Category Archives: food

Another Elks Breakfast

Posted on January 20, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Steven and I returned to the Elks Lodge on Mary Street, Herkimer, NY, for the Sunday breakfast sponsored by the Lady Elks.

I mentioned when I blogged about this last week that the Lady Elks hold these breakfasts on Sundays for the month of January to sponsor projects throughout the year. I thought at first I did not need to blog about it twice. Then I thought, hell, I ate there twice, I can blog twice. Why not give another shout out to the Lady Elks?

We were a little later this week than last, having luxuriously (or lazily, depending on your point of view) slept in till after eight. We found a parking space with no problem, however. The ladies taking money remembered us from last week. It’s always nice to be a regular.

This week I tried sausage instead of bacon. Again I had scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast, baked beans and potatoes with onions. Steven had the same as last week: what I had, but bacon instead of sausage, eggs over medium instead of scrambled, and add pancakes. If we go again next week, I’ll go back to bacon and maybe add pancakes myself.

We sat at a table with our numbers (they give you a slip of paper with your number on it, and somebody comes out with a plate and yells the number) and said yes, please, to coffee and juice (orange for Steven, tomato for me). Steven’s food came right out. Then every number surrounding mine BUT mine was called. I was hungry! I was also in the kind of mood, it struck me as funny. I started laughing at each number called. At last my breakfast arrived. Yay!

We saw the same folks we saw last week that we knew (so we were not the only ones to return). We chatted with a member of Ilion Little Theatre about spring productions (preview of coming attractions).

It was another delicious breakfast, and we left feeling full and happy that we had supported a worthy cause. I think Steven works later this Sunday, so we may return yet again. Another blog post? We’ll see.

Souped Up Sunday

Posted on January 18, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had been meaning to make Italian Wedding Soup for some time. Sunday I finally got around to it.

I started by chopping a yellow onion and putting it in a pot with olive oil under what I thought was low heat. I cracked the lid. The pot used to be my Mom’s. She’d had it for as long as I can remember before she gave it to me. My sister Victoria calls it a Dutch Oven, but I’m not sure if it technically is one. In any case, it is a good big pot, and I use it all the time.

A watched pot may never boil, but unwatched onions will burn. I guess I lost track of time, because I usually check on these things (I think I was writing a letter to my sister Victoria at the time). I did not go back into the kitchen till I heard the onions making popping noises. Yikes!

I turned off the heat. I took the pot off the burner. I removed the lid. I stirred the onions, which were now in varying shades from onion-colored to black. They continued to sizzle in what I thought was a rather insolent fashion.

Now what to do? Chop more onions? Use the burnt ones? I took my dog Tabby for a walk while I pondered the question. When I returned I peeled some garlic, ran it through the garlic press and set the timer for 15 minutes. I forget why, but I heard you are supposed to let garlic sit for 15 minutes before using it. This gave me a little more time to think about the onions. After all, Sunday was cold; we had not taken that long of a walk.

I decided to use the onions. I poured in two cans of low sodium chicken broth and some water. I put in the garlic and chopped some celery. I preheated the oven to cook the meatballs. I used the frozen kind. Don’t judge.

While the meatballs baked, I peeled and chopped a carrot. I don’t like cooked carrots much, but Steven does. They add a little color and flavor, and of course they are good for you. A woman my age has to look out for her health. By adding the carrots later, I reasoned, they won’t be as mushy (my main objection to cooked carrots), at least the first time we eat the soup. They’ll soften with re-heating, but I’ll have to live with that.

I put the pasta (you know those little beady ones you use for Italian Wedding Soup) in shortly before the meatballs were ready. They were in a canister, not their original box, and naturally I did not remember how long they needed to boil. I had to keep tasting them. That was not burdensome; the soup was turning out pretty good. I added basil, oregano and a few crushed red peppers for good measure. Then I put the meatballs in and let them all cook together.

It was yummy, even if I do say so myself. I think burnt onions are the Way to Go. Steven had bread and butter with his, eating Dilly Bread we had purchased at the Ilion Farmer’s Market on Saturday (just to add a little local color). Oh, I love to cook soup on a cold, cold day. Now I’m looking forward to leftovers.

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Chinese Food NOW

Posted on January 17, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Saturday Steven and I spent the morning cleaning the house with the intention of rewarding ourselves with lunch out.

I did munch a little cottage cheese for breakfast — I don’t do well on a completely empty stomach — and soon realized I should have eaten a little more heartily. I was STARVING. I know, people in this country throw that word “starving” around like we know what it means, when, of course, most of us have never experienced that level of poverty. What I meant was I was dreadfully, uncomfortably hungry and I wanted food NOW.

What I really could have used was one of those Mexican restaurants where they bring you chips and salsa right away. In Georgia there were several of those, handily located. In the North Country we had the awesome Hotel Grande. Perhaps there is such an establishment in Utica. I’ll have to check around.

Be that as it may, I suggested our best bet was a buffet. Less waiting. We decided on the Main Moon Buffet, 40 Central Plaza, Ilion, NY (do I really need to put NY? I don’t know how many out of state readers I have).

Buffet is my favorite way to eat Chinese food, because you can try a little of everything. There are many good things to try at Main Moon. Two plates full — OK, one plate really full and one partial — and I still have not tried everything. We both left the restaurant quite full. Note to self: try not to eat so damn much next time.

Main Moon Buffet is open Monday through Thursday from 11 am to 10:30 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am to 11:30 pm, and Sunday noon to 10 pm. For more information call 315-895-7404 or 315-895-7405. Take out is also available. Hmm, might keep me from eating too damn much, but then how could I try everything? It’s not easy being me.

A Fishy Cooking Post

Posted on January 14, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

We had planned to cook fish when Steven came home Friday, so I made tartar sauce.

Many years ago, my mother taught me to make tartar sauce by chopping up a dill pickle and mixing it with mayonnaise. I haven’t bought tartar sauce since. After tasting some fancy tartar sauces at various restaurants, I have modified my recipe.

Friday I found the jar of dill pickles in the fridge and was a little sorry they were not farmer’s market dill pickles. Perhaps I will make my way to Clapsaddle Farm for the Ilion Farmer’s Market and get something more distinctive for next time.

I poured myself a glass of Salneval Albarino (there should be a tilde on the n — All-Bar-een-yo — but I don’t know how to do that on my computer), because I like cooking with wine, pulled out the glass cutting board Steven gave me for my birthday, and commenced to chopping.

As usual I had trouble with it. Pickles are not as firm for chopping as non-pickled vegetables, and I think my knives need sharpening. Also, for tarter sauce I like my pickles finely minced, that is, more minced than I usually accomplish. And it just now occurs to me, I’m saying chopped when I really mean minced. If this were a real cooking blog, I would never make such a blunder. Actually, I think it is accurate to say I wanted minced pickle, but settled for chopped because mincing was too damn much trouble.

Anyways, I chopped one pickle, added it into the mayonnaise I had spooned into the container, and wondered if I could put enough other stuff in to make up for there being not enough pickle. Then I told myself to stop being so lazy and cut up another pickle.

When I had really really had enough of messing with the pickles, I added horse radish, lemon pepper, Pampered Chef All Purpose Dill Mix, McCormick’s Perfect Pinch Salt Free, minced onion (dried minced onion in the bottle; I didn’t cut onion as well as pickle), and stirred well.

The flavors had plenty of time to blend, because Steven was working a half hour later than I had thought. Damn! I was hungry! Oh well, they do say hunger is the best seasoning. The tartar sauce did taste good when I finally ate it. I was almost too impatient to wait for the fish.

The Cake Incident

Posted on January 12, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t usually blog about work, but something happened the other day that I said would make a good blog post. You be the judge.

A nice lady that works in the same vicinity I work in (it’s a BIG factory) makes cakes sometimes, usually for people’s birthdays. Monday she made a red velvet cake with white frosting in honor of some people that were leaving her section.

There was some discussion as to what made the cake red, one pundit maintaining that it was actual red velvet.

“Yes,” I said, “and now Joanie doesn’t have a dress to wear to holiday parties.”

As she was cutting it, I told her not to cut me a piece.

“Oh, I wasn’t going to,” she said.

Now, we work in the same area and use the same break room, but we actually work in different departments and have different bosses, so I thought I had said something quite tactless. I must have had quite the look on my face, because the whole table cracked up laughing. Joan assured me she had just been kidding; I was welcome to some cake. I’m a few pounds up from the holidays, so I resisted the temptation.

There was still cake left at the afternoon break.

“Do you suppose there are more calories in a small piece of cake than in a chewy fiber bar?” I asked, a chewy fiber bar being my designated snack. Several people expressed the opinion that the chewy fiber bar probably had more calories, although I suspect they were being nice because they knew I wanted the cake.

“You should have the cake,” one fellow said. “You could die on the way home, and then you’ll wish you’d had the cake.”

“If I die on the way home,” I said, “I probably won’t be thinking about the cake; I’ll be thinking, ‘Dammit, I don’t want to die, I want to live!'”

He shook his head. “You’ll be looking at that tractor trailer coming towards you and you’ll say, ‘Why didn’t I have that cake?'”

I cut myself a small piece.

After a few minutes, I pointed out that the chewy fiber bar would have had the advantage of lasting longer. My co-workers helpfully pointed out the last piece of cake, repeating the advice about maybe I would die before morning.

I admit it, I ate the cake. It was yummy. Much yummier than the chewy fiber bar, which I ate the next day. Yes, as you have no doubt guessed, I did not die either on the way home nor during the night. I was even down a pound when I stepped on the scale the next morning. Let’s hear it for cake!

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