This Busy Farm is on the Outskirts of Pella, Iowa
Fall harvest season here is mostly over
Saturday Thoughts...Tired of Cooking?
Ever just get tired
of cooking? Even food bloggers do. During the holiday season my husband's present to me is to take me out for a restaurant meal or two. One of my favorites is Tasos' in Oskaloosa, Iowa, just off the square. It's a very popular steakhouse that our family enjoys too. Every booth and table was filled at the noon hour in their large double-building dining area when we visited this week on a Tuesday, and the line extended out the door.
While we were at Tasos' this week, we looked over the menu board, although we usually order my favorite…an 8 ounce ribeye steak sandwich on grilled Texas Toast that we split while we each have a cup of soup with it. The steak is perfectly cooked every time, tender and mouthwatering, probably seasoned mostly by a grill that works hard every day.
But I was amused that we knew we were in rural Iowa…the vegetable was “Cream corn” and the appetizer special was Spicy corn nuggets. The dessert board was to the right of the menu board…pie, pie, pie and cheesecake. The "Beyond Meat Burger" was probably a concession to the local college crowd.
Lots of personal service, people who recognize you and seem happy you’re there, plenty of customers you may know…decent prices…that’s Iowa.
While we were at Tasos' this week, we looked over the menu board, although we usually order my favorite…an 8 ounce ribeye steak sandwich on grilled Texas Toast that we split while we each have a cup of soup with it. The steak is perfectly cooked every time, tender and mouthwatering, probably seasoned mostly by a grill that works hard every day.
But I was amused that we knew we were in rural Iowa…the vegetable was “Cream corn” and the appetizer special was Spicy corn nuggets. The dessert board was to the right of the menu board…pie, pie, pie and cheesecake. The "Beyond Meat Burger" was probably a concession to the local college crowd.
Lots of personal service, people who recognize you and seem happy you’re there, plenty of customers you may know…decent prices…that’s Iowa.
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving...
This picture reminds me of buying a turkey at the Army commissary for our German landlady, and it wouldn't fit in her little oven or ours either.
Her daughter-in-law had to take it home to cook it!
Sunday in Iowa...
This Amish Schoolyard full of buggies
is at an intersection north of Cantril, Iowa
$aturday $avings...Empty Shelves Again?
We were a little
shocked to see these empty Aldi shelves at our nearest store. They should have held plain canned fruit and
vegetables. The cracker shelves were also noticeably sparse...other customers were complaining about not even finding saltines. We haven’t seen this since
last year. They were not rationing
anything there yet, as they did earlier.
We were making a last stock-up run before winter sets in here in Iowa. After living in Germany 5 years, we enjoy getting some imported German products at Aldi, like chocolate and imported pastas and cheeses, as well as some canned goods and produce and dairy at a good price. The store is over 30 miles away, so we stock up to make it pay.
We received an email on October 28th from Aldi...
"When you shop our aisles in the coming weeks and months, you may notice certain items arriving later than intended or after our advertised on-sale dates. We ask for your patience as we navigate supply chain delays. We’re working to the best of our ability to source the premium ingredients and products that you have come to expect in our stores this time of year."
We are also seeing empty paper goods aisles again at our local Walmart...after full shelves the last 6 months or so. The store was crowded on a weekday as people were stocking up, apparently to beat rising prices and get holiday purchases before those shelves were empty.
As prices rise and shortages are starting to appear again, if you don’t have a good pantry, you may want to consider making sure you have enough of basic ingredients to last awhile. We keep about a year’s worth of basic ingredients…not necessarily prepared foods…on hand most of the time…keeping it rotated and cooking at home most days, as well as a supply of household necessities.
We try very hard to never throw anything away and try to use our leftovers or buy smaller quantities. We use any perishables first after shopping. In our experience, milk and eggs last longer than the dates on the containers. We have a good pantry inventory; now I just replace what we use.
Most of our canned goods are home-canned, and I can chicken, hamburger, beef, and mixed dishes like navy bean soup, chili, split pea soup and stew for our own convenience foods, and I make some jam and relishes every year too. I’m thankful that I had a good supply of canning lids in my supply stash! Who would have ever thought canning lids and yeast would have been in short supply last year?
Our utility company has already warned its customers they expect natural gas to be 46% to 96% higher this season; we only use it for our furnace, but that’s a substantial increase. Another reason to watch our pennies on a fixed income. Our bill this month was higher than the same month last year...but we used only 15 therms this month and 25 therms last year when it was colder here.
We were making a last stock-up run before winter sets in here in Iowa. After living in Germany 5 years, we enjoy getting some imported German products at Aldi, like chocolate and imported pastas and cheeses, as well as some canned goods and produce and dairy at a good price. The store is over 30 miles away, so we stock up to make it pay.
We received an email on October 28th from Aldi...
"When you shop our aisles in the coming weeks and months, you may notice certain items arriving later than intended or after our advertised on-sale dates. We ask for your patience as we navigate supply chain delays. We’re working to the best of our ability to source the premium ingredients and products that you have come to expect in our stores this time of year."
We are also seeing empty paper goods aisles again at our local Walmart...after full shelves the last 6 months or so. The store was crowded on a weekday as people were stocking up, apparently to beat rising prices and get holiday purchases before those shelves were empty.
As prices rise and shortages are starting to appear again, if you don’t have a good pantry, you may want to consider making sure you have enough of basic ingredients to last awhile. We keep about a year’s worth of basic ingredients…not necessarily prepared foods…on hand most of the time…keeping it rotated and cooking at home most days, as well as a supply of household necessities.
We try very hard to never throw anything away and try to use our leftovers or buy smaller quantities. We use any perishables first after shopping. In our experience, milk and eggs last longer than the dates on the containers. We have a good pantry inventory; now I just replace what we use.
Most of our canned goods are home-canned, and I can chicken, hamburger, beef, and mixed dishes like navy bean soup, chili, split pea soup and stew for our own convenience foods, and I make some jam and relishes every year too. I’m thankful that I had a good supply of canning lids in my supply stash! Who would have ever thought canning lids and yeast would have been in short supply last year?
Our utility company has already warned its customers they expect natural gas to be 46% to 96% higher this season; we only use it for our furnace, but that’s a substantial increase. Another reason to watch our pennies on a fixed income. Our bill this month was higher than the same month last year...but we used only 15 therms this month and 25 therms last year when it was colder here.
We’re starting to see a little “Jimmy Carter years" déjà vu.
Small Recipes...Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake Bars
Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake Bars
2 Cups Pecans -- finely chopped
1/4 Cup Butter -- melted
1/4 Cup Sugar
Filling
16 Ounces Cream Cheese -- softened
3/4 Cup Sugar, divided
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 Large Eggs
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
3/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
CRUST: Combine pecans, sugar and butter, press onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of 9" pie pan or spring form pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350°.
FILLING: Combine cream chese, 2/3 of total sugar, and vanilla, mixing at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one is added. Reserve 1 cup of batter in another bowl. Add remaining sugar and pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg to remaining batter, mix well.
Spoon pumpkin and cream cheese batters alternately over crust, zigzag through batter with a table knife for marble effect.
Bake at 325° for 55 minutes, check 10 minutes before time to see if it’s done. Don't overbake. Chill and serve.
This makes 8 servings of cheesecake, I cut 16 bars from a square pan.
**You can line an 8" square pan with parchment paper with handles and make this recipe. After it cools, carefully remove the cake with the handles and cut into squares or bars suitable for coffee time.
November Week 3 Hot Deal...5 pounds of Russet Potatoes
Our “hot deal” this week was 5 pounds of russet potatoes. I like this brand because the potatoes are smaller ones that are a better size for us. I plan make these two recipes in the next week or two, and will use the rest for baked potatoes and for soup. It's hard to beat 20¢ a pound for nice russets. I hope to get another deal like this before Christmas.
8 ounces potato -- (1 1/2 cups)
4 teaspoons flour, all-purpose
1 ½ Tablespoons butter
Dash pepper
4 1/2 Fluid Ounces whole milk
Dash paprika
Dash nutmeg
2 Ounces ham -- chopped, optional
2 Tablespoons onion, chopped, optional
Scrub potatoes. Without peeling, cut into thin slices. Layer 3 or 4 layers in a greased 1 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle each layer with mixture of flour, onion, parsley and seasonings. Can add leftover bits of ham.
Heat milk and butter. Pour milk over top. Bake, covered about 1 hour. at 325 degrees.
“Cooking from Quilt Country"
Scrub potatoes. Without peeling, cut into thin slices. Layer 3 or 4 layers in a greased 1 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle each layer with mixture of flour, onion, parsley and seasonings. Can add leftover bits of ham.
Heat milk and butter. Pour milk over top. Bake, covered about 1 hour. at 325 degrees.
“Cooking from Quilt Country"
We like this Ranch Potato recipe occasionally for a change of pace. Nowadays, I usually steam my potatoes with my $5 grocery-store steamer insert.
Ranch Potatoes for 2
1 cup russet potato -- about 8 ounces raw
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper -- freshly ground
2 tablespoons Ranch Salad Dressing
1 slice Bacon
Peel and cut
potatoes into 3/4 to 1 inch chunks.
Bring potatoes and water to cover to a boil in a saucepan; boil 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Or steam potatoes for 15 minutes.
Beat potatoes at low speed with an electric mixer just until mashed. Add butter, salt and pepper, beating until butter is melted. Gradually add dressing, beating just until smooth. top with crumbled bacon; serve immediately.
"Southern Living Christmas Cookbook"
1 cup russet potato -- about 8 ounces raw
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper -- freshly ground
2 tablespoons Ranch Salad Dressing
1 slice Bacon
Bring potatoes and water to cover to a boil in a saucepan; boil 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain.
Or steam potatoes for 15 minutes.
Beat potatoes at low speed with an electric mixer just until mashed. Add butter, salt and pepper, beating until butter is melted. Gradually add dressing, beating just until smooth. top with crumbled bacon; serve immediately.
"Southern Living Christmas Cookbook"
Small Recipes...Pork Tenderloins with Roasted Potatoes for Two
We love pork
tenderloins; they are very tender when prepared properly. They take just a short time to roast,
depending on the size, and you can easily make them in a toaster oven, with
potatoes roasted at the same time. No
need to peel the potatoes, just cut them in chunks and marinate.
If you have
one of the oven meat thermometers this is the time to use it; as overcooking
the meat makes it tougher. I also use an
instant read thermometer; check a little before the time is up to see how close
it is to done.
This is a
very nice easy-to-make special occasion meal for two, with the bonus of some slices of pork
left for delicious sandwiches.
Pork
Tenderloins with Roasted Potatoes for Two
1/4
cup olive oil
2
teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2
teaspoons dried rosemary --
crushed
1/2
teaspoon salt
1/4
teaspoon pepper
1
pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)
8
ounces medium red potatoes -- cut into chunks
1
slice bacon
In a glass
measuring cup, mix oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Place half of the
marinade in each of two resealable plastic bags. Add pork to one bag and
potatoes to the other bag. Seal bags and turn to coat; refrigerate 4-8 hours or
overnight.
Preheat oven
to 425°. Drain and discard marinades. Place meat and potatoes in a greased 7 x
11" metal pan with rack. Top meat
with bacon slice lengthwise.
Bake,
uncovered, 30-35 minutes until potatoes are tender and a thermometer inserted
in pork reads 145°. DON'T OVERBAKE. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.
$avings $aturday...Week 2 of November
For week 2 of November, I found two good deals. The first was eggs on sale, for 77¢ a dozen. The second was red or yellow peppers for 99¢ each.
I’ll use the eggs for cooking and baking, and I plan to make this recipe for a small Chiffon Cake. It's one of our favorites and uses 4 eggs.
I’m going to
buy the peppers so I can make Refrigerated
Pimientos or Marinated Sweet Peppers.
They are delicious and I’ll use them for the holiday coming up. They are so easy and don't require canning or canning lids!
Fruit Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing
Fruit Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing
4 ounces Iceberg Lettuce
2 large Apples or Pears -- wedges or chopped
1 ounce Golden Raisins
2 ounces Gorgonzola Cheese -- crumbled
1 ounce Pecans -- coarsely chopped
Dressing
2 tablespoons Salad Oil -- or olive oil
2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar -- or Balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
Arrange salad on plates; combine dressing ingredients and pour over.
4 Servings
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