Consommé A La Jardiniere and Popa Chubby

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Donna

I spend the day making this Consommé from the Downton Abbey Cookbook.  Fortunately it was just intermittent so I was able to do it despite my exhaustion.  Not much else today though.   Here is the chicken carcass in the pot with water, vegetables and bouquet garni.

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These additives are removed after simmering for one hour.  It is then clarified with crushed egg shell, egg white, chopped ham and tomato paste.  Here it is after simmering for 1/2 hour.  I have never clarified like this before.  It is different.

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And here it is after clarifying.  Please clear. huh?

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I made these croutons.  They are really salty.

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Here is how the Consommé looks in the cookbook.

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And here is how mine looked.

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The soup was really great, and the salty croutons on it really helped the flavor.  We did have cheese toast on the side, not nearly as elegant but tasty.

We then watched another favorite musician of ours, Pope Chubby, play for us.

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He did Somewhere Over The Rainbow for us. It was beautiful.

It was a nice mix of old & elegant and new & raw.  It was a nice contrast.

Posted in Farm, Historic recipes | 2 Comments

Pandemic Friday Evening #4

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Donna

So the Stay Home order is extended another month per our governor. So we will need to continue to try to support local employees while staying safe.

So yesterday evening started with picking up another salad from Panera Bread (thanks Mom!).

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We then headed to Freddie’s to pick up our grocery order. They had no flour so Tom bravely went into Haggens to get some.

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Then we headed to The Fairhaven to pick up Fish & Chips.  This restaurant just opened with this pandemic so poor timing, but people on facebook are raving about their fish and chips so we thought we would try them.

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Then we headed home, put away our groceries and set out our dinners.

strawberry poppyseed saladfish and chips

And we listened to a favorite musician of ours, Doug MacLeod, on Can’t Stop The Blues.

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Dinner was really excellent as was the music.  Then we relaxed and later watched The Return of the Pink Panther.  So that was our pandemic fourth Friday evening.   It looks like we are going to have at least 4 more.  We are already making plans for Mexican this next Friday with a couple of take out margaritas that are being advertised.

Posted in Farm, History | 1 Comment

Pandemic Stations

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Donna

We have two new spots in our home for pandemic stuff. The first is our comfort station.

It has chocolate, crayons and a coloring page to remind us that we might see our grandkids again, Trump’s Coronavirus guidelines, shells from friends Anne and Jeff’s wedding, and a nice card from the Boys and Girls Club thanking me for a donation. Angry Bird is guarding it all.

Then there is the PPE station. There are N95 and other masks, disposable gloves, and Lysol wipes. Usually there is a thermometer too, but it went missing from the photo.

It is funny how much life has changed, and it is starting to feel normal. Kind of sad.

Posted in Farm, History | 2 Comments