Food & A Little Yarn

I cooked yesterday--a lot.  First I ran to Walmart for ground beef and a can of pineapple chunks because I decided to make Waikiki Meatballs for my dish-to-pass at the Knitting Guild picnic tomorrow night and, since I have to work today and tomorrow, yesterday was the day to make meatballs.  (And I treated myself to a one-size-smaller pair of men's shoes because I was still tripping over the too long toes of the ones I got before.  Of course, I've worn them out and about so there's no returning them.  Oh well, they were under $15, I can absorb that, plus this means that my left foot/ankle is getting back to normal fairly quickly.  Yay!)  Once we got home from an appointment I set Durwood to mincing onions while I assembled the rest of the standard meatball ingredients and made the sweet & sour sauce.  I'll take the crockpot to work with me tomorrow along with the bag of meatballs and the Tupperware of sauce, assemble them there and let them meld their flavors all afternoon.  I suspect it'll be hard not to sample them because you know they'll smell great.  I didn't take any pictures of the tray of meatballs.  You all know what meatballs look like, right?  I thought so.


Then I tackled a recipe out of one of the food mags that Durwood gets.  It was a super-healthy remake of a gyros platter with a lot less fat and an unbelievable reduction in sodium content.  You cook up quinoa (I used the mixed which has a much better, nuttier taste than the regular blah kind), stir in a bit of chopped kale and parsley (I told you it was healthy) and that's the base of your gyro bowl.  Then you rub chicken breast cutlets (I used tenders) with a spice rub and fry them in a little olive oil.  While they're resting you layer cut grape tomatoes, sliced cucumber, a few chickpeas, sliced olives (it called for kalamata but all we had was green so I used those), and toast a few pita triangles in the broiler.  Next you slice the chicken, lay it on top of the bowl, drizzle it with a yogurt/tahini sauce you made earlier, garnish it with some pickled red onion you make first of all (that's the pink stringy stuff), and more chopped parsley (which I seem to have forgotten), then you poke the pita chips in and serve.  See?  I told you it was a lot of work.  We liked it; it was a lot of food but I probably won't make it again.  I had to buy a bunch of things that I used only a little of but I will use the spice rub again.  Even Durwood liked it. 




While I waited through Durwood's appointment I cast on June Preemie Hat #1 and then worked on it after supper when I had my feet propped up and an ice pack on my ankle.  I think I'll make all of this month's hats with this yarn.  I really like the colors.  Or maybe I'll branch off to try a pattern I found for some yarn in the stash that I'm not 100% crazy about but it's soft and acrylic so I can use it for hats. Only time and my whims will tell.




June 15--Mike Vaughn, Rodeo Rider w/Flag.  

Hot night under the stars
dust and animals
kettle corn and beer
Parade of cowboys carrying flags
sing to the Stars & Stripes
Rodeo for the tourists
pounding hooves, bucking broncos
clowns dodging bulls
less phony than I thought
~~~~~

I'm still sorry that I didn't go to the Cody, WY rodeo when we were there last time.  Durwood wasn't feeling well so I didn't go alone.  Wish I had since that was probably my only chance to go to a real Western rodeo.  *sigh*  It's a rainy day, my ankle aches, and I'm feeling a little sorry for myself.  I'll get over it.  Hey, it's the middle of June already.  Time sure flies when you're having fun.  Off to work.
--Barbara