Posts from the ‘Food’ category

Nearly normal

Via the cat thermometer (curled up cat vs long, long cat), it is still cool :) !!

Actually, it is nearly normal temperature with low 70’s daytime and upper 40/low 50’s overnight. Pure bliss in my book and I could take this for the rest of the Summer.

Bear agrees!

Plus, we got a nice bit of rain yesterday (Tuesday) morning: .26 inches per a headline article in the paper.

I have been enjoying Asian-spiced turkey meatballs during the heat wave and even now that it is cooler. The recipe is Mel’s Kitchen Cafe Baked Orange-Glazed Meatballs.

I made the orange glaze with the first batch and it is very good. I didn’t have an orange on the second round, but did have some of the cranberry jalapeno salsa – also a Mel’s Kitchen Café recipe. (Mel’s Kitchen Café Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa)

The spiced up flavor of the turkey meatballs with the cranberry salsa on a bed of lightly dressed cole slaw … all wrapped up in a flour tortilla has been making for one light, refreshing and tasty lunch!

This recipe is the first time I’ve used ground turkey and I am sorry I waited so long to try it. Mel’s method is to bake the meatballs in a mini-muffin pan. I was baking mine on a half sheet pan so I added an egg and some shredded zucchini to add a bit of fat and moisture since mine were not contained in a little pocket of their minimal fat. These meatballs are full of flavor, tender and versatile: good warmed up with the glaze, good cold and they freeze wonderfully. Another winner from Mel!

I doubt we’ve seen the last of Summer heat, but hopefully we’ll stay cooler than the upper 90’s of the last weeks.

We are all enjoying being nearly normal.

Wake me up when it’s over

It is VERY rare to see the NOAA “HOT” icons in my (Northwest Montana) forecast…

Holy cannoli!!

So, I am a bit hopeful that since NOAA has made such a BIG deal about this forecast…that like Winter Storm forecasts…the bigger the deal, the greater they are likely to fizzle … this is one forecast, I seriously hope is WRONG.

To help that along, I have gone overboard on preparation. My thinking is that if I have prepared to the max, then via Murphy’s Law, the max will not happen…

So yesterday (Wednesday), I went to the grocery store and bought like a Winter storm was forecast. I bought fruit and veg and meat and all manner of supplies so that I could hunker down and wait out the heat wave.

I have roast, shredded chicken in the freezer.

I have turkey meatballs in the freezer. And bread and rolls and hot dogs and cooked sausage and cooked bacon. And salmon and halibut. I have canned salmon and canned tuna.

I pickled a mix of onion/cucumber/radish, I made a veggie-chicken broth, cold brew coffee, cranberry salsa and pickled jalapeno.

You might think the broth is a bit of a head scratcher, but a brothy soup with a bit of whatever else…it can be a light meal on a hot day…especially with a bit of that chicken or a couple of turkey meatballs!.

Foodwise, I am ready for good meals that do not require the stove or the oven.

Example: cold, roasted garlic broccolini with hard boiled egg for breakfast.

Bear and Auggie practice staying in the shade…

Last night, it clouded over which meant that it stayed warm overnight. Fortunately, it stayed cloudy this morning so took longer to heat up.

But, it did heat up … to 92F.

The chairs said they were glad to be in the shade.

The A/C is on in Wild Thing. She is our backup if I can’t keep the house cool enough.

The first day of HOT and Auggie headed for the cool of the porcelain.

WHAT??? I keep it clean :)

Wake us all up when it’s over…we do NOT LIKE the HEAT!

Weekend catchup

I got the new machine completely set up in a record 2 days. AND, it wasn’t even all of the 2 days: 3 hours on Saturday much of which was downloading which didn’t require me to be sitting at my desk … 4 hours Sunday for my work environment which is a kind of tricky “do it in order” thing of primary tools and plug-ins … but again much of that time was downloading. No glitches, no pulling of hair or swearing or rending of clothes. This was by far, the easiest setup of a new machine that I’ve ever had. Maybe it feels so good because it took me 4 months to transition to the Acer two years ago.

It wasn’t all “new computer” stuff over the weekend. The “Auggie tree” was moved …by the Jeeper! (Auggie Tree)

It used to be there…

The Jeeper dragged it over to the firewood staging pile.

So much fun! Auggie was safely in the house, but Bear was in the Jeep with me and seemed fascinated as we pulled it onto the driveway and then over to the log pile. It is the first time I’ve used the Jeep for a chore. I did manage to scrape the corner of the garage so ended up doing a bit of touch up painting, but even that was fun.

A bit of baking happened also. I’ve been make these whole wheat rolls: hoagie buns, hot dog buns and hamburger buns, for several months. They are Mel’s Kitchen Café’s Fluffy Whole Wheat Rolls and I nearly cried for joy the first time I made them. I have been experimenting with various mixes to get a sandwich bun that I really liked and these are it! If Mel sees my photos, she might cry. Mel shapes her rolls to perfection! I am a LOT more casual. The key to using mostly or all whole wheat (white whole wheat) flour is to add vital wheat gluten. This dough is easy to work with and makes wonderful fluffy buns that stand up to burgers, hot dogs and subs. They freeze wonderfully – I let them cool, then into the frig overnight and then a repack for the freezer so no freezer burn.

Although we’ve had no rain since June 2 and it is scary dry, especially for this early, the days have been sunny with temps 74-80 daytime and 45-55 overnight … kind of perfect. NOAA says that will end this week as we warm up again to the mid to upper 90’s by the end of the week. Blech. So, the other thing we did this weekend was enjoy the relatively cool and pleasant temperatures before we need to retreat to air conditioning later this week.

It was a great weekend with much accomplished and also some relaxation in the shade in the quiet of a Sunday afternoon.

***NOAA’s exact words:
Next weekend through early next week, dry conditions prevail as the
ridge strengthens quickly and high temperatures move well into
the 90s for the weekend. Next Monday currently looks the warmest,
with Missoula and Kalispell forecast to break 100. Kalispell has
not seen 100 in June since record-keeping began. We will continue
to keep an eye on the exact numbers, but the overall message
remains the same: Prepare for multiple days of peak summer heat.

Sunday Morning

Friday, a cold front whooshed through and temperatures returned to normal 70’s, dipping into the 40’s overnight – bliss!!

But mornings are still prime time and especially Sunday morning…

A gorgeous walk in the woods.

A cool, clear morning.

Buckwheat waffles with blueberry syrup, bacon and a cup of coffee.

Sunday Morning

And the heat goes on

And it kept going…topping off at 94F! Even now, at 7:00 p.m., it is still 89.

It is supposed to cool into the 70’s by the coming weekend and as this kind of heat is unusual this early, I originally thought it would be fine for these few hot days without the A/C.

Thankfully, I changed my mind this morning and got the behemoth ready to go. It has been keeping us comfortable and I will really appreciate it at bedtime, I know!

Bear went out a few times, but only briefly. Even Auggie came in early in the afternoon.

Meanwhile as the dinner hour approached, I rethought my original plan of oven roasted corn and asparagus.

The new plan was shaved asparagus salad…

…with white beans and a parmesan vinaigrette. I put all in the frig to chill along with some canned salmon.

A bit later, as I was mixing everything up, I noticed Auggie on the front sidewalk. His door was open, but I guess he decided the cool concrete sidewalk was the spot to be.

A cool, refreshing supper as the heat goes on.

Summer weekend

Montana does not usually jump the gun on Summer. May is typically nice with some warm-hot days and then June is cool and rainy, before it warms up for real in mid-July.

But this year, although June started cool and rainy, it did not last long and we’ve had several days in the 80’s with today hitting 88!

Saturday was a chore day which included setting up sprinklers as those few days of rain were not going to last through the forecast heat – we are to be in the 80’s through this coming Friday.

I started on weed abatement going through 4 gallons of white vinegar. This will be ongoing, but a first attack has occurred!

Wild Thing is home after a short stint at Billy Bob’s RV for normal maintenance plus new brakes all around. There is more to do, but all safety and engine stuff is done. I spent some time cleaning inside, flushing the fresh water tank/plumbing and organizing the basement storage. She’s ship shape!

I was beat by early Saturday evening, but the good news is Sunday was a “do whatever I want day”.

Bear and I hopped in the Jeep and headed to town for a few items. Several weeks ago, my neighbor told me about a back road to town. We took it. It is beautiful and bonus: a nice place to stop for a walk with Bear along the river:

There is another fishing area on the other side of the road with a pond. This river spot only has access to the river, which is running high and fast so all of the fishing activity has been on the other side the 2 times we’ve stopped…

We had this little spot all to ourselves.

Plenty of shade, great view and a nice breeze off the river – perfect!

A new kitchen acquisition: ice cream maker. And this week’s flavor is Key Lime!

For a summer treat, I used graham crackers to make key lime ice cream sandwiches. Yum and so refreshing … like frozen key lime pie.

And the first sweet corn of the season rounded out the weekend’s summer eating.

I’m tired – the chores and the first real heat of the year…but still, a great Summer weekend.