Christmas Dinner ~ A First for the Decade

What?  A first?  Yes, this is the first year I have cooked Christmas Dinner all by myself.  I picked the menu, assembled the recipes, bought the ingredients, and managed the workforce.  The end result?  Three buffet dishes for breakfast at the relatives and dinner for my brood and some friends.

BREAKFAST

Cheddar-Sausage Breakfast Quiche
Sweet Ricotta Breakfast Quiche
Baked Brie with Apples & Cranberries

 

DINNER

Baked Ham
Au Gratin Potatoes
Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Cranberry Orange Salad
Deviled Eggs
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie

Cooking is the area I am best at expressing my creativity.  It was a wonderful gift for me to be able to pour so much of myself into this simple meal.  Why, then, is the the first Christmas Dinner I've cooked this decade?  Simple.  My mother is usually in my kitchen for the holidays and I learned a long time ago to just let her do it her way.  If I want to change my mother's cooking habits all I have to do is tell her how I do it and guaranteed she will do the opposite.  In the interest of family peace, I live with the same, old bland and boring holiday food every year.  (Well, except for the homemade noodles.  My mother makes exceptional noodles!)  This year she and my sisters stayed in Missouri and we stayed in Kentucky.  Really a win-win if you ask me!

Sausage-Cheddar Breakfast Quiche

Ingredients

1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 cup milk or half-and-half
1 tsp ground mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 - 8" pie crust

Directions:

• Brown sausage in a skillet and remove with a slotted spoon - you can also let the sausage drain on a paper towel to remove even more fat


• Place crust in pie plate


• Arrange sausage on bottom of crust


• Sprinkle cheese on top of sausage


• Whisk together eggs, milk, ground mustard, and salt & pepper


• Pour egg mixture slowly over cheese and sausage


• Bake uncovered at 350F for 35-40 minutes ~ eggs shouldn't be jiggly when it's finished

This recipe was modified from Paula Deen's Sausage Quiche from the website grandparents.com. I like to add mustard to my sausage quiche and I also wanted more eggs and less milk.

Yummy!

Simple Au Gratin Potatoes

I'm not going to give specific ingredient amounts for this recipe, because it's very easily adapted to however many people you want to serve.

Basic Ingredients:

Potatoes
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Paprika

Directions:

• Choose an oven-safe casserole dish that will accommodate the number of people you'll be serving


• Thinly slice potatoes in a single layer in the bottom of the dish


• Sprinkle lightly with flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg - remember, the seasoning will be in each layer, so don't be too heavy-handed


• Sprinkle a layer of shredded cheddar cheese


• Repeat layers until casserole is filled

• For every 1 1/2 quarts of casserole, make a mixture of 1/4 cup melted butter in 1 1/4 cups milk and pour it over the layers


• Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika

Bake covered at 325F for 1 1/2 hours, or until a nice golden-brown crust forms on top and potatoes are tender.

The more you make, the longer it will take to cook. For Christmas Dinner I made enough casserole to fill a 3 quart dish and I baked it for 2 hours at 350F. I had other dishes in the oven, so 350 was my only choice. :p

This recipe is adapted from Marcia Adam' Old-Fashioned Escalloped Potatoes in Cooking from Quilt Country: Hearty Recipes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens.

Homemade Bratwurst

Bratwurst made with venison.  Or would it be called bratwurst-seasoned venison since brats are typically made with pork?

Oh, yea!

"If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."

~ Fernand Point

mjjj"If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."

The Fruit of Love's Labor

FOR DINNER

FOR ME

TWO TO GIVE AWAY and ONE TO FREEZE

Chloe's Famous Virus-Killing Soup

Aren't these vegetables gorgeous?



The gorgeous picture along with the fact that this is the THIRD batch of this soup I've made in the last two weeks inspired me to blog the recipe.  Even when we don't have The Flu, this soup is still wonderfully delish!  Credit for the recipe goes to my e-maginary friend Chloe, a fellow Sonlighter who shared this recipe with us over two years ago.

Chloe's Famous Virus Killing Soup

• One chicken


• Appx 15-30 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed


• 1 Tbs salt


• 3-4 Thyme sprigs


• Cayenne pepper (to taste. I use about a tsp)


• Fresh Rosemary sprigs


• Fresh ground pepper

Place chicken and other ingredients in a soup pot (I use my pressure cooker) and cover with water or chicken broth (I really like those boxes of organic chicken broth). Cook on stove top until chicken starts to fall apart. Remove from heat. Strain out chicken and stuff and set aside until cool enough to chop. Reserve broth for next step.

• 1 large onion (coarsely chopped or sliced)


• 1 fennel bulb (sliced thin)


• 1 leek (sliced thin)


• 4-6 stalks of celery (coarse chopped)


• large red pepper (coarse chopped)


• 1/2 lb. carrots (coarse chopped)

• 2 tbs olive oil


• 1/2 C good White Wine


• salt and pepper

Place oil in bottom of large pot and heat. Add onion, fennel, celery, pepper and leek and saute until onion just transparent. Add wine and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Cover the vegetables with chicken broth from chicken–add more broth from can or box if you don’t have enough broth from chicken and simmer veggies until just tender.

• Frozen green beans


• Frozen peas


• zucchini


• flat leaf parsely (chopped)


• 1-2 cans chopped tomatoes with juice


• salt and pepper to taste

Add these above ingredients and simmer until everything is tender. Add chopped chicken, salt and pepper to taste.

No virus can withstand this soup.

You can also add cabbage with the end ingredients if you like (We love cabbage!), or any other veggies your family likes.   Go ahead and throw in whatever's in your vegie bin!     The next day add egg noodles and turn it into chicken noodle soup.

Country Right of Passage

After canning hundreds of jars of jam, jelly, and fruit over the last few years I have been very, very lucky. Until today.

I broke my first jar of jelly in the canner!

Am I a real country woman now?

Fellowship Dinner

Tonight is our monthly fellowship dinner at our church.  There is nothing better getting together with folks you love and EATING. :)  Especially when there are others to help with the clean-up.

I'm bringing:

• Nachos with Beef and Black Beans


• Pica de Gallo


• Refrigerator Pickles


• White Cake with Fruit Topping <courtesy of Princess the Baker>


• Escalloped Tomatoes

After moving to the rural south I *finally* learned what all those strange Tupperware contraptions are for!

Snobbery hurts the snob!

I had a life lesson this week.

Frequently I'll search blogs for tea party ideas and this week I stumbled across one for a self-avowed Tea Lover.  Right.  Tea Snob is a better description.  Why, you ask?  The author spewed on and on over several posts about the inferior quality of store-bought bagged tea and even went so far to say that using such things was akin to using nothing but dried grass.  Wow!

At first I was really affronted!  How dare she! But as the week went on, I realized I'm actually very sorry for her and all of those people out there like her.  I won't deny that good quality loose-leaf tea is a wonderful treat.  That isn't the point. Quality costs more because it almost always does taste better.

BUT, just because something is 'better' doesn't make it the only thing nor does it mean that the cheaper option isn't enjoyable.  And that's why I feel sorry for this woman.   I can sit in my school nook with a steaming hot cup of Lipton with honey and get the same sense of cozy warmness I get from a cup of imported, expensive loose-leaf tea.  The difference is that when I don't have enough money for expensive tea I can still sit in my nook and enjoy myself, where the other poor soul will only sit and think about what she had in the past or what she may have in the future.

There is much value in being content with our circumstances!

And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts

which drown men in destruction and perdition. 1 Timothy6:8-9

Sunday Dinner

We had a real live Sunday Dinner today. Maybe for the first time ever in our own home.

Before church this morning I put country ribs, an onion, and a jar of sauerkraut in the slow cooker with a little salt to taste. After cooking on high for four hours the meat was perfectly cooked for our 1:00 pm dinner. I quickly made some instant mashed potatoes (for some reason my family loves these ???) and steamed broccoli in the microwave. Flower Child set the table with our pretty stoneware and I made sure to use the serving bowls that matched.

And it was so easy!

The only thing missing was company.

Growing up, Sunday Dinner was the domain of my grandmother and it usually consisted of donuts bought after church and brought to her house. But it wasn't about what we ate. It was about my parents, aunt, cousins, and siblings talking, laughing, arguing... just being together.

We've lived most of our lives away from our parents, so my children have never had Sunday Dinner on a regular basis. Until recently our Sunday afternoons were spent at a soccer field somewhere, with all of us in a rush to get there on time as soon as church let out. Now that Rooster and Flower Child are no longer playing travel soccer we don't have this time constraint.

And now I want to start a tradition of Sunday Dinner at our house. And I want to invite people over as often as possible. Older couples and family from our church. Friends from our community and homeschool group. Missionaries and visiting pastors. Young and old, saints and sinners, the popular and the lonely, rich and poor.

I want dinner to be ready in the slow cooker at home, ready for a spontaneous invitation!

Romans 12:10-13
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Best New Recipe of 2008

This recipe gets the award for being beautiful to look at, simple to prepare, and incredibly tasty. It is the entire family's new favorite on our menu.

Noodles with Broccoli and Meat (Cambodia)
Kuy Tew Cha (goi dieu chah)
Serves 4

Cook according to package directions:

• 8 oz. Chinese noodles or thin spaghetti (250 g) (I use spaghetti.)

Drain. Add 1 T. oil (15 ml) to keep noodles from sticking together, cover, and set aside.

In separate saucepan, cook or steam until tender-crisp:

• 1 1/2 c. broccoli, cut in pieces (375 ml)

Meanwhile, in separate frypan saute 8-10 minutes in 1-2 T. oil (15-30 ml):

• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1/2 c. pork, cut in small pieces (125 ml)


• 6-8 shrimp, shelled and deveined

Add broccoli to meat along with:

• 1-2 T. soy sauce (15-30 ml)


• 1 t. sugar (5 ml)


• 1/2 t. salt (2 ml) (optional)

Toss with noodles and serve with additional soy sauce as desired.

Note: We make substitutions for the meat frequently, with great results. We've used pork, chicken, beef, and frozen imitation crab each on and its own or in combination with one of the other meats. I love that I can make it with whatever I have on hand.

— from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, 1991, Herald Press.


Not only is this dish tasty, it's very easy to make and only dirties one frying pan. Our family eats this at least once a week now!

Best New Recipe of 2008

This recipe gets the award for being beautiful to look at, simple to prepare, and incredibly tasty. It is the entire family's new favorite on our menu.

Noodles with Broccoli and Meat (Cambodia)
Kuy Tew Cha (goi dieu chah)
Serves 4

Cook according to package directions:

• 8 oz. Chinese noodles or thin spaghetti (250 g) (I use spaghetti.)
  

Drain. Add 1 T. oil (15 ml) to keep noodles from sticking together, cover, and set aside.

In separate saucepan, cook or steam until tender-crisp:

• 1 1/2 c. broccoli, cut in pieces (375 ml)

Meanwhile, in separate frypan saute 8-10 minutes in 1-2 T. oil (15-30 ml):

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. pork, cut in small pieces (125 ml)
• 6-8 shrimp, shelled and deveined

Add broccoli to meat along with:

• 1-2 T. soy sauce (15-30 ml)
• 1 t. sugar (5 ml)
• 1/2 t. salt (2 ml) (optional)

Toss with noodles and serve with additional soy sauce as desired.

Note: We make substitutions for the meat frequently, with great results. We've used pork, chicken, beef, and frozen imitation crab each on and its own or in combination with one of the other meats. I love that I can make it with whatever I have on hand.

— from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, 1991, Herald Press.


Not only is this dish tasty, it's very easy to make and only dirties one frying pan. Our family eats this at least once a week now!

Breaking Free

Mike Is Being an Artist Again

From a Sonlight buddy's blog. I love to read about folks my age who are rediscovering their lost passion for art. :)

(While your visiting listen to the fiddle music. It's great!)

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
Monday, December 29, 2008...

Outside my window...
The sun is reflecting on the surface of the pond and the light is blinding. The reflection is shimmery all around the edges and it's beautiful.

I am thinking...
About my New Year's Resolutions.

I am thankful for...
Herbal tea and guaifenesin with real pseudoephedrine.

From the learning rooms...
The students are taking a break from bookwork to enjoy their Christmas gifts. I'm preparing new schedules because I had only planned through December.

From the kitchen...
Jars of jam and recently dried basil sit on the counter waiting to be wrapped for Christmas gifts. Evidence of many glasses of herbal tea (for sore throats and coughs) sit on the counter. I want to get motivated and plan menus for January but it's hard for me to think about food when my stomach is lurchy from sinus drainage. For dinner we'll have leftovers from this weekend.

I am wearing...
Gray sweats, a black turtleneck, and old birkies without socks. Cleaning day.

I am creating...
Bags for gifting the jam and basil, a candle with my dd(11) for her grandmother's Christmas present.

I am going...
To stay home all day. This evening we're going to see the lights at Beech Bend.

I am reading...
My Bible and the latest issue of Sojourners magazine.

I am hoping...
This beautiful weather lasts all week. Later today or tomorrow I'd like to brave the swamp in the front yard and rearrange my bird feeders. It's much easier to brave the swamp when it's warm!

I am hearing...
The washing machine, dh working on his computer, a clock ticking. When I was being blinded by the pond there were lots of birds, I wonder where they went.

Around the house...
It still looks like Christmas, but everything is mostly tidy. Here and there is evidence of the fact we've been ill for a couple of weeks. Like the dust. Dd(14) and I do most of the dusting but because this virus has triggered our asthma the dusting has gone undone.

One of my favorite things...
Warm liquids on sore throats ~ coffee, tea, or chicken broth

A few plans for the rest of the week:
A trip to Nashville for dh's follow-up appointment on his shoulder followed by a stop at our favorite Chinese buffet! Basketball practice, finish the candle, tied the lap blankets I'm making for the dc, January menu plan, lots of time at home.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Please stop by and visit Peggy at The Simple Woman to peek into the lives of other "Simple Women" and read the guideline for creating your very own daybook. She's taking a break for the holidays, but I decided to start posting today anyway.