Awesome Old Bay Pork Chops

We love Old Bay seasoning around here and have used it on seafood, chicken, vegetables, and pasta but had never tried it on pork chops - until last night. 

OMG!  It was soooo good!!! 

I made a marinade of 1/2c. olive oil, 1/2c. apple cider vinegar, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 tsp. dried basil. 1 TBSP Old Bay, the juice of one lime, salt, and pepper.

Added 4 boneless pork chops and marinated for almost 4 hrs. in the fridge, turning every so often. 

Sprinkled with more Old Bay, salt, pepper, and just a touch of paprika.

Baked about 30 min. at 350* until done.

No leftovers here!

Truffle Lovers' Popcorn

The world-famous Inn at Little Washington serves a popcorn appetizer with freshy shaved truffles that is absolutely fantastic and today I wanted some of it.  Since driving there is not an option today, I decided to experiment a bit and see if I could recreate (even a little bit) that amazing flavor.  It's not quite the same since I did not use fresh parsley and can't afford to buy any of the $600/lb. truffles they keep locked in the produce department of my grocery store, but it did satisfy my craving.  Here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

1 bag plain or light butter popcorn

4 tsp. white truffle oil

2 TBSP dried parsley

1/4c. grated parmesan cheese

sea salt

1.  Pop the popcorn in the microwave.

2.  In large bowl, toss popcorn with oil, parsley, and parmesan cheese; season to taste.

Cooking as Therapy

Ever have one of those days where you just have to accept that some people are never going to be what you need them to be?  Just to clarify:  I am absolutely not referring to my husband here. 

Everything is very good at home.  :) 

Without getting into details, I'll just say that, I've been going through some personal stuff lately and it has been an interesting experience to find real friendship in the most surprising places while also discovering a lack of support in others.

I am going somewhere with all this....

In the mounting stress of the day, I found myself really looking forward to dinner prepartions for tonight.  I had pulled from the refrigerator:  pork chops, garlic, basil, cauliflower, parsnip, broccoli, and a lime.  Next to all of that, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, butter, and black pepper.

I had just started preparing a marinade for the pork chops when my 16-year old came in and announced that he had an event at school to attend tonight.  It was then that I realized how much I had been looking forward to completely submerging myself in the process of preparing tonight's meal.

I am convinced there is something therapeutic in food preparation.  Depending on what you are preparing, it does require a certain level of concentration to make sure that everything is timed right, properly cooked, and presented well.  Prior to that, there is all of the chopping, grating, washing, trimming,

and overall organization that goes on just to get ready to cook!

So, I ended up putting everything away until tomorrow.  No big deal, really.  On the positive side, I confirmed something about myself today that I had suspected all along: 

There are other benefits to cooking besides just eating!

I'm sure many of you will understand what I mean

when I say it was a very Julie &Julia, Aha Moment!

Gingerbread Pear Cake

I decided this morning that we should have some sort of holiday flavored dessert tonight.  No cookies though.  I think I'm starting to burn out on those already.  So I settled on a super simple gingerbread pear cake.   

Here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons real butter, melted

1/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 (16 ounce) cans pear slices, well drained

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1 (14.5 ounce) package gingerbread cake mix

1.  Preheat oven to 350*

2.  Mix the melted butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar in a 9-inch round cake pan.

3.  Arrange pear slices over sugar mixture.

4.  Sprinkle pecans around the pears.

5.  .Prepare the cake mix according to package directions, and pour over the pears and pecans in the cake pan.

6.  Bake approximately 50 minutes.

 

7.  Cool slightly before turning out onto a serving dish.

 

I just took it out of the oven a little while ago and my house smells AMAZING!!!

Homemade Bread Bowls

You know those super cute bread bowls used by some restaurants for serving soups and stews and such?  Well, they are really easy to make and, because you make them fresh just before you need them, they're softer than the restaurant ones too so you can actually eat the bowl!  The kids love them - and hubby thinks they're pretty cool too!  ;)

I use a recipe published on Allrecipes by Taste of Home Test Kitchens and these bread bowls come out perfect every time!  If you decide to try them, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to make!

Does This Look Bad to You?

If you've ever wondered (and who hasn't?) if you can still use products beyond the date on the packaging, or how long to keep something in the refrigerator, check out this site:   http://www.stilltasty.com/  It is full of information on which foods will last and for how long. 

Did you know that the date on the egg carton is not really an "expiration" date?  I didn't.  According to this site, it's just a guideline for the stores selling the eggs.  I don't know who created this site or how scientific it is, but it's pretty interesting.

Christmas Baking Party

My friend throws a Christmas Baking Party very year at her house.  There are usually 20-30 people in attendance and this is how it works:  Everyone brings their own ingredients and we cook.  Everyone gets a personalized apron the first year with the year sewn on it.  Each subsequent year, you get that year's holiday themed pattern stitched on by her my friend's mom, who sets up her sewing machine right there in the kitchen.  Back to the food:  Once everything is made (this is an all day event, btw), bags are assembled with a sampling of all the cookies, candies, etc. that were baked that day.

I've been giving alot of thought to what I will make this year and have settled on Hello Dollies because they are super easy, quick to prepare, and really yummy!  This is all it takes:

1.  Make a crust by combing 2c. graham cracker crumbs with 1/4c. sugar and 1/2c. melted butter; press into an 8x8 pan.

2.  Top with 1c. semisweet chocolate chips, 1c. shredded coconut, and 1c. chopped pecans.

3.  Pour 14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk over the top.

4.  Bake at 325* for approximately 30 min.

I'll probaly triple the recipe for the party.  So easy!

Recipe Overload

My recipes collection is out of control and desperately needs to be organized. The books and the online recipe boxes are fine but the problem is with the binder that has become a permanent fixture in my kitchen.

The purpose of this binder is to organize recipes I print from various sites.  All Recipes and Food Network are probably the most common.  I also get Food Network Magazine, which is awesome!  I highly recommend it if you love to cook are not already a subscriber. 

Back to the binder:  It started out as a great idea.  I had little sections with labels like, Bread, Soups, Beef, Vegetarian, etc.  It was all very cute and organized - at first.  Now it just looks pitiful.  There is more paper crammed in there than the rings will actually hold.  I've considered getting a giant binder or spreading everything out in several.  This may seem trivial to some but, let me tell you , it's really becoming a problem!

I do have alot of recipes stored online so that's helpful.  Another good thing is I actually do know what's in here very well and can usually locate what I want fairly quickly.

December 1

Good morning everyone!  Please tell me I'm not the only one who woke up this morning, realized it's almost Christmas, and almost panicked at the thought of everything that needs to be accomplished - and soon!

Now that I've fully recovered from Thanksgiving, it's time to get serious about Christmas.  I did get the tree up and decorated yesterday and have some of the outdoor lights up so I guess that's a good start.  Today, I plan to finish all indoor and outdoor decorating and decide for sure what I plan to make at an upcoming baking party and test the recipe. 

Also, lots of shopping to do today...cards, paper, bows, tins, tissue, bags, tags, ...etc., etc. All the running around can get exhausting so I think it's important that I work in a stop at Starbucks for an eggnog latte.

Bacon and Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Sometimes the simplest meals are the best. 

I say this because I recently made myself a delicious dinner that consisted of nothing more than a grilled cheese sandwich.  This was not just any boring ol' grilled cheese sandwich though.

What made this so special was the addition of bacon. 

Mmm...bacon.

I used one slice of American cheese, one slice  pepperjack cheese, and two half strips of bacon.

Buttered the bread and cooked in the skillet until golden.

So easy and so good! 

The bacon is in there, it's just smothered in ooey gooey cheese.  ;)

To My Friends in Blogland.....

Check it out!

I got this cute award from Lissaloo at One Step at a Time. 

Hers is one of the blogs I read regularly as she has a nice mix of recipes, stories, crafts, and humor.

There are conditions to accepting this award and they are as follows:

- put the lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.

- nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.

- link the nominees within your post.

- let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

- share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

 

So, I would like to pass this along to:

 

1.  Louise at Felice in the Kitchen because she is constantly posting yummy recipes.

 

2.  The girls at Life Laugh Latte for keeping it real.

 

3.  Modern Mom at How to Survive Life in the Suburbs because she blogs the way I think.

 

4.  Holly at 504 Main, even though she's already received it.  She really does deserve it again!

 

5.  Polly at 5th Sister.  I read her blog alot too because I like the mixture of topics.

 

Wow - does the rule really say "nominate at least 10 blogs"?!  I'm going to cheat and stop here but these are the first blogs that immediately came to mind.  ;)

The Thanksgiving Table

My husband doesn't seem to understand the amount of time and thought goes into planning the Turkey Day table design.  I must say in his defense though that it's really not his area of expertise so it falls to me. 

Which is fine because I really do prefer to be the one in control of such things. 

It's not as simple as hubby seems to think though. 

Case in point:  I have been searching everywhere for the "right" (and I'll know it when I see it) tablecloth.

I have accepted the fact that I'm probably going to just have to make it myself. 

This is fine too because I've recently discovered that I LOVE SEWING!!! 

I never thought I would say that but it's true. 

So my plan is to go to the fabric store  : )   and hopefully find something I can work with for the table.

Here's the image I have in my head:

Cream tablecloth with just the right amount of gold accents. 

(This is where the problem comes in - with the gold not looking tacky or overbearing.)

Gold chargers

Gold-ish candles (the glittery kind) with holders made of (fake) cranberries

Dishes are white, silverware is .....silver

Cream colored napkins

Pretty glasses with gold rims

Placemats - do I need placemats???  Not sure yet.

If anyone out there is doing something FABULOUS with the table, I would love to hear about it!!!

Are You Ready???

I've been working on the Thanksgiving menu. 

The goal for this year is to jazz up some of the traditional favorites. 

This is what I have so far: 

Turkey (organic)

Cornbread Dressing 

Baked Cranberry Sauce (none of that canned stuff here!)

Mashed Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

Not-Your-Mama's Green Bean Casserole  (Alton Brown's)

Mac & Cheese (daughter's request)

Multi-Grain Rolls

Still need to finalize appetizers and desserts but I think this is a pretty good start!

Pumpkin Pecan Waffles

We are so busy around here during the week that when the weekend rolls around again, we savor every minute of it.  This is the only time we are able to sleep in, lounge around with the paper,

and enjoy a nice, big breakfast together.

This morning I made these pumpkin pecan waffles and they were delicious!  For me, the flavors are just perfect for a chilly fall morning.  And the aroma that wafted through my kitchen this
morning was absolutely wonderful!

2c. all-purpose flour

4 TBSP white sugar

3 tsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

2 large eggs

1 1/2c. + 4 TBSP milk

1/2 cup pumpkin (I used canned)

2 TBSP real butter

1/2 c. pecan pieces

1. Preheat waffle iron.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Beat with a mixer on Medium until well blended.

4. Pour 1/2c. batter onto prepared waffle iron and sprinkle with 1/8c. pecan pieces.

5. Serve immediately with maple syrup.

Morning Prayer

Caffeine is my shepherd; I shall not doze.

It maketh me to wake in green pastures:

It leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses.

It restoreth my buzz:

It leadeth me in the paths of consciousness for its name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of addiction,

I will fear no Equal™:

For thou art with me; thy cream and thy sugar they comfort me.

Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of The Starbucks:

Thou anointest my day with pep; my mug runneth over.

Surely richness and taste shall follow me all the days of my life:

And I will dwell in the House of Mochas forever.

~Author Unknown, quotegarden.com