Fall And Family And Shepherd's Pie

Grandparenting, like most things, is a mix of ups and downs. We've had a good long visit with our two little ones. We did fun things like going to the pumpkin patch just down the road from our farm. Yes. Our neighbors have a pumpkin (and strawberry) farm! Little Lady picked the best pumpkins.

   

Mixed in with the good was the not-so-good. A sick baby, who thankfully is better now. A puny toddler.  And the grownups all got colds.

Shepherd's Pie - recipe at the bottom

Yet, we still had to eat. This was a new-to-me recipe. I've made shepherd's pie before but mostly without a recipe. This one was much more flavorful. And because I could make it in stages, it was manageable while watching the kiddos. This is truly comfort food. See the recipe below.

Because they stayed here longer than expected to recuperate, we needed to find things to keep Little Lady busy while Mommy worked from home (our home.) If you are searching for toddler activities, check your pantry. Scooping dry beans into containers and pouring them back in the bowl kept her occupied for a long time.

And you know we always bake—even with the smallest ones. Banana muffins were fun to make and fun to eat. Even her baby brother could mangle a little muffin and eat the crumbs.

Mommy sent me an Instagram post with this quick and easy activity—Halloween matching. You could also match shapes or colors or animals or fruits & vegetables or Christmas items. Just draw a few simple shapes on a long paper (I used the back side of some pan lining foil) and then make a bunch of post-its with matching drawings. Let the little one match them up. 

When Mommy took a work break she made more post-its and stuck them around the house for a scavenger hunt match game. 

Not sure how, but as busy as we were I somehow managed to make a new hat for Baby Brother. Nap times are a glorious thing. And hats are quick to make. No pattern this time, just knitted round and round,

I doubled the recipe because this night we were feeding 4 hungry adults and we wanted leftovers. Made a 9x13-inch dish and a 1-quart dish for the freezer. In another week or so, when it's only the two of us here, that will be our supper and I'll get a night off in the kitchen.

To manage cooking while tending to babies, I made the meat part early in the morning and put it in the refrigerator. Then late afternoon while Little Lady was eating her early dinner, I made the mashed potatoes for the top. These are really good mashed potatoes, with garlic and parmesan cheese added in. 

This list of ingredients looks so long, but it's a really easy dish to put together. Just pull out all the ingredients before you start. And I like to measure the seasoning before I start cooking.

SHERPHERD'S PIE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 teaspoons dried parsley leaves

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup beef broth

1 cup frozen peas & carrots

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 lb. potatoes, peeled & cubed

1 stick butter

1/3 cup half & half (add more if needed)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 freshly grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large skillet. Saute onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef to skillet and break apart. Sprinkle with parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt & pepper. Cook until beef is no longer pink. Add Worcestershire and garlic, stir and cook 1 minute.

Add the flour and tomato paste. Stir until well blended. Add broth, frozen peas and carrots and frozen corn. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set meat mixture aside. (At this point, I refrigerated the meat mixture until ready to finish the dish later in the day.)

Preheat oven to 400º.

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Cook until potatoes are tender.

Drain potatoes and return to hot pot. Let potatoes rest in the pot for 1 minute to evaporate any remaining liquid.

Add butter, half & half, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mash potatoes and stir until mixed. Stir in parmesan cheese. Add more half & half if potatoes are too stiff to spread.

Pour meat mixture into a 9x9-inch or 7x11-inch baking pan. Spread into an even layer. Spoon potatoes on top and carefully spread over meat layer. (If your pan is full to the top, you can set it on a baking sheet to catch anything that might bubble over.)

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

This would be a great dish to take to a neighbor. You could take it baked, or take it ready to bake with directions attached. I'm also thinking I could make and freeze the meat part and then thaw and make the potato topping the day of serving. There are so many ways to give yourself a boost in the kitchen.

I am seriously looking forward to pulling our small casserole out of the freezer for an easy dinner.

Little People In The House

Gingerbread Men

Little Lady has been reading the gingerbread man story at school. "Run, run, as fast as you can!" And the first day her family got to the farm she told us she had two things she wanted to do at the farm. Go fishing. (Thankfully pretend fishing in the yard was enough.) And she wanted to bake gingerbread men. If you are doing this with small children in the house, make a plan. 

1.  Mix dough before the little ones get up and and put into refrigerator to chill.

2.  While baby brother is napping, let the toddler help cut the cookies.

3.  Abandon all preconceived ideas of how a gingerbread man should be decorated.

4.  Appreciate that this recipe only makes enough dough for about 15 cookies.

That about matches our attention span.

She only eats the decorations and then tells me, "I need a new one."

GINGERBREAD MEN 

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark molasses

1/4 cup water

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or use self-rising and omit salt & baking soda)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Cream shortening and sugar. Blend in molasses, water, flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours.

Heat oven to 375º. On a lightly floured board, roll dough to 1/4-inch thick. Cut with gingerbread man cutter and place on an ungreased baking sheet. (I use parchment paper on my pan.)

Decorate with candies, chocolate chips, raisins, can diced cherries, etc. 

Bak 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet and let cool. 

Makes about 15 4-inch cookies.

(In case you're wondering, Little Lady is two and a half.)

 

The Best Kind Of Friends

There is nothing like having good friends. Good friends who've known you for a long time. A couple of these friends hosted a bridal brunch recently. There were two quiches left over, along with an extra loaf of zucchini bread. "Come on! Let's finish up the quiche." That's the kind of invitation that goes only goes out to really good friends. And five of us gathered around the table to enjoy this feast.

I do wish I had made a photo of the plate. It was as beautiful as the original brunch plate. And every bit as delicious. These ladies all are fabulous cooks. And I was happy to get a chance to enjoy the bounty. Their menu was ham and broccoli quiche, fruit salad "boats" and zucchini bread. The plate was colorful with the perfect variety of textures. Every morsel was scrumptious.

Two small romaine leaves were fitted together to make a "boat" to hold the fruit. The assorted fresh fruit that filled the boats was diced and then sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. All those colors! Again. I should have made a photo. But I was starving and didn't think about it until after we finished.

Lemon Daffodil Dessert

Joanne said, "I can make you another dessert plate. Then you can take a picture of that."  Of course I said yes. Then  I took that extra plate home for Daddy-O. He loves that all of my friends are good cooks.

Out of curiosity I googled "lemon daffodil dessert." Oh my goodness. There are several ways to make this. There are lemon daffodils cakes, too. But it looked like most of the recipes are from three or four decades ago. It was interesting that most of them called for "commercial" angel food cake. Makes me think there was one original recipe that got passed all over the south. They all used that word "commercial." I think I would have said "bought." 

This version is from one of those community cookbooks that has the best recipes. And you can look at this page and tell it's a favorite cookbook. I don't have this one in my collection (it belongs to Joanne) but I'm curious to know what the rest of their menu was. 

Old cookbooks often are vague with their instructions. *New cooks...know that everything here is fine to eat as is, so you can vary the amounts if you want to. Or need to.* Here is the lemon dessert the way Joanne makes it.

LEMON DAFFODIL DESSERT

Juice of 4 lemons

1/2 cup sugar

1 (14-oz) can condensed milk, such as Eagle Brand

most of a large container of Cool Whip

purchased angel food cake, enough to cover bottom of pan

Combine juice, sugar, milk. Fold in Cool Whip. Tear cake into small pieces and cover the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan. Pour lemon mixture over cake pieces and mix together a little. Save enough Cool Whip mixture to spread over the top to make it smooth. Cover and chill for 24 hours before serving. 

And now you want to know about that cute dish towel at the top? Some of these ladies had made a trip to the mountains to buy apples last week while I was away. I couldn't go with them but they bought me a treat.Yep. Friends. The good kind.

PS....We have a house full of grandbabies all week, so no new blog posts until they head home. And I recuperate.

Port In A Storm

White Chicken Chili

We cleaned out the refrigerator at the lake last weekend and I brought home one package of chicken breasts from the freezer there. Then I couldn't think of a thing to do with it. I haven't cooked much in several weeks. And I hate to admit, it's been nice not cooking.

Our wonderful anniversary trip to the mountains with fabulous meals was followed by a weekend at the lake and lakeside dining. Then the lobster roll truck came to town this week. A rare treat for a small town in the deep South. Another night off in the kitchen for me.

But the chicken had thawed and had to be used. Then a snippet of a recipe popped up on Instagram. Not a real recipe, but a "this is what I toss in the slow cooker" with a photo. She said she eyeballed all the seasonings. You know me. I wrote down how I did this, complete with measurements, so that next time—and there will be a next time—I won't be guessing about how much oregano or chili powder to use.

The chili went in to the refrigerator until the family arrived. They were at the beach for fall break and left yesterday ahead of the storm. It was much, much less severe on the east coast, but still good they got out of the way. Fall break was relocated to our farm.

  

Instead of playing on the beach or in the ocean, or rescuing stranded starfish, these girls learned to latch hook today. I've saved these craft kits for a long, long time. This was the perfect day to pull them out. 

 

There are many ways to make white chicken chili. I've made more than one version—spicy, creamy, you name it. This is hands-down the most uncomplicated recipe ever. Fewer seasonings to measure. Nothing to sauté. Keep it in mind when you don't feel like cooking, but the family still expects to eat supper.

This is a really tame version of white chicken chili. Because of some dietary needs in my family I kept the seasonings very much on the mild side. You can use 2 cans of green chilies, up the chili powder, add some cayenne and make it as spicy as you like it. I was surprised that I liked this very simple version as much as I did. Comfort food to the max. 

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 2 lb

1 onion, chopped

2 (15-oz) cans great northern beans, drained & rinsed

1 can shoepeg (white) corn kernels, drained

1 or 2 cans chopped green chilies (I used 1)

32 oz. low-sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon oregano

Scant teaspoon chili powder

Cayenne to taste, optional (I left this out)

Salt & pepper to taste 

1 cup half & half

Add all ingredients to slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours. Or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Remove chicken to a shallow pan and used two forks to shred. Put shredded chicken back into slow cooker. Add half & half to mixture.

I put about half of this in the freezer for another cold, windy, rainy day. And I see it the next time topped with shredded colby-jack cheese with warm cornbread on the side. Yum!

It's Been A While

Thanks to readers who checked to see if we are okay since I have been absent here. 

We are. But after weeks and weeks of "not so okay" 

we were able to sneak in a little get away in the mountains.

It was also a celebration of our anniversary. 

More than 40 years together and we still delight in each others company.

We came home and dumped the laundry and repacked.

We missed so much lake time this summer.

But this weekend was absolutely perfect for coffee on the porch.

For maybe our last boat ride.

And now we are home. Looking forward to fall.

 

Doing Nothing? Hardly

Do Nothing Cake 

My blog breaks keep getting longer and longer, don't they? What can I say. I'm getting older and older. We have had a strange month here but things are getting back to normal. So I was back in the kitchen today. It's my turn to take dessert to book club. 

Easy Skillet Apple Pie

I planned to take somthing easy--like the Easy Skillet Apple Pie. It's always a winner. And it's a little bit of a show off recipe when you walk in with a cast iron pan. Easy to make, but I needed a trip to the store for apples and pie crust and ice cream.  Then my day didn't start like I thought it would. 

Brownie Pudding

Not to worry. I decided I would make a Brownie Pudding like the granddaughters baked this summer. Even easier to make than the apple pie. We have never had it at book club and I had all the ingredients here. It's so good. But it's so much better with ice cream. That still meant a trip to the grocery store. Time to change gears one more time.

Do Nothing Cake

Do Nothing Cake!!! Even the name suited my situation. A quick check in the pantry yielded both cans of crushed pineapple–a 15-oz can for the cake and an 8-oz can for the frosting. The only other ingredients are self-rising flour*, sugar, eggs and vanilla. It is a rare day when I don't have those basics on hand. Best of all...I didn't need ice cream! NO shopping needed today.

If you google "do nothing cake" the traditional recipes have a coconut-pecan topping. Life is better for Daddy-O when he avoids nuts so when I saw this recipe in our rural electric co-op magazine years ago, I knew we needed to switch it up. I found this pineapple topping online and it worked so well that I can't imagine this cake any other way now.

It has been 10 years since this recipe has been here on the blog. It is definitely time to re-introduce it. 

DO NOTHING CAKE

2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large can (15-oz.) crushed pineapple

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients together with a spoon. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Icing:
1/2 stick butter
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Blend well. Pour over hot cake.

PS...the cake was even better the next day. More moist.

All of the desserts linked above are delicious. All are pretty simple to make. But this cake is hands down the easiest to make and the easiest to take. One dish. No ice cream to keep frozen on someone else's kitchen. And it is every bit as delicious as the others. This is a moist, tender cake that we have loved for years.

*If you do not keep self-rising flour on hand, you can also google "do nothing cake" and find recipes that use plain flour, baking powder and salt. 

Not The Week We Were Expecting

Greek Pasta Salad

Daddy-O is under the weather. I am mostly staying out of his way, letting him snooze. Lack of appetite is one of his symptoms. But then his medicine says "Take after breakfast and dinner." As on a full stomach. 

This recipe popped up on my computer yesterday and I had all the ingredients here. I thought it would make a nice light dinner. I mixed it up while he napped. I'm happy to say he ate this for dinner.

This recipe is the only greek recipe I've ever seen that didn't include olives. I don't like olives. I wonder if the recipe developer doesn't like them either. The only good thing I can say about olives is that it's easy to leave them out—or in this case, add them in. 

Because it doesn't have a lot of other vegetables that would need to be peeled and chopped, this salad is very simple to make. The star of this recipe is the dressing––it's really good and really easy, so keep it in mind if you want homemade greek dressing for a green salad later. 

GREEK PASTA SALAD

1 (16-oz) box penne pasta (or other short cut variety such as rotini or bowtie)

2/3 cup olive oil

juice of 1 lemon, about 1/4 cup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons Cavendar's seasoning, or other greek seasoning

1 (6-oz) container of crumbled feta cheese

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup fresh basil slivers

Cook pasta. While it's cooking whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, mayonnaise and greek seasoning. When pasta is cooked, drain, rinse with cold water and pour into large bowl. Add dressing mixture, cheese, tomatoes and basil. Mix until combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Will keep in refrigerator for 4-5 days.

When the mood strikes—or you have vegetables you need to use up– you can change this up by adding other vegetables. Red onion, artichoke hearts, red peppers, green peppers, cucumbers are all candidates. 

Or toss in some leftover cooked chicken  and make this a main dish. 

Note: Daddy-O got up this morning and made the coffee. That's a good sign!