Honeymoon adventures in Key West

It hardly seems like it can be true, but I will soon be celebrating my one-month wedding anniversary. Is that even a thing? Should we do something special to commemorate being married for only a month? I think we should. Any excuse for cake and champagne I say. At any rate, the old saying “time flies when you’re having fun” is true as always and Morgan and I have been having lots of fun since our wedding. Most especially, we had tons of fun on our honeymoon in Key West, Florida.

Neither of us had ever been to Key West before and we enjoyed it

immensely. If you like tropical places and have never been there, I would highly recommend it. We visited most of the well-known tourist attractions while there including the Shipwreck Museum, the aquarium, the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory and, of course, the home of famed author Ernest Hemingway. I admit I mainly wanted to visit the Hemingway home to see the six-toed cats, but ended up enjoying the tour as well. We had a fantastic tour guide who told wonderful stories about Hemingway and his wives. If you are a fan of the author, cats or just enjoy seeing beautiful homes, this is a definite must-see in Key West.

As you know, Morgan and I love to eat, so another highlight of our trip was the many wonderful meals we shared together. We ate fresh seafood for nearly every meal. I ate so much mahi-mahi I thought I might turn into one! Morgan is more adventurous when it comes to seafood and he ate a variety of different fish including hogfish and grouper.

Upon arriving in Key West the day after our wedding, we left our bags at the hotel and headed out to find some lunch. Our hotel was right near a marina with a boardwalk along which were numerous restaurants and bars. The first one we came to was called Half Shell Raw Bar. It quickly became our favorite place and we ate there at least four times while on our honeymoon.

We were seated right on the dock overlooking the water below where you could see fish swimming by! Diners would occasionally drop a French fry in the water and watch the fish splash around trying to get to the morsel of food first. As soon as we were seated for our first meal in Key West, the server came over and asked what we wanted to drink and were we interested in doing the cocktail challenge and getting a free T-shirt. My new husband and I looked at her in wonder and then looked at each and back at the server to say, challenge accepted!

The signature drink at Half Shell was a shot which included alcohol and a raw oyster. We weren’t quite brave enough to try that, but luckily we were allowed to choose a different drink for the challenge. I told the server I wished I was brave enough to eat raw oysters. She suggested we try their oyster sampler platter which was comprised of baked oysters, two oysters Rockefeller, two oysters in a garlic cream sauce and two in an andouille sausage red sauce. We agreed and that became one of our favorite things we ate during our trip.

I did end up trying a raw oyster later in the trip and liked it, although I confess it was coated in so

much cocktail sauce I probably didn’t taste very much of the oyster. I’ve always had a fascination with oysters though only recently began eating them. There is something very sensual and glamorous about the thought of eating raw oysters right off the shell. Perhaps next time we go I may be brave enough to try eating one right off the shell.

Oysters Rockefeller (Recipe from www.tideandthyme.com)

• 8 Tbsp butter
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 (10 oz) bag baby spinach
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely shredded
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 20 oysters, shucked and on the half-shell

Directions
Preheat oven to 425. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and shallot, and saute until soft and fragrant – about 2 minutes. Pour half of the melted butter mixture into a small bowl and combine with the breadcrumbs. Toss to combine and set aside. To the remainder of the butter in the skillet, add the baby spinach. If it doesn’t all fit, just let it cook down some, and then add more. Season with salt and toss until wilted. Slowly stir in the cream and let reduce for a minute before removing from heat. Carefully place the oysters on a baking sheet. Spoon a small amount of the spinach mixture onto each oyster, then top with about 2 teaspoons of the breadcrumb mixture and a small pinch of Parmesan cheese. Place in oven and bake until oysters have plumped up, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately with lemon wedges and hot sauce, if desired.

A chili round-up

I may have mentioned that I love soup. A friend reminded me this week that in addition to being soup season, it’s also chili season. I personally see soup and chili as two totally separate types of food. Yes, they are similar, but I think chili is just an entity all to itself.

Chili is one of those dishes that has a common thread of how it is made, but everyone adds their own little twist to it. Beans, beef and tomatoes used to be the basic items used to make a chili, but now “white” chili is a thing, a dish without tomatoes and typically including chicken, so you see how versatile a dish like chili is. The only real commonality when it comes to chili is that it is a hearty dish that is perfect to serve up on a cool fall day.

Not every dish that cooks prepare is a dish that inspires bragging rights, but chili is definitely one of those dishes. There are chili competitions and in general, cooks just always seem proud when they talk about their special chili recipe.

Some people will say their chili recipe is a secret. The Emergency Services director for my county recently won the annual county employee chili cookoff every year since its inception four years ago, and he won’t even give you a hint as to how he makes his chili. Luckily, I have several friends who were gracious enough to share their recipes with us, or least give us a general idea of how they prefer to make chili.

My friends Gary and Bridget both said they don’t really have a recipe, they just throw it together.

“My recipe is as the spirit moves me, but constants are no beans (rarely), and I pick up some inexpensive steaks like chuck eye or especially marked down steaks that have to be sold that day,” said Gary. “I hit them hard with a dry rub of chili seasoning (cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt/pepper, etc.) then grill them to medium rare. Cut them bite size and that is my meat with the seasonings cooked into every bite. Onions, peppers, sauteed. Beef stock. Sometimes tomatoes, sometimes not. Thickener and whatever else I need to pitch from the fridge.”

My good friend Bill has a very involved chili recipe that he makes for the Super Bowl every year.

“This is the chili I make for the Super Bowl. I think the Super Bowl deserves its own special chili like Thanksgiving deserves a special turkey,” Bill said. “It’s more involved than most chilis and the ingredients can be a bit pricey but it makes a huge amount. I make it in a big lobster pot. It won’t fit in my 8 quart crock pot. (at least 15 to 20 servings).”

Bill’s Super Bowl Chili

Ingredients:
• 1 lb. dried small red beans (soak 8 hours or more in cold water or use quick soak method)
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in about a cup of Merlot (for cooking beans)
• 1 tsp. garlic powder (for cooking beans)
• 1 tsp. onion powder (for cooking beans)
• 1 tsp. olive oil (for cooking beans)
• 2 pkg. (1 lb. each) pork sausage (I use 1 mild and 1 hot.)
• 2 1/2 lbs. low fat ground beef (ground chuck is best)
• 3 cans beef broth or 6 cups homemade beef stock
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 2 cans water (I use liquid from reconstituting ancho chilis.)
• 3 cans petite diced tomatoes
• 2 T minced garlic
• 3 T ground cumin
•3 T dried oregano
• 3 T ground chile powder (or more, use New Mexico chile powder if you can find it. At Wal-Mart, it’s in the Hispanic foods section)
• 3 dried Ancho chilis (They are in the Hispanic section at Wal-Mart and Compare Foods in Winston-Salem.. Soften them up in merlot or whatever wine you’re drinking while you are cooking. You do have a glass of wine handy, right? Then use the wine/liquid instead of water to rinse the tomato sauce cans.)
• 2 T dried chipotle chile powder (Use only 1 T. for milder chili .Available at Whole Foods. Otherwise get chipotle peppers in a can from the Hispanic aisle and mince)
• 1 T. cayenne pepper (use 1 or 2 tsp. for milder chili)
• 2 T dried parsley
• 2 large or 3 small onions, diced small
• 1 lb. white mushrooms, cut in quarters
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 to 2 cans black beans (optional, rinse beans and drain in colander)
• 2 cans black olives, drained and cut in half lengthwise
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional) plus additional cilantro or parsley to garnish

Directions:
Put soaked red beans in saucepan with enough water to cover. Add bouillon cubes dissolved in red wine, garlic powder, onion powder, and olive oil and bring beans to a gentle simmer. Cook about one hour, until barely tender. (The small amount of olive oil prevents the “foam” that comes when dried beans are cooking. You can omit if you prefer.)
While beans cook, in very large frying pan, brown pork sausage well, breaking up with turner as it cooks. Remove from pan, and place in large soup pot. Next brown ground beef well, breaking up with turner, and place in soup pot. Add beef broth, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, garlic, ground cumin, dried oregano, chile powder, Ancho chopped chilis, cayenne, chipotle, dried parsley, and bring the soup pot ingredients to a gentle simmer.
Wipe out frying pan and add 1/2 T olive oil. Add diced onions and saute 5 minutes, until softened but not browned. Add to chili. Add more olive oil if needed and saute mushrooms 5 minutes. Toss on a little wine and simmer a bit. Add to chili.
When beans are barely tender add to chili, along with cooking liquid. Add olives and canned black beans. Rinse the beans first. Let chili simmer on low several hours. Add cilantro if desired last 15 minutes of cooking time. Taste for salt/pepper and serve hot, with cheese, sour cream and cilantro, if desired.

*****

My sorority sister Jamie shared a favorite recipes she recently found online for a healthy and hearty version of chili.
“I’ve made this chili with squash instead of the canned pumpkin. I used an acorn squash that I roasted and then pureed. You can use the canned pumpkin too. I’ve done it both ways and it’s very easy and fast in the slow cooker. Very very satisfying and hearty and nice sweet flavors of fall. I had an abundance of farm apples. I did it once with ground meat and once without. It’s great with a dollop of sour cream,” Jamie said.

Jamie’s Healthy and Hearty Chili in a Slow Cooker
Ingredients:
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
• 4 pitted dates
• 2 tablespoons Miso Master brand “Mellow White Miso” dissolved in 3 cups hot water OR 3 cups organic vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons organic extra virgin coconut oil (such as Barlean’s)
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste
• ½ pound pastured ground beef (optional)
• 2 apples, chopped (keep the skins on)
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 tablespoons medium-grind corn flour
• 2 large cans (29 ounces each) BPA-free black beans (such as Eden Organic), rinsed and drained

Instructions
In a high speed blender, add the pumpkin, dates, ¼ cup of the miso mixture (or vegetable broth), coriander, cumin and lime juice; process until smooth and creamy. Pour the mixture into a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. Add the remaining 2 ¾ cup of miso mixture (or vegetable broth) to the slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker onto low heat and cover with a lid.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauté 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Add the pastured organic beef (if using) and saute until no longer pink. Add the apples, celery and chopped red bell pepper and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste and stir in the corn flour.
Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Add the black beans. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes. Let chili sit for at least 20 minutes before serving. Add more salt if necessary. Serve warm.

*****

If you are looking to branch out and try a white chili, here is my favorite version, adapted from a recipe I found at CookingClassy.com.

White Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (Or you can use a pack of chicken tenders, which is what I normally use.)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth or 3/4 of a carton of chicken broth
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 3/4 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, cut into slices
• 1 can fire-roasted corn
• 2 (15 oz) cans Great Northern or Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Serve with your favorite chili toppings such as shredded cheese, crumbled tortilla chips or sour cream.

Directions:
Season chicken with salt, pepper and a dash of Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot add chicken and saute until browned. Remove chicken from the pot. When meat is cooled, either shred with a fork or cut into bite-sized chunks and set aside. In the meantime, add diced onion to the pot and saute until golden brown. Add garlic and saute for around 30 seconds. You don’t want to burn the garlic. Next add back in the cooked chicken pieces, chicken broth, green chilies, cumin, paprika, oregano, coriander, cayenne pepper and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture just to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in beans and corn. If preferred, you can mash or use a food processor to puree 3/4 of one of the cans of beans to make the chili thicker and creamier. Or if you are lazy like me and/or like a more soupy chili just dump the beans on in. Next add cream cheese and stir until melted (it will break down in little bits and will appear to look like separated cheese, but it will eventually melt). Simmer until ready to serve. I have also done this dish in the Crockpot. You can add the raw chicken to the bottom of your slow cooker and add all of the other ingredients other than the cream cheese and cook on low for about six hours. When you get home for work, pull the chicken out of the mix and shred with a fork then add the cream cheese, once it’s melted, you’re ready to serve.

*****

In the mood for chili, but don’t have a lot of time, try this quick chili recipe from my friend Leighanne.

Leighanne’s Quickie Pumpkin Chili
Ingredients:
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
• half of a 15 oz. can of pumpkin (more or less to taste)
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of kidney beans,
• chili powder, salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Blend chicken stock, tomatoes and pumpkin together with an immersion blender or hand mixer. Combine pureed mixture in a medium sized pot with corn, beans and seasonings and simmer until heated through. The trick to making it really yummy? A big ol’ dollop of jalapeno pimento cheese. (I recommend the Palmetto brand of pimento cheese which comes in jalapeno or regular.)

You can't beat a steak dinner

Pan-seared Ribeye with mushroom gravy, creamed potatoes and asparagus

One of my all-time favorite meals is a big juicy steak with baked potato and salad. It doesn’t get much better than that! Steak is one of those menu items most everyone has a firm opinion of how it should be prepared and what cut of meat is their favorite.

A rib-eye is the cut of steak my husband prefers. Yes, you read that right, husband. Morgan and I tied the knot on Saturday and as you read this we are honeymooning in Key West, but I digress.

My husband (still, trying to get used that word) says that the marbled fat within a rib-eye is what makes this cut of steak the best. It’s juicy and full of flavor. When we prepare steak at home he likes to season a rib-eye with a dry rub of paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper and sear it on the grill to about medium temperature.

Dad and I prefer a T-bone steak. To me, it’s the best of both worlds with a strip steak on one side and filet on the other. It’s kind of like a two-for-one. I like to season mine with garlic powder, cracked black pepper, Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. A secret my friend Sarah turned me on to a few years ago is to wait until just before cooking the steaks to sprinkle a little kosher salt on the meat.

My friend Donna said she agreed with Morgan that a rib-eye is the best cut of steak. She likes hers “medium rare to kicking, grilled outside if possible, with no seasoning other than salt and pepper.”

The temperature a steak should be cooked is another controversial topic for some. Many want their steak cooked completely done with no hint of red at all, while others insist the steak is only good if cooked somewhere around medium temperature and some want theirs practically mooing! I started out as a well-done kind of girl, but slowly have begun eating them closer to medium. I’m still not the type to order one medium-rare and definitely not rare, but if there’s some blood on the plate I don’t freak out anymore.

My cousin Carrie said she likes her steak grilled medium, covered in Montreal steak seasoning by McCormick.

"Pepper, char and slightly bloody beef goodness,” she said.

My sorority sister Lauren likes hers medium rare.

“It’s best marinated overnight with Lawry’s marinade, served with salad, baked potato or sweet potato,” Lauren said.

Branching out into a little more exotic methods of steak preparation, my good friend Bill prefers steak au poivre.

“I like both Julia Child’s and Alton Brown’s version,” he said. “My wife Lynda is philosophically opposed to sauces and in a restaurant, asks for hers on the side, which means more for me. Steak-frites too. Both of these are pan-fried, but I don’t turn up my nose at a grilled steak either.”

Steak au poivre is essentially a steak seasoned with crushed peppercorns and served with a pan sauce. Several chefs claim to have created the dish according to some interesting history I read on cooksinfo.com. In a 1950 cooking magazine called La Revue Culinaire, Émile Lerch claimed he invented the dish in 1930 after receiving a shipment of frozen beef from America that looked appealing but wasn’t very flavorful. After the article was published, letters flooded in from other chefs claiming that they invented the dish as early as 1905.

If you don't have Julia Child's cookbook on hand, I found a good recipe for steak au poivre over at Cooking with Julian!

Junior League Drop Out Blueberry Pound Cake

In my head I'm the Junior League type, in reality, maybe not so much. I actually did enjoy being in the Junior League though and probably would still be if there were a League closer to my hometown. At any rate, I am a Junior League drop out. I have, however, retained my copy of our League cookbook. This past weekend I decided to drag it out and try something. I had some frozen blueberries from last summer that I had been wanting to use so this blueberry pound cake recipe sounded just perfect!

I really like this recipe because it includes simple ingredients that I almost always have on hand.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of blueberries (thawed, rinsed and drained or use fresh)
• 3 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature (the recipe called for 4, but I prefer 5!)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Toss berries with 1/4 cup of the flour and set aside.

Sift remaining flour with baking powder and salt and set aside. (I just love using a sifter, don't you? This sifter is my mom's and she's had it since she was married. It makes kind of a funky squeaky noise that I find very entertaining.)

In a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Make sure your butter is nice and soft and it will cream better. I was a little impatient on letting my butter get to room temp.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Fold dry ingredients into batter until well blended. 

Gently stir in berries.

Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. (I use Baker's Joy with flour. 

Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, until cake tests done.

Cook cake in pan for 10 minutes before removing.

And voilá! 

The entire time I was baking this cake my mom kept asking if there was any liquid in the cake. She really thought something was missing from the recipe as it is odd for a pound cake recipe to not include milk or some other liquid. I admit when I first bit into a piece, I thought it was a tad dry, but it seemed to moisten up a little bit.

I think the next time I make this I will add some lemon curd. I just love lemon and blueberry together. I also might make a blueberry sauce to go on top, or maybe a lemon glaze. 

More Thanksgiving Yummies! (Trial Turkey Day - Part 2)

Be sure to read part one of my pre-turkey day party. And here are some more recipes from our yummy Pre-Thanksgiving party.

In my menu from my last post I called my sweet potato casserole "crunchy yummy yams" because we already had two other casseroles on the menu. Whatever you call it, it's yummy! Go make some right now!

This is my mom's best friend's recipe and it has always been one of our holiday favorites. Thanks to Patty for sharing her recipe.

3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked (We cheat and use canned yams, I promise it's still delicious!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 cup milk
1/2 stick butter

topping:

1/2 stick butter (I usually find the that half a stick is not quite enough, but a whole stick is a bit too much. I'd recommend using 3/4 a stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1 t. flour
1 cup pecans (chopped)

Mash up the sweet potatoes. Add sugar, butter and milk. Beat egg and add to mixture. Add vanilla. Pour in greased baking dish.

For the topping, melt butter. Add flour, brown sugar and nuts.

Pour topping over sweet potato mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Eat it all up!

Aside from just wanting to celebrate Thanksgiving twice, my other reason for this party was to try new recipes. The new recipe I tried was my dressing. I saw this recipe for cornbread and country ham dressing in Southern Living and thought it looked divine. I made several adjustments to it, however. The main thing I wanted to jazz up this recipe with was collard greens. What goes better with country ham than collard greens? And I ditched the chestnut idea. In the end, I basically ended up making my Mamma's dressing only I used the bacon and country ham and collard greens.

I cooked out the six slices of bacon (I got the good Applewood Smoked kind from Fresh Market! And I may have used eight slices instead of six) and the country ham. Then I added in the chopped celery, onions and collard greens. (I left out the carrot too.) When  this mixture was done, I thought it looked so good I almost just ate it right out of the pan.

I also cheated and used store bought corn bread dressing mix, but I did add in some bread crumbs as well. And, when it comes to the chicken broth I really don't measure. I just keep adding till the dressing is the consistency we like. We don't like dry dressing. I put the dressing mixture in a greased baking dish and topped it with a few pats of butter and baked it on 350 for about 40 minutes.

Overall, I was pleased with the outcome of this new recipe, but I would definitely make a few changes when I make it again. I should have chopped the ham up into much smaller pieces. I also would not add the additional salt the recipe calls for as the ham and bacon make this dish salty enough. I think I might add a bit more collard greens too. I think this recipe is definitely a keeper!

Stay tuned for more Thanksgiving recipes coming soon.

A Wedding Road Trip

This weekend my lovely sorority sister got married in Asheville, NC. Her ceremony was at Lake Junaluska (which is actually in Waynesville, NC) and it was so beautiful. The lake is absolutely gorgeous, as was the adorable stone chapel where the ceremony was held. Of course, I cried.

Lake Junaluska

The wedding reception was held at a trendy venue, aptly called The Venue. Highlights of the reception included a dance off between the Groomsmen and Bride and Bridesmaids and a mashed potato bar. I have been hearing that mashed potato bars, were the new "thing" when it comes to wedding reception food. This is definitely a trend I support. I am a fan of anything that allows me to add my desired amount of bacon and cheese. Another sorority sister's husband joked with us that we should have a bacon bar where you can add small amounts of potato, chives or cheese to your bowl full of bacon. Again, another amazing idea! I'm pretty sure all good ideas start with bacon.

As a North Carolina native I am sad to say this was the first time I had ever been to Asheville. We didn't get to spend a lot of time touring the city, but we did make the time to eat somewhere cute and shop. The main reason I like going ANYWHERE is to eat and shop! Come to think of it, I live to eat and shop!

The Bride and Groom had thoughtfully created little goody bags for guests staying overnight in Asheville and included a list of their favorite places to visit. Tupelo Honey Cafe and The Early Girl Eatery were on the list and the concierge at our hotel also recommended having brunch at one of these places. Unfortunately (or fortunately as it turned out) both of these places had long wait times and so we bravely ventured out to try something else. By chance we parked near a place called Chorizo. I did a double take when I saw the name. I love chorizo about as much as I love bacon! We were seated right away and it was toasty warm inside, since it was very chilly outside this was a huge perk. 

Morgan ordered the homemade chorizo and a "cheesy pancake" served with apples and eggs. I had the tortilla plate with bacon, cheesy grits and the freshest pico de gallo, black beans and guacamole I've ever had! I was very thoughtless, my dear readers, and starting hogging in all this good food without even thinking to take a picture for you. With just a few bites left, I remembered so here you go:

The best part was really the pico. I don't know how in the world they had still had such fresh tasting tomatoes this late in the season. I'm just crazy about tomatoes and let's face it, the kind from the grocery store never taste as good as the home grown kind. The guac and beans don't look that appetizing, I know, but I promise they were yummy! I ate all of my food and what was left of Morgan's. 

Being the material girl that I am, I just couldn't leave town without purchasing some sort of memento from my first visit to Asheville. I got two adorable pairs of earrings (made in the USA, can you believe?) and some books from a super cute bookstore. Jewelry, food and books, yep my day was complete!

I will leave you with this last photo of the awesome wall decor at Chorizo. 

Wine for supper

I'm sure this never happens to my food blogger idols like the Pioneer Woman, but sometimes supper just doesn't work out like you hoped it would. There are some nights you plan to go home and get into your pjs straight after work and have wine or perhaps a can of icing for supper, but some days it's just a last resort.

My Dad (bless his heart) tried to make hamburgers in a basket for our supper tonight and it was a dismal failure. Perhaps dismal is too strong a word. It really wasn't horrible, it just wasn't good but we are apparently food snobs in my family and refused to eat it. Hamburgers in a basket is sort of a 70's fabulous dinner item that is an old favorite of ours. We haven't had it in quite awhile and Daddy thought it was a good idea to break out an old favorite.

The recipe is simple. You put a hamburger patty in a packet made of tin foil and top it with sliced potatoes, onions, carrots and green pepper. Season it all well and put it in the oven for about an hour. The secret is in the seasoning. My Dad always accuses Mamma and me of over salting everything. The secret to the recipe really is in the seasoning though. You have to coat this stuff down with salt, pepper, seasoned salt and Worcestershire.

***We interrupt this blog post with a message from Mamma***

"Why are you putting that recipe in a blog. I've always hated that recipe. It's not good. The potatoes don't cook up crispy enough in that foil," says Mamma. 

Well, clearly after all these years Mom has decided to confess her hatred of hamburgers in a basket. I agree with her that the potatoes don't get crispy. However, if it is seasoned correctly I still think this is a fast and easy weeknight menu item. One pot (or packet of foil, as the case may be) meals are always good for busy week nights.

Unfortunately, Daddy seems to have a seasoning phobia and failed to put enough salt, pepper, seasoned salt or even Worcestershire sauce on the burgers in a basket. Flavorless meat and veggies are just a major bummer. If you decide to try burgers in a basket, salt, pepper and season till your heart's content. I promise it will be good. I think some Tony Cachere's would be great on it! Maybe I'll try that next time.

Sadly, tonight's supper was a failure so we ended up eating cheese, crackers, olives and wine for supper.

Really the only downside to having large amounts of wine and cheese as a meal on a Tuesday night is that it may make you feel like crying at random commercials like the University Phoenix of Commercial. Are they really using Amazing Grace as the background music?

Sunday Dinner

Our menu for tonight's dinner promises to be very exciting. We are trying several new recipes shared with us by friends and making up a few recipes of our own. It's really a joint effort between myself, my boyfriend and my mom. I confess, they are doing most of the work. I'm more the idea person! (Teehee)

The pork loin was rescued from the freezer and we searched various cookbooks and the internet for a recipe before finally deciding to make up our recipe. A friend of ours makes a fantastic dry rubbed pork loin and we used his seasonings. Unfortunately, we didn't exactly have the measurements so we pulled some spices out of the spice drawer and started dumping stuff in the bowl! 

Spice line up for our dry rub

The spices in our dry rub are kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, hot paprika, dry mustard and course ground pepper. Dump desired amount into bowl and mix together then smash it into your meat (I made boyfriend do that part!) 

Yummy spiced up pork loin all ready for the grill!

The pork loin should be cooked on low heat for a long time! Meat should have an internal temperature of 170 when done. Hey, I told y'all this wasn't one of those detailed food blogs. :)

 Our next menu item was recommended by a family friend. This recipe combines a vegetable with one of our all-time favorite ingredients. . .bacon! Cut a cabbage head into four quarters, sprinkle with salt, pepper and seasoned salt. Wrap with two strips of bacon. Wrap bacon-wrapped cabbage quarters tightly in foil and cook on the grill for 45 minutes to an hour. The bacon wasn't quite crispy enough for us so we unwrapped them and put them in the oven on broil for about 5 minutes. YumEE!

We need a fun name for these!

Our sweet cousins brought us a whole bunch of jonagold apples that they picked straight from an orchard in Ohio. We just had to incorporate these beauties into our meal. We threw in a pan with a stick of butter, brown sugar, white sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It's fruit! It's good for you. Yum!

Yummy Fried Apples

So just to recap, we had grilled pork loin, bacon wrapped grilled cabbage, twice baked potatoes and cinnamon apples. We were all pretty much stuffed by the time we finished eating, but it was all delicious! 

Our decadent Sunday dinner

Close shot of the pork loin. Yum!

Many thanks to Mamma and Morgan (that's my boyfriend;) who helped (ok, did most of the work) put this meal together. Yum!

Cheers and Pork!

Food Blogger Wannabe

You know all those awesome food blogs with the great step by step photos of everything the recipe entails? This is not one of those. But I do aspire to that. Personally, I'm not sure I have the patience to photograph each and every step of a recipe. You're lucky if I'm patient enough to finish the entire recipe. I think I would be great on a Food Network show where all the ingredients are already on the counter and measured out perfectly in neat little colorful bowls. I would only occasionally have to walk over to my cutesy pink refrigerator and get out some heavy cream. Of course, I would NEVER have to clean up the mess afterwards. So. . .until then. . .here a few things I have prepared lately.

I am a tad obsessed with the Pioneer Woman! My mom just got the cookbook for her birthday and everyone at the party stared at me when I started screaming. I haven't had a chance to peruse the book yet, but I am a huge fan of everything on her web site and her hysterical comments throughout the recipes. While Ree is channeling Lucille, Vivien and Ethel, I'm channeling her!

I was recently searching through Ree's web site for a picnic friendly recipe to make for my friend Sarah and me to take to see my boyfriend's outdoor theatre production. (It was Smoke and the Mountain and he and the entire cast did a wonderful job! ;) I found this lovely layered salad recipe and it was perfect! I have always loved a green pea salad and we often make a similar version around the holidays. This recipe is a great mix of healthy greens and some yummy fatty bacon and cheese! If a recipe includes bacon and cheese, I'm sold! I added just a tad Hidden Valley powdered ranch dressing mix and some fresh dill to the mayo and sour cream mixture. I was also extremely pleased with my smart self when it (Ding! Lightbulb!) dawned on me to make the salads in individual bowls for Sarah and myself. Because it was in a smaller container, however, the dressing was a bit overpowering. If I do that again for a picnic I would prefer just a dollop of the dressing on top and not a full layer.

As my boyfriend's show ran for two weekends, I had to come up with yet another picnic friendly recipe. I had lots of fresh dill and some lemons so I came up with my own recipe! I really just dumped stuff in a bowl and kept adding and tweaking it, but here is my estimation on the measurements for the recipe. Ok, so its not very accurate. I promise I'll do better next time!

Lemon-Dill Dressing

• 1/3 cup (possibly, maybe? How about just a couple of good glugs) of good extra virgin olive oil 
• juice of half a lemon plus some lemon zest
• splash of pinot grigio (or any white wine you may have)
• tablespoon (ish) of dijon mustard
• lots of fresh dill
• tad of honey
• pinch or two (or three) of sugar
• kosher salt (I like a lot of salt)
• white pepper (I'm obsessed with white pepper, don't ask me why. I can't explain it.)

Cook about 3 cups of fusilli pasta in some heavily salted water. (I added some pink food coloring because I'm silly like that.) When the pasta is done, drain in a colander and add some fresh spinach immediately. The spinach will wilt a bit and I like it like that.

When pasta is cooled, add whatever additional fresh veggies you like. I used some colorful red and yellow grape tomatoes sliced in half, cucumber diced very small and some minced shallot. Then pour on your dressing and eat it all up!

It is a very light and refreshing dish so you don't have to feel the least bit guilty. I served it with some bagel chips and a manchego cheese, which my boyfriend said was too overpowering for the salad. I personally liked it, so there!

Both of these salads were lovely, but you will just have to take my word for it as I didn't take a picture. Here is a picture of the Caprese salad I made for my Mom's birthday party yesterday. This was so easy it was scary! I still had some of those beautiful little yellow and red 'maters so I sliced the larger ones in half and the teensy tiny ones I just dumped right into the bowl. Then I added fresh basil and mozzarella balls. I doused it all in some olive oil, kosher salt and both white and black pepper. It was delish!

Caprese Salad