Monday, January 30, 2012

Dark Days Challenge Week 9: 11th-hour breakfast and dinner

I was super-busy at work last week. The last few weeks of February and the first few weeks of March are the busiest of the year at my job. If last week was any indication of how things will go from here on out, it's going to be a long couple months.

All week, I just didn't have time to put a proper dinner on the table. But Sunday rolled around and I had all day long to do absolutely nothing. And it was delicious! I stayed in my PJs until noon and read the Sunday paper and drank coffee and watched tv with the Hubs.

I knew I was running out of time for making a Dark Days meal, so I made an effort to put something together for breakfast on Sunday morning. I made tomato gravy, which is something I make from time to time, and I used it for a Dark Days meal last year.

But this time, to make sure it was truly SOLE, I "tried" to make my own biscuits. I hate to admit it, but I usually serve the frozen Pilsbury Grands since they are exponentially better than mine. But I recently read that they have some obscene amount of trans fat in them. So I'm not buying anymore.

My biscuits weren't too bad for covering with gravy. But they weren't pretty, and they didn't really rise that much. I know my lack of biscuit making prowess is an embarrassment to West Virginia women across the state, but I'm gonna get it eventually. That and gnocchi. And homemade cheese. Three things that I just can't make. I think I need a new recipe. The one I use out of my Betty Crocker Bridal Edition is too wet, once mixed up.


If you've never had tomato gravy, don't delay any longer. It. Is. The. Bomb. Here is the link to the recipe when I used it as a Dark Days meal last year. For the gravy, I used bacon from Sandy Creek Farm in Ravenswood, WV, flour from Reeds Mill Flours in Monroe County, tomatoes that I canned last summer that were bought from Crihfield Farms in Jackson County, and milk from Homestead Creamery in Wirtz, VA. It also had some sugar in it that was Florida Crystals Organic Cane Sugar. The biscuits had flour, milk, baking powder, and shortening in them. The shortening was just plain ol' Crisco.

When dinner time rolled around, since it was Sunday, we made fettucini alfredo. I like to do something a little decadent and hearty when we make dinner on the weekends. It's the weekend afterall. Time to enjoy your meals and be a little more leisurely than through the week.

But this wasn't any fettucini alfredo, it was "True Fettucini Alfredo" from my Spendid Table How to Eat Supper cookbook. It was so good. The Hubs clocked us. Once the plates were put on the table, they were clean in 7 minutes. I'm not even kidding.



As we were eating, I realized, I could count this as a Dark Days meal, too. The pasta is homemade from flour from Reeds Mill Flours, with an egg from Cozy Hollow Farm in Monroe County. The sauce was so simple. It was a few tablespoons of butter that was Organic Valley Pasture Butter, half and half from Homestead Creamery and a little bit of shredded parmesean cheese. I can't remember what brand it was, but it was an artisan label. It was so creamy with a little saltiness from the cheese. It was probably the best fettucini alfredo I've ever had. That's not saying much though. The ubiquitous restaurant menu offering is always a little subpar. Although, the Hubs said it was the best because "it was made with love." Har har har.

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