Hot dog!

While searching for something else, I cam across this "real HOT dog" on the interwebz, and just had to share him!

Image credit

Mom's Cherry Pie

At the family "early Thanksgiving" where this was served this week, I claimed that Mom's cherry pie had a "secret ingredient."  I don't actually think that it's all that secret, really... in fact, I think a couple of people at the big table had guessed it, and I think it's probably something a lot of people likely use in their pies, but.... it's almond extract (in lieu of the more "traditional" vanilla).  You DO have to use almond in this recipe, or it will NOT taste like MOM'S.

Also, Mom's cherry pie always has a crumb topping rather than a regular pie crust top.

Mom's Cherry Pie

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/8 tablespoon salt
2 – 1-pound cans red sour cherries, drained (save juice) - Mom always used the Oregon brand in the black-labeled can
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon almond extract
Prepared pastry (pie) shell - it's OK with Mom if you use a frozen pie shell, as she was not a huge fan of pastry-making!



Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir sugar, flour, and alt together in saucepan.  Blend in cherry juice and a few drops of red food coloring.

Add cherries; cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils; continue gently boiling and stirring for 1 minute.

Remove from heat; stir in butter and almond extract.  Set aside to cool.

Pour cooled filling into pastry shell.  Spread topping (see below) completely over top. 

Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter

Cut all ingredients together until crumbly.  Spread over top of cooled filling in pie shell.   

Bake 30 – 40 minutes.

NOTES:  You can make the topping in a food processor - just pulse for a few seconds to cut the flour and sugar into the butter.  

Also, if you want me to email you a PDF of the recipe - formatted much better than it is here on the blog - let me know.

 

Menus 11/9/09 - 11/15/09

Mom, around age 2, covered in grape jelly!

This week's menu plan reflects the passing of our Squatty Wombat, aka the "But Not For Lunch" blogger.  Mom, we did our best... hope you approve.


11/9 Mon - Immediate/extended family over for dinner: Costco roast chicken (2), green salad, Italian Cheese Bread, brownies (from a box)


11/10 Tues - Immediate/extended family "early Thanksgiving" (19 people!) at GolfDad's house: Turkey breast (3) done on the Weber charcoal grill, Mom's mashed potato casserole (recipe to follow), green salad, Mrs. Igor's cranberry sauce (I'll try to get the recipe), Mom's cherry pie (recipe to follow), "Perfect Pumpkin Pie" (Mom's favorite variation; recipe to follow), Mom's peaches and cream cake (recipe to follow).

11/11 Wed - Open House at Wombat and GolfDad's house: We had all the immediate/extended family present, as well as a whole bunch of other people passing through to visit and give condolences. GolfDad, Mr. and Mrs. Igor, Mr. Mamie and I tried really hard to put on a "Wombat-worthy" event with great snacks.  We got excellent, loving help from FavoriteUncle and GolfDad's siblings.  Our spread included Mom's chocolate chip and peanut butter chip cookies (recipes to follow), oatmeal/Craisin/white chocolate chip cookies (recipe to follow), Mom's party mix made expertly by Igor (recipe to follow), some delicious treats from our beloved Trader Joe's that were brought by a California cousin, bowls of tiny Tootsie Rolls (a Wombat favorite), and the traditional hot oil-popped popcorn that we all grew up eating.

11/12 Thurs - Mr. Mamie had a class and Igor (defensive coach) and Nephew (right guard) had football practice, so we cooked burgers on the grill in shifts for the Igors, the Mamies, GolfDad, FavoriteUncle, and GrandmaT.  Add burger fixings, some Lay's low fat kettle-cooked potato chips (picked up my Mr. Mamie at Costco earlier in the day), a big can of Bush's original baked beans (thanks, Mrs. Igor!), and cookies left over from the Open House and you're done.

11/13 Fri - a "normal" day, the first in weeks. I'm at work, Mr. Mamie is out cleaning windows with Igor, and things have quieted down.  I'm using some of the leftovers from Monday's Costco roasted chicken to make a casserole - recipe to follow.  The rest of the chicken will get shredded and go into the freezer tonight.  We'll have Italian Cheese Bread again ('cause we love it!) - see link from Monday 11/9, and green salad.

11/14 Sat - Igor and Nephew have a big day today, as the 5th grade Tigers are in the play-offs!  It's supposed to be cold and rainy, so I'll be taking a thermos of hot chocolate (we LOVE Stephen's brand of gourmet cocoa!) for Niece and I to share, and we'll be wanting something hot and filling for dinner.  There are mashed potatoes left over from Tuesday, just hanging out in my fridge begging to be used, and Mr. Mamie commented recently about how much he LOVES Shepherd's Pie. Thus, I'll be trying this recipe from "Budget Bytes." I'll modify by using the leftover mashed potatoes I already have (with some extra cheddar cheese stirred in), and will also be using the Costco frozen organic mixed vegetables in place of the recipe's corn/carrots/peas ("NO 'round green things'" proclaims the Wombat, and I agree!). We'll have green salad, as usual.  If there's time, I want to bake an apple pie with the sweet yellow apples Mr. Mamie's mother brought down from up north - she has a tree, and the apples are wonderful!  However, they're getting past the peak of freshness for munching, so a pie seems like a good idea.

11/15 Sun - Hopefully a quiet day at home.  I would like to make some pizza and spaghetti sauces using fresh herbs, as our dining room herb garden needs some trimming back.  Possibly also some bread and pizza dough, as I suspect the bread supply in the freezer is dwindling, and we're planning a non-traditional Thanksgiving spread that will involve make-yer-own pizza.  It would be good to have the sauce and dough done in advance for that!  For dinner I'm planning honey-roasted pork loin, with green salad, oatmeal rolls (from the freezer), and Parmesan roasted potatoes.  I want to make the potatoes becasue we have a huge bucket of farm-fresh carrots and red potatoes in our garage, a gift from Mr. Mamie's mother's neighbor, and while they are holding up pretty well in the cool weather, they won't last forever.

I'll be posting Mom's recipes as I have time... keep checking back on the main blog site to see the latest.

By the Numbers meme

By the Numbers

Boosted from TenseTeacher

How old are you?
40

How old was your mom when she had you?
26

How many siblings do you have?
2

How many people live in your household?
3

What year were you born?
1969

What is your zip code?
Not sharing that.

What year was your first car made?
1980

What year is your current vehicle?
2002

How many piercings do you have?
4

How many tattoos do you have?
0

How many creamers do you take in your coffee?
Until it’s the right color.

What time did you wake up this morning?
The first time — 1:20, then 6:13, then 7:35.

What is the latest you’ve stayed up this week?
11:00ish

How old were you when the Challenger blew up?
16 - junior in high school. I remember it very clearly.

How old were you when the twin towers were hit?
32

What year did you graduate high school?
1987

What are the last 4 digits of your cell number?
Not publishing that.

How many pieces of jewelry are you wearing right now?
5

How many different houses have you lived in?
3 growing up; too many to count since then. Pretty settled now, though.

What is your average electric bill?
$100 in winter; $200 in summer – that includes, water, garbage, sewer, etc. all rolled into one.

What is your lucky number?
Haven’t figured that out yet!

How many windows are in the room you’re in?
5

How many TVs are in your house?
3

What time do you get out of work/school?
4:30ish

How old were you when you created your Facebook?
38, I think.

How old is your youngest friend on Facebook?
9 (maybe 10) – my cousin’s son

What about oldest friend on Facebook?
70ish – an uncle.

What is so hard to understand?

Goodbye

SquattyWombat

September 30, 1942 - November 1, 2009

Miss you already, Mom.

"Somebody" did it again - left time on microwave at work. Yes, it's a micro-peeve, but it's really annoying!

This mobile Blogger thing is kinda cool...

Menus 10/26/09 - 11/1/09

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

10/26 Mon: Spaghetti - Crockpot sauce & Barilla whole wheat noodles, garlic toast made with homemade French bread (from the freezer), salad.

10/27 Tues: Breakfast for dinner! Kris Kringle Pancakes, eggs (Mr. Mamie's job), bacon and/or sausage.

10/28 Wed: Soup night! Taco Soup (made in the Crock Pot), Green Chile Cornbread.

10/29 Thurs: Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings, Sandy's Famous Green Beans, salad


10/30 Fri: Mixed grill - hamburgers (frozen Costco patties), hot dogs (only Hebrew National will do!), turkey burgers (frozen CostCo patties), hot links (our local Costco sells one we LOVE) - whatever people want to throw on the grill that's NO PREP, 'cause mom's got a doctor appointment and I have a hair appointment this day.

10/31 Sat: Mr. Mamie and I will be enjoying a Halloween date-night, which includes dinner out!

11/1 Sun: Yankee Pot Roast & Vegetables (made in the Crock Pot), homemade oatmeal dinner rolls (from the freezer), salad

Straw Hat

Mr. Mamie wanted to be in charge of dinner one night this week, and he wanted to make "Straw Hat," a dish he ate frequently at a friend's house growing up. And so on Saturday night we had Straw Hat! (Consumed, by the way, while we watched the TiVo-d first episode of the new USA Network show "White Collar" - which we're now hooked on.)

Straw Hat is very simple: Start with a plate. Spread Fritos liberally around your plate. Add cooked/seasoned taco meat, and any other taco fixings you enjoy. Sprinkle a few more Fritos on top. DONE!

Mamie's Straw Hat consisted of Fritos, taco meat, La Victoria HOT salsa, cheddar/jack shredded cheese blend, shredded lettuce, and green onions.

Mr. Mamie had Fritos, taco meat, La Victoria Medium Red Taco Sauce, cheddar/jack shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and black olives.

I can't really give a commentary on GrandmaT's Straw Hat, other than to say that she had hers on Costco organic corn tortilla chips and used El Zarape salsa from our hometown (which I brought back this summer).

Straw Hat = easy, yummy, and happily nostalgic for the Mister. That's a hit!

Chicken Cacciatore

Here's the recipe for Chicken Cacciatore that we had on Friday. I got this from GolfDad, but don't have an original source (he made it up, for all I know).  I've also modified it - he doesn't cook with garlic (gasp!), which is essential for me.  I have made this before in the CrockPot, which also works well.

Chicken Cacciatore

 Ingredients:

• 1 - 1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-side pieces
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 small/medium bell pepper (red or green), diced
• 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced (yes, I buy the big jar of pre-minced garlic at Costco AND I LOVE IT)
  
• 1/2 cup red wine (if you don't have wine, use chicken broth)
• 29 ounce can (or 2 x 14.5 ounce cans) Italian-style stewed tomatoes
• 2 Tbl. olive oil (approximately)
  
• salt - to taste
• ground pepper - to taste
• Italian seasoning - to taste 
• 6 - 12 ounces (dry) pasta - linguine or fettuccine works well (I almost always use Barilla whole wheat or "Plus" pastas)
  

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet (I use my wok, as I do for most things)
2. Cook chicken until juice run clear (but don't over-cook and dry it out); season to your preference with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
3. After chicken is cooked, remove to a plate or bowl and cover.
4. If necessary, add a small amount of olive oil to the pan. Begin to saute the onion and bell pepper.
5. Once the onion and bell pepper are cooking, add the garlic. Cook until onion and pepper are softened.
6. Add stewed tomatoes and wine/broth to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer.
7. Add chicken back to the pan; continue simmering for 10 - 20 minutes.
8. Serve over hot, cooked pasta.

Edited to add: My clever friend Diana points out that this recipe can be easily converted to vegetarian by using Morningstar chicken strips and vegetable broth.  Thanks for the idea!

Sorry, forgot to take a picture!

Name Change

(This shadowy shot is the only picture I have that isn't a full-face. Got to maintain some faint degree of anonymity.)

I think DarlingMan and I just decided that we are going to change his name to Mr. Mamie here (a la Mr. Chili, Mr. Mimi, the-future-Mr. Brave, Mr. Lipstick, and other blogger spouses).

So, done. He's now Mr. Mamie.

Meme for Saturday

Got this from TenseTeacher - she always has good Saturday memes.
 

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
Cold, delicious dietCoke.

2. Where was your profile picture taken?
It's an avatar from www.doppelme.com

3. Can you play Guitar Hero?
I’ve never tried, and am sure I would be a colossal failure.

4. Name someone who made you laugh today. What was it about?
Niece, taking pictures with her mom's digital camera of her coloring book creation.

5. How late did you stay up last night and why?
HA! We went to be at 8:40, after a bonanza of watching 4 DVD episodes of "The Closer." Things are VERY exciting at our house on Friday nights!

6. If you could move somewhere else where would you and why?
To a mountain cabin (with full amenities) on a big piece of land, with a lake. And dogs. And horses. And ATVs. Why? Because it would be awesome!

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks?
Think so.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you?
DarlingMan, of course. In the same house.  Other than him, Mr. and Mrs. Igor live less than a mile away - it's nice to be friends with your family!

9. Do you believe exes can be friends? With benefits?
Sometimes, and the second part seems like a path to trouble.

10. Do you like Dr. Pepper?
Only if it’s diet!


11. When was the last time you cried really hard? Really hard as opposed to just sniveling?
Not sure.

12. Who took your profile picture?
The magic elves on the doppelme website.


13. Who was the last person you took a picture of?
The 5th grade Tigers football team, and Niece.

14. Was yesterday better than today? Why?
Not particularly. Today is Saturday, after all!

15. Can you live a day without TV?
If necessary.

16. Are you upset about anything now?
Yes, my mama being sick.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it?
Absolutely!

18. Are you a bad influence?
DarlingMan watches too much TV 'cause of me. 

19. Night out or night in?
In!

20. What items could you not go without during the day?
BlackBerry. Sad, huh?

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?
Um, I've practically been living at the hospital for the last almost three months with my mom (aka Wombat)!

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say?
Already deleted them. There are currently two Facebook comments, one from one of the other football coaches saying "I like 'em all, but I'm partial to the dude with the hair."  Nevermind, you had to be there!

23. How do you feel about your life right now?
Overall, good, except for the whole my-mom-is-sick thing.

24. Do you hate anyone?
Too negative. Better things to do with my energy. But there ARE people I am highly annoyed with!

25. If we were to look in your Facebook inbox, what would we find?
Old messages and a zillion ignored invitations.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass?
Hell, yes!

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before?
Not to my knowledge. Oh, DarlingMan is saying I should answer YES. Wonder if HE would pass #26??? J/K!

28. What song is stuck in your head?
"Ghostbusters" - it's the current ringtone on my phone.

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2 a.m., whom do you want it to be?
The guy who brings the big Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes checks.

30. Do you (or did you) want to have grandkids before you’re 50?
I would be a grandaunt, and NO I do NOT want either Niece or Nephew to become a parent in 10 years (they would be 21 and 16, respectively)!

31. Tell us your Saturday night.
Hanging at home, cooking, geeking, watching DVDs or TiVo stuff - it's a slammin' party, eh?

32. Do you think too much or too little?
ALWAYS too much!

33. Do you smile a lot?
Not enough, I've been told.

Marvelous Marble Cake

(The lovely picture is from the blog where the recipe was originally published - click below on "Marble Cake.")

I made a yummy Marble Cake to go with our Greek Pork Chops and Brown Rice dinner last night.

DarlingMan's mom was in town for a dental appointment, so she joined us.  We all like the flavor of the Greek Pork Chops, though the dish was a bit wet - I think becasue I cooked regular brown rice to add in to the pork chop pan, instead of using Minute Rice, which is what the recipe called for (that stuff is ICK).  The regular brown rice didn't absorb as much liquid as the uncooked Minute Rice would have. Nonetheless, the dinner was enjoyed by all, and it wasn't too spicy for GrandmaT (always a concern).

MicroPeeve

Yes, it's a small peeve - micro-sized, really. BUT - I find it really annoying when people don't "clear" their left-over time on the communal microwave at work.  Not doing so adds another step to the process for the person who comes along behind. NOBODY has any extra time at lunch (we're educators, ya know) and it bugs when you realize that the microwave isn't working becasue some dope left 7 seconds on the cook time.

So, there! Ppppppptttttttttfffff!

Image credit

Testing the new "Blogger on the Go" from my BlackBerry.