I have never liked to throw food away. It is a waste of money.

My biggest waste problem is with fresh produce. This is because of two things. One, I am a small eater, and two stores sell produce in such huge quantities. It is difficult when single AND a small eater to use [...]]]>  

I have never liked to throw food away. It is a waste of money.

My biggest waste problem is with fresh produce. This is because of two things. One, I am a small eater, and two stores sell produce in such huge quantities. It is difficult when single AND a small eater to use up, say a huge stalk of celery.

I think this is a common problem and wasted produce can put a big dent in one’s budget. It is like throwing money down the garbage disposal!

And with produce SO expensive these days every penny saved is of utmost importance.

Over the years I have tried many different ways to make produce last. I have learned a few tricks for keeping produce fresh as long as possible.

I am happy to share some of those tricks with you today.

Bananas

I am not sure anyone really knows how to keep bananas fresh for very long. First thing I recommend is to buy only what you will need or eat for only one or two days.

I do know this much: Do not refrigerate. Do not place in a bag of any sort. Do not store in a dish with any other fruit. All of these things will make the bananas ripen sooner.

The best tips are to hang on a banana holder if you have one. Another way that has worked for me is to pull them apart when you get them home. You can often find lose bananas at the store. I get those.

Celery

I have tried several methods here too. Best way I have found is to cut off the bottom of the celery and any brown looking leaves, and then wrap it all completely and tightly in aluminum foil. Then place it in the crisper of your refrigerator. Do not wash before hand as the dampness could cause early rot, mold, or both.

I have been able to extend the freshness of celery about 5-7 days doing this.

Lettuce

Wash the leaves and then dry, dry, dry the leaves with towels very thoroughly. Water is what makes lettuce leaves spoil so quickly. If you have one, and I recommend you do, also spin the leaves in a lettuce spinner. That too will help dry the leaves.

Then put the dry leaves inside a plastic bag with 1 or 2 paper towels to absorb any lingering moisture. Place in your crisper and you should get a few extra days from your lettuce.

Mushrooms

Place the mushrooms in a paper bad and loosely fold over. Then place in the refrigerator, not the crisper. The crisper is too moist for mushrooms.

Raspberries

Do not wash them. The water will make them spoil faster. Gently remove them from the container and turn them upside down and place on a large plate so that they are not touching each other. Place a small but taller than the berries, object in the middle of the plate. I use an egg cup. Then place aluminum foil over them and wrap tightly. They will last several days this way. Wash them when you are ready to eat them.

Strawberries

First, choose the ripest berries you can because strawberries do not ripen any further once picked. Leave their caps on and do not wash them until ready to use. Store in a colander in the refrigerator until ready to use. Do not cover.

Tomatoes

Do not store uncut tomatoes in the refrigerator as it ruins both the flavor and the texture. Store them above 55 degrees stem side down, especially if you buy stem less tomatoes. If you can, buy tomatoes on the vine. They will last a bit longer. Do not wash them until you are ready to eat.

These fruits and vegetables are the main ones I have trouble with. If there is a fruit or vegetable I did not include and you want to know how to store it just let me know and I will do a sequel, Get Fresh II.

Featured Recipe        Savory Mushrooms 

I love mushrooms any way you make them or serve them. I love them sliced and mixed in scrambled eggs for breakfast. I like them in salads and pastas. I love them on steaks, chicken, or pork chops. And I like them as appetizers like in this recipe.

Answers.com defines ‘savory,” as “Piquant, pungent, or salty to the taste; not sweet.” I think that sums up this very delicious recipe.

You can serve this as a side dish to any meat entrée, especially steak. You could even serve these mushrooms over the steak.

You could also serve it for party food, like the Super Bowl. Just set out some party toothpicks and let people stab their food.

You can use this recipe in other ways too.

SERVING SUGGESTION —–>  You could chop the mushrooms, lightly sauté them, add the Worcestershire mixture, cool the mushrooms completely and serve on top buttered bread. So elegant. With some soup and salad you could have an entire meal.

SERVING SUGGESTION: —–>  You could follow the recipe in the first suggestion and top some pasta or rice with them too.

This is truly an all purpose recipe.

This is what you need for 4 servings:

¾ pound small mushrooms

¼ cup butter

2-3 anchovy filets

1 garlic clove

2 tablespoons minced parsley

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt & pepper to taste to taste

Here is what you do:

Mince the parsley.

Combine anchovies, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper, and parsley in a bowl and set aside. Leave the anchovies whole. They will melt right into your sauce when you heat the mushrooms. 

Prepping the Mushrooms

Clean the mushrooms. 

NOTE: I just discovered my mushroom brush is missing. I hope I do not have to go out and buy a new one. Where did I put it? Not where I always keep it. Drat!

So I had to use one-fourth of a dry paper towel to clean the mushrooms.  I just lightly waved it back and forth over the mushrooms to get the big surface dirt off. In many ways it worked better than my brush. I do this right over the sink. These were really dirty little mushrooms.

Then using one-fourth of a damp paper towel lightly rub off any remaining dirt.

Last job in prepping the mushrooms is to cut off a small part of the stem. Not all of it. Just a wee bit.

NOTE: All of this sounds like a time consuming process. It is not. Maybe 10-15 minutes, less if you have your children help out. It takes longer to write it out than it does to actually do it. And the rest of this recipe goes very fast. I woud say making the whole recipe takes 30 minutes or less.

Onward fellow cooks…………

Now melt the butter over medium low heat.

Add the mushrooms and stir the mushrooms to make sure each of them is well coated with butter.  Sauté the mushrooms about a minute or two gently stirring constantly over medium low heat.

Stir the anchovy mixture into the mushrooms and heat until mushrooms are heated through about 5-7 minutes. It will not take 2 minutes before all traces of the anchovies are all gone. Anchovies melt when heated forming a great savory sauce.

Spoon the mushrooms into a bowl. Pour the sauce over the top of the mushrooms. Serve hot.

Bon appétit!!! 

Cost

¾ pound small mushrooms*           $3.07*

¼ cup butter                                  $0.36

2-3 anchovy filets                           $0.36                                                 

1 garlic clove                                  $0.03

2 tablespoons minced parsley          $0.07

1 tbspn Worcestershire sauce          $0.12

Salt & pepper to taste

* I had a $2 off coupon which is why I decided to make this recipe.

Total cost = $4.01

Cost per person = $1.00

If you are making the recipe for a party this recipe makes about 35 mushrooms.

Quote of the Day

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.

Albert Einstein

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I received this in an email last week. I thought it was interesting. Nothing new, mind you. Just a gentle reminder.

1. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and [...]]]>  

Food for the mind, soul, and spirit.

I received this in an email last week. I thought it was interesting. Nothing new, mind you. Just a gentle reminder.

1. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

2.  Always put yourself in the other person’s shoes. If you think or feel that what you want to say or do would hurt you, it would probably hurt the other person too.

3.  A kind and loving word can heal and bless.

4.  The happiest of people do not necessarily have the best of everything they just make the most of everything that comes their way.

5.  The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word and then walk away feeling as if it was the best conversation you have ever had.

6.  Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and often ends with a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so that when you die, you are the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Featured Recipe           Corn and Bacon Sauté

I kid you not!

I could eat this dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is that good!! I could eat this dish for snacks. It is even better than pop corn. 

I love corn. I love corn any way I can eat it. Fresh right off the cob, or frozen or even canned.

On cold gray and dreary winter days, it is like eating a little pieces of yellow sunshine. Sunflakes. Like the poem yesterday. The bright yellow corn brightens up both my plate and my spirits.

Then, of course, in this recipe there is the bacon. Oh my! Bacon can make any food taste better.

This is a wonderful side dish to any meat, but it is especially good with pork chops for some reason.

SERVING SUGGESTION ——-> Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper, and dried oregano on some chops. Then dredge them in some flour. Shake off the excess and sauté in a little oil. Serve with the corn and a salad, and voilà, almost instant dinner.

SERVING SUGGESTION ——-> This could also be a salad if you let the corn cool and then serve it on a bed of lettuce;  or even better yet, served in a scooped out tomato. Very pretty in a red tomato; yes indeedy!

This is what you will need for 4 people:

2 cans of corn (11-14 ounce cans)

8 slices bacon

1 small onion

2-3 tablespoons butter

6 green onions

Salt and pepper to taste

IDEA ——-> For a prettier effect use one can of white corn and one can of yellow. I used a 14 ounce can yellow and an 11 ounce can white.

Here is what you do:

Cut the bacon into a medium dice and cook over medium heat untill crisp.

While the bacon is crisping,  chop the white onion into medium pieces.

Wash the green onions and cut white and green parts into slices. Set these aside for garnish.

Sliced green onions set aside.

When the bacon is nice and crisp, if you have lots and lots of grease in the pan, drain off all but about 2 or 3 tablespoons. Save the grease in the refrigerator for another use. I use Center Cut bacon so I barely had 2 tablespoons grease at all in the pan.

Push the bacon to the side of the pan and add the butter to the bacon grease. Let it melt. This will not take long.

Add the white onion only to the skillet, mix the bacon into the onion and let it cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begins to brown around the edges.

The aroma of the bacon and onion sautéing together is insanely divine. OK. So I am not that far from insane anyway……but you know what I mean. I hope.

While the onion is sautéing drain the corn.

When the onion is browned add the corn and sauté until heated through. Mix the corn, bacon, and onion very well and make sure the corn is thoroughly coated with the bacon drippings and butter mixture.

When the corn is done check for seasonings. Add salt and pepper as desired.

Put the corn in a serving dish . Garnish with the green onion slices. Serve and enjoy.

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

2 cans of corn           $2.43

8 slices bacon           $1.92

1 small onion            $0.12

2-3 tbsns butter        $0.27 

6 green onions         $0.48

Salt and pepper

Total cost =$5.22

Cost per person =$1.31

Quote of the Day

The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

Theodore Roosevelt

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There is enough snow in enough places today for me to share this delightful poem with you. It is about snow. Kinda. Sorta.

But for those who prefer warmer weather and sunshine this delightful poem has something for you too.

You will need your imagination to fully enjoy this poem.

On Sundays between now and Valentine’s Day,  I am going to run just recipes for either Super Bowl Parties or for Valentine’s Day.

I start with a super Super Bowl recipe.

I read an article recently that the #1 most popular food at Super [...]]]>  

NOTICE

On Sundays between now and Valentine’s Day,  I am going to run just recipes for either Super Bowl Parties or for Valentine’s Day.

I start with a super Super Bowl recipe.

Featured Recipe    Chicken Wings with NFC Sauce

I read an article recently that the #1 most popular food at Super Bowl parties are chicken wings.

I have lots of chicken wing recipes to share. Below is one of my favorites.

Ten or more years ago one of those magazine inserts, Parade or USA Today or something similar, that come with your Sunday newspaper had a recipe for chicken wings with two sauces: an AFC sauce and an NFC sauce.

I did not care for the AFC Sauce and did not keep it. But I loved the NFC Sauce. That is what I am sharing with you today. NOTE: A link to the AFC Sauce is at the bottom of this post.

I also like this recipe because it calls for roasting the wings rather than deep frying them. I do that on a rack so a lot of the grease drips off.

Making your own wings is less expensive, ($2.20 per person) than buying them and most important, the wings  are generally much more juicy and delicious than frozen, fast food, or restaurant wings.

SUPER EASY TO MAKE

And it does not take that long to make these either. I made these wings in 65 minutes start to finish; and that includes cleaning everything up except the roasting pan and the plates for eating.

The recipe is very easy to double or triple.

I bought disjointed wings at the store. That way I do not have to do it myself, which saves some time; even though it is a bit more expensive.

This is what you will need for 3 people:

15-24 wing pieces*

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste

*NOTE: The original recipe calls for 24 wing pieces. I have never been able to coat 24 wings with the amount of sauce the recipe below makes. I am lucky of I get 15 pieces. You will see that in the pictures below.

Because of that I sometimes double the sauce recipe. I use any left over sauce as a dipping sauce during eating. Doubles your pleasure!!!

I like my wings really coated with sauce.

For the Sauce:

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons brown sugar (any)

1 Tablespoon Vinegar (any)

This is what you do:

Put your oven rack in the upper middle position. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Set a large wire rack over a foil lined shallow pan. If you don’t have one, roast on a foil lined cookie sheet or other pan. The wings will cook in the oil but it can be done and I have done it that way on occasion. And they are just as delicious.

Put wings in a large bowl and add the oil and salt and pepper. Using your hands mix it all together so that all the wings are well coated.

Then arrange in a single layer on the rack.

Place in the oven and toast until golden brown about 40 minutes.

While the wings are roasting make the sauce.

Place all sauce ingredients in a small bowl……………….

………….and mix well. Set aside until the wings have cooked 40 minutes or are golden brown.

When wings are golden brown remove them from the oven. Don’t they look godenly wonderful? I could eat them just like this.

Using tongs dip each wing into the Sauce………………….

…………….and toss to coat both sides.

Place the wings back into the roasting pan. NOTE: The recipe calls for draining the oil in bottom of pan and just throwing the wings on the pan. I put them back on the rack. Your choice.

Then place back into the oven for 8-10 more minutes.

Remove from the oven.

Place on a plate. I had some green onions in the fridge and sliced them and threw on top for some color. 

Serve with Simple Romaine Salad or Classic Cole Slaw.

IF you would like to see the AFC Sauce, which includes hot red pepper sauce, I found it on the internet at cdkitchen. Just click the link and you can get it.

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

15 chicken wing pieces                     $6.11

2 tbls vegetable oil                           $0.09

Salt and pepper

For the Sauce:

¼ cup ketchup                                 $0.14

2 tbls brown sugar                            $0.20

1 Tbls Vinegar                                  $0.07

Total Cost = $6.61

Cost per person = $2.20

Quote of the Day

“I’ll play anywhere for $15,000.”

Herb Adderly  

Green Bay Packers cornerback (Super Bowl II) When asked if he would rather play the game in Los Angeles or Miami.

wwww

This was the headline in an article in the Chicago Tribune. Since this is a family blog I won’t tell you the headline over at the AARP website.

I saw the 456 of you who peeked at the AARP headline.

Cursing has been around for centuries and [...]]]>  

Pain Relief You Can Swear By

This was the headline in an article in the Chicago Tribune. Since this is a family blog I won’t tell you the headline over at the AARP website.

I saw the 456 of you who peeked at the AARP headline.

Cursing has been around for centuries and there are curse words in every culture. But a pain reliever??? Really now!!!!!

Does swearing really reduce pain? It does according to researcher, Dr. Richard Stevens of the School of Psychology at Keele University in England.

Swearing increases a person’s pain tolerance, increases heart rate, and lessens perceived pain level.

From the Chicago Tribune:

According to Stevens: “Swearing is emotional language. We think that people had an emotional reaction to swearing (indicated by the increase in heart rate), bringing about the fight or flight response, which is known to increase pain tolerance (make people more able to withstand pain).”

It is not clear yet why this link exists.

According to paperblog:

….the researchers postulate that the brain circuitry which is responsible for our emotions is involved. Previous studies have shown that unlike regular everyday language, which relies on the outer few millimeters in the left hemisphere of our brain, expletives excite the evolutionarily structures buried deep inside the brain’s right half.

One such structure is the amygdala, a group of neurons that triggers a fight-or-flight response which is partially responsible for allowing us to become less sensitive to pain and raising our heart rate. In the study, the subjects heart rates did indeed rise when they swore, a fact the researchers say suggests that the amygdala was activated.

Researchers also found that swear words lose their pain reducing quality if we over use them since there is no emotion attached to the words if we use them every day.

Holy priceless collection of Etruscan snoods!

Robin, Batman’s sidekick, TV show

Featured Recipe        Simple Tomato Salad

This is a great salad anytime of year. It is perfect for a buffet. So this is perfect for your Super Bowl table. This is a pretty, bright and cheery salad. And since the tomatoes are cut up into such teeny, tiny pieces it is easy to handle on paper plates and while watching TV.

This salad would also make a picture-perfect accompaniment to Monday’s recipe: Ham, Turkey, and Cheese Open-Face Sandwich.

This recipe is also very easy to make.

This is what you will need for 4 people:

1-2 containers of cherry and/or plum tomatoes; assorted colors*

1 small clove garlic

1 small onion

2-3 tablespoons capers

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

*About a pound and a half  to two pounds

Here is what you do:

Wash the tomatoes and dry them off.

This is how I dry the tomatoes. I simple place them in a cloth towel set in a bowl and cover them and gently pat them. Let them stay in the cloth towel while you prepare everything else.

Use a garlic press to dice the garlic right into a mixing bowl large enough to hold  all of your the tomatoes.

Then slice the onion and place in the bowl separating the layers as you do.

Drain the capers and add them to the bowl too.

Cut the tomatoes into various small shapes and pieces. Be creative. Discard any excess seeds as you go along.

Add the cut-up tomatoes to the bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

NOTE: The capers will add a great deal of salt to the salad. So I always go easy on the salt until I do a taste test. If salt is an issue with you, you can rinse the capers when you drain them.

Mix everything together. I find it is easier and more gentle to just use my fingers to do this. Any kitchen implement has a habit of crushing the little pieces of tomatoes. Fingers are more gentle.

Now add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Whisk until emulsified. Pour over the tomato salad and gentely mix in. Check for seasonings and then serve.

Isn’t that a pretty salad. It is delicious too.

How it might look on a plate on Super Bowl Sunday.

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

Cherry tomatoes                   $6.58

1 small clove garlic                $0.03

1 small onion                        $0.39                         

2-3 tablespoons capers         $0.10

3 tablespoons olive oil           $0.36

1 tbspn red wine vinegar       $0.05

Salt and pepper to taste

Total cost = $7.51

Cost per person = $1.88

Quote of the Day

The world is perfect. It’s a mess. It has always been a mess.  We are not going to change it.  Our job is to straighten out our own lives.

Joseph Campbell

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It has been several months since I wrote anything about food myths. So I thought it was time to delve into that topic again with a few more myths for you. There are so many food myths this topic is a never ending source of blog posts.

This old [...]]]>  

It has been several months since I wrote anything about food myths. So I thought it was time to delve into that topic again with a few more myths for you. There are so many food myths this topic is a never ending source of blog posts.

Are brown eggs more nutritious?

This old wives tale had been around for eons. There is no evidence to support this claim.

An egg is an egg. The color of the shell has nothing whatsoever to do with the nutrition of an egg. White shelled eggs are laid by white hens. Brown shelled eggs are laid by red hens. The color of the shell has nothing to do with favor, nutrition, or quality.

Often times the only difference between white and brown eggs is the cost.

Do organic foods taste better?

Taste is certainly an individual matter. To muddy matters even more there are very few formal studies or research on this matter.

I found two informal non-scientific studies by ordinary folks like you and me, who just wanted to find out for themselves. They both readily admit their studies did not use the rigorous formal scientific process.

The verdicts in both of these tests were inconclusive.

If interested, you can read both of these experiments here: Organic Better? and Organic.

I found one scientific method research study reported in Scientific Daily. The long and short of it is that participants were fed organic food in two seperate taste tests. In one taste test participants were told the food was organic. In the second taste test they were told the food was not organic.

However, test participants rated the organic labeled  foods as tasting better than the organic food that was labeled non-organic.

The researcher called this the “halo-effect.”  In other words people think organic is or should be better, so they  rated it higher than what was perceived as lesser quality non-organic.

You can read more details on this research study here: Halo-Effect.

Is fresh produce superior to canned and frozen?

It depends on many, many, MANY factors.

The best way to maximize getting all the nutrients in produce is to grow your own and pick, clean, and eat it almost immediately. Since that is out of the realm of the possible for most of us, let’s just skip this option all together.

Most fresh fruits and vegetables in grocery stores have been grown somewhere else. Even if grown nearby they probably were not picked fresh this morning. Some travel and storage time of fresh foods is par for the course.

Nutrients in produce begin degrading as soon as they are picked. So by the time they are on the shelf of your grocery store and you are ready to purchase them, they have lost at least some nutrients. This is especially true if the food came from another state or country. The longer the time on a truck or in storage on either end of the trip – frm to store – the more nutrients are lost.

Then also consider that most if not all fresh produce in grocery stores is picked BEFORE full ripeness, and therefore the produce does not even fully develop all their nutrients in the first place.

So by the time you buy “fresh” produce many if not most nutrients are already gone.

Compare this to frozen and canned. Produce that is to be frozen are flash frozen soon after harvest retaining more nutrients. Produce that is to be canned are often only a day or less away from the processing plant. So the produce has more nutrients than fresh produce that was picked before being ripe and then sitting around for days and even weeks in storehouses and on trucks before it gets to your grocery store. Typically, canned vegetables are cooked for a shorter time this losing less nutrients.

Granted some flavor and texture of these foods, especially canned, is far less appealing than fresh. But nutrient wise, it is probably a wash. And food companies have done a much better job recently in preserving taste and texture, so both canned and frozen produce are better than they were even a few years ago.

One Other Factor To Keep In Mind

Then there is another factor to keep in mind. Even if using fresh produce, if you cook your produce a long time you lose most of the water-soluble nutrients anyway.

So it is a toss up as to which type of veggies you eat. I try for fresh when available and if not too expensive. I used canned when necessary, as in Hungarian Cold Cherry Soup. I use frozen for meals in winter. Just depends on so many factors.

Only you can make the decision as to which type you will use.

There are lots more Food Myths out there. I will share more with you some day soon.

Featured Recipe    Super Bowl Cocktail Franks

The Super Bowl will soon be here. Do you have a favorite team? I do not. I only go to Super Bowl Parties for the food and the company. And sometimes the commercials, which have been disappointing the last few years.

I also cringe inside when I think of companies spending millions of dollars for one commercial when there are so many people who are unemployed, underemployed, on food stamps, and many who go hungry. Seems a bit excessive in these times.

But the game will go on as millions of us will use any reason to share time with friends and party. Bravo to us for being so resilient!!!  We need parties to help keep our spirits up.

So let the PAR-TAY begin!

Today I have a Super Easy dish for your Super Bowl festivities. I was sorely tempted to write in the, “Here’s what you do section,” just dump everything in a pot and heat. That is about how easy this recipe is. 

And on the other end is a Super Delicious dish as well. I was also tempted to call this dish Super Easy Super Delicious Super Bowl Extravaganza Weenies! But as you can see from the title above, I restrained myself.

The mix of the savory Dijon mustard with the sweet currant spread is simply divine. Simply Divine I tell you.

You can also double, triple, and quadruple this recipe. I don’t know what comes after quadruple, but you can do it.

Healthy Recipe Alert

I use fruit spread for this recipe because black currant jelly is not always easy to find. The spread has whole currants in it. I add some pineapple chunks too. Both of these ingredients keep the food police off my back since I can honestly claim I have two fruits in this dish.

This is what you will need:

1 – 12-16 ounce package of cocktail or other small sausages

About ½ cup, give or take, black currant fruit spread or jelly*

About 1/3 cup, again give or take, Dijon mustard

1 – 8 ounce can pineapple chunks; or 2 if you so desire; DRAINED

*Can substitute red current 

Here is what you do:

Dump the fruit spread and mustard in a pot over low heat.

Stir until melted and sauce becomes smooth and well blended. See the yummy real black currants in that second picture?

Add the sausages and the drained pineapples and stir into sauce.

Blend into sauce and continue to heat, stirring often, over the low flame until the sausages are warmed through.

Wasn’t that easy? You’re done!

To keep the sausages warm you can serve in a crock pot set on low, or fondue pot as well.

Serve and enjoy.

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

1  12 oz. package sausages                       $3.99

½ cup  black currant fruit spread               $2.80

1/3 cupDijonmustard                                $1.80

1 – 8 ounce can pineapple chunks              $0.89

Total cost = $9.48

Cost per sausage = $0.26

36 sausages can serve between 3-4 people. So cost per person is $3.16 and $2.37.

Quote of the Day

Football isn’t a contact sport; it’s a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.

Vince Lombardi

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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who [...]]]>  

Letter From Birmingham Jail

April 16, 1963

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

I Have a Dream Speech

August 28, 1963

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream.  It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I’ve Been To the Mountain Top Speech

Closing of Last Speech April 3, 1968

Select Quotes

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

Hatred paralyses life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.

Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

A right delayed is a right denied.

I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars….Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 

Featured Recipe       

Ham Turkey and Cheese Open-Face Sandwich

I like sandwiches. They are quick and easy for any meal from breakfast right through a midnight snack.

Everyone knows the story of the Earl of Sandwich. However, sandwiches have really been around since at least the first century, B.C. (History of Sandwiches) Sandwiches really took off when pre-sliced bread was sold in stores.

Today’s recipe is filling enough that when served with a salad and/or some soup, it is a quick and inexpensive and dinner.

I am sharing a process with you today. You can use any kind of bread, meat, cheese or other fillings that you like. You can also make this sandwich with left over ham or turkey.

Today I am going to make two different sandwiches: One using pears and the other using apricot preserves.

This is what you will need for 2 people:

About ½ loaf crusty Italian bread

4 slices of deli ham

4 slices of deli turkey

2 slices of white cheddar cheese

About ½ tablespoon olive oil

Optional Extra Fillings

½ pear (¼ for each sandwich)

OR

2 tablespoons apricot preserves

Here is what you do:

Preheat the broiler.

If using the pear wash it and cut in half. Cut out the seeds. Slice very thinly; or as thinly as you can without nicking your fingers.

Cut the bread in half  like for a sub sandwich. Using a pastry brush, brush the cut side with a bit of the olive oil.

Toast the bread until lightly crisp outside but tender inside.

NOTE: I use my toaster oven/brolier to make the sandwiches, rather than the broiler in my oven.

Fold a slice or two of turkey onto the toasted bread.

If using pears, place a few pear slices on top of the turkey.

Or

If using the apricot preserves, spread the preserves over the turkey.

Then fold a slice or two of the ham on top of the pears, or preserves. If you are not using either pears or preserves, just fold the ham on top of the turkey.

Lay a slice of the cheese on top of all. You may want to cut or tear the slice of cheese in half to fit the length of the bread like I did.

Return to the broiler and cook until the cheese melts and begins to bubble slightly.

Serve warm with a salad and/or soup.

If you make both sandwiches, cut them in half and sample both.

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

Basic Sandwich

About ½ loaf of crusty bread         $0.65

4 slices of deli ham                       $2.30                                                 

4 slices of deli turkey                    $1.40

2 slices white cheddar cheese       $0.94

About ½  tablespoon olive oil        $0.23

Total Cost = $5.52

+Plus add in the cost of one of the optional items below.

Cost per sandwich = $2.76

This cost is much cheaper than buying even a fast food hamburger these days.

Cost Optional Extra Fillings

½ pear                                        $0.53

OR

2 tablespoons apricot preserves     $0.24

Quote of the Day

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. 

Ambrose Redmoon

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The Mid-West is in a deep freeze right now. Other parts of the country have gotten snow. I don’t think any records have been broken. Nevertheless cold, blustery messy weather is always a great source of grievance.

The weather is almost always universally crummy because the Weather Gods  hate us. They want [...]]]>  

The Mid-West is in a deep freeze right now. Other parts of the country have gotten snow. I don’t think any records have been broken. Nevertheless cold, blustery messy weather is always a great source of grievance.

Just face facts folks.

The weather is almost always universally crummy because the Weather Gods  hate us. They want us to suffer. Therefore, they never provide optimal temperature or weather conditions in any season!  You see, they  know that there is a primal instinct in human beings to complain.  This instinct  must be sated by something; so they chose weather.

This weekend’s cold spell reminded me of 1978.

The Great Blizzard of 1978.

I kid you not. A real blizzard.

I lived in Dayton at the time. I was driving home from work about 9 p.m. and I heard the weather report and snickered. A blizzard. Yeah!!! It was just the media hyping another storm for ratings I thought. I had not made it home yet when the biggest snow flakes I have ever seen began falling.

According to Wikipedia:

The Great Blizzard of 1978 was a historic blizzard which struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes from January 25–27, 1978. The 28.28 inches (958 millibars) barometric pressure measurement recorded in Cleveland, Ohio was the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the mainland United States until the Upper Midwest Storm of October 26, 2010 (28.20″ measured at 5:13PM CDT at Bigfork Municipal Airport, Bigfork, MN).

The lowest central pressure for the 1978 blizzard was 28.05″ (953 mb) measured in southern Ontario a few hours after the aforementioned record in Cleveland.^{[1] [Emphasis mine.]}

According to the ohiohistory.org website:

The worst winter storm in Ohio history struck before dawn on Thursday, January 26, 1978. The Blizzard of ’78 continued through Thursday and into Friday. Transportation, business, industry, and schools were closed statewide for two days with the normal pace of society not returning to the state for five days.

I read, watched TV, and went to bed around midnight as usual that night. But I was awakened in mid-morning by the howling of the wind. It sounded like one of those scenes from the movie, Dr. Zhivago  (One of my all time favorite books and movies.)where he and Laura were living in an abonded house in the midst of nowhere during winter in Russia. The only thing missing was the howling of  the wolves.

I could not sleep. So I got up, fixed some hot choclate and sat in the dark in my living room with the curtains pulled open to watch the wind whip the snow with terrifying strength.

And the noise. I will never forget the sound of the wind. Ferocious. Angry. Howling.

By early morning when it was light my house and my neighbor’s houses looked like a scene, again, from Dr. Zhivago. The scenes where the snow is so heavy that  it is overhanging the roofs like undulating waves. The snow hanging from the roof was so low, and the snow on the ground was so high, there was barely a few inches gap between them. That was my neighborhood for over a month. It was beautiful.

Back to Ohio History dot org:

[The] rapidly intensifying storm pulled bitterly cold air across Ohio on winds of 50 to 70 mph. These conditions, combined with heavy snow and blowing of deep snow already on the ground, caused extreme blizzard conditions all across Ohio. Enormous snowdrifts covered cars and houses, blocked highways and railways, and closed all airports for two days.

Source ohiohistory.com/courtesy The Columbus Dispatch Archives

 You might want to visit the ohiohistory.org website if you find this kind of stuff interesting. There is a brief TV news clip and more still pictures of  the destruction than the one picture I include here. There are pictures of roads with snow seven feet high on both sides of the road; a picture of grocery carts blown in a parking lot; and much more.

It was even worse in Michigan. Again from Wikipedia:

The Michigan State Police pronounced Traverse City, Michigan “unofficially closed” and warned area residents to stay home. WTCM radio staffer Marty Spaulding, who closed the bayfront location station the previous night at 11 pm was called to re-open it the next day at 6am as regular staffers could not get there due to impassable roads. Upon arriving after a 45 minute walk in waist deep snow from his home a mere 10 city blocks distant, he had to dig down “a foot” to put the key in the front door.

That is how much snow we all had. I had never seen anything like it. I have not seen anything like it since either. 

I drove from Dayton to Upper Sandusky a week after the storm. And I can attest, this is how the roads looked. Telephone poles were covered in snow two-thirds of their height.  It was surreal.

Wikipedia writes:

The Blizzard was the worst in Ohio history where 51 people died as a result of the storm. Over 50,000 members of the Ohio National Guard were called in to make numerous rescues. Police asked citizens who had four-wheel drive vehicles and snowmobiles to transport doctors to the hospital. From January 26 to 27, the entire Ohio Turnpike was shut down for the first time ever.^[5] The total effect on transportation in Ohio was described by Major General James C. Clem of the Ohio National Guard as comparable to a nuclear attack^[6]

 

BTW ~ Check out the snowfall chart on Wikipedia in the link above. Note the number of inches that fell in Chicago. Unbelievable!!!

I give you this brief history lesson as a prelude to today’s:

Featured Recipe    Blizzard Chicken Soup

For two days during the Great Blizzard I had to make do with the few food stuffs I had at home. I have always had jobs where I worked long and often unorthodox hours, where I often traveled, and often ate out a lot. That is not a complaint by the way. I loved every minute of it. But that is the way it was. So I did not often have a lot of food stocked up in my pantry.

This is one of the recipes I came up while stuck at home. Well, not this exact version. I have added to it and have learned a new technique to make it better. Actually there is no real version. I made it up as I went along. I think this may have been the very first “recipe” I ever created. In fact, this is the first time I have ever written it down.

I had little in the fridge and little in the pantry. And no stores were open, let alone restaurants. I had some breakfast food in the fridge, bacon and eggs and the like. And I had some left over restaurant food. So I was fine. But much as I love breakfast food even I can’t eat it three times a day.

And when that all ran out I had to actually cook something.

So this is what I came up with.

This is what I had on hand:

1 can of chicken broth

a piece of carrot

a limp celery stalk

a can of whole tomatoes

some leftover rice 

This is what I did:

I diced the veggies and then I tossed everything in a pan, heated it and ate it. And it was pretty darn good. It was many years later I started calling it Blizzard Soup.

I know I shared another Chicken Soup recipe with you. There are just so many versions. But this is the version I make when the temps dive low and there is now on the ground, or during a snow storm. Now I even plan for it. I keep the basics pretty much the same. But I add things that might be lurking in the fridge, like the peas I added today.

I also add some real chicken; usually a chicken thigh or two. Chicken thighs are very tasty and can add a lot of flavor to canned broth.

The biggest difference I make now is what I do to the canned chicken broth. I concentrate it by simmering it down to half.

 This really gives a whole new dimesnsion and depth to the soup.

I did not have any chicken thighs in the house today and was going to go to the store to get some. But then I thought, in the spirit of being stranded like during the blizzard let’s just make the soup today like I did that first time. With whatever is on hand.  I found a half chicken from a BBQ last summer in my freezer. So I used part of that. I did not have any whole tomatoes, but had a can of crushed.

I also increased the ingredients to serve four people.

So with no more ado I present:

The New and Improved Blizzard Chicken Soup

This is what you will need for 4 people:

4 cans of chicken broth

1 or 2 pieces of chicken such as a thigh

1 carrot

1-2 stalks celery

3-4 tablespoons crushed or diced tomatoes

About 2/3 cup instant rice

I had left over peas in the fridge so I am adding that too.

Here is what you do:

Place the chicken in a pan and cover it with the chicken broth. If you have chicken bones in your freezer add some of those too.

Bring the broth to a boil. Turn the heat down and let the broth simmer until the chicken is cooked through. (Juices run clear when cut.)

See all that crud floating on top of the broth in the picture above? That is scum. Skim off the scum that forms on top using a spoon or spatula or both. Scum less. You may have to skim more scum as the cooking progresses.

In the meantime dice the carrot and celery into very small pieces.

When the chicken is done, remove and let cool.

Turn the heat up slightly and simmer until the broth is concentrated or reduced by half. Do not boil. Just a gentle simmer. This makes the flavor so much better. It is not quite homemade stock, but in a blizzard it will do very nicely, thank you very much!

Add the carrots and celery and cook for a few minutes. I like mine to be crisp so I do not over cook. But cook any way you want them. It is your soup!

While the carrots and celery are cooking and when the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and fat and discard. Dice the chicken meat up into tiny pieces.

Add the rice and cook a minute or two.

Then add the chicken, the peas if using, and 2 or 3 tablespoons of the tomatoes.* Mix well and heat through.

Serve with crackers or butter and bread.

*Don’t worry. I am not going to waste the rest of the crushed tomatoes. I still have some Vermouth spaghetti sauce left over from last week. When I reheat it for lunch or dinner this week I will add a few tablespoons of this to make it taste fresh again. There is always a way to use up left overs.

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

4 cans of chicken broth                  $2.00

1 or 2 pieces of chicken                  $1.39

1 carrot                                        $0.17

1-2 stalks celery                            $0.22

3-4 tablespoons tomatoes              $0.18

About 1/3  cup instant rice             $0.54

Left over peas

Total cost = $4.50

Cost per person = $1.13

Quote of the Day

As a child my mother’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.

Buddy Hackett

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Post updated 12/13 w/add of car pic.

Post updated for repost 1/14/12.

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think [...]]]>  

Promise Yourself …

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

The Creed of Optimist International

Featured Recipe    Corn Salad With Tuna Fish

When the weather turns gray and dreary, like it is today, I like my food to be yellow, sunny and bright. And nothing is  yellower, sunnier or brighter than corn. In the summer I make this recipe with fresh corn. But canned will do very nicely right now.

I like to take a simple corn salad and by adding some tuna fish and nuts turn this salad into a meal.

There are lots of variations you can make to this salad. This is one of my Garbage Can recipes. That is, I use up things in my refrigerator so I don’t have to throw them in the garbage can. Sometimes I add capers to this recipe, but have none in my fridge at the moment.

For instance, you can use any flavor vinegar you want in this recipe. If I have radishes I add some of those. If I have left over green onions or red onion I use that in place of the shallot. Any nuts will do for some crunchiness.

This is what you will need for 4 people:

2 cans of yellow corn

2 cans of solid white tuna fish

1 carrot

2 stalks celery

1 shallot

3-4 tablespoons pine nuts

Salt and pepper to taste

For the Dressing

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Here is what you do:

Drain the corn. Discard the juices.

Peel the carrot and wash the celery. Then shred the carrot, slice the celery, and dice the shallot.

I like to use different cutting methods on each of the veggies in this salad because it makes the salad look more interesting than having everything chopped the same way. How boring!  There is a certain craziness to my methods.

Place all of the vegetables in a bowl and mix together.

Make the dressing by simply add 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of vinegar and some salt and pepper to a bowl or easuring cup, and whisk till the dressing emulsifies.

Pour it over the vegetables and mix well. Taste. Add salt and pepper if needed and mix again.

NOTE: If you stop right here you have  a delicious salad or side dish for your main course. This also makes a great summer picnic salad.

However, you can turn this dish into a dinner salad with the addition of  a few other ingredients.

Now drain the tuna fish and dump it in a bowl. With a fork flake the tuna fish.

Add the tuna fish to the bowl and mix into the vegetables.

Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

In the mean time, toast the pine nuts over medium low hear until you start to smell them. Lightly brown, do not burn. Set aside.

When you are ready to serve the salad, add the nuts. Mix into salad.

Place in a serving bowl.

I like to eat the salad with some buttered Italian bread.

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

2 cans  yellow corn                $1.98

2 cans tuna fish                     $2.56

1 carrot                                $0.16

2 stalks celery                       $0.22

1 shallot                               $0.99

3-4 tbspns pine nuts              $1.33

3 tablespoons canola oil        $0.14

1 tablespoon rice vinegar      $0.14

Salt and pepper

Total cost = $7.52

Cost per person = $1.88

Quote of the Day

One day at a time–this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering.

Author Unknown

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Photo essay dedicated to my good friend and neighbor Betty V.A.

Wordless Wednesday

Good Morning Moon

Photo essay dedicated to my good friend and neighbor Betty V.A.

All pictures were taken on Monday, January 9, 2012 between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m E.S.T.

Mind Pictures

Ohio, especially Central Ohio, has a thriving Amish community. They grace us with their presence and the beauty of their souls. They also grace us with some of the most beautiful and high-quality hand made wood furniture you will find anywhere.

They have wonderful stores filled with their great cheese, pies, and baked goods. And restaurants. Oh the restaurants with good simple fresh home made foods!

One of the most lasting images I keep in my mind and soul is of a drive early one morning through Amish country in late spring 2005. I was going to a school district for Harcourt School Publishers to give an in-service.

Most of the drive had been in the dark early morning hours. Dawn was just beginning to break and a golden reddish yellow sun was rising in the east.

I turned the corner from one small state route onto another, and as I did I saw in the field to my left a young Amish man playing with and petting his collie dog before he left for the fields.

He gave the dog one final pat on the head and he got on his plow ready to be pulled by four of the most beautiful and huge long-haired golden horses I have ever seen. It was a very touching scene and one I will never forget.

Sometimes I wish I had had my camera with me that day to capture the idyllic moment. But then again, maybe if I had maybe the beauty of moment would have been evaporated as I fooled with camera business.

I have been to Europe several times and to Kenya,Africa. I have seen so much beauty. But that simple scene remains one of my favorite mind-pictures.

Featured Recipe    Mushrooms Onions and Green Peppers

This is as quick and easy side dish and more as you can get. I really don’t have a recipe. One of the Amish restaurants near where I live serves this as a side dish, especially for breakfast. I just love it.

It is simple enough that I could duplicate it in my own kitchen. It can be doubled and tripled easily.

In addition to serving it as a side dish for breakfast, I use it in many ways. I will share some of those ways with you today.

This is what you will need for 2 people:

1 small green pepper

1 small onion

4-5 ounces of mushrooms

2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Here is what you do:

Wash, clean out insides,  and chop the green pepper into small to medium pieces.

Peel and chop the onion same size as pepper.

Using a damp paper towel and a mushroom brush clean and then chop the mushrooms into a small to medium pieces.

Heat a tablespoon or two of the oil in a pan or skillet. NOTE: That is not dirt in the pan you see. I put two pieces of pepper in the pan so may camera would have something to focus on and you could see the oil.

Add the vegetables to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Sauté over medium low to medium heat for about 10-15 minutes and the onions are translucent; or until the vegetables are cooked to your liking. I cook mine al dente. I like my veggies crisp-tender.

Serve hot as a side with breakfast or dinner.

Close up.

Other Creative Ways To Serve

Instead of a side dish for breakfast I like to top my scrambled eggs with the mixture. I have never tried it myself, but I bet it would be great with sunny-side-up eggs too.

I also like to top cooked meat with the mixture too. Today I topped a pork chop with them.

This dish is absolutely divine served over steak. But who can afford to eat steak these day?

Steak is another of my favorite Mind Pictures!

Bon appétit!!!

Cost

1 small green pepper             $0.64                                     

1 small onion                        $0.41

4-5 ozs of mushrooms           $1.00

2-4 tbspns vegetable oil         $0.18

Salt and pepper to taste

Total cost = $2.23

Cost per person = $1.12

Quote of the Day

I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.

Albert Einstein

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