MUFFINS FROM LEFT OVERS

The scene starts out early Monday morning on the vacant lot in town where we park our camp trailer for the weekend while our own home is being enjoyed by vacation renters.  They will be checking out at 11:00 this Monday morning.  It will be a rush to get everyone to work and school and then I have a list as long as my arm to work on today.

It's early; about 6:30 and my husband and I are waking up.  Our son is also stirring.  Daughter is sleeping contentedly. By the time everyone gets up and going (with only a moderate amount of bickering) it is a rush to make it to our house to put the children on the bus at their regular stop.  I do this because to take them directly to the school is to get caught in a traffic jam x2.

As we were driving toward the house/bus stop I realized I did not have the keys with me to get back in the camper or the locked closets at the house or the garage.  You will need to remember that detail later in the story.  Dave was still back there at the camper, but by the time I get done with the things that need to be done he will be long gone to work which is kitty corner across town from where I will be.  Okay, that's only a 15 minute drive from SW Walla Walla to NE Walla but still...

Well, our son is giving a moment by moment update on the fact we are late and will miss the bus.  Okay, maybe so but we will just try to catch it then. HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA....


Well whadayaknow?  We did miss it.  But we saw it ahead of us about a half mile so we tried to catch it with our son sitting beside me (much to his delight he is old enough to legally sit in the front seat now) advising me how to overtake the bus.  Since the children know the route the bus will take (I don't) he is telling me to take this turn and that turn and see if we can get ahead of it and jump out at a scheduled stop just before it gets there.  About this time I say I give up and will take them to school.

But moooommm they cry, it's too early now.  Well fine, we will kill some time.  So I take them to the grocery store and let them pick out a healthy snack.  They choose granola bars after I turn down Trix cereal.  Everyone is happy though I told them they need to spread them out over the week, not eat them all today.  Son argues he needs them all today because of standardized tests plus an afternoon tennis match.  This child has a hollow leg.  Now I tell them I'm still taking them to school early because I need to get on with my long list and I want to beat the traffic jams at the various schools.

So I only waited a little bit for the younger one to be left until her girlfriend showed up to be with her at the school.

Now it has been days since I've been to the post office so I need to do that first.  They open first anyway.  It took me a very long time to work my way through the mail.  Several rent checks showed up so that was wonderful besides I need to get the real estate taxes paid today.  Rents will come in real handy for that task.  Next is to go by the bank to make the deposits.  That takes awhile too because I have three banks to visit for the various businesses we run.  Plus I need to make a record of it all for our other bookkeeper/organizer daughter who will eventually ask me for the details of these transactions.  Now I'm running a little late so will just run over to the court house quick and pay the real estate taxes.  It's a shocking amount.

Makes me think again of the story dad told about 15 years ago.  His father bought the farm for a certain dollar amount in about 1931 or so.  I don't remember the dates exactly. But anyway the point was that about 15 years ago the annual taxes were more than the purchase price.  Grandfather must be rolling in his grave over that one.

Now I'm running late for my 9:30 appointment.  This appointment deserves a blog all it's own which will be forthcoming eventually.  It is out at the Community College kitty corner across town.  So off I go choosing the route I think will create the least delays.  Arrive there thinking certain people will be there but curious when it isn't as expected.  A couple weeks ago I attended a worm composting workshop but it was better attended than expected so I needed to wait to get my 3 worm bins.  Now is the time to work with the staff at Sustainable Living Center to create those.  When no one was present in the green house I walked over to where my husband and co-worker were and said where is everybody?  They said we are right here. :)

I found out the person who taught the class in the beginning would not be coming and someone else would be handling it.  So we rounded up the people and the bins and headed together out to the greenhouse where we would build our worm compost bins.  Let me tell ya, it was a lot of fun and I can't believe I got here without my camera.  ARGH!  Well given time I will try to recreate it or borrow photos from someone who took photos at the workshop a couple weeks ago.  We were two hours in the green house.  Even though it was partly cloudy, I ended up sunburned.

Now that I've worked with Natalie, my husband's co-worker who helped create worm bins in a dress and nylons.  Super, super cute by the way, I have to tell you about my new favorite saying that came from her..."and to make a long story long..."  This tickled me. Don't you think it fits this blog post?  I'm making a long story long.  Maybe even a short story long?

Well we spent a couple hours working on worm bins and we are happy as clams.  I''m remembering my early days as a child and I'd never have come close to voluntarily touching worms or fish innards as some of you will remember from days long ago.  But that's just what I did. And enjoyed it too!

Now it's 11:30 so I need to go to the house and get the laundry started.  Off I go.  Now I was briefly with my husband at the college and I didn't give one thought to the fact I needed those keys.  But I go merrily on my way, happy that I'm getting so  much done so early in the day.

I let myself into the house and croak!  I forgot to ask my husband for the keys.  I need to start the laundry but I don't even have laundry soap because it's locked in the closet.  It is only an hour until he goes to pick up the trailer and bring it home so I'll just sit here and relax until he comes....NOT!

I can't sit there when the sun is shining and everything needs done.  So I go out to the garden and pull up some thigh  high weeds.  There is lots of weeding that needs done and I could surely do it if I had a tool, but everything is locked in the garage.  No keys!

So what to do...

Well I look in the fridge and see the renters left some food.  Yum.  It's some high end cheese and salami as well as some fat free half and half.  I don't care about half and half let alone the fat free variety.  Last weekend's renters left plain yogurt (two big things of it in fact) and it is still in the fridge because I didn't have time last week to do anything with it.

Well maybe I'll just bake some muffins....it took me a long time to find a recipe that would work with the ingredients that were not locked in the closet.  There is butter in the freezer out in the garage but you will remember the garage is still locked and I don't have a KEY!

To be continued...

I'm sure having a hard time finishing this post.  I typed several more paragraphs and while searching for the photos I took of the muffins, which I could not find, I lost the text.  Shoulda saved it!

Now it really is time for bed so I'll try again later.  Maybe.

Next day: 5-15-13

My husband came for a late lunch at the house and brought the keys, but while I waited this is what I made:

The recipe was for Cheesy Bran Muffins.  The substitutions I chose are on the right.
1 cup whole bran                         wheat Bran
1 1/4 cups buttermilk                   non-fat 1/2 and 1/2 left at the house by renters
1/4 cup shortening                       canola oil
1/3 cup sugar                               agave nectar syrup
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour                           Prairie Gold whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt                         sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese   1/4 cup parmesan plus 3/4 cup white cheddar (left at the house by renters)

Combine dry ingredients and set aside, combine wet ingredients and then combine with dry ingredients.

Fill Demarle muffin tray molds and bake for 15 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

Just so you know, after I added the agave nectar syrup I remembered to look at the label of the non-fat 1/2 and 1/2.  Whoa!  Lots of sugar involved here.  Next time this goes down the drain instead of in my recipe.  Yes, the recipe turned out too sweet and definitely will not be repeated.  However I sent the muffins to work with my husband that afternoon and the grateful staff sent back great reviews.  I think they were being gracious.

So now you know the rest of the story.  Some experiments turn out well and some don't.

Zucchini Lasagna: Guest writer Janis

"Oh my word.  I made the zucchini lasagna that you had on Pinterest.  Yummy!  BTW Steve grilled the zucchini slices the night before and i layered them on paper towels and covered the dish with plastic wrap and let them sit in the refrigerator over night and then assembled the lasagna this morning before meeting.  It was a huge hit.  We had Darin and Jean over (she is gluten free) and we all loved it.  She suggested that we slice them and freeze them and when they thaw they will get rid of the extra liquid.  Slicing and grilling the slices takes a bit of time.  We went ahead and had Steve cook up brats while he grilled the zucchini so that we would have supper made last night too.  I can't wait to eat the left overs tomorrow." 

Text contributed by Janis

Photos contributed by Bonda because Janis' camera isn't working.  We made this for dinner the night Monika arrived and took the needed photos to go with Janis' text. Two of Dave's co-worker's came for dinner one of which is doing the Paleo diet.  This works for that diet.  We all agreed it tasted great and we will repeat it when we have lots of time.

We knew it would be necessary to pre-grill the zucchini because the afternoon would be spent meeting Monika's plane an hour away.   One thing we forgot until too late was that once assembled the lasagna still needs to bake for an hour.  So it ended up being a very late dinner.  Oops!

Anyway, in the morning I did these steps to grill the zucchini slices.

 This mandolin slicer works like a charm.  I had purchased a very fancy, expensive one but decided it was too much work.  This works just fine.

  

 First the zucchini slices were placed on the Silpain.  This is the Demarle product that lets air through.  Great for Traeger grilling.  It is also ideal for pizza.

 After 10 minutes on high (Traeger grill)  it looked just right.

 Crisscrossed in a glass dish with lid and put in the fridge to wait for the evening.  No need to soak up moisture with this method of grilling.  You may need to experiment as Janis wrote about with other grilling methods.

In the evening we stopped by the store to pick up hamburger after meeting the plane.  This was not quite the right recipe for the length and fullness of the day.  But it's what the plan was so we went with it.

 Here are the first two layers.

 Third layer ready to add.

 Grated mozzarella in food processor and then added as one of the layers below.

 More layering and almost ready to go in the oven.  Unfortunately it is now 7:15 and when I read down the recipe a little more found it will be one hour or more until we eat.  My dear husband informed me we needed to order in Pizza or something.  Well it would take an hour to get pizza too so we might as well relax about it.  So we worked through ideas on appetizers and came up with an artichoke dip, carrot sticks and chips to tide everyone over which was an acceptable alternative.

 Baking is finished...finally!  Ready to eat at 8:30 P.M.

So I have a regret again...I didn't take photos of the people we enjoyed this meal with.  When will I learn to take more photos?



Zucchini Lasagna 

• 1 lb ground beef
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/8" thick
• 15 oz part-skim ricotta
• 16 oz part-skin mozzarella cheese, shredded (Sargento)
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 large egg

Brown meat and season with salt; remove grease. Add olive oil to the pan and saute garlic and onions about 2 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer on low for at least 30-40 minutes covered.  Do not add extra water, the sauce should be thick.

Meanwhile, slice zucchini into 1/8" thick slices, add lightly salt and set aside or 10 minutes. Zucchini has a lot of water when cooked, salting it takes out a lot of moisture. After 10 minutes, blot excess moisture with a paper towel.

On a gas grill or grill pan, grill zucchini on each side, until cooked, about 1-2 minutes per side. Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.Preheat oven to 350°.In a medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and egg. Stir well. In a 9x12 casserole spread some sauce on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Then place some of the ricotta cheese mixture, then top with the mozzarella cheese and repeat the process until all your ingredients are used up. Top with sauce and mozzarella and cover with foil.

Bake 45 minutes covered at 375°, then uncovered 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

The zucchini lasagna was accompanied by a large pile of asparagus.  This was done stove top in a 12 inch skillet.  Butter and sea salt were the other ingredients.  Simple and quick.  Except I was side tracked with visiting and just about forgot about it.  That would have been the final straw, but just at the right moment I remembered I had this going and rescued it.  Whew!  I bet no one else has this much chaos in the kitchen.

Salt and Straw . . . Alberta Street. . . Portland Oregon

Friday we took a very long one day business trip to Salem to visit with our supplier of industrial magnets. It is the beginning of spring break and we took the children with us.  Okay, I'll admit we took them out of school and spring break didn't start until Monday.

In the afternoon we met up with my artsy niece and sister in law on Alberta Street in Portland.  We don't know enough about Portland but they do and we are happy they requested meeting there.

 Karen whispered...I've heard there is a really good ice cream shop a couple blocks that way.  After we ate and visited near the food trucks at 23rd, we walked to check it out.

It was our first and definitely not the last visit to Salt and Straw.

We were waited on by the very charming and knowledgeable Tyler (master ice cream maker). Once the ice cream was served, we stopped taking photos, but I think you would have enjoyed watching us barely making it further down the street because we often stopped to savor every tantalizing taste.

Wow!  We can hardly believe how amazing the ice cream is here.    Karen and I shared a cup with one scoop of Woodblock chocolate on top of one scoop of salted carmel.  Oh my!  I could not eat more but want to go back soon.  Thanks Karen for letting us in on the secret and for my husband's being in the mood to be tourists.

Here is a conversation that took place today:

Mom:  What kind of ice cream did you have at Salt & Straw?
Daughter:  I had chocolate brownie.
Mom:  What did you think about it?
Daughter: GOOD!
Mom:  What else did you think about it?
Daughter:  I would want to have it again.

None of us were brave enough to try these, flavors indicated below, but once you see the video you probably want to taste them.

Conversation this morning with our son:
Mom:  What kind of ice cream did you have at Salt and Straw?
Son:  Chocolate Marshmallow, don't know the name, but that's what it had in it.
Mom:  What did you think about it?
Son: It was pretty good.
Mom: Would you go back?
Son: Yes.
Mom: Did you like it better than B&R?
Son: Yes.
Mom: Did you like it better than Schwans?
Son: I don't know, I think so.

Once you see this video you will know what I mean.

http://vimeo.com/38251970

Once we had a taste of the woodblock chocolate ice cream and Tyler told us a few things about this chocolate which has a special roasting method and is made locally.  I bought a couple bars.  They are small and expensive, but very good.

Additional posts coming up on other wonderful shops along Alberta Street.