Mmmmmmm Spaghetti

We're not Italian but my mom makes some gooood spaghetti and meatballs. It's so easy and there's hardly any measuring required. Just throw the meatball ingredient in a bowl and mix with your hands. My mom always left the mixing part up to us kids. We thought it was fun. Now it's not so much fun when I realize just how cold my hands get. (Less so if you use fresh onion instead of frozen.) This recipe is pretty close to my mom's with just a few changes.

Ingredients for Meatballs
1lb 93% lean ground beef
2 slices of bread crumbled
liberal ketchup (give it a couple of good squirts)
salt and pepper
couple shakes of tabasco sauce
couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce
handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
1 small yellow onion diced (or less)
1 egg


Instructions
1. Put meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well with clean hands.
2. Form into small balls. Place meatballs in large saute pan and brown on all sides.
3. Add pasta sauce to meatball pan. Cover and simmer on low.
4. Boil water in large pot for pasta.
5. When pasta is done (about 9 minutes) the meatball/sauce will be done as well.
6. Drain pasta. Serve meatballs and sauce over pasta. Grate fresh Parmesan cheese over pasta.

Around the Neighborhood

Ollie has been doing much better. We started out with some short walks last weekend and now he's back to a walk every day. After not being out in the neighborhood for the last couple of weeks he had a lot of sniffing to catch up on.

Sunday Night Family Dinner

Dinner tonight was Chicken Cacciatore over Trader Joe's whole wheat couscous. This dinner is definitely a labor of love. We had family over tonight to watch the 49ers game so it was worth the extra effort.

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
4 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup flour
salt and pepper
1 yellow onion (diced)
1 red pepper (sliced into 1-inch long strips)
1 lb button mushrooms sliced or quartered
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatos
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp oregano


Instructions
1. Put flour, salt and pepper in large plastic bag. Place chicken thighs in bag one at a time and shake until well coated.
2. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven. When oil is hot, add chicken thighs. Fry until crispy brown on both sides. Remove chicken and set aside.
3. Add onion and peppers. Cook until onions are translucent.
4. Add chicken thighs back to pot. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Pour canned tomatoes and white wine over chicken. Cover pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes of simmering, add mushrooms and parsley.  Simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve over whole wheat couscous.

Saturday Steal

It was a productive Saturday. Mike and I cleaned the house top to bottom in the morning. Next I took Oliver for his first walk in over 2 weeks! He is supposed to have another week of crate rest but he has been back to his normal energy level the past several days and he desperately needed to get out of the house. I did my best to get him to take it easy but he was understandably excited to see the neighborhood and other dogs for the first time in weeks.

In the afternoon I took a little "me" time to get out of the house and wander about East Sacramento. I stopped by a consignment shop where I have taken a few things before (and hence had a store credit). Found a couple gorgeous Anne Taylor suits 1 size too small and a pair of 7's For All Mankind in just my size, but a bit more worn than I was willing to purchase. So, I passed.

The 57th Street Antique Mall was just around the corner so I stopped in for an hour to browse and see if I could find either (a) a credenza to work as a TV stand or (b) a small leather chair for our living room. We really only have comfortable seating for 3 (2 on the sofa and 1 chair) so we needed another seat to end the awkward moments when we decide if 3 people are going to cram on the couch together, 1 of us is sitting on the floor, or worse - Mike brings out the green canvas camping chair from the garage. No luck finding either of these 2 pieces. I love antique shop/estate sale/flea market shopping but I find its really tough to go looking for something in particular because when I do I never find it.

Today I did find the cutest little oil painting that I just had to take home. At $4.50 I couldn't pass it up. I found it in an upscale antique shop that specializes in pottery. In fact, it was so out of place that when I brought it up to the owner he asked if I was looking to sell the painting. It took him looking at the tag on the back to convince him I had found it in his shop, and that, yes, it was marked $4.50. The owner commented that it looked primitive. It reminded me of American Primitive/Folk Art style immediately when I saw it. I love the winter scene and the pop of yellow color on the house! I'm going to have no problem finding a spot for it. When you are just starting to decorate your house and collect art for it, you can do well and find good pieces without spending a fortune. Gorgeous original pieces can be even cheaper than Target or Ikea art! I read years ago that one way to build a collection is to start with small original pieces which tend to be more affordable than large pieces of similar quality. Small pieces can be arranged in a collection to fill up a large wall space. Don't worry about the crappy frames these cheaper pieces might come in. For example, I believe that this piece was seriously undervalued and overlooked because someone had but in a $1 frame with a cardboard back. In time, I'll have the piece matted and framed in a piece that will do it the justice it deserves. For now, I can still enjoy it as it is.

It's a Cold and Stormy Night

Winter is finally here. It's rainy and windy and after a long day at my externship all I wanted to do was get home to Mike and Oliver and relax in my warm home. Rainy weather means comfort food so it was paninis and tomato basil soup. Tuna and spinach on sourdough for me and turkey and cheese for Mike. When we received the panini maker at Christmas I was thinking I wouldn't get a lot of use out of it since I stay away from cheese. It actually made a wonderful sandwich sans cheese. We were so hungry that I completely forgot to take any pictures. Although I don't think tuna salad is particularly lovely photographed.

Tuna Panini for 1
6 oz can tuna
1.5 TBSP miracle whip or mayo
4 cornichons finely diced
1 TBSP sun dried tomatoes in oil
Black ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup spinach
2 slices good sourdough bread

1. Mix first 5 ingredients. Spread on slice of bread.
2. Top with spinach and other piece of bread.
3. Grill on panini maker.
4. Serve with soup.

Dinner was followed by a game of Sequence. We still play with my grandparent's old set with wear marks from their pushing the chips across the board.

The comfort food continued on to dessert with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. My mom swears by the Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I don't think I've come across a better recipe. The recipe calls for Ghiradelli Bittersweet chocolate chips, but I use whatever chocolate I have in the pantry. Dark chocolate morsels are one of my favorites.

 

Split Pea Soup

Another slow cooker recipe! On Tuesdays I have a 2 hour break in the middle of the day. I've been using this time to go home, take care of Ollie, eat a little lunch and get dinner going in the slow cooker. Today was the first really chilly day of the year so pea soup sounded just right. Like beef stew, pea soup is one of my mom's classic meals. Whenever we finished a bone-in ham she would use the remaining bone and scraps of meat to make a delicious thick pea soup. I still make this soup regularly but without the ham hock. Mom makes this on the stove top. And while I occassionaly do the same, I'm more likely to throw it in my crock pot.


Slow Cooker Pea Soup - Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients
1lb dried split peas
6 cups chicken broth
2 stalks of celery (chopped)
3 carrots (peeled and chopped)
2-3 small red potatoes (diced into small pieces)
1 medium yellow onion (finely diced)
1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp "Mural of Flavor" seasoning from Penzy's
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 Bay leaves

Instructions
1. Rinse peas in a fine mesh strainer under running cold water.
2. Wash and chop vegetables. Keep onions separate.
3. Heat butter or oil in a skillet. Add finely diced onion and cook until translscent.
4. Add peas, vegetables, chicken broth, and seasonings/herbs to slow cooker. Mix.
5. Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 6 hours. If you use the low setting, cook for 8-10 hours.
6. When soup is done cooking you will need to stir until soup has a uniform consistency.
7. Add more salt, pepper, and Mural of Flavor to taste.
8. Spoon into bowls and serve with a crusty baguette and ham. Enjoy!

Sunday Beef Stew

Beef stew seems is the perfect winter dinner. I remember my mom making her grandmother's recipe in a huge pot, slow cooking it for hours in the oven on a weekend day. Today its a healthy, low cost meal that can be put in my crock pot in the morning while I go about my day. Since its just Mike and I (and his grandmother on Sunday nights) I halve my mom's original recipe as shown below. It's almost the same as her grandmother made decades ago. I've added some spices and left out the tapioca, choosing instead to thicken the broth with cornstarch as needed at the end.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew  
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients
1 lb lean chuck roast stew meat cubed
3 TBSP flour
2 TBSP butter
1 28 oz can plum tomatoes (cut tomatoes in half)
4 carrots
2 sticks celery
4 small red potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves


Instructions
1. Peel carrots. Chop carrots, celery, and potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Quarter onion and cut into 1-inch pieces.
2. On a large plate combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge beef cubes in flour mixture. Shake off excess. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in large sauce pan on medium heat. Once butter is sizzling add meat. Brown on all sides.
4. Once meat is browned, place in bottom of crock pot. Place chopped veggies on top of meat in crock pot.
5. Cut whole plum tomatoes in half. Pour tomatoes and the juice from the can over the meat and veggies in the crockpot.
6. Add sugar, herbs, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to crock pot. Mix in with tomatoes and veggies, leaving meat cubes on bottom of crock pot.
7. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-10 hours.
8. When finished cooking, there will be broth in the crock pot. To thicken and create a stew gravy, mix 2 TBSP cornstarch with cold water. Add to crock pot and combine with broth.

Serve with crusty sourdough bread. Enjoy!