Did I Dream All Of That?

 Pot Roast

Those who know me have heard me say more than once that we have so little traffic here, that we watch the cars that pass by for entertainment. "I see a car coming. Wonder who that is?" Well, for the last two days we have been WELL entertained. On Sunday afternoon there was a knock on our door. A nice looking young man said, "We are making a movie and wondered if we could park some cars on the road here." 

After figuring out that wasn't a joke, Daddy-O said, "Sure." And by the time we woke up the next morning, there was a work site set up just in front of our house. They really were making a movie. A real movie. And the North Carolina location got so much snow last weekend that they had to find another spot. Fast. It was the final two days of filming.

And they landed in our front yard. (Most of the filming was in the woods that adjoin us.) So for two days, I looked and watched and gawked as there was constant coming and going. They had about 100 in their crew. At one point we counted over 30 vehicles parked up and down our road. There was the craft wagon (craft services provide the food—yes, I did walk over and get a cup of coffee) and lots of equipment trucks. Lights. Sound. Screens. And so many people.

Of course, I made photos, but agreed not to share them until the movie comes out. (Trust me. I have nothing very exciting, except proof that there was lots of "stuff" in front of our house.) We did get to see the stars. And watch one of them being "thrown" off a vehicle in front of a green screen over and over and over. Now, we'll have to wait until the movie comes out (maybe 9-12 months later) to see how it looks when all the parts are put together.

But with all the commotion going on, I did manage to cook a pot roast. (It was a perfect oven recipe that cooked for hours unattended.) And then they invited us to eat lunch with the crew both days. I must admit that their catered lunch was possibly better than my own cooking. It certainly was more variety than we would have had here at home.

Last night we heard them shout, "It's a wrap!" just as the sun was setting. And less than two hours later, the plot of land right in front of us looked like nothing had ever happened. They packed, loaded and left as quickly as they came. After everything calmed down, we ate the roast I cooked the day before.

POT ROAST

3-6 lb chuck roast (I used sirloin tip this time)
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 carrots, cut up
2 celery stalks, cut up
1 medium onion, cup up   
1 cup beef broth
1 cup chicken broth 
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
salt/pepper to taste
 
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. In a French/Dutch oven heat the oil on med-high heat for 5 minutes and brown each side of the roast, 2-3 minutes on each side, adding some salt and pepper on each side.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, celery, and carrots. Saute for about 8 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the roast. Return the roast to the pot and add the beef and chicken broths. Add enough water to make the chuck roast submerged halfway, about 1/2 cup. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and put it in the oven (middle rack) and roast on 300 degrees for about three hours.

After an hour and a half, flip the roast. At the two-hour mark, check it for doneness. You should be able to easily tear it apart with a fork. Because the meat is cooking in liquid, you can cook it as long as you’d like without fear of it drying out – in fact, the longer the better (although anything longer than four hours is probably too long). 

Remove the roast from the broth. Strain the vegetables (they will be mushy now) and save the liquid (should be about 1-1/2 cups). Pour the liquid back into the Dutch oven and turn the heat up to med/high. Reduce the liquid to about one cup, which will take about 5 minutes. Next, add the red wine and further reduce the liquid to about 1 cup, which should take another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once the sauce is ready, return the roast to the broth. Slice or pull apart. Serve the roast with the sauce spooned over the top.


I received a Le Crueset Dutch oven as a Christmas gift and I've been looking for ways to use it. So far I've made soup, meat sauce and this roast. I love that the Dutch oven can be used both on top of the stove and in the oven.  But without that Dutch oven, I could have done this in two steps—brown the meat, add the vegetables, and then the broth to de-glaze the pan. Then put all of that in an oven safe covered dish and continue on.

Winter Day Cooking

Yesterday while I was busy looking out the window all day to see if it was snowing, the "pageviews" counter for this blog rolled past 100,000. Thanks to all of you who visit here and keep me company.

I'll be honest. If there had been a jar of marinara sauce on the pantry shelf, or down in the basement (my emergency food stash) I would have used it. I always have marinara sauce on hand. Except this time I didn't. But the ground beef in the refrigerator needed to be used. And I had plenty of time to cook since the weather was keeping everyone indoors.

It started as freezing rain, then came the sleet and that was topped off by a fine layer of snow. Daddy-O had to feed the cows. He even went back in the afternoon and gave them an extra bale. But other than his tractor, I didn't see one vehicle on our road. (You readers in Minnesota and Colorado, don't laugh. This really is enough to shut us down.)

I took liberties with this recipe to use what I had on hand. No trip to the store in this weather.  Recipes like this one (I think of it as a "starter" recipe) can be adjusted to suit your taste. More seasoning. Less seasoning. Add something different—maybe diced green peppers or celery or a bay leaf or two. More garlic. Less sugar. Red wine instead of water. The possibilities are endless.

But this is exactly how I did it on a cold miserable day. And I was happy with the results. It's on the mild side, but I decided that was a good thing last night. I'll make this one again. Love that it uses ingredients that I usually have in my pantry.

HOMEMADE MEAT SAUCE

1-1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp from a jar)
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6-oz) cans tomato paste
1 (15-oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a Dutch oven or large pot, brown ground beef, onion and garlic until all pink in the meat is gone. Drain if necessary. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water. Add sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and mix well. Reduce heat to LOW, cover and simmer 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Second Time's The Charm

Turkey Meatballs

I had this ready to post earlier in the month just after the family when home after the holidays, but other things kept jumping in front of this recipe. But today, while we wait to see if we have frozen weather this weekend, I'll share it. Thankfully, there are still some meatballs in the freezer. Might be perfect for an easy supper if we are here snowed in for a couple of days.

I know I posted this recipe only a few weeks ago, and this is quick to post again, but I changed the cooking method this time and it made all the difference. A lot of difference. We liked them okay the first time. This time everyone loved them! Little ones. Son-in-law. Everyone. The first time I cooked some of these, I did it all in the skillet—browned the meatballs, poured sauce over and cooked them until done. (The original recipe didn't give a cooking method, just the mixing and freezing directions.) When I cooked them on the stovetop, the meatballs kind of fell apart and the texture was softer than I liked. Cooking them in the oven gave a better texture to the meatballs. I won't try another way after this success.

I had a double batch of these in the freezer to help feed the family while they were here for the holiday. This was a favorite dinner of their two week stay. I am always looking for ways to make supper easy when the little girls are here. Pulling things from the freezer really helps.

 This is a double batch, ready for the freezer.

TURKEY MEATBALLS
    adapted from Martha Stewart

3 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread
1/4 cup whole milk
1-1/2 lbs. ground turkey (lean, dark meat)
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced (I used 2 tsp. from a jar)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
coarse salt and pepper to taste

Place bread in food processor; pulse until fine crumbs form. In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs with milk; set aside at least 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine turkey, green onions, garlic, parsley, egg, salt (1-1/2 tsp) and pepper (1/4 tsp) and breadcrumb mixture. Mix gently with a fork.

With your hands, form into meatballs (1 meatball = 2 level tablespoons). Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet with sides. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.

To freeze: place meatballs on baking sheet in freezer for 1 hour. Move meatballs to a ziplock freezer bag. Label and date. Store frozen up to 3 months.

Makes about 30 meatballs. (I got 28)

To cook frozen meatballs:
This time I heated a large non-stick skillet with olive oil to medium hot. Then I browned the frozen meatballs. Just used my tongs to turn them a couple of times and get a good brown on two or three sides. I don't think any of them were browned all over. I turned them as best I could, but didn't try for complete browning. I didn't want them to break apart.

I moved the browned meatballs into a 8x11-inch baking dish (that's a 2-qt dish) that I had sprayed lightly with PAM. I poured a jar of spaghetti sauce into the warm skillet, then added a can of diced tomatoes and a couple of good shakes of Italian seasoning. Stir that all up and let it simmer a few minutes.

Pour sauce over the meatballs and cover dish with foil. Bake at 350 degrees (preheated) for 1 hour.


This time I served the meatballs with cheese tortellini.  This was a nice change from spaghetti. As we kept talking about how good these are, we said they could also be good for making meatball subs, or meatball sliders. I have enough left in the freezer to cook again. Next time I might pour barbecue sauce over the browned meatballs before baking, then serve them with mashed potatoes.

I also had whole wheat sourdough bread in the freezer. And I just open a can of green beans because I was really looking for easy—and Baby Girl likes green beans. That's as good a reason as any to cook them.

This recipe is now definitely a "keeper."

Keeping Up With Baby

I am back at home after spending time with Baby Girl. I may sit still in front of the fire all day today. Just because I can. There surely isn't much sitting when you are keeping up with a 22-month old. Unless she was sleeping and that didn't happen as much as you might think. Certainly not as often as I wanted

I was hoping to get lots of cute photos. I ended up with a collection of pink blurs. She is perpetual motion. And after watching her in a hospital bed a few months ago, so still and so quiet, that running at full speed is more than okay. I can rest here at home.

What I did get (instead of photos) was a collection of her words. So funny to hear this tiny person chatter away. If anything happens to you—head bump, cough, anything—she always asks, "You okay?"

So after she swallowed wrong and coughed a little, I asked her...
        Me: Are you okay?
        Baby Girl: No. I'm not. (Like, seriously? Can't you see I'm choking?)

Baby Girl is extremely well mannered. The "please & thank yous" are well in place. And she never misses a "you're welcome" or a "yes, m'am." The NO is just that, though. NO. NO. NO. We did hear that a lot. She's almost two. She's supposed to say that.

She is completely clear on what she wants. "Mimi, I want 'nama." (That's banana.) Or, what she doesn't want. "No, I don't want that." (Usually water.) "I need 'nack, (snack) now." "Teebee on. Mee Mou Mou!" (TV on. Mickey Mouse!) Some of her speech requires understanding toddler-ese.

But other phrases are perfectly clear. "Mimi, sit here. Chair." (As she pats the seat.) "Daddy-O, come. Follow me." (Into trouble, probably.) "Mimi, stay here." (As she tries to go do something sneaky.) "I don't want any." (Beans.) "No nap!" (That one needs no explanation.)

I heard "I tyin." (I'm tired.) "I going." "I hungry." I thought, what an economy of words. She doesn't use verbs. Then I realized that she doesn't need the "was" or the "am" or the "will be." At her age, she lives totally in the present. No need for past tense or future tense.

Well, this morning, I'm "tyin." Very "tyin." But give me a day to catch up and I'll be ready to go again.

How Sweet It Is

Mommy and family arrived home in the wee hours of the morning. We survived a few days here without them and did okay. It helped that by Saturday, the adult/toddler ratio was 3 to 1. Saturday night, (night #3) getting Baby Girl to bed went much smoother than the first two nights.

I got an entire night's sleep Saturday night, so to celebrate I made pancakes for Sunday breakfast! Daddy-O was happy. Jessica (who had come for the day on Saturday then took pity on us and spent the night) was happy. Baby Girl was REALLY happy. Because after her plain pancake, Daddy-O got involved and poured a little syrup for her.

They don't do that when Mommy is in charge. It's probably for the best that Daddy-O doesn't see them very often. I fully agree that teaching them good food habits is important. But Daddy-O made a sneak attack with the maple syrup. And the look on her face was priceless.

PANCAKES for EVERYDAY
              adapted from Mark Bittman's NYTimes recipe

2 cups all- purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 to 2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted & cooled

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.  In another bowl, beat eggs into 1-1/2 cups milk. Stir in melted butter. Stir milk mixture into dry ingredients, stirring only enough to moisten flour. A few lumps are okay. If your batter is too thick, add a little more milk.

Use 1/4 measuring cup to ladle batter onto a medium hot greased griddle or skillet. When you see bubbles around the edge and the bottoms are brown, flip and cook the other side.

Makes about 16 4-inch pancakes


This is an easy recipe, but there is measuring involved. I think it would be nice to mix up a couple of batches of the dry ingredients and pack and label it. Then it would be really easy to make these. These really are better than using a mix (which I also use.)

Baby Knitting

Pattern: Kid's Fruit Hat by Ann Norling, Jeannee Baby/Toddler Socks

Yarn: Debby Bliss Baby Cashemerino, Pale Pink

Needles: size 6 (hat), size 4 (socks)

Just before I came to babysit a week ago (I'm still here, by the way) I made a cute little baby hat for Jessica to send to a friend. She had hoped I might make a sweater, too, but time ran out, so I knitted up a quick pair of baby socks. So cute. So much fun to make. I sneaked away from babysitting here one night to spend a night in the city with Jessica and delivered this sweet little set.

She has already mailed it to Maggie in North Carolina. I just realized that my little knitted hats have also warmed baby heads in Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Arkansas, California and South Carolina. I know some of the babies' families. Many have gone to friends of my daughters. I've even made them for son-in-law's co-workers and daughter's boyfriend's grad school friends. I'm learning—keep one on the needles at all times!

When I pack to travel, I always pack something to knit. The first part of my babysitting week, Baby Girl slept a little later in the mornings and that gave me knitting time while Little Sister was at school. Our weather finally feels like winter, so a new warm hat for Baby Girl was my choice for quick knitting. (I made Little Sister this same hat in pink a couple of years ago.) How much fun to let her try on the new hat before I finished. I don't usually have the recipient of my knits on hand to try it on in progress. Wish I did!

Baby Girl is a hat lover. She will keep one on much of the time, even with her pajamas. I finished this hat in about a day. I did have to make a quick trip to the fabric store to buy a new pompom maker. The store here only sold the Clover brand. I've been using a Susan Bates pompom maker. They both work fine and make perfect pompoms, but I think that maybe this one from Clover is a little easier to use. Might be nice that I forgot to bring mine from home.

Pattern: Hibernatum

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, Pistachio

Needles: size 7

Winter has finally arrived here in the deep South with morning temps in the 20s.  This little hat is a warm one. She'll get much wear out of it. I made the size Small and only knitted 2-1/2 repeats of the pattern to make it a little shorter—a better fit for a toddler head.

I have several baby blanket in my knitting line-up, but what a pleasant break it was to make some quick projects! The little hat/socks set took about 120 yards of yarn. A baby blanket, depending on the pattern, can take 500-800 yards. That's SO much more knitting time. It's good to keep all of this in mind when you choose a project. 

Uh oh. I had forgotten how quick and how busy little hands can be. It's a good thing she dropped the hat down in the floor of the car (where she couldn't reach it) before she completely picked the pompom apart! One strand at a time. Looks like her fine motor skills are excellent. Thankfully, there is just enough yarn left to make another one if she has another go at it.

Cold Weather Hot Soup

I have realized that I can write. And I can "grandmother." But it's hard to do both at the same time. This week I'm in full out grandmother mode, so blogging has gone by the wayside. I've been at Mommy's house all week doing a little babysitting before the "big" babysitting starts today. For the rest of the week, it will be just me and Baby Girl here while the rest of that family goes to an out-of-town wedding.

When I arrived here on Sunday, Mommy was making soup for supper. This is a new-to-me recipe but one they love. Now I know why. It's rich and creamy, just right for a cold winter night. It is a copycat recipe from the chain restaurant, Le Madeleine. (There are many versions online if you google the recipe.) That's the restaurant where J-Daddy picked up supper each night while Baby Girl was in the hospital back in October. Mommy said she ate soup every night, not because it was the only good thing on their menu, but because it was good enough to order again and again. She says this soup recipe is not exactly like the restaurant soup, but it is equally good. Maybe better.

It makes a big pot full, so if you have a smaller household, you can divide it in half. We had enough for everyone here to have soup for supper with enough leftover for lunch the next day.

LE MADELEINE TOMATO SOUP

2 (28-oz) cans whole tomatoes
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 large bunch fresh basil (about 15 leaves)
1 stick butter, plus 2 tablespoon butter
1 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
goat cheese for garnish

Add tomatoes and broth in a large stockpot and cook over medium high heat for 20 minutes to combine flavors and reduce liquid. Add the basil and puree with a stick blender, right in the pot. (You can do it in small batches in a regular blender if you don't have a stick blender.)

Add the stick of butter and cream and bring to a simmer. To thicken, using a fork, combine the 2 tablespoon butter (room temp) and 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl. Stir into soup and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring until thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with a little goat cheese on the top.

Fingers crossed that this little person and I will have an uneventful few days!