Happy Memorial Day

I hope y'all have a happy and safe Memorial day. While you're firing up the grill and opening a drink, pour out a little for all those men and women who have ever served in the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, or any American service branch for our country. God Bless.

The Star Spangled Banner

Momma Look Sharp from 1776 (Revolutionary War)

 

A compilation of Civil War Songs 

Over There (WWI)

40 Cups of Coffee (Korea) 

Fortunate Son (Vietnam) 

Freedom (Gulf War/ Desert Storm) 

Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (War on Terror)

Please excuse me...

I haven't written in quite a while, and I apologize for that. First off, Blogspot was having technical difficulties -so I couldn't post even when I tried! That was ok though because I had a dear friend and her newest little one visiting up here from down south for a long weekend. The blog problem seems fixed now, so that's good.

All that aside, it still may be a little bit before I go back to posting as usual, due to a family crisis. Everyone is fine, just some major adjustments are going on currently.

I hope to resume posting quickly though, as the garden and the baby chicks have really taken off and I can't wait to update y'all on their progress.

Baby chicks Day 2, Seed re-start

Pictures of the babies of day 2 in their new home here. If you missed the pictures of their arrival yesterday, check out my previous post. Obviously not much of a change from then till now -except they've learned that when the hatch to their coop is opened, it means they are going to get scooped up for cuddling -so they run!

As for my seeds, some didn't sprout at all, and some that did, haven't done to well. So today I replanted Lavender, Arugula, Boston and Nevada lettuce, Snap beans, and Cucumber. Lets hope these do better! I have much more ghetto containers this time around, but have a good feeling about them. I believe over watering hindered the Lavender last time, just like to much sun exposure to early killed my lettuces.

The beans and cukes I'm trying to grow the way I did when I was little. The zip-lock baggie and moist paper towel method taped to the window. I will probably do more zucchini this way too because not enough sprouted in the traditional method.

However, some of what I planted previously is thriving. The sunflowers are already placed outside and are doing well, along with green onions and flat leaf parsley outside as well. One snap bean from the first planting has really taken off, and the rest are right along schedule. Hopefully tomorrow brings good enough weather to finish tilling the garden.

Left to right 6 packs: Cayenne peppers, Jalapeño Peppers

Left to right by rows grown: Musk Melon, Snap Beans, super hot Jalapeño Peppers  

Left to right by rows: Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, yellow onion 

New Arrivals...

BABY CHICKENS!

Hooray! Our baby chicks arrived yesterday! These will be our new batch of layers. They are a variety of Plymouth Rock chickens called Barred Rocks. When they grow up, they will be that beautiful black and white striped colour. But for now, they are the cute little fuzzy chirping bundles of black and yellow joy.

Arrival:

New home:

Prepare for cuteness!

These chicks arrived from Ohio 3 days old. Yes, they come via Postal mail. And if you happened to wonder why the waterer is holding a yellow liquid, it's a special electrolyte solution for the babies. Basically,  Pedialyte or Gatorade for chicks. They also have a special diet for the next several months until they mature. I'm not really sure when they will stop needing the heat lamp, but they definitely need it now. 

My boyfriends parents ordered 50 chicks, but we only took these 8 as that is all that our coop will contain as adults. All in all, that's a lot of eggs!

Meatballs: A classic

Somehow I have neglected to post the recipe for my favorite pot-luck or having a crowd over classic: Meatballs! If I know a crowd is coming by, this is my go-to prepare ahead and don't fret food. I usually make this for card game nights. It's perfect because all the ingredients are pantry staples, so you never need to wonder "...do I have the stuff to make this for tonight?" It does take a bit of prep, but all the steps are well worth the results!

Here is my no-fail recipe that is always received extremely well. Tonight I'm making it just for us (over linguine) -which will leave plenty of leftovers for yummy meatball sandwiches later in the week.

Meatballs

1 Lb. ground Hamburger
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp. Onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 
1 egg, beaten 

You will also need: 
Spaghetti sauce (26 oz. can)
Shortening
Skillet 
Parchment or wax paper
Baking pan 
Crockpot 

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

-Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Using your hands is by far the easiest and most practical way to make sure all the ingredients are thoroughly integrated

-Form the mixture into balls approx 1" round. Place formed meatballs onto parchment paper.

-Heat up enough shortening in your skillet to cover pan about 1/4" deep.

-Place meatballs in skillet, working clockwise (so you remember which ones you put in 1st). Try not to overcrowd your pan. Basically; by the time you place in your last meatball, it's time to turn over your next [continuing in order of clockwise placement]. Keep rotating meatballs as needed to brown on all sides. You are not looking to cook the meatballs, but just to brown them evenly for a crispy skin.

-Place browned meatballs in baking pan. You will most likely have to do 2-3 batches of meatballs in the skillet to finish them all.

-Bake browned meatballs at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

-Put spaghetti sauce in crock pot, warm on low while meatballs are cooking.

-Take meatballs out of oven when done, and stir into crock pot. Cook on low for 2 hours before serving, or for 1 hour on high.

Serve over pasta, in buns, or straight up.


Feel free to jazz up this recipe -this is just the basic no-fail base. Other additions that work well are using 1/2 lb ground hamburger and 1/2 lb ground pork, fresh parsley (finely chopped), and grated parmigiana cheese into the meat mixture.

Making the meatball mixture:

Cooking the meatballs:

  Adding meatballs to the sauce for a finished meal.

Yum! Enjoy...! 

Grilled Banana S’mores

Recipe as promised!

Grilled Banana S’mores

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 egg yolk
 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 medium bananas, firm but ripe
4 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Prepare the grill for indirect and direct cooking over medium heat (about 400°F).

In a large bowl combine the crust ingredients and mix well. Firmly and evenly press the mixture into the bottom of an 8-by-8-inch baking pan. Grill the crust over indirect medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until firm, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the crust from the grill and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. This will allow the crust to set.

In a small bowl combine the butter and brown sugar. Cut each banana in half lengthwise and leave the skins attached (they will help the bananas hold their shape on the grill). Liberally brush the cut side of the bananas with the butter mixture.

Grill the bananas, cut side down, over direct medium heat, with the lid open, until they start to soften, 2 to 4 minutes, without turning. Let cool briefly and then score the bananas into 1/2-inch slices, cutting through just to the peel.

Fill the baking pan with 2 cups of the marshmallows, making sure they cover the bottom of the crust evenly. Next, scoop out and distribute the slices of grilled banana, followed by the remaining 2 cups of marshmallows.

Grill the pie over indirect medium heat, with the lid closed, keeping the temperature of the grill as close to 400°F as possible, until the marshmallows have puffed up and started to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. At this point carefully sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and continue cooking until the chips appear glossy and melted, about 2 minutes. Remove the pie from the grill and let cool for about 5 minutes. Spoon into small serving bowls and serve warm.

*recipe from Weber.com, recipe of the week by Jamie Purviance. 

 Bananas on the gas grill

  Bananas after being grilled 

Now don't tell me that doesn't look and sound delicious? Pretty easy to make too. I will warn you though, that this is SUPER sugary sweet! It was almost to sweet. Next time we decided to make a few changes to this recipe to fit our tastes better. We will double the crust, only use 2 cups of the mini marshmallows, and add a pinch of salt. We also 'cheated' and made this on the gas grill.

Lotsa Grillin'! Dry-Rubbed Tenderloins with Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce

Why is it that guys love grilling? I don't know the answer to that, but I do know it means less cooking for me! Here's a look at our new grill:

I had a small Weber grill for camping, and loved it. This full size version is amazing (it's a Weber One Touch Gold series). We are still using our regular gas grill for most things, but the Weber is built for smoking meats. You simply can not get the same flavor from a gas grill. This grill also takes more time to cook things, which we are still trying to feel out. I took this next picture without the smoking box however:

Last night's meal was definitely a grill-centric one. We had Dry-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce (only we bought a beef tenderloin by accident -oops!), fire roasted red bell peppers, and Grilled Banana S’mores for dessert. The only thing not grilled last night was the potato salad!

The fire roasted tomato sauce reminded me of a Chimichurri sauce. As I already noted, this recipe was meant for a pork loin, but we used a beef tenderloin instead. Tasted just as delicious however! It's rare one of my first-time-trail-meals is received as well as this one last night. A definite repeat. It wasn't the quickest meal in the books, but well worth the preparation (and most of the prep was getting the grill up to correct temp). I was amazed at how different vegetables that I know well tasted fire-roasted. It's mind blowing how the fire blackened and blistered veggies tasted so much sweeter.

Now, onto the recipes so you can experience this meal yourself -and I strongly suggest you do! I will include the changes I made at the bottom. These recipes are taken from Weber.com.

Dry-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce


Sauce:
8 ripe plum tomatoes, stems removed
1 jalapeño chile pepper, stem and seeds removed
1/2 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup roughly chopped red onion
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper


Rub:
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pure chile powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice


2 pork tenderloins, each about 1 pound, trimmed of excess fat and silver skin
Extra-virgin olive oil

-Prepare the grill for direct cooking over high heat (450° to 550°F).

-Brush the cooking grates clean. Grill the tomatoes and jalapeño over direct high heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until blackened and blistered in spots, turning as needed. The tomatoes will take 4 to 6 minutes and the jalapeño will take 2 to 3 minutes. Put the tomatoes and jalapeño in a food processor along with the remaining sauce ingredients, and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

-In a small bowl mix the rub ingredients.

-Lightly brush the tenderloins on all sides with oil and season evenly with the rub, pressing the spices into the meat. Allow the tenderloins to stand at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before grilling. Reduce the temperature of the grill to medium heat (350° to 450°F).

-Grill the tenderloins over direct medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until the pork is barely pink in the center, 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing. Serve warm with the sauce.
 

So, the only things I changed (other than the protein), was that I cut this recipe in 1/2, but left the 1 jalapeño intact -seeds too!, and probably added a little more red onion than called for a 1/2 recipe. The result was very spicy - but I like it that way. However, the sauce did taste better mixed in with a little sour cream on the side- at least the way I made it. Plus, the recipe just states "chile powder" -which isn't very specific- so I chose to use Ancho Chile powder. We also utilized the smoker box on the grill to cook the meat, filled with Whiskey chips. This made the cook time a little longer, so account for that.

Spice rub mixture. 

Spice rub applied to meat. We let it sit for 8 hours in fridge.

Finished meat, plated over sauce, with sides.

 

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Tonight's dinner is just left overs in an effort to clean out the fridge, so I will leave the Grilled Banana S’mores recipe for tomorrow's post. That, my friends, is a truly tasty treat!

OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD!

As if you haven't already heard, Osama bin Laden is dead. Kudos to the Navy Seals that pulled it off!

As you raise your flag in victory today, just remember to take out a moment to pray for everyone who serves or has served to protect the United States of America. Remember all those hurt or killed on both sides in this War on Terror, and remember to count your Blessings at the same time.

Paw Sox!

Hooray! Last night we were able to escape for a date night for the first time since last June... So clearly, we went out to go see the local minor league baseball team! I love baseball, and have gone to see the minor teams wherever I've lived. Nevada has the Area 51's,  Maryland the Frederick Key's, and Rhode Island the Paw Sox.

Going to a Paw Sox game (for those of you unfamiliar, they are otherwise known as the Pawtucket Red Sox) is truly an original Rhode Island experience. Fried dough, Del's lemonade, idiot drivers, crazy fans... The best Rhode Island has to offer. Well, except maybe Newport or the Providence Waterfires. I remeber going to Paw Sox games when I was little with my dad, and had a fantastic time last night.

They even had a fireworks show after the game. That was half the reason why we chose to go last night, and the other half was because they were playing against the Toledo Mud Hens (which is a fantastic M*A*S*H reference -yeah, we're kinda geeks).