Leftovers Refashioned - Ham and Beans over Cornbread

The plan posted on Sunday went a bit awry this week. The grocery store trip did not yield many of the items on the list from the ad ... one of the consequences of shopping after the deli and meat counter are closed near the end of the ad week. (I also see that I left Wednesday blank which is OK, I guess, since I think I had Cheerios for dinner that night.)

One of this week's improv dishes utilized a leftover meaty hambone from the freezer and some pantry staples. For cornbread, I use my store brand mini-box that goes on sale for 2/$1. To dress it up, I'll add a cup of shredded sharp cheddar or another strong cheese.

Ham and Beans over Cornbread

• 1 meaty hambone left over from previous meals. I store mine in the freezer for future use. If frozen, I always thaw before slow cooking.
• 2-4 cans low- or no-salt beans ... I used one can of black and a can of great northern.
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 tbs. worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves pressed, grated or minced garlic
• 1/4 c. dehydrated onion flakes
• 1/2 c. beef broth

Combine all ingredients in a sturdy Dutch oven over medium heat on the stovetop. Allow to simmer until the sauce thickens and the ham bits slide easily off the bone.

Remove the bone and discard. Remove any bigger-than-bite-sized chunks of ham and chop or shred into smaller pieces. Return ham to mixture. Serve hot over prepared cornbread.

You may notice this isn't hot or spicy. To bump it up a notch, include red pepper flakes or your favorite hot sauce.

Dinner this Week - 09.14.2014

Fall is upon us, well, at least it has been. Temperatures in the fifties late last week but predictions are back up to eighties by the end of the week. We are going to start making the transition to cool weather foods while enjoying the last few weeks of CSA.

Sunday

Chili and cornbread

Monday

Barbecue ribs, baked beans, potato casserole and grapes

Tuesday

Chicken nachos, homemade guacamole and pears

Wednesday

Thursday

Dinner out

Friday

Chicken and noodles, CSA veggies, and pears

Saturday

Spaghetti with CSA veggie sauce and garlic rolls

Mmm ... Peach Pie just like my mama makes it!

I come from a long line of pie bakers, and I love to make pie.  I even have a few fair ribbons to prove I am pretty good at it.  Once a year, I get to make a whole bunch of pies.  The little church I go to has a pulled pork, homemade pie barbecue each August.  The forty or so of us serve seven hundred or so dinners in a couple of hours.  To do my part, this year I made eleven pies.  Yes.  Eleven.

I've been holding on to this post until now, because most people make pie in the fall for Thanksgiving.  Recently, I saw a roundup of Thanksgiving recipes and plans.  While parts of the dinner have evolved, pie is still the number one finale.  Today, I am posting a recipe for peach pie.  As we get closer to the big bird day, I'll try to post a few more of my favorite pies.

If you are a pie lover, I'd check out Crazy for Crust's Pie Linky Party.  I'll be posting this recipe there, too.

Peach Pie

by Megan Patent-Nygren

Prep Time: 60 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Keywords: bake peaches pie freeze

Ingredients (8 wedges)

In Advance

• 6-8 peaches
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 tbs. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. almond flavoring

For the Crust

• 2 c. all-purpose or pastry flour
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. white vinegar
• 2-3 tbs. cold water

Instructions

In Advance

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot.

Dip peaches into the boiling water for 30-60 seconds.

Use a paring knife to peel off the skin.

Slice peaches. Mix with sugar, cornstarch and almond flavoring.

Pour all contents into a gallon-sized freezer bag. Set in a pie plate.

Freeze for up to one year.

For the Crust

Put flour into the bowl of a large food processor.

Hint: Move as quickly as possible to work while dough is still cold.

Cut cold butter into small pieces. Add to flour. Pulse until the mixture resembles crumbs.

Add the vinegar and egg. Pulse. Add water as needed to form a ball of dough.

Divide dough into two balls. Flatten into discs. Wrap tightly to prevent drying out. Chill for 30-60 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Use a rolling pin to roll dough into a circle 2 inches larger than the pie plate. Line a 9" pie plate.

Set your frozen pie filling into the crust. Dollop with a tablespoon of butter.

Repeat rolling with the second disc of dough for the top crust.

Top the pie. Crimp the edges to seal.

Cut a few slits in the top of the pie. Place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for 90 minutes or until the middle is bubbly.

Allow to cool before cutting to serve.

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First class is totally worth it!

In my "regular" job, the one that pays a regular salary and has health insurance, I get to travel.  I know that there are lots of business people that travel more than I do, but in my circles, it seems like a lot.  Over the last few years, I have learned a few things I'll sprinkle in here and there in posts as it seems relevant.

Most of my travel is to deliver full-day trainings so I use the day prior as a travel day.  Even though my goal is simply to get there, I almost always choose the early flight.  The budget people like it because the 6 AM flight is generally cheaper than those later in the day.  Another advantage is that, while I don't like getting up at 3 AM to be at the airport by 5 AM, it gives me the day to do some exploring once I get to my destination and the flexibility to not be stressed out by delays or changes in the schedule.  Traveling to and from Nebraska, I rarely get to fly direct.  Sometimes, I am lucky enough to get to take three planes to get there!

On a recent trip, I had the 6 AM flight out of Omaha to Dallas on my way to Orlando for a conference. The airline staff at the departure gate asked for volunteers to be bumped in exchange for a travel voucher.  The first offer was $400 and a later flight routing through Miami.  I thought about it.  Getting my husband to come with me on a trip or two has been a goal for awhile and a free or nearly free plane ticket might help.

The next offer was $500, still through Miami.  More tempting, but I still hesitated.  The next offer was a $500 voucher AND an upgrade to a first class ticket on a later, direct flight.  Yippee!  I was sold!

I had never flown first class before.  I work for a university and am on federal dollars so we have pretty strict travel policies.  Here is my regular view from the middle back of the plane ...

Things I loved about first class:

• Not having to wait to get on the plane.  I'm not impatient, but I'm not really patient, either.  Getting on and getting settled always makes me feel ready to go and being the last one on the plane drives me nuts.
• The roomy seat and the extra leg room.  Who wouldn't love it?
• Little things like extra courteous attendants.  I have a lot of admiration for flight attendants and can't say I've ever had an experience with one that was rude or not on top of things, but meeting the needs of a whole cabin full of travelers is a little different than twelve people.
• The free booze.  Honestly, it would be dishonest of me to omit that I enjoyed the Cape Cod shortly after take-off and the white wine with my snack.
• Yes, snack.  Food.  In real dishes with real flatware.  A lovely bowl of warm mixed cashews, almonds and pistachios followed by a plate with hummus, mini whole wheat pitas and grapes and one of those little Ghirardelli chocolate squares.
• Finally, three seat trays.  I tend to have a lot of random stuff and there was plenty of places to put it, even with the fancy snack tray.

The only negative of first class was my seatmate.  He fulfilled every stereotype of a rude, indulged passenger I could mention.  It didn't bother me that he didn't talk to me.  I had a yummy book to read and new experiences to absorb.  It did bother me that he didn't say "please" or "thank you" during the entire trip.  He complained about the flight attendants and difficulties with our flight - we had to change planes and were delayed because the catering cart hit the first plane and it was deemed unflyable.  He was also less than pleased that the family across from us included an adorable toddler.  She was excellent with only a couple of small outbursts and no crying.  He, not so much.

If given the chance, I will definitely fly first class again.  Now, to figure out how to go about that ....

So you can share my first class experience, here is a favorite Cape Cod recipe:

Cape Cod

1-2 oz. vodka

4 oz. cranberry juice

Lime wedge

Shake vodka and cranberry juice with ice.  Pour into highball glass and garnish with the lime.

A new favorite breakfast at our house

Awhile back, I went on a canning spree.  I do this every so often.  This time, I happened to be home with a three day weekend when one of the local supermarkets had their 10# flats of strawberries on sale for $10.  I thought to myself, jam sounds fun, I'm home this weekend, and we only have two weddings and a quilt show. :)

What in my head was a little project, evolved into cleaning out the washroom/pantry, three trips to said supermarket and over fifty jars of product.  Yes, fifty!  In the process, I cleaned out my stash of previously canned stuff and found about a dozen pint jars of apples.

When it came time to make breakfast this morning, Anne wanted pancakes.  Anne wants pancakes every morning, but since we had them yesterday, I didn't feel obligated to make them again.  I negotiated an apple coffee cake.  To cut down on fat, I searched for buttermilk apple coffee cake and found a recipe from Cooking Light. I made a few modifications which comprise the recipe below.  The original is linked below.

Buttermilk Apple Coffee Cake

Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith apple
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare the cake, combine the first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes or until syrupy, stirring frequently; cool.
3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well-blended; add egg and extracts, beating well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
4. Fold the batter and apples together.
5. Spoon the batter into an 8-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle topping.  Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Original recipe from Cooking Light, April 2001

Friday Faves 04.06.12

So, Easter is just two days away. Anne's basket will be overflowing. She had a great egg hunt last week and we will be hitting another tomorrow!

Dinner on Sunday will be at my Sister-on-Law's so I don't have to clean my house or anything. It is our turn to provide breakfast at church, however, so I need to make 100 or so breakfast burritos tomorrow.

Some great finds this week:

• Skirt Week at Seven Thirty-Three
• Bucket-Style Purse with Zipper Trim from Sew 4 Home
• Parson Gray Color Palette
• Great layouts, especially this one by Christina at Club CK
• Everything in the new Party Frosting but especially these Pie Spoons
• Serious Eats' Bunny Bread

Monday's Menu - 04.02.12

This week will be a little quiet with only preparations for Easter to distract from the daily grind. Anne and I hope to dye LOTS of eggs this week!

• Monday: Sigma Alpha night so no dinner plans.
• Tuesday: Smoked pork loin with cherry sauce, roasted brussel sprouts, & garlic bread
• Wednesday: Pinterest Fave Melt in Your Mouth Chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, and apple wedges
• Thursday: Dinner out between 4-H meeting and church
• Friday: Grilled steak and veggie kabobs, brown rice pilaf and orange slices
• Saturday: Breakfast for dinner - Pancakes!

Anne loves pancakes. If ever we ask her what to make for breakfast, her answer will always be pancakes. I will try to post the family recipe and my scaled modifications for different sized groups here.