One Final CARE Package

This is a waaaaaaaay backlogged entry...actually part of my efforts to bring 'Taste of Home' to Hubs during his deployment. 

Taking place in perhaps his most liked season of all, my mission was to send thoughts of beautiful colors, sweet smells, and the cooling air.

Identifiers of Fall...

The Sugar Maples' leaves transform into a rainbow of colors and their sweet smell fills the chilled air...

and there is a bountiful supply of Apples. 

Delicious, crisp and freshly picked.
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Hubs a sucker for fresh homemade apple pie and so over the years I have learned that when fall arrives, so must the Apple Pies.

It has taken a few years, but I've now mastered my very own recipe for homemade pie crust.  A combination of recipes from Joy (of Cooking) and an experienced eye.
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As important as the crust is the filling...

My mother swears by Cortlands and my in-laws are fans of Honeycrisps.

 

As for us?  We go with what looks the best and for this year the in-laws pick made it to the kitchen.

However, the memory of my mother's sweet seasonings always wins this annual ritual.  I am not sure that I even use the same combination/ratio of spices-to-sugar-to-apple as her, but the entrancing smell of mixing the apples brings me back to her apple pies.

Sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice...simple I know, but delicious...heck yeah!

The motions of creating dough, rolling dough, mixing the filling and putting it all together for me these days now equals Hubs. 

When I make pies, he is the one who eats them...for breakfast, for dessert, it doesn't matter...He LOVES homemade apple pie.

So what was I to do this year?  I decided I needed to make one, just to embrace the season and keep my skills sharp. 

The intention was that this one would go to my father.

But there was extra pie crust...

so I made this one for Hubs :)

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If I was bringing pie to Dad, I couldn't leave Mom out...so I also made some Pecan Fingers (with some set aside for Hubs of course).

The final touch to the package utilized my own fresh grown jalapeno...

Round II for homemade Beef Jerky!

The Korean Touch (Kalbi inspired marinade)

And a little Mexican spice...jalapeno & beer!

Everything was packaged up...

Using my cool new vacuum sealer.

There was even a bag big enough for this large, mini pie!

Everything made it to Hubs as 'fresh' as could be.  No dryer sheet flavored jerky this time around!

Needless to say he loved it...which was followed by a request to not send anymore food, cause I was going to make him fat haha!!

Love from home...priceless  =o)

When you house sit for us...

one can expect many surprises and treats...

* The first is this smiling face...literally in your face the whole time :)
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Well that is true, except for when our angel decides he's tired and cuddles up into a little peaceful ball...so cute and innocent right?!?!
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Hubs and I know our pup is an acquired taste and can be a lot to handle for the wrong person. With Hubs gone and the road calling me away from home, third party dog care is something I'm having to to take into consideration.
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Up until my last trip The Sox Family (aka my brother/sister in-laws) have been incredible about taking the Pups into their home for days at a time. Pups loves it and they also seem (or rather claim, haha!) to enjoy it. On the last trip though, The Sox home was booked to capacity with visiting family, so we had to move to Plan B...Blue Light.
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Blue Light is the mother of two wonderful little girls and has a special someone she shares her days with. Coming to my rescue, Blue Light and her whole crew moved into the house for a night and assumed all doggie care responsibilities.
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When one house sits for us, they can expect all sorts of special treats...
for Blue Light and company it was an Asian Feast!
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I picked up some sweet sugar snap peas at the Farmers' Market over the weekend. They were so darn good, how can you not love the summer freshness!?!?
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They were cooked up in sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce and salt/pepper.
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I also did a little spin on my mother's fried rice recipe. Trying to be sensitive to kiddos eating this meal, I really wanted to maximize the veggie use. Rather than meat in this rice I went with a combo of carrots and green and red peppers.

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Making this Veggie Fried Rice, Korean-American Style, is pretty easy...

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Begin by heating oil in a wok.

Saute garlic and veggies until softened just a wee bit.

*Note I did cut the veggies up pretty small, just in case that would help in getting the kids to eat it.

Add cooked rice (I use Korean rice and my handy counter top rice cooker), scallions, sesame oil, soy sauce, and black pepper.

Mix until combined and everything is evenly heated.

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There you have it, pretty simple, mighty tasty and provides an additional servings of veggies, well hidden :)

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The centerpiece of the meal - my mother's recipe for Bulgogi!

A Korean stir fry type dish, it is a salty/sweet treat made up of beef, garlic, onions and scallions.
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This was actually one of my lil' sis' favorite things to eat growing up...translating to our family eating it a lot! Her favorite thing to do was to have the sauce poured over her white rice, so of course mom would usually try to make extra. The extra sauce approach has stuck and so when I do whip a batch up, there is plenty of to go around.
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Made the evening before my departure, everything was packaged up and set in the fridge for easy reheating. I also picked up milk, fruit juice, Trout River's Rainbow Red Ale (for the grown ups), ice cream dots and Ben & Jerry's.

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My hope was they would have everything they might need or want...and a couple of special treats :)

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Thank you for the help Blue Light!!

This Jerky's Journey Overseas

Hubs seems settled and getting through the days in his temporary home away from home.

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Being where they are, he is fortunate enough to access to pretty much anything he needs. I've asked over and over, 'is there anything I can send you?' His reply is always the same and that it is not necessary.

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Well what fun is this trip away, if I can't send a care package gosh darn it?!?! I mean come on, we've gotta take advantage of the few enjoyable parts, right?!?

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I tend to be pretty pushy and I am sure it is just my nature...I mean I am in Business Development after all. When Hubs and I go out to dinner I often try to force feed him a taste of my entree (secretly hoping he'll offer me the same). Being pretty darned sure it is because I want him to try it, he resists. You see we can both be very stubborn, but in most cases I know best haha!! Truthfully more times than not, I usually end up disappointed in this standoff and he gets through dinner without sharing.

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Seeing my opportunity to get in the last word (or rather action here), I went right ahead a put together a package of things Hubs did not need, nor did he ask for. Instead I sent things I thought he might like...I mean really, I knew he would love this and what would he do send it back?!?! Haha, yeah right!

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Even before Hubs left, I was planning to experiment with and send homemade beef jerky. Hubs really likes the stuff and used to eat a good deal of it back in our younger days ;-)

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It just so happened that a recent F&W did a piece on a gal who makes and sells beef jerky...lo and behold, they had recipes and instructions to make some beefy deliciousness at home!!
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SO SIMPLE - slice meat, marinade 6-8 hrs, and cook in over at 200 degrees for 4 hours.
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The base for this first (of two) marinades was F&W's Spicy Mexican version, which included Pacifico, jalapeno, and some other items that I can't recall off the top of my head (if you're really interested just let me know and I'll post the recipe!). I of course added my own touch and used my go-to seasoning combination of garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, and ground coriander. I figured this would help bring Hubs a taste of home.
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Now here was my pride and joy. A Korean marinade, much like a cross between Bulgogi and Kalbi. This would beat out any teriyaki jerky you could buy!
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It took just over a week to get to Hubs. I had wrapped the two kinds separately in plastic wrap, which I then stuck in a freezer bag, which then I stuck in a larger freezer bag.
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As I packed up the box I threw in magazines, some new t-shirts, gum, candy, instant Korean coffee, sunflower seeds, etc. At the last moment I was hit with paranoia that should this beef jerky become rancid en route, the rest of the contents may pick up that smell...so you know what I did? I placed one dryer sheet on the outsides of the larger freezer bag, hoping that would contain any possible spoiling odors.
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So there is good news and there is bad news...
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Good News
The samples I brought into work were a HUGE hit, especially the Korean one
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Bad News
Some of the Korean jerky sent abroad had white fuzzy stuff growing on it.
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Good News
Hubs found a few pieces without the furry stuff and tried it (um, yeah can't say I would have been that brave haha!) He said it was good, perfect jerky texture...but 'fresh'.
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Bad News
The dryer sheets were not such a great idea. The strong smell permeated the jerky giving them a hint of freshness if you know what I mean.
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Good News
The Mexican variety seemed to have made it and minus the dryer sheet smell would have been fantastic!
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This was just attempt #1. I now have in my possession a vacuum sealer apparatus!! I am going to try again and super seal this stuff, without the protection of dryer sheets :o)
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Thank you Hubs for the pics from your home away from home & for the detailed account of how it all tasted/looked. I won't even try to ask on a scale of 1-10 what you thought...we'll save that for a better batch haha!!
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Also, I am so happy you enjoyed the package...I knew you would haha!!