My Favorite Dish at Thanksgiving This Year

Does a green salad belong on the Thanksgiving table?  In my opinion, no.

But this year, my cousin Brad blew that opinion right out of the water with this salad.  I do not have a jaded palate - I adore food - I've had some amazing salads, but Brad's was the absolute best . . . I think.  Because I tried to recreate it at home and it was very good, but it wasn't moaning-good, third-helping good like it was at Thanksgiving. 

So I have to ask:  did I love it at Thanksgiving because it was such an anomaly?  Was I over-impressed because I didn't know my little cousin could handle food like that?  Have you ever had a tastebud-blowing experience with food, and then the next time with that food was underwhelming?  Food is far more psychological than I give it credit for.

But still, try this salad.  It's definitely in my top 10 food experiences.
(Recipe notes:  Don't skimp on the cayenne!  I used proscuitto, and did not brown it. I ignored the tarragon and chives.  I tossed the cut apples in some vinegar so they wouldn't brown.)

P.S.  See my sidebar for a link to a giveaway - you could win a pencil/pen roll from my etsy shop!

Sunday Dinner: Stroganoff in the Slow Cooker and Dark Days 2

I achieved a number of goals with this meal:  dark days meal, Sunday dinner, and a slow cooker experiment.  I wondered if I could put raw-ish ground beef and raw vegetables in the slow cooker and get something good.  I get annoyed with recipes where I cook on the stovetop before assembling and baking or cooking again.  Too many steps to keep track of, too many dirty dishes.

Menu:Slow Cooker Stroganoff
egg noodles
home-canned pickled beets
steamed broccoli

Saturday:
set ground beef in fridge to thaw
bring up a jar of pickled beets from the basement

Sunday morning:sear beef
mix up the slow cooker
cut up broccoli, put in pot

Sunday noon:
steam broccoli
cook noodles
thicken stroganoff
set table

Slow Cooker Stroganoff - adapted from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly - the original recipe had 2 lbs. ground beef and only 4 oz. mushrooms, which is way too much ground beef in my opinion.

1 lb. lean ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
1 lb. baby bella mushrooms, sliced (I also used some dried shiitakes, rehydrating them in the stock)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 cup beef stock
3 Tbsp. ketchup

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup flour

1.  Sear the ground beef - this means that you don't stir and fry it until it's uniformly greyish-brown, but rather allow it to sit in the pan over the heat until dark crusty bits form.  Mine had lots of pink-red parts left, but several seared patches.  Perfect. (If you're not using lean, grass fed beef, better fry it and drain off the grease.)
2.  Put the beef in the slow cooker along with everything else except the yogurt and flour.  Mix.
3.  Cook on low, covered, for 2 1/2-3 hours.  Break up any clumps of beef now.
4.  Whisk together flour and yogurt.  Stir, stir, stir it into the beef mixture.  Clap the lid back on, turn the cooker to high, and allow it to cook until thickened, 20-30 minutes.

I forgot to ask my family specifically what they thought of this meal, but they all ate enthusiastically and wrangled for the leftovers later.  And look, it soothed them to sleep, too.  Ah, Sunday afternoon, how I love you.
(Specifically, the Dark Days elements:  local organic beef, stock made from aforesaid beef, local onions and mushrooms, homemade yogurt from local milk, local broccoli, home-canned local beets, locally made noodles (were the ingredients local? I don't know).  The flour, thyme, and pickling brine were not local.)

The Pretty Banana-Shaped Squash

Suddenly, I realized I should use the autumn decorations - what am I saving them for?  In my roasting pan is a squash that was enormous - probably almost 18" long, 6" wide.  The shell was coral colored, and the flesh bright orange.  Pretty, right there in the midst of kitchen work.

But I want to change my tune into Advent because I am still lounging in autumn.  Seriously, some of that squash went into a pumpkin pie!  And I still have to tell you about my favorite dish at Thanksgiving. 

Today I realized that I have not gotten our Advent calendar out yet, nor am I enthused about Christmas cookies or trees.  Ben wondered if we were getting a Christmas tree today - um, no, it's easier to just do Saturday work around the house. 

My Newest Baby Step

As I explained before, my family's goal to live lightly on the earth is in process.  My newest baby step is no more packaged black tea, herbs and spices. I take my little tea tin or odd containers to market and have them filled up. No more one-use little plastic baggies to throw away. 

The herb shop proprieter is so gracious about weighing and filling my containers.  I felt like my request was odd, so I told him why I'm doing it.

Why I'm doing it:
1.  packaging is unnecessary trash
2.  plastic makes us dependent on petroleum, which brings political, ethical, and environmental problems
3.  plastic is costly to recycle

Getting Older, Not Fatter

I like my clothes!  I don't want to buy new clothes.  But alas, my metabolism is slowing down and my clothes were getting tighter, so here is what I do:

1.  walk everywhere I can.  We have gear for snow, rain, and cold too: we don't just walk in sunshine.  I was also inspired by my friend Daryl who asked why it is considered odd to walk a half hour to get somewhere but not odd to drive a half hour?

2.  exercise DVDs at home.  Gyms make me anxious (an I wearing the right clothes?  is it going to be full? it's so boring!) and take too much time for me to get out of the house.  Much easier to slip on some yoga pants and do a DVD quickly.  I try out exercise DVDs from the library; when I find one I like, I search for it online.  I can usually buy them for a few dollars - I'm patient.  I like routines that are less than 30 minutes and do not use any special equipment.  I adore pilates.

3.  eat 20% less.  I was inspired and fascinated by Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink.  I like his no- diet philosophy.  It fits with mine, which is "all things in moderation."

4.  bike home from my job occasionally. 

5.  use a broom and a rake.  No blowers!

6.  run the kids in the park.  They're like puppies, see, and they need daily fresh air and exercise.  If it's an especially nice day or they are wild after supper, we go over to the park.  Even when it's dark and cold - that's what streetlamps and coats are for.

7.  love my body.  Our bodies are really wonderfully made - and modeled after God, at that!  I gained perspective by going to a Russian "banyo" (bathhouse), where naked women of all ages and shapes showered, swam, and sat in saunas together.  Also, I've seen the destruction of eating obsessions and disorders.  I want to keep my body and my eating in their proper places.

What do you do to stay trim?

Dark Days: Macaroni & Romanesco

I'm joining the Dark Days Challenge again this year.  This is a weekly meal using local, organic food.  I use quite a few local, organic ingredients, but once a week, I will use only those things.  It's a disciplined creativity - maybe it's a game like my patchwork?

This year I'm going to focus less on recipes (but you can always ask if you want me to post one!), and more on the menu itself and my family's reaction to it.

My first dark days meal was actually unintentional.  I was almost ready to set dinner on the table when I realized it was local. . . except for the dratted macaroni.  Had I been paying attention, I would have made the pasta or searched out local pasta.  I paid enough attention to photograph it then.

Macaroni and cheese with romanesco - local organic eggs, milk, cheese, romanesco.

Plus, a version of stewed tomatoes to eat on top of the macaroni.  I take a quart of home canned local tomatoes, throw them in on top of sauteed local onions, and simmer them down for almost an hour.  A pinch of some marjoram and basil, but not much - it's not spaghetti sauce.

And a green salad with purple cabbage, all local and organic.  It was dressed with a vinaigrette with local garlic.

My family's opinions:

Ben, age 3:  I love the macaroni and cheese and sauce, but not the salad.

Genevieve, age 6:  I liked the macaroni and cheese, but I did not like the broccoli [romanesco].

Husband: Very comforting meal.  And knowing I'm getting fresh vegetables is intellectually comforting.  Rating 4.9 out of 5 [5 = perfect] because the sauce was too juicy.

An Eighth of Beef

For several years now, we buy beef when our friend, a retired veterinarian, has his steers butchered. Steaks, roasts, cubes, and ground. And bones.

I'm not sure of the exact cost per pound.  The bottom line here is not money, but it is thrift nonetheless:  buying local organic meat is better for the economy, the environment, and our health.

I filled my mom's slow cooker and mine with bones.  Plus water, carrot tops, onions, peppercorns, salt, and - most importantly - a splash of vinegar.  The vinegar draws the calcium out of the bones into the stock.  Amen for calcium!  It's not just in milk!

I simmered the whole business for 4 days and nights.  Truthfully, it doesn't smell all that great.

Then I let it cool down, strained off the fat (tallow), and canned the stock with Rebecca's pressure canner because my freezer was chock full of beef.  Oh my.  I had never had a bomb (pressure canner) in my kitchen before, but Rebecca and the owner's manual were both clear and reassuring.

I think I'm going to try to make soap with my little bit of tallow - why not?  It's a lovely pale green from the carrot tops.