Month: August 2011

sunday night dinner: august 14, 2011–bbq pork

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this requires my ass kickin boots

this weekend i attempted a recipe of my aunt linda’s, bbq pork that is made in the crock pot.  it was a three day process but worth it.  day one is seasoning the pork butt.  i used a seasoning that was purchased at Harter House in springfield, mo.  Harter House is the creme de la creme of butcher shops.  no matter were else we have moved around to there is just no other place quite like it.  its totally my dad’s candy shop.  the butchers all were white shirts, aprons and those little white paper hats from the 1950s and all are eager to help him….”what can i get you today mr. farris?, have you been helped to day mr. farris?, anything else for you today?”  sometimes the butchers that have known me since the age of three still will try to give me a free little smokie sample when i’m there, and yes i always take it.

never in a million years did i think i'd be taking a picture of a pork butt

day 2 of the bbq process was cooking the meat in the crock pot with beer.  for this recipe i totally went for a more summer light brew of boulevard’s Zon.  i cooked it all day on low.  the house smelled soooooo good.  after it was done cooking in the crock i took the now super tender meat and shredded it up for the next day.

it just fell apart, yum

day 3 the shredded meat was put back in the crock and i added 2 bottles of jack daniels honey smoked bbq sauce.  if you are looking for a new bbq sauce to try i highly recommend the jack daniels brand i haven’t had one i haven’t liked yet.  this i heated to the point that it was all heated to a warm temp all the way through. while it was in the process of getting nice and hot i cooked up the rest of my dinner.  classic coleslaw, along with cheesy-garlic grits that i put on-top of homegrown tomatoes.  needless to say this meal hit the spot!

that's what summer should look like

and for dessert?????????  i’m still working on mastering the art of fruit filled pies.  this go around was a double berry pie which of course had to have homemade vanilla ice cream with it.  i mean really how can you have homemade pie without homemade ice cream, that just seems like a sin to me.

so good you might as well eat it for breakfast too

 

what do you do with your aprons?……i wear them

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wearing grandma's aprons

yes my sister and i will travel with our own aprons.  but at my grandma’s there are always 2 aprons that are in the back laundry room for us to wear.  i have always considered them to be her aprons but when she tells you to use one she’ll refer to them as “connie’s aprons.”  connie was her grandmother.  she is always attempting to give them away to us, but every time steph and i refuse hanging them back up so we can use them again on our next visit.

whenever i go on an apron hunting expedition in boonville i’ll always come back and show my grandma what i’ve purchased.  often modeling my new wears.  my favorite in-depth conversation we have had about aprons is the purpose of the little pocket on aprons.  i have found it perfect for my cell phone.  but in 1956 that was not the purpose of the pocket.  my guess was cigarettes.  which grandma supposed was a main purpose but other options were contemplated.  my favorite come with the extra attached elongated pocket that was specific for close-pins

putting on an apron to me is probably like how some people feel about putting on their favorite pair of jeans.  you feel confident, you can do anything in it, you look good, and you’ll just want to wear them again tomorrow.

sisters in aprons

happy birthday big sis!

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in honor of your birthday i ventured all the way to south knox to get one of your favorite baskin and robin ice cream flavors, peanut butter and chocolate.  remember the time mom, you, and me pulled up to the b & r drive through and kevin the manager had to come back and double check there was no peanut butter & chocolate in our order because you decided to get mint chip that day instead and we were all…..oh man maybe we come here to much?!?!?!

mmmmm now that's a birthday

 

my first attempt at making meatballs

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steph and i cooked up a spaghetti fest for the farris clan when we were in boonville.  i got put in charge of making the meatballs.  what i didn’t share with the fam was this was my first time ever making meatballs.  how this had happened i don’t know.  i had seen my dad make them countless times but me fully responsible for them, never before.

i’m always trying to get the fam to eat a tad healthier, so when it came to buying the ingredients for the meatballs, when we made a family grocery store run, i had to hid the meat till purchase.  why?  because i wasn’t just making meatballs i was making turkey meatballs.  i can hear my aunt linda now whenever i bring up using turkey instead “it taste different i can tell!”  i knew all the basic parts of the meatball mixture, ground turkey, turkey italian sausage, italian bread crumbs, parm cheese, and egg. plus a little addition that my uncle stan introduced to us some time ago olives in the meatballs.

meatballs, mixed and ready to be cooked

the most nerve racking part of the meatball process was the cooking of them.  this is when they could crumble and fall apart or not get done in the middle or burn or a thousand other possibilities.  i knew from conversations with my dad it was key to let the meatballs sit awhile before the actual cooking process. true to his advice they didn’t crumble, so it was all time and temp control to make sure they got done and not burnt.

checking the insides of the meatballs...are the done?!

once they were all cooked through i transferred them to another pan and created a quick tomato sauce to let them stay juicy and warm in.  for my first attempt i’d say it was a success!

turkey italian meatballs

 

RECIPE—Turkey Italian Meatballs

Ing

1 lb grd turkey

1 lb turkey italian sausage–remove from casing

1/2c-1c italian bread crumbs

1/4 c shredded parm cheese

1 egg

1/3 c chopped olives green or black (optional)

 

1. mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  make sure mixture isn’t too moist.  to test this start forming balls that are golf ball-tennis ball size.  if mixture is too sticky keep adding bread crumbs. the mixture should be moist enough to hold the meatballs together but not be so sticky that it all still sticks to your hands

2.  heat a skillet on med-high with butter in it.  brown outside of meatballs to form crunchy outer surface.  once this is done lower hear and place lid on skillet.  turn meatballs occasionally till insides are cooked.  once meatballs are cooked through transfer them to plate with paper towel to absorb extra grease, then place into your favorite tomato sauce.

meatless monday–peanut tofu stir fry

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this meatless monday i had extra help with my best friend taggart being in town.  taggart needs to eat about every 2 hours so when she travels she always has an enormous bag of food in tow.  with her contribution to dinner we had quinoa and she possessed the recipe for the peanut sauce.

in a tiny kitchen we were able to both work on our parts.  i was in charge of stir frying the tofu with mushrooms (which i aim still trying to learn to like, i swear i’m making progress), peppers and carrots.  taggart created her peanut sauce for the meal.  which took a little longer than expected.  she couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t getting spicy until she realized she was putting in crushed red pepper instead of cayenne pepper.  let me till you there is a difference heat wise and you want the later if you like it spicy.

taggart mastering the art of peanut sauce

the meatless dinner for 2 included wine that was leftover from a family function (thanks trish!),  simon & garfunkel records, and laughing over stories about ex-roommates.

 

 

sunday night dinner: august 7, 2011—dinner with the Smiths

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the last night taggart was in tennessee we spent it in the great city of nashville, mainly so she could catch an early flight the next morning but also to explore the wonders of the city, aka the gold rush bar.  our friend alaina was raised in nash and her family is still there so she played tour guide/host for us.  first on the agenda was dinner at the smith’s house.

i got really excited about one part of this meal and that was the drinks before hand.  alaina’s mom, claudia offered me what she called “big girl punch”  low and behold this was my family’s reciepe for slush which i had passed on to alaina and she to her mother.  the tradition continues!!!!!

taggart mixing up a slush

the meal was a yummy summer combination of grilled chicken, zucchini pie, cooked cabbage, summer tomatoes, watermelon, and homemade sourdough bread.  over dinner we discussed many a topic from taggart’s nursing program to me starting school in the next week, along with tales of mrs. smith’s teaching experience and finally an in-depth conversation on whether or not it is best to read the book before seeing the movie it is based on.

so good i had seconds

to add to the theme of homemade summer goodness, dessert was a team effort by both parents, of homemade ice-cream.

testing the ice cream

blueberries, oreos and a coveted box of girl scout thin mint cookies were all up for topping the creamy vanilla ice cream that was put into one of my favorite items from childhood, those little hard baseball hats that you used to get sundaes in at baskin-n-robins.  it was good to the last bite!

no ice cream was wasted

sunday night dinner: july 31, 2001—an earthfare picnic

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it takes 10 hours to get from farris headquarters in boonville, mo to knoxville, tn.  when making the drive on my own i kill the time with audio books. the key to this, epic novels that take the entire trip.  i find myself becoming more involved with them then say shorter books.  best yet…peyton place.  scandal scandal scandal, i even caught myself saying aloud at one point “that bitch!”  but this last trip back was not taken over with an epic work of literary quality.  i had the entertainment of my best friend jessica, aka taggart.  who ventured back to knox with me to celebrate our 25th anniversary of being best friends.

25 years of being best friends

we got back just in time to unload the car and have some dinner.  my house was empty of food since i had been gone for 10 days and we were both so exhausted the thought of cooking was too much.  so the master plan was formulated to hit up  earth fare’s salad bar and head to the park for a picnic.

taggart ready to picnic

on the menu for me was veggie nuggets, salad, and veggie pasta salad.  taggart dined on tomato soup, cabbage rolls and bbq tofu.

veggie nuggets with a variety of salads

cabbage rolls, bbq tofu and soup

the villa

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two words all springfieldians now by heart…..mexican villa.  what is mexican villa its a local mexican chain in springfield.  i grew up a few blocks from the original that opened in 1956.  its not authentic mexican and its not tex-mex.  its like Springfield’s own version of what maybe tex-mex is.  its hard to explain

all i now is that its one of those places that you just got to go when you head back home.  hell even home boy brad pitt is often spotted at mexican villa when he heads back to town.  and when tipper gore was campaigning for al in 2000 where did springfieldians send her but to the villa.

what are they known for?  the burrito enchilada style.  an enormous burrito that is prepared like an enchilada in the villas distinct sauce.  i’ve never been able to finish one and i’m sure if you eat enough of them it would difently kill you.  my favorite story about the burrito enchilada style came from the gray family that i grew up with.  steve was going through medical stuff and was in the hospital, when suzie asked if she could bring him anything he requested a burrito enchilada style.  suzie lovingly patted him saying “honey that is why we are here.”

on my last trip home we headed to the villa.  and when you go to the villa there is only one to visit the original on national ave.

the villa

 

 

i still remember the first villa experience i ever had at the age of 4.  it was at this very villa.  the whole family, much like this summer, was in town and we had walked there to get lunch.  mom ordered me tacos.  when i saw white cheese and tomatoes on the tacos i declared that they weren’t tacos, because they didn’t look like taco bells and i refused to eat them.  funny later on this became my favorite thing on the menu.

villa tacos

being my first villa experience isn’t the only reason this villa is special.  this villa is trapped in a time warp from the 50s.  each both has its own working jukebox they sell candy out of an old converted cigarette machine which i am certain if it wasn’t illegal they’d still have the smokes in it.  and of course it is the home of the fiesta room which we dined in that night.

chuck berry to justin timberlake is what's on the juke

fiesta room

i would totally make a dinning room look like this

our meal included enchiladas, tacos, guac, the mexican villa salsa that is so hot it makes your nose run, trish and stan ventured and got the burrito enchilada style and sweet sauce.  what is sweet sauce? its probably just liquid sweetener with some tomato sauce added to it.  simple, great, and i know i’d only be disappointed if i tried to recreate it.

burrito enchilada style

dad with his meal

family fun at walmart

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after some beers and margaritas the fam headed to yet again another walmart run in boonville.  to add a bit of excitement to the trip we created a game.  reach as far down into the $5 dvd bin and see what you can find.  what’s that old saying if you can’t make your own fun its just entertainment.  yeah i’d say the farrises have mastered that concept.

sunday night dinner, july 24, 2001—seafood-apricot risotto

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on a trip to san francisco last year, my father became a die-hard risotto fan.  it has now become a staple in sunday night dinners at my parents house.  on a recent trip back home dad kicked it up a notch with the risotto creating a seafood-apricot risotto.  the key to making risotto is not letting it burn, constant stirring and surveillance of the pasta’s progress.

dad stirring his risotto

scallops and shrimp were the combination of seafood for this risotto along with onions, peppers and of course some delicious apricots.

risotto yumminess

both my parents cook and both have very different styles especially when it comes to dishing up the food.  mom is much more of a serve yourself/buffet style cook.  dad on the other hand loves to plate his meals.  we often have to supervise this so he doesn’t put too much food on our plates but he is not done with the meal till he has put every last morsel on your plate.

the master chef

along with the risotto there was watermelon, layered pea salad and bread.  mom not being a fan of scallops had dad portion out her’s into my risotto. thanks mom you know how i love them so!

mom digging in

the final product