birthday present ~

My dear and sweet friend Tom and his lovely wife Evelyn sent me a birthday present and I got it today...

I just love them.

And I just love what they sent, too!

I decided to call him to say thank you, instead of emailing or pm'ing, and we had the greatest little talk, oh, man, there's nothing like hearing a friend's voice, even if you've never seen their face (except in pictures, LOL - and Tom has a really great face, as well as his voice!). While we were talking, he taught me to say nuoc cham, which he also taught me to make, a while back...except that my Southern accent only got me to "that's close enough" LOL.

In case you pop in here, Tom, thank you again, and you are so awesome! I can hardly wait to make those spring rolls!
XOXOXOXO

(yes, I already had busted into those dried mangoes, LOL)

sort of a rerun ~ our favorite pizza ~

I've posted this on the other blog before, but I wanted to put it here too - and I was in a picture takin mood, lol...

I have discovered that I like it a bit better if I bake the crust for about 5-7 minutes before adding the sauce and toppings. I was kind of rushed so I didn't do it this time, but that's my preferred way, so it's gonna be included in the instructions.

Pizza Crust

2 1/2 cups flour

(you can use all-purpose or substitute whole wheat flour

for 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the total flour)

1 teaspoon salt

herbs and spices of your choice

(typically, I use a palm full of dried parsley,

and a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic)

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

3 tablespoons olive oil

2/3 cup hot water

(if the dough seems dry after mixing,

add more water one tablespoon at a time

until it's holding together right)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all this stuff together in a big ol' mixer. This doubles really well for 2 pizzas, if your mixer can handle it like the Kitchenaid can. In the meantime, put your pizza stone(s) in the oven for 5 minutes or so to heat up.

(It's a good thing to already have your toppings prepared, btw)

When the dough has kneaded for a while, take it out of the mixing bowl and put it on the hot pizza stone, dividing if you're making 2. Mash it evenly to the edges with your hands, and leave a little bit of a raised edge. Bake it in the oven for about 5 minutes, maybe 8. You don't have to do this but I think it's better.

Now time for the toppings. First, the topsecret recipe for the sauce. Don't tell ANYONE.

LOL

Next, add your toppings. I was "chatting" with my friend Lee and he said 'less is more' when it comes to ingredients on homemade pizza, and I totally agree. Even so, I have 4 veggies on half of this pizza, all of them sliced thin and left raw: spinach, squash, tomatoes, and onion. Don't go overboard with any of them or they will release too much water and make your crust soggy. And that's also a good reason to prebake your crust for a little while.

Then the cheese, and pop that baby in the oven for 25 minutes. The cheese may brown a bit but hey, that's even better, lol. I always like browned cheese.

Let the finished pizza sit for about 5 minutes so the sauce and cheese won't just run everywhere.

it's a texture thing...or not ~

Sometimes when I go to my mom's house, she gives me wonderful and awesome gifts. Not money or jewelry or such, but something better.

Vegetables. Oh yeah, baby.

Today, she gave me a sack of okra.

Now - here in the South, people typically like their okra battered and fried, or in Louisiana, in gumbo as is good and proper. But since I didn't have some of the gumbo fixins and I don't really care for fried okra, I fixed it my favorite way of all - boiled.

Ever had it? It's slimy, teehee! REALLY slimy.

For someone who gags on the last 2 bites of forcefed oatmeal, can hardly choke down a gummy nasty banana, and who thinks grits are a curse of the devil (don't tell, I'll lose my Southerngirl card), you'd think slimy okra would be the last thing I'd be headoverheels in love with. But - I'll fight ya for em.

Luckily, Stevie isn't home and Dillon and Jack don't like them, and Dalton only eats a few...that means more for me, and leftovers for tomorrow, LOL.

As for preparation, it's not anything that should really even be posted here, to tell the truth - it's that easy. Wash the okra, throw in a deep pot and barely cover with water, salt it a little, cover, and bring to a boil. Let it boil for about 7 or 8 minutes, and you're done. Season it with salt pepper Tony's whatever while it's hot on your plate, and go to town.

BTW - if you get the big ones, best do something else with those or toss them to the chickens, because they are tough. Now those big tough ones will make me gag, LOL...

double dog daring myself ~

I need to come up with something to do with these, a gift from my mom.

I'm thinking this - what about stuffing them with some flavoredup cream cheese, and then baking them?

Those red ones are supposed to be pretty hot (I'm drying those) but the jalapenos would be nice, and the yellow ones, well, they are supposed to smoke off my socks, too...I can hardly wait to try those.

So - herb-flavored cream cheese it is.

I'll let you know how it goes.

more bananas, pudding this time ~

This recipe is the most basic, most easy, probably most well known dessert ever. So why am I posting it? Two reasons.

Well - for one thing, sometimes people forget to teach the 'basic' stuff. It was years before I could successfully make gravy, because nobody taught me. Cutting up a chicken? I never quite got that until I was probably 30 years old.

Sometimes we just assume...


The other reason is that I just wanted to take some pictures today. HAHA

Banana Pudding

1 large instant vanilla pudding mix

1 3/4 cups cold milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 regular size frozen whipped topping, thawed

lots of vanilla wafers

a few firm bananas

Mix up the vanilla pudding mix and the milk, and whip for a couple of minutes.

Pour in the sweetened condensed milk, and mix it well.




Fold in 1/2 of the container of whipped topping. Go slow and easy on this, mix well but not hard.




In the dish you want to put the pudding in, layer vanilla wafers and sliced bananas.




Top that with half the pudding. Repeat the cookie/banana layer and then cover with the last of the pudding.




Spread the remaining whipped topping over it all, or just pile it in the middle. Crush a couple of cookies over it to pretty it up some.




Refrigerate it for a few hours at least, or overnight (best). When I made ours, I made one for Dustie and Jenni and decorated it with a few extra cookies. Just because I love them.




The sweetened condensed milk is what makes this pudding so good. It adds a smoothness and yet gives the pudding some 'weight'. And it tastes like a dream.

banana muffin ~

I always hit the cookbook table at the school's book fairs, and one of the best finds I've ever made was this little bitty muffin cookbook. It has quick and amazing muffin recipes, from standard ones like banana and blueberry, to healthy ones full of nuts and raisins and made with wheat flour, to party ones with chocolate and cherries and such.

If you love muffins like Dr. Kelso, you gotta try this one. Warm and sweet, with a cup of coffee, you can't beat it for a great starttotheday...

Banana Walnut Muffins

(from The Totally Muffins Cookbook by Helene Siegel and Karen Gillingham)

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins or line with paper cups.

Spread nuts on a tray and toast in oven 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add mashed bananas and beat until combined.

Stir dry ingredients into banana mixture just until flour disappears. Lightly stir in nuts.

Spoon batter into muffin cups to the top. Bake 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

egg-cellent ~

OK all you experienced cooks, maybe you will have a good laugh at this - I'm almost 47, been married 2 times, and cooked for most of my life.

Yet - I've never cooked a frittata.

Well, at least until tonight. My excellent cookfriend Lee told me how. What would I do without him?

So here's what I did - cut up the veggies I had, which included onions, garlic, peppers (a variety that's kind of like bell peppers), and celery - I was supposed to have broccoli but my daughter drove off with it, LOL. Sauteed those for a while, until crisptender, and also browned a pound of ground sausage, and drained it. Broke about 16 eggs in a bowl (I have big boys here, remember? ha) and beat those up with a little milk, chopped cilantro, and grated cheese. With the veggies and sausage in the bottom of my great big skillet (I think it's 14"), I poured the eggs over it and let it cook on medium until the bottom set, and then put it in the oven to broil. The top browned so nicely and it was so pretty when I took it out. I tore up a big handful of spinach leaves all over the top to wilt...

Y'all, me like frittata. Frittata good.