Kitchen Tradition

Stain Remover in the Kitchen -- Soft Scrub Bleach Clean Gel Cleanser

2013-05-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness. When this worked for me, the first thing I thought about was my Kitchen Traditions blog. I had a pair of khaki colored Docker shorts that I spent a lot of money on just to get a stain on the first time I wore them. I washed them, soaked them, sprayed them, nothing worked. The stain didn't even budge. I was giving up and going to throw out the shorts. I thought about bleach, but knew they would leave a light or even worse, a white spot that would become a hole. The cabinet above my washing machine held some miscellaneous over bought cleaning products. The door was half open and I saw the Soft Scrub Bleach Clean Gel Cleanser. I did that emotional shrug we all do just before we decide to "try one more time." What the heck. what would it hurt? They are destined for the trash. I sprayed it on the stain and waited for it to ruin my relatively new shorts. It didn't. I waited for about 15 minutes and still nothing. Then I gave it a good hour. I came back, the stain was gone and my shorts were not ruined. I rinsed them very good to stop the chemical reaction of the bleach and threw them in the dryer. They are spotless! My disclaimer is to test something you care about, but if you find yourself in despair over a piece of clothing you are ready to throw out, try the Soft Scrub Bleach Clean Gel Cleanser on it. What could it hurt?

Oh yeah, not sure if this will make a difference, but my shorts were slightly damp when I sprayed the gel on them.

Chicken Breast, Mushroom Soup, Instant Mashed Potatoes and Green Salsa

2013-04-24T07:11:00.000-07:00

I went to the gym last night, so I put a chicken breast in a Ziploc bag with some green salsa to marinade. I saw some mushrooms in there, too so thought it might be kind of nice to fry up some onions and mushrooms and mix them all together with the chicken. It was going to be one of those nights.

When I got home, my husband had taken the chicken out of the marinade and cut it up. He was definitely preparing something I wouldn't have done with marinaded chicken. Mainly because it was a waste of the marinade. I'll explain.

He had a can of Campbell's Mushroom Soup (the kind for green bean casserole) out and was preparing it on the stove. Then I saw that he also opened the Instant Seasoned Mashed Potatoes. I just wasn't feeling the green salsa marinade with the other ingredients, but he was cooking and I was tired.

Ultimately, the chicken was cut up into bit-size pieces sauteed up in oil and put into the mushroom soup. The chicken and mushroom soup got spooned over the seasoned mashed potatoes. With the kind of Romano cheese that normally goes on pasta.

I didn't care for tasting the green salsa among the other flavors, but as I said, I wasn't cooking and I was tired. Other than that, I think I would make this combination again--without the green salsa. I was thinking what fried potatoes, like hash browns would taste like instead of the mashed potatoes. I guess we shall see.

Hormel Boneless Pork Roast

2013-04-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

Well, as you might have read in another blog, my son joined the Air Force and will be in training and school for close to another year in Texas. He loved to cook for his friends! There were a lot of things he made that were like mine, but he also made some interesting combinations of food I stopped buying when I turned 30 and food I never had much interest in. Well, when he left his fully stocked kitchen became my kitchen. Spice mixes and packets, boxed soups, canned soups, instant potatoes, etc. It was a bachelor's heaven and now what I would be cooking with until it was gone.

I'm definitely not complaining! I'm thankful for the food and we'll figure it out. The first thing I pulled out of the freeze that was my son's was a Hormel Boneless Pork Roast. The instructions on the package were perfect. I'd not made one of these roasts before, so I fully thawed and placed the Roast in a small roasting pan. I don't think the instructions included putting the lid on the pan. I was concerned it would dry out, since I'm not a huge pork fan anyway, I decided to put the lid on. About 75 minutes at 350 degrees later, the pork was cooked perfect. Very little waste. It was just the two of us, the roast was plenty big. It certainly smelled better than it tasted. I suppose I am accustomed to a more savory roast, or it just didn't hit the spot like it might have on a separate occasion, but I ate a serving of it. We both agreed it wasn't the best roast we'd ever had, but it was easy and would work in a pinch for surprise entertaining, or a night when we were not interested in a working in the kitchen. We had some veggies and rice on the side. Biggest deterrent for future purchases of my own is going to be the 390 mg of salt in 112g and the a sundry chemicals this thing was marinading for who knows how long. When three quarters of the package ingredients starts with sodium-something and xanthum gum is on the list at least twice, I probably won't pay money for a roast that is laying right next to a fresh, pristine, butcher's version of the same thing, minus sodium and xanthum gum.

Stock photo from Hormel.com

Spice Mix -- Herbs de Provence

2013-04-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

I made a breakfast casserole for company last weekend that was awesome. It was gone in the first setting. No leftovers there. In the recipe it called for a spice mix: Herbs de Provence. Apparently, its all french herbs. I got it from the homecooking about.com website:

3 Tablespoons dried marjoram
3 Tablespoons dried thyme
3 Tablespoons dried savory
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

I doubled the whole thing and it fits nice in a used spice bottle. Very savory, and the smell is out of this world.

Chicken Quesadilla Nachos -- a.k.a. Leftovers

2013-04-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

I really don't know what to call this, but it was so delicious, I will serve it when it's not on the left over list.

We grilled out chicken this past weekend, so we had some chicken breasts left over that didn't get eaten. What to do, what to do?

I took out some Tortilla Strips, shredded Mexican cheeses, the last of a brick of jalapeno jack cheese, coarsely chopped up the chicken into bite size pieces and got out my favorite Frontera Chipotle Salsa.

Threw the tortilla strips on the plate in a shallow layer, layered the chicken on top of the tortilla strips, then layered the cheeses. Popped the whole thing in the microwave for about 30 seconds tops. Then poured the Chipotle on top. I at it like nachos and with a fork depending on how messy the pieces were. This really was a super good leftover! Enjoy.

By the Way, there is a rare salsa, I just have to give a shout out to: Frontera Chipotle Salsa. I absolutely am addicted to this salsa. I started eating it to help with a sinus headache because it was "hot" and I needed to kick the pain. I now buy out our local store every time they get a shipment. I eat it on eggs, hot dogs, steak, sandwiches. Pretty much everything.

It's great for aches and pains, too!

The Field -- Hollywood, Florida

2013-03-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of eating at The Field Irish Pub & Eatery in Hollywood, Florida last week. Highly recommend going to the pub side of the restaurant. You can order food from there and enjoy whatever entertainment they have going. I was there on a Wednesday. Granted, South Florida is always packed, any day of the week, but The Field handled the crowd and didn't feel like everyone was packed in. We were seated right away with no reservations.

There was a Rod Stewart (George Orr) impersonator there, he was pretty good. Sang some of the newer "old" songs that Stewart has been doing lately as well as some of the old ones. He was funny, and shared some great Rod Stewart trivia. I kind of wish I was there closer to the weekend for the other group that is there Thursday through the weekend--Celtic Bridge. I like that kind of music for the eating part of our eating, George Orr seemed to enjoy entertaining.

I had the Wild Oak Smoked Salmon as an entree. It was tasty. At what I think was $12.50, a little high for an appetizer, but it was definitely enough for me as a meal. I sampled the chicken pot pie which was fabulous, but more calories than I wanted to eat that night. I also sampled the apple crumb tart with the optional ice cream on the side. It was very delicious.

I've made plans to return there the next time I am in South Florida.

Pickled Eggs . . . and Beets

2013-03-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

After years of eating my mother's pickled eggs and beets--asking for a recipe--leaving empty handed, a recipe arrived in the most interesting package. I received a complimentary issue of a new magazine from allrecipes. Inside was this awesome recipe submitted by "Cindy." I made a few changes, so we'll see how it goes--and tastes.

8 hardcooked eggs/peeled
2 15 ounce jars picked beets
1 onion/chopped
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper
3 bay leaves
16 cloves

The eggs were hot when I peeled them, added them to everything else all at once and left them the whole thing out on the counter until the eggs cooled inside the rest of the ingredients. This is a little easier than the recipe, so we'll see how it turns out in the days to follow. I am excited to see how my hand at simplifying an already much too simple recipe. "Cindy" called this a "Pennsylvania Dutch" recipe. Now it's a much easier than easy version.

borrowed photo

Manny's Chophouse

2013-03-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

Manny's Chophouse is delicious. I returned to the Lake Wales, Florida location for a second visit over the weekend and ordered what I think was the Southwest Chicken. I'm not so sure there was much "Southwest" about it with all the bacon and cheese on it. Perhaps the diced onions and tomatoes? However, it was delicious. As a person that almost always orders chicken, I will order this entree again. I also ordered the black beans and rice. A staple for me. I was not disappointed with this choice. It had a great flavor and if it came from a can, I couldn't tell.

Surprising for me, was the spread served with the complementary rolls. It had a real cinnamon sugar taste, and was soft enough to dip the bread in. I didn't eat the rolls or the spread last time, so glad I tried it this time. If you find yourself in the real Central Florida, Manny's is just a few minutes off US27 in Lake Wales. They don't open until 4:00--gotta love a place that stays open 30 minutes later on Fridays and Saturdays. *wink* Sunday is NOON - 9:30.

Awesome Spice mix

2013-03-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

So I watched Rachel Ray the other day and she made an awesome spice blend of some spices I just so happened to have all of but the sumac. However, I had Paprika, so I give Rachel the credit here and add my hint to it. This is from a show that aired March 5, 2013. It highlighted Chicken Caesar Salad with this spice blend on the chicken. I put it on a ribeye steak about 30 minutes before I threw it on the ol' George Foreman Grill. It was delightfully understated. Can't wait to try it on chicken.

I mixed up about 1:1 tbsp (except the thyme and parsley 2:1) of this blend and put it in an empty spice jar.

1 tablespoon ground sumac or paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/3 palmful
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or ground red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

I'm thinking this might be a kind of cool gift for a friend I know would love to add this to her chicken or whatever meat she's grilling. I'm going out tomorrow, so maybe I will find a little jar to put it in and share the mix with her.

Kicking It Up

2013-03-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a year since I posted in my blogs. I am taking a week to get myself together and start posting again. I will be doing some follow up reviews on products I have bought like the Cuisinart Mandolin Slicer, my bamboo cutting board that is now a year old, and other odds and end products I've bought along the way, so stay tuned.

I've also done some research on "best" cooking procedures and even some great food straight from the shelf. Wednesday, March 6, is the big day. Don't miss it!

Bamboo Cutting Board and Howard

2012-02-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

I recently got a bamboo cutting board. It was a switcheroo I had to play when I erroneously bought a an XOXO scale. That can be a whole 'nother review. Long story short. I hated that scale. My son bought it for me because I just had to have it. I did all kinds of research and bought it based on reviews.

On to the bamboo cutting board I bought with another kitchen scale when I returned the XOXO scale. I've had the cutting board for a little while. I should have bought the condition when I bought the cutting board, but the $50 credit for the first scale was perfect for the new kitchen scale and the cutting board. I got it from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I'm pretty sure the link is the one I bought. However, I think I only paid $29.99 for mine. I love this cutting board. It's hard enough, but not too heavy to lug around the kitchen. I read a lot aboutt wooden cutting boards and plastic cutting boards. The short of that story is wood is still better. Wood does a better job of healing itself after a cut for a one thing and surprisingly, wood can be much more sanitary. I'll post some links to my research.

Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner
"Great for bamboo"
Another crummy picture. I hate my camera.

This is the board with the conditioner on it.
It's on pretty thick. The directions suggest a warm
application to expedite absorption, I just squeezed it
there. It smells a lot like vaseline. I'm supposed to
leave it on for 30 minute.

I know I should have taken a picture before the conditioner was applied. There was a huge difference in the color in just the few weeks to months I've had it. I highly recommend this process in that the appearance of the cutting board is more appealing alone. This bottle was something like nine or ten dollars from The Home Depot but it's available in a lot of other places and online. I'm making a note of the appearance of the board after this first conditioning and will take a picture in one month to see what the difference is. I'm thinking to myself about the purchase of the bottle of conditioner compared to the purchase of the cutting board. How many cleanings will I get out of the bottle and how much use will I get out of the board? I don't know. Simple math would tell me I can buy three bottles of the stuff before I've spent more preserving the board than I actually spent on the board. So here's one board at $29.99 and one application of conditioner. I guess I will see how many I get out of this first bottle in order to see whether I made a good choice.

Herdin' Up Some Shepherd's Pie

2012-02-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Today I'm making Shepherd's Pie. Now there's a lot of family controversy surrounding this "one dish" meal. My sister makes it a certain way, I make it a certain way and as usual, the one who taught us to make it, actually makes it completely different.

Today, it's more about what I had in the cabinet and refrigerator than how I usually make it. For us, a couple of things have evolved over the year and the biggest thing for me and my family is FLAVOR. When I have this entree at my mother's house a generation later, a staple of my childhood seems bland and flavorless. So, in respect to my mother, as usual, I will give you the "family" recipe and then I'll give you my family's recipe.

So, here's to mom:

1 lb of ground beef
some dehydrated onions
some garlic powder
salt
pepper
instant mashed potatoes
frozen peas

brown the ground beef, put the dehydrated onions, garlic powder, salt and pepper in "to taste". "To taste" means there's no real measurement, just sprinkle until it looks good to you.

Make the mashed potatoes per the box or bag instructions

Take an apropriately sized casserole dish and put the meat in the bottom, layer the peas on next and last, the mashed potatoes. Put the whole thing in the oven long enough to cook the peas which is about 20 - 30 minutes.

So here is where I deviate from the plan a little. I don't always use beef. If I'm feeling healthy, I use ground turkey or chicken, both are equally delicious and much better for us than the beef. But it often depends on what's in the freezer.

Idahoan instant potatoes are about a $1.5 0 a bag.
I keep about a half dozen of these little bags in the
cabinet at all times--usually. They are easy to
open up and add to the side of just about any entree.
Today, I only had one. Plain.

I didn'tknow this picture was so blurry.
I'm too lazy to take another picture.

Birds Eye Vegetables are the only ones I buy.
I'm sure the house brands are just as good, it's just what I buy.

4 Cheese Mexican is just waht happened to be in
the refrigerator, so that's what I'm using. You can
use whatever.

I use fresh everything, so I use freshly diced onions and garlic and of course I grind the pepper and salt over it. Not a big difference, but it does improve the taste a little. For added flavor, I add a can of Hormel Chili with beans to the meat.

I don't always use peas. Today I'm using mixed vegetable because--again--that's what I had. I don't recommend broccoli or carrots unless they're canned. It takes too long to cook those particular vegetables in that way.

Now today I am using a bag of grated Mexican cheeses and I've chosen to layer them on top of the veggies and under the mashed potatoes. I have also been know to layer the chees on the top and brown it a little, but if the cheese gets too hard, it clumps and you don't get cheese in every bite.

If I'm feeling it on that particule day--not today. I will make the mashed potatoes from scratch and leave the skins on. This is not that big of a deal when using red potatoes because the skins are so thin. Some of the thicker skinned potatoes, it might be a good idea to peel them first.

Today, I am opening up a bag of instant potatoes. These particular ones come in all flavors, but what happens to be in the cabinet is the plain. I wish they were flavored, but I think it will be OK.

Put the whole thing in the oven. I'm going to take some extra time with this to be sure the mixed vegetable cook through, but if I was using peas, it would only be about 20 - 30 minutes.

My sister uses biscuit mix on top of hers instead of mashed potatoes

Feta Cheese Gets Saucy With Peas

2012-02-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

I am fairly new to Feta Cheese. I had a friend over to get to know her new boyfriend. I had her bring the sald. When she presented the tub of feta cheese, it was uncharted territory for me. However, I quickly fell in love with it on my salads and now keep a small bowl of it in the refrigerator at all times.

So some time a few weeks ago I was craving pasta and sauce and did not have any parmesan cheese. I know, I couldn't believe it either. However, there was a tub and a half of feta in the 'fridge so I dumped it directly in the sauce and I loved it. I was so crazy about it, we had the same thing again tonight.

Now I was tired and crabby tonight and I've been known to throw whatever I can think of in a pan of spaghetti sauce, but tonight it was an old favorite swimming with a new friend. I added a bag of frozen peas and let the whole thing simmer really low--the cheese will stick--while I waited for the pasta to finish.

Oh, here's a tip that not too many think about. If you want everything to finish at the same time, consider starting the water for the pasta first, then put the meat in the frying pan to brown.

That reminds me of another thing. Before having spaghetti at my house, my in-laws had never had ground beef in their spaghetti. I guess up to that point, they'd just opened up a can of Prego and dumped it in the pan. I will state here that I don't buy Prego. I buy bottled sauces that do not contain sugar. Most of those tend to be imported and are a little bit expensive, so when they go on sale, I normally buy about six bottles and that will carry me through to the next sale. Two brands I have found that do not have sugar in them are Gia Russa and Victoria.

Cleaning Up George's Act

2012-01-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

Warning and Disclaimer: This is a dangerous way to clean your grill. It creates large amounts of steam that can burn you very quickly. Please use caution when using this advice. I do not take any responsiblity for anyone's accidents related to this blog, so don't try to sue me for something I didn't make you do.

A few years ago my son got us a Geoge Foreman grill. We love this grill. We probably use it four to six times a week. Highly possibly considering there are 21 meals in a day.

However, I fell quickly out of love with the grill when I had to clean it. Anything other than sandwiches and it was days before I wanted to use it again because it was so difficult to clean. However, I am here to testify that I am back in love with my grill.

Why?

Because I figured out how to clean it!

I remembered back to working at McDonald's and how we used to periodically throughout the day clean those big nasty grills and then at the end of the day how we'd clean them again. Are you ready for this?

WATER.

We used water. At the restaurant we poured the water right on the the grill and had big blades that we pushed the steamy (dangerous) mixture off the end into the trap. The grill were so clean they stuck for a few cycles of burgers and all we used was water.

I decided to try the same with the grill. At first I drug the HOT grill to the sink and sprayed it with the hose. That worked but was dangerous and messier than scrubbing. Then I got squirt bottle full of water and with it plugged in raised the lid about 1/2 way and squirted the lower plate and found that the steam rose up to the upper plate.

The baked on cooked on mess that I had spent so much time scrubbing boiled to the top of the steam and as soon as the grill was cool enough to tough handle I took it over to the sink and wiped it down.

I've done this quite a few times now and there has been a few times when I need to rub a spot here or there, but I have never had to scrub the grill again. This has made me infinitely happy because I am so crazy about this grill. We are back using again as often as before. I will use this grill until it wears out or burns up. Then I will probably get the one with the removal plates, but I will still use the steam method I learned 20 years ago at McDonald's.

I repeate this method creates a great deal of very dangerous steam and would hope that you would use caution when using my advice. I do not take responsiblity for any injury created by this blog.

Brownies -- Not From a Box

2012-01-23T13:52:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe back in 1984. It wasn't the best of times, but I did manage to get a decent recipe out of it from a very good friend of my mother's. When I made the recipe the first time, it tasted a little gross, so over the years I've added some of my own details to it and it's a little healthier, and a whole lot tastier!

For reasons I would only tell my therapist, I lived with the lady I got this recipe from in 1983 I believe it was. She had four great kids that I still keep in touch with on Facebook. With that many kids, the odds are against us, but is seems like they have all turned out to be functioning adults which is more than I can say for myself at times. I'll give you her recipe first and then I will give you my changes.

1 stick of margarine
2 oz bittersweet chocolate or 7 heaping tablespoons of Baker's Cocoa
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups flour
1/2 - 3/4 C nuts

This is the actual photo of the recipe from the album.
I think I made this up in 1987.

Here is what I did with the recipe over the year:

1/2 C Coconut Oil
7 heaping tblsp Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
3/4 C Organic Agave Nectar
3 large eggs
2 tsp some kind of Liqeuer
3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 Pouch of hot cocoa -- favorite flavor "raspberry"
3/4 C nuts

This is what I use for my substitutions.
You can make the original if you want.

Cream coconut oil, cocoa and nectar together. Add eggs and liqueuer. Beat. Add flour, nuts, mix. Bake at 350 degrees 20 - 25 mins. Remove before done.

Removing the brownies before they are done is a little of what makes them moist and delicious. The flour to egg ratio and the all-purpose flour make the brownies like brownies and not like chocolate cake. Removing them before they are done allows them not to over cook. I can't think of anyone I know that likes crunchy brownies. Not to mention hard brownies.

I got a "newsletter" the other day from the lady that gave me this recipe. She made it up on her computer with digital photos and a cute font. I'm sure she believes she is being quite saavy with her digital camera and computer. I wish she'd just attach the letter to an e-mail so I don't feel so guilty about not reading it and wasting the paper.

A New Home for Some Old Tricks

2012-01-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

I'm in the process of moving Kitchen Traditions here. It may take a while to get everything situated, but soon everything will be updated regularly.

Check back here regularly. http://andsawmyself.blogspot.com

Kitchen Tradition: Look Who's Coming to Dinner and Peeling Tomatoes

2011-07-16T05:38:00.000-07:00

I'm having company tonight for a simple Italian meal. I have to work to keep simple the operative word when it is time for me to have company, so I usually limit myself to an entree, two sides and a salad. My guests usually bring their specialty. Tonight's guest's specialty is BRICK OVEN BREAD! She has this contraption I've never seen that goes in her regular oven. All I know is that it is probably some of the best Artisan-style bread I've ever had. She brings these little bowls and olive oil and spices and it's all I can do to keep myself from eating only bread.

So I am going to make Bruschetta to serve on her bread. It starts with tomatos diced up so tiny you can spoon them. There's chopped garlic, olive oil (of course) and basil. To me, oregano is too strong for this, but if you want, oregano works. A little bit of balsamic vinegar and it's done.

You'll need to peel the tomatoes. That can be done by LIGHTLY scoring the skins, dipping them in super boiling water for a count of somewhere around 30 seconds. You'll see the skins begin to recede. Don't cook the tomato. I hold onto them with tongs or these things in the picture:

This is what I use to hold on to the tomato in the boiling water.

I learned how to do that when I worked the dining room at a Holiday Inn. Yes, Holiday Inns used to be very upscale. This particular dining room was the nicest restaurant I've ever worked at. There was a man that came in every evening for tomatos and burnt toast. The hotel was on a golf course that was surrounded by an upper class community. Funny how we remember these things. I also learned how to fold napkins in a really fancy way for their dinner seating. Maybe we'll hit on that some other day.

Anyway, back to the tomato peeling. The man liked his tomato peeled and sliced and that's how I learned.

A New Restaurant: Paquito's Miami

2011-07-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we went out for Mexican food at Paquito's Miami. We did not order any mixed drinks or beer, so I can't comment on that. However, the food was delicious. I ordered the Pescado Paquito. It was a catch of the day on this indescribably garlic onion cream sauce with a spring green salad and delicious oil and vinegar dressing. The chips and salsa that preceeded the meal were just as delicious. The thing that made the meal was the ambiance. Strollling mariachi and lots of wonderful things to look at on the walls and ceiling. Our server was wonderful. We wanted to leave him a nice tip. With a party of five, he kept the drinks, chips, salsa and hospitality coming. I will be returning to Paquito's the next time I'm in Miami.

Kitchen Traditions: Stinky Stank

2011-05-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

I am obssessed about the way my house smells. Perhaps it's because I have friends and family whose homes--well--stink. Like dog, like cigarette smoke, like onions. You name it. I have six cats, so I am always tuned in to the way my house smells. I've got some really great heated wax/oil from Scentsy that I use when I expect company for the evening, but most days I rely on this great new discovery I bought at Pet Supermarket. (It's about the same price on ebay. Believe me, I checked!)

Natural Air Sponge Odor Absorber
Stock Photo

A company called Seapro International appear to be the geniuses behind this awesome product. I don't know what it's made of. It feels like that spongy stuff you stand on in some public showers or at water theme parks. Up close it has a kind of baby powder smell that I was not so sure I wanted my house to smell like. Once the cup is opened and this awesome product goes to work, there's no baby powder smell. In fact there is no smell at all.

I have one sitting on top of each of my litter boxes and I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but the sponge I place on smellliest room and most used box is shriveling at a much higher rate than the other. I'm not sure how this works, so if you want that kind of information, it will have to wait, but for now I highly recommend this over any other odor absorbing/masking thing I've bought to date.

Kitchen Tradition #5: OMG, Left Overs

2011-05-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have always used something in the bottom of my pots to make a sound when they come to a boil. For years it was a glass ring. It made the most appealing sound when water began to simmer. After that was broken--not funny yet--I bought stone lobster character that does the same thing, it's just not as elegant.

This is my little stone lobster.
Not as elegant as the glass one I had that got broken.

I've got some left over chicken from our Cinco de Mayo celebration a few weekends ago so I'm going to throw together some "Chicken Alfredo". Probably not really considered Chicken Alfredo because the chicken was marinated in Mojo Criollo, but here it is. My family likes it and it's a great way to get rid of left over noodles, cheeses and chicken.

Cooked chicken
Frozen veggies (I like broccoli, peas or mixed vegetables)
Bottle of Alfredo Sauce (Today, I'm using Classic Sun-Dried Tomato)
Sour Cream
Bag(s) of cheese (Stay away from anything that might be too stringy. It will wad up in the bowl)
Noodles (I always dump whatever I have in there--makes it interesting)

I think I'm going to invent something that holds
a bottle upside down over the dish or pan.

I slightly undercook the noodles because I'm going to need to be able to stir this all up. While the noodles are cooking, chop up the chicken, add the cheeses, creams, veggies and sauces, stir them up in an oven proof dish that has a lid. Add the noodles and gently turn everything in.

You can make this up in the morning while you're getting ready for work or when you get home. If you prepare it in advance, put a lid on it and put it in the 'fridge. It'll keep nice.

When you're ready for it, set the oven to about 350-375 and heat it until it's either hot all the way through or the veggies are cooked. You can stick a fork through the vegetables while it's in the dish to see if they are tender enough to your liking.

When you bring it out, let it cool a little. Depending on the proportions of what you added, it will be very juicy or almost like a casserole. It doesn't matter, you used up a bunch of leftover stuff that might have gone to waste anyway.

Ready for the oven. This is delicious!

Kitchen Traditions: Carrots

2011-04-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

I love fresh carrots above just about any vegetable. We had them last night, and they aren't that difficult to prepare just "labor intense" to quote my husband.

Peel them
Chop them
Boil them
When they are tender to your liking, drain them

We like butter, salt and pepper added right to the bowl of drained, hot carrots. This is not the most healthy way to serve a vegetable. However, "health" food is not my claim here. We served them with freshly steamed Jasmine rice and a thin-cut steak. Perfect meal. No additives, no preservatives and a 1/2 cup of butter.

Kitchen Tradition: 'Rasslin' with Collard Greens

2011-04-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

Now this is one that I adapted from a cabbage recipe from a semi-pro wrestler about 20 years ago. What a fun guy. He'd shout things out the window of the car at people walking. He had a great relationship with his mom. One night we were all sitting around in our apartment and the people upstairs were making a terrible racket. Something we'd learned to live with. He took a broom handle and started beating on the ceiling and yelling up for them to quit "walkin'" around so loud.

Anyway. I digress . . .

Collard Greens have to cook and cook . . . cook, so if you're planning on serving these, you'll need to start in advance.

A fresh bundle cost me $2.99 at the grocery store this week. Could be cheaper at a roadside stand or out the back of somebody's pick up truck. So, here's the southern/country style collard greens that people beg me for when they see collards coming into the stores. I don't have measurements. You'll have to figure that one out the same way I did.

Collards (duh) - you have to wash the real good. Cut off the stems up into the leaves.
fatback or bacon - the wrestler used bacon, I use fatback
onions - for a bunch of them, I use two big onions chopped up pretty small
garlic - I use about four - six big cloves sliced real thin
salt and pepper
stick of butter
bottle (or two) of beer - he didn't use the beer
a small amount of crushed red pepper - he didn't use crushed red pepper
ham or pork bouillon - I recently discovered "Better Than Bouillon" Ham Base - other than that, I think BADIA has a pork base that's pretty good.

Put the butter in a big pot, melt it and add the onions, and little while later add the garlic. Last, add the fat back. Saute it up passed the point of being sauteed but not fried. It should turn a nice caramel or butterscotch color and start sticking to the bottom of the pot.

If you leave the stems on the collards, I think they will be bitter. I don't know that for sure. That's just what I was told. Lay the leaf out flat, cut along the stem on each side. It should make a super skinny "V" shape in the leaf. Throw the leaf in a sink full of cold water. When you've got them all done, move the water around the leaves real good so the sand can fall to the bottom of the sink.

Lay the leaves on top of each other in manageable piles on a cutting board and cut the leaves into approximately 2 inch squares. Put the leaves in a collander and rinse them . . . again. To be sure you got all the sand.

Put the beer in the pot with the onions mixture. Now add the collards with the heat temporarily turned off. When the pot is full of collards, fill the pot about half way with water and add the bouillion. The collards will make their own water. This keeps them from sticking. Stirring them every now and then distributes the onion, garlic and fatback.

They will go from a bright green to a dark pine green and be tender, but not mushy like cabbage when they are done. Most of the water will evaporate. Keep an ear and nose out for it to scorch. That smells terrible! It takes about an hour to boil them down completely, but I like to play it by sight and texture.

Don't add too much water at the beginning or at the end. It won't boil off. Wait until you watch how they're going to do on their own. Put the crushed red pepper in to taste. Some people like heat, others like flavor.

Well, that's about as southern or country style as you can get when it comes to collards. My husband never had a collard green in his life until I cooked them for him. When he sees a bunch on the counter, he says his heart "skips a beat".

Once, when I was telling my father-in-law how to make string beans he told me there was no such thing as ham or pork bouillon. I just smiled 'cause I knew there was.

Kitchen Tradition: My Mother's Chicken and Dumplings

2011-04-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

We had Chicken and Dumplings (C&D) this week and I made the comment that even though the roots of my meal come directly from my mother, my C&D are different. We agreed that mine had a more rustic restaurant-style appeal than hers. Well, that may be a wrong choice of words. Perhaps mine has evolved due to my husband's Central New York influence. One way it has changed is the seasonings I use in the "soup" portion of the entree and in the biscuits. I use a lot of parsley, rosemary and thyme in my broth. Not to mention I use organic chicken broth. She uses the water from boiling her chicken. I don't boil my chicken. I roast or better yet--smoke it. I put garlic and chunks of butter in my biscuits as well. Sometimes, when I can find an extra extra wide noodle, I will add a few to the broth. Here's the breakdown of mine:

Base
small baked/roasted chicken (picked from the bone, chopped up)
four boxes of organic chicken broth (this could be considered cheating--I find it lower in salt)
parsley
rosemary
thyme
salt
pepper

Bring that to a LOW simmer.

Biscuits
Self-rising flour
Milk
(about 2 to1)
garlic and chopped up butter
romano cheese (good, but makes the biscuits a little dense if you don't like that)

Stir it up. It should be pretty thick. Drop large spoonfuls into the broth and make sure that the broth is not boiling or simmering too much. (Too high of a boil can either break apart the biscuits or make the broth too clear)

Put on a tight fitting lid and leave it alone for a about 20 - 25 minutes. My mother says if you open the lid too soon, the dumplings will "fall". I've never experienced this phenomenon, but then again, I have never opened the lid too soon.

I'm sorry this recipe doesn't have any measurements. I've never measured anything pertaining to this recipe. After 24 years, I pretty much eye ball it. So you'll have to learn to do the same. This is a family favorite that I have never experienced leftovers for more than a day or two.

Let me know how you like it.

Getting To Know Me: I Love Pie -- I Hate Lying

2011-04-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

My husband says the other day I was going on and on about Pecan Pie. I think he's wrong, but at the same time, I do like pie and Pecan Pie is my favorite. Of the all the wonderful things I do so well, I can't bake a Pecan Pie. Admittedly, I haven't tried but a few times and was so discouraged at the finished product, I just leave it to Edward's Pies.

Now, I do make a better-than-anything-known-to-man Pumpkin Pie and an even better Country-style Apple Pie. The recipe for the apple came out of a magazine probably something like 20 years ago. It has a great little brown sugar and butter crumb topping and the filling is nothing but apples, sugar and some spices. There's just something about the combination that is a hit. When I make the apple, I have to make two, one to keep at home and the other to take with me.

The Pumpkin Pie is nothing but a dressed up recipe from the outside of the can of Libbys solid pumpkin label. "If it says libby's, libby's, libby's on the label, label, label, you will like it, like it, like it on your table, table table . . ." I remember one Thanksgiving my father-in-law gave me a song and dance about some kind of gastric problem my mother-in-law had with cloves, could I please make one with "less cloves". I was pretty naive at the time. I figured out through process of illimination that he just didn't like cloves and was especially unappreciative of the amount of ground cloves I put in my pumpkin pie. I remember being more angry that he had to lie to me and put it on my mother-in-law. Why couldn't he just tell me to cut back on the cloves on one of the pies at Thanksgiving? He was like that, though. A manipulative liar and a cheat. I didn't offer my pies around the holidays any more while he was alive. I hate lying.

Both pies were good enough to make it to a little waffle house/cafe in our little neighborhood. For a little while, I made two pies each of apple and pumpkin a day until the crusts stuck in the pan and were soggy a few times. The owner of the cafe said my pies were not "consistent" enough. She was going to switch to a prepared pie from a distributor. Her loss.

Ah, well, now I have gone on about pie. I think I will go get an Edward's Pie tomorrow afternoon to have with dinner. Pecan Pie.