On the 7th, we had Christmas Dinner. I knew without asking what my girl would want: fried chicken, fried cabbage and mashed potatoes. And so I made a mountain of it:
It was totally delish. I make the best fried chicken ever, and I ain’t just whistling dixie up in here. Ask anybody who’s ever eaten it!
This right here is some food ya’ll. Specifically, it is roasted chicken and roasted potatoes mostly cooked by Country, my 15 year old. Yes, I taught her well.
I took the pic about halfway through the cooking time, when we stirred the potatoes. Looks good, doesn’t it?
HAHA, you thought I was gonna post a pic of myself, didn’t you? If you want that kind a thing, you’ll have to go somewhere else. Somewhere I am NOT. You can try here: hot camis.
And yes, it was good. Real good.
There are enchilada recipes and then there are enchiladas like my MIL made. It took me 12 years to perfect this dish, because by the time I met her, she was no longer able to cook them, so I never got to watch her do it. It was my FIL who wrote the recipe down, but that was just the beginning of my learning to make them.
The ingredients for these stacked enchiladas are pretty basic: hamburger browned with onion, cheese, enchilada sauce, salad, corn tortillas, eggs. The secret is in the technique. For years I tried to make them so that all the plates hit the table at the same time, and that was my error. Well, that and frying the tortillas too long. The way to do it is to fry the tortillas just enough to soften them, and build each plate as you go, and then move on to the next one. And always top them with a fried egg!
So, fry the tortilla, dip it in sauce, put some meat and cheese and salad on it, and repeat if desired until it is as tall as you like it. Adults need 2-3 layers, young children only one. Put another fried and dipped tortilla on top (if you want it) and fry an egg till the white is firm but the yolk is not and put it on top (if you want it). Pour some extra sauce over the whole thing, and enjoy.
My family loves these, and we’re having them tomorrow night, I think.
Technorati Tags: enchiladas, recipe
I am sitting here looking at my glass of tea and thinking that summer is coming up and I really ought to start drinking more water. The thing is, I don’t much care for water. I prefer TEA. I saw this water bottle filter the other day, and it got me to thinking: Why don’t they much water bottle flavor-ers? Like the filters, you know, but instead of just taking the ewwwwww out of the water, it would also put some flavor in? I’d drink more water that way.
I found this recipe on the back of a box of brownies, and it is delightful. It’s the most expensive chocolate brownie I’ve ever made, but it is worth every penny. Make your brownies according to the box, or from scratch if you feel particularly feisty. When they come out of the oven and are still hot, put a couple of handfuls of mini-marshmallows over them in an even layer so that they melt. Then add a layer of graham crackers over the brownie. Easy, and just wonderful! The graham cracker helps keep the melted marshmallow goo off your fingers. Be prepared to wash your hands anyway, and don’t use a fork, either. That’s just cheating.
Have you ever made snowballs and preserved them in the freezer?
Have you ever had a cooking disaster?
Have you ever sent or received a piece of fan mail?
No, yes, no.
I am usually a pretty good cook, but I do have a story or two to tell. I remember one meal I cooked that I burned every single thing. All of it! I hardly ever burn anything (as in that was the first and last time, except bread, sometimes it gets a little darker on the bottom than is ideal), but that one meal made up for my usual non-burning self.
The other disaster of note was my first from-scratch pie crust. I neglected to take into account the fact that I was using self-rising flour, and so I added salt to the crust. Blech! My dh loves a pie, though, and he ate it anyway.
Technorati Tags: manic monday
This makes 2 pies
1 pound frozen spinach
12-16 ounces bacon, diced and fried crisp
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
2 pie crusts
Bisquick
Eggs
Fry the bacon, and thaw the spinach. Mix these together with the cheese. Put half of this mixture in each pie crust. Mix up the Bisquick according to the cheeseburger pie recipe on the box (sorry, I am pumping at the computer, the box is in the kitchen), making a double batch. Pout half over each filled pie crust. Bake as directed on the box for cheeseburger pie.
This is so yummy. All my crew loved it.
You have to put the sugar in while the tea is HOT, not after it’s cold. That way the sugar melts all in the tea, and doesn’t settle to the bottom. So here’s what I do:
Take 4 family size tea bags, and put them in a pot of water. Bring it to a boil. Turn off and let steep if you have time (I usually don’t). Pour into a gallon pitcher and add about 1 and a half cups of sugar. Stir vigorously. Refill the pot using the same tea bags, and bring to a boil again. Add this to the pitcher, and stir vigorously. Finish filling the pitcher, if it’s not full already, with cool tap water. Stir again. Put in frig. Repeat every 12 hours for a family this size 
