Annual asparagus event

It happens every year.  The asparagus grows, we buy it, pickle it and enjoy the bounty all year long.  Sometimes we give them as gifts, but many times we hoard them so we can make super delicious recipes.


My pickling recipe is pretty standard.  Water and vingear in equal ratio; sugar, salt and a spice mixture.  We redo this mixture every year, in search of the best one.  It is a work in progress!

Pictured above is dill, garlic, mustard seed, black pepper, red pepper flakes, onion, celery seed and juniper berry.  I know there are several non-AIP ingredients, so if you are sensitive to nightshades, unfortunately this is not the recipe for you.

Store for 4 months, then enjoy!  Then what do you do? Snacks, bloody mary cocktails, salads? How about a pickled pasta salad?

Enjoy the bounty of the season!

Anniversaries

2019 marks 10 years in a few anniversaries.   I quit smoking,  my dad was diagnosed and died 3 months later from lung cancer.   

This year I had a long conversation with my doctor.     My own health is at a turning point.    I am at the point that unhealthy habits that seem minor now will lead to a shorter lifespan down the road or have me suffering from medical issues.  I don't smoke but that doesn't mean my 12 years of doing so didn't do enough damage.

How does this happen?     You go from what you thought was healthy to a crash in 10 years.  My hair started falling out 10 years ago too.   Stress is not my friend.   While I have made several changes to get back on a better path,  it's time for some more.      Nerve pain is getting worse so I have to keep doing the good things that help and use products that don't hinder the healing.

Instead of giving things up,  I am trying to change my mindset about what I am gaining.   More time with my husband.   The lung capacity to take a high altitude hike!   Less mass on my joints leading to less pain.   Maybe less psoriasis flares.
The possibilities are endless!

I am going to slip back,  I am doing to fall down (I am a but clumsy at times),  but I will keep pushing forward!

I have a goal set,  a time frame.    Spring helps as I am naturally more active.   Gardening is a big job around our home, so expect to see a few more reading in the garden posts!

Don't fear change.   Take it slow,  be well,  keepoving, and rest when you need it.

Blessings to all.
AK

Welcome 2019

I know I'm a little late welcoming in the New Year.  That doesn't mean I have been sitting on my arse doing nothing!   In the BNB WA kitchen all sorts of new reciepes are emerging, plus garden planning is going on, and reading time has been limited.   I can tell you it's easier to get reading time in with a cat than a puppy - so I take the tme when I can get it.

Daily cooking has lead me to vary my routine and reciepe collections.   When I make the weekly menu, due to the fact I am cooking for a house guest too, I need to make a touch more than usual.  I plan to make meals that are easily reheatable and filling to the hard working man (could be woman, but the two I am meal prepping for are men).
While I could get by with just a small salad and a protein, they need a bit more to work 10-12 hour shifts. 

Some of their favorites:
Salisbury Steaks
Cowboy Beans (actually is B's reciepe)
Sausage pesto pasta
Chicken Enchillada casserole with homefried tortilla chips
Shrimp stir fry with Coconut rice
Roast chicken with mashed potatoes
Sweet & sour Meatballs and Hawaiian style pasta salad
Amy's  Meatloaf
Fresh Pork chops n roasted veggies
Chicken Quarters with roast root veggies
Fully loaded steak salads with homemade dressings (choices!)
Teriyaki Chicken Legs with fried rice (in a number of combinations)

I must admit, I've had a bit too much of my trigger foods.  I ended up having a bad autoimmune flare a few weeks back.  Things that upset my system are legumes, corn, wheat, nuts, and dairy.  Legumes seem to be the worst right now.   I have come to the conclusion that almond milk creamer in coffee is actually a bad combination.  Thankfully I have found a coconut milk creamer that I enjoy - so I can have one cup of coffee.  Otherwise, it is back to tea; not that I am complaining as I LOVE tea too.

You probabally want reciepes. 

Some I may have posted about before, while others I just follow what I think sounds good at the time.  Things that inspire the menu are what is on hand, what is on sale, what is going to be fully used, or made to last over a few different reciepes - if I buy in bulk (like eye of round beef roast).


Amy's Meatloaf

Ground Beef - 1 lb
Ground Venison 1 lb
Ground Pork (plain not sausage) 1 lb.
Sourdough loaf (the airy kind not the soft kind)
Dark marbled rye bread (at least 4 slices)
BBQ sauce ***
Medium white onion, minced
Garlic, 2 cloves minced
Handfull of Parsley, chopped
Sea salt
Fresh ground Pepper
Large eggs
Worcestshire Sauce
Olive oil
Bone Broth***

*** These are items I make from scratch.

Directions:
*Tear the sourdough into chunks and let it sit out on the counter overnight alongside the rye bread.  You want the bread to dry a bit so the crumb is fine when you add to the meat mixture.
*Next morning bring all ingredients to room temp except the ground meat.
*Using gloved hands, add to a large non-reactive bowl:  beef, pork and venison, minced onion, chopped parsley, minced garlic, dash of salt, dash of pepper,  and a splash of bone broth.  You only want a splash at this step.   
*Gently mix with your hands.  Remove and discard gloves.
* Add 3/4 of the bread by tearing the bread into fine crumbs for the rye bread, and half crumb and a few chunks for the sourdough.   Do not mix in yet.
*Once the bread is sprinkled all over the meat mixture, crack an egg over (ratio of 1 egg per 1.5 lb of meat so I use 2 eggs as I use 1lb of each meat item).
*add a dash of worcestshire sauce, a splash of bone broth, and a dollop of BBQ sauce.
*With new gloves, gently mix in the crumb and eggs with your hands.
*Review time - If the mixture is too dry, add a touch more of BBQ sauce or bone broth.  If it's too wet, add more bread (which is why we reserve some of the bread). 
*Adjust the mixture as needed, discard gloves.
*Prepare your pan.  I found that lining my baking dish with parchment paper made it easy to lift out the finished meatloaf.  But if you are only serving buffet style in the kitchen like we do, it's not needed.  Instead, just sprinkle some olive oil around the dish to give it a nice coating (and a nice outside edge).
*Add the meatloaf mixture, then smooth out.
*Coat with a light amount of BBQ sauce
*Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then top with a bit more bbq sauce and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
*Total is an hour - give or take until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees.
*Let rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

I serve this with parmesan garlic mashed red potatoes and a side of sour cream!   Note - I make this when I can handle nightshades and eggs, not during a bad flare.

If you don't want this as a casserole, you can use this exact recipe to also make meatballs or cook in regular muffin tins, or mini muffin tins!   The possibilities are endless.

How do you like your meatloaf?  More meat than bread, ketchup or bbq sauce, dry or moist? 

Off to do some shopping - will post the next reciepe later on!

Feast of Thanksgiving 2018

I actually understand why some folks prefer to go out to dinner or to others homes on Thanksgiving, It's a lot of work when you are the host.  We hosted only ourselves, but we put on quite the spread!  This morning we are left with dishes and all the desserts that we could not even touch due to being full.

You see it all started a few weeks ago.  We began to change from grain heavy meals during the week, to more limited, then to barely any.  The meal portions got a little smaller, or were filled by more nutrient dense items. While we couldn't finish our plates - what we did have was amazing!

Menu for a Feast of Thanksgiving went like this:

Appetizer course
Chilled Prawns
Cheese bites
Hard Salami
Pickled Asparagus***
Homegrown cucumber pickles***
Cold imitation crab dip
Buttery crackers
Whole grain crackers

Main course
Apple wood smoked Turkey
Golden mashed potatoes
Gluten-free smokey Gravy**
Roasted Homegrown Carrots and Beets***
Green Bean Mushroom bake with onions and bacon**
Coconut cream Ambrosia salad**
Cranberries
Dinner rolls

Dessert Course
Pumpkin cheesecake*
Pumpkin Pie*
Pumpkin Pecan tarts with almond meal crusts*,**
Smoked Pumpkin Cheesecake **
Pumpkin pecan Pie/Tart**
Whipped cream
Whipped coconut cream**

Beverage course

Sauk Farm's Grape Cider

Legend
*Personal sized **Experimental or new dish. ***Includes good items grown here

Now you might feel this menu was not that daunting.  We had a few hiccups along the way, one being that I bought too big of a bird and B did his best to accommodate my purchase.  We joked that the best way we learn is trial and error.  But at the end of the day, even in light of the issues we faced and lessons learned, we had a beautiful spread and ended in laughter!

Smoked Turkey

Brined with half of a bag of leftover Spice Islands brine, plus some salt, dried cranberries, few juniper berries, extra peppercorns, and a bay leaf.  Brined for 1.5 days (went into the brine Tuesday evening).   To prep for the smoker, we covered the bird in an olive oil herb blend (rosemary, sage, thyme - from home, plus pink sea salt), then stuffed the cavity with 2 granny smith, 2 Sauk farm organic Winesaps, 1 onion, and more thyme and rosemary.   B set the smoker up at 4am, and the bird from hell (as his family calls turkey) went into the smoker at 5am.  B wet smoked it, basting with an apple juice/cider blend. 

Our dog, being his first thanksgiving and all - found out that every time B went for the door, he cold go and smell the aromas that were coming from the smoker box.  He would come back inside and look at me like  "Do you smell that??"  It permeated B's clothes.  We all drooled that day!

Despite our best efforts, 15.5 lbs of turkey in the smoker at a low setting takes a long time.  But there at the end, it was so good!!!  The best flavored turkey ever is our smoked turkey.  B holds me to it when I told him that it was better than I could ever do in the oven.

Turkey in the brine 

Ready for the smoker

Smoked turkey

The sides

If I have to give a recipe on how to make mashed potatoes, I'd stop blogging.  There are things you learn when you are young and part of a large family.  I learned how to make mashed potatoes when I was about 5.  I have been cooking beside the women in my moms family from an early age. So if a 5 year old can make mashed potatoes, so can you.  If you buy pre-cooked potatoes or instant for thanksgiving, and you don't have an ailment - shame on you.  I understand timely matters - I bought rolls this year - but if you are having mashed potatoes - sweet or regular, for the love of all things,  make them from scratch.  If you don't know how or if you are nightshade free, find an Irish granny and ask for help. Potatoes are simple, and the best ingredients make the best mashed potatoes. Enough said on that topic, moving right along.

Roasted beets and carrots

We grow our own beets and carrots every year.  Harvested the weekend before Thanksgiving, they are dug up and given a good washing.  Once the turkey is in for a bit peel and quarter the beets, chop the carrots.  Drizzle with rosemary infused olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and add a few sprigs of rosemary into the baking dish.   Set out on the counter until its time to cook.  These are baked in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until easily pierced.

Green bean Mushroom bake - dairy, corn, wheat, soy free

The last few weeks I have been trying to avoid my trigger foods -  corn, soy, wheat, dairy, sugar, and artificial preservatives.  For the most part I have been successful. Thanksgiving did have dairy, some wheat, and limited sugar.  We used honey, coconut sugar, coconut cream where possible, and just used full fat versions when not.  When it came time to discuss green bean casserole - B mentioned he didn't really like the standard version.  Thus we tried something new.

8x8 baking dish

Fresh or frozen green beans 

Washed and quartered mushrooms

1 white onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic chopped

8 strips of thick cut bacon, cooked, cooled and crumble into bits

olive oil

salt 

pepper

Directions:  cook bacon to crispy, making sure to render all the fat (baking in oven helps do this pretty good).  let cool, then crumble.

assemble dish while turkey is cooking, as you wont put this into the oven until the  turkey is just about done.

Toss together beans, onions & mushrooms with olive oil to coat, place into dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Top with the cooled bacon and set on counter at room temp.  

Note - when this dish cooks it will generate some liquid so don't overflow your dish too much.  

Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until the top of the dish shows some crispy  bits.

Green bean mushroom bake

Gluten-Free smokey gravy

Last year we did more of an AIP dinner and learned some hard lessons.  Gravy should be made with flour and butter.   Not nuts, not roots, real grain flour and good quality butter.   I was reading on the Lexi's clean kitchen blog about gluten free gravy.  She mentioned that most gluten free gravies use cornstarch.  Well we wanted to avoid corn this year, so that option was out.  Next she advised that King Arthur flour had a good all purpose gluten free flour that would do the trick.  At 6.00 a lb it better!   The only difference we noted was that the gravy didnt have the sheen to it that all my other gravy usually does.  And if we didn't tell you it was gluten free, you would never have known!

Ingredients

King Arthur gluten free all purpose flour, about 1/2 cup

1 stick challenge unsalted butter

Salt

Pepper

Homemade chicken bone broth

turkey simmer broth *

Turkey pan drippings

* turkey simmer broth is the neck which soaked in the brine, simmered in water and stock with onion slice plus half an apple with a sprig of thyme.  simmerabout ed all day on the stove gives great turkey flavor.  strain and use in place of water in your gravy mix.

First make a roux. Melt butter to hot bubbles, add flour and cook, stirring constantly until light brown and slightly nutty.  Whisking at a consistent pace, add the drippings, then the bone borth, then the simmer sauce.  whisk until smooth and allow the gravy to heat throughout.  Taste test, season and add more stock to your liking.  Maintain a low    /simmer until ready to serve.  Serve warm in a gravy boat. 

Imitation crab dip

Ingredients 

flaked style imitation crab

4 oz cream cheese, room temp

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayo

chopped green onion

onion powder

garlic powder

salt

pepper

In a food processor, combine  crab and cream cheese, pulse a few times.

Add sour cream, pulse

Add mayonnaise, pulse

Add green onion,onion, garlic powders, salt & pepper and pulse until well combined.

Taste test!!  Adjust to add more whatever as needed to your liking.

place into shallow dish, cover and chill for 2 hours.  

Serve with crackers.

Appetizers 

Desserts, personal sized

So there are some of our recipes this year.  This was our dogs first thanksgiving and our first without our Missy Kitty.  Grateful for our home, life, surroundings, friends, and family.

Hoping you and yours made it memorable too!!

Missy Kitty

Today marks one month since we had to put our Missy Kitty to sleep.  It is not an easy milestone, as so much has happened since my last blog. 

Originally she was supposed to a cat to keep my grammy company.  When I moved, she went with me - and since then she's been by my side.  Earlier this year she had survived an eye removal due to a lens issue.  We all had hope she would last another 5-10 years. 

One month ago she woke me up, throwing up and looking lethargic.  It was my normal day to work from home, and for that I will ever be grateful. 

She continued to decline all day.  I had to clock off work early and came to the realizaton that this was her last day.  I talked to my mom, sister, and B - we all had tears as this cat meant a lot to everyone.   Our dog knew something was wrong.  Usually they tormented each other and that day he nuzzled her, laid by her side and was the most gentle I had seen of him.  Not knowing if I could drive, my friend said she had some calming medicine if kitty needed it.  She wasn't able to lift her head and I knew it only hours before she'd end up having major problems.  She was already shutting down.   With a goodby to puppy, Missy took a last ride downriver, where her wonderful vet waited past their normal closing time. 

After loooking at her, hearing about the day and some of the prior weeks (eye started to become more dialated than usual), Dr. J  thinks she had a vascular stroke.   The eye lens shifted, she couldn't see the last few hours, and she was in obvious pain. this wasn't something we could have prevented, it was only a matter  of time due to her eye.  It was the right thing to do.   She went night night amid tears and laughter and lots of love with me, her vet, and the vet assistant.  I took her home with me and since B wasn't home, I had to move the green beans to make room for her in our chest freezer. 

In the days that followed, I was super glad for our puppy.  He barely left my side and we grieved together.  I was so heartbroken.  When B got home days later, he made a beautiful box where we laid her to rest with her favorite blankie, toys, collar and all of our love.   Her final resting place is in our rose garden, in between two rose buses, where we can see her spot out our dining room.  My plan is to make a wood sign for her as her memorial garden.  One day we do want a bigger place, and while I won't move her, i will always take her sign with me. 

Some may think I grieve too hard for just a cat.  She was more.  I am aproaching my 40's.  We have failed to concieve the last 6 years, so that darn cat was my kid.  And she's gone.  I know it doesn't fully equate to the loss of a human child - it never can.  But the loss and grief is the same.  There was an empty part of me that just ached for days.  The only solace I took is that she didn't have a long and slow painful death.  She was super healthy one day, and failing the next.  She always trusted me, and in those final moments, she was at peace.

The night we laid her to rest, I decided to make roast chicken - her favorite - for dinner.  An hour into cooking, the chicken wasn't cooking very well.  The lower element went out.  Man did we have some laughs!  You can bet she was chuckling or smirking up there in kitty heaven, just thinking, no roast chicken without me hunans!  Two Amazon orders later, we got the the right replacement element - and I haven't make roast chicken since.  The next time we do, we will dedicate it to our Missy.  Our first taste tester here at Books n Brew, but not our last.

Our pets are more than just nusiances, they are family and we love them just as much - even sometimes more so!

I don't have a recipe to post today, nor a book,  It's just my post about my sweet Missy Kitty. Hug them tight and give lots of love - for their lives are not as long as ours, but they are such packed with lots of love.