July 3, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #36

It’s time to talk about food again, folks. This week Four Foods on Friday is all about describing the personality of our cooking. You can join in the fun, too. Answer the questions in a post on your own blog. Post the link in the comments below Val’s post and she’ll do a round-up of all of our answers on Friday.

#1. Name your biggest cooking influence.

That would have to be my mom. She was an adventuresome cook, making up most of her recipes out of her head, the way that I still do. If she heard of a dish that sounded interesting & didn’t have a recipe, she imagined what she thought it might be like and made it. Nero Wolf fans, anyone? The dish Pork Chops and Sour Cream was mentioned in one of his stories. I have no idea what his version was like, but I still make the dish she created with only the name for inspiration.

#2. What is your ultimate comfort food?

Any potato dish, but especially potato soup! I shared a recipe a few months back in my answers to FFoF#15. It’s warm and filling and very “down-home” feeling.

#3. Name one must-have tool that you think every kitchen should have.

Wooden spoons! Give me some wooden spoons, a decent knife and any old pots and pans and I can cook. I love all of my kitchen gadgets and tools, but I must have my wooden spoons!

#4. Share a time saving tip.

Keep the big bags of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken pieces in the freezer. Chicken is so versitile that you can always whip up a quick meal when you have it on hand. I always try to keep some Holy Trinity ready to go, too. That’s the onion, celery and green pepper that are so basic to the New Orleans kitchen. I chop up big batches and then freeze it in portions - about a half-cup each - so I can just grab a chunk or two out of the freezer when I want to make jamblaya or dirty rice or a sauce that calls for it.

Technorati Tags: cooking, food, meme

June 29, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for June 29, 2008

Two of my favorite people in the whole world have been visiting this week. Allysther and the boy are on the move again, this time from Korea to the East Coast. Hubby/Dad Zanla will follow in a few weeks to begin his new military assignment. They have to stop and visit home in Hawaii each time they travel, of course. Allysther, the boy and I had lunch on Friday, then went shopping for office supplies. What? Isn’t that what you do when you have a reunion with friends? We got together again yesterday for lunch with the Table of Contents at the same restaurant (Allysther’s favorite.) I thought I had taken at least one picture of all three of us, but somehow missed that opportunity, to here’s me and the boy, too. Yeah, I don’t look so hot, but he’s cute enough to make up for it, don’t you think? He was more than willing to stay here with me but Mom and Dad seem to need him around so, alas, the skeet house remains childless.

Cass, I’m thinking you could spice up Self Portrait Sundays by having a different theme each week. Like say, everyone in pajamas one week, work clothes the next, cooking in the kitchen, fooling with their hair - that kind of stuff. Oh, maybe each of us in sexy costumes for Halloween! Just a suggestion, mind you. It’s works well the way it is, but a theme could be fun, too. Whaddaya think? I think I need to get over to Midlife Musings to see who else took a self portrait today.

Technorati Tags: friends, meme, self portrait

Posted by skeet @ 3:36 pm • Photos, Meme • 6 comments  

Share Some Good Stuff

Do you get as sick of the daily news as I do? Wouldn’t you rather just ignore the ugly headlines for a little while and indulge in something uplifting instead? I would and sometimes I do. So do some of my readers, and they’re kind enough to Share the Good Stuff when they find it.

JenX named her blog Daily Mitzvah. It’s all about ways to make the world a better place and about people who are doing that in some innovative ways. Her story about To-Go Ware is a fine example of both. A female college student developed a creative solution for conserving recources, and her product provides employment for women living in marginal circumstances. It’s a winning idea all around - Good Stuff!

My pal Val knows everything and is a tireless champion for the disabled and developmentally challenged. I love her story about a man who created a browser for his autistic grandson and is now sharing it with the world - for free! While it was developed for children with special needs, it can be a great boon for all children. Hey Val - that’s Good Stuff!

You came across some Good Stuff recently, too, right? Why not share it so the rest of us can enjoy it? It can be from your local news sources, a website or even your own personal good news. Tell us about the neighborly thing that happened in your community, or the modern furniture you finally got to replace your old milk crate shelving. If it’s made you smile it’s stuff worthy of sharing. Write it up and send me your link. I’ll feature your post and give you a link-up the next time we get together to Share Some Good Stuff!

Technorati Tags: current events, good news, good stuff

June 27, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #35

Four Foods on Friday this week is all about inspitation. Val wants to know where we get our cooking ideas. You’ve got some kitchen stories you want to share, don’t you? Post the answers to the questions below on your blog, then get on over to Val’s place and let her know you played. She’ll talk nice about her participants later and give us all a little linky-love, too.

#1. Name one cookbook, cooking website or food blog that you frequently use.

When I was a kid our grocery store carried little paperback cookbooks on a variety of topics. I think I remember that they sold for 25¢ apiece. Mom would buy one whenever she had a little grocery money left over. I remember the one that had 101 recipes for ground meat, and one that was all cakes - that’s where she first found the recipe for the 1-2-3-4 Cake that I still love. Years later she found a decades-old bound copy of the whole collection of cookbooks in a used-book store. It was in bad shape even then, but served her well even after she duct-taped it to keep it together. It’s still my favorite cookbook. It’s got all of the basics - the mother sauces, how to handle and cook each type of meat and to know when your produce is just right for consumption - plus spectacular entrees for holiday dinners and showy desserts and snacks for when you’re entertaining. It’s the Culinary Arts Institue Encyclopedic Cookbook and it’s still available today, much revised since my 1948 edition was published. I really should buy a new one and retire Old Faithful, don’t you think?

#2. Do you watch any cooking shows on tv? Which ones?

I love-love-love all of the cooking competition shows. Top Chef and Iron Chef America are my favorites, closey followed by America’s Next Food Network Star. Oh, and Bobby Flay’s Throw-Downs and the cake guy and the national cookoff championships for everything from cake decorating to chili.

#3. Are you in a cooking rut? Name a food or dish that you’d like to find a recipe for.

My mother’s old-fashioned chess pie! It doesn’t have fruit and nuts like some recipes I’ve seen. It’s more like a creme brulee in a pie shell.

#4. Share a recipe created by somebody else that you haven’t tried but would like to.

Unfair question! There are so many recipes I want to try. I’ve copied a couple of dozen from FFoF participants and bookmarked some favorites on the Top Chef and Iron Chef sites. Since I’m supposed to pick one I did so, arbitrarily. It’s Richard’s Coffee Braised Pork from Top Chef, Season 4. The link will take you to a video of Lee Ann Wong preparing the dish. I don’t want to post someone’s copyrighted recipe, so go there to check it out please!

Technorati Tags: cookbooks, food, meme, recipes

June 26, 2008

Have you got some Good Stuff?

Have you been checking the back pages of your local paper lately? If you haven’t gotten around to it yet, there’s still time! Do me (and yourself!) a favor and make it a point to find the good news that probably won’t be the lead story at ten. Pick a news source anywhere in the world or something great you’ve found on the web. Better yet, share a heart-warming, first-person moment that gladdened your heart. Did you order your Halloween invitations already so you wouldn’t forget this year? Is Friday your last day of work before your long-awaited vacation? Maybe you finally figured out how to do that thing that makes your life so much easier?

Here’s a great example of Good Stuff from my pal Val: She dilignetly seeks out the good news, especially when it deals with the special needs community. She recently found an encouraging news story about teens who are bold enough to face their state legislators to lobby disability awareness in schools. Stories like this make me feel good about the leaders of tomorrow! Don’t you just have to smile when you see an uplifting story like that? Those little day-to-day moments that make us smile are the stuff of a happy life and worthy of sharing. Here’s your chance to recognize them for what they are and spread a little sunshine in the process. Post a link to your good news below. It can be a post on your own blog or to the source that made you grin. If you have a blog, invite your readers to share their happy moments, too. I’ll do a roundup of your stories later this week. Make sure you come back to read the good news when we SHARE THE GOOD STUFF!

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme

June 23, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for June 22, 2008

Okay, it’s won’t be Sunday by the time this is posted because right now it’s four minutes ’til midnight. But here I am, right before I went to the store this afternoon. Nothing special going on today. I was just feeling lazy and didn’t get online. I guess we all have days like that, hmm? Either that or it’s just me getting old. It’s a shame I didn’t follow up on the life insurance quotes I got when I was younger. Running out of years, you know? The kid is pretty self-sufficient, though, so I suppose he’ll do fine even if old Mom doesn’t leave him a bundle.

Did you check out Midlife Musing to see who else did Self Portrait Sunday? I didn’t … but I will. Hope you’ll join us next week!

Technorati Tags: self portrait

Posted by skeet @ 12:14 am • Photos, Meme • 4 comments  

June 19, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #34

Gather round, foodaholics. It’s time to play with our food again for Four Foods on Friday. Val has posted four questions on her blog. If you’d like to particiapate, write a post on your own blog answering the questions. Put a link to your post in the comments below Val’s post (linked above.) She’ll write nice things about all of us, discuss our answers and give each of us a little linky love when she does her round-up post. Here are this week’s questions:

1. What is one food that is grown, produced or made near where you live.

Most of the produce that is grown here can grow year-round, so we have plentiful supplies of fruits and vegetables. I try to do as much of my shopping as possible here on my own Waianae Coast and to buy Waianae products whenever I can. There are quite a few farms out here in the country, so I can get fresh-fresh stuff that’s never seen a shipping contianer. I’m looking forward to a farmers’ market that will be held this Saturday, and to a new line of organic Waianae produce that will begin appearing at my local market tomorrow.

Hm, I’ve forgotten. What was the quesitons? Oh, yeah - papayas!

2. What is one food from another location that you haven’t had anything like anywhere else.

I’ve mentioned it before but it’s what always comes to mind when I think of stuff I can’t get here, so - New Orleans French bread. It’s not like French bread from any other place and I really miss it!

3. What is your favorite food from somewhere else?

Same as above - and the po boys made on New Orleans French bread. I should organize my expenses with budgeting software and start saving for a trip back to my roots so I can have me a good old roast beef po boy.

4. Share a family, ethnic or international recipe.

Kalbi Ribs

This is a really popular entree on the plate lunches we buy at drive-ins (which you can’t drive into anymore, but they’re still called that.) It’s a local version of Korean barbecue beef short ribs. The ribs are a peculiar cut, but you can get your butcher to do it for you. Ask for a flanken, but across the bone into thin cuts, about a quarter of an inch thick. Our grocery stores carry them already cut this way. If there’s an Asian market near you, try there. I made up my own recipe for Kalbi Ribs based on what I thought I was tasting in them and have used it for several years. For purposes of FFoF I thought I should look up an “official” recipe. Turns out all of them are different from mine, but similar. The one below is from RecipeZaar, which has a fabulous collection of recipes (you probably already know that.)

2-3 lbs short rib of beef
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3 inches piece fresh ginger, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and marinate ribs for 4 hours.
2. Broil or barbecue to desired degree of doneness. Most of us over here cook them until there’s a slight char on them but they’re still a little pink inside.

I’ve never put sugar in mine. I put sesame seeds in the marinade if I’m sharing the meal, but leave them out if it’s just me (seeds are tough on my ailing tummy.) Some of the recipes I found online called for a little mirin (sweetened Japanese rice wine) in the marinade. I’ve never tried that, but will next time. Sugar, though? Meh! I don’t think so!

Technorati Tags: food, kalbi ribs, kalbi ribs recipe, meme

June 15, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for June 15, 2008

“I was born in Corsicana, Texas, the home of Wolf Brand Chili, The Collins Street Bakery and me. Nothing much else ever came out of there.” That’s how I’ve been known to introduce myself when I’m feeling silly. Not true, of coures. It’s true that I was born there, but it’s a pretty interesting little town and has a few things going for it besides the two outstanding features mentioned above. We moved away when I was five, so I have more history in other places, but I’ve visited from time to time over the years. I got the shirt on either my last trip there or the one before that - I think the earlier visit. That means my Derrick Days shirt is probably between fifteen and twenty years old. The fabric is wearing a little thin and it’s got some stains and a few bleach spots on it. I don’t wear it anymore except around the house when I’m having a cleaning and chores day like today. It might be years before I ever make it back to Corsicana, so I thought I’d commemorate the shirt before it falls apart.

I need to do another progress report on my decluttering, but I think I’ll do that another day. I’ve been steadily plodding on, so there are improvements every day. Today it was little stuff. I was going to finish emptying out the front shed and maybe go shopping for HDMI cables, but the rain is coming down in buckets so I’ll keep working inside until it’s time to cook my dinner instead.

Ha! Cass over at Midlife Musings has two outstanding features today, too! You’ll have to go over there to see hers. You can follow me if you like. I’m going to visit all of the Self Portrait Sunday participants and her comments are the place to find them all.

Technorati Tags: photo, self portrait

Posted by skeet @ 6:35 pm • Photos, Meme • 2 comments  

June 12, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #33

Our gal Val is scaring me a little this week. Instead of asking her participants in Four Foods on Friday to answer four questions she’s … well, see for yourself:

I’ve written down the first four letters of the alphabet, and two foods that start with that letter. I’d like everyone to post a recipe or menu idea based on at least one item from each letter. I think it might be fun to see the different answers you all come up with when dealing with the same foods.

D - dressing, dumpling

I wasn’t real clear on what she was asking us to do, but someone beat me to the question. If you go to the link above you’ll see Val’s answer in the comments below the post. If I’m understanding correctly (I’m still not 100% sure that I am) we’re to take one item from each pair above, then combine the four of them into a single recipe or menu. Why do I suddenly feel like a contestant in a quickfire challenge on Top Chef? I’m pretty sure I’d be called in to the judges table with the bottom three because the list is not stimulating my creative genius. Entering into the spirit of the thing, though, I could see making some plump, juicy applesauce dumplings with cinnamon and maybe a pinch of nutmeg to wake up the flavor. (Dumplings are kind of a boiled bread, right? So I’ve got four items covered, one for each letter.) I don’t have a recipe for plump, juicy applesauce dumplings flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg. If I ever decide to make them (which I’m pretty sure I won’t) I’ll take notes and photos as I go so I can share it with you.

I’d suggest that it be served as dessert following a savory chicken and asparagus with zesty balsamic vinegar dressing.

Technorati Tags: food, meme, menuu suggestions

June 9, 2008

Sharing the Good Stuff

I held of on posting The Good Stuff on Thursday because I have some really great news to share and was waiting for some pictures to arrive. Friday and Saturday were crazy, yesterday was Table of Contents and I needed to blog about that and -Oh! My! - how did it get to be Monday already? I still don’t have the pictures, but I’ll share my news anyway, and I won’t delay us further by scouting the blogosphere looking for more Good Stuff to link you up with.

Welcome to the world, Lily Katherine! I’m your great-auntie skeet and I’m thrilled that you’ve made your debut. Congrats to Emily and Todd. Rumor has it that you’ve created the most beautiful baby ever and I can’t wait to have those photos so I can prove it to all of my readers. Congrats to Lily Katherine, too - you’ve picked the very best Mommie and Daddy to love you and nurture you and teach you everthing you’ll need to know about how life works. Auntie skeet loves you too, darling girl, and is sending ooodles and bunches of aloha your way!

I thought of my friend Val when I was watching So You Think You Can Dance last week. One of the contestants had a special message to deliver, and it’s the same message that Val shares every chance she gets, so I thought she might submit the story to Good Stuff. I was right! Go find out what Brett wants the world to know over at Val’s place. He just might be replacing Val as the best-ever ambassador for their cause!

I’ve always believed that every individual should consider leaving a legacy that somehow enchnaces life for others. The ways that we give are dependent on the talents we’ve been blessed with, but the obligation is the same for everyone who will acknowledge it. Brett knows that and so does Val. I know that Lily Katherine will understand the principal at an early age, because I know her father embraces it. (I’m not purposely excluding her mother’s influence - I just haven’t gotten a chance to know her yet. It’s a good bet that Todd chose a life-partner who shares his ideals, so Lily Katherine is likely to get good guidance from both of them.) Those who were blessed with extraordinary talents have the ability to make extraordinary contributions. It’s always gratifying to learn of someone who has taken up that challenge at an early age, and it’s news worthy of sharing. If you missed it last week, go read about three young people who are helping to shape our future and I think you’ll see what I mean.

Have you been checking the inside pages of your local paper lately? If you haven’t gotten around to it yet, today is a good day to start. Do me (and yourself!) a favor and make it a point to find the good news that probably won’t be the lead story at ten. Pick a news source anywhere in the world or something great you’ve found on the web. Better yet, share a heart-warming, first-person moment that gladdened your heart. Is there a Lily Katherine-like story you’d like to shout about? Is one of the offspring graduating this year - the one you thought might not make it all the way? Maybe you finally figured out how to do that thing that makes your life so much easier, or your liver cleanse finally kicked in and you’re feeling so much better? Those little day-to-day moments that make us smile are the stuff of a happy life and worthy of sharing. Here’s your chance to recognize them for what they are and spread a little sunshine in the process. Post a link to your good news below. It can be a post on your own blog or to the source that made you grin. If you have a blog, invite your readers to share their happy moments, too. Give me your links in the comments below this post. I’ll do a roundup of your stories later this week. And hey - don’t forget to come back to read the good news when we SHARE THE GOOD STUFF!

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme