Frieda goes fishing (and makes a catch)

I was supposed to be cooking for 5 last night, but the extra guest cancelled during the afternoon, completely screwing up the proportions of ingredients I had bought in the morning. Some quick adjustments got everything under control.

Safeway advertised wild haddock at a cheap price, but when I got there there was none, even though they were just starting to fill up the fish display case. Bummer. So I bought catfish to go with the shrimp in what were to be steamed fish balls.

Two sides: Jenn's mustard roasted potatoes and a tray of roasted green beans. That Jenn is one heck of a cook. I suspect many of you follow her already but, if not, you should. I'd marry her if we were both single and I weren't gay. LOL. Okay, okay, TMI.

But here's what actually happened. I formed the fish balls, 12 of them - nearly 2 pounds of catfish and shrimp. I made a miso broth for steaming. We put the potatoes in the oven 40 minutes before dinner time, then the green beans 15 minutes before. At 10 minutes before I went to the kitchen to get the fish balls in. THEY WERE GONE!

Frieda, Jack and Leslie's dog (big girl, lovely animal), had eaten them ALL right off the steamer basket which was sitting on the counter.

I did what any football fan would do - dropped back and punted. The broth was boiling and I had more frozen shrimp. Dumped them right into the broth for several minutes and did peel-and-eat shrimp with the taters and beans.

Needless to say, I was a bit traumatized. We should have learned our lesson a few days ago when Frieda got onto the dining room table and ate a bowl of freshly grated Romano cheese - then got into a second bowl Peter hastily got ready. C'est la vie!

How I brought the 50's into 2011

Remember pot roast with dry onion soup mix and a can of mushroom soup concentrate? Well, I do and made the original about a year ago. You probably could find my post by searching for "50's-style".

Last night I brought it into the modern world. A large sliced onion tossed with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper took care of the onion side of things. A thick mushroom gravy with a variety of flavorings I could find in my host's kitchen gave it good flavor.

Then it was just a matter of assembly - layer of onions, seasoned chuck roast, more onions, mushroom gravy, finally enough chicken stock to come halfway up the sides of the meat. 3 1/2 hours in a 300 degree oven brought it to perfection - you didn't need a knife to cut it! The final flavor was distinctly like the original. And what fun it was to dream this up.

Cooking in someone else's kitchen with an eclectic collection of cooking pots and utensils (and nary a sharp knife among them) was a challenge. But if you can get the stuff together and onto the heat, miracles can happen.

My camera is in a moving container (POD) awaiting our move to an apartment - very soon we hope. In the meantime I just needed an excuse to get back to the blog. I look at all of yours daily. It helps me maintain a sense of normalcy in a non-normal period of my life.

"See" you again soon.