Morning coffee outside in February~

I can honestly say I don't think I ever sat outside having my morning coffee watching spring approach in February.  The dogs are stunned.  They have been spending most of the week outside all afternoon inspecting the reason for spring to appear in February.  

Nate will soon be home.  He is on his last leg of charming new acquaintances in country after country.  He started off in New Orleans, then Colorado, then Hawaii and on to New Zealand and Australia. Once he is in a spot he stays, taking in all there is to see. (Actually, he is going back to New Zealand and back to Hawaii and then home from Hawaii. Wow.)  He has met the most wonderful people and Andy and I hope that these new friends who have been so good to our grandson will stop by for a few days when and if they get to America. Travel is an education unto itself and Nate is good at it. He is a life-long learner like his grandfather.

On the homefront, Andy who is 81, is still attending classes at The Ohio State University.  Yesterday he got an A on a paper entitled Commodity Chain Analysis: Bleuette Dolls.  I had not read the paper before he submitted it and was pleased that he had selected this subject.  The French doll, Bleuette, was the last phase of my antiquing (dealing and collecting) in Paris and America. I had done two books on the subject and Andy had done many shows and trips with me so he selected this subject for a paper.  He says he is the teacher's pet and I can see why. Andy is a life-long learner and it keeps him perky.

We have begun buying large containers for planting.  Every year the pots stack grows and we are eager to begin planting.  Andy came home yesterday saying the Pansies are in, the Pansies are in. But really, this IS too early to plant in OHIO. It could be snowing in fifteen minutes without much warning.

Have a lovely Thursday.  I'll see what is in the frig for today's meals.  Oh, yesterday I used a can of biscuits with left - over cranberry sauce and baked these two items together for a lovely, easy dessert.  I usually use a can of apple pie filling but now I know what ever you use with these biscuits be it sweet or savory, the dish is delicious.  Try it.  You will be amazed.

I checked the freezer and decided to try Trader Joe's mini meatballs in a pasta dish.  Each time I go to Trader Joe's I buy a product I have not tried from there and I am never disappointed.  I thought if these mini balls are really tasty, that would cut out a big step in one of our big family events.  April 16th is Easter this year...EARLY.  So we are going to try for an outside event with grilling as the main to-do.  It's never too early to start planning when thirty or so people are involved.

I've settled on spaghetti and meatballs with roasted mushroom.  If you have not tried roasted rather than sauteed mushrooms you are missing out on flavor.  They taste, actually taste, like they look and should taste...so much better.

Nate's adventures...

Where have I been one might ask...

I have been absent from my blog due to my phone bucking and bullying for several days.  Somehow the camera refused to send pictures until I just now adjusted the darn thing and suddenly it worked, so here I am once more with goodies and ideas gleaned from a late Sunday night trip to Trader Joe's with Beth.  Riced cauliflower and riced broccoli have resulted in a delightful soup with pepper bacon accents.  I did not even have to get the food processor out because you can now buy this short cut at Trader Joe's.  The soup takes minutes to prepare and you have a lovely result.

          Then there is the bread pudding that I made from Anderson's brioche. That's a sad story.  This wonderful general store is closing its four stores forever.  It was a shock to Columbus I can tell you that.  Andy and I went over the day the closing was announced and we had to wait for a place to park.  Too late, they said. It is a done deal.  We are closing.  Their products were wonderful.  Lisa, who writes Cook's Corner in Columbus, asked them for their recipes to feature in her food section of the Dispatch and they said no.  So when they are done, they are done, and I understand that concept. (Now I can't get this picture on. ) No peace.Bread pudding made from Anderson's brioche.

Ahhhh, there it is.

Signs of spring

We are longing for spring.  When primroses appear in the markets Andy grabs them to surprise me.  It is always a sign that spring is on its way.  The oranges are from Sam's and this is our third bag of them.  They are so delicious this year. I just slice them up and leave them on the counter and they disappear like candy.

Andy's after class treat today.  Yes, he is 81 and still taking classes at OSU.

I am getting ready for some company in a few days and am playing the make-ahead menus.  Mushroom soup is going to be one of the soups. I have captured this soup which Andy hates because he dislikes mushrooms with a passion.  But, there are several of us who enjoy them in any form.

Andy's after class treat. (Yes, he is 81 and still taking classes at OSU.)

Let's calm down!

                                               

With America in a snit it is difficult to think about cooking or just about anything else.  The news harps on making everyone uncomfortable and fretful.  I wish we would ALL just calm down.

Andy and I made a trip to Sam's today and had the store to ourselves which is unusual.  The best buy in town is their rotisserie chicken.  Juicy, succulent, diverse and larger, yet less expensive, than any at Kroger or Giant Eagle.  I took the meat from the bones, stuck the bones, herbs, carrots and celery into a stock pot for making broth.  The chicken I divided into bags for chicken salad, chicken pot pies, and one for the dogs who get chicken nearly every morning with their regular food.

 

We like their salmon too, so we will be having that in the very near future.  Everyone but Mike likes seafood of any kind and one can do so much with salmon.

Sam has a really nice cheese selection.  I stock up on cheese while I am at Sams.

Their green beans reminded me of the little Rose ham in the freezer.  I decided right then to make a big pot of beans, ham, and potatoes for Mike to take to Stacy's house for dinner.  Matt and Stacy's baby is two months old and they both work, so cooking is not a priority in that house. Mike, the grandfather for the first time, is the gap filler between Matt getting home and Stacy leaving for work.  That's working for the winter, but come spring and Nate and Mike are back to full gear working themselves.

Sam's had wonderful bags of sweet oranges today.

We are having a spring like January which suits everyone.  I fear February, but maybe it will stay pleasant then too.  One can only hope.

tasty cake

I have been whining about my TV copper ware but today I made a banana foster (pineapple) upside down cake in my largest one and it worked beautifully. Go figure.  I could have waited a bit longer to made the bottom darker, but the cake is so tender and delicious that looks aren't everything.  It's a supper cake.

two item bubble up dessert

On this nutty day I managed two delightful supper items:  The dessert has only two items and I don't apologize for this because it is delicious. I know you need quick desserts just as I do. The next is a chicken pot pie with hash brown bricks instead of the usual puff pastry or pie crust topping. 

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1 tube of Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls with icing
1can of apple pie filling.
 350 for 25-35 minutes
Cut rolls into fourths. Butter the baking dish stir around the apple filling to cover each fourth. Bake 

Girls' day out

I was so happy yesterday shopping with Beth in some of our favorite haunts yet today I read that Andersons' will be closing its wonderful stores after seven decades.  They have not made a profit, according to the article, since 2008, so who can blame them?  They made a really big store expansion a few years ago, but it must not have worked.  They carry such great items and special treats in every nook and cranny.  I just can't believe we won't have this wonderful general store because they are closing between April and June of this new year.
1/16/2017

Brown rice medley which has long grain brown rice, black barley and Daikon radish seeds. Delicious and the new to try basmati rice medley both from Trader Joe's.





Beth, one of my (great) daughters-in-law, and I ran around today after church.  We had lunch at Chuy's, then hit Trader Joe's...a crazy time to shop, but we found several great new items to try and here they are.  Then on we went to World Market where we found some more finds.  I had not been out to shop in weeks, so it was a real treat.

In one post I wrote about how my batterie cuisine was getting too heavy for me and what did I just do but buy another iron skillet.Oh well, there are enough people who will gladly lift it for me as long as they can eat what is in it.

I try to buy something different to try each time I get to Trader Joe's so I have five things in this picture that I have not tried.  But look at the picture of the rice at the bottom--Trader Joe's rice medley and it is the best.  I bought some for Brooks to try since he is now into cooking.  The lemons are my favorites, sweeter and tastier than regular old lemons.  But in their vast rice section was a new one for me basmati rice medley with herbs and vegetables.  I also saw and bought coconut oil spray to use instead of Pam.  Trader Joe's has many sauces and marinades so I bought Soyaki.  TJ 's Israeli couscous box has a recipe on the back for the couscous with pine nuts and parsley. Yum. 

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Trader Joe's rice medley/ vegetables and Chuy.

I adore winter food and especially vegetable concoctions such as I made today.  I took my last bag of wonderful Trader Joe's rice medley and combined the rice cooked in chicken broth with cauliflower and broccoli.  I then stirred in two heaping spoonfuls of my Chuy's creamy dressing and topped it all with cheese and popped it into the oven.
(Just out of the oven and it is delicious.)

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new copper skillets as shown on TV

Because my Le Creuset cook ware has become so heavy for me to handle comfortably, I was thrilled to see the inexpensive copper ware demonstrated on TV.  Andy found and bought one for me at Ollie's and when I tried it a couple of times it worked just as the ad illustrated.  So I asked Andy to buy ten more skillets so that each head of the kitchen household that came for the party could take one home as a gift. We even went back for more of the pots and pans and skillets until I found that if you add, for flavor, a bit of butter or oil to the skillet its sliding feature disappears and it is a bit less easy to clean. Never one to give up on a 'good thing' the next time we visited Ollie's there were the copper baking sheets, so I bought two. I have since thrown one away.  I could not get it clean or stain free after baking a simple free form tart.  I followed the seasoning instructions on the baking sheets, which had not appeared on the skillet packages, and even kept the instructions because it said to do it every few weeks. So, here is what I think: on TV they simply use a new pan or skillet for each dish they illustrate to give the illusion that you will have a product that will work the same every time and it is simply a scam and I fell hard for it. Not one person that I gave a skillet to has mentioned this because they are very polite and I have kept quiet about it because I didn't want it to be true, but the baking sheet was the last straw!  I will use them as long as I can get them clean and actually the skillets do clean up easily but the food does stick so it takes more effort than they own up to on TV. Boo hum bug!

Fooling with food

Today I feel like playing with my food.  I made a trip to Carfagna's Italian meat market yesterday and saw a lovely bag of fresh chicken wings that lured me to buy them.  I also bought a couple of packages of pepper bacon and combined the two to roast in the oven until the bacon was crisp.  Then I'll remove the bacon and sauce the wings and stick them under the broiler to get crisp and browned. The sauce will do that in a hurry.  Looks yummy so far..
Then there are the tiny rib eye,pepper crusted sliders from Anderson's that take only a minute or so on each side.  Paired with Carfagna's potato bread slider buns (at least that is how I use these dinner rolls) it makes a real treat.  

                                                         

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2017 so far, not so good~

Andy brought me primroses and I made him an apple treat

I always like to start the year off right, but it has been a bumpy ride so far.  First, I ,who have had perfect and even low some times, blood pressure have had astoundingly high blood pressure readings for almost two weeks straight. We finally got that under control with the doctor's help. (I think Alleve is the culprit causing the high blood pressure.)  As the doctor went out the door he said if you are taking Alleve or Advil stop until we understand what is going on. Just be careful and read the warnings.

Then, Fergie, one of the family dogs, took a turn for the worse and had to be put to sleep because of an inoperable tumor. We are still not over that loss. Our son, David, lost his 15 year -old dog companion, Gus, three weeks before Fergie's death.  He took that very hard as well.  We do love our dogs.

Now I am getting a cold and have not had one for years.  Enough already! That is enough badness to last a long time. I know there are far worse problems out there.  On a happy note:
(It wasn't a cold after all.  I was allergic to something that went away after several wash loads of pillows and throws.) So things are looking up after all.

I hope your year started off and continues to be perfect.  I will get back to blogging once I get over these afflictions.