What to do about a holiday dinner for 2.

Is your family too far away for the holidays? 
Did you cook for all the holidays last year and just wanted to be low key this year?
Are you having a "holiday" later with the family but still want a special dinner the day of?

Do you just like intimate holidays?
 

 Well, here you go...

 

I love prime rib and it was on sale at the grocery store this week so I bought one. Well, I actually bought 2. The butcher was so nice and started talking to me as I was looking at the roasts. He jokingly said "buy 2!"  I laughed but then thought he wasn't crazy after all, so I did just that.
The roasts were each a whisker under 5 lbs and would easily feed 4-5 people.
He cut one up into 3 giant boneless rib eye steaks for me. I saved the bones, bought more rib bones, sealed them all up for the freezer and I will get 6 meals out of those 2 roasts!

 

 

I also happened to order the "Pioneer Woman Cooks Holidays" on Monday and it showed up yesterday.

Thank you Amazon Prime!

My sister-in-law turned me onto Ree Drummond (aka Pioneer Woman). A lot of her recipes on the show seem ordinary, but this book has recipes that I have not seen before and look interesting. Also, for the novice or timid cook, she has step by step photos to guide you.
She has recipes for all the major holidays and of course you can use them anytime. I do like this book and I think it would be useful for any home cook. It would also make a great hostess or house warming gift.
The list price is $29.99 but Amazon sells it for a little over $18 tax included. There is also a kindle version for around $14.

I perused the cookbook this morning and decided to make the mushrooms, Yorkshire pudding and Brussels sprouts.

I had most of the ingredients, sort of, so I improvised.
It's just the 2 of you, so relax and go for it. Even for larger crowds, don't sweat  it and go with what you have.

I only had a little wine for the mushrooms and used stock instead of water and bouillon. I only had frozen Brussels sprouts in sauce so I used those and added some dried cranberries (from last Thanksgiving, yes they were still good)! And since it was just the 2 of us, I cut the Yorkshire pudding recipe in half.

I used a recipe for the prime rib from a different cookbook called "The New Best Recipe". It recommends the low and slow roast method that restaurants use and I like that way best.
You could also fry up 2 of the steaks instead of doing the roast.

 

I seared the roast on all sides, then put it in a pan to roast in a 200 degree oven for 1/2 hour per pound. I stuck a meat thermometer in to keep an eye on things until it came up to 130 degrees. It seemed to take a little longer than the 1/2 hr per pound, so leave yourself a little wiggle room. I used the fat that was rendered during the searing for the pudding as you will not get much fat rendering in the low temp roasting process.

 My sister turned me onto the Polder meat thermometer and it is great. As you watch the temp rise, it also gives you an idea of how things are going and how long it will actually take. You set it to the temp you want and it beeps when it reaches that temperature.

 

I added some mashed potatoes to the menu and there you have it. A nice holiday dinner for 2 that I cooked AND ate while in my PJs, doesn't get any better than that!

 

 

My first time ever making Yorkshire pudding, it was easy!

P.S. The beef was perfectly cooked and tender as can be! YUM!!

 

P.P.S. The next morning I popped the leftover puddings in the microwave for 15 seconds, slathered them with apple butter and had them with my coffee. Oh yeah. 

 

 

Made in Vermont Road Trip

 

Need to start your Christmas shopping?

Want to buy "Made in USA"?

Want to have fun and good food while you are doing it?

 

Then head toward Vergennes, VT!

All these items can be purchased on line too, yippee!!

 

Yesterday was an absolutely glorious fall day and we took full advantage of it by riding the bikes to Vermont. The scenery is so, so beautiful. We were surrounded by rows and rows of mountains that were baby blue and then faded into silvery blue the farther they were from us. It's a wonder I stayed on the road since I was looking right and left so much.

 

We decided to head toward Vergennes, VT, the smallest city in Vermont. Main Street is really cute and has lots of shops and eateries but we actually didn't have time to stop because we were headed to a few shops beyond town.

http://www.vermontteddybear.com/

 

Our first stop was the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory in Shelburne, VT. You can take a guided tour, make you own bear and shop for bears and all their outfits. The bears are high quality and have fully articulated arms and legs. In other words, they are heirloom pieces. I already own a biker bear (no surprise!) and a gardener bear so I decided, next, I wanted the bear of many colors!

 

You can have a shirt custom embroidered to put on your bear to make it more personal as well. These bears would be a great gift for adults as well as children. The bears come in a very sturdy box and even include a nice big piece of Lake Champlain Chocolates milk chocolate in the shape of, what else? a bear head, very cute!

 

 

 

 

We then traveled a little ways up the road, still in Shelburne, to Harrington's Smokehouse.

They have a wonderful store and even a deli serving their smoked meats. We sat down and had smoked turkey and cranberry chutney sandwiches served with a garlicky half sour pickle and

Stewarts rootbeer http://www.drinkstewarts.com/.

 

Once we were fortified, we could concentrate on shopping.

They have all kinds of meats, cheeses, mustards, crackers, sweets, vinegars, jams, jellies, you name it. You can have baskets made there or order on line to ship to loved ones.

 

http://www.harringtonham.com/

 

 

On a side note, Shelburne Museum is right across the street from Harrington's and is also worth seeing.

http://shelburnemuseum.org/

 

 

Our next stop as we headed back home was Dakin Farm. I somehow missed this on the way there, but was sooo glad we stopped on the way back. This place is AMAZING!! They corn cob smoke meats and use maple syrup to smoke their hams and bacon.

 

The store is huge and has a lot of different items.  They have clothing and gift items too.

 

http://www.dakinfarm.com/

 

 

 We bought chicken sausage and these cool looking skinny sausages.

 

This brie was crazy good. The firm middle was surrounded by a layer of luscious, thick cream. Heavenly.

 

I am a corned beef hash snob and this stuff looks promising. I don't normally buy a lot of pre-made items but I opened the box up and it was pure meat. I think there were literally 4 potato pieces in there and that suits me just fine! I can't wait to try it.

 

 

 

 

Our final stop was Vermont Flannel. I have a piece of theirs that I have had for at least 20 years. I had often wondered if they were still in business and then we saw their store!!

This is their newest location in Ferrisburgh, VT.

http://vermontflannel.com/

 

 The flannel is thick and soft and the sewing room was right off the showroom.

They have robes, scarves, hats, blankets, shirts of all kinds, yummy PJs and they will ship anywhere.

 

 

 

I bought this scarf, hat and a huge blanket for Christmas gifts.

 

This plaid is what my shirt is made out of and my shirt is still this bright. Now Liza and I have matching outfits. You knew I was going to end up with a doggie coat, didn't you?!

 

She looks smashing for being 16 1/2, don't you think?

So, even if you can't get to the stores (so sorry!) you can shop online and have wonderful gifts shipped to your friends and family.

Have fun!

 

 

 

Of Pillows and Panties

 

Why are certain items so expensive? Is it because they know we need them, so we will pay the price? Take pillows and panties for instance. To me they seem very high priced for what they are, don't you think?

 

Think about it....most of the time they are either covered up or your eyes are closed when you use them.

 

Ok, I call them underwear. Not the pillows, the panties! I'm not sure if that is a Rhode Island thing or if it's just me. I guess mine are never delicate enough to be called panties. I buy neutral colors so they don't show under white pants ,they are large enough to cover the essential, ok, ALL the parts and ...go. under. what I wear.

But, that my friends, is a whole other post.

 

I'm here to talk about pillows.

They are expensive and pretty useless as far as I can tell. The only ones I ever had even a little luck with were the latex foam ones. But even those were never perfect and had to be replaced often.

I just recently purchased 2 "My Pillow" pillows and so far I like them!

They are a little different and have gotten mixed reviews. It looks as though people either love them or hate them.They are pricey on their website, but QVC seems to have better prices. I bought mine from QVC when they were a special value for 2.

 http://www.qvc.com/MyPillow-Sapphire-Series-Custom-Fit-Set-of-2-STD-Pillows-Search-Results.product.H201680.html?sc=H201680-SRCH&cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-7-_-H201680&catentryImage=http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/h/80/h201680.001?$uslarge$

You can put them in the washer and dryer and rearrange the fill to suit your needs. There are 3 sizes of foamy fill in the pillow and you can move it all around to make hills and valleys where you want them.

I fluff it up, make a dimple in the middle and my neck is supported and even my head stays put because there is support side to side.

The pillow has a 10 year warranty and they want you to wash and dry it every couple of months, so it is built to last. It is also made in the USA which in itself is amazing!

 

They even have PET pillows!

 

http://www.mypillow.com/pet-pillows.html

 

I don't need the pet ones as my dogs just lay across the human ones!

My husband has not complained about his and in husband speak, that is a recommendation.

So if your down pillow is too soft and your fiberfill pillow is too hard, check out "my pillow"!

 

Pigtail Food Flipper

Hate tongs? Fire too hot to get close to? Fork just not cuttin' it to flip your food on the fire?

 

Pigtail Food Flipper to the rescue!

 

I saw this utensil used on a western style cooking show and thought it was really neat. A few years later, a vendor was selling them at a local town wide yard sale and of course I had to try it out!

 

Dan, the BBQ King,( real low and slow and grilling style) picks up the meat and with a small turn of the wrist he sets it into the skillet.

 

 

The turner is nice and long and keeps you away from the heat of the flames. Sorry, can't help you with the heat you get from your significant other, that's another post!

 

 

The turner is very heavy duty and can handle huge steaks. It flips all kinds of food, not just steaks. It can handle chicken, chops, hot dogs, you name it, it is very handy.

I also have the small size for when Winter rears it's ugly head and you just don't want to shovel snow off the BBQ, or the snow is so deep, you can't find the cooker!

 

This would make a great Father's Day gift too. I meant to post this in time for that, but I somehow got sidetracked..

 

There is still plenty of Summer left,at least where most people live, so check out the Pigtail and grill up something yummy.

Old Fashioned Sunday Drive

Do you remember when taking a Sunday drive was what we all did?

Me too.

 It might have been with the family, a friend or a boyfriend. If you lived in Rhode Island , it could have been to Beavertail to watch the ocean or Goddard Park to watch the people. It didn't really matter where you went, it was just nice to enjoy the sun, scenery and hopefully good company!

 

Life was slower and less technical I suppose.

 

Our ride on the motorcycles today reminded me of the good ole days. After a long heat wave with high humidity, today dawned cool and cloudy but with a promise of sunshine. We took to the road on a new loop that Dan wanted to try.

 

Halfway through the ride the sun did indeed break out and the day felt like an early fall one, crisp, fresh and full of energy.

Just as I was thinking of Sundays gone by, look what we rode by....!

 

 

Now that's a big boulder!

 

 

We are so very lucky to call the Adirondack Park home, but we do venture out once in a while. :-)

 

 

 

Hmmm, which way?

 

 

We passed by acres

 

 

and acres of corn....

 

 

Corn in ALL directions, clear to Canada!

 

 

 

These guys looked as confused as we did about which way to go. So many toys, so little time.

 

 

We passed by beautiful old barns....

 

 

 

 

 

We rested in the shade and took in more sights.

 

 

Dan patiently waited, like a good husband, so I could chronicle our journey.

 

The point is, remember to take journeys and enjoy them too.

The problem? No problem today!

 

So, pack your red plaid metal cooler and your blanket and get out on the road. Take a drive just for the heck of it and linger in the sunshine...

 

 

 

 

Planter Fasciitis Orthaheel shoes

 

I have found a brand of shoes and sandals that WORK for plantar fasciitis and knee pain!!!!

 

They are Orthaheel brand and it is a miracle, sound the trumpets, I MEAN it!!

 

http://www.orthaheelusa.com/

 

As far back as I can remember, I have had PF, and it was bad. I had to use a cane to get to the bathroom. I had to wear Birkenstocks while I taught my riding lessons. Don't tell me THAT didn't look odd, me in leatherseated breeches and my birks! 

When I worked retail, I couldn't take a break because if I sat down, the pain was unbearable when I stood up and took a step.

I tried $400 orthotics. Nope.

I had cortisone injected into my heel. Nope. In fact, my feet were in so much pain, the needle being poked all in and out of my heel didn't phase me.

I cringed when someone walked near my feet because they might touch them and the pain would be awful.

 

 

By wearing the Birkis the pain subsided after 10 years and I was okay for a few years. Then, I developed horrible pain in one knee and the PF came back. I keep saying PF because it is a royal pain to keep spelling fasciitis!

 

I really didn't want to wear those expensive and ugly Birks. Sorry, but I have size 12 feet and girly is not a term we use in regard to them, so Birks don't help the situation.

You can see that, right?

 

I was learning to live with the pain again and then I saw this brand and said why not?

They have the proper arch support and heel cushion expensive orthotics give you, but not the price or appearance.

They look like normal shoes, hooray! At first I didn't like that they were synthetic, but then I discovered you could walk in the dewy grass before work, water your plants and not ruin your shoes. Multitasking, I like that.

So, a few days go by and I suddenly realize my knee pain is gone! I mean...gone.  I was so happy, and then I realized my HEEL pain was gone too!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Having a farrier for a husband has taught me that proper foot alignment is crucial to a horse's well being and that goes for humans too!

 If you pronate at all, you should wear these before you get pain and definitely if you are already in pain.

 

Oh, pronate? Your foot rolls inward and screws up the alignment of your whole leg , hip and back. Lots of fun.

 

I bought mine on QVC and  http://www.6pm.com/orthaheel .

 

 

Low Carb Sunday Breakfast

 

 

The thunder is cracklin' outside so the motorcycles are safely tucked in the barn. Since our ride plans were washed out, what's the next best thing?? Oh yeah, eating!! I felt like something sweet for breakfast so I made some low carb blueberry muffins. I figured I couldn't just eat a whole pan of muffins so I made some turkey bacon and simple scrambled eggs to go with my fruity friends.

 

 

 Muffins

2 cups Carbquik

1 egg

1TBS baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of fresh ground nutmeg

2/3 cup half and half

2 TBS vegetable oil

1/3 cup Swerve

1 cup fresh blueberries

 

Crumb topping

2 TBS butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup almond flour

1 TBS Swerve

 

Mix all except blueberries together, then carefully mix in the blueberries. Use paper liners in a regular muffin tin and top with the crumb mixture. Bake @ 400 for 15 minutes.

By the way,best low carb site ever... http://netrition.com/ right out of Albany, NY

 

 

 

Hot from the oven, mmmmm.

 

  

 

Thanks to my sista Laurie, she turned me onto turkey bacon. Living so close to Oscar's this stuff had to be good, and it was. Even my husband liked it and he is picky. I put lots of black pepper on it and cooked it until it was crispy, awesome!

 

 

 

 

Pretty enough for company.

 

 

 

The fresh blueberries make them juicy and sweet.

 

Hold on, the Sun is coming out... gotta go!!!

 

Burrata Cheese

 

You probably have heard about this cheese if you have been watching the Food Channel lately. It seems to be one of the "in" cheeses. I decided to give it a try and it is a nice change from regular mozzarella.

 It is a thin balloon of fresh mozzarella filled with a mixture of cream and mozzarella shreds.

MapleBrook Farm in Vermont has an Italian gentleman making this delicacy and he sure does it right!

http://www.maplebrookvt.com/index.php/products/burrata

 

When you slice into it, you can see the creamy interior, YUM!!!

I drizzled the burrata with some good olive oil and showered it with freshly cracked pepper.

 

This was Sunday breakfast...

 

 I sauteed brown tomatoes with curry powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and olive oil. I added some eggs and cream and lightly scrambled the mixture to serve with my burrata.

I loved the curry powder in the eggs and the burrata was outstanding!!!

 

You can serve the cheese with grilled fruit, or figs or just slathered on some toast too.