Joy of Country Living

Seems there’s been so much going on – don’t really know where to start. Had a wonderful weekend in the Austin area visiting Monica, Mark, Peyton (the adorable, perfect grandbaby), David’s brother Jack and his wife Jerry. Whenever we go back to a big city, it always amazes me how busy the traffic is; how crowded the restaurants are and how many people love to shop. I was stunned to see the shopping malls and many of the restaurant parking lots filled to capacity. Guess that’s why they say Texas isn’t feeling the economic crunch quite as much as some.

Went out to eat lunch on Sunday and drove through a couple of restaurant parking lots looking for a parking spot before we ended up at the Cracker Barrel. For those who haven’t heard of the Cracker Barrel – it’s a restaurant that serves ‘home style’ foods – chicken and dumplings, meat loaf, chicken fried steak, etc.  

BUT – the fun part is the shopping you can do while waiting for your table. WOW – I was on ‘honey look at this’ overload. They had something for everyone – candy, clothes, toys, souvenirs, and the list goes on and on. I mention this only because we were surprised to see they had sugar free maple syrup – just opposite the huge candy display I might add.

Since David was diagnosed with diabetes some 15 years ago – we’ve tried a lot of maple syrups – none of them outstanding . . . until now. We couldn’t resist buying a bottle of the SF syrup and tried it out Monday on some home made pancakes – it was delicious. For the first time – ever – David can enjoy the real maple flavor of syrup on his pancakes and waffles. We plan to stop by the next Cracker Barrel we see and get a couple more bottles of syrup to add to our ‘stash’.

Went to Nancy’s on Tuesday to pick up my Celebrating Home (CH) order. I love going to Nancy’s house – it always makes me feel like I’ve gone ‘home’ – you know that feeling you’d get when – as a kid – you’d walk in the door and everything was cozy and welcoming . . that’s Nancy’s house. Sadly, as we get older those feelings don’t come around as often.. . . . but, back to CH.  I’d not ordered anything from CH before so I was very pleased to find my decorator items to be really high quality. My candlesticks are very sturdy and well made – and the Christmas stand is just too cute. When flipped over it doubles as a chip and dip dish perfect for . . .

Nano’s ‘Sweet-n-Spicey’ Jalapeno Cheese Spread

Nancy is an excellent cook (BTW – she also fixed lunch for us Tuesday) – so a meal at her house is a real treat. She spoiled David this time with his favorite . . . fried shrimp – and in addition, had a delicious new spread for snacking – or as far as I’m concerned – dessert.

She had taken Texas Pepper Works – Candy-Krisp Jalapenos – chopped and blended them into creamed cheese. She did say she added in a little of the liquid they come packed in – and then served them up on Club crackers.    We of course couldn’t help but think about maybe even adding  in some other ingredients, i.e., chopped nuts, water chestnuts, celery, etc. – sky’s the limit on this one.

 Of course while in town, I had to dash to the store before coming home and get a jar for myself and made up half a package of the cream cheese spread for home. While whipping this up decided to add some of the chopped jalapenos in to the macaroni salad I was making for lunch. The salad already has sweet relish in it – so the candied jalapenos wouldn’t clash with the flavor but add just a hint of spicy-hot. Bet that macaroni salad will be even better tomorrow after it’s had a little time to ‘sit’.

Next-Day Macaroni Salad

We enjoyed it with some chicken finger strips, black-eyed peas, and fresh kale.  This salad recipe is based on the macaroni salad served at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Houston – Gigolo’s – sadly they closed many years ago. 

Macaroni Salad Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked elbow macaroni
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup finely chopped bell pepper
• 2/3 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/3 cup sweet relish (or substitute chopped ‘sweet pickles from dill’ for even more flavor)
• 2 chopped boiled eggs
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• salt-pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and chill. This salad will keep in the fridge and seems to get better with each passing day.

If you can’t find   Texas Candy-Krisp Jalapenos  in your area you can order them on line from Amazon from this link – Texas Pepper Works. They are delicious!

Don’t Forget to Laugh

Want to leave you with a smile today. David’s cousin Lyndall sent us this video and it is so funny – particularly to those of us a little further down the road of life. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  (The really funny part starts at about the 1:30 mark.)

cement guys extraordinaire.  If you’re looking for someone to do cement work, you need these guys. But before I tell you how really good they are – I have to say that David and I actually considered doing the work ourselves. Why not… after all we’d built the carport, the deck with kitchen, my paint room, and the 2 storage sheds, etc. We never for a moment considered how hard pouring 16+ yards of cement would be. Oh, and did I mention we were going to pour this cement using a non-commercial cement mixer (2 bags at a time!) after we had the 1,000 bags of cement delivered. Call us crazy.

After much talk, we decided to get some quotes to have the job professionally done. You’d think with the economy the way it is – people would be glad to have business – not necessarily. However, Wolf came to the house with his crew, measured everything, gave David a blow-by-blow of what he would do (put in a step for me to get from the walk to carport) and what needed to be done before they even started (lots of prep work) and then quoted a price. That’s all it took for us to know we were in way over our heads with this job.

We contracted Wolf to do the work – ‘country style’ with a handshake – and the rest is history. Wolf and his crew – including Wiggy, Henry, Bear  and Meatball  - got the job finished in 2 days of work . . .and a beautiful job it was. So after 12 years of dirt floors, we now have cement in the garage, carport area and the tractor shed! What an incentive to keep everything in order and clean – and I can get into the big freezer without having to stand on a box now that the floor is about 6 inches higher.

Moon and Mars

If you’ve received an email about how Mars will be close to Earth and it will look like we have two moons on Friday night (August 27) – sorry to tell you it’s a hoax. So don’t bother to set the alarm to get up.   Bummer – that would have been pretty cool – until you realize the problems it would cause. If you’d like to read more about this hoax and what effects we would suffer if it ever did happen, visit this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_hoax

Quick Tips

We love yeast rolls but don’t have them very often because we don’t know when to quite eating them. But when I do decide to bake up a batch,  I put them on the back porch in a glass pan covered with plastic wrap and leave them to rise.  (I would never have done this when I lived in the city – but out here it seems the normal thing to do.) 

I spray the underside of the plastic wrap before placing it over the rolls to keep it from sticking to their tops. When I’m ready to bake them, plastic lifts off nice and easy.   I had planned to put up a picture of how nice and brown they looked when they came out of the oven – but, we were so over come with the aroma of hot yeast rolls I totally forgot to take the picture…. see what I mean when I say we have no control. 

I like making things easier to do almost as much as I like saving money  around the house  – that being said here are a few of my most used (and favorite)  kitchen shortcuts and $ savers -

• Before putting food, i.e., bread, pancakes, meat, etc. in a zip bag wrap it in plastic so you can re-use the bag.
• Now, those bags you want to re-use, keep them in the freezer section until you’re ready for them.
• Save zip bags you can’t recycle for stinky bits of garbage, helps keep the kitchen odor down and smelling good. (Keep mine under the sink for quick, easy access.)
• Keep cookie sheets clean by lining them with aluminum foil before you use them, makes for a quick clean-up.  (If you really want to recycle, rinse and keep the foil to use for cleaning your silver flatware or serving pieces.  Get the non-chemical formula here.)
• Clean burned pans by placing 1 Tablespoon of dishwasher detergent in the pan and fill with hot water, let sit over night and almost rinse clean the next morning.
• Making cupcakes, muffins – spritz a quick squirt of spray oil in the bottom of the paper liner, your muffins will release from the paper much easier.
• When baking a covered cheese casserole, spray the underside of the foil with oil and the foil won’t stick when you remove it.

Don’t forget – visit www.ICantBelieveItsSugarFree.com for great recipes.  If you haven’t gotten your copy of Secret Restaurant Recipes AND your bonus cookbooks yet . . .  get it here. 

With the temperature staying in the triple digits and going as high as 110 on some days, we’ve pretty much been trying to finish our outside chores by 10am and then stay inside for the rest of the day. About the only time I go out is to move the water sprinklers. Living in the middle of a hay field as we do, I feel the need to keep a green belt around the house ‘just in case’ there should be a fire. If you’ve never seen how fast a fire can move through a dry field, it is frightening.    If you want a ladybug thermometer like the one pictured - they’re available from Amazon – search “lady bug thermometer” in the “Amazon’ box to the right.

While moving one of the sprinklers yesterday – saw this huge spider in the maple tree out front. Couldn’t find anything in the spider book that looked like this one – and from looking at it, I would have to guess he must be a couple of inches from top to bottom of legs (maybe more but I’ve got no plans to get close enough to measure). Really creepy looking. I don’t like spiders but think I’ll leave him where he is just to see how much bigger he’ll get.

Our appetites seem to wain when it gets hot – so we’ve been eating cooler meals. Lot’s of salads . . . all kinds. One of my favorites is a regular green salad where you toss in a chopped boiled egg and some bite-sized bits of cold leftover fried chicken tenders . . . top that with some homemade honey mustard sauce and you’re good to go.

Most of the store bought dressings have a ‘artificial’ taste so I make my own honey-mustard dipping sauce and dressing. It’s very easy to make and any leftovers keep covered very well in the fridge.

Honey-Mustard Sauce/Dressing

This recipe makes about 3/4 cup, but you can double or triple it if you need more. And, it’s easy to adjust the flavor.  If you like your dressing a little more sweet or tart – just increase either the amount of honey (sweet)  or mustard (tart)  you add in. (Haven’t found a way yet to make this one sugar-free.)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup mayonnaise (use low-fat if you watching calories)
• 2 Tablespoons mustard
• 2 Tablespoons honey

Mix ingredients together until uniform in color. Enjoy immediately or cover and refrigerate for later.

Smothered Steaks

Have you noticed that when you buy one of the Omaha steak ‘packages’ – yes, you get delicious steaks – but you also get a lot of other stuff you may not particularly want, i.e, franks, potatoes, beef patties. The franks make good hot dogs and I’ve found a way to make the potatoes better, but my problem is with the beef patties. They are not like traditional hamburger meat from the store. It almost seems to me like they take the trimmings from the steaks, process it somehow and then form it into ‘patties’.

We’ve tried grilling some for hamburgers and they just didn’t taste right… let me clarify that, they tasted OK – it was the texture… definitely not what we think a hamburger patty should be. So I tried another fix yesterday and they turned out great. Didn’t have a problem with the texture and the serving size was perfect.

What got me to thinking about fixing them like this was that when Mom and I used to go shopping downtown when I was a child, we’d eat lunch out.   My all time favorite meal was smothered steak, mashed potatoes and cole slaw. Today is Mom’s birthday, so I thought I’d try and recapture a favorite childhood memory with some remembered food. While it wasn’t exactly the same – it was close enough and we enjoyed it immensely.

If you’d like to try this with any Omaha hamburger patties you might have, or if you’d like to try it with your own homemade hamburger patties, here is the recipe:

• 4 Hamburger steaks
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Package brown gravy mix
• 1/2 Medium-sized onion sliced into rings (or chopped)
• 1 to 1-1/2 Cups water
• 1 Can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• Salt-pepper to taste

1.  Place the oil and hamburger steaks into the skillet and cook over medium heat turning frequently (do not let the meat burn; reduce the heat some if necessary).

2.  About half way through the cooking process add in the the sliced onions, continue to cook, turning  the meat along with the onions.  (The onions will  brown along with the meat. )

3.  Continue to cook until the meat is done.

4.  In a separate bowl, mix together the brown gravy mix, soup and water with a whisk - no lumps allowed (start by using only 1 cup of water).

5.  Pour this mixture over the cooked steaks, add the tablespoon of butter, cover and let simmer over low heat for about another 3-5 minutes. Give the steaks a stir about half-way through.

Note:  If you find the gravy too thick add a little more of the water until you have the consistency you want.

6.  Remove from heat and let steaks rest for about 3 minutes.

7.  Serve with mashed potatoes (my favorite), rice or noodles.

You’ve heard me say how certain things can trigger a fond memory -  and I think food is one of the best triggers. If you’ve got a favorite restaurant food you’ve eaten and  you’d like to be able to eat it at home, get your copy of secret restaurant recipes  . . .  you’ll also get  7 bonus cookbooks  with more great recipes.

Every once in a while you read something that if  true,  it would be wonderful – and you feel obligated to pass it along.   Such is the case with an email I received this last week  from a friend.  (Thanks, Becky!) 

 David and I are firm believers in taking vitamins, herbs and supplements like Q-10, Niacin, etc.  – and we’ve seen doctor’s reports that support our taking these supplements.    So when I received this email about asparagus playing a role in curing health problems and diseases,  I knew I had to share it.    But wait – for those doubters out there and  before any  of you read any further, let me say, I don’t have any first hand knowledge of this; I’m just putting it out there for you to read and come to your own conclusions.  And, while you may or may not believe in ‘natural’ cures…. hey – it’s asparagus… we should be eating it anyway.

Note:  We tried the recommended preparation today.  I blended the canned asparagus in my blender/processor and then combined the suggested amount of liquefied asparagus into a small glass of V-8 juice.  The addition didn’t change the flavor or consistency of the juice at all.  David didn’t even complain – and he is very anti-green veggie. 

The email Becky received from her friend is below followed by part of the  ’article’ .  If you want to read the complete article, there is a link at the bottom.  

[ Begin quote ]

THE EMAIL:

My Mom had been taking the full-stalk canned style asparagus that she pureed and she took 4 tablespoons in the morning and 4 tablespoons later in the day. She did this for over a month. She is on chemo pills for Stage 3 lung cancer in the pleural area and her cancer cell count went from 386 down to 125 as of this past week. Her oncologist said she does not need to see him for 3 months.

THE ARTICLE:

Several years ago, I had a man seeking asparagus for a  friend who had cancer. He gave me a photocopied copy of an article, entitled, Asparagus for cancer ‘printed in Cancer News Journal, December 1979. I will share it here, just as it was shared with me: I am a biochemist, and have specialized in the relation of diet to health or over 50 years. Several years ago, I learned of the discovery of Richard R. Vensal, D.D.S. that asparagus might cure cancer. Since then, I have worked with him on his project We have accumulated a number of favorable case histories. Here are a few examples:   [ Read the rest of the article here ]

Went to a Celebrating Home party last weekend and had a grand time. If you’ve not heard of Celebrating Home they sell decorator items, cooking items and – my favorite – pre-measured, packaged  food mixes…. with everything being presented  in a party atmosphere.

The party was hosted by Nancy and Lori with Nancy’s daughter – Shalane  – representing the comapny.  (BTW – if you haven’t heard Shalane sing, you’re missing a treat.  Click here to hear a couple of her songs. )  All of the items were very attractive and waaaaay more modern that the antique bowls and casseroles I use, but for now – I’ve got plenty of stuff.   However, the gourmet food was another story.   While all of the mixes sounded delicious – I had to stay away from the sweet ones – we have enough trouble keeping sugar out of David’s diet as it is without putting any more temptations in his way – but I couldn’t help myself – had to order some of their delicious dip and soup mixes.

After much deliberating, and – of course – repeated samplings of the dips on the buffet, I decided to try the Key West Shrimp, the Salsa Ranch, and the BLT which Lori told me was so good I would want to sit down and eat the whole bowl by yourself. Hmmmm – sounds like that one might spell trouble.

Also ordered the Chicken Enchilada Soup Mix… it looked wonderful too. Can’t wait to get my order in.   While perusing the catalog, decided to get a pair of star wall sconces. We want to re-do the guest bath; so I may use those there …. or may end up putting them outside.  They had a rustic look in the photo and if they don’t work in the bath – thought they might look good in the kitchen area on the deck  (maybe next to the bar )  - but we’ll have to wait and see if they can take the weather out there. 

After relaxing and snacking my way through Saturday afternoon – came home to find ‘something’ had breached the lower wire barricade along the fence, dug holes and scattered mulch in almost every bed.   When we first moved up here this was an every day occurrence until David and I put a 2 foot secondary wire fence along the bottom of the existing fence to keep out unwanted night visitors. It had been working really well until this last weekend. 

Today, after hanging out my clothes – don’t you just love that fresh smell? – I checked along the fence to see where that ‘something’ might be getting in. Found one place where the lower wire had been bent back. Don’t know if this is the entry place, but I got some of those plastic tie thing-ees the guys use for bundling wire and put a whole bunch of them along the fence line making the wire as tight to the fence as I could.   Guess I’ll have to wait and see now if that solves the problem. Sure hope so. 

We’re doing some work in the house right now and the den is in chaos. Sometimes you just have to make a few changes to freshen things and get a little perk.

 Plans are to replace the drapes and put some oak paneling on the wall where the windows are -other than that don’t think I’ll tackle anything else there – just start on another room.     

Side note – we are putting radiant barrier behind the paneling to help reflect the afternoon sun since that’s the West side of the house. We had radiant barrier put under the roof when it was replaced and it definitely makes a difference . . . along with the solar screens.

The screens are advertised to cut approximately 80% of the heat with minimal loss of vision.  Another nice thing about them, while you can see out – people outside can’t see in (unless there is a light on in the room.)  And, while some people say they’re not ‘pretty’ and don’t like having their view obscured,  I’ll take a cooler house with lower electric bills any day over ‘pretty’ screens – or worse yet…no screens.