Deanna's Daughter

Brock and Waverly were in the kitchen when Waverly noticed that I’d been shopping.  ‘What a beautiful tomato!’, she said and Brock replied with, ‘I’m glad that you notice beautiful things lovebird.’  But Waverly wasn’t finished, ‘I also think that panties are beautiful and EVEN you’re beautiful Dad!’.

Here’s another quickie using mushroom soup from a can.  Mom fine-tuned a great, baked meatball recipe so I keep them in dinner-sized bags in the freezer for fast weeknight meals, but I will wait to post the meatball recipe until I need to make them again.

Mushroom Meatballs

1 large onion, thinly sliced

3 c. chopped or sliced mushrooms

2 cans (10 oz/284 mL) of mushroom soup

1 can (10 oz/284 mL) of beef broth (or one can of water and 1 t. Better Than Bouillon Beef Base)

30 to 40 small, cooked meatballs

In a small bowl, whisk together the mushroom soup and water or broth and set aside.  Saute the the onion and mushrooms in a bit of oil until softened, about 10 minutes and then add the soup mixture and bring to a gentle simmer.  Add the meatballs and cook until they are heated through.  Dinner is done.

We prefer this served on rice, tonight it was with chopped carrots and peas – another great meal to have as leftovers for lunch.

While the girls had never been trick or treating before, they’d been talking about it regularly leading up to Halloween.  But they never asked when they could ‘go’.  Fine with us, we’re not exactly Halloween people and where we live we only get a few children at the door each year.  Then the first doorbell went and we heard the trick or treat yell – the girls flipped out and there was huge drama over who was going to open the door.  Finally, both Waverly and Marlow managed to get the door open together, and they SCREAMED, ‘Trick or TREAT!!!’, right in the faces of the startled kids waiting there.  ‘Thank-you’, said the other children – and this was how the evening went.  It was great!

This is actually something that Brock does every year.  He, and this year, Auntie Carmen, were in charge of the pumpkin carving and they got the girls to help with getting the seeds ready as well.

Roasted pumpkin Seeds

Fresh pumpkin seeds, rinsed and drained.

Water

Salt

Brock leaves the cleaned seeds soaking in salted water overnight – the longer you soak, the saltier the snack.  You can also rinse the seeds again with fresh water before baking if you’re worried about the salt.

Layer the drained seeds on a cookie sheet and bake for about 40 minutes at 300 – make sure to stir them every 10 minutes or so.  They’re done when you can just see some of the edges starting to brown.

We regularly make homemade pizza, Brock is in charge of the dough and it’s pizza perfection.  Point being, there was a single slice left and Brock moaned and said, ‘I just can’t eat it, my tummy isn’t big enough’.  Marlow turned to look at him with a frown on her face, ‘Yes it is!’.  Ahhh, kids.

This is a tasty little salad that can all be prepared in advance and assembled right before you want to serve it – from the Best of Bridge.

Asparagus Vinaigrette

1 lb. asparagus, trimmed, dropped in boiling water for 2 minutes, drained, dried and placed back into the refrigerator until you’re ready for it.

Dressing

1 T. Dijon mustard

2 T. white wine vinegar (I’ve also used white balsamic)

3 T. lemon juice

1 t. sugar

1/4 t. salt – or to taste

1/4 t. freshly ground pepper, or to taste

1/4 c. canola oil

Whisk all ingredients together and pour over the asparagus.  Garnish with some lemon zest.