Wife did good

Just wanted to congratulate wife on her work at the VAA this past Sat. She got second place in oils for her Green Tomatoes and an honorable mention on Barn yard cats. Better yet The figs and bowl got purchased so it has a new wall to hang on. Yea. I will put up the barnyard cats this Sunday but here is the figs and tomatoes. It is food related.
Our friend Lisa also got 1st place in Photography Mono with her shadow people. Two of wife's past teachers got first place in oil Ms A and Ms McCarty in mixed media.
All in all it was a nice show with some real good goodies.

Sunday Cat

Wolfie wishing every one a safe and happy Halloween.

Mexican roasted corn in skillet

We love the flavors used in Mexican corn on the cob so we justed adapted it to a skillet.
We use two ears of corn for us off the cob.
Place in cast iron skillet
corn.
1 Tablespoons butter,
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon mayo
1/2 cup feta cheese. (can use monterry jack)
1 Tablespoon cilantro can add extra for garnish.
mix well and place in 375 heated oven.
after taken out of oven sprinkle with lime juice to taste.

Wifes paintings

You are the first to see this one its called Maw Maw's fig bowl.
Wife said that she always remembers her grandmother had fig preserves in this bowl when they went to visit. Now we also use it for figs.
Just wanted to invite any one around Vicksburg this Sat. to the Vicksburg Art Association's big fall show. Reception is 8 to 10 at the old Firehouse Gallery at 1204 Main Street.

Spinich and Artichoke Poppers

We see poppers all over the blogs and have not tried one yet. We had some of the spinach and artichoke we could not get in the bowl. So why not put it in some jalapenos.
USE gloves or we used plastic bag to clean out the seeds. And wash your hands afterwards.
Place mixture in pepper Top with cheese and place under broiler a few minutes till pepper is cooked.

Spinich and artichokes

This is a repeat as when I posted it the first time I did not have a photo.
It is also a recipe that was very popular a few years ago. Its some cheesy goodness.
10 0z box of frozen spinach
1 pkg of cream cheese cut in cubes
1 Tablespoon butter
1 small onion chopped
1 small jar marinated artichokes drained and chopped
1 teaspoon garlic
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
mushrooms chopped(optional)
To taste
salt
pepper
Greek seasonings (Cavenders)
Parsley
Basil
Red pepper,white pepper
Pre heat oven to 350
Cook spinach according directions on box, Pour in a colander and drain well.
In same pan melt butter and cook onion till clear then add artichoke and garlic stirring about 2 minutes. Now add spinach till warm.
Turn off heat and add cut up cream cheese and 3/4 of the Parmesan and mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, heavy cream blending well. Add seasonings to taste.
Pour into ovenproof dish, sprinkle with rest of Parmesan cheese and bake for 15 to 20 minutes till hot and bubbly. We also add mushrooms and mozzarella cheese

Beef Shawerma

Yum Yum we just love the seasonings we got from Aladdin's grocery in Jackson.
We took a rib eye steak and sliced it in thin slices and covered it with the seasonings and olive oil and let sit overnight.
Place on grill and cook. Does not take long in these small strips.
We had roasted potatoes and most everyone knows how to do this but we do add onion and basil and rosemary to the Lipton onion mix.
The humus recipe can be found on the side and I will post the other dishes this week.

Sunday Cat

Spooky Boo looking all Halloween. He is a beauty but a terror in the house. All the other cats run and hiss when he is around.

Pizza

Well we have the Bisquick and they have a thick crust pizza recipe we thought we would try.
It was ok but we felt like we were eating a Bisquick pizza. Will have to search out another crust. The toppings were good and we will have to try again. Also it said to beat the dough vigorously but there was no way had to knead it .
3 cups original Bisquick
2/3 cups hot water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/14 cup spaghetti sauce
favorite toppings (we used hot Italian sausage, cooked. Mushrooms, bell pepper and red onion.)
1 1/2 mozzarella cheese
Heat oven to 425 and use lowest rack position
Mix Bisquick water and oil until dough forms beating vigorously 20 strokes and let stand 8 minutes.
Grease pan and press dough around pinching edges to form rim.
Spread sauce and toppings all around

place in oven for 15 to 20 minutes or till cheese is melted. (Our cooks in the 15 minuet range so set the timer at 15 to check and if need more time or not)

Bisquick Pancakes

We have had a craving for some pancakes lately. I know not on the diet but it has been a really long time since we had any. And we really like the Bisquick ones like I had as a kid.
So go out and get a box of Bisquick and follow the directions. And they did not pay me anything for this blog but all donations are welcome.

Cornbread

We had the pork and cabbage and of course we had to have cornbread. Now the jiffy mix is good but we wanted a real sothern cornbread.

2 cups yellow self rising cornmeal
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoons bacon grease
3 Tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
we used a 10 inch cast iron skillet
Preheat oven to 425
In cast iron skillet place butter and place in oven to melt just don't let it scorch.
put cornmeal in bowl with sugar in top.
In another bowl beat eggs add milk and bacon grease mix well. Add cornmeal with sugar and stir till cornmeal lumps are broken up and mixed in (do not over mix)
Take pan out of oven and make sure butter is covering pan good. Spoon cornbread batter in pan.
Place in oven and cook15 to 20 minutes(we did 15)
Now enjoy.

Sunday Cat

This is a picture of Whiskers before we brought him in the house with the others. It took wife a while to get him and siblings to trust her.

Cabbage and Country style Pork ribs

We found a good many dishes using red cabbage and county style pork ribs, but we had half of head of green cabbage. So we used a little of this and a little of that and came up with this one. By the way this is wife's dish she came up with and it sure smelled good coming home.
Two large country style rib
1/2 head of green cabbage cut up
salt and pepper to tast
2 tablespoons veg oil
1/2 large onion or one small onion chopped
one chicken bullion cube dissolved in water. (enough to cover pork a little over half way
as much lemon pepper as you want.
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar.
Season ribs with salt,pepper and lemon pepper sear on all sides in oil over med high heat till brown.
Add water and half of onions bring to a boil and turn down to simmer and cover. Cook about 2 hours turning every 20 minutes and check the water level adding more if needed. meat should be pulling away from bone.
Now turn up heat to boil and add rest of onions,cabbage add little more salt,pepper and lemon pepper, and red wine viniger and a few red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to simmer again and cover cooking till cabbage is tender stiring occasionally about 45 minutes.
This was really good and we cooked some again and ate it over rice.

The Green Goddess and cole slaw

When I was growing up Green Goddess was my moms favorite salad dressing and we have rediscovered it this past summer. As you can see there is very little left in the bottle and not wanting to waste it we decided to add it to our Cole slaw and it was great. Just use our recipe on the side bar for Cole slaw and add 2 Tablespoons to the cold slaw or add till it is the right taste for you. Just be careful that you stop taste tasting at some point.

Chicken on a pot

We were given a clay chicken cooker that we have not used till now. Must admit we are lazy and buy the roasted chickens from Sam's all the time. To buy a whole chicken and cook yourself we could not see any or much savings in $. We did have a hen in the freezer and decided to give this a try it is like beer can chicken. We also did a first for us by brining over night. Biggest problem this posed was finding room in the frig.
Brine

1 gallon warm water, 3/4 cup kosher salt,2/3 cup sugar,3/4 cup soy sauce,1/4 soy sauce,olive oil, lemon slices. We threw in a few pepper flakes because we wanted to. Place chicken and leave in refrigerator overnight.

Now you can use any liquid in the little well, it is the moisture cooking on the inside that is supposed to do the trick. We used a mixture of soy sauce and pineapple. Place the but of chicken on cone after pouring on liquid. We also poured some of the juice on chicken and place on indirect heat on grill( drip pan in middle just in case with coals pushed to both sides.) The nice thing with this little clay thingy is the juices stay in the well. But this was originally done with a can of beer.
We tried to tuck the wings in but they just came flapping out during the cooking.Cook for about 2 hours for a small bird and 4 for a large. We use a temp gauge to test doneness. Best gadget I ever bought.
This was a very juicy and tasty chicken. If we find some on sale we will do this again.

Summer Squash with Baked eggs

This dish comes from food network.
This was ok for us but it did not knock our socks off. I guess our taste buds crave a little more excitement but it was a good way to use up some summer squash. This also made a lot so for those out there feeding more than two it is a good side dish.

2 lbs summer squash we used yellow and zucchini.
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil _ another 2 Tablespoons
2 shallots (we used yellow onion)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 teaspoon paprika + more for sprinkling
1/2 lb tomatoes chopped
4 oz goat cheese (chevre)
1/4 cup basil sliced and extra for garnish
4 eggs
black pepper
Cut off ends of squash and using a grater or food processor grate the squash. Combine 1 Tablespoon salt and let drain in a colander in sink for about 30 minutes
Preheat oven to 375
In an oven proof skillet heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add onions garlic and paprika and cook till tender and fragrant.
Squeeze as much of the liquid out from the squash, add to the skillet along with the tomatoes.
Cook until the mixture is tender and no longer releasing liquid, about 10 minutes.
Remove skillet from heat and stir in goat cheese and basil.
Smooth the mixture in skillet and make 4 wells with the back of a spoon and crack an egg in each one.
Sprinkle salt and pepper and paprika over eggs. Bake until egg whites and yolks are set about 10 minutes Garnish with basil and crusty bread.

By the way I have been having trouble loading my pictures. After 3 days of this I went back to my old template wish they would quit trying to improve something that works for me already. Now I have the dang spaces I can't get rid of with out going in to the html.

Sunday Cats

Wife was setting up a still life with these cute pumpkins and of course everyone had to come look and check it out. Heres our Spookie Boo looking like a halloween cat.

Shrimp and jalapeno cream sauce

We have to thank the site Cajun Delight for this one. http://cajundelights.blogspot.com/ This was good but next time we think we could get away just mixing in the skillet instead to heating the house with the oven.
Cook pasta acording to directions and set aside.
1 lb shrimp
1 Tablespoons cajun seasonings
1/2 cup onion chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 Teaspoon thyme
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated.
Saute in a large skillet onions, celery, garlic, and bell pepper for about 5 minutes. Then add shrimp and thyme and cook for another 10 minutes stiring often. Add pasta  and shrimp mix and add in casserolle dish.
 Jalapeno Cream Sauce
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped fine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoon veg. oil
salt to taste
1/3 shipping cream
2/3 cup sour cream
Saute peppers and garlic in oil over low heat stiring frequently about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and whipping cream and salt mix well.
Pour over shrimp and pasta and sprinkle cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 350 or till bubbley.

Sunday Cats

We have had some cooler weather and the boys are all huddled up together.They are all asleep expect the one looking out the window at the hummers. They are so fat they can hardly fly. We are getting some coming threw and tanking up as they are smaller or slimmer.