One Cook and Two Chefs

Thanksgiving!

2010-12-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

I hope that you all had a happy Thanksgiving! We had a blast. Went to Memphis to visit some friends, eat turkey, and of course... cook! I love cooking, and there is nothing more fun than cooking with a friend.
I made some homemade pecan pie using two local ingredients. Local sugar cane syrup, and local pecans from my Best Friends backyard. Super yummy! I realized that I think the cane syrup may have been some form of molasses... I need to do some research on that.

This week I made three dishes from the "Vegetables Every Day" cookbook. A sauteed beet recipe that was delicious! A curried carrot soup that was horrible! Seriously, everytime this guy makes a blended veggie soup recipes, it has leeks, and I really do not like the taste of leeks.
Finally I made a brocolini and garlic recipe that I inhaled. It was so good!

Linky Love!
1) All about Brocolini. I got mine at Target. I so suggest that you run out right now, get some, and cook it and eat it. It is so worth it!
2) The rolls I made. They were so pretty, but did not come out right. So sad. But now I feel inspired to make more things in those little jars...
3) This one is for one of my dear friends of all ways comments on my blog posts! My dear, every time I see bacon... I think of you!

That's all for tonight folks! TTYL!

Friday Linky Love and more beets

2010-11-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

So this week I decided to make some more beets. I want to finish the chapter, in fact, from now on I will be trying to complete chapters to finish the book sooner. I made three recipes, one of which, I had to really change because I did not have any beet greens. Which means, I can share a recipe... but I cannot promise you will like it.

The rough part of all the beets is, I like them, I need to still get used to them. Beets roasted are so sweet, not sweet like candy, but sweet like a sweet potato. I think it is all just a mental thing. I grew up eating your standard veggies, like carrots, celery, and potatoes. Although, back in the day, I think everyone liked beets. Somehow when my generation came around, beets seemed to take the backseat with brussel sprouts.

Linky Love!
1) A unique way to peel a beets.
2) Different ways to peel beets.
3) One Mama shares her experience on cooking beets.

Friday Linky Love and some Jicama

2010-11-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

My little collection of homemade canned goods.

Well, here's to another week. I only made one dish out of the cookbook. Now I really have to have a cooking marathon to make sure I get through this in a year! Anyways. First up, my newest canning adventure. We have some satsumas growing in our backyard. I picked a whole bunch of them and made some satsuma marmalade. My Beloved loves it! :D I almost started crying after I made it because he loves orange marmalade, and it just felt to good to harvest my own 'oranges' and then make (and can) by hand my own marmalade, just for him! Chef Turbo seems to love it too.

I only made one dish out of Mr. Bishops book this week. The star ingredient was a Jicama. Very interesting, and I can now proudly say I can use this vegetable if I were ever challenged to cook with it. It tasted good, but I wish that it did not have the scallions in it. They seemed a little over powering. Oh, BTW, there were no oranges, I just added that for extra decoration, otherwise it would just look like a boring bowl of jicama and carrots.


Jicama and Carrot Salad pp. 183

I also thought, for photography reasons, that adding some sesame to it would look more interesting. It did not add or subtract from the taste. It just made it look more appealing.

LINKY LOVE!

1) I read this article the same day I am going to cook a whole chicken! What wonderful planning!

All about Brining
2) I love Alton Brown, I also love to brine my turkeys. Try it this year! It's so good!
3) I am going to try and use these this year with these bags I bought at the Williams Sonoma store.

More Plantains... and corn... and a link

2010-11-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

So, tonight I tried to count all the recipes I have made. I think I got around 96. Kinda depressing since there are 350 recipes left. Sigh. I need to really get cracking!

This week I wanted to finish plantains (which I did) and I fell in love with that produce even more! I also made one dish of corn.

In the video, I start it off with rain. Why? Because, it finally rained this week, and we got tons of it. I also got a new dishwasher. The old one (which was possibly around 12 years old) was falling apart. I love my new dishwasher! I can fit so many more dishes and organize my silverware. Yes, I almost organize my dishes too. It's to help put them away faster.

Linky Love.

I think I failed you all with love for linkys. I did not do as much research this week. But I have one link!
How to render chicken fat! Almost for free!! :D
http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2010/10/rendering-chicken-fat.html#more

Marx Foods "Iron Foodie" Contest

2010-11-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

(So sorry, I am not sure why the badge is looking weird.)

These are some question I need to answer. My dearest readers... let me just say... here is another side of me, if you haven't caught this side yet...

Why do you want to compete in this challenge?
    I love to cook and I also love a good challenge for my culinary skills. I love to cook so much, that I have books in my cookbook shelf on the science of food and cooking. Like Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" and Russ Parsons "How to Read a French Fry". I am just crazy about food and inventing new and fun things for my family to eat!

Limitations of time/space notwithstanding, whose kitchen would you like to spend the day in & why?
     I would love to cook with Alton Brown. Again, this comes back to not just food, but the science of food. Mr. Brown also brings history into it all... which makes the normal everyday recipe more fun! He is really my inspiration on why I love the science behind cooking!

What morsel are you most likely to swipe from family & friends’ plates when they aren’t looking?
      Chocolate. It's my Achilles Heal. Ask my husband. Got chocolate cake? I'll eat the whole thing before anyone notices...

Sum your childhood up in one meal.
     Chicken Catcha Tori... or that is what we called it. I think we had the right to change the name, because with how picky my siblings and I were, my mom had to change a few of the ingredients (like no onions... see below). Most of us asked for this dish for our birthdays and other special events. Another tid-bit into the made up name, we have a sister we call 'Toria'. She hates spaghetti to this day.

The one mainstream food you can’t stand?
     I cannot stand onions. Never have. In fact I have memories of my mom forcing me to eat a McDonald's hamburger with the little dehydrated onions. I gagged the whole time. But, this year I made a commitment to learn to embrace the food I despise so much. I can handle shallots now, if it is boiled for a long time. That's progress... right?

Plaintains and LINKY LOVE!

2010-10-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

This week, I decided that we were going to learn how to cook plantains. I have had them before in Jamaica (and enjoyed them), but I have never eaten them successfully here in the States. Mr. Bishop had some great recipes. First we made the "sauteed plantains". The kids and I could not put them down. Then I made the "Baked Plantains", but I was the only one who enjoyed them. I am ok with that!
I still have two more yuca recipes to complete, and I made the "Yuca Soup". I did not care for it. I am not a big vegetable soup lover.
Other things made? I made a the "Buttermilk Pancakes" from this gals e-book and loved them! I also made fruit leather from this other gal's e-book, and the kids loved them and gave them a new name... 'fruit skin'. I invented a new recipe using the dough from my "Joy of Cooking" croissant recipe. I browned some ground beef with garlic, shredded some cheese, and put them in the dough and squished them together. Next time I will shape them in nice shapes and cover them in butter so they will not look so weird. Ok... now for the pictures...

<3<3 LINKY LOVE <3<3
Sadly, no one has told me if they wrote a blog post about their favorite kitchen tools. So, I only have a small number of links to share with you today. If you are interested in doing this challenge... let me know in the comments below!

1) COMFORT FOOD!
2) I just bought some apples to make these...
3) In Love! I want some. :D I think I am going to get some of the 'asparagus' and fill it with the grains I use and display them in my cabinets.

Yummy Yuca and Linky Love!

2010-10-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

This week I was trying to cook through the Yuca chapter. It only had 4 recipes. But life this week caught up with me, and I only made two recipes. They were both really good. Chef Turbo really like the fritters, and he got to help make them too. I was terrified to make the Yuca because I heard that it was poisonous. I am still not sure how it is bad, but I followed the directions to a tee and did not waver. All I do know is, peel your Yuca, take the core out, and cook it.
This week I tried to make some pita bread and I failed. It turned into flat bread. So sad! I'll try again some other time.
I made some "cow shaped" pasta. Only because I was tired of spaghetti and the cow was the only cookie cutter I could find.
The pictures of the food I made this week....

<3 Linky Love! <3

Whole Foods for the Holidays going on at Keeper of the Home. I love reading her blog and I am looking forward to all the posts that her blogging friends will be doing! Join in on the fun!

I bought a new e-book (which is on sale you know...) it's a great way to take baby steps on eat real food. It will change your life! I already read through the book (I'm trying my first recipe tomorrow) and it was encouraging and helpful as I am a newbie on eating real food.

Cooking with my Kid is one of my favorite blogs to read, they posted this recipe and I cannot wait to try it!

I'm also loving putting "food on my face" thanks to Crunch Betty! Looking forward to trying this next..

That's it for today my dearest readers. I'm thinking next week I would like to do something fun... what is your favorite tool(s) in the kitchen? Take a picture of it and write about it. Be prepared to share your link! Better yet, email me { kstone (at) stonecafecreations } your link before Friday, and I will include it in my Linky Love! We'll have a "Favorite Tools Friday Linky Love Special!"

Snow peas, butternut squash, and some linky love!

2010-10-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

This week I made two recipes! I made a Sesame Stir Fried Snow Peas and a Oven Roasted Butternut Squash. Both were really good. I enjoyed them greatly! Here is a picture of the snow peas, one of the photos I loved the most this week...

Here is the video with some of the photos from this week. Not thrilled with them all, but I am kind of going through a little "mid year crisis" with my food photography right now. I'll get back into the swing of things soon. Also, I still have not perfected my recipe yet. This week turned hectic, but I will (or should) have some time this week... we shall see!!

But one thing that is not a crisis is
LINKY LOVE!
(I need a superhero song for that.... or you can imagine that in your head).

1) I <3 Mac and cheese. I also love gnocchi! What a great mix!! It speaks to the Italian side of me.

2) Dinner rolls in a jar, awesome thanksgiving idea!

since it's fall, I'm still on a pumpkin kick, and so is everyone else, since I just keep running into great things to do with pumpkin!

PUMPKIN RECIPES
1) http://www.amanda.fakeginger.com/?p=1377

2) http://bakedbree.com/slow-cooker-pumpkin-butter

3) http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/recipes/pumpkin-spice-smoothie/

4) http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/recipes/baked-pumpkin-oatmeal/

100th Post... do I get a prize?

2010-10-08T18:25:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to get a prize for 100 posts, but some comments would be nice :D. Leave a comment telling me who you are, if you have a blog, and what your favorite vegetable is.

You would think that since I was not blogging this week, I had tons of extra time to make some of Mr. Bishop's wonderful recipes, but I was a slacker. I only made one.
"Steamed Cauliflower with Buttered Walnuts and Parsley" pp.90 It was supper yummy.

Here is a video sideshow of everything that I experimented with this week... which will then lead me to...

LINKY LOVE!
Last week we talked about making dried orange zest… here is another use for orange peels…. candied! Even… chocolate covered! I wonder if it could be Nutella covered??

This blog might just be what I need… no wait… this is what I need to make it feel like fall! Thanks City Sisters for writing this post! Cider Donuts
**My friend and I got together today to make some of these, since we did not have donuts pans, they turned into Cider Muffins. Still good! Pictures are in the slide show**

Like humus? Try this variant!

Looks too good not to eat... some oatmeal pudding!

The sugared grapes are an inspiration to me... I want to do that someday!

I tried some persimmons this week because they are in season and at our vegetable/fruit market. Watch this video...

My exploration into Graham Crackers. There is a reason. BTW, I made some this week, and the picture is in the slide show... you may know that already.

1) Kitty eating graham cracker
2) Who invented the graham cracker
3) Some awesome inspiration… graham crackers don't need to be square!
**I made this recipe this week. I went all Whole Wheat! But they turned into molasses cookies because I thought it should have only molasses in them. Silly me, there is a reason why Honey Grahams are called Honey Grahams!** (and then there is a post by the same gal, who I have posted here before… on goldfish crackers! )
4) I knew it was a good idea to brush the graham cracker crust with chocolate! Woot!
5) Definition of Graham Cracker

Arugula Salad and LINKY LOVE!

2010-10-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Arugula and Mango Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. PP.12

Welcome to another edition of
LINKY LOVE FRIDAY!

This is mostly a fall themed linky love!
1) Got orange rinds? Make orange zest powder! I still have to finish mine :D
2) Got plums? Spiced Plum Galette
3) Got pie craving? Make a pie crust!
4) Want sour dough bread? Make it yourself!
5) Got apples? How about a crazy pumpkin pie?
6) Still got apples? Do it aussi style!

NEWS

So, my life has changed. That has to be expected since I have been doing this since April, and change always happens... right? If not, your life might be boring. Spice it up! Anyways...
I need to slow down on the blogging front, so here is the plan, I'm going to post on Wed and Fridays. I'll still do wordless wed. On Fridays there will be a video (without me talking unless I really have time to write a script) that will recap all the recipes I made that week and any other cooking adventure we have. Two posts a week! No worries though... Fridays we will still have our linky love! Because I LOVE TO SHARE LINKS! I love to share information, and I find tons of information throughout the week! Keep reading! Let me know you are reading by leaving a comment below. It will make my day. Thanks!

Tuesdays Video Blog on Thursday

2010-09-30T20:06:00.001-07:00

I did not have commentary. In fact, I forgot to take the final image. So sorry! Also, sorry about the other random images and dialogue.

Wordless Wed.

2010-09-29T18:55:00.001-07:00

Ravioli and Carrots

2010-09-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

Ravioli and carrots?? Does this mean we get to eat ravioli stuffed with carrots??? Um...no. Sorry, that does sound good, hmmm.. now I am craving some squash stuffed ravioli, but that is beside the point. The point is, I made this dish last week with my friend. Now before you get further disappointed, I have run out of time tonight to make my video, but I will make it Thursday. Tonight you get a post that should have been posted last week, but I took the week off from blogging. Not cooking, but blogging. Which means, I have an arsenal of photos, well, one photo from each meal, but I should have story to go with that photo... so story away..................

For the past few months, my friend and I have been trying to get together and make pasta. She asked me to show her how, and I was excited to teach. I love to teach! So last week we finally got together. I realized later, she wanted to learn how to make ravioli. I had never made ravioli, so I figured, lets get to the dough part (which I knew how to make) and then we could figure out the rest.

I showed her how to make dough the way my great-grandmother from Italy would have made it, with your hands on a surface! (I'll have pictures in the video on Thursday, I did that very same process tonight).
Now, when I visit someones home on a weeknight, I bring my cookbook Vegetables Every Day and the ingredients needed to their home. That is what I did and made these wonderful carrots "Maple Glazed Carrots (pp. 83). Nothing thrilling happened while making these except all of our children getting quite dirty (that is expected of children, my boys seem to find dirt all the time).

Some news: #1 This is my 96th post. Next Monday is my 100th post... what should I do to celebrate?
#2 I now have a few blog posts in reserve! But I guess if I were posting last week, I would have crossed the 100th post by now. Oh well!

The Carrots and you can see the ravioli to the left.

Mushrooms and Corn

2010-09-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

    Thanks for bearing with me on my mini "not blogging" vacation. I almost got one of my websites done. The reason it did not get finished is because the company I was working with changed their system, and we are still working out all the bugs. Sigh. Anyways...
New blog post for a new week. Mushrooms and Corn!
   Last Saturday I purchased some Shitaki mushrooms from the farmers market. I am really excited about the mushroom farmer there because I can buy this block thingy for $20 and grow my own shitaki mushrooms! Anyways....

The boys enjoyed looking at the mushrooms. I let them play and look at them for a few minuets. You would have thought that would have helped them want to eat their mushrooms later, but alas, they are more fun to hold than to eat. Oh well, it was worth the try.

The final results of the dish were delicious. I still have some left over and I am looking forward to eating them for lunch tomorrow. Speaking of lunch, I have to go run and get my oats and barley soaking!   Corn and Mushroom Saute pp. 120.

Missing Monday???

2010-09-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

Yup, actually, I am going to not post for the rest of the week, but I am going to cook and store up a whole bunch of posts. I need to fix up some of my old sites and get my new business web site up and running. Managing a few blogs and a website is fun to do! (Plus being a wife and mother on top of all that). So, starting next Monday... more blogging! More recipes! And, hopefully the kids helping out more... we'll see.

See ya next week!

Duxelle

2010-09-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

I love mushrooms. I really, really do. I was craving some and I noticed that Mr. Bishop had a meal (not a side dish) made... with mushrooms. Super coolness. This one was called "Roasted Chicken Breasts with Duxelles (pp. 219)".

Yay for aluminum foil!

Now what was really cool was, I saw the final episode of Masterchef and David Miller was talking about making a Duxelle, I was so excited because I was going to make some today! If a Masterchef is going to make some, then I was going to truly make something advanced.
Now, I had some problems with the dish. I did not have the right kind of chicken breasts. So I had to improvise. In came "aluminum foil". I figured since I did not have any split chicken breasts, that if I wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil it might produce the same results. I pounded the chicken flat with a tenderizer, then put some butter on the chicken and then the Duxelles. I then wrapped the chicken up like sushi and then put the aluminum foil tightly around that. The results were not as flavorful as I had expected. I wonder if I cooked my mushrooms at too high of a temperature or something. I lost some flavor along the way. But the aromas were great. I think I still have lots to learn about Duxelles as a flavor enhancer, but I am so willing to try this again.

Now for FRIDAY LINKY LOVE!
1) I bought some Asian Pears at the farmers market. I want to grow my own trees... it's easy!
2) Masterchef casting call! I am not going to do it... but you might be interested!
3) Duxelle video #1
4) Duxelle video #2

Have you ever made a Duxelle? Leave a comment and let me know what your experience was like!

Purple Hulled Peas

2010-09-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday a farmer gave us (gave mind you) a grocery bag full of purple hulled peas. I kind of sat there wondering... what in the world am I going to do with these? Sadly, Mr. Bishop had no recipes, so I had to turn to the Internet. Being a northern gal, I was completely new to these legumes so this was a fun adventure.

The first step was to hull the beans. Chef Turbo only helped with a few and then grew tired of the project. That was alright with me. I found it a bit relaxing to just stand there and hull peas. Thankfully there were not too many. I found this recipe, I think a great starter recipe for someone like me. I mostly followed it and the peas came out great. I love the creamy texture they have. They are also sweet! I think I will invest in these beans/peas more often when they are in season.

So what things pair well with these beans (or peas, they look more like beans to me!)? I tried looking online to find a resource to share with you all, but alas, you'll have to go look on Google. It's kind of entertaining. But one thing I see often, bacon grease, garlic, onion, and Tony's Seasoning. These peas are a southern thing, so think... southern cooking, a tough thing for a northern gal like me to do. But I am getting there with my Cajun neighbors help.

Wordless Wednesday #9 Braised Radishes

2010-09-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

First... the video blog I was to tired to work on last night (sorry about that!)

Second wordless wendsday... shhh no talking :D Wait I take that back, leave a comment, I cannot talk, I'm supposed to be wordless. I hope you all get my imagery here--->

A farmers market find.

2010-09-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

So finally on Saturday, I found some arugula. I've been waiting months for some and a farmer had it on his stand. They were in bad shape, I guess he had them in the sun so long that they wilted. I was still willing to purchase them because I have been searching for these for so long (although I keep forgetting to check out Whole Foods for them...). You can tell they were organic because they had little worms on the leaves. But that did not bother me, I just did not put those leaves in my salad.
Included in this salad was some 'fresh' aged goat cheese. I thought that goat cheese came in one form, but I have recently discovered a whole new world of goat cheese. It's super good and exciting to fine. But it is rather expensive.

The flavors of this salad were good. I wonder what they would have been like with really fresh arugula leaves?

Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts pp.11

For snack... carrot salad and some linky love!

2010-09-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to roast some peppers on my grill today, but it was so hot and stuff, I just didn't feel like it. So I grabbed a few carrots and made this dish, Bistro Carrot Salad pp. __

It was good, but it did not sound as good as the recipes I was researching outside of Mr. Bishops cookbook. They were all talking about adding Dijon Mustard. Oh, how I would have traded the mustard for the lemon, it sounds so good! Anyways. The dish was still tasty, I enjoyed it.

Now for some LINKY LOVE!

1) Speaking of carrots... I ran across this site. It's about a carrot museum. That's right, a museum dedicated to carrots.

2) Two sites about being a Nutella Freak. I am one, I love Nutella! I eat it by the spoonful, well I did till I went on a "diet" last week. Site one and Site Two.

3) This pizza sounds so good! I cannot wait till my diet allows grains again so I can eat it!

4) Not only does she briefly cover what's bad in today's overly processed foods… she goes to my favorite shopping store, MEIJER! I miss that store so much! I knew it was Meijer by looking at the shelves (so weird) and then I confirmed it when I saw the sales stickers :D. I'm such a Meijer geek.

Now to end your reading of this blog post with an Irish Proverb...

More Peas Please

2010-09-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

So I am doing something new. Instead of making these dishes for dinner, I am making them for lunch so that I have better light to work with and my mind is not tired from a long day of being wife and mom.

Today's dish was Peas with Onions and Mushrooms (pp.247). Yes, there are onions, and yes I did eat them. Sad thing is, I burnt the onions a bit. The other sad thing is, the normal housewife would think they caramelized the onions, but the truth is, they were burnt. Anything to get away from that onion flavor. I love mushrooms, so I knew that is would have to be a great dish. With the mushrooms, do you think it would become a wee bit like a 'pealaf'? Haha!

Anyways. The dish was similar in the sense it used the same herbs as the last pea dish. Parsley, Basil, and Tarragon. Funny thing is, because of the burnt onions and mushrooms, the "outdoors" flavors turned more earthy and melodious. It was very smooth tasting and wow, so good. I ate the whole bowl.

Wordless Wednesday #7 Roasted Pepper Dip

2010-09-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Roasted Red Pepper Spread with Goat Cheese and Herbs pp. 253

Tuesday-Video Blog Braised Celery

2010-09-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at slow motion photography. Please bear with me as I experiment at your expense.
The dish was "Braised Celery with Butter, Shallots, and Parsley pp.94"

A Sad, sad post.

2010-09-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

What could possibly make this post sad? I lost my professional camera (The link is a dramatic song with a cute pug to make my story more emotional), I now I am stuck with my pocket camera that takes horrible pictures. So far, I think the last time I took pictures was on Thursday. Not sure where I put it down. I only have three spots in the house where I leave my camera, so I has to be around there somewhere!!!

Anyways.

Tonight I made Grilled Eggplant with Garlic, Lemon, and Oregano. They tasted like burnt marshmallows. I could not stop eating them, it make me think of burning marshmallows. I wonder if they would work between two graham crackers with chocolate?? Eggplant smores anyone?

Looks like I was by a foggy ocean... let's use our imagination...

So depressing. I want my good camera back!

Linky Love Friday #8 and Trip pictures

2010-09-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

Since I did not cook dinner (My Dad is still here and I am trying to show him some awesome places to eat around town...) I am just going to show you all a slide show of two places I ate at on my trip. Nothing thrilling, just something to keep you busy while you visit my site till I can get back to my normal schedule next Monday.

Now for LINKY LOVE FRIDAY!!

Now, I have been watching "Masterchef" and I love that show (except for all the crying that goes on, that drive me crazy!). I have been challenged in my abilities to cook just from watching this show. After the chili episode, I wanted to know... How do you make chili without chili pepper?!? I grew up thinking that that is what made chili-- chili. So I did some research. Talk about history lesson peeps! Chili originated in Texas, and they do not use chili powder in that recipe. That is why they were so shocked that the lady (forgot her name already) made that mistake... enjoy this link and learn :D

http://www.texasescapes.com/CFEckhardt/National-Dish-of-Texas-Chili-Con-Carne-Recipe.htm

I was making cookies today and I did not have brown sugar. Rushing online to find a subsutuew I thought it would be awesome to have a list inside my door so I do not have to always use the internet. I have a few links that you all might find useful and maybe you will want to print one of these out and tape it in a place for reference.

"It tastes like the outdoors"

2010-09-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

Herbs from my garden.

Well, I am back. I went to Louisville, KY to serve my sister who had a baby. We had many other fun adventures, including going to Beale St. in Memphis, TN to eat some ribs. I will post some pictures of that tomorrow. It's nice to have some time off, but I feel horrible when I up and leave you, my dearest readers. I am hoping to find some guest bloggers to post when I need a break or some other circumstances. Anyways....

Turbo helping

Frozen Peas

I thought I would do an easy recipe to ease back into cooking through this book. It was an herbed pea recipe. I did not have any chives or mint, but I put Basil, Tarragon, and Parsley in the mixture. Turbo helped by dumping the butter and herbs into the pot. Then with great excitement, he stirred them. A few peas were lost in the adventure, but we still had a great dish in the end.

The dish was great! My dad (who is visiting right now) said it tasted like the outdoors (I am pretty sure in a good way). He inhaled the whole dish before I had a bite! I really enjoyed it, but I think mostly because I am in love with Tarragon right now. I never knew that basil and tarragon could dance so well together! Buttered Peas with Fresh Herbs -pp. 247:

Finished dish with Gumbo.

Tuesday-Video Blog #4 Boiled Carrots

2010-08-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Now I want to shred some more beets and make another beet salad, and also make another salad that is a carrot salad! :D Anyways, I will be posting on and off (or not at all) for the next week. I will return to my normal schedule soon!

Boiled Carrots with North African Spices (but I went with the Asian variation)pp.82

Da Beets...

2010-08-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

The stars!!

I was introduced today to The Beets! No, not Nickelodeon's 'Doug' "The Beets", but the root vegetable. I never really thought about preparing this vegetable. I mean, oh the uses for it! It's healthy for your body, it's red, and it makes a great food dye. But I never thought about eating it before.

Most people avoid eating it because their first experience to Beets were of the can/jar variety. Although I did not roast any today, Mr. Bishop says that they taste really good roasted. Today's dish was made with raw beets.

beet fingers!


freshly peeled beet

Trust me, it's beet juice.

They are not kidding when they say that beets make a dye. My fingers were stained, when the kids ate theirs, they rubbed their hands on their clothing (GRRR!). Everything was coated in a nice shade of beet red.

The sauce!! So yummy.

Anyways. Mr. Bishop had me make a dressing for this Beet Salad using Dijon mustard and olive oil and my choice of either Tarragon or Parsley. Since I know I will not have my tarragon much longer, I went with that herb, and I do not regret it! It was perfect, blended well with the taste of the beets.
Next time I might use just yellow mustard for the children's sakes. They felt it was a little too spicy.

You should try this one! Order the cookbook or find a recipe online for a beet salad and bring it to your next gathering. Make it for your family and show your kids that if they dip their food in it, their food turns red (my kids got a huge kick out of that).

Grated Beet Salad pp. 32

Tomorrow is Video Blog! CARROTS :D

Linky Love Friday #7 and Chicken Broth

2010-08-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

So, I did not cook tonight. But it is always good to take a break. I had to go to the eye doctor to find out what was going on with my eyes. Apparently, I now offically need glasses. I guess I'm getting old!

Anyways, the good news is that my chicken broth congealed perfectly! I love it when it gets this thick, all the good minerals and collegian is in there. Yes, that is me almost holding the jar upside down. That is how thick it was. So happy!

Now for LINKY LOVE FRIDAY!

Make some of your own fruit strips without a dehydrator! So excited about this.
momofukufor2 just finished cooking through her cookbook. So excited for her!
I'm exploring Teff, so this was cool to find.
My Beloved loves salsa, so I am waiting for this recipe to ferment. Just started it today (See picture to the right). I only made a half recipe, since I did not purchase enough tomatoes.

French Onion Soup

2010-08-19T18:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the missed post yesterday. I ended up taking a really bad picture, and I was too exhausted to fix it. And a few other reasons why. So, here is the bad picture. I did have the joy of burning a few hundred fire ants that were in my grill for some reason. I took great pleasure in doing that.
Oh, that was the grilled onions. I couln't eat them. But My Beloved and Chef Turbo enjoyed them.

Tonight, I made for the first time "French Onion Soup". I did not have any cognac on hand, so I used Red wine vinegar. Sadly, that kind of runined the soup. I am happy to say that after watching tons of videos on how to cut produce, I almost got even cuts on my onions! I was inspired to learn after watching the first three episodes of Masterchef. I realized I did not know how to really cut things, and if I were put up to the challenge, they would kick me off the show after seeing me just hold the knife... not anymore! YAY for youtube!

Anyways. I think the soup to onion ratio was off. There were to many onions. When I was in France, I could have sworn that there was more broth and that the onions were few and had room to move in the sauce. So either Mr. Bishop loves onions, or I put too many in. Oh well.

Meatloaf and Onion Rings

2010-08-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Sites I got the topping recipes:
Yellow mustard and ketchup #1: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=6875165
Ketsup #2: http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/u--4203/meat-loaf-with-brown-sugar-topping.asp

My very own topping recipe! Ketchup, red wine vinegar, and brown sugar. Adjust for your own taste.

Avocados, Mangos, Pancakes, and Onions

2010-08-16T19:35:00.000-07:00


Different Avocados

Well, this week is going to be interesting. I will tell you later why. Let me tell you of a few other things that happened over the weekend first.

1) I found another species of avocado at my vegetable store. So I bought both the Haas Avocado and the Florida Avocado to compare. The Haas is smaller, has a smooth seed, and more flavor. The Florida has less flavor and a large seed that danced inside the avocado. My cat's paw has nothing to do with this experiment. I now know that I will stick to the Haas all the time.

Mango Seed

Tree and Bear Pancake

I finally got the guts to purchase a Mango. I was more afraid of having a reaction after handling the fruit, but nothing happened. I had fun asking Chef Turbo "What color do you think is on the inside?" He guessed green. All the other questions he got right, "it's sweet, there is a big seed inside." We enjoyed the flavor. I learned that mangoes pair well with anything tropical, avocados, and lime. I ended up making a little compote with pineapple, blueberries, and mango. It was really good!

This morning I made pancakes. One of the things I love to do is to make things out of the batter. Today I made a tree and bear. Ok, now onto the dish I made out of the cookbook.

red onions are perfect for roasting

In Mr. Bishop's cookbook there is a whole chapter on onions. Ever since starting I have dreaded this chapter, and I thought now would be a good time to just get it over with. This week I am dedicating to getting over this chapter. I'll still have one more recipe to finish next week, but I am willing to do this. Are you ready for a fun week? This is also part of my challenge to "fall in love" or even just tolerate onions.

Tonight I made Roasted Onions with Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary pp.231-32.
I kind of sat there reading the directions wondering cut through the polar regions?? I knew what that meant. But all I could think of was that the ends will stay there. So I cut them off. How foolish was that? Very foolish. I needed the ends to stay on to hold the quarters together. At least I am pretty sure they were supposed to stay on there. Anyways, I cut them off, which made it challenging for Chef Turbo and I to get the olive oil on them intact.

meh

This might have made a great Wordless Wed. Photo. I was trying to convey how I feel about this. When it finally came down to trying one, My Beloved ate them up. I wimped out. My Beloved said these were really good, but that was not enough for me to get over the pain of thinking of eating just an onion. I have finally gotten to the point of eating onions in stew (tiny tiny little pieces). This is extreme! Tomorrow night... Grilled Onions!

Marx Food's Palm Plate Review

2010-08-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Palm Plate, Paper Plate, Styrofoam Plate.

**Disclaimer: This is not valid scientific research. I took a “scientific approach” to my review just for the fun of it. I only found one article per plate (except the palm plates) to back up my claims. Also, I was sent these plates for free to try them out. **

     Marx Foods has come up with a great design of plates. Made from the fallen leaves of the Adaka Palm Tree, they are washed, stretched, dried, and then heated into these plates. What makes them really cool is that you can compost them when you are done, which also means, if you just throw them away, they will disappear in no time at the garbage dump.

     The night we tested these plates, I had some friends come over for ‘The Test’. I wanted to approach this review in a somewhat scientific way. Which meant, we needed to have different types of plates to compare to the Palm Plates.

The Approach
     Some of our guests had the traditional paper plates. One guest had a Styrofoam plate (that has been sitting around for years in my cupboard). Finally, some got to use the Palm Plates. Amazingly, there was a little dispute on who got to eat with the Palm Plates. With these plates being new on the block, everyone wanted to try them out.

The Dish
    Obviously, the typical dishes that paper plates encounter are dry. Hamburgers, hot dogs, other dried foods...but I wanted something that was a meal in it’s own, but also damp and wet. In comes Chili. You basic, everyday, red chili.

The Results:
________________________________________________


Chili and corn muffins on test subjects

The Paper Plate

Soggy factor
     The paper plates did not hold up to the chili. Thankfully I gave my guests a few of them or else they would have worn a hole through their plates.

Weight Factor
     If we were standing, these plates could not handle the weight of the chili.   They would have needed the help of another object to stay firm.

Toxic Factor
     I did a tiny bit of research and one site said, “Paper plates may also include dyes that include toxins and emit volatile organic chemicals (VOC's) in manufacturing.(1)” This does not conclude that they are toxic, but there still is a chance.

Coolness Factor
     These plates have been around forever. They are as plain as plain o’le janes can be. They are not cool.

____________________________________________

The Styrofoam Plate

Soggy factor
     The plate was not soggy after her meal. In fact is looked really good.

Weight Factor
     If we were standing and eating, the plate would have held up without assistance.

Toxic Factor
     According to this article “As for you, chow time with Styrofoam could mean ingesting a bit of styrene with your rice. Research on whether polystyrene chemicals "migrate" from container to food is hotly debated, but it's a fact that styrene has been present in our fatty tissue and breast milk for the past 30 years. We might not be clear on what that means yet, but it can't be yummy for baby.(2)” Everyone also know, there are dangers in microwaving with these, and they take forever to decompose in the garbage dumps.

Coolness Factor
     Although they can handle carrying heavy foods while standing, everyone is going to think bad thoughts because of all the evil connotations that come with eating off Styrofoam.
___________________________________________________

Results are in!

The Palm Plate

Soggy factor
    It held up to the chili. Although it did seem to get a little gooey towards the end, I was still able to wash it and use it one more time.   It even held up to me washing it.

Weight Factor
     If we were standing and eating, the plate would have held up without much assistance.

Toxic Factor
     Because they steam these into shape, by not using any glues and adhesives, these plates are safe to use.

Coolness Factor
     These plates peg the coolness factor. Not only would someone be cool using such ‘green’ plates. The different shape options also add to the coolness factor. The fact we are eating off a palm leaf is also very cool.

_____________________________________
Now for my final thought...
I think these plates can be used again. Instead of throwing them in your compost (be sure there is nothing fatty on them or else it might stink up your dirt), use it to grow future plants.   I think next spring I would love to try to reuse my palm plates by drilling holes in the bottom, filling it with dirt, and then planting a few seeds in it. Then when the plants are ready to go in the earth, I will make a hole big enough for the whole plate to go in. I am no master gardener, so give me a break if the idea is insane, but it’s worth the idea, eh?

Final final thought...
     Go try these plates for yourself! It’s a whole lot of fun, and your guests will enjoy it too!

1) Read more: What Are Paper Plates Made of? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4969695_what-paper-plates-made.html#ixzz0wMPJ2WAz
2) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simran-sethi/life-cycle-styrofoam-mark_b_127456.html

Linky Love Friday #6 and Cheesy Zucchini

2010-08-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

     Tonight was dubbed Pizza night, Chef Turbo was just begging for some pizza. So I caved in (because I love him so much!). I still made my fifth and final side dish for the week out of James Bishops cookbook "Vegetables Everyday" . Tonight we made _____.
     Chef Turbo got to help out by putting the Parmesan cheese on the zucchini. He always loves trying to find ways to help in the kitchen, and this was the perfect job for him.
     I thought these tasted great. It seems that the Parmesan takes center stage here in the recipe, because Zucchini is naturally bland, but I really enjoyed it non the less.

Ok. Ready for some Linky Love??

1) Cookie Truffles made out of Nutterbutters or Oreos!!
2) How to Roast Beets and clean the beet color off your hands. (I'll be making beet recipes soon!)
3) A whole website on cooking eggless, and in particular, an apple cake.
4) And in case you missed my second post this week on eating eggplant, I wanted to re-mention This Little Green Book. A really awesome blog.

Drowning Basil in a Bowl of Tomato Soup

2010-08-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

So, I had lots of ideas on how I wanted to write my post tonight, and then I got distracted.   Part of being a mom? I don't know, but at least I have a picture of tonight's meal. Sadly my basil kept drowning.

Fresh Tomato Soup for Summer pp.333-334
    I made this two days ago. I thought about eating it, and then changed my mind. Tonight I made some fresh pasta (which the kids love because it means they get to use the pasta machine) and thought I would use this as a makeshift spaghetti sauce. Well, the kids not only ate it as a sauce, but as a soup and loved every bite. My kids hate the Spaghetti-O's (which is fine because it is processed). It warms my heart to see them guzzle down spoonful after spoonful of this soup. I thought it was alright.

     This soup is making me think of carrots in a new way. I know, I know, I said carrots. But this soup has not only tomatoes, but also carrots and celery.   The soup was sweet. I cannot remember how My Beloved likes his spaghetti sauce, but I if he likes it sweet, I'll have to remember to add some carrots into the mix the next time I make spaghetti sauce.

Here are some more photos of the same bowl of soup. I just was learning how to install preset filters into my program tonight:

Wordless Wednesday #6 Green Beans in Yogurt-Dill sauce pp. 172 YUM

2010-08-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

Did you take a food picture for Wordless Wed? Leave a link here first and then leave your link below so I can see it too! :D

Tuesday-Video Blog #4 Eggplant--again!

2010-08-10T19:11:00.001-07:00

A link to Oni's blog: http://www.thislittlegreenbook.com/

Grilled Eggplant Day 1

2010-08-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

It was a cloudy, rainy afternoon, and then it dawned on me, I planned my whole dinner around the grill, and that was not going to happen. Around 3pm we were hit by a thunderstorm with strong winds. After that, it just rained and rained. I feel bad for those who have no rain, they could have had some of this. But then again, I prayed for another cloudy day, and I guess God answered it.

Grilled Eggplant with Italian Flavors pp. 135

I had some baby eggplants left from a week ago, so I grabbed those to use them up (or the ones that were still "good" to use). They were so small, they fit in the palm of my hand.
I ran out of thyme (the herb), I had none that was fresh nor dry. I did some research on what other herbs could taste like Thyme. Sadly, there really is no subsitute.
Thankfully I had a bottle of Italian herbs, so I dumped some into my pot of marinate.

Now, I had two options, I could broil the eggplant OR use my George Forman grill that I got at a garage sale. I chose the later. It worked. But I am pretty sure that the grill would have worked better.

Our cat, Nika, could smell the chicken that I "grilled". She does tricks for chicken, beef, and fish. I wish I had a wider lens so that you all could see that she was standing for her treat. :D

Anyways, back to the eggplant...

It was very bitter. I think it was because I used some old eggplant. Even the kids did not like it. It was worth the try.

Linky Love Friday #5?

2010-08-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what linky love this is... but for kicks we'll say it's number five. I've got some plans with the chefs tonight that will be taking the time I normally cook, sooooo, I leave you all just some links to enjoy today!

1) I loved this lady's idea so much, I did it too! Build your own veggie box!
2) How to crack the coconut question? This person has a whole post on their experience and a link to an awesome video.
3) Some awesome cookie and cakes with a science theme!
4) Sweet potato muffins that sound absolutely delicious!

Have a great day my readers! Looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday!

2010-08-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

Well... good thing I did a double recipe earlier this week. I ended up not cooking at all, so the photograph you get today, is the dish I really disliked this week! If you love lists, here are the things I hate:
1) Cucumbers
2) Onions
3) Watermelon.

Guess what, they are all in this recipe. But I made it, and tried it. YES, I still tried it, you never know when your dislikes will become likes.

Anyways, we went to the bookstore (we love books in this house!) and I bought a new cookbook tonight. It's called "Clean Food ". I am really looking forward to making some of the recipes because I have been learning about soaking grains and stuff, and this book looks like a good match for me. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Well, that is all for tonight. I hope you all have a great night. I will still post a linky love, but I am not sure if there will be a recipe review, I have some awesome plans tomorrow night with the chefs.

Wordless Wednesday #5 Grilled Okra pp.

2010-08-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

Did you take a food picture for Wordless Wed? Leave a link here first and then leave your link below so I can see it too! :D

Dressing a salad and how horrible cucumber/watermelon salsa is

2010-08-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today was interesting. As are all my days. Always an adventure. One of these times I need to stop saying about "today" and jump right into the story. I am just so tired now.

   I made the salad dressing today because it was easy (Leaf Salad with Classic Vinaigrette pp. 202). It tasted great on my salad, and I think I will keep making this from now on. It's just a basic dressing, 1 T. of red vine vinegar and 1 T olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mr. Bishop stated that I could use some garlic, but I just wanted the pure notes of the other flavors.

   To make the other recipe (I will not be writing a post on Friday, but will have an automatic linky love for all y'all!), I needed to purchase watermelon. Now, Chef Turbo is the only person in the whole house who eats watermelon. For that reason I buy the personal sized ones. Well... watermelon season is almost over, and all they have for sale at the veggie store is these humongous watermelons. I bought one, and the lady asked me if I needed assistance taking it out to my car. I declined, being as I would have to take it into my house on my own anyways (That is how heavy this thing was!)

    No one liked the Cucumber-Melon Salsa (pp.128). Chef Turbo said it was too spicy (it had pepper flakes) and I just do not like the flavors or any of these items: watermelon, cucumber, or onion. BLECH.

The salad dressing was most defiantly best part of the night. Super good. Super suggested.

Oh, I did some research on what to do with the rest of the watermelon:
http://www.watermelon.org/
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf74467860.tip.html

Cookies, Curry, and Zucchini

2010-07-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day. We had a project that needed some chocolate chip cookies (don't you love it when there is a need for those?!?) so the chefs and I whipped up a batch in no time flat.... kind of. Chef Turbo enjoy measuring out the flour, and Sous Chef Squeaker enjoyed playing with the salt shaker. Thankfully, the salt shaker had a lid on it, otherwise the butter/sugar mixture would have had lots of Sous Chef love in it! What did I enjoy? Just the fact that I was eating chocolate. Yum!

Made some of my our favorite curry tonight. This is the best tasting store bought curry. Sadly, we will have to limit how much we eat this since we are switching to a "Real Foods" lifestyle. Look at these lovely ingredents! Funny thing is, My Beloved was desiring this on his way home. I'm glad I was making it!! Nothing like filling your mans stomach with something he loves. The side dish on the other hand was not something that he even desired tasting.

Sauteed Zucchini with Lemon and Parsley pp.370

I decided today was a good day to teach Chef Turbo how to safley handle knives. As Chef Turbo and I were cutting away (safley) at the zucchini, Sous Chef Squeaker grabbed a "Big Daddy Spoon", pulled up a stool, and started poking, prodding, I dunno, you fill in the word, he was doing that to the left over ends of the zucchini. We let the zucchini soak for a long time and then made dinner. I enjoyed this side dish, although the boys (and My Beloved) did not.

It's Friday... which means... LINKY LOVE!
Through out the week, I am crawling through the web finding great sites to share with you all. This is also my way of loving my Facebook friends by not always posting links as I find them. So, this weeks love goes out to...

Whoochies! You have to read the blog post to find out more. It's a great read :D
Make your own potato chips:
I would not use the canola oil, prob. olive oil, but this is a great recipe idea!
Make some penguin appetizers!! I'm all about penguins :D
Travel to Poland and read about these sandwiches…
You might be a real foodie if….
Coke Float? How about in a cupcake with a side of some awesome photography?

Wordless Wednesday #4 Bye Bye Ganoush...

2010-07-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Did you take a food picture for Wordless Wed? Leave a link here first and then leave your link below so I can see it too! :D

Tuesday Videoblog #3.mov

2010-07-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

Mashed Potatoes? I think not!

2010-07-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

From chicken feet to turnips, I have had quite the day....

     So, My Beloved and I are trying to wake up earlier to work out and get our day started. We somewhat sucessed this morning. He got up (YAY!), but I got very little sleep. So I dozed for a few more min. Sadly, his workout was loud enough to wake up the little chefs, so I did not get my quiet morning as I was hoping for. We'll be working on that.

   I made My Beloved a bento style lunch. But sadly his work had a special lunch for their employees and so my lunch got forgotten. Oh well, I shall try again tomorrow :D.

   I made some more chicken feet broth (it's still cooking) and it tastes wonderful!   I made some chicken and dumplings with some of the broth. It's great to know all the health benefits we are getting out of that little meal, and for a good price too! I added to my dumplings some rosemary and parsley from my garden. It was so nice to just hop out there and snag some.



Pureed Turnips pp.344
    Tonight I made, basically, mashed turnips (with one potato). It was very good and had more life to it than regular mashed potatoes. I had to add more fluid to it because I underestimated the tenderness of the turnips.   I really enjoyed this, but when Sous Chef Squeaker took a bite, he spit it out again. I think I need to have some gravy next time for this dish.

Something I was thinking about when I was eating these, was about the people who eat mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. From this site I found this information:

Potatoes

1 cup raw cubed (150 grams) - 22 grams of carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber
1 cup boiled and mashed (145 grams) - 29 grams carb, 3 grams fiber

Turnips

1 cup raw chopped (130 grams) - 6 grams of carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber
1 cup boiled and mashed (230 grams) - 7 grams carb, 5 grams fiber

Looks like having the majority being turnips is a much better choice. Now how about vitamins??
This site and this site has some interesting information on Turnips and nutrition.

Just a little love...

2010-07-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

I've been sick since yesterday, hence reason why there is no post, but writing out my linky loves is a lot easier for me to do, and I can sit. So here they are!

1) Great reasons why to make bone broth. I highly suggest getting rid of the bullion cubes :D

2) More bone broth awesomeness from another perspective.

3) Homemade dips!

4) Homemade refrigerator jam, for the faint in heart when it comes to canning (like myself). Looks wonderful, I cannot wait to make some :D.

5) A lesson learned about using live lobsters. Great story!

I should be back to normal on Monday! I'm skipping the farmers market tomorrow to get more rest, so I'll have to find the Tuesday farmers market, we'll see how that all goes! Pray that our family gets over this wonderful summer cold bug soon.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

Did you take a food picture for wordless Wed? Leave a link here first and then leave your link below so I can see it too! :D

Tuesday-Video Blog

2010-07-20T19:21:00.001-07:00

Sorry about how the video looks. I am not sure how to upload it better to youtube.

A Baking Day

2010-07-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

I took today off so that I could focus on baking. My plan was to try a new way of baking (to me), but it is more of an ancient way of baking (and it's supposedly healthier too!). I soaked my flour!

I had some successes and some failures. I really have no idea what I am doing yet. I am the "learn by doing" kind of person. While I am bummed I wasted a few cups of flour, it's going to be worth it in the end once I get this figured out.

Last night I started by planning out 6 things I wanted to bake. Preztles, Bread, muffins, pasties, pigs-in-a blanket dough, and hamburger buns. I placed the doughs in individual buckets with labels and stuck them in my warm oven overnight. I made all the doughs either with keifer, buttermilk, or coconut milk and lemon juice. The acid in these items are supposed to help do the overnight magic of either breaking down the gluten or philets molecules.

After my normal afternoon routine was completed, I started with the baking marathon. Let's just say, if the pretzels had worked out, I would still be in the kitchen now. The muffins, bread, and pigs-in-a-blanket worked. Everything else did not. I have lots to learn, but I look forward to trying again, this time with less to bake.

<-- Pigs-in-a-blanket with normal sized hotdogs inside.

Butternut Squash is awesome

2010-07-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

This soup took lots of preparation, but was worth it in the end...

Before you all ask, let me tell you, that the farmer was growing this in the summer. I even asked him, "Isn't this a winter squash?" apparently since they have way longer growing seasons down here, things can come at different times, except for apples, because it is just too hot for apples down here, and that makes this northern gal a wee bit depressed. Anyways...

It took me a while to cut, de-seed, and peel all three butternut squashes. Then I had to peel and cut both a few potatoes and an apple. Except for the potatoes, that was a lot of extra scrap for the compost bin (which made it's first bit of dirt the other day!). I did not have any fresh ginger on hand, so I used the dried stuff in my cupboard. I also lacked coriander, so I used a mixture (1:1 ratio) of cinnamon and nutmeg. Since it is not fall, and there are NO apple orchards around here, I also substituted apple juice for apple cider. I know the cider would have made a major difference. Since I am on this whole dialogue on substituting, I am now officially substituting the olive oil and any other oils with either Ghee or Coconut oil. I have put on too much weight cooking through this cook book (and also because of my poor eating habits...).

The result was a great tasting soup that even the kids enjoyed. It was just a wee bit on the grainy side. Does anyone know if a soup like this would freeze well?? I had about 4 cups of it left over.

I decorated it with a few of it's own seeds that I roasted in the oven (along with some walnuts!).

Now for Friday Linky Love!

http://www.fabfrugalfood.com/frugal-tips/fab-frugal-friday-make-your-own-budget-spiced-chips/ Make your own chips and save money!!
http://anneelliott.com/blog/?p=1696&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+anneelliott+%28anneelliott%29&utm_content=Google+Reader-- a great on saving money while eating healthy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/14/cookbooks-you-didnt-know_n_642256.html#s107371 -- a friend pointed me to this article, I thought it was so funny I had to share it with you all too!
http://whiskthepantry.blogspot.com/2010/07/apricot-jam-thumbprints-carrot-cake.html -- I want to make the carrot cake cookies!
http://www.amanda.fakeginger.com/?p=1213 Quinoa Granola, on my to-do list to make! :D

Excuse me as I run and gag...

2010-07-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

Stewed Peppers with Tomato and Onion pp. 251

Tonight was a complete bust. I enjoyed cutting up my sweet peppers and everything, but our family is just not into tomatoes, peppers, and onion. That is what made this whole side dish. Not only that, but I spent 2 hours cooking and preparing dinner (with breaks of course) and no one really liked it. That happens!

It turned out really pretty and it smelled good too. But I only licked it and that is as far into my mouth as it went. I figured you all would get on my case if I did not try it. Blech.

Tomorrow is Linky Love Friday!! I've been collecting a few links for you all to "Feast" your eyes on :D.

Gnite!

Maple-Braised Turnips and Carrots pp.343 YUMMY!!

2010-07-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Did you take a food picture for wordless Wed? Leave a link here first and then leave your link below so I can see it too! :D

Reminiscent of Borscht

2010-07-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

O-o-o-okra...homa

2010-07-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well, fried okra is a southern thing. I love fried okra, so I met this recipe head on with great expectations. Sadly, sometimes great expectations can lead to great disappointment.

Cornmeal-Crusted Okra pp.227

I went to the farmers market this time with out a list made ahead. It was a good thing because I do not remember seeing any green beans and I have yet to see broccoli. I cannot wait to eat some local fresh broccoli. I knew I had a few more recipes left in the okra chapter, so I bought two things of okra and I planned for tonight and tomorrow night to be dedicated to okra. Tomorrow is a video blog btw!

One of my favorite ways to eat okra is fried. Mrs. H got me started when she served us fried okra on the night we visited her family. Of course, no ones fried okra compares to hers! Thankfully Mr. Bishop included salt in the ingredients, to which was a relief to me because restaurants in the area has very bland fried okra. I wonder if I am supposed to dip it in something down here?

Chef Turbo was excited to help. He took out his butter knife and began to "chop" up one okra. After I finished chopping up the rest, he helped put them in the bag full of cornmeal and then he happily shook it up. Of course, a four year olds thoughts of shaking something up is different from an adults idea of how it is supposed to be done, so I had to do some augmenting afterwords.

Here's the depressing part: Just recently I successfully fried something (I think it was fish). It came out perfectly! What helped was the book "How to Read a French Fry". It explained the science behind frying. Well, Mr. Bishop did not have me do a pre-coating on the okra (and how would I on pieces that small). I just shook up the pieces and voila! In the hot oil it went. Instead of becoming instantly crisp, the oil all but fell off. That was a major disappointment for me. The only thing I can think of is that the oil was not hot enough to crisp the batter on.

RESULTS:
It was really good. The kids (who never eat the restaurant okra) inhaled my okra. The texture was still great despite the lack of cornbread coating. I think the extra salt helped.

What to expect...

2010-07-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

Time for a Break...
It's about time I took a little vacation from blogging. I've been posting an average of about 6 posts a week since April. I need to spend a little family time not blogging for a few days.

What to look for when I come back??

1) Video Blogging Tuesdays
Instead of writing out my post, I will make a video with pictures of the recipe I made from Mr. Bishops Cookbook.
2) Wordless Wed.
I try to convey my feelings of the dish without words. We'll have a game to see who can guess if I liked it or not.
3) Link Love Fridays
Throughout the week I come across some really fun finds on the internet. I will share this links with you on Fridays after I post my review.
4) and Farmers Market Finds Saturdays!
I want to see pictures of what you find at the Farmers Market. No matter what day of the week you go, there will be a Linky set up so you can post a link to the blog post you wrote about your day at the Farmers Market. Remember, Try to "Buy Fresh and Buy Local"!!

Last but not least, I am planning a giveaway when I reach my 100th post. When I get to post 90, I'll have to share more information about that :D.

Looking forward to seeing you all starting again on Monday, July 12th!

Happy 4th of July!

Whole Heads of Roast Garlice with Grilled Bread pp.167

2010-07-02T21:04:00.000-07:00

Moldy Garlic
Sometimes life throws disappointments your way, but there is always another way, or just substitutions. Thankfully I had some garlic in the refrigerator, but I was trying to keep my garlic in the pantry closet in a basket. Apparently, somehow my garlic was too moist and it became moldy on me. How do you store your garlic? Is it store bought or farmers market bought?

Store Garlic Saves the Day
I have had this in my fridge for a few weeks now. I decided to use it because it was not growing anything (mold or greenery). Mr. Bishops directions on how to prepare the garlic, was unusual to me. I needed to keep enough skin on to keep the cloves from falling off, and then I needed to cut the tops off for some reason I do not understand. I have no idea on how to research, or what in the world I did.

Smells
It smelled weird cooking. That might have been because this was not a fresh bunch of garlic. The smell was almost not that pleasant and it freaked me out the first time I smelled it, because that was not what I was expecting. It all worked.

Results
IT tasted ok, but there was not much flavor. I was supposed to just squeeze these onto the bread, but I think I took them out too soon. If only I knew the science behind what was supposed to happen here! I think it needed more salt too...

Friday Link Love!
Things I discovered on the Internet while goofing off this week:
1) Grow your own celery from the celery you bought at the store. Best done in late winter!
http://providence-acres.blogspot.com/2010/06/regrowing-celery.html
2) Need something refreshing to drink this summer?? Try this!
http://joylicious.net/2010/06/29/southern-stylemango-lemonade/
3) One recipe, 4 uses... tomato sauce!
http://www.simplebites.net/10-uses-for-a-4-ingredient-tomato-sauce/

Final thought:

Are the ice cubes falling out or jumping up??

Boiled Corn pp.117

2010-07-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

Corn
I was supposed to cook this yesterday, but I forgot to purchase the cobs of corn. SO, we had the Avocado soup (it was so weird tasting we poured it down the drain) and tonight we had the corn! I went to Walmart to pick some up, and it was $.16 an ear. Amazed, I began to talk to this elderly lady who fiddled with the corn and said it was too dry and she was going to WinDixie to get their corn. I know that Walmart usually has ~~crappy~~ questionable produce, hence the reason why I like to go to the farmers market and get my produce fresh and local.

Letting Him Grow Up
It's hard to do. Chef Turbo was so excited to see corn. I asked him "What's inside?" He thought long and hard about it, and he said "Yellow corn?". So I told him "Let's find out!". So he began to peel off the layers of wrapping and as soon as he saw the first bit of corn he shouted "Look Mommy! I found the corn!". It was as if he was opening Christmas presents. After he finished that ear, he quickly grabbed another. He also loved taking the silk off the ears stating that "It tickles".

Next step, washing the corn. He really enjoyed this too. I only got to wash one ear.
As I heated up the water for the corn, he kept coming into the kitchen asking if the water was ready. As soon as it was, he was there to watch the corn go in. This was a great time for me to teach him how to take a lid off a boiling pot of water. I also showed him how to carefully place the ears of corn in so he would not get burned by the water. He put two ears in carefully and successfully. Sniffle, my little guy is growing up!

Results
It was wonderful, JUICY, and sweet. The kids enjoyed every bite. I loved it too, I enjoyed it nice and plain to let my taste buds capture the whole flavor of the corn. My favorite way to eat corn on the cob is to grill it, but it's all good. The elderly lady totally missed out on some good corn, I hope that she had found some good ears at WinnDixie.

Advice
Something I learned from Mr. Bishop's book, was to cut the ears in half and then take the kernels off. I did that for the Sous Chef, and it worked out great!

SO, how do you like to eat your corn?

Chilled Avocado-Tomatillo Soup pp. 25-26: A Diptych

2010-06-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's Wordless Wed. Please use the Linky down below to enter your pictures! Food only please. :D The link will temporally take you to another page and then it should bring you back here. Let me know!

Also the real Wordless Wed. site is here. Be sure to stop by and leave your link there too!

Waldorf Salad pp. 95

2010-06-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

Links:
History of Waldorf Salad (I know you are just dying to know!!)
http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2007/03/authentic-waldorf-salad.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_salad

A guy peeling celery... I wanted to know if there was an easier way, and there is, if you have the right tool. I only have a pairing knife, sigh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7txI0Gj1pfE

Homemade Poptarts!
http://chickensintheroad.com/blog/2009/03/20/homemade-poptarts/

Chilled Chard with Lemon pp. 103

2010-06-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Chard
Today is one of those days where I do not have much to say. This week when I planned my recipes, I did not have the farmers market to determine what I was going to make for the week. So I decided to make it a light week and cook easy recipes. Chilled Chard was one of them. The other nice thing is that Chilled Chard is great for a hot summers day... like today.

History
I have not really cooked chard, I really do not have any memories of eating chard before. I picked this species of Chard because of it's beautiful red coloring. The fun part of of wilting these greens was the water turned red. It made me wonder if one could make a food coloring dye with it? The answer looks like yes, but if you really want a red color beets is the better option.

Results

     It was good.  It was refreshing for a summer side dish,  but not something my family would enjoy.  I might keep it in mind for myself in case I want something different than a salad.  

Other News:

I made homemade tomato sauce (it's still cooking as I write) and home made sweet and sour chicken. Super Yummy! Here's the link for the Sweet and Sour Chicken.

This Wednesday is going to be Wordless Wednesday. This time I want to include you... my readers, in this this venture. Be ready to post a wordless image on your blog that is a picture of food. There will be a Linky Tools thingy so you can add your link to the site.

In case you are down today... here's a wee little smile... I made these for my little chefs today. The legs finally curled and I was just tickled pink.

Report on Broth Made with Chicken Feet

2010-06-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

     A few days ago, I made chicken gravy for a recipe. I used the broth I made from chicken feet as the broth base. It turned out perfectly! I have not had any gravy made from homemade broth taste that good. There is something important about using feet that really makes the difference.

Mr. Adams said in his post:
“Since the skin is so full of cartilage, the stock will end up being full bodied and will have a very robust, velvety mouthfeel.”

Mrs. Fallon shares in her article that:
“Far from being old-fashioned, broth (or stock) continues to be a staple in professional and gourmet cuisine, due to its unsurpassed flavor and body.”

    Now I know what I have been missing in my stock all these years! My husband, who normally hates my homemade gravies (and asks me to buy the unhealthy store stuff), loved the gravy.   I’m so sad that our homes have steeped away from what our very own great-grandmothers have used in the past to make wonderful gravys.

     People around the world today still use/eat chicken feet. Mr. Adams also discusses in his post about what other nations across the world eat chicken feet.

Jenny at “The Nourished Kitchen” talks about some of the health benefits of using chicken feet to make broth:

“Chicken feet – gnarly, repulsive and disturbing – make for the very best stock. Devoid of little else but tendons, bone and cartilage (sound appetizing yet?), chicken feet produce a fine golden broth that’s rich in all those obscure nutrients that make a good stock so nourishing: glucosamine chondroitin, collagen and trace minerals. Moreover, a chicken stock is an excellent source of calcium without . Understandably, a stock made from chicken feet gels beautifully just as a good stock should.”

     I know that many people are grossed out by the subject, but it is an exciting and fun thing to use, it just takes a while getting used to. And knowing that you will have awesome flavor and many great health benefits from using chicken feet is so worth it!

Here are some more links if you want to read more about chicken feet:

Wordless Thursday...

2010-06-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

I forgot a key ingredient for my recipe tonight, I will not let you all down! Tomorrow I plan to write a post about the results for the Chicken Feet Broth, Saturday I will catch up with the missing post. Thanks for looking! Stay tuned...

Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic pp. 271-272

2010-06-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

Pests
How many blogs do you know that starts out with such a despicable subject? Who wants to read about pests to our cooking? But it is a fact of life, they are there, and they need to be talked about. No way around it.

     In the middle of my potato, there was this moldy growth. I tried to look online (using many different questions in google) to figure out what this is. I could find nothing, but if you wanted to find out more about different molds on the outside of a potato go here and if you want to find out how to make a weight for your bow and arrow go here (this was just a random site that came up when I typed in 'mold').
   My rosemary plant seems to have a small pest problem. I found these black and white egg like things on the bottom of the leaf (where most pests like to hide). It looks like I'm going to have to venture outside and do some natural pest control on the poor herbs!
   Another pest has been mosquitoes. My Mother-In-Law had to finish making this so that I could take my son to the walk in clinic. His eye swelled up so much after getting bit by one of those bugs. The poor little chef! (No worries though, he is fine).

Advice
Mr. Bishop suggests that you add the herbs to the potatoes at the last 5 min of cooking to prevent burning. It made so much sense and it was so nice to not have any burnt garlic and rosemary. I make my own dish, but it was nice to learn something new from his own recipe.

Results
Besides all the pests and learning curves, this is by far one of my favorite dishes. I love Rosemary and garlic potatoes, it has always been a side dish I have made for my family.

Braised Green Beans with Soy and Sesame pp. 173

2010-06-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Salutations
I just got accepted into the foodie blog roll. If you are visiting me through there, welcome to my blog! I am cooking through "Vegetables Everyday" by Jack Bishop. I do not post the recipes, but rather a review of each recipe we go through. This is also a growing experiences for me because I am not a lover of most vegetables, and I am not familiar with most vegetables. This cookbook has been such a great book to go through, I have learned so much so far in the over 30 recipes I have done. A little over 300 more to do, oh the things I still have to learn! I cannot wait.

Tonight
I was unprepared for tonight. I ~~lost~~ misplaced my menu plan and forgot that I needed to do a crockpot meal. This meant that I needed to move something else to tonight, which was spaghetti! Homemade spaghetti. I still was unprepared, for I did not look ahead to see how long it was going to take to do each step and also there were the meatballs, and everything else. I felt like I was running around the kitchen with my head cut off as everything finished at the wrong time. I survived. I am exhausted after spending 2 hours in the kitchen, oh well.

Result
It was very delicious. The two chefs did not care for it as much, but it was wonderful flavors for us adults. Mr. Bishop suggested that plain chicken and rice be used in this dish. I used my homemade noodles and some meat balls (since I forgot to make/buy sauce). It reminded me of this great dish my mom makes with noodles, soy sauce, ginger, and sesame. Oh what sweet memories of my mothers cooking! Do you have any memories of your mom's cooking?

Thanks to Alisa for letting me know about foodista! This post is now part of: Green Beans

Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Mint pp. 330

2010-06-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, oh my!
     a) I do not like tomatoes, unless it is in ketchup or tomato sauce. But I am trying to get over that.
     b) I do not like cucumbers and I am not doing anything about that now.
     c) I still ~~hate~~ dislike onions, but I am working on that too. Amazing to have all that in one recipe.

Draining Cucumbers
Last year I tried to make a Russian cucumber salad. The whole adding salt to drain the liquid from the cucumbers mystified me. Thankfully Mr. Bishop make it all clear, and I think I successfully did that for this recipe. I think one of the mistakes I did with the Russian cucumber salad recipe was that I did not take the seed part out, which contains lots of liquid.

Result
I am pretty sure if I liked these vegetables, it would have been fantastic. But, it tasted good... and like the vegetables. Sorry for such a boring post, but the whole thing was very underwhelming and scary for me.

Farmers Market Saturday, June 19,2010

2010-06-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Today was met with some small bummers. First off, my favorite chicken people (who sell the chicken feet) were not there. Then the other chicken people were sold out of chicken. So no whole fresh chicken this week, but that is ok, I have stored up chicken thighs and wings to make meals out of.

The lettuce guy was out of greens. I guess it is so hot down here in the south that it is hard to grow things like lettuce and some herbs. I am going to have to really think about my future garden if I want to grow lettuce and such. I have decided that the herb guys have short tempers. That is mostly because they have tons of people asking them what is this herb and that herb and questions about herbs.

I forgot to bring my camera, I had the sinking feeling when I got half way to the farmers market. Although there is a farmers market closer, I really like driving to the bigger one that is half an hour away. I missed a great camera opportunity. There were two boys sitting and eating watermelon that had broken at some point. It was so cute to see one guy eating a gigantic half and the other little guy eating the smaller broken half. They were sitting behind one of the vendor tables right next to the vendor truck. Oh! what an opportunity missed.

Today I purchased:
For the cookbook
1 bag of heirloom tomatoes $4
1 bag of green beans $2
1 bag of garlic $3 (but there was lots of garlic, great deal!)
2 bags of new potatoes $5

For fun
1 bag of nectarines.

I have one link goodie for you today, 10 mistakes people make at farmers markets...

Fresh Tomtao Sauce pp.335

2010-06-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes

Not a family favorite 'fruit' except in the form of sauce or ketchup. But when I saw 'Heirloom Type' tomatoes at the farmers market on Saturday, I knew that this week I had to make something with them out of the cookbook. Since these bad boys were ripe (the guy said I only had two days to do something with them), I decided to make sauce out of them.

Working
     I had to peel the tomatoes, core, and take the seeds out (or maybe it was core, peel, de-seed...). In the back of my mind were the thoughts of once seeing ways to easily peel tomatoes. I wanted something easy because these guys were ripe and juicy. So to Google I went! I found this great link which aided me in my endeavor.
   One thing I learned is that you should not be boiling tomatoes and making pickles at the same time. When you are doing this process to take the skin off of tomatoes, you need to just focus on that task on hand. No multi-tasking here. If you can multi-task while peeling tomatoes, I will be amazed. Please post you story in the comments below!   My mother-in-law (MIL) told me she likes to freeze her tomatoes first and then after they are frozen, you can peel the skin off under luke-warm water. The tomatoes will come out as mush, but if you are making non-chunky sauce, this is a great thing!
    The next step was easy,   popped them in the pot, cooked them, then pureed them. Added some sliced up basil from my garden and then 'voila!' we had sauce. This was not enough sauce to feed an platoon of men fresh from the fields, but rather enough sauce for two hungry women who have been chasing the kids and cleaning the house all day.

Results
It was yummy. Since I am trying to make things from scratch more often, this will definitely go on the list of things to make again and again. I think it would be cheaper to purchase sauce from the store, but sometimes, when you eat, think about it as life insurance and the investment you are making to your health.

Pickly Predicament
I wanted to make pickles. I made pickles. I now have to wait a few weeks before I can try them. Or rather, since I do not like pickles, I have to wait a few weeks for the boys to try them. I hope they work! This recipe is from the "Herbs for the Kitchen" book. It's Garlic and Dill Pickles from the garlic chapter. I used pickles and Cajun garlic from the farmers market!

Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan and Sage pp. 356

2010-06-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Surprises
I was supposed to make an endive dish tonight, but I was met with a great surprise. In Mr. Bishops book, Vegetables Every Day, the endives are not the green leafy kind, but rather the Belgian endive kind. Is there a difference? Yes. They are both related to the chicory (so is escarole), but the Belgian endive is grown in the dark, and can be grated like cabbage to make a fun slaw like salad. I guess I will have to go to WalMart next week to get some, because I have not seen any at the farmers market. So, tonight I made what I had left from my farmers market adventure, Spaghetti Squash!

Misconceptions
For some reason, for the longest time, I thought that butternut squash was spaghetti squash. When the gal at the farmers market told me she had spaghetti squash and then showed me it, I wanted to protest and tell her she was dumb for calling it a spaghetti squash. I am so glad I kept my mouth shut (you know the Bible says that 'In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Prov 10:19). I looked up spaghetti squash in my produce book and she was the right. I have been misinformed all this time.

Result
It was great. I love the taste of sage, and the unsalted butter combined with the soothing notes of sage were wonderful.

Special Extra
I've been reading this great cookbook (yes I read cookbooks), called "Herbs for the Kitchen" by Irma Mazza. It's a book that was written back in 1939. I have the 1947 edition that includes a whole chapter on why Americans should use garlic!! Apparently back in the mid 1900's people did not use very many spices, I wonder if the great depression had anything to do with that, or if people were really not taught the wonders of the herb world? Anyways, tonight I planned on making one of the dishes she had listed in her book : Beef Roast with Herbs pp. 107-108 A few notes, I did not have any fresh herbs she asked for, so I used dried. Also, I did not have any dried savory (leave a comment if you keep some), so I used oregano instead. Oregano pairs very well with meat and thyme. This dish was great and we will make it again!!

1930's Beef Roast with Herbs
by Irma Mazza,
1 Roast
1 C. Beef Broth
1/2 c. Red Wine Vinegar
1t. Fresh Thyme (1/2 t. dried)
1 t. Savory (1/2 t. dried)
black pepper.

Directions
by me, Kris
You need to rub butter all over the roast and then make a coating of flour, salt, and pepper. I do this by placing the buttered roast in a bag with the seasoned flour and then shaking it to my hearts content. You could put on some jazzy music and dance with your roast if you wanted. Place your coated roast into a 500 degree oven. Close the oven door and then drop the temperature down to 325 degrees. This is where the fun begins.

Take the next 5 ingredients and put them in a pot to warm it up. After the roast has browned a bit, take a baster, fill it with the liquid and baste the roast. Do this every 15 min till the roast is done. If you run out of the liquid, use the liquid in the pan. My roast was a 2.75lb roast, so it took about 2.5 hours for it to cook.

Escarole and Orange Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette pp. 151-152

2010-06-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

Contribution for wordless Wednesday.

Chicken Feet Broth

2010-06-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Cooking with Chicken Feet
So, I have been doing all this research into healthy eating and cooking. The gals on these sites talked about making homemade chicken broth. People kept mentioning about cooking with chicken feet to make the broth gel better. In fact, the gelling substance in the feet are actually good for us. But preparing the feet would not make you think so.

Deal With It
One of my friends sometimes tells her kids "Just deal with it" when they go through a hard thing. This was hard. I agree with Elise when she said,

"The "Eww" factor of chicken feet I think comes from the fact that chicken feet look a lot like our hands."

Look at the nails, and how the chicken feet kind of just sit there so elegantly, I really did not want to do this. You might say, oh, just throw them in the pot and cook them, but you have to pre-cook them and then cut off their toes and calluses. That was just plain gross. Why? I don't know. And people seem to ask that question on forums and it never gets answered. So I guess, since they scratch in the dirt and stuff, it must be a sanitary thing.

Chicken Pedicure
So, here I am cutting the toenails and calluses off these warm, gooey, chicken feet. I did all but two of them (the last two did not seem worth it). But I survived and made it through the whole process. Apparently our great-grand mothers used to do this all the time, and chefs and peoples in other countries do this all the time. Why can't I? I told my friend (who was over to hang out with me and give me emotional support through this) that I just need to become desensitized and then I can keep doing this. For Pete's sake I fabricate whole chickens, why cannot use the feet too? I also have a local source at the farmers market. Making a healthier broth... is it worth it?

Result
Yes, it's worth it. I've been wondering all this time how to make a chicken broth that smells as good as the Ramon Chicken soup. This is how they do it. Chicken feet is the answer. Super gooey goodness (as cooled, it becomes a liquid again when warm). Loved it!
Are you up for the challenge to make your own?

Linky Love

Check out these awesome sites about using chicken feet:
1) A gal's experience in using chicken feet and chasing her husband with them
2) What are chicken feet?
3) Where I followed instructions on how to do this
4) Here is a great story about a gal who ate chicken feet!

Hope you had fun reading about my little adventure! Until tomorrow...

Sauteed Okra with Garlic and Hot Red Pepper Flakes pp. 226

2010-06-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Dedication

This post is dedicated to my dear friend, Mrs. H. She was the one who introduced our family to Okra, and will be mentioned a bit in this post. She has made such an impact in my life, she really deserves a big thanks and a huge hug, if I only was not so far away from her to give her one :(.

Beginnings
Okra, for my family, as far I can remember it, began at Mrs. H's house. Now, we may have had it before, but all we ever talk about (when it comes to okra) is Mrs. H's okra. She made this huge dinner with vegetable sides from her garden. She grew her own okra (as far as I can remember) and cooked some up for us. I remember how I was so nervous about the first bite, but I ended up liking it. I have tried it at other places, like Cracker Barrel, but they do not compare to her fried okra. Now after eating her great cooking, when I noticed that okra was in season at the Farmers Market, I picked some up over the weekend in fear, because these things are still elusive to me.

Lessons
     1) Do not cook in a cast iron skillet. I did that once my okra (which was frozen not fresh) turned black and gooey. The method I cooked the okra (last night) was to prevent the jelly like way okra can get.
     2) Fresh okra only lasts a few days after being picked. So that is why I cooked this on Sunday and waited to write the blog post till today.

Result
   As Chef Turbo says "It's too piciy". Yes, he says it without the 's'. The peppers were just too hot for me. But from the bite I did have, the okra was a good texture. Although, My Beloved said that Mrs. H's okra is way more superb.   And with that, I agree.

Other news
I made some wonderful beef stew with the potatoes I purchased at the farmers market. So nice and tender!

Farmers Market Saturday, June 12,2010

2010-06-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

Buying fresh and buying the "Star Ingredient" local! Some of this will be use for other things, but this is what I got! (Plus a chicken).

1) New Potatoes (for stew tomorrow)
2) Escarole and Endive (for recipes)
3) Okra (for recipe)
4) Creole Garlic (for everything)
5) Spaghetti Squash (for recipe)
6) Cucumbers for pickling
7) Tomatoes (for recipe)
8) Herbs (Lavender and Tarragon)

Slow-Sauteed Pattypan Squash with Onion and Parsley pp. 375-376

2010-06-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

Pattypan Squash
I knew there was going to be at least one recipe for pattypan squash, so since it was available at the farmers market last Saturday, I went ahead and snagged some. Mr. Bishop called for golf ball sized Pattypan, but I got what I was able to get. They were a wee bit larger, but I knew they would do. He mentioned that if these were not available, that zucchini would work as well.

Pan Problems
I was making sloppy-joes in my large pan, and I could have moved them into another pan and washed my big pan, but I really did not want to deal with all the trouble and heat, so I stuffed the squash into my little cast iron pan. The poor dears did not have much room to cook in, but sometimes that just has to happen. ~~(I guess I need more cast iron pans...)~~

Result
Tonight, I did not end up feeling well. I guess I ate something earlier that has made my stomach upset. So, not only did I forget to put the parsley on the dish, but I also only had one bite and decided I did not like it. To strong of an oniony flavor. But these guys do look cute!

Here is a video I found online about using pattypan squash, in case you ever run into these at the farmers market and feel daring to cook some up:

Other News:

We found a Swallow Tail caterpillar. We have yet to name it, but we are working on a nice jar so the boys can watch it grow. The host plant we found it on was on my struggling satsuma tree (for those who don't know, it's a type of orange tree). So we are feeding it orange tree leaves and we got the little water tubes from the florist today to keep the sticks alive long enough for the butterfly to eat the leaves.

Green Beans with Toasted Walnuts and Tarragon pp. 172

2010-06-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Green Beans
I begin again with another farmers market find, green beans. The fun thing about fresh green beans is, they have this fresh smell that frozen, or even canned green beans have. In fact, there is this taste, that I love, that can only be had when biting into a fresh green bean.

Sous Chef Squeaker
Tonight, Chef Turbo wanted to just play video games, so Sous Chef Squeaker took over, like any Sous Chef should do. Thankfully I have the Pampered Chef chopper, which is safe enough for this little guy to operate. He loved every second of it, even though he was not strong enough to chop it.

No Tarragon
Sadly, I could not find any fresh tarragon at any stores, and for some reason I thought I had some dried tarragon in the house, and I did not. I did some research and I found that there were some great substitutions for tarragon. I used anise and marjoram, and ....

Results
De-li-ci-ous. It was so good. I never expected that anise seed would work so well with green beans. You'll have to try it some sometime!

Other News:
I got my new bar pan from Pampered Chef today. Since I had to season the pan, I made, for the first time for the boys, 'Pigs in a Blanket'. I used 'real' hot dogs, but I used Hebrew National hot dogs. I really like the hot dogs better than the other kind of meat they use in 'pigs in a blanket'. Usually it tastes weird and salty to me, but this was a much better idea. My new bar pan is on the road to being seasoned. I cannot wait! :D

Shreded Zucchini with Garlicand Herbs pp.370

2010-06-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

Zucchini

It's summer, it's that time of year when the summer squash begin to make an appearance. For that I am grateful. Zucchini is so refreshing on hot summer days. It is fresh when a meal needs a wee bit freshness. Zucchini is just plain awesome. Now pair that with some ingredients, and you have a wonderful recipe. Grilled, steamed, stir-fried, zucchini is very versatile.

Herbs

For the recipe, Mr. Bishop did not mention any herbs to mix with the zucchini. He just said anything that you have around. To me, that just cannot be possible, there had to be some herbs that blended well with zucchini. I knew that I had Basil, Rosemary, Lemon Verbena, something that starts with a 'c', and Parsley. I started by looking up Basil in my Herb and Spice book. It said that it pairs well with zucchini. Then I looked at the herb list that went well with basil, which would be parsley. I had Chef Turbo snip all those up and then I mixed it in the carrot-zucchini mixture.

Result
This was so wonderful! All the flavors blended so well together. I am so thankful for my herb and spice book. That was a really big key into making everything just melt on my tongue. Another note, the recipe I made tonight was just a variation. The variation was adding carrots. Glad I did, for flavor and color.

Avocado, Orange, and Radish Salad with Lime-Chille dressing pp. 24

2010-06-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Mistakes
I am not one to not to admit their mistakes. You all have seen that in this blog. Anyways, good oranges are hard to come by, but do not buy juicing oranges to make this recipe. They are too tough to eat, that is why they are juicing oranges. #2, a very ripe avocado is too ripe for this recipe, make it in between unripe and ripe. #3 why radishes?? wait, that is not my mistake.

Result

I love to eat avocados, but this mixture, although it looks beautiful, to me almost made me gag. I have no idea what triggered it, but it was not pleasant. I know the oranges were to tough to eat, and that did not help, but why add radishes to this dish? And why make a sauce with olive oil when the avocados are full of fat themselves? Man alive, this dish has plenty of issues. But it does look pretty, and I will hand that to Mr. Bishop.

Wilted Escarole with Anchovies and Garlic pp. 151

2010-06-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

And Now a Word From Escarole...
What's green, has not smooth leaves, and is related to chicory? You've got it, it's escarole. I bought these heads at the farmers market from a very cheery elderly man. He even talked me into buying some watercress, and I still have to figure out what to do with that. According to fruitandveggieguru.com,

"Escarole contains only 20 calories and has 65% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A."

That was all I was able to find out about the vegetable, so far...

More Fish
Again, instead of using anchovies, I used herring. I really like the taste of herring and I thought it would not be a bad idea. Anyways, I have no idea where Wal-Mart carries anchovies. And no, please do not tell me.

Result
The picture may have a heart, but I did not love this dish. Mr. Bishop said that it was not supposed to be bitter, but it had a bitter taste to it. I was too tired to really want to enjoy this meal too. Oh well. The kids? Well, they are not that into this kind of fish yet. One day.

Other News
I made some chicken stock using the chicken feet I purchased. Looking forward to seeing if it really tastes that good or not. This deserves it's own special post, so be looking for a "Chicken Feet Special" sometime soon...

Famers Market Run Saturday, June 5th, 2010

2010-06-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Today was fun, we had to beat a huge storm headed out way and also find 5 vegetables that are in the cookbook to use for this week. I found zucchini, escarole, pattypan squash, green beans, and potatoes. The lettuce farmer talked me into getting some watercress too, so I let him win and I bought some watercress even though I do not have a recipe in the cookbook for it. I also got some chicken feet to make stock out of. It was so funny, I was talking to the chicken people about using chicken feet, and the gal started laughing and said she liked me, I guess it was because how daring I was, wanting to try making stock out of chicken feet. I think I will go back to that couple again, they were so much fun!

To see more pictures of my farmers market adventure, go here to my other blog!

Slow Cooked Broccoli with Garlic and Anchovies pp.45

2010-06-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

Broccoli
I think I am going to cook this great vegetable once a week as long as I have recipes to do so. I LOVE BROCCOLI. Praise the Lord for giving man wisdom on how to breed this vegetable. This kind of broccoli was not in the garden of Eden. It's man made. Here is a small bit from an article to prove my point:

Broccoli, botanically-known as Brassica oleracea italica, is native to the Mediterranean. It was engineered from a cabbage relative by the ancient Etruscans, who were considered to be horticultural geniuses. Its English name, broccoli, is derived from the Italian brocco and the Latin bracchium meaning arm, branch, or shoot. When first introduced in England, broccoli was referred to as "Italian asparagus." Although commercial cultivation of broccoli dates back to the 1500s, it did not become a popular foodstuff in the United States until the early 1920s. (From here)

Two more links on Broccoli:
Wikipedia and some sort of vegetarian site

Anyways, I still love it despite My Beloved's hatred for it, but that is ok.

Anchovies
Well, actually I used Kippered Herring. It still worked, but I could not find any anchovies at Wal-Mart, so I had to improvise, and I am happy to improvise with Kippered Herring anytime... that stuff rocks! It blended really well with my dish and the olive oil and garlic.

Result
It was so good. I think I will be making this again in the future. My Beloved, of course, could not handle it, but he said he liked the Herring and garlic mixture and it reminded him of how Russians prepare their fish sometimes. The kids were so~so on the dish. Squeaker inhaled all his broccoli and ate his brothers too. I'm ok with that, how ever they will get those veggies in them!

Other News
I started a new group on Facebook called "Homemaker Geeks". It's where us homemakers can get geeky! Join the group! I would love to see you there :D.
I made another loaf of bread and both of the boys helped me. They really enjoy pouring the ingredients in the bread machine. I also started my third bottle of coconut keifer. Have a good night!

Zucchini Fritters pp.372

2010-06-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

Squash and Zucchini
This recipe called for Zucchini, but Mr. Bishop said other squash could be used, although the flavor would be different. At the farmers market on Saturday I picked up some Yellow Bottle Nosed Squash. They were quite small but after some shedding, they made enough for the recipe. The picture on the right is shredded squash and it was quite fun to do shred, except for the fact that the cheese grater did not greet my finger nails with kindness.

Result

It was very delicious with lemon juice poured all over it. Chef Turbo loved them as well. My Beloved and Sous Chef Squeaker did not care for it. So, I guess this is a dish that will be either hated or loved.

Sorry this is short today! I hope you have had a great day!!

To Avovado or Not to Avocado... that is the question...

2010-06-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

Not to Avocado
After starting dinner, I went to start the side dish for tonight's meal. Sadly after trying to cut open my avocado (and cutting my finger in the process), I discovered that my avocados were not ripe! Again, another brain moment. Where did my brain go!!! I had to cut oranges and it was hard to keep the boys from eating them, but they were overjoyed when I told them to dive in after my discovery.

So what now?
Brains! I'm kidding, but the picture on the right could almost pass for cooked brains in my option. I had decided it was time for me to start making my own noodles and tonight was going to mark the night I did that. I made "Rye Pasta" from the Sunset Pasta Cookbook 'Plain & Fancy Shapes and Savory Sauces' pp.12-13. This cook book was written in 1980, but I have the 7th printing edition (1990). Apparently they still are writing stuff. Anyways, I found the directions very easy and I did it! I made noodles!! :D

Sad News'

The last time I used my machine, I gunked it up, so I washed it. Well, the pasta machine rusted. I had to roll all the dough by hand (oh and I kneaded it too since I do not have a food processor either). I hope I burned LOTS of calories doing that!! Anyways, thankfully I had an extra spaghetti head, so all was not lost. I really wanted wider noodles, oh well!! Chef Turbo had a blast turning the handle. In fact, afterwards he found little bits of dough left over and ran them through over and over.

Any suggestions on what to do with an old rusted pasta machine? Thanks for reading! Have a great night/morning!

Broiled Eggplant Slices with Parmesan and Organo Bread Crumbs pp. 137

2010-06-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

______________

The only thing I like better than an eggplant burger

is a chocolate covered eggplant burger. -Shaggy from Scooby-Doo (2002)

________________

Just a note

I have had one of those days, you know, one of those days when you write you address wrong on important papers, it takes you forever to complete one errand, oh and then you realize you need to run out and get some stuff at the store or else you'll be in trouble. Yeah, one of those days... for me. So hopefully that will explain why what happened, happened.

Broiling Eggplant...
Turbo got to help me this time. Eggplant is a nice tender vegetable, tender enough for a 4 year old to cut with a butterknife.
Where did I make my mistake? Well, after I thought I read the directions, I thought it said to cut the eggplant into 1/4in slices, but it was 3/4 slices. That would have helped greatly. Also, I forgot to put salt on the the eggplant when I broiled it. Sigh.

Result

Blech. And my mistakes did not help. We really do not like Eggplant. It was worth a try.

Other News
My coconut keifer is done. Now I have to still try it, but I'm looking forward to it!

Dandelion Greens Bacon and Onion pp.131

2010-05-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

Dandelion Greens
I purchased my first bit of Dandelion Greens this past Saturday at the farmers market. When I went to purchase the greens the farmer asked me if I had ever prepared the greens before, when I told him 'no' he quickly told me to try some. I declined and said I am stuck eating this because it is in my cook book. In order to lower the spicy flavor I had to blanch the greens.

Animal Fat
How this dish gets it's flavoring is through the bacon flavorings. Now, as I have stated before, I use turkey bacon, so there is a slight loss in flavor and fat. Well, I did not have enough fat to saute the greens and onion, so I used some of the fat I saved from my chicken broth.

Results
The onion flavor was too strong for me. I almost gagged. But I did eat a few bites to make sure that grew a little more further away from my hatred of onions. The bacon tasted good, but there was not enough bacon flavor to really pull the dish together. I would recommend using real bacon for this dish in the future.

Other News:
I started to make some keifer, but not any keifer, coconut keifer. Why you ask? Because I cannot drink milk and I want to get more probiotics. A friend of mine gave me some of her grains and I started my first concoction yesterday and I think it is working out alright. I am so geeked! :D I am doing this to save a few bucks. I learned from a gal from this site on how to make this keifer. I am looking forward to trying it. It looks like my grains might have grown. I am not sure yet...

Farmers Market Saturday, May 29,2010

2010-05-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

I went to the farmers market today and saw this:
According to their claims, if you eat their food, you will not get FAT. I think we need the FDA to verify their claims.

I bought lots of vegetables and a chicken, I think an organic chicken because I spent $3 a pound on it. It's part of my new chicken plan :D. I have to let it thaw so I can fabricate it, but it will be part of my menu this week. I will let the pictures explain what I got. I did not know it, but I think I will need more egg plant. The cucumbers are not for this week, Chef Turbo has really gotten into pickles, so I am going to teach him how to make pickles, and I am going to learn too.

Sesame Stir-Fried Broccoli pp.45-46

2010-05-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, time for some more broccoli again.   I just realized that I have not done a formal photoshoot of broccoli, and I will have to remedy that soon. Next week... more broccoli! I can never eat to much broccoli!

Preparation
     I started by looking up what it meant to "stir-fry". To me (before research) to "stir-fry" meant to stick everything in a pan and cook it till done and serve over rice. Plain and simple, eh? But, I was wrong.
Here are two sources here and here (< --I love Kathy Master's stuff! It's fun to watch... I promise!).
     I also learned why woks are awesome (although I do not have one anymore), you move the cooked items to the side and then cook the next part while it all stays in the pot. Fortunately, I happen to know that the edges of my iron cast skillet stay pretty cool (hence the reason why I can only cook a few pancakes at a time).   It worked pretty well, but it makes me interested in getting a new wok...


Result
   I made sure that I followed every direction, except I failed to cover with a lid and let it steam the broccoli after I 'fried' it. It was very good! I loved the sesame seeds and all the flavors of the aromatics. I wish however there were carrots. I missed them.

Other News
Yesterday, one of the other things I did was I cut up a whole chicken, froze the pieces individually, and make my own homemade chicken broth. Tomorrow I am going to cook down the broth and freeze it into ice cubes. If I ever need chicken broth, I can pop one of those babies into a cup of water and have an instant cup of chicken broth! The whole chicken only cost me $5. But it was a regular WalMart Chicken.

I think I am going to invest in free range chickens from the farmers market from now on if I can keep doing this method. I figured if I keep saving the thighs, legs, and wings, I could basically have a 'free chicken' and save money for a week or two on higher quality meat! I learned about how to cut up a chicken from here. He has one on making the chicken broth too. (The image to the right is the chicken pieces already frozen, I used the breasts for pulled BBQ sandwiches tonight)

Well, until Monday, I hope you all have a great weekend. I am going to take the next two days off and do yard work, shop at the local farmers market, hang out with my friend, and eat pizza! Remember our freedom and who we need to thank! THANK YOU DEAR VETERANS!

I forgot to cook, but I made bread today!

2010-05-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

So sorry, I think I made so much bread (and did so much cleaning) that I barley made dinner tonight, but I forgot to make the recipe. Oh well. At least I can still show you some food photographs and have some food dialogue! What do you think??

A Loaf

Our day started (after breakfast) with cleaning the boys room. After we were done, I had Chef Turbo help me make some bread for tomorrows lunch. My Mother-in-Law told me over the phone the other day to sift with a spoon, my flour into the measuring cup. This was a great job for Turbo. It was almost like playing in a sand box.
I decided to make a Whole Wheat Challah bread for our sandwich bread. I really love the flavor and texture of Challah bread. I got this recipe from a book my Sister-in-Law got me for Christmas: The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. I have cooked too many bread recipes out of that book, it's addicting!

Results
I switched out the water for milk, so that left me with a nice, light, fluffy loaf. The kids just wanted to snack on the whole thing. It's hard not to eat homemade bread that is made right!

Hamburger Buns

Because of Miss Beth's bread book, I one day decided to make hamburger buns. Ever since then, we have not turned back. The homemade versions were just as good, or even better than restaurant quality, and I would say better because I control what ingredients goes into my buns. My Beloved loves to have pulled pork on these lovely little nuggets! I bake them, let them cool, then stuff them with the meat and then freeze. When he had lunch at work, he pops it in the microwave for an instant lunch! An home made instant lunch.
Today I made mini buns so that the boys could enjoy some hamburgers made more their size. That is another great reason why to make your own Hamburger buns, you can make kid sized ones and make it easier for your little ones to enjoy hamburgers with you!

Result
They were so good! I love how the egg wash makes them so shiny and welcoming to eat! These too I had to defend against the kids. They love to eat these.

Braised Bok Choy with Plenty of Garlic pp.35

2010-05-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

Thinking, Pondering, Thoughts
Where do I begin tonight? I am so exhausted and ready for bed, but it is only a little after 8:30 as I write this post. I know I was excited to make some Bok Choy, but nervous at the same time, I love to eat it, but I have never prepared it before. It seemed so elusive to me. Well, I might have prepared it before, I cannot
remember if I had it as a part of the CSA last year. Anyways. On to...

Preparation
So, I pulled all the leafs off and washed them. Some of the leaves were damaged, so obviously I threw those away. I really need to get a bucket for my compost pile, would had made a great addition.

I cut the leaves as he asked, so I thought....

Mistake
He told me to cut it crosswise. I thought, man this is weird. It does not fit in my pan! How am I supposed to eat this? I hope Mr. Bishop never reads this at all. I was so stupid, and tired. Crosswise would have been cutting in the other direction. After I took the picture on the left, I took a knife to the pan and made smaller pieces... crosswise.

Result
He was not kidding when he wrote in the title "Plenty of Garlic". I love garlic, so the more the merrier! The smell was wonderful, the taste and texture was great. He suggested in the book to use it for a bed for a piece of fish, so I did that. It paired wonderfully!

Other News
I put Lemon Verbena in my rice tonight, but I did not detect a difference in flavor. I hope if there is some vitamins in the herb that I at least got something out of it. The picture on the left shows my rice with some of the cooked herb nicely arranged on the top.

My Satsumas (a type of orange) are growing nicely on one of the trees, but the other tree never blossomed this spring, which is making me worried. I put some fertilizer in the ground that is for fruit trees and I hope there is still time to save it.

I need to make some bread. Maybe I will have a pretty homemade bread picture for y'all tomorrow in the "Other News" section. Ok, I'm tired, hope you all have a great night. Thanks for reading.

Stuffed Peppers with Bulgar, Walnuts, and Lemon pp. 251

2010-05-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Peppers:
Ok, so I tried sauteed peppers, and I did not like either recipe. I entered this recipe with great fear, but I knew that I had to make it. Otherwise, I would not successfully cook through this cookbook. I quite dislike the taste of peppers, but I am going to be strong.

Problem Solving:
This recipe required Bulgar. Sad part is, I could not find any Bulgar, or even barley! So I bought some orzo, it just had to do.
I used the small peppers I bought from the farmers market. I think that made a difference in the flavor of the peppers. If there is a difference in flavors between store bought and farmers market, I think I am going to only purchase the farmers market ones IF I have to. Making this dish with the smaller peppers did not bother me, since we have a smaller family, and the kids do not have the desire to really eat the peppers anyways. I just cooked them for less time.

Results:   The filling was great. I loved the walnuts and the orzo made a great texture. I sat and stared at the pepper. I think it stared back at me. I really did not want to eat it. I did how ever try a little bit and I liked it. Anyways, this one is over with.

Other news:

I made some pancakes from my Joy of Cooking book.   I made the Whole-Grain Griddle Cakes (pp.236). They reminded me of the Blini I once ate in Russia.
These were of course much thicker and not been made with buckwheat. But I think the whole milk yogurt made the wonderful flavor.

Steamed/Boiled Broccoli with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and Garlic pp.43

2010-05-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Broccoli
I love broccoli (Squeaker calls it 'gwawkli'). Sometimes I crave broccoli. So, making some tonight seemed like a great idea! This particular recipe has more than just one recipe. It's instructions with how to boil/steam and then many ways to prepare them after the instructions.

Result:
I loved it (of course). Sous Chef Squeaker loved it for a while, until he met a part of it with garlic. He does not really like garlic- I think the flavor and the spiciness. But other than that, he wolfed it down. I think Chef Turbo got some garlic on the first bite. He did not eat another bite.

Other Notes:
My grass I planted on my birthday is now growing. You will not believe how happy that makes me!! I thought it would be painful and hard to grow grass. But, other than watering it all the time, it's pretty easy!

I found some Sorrel at a plant nursery today, after it grows a bit I can make some of the recipes from the Sorrel chapter. I also found some Lemon Verbena. I do not know why I bought it, but I think I remember a movie where someone was so happy to encounter some Lemon Verbena, and so I thought I had to have some too. I cannot wait to try it with tea, rice, and fish!

Green Beans with Bacon and Onion pp. 173

2010-05-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

THURSDAY FARMERS MARKET
I am sorry for not posting yesterday. It was a very special day for me (I got older!) and I wanted to take the day off and have a little fun. One of the ways I did that was to find another farmers market in my area. This (to the right) was my bounty! Local, fresh vegetables. I have been finding that the "farmers markets" are in need of more farmers and variety. Sometimes there will be three vendors all selling the same thing. I find it quite frustrating. None the less, I got some green beans and peppers. The peppers are for next week, but the green beans I used tonight!

GREEN BEANS
When it comes to summer, there are two foods I really enjoy, strawberries and green beans. I love fresh green beans! I love to just wash them off and nibble on them. I could practically have them for a whole snack that way! But I had to prepare them to meet my goal tonight.

I was able to get Chef Turbo to help me snap the ends. He seemed to have a lot of fun when he figured it out. I guess I take snapping green beans for granted since he had a hard time with it for a while. I still had to go back into the discard pile to rescue usable ends.

DISH RESULT:
I really enjoyed it. It was refreshing, had no form of fat (except the turkey bacon fat, which was not really there at all!) and the parsley was a nice touch. It called for an onion, so I used a shallot. And I ate it without gagging! So happy. It also called for bacon, and as I mentioned before, I used Turkey Bacon. I really prefer going with the healthier alternative and the lack of animal fat in the pan did not mess the dish up one bit.

Basic Guacamole pp.24

2010-05-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Avocado
Since I tried cooking through chapters, I quickly got tired of having the same vegetable every day. I decided to just start cooking different vegetables throughout the week. I was hoping to make guacamole tomorrow, but since I could not find any Kohlrabi, I had to make it tonight. No regrets!

New Things Learned Every Time...

The last time I cut open an avocado I learned how if I twisted the avocado I can take the seed out from one side without smooshing the avocado. Well, Mr. Bishop opened my eyes on how to peel the avocado without getting messy! Just by using a spatula to separate the peel from the fruit. IT WAS AMAZING! It worked! It was the least painful time I have ever had dealing with the avocado.

My son asked me what the inside of the pit looks like, so instead of risking my fingers with a knife, I used Google and found this.

RESULTS

Delish! Unfortunately, I did not have cilantro, and I decided against purchasing the jalapeno because I did not want the heat. The results was still good. Chef Turbo really enjoyed this, he could not stop eating it. Another great thing, it had shallots (a type of onion), and I was able to mentally handle it! YAY I am growing up and out of my hatred for onions.

We only ate them with chips. You as my reader, if you have eating Guacamole, what have you eaten it with? Any suggestions? I still have plenty left for tomorrow!