Sometimes, I'm just so clueless!

Do you ever get in an elevator, stand there waiting for it to go up or down, wonder why it's taking so long, and then... realize that you failed to poke the up/down button?

Yeah, I do that.  Kind of a lot.

Image credit

I heart Clara!

Have you seen Clara, the Depression-era cook?  She's 91 years old and has a series of videos on YouTube. Check her out!

Mom's Peaches and Cream Cake

Mom and her little brother (aka FavoriteUncle), Summer 2008

In recent years Mom had been serving a really yummy Peaches 'n Cream cake at summertime family dinners and get-togethers.  This has become a particular favorite of Mr. Mamie's, and he asks for it often.  I made and served it when FavoriteUncle and AuntAJ were here to visit with and help care for Mom in September - we had a family dinner with everyone but Mom, who was in the hospital at the time.  She questioned me about every detail prior to the dinner, and wanted a full report afterward.  It seemed appropriate to serve it at our family early Thanksgiving on November 10th, even if it's a summery dessert.  It was "Mom's," after all.

Peaches and Cream Cake

PEACHES AND CREAM CAKE

Oven – 350 degrees

¾ C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 (4 serving size) cheesecake or vanilla instant pudding mix
3 T softened BUTTER
1 egg
½ C milk

1 (28 oz) can sliced peaches, drained – RESERVE JUICE

3 T. peach juice
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
½ C sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp sugar


1.    Mix first 6 ingredients together.  Spread into 9” glass pie plate or casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam.

2.    Arrange drained peaches over batter.

3.    Beat cream cheese, ½ C sugar and reserved 3 T of peach juice together for about 2 minutes.  Spread over peaches, leaving 1” border around outside edge.

4.    In small bowl, stir together ¼ tsp cinnamon and 1 ½ tsp sugar and sprinkle over the cream cheese mixture.

5.    Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350.  Cool , then refrigerate before serving.
 

Christmas Creep

A "Christmas special" featuring the above-pictured characters aired on network television last night.  I have also seen these creatures  on pajamas, as plush toys, etc. in my local Walmart (like, two weeks ago).  Talk about "Christmas Creep" - I REALLY don't want Christmas specials on TV before Thanksgiving, ya know?

Image credit

Dear Dogs and Cats...

This wanders around the interwebz, popping up in my inbox at least once a year. GolfDad just sent it on again, and becasue it continues to make me laugh, I'll share with you.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE PETS, THIS IS A TRUE STORY.
FOR THOSE THAT DON'T, IT IS A TRUE STORY.

                The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.

                Dear Dogs and Cats:

               The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

               The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

                I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

                For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the =
knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.

                The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

                Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door:

                TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN 

ABOUT OUR PETS:

(1) They live here. You don't.
(2) If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.               
(3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
(4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
 (1) eat less,
 (2) don't ask for money all the time,
 (3) are easier to train,
 (4) normally come when called,
 (5) never ask to drive the car,
 (6) don't hang out with drug-using people;
 (7) don't smoke or drink,
 (8) don't want to wear your clothes,
 (9) don't have to buy the latest fashions,
 (10) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and
 (11) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children

Cook-a-Thon

I spent a lot of time this weekend cooking.  The idea is that I will save time later by having several things prepared in advance.  This is something I do once a month or so, and it really does help make it possible to get complete, home-cooked meals on the table most nights for Mr. Mami, GrandmaT, and I - and whomever else wanders in. The focus in this particular session was the 10 pounds of  fresh "ground beast" we got on sale for $1.79/lb. I didn't want to just portion it out and stick it in the freezer, but rather, wanted to turn it into USEFUL meal starters.  So here's what became of it:

1 pound went into last night's very delicious Shepherd's Pie.  Mr. Mamie LOVED this version of one of his traditional favorite dishes. This was easy to throw together in the middle of lots of other activity, becasue we had leftover mashed potatoes from earlier in the week.  This made enough for dinner for three and lunch for two the next day. 

1 pound went into a batch of CrockPot spaghetti sauce.  This is SOOOOO good when made with an additional 1/2 pound of hot Italian sausage and plenty of red pepper flakes!  We have lots of fresh herbs growing in the dining room, so I added fresh basil, oregano, and parsley as well.  The batch got divided into to large freezer Ziploc bags, which will make two meals plus leftovers for lunch.

1 pound was precooked and stashed in the fridge for tomorrow's Pan Burritos dinner.

1 pound was cooked and turned into sloppy joe mix (photo above)for the freezer - I like to add lots of corn!  I just use the McCormick seasoning packet for sloppy joes; it what I grew up on and I like the taste better than anything else.

1.5 pounds were cooked with onion and garlic and stashed in the freezer to be pulled put again on Wednesday morning for CrockPot beef and barley soup.

The remaining 4.5 pounds was turned into taco meet for the freezer (see photo above), and was divided into 4 large Ziploc bags.

But the fun didn't end there....

Today for breakfast we had Kris Kringle pancakes, except cooked as waffles.  I LOVE this recipe - so tasty, relatively healthy (given all the whole grain - well, I do kind of load on the butter and syrup!), and one waffle STAYS WITH YOU, unlike Bisquik pancakes/waffles which all-too-quickly dissipate into a sugar-crashing/hollow feeling.

I made this pumpkin swirl loaf this afternoon, which is very yummy and will make nice morning snacks at work.

And, as I write this, dinner is in the oven: Honey Roasted Pork Loin and Parmesan Potatoes.   After that... time for bed!

Menus 11/16/09 - 11/22/09

11/16 Mon: Pan Burritos

11/17 Tues: Crock-Pot Angel Chicken + green salad

11/18 Wed: Crock-Pot Classic Beef Barley Soup + Cheddar Cheese Bread

11/19 Thurs: Crock-Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup + Green Chili Corn Bread

11/20 Fri: Mr. Mamie is in charge of making Chicken-Fried Steak; I will do Garlicky Oven Fries

11/21 Sat: Beef and Bean Chimichangas

11/22 Sun: Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce + Egg Noodles; green salad

Mrs. Igor's Cranberry Relish

 Mom and the Igor Family, with their Humpty Dumpty collection,  about 6 years ago (my Molly snuck into the photo, too)

Here's Mrs. Igor's cranberry relish, served at all recent family Thanksgiving dinners.  Mom LOVED this type of cranberry recipe, and we never had cans o' cranberries.  I just saw a bag of frozen whole cranberries she had stockpiled in her freezer... we'll have to do something with them; can't let them go to waste!

Fresh Whole-Cranberry Relish

Ingredients
•    4 cups (about 1 pound) fresh cranberries, picked over and rinsed
•    2 cups sugar
•    ½ cup cranberry juice
•    ½ fresh orange juice
•    1 tablespoon finely ground orange zest

1.    Combine all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and stir well.  Place the pan over medium heat, and boil until the berries pop open, about 10 minutes.
2.    Skim the foam off the surface with a metal spoon, and let the relish cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, covered up to 2 months.

Mom's Cookies

Mom and peanut butter chip-boy at his high school graduation,  about 18 years ago!

My mom made excellent chocolate chip cookies.  I'm pretty sure the recipe is really just the standard Nestle Toll House  back-of-the-chocolate chip-package, but it was the care and love that she put in them that made the difference.  Oh, and she always said that you have to beat the sugar and butter until it was REALLY creamy, or they wouldn't turn out right.  As Igor got a little older and began expressing food preferences, he indicated a lack-of-love for chocolate (freak!), so Mom made peanut butter chip cookies for him.  So here's Mom's recipe:

Mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

(For “Igor version” use peanut butter chips)

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (or peanut butter chips)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until REALLY creamy (do this right or they won’t be like Mom’s!).

Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the creamed mixture and gradually add flour, mixing WELL after each addition.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheets that have been sprayed with non-stick coating.

Bake 8 – 10 minutes.  Let cool 5 – 10 minutes before removing from cookie sheets.  Finish cooling on wire racks.

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.