Lagging and Dragging

I've been doing the blog lag and drag lately.  I have some vaguely "good" excuses.  I strained my neck about nine days ago.  Mostly because I have spent so much time on this darn laptop transferring recipes to this blog site from scattered places I perviously used on the web.  Picture that you own a huge filing cabinet.  Further imagine that it has only one super huge drawer.  Imagine that this super huge draw is like the size of ummmmm the basin of the Grand Canyon or ummmm Paula Deen's butt, whichever visual is biggest in your mind's eye. Finally, imagine taking every scrap or piece of paper you have read or written upon and stuffing it into that one drawer willy nilly in a myriad of file folders not organized in any manner.  If you can imagine all of that (I sure hope that you weren't using the Paula Deen visual when I got to the part about stuffing in the papers and file folders), then you have some insight into what a mess all of my stuff was floating around in cyberspace.  Because we are spending three months living in our RV while we rent out our golf resort home, money grubbing retirees that we are, I decided to force myself to find a permanent home for all of my bits and pieces of web detrius while I had no major home responsibilities.  To that end, I have been using the laptop since December.  The only way I can use it is on my lap, hence the constantly bent over neck.  Seven days of two sodium naproxin twice a day and limited laptop typing has finally relieved the muscle spasms.

The other thing I've been working on is readying us for a cruise.  We retake possession of our house on April 1st.  I've scheduled Gladys to come in to clean all day April 1st and 2nd.  Then we begin emptying out the RV.  We'll move everything from here that has to go home, food, clothes, all of the winter clothes we had in Canada for three months and lots of bathroom things etc..  Then, we'll clean the RV.  After that we'll move everything we had stored in one side of the garage, everything from all closets, all pantry items, all bathroom items in all the bathrooms, all chest and dresser clothing, all office cabinets and desk supplies.  It's a lot of work. 

Sixteen days after we repossess the house, we lug our valises to the Trirail station and hop the train to the cruise terminal in Ft. Lauderdale.  From there we board the Celebrity Constellation.  We will spend fifteen nights crossing the Atlantic repositioning the ship to England.  I've spent hours and hours reading about the excursion offerings and researching the port of call cities.  There are eight stops beginning in warm Nassau and Bermuda and progressing to what might be much colder weather in the Azores, Portugal, Spain and France.  We need both formal and casual clothes for the cruise.  Then, we have a month in England where the weather in may is anybody's guess.  Finally, everthing we carried on the ship or accumulated on our journey, has to be packed into suitcases meeting international airline regulations for size and weight.

I have been like a field marshall with a major battle plan.  I've decided we are wearing white, black, tan and red.  Both of us.  This makes for easier packing.  We'll mix and match to the nth degree.  This of course involves lots of wardrobe decision-making.  I am no longer listening to any of husband's hogwash about "All I need is three shirts and two pairs of shoes.  You can wash things out by hand in the basin."  I am tired of him looking like some old Grandpa who just crawled out of someone's Goodwill donation bag.  I'm not doing hand wash on the cruise.  I am not going to be embarrassed by what he packs or doesn't.  He has lovely clothes.  He needs to stop wearing navy polo shirts with black golf shorts.  Today I bought him beautiful Calvin Kline black and white plaid bermudas, a white Perry Ellis shirt and a new belt.  I brought it all home, dumped it in his lap and dared him to try to rebel. He saw "the look" and was smart enough not to say anything negative.  I also bought him 36' waist rather than 34s.  I am sick to death of seeing old men who go around with their pants waist below their bellies with a big 'ol pot hanging over because they refuse to admit that they need bigger waist size.  Husband's 34" waist days are gone. It left about the same time as his thicker hair.  If he wants me to do all this strategic planning while he sits under the awning reading (as he is now) then he had best just go along to get along.

OK, that's mostly why I haven't been here.  Aren't you sorry that you wondered where I was?  Something about letting sleeping dogs lie comes to mind here...I have miles to go before I sleep.

Speaking of Salmon

Yesterday I posted a really simple and delicious recipe for poached salmon to be served either hot or cold. The thing is, I am a sucker for salmon. I am also a sucker for the huge glass fish-shaped platter shown in the poached salmon recipe. And, I am really a sucker for how food looks, the aesthetics of presentation, the color palette one can achieve, the food porn of it. This being said, I always, always, always buy an entire salmon fillet, even if it's just the two of us for dinner. I love the color of it. I love the shape of it. I love the way it fills up almost the entire surface area of that heavy, heavy fish platter. If you can find it, there is nothing more delicious than fresh wild salmon. Every year, for a month or so, our local Costco gets in wild salmon. While farmed salmon is good, wild salmon is excellent beyond description. It's a beautiful thing.

After all my big salmon love fest talk, and poaching and presenting, the next big issue becomes what to do with the leftovers. Even with another couple as dinner guests, there arealways leftovers. I have a plan. I always have a plan...or two...for leftover food. We never, ever throw away food.Below is my recipe for a delicious baked salmon souffle'-type casserole. It uses either canned salmon or, as I do, leftover poached salmon (I've never tried it with smoked salmon, but imagine that would also be good). It's very light and very tasty.

Salmon Souffle'ish* Casserole

 Ingredients:

1- 14 oz. can red salmon, well drained and round cartilage picked out or 2 cups cold leftover salmon

1 medium onion finely diced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 beaten egg

1.5  cups milk

1 sleeve (about 24) Keebler Club Crackers broken into very small pieces**

1 Tbsp minced parsley

Method:

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into lightly greased 1 1/2Qt casserole dish. Dot the top with small pats of butter and sprinkle with parsley. Bake at 350 degrees 45 mins. to 1 hr or until top is lightly browned and knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

 * Please do not leave me a note (well, you can if you really want to and it makes you feel better in some way) telling me that souffle'ish is not a word.  I know it isn't.  I made it up to try to describe how light and delicate this dish really is.  I love the word and I'm keeping it...so there!.

*FWIW ("for what it's worth" in geek speak), for about twenty-five years I made this dish using Saltines.  A few years ago I started putting the dish together, reached in the pantry and no Saltines!  Flexibility is my middle name so out came the Keebler Club crackers.  Since that day, I've never looked back.  The club crackers make a lighter more buttery tasting dish.  The choice is yours.  Also, I just dump the crackers into a plastic bag, make a fist and smash the heck out of them.  It makes the right size crumbs, not too course or not too fine and helps to release all of my aggressions and hostilities in a constructive and legal manner.

Poached Salmon

Poached salmon is one of our favorite dishes. Because we live in south Florida where it is almost always warm, we eat the salmon cold. I traditionally serve it with cold hard boiled eggs, either warm or cold baby new potatoes and fresh green beans skillet sauteed with shallots. The salmon is equally delicious served warm, but the cold version makes a fantastic summer dinner.

Ingredients

• 1 to 1½ pounds fresh salmon fillets
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ cup water
• A few thin slices of yellow onion and/or 1 shallot, peeled and sliced thin
• Several sprigs of fresh dill or sprinkle of dried dill
• A sprig of fresh parsley
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

 

  

• Put wine, water, dill, parsley and onions in a saute pan, and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Place salmon fillets, skin-side down on the pan. Cover. Cook 5 minutes or to desired done-ness. Do not overcook. Serve sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper.  If serving cold, transfer all to large platter cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Serves 2-4.

Disney Isn't Just For Kids

The past three days have been devoted to a veritable melange of pleasures.  We headed north to visit son, daughter-in-law and grandkids in Orlando.  On Friday everyone except us had either work or school.  Being the diletantes that we are, we chose to take a one day trip around the world.

Neither of us have been to Disney's Epcot in years and years so off we went Friday morning.  Epcot fit the bill for us because of its World Showcase.  We're not into thrill rides.  We are into travel.  We're starting to chomp at the bit anticipating our April trans-atlantic crossing on the wonderful Celebrity Constellation.  Epcot is more for grown-ups than children. 

The weather was ideal, sunny with temperatures in the low eighties.  We arrived just as the park was opening.  I had read that the best way to avoid waiting in line for attractions was to do the park backwards, start with the world showcase at the back while everyone else was rushing to the space rides in the front.  This worked really well for us.  We never waited in a line for anything.  We even did the World Showcase backwards, starting with Canada and ending with Mexico.  Our reason for this was because we wanted to arrive in "France" at lunch time.  We especially enjoyed the countries that had 360 degree movie screens showing travelogue type movies...China, Canada, France and Japan.  The most spectacular is China.  I personally think that the presentations are cost effective for the sponsoring countries.  I remember many years ago seeing France's movie which is like being in a hot air balloon soaring over the French countryside.  At that time I thought, "Oh how I want to see France!"  I have spent much time in France since I made that wish, but the desire to do so started at Epcot.  I hope that Epcot continues to inspire others to see other countries, other people, other cultures.  It's not an amusement park but rather a somewhat contrived tapas of world countries.

        

We ate a nice lunch in make believe France and it was very good.  I had the three course plat du jour starting with onion soup, then quiche and ending with an excellent creme brule'.  Husband, being the quintessential Brit had roast chicken with potatoes.  We wandered through America, Japan and Norway, finishing up with a little boat ride through Mexico.  It was all fun.  At the end of the afternoon we walked back over the bridge to Future World.  We did the Space Ship Earth and the new Fast Track ride that simulates the road tests that cars go through and reaches speeds of sixty miles per hour.  We had a lot of fun.  It was a really different kind of day for us.

Saturday we hung out with the grandkids before joining friends for dinner.  The couple we joined were Pat and Kermit.  I had met Pat in 2002 online through a journal writing group.  We have gotten together before when we have been in Orlando.  This time we had dinner at a wonderful restaurant, Enzo's on the Lake, that Pat and Kermit frequent.  It was fantastic. 

On Sunday we babysat while son and daughter-in-law took a much deserved afternoon off from parenting.  The highlight was dinner at McDonald's and an hour or so of wildness at Mickey D's indoor playground.  By the we got the kids home, their parents had returned, relieving us of bathtime and bedtime routines.  We collapsed into bed ourselves. 

We've now returned home to where it's quiet.  I miss the children both young and old....ah well...everything in moderation.

Italian Style Lentil Soup

We've got a few busy days coming up. We're heading up to Orlando this afternoon for four days of grandkids, Disney/Epcot and dinner with friends (originally met online)at Enzo's on the Lake. It all sounds perfect to me.

I didn't want to leave without giving you a present. We've had the coldest south Florida winter since we moved here eleven years ago. I personally define cold as having to wear socks. Husband defines it by having to wear long trousers a day here and there. We both hate cold weather. I recently heard a weather forecaster on a national televison network morning show refer to full time south Floridians as "Orange juice sippin' sissies." Guilty as charged. But, being the Pollyanna that I am, trying to see the orange juice glass as half full rather than half empty, embracing the aphorism of "when the weather gets cold, the cold get going", I see cold weather as the much anticipated opportunity for whipping up stews, soups and chilis. (Wow! That was the mother of all run-on sentences. Mrs. Swensk, my fifth grade teacher is surely twirling in her grave.)

Below is my cobbled together recipe for a simple, but tasty and hardy lentil soup. It is full of wonderful tastes and textures. With the inclusion of tiny meatballs, it is a one bowl meal.

Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 lb dried lentils

2 carrots finely diced

2 stalks celery finely diced

1 large onion, diced

2 or 3 springs finely minced parsley

1 large ham hock OR ham bone with some meat left on it

1/2 lb. small pasta shells or other small macaroni of your choice (I just usually break whatever long spaghetti I have on hand into 2 or 3 inch pieces)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Good quality shredded/grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for topping

tiny meatballs (recipe below)

Process:

Rinse lentils in cold water. Place in 4 quart pan and cover with cold water to fill pot a little more than half way. Add all other ingredients except macaroni, and the cheese. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hrs. Add warm water if needed. Add meatballs as soon as they have finished browning.  About 5 minutes before soup is ready, remove bone and add meat back to the pot. Add salt, pepper and the olive oil. Cook the pasta...do not overcook it; slightly firm is best. Drain and rinse pasta. Add desired amount of pasta to each bowl. Add soup and top with the grated cheese.

*Note: soup thickens when cooled. To reheat you may need to add some water.

Baby Meatballs

Ingredients*

1/2 lb meatloaf mix (1/4 lb ground beef, 1/4 lb ground pork)

salt

pepper

grated pamesan cheese

minced garlic

1 egg

breadcrumbs

minced onion

*except for the meat, I do not give amounts. It is entirely up to your tastes. I like a lot of cheese and onion; others may not

Process:

Combine all. Roll the size of very large grapes or very small ping pong balls. Fry in small amount of olive oil. Well brown all sides so that meatballs do not fall apart in boiling soup. Drain on paper towels.  Add to simmering soup.