Flotsam and Jetsam

 

            The last week of our winter stay this year.  This post is just odds and ends from our last week: the chores, the shopping, stocking the freezers, and storing the stuff in the cabin, cookshack, and shed.  But first we celebrate our first Annual Thank You BBQ for our neighbors who faithfully keep an eye on our place till next fall. We have been blessed with many good neighbors, the two finest being James Davis, his family, and Brenda Butler Seidenberg who live a quarter mile to our west.  We communicate with them several times each summer just to 'check in' and see how things are going.  With the current border immigrant crisis this proves very helpful.  There is a lot of transient traffic but has yet to cause a problem.  This also includes keeping an eye on the local deer population.  We tried to do this last year, but our plans became accelerated due to events we had to leave early for.  Barb did make 2 big pans of her delicious lasagna that we left for them.  

      I planned this menu thoroughly and finalized our plans with Wood Pit Beef Dino Ribs, Barb's Baked Beans, Funeral Potatoes, and Barb's Ham Rollups.  I got up early the day of the Q and fired up the wood pit with lump hardwood charcoal and a bit of oak.  These ribs take anywhere from 4-7 hours to cook, depending on fat content.  There is no injection, just rub and smoke.  

Rubbed out and ready to go

Temp @ 177F Wrap & return

Sliced Beef Dino Ribs

Friends & neighbors alike

       We had a wonderful time on a beautiful 80-degree day just relaxing with our new friends and enjoying some good food.  There were lots of leftovers as well which I made sure we sent home with the folks.  

Beef Tongue for Barbacoa and Tacos

       The week also included a fun shopping trip to Sabinal and Uvalde.  Although there was some other groceries to pick up the main purpose of this trip was to fill the freezers with the meat I didn't provide venison for.  I ordered and picked up Beef Thor's Hammers, Tongue, Picanah, Pork Belly, and Oxtails.  The usual brisket, ribs, baby backs, pork butt, and duck I can get in Michigan, but not these.  

       

Beef Shank Thor's Hammer for BBQ

      We got most of this from Cattlemen's Beef Company in Sabinal.  This is the ranch store for sale of their beef.  Santa Gertrudis, Hereford, and Wagyu.  This is the finest beef you can get.  Cattlemen's Beef Company.  The rest we got from HEB, the finest grocery store on the planet.  We did still have to pick up several different sausages, but that would depend on space available after Barb worked her 'packing magic'.   This will make for some tasty meals on the wood pit up north in Michigan this summer.  

Pork Belly for bacon

Picanah for BBQ Reverse Sear Grilling

Oxtails for stew

       My menu for our last week was not so inventive.  I chose meals we would both love as well as require minimal prep and cleanup.  Sunday/Monday would be baked spaghetti, a favorite of ours that came from our daughter in law.  After that it was Hot Dogs and FF, Crawfish Antipasto, Beef Rib Meat Tacos, and Beans/Weenies.  Comfort food, even at our age.  The day before departure our neighbor, knowing I wasn't converting to vegetarian, gifted us with about 8 pounds of venison backstraps and sausage.  God bless a friend who knows I didn't get a deer this year.  

Baked Spaghetti

Chicago Dog

       Our chores kept us busy most of the week, but we just paced ourselves and still had time for an afternoon nap. (Insert smiling face here).  We hooked up the RV and got everything in 'final countdown mode' the night before departure.  We didn't have to get up very early as our first day was only 206 miles NE to Salado.  Lock doors, pull out, and close/lock the gate behind us.  Impulse power please......Vaya con Dios, Rotodome Ranch.

"I refuse to accept that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him"

Martin Luther King

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Basque Potato Pepper Richttata

 

      If you're looking for something new or different for either breakfast or dinner, this could be your ticket.  Basque cuisine origins in the northern region of Spain from generations of sheep farmers.  Today, this culture still runs rich in the northern part of Nevada and other areas.  The cuisine is meaty and uses lots of poultry, rabbit, pork, fish, etc.  It celebrates the country culture of seafood and field.  The best thing about a frittata is it can contain, or be, anything you want it to be.  

      A frittata is basically a type of omelet, made with cheese, eggs, meat, etc. whatever you wish.  I do make mine a bit different as you'll see below.  I have a frittata pan which allows me to high heat quick fry and slide out individual pieces intact.  No leftovers, one pan each, one meal.  I do follow the Basque recipe tradition, though.  This is my 'Richttata'.

Extra virgin olive oil 

1/2 small yellow onion, chopped

2 small Yukon gold taters, sliced thin

1/2 half red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

3 eggs

2 sliced thin ham, such as lunchmeat

4 thin slices of goat cheese

1 tsp salt

      In a large, deep skillet, warm olive oil over medium high heat.  Add onion and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, a couple of minutes.  Add the potatoes, bell peppers, a bit more oil and salt and pepper and cook until oil begins to simmer.  Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and lightly browned in places.  Transfer this to a bowl and cool.  

     In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy, season with salt and pepper.  Place sliced ham and cheese on a plate near the range.  Heat the frittata skillet to medium high heat and when warming up add some olive oil.  THE REST HAPPENS QUICKLY.  THE STEPS SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED IN QUICK ORDER

     About the time the skillet begins to smoke a little pour some of the egg mixture onto the pan.  Add the ham and cheese slices evenly over the top and then finish with a handful of the sauteed vegetables. 

Sizzling in a HOT pan 

       Let cook while keeping an eye on the egg mixture so as to cook, but not stick to the pan.  It will not take longer than a minute.  You will NOT turn this over.  Cook to the consistency of (a bit runny) scrambled eggs.  Then just slide off the skillet onto the plate to serve.  One skillet equals one individual helping.  Delicious with a small dinner salad if you wish or just as for breakfast.  

Bon Apetite

NOTE: MY FRITTATA WILL NOT BE A THICK EGG CASSEROLE, BUT A THINNER, MORE DELICATE EGG BASE WITH HAM, CHEESE, VEGETABLE TOPPING.  IT'S KIND OF LIKE AN EGG FAJITA

"If you can't enjoy the art of your cuisine, then you're just cooking"

Rich Hilts

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German Flanken Ribs w/Fig Jam

 

     I discovered Flanken Style ribs years ago when I made a Short Rib Lasagna dinner for my brother-in-law and kids who were putting a new roof on mom's house.  It was a a serious 'hit'.  Beef Flanken Rib Lasagna Since then, I made it again only recently and discovered this type of ribs are not easy to find, obviously a regional thing.  I found them here in South Texas during the winter.  I picked up enough for this recipe as well as to take north this spring.  These are a slimmer rib, crosscut rather than the usual parallel cut of ribs, resulting in a line of small riblet 'coin' bones extruding from the meat. They are still delicious; a rich beef flavor augmented by whatever you choose to season/flavor them with.  

      I love German Food, I have used figs on ribs on the grill once before, but once I found this recipe, I realized it was tailor made German.  You can make them in the oven, on the grill, or smoke them.  I chose the smoke.  No rub, over oak, and low heat, 200F for several hours till internal temps reach 195-205F.    

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 Tbsp fresh chopped thyme

1-1/4 tsp kosher salt - divided

1 rack of beef flanken style ribs (usually 4-5)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 bay leaf

3/4 cup fig jam or preserves

3 Tbsp canned tomato sauce

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground chipotle or ancho pepper

 

      Mix well chicken stock, bay leaf, fig jam, tomato sauce, cider vinegar, and ancho or chipotle pepper.  Set aside. 

Ready to go into the pit

     Fire up wood pit and season ribs with pepper, paprika, thyme, and salt.  Place in pit for 2 hours to 2 ½ hours; until nearly done, pliable, but do not tear off.

Ribs @ 150; baste with fig sauce

Ribs glazed & done at 195F

      Coat ribs with the Fig BBQ mix and return. Return to wood pit or open grill and cook uncovered for an additional hour.  Serve with German Fried Taters, Potato Salad, Breaded Cauliflower, Three Bean Salad, Pickled Red Cabbage, or whatever you desire.  Barb loved these.

Plated with German Fried Taters and Pickled Red Cabbage

"Guten Appetite"

83.2 million Germans

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The Great Tie Quilt Project

 

      This blog chapter takes a well-deserved turn to recognize my wife's labor of love.  Barb loves to quilt and has been doing it for many years.  The last thing she did when visiting her terminally ill Mother was for them to make a quilt together.   She made our son a quilt from all his old collector t shirts and has even taught others how to do the same.  She even made quilts for a couple of our grandsons.  This project was a perfect challenge for her during our winter months at our Texas hideaway.  

      This project is a whole new challenge for her.  She did her pattern and design research first and then once she collected all my ties, setting sail full of ambition.  I wore a lot of ties when I taught elementary from NHL, World Wildlife Federation, Disney, Halloween, Christmas among many others.  A list too long to remember.  It was never about 'dressing up' for me as it was to capture the kid's attention to just how much of a kid I still was.  I even had a collection of Detroit Red Wing ties I wore on game days.  I didn't realize just how many till I saw several storage boxes full of them.  She spent hours each week sitting on the couch disassembling them.  This was my first lesson as I learned quite a bit about tie construction.  I didn't realize there were so many parts to single tie.  When beginning to write this chapter I was amazed at just how many patterns and designs there are for tie quilts.  

Disassembly Tops

Disassembly Bottoms

      Disassembly takes the most time, about 30 minutes for each tie.  I was surprised to learn that there are several different tops and bottoms with each tie not including the backing.

Lining up and tacking down

Lining up and tacking down

The current 'King Size' template

      I was continually amazed at just how large this would be.  I told her so several times during construction, but she had everything set to scale on paper and in her mind.  What an artist!  This was an ambitious project and quite expansive and time consuming.  Barb worked a bit at a time for many, many hours to put it together.  I can only imagine how daunting a project this must have seemed to her.  The final stages were put together in the cabin with Barb pretty much taking over the cabin completely.  

      By the end of January Barb had spent 8 weeks on the project but was only a bit over half done.  At this point she also received her long overdue Christmas present, a new adjustable mount sewing machine table.  Apparently, the supply chain woes continue.  

        As time went along Barb began to realize that this project was getting out of control.  The finished product would be larger than could fit any bed.  She decided to remeasure and explore making 3 separate quilts.  After 13 weeks she had finally finished the 4 quilt squares and just needed to get all the fabric, etc. to finish assembly.  

      In the end Barb spent 16 weeks on this project, literally hundreds of hours hand cutting, stitching, sewing, not to mention several trips to Hobby Lobby for materials.  It was fun to occasionally watch her as she worked, but she preferred to be left alone for her concentration.  We have traveled quite bit since our retirement 10 years ago and as such hasn't left Barb much time for anything but reading.  She loves to sew and when her sister gave Barb her sewing machine Barb decided to bring it to our winter place where she would have the time to invest.  

      Barb has never considered herself to be a craftsman, but she most assuredly is.  She loves the work, the result of her mother's teaching.  The largest, most time-consuming project she has ever completed, she is proud and certainly deserves my admiration and love of the art.  I am certainly proud of her.  

Finished #1

Finished #2 King Size

Finished #3

"Anyone who works on a quilt, who devotes her time, energy, creativity and passion to that art learns to value the work of their hands.  And as any quilter will tell you, a quilter's quilting friends are some of the dearest, most generous, and most supportive people she knows"

Jennifer Chiaverini

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