My dad loves pot roast. Winter, spring, summer and fall – no matter the temperature, he wants me to make pot roast.

The 1971 invention of the slow cooker (also known by its brand name Crock-Pot) made it an even easier meal to make. No heating up the entire kitchen when you use a slow cooker. Still, eating a heavy pot roast when it’s 106 degrees outside doesn’t appeal to most. Not an issue for Dad!

Dave was out-of-town this past weekend, so I indulged my dad by making his precious pot roast for our Sunday supper.  I do my best to change it up each time to try to keep it exciting since I make it so often throughout the year.

This time I reverted to a very classic pot roast recipe … well not so much the recipe … more the technique. Allow me to explain.

In 1963 House & Garden Magazine published a recipe by Elizabeth (Betty) Wason, an American author and broadcast journalist. The classic technique I took from her recipe was the way she floured the meat.

Instead of dredging the beef in seasoned flour, Betty beats the flour into the meat with the side of a plate, which creates a thicker crust and a smoother gravy in the end. It’s rather cathartic, beating in the flour with a dish, similar to that satisfying feeling one gets when kneading bread dough.

If you’re not up to pot roast in June, bookmark this recipe and remember to make it this fall or winter. I am hopeful that the fall or winter is the next time I’ll be called to make it … but it’ll probably be much sooner. Oh well, gotta give the people what they want.

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One last post, a pictorial actually, about Kansas and our trip last weekend for my dad’s Otter Family Reunion.

Then tomorrow, I’ll give you info on a recipe to NOT make. I bet you can hardly wait…

Check out the price to ride this awesome vintage kiddie ride mechanical and coin-operated horse. One Cent! Just like it advertises on the base of the ride. One penny. Love It!

Grain silos every which way you look.

Old family photos, a family reunion classic.

Huge bails of hay… my sister is nearly six feet tall, these were big. I have a video of her climbing up on there too, but we’ll keep that in the family.

“Amber waves of grain.” America the Beautiful!

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I realize that tornado warnings are nothing new for many people, but for two girls from Arizona… it made for a very long and eventful night.

As I began to tell you yesterday, late Saturday night, after the family reunion, we received an alert on our cell phones at about 9:30.

Sloane and I were in our hotel room, watching a movie when the alert came through. Neither of us had been anywhere close to a tornado before and we weren’t sure what we were supposed to do or where we were supposed to go to “Take shelter now.”

I called down to the front desk to ask the manager, who we had already become friendly with. He was somewhat amused, especially since he hadn’t heard of any warnings yet. He then advised that if we needed to really find shelter we would hear the sirens. We shouldn’t worry if there was only one siren, that meant there was a fire. Two sirens meant there was a fire in town, but if we heard eight sirens, then that was for a tornado.

Um…OK, eight sirens, and then what? Where do we go if we hear eight sirens?

If there are eight sirens, we are to come down to the lobby and the safest place is by the soda machine. The soda machine?!?

I said, “You’re lying! The soda machine? That can’t be the safest place, the damn thing might fall on you!”

He laughed and said, just come down to the lobby if you hear the sirens.

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When I first wrote about our trip to a family reunion in Kansas, I said, “It is being held in New Almelo, Kansas – population 622.”

I guess that was the population of the town and the surrounding area “back in the day” when there was a church, cemetery, post office, grocery store, gas station, and such. I had found that population number on the web.

Now there is only the church, the cemetery, and about a dozen homes and a population of…

… wait for it…

… a grand total of…

… about 22!

That’s right, between 22 and “maybe 25” permanent residents and approximately 10 more “weekend residents” from Denver, CO.

The reunion was held in the church hall.

Given that my Dad was one of the attendees, we were among the first to arrive at the nearly empty hall at about 9:30 AM on Saturday morning.

By 11:30 or so, the place was hopping! And the food…

There was enough food to feed a small army.

Smoked meats of every type and flavor.

More salads and sides than I could count.

And the desserts, don’t get me started on the tables upon tables of desserts! The food was all delicious and the company was delightful.

Although some of the most exciting moments of the trip occurred AFTER the reunion. Remember, we were in Kansas after all.

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I awoke at 3:30 yesterday. Picked up Sloane at 4:15, then picked up Dad at 4:30. Arrived at airport by 5:00 and took off for Las Vegas at 6:00. Did I mention this was AM, not PM!

We arrived in Wichita at 12:25 in the afternoon and rented a car, then drove for four hours until we reached Norton, KS. We checked into our hotel, then jumped back in the car and drove another 30 minutes to New Almelo.

Not exactly the most exciting day of my life. The best part – is we get to do the reverse tomorrow!

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“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Arizona anymore.”

By the time you read this, I’ll be boarding the second flight of the morning on my way to Wichita, Kansas.

My dad is an Arizona Native, but his parents are originally from Germany. They came to America by way of Kansas. There is a family reunion that he wants to attend this weekend. Sloane and I are accompanying him.

It is being held in New Almelo, Kansas – population of 622.

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After visiting The Simple Farm last week, I was inspired to make a meatless meal.

This meal is “Connor Approved!”

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When you live in the restaurant world, you work late at night and all too often eat fast food, late at night, after a long shift. After years of working with chefs and seeing the burger wrappers and French fry containers in their cars, I know this all too well. My son, Connor, is now in that very position. He gets off sometime between 10 and 11 PM and picks up the drive-thru on his way home.

Even though there was often a plate ready for him in the fridge, for whatever reason, he would eat the fast food at night and save the plate for lunch the next day. Eventually, he got sick of it and finally asked for a healthy, vegetable and protein-heavy, but still light “something” for dinner. Sometimes, it takes time to realize what the body really wants.

These colorful stuffed peppers fit the bill.

Since I saw no reason to use half a package of turkey, half a can of beans, half a can of chiles, and so on – the filling makes enough to fill at least 6 peppers, or 12 servings, which is a lot of servings. Instead, this is a wonderful “cook once, eat for two days” recipe. With some lettuce or taco shells, the filling is perfect for a main dish salad, lettuce wraps, or tasty tacos for lunch or dinner the next day.

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I found the inspiration for the final recipe of “Connor Week” on one of my favorite cooking blogs, White On Rice Couple.

Connor requested Roasted Cheesy Cauliflower which I also happily made. I figured, if one head of cauliflower is good, then two must be better!

The major change I made from the original White On Rice Couple recipe was to simmer and soften the cauliflower before roasting.

The Result?
Delish!

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Connor did not request this salad for his birthday dinner, but I needed something cool, refreshing, colorful, and healthy to add to the menu that was heavy with ribs and BBQ sauce.

I’d be happy eating this all summer long! Add some feta or goat cheese if you’d like. I left it out because those aren’t Connor’s favorite things, and on your birthday, you should never have to eat something you don’t like!

Summer Corn, Cucumber & Tomato Salad

Cilantro Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Salad
16-ounce package frozen corn, thawed
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2  English cucumber, diced
1/2 red onion, peeled and diced
2 avocados, diced

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