The Moveable Feast Food Blog

2008-09-15T05:46:00.000-07:00

Simple Pasta

by Vickie

I have been hearing about this dish for years but never have made it and really wasn't sure about one of the ingredients in the dish. So I was watching TV and heard this dish mentioned in passing and decided that I had to make it to see what all the fuss was about.

I am an admitted carbohydrate addict. Anything that is a carb and bad for me in more than moderate amounts; I am all over it. Give me a white potato that has been boiled, sauteed, fried, steamed, mashed and baked! Bread, don't even get me started...

So here is my dish that I have now fallen totally in love with. It's such an easy dish to make any night of the week as long as you have some of the very basic ingredients. Cooking doesn't have to be complicated nor do the ingredients and that's why this dish is so perfect. This dish is very versatile. Meat eaters and Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians e can make this dish.

PASTA CARBONARA

1/4 lb package of mild Italian sausage

1/4 lb prosciutto ham, thinly sliced

1/2 cup minced parsley

3 well beaten eggs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 package thick spaghetti
Cook Sausage until almost done. Add prosciutto and parsley until all is cooked.
Cook the pasta according to package directions; drain.
Add to pasta the butter, eggs, parsley, meats, cheese and pepper. Mix well and serve immediately.

Just a warning about making this dish. When you add the raw eggs be sure that you are very careful because you can scramble your eggs. I made the dish above and did well without scrambling the eggs but got all creative the last time and scrambled the eggs. So you have to toss the pasta with the eggs very quickly.

Things to change: we added grilled sweet Italian sausage to the mix. We have even tossed frozen English peas into the mix too. This recipe can be used as a base to build on.

Have fun!!

Mexican Pork

2008-07-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

Mexican Pork
I have no idea why we made this dish or how it came about. I am thinking we were watching something with Mexican food involved and then we just had to have something Mexican. I think other than Italian food Mexican is my all time favorite cuisine. I am not this kind of a chef but I do love anything Mexican or even close to being Mexican cuisine. Other than going out to eat, making new things that I have found on the Internet has been a lot of fun.

I had a recipe in mind and DH found it on the Internet. This site had some good recipes and this one was a great one!

Pork Chimichurri Recipe (Mexican Pork)
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
4 TBS olive oil
2 TBS each crumbled oregano and chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each crushed red pepper flakes, ground black pepper and white pepper.

Directions:
Combine all ingredients together well in a plastic zip bag and refrigerate 4-24 hours. Prepare hot grill and remove pork from marinade. Toss remaining marinade. Skewer cubes and grill to cook evenly. Serve with sweet potato pieces and Plano peppers alongside rice and black beans.
Serves 4

We didn't exactly follow the directions the way it said. We did manage to marinate the pork for about 6 hours, but we have a nice grill skillet and we used that instead of the skewers. It worked very well and the pork was very tender.

I didn't have any sweet potatoes or poblano peppers but I did make black beans and rice and we ate the pork over that. It truly was yummy and not your typical taco or burrito sort of food. This is a keeper that I think we will eat again and again!

The Musical Fruit

2008-07-28T05:28:00.000-07:00

The Musical Fruit
Last year we tried to grow some musical fruit but sadly all I got was about 1/4 cup. Not really enough to make anything substantial to eat. I was disappointed. The problem is I am a beginner gardener and I still am learning about crop vs yield. I am not really sure how many beans come from a bean plant. Are you supposed to continually pick and then that creates more blooms. Do you leave the pod on the plant until it dries, then pick the beans? When do you pick a Snow Pea? How small should it be? Once it is out of control can you shell it and just eat the peas? Having a garden creates so many questions and is like going to school all over again. It's been fun learning what works where in our garden.

I got the name of a seed company from another blogger's site and have ordered from them once last year but we are about to order for the fall garden and see how that goes. We have only done a summer garden but I think we should try our hand at a fall or winter garden. I have gotten into this gardening thing so much that we have even batted around the idea of building a cold frame. (this picture was taken back in May when we first planted our garden)

Our first venture into the musical fruit realm didn't yield as much as I had hoped so this year we dedicated almost one of beds to just the beans. These are not just any beans mind you. These are beans that are talked about in the Bible. I did not know this until I asked Google about how when to pick these beans. It lead me to a site where I learned a lot about my choice of beans. I didn't remember it's an heirloom bean but now I know. I will plant more again next year and every year that I can. I just love how easy they are to grow and the the way they look. Of course there is an side effect mentioned at the site above but who cares!

Here is a beauty shot of Jacob's Cattle as they have started to dry on the plant. I did look up how to pick them on that above bean site and I found out that I had done the right thing by leaving them on the vine. Some are more dried than others, but it's a start. I have a wonderful feeling that I will have more beans this year than last year. I will put the dried beans in a jar until I find the most perfect bean dish for them. They look pretty haggard but when you shake them they rattle and then you pop it open and you get...

Here is what I had time to pick yesterday. I shelled them and the beans are in various states of dryness. I know now to leave the rest of the pods on the plants until they make more rattling noise when I shake them. Live and learn!
You might be able to see the white markings on the ends of some of the beans. So we are on our way with the bean crop. Stay tuned for more garden updates!

The fruits of our efforts

2008-07-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Fruits of Our Efforts

Surely you knew that the next post I would write about is what I did with the blueberries that we picked. It's not going to be exciting or especially creative, but who cares! They were yummy. I keep Bisquick around at all times. It's a habit from when we were a pretty new couple. You can make anything with this stuff and it was cheap. I was not a scratch cook when I was younger and I have gotten away from some things from scratch and this is one of them.

I could not resist making blueberry pancakes with our fresh blueberries. It was just too easy and very quick. The batter did not turn blue because they were fresh. Since the berries had not been frozen and full of melting blue juice, my batter was a nice creamy color. Using fresh berries make such a difference. I did not over beat the batter and just incorporated the berries to keep from crushing them.

See how the batter is still the same creamy color?

I am not a huge pancake expert, but I was pleased with the way they turned out.

I am not an expert pancake maker but I was pretty pleased at how they turned out. So the fruit of our efforts paid off well. DH said they were good and it was not our usual bacon and egg breakfast. I hope to have more about blueberries in the near future. Maybe I will get up off the couch when I see it's time to pick corn...maybe...

How I spent this past Saturday

2008-07-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

How I spent this past Saturday.
I have to say that I am pretty much a creature of habit and a confirmed couch potato. I like spending my time knitting and watch an unhealthy amount of TV while doing it. So after a week of non stop rain, this past weekend I had to get up out of my favorite chair and do something outside. Of course it was food related!

We have a section in our local newspaper that published all the U-Pick It places in our area every summer. Right now is prime time berry season. I was too lazy to pick strawberries so we missed that one. After hurricane Isabelle came and I lost all the berries that I had been on my hands and knees picking for hour after hour in the sun, I just couldn't bring myself to pick a ton of berries. It's been a few years since that happened so I guess I am getting over the trauma of losing $350 worth of food. It still haunts me seeing all those ice chests lined up in my kitchen with all our food packed in them with bags of ice. We tried so hard to save our food but it was just too much running out to get bags of ice that everyone else was looking for too. It just wore us out. I guess that old saying that time heals all wounds is just about right because on Saturday we went to pick berries.

DH saw in the Sunday paper from the week before that the farms were open and they were ready for business. So we decided that if it wasn't raining yet again, we would go and pick. We are not professional pickers like some of the folks we saw in the bushes. They come with little cute buckets with their names written on them in big fat letters like they might not know their own names after standing in the bushes for hours picking berries. So armed with three plastic shopping bags off we went.

When we got there they waved us on because you can't get a weight on a wimpy plastic bags. Usually they weigh your container, put a piece of masking tape with the weight of the container and send you on your way. You walk into blueberry heaven underneath bird netting and you are off and going. When you look up you see the holes that I can only imagine that hungry birds have pecked to try and get to those lovely berries. Here is where we went to pick our berries. I want to give them credit for being a friendly place to pick and do business.

Down each row you can hear private conversations of stranger to stranger talking about the last time they went to pick berries with a loved one who had passed away since last summer. There were whole families of three generations toting those named buckets up and down the aisles calling out Marco Polo to each other when one wanders off too far. These people have done this before. They came with a little plastic wagon to put all the buckets in. Very smart. Way too prepared for the likes of us. They had water bottles. What were we thinking?? No water, just three plastic shopping bags.

I tried my best to take pictures but something weird happens to you when you go to pick. You get carried away. You get picky. Then you can't stop. I only wanted to pick a few blueberries to have with my yogurt. I kept telling myself that I would stop after I finished the next bush. Then I would look up see these and have to have them.

Your mind starts to drift off to cookbooks that you know will have good blueberry recipes. Can you make a blueberry pound cake? How about your own blueberry vinegar? How long will these last? Will I need to come again before the season is over in August. Yes, I think so.

When we finally left 90 minutes later and with 6.6 pounds of blueberries in those embarrassing plastic shopping bags, all I could think about is a nice cold glass of water. Maybe those families with the names on their cute little buckets with their bottled water knew that they were doing. Lesson learned!

I had to take a picture of the berries that were yet to ripen. They are a nice shade of mauve. They are so pretty. You really have to see them in person to see the beauty. While I was taking this picture, I was wondering who the first person was that discovered that the berries were sour when mauve and wonderful when blue. Like I said, it was hot and I had no water...

The worst part (if it's really all that bad) is getting home with your little berries and having to decide what to do with them. I teach a food sanitation class in the culinary school here and we tell our students not to wash off the produce because the residue of water causes decay quicker. I never follow directions so here is what I did.

I took one bag and washed off the berries in the colander and let them drain for about 30 minutes, then I lined a sheet pan with paper towels and rolled the berries around on the paper towel to dry them off a bit more. I was very gentle with them because I didn't want blue hands.

It didn't take that long to do 6 pounds plus using this method. Then I had to decide how much to put in each freezer bag. I didn't want them to freeze in clumps so I decided to measure out two cups of berries. After looking at them flat on the counter I decided one more cup would be okay. So I have 6 bag containing three cups each.

I put the berries in the freezer but left some in a bowl for use to each fresh. I think we are going back in early August and pick again. I pray no hurricane will kill our efforts! Now off to look blueberry recipes. I am so excited!

PS. If live in an area where you can pick your own produce of any kind, take the time to make a family memory with your children or spend time with a friend. It's a great way to teach your children to appreciate the hard work that goes into our food and it creates a loving memory from childhood. Support your local farmers so they can keep providing us with this wonderful food and the experiences.

No Explaination, No Excuses

2008-07-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

No Explaination, No Excuses...
I have nothing to say except I have been a slacker. Mostly I want to say that I have not been cooking much and that goes in cycles. I have been taking pictures hoping that my food blog mojo would return. Thanks to something that someone else shared with me, I am hoping that I can blog most frequently.

I have been reading my usual line up of food blogs but to be perfectly honest I am far more interested in my knitting and learning about that than I have been with food and all that entails. I have been smitten with knitting and that has been my focus for a few years. So I have been working on that instead of my food blog. I know, I know, shame on me.

So I have been taking pictures and saving recipes so that if I ever got off my duff and posted, I would have plenty of material. So I have plenty of posts. Now I just have to get them written down and post them.

Thanks to all who have been breezing by only to be disappointed that I have not posted. Hopefully I will be more faithful now.

Stay tuned... I will be blogging here shortly. I promise!

2008-02-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

Been Busy, Been Cookin'
I have no real valid excuse for not blogging in so long so we'll just skip that part of the post. I have been cooking, taking pictures and thinking about blogging. I have a few hours every day that I could be blogging, but as my friend Michelle knows, I spend the time doing this instead of here. I have often thought about just posting that I won't be posting, but I am still drawn to blogging, and somehow feel like I really don't have that many exciting things to blog about. Someone told me this past August that if you blog once a week, that's plenty. So maybe I should adopt that attiude. Now, if I can really stick to it....

I love our cold weather and the fact that when it's colder I don't mind cranking up the oven to bake anything or cook something on the stove all day. Since I teach five days a week and some of those days are split by an early afternoon class and an early evening class, the crockpot has gotten a work out.

Earlier, when the weather faked us out by getting really cold for about three or four days in a week and then jumped up to nearly 80, I turned on the oven. I had a day off and thought about making something to have with some tea. I wanted something sort of sweet but not too sweet that it would over power my tea. I rummaged through the freezer, which was getting a bit full and found three full bags of frozen blueberries. I thought about baking a blueberry cobbler, but got side tracked with that idea when I opened the pantry door and saw a cake mix. I checked out a few cookbooks and found something that would fit the bill.

This is a "cheater" recipe. It's not from scratch but it's really easy. I guess if you are ever in a pinch for something to take to a coffee group, this would be perfect. This is a cousin of the Pineapple Upside Cake. It made two 9" layer cakes, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to flip one on top of the other or no. So I decided I would not flip it. So we ate one and then I froze the other. About a month after baking the two cakes, I gave the spare to my son to take to work. I guess they liked it because it didn't come home and he never said it was horrible. So for a 23 yr. old, I guess that's good, right?

The recipe came from one of my old faithful books Farm Journal's Country Cookbook. I have had this book for years and years. The recipes in the book are pretty simple and I do think that sometimes that less is more and simple is right. There is a reason for KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

Blueberry Upside-Down Cake

Serves 9

Cake mix makes this a quickie dessert1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries, thawed

2 tsp grated lemon peel (divided in half)

1 (8 1/2 oz) pkg. yellow cake mix

1/2 cup heavy cream (whipped)

Melt butter in 8" square baking pan. Sprinkle sugar evenly over butter.

Mix blueberries and 1 tsp lemon peel; sprinkle over sugar. Prepare yellow cake mix according to package directions, stirring in 1 tsp of lemon peel at end of mixing. Spread batter over berries. Bake in moderate oven (375) for 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Let stand 10 minutes. Turn out on platter. Serve warm. Top with whipped cream at the table if you wish.

I know that some like to make cakes from scratch, but honestly, these days I flat don't have the time. I would love to go back to the days of being a housewife who could stay home, go shopping and hang out with my friends, but those years are way behind me. I totally feel the pain of those who have even less time than me and little ones to feed and look after. I understand their need for quick and easy.

2008-01-31T05:49:00.000-08:00

Time Out
I know I have taken a huge time out and haven't blogged in months. My heart was just not into it and I let myself take way too much time thinking about what to do about not keeping it up. I have been cooking and of course taking pictures. I will take some time to start catching up and posting more often. Since discovering knitting, I have been paying more attention to my knitting blog instead of this one. So we're off and running again in a few days after I have time to get some posts together. Stay tuned...

2007-09-28T12:08:00.001-07:00

Beauty Unfolds.
Yesterday I was looking out the porch window when I heard a skuffle by the corner of the house. I could see the Sadie poking her nose at something as if to provoke it. Then Moose came over to give his expert opinion and then Charlie followed suit. I started to think about the baby racoon that we had to bury because of the same pow-wow. I dashed out on to the deck with a broom and looked at what all the fuss was about. I scattered the dogs by yelling at them to leave it alone. They lost interest because mom was having a melt down with a big blue broom in her hands.

Here is what all the fuss was about. Remember my parsley eating friends? Well they grew up without my supervision or me even knowing where they were. Last time I didn't get to see this part, and thanks to three noisy dogs I got to see what grew up after it ate all my parsley.

So here is to what eats my parsley almost every year and it's beauty unfolded...

2007-09-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

What's for Breakfast?

I am a HUGE fan of breakfast. I rarely eat it during the week but on the weekends when I have time I like to try new things. I love

On Satuday mornings, I get up with the dogs at 3-yes that's AM and then curl up in my favorite chair and fall asleep watching some LMN movie with at least two of the four dogs in my lap. I wake up starved and the creative juices start to flow. Should I have the standard breakfast? How about an omlet? Blueberry pancakes? French Toast? Mock McMuffin? Bagel and Morning Star sausage? Too many choices!

Lucky for me we had spaghetti for dinner the other night and hub came home with a nice loaf of French bread. I used it for garlic toast and had more than half the loaf left over. I have no idea where this came from, but I had a dream about Banana Stuffed French Toast. I think I have seem it on some Martha Stewart show many years ago, but never wrote it down and never have looked up that kind of recipe either. So this morning it sounded like it would hit the spot.

I had some sad looking bananas sitting on the kitchen counter and I was good to go. I took some of the left over French bread and cut 4 huge slices of it. I cut a pocket in each one the way you would if you were stuffing a pork chop or a chicken breast. One banana was good for two of the bread slices. So I stuffed about half a banana in each bread pocket. I cracked two eggs (the only two I had left in the house) and put about 1/2 cup of milk in the bowl.

I thought I remembered something about vanilla being added in the Martha version so I put about 1 tsp in with the milk and egg. I plunked the bread into the liquid and let it sit while I got the skillet out. Then I flopped it over to the other side. It was a like a huge sponge. I started to get nervous because there wasn't very much liquid for the second set of pockets. I used about 2 TBS of butter in a non-stick skillet and set the two wet pockets in the pan. I had to add more milk to the bowl so that the second set could soak up what was left.

I managed to get all four pockets in the pan together. I let them get golden brown and then flipped them over. In hind site, I could have put some cinnamon on the bananas and that would have added some more flavor. Anyway, I got them all cooked and ....

And breakfast from a dream is created!! IN case you don't have dreams like mine. Here is version of Stuffed Banana French Toast that sounds really good!

2007-09-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

What do you buy in Little Italy?

My friend Julie and I had some time before I had to start my 6 hour drive home from my Personal Chef conference, so we decided to visit Little Italy in Philly. When they say little, they mean little. During the 80s, I went to Little Italy with an Italian friend of mine and I sure remember it being much bigger. Seems like a lot of the shops don't get as much business as they used to and many have either gone out of business or they are only open on the weekends. Lucky for us Claudio Specialty Food was open and I had a ball.

Julie got some this...which I thought was the most colorful pasta I have ever seen. It almost looks like that old fashioned ribbon candy you used to see at Christmas. Very pretty stuff but it had to travel back to NC on a plane in Julie's lap. I was afraid for the pasta!

I don't know if it was the fact that I was starving when we went or I was like Alice in Wonderland when I went into the store, but I could not help myself! I was so excited that I was driving home and I had remembered to bring an ice chest. So I let the implusive shopping begin! With things like this pretty pasta and these, who in their right culinary driven mind could not resist? Is this like the neatest display of olives? They had a nicest cold buffet of olives you have ever seen. I wanted one of everything!

Here is what I ended up buying.

I have never made Polenta before and I figured that this would be a good place to start.

Next since I was craving carbs, I had to buy Arborio Rice to make Risotto. I love the creaminess of risotto and have many different recipes I can use this for. So it was a must.
Then I headed for one of the most important ingredient in Italian cooking, the olive oil. I was told that this was good stuff. So why buy a little when you can buy a gallon? I am hoping that it will not go rancid before I get a chance to use all of it.

I bought this while still in a carb euphoria state. They look like this out of the bag. I hate to say this but they look like little worms. We'll see how they look after boiling. Then I bought these since I don't see them where I live either. I have not cooked any of this as of yet, but I will!
Here is what they look like on the plate.
Then I bought three different types of salami, both domestic and imported from Italy. By the time I left there I was exhausted and that olive oil was really heavy to carry!

We stepped off of one curb and on to another and right into the next place to spend more money. I bought some loose teas and these two items.

This is a combination of spice for mixing with olive oil and then doing the dunking thing. I know I could have made a mixture like this at home, but what they heck!

This is powdered spinach that you can add to any pasta dough to make it green. I didn't see anything red, but if I had you would be seeing it right now. I have a pasta machine that needs to be used so this will be the inspiration that I will use to drag it out of the cabinet and pretend I know what I am doing. The name of the store is The Spice Corner. It's cute and quaint and I just loved it. So I had a good time spending my money in Philadelphia not only at the restuarants but at the Reading Terminal Station, and in Little Italy. If you ever have a chance to visit Philadephia, go and explore and spend those culinary driven dollars!

2007-09-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here Today and Gone Tomorrow...

I am not the world's best gardener. I know very little about gardening. I do know three things for sure though. You need lots of sunshine, plenty of water at the proper times and you need really good soil. I have control over only one of those three things and I am still not very good at that. I did have hubby buy some organic manure compost a month after we planted our garden and we blended in there so it would help with pests and the plants would get more nutrition.

I had not counted on these guys this year.

They and I mean about 8 or so of them, completely desamated my little flower box of parsley. They have been here once before a few years ago. I haven't seen them in a while and then I went out the back door to let the dogs out day before yesterday and something looked funny. There were these green stalks just sticking up out of my box and no leaves. Surely my lack of attention and our lack of rain did not leave just green sticks? I remember I was out there not more than two days ago looking at the parsley and there was some there!

Okay, so like I said-I am not a REAL gardener, just someone who plays at it. So let's take a closer look at what we are dealing with...

Boy, these guys are fat. They have eaten everything they could find. I never saw it coming. Well, I take that back. I was sitting in the living room looking out the window at the gardenia bush and saw one of these... All I did is admire the butterfly saying how pretty is was to the hubby and then finished knitting. I was never thinking about my little parsley patch!

So, I guess I will be buying parsley from the store the rest of this fall. If I see any chrysalis I will let you know. They were hard to spot the last time this happened. After I saw the chrysalis I would go out two or three times a day to check them. I don't know how they got past me but they were gone. So I may not get to see them again this time either.

Despite losing all my parsley, they are truly pretty and it's so amazing to me how one female butterfly can find my dinky pathetic patch of parsley to lay her eggs.

2007-09-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

Trying New Things
I have been cooking when I have time. The rest of the time we either eat left overs, do take out or hubby cooks. When I say hubby cooks, I use that term "cooks" loosely. He grills. I have no problem with that because it's less I have to do in the kitchen and it doesn't mess up the kitchen either. So we are eating.

After a trip grocery shopping hubby surprised me with some white asparagus. He is getting more and more adventurous when he has that grocery list in his hot little hand along with the checkbook. I think it's great that he likes to try new things and doesn't mind playing culinary guinea pig. Hence the photo below...

I love green asparagus but have never tried the white ones. After eating them, I see why now. They were crisp and perfectly formed, but lacked flavor. We grilled them the same way we do the green version and it did nothing for them. I was a bit sad since some asparagus lovers make such a fuss over the white ones. I will continue to buy the green and be perfectly happy with those. Along with the white asparagus experiment, we have been eating a new fruit that we found in the local store where a I work part-time. I see new things, I have to try them. Now let me say that I am not a huge plum or apricot fan. I had this thing about fruit with hair on it when I was a kid. So I have avoided peaches and apricots for years and years. I would eat canned peaches, but never fresh ones. Of course any peach could be consumed as long as it was in pie or cobbler form, but not fresh.

I don't know when I changed my mind. I guess it's been since becoming a chef, that I decided that I should not make judgements without trying something first. So I started slowly with those packaged dried apricots. They were rather chewy but it thought they were okay. So I started cooking with them and just eating from the pouch as a snack when chocolate was scarce.

Then we got something called a Dinosaur egg at work and I had to try it. I think in some parts of the country they are called Pluots.(click on the link and read more about how they came to be. It's pretty interesting) They are a cross between a plum and an apricot. So it's a hair-less plum with some character. Here is an up close photo of what the skin looks like. It's speckled a bit. Some don't have as much speckling but the inside is just as wonderful.

Here is what the inside of this one looks like...it's a redish pink color and sweet as the day is long. The skin was a bit tough on the outside but the sweetness on the inside made up for the extra chewing to get there. I have eaten the Pluots at two different places and one batch was sweet and red, the other was not as red in the middle and not as sweet. So I guess the redness is a sign of ripeness. I really love these. They are just what I was looking for. I sweet fruit with no hair.

I know we all have our little weird things about food and now you know one of mine!

Men alone with the Food Network...very bad!

2007-09-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

I knew I should not have headed off to the Knitting Corner for a few hours to get some help with a few slipped stitches. That meant, my darling husband was home alone with the remote and The Food Network. I have left him unattended before, but this time he really went over the edge. Hubby was home alone watching Paula Deen evidently.

I love her shows because she cooks with real food that anyone has access to. She seems to be an authentic person and I just love the way she laughs. But I have to say, she seems to have this really weird hold on my husband. He just loves her shows! We have to watch them when they are on and now he has gotten hooked on her son's show Road Tasted. While I love all the shows, I don't really use any of the recipes. I can't use all that butter and we don't do a lot of fried foods anymore. So watching is just to appease hubby.

I should have learned my lesson when I left hubby alone with Tyler Florence. That one cost us a fortune in extra groceries. It was a tasty meal, but a lot of work for me. This time I didn't left a finger and got some benefits (in pounds) from all of his work.

Hubby headed off to the store with a list in his hand. I had not idea what he was up to, but I had give him a few things to pick up for a Labor Day cookout. I did knot know he had added things to the list. Boy did he ever!

I sat in the chair knitting away while he did his thing in the kitchen. He stopped and asked me a few questions, but he really did do all of this himself.

This is what he made. I didn't ask about the ingredients but I could smell chocolate wafting throughout the house. It drove me nuts and after the help I got at The Knitting Corner, I dropped some stitches thinking about what on earth that was.

Here are the results. It certainly looks innocent enough, but don't be deceived...there was more to come.Not only was hubby trying to knock my socks off with this slice of chocolate pie that tasted like a brownie, but then he made me put ice cream on the top. My eyes rolled up into the back of my head with one bite. It was like a brownie baked in a pie shell with pecans scattered throughout. Then the ice cream just sent me over the edge. I am not supposed to have sugar or ice cream either one. Do you think hubby is looking for my life insurance policy as I sit here and type??

The recipe is below:

Corrie's Kentucky Pie

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups sugar

1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels, melted

1 cup sifted self-raising flour

1 cup (2 sticks of butter), melted

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups chopped pecans

2 (9 inch) deep dish unbaked pie shells or 3 (9 inch) unbaked regular pie shells

Ice Cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine eggs, sugar, and melted chocolate in large bowl. Add flour and mix well, stirring in remaining ingredients except for pie shells. Bake 30-40 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream. Freezes well!

2007-08-23T19:31:00.000-07:00

My newest favorite kitchen tool is...
A ball peen hammer. I kid you not. It is such a useful tool, that I am seriously considering having it the kitchen gadget drawer.

The chain grocery store where I work did some shuffling of products a few months ago and it was shuffled practically in front of my face. I am addicted to this stuff and have loved it since I was introduced to it. It comes in many shapes, forms, colors and countries. I have eaten the "garden" variety for years. As a child I was unaware there were other choices. Having gone to culinary school, I found out there were other kinds that I could love and have been ever since.

What is this mysterious stuff that I am so enthralled with? Well it's a common thing that causes many heated discussion and is blamed for many a health problem. People try to eliminate from their diets, while I am sampling new versions. Are you curious enough now? It comes in black, pink, white, brown and probably more I have not yet discovered. Peppercorns you say? NOPE.
Drum roll please.....

Yes, it is the dreaded S word...SALT.

I grew up with a father who loved it dearly and I can't remember a meal that he didn't pour some on everything at the dinner table. He was a heavy smoker so I am guessing that the longer he smoked the more dead his taste buds were. So he has to up his daily dosage of it to taste anything. I have vivid memories of a small pile of salt on a plate with a freshly washed green onion on the side. Get ready for this....my dad would lick the end of the green onion and dip the freshly wetted end into the salt pile and eat the onion. Being the good daughter I was, I copied that behavior. To this day every now and then, I dip for the memory of my father. I will say that he died of Leukemia and not high blood pressure.

After going to culinary school, I discovered there were other salts out there that I had not conquered with my little green onion trick. I graduated to this stuff...

I really thought I had found salt Nirvana when someone introduced me to this stuff. The ritual of sprinkling it over my food, gave me this weird chefness satisfaction that I did not understand. I loved it so much that I bought myself a "salt pig" and started sprinkling my favorite kosher salt from that at home. If that wasn't bad enough, I got others hooked on my addiction. Others that live with me have now developed the careful sprinkling habit over their food too.

As if that wasn't bad enough....I did a vertical tasting at a chef's conference with my friend Kathy. She showed me new treasures I had never seen and I thought I had died and gone to salted heaven. Who knew there were so many? Then I bought other salts to add to my collection. This was next... My habit is getting out of control. Everyone warns me this is a habit I must give up. But why? I have great blood pressure and until they tell me to stop, I must keep going.

So now my interest is totally peaked and I am mad about this stuff. So mad that I read this book. Now how nuts do you have to be to read this; about as nuts as the rest of us that put this on the New York Times Best Seller List. Now how's that? Okay, I don't have every salt that I should but I am still working on my collection. Fleur De Sel is not in my arsenal of yet, but it's on the short list.

Back to the ball peen hammer. This is what I have been driven to in my pursuit for the most wonderful seasoning in the world. The store moved all the Pink Moroccan salt right in front of where I work. It's like a chocolate addict watching a bar of their favorite chocolate sit on a shelf in front of them all day long without getting to smell it, or touch it, and you can forget getting a bite of it. So being the addict I am, I broke down and bought the little salt mill filled with the smallish grains of pink Moroccan salt. I took it home and used it on my food as I was smitten. It was putting talcum powder on your food. It was so light and salty. I used less of it because it was very salty. Those little holders only hold so much. So I bought the larger box that had hunks. And I mean hunks. You should have seen me trying to make those hunks smaller; thus the ball peen hammer.

I know how silly I must have looked with a plastic zip bag on the kitchen floor with three or four hunks of pink salt and beating the day lights out of them. I had to have them smaller so they would fit into that new salt grinder. I have now officallly lost my mind. Okay, so you see how huge those hunks are? The ones on the front of the plate are the ones I beat to a pulp to get them into that grinder in the back. It worked and I am back in business. So now I am trying to decide if the ball peen stays in the kitchen drawer for more salt emergencies or not. See what foodies do. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

2007-08-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

Fennel is the NEW Cabbage

Yesterday I did my monthly demo at my local Fresh Market. My regulars were pleasantly surprised at trying a new vegetable; fennel. As far as I can remember, I had never eaten any fresh fennel as an adult until I stumbled upon a great recipe for a fennel and tomato tart. I made it for some clients and they loved it. I got over my fear of trying a new vegetable and was truly happy that I had tried something new. For some reason, fennel and tomatoes baked together seem like a marriage made in veggie heaven.

While my pictures are not perfect, I was told over and over that the recipe for the Cilantro Fennel Slaw was a surprise that was wonderful. They said it was a nice summery use for the vegetable. So here are the only two pictures I had time for and the link for the two recipes I made at the demo. The first recipe was for Halibut Skewers with a Chili Citrus Sauce.

I know that's hard trying a new vegetable. I am not a picky eater but sometimes trying something new is not easy. So if you know or try fennel and you don't like it, you can use regular green cabbage for the slaw recipe. If you want to go one more step further with the slaw, trying chopping up some fresh Roma tomatoes and adding them to the slaw. It's a great summer slaw! So get out there try something new!

What I did on my summer vacation

2007-08-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

What I did on my summer vacation

I know that I have been very neglectful of my food blog. I have really been putting more effort in to my knitting blog, but I am back and ready to be a better food blogger again. Work has taken up so much of my time that at the end of the day all I feel like doing is plunking down in front of the idiot box and knitting my cares away. Knitting has taken the place of standing in front of the refrigerator and eatifood, golden beets, Loews hotel, personal chef, Philadelphia, Strawberry Short cake, USPCA 2007 conferenceng the days trouble and stress away.

I am lucky enough to get to pow wow with the some fabulous people once a year in mass. It's the annual United States Personal Chef Association conference. We go to some place new each year and this year we went to Philadelphia. I have to say that I wasn't exactly thrilled to be going there after having lived pretty close to there years and years ago. I remember it was a pretty dirty and unappealing place for me. Going back there after years of absence, was a real treat. So much has changed and so much has been cleaned up. I was pleasantly surprised and even more so with the food that the city had to offer.

This is the view from the 26th floor of the Loews hotel. At night it was even more impressive. I am a bit leery about high buildings since Sept 11, but it was just fabulous. I want to brag on the Loews hotel for a moment before I start talking about the food we at.

I don't do as much traveling as I used to but when I do travel I always notice customer service. I am not a cranky, bitchy, demanding guest. I want a clean room, clean bathroom and good air conditioning. Being a middle aged female, air conditioning is MOST important. The Loews hotel met all of those criteria and more. I have never had such wonderful customer service from the top to the bottom of the employee chain. This is how great the customer service was. My friend J and I were walking down the hallway and there was a maid vacuuming the hallway. She stopped vacuuming once we started to walk down the hall towards her. I told her that we didn't want to stop her from doing her job and she said she didn't want the noise of the vacuum cleaner to interrupt our conversation. Now who does that?? I was impressed. What can I say. I vacuum here and if you are in my way, I will plow you over to get my work done. Yes, I know I am not in the hotel service industry but it just stuck out in my mind at how much work Loews puts into their customer service. I have numerous impressions (all wonderful) about their customer service. Everyone was eager to please and they did. If you are ever in Philly and want to stay someplace where everyone and I mean everyone is friendly, spend your travel dollars at the Loews hotel. Okay enough of the commercial.

Now on to the food. We ate three lunches at the hotel but I only managed to eat at two of them, but boy were they good! Since I am a meat eater who has some Vegan and Vegetarian clients I eat meatless once a year at conference. I want to see what is out there in the commercial food world that is being massed produced. I sadly did not get a picture of my lunch but it was a roasted vegetable risotto with a garnish of sauteed Swiss Chard. I thought it was pretty good. I am kicking myself for not getting a picture but I have about 80 others of the food we ate. I have to say that hotel food at a more upscale hotel have improved ten fold and they set some pretty mean tables! Even though I didn't get the glamour shot of the Vegetarian entree, I did get a shot of the salad. It was really nice and was really tasty too. There were greens with a nice light dressing of some sort and about three cubes of red beets and then the same with the golden beets. Beets seem to be gaining popularity everywhere in the last few years. I am not a huge beet fan only because I have never gotten over one experience with them as a child. As a chef I have to be more open to foods both for myself and my clients. So I have been trying more and more beets. I have even got a few red beets growing in my garden here at home. Truly the picture does not give the presentation justice but you get the jest of it. Lovely menu tents were posted at every meal. I did get this one but who can read this. If you can from the photo, you have better eyes than mine. The vegetarian entree is at the bottom of the page. Everyone else had fish. But this next shot really had my attention focused. This was Loews version of Strawberry shortcake. It certainly worked for me! It was just sweet enough to satisfy my wicked sweet tooth. The sliding amber colored item on the top of the cream is hand spun sugar. I just love those kinds of little details. They had to make about 300 of them. Not such a small detail when it's your job to make them, but I sure appreciated the person who did because as soon as I got this shot, that baby was being crunched down on!

Over the next few weeks I will post more about what and where I ate in Philly. I could not get some pictures of the food due to lack of lighting, but I did try. So I am back and will try to have more enthusiam about my food blog again. Thanks for hanging in there with me while I had some down time!

2007-07-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

If you can't get to Texas...
My husband and I miss Texas. We miss the barbecue, the people, the open road, the whole life style and our families. We can't get there any time soon, so we did the next best thing. I know I am really behind in my blog but over Father's Day weekend we tasted Texas in our own backyard. Hubby calls me from Lowes to ask me a questiona and makes an off hand remark about how much he would love to buy a smoker. So I said that since I hadn't gotten time to buy him something (this was on Saturday of that weekend) he should just buy it and I would pay for it. So he did. I have never seen anyone so happy to have a new toy in my life. It was like he had died and gone to smoker heaven.

So he put it together. Then there was another trip to get wood chips, charcoal, and new lighter, and a huge piece of cow. This man loves his brisket and he wasn't wasting any time thinking about what the first thing would be to hit that smoker. I guess in his mind it was a given. I, on the other hand would have done a pork shoulder or a picnic. I love pulled pork, but since I wasn't in control, it would be brisket. I didn't take any pictures of the cooking process, but maybe another time. I just wanted to show you the meat. It was fabulous. It had that nice pink ring around it and it had a nice smoky flavor. It tasted like Texas to me.

This baby weighed a ton and took nearly 6 hours to smoke, but trust me it was well worth it. Half of it is in the freezer because we just couldn't eat it all in a few days.
You can see the pink around the outter portion of the meat. I hear that's a good thing, but since I know squat about smoking I will take the Food Network's barbecuing chefs word for it. I could care less about the pink ring, just pass me a fork and I will go to town.
My youngest son loves brisket just as much as his father. He almost couldn't wait to get into it. When we finally got all the fixin's to go with it, I watched my son's eyes roll up in the back of his head. He doesn't say much but words were not needed when I saw his face. His dad got a thumbs up! Isn't that what every cook/chef looks for?

There was one more thing that the smoker was good for...

Need I say more??

2007-07-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

Still Here
I am still around, but I have been extremely busy. Cooking and taking pictures have been the last things on my mind. I have been working for a weekly Zone client. If anyone knows anything about the Zone diet, you know it's a lot of chopping, dicing mincing, etc. Not to mention the amount of shopping for fresh product it requires. Then I picked up an Extreme Fighter and he had an even more detailed diet. It was supposed to be a 12 week diet but, he pooped out after only two weeks. So that freed up one day of the week that is now gone this week with my yearly "at the beach" clients from NY and CT. I still have my three day a week grocery store job and the in-store demos for my local Fresh Market grocery store. As if that wasn't enough, a teaching position I applied for earlier this year has opened up and I will be teaching for 5 weeks starting the end of this month. I had not counted on that job starting until mid May next year. Plus I have been trying to squeeze in some knitting for Christmas presents for friends and family.

I haven't been doing any cooking worth posting on the blog. I have just been doing your basic "get by" cooking. So this all explains my long period of silence here. I am sorry but it's going to be a bumpy summer and the fall isn't looking too smooth either. I will be attending my yearly Personal Chef conference where I will be teaching a ServSafe class and then it's home again to resume the hectic pace. I will try to post things as time allows so don't give up on me!
Thanks!

2007-04-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

A Fish Tale
Since I work in a local chain grocery store and then shop on my days I work for my personal chef clients, hubby does our personal grocery shopping. He has been doing it for so many years I can't remember. We have a computer generated shopping list and we just check things off that we are out of and off he goes. The problem with that is...well he buys things that aren't on the list. A month ago he bought some Tilapia. I don't really like fish that much so it's just been sitting there taking up space where we could have MEAT! So I had to come up with an idea to get rid of the fish and actually like it when I fix it.

I know how much hubby loves going to San Diego on business and eating things there. He always comes home and tells me about what he eats and then he wants me to make it. I spend time looking for recipes on the net that sound like what he ate. So, I am thankful for the Food Network. This recipe is from their web site. It's easy and it tastes good.

Baja Fish Tacos
Serves 4-6
White Sauce
1 cup Mayo
1/4 cup milk
4 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp garlic salt

Mix all ingredients together and set aside

Fish Tacos
Oil
2 pkgs Tempura Batter Mix
1 can beer
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
24 ounces boneless cod, cut into 2-inch pieces
6 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 limes

Preheat fryer or deep pot halfway with oil to 375 degrees F.
Mix 1 of the packages of batter, but only use 1/2 the required amount of water and use beer for the remaining amount instead. Add the beer until the batter becomes almost like a heavy cream consistency.

Using the other package of batter-add salt and garlic powder, coat cod pieces with the dry mix, then dip into prepared batter. Deep fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Place fried cod pieces on warmed tortillas, add white sauce to fish, a little shredded cabbage and a squeeze of lime to taste.

Chef Notes:
I really didn't want to fry fish. So we just grilled the fish and added some lime juice, salt and pepper. We didn't have cod but used Tilapia instead. I did use everything else the recipe called for. Here is the end result.

2007-04-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

TV Dinner
I know that I watch way too much TV. I loved it as a child and that habit has carried over to my adult life. That might explain why I pack on the pounds so easily. I have to confess that I am not an out door type of girl. I like to be in the house during the winter with a roaring fire and a hot cup of tea. I love being in the house in the summer because frankly, I am not built for a bathing suit and I burn quickly. Spring sparks something in my core to dig in the dirt only to retreat to the house the minute it gets hot or someone mentions the word summer. I hate to be hot. Heat and humidity makes my hair look like a poodle has taken up residence. So TV is my faithful friend.

I love TV so much that once while visiting my husband’s family in Dallas I squealed with delight when I found out that they had that network that I had been hearing about; The Food Network. I could not take my eyes off of that TV almost the whole visit. I was smitten. I used to be a pretty faithful watcher of the Food Network until work increased and there was a struggle between paying bills or watching TV. Guess which won?

Yesterday I had a store demo so I really didn’t push myself to do too much around the house. So I sat and knitted and watched TV. Hubby had the remote and he flipped it over to The Food Network. We got to watching Tyler’s Ultimate. For some reason, my hubby couldn’t resist that show. I have long known that Tyler graduated from my almamater, Johnson & Wales. We did not attend school at the same time nor the same campus but there is a loyalty there to other grads for me. So I watched. I looked over at hubby and he was plotting. You know the look. I had a feeling that wasn’t going to be good for me, after standing in one spot in a grocery store for three hours. I was going to have to come home and cook DINNER. UGH! Yesterday was my 6th day to work in a row and when you stand on your feet all day, the very last thing you think about is how can you stand up another two hours doing dinner. Really! I love to cook but when your feet are begging for a day off…

So guess what? I stood in the kitchen for two hours and did what hubby wanted. He doesn’t ask too much from me, ever. So I had to do this. All the recipes talked about here can be found at the Food Network. I really did not want to have to type all of the recipes so please follow the link. Here is what we ate… Baked Rigatoni with Eggplant and Sausage

This was easy to make and boy was it ever wonderful. Hubby bought the best fresh morezzlla he could find. It took two of these for the recipe...
It wasn't bad enough he wanted to make a main course but half way through that, another recipe was thrust upon the kitchen cart and I had to make a side dish. Well, I made two; one with a recipe and the other without. The recipe that was on the show for this is here...
Then he wanted dessert. I have created a culinary MONSTER!

Berry Trifle

When it was all said and done...dinner was fabulous. Hubby has had his remote control privledges revoked. I have to get over the 2 1/2 lbs I gained from this wonderful meal.

A Chick with Sticks

2007-04-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

A Chick with Sticks

I love to have things on the grill. It doesn't matter much to me where the inspiration of the grilled dish comes from as long as it ends up on my plate. I am not a picky eater. Nor am I a person who hates to have food touching on the plate. After all, where does it all end up? All mixed up in your belly.

A few weeks ago, the weather was in the 80s and I could hear the grill calling me. Okay, okay, I confess. It's easy on my if I prep the food and hubby does the grilling. I do quick sides while he is running in and out of the house checking the food. I get to sit down and knit. I love to knit so I am always looking for short cuts in my day so I will have more time to dedicate to knitting.

I have loads of cookbooks and some I use seasonly and others are dependable year round books. One would think this one would be a seasonal cookbook, but I have found plenty of good recipes that are wonderful no matter what time of year it is.

One of my most favorite recipes is Scallion Chicken Skewers. This is such an easy recipe that it's just silly. So here is one of the easiest recipes I know for year round grilling. The photo to the left is taken from the book itself.
Scallion Chicken Skewers
Serves 4
8-12 Thighs, skinned and boned, cut into 3-4 pieces each (chicken breast work perfectly well with this recipe too.)
About 12 schallions, cut into 1 inch pieces

Ginger Marinade
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 TBS ginger puree or grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup fish sauce or soy sauce (recipes says about 1/4 cup)
1 TBS sesame oil
1 TBS sesame seeds, toasted in a dry skillet
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS corn oil (I used canola)
24-36 wooden or banboo satay sticks, soaked in water for 30 minutes.

Thread 1 piece of chicken and 1 piece of scallion onto each skewer. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a flat, shallow dish. Add the skewers and turn to coat.

Cover and chill for 3 hours or overnight, turning in the marinade from time to time.

Light an outdoor grill or preheat a broiler. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until done. Don't they look yummy? I took wanted to add more vegetables to our diet so I added some red bell peppers to the skewers. They gave the kabobs more color and eye appeal. Then I sauteed some bok choy and made some rice to round out the rest of the meal.

Dinner is served!

Let Them Eat Cake

2007-04-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

Let Them Eat Cake
I have to confess; I am not a cake eating person. I love to bake them but I am not a huge fan of cake. I keep thinking that I will find some cake out there that I will forsake pie for but alas, it has not happened. I came close with this one. This recipe comes in a distant second but I still have not found THE cake. I am a flaky pastry person. Give me pie any day! Even a cookie will do for me.

I felt inspired to bake a few weeks ago. The weather was hinting of spring and for some reason I needed to fire up the oven and create. I also had some fruit that was dying on the kitchen counter that needed to be dealt with so here is the sum of my effort. It’s from my favorite bedraggled Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook.

Blue Ribbon Banana Cake
¾ cup shortening (I used the Crisco that is in the green can)
1 ½ cup sugar (I used the white baking Splenda)
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
½ tsp salt
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup chopped pecans
1 cup flaked coconut ( I toasted my coconut on a sheet pan in the oven for a few minutes at 350 even though the recipe did not call for it to be)
Creamy Nut Filling
White Snow Frosting

Cream together shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs; beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add mashed bananas. Beat 2 minutes. Sift together dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture along with buttermilk and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes. Stir in nuts.

Turn into 2 greased and floured 9” round layer cake pans. Sprinkle ½ coconut on each layer. Bake in a moderate (375) oven 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool layers, coconut side up on racks.

Place first layer coconut side down and spread on Creamy Nut Filling. Top with second layer, coconut side up. Swirl White Snow Frosting around sides and about 1” from the top edge, leaving center unfrosted.

Creamy Nut Filling
Combine ½ cup sugar, 2 TBS flour, ½ cup cram and 2 TBS butter in heavy saucepan. Cook until thickened. Add ½ cup pecans, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla. Cool.

White Snow Frosting
Cream together 1 egg white, ¼ cup shortening, ¼ cup butter, ½ tsp coconut extract and ½ tsp vanilla until well blended. Gradually add 2 cups sifted confectioners sugar, beating until light and fluffy.

This is the finished product.

This is what a slice looked like. I think I globbed a bit too much of the Creamy Nut Frosting in one spot when I put the layers together, but it didn't matter. It still was moist and a really nice piece of cake. Despite not being a huge cake fan, this was a good cake.

2007-03-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Lentil Soup
I really love split pea soup. This past weekend was pretty cool. It seems like its almost winter’s last gasp. So I needed some soup; split pea soup to be exact. I went to the pantry just sure that I had some dried split peas that I could make warm my soul; nope, none. I moved some things around and low and behold I saw plan B. Plan B is very popular in this household. I am always sure I have all the ingredients to make something and then find out I am one thing short or it’s not the right size. Such is life. This is where that old adage applies about lemons and lemonade. You know the one.

So I substituted my brown lentils for the split peas and made Lentil Soup/Vegetable Soup. This recipe comes from my old stand-by for old fashioned food, Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, circa 1959. I just love this book. It’s my kind of food; old fashioned, rib sticking, country folk food. I am not a fancy eater so this fits me to a T. If I want to eat high brow, I go out to eat. Every once-in-awhile I will cook more high brown food, but it’s for special occasions.

While this dish lacks in upscale presentation, it hits the spot on an over cast Saturday afternoon after pulling weeds in the garden for a few hours.

Split Pea (Lentil) Vegetable Soup
You can float a frankfurter or Polish sausage slices in piping hot soup.
1 lb. dried split peas (2 cups)
3 qts. Water (use chicken stock for more flavor)
1 meaty ham bone or 1 ½ lbs. ham hock
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp marjoram leaves
1 ½ cup chopped onions
¾ cup chopped carrots
¾ cup chopped celery

Combine peas and water in large kettle. Bring to a boil; simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.
Add ham bone, salt, pepper, marjoram and onions. Cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours.
Add carrots and celery. Continue simmering until tender, 30-40 minutes. Add more salt if necessary. Serve piping hot. Makes about 3 ½ quarts.

2007-03-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

Kentucky Fried Wanna-Be
I love fried chicken. I think I got my taste for it when I would go to my grandmother’s house and she fried it in a wonderful black cast iron skillet. That chicken would be perfect every time. I have two skillets of my own. One is for grill marks and the other is just a regular round skillet. I haven’t done too much frying in the round skillet but I gave it a run for its money last weekend.

Hubby went to the commissary and on the list was wings, family pack-please. I had it in my head that I would have him grill them outside. The weather has been really warm lately and it’s time to fire that bad boy up and get it going. Two weekends ago, we grilled pizzas. Too yummy.

I got home from work and decided that I really didn’t want to cook so I would have hubby fetch some KFC. NO money, so I had to cook. I decided that I wanted my wings both fried and BBQed. So I whipped out my skillet and tried to emulate my grandmother’s fried chicken.

I cut the wing tips off and made stock with them. I can’t waste any parts! Then, I put s&p on them, dipped them in a beaten egg, and dredged them in flour. A few minutes in the oil (about 20) and they were done. I did this cycle four times. It takes a while so no need to be in a hurry.

Once the chicken was fried, I put it on a paper towel to drain. I didn’t really care if it got cold, because I knew it was going to be dunked and then grilled.

Here is the finished product…..

The dunking...

Dinner!

2007-03-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

Here Today, Gone Today

I had intended to write a post about some chocolate work that I have been doing but someone ate my stuff before I could get a good shot of the finished items. So this is all you get until I have a day off again where I can play. I think I will have to put a sign on my display, to not eat until photo is taken...okay, I will try again!

2007-02-27T07:30:00.000-08:00

Little Round Things
I attended a gathering of some Personal Chefs this past weekend. At first we were going to have a wine tasting but there weren’t enough of us to make the fee of the visiting chef worth the fee. So we winged it.

I wanted to make something worthy of the wine tasting, something more upscale. I love pastries both sweet and savory. Since I thought wine of both colors were going to be sampled, I would use cheese. I am lactose intolerant but I seem to fare well with goat cheese. I love the creaminess and the tartness to it so it fit my taste bud’s bill.

I am not a great crust maker; mine are either too thin and over baked or too tough. I am still a work in progress. So here they are.

Onion & Goat Cheese Tartlets
The Perfect Party Food Book, published by Lorenz Books
Crust
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 TBS butter
2 ounces aged goat cheese or cheddar cheese, grated

Filling
2-3 TBS olive oil
4 onions, finely chopped
1 ½ cups fresh goat cheese
3 eggs, beaten
2 TBS light cream or half and half
4 ounces aged goat cheese, grated
2 TBS tarragon, finely chopped (fresh)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs, then stir in the grated cheese. Add enough, cold water to makes a dough. Knead lightly, wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge. Preheat the over to 375.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut into 16-20 round to fit tiny tart pan. Prick the bases with a fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until firm but not browned. Remove the pastry shells and lower the oven to 350.

Make the filling. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the chopped onions over low heat for 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown. Stir occasionally to prevent them from burning.

Beat the fresh goat cheese in a bowl, then add the eggs, cream aged goat cheese and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the fried onions.

Divide the mixture among the pastry shells. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Serve warm.

2007-02-15T06:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Belated Valentine's Day
I know this is late but I still feel the love. This week had two special days for me. The first was my 28th wedding anniversary and of course the second was Valentine's Day. I wanted both days to be really special but they were subdued. Sadly hubby went to bed early and I sat up and knitted. He has been working some different hours this week. So we are looking forward to the weekend to do something different. I did manage to do this...

I know that the green crowns of the strawberries are dried out. I bought them a bit too early and then waited too long to dip them, but believe me-it didn't affect the taste one bit. We stood at the kitchen island before going to bed eating strawberries dipped in horribly cheap chocolate and enjoying every bite. There were no roses, no champagne, no high priced gifts, but love that was shown every day of this past year and 27 others before. While I love the idea of Valentine's Day, I know that I am loved every day when my bad foot gets rubbed, a fresh cup of coffee is poured and brought to me when I am pinned in by three dogs sitting in my lap while knitting, and by just by being present in the smallest of moments every day.

I love you honey. Thank you for 28 wonderful years! You still make the best cup of Saturday morning coffee I have ever had.

Cuban Food

2007-02-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

Cuban Food

While flipping channels on the telly, I found a wonderful show that I had no idea was even on. It's called Daisy Cooks. Daisy's show is on my local PBS station. I have only watched it once but got something really great from it. I waited a bit too long before going to her site so the recipe that I wanted is not posted. I clicked on the Recipe section and there is a disclaimer that said not all the recipes from her show can be posted due to copyright laws. If you look at the site, you can see that she is selling a cookbook thus no recipe for what I am about to talk about...

The show is 30 minutes long and she had one of her son's on and her daughter. They made something on banana leaves but I wasn't as interested in that as I was the first thing she made. I was so interested that my grocery list for the next day, had all the ingredients for the recipe I really liked.

This link is almost the same recipe as Daisy had on her show. Here is what I did. I followed Daisy's instructions and it worked like a charm

Here is the beginning of the sandwich. I used a large loaf of French bread cut lengthwise. The loaf is slathered with Mayonnaise and then a layer of sliced ham is folded and laid on the bread. I cooked a pork roast and then sliced it and that was laid on top of the ham. The last layer is Swiss cheese and then of course the dill pickes are laid on the cheese. The sandwich is then cut in half and wrapped in foil. The oven is preheated to 350 degrees. The sandwich is put on a sheet pan and then another sheet pan is placed on top of the foiled wrapped loaves. You need to add something heavy in order to smash the sandwich. The timer was set for about 20 minutes, give or take...

I know it looks a bit weird, but believe me; it does not affect the taste one bit. It's cheaper than this... When all it said and done, you get this! Not too shabby.

Eating Out in Peru (part 2)

2007-01-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Eating Out in Peru (part 2)
Since I couldn't get all the pictures all to post in one post, I had to split up our dinner. I wanted to order something different from hubby so I ordered the Avocado Salad. I am a sucker for anything that has avocado on it. I was first introduced to Avocados when I was in my early 20s. I know, you are saying.."but you are a Texan and you should have eaten gallons upon gallons of guacamole by then". Well, I did eat some but had never had avocados on a sandwich. While land locked in Texas I met a "surfer dude" who made me an avocado sandwich. I was hooked. Any time I go out to eat Mexican food, I can't have anything without some guacamole on it, thus the eager ordering of the Avocado Salad.

Avocado Salad-Sliced avocado, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers with house vinaigrette sauce. This salad was pretty straight forward and really yummy. I don't often eat iceburg lettuce anymore, but this was really refreshing.

For my entree I ordered Arroz Con Pollo. I thought for sure I was going to be short changed with this when I saw the piece of chicken was a drumstick. Wrong! After eating this I was thinking I should have worn stretch pants because I was more full than I thought I would be. The Arroz Con Pollo consisted of rice with chicken in cilantro sauce served with Salsa Cirolla.

The drumstick was so tender that it almost fell off the bone when I tried to pick it up and eat it. A knife would have been a total waste of time. The rice had some vegetables diced up in it and it was fluffy. I didn't eat much of the onion and tomato salad (Salsa Criolla) because I was getting full. But not too full to think about dessert.

Before I talk about dessert, I wanted to talk about the most unique "starter" I have ever had. This one really stumped me. After we got our drinks the waiter brought this little plate out to us. When I first looked at it, I thought those things were Corn nuts. They aren't. They seem to be really large kernals of corn that have been fried in a little oil and then sprinkled with some salt. I wish I had taken a picture of the inside. It was very starchy and totally while inside like an almost popped kernal of popcorn. It was soft and really strange. I loved them. Such an odd texture in the middle and in my mouth. The green sauce, was a bit spicy. You really had to grip that little kernal to get it dipped in the cup, but I managed to get some on there. It was tasty. I have never had anything like that before.

Since I a dessert person, I could not resist this part of the meal. Churros seem to be a standard on a lot of menus for latino restuarants. I love them because they remind me of an apple pie rolled into a stick. With this order you got a very small (too small for me) cup of caramel and one of chocolate syrup. We poured it all over the fried tubes and went to town.

I have to say that hubby and I both agreed that we would come back here and eat another time. We want to try everything on the menu. It was a find for us and the whole meal only cost us $10 a head excluding the drinks, dessert and of course the lovely food sales tax here and the tip so a hard working waiter. I was pleased that we tried something knew from a country we know nothing about (well, I know they have fabulous wool that comes from there) and we want to learn more. It was a good experiment!

If you have a chance to eat Peruvian food, it will be well worth your time and money.

2007-01-25T16:52:00.000-08:00

Eating Out in Peru (part 1)
Every year the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach have a special event that features different restaurants in the area. Some have lunch menus to offer, some dinner menus and some do both. I have seen this event advertised on TV for years but really never did care anything about going out to do this thinking it would be a stampede. I was sure wrong about my impression.

I asked hubby if he would be interested in going. He said sure and headed for the internet to get the list. When presented with the list, I circled the places that I thought I might like to eat. We had eaten at many places on the list already, but I wanted to try something new. Hubby gave me his list and I showed him mine and we did have one in common. So off we went on a Saturday for the lunch menu sampling.

We ended up here... and we loved it. We will be going back in the near future. Hubby and decided when we got the menus that we would each pick something different from the menu so we could taste everything.

Here is what hubby ordered: Papa A La Huancaina:
It is boiled sliced potatoes covered with a Peruvian yellow pepper cream. The dish was simple as you can see but it really tasted good. There is a slice of a hard boiled egg on top of one of the potatoes. Then the black dot in the middle is a black olive. I didn't get a close look at it. By the time I asked what kind of olive that was, I was looking at the pit in hubby's hand. Too late...

Then he ordered Jalea De Pescado:
Deep fried fish served with lime marinated onions and tomatoes and Yucca

Since I got to taste this dish I can say it was pretty good. The fish was fried but not like any kind of fried fish I have ever eaten. It wasn't all greasy. The Yucca was good, according to hubby. I thought it was plantain and I passed. I am not found of food that looks like something that I really like and tastes like something else. Tonight when going over the menu, both of us realized it was Yucca. I am kicking myself for not tasting it.

I can't seem to get blogger to post anymore pictures so I will try and post what I ate in a few days. We had a wonderfully relaxing lunch on a very cold and windy day. Okay stay tuned for part 2

2007-01-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

Parmesan Worms
I am probably why manufacturers put warning labels on things. Having to idiot proof everything knowm to man is because there are folks like me who open up a box and skip the directions. I am just so excited to get the gift that I want to set it up or try it RIGHT NOW.

A nice, nice person that I used to work with gave me the loviest gift for Christmas. She and I have had endless conversations about how much we love our red Kitchen Aid mixers. I have had mine for years and it's still chugging along. Much to my total surprise, Becky gave me a gift for my mixer. I got a grinder. So cool. I decided today that I wanted to use it.

I really didn't have meat to grind, only a huge chunk of Parmesan cheese.
So, I cut the chunk down to a smaller size in order to get it in the grinding shoot. I have done this many times with food processors. No big deal... right? I started up the mixer and then I was horrified. I never counted on what happened next. It wasn't what I expected and certainly wasn't very pretty. I felt like a doofus. See below...

I got Parmesan worms. Okay now...if I had read this...
I would know that the two discs that came with the grinder, weren't meant for grating cheese. This is why if all else fails, read the directions. Lesson learned.

2007-01-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!
I know it's been nearly a month since I have last posted, but the month of December was a very busy month for me. I got two new clients and worked extra hours at work. I didn't do any Christmas baking or send out any Christmas cards. I am working on a letter for '07. It's slow but like everything else lately, it takes a back seat to working both jobs and knitting. I have been cooking but nothing so exciting to write about. Things have been so busy, my sourdough starter died. I forgot to feed it as it got scooted further and further to the back of the refrigerator. Such is life!

I did do one more bread from the sourdough starter that I tried to post a million times but just could not get it to post. I will post it, I promise. I just wanted to stop by and let everyone who breezes by that I am still alive. I know my mother-in-law said I needed to post something so this one is for family.

I have been making this really unhealthy thing for years and my youngest son loves this stuff. It was after we opened presents that I got this shot. He is skinny as a rail, and still can pack away nearly half of this thing in one sitting.

This is called Monkey Bread. I have seen a billion different recipes for this but I keep it simple. It's four cans of cheap biscuits, 1 stick of butter, 1 cup or either light or dark brown sugar, a few cups of granulated sugar and about 1 TBS of cinnamon. The granulated sugar and cinnamon are combined in a large bowl and the biscuits are torn up into either three or four pieces and then dropped in the sugar mixture, rolled around and dropped into a bundt pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. You do all four cans that way. Then you melt the stick of butter and dump the brown sugar in the pot with the butter. Stir to combine. Then pour that mixture over the biscuits in the bundt pan. That's baked at 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes. After you are sure the biscuits are baked, flip over the bundt pan over a plate and start eating. It's the best when it's warm. I have been recipes with raisins and nuts combined in with the raw biscuits but we just love the simple way best.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I will try to be more regular at blogging since work has gone back to the same hours from before the holidays. Everyone be safe out there.

2006-12-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Boxed Cake
I know this is a strange title for an entry here, but I have a great recipe that is built upon a boxed cake; yellow to be exact.

One day while at work a co-worker brought a small paper plate over to me, shoved a fork at me and told me I had to eat this cake. I am not a huge fan of cake. I am more a pie and pastry eater, but it smelled really good and I was under peer pressure to eat it. So I did. WOW. This was a great piece of cake. It was moist and had a great flavor. Not a "run of the mill" cake. The title of this recipe is way to simple for such a wonderful cake. Below is the recipe and you will not be disappointed...I sure wasn't!

Pumpkin Cake
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie kind)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar (if lumpy-sift)
1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
1/4 cup of Caramel Topping (the kind you drizzle over ice cream)
1/2 pecans, rough chop

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour 2 9 inch cake pans
Beat cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice until well blended. Pour equally into the two pans and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.

Beat cream cheese until creamy. Add powdered sugar, remaining pumpkin pie spice (1/2 tsp), the remaining pumpkin from the can and mix well. Stir in Cool Whip.

Cut each cake in half. Stack layers spreading cream cheese mixture between each layer but not on the top or side of the cake. Drizzle the top with the Caramel topping and then sprinkle the chopped nuts on the top of the cake. Store in refrigerator. Note: Please don't dump nearly the whole bottle of Caramel topping on the cake and then discover that it only calls for 1/4 cup. What this cake lacks in beauty because it's not iced all over, it more than makes up for in taste. I took this cake with me last night to a party and a sliver was left over for me when I got home for work today because I was such a good girl.

Computer Troubles

2006-12-01T03:36:00.000-08:00

I know it's been nearly a month since the last time I posted on either of my blogs, but I had a meltdown on my desktop. Computer guy comes and gets some things off of it. I was putting off tranferring things from the desktop to the new laptop and then my desktop locked me out with my own password. Needless to say, it was costly and now I can't figure out how to get the information from the external hard drive to the laptop. Well, I can but when I try to load my photos for the blog entries, things do not go well. I have been trying and do have pictures to post with an entry dated 11/16. It was my last rant about sourdough. So please come back again and check to see if I have figured out how to post my previous pictures. I miss posting and I miss all of you.

Thanks to all who have E mailed me about falling down the stairs. My bruises are just about gone but my pride took a beating. I will never carry a laundry basket down the stairs again. I missed one step and it was literally all down hill from there. From now on, it's a huge bomb of laundry over the upstairs railing.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am working on a new recipe and hopefully will get it baked on Sunday. Posting it might be a whole different matter. Anyway, hugs to all in blog land!

2006-11-03T17:08:00.000-08:00

Sourdough Bread
I confess. I am a horrible baker. I worked at a bakery for two years full-time and all I got, was fatter. I was a good student of those who are far more experienced than myself. Cripe, at that point everyone was better than me, but for some reason I just couldn't help myself. I insisted that I be taught how to do the bread that the bakery sold everyday. I had to learn how to do this thing. I was smitten. I was totally blown away by how you could mix three very simple ingredients and make something from that. Who on earth ever discovered flour, water and yeast could make the stongest person's knees buckle with happiness? Really who cares as long as I can eat the stuff.

Since my favorite time of the year is the fall and I have been going nuts about Sourdough I have to keep experimenting. This one is for the other bread obsessed. I am still using Betsy Oppenneer's book, The Bread Book.

Crusty Sourdough Bread
Makes 2 loaves

Sponge
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm water (105F-115F)
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

For the Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water (105F-115F)
2 teaspoons salt
5-6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions
At least 12 hours in advance, combine the starter, water and flour in a large glass or pottery bowl. The sponge will have the consistency of a cake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let ripen at room temperature for at least 12 hours but no longer than 36 hours.

When ready to make the bread, add the 1 1/2 cups water, salt and 3 cups of the flour to the sponge. Beat vigorously with a dough whisk or heavy-handled spoon for 2 minutes.

Gradually add more of the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.

Knead for 8-10 minutes, add more flour, a little at a time as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough and blisters begin to develop on the surface.

Put the dough into an oiled bowl. Turn to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a tightly woven kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a ball, cover with a towel, and let rest for 15 minutes.

Shape each piece of dough into a ball again. Flatter the centers slightly and place them well apart on a well-greased baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise for about 1 1/ hours, or until almost doubled in size.

About 15 minutes before the end of the rising, preheat the oven to 400F.

Put a shallow pan on the bottom shelf of the oven.

Brush the loaves with cold water.

Put 1 cup of ice cubes in the hot pan on the bottom shelf of the oven. Immediately put the bread on the shelf above and bake for 25-30 minutes, or untill the loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped or the internal temperature reaches 190F.

Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Notes: I asked a local baker why my sourdough looked different than his. He said that he cuts slashes in the top for the steam to escape and dusts the top with flour. I had forgotten about those two things. So my loaf looks very plain. It was totally crusty. The ice cube trick creates steam, which helps the bread to be crusty. Commercial ovens have a steam cycle in them that does that same thing.

I thought the bread didn't taste "sour" enough for me, but everyone else said it did. My tastebuds must have been having an off day. I would make this again, and again, but with the slashes and flour.

2006-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

I found this on a knitting blog that I go to almost everyday and thought I would share this. I thought it was kind of cute.

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times...
You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings
Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

2006-10-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

Sourdough Banana (minus the nuts) Bread
I am on a roll and just can’t seem to help myself. I am just taken with the sourdough concept because it’s just so easy. I am not a professional baker but I used to work in a bakery while going to culinary school. I think that’s where my sweet tooth and bread tooth got a heck of a work out. I used to make donuts and gradually worked up to preparing the bread for baking. So my fascination with bread is a long standing one. However, the sourdough obsession just started.

Up for experiment number three is a Sourdough Banana Nut Bread (minus the nuts). I made the bread because it seemed pretty easy. I wanted to know if the sourdough sponge would change the taste of the bread. Nope, not in any way! So I am not sure other than it’s a novelty thing, if I would go through the whole process of 3 days for the sourdough starter, then another 12-36 hours for the sponge to take hold and then getting to bake. I have eaten a lot of quick breads, and this one was fine. I have eaten others that have take so much less time that tasted just as good. Would I make it again? You have to ask?

Sourdough Banana Nut Bread
Makes 2 8 1/2X4 1/2 loaves

Sponge
1/2 cup sourdough starter (see this)
1 cup warm water (105-115)
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

For the Bread

2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
3/4 cup melted vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

At least 12 hours before baking, combine the starter, flour, and water in a large glass or pottery bowl and mix well. The sponge will have the consistency of cake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let ripen for at least 12 but not more than 36 hours.

When ready to make bread, preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 2 (8 1/2X4 1/2 inch) pans, four (5X3 1/2 inch) pans, or six (15 ounce) cans. Sprinkle the sides and bottoms of the pans with flour.

Add the eggs, bananas, and shortening to the starter and mix.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, soda and salt until well combined. Add the walnuts and toss to mix.

Add the sponge to the dry ingredients all at once and stir just until mixed, taking care not to over mix. The mixture will be lumpy. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake the 8 1/2 loaves for 1-1 1/2 hours; 5-inch loaves for 35 minutes; 15 oz. cans for 25-30 minutes. When done, the loaves will shrink slighly from the sides of the pans and feel springy to the touch. The internal temperature should reach 190F. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out and completely cooling on a rack.

Note: I know that when I read the recipe I freaked out about the melted vegetable shortening. I used the green can of Crisco. I think that one doesn't have any trans-fatty goo in it. Other than that and leaving out the nuts, I actually followed the recipe the way it was written. The starter came out of the refrigerator and I mixed all the ingredients for the sponge, fed it and put it right back into the refrigerator. I let the sponge it covered with plastic wrap for about 24 hours. It really did bubble like what is described in The Bread Book and was just like pancake batter. If you can stand waiting all the time for the starter to rippen and then the sponge to do it to, the recipe is pretty straight forward.

2006-10-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Sourdough Pumpkin Swirl Bread
As promised, I am going to show how my Pumpkin Swirl Bread turned out…rather didn’t turn out. Despite the picture shown in the book, I did not understand the directions and went off on my own whim. The bread turned out okay but there were some things that I flat did not understand. As you read the recipe, you will probably get something I didn’t.

I did the Starter and it went very well. If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had a clue since it’s been years and years since I have made it. So I went about my happy baking clueless to any failure that might occur. Since I felt like I had done well with the starter I started in on the recipe. I did the mixing and then put the ingredients.

The trouble occurred for me after I followed the rolling out instructions. I looked at the book and just couldn’t understand how you could get rolls from rolling the dough from both ends to meet in the middle and then cut it with scissors. I know it’s hard to visualize while reading. Hey, I had the silly picture in front of me and still did not understand how this was going to work.

So I rolled up the dough from both ends to the middle like the picture showed. It would look like two jelly rolls side by side, if that helps you any. Then I decided that the instructions were beyond me and I cut right down the middle and then made cuts one inch apart to make individual rolls, which is not what I think the author intended but I needed just one more picture to explain it to me and it just flat wasn’t there. So, hence the rolls were a bit drier than they might have been if I had understood and followed the instructions. So here we go:

Sourdough Pumpkin Swirl Bread
Makes 1 loaf (or lots of rolls if you don’t follow the directions)

For the Sponge
½ cup sourdough starter (see the post before this one)
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup warm water (105-115 F)

For the Dough
½ cup warm milk (105-115F)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
2 ½-3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

For the Filling
1 cup unsweetened canned pureed pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped pecans
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

For the Icing
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temp.
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-4 TBS milk

Directions

At least 12 hours in advance, combine the starter, flour, water and sugar in a large glass or pottery bowl and mix well. The sponge will have the consistency of caked batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let ripen for at least 12 hours and not more 36 hours.

When ready to make the dough, add the milk, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and 1 cup of flour to the sponge. Beat vigorously with a dough whisk or heavy-handled spoon for 2 minutes.

Gradually add more of the remaining flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.

Knead, adding more flour, a little at a time as necessary for 8-10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic and blisters begin to develop on the surface.

Break off 1/3 of the dough and set aside for the filling. Form the remaining dough into a ball and put it into an oiled bowl. Turn to coast the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a tightly woven kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.

For the filling, add the pumpkin, cinnamon, pecans and brown sugar to the smaller piece of dough. Using your hands, a food processor, or a pastry blender, mix the ingredients with the dough until well combined. This is a messy step. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside.

When the plain dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it into an 11X20 inch rectangle. Spread the pumpkin mixture evenly over the rectangle. Roll one of the shorter edges to the center. Roll the dough from the other short edge to the center. Carefully lift the dough and put it on the parchment-lined or a well-greased baking sheet.

Using long-bladed scissors make cuts along one side of the dough to the center, about 1 inch part, cutting almost all the way to the center. Repeat on the other side. Turn the cut pieces on their sides with the cut side facing up. The cut pieces can be turned in the same direction or turned in alternating directions.

Cover the dough with a towel and let rise for about 1 ½ hours, or until almost doubled in size.

About 15 minutes before the end of the rising, preheat the oven to 375.

Bake the bread for 25-40 minutes, or until golden brown (the internal temperature should be 190F). Remove from the baking sheet and let sit for 20 minutes on a rack.

For the icing, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar with enough milk to make a spreadable icing. Spread over top of the warm bread.

NOTE: After baking this and re-reading the book several times I know how this is supposed to turn out. It’s supposed to bake a giant loaf, but spread out flattish by cutting the slits in the dough and then pushing them a bit, one against the other. Despite not understand the final instructions, I think my little rolls turned out well. Everyone at worked liked them (except for those who don’t like nuts). I had fun playing with the starter and doing the whole process. I will make this a second time, only following the instructions.

2006-10-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

For Starters…
I have been really getting attached to my book, The Bread Book by Betsy Oppenneer. I just love this book, because things have turned out pretty well so far. Saturday’s experiment is no different, thankfully.

I haven’t done a Starter in about 25 years. I had one that was for a recipe called, “Friendship Bread”. I got it from my neighbor and baked it as much as we could stand it to eat . The best part of the recipe (as I vaguely can remember) is that you baked the bread in a small coffee can. I just loved the idea of such a cheap vessel making such wonderful bread. The bread was dark and riddled with raisins. Once you cooled it, it was eaten with a nice slather of cream cheese. It might be considered“quick” bread.

Since the weather is dipping into the 60s and 70s, I have the bug to bake. I get this way every fall. So feeling moved by the weather change I decided to bake a recipe from Betsy’s book. I picked the Sourdough Pumpkin Swirl Bread. It was easy to make up, but I did not understand the direction towards the end and I think now after seeing how things turned out, that I REALLY didn’t get it. I do now, so the next time I make this recipe, I am going to try it her way.

So if you have never done a sourdough starter you will find this so easy. I did manage to get this part right!

Yeast Sourdough Starter
By Betsy Oppenneer

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
¾ cup lukewarm water (90-100 degrees F)
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat flour

Mix the water and the yeast in a 2-qt glass bowl. Let the yeast “bloom” for 5 minutes.

Add the flour to the softened yeast and stir to combine. Any lumps will disappear during fermentation. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; leave a small opening along one edge or poke 5 or 6 holes with a toothpick. Let stand at room temperature for 3 days. Room temp should be around 65-80 degrees.

The starter will get runny as it begins to work. After 3 days it will have risen and fallen, will be bubbly, and will have a slightly sour aroma. The more you use and maintain a starter, the more pungent it becomes.

Use the starter in any recipe calling for sourdough starter. Use ½ cup of starter to make the sponge for the recipe and the remaining ½ cup to maintain the “mother”. Store, uncovered, in the refrigerator.

Here is what the starter looks like after 3 days of bubbling on the kitchen counter.

Stay tuned for the Sourdough Pumpkin Swirl Bread in a few days...

2006-10-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Let the Baking Begin
I love fall, winter and spring here in Virginia. I have always been fond of cold weather for several reasons. I love to bake. I really enjoy more hearty foods and I am a sweater and sweats sort of girl. Since we have just now today gotten our first really cool day, I have been baking.

I decided that since my youngest son lives at home again and has such a busy schedule I would use him for an excuse to bake muffins. Poor child lives like his hair is on fire. So to help him at least get a few things that aren't fast food in him, muffins will fit the bill. I can leave them on a plate on the counter for quick exits or freeze them as need be.

I thumbed through The Bread Book by Betsy Oppenneer and found several muffin recipes that I wanted to try. This first one made me curious for two reasons. One is uses no eggs. And two, it uses wheat germ. Now I am not a health food nut, but using wheat germ sounded like a pretty good idea.

This recipe just sounded strange to me and I am happy to say, they tasted pretty good. There was one ingredient that I did leave out because hub doesn't like nuts in his food. So I left the nuts out.

Wheat Germ and Banana Muffins
Makes 12 large muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ (you can toast the wheat germ in a non-stick skillet on medium heat and shake or stir in around in the pan until you smell that toasty smell or you can just leave it plain)
1 tsp salt
1 TBS baking powder
1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup honey
2 TBS vegetable oil (canola will do just as well)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 standard (7 TBS) muffin cups or line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat germ, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and peanuts until well mixed.
Combine the buttermilk, bananas, honey, and oil. Stir well, just until combined. Take care not to overmix-the mixture should be slightly lumpy.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cups so that they are 2/3s full. If you want extra-large muffins, fill the cups to the top.
Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove the muffins from the pan and serve warm or cool on a rack.

2006-10-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

Good 'Ole Southern Comfort Food
I guess I have been influenced by a site that I stumbled on to last week. It's so hard not to. I just love the things that I read and I feel this person's pain... because I too am a displaced Homesick Texan. The funny thing about all of this is, I tried all my life to run away from there and now I can't wait to go back. It's funny how our youth makes us come to some really life altering decisions that we have to re-visit as adults. I don't regret moving around all my life. I have met some really great people and have eaten regional cuisines that I have grown to love. I think that being a person and a chef, I had to leave myself open to new textures, new tastes and new experiences. I know people who have never left their own home state. They have never eaten anything besides their own local foods. I think it's sad in a way. Never experiencing what the world has to offer is just not right. I don't think that I could appreciate what my roots were until I moved around and tasted what the rest of the world had to offer.

While I love Japanese, Chinese, Italian, and German food but, I still gravitate to what I know and love the most; the taste of home. I was lucky enough to grow up with women who loved to cook and were not pretentious about anything they did in their lives. Mind you these were not rich folks by any stretch of the imagination, but they had a richness in their lives that you can't put a price on. I think my maternial grandmother had the biggest influence on my style of cooking here at home. She did pretty plain and basic food. I loved her food. So when I am feeling stressed or missing home, I think of how her food made me feel. It was warm and comforting. So with the changing seasons and reading Homesick Texan, I had to make a homesick meal.

Hubby grilled the chicken thighs and I made macaroni and cheese with over cooked green beans with two strips of bacon and one diced onion. While this is not a glamous meal, it hit the spot. Sometimes, as chefs, I think we over do the layering and making food more complicated that it needs to be to "one-up" someone else. I would be real interested in knowing what someone's best "home cooked" comfort is.

So here is a new Meme. What is your best home cooked comfort food and who inspired it? If you do this "Home Cooked Comfort Food" Meme, please put a link to my site when you do it! Thanks and I look forward to reading what everyone does!

2006-09-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

WDB #54
If you want to see some cute poochies, head over to Sweetnicks for a peak at other bloggers loves.
Father and Son
Here is Edward praying that hubby will give him what's in his hand. Sorry Eddy, Daddy was just tring to get you to hold still so Mommy could get a shot for the blog.

Here is Edward's son, Moose.
Moose is waiting for Daddy to give him his COOKIE. We only spell the word now because all the dogs have learned to spell. Can you see that tail in motion?

2006-09-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Rosh Hashana
I met Prue because of another Personal Chef who was trying to get our Chapter (The Tidewater Chapter of USPCA) some publicity. We were a collective group of chefs who wanted publicity and had no money for advertising. Since we were a novelty sort of group back in 2000, we got a nibble from one of food writers from the Daily Press. The Daily Press covers a pretty large area and of course the paper is available most anywhere in the Hampton Roads area.

Prue Salasky came and interviewed our Chapter at the Founder's Inn one Sunday afternoon. We wanted to get the word out about how we are from the same association but we were all independent business owners who could serve a large gammit of clients. We had a nice in-depth conversation about where we all lived and the sort of services we all did. I considered the day productive and thought a small blurp is what we would get and I was pleased.

A while later (I think it was about 4-5 months later) I got a phone call from Prue saying that she was going to send a photographer to go with me to a client's home for some shots of me working. Another chef in the direct paper circulation area, got a page and a half spread and they took photos of her too. I think mine was about half a page. I had it frammed and it is on my office wall. I was so proud. Thus began my friendship with Prue.

Later somewhere down the road I got a call right before a holiday (I think it was Thanksgiving) and she wanted a menu of three or four courses for people with special diets. That was a huge spread and I got a few phone calls from that publication. Some one even asked what the name of my cookbook was. I had to laugh.

I got another phone call some months later from Prue and this time she wanted something more personal from me...my time. Prue hosts a family dinner at her house every year for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. There are usually about 20-22 people there. It's a well educated and lively group. My role was to help heat food up, do any last minute preperation for the lunch and of course to clean up at the end of day.

I am always amazed at how most of the family members bring food and how similar it is from the Christian holidays I have celebrated my whole life. I loved seeing the different dishes. I know nothing about them or their ethnic or religious origins, but it didn't matter. Food is a universal language of love and family. This family celebrates well!

I remember some of the dishes there were served and am basically guessing at some of their ingredients. I did manage to snap two pictures before everyone began to eat. Here is one of three tables that is set up for lunch.

On the right in the silver chaffing dish is the brisket. Around the table going clockwise is a trifle bowl of fresh cut up fruit, roasted vegetables, blanched fresh asparagus, an Apricot Koogle, Raisin Koogle, roasted sweet potatoes, baked pineapple in a syrup, and baked chicken with a tomato sauce with chickpeas. The picture does not give the food the justice it deserves.

Update: I finally got my photos to post today (9/30). I guess the only time that I am going to be able to post is on the weekends!

2006-09-17T17:07:00.001-07:00

Quick Seafood
This past weekend I did another demo at the my local Fresh Market. I am almost at the end of this year's run. We are only allowed to do demos 10 months of the year. I didn't understand this until one of the other demonstrators explained to me how crazy things are there during November and December. I will seeing my regular attendees, but will be excited to see them in January when we start up again.

I was put into an awkward situation on Friday when I got a call from one of the assistant managers who told me that we couldn't get the fish I needed for my demo. So we had to make a last minute substitution. Thankfully, it worked beautifully!

Below is the recipe that I made for the demo. It only had a few ingredients and was super easy to make. I am not sure if this ingredient is available all over the country so I will make suggestions how you can alter the recipe.

Seared Halibut with Scallion and White Wine Sauce
Makes 4 portions
5 scallions, sliced on the bias
1 tomato, large and diced
2 TBS lemon juice, fresh
4-7 ounce 1" thick Halibut
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBS canola oil
1 TBS capers, drained
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup Sauvignon Blanc or other dry white wine (Chardonnay would be great)

Season halibut on both sides with salt and pepper. In a 12-inch saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook one side of fish for about 3 minutes (until lightly browned). Turn fish, reduce heat to medium. Cook approximately 4 minutes longer, until fish is opaque in center and browned on both sides. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

Pour off any oil in pan and add wine and lemon juice. Raise heat to high and deglaze pan by scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until sauce reduces by half, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in butter, one slice at a time. Add scallions, capers and tomato. Season with salt and pepper and pour over fish on platter. Serve immediately.

Recipe changes:
Since there was no Halibut available I decided to use scallops. I wanted something more upscale for my target audience. If Halibut isn't available or scallops either, you can substitute any mild white fish such as Flounder or Tilapia.

2006-09-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

WDB #52
I have been a bit remiss about getting my photo submitted to Cate at Sweetnicks for several months now. I snapped this photo of Moose on Friday and thought this was a good one to get into the game with. I had just finished knitting a scarf for my oldest son and wanted to take a picture for my knitting blog. I thought he would make a lovely model. He was so patient with me and actually let me take 5 photos and sat still for all of them. What a shocker. He is my "tongue with legs" and when it was all over I got licked to death. Of course he got a cookie for being such a fabulous model.

2006-08-29T03:09:00.000-07:00

Summer's Last Bounty
This is the 5th time I have tried to post this and hopefully this time will do the trick! I am not sure it's Blogger but maybe my virus protection program. We shall see after I try to publish this!

I was so excited a few weeks ago when I went out into the back yard with my colander to harvest what I thought was probably our last vegetable bounty. I was right. I was armed with my snippers and spotted a pretty nice sized vine ripe tomato. I had to struggle to reach it over another large tomato plant. When I finally snipped it, I was so pleased...until I turned it around. This is what I found...

Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel had brought their growing family over the Brown Garden Fresh Buffet to dine and they ate well. Half of all my tomaotes this year, well...looked like that picture above. I am so happy the enjoyed my tomatoes. Alas, they are not the only satisfied customers at the Brown Garden Fresh Buffet. Mrs. Rabbit and her brood had a lovely time cutting their new baby rabbit teeth on my summer squash. They tasted each one leaving perfect teeth marks in the middle of everyone of them.

I wanted to have a lovely picture of all the things that I gathered in one day. This picture is a big fat lie. I turned half the tomatoes around that looked like the one above so they looked nice in the picture.

I recently got a seed catalog and am plotting how I can set up the buffet for next year. I was hoping to do a winter garden but am re-thinking that.

I will get back to semi-regular blogging soon. I have had company for the last two weeks and my youngest son has moved back home. So it's been a zoo to say the least. I am looking forward to the changing weather. I love the hearty fall and winter foods and will baking my buns off this year. I have a little more confidence this year and armed with yeast and dangerous!

2006-08-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

Good Grillin'
I have only heard of people using their grills to cook a pizza but have never done it myself. I got a bee in my bonnet on Sunday and decided that I wanted a grilled pizza. So I tried to find my pizza recipe that has to rise and could never put my hands on it. I found my Cusinart book and low and behold there was a recipe for pizza dough in there. Better yet, it did not have to rise. So I was good to go.

I went out into the garden and picked all the ripe tomatoes I could find along with some sad looking Basil and decided that would be the topping for one pizza. I checked in the pantry for the Pizza Quick that I had in mind for the pizza sauce. I got to thinking about how long it has been in there and just as a lark, read the expiration date. Good Grief! It expired in 2005. Can we say (FIFO-First In, First Out)?

I mixed up the dough in the Cusinart, which I have never done before. It was so fast that I just might not ever use the Kitchen Aid recipe ever again! Too quick. Then I opened up a can of tomato paste and smeared it all over the top of the two rounds that I had rolled out on the cart. I didn't add anything to it, just wanted to keep it simple. One pizza had some really over ripe roma tomatoes with some sad looking heat frizzled basil and then a handfull of mozzrella cheese. I brushed the exposed crust with olive oil The second pizza had crumbled up cooked sausage and assorted grilled veggies and of course, a hand full of cheese. But of course, I can't get Blogger to load the second picture and so all you get to see is the one with the Roma tomatoes.

Then it was off to a non-stick sprayed, pre-heated grill to see what was going to happen. I was shocked that it was so quick and they turned out right nicely if I do say so myself. They weren't pretty by any means, but they did hit the spot. Both hubby and I were shocked!

2006-08-17T03:06:00.000-07:00

St. Louis Eats...well I might add!
While I was at the USPCA conference I got a chance to sample some local cuisine. We weren't really in St. Louis but in Clayton. The hotel we stayed at is a few blocks from some really cute restuarants all lined up in row so eating there was so easy. The places I wanted to talk about first, were a cab ride away into St. Louis.

During the chef's conference you can take classes that you sign up for in advance, like months and months in advance. I basically forgot what I signed up for, but when I got my schedule, I was totally pleased with myself! I took all cooking demo classes. Some classes were taught by USPCA chefs, and some by local professional restaurant chefs. All the classes that I took, were great. I got some new ideas and my motor has been renewed. Too bad we can't do this every 6 months!

One the classes that I signed up for was a French cooking demo. I was tickled pink because I went to France right after Sept. 11 for ten days and had a ball. I went to the south of France and was enrolled in a four day cooking school there. I had a great time and have spent the last five years since trying to get back there. So this class was just what I needed to make me want to charge more on my credit card so rack up those free miles.

The French cooking demo was taught by Eric Brenner. He is the Executive Chef for two restaurants. The first one is Chez Leon. Eric is the head chef there but goes two doors down to his own restaurant Moxy. Chez Leon is more of a white table cloth French restaurant as where Moxy is billed at a "contemporary bistro". Either way, you will just love both places!

After we watched the cooking demo, we all wanted the phone number to Chez Leon. Sadly it is closed on Monday nights so we got the number to Moxy and made reservations for four there at eight. We bearly got out of the class and I was dailing the number. We could not wait for dinner there after watching and listening to Eric passion for his craft. Please use the links to check out both places. If you are ever in St. Louis you will want to eat at both places.

We did not know that another party of happy personal chef eaters had made their reservations for 6:30 and we ran into them while we were there. Chef Eric was doing a $50 tasting menu with wine for every course. We said we would have the same and did not regret one single morsel.

I took pictures of every course but we ate by candle light. I did not want to use the flash because there were other diners besides us and it would just be rude. So this is as good as it gets for candle light.

First course...Truffle Risotto with Procini, Crimini and Parmesan

Second course...Rainbow Trout and Crab with Citrus Wild Rice, Sauteed Spinach and Dijon/Tarragon Beurre Blanc

Third Course...Seared Duck Breast with Roasted Apple, Rhutabega and Carrot-Pomegranate Reduction with Cinnamon

Fourth Course...Roasted Bistro Steak with Red Onion Jam, and Garlic Whipped Potaotes, Gorgonzola Demi Glaze.

...and last but not least DESSERT!

Black Cocoa Torte with Nutella and Toffee Ice Cream Bombe

2006-08-17T03:01:00.000-07:00

Blogger Blunder
I have been trying for over a week now to post about what I ate in St. Louis while I was at the conference. I posted the other night and tried to link my photos to the post. Then I got totally frustrated and deleted the post. I have photos to post but can't get them to post. So I have not been able to do much of anything. I just wanted to let all of you know I am trying to post things, but it just isn't going well.

2006-08-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Leavin' on a Jet Plane!
This is my annual working vacation. The United States Personal Chef Association will be holding their once a year conference in St. Louis, MO. I am so excited to get on that plane and have a fun filled 5 days talking about food and my clients. I will be teaching a ServSafe class to 50 students on Friday and then I will be attending some classes on Sat-Monday myself. I will get some see some old friends and make some new ones. I will get to talk to Mark Tafoya from the Culinary Podcast group. Mark is on fire with his Pod cast which just celebrated it's 50th episode. I called in and gave Mark a shout out. I was a bit shocked to hear my voice on his podcast. I sound like I am 12 years old.

Anywho, I won't be able to blog while I am gone because there just won't be time and I am not dragging the laptop with me! I am however, taking the camera and will try and take some pictures of places I eat. I know we have reservations at a Tapas place. I might just starve to death there...

Talk to all of you and will catch up on your blogs when I get back. Happy blogging, ya'll!

2006-07-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

Hot Food, Cool House
As many of you know around the country, we are all sweltering out here. The midwest is extremely hot and now it's headed to the east coast. I really didn't want to turn on the oven to bake chicken so I dragged out my trust crockpot. My crockpot has become my best weapon against heating up my house and getting in some extra knitting time. I love to grill more but hubby isn't getting home at a decent time these days and I am not the grilling queen. So I take the easy way out.

Hubby bought some skinless chicken thighs because I had thought about grilling them out on the weekend. I changed my mind when the sky opened up last weekend and just poured and poured. So I had to be flexable and find something that didn't need to be grilled. I got out my Slow Cooker Bible and thumbed through it. Most of the recipes are very simple with basic pantry ingredients.

I stumbled upon Thai-Style Chicken Thighs. That was just up my alley! The directions give you ways to cook on low for 6-7 hours or fast (HA!) 3-4 hours. I chose the fast method. It would give me enough time to do some serious knitting. 6-7 hours of knitting is just way too much and besides the guilt would eat me alive!

Thai-Style Chicken Thighs
Serves 6

1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt (I always use Kosher)
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
6 bone-in chicken thighs (I had skinless and the chicken was still both tender and moist)
1 med. onion, chopped (a medium rough chop worked well)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 peanut butter (I used what I had left of my reduced fat peanut butter and then the full fat stuff)
2 TBS. soy sauce
1 TBS. cornstarch
2 TBS. water (cold because you are going to make a slurry with it)
3 cups hot cooked couscous or yellow rice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Coat slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine ginger, salt and pepper; sprinkle over meaty sides of chicken. Place onion and garlic in slow cooker; top with chicken. Whisk together coconut milk, peanut butter and soy sauce; pour over chicken. Cover, and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender.

With slotted spoon, transfer chicken to serving bowl; cover with foil to keep warm. Turn slow cooker to HIGH. Combine cornstarch with water until smooth (this is called a slurry). Stir into juices; cover and cook 15 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serve chicken over couscous; top with cilantro. Garnish with lim wedges, if desired.

Chef's Choice
As many of you know who read my blog, I never follow as directions. Sadly that also follows through to my knitting. So here is my "not following the directions" account of how I did the chicken. I did not want to have to make the slurry and have to wait until it thickened in the crockpot while my chicken sits on a platter cooking off foil or no foil. So I mixed all the ingredients for the sauce part, and threw it all in. After doing that I see why you need to use some non-stick spray. The sauce gets really thick and starts to get dark, if not burned, around the top edges. Lesson learned? None, I will do it that way again, use some hot water and dish detergent and let the crockpot soak overnight.

Since we have the garden going strong, I needed to use some of the bounty. I sauteed some Kentucky Wonder green beans and cut them into 1/2" pieces. I used zucchini that we had picked that weekend. The carrots and mushrooms came from the grocery store. The chicken and sauce were over Jasmine rice I needed to use up. The recipe is good and you can add more heat to it by adding more cayenne pepper.

2006-07-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

Borrowed Blogger Recipe
I go to about 15 cooking blogger sites and one of my favorites is Is it EDible? Ed and I have something cute in common...our love for our puppies. I have four and Ed has one but she is a total cutie! You will see her on the front page of his site.

I have wanted to try several of Ed's recipes but this one really appealed to me. It's Orange Sherbert. What caught my attention was two of the ingredients. I don't digest milk products or sugar. Ed substituted Splenda for sugar and I used my Lactaid milk. It was perfect.

The recipe couldn't have been simplier. Below are the ingredients. Too easy.

Below is the end result...it hit the hot summer spot. I used my Krups ice cream maker and it took less than 15 minutes for it to get slushy. I had these great Tupperware parfait glasses in the back of a cabinet and decided they would be perfect for serving the Orange Sherbert. The cool thing about the glasses is they have a bottom that you can pop off and just put the glasses in the freezer laying down on their sides. When you want to serve your Orange Sherbert, you just pop the bottom back on to the glass and you are good to go.

Thanks Ed for such a simple tasty recipe!

2006-07-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Before and After...part 2
I guess there are not a lot of you posting at this time of the day on the weekend so loading pictures has gone more smoothly today. I wanted to get these done before I head off to my monthly food demo at the Fresh Market. I will be back to report on that later!
Here is a picture of a baby corn just getting it's silk. Since there aren't really any flowers to speak of this is as good as it gets.

As I have mentioned in the blog at another time, I love eggplant. I had much better success in a container on the deck two years ago. I had one black eggplant and a white one. They both were good producers but nothing has been as good as those ever since. I thought that if I planted in the ground, I would have even more eggplants. Alas, that has not been the case. We have two plants (both black) and have only two eggplants with one being slightly larger than the other. I am disappointed I have not gotten more from them. They started off really slowly so I guess we need to get some of that powder that prevents plant shock after planting. I was beginning to wonder if they were even going to grow at all, but as you can see I did get this one...

I was fast enough to get the green bean blossom right before it dropped off. We had a wicked rain and many of the blossoms got pounded off. So our green bean crop is slow to recoup from the rain.

Here is one of our first green beans. Don't ask me what kind it is, I don't have a clue. I picked 5 yesterday in varying sizes. At this rate one summer might produce a zip bag full. We planted three double rows of bean expecting more than 5. One bed got dumped on the by the neighbor's gutter being full. All the rain water got bogged down by pine needles and everything that wasn't able to drain, spilled over onto the third bed. So those plants are looking very pale and sad.

July26-I tried once again to post more pictures and was not able to. I am not sure if it's my Virus program (which has this and flickr as exceptions) or my photos are too large. I went to flickr and downloaded my photos and marked them as small. I tried to load from flickr to here to finish off my garden pictures but nothing worked. I will try again later after I get home from work. This is really frustrating!

2006-07-21T08:42:00.000-07:00

Before and After
This entry has to do with before and after in our surburban garden. I went out last week and took some pictures. With Flickr and Blogger having issues lately, I was not able to post the pictures. So, hopefully today will be my lucky day.

This is the okra flower before it becomes...

Okra grows vertically. When it first starts out the leaves are small and more compact. I have noticed now that our okra is getting taller, their leaves are spreading out and are getting larger. The okra flower drops off and this appears. I try and cut them about 3-4 inches in length. They seem to grow pretty rapidly. If you don't pick them on the smallish side they get woody and are no good to consume.

I got out to the garden just a bit too late to catch the bloom on this one. This is a burpless cucumber. This is a baby...

... and this is the cucumber grown to a nice size; about 8-9 inches. They are prickly on the outside, but really good on the inside. When you wash them the little prickly hairs come off and the cucumber is no longer "hairy" but bumpy. They are very mild in taste.

This is the cucumber at about 8-9 inches. We have put down pinestraw down on all of our garden pathways to keep the weeds down. When it gets hot and humid, I hate going out to weed.

I have more pictures but guess I have reached my picture posting limit with Blogger. This is really frustrating. I will post the rest on another day when I can get things to post in a timely manner.

2006-07-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

KISS
Keep It Simple Silly!
I work all day as many of you do and when I get home more times than not, I am dead on my feet. I think it's even more stressful for me because I am in the food business and have three part-time jobs (really four) that all involve food in some way, shape or form. My first job is of course my personal chef job. Second is working a local chain grocery store where I work four days a week in two different departments. Third, I do a food demo once a month on a Saturday for about three hours. I have been doing this one for three years. The fourth job is only one day a year (at present) teaching ServSafe classes to personal chefs who attend my association's national conference once a year. So you can see that my mind is going a thousand different directions at once; sort of like being the mother of small children.

I may from time to time use things that aren't homemade and come from a jar. I know, it's awful, but you have to do what you have to do. Last night was a "jar" night. I used to Newman's spaghetti sauce and ground beef to make spaghetti. I really didn't feel like a salad and have something from the garden that I needed. So dinner was basically on the fly.

I bought three basil plants from organic store at the farmer's market and they finally took off. I am so afraid that they will go to seed so I am thinking of anything but Pesto to use up the basil while it's pretty. While I think Newman's spaghetti sauce is great, I needed to kick up the flavor a notch so I picked some of our basil and threw it in.

Then I have to use these.
Yes, they did come from our little suburan garden. I am shocked at how fast they are maturing so I am searching for lots of ways to make recipes with cucumbers. This is one that just came to me. I know I must have eaten a version somewhere in life and remembered it was a mixture of flavors. Luckily I had all the ingredients that I thought I needed.

I made a cucumber and tomato salad. I was lucky enough to find two vine ripe tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients are usually on hand. I used some apple cider vinegar, a pinch of granulated sugar, canola oil, salt and pepper and some dried dill weed. All those ingredients were whipped up in a small bowl and then poured over quarter sliced cucumbers, tomoatoes and some small diced onions. I let everything sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, gave it a toss and I had my side for dinner.

As usual I can not get the final picture to post. I have tried all day but Blogger will not let me post it. So if I can go back and amend the post at a later date I will post the final picture of the Cucumber and Tomato Salad.

2006-07-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Veganism continued...
Since I couldn't get the rest of the pictures for my cookday on Monday to post I thought I would try again.
Guacamole

I had heard an old wives tale that if you leave the pit in the Guacamole it wouldn't turn burn. I can varify from the client on Monday, that's not true. When I loading Tuesday's food, I did see brown in the Guacamole bowl.
Baba Ghannouj

Baba Ghannouj is baked eggplant, with various ingredients and then all of that is pureed. It's meant to eaten warm with warmed slices of pita bread. I didn't used to be a huge fan of eggplant but the last few years, I have just loved it anyway it's fixed. This is an Indian (India) recipe. It's very easy to make and even easier to eat!
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Baked Fennel with Crumb Crust

I know this is covered with organic bread crumbs and you can't see the Fennel too well but it is under there. I have never baked it but have used it with tomatoes plenty of times over the years. Most folks have no idea what it is and when they hear that it has a licorice test, they baulk at the thought of eating it. Once the fennel is split into quarters and then boiled for about 10 minutes, there is only a faint flavor of licorice.

Farfalle Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach

I could not find an Farfalle pasta at the organic store, so I substituted with another kind of pasta. Using a flat small pasta works the best. Penne is too heavy for this pasta salad.

Here is the rest of the menu for Tuesday...I sadly did not act quick enough to get pictures.
Vegetable Pot Pie
Greek-Style Lentil Salad
Vegetable Risotto

Wednesday I made...
Lentil (Red) Chickpea Burgers with Coriander Garlic Cream (I did not make the Coriander Garlic Cream. I could not find a good Vegan substitue for cream, so I bought Veganaise and added the spices and garlic to that for the client to spread on their whole wheat hamburger buns. I left them sliced tomatoes and lettuce leaves for the burgers.
Hawaiian Salad (this is a strange list of ingredients but this is my second year to make this for the clients) The ingredients are-green peas, red grapes, cantaloupe, oranges, apples, pecan pieces, bibb lettuce, roma tomaotes, mint, canola oil, and cider dressing.
Sugar Peas and Carrots in Lime Butter
Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin
Quinoa with Corn and Potatoes

I hope that I am invited back to cook for some of the family members again, but if not, it was a wonderful experience and I got to try tons of new recipes.

2006-07-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

Veganism
I have been lucky enough to cook for some folks who come down once a year to vacation in my fair city. This is my second year to cook for them and if I get lucky I will be asked to come back for a third year.

One member of the family has a medical reason that he eats Vegan. For those of you who are meat eaters, that means that nothing with a face is consumed, even honey for some vegans. So I get to play once a year with different grains and vegetables that I don’t usually cook for my meat eaters. So they try new things and I get to enjoy learning new things as well.

Usually I make 5 salads, and 4 dinners with a slew of sides to go with each dinner. I didn’t repeat a lot this year. So there were some new things for them to try and hopefully fix once they get home. I always print off the recipes and leave them with the family. So here we go through the things that I fixed for the last three days that I cooked for the family.
Monday

Stuffed Eggplant

Cucumber, Mango and Spinach Salad

Avocado and Black Bean Salad

Quinoa with Green Beans and Carrots

Zucchini Salad with Tomato Dressing and Pinenuts

I wanted to post more pictures but I think I have capped out on photos with blogger for today. I have some more pictures and will post them when I can!

2006-07-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

East Coast vs West Coast
My wonderful friend Michelle (who is newly engaged-yeehaw) sent me a can of her favorite canned crab in an Oregon care box. I set the can on the shelf in the pantry saving it for just the right moment. I know that Michelle thinks that I forgot I promised to make some crab cakes. Well last night I did just that. I decided that hubster and I would do a taste comparison of east coast crab to west coast crab. I used the same ingredients and here is what it looked like...

The blue can on the top is Michelle's crab and the tub on the bottom is mine. Michelle's was four ounces and mine was a full pound but the recipe was scaled to fit each correctly.

Here are all the ingredients gathered up and ready to go. I thought that four egg whites was way too much for the pound of crab so I did only use three and the fourth one was for Michelle's crab.

Everything was chopped, minced, whipped and then folded together. The patties were formed and the cakes were lightly fried in canola oil (please do not mention the okra disaster).

Here are the two cakes that I got from Michelle's crab and then these are the ones that I got from my tub of crab...

I thought that a bottle of wine would round out the rest of the meal nicely so I picked a bottle ($10-I am totally a BIG spender-LOL!) of Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2004 Pinot Grigio. It went really well with the dinner and hubster said he liked it better than the oakey Chards that I usually pick.

We had cole slaw (yes, he did go to KFC for that), hush puppies, tarter and cocktail sauce. I was stuffed and felt like the whole dinner was a success. Now for the taste taste results. I am a huge crab lover. I would almost rather eat crab than lobster. I said almost.
So hubster and I tasted each tasted the west coast cake first (company from Oregon always goes first) and then the east coast crab. We both decided that the west coast crab was sweeter than the east coast. The texture was more stringy and even looked more translucent than the other crab. So we think we need a larger sample and might just have to go to Oregon to eat some more to continue our research.

My best wishes to Michelle and the Loving Boyfriend for a lovely wedding in the spring no matter which coast they choose. I have bookmarked all the airlines to book my reservation to attend the wedding. Can we please put in a vote for Hawaii? I need to scuba dive, bad!

2006-07-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Memories gone awry...
I think that just about everything I feel about food was established by both my grandmother and mother. My grandmother was a plain little old lady with very basic tastes. I don't remember many "instant" foods in her house when I was a child visiting with her during the summers and holidays. One of my most favorite foods that I hardly ever eat because of how it is prepared, is fried okra. Now stop groaning and saying things like "that's gross" or "eek, it's slimmy". I hate grits but I love okra. Go figure.

I haven't talked a lot about our little suburban garden but we actually got to pick some okra last night. I had big plans for the 8 little pods we picked. I was going to cut them up...and make it the same way I vaguely remember it being done when I was 5. Yes, that was a very long time ago. Memories, fade or just flat out go away.

So I remember that the okra was always rolled in corn meal and then fried in grease in a black cast iron skillet on a very old gas stove. I had the corn meal and I did toss the okra in it. I don't have a cast iron skillet but hey, it's only a skillet right? So I whipped out the Revereware skillet and poured some Canola oil. I have an electric stove but it does get pretty hot when I crank it up. I was not going to be bogged down in little details from my 5 year old memory. I trudged on. Then I fried the okra.

I took a piece and ate it. No, it wasn't quite right. Something was missing. Not enough corn meal was sticking to the okra. Okay, what can I do to make it more sticky (like the stuff isn't slimmy enough?) I cracked an egg and dipped out the frying pieces. What was I thinking? I was going to make this work if it killed me. After the half greasy and very hot okra was covered in egg, I put the stuff back into the skillet to fry some more.

I made a HUGE error in cooking judgement. Once the okra was fried to a nice brown, I fished it out of the oil and let it drain on a few layers of paper towels. I got my trusty fork and took a bite again. GAG. It was tough and had no taste of okra. What a huge disappointment! I will not be beaten by okra. So now I have to go and buy a cast iron skillet, season it and try all over again.

I would post the final picture of the fried okra but for some reason I can not seem to post any pictures since I first started this blog entry. Typepad is looking better and better everyday!

Stay tuned for more...

2006-06-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

She's a Stand Up Sort of Gal
Before my incident with a willful onion and a newly sharpened lethal weapon, I did cook. My local grocery store had a sale and I could not pass it up. After my adventures with a roasted chicken, I decided that I would not be defeated but might have to alter my expectations just a tad. I do watch some Food TV and happened upon a really cool idea that I had tried when I found it, but haven't used the idea in more than a few years. It wowed my company for dinner but we just never did it again. Why I don't know since it's a no brainer meal.

Those of you who love your grills will love this one. It's Beer Can Chicken. I can't believe that you can actually get a chicken to sit on top of a can of beer and have the most flavorful and moist chicken ever. Since hubby and I are not beer drinkers, I just bought a cheaper brand of beer I remembered from numerous commericals. I wasn't drinking it, but steaming with it.

There is no recipe...really! You just take a whole chicken and clean out all the little goodie bags inside. Olive oil, butter or what ever you like can be smeared all over the chicken along with some salt and pepper. I don't use the oil or butter but did salt and pepper and some dried rosemary.

I took a beer can and opened it with a can opener. You want the whole lid gone. I poured out 1/3 to 1/2 of the beer(no gasping from you hard core beer drinkers) and then sat the chicken on the beer can. It looks a bit odd when you get it on there but sits up straight pretty well.

The grill needs to be preheated and then you put your upright chicken on the grill, close the lid and walk away. I am not sure how long we left it on there, but it was the perfect amount of time. I took the temperature and the meat was at about 155. I took off the grill, pryed off the beer can (which is really a feat in itself) and laid the chicken on a platter for a few minutes of resting.

When we cut the chicken open, it was really juicy. I hate dried chicken and this was perfect. No more oven roasted diasters for me anymore! I have found my verision of the roasted chicken.

2006-06-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

June 22
I had an accident with a bad knife and very badly behaved onion after I had started this post. Since I can't figure out how to change the date to today...please scroll down to read about a new product that I used the weekened of June 17th.

2006-06-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

How I Spent My Monday...see picture...

I had a blog entry partially ready for today and was so excited to post it, but as you can see there will be a slight delay....I will be back later this week...

I must repeat to myself over and over, "I love my job, I love my job, l love my job...bad knife...bad onion."

2006-06-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

Smoke This
This past weekend I had the best time I have ever had doing a demo. People seemed very enthusiastic about what I was showing them. Heck I was even impressed. After you have been cooking for a living for a while, it takes a little more to get you all riled up. I found a product that I would use again and again for my own cooking! This is something that you can use in the house in the oven and outside on your grill. Now, if you are a hard core grilling person this may not appeal to you but for the everyday home chef, this is a gem of a product.

As most of you know, I doing a cooking demo once a month at my local Fresh Market. It's about three hours long, but it's a very action packed three hours. This month I got to use a product that I have never used or even heard about before. That makes the chef in me very excited. Okay, okay, now the product... It's a Smoker Bag made by SAVU. I have never heard of these before but I just love them. I love the fact that when I used the bag on the standing George Foreman grill, not one puff of smoke was to be seen but the smell was fabulous. People in the front of the store came in the back saying they could smell it and had to see what was cookin'. Now that's great advertising!

The smoker bad it the easiest thing you have ever used to get that smokey flavor in your meats without all the smoke and fussing with charcoal or a butane grill. You simply open up the bag and insert your meats, fish and or vegetables; close it up and put it in the oven at 400 degrees. Here, the bag is filled with skinny pieces of Salmon. The demo was done inside the store so it's smoking on an electric George Foreman grill. The lid was put on the grill and I timed it for 25 minutes. See the results...

You can get the recipe at here for the Smoked Salmon. I was really impressed with the bag and I personally will be using one of these bags!

2006-06-16T03:46:00.000-07:00

Eating Texas Style
I have been MIA for a bit but can't blame my hectic schedule. I was in Texas attending my 30th high school reunion. I graduated from a dinky town that I moved to three months before graduation. I really didn't know these people very well but they are linked to my childhood memories forever. I was surprised to see that not much has changed since I was with them in 30 years. Those who have bonded during childhood, are friends still to this day. It was tough trying to wiggle into those circles. And pretty much I never got in them. I was told (30 years later) I was a threat. I had to chuckle. I was overweight, short and very freckled faced. They precieved this as a threat?? Is that just sad or what?

Since I eat not so healthy things when I go home I took pictures to document this fact. Have I lost my mind or what. Who does this...bloggers armed with thoughts of how they post something for the next blog entry.

Okay, this is not for the week of heart or those who don't eat meat or anyone who eats healthy. I went over the edge in my search for the world's more unhealthy meals and I think I did a great job! LOL! Those of you who read this blog, know that I am a Chicken Fried Steak nut. I don't usually eat this amount of red meat, gravy or fried food in general, but since I only make the trek home once maybe twice a year, I figure I can rationalize my reckless actions.

My first downfall was breakfast with my brother and his wife at the Peacock Cafe. I always look at any Southern menu to find my favorite red meat dish. By golly, there it was. What could clog your heart more than this??

Notice the gravy does not look like my gravy when I made Paula Deen's Country Fried Steak. There is nothing that gets a day started like hash browns swimming in butter, 2 eggs over medium and a fried piece of red meat somthered in gravy. I live for this stuff once a year. I swear, I do not eat like this at home!

I did manage to eat some really good meat that I would consider more healthy. As we drove from my mother's town to the town where we had hotel reservations, we stumbled on to this place. I didn't care if I hungry or not (I really was) and we stopped on a dime. Hubby loves this stuff. Although we differ in our choices or beef over pork.
I know this is hard to see but I remembered while we were driving away that I didn't get a picture of the sign. It's a bit hard to see but the name of the place is Hard Eight Pit Bar BQ. It's a neatest most downhome place to eat BBQ I have ever seen. You don't order from a menu. This is how you order your meat.
You stand outside underneath a metal corrigated roof where there are at least six smokers that are smoking the meats. Then you walk along a metal rail and there is the cutting station where you place your order. There are three weathered signs that are hanging down from the metal roof that state what kind of meats they offer and that meat is priced by the pound. Yes, by the pound. The meats are all lined up on the grill. You can get a baked potato for the side outside. Then there is beef sausage and jalapeno sausage (which I had that was wonderful). Next is brisket which they will either slice for you or chop so that you can eat it on a bun or two slices of bread at the table. There are pork ribs and then you can have chopped pork butt for a sandwich. And of course, there is the ever faithful BBQ chicken buy the half. The blurry guy on your right is the cutter. To his right there is a stand where he has those plastic lunch trays all stacked up. Those are your plates. Each tray has a piece of white butcher's paper. You tell the guy what kind of meat you want and about how much. He cuts what you want and then plunks it down on that tray. Then you go inside and have your food weighed. As you move along the line you can get your sides and desserts cafeteria style. At the end of the line there is the cashier and she rings you up. Just beyond the cashier ther is the Texas (and southern) favorite, Iced Tea, both regular and sweetened. There is also a soda machine with Dublin Dr. Pepper (that will be another entry about this later).

There are long tables (click on the link above and then click on Fun Photos to see the inside of the palce ) and some elevated tables with stools and they face the TVs that are playing any current sport that is on. Each table has a huge and I mean huge jar of jalapeno peppers and a loaf of bread. There is no charge for that. Any hot sauce and BBQ that you might need are in bottles that fit into the old glass bottle carrying cardboard cases. Those of you are older will remember when soda came in glass bottles six to a cardboard carrier. It's a trip down memory lane when you see those card board carriers.

So a trip home for me means eating, Chicken Fried Steak, BBQ and Mexican food. I ate at this place when I was right out of high school 30 years ago. After driving around to see how much the town has changed imagine my surprise when I saw that this place was still in business!

Honestly, their portions could feed a family of four in one sitting. That is more food than any one person should ever be allowed to eat! I had the Mexican Lasagna. It's a stacked enchilada and the plate is loaded with pinto beans and rice.

Then hubby ordered seafood. Now I have no idea why anyone would order seafood in a Mexican restaurant in the middle of land locked Texas. It's totally beyond me. He orders seafood at every Mexican place we eat no matter where we go. Drives me completely nuts. Hubby ordered Seafood Fajitas. I have never seen them prepared this way and thought it was a clever idea. The seafood was shrimp and catfish. The catfish was grilled while the shrimp was skewered and then grilled. Hub said the shrimp was a little over grilled but the catfish was perfect. His meal came with hot flour tortillas and of course the sides of rice and beans.

And last but certainly not least was our guacamole order. We just loved their presentation of a colored chip in the middle. The guacamole was piled up high for $5. We could not eat all of it so next time we there it's a small order for us. I hate wasting guacamole!!!! Sorry I can't load the photo for the guacamole but blogger thinks you've seen enough of my food adventures! All-in all, I ate exactly the way I wanted while being in my most favorite place in the world...home!

2006-06-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

Farmer Brown's Garden
I have to say that one of the most postive influences blogwise in my life is my blogger friend Susan at Farmgirl Fare. I can't remember how I stumbled on to her blog, but it was a stumble that has changed my life for the better. I have learned a ton about sheep and gardening by reading her blogs.

One thing has lead to another...first came the spinning,

then knitting,
then a love for sheep and now a city dwellers garden.
Since we have four dogs we wanted to keep them out of the garden and hub came up with a nice idea for a little fence. I wanted a gate and he made that happen too. I wanted raised beds and again, he made that happen. I guess I am just the idea "guy" for the project. I did buy some seeds but there weren't enough so...you guessed, hubby bought more. So basically this is hubby's garden and I am just a spectator. I will take a more active role when overtime eats away his time. I will be the one to go out a weed and water and probably pick the "fruits" of his labor.

I started with a Mesculin mix and didn't plant them in a large enough container. I think I also got started too late in the season and my lettuce is still very tiny. I will do better next year. Now that we have five raised beds, I can do the lettuce in one of them so we actually get something to eat.

June 14
I have been trying to post pictures for several days on both my blogs and nothing is loading. I am way past frustrated and now my blood is boiling! So I can't post the pictures of what the garden looks like in all the stages up to this date. I will keep trying to please hang in there with me.

2006-06-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Boy
I don't usually write much about my hubby, but Friday was his birthday and I had a brain storm to do a special dinner for him. I like to go out to eat when ever I can but honestly I have been pretty busy and really haven't done a whole lot of noteable cooking lately. So to make up for my working way too much, I wanted to make him something special.

I work in the Seafood dept. of a local chain grocery store and I see what comes and goes and when it's fresh and when it's teetering on the edge of gross. Hubby loves seafood and what luck I can actually get some...what are the odds? So after work on Friday and a new client interview for the Personal Chef side of the business I went back to the store and picked up dinner. Hubby thought we were just going to cook some Brats on the grill and have a simple dinner. I hadn't bought him a card or a gift; no time. Dinner will make up for everything and score me a tired foot rub to be determined at a later date.

We are pretty simple eaters there at home and we are not really fussy folks but I do try to do some new things for the blog every now and then. I have done this dinner before but not in a very long time because of the expense. Time was small but money was big. After it was all said and done we might have been able to go out to eat this sort of thing cheaper. Oh well, I still have stock in a lovely tired foot rub.

So here is dinner...

This is the salad-baby spinach, yellow tomatoes, shredded carrots, slice cucumbers and sliced red bell peppers. I picked the yellow tomatoes because I thought they would look nice with the deep red from the bell pepper and the dark green of the baby spinach.

I tried to bake some really HUGE potatoes but in the end, stuck them in the microwave to finish them.
This is the main course, but of course! Nothing is better than a nice piping hot red Maine lobster dipped in heart clogging melted butter! Ask my husband, and he will swear this is true as the butter runs down his chin and his eyes roll up in the back of his head showing his total delight.

This is the finished product. I took two live lobsters and put them into a pot of boiling water. I don't boil them, I steam them. There is a steamer insert in this large pot. I also use a lid with something heavy on the top of it to keep the lid from coming off. You already can guess why, so I won't go into anymore detail about that. I sprinkle OldBay on the lobsters and they are perfectly steamed after about 5-8 minutes. Our lobsters weighted 1.61 and 1.64 so they went closer to 8 minutes.

We topped off the dinner with a really cold bottle of Tomahawk Mills Vidal Blanc. I had forgotten it was in the wine refrigerator but hubby found it when I mentioned I forgot to pick a bottle for dinner. We got really lucky with this one. We bought about 4 or 5 bottles at the Town Pointe Wine Festival in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, in October of last year. We try to attend every year to discover new wines that are Virigina grown. This was a gem and sadly I don't remember how much we paid for it, but it was well worth it.

This is the casual (lazy) way of setting the birthday dinner table. We were just so excited that I cooked we didn't care about all the foo-foo stuff, just good eats! Notice the size of the spud on the dinner plate closest to these words. It takes up half the plate and neither one of us finished it.
I think dinner was a success and I got that foot rub!

2006-05-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

The Enabler
I have been married to the same lovely man for over 27 years and have him pegged. I was over weight when I met him and continued to grow like the Sta-Puffed Marshmallow man in Ghost Busters. Thanks to modern medicine I lost 110 pounds and after about 5-6 years while grieving the death of my father from Luekemia, I packed on 40 pounds again. I have a constant battle with weight and some days I win, others I lose. Having an Enabler in the house is not helping me to keep from gaining more of the weight I once lost.

The prime example of how much my loving husband is a thoughtful enabler happened the other night. He had gone to the grocery store to buy a few things to tide us over until we can get to the commissary. I guess he lingered a bit too long at the check out stand and become a victim of impluse buying. He came home with this... This man knows how much I love good 'ole Southern cooking. Let's see who has who pegged.

Being raised by totally Southern parents, I ate some of the best Southern food I can remember. My most favorite food was and still is Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes and Country Gravy. I could care less about anything green or yellow or any other color on that plate. Meat and taters it is!

I am from Texas and every time I head for home I know that I will be packing on at least 5-7 pounds from my trip. Know why??? I eat Chicken Fried Steak at every place we go eat. I can eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner and I sure do try for all three. Since it's going to be a while before I go home to eat my favorite food, I made it for dinner from that magazine. I was thumbing through it, and there it was; my dream food.

Chicken Fried Steak
Makes 4 servings (ya buddy!)
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 TBS seasoned salt, such as The Lady's Seasoned SAlt
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 1/4 pounds cubed steak
Vegetable oil for frying

Preheat oven to 225.
In a shallow dish, combine crackers, flour and seasoned salt. In a wide bowl, whisk together buttermilk and eggs.
Dredge steaks in cracker mixture; dip in buttermilk mixture; and dredge again in cracker mixture. Place prepared steaks on a wire rack set in a jellyroll pan to set crust for 5 minutes.

Picture disclaimer: I did not have buttermilk so I used two eggs and it worked perfectly.

Pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a large heavy skillet; heat oil to 360 degrees. Fry steaks 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden, turning only once. Remove steaks to a clean wire rack set in a jellyroll pan. Keep steaks warm in oven.

Carelly drain hot oil into a heat-proof container, leaving 1-2 tablespoons oil and browned bits in skillet to make tMilk (or as many call it) Country Gravy.

Picture disclaimer. The gravy on the meat looks really thick and almost solid. It pretty much was by the time I stopped sticking my spoon into the pot of mashed potatoes on the stove to test them for creaminess. It required several tastings. Then of course you have to test the gravy...well you get the gest of it...really...testing is most important...really...

I have to say that this is the MOST unhealthy meal I could eat, but the most satifying for the soul. I added green beans out of guilt, but it sure was worth it.

2006-05-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Apologies to all
I have just been very busy and when I think about coming up here in an office that needs to be shoveled out...blogging is the very last thing on my mind. I haven't tried anything new. Well, that's not true. I had one day off, yesterday and went for a quick coffee and a quick read of knitting books at B&N yesterday. I know I should have been blogging but I need some "ME" time. I went to the cookbook bargin table out of habit, and darned if I didn't buy another stinking cookbook. What was I thinking? I was thinking that I don't have time for food fashion shoots, but just dinner. So I bought...

I tried one recipe as soon as I got home and it slow cooked in the crockpot for 5 hours. I tested the Hearty Chili Mac but didn't take any pictures. I was way too hungry to style a lovely photo so I scarfed it down. It turned out well. If you do not have a crockpot you really should invest in one that has different cooking times on it. Mine is a Rival and it have four times, 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, and 10 hours. I love this because I can be home all day and keep an eye on a pot roast that is cooking for 8-10 hours. The smell really does fill the house.

This is a super mind numbing easy recipe. We used to make this very same thing but browning ground meat, two or three dashes of chili powder and a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese. I think maybe this is the grown up verision. Either way this is the poor man's or starving students cheap eats.

Hearty Chili Mac
4 Servings

1 lb of 90% lean ground beef
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes,drained
1 cup diced onions
1 TBS chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano, dried
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups of cooked macaroni

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to separate meat. Drain. Add beef, tomatoes, onions, and all the spices to slow cooker; mix well.

Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

Stir in macaroni. Cover and cook 1 hour.

Okay, as we all know I always screw around with any recipe. I made this one simplier (as if I was complicated to begin with) because I could.

Adjustments: I needed more than 4 servings. So I used a package of the 93% ground beef (the commissary sells it that way, what can I say-I refuse to weigh the meat for a recipe like this). Then I added two of the canned diced tomatoes, with the juices (this will be revealed later why). I always increase my dried spices, just because I can and I tripled them. I did follow the directions and stirred the stuff up. Oh, back up...I cooked the onions while I browned the meat. Saves me time and I liked my onions cooked! I was not going to cook the macaroni in yet another pan. I am just too lazy for that. One more pot to wash or heaven forbid, load in the dishwasher. I measured out two cups of dry elbow macaroni and dumped it in with everything else. Word to the wise. You will need to NOT drain the tomatoes and then add one more can of water. The macaroni will absorb all that anyway. I have to say that the macaroni did get a little soggy but no one here complained.

So no photo but take my word for it; it was completely filling. I have visions of corn muffins dancing in my head, but alas, I fell asleep in the chair watching the news while the crockpot did it's thing and no muffins were made. Oh well...

2006-05-09T04:06:00.000-07:00

No Time to Dilly Dally Around
I will be back next week to blog but right now I am working seven days in a row which is combining three part-time jobs. I am just about run ragged but the light at the end of the tunnel is next week is much, much slower. So please hang in there and come back next week. Things have just gotten out of control and I need to let the dust settle so I can blog. Thanks for your patience!

2006-05-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Going Nuts!
I have a new part-time job and time is more in shortage than it ever was. Cooking now is much more of a challenge with this new job and with hubby doing lots of overtime and playing golf. This recipe is a great one for time starved working folks like us and I know some of you. I found this at the grocery store where I shop for my clients and look forward to the new pamphlets when they come out.

I am nuts about nuts so this recipe turned me on! Hubby isn’t so wild about nuts but he ate it anyway.

Pistachio Chicken Salad with Goat Cheese Medallions
Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless, split chicken breasts
¼ cup plus 2 TBS dry Italian-style breadcrumbs, divided
¾ cup chopped pistachios, divided
Purchased Roasted Garlic or Creamy Italian salad dressing, divided
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 (logs 3.5 ounces each) Chevre (goat cheese)
4-5 cups mixed salad or baby spinach

Place chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap and pound lightly with meat mallet to even thickness. Line shallow baking pan with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine ¼ cup breadcrumbs and ¼ cup pistachios in shallow dish. Place ¼ cup salad dressing in another shallow dish. Dip chicken breast in salad dressing to coat, drain off excess and then dredge in pistachio mixture. Repeat with remaining breasts. Place breasts in single layer on prepared baking pan. Refrigerate 15-20 minutes to set the breading.

To prepare the goat cheese medallions, combine remaining 2 TBS breadcrumbs with remaining ½ cup pistachios and pepper in shallow dish. Place ¼ cup salad dressing in another shallow dish. Cut each log of goat cheese into six equal slices for a total of 12. Dip cheese medallion in dressing and then dredge in pistachio mixture, turning to coat all sides. Repeat with all cheese medallions. Place in a single layer on plate, cover with plastic wrap and freeze 10-15 minutes. May be prepared ahead and refrigerated for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake chicken 20-25 minutes for until temperature on meat thermometer reaches 160F or juices run clear when pierced with knife.

To make warm goat cheese medallions, preheat grill pan over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add medallions, lower heat to medium-low and grill about 1-2 minutes per side. Outside of medallions should be crispy while inside remains soft and creamy. May be cooked in heavy skillet instead of grill pan.

To serve: toss salad greens with desired amount of remaining dressing. Divide among four plates. Top each salad with sliced chicken breast and garnish with three warm goat cheese medallions.
This is a super easy recipe to fix. It's great for a summer lunch and it heats up the next day beautifully. Even the goat cheese medallions are just as good the second day.

2006-05-01T05:12:00.000-07:00

Been Very Busy!
I am on a roll with a new job and I have not had the time to post anything on the blog. I even missed the Weekend Dog Blogging #32.

We have been busy starting a new backyard garden so we can try our hands at growing our own vegetables...
...trying to work on a sweater in my knitting class... ...spinning wool... and today Sheep Shearing Day is finally here after being postponed due to rain, three weekends in a row. Here is who I will be spending time with most of today, hence no time to blog! So please come back tomorrow when I have more time to post a new chicken recipe.

2006-04-26T04:12:00.000-07:00

Food Greetings from a Friend
I am so lucky to have met the nicest most generous blogger friends. I am not sure exactly how I met Michelle from The Accidental Scientist but I certainly am thrilled. Michelle's site has been funny and informative about things that I have never eaten, drank or even considered trying. That's the best part of being blogger friends; we all live and learn about food via each other. My first lesson about Oregon food was with Michelle's very
first box for me.

It was filled with all kinds of Oregon based foods. I went nuts over the Hazelnuts that she sent me. I think I ate that whole bag over a few days all by myself! Shame on me. I had promised to make something with the hazelnuts. All I did was make pounds for myself. I did eat the little jar of honey and it was savored with every whole wheat English muffin that it was spread on. Hubby and I drank every drop of the Oregon Chardonay and loved it.

I got home from work last week and found a box on my front porch. I didn't remember ordering anything from the mail. Maybe it was the neighbor's box. He can't seem to remember his own home address when he orders car parts for his beloved race car. I looked at the return address and knew this was no mistake. I got a box from Oregon!

I threw down my purse and cut that box open with scissors so fast it surprised me. It was Christmas in April, which is a good thing. This is what I found inside.

I have to talk about these two first items in glowing terms. I love tea. I am not expert by any means but I am learning all the time. I am into Harney& Sons Chocolate Decaf Oolong tea. My new daughter-in-law ordered some for me one year for Christmas and I have been hooked ever since. I now order it on-line and panic if it takes very long for that little brown box to appear on the front porch. Michelle pays attention, far better than I ever guessed! So there was a little bag of Rooibos Spicy Chocolate Seduction tea in the box along with lovely cup and saucer to drink the tea from. The tea is from Savoure.

Here is what it looks like in the tea basket before brewing. I have to say that I really didn't pay close attention to what the tea looked like in my haste to brew it. I boiled the water, poured it into the pot, poured out the hot water, then added more hot water to actually brew the tea. I set the timer on the microwave for 4 minutes and got my new cup and saucer ready for the new brew. Of course I poured just a bit of milk in the bottom of the saucer. I paced and paced, looked at the microwave, unloaded the dishwaser and ding! It was time. It smelled so good. I poured it into the cup and and had a sip. It was good, really good. Then...a little tickle in the back of the throat. What was that?? Did I denote some pepper? HOT PEPPER? Whew! I had to have another sip. There was that tickle again. Okay, now I have to look into the wet tea in the basket. There on the top were three little tiny red things. Oh, lord-there were peppers in there. This called for another look...in the dry tea pouch. There they were, tons of little red chili peppers just waiting to heat up my life. Yummy. I have had never had tea with peppers. It was good. And it shocked me. I loved it. I had to have another pot. I was so taken aback with the spiciness of the tea and that I loved it. So now I have expanded my tea tastes to spicy tea. What a thrill to learn something about my tea tastes.

Here is the complete box contents.
I got two bars of soap. I collect handmade soaps (Michelle knew nothing about this) for a basket in all my bathrooms. I just love them and they each unique and have a story about where it was purchased and usually I get to meet the creator. The first box is a little green box of lettuce soap. It's white so that threw me. I thought for sure it would be green. Nope, just lettuce extract. After my tea experience with those little peppers, I read the soap ingredients. It's surprising what you learn if you only take a moment to read things. Duh! lol!

The second bar of soap is the one with the lovely pattern on the top (let me give you this disclaimer before you click on the link I have provided-there are examples of a shapely naked woman with bare breasts as soap bars-read the site, it has an interesting story about all her handmade soaps.) and it's made from goat's milk. Alsea Acre Alpines has more to offer so check out their homepage.

Next, there was seafood from the god Neptune-CRAB! I live near a huge mecca for crabs. I think that if you live near the Chesapeake Bay it is mandatory that you either love crab, or catch for those who do; plain and simple. I love crab! I have eaten every way you can fix a crab cake in this world. I am not sure where my love for crab came from but who cares. I will make crab cakes with this special can of love from the sea soon and post it here along with the recipe. The recipe wheels are churning! The company is Chuck's Seafood.

I am not sure I should talk about the huge Hazelnuts...I could show you the bag about 6 hours later, but I am sure you all have seen empty bags...need I say more??? I can't get enough of them. I wanted to give you a link to River Bend Farm so you can do business with them, but when I did a search, I couldn't find a site for them. So here is their phone number 541-741-1411.

Thanks Michelle! You are so generous and I do appreciate the love from Oregon.

2006-04-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

Lumpia
I am married to someone who was in the Navy for a little over 20 years. That means I have logged a lot of travel miles, packed a pagillion times, lived at five different duty stations, lost and gained an array of different kinds of friends along with their native food cultures. I think I stumbled on to the most wonderful group of women across the country when I joined The Navy Wives Clubs of America. This is a group of women whose husbands are either active duty or retired military. They are united by that common bond. I can’t remember exactly how I found my very first group in Horsham, PA, but it was where my very first experience happened with friends intermingled with food.

Since the NWCA is a 5013C organization, they are all about raising money for the 40 scholarships for deserving hard working college bound kids. There are clubs all over the United States and each club raises money that goes into the collective national pot. Raising money has to be fun and creative. Some had thrift shops, some have all food related fundraisers and others do air shows at their local military base. We all had a great time even though some times it was back breaking work.

When we were stationed at NAS (Naval Air Station) Memphis, TN, I learned how to make Lumpia. I can’t tell you how many thousands of Lumpia I have rolled the four years that I lived there. We did bake sales but the Lumpia sales had the sailors lined up in hallways everywhere waiting for the piping hot, hand rolled Filipino food. Lumpia is easy to make and very easy to eat as well as addictive, and I mean that in a good way…

Lumpia’s native origin is in China. Yes, China. Most people, who know about Lumpia, believe it was born in the Philippines. I am one of those people until this past weekend when I was doing research for this blog entry. I was a bit surprised! No matter where Lumpia was created they honed to perfection, it’s still great finger food.

Lumpia can be made with a variety of fillings, sizes and wrappers. This past weekend since I had bought Egg Roll Wrappers, I made mine with those. My preference is the actual Lumpia wrapper. They are thinner and are crispy perfection when fried to a golden brown. You will not soon forget that lovely crunch when you take your first bite.

To make Lumpia NWCA style, the club bought the ground beef and all the members brought in the rest of the fillings needed. We usually did onions, carrots and green bell peppers. I can’t remember if we used soy sauce or corn starch but I know there are some recipes that use those ingredients as well as minced garlic and ginger. Some even use shredded potatoes to stretch the recipe.

All the vegetable ingredients need to be finely minced. A mini chop or a food processor works great and its okay if it’s on the mushy side. It makes it easier to roll. Chunky Lumpia is a bit of a challenge because it pokes through the wrapper.

Here is what I used and how I made the Lumpia. I hope that you try this. The ingredients are very common to any part of the country and even easier if you live near an Asian Market.

I used these ingredients that I had on hand; 1 white onion, 2 medium carrots, 1 red bell pepper, and the Egg Roll Wrappers. The vegetables were chopped up in the food processor one at a time.

The commissary like so many other grocery stores, never packages up an even pound of meat so this is about 1 1/2 pounds. The amount of beef or protien that you use doesn't really matter.

Here I am with a little log of the meat mixture that includes all the vegetables.

I just put the wrapper at an angle and then began to roll but only about 1/3 of the way.

After rolling, I folded the edges up sort of like a homemade envelope.

After you fold the ends up you just roll it up like this...

Doing three of four at one time makes the task go much quickier. After rolling the Lumpia, I put them in the refrigerator so the wrappers could stick to themselves on the seam side; about 30 minutes will do. At this stage if you don't want to cook the whole batch, you can freeze them. Put a piece of wax paper between the layers if you are stacking them. Fry them from the frozen state if you are saving them for a later date. They tend to get sticky if you thaw them out and are a mess to handle. They fry up great whether fresh or frozen. It doesn't take long and you will need to hang close to the stove.

I have used soy sauce with minced ginger and garlic as a simple dipping sauce but I really love Plum sauce. It's sweet and adds something wonderful to the Lumpia when dipping it.

2006-04-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

Weekend Dog Blogging
There is a great place to check out other blogger's pet dogs. Swing or click by Cate's site to view all the pretty pooches!
Sadie is relaxing in my office instead of helping me clean up! She is getting more like a teenager everyday!

2006-04-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

A Proper Cup of Tea
A proper cup of tea should be enjoyed with a friend. Here's to you Michelle! You are just a peach!

2006-04-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Yet another use for Pesto!
I made so much Pesto last fall that I froze it. I still have some in the zip bag and when I read this recipe, I knew I had a short cut for dinner! I am all about not spending a lot of time doing dinner on a weeknight. I would rather fuss around with food on the weekend when I have more time. It’s supposed to rain all weekend so I will have plenty of time in the house since I won’t be in the fledging garden.

This recipe is from the same place as the Primavera Chicken Brochettes. I really liked this recipe and it got a thumb’s up from hubby. Leftovers are on the menu for tomorrow for hubby at work. This recipe has a lot of ingredients but you can take some short cuts which I will talk about at the end. Here we go!

Chicken Ala Biagio
Serves 4

4 Chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
Salt and pepper to taste

Pesto Filling
8 oz fresh basil stems removed
2 medium cloves of garlic
3 oz pine nuts
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese

Chicken
2 cups Italian Blend cheese, shredded
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup Italian bread crumbs
¾ cup butter

Sun-Dried Tomato Caper-Sauce
1 TBS olive oil
3 medium shallots, finely minced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
8 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and minced
1 cup white wine
1/8 cup heavy cream
2 TBS capers, drained
¼ tsp thyme, fresh
4 TBS butter
1/8 cup parsley, minced
Fresh basil, garnish

Place chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with meat mallet to even thickness about ¼ inches. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

To make Pesto, place basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and parmesan cheese in a food processor with steel blade and process to a paste-like consistency. It may be prepared in advanced and refrigerated.

Preheat oven to 350F. Place equal portion of Italian Cheese in center of each flattened breast and spoon 1 TBS prepared Pesto in center of cheese. Roll breasts, tucking in ends, to completely enclose filling. Secure with toothpicks. Unused Pesto may be frozen for later use.

Place flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in three separate shallow dishes. Lightly coat filled chicken breast with flour, dusting off excess. Brush all sides with egg and then roll in breadcrumbs. Repeat with other breasts. Heat ¾ cup butter in heavy skillet until melted. Brown filled breasts on all sides. Transfer to lightly greased baking pan and bake 20-30 minutes until temperature on meat thermometer reaches 160F and juices run clean when pierced with knife.

To prepare sauce, place 1 TBS oil in saucepan. Sauté shallots, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes until tender. Add wine and cook until reduced by half. Gradually add cream while stirring. Add caper and thyme and again reduce by half. Whisk in butter, 1 TBS at a time until consistency is creamy. Add parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, remove toothpicks and place on a serving dish. Top each breast with sauce. Garnish with fresh basil of desired.

Note: I think you can save yourself some time if you buy the jarred Pesto and then freeze the rest in an ice cube tray for later creations. I also don't like using regular bread crumbs so I made a mixture of Panko bread crumbs with dried basil, oregano and thyme. I like the flakiness of the Panko much better than the other recommended crumbs. I cut some of the fat out of the recipe by using dried Sun-Dried tomatos and soaked them in boiling water about 15-20 minutes. They worked just fine in the sauce without being soaked in olive oil. There is way too much butter to saute the chicken breasts in. I ended up throwing about half of it away. You do need the in the last part of the recipe for the sauce, no skimping on that part.

2006-04-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

It’s Grillin’ Time!
This is one of my most favorite times of the year. The weather is cooler and the days are getting longer so eating late doesn’t bother me so much. We are usually working in the yard mowing, pulling weeds and planting things and we lose track of time. I do my best to marinate a meat of some kind and fix a side of some veggies to grill beside the meat. This recipe kills two birds with one stone and I love those kinds of meals. This was tasty and easy so it’s my kind of a food!

I found this recipe in my local grocery, Farm Fresh. They put these little pamphlets once a year and this is my second year to pick on up. I got one recipe from last year that I used for my clients and have since lost the pamphlet, but this one will yield more. I have found that out of 6 winning recipes, I will try 4 for sure. There are two recipes that involve a roasted chicken and well all know how that has turned out for me so I think I will not be trying them any time soon. Besides the weather is getting warmer and I really don’t want to heat up the house for a burned chicken…you can understand my dilemma.

The recipe I used this weekend comes from Gold Kist Farms Chicken Recipe Contest. I picked this one because it was the easiest one to start with. It’s a winner as far as I am concerned.

Primavera Chicken Brochettes
Yields: 6 servings (12 brochettes)
2 pounds Gold Kist Farms (or any brand) boneless, skinless, split breasts
2 zucchini, cut crosswise into 6 slices, ¾ inches thick
2 yellow squash, cut crosswise into 6 slices, ¾ inch thick
2 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch squares

Marinade
¾ cup balsamic vinegar
¾ cup olive oil
2 TBS Creole Seasoning
2 tsp dried rosemary (if using fresh use 1 TBS)
2 tsp garlic powder

Cut chicken breasts into large cubes. Set aside
Combine marinade ingredients, mixing well. Divide marinade in half. Place chicken in a large non-metallic dish or re-sealable plastic bag. Pour half of marinade over . cover or close the bag and refrigerate 2 hours.

Combine remaining half of marinade with cut vegetables in large non-metallic dish or re-sealable plastic bag. Toss to coat and marinade 15 minutes.

Preheat grill and lightly coat grill rack with oil or cooking spray.Using 12 metal skewers thread chicken cubes and vegetable slices on skewers, alternating chicken with 1 piece zucchini, 1 piece squash, and 1 piece bell pepper. Begin and end with chicken cubes. Discard marinade from chicken; reserve vegetable marinade.

Using 12 metal skewers thread chicken cubes and vegetable slices on skewers, alternating chicken with 1 piece zucchini, 1 piece squash, and 1 piece bell pepper. Begin and end with chicken cubes. Discard marinade from chicken; reserve vegetable marinade.

Place filled skewers on prepared grill and grill over medium high heat, 4-6 inches from source of heat, about 6-8 minutes per side or until chicken reaches 160F on meat thermometer. Baste once or twice with reserved vegetable marinade. Serve hot.

2006-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Pignoli Biscotti
Here is the recipe for the Biscotti that I baked the other day when complaining about the CPA and IRS. This is super simple. Why pay for the those pre-packaged Biscotti at work when you can make your own under an hour and take them to work fresh from home! This is a great recipe for beginning baker wanna bes. Really! For another Biscotti recipe you can check out Susan's recipe at Farmgirl Fare. Susan does some great recipes and you can bet they are truly doable.

Pignoli Biscotti
2/3 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar ( have to use the Splenda for Baking)
2 eggs
2 TBS lemon juice (fresh)
2 TBS lemon zest
2 cups plus 2 TBS unbleached or all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Place nuts in a shallow pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool. In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, lemon juice and zest. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, mixing until blended. Fold in nuts. Divide dough in half. On a greased and floured baking sheet pat out into two logs about 1/2 inch high, 1 1/2 inches wide and 14 inches long, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake in the middle of a preheated 325 degree oven for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer from the baking sheet to a rack. Let cool for 5 minutes. Place on a cutting board. With a serrated knife slice diagonally at a 45 degree angle about 1/2 inches thick. Lay slices flat on the baking sheet and return to the oven for 10 minutes longer, turning over once, to dry slightly. Let cool on a rack. Store in a covered container.
Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen

Notes: When you bake the pine nuts, really watch them closely. If they get too brown they taste on the bitter side. It doesn't take long for them to burn so don't get on the computer to read blogs and forget them! I used Splenda for Baking instead of sugar and I really couldn't tell a sweetness difference. If you don't like artifical sweetners the regular sugar works great. I have used both. I have to say that when I form the dough into the log, I cut it into two smaller logs. It seems to take a little less time for the first baking. I never get as many Biscotti as the recipe says it will yield but my cutting and measuring skills are lacking. I just cut them the thickness I like.

This recipe came from Biscotti by Lou Seibert Pappas

2006-04-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Who said that Moose only live in the woods?
Here is my entry to Weekend Dog Blogging. You will want to check out the other beloved K-9s at Cate's place.

Meet Moose Brown. Sounds kind of silly for a Doxie, but here is his story. Sadie is his mother and Edward is his father. His older brother died during birth and we did the best we could to revive him. I knew that Sadie was in distress and having never delivered puppies before, I had no earthly idea what to do. I called the vet and they said to bring her right over. They took her and gave her an X-ray to see if there were anymore puppies. Yes, there was one more little soul in there. Moose was delivered by C-section and weighed in at exactly 4 ounces. They had a hard time getting him to breathe at first but he came around. When I held him in my hands, it was like holding cotton candy; you could see it but bearly feel it. We took him home along with his mom that day and watched him like a hawk. I think I was more of a nervous mother than Sadie. She did a great job for being a first time mom. She knew exactly what to do. I was shocked.

Since the puppy had such are hard beginning I thought he needed a big name to get his life going. So since his father was named after Eddy on Frasier, I decided to name him after Eddy's (the TV dog) REAL name, which is Moose. So now we have this little tiny thing with a huge name. He did not disappoint us at all. He grew up to weigh 22lbs and has feet like a Basset Hound, which really surprised us since both his parents are minis and weigh under 10 pounds each.

Moose isn't not very bright, but what he lacks in smarts he makes up ten fold with love and devotion. He loves his little brother Charlie and is devoted to being a good Doxie pack member. He is all about sleeping, eating, and licking everything he can get that tongue on. We just call him our "tongue with legs".

This picture can be taken everyday at least twice a day. Moose and I play this game called "stair kisses". He gets to a certain point on the stairs and just sits there and waits for me to let him give me kisses through the stairs. We do this every morning when I roust him out of his bed and every night when we are on our way up to bed. None of the other dogs do this, just Moose. I have no idea how this behavior started but it ours to share and I love it every day. He is a very sweet soul.

2006-04-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

Soothing the Savage Beast
I had a lovely quiet and wonderfully blissful morning yesterday until the phone rang. It was the CPA. I like this man and have known him for about 6 years now. Yesterday I wanted to do horrible unspeakable things to him. The news was not good at any level. We owe the IRS and the state of Virginia an obscene amount of money. Yesterday was the 12th and we have to have our taxes postmarked by the 17th not to pay a penalty and a disgusting interest fee.

So what do mad chefs do when getting bad news?? We sooth the savage beast by BAKING. Being left home alone on what was supposed to be a lovely day off, was dangerous. I was mad, mad, mad!! It is three days until I can go grocery shop and there are no cookies, no chocolate (that in itself is a HUGE crime) and no ice cream to drown my tax sorrows in.

I was on a tear! I looked high and low to make something, anything to take my mind off of owing so much money I wanted to faint. I am an avid tea drinker and believe that you should always have a biscuit or small cookie of some sort when you have a proper cup of tea. Biscotti, would do the trick.

I have to say that as little as I bake, I do still enjoy it. You don't really have to be good at it but you have to like it. It made me feel less beastly about the CPA and I got a treat with my afternoon cup (pot) of tea. When you feel horrible, create something. It takes your mind off of what could have ruined the rest of a perfectly lovely, sunny, warm day.

Here is what bliss looks like before you cut it up and bake it a second time.

Here is savage soothing bliss after second baking and skillfull stacking...now for the best part...

Now does anyone know of a good bank that needs to be relieved of some of their money?

2006-04-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Herbed Roasted Pork Tenderloin (no recipe needed)
I was looking through some old pictures that I had taken for the blog which I never posted. I found this series of pictures that would fit in with the KIS theme from the other day. I use recipes once to see how it works, then rarely after that. I know that some of you out there in Blogland need to/have to have a recipe. Believe me, I understand but you need to break out of your comfort zone and try something without a recipe to build up your confidence. Here is the perfect "recipe" for your "no recipe" meal.

I am a huge fan of pork tenderloin. I could care less about "The Other White Meat" campaign. I just love the stuff and it's extremely easy to play around with. So many herbs, fruits and flavors go perfectly with pork. So let me show you how easy it can be.

Take one naked pork tenderloin (not packaged with any of that disgusting marinade) and clean it up. By cleaning it up I mean, to cut off any unwanted fat and silver skin. You can either use a boning knife (I never use this) or a chef's knife (more my style) or a paring knife (easy for little hands) to get the silver skin off. The silver skin can keep any marinades or seasonings you use on the tenderloin from penetrating it and leaving fabulous flavors behind.

I used whatever I could find to put on the tenderloin to make any coating on the outside stick.
I am a mustard lover from way back when. My dad introduced me to mustard and the lesson continues to this day. At any given time I have at least three different kinds of mustards squirreled away in the refrigerator or the "back-up" stash in the pantry.

I took some mustards and mixed them up on a plate. I then rolled the tenderloin in the mustard making sure it had a healthy coating. Next, I rolled the tenderloin in every herb both fresh and dried that I had in the house. I had a huge bundle of fresh parsley left over from a client's cook day and chopped that up too. Everything was mixed and again laid on a plate for easy rolling.

After the tenderloin is coated, I then took about 2 TBS of olive oil and put it in a hot skillet. I seared the tenderloin on all sizes and popped it into a 450 degree oven in the same skillet I seared in. I set the timer for 10 minutes, tested it for doneness and decided it was a bit too pink and left it in for another 10 minutes. I like my tenderloin slightly pink on the inside. Here are the results. I also cooked some saffron steeped couscous and some garlic sauteed green beans to round out the meal. Pretty tasty for little or no effort and no recipe.

Cook's Note: As Ilva noted in her comment to me-this pork is too rare for anyone to safely eat. I cut open the tenderloin and saw how pink it was, took the picture and then put it back into the oven for yet another 10 minutes. Sorry-I should have noted that when I posted the picture. I looked through the photo files and I only took pictures of the pork this rare. It made a great picture, but not so safe for eating.

2006-04-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

KIS (Keepin' It Simple)
I wasn't really in the mood to cook last week because of hubby's late hours. Hubby calls me from the road to estimate what time he thinks he will be home. So I usually pick things that can be put in the oven that will take about 30-40 minutes. I had a lot of vegetables in the crisper and needed to use them before they went bad. So...I used as many as I could for this dinner and two other dinners.

I bought the two largest green bell peppers I have ever seen at the commissary and needed to figure out how to use them. Stuffed Bell Peppers is a quick, easy and healthy way to use them up. I had cooked some rice a month before and of course had excess and froze it. Freezing rice is super simple and very cost effective. You just thaw it out just like anything else; on a plate overnight in the refrigerator. After thawing the rice to break up the clumps, you run your hands under cold water and then start breaking up the clumps. The rice separates beautifully.

I didn't want to boil all the vitamins out of the green bell peppers (really I waited a bit too late to boil them on the stove) and I gave them a quick microwave to soften them up after cutting off the tops and cleaning out the seeds. I had a package of 93% fat free hamburger meat that weighed 1 1/2 pounds. Way too much for us to eat at one meal. I hate wasting things like that so I took the whole package of meat and crumbled it up in the skillet to cook. I took out half of the cooked meat and let it cool, wrapped it up and put it back into the refrigerator for later use. The thawed rice and ground meat were mixed in the skillet along with some s&p, fresh chopped parsley, one beaten egg and some shaved parmesan cheese. I scooped that mixture into the microwaved peppers and put them into a casserole dish. Two 8oz. cans of tomato sauce were opened and poured over the peppers and that was then popped into a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

I still had way too many vegetables in the refrigerator so I made one of my favorite recipes; Roasted Vegetebles-South Beach style. I love this recipe because you really don't need to read a paper to make it. Zucchini, Squash, Red Onion, Mushrooms, and Asparagus, 3 TBS olive oil, s&p.

You can't get any easier than that. Everything is chopped up and then tossed with the olive oil and s&p and then spread on a baking sheet and baked in the oven.

This is a year round favorite for me; dieting or not. That was one night's dinner and I still had more tricks up my sleeve to make my life simplier. The other half of the hamburger meat was already cooked and ready to go into a jar of Paul Newman's spaghetti sauce. This was dinner number. We didn't eat any vegetables with that dinner but I had got another idea! I had left over veggies from the night before so while the spaghetti was boiling, I put on a second pot so I can could half a box of mini penne pasta. I took the mini penne pasta and the left over South Beach veggies and mixed them together to make a roasted veggie pasta for dinner the next night. I took some red wine vinegar, olive oil and every dried herb I could scare up with a tsp of sugar and whisk them together for the dressing on the pasta salad. The roasted vegetable pasta was then used to eat with Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts the next night.

The whole point of this post is that if anyone just gives a few more minutes to each meal it could be the ground work for a quicker meal the next night. I know most of you have full-time jobs and a family to boot and time is precious. Take a few minutes to plan three meals during your week where you build off a few ingredients to make the next meal.

2006-04-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

Weekend Dog Blogging
You want to see more foodie pictures of their beloved pooches, go to Cate's place and check them out!

I think we need a larger foot stool. Top to bottom is Moose, Charlie and then Sadie. Ed decided that he wanted the love seat all to himself. Smart boy. We had some really fabulous weather this past week and the dogs took full advantage of the warm weather to work on their tans.Eddy doesn't usually go out side and lay in the sun. He is a more prissy boy and like to be in the house with me all the time.

Charlie found a stick to chew until he finally fell asleep with the sticks between his paws. Sadie never needs any reason to fall asleep!

2006-04-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

Lamb Chops (not the puppet)
I have had this post for a few weeks but forgot about posting it. We had a wicked storm last night with little tee tiny balls of disaster falling from the sky. No logging onto the computer to post anything last night. So with no further delay...Pan Roasted Lamb Chops with Rosemary Balsamic Syrup & Wilted Spinach.

This is a very easy dish to make. I can't demo anything that is complicated at the store demos. The whole idea is to get folks into the kitchen and get them cooking. Besides, who says cooking food that looks good and tastes good has to be hard, complicated or expensive? Now lamb chops are $7.99 a pound, but this is the exception not the rule. Since I did this in mid March, it was to promote spring lamb. Many folks eat lamb for Easter and this is one way to fix it that is super simple!

Pan Roasted Lamb Chops with Rosemary Balsamic Syrup & Wilted Spinach
Step 1: Make the balsamic rosemary syrup in a non-reactive saucepan, combining the following:
3/4 cup Good quality balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary, freshly chopped rosemary (you can use dry also if you can't find any fresh)

Over moderate heat, let mixture reduce until it is syrupy. This process will take about 8-10 minutes. You will not want to do this in the house!! You can use your grill outside to do this but it might take a bit longer. The fumes from this process will knock you socks off! The smoke alarm in your house will go off and everyone in your house will hate you for days if you do this in doors! If you have a tropical bird you know you can not do this anywhere near your bird. I can't stress enough to not do this in the house.

Lamb Chops
4 Fresh Market Premium lamb chops, trimmed of all visible fat
1 tsp of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked
2 TBS Fresh Market Olive Oil to coat the pan
1/4 cup of your favorite light red wine, maybe a Pinot Noir

Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet on medium high heat, and heat the olive oil until it begins to smoke. Cook lamb chops for approximately 4-5 minutes (depending on the thickness) to yield medium rare. Remove chops and set aside. Add chopped garlic, and cook until the garlic is just softened (do not brown; it makes garlic bitter), about a minute. Take pan away from heat and then add the wine to deglaze. Pour sauce over lamb chops and cover with foil to keep warm.

Wilted Spinach
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 TBS olive oil
1 large bag of washed and ready to use Spinach

In the same pan used for the lamb chops, combine the olive oil and garlic and cook over medium high heat until softened; about 3 minutes. Add the spinach to the pan. Keep the spinach moving during the wilting process to prevent burning or sticking.

Final Assembly
Plate spinach onto serving plates. Place lamb chops over the spinach. Drizzle with Balsamic Rosemary syrup.

2006-03-30T05:02:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-03-27T06:33:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-03-26T07:44:00.000-08:00

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).

2006-03-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-03-19T07:16:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-03-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-03-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

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?

2006-03-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

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??