Happy 100th post to Myself!
I got up this morning so excited that I actually cooked again last night and have something new to post today. I have been watching the numbers of my posts and thankfully my 100th post was the last post about my cooking slump and the recipe that helped bring me back to cooking reality. I am not sure that hubby is always thrilled about my inspirations and how they affect him. He has been working long hours and then has to come home and fire up the grill to cook my latest inspiration. From now until he has to shiver in the freezing rain, that grill will be going full steam ahead. The moment the sun shines and the leaves on the tree start to bud, I am plotting about what can go on the grill next. I love grilling. Rather I love to watch hubby grill. I know that I prep everything and then he has to do all the work; running back and forth to make sure he didn't burn the dinner. In my wicked heart I think this is pay back for all the fall and winter foods that require me to do all the prep and cooking while he sits in the livingroom watching TV or hovering around me giving me his verbal support. So...

I love going to the grocery store on my days off and checking out the aisles in a slow manner. When I am shopping for my clients, I go armed with a check list and the ulimate goal of going, getting and leaving in a very timely manner. It's an organized fly though the grocery store. When I don't have to fly through the store, I can see things that briefly caught my eye the day before and then give them a closer inspection. The meat counter has been on my radar for quite some time. There has been a trend here to help the consumer speed up dinner but not the way you think. I know that you are thinking that speeding up dinner via the grocery store means, prepackaged unhealthy foods. Not so in every case.

The meat counter has taken to a great tactic to up their sales. My favorite item is the pre-preparation of meats that you can just come home and throw on the grill. There are two preparations that I love because they make my chuckle. One is the beef pinwheel. I know that many of you have seen these in the stores where you live. The one that is most common here is the Spinach Pinwheel made with Flank Steak.

After the flank steak has been sliced and pounded, a layer of some sort of white cheese is laid down in a neat fashion on the meat. Then a rather large layer of spinach or some dark greens are then laid upon the cheese. The end result is rolled up and then sliced to be put on skewers for the grilling pleasure of the consumer. I have to say that I think that is a working man or woman's dream. Nothing complicated, not too many ingredients and you are good to go. Is that a great marketing tool for the meat department or what??

The second item that seems to be gaining popularity are kabobs. Beef is the main one in my area but I have seen a few with chicken. Again, this is a cleaver marketing tool for the meat department. Who could resist buying a package of these kabobs with chunks of red meat or chicken with onions, mushrooms and green or red bell peppers already skewered? It's a no brainer for the busy working consumer. If I didn't cook for a living, I would be plunking down my money to save time in my daily meal planning.

So not to be out done by my local supermarket, I think I have duplicated what they are selling the consumer. It's not hard. There is no recipe and only a few items.

You will need a nice thick flank steak that can be butterflied. Be sure not to be too heavy handed with the knife or you will have two pieces of flank steak to roll up. Cover the meat with either wax paper or plastic wrap. The way I like to do it for easy clean up is to insert the meat in a large gallon zip top bag and then seal it almost shut and pound away. You will tear up the bag but meat won't be splattering all over the cutting board or the counter this way. Salt and pepper the meat. Pick a cheese that you didn't spend a lot of money on. There is a reson for this I promise!

Wash and dry some sort of a green, I think spinach works the best. It doesn't take very long to be steamed by the cooking of the meat. Try to layer the spinach in a neat fashion. It will make rolling up the meat easier. Roll up the meat length wise. You can tie the meat with butcher's twine to help it not fall apart. The piece of meat that I had weighted 1.75 pounds. It was enough to get 6 varying sized of pinwheels for the skewers.

I recommend you use a cheaper cheese in the rolls. It all drips out of the rolls while they are on the grill. The upside to that is, the cheese leaves some flavor in both the meat and the spinach. There was no visible cheese once the skewers came off the grill. I have to say they were very tasty though. I only ate one pinwheel and hubby ate two. There are three wrapped up in the refrigerator. So it fed us really well.

The one last thing that brings me happiness and joy is the sighting of yellow things at 4 for $1, that's the season's first ears of corn. So I bought 4 and figured they were grill worthy. I sprinkled some Mrs. Dash, Garlic and Herb, s&p and some melted butter on them , then wrapped them up in the foil. They were wonderful and that rounded out the meal! I hope you try this where ever you are and post what your take on this meat dish was. It's so simple that you really don't have to buy it at the supermarket. No recipe, no brainer!

Alas, She Cooked!
I have to admit that in the last month I have not felt inspired to cook . Hubby was in San Diego for 10 days and that did nothing for my need to feed. I ate more whole wheat wraps that 10 days than you can shake a stick at. I have gained some weight and need to get back on track. Fresh produce will be plentiful and my local Farmer's Market will be up and running full steam pretty soon. So I have no excuse about not eating better. My 30th class reunion is coming up in June and I need to get into some smaller sized jeans so there is no better inspiration that I can think of to start cooking again.

I have been subscribing to a magazine called Cuisine at home for a few years now. I have no idea how I found it or if someone gave me a gift subscription. There are a few things that I like about this magazine. One, it has some really good home kitchen tips. They are realistic and done by folks like all of us bloggers; in their kitchens. They have realistic down home recipes that aren't too fancy and don't usually use some wacked ingredient that you have to go out and buy for $10.99 and use 1/4 of a teaspoon never to be used again. I stock my pantry with simple items because basically, when I am at home I am a simple eater.

I was cleaning off a chest that we have located by the front door the other day and realized that I hadn't read my April edition of Cuisine at home. I thumbed through it and something really caught my eye. It was a recipe using some odd ingredients that I would never thrown together to make a dish. So since we were going grocery shopping the next day, I carried the magazine with me and made sure I got all the ingredients to make this dish. The name is pretty self explainatory; Beans, greens& sausage.

This recipe is about as easy as any one I have ever made. It requires two skillets but that's about it. Here is the recipe and below the picture of the finished dish. I usually like the show the whole cooking process but this really didn't have a "cooking process" to speak of. After you read this you will understand.

Beans, Greens & Sausage
Serving size? None was really given and that is the one thing I dont' like about their recipes.

2 lbs link Italian sausage
1 TBS olive oil
2 cup seedless grapes (you can use either the green or the red)
1/4 cup water
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup onions, sliced
1 TBS garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bunch of mustard greens, stemmed and chopped (8-10 cups before stemming)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (15 oz cans)
salt and pepper to taste
Balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400
Pierce sausage with a fork in several places. Heat 1 TBS olive oil over medium-high in an ovenproof saute pan; add sausage and brown on each side for 3 minutes.
Add grapes and water, transfer pan to the oven and roast until sausage is cooked throughout, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare beans and greens. Saute onions in 2 TBS olive oil in another saute pan over medium-high heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and pepper flakes; saute 30 seconds. Add greens, tossing until wilted. Stir in broth and beans, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes; season with salt. Slice sausage into 3 inch pieces, then serve with grapes, beans and greens, drizzled with vinegar.

What I changed:
I don't like mustard greens so I bought the largest bag of baby spinach that I could find and used that in place of the greens. Hubby was sent to buy the Italian sausage and he bought the Johnsonville Sweet Italian. If you are trying to keep it more healthy, you can use the turkey sausage instead but you will need to follow the directions about putting the water in the skillet when you put the skillet into the oven. Since most turkey sausage is precooked it might not take as long as the recipe suggests; that's up to you. Since I used the Italian sausage it made a lot of grease and I think the purpose of putting that 1/4 cup of water in the skillet is too keep it from sticking. I did what the recipe said but thought it was too watery in the end. So next time I would omit the water if I was going to use the Johnsonville sausage. I used the red grapes. I did drizzle some Balsamic vinegar over the plate and it added a sweetness I wasn't sure about. Hubby said he thought it was fine but I tried a second helping (smaller of course) without the vinegar and could have eaten it either way. I asked hubby if he would eat it again and he said yes. So it got a good review and I would tweak it a bit. I think next time I will buy the spicy sausage. I am not a spicy food nut but this needed a little more punch. All in all, I kind of liked it. I halved the recipe and it was enough for two small helping for me, one large for hubby with a second one to follow and a very small helping for his lunch today. Mainly what was left were a few beans, one sausage and some spinch with a smattering of grapes. Not alot but it will keep money is hubby's pocket today.

Weekend Dog Blogging #27
Thanks to Cate for hosting all of our puppy pictures. I have to say taking pictures of four moving targets is really a challenge for me. They are going in different directions every time they see that camera come out, but this time I was ready for them with this shot!
I set the dogs up by asking them if they saw Daddy coming home from work. I asked them who was at the door. Before I asked those leading questions, I turned on the camera and put it down on chest that is near the front door. I had to be very quiet to get them there all at once without calling attention to the fact I was taking their pictures. Being prepared (sneaky) paid off! I finally got them all in one shot without moving.
Pictured from left to right: Moose (standing and Sadie and Eddy's only child), Sadie (his mother), Charlie (the step love child from a previous encounter) and Edward (the family stud muffin).

Ahhhhh...Spring is here...peep, peep, peep

I know this is going to be an odd post and it really has nothing to do with my cooking or lack there of lately, but I couldn't resist. I know that the first day of Spring was yesterday. I know not because the calendar says so but, because of those babies above. Ever since I ate my first one as a child, I have loved this silly over sugary, grainy marshmallow treats. I have been a faithrul eater not eating the ones that come out at any other holidays like Halloween. I have standards and am loyal to a fault to the Peeps. I did have to bend my standards when the little bunnies came out and I might have eaten a Peep egg once or twice, but that is where I draw the line in the fine yellow sandy sugar!

Weekend Dog Blogging #26
Head on over the Cate's site Sweetnicks to check out cute puppy pics. There is always a wonderful assortment of loved cuties. I have been having trouble for two days now trying to download pictures for the WDB. I have read on another board that blogger is having some problems and I am not the only one who is either. So just as soon as I can load pictures here I will.

Low and behold. At 12:20 pm EST I finally got my picture to load. I am wondering now if I should push my luck and down load a second picture...what the heck!

Edward is wondering when mommy will get done with the shawl she has been knitting for the last month. It's getting in the way of his lap time.

What's Another Word for Charcoal Briquette?
Okay this is going to be totally embarrssing but it was funny after I had a few hours to think about what a wonderful blog entry this would be despite my personal discomfort with posting what a doofus I am.

My day did not go well from the night before and continued all the way until the time my head hit the pillow last night. I won't go into detail except to say that when there is miscommunication there is always trouble!

Last night I decided to make myself some meatloaf. I have been without hubby for the last 10 days while he is away on business. Eating alone is more depressing than I can ever tell you. Anyway, I mashed together some ground meat, onions, green bell peppers, spices, panko bread crumbs, an egg, and s&p then slapped that wet concoction into my little trusty silicon loaf pan and popped that baby into the oven.

I sat down at the computer and read a few of my favorite blogs. I knew I could fanity hear the timer from the microwave (I only used it to time the meatloaf not cook it. eek) upstairs so I should be good to go. Beep, beep, beep, okay, okay, I have to dash downstairs. I get down the stairs and take a quick peek at the meatloaf which I can see is still oozing red liquid. It's not done yet. Got out the thermometer and sure enough it needed more oven time. I wanted a baked potato but I didn't think about that earlier when I stuck meatloaf in the oven. So I grabbed a Yukon Gold from the refrigerator, stabbed it with a fork and threw it in the microwave, hitting the Baked Potato setting. I never gave any thought that when I hit button the potato would be in any danger of being anything except for DONE when the timer went off. Oh whoa unto thee who never thinks...

I walked around the corner to head back upstairs to read all of your blogs when I heard this really wicked whistling sound. I walked back into the kitchen and took a few very cautious steps towards the noise, which was coming from the microwave. I hit Cancel and looked at the potato. Looked good, steaming through the holes, okay. Closed the door hit Baked Potato again, walked away.

Meanwhile the phone rings and it's hubby telling about all the wonderful things he has been doing in San Diego while I have been here alone mopping up puppy puddles at 3 AM. I sat down in the easy chair and chatted away. The timer beeped on the microwave and I leaned over the chair and looked into the kitchen to see a faint gray haze and something really yellow in the microwave, which was still going full tilt. @#$%^&*^%$#$ It's a freaking FIRE. Honey, I gotta go I have a fire in the microwave!! DAMN IT. I shut off the microwave and opened the door. OMG. I stood there stunned like I have never seen food of fire in my life. This is how people get burned in their homes all the time! It's like I was a deer with head lights shining in my eyes. What the @#$% was I going to do. Okay, gathered my witts and grabbed the kitchen tongs and threw it in the sink. I ran cold water over it and watched as heavy smoked came out of every hole I had poked into it. Lord, do I ever feel totally stupid although I have no idea why.

Here is what a potiental briquette looks like before and ...... okay all of you who live in glass houses should never threw potato briquettes! Stop laughing!

Splendid Baking Part 2

Like I mentioned in the Part 1 post; I have had an aching sweet tooth that needed some attention. I went a bit overboard but I did hit the wall of sweets. I lingered over the back of a bag of Splenda a bit too long and discovered I had all the ingredients I needed to bake once again. I know, I should have sat down and let the feeling pass while eating an apple or a piece of celery or something. But I didn’t.

Old Fashioned Blueberry Muffins
Yield: 10 muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup (1 stick) light margarine, softened
1 cup Splenda Granular No Calorie Sweetener
¼ cup honey
2 whole eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup skim milk
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350. Line 10 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt; set aside. Beat together margarine, Splenda, and honey with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Alternately stir in flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in berries. Spoon batter into paper lined muffin cups, and bake until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean about 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove muffins from pan. Cool completely on wire rack
Serving size 1 muffin (HA!)

My observation: I don’t ever bake with margarine. I use butter. I used frozen blueberries that I tossed with some flour. I heard this is supposed to keep the berries from all sinking to the bottom of the tin. I never bake my muffins in paper; just my quirk. I baked my muffins in a silicon muffin pan. I know you are not supposed to spray non-stick spray on them, but I do it anyway out of habit. Don't rub your eyes. You are not seeing things. The silicon muffin tin makes smaller muffins and I got a full dozen muffins from the batter.

They pop out like a charm! Some habits are good. The texture of the muffins were moist but not crumbly. I ate six and gave the other six to my 21 year old son. He was thrilled because he doesn’t cook and was glad for a freebie of food from his mother. I would make them again, but not anytime soon! Sorry about the blurry picture. I still need to learn how to focus the camera but you get the jest of it, right?

Weekend Dog Blogging #25/Weekend Cat Blogging #40
Thanks to Sweetnicks for the Dog Blogging. Want to see more pooches... head off there and take a gander. If dogs are not your thing, then head over to EatStuff to see what feline fuzzies appear there ( scroll down to see my favorite fuzzy girl).

I tried to talk Sadie into sitting pretty. I swear I think her bottom is square. She is the only one of the four doxies that can sit pretty. She had other ideas about how to pose for her photo. Of course that had to be followed with a cookie (Liver Snap).

When the boys heard me telling Sadie that she could have a "cookie" then the herd came a runnin'. It's like stampede!

This Sadie starring at Bailey. That is mommy's chair and Sadie is making sure that Bailey doesn't stay too long. Right after I took this picture Sadie chased off Bailey and laid in the warm spot Bailey left. I was a bit peeved at Sadie, so I chased her off and then sat on the spot she warmed up. Who said life is not just and far??

Sweet Tooth Experiment-Part 1
I have been having a wicked attack of my sweet tooth lately. I have confessed in other blog entries that I am a carb addict so I would rather have a buttered bowl of pasta than a piece of cake. I know I am weird. So having this aching in my sweet tooth has driven me to experiments that I wouldn't usually undertake. As many of you know already, I had gastric by-pass surgery and do not digest sugar or dairy due to a shortened small intestine. Gross huh? I usually avoid both the sugar and most dairy. I miss donuts and ice cream but the price I have to pay to eat them is more than I am willing to pay. So with the introduction of Splenda, I have gone bonkers. I know that there are many of you who do the natural food thing, but even honey has consequences I would rather not talk about if you get my drift. I am not fond of artifical sweeteners but this one actually works for me. I started using it in my tea. That went well. Then Splenda came out with Splenda for Baking and then the Brown Sugar Blend. I was a bit skeptical so I have been doing some research.

My first experiment was with Chocolate Chip Cookies. I used the Nestle's recipe but substitued the regular Splenda not really knowing the measurement ratio to regular sugar. Nestle's calls for 3/4 cup and I think I used 1/2 a cup of Splenda. I did use regular brown sugar. I was pleasantly surprised but had some small discomfort.

While I was shopping I spotted Splenda for Baking. Cool! So the next time I baked the same recipe from Nestle's I used the Baking Splenda instead of the regular Splenda. I did use regular brown sugar again and still hae a few side effects. The next time I went shopping I finally found the last piece to the puzzle-Brown Sugar Blend Splenda. . This last time I baked I used the Splenda for Baking along with the Brown Sugar Blend Splenda using their chocolate chip recipe. It worked like a charm.

Now my observations-the cookies take much longer to bake and are not as chewy as cookies made with sugar. The real sweetness is not there as with sugar but I have to say, they ain't bad! When you have had to pass on things with sugar, you are thankful for other ways. I know this is not a natural solution to my body's problem with sugar, but the only solution for this is abstinence from any sugar in any form. I won't be going nuts and baking everyday with this stuff, but it's nice to have a treat every now and then that doesn't drive my body nuts.

I realize that there are opposing opinions and for fairness sake here are some sites that talk about the horrors of Splenda-Sucralose Toxicity Information Center, Splenda is not Splendid and Slenda is Not a Healthy Sweetener.

I want to also say that I don't smoke, I seldom drink, I don't eat very many canned goods, and I have given up ice cream, soda, mayonnaise, etc. We all have to choose our poisions and now and then Splenda in my tea and cookies will be mine.

Fougasse!

I spent ten wonderful days in France in 2001. I had made the reservations earlier that spring and then the world turned upside down on Sept 11. I got sick to my stomach at the thought of getting on a plane and going to a foreign country especially after what happened in NYC. I called the travel agent and asked how I could back out of going to France. I would lose almost all the money I had spent but yes, I could cancel. My traveling companion, Debbie never wavered in her commitment to going on the trip. I was a wreck, but I got on the plane and went to France despite my reservations. I am really glad now I did.

While I was in the Provence my cooking group took a trip to a medieval castle that had been changed to a touristy shopping area. There were shops in every nook and cranny. We ate a snack while we were shopping of something that I have remembered ever since. It was a stuffed flat bread called Fougasse. I am a huge carbo addict so this was right up my alley. I don’t remember exactly what was on the inside of the bread but I do remember that I love it and that someday I would have to learn how to make it.

Hubby bought me a Williams-Sonoma cookbook called Savoring Provence by Diane Holuigue . I have never used any of the recipes from the book but for some reason last week I was in the mood to bake. Since I have some success with theWhole Wheat Honey Bread the week before last, I felt empowered to try something dealing with flour again. Very scary!

I have to admit that I have never made anything with anchovy fillets. I went to the store and had no idea what exactly I was supposed to buy, but found little tiny cans that I thought would do the trick. Boy did they ever! Pictured below is one can of the anchovies draining on the a paper towel. The other ingredients pictured are the chopped up cooked ham and the Kalamata olives. I bought pitted olives and then just chunked them up a bit. Next you mix up a "sponge" (Food Lover's Companion definition: a light bread dough mixture made by combining some of the yeast with the flour and liquid called for in a recipe. The thick, batterlike mixture is covered and set aside until it bubbles and becomes foamy, which depending on the combination of ingredients, can take up to 8 hours. During this time, the sponge develops a tangy flavor. The remaining ingredients are added to this sponge and the bread is kneaded and baked as usual. Using a sponge also make the final loaf slightly denser.) and let it rise. You take the rest of the dry ingredients and make a well. The sponge in the center is then worked with a fork to incorporate the flour around the edges into the middle until it's mixed well. It's very easy but you need to take a bit of olive oil on a paper towel and coat your surface first. This really helps the dough from sticking to the surface and then eventually it helps with the kneading process.

This is the sponge with a few other wet ingredients including olive oil in the middle to moisten the dough. This looks really complicated but this was so easy and that truly surprised me since I have never done a "sponge" and a well before.

After kneading for 10 minutes (the recipe calls for 8 but I could see that the gluten had not developed quite yet so I kneaded for another two minutes) you roll out the dough and measure. I am not sure if a carpenter's tape measure should be a part of my kitchen tool box, but it was handy and did the trick.


This is the Fougasse after it has the inside stuffed with the ham, olives and anchovies. Then it's wrapped up, slathered with olive oil and had slits cut into the top. The recipe said to mash the edges of the slits down to the bottom so that the steam escapes and you can see the ingredients inside. The Fougasse was too long for my sheet pan so I did have to squash it a bit to fit the pan. Next time I will cut it into two pieces and make two smaller loaves instead of one huge loaf. Here are a few slices of the completed Fougasse with some herbed Goat Cheese and a nice red apple. What I would do differently: NO ANCHOVIES!!!!!! Lord the Fougasse was so salty that I couldn't eat it. The combination of the ham (which is salty), the Kalamata olives (which again are a salty ingredient) and finally the Anchovies was just too over powering with salt. UGH! I love salt, I love salt, but I did not LOVE this. So next time I make it, I will use some other ingredients inside besides the three this one called for. I am going to make this again because I can not be defeated by tiny little salty fish!!

Weekend Dog Blogging #24/Weekend Cat Blogging #39
Thanks to Sweetnicks for hosting Weekend Dog Blogging #24. Check out her site for some current news on a Food Network star's newest cookbook.
I never get to sit alone these days. Can you find the third weiner dog?

Check out some really cute kitties at EatStuff. Thanks to Clare for hosting all of our furry friends! There are some cuties! This is Bailey's "safe" place from the four doxies. They torment her and this is her retreat. She reminds me of an owl in a tree when she sits like that. I suppose she sits this way to keep an eye on those doggies! Good thinking Bailey!

Fresh Market Demo
This past weekend I did my monthly food demo at the local Fresh Market. Fresh Market is small chain of upscale gourmet grocery stores. I have to say that they have some of the best looking produce I see around in my area. When I was there this past weekend I saw the most amazing pyramid of fresh unblemished artichokes. The whole time I was doing my demo I had visions in my head of buying three or four of those strking artichokes and taking them home with me. Of course, as soon as my demo was over I dashed out of there without the artichokes.

This weekend I demonstrated Artichoke and Sundried Tomato Chicken. It's what I call a basic "dump" recipe. This is not a culinary term don't freak out. It's a term that denotes opening cans and jars and dumping into a pan or pot to create a very simple meal. I grew up in the 60s and many recipes were like that then. Thankfully we have stepped it up a bit and have changed the quality of items that we "dump". Below you will find the recipe.

Artichoke and Sundried Tomato Chicken
4 Boneless Fresh Market skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper for seasoning
(2) Cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup your favorite white wine
1/2 (14 ounces) can of San Marzano diced tomatoes with juices
¼ cup prepared Bella Cucina sun dried tomato pesto
1 (14 ounces) can of Progresso Artichoke hearts (quartered)
Fresh basil leaves for garnish
Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet on a medium high heat, and add the olive oil till just smoking. Place chicken in the skillet and brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
Put garlic in the pan, and sear, till aromas begin to release, this will happen quickly, maybe just a minute or so, and garlic turns golden brown. Take pan AWAY from the heat and add the wine. Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and let wine reduce for about 1 minute.
Pour tomatoes into pan, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in pesto and artichokes. Return chicken to the pan, and cover. Lower heat to medium low, and continue until chicken in finished cooking through, approximately 10 minutes.