One-Skillet Kraut Dinner

Kim can't stand sauerkraut. She won't even have it in the house when she's around, so it's traditional for me to make it when she goes out of town, because I love the stuff.

Since she and BB are on the campout this weekend, it's kraut night for me! This is how I did it:

Ingredients:
2# canned or jarred sauerkraut (get the best you can find/afford)
10-16oz kielbasa or other smoked sausage
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 small red onion
1.5tsp whole caraway seeds (may sub fennel or anise, or leave out altogether)
2T apple cider vinegar
salt

Prep:
Drain kraut thoroughly (I used a salad spinner). Slice sausage on the bias into 1/4" elongated rounds. Peel, core, and chop the apple. Halve the onion and slice thinly to create half-rings.

Cooking:
Heat cast-iron skillet five minutes over medium heat. Toast caraway seeds for 30-60 seconds or until fragrant, then remove and set aside. Brown sausage coins for 2 minutes per side, remove and set aside. Sweat onions in sausage fat with sprinkling of salt until softened. Deglaze pan with vinegar, cooking down until concentrated. Add apples and cook until they take on color. Stir in caraway and kraut. Cook for about three minutes to bring out flavors. Top with sausage, cover, and let all steam for two minutes to finish softening apples.

I ate it with chopsticks. :-)

Single Dad for a Day or Two

Kim and BB are at a Scout campout for the weekend. I've got the littlies. My only goal is to get out of the house once a day. Today we accomplished that with some errands, including a stop at the Herman and Kate Kaiser Library, where TS made the acquaintance of the giant bunny.

Crafty!

A few months ago I taught a crochet class to some folks on Wednesday nights at our church. When that was over, we elected to keep gong as an informal crafting circle. I'm becoming good friends with the ladies in the group, all of whom are also in the quilting circle. They have some great stories to tell!

One of these days I might take a Thursday morning off and see if I can sit in on the quilting.

BB is an acolyte

in the Lutheran church, grade school kids act as acolytes, lighting and extinguishing the candles. At the end of the service, they relight their tapers from the last candles and symbolically carry the light out into the world.

Ordinarily there's only one acolyte, but BB is in training, so his first time is with a partner. It's a pretty big deal. He's so proud!

Fireflies

Tonight at the zoo there was a profusion of fireflies all around. BB and some other boys his age were catching them and letting them go. It made me think back to nights in Topeka as a kid, when Jay and I would do the same. I'm saddened that our boys so seldom have the chance to just play outside with no plan or structure. I want that for them so badly.

It really was a magical evening. Not just the fireflies, but everything. Good friends, the train and the carousel, baby lions and flamingoes... all wonderful. We don't get many nights like that in our lives. Cherish them.

Long Morning

It wasn't five minutes in the van after church this afternoon and TS was already zonked out. LB doesn't look all that lively, either. :-)

Three Penny Upright at Ida Red

Went to hear a local band of some renown tonight. Anytime you've got little girls dancing and a lead singer with a washboard, you know it's gonna be a good night. :-)

I has a pretty!

Today I had a great teen program with members of the Oklahoma Bead Society, teaching teens to make beaded bracelets. We had 35 in attendance! I had a chance to make a bracelet, and I gave it to TS when I got home. She loves it. :-)

Bangin' on the Bongos like a Chimpanzee

I continue to neglect my macro-blogging in favor of facebook and Twitter. I'm trying out a new service (well, new to me anyway) called Ping.fm that's supposed to make it easier to pull all these things together.

Our local Parents As Teachers hold a playgroup on Monday mornings during the school year. I've posted photos before of the littlies playing at the elementary school where it's held. It's summer now, of course, but one of the regular parents is organizing some summer outings for the group. Here are TS and LB trying out the fire truck at the Mohawk Park playground.

just accidentally Ping.fm.