Next In Line Please.

Every once in awhile the universe honors the simple fact that it is your turn for some straight up Good News.  And today was our day.  No, I have yet to see the doc about my back, that's for tomorrow, but since I try not to borrow tomorrow's troubles today...I am focusing on what I know right now!

2 of my crew had doctor appointments today. 

First up was the baby girl and her follow-up cardiology visit.  (She was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia back in November.  Feel free to toss that around in a crowd.  If you live in my neck of the woods, people think you are really s.m.a.r.t.)  Be ready to jump up and down, because her heart sounds great!  Her resting EKG was just as it should be!  Her blood pressure was fabulous!  All of which means Dr. Perry gave her her walking papers.  If she starts having events, as they are called in the medical world, again...we go back.  We now know one of her main triggers is a rush of adrenaline.  So she has to manage stress really well, for instance.  But isn't that something we, the general population of the U.S. of A., need to work on?  Maybe she'll be a step ahead of her peers by the time she reaches adulthood in being able to discern that which really matters and that which she should and will leave by the wayside.

The man who makes me swoon (the grown one) also had a doctor appointment this afternoon.  Something had started to ail him over the weekend, and to my dismay, he went ahead Monday and made himself an appointment.  This little act alone caused me to fret, because in the 23 years we have been a couple, I have only known him to go to the doctor voluntarily twice.  And one of those times was after we'd had our surprise third precious baby, and our accountant had pointed out to him that he himself had put off the Big V Operation and was the proud father of 6.  So if he was going to the doctor of his own volition, well, it gave me pause.  I'm not going to go into his ailments as he's a very private sort of dude, but a little medicine and he will be back in tip top shape!  Can I hear an Amen! on that?!

Did you feel it?  That was the tension leaving the building.  I don't know how I'd function if any my crew were to be among the fallen...  I know I would function, because there are more than one of them, but it is not something I would wish upon my worst enemy. (Like my dad's 5th wife for instance...not even on her.  I think.  Is this bad karma?)

Last night I knew my hero was sort of freaking himself out a tad worried.  And knowing he spells comfort C.A.S.S.E.R.O.L.E.  I made him on of his absolute favorites.  Don't run'd off (name that movie) screaming, this ain't your backwards cousin's evil stepmama's tuna casserole with cream of mushroom soup and a bag of chips on top.  This is something I adapted from Trisha Yearwood's cookbook.  I made it a little healthier, because I would like a two-piece bathing suit this summer...so a little less jiggle is going to be mandatory if that's going to happen.  Know what I'm sayin'?  I like to think it helped my big bad ironworker man calm down just a little, when he needed it most.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

2 cups cooked brown rice
3 cups cooked chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen, use the stems too, they're Good For You!)
1 cup lowfat Greek yogurt (like Fage)
1/2 cup mayo (Unless you like light mayo, just don't go there.)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 10 oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup (you can make your own but I don't have time so I buy Campbell's Healthy Request version)
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided in half (pay attention here, don't put ALL of this IN the casserole, half of it goes on top)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped - be sure to skin those babies! (I roast bone in breasts drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper for approx. 35 - 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  But you can also use leftover chicken you have, grill the breasts, buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it up...) 

Preheat your oven to 350F and spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.

Spread the rice in an even layer in the casserole dish.  Layer the broccoli on top of the rice.

In a large bowl, mix everything EXCEPT all of the cheese, use only half!!!, together and pour over the rice and broccoli.  Smooth it out.  Sprinkle on the other 1/2 of the cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

When I serve this up as our entire dinner (which, uh, I usually do, because it has everything and I'm all about accomplishing a lot efficiently) we eat most of it.  Baby girl and I like to spice things up with some Tabasco, but the males seem to like the mellow creamy flavor just as it is made. 

Make this for dinner and calm everyone down!  Besides, you can make it in the morning, or probably the night before, so all you have to do is put it in the oven at the end of the day.  I'm not sure if it would freeze though...

Food isn't just physical nourishment...it's how you love people!

xoxoxox,
~S

scattergories

I am hitting the Airborne today.  I feel a cold comin' on and I am not surrendering.  Vitamin C, tea, rest, home made chicken noodle soup - these are my chosen weapons.  Wish me luck!

Last night I watched the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.  And it was all by accident. Or fate.  However you choose to go about things.  One of those beautiful moments in time that are just a gift.  We had gone sledding, in our local mountains, yesterday and were good and tired when we got home. So I heated up some spiced apple cider and plopped down on the sofa, remote in hand.  Veering quickly away from MTV2 that the box was left on, I landed upon Sarah Palin's Alaska show.  I knew of it, but had never watched.  The woman grated on my last nerve during the election.  But in the instant I stopped there was Kate Gosselin on Sarah's little wilderness show.  In the rain, camping, crabbing up a storm.  And there was Sarah, rolling her eyes about it all.  Oh my.  I couldn't help myself.  So help me, it was unintentionally, wholly, absorbingly hilarious.  It helps that I'm not a big Kate fan either.  Didn't watch when she had John, and don't watch whatever she's doing now.  But there is something to be said for her I suppose, that ol' Kate wound up in our collective consciousness.  Even my boys know who she is.  So anyhow, that's what precipitated my cold.  That and hanging out with a couple people who have colds.  I'm sure that had absolutely nothing to do with it.  Nothing.

Our local, national chain grocery store, Albertsons, is closing down either this month or next.  It is right around the corner from us and the first major intersection.  I read about it on facebook last night.  And got a phone call from my sister-in-law who heard it from a friend, who, heard it from a friend who, heard from another you've been messing around.  Sorry, a little 1982 REO Speedwagon flashback.  It's the cold taking over.  This is big news right here in River City.  We still have our little Stater Bros. and the Target Super Store and actually there's another, newer, prettier, Albertsons just up the freeway one exit.  Which I'm sure is what killed ours.  The thing I mourn the most, however, is the little Starbucks that is inside our Albertsons.  Now I will have to travel for a latte.  Or learn to make them at home.  Which is what I'll probably do.  Because then I have one less reason to venture out. See, silver lining in absolutely everything!

Anyhow, in case you have been sledding or doing something else that is outside and cold, make this apple cider.  It will warm your very being.  BTW it's an Emeril baby, so he of course advises adding rum, which I usually don't, but I might today.  Because I have a cold.  Yeah, that's it.  Did I just admit I have a cold.  Out loud?!  You probably have most of this stuff in your house already...

1 apple
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 orange, thinly sliced
2 quarts apple cider (that's 1/2 gallon if you have a cold like I do and can't think.  Quality makes a difference here, so if you can get your hands on some good unfiltered stuff, it's worth it!)
1/2 cup brown sugar (Emeril says light, I always only have dark in the house so I use that.)
pinch of grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice (so I'm not sure if he meant ground or whole, I use ground, but it does tend to end up at the bottom of your pot.)
1 cup dark rum
cinnamon sticks for garnish (roll your eyes here, Martha Stewart I'm not.)

Stud the apple with cloves.  Just do it.  It's easy and looks kinda cool.
In a medium pot, combine the studded apple and everything else EXCEPT the rum.  Over low heat, slowly bring it to a simmer and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove it from the heat.  (WHY do recipes always say that?  Do we really not know to turn the burner off once the cooking time is over??  Maybe they need to add Home Ec. back to the required courses for junior high.)

If you have a cold and are NOT sharing with children, this is where you would add the cup of rum.  But that's a lot of cider (and rum) for one person.  And I'm usually sharing with the kids.  So you know, I'm sure you could splash a little in the bottom of your mug if it makes your skirt fly up.  And you have a cold.

And if you're feeling a little Martha you could always garnish with a cinnamon stick.  Snickering.

I'm off to buy some kleenex with lotion...some Vicks, I seriously am addicted to this stuff when I have a cold...ask my husband because he has to put up with the eau de Vicks I'll be wearing this evening when he comes home...and some stuff to make soup.  I'll give you that recipe tomorrow.  Because I'm going to feel better tomorrow.

~S

P.S.  Yes, I know it still looks like Christmas.

It's a Pajama Day...

...it's raining nice and steady.  Thick cloud cover.  Fire building weather.

My brain is in a list mode this morning...lots of little thoughts.  Not in its usual paragraph form.

1. I'd really like to stay in my jammies all day today.

2.  We really need groceries - like for dinner.

3.  And toilet paper and cat food.  That makes 2 to 3 stores.  In the rain.  Can I go in my black flannels with all the bright polka dots???  I think my daughter knows too many people in this town for that anymore.  She'd be mortified.  Maybe it's time to move?

4.  Does anyone know why the enter button on my keyboard doesn't doesn't just move the cursor down on Blogger?!

5.  At the beginning of this year I really hoped and wished, actually I demanded, an easygoing 12 months to make up for the insanity of 2009.

6.  The thing about demanding things from the universe is that it likes to chuckle back at you and say 'Oh yeah, good luck with that.  Try this on for size.'  All freaking year long.  It's okay.  We ain't dead yet as someone said to me once.

7.  But the universe made up for it in a BIG, gracious way.  For years...I'm talking a decade probably...my best friends, the ones who could tell me something was a bad idea and I would actually pause to consider what they were saying...have moved away.  Physically, busily, just life taking over our lives.  But in the last 6 months they are returning in droves.  Some have moved back within driving distance, some have simply gotten back in touch, and some I have good old facebook to thank for.  So despite the trials and tribulations of 2010 (and they have been numerous and intense), I am going to always think of it as a Really Good Year.  I need my friends man!

8.  It's only Thursday.  Up until 3 minutes ago, I really thought it was Friday.

9.  I found out Henry is a whisky.  Not a man.  Which is a good thing because my friend is married.

10.  I feel like Christmas is too easy this year.  What are we forgetting?

11.  I think I'll make this lasagna for dinner...which will totally require shopping...in clothes... but it will be worth it and the house will smell so very good when the man graces our doorstep after fighting the good fight all day.  I like that he likes my cooking.  It's a good thing about him.

This Lasagna started out as my friend Kelli's recipe.  Hi Kelli!  The one she put in the church's cookbook.  But since I didn't read the directions right the first time, or remember the exact ingredients as I shopped the first time, I made it this way instead.  If you're a purist and don't think that cottage cheese has any place in a real lasagna, then you should stop reading now.  Because there is cottage cheese and we like it that way. Ricotta just sort of grosses me out from the moment I open the package.  Sorry purists.

1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage
1 clove garlic, chopped or use 2 cloves if you use a garlic press
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 Tablespoon basil - the dried stuff, but remember to crush it up in your hands to release all the flavor.  Emeril demands it.  Or you could use fresh, more of it, but I don't have any fresh basil right now.
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large can tomatoes or 2 cans diced Italian tomatoes) - I use whatever is in my pantry at the time.
2 - 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1-10 oz. box lasagna noodles
24 oz. carton large curd cottage cheese - get the low fat and save a few calories.
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese  (huh, did you know your spell checker will capitalize Parmesan?  Who knew.)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Assemble this in the morning and you will thank yourself later in the day.  I'll be making mine just before I bake it, which just doesn't feel like the same sort of time saver.  It's okay.

Preheat your oven to 350 F if you'll be baking it right after assembling it like I will be tonight.

Start the water to boil for your lasagna noodles.  I always forget to do this and then have to wait around watching the pot that never boils. Save yourself the heartache and start your water NOW.

Break the sausage out of its casing and brown it, draining off any fat.  Add all the ingredients from the garlic to the tomato paste and simmer for 20 minutes.  Boil your noodles according to the directions on the box they came in.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients from the cottage cheese to the Parmesan cheese plus 1/2 (that's 2 cups for those of you who flunked fractions in 5th grade) the mozzarella.  Your noodles should be done and drained by now and all that wonderful sauce will make you wish you could eat right now because it smells so good!

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with oil.  Spoon a bit of sauce onto the bottom and begin layering noodles, cheese mixture, sauce.  I usually use 8 to 10 noodles and only make 2 layers.  You want to end with sauce.  Top with the remaining 2 cups of mozzarella.  Cover loosely with foil and bake about 45 minutes.  Disrobe the dish of its foil and bake 15 more minutes until the cheese is all melty

Kelli says this freezes really well (before baking) so go ahead and make a double batch.  I've never been that industrious.  But I think I'd use a disposable foil pan for the freezing.  Be your own Stouffer's frozen lasagna.

12.  I want one of those triangle cowboy bells to use to call my family for dinner.  They always so NO when I tell them that.  Pshhh.

Happy not actually Friday!
~S

A Silky Voice and a Distinctly BIG Knife

When it's been one of THOSE days, nothing pleases me more than to be alone with my biggest, baddest knife, Chris Isaak's a certain someone's silky voice on the CD player, and something that is begging to be chopped into bits.  There's just something about all that chopping and stirring that soothes my soul.  The glass of wine doesn't hurt either.  But because I'm soooo very good at accidentally cutting myself (stitches and numb area on my left index finger anyone?), the wine usually accompanies the stirring that occurs after the chopping.

Today, however, wasn't one of THOSE days.  But I did go for the Big Knife when I made these exceedingly fab potatoes au gratin.  These are particularly good for serving up along side a rotisserie chicken you may or may not have picked up at Sam's Club on the way home from your daughter's San Diego located cardiology appointment.  Okay, some of you may argue than driving 150 miles round trip for a very cool monitor thing for your child's heart issue might constitute one of THOSE days...I don't.  I'm still being dazzled by the technology we brought home that means she doesn't have to spend a month in the hospital hooked up to an EKG machine.  ANYHOW, these potatoes are also really handy if your above-mentioned daughter happens to be a teenager and potentially seeing some male types after the meal.  There is a load of garlic involved.  Don't worry, I've got my methods.

This recipe is from PW, BTW. 

Grab 4 largish, to 7 smallish, russet potatoes.  Scrub your spuds good and clean.  NO peeling required.
2 Tablespoons butter, softened this is for greasing your casserole dish
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
2 Tablespoons flour
4 cloves garlic, finely minced  If you decide to use a garlic press, I'd double the number of garlic cloves.  Mmmm mmm mmm.
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste Please go to Sam's Club or Costco and buy the big peppermill that is already filled with whole peppercorns that is by all the spices.  It's a throwaway, and one of the best inventions ever.
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated  We usually have medium in the house, so that's what I use.  And yes, it does taste better if you grate your own.  The pre-grated stuff is coated in ...I can't remember...but you can also powder your baby's but with it and it comes in a bright yellow box. Corn starch!  That's it!  Corn starch!  Just grate your own and consider it an upper body workout.  You saw the cream above right?! 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Smear the softened butter all over the inside of your casserole dish.
Slice the potatoes about 1/4" thick, and then quarter your slices.  Kiss your knife.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream, milk, flour, garlic, salt and pepper.  Use a lot of pepper and spice things up.
Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of your casserole and pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potates.  Repeat 2 more times, ending with the cream mixture.
Cover with foil or the glass lid your casserole came with and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid/foil and bake for 20 minutes longer.  The potatoes should be browned and bubbling.  Add the grated cheese to the top and bake for 3-5 minutes longer, until the cheese is all melted and bubbly.
Allow the potatoes to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Ward off all teenage boys and vampires. 

Happy chopping!

~S

Day After Tomorrow We Feast!

Did you wake up, with the sudden realization that Thanksgiving is day after tomorrow?  And you're supposed to bring the sweet potatoes...but you don't make sweet potatoes?!  WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?  You know the grocery's shelves are empty by now, right???  No cans of the orange darlings, no bags of marshmallows to be found. It's too late to order them all made up from the deli counter.  What will they still have in abundance?  Simple, old-fashioned, made from scratch ingredients.  Besides, you probably already have most of these in your pantry and fridge.  Yes, Virginia, you can make these from scratch and watch people swoon!

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes
3 medium sweet potatoes, baked, flesh scooped out (about 3 cups) You bake these babies just like a regular potato, prick it, rub the outside with butter, BUT put them on a foil lined baking sheet because they are messier bakers)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I use a rounded measure for the cinnamon and nutmeg.)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup heavy cream, half & half, or whole milk  I've made it all ways, it's all good!

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup flour
3 Tablespoons butter, melted 

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all the sweet potato ingredients together EXCEPT the cream.  Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the cream and mix well.  Pour into a greased casserole dish, about the size of an 8" x 8" one.

Mix the topping ingredients together with a fork and sprinkle over the top of the sweet potatoes.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes.

Watch the sweet potato haters convert!



Okay, I have written more about being thankful, and deleted them all, than you might imagine.  Why can't I get it down?  What's the block Sherri?  What's the happs?  It's that time of year.  You have friends who have been posting since the beginning of November, what they are thankful for each day.  I don't know, but I suspect, that it's because, at 44, I have had my share of unexpected tragedy, despair and devastation.  I know I'm not alone in this.  But because I'm truly an optimist, I have always found the blessing, however tiny, and clung, sometimes desperately, to it. 

So when I contemplate my deeply thankful spirit, I tend toward the dramatic, I get a little maudlin, I usually shed a few tears.  But without those experiences...would I be as determined as I am to find the joy in it all?  Would I have the strength I have?  Would I have been able to simply be glad my daughter and I weren't the first guy in line at the ER a couple weeks ago?   Nope.  And there you have it.  My grandma was right, those things that haven't killed me, have indeed made me stronger.  Contributed greatly to the woman I've become.  So those ugly parts of your life?  They happen. But if you can find the ray of hope, even if it's that you will see you can get through it, hold on to that.  Because neither the good or the bad last forever!  Revel in the good, know the bad will pass.  It's how you let those things define you, that make you who you are.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
~S

Confessions and Cranberries

Thanksgiving is creeping up on us!  I LOVE Thanksgiving dinner.  It is, hands down, my all time favorite meal.  I savor the co-mingling of the sweet from sweet potato souffle, with the saltiness of my Aunt Maria's cucumber salad, the smooth as silk gravy flowing over the lumpy mashed potatoes, the combination of hot and cold things on my plate at the same time, the mellow flavors of the turkey and dressing with the pungent tartness of good, home made cranberry sauce.  I am totally one of those people who doesn't really want anything to do with a cranberry sauce that came out of can. Sorry.  It's one of those things about me you just have to know.  I will never, ever, forget being at my grandmother's house one Thanksgiving and watching her carefully, slowly, painstakingly coaxing the cranberry sauce gelatin out of the can and rejoicing in the perfect lines from the can that allowed her to make even slices of the stuff.  Even at the tender age I was, I knew there had to be a better way.  Go ahead and try and guess which grandma.  I have 3, so you've only got a 33% of guessing correctly.  If you knew any of these fine ladies, you will likely be able to eliminate one right off the bat.  And my grandma with the canned stuff, well, she's got many, many other fabulous attributes so I don't think she worries too much about our cranberry differences.

But I digress.  You must make this cranberry recipe.  I have made several over the years, including my other grandma's which with her doubled sugar was my favorite standby until I found this one a couple years back. It is the ONLY cranberry recipe you need.  And you can make it the weekend before Thanksgiving, eliminating one thing to do on the day of.  In fact, it's better made ahead so all the flavors can mingle and marry.  And the color is breathtaking.  Put it in a cut crystal bowl, or any glass dish you have, and it just gleams on the table.

ALICE'S CRANBERRY SAUCE (from the Sweet & Savory blog by Alice if I remember correctly)

12 oz. bag cranberries
3/4 cup orange juice
2/3 cup brown sugar (I use dark brown)
1/3 cup white sugar
2 oz. rum (optional) Now you know I use this.  It gives it so much more depth of flavor.

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium high 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The cranberries will pop.  Cool.  Refrigerate until the big day.

That's IT!  Simple, you probably already have every single ingredient except the cranberries, but you're going to the grocery anyway, so buy some ahead and freeze the bag if you want to.  Just that before you cook 'em.  With this recipe there is simply no reason for that nasty canned stuff to be on anybody's table.  I'm just going to lay it out there.

Gobble gobble,
~S

Lists and chocolate chip cookies. They go together.

I'm totally a list maker.  Once a long time ago, before I retired to be a full time mom, a friend I worked with was listening to the radio.  They were talking about personality types, and how that is reflected in the lists they make or don't make.  Some of us, apparently, are a bit obsessive about the whole thing.  They will add things they've already done to a To Do List just so they can cross it off.  That's me.  I absolutely do that!  Before that, I thought it was just me.  When life gets busy...I think in lists.  This is today's...

1.  I didn't vote in last week's election.  It was a conscious decision.  With a super excusable reason - I was taking my child to an ER 70 miles away at the behest of our pediatrician.

2.  If I had been able to vote (and please know that I stopped at our polling place and nobody cared to let me skip the line despite the fact that I was on the way to the hospital with my kid), I would not have voted for a particular incumbent city council member.  Why?  Because he lives around the corner from me and each and every morning on our walk, my faithful beagle chose his yard to do his business in, as soon as Mr. Incumbent Council Member put his little campaign sign up in his yard.  I took that as a sign.  Charlie hasn't steered me wrong yet.

3.  My 13 year old son is on the edge of a growth spurt and is eating us out of house and home.  He's about to be taller than his 6' dad.

4.  While I was out this afternoon, somebody used up all the flour...but there were no baked goods in the kitchen to show for it.  There were however a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies stowed away in my daughter's room.  She says she didn't know if we could all eat them since we don't know if she's contagious.  Really she didn't want to share with the above mentioned 13 year old who would have wolfed them down in the space of an hour.  I'll be making her reservation at the local teen girl eating disorder clinic tomorrow morning.  Kidding!  But I do know now that she is capable of cleaning the kitchen to spotless perfection when necessary...

5.  We actually still don't know what's ailing her. 

6.  We got a Bass Pro Shop mailer today.  I can't wait to read it after dinner.  I love Bass Pro Shop.

7.  And country music.  (That's Bill's fault BTW.)

8.  My mother is rolling in her grave over numbers 6 and 7 right now.

9.  Sometimes the perfect time to feed my family dinner is 7:30pm.

10  This is the chocolate chip cookie recipe from the missing flour....and it is straight out of Trisha Yearwood's cookbook Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen.

2/3 cup (1 1/3 sticks) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (don't use the light brown, trust me on this)
1 large egg, room temperature (I'm pretty sure I don't plan ahead this far)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (we've already had the discussion - only use the REAL stuff)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (16 oz. package) semisweet chocolate chips

Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using the electric mixer (I use my Kitchen-Aid but I'm sure a hand held would work too), beat the butter, sugars, egg and vanilla together until smooth.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together and, with the beater running, slowly add to the butter mixture.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  (Okay, I NEVER sift anything.  It gives me a headache.  I just get out my whisk and whisk all of it in a bowl until I think it looks fluffier.  Precise right?)

Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Carefully remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool.  Store in an airtight container.  (I make big teaspoon drops because I like 'em chewy in the middle!)

I just found this recipe about a month ago, maybe 2, and I can't tell you how many countless batches I've made.  It is hands down my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Second ONLY to my chocolate chip cookie bars.

11.  You knew there had to be an 11 right?  A nice and tidy 10 is so not me.  We all laughed so hard at dinner tonight that I was sure milk was coming out of somebody's nose.  Life is good.

Make cookies,
~S

If I'd have known...I'd have crock'd my roast

Today has been one of those days...when I leave my house in the morning, expecting to be home around noon.  Except I spent the afternoon taking my daughter for fun things like x-rays and lab tests.  It was an unexpected sort of day for me (and my needle phobic baby girl), so I didn't crockpot anything for dinner in the morning.  Which means we are stuck eating frozen burger patties, chips and apple slices.  Not exactly my favorite, but my burgerholic boys are, no doubt, giving thanks to the heavens above, so there's your silver lining!  Now I realize being gone all day is the norm for most of America, but since I'm a stay at home, (shockingly mainstream) homeschooling, homebody-type mom...I'm here pretty much all the time.

If I had known I would be removed from my household for the day, at the very least I would have thrown this into my crockpot.  I usually keep a chuck roast in the freezer, and, although manufacturers of 'slow cookers' recommend you don't throw frozen hunks of meat into your crockpot, I will let you in on a little secret.  I do it all the time, and we ain't died yet!  I think they are CYAing to their litigation department's tune.  But that's just me.  You have to decide for yourself.  (See, I can CMA too.)  This is perhaps the most basic a crockpot recipe can get, but it has saved dinner more than once!

Crock'd Roast Beast

1 - 4-5 lb. chuck roast (you can adjust the size accordingly, this feeds our hungry family of 5, with leftovers that make great burritos, tacos, nachos and hot sandwiches for lunch)
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
1/2 cup leftover morning coffee

Season all sides of your roast and put it in your crockpot.  Add the coffee.  Cover and turn on low for all day cooking.  If you happen to have a frozen roast, you might want to turn it on high for an hour before you leave, and then down to low, but it will cook the other way too, just taking a bit longer.

Feel free to slice onions, potatoes, carrots, celery and throw them in there if you like (the roast goes in last).  While that does make a handy ENTIRE meal, my family doesn't like their potatoes and veggies this way.  When I'm really pressed to get dinner on the table a bag of frozen broccoli and loaf of french bread go a long way towards completing a meal.  This is also a great way to use up half empty bottles of sauces, marinades, salsa etc.  Just eliminate the coffee and seasoning salt.  If you have plenty of time, whip up some mashed potatoes, use the pan juices to make gravy and live large.

Well, the siren song of frozen sirloin patties from Sam's Club are calling...

xoxo
~S

cookie bars with a dash of paranoia

So today, I let 2 strange men into my home.  It helped that they had been scheduled.  That they were expected.  Wearing uniforms and carrying a clipboard.  That they were bringing a replacement TV for the piece of junk Samsung was passing off as a TV a year and a half ago.  But still.  I detest having people in my house for deliveries, repairs or installations.  Cleaning, well, my tolerance shoots way up for that category. 

First off, they are always MEN who are delivering, installing and repairing.  Not once in the 25 years that I've been in charge of getting stuff done has it been a woman.  Second, these things always have to occur during the week which means Bill is generally at work.  What educated, savvy woman flings open her door to complete strange men types?  Thirdly, they always expect me to know lots of things I don't.  Like where was the last cable run?  Where is  your water main? Will it be okay to drill a hole through the wall?  Fourth, they have occasionally been...condescending...like the water heater delivery/installation dude who wanted to just go ahead and flood my garage because he didn't want to wait for the thing to drain properly (and slowly) through a hose out into the gutter.  He actually rolled his eyes when I said...'Uh, no?  Let me call someone and see if that's okay.'  Unable to get Bill on the phone, I was able to get my trusty brother-in-law on the phone who then chewed the guy a new one for me.  Gotta love family.  And finally, what if they're really casing the joint?  Looking to see how to best get in later to murder us all in our sleep???  I'm just sayin'.  A little paranoid.  I think it's all those Ellery Queen Mystery shows my dad let me watch when I was little.  Timothy Hutton's dad sure was handsome though.  And I do go through my whole house afterwards making sure they didn't leave a window unlocked for later.  Welcome to my little corner of insanity.  It's cozy here.  And why I told Evan to look Very Big while they were here.

AND, because Judy and I both feel guilty about throwing our recyclables into the trash...here's my blue ribbon winning Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar recipe.  If there is someone who is just not letting you off the hook...make 'em some of these.  It might help smooth things over.


I bake these in a 15" x 9 3/4"ish black jellyroll pan.  It's one my grandma gave me one day, so I have no idea where it came from.  I mention this only because some people swear the pan must be what makes these awesome.  I'm not so sure because I've baked them in other pans too, you just have to sort of adjust your cooking time if the size is different.

You'll need:
2 1/4 cups flour (Don't just scoop it out with your measuring cup, that packs it in and then your cookies will be dough heavy.  I'm all about less dough and MORE CHOCOLATE.  Kind of fluff up your floor and then spoon it into the measuring cup with a big serving spoon like I do.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened  (Use regular, salted butter.  Don't even think about margarine.  It won't taste as good.)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup PACKED dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (Again, use the real stuff. It's probably the difference between blue ribbon and honorable mention.)
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I get mine in the huge bag at Sam's club so I have no idea if this translates handily into a smaller bag size from the grocery.)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt in a smallish bowl.  Use a whisk to mix and sift the ingredients together.

In a different bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer.  I love that thing.  Worth every cent it cost.  Unlike the worthless TV...), beat together the butter, sugars and vanilla.  Add the eggs and beat some more.  Gradually beat in the flour.  You can do all this by hand by the way, I have, and the cookies still rock.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread dough into a greased (I just use Pam) jelly roll pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.  They will be a nice golden/light brown all across.  Cool, in pan, on a wire rack.  Divide the pan up into however many servings you want and enjoy with some icy cold milk!

Love ya!
~S

Tick tock you're almost off the clock!

Finally!
Friday afternoon has graced us with its presence.
Several times over this past week I didn't think we were going to make it to Friday without an Incident.
You know, the type that results in yellow crime tape, orange prison jumpsuits and a padded room.
But here we are.
Whew.  Good thing too.
I'm pretty sure that's a collective sigh of relief I just heard, because I am not the only one who has suffered at the hands of this wicked week.
In my little corner of the world, nothing says "Hellooo, Gorgeous Weekend" like chips, salsa and an ice-cold something to sip on.

So make some SALSA and usher in the weekend properly.

28oz. can whole tomatoes - do NOT drain this baby
2 cans(10 oz.) Rotel tomatoes and chiles - 1 mild, 1 original
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1-2 whole jalapenos, quartered (don't cry to me if you rub your eyes, privates, etc. after you touch these because it will burn like a mother and you have been warned!)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (I like big kosher salt.  It makes me feel cool and doesn't cost much.)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bunch cilantro
juice from 1/2 lime (I think it's mighty convenient that this leaves the other lime half for drinks.)

Toss it all into your blender or food processor and pulse, don't turn it on and let it run, pulse it, 10 to 15 times for the consistency you'd like.  Take it for a spin and see if you want to adjust any of the seasonings.

Now here's my little list of salsa insider trading tips...I use one whole jalapeno, seeds and all.  Pulse it about half the number of times and taste it. You may or may not want to add part or all of the other pepper.  Their heat varies a lot, and I like mine pretty spicy.  If you are a mild sort of salsa person, who am I to judge.  Just be sure to remove the seeds and membranes to eliminate most of the jalapeno's heat in the beginning.  I'm sure you all know to rinse the cilantro and cut off the stems right?!  You can also use less than a full bunch of cilantro if you like less.  I like a lot!!!
Be sure to cut up the other half of the lime into wedges to stick in your diet Coke, Corona or whatever else goes with chips and salsa in  your mind.

Have a fantabulous weekend!!!
~S

comfort food & Emerson

Yesterday was really a mixed bag.
The miners were out!
But I didn't get to watch any of the coverage because I happen to be a mother with typical kids.
One nagging challenge solved in a most perfect way.
Followed by the phone call that precluded watching the miners.

So what to do with a day like that?  I'm too old and wise for things I may have once sought.  So first I re-read this little nugget of wisdom from Ralph Waldo Emerson (how can you not love that name?!)
I have this little poem of his on a magnet on my refrigerator.  It reminds me not to kill anyone when they are doing something really idiotic.  Including me.

finish each day and be done
with it.  you have done what you
could.  some blunders and
absurdities have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
tomorrow is a new day.  you shall
begin it serenely and with too
high a spirit to be encumbered
with your old nonsense.
-emerson

Then, with my mom hat on, I spun two of my plates into one and fulfilled my dinner making obligations by feeding the familia my favorite comfort food!

This is a practically perfect Mac N Cheese recipe.  Perfection has alluded me, but I've got time.  Until then, after a gnarly day, I'll make this one out of one of Trisha Yearwood's cookbooks.

8 oz. elbow macaroni, cooked BTW I hardly ever us elbow, I usually pick some that looks more fun just to entertain myself.
1 12oz. can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 large eggs, beaten (particularly a good ingredient when your mad...)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted (please use regular old salted butter, nothing fancy, it's mac n cheese for Pete's sake)
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 10oz. bricks, sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (about 5 cups)  okay, it's a really good thing she included that little tip about it being 5 cups, because out here in Cali, they don't sell 10 oz bricks of cheese at the local grocery)
Dash of paprika I was in a hurry last night and didn't use any paprika.  I don't think anybody suffered expect maybe the paprika farmer.

Her directions call for making this in a crockpot, but so far all crock'd mac and cheeses have a weird texture and I didn't think I could handle any more disappointment last night, so I baked it! 

Here's how...Preheat your oven to 350F, mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the paprika and 1/2 cup of the cheese in a large bowl (I used the pot I boiled the macaroni in - less dishes).  Pour it all into a greased 9x13 pan, sprinkle the 1/2 cup cheese across the top, get in a rush, forget to sprinkle on the paprika and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.  Pull it out of the oven when the timer beeps and carb out.  Your troubles will melt away.

If you want to crock it, A-let me know if it has that weird lumpy cheese texture, and B-here's how to do that...do all the same things except pour it into your crockpot (I'd probably grease mine, because I'm lazy that way), sprinkle the 1/2 cup cheese across the top, cover and cook on low for 3 hours and 15 minutes.  Turn off the crockpot, stir and serve.


Doing my best to remain unencumbered with nonsense today...
xoxoxo
~S

I'm in trouble now!

Uh oh...I have figured out how to fiddle with the background controls...I feel a major time suck coming...it's going to be a good time waster though!

Now that it looks a little more like October 'round here, we need to celebrate my favorite month of the year.  So for those of us who were born in this lovely fall month, that's ROCKtober for you and me, and if you have a long lasting love with your crockpot (as I do) it's also CROCKtober.  Hmmm, tap, tap, tap, I got nuthin'.  If you have any, you better post them!!!

Well, since it's CROCKtober and all, here's a little CROCKpot recipe.  (By the way I think we are officially supposed to call them slow cookers to be PC and all, but whatever. Roll your eyes here.  We all know they were popular in the 70's and they are crockpots!  Don't even get me started about the Kleenex/tissues debacle.)

Crock'd Italian Chicken
Start this in the morning so it can cook all day on low.
Or start it at lunchtime, but cook it on high, all afternoon.

Buy a big package of chicken thighs at the grocery.  Take off the skin if you want.  I do.  If you don't happen to be feeding 2 teenagers and an 11 year old who makes them look bad at the dinner table, go ahead and buy yours already skinned.

Get out a couple cans of diced tomatoes (not the big doorstop size, the usual, slightly bigger than a soup can size - I am so not going out to my pantry to check the ounces - but this isn't rocket science so you can't really screw it up!)

Pour 1/2 of a can of your diced tomatoes into the bottom of your crockpot.

Add 1/2 the thighs and the other 1/2 can of tomatoes.

Break out your Italian spices: like oregano, basil, garlic salt (if you've got 2 extra minutes, press a clove of garlic and use a little kosher salt, but the garlic salt is fine, remember this baby is a 70's darling and NOTHING was fresh in the 70's, except maybe Burt Reynolds).

I usually mix and match whatever Italian spices I have on hand and fill up the little quarter size crook of my palm with the Italian spices.  Then, over the chicken and tomatoes already in the crock, rub your hands together crushing the spices.  Emeril swears this releases the flavor of dried spices and I believe him.  He's Emeril.

Add the rest of the thighs and the other can of diced tomatoes.  Throw in some more spices.

Put the lid on, make sure that crockpot is set on low, and go do something fun all day long. Or, if you must, go to work, but at least you'll come home to a house that smells really good.   (If you do this at lunchtime and go the matinee, put it on high, so you're not eating raw chicken, which is a Bad Idea.) 

You can serve this over pasta, next to bread, garlic bread, garlic cheese bread, whatever makes you happy.  Rip open a bag of salad or steam some green veggies and call it dinner.  This feeds my hungry family of 5 with a little leftovers.  More people?  Serve it with all of the above.

Just don't do this with chicken breasts.  Well, you can.  But they'll be dry.  Every time.  Or maybe that's just my experience.  Anyhow, I've served this even when my kids' friends have been over, and everyone always likes it.  Which is a good thing.

Oh, and I cook this in one of those big oval crockpots.

Happy CROCKtober!
~S