Sausage & Potato Bake

I blame Facebook.
In a good way!
I saw a picture of a dish like this and it looked so good...

And we've had cold, wet, windy and snowy weather here all last week, all but one day... 

And I remembered that in the James Herriot books Siegfried's brother Tristan was elected to cook... and all he could cook was "sausage and mash" which is sausage and mashed potatoes.

And sometimes he got busy thinking about girls (he was in veterinary school) and burned the sausage so he'd scrape it off and chop it up and put it in the mashed potatoes like that.

His older brother WAS NOT AMUSED!!!

Gosh, I love those books. I still do. Each book like a beloved collection of Jim's short stories, dealing with the animals, an age where antibiotics were just being known, a time of learning old tricks and new treatments and always the people of Darrowby.

I have his books on my keeper shelf. I will have them there until they take me out in a box because his stories of being a country veterinarian just make me laugh, sigh, think and smile... and nod in agreement.

He thought he knew so much!

And as it so often turns out, school teaches us some and the rest is learned by putting our hand to the grindstone and turning.

So this recipe pic reminded me of Tristan and Siegfried and Jim in "All Creatures Great and Small"...

And it came out great, not burnt at all even though Zach and I took a ride to go visit Lake Ontario in the midst of a Nor'easter on Sunday.

Holy cow, that wind packed a wallop! But it was so fun to see the lake whipped into a frenzy like that.

Nothing like a Nor'easter heading inland off the Atlantic.

SAUSAGE AND POTATO BAKE

Oven to 350 degrees
13 x 9" pan lined with a big sheet of foil (easy cleanup!

Six or seven potatoes (more if they're small) scrubbed and cut into bite-sized pieces

4 Italian sausage links, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 green pepper chopped

1 can Whole Kernel corn, drained

Put cut up potatoes in bottom of the 13 x 9 dish. Zach offered to help and I wasn't about to say no!

Dot with cut up sausage

Sprinkle chopped peppers over it (can add sweet onion chopped, too!)

Sprinkle corn over all

Sprinkle whole casserole with salt and pepper. I like coarse pepper, it's got a nice punch but any will do. You can add garlic if you want... or Italian seasoning. Just sprinkle it over, but we liked it just fine with salt and pepper.

You could also add a small can of diced tomatoes, too. Kind of a succotash touch, right? I didn't think of that until later, so next time!

Cover with foil and bake for 90 minutes (we were gone for 2 hours looking at the water and driving along the lakeshore, so ours baked a long time and was absolutely fine!

Remove foil, dot with butter, let butter melt in oven for 5 minutes or so.

Done!

We loved this and it was just enough for four people.... No one went hungry!

 So the saga of the early tomatoes continues... Did I tell you about the 255 baby tomato plants that came five weeks early? No... well they did, my fault, I didn't realize the supplier didn't ship for Zone 6... they just ship 8 weeks post-order placement. So surprise, surprise, baby tomatoes arrive in late March.

So what do normal people do?

They go and buy heavy grade greenhouse plastic and turn half of their porch into a greenhouse... and they raise baby tomatoes to become big tomatoes and now I'm praying that we can plant them in two weeks, because they're growing so well! Too well!!! I've lectured them and scolded, and I've reduced the temperature of the 'greenhouse" effect, so we'll see. I'll keep you posted! It's either they live... or they don't... and the world will not end either way. But how fun it would be to have garden tomatoes to sell in August! Party bonus!!!!  And to be honest, my two rockers that sit on this section of the porch aren't about to be used while it's snowing and sleeting and raining... so this might work out in the end. We'll see!

Then there was this: you can't see it so well in this pic, but it was dark, dark sky with sun on the other side of the house.... so really dark to my west, house in shadow.... east side of the house was bright sunshine! This happens especially in spring and fall because I'm right on the sunline AM and PM... This is the marsh where the spring peepers live... and lots of little critters. And this is where the bear wintered over two years in a row until Dave accidentally uncovered her hollow beneath an old fallen tree. She hasn't been back since, but she literally had her hollow about 100 feet from our house. Obviously I'm not as scary as I claim to be!!!!  You can see the shadow of the house on the reeds... because the other side of the house was in bright sunlight! So funny! And no leaves, do you see that? Our soil temp is cold and the leaves want it a certain way... so Mother Nature is having a bit of fun in WNY.

Then this is a miracle... Dave asked his helper Dan to CLEAN OUT THE TRUCK without me saying anything and he did it the day before I was taking the truck to surprise Dave with a new farm wagon for our fun fall displays AND a new sprayer with a 12 foot boom.... so that Dave doesn't kill himself spraying with a backpack sprayer.

Dan cleaned the cab (I'm not going to tell you how bad it was, I'm going to let you imagine and then multiply by ten. Or more.) and the back and washed it and swept out all the wood chips from the firewood business.... and so we had a clean truck to take to pick up the wagon and sprayer!

SURPRISE, DAVE!!!!

So that was my week... I finished a mystery, my second one for the Savannah Secrets collection, and it was so much fun to write! And now.... balancing farm season and writing season and Covid 19 has me mostly at home (except for daily walks for a few miles in town) and we did get a farm helping visit from Beth & Jon and kids. Kids stayed outside to play and you know those 255 baby tomatoes.

We had to transplant them to bigger pots.

Yep.

255.

And let me say, half of my porch isn't quite big enough for 255 tomato plants in 4" pots and ME....

Ay yi yi.

Two weeks and then nice weather. That's all I need!!!! I think that's worth a prayer or two, right?

Enjoy your weekend, fellow quarantined peoples! God bless you!

Which meal would you choose?

I'm guessing, without even really knowing us well, that you're going to be able to figure out which of these meals was cooked by my daughter and which was my creation.

Beef stew in the slow cooker

Scrambled eggs and homemade corned beef hash.

Corned beef with twice-baked potato

Irish brown bread to go with the stew

I considered asking you to vote for your favorite, but I was pretty sure there would be no loyalty among the Yankee Belle crew, and she would win hands down!

I cooked tricolor quinoa and mixed in some kale and dark red kidney beans.

Black beans with leftover chickpea/kale/spinach bowl with garam masala

I thought I took a photo of the chickpea, quinoa and kale bowl, but I can't find it.

This one is tuna simmered in honey mustard over spaghetti nests. It tasted absolutely delicious!

But we could consider who had the healthier options *cough cough* 

I think my black bean quinoa dish wins that round - a tasty, meat-free, high protein (very cheap) meal.

But if I was choosing by taste, I'd have to go with her scrambled eggs and corned beef hash.

What would you choose?

Another Comforting Dessert

Here at the ranch, we're enjoying a few glorious days of moderate temperatures and low humidity. The kind of weather that has us throwing open the windows and spending a lot of time outdoors. 

Baby wrens are learning how to fly.

And this mulberry tree that we've never seen fruit on before is suddenly bursting with berries.

Even an afternoon rain shower can't make us head inside. Peaceful. Relaxing.

BTW, that's the mulberry tree with the ladder beside it. Hubby has been picking the berries. They're very tasty, though I don't think we can gather enough to do anything with. 

With temps in the 80s though, I wasn't about to turn on the oven. Even for comfort food. Fortunately, comfort food doesn't always come out of the oven. The pantry and fridge can play well together to come up with a satisfying treat.

Whether you call it Cherry Yum-Yum, Cherry Delight or some other name, this easy dessert is a classic. The best part is that the ingredients could very well be in your fridge or pantry right now.

• 1 3/4 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 envelope Dream Whip
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla, divided
• 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1 can cherry pie filling

Mix crushed graham crackers, 1 tablespoon sugar and melted butter in medium bowl, then pressed evenly into 9x9 baking dish.

Mix the Dream Whip with milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla in medium bowl. Mix on low to blend, then beat on high for 4 minutes, until peaks form.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and the remaining 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Add Dream Whip to cream cheese mixture and mix on low to medium, until completely mixed.

Spoon over crust.

Spread evenly.

Spoon pie filling over that, taking care when spreading so as not to disturb the cream layer.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 3 hours, or overnight.

 That's some good eatin' right there. I like that it's not super rich. And the tang of the cherries with the cream is one of my favorites.

Our delightful weather had us washing windows all weekend. Inside and out. It's a chore I gladly procrastinate on, but I sure do love the results. 

What's keeping you busy? Chores? Writing? Kiddos?

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com