Reading catch up

The new Alex Kava book, Fallen Creed came out and I was super excited.   I purchased it for a nice relaxing weekend, cracked open the first chapter and went, huh??   I realized that I was missing things, so I went to my bookshelf and sure enough I didn't own Desperate Creed.    No wonder the first few pages didn't make sense!  

Now that I now have that copy, it's time to read!

It's getting harder to find time to read.    Between working more hours, chickens, dog, cats, garden, house cleaning,  and the never ending pile of laundry, it's easier to match a show on my tablet on the kitchen than just sit and read.

I crave that silent time to immerse myself into a story, picturing the words as a movie, having them come to life.   I've tried audiobooks.   My undiagnosed adhd comes out and I get distracted and then get frustrated.       

I like my kindle for its portability, and the fact that I can read some ebooks which are not in print format.  But nothing beats the feel of real printed pages.

I can't run my fingers over ebook spines and touch and remember what I read.   

Kindle unlimited only allows you to borrow a specific number of books, so I had to return half the series I've been reading.   The paperwhite is great, and it has an amazing battery life.   Except it's all black and white and it's hard to find the titles I want in black and white when they are designed in color.    I usually find them on my tablet and then send them to the paperwhite kindle.

So now I am settling down with a physical book, reading foe a few spare minutes before work and I feel my anxiety drain away.

There is just something about a book and reading a good story that relaxes me.

I hope you find a good story today.

Book review - All Day Baking

Book review All day baking.

Short answer:  Simply Amazing. 

Here I am on a Sunday, with a new cookbook, browsing, reading and in awe.   It all started with an Instagram story, trying to find an oat flour gallette recipe, which several hashtags later led me to All Day Baking, Savoury, not sweet by Michael and Pippa James.

Amazon purchase, delivered and WOW!  

This is such an amazing project.   The book, the paper (its not paper thin), the words of wisdom, and my new favorite line, "More is learned from mistakes than success".

That really resonates with me.   We all make them, I hope we all learn and are self aware of that fact.   But to call it out in a baking book?  It was like I was right there in a seminar.   I was hooked!

I'm not going to share the recipes, you'll have to buy the book, but if you are interested in learning more about pastry or pasty doughs and baking them, this is for you!    

I can't wait to adapt some of my local grains and flours to these.

Well done!

It's good to just be in 2022

I took some moments for reflection this morning, much like I do every year for St. Patrick's Day.   Growing up American Irish in a family that loved to celebrate, I try and keep some of those traditions.   Unfortunately I wasn't able tto have kids of my own - but that doesn't mean I've turned into a cranky adult who wants nothing to do with fun, kids, family or laughter.  Far from it!   My immediate family consists of my hubby and I, plus our circus of pets!  The dog, cats, and chickens are enough to make me feel like a stressed out mom at times.  The difference of course is that I can leave this little monsters locked up for the day if I had to be away from the house.    I don't regret my life or my choices. They are what make me who I am today.  I get to be Dog Mom, Cat Mom, and the Crazy Chicken Lady.  Plus I'm Auntie, friend, sister, daugher, wife, cousin.   I hope to be live up to those titles over and over again until I draw my last breath, hopefully in laughter.

Back to today.   I've not yet decorated my house! I feel so far behind due to my work schedule.  I finally took a day off and it feels GREAT!  For the last two years - we've limited interactions, had no major parties, and kept to ourselves.   Was it worth it?  Was the mental anguish, the anxiety, depression and overwhelming feelings worth it?  We survived.  We never contracted C-19, and I still hope we never do.  Forever forward I will connect St. Patrick's day to the shutdown and reopening of our world.  It feels great to be planning adventures this year.  We're hosting our St. Pats feast dinner on Saturday with a few of our closest friends.   We'll revel in the moments that we've shared in the past, and raise a  Toast to one who is no longer with us.  

The Menu this weekend:

Last of the pickled beets

Irish Cheese platter

fSausage Rolls with mustard

Banger bites

Pickled Asparagus

Corned Beef with cabbage and carrots

Steamed cabbage and carrots

Champ

Irish cheesy biscuits

Apple and Pear gallette

Planning leftover meals

Irish Paddy Melts  (corned beef on rye with steamed cabbage and irish cheese)

Corned beef hash

Corned Beef Mac and Irish Cheese (it's soooooo good)

Cheesy biscuit breakfast sandwiches

Traditionally this is also the weekend I plant potatoes and get everything ready to go in the garden. With the greenhouse this year I have a head start.  

It's the last weekend of Winter.  We are going to sweep it out of our lives with a celebration of Irish heritage, the coming of the green, and the continutity of family and lots of laughter. 

Spring forth and show your blooms, your smiles, and share in the warmth yet to come.

Slainte

Where has 2022 gone?

It's just aboutt March, and I got to thinking abouot the passing of time.  Where has it gone, what has beeen wasted, what has been spent making memories, and what do I want  to focus on in the future.  It's really been almost two YEARS since I've worked in the office.  It feels like I've been hyper-aware off my surroundings and have barely had a chance to relax very much in this time.   We'll just have to reference them as the Covid Years, and in another 20 years we will just all laugh and say you'd have had to be there.

So today I'm doing some planning.  Organizing my kitchen, my thoughts, cleaning out some clutter and planning on a tropical 2023 winter vacation to shake off the winter blues.

No picture, just a quick drop by to make sure the blog stays fresh.  Lots to do!

Blessings for the season and a dish to share

There are two weeks and two days left of this year.  And what a year it has been so far, and it's not done yet.  Who would have guessed two years ago we'd be in the position we are today.  Divided due to circumstances, beliefs, and social and political matters.  Let me be clear - I don't have to agree with you to like you.  I don't have to like you to love you.  Is that a strange way of thinking?  If so, then you didn't grow up with a large family like mine.  Because during the holidays, we are supposed to put all of our differences aside and celebrate the things we all share - that we're family and human at the core (okay so maybe we add a few animals in there too).

It's been over 10 years since my large family all gathered for Christmas Eve together.  We've all gone in different directions since we lost our matriarch - and had been slowly changing even before that.  Traditions change, they evolve - kids take on roles of hosting for parents, aunts, uncles - and parents have become grandparents who spoil everyone this time of year.  For those of us without kids, we too get to spoil the other's kids - and ourselves a bit too.   I know the socially distanced Christmas of 2020 will become nothing more than a memory in due time.  So, we'll make the best of this year and all the years to come, however many we are blessed with in our lifetimes.

There are so many moments I can recall about Christmases of the past.  Laughter is the most prevelant.   The energy of just being together.  Grandmas's fattigman, no one eating "caca" bread (what we called julekake), uncles bringing beer, oranges, chocolate covered cherries, birthday cake for my dad, and sometimes a visit from the California branch of the family.  

Every year I try and think of a recipe I would have made for this rowdy bunch.  We always had a green salad, fruit salad, bread, a main dish (full turkey dinner went the way of lasagna a long time ago), and desserts.   Grammy and I would bake for two days just in preperation.  I think she'd be proud of the dishe's I've put forth.  She always wanted me to go to culinary school but I never wanted it to be a job - it was a love first and always.

I'm feeling a bit nostaglic this morning, as I do every year when we get close to Christmas and 

New Years.  Here's a recipe I think would have been a HIT for the holidays in my family.

Crescent Roll Ring of Philly Cheesesteak.

One day I was browsing pintrest for ideas, and I came across some random video clip of this being made.  It looked easy (of course they make it look easy) and I instantly had a craving!

Ingredients:

2 tubes of premade refridgerated cresent rolls **

1/2 lb of roast beef lunchmeat (the good stuff, not the cheap stuff)

1 cup sliced green and red onions

1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion

sliced cheese mix:  pepperjack, swiss, provolone (I cut into strips like the meat)

1 Egg, beaten with a splash of milk

2 TBSP diced mix of green and red onion

1 TBSP diced green onion

Directions:

Bring rolls to room temp.  

Chop the onions and peppers, set aside.  

Cut lunchmeat into 1 inch wide strips.   

On a large cookie sheet, lay a piece of parchment paper down (i have large pieces that fit my baking sheet perfectly).

Put a bowl, about 6" across in the center, upside down.,

Unroll the crescent rolls and lay with the long edge around the bowl and the top of the triangle hanging over the sheet if need be.  don't crowd the bowl as you'll remove it before baking.

Overlap the cresent rolls as needed until you've gone all the way around.  I never got a picture of this step - so this is where you'll just have to get creative if need be.  I had two extra rolls - so if you have extra, you're doing great!

Once you have them all arranged, you'll add toppings to the 4" closest to the bowl in this order:  Peppers, onions.  then lay the roast beef in strips all around, then the cheese.

Remove the bowl.

Pull the tops of the crescent roll over, stretching it if need be to reach into the center.

If you have large gaps -  use the extra rolls to close them.

Brush with egg wash, and top with the diced peppers and green onions

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  check the ring and brush with egg wash again (so yummy), and bake until crescents are golden and cheese is bubbly.

Cool, then slice and serve warm!  YUM!

Variations:

You can put any kind of topping / filing and use this method.   Pizza toppings, hamburger & cheese, taco, chicken alfredo, pulled pork & bbq sauce.   Also, think dessert -apple pie or breakfast sausage, bacon, ham & cheeese!   The options are only limited by your imagination.   

** I used premade rolls, but if you made your own - this would be SUPER fabulous.**

So there you have it.  Something I'm sure my family would have enjoyed.   If you're reading this family - give it a go and let me know how it turned out!

Until we see eachother again, blessings be on you.