Garlic Green Beans (a first for me)

Piling on to my previous post, I thought I'd elaborate about one of my side dishes, the garlic green beans.  I wanted something green to balance out turkey, stuffing and mac & cheese.  I had thought about bacon-wrapped asparagus, but the asparagus was all huge and dried out looking.  Yuck!  The Brussels sprouts and loose green beans were in much the same condition.  Zucchini was out since we had that all summer.  I was at a loss until I found a bag of green beans, already trimmed and ready to go.  Well almost ready.  You always have to look over your produce - even the bagged stuff.

Now, I'd had garlic green beans in a restaurant that I thought were good, so I pondered how one would make those.  I came up with cooking them until almost done then sauteing them with garlic.  I googled up some recipes and found one from Morton's Steakhouse in Atlanta that sounded like what I was after.  I minced 2 cloves of garlic and about half a shallot, and sauteed them in a mix of butter and olive oil.  When the garlic and shallots were softened and beginning to brown, I added the beans and tossed until the were done to my liking - tender but not mushy.  I'm not one for the crisp-tender vegetables.  I'm from the South ya know [grin] .  Anyway, the beans were a hit.  So pretty on the plate, and they held their green color very well.  

Here's the official recipe.

Next Up...Christmas!

Thanksgiving has now come and gone, and we are stuffed like the turkey himself.  We had two Thanksgivings and an "eat out" meal right in the middle of it all.  Not to mention the post-Thanksgiving pizza I made.  

Thanksgiving meal #1 was the traditional turkey with all the trimmings:  mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, curried onions (I think I referenced those in an earlier post), cranberry sauce, bread, and pumpkin pie.  That was all washed down with Deinhard Green Label Riesling.  Pretty tasty stuff, not as sweet as most German Rieslings, and without that dreadful petrol aroma/taste.  

Our second dinner was last night with friends.  They brought a turkey, and I did the sides and dessert:  Mac & cheese, stuffing, garlic green beans and pecan pie served with a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau.  It was an all-around success, and a wonderful time as usual when we get together.  They also brought cranberry sauce and eggnog.  Now I have never tried eggnog, and was a skeptical participant in this holiday ritual.  I decided it was OK and tasted somewhat like melted vanilla ice cream.  Why not.  It's made with the same ingredients.  I added a bit of Captain Morgan to mine after I had sampled it straight up.  Either is fine, but the rum does give it an added something-something.

Now, Christmas is just 3 weeks away, and we get to turn around and do it all over again.  The cooking, the eating, the visiting, and the groaning after we've done too much of the eating.

Quote of the Week

Nothing is waste that makes a happy memory.

I saw this on a billboard in Stark, Florida on September 29, 2006, on our way home from vacation.  I take trip notes as we travel so I can remember things such as this, and I was struck by the truth of this statement.  An example might be the time spent enjoying a beautiful sunset instead of thinking about cleaning up after dinner.  So think back on all those happy memories, and remember what you were doing (or not doing).

A Day of Mourning!

Do you get really attached to your cars, or are they just a means to get around?  I remember very clearly the day I got my car.  It was April 17, 1997.  I had been shopping for at least two years for just the right car.  I tried out a Dodge Stratus, a Chrysler Cirrus, a Mercury Mystique, and window shopped many others.  I ended up test driving an Oldsmobile Cutlass, and almost got one but I didn't like the color of the only one they had.  I told the sales lady it was a fine car, but it was silver and I don't like silver cars. She couldn't understand that I would reject it because of the color.  I looked around the lot again and found a Cutlass Supreme SL - in Medium Beige Metallic.  When I drove it, there was no question that this was the car for me.  Now the car I was driving at the time was a Cutlass Ciera GT that I bought used at 3 years old.  Absolutely the greatest car on the planet at the time, but it was getting older, and  even though there was nothing wrong at the time, I didn't want to wait until it was critical to find something else .  So now I was getting a new car, the first since 1979.  We keep our cars a long time in my family.  

Since I was so emotionally attached to my Ciera, I decided this new car would be different.  It would be "just a car", and when the 7-year warranty expired, I would replace it.  In reality, though, that was enough time to fall in love so to speak.  I now have the 2nd greatest car on the planet.

Back to the day I actually got the car.  I remember calling Daddy to give him the news, and ask if he wanted to be here when they delivered my new car.  Boy was he surprised!  He knew I'd been looking, but was caught off guard by this apparent sudden purchase.  Well, sudden isn't exactly the word to describe this process, but he wasn't expecting it "so soon".  Of course, he came over, with his checkbook.  I was Daddy's girl, and he always insisted on helping buy my cars.  When they delivered it to my house and they drove my old one away, I hid in the bathroom in tears.  Wimpy, I know, but I loved that car!  

Now I stand at the crossroads between another car I love and the challenge of finding one to take its place.  It is a day of mourning for me.  Last night my beloved car of 12 years gave up the ghost...pause while I blubber some more, and swear that it'll be different next time, and a car will be just a car. 


Edited to add a visual:

 

 

Quote of the Week

Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  And today?  Today is a gift.  That's why we call it the present.  

- Babatunde Olatunji

What does this mean?  It means we should live each day fully with thanks and appreciation.  In doing so we ensure that our history has no regrets because no one knows what tomorrow holds in store.