leder legends

Leftovers! The perennial problem the day after Thanksgiving is having to deal with leftovers. I really am not a fan so the plan was to make croquettes for the freezer.  My SIL sent me a link for Glorious leftover galette which sounded better than what I would normally do so I decided to give it a try.  I had everything in the fridge except stuffing because I didn’t make any.  So here goes.  Take 2 ready made pie crusts , place on top of each other, crimp the edge and then take a rolling pin and roll it out.  I suspect that the crimping that gets flattened is to keep the two crusts together.  Dump potatoes on the crust, press in lots of cut up turkey, top with veggies ( I had Brussels sprouts) and gravy. It also suggests a layer of stuffing which I did not have but is really needed for the spices.  Top with gravy, fold up the sides crimping well.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for at least 50 minutes.  It was delicious! Add caption

  This week’s new supper recipe is cheddar, beer, brat soup! It was delicious!! My fear was that the cheddar would not melt properly and that the beer would be too strong.  Neither happened! It was smooth and had a deep flavor.  I must confess that I was drawn to the recipe because I needed to use the quart of heavy cream that was in my fridge.  This called for one cup of cream. It sounds like a lot but it was a large pot of soup! We each had one bowl with some toast for dinner. Nice and filling and comforting on a cold fall/winter evening!  Not a great photo but that’s life. I also baked a Harvey Wallbanger cake today. It also tastes fantastic but the photo is just as bad as the soup photo!  In college, so many years ago, the Harvey wallbanger was a popular cocktail. The cake evolved from that. It a wonderfully flavorful  cake covered with a glaze. It’s a favorite of the 12 year old granddaughter so it’s good the alcohol in it  bakes off. ...

Food in our Dutch-canadian home did not look like this.  Chicken cordon bleu (from a box but needed to cooked for 35 min.),  and aspargus!  But the fried  potatoes,  which was something we loved growing up, and homemade apple sauce were very typical.  A great combo of new and old. When we lived in Ontario, years ago, my parents drove across the country to visit us.  We loved that they stayed about 2 weeks. I was teaching and a bit swamped because it was the end of the school year.  I  could not make the dinner they loved EVERY night.  My father's meal of choice consisted of meat, potatoes and gravy, endive or witlof and a simple green salad dressed with a bit of vinegar and sugar.  I made a meal like that for them on Sunday. The rest of the time they ate and seemed to enjoy the many other things I served like pasta dishes and rice dishes.   One particular night we had burgers.  I remember, clea...

  Although Dutch  by birth, I was only 20 months old when we immigrated to Canada.  I learned the Dutch language and culture from my family there. We ate lots of Dutch candies especially peppermints,  salted licorice, and lots of almond pastries (after all my father was a baker). Mom fed us the basic food she knew. For breakfast there was bread or rusk with hagelslag (sprinkles -chocolate or fruity), or an occasional egg, for lunch we got cheese sandwiches,  Gouda, of course, and for dinner it was always boiled potatoes and gravy, vegetables and some meat .,.not too much.  In grade school, I remember that for supper  on Wednesdays we had Dutch pancakes with bacon cooked in them. It was a real treat! On Sunday there was always a big pot of homemade vegetable soup, with maggi on the table to add some extra seasoning if you wanted.  It wasn’t until high school that I introduced the family to spaghetti and meat sauce - it was an assignment...

By Mary Eberstadt Published in First Things December 2020   I just read this thought provoking article. Just google The Fury of the Fatherless.  I would love to know your thoughts or start a discussion...agree or disagree with her.   My first reaction: when we lived in the Latin America, I saw this happening there in church  or sect affiliation. Rules gave them structure. The fatherless have found community with antifa, gangs, black lives matter, cancel culture and many other groups.  It’s scary!

 Monday -we put in a new floor in the bathroom at the P house Tuesday- shopping at my leisure-Sam's, Meijer, Lowes  Wednesday- walked twice...once at 8:30 and once at 1:30.  Boy was it cold at 830 and  baking day. Thursday- much warmer today ... walked, car wash, talked with a friend on her deck, hair cut -that felt good.  It's 1:50 AM and I can't sleep...oh the joy!! PS the sugar detox lasted almost 4 days. It did help me be very aware of the sugar in foods but no dairy -that was hard.

 Breakfast Scrambled eggs and bacon, dotted with a little Siracusa! And coffee of course...black  Yesterday went very well.  I had no cravings for sugar! That actually surprised me! Every time I went to the kitchen I grabbed a tall glass of water. 

How do you cook shrimpp?  I always have really overcooked them in the past.  Now they are so good and so easy to prepare.  Cooks illustrated to the rescue. Marinade the shrimp in a small amount of salt and after 20 minutes pat them dry. In a new bowl put  1 tablespoon of oil and 1/8th teaspoon sugar.  Place in a COLD skillet, cook on high for 5 minutes take off heat and quickly flip shrimp. Let stand 3 to 4 minutes. Perfectly cooked.  Not tough!! This recipe had a spicey sauce and sprinkled with cilantro and chopped peanuts!! Who needs restaurant shrimp now?? Not me!

I decided last night that I would like to or need to do a sugar detox. I have a 21 day sugar detox list but I do want to eat a few good things at Thanksgiving.  So here is my list. I am quite sure I can do this for 12 more days. Today has gone well.

Birthday calendars-  Ques tions... I have been trying to figure out the best format for this project.   Should I do it all on the computer and perhaps save it on a CD or DVD? Do you remember Beta and VHS? - obsolete! Cassette tapes? obsolete!  and that is only in my lifetime! With so many innovations coming out every day, wouldn't it make sense to keep this all on PAPER??It sounds so old fashioned, doesn't it? We came from The Netherlands in 1951.  My tree is only from this point on --my parents and their offspring.  At the moment I have 200 entries.   My original plan was to create a Dutch-style birthday calendar.  If you are unfamiliar with that you will find it odd to know that every Dutch house that I have ever visited has this hanging in their  WC. It's like our half-baths- a toilet, a sink and a mirror! only 1/4 of the size of ours in NA.  I have no idea how that tradition started nor why it continues. As a first generati...

  2 pounds of ground meat- beef and venison. 1 new magazine- Milk Street. Solution—-Neapolitan Meatballs with Ragù.  A recipe from Naples.  12 huge meatballs  that have a kick! Fun fact-- The dish "Spaghetti and Meatballs" is NOT Italian. Apparently it's an American innovation.  It's not a bad thing but to be more authentic serve your meatballs with some toasty garlic bread! It’s what’s for dinner! Baked At 425 degrees for 20 minutes A simple RAGÙ sauce.  Whole puréed tomatoes, fried onion, red pepper flakes and basil leaves. So much better than the supermarket Ragu brand. Fresh green beans ...such a great side

Breakfast at De Boer's Bakerij  This bakery and restaurant has been in business since 1955 when the original owners immigrated from the Netherlands. Many of the bakery offerings are the same or very similar to what my father baked and sold in his bakery in British Columbia.  We never had a restaurant nor are the dishes on the menu very Dutch but it's a great place to go eat ...great food and great atmosphere.   The drive out there is also very relaxing on a day like today- in November , 70 degrees, bright sunshine, blue skies and beautiful fall colors!!. Can't beat that! This made me think of my father. He probably used a delivery "van" just like this in the Netherlands. An old 'Dutch" bike.  They still use this style but much upgraded with gears etc. Can't be in a Ducth Bakery without some 'Klompen" Sausage, bacon and potatoes with scrambled eggs and toast... the sausage gravy is definitely an American twist! A bit of...

After the biannual garage cleanup.it was time for the yard. That minds the backyard shed needs a major overhaul. I emptied it and was sure what came out was not going back in!! I have no idea how all that stuff actually was in there.  So, I sorted all the tools, rearranged bags, wood, chemicals and gardening stuff.  I also took out a variety of stuff that belongs to Aaron and put that in the garage for him to collect or toss. I also filled the trash can. Arie likes to sit on the patio beside a fire so now he has more wood to burn.  I love the result. The bags of old fertilizer will be spread on the lawn tomorrow.  It's old so I can really use a lot without burning the grass ! Now I am deciding whether or not I am going to clean up the flowerbeds. It is going to be wonderfully warm weather for a week so I will get all the hostas that are still in pots into the ground. I might just leave the rest to die away naturally!