Poor Man's Turkey - Repeated as Public Service

“People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” - Abraham Lincoln

This recipe comes from Karen Rock and Recipes of the Liberty Bell Chapter #266 - Vietnam Veterans of America. Seems apropos given the cuts in food assistance nationwide the Republicans are working on and the turkey shortage.

Yes, I am even political on Thanksgiving. Probably why I am single. I am not running a Chili Parlor. I am a political organization.

This might taste awfully good on those days when you are sick of leftover Turkey and you have some stuffing left. I never have any stuffing left. And I hate Turkey. Might have to improvise. Happy Thanksgiving.

Poor Man's Turkey

1 pound Ground Beef
1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
1 small Onion, chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 cup cooked Stuffing
1 slice raw Bacon (optional)

Combine first five ingredients and form into one loaf. Cut in half lengthwise and insert Stuffing into the middle of the loaf. Put back into shape and bake one hour at 375 degrees. Place strip of Bacon on top of meatloaf to keep it from drying out. Serves 4.

Roasted Pumpkin Guts - Repeated as Public Service

CLICK ME!

My favorite holiday is coming. Gorgeous pumpkins of all sizes in the market. So I am doing this again. Note: you can roast the seeds of any hard winter squash.

When I was a child, you could buy a box of roasted salty Indian Brand Pumpkin Seeds at the corner candy store. The box the seeds were packed in had a beautiful illustration of an American Indian in full Chief's headdress. The brand is still around but the illustration is gone from the packaging.

When you get done carving that pumpkin for Halloween or just to make a pie, you can roast your own pumpkin seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds are so good.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 and 1/2 cups raw whole Pumpkin Seeds
2 teaspoons Butter, melted
Pinch Salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).

Toss seeds in a bowl with the melted butter and salt. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown; stir occasionally.

This recipe comes from allrecipes.com - for my money the best recipe site on the net. Cooks share their variations on the recipe and their opinions of the recipe's quality. Think Chili Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. Or Cinnamon Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

Cooks also share practical tips for recipe execution like this tip below. There are a lot of creative cooks in the world. This tip is from Valerie's Kitchen.

"If you've never roasted pumpkin seeds before here are my tips. When you carve your pumpkins scoop the seeds into a colander and the guts onto newspaper. Inevitably some of the guts will be mixed in with the seeds but when you run water over them it's separated out pretty easily. After you drain the rinsed seeds, pour them onto a large, dry cookie sheet and let them sit for 24 hours or so to dry out. Now you can pick out the remaining pieces of pumpkin stuff that didn't get pulled out earlier and they will roast better if they are not wet when they go in the oven. My family prefers them seasoned with garlic salt in place of regular salt but you can use whatever suits your taste. So good!"

Java Sweet and Hot

Coffee is good and good for you. Hallelujah! I am celebrating with a cup of Poor Richard's blend coffee from Reading Terminal Market. Life is good.

I was so happy to read this article today. How much do we love coffee? We love coffee so much that we write songs about coffee. Coffee songs below.

Good to know that our love for that first cup in the morning is not in vain. And that drinking another two or three cups may have health benefits.

The illustration is a vintage tin sign. You can find more signs of this type HERE.

Why Coffee Is Good for You
Kris Gunnars, Authority Nutrition

It is more than just dark-colored liquid with caffeine. Coffee actually contains hundreds of different compounds, some of which have important health benefits.

Several massive studies have now shown that the people who drink the most coffee live longer and have a reduced risk of diseases like Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Read more ...

Peeps Jousting! Semper Fidelis!

It is Spring. Easter is March 31. The variety stores are full of Easter Candy. Now is the time for Peeps Jousting. To arms!

"Semper Fidelis", written in 1888 by John Philip Sousa (The March King), is regarded as the official march of the United States Marine Corps. This piece was one of two composed in response to a request from United States President Chester Arthur for a new piece to be associated with the United States President. The words Semper Fidelis are Latin for "Always Faithful."  - Wikipedia

https://youtu.be/mHdCU9RA6GE

Time for a Break in the Day's Hostilities

Time for some healing quiet. I love this video. Meditation works if you work it. Try it; you will like it.

My best advice: if this way does not work for you, there are other techniques. Try the Practice of the Presence of God. Or Vernon Howard's books. Or read Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.

Art is a way to meditate. The feeling you get when you read Wild Geese is satori. Adepts experience satori not for a moment or two but all the time. It is called Paradise. Most of the rest of us do not have the stamina for it.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

- Mary Oliver  

"Asparagus inspires gentle thoughts." - Charles Lamb

Homegrown Asparagus becomes available in Pennsylvania from April through June. It is perfection in May. I love asparagus so much I am already salivating with anticipation. A list of pick-your-own farms in Eastern Pennsylvania can be found HERE. 

The photograph comes from Petr Kratochvil. 

Everyone has favorite ways to eat Asparagus. My Mother, the Polka Queen, made Creamed Asparagus on Toast. This recipe for Chinese Asparagus Salad is one of my favorites. 

Chinese Asparagus Salad

2 pounds fresh Asparagus

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1/2 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Vinegar (Cider or White Wine are good)

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoons Sesame Oil

Some folks peel Asparagus and you can if you want to. I never do. I just snap it. Use a potato peeler if you are going to peel it. Wash the Asparagus well. Cut the spears diagonally across in 1 1/2 inch lengths. Cook the pieces of Asparagus for one minute in boiling water. Then drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Mix all the other ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, salt and oil) together in a large bowl. Add Asparagus and toss. Enjoy.

Kielbasa Appetizers. So good.

I am not a sports fan. I am often surrounded by sports fans who are ravenous - watching football etc. is calorie intensive activity evidently - and requires snacks and copious amounts of beer. Folks hang near the kitchen looking handsome, hairy and hungry like this handsome Wolf.

These Kielbasa Bites are delicious. Just delicious. Good for holiday guests of all sorts as well. 

KIELBASA APPETIZERS

1 – pound kielbasa
1 cup dry white wine
1 heaping tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of brandy
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut kielbasa into one-inch slices. Cut each slice into quarters. Put kielbasa in heavy skillet large enough to hold all the pieces in a single layer. Cover with wine.
Bring the wine to a boil. Cook, uncovered, until wine almost has evaporated and looks syrupy, about 12 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, mustard and brandy. Cook one minute more.

Toss kielbasa with parsley and pepper to taste. Serve with toothpicks for spearing and thin rounds of crusty bread for dipping in the juices. So good. 

Cranberry Walnut Thanksgiving Pie - Happy Holidays!

Every year this recipe saves this cook's life. So I republish it every year at Holiday time so someone new can find it. Enjoy.

When I first encountered this recipe, I scoffed. Nothing this easy could be all that good, I thought. The easy in this pie is no pastry to make. I was so wrong. Make this once and it will become a holiday favorite.

This recipe meets my standards (simple to make, no exotic ingredients, dynamite result). The sweet tart taste is divine. The pie has a texture like a soft shortbread cookie with fruit.

For cooks who have to turn out good food for their family on short notice in a regular kind of way, this recipe is a godsend. I found this recipe in a regional cookbook. It came from Mary Yeaple of York Friends Meeting. Mary Yeaple says of this recipe "I always make two pies at a time because they don't last long."

Cranberry Walnut Pie 

1 1/4 cups Cranberries

1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup chopped Walnuts
1 Egg
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup all purpose Flour
1/3 cup Butter, melted *

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9 inch pie plate and layer cranberries on the bottom. Sprinkle with brown sugar and nuts. In a bowl, beat egg until thick; gradually add sugar, beating until thoroughly blended. Stir in flour and melted butter; blend well. Pour or spoon over the cranberries. Do not stir. Do not worry if the batter does not cover each berry and nut. The high butter content and lack of leavening make the batter relax and become more liquid when heated. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream or whipped topping. English custard sauce would be good too.

* Note: 5 1/3 tablespoons to be exact - I eyeball it with the help of the little tablespoon marks on the butter label. Be sure to use a 9 inch pie pan. Do not take the pie out too soon or it will be too soft. Let it cool completely before slicing. A pie server is useful.

Party Punches for Holiday Celebrations

Punches are elegant and perfect for celebrations of all kinds. Never forget that Punch stock should be poured over a block of ice and served cold cold cold. The only exception is the Coffee Punch below. 

These Party Punches come from Charleston Receipts.  I recommend this cookbook. It is the encyclopedia of Southern comfort. Proceeds from the sale of Charleston Receipts cookbook go to many worthy community projects of the Junior League of Charleston. I receive no payment. 

Coffee Punch

1 gallon strong Coffee

1 quart Cream

2 quarts Vanilla Ice Cream

5 teaspoons Vanilla

5 tablespoons Sugar

Chill Coffee. Whip Cream, add Sugar and Vanilla. Place Ice Cream and whipped Cream in punch bowl and pour Coffee over it. Mix well before serving. ( If block Ice Cream is used, slice it into thin slices before placing in the punch bowl. ) 50-60 servings. 
– Mrs. S. Edward Izard Jr. (Anne Kirk)

Otranto Club Punch

1 pound loaf Sugar
1 quart strong Green Tea
Juice of 12 Lemons, strained
1-2 quarts carbonated Water
1 pint Peach Brandy
1 quart heavy or light Rum
2 quarts Brandy or Rye Whiskey

Dissolve the Sugar in the Tea; add Lemon Juice, Peach Brandy, Rum and the Brandy or Rye Whiskey. Use an abundance of ice, adding a liberal quantity of carbonated Water. 50-70 Servings.
- Louis Y. Davison Jr. 

Cotillion Club Punch

1/4 pound Gunpowder (Green) Tea (makes 5 quarts)
1 quart Cherries
2 dozen Lemons, juice
1/2 pint Fruit Syrup
12 quarts carbonated Water
6-8 quarts Rye Whiskey
1/2 pint Rum
1 pound Sugar made into thick syrup

Pour 5 quarts boiling Water onto the Tea, bring this to a boil; remove from fire at once and let stand until strong enough. Strain and, when cool, add juice of Lemons, Syrup from the Cherries and also the Rye and Rum. Sweeten to taste with any Fruit Syrup; add Sugary syrup and Cherries. Bottle this stock and keep on ice until ready to serve. Pour over block of ice, add one quart Carbonated Water to one quart of stock. This stock can be kept indefinitely if bottled and sealed. Yield 275-300 servings.
- A Charleston Gentleman 

I have fallen in mad love with BATS. I am not alone. - UPDATE

Come into the garden, Maud, 

For the black bat, night, has flown,

Come into the garden, Maud,

I am here at the gate alone...

- from Maud by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Bats are very important to Agriculture especially in Australia. Volunteers there care for and rescue Bats who get in trouble from cars and fruit tree netting and electric wires. You can make a contribution to Shoalhaven Bat Hospital or buy a Bat T-shirt by reading the Notes at the bottom of the videos. 

Update: Thanks to the contributions of battie lovers worldwide, great and small, the airlocks are going up in Mandy's Aviary. 

Now meet handsome Loved James:

STAY PAST THE WARNING NOTICE TO SEE BABY'S REWARD.
 

October's Bright Blue Weather

Fall is my favorite season. Time to make Pumpkin Pie and enjoy good Soup. Halloween will soon be here. The colors of Fall are so rich - eggplant purple, bright blue sky, bright orange squashes. Time for children to dive into piles of golden leaves with abandon. Life is good. Poet is Helen Hunt Jackson.

October’s Bright Blue Weather

O SUNS and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather;
When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;
When Gentians roll their fringes tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;
When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;
When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,

Late aftermaths are growing;
When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;
When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October’s bright blue weather.
O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather.

I am all alone. My housemates are gone for 10 days.

I am on Vacation. Live so that when you open your eyes in the morning the Devil says "OMG She is awake." Woohoo! 

Note: Talk among yourselves, if you like. Put your gum in the wastebasket, not under your desk. Leave the Light on in the Foyer. 

Dog Days Yummy

Definition dog days
noun
the hottest period of the year (reckoned in antiquity from the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Dog Star).

I found this Dog treat on the internet and just had to share. The dog days of Summer will be here soon. I am making this for my Baby dog. 

Picture is kind of fuzzy but the recipe is great. If the Dog does not like this, I will try them myself. I think I will try one anyway. I like peanut butter and banana. 

Hot Dog!

July is National Hot Dog Month.

I am not a sports fan. I am often surrounded by sports fans who, on crucial game days, require sustenance that is easy to make and goes well with beer. Hot dogs are also called wieners and frankfurters. 

I serve Texas Weiners with this sauce and chopped onions. This sauce is HOT so exercise discretion. For a milder sauce, omit the Cayenne Pepper.

This recipe comes from a chef who posted on the old AOL Comfort Food Board named Big Saab Guy. He actually lives in Texas. It will dress about 2 dozen hot dogs. I give it to you as he gave it to the board. You can keep the Sauce and the Hot Dogs warm separately and the sports fanatics can assemble and eat at will. Give lots of napkins.

The sign on the right comes from Plainfield NJ. It hangs on one of the original Texas Weiner joints in business since 1924. The Texas Weiner was actually created by a Greek in Paterson NJ.

Texas Hot Dog Sauce

1 pound finely ground Beef
3 tablespoons Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon White Vinegar
2 cups Water

Very thoroughly brown Beef and drain. You want the pieces to be as small as possible. Really work to break them up as you brown them.

Add the spices and mix well. Add the Water and simmer for one hour, uncovered, stirring often. It should be the consistency of something like tomato soup.

Stir in the Vinegar. Then serve as follows: put a thin smear of Yellow Mustard on both sides of an open hot dog roll, then insert the Hot Dog, then a layer of finely chopped Onion, then drizzle the top with about a tablespoon of the Sauce.

Sweet Honey in the Rose

The Old Design Shop provides the illustration from Flower Children, The Little Cousins of The Field and Garden by Elizabeth Gordon published in 1910. My title is a hat tip to Sweet Honey in Rock. One of their songs below.

June is Rose Month. I am off on a quest only a Mad Gardener and dedicated Foody would attempt. I am going to make this Rose Honey. My quest? Find a good source of unsprayed Pink Roses. I will make and taste this. I must.

This recipe comes from Gourmets for McGovern. I reproduce it verbatim. The Colophon reads "This cookbook has been peacefully and lovingly put together by volunteers for McGovern." I wrote the article at dkos. That article gave birth to this article. 

"According to The Pittsburgh Press Sept. 16, 1972: "Philadelphian Joan Cantor has written a cookbook 'Gourmets for McGovern,' to raise money for the senator's presidential campaign. The 46 page book contains such recipes as 'Mexican Drunken Chicken' and 'peaches poached in apricot sauce' -- all composed by local ladies. The national campaign headquarters has ordered 100,000 copies which it hopes to sell at $2 each." Printed on multi-colored cardstock and illustrated throughout with line drawings presumably done by the same "local ladies," the book includes Cantor's excellent recipe for Banana Cake re-blogged by Cooking with Kos May 31, 2015." - description Abe Books.

HONEY

from Kathy Weinerman

5 pounds Sugar

1-1/2 pints hot water (sic)

alum (about the size of a cherry)

20 red clover blossoms

12 white clover blossoms

8 pink roses

Melt sugar in the water. Add alum and boil 2 minutes. Remove pot from the flame and immediately add the petals of the blossoms and the roses and let stand 10 minutes. Strain and bottle. Try it, you'll like it!

 

Paradise for Book Lover's

This illustration comes from a wonderful book entitled Apples of New York. It can be found, along with other books for your reading pleasure, at the E-Book Lending Library. You can read all their titles for FREE. Stock seems to revolve. I am fond of antique illustrations and typography. So, while the booklist is not enormous, the illustrations and typography of the original editions are rewarding and beautiful. 

I found The Varieties of Religious Experience by Wm. James in a 1917 edition. And a vintage Complete Works of Mark Twain. They have all the genres from romantic potboilers to science fiction. 

The Other French Onion Soup

We are having cold weather in Philadelphia. I want hot comforting soup.

Pour les invalides of Plum Street, this soup is simple to make - or make for someone else - even if you do not cook much. We know who we are.

This onion and cheese soup is tasty and does not require any special cooking skill at all. The quantity is infinitely expandable, just maintain the proportion of equal weights of onion to potato. Serves 2 to 4 people.

The Other French Onion Soup

3 large Potatoes
3 large Onions
8 ounces Swiss Cheese (quantity to taste)
Garnish of Minced Celery Tops

Peel onions and potatoes and place them in a deep soup pot. Be generous about removing outer layers of onion that are too tough to cook and bad for your digestion. Add enough water to cover the vegetables plus one inch above them. Bring water to a boil, then turn down and simmer until onions and potatoes are very soft. Grate the cheese. Mash the vegetables in their own broth when tender. Season with Salt and Pepper. Stir the cheese into the hot soup and serve. Garnish with minced celery tops.

You may wish to substitute another cheese or garnish (minced parsley, bacon bits, etc.). I prefer the combination above, as taught me by an elderly French woman whose surname I never learned. She was Madame Sophie always. A little green salad and some good bread and I feel a happy well fed person.

Note: Do not overcook or your soup will be gluey. Cook only until you can pierce the vegetables with a fork. You want texture in your soup. Do not be lazy. Mince the celery very fine. You will be glad you did.

My Roma Tomato and Me

I planted two Roma tomatoes last year. I was overwhelmed by tomatoes. This Spring, because I do the Ruth Stout thing and mulch like crazy, I was blessed with about 100 volunteer tomato sprouts. I will never have to purchase seeds or plants again.

If you anticipate having too many tomatoes, you might be happy to have Ms. Mary Giblin's recipe.

Bill Giblin, Mary's son, did the technical drawings in 1938 for my Father's model airplane The Trenton Terror. People are still building the model all these years later.

Bill also played a Munchkin Soldier in the film The Wizard of Oz. He once showed me an autographed studio photograph of Margaret Hamilton he kept as a souvenir.

I used to go with my Dad to visit the Giblin's. They would make us Creamed Chicken and Waffles. Mrs. Giblin would send some Chili Sauce home with us. It is delicious with Cheese. It is savory but not hot.

Ms. Mary Giblin's Old Fashioned Sweet Chili Sauce

6 Onions
3 green Peppers
18 medium ripe Tomatoes
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 1/2 cups strong Vinegar
2 level teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon each Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, and Mace (if you can find it)
1/2 teaspoon Cloves

Chop or grind the Onions and Peppers finely. Cut up the Tomatoes into small pieces. Cook all together slowly for 2 1/2 hours. Watch closely and stir often. Sugar makes things burn easily. Makes about 5 pints.

On Not Writing

I do not know what to say. I have had a lot to say for years now. Nothing. I feel suspended in goo just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I hope I will improve. I hope our Democracy survives. Mostly I am taking Buddha's advice. "Think about other things."

It is also true that what does come from my fingers on social media is scary to type and feel and think. Yes, this is me the nonviolent conscientious objector snowflake saying, if a man with a gun and no formal insignia frightens and puts you in fear of injury or death, you kill him. That is your right and responsibility to yourself and fellow citizens IMO.

In the meantime, have some Dave Brubeck. I had the pleasure of listening to the Quartet on a June evening, under a tent, as the Delaware River flowed on by. Anybody else remember The Music Circus? "Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast." - The Mourning Bride, by William Congreve.

Cruising for Containers - Ghetto Garden Fabulous

When you garden in a small area like a city garden, the terrace of a hi-rise building or an alley, you can gain or increase planting space by using containers. We have even developed a phrase for this avocation: container gardening. Yes, you can grow potatoes in a laundry basket. Perfect use for a busted basket.

If you go to your standard garden store and price containers, you may find them costly. I mean, it is triage. What do you want more? Exotic new plants or fancy containers?

So many choices in life. How stylish do you want to be? Some people like funk. Some people like glitz or techno. Or whimsy.

So I thought I would present you, cher Readers, with some creative, varied and unusual containers I have gathered from a glorious google tour of the NET container gardening universe.

Look at junk with a creative eye. Anything you have that will hold soil is a possible container. Use industrial horse troughs. Use those capacious old aluminum pots from the thrift shop.


Do not forget that you must punch holes in the bottom of any container you plant in. Do not drown the Petunias.

The Kitchen Fairy Garden below is one woman's answer to the Fairy Garden craze. Ghetto Garden Fabulous!

I think the choice of all white flowers of different textures and heights for all these old silver containers is the work of a gardener with exquisite taste and a sense if humor.