The Daily Bug

Last Updated: 2:30 PM GMT on November 08, 2009 — Last Comment: 2:49 PM GMT on November 21, 2009

	Cool Weather Comfort Foods

Posted by: palmettobug53, 2:30 PM GMT on November 08, 2009

Shepherd's Pie

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I'm craving comfort foods. You know the ones. The things your Mama fixed when you were a child. Or ones that you've picked up on your own, as a young adult, that have become current family favorites. The recipes that you turn to if you're in the mood for a culinary hug or if you're just downright cold and need warming up. Many of them are loaded with calories and have high fat contents but sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and indulge.

I stopped by the grocer's yesterday and picked up milk, bread, etc and stuff for today's dinner, which is a bowdlerized version of an English dish called Bubble and Squeak. Or a cross between that and a New England Boiled Dinner.

It started out as a more or less traditional recipe for B&S that my Mama found years ago in Southern Living magazine. Our family has morphed it, over the years into what it is now. It was me, mostly. The original version used two pots and one frying pan. I'm lazy and wanted to cut down on the number of pots/pans to wash up. Dad and SMom fix it this way now, too.

If you want the original version, just Google Bubble and Squeak. Recipes vary widely, as it really is a method of using leftovers. Some are complicated updates and others look more like Colcannon.

If you want to give my version of Bubble and Squeak a try, here it is:

Rough chop a head of cabbage, several potatoes, some carrots, one large onion and slice up one Hillshire Farms smoked sausage, bung it all into a large soup pot, add a little water and cook until done. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cornbread. You can add a dash of ground cayenne pepper to the pot, if you like. I always like to sprinkle hot pepper vinegar on it all, in my plate. Hubby uses a slotted spoon to serve his plate. I rather like to eat it in a bowl, with the "pot likker".

The original, as Mama found it in Southern Living, called for cabbage wedges cooked in one pot, quartered potatoes cooked in another and the sausage browned in a cast iron skillet. Once the sausage was done, you drained the excess drippings from the frying pan, drained the cabbage and potatoes and added them and the sausage back to the frying pan, stirring them around some to coat them with the remaining drippings. Cover and heat on the lowest setting for about 10 minutes. There were no onions or carrots in this version.

I haven't made Shepherd's Pie in a while. It's another dish that I only fix when the weather cools down. You can make this as simple or as fancy as you want. You can use pork, chicken or go veggie. I use ground beef.

Bug's Basic Shepherd's Pie:

1 package lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can mushroom pieces
1 bay leaf
salt/pepper to taste

Brown ground beef, drain excess fat. Add mushrooms and onions and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the bay leaf, salt/pepper and tomatoes. Bring to bubble. Turn down and cook until liquid is reduced.

Fix mashed potatoes.

Pour meat mixture into casserole dish and top with the mash. Add a little shredded cheddar on top, if you like. Pop into the oven at 350º for about 20 minutes, until top is slightly browned and the whole thing is a bit bubbly.

Serve with salad.

You can add anything you like to the meat mixture. You can use canned or frozen veggies. Let your imagination run wild! LOL

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	Fall Poetry Slam

Posted by: palmettobug53, 12:24 PM GMT on September 26, 2009

Autumn Landscape by Van GoghBoy, that last thread didn't stay up long. It didn't even survive long enough to garner any comments! LOLI had an epiphany, whilst over at Pros' place.Fall poetry! Write your own. Post a favourite. Let's celebrate Fall!After Apple Picking by Robert FrostMy long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a treeToward heaven still,And there's a barrel that I didn't fillBeside it, and there may be two or threeApples I didn't pick upon some b...

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Updated: 2:30 PM GMT on November 08, 2009

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	Please stand by.....

Posted by: palmettobug53, 11:42 AM GMT on September 26, 2009

Time to take the Hugo entry down but I haven't gotten anything new ready to put up. Hence, the temporary thread.So, for the next week or so, this will have to do while I rummage around for something else.Feel free to come in, put your feet up, read the paper, work the crossword, sip some coffee and watch re-runs on TV. I think there are some cookies in the pantry.If you make a mess, clean it up. I don't run a maid service here, you know! Create your own visitor ...

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Updated: 12:25 PM GMT on September 26, 2009

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	9/21/89 - Ground Zero

Posted by: palmettobug53, 2:09 AM GMT on September 17, 2009

Map from WeatherUnderground archives. Ground Zero Post and Courier article in today's paper, 9/21/09Reliving the Reality of Hugo by P&C columnist, Ken BurgerSeptember 21, 1989Twenty years ago, Hurricane Hugo crashed ashore at about 26 mph, slightly north of the Charleston peninsula on the Isle of Palms as a Cat. 4. There was a peak gust of 137 mph recorded at the Charleston Naval Shipyard, just prior to landfall. If I recall correctly, Hugo made landfall at hig...

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Updated: 11:41 AM GMT on September 26, 2009

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	This and that....

Posted by: palmettobug53, 12:29 PM GMT on September 13, 2009

New thread under construction I just wanted to get the old entry down until I can get the new one up. I just have a few last minute things I need to check on. I do hope everyone has a great Sunday!

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