Popeye was right, Spinach is good for you!

I made the prettiest dish yesterday for our main “sit down” meal while our son was visiting. It was so pretty, in fact, that he went looking for main dishes to bring to the table!

This picture, unfortunately, is of my lunch the following day, when the leftover portion had been nuked and the spinach had wilted into the dish and was not as visually prominent. Let me say right now, in case you have not figured it out, that I love one-dish meals: protein, carbohydrates both simple and complex, all together, looking good and tasting better.

Real Men Eat Leftovers…

They were pretty good leftovers, too, let me tell you: Shrimp Creole from a recipe given to my husband years ago by one of his cohorts at the News Desk, Starling Ennis. One of these days I’ll remember to take pictures while I’m making it.

I had not even finished assembling ingredients when His Majesty comes looking for his lunch. “What are you making?” he asks.

“Quiche. Real Men eat leftover Shrimp Creole.” He gets busy with the microwave while I chop some green onions and sprinkle them in my pre-made out-of-the-freezer pie shell. You have no idea how big a mess making pie crust can be until  you start sprinkling flour on your work surface, flouring the rolling pin, remembering too late to put on an apron.  Put on apron; wipe hands on apron. No, no, not today. Today is deep-dish pie shell from the freezer day.

Lookie here what I found…

It’s one of my favorite cake recipes from the 1960′s. I’ll bet it’s just as good today. Bake it in one of today’s disposable metal pans, smear on the topping, cover and take it with you. You’ll be the star at your covered dish event in the dessert department.  It’s not called the “Traveling” Oatmeal Cake for nothing.

Even though I’m not going anywhere, I’m going to make this one tomorrow and post a picture, which won’t do it justice, but I’ll do it anyway because my mouth is already watering for a square of crunchy, gooey, moist goodness.

http://cookingsharp.blogspot.com/2010/02/traveling-oatmeal-cake-recipe.html

This blog by Valerie Davis has many vintage recipes in it. Be sure to drop by.

These are a few of my favorite things…

I came across some of my doilies the other day and decided to share them with you. I have a book of One Hundred Small Doilies that I thumb through looking for a puzzle I can solve. It must be hard enough to challenge, but not insurmountable. I like the way they sometimes change their shape, but in a very mathematical, understandable, way.
This is a case in point. Nine points, to be exact. The pattern begins with a circle of stitches in multiples of 8: eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four. Some where, somehow, the pattern divides, adds stitches,and becomes a nine-pointed star. Not only that, but there is a row toward the center that makes little bumps: adds another dimension to the finished product. I loved playing with that pattern, using heavy crochet thread at first, using color accents, and finally making it in No. 10 crochet thread. I must have given that one away.

In Praise of Balsamic Vinegar and Honey sauce…

I browned some pork cutlets yesterday, but His Majesty requested “more sauce” this time. It’s a sauce that is cooked down, and meant to coat the chicken or veal or pork cutlets you are cooking. H.M. wants enough to put on his garlic mashed potatoes, too.  Here’s a picture of a pile of chopped onions, garlic and a scribbled on recipe, doubling the sauce ingredients:

I think that’s the Balsamic Vinegar and Honey in the background. It’s pretty much cut and dried, that is to say, cut and sauteed as usual.  There were supposed to be sliced mushrooms in the mix, but I forgot and used them in something else yesterday.  Live with it.