What are you Cooking the week of March 17, 2019?

[Joan Simpson]

Texas Roadhouse tonight.

[chocomouse]

We had baked chicken thighs with Penzey's Greek seasoning, smashed potatoes, buttercup squash, and a spring greens salad. I've never made smashed potatoes before, and although all the hype seems to be over now, I thought it was time to try. I melted some butter and added roasted garlic and dried shallots to drizzle over the potatoes. It's a little more work than a plain baked potato, but not much, and they were delicious! Of course, butter, garlic, shallots would make anything taste great!!

Speaking of Penzey's -- I'm going to their store in MA next week! I'm so excited. I first went to a Penzey's about 5 years ago in San Diego, about 2 weeks after it's grand opening. Most amazing, wonderful shopping trip I've ever had! The smells, the choices! Of course, it helped that I had to fly to San Diego from the east coast, and also got to walk barefoot on the beach in February, and eat real Mexican food! Do any of you have a Penzey's nearby? I've started my list....

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Thursday, I made salmon and couscous flavored with Penzey’s Greek seasoning. (Great minds think alike, Chocomouse.) We had steamed green beans on the side.

I made a one-egg omelet for lunch on Friday. I used Penzey's Bavarian seasoning (a freebie) to season it. I also used chopped onion and a piece of low-fat Mozzarella string cheese. I ate it on a slice of the bread I baked yesterday.

I mostly make smashed potatoes these days, especially when I can leave the skins on.

Chocomouse--I, alas, have never lived close to a Penzey's, nor does it (like Trader Joe's!) seem to lie along any of our travel routes.

[Mike Nolan]

There's a Penzeys in Indianapolis, but that's probably a good 100 miles away.

The nearest one to us is in Omaha, I think I've been there just once. I've probably been to the one in the Strip District in Pittsburgh more times than that. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

It's not just the mileage but the Indianapolis traffic, not to mention the lack of detour signs for road work and last minute lane announcements.

[Mike Nolan]

The last time we went to Pittsburgh we came back through Indianapolis rather than I-80. It's an hour or two longer, but we thought it was a less stressful drive. Indianapolis traffic was bad, but nothing like having to drive through Chicago. The only real downside was we couldn't stop at a Portillo's in Chicago for Italian Beef sandwiches.

It also allowed us to stop at the North Market in Columbus Ohio. I'm really glad we don't live close to Columbus, I could spent thousands of dollars there every month! Best meat, poultry and fish markets I've seen in 40 years, some pretty good bakeries, too. One case had venison and bison steaks, ground yak meat, ground camel meat, ground elk meat and ground water buffalo meat! When we were there in December of 2016 they had about 5 different varieties of whole duck plus duck breasts and duck legs confit. The only meat market that comes even close to the ones at North Market are at McGinnis Sisters in Monroeville PA.

[Joan Simpson]

Neither Penzey's or Trader Joe's are in our town.Biggest thing here is Sam's.Wish we had a Cosco's nearest one is in Tallahassee.
Tonight we had stew beef,I browned it then made gravy with onions and baked it for 2 hours,it was very tender,with left over black eyed peas and fresh potato salad.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Friday—and for the next couple of nights—I again made One-Pot Tarragon Chicken, Mushrooms, and Rice, a recipe that I tried earlier this year. This time I was careful not to overdo the liquid, and I increased the brown rice to 2 cups uncooked. I also cooked it in a larger rectangular roasting pan, which made it a bit difficult to bring the liquids to a boil initially. We had this entrée with steamed broccoli, done in the microwave.

[Mike Nolan]

We had tuna salad sandwiches tonight.

[chocomouse]

Last night we had fresh, still hot, maple syrup from our first boil of the year! So we had Vermont sausage and blueberry pancakes. We got quite an ice/sleet/freezing rain/snow storm for the past 24 hours, so we won't be making more syrup for at least another day.

So sorry most of you really don't have easy access to a Penzey store. I know you can mail order, but the in-store experience is so amazing. We will be driving 2 and a half hours to the store, and on the way back home will meet friends for lunch and then stop at Trader Joes. That is about 1 and a half hours from home, and one that we pass by 10-15 times a year so we have our standard shopping lists for those trips.

[Joan Simpson]

Chocomouse my Granddaddy use to make cane syrup so I know that's lots of work but so rewarding.It must be nice to get that warm syrup on some pancakes!Happy syrup making to you!

[chocomouse]

Joan, we used to make it the old-fashioned way, probably the way your Granddaddy made it, with buckets hanging on the trees to collect the sap, horse and wagon (and then snowmobiles) to gather, and a wood fire which required hours and hours of logging to get the firewood. About five years ago, we started using plastic tubing hung from tree to tree, and a generator in the woods to pump the sap from intermediate gathering tanks up to the sugarhouse. Then we added a vacuum pump to literally "suck" the sap out of the trees, and last year a reverse osmosis machine to separate some of the water from the sap before boiling to evaporate the remainder of the water. Last summer, my husband decided to go commercial (he's 75 and retired 3 years ago from his paid job) so he and my son built a new huge sugarhouse (not finished, no roof yet) with an oil-fired burner and lots of sophisticated equipment.
We're not going make enough syrup to sell much this year - all the carefully laid plans were delayed, and we are lucky to be able to make any syrup this year, but after another summer of construction, it should no longer be a family hobby, but a viable business. We live about 7 miles away from the sugaring area, but he has all electronic equipment, connected to his iPhone/Watch so he can monitor it from home. It's hardly hard work any more! And he is healthy and happy and able to enjoy his new toys! I wish I could share the delicious syrup with all of you!

[Mike Nolan]

Have you thought about how you're going to market your product when you have enough to sell?

There's a Wisconsin maple syrup producer who makes the circuit of the midwest/great plains farmer's markets in the summer, going as far west as Denver. He usually is in Lincoln around the 4th of July, we get an email from him every spring letting us know when he'll be in the area.

We're planning to be in the Valley Forge PA area for a convention this summer, but that's still 450-500 miles from Vermont. Otherwise, I'd love to come visit and see your setup, although right now is probably the best time to visit a maple sugar facility. There were a few small groves of sugar maples near where I grew up in NW Illinois, and one or two of the farmers would tap them. You could smell their sugar shacks in operation from several miles away. And these were really small operations.

[Joan Simpson]

Chocomouse my Granddaddy use to grind the sugar cane that the stalks were fed through the grinder and pressed all the juice out then they put it in a big syrup kettle and kept it cooking for awhile skimming the foam off and after it was cooked bottled it up,man that was some good stuff.Several places around us still do this but it's generally done in November around Thanksgiving.When my granddaddy first did this the grinder was powered by a mule ,he walked around and round in a circle to make the grinder go,now most people use a motor with a belt to run the grinder. Memories...big smile here.I would love to see y'alls setup.

[chocomouse]

Mike, we don't even have to think about marketing. Word of mouth works great! Last year we increased production quite a bit, although we didn't have all the new hi-tech equipment (plus, we need to tap many more trees) to reach maximum output. We sold everything we made, and gave away about the same amount we have been giving family and friends for years. Today, it looks like the season will be over after next weekend, as the forecast (which certainly could change!) predicts temperatures above freezing at night, so the sap won't run. For a couple of years, I have been selling syrup at the Sheep and Wool Festivals I attend throughout the year, in Illinois, Michigan, NY, Maryland and shows in New England - not so much for profit but as a conversation starter and promotion of agriculture.

Joan, that's very interesting about the cane syrup processing. It's sad to see the old methods disappear, but so much less work for the farmers. Of course, then there is the problem with "big" producers moving in and driving out the little guys. But maple sugaring is so much a part of our New England roots, and is promoted well by our state and local governments, it's a huge tourist attraction. Maybe the cane syrup industry is also in your area?

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