Handy Dandy Hint #1

I had some fresh chicken breasts that I was deboning today, as well as removing the "tenders" for quick lunches. As I wanted to fry one up, and wanted the thickness of the breast uniform, I decided to take some of my "snow aggressions" out and pound it.

As my tenderizing mallet is an old wooden one from my grandmother's kitchen, I don't like to use it directly on meats, usually opting to cover the meat with plastic wrap which in turn, ends up getting punched full of holes, defeating the purpose of not wanting the mallet directly on the meat. However....I think we now have that problem solved!

Instead of a piece of plastic wrap that has been doubled over, I decided to try a sandwich bag. I made sure the bag wasn't zipped closed so I wasn't contending with air in the bag, laid the bag over the top of  the chicken (I did not put the chicken in the bag) and started pounding away. It worked great and there wasn't one hole or tear in the bag by the time I was done (and it had stood up to a good pounding too) !

It's the "S" word......

OK, enough is enough. We're now waiting for yet MORE snow. 15-22". Yes, it is January up by Lake Ontario, and yes, when I was a kid I remember snowbanks up to the power lines and Dad having to shovel a tunnel out the front door so the dog could get out, but I'm in no hurry to relive that part of my childhood. In fact I wasn't that crazy about the snow and cold then. Well, I guess my hopes for an early spring are shot. We sure got an early enough winter though. I think an early spring is a fair trade-off.

The storm is only supposed to be one day, and the ice is not supposed to be anywhere near us, but I ran out today, while the sun was shining (it was so cold though, the sun wasn't even warm), and got some extra bags of animal food...just in case. My own shelves are pretty well stocked.

I do hope this winter has not been too hard for my berries, horseradish and asparagus. And I just put in a new blueberry bush in last fall.....

As the snow is supposed to start tomorrow (lake effect) then the storm on Tuesday night into Wednesday, I should be climbing the wall by Wednesday morning. So I'll be taking that day and doing some cooking, I think. See what I can come up with. Better than looking at all that white crap coming down.

Let's Make Croutons!

Don't throw away the bread that is going stale. Use it for bread crumbs or CROUTONS! Great for salads, and much better than the ones that come in a box, homemade croutons are great in salads, as snacks, in soups...where ever a good crouton is warranted. They're simple to make, and you can make them to taste.

Here is a picture log of the last batch I made, just a few days ago.

 Start with simple ingredients. Cubed bread...slightly stale, olive oil, unsalted butter and a mix of herbs and seasonings of your choice. I used oregano, basil, salt and thyme.

I first melted the butter in the olive oil. How much you will use of each will depend on how much bread you have. I had about 1/2 of a small loaf of bread cubed and I ended up using about 1T+ olive oil and 3 pats of butter. When melted, add all seasonings and give a quick stir. I used anywhere from a 1/2t to 1T of seasonings. Again you will adjust amounts and seasonings used to taste. Then stir in the bread cubes and continue to stir until coated. Continue to stir so that bread browns, but does not burn. At this point, it is not too late to add additional seasoning, so it is important to taste your work!

 When croutons are seasoned and browned to acceptability, remove from pan on to a surface where they can cool  and dry a bit further. Blot any extra oil. When cool and further dried, store in zip bag or other container. As these croutons will not be dried out like commercial types are, these should be stored in a cool place, or even refrigerated. You may also spread out on a cookie sheet and put in low oven to remove further moisture.

ENJOY!

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It's Catalog Time!!!!

If you're lucky enough to live in a decent climate where it is always or almost always growing season, it probably isn't that big of an issue. However, if you live in a "not so decent" climate, you're lucky if your growing season is 6 months, and you're going stir crazy with all the seemingly endless snow, then seed catalog time is exciting.

Ok, so why is it so great when the mailbox starts overflowing with the things? In the midst of a long, cold winter, seed catalogs are the first glimmer of spring. True, it might be a spring that is still 4 months away or more, but it is a sign that that winter WILL come to an end. Maybe not fast enough for most of us, but and end, none the less.

Catalog time is a time to cozy up at night, with a favourite hot beverage and decide what this year's garden will be producing for the family this year. It's a time to decide what new vegetable or fruit will be tried this year, as well as discovering the new seeds that the companies are offering this season.

Catalog time is also a time to see what "new toys" are being offered to the gardener, as well as books, publications ans periodicals that we just might need on our shelves.

Unfortunately, our wish lists are usually bigger than our garden space or our budget. At times maybe both. But I digress....it's catalog time...nothing but happy dances!

Seriously however, when the catalogs do come, it is time to start buckling down and making real decisions for the garden. What do you need or want? What worked well last season and what didn't? And if this is your first garden, you;re probably just concerned about what you want to grow, let alone all the other points to ponder.

But for now, take time to enjoy the paper gifts coming in the mail. Read, wish, plan, then....order!

Cooking

At some point, there will be cooking workshops online as well as recipes available. I like to create my own concoctions or improve upon existing ones.

This is a roasted chicken that I did the other day, using a rub that I created. The only thing I would have done different, probably, would be to tie the legs, but it really wasn't necessary. It just would have looked better in the picture.

This roasted chicken was turned into a recipe I created called Twice Roasted Chicken, which can then be used in salads, sandwiches, snacking.....whatever. And yes, it is actually roasted twice by the time it is done.

Basically, after the whole bird is done, I let it cool, take all the meat off and in the same pan, re season and roast again until brown. And the meat is still moist. (Just right for me as I don't like juicy chicken.)

I'll be writing up the recipe and will link to it.

For now, here is a picture of the whole bird.

Time to Check the Seeds

Next week, I guess it will be time to get my older seeds out and see what is still viable. That way, I'll know what I don't have to get this year, anyway. It is snowing yet again, so maybe this will be a nice diversion.

I plan to post a how to on You Tube when I do this little project, plus a photo log on the blog.