Thursday 8 November 2012

Blizzards and Beef

 Winter arrived with a firm handshake yesterday.


It snowed most of the day, snarling traffic and slowing the world down...


The children had no bus service today due to extremely icy conditions.

Oh, the joy of a SNOW DAY!

After breakfast and chores, the kids bundled up and tended to the serious work of building up the bale hill.   The neighbour children once again spent the afternoon here having good old fashioned fun interrupted only for a warming cup of hot chocolate :)  I like my kids to play outside as much as possible (even in winter), as I fear that most kids don't get near enough exercise and fresh air.




Meanwhile, between snow shovelling sessions, I've been busy in the kitchen, trying to use up a few packages of beef from the freezer that are nearing their expiration date.  Yesterday, I used my FoodSaver to marinate some short ribs and it did a fine job.  I've also used it on some very tough steaks that ended up having the texture of tenderloin, so I'm beyond pleased with it and as always, I wonder why it took me so long to try it?  I've had that Food Saver for 2 years, I think!




Today was meatball day.  This much loved recipe of my mother's is a favourite but I tend not to make it too frequently as meatballs always seem a bit fiddly to me.  I defrosted the last of the lean ground beef from our previous pastured beef order and meatballs were a nice change for us all.





Mine baked a wee bit too long - they should be a tad less brown on top but they were tasty anyways.  Do try them - they are SO good, you'll not have ONE meatball leftover (if by some strange twist of events of you do have leftovers, they are spectacular in sandwiches the next day).

As well, there are 2 banana loaves cooling on the counter as I type...  organic bananas were 50% off due to them being a bit over-ripe (which is just perfect for baking).  I love taking full advantage of budget helpers such as that... if they had more I would have bought them all and froze them.

I'm off now to finish up my chores... my sweet little Grand-daughter Penny is coming over with her parents for a wee visit with her Granny :)








5 comments:

  1. WOW that snow looks incredible!
    I own a food saver, and use it regularly to vacuum seal meat and other things for camping, and I have those containers for marinating, but have never used them, I'm going to have to fix that, especially after hearing how well yours worked.

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    1. Yes, DO try it for marinating and let me know how it goes!

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  2. Sherri, I love the photos of the snow! Just so amazing!

    Hope you enjoyed lots of cuddles with Penny!

    And I am going to have to give those meatballs a try - watch out for my menu plan!!!

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  3. I called everyone in to see this year's snow! It's 23C here and I'm barefoot.

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  4. Oh yum they look amazing ill have to give those a go. Thanks for sharing, i loved try and true favourite recipes

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