Stephanie says

We feasted on perfect Prime Rib for Christmas dinner following America’s Test Kitchen slow, slow cooking recipe.   It was amazingly tender and delicious.   After reheats the next day, there was about 3 cups fat-trimmed and diced meat left before I cooked off the remaining visible fat in a slow skillet These looked so pretty cooking Beef-Barley Soup with Mushrooms Recipe 2 cups dried barley, soak in 4 cups water for half an hour, or so.   2 cups leftover roast, diced   1 lb. mushrooms, washed and sliced 1 cup each of diced             Onions             Celery             Fennel Bulb 1 pint beef or chicken broth 1 cup red wine Salt and pepper Bring the barley to a boil, cover pan and reduce heat to a simmer. Sauté (in butter or vegetable oil) the onions, celery,...

Before Christmas my friend Terry and I were talking.  I said I tried never to pay freight.   He said he always paid express just to avoid any worry.   Of course I was shocked at the excess. This Thompson is nothing if not parsimonious.  He talked about finding wrapping paper online he'd particularly liked, but hadn’t notated the site, while  I was extremely surprised he'd been looking at wrapping paper at all.  This was based on his disinterest last Christmas after a bad breakup; he'd been so uninterested in the whole season.   I hadn’t realized the extent of his unhappiness; newly acquainted, his rectitude had colored my perception.     This year, he'd reconciled with his girl and her little boy, and was looking for the perfect wrapping paper, but more importantly, he was buying gifts for his “favorite people.”   Wow, whole new side.   I loved it.   He gave great thought to the gifts for the little boy.   We di...

This is a repost but it's such a delicious recipe I couldn't resist.  I froze a batch over the weekend along with a batch of chocolate shortbread in anticipation of company, (specifically my new S.I.L. who loves Oreos so chocolate shortbread seems in order.)  Then again, I spotted a recipe for peanut butter-bacon cookies.  According to the comments, these bring grown men to their knees in gustatory bliss. Better idea:  Save that recipe for the man in my life.  ******************************************************************************** Christmas music should only be played after Thanksgiving but there is no wrong time for gingersnap cookies. I make a batch of the following recipe, freeze in balls, then bake whenever I feel the urge for a warm cookie and a glass of milk. I bought some at Heathrow a couple years ago, made by Prince Charles’ company (I admit to a silly fascination with him – being incredibly wealthy makes one remarkably better lo...

I inventoried the freezer last weekend, put it on a spreadsheet and printed that puppy with the intent to post it on the freezer door.   I know, a very exciting life, eh?   It needed done.   It’s good to know there are four pints of chicken broth and two gallons of chanterelle mushrooms.   Specially cause my kids will be home for Christmas, (yeah, I have two now as my girl got married in Feb.) so I can cook some really, really good stuff!   There were a few mystery items on the shelves, one being a packet of ice cube tray size I don’t know what.   It has to be something really good or I wouldn’t have taken the time to freeze it in that manner.   I have absolutely no recollection of cooking the mystery ingredient – or freezing it.   I’ll have to thaw one cube…   And strive to write an identifying tag as these goodies as they go into deep freeze. It seems appropriate that I tried a Mark Bittman recipe “Sardine Pasta with Bread Crum...

Portuguese Bean Soup The original recipe was published mid-70s in the Honolulu Star Bulletin and I’ve been tweaking it ever since. The heart of the recipe is Portuguese sausage (linguica) a very popular sausage in Hawaii Ne.   Jack in the Box and McDonald’s each sell a Portuguese Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, and Steamed White Rice breakfast plate.   The combination of those flavors is superb.   I make it at home when I can find the sausage and the first bite always takes me back to my years on Oahu.   The original recipe: 2 cups dried red or pink beans 2 quarts boiling water 1 onion, sliced 1 linguica (Portuguese sausage) 13 ounces 1 carrot, diced 1 turnip, diced   (I don’t like cooked turnips so use a sweet potato or yam) 2 potatoes, diced 1 small cabbage, chopped 1 can tomato sauce 1-2 quarts water 3 tsp salt Wash beans, cover with the boiling water and soak an hour.   Add onion, skinned sausage.   Cook u...

An arctic blast of cold weather is here to stay a few days. The temperature was in single digits when I took the dogs for a walk around the mill pond. A mown pathway meanders around the pond; berry brambles on the other side make this a great place to run them off-leash. I was intent on my camera, hoping to capture some snowy shots, when I heard an odd sound. I looked up and there was Moose, all 120 lbs. of him, mane wafting in the wind, trotting across the frozen pond, his nails clicking against the ice. Instant image of breaking ice and a dog flailing beneath the ice, (where's Lassie when ya need him?) That didn’t happen. I coaxed him back to shore, holding my breath the while, and snapped on his leash. No more freedom today Mister.

Label for finished product I just finished "Locavore’s Handbook:   The Busy Person’s Guide to Eating Local on a Budget" by Leda Meredith.  The book describes her diet for an entire year subsisting only of food grown within a 250 mile radius of her home in New York City.  (It was educational as I have a mindset of the entire East Coast as a barren and endless cityscape...) I'm an admitted "foodie" so quality of flavor alone make this concept worth considering, (the environmental impact is another discussion.) A rich variety of food is available within 250 miles of here thanks to the fertile soil of the Willamette Valley, the proximity to the Pacific Ocean and excellent rivers (like the Umpqua,) so sea food, river fish, the usual farm animals, a broad spectrum of vegetables, grains, and fruits including all the wonderful berries growing right in my yard.  And peaches! But no citrus?  How could I give up lemons and limes?  Or pomegranates?...

I happened upon this site somehow.  You know how it is:  you're searching for some specific recipe and hit that Google search engine, and wait to see what comes your way.  And wonderfully, sometimes you have great luck running across an intriguing site where one can get lost browsing through the recipes.  And this is one of those sites.  (Another one I love is"America's Test Kitchen" aka "Cook's Illustrated."  Never been steered wrong there.) No idea what I was looking for but I was hooked immediately because this site has so many recipes -  submitted by professionals and amateurs.  There are contests!  Hmmm, I wonder if I've got a recipe unique enough to submit.  Wait, now I remember.  My newly married  daughter and SIL are home for Christmas so I have a captive audience to cook for!  I've advised them to bring sweat pants because I'm going over the top.  I'll be heading for the fat farm.  Not until after Chri...

My reward for having my cholesterol checked today.  It's a given that the results aren't back yet. Yes, that is sour cream that you see.  Followed by this baked apple topped with vanilla ice cream.  An apple a day keeps high cholesterol away.  Perhaps not when topped with ice cream...   

 Served here in my mother's footed crystal piece.  So pretty. The original recipe follows but I made one change this time:  I have a big supply of apricot syrup on hand and used that instead of melted current jelly (also, my current crop failed this year so I'm all out.)  Current jelly provides a sweet-tart flavor.  So does apricot syrup. I think any tartly flavored jelly or syrup will work, the emphasis on tart.  There are so many flavor elements from spicy ginger to hot jalapeno to pungent coriander.  Yum.  Fresh Pomegranate Relish ½ cup red currant jelly 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions, including tops 1 cup pomegranate seeds 1 TBL minced fresh ginger 1 TBL minced fresh jalapeno chili ½ tsp ground coriander 1 TBL lemon juice Salt & pepper Put currant jelly in a 2-cup glass measure.   Heat in microwave at full power until softened, about 20 seconds. Stir in remainin...

Talking to Melissa,   “I heard from my secret admirer today.”   “Oh Yeah?   Did he email you?”   “No, he texted me.”   “Wait a sec.   He has your telephone number?   How’d he get that?”   “That’s how he’s contacted me.   I’ve told you about this.”   “No, you told me about a guy who contacted you on email or through your blog.”   “Oh.   Well the cute guy who follows my Twitter account does follow my blog.   I’m still confused about that because I did set-up a Twitter account so I could follow my friend Patti, but don’t think I’ve ever used it.   I don’t know how to use it for that matter.   And I’m way too wordy for a paltry 140 character format. But this is another guy.”   “Who called you on your phone?”   “No, who texted me on my phone with a photo of the Rogue Brewery.   I figured it was a wrong number and didn’t respond the first couple times....

I found an interesting looking recipe for Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad in the Sunday newspaper supplement. My recent purchase of a large burlap bag of organic sweet potatoes no doubt piqued my interest…  Anyway, the recipe calls for four medium sweet potatoes. So how much does a “medium” sweet potato weigh? I much prefer recipes with exact weights; I don’t care if it’s Imperial or Metric, just something logical to go by so there is sufficient dressing to decide if this is a recipe worth making again. Then I can tweak it, if need be. Okay, reverse engineering. 1 cup = 1 serving = 200 grams. This recipe says it serves 6; abracadabra: 1200 grams. This is totally untested! Proceed at your own peril! I’m switching between weight systems just because I’m lazy. Ingredients: 1200 grams sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed 227 grams red onion, chopped (1 cup) 4 TBL Olive oil, divided 2 medium jalapenos, ¼ cup, unless you really like spicy. BYW – I used the last...

My favorite new TV program this season is a PBS series about a young couple who are running a restaurant in North Carolina.   Chef Vivian Howard and husband Ben Knight left NYC to operate their own place and this program explores all the work involved with running a restaurant.   Which is a whole lot of work. I missed the first episode but they’d had a kitchen fire before the second episode which gutted the restaurant.   That show was centered around getting the restaurant up and running.   Again, an amazing amount of work.   In the meantime they’re raising twin babies and are building a new house.   I’m amazed at how well they are coping with these huge changes in their lives.   I’m pretty sure I’d be screaming or sobbing and not much in between…   There was new kitchen equipment and an involved new computer program for the staff to master.   Ai yai yai! Vivian is showcasing North Carolina meats and produce; one show featured three...

  Pass Creek Bridge built in 1925