I hope this morning has started off great for all of you. After all the rain we've had the past couple of days, the sun is a welcomed sight this morning. But, I'm not complaining about the rain at all, we needed it ! That rain sure was apprecited by some of our fall garden plants. They are all nice and perky and look so healthy. Fred planted some Broccoli, Cabbage, Brussel Sprouts and Carrots, I know he planted a couple more, but I just can't remember what they are....go figure ! Does that mean I'm getting old when I can't remember things? LOL. Our Spring and Summer garden did so well this year so I did a lot of canning and freezing of the veggies, so as you can imagine I'm looking forward to these fall veggies as well. We don't have a huge garden at all, but it is plenty big enough for us. It provides enough veggies for us and for some to share with others too. I love sharing my goodies with everyone. Speaking of it not being a huge garden, we actually have our garden in our back yard. Every year it gets bigger and bigger. I told Fred if he kept on enlarging it, pretty soon our entire back yard will be nothing but garden. But he says to me.."That's OK....more veggies for us and less yard to mow!" Leave it to a man to think about the mowing ! As you know, I've been a cook pretty much all of my adult life, and used fresh veggies as much as I could. But I had never actually done much gardening and I was green as a gord when it came to being knowledgeable about gardening. But in the almost 6 yrs that Fred and I have been married, I have learned so much from Fred....(Thanks Baby...you're the best!). He has taught me how to plant, fertilize (without burning it all up), and transplant things. Not only is he great with gardening, but he loves flowers and plants too and he's taught me so much about that too. I had no idea what an "annual and perinnial" plants were. Now, I know....how about that? We love to work in the yard and garden together, if you have never gardened with your significant other, you should really try it. It sure gives you some quality time together, then you benefit from the garden as well.
Well, I think I have figured out how to do this Recipe Archive thing, or at least I think I have. If you will look at the top of the page you will see a tab for "Recipe Archives". I will try my best to move the Recipe of the Day recipes to this page each day that I post new ones. That way if you happen to miss a recipe or don't have timie to copy it, you can always go back to the archives and find it there. I had wanted to do that from the beginning, but since I am so new to using this site, I had to figure out how to do it. Then a couple of friends of mine had brought it to my attention that they had missed some recipes before they had a chance to copy them and wanted to know where they could find them. So, I worked on this thing until I figured it out. Hopefully this will work for everyone. I have already added some of my previous recipes, but I know they aren't all there. So, if you have missed a particular recipe and it is not posted in the archives, please let me know and I'll do my best to post it and get it to you. I am constantly searching and sending recipes to different people that I forget from time to time what I did. Oh well, I'll get it together somehow.
As I have told Yall, we just got back from attending Fred's daughters wedding in Iowa. One of the gifts we gave her was one of my Cookbooks. She loved it ! Yeahhhhhh !! The day after the wedding, I prepared a lunch for anyone that wanted to come back to the house to eat and watch Angie and Ryan open their gifts. When she opened that particular gift she was thrilled and everyone there was too. They all wanted to look at the book and started asking me how they could get one too! So, it looks like I will be making a few more of those books. I would love to get started on these books asap, but with the wedding I just didn't have time to do that and then we have the holidays upon us. So, I am planning on starting these books after the first of the year. I already have orders for 32 books so far.....Wow ! Can you believe that? I'm still in shock that so many people would be so interested in them. I have never sold these books before, just made them and gave them as gifts in the past. So when different ones asked about the Cookbooks and wanted to order one, I was so surprised ! Like I keep telling everyone, you won't find a bunch of what I call "Gormet Dishes" in there, just plain old cooking. I didn't put any recipes in there that called for ingredients that we don't normally either have in our home already or something that is easy to find at the store. So far every book that I've given as a gift, the people loved them and the fact the recipes were ones they could really use and not just look at like in these fancy magazines. If you are interested in my Cookbook, please let me know and I'll add you to my list. Then after the first of the year I will start making these. I also will be happy to mail them to you as well. I just hope you enjoy the books as much as I've enjoyed making them. It is just like I say about my cooking......When I prepare a meal for someone, I enjoy watching them enjoying my food, much more than I actually enjoy cooking it ! And that is saying something, since cooking is probably my very favorite thing to do.
Last night for supper I made "Chicken & Stuff" with Stuffed Baked Potatoes. I have made this dish off and on over the years, but never really had a name for it. Then there was as restaurant here that served it as well and they called it "Chicken & Stuff", so I thought, what the heck, sounds like a good enough name for me...LOL. It's a very tasty chicken dish and so easy to make. It is seasoned (Lemon Pepper, Garlic Powder & Seasoning Salt) Grilled Chicken Breasts, topped with melted Cheese and Sauteed Onion & Bell Pepper. I sautee my veggies in very little cooking oil, then season my veggies with Lemon Pepper, Garlic Powder, Seasoning Salt and Parsley Flakes. By using these types of seasonings on your veggies, it gives them so much more flavor, opposed to plain sauteed veggies. I also top this dish with sliced Avacados, if they are in season. Yummy !!
Tonight I think I will be making Salmon Croquettes. I know that everyone has their own particular way of making these and there are so many variations out there. I have probably tried them all at one time or another. But I found a recipe several years ago for the restaurant "Joe's Crab Shack" Crab Cakes. This is a chain of seafood restaurants and their food is great ! So when I found this recipe for their Crab Cakes, I jumped on it. Not only have I made the Crab Cakes, but I used the same recipe for my Salmon Croquettes. You just substitute the Crab for Salmon. Using all the same ingredients and spices for Crab Cakes, it works great for the Salmon too. If you ever have the opportunity to eat at Joe's Crab Shack, you really should, their food is wonderful ! One year for Christmas the kids and I were trying to plan our Christmas menu. As you know, our Christmas feast comes really soon after our Thanksgiving feast, when we have the Turkey & Dressing and all the bells and whistles that come along with it. So, we were trying to think of something different to serve that particular year. I told the kids, I have never seen it written in stone that you HAD to have Turkey & Dressing or even Ham for either holiday meal. We could have anything we would like to have. So, we decided to have what we called a "Cajun Christmas". I made the Joe's Crab Shack Crab Cakes, a huge pot of Chicken, Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo, Cajun Red Beans & Rice, Dirty Rice etc. I can't even remember all we had but it was all delicious and a welcomed change from the traditional Turkey & Dressing we had just had for Thanksgiving. The kids really enjoyed it, so if you are ever stumped on what to serve for a holiday meal because you get tired of the same thing over and over again, try stepping out of the box a little bit. It is a fun way to celebrate. Below is the recipe for the Joe's Crab Shack Crab Cakes. As I said, you can substitute the Crab with Salmon, it works well also.
Crab Cakes
(Like Joe's Crab Shack)
1 Egg yolk
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. Old Bay
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 Cup fresh breadcrumbs
3 Tbls. chopped fresh parsley
1 Lb. crab meat
Flour to coat
Beat together first 9 ingredients. Fold in breadcrumbs and parsley. Fold in crab meat. Form into 4-6 patties. Lightly coat patties in flour on both sides. Deep fry crab cakes in hot oil until browned.
Speaking of the holidays, I am still waiting to hear from Yall with your yummy holiday recipes. If you will send those to me, I will be glad to post them for others to see. Trading recipes are so much fun and a great way to add recipes to your own collection. A lot of the dessert and goodie recipes can be made in advance and frozen. I do that every year so I have time to make all of them I want to try and it also leaves me with the time I need to prepare the main meal. My biggest problem doing that though is, I tend to get carried away with all the cooking of the goodies, then when it is time to pull them out of the freezer, I had forgotten what all I made and I end up with goodies coming out of my ears...LOL. But hey....that's OK too! What we don't eat, I start sending them home with the kids or freezing what is left. It never goes to waste ! So, to kick this holiday recipe off, below is a recipe for a great holiday snack, White Crunch Nibble. So start sending those recipes, Yall, it will be so much fun !
White Crunch Nibble
Mix together in a large roaster:
2 cups salted peanuts
10 oz. pkg. pretzels
5 cups Cheerios
5 cups Crispix
16 oz. M & Ms
Melt together over medium low heat:
10 oz. pkg. pretzels
5 cups Cheerios
5 cups Crispix
16 oz. M & Ms
Melt together over medium low heat:
2 pkgs. 12 oz. white chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Pour this over cereal mixture, stirring to thoroughly coat. Spread over waxed paper to set up.
You will have chunks of candy.
Once it has cooled completely, keep in air tight container.
Well, I guess I had better get started around here, as usual there is always something to be done. I do hope you can use these two recipes I just posted as well as the Recipe of the Day ! Have a great day, my friends and "Happy Eating" !
Muahhhhhhhhhh ♥
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