Oyster stuffing - with some trepidation

Number 1 daughter Alex asked for "oyster stuffing," to my suprise, this year. Hmmm... Oyster stuffing.... well, that will be ok, I guess; I'm game for almost anything, and surely this is not something no one has ever done before.

So, I get the 10 oz jar of fresh oysters at the 99 Ranch market and .... well... just look at them. I google "oyster stuffing," and read about 30 or so recipes. In the end, as usual, I winged it.

I took a box of Mrs. Cubbisons, doubled the celery and onion, did the rest the same, except for adding a couple of eggs and about as much crumbled home-made cornbread as stuffing cubes (no one liked the cornbread, ditch that next year), and after much indecision, chopped the oysters as opposed to leaving them whole. There wasn't a tremendous amount of oyster liquer - juice - so I added that as well, though I suspect you wouldn't under any circumstance want to over-do that element of the dish.

I cooked both stuffings - Dad, Linda, Gus, Grace & Leo were gagging at the very thought, so I did both, on the bbq - in the middle, with the fire on both sides. It was really good! Not tremendously fishy - at all! Really nice, and Alex, Joslyn, Mark and I really did think it was very mild and very nice. Alex has had it for breakfast both days since Thanksgiving, so it must be a winner.

Next year I will leave out the cornbread, although I personally love a stuffing with cornbread. I might add just a few smoked oysters, too, to push to envelope.

The Quest Continues

In light of the nasty economic situation, and the uncertain and hard times we all face ahead (unless we are CEO's, of course), I am thinking more and more about my quest, and how I feel it is a valuable tool to help manage not just financially, but emotionally with the depression (meant in both senses) that seems to be coming upon us.

My quest is to buy locally from small and independent grocers. In this day and age those are mostly run by immigrants - Arabs, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Hispanic - the folks who operate the small Mom 'n Pops with food from "home," wherever home is for them. However, in addition to stocking food from home, they also have wonderful, fresh, high-quality and CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP produce, meat and breads - to say nothing of the spices and other staples like eggs and cheese and yogurt they invariably carry.

I also feel really good about these spending patterns because the money goes to individuals, instead of corporation stockholders, and the money stays local. Additionally, Mom 'n Pops buy local produce, so I am not responsible for produce being shipped far distances, requiring tons of gas and making pots of pollution.

I also really feel good about shopping this way because I SAVE MONEY. Lots of money. I've detailed item by item in several of my past posts - but basically I save at least 50%, if not more, on the items I am able to purchase at these tiny groceries. What is not to like about that?

I also love the fact that my kids are not growing up in a bubble. They know the folks in all of these different stores to be real, human, hard-working, kind people - not scary strangers from so-called scary societies. Just folks.

I also love the fact that in addition to not growing up in a bubble, the kids are seeing that other cultures have their holidays, their rituals, their world views that are just as important to them as ours are to us - I don't want to raise ugly Americans. Really. Really. Plus, my kids can say "thank-you" in numerous languages. How cool is that?

I also love the fact that in addition to seeing other cultures, they often eat the foods of other cultures - I'm an adventurous cook, admittedly - and they are not stuck eating the vile crap I see lots of other kids eating. One of the happiest parenting moments I ever had was when Alex asked me "what is bologna?" Yes. Indeed.

I know I'm a food snob, and I make no apologies. I want my family to eat right.

And I want to save money, and I want to be as green as possible. That is why I am on this quest, and why I blog about this quest, and why I hope people will read about my quest and think that maybe they will want to do it, too.

Gyros with no fear-o's

Well, if I were a better person, we would have had left-over (dryyyyyyyy) turkey, ham, stuffing, yada, yada, yada, for dinner tonight. But not being one to ever punish myself, and consequently those whom I love, I opted for greek food tonight, because that American T-day dinner, well, it just drug me down into a place I don't want to go. A sad, lonely, unseasoned place that I don't want to discuss, outside of therapy.

So, enough said. That is not the kind of food for me, even though every now and again I try so hard to put it on, because I think, well, that is what people are craving. But, honestly, if they are, ug. I don't want to be part of this crime scene.

Ergo - tonight, the sacrosanct night after T-Day, instead of turkey soup, casserole, marzipan, or whatever ungodly sort of thing one might concoct, I went staight to - Greek food. OMG.

So good. I cheated, and no lambs (baaaaa - Eddy!) were harmed in this segment of SHOPCOOKEAT. I used (sorry cows and turkies), ground beef and ground turkey, about a 1:3 ratio.

I mixed about 3 Lb of hamburger and about 1 or so of ground turkey with 2 tbsp crumbled oregano, a tsp of cumin, some garlic salt, some creole seasoning - you really have to just think - "what do I like" and "what sounds right to me" on this one - it is fast and loose, and you may have to do it once or twice to get what you really like, so sorry for the lack of precision. At any rate, then you want to squeeze a whole lemon in, and about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil, some sea salt, some pepper.

Then, take half of an onion and run it through your small chopper, add the meat a few handfuls at a time, dumping it out regularly, and run it mostly all through your chopper until it has a fairly smooth consistency.

Take this and smoosh it all together with the spices and what not. Shape it into your regular kind of meatloaf and then bake that in the oven until done - say about an hour and a half at 350F. I am sorry to be so imprecise, but, if you take it out and poke or slice it in the middle, it should not be bloody. Let it rest, and by what ever method works best for you, slice it into the thinnest possible slices you can manage.

Serve with tatziki (recipe upon request), toasted pita, pilaf, and greek salad - serve the feta cheese on the side, for those who like less, or none. Go to your local arab store - they are such nice people; get some pita, some feta, ripe tomatoes, pretty persian cucumbers - and make a feast. It will be remembered, I promise you.

Lettuce Wraps & cooler weather

This is a post I started before mid-terms and didn't finish because I couldn't find art work I liked for the lettuce. But I found a nice one, I think; the weather has cooled, mid-terms are over (finals loom) and I'm catching up on the "drafts" in my file.


These were really tasty and we've done them a couple of times lately by popular demand. They're also a great way to get lots of veggies into everyone with a very low meat ratio.

The cooking hasn't been too inspired around here for the last two weeks because of the unrelenting weather. But we did get some amazing leaf lettuces at the 99 Ranch Market a couple of weeks in a row (59 cents a head v. $1.99 at Ralphs and Vons), and made lettuce wraps a couple of times.

Just fry ground chicken, or ground pork, or a mixture of both with some garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce and chopped water chestnuts. Serve with grated carrots and a dipping sauce made of the same - garlic, ginger, sesame oil, sliced scallions, a little rice wine vinegar and maybe some chili paste/oil/sauce - whatever you have on hand and like. Put everything on the table and dig in. Some green tea ice cream (from the 99 Ranch Market, if possible - great price and great quality) is the perfect ending.

Good eats!