A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Thoughts for Food: Successful Cooking

"Happy and successful cooking doesn't rely only on know-how; it
    comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and
    needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life."       

- Georges Blanc, Ma Cuisine des Saisons

Tuna Casserole, Chicken & Rice Casserole, Etc Can Do the Trick

Not one of my best photos but you get the idea.  Here's what I'm thinking... I've been perfecting this little trick over the last little while since I went to the night shift.  On the days I need to sleep I wake up cranky and hateful. Okay, not really.  Well...sometimes.  Anyway, I definitely NEVER want to cook on days I sleep after work so instead of ordering Pepperoni, Pineapple, and Jalapeno pizza every Sleep Day like I would if I could get away with it, I've been putting together casseroles the day I go to work so all I (or Gene) have to do is slip them into the oven when I get up.  I think the reason I like casseroles is because it's one-stop shopping. If I do it right and include veggies I don't have to even chop anything for a salad--and I like that.  Not that a side salad is hard, it's just the lack of drive to do anything, even cooking, as much as I love it.  There's something about waking up at 4pm that kills your desire to do anything other than get dressed and go to work or not get dressed and go back to bed.

Can you tell night shift is a whole new experience for me?

I've been working quite a bit this week so I haven't been posting much.  Hell, I've even been forgetting to take pics of the food I HAVE been putting together.

Can You Keep A Secret? Guilty Food Pleasures

My favorite guilty food pleasure, something I eat, say, after working a long weekend, is pepperoni, pineapple, and jalapeno pizza with a Coke so cold from the freezer it's slushy.  Odd combination though it may sound, my guilty pleasure indulgence has all the flavor bases covered:  savory spicy pepperoni, sweet pineapple, bitingly hot jalapenos, tangy tomato sauce, and that ice cold sweet syrupy Coke that refreshes in a way nothing else can at times.

Hey, I didn't say it was healthy. I said it was a guilty pleasure, an indulgence, a mental break for my tongue and sustenance to my comfort aura.

What's YOUR secret guilty food?

Happy (Late) Easter

Happy Late Easter or Happy Monday morning, although I got confused this a.m. when we were clocking out from work and said "This is Sunday, right?"  Everyone around the timeclock said "No! It's Monday!"  Joyce said it best, though. She said "If it were only Sunday morning you'd have to work tonight."  Oh. Yeah.  I'll take Monday, no problem!

Hope everyoen had a wonderful and inspiring holiday.  I'm off to sleepytown...

Buttermilk Waffles for Dinner? Oh Yeah, the Best!

Here's a recipe for Tanna, who loves buttermilk.  So do I, actually.

I made waffles over the weekend, Sunday night when I wasn't really sick anymore but didn't feel great either. Why is it that breakfast always sounds yummy to the tummy when you don't feel good and don't feel like cooking? I don't know either but why fight the feeling?

This is my favorite waffle recipe.  The beauty of it is in the three bowl technique. You have a bowl for the dry ingredients, a bowl for the wet ingredients, and a bowl for the whipped egg white.  The other ingredient that makes these waffles so good is the Tbsp of corn meal.  Corn meal provides a bit of a crunch and the egg white provides the lift which is the perfect waffle combination for me.

On a side note, no Easter posts from me.  I have to work all weekend so I'll be working all night and sleeping all day.  If Gene's lucky I'll pick him up a white chocolate bunny on the way to work.

Peachy Keen Peach Julius

What to do at the beginning of spring when the peaches smell good but have the texture of...well...thready mush?  Make Julius's.  I'd call them smoothies but there's no yogurt or ice cream (but there is milk) and my favorite way to make them is basically a rehash of a recipe my sister used to make for the family when we were growing up that aped the Orange Julius drinks.  Do they even still have Orange Julius stores anymore? I know ours left the mall years and years ago which made me a little sad, really. I loved those things, especially all the other flavors like banana and strawberry.  Yum!

It's Springtime in my Lunchbox

I have a new lunchbox post up at

The Daily Tiffin

Check out the recipe for

Quiche Florentine.

The rest of the lunchbox includes:

Blueberry muffins

Brandied peaches

& Spinach with Balsamic Vinaigrette

No, Giada! No!

While I'm still sick, cranky, and very whiny from this virus from hell that I've gotten...I admit I've been sitting on my butt alot watching Food Network. Yesterday, in a rerun show from last year, Giada showed Kid-centered Food in a meal it looks like she prepared for her nieces and nephews. Not quite sure because I didn't get in on the first of it.

The part I saw was where she put together cupcakes from a boxed mix, which is fine. I have no quibble with that if it's done right.  The cupcake papers she used were adorable! Little scalloped edges with a flower-ish pink and red design. So cute!  She filled the cups up 3/4 full and then said "Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes."  What the hell?  25 minutes for a cupcake?

Happy (Early) St. Pat's: Corned Beef, Colcannon, & Green Bread

Happy St. Pat's Day  a little early! I'm working most of the weekend including Monday but I wanted to share this meal with you.  Yum! St. Pat's food is one of my favorite go to for celebratory meals. Don't know why I don't prepare it more often.  Actually, the Reuben is my all time favorite sandwich and corned beef hash and eggs is my favorite breakfast. Can't go wrong with corned beef and cabbage in any form!

By the way, the green bread is a joke. It's simply my standard white bread everyday recipe that I added green food paste coloring to for some St. Pat's silliness.

As for the holiday itself, St. Patrick is credited with both driving the snakes and the pagans out of Ireland. As Ireland's patron saint, Patrick is attributed with using the abundant shamrock as a teaching tool to explain the three-in-one nature of the Trinity.

This is my entry for this weeks'  Weekend Herb Blogging, originally created by the lovely Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.  This week, WHB is hosted by Kel of the fabulously photographed Green Olive Tree.  Check out all the other entries after Sunday evening.

Cardamom is a spice, not technically an herb, but Kalyn's focus is on all herbs, spices, or plants.  Cardamom, my favorite spice, is used quite a bit in northern European and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Robin Miller's Upside Down Pizza

I don't necessarily like a lot of Robin Miller's recipes but I do like the techniques she uses.  I'm the same way about Sandra Lee.  I don't have anything personally against either one of them but I can't claim to be a huge fan either.  With Robin, I like the idea of being organized and prepping meals for the week rather than playing it by the seat of my pants from night to night. Without a little plan going in my head I end up ordering in or going out for pick-up too much.  With Sandra I like the idea of applying my efforts to the amount of time I have vs. what will make me crazy in the kitchen.  When I have time to make from scratch, I do it. When I don't. I cut corners where I can. Nothing wrong with buying a rotisserie chicken to use in recipes.

Gene and I were cruising channels one day with the satellite on Robin Miller when she started making this Upside Down Pizza. She said a friend of hers had given her the recipe and that it's perfect for potlucks or casual entertaining.  GENE said "That looks interesting."  It ended up on our dinner table that night.

I have to say it was fun. And quick.  I'm adding it in to my recipe box for the occasional dinner.

Pizza isn't hard but this had the advantage of being pretty quick so it's perfect for nights when I really don't want to cook. We used sausage, onions, black olives, and mushrooms but I can see how you could literally add anything that appeals to you.  Personally, next time I'd love to add cubes of ham, pepperoni, and pineapple, my favorite pizza.

And one note about the recipe vs. photo.  The recipe calls for using a 9"x13" pan but I used something smaller than that, maybe 8"x10" so my dish came out taller and juicier. For a more pizza-like casserole be sure to use the size pan given.