Hamburger Helper

Where have I been?  The last month has been a whirlwind. Everyone keeps saying Thanksgiving was late, thereby making Christmas seem early.  I still can't find a way to understand this...I mean, isn't Thanksgiving ALWAYS the last Thursday of November?  Anyway...

I've told you guys before how much I love Zaycon.  A couple months ago, my mom placed an order for the two of us to split.  In the meantime, my brother-in-law accepted a job in Houston.  He left before Thanksgiving and my sister was to follow once the houses got closed. My dear, sweet parents agreed to drive with her to Texas. To drive with her, my 2 1/2 year old niece and the dog.  Saints, they are.

It just so happened that our Zaycon delivery was coming in the following day.  This "event" was ham and hamburger.  My mom ordered one case of ham, which contained two 10 lb. hams.  This ham is so amazingly yummy too.  She also ordered two cases of hamburger meat.  When I first learned that she'd ordered this much, I thought it must be a mistake, but no, she did it on purpose.  It really wouldn't have been a big deal with each of us taking a case home to portion out.  But, remember, mom and dad had just left on this roadtrip the day before.

That left me here in Columbia holding 80 pounds of hamburger.  Yes.  I said eighty. And, it's packaged in 10 lb. "logs" so you can't just plop those babies in the freezer.  Nope.  You must portion it out and wrap and bag for the freezer. 

This post is dedicated to my husband, Neil.  

He is my hamburger helper.

This is just a fraction of our hamburger haul.

We got in assembly line mode and he and I created 40 lbs of 1/4 lb hamburger patties.  Each wrapped in plastic wrap and put in freezer bags.  The other 40 lbs we cut into 1 lb segments and wrapped and bagged.  Neil looked at the half (40 lbs) that was to go to our house and said, "We won't be able to get this in our freezer."  As usual, I replied "Oh, don't worry, I'll get it in there."  Well, suffice it to say that our freezer is literally packed to the gills with meat.  It helps me sleep well at night.  Now, I just have to start writing a list of ways to use hamburger.  Lots and lots of hamburger!

Simplicity

This time year often calls for the simplest preparation.  It's hot. Damn hot.  And it's not uncommon for us Southerners to feel sticky, damp and slightly brain damaged by the end of the day.  So, there are those days when a simple supper is best.  I remember as a kid having true garden dinners; like butter beans, rice, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and corn.  Today felt like one of those days. 

I was not planning to blog about this meal because I just didn't find it all that noteworthy.  BUT...I made the Vivver's plate and she said "Wow!  Mommy, that looks great.  You need to take a picture of this one for sure!"  Well, there you have it.  How could I not oblige?  The wunderkind has been paying attention.

So, tonight we dined on some simple favorites.  I grilled a center cut ham steak.  If you've never grilled ham like this, you're missing out.  Then on the side we had fresh corn-on-the-cob and peas with mint from our patio garden.  That's it.  Nothing more.  Not terribly exciting, but man, it was good!

Here's Viv's plate that she wanted to share with you all:

Not a gourmet feature, but it was some good, satisfying chow!

Christmas Eve Plans

Every year, I start imagining all the Thanksgiving/Christmas get-togethers and what kind of menu we should have, what look, what time to eat, etc.  I sometimes have a theme, sometimes it's an elegant candlelit affair, occasionally I envision a Norman Rockwell painting.  The thing is, no matter what ideas or scenarios that I come up with, it usually plays out like our holidays have played out my whole life.  And, that's ok.

We have never been the night-time, dress up in velvet, candlelit formal holiday dinner types.  I see the articles in Food & Wine and Bon Appetit with all the shimmery decorations, formal china and crystal, fancy dresses and coats and ties and it looks great.  I love an elegant event as much as, maybe even more than most people.  But, holidays in the Webber-Wilson-Akre-Ballard clan have always been pretty casual, homey, pot-lucky and what I consider to be "normal."  We make a plan: who's making a turkey, who's  bringing ham,  how about Uncle John's smoked corned beef this time?  Aunt Jennie is always asked to make her dressing & sweet potatoes.  I've probably told y'all before that without her sweet potatoes for at least one of the holiday dinners, the Earth will fall off its axis.  My sister and I are usually the ones who will throw in a new experiment or some hors d'oeuvres.  We all pitch in, plan on eating a mid to late lunch, drink wine.  You know.


So, Christmas is upon us and I'm thinking about Christmas Eve in particular.  At Thanksgiving, I said to my Dad, "What about doing a beef tenderloin on Christmas Eve after church and having the traditional stuff for lunch on Christmas Day?"  We both agreed this would be a great plan.  I think I suggest the tenderloin every year; it usually happens about every 7 years.  What usually ends up happening is what will happen this year too.  We all gravitate back to "pick up food."  Not take-out, but hors d'oeuvres, snacks, casual dishes like gumbo, antipasto.  Sounds great to me: I could live off finger food.  Remember how Rachel served her kids their meals in Mermaids? 

 I want to throw in a cheese fondue this year.  Vivian hasn't experienced fondue and at 4 1/2 years old, I think she'll really think it's cool.  And, I want to do the real thing: the emmenthaler, kirsch, garlic, good bread...the whole nine yards.  We have tons of crab in the freezer, so I think crab cakes go without saying.  I'm looking at some other recipes like roast beef & horseradish crostini for example.  That's as far as I've gotten so far.  I'm sure Mom has some great ideas floating around in her head as well.

Ok, that does it...I want fondue NOW!

So, as is pretty typical for us, we'll have a yummy, casual Christmas Eve grazing.  Katherine is bringing a ham, we'll make Aunt Jennie's sweet potatoes, maybe a broccoli casserole, so Christmas Day will be pretty traditional. OUR Traditional anyway.  And that's ok!