I Didn't Waffle On Taste Testing

See what I did there?  Yeah ....... anyway, on to the waffles and pancakes at the Yankee Hill Cooking School.  It was interesting to see three kids there this time.  I rather imagine they will not return.

It's pretty hard to keep eight year old fingers out of the food and away from the knives.  I mean really, when you were a kid, did you touch a gas stove burner to see if it was hot?  When they climbed up on the counter after being told to watch in the mirror, I thought Chef Ron would say something.

Instead, the mother in charge got the evil eye.  When the kids grabbed the first seven ebelskivers without giving anyone else a taste, they disappeared, never to be seen again.  Someone should have explained the rules.

At any rate, Swedish pancakes were next up on the menu.  We threw together a quick batter with a rather runny consistency.  Here's a tip for you .... they took a butter knife and stabbed a cube of butter on the end.  

It became an instant handle to swish butter around the hot pan before pouring in a ladle of batter.  As you can see, in about 40 seconds, they were beautifully brown.  Let the flipping begin.  Although we all thought about flipping with the pan, we used the spatula instead.

I have to admit, these were not my favorite.  I've never been a pancake girl.  If you wrapped them around whipped cream and chocolate, I might like them better.  Basically they had little flavor.

Honestly, I've never been a fan of waffles either, so I wasn't the first in line to taste test these.  Again, we whipped the egg whites into a frenzy before folding in.  Just before closing the lid, he dropped in some chocolate chips.  Ugh ... that didn't sound very good.

While they cooked, we made maple syrup.  In the days of Jessie James, my Mom used to make all our syrup.  It's simple really .... dump one cup of sugar into 1/2 cup of boiling water, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Add one teaspoon of maple flavoring and let simmer until it becomes clear.  There you have it ... instant maple syrup.

It's almost nuclear and lasts in the fridge forever.  If it crystallizes, just reheat and serve.

Time for a taste test.  Oh my goodness ..... who would have thought waffles could taste this good, even with chocolate chips?  I may just have to head out to the Thrift Store and find a waffle machine. 

This batter was made a little differently .... all with buttermilk by the way .... and cooked in a cute little machine that made it look like a flower.  They are also MUCH thinner.  Again, they put chocolate chips in the center.  

Once baked and cut apart, each section was placed on the plate to make the flower.  That didn't work so well for me, since by the time the plate was full, they were rather cold.  Maybe keep them in the oven while flower making?

More powdered sugar .... making it look like snow.  Smother these in that maple syrup and you have breakfast AND dessert.  There were also berries and jam if you wished.  Can't find fresh blackberries in the store?  Go to the Grocery Outlet or Dollar Store he says, for anything out of season.

Lastly, we went for the savory sauces.  Chef Ron took one of these waffles, added an over-easy egg and topped it with hollandaise sauce.  Funny how all that tasted good together!

Next up .... mushroom sauce.  Two ounces butter melted in a large fry pan, along with eight ounces of mushrooms.  Let it cook down until just a little juice remains.  Add maybe 1-1/3 cups low sodium (or homemade) chicken stock and reduce until half the liquid is gone.  Add 4 ounces white wine and reduce again.  Add 4 ounces of cream and reduce to half again.  

Herein lies the problem.  He added chicken stock in the class, but did not put chicken stock on the recipe.  I will probably leave this recipe right here until I meet up with him again.  I have to say, it was the most flavorful sauce I've ever eaten.  Throw in a couple of almost cooked thin pieces of pan fried chicken and fifteen minutes later you have dinner!

Want to do a taste test without burning your mouth?  Take a teaspoon and touch the BACK of it to the sauce.  By the time it gets to your mouth, it will be cooled enough not to burn you.  Of course we all stuck a spoon in the sauce to see if it worked.  Just don't keep using the same spoon!!

There were no take-homes from this class, other than a full stomach.  Surprisingly, I guess I like waffles after all.  I'm pretty sure they are 100% carbs which everyone is avoiding these days, but on special occasions, they would be mighty tasty.  Yes, you can freeze the leftovers, rewarming them in a toaster oven.  That's MY kind of food.

You Say Ebelskiver, I say Aebleskiver

Aebleskivers (pronounced e-bull-ski-vers) are the Scandinavian equivalent to donuts ... sort of.  I had never heard of it until I signed up for this Yankee Hill Winery cooking class.  To be truthful, I've enjoyed these so much, I didn't care WHAT they cooked.

Chef Ron runs a tight ship and rules the Roost, like any good Chef worth his salt.  When he says quiet, you can hear a pin drop.

At 80 years of age, he hasn't slowed down one bit.  At his direction, we made up the batters, then he demonstrated the cooking techniques.  This one is unique, to be sure.  I always wondered what those crazy cast iron skillets with the round holes were for.  

Ebelskivers are for that lazy Sunday morning with your family in the kitchen.  Why?  Because you have to whip the egg whites until stiff and fold them in to the batter.  That all takes a little time.  Then you drop about a quarter cup into each buttered hole in the already hot pan.

Almost immediately, he grabbed a fondue fork (another reason to take that fondue box off the top shelf), stuck it in the batter and lightly turned it one quarter turn.  Yikes!!!  I thought he was going to have a big mess on his hands ... that batter was raw as could be!!  

Another 30 seconds went by and he turned them again.  This is where it got interesting.  We chopped up ham and cooked bacon, placing a little bit onto each ebelskiver, right into the raw dough.  Apparently the Swedish like jam because they put teaspoons of the sweet stuff in each one instead of bacon or ham.

Turn and turn again, for about three minutes.  Are they done?  You test them by sticking a stick ... or the fondue fork ... right into the middle.  If it comes out clean, they are ready.

He then handed the bowl and tools to me, saying he already knew how to do it.  I look so serious, right?  That's because the pan was getting too hot and they were starting to burn.  OH NO!!!  I kept turning them faster and faster as I tried to turn the stove down.  Of course I shut the burner off completely.  Not once, but TWICE.  I never said I was good in the kitchen.

Don't they look delicious??  As soon as they were on the plate, they disappeared.  

The plain ones are usually served with powdered sugar and jam.  The Scandinavians sure do like their powdered sugar.  The savory bacon and ham ones we made were served just like eggs benedict.

That means you need sauce.  Hollandaise sauce to be exact, something I have never tried to make.  There's WAY too much whipping involved for me to do that.  But WAIT!!  You can make it in your blender.  

I hope you like butter.  Chef Ron's motto is the more butter, the better.  Well this recipe has a LOT!  Blend one egg, one tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard (or more if you want).  

Once very smooth, start pouring in TWO CUPS of melted butter, VERY slowly, trying all the while not to make a big mess and get butter all over the floor and counter, like Chef Ron did.  I'm glad it wasn't me.

Instead of poached eggs, they fry one over easy, place three bacon ebelskivers on top and cover in sauce.  That plate disappeared in less then 3 seconds.  Oh my gosh it was good!!

In the interest of time, I'll finish this up tomorrow, as we made three types of waffles, super simple Swedish pancakes, homemade Maple syrup and a mushroom sauce to die for.  It was three hours of Sunday morning brunch!  

On the way up, I spent 40 minutes walking Columbia looking for photo ops.  I actually found Santa Claus, but he wouldn't let me take a picture.  I got the rooster instead, but that too is for another day.

Boot Scootin' Takes A Break

If you've read my blog for awhile, you know I'm NOT about selfies.  I rarely EVER take them, mostly because I never like the results.  Just because it's Christmas, I decided I needed just one as I headed out to the Bingo Volunteer Dinner.

Since the cowgirl in me will never leave, and since I retired (code for I can wear anything I want), you will never see me in "shoes".  Its cowboy boots or barefoot with maybe a few sandals thrown in when it's hot.

THIS night I thought I would throw everyone a curve and wear ..... wait for it ....... HIGH HEELS!  With levis, of course, mostly because that's all I have in my closet.  I figured everyone would be shocked.

I have to admit, it took me three tries to find a pair that didn't kill my feet instantly.  I wobbled a tad on the first few steps.  My boots are mostly "high" heels, but they are also two plus inches across.  Balancing on a half inch piece of plastic took some doing.  It's funny because I wore high heels for probably 30 years at work.

It took four tries to get a picture, a blurry one at that.  It seems since I updated my iPhone, the pictures are not as good.  Anyway, here you go ..... sans boots.

I feel rather like Imelda Marcos ... remember the pictures of the shoes in her closet?  There's been lots of boot scootin' in these over the years.

So I get to the party, walking ever so careful on the new laminate floor, and not one single person realized I wasn't wearing cowboy boots.  I click clicked around the room noticing that most people clean up really nice.  A couple of them, I didn't even recognize, but come to find out, they are part of the kitchen crew that cooks the burgers and dogs on Tuesday nights.

I sat at the first table with a TREE view, hoping the waitress would take our order first.  That would be a NO.  Apparently she was a bartender and not a waitress.  She started at the very back of the room.  I was the last person to place my order.  Sadly, I knew exactly what that meant.

Friday night dinners at the lodge are a real event in this small town of no restaurants and nothing to do.  It's always crowded with 100-200 dinners served.  Mix in an additional 50 bingo volunteers and the wait can be excruciatingly long.  

We plied ourselves with soup, salad and drinks.  I figured to take the dinner home in a box.  Pretty soon, the plates began to arrive as the waitress/bartender balanced ONE at a time in her hand.  Finally, one of the ladies went to the kitchen and began to carry plates herself.  

As I wandered through the lodge looking for salt and pepper, I saw the kitchen prep area full to the brim with plates of food, all getting cold, in spite of the warmer.  Where's all the help???

Be patient people ... it's FREE.  Ninety minutes later my cold dinner arrived.  I chucked it in a to-go box and headed out the door, along with everyone else at our table.  I can't wait to get home today and have that chicken cordon bleu and baked potato.  That is if I have any room left in my stomach.

Today is ebelskiver and Scandinavian pancake baking in Columbia.  I'm still full from last night's soup and salad.  To make my stomach even more uncomfortable, there's a secondary bingo party with all English/Scottish food tonight.  That should be interesting.  I see a food coma in my near future.

Maybe I should take the bottle of Tums with me.

It's A Little Crowded Around Here

Yesterday brought an emergency trip to the Doctor's Office.  Not for me (happily) but sadly for my little Cooper.  My poor baby has had an ear problem for a couple of days.  Living on a ranch, we learned to doctor everything from horses to nuts, the nuts being us kids of course.

You got a cut?  Pour iodine on it.  You need stitches?  Pour iodine on it.  You got a mosquito bite?  Pour iodine on it.  You get the picture.  But when my baby puppy gets an ear infection, I go directly to the Vet without passing go.  Actually I did use some medicated powder for a couple of days, to no avail.

I imagine you can guess the Vets office is NOT Cooper's favorite place to go.  I have to drag him kicking and screaming.  Unfortunately the techs are not quite as compassionate as I am.  They shaved his ear, pulled out all the hair (omg I just can't imagine how great THAT felt!!) and doused it with medicine.

Now that we have tortured him, you can take him home.  Don't put anything in his ear for a month.

I have to mention here that the Vet is Dr. Christine McFadden.  The name may be familiar to you.  I've been seeing her ever since she got out of Vet School and opened her little business on the South side of town.

That was when I was in to raising exotic birds.  Parrots, cockatoos, macaws ... and the only Vet was in San Diego.  I drove down there many times with sick birds.  Christine was a money saver for me when she specialized in exotic animals.

She is the one that kept Jonathan alive through two long bouts of pneumonia-like illness where I had to give him shots in the belly, twice a day.  It took months for him to get over it both times, but amazingly, he's still alive and squawking disco, kitty kitty kitty!

You might be able to google the rest of her story, a tragedy like no other involving her children.

The good thing about the trip to the Vet is that I bought a bag of treats, made in the USA of course, that distracted Cooper on the way home.  He has such an expressive face, it just kills me.  Once on the couch, he shook his head constantly until lots of snuggles put him to sleep.  

I'm presently sitting on the front two inches of my little office chair with Cooper cuddled in my lap.  Behind me, also on my LITTLE office chair is Jessie.  If Cooper gets to sit in my lap, she gets to sit behind me.  It's a little crowded around here this morning.

One place it WASN'T crowded was at the Elks Lodge last night ... Lawyer's night.  I guess it's because no one likes lawyers, right?  Turns out they didn't serve shark after all.  The last time they tried it, everyone said it was terrible.  Apparently they didn't advertise New York steaks loud enough. 

That worked in my favor.  Every dinner has raffle prizes you can win with the magic ticket number ... kind of like Bingo.  For some reason, the Lawyers like booze.  Rarely do I ever win, but THIS time, with so few people, I won a nice bottle of Ketel One vodka.  Perfect for those bloody Mary's at the RV rally.

I'm afraid there won't be anything exciting on the schedule today, other than get over my food coma in order to do it again tonight at the Bingo Volunteer dinner.  I'll be spending it all on the couch with my baby puppy, hoping his ear heals up quickly.  I just can't stand to see that sad face!

Minnie Mouse Is In The House

I bet you didn't know that every quilt has a name.  I didn't either until I started having them quilted.  There is always something on the pattern package, like Four Square or Nine Patch.  Most however have exact names that you are supposed to use.  Who knew?

Tres Graphic, Lexington Sampler, Cheese and Crackers, Cracker Jack, Rippling Star and Nina are just a few I've made.  Weird names, for sure.  My quilter is always asking me the name so she can keep it in her computer should I ever need to duplicate it.  I always have to make up something dumb because I never pay attention to the name.

A couple of days ago, that changed.  I just finished this quilt called Simply Delightful.  It seems to me the names never suit the quilt, so I renamed this one Minnie Mouse.  The backing is red with white polka dots (hard to see here) and just looks like everything Minnie Mouse to me.  Unlike some I've made, this one is a keeper.

On the other hand, THIS one is called Cemetery Quilt.  Can you guess why?  It's going the way of my cooking disasters ..... to the cemetery.  It's horrible!!!  It's called Where The Wise Things Are.  Well they certainly aren't in the instructions of this quilt.  The colors and design are just beyond words. 

It's not all sewn together here, which is why it's wonky.  Luckily I stuck it up on the wall before stitching the rows.  I instantly named it the Cemetery Quilt because that's where it's going to end up.  

My quilt cemetery is under my sewing table.  Boxes and boxes of leftover pieces, plus a couple of other disasters destined to be covered in dust and dirt for eternity.  They will never see the light of day.

Good news however .... I absolutely love the owls.  They are very elegant and deserve better.  I took them to the quilt shop many miles away and asked for suggestions.  When the quilt store clerk is more shocked than you when looking at the picture, you KNOW you've named it correctly.

Thank heavens for quilt shop clerks.  She was able to come up with a solution for the owls AND a replacement fabric for this one.  After all, she said I've already sewn together 196 triangles, I might as well come up with SOMETHING to finish it out.  It cost me $120 for the fix and I will end up with TWO quilts.  I suppose that's better than my dirt solution.  

That of course, remains to be seen.  I'll let you know how it goes!  

It's going to be a busy few days, as dinner after dinner after breakfast is consumed.  Lawyer night at the Elks is tonight, followed by the Bingo Christmas Party tomorrow, followed by pancakes and ebelskivers (whatever those are) at the cooking school on Saturday.  

I can see it coming, so I bought a HUGE bottle of Tums!!!!!  I'll be in my sewing room.

The Magic Kingdom Lives On

Was I hoping it would disappear in a poof of smoke?  Not really ... the Magic Kingdom is pretty much what gets me out of the house when I'm not on the road.  I could probably lose a few peasants and not skip a beat though.

I knew I would be alone again with the infernal machine, so I met with the Knights of the Round Table in the Castle's treasury room.  The tables are round, hence the name, and the most important things are kept there, like popcorn and libation.

Actually libation for everyone else, coke for me.  In a flash, it was time to head to the dark dungeon where the peasants would gather.

Luckily I had a helper, Princess Maribel.  I've changed her name to protect the innocent.  As Princesses go, Maribel is as sweet as they come.  All the single male peasants (and some of the married ones) follow her around like a puppy dog since she was recently widowed.  She promptly told them all where to go, as no one can replace her Prince Charming.

Once the line dwindled down to a few, she changed her clothing and slipped in with the peasants unnoticed.  She's a die-hard Bingo player!!

This being the last Bingo meeting in the dungeon until the second week in January, there were lots of new folks and old folks throwing their hard earned (or welfare) money at me.  Along with that came home baked goods.

You know how I feel about that ... do I just say no thank you and offend them or do I say THANK YOU and toss it in the trash?  There was an abundance of cookies that I collected on a plate, then took it into the main room and left it on one of the tables.  It didn't take long for them to disappear.  Magic at the Magic Kingdom, even though Merlin wasn't present.

I have to say the night went well.  There were no rolling-on-the-floor fights, no screaming matches and no hoards of peasants clamoring to kill the caller when he made a mistake.  Christmas is in the air, although I did hear one lady call another a bad name.  There's going to be coal in her stocking!!

It was then I remembered ... this is the LAST game of the month, meaning it's PIZZA time!!  Once a month we get Costco pizza for being such good little volunteers.  We also need to get the final two pints of Baskin Robbins ice cream we won at a charity auction last year.  I reminded the King, who sent a Knight on a mission to claim our property.  He came back a hero, pizza in hand.

Unfortunately he must have walked the entire distance because the pizza was cold.  The ice cream was cold too, thank goodness ..... butter pecan!!!

Happily the infernal machine balanced to a T as I sadly closed down for the year.  It's okay though, I'll see the Knights of the Round Table at Thursday night dinner ... Lawyer's Night.  We'll be dining on Shark.  Yup .... that's what the Lawyers always serve.  Fitting, right?

Friday night is the Knights of the Round Table Bingo volunteer dinner, another wonderful perk of putting up with the peasants for an entire year.

In the meantime, I have another cooking disaster to relate ... a real cemetery piece.

Up The Ladder, Down The Ladder

As soon as the rain quit yesterday, I had the ladder out of the garage and ready for work.  As you can see, it's not quite tall enough for the work at hand.  To be comfortable, it needs to be at least two feet taller.  I got in a little exercise though as I carefully climbed every step.

I was rather surprised when I crawled up the first time to find the waterfall gutter relatively clean.  Perched close to the top step, I finally realized just how much roof area drains into two long lengths of gutter.  It's a LOT!!

We got so much rain in so short a time, the gutter simply couldn't handle that many gallons without overflowing.  It doesn't help that it's practically level either.  Still, I drug the ladder all the way around the back, checking every few feet.

This is all I got in the way of gutter trash.  Hardly a drop in the bucket, so to speak, considering there's probably 150 feet of gutters.  There is one more long length I need to check out in front, but directly underneath are flowerbeds.  

There's no way I'm putting a ladder in that soft dirt and crawling to the top.  What I really need is a drone to do a fly by and check it out.  What a great new business!!  Let me drone your gutters!!  Hopefully it will be sunny and warm for the next few days so the beds will dry and I can check the last waterfall.  

All the while I was outside, Jonathan was trying to get a little attention.  He was screaming for the kitty kitty kitty and generally rocking out, discoing around his cage.  The little trouble maker chewed up his stick in no time and pulled the paper from the floor up through the bottom of the cage, making mincemeat of it.  

Then, just for fun, he somehow finagled the catch pan on the very bottom, all the way out of the cage.  I came in to a lovely mess on the floor.  You can tell by his expression he's saying it wasn't him!!  Yes, birds can be little brats!

I've been playing hermit for the last few days .... it costs me less that way .... but it's time to head out for some groceries and pick up a quilt that's been completed, as well as it's Magic Kingdom time again.  

In the meantime, I've finished the binding on the last quilt.  Minnie Mouse has arrived!!  Pictures tomorrow.

Where Messages Croak

Guess what?  It's raining in California!!  I can't believe it's not even February and we have RAIN!!  It seems as the earth spins and rotations change, the seasons are moving farther and farther away from the norm.  Lucky for us in this desert we call the Central Valley, a nice big storm has decided to take up roots.

It started yesterday afternoon and continued all night long.  I know because I was awake most of the time.  In spite of my desperate attempt to make a correction, there is something about the downspout at the corner of my bedroom that makes a very loud ticking noise all night long when it rains.  That means about 3:00 this afternoon, I'll be asleep on the couch!!

At least it didn't affect my cinnamon rolls like it does divinity.  My Grandmother Grace was the best candy maker in the West.  She made the most beautiful white divinity EVER, telling me never to make it when it was raining, because if there was too much moisture in the air, it wouldn't set up.

She was right, because ever single time I made it at Christmas ... wintertime, right? ... there was either rain or fog.  It never set up.  I called it Spoon Fudge because you had to eat it with a spoon.  Quite tasty it was, but the consistency was something like pudding.  Okay, I'm off track here.

These are sticky buns, although we just called them cinnamon rolls when I was a kid.  They have a generous coating of brown sugar, butter and nuts on the bottom.   Yes you are right, this is the same picture I posted last week because I completely forgot to take a picture of the above pan before I wrapped them up and stuffed them in the freezer.

Not wanting to go outside and get wet, I spent a considerable amount of time cruising the Web asking silly questions like Where is Waldo? and is it going to snow when I head out in the RV.  For some reason I received a bunch of Messenger messages from my friends.

I love my Facebook friends ... they keep me up to date and feeling connected to the world.  I have to admit however, that all those messages you send me saying "pass this along to your friends so they will have good luck, so they won't go to Hell, so they can win that million dollars, so they will have a beautiful day, or so they will have an Angel watching over them" ..... this is where those messages come to CROAK!!  

I certainly don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but did you know those messages can contain viruses and bad things that will make your computer sick?  It's not that I don't appreciate the thought ... I do .... I read it, I appreciate it and then I DELETE it.  Better to send your OWN picture and a nice thought to your friends with a note that says you don't have to copy, paste or forward this to anyone!

I'm probably getting payback for deleting at least one of those messages.  I don't remember any saying I would be flooded if I didn't forward it on, but apparently there WAS one.  At this moment there is a huge waterfall coming off the front of my house where the downspout seems to be plugged up.  Ugh .... I hate cleaning the gutters!!  

Real Men Eat Quiche

Yesterday morning was not a bearer of good news.  I received a text message from my neighbor (the only one in the area I have spoken to, and mostly by text) that the neighbor at the far end of our tiny subdivision had his truck broken in to.  It's a big truck ... the kind that moves six cars at a time on the trailer.  I know I should move ..........

I suppose that's not surprising, since this once lovely little town has become a twin of it's larger neighbor Merced, drug capital of the Central Valley.  Maybe this kind of thing has always gone on, we just never had social media to keep up.

A few minutes later, HIS neighbor discovered his car had also been vandalized.  They all have filled their garages up with stuff and park their vehicles outside.  That's a mistake I think.  The location of their houses doesn't help either ... very close to a quick-get-away mainstream road.

I'll be setting my alarm every night now.  In an effort to let everyone sleep in the early morning hours, I taped sticky notes to the door handle, upon your advice.  I'm happy to say it WORKED this morning!!!

Next up ..... my version of a breakfast I'm SURE the men will love.  Quiche.  I've never made it before, mostly because it involves too much work on the crust.  Who wants to spend two hours cooking breakfast?

I found the solution while walking the aisles of our tiny little Mexican food market.  Pre-made crusts.  I've tried the ones in the box, but they never seem to work well.  Tough would be a good description. That's when I saw it ... a pre-made FROZEN crust.  Just fill it.  How easy is that?

It can't be any worse than the boxed ones, so I bought three.  Little did I know there are actually TWO in each package.  These happen to be Pillsbury brand deep dish.  I filled it with one pound of bacon and one whole onion sliced thin, topped with two cups of Jarlsberg Swiss cheese.  I threw in a little cheddar for color.  I then filled it up with an egg/cream mixture.

The moment of truth.  Even though I forgot to cover it with foil, this came out FABULOUS.  Why didn't I know about this before?  I suppose because we never had quiche on the ranch.  That crust was tender and SO flakey.  I'm never making pie crust again!  Hopefully the RV group will like it as well. 

Now that I've restocked the kitchen, I'll make a second batch of cinnamon sticky rolls.  That will probably be it for pre-cooking the rally.  I can't even fit another cookie in my freezer, let alone big pans.

Time to start thinking about loading up the rig.  Of course it needs a bath first and I'm always going the opposite direction of the truck wash.  Fuel will be next, then the loading will begin.  

In other good news ... my new gardeners are doing a bang-up job!!!!!  Hurrah!!!!!

Chinese Soup!!

As you know, I'm always up early.  This morning I got to sleep in until 5:00.  How cool is that??  Not that it works really, because the last half hour I have crazy vivid dreams.  This time I was a nervous Nelly first-time model who got called to hit the runway.

But WAIT!!!  I need a shower and a lawnmower for my legs!!  I found the shower, but the razor was nowhere to be seen.  I only found a cute little dog with eight baby puppies.  I woke up when the Mayor walked in.  I don't know what to tell you ..... I've got nothing!!

Maybe it was the soup I ate!  On my niece-in-law's bakery page, I keep seeing a delicious looking cauliflower soup.  I'm always up for a challenge.

First off I headed out to the Elks Lodge to help feed 200 challenged children, although now I understand they are to be called Special Needs children.  Parents have complained their kids are NOT challenged, so apparently we are NOT being politically correct.

It was the same turkey dinner we prepared previously.  I was so busy making sure two boys didn't escape the building that I completely forgot to take pictures.

On the way home, I stopped at Smart and Final for cauliflower.  I like cauliflower, but it's pretty boring.  Yes I've tried roasting it in the oven, but that never worked out so well.  It ended up in the cemetery.

Soup really isn't my thing.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE soup, but it's like Chinese Food ... ten minutes later I'm hungry again!!

I searched the internet for a suitable recipe and decided on this one.  Melt a little butter and saute onions along with chopped up cauliflower and a couple cloves of garlic until it starts to brown a tad.  I actually included a small diced potato, just because I had one.  You could easily leave that out.  Stir in 3 tablespoons of flour and let it cook for a minute or two.

Three cups of chicken broth was followed by half a cup of cream (because I needed to use the rest of the carton) or 1 cup milk according to the recipe, and a sprig of fresh rosemary from my garden.  I let it simmer for maybe 25 minutes.  

Time for the immersion blender, which I'm scared to death of.  You know how I am with sharp things, and this one can send hot soup clear across the room if not held correctly.  I like it chunky, so I only blended it for a few seconds.  Stir in 1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese until melted, followed by 2 tablespoons of cooking sherry.

Oh my gosh!!!  This stuff is AMAZING!!  And it came from MY kitchen!!  I ate the first bowl with relish!!  Still hungry, I ate a second bowl, adding a piece of toast to fill me up.  I think at least a third bowl went down as I tasted it again and again while putting it away.  Thirty minutes later I was hungry.

This is definitely on my keeper list.  Maybe with TWO pieces of garlic toast it will satisfy my stomach longer than Chinese food.  

Today I'm going to gather up all those sticky notes I have all across the kitchen and come up with menu plans for the RV rally.  Maybe I'll even try out that quiche recipe.  With a pound of bacon in each one, I think the men may just like it!!

Sugar Eaters Rejoice!!

I was up early again a couple days ago, which is no surprise at all, to find my poor Cooper all stove up with a look of pain on his sweet face.  Well that's not good!!  Apparently there was too much ball/toy playing.  Luckily I still have some pills from his last episode.  After a prednisone pill and muscle relaxant, we made ourselves comfortable .... on the floor .... again!!

We sat for four hours watching ... you guessed it ... those Christmas movies on TV.  At least they have a few new ones, but with the same plot and the same bad actors.  Actually some of them are very good ... there's only a couple that aren't believable.

By noon I couldn't stand it any more.  I didn't dare leave the house, afraid I would return to find Cooper up on the couch.  So ..... my latest craze is going to Bigger Bolder Baking's website for these crazy recipes ... like two ingredient ice cream.

You may have seen Good Cook merchandise in the stores here and there.  Gemma is their spokesperson, posting videos on Facebook all the time with some mighty tasty recipes.  It doesn't hurt that she is from Ireland and has a great accent.  The guys might want to tune in for a show or two.

She's very good at coming up with amazing recipes for everyday things .... like marshmallow fluff.  You know, the stuff in the jar that you make fudge with?  When she said it was good on pies, cakes and ice cream, she had me at pies.

So here we go ..... another experiment in home-no-preservatives-cooking.  This is sugar and water, placed on the stove and stirred until the sugar is melted.  Then you stick in a candy thermometer and walk away.  I was pretty skeptical at that point.  Walking away from anything boiling on my stove isn't such a good idea, but walk away I did.

Fifteen minutes later it was up to 240 degrees.  I took it off the stove.

This is egg whites with a tad of cream of tartar ... that weird white stuff.  I've no idea where it comes from or how it works.  I just beat the egg whites into soft peaks, then started adding the boiled sugar.  Too bad I forgot to read the part about being particularly careful exactly WHERE the stream of sugar enters the pan.  

Too close to the beater and it will spread it completely around the inside of the bowl instead of INTO the egg whites.  Let it go for ten minutes.  By the time I stopped it, there was a nice thick layer of hard-as-a-rock syrup clinging to the side of the bowl.  I guess my aim wasn't very good.

Undaunted, I got a spatula and scraped as much as possible into this bowl.  Does this look amazing or what??  Yes there are the occasional chunks of rock hard sugar that you do NOT want to bite down on, but let me tell you, this stuff is the BOMB!!!  OMG!!  I think I ate half of it with a spoon before the lid got placed on top.  

Gemma was right .... it's REALLY good on pie.  Remember those berry pies I put in the freezer?  There are only two left now.  I dipped grapes in it, peanut butter cookies (the BEST), apples ... I even dipped my finger in a time or two.  

Alas, it didn't last long, six days the recipe said, but somehow it disappeared in four.  Remember the old Jello pudding with cool whip, layered in a glass?  This would be WONDERFUL atop anything in a glass!!!  In fact, it was delicious on top of my hot chocolate.

You would think I would be sugared out, but my sweet tooth is the size of the Grand Canyon.  I will try to be good for the next week or so before I make it again.  This time I'll concentrate on where the syrup falls.

The good news is that Cooper is much better today, searching the house for the toys that are all put away.  I'll have to listen to his barking for awhile, but that's okay.  At least he's got a smile on his face now.

Confirming Amazon Confirmations

Everyone recognizes this little smile, right?  It's Amazon.com's latest and greatest advertisement.  Unfortunately, just like with every other company out there, scammers have copied not only their logo but wording from some of the emails they themselves have received.  BE VERY AWARE and don't let these guys take you for a ride into the nether regions of the world.

It's so frustrating to be bothered by these rats disguising themselves as Amazon.  If you don't pay very close attention, they will take a whirlwind trip through your bank account, or at the very least, cause nasty critters to set up shop in your computer.

I received an email from "Amazon" yesterday asking me to confirm a sale.  Apparently I had purchased a $250 gift card for Jemy Lovato.  If that name sounds familiar, it's really Demi Lovato, a singer, songwriter and actress.  She played on the kids show Barney and Friends, so I'm not sure that qualifies as ACTRESS.  I'm also not sure if the rats just can't spell or what.

Anyway, it asked me to confirm the purchase before the card was sent out.  It also said that in "some emergency cases" the card could be cancelled instantly if this was a fraudulent purchase.  DO NOT .... I repeat DO NOT click on anything.  Close the email and delete it.  

Funny thing, when I looked closely, the date of purchase was in August 2018.  Why did they wait so long to contact me?  That was a big red flag.

Almost immediately I received ANOTHER email from Amazon notifying me that my credit card purchase had been rejected and they needed clarification so my purchase would not be delayed.  It happens that I had just ordered two items from Amazon.  

Here's the thing dummy scammers .... when you click the ORDER button, if your credit card is not accepted, it immediately tells you to enter another card number.  Your order will never even be placed if the card is not verified immediately.  So you send an email to tell me it didn't go through?  I think not you stinking creepy examples of humans, trying to steal other people's hard earned money!!

So beware my friends .. there should be no confirming Amazon Confirmations, or verifying credit card numbers from an email .... EVER!!  Always be wary!!

Here's my thought for the day.  It pretty much describes my daily existence to a tee.  Never in a million years did I ever think I would be an adult, let alone an OLD adult!!!  I guess I'm there.

I've tried a couple more challenging recipes, at least one with good results.  So good I ate it with a spoon, which is code for it was sugary sweet.  You know, craving foods I know I shouldn't eat.  I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Hmmm I wonder how I got that big bruise on my arm??