scalloped corn, piping hot fresh bread, and for dessert, chocolate cream pie with whipped cream.

Chocolate Dream Pie Recipe

2 Envelopes DREAM WHIP
Whipped Topping mix
2 3/4 c Cold milk
2 pk JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding
1 9-inch prepared pie shell
1 tsp Vanilla
Prepare whipped topping mix per package directions in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups milk and pudding mix.
Whip, then beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Spoon into graham cracker pie shell. Chill at least 4 hours.
Oh my!  The meal would be enjoyed while we watched "Wrastlin".  (That was "WWF Wrestling", but pronounced "Wrastlin").  TV trays were set up in the living room, Dummy, the dog,  would be allowed in from the porch, and big glasses of milk and iced tea were poured.   Dinner was served and we would enjoy the meal while watching "Chief Jay Strongbow", "Ivan Putsky", and" George the Animal Steele." 

Grandpa gave me unconditional love and my son enjoys the unconditional love of his grandparent's.  My mother in law's ham and biscuits, and my own mother's cookies and  lemon meringue pie are already ingrained in his memories.  God bless them all.

Here's to you Grandparents of the world!  Pass the French Fries and Chocolate Pie!

Items with *** following them have recipes to follow.

Sunday 9/12

Steak

French fries (Our favorites are Ore Ida Fast Food French Fries)

Corn Pudding**

Chocolate pie

Monday

Slow Cooked Ribs**

Noodles

Carrots

Tuesday

Beef and broccoli (Made with left over steak)

Rice (Save 1 c for Friday)

Mandarin Oranges

Wednesday

Apricot Terriaki Chicken**

Couscous

Green Beans

Thursday

 Chicken Rice Frittata (Left over special!)***

Salad

Warm Garlic Bread

Friday

Go Out to Dinner!!!

Pizza Margherita

Pizza!  The world's most perfect food

This delicious pizza was named in 1889.   Queen Margherita of Savoy was served a pizza that included the colors of the Italian flag, red (tomato), white (Mozzarella) and green (basil).   The pizza was named in her honor the "Margherita pizza".  It is delicious, especially this time of year with all of the fresh ingredients.  All of the ingredients below can be substituted with your favorite store bought, redi-made ingredients.

1 package raw pizza dough  (grocery store freezer section or your favorite pizza parlor.)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2-3 fresh tomatoes sliced
1 lb mozzarella 
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp basil leaves shredded

Put the pizza dough in flour and stretch it to fit a greased pizza pan.    Spread the tomato sauce on the crust, but leave 1/4 of an inch around the edge.  Layer tomato slices and mozzarella on the pizza, leaving the edge.  Mix the Parmesan cheese and garlic powder, together.  Sprinkle all over the pizza. 

Bake 450 for 10 min (heat your oven to the directions on the pizza dough wrapper.)  The directions listed here were for dough purchased at Hannaford.

***There are mushrooms on the pizza that is pictured right in the middle because I like them!***

***You can also substitute pesto sauce for the tomato sauce if you prefer!***

After School Treats

It's that time again!  Just ending a heat wave that really was brutal!  Hopefully it will cool down a smidge or two so that everyone can concentrate and not miss the beach too much.  (Fat chance that that will happen, but it is worth a shot!)

I was thinking of concentrating on crock pot meals, but with the weather being so warm, and the grill working hard, I'll save the crock pot theme for another week.  Getting ready for school also brings back memories of after school treats!  So this week I've been asking folks what their favorite after school treat was or is.  What's yours?

My favorite after school treat was my mom's waffle sandwich.  It was "left over"  brilliance.  My mom took waffles that she had made for breakfast and would put the leftovers in the fridge.  Then when I got home from school she would take a waffle, split in half and toast it until it was crispy and warm.  She would put one half on a plate and would spoon applesauce over the top.  Then she would take crushed walnuts and sprinkle them over the applesauce.  Finally, she would take maple syrup and pour it all over the top. OH YUM!  Toasty, appley, maple yuminess!  My waffle recipe is included in the "After school treats" section on the side of my blog.

My hubby's favorite after school treat was homemade chocolate chip cookies.  His mom and dad both worked, so homemade cookies were a treat.  When I asked if they had a cookie jar that they were kept in, he laughed and said "No, they never lasted that long!"    Cookies and milk are the classic after school treat!  Hubby also  remembers a whole sleeve of Fig Newtons in his Grandfather's (Pop's) old, black, metal lunch box.   He remembers waiting for Pop to come home from a long  day on the road crew, and going through the lunch box to see what was left.  There would always be some cookies left  for him.

When I asked my son about his favorite after school treat, he grinned.  He remembers cookies as well.  Sugar cookies.  They are his absolute favorite after school treat...however, much to my dismay, his favorite sugar cookie comes from a mix out of a red envelope.  Not the recipe handed down generation from generation, but a prepared cookie mix that you just add butter and an egg....heartbreaking. SOMEDAY we WILL have a cookie bake off and he will see the light....I hope!

 My son's second favorite after school treat is peanut butter cookies.  Then magic happened.  As we were talking about them he asked, "Hey, will you teach me how to make them?!"  HECK YES!   Out to the kitchen we went  to get everything ready.  Will there be any left for school?  Probably not!

Baking cookies for after school

To get ready for this week of being back to school and work, I've done alot of prep work ahead.  Predicing and packaging ingredients for dinner make meal prep quick and easy.  I have prebrowned a full pound of hamburger for the tacos and chili.    I stored it in a Ziplock bag in the fridge so that I can measure out what I need when I prepare each meal.    I have also put some bacon that I cooked ahead  for Friday's salad.  Onions and  tomatoes are chopped and in the refrigerator as well. 

 ** Means Recipes are included on the side of the blog under "After School Treats".    Full steam ahead....oh!   Pass the cookies please! 
Monday
Tacos
Rice and Beans

Tuesday  (Back to School)
Chicken Parmesan (cook extra chicken w/o sauce  for Friday's salad)
Spaghetti
Carrots
 Peanut butter cookies  **

Wednesday
Chili (Crock pot)
Cornbread **

Thursday
Hamburgers on the Grill
Corn on the Cob
watermelon

Friday
Chicken Caesar Salad (grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mandarin oranges, mushrooms, and bacon)
Grilled Bread with garlic and ricotta

Saturday
Leftovers! 

Fresh Salsa

4-5  fresh tomatos, chopped
1 small onion diced
2-3 large green, yellow, orange, and red peppers, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp lime juice
3 Tbsp chili sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Makes 5-6 cups of salsa

Mix all together in a bowl and refrigerate.  Season to taste.  Cover with plastic wrap.   If the tomato acid bothers you, add a Tsp of sugar.  Serve with chips, nachos, or on top of your favorite steak or chicken.

Tomatos, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Oh My!!!

Baskets of tomatos, cucumbers, and zucchini sitting on the counter waiting to be frozen, grated, pickled, and sauced are familiar sights.  Sometimes too familiar!  (What am I going to DO with all of this?)  Growing up my Grandfather and my mother would be in a canning-freezing frenzy this time of year. 

A white enamel pan was the "pickler" along with stainless steel pots for blanching tomatos to take the skins off.  A huge black speckled enamel "canner" would bubble away with hot water and I always felt like one of the witches in Macbeth, as I would get to stand on a stool to watch for when it boiled.  "Boil, boil, toil and trouble, cauldron burn and cauldron bubble."  I would watch for the bubbles and then Mason jars of all shapes and sizes would go in to process and seal. The Ball Blue Book-An Easy Guide to Tasty Thrifty Canning and Freezing  never left the kitchen and was always open to the stained tomato page, even though my grandfather and mom knew the process by heart.

Bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, tomato sauce, and whole tomatos would cook away and when done would sit on the counter.  I loved to wait to hear the POP of the seal as they cooled.  Mom would snap the tops of the lids to make sure that there was no bubble in the center.

Zucchini was treated differently.  That was shredded (usually by hand, when I was a kid) and put in freezer bags.  Whole bowls of it would be turned into loaves of zucchini bread and what wasn't eaten was frozen.  There is nothing like that first taste of hot zucchini bread with melted butter.   By the end of august however, I usually had had enough of it, but that never stopped me from gorging on it when it was first made or diving into it in the middle of February.

I now have the Ball Blue Book, canner, and pickler.  The only differences in what I do, is I let my food processor do the job of  shredding the zucchini!  What a time and elbow saver that is!  However, if you want a good work out, I highly recommend grating zucchini by hand.  You'll end up with great arm muscles.   No one else in the family are big tomato eaters, but I have found that fresh salsa goes much quicker.  I keep a bowl going in the fridge and add to it as it gets empty.

Back to school  is coming quickly as well as Labor Day.  I head to work this week so I need to get myself planned and prepped.  All this week's menu will also include pickles, zucchini bread, and tomato salsa.  Anyone want some?

Sunday
Margahreta pizza
Margaritas

Monday
Easy Potato Corn Chowder
Melon slices
Zucchini bread

Tuesday
Shrimp scampi over Linguine
Sliced Cucumbers

Wednesday (Back to work for me!)
Nachos
Salsa

Thursday
Grilled Pork Chops
Couscous with baby Spinach and Pine Nuts
Applesauce

Friday
Grilled Beef k-bobs with mushrooms and apples
Rice
Raspberry mousse

Just Beginning... A Week at a Time

A new adventure for me.  Blogging.  Who knew?  Ever since the Christmas that I was in the 4th grade, I've written in diaries, journals,  and self discovery logs.  Now we'll add "blogging" to the list.  I have no intent or agenda.  This will be a place where I will keep track of what comes out of my kitchen. 

I have been a foodie for years.  Some of my earliest memories involve helping in the kitchen.  My Grandmothers and Mother were kitchen powerhouses.  I picked up tips and tricks from them all and use them every chance I get. Cutting, shopping, canning, freezing, preserving, baking, and serving large groups of people were strengths that they all shared.   I have found my own tricks that work well and help keep me sane, and keep my family coming back for more.


Today, I just finished making 2 lbs of fresh mozzarella cheese.  Cheese making is a new enterprise for me, and one that I have found to be very rewarding.  After a particularly nasty knee surgery I found myself sitting at home trying not to feel sorry for myself.  A do-it yourself magazine arrived with an article on Easy Cheesy: 4 Super Simple Recipes written by Tabitha Alterman.  There were beautiful color photos of various cheeses.  One of the photos was a plate of mozarella cheese.  The article stated that you could make your own in 30 minutes..........30 minutes....... Ya.  right...Sure I thought.   There's no way.  I read the article and became intrigued.  The photos were beautiful, the process not too daunting, the ingredients easy to get, and   to be honest, it just looked fun!  I decided that when I was back on my feet (literally), I was going to try it.

My family are total cheese hounds.  We love it.  Any shape or form will be quickly devoured and we all have our favorites.  From my husband's love of extra sharp cheddar, to my son's love of string cheese, to my love of any kind of cheese melted and gooey!   I was healthy and back in the kitchen and the cheese making process began.  There were mistakes, but even the screw-ups were tasty!  Before I had it figured out, I had made several batches of mozzarella that were not well formed, and melty in consistency.  Put salsa in that, and oh my goodness!  Homemade salsa con queso!  (Not so great for the waistline, but oh so good in the mouth!) In a few batches, I had it! Alterman was right!   You CAN make mozzarella in 30 minutes!  It was so exciting.  Watching the cheese form was like cooking, science, and kitchen magic all rolled into one! 

Today's adventure was mozzarella.  I will use it on a margherita pizza and on ciabatta bread with fresh tomatoes and basil.   Golden days of summer are the best.

Mozzarella and Basil

So here's to my new blog...a new adventure.  How fun.
WEEKLY MENU
Monday
Pasta with homemade pesto
Green beans
Grilled garlic bread

Tuesday
Rotisserie Chicken
Peanut Satay Sauce
Carrots
Rice

Wednesday
Steak Fajitas
Homemade Salsa
Cucumbers

Thursday
Ramen Noodle Stir fry with Chicken and Broccoli
Mandarin Oranges

Friday
Grilled Portobello Burgers
Mediterranean Salsa
Corn on the Cob
Baked Beans

Saturday
Grilled Turkey Sausages
Corn on the Cob
Mediteranian Orzo Salad
Chocolate No Bake Cookies