Fighting The Winter Blues Up North

YamadudeXS650C

YamadudeXS650C

Central New York XS650
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Cold winter weather is moving in up here in the northern reaches of the continent I live on. The days are getting shorter, the sun is becoming scarce, and snow is on the way. I am the sort of person who needs to fight off The Blues with specific efforts.

One thing I do is make up a big pot of Venison Stew, using a bit of burgundy wine, when my good neighbor (and excellent hunter) gives me some meat.

I serve it up with some lightly toasted sourdough bread and a blazing fire in the woodstove.

upload_2017-11-29_13-9-24.jpeg
Woodstove.JPG

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How about you?
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I go for a brisk walk (hobble with the present condition of my knee) - and the exercise seems to help. I also have a stable of favourite movies I watch.

Pete
 
Hi dude,
If I was wealthy I'd buy a snowmobile & trailer & all that heated riding gear to ride the trails all winter.
If I was stinkin' rich I'd cruise the south pacific islands on my 110 foot schooner until next spring.
As it is, I'll fire up my new snowblower as needed to keep my driveway & sidewalk clear.
And make steak & kidney pie.
2 lbs cubed stewing beef. 1 lb cubed beef kidney. 2 sliced onions. 2 cans Franco-American beef gravy. Salt & Pepper to taste. Olive oil.
Fry the beef, kidney & onions in SEPERATE cast-iron* pans with a dash of olive oil to stop stuff sticking to the pans.
Strain off the juices and save them.
Dump the cooked stewbeef, kidney & onions into a cast iron stewpot*.
Heat the gravy in one of the frypans and stir in the saved juices.
With the stewpot on a low heat mix the gravy/juice into the stewbeef/kidney/onion.
Simmer for a few hours, stirring occasionally.
Use as a pie filling or with just a pastry crust on top or simply serve it in bowls or over toast.
* I use cast iron, substitute Teflon coated pans and a ceramic slow-cooker or whatever cookware you are comfortable using & remember that cooking ain't a science, it's an art form.
 
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When I was in Germany or England, I would eat too much stew, drink beer excessively, read my "Easyrider" magazines over and over and wish it was late Feb. By then I knew Spring and warmth would be coming soon. And start riding again.
 
Indeed! Since we're trading recipes.....

Pete's Chilly Weather Chili
  • - 2 lb extra lean ground beef - brown in a pan;
  • - drain most of the fat;
  • - add 1 large can of tomato sauce;
  • - add 1 large can of red kidney beans;
  • - add one chopped onion;
  • - season with chili powder to taste (hot, but not nutty for me...)
  • - simmer till you're so hungry you could eat the table-top.
I know some people put in a lot more stuff and that's OK - but I'm sort of a minimalist cook.
Serve with beer or good red wine - YUM!
 
fredintoon said:
Hi dude,
If I was wealthy I'd buy a snowmobile & trailer & all that heated riding gear to ride the trails all winter.
If I was stinkin' rich I'd cruise the south pacific islands on my 110 foot schooner until next spring.
As it is, I'll fire up my new snowblower as needed to keep my driveway & sidewalk clear.
And make steak & kidney pie.
2 lbs cubed stewing beef. 1 lb cubed beef kidney. 2 sliced onions. 2 cans Franco-American beef gravy. Salt & Pepper to taste. Olive oil.
Fry the beef, kidney & onions in SEPERATE cast-iron* pans with a dash of olive oil to stop stuff sticking to the pans.
Strain off the juices and save them.
Dump the cooked stewbeef, kidney & onions into a cast iron stewpot*.
Heat the gravy in one of the frypans and stir in the saved juices.
With the stewpot on a low heat mix the gravy/juice into the stewbeef/kidney/onion.
Simmer for a few hours, stirring occasionally.
Use as a pie filling or with just a pastry crust on top or simply serve it in bowls or over toast.
* I use cast iron, substitute Teflon coated pans and a ceramic slow-cooker or whatever cookware you are comfortable using & remember that cooking ain't a science, it's an art form.
Click to expand...
Fred,
Back in the 80's I would stay at B&B near the Lime Rock Park racetrack in Conn. when I attended races, and they made a wicked steak and kidney pie. The place was a favorite for drivers. Your recipe sounds great !
My father turned me on to frying up the "nasty bits" late at night as a snack, then followed by a steak. Would piss off my mother, of course, due to the smell which permeated the house. She was the one who had the English bloodline, but she hated them kidneys. Somehow they stayed married.
 
MaxPete said:
Indeed! Since we're trading recipes.....

Pete's Chilly Weather Chili
  • - 2 lb extra lean ground beef - brown in a pan;
  • - drain most of the fat;
  • - add 1 large can of tomato sauce;
  • - add 1 large can of red kidney beans;
  • - add one chopped onion;
  • - season with chili powder to taste (hot, but not nutty for me...)
  • - simmer till you're so hungry you could eat the table-top.
I know some people put in a lot more stuff and that's OK - but I'm sort of a minimalist cook.
Serve with beer or good red wine - YUM!
Click to expand...
I can almost taste it, Pete !
"Some Like it Hot". That's me.:)
 
Back in the 70's I lived in Duns Tew in Oxfordshire. My house was literally across the road from the local pub... The White Horse. I could (and did) crawl home when snockered... Anyway, they had these steak and kidney pies the size of a large cupcake. every afternoon when I got off work, I would walk into the pub and three steamin' hot pies and a pint of Hook Norton ale would be sittin' there waiting for me. Man I miss those days...
 
I repair and repaint metal toys, Tonka trucks and the like, dub around with Arduino programming, read the backlog of Analog magazines that has built up over the summer, and abuse the hell out of my Netflix and Amazon Prime privileges.

This Winter, I've added a new toy to my tool collection, a 7x12 mini lathe, so I'll spend a bunch of time turning perfectly good metal into chips and curls while I teach myself how to use it, plus blow the kid's inheritance on tooling.

I also unleash my Inner Bear and hibernate AND eat a lot so I'll be in shape (round is a shape, right?) for Spring.

Seeing as we're doing recipes:

Cold Weather Veggie Soup

Pop a half a pound or so of stew meat in a crock pot with water, onion, salt and pepper. Throw in a handful of rice or barley and cook it until it falls apart. (Note, if you like barley, use the Quaker Oats Quick Pearled Barley or the equivalent. Regular barley takes to long to cook up.) Venison is best, but beef or lamb works too. When it's cooked down, let it sit overnight to cool and in the morning skim the hardened fat off the top.

Grind the vegetables listed below with a hand grinder. DO NOT use a blender, it cuts the veggies too fine. What you want is a consistency about like Grape Nuts cereal, if that makes sense.

3 or 4 tennis ball sized potatoes.
1 softball sized turnip
4-6 good sized carrots
Half a head of cabbage
A couple of sticks of celery

Put the cooked stew meat and broth on to reheat while grinding the veggies. When they're all ground, dump them in the pot with the meat and broth and simmer until tender. Cook it down to an almost oatmeal-like texture. Longer is better, and it's REALLY good reheated the next day. Nukes well too.

Salt and pepper to taste, home-made bread and real butter as a side.

Caution: Do NOT trust a fart after a couple of bowls full of this stuff.

soup.jpg
 
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I took it a couple years ago. Can't beat free classes from top universities. Lots of classes offered.
 
..... winter blahs...... " cabin fever.." we get on a plane.. wing down to Amelia Island, Fla. The brother n law has a, on the beach, condo... 7-10 days....that usually gets us through the crisis ....:)
 
Winter blues? That's easy... Little white pills and champagne, whiskey and cocaine.
Or go hang with Tif and Fred. Open mics, music, (Steve Earle, Danforth Music Hall tomorrow), catch up on reading, movies, football, hockey. Put 4 cords of wood through the woodstove, and those'd b bush cords. I do need a new project though. Damn DE that soup sounds good!

 
I should have put 50 bucks on the chance that you would put up a song ! ..:laugh2:
I was delivering furniture in the 70's and the little white pills got me through some hard times.
Listening to Neil Young singing "Old Man" at the moment.
Steve and his Dukes will be nearby in Geneva, NY on friday ( Fast plane ! ) and I will be there...:)
 
Downeaster said:
Caution: Do NOT trust a fart after a couple of bowls full of this stuff.
Click to expand...

OK Downeaster - you made me snort RIGHT out loud with that one. SWMBO - asked WTH was going on as I was rolling around on the floor choking with laughter.

....and yes Dude, I did buy a new toolbox earlier this year when setting up the DCW.

I’m gonna have to write these down and make a cookbook out of them.

Pete
 
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