Lunch

I have been wanting something that Dad & I saw last week on America's Test Kitchen on PBS - since they did it. There isn't really much I have ever seen on TV that I had the feeling to make immediately. I have tested, tried and liked many recipes I have seen done on TV, but a very small few gave me the notion to do then & there. This was one of them: Quick Tomato Sauce from the Italian Bread and Sauce from Season 10. To see the recipe, you have to go to there website, register (it's free - that's what you use that junk email address you created for right???) then just type the recipe in the search bar. The same episode, they made Ciabatta bread, I think I could pull it off, but it makes me want a Kitchen Aid mixer more than I already do!!!!

I went on a hunt this morning for the crushed tomatoes they said use. I started at the Food Lion in Salisbury at Innes Market looking for the Muir Glen kind because they are the Organic ones & I didn't feel like driving over to Harris Teeter on the other side of town. Well, FL had it but it was over $3 for

it and I only had $2.85 on me since I cleaned out the silver change holder in my room and didn't feel I should pay that much for them since I knew I could cheat and use something cheaper. I decided to go ahead and drive over to HT with a pit stop by Starbucks for my non-fat raspberry latte. I did find the Tuttorosso Crushed Tomatoes there for $2. Score! I did consider getting the Furmano's or Cento's brands if I couldn't grab one of the brands shown on the show. I suggest to definitely look at the pictures of the labels if you choose to go shopping for these as there are many choices they can blend together.

The cooking of the sauce was extremely easy and turned out super tasty!

I was going to make French Bread using a recipe from my Joy of Cooking

cookbook and I was reading over the recipe and Emma began looking with me since I mentioned about making it. The recipe beside of it was Egg Bread, but the picture is what caught her eye. It showed how to braid it. Needless to say, we made Egg Bread. Emma helped me measure and Michael sifted the flour. Emma and I mixed the dough (insert our wishing for that Kitchen Aid Mixer with dough hook here) then Michael helped us as we took turns kneading the dough. Then we waited it to rise....then we braided.

The picture to the right is Michael dividing his dough for braiding. The one here on the left is Emma braiding her bread.

Let me say, braiding hair is much easier!

Here is the completed sauce made by the directions with pasta and a slice of our Egg Bread.

Could Have Been from Mom's Kitchen

Our dinner tonight could have been found at my Mom & Dad's table on any given day in the summer. Grilled Cube Steak and Italian Potatoes with Hockey Pucks for dessert.

Hockey Pucks you say? I did, say!

Hockey Pucks is actually what we call Boiled Cookies or No Bake Cookies. Our Uncle Gary dubbed them Hockey Pucks because that is what they look like!

Porkchop's

Tonight I grilled Porkchop's we had cream taters, gluten free mac and cheese , greenbean's and pinto's. The chops turned out good the taters were good as always and I wasn't up for the bean's so I didn't eat any. The mac and cheese was gluten free and it is the only thing that I don't like that we fix that's gluten free. So all in all it was a great supper.

Forgot one thing.

I will be grilling some ol'porkchops tonight. Now I just got to decide what to spice them up with.

My new adventure

As many of you know I lost my job back in June. So I have been trying to decide what I want to do.
The first thing that I thought of was culinary school. But I thought that i would have to go to school at some big money racket school. I was wrong, Alamance Community College offer's culinary courses. So now I have to decide what I want to do.Find a real job or do something that I know I will enjoy. What are ya'll thoughts?

Ribeye's My Way

Today me and Chrislin were talking about what to fix for dinner. We both settled on steaks since we needed to make room in the freezer. Cam our picky eater had no complaints. The seasoning are alittle of this and alittle of that. When I have steaks to grill nobody knows what they will taste like since its never the same.

Creativity is the Fun Part of the Adventure

I was feeling the creativity bug in the kitchen today but couldn't find the inspiration I need in my kitchen. Michael and I headed to Whole Foods Market in Winston-Salem to get my usual supply of sunflower seeds and I figured I could find my answer for creativity there. When that shopping trip failed only in the department of figuring out what I wanted to do, I drove the couple blocks over to Edward McKay's Used Books.

After looking through my routine searches of fiction books I strolled over to the cookbook section. After a long search of picking up and putting down and page flipping, I found my inspiration I was longing for The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fondues & Hot Dips!!!

Yep, you read it right, fondue! I have a fondue set that I haven't touched in probably 8-9 years, so it just left me as having to pick out a recipe and head to a grocery store on the way home.

I stopped at Lowe's Foods and picked up everything plus some that I needed to make the Smoked Cheddar,

Tomato and Bacon Fondue on page 49. I couldn't find any Smoked Cheddar so, I just used the regular Kraft Sharp Cheddar and it worked out quite well. I just toasted up some sub rolls to dip into the fondue. Next time, I see some veggies happening. The

taste testers for this culinary tasting trip was Jamey, Joey, Michael & Jonathan. There were NO complaints!

The fondue served as a great appetizer for the main course tonight of Beef/Chicken Kabobs and Joey's Bacon Potatoes.

As for my next fondue trip, I see a dessert fondue happening!

Welcoming a New Adventurer!

Our brother Josh has DEMANDED for us to include him here on our blog. So, we have. He emailed this pic & short note since he is headed to the beach this week.

Grilling some chicken on short notice at the inlaws on my small old grill.