Lunch for the week of 12/24/17

also including the previous two weeks, though those weeks were singularly unimaginative.

For the week of 12/10/17 - something so remarkably un-memorable I didn't even bother to take a picture of it.


For the week of 12/17/17

pre-made Quiche Lorraine from the local super market.  It's edible, and the quality of what the local Shop-Rite makes is pretty good.  A bit too much cheese, which melted out, but solid food.  It snowed the day I began eating it, so comfort food.  That works.


This week's lunch 

It started out as home made hot-n-sour soup, inspired by a posting on G+, the original was used chicken and mushroom stock, but I substituted pork stock for the mushroom (slow cooker made, from scratch and part of a bag of pork bones) and I added a jar of Vietnamese hot-n-sour soup base from an oriental grocery store in Phila.  I've had it for a while, waiting for a reason to use it.  It made the stock too sour though, even with an egg beaten in, so I cooked up onions, added water, toast and cheese (I think it's Swiss, tastes good),and turned it into sort-of-French Onion soup.  It's still rather sour, but edible, and the toast puts a lot into the flavor.

I like it.  French onion soup supposedly has wine in the stock, but I skipped that.  I don't think the job would approve.

What I Would Change

None of the soup base, or at least less of it.  It overpowers the rest of flavors,. I didn't have to add extra salt before eating, so that's to the good.

I still have over half the bag of pork bones, so there will probably be more slow-cooker broth in the future,  Uncertain if it will be a basis for gravy or another soup though.

Lunch for the week of 12/3/17

My pants were a bit tight lately, so I've retreated to something "healthier" so ... salad again.

This week's Lunch

The lunch this week is pseudo caesar salad, I didn't have time to cruise the farmer's market for what lettuce was still available locally, and retreated to the supermarket for a head of romaine lettuce.  Not too pricey, and at least it's green stuff that's not fuzzy (like some of the bread in the house lately).  I didn't feel like chicken on it, so I found a cocktail shrimp ring and divvied it out into four, a little more expensive than the bag of frozen "salad shrimp" but more to it, and there's a mouth feel of actual shrimp not puffs of soggy something that salad shrimp sometimes has for me.  I did hit the local farmer's market/amish butcher for some bacon for on top.

I had leftover grated Parmesan from the spaghetti squash to toss on it, and salad dressing (creamy caesar) and croutons, if i hadn't forgotten them at home.  All together, edible, though because oranges were on sale, dessert was a quartered orange, ... working on candied peel.

Needless to say, there are reasons that the 'healthier' up top is in quotes.  This is healthier than McDonalds or a greasy spoon diner, but it's not going to be featured in on any diet sites in the near or distant future.  It's still yummy, and not too over priced (compare to buying lunch every day for a week), so it suits my needs.

What I would change

Remember the croutons, maybe leave them in the desk drawer.  The dressing is already in the break room refrigerator 

I want to get a fitness tracker to remind me to move more, but that's got to get sorted into the "needs-wants-desires" list to be handled when "spare cash" is available.

Lunch for 2 weeks (and late too)

I forgot to create last week's lunches post, though I was rather proud of it.

Last Week's Lunch

Italian Sausage in Cream Sauce baked over Spaghetti Squash  (think Sausage Alfredo sauce over Veggie Noodles)  The squash came from the local farmer's market and I cooked it in a crockpot after finding a recipe online, and the sausage was from a local supermarket's reduced meats section.  the combination turned out well, although I've been told that spaghetti squash should be eaten with "a hearty sauce"  like marinara.

see? seed

I even got a seed I forgot to clean out ... well, a couple of seeds.

What I would change

I'm not too happy with using the crockpot for cooking up the squash, it took two hours, which wasn't a problem, but when I took it out, part was a bit too browned to eat..

I am pleasantly surprised that the dish went together as well as it did.  The sauce didn't puddle too badly (always a risk with a sauce-n-noodle meal) and the squash didn't get yucky even when re-heated.



This week's Lunch
Turnips, cooked with carrots and all mashed together (it's peach colored!) with chicken bits that were dredged in flower with salt, pepper and garlic, then baked.  Not too imaginative, but filling, even if it needs to have salt added.  Dessert is either plain greek yogurt with raspberry jam spooned in or a soft flour cake

What I would change

... a bit less milk when mashing the 'neeps, but maybe put the butter in after the mashing when it's cold, that way it may stand out more.  Still seasonal food though, and yummy.

Lunch for the week of 11/11/17

First, Happy Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, Veteran's Day, what you will.

This Week's Lunch

The adulterated can of chili last was a bit too greasy and rich for me, and I wanted to move away from buying something in a can or a box or a bag and turning it into lunch.  It's easy, but it's not as much fun.

This week my stomach wanted something like comfort food, so it was chicken, gravy and noodles.  Sort of.

The noodles are oriental egg noodles, not as broad as western ones, with a slightly different mouth feel, a bit firmer and fatter, and certainly longer.  They frequently come in bundles, and one makes a person/meal.  I normally use them with psatay sauce.  I cooked them up this time with peas added after they were mostly cooked, mainly to get some veggies into lunch.

My stomach decided it wanted chicken chunks in gravy, so off to the supermarket yesterday.  I got chicken leg quarters (none in the freezer), brought it home, cooked two of them in the oven with a bit of salt on the underside (about 2 lb).  I didn't buy bottled gravy.  It's frequently too watery and too salty.   I wanted to make it myself, and checked our cookbooks to see what each suggested.

They all called for chicken drippings, flour, chicken broth, maybe some light cream (if I wanted a richer gravy) and time, but didn't agree on what ratios, or exactly how much time.  They all seemed to presume that I was either making it with pan cooked chicken, or the like.  I took guesses, tasted and came up with rather tasty.

I didn't have enough chicken drippings in the baking so I added some drippings from previous baked chicken and some butter (about a teaspoon).
I wanted to make it richer, but didn't have light cream.  I used half and half, about an ounce.
I used about 2 tablespoons of flour, and mixed it, the butter/drippings and heated it until the flour was cooked and everything was sticking to the pan.
No chicken broth on hand (I didn't want to use a full pint), so I heated water and chicken soup base from Penzey's

you can't see the gravy!

The result was rich, golden, and a bit under-salted, once I got the chicken off the bones, cut it up and threw it into the pan for some last heating.  then divided it all up and put the two parts of the dish into separate containers, so I can heat them up separately and combine.  I find that cold noodles frequently clump so I like to heat them with some water, dump the water and then throw the heated sauce on top.

But I understand why medieval recipes are frequently just a list of ingredients without instructions on how to combine or any sort of intermediate steps.  I look at what I wrote and I could re-create it or something very close to it, but I'm not so sure a stranger could.

Dessert is a snack box of raisins, because sweet and yummy.

What I would change

A bit more salt in the chicken as it's cooking, remember to drain the drippings back into the pan after I've gotten the meat off the bone.

Lunch for the week of 11/5/17

Last week I over-bought lettuce, so I'm having side salads for lunch, not chicken, because it's not the main course, just some greenery, too much dressing, and crunchy bread bits.

This week's lunch

A while back I bought a can of artisan chili (no beans) with the intention of having it for dinner some night.  Didn't happen, and when I found ground beef in the local market when shopping for this weeks lunch ingredients, i decided it was time to use the can.

Added to this was 1 chopped onion, fried up, a pound of ground beef and then simmered.

Today's lunch included that over some rice and with a bit of cheese, plus a salad and some leftover halloween candy.

What I would change

Add some crackers or remove some of the fat, possibly throw some salt into the dish when re-heating it.  The ground beef was quite rich and between it and the olive oil used for the onions, I'm glad I took a walk after lunch (3 flights down, 3 flights up) to put my lunch bag away.  The salad is a nice touch though.  It's late in the year and cold for "salad as main course" but it's still good for "salad as added munchie"

It's certainly healthier than adding potato chips.  

Lunch for the week 10/29/17

There is a farmer's market in the area that I've gone to since I was a kid, with a dairy store next to it that has excellent food).  It's late in the season for fresh "summer type" veggies, but I found the makings for salad, and cheaply too, end of the season lettuce.

This week's lunch

With the end of the season the farmers are wrapping up summer and lettuce and corn and tomatoes in favor of eggplant and apples and pumpkins, I saw butternut squash, and may get some, there's a recipe for soup ...

But back to last week's shopping expedition.  I found red leaf lettuce and romaine at one of the booths and got some, wash some leaves, throw them in the lunch cotainer, add microwaved chicken bits, croutons, dressing, and pseudo chicken pCesar psalad.

The lettuce is fresh out of the ground, and beause it's the end of the season, some of it's wilted or limp, so I had to make sure to wash and tear off what's not edible.  It ended up being about a third in the garbage, but it's the end of the season, make do with what's left.

It still managed to make a decent salad, and a good lunch.  I can't make all four lunches and store them in the fridge, so it's going to be a challenge to get up and make it for the next three mornings, but I think it'll be worth it.  I like this kind of salad, though it's usually just the romaine lettuce, the red leaf just look so appealing on the table.

What I would change

More lettuce, and probably toss a dessert into the lunch bag.  The salad was a little light for a 10 hour day, and I don't want to start digging into the holiday candy because I've got the just got home munchies.

Lunch for the week 10/22/17 (yeah, late)

Posting this week's lunch was difficult, yesterday's work time was lacking in empty time not otherwise spent.  Last night was more of the same, and I am never going to be able to post on Monday during working hours, even if I felt comfortable bringing my personal laptop in to the office and getting onto social media.

Mondays at the job do not have enough time to breathe, never mind goof off.

This Week's Lunch

It was supposed to be shrimp and chicken fried rice, but a co-worker forgot to bring her lunch and decided to order Italian delivery.  I've always had a weakness for fried calamari and marinara sauce.  I did have a little bit of the fried rice I made, but .... 

batter dipped inner tube slices!  It was delicious, and it was gone very very quickly.

The source of this was a visit to the local Aldi store, they offer a wide variety of foods as well as household stuff.  They had frozen packages of chicken fried rice and shrimp fried rice.  I cooked them up with an extra scrambled egg and some chopped onions.  The chicken bag had a separate sauce added after cooking, the shrimp was all mixed together.  They were officially 2 servings each, but they filled the frying pan and then some, and I'm using the 3 cup containers for the lunches.  It's a rather large meal.

What I would change

Not doing this again, the two dishes don't mesh well together, there's edamame in the chicken fried rice and it's got probably too much sodium but it's oddly bland.  They'd probably be better as separate meals, not lumped together.  If I try something like this again, only one package of pre-made stuff, and more adulteration.

Well, some experiments are failures.

A Leather Table Carpet (inspiration and examples)

I was a bit wrong, and a bit right. When the book came in, I located the relevant section, only to find I'd mis-remembered the story of the burned leather carpet.  The story is in the The Connoisseur's Complete Period Guides (to the Houses, Decoration, Furnishings and Chattels of the Classic Periods), page 239

Leather Hangings

Conspicuous among the furnishings of the richer homes in Tudor times were the so-called 'Spanish leather' hangings. Although originating in Spain, perhaps as early in the eleventh century, this type of decorative leather, varying in detail, was eventually made in all the principal European countries. England apparently excelled in the making of gilded, embossed and painted panels for mural decorations,  (Fourgeroux de Bondaroy in a report to the Academy of France, Descriptions des Arts et Metiers, 1762) but there is no record or any organized craft of leather gilders. It therefore appears probable that only a handful of craftsmen were concerned with this somewhat exotic product; and those not much before the early years of the seventeenth century. Earlier hangings must therefore have been imported, probably chiefly from France and the Low Countries. Leather hangings were not purely decorative: they were esteemed because they were not affected by damp or insects, could be cleaned by sponging and retained their brilliance indefinitely. An article in the Illustrated London News for 11 October, 1851, states: 'About 1531 or 1532, Henry VIII built a manor-house near Eastham Church in Essex, with a high square tower, that during her sort of year or probation, Anne Boleyn might enjoy the prospect of the Royal Park at Greenwich. This tower had hangings of the most gorgeous gold leather, which remaining until fifty years since, when the house coming into the hands of a proprietor with no especial love for the memory of the Bluff Harry, nor the sad hauntings of the fate of Anne Boleyn, nor the old art and workmanship of leather decoration, but a clear perception that in so many yards of gilt leather there must be some weight of real gold, had the tapestries [sic] torn down, sent to the goldsmith's furnace, ad some £60 gathered from the ashes.' Whilst real gold-leaf was undoubtedly used on occasion, usually the effect was produced by covering the leather with silver or tin-foil and then applying successive layers of yellow varnish. The decline of leather hangings seems to have resulted in part from changing fashions, and in part form the introduction of the cheaper embossed paper embossed paper wall-coverings, to the earliest of which the leather gilders turned their hands.

I cannot verify the Illustrated London News story, there are no local archives, and their online archives are behind a paywall.  The Connoisseur Guide was a periodical before it was collected into book form, the copyright years are 1956, 1957, 1958, with "First published as one complete volume 1968"

There is however, very little in the way of surviving exemplars, later in the same section (p. 240) is a reference to another one that serves as the inspiration

Plate 84(a) from The Connoisseur's Complete Period
Guides (Tudor Section) - "The only known example of a
leather 'carpet', probably a bed cover, forming part of the
seventeenth-century furnishings of the Queen's Room, Ham
House (discarded in the eighteenth century).  Of shaved
hide, silvered, embossed and painted, the background in
opaque light grey, flowers and foliage in transparent glazes
through which the silver still gleams.  This particular example
is probably of the mid-seventeenth century, Dutch, but leather
carpets are mentioned as early as 1423.
Ham House, Richmond, Surrey"

... Leather 'carpets', that is to say overs for furniture such as beds and tables, are mentioned as early as 1423 in an inventory of the wardrobe of Henry VI, being made of Spanish leather. But no example was known to have survived until one was found in the attics of Ham House, Richmond, dating from the Restoration period. ... The technique employed for ornamentation is interesting and unusual. Natural (undyed) sheepskin was placed over patterns cut in relief on wooden blocks, and subjected to a rubbing, probably with a wood or bone 'slicker'. This bruised the surface of the leather where there was contact with the raised design below, leaving charming patterns in brown on the biscuit-coloured leather. Gilt leather piping and tassels enhanced the effect.

from the Marble Dining Room, Ham House, Surrey

Having found an examplar, I went looking to see if it had survived into the modern day.  It had.  Ham House is now part of the National Trust, and there are color pictures, though unfortunately, not as detailed as I like.  The ornamentation does say "Jacobean" to me, more than Tudor/Elizabethan.  According to this link, leather hangings were used in dining rooms because they did not retain smells. 

I now had a search term, "Leather Hangings" dropped into assorted search engines got me a link to the Cooper Hewett museum, and a leather wallcovering from circa 1750, also Dutch.  Looking for other items classified the same way, the Cooper Hewett has 16 examples of "leather, stamped, painted, silvered" dated from 1680 through 1750.

Additional links:

Patrick Baty, gilt leather

Description of repairing/replacing A Leather Wall Covering at Cheverny, a seventeenth century french chateau

From the V&A, a leather panel from between 1500 and 1600 (4" by about 6") the museum has more examples, but this is one of the oldest

From the Cooper Hewett Museum

Lunch for the week 10/15/17

This Week's Lunch

The lunch for today fell victim to "darn, I was hungry" so the picture is an empty bowl.

Deal.

I went to an oriental market last week where they had something called "Singapore Curry Gravy.  (Value added picture of an empty jar, at least the label is readable.  Cooked it up with sliced onion, chicken, peas, and served over rice.  Think Singapore style (spicy!) fried rice or mei fun (chinese narrow noodles).  It's spicy, but the flavors manage to blend quite well.

Dessert was more orange quarters, Cara oranges from the same oriental market, and soft noodle cake.

What I would change

I think next time I'll see if I can plan ahead for a package of broccoli in addition to or instead of the peas, and see about making noodles (ramen noodles?) instead of picking up a container of cooked rice from the local shop rite.

On a semi sadder note, last weeks oranges did not get turned into candied orange peel, I'm afraid I misjudged the candying portion and it overcooked.

But, hey, look, an uneaten lunch!

A Leather Table Carpet (gathering materials)

Before Research, gathering materials.

There is something intriguing about falling down a rabbit hole.  This one has two sources, a copy of "The Connoisseur's Complete Period Guides to the Houses, Decoration, Furnishing and Chattels of the Classic Periods" and a friend with a club membership for Tandy Leather that he would allow me to make use of.

I bought a deer hide and some leather-friendly paint, to see if it's possible to make something out of it.  Not gloves (though the leather is butter soft and almost hole free.

Many years ago I bought a book, a compilation of the styles in furnishings in the years between 1500 and 1860 reading in the section about the Tudor (1500-1603) and Stuart (1603-1714) I read about a leather tablecloth/covering/carpet that someone of a later age threw on a fire for the gilding on it, the person who did it got, if I recall correctly, 5 pounds gold (I don't know if it was the monetary unit or the weight).  Feel free to creeble, bemoan, or curse the destruction of something unique, I'll wait.

Not the copy I bought,
(mine has no dust jacket)

By the way, in the early 19th century, people used to take medieval ecclesiastical vestments and pick the gold embroidery off of it, because it was just old stuff, and hey, gold!

I've not found any other reference to leather table-coverings in the Tudor era or earlier, and I've misplaced the book, so before I wanted to start making anything, I went hunting on Amazon.  The book cost less than the shipping.  Not bad considering the copy I had many-many years ago was more.  A lot more.

Lunch for the week 10/8/17

This Week's Lunch


This week I went Middle European.  Polish to be more exact, Kielbasa and Cabbage Stew, another slow cooker dish.  I'm blaming on Walter Staib and A Taste of History.  It's showing locally in hour long bursts and it's one of my "nothing good on but this is fun".  He had on an episode featuring Tadeusz Kościuszko and that was ... sort of, one of the featured recipes.  I did not have the spices the recipe called for (no thyme, no basil, just pepper), so I used a bit of pizza seasoning.

I cooked it up Friday night and taste tested it Saturday and it doesn't suck.  It's a bit of a variant of Polish Hunter Stew (Bigos).  The cabbage has a lighter taste than sauerkraut, but for lunch at the office I don't want something as smelly (if yummy) as sauerkraut, bacon, beef broth and assorted cooked meat chunks.

Dessert is orange quarters, because candied orange peel.

What I would change

Not much,  though I'd like to go full on Bigos (this link or the recipe I found many-many years ago in Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' a Gift to Young Housewives).  It's not likely the husband doesn't like the smell of sauerkraut and it is a smelly dish.  I'll see what inspires for next week.

It may be another batch of this stuff, I have enough leftover chopped cabbage, cubed potatoes, and sliced carrots for it, or a batch of very vegetable soup, if I get some onions.  Or maybe cole slaw.  

The vote has been cast, it's coleslaw, but probably not for a day or two.  

Lunch for the week 9/30/17

This Week's Lunch

My work week started on Saturday, this time (I wanted Sunday off) so the date's off by one.  This week's lunches features cold cut sandwich wraps.  Overslept yesterday so I grabbed everything and stuffed it into a lunch bag to assemble in the break room.

Cold cuts this time were cheese, ham, and turkey breast cooked with chile.  The last tastes like turkey, but the chile means it has a really nice afterburn.  The lettuce ended up being boston lettuce, because it was less expensive than romaine.  Sun dried tomato sandwich wraps (burrito size) instead of bread.  Yesterday's lunch was yummy, though I hope I have time to assemble them before I leave for work, not on the job.

What I would change

Get up earlier in the morning, so I can remember to pack the potato chips I bought to go with this.

Lunch for the Week (9/24/17)

This Week's Lunch

This week features Curry Chicken Fried Rice.  This one is a "little of this, little of that" set of meals.  No single source to point to, it's made up of Maharajah Curry Rice, (from Penzey's), sort of, a "Curried Fried Rice Recipe" from Food Network, and what I frequently do for breakfast when there is leftover rice.  There is no link to the rice recipe, go buy some, the recipe is on the jar, and it tastes good. I substituted Curious Monkey Curry Powder from Auntie Arwen's Spices for it.  It is a mix that does not include cinnamon, I have friend who is allergic to it, and it smelled good.  So, it's an experiment in taste as well as testing the spice mix out.

First up, I sauteed some onions and chicken breast and thigh meat cut into bitesized bits until about half done, sprinkled some curry powder on it, stirred well, and when it was almost done, remove from the pan and put it aside.

Next up, I made the curry rice almost by the recipe on the jar.  I substituted the Curious Monkey for the Maharajah, and used chicken schmaltz instead of butter, and added back in the liquid that came out of the sauteed chicken,  It still tasted good, and once it was done, I removed it and put it aside.

The curried fried rice called for cooking the egg first (did that,), taking it out of the pan and cooking some scallions and curry powder together (didn't do that), then adding rice and stirring it all together.  I added the chicken and onions next, mixed it together, and decided it looked too monochromatic, and threw some frozen peas in.

Because I like peas, and think they don't screw up the flavor of this sort of thing, and they add color.

What I would change

Try to make the rice fluffier, (different rice?), it's a bit soupy.  I may need to cook down the rice a bit more.  It needed salt, but I prefer to add that as I eat, instead of cooking with it.

Lunch for the Week (9/17/17)

(Intro)
I've been brownbagging (sort of) my lunch at work for cost and health reasons.  I've done slow-cooker Mongolian Beef, Fettuccine Alfredo with sausage.  My choices are based on "what's available," "how much will it cost," and "what do I want to eat this week"
The last is because whatever I make I'm stuck with for 4 days.

This Week's Lunch
Creamy Chicken Pesto on Broken Fettuccine Noodles
the Creamy Pesto part is from Campbell's, the chicken breast was from Shop Rite, and the noodles were leftovers from last week's lunch.  (the Alfredo with sausage bits)

Quite edible, and warming today's lunch up made the co-workers hungry.  Co-worker envy is sometimes a good thing.

What I would change:
Change up the chicken meat, I prefer dark meat to white, so chicken thighs with or in place of the chicken breast.