Blended Cultures

Nope, not making yogurt.

What happens when you have lots of swiss chard in the freezer and the grocery store had a special on spicy Italian sausage?

Well, it was time for another kitchen experiment.

Italian Style Pot Stickers

The plate was a bit messy because the first batch disappeared before the camera could catch sight of them.

Filling ingredients:

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage

frozen swiss chard thawed, squeezed dry, and chopped finely

  (approximately the size of a baseball)

8 calamata olives chopped/sliced into little pieces and
  a splash of the brine from the jar

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup dry instant mashed potatoes

1 egg white

Dough:  (adapted from recipe in The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines)

2 1/2 cups unsifted all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup boiling water

1 Tbs. olive oil (or bacon grease if you want to live dangerously)

Mix the flour and salt.  Add the boiling water and stir with chopsticks.  Add the olive oil, mix and knead  in the mixing bowl, then on the counter until well incorporated.  Let dough rest in sealed container for 20 minutes before rolling.  Dough can rest overnight in the refrigerator with no ill effects.

For best results, roll dough balls on a marble cutting board or a well washed 12"x12" marble floor tile purchased as a poor man's marble cutting board.  A heaping teaspoon sized dough ball when rolled thin will hold approx. 1 heaping Tbs. of filling.  Stuff the shell, seal the edges, repeat.... and repeat...  Place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper and cover with wax paper to prevent them from drying out if humidity is low.

Preheat pan to medium, add some olive oil (to keep with the Italian theme) and place dumplings in pan with enough space around them that you can persuade them to come loose later without mangling other dumplings in the process.  Be careful to avoid getting the pan too hot; olive oil smokes at a lower temperature than canola or peanut oil which is traditionally used for making pot stickers.  Allow the bottoms to start browning, then pour approx. 2-4 Tbs of water or chicken stock into the pan and cover immediately.  You may need to repeat this once or twice to get the dumplings fully cooked.  When the last addition of liquid has boiled away remove the dumplings from the pan before they burn.  They will be crispy on the bottom and steamed on the top.  And the insides will be like juicy pizza sausage without the greasy aftertaste.  To make the next panful scrape away remaining dough bits and repeat the process starting with a splash more oil.  If too much stuff is stuck to the pan, deglaze it with water, dump out the stuff, allow it to reheat and  dry, then start again.

Serve with a marinara dipping sauce.  Enjoy!

Bored?

"Sigh"

"Sigh...bored.....still bored....

Where have all my fuzzy squeaky toys gone?"

Well Chloe, they looked like you had been flossing with them,

so they went for a ride in the washing machine and dryer.

All clean and ready to be covered in dog drool again.

You have more toys than some children.

Of course aside from wearing out the squeakers,

you also take better care of them than some children.

Good news though, we picked up another toy with lots of squeakers in it.  After performing a squeaker-ectomy on the new one, new squeakers will be implanted in the silent duck, the mute flat raccoon and the half silent squirrel.

Flame, Beautiful Flame

It is so good to see you again.

After replacing both the heat exchanger distribution blower and the combustion blower, the pellet stove is up and running again!

The parts were expensive, but in general, staying warm in Wisconsin winters is an unavoidable cost.  It is merely a matter of picking the least painful expense and inconvenience for your situation.  Removing the fan blade from the combustion blower motor shaft was a nightmare.  The allen screw pretty much welded itself in place over the last 10 years.  Liquid Wrench didn't work.  Heating it with a torch didn't work.  How-to instructions on the internet recommended cutting the motor shaft with a saws-all or hacksaw.  The fade-out cut in the online video was a dead giveaway that it would still be a very slow process even with power tools.  My dad's saws-all would not fit inside the stove and I did not feel like squeezing a hacksaw blade behind bent over fan blades.  In the end, I spent a couple hours laying on my stomach in front of the pellet stove grinding out the allen screw on the fan blade assembly with Dremel cutting discs, only breaking three of them in the process.  Once that was done, hubby arrived home from work and finished the disassembly and re-assembly process.  Ahh, my knight in pellet stove ash covered jeans!

It is nice not to hear the boiler in the basement sucking so much oil any more.  We were very lucky to be able to get the tank filled while the oil prices were low, but they are on the rise again.  In the three days that the pellet stove was out of commission, the tank went from just under 7/8 to 3/4 full.  With the sub-zero temperatures, it will still kick in when the pellet stove cannot keep up, but with the new parts on the pellet stove, it is running like a new machine again.  Both the cat and dog are happy again.  Tigger the cat is happy because it is hot downstairs.  Chloe the dog is happy because it is cooler upstairs.  And we are happy that not quite as much money is flying out of the chimney now.

New Hat #2

Was completed successfully.

It fits, and he actually wants to wear it!

Nuff said.

My Apologies

to my readers down south.  It appears we have sent our snow south for the winter.  The cold weather here isn't much fun, but at least we are not running the snowblower like we were last year.

Monday was fun enough as it was.  Mom called last night saying she had lost her purse, perhaps at church.  So I went there this afternoon to see if I could find it before heading over to mom's place to do the usual Monday's mother maintenance chores.  It wasn't at church, but I had a nice brisk walk from one end of the building to the other, which was a pleasant change of pace because this time of year walking outside is a rather reserved practice of walking more slowly and carefully to avoid slipping on icy patches.  Once at mom's house, I searched all over and found where stepfather had set the purse down and forgotten it while helping mom into the house after church on Sunday.  Yeah - we don't have to cancel any credit cards, checking accounts, and get a new ID and insurance card!

After mom's it was time to drive out to the store that sold us our pellet stove for some replacement parts.  The thing is 10 years old now, and has been run continuously each winter.  The distribution fan on the heat exchanger conked out last night.  Not without warning, the bearings had been squeaking for the last couple of days.  It is difficult to tell exactly which motor of the three in the stove is making the noise until it finally quits running.  Thankfully, they had a spare one in stock.  They also had the flame guard; the old one was looking a bit worse for wear.  I commented to the sales clerk that eventually, we will probably end up replacing all the parts on that stove rather than buying a new one, because the thing is really heavy cast iron.

On the way home, I took a small detour to the cheese factory and bought some fresh cheese curds.  The drive on the back roads was thoroughly enjoyable.  Good premium winter gas and cold temperatures can fake out the emissions controls on that detuned Honda civic engine; it actually accelerated decently for a change.  The wind erosion of the farm fields is quite startling.  The storm we had a few nights ago did not produce much snow, but the winds were quite brisk.  I saw about 5 hawks enjoying the clear day out hunting.  The big surprise was the gathering of 4-5 pheasants in a farmer's front yard.  There must have been a bird feeder there with spilled seed.

At home an early supper was fixed.  Some bills were paid.  Then a DVD was popped in the player.  Hopefully, hat #2 will be finished yet this evening.  Well, back to the crocheting.

Happy Valentines' Day

Hubby had to work today, so he was bundled off to work with a good lunch in him, a hug, and a kiss wishing him a Happy Valentine's Day.

Since mom and stepfather have memory issues, they didn't remember to get each other presents, because they they don't remember what day it is anyhow unless they check the atomic clock on the kitchen wall.  So, the Valentines' Day elf had to help things out.  Both sugar free chocolates for mom and regular chocolate for stepfather were purchased ahead of time and stashed on the top shelf of a kitchen cupboard out of mom's reach yesterday.  Today, the "shoebox of greeting cards*" was duly searched for a his card and a her card.  Each was presented with a card to sign and give to the other.  Both of them pretty much replied, "Is today really Valentines' day?"  In mom's case, the gift was added to stepfather's card after she signed it, lest she be tempted to eat his gift.  As I left, they were both munching merrily on their own chocolates wishing each other and me a Happy Valentines' Day.

Happy Valentines' Day to all of you out there, and may you remember every day with your loved ones for the rest of your lives.  But just in case, cherish them now, in case you become unable to remember them in the future.

*The origins of the shoebox of greeting cards began when I started sorting miscellaneous detritus piled throughout their house.  As greeting cards purchased for occasions gone by but never given appeared they were placed in a shoebox.  It is now stuffed with greeting cards for pretty much every occasion imaginable.  Hallmark will hate me for destroying all future profits from mom and stepfather, because they probably have enough greeting cards saved to last them the rest of their lives.

Old Hat, New Hat

Hubby's old winter hat is falling to bits.

I can't go back to the store attached to the woolen mill that made it and buy a new one, because the factory has been razed to the ground.  Such is the face of the textile industry in the USA these days, pretty much nonexistent.  So we looked in the stores for new hats.  They all seem to be made by little people in hot countries for little people in hot countries.  When we managed to find a thick and warm wool hat that is large enough to fit his noggin, the price starts at $40 and goes up from there.  So I figured, how hard can it be to make him one.  Three skeins of wool were purchased for $15.  Well the first try crocheting hubby a new hat didn't go the best.  First I made the diameter a bit too big, then adjusted it back down.  It came out more like a beret and is a bit tight around the ears even after I unraveled a few rows and loosened it a bit.  On the plus side, he likes the color for wearing when he goes hunting and says it is really warm.  At least it fits me alright so it isn't a complete loss.  I still have enough wool left over to make another hat, so if at first you don't succeed try, try again.

Chloe's Fortune Cookie

Enjoy the small things you find in your path.

"Mom, no fair!
You tricked me again!"