A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Just for Fun: What Kind of Cereal Are You?

You Are Granola

You are creative and inventive. You don't do much the ordinary or normal way. You like to explore new ideas and lifestyles. Something isn't for you just because other people do it. Quick breakfast fixes are definitely not your style. You're the type most likely to cook yourself an amazing homemade breakfast.

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

Lunchbox Favorites: Leftovers Done Right

Leftover from dinner the night before, I took fresh corn over whole wheat cous cous to work last night along with fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with a balsamic dipping sauce.

Yeah, too bad I forgot I had it in the fridge and bought a chili dog from the crapateria.

But you know what? It worked out in the end. I got too busy to eat so at least I didn't have the heartburn or have to write that one up on my food diary!

Doctor's Kitchen Monday: Back on the Wagon with Grilled Chicken, White Whole Wheat Bread, (And Fried Corn?)

Spent the weekend in St. Louis with old friends.  Old friends who are a bad food influence (kidding!). Actually, I fell off the wagon when I drove home from St. Louis by myself and somehow a bunch of junk food ended up in my car, munching on that and listening to a bunch of wonderful cd's that my friend, Cindy, copied for me kept me awake and alert the whole ride home. Okay, that and all the cops out on the highway over the weekend.  Man, welcome to summer on the highway!

Just for Gene: Fried Chicken Livers and Fresh Bread

This is one of Gene's favorite meals: fried chicken livers and fresh bread. I smile sometimes when I make stuff like this.  I appreciate that he loves the simple things in life. For me, the more complicated the better, you know, but I appreciate being married to someone who reminds me that food or life doesn't have to always be complicated to be sweet.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

My favorite part of spring is dragging out my pots and flling them up.  Several years ago I got into container gardening, finding that I liked the look on the back porch of all my plants lined up in different sized containers like a large scale flower arrangement. I also found that when you grow plants like tomatoes in a pot with potting soil they grow ridiculously large with abundant fruit.  It only takes a plant or two to provide Gene and I with all the harvest we can eat.

There's a small mishmash here of tomatoes, marigolds, rosemary, lavendar, thyme, lemon basil, parsley, nasturtiums, and a geranium.  With the flowers I tend to stay close to edible varieties since I love to garnish with them and top salads with them. Those are the nasturtiums, geranium, and I'll soon be adding Sweet Wiliam, plus I have one rose, a beautiful bright rosey red color.

The planting is not over yet.  Now that I'm off my weekend work stretch I'll be going to the greenhouse for more dirt, plants, and seeds today.  THIS is what spring is all about.

Soprano's Lunch

I brought home a new lunch meat from The Cheddar Box (West Republic Road) the other day.  Gene looked at it and said "What's that?"  I said "Mortadella.  You know when you watch Tony Soprano pull cold cuts out of the fridge and eat them out of the butcher's paper? This is some of that."  He said, "No, what's THAT? Those green things."  I said,  "Pistachios."  "Hmmm..."  He said, "I don't think I can eat pistachios in my lunch meat."  I said, "At least try it."  No reply, which usually means whatever I want isn't going to happen.

A few days later I checked the cheese drawer and there were only two slices left.  A few days after that a line appeared on the grocery list that read "More Soprano's meat, please."

We have developed a new taste in our house. Pistachio's, not just for ice cream anymore.

Reader Spotlight: Wedding cake and Camo Groom's Cake

Jeri, a reader from Georgia, and I had some email discussions flying back and forth a while back about wedding cakes, marshmallow fondant, techniques, etc.  She had volunteered to make her sister's wedding cake, no small feat considering Jeri has spent a long hard road the last couple of years recovering from an extremely serious medical problem.

I was THRILLED when she sent me these photos of her sister's cake. Is this not beautiful? If I were her sister, and I know she had to have been, I would have been tickled pink and overwhelmed with this gift of love.

Isn't it pretty? I love the pale pink of the flowers against the dark green background. I'm sort of feeling sorry for Jeri, in this moment, thinking how much elbow grease it took to knead that much green into that much marshmallow fondant.  I'm sort of hoping she had a stand mixer to do that part for her!

And then here's the grooms cake that I almost didn't post because my little brother, Kenneth, who is a big hunter and fisherman, reads this blog.  Don't get any ideas, pal.  I don't have an airbrush.  I might be able to hand mix marshmallow fondant to make these colors...nope. Don't even think about it.  :-)  Okay, well, maybe I'll think about and see what I can come up with by November.  Maybe I need to talk to Kenneth's boss, Lacey, about some kind of shindig in the fall....

This is adorable:

Thanks for sending the pics, Jeri!  I love your cakes!  You did a wonderful job for your Sis.

New Post at Daily Tiffin: Quick & Easy Lunchbox

I have a new lunchbox article up at The Daily Tiffin. To view, please click here:  The Daily Tiffin

Just for Gene: RIBS!

The preparation is no big deal. I followed directions. Oh sure, I know most of you are grinning and saying that in and of itself IS a big deal but I promise I can follow directions upon occasion.  I just don't like to do it often enough it becomes a habit.

That's boring.

So the ribs were cooked, covered, at 325 for 4 hours just like the package told me too. Seriously. I followed directions.

The novelty of this dish was that I foudn the perfect bottled sauce for us.  Not one, but two.  I laid down a nice rub of whatever looked good to me in the spice rack which I honestly can't remember exactly what I used, then I laid down a base of Arthur Bryant's Sweet & Spicy sauce, followed by a generous squeeze of KC Masterpiece.

I know I'll hear from the KC purists who love one or the other but not both, but for US, this was the perfect blend of sweet, bite, and savory, so good I forgot to take another pic until they were almost gone.

Blogging By Mail: From Ireland and To Estonia

Stephanie, the Happy Sorceress of Dispensing Happiness put together this wonderfully small world event called Blogging by Mail where she took on the huge challenge of playing musical mailbox with a huge list of people all over the world, all sharing their favorite "small things" with each other.  (Thanks, Stephanie!)

My Mail Blogging genie turned out to be Deborah of The Humble Housewife who lives and caters in       Ireland.  But get this:  her husband is originally from my town--Springfield, Missouri.  How freaking cool is that? 

By her choices, Deborah shows that we have lots in common! Baileys? Yum!  A good paring knife and a small pastry brush--YES!  Tea?  Boy, howdy.  Marmalade?  My FAVORITE!!!!  Candles? Love 'em.  Chocolate? Hiding it from Gene.  Shamrock cookie cutters?  Deborah must have ESP because I almost bought some this year and then decided to not be frivolous.  Grumpily frugal.  Now I can enjoy them next year and not feel one bit guilty--thanks Deborah! How did you know?

There is nothing like getting a present in the mail. It turns us all back into children with a pure joy of opening a surprise.  As an adult, it's also the entryway into a special bonding among foodies.  Isn't it nice to know there are "others" out there like us that share this passion?

Thank you so much Deborah for both your goodies and your kindness!  I'm now an avid reader of yours and a cheerleader in your corner on your catering business--best of luck.

Who did I send my box of goodies to, you might be wondering...

Evelin at Bounteous Bites is an adorable young woman who is 17-years-old and already an accomplished cook. I was so grateful to Stephanie for sending me her name. Her blog is so fun and impressive. I don't mean to hound on her age but I was blown away when I realized just how much experience she has under her belt.  In a way I related to her. I, too, was in the kitchen at a young age so by the time I went to college I was sort of the "Mom" in the kitchen to my roommates.  I noticed also, that like me, Evelin loves to bake and all of her desserts are beautifully done.  I thought she might enjoy a few of my favorite little things to cake decorate with so I put together a care package of Wilton pastry bags, couplers, tips, food colors, and then some fun candy jelly flowers and lollies.  I can't wait to see what lovelies she makes with these new kitchen toys.