My Son is Selling Trail's End Popcorn

I'm doing a bit of an experiment here.

My oldest son is in Cub Scouts. Here's a picture of the two of us at Cub Resident Camp this past summer at Cub World, a section of Boxwell Reservation.

The new school year has started, so regular pack and weekly den meetings have started, and that means it's time to sell popcorn.

When I was in Cub Scouts, I went door-to-door peddling my wares. That was 25 years ago, though, and I'd wager to say I'm a bit more paranoid about my son walking around the neighborhood than my parents were about me doing it. So I'm beginning this sale electronically. I've posted a humorous plea on Facebook with a link to Trail's End online ordering. I did the same thing in a mass email at work. I even used Trail's End little email bot to tweet out a standard little notification. Now I'm blogging about it.

I WILL be taking Parker around the neighborhood to do a bit of peddling, because I believe if he wants the rewards, he has to work for them. There's only so much he can do right now, though. That's why I'm helping him like this....because I can.

Click here to be taken to the online ordering site. Any and everything you order will be attributed as a sale by my son. He thanks you, as do I.

There's not a lot to be overwhelmed with. You've got your standard popcorn with a couple of sweeter options. Personally, I'm going to order the Cheese Lover's Collection. It just sounds delicious. Not only will my son be credited for the sale, but 70% of each sale will go back my son's Pack. We're saving up for a trailer to use to haul stuff to-and-from events and camping trips.

If you're not a popcorn lover but still want to help out, you can make a donation and popcorn will be sent to our troops, their families, and various veterans organizations.

I'm also going to put my money where my mouth is. I will match 10% of total purchases (up to $150...I'm a single father of three, so this is a big thing for me) when all is said and done, and that match will all go to popcorn donations for our troops.

What You Should Have Eaten #60

Ricotta Pasta 

with Zucchini, Garlic and Mint

Here’s number three in a series.

The drink was a Goldfinger, with Cinzano (I used Gallo sweet red Vermouth), vodka, orange juice, and orange bitters. Like I said last week, I enjoy the clear spirits, but dumping some sweet vermouth in with the OJ, that made it just a bit too sweet for me. I also find vermouth tends to cut down on the bite of the alcohol, but sometimes you need that bite. I like the bite with vodka and gin drinks.

Chopping up the zucchini is the only prep work involved in this, at least the way I made it. No onions to chop, and only dried herbs instead of fresh ones.

The mint was the kicker of this recipe. It was a flavor that I don’t normally associate with a dish like this. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it didn’t necessarily stick with me in a gotta-have-it-again way. This was my least favorite of the five variations.

What You Should Have Eaten #59

Ricotta Pasta with Sausage

Here’s number two in a series. Last week it was grape tomatoes, peas, and basil. This week it’s sausage.

 Browning the sausage is the only prep work involved in this, at least the way I made it. No onions to chop, and only dried herbs instead of fresh ones.

The drink was a Toronto, with Canadian whisky (Canadian Mist for me), Fernet Branca, sugar syrup, and Angostura bitters. I’m not the biggest whisky fan, I tend to enjoy the clear spirits, and this drink is almost half bitters, so it’s a bit of a face wrinkler. I can’t see myself making this again unless it’s on a dare.

The addition of the sausage and the subtraction of the veggies made this meal a bit heavier than last week’s. It was good, though. To me, pasta will always be better with meat and cheese.

Out of the five different ricotta pasta dishes I’ve made in the last five weeks, this is the one my kids liked the most. I guess, since it didn’t have any veggies in it, it was the least weird looking.

What You Should Have Eaten #58

Ricotta Pasta 

with Grape Tomatoes, Peas, and Basil

This is the first of a series of ricotta pasta variations that Ray has in her book, 365: No Repeats.

My drink with this meal (and I guess I should be honest with myself, the drinks are with the cooking, not the meal itself. I’m usually halfway into a beer by the time dinner hits the table) was a Port Flip.  It’s port, cognac, sugar syrup, egg yolk, and a sprinkle of nutmeg. I usually tend to stay away from the flips because I’m not all that crazy about raw eggs, but I was feeling adventurous…and it wasn’t bad. Sweet and frothy.

The dinner itself was extremely simple to make. Simple and cheap, which is how I like my meals.

The only alterations I made to this meal were substituting grated parmesan cheese for the Parmigiano-Reggiano, taking out the onion, and using dried parsley and basil instead of their fresh counterparts.

The simplicity of this meal is such that there’s really nothing else to write about. The kids even enjoyed it…after they picked out the peas and tomatoes, of course. This is definitely a meal I can see myself making during the week so I don’t have to rely on frozen dinners, pizza, or fast food.

What You Should Have Eaten #57

Chicken in a Fresh tomato and Eggplant Sauce

I’ll be honest, I found these pictures on my phone and realized I had forgotten all about this meal. I don’t remember much about it other than liking it.

My apologies that there isn’t any commentary, but I’m extremely behind this week. Here are pictures, though!

 

What You Should Have Eaten #56

Super Marsala Burgers

There’s quite a bit going on here, things I changed and/or added to the recipe/meal.

First off, I had a coupon for Johnsonville Italian Sausages, and they were on sale, so I decided to pick up a pack. The kids are a little iffy about burgers sometimes, so I figured some good “hot dogs” on the grill would go over well. I wasn’t wrong.

My local Kroger Marketplace had neither ground chicken or veal, so I opted for turkey. I never have a problem with it until I eat the leftovers later in the week, then my stomach seems to disagree with various choices I’ve made.

I cut out the shallots and onions, and I went with dry herbs/spices that I’ve already got in my pantry. I actually did have a McCormick’s grill seasoning in there, but it was for chicken, not steak. I thought it would work well since I was using ground turkey, not beef. I also didn’t buy any Fontina cheese since I had some perfectly good Sargento (bought on sale with a coupon) in the fridge.

The marsala was the biggest expenditure. The liquor store I frequent had two bottles, both by the same maker. One was sweet and the other was dry. The guy at the counter suggested I go with the dry since I was cooking with it. At $15/bottle, I was planning on enjoying a glass or two while cooking and eating this grilling feast. After the first sip, though, I knew the first glass would be my only one. I did not like it. The dry was too sweet, so I can’t even imagine what the sweet would have tasted like. The bottle is in my fridge waiting to be used in a recipe again. I can’t bear to just get rid of it. Maybe I’ll have a glass on the rare occasion when there isn’t any beer in the fridge.

For the sausages, I boiled them in beer (one bottle of Blue Moon Agave Blonde Ale, one bottle of Blue Moon Belgian-Style Pale Ale, and a bottle of water) then put them on the grill with the burgers. The burgers were good, but these were damn tasty. For the fries, I dumped them on a cookie sheet, sprinkled some Lawry’s Seasoned Salt on them, and popped them in the oven.

I forgot, again, to take a picture of the recipe, so click on the title and you’ll be taken to another blog with the recipe. In the book, there’s also an arugula-tomato salad that the link doesn’t provide. If I remember correctly, it’s just arugula, plum tomatoes and some olive oil.

This dinner was a winner. Really, how can you go wrong with burgers and dogs on the grill with fries and salad? Sure, the marsala was a bit of a stumble, but a bottle of Blue Moon set me straight, and it complemented the sausages!

What You Should Have Eaten #55

CrunchyJapanese Fish with Vegetable and Noodle Toss

Click the title to a link to the recipe. The picture I took of the cookbook didn't come out all that well.

The drink I made while fixing this dinner was called an Oracabessa. Dark rum, banana-flavored liqueur, and lemon juice. Even with the lemon juice, it’s too sweet. The juice cuts it, but not really enough. I’d add a smidge more rum and a smidge less crème de banana (which is what I used as my banana-flavored liqueur).

I went cheap with all the possible ingredients here. Generic spaghetti. I used some frozen tilapia that I already had instead of the haddock. I actually used Rice Krispies instead of a generic cereal, but that was only because it was on sale and I had a coupon. All the spices and herbs I used were dried; nothing was fresh.

The only bean sprouts that my Kroger had available were from mung beans. I’m not at all familiar with bean sprouts and this is the first time I’ve ever cooked with them, so I don’t know if a different type would have affected the taste.

There are some things I always stay away from. Two are onions and spicy hot things. I decided to include the cayenne pepper, figuring that such a small amount of spice in such a large amount of food wouldn’t be overpowering. I kept out the scallions, though. Even a tiny amount of onions tend to tear me up.

I thought I had an almost full bottle of soy sauce (generic from Kroger, of course) in the fridge or an unopened full bottle in the cabinet, but I should have checked before going to the store. Since I didn’t have any soy sauce (let alone tamari), so I did the only thing I could think of: I used Worcestershire sauce. That’s the English soy sauce, right?

This was a pretty easy meal to prepare. As much as I enjoy the experience of preparing a meal, I sometimes just want to fix something that I can throw together. I mean, that’s technically what I do during the week, but that’s usually frozen dinners. It’s nice to just throw together a good meal quickly that doesn’t come out of the microwave or start out in the freezer.

Easy, yes, but tasty, too. The kids wouldn’t eat it because they’ll only eat fish if it’s in stick form, and there was no way that I could convince them that this was the same as fish sticks. I liked it, though. The fish was flaky and not overly “breaded,” and the lo mein was good, even without the soy sauce.