Day on the move

[altivo]

This morning we went to an open house at the Lake County Model Railroad Club. They weren't charging admissions, but they were holding various raffles. One required a donation of canned goods to the local food pantry, so we took along some canned soups to trade for a raffle ticket. The trains themselves were pretty impressive. The club has been there for 40 years, in the cellar space below a barber and a coffee shop on Main Street in Wauconda. They say they have 350 feet of HO rail installed and operating, but I'd guess at somewhat more than that if you count the sidings and turnarounds. The tracks and tables wind around the space and through the middle, with narrow aisles between them. Much of the humor we enjoy in model railroad displays was present, such as "Dan's Fill Dirt and Croissants" (a scale earthworks with scrapers and trucks, and just a quonset hut for building. I enjoyed finding a sign on the side of a building reading "Play Furt Banjos" and then down the line and around a corner the actual factory building of the "Furt Banjo Makers." I was also amused by one of the club members who said they meet every Friday evening and guests are welcome but "Don't come on the first Friday because that's the business meeting and all you'll see is a bunch of old men arguing." Their membership is not all old, though. There were at least two members participating in operating the trains and explaining the layout who were certainly under 25 and one of them perhaps even under 20.

On the way back, stopped to pick up Gary's new glasses that he ordered last week, then for lunch, and finally to pick up various supplies and grocery items at three different stores along the way. Sounds inefficient, I know, but each of the places is best for some things and not so brilliant for others, and we were going to pass them all so I wanted to take advantage of that rather than making a special trip later.

Came home, put stuff away, took care of critters, and it was time to make dinner. Tonight I did stuffed sweet peppers, something we like but don't often do. (One of the stores had a good price on bell peppers, which is what this dish uses. It isn't authentic Mexican by any means, even though it does use some Mexican style ingredients.) It turned out well.

Next weekend there is a show and sale at Harper College in Palatine, both days, We may go to that as well if we can find time.

Comments

[soanos]

That sounded like a very fun and active day. Even though train modelists can sometimes be a bit "crazy" (not in a bad way of course), it seems like an interesting hobby.

I normally like to shop in a local supermarket when I feel like cooking something of a bit "higher quality" and speacial, but normally I just grab something from the small shop up the road. The quality of grocery items seems to be about equal in the shops in here, with some slight differences in price.

And those bell peppers sounded very nice. What kind of filling did you use? I have heard they can be filled up with beef mince, vegetables or rice, or combination of the above and with a cheese topping. I'd probably go for veggie filling myself, I have a feeling my intestines have started turning against me every time I try to ingest meat, or bread.

[altivo]

Filling was ground beef based in this particular case, but can easily be switched to turkey or beans. Meat or beans should be precooked, or you can use canned ones that have been drained quite dry. About equal amounts (a cup or two) of the protein source and cooked rice, combined with minced onion, a little garlic, a handful of dark raisins, some sliced olives (green or black as you prefer) and then some brown sugar, chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, and ground black pepper. The spices are in decreasing quantities, from 1 Tbsp. (about 3 gm.) of the sugar to just a good pinch of the black pepper.

The bell peppers (any color will do) should be rinsed and have stems and cores/seeds removed. My recipe stuffs four. Stand them up in a casserole dish, pack with filling, and pour some salsa, about a cup or so, over the tops. Cover loosely and microwave until tender (15-20 min. depending on the power of the microwave) or cover more tightly and bake in the oven for 30-40 min. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and let stand until the cheese melts. Serve with corn tortillas or corn chips.

Not authentic Mexican by any means, but very easy and tasty.

[soanos]

That made me very hungry indeed. :D

I think I will give it a go some day, but I have a feeling making it just for one is a bit much.

[altivo]

Not at all. You can do half as much. Two peppers will make two meals, Refrigerate leftovers, reheat in the microwave. Probably could even freeze them after cooking though I'm not sure how best to thaw and reheat. We get two meals for two people out of the four peppers. I just cover the two leftover ones and put them in the refrigerator for a day or two, and there's a free dinner, no cooking.

Bean and rice filling is quite nice, using the same seasonings. We like black beans, but pinto or whatever you have, even garbanzos, should work.

[soanos]

Hmm... I think I will need to give that a try next week, it sounds delicious. I get more and more hungry as we talk about cooking, and it is almost 8PM. I am not sure if I am really able to eat today, though, because after lunch I felt sick for a couple of hours, and then I had to go to the bathroom to empty my stomach completely.

[altivo]

I usually find that a simple soup will settle OK even under those circumstances.
We keep lots of canned soup on hand, so it's easy to manage.

[soanos]

Yeah. I agree, soups are pretty easy to handle. I should stock up on some, I don't really have any soup in storage.