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Category: Food

Elderberry Custard

So I’m making Elderberry custard from a roman recipe.

Now I’ve already strayed from the recipe a little because the spice dealer had dried elderberries instead of fresh ones, but since I thought I’d have to substitute another berry entirely if I ever hoped to make the dish, I’m calling it a win.

So this is for company. And I am wondering whether I want to cook it the way it says in the recipe, over a double boiler (which I have, thanks to [redacted]!), or whether I want to put it into little ramekins and bake the custard in a water bath (the only way I have made custard before, with the added benefit of a pretty presentation.

Also there’s no sugar in this recipe. I couldn’t stand it and added a little bit of honey, but I sure am glad that I have a back up dessert: french bread

food list – after bridge night

EEP! I have a lot of miscellany right now, so I might need to add to this randomly

Dairy
1pt (+ a little) half&half
1qt 1% milk
gorgonzola
sharp cheddar cheese
cream cheese
small bit of plain yogurt
larger bit raita
scallion cream cheese

Meat
Turkey deli meat cubes
a few scraps of deli meat ham
lots in freezer
cooked strips of bacon
Harry’s beef leftovers

Bread
Pita (mostly gone)
biscuits
english muffins
bagels out the wazoo
pie crust in fridge

Produce
fried leeks
baby bok choy
bean tops (greens)
red leaf lettuce
lemongrass
parsley
shredded chinese cabbage/lettuce
habanero peppers
broccoli
orange juice
coconut/pineapple juice – opened

Miscellany
a few mini samosas & indian spring rolls
asian dipping sauce

This week’s outlook

Monday, January 29
8-5:30 work
Dinner: cabbage, turkey bits, carrots, and flat noodles all stir fried together. Possibly, a bagel on the side. samosas and spring rolls!
Borrow friend’s cooler?
Do dishes
Vacuum apartment
remove tablecloth from work table, and put work back on it.

Tuesday, January 30
pack up all frozen leftovers and take to work – store in upstairs freezer
8-6 work

  • take rest of binders board home
  • look at new office space – do I need to take tea home? No 🙂
  • mending

Dinner: greens! Something with greens! Ummmm… greens cooked with garlic and oyster sauce and eaten in pitas?
Buy stuff for moot: chicken breasts

Wednesday, January 31
do dishes!
return those two books to library
8-6 work

  • return disaster recovery books
  • take home mythology and bookbinding books
  • take home contents of top drawer of filing cabinet>
  • take home tea?
  • periodicals

Dinner: whatever GeeksDoItBetter wants
Crafty night:

  • cut white paper for textblock
  • fold paper and put it in the press
  • fold grey paper
  • cut album pages to height
  • watch Firefly

Put chicken in fridge to thaw
Buy for moot: lettuce

Thursday, February 1
pack for moot before leaving work – possibly put outfits in individual bags, so the rest can stay in the car – pack the Vellux blanket
take box with handles to work
8-5:30 work

  • move content of filing drawer to new office
  • totally swap out rubber band bowl for a tin and take bowl home
  • party?
  • more mending
  • Periodicals

Needs to be in car for moot: my clothes; my laptop (plus E drive); things hopefully in a cooler (chicken thighs, chicken breast, lettuce, blue cheese dressing, extra pack of frozen mini samosas); blanket

Friday, February 2
moot

Saturday, February 3
moot

Sunday, February 4
leaving moot

Monday, February 5
9-5 new job OMG
Dinner: broccoli?

etc. etc.

Friday, February 9
9-5 new job – decide if I am trained enough for the evening shift

Saturday, February 10
take in dry cleaning
get suit jacket hemmed
3pm linner @ Cherry Hill Buca di Beppo

Sunday, February 11
go out to dinner for Peking Duck at Yang Ming – Woo!

food list

Food I Have:
dairy
some half & half
gorgonzola
pepper crusted goat cheese
cream cheese

meat
chicken stock
3 chicken thighs, thawed, marinated in soy sauce and rice vinegar
pork roast leftovers

bread
2 english muffins
3 hamburger buns
several pitas
corn bread muffins
biscuits
bunch of nifty noodles and spring roll wrappers

produce
leeks
habanero peppers
lettuce
baby bok choy
bean tops (tasty greens)
parsley
broccoli
chinese lettuce/cabbage
lemongrass

Meal planning:
Tuesday, January 23 – bring rice in from car – freeze stock in ice cubes
cook the chicken thighs with some onion, garlic, and ginger
Make half of the bean greenery, sauteed with garlic
cook short grain rice with lemongrass
freeze leftovers

Wednesday, January 24 – pick up laundry – buy potatoes & tortillas
make samosa filling
eat some for dinner
salad: lettuce, gorgonzola, grilled onions, toasted almonds

Thursday, January 25 – buy greek yogurt
stir fry broccoli, pork leftovers, shredded cabbage, onions, garlic, habanero and then toss with slice noodles
freeze leftovers

Friday, January 26 – assemble samosas. freeze some, refrigerate some – make shrimp dip
dice pork, freeze bone and skin in one bag, and most of the meat in another
cook some pork & what greens are left with a bouillon cube and a can of tomatoes, eat over rice in pitas.

Saturday, January 27 – bridge
samosas, shrimp dip & crackers… I need at least one other finger food option.
Okonomiyaki?

food list

what I have
produce
3 red bell peppers
several wee indian eggplants
2 zucchini
carrots
red oak leaf lettuce
1 lb baby chinese greens
2 oranges
habanero peppers
2 apples
1 lime
scallions

meat
lamb roast leftovers
lamb bones to make stock
pork stock
turkey breast, thawed, marinated in orange juice/soy sauce/rice vinegar

dairy
a little bit of sour cream
a good bit of homemade raita
enough gorgonzola cheese for 1 1/2 salads
mild cheddar cheese
cream cheese

miscellany
a little bit of homemade apple/habanero chutney
yellow split peas, sorted but not yet soaked

food I might make
So I thought that I’d cook beans in the pork stock (because I have still not been brave enough to try pork stock in a dish where you’d actually be able to taste it), but the legumes I most want to cook are the split peas… I am not sure these two should go together. I might try it anyway. Reassure me.

So I’d start the peas tonight while making…
the marinated turkey. I think I want that to be a light dish… I could just cook it plain and eat it, but I have these vegetables. I could make something thai with it… Hmmmm…

Lamb leftovers: I have vindaloo seasoning from Penzey’s. And then a not-spicy eggplant curry on the side? Mmmmmm!

Red peppers and zucchini not used in the turkey dish will be broiled in oil! And then I’ll think of something to do with them from there.

We don’t need no resolutions

I don’t usually make resolutions. I think you should live the first few months of the new year just as you live any other day.

Oddly, I have some definite plans for the next year.

  • Exercise – I have a gym membership now, so I really should go. This means going to bed earlier and spending less time cuddling Tika (my cat) in the mornings.
  • Finances – more penny pinching and tracking and more of a dent in my debts. I have no idea how this stuff works, so I won’t put a numerical goal on it. If I could be (credit card) debt free by the end of the year, that would be swell. I can not wait to go back to being more relaxed about things… well, maybe not all the way, but not this tight.
  • Relationships – I love my independence. It is very difficult for me when someone’s happiness depends upon my actions. So why am I looking for a relationship? Stop that.
  • Alcohol – I just had to throw out part of a bottle of scotch when I went to drink it new years eve because it had gone all watery with age and air. Therefore, I resolve to drink more this year. There is no excuse for having scotch linger long enough to go bad.
  • Empty space in my kitchen – I shall continue to resist the urge to buy either a deep freeze or a pantry cabinet for the space in my kitchen that would perfectly fit either of those – because I have a well stocked larder even in the limited space I have, and some day I shall have to move.
  • Music – figure out how to cancel my subscription to BMG music thingy. [ETA: DONE!] Don’t listen to bagpipes indoors.

It’s the traveling on that will be the hardest. I ache to take trips. I want to go back to Minnesota; Europe is so close and easy; and I long to see Australia and New Zealand. Maybe I shall compromise by starting a separate savings account as a travel fund… or, I should pay off my debt as quickly as possible and then start the travel fund… but the visible planning might help calm the urges… argh! Anyway, so slap me if I start talking about trip planning – the answer is NO! OOooo… did I mention that Chicago is high on the list of places in the U.S. I want to visit?