 When did snow and bad weather turn into a massive run on grocery stores for milk and bread? I was around for the “great snow” of 1982, but I remember we always had enough food in the house to live for a month. I accept the fact that it may not have been what I wanted, but it was sustenance. My plans of going to the store today for soup ingredients got scuttled, but instead of panicking, I decided to get creative and make something from my pantry and freezer. I went back to a recipe I found in the New York Times that I had been meaning to make for a while. It was a butternut squash pasta with brown butter bread crumbs. It was a multilayered cooking event, but the end result looked like mac and cheese, but instead was a creamy butternut squash sauce. The addition of panko briefly cooked in brown butter was the perfect topping for this delicious pasta dish. Take that French toast! 
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 Big Guy and I have been living in the world of basketball for the past several weeks. Between our beloved Billikens and Godson, we have been to a lot of games.
I guess I do not need to tell you the Carondelet Kitchen has been pretty quiet unless you count the number of trips to the trash bin with our takeout containers. It has not been all takeout, but my soup options in the freezer are also dwindling since I have been relying on my past cooking weekends. We are in the buildup to March Madness, but we have finally been getting some bye weeks, so I want to restock the freezer with new soup options. Like my Alexa, I guess the @nytimes sensed my need and had an entire section on soups. I cannot wait to dig into these recipes and try something new!  Social media never ceases to amaze me from the fantastic to the bottom rung of stupidity. As we continue to hear about dangerous challenges being displayed, with the warning do not do this at home, I reflected that this is nothing new. The only difference between today and when I was a kid was we did not have cell phones to share our nonsense with the world.
I am pretty confident everyone will have a story to share about this topic. Jumping off the roof because you thought you could fly? Riding your bicycle all the way to school without ever touching your handlebars? Putting pennies on a railroad track so they got flattened by a train? I did not jump off the roof, but I’ll lay claim to the other two along with this culinary challenge. My best friend and I used to suck on bouillon cubes to see which one of us gave up first. I was always the champion which is probably why I still love too much salt in my food!  I have watched enough British television to know that afternoon tea is an event. Granted, I am not talking about high tea, just a brief respite in the afternoon.
Big Guy got me in the habit when I first started working from home. Everyday, around 2, he would bring me a big cup of tea and a sweet treat. I found myself looking at my clock anticipating it as it usually became a few minutes I could take a break and quiet my mind. I know I am spoiled, but I chuckled if I had a meeting at the same time and my fellow Zoomers could see a mystery hand on my photo view with my afternoon treat. I do believe I had some jealous colleagues who wished they had a Big Guy pampering them!  Big Guy and I love oatmeal raisin cookies. Unfortunately, this blog is more about oatmeal than cookies. I will certainly write that blog another time.
We are always looking for new ideas for breakfast on those days we do not tuck into a full rancher’s mix of eggs, potatoes and sausage. I am alluding to healthier options to balance out our full meal days. I tend to grab yogurt, but in the cold months I want something cozy. We read an article in the New York Times about overnight oats and had to try it. It took five minutes to prepare. I put in overnight oats, milk, craisins, pumpkin seeds and brown sugar. I popped the jar into the refrigerator overnight so the milk could absorb with the ingredients to create a tender and creamy breakfast treat! So easy and so good!  I was rooting around my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to come up with a recipe to make for dinner. I love it when I realize I have the ingredients for the perfect meal.
Big Guy and I used to go to Brazie’s Ristorante on a regular basis. The food was always good and at a great price. As we got to know the staff, they would recommend their favorite meals. On one evening, Big Guy was offered an option off the menu and he never looked back. They made him spaghetti then baked it in the oven with cheese. He was in heaven. This was my rift on Big Guy’s favorite meal. I added homemade meatballs to the baked spaghetti to make it extra special. It was a wonderful way to remember our friends at Brazie’s who made every night date night for us!  Big Guy and I share many interests, but we are divided when it comes to olives. He cannot stand the texture whereas I love them.
I remember rushing to the refrigerator as a kid to grab a new jar of olives before my brother got home. Between the two of us, the jar was usually gone within a day to which my mom would lament they were meant for other people too. We would just roll our eyes and tell her to buy more than one jar. She got her revenge one year when olives became one of our Christmas gifts! While my Big Guy will not eat olives, he does enjoy seeking out cheese stuffed olives and even found me red pepper stuffed olives. Throw Tanqueray over them and I am in martini heaven!  Big Guy asked me the other day if I wanted a funny faced egg for breakfast. I grew up on it, but this family-named dish is also known as “Toad in a Hole.” It is a simple egg sandwich whereby you cut a hole in the middle of the bread and cook your egg in the hole.
This dish should not be confused with the other Toad in the Hole dish which is a classic English dish of sausages cooked in an egg mix served with gravy and a side of vegetables. Although, that sounds delicious, too. This version is a quick dish that quickly satisfies any hunger pangs. It is also a great way to introduce youngsters to cooking since it is an easy dish to make any time of day!  I realize the world is tumultuous, but living in this time, we have so much to be thankful for living in the Lou. For example, I was wandering the produce section at my grocery store when I saw beautiful tomatoes. At first, I assumed they were fake because they were too perfect. Upon close inspection, they were hot house tomatoes that not only looked good, but still smelled like they were on the vine. I had to buy them and figure out a menu on the fly. The first thing I used them for was a lovely salad. I had two left and got inspired when I realized I had bacon and lettuce in the refrigerator. Big Guy started chanting BLT from the other room at the same moment I spotted the ingredients. I admit BLT’s taste best in the summer, but it was nice to have a moment to believe it might be warm outside. As I opened the back door to take out the trash, my dream was busted with a blast of cold air. SIGH!   Big Guy and I started reading the Irish Country Doctor series years ago which prompted me to explore Irish cooking. One of my favorite meals is Shepherd’s Pie. It is like a casserole with a meat and vegetable filling and whipped potatoes and cheese used as a topping. I admit I did adjust the recipe to use beef instead of lamb as the author noted it was an appropriate substitution. It has become a special meal I tend to make each year and not just for St. Patrick’s Day! In fact, several years ago we invited some colleagues over for dinner and decided to make an Irish meal with Shepherd’s Pie as the star. Two of our guests were born and raised in the South and taught this cook a new lesson. Did you know Irish Shephard’s Pie is made with lamb and American Shepherd’s pie, also known as Cottage Pie, is made with ground beef? It seems this dish is perfect to make when you have leftover beef and vegetables. I was a little embarrassed that my dish appeared to be made with leftovers, but I made up for it with my Jameson’s Cake!  |
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