A NEW CHAPTER IN THE BOOK OF LIFE

I given this a lot of thought. I am not trying to be morose or asking for pity but I am writing this as a therapy for the new journey I am taking. As most of you know, I lost my beloved husband Bob in April. Of course my life has changed. I have had days and days of crying, pacing the floor, looking out the window, and begging God to help me. I finally said, "enough, get a grip, thousands of ladies out there have been through what you are going through and they made it......you can too!" I think I am unique, that no one loved their spouse as I loved mine....not true. So I am moving on and this blog is going to help me and maybe someone out there will benefit from my words also.  I am going to continue with my recipes, as cooking is my therapy. I'll always love to cook, it will just be different. I had just learned to adjust recipes to cooking for two and now I'll cut it one more time.......to cooking for one. I am sure this won't be daily but as often as I have thoughts and food I want to share.
Going through this difficult time.......I find my mind just races with different ideas and things I need to do. One day I packed up all of my painting supplies and put them away in the garage. The next day I woke up and said, "Why did I do that, do I think I'll never paint again?!" I move things around in the house from place to place and then suddenly I have everything right back where I started from. So, now I realize I must just take my time and eventually I will find the right answers.
So, quite a bit of TV time right now. I have full control of the remote. Cooking shows do tend to top my list and I was watching Rachel Ray the other day when her guest was Heidi Klum, whom happens to be a great cook. Heidi made her mothers recipe of Sauerkraut Soup, looked so good I immediately jumped up and made it. It was really good and I do want to share the recipe. Oh, I have no eating schedule now.....eat when I am hungry........actually quite nice. Yesterday I had a rib eye at 10:00 am!

Sauerkraut Soup:
3 med onions
1 lb hamburger
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1  2lb bag of sauerkraut (I used canned.....don't drain)
1  28oz diced tomatoes
1 cup vegy broth (I used chicken broth)
1 bottle of shish kebab sauce......no where to be found in OK.....I used a little bottled
            sweet n sour sauce and generous amount of hot sauce
2 cups water
1/2 cup cream
Brown onions and hamburger, add mushrooms.
Add sauerkraut, tomatoes, broth and the kebab sauce....add water as needed.
Just before serving, stir in the cream.....do not let come to a boil!
Misty suggested adding navy or pinto beans.......good idea.
Now I know that this sounds more like a winter dish but I have found that in the hot days of summer, I just want something light and soup is always good. Of course the rib eye was an exception. Enjoy!

COLD, COLD DAY AND SPLIT PEA SOUP

I am not sure what the weather is like where you are but it is cold here in Oklahoma and has been for days and days and days.......I am getting real sick of it! Cold weather does mean soup or stew or chicken 'n noodles or chili or mac and cheese......any kind of comfort food. As a child split pea soup sounded like the most horrible thing anyone could eat. Now, I liked peas but mashed up peas were really disgusting! I think that came from my brother chewing them up across the table from me and then opening his mouth wide so I had to look at him and screech.  I have given you this recipe in the past but I seem not to make the same thing exactly the same twice so here it is again.

SPLIT PEA SOUP

I use smoked beef sausage cut into cubes.  Now, when it comes to buying sausage, for hell sake, this is not the time to be cheap.  Take your time and read all ingredients, only buy the best.

1 russet potato diced

1 onion diced

1 carrot chopped

1 cup dried split peas, rinsed

about 3 to 4 cups chicken broth

Saute the sausage, add potato, onion and carrot continue to sauté til vegys are a little soft. Stir in the split peas and then the broth and bring to a boil.  Simmer about an hour.  You may need to thin with a little more water. I guess you vegetarians could omit the sausage and use vegy broth and it would work for you........not nearly as good but would be okay. LOL!  Pray fro Sunshine......my body needs some rays!!

SUPER BOWL SNACKS.......A MEMORY OF YESTERDAY!

Well, its all over...during the week, I made numerous plans for food for Super Bowl Day but as it turned out, Bob wasn't feeling well and he spent most of the day in bed.  OH, wait, wait, don't feel sorry for me........I am one of those strange people that really enjoys my own company.  I comment to myself, I yell at the TV, I shout, I cuss, I jump up and down and totally enjoy myself. So, I made a decision, I was going to eat snack food all day.  I know its not healthy but decided it was a "sort of" holiday and decided to "Go for it!" Looking in my freezer, which by the way, has lots of little freezer bags of left overs, as I just can't bear to throw away food, I found a bag of red pork filling left from when I made tamales. Another bag of frozen left over refried beans, (yes, I freeze everything!) I layered this and the pork, salsa, and cheese and made a delightful dip. I made some taquitos from rolled up corn tortillas filled with cheese and fried in oil and these were my munchies for the day. But wait, I'm just getting started! Then I ate some cherry jello with whip cream, then 3 "cuties" (the little tangerines) followed by 2 mint filled oreo's (those are just delightful!) and I finished the evening with a handful of chocolate covered raisins and a spicy V8 juice. Isn't that just disgusting!? BUT I really enjoyed every minute of it.  So today, Bob is feeling better and it was meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner. Is your meatloaf as hard as a brick? Its because you are either using bread crumbs or crackers for filling......if you want light, moist meatloaf use fresh bread torn into tiny pieces.  Sorry about the Bronco's........I so looked forward to a day with Peyton.....congrats to the Seahawks, I guess.....sigh. 

OH, NO, SHE'S BAAAAAACK!

I have been really surprised to find that people have actually missed my blog! Some have even asked me to start it again.....So, I have been thinking of it and here we go.  Bob has been very sick and I spend my days caring for him but I still do cook, if not for him, for myself.  I do find cooking as a sort of therapy.  Nothing I enjoy more that looking at recipes, looking for ingredients, and carrying out the deed. I am just so sorry that most everything I like to cook is fattening.......I promise I am working on that....never will I resort to being a vegetarian or God forbid a vegan but I am trying to cut back and eat a little more healthy. And bless your hearts, all you vegetarians and vegans...I do love you but I just enjoy "real" food too much. So, the subject that brought me back to writing this blog.........Short Ribs.  I made some unbelievable short ribs yesterday and they were so good, I thought to myself......these are just too good not to share with someone. You do know that the flavor in beef, comes from the fat. So when you see lean pieces of beef in the store, pass it over.....you must just learn to render the fat and savor the flavor. So, the first thing I did was salt each piece and cover it, placed in frig for overnight. The next morning, early, I browned each rib on every side real well in my heavy cast iron pot.  Then removed the ribs and poured off the fat but you aren't through. In the same pot, brown some onions, cut up carrots and cut up celery. Put the ribs back in and pour over, about a cup of diced tomatoes, about a cup of red wine and a few cups of beef broth, enough to cover. Put on the lid and back in the oven for several hours.(325 degrees) Now, carefully remove the ribs again and place in a pan. Drain all the liquid through a wire sieve. This will be your sauce, set aside. In the same pot, add little yellow potatoes, sliced in halve, some carrots, some celery and some onions. I sauté all of this in butter and then add a cup of chicken broth, put the lid back on and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer til vegys are soft. Drain off any liquid and toss.  Now put the ribs back in and just warm it all up together....in the meantime put the first liquid that you had drained in another pan and boil down til a nice sauce....I thickened with a little cornstarch in water. Now, place the ribs, the vegys all on a platter and serve the sauce on the side. The ribs will be falling apart and the flavor is unreal! I have only one piece of advice.....always remember to take your purse to the grocery store with you...........I don't have to tell you what happened! You guessed it!

POPCORN FOR DINNER

I have had so many people ask, wheres my blog?  I have taken a bit of a break as Bob is in the hospital.  He has now been in for 10 days and expected to stay another 3 weeks.  Bob has COPD and can't expel the CO2 in his lungs.  He has a great Pulmonary Specialist and is doing better but just takes a long time for results.  Consequently I have not really been cooking much of anything........the love of my life is not here to cook for..........sigh.  So, I have been eating things like popcorn for dinner, tuna right out of the can, lemon pudding with whip cream, P & J sandwiches, a bag of vinegar potato chips, etc.  Today I decided to clean out the freezer and defrosted a bag of ham and beans........sounds good.  Isn't it funny how one would think I would be really hungry for "women" type of salads (since Bob doesn't eat " foo foo" food) but oh, no, all I want is junk!! The recipe that follows is NOT junk......so good!
For those that grow your own zucchini........I know you have an abundance right now.......and there are tons of wonderful fresh zucchini in the stores.  So today, I made a loaf of wonderful zucchini bread.......this is Paula Deans recipe that I have been using since 2006. Its the best.
This recipe makes 2 loaves, I cut it in half to make one.........which I will eat entirely tonight by myself while watching a movie!
SO EASY!  Just get a large bowl and dump in:
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg (I grind mine with a nutmeg grinder........so good!)
2tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups sugar
Mix that all tog and in a separate bowl mix:
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup chopped nuts
Mix the two bowls tog........pour into either 2 regular bread pans or 5 mini bread pans that you have sprayed with nonstick spray. 
There it is........nothing makes a kitchen smell better than this!  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees for the two loaves or 45 min for the mini loaves.

OKAY,OKAY, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PIGS FEET?

Too many inquisitive minds.........wondering what Bob did with the pigs feet.  Well, first of all he decided not to make beans with them as he was reminiscing once again.......about a time when he was young, sitting in a bar somewhere......eating pickled pigs feet..........So, of course.........he wanted to make pickled pigs feet.  Now, for those of you that know Bob......he doesn't use recipes, he won't even take my advice......he just wings it.  Even tho I printed several recipes for him off the internet.  So, for two days......I smelled these things cooking in vinegar and spices, then he chilled them and the big moment came........tasting them! I will have to admit......I was a bit surprised......the flavor was delightful but they were completely full of gelled fat........I just couldn't do it.  AND the truth be known neither could he......he said he was throwing them out on garbage day.  So the pigs feet are behind us and we move on.
Once again have an abundance of basil.  Not only do we enjoy eating it but it makes a beautiful potted plant.  So, I made pesto........which I am sure you all know how to make, basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.......but I made just a delightful lunch snack I thought I would share........
Flour tortilla spread with pesto, thin sliced tomato, fresh morzzella
cheese and dotted with prosciutto.......throw under the broiler to melt cheese.......slice and eat.......enjoy!

PAINFUL EXPERIENCE AND TOMATO SAUCE

Okay, I just had the most painful experience.........taking Bob to the grocery store with me!! I had a list of only about 8 items and knew I could be in and out in just a few minutes as I don't tarry in the grocery store.  BUT, Oh, No........first of all, he insists on pushing the cart.  He is up and down every isle, picking things up and reading all the ingredients, comparing prices and most of the time this is on an item........we don't even use!  Then he stops and talks to the man stocking shelves and then he is so excited to spot the butcher, the poor soul.  He is just ready to explode with questions and comments about meat.  Now, while Bob is doing his visiting and inspecting........I am running back and forth to the cart that he is leaning on, with the items on my list. At last we arrive at the check out........I start unloading the cart and find the strangest items....... salt pork, garlic spread (I only use fresh) Hamburger Helper (never used in my entire life) canned tamales and pigs feet! (he says to make beans with) At this point in time, believe me........I just humored him and checked out before he started a conversation with the check out person. This will be his last trip to the grocery store with me.  He can go alone but not with me.
So today I am suddenly overwhelmed with tomatoes!  I have ONE plant and have had at least a bushel of tomatoes from it and more to come!! I can't bear to let them go to waste so made 4 pints of spaghetti sauce to freeze for this winter. First I cut up tomatoes to fill a large pot and simmered til all the tomatoes were soft.  Then ran them through a sieve to remove the peelings and seeds.........to the juice I added about 6 or 8 cloves of garlic, chopped rosemary, chopped basil and chopped thyme and dried oregano,salt and a couple shots of cayenne.  Simmered for about an hour then stirred in one can of tomato paste to thicken and that was it! Set for the winter.