Does this count as a first snow day?

November 12, 2021

So you know that old wives tale about the date of the first tracking snow being a predictor of how many actual snows you will receive over the course of a winter?  I always cringe when a first snow happens after the 20th of a month because I can't help but have that old tale come to mind.  So, when our first 'snow' occurred on the 12th of November I thought, "I can deal with this!".  ha!  Now, you might have to squint a little and hold your tongue a certain way to convince yourself that this is, indeed, a tracking snow.  However, Goose did make tracks in it.  And you can see the tables and swings are 'covered'.  All this to say that I did a very good job of convincing myself that this qualifies.  :)  ha!  

Never mind that my 'evidence' was quite literally melting away the longer I took photos... I believe!  I believe!  :D 

'Snow' or not - it surely was another beautiful day here at Willis Creek Ranch.  :)

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

I served these at Dinner Club alongside the Roasted Pork.

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

6 Tbsp. olive oil

4 Tbsp. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 tsp. dried thyme

2 pounds whole carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch thick chunks

2 pounds small potatoes, halved

4 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped  (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Coat a sheet pan with cooking spray.  Place the olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme in a large bowl and whisk together.  Add the carrots and potatoes to the bowl and toss to coat.  Pour the vegetables onto the sheet pan and spread out in a single layer.  Cook for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender and slightly browned.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.  

Roasted pork

I made this for Dinner Club.  It was a different way of roasting the pork and I really liked it a lot!

Here is where I found the recipe originally.  https://cookthestory.com/how-to-roast-pork-perfectly/  

I will type it out below (and I added a few extra seasonings). 

Roasted Pork

a boneless or bone-in pork butt or pork shoulder (4-8 pounds is ideal)

1 ½ tsp. black pepper

1 ½ tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. rosemary

1 tsp. thyme

low sodium chicken broth

Take the pork roast out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

If your pork roast has a thick layer of fat on the outside, cut about half of it away so that it is a thinner layer.  You can throw this out.  

Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl and then sprinkle liberally all over the meat.  

Put the roast in a large roasting pan, fat side up.  You do not need to use a rack in the pan.  Add about half an inch of low sodium chicken broth to the bottom of the pan.  Put it all in the oven, uncovered.  

Cook for 40 minutes per pound or until an instant read thermometer reaches 180 degrees.  This may seem high for pork, but your goal is really tender, slow cooked pork, almost like the texture of pulled pork.  Keep an eye on things and if the broth has evaporated at any point, add more.  Add enough to cover any brownings on the side of the pan from where the previous broth evaporated.  This is the good stuff you will want in the gravy.  

Remove roast from oven and transfer to a plate so you can get to what is left in the roasting pan to make the gravy.  Let the roast rest for 30-40 minutes.  This is an important step - not to be skipped.  It does not need to be covered during this resting time.  Use this time to make the gravy and to finish off any of your other dishes for the meal.  By the way, you will need to preheat the oven to 475 degrees for when you finish the roast.  

(here is that lady's link for making gravy if that is helpful) 

https://cookthestory.com/how-to-make-gravy/    

I really liked her easy to remember ratio for making gravy... 1 ½ Tbsp. fat, 1 ½ Tbsp. flour, and 1 cup liquid.  Then know that you will need about ½ cup of gravy (at least in my family!) per person.  Good to know!

When the roast has rested for 30-40 minutes, and the oven is preheated to 475 degrees, and you are within 20 minutes of serving dinner, put the roast in a clean roasting pan or onto a baking sheet, uncovered, and place in the hot oven for 13-17 minutes.  You want the outside to get nice and brown during this final stage.  When it is really nice and browned, remove it from the oven and carve it immediately.  (remember, it already had the resting stage)  Serve!

I served this with roasted potatoes and carrots.  

Roasted Cabbage with Garlic Crema

Deb made this for Dinner Club and I made it again for Marvin's birthday dinner.  So delicious!

Roasted Cabbage with Garlicky Creme Fraiche

2 heads cabbage

4 Tbsp. olive oil

5 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

½ cup creme fraiche **

½ lemon, juiced

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, grated

salt and pepper to taste

**Note - instead of creme fraiche (hard to find) I used Crema Mexicana Table Cream and it worked well enough.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Stand the cabbage up root end on the cutting board and slice it into ½ inch thick slices.  You do not have to core the cabbage - it will soften as it cooks.  Arrange the cabbage steaks on two cookie sheets.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for 18 minutes, turn the cabbage steaks over, and roast for an additional 18 minutes.  (This may be a bit longer overall than I actually roasted them for - just watch and judge for yourself.)

Cook the bacon (fry or I like to cook my bacon beforehand in the oven).  When bacon is crisp, drain on paper towel lined plate and then crumble.  

Combine the creme fraiche (or the table cream), lemon juice, dijon mustard, and garlic in a small bowl and stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

When the cabbage steaks are cooked, drizzle them with the creme fraiche sauce and sprinkle with the bacon.  Serve immediately.  

two sheets of cabbage steaks on the left

Roasted Beet and Strawberry Salad

Nancy brought this to Dinner Club - Yum!

Here is where the original recipe was found.... but I'll type it out below for ease of use. 
https://livesimply.me/beet-strawberry-salad-with-balsamic-mustard-dressing-recipe

Beet Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette

Salad:

3 beets - peeled, roasted and diced

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 pinch salt to taste

½ pinch black pepper to taste

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

5 cups mixed lettuce leaves

½ cup walnuts, chopped

½ cup strawberries, diced

Dressing:

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. dijon mustard (or can use honey mustard)

1 Tbsp. fresh herbs, chopped (thyme, dill, and parsley - use any combination of these)

1 pinch salt to taste

1 pinch black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.  Roast the beets either in the oven at 450 degrees or you can do it in an Instant Pot.  In an oven, first wash, peel, and dice the beets.  Toss with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.  In a medium sized pan, roast the beets uncovered for 20 minutes in the oven until soft.  In an instant pot you can rinse the beets and trim the tops, then place them on a trivet in the inner pot.  Add a cup of water and some butter if you like, then pressure cook for 10-15 minutes depending on size of beets.  Remove and let cool then peel and dice.  They peel very easily if you run them under cool water shortly after removing them from the Instant Pot.  

2.  Combine the dressing ingredients and shake to combine.  

3.  Pour ¼ cup dressing over the beets and toss to combine. 

4.  In a large bowl, place the salad greens.  Pour in the beets (with any of the extra dressing from the pan).  Toss the beets and greens together.  Top with the cheese, walnuts, and strawberries.  Add in extra dressing, if desired. 

Blackberry Galette

Debbie brought this to Dinner Club.  I will be making this myself!

Note - This recipe makes two - cut ingredients in half to just make one.  

Blackberry Galette

2  9-inch refrigerated pie crusts

sprig of mint to garnish (optional)

Ice Cream (for serving)

Filling:

4 full cups blackberries**

6 Tbsp. turbinado coarse sugar

zest from ½ small lemon and juice from ½ small lemon

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4-6 Tbsp. flour

Dough Topping:

4 Tbsp. sliced almonds

1 egg

2 tsp. turbinado coarse sugar

**Note - you can use frozen blackberries in this recipe and there is no need to thaw them first.  You also do not have to add any baking time.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1.  In a large bowl, gently combine blackberries with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and 2 Tbsp. flour.  Add additional flour if the mixture is very wet.

2.  Gently unfold and lay out pie crust on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

3.  Pour the blackberry mixture in the center of the unfolded pie crust leaving a 2 inch border.  Fold up the uncovered border over the edge of the fruit and pinch into pleats. 

4.  Whisk egg, and then using a pastry brush, brush the egg onto the crust and sprinkle with almonds and sugar.  

5.  Bake until juices are bubbling and the crust is golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

6.  Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Serve with a scoop of ice cream on top!

Maverick - 2nd week of November

Nov. 9-11, 2021

Maverick - 2nd week of November

November 9

One of the first things Mav pulled out of the toy bag today was this little toy dog.  I think he had almost forgotten it so when he pulled it out again today he was quite intrigued.  He was also able to actually pull it by the string and see it do its walk and movements, for the first time on his own power.  He played with this puppy quite a lot today.  :) 

After lunch Maverick and I had an invitation to visit Deb at her house.  She is just tooooooooo amazing!!!  We walked in and I was shocked!  It was like walking into the best preschool in town right there in her living room!  I can't even imagine how long it took for her to prepare for our visit.  How sweet is she?  What a dear friend!  She had things laid out for him in the living room and on her table, too.  We didn't even get to all the things she had ready for him.  Incredible!  It was SO much fun to watch Mav's face as he walked around spying thing after thing after thing... and that he could touch them all!  :) 

I love how he was just thrilling to touch everything - marking that ball  :) 

Forts on the sofas

TV on kids shows - toys and books on the ottoman - and see that feather?  
It is tucked into a pocket on the quilt for Mav to pull out.  

We never even got to the craft activities on the table!  

Deb is incredible!

Mav was enjoying the Duplos - time to get those out at our house, too!

what a cutie!

he loved those little pumpkins  :) 

kid cracks me up - he does like hats!  All kinds!  

So cute - he was putting this blue pitcher over his head and then
Deb would say 'Where's Maverick?
and he would take it off and laugh & laugh.  He loves that game.  :D 

It about got stuck on there one time, though!  :D ha!

'Auntie Deb' is pretty fantastic! 

They have great stairs and when you get up there you can look down into the living room.  
He really liked that and did it over and over and over.  
Dear Deb had me sit on the living room floor the whole time
as she chased him around - what a gift!  :D 

This was funny... I could hear her talking to him upstairs... turns out he went into
Miles' room and she thought, 'he can't climb up on the bed, oh wait - yes he can'.  
Then 'well he can't pull that pillow down - oh wait - yes he can!'.  
Then 'well, he can't carry that downstairs - oh wait - he THINKS he can and
he kind of can so I better help him!'  hahahahahaha!  
Yup, that is definitely Maverick!  And he LOVED that big pillow SO MUCH!  :D 

the trail of Maverick...

Then she had this area of packaging items that he loved!  It was boxes and packing paper
and foil lids and rulers (oops, he broke one) and painters tape (that she let him tear and play with)
and sticky notes (that they put on that foil pan lid) and on and on.  Did I mention Deb is amazing?  :) 

Thankful to dear Deb for a wonderful afternoon!  Mav and I both enjoyed ourselves very much!

November 10

Mav eating two hard boiled eggs for breakfast.  :D 

Mav and I were having a deep conversation... I think about tractors and barn work.  :D 

The weather was such that you could hear all the noises around.  It sounded like trucks were coming up the drive but I'm sure they were on the bypass.  But Mav was really interested and slightly concerned.  I was telling him it was the weather making the sounds louder - but that doesn't make sense to a 17 month old.  :) 

He kept looking expectantly down the drive - expecting to see a truck, I think. 

"What's that, Grandma?  I just know a truck is driving up!"

Playing hard in the sand box.  :) 

GranGran provides the motor for this tractor

November 11

Dear Carrie came by.  Such fun to see her with Maverick - remembering
how it doesn't seem all that long ago that she was babysitting Jackson.  
And at this same age...  Wow.  Time.  Crazy.  :) 

Mav showing Carrie his sticker book.  

Together, they added more stickers to his book. 

When Daddy came for lunch Maverick first wanted to sit on his lap
and look at stickers together.  Again, can remember Jackson doing this same thing.  
So thankful for wonderful Grandpa Jack - what a blessing to so many.  

Mav and Marvin were 'hiding' behind their books.  Then we would say 'Where's Maverick' or
'Where's Marvin' and they would show themselves.  Maverick gets such a kick out of this game.  :D 

Mav was asleep when his Mama came.  He heard her voice, opened his eyes
and smiled so big at her.  Oh how this sweet boy loves his beautiful Mama!  

Mav loves to pretend to drive.  

This boy is ready to stop pretending!  'Close the door, Grandma!'  :D

You can see a whole album of photos from the entire month of November at this link...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/williscreekranch/albums/72177720295684759