Happy Friday! Before I forget, some blog business: I will soon be deleting my Simcha Fisher, Writer Facebook page.
This one:
NOT my personal Simcha Fisher page, which is this one:
(at least not yet, ugh), but just the “business” page. I have to look into it more, but it looks like they’re implementing a “we own all your stuff and will swirl it up with AI however we want, and will use the ungodly mixture to sell stuff, and if anything bad happens, you will be legally responsible, not us” policy; and you can’t opt out. This is, for now, just for business pages, not personal pages.
These days, I just use my business page to post links to this site. SO, if you get to this page primarily through links on my Simcha Fisher, Writer page on Facebook, and you want to keep getting notified of my dumb little whatnots, your best bet is to subscribe to this page directly, so you will get an email alert whenever I post. The “subscribe” field is on top of the right sidebar:
I think it actually emails you the entire post, so you don’t even need to click on anything, other than opening the email.
Or, you can follow me on LinkTree, which is nothing but a list of links to everything I post here, no frills. You can even scan this QR code
and it will . . . do something. I guess it will take you to my LinkTree page, which looks like this:
My tech prowess is such that I usually remember that LinkTree is different from LinkedIn, but not always.
I also post links to everything I publish on Bluesky and Twitter, and most of it on Instagram.
Okay! That’s enough of that. Back to what really matters: What we ate this week:
SATURDAY
Pizza?
Usually I go shopping on Saturdays, but we’re still hobbling along on one car, and I didn’t want the kids to miss the pumpkin festival. So we went, and, as our pastor (who is new to the area) mentioned at the beginning of his sermon the next day, “You people really like pumpkins.”
Sufficiently boring. Live music, expensive food, some pretty good dogs and babies out and about, and lots and lots of pumpkins. The bigger kids had plans with their friends, so Benny and Corrie and Damien and I strolled about, then went home, and I made some boring pizzas.
Corrie and I also unmolded the gummies we made from grape juice we made. This was purely a “there is only one way to stop thinking about this stupid thing, and that is to do it” project, so I had low expectations, which were made lower still by the fact that I ran out of unflavored gelatin, so I mixed in some orange Jell-o.
So here they are:
And they were pretty bad! The end. Now I have that space back in my mini fridge.
Another thing taking up room and making me mad was these ridiculous pickled baby peaches I made back in June, when I was culling the peach tree and couldn’t quite bring myself to throw away all those poor baby peaches. (Relatedly, yesterday, the older kids were hanging out in the kitchen shouting, as they like to do in the evening, and one of them mentioned that perhaps she had told a co-worker that her parents would gladly take in an orphaned duckling they had; and another one said, “These people cannot turn down a baby.” Honestly, when there are a bunch of teenagers hanging around in the kitchen and shouting, and the topic of me and Damien comes up, it’s usually a lot worse than that! And yes, of course we will take a baby duck, or a baby whatever.)
Anyway, I had made two jars of sweet pickled green peaches. One had whole fruits, and one had halves, but I pickled them both in vinegar, sugar, honey, cloves, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks, more or less like this recipe. They were so young that the pits are still soft and edible.
Tried a few of each, and they were . . . certainly edible. I couldn’t think of one single person besides myself who would eat them, though, and even I wasn’t very excited about it. So I thought possibly I could make a sort of chutney out of them, like for . . . mince pie or something. I don’t know. So I put them in the food processor
Tasted it again, and threw the whole thing out. And now that’s done with! In 3-4 years, I will have forgotten all about this, and that will be me out in there in early June, thinking what a shame it is to throw out all these perfectly good little green peaches, HMMMMMM.
It was a nice day out, so gathered up the last round of salvageable seeds from my cosmos, marigolds, and zinnias. When I got in, my whole sweater looked like this:
which is just cute. “Me! Me! Take me inside! Pick me up!” (These are probably Queen Anne’s Lace seeds. It was a big year for Queen Anne’s Lace!)
SUNDAY
Leftovers and Hot Pockets
Sunday, after Mass, I did the shopping, and we cleared out the leftovers and had Hot Pockets. I vaguely remember being mad about something, but I don’t remember what. It must have been important.
I am taking the year off planting any bulbs in the ground this fall, but I did have a weak moment and bought a bunch of bulbs anyway, and stuffed them into the terra cotta pocket planters I got on the side of the road. Purple and white muscari for the sides, and a big bunch of daffodils, tulips, and ranunculus for the top, in white, yellow, orange, and magenta. So we’ll have a pretty little spring area in front, anyway. Or the world will come to an end first, and that will be pretty in its own way.
MONDAY
Buffalo chicken drumsticks, rice, veg and dip
Monday I faced the three packages of drumsticks I got on sale. My kids really don’t like oven fried chicken much, which I can’t understand, but oh well. So I just seasoned and roasted them
then melted some butter in some hot sauce
and then slathered the drumsticks in that and re-heated them. Made a pot of rice and cut up a bunch of vegetables
Serviceable meal.
TUESDAY
Chicken quesadillas, chips and salsa
Tuesday I sternly sat myself down and counted up how many weeks I’ve been dealing with severe vertigo, and finally called the freaking doctor. I had been putting it off because I was sure they were going to say I needed to race to Lebanon and get six MRIs and eleven brain surgeries, and I did not want to DO that. I was pretty sure it was a lingering respiratory virus inner ear dealio, but also, you know. My braaaaain. So I went, and they said I was the third person that morning to come in with vertigo, and yeah, it’s probably a virus. But they did all the neuro tests and blood tests and whatnot, and it really does not look like a brain thing, whew. I got some Meclizine (which I incorrectly remembered as being called “Meducin,” which, if I remember correctly, is good for whooping cough, blisters on the feet, German measles and a pea that’s got stuck in the nose, and polishing furniture) and a PT referral, and a sheet of paper with a maneuver on it.
which I have not yet tried, because looking at the paper makes me dizzy. But I did go to the doctor!
Oh, I forgot, I seasoned some chicken breast pieces with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cumin, and browned them in oil
then shredded the meat and made quesadillas. I had cheddar, chicken, and jalapeños in mine.
I virtuously ate salad rather than tortilla chips. And that was the very last day I stayed on the wagon with my stupid freaking calorie count, which is absurdly low and has been doing nothing but maintain my weight, which is UNFAIR.
WEDNESDAY
Sheet pan Brussels sprouts, bacon, and eggs; biscuits
Wednesday was a meal I was looking forward to. I more or less followed this recipe from dear old Damn Delicious, except I used three pounds of Brussels sprouts, a pound and a half of bacon, and eight eggs. I made a double batch of the sauce (honey, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper).
I considered making hot pretzels or pretzel rolls for a side, but it didn’t feel like a day to mess with any baking soda baths, so I made biscuit dough and cut out eight big biscuits. I made half this recipe.
Jump to RecipeI haven’t made these in a while, and ended up having to use quite a bit more flour than it called for, and the biscuits still turned out almost like drop biscuits, rather than cut biscuits. They were great, though! Lovely fragile buttery crust, and soft, steamy insides.
For the sheet pan meal, you cook the saucy Brussels sprouts and bacon for a while, then take the pan out, make little wells, and carefully crack in your eggs, then top them with a little parmesan cheese and hot pepper flakes, and then finish cooking.
Extremely tasty.
She has this listed as a breakfast, and that would work, but there’s no reason not to serve this for dinner!
THURSDAY
Beef barley soup, french bread, pomegranates
Corrie had a parent-teacher meeting in the morning and then the rest of the day off, so it seemed like a good day to teach her how to make her favorite soup, which is beef barley.
Jump to RecipeCooking is one of the few things she acknowledges I know more about than her, so I was able to show her the claw grip for safer cutting
but she really did know everything else. We had a pleasant discussion about the different results you get when you crush, mince, dice, or slice garlic, and she opted to mince it. There go the carrots!
The only part I did was cut up the onions, which is much easier for me because I wear contact lenses. After we got the vegetables softening up, I retired to my bed of vertigo, and just mumbled directions to her step by step as she popped in. The original plan was to make bread, but I was feeling too bleh, and she was feeling too much like watching terrible cartoons, so Damien just picked up some french bread and warmed it up, and Corrie cut up the first pomegranates of the season, and it was a lovely meal.
I spent much of the day napping (I had also gotten a flu shot, and between that, and the nauseated dizzy whatevers, and what Damien is valiantly insisting is me doing a STILL NORMAL AMOUNT OF SURGERY RECOVERY, AND NOT ME BEING LAZY AND USELESS, I just, well, like I said, I napped), and some time attempting to invite a bunch of Corrie’s friends for a D&D campaign. Then, in the evening, my head began to tick. I don’t know how else to describe it. I’m intermittently hearing a distinct, rhythmic ticking, tapping, or light snapping sound which is coming from inside my head. So that’s fun. It pairs nicely with the tapping sound that comes from inside the walls in the cool months, which I never did figure out what it was. Soon I will be nothing but white noise, inside and out. I am not going to do to the doctor and pay $50 to tell them my head is making noise. I’m just not.
FRIDAY
Spaghetti
Possibly Damien and I will sneak away and get a pizza or something. It is our anniversary (29 years, hooray!) on Sunday, but I think we may end taking the kids apple picking or corn mazing or something, because things keep happening, and we haven’t managed to do many traditional fall things this year.
The kids have requested to make a stop at the town rummage sale on the way home from school. Normally we hit this rummage sale on day 2, when things have been picked over pretty badly, so they have high hopes for an early attack. But first, adoration! I will pray for yez all.
And don’t forget, the “Simcha Fisher, Writer” page is going away! I’m a little sad about deleting the header image with one of the worst photoshop jobs I have ever done, which is saying a LOT.
My favorite part is the little watermarks that show I stole the tree picture from someone. Sorry, whoever you are! This picture is so old, I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to do that.
I also had a little giggle over the page description: “The official Facebook page of Simcha Fisher, author, blogger, blabbermouth, selective pedant, drinker, failed homeschooler. Open to life; losing my mind.” Author who hasn’t published a book since 2014; blogger I guess; blabbermouth yes, more blabbery than ever since my cheek and tongue are still numb; selective pedant less and less, drinker no longer, failed homeschooler and now also failed public schooler, failed charter schooler, failed parochial schooler, and failed private schooler. However, we will accept baby ducks, so we’ve got that going for us.
moron biscuits
Because I've been trying all my life to make nice biscuits and I was too much of a moron, until I discovered this recipe. It has egg and cream of tartar, which is weird, but they come out great every time. Flaky little crust, lovely, lofty insides, rich, buttery taste.
Ingredients
- 6 cups flour
- 6 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, chilled
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups milk
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 450.
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In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cream of tartar.
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Grate the chilled butter with a box grater into the dry ingredients.
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Stir in the milk and egg and mix until just combined. Don't overwork it. It's fine to see little bits of butter.
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On a floured surface, knead the dough 10-15 times. If it's very sticky, add a little flour.
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With your hands, press the dough out until it's about an inch thick. Cut biscuits. Depending on the size, you can probably get 20 medium-sized biscuits with this recipe.
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Grease a pan and bake for 10-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Beef barley soup (Instant Pot or stovetop)
Makes about a gallon of lovely soup
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1 medium onion or red onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 3-4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
- 2-3 lbs beef, cubed
- 16 oz mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
- 6 cups beef bouillon
- 1 cup merlot or other red wine
- 29 oz canned diced tomatoes (fire roasted is nice) with juice
- 1 cup uncooked barley
- salt and pepper
Instructions
-
Heat the oil in a heavy pot. If using Instant Pot, choose "saute." Add the minced garlic, diced onion, and diced carrot. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions and carrots are softened.
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Add the cubes of beef and cook until slightly browned.
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Add the canned tomatoes with their juice, the beef broth, and the merlot, plus 3 cups of water. Stir and add the mushrooms and barley.
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If cooking on stovetop, cover loosely and let simmer for several hours. If using Instant Pot, close top, close valve, and set to high pressure for 30 minutes.
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Before serving, add pepper to taste. Salt if necessary.
