CHANGE OF PACE

At 7am Wednesday it was 9 degrees on my porch and I had decided that unless it was necessary I was not going out. A doctor’s appointment and the Charter Study Commission meeting at 7:30 will probably be the extent of my forays into the cold on Thursday. Maybe dinner before the meeting time.

I had decided that neither Wednesday or Thursday should be spoiled by moaning about or bemoaning Plainfield’s cross; its Council. I would indulge in a pleasurable recreation; cooking. It is of course only OK if someone else scrubs the vegetables and cleans the pots and pans, two jobs I dislike.

About 15 or so years ago when I finally retired for the second time and my wife’s Alzheimer’s had reached a stage where it was dangerous for her to be at the stove, I decided to be the cook. At first that meant microwaving frozen meals but as I got braver it was not only steaks and chops but also packaged and fresh potatoes, rice, and pasta.  Anything that went into the oven was off limits and with the exception of the convection oven remains so to this day. I did graduate to such dishes as Ratatouille and a great Kielbasa and cabbage that called for Granny Smith Apples.

For several years I have been a devote of the crock pot, since I can effortlessly make several day's meals.

Like many families for perhaps 60 years it had been this family’s tradition to have a large 24Dec.eve family meal, originally Helen was the cook but gradually when the girls flew the coop and had their own families they would do the cooking. As Helen’s diseased advanced several times we brought in one of the catered meals; of which I was fond of none. Thus for several years my granddaughter brought for me two standing rib roasts from Ohio. Guess who paid for it.

This year since my granddaughter could not get here until the 23^rd and one of my son-in-laws had bypass surgery the day after Thanksgiving and there was a question if they could even come by train from Roanoke via Lynchburg to Menlo Park. He did get clearance to drive. However, it was decided to have a certain restaurant prepare the meal which we would heat in time to serve. It turned out to be one of the best two meals we had ever had.

Why this long diatribe? Well I am coming to the point. Usually the caterer supplied sterno heaters and pans, this time we would not have them so the girls planned to collect about 4 crock pots to keep things warm.  Kohl’s had a sale, and I got a three holler for about $40 which served as a warmer. I am getting to the point.

I decided it would be fun to prepare two or three recipies for freezing; each would make about three meals. So today in my usual improvising mode as we cooks do when we do not have all the called for ingredients I prepared a Veal Stew, and Kielbasa and Peppers in another one of the pots. The third pot I used to make something I had a hankering for; stewed dried fruit.

I will not give anyone the recipes because I am weird and like to put Turnips, Parsnips and beets in my stews plus plenty of garlic. The sausage and peppers was improvised from parts of two recipes but will be great with rice. And the stew; delightfully unusual.

Isn’t this better than fussing about OZ and the city government?

Since the County will not delve into  an in depth investigation of Plainfield's books; there will be no changes until there is a sufficient outpouring of anger by concerned residents in sufficient numbers to embarrass Trenton. The comments to Bernice's post yesterday could be a start. I would post a blog devoted  comments about to these issues  however for my protection I need to know the identity of all anonymous posters.That info would then be kept in confidence.