Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Tunes

In 1986, after having been a fan since 1980, I attended my first Jackson Brown concert. It wasn't a favorite album but man I love this song. The youtube video isn't great mainly because you can't hear the background vocals (in Spanish) that add so much to this song. I still love it!

Monday Recipe..... Pork Cutlets Piccata

I couldn't find a pork cutlet piccata picture, so the above image is actually chicken piccata. I like the idea of using pork cutlets because they are a smaller portion and easier to cook (and faster). So here is a yummy recipe you can make in 30 minutes.

8 thin-cut boneless pork cutlets (3-4oz each)
Salt and pepper -to taste
1/2 cup all purpose flour
5 Tb unsalted butter, cut into 5- 1 TB portions
2 Tb drained capers
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tb zest plus 3 Tb juice from 1 lemon
2 Tb finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Spread flour in shallow dish, reserving 1 tsp. One at a time, coat cutlets lightly in flour, shaking off excess. Melt 1 Tb butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook 4 cutlets until golden brown, 2-3 min per side. Transfer to platter and tent with foil. Repeat with additional Tb butter and remaining cutlets.

2. Melt additional Tb butter in empty skillet. Add capers, garlic, and reserved flour and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broth and wine and simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup, 8-10 min. Off heat, whisk in remaining butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over cutlets and serve.

Holiday Meals

While driving in the car my 6 year old asks, "mama, why do we have ham for every holiday meal except Thanksgiving?"
I explained that normally we don't but this year I purchased a ham for Christmas dinner and then Mimi sent us one as a gift. We ended up with two spiral hams.
We had one for Christmas and the other for Easter.
"I am not so fond of ham, I like our New Year's Eve supper better."

On New Year's Eve we have wine, cheese, fresh bread, and fruit. We have a picnic supper and it is really fun.

So I asked Abigail if you had a your own holiday what meal would you choose to celebrate Abigail day?

Her reply:
Pizza, mac & cheese (from a box), one single green bean (she hates vegetables but we have a one-bite-no-thank-you-bite rule in our house. It was funny that she included this) and for dessert a giant chocolate bunny.
I told her that outside of Easter a chocolate bunny was kind-of hard to come by, so she opted for pumpkin pie instead. Pumpkin pie and rolls are the only thing she likes about Thanksgiving.

We picked up my son, who is 9, in the middle of this conversation so he was anxious to add his holiday menu too....

Spaghetti with meatballs, fresh-super-garlicky- garlic bread, seasoned broccoli, and for dessert .... Lucky Charms. We don't have sugar cereal very often.

With all this talk my 3 year old had to add his thoughts on the subject..
fish sticks, mac & cheese, and for 'bizsert' (dessert)...treats, lots of treats.

I think I need to make this into a scrapbook page. They crack me up.

Summer of 1979

I spent the summer with my friend, Candi. We had been friends since we were 5 or 6 and her family had moved away the year before. I missed my friend. She lived in Washington, Olympia to be exact.
Washington is a beautiful, beautiful part of the country. I remember the trees and being very aware of the proximity to nature -all around me.
She had a basement.
I had never been in a real basement. I had seen them on tv but San Diego doesn't really have basements.
I loved that basement. It was a cool place to hang out and feel grown up.
I remember there was a refrigerator down there and it was filled with fresh cherries.
We watched Flipper and ate cherries.
Candi's sister is Kelly. To this day, I don't have a clue how much older Kelly is, but she was always a very cool teenager relative to us.
She had a boyfriend that summer.
She was so grown up.
I remember going to the roller rink that summer.

I remember that Candi loved The Logical Song that summer.
I loved You Left Me Just When I needed You Most - Randy Van Warmer.

Everytime I hear those songs it takes me right back to that summer.

Friday Fun Fact

Jesse Owens fouled on his first two attempts to qualify for the long-jump at the 1936 Olympic games. Just before his final attempt, Germany's Luz Long, a tall, blonde symbol of Hitler's so-called Aryan race, suggested that Owens jump from a few inches behind the takeoff board to ensure qualification. Jesse took his advice and easily qualified.
He went on to win the gold medal and Luz won silver, and the two embraced after the event. Luz later died in WWII, but Owens stayed in contact with his family.

Monday Recipe.... Beef Stroganoff

For me this is comfort food.
My dad, who wasn't around much, would make this for me on those occasions when he was around and being dad.
It was a special meal growing up. So to this day it still feels like a special meal.
I watched my dad make this. I learned to cook by paying attention to my favorites as they were being prepared.
I know how to make this dish but if my life depended on it, I don't think I could write down a recipe.
I went in search on the world wide web.
What I found is literally, hundreds of variations. All of which might be very tasty, but none quite matched my dad's version.
Most classic recipes call for a tender cut of beef such as filet or at least sirloin.
Neither of which were used in our household. We just didn't have that kind of money.
I never knew that ours was a poor-man's version using round steak. We cook the meat longer in broth to make it tender.
We use onion and mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, and sour cream to finish the sauce. I am also a fan of adding a little sherry to the sauce- yum.
Here are two recipes I found that I think will be pretty close to my own family recipe:


6 Tbsp butter
1 pound of top sirloin or tenderloin, cut thin into 1-inch wide by 2 1/2-inch long strips
1/3 cup chopped shallots (can substitute onions)
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced (can use button mushrooms thickly sliced)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of dry tarragon or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup of sour cream at room temperature
The dish is surprisingly easy to make and goes as follows:

Add 3 tablespoons butter in a pan and brown the steak. Add salt and pepper to taste. After the steak has been browned, take the steak out of the pan and put it aside.

Cook the shallots in the same pan with 3 more tablespoons of butter. Add the mushrooms, the tarragon (and nutmeg). Stir occasionally for about 4 minutes.

Add the sour cream (or yogurt) after putting the heat to low. Make sure to stir it well and make sure (THIS IS IMPORTANT) not to let it simmer or boil as it will begin to curdle…which is gross, right? Depending on the thickness of the sour cream, you might want to add some water to thin the mixture down if it needs it.

Finally, stir in the beef and serve over egg noodles.


A more family friendly version (time and expense wise):


Ingredients:
3 lb. beef round steak, 1/2 inch thick
1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
2 med. onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings
8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms
1 (10 1/2 oz.) can condensed beef broth
2 to 4 tablespoons dry white wine, optional
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. flour
Preparation:
Trim all excess fat from steak and cut into-3 inch strips about 1/2-inch wide. Combine 1/2 cup flour, the salt, pepper and dry mustard; toss with steak strips to coat thoroughly. Place coated steak strips in Crock Pot; stir in onion rings and mushrooms.
Add beef broth and wine; stir well. Cover and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours. Before serving, combine sour cream with 1/4 cup flour; stir into slow cooker. Serve stroganoff with hot cooked rice or noodles. Some even serve it over mashed potatoes.


I don't make this very often - once every couple of years - I think it might be time.

The Senses

In this painting, Allegory of the Five Senses by Gerared de Lairesse, we see the five senses represented. In the painting the senses are represented by women and children engaged in some activity associated with a particular sense. Sight is associated with gazing in a mirror. Hearing is associated with music. Taste has a fruit, and smell has a bunch of flowers.Touch has a bird perched on her raised hand. These are the traditionally accepted senses. Did you know about the six other senses we have?

Nociception -sense of pain
Equilibrioception -sense of balance
Proprioception & Kinesthesia -joint motion and acceleration
Sense of Time
Thermoception -sense of temperature
Magnetoception -sense of direction

I had never thought of it but it makes perfect sense. -no pun intended. wink wink

Friday Fun Fact

Did you know a word was lost from his famous quote? He actually said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," but the "a" was inaudible because of an audio transmission problem.

Neil took his first flight at age 6 which started is love affair with flight. By age sixteen he earned his pilot's licence, before he earned his driver's licence.

You're Never Too Old To Do Goofy Stuff

Words of Wisdom from Ward Cleaver.

My latest card this week. I had to get this stamp set. I was a HUGE Leave it to Beaver fan growing up. Still am.
I miss the simple, good, clean entertainment I grew up with.

Do you remember a time when you could sit down as a family to watch a show and not have to worry about appropriateness?

Leave it to Beaver, Family Affair, Partridge Family, Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy (still a GREAT show)... I can't think of a single show that we can watch as a family on network tv. Not a single one.

Oh well, I digress.