I waited until the last minute to throw together the menu and was afraid I would not be able to acquire my choice ingredients. I got up early on Saturday to visit the University District Farmers Market in search of a local ham to be the centerpiece of the meal. One vendor politely told me they had already ran out, and another looked at me like I had two heads. I felt defeated and a bit intimidated through the process, but I did manage to pick up a sack of potatoes from Alden Farms, some chives from an unmarked flower stand, and a tub of Fromage from Mt. Townsend Creamery.

I found my local ham at the Metropolitan Market, made by Hempler’s in Ferndale, WA. I also picked up milk from Twin Brook Creamery, some green beans (a staple at Lybecker family gatherings), and parmesan cheese. A few more items were contributed by my amazing mom-in-law and here is how the menu came together:

Mt. Townsend Creamery Fromage with Oregon Hazelnuts and Orange Zest
served with Eat Local camelina crackers

Mom’s Whole Wheat Bread
made with Twin Brook Creamery milk and Bluebird Grains cracked emmer

Bok Choy Salad
with green onions, chow mein noodles, slivered almonds, and soy sauce vinaigrette

Alden Farms Mashed Potatoes
with locally grown chives

Sautéed Green Beans
with fresh lemon juice, slivered almonds, and parmesan cheese

Hempler’s Slow Cooked Ham
with Rockridge Orchards spiced apple cider, stone ground mustard, and honey

Grand Central Bakery Coconut Cake
with vanilla bean ice cream

I felt the pressure to please everyone with dinner, but I relaxed the day of and had fun with it.  The meal received plenty of thumbs up and my husband’s mom even called me the Rockstar of Easter! I call that a glowing success.

The first course was a surprise; Charlie refused to tell me what he was preparing with the tomatoes and asparagus I saw him pull out of his grocery bag. While I did some prep work so my dishes were mise en place, Charlie put together a cheese plate with Mt. Townsend Creamery’s Seastack and Fromage, some water crackers, and dried cranberries. This was a freebie course – an oversized amouse bouche so to speak.

When I was finished rolling pasta, I sat and enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine from O.S. Winery in anticipation of the first course. Charlie brought to the table a ramekin filled with asparagus risotto set on a plate with a tomato and asparagus salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette. He served it with a Portuguese white wine we picked up from our local wine shop, West Seattle Cellars. How could I possibly follow this act?

I hand made ravioli for the pasta course. I completely botched the first go round, but luckily had prepared enough filling for a second try. I baked a salmon fillet from the Loki Fish Company and mixed it with Mt. Townsend Creamery’s Fromage, lemon juice, and dill. The finished raviolis were dressed in a dill butter sauce.

For the meat course, Charlie put forth one of his Chef signatures. Marinating a t-bone steak for hours, letting it come to room temperature, then grilling on each side for a calculated amount of time to achieve the perfect doneness. He served it with a red wine and balsamic reduction that I was mopping off the serving plate. The dish was accompanied by a glass of Cuillin Hills Cabernet Franc.

I chose an old standby for dessert, the same one I made last Valentine’s Day – Chocolate Decadence. I couldn’t resist the heart-shaped cake oozing from the middle with chocolate. I topped it off with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Sharing the kitchen with my husband, showing off our cooking skills, spending hours eating and drinking wine; we should do this more often. I wonder how Chef and Cook will celebrate Valentine’s Day next year?

I perused the web for a good recipe and landed on a Spiced Autumn Pot Roast from SouthernFood.About.com.

I woke up early on Tuesday morning, sliced onions and celery, and layered them on the bottom of my slow cooker. Then I peeled and cubed the sweet potatoes before adding to the dish. I roped my husband into the meal and made him sear the roast while I prepared the veggies. The roast fit snuggly atop the produce in the slow cooker and I poured in a concoction of beef stock, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.

We set the slow cooker on low and ran out the door for the day. The sweet smell of sweet potatoes, cinnamon, and roasted beef greeted us when we got home. We couldn’t wait to dig in.

Spiced Autumn Pot Roast

3 to 4 pounds boneless beef chuck pot roast
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
3 to 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
2/3 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water

Trim fat from roast; brown in skillet on all sides in hot oil. Drain well. In 4 to 5-quart slow cooker place sliced onion, celery, then sweet potatoes. Place roast in top of vegetables, cut if necessary to fit. Combine beef broth, celery salt, salt, and cinnamon. Pour over all. Cover. Cook on low 10 to 12 hours or high 4-5 hours. To serve, transfer roast and vegetables to platter. Reserve juices. Measure 1 cup; make gravy by stirring cornstarch in cold water; add juices. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until thickened and bubbly. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Credit: SouthernFood.About.com

I made it through the market with a ten-dollar bill and a crisp twenty, picking up an acorn squash and sweet carrots from Stoney Plains Organic Farm and a round of Seastack cheese from Mt. Townsend Creamery.

I found sweet potatoes and Braeburn apples.

The big splurge was a 3-pound grass-fed chuck roast from Stokesberry Sustainable Farm.  The vendor gave me a bit of a deal of the beef so long as I promised to cook it slowly.

My meal plan for the week? With items in my pantry and freezer, this is what I hope to create in my kitchen this week:

•    Roasted chicken thighs with carrots, apples, and red onion
•    Pot roast with sweet potatoes and onion (seasoned with cinnamon)
•    Pot roast, round two, with roasted acorn squash
•    Fruit and cheese plate featuring Seastack

I can’t wait to share with you the results.

(Give this part your best Minnesotan accent. C’mon, give a whirl!) Have you ever heard of Ole and Lena? Vell, they live up north in Minnesota loving life and bumblin’ around.

Vell, don’tcha know, old Ole got sick and vus dyin’ in his bed. And vhile vaitin’ for her old husband to kick duh bucket, Lena started in to cookin’. She vus makin’ lefsa and a nice zucchini hotdish. Well, Old Ole, he loved nuttin’ better than Lena’s hotdish, and ven he smelled it from da deathbed, up he went to da kitchen. Vhen Lena saw dat he vas eatin’ a plate of hotdish and lefsa she took it from him and said, “Ole, vat are ya doin’? Dat hotdish is for duh funeral don’tcha know!”

Minnesotans love their hotdish – the home-style cousin of the casserole – and I would know, generations of my family, including me have called the state, and the dish, home.

Hotdish first got its start when budget-minded farm wives needed to feed their families, as well as congregations in the basements of the first Minnesota churches. It was a simple solution for stretching ingredients, especially pricey cuts of meat, while still being able to dazzle family, friends, and neighbors with something tasty and satisfying.

Also imagine Minnesota winters when the temp could drop to 40 below – a warm hotdish was a comfort food that was filling and foolproof – even in a wood-burning oven. Farm cooks everywhere embraced these hotdishes, and every family had a favorite. And they still do. Including mine.

When I was growing up, my aunt Connie and uncle Keith prepared wild rice hotdish every Sunday for our post-Mass get togethers. My mom often made tuna noodle hotdish with saltine crackers crumbled on top. For deer hunting season, my grandma whipped up her concoction of ground beef, shell pasta, corn, and cream of mushroom soup. Cream of anything soup is an essential base for any Minnesota hotdish.

Like Lena, my family also had a funeral hotdish – we didn’t use zucchini, but we saved our best combination of tomatoes, corn, hamburger, and elbow macaroni to mourn the loss of our elderly relatives and fellow church members.

Hotdish can literally be any combination of ingredients – if you asked 150 Minnesotans for their favorite hotdish recipe, you would get 150 recipes in return.

The word hotdish is so ingrained in me, that it wasn’t until I moved away from Minnesota that it dawned on me – other people might not know the meaning of the word. The first year I was in Seattle, my fellow co-workers and I threw together a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. We were discussing what to bring – pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, dressing – and I uttered the phrase in every Minnesotan’s repertoire, “I’ll just bring a hotdish.” The confused stares I got back threw me off my game. “You know what a hotdish is, right?” My brave co-worker Evelyn, said, “oh yah, oh yah, it’s a plate and it gets hot, helps keep the food warm.” “Not exactly, it’s essentially a casserole.” It’s a funny comparison to me because the word “casserole” doesn’t hold the same feeling and tradition as the word “hotdish.”

I found this great quote from a fellow Minnesotan – She sums it up perfectly.

“Hotdishes are such a part of our history. They are the epitome of comfort foods and bring such satisfying memories to all Minnesotans.”      ~Linda M. Kopp, Staples, MN

From Ole and Lena with their Scandinavian accents to my grandma with her “oh you’se guys” to my mom and to me – the basics of the Minnesota hotdish remain the same whether or not the ingredients change.

As I grew up and out of the house, years began to separate me from my first experience with canning fruits and vegetables. I bought everything I needed year round at the grocery store. Food companies did all the heavy lifting for me. I would be lying if I said they no longer contribute to my diet, but I have certainly stepped up my participation a few notches.

This past summer, I challenged, even dared, myself to can something. I wanted to be the one to preserve the season. I wrote it on my life list and declared it to the world. I started by purchasing a Granite Ware Canner. I ordered it online, so of course I had to wait for it to ship. When it arrived, it sat in the box for quite some time.

I eventually bought canning jars. Then I made excuses that the price of tomatoes was still too high. Every week I stared at them in the farmers markets. “Is it time?”

The first week of October my husband and I drove to Eastern WA and I was tempted to stop at a produce stand on our way home. We pulled off the road at Thorpe and sauntered into Gibson’s Produce determined to purchase tomatoes. I found them, a 25-pound box of Yakima canners on sale for $9.98. It was time.

I cleared my entire Sunday, read and reread every book I had on canning (including Better Homes & Gardens), and lined up my equipment from one end of the kitchen to the next.

To be honest, I was nervous as heck that I would screw this up. I reread the directions one more time, sent up a few prayers, and set to work.

Step One: Wash canning jars and lids in hot soapy water. Rinse. Soak in hot water until ready to use. (Ok, that’s sound pretty easy.)

Step Two: Fill canner half way with cold water; start to heat. Heat additional water in a second pot in case you need extra when it’s time to process. (Easy enough.)

Step Three: Prepare only as much food as needed to fill the maximum number of jars that fit in your canner at one time. Work quickly, preparing the food as specified. Keep the work area clean. (I had to peel the tomatoes – dunk in boiling water, then dunk in an ice bath, then peel. This is also where I started to worry. The first two tomatoes were not cooperating and I was afraid the mishap would slow me down.)

Step Four: Place hot jars on a towel to prevent slipping while packing. Pack the food into jars and add lemon juice as directed, keeping in mind the recommended head space. (I brought out my ruler for this one.)

Step Five: Release trapped air bubbles in the jars by gently working a narrow rubber scraper down the jars’ sides. (I almost let one jar into the bath with an air bubble… thank goodness I caught it.)

Step Six: Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean, damp cloth to remove any excess food. (I did this twice, sometimes three times a jar. I was determined not to have any leftover food on the rim.)

Step Seven: Place prepared lids on jars; add screw bands and tighten. Set each jar into the canner as it is filled. (At this point, I was beyond committed to the canning process. The jars were officially in the water bath canner.)

Step Eight: Pour additional boiling water into the canner until jars are one inch below the water line. (I brought my ruler out again just to make sure.) Cover; heat to a brisk, rolling boil. Now begin the processing timing. (My halved tomatoes were processed for 85 long minutes).

Step Nine: Remove jars and place them on a rack to cool for 12 to 24 hours and checked to be sure the lids are sealed. (I am happy to report that all of my lids were sealed!)

Whew! The task is over; checked off my life list. However, this will not be the last time I can something; mark this only as the first. On the next go around, I imagine myself plucking tomatoes from the vines in my own back yard and further down the road, I imagine I have a daughter to watch me as I boil tomatoes for salsa, place dill in the jars filled with cucumbers, and dunk the glass containers into the water bath canner.

One of my favorite subscriptions is Everyday Food. I fell in love with its contributors when I was stuck at home recovering from a bum foot. I was sans cable at the time, but I did have a pair of trusty rabbit ears. I was limited to NBC, FOX, and KCTS. Every weekday at noon the cast of Everyday Food (the TV show) would share quick and easy recipes while my eyes stayed glued to the screen. For Christmas that year, my now husband gifted me a subscription to the magazine version of Everyday Food; I was speechless, overjoyed, bursting with OH MY GOSH THIS IS THE BEST PRESENT EVER; you would have thought I had won the lottery.

About a month ago while I was hunkered in my well-lit corner reading the latest subscription, I came across Whole Wheat Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Roasted Veggies. I was on a roasted vegetable kick so this recipe was calling my name. I got out my notepad and put together a shopping list; next step, schedule a cook date. Believe it or not, if I want to cook, I have to mark it on the calendar. My husband and I are busy bees. If I am not careful we could be out and about every night of the week. Simultaneously overdue for some quality time with Charlie’s brother and our close friend, we picked a date and extended an invitation for a dinner party. I crossed my fingers they liked chicken sausage and roasted eggplant.

Evening of, I pre-heated the oven, lined my baking sheet with aluminum foil, and chopped my vegetables into one-inch pieces. Laid out on the baking sheets, the vegetables received a healthy drizzle of olive oil, a few twists of the salt and pepper mill, and a sprig or two of thyme.

I added the chicken sausage to a sizzling hot pan and rotated them until each side was perfectly carmelized.

The sausage was sliced and tossed in with the fresh vegetables; all went into the oven. Meanwhile, I prepared the whole wheat pasta in boiling water seasoned with salt. Twenty five minutes later, the roasted vegetables were sweet and tender and the pasta just al dente, how I like it. Mixed together, they were a satisfying feast, perfect for a tossed together dinner party.

This fairly simple recipe (and so many more) keep me anxiously awaiting the inspirations my mailbox will hold next month.

Follow this link for the full recipe.