Another Expo under my belt & Preparing for Thanksgiving - testing recipes

Not much happening around here since I last posted after Hurricane Matthew. After cleanup I packed & headed to the country. I had volunteered to work the Ag Expo again this year. Not much different than last year (2015 Expo) except for a few new veggies to display, plus they had a few white fly problems on several beds. Oh, & I had Nelly this year. The Expo is about 8 miles from our house so I left each day to go home to let her out & to change into cooler clothes each day. It got hot in the afternoons. It was a lot of work 7:00a - 5:00p each day, standing outside talking to strangers (w/1 hour break for lunch). Much like the job I used to have ...

Our refrigerator in the Country House died a few weeks back & when they brought out a new one they damaged the doors in the process. So, another new fridge was to be delivered while I was there. They got that one in on Friday & I finally found some time to rest over the weekend.

Came back to the city & haven't been doing much of anything except trying a few new recipes.

My friend Debbie gave me a recipe for broccoli casserole a few years ago. Instead of the one I used to make (w/Velveeta & water chestnuts), it is now my go to broccoli casserole recipe.

I made mustard chicken Monday night. Had some broccoli & cauliflower that I decided to roast with a red bell pepper (toss in olive oil, sprinkled w/s & p & bake on 375 for about 30 - 45 minutes). Served with some Quinoa cooked in meat broth & it was all very good.

We got a 1/2 cow recently, yes that's right a 1/2 a cow!!!! Of course that comes with brisket which I had never cooked before. I had the processor cut me 3 small briskets so that if the 1st or 2nd didn't turn out, then I wouldn't have ruined all of them. Yesterday I took out the smallest of the briskets & searched the Internet for a recipe. I settled on a braised recipe. Seasoned the brisket w/salt & pepper & seared all sides.. Removed from pan, added carrots & onion to the pan & then 2 T. of tomato paste. Then added 3 c. of meat broth, about 1 c. of red wine & a splash or 2 of red wine vinegar. Put brisket back in pan & put lid on to braise at 325 degrees for 1 hour in the oven. Then turned the oven down to 225 to let it finish cooking for about 2.5 additional hours. Very good.

I had the left over roasted broccoli & cauliflower & decided to make the famous Burgess Broccoli Casserole to go w/the brisket. I adjusted the recipe just a bit & here's my version:

1 small head broccoli & 1 small head cauliflower - roasted in S & P & olive oil
1/4 c. chopped onion (I used about 1 T. freeze dried shallots this time)
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. mayo
1/4 c. sour cream
1 egg
Buttered bread crumbs (I prefer Panko) Plus, I added a bout 1/4 c. of freshly grated parmesan.

Roughly chop broccoli & cauliflower, add onion & cheese & mix until combined.

Mix soup, mayo, sour cream & egg.

Add to broccoli mixture, stir well & put in buttered casserole dish.

Top with buttered bread crumbs & bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Served brisket & casserole with real life mashed potatoes & it was another fine meal! Gotta stop cooking like this during the week. My waistline doesn't need to grow any more before the holidays, or maybe it does ....

Soup Sunday, New Welcomes & a Strange Vegetable

The last couple of weeks have been uneventful. We went to the Country last weekend & got the 2 asparagus beds straightened & filled w/sticks, poo & straw. Will continue adding compost material until time for planting in March. Forgot the camera so no pic.

Had a bit of drama though. When we got there we were basically locked out of our way in to the property. We had to go to the other side of the property & use my Dad's gate & drive across the pond damn. Quite a ways out of the way but doable. The person who let us use his gate for access has 'gone off his meds' & is a bit crazy w/o them. This is the 3rd or 4th time he's done this so we are done w/him. We'll be putting in a driveway just down the road from my Dad's gate but have  few obstacles we will need to be overcome, such as clearing some woods that has a branch running through it. I'll post our progress.

I got this strange vegetable in my last CSA delivery. 

I cut it up along w/some onion, mushrooms & yellow peppers & roasted them.

I served it w/organic chicken in a creamy asiago cheese sauce. It was delicious.

Greg got some bathroom shelves put up so I could display my milk vases (he calls them graveyard vases). We've had these shelves since last summer & I've been collecting the vases from estate sales during that time. I'm quite pleased w/the results.

For Souper Sunday, I made sausage, kale & lentil soup. I don't like kale & this is about the only way I've found that I can stomach it. I like all other greens (turnip, mustard, collards, etc.), just not this one.

Saute some spicy sausage w/the casing removed
Add onions & any other vegetables you would like (I used parsnip, carrot & a couple of potatoes)
Add rosemary, salt, pepper & cumin
Saute until slightly tender
Wilt in chopped kale along w/some grated nutmeg
Stir in some tomato paste & a cup or so of white wine
I also added a can of chopped tomatoes at this point.
Add lentils & 6-8 cups of liquid (I used a quart of homemade tomato juice, 3 pints of homemade meat stock & 2 cups of water.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat & cook until lentils are tender (about 45 minutes)

This made a lot of soup so I canned most of it (12 pints). I also found a couple of containers of spaghetti & meatballs in the freezer so I thawed those & canned 2 pints of that along w/the soup. The pressure canner is whistling while I type this. Note: This is my 1st time canning any meat products. 75 minutes at 10lb pressure.

Greg just put some ribs on for dinner & I harvested my cauliflower & last of the broccoli. Here's a picture of my bounty.

The largest cauliflower floret is about the size of a baseball. Guess I need to add more sun & fertilizer to my fall/winter garden - lol.

Lastly, I'd like to welcome a few new followers:

Lara from A Primitive Homestead. She's got a real nice blog that talks about a lot of the things we all like. She's going through a rough time right now, as she lost a child last year, so she could use any support available.

Barbara Fitch also joined. Barbara, I didn't see if you have a blog. If so, send me the link, I'd like to read along. Update1: Barbara's blog is 3 Acre Homestead. Head on over & tell her hello. She has a lot to offer.

Lastly, Garland Girl from Crap Happens Acres. From what I can tell, she just started her blog & it looks like it will be very interesting & entertaining.

Update2: Suzi from Chores and Chandeliers also decided to come join the party. She's a very talented wife & mother we could all learn a lot from.

Thank you all for joining me on my journey.