The End Is In Sight

Well, last night it ended...... We sadly watched our last available episode of LOST. We actually thought we had 2 more discs and they turned out to be bonus footage. What a major let down.
The good news is now I am back to blogging more faithfully.
LOST has truly consumed us. We can't wait for the 5th season to come out on DVD in December.
Note to self: Finish Christmas shopping in November.
The 6th and final season is set for January or February 2010 so we will probably watch it in real time. I emphatically say it is the best television series ever created. (This from a true Cagney and Lacy fan).

Ok, so I seem to remember this was a cooking blog, right? So, it must be time to start cooking again. Quick meals were the norm during our LOST stage. I have almost depleted all of my freezer meals so those will have to be replenished as well.

I have always had an interest in the Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) concept. Even started a folder of recipes at one time. The idea is spend one weekend a month and freeze meals for the coming month. The only problem is I don't want to spend an entire weekend in the kitchen. Even as much as I love to cook that is a bit much. So, I prefer to double up on entrees that freeze well and have them in reserve for those days that time will not permit anything more.
What might be fun though is to have a few friends join me in the kitchen and we could work together and divide our efforts.
Let me know if you have any experience here, I would love your input.

Here is a OAMC recipe that I plan to try soon:

Orange Glazed Chicken (OAMC)

8 boneless skinless chicken breast (or whatever your family prefers)
2 cups French dressing
3 cups ginger ale (do not use diet)
2 cups orange juice
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Marinade chicken in French dressing in refrigerator for at least 1 hour, overnight is even better.
Remove from marinade and brown in a small amount of vegetable oil over medium high heat.
Combine ginger ale and cornstarch. Divide chicken in what ever proportions work well for your family. Divide sauce and pour over chicken. Cool and freeze.

On serving day:
Take chicken out of the freezer in the morning and place in the refrigerator. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 300* and bake 1 - 1/2 hours, basting at least twice during cooking.
Serve over rice.

Supper here tonight was Shrimp Pitas*. Something light and refreshing for the last of July.

Shrimp Pitas

2 cups frozen salad shrimp - peeled and deveined
3 radishes - chopped fine
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 small cucumber - peeled and chopped fine
1 tsp. lemon juice - fresh if you have it
1 tsp. Old Bay
1/4 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. Ranch dressing

Combine all ingredients and chill.
Serve in pita pockets with very cold finely shredded lettuce.

So, until tomorrow............
S~~~

I Am A Bad Blogger

It's true. I have been a terrible blogger. Lacy just called during supper and reminded me how bad I have been.
Lots of reasons, (notice I say reasons, not excuses), LOST, the beautiful weather, LOST, my biggest group of the year this week at work, LOST, and general laziness.

We have been eating lots of our freezer meals and vegetables from the garden, so there haven't been a lot of recipes to post.

One very important situation I want to share.
You have heard me talk about my very best friend in the world Jan. She lives in Tennessee now and we don't get to see each other as much as we like.
She emailed to let me know that her 12 1/2 year old granddaughter, Haley, was very badly burned last week. She was boiling eggs and knocked the pot of boiling water off the stove burning her from the waist down. She is in the burn unit at Bowman Gray in Winston Salem.
Please, please keep her in your prayers. It would mean so much. I will keep you posted when I hear an update from Jan.

Be patient with me. We are in the last season of LOST that we have on DVD and the next one isn't out yet. I promise to be better, hopefully I will be back tomorrow!!

So, until tomorrow............
S~~~

Retro Recipes

Don't you just love recipes that remind you of growing up. Today I came across a a cake recipe that reminded me of my aunt Mary so much. She made this cake often when I was young. This got me to thinking about other recipes I associate with people.

Ronnie has a memory of his Grandmother Taylor making something she called "sweet bread". She had passed long before we were married so I never had this dessert, but try as I might to duplicate it I cannot. Apparently she was one of those wonderful cooks who never needed a recipe. From what I can gather from Ronnie and other family members this was a very simple, plain type cake that she baked in a single layer in a cast iron pan. He remembers it being a little crunchy around the edges. My sister in law, Karen, remembers that she sometimes made chocolate sweet bread as well. If by chance you had a grandmother that made "sweet bread" Ronnie would be forever grateful if you could share the recipe.

So, in memory of my Aunt Mary enjoy this wonderful cake.

Pistachio Cake

1 pkg. white or yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (4 serving size) pistachio instant pudding mix
3 eggs
1 c. club soda
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. chopped nuts

FROSTING:

1 1/2 c. cold milk
1 envelope Dream Whip
1 pkg. pistachio pudding mix

Combine all ingredients in large mixer bowl. Blend, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and frost.
For the Frosting:
Pour the milk into a deep bowl. Add the Dream Whip and the pistachio pudding mix. Beat slowly to blend. Gradually increase speed until mixture forms peaks. Spread on cake.


So, until tomorrow.................
S~~~

Logan County Hamburgers

Tonight I am fixing Logan County hamburgers from Katie Lee Joel. (She recently became Billy Joel's Ex.) Lacy is fascinated with celebrities, me not so much. I think everyday people are much more interesting. Anyway, Lacy found this recipe and mentioned it to me.
I was intrigued because everybody loves hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. What better than a combination of both?

Growing up it was not unusual for us to have hamburgers on plain white bread. Daddy fixed them that way often. I have always liked hamburgers prepared this way as I am not a big bread person. I always buy rolls, usually the big onion rolls, not sure why.
*Note** I am making one change to the recipe. I am rolling the ground beef very thin and cutting them square.

Logan County Hamburgers*
Grilled Corn
Fried Squash
Cucumbers and Onions (in vinegar, brown sugar, water and dill)
Sliced Cantaloupe


Logan County Hamburgers

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium sweet onion, half grated (remaining half slice thin)
1 large egg - lightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
12 slices white bread
12 slices American cheese
pickle (optional)
ketchup (optional)
mustard (optional)


In medium bowl, combine beef, grated onion, egg, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Form into 6 (4-inch) patties.
Spread 1/2 tsp. butter on one side of each bread slice - set aside.
Brown in a large heavy duty skillet over medium-high heat.
Cook burgers through, turning once.
Transfer to a plate-lined with paper towels.
Drain fat from skillet.
Add 3 bread slices, buttered side down, and layer each with 1 cheese slice, onion slice, burger, another cheese slice and bread, buttered side up.
Cook reducing to medium-low heat, turning once, until bread is golden brown, about 4 minutes.
Repeat to make 3 more sandwiches.
Serve with condiments, if desired.

So, until tomorrow.............
S~~~

The Dog Days of Summer

I am probably one of the few people who will admit to loving dog days.
The warm humid weather is perfect for me. Both Ronnie and I were born in dog days.
Last Friday, July 10th was my birthday and every single year, with the exception of only 2 that I can remember, it has rained at least a few drops. Now keep in mind that I am the girl that loves the rain. Mother and Daddy always remembered that it came a terrible thunder storm on the day I was born and the hospital (the old Marion General) went to generator power. Anyway, we always wait for the rain on my birthday, and we were not disappointed. On our way to dinner on Friday evening we got rain.

Also, dog days bring fresh vegetables from the garden. Tonight for the first time we will have enough green beans from the garden for supper. We have had lettuce, onions, squash, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes but now we have fresh green beans.

So, supper tonight is just vegetables, yum...............

Fresh Green Beans (greasy cuts shorts)
Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes*
Squash Casserole
Cucumber Salad
Cornbread

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes

6 large potatoes cut into wedges, peeled or not, your preference
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (more or less depending on taste, freshly squeezed is always best)
1 Tbsp. chicken bouillon dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 garlic cloves pressed (or garlic powder to taste)

Peel and cut potatoes. Place in a 9x13 pan, combine remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes stirring well to coat ever piece.Bake at 425 for 1 hour. Stir every 20 minutes or so.
Squeeze little more fresh lemon juice on for more flavor.

So, until tomorrow..................
S~~~

Day Best Forgotten

I have no clue about supper tonight. My simple plan is not to cook, maybe have chocolate for supper!!

This has been the day better forgotten.............
First thing a VERY difficult client at work and then my uncle had MAJOR issues on an unsuccessful attempt to fly home from Orlando to Asheville.
What happened to the days when it was fun to fly???

So, until tomorrow.........
S~~~

We Have Been "Lost"

I guess it is confession time. I know I have been a really bad blogger recently.

The last few weeks we have been “LOST”. “Lost” as in the series.
Even though it has been on television for several years I have had no interest whatsoever in watching. You see, I never watch nor read any fantasy or science fiction. As I have said before I can read the phone book but I always draw the line on the reality side.
That is until we went to visit Lacy-Jay and Bashar in late April. They sent us home with the first four seasons of “Lost”. My sister in law, Karen has watched from the beginning and I knew this was her addiction, but I never dreamed in a million light years that it would become mine too, Ronnie yes, me, no way!!
The discs sat around on our shelf for a few weeks with Lacy prodding us daily about watching. Finally, one Sunday afternoon Ronnie talked me into sitting down with him, promising that if I just watch an episode of two and hated it he would watch the rest alone. The rest is history. We have planned our lives around watching “Lost”. I have never, ever, been as involved in anything on television as I am “Lost”. You can never, and let me repeat never, see what is coming next.
Ronnie saw the cover of a magazine in the grocery store that said this is quite possibly the best written television series ever. Far be it from me to question that statement.
Anyway………………. we are in the middle of the third season of the four we have.
If we feel lost now can you just imagine how lost we will be when it is all over???

This in turn has caused me to be “lost” in the supper department too. Meals have been fast and furious with both of us cleaning up the dishes in order to get in as many episodes as possible before bedtime.

Tonight I am posting a couple of recipes that are stuck in my “to be tried” stack. If you aren’t “lost”, maybe you would want to try them and post your comments!!
Enjoy.


Zucchini Soup

1 cup chopped onions
2 T. butter
3 cups sliced zucchini
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
½ cup half-and-half

4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, then crumbled
In a large saucepan cook onions in melted butter until tender. Add sliced zucchini and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender (about 15 min.) Add salt and pepper. Cool slightly. Pour mixture into blender and puree it. Stir in half-and-half (or milk). Return to saucepan and reheat, but do not boil. Garnish with grated cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits.
Makes 6 servings.


Olive Garden Salad

Olive Garden Salad Dressing:
½ c. mayonnaise
1/3 c. white vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 Tb. corn syrup
2 Tb. Parmesan cheese
2 Tb. Romano cheese
¼ tsp garlic salt – or one clove garlic, minced
½ tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp parsley flakes
1 Tb. lemon juice

Salad:
1 large head romaine lettuce
slices red onion
black olives
2-4 banana peppers
2 small tomatoes, quartered
½ c. croutons
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
For homemade croutons:
4 slices sandwich bread
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tb. butter
salt and pepper
dried parsley flakes

Mix all dressing ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your own personal tastes, add a little extra sugar.
Chill one salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes. Put lettuce in bowl. Place on top of lettuce red onions, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

For homemade croutons:
Cut off crusts of sandwich bread, and cut bread into cubes. Melt butter in small saucepan and add minced garlic. Toss sandwich cubes in the butter and spread out in a pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper and parsley flakes to taste. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°, turning half way through baking.

So, until tomorrow..........
S~~~

"I Think it Was The Fourth of July"

Saturday in the park I think, it was the Fourth of July
Saturday in the park I think, it was the Fourth of July
People dancing, people laughing
A man selling ice cream
Singing Italian songs

[Foreign Content]

Can you dig it? Yes, I can
And I've been waiting such a long time.... for Saturday
Another day in the park
I think, it was the Fourth of July
Another day in the park I think, it was the Fourth of July
People talking, really smiling
A man playing guitar and singing for us all
Will you help him change the world
Can you dig it?
Yes, I can
And I've been waiting such a long time....for today
Slow motion riders, fly the colors of the day
A bronze man, still can tell stories his own way
Listen children all is not lost
All is not lost, oh no, no
Funny days in the park
And every day is the Fourth of July
Funny days in the park
And every day is the Fourth of July
People reaching, people touching
A real celebration
Waiting for us all , if we want it, really want it
Can you dig it? Yes, I can
And I've been waiting such a long time....for the day

Chicago, 1972 - Chicago V

What an appropriate song for a gorgeous Fourth of July Saturday. It also happens to be one of my favorites.

I hope everyone has big plans for today, cookouts, spending time with friends and family, music, fireworks................ and most of all celebrating our Independence.

I haven't done a lot of cooking this week, with the exception of putting up freezer meals. I love to have something I can take out of the freezer and have supper ready in a flash on those days when I have exhausted every brain cell I have left. All that falling out of the bed when I was a kid demolished most of them I'm certain. Those that were left after sticking two bobby pins in a receptacle and being knocked across the room. I was raised by an overly protective mother who would NEVER let me have a coke with my meals except on my birthday and Kool Aid was a big no-no, but somehow covering wall receptacles was unheard of. My parents were/are both intelligent people and I think they assumed they would have a child that possessed the same large amounts of common sense they were so richly blessed with. When I did the dumb things that most children manage to do a puzzled look would pass between them that clearly questioned where this alien child came from.

Now back to the reason I actually write this blog......................

What I did make yesterday was Rosemary Infused Cucumber Lemonade. Wow. We loved it
A few months ago Deb and had lunch at Curras Dom and they had a cucumber lemonade type drink that we enjoyed. We both wanted to try it but were a bit unsure so we ordered tea as well. We didn't drink the tea. Thursday Ragan and I were talking and she was writing an article (she is the entertainment editor at the Hickory Daily Record) about fun drinks for the holiday. She mentioned a cucumber lemonade that a caterer in Hickory makes that gets rave reviews. She had promised to send Ragan the recipe but failed to do so. (Her loss, why pass up free advertising?)
I went on line and found several recipes for cucumber lemonade and combined several to come up with this recipe. I love the rosemary in it, rosemary is my favorite herb.
Give it a try, I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.

Rosemary-Infused Cucumber Lemonade

Makes 4 glasses

3 large cucumbers
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, plus 4 sprigs for garnish
1 cup Sprite Zero
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1-2 Tbsp. agave syrup

Cut 12 thin slices of cucumber for garnish. Peel and chop the rest of the cucumber; transfer to a food processor, add rosemary and puree. Pour the puree through a fine-mesh strainer set over a medium bowl or large measuring cup. Press on the solids to extract all the juice. Add water, lemon juice and agave syrup to the cucumber juice; stir until the agave is dissolved. Divide among 4 ice-filled glasses. Garnish with cucumber slices and rosemary sprigs.

And for after the fireworks....................

Cucumber Mojito

Makes 4 glasses

6 limes
1 cup packed mint leaves, no stems, plus 6 sprigs for garnish
3 large cucumbers - peeled
½ cup sugar
1 1/2 cups vodka, light rum or gin (rum for the mojito purist)
tonic water

Thinly slice 3 limes and place in large (4 cup) glass measuring cup. Juice the rest and add juice. Add mint leaves. Slice 2 cucumbers and add, then add sugar. Muddle ingredients. (Use a wooden spoon with you don't have a muddler) Add vodka, rum or gin. Place in refrigerator to steep 30 minutes or longer.
Peel remaining cucumber and cut lengthwise into 6 spears.
Fill 6 large glasses with ice. Strain mixture into a pitcher. Fill glasses ½ full. Fill glasses with tonic water and stir, garnish each glass with a sprig of mint and a cucumber spear.

My best wishes to all of you and your families for a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

So, until tomorrow..............
S~~~

Catching Up, Again

Wow. It has been a while, huh?

Ronnie and I have been off from work and just enjoying every single day.

I want to be June Cleaver, sans Beaver. I wouldn’t know how to raise boys.
I really think I could be a housewife. That would be a dream. I love cooking and taking care of our house. I have actually had time to read a complete book and half of another one. I love it!!

Time to enjoy the dogs and watch the hummingbirds. Feeling sane instead of rushing all the time. You know the drill, rush home from work, rush to cook supper, rush to throw in a load of clothes, rush to get a bath and maybe, just maybe….. on a good night you have an hour to do what you want to before time to get into bed so you can get up and do it all over again tomorrow.

Lacy-Jay and Bashar (photo above) were home for a few days and we enjoyed having them here so much!! We have been so excited the past few weeks as it appeared that they were re-locating back to the Raleigh area. They were house hunting and getting ready to put their townhouse on the market when they returned to PA. Well, we all know about best laid plans. Two days before they were to arrive here Bashar got the call that they were sending them to D.C. Lacy was (is) devastated. So, are we. Hopefully, it will just be one year and then Raleigh. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Nonetheless, we had a great visit. I fixed her favorite supper when they arrived on Wednesday (last week), chicken stew(posted). On Thursday we went to Asheville to do some shopping and have supper at PF Changs. This was the day that Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died. We were just walking in PF Changs when we saw the news about MJ on the television over the bar. Lacy said she will always remember where she was when she heard the news. Much the same way that our generation will always remember where we were when we got the news that Elvis had passed. On Friday we had an early supper at one of Lacy’s (and ours) favorite places, My Father’s in Black Mountain. After supper we came home and made homemade ice cream (more on this later) and invited Daddy and Florence over to visit with Lacy-Jay and Bashar.
Saturday we went we see Ronnie (SideStreet) play in Hickory.

Not that I think you are interested in what we did, just explaining my lack of posts. Why tell a short story when you can give detail? I used to work with someone who said her husband went around the block to get across the street, I guess I have that same problem.

Now, back to the ice cream. I made a new ice cream recipe that I really loved. The name is a bit strange but the ice cream is fantastic. I actually made two sixes and added a tablespoon of my homemade vanilla as my ice cream maker is a small tabletop Cuisinart.

I hope you enjoy this for the fourth!!

Three Sixes Ice Cream

3 cups sugar
3 cups heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
3 bananas - mashed
3 oranges - juiced
3 lemons - juiced
vanilla to taste

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, heavy cream, and whole milk. Stir in the bananas, orange juice, lemon juice and vanilla.
Pour into ice cream maker and freeze by manufacturer’s directions.

So, until tomorrow……….
S~~~