I’m cookied out

We’ve had a lot of cookies here at the house. With multiple females making cookies for their cookie exchange, we’ve ended up with a kitchen table full of cookies. ..some are pretty darned good too. Like the mint hearts, or the raspberry bars. My favorite is the chocolate covered ritz cracker with peppermint. Kudos to my wife for trying some great new cookies.

Anyway I’m just cookied out. After being the taste tester for new creations (Al’s white chocolate bark covered oreo drops, among others), I just have no desire for sweet stuff. I don’t think I’ve eaten one cookie in two days and I think I’ve lost my sweet tooth. Is that a bad thing? Maybe not.

Hope you’re having fun this holiday. Please remember to thank anyone who gives you a home made cookie. With the price of ingredients going through the roof, home made cookies are a significant investment.

Cheers,
Doug

Making refrigerator pickles

I remember my mother making refrigerator pickles. She made two kinds at the same time: One with vinegar and one with sour cream. They would sit in the fridge in an open stainless steel bowl and our family would just mow through them.

I wanted to try some pickling so I decided to try the vinegar bread and butter style. I bought a small bag of cukes for $2 at a farm stand to begin my pickling project. My wife, who is much wiser than I on matters of canning asked, “did you get pickling cukes or larger?” I did get the pickling size so my project proceeded unabated. Gotta love those farm stands.

I finally get a breather from the action so today my wife and I “put up” my pickles. We just finishing jarring the pickles and they’re upside down cooling on the counter. There were a wealth of pickle recipes on line, but we ended up using one from the August 2009 issue of Better Homes and Gardens, p 182, classic Bread and Butter Pickles courtesy of columnist Scott Peacock. I’ll be sure to tell you how these turn out.

We have a trellis for the cukes but they were very lackluster producers this year. I think the fennel went sorta crazy (6 foot tall) and shielded the sunlight from the cucumbers. We’ll be in the garden this weekend pulling produce so I guess I’ll get more tomatoes if they don’t go into a sauce. Sadly, not much in the way of cucumbers this year. Lots of fennel though….

Shopping at the butcher

Today I stopped by one of the better butcher shops to pick up some meat for the house. At Schroedl’s Country Market the quality is excellent and if you want pork, beef or chicken they’ve got you covered. Of course call ahead for special orders, etc.

<a href="
View Larger Map“>Schroedl’s Market in Jefferson is not exactly around the corner but we think it’s worth the trip.

The nice thing about buying your meat at a butcher shop is you’re not getting product from 100 animals processed all at once so there is a pretty good chance that you will not have as many “questionable produce” recalls that you may get in some of the big box or chain grocery stores.

Of course, Jefferson is not really “local” to my town (Genoa City) but at least it’s not 1500 miles away. In addition I’ve had a chance to talk with the butcher and I saw them cleaning their equipment as they closed up processing today. Made me feel better just seeing them cleaning.

If you’re freaked out about E. Coli or other pathogens, downed cows, etc. then a local butcher is..probably..a safer place to get your meat. If tainted meat is not a concern of yours then party on, dude. Grab a burger while you’re at it.

In addition to the pork roast, etc. I picked up a couple of bratwurst. I think we’re going to have an informal bratwurst tasting to see who has the best sausage products. Of course we’ll give Johnsonville brats a spot..but that will have to wait for another post after we’ve fired up the gas grill.