Family Chow Hall

Being a home schooling mother of five, I visit our local library regularly. Actually, I visit it once a week, a scheduled visit which several of my kids would sorely miss if I skipped it. One likes to research animals and their behavior, one likes to read old-fashioned children’s stories and mysteries, one likes everything from comics to science books, the littlest one likes to rent movies. I usually pick something for my husband, who is an avid reader of all types of books, and I like to borrow some fiction for myself.

Many people don’t realize that the library also lends cookbooks. Yes, there is an entire section of your library — the shelves are stuffed full of cookbooks! Not sure you want to buy it? Borrow it first and spend a couple of weeks testing some of the recipes. Or, maybe a friend you want to have over for dinner is diabetic - borrow a diabetic cookbook for the occasion. Interested in food from other cultures? My library has an entire series of short cookbooks entitled, “Cooking the _________ Way.” I can pick from South American, German, Italian, Greek, or Japanese cuisine and more. You might decide to do International Food Day (or week) at your house. Want to make your kids some really special cookies on the last day of school? Choose a cookie cookbook from the shelf.

You can learn more about wine, cheese, beer, grains, meats, grilling, pastries, old-fashioned cooking, top picks from favorite magazines…. I could go on and on.

Last week, I had these cookbooks in my kitchen… “The Best of the Best,” a selection of recipes from the 25 best cookbooks of the year. I had “Best-Kept Secrets of Healthy Cooking,” there were some really tasty recipes in that one and I’m considering buying it. One was Pumpkin Gingerbread with very little oil, whole-wheat flour, and no eggs, which surprised me by turning out very well. I also had Better Homes and Gardens’ “The New Dieter’s Cookbook,” which had an abundance of delicious low-fat recipes.

If you are curious about a particular chef, check them out by borrowing one of their books. I spotted Emeril, Rachel Ray, and others on the shelf at my library.

And with electronic catalogs, finding books at your library is easier than ever. Most now have an online catalog, so you can search the topic or author, find the book you want, and copy the decimal code for easy finding at the library. You may even be able to place a hold on the book(s) you want and your librarian will have it ready for you when you arrive.

I know this post sounds like a commercial for your public library and I guess it is. I think that our libraries are a wonderful but sadly underused resource. In our materialistic society, we often buy and then discard. Personally, I almost always preview books at the library before I ever think about buying them.

It’s been awhile ago, but I have discussed before the age-old question of which outdoor-cooking method is best: Charcoal or Propane. The answer of course is both and neither. For convenience, you can’t beat the propane. For taste, you gotta go for the charcoal. For initial outlay of cash, the charcoal grill is cheaper. But in the long run, buying charcoal instead of propane costs more. Deciding between the two is quite a dilemma.

A few weeks ago, my longtime friend the propane grill bit the big one. I had replaced the burner in it several times and had vowed I wouldn’t do so again, since the bottom was well on its way to being rusted out. So, when we ran out of fuel, we said our last goodbyes and left it out on the curb. Sniff, sniff.

For various reasons, we decided to go for a charcoal grill this time around. DH has been wanting one for 6 years, and I wanted a bigger cooking area without laying out the initial bucks. Still, to get a decent-sized charcoal grill, we paid $75 plus we bought a chimney/starter thingy and some long-handled tongs. Add lighter fluid and charcoal and we still dropped a hundred dollars.

Because I’m not good at and don’t enjoy lighting the darn thing, I’m trying to really put it to use when I do get it lit. I’ve been putting extra meat on it, enough for at least one meal of leftovers, and also some vegetables… potatoes, onions, mushrooms etc.

Last week, we had this meal on it… the entire meal was cooked on the grill…

Lemon Pepper Pork boneless pork chops
Lemon Pepper Asparagus spears
Sliced Potatoes and onions

Sliced Potatoes and Onions

Thinly slice small redskin potatoes and some sweet onions. Lately I’ve been buying Mayan Sweets at the grocery and they have a really good flavor when cooked. Tear off two or three rectangles of foil and spray with cooking spray. Lay the spuds and onions in the center of the foil, spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Maybe some garlic powder, too. Fold the sides over — the potatoes don’t have to be covered, but we don’t want to lose any! These will take 20 minutes or so on a hot grill. Get them going over the hottest part and then shift them away when you need to put the meat on.

Lemon Pepper Asparagus Spears

Same routine as the potatoes. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Lay the washed spears on top, spray the spears. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper. Fold the foil over. These will take about 10-15 minutes on a hot grill, so put them on just a few minutes after the potatoes.

Lemon Pepper Pork Chops

Earlier in the day, marinade the pork in a ziploc baggie with water, soy sauce, and either worcestershire sauce or lemon juice. When the coals are hot, pat them dry and cover with lemon pepper. Add to the hottest part of the grill when the potatoes have been on for 15 minutes. Cook 5 minutes or so, then flip and cook another 5.

Cooking times, of course, depend on how hot your fire is. This can be difficult to fine-tune. White coals are the hottest, of course. If you hold your hand over the coals and have to pull away, that’s a good hot fire.

ENJOY!

They say necessity is the mother of invention and I sure believe it. This morning I realized I was out of bread. This brought on a mini baking frenzy which ended this afternoon. The result: 2 new bread flavors I’d never even considered before.

Some people, probably most people, would have just skipped off to the nearest grocery and picked up a loaf or two of bread. Not me. I try to stay away from the grocery mid-week. I mean, hey, a trip to the grocery for a gallon of milk can easily cost me $40 or more. I pick things up simply because they are on sale, I am hungry, I’ve got a winy kid with me, or they just look good. So, when I run out of bread, I bake bread. It may take more time, but it saves the dough (pun intended.)

Experimenting with the whole grains is another thing I like to do, and since I’ve got a bread machine, all of this is really pretty simple. Exchange a few ingredients and you have an entirely different-tasting fresh homemade bread. The trouble is that when it’s homemade, the family eats more of it and faster so I have to make 4 or even 6 loaves to replace 1 or 2 store-bought loaves of bread.

The first of today’s batches included Old-Fashioned Oats and Almonds. YUM! I suspect this will be delicious tomorrow morning with butter and orange marmalade.

Almond Crunch Oatmeal Bread
makes 2 loaves

1 1/2 c. water
2 T. olive oil
2 T. sugar
1 1/2 t. salt
1 c. finely chopped whole oats with almonds
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 c. white flour
2 1/4 t. yeast

Into the bread machine goes: water, oil, sugar, salt.

Next, into the chopper: Old Fashioned oats and slivered almonds. Sorry, folks, I didn’t measure before chopping, only afterward. It looked like maybe 1 1/2 cups before chopping. Maybe 1/3 c. of this was the almonds. Obviously, these amounts are very forgiving. Basically, you need 4 cups of dry ingredients.

Add the oats, nuts, and both flours to the wet ingredients that are in the bread machine already. Make a little well and add the yeast. I’ve always added my yeast this way and never have a problem with it.

Set the bread machine cycle to “dough.” I never use my machine for baking. The crust is always too thick and tough. When it is done with the dough cycle, I turn it onto a floured cutting board, knead it a few times, and then divide it in half. Form each into a small loaf shape. Next I spray my trusty old glass loaf pans and place the dough into them.

After about an hour, the dough should be roughly doubled in size. This could be more or less than an hour, depending on the room temperature. At that time, heat the oven to 375 and bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown on top.

Remove from the oven. About 10 minutes later, remove from the pans. Do not attempt to cut it yet. (This is where my kids always fail me. They cut, the loaf smashes and is a flattened, non-loaf shape ever after. But, hey, the important part is that they got a piece of it while it was warm!) It will slice much better after cooling. If you absolutely HAVE to have a warm slice, wait at least 5 more minutes - the longer you wait the better it will hold its shape.

And THAT, my friends, is how you make Almond Crunch Oatmeal Bread. A sure way to please any bread-lover. If you’re trying to get out of the doghouse with the husband (or wife) for some reason, try this one out. Serve with butter and jam.