Ojisan Dinner

I really need to correct my over-shopping tendency at grocery stores... the people at the grocery store probably don't know that I am only shopping for 1 (I think I spend $80 on average, which is unacceptable for a single woman who travels 50%+ for her job)  oh well, the good news is... I do eat everything I bought...

So tonight's dinner was grilled smelt (w/ roe), potato salad, and ice cold beer... well... in other words, it's like a single middle-age man's dinner... I made a lot of salad (because I don't want the veggies to rot when I am gone)... so everything else is going to the freezer... thank goodness I have room...

Grilled Smelt

super easy... arrange the fish on the grill and cooked them until they are golden brown on both sides... takes about 6-8 minutes

Potato Salad

Ingredients:

6 red skinned potatoes, a bag of asparagus, 4 carrots, 5-6 slices of bacon, 1/2 package of mushroom - basically, these are the things left in my fridge and I was just finding a way to cook them all (so I don't waste any food)

Directions:

1.  Wash the potatoes thoroughly, cover with cold water, cooked (approximately 15-20 minutes) and drained.  In another pot (or a really big bowl), mashed the potatoes, I left the skin on.

2.  Cover the carrots with cold water (I didn't want to use the water I used to cook the potatoes) and cook until soft (approximately 5 minutes), drain (without pouring out the water) and add to 1.

3.  Cook 1/2 of the asparagus in the water used to cook the carrots (approximately 2 minutes), drain the water and add to 2.

4.  Using the same pot (no water in case you are wondering), add 1 tbsp butter, cooked the mushroom until brown, add to 3.

5.  Cook the remaining asparagus to the desired done-ness (you can add more butter if you want, I didn't), add to 4.

6.  Cook the sliced bacon until crisp, add to 5 (You can see I am a lazy person... I am still using the same pot).

7.  Toss everything together, add salt and pepper (freshly ground), drizzle with olive oil (I debated if I should put mayonnaise instead and I am glad I did not).

Blueberry Jam

I also made blueberry jam (again, don't want it to rot)...  I didn't have lemon / lime this time so I just omit it... 6 oz blueberries and 1/2 cup of sugar (you can adjust to your liking)... taste good and I made sure I boiled it longer so it can hit the higher temperature (the recipe says ~220F... I just guessed it... I really need a kitchen thermometer...)  I ran out of jars too... oh well, I tried... so hopefully it will survive in the freezer until I come home... (if it doesn't become jam, I guess I can use it like a syrup for pancakes)