Winter storms

We had sleet last weekend, and Dan is calling for a 100 percent chance of snow — to the tune of five to seven inches — in Tulsa this weekend.

I don’t like being stuck inside so much, but there are advantages to a good, deep snow over the weekend. One is that my commitments get canceled, leaving me free to spend the weekend cooking, tending the woodstove, studying, and hanging out with my dogs. I got a lot done last weekend, but I’ve got a lot on my list for this weekend, too. Another advantage is that snow is pretty, and if I get out ahead of the snowplows tomorrow, I might be able to get some nice shots of the snow before it gets dirty and slushy and icky-looking around the curbs.

I’m just going to spend this evening cooking … and cooking … and cooking … and cooking. My plan is to make two casseroles, a batch of chicken, and a batch of pasta and just pack them up in storage containers and freeze them for lunches next week. I’ve gotten rather spoiled to eating food that didn’t come in a paper wrapper.

If this stuff turns out like I hope, I’ll post recipes later.

Emily

UPDATE: It all worked! I didn’t make the chicken yet, but here’s the rest:

Cornbread stuffing casserole

1/2 c. chopped onion
2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
3 c. stuffing mix
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream-style corn
1/4 c. water
1/4 stick butter, cut in thin slices
Breadcrumbs

Saute onions in butter or olive oil. Stir together stuffing mix, soup, corn, water, and onions. Spread mixture into an oiled casserole dish. Top with slices of butter and bake at 350 degrees F until the butter melts. Add breadcrumbs, cover, and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes or so.

Spinach casserole

This recipe is modified slightly from one I found in the Threadgill’s cookbook. Threadgill’s is a wonderful restaurant in Austin. They’re known for chicken-fried steak, but the vegetable platter is worth a trip all by itself.

1 c. yellow onion, diced
1/2 lb. bacon, diced
2 tbsp. butter
1 lb. frozen spinach
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 lb. Swiss cheese, diced
Juice of one lemon
1/2 c. breadcrumbs

Cook bacon. When it is almost done, add butter and onion and saute until onion is clear. Mix with remaining ingredients (except breadcrumbs) and place in an oiled casserole dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, cover, and bake about an hour.

Ron absolutely loves spinach casserole. Personally, I can take it or leave it, but he likes it so much, and it’s such a simple recipe, I think it’s well worth the effort.

Pasta with Asparagus

This is my rendition of something Ron’s mom made for us, except I’m too lazy to follow her recipe, which involves a lot more steps than this one.

1/2 lb. fettuccine, linguine, or capellini
1 pkg. frozen asparagus
1/2 lb. bacon, diced
1/2 stick butter
3/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 c. grated Parmesan, Romano, or mizithra cheese

Cook bacon. Saute onion in bacon grease. Microwave asparagus for 1 minute to thaw. Cut asparagus into bite-sized pieces. Cook pasta until it is al dente. Drain pasta and add butter. Heat until butter melts and just starts to brown. Stir in asparagus, bacon, cream, onion, mushrooms, and cheese. Bake at 350 until asparagus is heated through and serve.