Journey of a Lifetime

Guess you would like to know where I've been that it could be called Journey of a Lifetime....was supposed to happen the first of May...then the end of May...must have been nuts but had a great roommate and great sounding trip for but the weather was going to be hot...where...China but halfway through it was going to be Nepal...how great is that!....then the opps....well there was the sullen guide named Lily who had us for a day or so before leaving on the cruise through the gorge....you could miss this...and on the morning after docking to leave for the airport..no Tibet...didn't get our visa to go...so then an 8 hour ride to Chendu...spend the night and off again in the a.m. only to be in the middle of a three car accident on the expressway.......and then the NEXTO 'romote hard drive...yes the golden extreme crashed w/ all my pictures on it...what luck...did sent it back to the manufacturer...they fixed it ..and reformatted the hard drive...yup, everything from the new Nikon gone...so where have I been? who knows...to top that off the fellow at Nexto said he had had to have his hard drive replaced on his..two years old...not too swift. I would have done better to give it to my tech here...void the warranty and save all the pictures! and yes, it was hot, hot, hot....sweaty hot....and then the flight to S.F. from Beijing...another story...late leaving Shanghai...so didn't hold the plane for 1 hour for 40 of use...just left us in the airport in Beijing...stood in line for 8...yes, Air China, eight hours trying to get a flight to the states...they had me scheduled for 4 days later to get out...just sit in the airport for 4 days...the following is so long but we were saved...at least a 6 hour layover at a hotel after spending two hours on a bus..FULL..people sitting on suitcases in the aisle...push and shove....anyway...thanks to the local tour agency who did some incredible work I was able to get out a day late....got to San Francisco sick...stayed in bed there til my flight home a couple days later...then had the respiratory for five weeks...then more stiff not relating to the trip...so for pictures...some of the food...even lost of those lost from being on the Nexto Extreme..so DON'T waste money on storage...buy more chips.....hate talking about the trip....

Thai Corn and Crab Fritters Recipe

Wild..spent hours with ATT to get things like email working. One of these, if I knew then what I know now...wouldn't have gotten tv service! They didn't tell us all the consequences before...

So..what am I cooking and not taking pictures of! Thai Corn and Crab Fritters! You serve with a Sweet Chili Sauce..out of the bottle and onto the plate or a small bowl. The corn I had cooked and was frozen and the crab was snow crab that I had taken out of the shell and was in the freezer also..the corn meal was a yellow stone ground that I had..

1.5 cup corn cooked (could use canned)
8 oz snow crab (or close)
3 ea egg
3 ea scallion, chopped
1 T fish sauce
1 T lime juice (then added about 1teaspoon more)
3 T chopped cilantro
1 t garlic chile sauce
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal

Mix all ingred and shallow fry...they did turn out great..ate three and then froze the rest in packs of two...will get a photo when I pull a couple out.

Been spending hours upon hours on the phone getting other people's glitches that have affected me straightened out..been 5 days with insurance Blue Cross Blue Shield and they still haven't gotten anything done..today..'maybe we will have an answer by the end of the week'...but made the Key Lime Pie recipe again the other day..yeah..takes no longer than five minutes to make it and then chill..how easy is that!

Mexican Cheese Dip Recipe, Mexican Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipe

Here we go..this is an easy dip to make...process..Philadelphia cream cheese til soft, then pulse in salsa..this is great for chips..is there any specific amount? No..you don't want soup though. You can use mild, med, or hot salsa..it's up to you.

Hot White Cheese Dip with Jalapenos: No this is not a really Mexican recipe but one that the Mex restaurants sell at a premium in certain parts of the states. Simple and as my wonderful food rep says...it keeps foreverrrrrrrrrr...yes, it does. At first I used to get the Land-O-Lakes white processed cheese from her...but now you can find it in lots of deli places..even Target...maybe not the same brand, but look for white processed cheese ( large block just like the large yellow processed cheese as in Velvetta). You just ask for the amount that you want..like one pound..

white processed cheese, grated

milk

diced pickeled jalapenos (mine are in a bottle)

Trying to get you started now...I may used 1 cup of milk to 1 pound of cheese..I put the milk in the pot, heat, add grated cheese and stir til melted. Then add the drained jalapenos till it's spicy enough....

Mexican Stuffed Chicken Breasts:

I used two chicken breasts that I had cut in half into two cutlets..filled with some of the cream cheese dip, then some of the white cheese dip, then poured a little leftover salsa on top and baked until the chix was done. I did have some cilantro in the fridge that I added to the filling.

So next...sliced those, and used more of each of the two dips and rolled all in flour tortillas and put into each of two containers and then into the freezer...also had a couple of pieces of grilled tenderloin that I sliced, rolled in the flour tortillas along with some of each of the dips.

These will be thawed and heated in the oven at approx 375* til hot and the flour tortilla is crisp. I serve with sour cream..and a little more salsa if I have that at the time.

foodblogger camp mexico

Rain, Sleet and Snow..none of those in Mexico! But a great time learning about blogging with food. But since coming back..rain, sleet and snow..even landed at the Atlanta airport with ice and snow. An email when I returned said the flight had been cancelled..lucky us, we flew in spite of the email.

So, what have I been doing...we were housebound through the end of last week..even spotty spots as late as last Sunday..so what have I been cooking..?

Tiramisu Recipe

First I went to the store to buy the pound cake...didn't have it so had to make it..but did find them ready made a couple of days later...marked 'butter pound cake'...that makes the whole system faster.

And how did I make the tiramisu you ask?? from the old Gourmet recipe..Our favorite...
I made the pound cakes...not that I like to bake
1# flour
1# sugar
1# butter
1# eggs in the shell
2T vanilla
This from The Settlement Cook Book..mine from 1941...was my mother's

The recipe for the theTiramisu...well..can't seem to make the link work...so go to http://www.epicurious.com/ and search for Our Favorite Tiramisu. It is not your standard...but really great. The changes that I made:
instead of the 1.25cup water use: 1 pk gelatin (bloom)in 1/4 c water, add 3/4c water and heat, add 1/4 cup Kaluha and add the espresso powder to that.
I also cut my pound bread in slices about 1/4-1/2" slices, and make two layers of cake ending with the cream/cheese mix topped with chocolate. **also used Davison pasturized eggs....

If you have ready made pound cake that is good it can go faster..but allow for the two hours of cooling time during the prep...and yes, forgot to take pix after putting it all together or even along the way..but easy...and it also gets the rave reviews..and it freezes well..key point..make ahead for the holidays.

Thanksgiving for Turkeys

Running late...running late...besides food..in second place is lampworking..yes, work with fire and glass...this morning it was fire in the smoker. I am going to have to get one of those fire cans to start the coals as it took me three times the time to get the coals ready for the bird. I feel guilty only putting one bird on as two can be cooked for the same amount of time, charcoal and chips..but one can only eat so much turkey.

The good news here is that we will be having turkey sandwiches for Thanksgiving this year! I am smoking one small bird and will roast another...I am in the middle of making potato salad for an office party but will have the extra for here

Cooked (of course) russet, onion, celery, hardboiled eggs, mayo, and ballpark mustard..I put celery seeds in mine but won't for the office..and of course salt and pepper...I also cut potatoes up before cooking and break them up to cool...so mine is a mix of chunks and then some that resembles a bit on the mashed side..but simple...no recipe..just ingredients

Going to work on that pumpkin pie/empanada...the first trip to the grocery..got sweet potato instead..yes, in a hurry; second trip to Target, they didn't have a clue as to want I wanted...ergo the invoice said that the pumpkin pie mix was there...alas, just pumpkin..sad part was that the three people really didn't know the difference between plane pumpkin and pumpkin pie mix..but then 'the kid' made a run while I was working a show and did bring home the right stuff.

So, that is on the agenda today as well as a fish taco..have the ingredients..have to put it together..

So, it's going to be the year of the Turkey Sandwich!

And as a postscript.....going to Mexico for the foodblogger camp! That is going to be too cool!!

Fresh Green Beans

Haven't any idea why I wanted to say...sometimes I get tired of hearing fresh..seasonal...talk about fresh and seasonal..check my first blog entry..center front..yup, the one wearing the bowl shaped thing on her head..and don't know what that is..maybe something hiding curlers..makes no sense..But fresh..seasonal..that was my grandmother..raised in N.J., second woman to have her driver's license..I went to visit for a couple weeks just before starting college...everything was fresh..green beans were IN season..and yes, with the exception of two days..we had fresh green beans at least once a day...cooked just right, still bright and green, cut on the diagonal, butter, and salt and pepper...she cooked fresh, seasonal..