Reminder, Mother's Day is Coming!

I have been reminding everyone that Mother’s Day is May 9th! Of course, it goes without saying that Moms who cook would enjoy a great Mother’s Day gift related to her kitchen. It could be a lovely breakfast in bed, brunch with the family, a picnic in the woods, or dinner at home around a family movie!


I always have loved a new cookbook or an old one at that! A new set of recipe cards or a few new wooden spoons have always been appreciated.

Whatever it is, check out some of my advertisers for their Mother’s Day Specials! I love to get magazines as a gift. Every month brings something new! I can share them with friends, donate to the library, or just toss them in the recycle bin when I have eked out every new bit of information.

A gift card to a kitchen store is a great gift. That way, Mom can pick out the specific pans and pots, plates and bowls, shiny new utensils, small appliances, towels and pot holders, her heart desires.

Today, I have been posting about my advertisers and how by entering their sites from my blogs, to make your purchases, you can help to support me and my blogging. Truthfully, I make a very small commission on every purchase you make by entering the shopping site from my blog. I thank you for your support.

Whatever you get for the mom in your life – just make sure to give it with all your love.

All-American Stew

When I was cleaning out the fridge, I found a nice chunk of London Broil. I got this fabulous buy on London Broil a while back. So, I cut it into smaller pieces of about one pound each and froze them. This one was destined for a great cool spring stew. (This time of year reminds me of lamb stew; but Scott will not eat lamb or mutton. Not that I blame him. But sometimes I like lamb stew.)

 

I thought I would use the slow cooker for this. Scott loves foods cooked in a slow cooker. I prefer either stovetop or even oven cooked. Guess I was in a good mood because I was making food the way he likes.

 

Okay, about an hour before dinner, I checked on the stew. It was watery, the veggies weren’t cooking, and I was getting frustrated over the pets being little devils all day. So I just dumped it all into a Dutch oven and brought it to a boil and voila, stew!

Ragout, a Great Way to Use Up Loads of Veggies!

We have been living on take-out and frozen dinner stuffs for the past few weeks. Either one or both of us have been too sick to really care about our meals. We just wanted something to eat so we could go back to bed and sleep. Now we are back to semi-normal (okay, it is never normal around here) so how about eating some good food!
My first job, now that I am feeling better, was to tackle cleaning the kitchen. Scott had helped by running the dishwasher every now and then. But the refrigerator was something out of this world. I had just done the shopping when we both got super sick.

So, there are all the lovely fresh veggies just hung out, chillin’; getting older, softer, losing vitamins. What to do?

Make a ragout!  A ragout is a well-seasoned stew in the French tradition.

Here is a ragout in the Susan tradition:

Smoked Salmon Dinner

Since our daughter Selene has moved her family to the High Desert, they have missed the Oregon Coast. Monday; she, Nate (her boyfriend), and their dog (Kukka) went to the coast for the day. I got to keep 17 month old Lennon!  They had lunch at a favorite restaurant and played on the beach for ten minutes, before the wind picked up and it started hailing. That’s when they hit the fishmongers.

We taught her well. They brought back some dry-smoked salmon. Scott and I had a discussion on how we were going to serve it. Usually, we just eat it as a snack. I have mixed it with mayo and dill pickles for a tasty sandwich. Of course, you can’t beat it with cream cheese on a bagel for breakfast, either.

 Here’s what we came up with:

Chicken Cacciatore

Way back when, I found a recipe for Chicken in Spaghetti Sauce. I fixed it, we ate it, Scott likes it once in a while, and I love it anytime. Later, I found the dish was called Chicken Cacciatore, Chicken in the Style of the Hunter. It is robust and flavorful. I like serving it for company dinners. Two cut up chickens in the sauce with spaghetti, garlic bread, and a salad will feed 8 to 10 people.