Apple and Gorgonzola Ravioli

When I was at the farmer's market yesterday, I happened upon Sassano's Fresh Pasta stand. I've had their pasta before, and while it's a bit pricey - almost everything at the farmer's market is - it's also really good. And like everything at the market, the quality is superb.

I espied a ravioli I hadn't heard of before - Apple and Gorgonzola.  They were big - over an ounce each.  I bought a pound and received 14 huge rectangular ravioli.

Apple and Gorgonzola cried out for a cream sauce.  I wanted something fairly rich and flavorful, but not anything overpowering to compete with the apple and Gorgonzola filling.

I came up with a mushroom and leek cream sauce:

  • 3 oz baby bella mushrooms
  • 1 small leek, cleaned and sliced
  • 1/4 cup port (I usually use Madeira or sherry - I was out)
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Butter

Saute the mushrooms and leeks in a bit of butter and garlic. (Victor made roasted garlic butter today so I used it for the sauce and for garlic toast.)

When mushrooms have cooked down considerably, add port (Madeira, sherry, Marsala, etc...) and cook until almost fully evaporated.  Add broth and cook down again, to about half.  Add the cream, bring to a boil and add the cheese.

Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.

The sauce was easy - it took 10 minutes.

The ravioli did not have the flavor I was expecting.  They were good - but I did not pick up on the Gorgonzola, at all.  They had a great apple flavor, but the Gorgonzola just didn't come through.  Had I known, the sauce would have had Gorgonzola in it, rather than the Parmesan.  It would have been a nice compliment.  Oh well.  It was quite edible the way it was.

I also picked up some colored cauliflower while I was at the market.  It's always a fun addition.  All it got was salt, pepper, and a drizzle of butter.

Tomorrow is Turkey Soup.  I can't wait!


The Leftovers

It's all about the leftovers.  That really is the main reason I had to cook dinner yesterday - I wanted the leftovers.

And King of the Leftovers is a Turkey Sandwich.

This particular one was on a large roll from the bakeryat the farmer's market, instead of squishy white bread. (While I will almost always eschew squishy white bread, a Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwich on Squishy White Bread is gastronomic heaven...)

Roll bottom, mayonnaise, cranberry sauce, sliced turkey, salt and pepper, dressing, more mayo, top of roll.

Simple and delicious.


Happy Thanksgiving, Part Deux

After a great sleep in our own bed last night, I woke early and refreshed - and ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Of course, that meant shopping.  Lancaster County Farmer's Market, here I come.  It was great getting down there - my schedule pretty much keeps me from being able to shop down there regularly.  I miss not having Wednesday off anymore.  I made up for it, today!

First thing I needed was a turkey.  I got one about 12 1/2 pounds - almost a third of the size I normally get (last year was 33.3 lbs.)  And potatoes, sweet potatoes, fresh peas, rolls, and bread to make my stuffing.  I had cranberries in the freezer.

Now... generally, our tradition is we decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  We've been doing it for 14 years... But... since we neither cooked Thanksgiving or were home, we had to do both today - cook dinner and decorate.

It went really easily.  First thing was putting on Christmas Music.  I cut up and toasted the bread for the dressing and made the cranberry sauce.  While it was cooking away, we brought up decorations from the basement. And brought up decorations.  And brought up decorations.  We have LOTS of Christmas decorations.

I made a simple sausage stuffing, stuffed the bird, and into the oven it went.

Up went the tree and we started decorating.

And we decorated...

Victor did most of the kitchen...

In between decorating, I'd go back into the kitchen and check on things.  I pulled the turkey out and while it was resting, I made the gravy and left it on a low simmer while I did the sweet potatoes.  I cubed and boiled them, then after draining them, I added butter, brown sugar, ample syrup, and a pinch of mace and cinnamon.  Into the oven they went.  Peas were boiled then drained and reheated with a bit of butter, salt and pepper.  Made simple mashed potatoes.  I almost always leave the skins on the potatoes and mash them up, but Thanksgiving calls for peeled potatoes.  It's a rule.  And there was only two of us.  Two potatoes.

We have lots of fun Kitchen-type decorations.  We usually do an apple tree every year and we have several Cooking Santa's...

And then the rest of the house becomes a free-for-all.

I do the dining room.  Another tradition.  And it never is the same year to year.  We've been collecting Santa's for years, but as we were unwrapping stuff today, we realized that somewhere alomng the line, we've started collecting Christmas Trees, as well.  No idea how that happened.  After Christmas sales, I guess...  So...  The top of the buffet became a Christmas Tree farm this year.

And there's still another dozen in different places around the house...

The dining room table and chandelier also get over-the-top treatment.  Nothing is too gaudy for this room.  It's fun.

The tree is the most fun - and the first thing we actually do.  Almost every ornament has a story.  From family heirlooms to the first ornaments we exchanged, handmade by nieces and nephews, Waterford crystal to paper.  Ecclectic doesn't even begin to describe it.

Here's a bit of a closeup...

Here are more Christmas Trees... And Santa's.  Since there's no mantle, the stockings get hung with the fireplace poker.  Santa understands...

The whole front window is Santa's.  Scores of them.  Actually, the entire living room is Santa.  He's everywhere.We've never counted, but we have lots.

Tomorrow we start outside.  And we have a couple of projects we'd like to get to if we have the time and energy. Ya never know.

I boiled the carcass for soup and will make that Monday.  Tomorrow night is going to be Apple and Gorgonzola ravioli I bought at the Farmer's Market today.  I'm thinking a simple cream sauce.  We shall see...

It's great to be home!


How The Mighty Have Fallen

Yes, it's true.  We have left the luxury of our First Class Private suites to Business Class.  From breakfast freshly prepared and served at a table, to a microwaved breakfast sandwich and Entemann's danish at our seat.  Welcome to the last leg of our journey - the Pennsylvanian, from Pittsburgh to Paoli.

I'm not really complaining, though.  Even a crowded coach car would be vastly superior to an airline.  There's just no comparing service.

We'll be home in a couple of hours - the most relaxing trip we have taken in years.  All because airplanes and airports were not involved.

The airlines could take such a lesson from Amtrak - Customer Service to begin with.  Communication.  Information.  People SPOKE to us and let us know what was going on.  There was regular communication from every staff member.  Every time there was a delay, every time anything out of the ordinary came about, someone told us about it and kept us updated as things changed.  People smiled.  They acted as if they actually were enjoying their jobs.   What a concept.

If there was a way to swing it, I'd never get on an airplane, again.

So... we're home in a few hours.  The puppy dog is going to go crazy.

So are we.


On The Capitol Limited

We made our train with barely 10 minutes to spare. We are now safely ensconced on The Capitol Limited to Pittsburgh.  I was starting to get worried.  Not that I'm neurotic about being on time, or anything...

First thing we did was go to dinner.  We had skipped lunch in anticipation of eating with Kate and Lori... We all know how that turned out.  Dammit.  But we survived.

The dinner special tonight was Crab Cakes.  They were actually really good.  Heavy on the crab, light on the filler.  We both enjoyed them.  Passing through another time zone immediately has made it nighty-night time.  We have to be up well before the crack of dawn to change trains one last time to Paoli.

Tomorrow we leave First Class and downgrade to Business Class.

How Sad.  I could get used to this.


Galesburg, Illinois

And here we sit.  We're still awaiting our new Engineer.  We had a temporary engineer take us here, but now we need the real McCoy to take us into Chicago.

And as we sit, a freight train was blocking the entire town of Galesburg... It's amazing how tightly scheduled everything is.

Then, again, Congress and others have  been trying to get rid of passenger service for years, now.

Here's hoping our new Administration makes rail travel a priority.

In the meantime, we wait, watch movies, eat snacks, and whine and worry about missing our connection.


Missed Dinner

We were supposed to meet Kate and Lori in Chicago for Thanksgiving Dinner.  That isn't happening.  Fortunately, it wasn't a fatality with the woman in Iowa, but it has screwed up a lot of plans.  Amtrak is doing everything they can to make connections.  We shall see.

In the meantime, we're in our room watching movies.

We had passed on lunch, thinking we would be eating with Kate and Lori.  Fortunately, we have more snacks than you can even begin to imagine...  We shall not starve.

And... we finally got moving...  We've crossed the mighty Mississippi.

As it appears right now, we'll make our connection - barely.  Time for a few more movies.


Unhappy Thanksgiving

Seems there's been an accident.   It's about 1:30pm.  I don't have the details, yet, but we're in (I think) Burlington, IA and a woman was hit by the train.  She was on the platform, waaaaay too close and inside the "do not stand here" area, lost her balance and her left foot was injured.  They helicoptered her out.

We're still sitting here...

Damn.


Verizon "Service"

Travelling through Iowa this morning and I can't access my online account.  I keep getting an error that my password is incorrect and will not be accepted.  I call the Verizom 800 help number on the error.

I start getting a song and dance that my phone needs to be updated, the software program needs to be updated...  Then she says maybe there's just no service in the area.  I'm speaking to her on a cellular phone, but perhaps there's no cellular service...  Right.

When I bring this to her attention, she states "If you think there's service everywhere, that's extremely naive."  Thank you, Ms. Service Person.

The woman was just plan rude.  When I questioned the error message, she said it's "just an error message" and if there's no service in the area, there's no service in the area.  I asked if they had an error message for no service and she told me that I got the message.

I got the message, all right.  Verizon Service Sucks.  And she never fixed the problem.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our last breakfast on the California Zephyr was pretty good.  We both went for the French Toast.  I had sausage patties and Victor went for the bacon.

One more meal on this train and we meet Kate and Lori in Chicago for fast food and a couple of hours of hugs and conversation before boarding our next train to Pittsbutgh.

This has been a really fun ride.  I suppose that if we looked, we could find fault with things.  It's not exactly four-star dining or sleeping accomodations, but it has been comfortable, the service has been exemplary, and we've met some really fun and interesting people.  Things that just don't happen on an airplane.

Yeah... we could find fault if we looked - but why look?


The Last Supper

Luncheon today was a repeat of yesterday - with the exception of our table-mates... Two lovely California ladies - mother and daughter - travelling on to Buffalo to visit family.

What an absolute joy they were - so much fun, in fact, we made a date for dinner.  I am highly embarrassed, but their names have escaped me, but I besides carrying their images with me every time I think of this trip, I'm rather hoping they will show up here and remind me.

Three out of four of us tonight had the Flat Iron Steak.  It was quite good, the only screwup was my rare steak went to mom and I received her medium.

The daughter (who mentioned her 50th birthday - I seriously thought she was 30) wore a great top with Obama in sequins.  Classic.  We sat down and talked race, talked politics, talked food, talked family, talked restaurants... talked and talked with the comfort of friends who have known each other forever.  They truly were the icing on the cake of a wonderful trip.

Tomorrow we pull into Chicago and get to see Kate and Lori on our layover to Pittsburgh.

Happy Thanksgiving.


Rocky Mountain High

We're officially 8 hours from Denver.

I remember this part of the ride from our Family Reunion trip in 1990.  Kids everywhere, sleeping on the floor... It was crazy.

How different this trip is...  where the last trip was non-stop hectic and noise, this is quiet and serene.  I'm glad I have the other memory to judge this trip against.

The scenery continues to be stunning.  We travel along side the Colorado River for 238 or so miles.  It's a pretty spectacular site to behold.

We just left Grand Junction where the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers meet.  I don't think I'd want to live here, but it does have some great scenery.


Lunch is coming up in about an hour.  I think another salad may be in order.....