Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category
‘While we were working the cat was meditating.’
My last posting concerned our short but successful foray with strawberry picking. Even though we only managed to pick three quarts before the rains came, we still considered it a moderate success. It also succeeded in motivating my better-half into a jam making frenzy yesterday. It required another trip to the food store for additional strawberries, blue berries, and black berries with rhubarb harvested from our garden as well. As you can see in this photo the rhubarb plants are out of control and trying desperately to take over the garden.
She worked diligently for five hours and the results were impressive. She made one batch each of strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, and blueberry jam. She also completed two additional batches of tripleberry which has become a favorite of everyone (blackberry-blueberry-strawberry) who has tasted it.
Of course I did my best to taste them all as they were being made, bobbing and weaving to avoid those painful hand slaps. They were all over-the-top delicious and I can’t wait to add the strawberry/rhubarb jam to my breakfast menu.
While she was completing the jam I was in another area of the house preparing to bottle my first experimental batch of wine for 2015. My goal was to make a wine unique to Maine and one never made by anyone else. I thoroughly searched the net but could find no references to this type of mead. It was made from raw maple syrup and fresh honey.
The final product was a clear and sweet mead with a faint bouquet of maple. It was a good first effort and with some fine tuning of the recipe I may make it again soon. I bottled three and a half gallons into various size bottles and kept one for myself. I always volunteer to be first to sample anything containing alcohol before giving it to others.
After two glasses I felt that special glow I’m always looking for. Testing with my vinometer indicates an alcohol content between 7-8%, more than I anticipated. All in all a really successful experiment.
The batch was corked and capped and will go into storage for a few months and then be tasted again. Most wine improves with age and I look forward to an older version of this mead to enjoy through the winter months.
As I roll out of bed this morning it’s done with the beginnings of a mediocre and annoying hangover. It all started with the arrival of my nephew from Dallas at midnight last night. Unlike my better-half and me, his air travel from Texas went as well as could be expected and he arrived on time with all of his luggage (miracle of miracles).
We arrived home where he desperately needed food and drink and some time to relax. We finally made it to bed around 2:30 am after being finished off by a large bottle of really excellent Sangria. Boy is my head throbbing this morning.
Our plans for today, if the weather cooperates, include a touristy trip along the coast to Portland Head Light (Lighthouse) at the entrance to Portland Harbor. We cruised through a number of towns on the way including Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth, and South Portland. The weather was a huge pain like always but we muddled through.
Later this evening with my better-half in tow we’ll be off once again for a night of excellent food and drink at one of Portland’s best pubs, The Great Lost Bear. Hundreds of beers on tap and the super hot chicken wings that could possible set your hair on fire. A perfect time to kick back, relax, and enjoy the interesting atmosphere and even more interesting people.
‘One Lone Lobsterman’
The rest of the week should be fun if the weather cooperates. Later in the week we have a deep sea fishing trip scheduled and a few hours on the water chasing and catching a few fish will cap off his visit.
Using all of my past years of people watching as reference material I’ve come to the conclusion there must be one helluva lot of people in this world who are neat-freaks and germaphobes. There must be hundreds of thousands of us out there because we seem to be mentioned in every TV show and movie there is. Someone’s always mentioned as being "so anal" or “too anal”. It irritates me only because I’m one of them. I’m a certifiable neat-freak and proud of it and have been for years. I’m also reasonably sure that we neat-freaks aren’t nearly as crazy as those damn germaphobes.
* * *
If you aren’t either a neat-freak or germaphobe you may become one after reading the following tidbits of information. More useless and somewhat disgusting information you probably don’t really want to know. Enjoy it anyway.
-
Bottled water is rarely tested for purity. An Environmental Working Group study found that ten popular brands were riddled with chemicals and pollutants, some as high as regular tap water.
-
About 99% of imported food is never inspected by the FDA or USDA, the two agencies responsible for protecting Americans from tainted products.
-
One pound of peanut butter can contain up to 150 bug fragments and five rodent hairs.
-
One in five coffee mugs contains fecal bacteria and E.coli, which can cause diarrhea, food poisoning, and infections.
-
Vegetarians beware: many low-fat and non-fat yogurts and sweets contain gelatin, which is made from animal tendons, ligaments, and bones.
-
Peaches, apples, nectarines, and strawberries are among the top six "dirtiest" foods, according to investigations by the Environmental Working Group. More than 90 percent of samples of these fruits tested positive for detectable pesticides, even after being rinsed or peeled.
-
Red-colored grocery items like fruit punch and strawberry yogurt are often dyed with carmine, which is made from ground up cochineal beetles. For some, carmine can cause severe allergic reactions and even lead to anaphylactic shock.
-
A diet high in processed meats like sausage, hot dogs, and luncheon meats increases the risk of pancreatic cancer. Chemical reactions that occur during the preparation of these meats yield carcinogens, which could be responsible for the association.
-
The well know poison arsenic is approved by the FDA as an additive to poultry feed and given to at least 70 percent of chickens raised for consumption in the United States.
-
A medium fruit-and-yogurt smoothie at Dunkin’ Donuts contains four times as much sugar as a chocolate frosted cake donut.
In 2008, a Nebraska policeman was awarded $40,000.00 after he sued Taco Bell/KFC restaurant that served his family food containing an employee’s urine and spit.
That’s about enough information for me. Ugh………. Gag me with a spoon.
With Spring underway in Maine the plants can’t wait to get out of the ground. With such a short growing season no time is wasted by either Mother Nature or the people who live here. As I posted a few weeks ago people were on the beach already wearing bikinis. That’s even early for native Mainer’s but it didn’t stop them.
The tourist season in Maine is huge and it’s important to keep the visitors entertained and happy. That’s why during Spring and Summer months there’s a steady stream of festivals, farmer’s markets, fairs, and individual town celebrations.
Last weekend my better-half returned from her week long trip and we were able to get out and enjoy the sunny weather on Saturday. We were making our way through the city of Sanford to visit a nursery further south in North Berwick. We happened upon our first town gathering of the year. It was some type of farmer’s market where booths were set up by neighboring farms selling their homemade products and plants. We immediately parked and began to mingle.
It’s always fun to visit with the farmers and to purchase a few products while also snapping a few pictures. Everyone was enjoying the beautiful day and the excellent company. It was one of my first visits back to the city where I lived for eight years and I was glad to see things hadn’t changed at all. People were as friendly as I remembered and welcoming of any and all visitors.
‘It was a great start to what will be a great Summer.’
Almost a week of beautiful warm weather and I think I’ve made the adjustment quite nicely. The expensive to run heating system has been shut down until sometime in late October (Yeh!) and my winter wear has been stored for another year. I actually had a weather related orgasm yesterday when the temperature reached eighty degrees for the first time. I have to admit it was really good for me.
‘Red Cabbage’
I made a visit to a nearby family run nursery to make the first of many upcoming purchases for this year. I was looking primarily for lettuces and cabbages which can stand the cold nights we’re still having. There’s nothing better than strolling through a smoking hot greenhouse. There are times when shopping at this nursery is like going to Walmart. You start buying this and that and eventually find it hard to stop. I wanted to fill my car with plants but my better-half helped keep me under control.
‘Delicious Rhubarb’
Since we eat a great deal of salads I loaded up with four different types of lettuce. We should have more than enough to last us until Fall. Throw in some cherry tomatoes and a few onions and we’re good to go. On a whim I purchased and planted twelve purple cabbage plants. We’ve never tried growing them before but there’s nothing better than cooked cabbage. I hope they do well.
‘Assorted Lettuces’
I returned home and couldn’t wait to get planting. It didn’t take too long as you can see. The next stage will be the new herbs I purchased. I picked up a quantity of parsley, sage, basil, and rosemary. Some of them are annuals that must be replaced each year and a few others that were replacements of ones that didn’t survive the winter.
The remaining herbs that did survive are really starting to sprout and from all appearances I’ll probably be knee deep in oregano this year.
There’ll be no photographs today through no fault of my own. It was one of those days that I had a myriad of totally blah things to do. At the same time all of those chores were immediately placed on the back burner with the arrival of the grandson who was spending the day with us.
I was up early and on my way to a local auto repair shop for my annual car inspection. I knew there was going to be some added costs to this inspection when I couldn’t get my car started a few days ago. I made it to the shop, had the inspection completed, installed a new battery, and was on my way home by 9 am, no harm, no foul!
I arrived back home just after the grandson was dropped off by his mother and things got interesting very quickly. Let me just say this. If I ever see the Lady and the Tramp video again I’ll scream out loud. We also watched Alvin and the Chipmunks and of course Shrek one more blessed time. That’s four hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Needless to say our young man is beginning to talk a lot. Unfortunately only he really knows what he’s saying. As we sat and watched Shrek he talked nonstop for ten minutes as he told me something about the movie but I have no clue what it was. He rambled on and on and was laughing and giggling. I just nodded and smiled when I thought it was necessary and he was thrilled. Maybe someday soon when he’s a little older he’ll explain to me what the hell was so damn funny. It had something to do with the donkey but that’s about all I really know. He thought it was hysterical.
Later I invited him into the kitchen to keep me company while I made us breakfast. He loved the scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast and couldn’t wait to tell his mother I’d cooked for him. I was happy to get him into the kitchen at such a young age because it’ll make it so much easier to teach him how to cook on down the road. Once I tell him that most women love a man who can cook for them he’ll be hooked just like I was.
He just left with his mom, had an armload of movies, and a few stories to tell his dad later tonight. He’s just so much fun to spend time with but now it’s time for a serious nap because he wears me out.
I love cold weather but this is getting ridiculous. My better-half also likes the temperature in the house kept around 65 degrees but even she’s spending more time in the bedroom wrapped in that wonderful electric blanket of ours. We’ve been in the single digits for the last two days and below zero today with wind chills bordering on dangerous and even life threatening.
I may look a little silly wandering around the house at the end of a fifty foot extension cord but I don’t really care. There are certain male body parts that demand warmth and I’m making sure they get it. So what if I have a heating pad stuffed down my sweat pants and who really cares about that stupid looking orange extension cord. I have my priorities set and no one will convince me otherwise.
Trying to stay busy and warm brought me to my next task. I’ve had three gallons of dandelion wine sitting in the man-cave for almost six months. After four months it was still a little too cloudy which required me to take emergency measures to clear it. There’s a product called Sparkloid that is nothing more than very fine clay dust. It’s mixed with water and brought to a boil for twenty minutes or so. Then each gallon jug receives a portion of that mix and is left to settle for a few weeks. It worked like a charm because I now have three gallons of a crystal clear golden liquid the exact color of dandelion blossoms.
After doing a little repair work to my wine racks I began the siphoning and bottling process. My final tally was thirteen bottles of a beautiful wine that actually tastes a little like a Chardonnay but a bit sweeter.
I boiled the corks in clean water and corked each bottle. I put a nice golden cap on each and they’re now reading for storage in the wine rack. As you can see from the photos there are thirteen bottles and a small jar of wine. That small jar I’ll be drinking with my dinner tonight. I want it chilled until it’s close to freezing and then I’ll sip it slowly and savor the flavor. I’ve made dandelion wine a number of times over the years but I think this might be my best batch ever. It’s always a pain in the butt to make dandelion wine because it takes forever to pick and prepare the blossoms. They must be cleaned of all pieces of leaves and debris and then frozen for a week or so. The freezing helps to breakdown the blossoms and convinces them to give up their beautiful color when they’re finally put in with the yeast.
This coming summer will be an interesting time for me because I fully intend to go outside the box with my winemaking projects. I want to make a few batches from ingredients that are not normally used for wine making but trying to do something never done before can be difficult. I look forward to the challenge and hopefully the results will be a few bottles of a really unique wine.
B r r r r !!!
Finally Christmas has come and gone. For me it was the longest Christmas season of my life. The retailers started their season well before Halloween and it increased in intensity every week. It wasn’t all that bad but it truly was annoying at times.
The house is quiet for the first time in a week and while I had a great week it was also exhausting. The visitors and family have returned to their homes safely and for that I’m grateful. I ate too damn much, drank a little more than I should have, and helped spoil the hell out of our grandson. It was all good until I climbed back onto my treadmill yesterday. I thought I was gonna die.
Christmas Day was insane as you can see from the pictures. The grandson was sitting in the middle of the debris and I just thought I’d tell you that my cat is also in there somewhere.
“Stuffing”
My bird turned out great and so did the better-half’s special family stuffing recipe. The day after we all had cold turkey sandwiches that we’re almost as good as eating it fresh from the oven. I see a huge turkey pot pie in my future and after that the remains of that poor bird will make an excellent soup. If I could figure a way to eat the bones I would. I’m a true carnivore. Here’s the before and after photos of that delicious bird.
“Before”
“After”
I suppose we’ll be keeping the decorations up until New Years has but there’s more going on there than even you can imagine. A few days ago my step- daughter made a comment that she knew me and was sure that the Christmas tree would be down and packed away before 2015. After some discussion my better-half and I decided to do something totally off the wall and outside the box. It looks as if we’re going to keep the tree up for all of 2015. Each month it will be decorated for any holidays that fall during that month. Next up will be the Valentines Tree but before that the Superbowl Tree will be killer.
Each months pictures will be posted of the tree and copies forwarded to the all knowing step-daughter as well. I’ve accepted her challenge and it should be a hoot.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
This stretch of cold and rainy weather has pretty much kept me in the house for the last few days. I was starting to climb the walls a bit when I received a call from my better-half from work to discuss arrangements for dinner. I assumed from the call that she wasn’t interested in cooking and needed me to help out a little. She suggested that maybe just maybe I could make a batch of my chili.
After agreeing I checked my latest recipe for the necessary ingredients and I was out the door and on my way to get them. You need to understand something important, when I make a batch of chili I make a huge batch. My normal recipes result in upwards of ten quarts and sometime even more. It was a quick shopping trip and I returned home and got to work.
This was a new recipe I created after tasting the chili pictured below during one of our luncheon forays to Kennebunkport, Maine. That chili contained a lot of cheese and a healthy number of calories due to the ground beef and oils used in preparation. As you can see it looks incredible and tasted even better.
‘Thanks Federal Jack’
I substituted a mixture of ground chicken and turkey to replace the beef, then eliminated the oil by browning the meat in Smart Balance. It was then a simple matter of adding the remaining ingredients and spices and cooking it for a few minutes.
Most of the state of Texas would string me up by my heels for ever calling my chili, Chili. Fortunately I cook and flavor foods so they taste good to me. I like my chili super hot and use a mixture of Cayenne and Habanero peppers that bring it to life in a big way. I also use a selection of beans with different flavors and textures which apparently is a big NO NO in chili cooking circles. Just to add insult to injury I always, regardless of the ingredients, add diced potatoes. Strikes two and three as far as Texas is concerned.
A short time later I had my finished product, a batch of Black Bean & Corn chili, and to hell with all of you chili purists. It tastes exactly the way I wanted, hot as blazes, with no red meat or oil used. It looks a little like the restaurant version but certainly has more flavor and an increased level of heat. As is usually the case most restaurants serve a medium heat chili unless it happens to be a Mexican restaurant. Here it is.
We had a couple of bowls each for dinner that night and loved it. We then packaged up the rest for freezing which should supply us with five or six hearty meals this winter. Life is good.
The big day has finally arrived and now my better-half is one year older. I’ve never been one to celebrate my own birthdays but for her I can make an exception. We started the day off perfectly when we looked out the window of our bedroom to see the first snow fall of the year. We’d had a flurry or two a week ago but this snow covered everything just like it should and as you can see.
She was on a day-off which allowed us to be bed buddies for an hour or so. I brought her some excellent coffee and we relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the moment. Much to her surprise I’d hidden a birthday gift or two in the closet and brought them out. Our normal routine has always been to open gifts at the end of the day but I wanted to change things up a little. She opened her gifts and read her cards (one funny and one mushy) and we planned the remainder of our day.
It wasn’t long before we were in the car and on our way to Lowe’s. What better way to start her birthday than with a snow storm and a flu shot. That little chore took five minutes and we were headed out to Portland for a day of walking around, people watching, and shopping.
You’ve got to love shopping in Portland. Let’s see if you can guess what state your in by the merchandise they have available for sale.
We made a few purchases and hallelujah, a birthday miracle, the sun came out and the skies cleared. It was still cold as hell but it was turning into a perfect Maine winter day. We were thoroughly enjoying the day and decided to stop at a little out of the way tavern for a quick drink and some French fries. They also have this great fish tank.
It was while we were there that she contacted some friends who we socialize with occasionally and agreed to meet later for drinks. We left Portland and made our way to my favorite coffee spot located inside the Maine Mall. I ordered us both some excellent Ethiopian coffee and we split one of their triple berry yogurt muffins, It was incredible.
We had our dinner at the nearby Sebago Brewery which while being a small brewery is also a restaurant and bar and usually packed with people. A Friday nite at this place is a freaking zoo and we were dropped right in the middle of it. We finished our meal and a short time later our friends arrived and the birthday celebration continued. Her day was filled with emails, messages, and the dozen or so tweets she posted on Twitter. She also received calls from her children, siblings, and other friends. She was in heaven.
We returned home at a reasonable hour, fell into bed and relaxed. That’s when I brought out her quad-chocolate layer cake. She blew out her candles, made her magical wish, cut us two slices, and we pigged out a little. What better way to finish our day right where it all started. More laughing and enjoying each other’s company and then to sleep. Isn’t that what it’s all about after all.
Happy Birthday Lovey!
everyuselessthing.com 