What’s for supper? Vol. 97: Beautiful schlopp

Hold the cherry.

SATURDAY
Steak and pear salad, rolls, fruit cobbler and ice cream

Well, steak was still on sale, and I’m not made of stone. My husband heavily seasoned and perfectly grilled the meat over the coals

and then sliced it up, and I put together mixed greens, scallions, blue cheese, and sliced red pears.

It’s so good, you can’t imagine. A little fresh pepper and a vinaigrette on top. Damn.

I got some snowflake rolls from the supermarket, and the shopping turn kid wanted rhubarb pie, but I guess rhubarb is over for the year. Instead, we got strawberries, blueberries, and peaches

and made a basic cobbler, to be topped with vanilla ice cream. Cobbler, if you recall, is very easy to make.

Well, we ended up having ice cream with hot, delicious fruit schlopp ladled over it. Oh well. It tasted good, even if it was completely formless. It’s a swell combination of fruits, perfect for late summer. I SAID “LATE SUMMER.” Not fall. Back off, man.

We did run 5k on Sunday for the first time!

It felt fantastic. Since then, with school and no babysitters, we’ve been fitting in shorter runs in the evening, which is far, far less exhilarating; especially, as most people wouldn’t have to learn the hard way, if you accidentally eat a drippy pork carnita with sour cream forty minutes before you head out. See: Wednesday.

***

SUNDAY
Burgers and hot dogs, chips, brownies

This was supposed to be our traditional end-of-summer “head out with a giant bag of candy and swim at the pond all day long and never, ever, ever have to go home until we want to” day, but kids were throwing up. So we just cooked stuff on the grill. We had brownies even though people were puking because puking kids are not the boss of us.

On Sunday, which was also the day the Mormons came, I also took a big step in Operation Very Slowly Renovate Kitchen: I yanked down rotten, miserable, useless wall cabinet. I don’t even know what this thing was for: It had shelves all way across, but a door on only one side, with the hinge in the middle. So you had to pull everything out if you wanted to reach the stuff on the left side. Also, it was falling off the wall, so the door swung out and bonked everyone in the head all the time. Some things hurt more, but few things make you hurt angrier than getting conked in the top of the skull unexpectedly by a rogue cabinet door.

Anyway, here is a crummy before-and-after shot:

You can’t really tell, but it’s SO much more light and open in there. I also took the doors off most of the remaining cabinets, and I’m going to paint them yellow. I bought some rather corny rustic, cast iron shelf brackets off eBay, and I’m going to put in open shelving where the miserable, rotten cabinet was.

Now we just need to do something about the ceiling, which is stained, sagging acoustic tile full of dead mice, and the floor, which is torn linoleum designed by Satan and installed by also Satan.

***

MONDAY
Chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries, raw string beans

This was supposed to be our very, very last chance to have summer fun that is fun, even if all we do is go to a playground or something, because there were still a few kids left who hadn’t started school yet. I don’t even remember what happened, but we just ended up having chicken nuggets and no fun. I think there was some kind of lizard emergency.

***

TUESDAY
Pizza

First day of school. And the first day since 1998 where it was routine to be home alone with one child. I was nervous, since the child in question had spent a good part of the the last three weeks rolling around on the floor, gnashing her teeth, and spurting hot tears over, for instance, “NO, YOU NOT [whatever you just did because she told you to do it]!!!!!!”

But it went fine. We had a very peaceful day, and was remarkably undemanding when she has no competition. She is an adorably earnest help in the kitchen. She also packed some Altoids in a sandwich bag, zipped them into a spare backpack, and announced she is going to high school.

***

WEDNESDAY
Pork carnitas, Doritos

Pretty good. I put a half pork loin (I actually did this Tuesday, that’s how easy Tuesday was) in the slow cooker with some Coke, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, pepper, cloves of garlic, and chopped onion. I let it cook all day, then shredded it and spread it out in a pan and browned it up under the broiler.

Served on tortillas with sour cream, salsa, and cheese.

Did I mention that it was too dark to run in our usual spot, so we drove downtown and trotted back and forth for two miles on sidewalk, much to the fascination of the people taking their ease with fancy nitrogen ice cream? At least I didn’t throw up.

***

THURSDAY
Mac and cheese with kielbasa; peas

Corrie helped again. We made this nice, simple Instant Pot mac and cheese recipe from CopyKat, and added chunks of browned up kielbasa. Then I put it in a buttered pan and added buttered bread crumbs on top. Everyone who likes mac and cheese and kielbasa liked this dish of mac and cheese and kielbasa.

Damien and I actually snuck out to Chili’s. I had the baby back ribs I’ve been hearing about all my life. Meh.

***

FRIDAY
Tuna burgers, risotto

Who has neat ideas for tuna burgers? I usually make them by adding one beaten egg and half a cup of bread crumbs and some seasoning to each can of drained tuna, then forming patties, and frying them up in a little oil. What would make them more interesting? I feel like I’ve asked this before, but I can’t find the answers. I do have horseradish sauce.

Okay, now I need some other inspiration. For Labor Day, we’re going to fulfill a request for Hot Dogs of Many Nations. Sort of a hot dog buffet with everything you could possibly want on a hot dog. This is not my wheelhouse. What do I set out? My ideas so far: Chili, onions, sauerkraut, cheese . . . . maybe bacon . . . I don’t know.

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14 thoughts on “What’s for supper? Vol. 97: Beautiful schlopp”

  1. I remembered your advice too late when I went on a long walk with my husband tonight: “Always go to the bathroom even if you don’t feel like you need to.” Luckily, no one was in the bathroom when I made a mad dash for it upon our return.

  4. I have always wanted to try a Chicago style hot dog after reading Mike Royko’s column about them. Someday. Our youngest is really into saying he’s “in the mood for a hot dog party” (thank you, Mo Willems) which means he wants me to make him a hot dog. Anything besides ketchup, though, and he’d die.

    Monday was a new recipe from America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook: Chicken Parmigiana, and it was GOOD. Easier than I thought. Next time I will take the time to pound the cutlets, because I was paranoid about the chicken not being done and poisoning the family, so it took longer to bake than the recipe indicated.

    Tuesday: short order night, either English muffin pizzas or grilled cheese and soup, or burgers.

    Wednesday: Lentil Shepherd’s Pie from Minimalist Baker. I cheat and use instant potatoes on top, though. Easy peasy.

    Thursday: Burgers and hot dogs, chips and coleslaw, which two of my kids get ridiculously excited for, and I like it, and it’s cheap, so I made it.

    Tonight is pasta and I made delicious chocolate chip cookies from the same cookbook I referenced above (ATK Healthy Family) and they are fantastic.

  5. When I make tuna patties, I also add grated onion and a not-too-large spoonful of mayo to your recipe. To add a different part of the world to the hotdogs, you could put some red pepper hummus with your hot dog or tzatzki (sour cream, grated drained cucumbers & minced garlic).

  6. I was going to say that tinned salmon instead of tuna will make that meal so much more memorable but I see it has already been advanced. Very tasty. For the dawgs…..consider adding heavily cheesed ramen noodles, or cheesy chopped broccoli, or of course, sweet pickle relish (bread and butter pickles). PImento cheese is also good on a dawg with sweet onion.
    For the ceiling, you might have to break down and get drywall put up (cheaper than you think). The trend to have concrete floors buffed and sealed is actually very practical and if the next person doesn’t like it? They just cover them up. You can add color to them too if you get adventurous. Many of the trendy restaurants here do it and people love it. Makes the wall decoration and counter tops much more noticeable, for what are floors but things to be scrubbed?

    1. We had friends do that with their floors when they built their house. They regretted it. Standing on concrete all day is very hard on the feet.

      1. I have to concur here. We’re trying to sell a house right now that has very, very hard tile in the kitchen. Not only is it a bear to clean, it was so bad on my feet that I ended up wearing shoes with orthotics. In the house. Yuck. I would go with linoleum or even laminate, something with some give.

  8. “Hot Dogs of Many Nations”

    A couple of years ago, we celebrated a friend’s birthday with “The Wurst That Could Happen!” Much wurst (all sausage was officially wurst for the day). Mustard, slaw, jalapenos, cheeses, chili, rolls, relishes, pickles, catsup, bbq sauce, red and green salsas, and probably a few other things that caught the eye when shopping or the refrigerator was open. So delicious.

  9. I managed to develop laryngitis and haven’t been able to speak aloud for *four* days; also a violent cough – at 31 weeks. There are plenty of people who’ve had a worse week, but mine has been just really lame, as weeks go.
    Sat: husband grilled the last of the steaks from our previous side of beef so as to have room for the new side arriving Mon. Good stuff.
    Sun: those garlic chicken thighs from the post a couple weeks ago. I don’t think I made it as well as I could have, but everyone liked it and two requested it for their birthday meal (in 5 months and 9 months). Wish the garlic had staved off whatever germ silenced me on Tues.
    Mon: BLTs. So good. The 5 y-o said he didn’t like BLTs so he made his own sandwich: piece of toast, slice of bacon, some Pringles, a couple slices of cheddar cheese, Easy Cheese squirted over the whole and topped with a second toast. He liked it.
    Tues: Hot dogs.
    Wed: taco salad.
    Thur: leftover chicken, hot dogs, salad. There wasn’t any leftover bacon (though we are drowning in tomatoes).
    Fri: husband plans to pick up a couple cheese pizzas and have kids eat those while digging potatoes at uncle’s hobby farm.

  10. In Chicago they top hot dogs with diced tomatoes, pickle relish, yellow mustard, dill pickle celery seed, and I think raw onion. A surprisingly good combination.

    Then there’s the chili dog, though topping meat with more meat is not something I can personally get behind. Here on the Canadian border, there’s a version called a Michigan (funny, because this is not Michigan) where the meat sauce is like sloppy joe meat–slightly sweet.

    I’ve also seen something called a “Canadian Slaw Dog” advertised, which seems to just be coleslaw on a hot dog. That might actually be good.

    I like baked beans right on top of my hot dog, too.

    1. The slaw dog is awesome. It is my fave – overcooked grilled dog topped with cole slaw only, on a fresh soft hot dog bun, or lightly toasted. Around here (NE Ohio) it is called West Virginia style. Whatever they call it, it is pretty danged good.

      If you are going to do dogs, you could start some chili early in the day and use that for topping the hot dogs, or for topping cooked spaghetti, the way they do in Cincinnati. Add chopped onions, shredded cheddar, chopped peppers from the garden (banana peppers are very good) or whatever sounds good. Downstate they always add a little cinnamon to the chili, which is very good – maybe 1-2 tablespoons mixed well.

      God bless all here – Susan, ofs

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