Easter salads

This is a take on the French style rustic wedding reception dinner.  A leg of lamb is slow roasted 8 hours (but Americans have cut it to four) Then it sits on a bed of beans and placed in the middle of the table.  Guests fork their servings and scoop their beans and no serving help is required.  I am doing this as one of the Easter dishes.

I've also done a pasta salad which made it to the fridge before I took its picture. Below is a multi-grain salad with tons of taste and ingredients.

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Multi grain salad

The gathering

It has been months since we have crawled out of our holes to gaze at the sun and to welcome guests to Many Branches. The last time was Christmas evening dinner on the 23rd of December.  It's been a long cold winter and the rain is lashing us yet, but Easter Sunday looks to be sunny.  Our painting has not been completed...who can blame the painter when it has rained every day this week?  The daffodils are enjoying this patch of rain , however, and they will bless the Easter tables which have been set and covered for more than two weeks.

I am eager to try Ina Garten's 4-hour leg of lamb with beans dish as one of the offerings.  Beth and I are shopping today and several dishes have already been prepared. The rib roast is studded with garlic and snug in its layer of herbs in the fridge.

The guests will start arriving around 11:00 for Easter brunch and we will lunch and munch all day with games and chats and catching up from last December.  

There is to be a wedding in the not too distant future and that will be gone over in detail even though the bride to be will be missing this Easter. Brooks and Josh have bought houses, Nate's home from three and a half months travel, Gutter Co. business has begun, Matt leaves for business in Japan for two weeks, Andy and I have new eyes...well, there's more but you get the picture.

Scalloped potatoes with pspper bacon and pancetta...

As dishes are prepared and actually cooked, I will try to get them pictured.  It's fun for me to look back some day when I can no longer entertain in a big way, and I like sharing the effort with you.  Have a lovely Easter day.

Pickled beets with walnuts, blue cheese, and white beans.  recipe from allrecipes

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Fresh orange cake

The Cake Doctor by Anne Byrn is where this fresh orange cake recipe came from.  She doctors cake mixes to make them special. It is very basic and easy. You have to be careful, the stores are selling less than large cake mixes and it turns out you have to use part of another cake mix in order to make the cake the right size.  They are shifty!
Fresh orange cake:
1 package, 18.25 yellow cake mix.  However, this does not measure right and you must use some of another box of cake mix to level out the ingredients.  Shifty!
1 cup of fresh orange juice...ABOUT 5 MEDIUM ORANGES
1/2 CUP OIL
1/4 CUP SUGAR
1 TSP. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
4 LARGE EGGS
Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon fresh grated orange zest
Mix and place on the cake in drizzles

Just now · 

Fresh orange cake

Cooking from the freezer

Somebody stop me!  I have to stop buying food and cook what I have stocked.  So today it is the peaches from last summer made into a clafouti...a pudding made of fruit with a thick egg batter poured over and baked.  It is usual to use cherries, but I have luscious peaches so that is what I am using. Lobster ravioli in alfredo sauce with fresh herbs is also on the menu.

Nate is in the air from Switzerland and we look forward to his arrival.  Snow will greet him, unfortunately, but it will clear up in a few days and that's when the work begins for the season.

The painter did not make it last night; big surprise that, so we have that to deal with probably late this afternoon.
Note:
Oh well, I got lazy and did a peach cobbler instead. 

Doris Lechler

Just now · 

Warm peach cobbler

Food and plans

I have declared myself queen of left-overs! We are shopping today after Andy gets home from class and I cleaned the fridge so it will be ready for the in-coming load of goodies.  After all, Easter is around the corner and cooking has begun.  I had left over chicken pot pie and I used this filling sans the crust as layers between the potatoes onions and cheese.  It has been in a slow oven for an hour and thirty minutes and I had a taste.  Very pleasing if I do say so myself. The fresh herbs have spent the winter growing in the conservatory and this dish is blessed with them.

Super scalloped potatoes ready for the oven

Nate comes home tomorrow after three and a half months of travel.  He has been to Hawaii twice, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, France and Germany.  He has been inside a glacier and has seen animals and birds and plant life strange and beautiful.  He has met the most wonderful young women and I don't see how we can keep him down on the farm (so to speak) after this exceptional trip. But, this is his third such trip and he always comes home eager to work and full of happiness.  Nate has made great choices and he is enjoying the fruit of wise ways.

The painter is here to paint the ceiling in the kitchen and hall.  When the weather gets better he is doing all the wood on the property, especially the pergola...no small job that!  Winter is over and so is the quiet, slow, peace. And, oh joy, April 4th is our 59th wedding anniversary and we are spending it in a lawyer's office hammering out our will. Still, life is good and better than the alternative.

Are movies getting weirder?

I just watched The Shape of Water which, I think, won the Academy Award.  I try not to know these things because I am not happy with Hollywood, but then they don't really care.  This is a weird movie, but just as I was about to leave it I found I could not. Comparing this with the other up for awards movie Three Billboards, I cannot see how it won, if it won. I've also watched Orient Express and would have enjoyed it more had the English accents not been so quietly garbled.  Lady Bird, I think, was up for awards too and I found it lacking.  Maybe I just don't get it any more.  I am enjoying several spots on Netflix and I am back into reading although it is not totally keeping my interest.  I am catching up and reviewing Madam Secretary which Andy and I both enjoy.

Now to food:  Have you heard of pretzel turtles?  Nothing could be easier to produce.
25 pecan halves roasted
24 mini pretzels squares
24 soft caramels
8 ounces milk chocolate
parchment paper
lay 24 mini pretzels on baking paper in a single layer
put a caramel on top of each pretzel
put in oven for 4 minutes or until caramel is melted
put a roasted pecan on each caramel
melt chocolate
on baking paper put a puddle for each pretzel and set the pretzel on top of chocolate
let cool

I have to start cooking in earnest; Nate comes home the 21st and Easter is Apr. 1st.  The tables are set and covered.  I just have to plan the centerpieces.

Easter menu

We just realized Easter is only three weeks away. It is  so early this year, but we are looking forward to it just the same.  I would love to have the first meal of the day outside, but we will have to wait to find out if that is even possible.  Sometimes it is.  I am thinking lamb.  I watched Ina (Barefoot Contessa) and she was showing a wedding reception meal in France.  A leg of lamb was roasted low and slow for several hours, (Ina cut it down to four hours) and once the lamb was finished it was served on a big bed of beans with forks and spoon and everyone just served themselves by forking the soft meat onto their plates with scoops of beans.  It was so comfortable to see a meal like that being consumed.  I also have to have beef for Tom.  He loves his beef.  But then there is the poor ham that likes to be on the Easter table. Isn't it wonderful to have so many lovely choices?  The first meal will feature three soups plus chicken and noodles.  Appetizers will be served along with those choices and pecan coffee cakes for dessert.  Then we will clear it all away, relax while the meat is roasting and later in the day serve the main meal.  There will be around twenty-five people which is about the same number as the last few events. We are hoping to have all the wood painted and the pool opened and cleaned by then, but, like I said, it is early.  We will do our best to have the place looking good. Thanks to the Cincinnati gang for bringing some goodies to the feast, as always.

Oakland Park Nursery has been a main stay in Columbus for over sixty years.  I know this only because my first school was located right beside this wonderful nursery, AND, the proposal tree sits right in front of the Oakland Park School where I taught and when Andy proposed fifty-nine years ago as of April 4th. Anyway, they are having a sale of their large and costly planters and Andy and I bought three of them at 75% off--practically giving them away.   We can pass them down with all of the iron works (planters) that are antiques.  We do go overboard with the flowers every year, always starting way too early and losing some of our investments due to frost.  Calm down!  That is my motto for this year.  Don't get crazy.  Yeah, that's going to work.

So Easter is on my mind and probably on yours as well.  Plan well, cook ahead, and have fun.

4-hour lamb
one 6-7 pound leg of lamb
olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
one bottle dry white wine
2 large heads of garlic cut in half but not peeled
15 large sprigs of rosemary (boy do we own that)
15 large sprigs of thyme
6 bay leaves
Rub the lamb all over with olive oil and seasonings.  Heat a very large dutch oven such as Le Cruset over medium-heat until very hot.  Add the lamb and sear on all sides for 12 minutes or until browned all over.  Remove to plate.

Add the wine and 2 cups of water to the pot and cook for a minute or two, scraping up all the brown bits in the bottom.  Add the two garlic pieces, the rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves and put the lamb on top. Put the lid on and bake in preheated oven at 300 for four hours.  (The French baked it about 8 hours, but that is way too much time.) Make sure your lid is on tight and firm.  You will have to have a man heave it into the oven. lol

After 4 hours, the lamb should be incredibly tender and you should be unable to slice it, hence the forks and spoons.  Allow the lamb to rest once it is out of the oven. Strain the sauce into a pan and bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer 10 minutes to reduce.  The lamb is too tender to slice, serve it warm with spoons and the sauce.  Ina Garten
Guests can fork the meat onto their plates at will and scoop the beans to their hearts content.

Uninvited guests

February brought uninvited guests to the kitchen at Many Branches.  They seemed to know when the contract with pest control was about to run out, so the first warm day of Febuary they came bags in hand to take up residence.  It was very disappointing, but today March 7th, the pest control crew comes back with their magic elixir to send them on their way to hassle other folks.  They have spread.  Once they were satisfied with a small section of the kitchen and now, like real hogs, they want it all and part of the dining room which has not seen use, but with weekly cleaning, since December.  How do they do it? Well, this is pleasant writing for early in the morning.  Nevertheless, our human guests can rest assured they will be gone!

Today is fish day.  I think I will start off with roasted potatoes and carrots in herbs and olive oil in the oven, and then at the last few minutes add the fish in butter and herbs to bake for about 12-15 minutes.  Any left overs will make a nice fish stew for tomorrow.  I will be missing these one tray bakes and one pot dishes when the really warm weather comes around.  Life is easy with one pot meals with our busy lives. Also, Joe and Glenda are coming to stay for a few days.   These are great do- ahead meals and meals that burble away while cards are played and drinks are consumed, and gossip is enjoyed.  We need to focus on Easter's menu as well.  I am eager to try a lamb dish.  I saw Ina do a lamb dish which cooked several hours low and slow and was then placed on a bed of beans.  It was put in the center of the table and people just forked off hunks of succulent lamb with scoops of hearty beans family style.  (Tom, rest assured beef roast will be on the menu too.)

Amish soup starters

Andy and I journeyed to Amish country today, Saturday.  We thought it would be crowded but we were wrong.  I had quite a large order, still wondering why the place was not packed as it usually is on Saturday.  We were out of there a few minutes after 10:00 and I believe I was the first  person at the ordering counter.  On the way home we figured out what had happened.  Cosco and many chain stores had taken up resideence outside of the little town. In itself it looked like a small town and there were no people on the village streets of Plain City.

Nevertheless, I think the Amish will win in the end.  Today I bought several soup starters.  They had ventured into that a long time ago, but put foot to the metal and geared up for big doings in the soup starter realm.  I always enhance these starters and to tell the truth it feels like cheating, but I've had no complaints, so... I also love their baby beets which are pickled.  I like their sweet baby corn and hot sweet relish, which I stocked up on today.  I bought a lot of Amish cheese, pepper bacon, and cold cuts.  We are expecting company soon, so I am getting ready.

Note:  The cream of potato soup was a big hit.  I did, however, enhance it with scraps of crispy pepper bacon, let over pancetta and left over fried potatoes. Also, broccoli and cauliflower were added.  This is a soup base after all and you can add what pleases your family. With 3/4 cup of the soup base, this made three meals for three people. With a salad, that was all one needed for lunch and or dinner.

Amish soup starters.

Pie crusts

I have never captured the art of pie crust making.  My Aunt Fausta was the best and I had lessons from her, but the talent did not rub off.  When one learns, it is so easy to whip together a pie, but if you have to rely on Pillsbury or Trader Joe's ready made pie crust the fate of the pie is sealed. Of course, I may be in a prolonged slump when it comes to baking, but I have tried both named ready made crusts and find them lacking.  The first one and the most popular has a funny taste and if the pie lasts to the next day that taste increases.  I like almost everything I've tried at Trader Joe's but he needs more practice in the pie crust realm.  The crust is already split into pieces as you unroll it.  You spend a lot of time piecing it together.  The taste is pretty good, but the results are not pretty to see. We love pie here at Many Branches but have it seldom unless the pie queens from Cincinnati bless us with their makings.

I am a new woman.  Erik and his crew have cast out all of the dead leaves from the property.  It is a clean slate and now I am happy to look out the window at the neatness.  Every spring we have a list of to-do(s) but having the right people to do it is a good thing, as Martha would say.  Next, all the white wood such as the pergola, the bay window area, the 2 sheds and the window boxes as well as the stairs to the apartment will be painted. We are going to be pretty.  The driveway is to be recapped or whatever you call it too.  The pool is to be opened the third week of March in time for it to be cleaned for Easter.  No one will swim, but it looks pretty. Power washing the tennis court and the outdoor furniture is high on the list.  I actually bought Martha Stewart's power washer which she was working on QVS or one of those shows.  It is electric and one that does not weigh a whole lot.  I figure I can do some of that power washing myself once I get it hooked up.  I'll let you know if that was a good purchase.

Well, good luck with the spring cleaning.  I am so glad to be able to say that after the winter we have had in Ohio.  Boo hiss.

I have rewatched a couple of Netflix series you might like: The Fall and Marcella. Also, I have given John Grisham another chance and am reading Gray Mountain. He used to be my favorite author, now, not so much. I do like Gray Mountain so far.

Screaming...never cooking again

I have hung up my apron and am never cooking again.  The sugar ants are back, and they have brought reinforcements this time.  It's February, granted the last two days have been in the 70s, but give a girl a break. I spent hundreds of dollars getting rid of the beasts and have been free of them for a couple of years.  But, as soon as the pest control contract ran out, they put on their helmets and attacked.  That is bad enough but I baked a luscious orange cake and NORDIC WON'T LET IT RELEASE FROM THE PAN. I have found the cake slides out beautifully the first time it is used but then no matter how much you grease the #$@@$%^& pan, it won't release after the first use....and I have several of them.
Whoever said cooking is relaxing is full of it. Their life must be hell in the first place to find a morning like this relaxing.  I have beer onion garlic bread in the oven right now and I am afraid to open the oven door to see what is going on in there.  It can't be good.  I am not happy this morning!  It is 11:00 and I am still in my night clothes.  This must be the slid into old age everyone warns about.

About that onion bread recipe from Cook's corner on Wednesday.  I won't be making that again either.

Warning, don't buy fancy Nordic designed cake pans.  If you see things are going wrong in the kitchen, don't make another dish. RUN.