Chili

The gang is gathering sans a few people off on their own.  Last night Beth and Alyssa baked cookies and Heather, a friend, and I drank Prosecco and watched. Well, to tell the truth four of us, Andy only had one glass, polished off four bottles.   We also made those delightful brie/cranberry bites and we ate them all.  Beth had a beautiful charcuterie platter and we made a big dent in that too. Oink oink.

Today I have a big pot of chili going because I have no idea who will be hungry.  Alyssa and her maid of honor, Taylor, are doing their thing, Beth is off doing her thing, Carly and Brooks are due to arrive any minute, so the food is bound to be eaten.

Last night Heather brought me a large box of See's candies.  Andy's boss used to give us this treat every Christmas and I must say I have not had See's since then until last night.  I have it out for public consumption, but, I hope no one eats any.  It will take me a while, but I can polish off this delight during the new year, which I am looking forward to.  I will be glad to put 2018 behind me. (Maybe I should hide the See's, Brooks has a big appetite and since he is about to be deployed for nine months he is stocking up on goodies.)  I pray the President brings our troops home from that hell hole too.

David and Johnna sent me a day spa certificate for Woodhouse Spas, Beth and I were there once. It is very nice, but it will take maybe 12 people to work on my body; there are several areas of need. I fear the ticket will run out before all my needs are soothed.

Two more days and it will be over and the next day people will carry back to the store and exchange items for what they really want.  lol  Have a good time.

Three of our guys we won't be seeing Christmas Day. (They are probably not having a good time. lol)

Brie/cranberry sauce bites

English roasted potatoes

On my many antiquing trips to England, the dish I enjoyed most was their roasted potatoes although the jacket potato I had at the Birmingham flea market is memorable as well. Let me wax poetic for a minute over the jacket potato: first, it was the biggest potato I have ever eaten standing up.  (The dealers don't want you to sit down they want you on foot and buying and I was happy to accommodate them but I needed fuel.) One had a wide choice of toppings, so I opted for most of them, excluding beans, I couldn't quite factor beans into it.  The potato was fluffy and generous and hot and buttery with a crispy skin that went down rather well too.  The next potato that I enjoyed was always on a trip out of town to Arundel where the little village sported many antique shops and the handsome Spencer.  Many women went to the village just to gaze upon Spencer as well as his antiques which were an after-thought. The Tudor Rose was a restaurant that sported the hottest food I have ever eaten.  The plate of food came hot and stayed so hot it was nearly impossible to eat. The potatoes were roasted to perfection. They were crisp on the outside and creamy tender on the inside.  I could have dined just on a plate of roasted potatoes.  If you go to Arundel and to the Tudor Rose don't get the roast beef.  Everything else is very good.

Today the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, had Mary Poppins on to cook with her.  Being English (Emily Blunt)  presented a very nice rendition of the English roasted potato.  It is not hard and they turned out perfectly.  The secret is to parboil the potatoes for around 10 minutes first, then dry them on a rack until all water is gone and then roast them in the oven with plenty of oil, salt and pepper.  I have a nice fry up in my oven right now: iron skillet with butter, sliced onions, mushrooms, and on top parboiled potatoes and I hear the timer, so I am off.  If it looks pretty I will take a shot for you.

Induction voodoo

Andy and I are intrigued by the cooking videos that show the magic of induction cooking.  We are not big on exchanging gifts at any time because we simply buy what we want when the time is right, but, this magic is special and I want to try it and he wants me to try it.  I did my homework but still do not understand the magic of magnetism and the workings that produces this wireless, plugless mechanism.  I ordered the best seller which was $50. on Amazon. But, they go up to $500. It takes special pots and skillets and they come in a set, so I got that too.  The Christmas sales are practically giveaways, so the entire package was not very expensive. Now I won't be making cooking videos but I will let you know how this works out.

DUXTOP 1800-Watt Portable Induction Cooktop Countertop Burner 8100MC, gold

Pizza dough

Trader Joe's has another good product, fresh pizza dough ready for any toppings or uses.  I have ham and cheese swirls in the oven right now using this product which I have used before in pizza form.  To get it out of the bag easily, just turn it wrong side out and there you go.  It is so easy to work with and it comes with or without herbs.  I bought the without this time because I have a great supply of herbs which I sprinkled on the buttered pan before putting in the swirls.

Each time I go into Trader Joe's I try to buy a product that I have not used before and I am rarely disappointed. 

Note: There are over 500 old posts to the right of today's post.  I like to find the post that is close to today to see what we were doing way back when.  I found one of the ones in December where we are preparing to go to the beach house. There are good ideas and recipes there, so check it out when you have time.

The quiet before the storm

Merry Christmas

Andy and I are all set for the festivities.  Mike left for Colorado today for eight days to ski with Nate and Adam.  The house is clean and decorated and the first guest arrives the 22nd.  I think cookie baking is in order pretty shortly after that.  The next day Brooks and Carly arrive, that's the 23rd.  The twenty-fourth evening we go to church and then out to eat at Spagos (sp?) The 25th we have a large Christmas luncheon and then in the afternoon the guests scatter and go.  Brooks is deployed early in January for nine months so prayers will be welcomed.

Life changes so fast any more. It is difficult to keep up.  But the activities keep one young and active.

Winston is healing nicely and is off all medication.  He did not seem to mind going off all four pain killers and did not get the shakes or have any reaction at all.  He's a tough dog.  The only thing it did was increase his appetite.  He is skinny so he can handle the extra calories.

David has a new dog, Leo.  He lost his dog several months ago and finally got over it and found the puppy, Leo.  He is spoiling him as he did his other dogs. If you are a dog you would want to belong to David.

Andy has selected his classes at OSU for the next term.  He does love to learn. You would have to beat me with a big stick to do what he does at Ohio State.  He feels right at home there after all he did teach there a long time ago.

2019 is wedding year for us.  Good news about engagement just keeps on keeping on. Andy and I will also celebrate 60 years of marriage in April.

Have a lovely Christmas and may 2019 be exactly right for you.

Madeleine At the Franklin Conservatory

Cookies

It was a Christmas tradition of mine to make hundreds of cookies, usually with my nieces Nancy and Linda.  I would take a platter for each teacher to the school on Sunday afternoon and place one on each teacher's desk to greet them on Monday morning.  I would make big platters as Christmas gifts for the relatives until one of them said "Oh, just what we need, sigh." and then that was the end of that! I have not baked large amounts of cookies for years or even small amounts.  But for some reason yesterday I hankered for those dessert cookies; the recipe was published by the Dispatch in November.  I had submitted it three years ago, and for some reason, it popped up this year reminding me how good they are. So I doubled the recipe yesterday and it filled three tins, one of which disappeared last night.  They are better the next day, but still yummy right away. They are not beauties but simple cake-like cookies that everyone smacks their lips in delight when they taste them.

I had the kitchen in disarray like you would not believe and both dishwashers were full and running steadily.  All the counters were full and I just did not remember that cookies sound simple, but if you don't have someone else in the kitchen to take up some slack, not so simple. (The three dogs were NO help.) Nor was the husband.

The cookie recipe, dessert cookies, was in a little hand done recipe booklet that came to me from Lavonn Rogers someone  who antiqued with me sometimes.  Every recipe that I tried in that rag-tag booklet turned out to be delicious.  It is as though only the tried and true recipes made it into this little, now valuable, addition to my recipe drawers.

Alyssa and Beth are baking cookies Saturday.  I will try to get them to try some of the recipes from this booklet so that they too can pass on some of these gems.  As for me, I've done my cookies for the year (now that the kitchen is back in order) and now I am going to hide the rest of these treats on the sun porch where they will be cool and safe.

Happy baking...if that is what makes you happy.

See.  Rag-tag but good

Just now · 

Trader Joe's run

Beth and I just got back from a Trader Joe's run.  That place is hopping but we found everything we wanted. I had Beth choose five bottles of wine for herself, hoping she could get the centerpiece done before she popped the cork.  lol (Not really) The wine is part of her Christmas present.  We found so many good things at Trader's, some I had tried before and liked. Their flowers were so fresh, we kind of lost it and bought a bunch but they fit beautifully in the cut glass bowl.  I'll take a picture of the finished table tomorrow, it's dark now at 5:00 if you can believe it.  What is this, Alaska?

Prime rib

This is our meal of choice when there is a special occasion in the Lechler house.  No longer is it the every Sunday roast back when people could afford a good cut of meat on a weekly basis. So we do not take it for granted.  I have been watching a lot of Food Network cooking shows this season--not the games and challenges, but the one- cook showing us something new and different.  I even have a new potato recipe since my make-ahead cream cheese mashed potatoes looked like glue for Thanksgiving. I am not having a buffet this time: the roast, the potatoes, a vegetable, and a salad. I guess dessert, but I'm not enthused about that at this point.  Then, poof, everyone scatters later on Christmas Day and I can put my feet up and relax. I can think about how nice it was to see the New Orleans gang and wonder what my scattered family is doing--bet they are not eating beef!

It's an expensive meal when you are serving this baby.

Humbug to crisps

I've made my last fruit crisp.  No one eats fruit crisps in this family and I am not wasting anymore cooking time over the subject. Many people in this family have a sweet tooth, but not for crisps of any kind.  So, the end.

The dish that drew the crown yesterday was the mushroom rice. Even though one member would not touch a mushroom with a ten-foot pole, The mushroom rice dish is gone! And now frittatas are hot around here.  They are always popular with Brooks and Alyssa, but now without their presence, the frittatas disappear as well.

I am struggling through Lee Child's newest book--maybe Reacher should go away.  I am also mad that I bought Patterson's new book even though he supposedly wrote it himself, I am still skeptical. (I don't like Patterson's books that he writes with other authors.)  I can usually tell when he writes and then stops and someone else takes over, or at least I tell myself that as I lay down the book for good without finishing it.

Once in England, The Gilberts and I were on an antiquing outing in the countryside.  As June would put it, we were feeling peckish, so we stopped for a bite at Little Chef.  This was probably twenty years ago and I still remember what I had but not what it was called and I am still trying to make this wonderful treat.  It was the size of a pancake dripping with butter and toasty.   Not a crumpet, and June said it was a toastie just yesterday. It was more like toast only round, lightly toasted in color and soft and the size of a pancake.  I have been on Little Chef's site and have written to them.  I doubt they will write back, but hey, give it a go. I don't know what it is about things that I ate in England.  I remember them so well but rarely know how to duplicate them---example, Biscuit Cake. A cake with cookies baked into the batter.  The Queen's favorite cake.  I had it once at an antique show in London and have been trying to make it since.  Sigh. To no avail.

Santa is packing the sleigh, I hope he has something nice for all of you.

Nate's travels

Many of you know my grandson, Nate, who travels the world three months out of the year.  He returned a day ago from California to pick up his backpack and he starts his journey today, heading to ski and visit with his brother in Colorado.  Then it is on to Hawaii (surprised he is going back there after the incoming missile scare last year) where he is meeting a girl from Australia whom he has traveled with before. That is as far ahead as he thinks on these adventures, but he takes fabulous pictures so you might check out his Facebook website in a couple of weeks to follow his travels.

So many tasty treats to choose from today but it is the mushroom rice dish that gets attention today.  Andy fears mushroom so he won't be eating that, but he did dive into the breakfast frittata that I made today (so did Beth and Nate.) So that's gone now.  I have to arrange the fridge soon because company's coming and I have to be organized.  Right now it looks like a jumble sale site.

Yesterday, December 14th  it was 58 degrees and sunny so Andy and the dogs had a sit out taking in the warm rays. Hoping for more before winter really sets in.


Nate and Eva

Cranberry and pear crisp

Andy and I got a nice box from Harry and David sent to us by Danny and Nancy. We had just finished off a Harry and David box of pears and discovered then that in two days they would all be ripe at once.  Soooo, when the new box arrived I had to come up with a recipe using pears.  I had some orange and cranberry sauce in the fridge that I had just made so I decided to combine the two for a crisp.  I had also just made my granola that Andy and Brooks and Johnna like, so I used some of that for the topping.  It turned out rather nice if you like crisp.

Then I noticed some very large potatoes that needed using and I saw in the fridge the almost empty bag of cheese shards, three different kinds in one bag, that I bought at Sam's.  If you haven't bought that handy, delicious pack, you are missing out.  I am using it on nearly everything that calls for cheese. Any way, I made scalloped potatoes with pancetta and green onions topped with the 3 cheese shards and that too turned out rather pretty and delicious. If you make it, your taste buds will shift with the three blend shards of cheese; wham there's the Asiago. Yum, there's the nutty Parmesan. And, ahhh, yes, the Romano...smooth
 You will taste them all.

I hate it when everyone is on a diet, especially during the holidays.  So I just cook it, eat some, give the rest away.  I am not going to cook around diets.