July 4th Food and Fun!

Ah yes, the 4th of July...Independence Day. We celebrated with a small party of 5. The menu included Pheasant Under Glass, Duchesse Potatoes, Baby Asparagus with White Truffle Sauce, and.....

Wait a minute! Are you kidding me? We had Patriotic Food!!

Grilled hot dogs, Homemade Chili, Multi-Colored Cole Slaw and Stuffed Mushrooms. Are stuffed mushrooms patriotic? Well...they are now!

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about! Good ol' hot dogs on "white-trash" buns! Grilled some white-trash wieners, too. Why white-trash? Well, I've been accused of being white trash once or twice, so why not have a little fun with it?

Here are the stars of our show: Some Johnsonville sausages with cheddar cheese, turkey franks, white-trash wieners and really skinny pork sausages. I think the skinny sausages were made in Bellville but I can't swear to it. I didn't see the package. Four kinds of dogs to decorate our buns. Now that's "eatin' nasty!" WOO!

Here's the Johnsonville package. I wanted to post it because it has a personal pet peeve. "Beddar with Cheddar."

This is part of a big problem in America. Companies enjoy using misspelled words to sell products because they feel it is cute or catchy. Well, it contributes to the "dumbing-down" of America. That is my opinion. It may have been cute in the beginning (and that is debatable), but so many companies have resorted to this tactic that it really isn't cute anymore.

That was my only gripe of the day. I don't want to go on and on about it here, but I had to mention it. I just don't want to see America end up like the America in "Idiocracy." Ever see that movie? Sheesh!! It's more accurate than it should be!!

Have a fabulous day and as always....Happy Eating!! :)

My Cousin Suffers from "FIAS"-Food Ingredient Avoidance Syndrome

My cousin cracks me up sometimes. When it comes to food, she can be like a little kid. Remember "Mikey?" Yeah, she's like that. She hates everything. I don't dare tell her what ingredients I'm going to use. On Tuesday, everyone wanted spaghetti and meatballs for supper. My cousin asked me about the meatballs:

E.J.: "Do they have onions in them?"

Me: "Yes."

E.J.: "Ughhhh!"

Me: "...and garlic and parmesan cheese, too."

E.J.: "Ughhhhh!"

I flipped through the recipe rolodex in my mind, searching for something she may have eaten that had parmesan cheese.

Me: "Have you ever eaten Fettuccine Alfredo?"

E.J.: "Is that the stuff with the white sauce?"

Me: "Yes. It has parmesan in it. Did you like it?"

E.J.: "I guess."

Me: ".......*sigh*........well, if you cook savory food you have to use those ingredients. Otherwise, what's the point?"

E.J.: "Yeah, true."

Me: "Okay, I will leave some meatballs plain. How's that?"

E.J.: "Okay."

So I lied. I didn't leave any of them plain. And you know what? She loved them! She ate all of her meal right down to the plate bone. I asked her how many points I got. She said, "10."

I could tell she wasn't fibbing because she really ate as if she was enjoying the food, rather than forcing it down. Plus, when she doesn't like something, she'll pick it out of her food. None of that occurred. All I can say is: Yay!!

Homemade meatballs and homemade sauce. The spaghetti wasn't homemade, but it was imported from Italy. That's the next best thing to having homemade pasta. Italy knows pasta. (Yeah, I know, "DUH!")

Seriously, American pasta just can't hold a candle. Sure, you can boil the hell out of any pasta and ruin it, but Italian pasta holds together a lot better and it can take some abuse before it gives up the goat.

American pasta is processed differently and if you overcook it for even a few extra seconds, you're screwed. You have pasta earthworms. Just as well throw it out to the chickens. Always use Italian pasta. It's the "Terminator" of pastas. (If you don't know what that means, then go rent "The Terminator," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. In fact, rent them all.)

Of course, we had to have garlic bread. I made some "Cheater Garlic Bread." This is the recipe I use when I want to make garlic bread faster. It's a good recipe, which uses garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. Since my back told me I was about done in the kitchen after I made the meatballs and sauce, Cheater Garlic Bread was definitely the way to go on Tuesday night.

Wednesday is the 4th of July, so have a wonderful holiday!

Another One from the Vaults...

I found our beautiful rooster! He was created by the same team that created the "live dough" heart (see previous post). This guy was created with "dead dough." What's the difference? I'll talk about that more in the future. Stay tuned!

Have a great day, Everyone, and Happy Eating! :)

One from the Vaults...

Here's a charming heart created by my team during our "Artisan Breads" class, circa 2010. We made a heart with "live" dough and a rooster with "dead" dough. I'll have to dig him up and post him, too. Our team: me- (Michele),  Korey Nerio, Elora Cavazos and Yasmine Marquez. We were one of the best teams of that semester, IMO.

Let's Talk About Food...

What I really want to do is encourage people of all ages, regardless of gender, to cook! It's become a habit for many people (especially Americans) to embrace "convenience food." Unfortunately, most convenience food contains a lot of junk that is bad for your health (and frankly, some of it doesn't even qualify as food in my book).

America has a problem with obesity. This is a touchy subject but I have to comment on this here. There is more than one reason for this. Some like to blame technology for causing us live a more sedentary lifestyle. That's part of the reason, but another big one is what we choose to eat.

Fast food is convenient. Okay, sure. It is also cheaper. Wait...is it? Is it really? How much does a burger, fries and a drink cost these days, for one person? Suppose that person has a family of 4, so you have to multiply that amount. Even if you have children young enough for a "kid's meal" menu item, it is still an insane amount of money to pay for a meal.

You can make meals at home that are fast and cost far less. You might even have leftovers you can use for lunch the next day.

What? You can't cook? Bull-pucky! Anyone can cook! You don't have to be a rocket scientist and you don't need a degree to cook. Some of the best cooks the world has ever seen were never classically trained.

Once you understand the fundamentals, you can cook anything. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Even if you have developed the belief that you can't cook: well, change that belief, dang it, because YOU CAN!

Cooking is a very rewarding experience. It's great for you and for your family, too. Your children will never forget the great meals that were created for them with your hands. Get the children involved, too. Learning to cook will really stimulate them intellectually as well as emotionally.

Forget about fancy, it doesn't have to be fancy to be good. Some of the best recipes are made using very few ingredients. 

So let's get out in that kitchen and get cooking! I'll have more on this later. Right now, how about I whip up some haricots et pain de maïs for supper? If you like beans and cornbread, you're in for a real treat! 


Happy Eating!