Cucumbers are refreshing and delicious in the summer. You can eat them just as they are, like a banana, unpeeled, or you can get a little fancy and toss them into salads. I like them slightly pickled and I think they make a great addition to any BBQed meat you happen to be having that day.
My mother used to just slice them thin and add salt and vinegar and let them marinate for a few hours before serving. My mother-in-law does the same, but drains them and adds sour cream and dill, and maybe some mayonnaise. I find that it's good with all their additions as well as with some prepared horseradish.
If having guests over, I like making cucumber sandwiches. Eyeballing everything, I mix sour cream, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, prepared horseradish, white pepper and some salt. Then I mix in diced cucumbers and spread it nice and thickly between two slices of white bread with the crusts cut off. This is my version of the cucumber tea sandwich.
As you can see, given all the fatty condiments listed above, I don't make these very often. So it's a nice treat every time I put it on the table. Or you can just keep it simple like my mother did with the vinegar and salt. Not very fattening there, but still delicious!
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
The Complete I Hate To Cook Book
When my family moved to our second house, the previous owners left a stack of books behind. In the collection was The Complete I Hate To Cook Book by Peg Bracken. I was only 10 at the time, so I didn't have much interest in cooking or in cook books. Still, after browsing through it, I found the writing and illustrations witty and fun. I have never found another cook book quite like it. Sadly, all of Peg Bracken's books are now out of print, except for the 50th Anniversary edition of the I Hate To Cook Book.
As a teenager, I went through the whole book and bookmarked recipes that I thought would be within my abilities to try. I found some real beauties that I continue to use to this day and still get rave reviews. One of my all-time favorite recipes is the 6-Minute Cheesecake, which is both very simple and very creamy. Another favorite is the Maui Bread, a fantastic banana bread recipe I always turn to when I have overripe bananas.
Now that I'm even older, I decided to revisit the book. I still love the humor and the funny illustrations, but I found the recipes dated and much of it uses processed foods. The original book was published in the 50s, which would account for why the recipes are what they are. The author certainly didn't take into account how many calories, cholesterol, sodium or preservatives are in her recipes, but I'm sure they're probably pretty good when that's all you've got in the house and you really want to put something on the table.
After revisiting the book, I found some more recipes I'd like to try, some with alterations:
Hellzapoppin Cheese Rice
Curried Spread
Florida Dip
Your Basic Meat Mix or the 4-Way Meatloaf
Dr. Martin's Mix
Hurry Curry
Cheese and Wine Bake
Sole Survivor
Let 'Er Buck
The Neitzel Grinder
Danish Almond Sheet
Eddy's Oyster Loaves
Really Southern Corn Bread
Tomatoes Provencal
Armenian Sandwiches
Riviera Sole
Fake Hollandaise
Blender Hollandaise
Simple Beans
Sour Cream Cabbage
Guest Chokes
Tomartichokes
Shakel Egg Supper!
Any recipe that calls for soup mix, bouillon, condensed soup and processed cheese, I'll be making adjustments.
As a teenager, I went through the whole book and bookmarked recipes that I thought would be within my abilities to try. I found some real beauties that I continue to use to this day and still get rave reviews. One of my all-time favorite recipes is the 6-Minute Cheesecake, which is both very simple and very creamy. Another favorite is the Maui Bread, a fantastic banana bread recipe I always turn to when I have overripe bananas.
Now that I'm even older, I decided to revisit the book. I still love the humor and the funny illustrations, but I found the recipes dated and much of it uses processed foods. The original book was published in the 50s, which would account for why the recipes are what they are. The author certainly didn't take into account how many calories, cholesterol, sodium or preservatives are in her recipes, but I'm sure they're probably pretty good when that's all you've got in the house and you really want to put something on the table.
After revisiting the book, I found some more recipes I'd like to try, some with alterations:
Hellzapoppin Cheese Rice
Curried Spread
Florida Dip
Your Basic Meat Mix or the 4-Way Meatloaf
Dr. Martin's Mix
Hurry Curry
Cheese and Wine Bake
Sole Survivor
Let 'Er Buck
The Neitzel Grinder
Danish Almond Sheet
Eddy's Oyster Loaves
Really Southern Corn Bread
Tomatoes Provencal
Armenian Sandwiches
Riviera Sole
Fake Hollandaise
Blender Hollandaise
Simple Beans
Sour Cream Cabbage
Guest Chokes
Tomartichokes
Shakel Egg Supper!
Any recipe that calls for soup mix, bouillon, condensed soup and processed cheese, I'll be making adjustments.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Pasta Primavera is easy
I love pasta primavera. It's also pretty easy. I like to start the pasta cooking while I start cooking the veggies in my wok. I use whatever veggies I have on hand and add garlic. Once the pasta is mostly cooked, but still firm, I drain and dump it into the wok and toss with lots of grated parmesan, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve after everything is cooked through. Easy, right?
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Return of the Sun Oven fun!
Now that the weather is warmer and the sun is once again trailing across my back yard, I broke out the sun oven. I've been able to use for two days before it started raining for the next 3. The first day was very sunny and the second was on and off cloudy.
On the partly cloudy day, the temperature in the oven would rise quickly when it was sunny and would cool to about 200 degrees when it got cloudy. I was able to get water boiling hot and cook diced potatoes, carrots and hard boil some eggs. I could have roasted them dry like last year, but I actually prefer the texture of them boiled in water. They came out very nicely, in fact. I also sauteed some onions and garlic in butter and tried to make a frittata, but it was too late in the day to finish. I had to finish the frittata in the toaster oven. Still came out wonderfully! The boiled items took all day to cook since there was no consistent amount of sun.
On the sunny day, the temperature easily broke 300 degrees. I was able to quickly reheat some leftover pasta for lunch, and defrost and heat up some frozen cabbage soup for dinner. For the cabbage soup, I tried something a little different. I aimed the oven for the afternoon sun and didn't readjust after that. I left the oven out until 7PM to see if the soup was still hot. As it turned out, the soup was still warm, but not hot. I had read online that you can leave the sun oven aimed towards the midday sun in the morning before work, go to work, come home and dinner would still be warm and ready. My guess is that you'd have to make it home earlier than 7PM and your dinner would be warm, but not piping hot. Maybe the oven would keep the temperature longer if the weather was hotter. That day, the temperatures were mostly in the 40s. Also, the temperature may have dipped in the afternoon due to condensation building up on the inside the oven glass.
The problem with condensation is that it prevents the sunlight from reaching the cooking chamber and lowers the temperature. Apparently, others have also encountered this problem and I found a post online that offers 3 different solutions. I have yet to try them out, but I plan to the next time we have a sunny day.
On the partly cloudy day, the temperature in the oven would rise quickly when it was sunny and would cool to about 200 degrees when it got cloudy. I was able to get water boiling hot and cook diced potatoes, carrots and hard boil some eggs. I could have roasted them dry like last year, but I actually prefer the texture of them boiled in water. They came out very nicely, in fact. I also sauteed some onions and garlic in butter and tried to make a frittata, but it was too late in the day to finish. I had to finish the frittata in the toaster oven. Still came out wonderfully! The boiled items took all day to cook since there was no consistent amount of sun.
On the sunny day, the temperature easily broke 300 degrees. I was able to quickly reheat some leftover pasta for lunch, and defrost and heat up some frozen cabbage soup for dinner. For the cabbage soup, I tried something a little different. I aimed the oven for the afternoon sun and didn't readjust after that. I left the oven out until 7PM to see if the soup was still hot. As it turned out, the soup was still warm, but not hot. I had read online that you can leave the sun oven aimed towards the midday sun in the morning before work, go to work, come home and dinner would still be warm and ready. My guess is that you'd have to make it home earlier than 7PM and your dinner would be warm, but not piping hot. Maybe the oven would keep the temperature longer if the weather was hotter. That day, the temperatures were mostly in the 40s. Also, the temperature may have dipped in the afternoon due to condensation building up on the inside the oven glass.
The problem with condensation is that it prevents the sunlight from reaching the cooking chamber and lowers the temperature. Apparently, others have also encountered this problem and I found a post online that offers 3 different solutions. I have yet to try them out, but I plan to the next time we have a sunny day.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Actually happy to be cooking again
Since I got pregnant, I admit that I've been lazy. Either that or I've been too tired to do anything. Seriously, the fatigue was pretty rough. I'd find it almost impossible to stay awake at times. Now that I've been feeling better, I've been more active around the house, taking walks with my hubby on nice sunny weekends and cooking again.
Honestly, I didn't think I would get out of the rut of not cooking, but I've been enjoying it. Last night, I made a fantastic creamed spinach recipe I found online. I spread it over toast and topped with tender scrambled eggs. The recipe is posted here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/07/creamed-spinach-recipe_n_4911268.html
Originally, I just cooked the spinach in milk or cream, but the above recipe is soooooo much better! In the past, I also liked added mustard to the creamed spinach before putting it on the bread, but this time, I wanted to try it without the mustard. Maybe I'll add it next time.
Honestly, I didn't think I would get out of the rut of not cooking, but I've been enjoying it. Last night, I made a fantastic creamed spinach recipe I found online. I spread it over toast and topped with tender scrambled eggs. The recipe is posted here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/07/creamed-spinach-recipe_n_4911268.html
Originally, I just cooked the spinach in milk or cream, but the above recipe is soooooo much better! In the past, I also liked added mustard to the creamed spinach before putting it on the bread, but this time, I wanted to try it without the mustard. Maybe I'll add it next time.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Been on hiatus
I've been on hiatus due to repeated miscarriages and now I'm pregnant again, but this time, it seems to be sticking around! I'm currently nearing the end of my fourth month. The previous 3 were torturous, with constant fatigue and constant nausea. Needless to say, I had no appetite and lost a few pounds. I am happy to say that I am much more comfortable now and am simply thankful to be able to enjoy eating again. :-)
It's strange to me that I still feel like it's early on in my pregnancy, but already a linea nigra just appeared on my belly and I am already wearing maternity clothes. Speaking of maternity clothes, I'm so glad I made the switch. I was wearing a belly band before that, but have now found that maternity clothes are much more comfortable. I haven't gained back the pounds I lost and yet my belly keeps sticking out more and more.
So now, I'm researching cord blood banking, doulas and birthing classes. I am also thinking about enrolling in a cloth diaper service and starting to think about what things the baby will need. My mother has collected some hand-me-downs from friends who've given birth before me and I hope to be able to use some of that.
It's strange to me that I still feel like it's early on in my pregnancy, but already a linea nigra just appeared on my belly and I am already wearing maternity clothes. Speaking of maternity clothes, I'm so glad I made the switch. I was wearing a belly band before that, but have now found that maternity clothes are much more comfortable. I haven't gained back the pounds I lost and yet my belly keeps sticking out more and more.
So now, I'm researching cord blood banking, doulas and birthing classes. I am also thinking about enrolling in a cloth diaper service and starting to think about what things the baby will need. My mother has collected some hand-me-downs from friends who've given birth before me and I hope to be able to use some of that.
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