Morning time with some great coffee, but then switched over to a Mimosa
Had the rest of the Kringle (if you're wondering:
https://www.ohdanishbakery.com)
Last night we dropped off food for the neighbors, they're always bringing us fresh fish (and I raid their industrial ice maker).
Fire pit again last night too, so fun, playing music from the ATV/AVR from our phones, amazing sunset too, could see it from the western deck (hahaha, what part of that is done ...)
The deck is currently in foul weather mode, pillows in (weatherproof, but still ...), things lowered, secured, etc., supposed to be really nasty.
Thank you very much (many happy returns!) for the kind birthday greetings - they do mean a lot more when one is in a state that somehow resembles lock-down.
Your repast this evening does sound delicious; care to share the "secret" recipe for the "beautiful homemade ham" (and, for that matter, the equally delicious sounding legendary pasta salad?)
The ham is the local grocery's natural premium, it's lightly smoked, but we still "cool" it, she does a good rub down with a couple of mustards, then with some delicious local honey, sticks in a goodly amount of cloves, then bakes at a low heat for a good while. She also blends up this brown sugar glaze, ginger (has a nice bite to it), a little OJ, more (ground) cloves, cinnamon - starts basting it close to the end of the cook, it's a spiral cut so it really gets down into the meaty goodness
It was literally falling off the bone (I had to toothpick it together for the last 30 minutes, hahahah
Mac salad, is just macaroni noodles, mayo, onion, celery, a few dry seasonings (salt, pepper, etc.), super simple, but just a classic that goes great with a ham. The Mac and Cheese is pretty terrific, again, macaroni noodles, but it's the cheese sauce that of course is the star
Several cheeses grated (there was a small cheese mountain on the counter), a bit of milk +and+ sour cream, but the kicker is a can of condensed cheese soup. The latter makes it super creamy and keep it creamy (just cheese will clump and get chunky, solid again). When it starts, it looks like a globby mess, but after it's all blended, holy smokes, you get this (just after, the noodles go in - just after that I go in with a giant spoon, hahahaha
)
I made greens too, base of a little olive oil, garlic, onion, then several cups of water, some dry seasonings (I like a little hit of chili powder, pepper), and to make the broth richer, I love using Better Than Bouillon, bring to a boil, greens in for 5 minutes, drop it to low heat, cover, 20-25 minutes later, amazing, I like them slightly firmer (people tend to overcook them).
