How old are your spices?

Yesterday, in preparation for the sausage soup (posted below) I innocently asked my mother if she had Italian seasoning. She dug around her spice drawer, and the two pull out shelves next to her fridge for about 15 minutes, and then proudly handed me a bottle of pizza seasoning.

So I'm a food snob, and proclaimed the seasoning was too old to use. The date on the bottom of the bottle said it expired in 2003. THEN I opened pandora's box, I mean my mother's spice cabinet. Did you know McCormick has an entire section of their website dedicated to old spices?

www.spicecheckchallenge.com

It was really quite humorous. Since I like to torture my mom, I decided it was time to clean out her spice cabinet. Seriously, it was out of control.....so difficult to find anything, spices in unlabeled containers, in bags leaking all over the shelves. My mom needed an intervention, and I needed a project.

So I pulled everything out, and B and I gave all of them the sniff test, and we used the code function on the website to figure out how old some of the bottles were. We found several tins from the early 1970's (that my mother was insisting were still good!), several spices from the 1980's with $0.99 stickers on them (I don't think I've ever bought a bottle of spices that was a dollar!), and lots of spices in glass jars with green tops (I bet some of you have those in your cabinets right now!). She was quite upset to see all of her old spices being trashed, and kept insisting they were still good. But dried chives aren't supposed to smell like rubber gloves, and red pepper flakes are not supposed to be brown. So I forged on. She also had lots of spices she bought in bags from The Fresh Market, which unfortunately aren't dated, so if they passed the sniff test, they got transferred to glass containers and labeled and dated ;o)

In the end, I threw out a entire trash bag full of spices and old jars, and scrubbed out her shelves, alphabetized her spices, and labeled the shelves. Now she can find her spices in a minute, AND she gained an extra drawer (which she filled with coffee stuff).

It was fun, and fortunately since she's my mom, she has to love me even if I go through her drawers and make fun of her for old spices. :-D

Sausage and Cheese Tortellini soup

My last year in college at MSU was a somewhat miserable living experience.....I was supposed to live with a friend and her friend, but she graduated and her friend moved in with her boyfriend (and of course we had already signed a lease). This meant that I lived in our townhouse with two subleasers, and we weren't exactly compatible.

However, one of the few good things that came from living there was a soup recipe. My roommate would make it on winter nights, and it was such a comfort food after tromping across the snowy campus. It's simple and good and tasty, and the recipe makes a lot, and you can freeze it! What more could you ask for?

1 large onion, diced
1-4 cloves of garlic, minced (the original recipe uses 1 clove, but I love garlic, so I use it liberally)
1 lb Italian sausage (I use a mixture of sweet mild Italian sausage and hot)

44 oz beef broth (approximately 3 14.5 oz cans)
28 oz diced tomatoes (I use Hunt brand)
8 oz tomato sauce (I use Hunt brand)
1 cup red wine (I find merlot is best, I frequently use Yellow Tail Merlot, or Shiraz)
2 carrots, peeled, sliced and quartered
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning (I use store brand or McCormicks)

2 zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 9 oz package of cheese tortellini (I use Burtoni brand)


In a large dutch oven over medium high heat, saute onion, garlic and sausage until it is crumbled and no longer pink. Drain fat and return to pan.

Add beef broth, diced tomatoes (and juice), tomato sauce, wine, carrots, sugar and italian seasoning. Once the soup starts boiling, reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Add zucchini and cheese tortellini, and cook 10 minutes until zucchini and tortellini is tender.

Serve with shredded parmesan and crusty bread.

Variations:

Vegetarian: substitute vegetable broth for beef broth, and omit the sausage. Saute the onions and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil for a few minutes until opaque and tender. The vegetarian version is okay, but doesn't compare to the original.

More stew like: Substitute 28 oz crushed tomatoes instead of diced, and tomato paste instead of tomato sauce. This makes it thicker and rich, more like a spaghetti sauce base instead of a tomato broth base.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to meeeeeee

I am officially dirty thirty, how sad! I feel like my immature, irresponsible, freewheeling days of youth are past. Surprisingly, I am not too depressed about turning 30, it really feels like any other birthday. My mom made me french toast, always a special treat, I went for a run and tested out my new Polar F6 heart rate monitor, I took the doggers for a nice walk, and tonight we're going out for my one of my favorite meals: filet, mashed potatoes, and a nice bold red wine!

All in all it's been a good day so far, and we haven't even gotten to the presents! I think I want to make some goals for myself now that I'm thirty.

1. Stop cussing so &%# much.........whoops
2. Get a real job
3. Get a real home, where I can paint walls and remodel kitchens, let the dogs out in a backyard. I have had more than enough of the student ghetto apartment lifestyle!
4. Take better care of myself - eat more vegetables and exercise more.
5. Have more self confidence - stop worrying about what others think, who cares?

Bella dug a pyr pit

Great Pyrenees are traditionally livestock guardian dogs....they are intended to live in a field, protecting goats or chickens from predators such as coyotes and wolves. My Bella is a Great Pyr, but not a livestock guardian...just a "house dog". However, it is interesting when her instincts take over. We witnessed one of these today, when we took her to a dog park by my in-law's house. When all the other normal dogs were sniffing each other, chasing balls, playing, greeting people, etc, my Bella took it upon herself to dig an enormous hole in the soft dirt in the park. This is a common pyr behavior - they are called "pyr pits". Apparently livestock guardian pyrs like to dig big holes and lay in them, so they can watch their chickens and be incognito to predators.

Bella seriously dug a foot in a few seconds, her feet were flying, she was growling the entire time, dirt spraying everywhere. Then she laid down in her hole, and if any other dog came near her, she chased them off. Of course, she did allow her brother Bear to lay down next to her.

I found this entire scene hilarious, although I am slightly afraid of what she could do to our backyard if left to her own devices. Tonight, she is tired and sprawled out on the carpet......like a good house dog!

Yay for Santa!

Momma got a new iPod! I've been using a first generation mini for years, and it was so old that it couldn't hold a charge thru my long runs. Plus I have A LOT of music, and couldn't get everything on my iPod that I wanted. So I am so excited to play with my new iPod! I also got some reflective running gear and a new running outfit, so there are no excuses for not working out hard in the new year!

We are in Florida for the holidays, and we'll be leaving to go to see my parents in a few days. I have 3 days of being 29 left. :::SOB::::

Feeling slightly better today :-l

Last night we got Indian takeout from a local restaurant, and I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the dog cookie fallout in the living room, and wrapping presents to mail to my brothers and aunts. I had a hard time deciding what to get them, as I usually bake cookies or some other sweet/savory treat, but I've had a lot of baking to do this year already, and I wanted to give a healthier alternative.

This year we decided to go with dried pasta and some locally made tomato sauce. We've had this pasta before (www.pappardellespasta.com) and it's really good. We tried out a bottle of the tomato sauce, and it's decent (but in my opinion not as good as B's homemade ragu). It is no secret that I love pasta, I basically lived on pasta before B expanded my foodie world. This pasta place is pretty cool, they have tons and tons of different flavors, and it's really difficult to not get carried away and buy 10 pounds of pasta.

www.pappardellespasta.com

I feel slightly guilty, as I have all kinds of pasta attachments for my overworked Kitchenaid mixer, and I have yet to take them on their maiden voyage. I've just been too busy with the business! And I must admit, making pasta seems slightly intimidating. Maybe I will make a new years resolution to make fresh pasta.

I think I am unemployable

Wow how depressing.....

Last week I flew up to Seattle to interview for a position at a company, I felt really great about the interview, the job, etc. I heard from the recruiter last night that they didn't choose me. I am SO disappointed. It will be depressing turning 30 this year and without a new job. Trying to not wallow in self pity here, but I'm pretty down about it.

:o(

Howliday rush is over!

::::PHEW::::

I made a ridiculous number of cookies for the holiday season, so ridiculous that I can't even add that high. We shipped out about 70 boxes of cookies yesterday, and about 30-40 last week. I have been a busy, busy, busy baker. We popped open a bottle of sparkling wine last night to celebrate, and ordered a pizza! Nothing better than pizza and champagne!

The house is wrecked, the dogs are bored, I've hardly done any Christmas shopping, and we are leaving on a 1000+ mile road trip on Friday. And I haven't packed!

So, lots to do.

B and I have agreed to temporarily shut down The Hound & Country and restructure. We have been running at a 100 miles an hour, just trying to keep our heads above water, and we need to go back and organize ourselves. I need to work on ideas like a natural preservative, and finally tackle the white frosting problem.

B and the dogs are glad to have me back. I've been in a cloud of wheat flour for a month!