Tag: food

The No Apple Apple Dumpling

Many years ago, my husband and I were out for the day.  When we got hungry, we decided to go to a little cozy diner that we liked to frequent.

We had a nice lunch.  We don’t usually order dessert, but we did this time because apple dumplings were on the menu board.  Something we both love.

So, we got them warmed up with some ice cream.  I was savoring every bite, eating it slowly to make it last.  My husband was a few bites in and looked at me and said, “Does yours have any apples?”

Confused, I looked up and said, “Yeah, doesn’t yours?”

He said “no” so I said, “well, maybe you aren’t in far enough yet.”

So he keeps eating, taking a little ice cream with some bites.  After about 10 minutes, the waitress came over and asked how they were.  My husband said, “I’m two-thirds through and I haven’t found any apples.”

She leaned over and looked at his plate and said, “Oh my, someone got the pie crust ball instead of the dumpling.”  She went on to explain that they freeze their pie dough in balls and thaw to roll out.  They look the same in the freezer.  We laughed and laughed.

The waitress then asked him if he wanted a real apple dumpling, he held his stomach and said, “No, I’m full on the dough ball I just ate”.  So, she packed him one to go.

Ever since then, he puts a fork in the middle of any apple dumplings that he gets, pulls it apart a little, and makes sure there are apples in there.

My Burrito Recipe

I used to have friends, that whenever they found out I was making burritos, would be sure to invite themselves to dinner.  Or they would suggest they come for dinner and then request burritos.

I start by making some Lime Rice.  I bring 3 cups of water to a boil and add 1-1/2 cups of rice.  Bring to a boil, reduce, cover and cook till about 1/2 inch of water left in bottom of pan.  Zest 1 lime and add with all of the juice of that lime.  You can throw the lime rind in to finish the cooking. Pull it out when finished.  (Pix 1)

Burrito Meat Mixture:  Cook 1/ 2 of a medium onion in 1 Tablespoon of oil.  Add 1 pound of ground meat and brown.  I use mostly venison, but ground beef is fine.  When it is cooked through, add 1 can of refried beans and 1 packet of taco/burrito seasoning with 1/2 a cup of water.  Cook another few minutes, stirring, till well mixed.  Turn oven on to 350 degrees.

To assemble:  Lay a tortilla on a cookie sheet and lay some cheese down the middle.  Use cheddar, Monterey jack, a jalapeno cheese or whatever kind you like (Pix 2).  Cover the cheese with some of the meat mixture (Pix 3).  Add the lime rice on top of the meat (Pix 4).  Roll up.  I leave the ends open.  Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes till ends turn brown.

Here’s the fun part!  You can add whatever you like.  Here are some suggestions:

Sour cream, chopped tomatoes, chopped fresh onion, salsa, jalapenos (or any hot peppers you like), lettuce, chipotles chopped, fire roasted chilies, etc.

 

For the Love of Salt

My love of salt started when I was a baby.  I chewed every wood surface I could find and sucked on it.  My mother asked the Doctor about this and he said that I was trying to get salt out of the wood.  He then said that some bodies just need more salt then others.

The first picture is the different kinds of salt that I have on hand at this time. Plus, the third picture is a Persian Blue Salt that I forgot to add to the pix.  I also have a Ghost Pepper salt that I just bought.  The middle picture is my collection of salt dips that I collect.  My favorite find was the little salt spoon that is laying beside the green one.

My love and absolute need for salt continued through my grade school years when I lived beside my grandmother’s house and there was a field that used to have cows in it.  There was a wonderful salt lick that I would take a rock to, and chip off small chunks and put in my pockets to eat on the bus or whenever I needed it.

I also knew where our church kept the rock salt that they used to salt the sidewalks in the winter.  I would fill my pockets with that on Sundays to eat through the week.  It was behind the pastor’s office door, by the way.

If all else failed, I would just go to the stove and pour salt into my hand and lick it out.  In my early 20’s, at a doctor appointment, he asked me if I was thirsty a lot.  I said yes, but I eat a lot of salt.  He still sent me for blood work, but it was all normal. Heh heh.

My current doctor said I may want to cut back a little on salt and I said that it was my favorite food group.  She didn’t even crack a smile.  I thought I was funny.

So here is a list of the kinds of salt that I have right now:  I have 2 Himalayan salt blocks, 1 Himalayan salt light, 2 Himalayan salt candle holders, Himalayan salt chunks, also in white, a Himalayan salt heart, white pretzel salt, tobacco spiced sea salt, roasted garlic sea salt, spicy garlic salt, sriracha salt, chipotle salt, green herbs salt, rosemary lavender salt, curry salt, plain sea salt, hickory smoke salt, cherry wood smoked sea salt, seasoned salt, garlic salt, Himalayan pink salt, smoked salt, Hawaiian red salt, Eurasian black salt, pure ocean salt, sel de guerande, Persian blue salt, jalepeno pepper sea salt, sriracha pepper sea salt, Cyprus citron flake salt, Carolina hickory smoked salt, Trapani salt road sea salt, Cyprus chili flake sea salt, and ghost pepper salt.

P.S.  I haven’t found anything that salt is not good on.

Learning to Cook

When I was about 13 years old, my mother thought it was time for me to learn how to cook.  She would ask me if I wanted to help her cook dinner.  I remember thinking, “why do I have to help cook?” and I would hurry outside as fast as I could.  Whenever she would ask, I’d say “nope, I’m going outside”.  I had two brothers with lots of stuff to do, any type of ball to play, bikes to ride, ropes to jump, or mud puddles to try and throw each other in.  And a really great train went by our house every day and the caboose guy would wave at us.

She got clever and said, “I’ll teach you how to make pie crusts and I’ll make the filling”.  Pie, yes I’ll make the crusts anytime to get a pie out of it.

Along came my first husband.  We got married a week before my 19th birthday.  His mother was a gourmet cook and even packed him a thermos of mashed potatoes to take in his lunch for work.  After cooking for a week, I was given a Betty Crocker Cookbook for my 19th birthday gift.  It looked like greek to me.

I got all “gung ho” and was going to make all the bread for my family.  My first and final loaf (for many years) came out of the oven looking exactly like a brown brick.  The upside of that was if I would make enough bread, I could build us a house.  Plus, I got really good at blowing out oven fires.

I tried a soup recipe and saw where it said to brown the meat.  I thought it was brown and I would save some time by skipping that step.  It came out tasting like what I think stone soup would have      tasted like.  How could so many things be in that pot and it tastes a     little like lightly flavored water?

I was going to cook us some pork chops.  Since you put a roast in some water to cook it, I put the chops under water to cook them.  They came out tasting like cardboard.  The cookbook wasn’t helping much.  And in the first month of being married, he lost 10 pounds.

I ended up asking my mom to come show me some tips and I started learning to cook after I got married.  She said she knew I’d eventually want to know how.

And that is how my love of cookbooks started.  I have too many to count at this point in my life, and I have become quite a good cook.  My grandchildren always challenge me for their birthday dinners with stuff I’ve never tried before.

My advice on cooking would be, take it slow and simple at first.  If you’ve never made a recipe before, do exactly what it says.  You can adjust it the next time, if you want to.  And have fun, it’s so satisfying knowing you’re feeding your family good home-cooked food.  Plus, the joy of sitting around the table and listening to the stories of the day from each other.  This grows a family good!