What's For Dinner?

Marty's Make Do Dump Cake

2012-02-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Typical Dump Cake:

1 can cherry pie filling

1 can pineapple tidbits with juice

1 box vanilla cake mix

1 stick butter

What do you do when you don't have tidbits? You Make Do!!

Into a greased 9x14 pan, layer:

1 can cherry pie filling on the bottom

1 small 12-ounce bag of frozen blueberries

3/4 cup pineapple juice

1 box (dry) vanilla cake mix

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Crumble 1/2 cup brown sugar

Cover with 1 stick of butter in slices

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Smells terrific! Looks terrific! Tastes terrific! The fruit was sweet and tart and the cake part was buttery nutty sweet. A wonderful combination! We each had a square while it was still warm because we just couldn't wait for this cake/cobbler/crisp to cool. This would have been even more amazing if it was topped with vanilla ice cream!

Super Bowl Food Day

2012-02-06T02:02:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Super Bowl Sunday, Mark went shopping at Costco for some supplies. He ran into lots of friends and claims I missed some great pre-game fun, even calling me a party pooper! I think Mark enjoyed grazing on all the snackies and shopping without old kill-joy saying "no, no no - we are fat, fat, fat".

We planned to snack on bbq mini weenies and cheese and crackers, but we had skipped lunch and were so hungry, we sat down for dinner at kickoff and left the snackies in the fridge for another day.

Mark cooked burgers on the grill. We love Costco's fresh hamburger, already formed into patties.

buns, condiments, lettuce, tomato, pickles

bright orange shredded carrot salad with raisin/walnut/mayo

wavy potato chips with a vat of Costco spinach dip

I drank a glass of beer, half - because booze makes me sleepy, and fell asleep anyway. I never even saw the first touchdown! Mark woke me up for the halftime show, I peeked from under heavy lids at a very mature looking/acting Madonna singing nicely and went right back to sleep. Poor man, I'm such bad company...Not a party girl.

Mark bought his favorite, a humongous red velvet cake, from Costco that we never cut. I might cut it into 2-slice packs and toss them into the freezer for future desserts.

We were rooting for the Giants, who beat the Patriots. The Giants' coach was fired by Jacksonville Jaguars after a couple of really good, but just not good enough, years. Now the Jags are at the bottom of the barrel and the Giants have been Super Bowl contenders twice. I'll bet Wayne Weaver's kicking himself around the corner! ...Cake anyone???

present: Marty ♥ Mark. David had a burger and disappeared.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2012-01-30T19:56:00.001-08:00

My neighbor Cathy came over for dinner tonight and afterwards we baked TWO pineapple upside down cakes; one for Cathy's adult twirling team and one for us to share. Oh they smell so good!

For topping:

· 1 can sliced pineapple, reserve juice for batter

· 3/4 stick unsalted butter

· 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

For batter:

· 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

· 2 to 3 teaspoons ground cardamom

· 2 teaspoons baking powder

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· 3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened

· 1 cup granulated sugar

· 2 large eggs

· 1 teaspoon vanilla

· 1 tablespoon dark rum

· 1/2 cup pineapple juice

· 2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake

Special equipment:

· a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make topping:
Cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick pieces. Melt butter in skillet. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric circles, overlapping pieces slightly.

Make batter:
Sift together flour, cardamom, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and rum. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (Batter may appear slightly curdled.)

Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cake stand in skillet 5 minutes. Invert a plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). Replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of skillet. Sprinkle rum over cake and cool on plate on a rack.

Serve cake just warm or at room temperature.

Chewy Molasses Cookies

2011-12-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

Sparkling Chewy Molasses Cookies

2 c. plain flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter (1-1/2 sticks)

1 egg

1/4 c.molasses, I use blackstrap

1/2 c. chunky sanding sugar

Add butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer

Add remaining dry ingredients (whisk first)

Beat in the egg, and then the molasses until just combined.

Put mixer on low and slowly add the flour mixture just until dough forms.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into a ball, then roll in sanding sugar to cover all sides.

Place on cookie sheets spaced three inches apart.

Bake at 350 for around 11 minutes.

Makes 3 dozen.

Spritz Cookies

2011-12-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

I have an electric cookie gun, love it. Spritz work well in it.

1 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
2-1/4 c. plain flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
dash salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Shoot onto ungreashed cookie sheet, add colored sprinkles.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes

Wedding Cookies

2011-12-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

Cathy Kersten's mom's recipe:

1 c. butter
1/4 c. confectioner's sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 c. plain flour
1 c. chopped pecans
Form small balls
Ungreased cookie sheet
Bake 300 for 20 minutes.
Roll in confectioner's sugar while still hot, then again after they've cooled.
Makes 3 doz.

M & M Cookies

2011-12-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

I found this very worn recipe in my mother-in-law's recipe file. She died when Mark was 17, but he remembered how wonderful this recipe was and encouraged me to make them. These are a Christmas staple for David.

Cream:
1/2 c. Crisco shortening
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar

Mix, then add:
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. water
1 egg

Sift, then add:
1 c. & 2 T. plain flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Stir in 3/4 cup M&M candies by hand (or they'll break)

Drop overflowing tablespoon portions on ungreased cookie sheet for palm-sized cookies.
Bake 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Butter Melt Away Cookies

2011-12-17T06:56:00.000-08:00

These very delicate cookies are terrific either rolled in powdered sugar or iced.

Cookie
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks)
3/4 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 c. plain flour
Beat together, drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. I shoot for quarter sized dollops.
Bake 350 for 12 minutes.

Gently roll balls in powdered sugar while hot, then again after they've cooled.
If you are planning to icing them, press the cookies flat with a fork (like you would for peanut butter cookies).

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 - 3 oz. pkg cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat together until smooth and frost cooled cookies.

These are my son Robert's Christmas cookie requirement. They are very delicate and will crumble into a puff all over your shirt if you try to bite into one, so be sure to make them in small bite sized portions. I've made them both ways, but for unknown reasons, I always roll them in powdered sugar. Maybe I'll do both this year for comparison's sake. I think these would taste wonderful with lime zest/juice added.

Sausage Chowder

2011-12-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

1 pkg smoked sausage

1 small onion, chopped

3 potatoes, peeled, diced large

2 c. half and half

1 c. milk

1 c. chicken broth

1 T butter

1 T olive oil

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

dash cayenne pepper

dash nutmeg

1 T parsley flakes
1 T dried garlic (Penzey's Spices are the BEST)

2 T corn starch

1 drained can crisp yellow corn

Saute sliced smoked sausage with onion in butter/olive oil until clear, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Place potatoes in pot of cold salted water, bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are firm/soft. Drain.

Blend corn starch into cold chicken broth.

Add the meat/onion to the potatoes, all the liquids (should just cover the potatoes) and spices.

Heat until almost boiling (you don't want to scald the milk) to allow corn starch to thicken a tiny bit.

Add can of corn.

This was good with grocery store bakery's crusty French bread.

Present: Mark, David and Marty. We all liked it. It would have been nice if it was cold outside.

One Wingy Dingy...Two Wingy Dingies...

2011-08-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

The phone was ringing and we didn't answer! We were too busy eating yummy Buffalo chicken wings, dripping with sauce, plus celery sticks and blue cheese dip.

Here's how I cooked the wings: Bake defrosted chicken wings in a large stick-free pan at 375F for 30 minutes, drain juices, turn over, douse with half a bottle of wing sauce bake another 10 minutes, turn over, add a bit more sauce if desired. We like Moore's Buffalo Wing Sauce, medium heat. It's bottle of orange-colored medium/mild goodness. It's so much better than the greasy fried rings from restaurants.

What!? No margarita mix? No problemo, amigo! Winn Dixie's copy of Fresca or Squirt is Diet Freshy (my fav). Mix Freshy with a squirt of lime and a splash of tequila and you have a Freshy-Rita!

Cabbage and Sausage

2011-08-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

Our oldest son moved home after graduating law school in mid-May to study and take the bar exam in late July. Now that this is behind him, it's a waiting game before he can get a bona fide lawyer job. He's a picky eater...no carbs except sweet potatoes and brown rice to maintain his slender muscle-man physique. Our younger son, David, is 24 and has never lived anywhere but here, is a spaghetti eating, cake loving, waffle craving, skinny guy that can eat like there's no tomorrow. The kitchen has been a more difficult navigation with Robert home, but has really opened our eyes to all our sins.

I would normally take a head of cabbage and make Mark's favorite, Balcan Supper, a greasy kielbasa, fried cabbage, wide noodle, brown sugar, carraway seed and apple vinegar dish. That wouldn't fly with Robert, so I adjusted and made the following delicious meal in a pan.

Lay six low fat, mild Italian sausages in the pan, add a quarter cup of water and steam to get them partially cooked. Remove, cut into fourths (at an angle to be pretty), drain off the greasy water, lay the meat back into the pan, add a half cup of water and a half cup white wine, then top with a large chopped onion and a head of cabbage, cut into big pieces. Drizzle about 4 Tablespoons of datil pepper sauce on top, add some pepper, push the cabbage around to bury the red datil sauce, then mash the lid on tight. Simmer/steam for about 15 minutes, making sure not to run out of liquid.

That's it. NO salt, NO noodles, NO potatoes. Was it good? There is NO food left! (meow meow)

It was greener when I first made it.
This was what was left an hour later.

David wouldn't touch it.

Chicken, Mushrooms, Noodles w/Veg and Cheese Sauce

2011-07-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love the Monterey Mushroom Farm in Zellwood! Today I bought two bags of sliced white mushrooms for $2 each. These bags rock! They're bigger than a lunch sack and filled to the brim with clean fresh white mushies, cold in the fridge. A lady sits in the guard house at the gate of the farm and besides controlling the ins and outs of giant trucks, she sells to the locals. I guess this smooths over the neighbors for the sometimes awful smell. I live about 6 miles away and never smell anything offensive from that direction. I love this place! Our older son Mark Jr. is engaged to a non-mushroom eater, so I have to alter my cooking a bit, but we still find a way to include a family favorite in our meals.

Tonight I took a giant pan, poured a double swirl of olive oil and equal part of balsamic vinegar. as this heated, I tossed in 4 chopped garlic cloves and a large chopped vidalia onion. I added chopped parsley, a quarter stick of butter, salt and pepper. A cup of dry white wine (I used Toasted Head chardonnay) and one of the bags of mushrooms went in. It was piled high but I knew it'd cook down. I covered the pan with tin foil and balanced the lid on top. Oh it smelled wonderful! I stirred (more like folded) the mushrooms every now and then. Finally, about 10 minutes in, when it was cooking down good, I ladled out enough juice to the pan of chicken tenderloins to cover them half way. Covered that in the tin foil that was on the mushrooms and let the shrooms and juice cook down uncovered.

Boiled some quinoa shell/noodles and just before it was ready, I tossed in a cup and a half (because that's what I had) of frozen mixed vegetables. While that drained, I poured a cup and a half of milk and a half cup of heavy cream (because I ran out of milk and had cream) into a pan. Into that I added 3 T flour, a few shakes of dry mustard, red cayenne pepper, and a pinch or two of nutmeg. Stir/cook that until thick. While that's going on, I put the noodles and veggies into a baking dish, stirred in 4 oz. cheddar cheese, then poured the thickened milk on top, stirred that in, topped with the remaining 4 oz. shredded cheddar and topped that with a small sprinkle of red cayenne pepper and paprika. Into the oven with the chicken. Uncovered the chicken, sprinkled paprika and cooked both for 15 more minutes.

Yummy.

Roast

2011-02-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

Roast beef, pan seared, then dumped a big can of tomato with basil and a quarter can of water on top, added a bay leaf, lowered the temp to simmer and closed the lid for a couple of hours.
Frozen green beans, steamed
Quinoa (a nutritional super-food, protein packed, versatile and crunchy/soft) cooked with onion and garlic.

Yes, we have been eating dinner...

2011-02-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

cabbage, steamed with sweet Italian sausage laying on top (and steam cooked too)
buffalo chicken legs, romaine salad, celery sticks and onion dip
black eyed peas cooked with 3 leftover buffalo chicken legs and onions thrown in, green beans
pan cooked chicken breasts with juice from an orange added at the end and cooked down OMG, steamed zuchhini, canned corn
big salad with leftover chicken sliced and pan browned, olives, tomato, feta, Greek dressing

Navy Bean Soup

2011-01-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

Navy Bean Soup - Crockpot
A bag (2 cups?) of dry navy beans
6 cups water
2-3 T McCormick's Real Chicken Base (it's salty)
1 bay leaf
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 pork chops - bone in, excess fat removed

Rinse navy beans and put all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high for six to eight hours. Stir occasionally. I added 3 more cups of water because my glass top crockpot allows evaporation. Remove bay leaf and continue cooking on low for the rest of the afternoon. Add water to make it the soupiness you desire.

I'm not a fan of pre cooking dried beans. This is so easy!

Chicken and Root Veggie Curry Stew

2011-01-21T10:25:00.001-08:00

Chicken and Root Vegetable Curry Stew

I love winter cooking and decided a good curry stew would suit me just fine. Don't you just love it when you create something and you can't wait for dinner because you KNOW it's going to be incredible? This picture is just after I chopped everything up, and if I think of it, I'll take a pic of the finished product. Here's the scoop:

2 c. lowfat chicken broth
3 T curry powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 t. turmeric
1/2 t. ginger powder
3 fat garlic cloves, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 can chopped fire grilled tomatoes
2 yukon gold potatoes, cubed up, but if I had a can of chickpeas I would have used that
2 carrots, sliced
2 parsnips, sliced
1 turnip, peeled and cubed
1 rutabaga, peeled and cubed
about 8 oz. frozen green beans
3/4 green bell pepper, sliced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped in large pieces
1 big fragrant bay leaf
and because my family are natives of St. Augustine, Floridia, I had to add 3 T of the datil pepper sauce I made last month.

Toss all in a crockpot on high for 6 hours.

Remove the bay leaf and add a handful of frozen peas and a cup of light coconut milk 15 minutes before serving. That's about a half can of milk. When I use an unusual (for me) ingredient that will have leftovers, I pour the rest into a ziploc baggie, wash out the can, put the baggie of milk into the open can and stick it all in the freezer. Otherwise it will be lost forever.

Oatmeal Cookies!

2011-01-07T04:59:00.000-08:00

We left on Christmas Day for NC and when we got home ten days later, well, there were no cookies left. David got hungry and won't cook... So to satisfy Mark's (and my) cookie sweet tooth, I passed up an oatmeal breakfast and instead made oatmeal cookies! Follow directions? Nevah!!

Recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, but I only had one, so I added one stick butter and the remainder in Crisco. 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed), uh-oh, only light brown - so I used the light brown and added a bloop (2-3 tablespoons?) of dark molasses. 1/2 cup white sugar. 2 eggs. 1 T vanilla. ... I am mixing as I add.

The dry ingredients in a separate (larger) bowl: 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 cups oats (uncooked). Because they were left over from Christmas baking and the baggie was handy, I threw in probably 1/2-2/3 cup of chopped pecans too.

Hmmm, the recipe asks for a cup of raisins, but I only have a larger lunch size box of pitiful dried up raisins, so I followed my friend's suggestion and plumped them in rum for about five minutes. That worked! I scooped the moistened raisins out, drank that darkened shot of rum, then stirred the raisins into the wet mix. Mixed the wet to the dry and started baking in a 350F preheated oven. I could have tossed the rum in too, as the mix was a little dry.

I made balls a little smaller than my palm and squished them before putting them on the ungreased cookie sheet. As the first batch of 12 cookies were baking (about 14-16 minutes), I got a genius idea and stirred in about 2/3 cup peanut butter because David likes pb cookies. The cookies came out nice sized and soft/chewy in the middle, crisp on the edges (Crisco makes a crisp cookie), just how I like em! This recipe made 3 dozen medium/large cookies, delicious with a cup of coffee for breakfast!

I Don't Eat Laundry Soap, But I Make It!

2010-12-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

Today I made five gallons of laundry detergent. My husband and adult son both feel the detergent I have been making isn't thick enough, so I added more ingredients. So far, it seems to work well.

HOMEMADE LIQUID LAUNDRY DETERGENT

5 gallon bucket
big pot
big funnel
measuring cup
hot tap water
2 cups of Borax Laundry Booster
2 cups of Arm & Hammer Laundry Soda (not baking soda)
2 bars of soap. I used a bar of Fels Naptha and a big bar of Ivory Soap
1 cup of Gain
3 huge empty Costco laundry detergent bottles, 1.5 gallons each plus an additional half-gallon container. Whatever you have to fill five gallons into...

Shred 2 bars of soap. Because I'm so in love with my awesome KitchenAid mixer with the really cool attachments for grating, I used this. Fill pot 3/4 with hot water and bring to a boil Turn down add the shredded soap. Stir until dissolved. Make sure the Borax and Soda are both lump free and add that to the soap mixture. Stir stir stir until completely dissolved. On the counter next to the sink, fill 5-gallon bucket halfway with hot tap water, add the soap mix and stir well. Add the cup of Gain, which keeps the homemade detergent from getting lumpy. Top off the bucket with more hot water to make 5 gallons and mix well. Place detergent bottles in the sink and, using the measuring cup and funnel, fill each up. Rinse off each bottle. 1/2 cup (in my case, a full lid/cup from my detergent bottle) per load. Now you are ready to wash 160 loads of laundry!

Dinner for the very tired

2010-11-30T16:33:00.000-08:00

It was a big day, unpacking, washing, and shopping. My neighbor's brother Matt went with me to look at cabinets that he will install. We had a leak in the wall behind the kitchen sink last month and black mold is appearing. So, OUT go the cabinets! They were dated anyway after 23 years of use.

hamburger patties, pan fried
steamed white rice with butter
whole green beans from the can

Thanksgiving at My Sister Kat's House

2010-11-30T16:29:00.000-08:00

Poor Kat pulled her back on Thanksgiving morning as Mark and I drove onward toward her Gulf Breeze, FL home. Her husband Larry took over. He put the turkey in the oven, made sweet potato souffle topped with pecans, and made the most amazing unusual stuffing, made with raw onion and celery (because Kat failed to tell him to saute), but guess what? We loved it! We also had gravy (Kat started the giblets in some water before the injury) that I whipped up from the drippings and giblets. Larry's daughter Fathom brought deviled eggs and green beans, and last in the oven were the crescent rolls. Mark and I brought iced tea and pies: cherry, apple, pecan and pumpkin. With Kat, Larry, Fathom and her husband Robert and toddler Robby, Fathom's mom, Sheila, and Mark and me, it was a full house and a great day! Kat's working on recovering from her back injury, bless her heart.

Fire In The Kitchen!

2010-11-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

I made a batch of datil pepper sauce and named it Fire In The Kitchen Datil Pepper Sauce. Here's a link to my other website, There's a Cricket In The Corner, that has the info on how I did it, complete with pictures. This morning I made turkey sausage, twice-toasted whole wheat english muffin, and an egg. 'Topped that bad boy with some fire sauce, oh yeah! My Finnish friend would say, "yammy yammy!"

What is twice-toasted toast? Toast normally, spread butter, then broil until the butter turns golden with brown tips. It's heavenly.

16 Bean Soup

2010-11-11T05:07:00.000-08:00

Boil bag of dry beans for two minutes and let them sit overnight.
Rinse, add a large can of tomato chunks with liquid and add water to cover the beans by a couple of inches.
Tear up a pound of lean hamburger and toss chunks into bottom of crockpot. Do not stir a bunch!
Add the water and beans, shake in some salt and pepper to taste.
Shake in a tablespoon or so of dried onion chips, garlic powder, and some spices of your choice.
Add a couple of whole bay leaves.
Cover and cook on high 4 hours.
Add leftover raw cabbage chunks (because I have 1/4 head in the fridge).
Cook on low for an additional 4 hours.

Homemade Pumpkin Latte Coffee Creamer

2010-11-11T04:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my sister, Kat:

Pumpkin Latte Coffee Creamer
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree (I use canned)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Mix all together in small pan until the sugar melts over medium heat.
Cool and store in fridge. Shake and pour.
There will be grounds and pumpkin the bottom of the container. I like it that way.

Cabbage & Straw Italiano

2010-10-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

As usual, I was lost and confused in the kitchen! I wanted cabbage rolls, but didn't want to cook rice and didn't have any canned tomato. Then I found this recipe. The defrosted hamburger meat will be made into mini burger patties. I still need to run to the store, but just for the cheese and fresh sage. I served this with big Italian meatballs, pre-balled and spiced in the meat department. Serve with crusty bread, toasted, then rubbed first with a halved chunk of raw garlic, then buttered. Deliciouso!

Cabbage and Straw Italiano
INGREDIENTS:
• Salt
• 2 big potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
• 1 pound fettuccine pasta
• 1 small head cabbage (about 1-1/4 pounds)—slice in big shreads (Savoy cabbage is better)
• 1 stick (4 ounces) butter, cut to melt faster
• 3 large garlic cloves—smashed, skins removed and cloves quartered
• 16 fresh sage leaves, 6 whole and 10 thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
• 1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan Romano cheese
DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; salt it. Add the potatoes and cook for 7 minutes. Add the pasta and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes.
2. While the potatoes and pasta are working, melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and whole sage leaves. Cook until the sage is crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. It gets potato chip crisp as it cools. Remove the garlic and sage leaves to a small plate.
3. Add the sliced sage (I use kitchen shears) and ground pepper to the skillet; just before draining the potatoes, pasta and cabbage, add 2 ladles of the starchy cooking water.
4. Drain the potatoes, pasta and cabbage and add to the skillet. Stir it all together, adding the Parmesan Romano as you work to get a cheesy, buttery coating. Adjust the salt and garnish the pasta with the reserved whole sage leaves and garlic. I add the noodle mix to the skillet to get all that buttery goodness, then pour it all into the big pot so I can stir the cheese in easier.

Gobbling down this Italian Goodness were: David, Audrey, Mark, me, and a double helping went to my neighbor Cathy. David, who "hates" cabbage, really enjoyed this dish.

Cherry Pie

2010-09-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

Breakfast

2010-09-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Today -
Banana, sliced in half and dabbed with peanut butter, and coffee.

Yesterday -
An apple I picked deep in the NC woods last weekend, half of a cinnamon-raisin bagel with whipped cream cheese, and grapefruit juice.

Wishing for Winter

2010-09-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

It's Chili Time!
Yep, I'm officially tired of summer. A few days in NC last week gave me the taste of cool weather, what a big tease with 50F nights, aaaaahhhhh. I'm heading back up for the first snow.

Uh huh, there it is, smelling all delicious!
Here's what went into the pot:

1-1/4 lb. good hamburger, fried, drained
1 can hot chili beans and juice
1 can beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chopped tomatoes w/chopped chilis
1 can chopped tomatoes w/onion, celery, garlic
2 T cumin
2 T chili powder
generous grind of black pepper

Chicken, Brown Rice, Tomato, Creamed Corn

2010-09-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Six chicken breasts sprinkled on both sides with 1/2 envelope of dry Good Seasoning's garlic-italian dressing mix and the chicken laying on a bunch of large chunks of onion. Bake 40 minutes.
A half-bag of frozen corn, cooked and then a can of creamed corn added to it. I like creamed corn, but the canned junk has gotten pretty stingy on the corn, so I just make my own thick corn with a bit of cream mixture. It was a surprised to find yellow and white super sweet corn ("candy corn" that nearby Zellwood, FL is famous for), in the freezer by Pictsweet (guessing this is an Albertson's brand).
Mahatma brown rice, cooked in the pressure cooker. Here's how: pour about 2 T oil to coat the bottom of the pressure cooker pot. Stir-fry 2 cups dry brown rice in the hot oil to open the flavor of the rice for a couple of minutes, then add two 14-ounce cans of boiling chicken broth. Secure pressure cooker lid and bring to a full screaming hiss, then lower the temp enough (low worked for me) to allow the pot to make the occasional sputter. Cook this way for 25 minutes. Turn off and allow the cooker to depressureize on the stove while the chicken finishes cooking.
Fire roasted chopped tomatoes out of the can for my tomato-loving sweetheart. I added a half teaspoon of sugar to balance the acid in the tomatoes. Mark puts this on rice. I may too.

So, nothing green because I didn't want brocolli and that's all we have in the freezer. I really need to go shopping! Looks like beige and blood.

Fast Meal for a Busy Day

2010-08-31T18:13:00.000-07:00

On an impulse, Mark bought a box of Chicken Cordon Bleu at Costco. I wouldn't have, but he was having a fun solo shopping trip. So that box of flash-frozen chicken/ham/cheese/breading dinner sat in the freezer for quite a while until tonight, when I didn't feel like making a meal. Turn on the oven! Spray a pan! Unwrap frozen-solid chicken bricks! Open cans! Yep, dinner was ready in 1/2 hour and, surprisingly, it was yummy. Salty, but yummy! Photo has a mysterious yellow glow - probably the pre-fabiness of it all!

Datil Pepper

2010-08-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hot Datil Peppers! Finally, a baby appears in the foliage. Our summer was long and hot, too hot for a pepper to grow I suppose. We have several tiny white blossoms, a promise of things to come! Now what shall I cook when the pepper is ripe?

Uncle RP's Famous London Broil Marinade

2010-08-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

Steaks, marinated in Uncle RP's special sauce all afternoon, then cooked outside on the grill. Make mine rare/med.rare please!
Steamed brocolli, because Mark bought a huge bag of frozen organic brocolli at Costco and it may last forever.
Spaghetti noodles, boiled, then mised with Knorr's Pesto Sauce. Mmmmm...garlic!
Homemade peach/blueberry ice cream.

UNCLE RP’S FAMOUS LONDON BROIL

Use London broil or flank steak – 1/3 pound per person 0 unless you are really hungry or like leftovers. Yummy in a pita with smothered onions and peppers.

Sprinkle a little garlic salt on meat.

Marinade:
½ cup Worscestershire
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup vegetable or olive oil
½ cup white or red wine
2 dashes Tabasco

Mix marinade, put marinade and meat in covered dish or gallon storage bag in refrigerator. Marinate steak for at least two hours, turning occasionally. Remove from refrigerator one hour before cooking.

Cook on grill about 4 or 5 minutes (no longer) on each side. Brush marinade on meat while grilling.

Let meat rest for a minute or two before slicing in thin slices across the grain (at an angle). Meat will be rare, follow next step.

Boil rest of marinade and pour over sliced meat. Serve immediately.

Spinach Phyllo Pie and Chicken

2010-08-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Give me chicken or give me death!

Mark swung through Costco and picked up some quick food - chicken and "some frozen vegetables". His idea of frozen veggies is on a different page than me, but I'm glad for the diversity! Taverna Spinach Pie was wonderful, and it's a 2-pack, so we'll get to enjoy the spinach/cheese goodness, all wrapped in phyllo again! I'm guessing it's ricotta cheese. I asked Mark to get chicken thighs or breasts, and he accidentally bought chicken legs (in six seal-a-meal 5-packs - easily mistaken for thighs), but no problemo, I shook some Badia Complete Seasoning on the leggies and baked them in the oven with the spinach thing. Forty minutes later, out came the chicken to be covered on the counter and uncover the spinach and baked another eight minutes to brown the phyllo.

Mark bought some amazing end-of-season peaches at a roadside stand on our road trip yesterday, and tonight he ran off to get some heavy cream so I can make the amazingly delicious burnt peach ice cream. We'll cook it tonight, chilled overnight, and mix in the ice cream freezer tomorrow to set up in the freezer for tomorrow night. He's a lucky man! FYI - I changed up the recipe a bit, tempering in 3 egg yolks to make it more of a custard ice cream. (Most of the time) the changes I make are really really good.

Company Chicken!

2010-08-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

pressure cooker chicken
homemade mac n cheese
steamed brocolli

A whole chicken and several chicken breasts, seasoned and browned in olive oil, then pressure cooked for 25 minutes. Gosh I love my pressure cooker! The flavors are so much more intense when cooked under pressure.

Homemade macaroni and cheese, made by boiling a small box of macaroni, shredding an 8 oz. block of medium cheddar cheese. Heat until thickened: 2 cups milk with 3 T flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. dry mustard, 1/4 tsp. cayanne pepper powder, and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. Place layers in 8x12 inch casserole: 1/2 macaroni, 1/2 milk mixture, 1/2 cheese. Bake, uncovered, in preheated 350 oven for 25 minutes. Everyone always loves my mac n cheese.

Present were: David, Audrey, Robert, his friend Brent, Mark and me. Robert took the leftovers home with him. Everyone loved it. We had homemade cinnamon ice cream for dessert.

BBQ Chicken Legs

2010-08-10T06:01:00.000-07:00

A package of 20 chicken legs was $4. Wow! Ten chickens sit legless.
I like dark meat. I like white meat. I like any part of a chicken!

I shook some Spike Seasoning on the legs, then Mark put them on the (covered) gas grill for about a half an hour, turning a few times. Squirted the cooked legs with store-bought barbeque sauce, turned the fire off and cooked a few minutes longer. Taa daa!

No potatoes to make potato salad, no baked beans to warm up, so with imagination lacking, I made a pot of rice (using canned chicken broth), heated a can of black eyed peas, and a can of spinach. Everyone ate, nobody complained, and nothing was leftover. Looking back, it seems like a strange combination, but tasted very very good.

We had homemade ice cream for dessert - vanilla, with fresh blueberries and sliced strawberries on top.

Burned Peach Ice Cream

2010-08-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Serves: About a quart and a half and is absolutely incredibly wonderful!

Ingredients:
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peach preserves (not jelly)
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 tsp. vanilla extract)
• Pinch kosher salt
• 4 medium peaches, chopped, seeded and grilled or broiled until brown. A little sprinkle of sugar browns it up better. The ice cream is too mild if the peaches don’t taste intense.

Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp), except peaches, in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a frying or candy thermometer to inside of pan. (see note below) Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and strain into a lidded container. Cool mixture, then refrigerate mixture overnight to mellow flavors and texture. I throw away the strained peach preserve chips, as I feel the flavor has been cooked out of them.

Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to unit's instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine. Meanwhile, chop peaches roughly. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 and reached a soft serve consistency, add the peaches (a little at a time) and continue turning to incorporate. Spoon the mixture into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

NOTE: If you do not have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. As soon as you see a bubble on the surface, remove it from the fire.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

2010-08-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Mark loves cinnamon ice cream and claims this is the best - ever!

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2-1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-and-half. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.

2. Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

My amazing KitchenAid stand mixer once again thrilled me with the wonderful ice cream attachment. The bowl waits in the freezer, waiting for the moment it's called upon to do it's job. Creamy goodness!

Teaching David and Audrey

2010-08-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

David and Audrey just had their 3rd anniversary of the date they began dating. Neither one of them are interested in learning to cook, but I worry that if David ever moves out (I'm ready!), will he eat anything besides frozen pizza and cereal and milk? He knows how to cook one simple meal: fried hamburger patty, instant mashed potatoes, and canned vegetable.

Lesson tonight:

Iced tea - 2 family-sized tea bags in a pitcher, a metal serving spoon to keep the glass from breaking by absorbing the heat, and a teapot whistling with about a quart of boiling water. Pour over tea bags and let it sit.

The meal:
Pour a dab of olive oil in the bottom of a baking pan. Dredge six defrosted chicken thighs around in oil, skin side down. Sprinkle Spike seasoning on underside, turn over, sprinkle more on the skin and let it bake in 350 F preheated oven for 20 minutes, skin side up. Open a cans of green beans and a can of black beans, put in two small pots, lids on to conserve energy, both turned on simmer/low. Fill a pot about 2/3 with water and heat on high until boiling. Add 1/2 tsp salt for flavor, and two of those rice "Boil in Bags". Set timer for 10 minutes, then drain water from rice pot and hang the bags on the sides of the pot to finish draining. Cut open and pour into a big bowl. Cover with foil. The chicken should be ready now. Remove from oven, move chicken out of the oily pan and onto a paper plate to drain, pour oil into empty can. Explain how oil clogs pipes. Squirt dish detergent in pan and add hot water to soak. Take the tea bags out of the tea and toss. Add ice and cold water to make a full pitcher of tea.
Serves four. Leftovers!

Steam Eggs to Hard Boiled

2010-08-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

I love hard boiled eggs! I don't love it when they get that icky green/grey tint on the yolk membrane. Watch this video clip to learn how to steam an egg into hard boiled in just 12 minutes! Amazing!!

Salmon on Salad

2010-07-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Salmon on Salad.

Chop 1/3 red bell pepper, 1 large clove of garlic , 1 stem green onion. Cook in 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp butter, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt and dill.
Heat a couple of tsps olive oil to sear skin to crisp with flaky inside.
Make a fluffy young leaf salad, add a few blueberries, walnuts, carrots, celery and tomato slices, and sprinkle all with balsamic dressing.
Top with sizzling hot salmon. Spoon bell pepper mixture over fish, crack pepper and sprinkle a stem of cut up green onions over all.
Red wine is nice.

Pressure Cooker Country Ribs

2010-06-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

I found a 3 quart pressure cooker on sale and just cooked my first ever meal in it. I opened the box, read all the material, handled all the parts, and put it together. It sat on the counter for a week and I walked past, eyeing it warily. I was afraid! I remembered momma's pressure cooker, sounding like an angry rattle snake, ready to explode on the stove top!

A busy day, and we weren't home until 7:30, and so I made the move! I can't believe dinner was ready so fast! After I browned and drained the meat, I added the liquid and popped the top on. Steam puffed out of a little hole on a handle until enough pressure popped up a safety valve. This doesn't allow the lid to come off until inside has settled back to a non-pressurized level. Cool! I feel safer already! The new pressure cooker sat on the glass-top stove, cherrfully puffing steam from the valve on top with a wfff-wfff-wffft every five or six seconds. No rattling in this modern pressure cooker!

I made boneless, country style pork ribs. Here's' the recipe I found online, which I doubled. It fit perfectly in the 3 quart pot, coming exactly to the "maximum fill" line. Besides doubling the liquids, the only change up I did was, I added 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke. It smelled fantastic!

I can't believe the pressure cooker time was only 15 minutes. I let it go for 22 because I doubled the recipe. It took about five minutes to pressure up and 10 minutes to depressurize. Served with yellow rice, green beans, and pickled beets, it was a good hurried meal, very tender and delicious! David and Mark had seconds!

Raw Cow's Milk

2010-06-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

A local middle school teacher named Ann has a small Apopka farm and sells free-range eggs and raw cow's milk. My 23 year old milk drinking maniac son and I drove over to see what's what and we were pleased to walk out into the pasture to meet Clover, and Paris - who is ready to calf at any moment. Paris is not being milked so near to delivery. We got to watch Clover being milked (with a machine) and she produced 4.5 gallons of Jersey Juice. These two Jerseys are sweet pets that will live out their lives on the farm, even after they are no longer productive.

Most people who drink raw milk are "foodies" and are particular about what the cows get to eat, where the live and how much "cow time" they get. Ann's Jerseys eat a soy free diet of grain and grass and free choice hay. Florida's soil is worthless for sustaining a milk cow; we don't have real soil, it's sand, and dairy cows would starve to death on just Florida grass. Ann has a friend who is allergic to soy and could not drink any milk (grocery or otherwise) until Ann found a soy free cow food, because soy is one of those things that does pass through the cow and end up in milk.

Ann also has a small herd of about a dozen Dexters, small black cows, and she has one butchered occasionally, which I am curious to try out. She names the Dexters too, but they have "reality names" like T-Bone, Burger, and Stew. Ann has a variety of chickens that scratch what they want, wander in the fields, and enjoy the sunshine. When she gets a bully rooster, he becomes dinner, as it should be. She sells big brown eggs with strong healthy shells.

I just drank a glass of delicious custard yellow milk. It tastes similar to Gustafson's Farm milk from the store, but it is creamier than whole milk. The cream seperates, so you have to give it a shake before pouring. I can use a turkey baster and take some of the top cream for my coffee.

BBQ

2010-06-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Barbequed chicken breasts, cooked in the oven, then coated with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.
Yukon gold potatoes, sliced and tossed with sea salt, rosemary, pepper, and olive oil, then oven baked in oven until wonderful and done.
Romaine salad with balsamic dressing.
Strawberry cake, white icing, and fresh sliced strawberries
Raw unprocessed cow's milk.

Heart Attack Chicken

2010-06-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

HEART ATTACK CHICKEN

1 pkg. Good Season Italian or Ranch Dressing Mix (dry)
1 stick butter
3-4 chicken breast, raw, cubed
(I use an entire bag of flash-frozen tenderloin strips, no cutting)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup (undiluted) - tonight I used Cream of Celery
8 oz. block cream cheese (just use the whole block!)

Combine dressing, butter and chicken in pot.
Start boiling separate pot of salted water to cook noodles.
Once chicken is nearly cooked, add soup and cream cheese, mixing well.
Cook on low until all ingredients are heated.
Serve over drained noodles.
Get fancy! Add fresh sliced mushrooms halfway through the chicken cooking time. Add a jar of drained artichoke hearts, canned mushrooms, fresh sliced asparagus, or a handful of frozen peas just before serving. To night's meal included several shakes of speecy-spicy red pepper powder and a half-jar of pimentos.

Substitute soup with any “cream of”. I’m fond of celery too. Cream of mushroom is good, but adds a dark cast to the meal. Cook time: ½ hour

I named this Heart Attack Chicken because it has some high fat ingredients that could cause a heart attack, plus everybody that tastes this has a virtual happy heart attack because of the flavor. Serve with a good romaine salad with the same dressing (mixed) that you used in the chicken dish.

Hamburger Patties with Gravy

2010-03-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

I cooked a pan of (all sliced) bell peppers, a large onion, a couple of garlic cloves, and a pint of mushrooms in butter and olive oil. Set that aside and cooked four large ground sirloin burgers in the pan, added a can of beef broth, a can of water with 2T corn starch for thickening, then added all the cooked vegetables, salt and pepper. Let that thicken on a low boil. Served over wild rice, with canned niblets corn and pickled beet slices.
present: Mark and I loved it, David and Audrey didn't like the onion or bell pepper, but ate the rest heartily.

We Really Do Eat Every Night - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

I just want to tell you that we really do eat dinner every night. I just don't find the time or think some of my meals are worthy of the time it takes to stop and type.

Last night Mark and I went to The Lucky Pig Lounge at Apopka's newest, Bubbalou's Bodacious Barbeque. Neighbor's son Billy helped open the new lounge as bartender and he did a great job serving up corned beef and cabbage and ice cold beer. I'm not much of a drinker and don't know my brands, so I asked Billy for a beer that "didn't taste like dirty socks smell." He knew just what to serve up. I had two beers, which is really wild and crazy for me.

We were invited by our neighbors Jon and Cathy (Billy's parents) to celebrate Jon's birthday, and shared a table with their family plus mutual friends and neighbors. Our son David was with us (he and Billy are the same age) and it was nice to spend some time with our son socially, as he seems to hide out in his room at home, the Dave Cave.

Mexican Chicken

2010-03-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

Fry a pan of skinless chicken thighs until nearly cooked through. Mix a packet of taco seasoning with the required water (hot so it mixes up) and pour over chicken, it'll finish cooking as the liquid evaporates.
Served with refried beans, canned corn, flour tortillas (heated in a pan), lettuce and tomato, shredded cheddar, salsa and sour cream.

I ate my food seperately, while others made tacos, etc. I did make one bean burrito, but I like warm tortillas with butter...yum! A sprinkle of cheese with a dollop of sour cream were heavenly on the chicken. At the table were: David, Audrey, Mark, and me.

Black-Eyed Peas

2010-02-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

A bag of dried peas has been sitting in the pantry shelf since New Year's. I cooked according the instructions on the bag, making a soup with a ham bone (with lots of meat), a chopped onion, and a couple of chopped carrots, salt and pepper. Smells good! We'll have the black-eyed peas served over white rice with a side of spinach for dinner tonight. I may make cornbread too, the not-sweet kind is our favorite.

Polynesian Pot Roast

2010-02-18T05:55:00.000-08:00

Oh how my heart sings when I think of pot roast, but because my totally wierd family hates normal old-fashioned pot roast, we're trying a variation on a theme.

Polynesian Pot Roast
chuck roast, not browned
3/4 c. catsup
2 T. cider vinegar
2 T. soy souce
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. water
onion, cut in rings
Combine all in crockpot, cook 7-8 hrs. on low

Mark and I enjoyed this dinner with corn and green beans. Mark will overindulge in what tastes good, and I had to stop him from eating the entire pot roast! Oink oink said the piggie!

Lenten Spaghetti

2010-02-18T05:52:00.000-08:00

Ash Wednesday calls for no meat, so how simple is a jar of spaghetti sauce over noodles? Yep. That and garlic bread and a throwback from my childhood, peas. Momma always served peas with spaghetti. Go figure.

Mushel-Burgers!

2010-02-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

Last night we were supposed to have hamburgers, but instead we had dinner at our friend Norman's house. We popped in to meet his new granddaughter and planned to go out for dinner, but Norman and his daughter Julie insisted we stay. Julie's baby is darling.

Tonight, instead of hamburgers, I made a treat, Mushel-Burgers! My family loves it. This is a simple meal that takes me back to my childhood. We always had this served with potato chips and kool-aid.

In large, deep pan, stir fry two pounds of lean ground beef until brown. Drain fat.
Sprinkle entire packet of onion soup mix over meat.
Mix 3 heaping tablespoons of corn starch into 2 cups water.
Pour water over the meat and stir until it is a rolling boil.
Reduce temp to simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Make a meat sandwich with mayo, mustard and five pickle slices on soft white bread.

I served this with frozen steak fries, drizzled with EVOO, sea salt, and rosemary. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes
Present: Marty, Mark, David, Audrey. There is enough left over for a sandwich lunch for me and for David..

Heart Attack Chicken

2010-02-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

It's called HEART ATTACK for good reason! We had this favorite artery-clogging chicken dish, with cooked red beets, and a mixed greens salad. Because blueberries were on sale and I like them so much, I am sprinkling it where I can, like along with walnuts on my salad.

Heart Attack Chicken

In a large frying pan, sprinkle a packet of Italian dressing mix into a melted stick of butter. Add a bag of flash-frozen chicken tenders, turning often until chicken is almost cooked. While the chicken is cooking, cook a half bag or box of noodles, drain and set aside. Once cooked, temporarily move the chicken onto a plate. Add a can of cream of chicken soup and an 8-ounce block of cream cheese to the pan of sauce, cutting and stirring until everything is melted into a thick sauce. Mix in a half cup of milk, a tablespoon of jarred pimentos and the bottom of a baggie of leftover sliced mushrooms, then add the chicken and drained noodles and heat through. This is such a forgiving recipe. You can have your choice of dry dressing mixes, "cream of" soups, and your imagination is unlimited on what, if any, extras you toss in. Today I had pimentos and mushrooms, but we've tried it with frozen peas, lots of mushrooms, brocolli, sugar snap peas. I think the sugar snaps are my personal favorite. We used ziti noodles today, but we usually use either flat noodles or bow ties. Present: Marty, Mark, David

Menu Monday

2010-02-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

I began a coordinated effort to post a weekly menu in my main blog, There's A Cricket In The Corner. Yesterday was my first attempt at this new organizational challenge, which should miraculously appear every Monday. My challenge is in making the menu, not the posting in two blogs. I decided to do a kitchen purge and will only buy what is absolutely necessary to make meals until my overflowing cubbard is bare, so the menu may have to get a little creative.

Carnival Food

2010-02-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

Mark will occasionally hit the grocery store and bring home things he'd like to eat. Two big packages of homemade sweet Italian sausage and a bag of yellow, red, and green bell peppers made a big hint; Mark wanted fair food! He sees sausage and his senses are filled with memories of a steaming griddle piled high with grilled sausage links over a greasy mixture of peppers and onions. I obliged, but in weak and one-sided effort to save my man's arteries, made a few adjustments to a carnie's sure-fired route to a fast and furious heart attack.

SAUSAGES AND PEPPERS

In a large no-stick pan, heat a couple of swirls of olive oil to keep the meat from sticking, add sausages cut into hot-dog length pieces, skin on. Brown both sides, then set aside.
Without draining grease, add two sliced bell peppers and two sliced onions, salt and pepper, flip that around in the pan so the vegetables get coated with sausage-flavored olive oil and cook on medium until the onions are clear.
Lay sausages in the peppers, cover and let it all get hot again, lift meat and veg out of the oil/fat, drain on paper towels, pat off more oil, and then plate.

I served this with stewed tomatoes, because Mark loves them and this is his meal, and yellow rice, because David won't eat most of this meal except the yellow rice, which is his favorite.

Not including prep time, this meal was a twenty minute wonder.
Present: Mark, Marty, David. Lots of leftovers.

Private Superbowl Party

2010-02-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

Mark and I stayed home to watch the big football game. Although the Tampa Bay Bucs is my favorite team, I was happy that my 2nd favorite - the Saints, was a contender; thrilled that the Saints beat the Colts, however saying 'Who Dat" just doesn't fit in my vocabulary. I'm more of a "Geaux Team" kind of fan.

We snacked on tortilla chips and a layered Mexican dip: refried beans, onion, salsa, sour cream, cheddar cheese. Mark had a couple of beers.
Dinner was:
Yard greens salad of mixed leaves, topped with blueberries, walnuts, and balsamic vinigarette.
Marinated steaks on the grill, medium rare.
Baked potato with sour cream and chives.
We both had a peach for dessert.
present: ♥ Marty and Mark ♥

Sushi Saturday

2010-02-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

Mark and I went to Bayridge Sushi and shared a few rolls. Mark likes the fake crab legs and the sweet, crunchy junk in his,and no wasabi. I'm more of a "sushi purist"; I want plain raw salmon rolls, or rolls made with vegetables with raw seafood, and load me up on mind-blowing wasabi, then roll it in the yummy orange roe.
Bayridge is not my favorite sushi restaurant. It's like eating at Denney's...It's not bad, but it's not good. Still, you eat, you leave happy.

Pasta Puttenesca

2010-02-04T05:19:00.000-08:00

Hi Janine - The recipe is here: http://martysmeals.blogspot.com/search/label/pasta%20puttanesce

Thank you, Patty, for this recipe. An easy dish, made from canned foods, this delisioso meal was made by prostiutes, and the aroma would draw in customers!

Tortellini and Vegetable Soup

2010-02-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

A nice package of cheese-stuffed tortollini, boiled a few minutes to cook. Drain, then I added about 2 tablespoons of garlic-infused olive oil, a squirt of basil (looks like a toothpaste tube, I keep it in the freezer), and a big fistfull of fresh baby spinach. Stir that around, and serve after the spinach is wilted. It was good!

I served this with homemade vegetarian vegetable soup, made from leftovers in the fridge: pesto pasta shells, frozen mixed vegetables, a half-jar of spaghetti sauce, about a third of a cup of refried beans, water, sea salt. The pesto in the shells made it just right. Tasted almost exactly like my favorite can soup, Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable, but looked a little creamy from the beans.

diners: Mark, Marty, David, Audrey

Stuffed Bell Peppers

2010-02-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

Tonight's dinner is stuffed bell peppers, but what do you stuff them with? We are out of rice, no mushrooms, and not really sure what to put in the mix, I improvised, which usually ends up being the best idea of all! I used the basic mix for meat loaf.

1 lb hamburger
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 eggs
1 tsp steak seasoning and some salt
3/4 cup dry oatmeal
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 bell peppers, halved and cleaned
jarred spaghetti sauce
6 slices provolone cheese

I cut the bell peppers in half; an orange, yellow, and a red one. When I cleaned them out, I saved the seeds for spring planting. (I like bell peppers, especially dipped in blue cheese dressing.) I covered the casserole loosely with tin foil and baked at 350F for an hour. After it was baked, I drained the fat, then poured some spaghetti sauce from a jar over everything and topped with a slice of provolone cheese on each, finally baking five more minutes to melt the cheese. Smells great! I wonder if David will go near it.
The next time I make this, I'll try not to pack the filling in so tight, as the meat was hard like a meat ball. Maybe replace the oatmeal with cooked rice too. No, David wouldn't eat it...

Banana Nut Bread Recipe

2010-02-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

Banana Nut Bread

½ c. softened butter or margarine (1 stick)
½ tsp. Salt
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
3 crushed over-ripe bananas - grossly overripe is best
2 cups all-purpose flour (not self rising)
½ tsp. Baking soda
¼ to ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Using a wooden spoon - cream ingredients together in order given. Not necessary to mix super good. Spray either one bread pan or two tinfoil mini-pans with Pam. Bake in preheated oven, 325 degrees for 1 hour. Everybody loves this recipe!

Strawberry Oreo Cheesecake

2010-01-31T14:25:00.000-08:00

Today My Big Sweetie asked for a pie, and so I looked in the fridge and pantry for ingredients so I could invent a pie. We had Oreos, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk...CHEESECAKE!

Here's what I did:

Crushed a bunch of Oreos with a couple of big tablespoons of butter and pressed a pie crust into an recycled pie pan. Into the mixing bowl, with the mixer running:

8-oz block cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon juice

It looked boring and Mark thought suggested cherries on top, but we didn't have any, and frankly, I don't care for the over-processed sugary canned pie fillings. Instead, I had a bag of frozen fresh strawberries, so I sliced about a half pint (frozen) and added those to the mix, tasted it, and added a half teaspoon of strawberry extract. It looks vaguely pink, and little chunks of sliced, then pulverized strawberries fleck the pie. I filled the pie and we shared a little dessert cup of what wouldn't fit, and My Big Sweetie wholeheartedly approves!

Mexican, Ole!

2010-01-31T03:47:00.000-08:00

After a busy day, moving Robert and Vanessa from parents homes to their own places, Mark and I took our tired group to eat at a favorite Mexican restaurant, El Cerro, located across the street from UCF. El Cerro is exactly the same as a Habenero's Mexican Restaurant in nearby Longwood. I always go for #14, a guarantee of no soft corn tortillas. Vanessa and I were happy to split a meal and lo and behold, she chose #14. How did she know? 'Turns out soft corn tortillas aren't her favorite thing either. Our meal included three small flour tortillas: a ground beef burrito (even though we asked for chicken!) with red sauce, a pulled beef taco with queso and lettuce, and a fajita -which was basically a soft taco with chunks of chicken and grilled onion, pan fried. I ate my half of each, leaving most of the burrito. Next time I'll just get a taco or the fajita, my favorites, and half of each is about my limit anyway.

Vanessa had a frozen strawberry marguerita and I had a regular marguerita on ice (ole!). I can't say what the guys ate, as I'm a lightweight where alcohol is concerned, and was anxious to get home and go to sleep. We said goodbye to the kids in the parking lot, as they headed to their new digs and Mark and I then drove almost an hour to our house.

Corn Flakey Pork Chops

2010-01-29T03:26:00.000-08:00

Pulled a giant package of inch-thick pork chops from the freezer to defrost in the morning and kept wondering all day about how I was going to make them something my porkchop-hating husband would like. Here is what I made and he loved:

Thickly dredge meat in some quality ranch salad dressing (I made homemade Good Seasonings with buttermilk), then shake rattle and roll in crushed corn flakes. I bought Publix brand and was very pleased that the flakes were delicately thin and crispy. Lay about an inch apart in Pam-sprayed glass baking dish. My glass pan is huge - nearly the size of the oven shelf, which is good, because I had a lot of people to feed. I cooked this for about 45 minutes at 350F with the convection option turned on.
Served with creamed corn and spinach.
present: Marty, Mark, Robert, David, Audrey

Pork Roast

2010-01-27T07:31:00.000-08:00

I put a pork roast in the crock pot on low for the day. I sprinkled a half-package of Good Seasoning's Organic Italian seasoning mix on the meat and used the wire "shelf" to keep the meat out of the dripping fat. I got home and there was an overcooked odor in the air which quickly dissipated when I added water to the bottom of the crock pot. Note to self: next time put an inch of water in the bottom of the pot.

I had a tremendous headache when I got home, and contacted Robert's girlfriend to see if she would give me a hand with dinner, as she lives two minutes away. Although Robert was still at school, Vanessa, the good egg, popped right over, made sure I was medicated, and suggested a cold pack for my neck. Saint!

We had canned green beans, croissant rolls, and the pork roast with mustard for dipping. If you haven't tried mustard with pork roast, you're in for a treat! The food was delicious.

streaming in diners werre: Marty, Mark, Vanessa, David, Audrey, and Robert

Chicken Creole

2010-01-25T15:18:00.000-08:00

In honor of the Saints winning the playoff for Superbowl, I made chicken creole..
I invented my own recipe, starting with the holy trinity of onion, bell pepper, and celery cooked in butter, with a couple of pods of chopped garlic, then about a half cup of flour added to make a roux, stirred that a bit while it cooked and then added canned crushed and whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, hot sauce, and the juice from cooking eight chicken thighs plus the meat, cut into cubes. A teaspoon of sugar balances the acid in the tomatoes. That'll cook down for a while, then serve over brown rice. Smells good!
present: Mark, Marty, Robert, Vanessa, David, Audrey

Eggplant Parm

2010-01-25T09:00:00.001-08:00

Mark's specialty -
Eggplant parmesan
salad
garlic bread.
present: Mark, Marty, Robert, Vanessa

Alfredo Anyone?

2010-01-23T03:26:00.000-08:00

Big salad and Fettuccine Alfredo with mushrooms.
present: Marty, David, Audrey

Grilled Steaks

2010-01-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

I made a marinade: (mostly) worstecheshire sauce, hot datil pepper sauce, chopped garlic, sesame oil, garlic olive oil, red wine, ketsup, liquid smoke,and lime juice.
Steak, soaked in the above mixture for a few hours
baked potatoes, sour cream, chives
lettuce and grape tomato salad, blue cheese

The marinade was just a blend of liquids I had in the door of my fridge and it was, according to my family, "probably the best" steak they'd ever had. I just splashed stuff in, no idea how much. That's the way I cook!

present: Marty, Mark, David, Audrey, Robert

Too Tired to Cook

2010-01-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

I got home from work around 8:30 yesterday, so tired. I was happy everyone had found something to eat, and I went to bed without eating anything at all. I think I can afford to live off the fat of the land every once and a while.

Today was another busy work day, and again, so tired. Mark called me, checking on dinner, and we decided to meet at Habanero, a great little Mexican restaurant. I'm glad I didn't get a marguerita, because I might have laid down in the seat and fallen to sleep. I ate less than half of my meal, and brought the rest home to David, who immediately finished it off.

Grill Time!

2010-01-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

Robert and his girlfriend cooked burgers on the grill, seasoned to perfection,
baked potatoes in the microwave,
and carrots and dip.

Swishy Fishy

2010-01-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

Tilapia, cooked in oven with lemon butter and pepper
homemade macaroni and cheese, because David hates fish
green beans
stewed tomatoes

Missing Patti's Chicken Parmesan

2010-01-14T19:24:00.000-08:00

Patti's Italian Restaurant on Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville used to serve the best Chicken Parmesan. I don't know if they are still open, but I do recall a very negative last visit. Maybe it was just an off day, but the service and the food was absolutely horrible, and I am a pretty forgiving critic.

I hammered out a few chicken breasts, fried them, then layed them over a bed of spaghetti noodles, covered with sauce, and laid a slice of provolone cheese over each. A flash under the broiler to melt cheese, and we had a delicious, authentic, old style Patti's dinner.

A fluffly romaine salad and garlic bread rounded everything out. Mmmmm.

Turkey Dinner

2010-01-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't like Thanksgiving Turkey all year long?
Sprinkle a turkey breast with Beall's poultry seasoning and place in crock pot on low all day. Do not add any broth or water. That's it! You'll have juicy yummy turkey for dinner.
Served with stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, and spinach.

I Live For Sushi

2010-01-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Why cook when your sweetie offers sushi?
Life is good!

Eggplant Parm

2010-01-07T17:00:00.001-08:00

Eggplant Parmesan
garlic bread
lettuce salad

Lima Beans

2010-01-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Lima beans and ham, cooked all day in crockpot
Served over brown rice
brocolli with cheese

Ham

2010-01-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Baked Ham
Sweet Potato
Green Beans
Rolls

Sour Cream Pound Cake

2009-12-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE The cake I bake for all my friends at Christmas!
½ lb. butter (2 sticks) room temperature
3 c. sugar
½ tsp salt
6 eggs room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
3 drops lemon extract (1/8 tsp)
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one a a time. Add vanilla and lemon. Sift all dry ingredients THREE TIMES. Mix into wet mixture, alternating dry ingredients with sour cream.
Bake at 300 degrees for 1½ hours in tall 2-piece tube pan. Cool five minutes in the pan. Slip the outside of the pan off and cool to room temp before removing the metal base/tube. Pound cakes meld with time, so don't plan on eating the day you bake, but wait a day or two for the flavors to intensify.

Vegetable Stand Soup

2009-12-22T17:08:00.000-08:00

I was going to make cream of mushroom soup, but the mushroom farm in the neighboring city of Zellwood had run out of mushrooms to sell to the general public! Oh no! On the way home I swung into a really nice roadside fruit and vegetable stand. I bought snap beans, cabbage, tomato, carrots, onion, red new potatoes, and red bell pepper. On the way home I stopped in the grocery store and bought a pound and a half of ground beef. While the beef was cooking, I chop chop, cut cut, slice sliced, adding each ingredient to the pot along the way. I forgot to get beef broth, so I tossed in a packet of onion soup mix and picked a bunch of herbs I have growing on the front porch and added those too. I love to grab palmfuls of spices and add them to a huge pot of bubbling yummy broth! It turned out wonderful, especially with the cuban rolls I got today.

My soups never taste the same, as I never follow a recipe when it comes to filling a pot with wonderful goodness. I love soup! My family likes it too, as there are rarely enough leftovers to last two meals, even a pot this huge!

Chili

2009-12-22T15:27:00.001-08:00

Homemade chili with hamburger and sweet italian sausage, light and dark chili beans, and every spice I could think of to make the most amazing chili on earth! I also had green, red, and yellow bell pepper, onion, and all sorts of goodies. I love to create!

Meow for Catfish

2009-11-25T06:33:00.000-08:00

fresh catfish filets, soaked in milk, seasoned, and dredged in corn meal, fried in a little vegetable oil
coctail sauce
mashed potatoes
green beans
carrots

Orange You Glad We Like Chicken?

2009-10-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

A whole chicken, stuffed with orange slices and bay leaves, with a squirt of orange on top with Sauzon Seasoning and baked under a tinfoil tent for an hour, then I drained the chicken juice and squeezed some more orange on top and baked uncovered for about ten more minutes. Yum yum!
With this I had garlic olive oil cuscus and I took a giant can of green beans, drained them, and stir fried them in butter and squished garlic.
David made a tray of brownies for dessert.
Audrey, David, Mark, and I were home for dinner and it was delicious. No leftovers for Robert, but hey, you have to be present to win!

Beef Stew

2009-10-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Beef stew made with potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery.
Served with Ezekial bread and a pickled peach (thanks Patty, they're delicious!).

Fishy Friday

2009-10-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

Daddy brought home some fish a friend of his caught in the intercoastal waterway - saltwater fish. He didn't know what it was, but the filets were small, white, very mild flavored, and about the size of large bream. I cooked it in a mix of olive oil and butter, and sprinkled with some orange mixed seasoning salt with pepper. Very good.
Served with baked potato with butter and okra and tomatoes.

Pork Chops

2009-09-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Pork chops cooked on the grill, brussels sprouts, cole slaw, pickled beets.
At my parents house.

Beans N Rice

2009-09-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

Black beans, brown rice, baked sweet potatoes, and collard greens.
I'm at my parents' house.

Baked Chicken

2009-09-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

Baked whole chicken, stuffing, green beans, waldorf salad.
At my parents house.

Waldorf Salad: peel and cube two apples into bite-sized pieces, add 1//4 cup raisons, 1/4 cup pecan pieces, 1/3 cup chopped celery, and a few tablespoons of mayonaisse. Stir up and chill in fridge.

Stuffed Pork Chops

2009-09-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

pea soup
pork chops, butterflied and topped with stuffing and baked
glazed carrots

BBQ Ribs

2009-09-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

Made a big slab of BBQ ribs, served with warm Italian bread and a fluffy iceburg salad with grape tomatoes, cucumber, and homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. Sugar Ray's Sweet N Smokey BBQ sauce is gooooood. A beer and some football rounded out the meal.
Banana bread in the oven, cooked this time with chopped pecans.

Chopped Steak

2009-09-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

Pan fried chopped steak, cooked in a swirl of olive oil and with quartered onions in the pan, seasoned with general seasoning salt, called sauzon or something like that. It's probably just a Spanish word for Season! It's more green than the orange Season-All, (which has an icky taste to me).
I made yellow squash with onion, cooked with a pat of butter, salt and pepper added to low water.
Cooked chopped cabbage, more onion, half water and half beef bullion, pepper.
I'm ready for winter. Throw in a tomato and some bell pepper, and toss this all in one pot and you'd have a yummy soup!

Cheesy Hash Brown Chili

2009-08-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/cheesy-hash-brown-chili/
Yep, Rachael Ray, quick, easy and cheap meal!
Served that with a lettuce salad with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing on top.

Our son David LOVED this meal, surprising, as he usually doesn't comment.

Chicken, scalloped potatoes, spinach

2009-07-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Baked chicken breasts with wonderful spice mix sprinkled on top turned out wonderfully juicy with crisp skin.
Boiled sliced potatoes, thickened milk with flour and added cheese, poured over the potatoes and baked. Yumm.
Cooked spinach.
It's all good!

Moose Poop

2009-07-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

In a huge plastic bowl - melt 2 cups milk chocolate chips and 1-1/2 cup peanut butter in the microwave until the chips are melted.
Add a teaspoon of vanilla and stir well. Pour in a box of rice chex, a big handful of raw almonds (pan toasted if you like, but I just use the raw ones), a couple of handfuls of pecan halves, a half-cup of M&M's and a half-cup of Reese's Pieces.
Stir and fold with a big cooking spoon until all the chocolate at the bottom of the bowl has coated all the cereal.
Pour a box of powdered confectioners sugar in a NEW paper grocery bag, shake to coat the bag, pour the bowl of chocolate coated in, and seal the bag. Shake shake shake until the powdered sugar has coated all the cereal. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. cayanne pepper, 1 tsp salt, 3-4 Tbsp. ground cinnamon and shake again. You can't taste the pepper - it opens your tastebuds to the sweetness.
Lay a 3 foot sheet of wide tin foil lined with a sheet of waxed paper on the counter and turn out the cereal mix, spreading out well. Let it dry for about an hour, then transfer into a big plastic container with tightly fitting lid and watch it disappear!

Pork Purlo

2009-07-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I cooked a pork roast in the crockpot. What to do withtons of leftover pork? Purlo!!

Cook a large onion (chopped) in olive oil and then added about 5 cups of shredded pork, a small bag of frozen mixed vegetables, two cups of water and two cups of beef broth. Bring to a boil while you "fry" the brown rice.

A few swirls of olive oil go in a frying pan on high. Add 3 cups brown rice and cook on high until you smell a wonderful nutty aroma, plus some of the rice begins to turn golden. This prepares brown rice for cooking so it won't split and get all sticky. Dump into boiling pork mixture. Lower the temperaqture to simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until all liquid is gone.

Add a few shakes of smokey chipotle hot sauce, salt, & pepper and serve with a side dish of pickled beets. Yummmmmyyyyyyy.

Shepherd's Turkey Pie

2009-06-12T19:11:00.001-07:00

Mark and I visited England in 1992, and we ate shepherd's pie in a cozy little pub. They had sprinkled the mildest hint of nutmeg on the top, and it was wonderful!! When I make my shepherd's pie, I always remember to sprinkle on nutmeg. This time, to offset all that mashed potato starch, we had ground turkey instead of hamburger. Instead of peas, we had mixed vegetables (cooked, from frozen). It was good. Later, while watching TV, Mark and I had a grape popsicle for a dessert!

Tilapia

2009-06-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

I cooked fresh tilapia filets in a pan with olive oil. While the fish cooked, I drizzled fresh lemon and sprinkled some spice on. A pot of cooked spinach and some brown rice rounded the meal out fine. Yummy! David doesn't eat fish, so he had leftover spaghetti instead. He and Audrey had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries for dessert.

Turkey and Veggies

2009-06-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Two turkey wings go a long way! Five of us shared a big bag of frozen mixed carrots, brocolli, and cauliflour cooked on the stove, and turkey wings cooked in my Nesco roaster. I love my roaster and prefer to use this as much as possible in the summer, as the oven heats up the kitchen too much. Florida is already hot, hot, hot! Of course with summertime, a fresh cold pitcher of iced tea is a requirement with dinner.

Sketti

2009-06-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

We had spaghetti, made with sweet italian sausage and lots of mushrooms in the sauce, and served over whole wheat noodles. Whole wheat garlic bread, and a nice fluffy romaine salad were great with the spaghetti. I made peach jello, but somehow David hijacked it to his little fridge in his bedroom. Guessing he likes peach.

Lonely Roast Beef

2009-06-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

We have eaten A LOT of food since my last post, just in case you were wondering.... After having been out of town for about three weeks, then working until after dinner at Bonnie's travel office two night (meaning ANOTHER dinner out), I finally got to cook a meal! I defrosted the roast on Tuesday, planning to cook it that night, but I worked way too late. We went to Habanero's for Mexican food. After a marguerita and a basket of warm tortilla chips and salsa, Mark had a pulled beef burrito and I had a shrimp burrito, stuffed with plump grilled shrimp, onion and bell pepper stips, refried beans and rice on the side. I could only eat half and Robbie finished it off when we got home. Wednesday was another late work night, and although I was offered to join Bonnie and Ken for sushi (oh mayun, to pass that up!!!), but my family duty came first. I stopped by Albertson's and bought two rosemary roasted chickens and items to make a big salad. Dinner was delish, simple, and everybody was home to enjoy.

Now to last night's dinner:
I cooked the roast beef - a standing rump roast -in a Nesco 5-quart counter top roaster oven and it turned out wonderful, juicy and bright pink on the inside, yummy brown glazed outside. It was delicious!

After oiling the outside of the roast, I sprinkled some wonderful boutique-mixed herbs and spices all over, then sealed in the juices by doing a quick brown to each side in a hot frying pan before putting the meat into the 325F preheated roaster. I cut a giant onion in big chunks, sprinkled that around the sides, deglazed the frying pan with a cup and a half of dry red wine, then poured that over everything along with another good dose of the bottled herb and spice mix. Lid on, timer set for 20 minutes per pound (1hr,40min for 5 lbs), and I left the kitchen.

Sometime later, as the roast began to smell so wonderful, I was whimsically surprised that all the woodland carnivores weren't pressing their hungry faces against my windows! I made a big pot of brown rice with sliced mushrooms and a cup of frozen peas thrown in to be pretty, and brewed a pitcher of sweetened iced tea. Once the meat was done, I took it out to sit for a few minutes while I steamed brocolli, then made semi-thin gravy and cut the roast in beautiful thin slices. It was 6:45, perfect timing for the family and dinner, and all was perfect! Seven o'clock and still nobody was home. I couldn't wait, so I fixed a plate and enjoyed a wonderful Sunday dinner all alone on a Thursday night!! Everybody was due in at any moment and I KNEW they were gonna fall face first into this delicious feast!

Although I announced yesterday morning that I was not going to leave the house and planned a wonderful roast dinner, I guess everyone forgot. David arrived shortly after I started my meal and announced that he could only eat half a meal, because Audrey's mom was having company over and he was expected to eat dinner at their house. Audrey was helping her mom. Rob called to tell me he was going to watch the Magic game downtown with friends and was eating there. Finally Mark came moseying in around 8:30, changed the channel to the basketball game without even asking if I was watching the movie that I was intently watching (and we have 3 other televisions in our house!), then sheepishly told me a customer was having a cookout and he couldn't resist, so he wasn't hungry. He fixed himself a glass of iced tea and fussed that I had sweetened it. I verbalized at this point on exactly how I felt about him, his children, and the world in general.

I fell asleep watching a stupid basketball game. They lost...so there! I woke up and went into the kitchen to put all that food away (sigh) before going to bed. Cooking took some time, but cleanup was a mysery to me. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and unappreciated... It won't be as delicious reheated tonight.

Mark went to bed while I was still cleaning the kitchen, 'didn't lift a finger to help, but then again, he probably felt safer not to be in the same room with me by this time. As I walked through the living room toward our bedroom, Mark turned off his bedside light and so I was left walking in the dark. I went into the bathroom and fumbled in the dark for the light switch, washed my face, put on a nightgown and headed to bed in the dark. I stumped my toe on the bedframe and blame Mark for this additional mysery.

Indian Tandoori Chicken

2009-02-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

I got the recipe for Tandoori Chicken and had to look up (and create) one of the spices, garam masala, which turned out great. I soaked some brown rice, cooked it, then added some fresh chopped rosemary, and we had steamed brocolli and baked sweet potatoes. Dinner was good, Reminiscent of the Indian buffet I had in Sedona. I could swim in it! Mark, Audrey, and I loved it. We'll see if David will eat it when he gets home. I know he won't eat the potato. This big meal is for Robert when he gets home later tonight. Robert ate it and liked it, but was repulsed by the salmon pink color. It would have reddened up if the chicken was cooked on the grill.

Susan's' Black and White Chili

2009-01-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

My friend Susan gave me this recipe and I put it here so I can cook it this week. Tried it before and it is really good!

3 cans of black beans, 1can of corn- drained, 1can of original rotella tomatoes, 1can del monte diced tomatoes with jalapenos, 3-4 chicken breasts, a few gigs of hot sauce, ( I add a little fresh garlic and onion powder, but you don't have to) cook on low 8 hours in a crock-pot, take chicken out and shread, return to crock for 20 mins. Top with cheddar cheese and sour cream with chips or Doritos.