Lapskaus

It's raining and it's going to keep raining till we get a wee break next week, then we're to get more rain. I love the rain, I know we need it, but I also hate the cold.

My weapons against the rain are as follows:

• Wearing Layers
• Sturdy Leather Boots
• My Red Peacoat 
• Handknit Wool Socks
• A Handmade Cowl/Scarf
• My Plaid Umbrella
• Lapskaus

Most of these you are more then likely familiar with, with the exception of the Lapskaus. 

I grew up in a very Norwegian-American family, and we did not have stew. I actually had no idea what stew was till my mother started dating my step father who grew up in England (trust me when I tell you that I know bland food). My mother couldn't cook, but my grandmother, and great grandmother Fugelseth cooked lapskaus when it rained and served it over rice, or tossed rice into it when it was getting to the bottom of the pot and we needed to make it stretch for one more meal. I still make lapskaus as the weather starts to turn cold, but it's not exactly the lapskaus of my childhood.

We all have those foods that we try to recreate from our childhoods, but having grown up thinking there were only 2 spices (salt and pepper), I kind of gather whatever hits my fancy when I'm at the store, or is on sale. My best friend Anna has my aunt Thea's lapskaus recipe, which is fairly close to what my grandmother made, but rather then rely on a ton of salt for seasoning I prefer a dark beer.

Lapskaus

• 2 lbs of meat, pork preferred, any cut
• 1 bottle of dark beer, I preferred Shinerbock for a light taste, Rasputin Stout for a strong flavor
• 2-4 carrots
• 2 parsnips
• 1 yellow onion
• 3-4 medium red skin potatoes
• 4 stalks celery

Note: You'll need to start this the night before and plan to toss the vegetables in the next morning.  

1. Put the meat, whole, into a large crockpot and pour the beer over it. Cover, let sit for 2 hours on high, and then let sit overnight on low/warm.
2. Chop all vegetables into bite size cubes and toss in the next morning. I like to chop them all while I wait for the meat on high the night before, pop all the chopped vegetables into the fridge overnight, and dump them into the pot as I get ready to go to work the next morning.
3. Let cook for at least 5-6 hours.
4. Serve & provide people with salt and pepper.

This is seriously the easiest thing to make and it makes the house smell wonderful all day long. You can serve with bread or rice.

Art, Drinks, and Chocolate

This weekend was packed full and I didn't even get today off from work! None the less I truly feel like I had a 3 day weekend.

Maybe it's May Day fever but mid February is a very popular time to have a birthday in Ben's and my families. I have a grandmother, an aunt, Ben's cousin, and a friend all with birthdays this weekend.

We went to visit my wonderful grandma Sue, who is an artist in Petaluma, and we walked, ate good food, and raided the local establishments for local brews.

Sue Heinz Landscape made with just ink and coffee

This almond tree near grandma Sue's home has
 informed us winter is over and spring is here.
I have mixed feelings/drinks about this. 

After driving all the way back home we took right off for a double date to and ended up seeing Hail, Caesar!, which I'll let you go see and make up your own mind on how it was because our party was of mixed reviews.

Valentine's Day was kicked off with eating See's for breakfast before heading out to a birthday party for the lovely Alex (who is the sister of Ben's cousin Nick, whom I hold dear to my heart), and then to Deadpool.

I cannot rave enough about that movie. I loved everything about it (well maybe not the part when the guy gets his head taken off by a motorcycle chain. I could have done without that). I want to see it another ten times, but alas we were having over friends for dinner, and we told them they had to see it before coming over because we needed to talk to them about it (we're all pretty geeky).

 Dinner consisted of a fine selection of beer, blackberry bourbon fizz, and in the spirit of Lady and the Tramp spaghetti and meatballs. Now it was not  just any standard spaghetti and meatballs, but I also made bean balls and zoodles (I swear my vegetable pasta cutter is a gift from my heathen gods).

I have a thing for Thug Kitchen and they turned me on to Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute, which is my go to seasoning for just about everything for just $1.99 per jar! What says better tasting then quality ingredients at a bargain? Thug Kitchen makes these amusing pictures and they're motto is "Eat like you give a Fuck", which is something we should all remember.

Lastly, should you be in the Petaluma area, and have a love for food, jot over to Thistle Meats and get a gift card for yourself and promise to get over to support them in a couple weeks. A drunk driver hit their storefront, and such an disaster can have huge consequence for a small business.