Small Electrics

My name is Fran and i am powerless over small electric kitchen appliances. I have three food processors in small, medium, and large; a toaster oven; a panini grill that does a good job with fish and veggies, and two slow cookers, one small and one huge.

At first glance, it sounds nuts. In our case, they make sense. I only use the oven if something just won’t fit in the above-mentioned inventory. Our household consists of one male human, one female human, and one canine male. The panini maker and toaster oven fit our needs for dry heat cooking pretty well. The slow cookers use a lot less energy than the oven, and are safer than cooking something on the stove top for a similar amount of time. The food processors? The big one was a wedding gift from my dad, still in service after 27 years. The two smaller ones were recent acquisitions. One is for salad dressings and smoothies. The other one is good for mincing and chopping.

Some of my toys will be put to good use when I cook dinner tonight. It’s feeling spring-like today, so perhaps some grilled salmon and asparagus are in order. Tomorrow will be rather rainy, so a small slow cooker of lentil soup will be on the menu.

Yes, some might see it as an addiction, But you can’t cook dinner in a pair of shoes.  

The Valentine’s Feast

Yesterday brought roses, chocolate, and a card from Hubby. It also brought a package from Amy’s Organics (http://amysorganics.org) that contained a stewing hen from a local farm, a bison pot roast, and a trout fillet from way up north in Wisconsin or Michigan. 

Trout is a staple of northwoods cuisine. The good stuff is mild but flavorful, like last night’s, and likes very simple preparation to let the subtle flavor shine through. When the Ojibwae had honored guests, they would use maple as a flavoring. Since it was our anniversary as well as Hearts and Flowers Day, I wanted to do something a little special.

I melted a tablespoon of butter, combined it with a dab of Dijon, and a goodly amount of maple syrup and enough brown sugar to keep it from running all over the pan. The trout went into a parchment paper-lined pan, received a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and the maple-mustard-butter went over the top. It hung out in the oven with a pan of cauliflower and sweet potatoes at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Hubby and Oakley both enjoyed the fish immensely. We have enough left over for a few more meals–perhaps a salad with a good mayo and some grated carrot and chopped celery on a bed of lettuce or as a sandwich for dinner tonight. 

Talking with the Animals

This last weekend, I worked at Oswego Central Bark’s Puppy Bowl. The event raised $3000 for local rescue groups.

 

I met one person who was interested in a communication session for her dog, but wanted to learn more. Dear One, I’m sorry that I didn’t catch your name, but here is a link to a good video about communicating with any animal: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEK1cWVjaRE

The biggest issue is trusting yourself.