Fickle February!

 

It's raining again today. I have to admit that the month of February has never been near the top of my list of favorite times of the year. It's not so much the ever changing weather this month seems to bring to the southeast, but more like the days are often veiled in gauze, not clear or crisp such as around the holidays - now long gone - or the busy thought provoking January days at the beginning of a new year.  

This past week or so it's been annual medical check ups with prods, scans, tests etc. Throw in the usual grocery runs, a long day of furniture hunting with granddaughter, and cat sitting for my neighbor. A few chilly wanders around the garden were not exciting, so much looks sad this month. The deer have been by at night nibbling any signs of green, and stealing the bird seed, however there are a few daffodils opening along the back fence. My later blooming camellia has blooms opening in the higher branches however below freezing night temps are expected over the weekend which may impact them.

Ms. Nala - next door cat!

Then of course comfort cooking in the warm kitchen has taken over. I like to think of myself as being an innovative cook of sorts, pretty good at making a dish out of whatever is hanging about in the refrigerator or tucked in the back of a kitchen cabinet. I clipped these recipes from an older UK Country Living - always my favorite magazine for so many reasons, especially food!  Both were really perfect  for cold and dreary night suppers . . . . . . . . . . . .

Potato, Caramelized Onions and Gruyere Galette

Very tasty hot from the oven, and a cold leftover slice with 

a bowl of soup and a salad made another quick good meal.

Rustled up a tasty Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie yesterday. 

This time I made the mash topping with a mix of yellow and

 sweet potatoes. . . . . . . . . the recipe called for lentils but I

added a can of black-eyed peas instead, and finely chopped

 a jalapeno pepper for a little heat. It was delicious. . . . . .

. . . . and served up for supper in front of the fire while watching 

season two of VIKINGS!  We're currently addicted to this

 Canadian created series (2013-2020) - a historical drama

 made for the History Channel.  

A really interesting show for chilly nights.

Frost damage to the early blooming camellia . . . . . .

. . . . . . but the first daffodils for the kitchen window!

Female Eastern bluebird on the front porch rail.

Male Northern cardinal in the rain.

Female Northern flicker in the fig tree.

Carolina wren on front porch seed bell.

Yes, still plenty of birds around, perhaps even more this coming

 weekend with such cold nights. We will scatter additional seeds

 and have the feeders full.

What are your thoughts on the month of February?

Bubble and Squeak!

    com·fort food

Dictionary result for comfort food

       /ˈkəmfərt fo͞od/

         noun

         plural noun: comfort foods

1.            food that provides consolation or a feeling of
2.            well-being, typically any with a high sugar or
3.            other carbohydrate content and associated with
4.            childhood or home cooking.

I just bet we are all searching for 'comfort foods' at this time of year - well

at least those of us in the northern hemisphere.

Soups

Stews
Black Bean Chili

Hot Cereals

Casseroles

Macaroni & Cheese

Hot Apple Pie

Baked Fruit Crumbles

. . . . . . . . and the list goes on.

For me, even hot crunchy toasted bread with butter and a 
good Scottish thick-cut marmalade is a favorite comfort food.

This past week I opened Nigel Slater's REAL FAST FOOD cookbook - it's

 a great one - to find a recipe for a nice round Savoy cabbage hiding in the

 refrigerator. When I saw Bubble and Squeak, definitely a 'comfort food' 

associated with my English childhood, I made the not so fast version.

Not having leftovers, I cooked and mashed fresh potatoes, and gave the 

shredded cabbage a quick steam before going ahead with what was a

 nicely seasoned (salt, black pepper, a few caraway seeds, turmeric)

 buttery fry-up in a skillet.

We gobbled it up whilst piping hot and crispy, topped with baked cod, 

a nice dollop of homemade tartare sauce, a small green salad and a

 glass of shiraz.

It was comforting!

Nigel Slater's recipe

*************

Happened to find another Bubble and Squeak recipe over the weekend in a 

back issue of UK Country Living.

In addition to the basics it adds Stilton cheese and chutney which sounds 

a little more posh. . . . . . .  .and I'll try it soon.

I usually get Stilton at Costco but for some reason it's not being stocked

 this winter, at least not in my local store.

 This pungent blue cheese is only made in a certain area of England.

Trader Joe has it currently at a fair price, and of course 

it's always at Whole Foods but rather expensive!

We may get a light snowfall later today and a cold night. . . . . . . . comfort food,
 a fire on the hearth and a warming drink sounds good.

Hurricane Florence update + simple comfort food -

No comfortable feelings when looking out the windows at the mess surrounding

 us, and more still falling from the remnants of Hurricane Florence on this grey, 

dreary, soaking wet Sunday morning. But we are grateful, so grateful, that we have

 been spared major damage and unbelievable flooding now coming to so many

 areas of this state. Florence has impacted the entire state of North Carolina

and part of South Carolina also.

We still have bands of gusty winds and drenching rain circling but, unless trees

 fall due to saturated ground (and the rain will continue through Tuesday), we

 should be OK other than the possibility of power outages. 

Funny how 'comfort food' can be so personal. My go to food in times

 of worry and upset, has always been my simple childhood breakfast of

 toast and marmalade.

Very English I guess, and something that continues as a staple in my kitchen,

 crusty wholemeal toasting bread, butter, and a pot of perfect marmalade.

 Add a mug of strong black coffee, or a cup of hot tea, and calm comes

 with each crunch and sip. 

To our dear friends in western North Carolina, stay safe as Florence

 pays you a visit today. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

My Welsh love affair. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . with the leek!

I adore this vegetable. I grew up not in Wales where the leek is the 

national emblem, worn along with the daffodil flower 

(known in Welsh as "Peter's leek) on St. David's Day, but next door in southern England. 

There we grew, bought, gobbled up very inexpensive leeks often in my 

childhood household. I love them braised, but my favorite way is in soup, 

especially chilled vichyssoise in the summertime, and this one below, a 

steaming bowl of comforting leek and potato soup on a cold autumn or winter day.

My only disappointment with purchasing leeks here in the US, is the high price.

One local store was actually charging $1.99 per leek a few weeks back!

Most stores sell them by the pound - a few such as Trader Joe's have them pre-packaged 

in poly and priced per bag. If you buy leeks, you know the loose ones, which I prefer, 

have several inches of the tough dark green leaves left on. This part is not edible, 

very tough and stringy, so has to be thrown away. My compost bin loves them of course.

Right now I notice they have come down in price a bit - leeks are best in winter - 

but still they insist on selling them with too much up top which is wasted, and you 

have to pay for all that weight which you end up throwing out. Personally I feel ripped 

off paying for waste. I have visions of sneaking up to the produce display, little scissors 

in hand, and trimming off those dark green bits, before putting them into my bag. 

How naughty would that be?

Oh well, nothing nicer right now in this cold spell than a steaming bowl 
of easy to make leek and potato soup, a true comfort food. 

We had this a couple of nights ago after coming home from SuzAnna's and 

The Vintage Village Holiday Open House which was a great night out. 

We'd nibbled on finger foods and had a toddy, but came home a bit hungry. 

The soup was waiting, just needed re-warming, as I made it in the afternoon. 

I don't puree this soup as we like it chunky, used Russet potatoes. Just mash 

gently with a potato masher, add plenty of fresh ground pepper and a little salt to taste.

I use vegetable stock then add some cream to finish and enrich, and this time 

also some buttermilk.

It was delicious.

Have you ever grown your own leeks? If so, did you get a good crop? 

I have an empty raised bed and am considering trying to grow some.

Any tips would be appreciated. . . . . otherwise I may just consider moving 
to Wales to feed my addiction!!!