October 6, 2010

Hey Yall !

Well, here we go...my very first blog !  How do you think I'm doing so far? LOL. OK...I know, I was trying to be funny but I have to break the ice someway..LOL. I have cooked, shared recipes and searched for recipes for pretty much all of my adult life.  As I stated in my welcoming post, I never learned how to cook from my Mama.  Bless her heart, she wasn't much of a "creative" cook as I call it, but one thing was for sure, we all got fed and that is what mattered. The only time I was allowed in the kitchen was to help wash dishes etc.  I was occasionally allowed to maybe make a cake or cookies from recipes my Mama had and there was no such thing in our house called "cake mixes"! So, it all had to be from scratch.  The only type of "fancy" seasonings or things to maybe decorate a cake with was maybe a box of that liquid food coloring...LOL.  So, because I was even limited on the food colorings, I made a lot of blue, green, red, yellow or orange cakes and cookies....LOL. I was always searching for something to dress up my cooking.  So, needless to say when I married I had NO clue as how to cook.  I am known by a lot of friends and customers over the years as the "pie lady" because I love to bake them and I make my Coconut and Chocolate pies with double filling and mile high meringue.  Well, that wasn't always the case.  Right after I married I was going to try and impress my husbands family with one of my Mama's famous chocolate pies...WRONG ! LOL.  She gave me her recipe, just the ingredients and measurements, but didn't tell me how to cook and put it together. I ended up pouring my "uncooked" filling into an "uncooked" pie shell, topped it with meringue and stuck that bad boy in the oven....LOL.  I kept watching that pie and the dadgum thing kept getting browner and browner on the meringue, until it was completely burnt, and the filling and crust was raw still ! LOL.  Of course I was teased unfairly about my first attempt at this, but Mama never told me how to put it together, such as the fact I had to pre-cook my crust and cook my filling first !!  A lesson to learn......the hard way ! LOL.  But it was a good lesson, now I can actually make a pie worth eating...LOL. 

So, over the years I have done a lot of researching for cooking methods, recipes etc.  I've also done a lot of watching, listening, tasting to learn how to cook.  Having a family with four children, it was a must that I learn how to cook!  Then as my kids grew up, I actually took a job in a restaurant as a cook.  Hoping that I could not only do it, but not kill someone along the way too.....LOL.  I've always loved to cook, but more than cook I loved to see others enjoy my cooking !  I have never been one of the types of cooks that try to keep their recipes a secret either.  I love sharing recipes with others and collecting recipes from every source I could.  Of course when I first started cooking there was no such thing as this wonderful thing we call the internet !  So, when I actually got a computer and found out what all I could find on the internet as far as recipes and methods, I was thrilled to say the least !  If anyone asks me for a particular recipe, that is a form of flattery to me and I'm more than happy to share them.  So as we continue our journey with this blog, if there is ever a particular recipe that you would like to have, please just ask !  I also would love to have any recipes that you would like to share with me and others as well. 

I'll do my best here on this blog, to not only let you know what is going on in my little world, but share recipes and an occasional picture with you.  I look forward to hearing from all of you.  Even if you don't have a recipe to share, just stop by to say hi !  I'd love that !!  So.....here we go folks !!

Last night I made a big old pot of Homemade Vegetable Soup with Cornbread Muffins.  I think Homemade Soup is one of my husbands very favorite meals!  This particular dish is one of those things that I don't really have a recipe for.  I'm known for just saying..."a little of this, a little of that ! Just cook it or taste it until it looks right, smells right and tastes right!" LOL.  In fact sometimes I find it a real challenge to give someone a recipe because so much of my cooking is not measured !  So, when they ask for a specific recipe, I really have to think about it...LOL.  As far as my Homemade Vegetable Soup goes, I just use whatever type of veggies I have, either in the freezer, the pantry or in the fridge.  I always make my soup with a tomato type base, such as stewed tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce etc.  Some people call soup and stew the same thing, but that isn't true !  Or at least not to me...LOL.  A Vegetable Soup always has a tomato base and a Stew has a brown base, such as brown gravy type base.  I keep a large plastic container, tupperware type, in my freezer.  Each time I prepare a meal and I have any type of veggies left, even if it is only a cup or two, I throw it into that container.  Then when I'm ready to make soup, I have almost all the veggies I need.  I just pull the plastic container out and add it to my tomato base along with any other fresh, frozen or canned veggies.  You would be really surprised how many veggies you can save by just adding a cup or two of left over veggies into your container in the freezer.  And when I say I add whatever I have or want in my soup.....I mean everything ! LOL.  Not only do I have the normal type veggies, if I have it, I will add fresh cabbage, squash, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes etc.  I also like to add uncooked macaroni or rice and have even added left over mashed potatoes.  Mashed potatoes will help thicken your soup as well.  The cold weather is on it's way folks, and there is nothing better to stick to your ribs on a cold night than Homemade Vegetable Soup with a pan of good old cornbread or crackers if you prefer. 

I would love to hear from any of you that have a good recipe for soups or stews.  So, please share them with us.  When I went to the grocery store last week, they had chicken legs and thighs on sale.  So, when I see anything on sale, I jump on it! LOL.  So, tonight we will be having Homemade Chicken Strips !  Yep...I use dark meat for my Chicken strips sometimes too.  Of course the legs and thighs had the bone in them, so I just cut the meat off the bone, then slice them into strips.  We are the type of people that likes dark meat, but I know there are a lot out there that prefer only white meat especially for Chicken Strips etc.  But we like both and as I said, I determine what type of meat I will use as to what it is on sale ! LOL.  Not sure what type of veggies I'll fix to go with it, but I'll let you know.  But for last night, we had Homemade Vegetable Soup with Cornbread.  I have a picture for you here and you'll find out not only am I NOT a chef, but I'm not a photographer either...LOL.

I hope you have a great day and that you are enjoying all this beautiful fall weather we are having here !  Happy Eating, my friends !!

Muahhhhhhhhhhhhh ♥