It May Be Winter Forever...

Do you remember the story of the lonely giant and how in his garden it was always winter? That is what it is like here... always winter!  I am starting to wonder of the snow will ever melt and if spring will ever come again.  I actually like snow and winter. A lot.  But it has been a little too much of a good thing.  Come mid-March I am ready to move on.  So, c'mon Old Man Winter!  Give it a rest.  Go back to bed.  Spring is ready to wake up and get the show on the road.

I have been spending most of my time working (always!), knitting, and cooking.  I haven't done as much reading as I would normally like to because my knitting obsession has been high.  I have already completed three knit cowls and a baby sweater since January 1, and I have another cowl on the needles and another baby sweater about 1/3 done.  Work has been really stressful, and knitting definitely helps me relax and unwind.  There is something incredibly soothing about the repetitive and tactile nature of knitting or crocheting.  I highly recommend it.

Here is a recipe that I have made twice now and it is sooooo good.  I had some ground turkey in the freezer and was looking for something yummy to do with it.  I came across this website which has really good recipes and great photos.  I decided to make Turkey Meatballs with Light Tomato Sauce.  (You can check out the site here.)

The meatballs.

The sauce.

The finished product (brace yourself - it does spatter a bit while cooking.)

I like to eat this just as is, my husband likes to sop up the sauce with lots of bread, or you could serve it over noodles.  It is so good!

The recipe:
Turkey Meatballs with Light Tomato Sauce

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Sauce:
1 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 - 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
1 large basil sprig (with lots of leaves) plus more for garnish

Meatballs:
1/2 cup Panko
1/2 cup milk (I use rice milk)
1 egg
1/2 cup grated parmesan (I use Go Veggie)
2 T chopped parsley (I use more than this b/c I love parsley)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb ground turkey

In a large skillet with sides, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and red pepper flakes then cook 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant.

Stir in tomatoes and tomato paste then bring to a simmer. Season with salt, and then add basil spring. Allow sauce to simmer gently while preparing meatballs.

To make meatballs, combine panko breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl, and then let sit 5 minutes. Add egg, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, parsley, oregano and salt to bowl. Stir until combined. Next, add turkey then use a fork or fingers to mix everything together until barely combined. For tender meatballs, try not to over mix.

Wet your hands and form mixture into 1-inch meatballs. This should make about 24 meatballs.

Gently drop meatballs into tomato sauce. (It’s okay if some are not completely covered by the sauce). Cover skillet with a lid and cook 20 minutes then gently shimmy or shake the skillet to move the meatballs around a little. Cook another 5 to 10 minutes or until turkey is cooked through.

Before serving, scatter about 2 tablespoons of torn basil leaves over meatballs and sauce.

This is really yummy!  I use the rice milk and Go Veggie parm substitute because I am lactose-intolerant.  My family loves them!  The leftovers make great meatball subs.

Enjoy!

A little depressed, a little jealous, a little inspired...

 

Okay, I know.  Super weird title to this blog post.  I am losing it a little bit this time of year. Too much work.  Lots of meetings and sporting events.  Very little sleep.  I have had to put the blog on hold due to being a wife, mother, and teacher.  Which has got me a little depressed.  Because I haven't had much time to be creative.  In fact, I have had precious little time to be creative.  I think I have knit one washcloth, knit 1/2 a cowl, knit 1/2 of a chunky cable hat (that is gonna be cute!), and ordered yarn to knit some completely cool fingerless mittens from the Purl Bee.  Oh, and I knit two pair of baby booties that I need to put little buttons on.  They are adorbs.

Here is the cowl I am knitting:

And here is a picture of the fingerless mittens I am going to make:

 I have been doing some good cooking.  But not enough, because I am NEVER home.  I have made several good things from Pinterest lately, including this:

 

I have read some good books.  Including The Dinner (super fast read, read in one sitting on a plane from Chicago to Denver), Broken Harbor (you know I am obsessed with Tana French!), and Gods of Gotham (Loved! Can't wait for her next book to come out).

At last count, I had graded more than 900 essays.  And that was in March.  I am sure I am well over 1,000 now.  Between my senior writing classes, my AP English classes, and my junior World Lit class, that's a lot of writing.  Most of the essays average 3 pages.  So that's a hell of a lot of reading and commenting.  My writing callous is ridiculous. I am the super hero of writing callouses.

I am a little depressed because of some of the above, but I am also proud and happy because I am a happy wife, a happy mom, and a happy teacher.  I am trying to do good in the world every day.  So there's something.

I am also a little jealous and a little inspired because I was on Pinterest (avoiding work...) and I saw a delicious recipe, which led me to a really great blog, which I started reading, and then I just read that the author of the blog is going to write a book, which she describes as a "family/food memoir with recipes," which is EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO DO.  In fact, she says that she was "discovered"on her blog.  WHICH IS WHY I STARTED BLOGGING.  But, she actually did it with some regularity.  And I did not.  Which is why I am only a little jealous.  Because I am also a realist.  And I am pretty sure that she has not graded over 1,000 essays this year, because I think that blogging is her full-time occupation (along with being a mom and a wife).  Sooooooo, I can't be too jealous.  So instead, I am going to be a little inspired...

I can't wait for summer!

Things to do with basil...

It has been a weird year for growing.  My vegetable garden is completely wacko.  The tomato plants are gargantuan, yet the tomatoes are not ripening very quickly.  The Sweet 100s are awesome, the Juliets are doing well, but the larger tomatoes - the Rutgers, Better Boys, and Cherokee Purples are slow going.  The peppers are doing well, the summer squash is delicious, but no zucchini.  Someone at my yoga class who also has a veggie garden is having the same trouble.  This makes me feel better, as I am feeling a bit like a failure in the veggie growing arena this season.  She also suggested that I throw some bee balm around the garden to pollinate my zucchini. I nodded.  Bee balm, yes.  Later, I thought where do I get that?  Does anyone know?  I will have to ask her next time I see her at class.  When she said it, I was still sort of in the yoga-relaxed zone and it did not occur to me that although I have heard of bee balm before, I have absolutely no idea what form it comes in and where to obtain said product.  Argh!

The basil, on the other hand, is prolific as heck.  It must like this weather we have had. (Africa hot)  I am planning on making and freezing pesto, of course, but I also want to use this basil when it is oh-so-fresh-and-deliciously-basily-good.

Here are two recipes I have tried using fresh basil that are AH-MAH-ZING!

First, a recipe that my mom turned me on to that completely deserves its name:

The Best Steak Marinade in Existence
(yes, that is really the name of the recipe.  and it is.)  I tried another braggishly-titled recipe this summer called The Best Chicken in the World, and it was NOT.  It wasn't even so-so.  I threw the recipe away.  Seriously.  But I promise this one lives up to its name.

First, start with some soy sauce, some olive oil, some lemon juice, some Worcestershire sauce. 

Then add some garlic powder, white pepper, hot pepper sauce, chopped parsley, chopped garlic, and chopped basil.

The recipe calls for dried parsley, dried basil, and dried minced garlic, and I have made it that way.  (Probs not the dried garlic, as I always have fresh, but the dried herbs, yes.)  However, in season, fresh is always best.

Whisk it up and marinate your steak for up to 8 hours.

The Darling Hub has been into charcoal grilling, an endeavor I completely endorse.  This spring we invested in this chimney charcoal starter thing (a small investment - I think it cost less than $20, and it has completely revolutionalized our charcoal grilling).  This contraption is awesome.  The coals are ready so quickly, and it is foolproof.  Charcoal makes grilled food taste so much better!

Here is the link to the orignal recipe from allrecipes.com
The Best Steak Marinade in Existence

Next, I tried a chicken salad with basil.  It was quite good, but a little too garlicky.  I did not take any photos... it has been that kind of a summer. Sigh.

A few days ago, I tried another basil recipe.  Winner-winner-chicken-dinner!  It is called Thai Chicken with Basil Stir Fry and it is dee-lish (if you are into Thai food, which we are).

Start by heating water to make some yummy jasmine rice.

Then, stir fry up some onions, ginger, and garlic.  Add some cut up chicken breasts.

This smells super good, btw.  The garlic and ginger.  Swoon.

Then mix up some sauce with coconut milk, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, and red pepper flakes.  One word of advice:  the recipe calls for 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes.  I would rate this as pretty spicy.  It made my lips burn a little.  It was a tad hot for me, quite hot for Tiny Dancer, and perfect for the Darling Husband.  I think I would notch it back to 1/2 teaspoon for general consumption and 1/4 teaspoon if you want mild.

Pour the sauce over the chicken, etc. in the pan and simmer.  (Yeah, I forgot to take a picture of this part.)

Then, add some sliced shitake mushrooms.

Shitake mushrooms are fun for two reasons.  One, they are fun to slice.  Two, you can yell "Oh Shitake!" while you are cooking with them.

Last, throw in 1 and 1/2 cups of sliced fresh basil.  (The recipe also calls for sliced green onions, but the Darling Hub no like so I left out.  It was still delicious!)

That's alotta basil, and I love it!  Stir it up a bit until the mushrooms and basil are wilted and warm and then serve over rice.

Okay - I have no idea why this picture is coming up sideways on my blog.  I saved it rightwise in my folder.  Weird.  But you get the idea.  It was SOOOOO good!  I can't wait to make it again. 

Here is the link to the recipe, also from allrecipes.com 
Thai Chicken with Basil Stir Fry

YUMMA!  (This is the new saying in my family.  It comes from a hilarious YouTube video. If you would like to laugh your head off at something totally G-rated that you can show your kids, check this out.  It will make anyone laugh, from two to seventy-two.  I know, because we have tested it.)

Happy eating and laughing today!

Seriously Bad Blogger

This is the first Saturday morning that I have been home with a bit of time to myself in I don't know how long... wow.  Life is going really, really fast lately.  I can't believe it is already April and we are just two short months away from the end of another school year.  May is the busiest month of the year for me - all three kids play spring sports and I have tons of end of year stuff going on at school.  The two boys are playing lacrosse, the Tiny Dancer is on the JV tennis team and wrapping up her competitive dance season, the Darling Husband is coaching the Youngest Boy's lacrosse team, and I am running around trying to watch everyone do everything while grading MOUNTAINS of essays.  Sigh.  I love it and I hate it.  Last week, I was in Grand Haven watching Oldest Boy play lacrosse on Tuesday night, in North Muskegon watching Tiny Dancer play tennis on Wednesday afternoon/evening, and at our home stadium watching Oldest Boy play lacrosse again on Thursday night.  Darling Husband was with Youngest Boy at his lacrosse games and practices all week, and we never ate dinner together (or really dinner at all, for that matter - on Tuesday night my dinner consisted of Gatorade and Combos.  Seriously.)  I really should be getting in the shower right now because in about an hour I have to leave to drive down to Portage to watch Oldest Boy play lacrosse.  I am feeling like time is going so fast.  He is a junior in high school, we are busy looking at colleges, and pretty soon this will all be over and I will be wondering what happenend.  And so it goes...

I want to share a great recipe with you that I got from my good friend and fellow teacher, Michelle.  The recipe is called "Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches" and they are tasty little morsels that can be made ahead and enjoyed for just about anything.  Because I don't have access to an oven when I tailgate (this must be an SEC recipe - they are really serious about their tailgating in the south), I call them "Make Ahead Sammies."  I think I will make a pan of them this week to have for our dinners on the run.  Much better than Combos for dinner.

Start with Hawaiian rolls.

Cut them in half and place them in a pan.  (The recipe calls for 12, but I made a 1/2 recipe this time.)

Then, top with thinly shaved Black Forest Ham.  (It has to be Black Forest, which is a little sweeter than just any old lunch meat ham.  Have the deli person shave it thinly for you.)

On top of that, place thin slices of Gruyere cheese.  (One of my favs.  I might have eaten a few slices while on this step...)

Spread some Philly brand Chive & Onion cream cheese spread on the tops of the rolls.  The first time I made them I really went heavy on the cream cheese.  As my friend from high school used to say, "Cream cheese is like Meg Ryan.  What's not to like?"  (Okay, I just dated myself as really 1980s, but oh well...)  I think I went a little too heavy.  It kind of overpowered the sandwiches, so this time I backed off a bit.

Marry the tops with the bottoms.

Now, for the kicker.

For the sauce, mix together melted butter, minced onions, and some Worcestershire sauce (yum!) and Parmesan cheese. (I forgot to put this in the picture.)  Pour over the sandwiches in the pan.

Cover the pan with foil and let sit for at least 30 minutes.  You can also make these the night before and let sit in the fridge overnight.  Bake, covered, and then eat!  They also reheat really well in the microwave for those of you who do not have anyone home for dinner at the same time like I do.

Make Ahead Sammies
1 pkg. (12) Hawaiian bread rolls
1 lb. shaved Black Forest ham (you will probably have extrra)
12 slices Gruyere cheese
1 tub (8 ounces) Philadelphia brand Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tb. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tb. dried minced onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cut rolls in half.  Place in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Layer on shaved ham and sliced cheese.  Spread cream cheese on top half of rolls.  Place tops on the bottoms in the pan.  Mix together melted butter, minced onion, Worcestershire, and Parmesan cheese.  Pour over sandwiches in pan.  Cover with foil and let sit for 30 mins or up to overnight in the fridge.  Bake in a 350 degree oven, covered, for about 20 mins or until sandwiches are warmed through.  Eat while warm.

I hope you all have a great week!

Please believe me - this is the BEST!

I don't know what made me remember this recipe.  It was the week after Christmas and I was still on break. Maybe that is the explanation... my head was relatively clear and not bad-addled with one million thoughts of students, essays, and lessons.  The Darling Husband loves a little early evening snack/appetizer of Bar Cheese and crackers (usually Triscuits).  We were out of Bar Cheese, and I suddenly remembered this recipe. It is an old recipe of my mom's.  I got the ingredients and whipped it up.  It is so easy and so delicious.  It makes four nice sized tubs of cheese and keeps for a long time in the fridge.  EVERYONE loves this stuff.  We are out, but luckily I picked up the ingredients to make it at the grocery store yesterday.  Good thing, because we are in the middle of a big old snow storm and no one is going anywhere today (including school - the kids and I all have the day off.  Yee-haw!  I seriously needed this.)

It is kind of embarassing to show you the ingredients.  But, I promise it is so good.

Here is what you will need:

Velveeta (don't judge...)

Horseradish

Beer (you only need 5 ounces, so you get to drink the rest!)

Mayonnaise (Duke's, of course!)

And a little Tabasco

Cube the cheese and put it in a saucepan.

Melt the cheese and add all the other ingredients.  Stir until smooth.

Pour into four or five small containers.

Try not to eat it all while it is still warm.  Seriously not kidding.  You can eat it while warm, or you can let it cool and put it in the fridge before eating.  Store in the fridge.  It will get firm like store bought Bar Cheese.  Once you eat this, you will never be able to go back to the store bought variety.

Delicious Cheese Spread

2 lbs. Velveeta (one box)

8 ounces horseradish (one jar)

1 generous cup of mayonnaise (preferably Duke's, which you can order online here!)

10 drops Tabasco

5 ounces beer

Cube cheese.  Melt over med/low heat, stiring while melting.  Stir in horseradish, mayonnaise, Tabasco, and beer.  Stir until smooth.  Pour into containers.

Makes 5 cups.



Life Gets in the Way

So much for posting the recipes and results of our New Year's Eve dinner the next day!  I really have no excuse - I was up early with the puppy (per usual) and had a pretty good day.  I spent some of my morning grading (what's new?), then we went to our friends' house for a New Year's Day lunch, and then I think we just relaxed at home after that.  Between Christmas day and going back to school I spent 15 hours grading essays and I only got about half of my work done.  I tried not to let that depress me.  But it did.  I picked away at my grading this week, but did not make much of a dent.  Now it is Saturday morning, I have been up since 5:30 am with the puppy (her normal wake up time - ugh.) and I have not yet started the grading.  She, of course, is sleeping again, but I am awake.  I hope I can take a nap later today.  I also need to go to the grocery store, and I just realized we are OUT of toilet paper.  Seriously?  I buy that stuff in bulk.  How did we use it all up?

New Year's Eve was great.  Our friends came over around 7:00.  Kathy brought a delicious homemade smoked whitefish dip (I have to get the recipe!), which is one of my favorites.  When the Darling Husband was the Darling Boyfriend, he lived near a restaurant in Grand Rapids called the Bluewater Grille.  It was one of our favorite spots.  It is a beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright style building overlooking a small inland lake.  It has an incredible stone patio with a bar and outdoor fireplaces to sit at in warmer months and a beautiful view of the lake with fireplaces indoors for the colder months.  One of the things we always ordered there was the smoked whitefish dip, and I often crave it because we no longer go there as it is pretty far away from where we live now.  Kathy's dip was every bit as good as the Bluewater Grille's and it scratched my itch for that delicious concoction.  I was looking for a fun drink recipe to try and the Darling Husband found the perfect recipe in a back issue of Redbook magazine.  (Don't ask - I keep them in the bathroom and he is always finding little tips and articles of interest in them...)  They are called Black and Blue Mojitos and they are delicious!  I will try to get a picture to put here with the recipe.

Our New Year's Eve menu consisted of:
Beef Tenderloin Chaucer
Twice Baked Potatoes
Fresh Green Beans
Rolls
Salad of Romaine with Oranges and Grapefruit

Kathy brought the salad and it was the perfect cold, crisp complement to the rich meat.  The tenderloin was perfect, and is really the ideal recipe to make for guests.  You need to start early the morning of your dinner or you can do it the night before (my preferred method).

Have your butcher cut a 2" thick beef tenderloin steak for each person.

I got the steaks from Meijer, and they were delicious.  While I was there I realized that I do not have four matching champagne flutes, so I grabbed some inexpensive ones there as well.

Then, lay the steaks on a plate and admire their beauty.

Season them with salt & pepper and rub them with fresh garlic.  (This is where Darling Husband and I were playing with my new flash he gave me for Christmas.  We don't have it figured out yet.)

Sorry, not the best picture I have ever taken, but you get the idea.

I have to apologize for the rest of my pictures.  It was dark.  It was getting late.  I was tired.  I had been up since 5:30 am and was ready to go to bed.  I didn't take pictures of every step...

Next, sear the steaks on all sides in a cast iron skillet on very high heat. (Imagine this part.)  It only takes about 10 seconds per side.  I also use tongs and sear the sides quickly.  Place the seared steaks in a baking dish.

 Next, make the sauce.  (Again, you will have to imagine the steps.  I only took a picture of the finished sauce.)

The sauce has red wine, beef broth, chicken broth, Worcestershire (my favorite!), and currant jelly.  It smells SOOOOO good.

Then, saute some mushrooms in your cast iron skillet with a little butter.  Mmmmmm....

Stir the mushrooms into the sauce and cool completely.  You are going to pour the mushroom sauce over the steaks and you don't want the hot sauce to start cooking the steaks.  It took awhile for the sauce to cool.  I got really tired.  I poured the cooled sauce over the steaks in the pan.  I forgot to take a picture.  Cover the pan with aluminum foil and slide in the fridge.

A couple of hours before you are ready to eat, take the pan out of the fridge and let the steaks warm up a bit.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Take the foil off the pan and slide it in the oven.  Bake for about 21 - 22 minutes for medium rare, a little longer for medium.  Don't cook too long as the steaks will keep cooking after you take the pan out of the oven.

Serve one steak to each person, topped with some of the mushroom sauce.  Your guests will rave!

You can see one of the steaks on the plate to the right, along with the delicious salad and the twice baked potatoes.  Yum!

What a lovely night!

Happy New Year to all!

Beef Tenderloin Chaucer

(This recipe is for 8.  I cut it in half for our New Year's celebration.)

8 - 2 inch thick beef tenderloin steaks

salt, pepper, and crushed garlic to taste

2 Tbs brandy

4 Tbs butter

3 Tbs flour

2 Tbs tomato paste

3/4 cup red wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup beef broth

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

salt & pepper

2 Tbs currant jelly

1/2 - 1 lb. sliced, sauteed mushrooms

Rub steaks on both sides with garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sear on all sides in a hot iron skillet, 10 seconds per side.  Place steaks in a shallow baking dish.  Drizzle steaks with 2 Tbs. brandy.

To make the sauce:

Saute the mushrooms in a little butter in the cast iron skillet you used for the steaks. Set aside. Then, melt 4 Tbs butter in a saucepan and whisk in 3 Tbs flour.  Stir in 2 Tbs tomato paste.  Add red wine, chicken broth, and beef broth, whisking well after each addition.  Whisk over med heat until sauce thickens.  Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and currant jelly.  Stir in sauteed mushrooms.  Allow sauce to cool completely.

Pour cooled sauce over steaks in pan and cover with aluminum foil.  Slide into fridge for several hours or overnight.

To cook steaks:

A couple of hours before cooking, remove steaks from refridgerator and bring to room temperature.  Place in 400 degree oven.  Cook approximately 21 - 22 minutes for medium rare, a little longer for medium.  Steaks continue to cook when you remove them from the oven so do not overcook.

Serve with the sauce.





New Year's Eve Preparations

We are not big into New Year's Eve-ery here at the Hollow.  Not that we don't celebrate... we just don't much like going out.  I don't think we are alone in this.  I have been spending some time on and off the last few days reading some of my favorite blogs and it looks like lots of folks like to spend their evening at home, with friends, making delicious food and enjoying delicious drinks.

We are having another couple over and I couldn't be happier.  I am making one of my favorite holiday dishes, Tenderloin Chaucer.  It starts with a two-inch think beef tenderloin medalion for each person.  Yum!  (If you have priced beef tenderloin lately you know why this is a special holiday treat only!)  I am preparing the tenderloin tonight, and then it sits in the fridge overnight until it is ready to bake tomorrow night.  This makes it a perfect dish for New Year's Eve, when you want to be drinking and reminiscing, not slaving in the kitchen.  I will take pics of the prep tonight and post the whole menu and recipes tomorrow.

In addition to our wine and champagne, I am looking for a fun New Year's Eve festive cocktail.  How does this one look?  I found it on one of my all time favorite blogs, Design Sponge, which has a regular feature called Behind the Bar. 



Here's the recipe:

Honey-Rum Fizz
Makes 2
Ingredients:

• ½ bunch mint leaves
• ½ lime cut into wedges
• 6 ounces gold rum
• 3 ounces honey
• 1 ½ limes zested and juiced
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups of tonic water

Methodology
Divide and muddle mint leaves into each glass, with a lime wedge or two, and set aside. Place rum, honey, lime zest and juice into a shaker with ice and shake together. Add the egg whites and continue to shake until the mixture becomes frothy. Pour mixture into the prepared glasses. Add the tonic. Then top each glass off with any remaining froth and serve.

I'll keep you posted...

Wow

I honestly was starting to think that I would never find the time to post again.  What happened?  Well, school started, for one.  I love being a teacher, but holy cow - it gets more challenging every year.  This year, all of my classes are FULL.  And when I say full, I mean 29, 30, and 31 kids per class.  I teach 11th and 12th grade English, including AP Literature and Compostition and a senior writing class called Advanced Expository Writing.  That means I pretty much spend every waking minute grading essays.  Plus, I have more students than I have ever had in my 10 years as a teacher.  150.  With that many kids per class, it takes a long time to grade essays.  It's a love/hate thing.  I get so sick of it, but I can't imagine not doing it.

Here's one thing I have taken pictures of since I last posted.  (Not much, I admit.) It's a deliciously awesome fall recipe I made a couple weeks ago.  It is getting hard for me to take pictures of my cooking because it gets dark so darn early now.  By the time I am cooking dinner on a weeknight it is dark out and the food pictures look depressing, not appetizing.  I can only get good pics  if I am cooking on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  My life has been so busy, I haven't stopped cooking, but I have started forgetting to get out the camera! Argh.

Start with some russet potatoes.  (Don't you love this scale?  It belonged to my great aunt Florence (we called her Floozie, her nickname from WWII). 

You also need some onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste.  Notice how I am not using my homemade canned tomatoes?  Well, I just did.  Why did I buy tomatoes?  What was I thinking?  Obviously, I wasn't.  Which is the story of my life this fall.  Anyway...

Peel and slice the potatoes.  Not too thin, not too thick.  I just got this mandoline to make homemade potato chips.  I love it!  (I got it at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  It was not one of the expensive kinds, but it works just fine.) How did I live without it?

Slice up the onions.  (Notice the santoku knife I got last Christmas.  My favorite thing to slice with that knife is onions.  Weird.  Also wondering how I lived without that knife!)

Peel and chop a bunch of garlic.  So good.

Pour the tomatoes in a bowl with their juice and cut them into small pieces with a scissors.  (You can also do this while they are still in the can and then dump them into the bowl.) Then drain off the juice.

Mix together the potatoes, the onions, the garlic, and the tomatoes.

Whisk 1/2 cup olive oil with some tomato paste. (Notice my leopard nails?  Tiny Dancer painted those for me - freehand.   She is quite the artist!)

Add some oregano, water, salt, and pepper.  Pour the tomato and oil mixture over the potato mixture and mix well.

Place in a large casserole pan and bake.  It takes quite awhile to bake.  It will be too dark to take a picture of when it comes out of the oven because it is November now, after all.  Sigh.  Trust me - it is gorgeous and tastes delicious.  The onions are all carmelized and the tomato/potato mixture has a nice crust on top.  I made a pot roast in the crock pot to go with this.  I was an amazing meal.  Yum!

Here's the recipe:

6 medium (about 2 lbs.) potatoes, peeled, halved, and very thinly sliced
3 large onions, halved vertically and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced (I think I used more garlic.)
1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped and drained
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. dried oregano
salt to taste (a lot for my taste)
freshly ground black pepper to taste (ditto)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, onions, garlic, and tomatoes.  In a small bowl, whisk together tomato paste, olive oil, water, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Pour liquid over potato mixture and toss to coat well.  Spread this mixture in a large baking dish.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake 45 - 60 minutes until potatoes are tender.  (I find that it takes closer to 60 minutes.)

Note: you can substitute Yukon Gold potatoes for russet potatoes.  This is very good as well.

Here is the other reason I have not posted in such a long time:

We got a puppy!  Her name is Maya, and she is a Samoyed.  This is me with Tiny Dancer, picking her up from the breeder's home in Traverse City on October 22.  She was 9 weeks old then.

She is super cute, amazingly affectionate, and we love her a ton.  But man, are puppies a TON of work.  I haven't slept more than 5 hours a night since we got her - and most nights those are not 5 hours in a row.  It is like having a newborn, but no maternity leave.

The Darling Husband has been an ultra good sport about this.  It was really Tiny Dancer and me who wanted the dog.  Youngest Boy is also pretty psyched, as you can see.  Darling Husband works out of a home office, so the majority of the potty training is falling on him.  She is doing pretty well, but we are not all the way trained yet.  Soon, I hope.  I also hope she starts sleeping through the night.  She does it every few nights.  She is only 13 weeks old.  A baby still, really.  She is so good, though.  She plays with her toys, gives lots of kisses, and loves to go for walks.  I have never seen a dog that likes people more than she does.

Right now she is sleeping next to the back door.  I think she likes the cool door - she is very furry and I am sure the house feels hot to a Siberean bred dog.  She also likes to sleep on the tile in front of the fireplace.

Could she be any cuter?  Seriously.