November 30, 2008 at 6:10 pm · Filed under NoBloPoMo 2008
So we have a winner, one very lucky winner!
Watch the video to see who won, then take a gander at your prize choices…
Prize choice 1: Lodge 3qt fryer, this pan rocks! Take note that cast iron takes a little love, but will last several lifetimes and cooks better than any pan out there…hands down!
November 29, 2008 at 5:04 pm · Filed under NoBloPoMo 2008
Well then, maybe I scared a few of you off with that last post? Not a single comment?
Anyway… this here post is a gentle reminder to enter the contest by leaving a comment in this post (click here) by tomorrow at 3pm PST if you haven’t already….
Yesterday was lovely. I made everything over a 3 day period so it really left less mess and most importantly less food to make all at once. I neglected to take a picture, but rest assured it was all delicious.
My long time friend spent the day with us and brought her very mysterious Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards. Well maybe the word mysterious isn’t accurate, but it conveys a sense of eeriness, no? Good then. So your supposed to shuffle them, feel them, caress them, and generally connect with them before laying them out which proved about impossible for me. That said, the first try we scrapped because it was just so ridiculously inaccurate (not quite sure what I was expecting but it really felt completely wrong). So she had me shuffle again with a gentle reminder to focus on the cards, so I tried, and the next reading was easier to make connections with. Funniest was that the last one we read actually was the apple card which was in relation to a shitty sales person experience…and I found it odd because earlier in the day my Apple laptop literally flew out of my hands to its death…sigh. So that was weird. But FRICK! one card said someone was casing my home or going to harm me or BEWARE DANGER IS IMMINENT! what is even more crappy about that card is I drew it both times AND it was in the same direction and same place each time, pretty sure that happens NEVER. So if you are casing my house, WATCH OUT WE HAVE DANGEROUS TRANSFORMERS, with dangerous HOTTERS (as Owen calls them) that will HURT YOU. Anyway these are pretty, when laid out they look like a lovely quilt, see:
I couldn’t get the flash just right, but hopefully you get the idea. And no! the evening did not slip into raising demons and partying with vampires, however it might have involved eye of newt soup, maybe.
This recipe is tried and true, but stuffing can’t really be made ahead with any success, it’s best served right away if you ask me…are you asking me? Well then, I didn’t want to skip this recipe in case one of you out there wanted to give it a whirl. This is a great space-time-dish saver, it’s a crockpot recipe! Fancy huh? And very delicious, pinky swear.
cranberry walnut crock pot stuffing
2 tbls olive oil
1 medium size yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme (1/2 that if all you have is powder)
1 tsp ground sage
2 tbls brandy
8 cups 1/2 inch bread cubes
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (I always leave this out for no particular reason)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups vegetable stock, as needed
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium. Add the onion and stir until softened. Add the thyme and sage, stirring to coat. Stir in brandy and cook for a minute or so. Transfer the onion mixture to the crockpot. Add the bread cubes, walnuts, cranberries, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir in just enough stock to moisten, and mix well. Taste for seasonings, adding a little more stock if the mixture seems really dry. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours. I would start this 5 hours before eating, I find that it tastes really good after it has sat for awhile in the crock. Serve hot.
I love sweet potatoes and yams, but not candied or marshmallow-ed or, uh, ruined (your experience might vary). Typically I smother them with margarine and salt, that sweet-salty thing does it for me. I recently tried some mashed yams with goat cheese, which is really actually good, but goat cheese is just kind of weird and stinky and hard to get past. I’ve done some experimenting and am really rather excited to share. Take note that all ingredients are not accurately measured.
Mashed Yam-Sweet Potatoes with capers
1 large sweet potato
1 med-small yam
1tbls room temperature Earth Balance or butter
neuchatel cheese (or regular cream cheese if you are adventurous)
dash of cayenne or hot chili powder
1-3 tbls of capers (drained)
salt to taste
Bake your potatoes until fork tender. I prick mine, wrap in foil and bake at 400˚F for about an hour, I put the yam in later since it is smaller and takes less time. If you have a microwave you can go ahead and cook them up that way too. After potatoes are baked, pre-heat oven to 350˚F, lightly grease pan (I used a loaf pan for this amount, if increasing amount grease a regular casserole dish). Peel the skin off and throw the potatoes in a ricer (or use a masher if that is all you have, but take note that a potato ricer is key for fluffy, lovely, tender mashed taters). I use a mixer, if you don’t have a mixer, drag a medium bowl out and use that. Start with about a 1/4cup neuchatel cheese, and increase as you mix if you would like more. Throw a dash of chili pepper in there and add some salt. Turn your mixer (or arm) on and mix until light and fluffy (scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go). Take your bowl out of the mixer, add 1-3 tbls of capers (I added 3 because I’m greedy like that) and mix lightly with a wooden spoon. Salt to taste. Spread mixture into your greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes and the top is golden.
I can’t wait to make this again, even the yam disliker husband of mine liked it, that has to be good for something.
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Holy stat counter implosion! Hi Sundry readers, sorry I have no hooters to share here…
