Yellow Pear Tomato Jam Pizza

Last Saturday, as I was preparing to make pizza, Sandra stopped by to bring me some of her yellow pear jam. I am a big tomato fan so I was totally game to try out her recipe. As I chopped veggies, she and I discussed how her jam with baguette and cream cheese was so good. The idea formed between us to recreate her baguette idea in the form of pizza. Have mercy! Was it ever good! I am so not ashamed to admit that I have had this pizza 2 times in the last week.

Your only problem here is that you have to have a source for this jam. If you are growing your own yellow pear tomatoes then you are golden. If not then search your farmers market or beg them from your neighbors. Whatever it takes. This pizza is that good.

Sorta Kinda Directions
one batch of pizza dough
block of cream cheese, room temp.
smidge of milk
onion, chopped
green bell pepper, chopped
Italian Spice Grinder
loverly yellow pear jam

*Slap your pizza stone in your oven if you do not already keep it in there like me. Then heat your oven to 500F.
*Divide the dough into however many sections you want. I usually go with four. Remember to keep the remaining dough covered so that it won't dry out.
*In the meantime, thin your cream cheese out just a bit with the milk so that you can spread it.
*Shape your dough... roll, toss or whatever your method of might be. I won't judge you.
*Put your dough onto your pizza peel or your fav pan.
*Smear your cream cheese onto the dough, use as many grinds of the Italian Spice as you want,
sprinkle however many onions and peppers on and then drizzle however much of the beautiful jam on top as you wish.
*Bake away and enjoy.


Do not blame me or Sandra for when you gain 3lbs in the first week.

Oh yeah, I also have recently started using honey instead of sugar in my pizza dough. It isn't a big change but I like it. Let me know if you can tell a difference.
I also think I used a sprinkle of kosher salt on the pizza before it baked but I cannot remember for sure. Sad but true..

oh and please ignore the horrid chunks on the pizza. I thought I would try sausage... major fail on my part but the dog liked it.

Hurry it up Snadra!.... ahem I mean thank you for the jam. :)

Tonight I made the most amazing pizza. So amazing that it was totally gone before I ever thought to take a picture. I will try to take a picture next time because I am sure that there will be many many more to come..... but not until SNADRA posts her recipe for the most amazing yaller mater jam ever. Get busy and post!!! oh and thank you for the random stop by and amazing jam.

4-H

My niece, Kiersten and my nephew, Zach are both involved in their local 4-H club. I loved 4-H when I was younger but was never involved as much as they are. Lucky for them, they are growing up on a farm and have had lots of fun raising all sorts of critters. The largest being cows.

Each year they raise a calf and show them at the 4-H fair. This was Zach's first year. That is him over on the right --> Isn't he just the cutest thing ever. Every time I see him I turn into one of those freakish aunts that wants to pinch his cheeks. Sorry bout that Zach :)

Zach had a puny little calf so we all knew going in that he would not win for having a perfect calf. But what the calf lacked Zach was able to show around and he did an amazing job. Even when the calf decided to do his impression of Silver and the Lone Ranger. (Yes, I use to watch that show. Do not laugh) I wish I had a picture of that action but I don't. Instead I have a picture of Zach working hard.






Kiersten had a whopper of a steer this year. Moody as all get out. (listen to me talking as if I know much about cows) All 10lbs of Kiersten had to lay down the law to 911lbs Cranky Mccrankypants. If I knew more about doctorin, I would have slipped ol Mccranky a valium or 10. See that is Mccranky right there--> eyeballin me.









Kiersten went back into the ring for a second time and showed the sweet little calf of Zach's and she did a great job. All smiles and answered
the judges questions like a pro.









Even Kaileigh got in on the action and held puny little sweet calf.
This is when she decided she should have a calf for when she is old
enough for 4-H. or a pig.. or a goat.. or a sheep or or how bout a fluffy rooster! *sigh*

Babycakes, you got the cutest little babycakes!

Tonight, I let Sandra talk me into going to happy hour at Babycakes cupcakery in Patchen Village.
Talk into you wonder? Yeah, I am not a cake person. The thick icing compared to the dryness of a cake is blegh to me. My dislike of cake started early. My brother and I had a deal that he would eat my icing and I would take care of the green items on his plate at dinner. Odd duck? Maybe, but it was a good deal for me. My mother would actually cut me off on how much green beans or kale I was allowed to have at dinner.

Now, if it was one of my grandmother's cakes it would be a different story. She knew how to make a hillbilly cake. All from scratch. No measurements and it was all done in a buttered cast iron skillet. We would sit, wait and drool until the cake was out of the oven and then pounce on it like wolves. Zero icing. to get in your way and the cake was moist. mmmmm

Now back to our story. I was hesitant to go to a cupcakery. How much enjoyment would I, a known cake hater, get from this? Were they going to be all fluffy and pretty and then nasty and crisco-y? Armed with the idea that it was happy hour and the tiny cakes would be half off I decided to go along for the ride. I can splurge on some cake and if it is bad then point a finger at Sandra for years to come. Cause that is just the kind of friend I am.

We were greeted at the door by the super friendly cupcake lady. I can only assume she bakes, is the owner and knows what she is doing because she looks like I do when I bake all day.

I got 4 cupcakes: Key Lime, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Brownie and good ol Chocolate Fudge. So far we are sampling them slowly and the Key Lime was the first one to go. I must say that it was the best darn cupcake I have ever had. The icing was a smooth buttercreme(or is it cream. I hope cream) frosting and the cake was moist. Oh was it ever moist. The lime flavor was not over powering but was nice and subtle.

I will be back cake lady! You can visit Baby Cakes here too. Now go visit her.

Homemade Whities

Chuck is the kind of guy that will happily eat whatever I set in front of him. Never a complaint and very few requests. Easiest man to cook for ever. Whenever he makes a suggestion/request for food I usually jump on it. When he sounded the craving alarm for a round of homemade Whities I wondered how on earth I would make tiny steamed burgers. Alton Brown to the rescue again.

A few years ago, Alton made Mini Man Burgers. These burgers proved to be quite tasty and I doubt I will make regular sized burgers again. I altered it slightly but stuck mostly to his recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t kosher salt
1lb ground chuck
1 package Kings Hawaiian Savory rolls
sauted thinly sliced onions
various toppings of your choice (cheese, mayo etc)

Mix together the spices and put in a shaker. Slice your onions and saute them for about 5min or desired doneness. Set aside. Divide your beef into 8 equal parts and pat them out very thin. Think Whities thin here. Lightly oil your cast iron pan and slap your Whities on the heat, sprinkle one side with desired amount of spice mixture. Flip and sprinkle the other side with spices. Slice your rolls in half and fill with your way better Whities and add your toppings.

I really thing the rolls made all the difference. I have never been a fan of commercial buns.
Homemade onion rings would rule as a side. Or you could go and be healthy and have some corn or something. As a major bonus, these do not produce the *ahem* sliding. Not that I ever had that issue.

Thank you Alton for yet another great recipe.

I forsee a busy January

Chuck and I celebrated our 6th anniversary by taking Kaileigh camping with us to one of our favorite spots in Tennessee. It was an unusually warm weekend but we had lots of fun at the homesteader weekend fair they had going on. Kaileigh hung out with a quilter at her exhibit and stictched for a good hour.

We got an added bonus gift on Sunday morning by getting a positive pregnancy test. What a way to finish our anniversary weekend. After several failed trips to the ob, we *cross your fingers* will be seeing her on Thursday. Just to drive a few of you crazy, we will not be finding out the sex of the baby until he or she makes his/her slimy grand entrance. No exceptions. Sorry Kiersten :)

Prepare for a few more baby related posts in the future as I go baby craft crazy.

Greek Salad Love: Part Two

For the last year, I have been filling my family full of Greek salad. Then I started to notice that I was picking around the lettuce a bit to get to the good parts. Finally it dawned on me that hey I am an adult. I can make my salad the way I darn well choose. Forget the lettuce! I want the good bits!
I have made a few changes to the original recipe but both certainly have their places at the dinner table.

Ingredients
4T extra virgin olive oil
2T lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4t dried oregano
1/2t kosher salt, plus 1/2 t salt reserved
1/4t fresh ground black pepper
3-4 roma tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
1 English or regular cucumber, quartered, seeded and chopped
1 green, red or combo bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion chopped finely
4oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup green olives, drained (for the love of gawd, use good olives)

Use 1/2t reserved salt and mix with cucumber. Place in colander and allow to drain. Combine first six ingredients and set aside. (I usually triple the dressing and reserve part for future use.) Allow time for the flavors to blend. Plow through the chopping of all of the veggies and crumble your feta. I prefer to crumble mine with a fork. Feta fingers will not be tolerated. Give your cucs a good shake(I do not rinse them) and toss everything together. You may make the original recipe and add chopped lettuces but I like it just fine this way.
If you do not finish it off during your meal then make sure you eat it by the next day. Or else it will be a soggy mess and make my heart sad at the wasted goodness.

The current sprogling, also known as Reggie by his/her daddy, *ahem* loves Greek salad just as much as I do. He or she has decided that I should be a vegetarian for the next 6months. So if you have a fav veggie dish then please pass it on. A recent get together had me surrounded by a plethora or veggie dishes. Including Sandra's pineapple weird dish*. I have no idea what the name is but it is the oddest thing I have ever seen placed on the table. While it wins the weirdest dish award it also wins an award for oddball goodness. Please to be sending me that one mmkay. :)

*I really should say weirdest good thing because I have seen some nastiness flopped on the table.
*cough* rocky mountain oysters *cough*

I'm Mad as H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

On Sunday, October 20th, 2002 Chuck and I went to a park in Indiana. We strolled down a hiking trail as the leaves were falling. Chuck was unusually quiet as I chattered on. Normally, I am content to hike quietly but not on that day. I come from a family of talkers. The quiet disturbs us greatly. I knew it as well as Chuck knew that at some point on that hike he was going to pull out a big fat ring box and ask me to marry him.

After our hike, we were happy to share our news with everyone and never with a thought that in this country some people do not share that same right as we do. This is what has me so mad today that I am steaming. Why is that our country has limitations on who can marry whom? Why should the government decide who I can fall in love with and marry? Don't even bother to bring up religion here. Our government should not base any laws on any religion. Our country was created by people who wanted freedom. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that anyone can govern my right to marry.

Wandering off now to stew and plant more veggies until this nauseating feeling subsides. Maybe one day this country will grant that all people regardless of sexual orientation can enjoy marriage. They too should be able to have health care for their spouses, visit them in the hospital as next of kin and make difficult decisions if need be and stand up before all of their friends and declare their love for one another legally and without fear. Maybe if the U.S would step forward and say that enough is enough.then all of the hate would begin to fade. Equal rights for everyone!!

Manly Shirt Remake

I have two favorite tank tops and they are getting old. Sadly showing their age by fading from a nice dark black to that nasty faded blackish brown with a hint of purple. Not pretty. I have looked high and low for replacements for them but have failed on every shopping trip. I have to admit I am slightly picky on the tank top front so it makes perfect sense that I continue to look. Lemme sum up: I like a tank that is fitted but not too fitted, wider straps to hide ye old bra straps and a slight give so as to not accent the chest so much that I frighten small children. Oh and not too thin or have one of those stupid built in bra shelf. I hate that.

I recently saw a crafty blog that repurposed a mans dress shirt into a dress. Props go out to whoever that was. I am too tall for that kind of action though. I would look like Tom Cruise in Risky Business. So I kept that bit of creative inspiration in my little head until I thought of a great project. Chuck has several polo knit shirts that he wears to work but the collars give out long before the rest of the shirt. The shirt is the perfect size to repurpose into a tank top! Score!

I started by laying the polo shirt out neatly with the tank top right no top of the sacrificial shirt. Line up the side seams on both the shirt and tank. I wanted to keep the bottom hem that was already on the shirt to keep it as simple as possible.








I measured out a 1/4" seam all around and cut the new neck line and side seams. Remember to retain the bottom seam or heck, create your own hem. You can see part of my rough outline from my magical disappearing ink pen if you look closely.

I then sewed up the raw edges on the neck and side seams.







Flip what remains of your manly shirt over and use the back side for your straps. I cut out 2 12x3 pieces. You can do whatever width or length you want.

Fold the 3" fabric down into a 1" strap. I liked the thicker strap. You could do halfsies if you wanted. Sheesh ignore my man hands in this picture please. Iron your folded strap to make it a bit easier to sew. I sewed two seams down each side of the strap to make sure it kept its form.


Position your straps on your shirt and tack it on. Then try on your new tank top and see if the straps are where they should be. I skipped this step and went straight for the sewing machine. Bad idea. I had to rip the seams and readjust my straps.

This was my first try and I learned alot from it. Sewing knits has always been a fear of mine but I did just fine. The new tank is not perfect but it will be a great tank to do yard work.

Homemade Ranch Dip

Southerners love their ranch dips and dressings. Ranch dip at parties, ranch on salads, dry packets of ranch powder mixed into hamburgers and all sorts of meals. Heck, even on your buffalo wings instead of stinky feet cheese dips. My niece, Kiersten, (hi sis) was a veggie hater but stick a plate full of chopped carrots in front of her and a bowl of ranch and that girl would go to town.

Having said that, I am sure that one of you will now pipe up and let me know how much you hate the stuff but I may have a remedy. Behold the power of homemade ranch dressing. I have been eating this stuff a bit too much lately but boy o boy is it goooood.

Homemade Ranch Dressing and Dip
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C mayo (please don't grab the Miracle Whip. It just isn't the same)
1/2 bunch green onions chopped into tiny bits(you can use just the green bits but I like the whites and greens - grab a breath mint)
1-2T fresh chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, smashed, minced or pressed
1/4-1/2t Tony Cachere's original seasoning
salt to taste, I use 2-3 pinches

For dip: mix it all up and you are good to go
For dressing: add a bit of milk until it is thin enough to suit you

I would be showing you a picture here but I sent the last of it with Chuck for lunch. Yum.

The Gnomes Circus is in town so excuse my scatter brained mumblings.

Once a month, when Cirque du Gnomes come riding into town, I get nudjey. I know, I know, little ol me can never be anything but super sweet but things happen. Things that make Chuck roll out the big funny guns to try and make me laugh. Oh how that man can make me laugh.
I can't remember exactly what he said because I was honestly in a haze with all the Gnomes banging their drums but it was funny and something about my cheesy clip on Target sunglasses and his going to THE MATRIX.
The gnomes don't like it when you laugh so they were angry and stuck around for another day to get their revenge.

Their extended stay brought on the insaneo cleaning phase. I cleaned places that seemed to not have been cleaned since we moved into this house almost 5yrs ago. (Gawd has it really been almost 5yrs now?) Which brings me to my friendly service announcement. Please people, clean under your fridge. I found dog hair under mine that was sprouting feet and a tail and asking for treats. I did not phot0graph that one. The image will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Before the gnomes left, they begged for fresh baked bread. I, being so happy for them to go, decided to oblige them. Then I realized that the measuring cups are in the dishwasher. I hate to measure anyhow so I made do with my favorite multi tasker. Oh yeah, I brought out the pint Mason jars. Every hilljacks favorite sweet tea glass, measuring cup, biscuit cutter and storer of all things. 1 pint of freshly ground wheat, 1 pint of ap (tht is all purpose in case any one is confused) flour, half pint of room temp. water, and 3 glubs of honey(that big ol nasty looking jar holds my local honey), blob of room temp butter and some salt and yeast. The outcome of all of that is rising on the stove right now.

and now back to our regularlly scheduled program

Spring Time

Spring is obviously here in Kentucky. Our trees are blooming like mad and the smell makes me want to close my eyes and inhale deeply. (oh and sneeze and take some more allergy meds too) Boo is going crazy with all the birds that have been flocking to our yard to feast at the bird feeder. I even had to bust out the mower already just so that the little dog wasn't lost in all the crazy grass in the back yard.

With all this spring growth, I am getting the planting itch in the worst way. This year I plan to stuff my little garden full of goodness. Oh and some completely worthless pumpkins. Pumpkins are just the cutest little things. I can't help myself. Maybe I will plant ones that we can actually eat this time.

With all the planting dreams rolling through my mind and a dog that will eat anything she can, I thought that maybe I should check out which plants I should avoid. Just in case Jessie decides to augment her strict bunny poo diet and gets the plant eating itch or something crazy like that.

I knew alot of these toxic items but I was unaware of mushrooms?? Come on. Seriously? Lantana? How can that even begin to look like something a dog would eat? Chocolate I can totally understand but lantana?

Yes, I was once blond.

Try not to be shocked but I was blond as a child. Very blond. I would post a picture here but my mother hordes pictures like the ITEOTWAWKI folks horde ammo and #10 cans. But that is another story and I will cast no stones from my glass house.

Chuck recently got an iphone. I have to admit that I am a bit jealous but atleast he was nice enough to give me his ipod to distract me. Now I can dance around like a fool while I vacuum or groove while I use the elyptical. Yeehaw. Pretty picture, no? I have wanted an ipod since they were bigger than an iphone so I'm happy. Today, vacuum in hand, I thought I heard a new Sheryl Crow song. Step it up Sheryl! I was impressed with her flair. New twist on an old favorite song. Then the next song came on. Wow. Even OCMS has a new twist on a song. Third song rolls around and I realize that there is no way the Velvet Underground is stepping it up. My brain is quick like fox when it comes to the painfully obvious.

The message here people is to always make sure your earbuds are plugged in all the way or else you too might here a new twist on an old song. Unless you are into that kinda thing.

teeheehee

A few days back, a friend made her husband a target for the gun range. Tonight, we watched as he loaded it into the back of his truck for his trip to the gun range tomorrow morning. As we watched, we hatched an evil plan like the freaks the we are. Muwahahaha. Poor guy. I really hope he doesn't find our handy work until he arrives and has an audience.

Disney or Bust

We recently joined some of our friends on a down with February trip to Disney. I was terrified of the 13+hrs in the car but the time flew by. Kaileigh rocked out in the backseat like a traveling pro!
As a bonus, we escaped the remains of the icestorm. Awww the sweet sweet sunshine. Does wonders to the winter blahs.

Going as a group was simply the icing on the cake. Kaileigh loved seeing her friends so far from home. Plus plenty of daddies to carry small children on their shoulders ruled! Did I mention that February is an off season so the crowds are small?

Fort Wilderness did not let me down either. Super clean. Kaileigh got to ride a Shetland pony named Snow. The daily boat rides were fun as well.

Even though we have not been to Disney since the 80's it was still so much the same.

Oh and yup still love the tea cups!

Dam Pets!

The following is the conversation Kaileigh and i had as we were getting ready for bed tonight:

Momma, I want a dam pet. *waves hands*
You already have THREE of them.
No I don't. I want a dam pet. *more waving of hands*
(keep in mind that I am really tired and taking meds so I am not all that quick on the up take)
Kaileigh, you have one big dog, one dog that thinks its a cat and one kitten. We can't handle anymore pets.
a DAAAAAMMM PEEEEET! You know, one that MAKES DAAAAMMSSSS.
ohhhh. A beaver!?!
God, yes woman.
Don't talk to me like your Daddy.

All that was missing was a slap on the hiney and that would have sealed it.

I also just realized that I let the dam get by as if it was nothing. Hooray! I'm so close to that mommy of the year award I always dreamed of! So close.

Clean out your fridge manicotti

I love vacations but the return home can be a real downer. Especially if you are like me and concentrate on packing and getting ready and not what is in your fridge. I have been making it a top priority on my vacation prep to do list to eat all the goodies before they turn nasty and taunt me when I return.

Last night I opened my fridge and grabbed an armful of items that need to be eaten before we leave. Some ground turkey, carrots, mozzarella, some eggs and a small bit of cream cheese. A quick look through the pantry and I had a plan, manicotti.

Manicotti
1lb ground turkey
3 carrots, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Italian seasonings* to taste
s/p to taste

2 eggs beaten
1/3 block cream cheese, softened
1 jar sauce of choice
manicotti shells, cooked per instructions

Brown your turkey, set aside
Saute carrots, onion and garlic (I think zucchini or spinach would work as well)
Combine half jar sauce with turkey, onions, and other veggies.
Stuff your precooked shells and place in casserole dish
Drop blobs of cream cheese onto shells
Pour beaten eggs over shells
Back for 30 min
top with cheeses of choice and set back in to brown.

Whew was that good. I had enough of the mixture to stuff 2 boxes of shells so I reserved half and froze it. I love make ahead meals. Even if they are only part way. I used cream cheese but you don't have to. I'm sure whatever cheese you have would work. Manicotti is very forgiving.

*The Italian Herbs that I use is the McCormick Italian Herb Seasoning GRINDER. I am not big on buying blends** but I really do like this one. I am not sure I will buy another one when this one is gone because I can do the same in my spice grinder. It is good though.

**Please note that I do buy Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning like it is going out of style. I will use that in just about any recipe that I can. I even used it in the manicotti :)

Its a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake

Five years ago today we were welcoming a tiny baby into our family. For four and half of those years I enjoyed her still being my baby. Over the last six months it has been all to obvious that she has been busy turning into a big girl. She is no longer hesitant to run right in the middle of a pack of bigger kids in our court. She nolonger sits on the sidelines waiting to jump in. She dives right on in head first. She is still learning how to deal with a bully though. grrrr

For four long years she loved blue. We had to search for blue everything. Do you know how hard it is to find blue girly shoes? Not navy blue either. That would have been too easy. A light blue close to periwinkle purple was her fav. Now it is pink. Pink everything. The icing on the five year old cake was the sudden interest in dresses. Zoinks! My baby wants dresses and not overalls.
Recently she decided that she wants tons of new dresses for when she starts school this fall and she wants to go shopping for them.

Last Friday, she had her party at a local bouncey place and we all had tons of fun. Tonight she has requested that we go out to eat and get chicken shwarma. I think I can handle that.

For now I must go and make a cake with pink layers and pink icing. *sigh*

Sew Me Something, Mamma!

I'm a sucker for the fabric department. Try not to laugh too hard. All of those rows and rows of pretty fabrics all nice and neatly on display. *swoon* I guess all the strolling down those pretty aisles did something to me. I hauled out my sewing machine a few weeks back and I have been sewing like a mad woman ever since.

I made Kaileigh a new pillow, mattress and a quilt for her baby doll crib, dolly cloth diapers (omg are they ever cute), Oh new dog beds, too. The list just goes on and on.

Today, Kaileigh and I had a coupon burning a hole in our collective pockets so we went to Hobby Lobby. Help me Rhonda! Kaileigh and I both fell in love with some of the new fabric lines they have in. Seriously, you can stop laughing now. Kaileigh saw some fabric that made her decide that I need to be making her a skirt. Me. Make. A. Skirt. Now we can all laugh together.

I gave in after a few sweet pleaaaaaaases. It really is pretty fabric and I am sure I can do something with it and the three other fabrics friends that just fell into my cart.

Hopefully I will be posting something pretty very soon. Otherwise I will be posting something we can all laugh at.

Dough!

I was in the mood today for some falafel stuffed into pita. Yet I had no pita. The horror! Whats a girl with a brickof yeast in her freezer to do? Make some pita of course! Sadly, I have yet to make a passable pita. What I made today ended up tasting like pizza crust. A very good crust but still pizza crust is not pita. I used half the dough for the pitas and the other half I made into a free form loaf of bread. It was not pretty but oh was it good. I think the honey and olive oil did the trick.


3 1/2C flour
1 1/2C water
1T yeast
2T olive oil
1 1/2t kosher salt
2T honey

-add water, honey and yeast to mixing bowl and allow to bloom.
-then add flour and olive oil. Mix part way and add salt.
-mix on low speed for 10min

form into loaves and bake at 370F for 15

For the first loaf, I slathered it with garlic butter but Chuck suggested that this dough might make a good cinnamon toast. I think I will try that tomorrow but make another to roll up with cinnamon, brown sugar and butter so it is all swirly and pretty.

Granny Annette's Fried Chicken

The first meal I ever had at Granny Net's house was her fried chicken legs. I really hated to tell her that chicken legs grossed me out but I had a plan. I sat down and ate the kale, ate the fresh corn and taters. Then I stole a freshly gnawed on chicken leg bone from Chuck's plate and slapped it on my own. Yes, I lied. Don't you judge me either! Granny Net is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. Right up there with my own Mammish and that says alot.

Granny Net was all smiles when she saw that I "ate" her chicken. Then she plunked another one down on my plate. "One chicken leg isn't a meal. Have another." Busted! I knew I should have gone all green eggs and ham on her! I really don't like messy foods and chicken legs certainly fall into that category. You have to get in there and nibble and hunt for meat AND watch out for *gag* a tendon.

In true green eggs and ham fashion, I discovered that I really did like chicken legs. But only if Granny Net made them. Chuck spent a long long time on the phone with her getting a recipe that really isn't a recipe. Now I can reap the fruits of that labor anytime I bring home the legs. Yeehaw. My man can cook! I'm guessing that if we pester him enough he will post his recipe.

Crockypot Chili

I find that sometimes I spend far too much time in the kitchen. Making good use of my crock pot is helping to remedy that. I would love to be one of those people that are OAMCers(once a month cooking) but I am not. It just does not work for me. I am more of a shortcut kinda girl. When I find organic beef on sale then I stock up. I take several pounds at a time and brown it in my giant cast iron skillet, allow it too cool and then foodsaver it up into amounts that are recipe ready.


Crock Pot Chili

1C dried black beans
1C dried kidney beans

8oz diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1lb ground meat of choice, I used beef
1/2oz Bloemer's Chile Powder
2t Tony Cachere's Original Creole Seasoning
1/4-1/2t red pepper flakes (ground)
1can green chillies (I like the whole ones)
2C chicken stock(or enough to keep covered for duration of cooking time)

-soak beans the day before, rinse and drain. Cook on low in crock pot over night.
-rinse and drain again.
-add back to crock pot with the rest of the ingredients
-crock pot on low until dinner time

I made a pot of this chili on Friday. We have eaten it as straight up chili, with chips, and on hotdogs. My fav is to slightly steam a tortilla and use the chili as a burrito type filling. I use a slotted spoon so that it isn't too saucey.

I like to use dried beans instead of canned. Dried beans have a better texture and taste.
I also prefer to saute my onions before adding it to the crock pot. Yeah I know, I'm picky that way.

No doubt about it

No doubt about it, I am a big big fan of Lambic. My favorite is the kriek (sour cherry). Which has a slightly sweet yet sour aftertaste and a bit of fizz to to round it out. Our last trip to the Newalbanian left me hopeful that a certain homebrewer that I know would whip up a batch and slap it in the carboy but alas it takes time.

For now, I will wait. I do have to admit that I am fear the addition of a fruit again. Anybody remember the strawberry incident.? I do.

Pizza dough with a side of garlic knots

My mom started making Chef Boyardee Pizza when I was little and I thought that was the best darned thing ever. Then she started making her own dough in a giant green Tupperware bowl. She explained how the yeast was asleep and she had to feed it. That the yeast belched and that is what made the dough rise and get flavor. I was both fascinated and grossed out all rolled up into one. The dough was sealed up in that container and stuck in the garage in the summer or near the wood burning stove in the winter. I loved watching that dough.

Maybe that is why I still like making bread so much. The smell of belching yeast just makes my heart flutter :)

Pizza Dough
1T yeast
7oz lukewarm water
2T sugar
2 3/4C flour
2-3t kosher salt
1T olive oil

-dissolve yeast in water with sugar. Allow enough time for yeast to activate and become foamy.
-dump the rest into the mixing bowl and knead on lowest speed for about 10min.
-drizzle a bit of olive oil onto the dough ball and roll around until covered. Cover with plastic wrap.
-allow to rise until double in size at room temp or allow the dough to rise in the fridge over night
- roll or stretch into desired shape
- add your favorite toppings
-bake at 500F for about 7min


If you want something really good then double the pizza dough recipe. Cut it in half and use half of it to make garlic knots.

Garlic Knots
1 recipe pizza dough
1/2c butter
4-6 crushed garlic cloves
salt

-melt butter with garlic and salt and set aside.
-plop dough onto work area and form it into something that resembles Jabba the Hutt.
-keep half of the dough covered with plastic wrap while you work with the other end.
-using your bench knife, lop off sections that are about the size of a Snickers bar.
-roll in your hand like playdoh until it is long enough to loop into a knot.
-place on cookie sheet and brush with garlic butter.
-bake at 375F for 10-12min.
-brush with garlic butter before serving

The House That Nug Built

For those of you that don't know it already, Chuck is one very creative person. He and Kaileigh love to take apart the latest Amazon box or a simple paper bag and turn them into something really fun.

<--- Like this















Kaileigh and Chuck spent a Saturday afternoon making this fine house for Boo. A lovely two story abode with a porch, windows and various hatches so that Boo can reach out and try to attack as you walk by.

Boo loves his house. He likes to sleep inside and carry all of his treasures in there for safe keeping. At first, Jessie thought she would give his house a try. She quickly discovered that a sneak attack from a spry kitten was certainly not something that she ever wanted to experience again in the confines of a box. I certainly wish I had the video camera on the box that day.






Sneak attack on Riley