Once February hits, Tony and I just can’t help but dream about putting up our gazebo, watching White Sox Games in the back yard, him smoking a cigar and the dog chasing bunnies in the back yard and chewing on sticks.   We use our backyard to its full extent when its warm, and its about this time of year we long for it.

I am sure Dave will appreciate us grilling in 20 degree weather!

I first started out my day with broiled grapefruit.  Don’t scrunch your nose up yet until you have tried it!  I drizzled about 1/2 tsp. of honey on each half and then put it in my toaster oven on broil for about 10 minutes.  The honey caramelizes on top and it almost brings a smokey flavor to the grapefruit.

But a little while later, I was still hungry, so I decided on making an egg sammie.  I cooked up thick sliced bacon.   After I drained off the fat, I fried an egg – nothing better than eggs cooked in bacon grease!

My step-son Joe was coming over, and since he had to be to work later in the afternoon, I decided to do an early Sunday dinner.  Tony actually was in charge of the grill today – great job Tony!  We have discovered uncooked ham and we will never buy pre-cooked hams again.  It takes a while to cook – about 20 to 25 minutes per pound, and this was a 10 pound ham!  That’s why we do it on the gas grill so that we can regulate the temperature.

We let it rest about 15 minutes before slicing:

So everyone whose followed my little blog knows that I am scalloped potato retarded.   I can bake them for 2 hours and the potatoes are still hard.  My Mom has actually made them in my house and I’ve repeated her recipe step by step to no avail.  Then I just said “fuck it” and I microwave them!  But you’ll notice that my dish is not pretty.  The milk kind of poured over the top, and when I put it under the broiler to brown the cheese at the end, um, let’s just say while the dish doesn’t look pretty – the scalloped potatoes were great!

my plate - um, plus maybe two more spoons of potatoes in the kitchen when I was cleaning up - not sure where my camera was at that moment! 😀

After dinner we only had time to play a few games of Jenga before Joe had to go to work.  Our game of choice is Pictionary, and Joe and Tony get a bit too competitive, so Hannah and I love kicking their butt!  I loved having you over Joe!

After Joe left, and to help digest our lunch, Hannah and I took Ed on a walk.  He doesn’t like the cold too much, but he loved being out today – we took a 30 minute walk – about the longest he can go now.

And of course, a walk would not be complete without a tree with blue skies! 😀

It just so happens that this months Bon Appetit magazine had a recipe for cheddar bacon biscuits.  In the description it said “These are great for sandwiches.  Just split them in half, slather with some Dijon, pile on thinly sliced ham, and add a lettuce leaf.”  So that was how are evening supper was born!  And what goes better with cheddar ham biscuits and pea soup?!

I reduced the bacon to 4 slices, and of course, left out the chives!

Cheddar Bacon Biscuits

Ingredients

4 ounces bacon
3 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup butter
8 ounces cheddar cheese
1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425. In food processor add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Pulse for 5 seconds. Add butter and pulse for 30 seconds.
  2. Add cheese and cooked bacon and pulse. With processor running, slowly add the buttermilk. Dough will be sticky.
  3. Use 1/2 cup measuring spoon to put on pan lined with parchment paper – bake 15 – 20 minutes, or until browned.

after adding the butter, I just finished everything in the food processor - but be careful, this is a sticky dough - pulse so that you don't tax the motor on your food processor too much
slowly add the buttermilk, just until everything is incorporated

I love parchment paper – nothing ever sticks!   I only used half of the batter to make six biscuits.

Luckily my soup was low calorie, because the biscuit sure wasn’t!  But it was light, flaky and delicious.   Note that you need to let these biscuits cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

My biscuit with 1 ounce of ham, lots of Dijon and lettuce.

Usually I’ve used dried peas to make soup – tonight I needed a quick recipe.  Who thought to use frozen peas?  So cheap too – my store sells 1 pound bags of frozen peas for only .99 a bag!

Simple Creamy Green Pea Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon garlic
2 tablespoons flour
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds peas, frozen
1/2 cup fat free half and half

Directions

  1. Melt butter. Add flour and cook for one minute. Slowly add chicken broth.
  2. Put frozen peas in food processor – add to chicken broth and put a lid on for 15 minutes on low heat.
  3. Use a stick blender and puree. Remove from heat. Add half and half and stir until blended.
  4. You can add chopped cooked ham if you like.
Instead of chicken broth, I used this. So economical - my store sells cans of chicken broth for $1.29 a can. This jar of soup base costs $3.79 and gets me 76 cups of chicken broth!

I left my peas on the counter for about 30 minutes before putting them in the food processor.

I, of course added a sprinkle of crushed red pepper on mine!

So even considering the bacon and the biscuits, my days totals aren’t too bad!  I got a B+ for the day!

I posted this Sunday night in the hopes that I’ll get my ass out of bed in the morning and do Jillian’s 30-day shred – hope everyone had a great weekend!