Big Lunch for Connor

Once I started cooking, I couldn't stop

I can feel Fall in the air today and it made me want to cook.  Actually I felt Fall in the air a couple of days ago.  And it didn't make me want to cook then.  So maybe it wasn't Fall in the air that made me want to cook today.

It's probably that near death experience I had with a spider in my shower yesterday.  After that I'm feeling the need to do something life affirming.  Grilling up some dead pig flesh, sautéing the last bit of life out of a few squash, snapping some defenseless corn on the cob in two and baking all recognition out of some plums seemed to fit the bill.

Life affirming for me.  Not the pork chops or vegetables. Besides, I didn't kill the spider.  And after what I went through someone had to die.

I had another reason to cook so much.  My son went to Tae Kwon Do training for about 4 hours this morning and I was certain he'd be starving when he got home.  So I cooked everything I knew he'd like so he could just dive in when he got home.  He'll be so hungry, I told myself, that he'll really appreciate this and it will make him happy.  Which makes me happy.  I even made plum turnovers with fresh Summer plums.

Then I get the text.  Going to lunch with the guys.  Be home soon.  Great.  Enough food for an army, or one growing teenage boy, and no one but me to eat it.  I'm not that big.  I can't eat all of this.  Guess what's for dinner tomorrow night.  Go ahead, just toss one out there.  Take a chance.

So there really isn't much in way of a recipe for what I made.  The plum turnovers are really simple.  The recipe for the crust is here, and the filling is just fresh plums (sliced up) some lemon juice - maybe a tsp - a little cornstarch and a spoonful of lingonberry jam.  But any kind of jam works.  You know.  Within reason.  Don't go crazy.  Or do.  I don't care.  I won't be eating them.

The corn on the cob was just steamed in water until it was cooked and the squash was sauteed in some fresh garlic, salt and pepper.  With a little bit of olive oil.  Super simple.  Unless you want to make it complicated.  You could.  I won't stop you.  I'm not your mom.

The pork chops were marinated in some teriyaki sauce before I grilled them.  That's why they have those super black lines.  I forgot the teriyaki sauce would burn as soon as I put it on the grill.  Don't complain.  You didn't have to eat them.

So that leaves that little bowl of mashed potatoes.  Actually it's a bowl of mashed potato.  I had a total of one potato in my fridge.  But my son loves mashed potatoes so I made it just for him.  Did I mention he went to Subway for lunch?

So here's the recipe for super simple mashed potatoes....which was requested by someone, by the way.  I won't name any names.

Mashed Potatoes for Shana

Cut up potatoes
Some butter
Some milk
Some cheese
Salt
Pepper

Cut up and boil however many potatoes you think you want to eat.  Once they're cooked (you can test by sticking a fork in a piece of potato, if it's crunchy keep boiling) drain the water and put the potatoes which are no longer crunchy, in the bowl.  The not being crunchy part is important. Trust me.  Add some butter.  There's really no right or wrong here.  Ok, maybe a whole stick of butter for two potatoes might be a little wrong.  But maybe you're having a bad day, in which case you can't have too much butter.  Or ice cream.  But don't put the ice cream on the potatoes.  Eat it on it's own later.  Ok, so where was I?

Right...add a little milk, like a tablespoon or so.  The milk is just to make the potatoes easier to mash up so they aren't so dry.  Add a little more if it needs it.  Add in some grated cheese if you like.  Any kind of cheese is good.  Potatoes and cheese are best friends.  And they play really well with butter so however much you add of these is up to you.  Toss in a little salt and pepper and start mashing the potatoes up.  You can taste it along the way and make adjustments, too.

When I mash potatoes I usually use one of the beaters from my hand mixer.  Unless I'm making a lot.  Then I use both beaters from my hand mixer.  And I attach them to the hand mixer and turn it on.  However you decide to mash the potatoes keep in mind that if you mash them too long they start to get gluey and they aren't so good.  So just mash them until you have the consistency you like.  I like mine lumpy.  You might like yours smooth.  It doesn't matter to me.  But real potatoes don't get smooth like the kind you make from the box.  You can get close if you add more milk but then you run the risk of it getting gluey.  Just keep it lumpy.  It's mashed potatoes.  Don't get fancy.