Average Jane

Blog

  • Average Jane’s Domestic Life

    Last night was the third night in a row that I’ve been home after work. With my crazy schedule, that’s almost unheard of.

    I’ve been cooking dinner every night, partly to use up all the chicken from the chicken and dumplings I made on Sunday, and partly to save money. I’d already been through all of the chicken dishes (chicken pot pie on Monday and chicken noodle soup on Tuesday), so last night’s dinner was meatloaf. I’ll post the recipe below.

    I was at the grocery store getting ground beef and a vegetable. Here’s my cell phone conversation with my husband:

    Jane: Hey, do you like wax beans?
    Husband (reflexively): No.
    Jane: That’s too bad. I’ve only ever had the canned ones and they have fresh ones here.
    Husband: Wait a minute. What are wax beans?
    Jane: They’re like green beans, only yellow.
    Husband (with some wariness): Okay, let’s try them.

    I ended up sauteeing them with sesame seeds and red pepper flakes in olive oil. I liked them a lot. Husband thought they were "tough," but he didn’t even get home until they’d been cooling for a couple of hours, so there you go.

    Here’s my family meatloaf recipe. I think it’s pretty tasty. Let me know if you try it.

    Meatloaf a la Average Jane

    1 pound hamburger
    1/2 pound sausage
    2 eggs
    1/4 cup ketchup
    1/2 tsp. garlic salt
    1 medium onion, finely chopped
    1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
    1/2 cup cracker crumbs or oatmeal
    1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
    3 green pepper rings

    Mix all ingredients except the green pepper rings (I use my hands to mix) and put in loaf pan. Press pepper rings onto the top of the loaf and crisscross with additional ketchup, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 60-75 minutes. Check on it about halfway through and drain off any excess grease.

    P.S. Thanks for all of the comments yesterday! If you’re interested in the process by which I’ll be selecting winners, I’m making a numbered list of names in the order in which the comments were received. Then I’ll use my favorite random number generator to select three numbers in the range. If you’re among the winners, I’ll e-mail you today and get your address.

  • Talk To Average Jane

    The Great Mofo Delurk 2007

    That’s right, it’s time for all of you looky-loos to delurk and say hello. Schmutzie, Sweetney and Jenandtonic said so, and who are we to argue with the likes of them?

    If you need a little encouragement, let me just say that there will be prizes. Three (3) lucky commenters will be drawn at random to each receive an Average Jane gift pack that includes:

    • A copy of "The Five Generations Cookbook," compiled and published by my grandmother to showcase recipes from family and friends. Someday I’m going to start a blog based on this book, so you’ll be getting a sneak preview.
    • A sheet of Threadless stickers
    • A surprise, bonus gift.

    Doesn’t that sound like fun? Even if you answered "no," speak up anyway!

  • Average Jane Sees Signs of Fall

    The grocery store sidewalks are piled with pumpkins and their aisles are stuffed with Halloween candy. Every day, my mailbox contains a couple of catalogs full of useless gift items. The radiator repair shop sports a banner that says, "Beat the rush."

    And this example of extreme niche marketing is now on sale at your local grocery or liquor store:
    Busch_hunting

    Yes, it’s Busch beer in a special edition hunting camouflage package. You wouldn’t want the deer to spot your brewskis while you’re out in the woods. (Note: I had a better photo from my camera phone, but for some reason T-Mobile and Flickr aren’t communicating right now. Is anyone else having trouble sending photos to Flickr from their camera phone?)

  • Average Jane’s Brief Weekend

    Late Sunday afternoon, I had a moment where I was convinced that it was only Saturday. It was so disappointing to be wrong.

    The sad thing about my actual Saturday is that I didn’t do very much with it. I got up and went to yoga class, had breakfast with my husband, took a nap while he went to meet with a band he might join, and then we spent the late afternoon and early evening vegging in front of the TV getting caught up on "The Office," "My Name is Earl" and "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia." We eventually dragged ourselves out of the house and went to a party for a few hours, but we’re such party poopers that we were home by 10:30 p.m.

    Sunday was a little better. I got up early and volunteered at the low-cost spay/neuter clinic for about four hours. My main impression: it’s definitely flea season. On my way home, I stopped at Costco and only ended up buying kitty litter because nothing else I wanted was in stock.

    After that, I went to my favorite grocery store, which caters largely to an Hispanic clientele. I got the butcher to grab me a nice, big stewing hen out of the pile of ice between the chicken feet and the bowl full of gizzards. As soon as I got home, I put the chicken on the stove in a big pot of water and left it to simmer.

    I completed my afternoon errands with a trip to Target that was supposed to be for Shop-Vac filters, but ended up also including a new foam thingy for the Shop-Vac, some Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans, some Kashi TLC Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies (do you see a pattern emerging here?), two boxes of Luna bars to take to work for breakfasts, and a couple of boxes of macaroni and cheese in case the cookies alone don’t carb me to death.

    Around 6 o’clock, I picked the chicken off the bones and made chicken and dumplings with boiled potatoes. Tonight we’ll have chicken pot pie using about half of the leftover gravy. I’ll make the rest into chicken and noodles later in the week. I’d say that’s not too bad for $11 worth of meat.

    I didn’t manage to get to the kitchen cleanup portion of the evening, but I did finally tackle our hideously filthy basement. With the newly rejuvenated Shop-Vac, I vacuumed the stairs, floors, walls, ceiling and counters. I almost filled the thing (it’s small, but still…). Then I mopped with lemon-scented Lysol while Xena watched wide-eyed from the steps.

    Oh, I also worked over the weekend. There’s nothing like a Monday deadline.

    How was your weekend? Did you get to enjoy the lovely fall weather or were you working, too?

  • Average Jane and the Turtles

    Dee at Voices in My Mind had a post today about a box turtle that her husband brought home for her son to see. It brought back all kinds of memories for me about the turtles we used to play with when I was growing up.

    We lived in a rural area of Kansas City on a 13-acre plot, and there was plenty of wildlife wandering through our yard, pasture and woods at any given time. Every year, we’d catch box turtles, play with them for a while, then let them go. One year, at what must have been a parent’s suggestion, we decided to name one of the turtles and paint the name on its shell with white latex house paint.

    That first turtle’s name was Pat, and we let it go after we got tired of feeding it produce from the kitchen and watching it pee when we picked it up (just like a toad, which were also fun to play with).

    The next year, turtle season came along and there was Pat – except that the lettering on its shell had weathered so that the name said "Pot." Excited by our success, we started naming and marking other turtles. There was one called Zot (which was probably inspired by the cartoon "B.C.") and a small one we called Tot. I don’t remember any others, but there were probably more.

    Occasionally a huge, washtub-sized snapping turtle would wander from one of the nearby stock ponds up to the corral or even the yard. When that happened, my dad would grab it by the tail and drag it back to the woods or pond. He said that they would snap viciously the whole time, cleanly severing saplings as big around as his thumb. Those stories made me equally scared and fascinated.

    What wild creatures did you encounter as a child? Do you still see them around?

    10/5/07 – I couldn’t resist adding this photo, which came from this site:

    Snapping_turtle_copy

  • Average Jane’s Favorite Imported Treats

    Last weekend I was shopping with my sister, niece and aunt in Lawrence, Kansas. There’s a shop there called Brits that specializes in imported British stuff – mainly food, but also DVDs and a few gift items. While we were there, I purchased a jar of blackcurrant preserves because NOBODY in the U.S. makes them. I also got a bag of miniature Violet Crumble bars (which are actually Australian), and split them with my sister. Damn, those are delicious!

    I didn’t pick up my other British fave, Twinings Decaffeinated Green Tea, because I can get it cheaper at World Market. A trip to World Market also gives me the opportunity to buy Kasugai muscat grape-flavored gummy candy from Japan, and Pepparkakor Swedish Gingersnaps, which come in a huge, beautiful tin.

    Here’s my reader question for the day: what’s your favorite imported food treat? If you’re outside of the U.S., what’s a food item where you live that you love so much, you’d recommend I try to get some?

  • Average Jane is Ready for Fall

    I think that autumn might be my favorite season. I love the cooler air and the way the sun takes on a golden cast as it shines through the trees once they’ve turned colors. I don’t appreciate that fall is really short and quickly gives way to winter, but you can’t have everything.

    One reason I like the cooler temperatures is that most of my cooking specialties are best suited for cold weather. I can hardly wait to make my first pot of chicken and dumplings for the season.

    Tonight we’re having two crockpot dishes. In my smaller crockpot I’ve put two thick pork chops and a brown sugar-and-butter-stuffed apple. The larger crockpot holds a chopped head of cabbage and a ham bone. All I’ll need to do when I get home is fix some potatoes. I think I’ll roast them with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Oh, and I’d probably better make another vegetable for the hubby. He’s already balking at the cabbage, to which I say, "Fine – more for me!"

    Any other fall fans out there? What do you like best about autumn?

  • Average Jane’s Green Bean Casserole

    I can’t resist a challenge from BlogHer, so here’s a variation on green bean casserole that steers away from all the cliches. You won’t find cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans or fried onions here. This recipe calls for fresh, steamed green beans in a creamy bechamel sauce, topped with slivered almonds that end up being toasted during the baking process. It’s not quite as quick as the traditional recipe, but it’s arguably more delicious.

    Fancy Green Bean Casserole

    5 tablespoons butter

    1/4 cup all-purpose flour

    1 quart milk

    2 teaspoons salt

    1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

    1 pound of fresh green beans, steamed

    1 small package slivered almonds

    Snap off the ends and pull the strings from the green beans, then steam until tender-crisp and set aside. To make sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the flour, mixing until smooth. Continue stirring for about 7 minutes until the mixture becomes a light golden color. Increase heat to medium-high and whisk in milk slowly until thickened. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering until the flour has softened and loses any grittiness, 10 to 20 minutes, then season with salt and nutmeg. Combine sauce and beans and place in a greased casserole dish. Top with slivered almonds and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

  • Average Jane’s Friday Miscellanea

    Have you seen the trailer for Iron Man? It looks awesome! Plus, they get big points in my book for using Black Sabbath’s "Iron Man" as the theme song. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when Godzilla came out in 1998 and didn’t use Blue Oyster Cult’s "Godzilla." (That should have been my first indication that it was going to suck.)

    Speaking of miscellanea, do you read Miss Cellania? She must do more web surfing than anyone else on the planet. Every day she has at least one long post on a particular subject, with all kinds of jokes, cartoons, links and stories. She also contributes to a bunch of other sites. What a fun job that must be!

    It turns out that my cat, Xena, likes to play fetch. She has a shiny, crinkly ball that she’ll chase and bring back over and over if we throw it. If I’m distracted during the game, she’ll jump onto the couch, roll onto her back and push the ball in my direction as a reminder. The game ends when she gets tired and stops bringing the ball back. I’m willing to play as long as she is because she could use the exercise.

    This week I’ve been taking steps to get my budget under control. I’ve discontinued my vocal lessons for the time being, and talked Time Warner into dropping my phone/cable/Internet bill by $50 a month. I had to sacrifice HBO in the process, but we’re not watching any HBO shows now anyway. Just those two cutbacks alone will save me almost $3,000 a year (although I’d really like to resume the vocal coaching if and when I can afford it – probably when I’m getting enough band gigs to cover the expense). Ooh, that reminds me that I need to discontinue my Gevalia coffee subscription. Particularly since I haven’t had a cup of coffee in months.

    That’s enough rambling for today, don’t you think? Have a great weekend.

  • Average Jane’s Lemon Pie Recipe

    Hey, how about another recipe? This is an old family recipe that I know my great-grandmother used to make; it might be older than that. My grandmother made it a lot because it was my grandfather's favorite dessert. It's easier to make than you might think.

    IMG_5512Lemon Chiffon Pie

    1 pre-baked pie crust*
    4 eggs, separated
    2/3 cup sugar for filling
    1/2 cup sugar for meringue
    Juice and grated rind of two lemons
    1 cup water
    1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch

    Beat the 4 egg whites until they form soft peaks, add 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until meringue is shiny and forms stiff peaks. Rub both lemons with a fine grater until most of the yellow rind has been removed. Juice lemons and remove any seeds. Combine egg yolks, 2/3 cup sugar, lemon juice and rind and water and heat to a simmer. Mix corn starch with a small amount of water and add to filling mixture. Cook until thickened to the consistency of gravy. Remove from heat and fold in about half the egg whites, leaving enough for meringue. Place filling in pie crust and top with remaining egg whites, making sure to seal the edges to the crust to prevent weeping. Bake at 350 until the tips of the meringue are browned (about 15 minutes or so).

    *I like the Jiffy pie crust mix because it's cheap and foolproof.

    Note: The recipe card I have for this skimps on a lot of the preparation details, so I've filled in the blanks as best I can. If something doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll correct it.

    Update 9/28/07: Goofy Girl's questions have led me to update the directions. Hope they're a little clearer now!