 Big Guy and I always have jalapenos in the garden. We love to make fresh foods in the summer inspired by this wonderful vegetable. When I first started canning, I tried to make jalapeno jelly to bridge into the colder months. It was a messy affair with chopped jalapeno pieces, green food dye and pectin from a tube. It was not horrible, but it was not visually pleasing unless your purpose was to make it obvious you were trying pepper jelly slathered over cream cheese. I searched through my cookbooks and realized that most recipes used pectin and food dye. So, I ventured to the internet and found my dream recipe at Simply Recipes. I won’t sugar coat it and say this recipe is less messy, but it uses granny smith apples as the pectin. Food dye? No! This recipe uses cranberries and a red pepper to add a nice hue. So, give it a try over cream cheese with crackers if you wish to be traditional. Or, better yet, use it as a glaze on your chicken or shrimp. You will not be disappointed!
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 I don’t know about you, but bacon is the perfect food. There is just something special about the aroma as it bakes in the oven. I took the Doodle for a walk recently and could smell someone making bacon. I had to run over to Kenrick's that afternoon so I could “pay” that smell forward to my neighbors! It may seem extreme, but Big Guy and I tend to have cooked bacon in the refrigerator to be easily added to our meals. Aside from breakfast, we have used bacon on sandwiches and crumbled up as a topping in our salads. I have even used it to make carbonara pasta. I hope you have a special food that jazzes up your meals. Excuse me while I go turn over my bacon!
 I have talked about playing with your food so why do we ignore the possibilities with candy? How many of us have eaten trail mix which is usually some form of candy with nuts and dried fruit? For years, my family would watch the Webster Groves 4th of July parade and hang out. Without fail, my cousin would bring her M and M salad. You guessed it. It was simply a mix of peanut and regular M and M’s. She is a genius! As summer wanes, Big Guy and I get excited when we see the candy corn and the peanuts display at our local store. Bring on the payday! If you don’t get the reference, you only need to eat a Payday candy bar and then try the mix of candy corn and peanuts to realize this is an excellent hack. I think we need to invent more fun candy dishes to make our gatherings memorable and sweeter! Care to join me in the challenge?   Egg casserole had become synonymous with the holidays as my dad would request it every year. It is an easy dish and can feed a lot of hungry family.
This past week, I made roasted acorn squash with a sausage filling. If you recall, I had so much of the stuffing left I made stuffed mushroom caps. I guess my squash and mushrooms were on the small side because I still had stuffing leftover. I challenged myself to think about another use for this mix that would be enjoyable and not feel like I have been eating the same food for yet another day. As I was putting back my recipe for the squash, I noticed the upper ragged ear of my holiday egg casserole dish. BINGO! I had potatoes to create the crust and a fresh dozen eggs. I was off to the races modifying my recipe for two. It was nice to have breakfast food for dinner and it finally used up the rest of my sausage filling mix. WHEW!  Big Guy and I enjoy having visual interest in our garden. While not looking for him, we stumbled upon a beautiful statue of St. Fiacre. We were informed he was the patron saint of gardeners, so it seemed like a good idea to add him to our garden. Upon further research, we found he is also a patron saint of cab drivers in Paris, so he is a multiple purpose saint. There is a legend St. Faro offered him land and instead of driving his furrow with a plough, he merely turned the top of the soil with the point of his staff. He created a cell with a garden making a hospice for travelers which developed into the village of Saint-Fiacre in Seine-et-Marne. I can’t say that his “presence” has changed our garden, but he certainly provides a prayerful backdrop for our flowers. And, if we don’t get any cabs racing through our car port and into our back yard, we should be fine.    I have written about the joy of happy hour in the past. The one thing Big Guy and I will spend a little money on is fun cocktail napkins. After all, it is a HAPPY hour! The best part is these napkins are inexpensive and, like an outdoor flag, bring the holidays into your home. Hearts for Valentine’s Day and Stars and Stripes for the 4th? You bet! Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a Christmas napkin that makes fun at the expense of extended family who overstay their welcome during the holidays?! So, slow down and check out napkins at your favorite local store. You will not only keep your table dry, but you may add that extra laugh to your day!   I grew up having stuffed peppers with hamburger and rice as a special meal. The idea of using food as a bowl has never left me. Obviously, others appreciate this trend since many restaurants serve dips and soups in bread bowls.
I found a fantastic recipe a few years ago for roasted acorn squash with sausage stuffing, to my surprise, in a magazine as a sponsored ad for Reynolds Wrap. I immediately had to make it. I sliced the two acorn squashes in half and removed the seeds. I spread olive oil and salt and pepper on them before placing them on a sheet cut-side-down and covered them with, yes, Reynolds Wrap. After 45 minutes in a 450-degree oven, I pulled out beautiful baked squash which were now ready to be stuffed with the sausage mix and reheated for another 15 minutes. The stuffing consisted of onion, pepper, sage sausage, panko, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, herb de Provence and an egg for a binder. The mix was delicious but “grew” and became a leftover from the meal. This time around, I decided I would add mushroom caps to my meal so I could use the additional stuffing in this second meal. Believe it or not, I still had leftovers, so we are now making an egg casserole which I’ll write about in a later blog. I guess you can say we really got our bang for the buck on this meal!  I was skeptical when I watched the Barefoot Contessa program and Ina Garten spoke about making homemade Vanilla Extract . I realize she can do no wrong in my kitchen, but this seemed outside the realm of possibility. Undaunted, Big Guy bought Madagascar vanilla beans and a bottle of good vodka. We placed the beans in a jar and filled it with vodka. We waited the thirty days before opening the bottle and giving it a try. OMG! It was so delicious and much more fragrant than our store-bought bottle. It is now a go to in our kitchen and makes a great gift for your baking friends. The best part is you can just refill the bottle with vodka for more terrific extract in another thirty days. No refrigeration and no hassle!   I fully admit I was a baking fool in my teenage years. I just loved to bake cookies and unfortunately, I paid for one too many of them as a child in the weight department. No regrets as I would do it again!
The one thing I just didn’t realize over the years is my baking no longer included the use of Crisco. So, thanks to Tricia Yearwood and her Snickerdoodles Recipe, I was on the hunt to buy vegetable shortening. Obviously, I must be the only person in the Lou who didn’t have this as a staple in my pantry as I was awarded with a large shelf and multiple brand and size options to select from at my store. I went with my old favorite Crisco and was rewarded with beautiful cookies. It is nice to know some things don’t change when it comes to trusted products. The only thing I need to change is I am just going to have to walk my doodle after these snickerdoodles! Still, no regrets!  I can tell Fall is around the corner! College football, shorter days and cooler nights are driving my desire to make my trio of favorite go to meals. First up is the Famous Barr Onion Soup. I have written about this soup in the past and it is an annual staple in our house. Again, it is an all-day event but so worth it as it makes a big pot you can freeze for use later in the Fall.
Next up will be chili followed by chicken noodle soup. I’ll write more about these two since they deserve their own space in the blog. After I get my trio made and stored, I’ll start to explore other possible soups such as butternut squash, red pepper, and lentil along with that minestrone I said I would try to make with my vegetable stock. I can’t wait to throw open my windows and fire up the possibilities! |
AuthorJust a super cool old couple who love to cook and eat and drink in their Carondelet Kitchen in South Saint Louis, Missouri! Archives
September 2024
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