Jars - 30 November 2020 - Plague Journal Day 263

Micah 6:8
John 2:1-11
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

First off, let me point out that today is National Stay At Home Because You're Well Day. That might as well be the Day of National Unnecessary Redundancy Day. Another "holiday" that just seems to be rubbing it in. What a year, eh?

At least there's an actual holiday today that is worth noting. It's National Mason Jar Day.
I think it's fun that the illustration at that link shows Ball jars - a company that jumped in when the patent on Mason jars expired and became the most popular brand of Mason jars. The family later founded a university in Indiana which is affectionately known as Fruit Jar Tech. (Its official name is something closer to Ball State University, but that's neither here nor there.) Still, we are using mason jars more and more here at home. Glass seems to keep things fresher than plastic, and even acidic tomato sauce doesn't stain glass. We haven't actually canned anything yet, but they're great for leftover storage and for making quick refrigerator pickles.



Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Turkey? - 28 November 2020 - Plague Journal Day 261

Micah 6:8
Luke 16:19-31
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is Turkey Leftover Day. We are abstaining from this celebration, however. You see, we are planning a second Thanksgiving in a week or so, and we're trying to space out our turkey consumption so it's not too concentrated in any one time frame. Instead we took a pork shoulder and dropped it with a bunch of good stuff (beer, vinegar, mustard, hot sauce, etc.) into the Instant Pot and had a wonderful bowl of pulled pork on mashed potatoes with corn. (Those last two were leftovers, so we were sort of in the spirit of the day, I suppose.)

It was delicious, and we'll enjoy some turkey tomorrow.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Carnage du Jour - 15 October 15

As you no doubt already know, bratwurst is a staple and a treat chez nous.

Well, leftover brats are a joy - grab a bun and heat them and enjoy, slice them into a cream sauce over pasta and enjoy, add to a quiche or omelette and enjoy, grab one cold from the fridge and enjoy, the list is endless, and each entry ends with "and enjoy."

We had several (purposely) leftover brats in the fridge and somehow the idea of a bratwurst pizza (or bratzza, if you will - or even if you won't) came to both of us, so in the spirit of serendipity, kismet, and/or Providence, that was the next project.


Not being a baker / doughmaker, I chose to purchase a very nice-looking whole wheat pizza crust at the market, but from then on it was all us:
Brats sliced to replace (much thinner) pepperoni, shredded Amish Swiss cheese to replace the mozz (isn't there a better way to shred cheese than those deadly box graters?!), a sauce of leftover alfredo jazzed up with some Gulden's brown mustard, and sauerkraut to replace any and all vegetable toppings.




You no doubt wonder how it turned out, but given the size of the pizza and the near-total lack of leftovers, we have no doubt that this is  an application which will be repeated here at Cleveland.


Delicious, desirable, and most definitely highly recommended.