New Joys for week 30.

Weekly I create a list of the joys I find each and every day. Some days are more joy filled than others, but every single day has something joyful. Some days I have to look long and hard to find it, and some days the joy is so present it smacks me right in the face.
I hope on New Year's Eve when I read this compilation of weekly joys, I will find that in spite of death, Covid, and self isolation,  every single day had something worth celebrating.

Wednesday: A couple of my neighbors wanted to see if Mom had anything they could use in the new reading room they are creating for their older girls who are going to do remote learning when school starts back in August. They got a lovely small chest and a cute end table. I am glad they can use it. They sent me a picture of it underneath a huge picture of a cows head. I responded that the dresser was meant to live under a Cow's senior portrait. Whimsy is joyful!

Thursday: DlL3 went with me to Aldi again. I cannot tell you how nice it is to have someone else go with me, just for the companionship. It's kind of nice to have someone help me bag the groceries too!

Friday: According to Heather, my bank manager, I was the customer of the week for cashing in 215 dollars worth of coins. Now I begin the collection process all over again.
Son3 called his former band director, the guy who bakes those decadent cakes, and ordered another one. Again he was told to use us as guinea pigs for whatever skill he needed to practice on. We just wanted the delicious cake. He left it entirely white this time but practiced some swirl techniques. Delicious and beautiful, but did I mention how delicious it is!?!
We also had a Swedish feast complete with singing, thanks to my lovely DIL. I am going to have to learn some Swedish so I can sing along.

Saturday: I forgot to write anything about Saturday and now it is a blur. I know something wonderful was a part of the day, I just don't remember it because I am old, and if I don't record it, it didn't happen! I do know TheHub and I ran a couple of errands and we roasted (because it was 1,000,000 degrees outside) while wearing masks, but by crackie, we wore them! Oh and with that I do remember another joy. DIL3 has been making masks with some of the fabric from Mom's stash. She made me a wonderful reversible mask! The only thing better than a new mask is a fashionable new mask!

Sunday: The day's joy came from sharing time with our family. Son2 and DIL2 came over to join us for conversation and dinner.  I am so incredibly lucky that my sons choose wonderful women to share their lives and tangentially share mine. I was treated to smiles and laughs and the occasionally off color comment! Lenny Kravitz had nothing on my sons!

Monday: A man a plan Panama! Like this sentence the day was the same backwards and forwards. I did have a long phone conversation with my friend who is struggling with things no one can control right now and it truly is a joy to be someone's listening post. She has been a great friend for many years and been there when I needed someone. It is a gift (to me) to be able to return the favor.
Also TheHub decided we needed to carry the tradition of singing and schnapps with our traditional American meal, so we did.  Then we followed it by watching Hamilton. I can cancel my Disney subscription now!

Tuesday: The day was like any other day for the past 5 months. Are any of you old enough that you remember the old directions on a shampoo bottle: Lather, Rinse, Repeat. DIL2 came over for a visit and her sweet heart always makes everything better! I did watch Amazon's new show Radioactive about the life of Marie Curie. It was very enjoyable.

Wishing you a week of joys. They are there, both small and large. Just look for them!

The Menu That Wasn't

Since Son3 and DIL 3 are here riding out Covid I just made a long list of meal possibilities. I am checking them off as they are made and eaten, though hardly one meal has been created in its entirety . Such is life especially life around here.

1.   Herb stuffed boneless leg of lamb, rice pilaf, asparagus, tossed salad, rolls ✓
2.   Hamburgers and all the fixings, zucchini fries ✓
3.   Chicken enchiladas, Mexican street corn, green salad ✓

4.   White bbq chicken, coleslaw, green beans, Texas toast ✓
5.   Pulled pork, baked beans, caulitato salad, pickles, buns ✓
6.   Lady peas, corn, fried okra, cucumber tomato and onion salad, cornbread✓

7.   Grilled grouper, sautéed crab claws, tossed. salad, broccoli, Italian bread✓
8.   Ham, au gratin potatoes, collard greens, dinner rolls ✓

9.   Steak, twice baked potato, tossed salad ✓

10. Snapper, zucchini fritters, sliced tomatoes, Greek bread 
11. Fettuccine al fredo, tossed salad. Italian bread
12. Greek chicken salad on lettuce leaves, crusty rolls or baguette
13. Squash, green beans, fried green tomatoes, coleslaw, cornbread
14. Grilled tuna steaks with mango salsa, zucchini fries, tossed salad, rolls✓
15. Bruschetta, tossed salad, assorted cheeses
16. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, green beans
17. Greek meatloaf, potatoes, tomato slices, green beans. ✓

Monday:Woo hoo, lucky me. DIL3 made us a delicious dinner!
Cheddar zucchini and onion quiche, salad
Harvest: 1'2 pound green beans, 2 cukes

Tuesday:  The day was just a crappy day all the way around. I was not happy and neither was anyone else in my realm. I know happiness can spread easily but the inverse is true also.  The grumps might be more contagious than Covid. Some of us ate and some of us didn't because we just did not want to be around each other.
Taco salad, mango cake with vanilla lime glaze
Harvest: none cause we were too pissy to check on it

Wednesday: It was a better day, and somewhat of a bonus day for Son2 and DIL2. I save change in a big container. It is generally for a savings account for Pip, but times being what they are and now a coin shortage (?) I told Son3 and DIL3 is they would roll it they could have it. They got a nice little payday for a small amount of work! And not to neglect Pip's account, I wrote the change total down and will make a deposit for the same amount into her savings. When she becomes college age she (her parents ) will appreciate this account.
Greek meatloaf, green beans, buttered rolls
Harvest: 1/2 pound green beans, 3 cucumbers, 3 pods of okra (it is starting to produce now__yeah! However, the chipmunks and bunnies found my lettuce garden. It's toast now! I will sacrifice lettuce if it keeps them from eating the tomatoes! Additionally the zucchini is almost through producing. I pulled a couple of plants and we will see about the rest. I could still plant another crop of them but I am not sure I want to. I might plant yellow squash instead.

Thursday: I found out why I hate going to bed early. I had a slight headache and went to sleep around 11. I woke at 4 and could not go back to sleep. Bummer! I need to revert to my obscenely late nights since I hate being awake in the early morning hours. It makes the day last so dang long!
Variation on Sweet and sour chicken, brown rice, coleslaw
Harvest 1/2 pound green beans

Friday: I might have the best DIL's in the entire world. Not only is DIL3 a beautiful, kind, talented woman but she is a damn fine cook too. We were treated to a special meal that included singing and sips (shots for those braver than me) of aquavit in addition to a typical Nordic meal.
Swedish meatballs in gravy, filled potatoes, lingonberry preserves, pickles and cabbage slaw with a delicious dressing. And cake!
Harvest: 5 pods okra, 1/2 pound green beans

Saturday:
Zucchini Pizza boats, cucumber slices, and cake!

Sunday: I had out the lamb in the refrigerator to defrost and invited Son2 and DIL2 to come help us eat it. It was great having them all together.
Herb stuffed boneless leg of lamb,  potatoes, asparagus, lettuce wedge and of course cake! 
Harvest: 2 cucumbers, 1/2 pound green beans

And now I go into this week and a lot of the meals I had planned on cooking have already been eaten.  
Of course a lot of things that were not part of the plan have been eaten too.  When I look over the remaining meals on the list I am not entirely inspired by some of them. I guess I will just see how this week plays out.

Hope you all have a great week on plan, off plan or with no plan at all!

Vegetable Stewardship

As those of you who read this blog know, I have been covered  up with zucchini. The plants have stopped producing  (hurrah) and today I am pulling the remaining ones. After mixing up the soil I am going to replace them with some yellow squash plants. I really do like yellow squash much better anyway.

I have frozen a ton of zukes in various forms, but I still had a produce drawer full of them. Instead of freezing them I was looking for another way to use them. Fortunately I found suggestions all over the internet. (How did I ever function in the kitchen without immediate  ideas?)

So I asked myself a few quick questions. Do I like pizza? Sure! who doesn't? Am I willing to gamble on a different method of getting pizza flavor without the trouble of making dough? You bet!  Do I need to use some of the big ass zucchini hanging out in the vegetable crisper? Definitely!

Dinner became a no brainer. This is not a recipe but more of a formula. Use it as is, change it, make it your own. I was limited by tastes so these are a little simpler than I would have made if it had just been TheHub and me. (Son3 does not eat mushrooms or olives and is not fond of peppers. I was keeping it simple and made all of these the same so I did not have to remember which was for whom)

                                                                Zucchini Pizza Boats

I large zucchini per person
pizza sauce
cooked sausage or ground beef (I assume everyone has cooked sausage in their freezer, right?)
pepperoni
onions (and other toppings of your choice)
mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
cheddar cheese, grated
pepper jack cheese, grated
sprinkling of red pepper flakes (optional)

Wash the zucchini, cut the stem and the bottom of the squash off then slice it in half. Scoop the seed out to form a hollow, and place in a baking dish.Spoon  pizza sauce (Make your own, or buy it. the end result will be close to the same) into the hollowed out area, and sprinkled cooked sausage over it, followed by lots of finely sliced onions. (My heart was hurting that I did not add green peppers, olives and mushrooms here). Put in a 375 degree oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash is soft but still retains its shape. Remove from the oven for the final touch.
Add chopped pepperoni followed by a healthy does of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle generously with the grated cheddar and pepper jack. Stick it back in the oven until everything is all gooey and melted and bubbly. Let it sit for a couple of minutes then serve to everyone who is salivating because of the incredible smells!

This was a huge hit, and is keto (even though I am not doing keto at the moment, but I should be). Everyone here loved it, I have leftovers for lunches and it will be a permanent meal in our food rotation. Yes, it was that good.

Try it, it's tasty and a great way for additional veggie intake.  (And no one here missed the traditional pizza crust!)

It's All Greek to Me

Son3 is in town and made a special request for dinner. When he was a kid I used to make him what we called Greek meatloaf, though it was a very unofficial name. Essentially I made a meatloaf but instead of the traditional seasonings I changed it to Greek seasonings and left off the tomato based topping.  I should have taken a picture but we ate it, except for one tiny slice and you really can't tell anything about it from the slice, so imagine if you will, a meatloaf with no tomato topping. It really is unimpressive to look at, but oh my, what flavor! 

 Greek(ish) Meatloaf

1 1/2 pounds 80/20 ground chuck

5-7 cloves garlic, minced (7 if they are really small 5 if they are average size)

1 teaspoon  dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried mint

salt and pepper to taste (maybe 1/2 teaspoon of each. I don't know because I am not a salt fan)

1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

1 egg

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Topping

1/4 cup olive oil 

3 tablespoons lemon juice 

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon mint

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix together right as you take the meatloaf out of the oven

Mix all the meatloaf ingredients  together very well and form into a loaf shape in a baking dish or put it in a loaf pan (my preferred method)  Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until done.  Remove from oven, drain the grease (Be careful) and pour the topping all over the hot meatloaf. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan to a serving dish and spoon the pan juices back over it. 

I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart

If any of you remember that song in the post title from childhood Vacation Bible School or Sunday School days feel free to sing along.
As usual for my Wednesday Post I am recounting the joys that happen each day. I suppose this might be my online gratitude journal. Joys happen daily, somedays large and some days small, but they do happen regularly. Somedays I have to look a little to find them, but they are always there. I think finding  something wonderful on even the darkest day might even be the ultimate joy. So here goes the list for week 29.

Wednesday: It was a lovely day, hot but lovely, and I got to do mostly what I wanted to do. I did have to run to the grocery store and DIL3 went with me to Aldi. She is a lovely woman who grew up in Switzerland (probably because her family is European, huh?) . The minute we walked through the doors she said she felt like she was back home. Aldi for the win!
As an aside, I have been telling her to quit asking if she can have something or look for something, but to treat this like it is her house. She finally is! I am thrilled! I want all of my DIL's to feel at home enough to just grab whatever they want or need when they want or need it.
Then to top off the day, DIL3, with Son3's chopping help, made us a delicious Swiss dinner.

Thursday:Watched more Killing Eve. The writing and acting on the show really does bring me joy. I adore well turned story lines and fine writing.
Did more stuff, have no idea what.

Friday: Officially turned the keys and title to Mom's car over to its new owner. Hooray one less thing to worry about. Also sold sherbet dishes on a group Facebook site. Then went on a little road trip intending to stay overnight at the lake. That kind of fell through, but the lake was beautiful for the couple of hours we were there.

Saturday: Hot day in the summertime! It was very hot and humid and muggy and the kind of day that makes mask wearing hard to handle. My option was the stay home or be hot. TheHub and I ran a couple of errands and it is amazing how fast we can get them done when we are wearing masks. No dawdling, just hit and run then make a beeline to the car for a little sanitizing and de-masking.
Later Son2 and DIL2 joined us for dinner, and laughs.

Sunday: TheHub and I woke, had coffee and streamed church. That always brings me joy, especially since they are working so hard to maintain church services and safety for those of us who don't want to sit outside in the sweltering sunlight to be part of the "live" service.
TheHub and I sat on the back porch and watched a thunderstorm roll in. I love feeling the drop in temp and the wind as the storm begins. Then unless the lightening is right on top of us we stay and enjoy the whole thing. We may or may not both have fallen asleep in our respective chairs.

Monday: A woman who had been thinking of buying Mom's bed bought it (finally) and took it home. Yay! Another thing out of the way.

Tuesday: The day was a darker day than most and filled with some angst, but there were still some joyful moments. One of my cousins received a difficult diagnosis that broke my heart. I did talk with her Tuesday night and she sounded so much better. That filled me with joy and hope. None of us get a perfect day or life so I am trying as hard as I know how to hang onto the bright moments that happen.

I hope your 29th week of 2020 was a good week and I hope you find joy every day for this new week.  
Today I begin the official 30th week of the year, and I am looking for all the brightness the week has to offer. Does that even seem possible that we are on the downside of the year?

Food for Thought for the Unthinking

Before Son3 and DIL3 arrived for their visit I had made a list of meal possibilities. Some are getting made and others are kicked to the curb. Such is life. I rarely stick to a plan anyway and never the exact plan. Exact planning feels restrictive and I rebel against restrictions (Except masks! Wear your blooming mask every single place you go and no whining, even though they are hot.)

This is the list of possibilities

1.   Herb stuffed boneless leg of lamb, rice pilaf, asparagus, tossed salad, rolls
2.   Hamburgers and all the fixings, zucchini fries ✓
3.   Chicken enchiladas, Mexican street corn, green salad ✓

4.   White bbq chicken, coleslaw, green beans, Texas toast ✓
5.   Pulled pork, baked beans, caulitato salad, pickles, buns ✓
6.   Lady peas, corn, fried okra, cucumber tomato and onion salad, cornbread✓

7.   Grilled grouper, sautéed crab claws, tossed. salad, broccoli, Italian bread✓
8.   Ham, au gratin potatoes, collard greens, dinner rolls ✓

9.   Steak, twice baked potato, tossed salad ✓

10. Snapper, zucchini fritters, sliced tomatoes, Greek bread 
11. Fettuccine al fredo, tossed salad. Italian bread
12. Greek chicken salad on lettuce leaves, crusty rolls or baguette
13. Squash, green beans, fried green tomatoes, coleslaw, cornbread
14. Grilled tuna steaks with mango salsa, zucchini fries, tossed salad, rolls✓
15. Bruschetta, tossed salad, assorted cheeses
16. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, green beans
17. Greek meatloaf, potatoes, tomato slices, green beans.

And this is what happened:

Monday: First thing out of the chute I met my sister at Mom's for a post estate sale wrap up. There are still so many items left. Something else went on, but I don't really recall what so I have no asides about the day. It came, it went and we ate! 
Mojo marinated grilled pork tenderloin, saffron rice, green beans

Tuesday: I did a mountain of neglected laundry, watched some Killing Eve, then went to the produce mart for some veggies.
 Lady peas, "fried" okra, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, Nana's squash casserole, corn bread.
Harvest: 1/2 lb.green beans

Wednesday: Had to go back to Mom's,  then went to Aldi. Son3 and DIL3 took over the dinner prep. What a treat! No cooking for me and a delicious dinner is a serious score in my playbook!
Assorted Flamm kuchen  (Swiss/German dish that is somewhere between a pizza and flatbread )
Harvest: 2 zucchini, 1/2 lb green beans, 4 cucumbers

Thursday: No idea what happened. The day came and went and a good time was had by all. Or not, maybe everyone was grumpy and I just didn't notice. Who knows?
Turkey breast, broccoli, toast

Friday: We left for the lake about mid day and stopped at our favorite little produce stand near the lake place, then went to a seafood market in Clanton and finally went to this little touristy place called Peach Park. It was a tad out of the way but Friday was National Peach Ice Cream Day and we felt it was our moral obligation to observe the holiday. We got to the lake and Son3 developed an issue which required some tending. Instead of staying we turned around and drove home.  At least I knew what we were having for dinner.
Grilled grouper, Greek style snapper, scalloped potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, toast
Harvest: 1 pound green beans 2 cucumbers

Saturday: TheHub and I ran a few errands. We needed a couple of things from Walmart, but I will not set foot in one of their superstores because idiot abound. Fortunately there is a Walmart Neighborhood Market very near our house where people are much more intentional maintaining distance and wear masks.
After we got home Son2 and DIL2 came over to have a masked visit then dinner in the dining room where we can maintain more distance.
White bbq chicken, corn on the cob, coleslaw, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, toast, DIY ice cream sundaes.
Harvest:1/4 pound green beans, 4 cucumbers, 1 zucchini

Sunday: We had a laid back Sunday kind of day.
Grilled asian glazed tuna over chili spice peanut butter noodles, cucumber slices
Harvest: 1/2 pound green beans, 3 cucumbers, 2 zucchini

And now I begin the new week with a plan that I might or might not follow, but we will eat and hopefully enjoy the company, weather (even though it is damn hot), and the food.
Have a great week staying on plan, off plan or with no plan! 

Just released today

IF you have a minute please watch my beautiful and talented Daughter In Love's just released music video. I can't tell you how much I have loved having them here and watching her creative processes in action. What a talent wrapped in a truly sweet spirit.