Fall is in the air, love the cool mornings and warmer in the afternoon.
I am ready for all the smoke to be gone, not good for the sinuses. Once we get a bit of rain it should wash the air, and everything will be clean and fresh again
Traveling Neighbors
Some of our neighbors are off and running.
- Cheri is back from a cruise on the Great Lakes, an interesting venue. She enjoyed seeing such places and Niagara Falls and other sites we have all read about. She had this trip planned before Covid hit so is happy to finally get to go since she has it planned for so long.
- Edy and David are headed down to N. Carolina for a granddaughter wedding, it looks like they might have to deal with a bit of rain. Edy then is off to the UK for another work trip later in the month.
- Carole is on a trip she has had planned for a couple of years. She and family are off on a tour of Italy. I’m so envious, Italy is one of my favorite places, we have had the opportunity to visit several times. I’m sure she will have a great time and I’m anxious to hear all about her trip.
- I’m finally going to get a chance to satisfy my urge to travel. I’m off to Charleston and Savannah. I’m traveling with one of my nieces who hasn’t been to that area so it will be fun to show her one our favorite places to visit.
Hopefully we will get some trip reports from our traveling neighbors for next month’s blog.
Recipe du Jour
Rigatoni with Sausage and Tomato Cream Sauce
Recipe from Food and Wine
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds mild or hot Italian sausage, casings removed (I often buy bulk sausage from Central Market) saves removing the casings and I often get Chicken Italian sausage instead of pork.
- medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 1 ½ canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (15 oz. can)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp fresh-ground black pepper
- ¼ c chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup light cream
- 1 pound rigatoni
- Grated Parmesan for serving
Step 1
In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat, until it is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the sausage from the pan. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat.
Step 2
Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until it is almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sausage, tomatoes, and salt. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add pepper, parsley, and cream.
Step 3
In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the rigatoni until just done, about 14 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan.
(I added a bit of red pepper flakes and oregano) I like it with a bit more spice.
Community Activities
A friend and I went to the Edmonds Senior Center/Edmonds Waterfront Center for lunch last week. The deal for lunch, if you are a member then lunch is $5:00, if not then it is $15. The food is supplied by the group that owns Salt & Iron in Edmonds in addition to several other restaurants in the area. There was music that was quite enjoyable while we had our lunch. In addition to lunch available there is a multitude of other activities from Bingo to clogging and mah jong classes of all sorts–also some health care opportunities, such as foot care. For more information check out their website www.edmondswaterfrontcenter.org. I will leave one of the newsletters down on the table in the Book Nook for anyone to look at if you’re at all interested. Please leave it for others to read.
Book club meeting at Linda’s was a success. Linda did a great job leading the discussion of the book, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. She also offered some 
of her famous and fantastic carrot cake. The Oct. meeting will be at Bev’s (310) so come one and all. We will be discussing The Daughters of Yalta by Catherine Grace. I’m just starting to read it, interesting to read about the background of one of the most important meetings in WW11 of Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt. Be sure to let Bev know if you plan to attend
Annual Christmas Appetizer Party
Are you ready to party again?? The annual Christmas party is coming up, the previous date has always been on the 1st Sunday in Dec, which this year falls on Dec. 4th. It is a good time to kick off the Christmas season with a bang. We gather in the Book Nook/library for heavy appetizers and whatever type of beverage you might enjoy. This party will be easier to set up, just moving some of the tables about tables and chairs and arranging the food and beverages. We will get a sign-up sheet available for you to note what you might bring this way we don’t get duplicates and a variety of yummy goodies to enjoy.
Tips Du Jour
Fruit flies
I have previously given a tip on how to get rid of those pesky fruit flies that so love to hang around any fruit you may have on your counter. My all-time favorite method of getting rid of the nasty critters is to put some water, a little vinegar, and a drop or two of liquid dish soap into a small bowl or ramekin, put some Saran wrap tightly over the top and poke about 3 holes in it with a knife. We call this our fruit fly swimming pool and check it quite often to see how many we have swimming.
Recently I read about another method, this time again in a ramekin you take a part of a banana peel, stick a toothpick into it. I added a bit of water and dish soap. Right now in my comparison test the banana ramekin seems to be attracting more of the pesky beasts than the simple, vinegar/dish soap and water ramekin.
Brining
One of my secrets to serving moist juicy pork chops and chicken is to brine the pieces or even a whole chicken and other cuts of meat. One of the problems have it is to remember to take the time before I’m ready to cook to get the product in the brine. It only takes a short time, depending on the cut of meat. I also brine shrimp and salmon.
BRINNING 101
The process of bringing (or soaking meat in а solution of water, salt, and sometimes sugar before cooking) can dramatically improve the flavor and tenderness of chicken, turkey, and pork. As it soaks, the meat absorbs the brine, and then retains it during cooking. The result? The juiciest and best-tasting poultry or pork you’ve ever eaten. Best of all, brining is easy; all you need is some refrigerator space, а little time, and а container big enough to submerge the meat fully in the brine. Brining isn’t essential, but we highly recommend it in simple roasted or grilled recipes.
Do not brine kosher poultry, frozen injected turkeys (such as Butterball), or enhanced pork. Before they make it to supermarket shelves, these products are treated with salt in one form or another. We have made this mistake before; brining any of these products only intensifies these treatments, resulting in virtually inedible meat. If in doubt, check labels, which always indicate if salt has been added during processing.
Salt: Table versus Kosher
Table salt was used for all the brines in the chart below, although kosher salt can be substituted. It is important to note, however, that cup for cup, table salt is stronger than kosher salt. If you use kosher salt in а brine, multiply the amount of salt called for in the chart by 1 1/2 times.
Because turkey must roast for an extended amount of time, the sugar in the brine will cause over-browning. Therefore, we omit the sugar in the brine for turkeys.
Useful tool/Spice racks
I have and use a lot of dried herbs and spices. I got tired of hunting for them in the cupboard that had limited space. After a bit of research on the web we found the perfect answer. I know not all your units are configured in the same way as ours, we have a pantry with a perfect space on the back of the door to hang the spice racks. We have put up two kits which works out for us. The kits come with jars, labels, and the racks. Jerry used command hooks to attach them to the door, he put it up in a short time. After seeing our application Edy and David got some for their kitchen and are very happy with the installation. It certainly is a life saver, well maybe that is a bit dramatic, but definitely a time saver.
We found them on Amazon.
Set of 4 Wall Mounted Spice Racks for Kitchen, 24 Square Glass Herb Jars with Lids, 269 Clear Minimalist Seasoning Labels in 2 Styles
$37.95
Sold by Talented Kitchen and Fulfilled by Amazon.
This month I didn’t receive any content from anyone to contribute to the blog. If I’m going to continue with publishing a blog contributions would be much appreciated.
Happy Halloween, enjoy all the ghosts and gobblins, maybe we will have some visit this year.
Don’t forget to Vote!!!!!