DECEMBER. 2020 ~ What's going on YOUR table?

bethk wrote:

Bugster2 wrote:I got some kielbasa in my Omaha steak package. What do you do with it. I am not sure I have ever had any before.

Many different ways to cook it.  It's a pork (sometimes a pork/beef) sausage.  Often my Polish friends will braise it to remove some of the fat without piercing the skin because that dries it out (their words.....).  

I would cook it with sauerkraut, adding maybe a grated apple to lighten up the taste of the sauerkraut.

Or you could cut it into rounds and brown lightly and then add some sliced cabbage and onion, maybe even some carrot and cook until the cabbage is soft.  Serve with boiled potatoes on the side (or cooked in the dish.....)

Many different ways to enjoy!

Ohhhhh, what about kielbasa with pierogis?  Honestly, the store bought Mrs. T's pierogi is a fine product ~ defrost in boiling water and then saute in a bit of butter ~ well, butter that you used to caramelize some onions in.....and the onions go on the pierogi.......

OR ~ browned kielbasa rounds with green beans & onions.   or sausage with peppers & onions......or grilled & on a bun......




Jimmy ~ YOU take it from here..........

LOL

OK..... I would cook it in an electric skillet with onions, and braise it slow and low. Adding water as it cooks so as NOT to burn it.
If it is already smoked, I would cut it in 3 inch pieces, and just boil it for an hour, on low heat.

Thanks for the ideas.

My mother sometimes put the kielbasa into pea or bean soup.

I'm making shepherds' pie today.  A lot of it.  I mentioned some time ago (I think) that I had thought about cooking for someone in my building.  Well, one of the original members of our social committee has had a couple of strokes so I approached her husband if they would like me to cook for them occasionally.  They are thrilled.  I asked them to give me a list of what they like, and he said that they talked about it, and "surprise us". He will be paying for the ingredients.  So, I called this morning and asked how they felt about shepherds' pie.  Wonderful was the answer. They have no allergies, no food restrictions because of her strokes, just that she doesn't like things too spicy.   I plan to do it once a week. And I can basically cook what I feel like making.  FUN!

Making a coleslaw to go with it, I had the cabbage in the fridge.

That is very kind and generous of you to do that for your neighbors.

THanks, but I feel that I'm the winner here! LOL

You should enjoy cooking for people who will truly appreciate your efforts ~ and to be able to cook what you want to cook makes it that much more fun! Enjoy!

**********

No cooking here tonight. I went out to lunch with Lyn and that one-meal-a-day thing kicked in. Nothing sounded good to me. I ended up broiling a burger for Dane and making him some lima beans, he got the leftover kale salad and he was pretty happy.

I ended up making some microwave popcorn and that was just right for me.

Was it a Covid shot?

Bugster2 wrote:Was it a Covid shot?

Not covid 19..... the regular flu ( influenza ) shot, but xtra dose for
over aged, dried up, cranky old farts like Me! lol

Doesn't seem like the Covid vaccines are being managed well. Apparently you mix up a batch and it only lasts so long. They did that out here and had some leftovers so they gave a shot to a 30 year old Disneyland employee. Really? She said she had connections. Somebody with an urgent need would have been a better choice.
Another pharmacy had to throw away 500 doses because an employee forgot to refrigerate it.
My BIL and his son got their first shots because they are doctors.

Apparently the countries which are doing best in distributing the covid vaccines, are those which have a federal one payer system for Health Care. Like Canada.

Right now I wish we had a one payer system. I need a biopsy but can't get one because it is considered an elective procedure. The hospitals are full of Covid patients and they have shut down electives. We are working on it. We have rights. If my health care provider can't get me in for the procedure then, by law, they have to send me where I can get it done and pay for it. We have The City of Hope out here which is strictly for cancer and don't take Covid's. Maybe I can get in there eventually. If I have cancer, it can't wait for Covid to die down. My nephew in FLA says he can get it done out there. I might have to do that.

I'm still trying to use what's in the freezers.

I decided the end of December was perfect for a Chicken Pot Pie I made sometime this year.....can't remember exactly when and (of course) I didn't date it.

I let it thaw and put an egg wash on the top crust and sprinkled it with some Kosher salt & pepper. It's in the oven and all bubbly ~ I'm hoping it tastes good.

Supper was a success ~ even if it was in the freezer for 'who-knows-how-long'......

Dane even had seconds!

It looks great. I think on my quest for getting out of my cooking funk, I may try to make some pies, or at least the crusts for things like chicken pot pie etc.

That pie looks wonderful!

Supper is in two segments. I had a liverwurst on 1/2 a roll. I will have a salad greens later, and some seafood later; over spaghetti.

Tina had a Chambord over ice, and will be snoring soon. . . .Zzzzzzzz!!!!

Cookin Lore wrote:It looks great.  I think on my quest for getting out of my cooking funk, I may try to make some pies, or at least the crusts for things like chicken pot pie etc.

Crusts use to be so easy.....then they changed Crisco (to make it healthier, they said)

I couldn't make a decent crust to save my soul ~ now I do OK by using half butter and half Crisco but it's always a guess if it's really going to turn out.

I grate frozen/super cold butter into the flour and fluff it before I add cold Crisco and use a pastry cutter to mix it all.  One time I forgot to add any salt.  BIG MISTAKE.  Won't do that again, for sure.  The crust had great structure but no flavor at all.

Unless it's for a 'real' pie or something special I usually just wimp out and make my pie with refrigerated Pillsbury pie crusts. They're not the best but they're not really terrible.

Tomorrow is the end day of 2020. It's hard to believe.....
I'm sitting here thinking of living in the 60's.
There was always a party.....somewhere.....someplace.
It was easier back then. ?Drunk driving was a common thing, with just a tap on the wrist, and a Be Careful going home. I remember dad saying he drives better when drunk. hahahahaha...... Oh! Yeah! with Mom screaming at him because he was over the double solid line on the road 50% of the ride home.

New years day was a big meal. Always at home. Usually pork roast or a ham.

Now..... in the 2020's... I could see the change. It brings tears. Happy tears, and sorrowful tears. I think I will never forget, but I should write these memories down. If I lose the mentality, I can look at my notes to help me feel the love of the memories. I'm at the end of the life I was given, and every day is a pleasure to be alive. I try and fit time to pray to God, but I am not pleased that I don't pray more.

So anyway.... we will celebrate Low Key. Little cheese and crackers, a beer or two, and a roasted pork tenderloin on the 1rst.

Interesting....................... being at the end of one's life. Sometimes, when I say "I'm old", people say "You're not old". Well, I'm 76, when do I get old? Old is a privilege, and having lost my sister just before her 78th. b-day in October makes me think about it more and more. I feel privileged to live where I live, I am healthy, I have plenty of food, a couple of $$$$ stashed away, so life is good................ I know that it is not nearly as good for many, many people and I just hope this virus gets as controlled as it is ever going to be.

I wish all my cooking friends and your loved ones the best of the new year.

My memories of New Years was the Rose Parade. When I was young we would get up at 5am and drive and park as close as we could to my aunt's condo which was right on the parade route. It seemed like we walked miles. She would have a group of chairs set up on the curb for us. My sisters and I would sit out there waiting for the parade to start freezing our backsides off. I always caught a cold.
In my teens a group of us would camp out on the route. When my parents moved to a condo on the parade route, the whole family would be there with spouses. We would walk along the route looking at the floats. For some reason the Clydesdale horses would always be out front. I was in awe at their size. There was always a man there shoveling poop off the street. I remember working on the floats one year. There was this poor girl working on a float. Someone knocked over a bucket of glue all over her head. I wonder if she ever got it out? It wasn't water soluble either.
After the parade, we all went back to bed. Dad watched the bowl games. You wouldn't believe the trash that was left behind on the streets everything from couches to mattresses to garbage. Pasadena was well prepared. It was always cleaned up within hours.

Well, bragging here! LOL My first dinner of cooking for a couple here in the building was a resounding success. Shepherd's pie and coleslaw. Dyanna apparently does not normally eat coleslaw, she had two helpings! Dave brought back the empty dishes and said that they would be very happy if I wanted to make that "often" So, easy, peasy. I'll go to their place in the next few days and pick up a casserole dish of theirs so that I can just give it to them and they don't have to worry about bringing it back.

Dave brought the empties back and we talked about what other things to make. We decided that it is best if I don't make anything with bones, as she has some problems with them. They love fish, so that will be fillets, no steaks or whole fish. I said I'd like to do it once a week, and would they prefer a particular day? It turns out that he goes to the hospital every Wednesday for some big time needles in his spine and is supposed to "relax" after. So, it's going to be Wednesday. That suits me just fine.

He said they love lasagna, so that may be my next dinner. I love it too, but making it for one person isn't worth the effort.

So, on to a new venture for me.

Sounds like a 'win-win' situation for sure, Lore!

Re: Lasagna (for two). I make batches of lasagna and use a 4 X 9 'loaf' pan, like you would use for bread. It's a great size and it's DEEP ~ so nice for a lasagna, especially if it's glass and you can see the layers. It's usually enough for the two of us for a meal and one of us for a reheat lunch.

That's a great idea of lasagna in a loaf pan. I have two glass ones. Will do that, so thanks for the idea.