If You're Not Hungry And Love to Waste Money - Do Not Read this Post!

 There are some things you can't get by whacking a tube on the side of the
counter while some guy made out of dough giggles.

Actually,  I shouldn't poke fun at the Pillsbury guy. At Halloween, when Partner in Grime went to a party as a World War I "Doughboy" (with authentic gear). . .

World War I Bacon Ration Tin

I WENT AS A DOUGHBOY AS WELL.

But as I prepared breakfast this morning, I thought about something I saw on the news the other night, where they were interviewing folks wanting $15 an hour for an unskilled minimum wage job. One young woman (single with children and living in a family member's home) stated "I can only afford to eat fast food, and can't even buy breakfast some days".

That just hit me, not the struggle to survive on minimum wage, as that would be a struggle for a single adult with children. What bothered me was the statement about only being able to afford fast food.

Home on the Range Dollar Value Menu Burger

You can make a really good lunch or meal at home, per person, for less than the $5 -8 average fast food meal. Not convenience food and not prime meats.  But real food with real ingredients is not so hard you have to be a slave to the kitchen or a Martha Stewart.  I don't know how many times I've been behind someone  in line at the discount food store, and their cart is FULL of frozen pizzas, waffles, breakfast sandwiches and bagged, frozen meals, chips and pop and precooked, prepackaged cooked meat, canned and packaged biscuits and bread. The cost of their food was 3 times what I was paying for things to prepare food from scratch and eat really well, not just beans and rice every meal, and at the crash pad, where I don't have much storage or a big freezer.

Case in point, Last Saturday's Dinner

4 large chicken leg/thighs - on sale at a grocery with a butcher, a special at  $3
1/2  bag of frozen store brand veggies and half an onion $1.50
biscuits  from scratch  (about 10 cents a piece)
spices and a little dab of  Aldi Italian salad dressing.. Less than 50 cents, assuming you season food regularly and buy them when they're on sale.

Total  for food used  - About  $5

It made enough to feed two with leftover chicken for another meal, the remaining biscuits frozen for a quick biscuit and gravy or breakfast sandwich meal some other time. And it was really, really good. the chicken especially flavorful and incredibly juicy from the brazing process which also is great on inexpensive and tougher cuts of meat.

Cast Iron Braised Chicken

Early the next morning  .  What's in the fridge?  I have a 3 slices of deli lunch meat left from sandwiches for work, a couple thick slices of Swiss, a dab of mayo left in the jar, hot sauce and the sad and lonely remnants of a loaf of homemade bread.   I don't waste anything.  Add some hot sauce to the remaining dab of mayo, assemble and lightly butter the bread. Throw it in the George Foreman style grill I got for $5 at a yard sale (who needs an expensive panini maker) and you have breakfast for two with about $2 worth of leftovers.

Lunch the next day, the leftover braised chicken, shredded on salad with a bit of that Italian dressing. With Aldi Romaine and Garlic Bread made from the remnants of "make lunch for work" Italian sub rolls bought on sale at the grocery, and iced tea, a meal for two for about $3.

Afternoon snack was an apple,  less than a buck  from the Aldi bagged ones.

With not a lot of prep, you've fed two people, per person, basic meals for a whole day (24 hours in this case) for the cost of  two value priced fast food meals.  This takes budget minded shopping and making it a point not to throw anything out (unless it got shoved to the back of the fridge and turned into a science experiment).

I realize there are times you need something you can just pop in the oven to heat or microwave, especially if you are a household with multiple jobs and/or kids. I also realize, not everyone has, or can afford, the freezer space to buy and store in bulk.  But these recipes didn't require that.  I'll admit, I have more than one Home Run Pizza in my freezer, just because I like the ones with sausage and jalapenos and Partner in Grime and I eat out at an ethnic restaurant, someplace family owned,  inexpensive but fun, once or twice a month, like this place we found when we were checking out a location for an upcoming  model train event. 

Baba Ghanoush and fresh made pitas at Falafelji Mediterranean Cuisine.

 The lunch Steak Shawerma platter with tahini sauce with grilled veggies and salad.

The combo platter, steak, chicken and spiced kafta made with minced lamb and 

beef and spices with garlic mayo, tahini and jalapeno garlic sauces 

With leftovers boxed up (there was no way we could finish all this, even as delicious as it was) and put in the travel cooler in the truck, we had lunch material with some extra pitas for two more days. Your Mom may have told you to clean your plate, but if you do that with the size of some restaurant portions Greenpeace will soon be showing up to roll you back into the water.  Don't be embarrassed to ask for a "to go" bag, and use it all up.  I've done that in the finest of restaurants and not had the Wine Sommelier come over and taunt me in French.

Still, I try and cook from scratch most of the time.  Sometimes schedules and travel are such, it's just the weekends, something in the crockpot and the oven going to package up for the fridge or freezer for future meals. I've started making my own yogurt now that Greek Yogurt has gone popular (and hence, pricey). But it's worth trying, even a day or two a week to start.  For you can save a lot of money, with not a lot of time, if you just learn the basic skills to make things from scratch.

If you don't know how to cook this way, there are a ton of blogs out there on the subject and books you can get at Half Priced Books to learn. Sometimes you do so to  simply survive with a full stomach, sometimes it's the satisfaction of something hand crafted as you tuck those dollars away for when times get tough as they can for even the most prepared of people.  But it's a skill, I so wish the younger generation would recognize as one necessary to survive in today's tough economy.

Lab Work

The Vet said to keep him from jumping on any sofa til his muscle strain healed.   He likes the "Soon to go to Amvets" Ikea couch frame (with home made dog friendly cushions), as there are lots of windows for solar lab heating. The old cushions, blanket and lamp shades make good sofa blocks, right?

No.  We just snoot them off and out of the way so we don't miss our really good afternoon sun spot.

Hey!  You're interrupting my tanning session!

Drop a Bomb on Me Baby - Cupcake Wars Winner

I couldn't resist a giant nuclear cloud of frosting.

Since chocolate was the overwhelming winner  in our poll earlier in the week (over something with bacon, check for pigs flying next) the recipe is here tonight as promised.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes With Buttercream and Salted Caramel

Cake for celebrations or for cheer is a tradition that dates back as far as the Romans, with the idea for the candle on top being attributed to both early Greeks and later, Germans. The origins notwithstanding, the cakes vary from region to region and even among families. Everyone has their own favorite cake for celebrations.

The first one I remember, was not a birthday cake, but an Easter one.  I can still recall that ranch house, the apple trees I was almost big enough to climb, Mom's rose garden that  she painstakingly kept up, that after her death, still bloomed without help or hindrance from any of us.  I can picture that moment as she brought out the cake like it was yesterday.  For at Easter every year, Mom would make a  two layer cake, then cut it in half, adding a nose, ears and tail to make a  bunny cake for each of us. Mine was yellow with chocolate frosting, and little marshmallow eyes and teeth with licorice whiskers.

 Betty Crocker Easy Bunny Cakes

We'd eat it at the very end of the day, after church, after thanks, after dinner.  There is an extremely faded  photo in a drawer here somewhere of them that always brings me a smile.

There were other cakes over the years, some plain, some fancy. Another family member  made me a cake one year that, well, was completely burned on the outside and raw in the middle (using that bachelor cooking time conversion  method of doubling the temperature and cutting the cook time in half). We still laugh about that.

Celebration cakes come in all sizes and flavors.  Everyone had a favorite, though mine has been, since the very first cake that I can remember, yellow with chocolate buttercream.

Birthday cakes range from "Oh, that's so sweet!" to a roar of laughter as Partner in Grime explained that he couldn't fit (mumble mumble) candles on the little cake he made from scratch so he just gave me one giant plumbers candle. I had tears in my eyes as I was laughing so hard.

He has a birthday coming ups shortly. Not sure how I can top the candle, but red velvet and cream cheese frosting might be a start.

Then there are wedding cakes. Cakes at weddings are often  intense elaborate affairs that can cost hundreds of dollars (seriously, do you know how much .223  and cast iron you could buy for that five tiered, looks like a swan thing?)

What were once traditional white cakes and frosting with the bride and groom toppers are now  as individual as the couples involved. 

But todays post is about my favorite- cupcakes.

The first mention of the cupcake can be traced as far back as 1796, when a recipe notation of "a cake to be baked in small cups" was written in American Cooker by Amelia Simmons. They're more than a dressed up muffin. They're fun, they're easy to prepare and share, and if they turn out too dry and overdone they make dandy replacements for sporting clays (pull!).  For lunch OR launching in a trebuchet, they're dandy little things

What kind?  Honestly, the simplest things are the best, and with a little work you can make a cupcake as good as any cupcake shop.  I hope you like todays recipe. This is a cupcake for grown ups, but even the kids will enjoy it and the vanilla butter cream, is good on about ANY cupcake.

Light and Dark, Good and Evil - Cupcake Wars

There is an endless battle between light and dark, goodness and evil, those that prefer vanilla or chocolate.

I couldn't make up my mind, but wanted Partner in Grime to have a sweet treat with leftovers for when I leave to go back on duty  (as well as for me to take to work tomorrow) so he gets both.

And if there's any doubt, you can never have too much ammo or too much frosting. (Especially with a huge piping bag and the Wilton Extra Large  Round Decorating Tip)

Light:

Vanilla  cupcake with maple-vanilla buttercream and candied bacon.

Dark:

Darkest Chocolate with vanilla buttercream and salted caramel.

Let me know your favorite and I'll post a recipe this Wednesday  for the one most people would prefer.

Rescue Me

Held back
You can't
You shouldn't
Held back
Shame and rules
Held back
Afraid to love

Held back
Afraid to love
more than you could lose

Let it run
You can
Held back no longer.
For it's your life
your rules
No longer afraid

Let it out
even if it hurts
Don't be afraid
you've nothing left to lose
- Brigid

Mom is busy working, so for you all, a story from the past - Barkley

A few years back, in another life, another employer, one night late, I got a phone call. The caller was LEO, female, a friend. We chit chatted regularly but a call this late was not good news and I was afraid it was professional in nature. She said "B., I need you to help me rescue a dog."

Apparently, the deadbeats who'd been living in an old rental house down the road from their farm booked out in the middle of the night. She saw the vehicles loading up and leaving, good riddance, she thought. Then, late at night she heard, carried on the wind, the pitiful cry.

A coyote? A dog? The neighbors are gone, it must be someone else, she thought. The next night she didn't hear it over the cold wind, the third night she did, a high pitched whine of a soul's abandonment. The house remained dark, the utter stillness, utter silence, a testament to the tears outside.

Her husband away on business, she crept over, no sign that the residents were anything but gone, house empty of belongings, yard covered in trash. It was a pup, a retriever, purebred from the looks, left chained up in the backyard with a bowl filled with rain water and no food. Left to die when they vacated in a hurry. She called - "I need back up." Off the clock, just civilians, I knew what she meant. So off I headed, no purse, just a  personal weapon, my  ID, some cash and dog treats in my pocket. I got there; the house definitely vacant, no meth heads coming back and surprising us.

As we approached her, even in the dark, we could see the  poor animal was starving and cold, temps reaching down in the 40's. Tonight was grey and  even more cold, with a forecast of rain or freezing rain, but still the sky held in the moisture, refusing to release it.  But  it was supposed to go below freezing; she wouldn't have survived the night, it's only companion, the smell of water and blood.

Blood?  Why do I smell blood?

My friend, crouched down over it as I stood watch, pointed at something, hard nosed law officer that she was, with tears in her eyes. The dog had outgrown her collar, and it was actually was cutting deep into the flesh, leaving bloody tracks in would have been the soft fur of contentment. She had to be in terrible pain, but she only licked our hands and tried to snuggle up. My friend said "can you get it out?" I always have some first aid/medical type implements in my bag but I had to say "I've never cut on anything still breathing". I expected the dog to bite me as I worked, gently, with small tools to free it. She just continued to nuzzle our hands, even though in my attempt to remove this tiny round torture device, I had to be causing her more pain.

I looked up to the sky, thinking for a moment the clouds had finally given up their rain, when I realized, what was on my tongue was the taste of salt as I worked away.

When finally we stood, the dog in her arms, the remnants of that collar laying on the ground like a broken mirror, we heard the crunch of tires, both of us putting our hands near our weapons There was the flash of red and blue, of a bright flashlight, the glint of a shield, as we smiled, thankful for assistance and she was recognized with a "What are you ladies doing out here?!" My friend called out "hey D.!" He replied, calling her by her LEO title ". . . . What ARE you doing out here? I was keeping an eye on this place in case they were back and up to no good."

She said, "I'm just stealing this dog Sir" He looked at the dog , a puppy really, and looked at me (I was not a local) and said "who's this?". She told him who I was, his eyes widened a bit in recognition and he chuckled and said "and what are YOU doing out here?" I said "HELPING her to steal this dog, SIR!"

He just laughed. Calling the local animal officer was suggested, but we told him, given this rural area, that might take an hour or more, the pup was in bad shape and had lost blood, she could die if we didn't do something. My friend told him we'd take him to the vet, pay the bill ourselves and get her a good home. The dog clearly was a "stray" in the eyes of the law, abandoned to die. The Sheriff just said "Dog? What dog? I didn't see any dog", and tucked $30 in our hands to help towards the vet bill before he helped us load up and drove off.

The dog was cleaned up at the vets, an after hour emergency call, the wound not causing any permanent damage, but serious. In a few hours, that gentle little retriever was bandaged up and home at my friends, after an amber toast in crystal goblets, recognition among tired friends, as she curled up to sleep near the fire, joining a household that already had two spoiled, well loved dogs.

I hadn't thought of that in years, until the day some time back, another time, another city.  A friend told me of a couple of stray dogs spotted by her office building, a place I often drive past on my way into work. The dogs were obviously dumped, she said, skin and bones, and she couldn't lure them close to her. A couple others had tried, with no luck. She was almost in tears as she told me, having a soft spot for strays (though we agreed stray cows do make tasty cheeseburgers). Animal control was called, then, and later, but the dogs ran off into some extended woods behind an old building nearby.

A few days later, driving by her office on my way back into the city, I saw, along the side of the road, a young woman pulled over, petting the form of the dog laying on the grass next to the curb. I pulled in behind her, and put on my emergency flashers, my work I.D. hanging around my neck as I approached, saying "can I help?"

 It had to be one of the dogs my friend described. At first I thought that perhaps she'd accidentally struck the dog with her vehicle, but I could see as I approached that the dog was just too weak to move.  It was emaciated, probably less than a year old, a bulldog/perhaps a little pit bull/mystery dog mix with a too small blocky face and low slung, long body.   It was hard to tell, the dog so malnourished, the coat so worn away and mangy to not even be recognized as fur.
She said "another woman from that office there (pointing) was by, she got food for the dogs and is fetching a car to transport him, someone else has already taken the other dog to the humane society, this one is in bad shape."

The lady who had brought the food was my friend, another employee in a nearby building taking the other dog to the dog shelter. The dog remaining had eaten the half dozen or so burgers that my friend had brought and a lot of water, and just lay there, panting, as this young women stroked him and talked soothingly. Yet he had an expression, as bad off as he was, as if he knew no one was going to hurt him ever again. I called my office to let them know I'd be late returning and would do a leave slip for payroll when I got back.

I called my friend, back over at her office on the phone trying to find a vet. She said "if I take him to the humane society as bad as he is, they'll just put him down". She had called several vets, no one could get him in right away. She said she then called one animal hospital, not super close, but within driving distance. They could see him. It was Barkley's vet, not just one of the many vets there, but HIS vet, the pretty little blond he adores.

She came back with a coworker, while the young woman that had been there on my arrival went back to work. We rounded up a blanket and a box from our vehicle supplies and the dog was loaded into the back of an SUV, one person driving, one person, continuing to pet it, off to the vet.  The exam was done and the dog admitted. A few hundred dollars were left for vet bills, my friend securing any additional payments with her credit card, which likely will be more. The dog had fleas, ticks and numerous bloody scrapes in a coat that was badly in need of care, the fur almost gone. They'd have to check for heart worm and Lyme. One eye had an injury but it was fairly clear. An IV was set up and my friend stayed with him while they got him settled in for a night or two stay. My friend was widowed and recently had to put down the very elderly dog they'd bought together. I remember too well when she told me that, everything leaving her eyes but the loss and her statement that she was not going to get another one, she was done with loss. That day, again she said she absolutely did NOT need another dog but wasn't going to let him die alone and in pain along the side of a road. She was NOT going to get attached to him.

She said "I wanted a lab, a healthy, pretty dog". I looked at her and said "Sometimes God doesn't give us what we think we want, sometimes He gives us what we need" and just waved as I drove off. We've all learned love, we've all learned loss, sometimes we have to learn hope.

Now, years later, that dog is firmly part of a home, sleeping peacefully, breathing slow into the darkness, leaving their touch upon a heart.

Weekend Adventures - Be It Ever So Crumbled. . .

. . . there's no place like home.

Day One.

This was the weekend of the plumbing project for the hallway bathroom, now that Snowmagedden was past and temps in the 40's had melted almost all of the snow.  I'm not sure if the plumbing here is original (almost 100 years old) or if it just looks like it (though I think the  first floor bathroom plumbing was redone when it went "pink" in the Sixties). There is always work in renovating an old house, but if you pay a professional to do it all, it also gets very expensive. But I wouldn't trade the charm of this place (and the shop) for the biggest of pre made McMansions.

The water was going to be off for the weekend, but there was plenty stored for all of us to clean up with and drink, including Barkley.

He was looking none too happy when I got in from work. He came up limping slightly Friday and went to the vet Sat. morning.  He was eating well, and didn't seem in too much discomfort but it was best to check it out as the Vet is closed on Sunday, had it gotten worse.

The paw and toenails were good, it was just some muscle strain on the shoulder, likely when he was skittering around on the ice rink that was the driveway (when it's that cold the salt does nothing).  The vet gave him some safe doggie equivalent of Ibuprofen and said to keep him quiet for a few days, minimal stairs and jumping up on furniture and he'd be fine.

He certainly sulked though when I refused to chase him around and throw toys in the air for him, urging him to his doggie bed, and putting a baby gate up on his favorite spot to snooze when no one is looking, the futon in the office where I write.

I'm not even going to play with the power tools you left me. 

OK, spaces in the walls are open where need be and things moved from a closet that will be used for access..

Where to put a nest of bow ties?  (The 11th Doctor has nothing on Partner in Grime)

To the basement!

It's not just a waterfowl, it's a warning.

 

Yes, another pink bathroom, just like the original Range.  But this one is in good shape, and the handrails the previous elderly owner left served me well after knee surgery to repair the meniscus, which unfortunately, would NOT buff out.  This will be the last room renovated, once the plumbing is updated so there's more than a little thin spray of hot water.

I know another tool I'll need.

Whenever things don't go so well

and you want to hit the wall and yell

Here's a little dammit doll

that you can't do without

Just grasp it firmly by the legs

and find a place to slam it

And as you whack the stuffing out

yell Dammit!  Dammit!  Dammit!

On the plus side Mom, this is greatly reducing my chances of having to take a late night bath.

Day Two

OK, there's a little more work to do, but there's homemade banana bread with Cardamom.

Road trip!

 Why yes, I have been in here before!

Day 3

The pipes are all shiny and new, there is hot and cold water, and Barkley is feeling his old self again.  And even with paperwork and supplies we probably saved one or two thousand bucks (plus the cost of replacing one Dammit Doll).

Thanks for visiting!  I'll be back with a gear review and more Range stories this week.

Snowmagedden Is Officially Over

When the wind chill is -47 there just isn't enough coffee . . .

Duty called early this week though it was short lived.  I had  military arctic gear to wear, that makes me look like one of the guys that gets killed off first in "The Thing", but it's warm.  But when you're thinking kevlar more for the warming ability rather than ballistics, it's just a good day to stay home.

Hope you all survived the weather, whole and warm.  It hit 30 today and the parking lots are giant slushees, so I think it's officially over, or will be when Tam makes it back safely home to Broad Ripple.

As for me, I don't have duty for over 12 hours away and there is a dram of Glenlivet Nadurra with my name on it.

Brigid

Snowpocalypse Cooking School- Cast Iron Cornmeal Crust Pizza

I traveled to Indy to be in place for a trip for travel for possible duty in another location, only to find I was stuck, no flights going anywhere with heavy snows and wind chills in the minus 40's.  So back on local duty schedule and nothing much is happening except wandering back and forth across the crash pad like a bear at the zoo trying to decide what to make for dinner.  I know!   Pizza.   And the experiment began.

Want a non deep dish, crisp sausage transport unit (also known as pizza crust) you don't have to overbake your ingredients to get?  How about one that also has the light, delicate crunch of cornmeal, and though much thinner than deep dish, will hold up to thick, juicy toppings without being tough.

Cast Iron  is your friend. A simple crust infused with cornmeal.  Add in easy homemade sausage with fennel, sage and nutmeg and a hint of sweetness, it's a perfect pizza for  a light lunch and will feed 2 easily.

Makes one 11-12 inch pizza

Sausage (makes enough for a couple of pizzas or pizza and breakfast)

3/4  pound ground pork

1/4 pound ground turkey or venison

1 Tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

3/4 teaspoon fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper and salt to taste.

Mix and let set in fridge for a couple hours or overnight for flavors to blend, and fry, breaking up into chunks for pizza or breakfast sausage and gravy later.

Pizza Crust (for one crust)

1  and 1/4 cup all purpose flour 
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon warm water (about 120 degrees)
1 Tablespoon olive oil (I used Artisano's butter flavored oil)
1/3 cup cornmeal

Whisk active dry yeast in the warm water and let it sit until the yeast is active, which takes about 10 minutes

In medium bowl mix salt and one cup of the flour. Add honey and oil to the yeast/water mixture after the ten minutes are up and whisk well.  Pour this into dry ingredients  (including the cornmeal) and mix briskly with a wooden spoon until ingredients are mixed and the dough looks slightly shaggy but holds a rough doughball shape. If it looks a bit wet, sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup flour.

Turn out the board dusted with a little flour and knead until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 4 minutes. Place the dough in an lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and let it sit, covered in a warm place for 1 and 1⁄2  hours (until double in size).  Roll  or pat out  (this is a really easy dough to form)  to be slightly larger than your seasoned and lightly oiled cast iron pan (mine is 12 inches) and transfer to the pan, building up the edge slightly.

Top with a cup of jarred or homemade red pasta sauce (just enough to lightly cover the crust, a big handful of sausage (use remaining sausage in a breakfast dish tomorrow), and a couple handfuls of Mozzarella.  Place pan with crust on stove burner on medium/high for 3 minutes then transfer  hot pan to 450  F. degree oven and bake until edges are  lightly golden and cheese is melted  11-13 minutes (check it at 10 minutes though, some ovens bake hotter).  This ensures a nice crisp crust on the bottom and the pan is the perfect temperature for quick, even heating in the oven.

The best part - the recipe is easy enough to make you can whip up another one that evening  to freeze  (just sticking it on the porch for 10 minutes right now would work) for another night at home.  (For best results, place cooled pizza on pieces of paper towel  (top and bottom) and freeze in air tight container.  Thaw, and when pizza is room temperature, cook in a preheated 400 F. oven on a baking pan for 12-15 minutes.)

How about one with a  spicy thick red sauce (substitute 1/4 cup of the  pasta sauce with tomato paste and add 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper and a generous sprinkle of Italian seasoning) 

Pineapple and BACON

with a sprinkling of smoked cheddar