Thursday, July 16

When is More, Less?

Due to User Dimwittery, I have had two post titles go into the system.


Today's post was being written when it seemed to publish itself! I took it down & put it into draft for today, when I am not so tired!

Now onto the Real Post!

Or the other way around? When is Less, More?

I posted a couple of days ago, but took the post down.
I see upon reading other blogs, it probably registered on something (?) not sure what, but cannot be found, now.

I called the post Losing It, because I thought I was losing this blog. I have recently changed ISP. It became a question of how to change the address without losing the blog.

Luckily for me, a wonderful, Generous, friend, helped me to work out how to save the blog, & use a new address.

We, being Gom & I, celebrated our 43rd Wedding Anniversary, with a lovely lunch, given to us, by our friends. It was just delicious, & we spent a wonderful afternoon with our generous friends.



I have no idea why this grumpy looking 'friend' has chosen now, to be evident!!





So where do we begin to see that less is More??

This not a Morepork, which is the native New Zealand owl.

It is another owl my cousin's wife photographed in England.


Today is Mammogram day for me. Not a pleasant thought, & I privately feel the less they do them, the better. I am sure they cannot be good for the tissue of the mammary! Less would be more than enough!

The husband of our Generous Friends, decided our Aircon could be fixed, so he & Gom, who are, as Mrs GF said, "The least handy two men I know!" set about tinkering. Lo & behold they did get it going, & it is now happily flooding the house with warmth when we need it! Less knowledge, more success?

I hasten to add, it was not an electrical problem. More a mechanical one, with the age of the Aircon showing it must be nearing the end of it's life. We are hoping it will have More life yet!

Meanwhile, I have been doing quite a bit of the cooking. Gom does like to cook our nightly meal, if it is grilled meat, & salad. He makes the salads on each plate, & is careful not to include any of the healthy things I like, in his own salad! Less is definitely More for him, in the salad stakes.

We have some wonderful lemons on our tree this year. Our daughter gave Gom the tree about 7 years ago, & it has taken all those years to really have a bumper crop of fruit. I have been finding almost anything is improved with a little lemon juice added. They are Meyer Lemons & I can drink the juice straight, it is so delicious.

I am sorry, no pics of this, but you will get the idea. I am a rather lazy cook, like to have a one dish meal when I can.

I have made this using 2 cutlets or 4. I am sure 6 could be accomodated if the dish is large enough.

Crumb Topped Pork Cutlets with Plum Sauce & Vegetables.

Pork Cutlets
Potatoes
Carrots
Onion/s

Grease a dish large enough to have the vegetables layered in the bottom, & sides with the chops on top.

Slice the potatoes to layer the bottom & sides of the dish. Add a layer of sliced carrots over the potatoes, then add the chopped onions over this.

Pour a cup of chicken stock, & I add half or a whole glass of wine. I add salt & pepper here.

Remove the fat off the cutlets. Quickly brown off the cutlets in a hot pan.
Place them in a layer on top of the vegetables.
Add a generous dollop of SPC Plum Sauce on the top of each cutlet.

A little water added to the pan after the cutlets are done, can be used to deglaze the pan, & added to the dish of vegetables.

Take 3 or 4 slices of wholegrain bread & place in the blender. Add 2 tablespoons of parsely a little oregano & a little thyme- any herbs of you choice, really also the bread can be any of your preference. We like wholegrain.

As I crumb the bread with herbs, I add around a teaspoon of EV olive Oil, & also a tablespoon of lemon juice with the grated zest of the lemon.

Press the crumb mixture onto the cutlets.
Cover the dish with foil & bake at around 180 for 45 minutes. Remove cover & bake a further 15 minutes or so, till the crumbs are crisp.

It seems to sound fussy, but is not really & the best part is, it can be cooked earlier in the day to the stage where the crumbs need crisping, & it is ready to go. I dislike spending ages in the kitchen in the evening, & like do-ahead meals with minimum fuss. Nice green beans or peas steamed or a small salad make a nice colour for the dish. I am sure any other choice of meat would work as well.





Just a little thought about cynical money grabbers.

I stole this from some movie, but it strikes me as true.



"Give a man a fish & you feed him.

Teach him to fish, & you lose a chance to make money."



I have even been doing a little sewing but it is definitely less, not more!


12 comments:

Mary said...

Meggie? Is that at your place?!

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Yummy! I make something similar in the winter in an iron skillet on top of the wood stove with pork steaks. Here in the mid-west USA I find that pork is the meat that most folks eat, as opposed to chicken in the south and beef in Texas. Better for us than beef, I suppose and it is tasty. I let the pork sear with just a little salt and pepper, then add sliced onion and let it almost caramelize before I toss in the carrots and potatoes. The aroma throughout my little house is incredible and we tend to fatten up here in the winter........ wonder why?

The Sagittarian said...

Meggie the house frau! Who would have guessed. Just kidding, those chops sound very tasty! The Stud does most of the cooking in our house, I'm the drinks person....

Stomper Girl said...

Happy anniversary to you both. Forty-three years is most impressive, especially if he's been rearranging the pantry!

Warty Mammal said...

Happy anniversary, and may you have good mammaries!

Anonymous said...

Comgratulations on making it hrough as many years as you have without strangling him :)

Pauline said...

happy anniversary meggie! will try that casserole when the winter winds are blowing. right now I only want to eat cold things.

Lucy said...

I love pork and fruity things, did it with apricots tonight, I also love breadcrumby things.

Congrats on the 43 years, you might get your reward in heaven!

Glad Leo's better, Mol's ear went bad again but we saw an elderly locum vet who was gentle and reassuring and not inclined to be needle or scalpel happy, and his less invasive treatments seem to be working.

Hooray for dogs and good food! Owls and chooks are also good value...

Lauralee Beth said...

hello. just checking out new blogs and really like yours. feel free to come check out mine.

Mike said...

I'm with GOM when it comes to salad. Less is more. A little lettuce, onion, and a tomato and I am good to go.

Pam said...

Happy anniversary, Meggie and GOM!

Tanya said...

Congratulations of celebrating your 43rd!