Some people climb up Mount Everest - I just bake cakes.

Whoo hoo!! I am becoming a Daring Baker!!

You heard me! I have once again gotten in over my head - but at least this time it is in cream, butter and eggs.

The Daring Bakers made Bostini Cream Pie this month. I want to say thanks to Mary of Alpineberry for being the hostess this month!

My family actually took off for a trip to the store to stay out of my way. When I am trying something new, I like to concentrate with everything I've got. Fielding questions about boys and homework assignments from the daughter plus having the hubby yell, "Honey! Come look at this play!" just isn't conducive to keeping mom happy while she is stressing over the detail of her latest creation.

The recipe consists of three components: A pastry cream, a chiffon cake and a chocolate sauce.

I had made pastry cream before so I wasn't too worried about the custard, but I was concerned about the chiffon cake. I rarely make cakes from scratch. My family is more of a cookie and pie kinda group - so this was a nice change of pace.

I sweated over this cake. I squeezed the oranges myself - no prepackaged juice here! I separated eggs 'til I was tired of looking at their little yolks. I got to use the whisk attachment on my Kitchenaid mixer. It was a good workout of the old culinary skills...

Here is evidence that even I - cake challenged as I am - can make a chiffon cake.



The custard on the other hand - I wish I had cooked it just a tad longer. It was a little too runny, but I hurried. A couple more minutes would have made the difference.

And by the way- WTF is a 1/3 of a teaspoon? That is not a real measurement. If it doesn't come on a regular set of measuring spoons then it don't exist!! So say I!

Would I take the time to make this again? Most likely not. I am not a big fan of Boston cream pie. My family gave it only an "It's OK" rating. And considering the time and expense - I can think of lots of other recipes that would better suit the taste buds in my household.

So here is the final picture of my creation.

I look forward to next month's challenge. Sometimes you just need to get a good workout to get the old creative juices flowing!

Bostini Cream Pie
(from Donna Scala & Kurtis Baguley of Bistro Don Giovanni and Scala's Bistro)
(makes 8 generous servings)

INGREDIENTS:

Custard (Pastry Cream)
3/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 whole egg, beaten
9 egg yolks, beaten
3 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Chiffon Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup beaten egg yolks (3 to 4 yolks)
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup egg whites (about 8 large)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Glaze
8 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare the custard (pastry cream):
Combine the milk and cornstarch in a bowl; blend until smooth. Whisk in the whole egg and yolks, beating until smooth. Combine the cream, vanilla bean and sugar in a saucepan and carefully bring to a boil. When the mixture just boils, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk this back into the cream mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the custard and pour into 8 large custard cups. Refrigerate to chill.

To prepare the chiffon cakes:
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray 8 molds with nonstick cooking spray. You may use 7-ounce custard cups, ovenproof wide mugs or even large foil cups. Whatever you use should be the same size as the custard cups.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, zest and vanilla. Stir until smooth, but do not overbeat.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the beaten whites into the orange batter. Fill the sprayed molds nearly to the top with the batter.

Bake approximately 25 minutes, until the cakes bounce back when lightly pressed with your fingertip. Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cool, remove the cakes from the molds. Cover the cakes to keep them moist.

To prepare the glaze:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just about to bubble. Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and stir to melt. Pour through a strainer and keep warm.

To assemble:
Cut a thin slice from the top of each cake to create a flat surface. Place a cake flat-side down on top of each custard. Cover the tops with warm chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

The Wretched Leaf

Howdy All!
True I haven't been by for a while but I am still here. Finding a few minutes to sit down has been a challenge, but rest assured - I am still cooking my lil heart out.

Here is a little secret - I had never had arugula until about a month ago. Lisa at Restaurant Widow shared a week of her CSA with me back in September. One of the items was a big bag of strange looking leaves. Tony sniffed them and said," I think we are ok - they appear to be legal." After making a huge salad - I was hooked. Maybe Tony was wrong. Maybe we weren't ok - because for every day of the following week I had a craving for the mysterious leaf. I suspected it was Arugula - a weed from Italy that had already addicted hundred of thousands in Europe and the US. Dammit - here I thought I was safe but nooooooooooo - I craved it like all the others....

So I did the rehab program - you know the one - the program where they try to "Americanize" your taste buds. The first thing the clinic tried was a iceberg lettuce salad drenched with Kraft Italian. The waitress (read "Nurse Wretched") watched while I choked it down... she kept asking if I was sure I didn't need any more dressing.It was horrible - I still have nightmares. When I read the menu for the second day, I knew I had to escape. More of the same salad but with "croutons", Banquet pot pies and instant mashed taters. I used the remains of the dressing to corrode the bars to my "suite" and made off into the night....

In an attempt to get my next fix, I came early to the last installment of the Worthington Farmers' Market. Yes! Yes!! It was there!!! I bought my new favorite in two forms - the first was small tender leaves for eating raw and the second was in a mix of larger greens which were labeled as "braising" greens. Oh fraptious day!

Now - what to eat with my green leafy fix? Hmmmmmm.... Taking a cue from one of my heroes, Fergus Henderson, I decided that I would pair a simple salad of arugula dressed with red wine vinegar, olive oil and kosher salt with chicken livers dredged in seasoned flour and pan fried in bacon fat. The richness of the livers would be cut by the peppery vinegar bite of the salad - just like the richness of marrow bones is cut by his signature parsley salad.

See - even an old dog can learn something once in a while....

I used to never eat chicken livers either. I learned to love the dark slick morsels when I was waiting tables. One of the cooks, Henrietta, told me she was going to make me a special breakfast the next day because the boss had been busting my chops all week. The next morning she whipped up corn bread, greens cooked with bacon and chicken livers. It was the best. I learned how to cook the greens and livers from her the next morning. So worth getting my ass chewed out.

This is basically her recipe: Clean the livers - take off any stringy stuff (veins or what have you). Dip them in seasoned flour (I use seasoned salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper and a little onion powder in mine.) Melt some bacon fat in the pan over medium high heat, Throw in your livers, making sure not to crowd them.

A note about chicken livers. Please do not over cook them. There is nothing worse than dried out liver. Cook until just a little too pink on the inside and take them off the heat. The carry over will finished them to a perfect pale pink on the inside. The stuff that dreams are made of....

Here is a picture of my lunch from Saturday. I served it with crusty bread and sweet tea.


So thank you Lisa for sharing you goodies with me - I have a new favorite dish!

Now that you all know how daring I am - tune in tomorrow to see just how daring I am going to get!!

I relish the thought....

As I mentioned before, I have been busy converting garden surplus and farmer market goodies into tasty treats for the home team. Yeah it's a pain in the keister. I think it's worth it though. There is something really satisfying about making all this stuff to put by. It makes me happy to be working on something so basic as food preservation. No, I don't think it for everyone. I think most people would not find the sweet spot in peeling 25 pounds of tomatoes. It's there - it right there above cleaning grout with a toothbrush. And there are those of you reading this who know exactly what I am talking about...

So this past week, I have done the following:

Slow-roasted Roma tomatoes for the freezer

Lightly cooked and froze tomatoes for sauces

Canned Tomato Preserves

Canned Apple Butter (Check out the one by Annie halfway down the page.)

Froze Apple Sauce

Froze Homemade noodles

Froze Thai Red Curry Paste

And lastly -

Canned Chow-chow

Yes - I decided that I could not live without this relish. It is very close to the one my mom made when I was little. Not quite the same though. I do not have my mother's recipe. It was not in her collection. I have a feeling it was up in her head like so many other things she made regularly. (I still get cravings for her liver and onions - the gravy was to die for. No recipe for that either. Dammit, Mom!!)

I have kinda put off making chow chow though - I just remember my mom grinding away at the various ingredients. Food processor? Oh hell no... She had one of the old hand crank models. I used to tell her I would "help" her. Every parent here knows how much "help" I was - 5 or 10 cranks later...I was no where to be found. But I was more than ready to help tuck into a newly opened jar of the relish.

I am not a stickler for that type of authenticity however. I borrowed Gail's grinder attachment for our Kitchenaid mixers. I may be nostalgic - but I ain't stupid. Take a look at the recipe I came up with:

10 pounds green tomatoes

12 medium green bell peppers

12 medium red bell peppers

6 yellow onions

2 small heads cabbage

2 large or 3 medium cucumbers

4 jalapeno peppers

1 medium head garlic

That's a lot of grinding folks. Even with the miracle of modern technology - it still took me about an hour to get everything through the grinder. The smaller you can cut materials before you put it through the grinder the better. I used a pretty course grind - here is the veggies as they come through the shoot. Doesn't look too good does it?

After you get everything ground and put into a non-reactive container (like a crock or stainless steel stockpot), you are ready to start the actual process of cooking the relish.

Here is the recipe in its entirety:

10 pounds green tomatoes

12 medium green bell peppers

12 medium red bell peppers

6 yellow onions

2 small heads cabbage

2 large or 3 medium cucumbers

4 jalapeno peppers

1 medium head garlic

8 cups sugar

8 cups cider vinegar

1/2 cup canning salt

3 tablespoons pickling spice

1. Rinse the vegetables, peel onions, carrots and garlic. Remove the seeds from the peppers and scrape the inside to remove the ribs. Cucumbers can be peeled and seeded if you like. Grind all the vegetables and place in a large container. Add salt, cover with water and allow to stand for 1 hour.
2. While the vegetables are soaking, in a large pot, add the sugar, vinegar and pickling spice tied in a cheesecloth bag. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer.
3. Drain and rinse and drain the vegetables again, making sure as much moisture as possible is out of the vegetables. (I actually put them in several layers of cheesecloth and squeezed them dry.) Add to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes.
4. Relish can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple weeks or canned for longer preservation.
5. Makes about 12 pints of relish

To can the relish, I recommend going to The National Center for Home Food Preservation. Run by the USDA,they always have the latest and greatest info on home canning. This is one of the good things that gets done with your tax dollars (a rare event!) so take full advantage of it...

Ok - that's it for now. I drank way to much caffeine this morning and need to start scrubbing down the house or I'll explode...Where the hell is my toothbrush?

Bitchin in the Kitchen: Tabloid Edition

A long time in ago in a month far far away (July to be exact) Lisa of Restaurant Widow tagged me to tell 8 random things about myself. Well, life being the roller coaster ride that it is - I am just now getting around to to my contribution.

So here it goes - 8 random facts about my overcrowded life

1) I used to collect comic books. I am still a big comic book fan. I particularly love some of the more intense graphic novels like Watchmen, V for Vendetta and The Dark Knight. I also love old school comics like The Spirit. My only regret is that the Spirit reprints are $50 a pop and there are 20 volumes. My current favorite: Fables written by Bill Willingham. I suppose that makes me a geek.

2) In relation to the first secret - I squealed like a little girl when I saw the Iron Man trailer. When he broke the sound barrier at the end - I actually stood up and did a little happy dance. And I guess that makes me an even bigger geek...don't care. I will be in the theater on opening night. I just hope it doesn't suck like the Fantastic Four.

3) I love going to Studio 35. I have been a semi-regular there for about 22 years. I have been through four sets of owners and a lot of beer. We are going tonight to see Stand By Me and enter the pie eating contest. I hope the pie is cherry.

4) One of my goals is to drive Route 66 with Tony and Annie before she goes off to college. I want to stop at the Big Texan and watch someone eat their huge steak challenge - I sure as hell ain't gonna try it.

5) I like eating mango chutney on bread as a snack.

6) I like old piano jazz. One of my favorite performers is James Booker. Yeah, he was a coked-up drunk, but damn...what music.

7) I am tired of working so much. Well that's not really a secret. I have been dreaming about owning goats and making aged goat cheese. My friend Gail says I am insane - goats stink.

8) I hate the North Market when it's crowded. Hell I hate any place that is too crowded. People are too freaking self centered and never apologize when they run you over in the aisles.

So there you go! Eight things you probably could have lived without knowing. I am tagging Lorence of Lorence's Kitchen, Butta Buns and ummmmm anyone else who needs to post something on their blog. (I assume that means everyone.)

Next time - I have been busy canning and putting things by before fall does it thing and the bounty ends. I hope to have everything posted soon.

My Summer Vacation by Rose Rings

Well - I know it been a long time since I have blogged. Sorry about that! At first it was just work and all the other various business of life - then I went on vacation! Woohoo! Yeah! I took a whole three weeks off from the rat race. Man did it feel good...there is nothing like letting go and not giving a flying crap about the minutia of your work. Of course that doesn't mean that I did have anything to do. First we went to Kansas City and visited friends there. Yes I did try some Barbecue. We were taken to Rosedale's Barbeque - a barbecue place in Kansas City started in 1934. Oh my god - I have never eaten so much in my life. I split a slab of ribs with my friend Eric, and it was still too much. No little dinky baby backs here! Here is a picture of Annie's plate. She got a half rack, plus three sides including some great french fries. All that for $8.95. I will say, I was not fond of their sauce. I am sure that in Kansas City that is tantamount to sacrilege, but it was way to ketchup-y and tasted strongly of celery seed. Fortunately, the meat was so good it didn't need any sauce.

After I got back to St. Louis, people were asking me if I have tried the "Brain on a Bun". I was told that it was a KC specialty along with the 'cue. Now I like a good brain as much as the next guy, but since Mad Cow Disease has come along, I am very hesitant to eat it. I used to eat it all the time with my dad. It is very creamy, like soft scrambled eggs. Maybe once I can be sure I won't die in a horrible prolonged manner, I might try the brain on a bun next time we are in KC.

If you are lucky enough to find yourself traveling along I-70 between St. Louis and Kansas City, keep an eye out for a place called Bobbers. I can't tell you which exit, but they have plenty of signs along the interstate to give you a heads up. Here is kinda how the whole adventure went. As we are driving down the highway back from Kansas City, we were getting pretty damn hungry. Now I had seen the billboards for Bobbers. Tony starts making fun of name. "Sounds like they should be selling bait!" "Maybe the specialty of the house isn't the food!" and so on. (Most can't be repeated in front of a family viewing audience.) Finally, we pull off of the highway at the proper exit, and start looking at the restaurants. A 'cue joint. Nope - just ate 'cue. A bar and grill. Nope - not open. Fast food. Nope - hatin' the fast food by now. So Tony was over ruled by the rest of the car and we headed over to Bobbers. Here was the first good sign. The parking lot was full at 1:30 in the afternoon. Second good sign. Lots and lots of old timers gathered at the counters eating. Tony asked one of them if the food was good. He said he had been coming there for years and it was the best food within 50 miles. He recommended to Lunch Buffet and mentioned the baked chicken in particular. We opted for the dining room with a table close to the buffet. The waitress rocked. She kept filling up our drinks and clearing the old plates away without a second thought, all the while making small talk with her regulars. The food was really really good. No food service, except the dinner rolls (which were hard). Baked chicken, BBQ ribs,homemade Salisbury steak, fresh corn in butter sauce(Best corn on a buffet ever.), new potatoes cooked with bacon, mashed taters and gravy (gravy was homemade) plus more stuff I can't remember. Great salad bar with fresh ingredient including the best tomatoes I have ever had in a restaurant. I went back for extra. All this for $8.95 a person. So there Tony! You can't poke fun now! St. Louis was - as always - a blast . We attended the Midwest Magic Jubliee and ran a party suite all three nights of the convention. My theory about running parties at conventions - add booze, stir and wait to be amused. I have rarely been disappointed. We pulled into town on Wednesday and started setting up shop in the suite when several people showed up out of the blue and started a "pre-con" party. This pretty much set the tone for the rest of the weekend. We had crazy drunk chicks, foot magic, guys offering to nail a body part (yes-that part) to a board for money, balloon twisters - it was a lot of fun. We also saw some great magic - and unfortunately, some really really really bad magic. The performing highlight of the convention was watching Tom Burgoon and Mike Finney MC the evening shows. If you get a chance to see either of these guy perform - do it! (Yes, that is me in the leopard print fez tending bar!) Oh this is a food blog isn't it? Well we ate at Las Palmas. Again. Awesome food as in years past. Great staff. Good prices. If you are near the airport in St Louis - try to stop by.

We also ate at India Palace. It is has the strangest location ever. It is on the top floor of a small hotel beside the St. Louis airport. You can watch planes arrive and depart during dinner. The really bad news - it is almost impossible to get to now - thanks to some creative construction on the part of MDOT. Take the time to get a hybrid view map via Google map before you go. I wished we had before we left the hotel. It would have prevented much anxiety on our part.

Definitely worth the trouble though - one of the best Indian buffets I've been to in a while. A nice mix of vegetarian and meat dishes - pretty typical offerings with things like Lentil Dal, Chicken Tika, "Tempura" spinach leaves, and mini dosas plus a nice selection of pickles and salads. The buffet became a "must visit when in town" eating experience.

Just wanted to mention this, India Palace had goat. I like goat curry. Goat is damn tasty. Yes it has a pronounced flavor, and that's OK in my book. India Palace had goat curry with the bones still in. The people at the next table were flipping out about that. Lord forbid - they had to work to get the meat offa the bones. So sad... if you don't like it - leave it in the tray! I will gladly jump on the grenade and eat an extra helping so it doesn't go to waste.

So you think to yourself, "Wow! Rosie had a great time in St. Louis and Kansas city - she must be ready to go home!" And you would be wrong... As is our want, we headed out to the Lake of the Ozarks for three days. We swam. We drank. We ate - boy, did we eat. We ate at Kay’s Home Cooking again. You can check out my adventures there from the last time we were at the lake.

I also got to cook this time. That's the really nice thing about having a cabin with a full kitchen - you have the option of making something great to eat instead of eating out all the time. I went and bought some really nice two inch thick ribeye steaks and grilled them bad boys up. Along with hobo packets and a huge salad it was one of the best meals we ate on vacation. Not that I am tooting my own horn or anything...but I can make a nice dinner when I want to.



There was a little bit of a disagreement with our host, however. I love Steve. Steve is a wonderful, generous and awesome friend who we love hanging out with. However, his one fault is that he likes to marinate steaks in Italian Dressing. Oh. My. God. How can anyone ruin a beautiful piece of meat by throwing Seven Seas Italian on it is beyond my comprehension. I like a little garlic, sure. I like salt and pepper - it's a given. But vinegar! Pa-leeeeze. It pickles the beef and hide the flavor of the meat itself. Sorry Steve - not gonna happen on my watch. You can mangle your meat as you see fit once I leave.

So that was my big summer trip! I had another week's vacation after I got home and I'll tell you about it later... but for now - that's all folks!

Whee!!

Dave and I got a few seconds of fame in an article featured in the Dispatch today. Take a gander at it here.

My Hubby - Man Ho

Yup. He has no shame when it comes to some things - and pate is one of them. A friend of ours, who just happens to be a chef, needed some work done on his computer system. He asked my hubby how much it would cost, and Tony's response was "A terrine of pate." My hubby has had a long time love of this dish - it's essentially a meatloaf - a fancy one, yes - and he loves large chunks of meaty goodness.



The reason he is extorting pate from strangers is that I just haven't had the chutzpeh to try it myself. I even got Ruhlman's book Charcuterie out of the library - still a little intimidating. Once the weather cools down, I am going to give it the old college try just for him - he claims he won't be holding his breath.

I just wanted to show you this picture of a cross section of the pate - those pink ovals in the center? Those are whole duck breasts. And the little green dots? Pistachios. It was awesome, by the way.

Now that you are all familiar with my husband's proclivities, I will mention that we went back to Smackies last weekend for a follow-up on their buffet. They fixed some of the sides - the green beans were pretty good, the greens were cut up a little more and the cobbler had a lot less cinnamon. Over all still a great bargain for $12.00. Service is still not great - we mentioned it to the gal who checked us out. Hopefully they will listen - bad service will doom a place even if it has great food.


I did order a half slab of dry rub ribs. They were fantastic. Tender, flavorful - yum yum. The meat comes with either a side of white bread or "corn bread". I will say - it is not really corn bread - not in the traditional sense. It was very moist and had whole kernels of corn in it. It was really nice, but not what I was expecting. I would call it "corn pudding" instead.

In parting, here is a little 'que poetry for you:

half rack
dry
dry rub
cornbread

Summertime and the BBQ is cookin'

I love barbecue. Something about taking a tough piece of meat, adding heat and spice thereby transforming it into a moist, succulent inside with chewy caramelized exterior - it's food magic at it's finest. It's tough finding good BBQ at a restaurant in this city - everyone seems to love City BBQ. I used to love them when they only had the one store. Now, every time I've had their meat, it's been dry - and to my mind that is a cardinal sin. It's part of what happens when people get too ambitious and decide that they have to own an empire. I guess I am the type of person who would rather do one thing well than a dozen things badly...

So this past weekend I found someone who likes doing barbecue well. I almost don't want to tell you - I wanna keep all the goodness for me and mine. But being the generous soul that I am (and, as the hubby points out, I can never keep my mouth shut) I am going to tell you about Smackies.

Recently relocated to the old Jimmy Dean restaurant building in the Columbus Square Plaza, I had passed them by a couple of times on my way to Mi Mi's. (In fact, they are very close neighbors.)

After my experiences with other Columbus barbecue places, I wasn't really going to get worked up. But damn - it sure smelled good. Plus - I saw the sign out front that said they had a "Southern" buffet on the weekends. I figured that was a pretty good place to start. I like Southern food. It makes ya fat and sassy. And I need all the sass I can get.

After a morning in my garden (which is doing well, thank you for asking), Tony asked if I wanted to go out for lunch. I said yup and he suggested we try Smackies. Unfortunately, we got there about 45 minutes too early for the buffet. Fortunately, the waitress was really sweet. She got us seated and brought us some sweet tea. It was good tea and my hubby was happy. During our wait, we watched the kitchen staff bring out various equipment and prepared foods. It looked good. It smelled good. Damn I was hungry. So the time came - the staff lowered the brisket and pulled pork into the steam table and BAM! we were off to the races.

On the buffet that day was homemade coleslaw, green beans, biscuits and gravy, scalloped potatoes (also homemade), mac and cheese (homemade as well), brisket, pulled pork, greens, fried okra, stewed tomatoes, chicken wings, fried chicken, waffles, peach cobbler, apple cake, plus lots of white bread. Gotta have white bread with barbecue.


First the sides: Loved the slaw. It was creamy with a little bit of a vinegar bite - the cabbage was still crispy. Awesome stuff. Scalloped potatoes - nice and creamy, potatoes done correctly. They had a little cheese in them, but not enough to make them compete with the mac and cheese. Speaking of the mac and cheese - creamy,mild and cheesy. The noodles were just the right constancy - not mushy, not hard.

OK - just to show I am being fair, there were some things I didn't like about some of the side dishes. The greens - while tasty - weren't cut up at all. Same with the stewed tomatoes. Tasted great - pain in the butt to get out of the serving trays and onto your plate. The biscuits were only OK - they were over mixed and didn't rise very well. My mother, the biscuit queen, would have been very upset. The peach cobbler had too much cinnamon in it - you couldn't taste the fruit at all. And lastly - the green beans were bland. I would say right out of a can and doctored up some.


Of course those are minor things... the real star was the pulled pork and brisket - along with the sauces that adorn them. The meats were moist and the burnt ends were mixed in for those of us who covet such treats. There is a bucket with three tomato based sauces brought to the table - Molasses & Cayenne, Whiskey & Hickory Smoke and Brown Sugar & Molasses. I was assured that all the sauces are made in-house. I liked the Molasses & Cayenne the best - it was sweet, tart and had a bite to it. The other two were a little too sweet for my taste, but I have a feeling most people would like those better. The hubby ate his BBQ without any sauce. That is a sign the meat was done right.

So my first impression of Smackies was - "Damn that stuff is good!" I can't wait to go back and try some of the dry ribs, which are not on the buffet. I haven't seen dry ribs in Columbus before. For those of you who don't know what dry ribs are: The are cooked with a dry rub, moistened with mop sauce during cooking and then finished with more of the rub seasoning before serving. The BBQ sauce is provided at the table for those who want it. Me - I like my "Cue" without sauce most of the time.

So get on over to Smackies then. I say try the buffet - see if you like it - then come back for more...lots more...

(Smackies is located at 5730 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43231 Phone 614-794-1600)

I'm back from the grave....

May was a long long month...

This is kinda how it went -

Work - bitch bitch bitch

Gardening - too much rain, bitch, bitch, too little rain, bitch, bitch, dead plants, bitch, bitch, bitch

Cooking - too busy, bitch, too hot, bitch, too damn lazy

Thank goodness that month is over - maybe I can get a fresh start on things...

To start June off on the right foot, I took a trip down to the North Market to meet up with some of my fellow bloggers and to buy some produce.

The Produce

First was some strawberries. I have been waiting a whole year for this. I can only hope that in the next couple of weeks we can get a big bucket of these beauties and make some first class homemade jam. I am sick of flavorless, overly sweet commercial products. I've almost given up on buying them...

Next - asparagus. These babies are slated for the grill tonight....

And lastly some Swiss chard - I have to confess, I had never eaten Swiss chard until two years ago. I saw some at the Farmer's market with it bright red stems and bought it just for the way it looked. Then I had to figure out what the hell I was gonna do with it. (Thank you Joy of Cooking - you saved my patootie once again!) I loved it so much I grew some last year but this year I decided I had more important things to grow and will just buy it fresh from the market.

The Bloggers

With summer coming into full bloom, I was really tickled to have Lisa, Dave and Lorence meet me at the North Market for a quick gab session. It amazing how many bloggers there are in Columbus now. I will be hitting my two year mark here in July. Dave's been making beer and grillin' since 2003, Lorence has been in his kitchen since 2005 and Lisa has been a widow for about two years now. (Becke over at Columbus Foodie keeps an ever growing list of bloggers on her site - so stop by occasionally to see who is joining the ranks.)

We had some tasty strawberries with Dave's wife and daughter while we talked about beer making, chemical additives in food, growing gardens, child rearing, among other stuff - I have to say, these guys are just pretty darn nice, intelligent and good looking to boot. If you blog here in Columbus and are interested in getting together sometime later in the summer, let us know. We don't bite much.

So after my inspirational visit to the market, I decided to grill out for the first time this season as well. It was awesome - the hubby said it was the most perfect meal I had made in months...and he doesn't gush over things easily...

So what hit the grill?

Thick cut pork chops, thinly sliced potato packets and fresh asparagus from the Farmer's Market. I like being to cook everything on the grill when the weather gets hot.

The chops I brined - with so little fat on pork these days it just drys out too fast. My brine for this recipe: 2 cups of water to 1/4 cup kosher salt, the juice of one lime, some garlic and onion powders plus some fresh ground pepper. I cheated big time and used about a 1/2 cup of hot tap water to dissolve the salt, then added the other spices. I then proceeded to top off the rest of the liquid with cold tap water. I tossed in the chops and refrigerated them for about two hours.

The asparagus-I stuck them on skewers, brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled on some kosher salt. Threw them on the grill while the chops rested. Awesome. I have decided to eat veggies as simple as possible these days.

The potato packets - I used to make these all the time. Not a new idea, I've seen them called hobo packets - and have also read about them being used in camping. The reason I decided to try them again? I got me a real cheap mandolin on the clearance rack. A whole $2.50. Damn near broke the bank. Sure its a cheap peice of crap, but take a look at how thin you can get things like potatoes...sweet!!
Here is how you make your potato packets.

You need:
1 large potato per person
A medium onion
oil - olive or veggie
non-stick spray (if you have it, not really essential)
Seasonings: seasoned salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne or anything else that strikes your fancy
heavy aluminum foil

Peel your potatoes if you like and slice them on the medium setting on your mandolin. That is about an 1/8" for those of you with mad knife skills.
Do the same to your onion.
Now get out a nice large piece of foil - make it wide enough to hold a double row of potato slices.
Coat with non-stick spray or brush on some oil.
Lay down a layer of potato slices slightly overlapping as in the picture.
Now top with some of the onions, and some of your seasonings.
Now another layer of potatoes. Top with more seasonings.
Now bring together the two long edges of the foil and roll them together to seal the edge. Roll up on of the short ends, and then dribble in about a teaspoon of oil into the remaining open end and seal the packet.

I usually put the packets on the grill first. They cook fast - the potatoes are done when the bottom layer is lightly browned and you can poke a fork into the potatoes.

That's about it - it's one of those "make it up as you go" kinda things.

Ok - time to put the nose back to the grindstone...

Way to go!!

For those of you who don't read the Columbus Dispatch website, here is a link to a recently published interview with Lisa of Restaurant Widow.

Yeah Lisa!

Well it seems like some of the local bloggers are actually interested in getting together! I have set up a Google Calendar so we can share potential dates. Some of you have already received notices - the rest of you only need ask.

Also, any suggestions on venue?

Dave of Dave's Beer has mentioned going to MiMi's and then bowling. Sounds like a good time to me!!

Wow!! Time flies even when you are not having fun!

I took an assistant manager position with my store - better money, but you know how it goes - the company expects twice what they are paying for. So beside working - I haven't done a whole heck of a lot.

I did take some time out to meet with Lisa and Becke, two of my fellow food bloggers here in the capital city. We had brunch at Zen Cha tea salon. (I love Zen Cha - great teas and pretty decent food. Their bubble tea is the best because they make it fresh, not from the weird mixes like so many other places in town.) Us gals decided that this summer would be a great time to get all our other fellow bloggers together for a confab. Also, maybe a bunch of us could meet up for a raid on one of the farmer's markets on Saturday as well. It's always fun to put faces with blogs!! If you are interested and live in the Central Ohio Area, let us know!

Because I had been pressed for time lately, I have been eating out a little bit more than usual. And boy does it suck! I hate chain restaurants! No consistency - too many crap-tastic items on the menu usually pulled out of a freezer and nuked at the last minute. Some restaurants suffer from "food service-itis" - sauces from mixes, pre-cut potatoes plus other atrocities - you know that every box and can in the pantry says "SYSCO" on it. Life is too short to eat nasty food like that...

So what's a gal to do?

My solution - Try to eat at little places in town that offer great food at reasonable prices. It isn't always easy. There are a lot of really bad restaurants out there. You all have horror stories of that little Mexican joint that was so scary you were afraid to eat there the moment you walked in the door. There used to be a "diner" here in town that would display strawberry pies with green mold growing on them. Thank god they died a quick and painful death before any of their patrons did.

My first favorite hole in the wall is Mi Mi Cafe [5858 Columbus Square, in the Columbus Square Shopping Center (just down the way from the Bowling Palace) at the corner of Cleveland Ave and E. Dublin-Granville Rd.] I learned about the cafe from Lisa over at the Restaurant Widow. I count on her for her flawless ability to sniff out great food. So far she and her hubby have batted 1000 for all the places they recommended and I have tried. So get on over there and check her blog out!

So back to Mi Mi's. They have the best Banh Mi sandwiches. Who would have thought a fusion of French and Vietnamese cuisine would be so freakin' addictive? Crusty bread is layered with pate, mayo, pork, pickled radish and carrots, a little bit of fresh jalapeno and cilantro for kick, topped with a little fish sauce. Oh boy! It is really good. I am drooling just thinking about them. Here is a picture of the culprit.

Best part - it's only $3.50 per sandwich. No kidding. Worth it at twice the price.

While the hubby and I are addicted to the sandwiches and the Vietnamese coffee (both hot and cold), our daughter loves the Pho. I do too, truthfully. For those of you not familiar with this noodle dish - it is rice noodles served in a excellent Asian-style beef broth, and topped with thinly sliced beef, tripe, and meatballs that have gelatinous pieces of tendon in them. It comes with a platter of herbs, bean sprouts and lime to doctor the soup to your taste, plus hoisin and sriracha sauces to dip your meats into. My hubby just adds the sriracha right into the broth. When we were all sick with the flu a couple weeks ago, this is what I brought home for dinner. Better than mom's chicken soup!!

Mi Mi's has a very small menu. Only four items on it - plus coffee, tea and bubble tea. Lunch is pretty busy, with the patrons stopping in to grab sandwiches - so you may want to stop in for dinner if you can't take time for a leisurely lunch. Sunday morning is really really busy. The owner joked it was because all the nail salons were closed on Sundays. The service can be slow when they are busy - they only have three people running the whole operation. Be patient. It is worth it.

The other place I have been stopping into on the way home is Pita Hut Grille. It's been years since I had a shawarma. What is a shawarma you ask? In this case, its a combination of beef. lamb and turkey that is highly seasoned and then roasted on a spit. It is then slivered off and tucked into a pita with hummus, tomatoes, onions and pickles, and topped with a tahini dressing. Dammit - now I need to go get one. I'll be back in a few....OK all better now....

Their side dishes are acceptable - I didn't like their tabbouleh. It was too minty - it over powered everything else. I like fresh mint - but there are limits to everything. Their French fries are food service - acceptable but not great. They had an eggplant salad ( I am not sure of its official name) and while it was pretty darn good the rest of the family was less than impressed.

Pita Hut is not the bargain that Mi Mi's Cafe is. At roughly $5 a sandwich, it sets me back almost $20 for three sandwich combos. True, they have coupons on their website, but still...it ain't cheap fast food folks. If you are really poor, you'd better resort to the dollar menu at Wendy's across the street.

Now here is a debate that my family had when eating their dinner one night - Shawarmas or Gyros?

My family is gyro crazy. It is our fast food of choice when we are on the Northwest side of town. We have been customers of The Gyro Shoppe for about 15 years now and I figure the owners must be buying a summer home with all the money we have spent there over the years. Now here is the thing - don't expect this to be a Greek restaurant. It ain't. Don't expect haute cuisine. It ain't that either. And it definitely isn't health food. They serve a great gyro and fries quickly and cheaply. I love their fries. They are cut on site and fried up fresh. They aren't like Mickey D fries at all - but add some seasoned salt and they rock my world.They also have something called a Romanburger which a double burger with everything PLUS several slices of grilled salami, feta and gyro sauce. I don't even want to think about how many years have been taken off my life by those damn things. Lastly, they also have baklava for dessert. Lots of kinds - including chocolate chip. Hang on - need to make another quick trip....must have chocolate chips....hmmmmmmmmmmm.......

So after a heated debate in the best "If a tiger and a lion fought - who would win?" tradition, it was decided that if we were presented with a gyro and a shawarma - the gyro would win. Sorry Pita Hut - it was the fries that really swung the vote in this case. A good helping of salty starch is a requirement for every fast food experience and the Gyro Shoppe's fries are superior to yours...

So yes Virginia, there is good fast food out there - even if you have to search for it and possibly pay a little more than you would at the Golden Arches. But isn't making your taste buds happy worth a couple extra bucks now and then?

Something I've been meaning to try...

I was cruising the library the other day - for books, people - for books!!! Get your minds outta the gutter...

So - as I was saying - I was cruising the library for books the other day when I came across Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong. I was pretty excited - I had read about the book on Barbara's blog Tigers and Strawberries and wanted to give it a try. I've got a wok and I am not afraid to use it...

Having a five pound bag of chicken wings left over from feeding the gamers on Friday night - I decided to try the Soy Sauce Chicken Wings with Fresh Shiitake mushrooms. The picture looked pretty damn good - it was arranged in the best food porn style. First things first - while I had the soy sauce and the spices, I did not have the Chinese cooking wine or the dark soy sauce in my pantry. I tried to pick up the wine at the local groceries but had no luck so, I headed over to Asian grocery to get my supplies.

Side note: I love Asian supermarkets - it's like going on a hunting expedition. Since the English titles on some of the items are pretty darn tiny, you have to take your time and make sure you are getting what you came for. And there is always the chance you will get the crappy brand of what ever you are looking for - so you have to pluck up the courage to ask the owners and other shoppers what they would recommend. This time, in addition to getting the cooking wine and dark soy, I picked up oyster sauce, hosin sauce, fresh shiitake mushrooms plus a huge bag of baby bok choy. I have to admit, however, that there are items that kinda worry me. Things like Big Bird Pork Fu - but we'll tackle that another time....

So I get home and measure out all the ingredients for the poaching liquid and set it to simmering. It sure smelled great. Anise, cinnamon and garlic were the dominate aroma. The anise worried Tony a little bit. He hates liquorice but I assured him it wouldn't be too strong as I had only put in 5 star anise instead of the 10 the recipe called for.

After 40 minutes, I dropped the wings into the pot and cooked them over very low heat the seven minutes specified in the recipe, then pulled them off the heat and let them set to finish cooking in the hot liquid.

In the meantime, the rice was cooking away on the stove and I followed the recipe for the bok choy with oyster sauce. Very quick, very simple. You blanch the bok choy in water, toss with sesame oil and oyster sauce, then pour hot peanut oil on it at the last minute. Kylie uses this technique on a couple of other veggies as well. Quick and simple, it let the flavors of the bok choy stand out. This recipe is definitely on my keeper list.

So about 15 minutes later the wings got fished out of the sauce, finished off with the mushrooms cooked in a reduction of the poaching liquid, finished the bok choy and this is how it all looked!


Looks pretty damn yummy huh?

So what did the family think? They really disliked the wings. The skin, which had been in contact with the liquid, was very rubbery and the meat, which had not been in contact with the liquid, was very bland. I am going to chalk it up to cultural differences. We, as a rule, love things like chicken feet - which are nothing more than rubbery skin surrounding some tendons and bone. But with wings, we wanted the skin to be crispy - and the same with roast chicken. That means poaching a whole chicken in the same manner would be right out for home dinners. I thought maybe it was just us, so I gave Gail some of the wings. She and her family tried them for dinner. Her son was not too upset by the skin and really liked the wings. Just a note - he is also a professional chef and eats a lot of things with relish that most would not consider. Jim and Gail, on the other hand, disliked the texture of the skin, but found the meat acceptable.

On the plus side, the reduced poaching liquid with the shiitake mushrooms in it was great over the rice and the bok choy was the best. Everyone went back for seconds, and was upset there weren't thirds on the bok choy.

Truthfully, I am not too discouraged by the whole wing debacle. It looked good, it smelled good, but the texture was just too much for us to eat the wings as an everyday meal. The sauce, which I see as an investment, I froze for future use. I was thinking maybe I could use it to poach skinless chicken thighs thus avoiding the skin issue and adding more flavor with the stronger tasting meat. Plus - thighs are a lot cheaper than wings. Once the poaching liquid was finished simmering, the whole dish really only took about 25 minutes - not too bad for a weeknight dinner.

I am also going to be trying some of the egg dishes from the book. I am a big fan of soft poached eggs and several recipes are devoted to different ways of preparing them.

Now for the big question - would I buy this book?

The recipes are fairly simple. Everything I have tried comes out correctly the first time when the directions are followed. The ingredients are mostly easy to find, but some will require a trip to a specialty market to purchase (At least in Columbus). (This might put off some of the more timid souls who are unwilling to go outside their comfort zone just to make dinner one night.) So yes, I would buy the book - it is on my wish list right now.

Making money for my babies...

I have been cooking up a storm recently - honest! Not for my family, but for my friends and coworkers

Starting on March 1st, Gail, Debbie and I have been cooking lunch three days a week as part of a fundraiser for the March of Dimes. This will go on until the last week of April when we have a silent auction in store and then participate in the March of Dimes fundraising walk.

The rules for the fund raising lunches are this:

• The cost of lunch has to be kept at $3.00. We found this is cheaper than people can eat out, so they are more likely to partake.
• The meals have to make money. Of course.
• The meals have to be able to hold up to either sitting in some type of heating devise (like a crock pot or steam table) or can be served from the refrigerator with ease. Microwavable leftovers are also a plus.

We got a boost this year from a friend of Debbie's who is a caterer. Jen gave us a pan of pasta in tomato sauce and a big salad which helped us get some starting money to buy more supplies.

So what did we spend our starting cash on? Mostly meat. Protein sources are the most expensive thing for us to purchase - and meat is expected by our coworkers. We picked up a 5 pound "buffet" ham for $.79/pound at the restaurant supply warehouse, plus a big tube o' ground beef. The beef is now taco filling, meatballs and chili. The ham is going to become scalloped potatoes and ham casserole, "fried" rice, and what ever else we decide on.

The biggest lunch hit so far? A baked potato bar. Yup - a lowly potato ruled them all. I picked up a 50# box of 40 ct potatoes. What does that mean? That those potatoes weighed, on average, a little over a pound each. I got up early,wrapped them in foil, tossed them in the oven at 450 degrees for 90 mins and then transferred them to my Nesco roaster at work where they held up nicely for the rest of the afternoon. We provided chili, salsa, cheese, bacon, sour cream, butter and broccoli. True - that's a lot of starch, but hmmmmmmmm so good... There were about ten leftover potatoes, so Gail turned them into cheddar potato soup for the next day. Took next to no time and it was damn fine soup as well...

The biggest seller for us, though, has been the Debbie Crack Corn. Little bags of this fine treat have been selling like hotcakes. In fact, in the beginning Debbie was selling small bags for 50 cents each - just to get them hooked. Now she is selling $5 and $10 bags - known affectionately as nickle and dimes bags. My hubby has now spent $10 on this stuff and I am sure he will buy more. I have the recipe right here - for those of you who don't live close enough to get your own fix from Debbie. By the way, the recipe doesn't say it, but use air popped corn. It makes sure the product stays light and airy, not greasy.

If you really love this recipe - please make a donation to the March of Dimes. They provide money to fund research that helps premature babies grow healthy and strong...

CARAMEL CORN aka Debbie Crack Corn and we don't care!!!

8 cups popped popcorn
4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Put popcorn in a 17x12x2-inch baking pan. Remove any unpopped kernels.
2. Measure brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt into a 11/2 -quart saucepan. Turn burner to medium heat. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon till butter melts and everything is mixed. When mixture boils, stop stirring. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn off burner. Remove pan from burner.
3. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour mixture over popcorn using rubber scraper to scrape pan. Gently stir the popcorn and hot mixture so all popcorn is coated.
4. Turn oven to 300 degrees. Put pan into oven. Bake 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and stir mixture with wooden spoon. Put pan back into oven and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer. Remove pan from oven. Use a pancake turner to remove caramel corn from pan to large bowl; cool. Makes 8 cups.

And the gloves come off...

Like most mothers who are single, we have lives and children to feed and we are doing it the best way we can. So,
I can not slave behind the stove for 2 hours and 45 minutes with my mommy to make Rosie Eat Bite Your Tongue It’s SO Good Soup; and
After working all day, dropping kids off to sports and pick them up from after school programs I am tired as hell.

Do you have 5 kids and no husband or help?
So pardon me, I find it refreshing to see someone who can show me how to create meals in a short period, while using ingredients that I can purchase form the store (everyone does not have a Secret Garden in the back yard) so that I able to spend time with my kids before they fall asleep. I like eating around the table with my family, allowing my kids to assist me in preparing quick meals and having lively discussions with my kids and not passing out because I am tired. And too your comment about edutainment. I like the style. I can watch food programs with my kids that don’t bore them and me to death. No, Rachael is not for everyone...and sometimes she is not for me but, they are people out there who are looking for ways to create quick meals and spend time with family who can’t wake up in the morning and try out recipes all day long. She is popular for a reason.

I CAN NOT SPEND QUALITY TIMES WITH MY KIDS IF I AM PREPARING MEALS FOR 4 HOURS.

I have a 3 year old toddler, 5, 9, 13, and 17 year old - all boys and did I mention that I am by myself(38 year old MILITARY WIDOW for the last year and a half). So tell me when do I have time to create this dish: Rosie's It Too Damn Cold Outside Chili. Which should be titled,
Rosie’s Its too damn long from me to make this chili because I got kids to feed, homework to check, and work to finish.

You and your bloggers must come the some socio-economic demographic. You all (your bloggers) sound mad because folks can relate to Rachel Ray. I don’t have a husband that could watch the kids while I enjoy my “Lustful Apron Experience.” Do you have 5 kids and are on a limited budget? Could you see how that could be difficult? I pride myself on making meals that are healthy and affordable for my family. So, before you and your “friends” start to insult anyone you must consider that everyone is not in the same boat as you are.

Oh, by the way this is the Anonymous writer who you wanted to sign up so my name can be displayed. In reference to your “Back on the 4th I posted about how I had fallen out of love with the Food Network and garnered this comment.

Yeah, do you remember I talked about how mean you are. I was wrong, you are not mean. You are just not empathic to others lives.

Sammies,
Regina

And Roise I will advise you to respond with caution.

Regina - It is nice to put a name to the comments. The world is so large and there are so many people who feel that they can just "flame on" without standing behind what they have to say. Congratulations on having the courage to take responsibility for your words.

I did not intend for my comments to be a personal attack on you - how could they be since there was no name attached to the words? I do not know you or your situation any more than you know me or my situation. How can I be empathic to someone who I know nothing about? As far as I knew, you were one of Rachel's paid publicists who go around defending her honor. (And don't say there aren't paid guns who do it - that's the way it works in the big city.)

Actually Regina - I don't have time to slave over a hot stove every day either - even if I do only have one child and a even bigger baby (the hubby). I work full time with overtime, plus freelance graphics work and helping my hubby with the family business. That means I generally need to make decent meals in a quick amount of time. I am also always looking for the cheapest way to use my food dollars. I have better uses for my time and money then making high end meals every day of the week. (Actually, that is one of my pet peeves with other bloggers - but that's another column.)

As far as Rachel Ray is concerned - I do not think she is the only answer. I outlined my issues with her earlier. I still stand behind them. I am glad you and others like you love Ray Ray. If her show gives you inspiration-great. But she is not the only show in town - and "her" solutions are not always the only or best ones. Quick "one night stands" as I call them are something I resort to only when I haven't had the foresight to plan ahead or my plans go to hell in a hand basket -and we all have those weeks - sometimes more often than we care to remember.

However - that being said - I am also not a fan of Once A Month Cooking. For those of you who haven't encountered that before, it means you buy everything you need for an entire month of meals and cook it over a weekend once a month - usually with the help of others who split the rewards of the labors. Then everything gets tossed into the freezer and pulled out and defrosted according to a set menu. I don't have a whole weekend to give up for cooking meals - and I bet you don't either. I also dislike the fact you can't really shop for great bargains in the weekly ads. And I really don't love casseroles that much.

Planning ahead is just as important as "30 minute meals" in my schedule.

Sunday is generally my cooking/household chores day. It's the day the weekly ads come out and my whole family is home so I can use them as cheap slave labor. I get up early, hit the stores, come home and get to cracking. (Most of my blogs are written on Sunday too, by the way. I sneak it in between loads of laundry and dishes.)

Let's take that chili you disparaged - that is my mid sized car recipe. I make it about once a year or so when I have the good fortune to luck into inexpensive ground beef ($1.29/lb at Meijer's) When I wanna make my compact car chili - it's different. First, I cut the amount of meat by about 2 pounds. Second, I substitute about half the beef for ground turkey ($.79/lb at Aldi's). I also throw in a couple extra cans of beans to make up to difference in bulk. It makes it a little more beany than I like but hey - everyone gets to suffer with me afterwards. Then- the best part - it goes in the crock pot on low and cooks for six hours while I do some illustrations for one of my clients. When it's all cooled off, I then portion it out - some of it is for dinner the next day, but the rest goes into quart sized freezer baggies and tossed into my small chest freezer. (At $85 bucks on sale the freezer was a great investment.)

So how does the freezer chili get used? Sometimes it's chili mac. Boil pasta, toss into chili, top with cheese and serve with green beans and a salad. Or chili dogs - served with carrots and chips for a midweek treat. Sometimes I will make chili burritos - messy but good.

Another thing I do when I hit the cheap meat bonanza is to spend a couple of hours making up dinners that I can throw in my freezer. Ox tails on clearance? The it's oxtail pasta sauce. Fast? No- but the time it's in the oven on Sunday morning allows me time to get laundry done and clean the bathroom. Into the freezer when its done! Ground beef on sale? That means meatloaf and meatballs - essentially the same recipe. I make up a big batch of mix, portion out the meatballs, then add a couple more ingredients to the mix that left and portion into two loaves - one for Sunday night dinner and the other for the freezer. Meatballs get cooked in the oven, then tossed with a jar of sauce then frozen. Then the meatloaf is tossed in the oven with some potatoes. An hour later - dinner is served. And there are leftovers for lunch for me and the kid. Meatloaf sandwiches rock.

Chicken on sale? I like whole chickens best. I get more mileage from them than anything else. Last week, Meijer had whole chickens on sale, $.69/pound. My two birds when in the oven. Half of one chicken got eaten for dinner. I made plain white rice and served it with defatted pan juices and glazed carrots. I also chopped up a bunch of veggies for later in the week while I was hacking up the carrots and bagged them up. Meat got stripped off the bones and packaged up. Chicken bones went into the crock pot and turned into stock overnight using the tail ends of the veggies left over from preping dinner. Monday morning - took the stock out of the crock, quickly strained it and put it in the fridge. (I know you would not have time to throw the bones in overnight, Regina, with five boys to wrangle in the morning - so I would recommend throwing the bones in the fridge and doing the broth on Monday night on the stove. It's the type of thing that doesn't really need watching while you are bathing, cajoling, counseling and otherwise parenting your boys.) Monday lunch - chicken sandwiches for me and the kid. Monday dinner - fried rice made with leftover rice, plus the leftover chicken and a bag of stir fry veggies from the freezer. Tuesday - Chicken noodle soup made with the broth from the bones, the pre-chopped veggies from Sunday and a bag of noodles from Aldi's. Wednesday night dinner is usually something like a casserole - tuna or chili mac so that I can have leftovers for Thursday - which is usually my really long night at work. It is usually the hubby's night to cook as well. Maybe you could teach your oldest how to make something simple like spaghetti. I just taught my daughter how to cook baked pork chops so she can get dinner started on Wednesdays when she beats the rest of us home...

So there are some of my tips - true they are not recipes.They are not peppered with cute catch phrases - every person needs to come up with their own in my opinion (both recipes and catchphrases). And I am most likely not as photogenic as some TV hosts. But, I get the job done. No one in my family starves. They are healthy, well fed and happy. PLUS, I have a reputation as a great cook. And I don't need hoards of fans to convince me of that. I simply have to look at my friends and family to know it.

Rosie

PS Regina - my condolences on the death of your husband. My family and I appreciate the sacrifice he made for us so that we can live fear free in our homes. Maybe that is a small consolation to you considering that you still have to raise your family without him, but it is all I, a stranger, have to offer.