Most Unusual Home School Lunch

Well we have a pig or a cow coming in several days so we defrosted a bunch of ribs, roasts, and stew meat kicking around the bottom of the freezer.  One of the items was probably a five or six pound standing rib roast (prime rib).  As we found in our refrigerator several days after defrosting, I decided we had to cook it off this evening so it didn't go bad.  

How is This Food Related?

Scott came back from his European concert band tour.  Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp's Southern Winds Concert Band 2010 has some great tunes which I'll get posted somewhere.  In any event, this was a second encore number they used to close their shows.  This was recorded at their homecoming concert in West Michigan.  Listen to the power in the 40 - 60 second mark of the clip.  Not bad vocals for a concert band.  Listen or download all songs here: http://tinyurl.com/22okxy9 Be sure to check out the opening to Pory & Bess, & Stars & Stripes.  Oh yes, Scott came home about 20 pounds more then when he left.

You MUST Make This Ketchup!

I've looked at this post for several months now and this morning finely whipped up a batch as a base for BBQ.  I haven't taken it to BBQ yet, but this ketchup is all natural and made with ingredients we always have on hand in our household.  The taste is EXACTLY ketchup.  Follow the recipe, don't ad lib to start and you will not be disappointed.  No refined sugar, no HFC, nothing.  Now I will add some love, and Emeril says, and it will move to BBQ.

Amount	Unit	Ingredient
24	ounces	tomato paste
1	tbsp	whey
0.5	cup	fish sauce
0.75	cup	honey
Several	cloves	Garlic
0.25	tsp	cayenne pepper
0.5	tbsp	allspice
1	stick	cinnamon

Sugar - The Bitter Truth

This talk is simply outstanding.  As a personal testimony, I started drastically reducing my carbs in the very early part of this year and the result is staggering.  I'll have more to share later.  Yes, I still do eat bread, just a slice every now and then.  Also you will need to check out the book: Good Calories Bad Calories as that is singing from the same hymnal as well.

Whole Grain Pizza

Here is a brief look at some whole grain pizza.  I'll have some more pics later, but this is some good stuff. Mix up the dough, let is sit in the fridge at least 24 hours. Pull it out two hours ahead of cooking. Make the pizza, cook it on the grill.

Josiah March Quintet 2010

Well, 2010 Ensemble came and went.  Yes, the Fab Five scored a "1" again.  The judge had some good constructive comments for the lads.  I had even more fun with iMovie on Sunday.  Anyway, enjoy.

Lard and No Knead Bread Reposted Per Request

The two posts below are reposted per request.  The bread is a sourdough that is pretty envolved getting the starter going.  I'll post a no knead spot tomorrow that is truly about 3 minute hands on experience and you won't believe how it turns out.  So, see you tomorrow....

You might think we crazy, but in the last 30 years or so with the increased use of new oils in cooking, we've made a turn back toward more traditional use of oils. Given you can not go to the store and purchase lard, pure lard, we decided to procure our own. As it is, we have a friend raise our hog and from that hog we get all the pig fat we can. This is what we do with it to get our lard. It is great to cook with and the pie crusts are out of this world. Look for an apple pie soon to come.
Oils like your mama used to use. (Well, maybe grandma)

Here is a quick video on a sourdough version of the no knead recipe that is so wildly popular on the web. This is my own adaptation, professionals beware.

1 cup sourdough starter - 50% water, 50% flour
1.5 tsp salt
2.5 cups flour
1 cup water

That is the whole recipe. The flour mix totaling 3 cups for this was:
.5 cup King Aurthur white (in the starter)
.5 cup King Aurthur white (in addition to what's in the starter)
1.5 cup King Aurthur wheat
.5 cup rye flour (not sure what brand)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Cover the bowl with kitchen wrap and let it sit out on the counter for 12 hours. Next, put the very wet dough onto a floured surface, fold it together and place into a well floured proofing basket for 90 minutes.

Place into a preheated (450 for 30 minutes) dutch oven , slash, cover, and bake 20 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake for another 15 minutes until the loaf is at the desired color. Remove and place on a cooling rack.