The wild Miss V in her native habitat...

...the mall.
We took advantage of a rare sunny Saturday to go up to a local mall and wander around for a while.

Miss V quickly found the Sweet Factory. Nom.

Don't worry, this is NOT considered part of a balanced breakfast in our household.

How do you make your corned beef?

In the crockpot, of course!

We start it on high, let it go until the cooking liquid is bubbling, then switch it to low and let it simmer away for 12+ hours. In addition to the spice packet that comes with the brisket, we usually add a bay leaf or two, some peppercorns, a few allspice berries, and many cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole.

When it comes out of the pot, Captain Midnight usually flenses all the top fat off the brisket...

...and cuts it across the grain into numerous slices.

He also uses some of the corned beef juice to season the water for boiling veggies (start the carrots first; add the potatoes, then toss in the cabbage near the last so it's just tender... then drain).

Served with a simple cucumber salad and nippy horseradish sauce. Mmmmmm.

Hoddeok

One day in September, when I was away doing something else, Captain Midnight and Miss V decided to make some sweet Korean filled pancakes.

This is what they looked like.
I only mention this because a) this picture has been sitting on my computer for a couple of weeks and b) it's been MONTHS since anyone updated here. My duty was clear.

Also, the pancakes were pretty tasty.

Spring break lunch

Here's what we made for lunch today:
Fancy-pants restaurant-style ramen!

It was pretty easy, too. I cooked some of that refrigerated/frozen ramen, then jazzed it up with the addition of fake crab, lotus root, kamaboko slices and some shimeji mushrooms. It really needed some greenery, but since I had no green onions we had to do without.

Miss V had no complaints. Lots of OM NOM NOMing was had by all.

If not me, who? If not now, when?

Been a while since this little blog was updated, so I figured I'd tell you what was going on. Notta lotta, to be honest. Miss V was in a choir concert the other night, which the Captain and I attended, and they sounded very good. I was proud.

Miss V's mom was here over the weekend. It was fun having her here. I miss seeing my siblings frequently, the way I did when we lived closer together.

If you follow my blog, you'll already know I've gone Lego accessory mad. 'Nuff said.

Captain Midnight's vicious head wounds are pretty much healed over, leaving only some cool scars. Tonight he made a delicious dish called Polish Noodles with Cabbage and Kielbasa. Unfortunately he didn't take photos for posterity while he was cooking it, so I guess it won't be showing up as a "What's For Dinner?" spot any time soon, more's the pity. He did make huge amounts, so we'll be eating leftovers for quite some time to come.

And now I'm going to bed.

The Cap'n meets with a scalpel-wielding scalawag

What, you may ask, has Captain Midnight been up to lately?

Good question.

Of late he has been recuperating from head surgery to remove some of his bumps. Some of you may already have seen comments about this on my blog, but for those who haven't, a sad look at the Cap'n's war wounds:

The yellow coloring is caused neither by cowardice nor jaundice, but iodine.

He is making much of his owies. The Academy Award people should be calling us up shortly.

Since these pictures were taken, CM took the bandages off to reveal some rather wicked-looking black sutures. When people asked about them at work, he told them he'd gotten the new Internet wetware implant. It says something about where he works that most people responded with jealousy over the thought of Internet wetware.

What's for Dinner? Apple Garlic Pork Marinade

Apple Garlic Pork Marinade

This is a great pork marinade, but it does require a good 24-48 hours of preparation time.

Ingredients:

1 pork shoulder, 4-5 lbs.

Marinade:
1/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbl. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. dry rosemary
10-15 peppercorns, lightly crushed
10+ garlic cloves

Blend all the marinade ingredients together until smooth.

To minimize the apple flavor, you can substitute apple juice for the apple juice concentrate. Or to increase the apple flavor, add a peeled and cored apple. Fresh rosemary is better if you have it, and if you don't have whole peppercorns, substituted 1 tsp. ground pepper. I also like to include a medium size onion, peeled and quartered.

Put the pork shoulder in a gallon re-closable baggie and pour in the marinade. Place into the refrigerator at least overnight, but 48 hours is better. I mush the bag every 4-6 hours to make sure the marinade is getting all over the pork shoulder.

When you are ready to cook the pork, remove from the bag and place in a covered pot. Bake at 250° for 4-5 hours. The meat should be fork tender when done. Don't throw out the left-over marinade. Pour it into a shallow saucepan and cook over medium to medium-high heat until it reduces by half to a quarter of the original liquid and becomes a thick sauce, almost paste-like. The reduced marinade is very strong, but I do love it on the pork. Use sparingly.

Instead of a pork shoulder, you can use a 2-3 lbs. pork tenderloin. Cook at 250-300° for about 2 hours, or until the tenderloin internal temperature reaches 145°. It won't fall apart like the shoulder does after a long bake, but it will still be tender. Cut into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices and pour a small amount of the reduced marinade over it. Mmm...