A late breakfast of bread pudding and sausage was more like brunch. I wasn’t really hungry so, I prepared a little Christmas tea for my mid-day meal.
The electric tea kettle is a Chefman and works great.
I love the electric tea kettle. And the plain white tea pot. And the Snoopy tea cup and saucer. The oblong dish filled with goodies is vintage Avon, along with a 1970’s Christmas a napkin. I love them, too.
Christmas tea for one.
In the tea pot is Biscotti tea from Red Stick Spice Company. It is so good! They are in Baton Rouge, LA. Shop on-line, if you can’t get to Baton Rouge. Here’s a link:
It would be easy to jump into the bustle of the holiday, but I decided to stay in this Saturday and practice the pause. I could have just grabbed a cold drink and a snack, not bothering with a plate, but chose to have something elegant.
Tea time is a deliberate practice: Choosing the size of tea pot, selecting the tea cup and saucer, deciding on what to nibble on with your tea and finding a tray to hold it all. It makes you slow down. You hone the skill of patience, as the water boils and the tea steeps.
Christmas carols are in my head. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on the television. I’m surrounded by my Nativity Scenes, tucked here and there on book shelves and the mantle. A quiet Saturday before the rush of the next two weeks of the Christmas season.
I’ve been under the weather for over a week. Excuse this sentence if you are easily grossed out, but if snot were a commodity, I could have cornered the market last week. Tests for covid and flu were negative; I’ve never had covid, but I have had the flu many times. And whatever I had, it felt a whole bunch like the latter. Steroids and a broad spectrum antibiotic, oh my! I figured I’d add some comfort food along with the prescribed meds now that I’m no longer prone. Self-care 101.
Slow-cooker Chicken Noodle Soup simmered midmorning to early evening. A boneless, skinless chicken breast was nestled down in the middle of onion, potatoes, carrots, frozen corn, and broccoli. Seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, Tony’s seasoning, garlic, and basil. One can of chicken broth with two cans of water. Egg noodles were added the last 15 minutes of simmering. Simple cheese toast was served alongside a hearty bowl of goodness.
Friday night’s supper hit the spot.
In recent weeks, cider recipes have been flashing through social media. I’ve never made cider and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a mug of it. Thinking that the concentration of fresh fruit and spices may benefit my recovery from the gunk, I decided to tweak the many recipes I looked up. Here’s what I did for
Small Batch Spiced Cider:
In an 8 quart pot, I simmered 2 Gala apples and 2 Honeycrisp apples, cored and cut into chunks. I added 3 each of navel oranges and little mandarin oranges, peeled and chunked as well. Five cinnamon sticks, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. To sweeten it, I added a scant 1/3 cup of white sugar and a 1/ 3 cup of MaBell cane syrup. If you cannot get MaBell cane syrup, try Brer Rabbit.
All of this was covered with 6 cups of water. It cooked down for two hours over medium heat with the pot lid vented. After the fruit was cooked down and the cinnamon sticks removed, it was carefully put through a strainer, packing and squeezing the solids to extract the juice. I then strained it a second time through a couple of layers of cheese cloth.
Now, I do not have any designated cider mugs. I’m not sure what it’s served in, although the term ‘a mug of cider’ rings in the back of my mind somewhere. So, shopping around in my cupboards and hutches, I found my pretty Flora Gold Louisa pattern. They’re a pretty autumnal color and hold heat well.
I heated the cider back up with just a tiny bit of salt to cut the sweetness and brighten the orange and apple flavors. The heated cider was poured into a warmed tea pot and placed on a pretty tray. And yes, that’s candy corn and dry roasted peanuts mixed together. Tastes like a Payday candy bar.
Pop your favorite microwave popcorn. I used 3 single serve Orville Redenbacher popcorn. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the popped corn in as much as a single layer as you can. Set this to the side.
Next, make the jelly caramel. I used mayhaw because that’s what I had in the pantry. Any mild jelly will do, like crabapple or apple apple. In a 2 quart, heavy bottom pot melt 1/2 stick of salted butter and a 1/2 cup of mayhaw jelly, over medium high heat. It’s going to bubble up; stir it constantly while it reduces. Turn the heat down a little bit and add 1 tablespoon of honey and a splash of vanilla. Whisk in and continue to reduce the jelly mixture. It’s ready to drizzle over the popcorn when it coats a spoon. Carefully pour evenly over the popcorn. Now, add 1/ 2 cup chocolate chips and, if you like, shake on some seasonal colored sprinkles. Gently toss everything together. The warmth of the caramel will help to melt the chocolate chips and set the sprinkles. Serve in your popcorn bowl set… what? You don’t have a popcorn bowl set? No problem. Any big bowl will do.
Mmmm, is the right sentiment about this snack. So good for watching college football. Or make a batch and take it to Fall Fest.
The seasons go from summer to autumn on Monday. In the produce section yesterday, pretty USA strawberries and apples were part of my purchase. Strawberries harken the warmer months, and apples beckon the cooler. I combined the fruits for a nice fruity dessert. Or snack. Or breakfast.
3/4 cup strawberries, washed, stemmed, and thinly sliced
More salted butter, cut into pats
What to do:
Into a 9×9 casserole dish or 9 inch pie plate, pour a little of the melted butter to coat the bottom. Set to the side. Preheat oven to 350°.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and the rest of the melted butter. This will be the crumble top.
Next, arrange your apples in the dish in a single layer. Then, top the apples with the sliced strawberries. Take a few of the pats of butter and dot evenly over the fruit.
Then, take the crumble mixture and sprinkle over the butter and fruit, covering well. Place the rest of the butter pats evenly over the top.
Place the filled dish in the center of the oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is nice and brown.
I served this apple strawberry crumble with a few dollops of light strawberry ice cream and stuck a few crispy apple skins on top. That link is above in the ingredients list.
It’s that time of year when the calendar says autumn, but the temperature says summer. This crumble is a tasty blending of those two seasons. September and October are months of reflection and anticipation. It’s not quite the end of the year, but close. Have we met any of the goals we set back in January? Well, you have three more months and a few days…
Seasons of change Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.
Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer. The origins of Memorial Day are claimed by different states, but all began after the Civil War to honor the fallen.
I’ve spent my time off from work gardening and canning. The flower patch has been hit and miss this spring. I’ve planted twice and have had as many volunteers come up as I’ve had those I purposely planted.
The row of Isabellina zinnias are some of the flowers planted early. They have not disappointed. Such a lovely pale yellow.
Green beans, snap beans, string beans – whatever they’re called, the one row I planted have been making this last week. Another bucket was picked on Saturday and I canned them Sunday evening.
In the pantry are three quarts and 12 pints. I like having a full larder for the year. I’ll probably have another picking of beans and a subsequent canning.
I spent a good bit of the weekend cutting grass. Coreopsis planted last year has been beautiful this spring, but it is going to seed. Resseding itself is exactly what I want it to do.
The bike ‘lane’ is planted in cosmos and mixed zinnias and should be in full bloom in a few weeks. I did some cloud spotting while mowing.
This morning, I drove to my eldest’s. He and his wife are selling homegrown vegetables and fresh baked sour dough from their farmstand. They’ve done such a great job building it and filling it! Heron Hollow is what they named their place. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16DTAG7Jo5/
Support your local farmstands and farmers’ markets this summer.
George and I were gardening beasts today. We tag teamed cutting the field, being sure to dodge the coreopsis planted last summer. The drifts of coreopsis and tickseed should be in full-glory yellow bloom starting next week. I picked a faffing bouquet and included a few sprigs of red clover. Ellie Phant seems happy with it. We planted the parade of bikes in the S-swath, along with mixed zinnias and white and pink cosmos. I’m praying the predicted rain will be just the right amount and that everything will germinate and grow as planned. Yesterday, on my way back from Baton Rouge, I stopped at the garden center that Handy Hardware opened. Tomato plants, pepper plants and beautiful, blue Louisiana iris were bought. Such friendly, helpful folks at Handy Hardware. Stop by if you’re in Magnolia. Everything was planted today, including 4 pots of Alstromeria Parrot Lily, I’ve been babying since February. I’m hoping they do well in the ground and spread. It’s such a favorite of hummingbirds.
In the space of three minutes, give or take a few seconds, my middle son and his family lost their home. An EF4 tornado raged through plantation pines and across farm fields to leave complete devastation behind.
My son was at work three hours away in Louisiana when the super cell tornadoes spun up on Saturday. My daughter-in-law and young grandsons were at home. So many things lined up and fell into place (quite literally) to get them out of their home and to safety. All clicked together in the space of three minutes to save their lives. Praise God!
A gofundme page has been set up for them. Any amount will help. Thank you.
What to do with the leftovers from Thanksgiving ? Of course, some of the remaining turkey and dressing were placed in containers, labeled and tucked into the freezer. They’ll be pulled out for easy meals later in the new year.
Breakfast Biscuits were made with leftover ham and cheese this weekend. Waste not, want not, ya know?
Here’s what I did:
I preheated the oven to 350°. In an iron skillet, I melted a pat of butter by placing it in the oven as it heated up.
I then measured Pioneer Baking Mix, according to the directions on the box, into a medium-sized bowl. One cup of Dubliner cheese chopped small, one cup of chopped ham and half a stick of melted butter were added to the bowl.
Then, I added enough 2% milk to bring everything together. Using an oven mitt, I retrieved the hot skillet and placed it on the stove and dropped my batter into cathead biscuits. Then the skillet was returned to the oven and the biscuits baked till their tops were a light golden brown. About 20 minutes.
A side of Two Brooks Grits (a Mississippi company) and leftover cranberry sauce accompanied the ham and cheese biscuits.
Let me know if you try this recipe.
Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.
We also had some silly fun with a big pack of kazoo.
theexileskitchen 