March 21, 2011

Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning !!

Well, I'm back but barely !  As I've told Yall, we moved to the country, but Lord have mercy !  I didn't know we were moving far enough out that they only offer Dial Up Internet here !  It has been years since I used Dial Up and that was when I first got on the internet with AOL.  But, I'm quickly reminded how slow this dadgum thing is, especially when it comes to loading pictures etc.  Oh well, instead of complaining I should be counting my blessings. 

We did make the move and so happy to be in our new house (well, not new, but new to us).  My husband and I both hate to move and of course I had more stuff than the law should have allowed.  We had been in our old house for 11 yrs and thought many times about moving but everytime we thought about what a pain it is to make the actual move, we talked ourselves out of it.  But, we finally bit the bullet and made the move and we are so glad that we did.  Of course it took us several days just to reach the point we could move, get up and down out of our chair etc., without moaning and groaning...LOL  As usual when anyone moves, we still have to think about where we put things and try to remember where it all is.  I'm still shuffling things around because I'm finding that some things I put up just weren't convient for me or I just didn't like it there.  So here I go again, moving stuff around.  We absolutely love the house and it is so much larger than the one we just moved out of.   Because this is an old house, it has gobs of cabinets, drawers etc.  They built this house back in the day when houses were built sturdy with lots of storage.  My husband and I are both short and the kitchen cabinets are so tall and deep, we have to keep our little utility stool close at hand.  Talk about storage !  I have found drawers and cabinets that are still empty, simply because I didn't have anything to put in them after I got everything unpacked.  Believe that? Not me !! LOL  I don't think I've ever lived in a house that there was this much storage room, and I'm loving it !  When I say this house is so much larger that is the truth, but there is one draw back that I don't understand when they built the house.  That is the kitchen isn't that big and isn't very wide, it is longer than wide.  But, I'm making adjustments and we are either going to buy a portable kitchen cart that has a butcher block on top with cabinets underneath or Fred will make one.  We found one we liked, now we just have to decide whether to buy it or make it.  My preference is for Fred to make it, but we will see how that goes. 

We finally got everything unpacked and found a home for it all, but I was beginning to wonder if that would ever happen right after the move.  But it is getting there.  One thing that I'm having to re-train myself to do is learn to cook on an electric stove again.  It has been years since I've cooked on an electric stove and it sure takes some getting used to, I'll tell ya ! lLOL  When you cook with gas and you turn off your fire it is off, but when you turn off an electric stove it stays hot and doesn't cool down like a gas stove, so that has taken some getting used to for sure.  The first few meals I cooked after moving in here became quite a challenge just trying to get a feel for the stove, but I think I finally have it down pat now. 

Since we seem to have everything inside of the house in order, we have started on the yard and the garden.  We brought a lot of our plants that were perrineals with us like our Hostas so we got those in the ground along with a few others that come back every year.  The yard is full of beautiful flowers, bushes etc. so we are still trying to see what grows here every year and we will be adding our own plants as well.  Fred has already tilled up the garden and planted 5 rows of potatoes, some onions and cabbage.  This next couple of weeks, we will start planting other good veggies...Yeahhhhh !  We love our garden and so enjoy the fresh veggies that come out of it.  I had never canned vegetables until Fred and I got married and started growing a garden.  So, that has been a learning experience for me and so far it is working out pretty darn good if I say so myself...LOL.  What we don't eat fresh, we can or freeze and that is so neat to have those fresh veggies all year round.  Of course we share with our kids, family and friends and they seem to love the veggies too.  Fred has also started a Herb garden and they are so good to cook with.  Having fresh veggies and herbs to cook with makes all the difference in the world in the taste of food. 

OK......speaking of food.....(go figure...LOL), last week the grocery store had a sale on Pork Ribeye Roasts and man were they good !  We cooked these on the grill and they were so moist and tender.  Anytime we cook something like a roast, brisket etc. on the grill I always marinate the meat first and it sure makes a difference in not only the taste of it, but then tenderness as well.  My marinade mixture is pretty simple and straight forward and can change from one time to the next (again, as I've told Yall before, a lot of my cooking has NO recipe...LOL)  But this is how I usually do the basic type of marinade.  I start off with the base of it being an Italian Dressing, about 2 cups.  Then I begin adding the seasonings.  But like I've said also, judge the type of amount of seasonings you use according to your own taste.  I then add, Garlic Powder, Seasoning Salt, Worcestershire Sauce, about 2 tablespoons of Mustard, Oregano, Cumin Powder and 1 cup of Brown Sugar.  Mix all of these ingredients well and pour it over your meat, making sure you cover all sides.  Place the meat in a plastic container that will hold all the meat and the marinade and about every hour flip the container over to again cover all of the meat.  I like to marinade my meat for at least 3-4 hours before we cook it on the grill.  Marinading it over night is really the best way to do it if you have time.  Then place the meat on the grill to cook according to your taste and the doneness you prefer.  One little piece of advice though I would like to share is that be VERY careful as to not overcook the meat !!  The longer you cook it, the drier it will become and it also looses a lot of flavor when you overcook it.  Now, I know a lot of people don't care for rare or even medium rare meat, so I'm not saying it has to be rare just not overcooked !  In fact, my thinking is, remove the meat from the heat before you think it is actually done.  That is because after you remove it from the heat and cover it will foil, it will continue to cook somewhat.  So, if you continue to cook the meat until it is very well done, then remove it from the heat it will really dry out and loose a lot of the flavor.  Also, if you want to add any sort of sauce such as BBQ sauce, don't put it on the meat while cooking it.  Wait until right before you pull it off of the grill then baste the meat for only about 10-15 minutes at the very most !  The sauce will burn on the meat if you add it too soon.  Not only are the Pork Roasts good cooked this way, but any briskets, ribs or country style ribs are delicious !  Try this method and let me know how it works for you....Yum-O !!

With the warmer weather coming upon us and we start to grill outside, there is a Salad that I make that goes great with BBQ or anything as far as that goes, but during the Spring and Summer months you have a lot of choices of veggies to use in this salad.  It is also a dish that gets better the longer that it sits.  It certainly is a side dish that is something different than the typical potatoe and pasta salads. 
First of all, when I go to the grocery store to shop for this recipe, I check out all of the fresh summer veggies that are readily available at this time of the year.  So, once again this recipe changes up from time to time according to what veggies are available.  You can use any and all of these vegetables to make this salad.  I usually have them all in there ! LOL  Here are just a few of the veggies to use in this salad, but the combinations of veggies are endless !  Tomatoes (I prefer the Roma for this salad, but you can use any tomatoes), Cucumbers, Green Onions, Purple Onions, Fresh Yellow and Zuchinni Squash, Fresh Broccoli and Cauliflower, Bell Peppers (any color, although the "Stop Light" peppers make a prettier salad, but are very expensive too), Carrots, Radishes, etc. etc. !!  As you can see, there are so many different veggies you can use, that each time you make it, you may have different veggies than the time before, just depending on what is in season.  I cut all of these veggies into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.  Sprinkle with Seasoning Salt, Garlic Powder, Lemon-Pepper.  Cover all of the veggies with a very generous amount of Italian Dressing.  I normally use a whole bottle of the dressing when I have a lot of veggies.  Now, I'll say the same thing that I've always told people that has asked me for recipes, directions etc.  Taste, taste, taste the food !!  If you make something and don't taste it yourself, you will have no idea if it is seasoned well enough or not.  So taste your food !!  Again, let me know if you try this salad and how you like it and don't forget....the longer it sits the better it tastes.

Well Folks, guess I had better get busy around here.  I hope you have a great day and I'll be talking to you soon ! 

Love ya !
Carol