Not just for the Kitchen...

Spice racks are not just for the kitchen...This spice rack is from the McCormick Gourmet Collection. I first bought one last year, I had "plans" for it and no it wasn't for my kitchen. You generally see these spice racks at you local grocery store or commissary during the holidays. I just looked them up on line and they retail for $75.00 (plus shipping if you buy them on line from McCormick). Now is the time to see if they've been marked down - our commissary had them at a great savings over the retail price at $45.80 before Christmas. Now after Christmas, the spice racks were marked down and they were a down right steal at $22.40! That's like $1 per bottle of herbs/spices and the rack is FREE! The spices alone are worth so much more than $22.40! So here's a picture of what I use the spice rack for in my scrapbook nook...it holds my making memories paints!

Gifts made with Love

For me there's nothing more fun that seeing someones face light up when you give them an unexpected Christmas gift- especially when it's something that is home made. For me the holiday gift of choice is a small 4 inch cheesecake. Wrapped up pretty with bright cellophane and a curly ribbon, there's nothing that gets bigger smiles!

Cooking and Food Blogs

Besides being passionate about scrapbooking and needlework I'm also passionate about cooking. So of course I like to read cooking and food blogs. If you've not been to it please take a peek at http://www.passionateeater.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakeblog.com

Both are wonderful food blogs! I look at the pictures at the Passionate Eater blog and I want to recreate all of those wonderful yummy meals! Now over at the cup cake blog- desserts are the topic! I get an ear to ear smile from every post!

So here I have my own little food blog. I need to jot down more recipes and post them here (that's one new years resolution for ya). I'm not happy with giving my family chicken strips and boxed macaroni and cheese - but I do give it to them from time to time. Does it make me a bad Mom? NO, it just makes me a busy Mom. So starting in the new year I'm going to post a recipe every week.

Chocolate Volcano Cakes

I've been wanting to make these for quite some time. Believe it or not, I was desperate enough to once buy a box mix to make this. Don't ask about it- it wasn't even close to what the restaurants make. So here I am ready to try making them again- this time with a tried and true recipe from where else- Cooks Illustrated magazine! It's in their Holiday Baking issue so hurry up and get yourself a copy! I got mine at Lowe's (hard to believe right?) but hey they give a 10% discount on magazines!

So knowing full well that one really needs to have the right tools to do the job properly I went to the kitchen store (Someone's in the Kitchen-Rapid City) and bought six 8 ounce ramekins/souffle cups. Only to discover that I bought the wrong size and the wrong number (after putting them through the dishwasher)-oh well! So now I need to go back and purchase eight 4 ounce ramekins. I see myself having quite the variety of ramekins when this is all done and over with (as I already have eight 6 ounce ramekins). So why am I going through all of this? I want to make chocolate volcano cakes for my family for Christmas. Now for me to make sure that I have the right kinds of chocolate they call for in the recipe...just thinking about making this is bringing a HUGE smile to my face.

Christmas Gifts for the Gourmet cook in your family

Christmas time is perfect for picking out special things for the gourmet cook in your family. From fancy schmancy cookware, to cookbooks, kitchen appliances, table linens to kitchen gadgets and exotic spices.

Cookbooks make such wonderful gifts! I find myself in the cook book section. Oh my gosh hold me back! I love cooks books, reading them fills me with such joy and desire to make something yummy for my family. I ended up with a few different kinds of cookbooks and one or two are going to be given away as gifts to some of my girlfriends. There's nothing more fun than trying out new recipes and sharing them with friends. If I'm lucky, my friends will enjoy their cookbooks and share new recipes with me :-)

The Ultimate Sticky Buns

I can't begin to tell you have much I enjoy reading Cooks Illustrated and now so does my daughter Hannah. So, the recipe is called "The Ultimate Sticky Buns", the results...they're delicious! I've changed something on the recipe though- I didn't put the finishing pecan nut glaze on them instead I used store bought Cream Cheese Frosting. Oh my gosh, these rival the sticky buns from Cinnabon (no joke). The recipe does take a bit of time okay so it's while from start to finish (over 6 hours). It's all of that rising time that does it, all of the actual preparation time is probably 1 hour max. But in the end it's well worth it! So go out and get the "Holiday" edition of Cooks Illustrated.

Panettone

I have such fond memories of Christmas as a child, especially when it came to food. My mother was so frugal throughout the year but when it came to Christmas she pulled out all of the stops. She and my Pop would go to the German Delicatessen and bring home the most delicious imported foods for our Christmas Eve dinner. On one such occasion I remember having first tasted the delightful Italian bread called Panettone. This is so much better than the heavy fruitcakes that are popular here in America.

So with that I'm including a couple of links to recipes for Panettone...enjoy!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Panettone-Loaves/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Panettone-II/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Panettone-I/Detail.aspx

Gifts in a Jar

Do you remember when gifts in a jar first gained popularity? It was back in the 90’s when I first too notice of this unique gift giving idea. The great recipe ideas come from a newsletter that I subscribe to called “I’m not Martha”.

Most of the following recipes require a quart jar, large or

small mouth opening. I find though a large mouth works easier

to get the ingredients in.

Besides a quart jar with lids, you will need a large rubber

band. A piece of material 8x8 square. Ribbon to decorate.

After filling the jars, place the material on the lid and

put the rubber band around it to secure it in place. Tie

with decorative ribbon and tie the recipe card to the ribbon

for the directions on how to bake the ingredients. If you

have a printer, print out the tag onto a colorful piece of

paper or onto adhesive paper.

When putting in the ingredients, make sure to pack them down

tightly. If you have loose ingredients like nuts, M&M,

raisins...etc. make sure they are the next ingredient on

top of packed brown sugar. If the next layer is to be white

sugar or flour, the white sugar or flour will seep through

the nuts, M&M...etc some what.

Also when using coco, wipe inside of jar before adding

another ingredient to keep jar looking nice.

Have fun....it's a nice thing to do with your children for

their gifts. They get to feel the pride of having made the

gift.

LAYERED SNACK MIX

Layer snacks into a wide mouth quart canning jar. Select 4

or 5 diferent salty type small snacks of different colors.

Put in even amounts of each kind. As an example, layer in

this order.

Sunflower seeds

Salted peanuts

Fish crackers

Small pretzel nuggets or twists

Raisins

CHRISTMAS SOUP MIX IN A JAR

1/2 cup dry split peas

1/3 cup beef bouillon granules

1/4 cup pearl barley

1/2 cup lentils

1/4 cup dried minced onions

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice

1/2 cup alphabet macaroni or other small macaroni (put in

a plastic sandwich bag)

In a pint jar, layer the first eight ingredients in the

order given.

Seal tightly

Attach recipe below, to jar:

______________________________________________

Christmas Soup Mix

You will need the following additional ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or stew meat - 3 quarts of water

1 can (28 oz.) tomatoes, undrained.

Remove macaroni and set aside. In a large saucepan

brown beef and drain. Add the water, tomatoes and

soup mix; bring to a boil, reduce heat.

Cover and simmer for 45 min. Add macaroni and simmer

for 20 min. more

______________________________________________

GINGER SPICE MUFFIN MIX IN A JAR

1 3/4 cups flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Store the

mixture in an airtight container.

Attach this to the Jar

_____________________________________________

Ginger Spice Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

1 pkg. Ginger Spice Muffin Mix

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and grease 12 muffin

tins. In a large bowl, combine the muffin mix with the

butter, egg, vanilla and milk Stir the mixture until the

ingredients are blended. Do not overmix. The batter will

be lumpy. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full, and bake for 15

minutes.

_______________________________________________

OATMEAL FRUIT COOKIES

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup wheat germ

1 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup raisins

2/3 cup packed flaked coconut

1 cup flour mixed with 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp.

salt.

Layer ingredients in order given in a quart jar.

Attach recipe below, to jar:

______________________________________________

Oatmeal Fruit Cookies

Empty the contents of the jar into a large bowl. Blend

mixture well before adding: 1/2 cup of softened butter

or margarine. Mix until mixture resembles coarse

crumbs. Beat 1 egg with 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/4 cup

milk. Blend egg mixture into the dough until well

combined. Bake on greased cookie sheet at

350* for 10-14 min. Makes 1- 1 1/2 dozen cookies

______________________________________________

RUSSIAN TEA MIX IN A JAR

2 & 1/2 cup Tang

1 & 1/2 cup white sugar

1 - 12 oz of instant lemonade mix w/o sugar

2 tsp. cloves

1 & 1/2 cup instant Lemon flavored tea

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

Measure out all ingrediants first into separate bowls.

Layer the tang, sugar, lemonade and tea into jar as little

or as much as you like. Repeat the layers often to make a

pretty layered looking sand art type look. Add the cloves,

cinnamon & nutmeg last. This is a very sweet drink.

Attach recipe below, to jar:

______________________________________________

Russian Tea

Mix dry ingrediants well and replace

into your jar for storage. Add 2 Tbls. into

coffee cup and add hot water.

Stir well - Get a good book - relax!

______________________________________________

And for friends who everything especially your love....

FRIENDSHIP CAKE

1 cup of greetings

1 cup of love

1/2 cup of smiles

1 tsp. sympathy

1 large handshake

2 cups hospitality

Cream greetings and smiles thoroughly. Add

handshake separately. Slowly stir

in love. Sift sympathy and hospitality and fold in

carefully.

Bake in warm heart. Serve Often!

_______________

Kitchen-Aid

I love this picture! Then again I do like a rainbow of color in my kitchen.

I received a Kitchen-aid stand mixer for Mothers Day 2001. Yes I specifically asked for this appliance, but this isn't any ordinary appliance. I tell ya, I could not be the cheesecake baking Queen that I am today without my trusty Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. I use it several times a week, and I recommend them to any and everyone! It's so worth the money!

How to ship home baked cookies

After all of the trouble you go to baking cookies and other
goodies to ship off to your loved ones, the last thing you
want is to have them end up as "crumbs" once they get there.
Here are a few tips on mailing cookies:

* Don't pack crisp and soft cookies together. The moisture
from the soft cookies will seep into the crisp cookies,
making them lose their crunch.

* Don't overstuff or under-stuff your container or the
cookies may be damaged. They should fit snugly so crumple
up some tissue paper to fill the holes if you need.

* Pack in a sturdy tin or airtight container. Place a piece
of bubble wrap on the bottom of the container, then line
the container with waxed paper or cellophane. Leave enough
to tuck over the top once the container is fully packed.
Place one layer of cookies in the container, then cover
with waxed paper. Arrange another layer of cookies,
followed with more parchment paper, and repeat until full.
Tuck the cellophane or parchment paper over the top and
place another piece of bubble wrap on top before sealing
the container.

* Pack your tin or container in a heavy-duty cardboard box
that's large enough to allow a two or three inch cushion
between the tin and the wall of the outside box. Place a
layer of shipping peanuts, air-popped popcorn, or crumpled
paper on the bottom of your shipping box. Set your cookie
tin on this bottom layer. Then fill in the sides and top
with more shipping materials. Seal the shipping box with
two-inch-wide shipping tape.
Don't forget the mailing label and you're ready to ship!

Holiday Cooking - Day 1

So here I am on my holiday cooking adventure. I'm breaking it down into what I can cook ahead so I will have more time to spend with my family and friends and NOT in my kitchen scrubbing pots and pans.

Day 1- make the cranberry chutney- done

Granted recipes are only a suggestion...and this one was just that-a suggestion. I added more sugar, more cinnamon and I added an extra ingredient-ginger. Talk about a wonderful condiment for "leftover turkey" sandwich! The cranberry compote is sweet and tangy...I want to share it with all of my friends! It is seriously YUMMY!!!!

So here is my version of a cranberry chutney of sorts...
2 cups granulated sugar
1 red onion minced
2 granny smith apples peeled and cored-shopped
2 pears (yes a pair of pears) peeled, cored and chopped
3 tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
½ cup apple cinder vinegar
2 -12 ounce packages of fresh cranberries
2 TBS olive oil

heat large skillet, put in oil add minced onions saute for 3 minutes. Add orange juice, apple cider vinegar sugar and spices, cook for 3 minutes more. Add in chopped apple and pear cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the fruit breaks down and the sauce is thickened.

This should keep for about 5 days- but I doubt highly that there will be anything left after Thursday afternoon.

Holiday Menu Planning

I can hardly believe how quickly this month is going by. I look at the calendar and another week has gone by. Yesterday I realized that Thanksgiving is on the 22nd-yikes! We're having guests this year and needless to say I am thrilled! My girlfriend Susan and her family are going to stay with us for the 4 day Turkey Day weekend. I want to make her visit here a memorable one...in a good way, LOL! So here I am planning out a menu for each day. I've got all sorts of things I want to cook and each of them I look at as "comfort foods". I want my friend and her family to feel relaxed and to enjoy their time here with us. I'll have all sorts of things made in advance in preparation for Thanksgiving Day. I'm going to have the desserts made and some of the side dishes made in advance too. I want to spend quality time with my best friend -it's been over a year since we last got to visit with one another.

I've got to plan out breakfast for every day...something yummy. Waffles, kids always love to eat waffles. Then there's Susan's tried and true recipe for a warm you up breakfast casserole that is just delightful! Now to sift through all of my recipe books and get grocery lists made!

Parchment Paper or heat resistant Silicone Mat?

For years I have used parchment paper for lining cookie sheets, cake pans and spring form pans. I had thought about getting myself a couple of sil-pat liners for years but to be perfectly honest, the cost was holding me back. Sil-Pat is a brand name and it's made from woven fiber glass with a silicone coating. There are silicone baking mats made by many different companies. The silicone mats that I happen to own are made by Wilton. They're fine to use for cookies but they (the mats) do become stained from the oils and fats (it's the butter) in the cookies. This kind of stain is permanent. I've long wondered about the silicone mats retaining residues and if they would effect other items being baked on them in the future. Well guess what...my beloved Cooks Illustrated did a comparison on parchment paper and silicone mats and guess what- my suspicions were right. Silicone mats do retain residues and it does effect the taste of other items being backed on them. For me...my silicone baking mats are only used for cookies, nothing else. But I know many others who use them for everything from fish fillets to baked sweet potatoes. Parchment paper came out #1 in this product test by Cooks Illustrated magazine.
I recently stocked up on more parchment paper at the commissary. Hey that 75¢ coupon brought the price of a roll down to $1.10 and between you and me, that's a horrifically GOOD price! Especially since a box of parchment paper generally sells in the $5 to $7 price range depending upon where you buy it. And there's always something about the winter holiday season that pushes up the cost...as if people don't bake during any other time of the year, LOL!

Baking pans and Cookie sheets

The October issue of Cooks Illustrated is wonderful! And the December issue is fantastic! I've been on the fence for quite a while about changing out my baking pans/cookie sheets (again). Have you ever heard that "twang" in you oven when you put a baking pan in with fish fillets or cookies on it? Well that's the pan...warping from the heat. I also get it when I pull it out of the oven and rest it on the cool stove top "twang" that's the heat leaving it I suppose. What ever it is, it bugs me to no end. I had switched over to using Wilton cookie sheets and jelly roll pans and I paid plenty for the Wilton name...those pans did the same thing as the cheapo pans from Wal-Mart and Target. Well I read the review in the December issue of Cooks Illustrated on baking pans...WOW! They review quite a few and lets just say I was surprised by it. The funny thing is...just a few hours earlier (that same day) I almost bought a heavy duty jelly roll pan from my local Kitchen Store- one for $22, YIKES! I hemmed and hawed on it and decided against it. Bought the magazine and said WOW, glad I didn't buy that pan. What I did so is to go to my local Sam's Club and check out what they had in their professional line...I was able to get a set of 2 heavy duty 15x20 jelly roll pans for a little over $10, for the set! I used my pans last night for the first time and am I ever happy with my purchase! No warping, no funky sounds coming from my oven from the pan twisting and turning in the heat. Everything cooked up evenly and to a crispy golden brown. Those Wilton pans of mine...off to the Thrift Shop they go!

Cooking Magazines...

Do you subscribe to any "cooking" magazines? I love to try new recipes or recipes that have a different spin on a traditional favorite. I like Southern Living magazine for it's unique recipes- heck I'll buy almost any recipe book created by Southern Living (yes I think that their recipes are that good). But I also like to get a couple other magazines that deal mainly with food. Martha Stewart's Every Day Food is a wonderful publication, lots of great articles and recipes that are out of this world YUMMY! Another publication that I really and truly enjoy reading is "Cooks Illustrated". I've glanced at it a few times but the $5.95 price tag had me putting it back on the shelf. But the other day I was at Lowes and I picked it up and thumbed through it...I was entranced by an article on baking pans ones that do double duty as a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. I found myszelf a magazine that I couldn't put down. I enjoy the product reviews that they do in this magazine and they go into detail with so many things...oh yeah I am hooked!

could you be a vegetarian?

You Could Definitely Be a Vegetarian

You would make a great vegetarian - if you aren't one already. You're adventurous enough to try all sorts of new veggie foods... And your commitment to animal welfare will motivate you to stay meat free!

Could You Be a Vegetarian?

Comfort Foods

What kind of meals does your family consider to be comfort foods? For some it's pasta, any kind of pasta, for others it's ethnic foods-foods from their home country. Here in America comfort foods are listed as being "Casserole Dishes". I think that "it" is something different for everyone. For my son it's Lasagna and garlic bread, for my daughter it could be roast chicken with mashed potatoes, country gravy and of course home made biscuits or something along the lines of re-fried beans w/cheese and tortillas. For my husband it could be grilled marinated beef tips and cheesy potatoes (this recipe comes from my girlfriend René, who by the way is truly Southern).

For me, I see comfort foods being of a soup variety. I adore soup! The simplicity of it makes it a remarkable meal. Put a grilled cheese sandwich with it and WOW! Now your grilled cheese can be almost any kind of cheese on any kind of bread. Have you ever tried grilled Swiss on Sour Dough or Rye? When it's paired with just the right soup it's out of this world!

Try your hand at making some soup, you're going to love the results!

Cookbooks

One of these days I'm going to do it...write a cook book that is. I've had this idea for quite some time now. I do enough cooking and making up my own recipes that I can get enough recipes to make an entire recipe book. I'll get my children and husband to do the illustrations- now wouldn't that be a total laugh riot! I can just see it now, drawing of all kinds of things besides food. It's actually got me laughing just thinking about it.

Apples

Apples- Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Rome, Empire, Pippin, McIntosh, Fuji, Braeburn, Winesap, Cortland and one of my newest favorites- Grâpple the apple that tastes like a grape.

But seriously with so many varieties out there for us to choose from it's hard to pick just one. So I've got some links for you all to check out.


http://www.grapplefruits.com/
http://www.applejournal.com/useall01.htm
http://www.allaboutapples.com/varieties/index.htm

Now lets look at recipes sites for apples...
http://www.bestapples.com/Recipes/
http://www.pastrywiz.com/archive/category/apple.htm
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/recipes/applerecipes.html
http://www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/commodit/horticul/apples/recipes.htm
http://www.applejournal.com/ofr.htm
http://www.nyapplecountry.com/recipes.htm
I hope you have enjoyed my little bit on apples and will try some of the various varieties the next time you are grocery shopping.

It's now September...

and with it comes cool Autumn nights, College Football, tailgate parties and my favorite...baked apples! Our daughter loves watching football with her Dad and let me tell you she has her reasons. Of course there's spending quality time with her Dad but what Hannah describes as the best part is that Mom (that's me) makes the yummiest snacks for Dad while he's watching a game and she wants in on the yummy snacks and nibbles that I bring out on trays.

Be it chips and store bought dip to my 7 layer bean dip and tortilla chips- football and snacks got hand in hand. But my favorite things to bake during this time of years is APPLES!

Apples come in so many different varieties these days and all are great to use in various ways...some make better pies, others are best of making applesauce, some are great in salads and so forth.

Here's a recipe that I received the other day from "the Daily Recipe" and on line service that sends you a new and different recipe every day (it's so cool). I love this new twist on my favorite dessert- I'm going to make it this weekend!

RECIPE: PINE-APPLE CRISP
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
INGREDIENTS:
Fruit -
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
3/4 cup pineapple preserves
2tablespoons all-purpose flour
Crumb Topping-
2/3 cp flake coconut
1/2 cup quick or old fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup whole almonds, chopped
vanilla ice cream (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. For fruit, slice apples into
thin rings, then cut rings into quarters. Combine pineapple
preserves and flour in mixing bowl. Add apples, tossing to
coat evenly. Pour into bottom of a 9-inch pie plate or similar
shallow baking dish. For crumb topping, combine coconut, oats,
brown sugar and flour in a mixing bowl. Microwave butter on
high for 1 minute and add to chopped almonds. Add butter and
almonds to topping ingredients; mix well. Sprinkle topping
evenly over apple mixture. Bake 30-35 minutes or until apples
are tender and topping is golden brown. Cool slightly. Serve
warm with ice cream, if desired.
Yield: 12 Servings
per serving: calories 210, fat 9g, sodium 80 mg.
Categories: Desserts, Apples
http://www.thedailyrecipe.com The Daily Recipe Website
http://archives.gophercentral.com/newsletter_13.html "

Cook Books...how many do you own?

What is it about cookbooks that draws me in like a moth to a flame? I'm serious, it's almost like an addiction of sorts, LOL!

SOooooooooo, I'm working at the base thrift shop 3 days a week and I'm finding all sorts of little treasures in the place, my latest being a beautiful assortment of cookbooks. Many are near being brand new, like they've maybe been cracked open- glanced at - then consigned or donated to our thrift shop. We're selling them for a fraction of their retail cost. I was able to get some fantastic cookbooks which are making me want to cook up a storm this weekend! The Fish cookbook is making me drool! I look as if I have a serious case of rabies, LOL! There's on all about Vinegarettes- WOW that's one amazing cookbook! The kids cookbook is about cooking experiments- Hannah has the death grip on this one and we've already made 2 "experiments" from this great kids in the kitchen cookbook

Are you practicing "Flexitarianism"?

Sounds like something from a science fiction novel/movie doesn't it? As I'm reading an article on that very topic (in the August 2007 issue of Cooking Light magazine) I had to chuckle out loud. Flexitarianism, is that even a word? The new made up word is in reference to having a diet that is largely made up of plant based foods rather than centering your diet around meat. Interesting enough but to make up a word for it? Come on, LOL! I've always based my eating habits on items other than just meat, chocolate as you know should be a food group...ask any woman, I'm sure that she'd agree! Now if you're interested in knowing more about this...it's on page 20.

What are you eating this summer?

Summertime to me is one of those seasons when I love to make use of every fresh fruits and vegetable I can get my hands on. I prefer to use those that are grown locally but that isn't always possible. Some items such as bananas and pineapples have to be imported from far off places.

I want to encourage everyone to go out and buy themselves a new recipe book and make something from that book at least 3 nights a week for the remainder of the summer! I have some cookbooks that I got with my latest Calphalon pan purchase, the one I'm using right now is the "Food Network Kitchens Cookbook" and let me tell you that these recipes are to die for! Yesterday I made Lobster Rolls for lunch...all I have to say is YUM! I had to keep the kids from trying to take mine when I wasn't looking, LOL! Just picture me trying to guard my little sandwich with a wooden spoon and my kids giggling like fiend's trying to take it from me. Now of course when I make this recipe again I'll add more celery as I felt it needed a little more crunch, other than that it was perfect! As for the bread, I used buns that are for bratwurst- they've got a meatier bite to them and will not get soggy.

I need to make a trip into town to shop for specialty items such as chipotles in adobo sauce and some fancier types of cheeses as our commissary doesn't carry those kinds of items.

Enjoy your summertime vegetables and fruits and make something new and exciting for your friends and family this week!

Fruit Smoothies

Just about everyone loves a good fruit smoothie and I’m no exception. I fell head over heels in love with smoothies during our summer vacation in 2003. Well I finally decided to break down and make them from scratch instead of buying those over priced bottles of smoothies from the grocery store. So here is what I did…in my blender I put;

2 cups plain yogurt

3 ripe bananas

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

¼ to ½ cup turbinado sugar (you can also use plain granulated white sugar)

1 cup of ice

And puree the heck out of it! Oh my word it’s soooooo yummy!!!! Apparently my bananas weren’t all that sweet and neither were the strawberries so I HAD to add the sugar (it was just too darn tart).

Coffee and Coffee Makers

Last week I had the funniest conversation with my mother in law about coffee and coffee pots. We talked about brands of coffee and how the ground stuff in a can has changed over the years. Sizes for one this...they keep putting less and less in the cans of coffee. I mentioned how I like to grind my own beans (coffee beans that is) from time to time. But I also grind them there at the grocery store/commissary. When we spoke of brands she didn't have a favorite one per say- just what ever was the least expensive in a can. Myself I prefer to buy and use Millstone, my flavor "Swiss Chocolate Almond". Another favorite (it's a seasonal flavor) is Pumpkin Spice- there's something about cinnamon and nutmeg and just a hint of pumpkin, m'm it's so yummy! Since I'm the only coffee drinker in the house I can pretty much make what ever flavor of coffee that what I want.

Our conversation turns to coffee pots, and this is where it gets funny. We both are saying the same thing...it costs more to replace a broken carafe than it does to replace the entire coffee making system. Why is that? I never really understood that concept. I've had a handful of coffee makers over the years and to be honest the best ones were the cheapest ones. The most expensive coffee maker that I ever bought was made by Cuisinart and it was also my biggest disappointment. I was going on reputation for Cuisinart being extremely reliable and have a sterling reputation for quality. Well apparently that didn't apply to their coffee makers- or at least to the 2 that I had, UGH! The first thing to go was the stop and pour system. then the lid to the coffee pot broke...all within 3 weeks of me owning the darn thing! So I take it back to the store and they give me another one...this one makes it a little longer (3 months) then it too does the exact same thing. I deal with the defective coffee pot for nearly a year. We moved here (Ellsworth AFB, SD) in the fall of 2003 and that's when I said "adios" to the coffee pot and I went out in search of a new one. Not being impressed by the last brand of coffee maker that I had owned, I look at discount stores like Wal-Mart, Target, ShopKo and K-Mart for something that will suit my needs. I found one at Target- it's by Phillips. I've had it almost 4 years now and it has by far out preformed that Cuisinart that I had owned while we lived in Virginia. Before that...I would get those free ones from Gevalia Coffee (you've seen the ads in magazines). Those free coffee pots are the best! They are awesome appliances, I know that my little 4 cup coffee pot was made by Krups and it was an awesome appliance!
My mother in laws story is pretty much the same, it would be one name brand appliance after another that would just crap out on her. Her biggest complaints being that 1- the heating element would burn out and 2- the price of replacing the carafe. She's buy a $35 coffee maker and have it cost her $25 for the new carafe. So one day after yet another carafe breaks she starts using her Pyrex measuring cup as a stand in replacement, LOL! Then of course the heating element gives out. My father in law who by the way is not ever in tune with his wife's needs actually does something nice for her...he's at the grocery store and there's this in store sales promotion on of all things...coffee makers and they were $4.99. My father in law remembering something about my m-i-l and her coffee maker issues buys one and brings it home to his wife. My m-i-l looks at this coffee maker and says what the heck lets give it a try. It's some no name off the wall brand...she now SWEARS BY THIS THING! She says that it brews the best pot of coffee, no more high priced name brand coffee makers for her, she too is going for what ever works.

bye bye Cilantro

It's official...I've killed my Cilantro plants. The other herbs are doing fairly well but the Cilantro is no more and for that I am sad. I'll have to go to a plant nursery and buy a couple more plants...this time I'll baby them a bit more.

Organizing your kitchen work space

How is your kitchen organized? Can you find things easily and quickly? Or are you "hunting" for them? How about your dinnerware (plates, soup bowls and the like)? Is it in areas that makes retrieving and putting away easy? How about your serve-ware (serving bowls, platters etc.)? Where are they located?





I have a girlfriend who just kills me (makes me laugh my head off) when she enters my kitchen. She's under the misguided idea that everything needs to be located around the dishwasher. Sorry but I don't believe that one for a second! Locating your dishes, glasses and serving pieces is just as important as assigning work or task station areas in the kitchen. Where do you like to chop your vegetables? When using a mixer, where in your kitchen do you like to do that? Those things are just as important as to where in your kitchen your utensils and dinnerware are located.





My last kitchen was a shoebox- it had 3 upper and 3 lower cabinets where I could store things along with a whopping 3 drawers. Yes it is what you would call a Galley Kitchen (and no, we didn't live on a boat).





This kitchen is larger than my last but I find that at times I could use more storage space- only because I have more cake pans, roasting pans, cookware and spring form pans than anyone else I know, LOL! Okay so maybe having 16 place settings isn't such a good things after all, LOL! Ü Let me ask you this...do you have other items crowed around your plates and bowls? I'll use my Mom's kitchen as an example...she would have all sorts of other little things crowded around in the cabinet where she kept the plates and serving bowls, medicine bottles, a cutting board, miscellaneous papers and a jar with nails (I have no idea what was up with the nails). My point is that you should have only your dishes in the cabinet...no medications, no papers and definitely no jar with nails in it, LOL! You need to have clear access to your dinnerware and serving pieces. From the pictures here you can clearly see that I have loads of plates and bowls but there is nothing hindering the access to them. Nothing that I have to move out of the way or worry about falling out of the cabinet when retrieving anything from it.



My serving bowls are located near my gas range. It's easy to take hot items and put them into bowls or onto platters. Also my ceramic 9x13 and 8x8 bake-ware and casserole dishes are located in the same area for ease of access.





Now you may have noticed that neither of these areas is located "near" the dishwasher. The area near my dishwasher is a bit troublesome to get to really, so I prefer to have my glassware and coffee mugs located there. On the far cabinet side (the one really difficult to get to) I store lesser used items such as pitchers, sauce boats, wine glasses and pilsners (beer glasses).

Task Lighting

Do you see the 3 silver little round things under the cabinet? That's task lighting. My husband who is so attentive to my needs installed a touch pad for me to tap to get the lights to come on. It's a cool thing to have to give me extra light when working in that area of my kitchen. The space between the stove and the sink also has under cabinet task lighting.

My Kitchen

So here I am posting a link to my kitchen blog and I look and realize that I don't have any pictures of my kitchen...what is the world coming to?, LOL! So here is an over view of my kitchen.

The modern kitchen is all about "work stations", having a place assigned to certain areas of your kitchen to preform certain tasks. I remember working with an interior designer with the building and construction our first house back in 1994 that persons ideas were all about the work triangle...while I was wanting work stations, who knew that I was only a few years ahead of the industry with my thinking and my kitchen design ideas. In the end I got what I wanted and I was very happy.

So here we are in our 3rd house and there are the things that work for me....

The stove I picked out and bought is a Frigidaire Professional series 5 burner gas range with convection plus it's got a warming drawer that also bakes up to 450 degrees. I adore the 5 burner cook top as the entire surface is covered in a 3 piece grate. It's so easy to clean too! When some friends recently asked me about how it was to clean...I joked with them about the kind of cleaner that I had to use on it. I was asked if it was costly (everyone always assumes that things are costly) so I rolled my eyes and said "Oh you wouldn't believe what I have to pay for the kind of cleaner that I have to use on this stove" so everyone is waiting on baited breath to get the scoop and then I surprise them and tell them that I use Windex, LOL! The look on their faces was priceless! Yes I got a good laugh out of it.

a close up view of the 5 burner cook top
full view of range and microwave oven- bottom drawer on oven is the warming drawer that can cook items up to 450 degrees.

Here you see the convection fan inside of the oven- it's the round thing on the back of the oven wall.

This is the first time for me to have an over the range microwave oven...and I'd do it again in a heart beat! Again with the Frigidaire professional series. The ease of clean up is amazing! Would I do stainless steel appliances again? You better believe it! These are so much easier to clean than the white appliances I've put in our past two kitchens. And the black granite sink, I LOVE that sink! The dishwasher is silent and the control panel is hidden giving it a sleek look.

I have a wide open work area which can be used for many things
My groovy dishwasher- I love the hidden control panel
It's a vaulted ceiling in my kitchen...another feature that I'm growing to love.
Here you see my pantry door, it's set at an is huge on storage space!

Fruit Salad, Fajitas and other good things...

I just had to make a fruit salad yesterday. Ever since the 4th of July I've been wanting to make one, weird right? Nothing says summer time and hot weather to me like fresh fruit in a bowl! I made the classic fruit dip and my daughter thought that it was out of this world. What was it? Here's the recipe, don't blink...1 8ounce package cream cheese and 1 jar of marshmallow cream, mix them together and there it is!

My husband and I went to a surprise 40th birthday party for a good friend recently and the food was out of this world! Who knew that you had to go to the Holiday Inn in downtown Rapid City to get good Mexican food? LOL! We've been searching for really good Mexican food since moving to this area almost 4 years ago. Some friends told us of a Mexican restaurant in Spearfish but when we went, well lets day that we were NOT the least bit impressed with the place. Granted it was done up in Mexican decor but that was the only thing authentic about the place. From the ultra bad service and a more than a normal amount of flies buzzing around inside of the restaurant to the so-so quality food. Needless to say this family won't be going back to dine there. We had a very nice Mexican restaurant here in Rapid City but the health department closed the place...no not about the food but the type of mold that had grown in the fountain in the front lobby (Legionnaires disease) :-( Now there's a Walgreen's in it's place, go figure!So with those factors in place I'm left to do one thing...make my own Mexican food.

I feel very at home when making and creating meals in a few different ways Italian, what is called California Fresh, good ole barbecue and some New England type items. I deem myself as a gourmet cook and can make some excellent meals. But as for Mexican cuisine or Tex-Mex well I need to brush up on some things. Now the chicken Fajitas we had the other night were out of this world! If there's one thing I have developed is my knack for tasting something and being able to pick out what was used to create the dish. I asked my kids if they thought that was creepy and they said "no" actually they said that they think that it's it's "rather cool". So yesterday I recreated Chicken Fajitas with a spin of my own on it. I had it waiting for the kids when they got back from the pool...my daughter (who is going to have the same kind of taste buds as her mother, I can just tell) sits down at the table and tells me that the house smells wonderful! My son tells me that they're starved and the house smells great! Okay that's a good sign...they ask what for dinner and I have them look in the fish and they say okay I serve them each up a fajita and Hannah exclaims (with a full mouth) "Mom this is excellent" and what does Andrew have to say? "Mom, where's the cheese?" LOL! Typical man! At the end of the meal Andrew gave me a hug and kiss and said that it was a very good dinner and that I could make it again...what a crack up! So what did I use to make this fabulous meal? Don't roll your eyes but you know those packets of seasoning mixes that you can buy at the grocery store? Yup I used that stuff! So here is what I did...I grilled my chicken breasts But I used McCormick's chicken rub on those chicken breasts. Grill on a medium heat 7 minutes each side (lid closed and only turning after 7 minutes). Trust me your chicken is done cooking! Take out the chicken and let it rest on a cutting board (it keeps the chicken moist). I followed the directions on the packet...sort of, LOL! I added 2 medium to large sized red onions and 2 medium green bell pepper, 1 medium yellow bell pepper and 1 large red bell pepper and 3 packages of grilled chicken breasts (about 4 pounds) and last but not least 4 packages of the McCormick's Fajitas seasoning mix. Oh my word, it was like a little slice of Tex-Mex right in my own kitchen! The chicken rub added some extra spices to the fajita mix and gave it that extra kick! The chicken rub is not bland by any means (especially when you use as much of it as I did). I plan on making this the next time we entertain! When my husband got home from work yesterday (yes he had to work on a Sunday...the Air Force never rests) he was in Tex-Mex heaven!

Now back to the fruit salad I knew that something was missing but couldn't put my finger on it until Hannah speaks up and says that it needed pineapple. You know what, my girl was right! A word of advice for cooks out there...listen to your children you would be surprised with the kinds of things that they like. I never did have the pb&j thing going on at our house- with one of my children having a peanut allergy I never really could. So I got creative with other things and I see that it's really paid off for me, especially now in my children's teenage years.

My new sink has been installed!

It's the little things that get me excited...take the fact that my darling husband installed my new granite sink (in volcano black) and my new faucet! This new sink is awesome! It's much nicer than the stainless steel one that was originally in this house when we bought it. I hated my old sink because the corners are rounded and so is the base of the bowl. You could never set glasses down inside of the sink as they would always fall over. This new sink has has a flat base and is 10 inches deep on one side and 8 inches deep on the other. No one really likes to do the dish but with a sink like this it will make the process go much more smoothly!

I'm on a cooking binge... again

So there I was doing some grocery shopping and suddenly these ideas and recipes start flooding my brain. I bought 1 lovely pink pork roast, 4 or 5 packages on boneless skinless chicken breasts, 2 packages of beef tip steaks a boat load of fresh veggies not to mention enough cream cheese to make 2 cheesecakes and the ingredients to make a chocolate fudge cake.

I get to the check out and the woman bagging my groceries tells me that they are always so surprised when I come through because I'm always so happy when I'm buying groceries and how I never complain about the prices. She said that it was very obvious that I enjoy cooking because just about everyone complains about the prices when their groceries are being rang up then there's me...I point out how good the veggies are looking in the produce department or the great buy on whatever meat I'm getting, LOL! Mental not to self...make commissary baggers a big ol cheesecake for their break room once it gets closer to Thanksgiving.

So yes I've got plans for all this meat...the pork is marinating, and I'm going to grill up the steaks and some of the chicken in another hour or so. I have a new issue of Cooking Light magazine and Every Day Food and let me tell you there are some killer recipes in them! The kids are home all day long because of summer break and I don't want them pigging out on what I consider junk food. I buy 1 bag of potato chips and one 2 liter bottle of Pepsi and when they're gone they are gone and that's the end of it until the next week. I've got a ton of fresh fruit, bell peppers, carrots and other yummy things to nibble upon.

Cooking makes me sooooo happy! I can hardly wait to get the seasoning on the meat and grill it!

Roasting Garlic

I've had many friends ask me what my secret is when I roast garlic- let me be perfectly frank...I have no secret way of doing it. I've been roasting my garlic this way for years. I'm going to walk you through it step by step...

Depending upon how many recipes that use garlic as an ingredient is how many heads of garlic you will want to roast at one time. I use a lot of garlic so I'm roasting 4 heads today.

Cut the tops off of the heads of garlic

put into shallow dish- I use a clay baking dish

pour EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) on top of garlic heads

cover with aluminum foil- cut slits in it to let out the steam

bake at 250º for 2 hours (when baking 4 heads at one time, bake only 1 hour when baking 1 head of garlic).

And this is what the final product will look like...sweet roasted garlic, enjoy!