Saturday, November 30, 2013

...But PLEASE don't lose that (turkey) butt!

Turkey got back!  Haha, I amuse myself.

Probably two days late and several dollars short on this post, but on the off chance that you haven't cooked your turkey yet, or if the whole shebang is sitting in the fridge, don't toss the carcass!  Making turkey broth is stupidly easy, and can still be navigated even if you're not into canning.  I'm not going to go into a fully detailed tutorial as I don't have pictures to aid, but I will provide several links to blogs that do.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Easy Cheesy Leftover Bake

Got a mess of leftover stew or chili?  Make a cheesy bake!  It's simple and satisfying.  Especially on a cold day like the ones we've been having.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Hellish Habanero Blue Cheese

The other day I did something equal parts dangerous, delicious, and daring.  We had one puny, slightly wilted habanero pepper left over from the end of our summer harvest.  I was making blue cheese dressing when a lightbulb popped up over my head, cartoon style.  Only this lightbulb was on fire.

I've seen spicy ranch time and time again.  (And it has delighted me every single one of those times.)  But I have yet to see a spicy blue cheese dressing.  Which in my mind is a little odd, seeing as we all know how well blue cheese and spicy things go together.

So I concocted one.  And it is noooooo joke.



Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Spinach and Goat Cheese Scrambled Egg Bake

This is a delectable (and pretty healthy) breakfast.  I made two of these this morning, a quick version for Hubs to eat on the way to work, and a more time consuming version that I got to enjoy.  I'll go through the detailed one, and sum up the quick one at the end.


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Marlboro's Red Pepper Paste

If you didn't know it, Marlboro makes cookbooks.  And if you were wondering, the recipes in the cookbooks are incredible.  The food is of a rustic nature:  sourdough biscuits, planked sirloins, beef jerky, chili, etc.  We've got three different books (Fifty From the Trail, Morning Fires and Evening Lights, and Cook Like a Man) and I have yet to find a recipe anything less than scrumptious.  I mean really.

Now as to how you would procure one, I have no idea.  Once upon a time one or both of the adults in our house may or may not have been mild to moderate occasional sometimes smokers.  Anyway, we used to be on Marlboro's mailing list and they would send us stuff occasionally.  That's how we ended up with these.

P.S.  I don't advocate smoking!  Quitting is a real bitch, but it's totally worth it.

Anyway I want to share a recipe with you.  I'm thinking that most of Marlboro's profits don't come from their recipes, so I doubt they'll mind too much if I share.  Here's hoping, anyway.

Unfortunately I have no photos of this!  I'll update this post the next time I make some.  This recipe is ideal for summertime, when bell peppers and jalapenos are plentiful.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

In order to make my life easier, lately I've been focusing on buying basic ingredients and making from them whatever I can.  Salad dressings aren't really a huge imposition to buy, as they're not very expensive, but there are several advantages to making your own.  For one thing, unless you're buying the gourmet or organic brands, there's probably a laundry list of things you can't pronounce.  I'm pretty good with pronunciation, but that doesn't mean I have any clue what they are.  Also the flavor of bottled dressings is NOTHING compared to homemade!  Combined with the ability to make as much or as little as you need and the fact that it's all relatively quick and easy, you kind of have a no brainer.

Steak and Veggie Stew

Got a new delicious cold weather recipe for you!  I came up with this one last week.  Hubs and I are challenging ourselves to pack the most veggies that we can into our diet.  I had a big cut of beef (I'm not positive, I think it was either a round or rib roast) hanging out in the freezer and thought maybe I could make some vegetable beef soup in the slow cooker.  I don't particularly care for VB soup, as it generally isn't very well seasoned and just seems kind of bland to me, but I was determined to do it better.

This is also a great clean-out-the-fridge recipe, as you can throw just about any bits and pieces of leftover vegetables you may have in the mix.  As it were, I had quite a few leftovers that got consumed this way.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Halloween!

For a long time Boo has reminded me of someone else.  His hair would get mussed up, and he would look like everyone's favorite imaginative, scheming, eternally six year old boy, Calvin.  He's full of life and just a tinge of trouble (that I'm sure will blossom fully in the next few years) so in addition to The Look, he potentially has the demeanor as well.

I've been a Watterson fan for as long as I can remember.  So I decided to go all in for Boo's second Halloween.  See, my sister is an excellent knitter/schemer/accomplice.  I told her I was thinking about doing a Calvin and Hobbes theme, and she was my hero!

Boo was hard pressed to make a decision as to which kitty was his favorite.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

'A' is for Autumn and Apples!

Hubs and I took our yearly vacay to the mountains this past weekend.  We have friends there, and since both of us grew up near the beach, we like to change up the scenery every once in a while.  It was a beautiful weekend to go.  The evenings dipped into the 30's, but the days were bright and merely brisk.

On our way out of town we stopped into the farmer's mart and got some goodies.  Sold by the bushel, 'deer apples' are apples that hit the ground naturally before they can be picked off the tree.  They are somewhat bruised, but otherwise completely edible.  Hubs has been lusting over the thought of making apple cider, so he picked up a box with that purpose in mind.  We had also already grabbed a peck of hand picked Arkansas Black apples.  (We planted an AB the same day we planted all of our other trees, but this year it decided to go to tree heaven.  So we figured we'd have to buy them if we ever wanted to try any!)

We also got a quart of local honey with honey comb in tact (nom!), some very fresh heads of cabbage, and a cream soda.  For me.  Delish.  Oh, and when we were leaving home we came across a guy selling half bushels of sweet potatoes, so we bought two!  Think I'll have my work cut out for me soon enough...