mazel tov ... and my finger got bris-ed

I didn't know this, but apparently brisket is a favorite dish of Jewish holiday seders.  Who knew?  I just enjoy eating the delicious nommy meat.  Sorry.  Catholic.

Anyhow, I decided that I was going to make a brisket yesterday.  So I wandered in to Mosley's for one of my usual trips, and said "gimme enough brisket for four people and some leftovers."  $16 and five minutes later, I had me a brisket.

And then ... the scouring of the interwebs for a good recipe began.

Here's what I came up with.  I used my crock pot, because I was going to be home all day.  After the bris of my finger, I opted to just leave the fat on it.

Mmmm, look at that delicious slab of beef!

I put it fat-side-down in my crock pot, and then prepared a delicious rub for the brisket.  Here's what I stirred together and put on the meat side (didn't touch the fat side):

1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 teaspoons dry (ground) mustard
2 teaspoons paprika
3 cloves garlic, put through the press
ground black pepper to taste

I sprinkled the mixture all over the meat, and rubbed it in with my good hand (not the one with the gashes on it).  I made sure I got it all over the sides, too.  It was almost like a crust on the meat.  I tried to decide ... put water in?  Let the fat render down?  Dump some wine in there?  The mind boggled.  I opted for letting the fat do its thing, and didn't put any liquid in.

So I put it on low for 8 hours. And of course, this happened while I waited for the brisket to cook:

I love my Coco puppy.  

And here's what the brisket looked like when it was done:

In hindsight, I think I'd have taken it out after 6 if I had put some liquid in there.  It was so very tasty ... but it could have been tastier, I think.  I paired it with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and handmade pan gravy.  I'll post about that separately, because I've got some great tips to reduce / eliminate lumps.

My family gave this brisket recipe a solid (but not perfect) four "Go Away Cats, This Is Tasty"'s out of five.

sand and water

Been a rough week or two in Casa de Panda.  My husband, who has some serious PTSD, lost his sole surviving relative early this week.  Pappy, his 90-year-old grandfather, was more than just a grandpa ... over the past two years, we've become his support system and his source of entertainment.  I adopted him as my grandpa too, caring for him and visiting him when Panda was too sick to go (he has a host of other health issues, on top of the PTSD).

Anyhow, it's been tough.  I've occupied nearly every free minute with trying to keep my poor husband from spiraling into a crippling depression, and that's involved a lot of cooking.  I have tons to share, so I better get typing.  However, it is very very painful.  I'll show you why, after the jump.  And be warned - photos of ouchies will be shared.  Don't whine to me if you get icked out ... I told you what was coming.

here fishy fishy

We've been on a carnivorous tear lately.  Steak, burgers, brats ... you name it, we eat it.  However, we need to back off of that a bit.

Tonight's dinner was salmon.  My husband, in all of his infinite wisdom, said it was the best dinner he's ever had.  I don't know about that, but here's what we had.

Salmon - I prefer wild-caught.  Farm-raised has a host of concerns, including a sometimes-odd taste.  So, I pay a little extra for wild-caught salmon.  I grilled salmon steaks on my trusty gas grill until a meat thermometer measured 145 in the thickest part of the meat.  Right before they were done, I brushed them with a bit of butter that I prepared with two cloves of garlic (pressed), two wedges of lemon squeezed in, some dill, and some ground pepper. 

Twice-baked potatoes - Again, I'm Irish.  Mmmmm taters.  Anyhow, I baked some regular old potatoes until they were almost done.  I cut them in half, scooped out the guts, and put them in a bowl.  I added a few handfuls of Triple Cheddar Cheese, a splash of milk, and a tablespoon of butter y'all.  I took the mixer to them until they were smooth, and then spooned it back into the potato skins.  I then baked them at 425 for about 15 or 20 minutes until the mashed potatoes were fluffy, and then finished them under the broiler to make them crispy.  I served these with some sour cream and bacon bits.

Overall, it was a good dinner.  As we get further in to fall and winter, I'll miss using my grill.  Ah, who am I kidding?  I'll just open the garage door and cook inside.

my to-do list for this weekend

potayto, pohtahto

Being of the Irish persuasion, I love me some potatoes.  I don't know that I've ever met a potato I didn't like.

However, I also am empirically lazy.  This doesn't really jive with the whole concept of peeling and cooking potatoes.

So, what's a lazy girl to do?

Make my now-infamous Lazy Girl Potatoes.

Here's what you do:

Get yourself some small potatoes. I've recently discovered the super-awesome Klondike Gourmet brand (look at the pretty colors!) ... I got them at Giant Eagle.  If you can't find any cool tiny taters, slice up some new potatoes into quarters.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Throw the raw potatoes into a bowl.  Add the following ingredients:

2 tablespoons EVOO
4-5 cloves of garlic, put through the press
a bit of sea salt and ground black peppercorns
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary leaves (discard the stalks).  If you need to use dried, cut back to about 1 1/2 tablespoons.

Toss the potatoes in the oil and spices.  Make sure that you get a good coating on everything. This is important, because there's nothing suckier than dry potatoes.  Plus, the EVOO will make the skins deliciously crispy.

Once everything is all mixed up, dump the mess into a 13x9 pan.  Throw it in the oven for about 10 minutes.  Stir to ensure a nice even coating of the sludge.  Bake until the potatoes are done ... they should be soft, but still firm.  Mooshy potatoes are disgusting, don't you agree?

Once you get them out of the oven, spoon them into a serving bowl.  Dot with some butter y'all (I use about 3/4 of a tablespoon), and drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinegar.  Toss the potatoes once again to ensure a nice even coating.  Serve hot, and watch your children try to strangle each other for the last of the little joyful spuds.

My family gave this five "I will cut you" threats out of five.

get your ass off the couch.

Part of my quest for work-life balance has been pushing myself toward better self-care.  I've gained more than 100 pounds from my pageant weight (so about 75 pounds from what is considered "healthy" for me), and that's not cool.  I mean, I don't have any problems getting attention from my husband ... but for health's sake, I should take off some of the weight.

I also have some nasty injuries to contend with - I have a all-but-blown Achilles on my left ankle, and the talo / calcaneo ligaments are also shot.  Sadly, the impact from running isn't good for my ankle.  This makes me very sad, since I really do enjoy the peace that a little road work can bring.

I've recently started riding a bike again ... found a suitable one for $40 on Craigslist, and got a $20 "my ass is too big for this" seat from Target.  I am also on MapMyRide ... check me out here.

But oh.  I still love a good run / walk.  So when Run With Jess posted this?  I was TOTES in.

You're reading that right.  Running.  With CUPCAKES.  Or for cupcakes.  What the hell ever ... it's running and cupcakes and YAY.

Here's the deal:  It's a "virtual 5K".  That's 3.1 miles for us English measurement heathens.  You can walk that far, right?  So go register.  During the time span (October 14 -21), walk, walk/run, or run 3.1 miles.  Submit your information and time, and YAY FOR YOU!  She's giving away random-draw prizes, so there's your incentive to get your ass off the couch.

About times:  Look, I'm not a speed demon.  I'm lucky to run waddle a 17-minute mile.  The point isn't how fast you can go.  The point is that you actually WENT.  Besides, even if you're doing like 20+ minute miles?  You're still lapping every lazy blob that is still on their couch.

So ... join me, cupcake.  Get involved in making your health a priority.  Be proud of yourself, take care of yourself, LOVE YOURSELF, and your work life will follow. 

i'm just one short of "crazy cat lady".

I love my pets.  In our house, we have the following menagerie:

1 dog.  Coco is a Yorkie-Bichon mix and he's just about the cutest thing going.  That's his little face on the blog's header.

3 cats.  Sammie wandered in our house two days before Panda and I went off to Jamaica and got married ... we think that her former family moved and dumped her.  She was living on bugs and rain water.  Max is adopted from the Logan County Humane Society, and he charmed me with his purrs and kitty-flops on my birthday (April 4) of 2009.  Dooney charmed Panda with his super-lovey routine and we brought him home from the LCHS too.

2 snakes.  Baby Panda (my 10 year old daughter) has an albino corn snake.  It's a lot like her ... little, fast, brightly colored, and demands attention.  Panda Jr. (my almost 13 year old step-soon-to-be-adopted daughter) has a ball python.  She's pretty shy, just like her owner.

1 praying mantis.  We had a different one, but Coco decided to knock the cage down and eat it.  No, I'm not kidding.

So yeah, we have a bit of a zoo around here.  And so it greatly upset me when I heard about this:

 

We had the Canyon Creek treats in our house, and the Beggin' Strips!  Nice.  I threw them out, because I didn't want to kill my pets.  It was a shame too, because the cats and the dog just loved them.  So, now what's a quasi-domestic furmomma to do?  Much like Cheech And Chong, I just decided that it was best to roll my own.

 

 

I'm a budget shopper.  I refuse to pay full price for just about anything (my Bowers + Wilkins subwoofer excluded).  So, I put my mad coupon skillz to good use.
 

I had a 20% off coupon to Bed Bath and Beyond.  I took my happy ass in there when they were having a sale, and I bought a dehydrator.  I did some research, and the Nesco was the best value at the sub-$100 price point.  So the regular price for the Nesco dehydrator was $59.99.  I then whipped out my 20% off coupon ... BAZINGA! I was out the door with tax and everything for less than $55.00.  And of course, I had to stop and get some meat to try it out.  My first try included some chicken breast and some stew beef.  I chopped them into thin strips, laid them out, turned on the dehydrator, and waited for the magic to happen.

And oh.  Did the magic EVER happen. 

Now, when I'm running low on treats, I stop down at Mosley's and get a pound of stew beef for about $5.  I get home, trim the fat and cut it into 1/2" pieces, and let the dehydrator do it's work for about 6-8 hours.  I then have bagfuls of treats for about $6, including the electricity it took to run the appliance. 

Not to mention ... I like to dehydrate bananas for the dog.  And the kids.  It's a quick (and cheap) treat for them.

If you have pets, and want to keep them healthy, I can't express how easy and quick it is to make your own treats.  No sodium.  No additives.  No chemicals from China that are going to kill them.  Just delicious treats, made with love by the momma.