Two Screwdrivers and a Hammer

Our friends and extended family, Doris and Archie Turner traditionally host a lovely Independence Day gathering at their home. As we have for the last few years, we attended. The young people and the little children enjoyed swimming and all of us enjoyed eating. My contribution was Orange Marmalade Almond Cupcakes and deviled eggs. I came across the cupcake recipe while thumbing through the July edition of Martha Stewart's Everyday Foods magazine. I had all the ingredients except for the orange marmalade and "natural almonds". When I read the ingredients list I wondered what "un-natural almonds" would be! Martha food editor's never make things simple, just so you know. The recipe involved both the food processor (to grind the almonds and combine the dry ingredients) and the Kitchen Aid. Two glitches occurred during the preparation of the cupcakes. The first, a minor setback happened when I was adding the orange marmalade to the batter. As I was preparing to add the marmalade, a HUGE dollop of the sticky, gooey stuff missed the mixing bowl and landed on the counter.....not in the mixing bowl. No. It hit the edge of the counter where some of it stayed and the remainder dribbled down the cabinets and onto the floor. I was able to quickly recover from this situation since I have so many opportunities to practice my recovery.



The second incident was more serious and required the use of hand tools. I can't give a logical explanation of how this happened, but then readers know by now that I come up with totally unique cooking disasters that simply DEFY explanation! As I was placing the the plastic shield on the mixer, something happened and the mixer, which was running, caught the edge and somehow the mixing bowl slipped out of the slots that hold it securely in place during operation. It became wedged at an angle and firmly stuck there. This sort of thing requires quick thought and diligent action and of pulled that off as usual. I turned off the mixer, reached into the nearby tool drawer and retrieved a screwdriver and attempted to pry the bowl loose. That failed, so I grabbed a larger screw driver. I'd like to note that I was making the cupcakes while Gene was taking his afternoon nap in the bedroom, and was trying not to wake him up. These cooking mishaps have revealed so much about my character. When the second screwdriver didn't help, I really didn't care if I disturbed Gene's rest! My goal was to repair the mixer and avoid any metal shards in the cupcake batter. Finally, I reached into the drawer and pulled out the hammer. A strategically place whack loosened the bowl and I was able to proceed. I did check the batter for pieces and metal, and not finding any finished the mixing.



The cupcakes were okay, but I'm not sure I'll make them again. The memories of that event left a bitter taste in my mouth for these sweet treats. Others who ate the cupcakes indicated that they were fine. I don't know if they were just being nice, or if they really meant it. If you'd like to try them, pick up a copy of the July edition of M.S's Everyday Foods magazine.



I have attached a picture of the cupcakes for your enjoyment!



Until next time........

Collateral Damage

When I bought the white slacks last year they were fine. They became part of my "go to" outfit for summer this year. I really like those slacks. You may have even seen pictures on Facebook of me wearing them, usually with a lime green top for which I bought a new pair of shoes to match. But often I wear a black and white two-piece top. Then last week in the post squash casserole and banana pudding days I noticed when I put them on they were approximately an inch too short. I think I understand the science behind this phenomena. When the body expands around the middle, more fabric is required to cover it and the fabric comes from the length. Last night I wore them again out to dinner, but didn't button them at the waist. I hate that feeling!

When I stepped into the shower yesterday I glanced at the soap dish and noticed that the bar of soap was about half its original size. It actually occurred to me that it might not be sufficient to get the job done today. One year ago, before I started my cooking life, that thought would never have occurred to me. Even three months ago, I wouldn'd have occurred to me.

These two events prompt me to think that I must utilize, yet again, my lifetime membership to Weight Watchers. Oh yes, I have the 10% refrigerator magnet, and the stars on my membership card, and best of all the medallion for my key chain to show that I have reached my goal weight......twice! I like WW and know it works. It's a good food plan, not a diet. It requires one to plan and organize and the result is weight loss and a more healthy life. I have pulled out my book and plan to start counting points and journaling my food today. Even as I type this, Gene is in the kitchen microwaving my grits. I'll have to calculate the points for that and then follow up with a little healthy protein to keep me from being hungry in an hour. Maybe I'll eat some yogurt. My friend, Jan Greene told me that yogurt is a good source of healthy protein.

By the way, for those of you who live in the Columbus/Phenix City area, Mike Blackwell who owns Fat Boy's Farmer's Market has tomatoes from Slocomb and peas from Dothan. I talked with him over the weekend and he said that he would be traveling to southeast Alabama to pick them up. Everybody knows that Dothan peas and Slocomb tomatoes are the ultimate vegetable experience. I'm sure there is some way I can fit them into the WW food plan.

Have a good day everybody!

The Blue Willow Inn

I've had a busy week this week. Starting early Tuesday morning, I went to Fat Boy's Farmers Market and bought some fresh vegetables. I was looking for Slocomb tomatoes, but they are not in yet, so I bought some Florida tomatoes. I also bought some fresh squash, green beans, Vidalia onions, and cucumbers. On the way home, the HOT sign was flashing at Golden Donuts, so my car just veered into the drive-thru. I consumed three in the car....well four. They always give you an extra one to eat on the way home. That will come back to haunt me as you will learn later.

When I arrived home, I decided to start right in to cook. I didn't want to just stew the squash with onions, so I started looking for a recipe. Several years ago, I picked up a copy of "The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook" at a school book sale as a gift for my sister, Jane. I liked it so much that when I found another copy I bought one for myself. I was not familiar with the Blue Willow Restaurant, but read about it in the cookbook and on the Internet. The restaurant and inn are located in Social Circle, Georgia, and I certainly plan to go there soon. I have enjoyed reading the stories in the book, but have used none of the recipes until I started to cook. In case you're interested, the book is listed at Amazon.com for purchase.

I located a recipe for squash casserole and decided to try it and I'm so glad I did. The recipe called for sour cream, onion, butter Ritz crackers and cheese, plus two more ingredients that I won't list here. Since all the recipes I use were developed by other people, I have struggled with the idea of including recipes in my blog, but something just didn't seem right about that, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly why it didn't seem right. Then one day, I heard a discussion on Martha Stewart Radio about this very topic. The chef revealed that a blog follower was annoyed at the idea of buying a book just for one recipe when the chef refused to print a certain recipe in her blog. The chef helped to clarify my thinking by saying that the author of the book could only make many for her efforts if people bought the book, and that if other people published the recipes, then there would be no need for people to buy the book. The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook is available at Amazon.com. You might want to pick it up.

The next day I used a banana pudding recipe from the same book. For the first time I made banana pudding without using Jello Instant Pudding. I never would have believed that it would take so long for the ingredients to thicken while cooking on medium heat. It must have taken 20 - 30 minutes. A couple of times I was tempted to increase the heat, but resisted. The pudding was perfect. I will use this recipe again. Personally, I like everything about banana pudding except the bananas. I just sort of eat around those.

I'll be back later this week to let you know about the damage done by the doughnuts and high-calorie meals I prepared last week.

Squash Casserole and Banana Pudding

Follow-Up to How Martha Am I.

The day after I made the Chicken Basil Pasta Salad and the Arrugula Salad, I had the leftovers for lunch. I have inserted a picturee of my plate. I offered to share the leftovers with Gene, but he opted to go to Hog Rock Barbecue with the ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out) instead. Imagine that! I thought everything was still pretty good. The salad might have been a little wilted. I don't think arrugula holds up as well as iceberg lettuce.



I know that before Christmas I wrote about my problems with my cream cheese pound cakes. Well, with the help of my friend Helen Kress I have found the plan to bake the cake so that it is consistently good. I went to a meeting at Helen's house a couple of months ago and she served that cake. Of course it was perfect, as is everything that Helen cooks. She cooks her cake at 300 for 90 minutes. That is what my recipe says to use, but for some reason I didn't think the cake was tall enough. As it turns out, I have learned that the cake doesn't have to be as tall as I would like for it to be. I stopped using the Pampered Chef stoneware pan, and bought a smaller non-stick fluted cake pan. I have learned to be satisfied with the smaller cake that is moist and tasty. The Pampered Chef stoneware pan is now listed on if anyone one is interested. Thanks Helen.

Chicken Chasin' at the Dixie Stampede and Other Things

Gene and I went returned on Tuesday from Gatlinburg, spending a few days with Will, Kelli, and Alyssa. One morning we saw a group of people gathered outside the condo with cameras and went out to investigate. A mother black bear was there with her two cubs and they were playing across the street. One of the cubs was up a tree. It was great fun to watch these animals together. When we arrived we were advised at check-in to be on the lookout for the bears, since the mother does not welcome humans around her babies. Sounds like a wise mother to me. One night when Gene and I returned to the condo, a security employee was driving by and warned us again about the bears. He said that at night we might not be able to see the bears in the darkness until it is too late. As we were driving through the Smokies on our trip home, we spotted some, but didn't really get a good look. Will and his family are still there, and he says that the staff continues to warn visitors about the bears.

Another highlight of the trip was our experience at Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. It was very entertaining. The performers were talented singers, dancers, horseback riders, magicians and even one comedian. Costumes were outstanding. One event involved inviting children between the ages of 4 and 8 years to participate in the Chicken Chasin' event. My granddaughter, Alyssa was invited to participate and she did. The event required the children to chase chickens to the coop and the team to get their chickens in first would win. I remember thinking that if the word gets out PETA will be all over this. I would like to announce that I am the proud grandmother of a Champion Chicken Chaser! Alyssa and the other little girl got a medal for Champion Chicken Chasin'.

There is a food connection to this story. No eating utensils were available to use to eat the dinner. Each food item was brought out and served individually. Soup, served in a cup, biscuits, cornish game hens, pork loin, corn on the cob, half a baked potato, and apple turnover for dessert. Everything was tasty and served hot. I was amazed at the precision with which the food was served. Every item was hot and tasty.

How Martha Am I?

I have been cooking this year, but tonight I had my first blog-worthy cooking experience of the year 2010. So here I go......

I recently subscribed to "Everyday Cooking", a Martha Stewart publication when my grandson's school had a fundraiser. After all, I still listen to Martha everyday on XM, and really enjoy much of the programming.

Today, Gene brought in the mail around 11:00 AM and by noon I had selected no less than three recipes from my first issue of the magazine, and made a shopping list of items I would need. Let me just say, Gene's favorite foods involve chicken (fried), steak (grilled), hamburgers (with french fries) and vegetables. That's pretty much it. When he recently broadened his culinary horizons, he went to chicken wings. He likes those now. I knew I was taking a huge risk by preparing recipes that include grilled chicken, oregano, toasted almonds, balsamic vinegar, and arugula! I had bought arugula once before, but I had hidden it in a salad with iceberg lettuce, so Gene didn't really notice it.

After Gene and I left the clinic where Gene had an MRI, I offered to drop him off at home before I went to the grocery store, but he said he was fine to go with me. Now this put me in a little bit of an uncomfortable position, since I knew that the items on my list were far from what we usually pick up at the store. But, away we went to Publix. In the produce section, I looked for oregano, garlic and arugula. He seemed slightly confused at this point, when we walked past the potatoes and tomatoes, but it got much worse. On the pasta aisle, I found the orzo. By this time, he was very suspicious, but just sort of shook his head as we moved on. When I picked up a bottle of balsamic vinegar, he looked me straight in the eye and said, "You know I won't eat anything you cook that includes alcohol!" I told him it would be fine, that this was an alcohol-free meal. I bought chicken cutlets and I think that made him feel a little better, but then I went to the area of the store where "specialty cheeses" are displayed, we had a problem. I found the shaved Parmesan and we were almost through. I picked up a few more items and we were out of there.

When we arrived at home, I made the Strawberry, Mango and Yogurt Smoothie, which we both enjoyed very much. Then for dinner, I made the Grilled Chicken with Oregano and Lemon and Arugula Salad with Almonds and Parmesan. I loved the salad, but I might have overdone the oregano on the chicken in the main dish just a bit. When I removed the chicken cutlets from the marinade of oregano, lemon juice, and garlic they were black with the oregano. I went ahead and grilled them, but then tried to undo the damage by washing them under hot water at the sink. That pretty much worked. Just in case I had washed away all the flavor, I sprinkled more lemon juice over them. I prepared the plates, and tried to prepare Gene by telling him to not expect too much from the meal. The plates looked very pretty when I placed the chicken cutlets next to the orzo (which was cooked perfectly) and the salad on the side. I should have snapped a picture, but I was so hot that I was just ready to eat this meal and get it over with. We enjoyed (well, ate) our meal quietly. The only conversation was when Gene would discover a new ingredient (Hummm, did you put nuts in this too?). I was encouraged until the moment when Gene got up, walked to the refrigerator, and said, "I think I'll have a little ketchup on my chicken".

I read this to Gene before I published it, and we both agree that I might have exaggerated a little, but I really did wash the cooked chicken, and he really did think that balsamic vinegar was wine.

These really are good recipes, so don't let me experience discourage you. If you want to try them you can find them in the June issue of Everyday Foods magazine.

By the way, I do know the difference between moral and morale. If you read my last blog, you'll know what I mean.

This Has Nothing To Do With Cooking

I've been thinking a lot lately about the state of education. The school district from which I retired last July is in the midst of a crushing economic crisis. I know that MCSD is no differnt from any other public or private organization or business. Almost every day I read in the newspaper or view on televison, news that school districts have made the decision to cut personnel in the face of budget cuts. Today, every employee in the Muscogee County School District has the day off work. This day was not planned when the school calendar was created last year. This day is the result of a cost-cutting measure that was necessary due to budget cuts. And this isn't the only day. I think there will be five total furlough days by the end of the school year. Now I'm not so presumptious as to try to fix the problems with balancing the budget. Heck, I'm just trying to make my monthly retirement check get me thorough until August, when I'll start drawing Social Security. That is if there is any money left in that fund.

Since I have so much time on my hands (not really), one night this week I decided to
do a little research. I've missed that this year (not really). I went to Board Docs at the MCSD website, where I found school board agenda and minutes for the past few years. You ought to go there sometime. You can see how funds are spent and how much. School district purchase orders are even scanned into documents. I was curious to find out if, during these tough economic times, funds were still being used for programs like Working on the Work (WOW), Cornerstone Literacy, and Rubicon-Atlas. Yep. There they were; January 19, Rubicon Atlas to the tune of $70,000, February 16, Cornerstone Foundation to the tune of (are you sitting down?)$278,216, and April 26, The Schledhty Center (WOW) to the tune of $14,000 (this is just for conference registration. Travel to Texas or Florida and accommodations not included).

The great irony is that all these programs create more work for teachers, more time out of the classroom for teachers, and less instructional time for students, and the added expense of substitutes to cover while teachers are out of classes for training. During my research I also learned that next year the school year will be cut by five days for students and teachers. Five more days for which teachers will not be paid and parents will be forced to find childcare for their students.

Just when the moral couldn't be much lower the threat looms that teachers who live out of county will possibly lose one of the few perks that allows them to bring their children to Muscogee County tuition free.

This a time of economic crisis. I really think that, at least for a few years, teachers can once again be allowed to teach without the added work. We could let the extra expenses for the professional development go until the economy is better. Instead of outside consultants, we could use the services of the consultants that are already being paid by the school district. Teachers are the hardest working people I know. Their work is NEVER done. They DESERVE to be left alone to do what they love to do and do so well. By the way, those who argue that they have three months off are wrong. They have two months and they are not paid for those months. Most spend those months in school to earn higher degrees or to enhance their teaching skills.

This really has to do with people. The people we should be taking care of are the teachers, administrators, children and parents. Not Phil Schlechty, Marilyn Burns, Webber and Associates, Franklyn Covey, Cornerstone Foundation, etc.

Well, I got that off my chest. If you agree, pass this along. If you disagree, just forget you ever saw it.