Goody, it's beef stew season

Sam's had the nicest chuck roasts last Wednesday.  I froze them because I was knee deep in fish at the time.  I had a craving for beef stew and got the meat ready last night so that I could bring it to room temperature for the slow cooker.
The herbs are still flourishing and I piled them in with the chuck roasts. I covered both pieces with Lipton's onion dry soup mix, a dry Ranch dressing packet, a few strips of pepper bacon, some red wine (just in the bottom of the cooker because the meat makes the liquid.) However, throughout the hours of slow cooking, I kept adding red wine. I squeezed in some tomato paste for flavor although I like the rich dark brown gravy better than a tomato based stew. So I was careful not to squeeze the tube too much. The meat turned out to be so tender it could not be sliced.  It just melted beautifully.  An hour before the end of the cycle I put in carrots, onions, potatoes and at the last minute frozen peas.  You all know how to make beef stew, it is just comforting to relate its process.

I cannot believe this beautiful weather we are having in October.  It feels like summer.  Bella, our Yorkie, hurt her leg and hip twirling early yesterday morning.  So she has been out baking her body in the last of the summer sunshine. I hate it when my dogs get hurt.  By the way, have you watched Dr. Jeff Rocky Mountain Vet?  I think it is on Animal Planet.  He is so wonderful and a real blessing to those who have little or no money but a strong love of their pets. (He is also battling cancer himself yet he works on.) It's a new season this week and I watched all of his shows last season.  He has 100,000 pet patients and a staff of thirty nurses, doctors, office help, and technicians.  It is such an interesting show.  I agree with him; these people running puppy mills breeding dogs literally to death should be in jail. When they can no longer produce they kill them or call a rescue crew to pick them up, even giving the rescuers a time limit to get them or they shoot the dogs. When they are picked up they are already half dead and in deplorable condition. These dogs have never been out of a cage. I'd say there ought to be a law, but Congress can't get anything done as it is, so why even dream of that.  Well, that's a downer.

Enjoy your October.  It's a slow easy fall here at Many Branches.

Backfire

I had a nice long post here yesterday, but I then tried to get a so-called free fall picture on and it ruined the entire post.  That's life. I had a coconut craving episode yesterday and a food processor that has a tricky lid.  I had to call Nate to get the lid off and rescue the batter, luckily he was home due to the rain.  You know me when  it is a gentle all day rain, I am in the kitchen.  Beth came home and hauled out the mega Kitchen Aid and I am leaving it out from now until after the holidays.  Andy and I are enjoying the peace and quiet of October.  I was so content this morning I slept until 8:00 shocking the dogs and worrying the guys who like me to do their breakfast. Breakfast, however, is my least favorite meal to prepare although now that frittatas have come into my life breakfast and brunch got a lot easier. (I also forgot that Monica was coming to clean today, so she caught me in my night clothes.)

The fish chowder that I made yesterday is nearly gone.  It was a tasty treat that people kept going back to.  It was a good vehicle for the parmesan croutons that I made the day before.

The outdoors is looking messy with the wet leaves and the sad outdoor furniture destined to be put away for the winter months.  It makes me sad.  Andy is happy, however, that I had a man haul away ten outdoor umbrellas, a big grill, and Beth's garage holdings. I waved good-bye with joy.  There was even a GREEN umbrella and I have NO idea where that came from. We do have people getting into our cars at night looking for change etc. (But I am sure they did not bring that in to exchange for what they stole.)  They especially like Beth's sun glasses and make up.  They are very careful not to break anything but stealing is stealing, so when George and Pam come the day before Thanksgiving to help, George is putting up outdoor cameras.  I want to see the @#$%$#  who is taking our hard earned merchandise and money.  They are fair weather stealers; we have no trouble with that in the winter.

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Purposeful Pot

It is Wednesday and Cook's Corner is here and leading me astray.  I don't know about you, you are probably more disciplined than I, but there is an interesting pot out there that I do not own.  It is a multicooker called Instant Pot which I hope to find on Amazon. It is a slow cooker or a pressure cooker.  It pleases cooks of every temperament.  If you are organized and have the entire day to slow cook, there you go.  If you are in a hurry you can pressure cook and have a meal on the table in 30 minutes or less. I confess I have never owned a pressure cooker.  When I was a child every time mother put the pressure cooker on we all ran.  It jiggled and shook tooted and steamed. It was a menace to anyone in the kitchen.  Mother loved it, but it did explode now and then. There is even a cookbook out now with Instant Pot recipes.  I have a large kitchen with several pantries and I am not sure I can find a place for this new pot, but the author says she keeps hers out all the time and never even unplugs it.  Got to have one. I will search the Internet to see what else I can find out about this multicooker. 

I have the information now so I will sleep on this before I leap.  But, that has not stopped me in the kitchen today.  I have made luscious croutons from two large French loaves from Sam's.  They are buttery, crisp and coated with parmesan. The stew pot is burbling away with homemade stock, potatoes, carrots, onions and a packet of dry Ranch dressing.  It will be ready for the salmon and tilapia and fresh herbs before long.  The croutons will be delicious with this treat.

Nate is busy planning his wanderlust tour.  Last year he was gone 3 1/2 months visiting his brother in Colorado coming and going, Hawaii twice, Australia, and New Zealand. We always miss his smiling face, but a guy has to do what a guy has to do.

Remember when the back of the Bisquick box had something called Impossible Pie?  The Not so Humble Pie blog brought it up today and I copied the recipe from her blog because it is no longer on the back of the box.  I always keep Bisquick in my pantry and I have even been known to feed it to the French when I traveled there and had guests for dinner.

I also have an oven full of butternut squash.  Sara Moulton says not to peel it or seed it, just cut it in half and bake it in its own skin then scoop out the soft deliciousness.  It is MUCH easier that way.  I did two on one tray for 60 minutes and it was a perfect success. Now only a dozen more to go.  Thanksgiving, here we come.

Thoughts of Thanksgiving

It's coming....

Oh yes, it is on its way, that thing called November when I turn 80 and travel to New Orleans with my best girls and meet up with the rest of my best ladies for a four-day fiesta. There will be around 15 of us, some at all the events and some others at particular parties.  But, looming on the horizon will be a glorious Thanksgiving.  I am hoping the best ever.  Because at eighty, one never knows how many more there will be. This turkey picture that I found on an interesting blog called Not SO Humble Pie inspired me to get to thinking about Thanksgiving.  But, I will leave you now for a trip to Sam's.  Andy has class today, and every day actually, and we are down to one car, so I will be back in a couple of hours with thoughts of November and all that it holds.

Back again from a successful trip to Sam's.

We nearly always have a large rib roast as well as the turkey.  I have always wanted to try Yorkshire pudding with the roast, but there is always a kitchen full of people and it is kind of a last minute thing and I just have not gotten around to treating the family to this scrumptious delight.Maybe this year with this recipe:

Yorkshire pudding

6 tablespoons pan drippings from roasting pan
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp each of chopped parsley, chives,and rosemary; 2 teaspoons of chopped sage and 2 of thyme
Mix and blend all but drippings. and then let set at room temperature for 30 minutes
stir again
preheat oven to 450
Take standard sized cupcake or muffin tins should make 16 puddings.  Put the muffin tins in the oven for 10 minutes until they are screaming hot; remove from oven and quickly put in 1 teaspoon of drippings into each cup.  Get them back in the oven for around 8 minutes until the drippings are screaming too. Take out of oven and put 2 generous tablespoons of pudding mix on top of the hot drippings and bake about 12 minutes they will puff but then fall once they are out in the open. SERVE HOT.  That's the tricky part!  Is it worth it???

Ribs and such

For some reason, I like the Pioneer Woman's recipes.  I saw this picture and recipe this morning and I knew I wanted to make this today or tomorrow. I have a problem with ribs, so I am reading up on different, easy, ways to make this work.  She puts the ribs in a crock pot with onions and seasonings and cooks them on low for 8 hours, pours off the liquid they have caused and THEN adds the sauce.  It stays with the ribs while they cook a bit longer. Use any kind of sauce you like, of course, she makes her own simple sauce.  I have been trying different recipes for sauce and I like one.  I also like some of the bottled kind that you buy.  We now have a street outdoor rib guy who does ribs all day long on Morse Rd.  Sometime I will try his, but for now, I will be using PW's way.

We have been treated to the official wedding pictures from Matt and Stacy's wedding.  They are on my facebook.  Also, I do not use AOL anymore so my new one is dorislechler77@gmail.com.  It's not really new, I just have been lazy about changing it here because so much spam comes along with the change and it has been nice not to have it for awhile.

In my surfing, I also ran on to a site called Cooking Habit.  She had a couple of recipes I want to try.

Italian beef/olives
Keep this in the refrigerator for two or more days before serving.  It will have an enhanced flavor.
2 1/2 pounds of cubed chuck roast
olive oil
1/2 cup green olives
2 ounce can anchovies, drained
1/2 cup chopped onions
zest of one orange and one lemon
1 tsp. tom. paste
oregano
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 beef broth
Place cubed beef in crock pot.  Place the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend.  Pour this sauce over the beef.  Cook 10 hours.  Place in fridge for 2 or more days before serving.  Serve over parmesan noodles, rice or any other pasta after you have reheated it on low for 4 hours in the crockpot.

Since we entertain so much, this sounds like it will work for me.

Avocado toast~

870 × 603 - californiaavocado.com

Cook's Corner came today and was startling.  Now that the food editor is gone, they are using food sections from different city's newspapers.  I guess this is cheaper than hiring an editor.  Anyway, Time magazine reported that Americans spend $900,000 a MONTH on avocado toast. Now, this seems like a misprint.  Some spend $19. a pop on a slice of toast with the avocado mixture on top. Who fools away money like that?

Here's the recipe:
1 ripe avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices country-style wheat bread toasted
Using a fork mash the avocado in a bowl.  Add the lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Divide between the two pieces of toast.  REALLY???? That's it???

Oh, you can add the following cooked egg, crisp bacon, tomato, basil, salsa, smoked salmon etc.  See it isn't really a recipe at all.  It is a throw together.

chicken salad

The super market's rotisserie chicken makes life a lot easier.  It is also delicious so why fight it?  Once the meat is off the carcass, I throw it in the stew pot with lots of fresh herbs and let it simmer away to goodness.  Back to the chicken: I made a delicious chicken salad with the succulent chicken and every kind of raw vegetable from my refrigerator.  It is topped off with Chuy's dressing.  I am sure I have given you the recipe from the chain of restaurants called Chuy's.  I keep a batch ready in the fridge to put on salads, to use in Mac & cheese, to use for dips; it's an endless source of tasty pleasure. I found the copycat recipe online and it tastes the same when I make it.  I must confess I have started adding things to it because I cannot leave well enough alone. So let yourself go and enjoy.

Well, it has been ninety and over for several days in a row.  Most unusual for September.  The schools shut down at noon on Monday due to the heat.  The sissies.  I remember have over thirty students in a classroom, the room registering 110 degrees, and we did not shut down.  I have never taught in air conditioning in my life except when I had the reading van. I can still feel those hot days and the extent we went to in order to teach in those conditions.

The falling leaves are taking over as they do here at Many Branches every year.  The pool will close soon when it cools off, probably late October.  The later you cover and the earlier you uncover you will find your pool less dirty in the spring when it is opened.

All is quiet here.

All quiet on the home front

Today marked the first quiet day we have had in some time.  All the guests, known and unknown, have departed and we are in our slumming clothes and doing as we please.  The rest of September should be like this.  October will not be too busy, but look out November.

I sent a few squash home with Joe and Glenda and then made some butternut squash with brown sugar and butter.  It is tasty.
I continue to cook from what is on the property to clean out the refrigerator, some of the freezers and the pantries.  We have some good stuff in there.  While Glenda and Joe were here I cooked a lot and one of the things I made which was pretty good to welcome fall was Cincinnati chili. They had brought a couple of Grater's coffee cakes.  The pecan was delicious.  I had made ham and bean soup and sent the rest home with them.  Matt came over with Madeleine Friday night so we had steaks. (Well, she didn't but the adults did.) I have been making lots of simple salads and I am craving them for some reason.

I have met a new author introduced to me by Nancy, my niece.  I will let you know if he is a keeper.  He has done five books so far and I am on the first.

With the left over chili, I will turn it into shepherd's pie and top it with mac&cheese instead of potatoes as presented by The English Kitchen.

Dog's spa day

Hello from Many Branches.  Have a happy Fall.



Every September Dr. Nicole hosts the three Lechler dogs for the day: bath, shots, exams, and treatment for any other problems she sees during her intense exam. The dogs quiver and shake but she is so caring and gentle they start to feel at home then, look out. Before you know it they are running the place, or so they think.  They felt very sleek as they climbed the scales each having lost a pound due to their daily runs to the far corners of our acreage. Posy is twelve and Winston is eleven but they are moving very well.  

Joe and Glenda arrive Thursday to stay until Monday.  There will be cards involved (and drinks).

November plans: Our ladies trip to New Orleans is moving right along.  We have reservations and plans that sound like a really good time.  Mixing the Ohio Lechlers with the Battencourt New Orleans relatives and the Florida ladies has to be a good formula. The husbands want to go, but no, not this time. We will all be there on Friday at the Clabourn Mansion.  We will have dinner and then after 9:00 we will go to the Rock and Bowl.  There is a live band and bowling and I guess food, but we never eat there.  Drinks, of course, and it is loud!  Love it. Dancing, yea.  Saturday everyone is meeting at The Broken Egg where I am having shrimp and grits for breakfast.  I still remember that dish from the last time I was there. Yum.  Then we will visit Miss Muffet, a store with wonderful items.  There is high tea at Windsor Court with champagne and finger sandwiches and sweets.  Very elegant.  A big late dinner at some really good restaurant.  I am not sure what is up for Sunday but fun will be afoot.  We leave Monday for home. Then it is time to plan for Thanksgiving.  Love it all.

It is so quiet here with the dogs gone.  Andy and I feel ourselves whispering.  He is off to class at 11:00 and I will have the place totally to myself for a few hours.  What to do?  What to do?

Whole Foods

                            

Mike, Beth, and I went to Whole Foods to see if, indeed, the prices were slashed by 43%.  I admit some were, but others, no.  I only spent $27. but I got good buys for what I had.  I put back the brioche cream cheese coffee cake that was $8. (small one) It is usually around $5. in other stores.  I like them, but not enough to pay that.  I got some really great plums and other fruit, but the store was messy.  There were a lot of customers that Sunday evening, but the counters were sloppy, the ready food had several empty pans and the restocking was slow.  Mike got two shopping bags of vegetables for his healthy drinks and the beets that he bought were large and delicious.  That's about all the interesting vegetables, however.  Things just looked wilted.  I realize Amazon had only been in charge a couple of days, but the employees know how things are supposed to look and taste, so there are not many excuses that I could come up with even though I wanted to shop there more and more.  Now I don't. I remember going to Whole Foods the day it opened and the glorious displays and good prices caused me to go back many times until I ran onto my favorite danish that I usually paid 89 cents for one, turned into, over night, $1.89.  Everything went sky high and then the lovely French style bakery slumped into nothings and it is was down hill all the way.

We filled the window boxes yesterday with fall flowers, rusts and yellows and spikes of red.  They look nice although I am not a fan of fall flowers.

I've decided to cook only from the freezers, refrigerator and pantries until some of my stock is depleted.  I keep buying even when I am not going to use it right away.  I see it, I imagine it in a dish and I can't resist; now I must.

Joe and Glenda will be here for four days in a week or so, so they can help eat up some of these goodies.

Safe and sound

It has been quite a couple of months and I am relieved to say we have survived.  I am not in a hurry to repeat it that's for sure.  Things have slowed down even though there are many birthdays this month.  Lucky everyone has had their fill of parties for awhile.

Yet, football season is upon us but I don't have to attend the games.  Joe and Glenda are coming up for a few days and Joe and Andy will go to the game.  This week end Matt and Andy are going to the band show and the game.

My refrigerator is so full I can barely close the door.  I have to stop cooking yet the bounty from the garden draws me to the kitchen.  I am still tossing spaghetti squash on the driveway to split it and am also making butternut squash for Stacy to grind for Madeleine's considerable appetite.  She's an all healthy diet baby and thriving on the garden's gifts. Matt and Stacy are back home and settled down after their glorious wedding and cruise.  I don't know if I would like a cruise now days.  They were on the new Breakaway from Norwegian with four thousand guests. Matt said they had to pay extra all during the seven days--I think it was $28. each per day for room tipping and while you once could go to the front desk and tell them you would take care of your own tipping, it is now mandatory.  That was a big surprise.  Now more often than not the restaurants are not covered.  The general cafeteria is still included in the cost of the cruise, but most of the restaurants are not.  I don't like to be nicked all of the time on a trip.

Well Andy is back from class, so we are off to get those darn mums (can't stand them) for the window boxes.