Ahoy, me hearties! Today be the grandest holiday ever yanked out of Poseidon’s bloomers, Talk Like A Pirate Day! Never a day more timbers be shivered, more ‘lubbers are landed, or more men blown down than this. We have a mighty good spread below decks for ye SRSLY fans, with a properly piratical theme to keep ye scurvy dogs sails full on yer day o’ swashbucklin’! Avast, hold true, and may ye live the good life in the sweet trade, matey’s!

SRrrrrSLY Scallywag Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork, cubed
• 2 parsnips, roughly chopped
• 1 pound dried navy beans, rinsed and checked for stones
• 4 ounces dried cherries (unsweetened if you can find them), roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, cracked with the side of your knife
• 1 1/2 cups rum
• 1 1/2 cups chicken or ham stock (or both… or vegetable. Doesn’t really matter.)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds

Regular method: Heat your soup pot to medium high, sear your pork cubes on all sides, about a minute per side. Reduce heat to medium, and deglaze your pot with stock, whisking to get all the brown bits off the bottom. Add all your ingredients, and simmer covered 3 to 4 hours, or until the beans are done.

SRSLY method: combine all ingredients in a zip-top bag and freeze. To serve, heat in slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Served over hardtack, or barring that, biscuits will do too.

This recipe was cross-posted from our sister site, Living Behind the Curve. For more information about the “Slow Cooking Really Simplifies Life, Yo. (SRSLY)” method, click here.

If it hasn’t become glaringly obvious by now through my selection of recipes, one of my favorite food flavors is ginger, and this cross between salad and slaw falls into that category. A nice transition into the root vegetables of fall, but still light and refreshing, it’s a nice post-Labor Day treat.

Ginger-Glazed Carrot Slaw

Ingredients:

• 1 pound carrots, sliced into ribbons with a vegetable peeler or mandoline
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice

Melt butter in a sautee pan and cook ginger and garlic until fragrant. Whisk in honey. Remove from heat and toss carrots in mixture. Remove to a glass bowl and refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight. Toss with mint and vinegar or lemon juice just before serving.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish.

I enjoy collecting old cookbooks, and pick them up at yard sales and flea markets whenever I can. Each Saturday, I post excerpts from my collection. Today’s post comes from the Sergeantsville Methodist Episcopal Church 1922 Cook Book. This flavorful, crisp, and refreshing drink may be the perfect summer afternoon beverage.

Gingerade

Juice of three lemons, one quart water, one bottle of ginger ale, sugar to taste. Serve ice cold. A delicious drink to serve with wafers in warm weather.