One good thing about the holidays is they put good cuts of meat on sale.  Picked up this bone in prime rib for $5.99 a pound.  Paired with asparagus and cheesy garlic mash potatoes- it was a wonderful meal!

Apple wood for the smoking. In hindsight I should have just done hickory cause its just a bit stronger.

The meat thermometer you see in this photo is one of my favorite Christmas presents!

Asparagus drizzled with black truffle oil, topped with Parmesan cheese and lemon zest.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other peoples’ gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickles for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

by Jenny Joseph

 

 

 

Noah mixing ingredients for the Pecan Pie

Pumpkin and Pecan pies

Turkey post brine- ready to go on the smoker

with breakfast rising on the stovetop

broth for the stuffing....

smoker ready to go!

and then some breakfast...

and a little sun basking...

6 hours later... the turkey comes off the smoke

the table is set, and the wine is poured...

and dinner is served!

and then.... we nap.... Happy Thanksgiving!

Game Two- This is the 3rd period-  Noah scores his first goal about 1/2 way through!

We have had such great weather lately that I decided on Saturday to plant some bulbs.  See, last year when we moved in, I bought a bunch of tulip and daffodil bulbs from Home Depot in one of our many trips there.  But I procrastinated, and by the time I got around to planting them, we had cold temps and the ground was frozen.  So I put my bag of bulbs away to be pulled out this year.  So I went to the broom closet and pulled out my bag from last year, and finally found the source of the fruit fly infestation I have been fighting for weeks.  The bag of bulbs was a mushy mess of black and buzzing fruit flies.  So much for that idea….

So I went off to get more.  Came  home with a good selection:

Now I can only hope that the bone meal I used will keep the Squires away from some of them…

Im not sure how many I planted, but filled several beds, and put some in the fridge for forcing during the holidays.  I still have a handful to plant out front next weekend.

I also decided it was a good weekend to fire up the smoker and make a brisket thats been taking up room in my freezer.  This was part of the 1/4 a cow we purchased last fall and man its good meat!

The above photo is after about 4 hours on the smoker.  I let it go for about 6 hours, and then wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the oven at about 215 for a couple more hours.  Then put it in the fridge to reheat.

I also made a pan of home-made buns for the brisket sandwiches… very good.

it was such a great cut of meat that made the most tender brisket I have had in a very long time.  We ate about 1/2 of it so tonight I’m planning Brisket Pizza!  YUMMY~

Noah’s team is in Red and he is number 10

What I mean is, I like to take short-cuts when I can.  Not when it comes to important stuff but just the little things.  I recently found this…

Talk about a short cut for breakfast.  Noah usually wakes up 30 minutes before we walk out the door to hockey.  Factor in a shower and that does not leave much time for Breakfast…  So I found this pancake batter in a can.  Throw in some fruit and you have instant breakfast.  Yesterday I pulled some frozen blue berries out to thaw and then made Blueberry pancakes.  Today was Banana pancakes.

My mom was always big on breakfast.  Never for herself, but she made us kids hot breakfast almost every morning before school.  And for NOT being a morning person, she could put together a GREAT breakfast in a pinch. In hind sight thats were I learned it from. Ive always been a big breakfast person.  Eggs might just be the perfect food!

sidenote:  I have a freezer full of fruit!  I have been flash freezing strawberries and blueberries all summer.  there were about 3 weeks in a row at the farmer’s market where pints of blueberries were a $1 a pint!  Ive been working through them putting them in pancakes and they work really good in smoothies for Noah in the morning.  I also froze the last batch of peaches that I didnt have the energy to preserve.  I have also been using them for mini pies….  I do wish I had more raspberries, but maybe I can find some from the farmer’s market this weekend.

IN OTHER NEWS….

My garden is winding down… and I have to say I didnt have the success I was hoping for.  As the summer progressed the sun moved so that my garden didnt have sun until after 1 pm… so nothing really did well.  I have gotten about a dozen tomatoes from 3 plants.  Although they are still producing and hopefully will have more before our first freeze.

My peppers have also done well and I am drying a bunch of them.

My strawberries are the only other thing that did well.  I just planted my potted plant in the ground so maybe I will have a BUNCH next year.

My garlic was a bust, my onions were a bust, my lettuce was a bust, my cantalope was a bust, my cucumbers were a bust, and my corn were a bust….  big bummer.  Our next house is going to have lots more sun!!!

My husband keeps telling me how we spent more on tomato plants than we would have buying tomatoes from the grocery or farmers market, but there is something really pure about picking a tomato and eating it while its still fresh and warm…  so I will probably plant more of those next year.    Ill have to figure out what I can plant next year.  My herbs did ok, but the onions didnt grow at all…

How did your garden do this year?

Tonight’s Menu: Garden veggies with Shrimp alfredo over spinach angel hair pasta.

I was going to make shrimp alfredo, and then decided to church it up with what ever I had in the fridge from my veggie delivery.

Onions sautéing in bacon grease while I chop garlic-

Roasted Green Chiles from the farmer's market ready to chop

adding broccoli and cherry tomatoes

Yum- I could eat just this over pasta plain!

add shrimp

and I totally cheated and used alfredo sauce from a jar...

yum!