But first a mystery?
The mystery of the spaghetti on the stair. They let me in the kitchen again. Not sure why but then I guess “they” get tired of being in the kitchen all the time so “they” let me loose. I was doing pretty well, making dinner and not making too much of a mess. However, dinner required that I cook some spaghetti noodles prior to serving. I went into the kitchen and Katie suggested that I might like to break the spaghetti in half to cook it. So, I thought that was a good idea as I didn’t need the spaghetti to be long. I took a bunch of spaghetti out of the box and stood in front of the stove and broke it in half, and it exploded into what felt like a million pieces. Katie then said, “Mum did you just try and break a big bunch of spaghetti and it went all over the kitchen”? “Yup” said I, to my surprise it didn’t work the way I thought it would. A couple of days later John asked me to guess what he saw on the stairs. You guessed it, a piece of spaghetti just sitting there after flying over the wall at the back of the stove and traveling down the stairs. I wonder why the dogs didn’t find it? So now you know, don’t break spaghetti in half in a big bunch cause it will go everywhere.
Walking This Week
We have had the most amazing weather yet again. We did wake up one morning too a heavy fog but the dogs and I bounded out of the house and headed out to the Morris Trail at Colby-Sawyer. It was kind of spooky but also kind of beautiful too. Didn’t faze the dogs one bit. I just loved this view down the road before we got into the “Road to Nowhere” with all three dogs running to get there as fast as possible. One of the days we were walking we got up to the field and found a huge machine there cutting down the grass. I can’t say whether it was hay because it didn’t really look like hay but it smelled wonderful. All three dogs just had a wonderful time rolling around in it. The man who was running the machine paused it to let us go by and tooted his horn at us in a friendly gesture after I waved to thank him for letting us go by. Bean was ignoring him and rolling around right in front of his path.
Warm nights by the Fire
We moved the firepit to our outside sitting space in the front of the house and enjoyed two nights with a fire going before a fire ban was imposed because of wind and dry conditions. That space has really given us a wonderful opportunity to be outside way more than usual. I’m not sure why we didn’t think of it before now.
On the Sunday before Halloween, our town puts on quite a show on Main Street. We have had a little trick or treating on our corner for the last few years for our neighborhood children. This year it was very windy but John and I fought our way through putting up the tent hoping we wouldn’t get a big gust that would take the tent up, up and away. Our corner is getting busy as two other neighbors joined us to hand out candy and to see the children and adults in their costumes. Other neighbors stop by and say hi too, including Percy’s best friend Sky. Our good friends, Sally and David, joined us as they don’t have any children in their neighborhood anymore. All the families come at once as they are at a party together beforehand. What fun it was to seem them all trooping down to our corner before heading up to town to join the festivities up there. We did the same thing although we missed the dancing witches which we had hoped to see. You just can’t believe how many people are up there. The police and firemen are out helping to make sure everyone is safe. Sally and David are seen talking to Chief Jay Lyon.
Cooking This Week
I was allowed to cook something else this week and it was delicious. Not too difficult, not too messy – oh I made soup too but John made sure he was the one to puree it after the last disaster. But this casserole was just yummy. It is from my favorite cookbook Half Baked Harvest once again.
Pesto Zuppa Toscana Meatballs – Half Baked Harvest
1 pound ground spicy Italian chicken sausage (couldn’t find this so used sweet chicken sausage with kale)
½ pound ground chicken, turkey, or pork (used ground turkey)
½ cup panko
¼ cup grated parmesan
1 egg
3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 yellow onion, chopped or sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme (used dry)
2 cups finely shredded kale (put in the minichop which worked well)
⅓ cup basil pesto (used twice this amount)
¾ cup heavy cream or whole milk (used cream)
1 cup broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice (yup, I forgot the lemon juice but didn’t miss it)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
I made it all ahead and then put it in a casserole and baked it for 1/2 hour before we ate it.
How to make
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Add the sausage, chicken, panko, parmesan, egg, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning to a bowl. Mix until just combined. Roll into 15 to 20 meatballs and place each in a skillet. Add the onions to the skillet.
- Set the skillet over medium heat, then cook for the meatballs for 5 minutes, turning them 2-3 times, until crisp. Add the garlic, thyme, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, kale, and pesto. Pour over the cream, broth, and lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Add the mozzarella, then bake until the cheese is melted, 10 minutes.
- Serve the meatballs topped with fresh thyme. We love this served with crusty bread, or over pasta, and with a big salad!
