Saturday, August 15, 2009

BEEF...

It's what's for dinner. Providence Farm beef shares are currently available, freshly arrived today!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Mama's Back in the Kitchen

My midwife said "one week, no cooking or cleaning." Daddy was on leave for three weeks. Church friends sent meals. What was I to do? Emily tearfully said "Mommy, it's so hard when you can't cook!" Well, time's up! Mama's back in the kitchen! Here is what three weeks without cooking does...

1 lb. Penne pasta (the small variety), cooked al dente
1 stick of butter (divided into halves)
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (freshly harvested from our garden!)
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper
grated parmesan cheese (oh, about half a cup and then more to garnish)
lemon juice (TBS or so...maybe a whole lemon)
2 lbs. grilled shrimp (sprinkled with Old Bay and lemon juice)
2 lbs. sweet Italian sausage, grilled
1-1.5 cups milk (heavy with cream)


Half the butter goes into the drained pasta to keep it from sticking. The other half goes into a saucepan with the lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, pepper, milk, cheese, and just enough flour to bring it together into a creamy consistency (1-2 TBS). Whisk and simmer until ready to serve. Pour over pasta & shrimp...toss to coat. Serve sausage on the side.

I also grilled our veggies....drizzle olive oil and sprinkle sea salt over asparagus tips and sliced zucchini...grill until hot & tender. Only complaint was that there ought to have been more.

Now, what am I going to do tonight?

Chocolate Rendition

In the comments section of the last post, I asked our dear friend, NanaB, for her chocolate ice cream recipe. We shared this one pleasant evening after PapaB, Daddy and the children took turns at the hand crank. I thought you might want to have it, too...albeit with minor adjustments. All the lovelies say "thank you," NanaB! Tell PapaB that the wildebeasts crossing the Serengeti may look like cows, but the cows must have definitely NOT come home. ;-) We do love you!

2 packages chocolate pudding (I used dark chocolate fudge, instant, 3.9 oz each)
2 cups sugar (sorry NanaB, I cut the sugar a bit...and actually think I used 1.5 cups)
pinch of salt
1 TBS vanilla (ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby!)
milk (honestly, I used whole milk and just poured until it looked like enough...but, NanaB says to use 3 small containers of half and half and then enough milk to hit the fill line.)

I mix the dry ingredients first and then add the milk...and I actually forgot the vanilla yesterday. Blame it on the "after baby fog." It freezes remarkably quickly compared to other recipes...must be the pudding. It is also very yummy served chock full of almonds. And I am entirely surprised that a table full of little people passed it up yesterday for gummy lightning bugs (since the real ones are few and far between maybe?). (One young man was heard to say that we can have ice cream anytime!) That's ok with me, though. More for Daddy and Mama. ;-)