Sous-chef....

..... and how I need one!  I have been cooking and then cleaning, then cooking again and I am exhausted from it all.  There is never enough counter space.  I make a dish and then have to stop and clean in order to have more space for the next dish. How did I make Thanksgiving dinner?  Oh yeah. I didn't; my mom and I did.

My mom is known in our family as the cleaning tornado.  She cleans all the time.  Any mess she comes upon is vanquished in seconds.  We were always amazed as kids at how we had a clean home and so many of our friends did not.  I remember one friend, I went over to her house and was astounded...every horizontal surface was piled high with whatever!  There was not one surface that was not 2 feet high with clothes, bags, mail or whatever.  And the kitchen was unbelievable.  A week's worth of dishes lay every where; sink, counters, even hidden in the oven!  This was not the only friend who had a dirty house.  It was common.  My mom was the unusual one.  Keeping a



house neat and clean was what she grew up with and was taught by her grandmother.  That gene skipped a generation.......





I try, but I am not up to the caliber my mom is.  But when she comes up and we cook a meal, we are a good team.  She keeps me focused and cleans up

As I bare my soul to all......a dirty kitchen.

PS.  This did get cleaned up....with help.

Keeping Warm

Well, winter has finally descended upon us and that means cold days and frigid nights.  Since we have barn animals that means even more to us since we have to give our livestock enough food to keep them warm.  Good old straw plays a huge role in this as well.

Kent goes out at night and finds that one chicken who was not smart enough to get back to the coop before dark (chickens can't see in the dark and so they don't move at all which makes them easy pickings for a coyote).  He scoops up said chicken, tucks her under his arm, and returns her to the coop, even going so far as to place her on the roost under the heat lamp.  Yes, our chickens have heat lamps; having their combs get frostbit is heart breaking.

Keeping ourselves warm means wearing layers.  We always have on a sweater or hoodie in the house.  And I always feel warmer when I knit, so I always have a queue of projects to work on.

I also believe that making hearty comfort food keeps you warm.  Soups definitely fit the bill as do thick rich pasta dishes.  But this week we had a set-back; my oven went out!  The stove top works but the igniter on the oven went out.  How to cook and keep warm???

Well, since the stove top works it is soups to the rescue....I am trying out a new one Saturday night. We have some friends coming over so they get to be Guinea pigs. And my husband is always on stand-by as the tester.  So, I am making Corn Chowder with Bacon and Sweet Potatoes.  I found the start of this recipe in this over sized cook book that I got I don't even know how far back;  I know it was before we moved (4 yrs. ago).  This is just one of a set.  They are heavy and huge and very hard to manipulate. That is a sixteen ounce cup in front of it in the picture, just to give you an idea of the size.

So I was looking through this book a couple of weeks ago and I found this soup! I did make one change in that I am leaving out the chicken, adding in bacon and a bit more cheese.  So this is my attempt at a new soup for a new year.

 
My Corn, Bacon and Sweet Potato Soup
The original recipe was a first place winner and she had a nifty trick to really make it wonderful.  

3 C. of whole milk
1 c yellow corn muffin mix (Jiffy)
2 T. butter
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano
2 qts of chicken broth
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed in 1/2 inch pieces
1 c shredded cheese, plus a cup to be served with the soup
3 c of frozen corn
1/2 c flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 lb of thick cut bacon

Mix the milk and corn muffin mix up and set aside for now.
Melt the butter and cook the onion till tender, about 5-8 minutes.  Add the garlic, cumin and oregano, saute for a 2 minutes.  Add chicken broth and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil then turn heat down to low and let this simmer till the potatoes are fork tender, about 8 minutes.
Stir in the milk mixture and simmer another 10 minutes.  Add the corn and cheese and simmer till the cheese is melted.

While the soup is cooking, dice up the bacon and pan fry till crisp.  Drain and then just before the soup is ready to serve, toss the bacon on top.  Serve the soup with additional cheese to sprinkle on top, sour cream would also be good on this.

Variation- you could add a white potato to the soup as well.  For a twist on this, chop up a jalapeno and saute with the onions.  Add more heat with red pepper flakes.  And no, I cannot let a recipe alone....well not all the time.

Christmas Day...

'Tis the day...the day many wait for all year along.  I would be in that group.  I plan for this day starting way back in January.  I start thinking about what to serve, to buy and to do.  I want to create those memories that are reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell picture.  I fall short, a lot, but I figure that falling short is better that not aiming at all; and most of our Christmases have happy, warm memories.  We have had great ones and good ones; never a bad one.  I have tried to make them meaningful for our kids as well as for my husband and myself.  The number one aim has been family time.  That was far easier when our children were youngsters.  Now they are adult children still living at home and the rules are changing.  Finding the balance between independence and wanting to be at home gets a little tricky.  It helps that nothing is open on Christmas, for which I am thankful.

We have brought the intensity of Christmas down over the years.  We now do a secret Santa; we all draw names and buy something for that person only.  Secret Santa also adds an element of sneakiness, hush-hush, and subterfuge.  Kent always tries to guess who-has-who, as does Ethan.  I am just glad that I can pull it off and not spill it to someone, like where I had been shopping, or why was I at Backwoods?  We put a monetary limit on gifts, and hand out lists with at least three items.  All the items have to be reasonable, so no 2014 Mustangs allowed, even if it looks cute on the list.  We stress that the gift need to be well thought out; no gift cards.  Sometimes this can be a struggle.

This year I drew my 20 year old daughter, Emily, who had just bought a bunch of stuff from William Sonoma, where she got a 40% discount.  So I have a new candy apple red Kitchenaid mixer on my counter (looks so pretty and I am so jealous) and several other items.  To top it off, she had no idea of what she might want or like and so was no help.  I was way out of my league... My other daughter, Clare, and I were out shopping on Christmas Eve and I had very little time to make this happen and somehow I wasn't to let Clare in on it.  Obviously, that was not going to work.  So I did what any savvy smart mom would do - I spilled to Clare and asked for her help.  It worked.
We found Emily a gorgeous soft brown knit dress, and she liked it!  Score!!!!!

Now, that is how we roll at our house.  Kent had figured out that Clare had me, (also Clare and I were so tired and she still had her secret Santa to buy for, which was me so I picked out my gifts, she wrapped them and I over acted surprised, we had a blast).  So we unwrapped gifts, made Swedish pancakes, bacon and hot apple cider.  We watched a movie after breakfast (which was around 11:00) and then took naps, yea!  And then we knitted, watched more movies and just hung out.

Christmas dinner is in the oven, Brown sugar crusted ham, cheesy potatoes, and a spinach salad with mixed berries. 

It was a very good day.

The Stove...

I measure how clean my kitchen is by how clean is the stove top.  I can get all the counters clean, the sink scrubbed till shiny, dishwasher empty....then there is the stove.  It is covered in splattered, cooked on messes.  I find bits of hard macaroni from the kids making the blue box.  There are crumbs, splashes and muck on every piece.  So everything has to come off, burner grates (I have a gas stove), burner covers and there it is ready to be soaped, scrubbed and wiped clean.

Only it doesn't go that easy....there are pieces of junk that have become one with the stove, crumbs that move out of the way of the dish clothe, spots that my green scrubby sponge won't lift.  I spray cleaner on it and let it sit for 5 minutes while I work on the covers and grates.  I hate cleaning the grates by hand, I rather place them in the dishwasher, but I need to cook again soon.  I try to do it at night, but my brain is off so it doesn't  even register that I need to get them in the dishwasher before I run it.

So back to the stove top; someone has left the front door open and beautiful sun shine is now lighting up my stove, showing every layer of grease on the stove and on the knobs, under the knobs, next to the knobs and then I see it.  The entire front of the stove, the glass window to the oven, is covered in drips and chunks of who knows what.  It looks like I have not touched it in months, yet I know I did it last week!

So now the knobs, face plate and entire front of the stove get sprayed....and it needs to sit for a bit.  I hate trying to clean the knobs, there is no easy flat surface to scrub, so using the green scrubby sponge and a dishcloth I try to get them clean.  Of course I leave a burger knob turned on slightly, it smells like something died and starting rotting in fast action.  Whew, then I remember, O boy check the knobs make sure they are all off and stay off as I scrub them.  No luck the sun is still hitting them and they still look grimy.
 
Bring on the toothbrush.....hold the knob, scrub the knob with the tooth brush, work it behind the knob and clean, clean, and clean.  Finally the sun  moves on and my stove is clean....no more sun showing the grime and it looks good, especially since I can no longer see the stuck on stuff.

A clean stove means no cooking that night, I need at least one evening knowing that it is clean and will stay clean for just a bit of time.

Then tomorrow I will cook again, and try to wipe it down so that it will stay clean until my kids decide they need food.  The concept of cleaning has not arrived yet in their minds, it will come, it did for me!.

The Season

We are only a couple of weeks from Christmas. I am sitting in front of my decorated tree, watching the Texas Tenors sing their adorable heads off.  Very Christmas spirit type of stuff...love this.

I wish I could put into words what listening to this type of music does to my insides...it is like my soul sings along with them. Heaven knows my voice can't.  But this type of music does resonate somewhere deep inside of me and gives me such depth of feeling but such peace all at the same time.  From the incrediable voices to the strings being played with such talent, the thrill of the sound brings tears to my eyes because of it's beauty.  I would be a puddle on the floor if I allowed myself.

I think this is one of the reasons I love this time of the year.  I love being able to enjoy the sense of goodwill that everyone is demonstrating.  I am full of the season.  My family not so much.  I am coming to the conslusion I may have to enjoy the season a bit on my own.  I can only create events that show the season.  They have to decide if they are going to embrace it.  On some level that makes me sad...I remember how excited they would get with Christmas around the corner.  Those of you who have young ones, please take the time to enjoy it with them.  It really is such a pocket of time that is here then gone forever.

There are so many things I would do differently...I was way too stressed about my kids bothering others, keeping the house clean, trying to keep messes from happening.  I really did not understand that my kids just wanted me!  Not the newest toy (that didn't hurt), not the next TV program.  They wanted their daddy and mommy; and that is why God gave us grandchildren.

But I can still make a hit with a meal.  And I did that the other night with homemade pasta and a chicken with Dijon mustard cream sauce that was dynamite.

I saw this pasta on America's Test Kitchen (click and view the video) and have been making it over and over.  We did this in our Middle school cooking class.  The kids loved it and some took balls of it home to roll out for dinner that night!
2 c of flour, 2 T. olive oil, 2 whole eggs, 6 egg yolks.  Mix is a food processor till it makes a sticky ball.  Remove the ball and using as little flour as possible
 roll it out into a log, about 6-8 inches log.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 4 hours (ours went about 6 and longer and it was fine).  Cut into 6 equal portions, cover the 5 not in use.  Pat into a 3 inch rectangle, then dusting your board with flour roll out.  Start in the middle and roll up, then the middle and roll down.  Flip and turn and do this over and over till the dough is very thin.  Lay on a towel, repeat with the rest.  Once they are all done, let the sheets dry for 15 minutes.
Fold the sheets of dough onto itself, making them about 2-3 inches deep.  Slice the dough into strips.  Unfold them, toss them with a little flour and you are ready to cook.  Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook your pasta for about three minutes.  Drain and enjoy.  It really is that easy.


I made my Winter Night Chicken with the home made pasta!

Winter Night Chicken-a nod to Kathleen Flinn and the amazing recipe I learned from her book, “The Kitchen Counter Cooking School”.

2 lbs of bone in, skin on chicken thighs & olive oil plus butter; kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper; 8 oz of cremini mushrooms, sliced; 2 springs of fresh rosemary and several of fresh thyme (purchase the poultry bundle and you will have several different ones); 3 T. Dijon mustard; 1 1/2 c heavy cream; 

In a heavy oven proof skillet (cast iron) heat about 4 T. olive oil and 2 T.

butter.  Once it is hot, lay the thighs skin side down to brown.  Walk away...let them brown.  About 6 minutes later turn the meat over, add the mushrooms, lay the springs of herbs on top, 1/2 t each salt and pepper, place in a 400 degree oven for another 20 minutes.  This will finish the meat cooking. 

Bring the skillet back to the stove top, over medium heat, remove the dead springs of herbs.  Mix the cream with the Dijon mustard, pour over the meat and let it come to a bubble. 

Meanwhile bring a lb of fettuccini to boil, cook till al dente.

Serve the chicken and sauce over the pasta.  As usual good crusty bread goes well with this dish. 

This is my tree that my dear friend Jackie helped me do.  My family has been gone working, working and more working, so with her help I got a lot of decorating done.

The Meal

What a beautiful day yesterday was!!  We had a wonderful meal; stress-less and tasty.  The turkey came out perfectly...and we have enough left over for turkey sandwiches over the weekend.

I have a friend that I have known for 22 years and have worked with for about 10 years; I have grown to love her dearly.  She is invaluable as she really keeps me focused with at work.  We are also both foodies and love to talk about recipes and cookbooks.  She also has a lot of wisdom in dealing with life.

One day a few weeks ago, while we had a couple of seconds, we got onto the topic of china. I told my friend about my great grandmother's China that has been in the family since 1925.  Grandma Wyckoff bought it either from someone one she knew or brand new for around $500.00.  We aren't really sure. But just imagine how much money that was 88 years ago!  It still is a lot in my book.  But, my Grandma Wyckoff liked nice things. Yet, she was clever about how she purchased her home furnishings.  Tragically, the house caught fire on a cold night in January, 1980.  My Grandpa Wyckoff was killed in the fire; he was 89.  My Grandma died 6 years prior in a nursing home.

Much was lost in that fire - so many things that evoked memories were simply gone.  Only a few things were left; tables, chairs, Grandma's overstuffed chair that she sat in to do her sewing, the table that held the lamp she used to see with.  And the china cabinet survived with all the china in it.  My Grandma Marsh ended up with the china, only she never used it.  Never.  She was afraid to use it, and she didn't want to spend the time washing the pieces by hand.  Those pieces could not go into the dish washer since they were rimmed with 24 carat gold.  So, they sat for 43 years!  Well, almost.  My mom recently reminded me that we used them about 10 years ago for Christmas dinner at her house. 

Mom finally decided that the best place for the china was with me.  And I intend to use it on a regular basis.  It's value, to me, lies in it being used and loved rather than safely stored in a cabinet never seeing the light of day.  I want my daughters to acquire an emotional bond with these dishes.  I hope that doesn't sound too silly, but I simply wish that my girls to see and use the china to keep a new tradition going and to make a connection across my family's generations.

Due Diligence...

Diligence.  The word haunts me.  I am not cut out for it.  I give up, procrastinate, hide behind a box.  I seem to lack the gene for staying power, and I know I am not alone.  I want to focus more - to keep my house super clean, keep the dog hair out of the corners, clean the cushions of the doggy chair.  I want to place glorious meals on the perfectly decorated table while wearing a cute apron, of course.
Due Diligence; doing the right thing, doing what you need to do, doing it and feeling a sense of accomplishment....hmm.  How can I do this and keep balance in my life?  I am learning that I am very off balance.  I want to do so much, yet time evaporates... or wastes away while watching T.V.

I am getting ready to cut the cable.  For many of you that doesn't sound like a bad thing.  Many of you have no umbilical cord to the remote.  But when I grew up, watching T.V. together in the living room was how we had family time.  My brothers and I acted as the remote.  We sat on the floor at my mom and dad's feet and for the first time all day that we were together.  We ate dinner at the table, cleaned up and sat down.  We only had three channels back then and we had a network that we watched more faithfully.  As we got older, mom and dad would sit at the dinning room table with my grandmother and talk, or play Parcheesi.  We played, had cut throat competition and we laughed.  So for me T.V. watching has always been a family event.  No longer.

These days it gets watched on different T.V.s and computers.  Everyone has their own entertainment center, bedrooms, dens, living rooms and family rooms.  It seems hardly anyone in the family watches the same show.  I have one daughter who dosen't watch tv at all.  If we are watching a special movie, then maybe.  Losing the multi-channel (about 100 real channels, not shopping and such) idiot box is huge for me. But our new budget has no room for the cost.

So that is one rung toward the goal of not wasting time.  That is the biggest rung for me.  My health also plays into this.  I have limited mobility; limited but not gone all together.  So I am going to push myself to do more; baby steps, but steps.

So, due diligence....doing what is right, doing what needs to be done, putting the effort and work into a plan.  What is my Plan?  I am still working out the details, but foremost it includes cooking and recipes. I do simple cooking - simple but yummy recipes.  I believe in cooking for my family, eating at home and cleaning up the dishes.  I love to have a clean kitchen and a shiny sink.  That is my plan...

Stay tuned and join me for simple, tasty recipes. Recipes resulting from simple shopping and easy preparation but full of flavor. 



But this would not be a recipe site with out a recipe:

My simple dry brined, spiced rubbed turkey

12-14 lb turkey
1 double batch of McCormick Turkey Rub
1 onion
1 lemon
1 bunch of rosemary, thyme and sage from a purchased poultry fresh herb blend
1 stick of softened butter

Two days before you plan to cook your turkey, you will dry brine the bird. 
Remove the bird from it's packaging and rinse the whole bird.  Remove the neck and save for later (I make stock with it), find the bag of stuff and either discard or use later.
Place the turkey on a small sheet pan, with sides.
3-4 T. of kosher salt, do not use regular "table" salt.  It will leave a metallic taste.
Sprinkle the salt all over the bird, it should look like it has snowed.  Place the bird uncovered in the fridge.  You could loosely cover it with wax paper if you have too.
The salt melts into and through the skin, it keeps the meat moist.  Also drying out the skin helps to produce and great crispy skin.

Day of cooking!
First thing you must do is turn the oven on to 500 degrees.  The oven needs 20 minutes to truly heat up.
Rinse the bird, then place on a rimmed sheet pat.  Using paper towel dry the bird completely.
Peel the onion and cut into chunks, cut the lemon in half.  Stuff half the onion inside the cavity, the lemon, a spring of rosemary, sage and thyme. Rub the butter all over the bird.  Sprinkle the McCormick Turkey Rub over  the entire bird. 
Now place your turkey in the oven, legs first, and set your timer for 30 minutes. 

When the timer goes off, remove the bird, and cover the breast meat with a piece of buttered foil,  This helps keep the breast meat protected.  Turn the oven down to 350.

Now I am going to tell you what I do, this is not what our wonderful gov. tells you to do.  You do want you wish.  This is simply how I do it. 
I cook my bird until the temp between the leg and breast meat reaches 150 degrees, (my bird is un-stuffed).  I then cover the entire bird with foil, tightly.  The bird must rest for a good 20 minutes.  The temp of the bird will continue to rise and will hit 165 for 15 seconds, which kills everything bad.  But you will have a moist, tasty bird.