EASTER DINNER IN THE DARK 2017

Just as our meat was ready to come off the grill, a huge storm hit us and about the time we were ready to carry food to the Easter Dinner table, we heard a giant thud. Then, the power went out and we had Easter Dinner in the dark!

The thud was made by three giant limbs from a very old Maple tree hitting the ground ... fortunately not the house or the back deck. The darkness was quickly remedied by candles, because none of my big lantern-style flashlights were working!  Who doesn't like candle light?

My daughter grabbed every candle she could find and put them all over the table. We are actually experienced at this "party with no power" thing ... because the year she graduated with her Doctorate ...and we were having a big party for her ... an "inland hurricane" hit Southern Illinois and we didn't have any power!  We partied without power!  Fortunately, I had prepared most of the food the day before the party/hurricane day and we grilled the meat. We partied on our big back deck in the afternoon, so everything was fine.  People just carried flashlights into the dark part of the house when they used the bathroom!

Back to Easter!  That bunny brought some nice galvanized buckets filled with goodies!

Our menu was really delicious ... not your typical Easter food, but we are tired of having too much food left. No ham this year! I grilled a nice filet of beef and served Hollandaise Sauce with it.  I still cook from scratch, but I happily admit that a few years ago when Hollandaise Sauce came out in a package ... I was thrilled.  It won't curdle!  It is delicious

Our cheese log appetizer is a favorite blend that we get at a German meat market in Missouri!  I always fix carrots for Easter and no matter how much brown sugar and butter I glaze them with, they are never eaten!  Phoebe announced that she can only eat crunchy carrots (raw)!  I used Pioneer Woman's recipes for Spicy Cauliflower and Creamy Herb Potatoes (which you can find online and I highly recommend).  Don't you just love my fresh chives that have flowered?

I was so ready for some new ... non-traditional ... foods! This pastry tart is a Pioneer Woman recipe, too.  Well, she inspired me!  It is so easy to make. Just use packaged croissant pastry and top it with Swiss cheese slices. Lay fresh asparagus spears over the cheese and bake it according to the directions on the pastry package.  I drizzled avocado oil over mine before sticking it in the oven because I wanted to be sure the asparagus roasted nicely. This was scrumptious; easily made ahead and kept warmish; and perfect cold in my sack lunch the next day at work!  I'm going to make it again this weekend for another event, but I plan to add some fresh Thyme and Rosemary to the top of it and a few grinds of fresh pepper.

Here's the end of our meal ... This scrumptious Pig Pickin' Orange Cake!  You can Google that recipe, too. The history of this cake is all about BBQ in South Carolina!  It is popular at whole hog barbecues!  You know, you pick the meat off the pig at those kinds of events!  I love that stuff and I loved this cake.

So, there you have it!  Easter at Grandma Debbie's ... in the dark!  We had a very nice time! Miss Phoebe told me that I had "outdone myself" ... She is growing up much too fast!

GRANDMA DEBBIE'S EASTER 2017

Grandma's Easter dining room is the first time the room has been decorated since Thanksgivng 2016.  Sorry about that ... but I'm a busy girl!  My job keeps me busy working with over a dozen Facebook pages and websites!  You can read more about the changes in my life RIGHT HERE!

For now, let me show you part of Easter at my house.  When Phoebe told me that she wanted to use the "china in that glass cabinet" ... I got a little excited about mixing elegant china with my typical country/cabin traditions!  Shabby chic came to mind, so that is where we are!  Take a look at the fireplace and the (Christmas) tree that I just leave in the corner all the time! The color is lilac/purple gingham checks; the china is a purple pansy pattern; the theme is country chic ... and eventually you will see all of it.  For this post ... check out the fireplace and the tree!

Take a look at the fireplace decor!  Just used things that I already have ... except for the checked egg (which I bought at a local junk store) and the garland that actually has checked fringe.  

I have a collection of small baskets that goes on the tree ... and I added a few paper mache eggs.

HAPPY EASTER!

Rosemary in the Snow

It isn't really snowing, but it is December 11th and my Rosemary plant is still producing! I finally decided to move it and strip the remaining leaves from it.  I covered it and it might spring forth in a few months, but if it doesn't it has already don't its job very well!

I ended up with almost 2 cups of Rosemary, so I used part of it to make a bottle of Orange Rosemary Vinegar. I use it to make salad dressings through the winter and it is especially good on warm salads that include roasted beets.

To make the vinegar, bring 2 cups of vinegar to a boil and quickly add the peel of an orange and 2 heaping Tablespoons of Rosemary leaves.  Turn the vinegar off and push down on the orange peel and the leaves. That will bruise them and they will release their essence into the vinegar. Immediately pour the vinegar, orange peel and Rosemary into a clean bottle or jar and put the lid on it. The heat will seal the lid.  I store this in the fridge after I open it the first time.

To use this to make salad dressing, mix equal parts of the vinegar, oil and water with half a part sugar.  Shake vigorously and pour it over your favorite salad ingredients.

Chicken Fricassee One-Potter

I needed a Saturday with absolutely nothing to do, so I created one! I enjoyed a couple of TV movies and several hours of reading. Out came the pressure cooker and I made some creamy and delicious. Chicken Fricassee has  been around for centuries and was first written about in a medieval French cookbook in 1300.
The dish was one of President Abraham Lincoln's favorite foods!

It couldn't be easier and can be made for a crowd or for one. Here's how simple it is.  Use one large boneless chicken breast and cut it into thin slices. Dust the meat in flour and brown it in a little olive oil. I use my electric pressure cooker for this, so I truly use just one pot.

Now you need to add:
2 cups of chicken broth
1 large potato peeled and cut in chunks
2 large carrots cut in chunks
1/2 cup chopped onion
8 ounces of fresh mushrooms

Cook this under pressure for 10 minutes.  Let the pressure reduce so you can remove the lid and add 2 cups of uncooked egg noodles and 1 cup of half and half.  Season with salt and pepper and rosemary.  Cook for another 6 minutes and let the pressure reduce before opening the pressure cooker.

Everything is thick, creamy, tender and delicious.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2016

I've been really busy in the last several weeks with my new job ... weekends, too. I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from Thanksgiving dinner. Our tablescape this year was really casual. I used a set of galvanized tin chargers that I received as a Mother's Day present and added a big galvanized tin pumpkin to the composed centerpiece.

I always place a take home favor at each place setting. This year Phoebe was finally old enough to take seriously the process of talking about all the things we are thankful for. She first reached over and hugged me and said she was thankful for her grandma! She sure keeps me going!

I love galvanized tin. I don't know why, because as a kid I hated anything galvanized. While my friends moms were getting new fancy plastic buckets to use mopping the kitchen floor, at my house we still used an old galvanized bucket. Considering that some of those old buckets are still around and the plastic ones and several generations after line our landfills ... my mom was pretty smart to keep what she didn't have to replace! I guess galvanized tin is comforting. My big pumpkin came from Hobby Lobby; the chargers were found at TJMaxx and the tableware is from Pier 1.  And, yes, if you follow my blog you know that I have several sets of Thanksgiving china including Johnson Brothers His Royal Majesty, but this year I splurged for something much more casual.

As always, the fireplace mantel was decorated for the holiday, but not too extravagantly! Phoebe and I had shopped our favorite junk shop a couple weeks before Thanksgiving and we found a basket filled with more corn husk dolls, so they found a new home on the mantel ... along with blown glass red and blue pumpkins and a chicken wire pumpkin.

By the time you read this post you will be well decorated for Christmastime! Hope you enjoy it anyway!

Sweet Potato Alfredo Sauce

One of my favorite memories is from a trip my husband and I took to Louisiana. He kept making me go back to a road-side vegetable stand because he enjoyed talking to the man who staffed the stand! He was Cajun and Joe loved visiting with him. As a result, we came home with a trunk filled with bags of sweet potatoes. Not a problem ... we loved them and had a dry sun porch to store them in.  My husband loved sweet potatoes two ways ... baked and loaded with butter and salt; candied the caramelized way in a cast iron skillet on top of the stove with butter and a little bit of brown sugar. I finally managed to get him to eat sweet potato fries, but not too often.

I, on the other hand, love them all ways ... pies, soups, stews. You name it and I love it ... when it includes sweet potatoes!

This pasta sauce is too easy to make! Bake a medium to large sweet potato in the microwave. Saute 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion in 1/2 stick of butter. When the onion is soft, add a little minced garlic and a good sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Remove the flesh from the sweet potato and add it to the skillet, mashing everything together. Add 3-4  cups of half and half and 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Let this combination come to a simmer. It will begin to thicken. You can remove it from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the sauce. (I actually like texture, so I just use a whisk.) If the sauce is too thick, add some of your pasta cooking water until you get the consistency you like.

This makes plenty of sauce for a pound of cooked pasta.

Soup Time - Snack Time!

My grand daughter is a snack rat!  She loves to visit our snack supply shelf when she visits and I try to keep the jars filled for her! I store many things ... but especially snacks ... in half gallon canning jars.  I don't think I've ever used a jar that size for actual canning, but I sure love them for storage!

Everybody has their favorite oyster cracker seasoning, but this is ours.  I prepare them in the Nuwave counter top oven, so I do half a bag at a time.  A half gallon jar holds a whole bag.

I toss half the bag of crackers in 1/4 cup canola oil, 2 Tablespoons of ranch dressing mix and 1 Tablespoon of dill weed.  That is it.  Bake it at 225 degrees for 10 minutes.  Prepare the second half of the bag the same way.

In a traditional oven, you'll have to bake the crackers for about 20 minutes.

October Pork Burgers

I cannot believe we are at the end of October and the weather is still beautiful! I don't require beautiful weather to grill ... but I'm sure going to take advantage of it when it is here! In three weeks in Southern Illinois ... we could have a little early snow!

So, I used my portable Cuisinart gas grill to make some pork burgers. I always sprinkle the raw meat with a raspberry/chipotle bbq rub that I keep on hand.  It takes pork a little longer than beef to get done, but still just about twenty minutes.  I used my Nuwave counter top oven to make seasoned fries. I toss raw potato pieces in a little canola oil mixed with ranch seasoning (which I buy in bulk) and dill weed.  In the Nuwave, two potatoes cut into fries are done in about 12 minutes cooked at 350 degrees.

Pretty good!  Pretty easy!  I'll share in a couple parties on my sidebar, so click through to take a look.

Smoked Chicken & Vegetable Soup!

I'm pretty lucky!  I work for a company that has businesses in a very large multi-county region, but my base office is just a couple blocks from my house. As a result, I can take a quick trip home for lunch a couple days a week. That caused me to want to put some homemade soup in the freezer and since I had the perfect ingredients in the freezer and fridge, I decided this was the right weekend to make it.  Nothing complicated about it! I used my pressure cooker and it was done in 20 minutes.

The recipe is so simple. I had a chicken breast in the freezer ... from a day when I grilled and smoked several using cherry wood for the smoke flavor.  I chopped it, added 4 cups of chicken broth with a dash of liquid smoke.  For the vegetable, you could add almost anything you like, but I love carrots so I added 2 cups of chopped carrots, 2 cups of frozen corn kernels, a can of roasted tomatoes with their juice, a small green pepper chopped, about 1/2 cup chopped onion and a cup of frozen green peas.  Pasta would have been good, but I added 2 cubed potatoes for the starch. I seasoned the soup with fresh parsley, 2 bay leaves and a sprig of fresh rosemary.  I also used a Tablespoon of "greens flavoring" that I guy at a local meet market.  It contains salt, pepper, garlic and a little more smoke flavor. There is no right or wrong in preparing this!  Use the seasoning you like best .. but add a dash of liquid smoke to enhance the smoked flavor of the chicken.

I'll share with a couple of the blog parties on my sidebar, so make sure you click through to visit other sites!

Zoodles or Cuoodles?

I recently bought the zoodle attachment for my Kitchenaid, and I've had lots of fun with it.  I love garden fresh cucumbers and raw carrots.  This was an easy salad made with the ribbon attachment ... and tossed with a simple vinaigrette.  I make my vinaigrette with equal parts of Splenda, cider vinegar, canola oil and water.  The original combination used sugar, of course, and Splenda is actually much sweeter, so you might want to start using half as much.  I always add fresh herbs ... or fresh herbs that I've frozen for wintertime use.

If you don't have that attachment ... it is perfect for peeling and slicing apples ... and making other colorful and delicious salads.

I'll post with a few of the parties listed on my sidebar, so make sure you click through!

My Surprise Gourd!

I haven't posted too much in recent months and there is a wonderful reason why! After being semi-retired for a couple years, I decided to take a real job again ... and I love it!  I actually returned to my deepest roots in geriatric health care and I am marketing over a dozen skilled nursing facilities in my region.  Being around people who need what I do has really filled the gap in my soul that had been there since my husband died.  I am thrilled to have a reason to do things and I am equally thrilled to be able to see the results of my work!

Well ... back to the post.  In Autumn 2015, I attended a family wedding on a farm. The decorations were all real pumpkins and big squash and gourds.  Like most everybody in attendance, I came home with a trunk full of pumpkins. I used them as fall decorations outside ... then decided to move them to a corner in the flower bed and let the animals pick at the seeds through the winter.  I figured I'd have a few plants spring up ... and that did happen.  I had lots of blooms, but this is the only thing that really grew!  Isn't it beautiful?

I'll share this with a few of the blog parties listed in my side bar ... and thanks to all of you who have continued to visit me daily, even though I wasn't posting much!  I'm back in action now ... and it is fall ... my favorite season!

Sweet & Spicy Venison Loin

Seems like I've been posting lots of venison this spring and summer, but I've been cooking plenty of it ... so I've enjoyed sharing recipes. The loin is by far the best part of a deer and it doesn't take much time to cook it. I grilled this one. Here's the recipe ... and I always soak my loin in a combination of water and cider vinegar for a couple hours before I prepare it.

After rinsing or soaking the meat, dry it completely with paper towels. Make a wet rub by combining the following:

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
a few drops of liquid smoke
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup of olive oil

Mix this well and rub it all over the surface of the meat. You will probably have some left ... keep it to finish the meat.

On your grill, sear the meat over hot heat ... then reduce the heat to medium to continue cooking.  If you are cooking over coals instead of gas flames ... move the meat to a cooler part of the grill.  There is a great time chart for grilling venison right here.

When the meat is ready to come off the grill, brush the rest of your wet rub over the surface of the meat. Let it grill a couple more minutes.  Let the meat rest a few minutes before you slice it.

My go-to recipe for dressings for all kinds of summer vegetable salads is to mix 1/2 up mayonnaise, 1 Tablespoon mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar, a dash of salt and pepper and a couple Tablespoons of sweet pickle juice.  I use this basic foundation for potato salad, macaroni salad, mixed vegetables ... and for this delicious sweet corn salad.  I cooked 3 ears of corn using the microwave method, cut it off the cob and added an avocado cut in chunks and a hand full of cherry tomatoes cut in half.  Toss in your favorite herbs ... I used basil and rosemary ... and had a delicious salad.

I'll be sharing this post with a couple parties listed in my sidebar ... so click through to check them out!  Enjoy!