They came pretty early this morning and now the garage is full of boxes, teasing us, just waiting to be opened! That's 2 1/2 weeks earlier than we were expecting... we quickly called and talked with the installer, who in turn called us back after checking things out and told us he had no problems starting early! So, the demo starts this coming Monday and we will officially be without a kitchen. Scary... and it I'm not sure what, if any, new recipes will be happening as I have been cookin' up extra dinners to freeze since we won't be able to cook much. Things will most likely slow way down here, but we'll try to keep things interesting - so I apologize ahead of time for lack of new stuff in the upcoming week(s).In other news, it was Jeff's Mom's birthday this week - along with the gift we sent along a bunch of cookies! Vanilla Salted-Peanut Cookies are medium-sized with a great texture for shipping. They have a pretty crisp outside with a hearty chew as you nibble into the center. Rich in flavor from brown sugar, these cookies are packed with rolled oats, chunky roasted peanuts, golden raisins and sweet coconut. The salty peanuts help to off-set the amount of sweetness the brown sugar adds with the rolled oats helping to keep them chewy. You can play around with the baking time depending on how crisp/chewy you like your cookies. Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, I got around 46 cookies - just enough to send a bunch and have a few leftover for us!
Dinner tonight, Turkey Tamale Potpie, was fairly quick to prepare and fun to watch as it baked up. Inside this pie is a robust filling of onions, garlic, red bell pepper, fresh ground turkey, fire-roasted tomatoes and kidney beans. This mixture is seasoned with a spicy and smoky combination of chili powder, hot chili powder and oregano. I used a combination of 12 ounces breast meat to 4 ounces of dark meat when I ground the turkey to help keep it flavorful and moist. Once the filling is pipping hot, it is poured into a baking dish and topped with buttermilk cornbread batter. It goes into the oven just long enough for the cornbread to bake up into a beautiful golden brown crust. This was very filling and a total comfort dish even though Jeff proclaims he does not like beans or cornbread... that certainly didn't stop him for going back for a few more bites before I packed the leftovers up to go in the freezer.
Good luck with the cabinets!
ReplyDeleteHi Joe,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it is much better to have the cabinets early than to have them late as there is now no time for anxiety to build up. I hope you have a productive weekend re: preparing food in anticipation of kind of being without a kitchen. How long will the process take?
Eric and I are finally up and running again, and it is just as well - if I had had to eat takeout one more time I would have gone bonkers.
Already looking forward to your return to frequent blogging post-kitchen installment.
Shaun
Congrats on the new kitchen. I am so jealous. I can't wait to see what you do once the new kitchen is in place. In the meantime, I guess we can allow you to take a breather.
ReplyDeleteRachael - Thanks!
ReplyDeleteShaun - so true! I am just happy that the installer could come early!
Linda - I can't wait to see it come together...
Joe,
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of cabinets arriving early! Wow. You have great karma.
Veuveclicquot - I know!
ReplyDelete