This week is my annual Spring Break Getaway to Seaside, Oregon.
I love the beach regardless of whether it is sunny or stormy. I enjoy this getaway each year
because even though I am usually the only one that gets to be here the whole week,
all of my immediate family usually manages to get here for at least a day or two.
Each year, we stay in a timeshare so that we have most of the comforts and conveniences of home.
I like eating out occasionally but I enjoy cooking wherever we are!
Today, one of my twins and three of his friends came down for the day
so I made them the “home-cooked” meal that he requested—Shepherd’s Pie.
If you have a basic kitchen and a nearby grocery store, it is not difficult to have “home cooking” without hauling your home kitchen with you. A few simple ingredients, a couple items from the freezer section, and some fresh produce is all you need.
Early in the day, I made a Peach-Blackberry Crisp. Crisp is a family favorite
and so simple to make. Two small bags of frozen peach slices and a small bag
of frozen blackberries went into casserole dish. I melted a 1/2 cup of butter,
then added 1 1/2 cups of old-fashioned oats, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of flour
and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. I stirred it together to make a crumble
and sprinkled it over the frozen fruit. It baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
(You can add sugar to the fruit if you think it is too tart, but I choose to serve it a la mode instead.)
While the crisp was baking, I used one of my favorite recipes gained from Pinterest to
make peasant bread. This bread is so easy—flour, salt, yeast, sugar, and water.
You don’t even need special loaf pans! You bake it in a Pyrex bowl.
It makes two wonderful rustic 1-1/2 quart loaves. Today, however, I used one Pyrex bowl
(that’s all our condo kitchen had) and two foil loaf pans.
That way I had a loaf that I could send home with my son.
When it was time to start cooking dinner, I used an Alton Brown recipe for Shepherd’s Pie.
I changed it up just a little by not using peas and corn, but adding celery
when I browned the onions and carrots. Then I added fresh green beans
cut to 1” lengths and chopped mushrooms when the recipe said to add the peas and corn.
It was really good! In fact, I pinned the recipe to my “Pinned, Tried, and Family Approved”
board on Pinterest. I had to use two pans because I had already used the 9×13 for dessert.
A bag of salad with some halved cherry tomatoes rounded out the meal.
I set out two kinds of bottled salad dressing
and set a jar of store-bought boysenberry jam by the bread.
After dinner, we enjoyed playing a favorite card game, Hand & Foot.
A great time was had by all!
If home is where the heart is, then for a few days mine is divided between Seaside
with some of my family and home where my hubby is until Friday
when he will join me here.
I will get to enjoy some time of quiet reflection and planning
(like finishing the redesign of this blog) this week,
but I’m glad that I can be a blessing to my family and friends by bringing
my heart for home with me!
Enjoying home away from home!
Pam