The Pauley Principle: Chopping, Chopping Broccoli!

Welcome to The Pauley Principle!

The Pauli Principle, named for Wolfgang Pauli, deals with atoms and electron-sharing that results in new, stronger bonds. Think 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen, a shared delectable (!) electron and VOILA! Water!

Similarly, when you prepare whole food to share with family and friends, especially foods you've grown, something amazing happens. Meals become tastier and healthier. Your soul, not just your stomach, becomes fulfilled. You live life more abundantly as a result. During a shared meal, the bonds that people create grow stronger and become something new: GREATER than the sum of the parts! I give you The Pauley Principle.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chopping, Chopping Broccoli!

Remember Dana Carvey's Saturday Night Live Skit? I can't get it out of my head!

While Chris is out chopping firewood, I find myself chopping veggies and thinking about how he always says I'm using the wrong tool when I chop vegetables. (I tend to reach for the carving knife.) When I watch cooking shows on TV, he points out the knives the cooks are using. He should know. He's all about his tools. That's why he made the nutcracker for me!

A few years ago, Chris bought himself a Wusthof knife for hunting. He made the mistake of bringing it into the kitchen and I just love it, so when I saw this special Wusthof knife that Chef's Catalog is offering, I knew I had to tell you about it. This offer is a real deal at 64% off for a Wusthof Silverpoint II Nakiri 7-inch knife. Check out its design. The special price is just until January 3, so hop on it if you need one! Chris says, "Always use the right tool for the job." I say, "Buy once, but buy a good one!"

<a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802179547&pubid=21000000000514512">Wusthof Silverpoint II Nakiri, 7-inch</a>
"http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802179547&pubid=21000000000514512"

I hope this link works for you but if this doesn't show the photo, try the link on the sidebar. I'm hoping you'll try it. If you do, Chef's Catalog will thank me, and I'll thank you! Remember, time is running out!

4 comments:

Granny SueDecember 29, 2011 at 2:57 PM
Hey Ronda, just posted about your giveaway on my blog, and I've been catching up with your doings too. It looks like you had a great Christmas with your family. And I sure wish I'd known you needed grapes! We were running over with them this year--but no apples at all. Go figure. I'm looking forward to breakfast on New Year's Day :) Thank you!
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Rob HuntDecember 29, 2011 at 5:05 PM
Hi I picked up on you from Granny Sue. Right up my alley looking forward to following. love that nut cracker.
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UnknownDecember 29, 2011 at 6:41 PM
Thanks, Granny Sue! Glad the package arrived intact! We did have a very happy Christmas! Any time you can all gather together makes it a party. Work and other family obligations are sometimes hard to work around, but when it works, it works!

Rob Hunt, I'm having so much fun with this!!! I hope to offer ideas and a glimpse into our experiences with homesteading and family life that others will find fun and helpful.
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UnknownDecember 29, 2011 at 11:41 PM
Granny, we may need to talk about grapes next year. I planted some white vintner variety this year but they're still babies.

Rob, about that nutcracker. Chris has decided to take orders. He delivered his second one yesterday and has an order for a third one.
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Give Yourself the Fast Food Alternative: 1, 2, 3 makes 4 and More

For many people, late night ballgames, church, work and other events make fast food too convenient to resist, but what's in that stuff? I can't begin to answer. Big franchises such as Taco Bell say the 63% or so that isn't beef is made up of "the secret ingredient". If we consume their food, don't we have a right to know what that secret is? And more importantly, what's it doing to our bodies? My plan is worth the effort since meals eaten at home with the family benefit our physical and mental health.

Here's an alternative and my answer to Rachael Ray's A Week in a Day. I call it 1,2, 3 Makes 4 and More. On the fifth day, Friday, make a quick and easy pizza.
In one day, you can make a roast, a hearty soup, and a one-dish casserole to get you through most of the work week.
Meal 1: the roast with salad and a veggie.
Meal 2: the soup served with warm bread or in a bread bowl.
Meal 3: the casserole with a salad.
Meal 4: soup from Meal 2 served with sandwiches using the roast, Meal 1.
Meal 5: homemade pizza.

Plan meals and shop for it. Then take a few hours to prepare the entrees ahead. Start with a roast seasoned to taste. I'm talking real meat. While that's slow cooking, start chopping veggies and meat for a good, hearty soup, one that will be a meal in itself. Get it started and simmering away and then begin a one-pot meal that takes a little more attention.

This week my plan is Day 1, a slow roasted ham with salad and mashed potatoes; Day 2, minestrone; and Day 3, shepherd's pie. I'm making mashed potatoes for two days (meals 1 and 3) at one time on my cooking day. The fourth meal will be ham sandwiches with minestrone. Salads and breads round out the meals for the week. Fruits with cheese make a quick and good-for-you dessert. A truly delicious recipe for shepherd's pie is in my blog.

Be good to you. Be good to others. On days 6 and 7, change it up by going out, having a pot luck with friends and family or grilling out. Remember, live your life abundantly.

About Venison

Venison should taste really delicious! No kidding. It is my favorite meat, except for crab.

Some things to consider though:
*If you wouldn't think of eating a bull, then don't eat a deer that had huge antlers or was in rut. I don't. It affects the flavor and tenderness of the meat.
*Replace the deer fat with beef fat for your ground meat for an 80/20 ratio. Deer fat tends to be slightly bitter and leaves that thick coating in your mouth that, although edible, is not palatable.
*For roasts, sear with butter and olive oil. These impart a wonderful flavor.
*For sausage, use pork shoulder, at a ration of about 3 parts ground venison with 1 part ground pork shoulder.
*Venison by nature is a lean red meat. A good young deer processed properly will give you many delicious meals.
*Anything you would do with beef, except ribs, you can do with venison. Look for my recipe for Shepherd's Pie. Use either beef or venison. Enjoy, share, and live abundantly.

Plan Now for Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is cooked down from sap that you gather from sugar maple trees. There are no other ingredients, not even water. And it's incredibly good. On the market, maple syrups will often have corn syrup, gluten, color and other additives which can stretch profitability and decrease the steaming time required. Since it takes 35-45 gallons of the thin slightly sweet sap to make a gallon of pure maple syrup, doing it the old-fashioned way takes time but the result is pure YUM!

If you have the opportunity to tap into maple trees and decide you'd like to give this a try, plan ahead. If you steam off the sap inside your kitchen, it can strip your wall-paper! Been there, done that, at our old farmhouse. If you cook it down outside with a gas turkey fryer, the cost can end up being around $8 a pint. We began cooking over a wood fire a few years ago, using a tripod and kettle. Oh, and a large firewood supply. Whatever method you choose, proceed slowly and with caution.

Gather your supplies. We use food safe plastic jugs, buckets, and little water line spouts. Maple syrup production houses will collect into stainless steel vats using long water lines but we simply gather the jugs, pour into buckets and bring it to the kettle twice daily. I buy little pint jugs to store it in. Very fresh, very pure. Start tapping the trees when daytime temperatures are going to be above freezing but nights are still very cold. In Ohio, the sap will be running fast sometime in February.

Try my cousin Stephanie Krupla's recipe for Sticky Bun Tea Ring and you'll want to search for maple trees you can tap into yourself!