Our 262-mile We'll-be-at-Swiftsure-next-year Memorial Day Friday dinner

It's hailing at our house and the weather person says it'll rain hard all weekend, so I walked to the farm stand and foraged for provisions.

Tonight's menu:

• Roasted Russet potatoes and Wilamette Valley red onions with summer savory and oregano (from the back porch), cracked black pepper, and yellow mustard seeds

under

• Sauvie Island Rainbow Chard and Red Russian Kale, lightly steam-sauteed

with

• Velveteen sauce (Walla Walla Sweet spring onions, locally grown cremini mushrooms, Hoodsport Riesling, organic blonde miso, stone-ground dijon mustard and a handful of fresh local garlic; sauteed in surprisingly little butter and olive oil then reduced in vegetable stock)

And for dessert:

• Strawberries and goat cheese on tiny nubbins of Aunt Sis' shortbread

Let's see if I can get the shortbread in the oven before Trish gets home....

Mushrooms, Polenta, & Chard, Oh My!

The Jess update!  Thanks, Jess.  :)

After a late morning run, the three human habitants of the house took an adventure to our most local WinCo armed with a shopping list to fulfill our mealtime needs for the coming week:

4 kinds of leafy greens
dried beans (3 or 4 kinds)
cilantro
onions (yellow, red, green)
tomatoes
leeks
red/yellow bell pepper
hot chiles
celery
carrots
oranges
apples
grapefruit
bananas
cauliflower
broccoli
almond milk
peas
corn
barley
steel cut oatmeal
regualr oatmeal
bay leaves
peanut/almond butter
almonds
lemon juice
asiago cheese
ziploc freezer bags
yogurt
1/2 gallon milk
box of pint size canning jars
ice cube trays
chocolate chips
eggs
cottage cheese


We approached the checkout feeling accomplished, having filled our cart almost entirely box-free.  The checkout clerk even commented that we eat healthy after entering our multiple sacks of bulk grains and veggies.

Upon our return to the house, we whipped up a delicious batch of cowboy killer cookies or granola drops depending on whom you ask.  These delicious gems baked up as we played a game of scrabble and enjoyed some wine and cheese.  Next up: Dinner preparation.

Our collective household cooperatively whipped up Mushroom Polenta Pie and a Southwestern Black Bean Squash puree.  While the process was fun and the dish quite colorful, we've decided the Moosewood Low-Fat Cookbook should be retitled Low-Flavor Entrees and added it to our "do-not-use" list.  It may be finding its way to a recycle bin near you!  We've captured the events on film to be shared soon.

colcannon of sorts

I started with:

1.5 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 pound of Brussels sprouts, scrubbed, with the yucky ends cut off
6 ounces of cheap beer
1.5 tsp dry mustard
salt and pepper

pile into a casserole with a lid, and bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 25 minutes.

add 2 tsp vegetable oil, stir, and bake for another 20 minutes

uncover and add 2 oz of grated Jarlsberg

bake for 20 more minutes until the potatoes are done.

Happy new year!