Comfort Food

After months of harassment, I finally found something blogworthy.

One would think that being 7 months pregnant would mean that I would always be hungry for something. Not so. Two boxes of Rice Chex and one of Crispix in the last week tell me that I have been in an eating rut. Jay has become concerned about my lack of pallet pleasers and I was almost sorry for him as I watched him make mini pizzas for himself out of english muffins, salsa and havarti while I ate cereal, again.

Jay, in a very calculated "jay-like" move, researched my better homes and gardens cookbook for ideas and thus was born "THE WEEK OF CROCKERY COOKING". All I know is that he made me a grocery list and I went and purchased all the items for the week and it dawned on me this afternoon that they are all crock pot recipes.



I bought our bright orange crock pot for $2 at the Boulder Junction community church flea market. It has been used off and on for the last two years and will be getting quite the workout this week.

Last night I made polenta beef stew and today I have prepared a pot of split pea and ham soup which we will enjoy tomorrow. Jay will be finishing out the week by making me pulled pork sandwiches in some sort of root beer sauce.



Since most of our readers are also enjoying some cool to downright freezing wintery weather I would encourage you to dust off your crock pots and join us for a big bowl of comfort food. Let me know what you are eating so we get some ideas for next week. Otherwise, I am afraid Jay is going to start purchasing stock in General Mills. Bon Appetit!

Devon Goes to Camp

Brooke's youngest brother, Devon, switched from a 14 day backpacking trip in Isle Royale to a 24 day trip in the Beartooth Mountain Range in Montana. He couldn't be happier. They left on the bus this morning to Montana.






The last picture is with Andy Roe (Devon's trip leader), Devon, Brooke and Mika in the back.

Shave and a haircut...

Our groomer is in the hospital fighting cancer. So, we decided to give grooming a try ourselves. Seems easy enough. Brush dog, shampoo dog, dry dog, shave dog. Hmm. Brushing our dog is like trying to brush a matted afro, so that is out. Don't want to have a wet matted dog so shampooing and drying are out. Great! Straight to shaving. We have eliminated many unnecessary steps. Hm, why does the shaver keep getting stuck...guess I'll just go straight to scissors. Gee, this is tougher than I thought and a much bigger mess than I had anticipated. I'm going to need Jay's help...

Here are the before and after pictures.









As you can clearly see, our dog isn't as huge as she seems. Ha ha ha! I am not sure why I started with a leg instead of her body. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Maybe doggie haircuts will be okay after all. We are thinking about putting steps on her ears. Maybe do a spoof on Kid N Play...the possibilities are endless. She will only look like a peg-leg for one day. Jay and I have a "lets finish shaving our dog date" at 5:00 this afternoon.

Artichoke Lasagna

Here is the recipe, finally.

Ingredients

Filling
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cans of artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
1 cup dry vermouth (I didn't use this)

Béchamel sauce
4 1/2 tablespoons butter
4 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 1/2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 7 1/2 ounces)
Ground nutmeg

1 9-ounce package oven-ready (no-boil) lasagna noodles
1 bag baby spinach leaves
1 package feta cheese crumbles
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

For filling:
Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic; sauté until mushrooms release juices and begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Stir in chopped artichoke hearts.

For béchamel sauce:
Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens and lightly coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

Spread 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Top with enough noodles to cover bottom of dish. Spread 1/4 of artichoke mixture over. Spoon 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over. Top béchamel with 1/4 of mozzarella and 1/4 of feta crumbles. Top cheese layer with a layer of fresh baby spinach leaves and a sprinkle of parmesan.

Top with enough noodles to cover. Repeat layering 3 more times, finishing with a layer of noodles, then remaining béchamel. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake lasagna covered with foil 1 hour (or 1 hour 15 minutes if chilled). Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450°F. Bake lasagna until golden on top, about 10 minutes longer.


Hopefully I remembered everything that we did. Kate, let me know if I left anything out. I'll never forget Catherine gagging when we put the layer of vegetables into the dish and an artichoke jumped out near her. At least the adults liked it.


Here is a cute picture of Quinnie and Pip

Birkie Day Timeline

4:20 am - Alarm goes off, brush teeth, brew coffee, pack car.

4:45 - Pick up Ben and Matt.

5:00 - Hit the road!

5:02 - Hit a deer!

5:05 - Drive back to camp to switch cars.

5:13 - Hit the road again.

7:20 - Arrive at Telemark to check-in and pick up bibs and timers.

8:55 - Jay starts his Birkie

9:00 - Brooke turns in donations for - SKI FOR A CURE!  Thanks everyone!  My pledge page is still open for donations in case you still want to donate.  I am still hoping to raise $2,500.  Ben and Matt wait patiently for race to start.

10:05 - Ben, Matt, Andrea and Rick start Birkie.  Brooke starts Kortelopet.

Racing...

12:01 - Jay finishes Birkie (3:06)

12:03 - Brooke finishes Kortelopet (1:58), catches a bus to car, drives to Hayward to see Birkie finishers.

1:14 - Matt finishes Birkie (3:09) - awesome beard-cicles dude.

1:24 - Ben finishes Birkie (3:19)

Rick (3:52) and Andrea (4:47) finish Birkie.  

We all celebrate with chicken noodle soup, water, beer, burgers, rice krispie treats and peanuts.

4:30ish - Pack up car and head to Minocqua

6:30 - Arrive at Gami's to pick up Mika.  Have a Mexican feast.

8:30 - Drive home

8:35 - Hot tub

9:00 - Sleep

SUNDAY

Wake up... assess damage. :)