Winter Musings

Well, I’m sort of back.  Here are two new recipes for cold winter days.  We have been inundated with very fluffy, but blinding snow, and I keep getting hurt shoveling or sliding in it.  I’m forbidden to mess around with the snow these days, and my wonderful fourteen-year-old little guy used his snow day to clear the driveway so I don’t get stuck into the incline going u. It is a very treacherous incline; you wouldn’t think it’s there till winter comes, and the street is too narrow to stop along, very frustrating.  Many’s the time I’ve had to lie next to the car, knife in one hand, battery run blow dryer in the other, shovel weighting, trying to melt my car out of a drift!  The neighbors, mostly middle aged men, all go by and wave.  They must think it’s my version of winter zumba.

 

Alls is well, but overwhelming.  It seems everything is out of control, yet all I do is work, home and office.  Liz, Volume I of the Bathor Chronicles is finished, as is All the Dolls in the World, an illustrated children’s volume.  A History of Metal Dolls is about to go to publication, finally!

 

I have stacks of magazines on green living to share, and ideas from our green café as well.  There is our local Radish, and Wellness, and dozens of others I get here and there that I wish to share.

 

There are also books now on black flowers, which make me want to garden right away.  I have saved a poinsettia, and my indoor Geraniums are thriving. 

 

Our local weatherman noted today that between the lightest/longest day of the year nad the shortest we lose six hours of sunlight.  I can believe it.  I find that very depressing indeed.

 

About to watch Samantha on Bewitched, who is now on in BW, the early shows I don’t remember.  One of the highlights of my life was when my mom took me to see Agnes Moorhead, dressed as Endorra, all in rose chiffon.  She had come to be a guest lecturer at the high school where my mom taught.  I was five, and thrilled to the bone.  The mackerel loaf is a variation of her Salmon loaf, made with canned Salmon.  How I miss her.

 

Ellen’s Chicken a la King

 

1 can Swanson’s chicken a la king, about 6 oz.

1 can cream of mushroom soup, about 8 oz

¼ small onion, diced

Two stalks celery, diced

3 Tbs melted butter

Flour

About 3 c. skim milk

Thinly sliced fresh zucchini

Enough boiled spaghetti for 3-4 guests

 

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven, big enough to cook for 4.

Sauté celery and onion until clarified

Add flour, about 3 Tbs. and take off heat.  Begin to make a roux

Add skim milk slowly and blend roux into milk with celery and onions in it

Blend well over low heat, bring to a bubble but stir constantly

 

Add cans of soup, stirring constantly

Bring to boil and lower again

Add sliced zucchini and cook till just tender.

 

Serve over well-drained al dente spaghetti or noodles. Season as desired.

 

Serve with wild green, beat, fresh queso salad with light sesame ginger dressing

 

 

Mackerel Loaf

 

1 12 oz can mackerel

Two stalks celery sliced

Sliced onion, one small yellow onion or shallots

Seasoning to taste

Thyme

Italian style breadcrumbs

Two eggs, beaten

Tree round teaspoons I can’t Believe it’s Not Butter

Cooking Spray

Crumbled vinegar and salt chips.

 

 

Spray bottom of nine inch loaf tin, or use glass.  Combine all ingredients well and mold into tin or baking dish.  Embed butter into mix.  Crumble vinegar and salt chips over the mixture.  Sprinkle with thyme and seasonings.

 

Bake at about 400 degrees for thirty minutes. Serve with salad or fresh, sliced fruit or crudités.

 

Salmon or Mackerel Salad

 

1 can of either fish, about 12 oz.

Sliced stalks of salary

Sliced onions

Diced hardboiled eggs, optional

Olive oil

Lemon juice

 

Combine all ingredients, mix well, and chill in fridge.  Serve with fresh bread, iced tea, and salad of choice.