Leftovers and Sapphire Blue

With the holidays, there have been a lot of posts from people who have had leftovers and turned it into wonderful second dinners, lunches or even, in Larry's case, drool-inducing breakfasts. And I can do nothing but whine about never having leftovers.

But I fibbed, just a little. I roasted two chickens last week (feeding 11 people, how can I roast just one?), and saved the carcasses. This caused countless jokes about hiding the evidence lest law enforcement accuse me of hennicide, and wailing about the dead bodies in the refrigerator. Yesterday, I tossed them in a pot of water and simmered for a long time with chopped onions, carrots and celery. After removing the bones and putting the meat back in the pot, I took a box of leftover rice from take-out Chinese one night, and dumped the whole thing in the soup. Generous amounts of poultry seasoning, all-day simmering and snacking, and everyone agreed to "let" me keep dead bodies in the fridge if I really wanted to.

And, the last of 2010's sewing was sapphire blue (or maybe royal blue) stretch velour. I actually had 6 yards of it, and only used about 3.5 yards. Here's most of what I made:

Long sleeved, square necked dress,
Long sleeved, round necked top
Two color, princess seamed dress with wide straps, shown with....
Shrug style jacket lined with royal blue double knit polyester
A-line, spaghetti strapped dress, to be worn with jacket
Cami, not shown, to be worn with jacket

I really like this color, so I'm leaving the balance of this fabric until inspiration strikes, maybe next year.

Dark purple and midnight blue are in progress. Hey, I need to get this made before the winter is over, after all.

And Mango, don't worry, this is all 100% slobber-proof gear.

Thor will have a big announcement in the next 2 days. You don't want to miss it!

Basic Bread

When we make something a lot, sometimes we tend to try to make them ever fancier and more interesting. But in reading my old falling apart cookbook, the one I got at McCrory's around 1975 for $1, I found a recipe for this very basic bread. Tweak the size just a bit to fit the bread maker, and hooray! A simple bread that everyone enjoyed.

BASIC BREAD

1-1/2 cups warm milk
3 tsp or 6 tsp yeast
4 cups flour
2-1/2 tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter

In your mixing bowl or bread machine bucket, dissolve the yeast in the milk (use 3 tsp if you're not in a hurry, and 6 tsp if you're like me and always behind schedule). Add the remaining ingredients and process according to my directions over to the side. Allow the bread to bake in the machine if you're so inclined (let's face it, that is the easiest way), or remove it after the first kneading, split in 2 pieces, and fit into two greased 8x4 loaf pans. Let rise until doubled, and bake at 350F (375 for metal pans) about 24 to 26 minutes, until the desired golden color is achieved.

Wait a few minutes before slicing, if you can, because this is so soft and fluffy.

And if you happen to have a half loaf left over, it makes great toast the next day - with or without peanut butter!

Dogs on Thursday: Thor's Sister's Birthday

Thor's oldest girl turned 24 recently. She's about to start her final semester in law school, and Thor wanted the celebration to be a very happy one. So he howled along with the family. Let's be honest here, there's not a one of us who can carry a tune in a bucket, and I do believe that the kids try to outdo each other in tunelessness.
Thor begged for a piece of cake, so his girl gave him some.
That was good. May I have another?
No more? Awww. Please? Look how cute I am!
And if you haven't seen our 2AM post, please scroll down one farther, and help homeless doggies and kittycats from our area. Thank you.

Happy Thorsday, everyone!

Early Dogs on Thursday: Please help!

No, Thor does not need help. But animals in my county do.

There is no government run animal shelter here. So strays are brought to a privately owned animal shelter, which exists solely on donations and whatever the governments give them. I was outraged in December to learn that the City of Scranton brings hundreds of strays to the shelter every year, and has budgeted only $6500 for the shelter. This shelter takes in about 6500 animals per year, and spends about $100 per animal spaying, neutering and caring for them, and Scranton wants to donate less than $10 per animal they bring in? It's a @#&**!! outrage! (And, yes, I do donate, as does my tiny town, so I have the right to be outraged.)

So, a local lady learned about a contest run by Pepsi Cola - a fine product, indeed, and the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter is in very serious contention to win a $50,000 donation from Pepsi! This will help 500 animals, and it won't cost you a cent. You can read the complete article from our local newspaper here. And then, Thor has a request.

Please vote for the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter to win this contest! And please pass this link along to everyone you know! In case Mom messed up the link, because she's on the way to bed, the lazy bum, it's www.refresheverything.com/savethepuppies , OK? All doggies and kittycats deserve to be as well loved as I am.

Thank you. I love you all.

A real Thor post will appear later, we promise!

Easy Pasta Side Dish

I have a lot of fans of pasta with white clam sauce around here, but I don't want to serve it as a main dish. I have concocted a lighter version, with fewer clams but still plenty of flavor. Real Italians, please don't be offended that I've messed with your food heritage.

PASTA WITH WHITE CLAM SAUCE AS A SIDE

1 pound linguini, spaghetti or angel hair
2 6-ounce cans of whole clams
olive oil
3 minced garlic cloves
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
copious amounts of fresh ground black pepper
2 cups pasta cooking water

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Pour some of the cooking water into a 2 cup measuring cup, and set aside, then drain the pasta and put your pot lid on top of the colander to keep the pasta hot. Return your pot to the stove, and pour enough olive oil into the pot to just cover the bottom. Turn the stove to medium heat and saute the minced garlic and scallions for a minute. Add the parsley, and cook another minute. Add the clams with the juice from the can, quickly heat through, then add the pasta back to the pan and turn off the heat. Stir the pasta to combine it with the sauce, and add enough of the reserved pasta water to give it your desired consistency. Serve at once.

This is very fast, very flavorful and relatively low calorie (and it only uses one pan, so cleanup is easy). What more could you want in January, when we are all still resolving to lose a few pounds?

(And, yes, we are still using our Christmas dishes. I'm not allowed to put them away until all of the kids have returned to college, January 17th).

Garden Tuesday: Christmas plants

My girls bought me a small poinsettia a few days before Christmas. They were disappointed that they couldn't find any with glitter on them.

They also bought their Daddy a Norfolk Pine. Evidently, they don't grow much, and can't survive in temperatures below 65F. It's not exactly suited to my climate, is it?

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Italian Bread Sticks

Bread Sticks are a very popular item in my house; what's not to love about a bread stick? They're very portable, flavorful and filling. As an added bonus, they're very easy to make, and that is my favorite part of them. So, on New Year's Eve, I made a batch of Italian flavored bread sticks, which I thought you'd all enjoy.

ITALIAN BREAD STICKS

1-1/3 cups warm water
3 tsp or 6 tsp yeast
4 cups flour
1/4 cup powdered milk
4 tsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, cut in small pieces

1 tbsp melted butter
garlic powder
oregano

Pour the water in your bread machine bucket or mixing bowl, and sprinkle the yeast over it. Use 3 tsp yeast (1 packet) if you have time to wait for the dough to rise, or 6 tsp if you're in a hurry (I'm always in a hurry). Add the remaining ingredients in the order given, and mix according to my bread making directions (see icon to the right). After the dough has been mixed, let it rise 15 minutes, punch it down, and divide into 16 to 20 pieces. Roll each into a small rope, and lay on a greased baking sheet. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter, and mix with garlic powder (start with 1/2 tsp and increase if you like. Brush on top of the bread sticks, then sprinkle oregano over the top. Let the bread sticks rise until doubled in size, then bake at 400F for 18 to 20 minutes, depending upon how dark you want your bread sticks. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping, and stand out of the way of the stampede coming back for more!

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve dinner is typically what my guys refer to as "snackage". Last night was no different: meatballs, egg rolls, BBQ chicken chunks, mozzarella sticks, pineapple chunks, bread sticks, sweet and sour sauce and marinara.

In the interest of full disclosure, you should know (if you hadn't guessed) that I bought the egg rolls, mozzarella sticks, BBQ sauce and sweet and sour sauce. I deserved an easy night, after all!

No New Year's resolutions here. Oh, sure, I'm always going to "not buy fabric until I've used much of what I have" and "maintain my weight" and all that stuff, but that's every day, and not that special! I am going to try to follow Pam's example and take a picture a day, but no link to that until I've managed to keep it up for more than a day!

Happy New Year, everyone; here's hoping 2011 shows improvement for all of us around the world, whatever our wishes might be!

Dogs on Thursday: Thor's Christmas

In our house, Christmas Eve is when the kids exchange gifts with each other. Thor gets plenty of presents, and always opens them gleefully.
This is his new blue elephant, and Thor's been hauling him around for everyone to play with! he also tries to trade elephant playtime for food, but that's another story.
And, of course, on Christmas, Patrick needed help opening his presents. Or maybe it was just that he needed help shredding the paper. I'm not sure which.
Happy Thorsday, everyone!

Garden Tuesday: After the Blizzard

So, within 125 miles of me, Philadelphia got a foot of snow, New York city got 2 feet, and New Jersey approached 3 feet. My paper claims we got 5" of snow.

Does this look like 5" of snow to you? It has not been plowed.

Here's Thor's footprint in the 5" of snow, alongside mine.

OK, my footprint is a little odd looking, because I was wearing my new Rocket Dog shoes. Here's a picture, because I know those gents in the over 125 year old set love the flash of a well turned ankle. Or maybe just because my lady friends are always looking for new shoes to love.
How much snow did all of you get?

A One Horse Open Sleigh

At the tree farm, there was a One Horse Open Sleigh on display in the back yard. It does not look like the kind of transportation I would enjoy.

Naturally, Thor and I had to stuff people into the sleigh for pictures. Aren't we festive?

(I am rather offended that the sign at the Christmas Tree Farm says "Happy Holidays". Am I nuts?)

Merry Christmas to all of you, my invisible friends. I wish you much love and happiness through the season, and here's hoping for a better 2011!

Christmas Week Menu Planning

Well, to answer your questions, there was a lot of grumbling going on in the Suburban. And, of course, everyone informed me that we "always" take "at least" 2 cars, which has never happened. So, while my order that everyone was going to be merry was not met with the greatest of enthusiasm, at least the grumbling ceased. And we rode home with the tree INSIDE the Suburban, along with 8 people and Thor, because it was too cold for the boys to merrily tie it to the luggage rack.
For the Florida Violin Mom, we love scoping out the 10 foot to 12 foot trees, but have only an 8 foot ceiling in the family room, so we stick with the standard sized trees.

The kids and Thor put the lights and "garlic" on the tree (so called because some of them couldn't pronounce "garland" about a million years ago), and we still have a tree covered with only lights and garlic. But at least it's lit, and smells nice.
Now, the food plan for the rest of the week:

Today, Wednesday:

Eye Round Roast
Heart Attack potatoes
creamed corn
steamed broccoli spears
Pullman Bread
Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting

Thursday, 12/23:

Roast turkey breast
stuffing
salad
corn bears (corn bread in little bear shaped pans)
pumpkin pie (because I like it)

Christmas Eve:

Shrimp Scampi
Angel Hair
Salad
Sponge Cake

Christmas Dinner:

Standing Rib Roast
Yorkshire Pudding
Rock Potatoes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Spinach Salad

Christmas Morning:

2 pans of brownies (with and without walnuts)
chocolate cake
2 color cake
4 loaves cranberry bread
2 loaves banana bread
Christmas punch
hot chocolate

And, in case you want a great Christmas punch, here it is:

12 ounce can orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 liter bottle diet cranberry ginger ale
1/2 pound frozen strawberries
whipped cream

Pour the orange juice into a punch bowl, and slowly add the ginger ale (so it stays bubbly). Add the frozen strawberries; they will keep your punch cold. Top with whipped cream - I make mine fresh, but use canned or cool whip if that's what floats your boat! It's good, it does have some redeeming nutritional qualities, it's not loaded with sugar, and, best of all, it's really, really easy!

Thor leaves you with a picture of the new Santa hat his soon-to-be lawyer girl bought him. He does not look that pleased to me!