Recipe: Kielbasa Breakfast Skillet

Chopping

Shanna and I like big breakfasts or rather brunches on the weekend. One of our favorites is this breakfast skillet. She peels potatoes for me as I start sautéing onions. I cook the potatoes in the microwave. Alternately I use leftover potatoes from other meals.

I can't give you real measurements because it depends on how much you want to make. Here are my approximations:

Sautéing 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 Polska Kielbasa or other sausage
• 1/2 - 1 cup chopped bell pepper
• 2-4 chopped cooked potatoes (cause we LOVE potatoes)
• 5 eggs (mixed with a tablespoon or two of milk like you would for scrambled eggs)
• Some salt (don't ask me I sometimes forget to even do this)

Directions:

• Sauté onions in butter in large skillet
• Add chopped kielbasa and bell peppers and continue to sauté (usually till the potatoes are done)
• Add chopped cooked potatoes

Be sure to turn over/mix the food in the skillet so browning can occur on the kielbasa and potatoes. The more butter you use the less browning will occur. Once it all of this is heated through and browned appropriately make a space and pour in the eggs.

Stirring in the eggs

Once the eggs are cooked it is ready to serve. Shanna always adds garlic salt and cheese. I like to add fresh diced tomatoes.

This is a super easy dish to cook. -- Jenny

Review: Paul Hollywood’s Big Continental Road Trip

 I needed a new television series to needlepoint to so I searched Netflix and it found me Paul Hollywood’s Big Continental Road Trip.  I watched the preview and was hooked.  So much entertainment. A roadtrip with a great host and interesting cars.  I love cars and driving and the Great British Baking show aka Bake Off.  

Italy

This is a three part series with an episode devoted to a single country: Italy, Germany, France. Sometimes the cars were sporty or expensive and sometimes the cars were cheap or ubiquitous. 

Germany

Italy is my favorite episode partly because I also watch Dancing with the Stars and the judge Bruno Tonioli shows Paul around and partly because I like the zest and joie de vie of the Italians. 

France

I recognize that sometimes the show is using stereotypes to typify the cultures but they are also showing us the country and discussing all kinds of historical and cultural bits. Definitely a fun romp.

For a summary and more information about each episode follow the links. 

• Episode 1: Italy - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08svmdc
• Episode 2: Germany - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tlc9q
• Episode 3: France - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08vdqhp

Memories & Books: Our Hearts Were Young and Gay

• Title: Our Hearts Were Young and Gay: A Comic Chronicle of Innocents Abroad in the 1920s
• Authors: Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough
• Publication: Dodd, Mead & Company, New York 1942

Set in the 1920s the story is about two young women who are out to tour Europe.  It begins in America, crosses the Atlantic on steamship and ends in Europe.  

I don't have the eloquence of Mr. Joe on Amazon so I'm going to quote from his review though beware there be spoilers in the full review. 

"OUR HEARTS WERE YOUNG AND GAY is a travel essay that appeared in 1942. Within, co-authors and best pals Cornelia Otis Skinner from Bryn Mawr, PA and Emily Kimbrough from Indiana share the experiences of an independent trip to Europe made in 1920 when young, footloose and relatively free of parental oversight. Skinner's parents were traveling on a parallel but more or less separate itinerary.   

...

The charm of this delightful narrative lies in the fact that it's a recollection of girlish innocence, naivete, and silliness told from the perspective of a more mature adulthood that achieves an engaging, self-deprecating wit."

So yeah, it's a great book.  I did not know this when I was handed it to read on a road trip in 1982.  I wish I remembered who gave me the book, I think it may have been Aunt Linda Rae (my mom's cousin on her father's side, but we always called her Aunt).  I believe this may have been the first time I was

the reader while someone else was driving.  The unfortunate victim, I mean driver was my father. 

I began the book, and we chortled and laughed and drove.  I think we were going to or coming from the Monolithic Dome job site near Athens Alabama. For more on domes see: https://www.monolithic.org/ I drove a  30 ton crane on that job site that built this huge dome.  The grain storage dome has a diameter of 150’, a height of 75’ and an excavated portion of 20’ under the dome.

Well, back to the storyline.  I remember this day clearly because the story of the pink ribbon on the sandwiches caused my father to laugh so hard he had to pull the car to the side of the road. As this was my first time reading the book I had a hard time reading it out loud in a coherent manner. 

Later I found this book on Audible (~7 hours) and immediately purchased it for future road trips. The unbridled innocence, earnestness, and verve for life that these two young women demonstrated was inspiring, but their lack of common sense led to all kinds of hysterical misadventures.  

In 2016 Melinda and I took another road trip from Idaho to Texas. This time we took our time birding our way through Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas.  There were many awesome birds and I blogged about that part of our trip in on BlueRavenBirders.com.

• Day 1 Birding the Bear River Refuge 
• Day 2 Birding Wyoming
• Day 3 Birding Nebraska 
• Day 4 Birding Kansas

I think this was my third time reading/listening to the book and once again it was HILARIOUS.  Melinda assures me that yes I did indeed have to pull over at the sandwich scene again.  I wonder how many more times this will happen.  I also smile at the memory of the scene of shuffleboard on board the ship and the hostel in France.

I never have to worry about storyline or audience with this book.  It's permanently on my road trip read list. I can't wait to trap a new victim in my car.  

- Jenny

Italian Pasta Salad

 Italian Pasta Salad

Shanna and I have a favorite pasta salad.  It is based on the flavors of pizza. You'll have to figure out your own proportions.  

• Cooked radiatore pasta (this ruffled pasta holds the sauce and flavors really well but other pastas would work)
• Pepperoni
• Cheddar cheese cubed
• Bell pepper chopped
• Chopped/sliced olives
• Onion chopped or minced
• Garlic minced
• Italian dressing (we usually go with Lighthouse Italian because it has such a lovely garlic bite)

Mix together and serve

This salad travels well. It has become a staple for our adventures in Yellowstone. We either pre-portion it out into washed takeout containers or dole it out in red solo cups.  In the picture above I added orange bell pepper instead of green because we prefer the flavor.  But the green pepper adds a lovely color. I've also swapped out red onion for yellow on occasion.  You can add another crunch texture by adding celery or water chestnuts.  - Jenny