I made a roaster chicken tonight trying to clean out the freeze for the year.
I had a little left over fresh thyme a half lemon some carrot, celery, onion and some season salt, pepper and butter, stuffed the cavity and put it in the oven
I also made some fried potatoes with a little bacon and onion. So of course there has to be gravy.
I am a homemade gravy kind of gal because it’s truly one of the easiest things to make….fat, flour and stock, that’s it! (and a little cream, it just makes everything taste better)
Chicken came out of the oven, potatoes are done and gravy is ready.
My husband takes the first bite and then another and looks at me kind of funny “What did you do to the gravy?”
I make a mean gravy, it is unrivaled. Even by my ex-mother-in-law who is still the best cook I know.
“Nothing” Thinking he can make his own damn gravy from now on if he doesn’t like it!
Now I’m glaring at him as he takes 2 more bites
“This gravy tastes’ different” he says “This is the best gravy you’ve ever made, what did you do different?”
My husband is not overly giving with compliments so when I came out of my faint…..Just kidding.
I tasted the gravy and it was amazing! Even more amazing than my best amazing Christmas gravy!
So what did I do different?
All the ingredients I stuffed into the bird, butter, lemon, thyme, carrot, onion, celery, salt and pepper all leached down to the broth, as it should.
And I had just made fresh butter…..That was the difference. Farm fresh butter.
The butter and lemon and thyme is absolutely, positively, unbelievably delicious!
Best gravy ever!
This ones going into the family cookbook.
Gravy Recipe:
4 Tbs Fresh butter
3 Tbs flour
1 1/2 cup warm stock
1-2 Tbs heavy cream
Melt butter and add flour stirring with a whisk for 1-2 minutes to get the flour taste out.
Add Stock until desired consistency, turn off heat and add cream stirring until blended well. Salt and pepper to taste.
Gravy
I ran out to take some pictures and this was all that was left….And there were no potatoes left, sorry.
Chicken Fryer recipe:
1 chicken fryer
1 carrot chopped
1 rib of celery roughly chopped
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 lemon cut into quarters
1 bunch of fresh thyme
2 Tbs butter
1 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 pepper
1 c water
Put celery, onion and carrot on bottom of medium dutch over,
Put chicken on top of vegetables. Stuff cavity of bird with thyme and lemon
Rub skin of chicken with butter, salt and pepper add water to bottom, cover and put into a pre-heated oven of 375 for 1 to 11/2 hours.
Enjoy!
~Real housewives of Maine
I made this dip for an impromptu party tonight it’s always a huge hit! It’s super, super easy and highly addictive:)
White corn and black bean dip
The recipe:
1 can white corn
1 can black beans
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cider vinegar
1/4 crumbled Feta Cheese (more if you like)
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat corn and beans through put in a dip bowl let cool. Add remaining ingredients stir thoroughly chill for 1 hour.
Serve with corn chips (my kids love scoops) or pita chips.
It will be gone in minutes it’s that good!
White corn and black bean dip
~The real housewives of Maine
It’s that time of year, a list of a few of my favorite Maine things!
-Bean boots-Made in Maine at LL Bean, Freeport Maine these light warm boots are great for Maine winters. I’ve had mine since 1977 they are that well made. http://www.llbean.com
Bean boots from LL Bean
-Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Onion and Garlic Jam-Made in Wells Maine this jam is great on beef, pork or chicken or just out of the jar with a spoon. http://www.stonewallkitchen.com
Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic and Onion Jam
-Maine Maple Syrup-The best maple syrup in the US (my personal opinion) nothing better on steel-cut oatmeal. Check local Maine listing for a farm near you..Most farms will ship.
Maine Maple Syrup
-Allagash White Beer-Made by the Allagash Brewing Company good hardy beer with a hint of citrus they come in 4 packs. www.allagash.com
Allagash Brewing Company
-Randall Cider-Randalls Orchards Standish Maine-best cider anywhere. Randalls is in Standish Maine if you ever get a chance to try their cider I highly recommend it.
Randalls Orchard
-Seabags Maine-Totes and bags made from old sails…Very cool indeed
Seabags-Maine
Maine Lobster…Of course. Maine has several company’s that ship all over the united States overnight this is what a real lobster looks like right out of the ocean.
Maine Lobster
SeeaGlass Soap Company-They make felted soap from Alpaca wool great Maine gift. https://www.facebook.com/MainelyMadeSeaGlassSoap
Seaglass Soap Company
-Wicked Whoopies-These where on Oprah. If you like whoopee pies you’re in for a treat they are awesomely sweet, sweet. My kids get a box every year they don’t last long! www.wickedwhoopies.com
Wicked Whoopies
-Mack Inspired Hand made Maine dog toys, dog collars and leashes for all size pets. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mack-Inspired
Mack Inspired
These are just a few Maine made products that you can order online. I have ordered from 4 of these companies for Christmas this year.
Shop Local!
~The real housewives of Maine
I love this, hope you do too.
Is this not one of the coolest art installations ever?? I saw this in a coffee shop months ago and just had to take a picture. I stored the idea in my little brain and thought about it now and then and how I could do the same thing on a smaller scale in my house.
But where? And what drawing? I think a giant bird swooping down in my little house could just send someone over the edge. Alfred Hitchcock I am not.
After deciding that the kitchen wall above my island, though smallish, was the ideal spot to implement this project, I set out to figure the best way to execute it.
First I measured the wall and picked which books I didn’t mind losing to the project. I laid them out to see how it could look. I once had the famous phrase by Marie Antoinette “Let Them…
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I have added a new tab called Maine ingenuity.
This tab is all things related to, DIY, how-to and other home helpful hints for cleaning, organizing and general home care.
Stay tuned, I have an exciting post tomorrow on how to clean your burner pans with-out scrubbing. And mine were pretty bad.
Thanks for following:)
~The real housewives of Maine
It’s snowing here in Maine.
8-12″ today to kick off the holiday season.
Snowing in Maine
What I am thankful for this Thanksgiving…
-My grandmothers cookbooks with her hand written changes
My grandmothers cook book
-My grandmother crystal, silver and china for making my Thanksgiving table beautiful.
-The best apple pie recipe made with apples from my apple tree
-Squash from my garden
Roasted pumpkin and squash
-Pumpkins from my garden for pumpkin pie
Homemade pumpkin pie
-My famous chocolate pie, made up by yours truly (I will post the recipe before Christmas)
-Home made stuffing from my home made bread
-Mr. turkey of course
-My kids, who enjoy my cooking
-My husband, who loves my cooking
-All my friends that have celebrated Thanksgiving with us over the years
and finally
-Wine, for getting me through it all…..
Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!
~The Real Housewives of Maine
I like beef. There I said it. I enjoy a really good steak.
Organic Porter house steak
I had stopped buying meat at the grocery store sadly it was gross. But we are meat eaters, trying cut out meat of my family diet was met with rebellion and anarchy. I choose my battles. But it’s near impossible to find a decent steak at the grocery store, never mind the pink slime in the hamburg issue:(
Maine boasts the longest running agricultural fair in the United States…
The Skowhegan Fair 196 years
Skowhegan Fair
And a close second is the Fryeburg fair at 163 years (which is my favorite)
Fryeburg Fair
These agricultural fairs have some of the finest animals the state has to offer. 4-H kids show off their grain fed beef, lamb pigs and goats then they are auctioned off to the highest bidder.
15 or so years ago, my ex-husband and I would buy a 4-H cow at the fair every September. Not only did we know how the cow was fed and raised but the money would go to a great cause. Farming and agriculture.
Having meat available was so easy when the kids were young and a 1/2 cow would last us 1 year (we split the cow with my brother and sister in-law)
So after 10 years of not ordering a cow I have ordered one and I’m really excited.
It cost me $3.50 a pound….Astonishing isn’t it! The worst hamburg in my grocery store is 3.69 per pound (and I know it has pink slime in it) and Filet or Porter House steaks are $8-12 per pound on sale and to be honest it tastes like cardboard.
The hardship is paying up front, this cow is 450 lb hanging weight (our 1/2) at $3.50 per pound = $1575.00
You think I’m crazy? But I sat down and did the math
2-3 meat meals a week = $31.38 a week x 52 weeks = $1631.76 a year
I’m saving around 100.00 a year.
And the meat I purchased is certified organic with no antibiotic or hormones and no pink slime! Grass and grain fed and humanly butchered.
And from my local butcher I also got soup bones for stock and dog bones for the dog. I can tell you Blue is in heaven and I have started making batches of beef stock for the year.
And did you know real beef is purple? Not pink?
These are both 80/20 can you see the MAJOR difference?
All kidding aside, if you get the chance to buy locally owned raised organic beef I highly recommend giving it a try.
In our area there are beef farmers that are certified organic that you can order from by the week or month. It’s a bit more expensive however the meat is so much better and you are supporting a local business.
And to all my vegetarian friends, don’t hate I love my veggies too:)
~Real Housewives of Maine
I recently was given a picture of myself around 1998. The picture is a true depiction of what being a mother of a lot of children is all about. It’s not very pretty. So I’m not posting it. Seriously it was horrid.
My friends will re-post blogs on parenting or raising children with cute pictures, dressed up babies and moms with their hair all done smiling pushing their children on swings. This is pure fiction people!
Raising kids is hard work, especially if you don’t want them to have tons of therapy in their 20’s and 30’s
A little back ground:
I had 4 kids in 5.5 years, my youngest daughter was born 3+ weeks early and weighed 5.5 lb and was 16.5″ long. Then at 3 weeks old she got bronchial pneumonia and was in the hospital for a week.
It’s odd how you remember some things and not others?….There were a lot of sick babies on that floor and I know some did not make it. I am so very thankful that she did.
I divorced and remarried and had 1 more to make an un-even 5.
I would not change any of the hardship, exhaustion, depression, sleep deprivation and lack of personal hygiene for all the money in the world, raising kids has been an adventure.
I did not always get it right, not even close.
What I have learned about parenting: In no particular order.
-Children are a gift. A pooping, puking, screaming gift.
-You don’t know how much will power and stamina you have until you’ve had 3 sick kids at once and have not slept in 48 hours.
-Do not take the “parenting” books to seriously they are mostly written by people who have no children….Using common sense will get you were you need to go.
-Dogs are not children it’s not comparable….Ignore all comments that start with “My puppy kept me up all night too…..” Just smile and nod.
-Life is too short to give a shit what people think, do the best you can.
-If your mother-in-law offers to take baby for a couple of hours, seize the moment ladies. Take a shower and a nap.
-Teach your kids to say No….Just not to you
-If your child asks a question, answer it honestly…You will be thankful for fostering honesty when they are teenagers, trust me.
-Let your kids play outside in the fresh air, you will be amazed at how well they sleep at night.
-It’s OK for a boy to play with Barbie’s, and OK for girls to play with trucks….It makes them well-rounded.
-My daughters ride dirt bikes, my sons are great cooks.
-Teach boys to do laundry and girls to change oil a significant other will thank you some day.
-Discipline is the hardest thing to teach children if you don’t have any? Neither will they.
-Respect your teenagers decisions (with-in reason). Watching your kids fail is harder on you than it is on them. So let them fail, hopefully they will learn from it.
-Make home a soft place to land. This is particularly helpful when they get into late teens early 20’s. They tend to really screw up around this time.
-Perfection is not obtainable so stop putting ridiculous amounts of pressure on your kids.
-Teach them respect, not only to respect others but to respect themselves.
-Kids always take out their frustration on the one they know will always be there, feel honored when they go off on you:)
-Lastly, and this is a big one……..Let kids entertain themselves, seriously ladies? Let them play Lego by themselves…There is nothing worse than inviting a kid over to play and they think that I need to play with them the entire time or have scheduled play time that I over see…. I do not have time! Kids should make up their own fun, stop hovering.
-Oh wait one more thing….while playing by themselves if conflict arises let them handle it, let them work it out on their own….This is for their own good, when they are adults they wont be looking for mom to tune in their over bearing boss……You think I’m kidding? I’m not.
and really for real lastly.
-What you remember and what your kids remember will be two totally different realities. I never knew until my kids got older that some things I felt horribly guilty about they don’t even remember and some ridiculous argument about a pair of socks has stuck with them for 15 years.
What I have learned over the past 22 years about parenting is that every parent thinks their kids are awesome, let them talk about their kids accomplishment. Give a mom a high-five for teaching her kids to say please and thank you. Help a mom out when she’s having a crappy day. Kind words go a long way when we are all fighting the same up hill battle.
We are truly all in this together.
~Real Housewives of Maine
Running with Scissors a memoir by Augusten Burroughs
I read this book back in 2002 before it was a best seller. So, yes it’s an old one but one of my favorites.
I found it quirky, hilarious and down right weird. But that’s what make it so adoring…Anyone that keeps a shock machine under the stairs had to have been highly entertaining.
It’s a book that makes you feel really good about yourself once your done reading it:)
Give it a read, let me know what you think…
~The real housewives of Maine~
RHW of Maine is very excited to promote Mack Inspired a local Maine business.
~Mack Inspired Homemade Dog Toys and Accessories~
If you have a dog you know that they’re not just pets, they’re members of your family and you wouldn’t want anything less than the best for them.
Mack Inspired was started by Samantha Gale in 2013 out of the need to find safe chemical free toys for her black Lab Mack.
“It’s so hard now-a-days to know what is actually good for your dog and what is just manufactured with harmful plastic, chemicals and toxins” Says Sam “I wanted to make safe toys for my dog”
Mack Inspired Toys are dog toys made with the highest quality material for long-lasting fun. Mack tested and approved.
These amazing toys come in a variety of colors and sizes and can be shipped right to your door!
These will make great Christmas Gifts for your furry family members.
The wonderful thing about these toys is that you know exactly where they’re coming from.
Not only are you getting your dogs a durable and lasting toy, you’re also buying a locally Maine made products, and who doesn’t love that!
To contact Samantha Gale, you can email your order to MackInspired@gmail.com or call 207-807-6051
And visit the Mack Inspired Facebook page for local craft fairs and new products www.facebook.com/pages/Mack-Inspired
Chew Toys
XS- $7.50 and $8.50 + tax
M- $10.00 + tax
Colors and patterns available
Leashes – 4.5 feet long – $15 + tax
Leashes
Navy with Stars Leashes
Some very, very satisfied Mack Inspired customers:
Blue with his Camo baby
Maddy
Missy
Bruin
And of course Mack himself.
~The real housewives of Maine~
Real housewives of Maine 