Category Archives: Kitchen-Cooking & Misc

Bruschetta & Shrimp

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5-8-2016We made Bruschetta using fresh picked green onions on Mother’s Day. I fixed a small plate with fresh picked chard, shrimp, bruschetta and cocktail sauce.
Cocktail sauce and shrimp is really good.
Bruschetta and shrimp is really good.
Bruschetta and cocktail sauce is not as tasty, the cocktail sauce overpowered the bruschetta. It was okay, it’s just not something I plan to serve together on one plate again. Oh well, You live, you cook, you learn and carry on.
It was a pretty plate and a nice little snack for back porch sitting and enjoying the day.

I hope the weather is pleasant where you are
and you can find time to get out and enjoy it!
chef
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Apple Johnny Cake from A Hundred Years Ago

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applcrnbrdRecently, my blogging buddy Sheryl posted a recipe for ‘Apple Johnny Cake’ (apple cornbread) on her blog  ‘A Hundred Years Ago’  it was such a tasty sounding simple recipe that I new I had to try it. I can imagine way-back-when the end of winter foods being slim and folks searching for ways to make a tasty treat out of the last of their staples.

I had to make a few adjustments to the Apple Cornbread recipe. I first had to cut it down to small size to fit my little iron skillet. I didn’t have any baking powder, so instead I added an egg in the batter as a binder and to hopefully help it rise.
I layered the batter and apple slices to make it fairly even in my little pan.
As it was baking I made up a quick batch of stewed apples to serve over the Apple Cornbread.

The Apple Cornbread baked up beautifully and came out of the pan clean and well formed. It sliced beautifully too with few crumbles.

As for taste, the Apple Cornbread is a bit bland, but it would be a welcomed treat at the end of winter if staples were low.  Now topped with stewed apples it’s a mighty tasty treat.

“Thank you Sheryl for sharing recipes and interesting snippets from the past. Your blog is a joy to visit. I’ll be making this recipe again and again. :).”

Original recipe for ‘Apple Johnny Cake’

Folks, If you have some time, pay a visit to Sheryl’s blog, there’s lots of nostalgic recipes and trivia to learn and see there.

Wishing you all sweet memories & smiles.chef

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Hanging Around Watching Movies

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One of the things I enjoy most about the Kindlefires and tablets is being able to watch movies pretty much anywhere. However, in the kitchen, watching the movie gets a little tough trying to cook or clean with it sitting on the counter or table.
I’ve been thinking about how to make my recipe holder hanger be able to hold a tablet too, but all my thoughts were too complicated and involved sewing and stuff. Then the other day, I came across a pant suit hanger in my closet. You know those cartoons where a lightbulb comes on over a person’s head when they have an epiphany… well, that was me.
joyideaBy hanging the tablet up with a hanger, it frees up counter space.
I can cook, clean or prepare food while enjoying a movie without having a tablet sitting in my way.

I made this post about the hanger-idea in case some other folks might like to use it.
If you use this idea or have thoughts on how to improve it or know of another way to hang a tablet, let me know I enjoy learning helpful things.
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moviehanger-1…moviehanger-2
You can use a regular wire hanger for this, but I decided to use a pant suit hanger.
If the hooked part of the hanger is metal, you may want to wrap it in tape so it won’t scuff your door handles. Or you could make a pretty cover for it.
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If your case for your tablet is made to fold over, open it and fold it through the hanger.
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Since my hanger has clips on it, I decided to show it being double helpful by holding a recipe and my tablet both at the same time.
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My Nextbook Ares 7 works great with this too.
I took my Kindlefire 8.9 in my utility room and hung it up and watched part of a movie while I did some laundry, then I carried it back into the kitchen to watch the rest of the movie while I cooked supper and washed dishes.

smileflower

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Recycle a plastic cola bottle – scouring pad bowl & bell jar

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IMG_5517-1bottlebottomsI originally was going to make a post about using the scalloped shaped bottoms of plastic bottles as a holder for a scouring pad. I discovered that the scalloped design helped the scouring pad dry better.
It’s not 100% fool proof, occasionally I’ll find a bit of rust in the bowl from steel wool scouring pads.
It’s only a temporary holder for the yarn scrubbies because they’re so thick they won’t dry out before souring.
None-the-less this is something I wanted to share on my blog.
The other day when I was washing out a plastic bottle, it occurred to me that I should also post something to recycle the upper portion of the cut off bottle.
A bell-jar was my first choice because it’s simple and useful,but I needed to think of something handy to use as a base. After thinking on it awhile I decided to use a bowl lid, cardboard and contact paper to make a base.
So, now, this post is about more than a scouring pad bowl, it’s also about recycling a bottle and a couple other things as well.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.spring-017

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Click on photo to open a larger image

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Flash Freezing Bell Peppers for the winter

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1-IMG_4364I’ve harvested quite a few peppers this year. My husband has feasted heavily on the baby bells. Fortunately, there was several left to put up along with the big bell peppers.
Flash freezing and vacuum packing is my favorite chosen method for storing peppers.

Flash freezing is quite simple.
2-IMG_4392I wash the peppers, hull and de-seed them and chop them in to small pieces.
3-IMG_4383I spread the pepper pieces on a tray and put them in the freezer.
*I use my refrigerator freezer. I don’t have a cookie sheet small enough to fit in it, so I cut cardboard the width of it and then cover the cardboard with wax paper (or freezer paper sometimes).
4-IMG_4403It usually takes about a half hour for the peppers to freeze.
I write a date on the vacuum bags. I take the frozen pepper pieces out of the freezer and put them  in the vacuum bags. Seal the bags and put them in freezer to use at a later date.

I look forward to using these peppers in the wintertime in stir fries, soups, meat-loafs and oodles of other recipes.

Here’s wishing you all a fabulous harvest of smiles to
keep stored in your memory like rays of sunshine
to warm you during cold days of winter.
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