It's Advent

It's Advent, and I am going to try and blog daily for the season. I didn't reach my goal last year, but I am hoping I can do it this year! Thanks to Greg and Rebecca, who inspire me in this season!

Advent is a season of, well, patience, for lack of a better word. I am not  patient person. I want it now, I want to do it now, and I want to check off my list of stuff to do NOW. I remember as a very young patrol deputy sheriff, I was constantly being told to slow down. I was told that I had 20 years to do what I wanted to do...or I could do 1 year over and over. Thanks, PJ. You inspired me to do something different every year...even after I left law enforcement as a deputy.

I really still like to challenge myself to do something different each year. This past year, I had to challenge myself to get in better shape. A brief explanation- I worked in a very sedentary job from 2006-2013 as a Pastoral Associate at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. With my crazy schedule, I went skiing exactly once in all that time! I also gained a LOT of weight. This past year, I have really been watching both my health and weight and have reached a good goal- but I need to keep going to get to my goal!

I also wanted to grow spiritually this year. I have had a little bit of a spiritual crisis this past year- it's very difficult to just sit in the pew at Mass on Sunday and be part of the congregation. I decided to let it wash over me, pray the readings each week and do what I can, on my own. It KILLS me to not be the teacher, leader or director of classes, events and programs. It's been very humbling...but it's been a good experience. I began to re-examine just what I believe and why I believe it...especially in light of the death of my brother in law at age 52. I'm still working through all that, but I've made good progress.

At this point in my life, I am  sort of content...but still impatient.

I pray for my sons and their wives. I think that we gave Pat and Chris the best foundation possible based in Catholicism. We will see what the future brings for them. It's their choice. I hope they think about what they were given and how it has been a blessing for me and Kevin in our lives.

I pray for my family. It's hard to see us all getting older- especially our parents. Can't even go there right now...

I pray for my friends. We all have challenges in our lives and none of it is ever easy.

I pray for me and Kevin. We have a pretty good set up here in Nevada, but we are a little lonely. We haven't made friends yet, in spite of Church and work. Oh, some good acquaintances who have the potential to be friends...but it's mostly just the two of us.

So, for this Advent, we are waiting for...something. Yes, the commemoration of the Incarnation of Jesus...yes, for the time when He comes again, but also, for something new.

See you all tomorrow!
Amen.

Thanksgiving, Nevada Style

This year, it's just me and Kevin for Turkey Day, Christmas and New Year's Day. I guess I should have expected that this would happen, eventually. It's still difficult. We were hoping to alleviate the loneliness by skiing on Thanksgiving, but the 'wind hold' at the local ski areas put that idea to rest. Oh, well, we were fine for Thanksgiving...we ended up slowly putting up the Christmas decorations throughout the day and took a walk after dinner.

I have to say, the table looked stunning with my Spode China plates, our Rogers 1849 silver and gold wedding silverware, antique candle sticks and the lovely Tiffany wine glasses and fall gourd salt and pepper shakers and name placeholders that my daughter in law, Eleni, gave me for Christmas last year.... along with some beautiful Trader Joe's flowers...

We planned a quick dinner for Thanksgiving, since we 'thought' we would be skiing!

I did buy a beautiful fully cooked turkey breast from Trader Joe's...but I added a dry brine 24 hours in advance...here's the mix...

1 tablespoon each of dried thyme, basil and lavender, 1 teaspoon each of crushed fennel seeds and black peppercorns,1 teaspoon of tarragon and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix together well and use as a dry brine 24-48 hours ahead of time on the turkey. Leave uncovered in the fridge to dry out the skin. Then, rub some bacon fat on the turkey skin and cook as usual.

I also prepared the creamed corn in the crockpot on Wednesday using this incredible recipe
and reheated it in the oven for 35 minutes before dinner.

and of course, made the Laughlin Family Holiday Cole Slaw on Wednesday!

Here's the recipe for the slaw...

1/2 head of green cabbage, shaved

4 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

2 large stalks of celery, finely diced

1 large peeled carrot, shredded

 Dressing:

2 ounces of canola or vegetable oil

2 ounces of apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (you can use less if you want-we like it spicy)

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 handful of finely chopped fresh parsley

Mix all the veggies together in a large bowl. 

In a separate bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients together. When well combined, pour the dressing over the veggies. Toss the veggies together well with the dressing and cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap. Store overnight in the fridge. Serve cold or room temperature. 

I did submit this to the Reno-Gazette Journal for a Family Holiday Dish contest....I am hoping that others will love this as much as we do and I will will an $1800 gift card :)

I also made this delicious Mashed Potato Casserole on Wednesday and reheated it on Thursday for....35 minutes...just like the creamed corn!!

I added some roasted brussels sprouts with a homemade gremolata...simply take trimmed brussels sprouts, toss them with a little canola oil and toss them in a pan. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees and toss with this gremolata...

1 teaspoon of lemon zest, 1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh parsley, 1/4 teaspoon of dried tarragon, 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1 garlic clove, finely minced. Mix together very well and sprinkle over the brussels sprouts. This is a recipe for about 0 brussels sprouts- enough for one person (um, I mean, me) Make more if you have more people. Just sayin'. OMG it was DELISH!

Oh, and I made my best 'dressing' for the turkey... 1 loaf of bread, cut into tiny chunks and dried overnight on a tray.,,1 lb. of sage flavored sausage (Jimmy Dean sage sausage is the best!) cooked with 1 chopped onion, 4 stalks of chopped celery, 1 /2 cup of fresh copped parsley and 1 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes and mixed with 1 tablespoon of poultry seasoning and 1 cup of turkey stock (made from the carcass last year...duh!) mixed together and baked for 40 minutes, covered..last 10 minutes uncovered to brown the top. YUM!

Here's the dinner on my plate...covered with homemade turkey gravy with lots of turkey chunks in the gravy...a la (my MIL- Rest in Peace, Mom!) Mom Lee Laughlin...

This is 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted, 1 tablespoon of canola oil, brought to a foam over medium heat- then add 6 teaspoons of flour mixed in well with a whisk, until it starts to brown a bit. Continually mixing, add 3 cups of warmed turkey broth (supplement with chicken broth if you must) until thickened. You might need more broth if you over did it with the flour. It's OK. It's easy. Keep the heat low, and the whisk going strong. Then, add at least 2 cups of chopped turkey meat and mix well.  The way I get turkey meat for this gravy is to buy a couple of 'smoked turkey wings and legs' a couple of days in advance and roast them, slowly. I pick off the meat, of course, saving the skin and bones in the freezer for a later batch of turkey broth. It will be delish. Trust me.

I also made my famous and easy homemade cranberry sauce...1 bag of cranberries mixed with the juice of 3 clementines (plentiful this time of year) and the rest water to make one cup...and 1/2 cup of sugar...boil until the cranberries pop and store in the fridge until time to eat. YUM!
Kevin, OF COURSE, only likes canned cranberry sauce...it has to have the indentations of rings for it to be sauce for him...and my sons. Sigh. We had both.

It was delicious!

We went for a walk after dinner with Bridget the Pooh to look at all the other houses with Christmas lights....I still think ours was the best!

Later that night, we had a bite of a Trader Joe's pumpkin pie and pecan pie...let's face it, I'm not much of a baker when it comes to sweets, so store bought with some whipped cream was just...perfect.
Hope you enjoyed this post!

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Mushroom Cream Sauce

I have made gnocchi made from mashed potatoes served with tomato sauce and gnocchi made with butternut squash served with a browned butter sauce- but I thought I would try something different since I had 4 cans of pumpkin puree in the pantry...pumpkin gnocchi.

Did I mention that we love home made pasta??

The technique is very similar, but the flavor is all about Autumn!!

I did research quite a few recipes- I didn't want a recipe that required eggs, since I wanted a vegan option for this pasta- hey, I loved my fat free vegan (Engine 2) diet during Lent...so the best recipe I found was actually from.....Martha Stewart's show!

She featured a great restaurateur, Frank DeCarlo, who made a wonderfully easy version of Pumpkin Gnocchi with Chanterelle Cream Sauce.

I did follow most of the directions, but chanterelles are not widely available here (and pretty spendy) , and we don't use cream or shallots too often...so I made some adjustments.  I have to apologize- I didn't take any pictures of me making the gnocchi, but Frank DeCarlo does a great job explaining and showing the techniques in the video. Plus, he's a professional...I am a great home cook, but still an amateur!

I put 2 cups of unbleached King Arthur flour in a bowl. I added 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg to the flour and stirred it all together with a whisk to make sure it was well incorporated. I added one 15 ounce can of organic pumpkin puree from Trader Joe's and one cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (can be left out for a vegan recipe). I slowly incorporated the wet into the dry, then dumped it out onto the cutting board and gently kneaded it for a couple of minutes- just to barely bring it together. You want soft little pillows, not rubber chunks :)

I cut the dough into 6 pieces and then, rolled each piece into about a 1/2 inch roll. I then used my bench scraper to cut each roll into 1/2 inch pieces. Now, you can get a very cool board to roll your gnocchi  here Gnocchi Board or use a fork to put some ridges in the gnocchi, but hey, I'm lazy like that, so I just chopped it into little pillows. It's up to you!

I made about 100 little pumpkin pillows of pumpkin goodness in 15 minutes.

Then, I did a bit of a twist that I have done in the past- there is NO WAY that Kevin and I will eat 100 gnocchi in one sitting. So, I sprayed a couple of jelly roll pans with a little spray oil, and tossed the gnocchi onto the pans. Then, I put them into the freezer for a couple of hours, and then popped them into a freezer baggie.

To prepare for dinner, I brought about 6 quarts of water to a boil and tossed in the gnocchi. They are done when they float to the top.

I made the sauce by slow sauteing 1/4 chopped onion and 6 chopped stuffing mushrooms in a little butter with 1 tsp of rubbed sage (from my garden).

I added 1 cup of chicken stock and 1 cup of fat free half and half and reduced the sauce. When reduced by half, I tossed in the cooked gnocchi and topped with 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I served it with a little freshly grated nutmeg.

I served it with salad and Icky IPA....yum!

These can be served with any sauce you like....they have a very mild pumpkin flavor- but remember, a little of the gnocchi go a long way!! They are very filling!

Cooking for a Chilly Day

We have had a couple of really cold days and REALLY cold (below freezing!) nights during the past week, so I have been in the mood to make yummy, oven-baked, comfort foods.
I made a delicious pot roast tonight, using Ree Drummond's Perfect Pot Roast recipe. You all might know her as The Pioneer Woman on Food Network.
This recipe was simple and delicious. Just follow her recipe, and you can't go wrong!
Notes: I did use 1 cup of red wine to deglaze and I also added 1 cup of chopped celery. I did not use rosemary since Kevin does not like it, but I did use thyme from my sadly dwindling herb pot that froze last night.  I also used 2 cups of beef broth and covered with aluminum foil instead of using a lid. I didn't have the right size pot, so I used my caphalon roasting pan right on the stove top, and transferred it to the stove, using heavy duty foil as a cover. It came out tender and tasty! I cooked a 3 lb chuck roast for 4 hours. Perfecr.

I also decided to make a recipe that I 'pinned' on Pinterest a couple of days ago...Mac n Cheese stuffed Pretzel Bites with Beer Cheese Sauce from the Food Graciousness blog...it's written by a dad who has a passion for food (his tagline). He has some great recipes- check out his blog!!

I decided to NOT use the bacon on the pretzel bites- they looked amazing as they were...so I skipped that step and just brushed the stuffed pretzels with the beaten egg and topped with some kosher salt before baking.

Also- this makes a SERIOUS amount of dough. I only made 15 pretzels and I think I have enough cheese dough in the fridge to make 2 large pizzas! I would consider cutting the recipe in HALF, at least, unless you have a very hungry gang to feed. Since it's just me and Kevin, I made 15 pretzels (OK, I thought we were hungry!) and we at...um, 4.

That's right- I have 11 pretzel bites to bring to work tomorrow for my dispatcher friends. Hope they like them!

They were incredibly good...but the beer cheese sauce was AMAZING!!!

You need to make these! They are incredibly good! They taste like a soft pretzel stuffed with creamy mac and cheese dipped in a rich cheese sauce..oh, wait. That is exactly what they are! Enjoy!

Baby, It's Cold Outside (at night)

We are finally getting some decent Fall weather here in Northern Nevada! I am really enjoying the chilly nights and mornings. The trees are starting to turn colors- more on that in another post.
I've started to cook more in the kitchen and less on the BBQ- although, the BBQ is still a staple throughout the winter!

I've posted a recipe in the past for my 'Santa Ana Green Chili Posole' that relied on canned green chilis and green enchilada sauce...but I've never made 'real' Posole Rojo.  I can't say that anymore!

When I worked at Sacred Heart Church, Klamath Falls Oregon I remember that the Pastor, Fr. Roga, LOVED Posole made with meat on the bone. He used to say that it wasn't posole if you couldn't pick the meat off of the bones in the soup!  He liked the green posole, but he didn't like the pork shoulder meat I always used- he preferred chicken wings and legs, or pork neck bones.

Father Roga is on vacation in Tanzania, Africa this month, so in his honor, I decided to try to make 'real' posole rojo with pork neck bones.

Just a 'heads up'...this is not a fast recipe.

I bought a bag of chili pods at Centro Market in Carson City- a fantastic local Mexican market. I also bought cilantro, hominy, fresh limes, radishes,avocados and pork neck bones.

I cut off the stems of the dried chilis, shook out the seeds and quickly roasted them in my cast iron fry pan until they were soft- not toasted!! I can't emphasize this enough- only toast them on medium heat- do not let them 'brown' or burn!!  Yes, use the whole bag. You won't regret using the entire bag- trust me.

Once they are softened by heating, place them in a large bowl and cover with HOT water. The chilis need to be submerged in the water- so, you can do what I did and use a couple of large glasses.  leave them submerged in hot water for at least 30 minutes.

In the meantime, add a tiny bit of oil to the cast iron pan.
I also had a small pork shoulder ( about 1/2 lb) so I cut it into small chunks and tossed it, and the pork neck bones, in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and 1 tablespoon of ground cumin. Yes, use your hands- it gets messy. But, it's all good.

Brown all the meat in the cast iron pan, a batch at a time...

...and set the meat aside after browning.

Next, remove the soaked chilis from the hot water (SAVE THE WATER) and add them to a blender. Add 1 cup of the soaking water to the blender, 1 tablespoon of salt and 5 large cloves of garlic to the blender.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and press on the solids! Get all that chili goodness out! Discard the solids.

Add one whole rough chopped onion to the cast iron pan along with 2 more rough chopped garlic cloves and a teaspoon of oil.

Saute for a few minutes, then add 1 cup of the chili soaking liquid to the pan. Scrape up all the browned bits of goodness and boil for a minute- the pour all of it into a dutch oven or crockpot. Add all the meat and pork neckbones and cover with the remainder of the stock liquid. Add chicken stock to just barely cover the meat and bones.

Open a large can of hominy and rinse it well under cool water.

Add the hominy to the meat and broth.

Add 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 tablespoon of Mexican oregano and 1 bay leaf.

Then, add 2 cups of the rojo- red chili sauce. Reserve the rest for serving with the posole.

Cook for 2.5-3 hours- until the meat is very tender.

At this point, I stopped cooking and cooled the posole overnight in the fridge. Then I cut all the meat off of the neckbones, put the meat back into the posole and skim any fat off of the surface.

I re-heated the posole and added a little water to make sure it was broth-y. I also added another teaspoon of salt and brought it to a simmer.

I served it with sliced Mexican green onions, sliced radishes, slices of avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped tomatoes, lime wedges and shredded cabbage.

It was amazing! Serve with some of the warmed extra rojo sauce stirred into the posole. I also added some steamed corn tortillas on the side- but the posole was fantastic!

Even better the next day for lunch!

Pho

We've had some cold-ish weather in the evenings here in Northern Nevada and I've had a hankering for some comfort food.

Since I am a So Cal girl at heart, Pho immediately came to mind.

Pho is a Vietnamese style broth used for a noodle soup. I used a combination of several recipes to get just the right flavor.

I used this amazing recipe by Charles Phan for the prep since I think that roasting the onions and ginger gave it a delicious depth of flavor. I also used some of the excellent suggestions by smitten kitchen to the Charles Phan recipe and added some of my own twists to the broth.

For example, I roasted the chicken before adding it to the stock and skimmed the stock constantly, to keep it clear. I also simmered it on very low to keep it clear. I also added all the additional suggested seasonings; a cinnamon stick, 4 star anise, 1 tsp of cardamom pods, 1 tsp of coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds and 6 whole cloves.

I separated the meat and strained the broth through several layers of cheesecloth...
and cooked the rice noodles separately

You can cook the rice noodles, rinse them in cold water, and store them in the fridge in cold water until you want to use them in either a bowl of pho or in spring rolls.

When you are ready to make a bowl of pho, you add chopped baby boc choy, fresh (rinsed) mung beans and some of the meat to the bowl. Top with a handful of the cooked noodles and top with boiling hot broth.

Serve with fresh mint, fresh basil and lime wedges.

Eat, and repeat.

Jeff

It's been a tough few weeks in the Laughlin household. My dear brother-in-law, Jeff Laughlin, was in the hospital for a month and succumbed to an infection at the age of 52.
It's been very hard on all of us who loved him and his family.
We had a very solemn and tear-filled Mass of the Resurrection for Jeff on Friday at Holy Family Catholic Catherdral with all of the family gathered, followed by a very fun celebration of life with many toasts to Jeff at the Tustin Ranch Golf Course.

Our son Patrick was able to attend and our son, Chris, attended with his fiancee, Eleni. So did many of our extended family members.
Chris had the great idea to hit a bucket of balls in Jeff's memory- Jeff LOVED to golf and was a very good golfer!
All of the Laughlin cousins participated.

We also took several photos of all the Laughlin cousins together...

 We were happy that so many people attended the service and celebration to honor Jeff- he was such a big personality and had a big heart to match.
It was an honor to be there for him.