MONDAY: What's Cookin'? 9/5/16

[tamaralynn]

Hello again,

We are back home and it was a productive day. We combined the covered bridge quest with going to the cheese factory, touring Ben & Jerry's and also the Green Mountain coffee co.  We got a fairly early start so were able to go a lot of places today. After touring the cheese place, where we bought about 4 packages of cheese, we were driving towards Montpelier, we were hungry but the diner was closed in the town of Cabot. The next town up the road had a little bakery and café and it was open so we stopped in. The guy was so friendly and funny too. They only bake things in the kitchen, so you walk up  to the cash register and he shows you what is available. They don't have things like grilled sandwiches or fried food. The menu changes daily, so today they had empanadas made with ground beef; spanakopita; bstilla, or a small brioche filled with spinach and cheese. All is served with a Greek salad. DH got the empanada and I got the spanakopita. It was all delicious. Of course we had to have some of his wonderful desserts. I had a chocolate cherry almond torte still warm from the oven, DH had some baklava.

We then drove over to Ben & Jerry's in Waterbury. We had a hard time finding  parking spot. We walked up the stairs and the line to get in was about 100 people long!! We stopped by the restrooms, then when we came out we noticed that the line was ice cream, and hardly anyone was inside the building. We in and bought our tickets for the tour. We only had to wait about 10 minutes. It was interesting and we got a free scoop of ice cream at the end. The flavor was milk and cookies, and it was wonderful. From there we drove about 4 miles away to the Green Mountain Coffee Co. I first tasted that coffee on a trip to Michigan back in 1994. There is no tour but you go in the visitor center and get to look at a bunch of screens about their coffee. We bought a cup each of some new to us flavors, and also we got a 12 pack of individual k cups that I will share with youngest DS.

We took a little back road and saw 3 more covered bridges. Some of the ones we never could find. They are always off the main road, and there are no signs to direct you to them. We saw about 7 or 8 all together today so DH is a happy guy.

I am heating up the desperation dinner right now and DH is talking to his mom. She is still in assisted living. One day she will say she wants to go home and the next day she says there is nothing there for her so she'll stay in the Renaissance.

Sara. so sorry you are not sleeping well. I have been where you are and it certainly is not fun.

Happy Birthday to your DH , Betsy!

Ann, the flowers and vase are beautiful!  I had forgotten about the Von Trapp place being in Vermont, so I'll need to go and check it out. I know the kids continue to sing and do concerts, my BF has some cd's by them-it is beautiful music!! We were close to Stowe but did not go there. We are a little ahead of schedule so have 3 more days to do things here before we head to central N.H.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Shelburn Farms and go to Essex Junction and pick up the microwave. I think we'll try to time it so we can eat lunch at Shelburn.

Glad you enjoyed seeing that rainbow Helen-it sounds gorgeous.

I have my cookbook out so am going to post a couple recipes. I hope no one minds. The peach pie that I posted at the very end of August did not appear in the August recipes. Here it is again and maybe it will make it in the September list.

Peach Pie

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. flour

1 c. sugar

4 fresh peaches

1 c. heavy cream

9" unbaked pie shell

Mix butter, flour and sugar. Sprinkle half onto bottom of shell. Slice peaches and place on top of streusel. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over peaches. Pour cream over all. Bake 45-55 minutes at 350*.

Chile Cassoulet

1 1/2 lbs stew meat

1-2 onions, chopped

3 T. oil

Brown the meat and onions in oil.

Add:

15 oz can kidney beans

28 oz can pork and beans

'1 t. chili powder

salt/pepper

1-2 c. beef broth

Mix all together (do not drain beans), bake covered for 2 1/2 hours at 325.

[wilderness]

Tammy, you will enjoy Shelburn.  Haven't been there is years but sure it hasn't changed much.

Sorry I missed you peach pie.  Any recipes missing someone should let me know.

Bet

[tasty]

By the time it got to suppertime, I was too tired to care.  That sounds awful but I had been on the go, on my feet since before 9 this morning and it was 5.30 before I got the last of the jars out of the canner.

We had a very successful morning canning but ran out of some ingredients.  Actually, we had way more tomatoes than we had planned for.  I made a second batch of pasta sauce at home this afternoon.  I had enough onions and peppers at home, without a detour into town.  But, it made for a very long day.

Luckily hubby is very easy about what he eats so we had sandwiches and  a hot drink - tea for me, and coffee for him.

On the bright side, altogether we added another 65 jars to our stash.

I'm about ready to fall into bed, so I shall wish you all a good night and see you tomorrow.

[tasty]

Guess I really should have read the posts before posting myself.

Kay - we made 15 jars of the onion chutney this morning with red onions, red wine and creme de cassis.  It really is quite yummy and I'm sure it would go well with your meatloaf.

When we do our canning Nancy, there are usually 2 or 3 of us (ringleaders if you like) who buy whatever is needed.  If  say, I suggest we make say, salsa, I will purchase whatever is needed for that recipe.  We have a stock of things like sugars and vinegars that we buy when they are in sale and try to guess how much we may need for a season.  Nobody has to be out of pocket for their purchases, the treasurer will refund whatever we spend.  It seems to work quite well.

Tammy, I can visual use exactly where you have been today.  I have done that trip with hubby and I also stopped in that area with Mum, close to 20 years ago.  Loved Ben & Jerry's.  A very beautiful part of the country.

Helen, my mouth is watering at the the thought of your meal tonight . . . .

Ann - your vase is gorgeous with that arrangement.

Good night, again.

[Countrygal]

Today wasn't a very good day so I didn't cook. DH also didn't feel well and all he wanted for dinner was some mushroom soup. I just had a frozen burrito which I heated in the microwave. We both slept off and on during the day. I had to take an antihistamine so that explains why I was so sleepy. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for both of us. This morning was cool but it did warm up to the middle 80's and it started getting muggy again. Hopefully the heat and humidity won't last too long. It would be so nice to tour the Cabot factory. We just love that cheese! However, we have never been to New England and now it's just too far to go. We would have to board 3 fur babies and that can get quite expensive. Canning can get quite fatiguing. I remember all the hard work that went into just preparing the ingredients for whatever I was going to can. It did save money in the long run. Also, it was nice to know what was in my canned foods.