December in Photos

Here's the entire month of December up until Christmas...

Thomas and I went to Trader Joe's to stock up for Christmas prep, and we found a chocolate bar.  A really huge chocolate bar.  Two kilos, to be exact.  Of course I bought it.  It was, after all, just one chocolate bar.

For my work Christmas party at the beginning of December, I had promised on multiple occasions to bake my cake.  So I did. Here's the recipe, in case you wanted it.

December 4 -- our first snow!  The first snow is always the most exciting.  (The last snow is the second-most exciting.)

Fernando left for Knoxville, Kentucky on December 5.  He spent two weeks there in training to be a full-fledged field service technician.  No-- is really loving him so far, and I know Fernando will quickly pick up the technology in the high-speed lamination industry.  He has such a big, sexy brain!

I brought home the rest of my cake from our work Christmas party.  Yeah, my co-workers complained.  But my guys were complaining more loudly, and I have to live with them.

December 9 -- Manicotti Day!  Mom and I kept things simple and made a beautiful batch of Christmas dinner manicotti.

December 11 -- at a Christmas party that I attended where my parents and my younger brother were also invited.  I missed Fernando, but we had a blast together with the other guests.  Two piano guys (Duelling Pianos) played music all night, and dancing broke out; I got Dad and Mom to dance together!  It was awesome.

Random photos of me while Fernando was gone.  I like to have the guys take my picture so I can text them to Fernando so he doesn't forget what I look like.  Or that he has a wife.  :)

I throw some goofy ones in for good measure.

December 18 -- Once Fernando was home, we really just wanted to relax together, because we knew he was flying right back out on Monday.  But, friends invited us to a restaurant for dinner and they wouldn't accept a no, so we ended up having a great meal with them.  It was bitter cold that Sunday, too, and I ended up taking a picture of our frozen car, dirt-spattered and icicle-hanging, in the restaurant parking lot.

December 19 -- At an ungodly hour, I drove Fernando to O'Hare for his next trip.  On the way home, I saw, in person and for the first time, a sun dog!  I took an exit before my usual exit (and one that saves time--Fernando's trick!), since it goes by/through a forest preserve.  I pulled over in a parking lot, positioned the tree in the sun's line of sight, and got this beautiful image of my very first sun dog.  They generally occur shortly after sunrise and at super cold temperatures--it was about 11 below when I took this, I think--and they are much more magnificent in real life than in a photo.

December 21 -- New hair style day!  I got my hair cut, colored, and styled by the daughter of our beauty specialist.  I had it done in the morning, then drove up the street to work in the afternoon.  Andrea (our beauty specialist) took these pictures of me.

A lady gushed over my hair, so I gave her Ali's number and she made an appointment on the spot!

December 22 -- Fernando came home from his most recent trip, and Thomas and I drove to pick him up.  Thomas forgot to fill the gas tank, and we ended up circling around and around and around...  So once we picked up Fernando, we drove to the O'Hare Oasis on I-294 and filled up the tank.  It's so good to have Fernando home for just a little bit at Christmastime!

December 23 -- Fernando was coming to pick me up from work when Arabelle (my BMW) had a radiator burst and overheated.  The night ended up being a time of me shopping in my store while Danny and Thomas drove to meet Fernando, then Danny driving to my work to pick me up and bring me back to the parking lot of Our Lady of the Woods where Fernando pulled in.  Then, it was a tow truck pick-up and driving home, and trying to figure out how to get our BMW repaired.

Finally, the day before Christmas came and I found myself baking bread!  I had made a double batch of cinnamon rolls, which also means making two loaves of bread (my recipe makes enough dough for the equivalent of four loaves of bread).  Mmmm, warm bread with butter, all melty and delicious!

That's my December!  It has flown by in a flash, I can't believe it's Christmas, and the coming of a new year!!


Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website

The Last Days of March in Photos

As March marched toward its last day (couldn't resist that), I waved goodbye to Fernando, who headed west to South Dakota, and I began a week full of activity.  It was good to be home for a solid length of time, to stay in one place, to be there, all there, as my guys came in and out and lived their lives and shared them with me.

Fernando left for South Dakota.

Right off the bat, in a raid on my freezer to figure out what to cook, I found the carcass from our Thanksgiving turkey--my mom had given it to me to throw in the freezer since we were leaving the next day for California to be with Fernando's family at his aunt's death.  The carcass came out, along with fixings for that day's meal.

Thanksgiving turkey carcass, simmering on the stove overnight.

I cut up the turkey and strained the broth, to be turned into turkey and gravy for Hawaiian haystacks (I think I'll post that recipe soon).

It has been invigorating to be in the kitchen cooking again, and I made another family favorite last week--Tortellini and Spinach Soup.

I spent a chilly, hand-numbing afternoon at the Morton Arboretum with a sweet young lady friend, walking, spotting signs of spring, stopping, taking pictures, talking.  I love that Miss S loves "going deep" in our conversations; we fall into it naturally, and even though we talk about lighthearted subjects too, we have some intense conversations--discussing, sharing opinions, being open and honest, affirming.

Soon this field will be covered with daffodils!

It snowed one afternoon.  I guess March is going out like a lion.

I tried taking a selfie to show off my new glasses.  I love my guys.

More baking ensued, with two new recipes to be blogged soon--Irish soda bread, and honey-cinnamon butter.  Comfort food, indeed!

Ice cream--eaten from the carton--was also on the end-of-March agenda; a Friday night, missing Fernando but still comfortable and at peace at home.  The carton called my name, and I answered.  There wasn't much left, anyway.

Danny made an "appointment" to get his hair cut; I hope he pays me!

Yet another new recipe, thanks to Miss S and her family--beef stroganoff.  Hoo-boy, those mushrooms!  I loved it.  Half the guys picked them out, so this will be a meal for Fernando and me; they'll have to fend for themselves the next time I make it.

Thomas took my picture on Easter Sunday, and I texted it to Fernando, who was still covering NCAA women's basketball in South Dakota.  We shared a casual Easter afternoon with Dad and Mom, minus Fernando and Jake, who had to work, plus my brother Jeff.

The end of March turned into New Recipe Month, with the addition of these lemon cheesecake crumb bars for Easter dessert.  If you love lemon half as much as I do, you'll love these.  Yeah, the recipe will come soon!

Random picture of a trip to Trader Joe's for fruit, veggies, and a few other items...

Another random picture, this time of my parents' family room as I waited for them to return so I could act as Computer Tech Girl for them.  I love knowing just enough to be able to solve computer problems for them.  It makes me feel smart.

Finally, Danny and I brought the Suburban in to the shop to see if they could fix the driver's seat.  I hadn't driven it in months, because the seat got stuck in the far back position and wouldn't move forward.  Thus, I couldn't reach the pedals, and couldn't drive it.  #shortpeopleproblems

I had to drive the BMW exclusively.  Woo-hoo!

Lo and behold, the technician removed "items" from the track of the seat, and it miraculously works again.  We elected not to have the passenger airbag serviced, since the car is so old.  We like to call that warning light in the photo the Don't drive with beachballs warning light.  It's still lit, and I think of sun, sand, and waves crashing on the shore whenever I turn on the ignition.

That's our end of March, and we now wait for warmer weather (still not happening yet--how about 50s even?) and look ahead to what God has in store for us for April.  But that's a post for tomorrow.


Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website

It's the Pits

I love avocados!

I usually slice around the skin of the avocado, twist it apart, then use my Pampered Chef avocado tool to gently dig out the pit.  The tool is also good for gently slicing the avocado while it's in its skin, and its slight curve is helpful in scooping out the good stuff.  But, in the end, it's an avocado tool and I haven't found any other uses for it.  And now I no longer need it.  My life is changed forever.  (Seriously, friends--why does anyone say that??  My life was changed forever when I surrendered it to Jesus Christ.  But I'm exercising a little sarcasm here, in honor of all those who share kitchen tips and "hacks" that.change our lives forever.)

Nonetheless (love using that word), I'm super excited to have learned this little trick, and even more excited to share it with you.  Although, you probably already know how to do this.  I'm always the last to know.

I excitedly shared this trick with my friend Becki a few days ago.  Turns out she's been doing this for forever, and even has funny stories about the pit falling onto the floor and rolling away.  I thought it was a new, amazing trick--am I the only one who didn't know how to remove an avocado pit??

I'm a picture gal, so I took a few to share.  Once you slice around the avocado and twist it open, you have to remove the pit.  Hold the pitted avocado half in one hand, then take your chef's knife with your other hand and whack it (not too hard, now) into the pit. 

I had to set the avocado down with the knife still in the pit so I could take a picture...

Twist gently, and the pit comes right out!

Voilà!  Beautiful, non-mangled avocado halves.  And one less (silly) kitchen tool for me.


Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website

Red Beans and Rice

My neighbor Lorraine--she's such a great neighbor; you've read about her generosity in past posts--gave me a package of ham hocks.  I thought I'd use them in split pea soup, but someone mentioned red beans and rice.  I thought, why not.  Thus began my Internet Pinterest exploration for good recipes, of which I combined two into my own, and here it is.  As usual, the recipe's at the end.

You'll notice the sausage--not the ham hocks--in the pictures here.  I didn't take pictures until I knew the recipe was a keeper.  So, after the the guys' applause and general adulation of my amazing cooking abilities, and after I made the recipe a second time, I took pictures.  And this time, I used organic chicken sausage because it's what I had.

Attention:  If you don't eat meat, or use it sparingly, simply remove the meat portion of this recipe!  It's great meatless, too.

To spice things up, I add some Cajun seasoning, because, after all, this recipe originates from Louisiana Cajun territory.  I love Penzey's Spices, and their spice blends.

Let me tell you something, though.  This little jar of yumminess costs almost eight dollars.  Yikes!  I bought it because I needed it, but you'll be seeing my homemade version soon, because there ain't no way I'm spending that kind of money again on something I can make myself with ingredients I already have in my pantry.

This sure is some awesome seasoning, despite the price!

This recipe also involves soaking dry beans overnight, then simmering them with all the added stuff for 2-3 hours.  All those flavors are gettin' happy, mixin' and minglin' together all that time--no way it's not going to be delicious!

As promised, here it is.  Enjoy!

Red Beans and Rice

3 cups dry red beans (about a pound)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery
2 cups chopped green pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced (or garlic to your taste)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley (about 3 teaspoons dry)
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I use Braggs--the really good stuff!)
Tabasco sauce to taste, maybe 5-6 shakes

Sort and rinse beans.  Place in large (six-quart) stock pot and cover with cold water; soak overnight or longer.  Drain beans and set aside.

In the stock pot, sauté chopped onion and celery in a little butter (or oil, or rendered pork lard) until translucent.  Add green pepper and sauté a few more minutes, then add the garlic and sauté a minute or so longer.  Add the beans back to the pot, then add all the remaining ingredients except the Tabasco sauce.  Cover with water, bring to a boil, replace the lid, and simmer about three hours or so until the beans are tender.

I stir this every now and then throughout the cooking process, and about 30 minutes before I deem it ready, I check the liquid.  My guys don't like it too soupy, so if it's that way, I remove the lid for the last 30 minutes (turn the heat up a bit to keep it at a simmer).  If at any point there's not enough water, add some boiling water in.  The hot water will help keep everything simmering, so that you don't have to turn the heat up to bring it back to a simmer.

Before serving, add the Tabasco, stirring in.

We love this served with rice, white or brown.

The last time I placed an order with our farmers (love them and their pasture-raised food!!), I ordered ham hocks--two packages.  They're less expensive than other meats, they're delicious, and I needed them because we make this recipe on a regular basis now.  Yum!

Update:  I used my farmers' ham hocks for this recipe, and I gotta tell ya.  That was the best bowl of red beans and rice I've made yet!

Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Burgers

Remember--the recipe is at the end.  :)

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and was immediately intrigued.  With a few very minor modifications, I made these "cakes," which are burgers, in my opinion, hence the name change.  Don't they look fabulous?  I think so, too.

One note about pepper. The original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.  Whoa, Nelly!  Let me just say, you've never had pepper until you've had freshly ground pepper.  You use so much less of it than pre-ground pepper, and it is so much more aromatic and spicy.

Store-bought pre-ground pepper has been sitting in jars, and it takes a lot to achieve that nice zip that pepper gives.  See, as soon as you grind a peppercorn, it releases its full flavor; as it sits on the store shelf, it loses all its zest and pep.  Try some on your next corn on the cob--wow.

Trust me on this--you need to buy a decent pepper mill and some good quality peppercorns.  White, black, red, telicherry, mixed--you'll become a pepper gourmet and never go back.  Just a few cranks of the pepper mill will produce more seasoning than half a teaspoon of store-bought, pre-ground black powder pepper-like substance.  Hope that doesn't sound snobby, but it's true.  Hope someday you'll thank me for it.  :)

Here's the recipe, modified the way I like it.

Quinoa & Sweet Potato Burgers
Serves four

one medium sweet potato (~6 oz.), peeled and chopped
1/2 red, yellow, or white onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh pepper (3-4 cranks of your pepper mill)
two cloves garlic, minced
one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (or other fat for frying--I used rendered pork lard!)

1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
two tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
two tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt (yes--it's in here a second time!)
one large egg, lightly beaten

This recipe comes together quickly if you prep everything first--chop, dice, measure the ingredients into prep bowls, etc.  Now on to the nitty-gritty.

Heat a large skillet (you'll use it again to cook the burgers) on medium-low heat and add the olive oil or other fat.  Add in the sweet potato, onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper.  Stir, cover, and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until potato is soft.  Remove lid and stir in garlic, and cook for an additional 30 seconds or so.

Mash the sweet potato a bit with a potato masher, and transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.  Let cool, since you'll be using your hands; I put my bowl in the fridge for ten minutes.  Add the quinoa, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, herbs, and remaining salt (add more pepper, too, if you like!), and mix a little.  Then, add in egg and mix it all up just like you're making hamburger meat.  Use your hands to shape four patties.

Heat the skillet again to a medium heat and add a little fat--olive oil or pork lard work great.  Gently place the burgers onto the pan and cook about three or four minutes per side, or until they're golden brown.  Flip them carefully!

We have eaten these burgers plain, with blackberry salsa (fresh blackberries, a little cilantro and lime juice, and chopped jalapeno and minced onion, all to your taste), or even on a bun.  Fernando put mustard on his, and Jacob ate his burger with cheddar cheese.  Try it different ways and see what you like best!

Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website

Rendered Pork Lard

I've purchased rendered pork lard from my farmer for the past several years.  It's so much better than anything you can get in a grocery store (lard, shortening--ew, right?).  Pork lard, you may ask?  Okay, I don't purchase lard, or shortening, from the store, to use in anything.  Yuck.  But the rendered pork lard from my farmer--that is what I use in my pie crusts, other baking, even biscuits and biscuit mix (you still have to store it in the fridge or freezer), mmm.  I'm getting hungry now.  But I digress.  I had heard about rendering your own pork fat, but I didn't have any, so I never ever considered doing it.

Then my neighbor Lorraine offered me several large bags of pork fat which she had stored in her freezer, left over from the side of pork they purchased earlier in the year.  So, I took the bags and stored them in my own freezer--until I realized we really, really needed to use up the stuff in our freezer, which desperately needed (still needs!) to be defrosted.

First of all, since these bags of fat were frozen solid, we moved them to our large cooler in our garage, which was also very cool (we're talking November).  After 3-4 days in the cooler, they were ready and waiting for me to haul them in to the kitchen to get started on the massive project.  Fortunately, I live in a household of guys.  Strong guys. Who willingly help their mom when she asks.  Nice, huh?  :)

I was surprised to find the pork in pieces; I expected to find super large chunks that had to be cut down to size.  A friend (and some blog sites) recommended that I run the pork through my meat grinder, so that's where Thomas stepped in to help.

It really was rather gross, and since there was so much pork fat--the bag above was the first of three--I ended up pausing partway through to clean the parts to the grinder.

After being ground, the fat was put into every available slow cooker I owned.  I added about a quarter cup of water to each pot to prevent burning as the fat heated, turned the slow cookers on low, and let them do their jobs.

After maybe just an hour, the fat started to look like this, below:

The step I didn't take pictures of:  One large metal bowl (about eight quarts), with a colander over it (the handles held it above the bowl), and cheesecloth lining the colander, was set up.  I then simply ladled the liquid into the colander and let it drip down into the bowl.  As the bowl filled, I transferred the liquid fat into a Pampered Chef four-cup measuring bowl with a pour spout, and poured the liquid fat into wide-mouth pint canning jars.

The picture below looks nice, but don't put the lids on yet!  I filled the jars to within about a half inch to an inch from the top, then let them sit and cool on my counter.  No seals/rings on yet!

More Rendering

After a long afternoon of grinding the fat up, I tried to fry up the cracklins--the remaining fat after letting all the liquid stuff drain off.  They're supposed to turn crispy and crackly (hence the name), and you can use them in baking, on salads, etc.  Well, I fried and fried and fried, and they just kept getting stuck in the pan and turned into a gooey mess.  I decided I didn't want cracklins anyway, and dumped the whole mess out.

Then, I further decided I didn't want to put the fat through the meat grinder, either.  So I just started loading it into the crock pot, below.

Success!!  The un-ground pieces produced the same beautiful liquid!  And I was able to fry up the cracklins to use in baking (more on that in a future post).  Back to the rendering now...

Below, you can see that as the liquid fat cools, it becomes paler, then white in color.  This is a very, very good thing!

Once everything is cooled, put seals and rings on, and store them in the freezer.  How easy is that?

Okay, now on to super yummy fried up goodness, almost as good as bacon.  Yep, bacon is pretty much at the top, but this comes in just below it.  I took the little pieces of fat and just fried them up.  More liquid fat was produced, so I drained that off and saved it, much like bacon fat, to be used in frying, and frijoles, and greasing pans...

Fryin' up the cracklins.

The fat from the cracklins will not turn white, and has more of the pork odor (the white stuff is just about odorless), so you won't want to use it in, say, pie crusts.  But it's great for what I mentioned above--frying, frijoles (refried beans), etc.

And the cracklins?  I stored them in quart-sized canning jars, right on the counter, and am still using them.  Because, I discovered Cracklin' Bread.  Seriously.  I'll post that recipe real soon, y'all.  (It's a southern thing.)  UPDATE:  Here's the Cracklin' Bread recipe I posted!

Rendered pork lard.

The end of the story?  Not quite yet.  I had spent an entire day doing this, and I was pooped.  But, I felt accomplished!  Like a prairie woman, doing things the old-fashioned way.  And, thankful for the Lord's provision, even in fat!

A few days later, and a couple days before Thanksgiving, Fernando and I went to our farmer, picked up our Thanksgiving turkey, and brought it home.  We lifted the lid to the cooler to put a bag of ice and the turkey inside, and---there was one more bag of pork fat.  Sigh.  At least the second pork-fat-rendering job took a lot less time, and was easier because I sort of knew what I was doing.

Oink, oink!!


Back to life,
Christine

Visit my photography blog
Visit my photography website