crucible of ennui

Cat: Soon I’ll be 5, like the boys.

Me: And then you can conquer them.

Cat: Yeah! ON THE HEAD!!

Cat: Mommy, dinner is extra yummy tonight. It feels like it’s giving my tongue kisses.

Okay – I think the sauce recipe I posted earlier wasn’t exactly correct. This time this is exactly how I made it. When I was done I had four 4-gallon bags of sauce to use, freeze or wrestle in.

3 cans of crushed tomatoes. The cans I mean are the HUGE 6lb 6oz cans you buy at a warehouse or Smart & Final.
1 x-large onion. like the size of a newborn head. Dice it up.
4 cloves garlic
1 lb each ground beef and ground pork
2 tbsp each parsley and basil
2 tsp worcester sauce
10 drops tabasco
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Let me just copy and paste the instructions:

If you like mushrooms, decide how much you want in your sauce, then at the very beginning add them to the oil and start browning them just before you add the onions. Remember not to over cook the onions – just till they turn translucent. So – olive oil, onions, garlic – sauté until translucent. Then add the rest of everything, stir and simmer.

If you’re looking to make a meat sauce – decide how heavy a meat sauce you want. I grew up with heavy meat sauces. The kind that held the spoon suspended upright in the pot. This is a great way to use leftover chicken or steak. Before you put your sauce pot on the stove take your meat and begin slicing it very thin with the grain. Then cut it into strips, about 1 inch long and 1/4 inch thick. Place in sauce pot with olive oil and cook until everything just gets done. Then add the rest of the oil, onions and garlic. Then the rest of the ingredients and simmer simmer simmer. Like overnight kinda simmer. I usually start this in the evening so it can become fabulous overnight.

That’s it. And it was perfect.

I took off a Monday early in December and went to Christina’s house to make meatballs. When we were done I think the final count was 180. I used mine for Christmas dinner this year. I made a lasagna and had sauce and meatballs on the side.

Then I rocked out with some mad baking skillz and made Pecan Tassies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and Russian Tea Cakes.  You know I usually suck at baking, right?  As Nana would say, the worm has turned. Or maybe it was just a Christmas miracle.

Before I get to the soup, Catherine is sick. Babylove has the flu and is feeling pretty low. She goes between the living room and her room resting and reading and watching a movie or two.

Peggy inspired me with her lentil soup and I dug around and realized I had everything to make my own so here goes.

1 lb lentils – I ended up using greenish ones.
8 cups liquid – I used 4 cups beef stock, 4 cups water
16 oz diced crushed smashed pureed whatever tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup carrots – I had a bag of julienned carrots left over and just chopped them up a bit
BACON!!! okay… use anywhere from 2 slices (wimp) to 6 slices of BACON!!!
3 tbsp parsley
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic – minced
2 1/2 tsp salt – I didn’t add salt since I used beef stock. If you use all water, add the salt

Saweet – lentils don’t need to be soaked beforehand so rinse them and throw them into the crock pot. Yep. Crock pot. Add liquid, tomatoes, BACON!!!, everything else.

I’m going for 4 hours on high. I may add an additional 2 hours on medium/low if it needs it. So far it smells pretty good. I had some cheddar topped sourdough in the freezer that I pulled out.

I hope this works and Cat eats a bit. She hasn’t eaten today. She’s been able to keep her fluid intake up and everything, but she’s sick. And Mongo won’t leave her side. He’s such a good and loyal boy.

Catherine: Oooo – I’m going to marry that guy!

Me: Who? The guy on TV?

Cat: YES!! He’s sooo cool and handsome!

Me: Baby, that’s Darth Vader…

Cat: YEAH! I wanna marry Darth Vader!!

Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, little Cat.

Me: Cat – what’s the worst hockey team ever?

Cat: You.

Damnit. She did it again.

Rotten smartass kid… just like her mama.

December always starts out with Tamale Weekend and it was totally the best ever this year. My favorite tamales were Peg’s Poblano chile, corn and cheese one. Second were my green chile chicken tamales. I still have a few left to enjoy later this month. I horde them, like precious nuts to a greedy squirrel.

This year I felt pretty confident we knew what we were doing.

This Green Chile & Shredded Chicken filling could be used for burritos or soft tacos or taco salad (you see where I’m going with this…) And the recipe is stupid easy. You know I’m lazy and found a way to do this with minimal effort.

4 cups shredded chicken
6 tablespoons chili powder
4 tablespoons chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cilantro
1 small can chopped green chiles or 1/2 cup

Seriously – pick up 2 roasted chickens from the deli area at the market. Pick them chicken, shred that meat and you will have 4 cups shredded chicken. Mix all ingredients well and set aside. The filling can be made 2 to 3 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator. The flavor is amazing.

I think my favorite part of Tamale Day is the working women dynamic. The stories and jokes fly, loud cackling. Women being women. I think that next year I’m going to give up manning the stove and work more on assembly. I may have control issues with it, so I’m going to step back and let someone else go for it.

I love feeling the masa in my hands and wrapping the tamales. I always wrap mine con amore (and a little bit of spite).

I’m excited about the tamales on the menu for this year’s big day!!

Sweet Red Chile Chicken
Green Chile and Shredded Pork
Spicy Shredded Beef
Green Chile and Shredded Chicken
Sweet Corn, Poblano Chile and Cheese

The for sweet tamales we have:

Dried Cherry, Pecan and Bitter Chocolate
Pineapple
Pumpkin, Raisin and Nut

It’s going to be a busy day.

Cat: I know how to spell “duck”

Me: Go for it!

Cat: F-U-C-K

Me: Oooo – so close.

Besides being a pajama-jammy-jam weekend, Catherine and I have been discussing our hair.

Me: Your hair is very pretty, Cat. Thick and shiny… you’re very lucky! My hair is fine…

Cat: and funky.

Thanks for that editorial. Much appreciated.