Chickens almost done. Smeared them with some tupelo honey for the last 15 minutes. I got this particular honey in WeeWa a few years ago along side the road. Tupelo honey is one of the greatest things ever. The best I ever had was a gift from a student from around there. It was a party in your mouth whatever you used it for.
That reminded me of my parents. First church. Then breakfast. Finally open presents some time around noon. I never did that to my kids.
Lurk— You are so right—sad thing is Hurricane Michael has devastated Gulf Co (Wewa) and Calhoun Co (Blountstown) which is where 95+% of our Tupelo honey comes from—
Ms. Jan’s in charge tonight— It’ll be her chicken’n’dumplings, fresh steamed yellow squash & vidalia onions, petite butter beans and I’ll fry the cornbread— Been blustery here on the mountain today, but the col’beers still are going down smooth—
5220– I know it involves a big piece of wax paper, a good bit of flour, a rolling pen, and me staying out of the kitchen and out of her way—
Lol I used to cheat big time making dumplings by getting those tubes of biscuits, then cutting them into dumplings. Turned out pretty good too.
First set of guests are on their last evening at our house. Making pasta (penne) with cream, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, red pepper flakes, garlic, and shrimp. I scored some wild caught and never frozen shrimp for tonight. They were big and the shells were thick. I hope that they are not tough. Salad and bread to accompany. Cooking is so much better than doing car work in the driveway. First job was easy-peasy: My MIL's car needed a new coil. 10 minutes of work. I didn't tell her how much it cost. To her from me it is free. The second job was a bigger pain than it should have been. Replacing the rear air shocks on a GM van shouldn't take more than 40 minutes. The first one took about ten minutes. The second one was not fun for lots of reasons.
Getting ahead— New Year’s Day will be dried black-eyed peas, soaked and cooked with spring onions, fresh turnip greens & mustards, deviled eggs, and fried chicken— Hope everybody else is up to par on their meal and having a great start to a new year— Back home, so the back porch ice cold longnecks are the best— Nobody cleaned up the mess while we were gone—
And tomorrow we’ll be having one of our favorite’s— Smoking a couple of 4-bone beef plate ribs over applewood smoke complimented by baked potatoes and fresh romaine salad topped with vine ripe tomatoes and Ken’s Steakhouse Three Cheese Italian dressing— Ice cold longnecks during the 6-hour cook with a really good Cav on the table for the meal—
Today will be a New Mexican feast. Yesterday I made green chili sauce with green Chimayo peppers (bought in Chimayo, NM, with the help of a native), but it was too hot for most people. My wife will cut it with some poblano sauce later today. We are going to make chicken enchiladas with green sauce with the leftover smoked chicken from last week. This morning I boned a pork shoulder and put half in the freezer with the bone and used the other half to simmer in water with onion and garlic to make shredded pork for pork enchiladas. I also made some red chili sauce with red Chimayo peppers (these peppers were not as hot as the green). Also drained and rinsed some pinto beans that soaked overnight, simmered them for 3 hours, drained and rinsed, then put into a 6 quart soup pot with sauteed onion and garlic along with chicken broth, Mexican oregano, bay leaves, epazote, cumin, coriander, and a chipolte pepper to simmer for another hour. After that I will add some adobo from a can of chipotles and simmer an addition 15 minutes. Tomorrow will be black-eyed peas for good luck and also a ham glazed with apple cider and coarse mustard. Smoked hams were only $1.29 at Publix and I could not resist that bargain.
Tonight it will be a freshly ground chuck roast turned into hamburger steak on the grill with fresh green beans & new potatoes to go with— Geez—it’s 79 degrees—it’s almost like summertime ice cold longnecks on the back porch—
I hear you—we shared the leftover ham with Alan and Kayla & Tim— We did bring home a meaty ham bone for that pot of soup made with navy beans, onion, carrots, celery, and tomato soup—with salt, pepper, and bay leaf—
