The Littlest Potato

More on that little potato in a moment. First I want to do a recap on happenings around here:


Thanks, New Jersey, for welcoming us for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and for sending us home with a car-load of leftover food.

Turkey Soup:
1/2 onion chopped and sauteed in olive oil, then add
2 celery stalk, 2 carrots, 2 potatoes, diced
2 cups chicken broth + 1 cup water
1 tbsp dried parsley, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp thyme
2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1 cup cooked wild rice

I cooked the sauteed onions, herbs, and veggies in the broth until the veggies were tender (about 20 minutes), then stirred in the meat and rice to heat them up.

Mr. M helped me inspect my winter gear before the cold descends. Unfortunately, it still isn't cold enough to get really bundled up.


Today I'm slow cooking the remaining tiny white turnips and carrots from the final CSA delivery of the season, and a chuck steak and bag of fingerling (literally finger-sized) potatoes from this month's Penn's Corner Farm Alliance farm stand.

This tiny little purple potato was in the bag:



In the cooker today we have:
1.5 onions, chopped
1 lb bag fingerling potatoes (yellow, red, purple)
1 lb bag baby white turnips
4 carrots, coarsely chopped
3 lbs chuck, cubed, trimmed, browned
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
lots of fresh ground pepper
1 cup broth + 1 cup water
2 tbsp dried rosemary liberally sprinkled on top

I'm letting that cook for about 6-7 hours on low, and when it's done, scoop out the meat and big veggie chunks, leaving the onions, little chunks, and juices to puree for sauce.

Go Bucks!

Fortune Cookie

Chicken and Roots

This slow cooker experiment came out pretty good:

5-ish lbs carrots, baby turnips, and red-skinned potatoes cut into bite sized pieces
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
ground pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried ground thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried ground sage
1/4 tsp dried ground marjoram
1 cup chicken broth
1 chicken cut into pieces (with skin on)
olive oil
2 cups tomato puree

I placed the veggies on the bottom of the cooker, sprinkled them with all the herbs, salt and pepper, and poured the chicken broth over that.

Then I rubbed the chicken pieces with olive oil, and placed them on top of the veggies. The breasts I left together connected to the sternum in one large piece and put it in skin side down.

Last I poured the tomato puree over top of the chicken and cooked it on Low for 8 hours.

I removed the chicken and veggies from the liquid, and reduced it to make about 2 cups of gravy to serve with the meal. This could go well with some sauteed greens, or other green veggies.

The Best Card Ever

Peace in Pittsburgh

On the afternoon of All Hallows' Eve I went on what was billed as a spooky tour of the largest and oldest cemetery in Pittsburgh. The guide wasn't all that knowledgeable, and the stories weren't very frightening, but the cemetery is full of interesting structures and history.


Allegheny Cemetery was opened in 1845 and contains more than 100,000 memorials. The grounds cover 300 acres and contain about 15 miles of trails. The oldest graves are from the French and Indian War, and the cemetery is still growing.

Some notable residents include Lillian Russell, Don Brockett (Chef Brockett on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood), John Baptiste Ford (founder of PPG), Stephen Foster, Thomas Mellon (founder of Mellon Bank), several US Congressmen, generals, and Pittsburgh mayors.

More pics here.