I am back at work on SCONED TO DEATH. That's the title for now, but m publisher may change it. I just signed a contract for the audio edition. It will have Margaret Strom as the narrator as my other books do.
The tea room part of the school house predominates in this book. The appeal of the yarn shop was limited, but the tea room attracts everyone. There is a lot about food. I have the more traditional tea items like cucumber tea sandwiches, but since in my mind this is a real place, I like to add more variety.
I just saw an article online about olive and cream cheese sandwiches. I am a big fan of olives and there is a bowl of them on my kitchen counter now. I can't wait to to make one of the sandwiches. And then add it to the tea room menu. The ones on the counter are green olives with a sharp taste. I have Greek olives in the refrigerator and a can of sweetish tasting green olives in the pantry. I want to try them all.
Jakey is a big olive fan and I'll have let him try one of the sandwiches.
There aren't recipes in this series, but I still like to make what I'm writing about. If I can get everybody out of the kitchen for a while, I want to make some scones.
It seems like someone is always up at my house and making a stop in the kitchen. It's useless to fuss, they are never going to clean up after themselves. I always give them many thank yous when somebody takes out the trash. I am hoping the positive reinforcement will encourage them to do it more often.
It isn't something for the tea room, but I love making roasted vegetables. I am a big fan of broccoli. I have liked it since I called it little trees when I was a kid. I like it cooked any way, but well, the rest of them aren't as enthused about the green vegetable. I roasted a big pan of it last night. Just broccoli with some olive oil and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. I expected them to take dainty portions and have a lot left over, but when I checked the pan, it was empty. Not even one little stalk left. I like cold leftover broccoli so next time I'll have to make even more.
19 comments:
Good morning -- Yum, roasted broccoli is delicious. I also love brussel sprouts sautéed with bacon, and mixed with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. The olive sandwiches sound good -- chopped block olives mixed with cream cheese and spread on sourdough bread is so good. A fruit dip we really like is brown sugar mixed into sour cream -- about 3/4 cup of sugar into 16 ounces of sour cream -- best made a day ahead so the flavors really meld -- delicious.
I finished the solid granny square blanket -- worked up very quickly -- I'll do it again. I have eight blankets ready to go to the Ronald McDonald House. Seems like lots of my family's friends are having babies so I need to do a few gift blankets. I've been using the multi-colored stripes yarn -- looks good and few yarn ends to weave it -- yahoo!!
My family is good about taking out trash and I prefer to load the dishwasher myself, but one thing Dan always did that was pesky was when he was in the garage working on a project, he'd just knock on the door and expect me to come out right away. One day he knocked and I decided I wasn't at his beck and call so didn't go -- a minute later, there was a pounding on the door. I opened it to find him standing there, holding his thumb in the air, blood flowing out. He'd cut it with a power saw -- we dashed to the emergency room and he got eight stitches!! But after that, he started asking "Can you come out?"
I hear the lawn guys starting their noisy equipment -- they use an edger all around the complex, then blow all the debris off the patios, then mow the grass so the noise goes on all morning.
Enjoy your day, your writing and whatever else you choose to do.
Patty, sour cream and brown sugar are great on fruit like strawberries or blueberries.
It is always nice when you don't have to weave in a lot of ends. That is not the fun part of crochet. They must love you at the Ronald McDonald House.
That must have been a shock to see Dan's thumb. I can see where you wouldn't have rushed to answer the knock.
It seems like a long time with a lot of noise. I really don't know how the gardeners stand it since they are right on top of it.
Happy crocheting. The baby blankets will make great gifts.
You sound busy as always, Betty. Congrats on the audio book contract. And your mentioning all those foods, including broccoli, made me look toward my kitchen! Maybe I should go get a healthy snack.
The fruit dip is also delicious spread on a waffle, then topped with fruit. I like to cook apple slices with butter, a bit of sugar and cinnamon until they are really tender -- yum.
All this veggie talk is making me want lunch. Since I am not much into cooking anymore, I have been trying some of the prepared meals that just take 2-3 minutes in the microwave. Some are much better than others, but all are really convenient. I usually add some fruit or cottage cheese on the side. My favorite is of course the most expensive, so I order 4 a week. The other days are various frozen meals and wonderful home cooking dropped off my thoughtful friends.
Linda, I've been eating Banquet frozen dinners for lunch for years -- started after my husband died in 2018. I had my annual check-up a few weeks ago and the doctor asked what I did to stay so healthy -- I'm 88 and doing well. I told him I contribute it to my Banquet diet -- I add a container of mandarin oranges to each meal. The sweet & sour chicken and rice is delicious. Bonus is the meals are inexpensive -- $1.68 at Walmart.
I love olive and cream cheese sandwiches. I have a low sodium count, and my doctor encourages me to eat olives. Yay! I consider that lucky.
Roasting is my preferred method of cooking vegetables. I'll often do a couple of pans early in the week and then use them with different meals. It's a time saver. I've never roasted broccoli. I'll have to give it a try.
Sconed to death is a catchy title. I hope it sticks.
Linda O. Johnston, reading about food makes me hungry, too.
Linda Osborn, getting prepared meals seems like a good idea and very convenient. I always keep some frozen meals from Trader Joe's. Then I do things like add broccoli to the frozen mac and cheese or to a bag of Fettuccine Alfredo.
Patty, it's great that you are doing so well!
Sally, I tried different kinds of olive and even some olive tapenade that I got at Trader Joe's. They were all good. Roasting vegetables is so easy and they turn out so good. I love just about all vegetables, but my family aren't really vegetable fans. But they will eat roasted ones.
I bought roasting pans when the pandemic hit. I love roasted vegetables but I am lazy and do not like to cook. So the pans are still waiting for me. This makes me want to roast some vegetables now.
Miriam -- Have you seen the recipe collections for using a 9 x 13 pan -- casseroles of all kinds, desserts. -- most anything you could want, all in one pan. Perfect if you don't mind leftovers to reheat for another meal, or to share, which is what I do with my 15-year-old grandson, who can eat a huge quantity of food. There are cookbook specifically with these recipes or just ask Google -- Google knows all!!
I just googled it. Thank you so much Patty. This is perfect for me. I don't mind leftovers at all.
Miriam, roasted vegetables are perfect if you don't like to cook. You can line the pan with parchment paper making clean up easy. You can either mix the vegetables with some olive oil first and then dump them in the pan, or dump them in the pan and spray with olive oil. You can season them or not. Then just bake in about 400 degree oven for half an hour or so while you do something else. Asparagus works out well, too, but depending on how thick the stalks are can cook faster. I cook corn that way, too.
Patty, I will check out those recipes. I love the idea of just putting a pan of something in the oven.
Strips of yellow, orange and red sweet peppers, mixed with some finely chopped onions, are delicious. I toss them with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle on a bit of Morton''s Season All -- that stuff is great. I agree about the parchment paper -- makes clean-up so easy.
Betty, thank you so much for the tips. I have parchment paper and I love that you gave me time and temperature. That is so helpful.
Thanks Patty.
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