Stuffing and Black Friday

Ok. I've been SO busy at work getting ready for Black Friday - doors open at 4am, and I have to be there at 3am! I met a couple of guys two sundays ago when I was out watching sunday football, but I don't think I'll go out with either of them. One seemed real nice, a professional hypnotist - stop smoking, weight loss, etc - he was a Colts fan, which isn't too bad.

And then last weekend,on Saturday, I had to be at work at 6am, because we opened at 7am, and my car wouldn't start. It's an '87 Honda Civic with 233,845 miles on it. I managed to get to work by 6:43, and it turned out to be the starter. So, $368 later . . . . But, the girl I got a ride with on Sunday has a cousin she's going to introduce me to. So we'll see how any of that turns out.

And now food . . . I made pizza last we talked, and then beans & rice. Both are very low budget. And I'll give ya the recipes, later. Today, it's stuffing. After all, Tofurkey Day is (almost) tomorrow. Stuffing is super easy from scratch.

9 cups bread cubes (one bag)
2 cups vegetable stock (or, 1.5 cup veggie stock and 1/2 cup white wine)
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
1tsp basil
1tsp oregano
1tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf, crumbled
S&P

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a skillet, saute onions, mushrooms and garlic. Add spices towards the end of this.
In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, veggie stock and sauteed veggies.
Spoon into a casserole dish. Bake for about 20min, or until somewhat firm & crisp on top. Don't overbake - it'll be dry.

{Vegetable stock:
Everytime you use a vegetable - onion, pepper, mushroom, etc, even potato peelings - instead of throwing the parts you cut off, scoop out, or de-stem into the trash of compost, save them in a gallon freezer bag. When you get a full bag, start boiling your largest pot full of water. I have a pasta pot, about 6qt with a strainer that pulls out, that I use. Then, thaw your bag of veggie parts out, sautee it in batches, and add to the pot of boiling water. When all the veggies are in, turn the pot down to simmer and set the kitchen timer for 30 minutes. Add whatever spices and herbs you'd like. In 30 minutes, check the broth. You're looking for a nice clear brown liquid. Strain the veggies out and then freeze the broth in batches (its easier to use later this way.}

Very simple. And you should always have veggie stock in your freezer ready for use!

More later - enjoy Black Friday.

in any case . . .
slainte . . . .
Mulu :>)

Happy Halloween

It's Halloween. A saturday night. I had the day off (the whole weekend, actually!) And it's 9pm and I'm at home on the computer.

I avoided the trick-or-treaters by taking my grandmother out to dinner and a movie. I'd simply go out, but I'm broke. So . . . Another boring saturday night at home, alone with my daschaund.

The picture in the profile, is by the way, my daschaund when he was about 8 to 10 weeks old. He looks so innocent, doesn't he?

At dinner, my grandmother ordered a bowl of chili, and I thought, that sounds really good. And I thought about making it tomorrow, but it's like 70 degrees right now! Way too hot for chili! But it got me thinking about the things I usually cook only in the winter - chili is one of them. Soups. Et cetera.

And it made me think about mashed potatoes (I don't usually make that in the summer) and twice baked potatoes (all year) and then pierogies! One of these days, I'll get the guts to try and make my own pierogies, instead of store bought. Handmade gnocchi is extremely simple, though the only time I tried spaetzle, it was a complete flop.

In any case . . . there will be more recipes to come. Thanksgiving is coming up, and that means (at the very least) stuffing from scratch. Super simple. I promise.

Slainte . . .

Mulu :>}