Category House and Home

Pump(kin) Up Those Leftovers

Michael Leave a comment

Welcome to a special edition of the RRSB.

If you did it right you should be sitting on oodles of leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner. Some say that the leftovers are the best part of the meal. But there’s no reason to repeat exactly the same dinner over and over this weekend.  Here are two ways to add some spice – pumpkin pie spice – to your leftovers.

Nothing is better than a turkey sandwich Friday afternoon. Hot turkey with stuffing and gravy between two spongy pieces of store bought white bread. That’s lunch! But you can make a satisfying lunch with a cold turkey sandwich also. Add some pumpkin soup. You can make this soup literally in the time it would take you to make a hot turkey sandwich.

Chopped up a small onion and cook it in butter, vegetable, or olive oil until just translucent in a 2 or 3 quart saucepan. Add enough flour to make a roux (1 to 1 flour to fat) and let it cook out for about 5 minutes. Whisk in 3 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add one can of pureed pumpkin and bring the whole thing back to a simmer and keep it there for 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls, top with a fresh grating of nutmeg, and serve with that cold turkey sandwich that you made while the soup was simmering. You just made a warm and comfy lunch, perfect for taking a break from putting up the Christmas decorations.

For dinner you have the turkey and you have the veggies (nobody ever finishes all of the green bean casserole) left over from the main meal but the potatoes were long gone. Here’s a way to turn that leftover bird into something airworthy – pumpkin risotto.

This isn’t going to be a fifteen minute preparation like the soup was. Risotto takes time, but it’s worth it. Figure on using about the same amount of pumpkin as you will Arborio rice. For 4 side servings use 1/2 cup of rice and 1/2 cup of finely chopped fresh pumpkin. Two cups rice or enough to feed most of the neighborhood needs two cups pumpkin. You get the idea. If you don’t have a fresh pumpkin leftover from Thanksgiving’s tablescape you can use canned pumpkin. Change the directions below to add it to the mix after with the first addition of stock.

In your pan, heat olive oil until shimmering, add a medium onion, finely chopped, and the finely chopped pumpkin. Cook until the onion is tender. In another pot, bring 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock to just below a simmer. Measure the rice into the pan and allow to cook for a minute or two. Add a cup of dry white wine and stir until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Then begin your additions of the hot stock, stirring after each addition until all of the liquid is absorbed and continue until the risotto is silky and creamy and just right. You’ll know. Top with nutmeg and allspice before serving.

It’s work making risotto but it’s worth it to see their faces when the tuck into it after a day of Black Friday shopping (which the way stores are plugging it means you can make this dish anytime over the next week or two).

There you have them, to ways to pump up the pumpkin in your leftovers. Take the day off, enjoy those leftovers for as long as you can before you have to start baking the Christmas cookies.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

(Don’t forget, tomorrow is Small Saturday. Patronize small business because all businesses started as small businesses.)

Training for Turkey

Michael Leave a comment

The onslaught is coming and it is past time to prepare for it – it is Thanksgiving dinner! You don’t train for a marathon by sitting on the couch. You don’t prepare yourself for a presentation at work by going dancing. And you can’t call yourself ready for Thanksgiving unless you get those eating muscles in shape!

Yes, it is time to work on your feasting strength and stamina. You have to work that jaw, sharpen those taste buds, and most importantly, stretch those stomach muscles or you’ll be like the punt returner who failed to stretch his hamstrings before the big game – and that is, on the sidelines nursing unnecessary cramps while reduced to watching the action from the bench, or sofa.

I started my warm up routine a week ago by going to Sunday brunch. (Ok, it was my daughter’s birthday and brunch was her idea. But, hey, it got things headed in the right direction, culinarily speaking.) If you are just getting started you missed out on the opportunity to break in with a brunch buffet. Not to worry. Any all you can eat buffet will do. Breakfast buffets at your local casual restaurant are perfect to get things rolling. Just remember when you’re loading up your plates to concentrate on the three main Thanksgiving tummy stretchers. Those are turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. These are easily simulated at breakfast by eggs, potatoes, and pancakes. Be sure to increase your return trips to the buffet so that by Wednesday’s session you are testing the limits of “all you can eat” pricing.

Breakfast is a good start but don’t ease up on lunch and supper training. No small salad with dressing on the side for lunch this week. Indeed you should be lunching on double-decker sandwiches with meats, cheese, and gooey dressings. I recommend keeping to the holiday spirit with turkey pastrami and swiss with cranberry/jalapeno dressing on marble rye.  For dinner, increase your eating power each day progressing through stuffed salmon to stuffed chicken breast to stuffed double cut pork chops. With gravy.

Follow these tips and those turkeys, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, salads, relishes, cakes, and pies, will have met their match this Thursday. When you push back from the table ad retire to the sofa or head out to the sales you’ll do so with the knowledge that once again, you have proven your power over poultry!

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

There’s No Business Like Shoe Business

Michael Leave a comment

I was looking for shoes last week. I don’t really need them, I have more shoes than I really need but since I was shopping anyway, why not? I found out why not.

I was at the local mall with the basic department stores, a shoe “warehouse,” and some discount department stores (you know, the ones that end in “Mart”).  No real shoe stores. For them you have to go into town, to a high end shopping area, or to an outlet mall. And that’s the shame of it. You see, for a man, unless you want athletic shoes or work boots, the only places to buy shoes are the real shoe stores.

I haven’t figured it out. These same modestly priced shoe stores and departments have plenty of women’s shoes in various styles – casual shoes, sports shoes, dressy shoes, sandals, boots, clogs, mules, pumps, flats, and yes, even athletic and work shoes. Women can buy shoes to work in, play in, go gardening ,shopping or boating, can go to the beach or to the mountains, go riding motorcycles, bicycles or horses, go to church, go to a marathon as either spectator or runner, or even go shopping. Men can buy shoes to play hoops or go to the worksite. Actually, men can buy athletic shoes with steel toes so he can go the work and stop off at the basketball court after without even having to change shoes. How convenient.

Anything more than that, anything like a Scotch grain loafer, a natty cap toe, a conservative wingtip, a plain toe slip on, a basic oxford, or a canvas moccasin aren’t going to be easy to find. For them you have to clear a day, plan a trip, pack your lunch, and check your bank balance.

And you look at us and wonder, often out loud, “are you really going to wear those shoes to church?”

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

Chilled Out

Michael Leave a comment

I had a hard time deciding what to write for this post.  There were too many choices – Halloween, changing the clock weekend, the Breeders’ Cup, Trick or Treating, first frost, fall festivals.  I couldn’t decide. So I did what I always do when I’m stumped. I turned to food.

I don’t normally share recipes. It’s not because I hoard those magical formulae for myself. I even shared my pizza dough in this very blog. No, I rarely share recipes because I rarely know exactly what it is I toss into those pots and bowls when I’m slaving over a hot chopping board. My daughter would say it’s the Italian in me. I say it’s because I can never lay my hand on a measuring spoon when I need one. For whatever reason, she is the reason that I actually can convey an entire recipe and know that is actually what I did to make that dinner.

Let me start closer to the beginning. My daughter will come over for dinner at least once a week every week whether we need it or not. Last week’s offering was to be chili. But not a heavy beef based version. I was going to create something a bit lighter but still warm and flavorful and just right for a fall evening – a chicken chili.

Unfortunately, the morning got away from me. Because of a couple of appointments I was running behind. No way was I going to be able to cook a chicken, create a base, mix the spices, and do the requisite chopping and hopping along with the slicing and dicing a chili would require. But I still wanted it! So I turned to the pantry.

I pulled out two cans of white kidney beans, a carton of chicken stock, a small can of sliced green chilies, and a jar of prepared salsa. I checked the hanging baskets and found a slightly larger than medium yellow onion. I pulled smoked paprika and adobo powder from the spice drawer. I had everything I needed for a quick chili, just open and dump. Everything except the chicken. Fortunately the supermarket was only a 5 minute drive away where the rotisserie chickens are right by the front door.

So the beans were chucked into a big pot, a cup and a half of stock followed. Then in went the chilies, salsa, and the onion diced into decent sized chunks. The bird was skinned then separated meat from bones and joined the party. The jumble simmered over medium heat for about a half hour then dinner was served. Shredded cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips made guest appearances and a quick slaw of shredded iceberg, carrots, radishes, olive oil mayo and celery seed completed the meal. All done with everything just laying around (save the pre-cooked poultry) and all done in less time than it would take brown the beef in a traditional chili.

Every now and then, haste doesn’t make waste. This time it made leftovers.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

Comfortably Complicated

Michael Leave a comment

I got a new cookbook. I love reading cookbooks, especially those with stories. This particular one is filled with things a real person in a real kitchen can cook for a real family. From scrambled eggs to roasted chicken to perfect hamburgers to seared scallops, there isn’t a bad recipe in the bunch.

I noticed something while I flipped through the pages and glanced at techniques and tools and anecdotes. The ones I stopped at first, the ones that caught my eye and I had to read from title to end, were those mysterious favorites – comfort foods. It was the stews and roasts, the turkey and mac and cheese that called to me. And not because they were my favorites.

A simple grilled salmon with a warm mustard sauce is probably the best thing I make and the most satisfying thing I eat. Yet the salmon recipe and all the other fish recipes waited for a later perusal. I’ve been known to work chicken into an entire week of meals. Chicken enchiladas, fried chicken, chicken salad all were passed by. What is a summer weekend without hamburgers on the grill? And there I think I figured out why the secrets behind the best burger stayed hidden.

It is the season for comfort. If I was reading this book for the first time in spring I might be reading of the versatile veggies. Summertime reading would lean toward that aforementioned hamburger and salmon. The dead of winter will be a good time to explore the bread and pizza recipes. But now, when the first frosts coat the world outside your window and the high temperatures are lower than the daily low temperatures of just a month ago, now is the time we look to warmth and comfort in our dinners. As the days grow shorter and the leaves turn and fall we seek out the meals that fill our homes with delightful scents and delectable platefuls.

They will be plenty of time to try out the new versions of grilled shrimp. This week I’ll work on some butternut squash soup.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

It’s Increditable

Michael Leave a comment

Recently I came into some money and did what I’ve wanted to do for years – pay off everything. You see, even though I’ve posted here any number of semi-rants about credit card companies and how we’ve come to pretty much ignore common sense and are willing to charge just about everything including a trip to McDonald’s, for years I had been guilty of just such stupidity. Over the past 5 or 6 years I hadn’t used a credit card but I was still paying for my imprudent spending for 30 years before then. Fortunately I have lived long enough to pay off all of those card and other loan balances.

Let me tell you now though, if you ever plan to do the same, prepare yourself for some pretty annoying communications between you and your soon to be former creditors. I knew enough to know that interest charged is charged daily. That means the balance you see on your statement isn’t your balance any more by the time you get your statement. I called every credit card company or bank (and there were a lot of them) to request payoff amounts. Out of ten lenders, only 3 representatives knew what I was asking. To the others, the thought of paying off everything owed was as foreign as using antennae to get TV reception.  They would parrot the auto-attendant’s parroting of the “last statement balance” and didn’t know that wasn’t the total balance. Fortunately I was able to get the information I needed from a call center supervisor. Perhaps that was unfortunate.

Even with a current balance in hand, a human on the phone, and an ability to pay the stated amount immediately, four of the accounts sent statements the following amount with new interest accrued and due. After making several more calls I was able to ascertain that the reason there were still balances was because although the amount paid equaled the amount due on the day of the call, the amount paid was not credited for 3 to 5 business days resulting in 3 to 5 days of accrued interest. So once again I had to request new payoff amounts and submit new payments. I was not amused.

One account I had actually overpaid. When given a figure it was for interest charged through the end of the billing cycle so when my payment was credited in 3 to 5 business days it was still a few days before the cycle ended and I ended up with a credit for that card. Since I was simultaneously closing accounts as I was paying them off, I had no account for the credit to be credited against. Yet, it was still listed as a credit on a following statement with no mention of how I was going to get my money back. Not wanting to, I called anyway. I was told certainly they could send me a refund check. I don’t know why but I had to ask, why they didn’t just send a check instead of a statement showing a credit for an account that didn’t exist. Their answer was that it was policy to report a balance on an inactive account for three billing cycles before issuing a refund. I thanked them for their information and informed them that if I ever decided to re-open a card with them I would consider the three month rule before I decide to issue them a check. They weren’t amused.

Who were these people anyway? The three cards’ telephone reps who hadn’t a clue about how to determine a payoff amount were all serviced by Citicards, the fourth was issued by RBS Citizens Financial.  The company who wanted to hang on to my money for three months unless I asked for it earlier was Discover. Capital One, USAA, and HSBC were the only creditors who actually were helpful in paying off their accounts.

Certainly it was my fault for getting into more credit than I had a right to. When I finally had the means to get out of debt instead of getting out of Dodge I did so. Apparently those I owed would have preferred I continued to owe them. That’s ok. It took a few months and lots of phone calls but now instead of a bunch of cards I carry around a bunch of money. Boy does that confuse the people at McDonald’s.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

Double Coupons

Michael Leave a comment

I’m so frustrated. I was doing my weekly coupon thing (you know about from reading “Past Their Prime” (Oct. 13, 2014)) and I discovered I am throwing out more old coupons than I am adding new ones. The problem is that I don’t need four cans of soup and if I did I’d like to save more than 25 cents on the transaction.

Manufacturer coupon writers are getting greedy. It’s no longer enough to encourage repeat buyers to continue repeating or to entice new buyers to try their items. Now they want to move as much product as possible in as short a time as possible.

The retailers aren’t helping much either. A few years ago it was routine to find supermarket ads with specials like 10 for $10 never caring if the buyer really bought 10, 6, 4, or just 1. They could have made the ad read 500 for $500 (a real steal as long as you have the storage space available) but the real price was actually one for one dollar (a real bargain and much less cabinet space required). (You know about this also because you read “Buy One, Get What?” Jan. 12, 2012.)  “Buy one get one” was just a fancy way of saying “half off.” That was then. This is now.

And now the ads are much more literal (not to be confused with literary). If the ad says PowerAde is buy 10 get 10 free you better plan on buying 10 if you want to reap any savings. But before you get carried away clearing shelf space in the kitchen, know that the buy one/get one ratio is also changing. Now you’re more than likely to see buy 10 get 5, an overall savings of only 33%, not the 50% we’ve gotten used to.

The ads are full of buy 4 get 2, or buy 2 get 1. There are still some buy one get one deals but you better plan on walking out with two items and not think you’ll get away with one for half price. On the other hand, do that twice in one shopping trip and you can use that “save 25 cents on 4” coupon you’ve been holding on to.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

Time Travel with a Chance of Meatballs

Michael Leave a comment

Have you seen this commercial? Some guy wants the newest version of his cell phone so he builds a time machine to go forward in time to when the contract on his current phone expires and he can upgrade. It’s not important what they are selling (well, it probably is to the company that paid for its production and air time but not to me). What is memorable about it is the end of the commercial. The time machine dings, the neighbor dude says “What’s that?” and the time traveler replies, “Just my lunch. Leftovers from tomorrow’s dinner.”

That really stuck with me. I can’t explain it but I like the idea. Imagine if we really did have time travel. What would you do? Where, or when, would you go – to some past historic event, perhaps the defining moment in mankind’s history? Ok, when would that be? Is there really some single event that created the essence of who we are today? Maybe you want to go forward in time to a not yet occurred event. But if it hasn’t yet occurred how do you know you want to go there, or then? Nope, I think regardless of how sophisticated we want to think we are our needs are pretty uncomplicated.  Food, shelter, sex. And the greatest of these is food.

It was just yesterday that I was thinking I needed lunch. Badly. I was hungry and I didn’t have anything to make a light meal with. I could have put a sandwich together but I wasn’t in a sandwich mood. I could have made a wrap but that’s just a sandwich that knows somebody. I could have had yogurt but why. What I really wanted was some spaghetti and meatballs. As luck would have it, that was the plan for today’s dinner and I was well aware of it at the time.

Think of the possibilities. Some big problem with leftovers is storing them (my fridge is always too full and by the time the next day comes around I’ve forgotten most of what’s In there), heating them (microwaves turn everything gummy, ovens take forever, and stovetops create as big a mess to clean up as the first time around), and eating them (face it, except for chili, nothing is better after sitting around for a day). Had I had a time machine I could have zipped from yesterday to today and put together a leftover plate, travelled back to yesterday and had the lunch I wanted. There’d be no storage issue, it would have still been hot so no heating would be necessary, and it would have tasted fresh since it is, was(?), will be(?). A bonus is there would be no waste. Nothing to sit around in the refrigerator, forgotten until the day before garbage pick-up day.

Yep, if I were to get my hands on a time machine I could solve the leftover problems of the world. It’s a great thing that commercial. I have no idea what they were trying to sell but they unintentionally sold me on spending some time inventing practical time travel. Gotta run. Today’s meatballs are calling. I hope I remember them tomorrow.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

In The Dark

Michael Leave a comment

I was on the road around 7:30 in the evening the other day and I noticed something. It was almost dark. It hadn’t yet turned into Fall and it was already dark before prime time television began. You do realize what that means. Don’t you? Yes, another time change is coming.

When I saw that the cars around me had their headlights on and it was only 7:30, I flashed on what it would be like only six short weeks from now. We go through this every fall. On the last Saturday of October we will turn our clocks back an hour, gaining an hour of sleep that night but losing many, many hours of sanity as the trade-off. That’s because you can’t be sane when it gets dark before the six o’clock news comes on. Or in the deepest throes of winter, before the five o’clock news comes on! The only good thing about this year will be that I won’t be leaving for work in the morning and coming home in the evening, both ways in darkness. Little consolation that will be only because I won’t be working. Instead I’ll get to sit at home and see how short the day really is as those few daylight hours march on. And march on they will, quickly, and too few of them, until March when we get to reset our clocks to DST (Daylight Saving Time or as I prefer Daylight Sanity Time).

This blog is loaded with posts on time changes. Why we change our clocks, why we change them back, who doesn’t go through this ritual, and other thoughtful answers for inquisitive minds. There are so many I can’t list them here. If you’re interested, type in Daylight Saving Time into the search box on the home page and pick a couple to review. I’ll give you a synopsis here. I don’t like it. I don’t like reverting to Standard Time every fall.

After the last Saturday of October there’ll be nothing fun left to do but wait for Daylight Saving Time to return. Ok, there will be Christmas. And New Years. And Thanksgiving. And Groundhog Day. Mustn’t forget Groundhog Day. But otherwise, the fun will be done until spring springs ahead into Daylight Saving Time and we recapture the evening sun.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?

You Are What You Eat

Michael Leave a comment

I am an omnivore. I don’t say that with any particular reason other than as a preface to this post. I will eat just about anything you put in front of me. Anything traditionally considered food. I’m not ready for nor desirous of a guest role on Fear Factor, I don’t want to eat anything that would be featured on any of cable TV’s various weird food shows, and I do not test my manliness by eating peppers hot enough to substitute as rocket fuel when pureed to a diesel like consistency. But I will at least try just about any meat, vegetable, seafood, or dairy product – umm, except liver. And sometimes all in the same dish – think pizza with pepperoni, sausage, onion, mushroom, peppers, anchovies, and 2 or 3 cheeses. Add a beer and you have the basic food groups covered in full.

The thing about people like me who have somewhat indiscriminate pallets is that when it comes time to eat we just eat. I bring this up because the other day I realized I had prepared a fish for dinner for almost an entire week. I go through binges every now and then (see “Soup’s On”, May 14, 2015 and “It’s Taco Thursday,” August 6, 10215), but a fish binge got me dangerously close to declaring myself a pescatarian. The thing is I like fish. I could do that. And that’s scary.

I thought about this. Salmon alone could cover a week’s dinners. Salmon in mustard sauce, salmon salad, grilled jerked salmon, salmon and Thai chilies, salmon burgers, blackened salmon, and the classic cedar plank salmon. Those are just the preparations I’ve done. There are probably 3 or 4 million others. Add to that the few thousand other fish recipes, seafood pastas, sandwiches and tacos, and sushi rolls and there are enough fish dishes to not double up for an average life span.

It could be done. But would I really want to do it. I don’t know. A lifetime without bacon? No leftover turkey from Thanksgiving dinner? No hotdog to go with baseball and apple pie? A picnic without cold fried chicken? Nope. It sounds tempting, and very healthy, but there are just too many good things in the world to eat not to at least try them all. Variety may not be the spice of life but it certainly makes a respectable entrée.

That’s what I think. Really. How ‘bout you?