Remember Me?

Do you? I used to cook stuff and write about it? I still cook. But apparently, I have forgotten how to write. I've recently been convinced that I need to write more frequently, even if I end up churning out mindless drivel instead of meaningful content, so today represents a (hopefully lasting) shift in my bloggy persona. Today I will begin posting more often, and let the chips (and dip) fall where they may.

Today's topic: Gardening.

This year, for the first time ever, I planted a garden. We had a garden last year, but we also had a renter who took care of it. While last year, my garden responsibilities were limited to clipping basil and turning it into pesto and pesto-related treats, this year, I'm it. I'm our sole gardener.

Because I do very few things by half-measures, I am now slightly obsessed with our garden.

I really couldn't tell you what all last year's garden included, since I was on bed rest for the planting, and on infant-duty and sub-par sleep for the rest of the growing season. Besides: it was Shaun and Emily's garden, and we were just loaning them the land. Isn't ignorance what lazy landlords do best? I think there was broccoli, and I know there were cucumber plants and tomatoes and peppers and jalapenos, and two kinds of melon, and a truck load of parsley for our renter's fiancee's rabbit, Mrs. Bennett.

There were other things in that inaugural garden, but I'll be flogged if I can remember. The only thing I remember thinking was that there were certain things I couldn't imagine having a garden WITHOUT, and a bunch of those things weren't a part of last year's offerings. I remember thinking, why on earth wouldn't you plant green beans? Who plants a garden without green beans? Isn't it interesting how some people are so misguided about the vegetables they enjoy? Oh, I kid. But I knew for certain that if I were planting and watering and weeding, there were a few things I'd add to the garden, and a few things I'd subtract. In fact, I even made a Google document entitled "Garden '09 Wish List" so I could remember for this year what I thought really, really belonged in a garden.

Here's the list, constructed sometime last winter:
lettuce
spinach
green beans
tomatoes
peppers
cucumbers
jalapenos

cilantro
basil
oregano
thyme
dill

Sounds simple, doesn't it? But then planting season came around, and to those 12 must-haves, I added:
chives
radishes
scallions
onions
sugar snap peas
grape tomatoes
a potato that had sprouted in my cupboard
and a vine-y plant that spontaneously came up in our garden, and whose identity has still to be determined. I'd guess pumpkins, only we've never had pumpkins in our garden before, so we'll just have to wait and see.

And in the past couple of days, I planted four more pepper plants and two hot pepper plants the name of which I can't remember.

For those of you keeping track at home, that's 21 (TWENTY ONE) separate crops. 21 different things to manage in my first go-around as a gardener.

Am I a fool?

Don't answer that.

Tomorrow: Tending the crop also known as WEEDS.

Quick and Easy Donuts

Don't they look scrumptious?

A few years ago, Vicki, a woman from church, told me that sometimes, on Saturday mornings, she makes homemade donuts for her family. Vicki is one of those women you just secretly loathe, just because she's pretty AND nice AND talented AND organized AND has perfect children AND AND AND. You know the type. So anyway, I figured she had some old family recipe that she slaved over every Saturday morning in the name of love. But then she told me that she uses buttermilk biscuits...from a can. In that moment, I loathed her a little less. Because how can you loathe anyone who introduces you to the ease and magic of making donuts at home using a 35-cent can of biscuits? I made them this morning for my kids, and it took all of 5 minutes, start-to-finish.


Quick and Easy Donuts

1 can refrigerated buttermilk donuts
vegetable oil or shortening

Optional toppings:
sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon, chocolate frosting, sprinkles...the sky's the limit!

Pour vegetable oil about 1/2 inch deep in a skillet. Place over medium heat. Splash a few drops of water into the cold oil. As the oil heats, the water will pop. when the water droplets have about stopped popping, your oil is ready to use.

Separate the biscuits and poke a hole in the middle of each to give it that classic donut shape and also to make sure it gets cooked evenly. Drop donuts into the hot oil (I always try one by itself first to make certain the oil is the right temperature), frying for about 45 seconds on one side, flipping, and frying about 45 seconds on the other side. It really will be to your advantage to do a test donut first to gauge how hot your oil is running. Your time may be slightly different. In any case, don't walk away, because these little gems cook up FAST!

When the donuts are a deep golden brown, remove and drain on a cooling rack. When the donuts have cooled to the touch, toss them with powdered sugar, plain sugar, or a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Or melt a small amount of frosting in the microwave and twirl the tops of your donuts in the frosting, topping with nonpareil sprinkles. Or mix powdered sugar and a little bit of milk for glazed donuts--twirl donuts in the glaze mixture or drizzle over top. Use your imagination! Ooh...I bet if you didn't put the hole in the middle, you could use a food syringe and fill the donuts with jelly or pudding or custard! I've never tried it, but I bet it would work.

I buy my biscuits from Aldi, and they really are about 35 cents. For ten hot, homemade donuts, that's not bad!

It's Still Monday Where I Live

, so technically, this is still Menu Plan Monday. But my-oh-my, I've got to start posting some recipes on Ye Olde Neglected Blog again. I tried a recipe this past week for a Lemon Pound Cake that I thought sounded great, and which I hoped I would be able to post about. It was exceptionally labor intensive--zesting and supreming four lemons, making lemon sugar, warming the eggs separately, etc--and I had very high hopes for its success. And the cake fell short. Literally. My cake fell. Short. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a huge deal, except for the fact I was making it for a friend's wedding reception, a time when you want your food to be pretty perfect. The good news is that when it was cut up, it looked fine, and it still tasted good. The bad news is that it took me so long to make this cake that I will never make it again. It was good, but not worth all of the effort. So, long story short, I won't be posting a recipe for Lemon Pound Cake, at least until I can find a recipe that is much, much simpler.

ALSO, I've been cooking from memory and without safety nets a lot lately, not really using "recipes," and making lots of stuff that either a) needs no recipe to make, or b) I've already posted. Hmmmm. Maybe I need to spice it up a bit?

On deck this week.....

Monday
(we had the Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Salad that I didn't make on Saturday)

Tuesday
BBQ Ribs
Roasted Sweet Corn
Klondike Rose Potato Salad

Wednesday
Hawaiian Chicken
Rice Pilaf
Watermelon

Thursday
Grilled Steak Salad
with homemade dressing and croutons

Friday
Turkey Club Sandwiches
(on Naan)

Saturday
Maple Sesame Bacon Fried Rice
Homemade Egg Rolls (or pot stickers, if I'm feeling adventuresome)

Sunday
Takeout, I hope!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was The Week of Garden Craziness, wherein I pledged virtually every available moment to getting my garden planted. Except for radishes and scallions, it is now planted, but now I find myself in the unenviable position of having mountains of laundry to do, dishes to wash, and floors to vacuum. Our family of five can DESTROY a house in two days...and it has been six since I did any amount of housework. I have my work cut out for me.

But we still have to eat. And life still goes on: this week, I have a choir rehearsal on Thursday, a benefit concert on Friday, and 5 loaves of quick bread to make for a wedding on Saturday. There's no rest for the weary, so there had better be good sustenance. On that note, here's what I've got planned for this week:

Monday
Grilled Thin-cut Pork Chops
Greeky-Greek Roasted Red Potatoes
Broccoli and Cheese

Tuesday
Burgers (with Vidalias!)
Salad

Wednesday
Fried Chicken
Authentic Garlic Bread
Roasted Green Beans

Thursday
Country-style Pork Ribs (Crock Pot/Broiler)
Shells and Cheese
Glazed Carrots

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
More catch-as-catch-can

Sunday
Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Salad

Menu Plan Monday

Wheee! Warm weather! This week's menu plan reflects that (kinda?). I'm into fresh produce now that the weather is nice--this week's grocery cart was filled mostly with produce for Tuesday's fiesta dinner. I'm not Mexican, but I will celebrate just about any holiday that gives me an excuse to make Mexican food. Shoot, I'll celebrate any holiday that encourages me to cook with cilantro and lime. Mmmmmm.

Have a great week!

Monday
Chicken Florentine in garlic cream sauce
Orzo

Tuesday--Cinco de Mayo
Beef and Chicken Fajitas
Guacamole
Salsa
Refried Beans
Mexican Rice

Wednesday
Schultzie's Mess (Breakfast Scramble with Ham, Onions, Green Peppers, Hash Browns, Eggs, and Cheese)

Thursday
Shredded Beef Sandwiches, toasted with sliced mozzarella
Roasted Yukon Rose Potatoes--JoJo style
Salad

Friday
Barbecued Country-Style Ribs
Roasted Green Beans
Broccoli Slaw with Homemade poppy seed dressing

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Subway

When the Cat's Away...

...the cook will play. Abe is away for the weekend (I just talked to him--today he played 27 holes of golf), and I toyed with the idea of taking the easy way out with meals while he was gone. Last night was easy--we had pizza and a play date. Today for lunch, we had leftover pizza. Easy. Frankly, I haven't been in a very chef-y place lately, so while I actually had a meal plan this week, I cooked not one single meal off of it this week, opting instead for whatever was easiest when dinner rolled around. THEN, this afternoon, I picked up my mail, and noticed that the new issue of Food Network Magazine had arrived.

And suddenly, the juices were flowing again.

I immediately started some chicken brining and began washing veggies, and I settled on a menu for tonight. Grilled Asian-Glazed Chicken, Sesame Teriyaki Noodles, and Grilled Vidalias, Orange Peppers, and Tomatoes. Abe wouldn't have eaten the grilled veggies anyway, so it's just as well. It turned out delicious, and I feel like I'm back in the saddle again.

SO. Have you made anything especially delicious lately? Tell me about it. I need some fresh ideas.

(fyi, that's a serving platter in the photo above, not my plate. I can pack it away, but not THAT well.)

Menu Plan Monday...at last!

Well, first, it was the crazy week before my knee surgery. I didn't make a menu plan, but I sure did clean like a mad woman. Then, it was the week after my knee surgery. My mother was here and cooked up a storm, but still no meal plan. Then it was the week after that, which by now is a complete blur, and then last week, my Aunt was here. She has multiple food sensitivities, so I really had no idea WHAT I was going to cook. It worked out okay, but the words meal plan never crossed my lips.

Which brings us to the present. My knee is doing quite well, and I'm fully mobile with no house guests. I'm ready to get my ducks in a row again!

Monday
Neapolitan Pizza (Margherita for me, something else for Abe)
Salad

Tuesday
Bacon Sesame Maple Fried Rice
Homemade Egg Rolls

Wednesday
Roast Chicken
Greeky Greek Roasted Potatoes
Broccoli

Thursday
Aglio e Olio with Chicken
Salad

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
Subs

Sunday
Take out!

Menu Plan Monday

It's still Monday, even though it's 9:30 pm and one of this week's meals is already in the bag, so to speak. Weird week ahead--I've chosen a menu that will hopefully provide many leftovers so that after I have my knee surgery on Friday, we'll have some food left to sustain us until my mom arrives on Tuesday evening to feed us. So if it looks like I'm cooking for an army, that's why.

Monday (dinner elsewhere)
Broccoli Rice casserole
(And some very tasty pork steaks smothered in a rich rosemary and mushroom cream sauce. Thanks, Beth!)

Tuesday
Shepherd's Pie

Wednesday
BBQ Western Pork Ribs
Baked Mac n Cheese
Corn Dish

Thursday
Chicken Tetrazzini
Salad

Friday
Taco Soup
Rice
(and fritos and cheese for garnish)

Saturday
Leftovers/Sandwiches

Sunday
Takeout/Leftovers

Monday, next
good question

Tuesday
hope Mom gets here soon

Come to think of it, there's nary a mess tent to be found here. Perhaps I need to cook a little bit more, just to have it on hand... Maybe I can toss a pot roast in there somewhere, with some roasted potatoes. Hmmmm.... or maybe some stew. Or a turkey.

The Best Pork Roast I've Ever Made

A while back, there was an amazing sale on center-cut pork loin (Beth C., if you're reading this, I apologize for the use of the words pork and loin), so I snapped up a big one and portioned it off, and froze the portions for future use. I had planned to use one piece of it this past Friday for pork chops, but we invited Abe's sister's family over for a dinner/tile laying party, so I wound up doing pork roast instead.

Before I continue, let me say that I'm hardly ever excited about eating pork roast. I didn't eat it growing up, and I usually like some sort of glaze that covers it all, as with pork chops, and pork roast doesn't really jive with those things. But after Friday's Pork Roasts, I'm rethinking pork. With this recipe, I think I'll love pork roast from now on.

I started with a recipe from allrecipes.com, and modified, modified, modified, and this is what I came up with.

Glazed Herb Pork Roast

Roast and brine:
approx. 5 lb. pork loin
1/3 c. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 c. hot water

Rub:
1 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder

Glaze:
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. apricot or peach jam

In a large bowl, dissolve the salt and sugar in the hot water to make the brine. Submerge pork loin, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours. While the roast brines, combine the sage, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for the rub.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine, and discard brine. Pat pork dry with paper towels, and rub all over with garlic/sage mixture. Place roast fat side up on a wire rack above a cookie sheet lined with foil or a silicone mat (trust me on this one). I used a cooling rack sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, but you could also use a v-rack if you have one. Place pork in oven, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. (*NOTE: I used two smaller pieces of pork, and the total cooking time was around 1:15, but a whole 5-lb. roast will take longer.)

Meanwhile, whisk together glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan, then cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens slightly. Brush this glaze over the pork 3-4 times toward the end of the cooking time.

After removing pork from the oven, allow it to rest for ten minutes before carving. Pour any remining glaze over the sliced roast, or serve glaze alongside.

Serves 6-8.

Menu Plan Monday

April, I hope this helps. Thanks for the encouragement--until your comment, I hadn't even sat down to make a plan! Now I've got one, and I'm actually looking forward to dinner this week. Hope your plan works out!

Monday
Brats/Italian Sausage
Sauteed Onions
Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

Tuesday
Grilled Steak
Fried Potatoes with Garlic and Dill
Corn Dish

Wednesday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JUDAH!)
Chicken Nuggets
Oven Fries
Green Beans Amandine

Thursday
Focaccia Pizza
Salad

Friday
Chicken and Vegetable Three-Cheese Lasagna Rolls

Saturday
Ham and Scalloped Potatoes (we didn't have this last week)
Steamed Peas

Sunday
Leftovers