Monday, January 29, 2024

What I should be doing is not always what I do.

 I should be doing so many things right now other than an admittedly boring food blogpost. I set out ingredients earlier to bake cookies but haven't started yet. Instead, I started changing things around in my kitchen and then my bedroom and then the dining area of our great room. 

And then I came to a stopping point, needing RH to come home and help me with some of the heavy stuff--a large picture to move from the dining area to my bedroom, the upper open shelf in the kitchen for him to clean and move things around on like I had done the lower shelf. There are things sitting on my counters, the dining table has hammer, nails, dust cloths and polish sitting on it and a few final Christmas things I took down and need to be stored, the laundry  basket sitting in a chair by the dining table waiting for the table to be cleared so I can fold white things, the vacumn pulled out on the floor for him to use it on the top of a large armoir, a stepladder waiting for him to climb. And now he's home and wants to wait until tomorrow for his honey-do list. 

So I'm sitting down to rest and wanting to change a blog post here at Across the Way that has not been changed since December 9, that's December 9. 

And everything I wanted to blog on requires this little thing or that little thing to finish up first. So I am going to dump on my poor few readers one of the many food posts that I never got around to posting. And it's a ham based menu at that, Ham, on readers who include vegetarians and people who probably never fix ham because they always blog such beautiful healthy meals. 



All I can say is, please, please, please don't feel as if you have to comment, not even my faithful few who still come here. You are totally excused! This is just for my own family because we love ham. Or at least some of us do. About every three months RH buys one at Costco and we have ham and vegetables, and ham and eggs for breakfast, and ham sandwiches, and the ham bone goes in the freezer for flavoring dried beans.

And then the last scraps of ham go into a ham and potato casserole. And it is delicious!


I don't have a written down recipe but I cook the potatoes first in a pot till tender and slice them and it has sliced onions and milk and cheese and pepper and whatnot in it.

I serve braised cabbage with it.


And this particular time I had cranberry sauce in the fridge.


And that small bowl to the left was Silver Palate's Pineapple Bake, a bread pudding that is so good with ham.


Here's a link I found to the recipe that shows how simple the recipe is.


And I might as well include the recipe from Food & Wine that I use for ham broth that I make from the ham bone to flavor dried beans. Maybe you can read it if you're interested.



It's kind of fun to make, just as is any stock. At least I always feel thrifty and housewifely when I make my own stock. 

Now if tomorrow I can finish up all those little projects I started today. Anyone else ever do that? Oh I forgot, you're not supposed to leave a comment on this one!







6 comments:

  1. I'm commenting anyway! I hope that's OK. Oh yes, there are plenty of times where I start chores or projects and don't finish them that day, so I just remind myself I did the best I could and that tomorrow is a new day. It's OK to not finish everything on your to-do list!

    Your ham looks wonderful and that meal complete with braised cabbage and pineapple bake has me salivating. It all looks so delicious! We only have ham on holidays ~ Easter, Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Why? I dunno. Tradition?

    I keep a freezer bag full of veggie scraps in my freezer to make stock but I'm not feeling veggie stock right now; I want to make chicken stock. So I'll have to wait until I have some chicken bones.

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    1. And this is why we blog--the very nice people we meet while blogging! Thank you, Melanie! And I get you about the vegetable scraps. RH is always taking a bag of green stuff out of the freezer and asking what in the world is it when he finds unidentifiable objects and I tell him stock ingredients.

      My best to you and all of us who don't get finished with what we meant to do!

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  2. I'll comment! I love ham! And with a ham bone I make split pea soup. The meal with the potatoes and braised cabbage looks delicious. I used to make a pineapple bake with bread cubes with a ham, but haven't done that for a long time.
    It seems that one thing leads to another when working on cleaning up or another organizing project. I'm the same way. There's always another day to finish things.

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    1. Ham is so versatile, isn't it? Your split pea soup reminded me that I used to buy Goya split yellow peas and made the most wonderful soup with it. Where did that recipe go?
      I took a few days and tried to finish up a few of my projects but I'm still needing RH to help with a couple where stepladders are concerned. When I think about the things I really wanted to do this winter, February is suddenly feeling like a very short month--even with that extra day thrown in. It's lovely that some of your remodeling projects are getting done this winter, Lorrie!

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  3. Of course I'm going to comment! How can I not with all those scrumptious recipes coming from one ham! It's amazing how resourceful and creative you are, Dewena! I love all things cabbage, cabbage rolls, cabbage and rice, coleslaw, the list goes on. Your braised cabbage is perfect paired with the ham and potato casserole; looks delish! I have only had ham a few times in my life, at my sister's during the winter, and it is another cozy dish for cold weather.

    Ha! I am the queen of 'half done housework', especially when I feel overwhelmed, as I do now. Case in point: I took down the Christmas decorations two weekends ago, and have only managed to pack one suitcase full, with still another to go, as well as a few boxes. The two new students I acquired at the beginning of the year have done a number on my time and energy, taking most of them up with more lesson planning and marking, so that by the end of the night, I am zonked. And thus, with sky-high piles of Christmas bric a brac, my usally peaceful looking great room looks more like a boxing day blowout sale! I keep putting it at the top of my 'to do' list for the next day, only to keep moving it to the bottom as the day progresses! So, I can totally relate!

    It's almost midnight, and I've spent 7 hours teaching, marking and lesson planning, and everything's looking pretty blurry right now, so I'd better get to bed, as I have lessons starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow, but not before I scroll down to the bottom of today's list to cut 'finish packing Xmas stuff' and paste it at the top of tomorrow's - again! It's my new 'nightly routine';)

    Take your sweet time, my friend, it will all get done eventually.
    Poppy xx

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    1. Poppy, dear, can you see my red face? I was sure I remembered replying to your wonderful comment but just now realized I didn't! Maybe running two blogs may be getting too much for your elderly friend but how can I give up one of them?

      Your accounting of being late packing away Christmas decor would make me feel better until I remember what a busy woman you are with a full time teaching position as well as your other creative outlets.

      I will try to follow your advice to take my time and I give that advice back to you. The most important thing is to enjoy the gifts of each day, right? And as I look back at this post now I realize that it all did get done that I was worried about. Well, maybe not everything. There's still my office, that cluttered writing room of mine. And I was going to show my blog friends current pictures of it. Maybe next week. Meanwhile I had better pay better attention to comments I publish and then forget to go back and reply to. I think this is the second time it's happened. Please forgive me!

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