Oktoberfest

The first meeting of each month our Elk's Lodge has a social hour and this month's theme is Oktoberfest!  Each one of brings a dish to share with the group.  My fathers grandparents were both born in Germany and passed along some of the food traditions that they grew up with and of course getting these recipes out of my grandmother and aunt was like pulling teeth!  I will never understand why people don't want to share the wealth but perhaps it is that little part of the world they have cornered and they don't want anyone else treading on it!

There are a few things that take me back to my childhood, one of them is poppy seed rolls (the aunt never did share this recipe) and the other is Sauerbraten mit Gaduflglasen (roughly translated sour meat with potato balls) which she did share.

My mother (who had not a lick of German in her) made a mean Sauerbraten and would always serve it while I was pregnant the day before I had to go to the Ob/Gyn for my monthly weigh in. This is far from a light meal but it is absolutely delicious (even though it sounds yucky).  You marinade the beef roast for three days in vinegar and spices than simmer it and make a killer gravy using ginger snaps to thicken the sauce.  The potato balls are a bit trickier..you need just the right type of potatoes or the balls commit potato-acide in the boiling water...even with the right moisture level in the tater I honestly think you need to have a certain amount of starch (also known as potato balls) in the water before the rest decide it's okay to cook and then rise to the top where you carefully scoop them out.  All this is even better as left overs...and you all know how much I love gravy.  Mom would cut the potato balls in half, fry them in butter and serve them up with the meat, gravy and pickled red cabbage...can you say delicious???

So the long and the short of this story (I bet you were wondering) is what do I make for Tuesday night and non-experimental, boring eating Elks?  Someone else has taken the easy way out and is doing the brats...that doesn't leave much other than German Potato Salad, Apple Strudel or what ever else I can find on the Internet....

Life

It's hard getting started again after you have stopped for a while....especially if you are in a cooking slump!  There have been some pretty good meals, some new things tried, experiences I should have shared but...I need a good swift kick in the tuckus to get going again!

We had one of the daughters staying with us for many months and it really affects your life.  It's not like when they are little and you can tell them what to do when...it's tough.  When the two of you plus the dog becomes the three of you plus the dog, when you can't walk around the house without clothes on or have some fun on the couch.  When you are trying to cheer on someone who is unable to be cheered on, or motivate someone who cannot deal with motivation.  We both love our daughters but I think we love them more from a distance, the daughter probably feels the same way.  It has got to be tough to wind up as an adult back at home where your parents still sort of see you as a kid even though you aren't.  When you can't get yourself back together and everything feels like it is falling apart.  Telling her she needed to move on was the toughest thing I have ever done in my life...I love her with my whole heart but...I cannot live with her.  We are too different.

Slowly we are putting our simple life back together again and I hope and pray that she is too.

Love you Oh Daughter Of Mine...

Baked Red Mashed Potatoes

Sunday night I was baking sweet potatoes for dinner but really had a hankering for mashed potatoes.  I didn't feel like peeling the little red taters and boiling them so off to the Internet I went.  No where could I find a recipe for baked mashed red potatoes so...being the brave soul I am an experiment was called for.

This was as about as easy as it comes, it would probably work better in the winter months when you don't mind having the oven on.  All it takes is scrubbing the potatoes and bake them in a 350 degree oven until they are fork tender.  Place them in a bowl and smush them with a potato masher.  After they are sort of smushed I use the electric mixer along with some milk or yogurt and butter then mix them together until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste and you are finished!

Michael said it tasted like baked potatoes but better and it was far from labor intensive!

This is only a test...

The youngest daughter is an excellent cook and one of her specialties is Roast Lamb...mmmmm.  In celebration of my up coming birthday she brought me some of the left overs from last night (not sure how that rates in birthday gifts but this one is very, very tasty). 

So there we go, the meat is all set for dinner tonight now to decide what to make with it...

In the oven already there are sweet potatoes baking away but I have a taste for mashed red potatoes....tonight's test is, can you mash baked red potatoes with the skin on?

Details to follow.....

Still Bargain Shopping!

So you know I am always trying to find a way to squeeze a nickel...it's almost a game to me now "how much can I save".  I have a new addiction though and it is markdown meat.  Now I know you are thinking the same thing I thought for years...yuck...ewwww...gross...markdown meat?  I am now a major fan and it all started a couple of weeks back.

 I had a hankering for some beef which I think you all know is something not often eaten here.  So there I was at the Harris Teeter right around the beef section kinda window shopping (cause that's what I normally do in the vegetable and meat sections of that particular store) and what do my eyes spy but...3 Angus beef steaks for $3.35...I know I thought the same thing and even asked the guy at the meat counter if that could possibly be right...would something be marked for that little?  Turned out I was reading the wrong number and they were even less...how about 2.62?  Originally 21.00 now only that much?  So I looked around and snuck them into my cart carefully perusing the rest of the meat counter for more markdowns. 

So 3 meals later of some delicious steak and a few bargain purchases later (some beef and some boneless pork chops) I am going to be that person who is always checking out the markdown meat!!

On a totally different front I should soon be the proud owner of my own laptop since my desktop decided it had gone on for long enough and no longer had any interest in ingesting dog fur...I will be able to post much more regularly (since the kindle idea just didn't work for more than the one post anyway)!

Low-Country Boil 2

I don't know the history of the boil but I suspect it has to do with the availability of inexpensive ingredients and the need to feed large groups of people.  Here in the southeast US there are many who have made their living off the waters as is in other parts of the world, our claim to fame is shrimp and all who eat them from here of course say they are the tastiest they have ever had the opportunity to enjoy! 

The key to making this dish is cooking time.  Too little and the potatoes will not be cooked, too much and your shrimp will be rubbery.  I am going to tell you how much I used to feed about 20 folks with left overs and you can head from there.  We used a turkey fryer to cook ours but I suppose if you have a very very large stock pot it could be made on the stove.


Low Country Boil

8 lbs shrimp (heads off, shells still on)
15 ears of corn (shucked and broken in half)
6 lbs small red potatoes
6 lbs kielbasa cut in 1 inch pieces (we used beef but pork is fine)
1/2 container Old Bay seasoning
1 lemon cut in half

Place 8 quarts of water into pot, add the Old Bay and lemon.  Bring water to a boil and put in the potatoes cooking covered until fork tender.  Add the corn and kielbasa re-cover and cook for about 15 minutes or until corn is tender.  Add the shrimp cover and cook until shrimp are pink (you want to watch it at this point).

That's it...

So the cost for this feast...

Shrimp 8lbs with the heads on 3.00 a pound = 24.00
Beef Kielbasa 6 lbs 3.59 a pound                      25.00
Corn 15 ears (10 for 3.00)                                   4.50
Potatoes (3lbs 3.49 each)                                     7.00
Old Bay  (4.00 a container)                                 2.00
Total                                                                   62.00

You can add onions, carrots or even better fresh crab to this recipe and really round it out (the onions were on the menu here but I forgot until I opened the fridge and found them all peeled and ready to go).  No one seemed to miss them though! 

A Low-Country Boil

The surprises arrive

 Michael celebrated his 60th birthday back in May and this weekend we had a bash for him.  He knew about the party what he was not aware of was that his sisters and family were coming down from Greensboro NC to surprise him!

The hugs start

and go on...

and on....

Time for a gentlemanly handshake

One of my beautiful sister-in-laws

Looks like a story to me!

Utter chaos in the house and one happy dog!

Time for a cool beverage on the marsh

 We celebrated outside and fortunately the weather which has been very wet cooperated!

My family and friends!

Can we please have some food soon?

 A Low-Country Boil was on the menu.  If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying this simple treat you should!  It is tasty but better yet it's an affordable way to feed a large group (more so here due to the availability of fresh inexpensive shrimp).  Since I cannot figure out for the life of me how to add anything after the picture below (must be the computer could not be the operator) the recipe will follow on the next posting!

A beautiful day!