Category: MISC

Favorite Ingredient Friday~Super Savory Pot Roast & Veggies

Favorite Ingredient Friday, hosted by Overwhelmed with Joy.
Super Savory Pot Roast & Veggies
I love Pot Roast. I adapted grams old recipe to my family and their likes.

Ingredients:
2-3 pound Pot Roast
2 medium Onions
1 bag baby carrots
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 large Yukon potatoes~scrubbed clean, but not peeled
Kosher Salt
White & Black Pepper
3 t. minced garlic
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon Pampered Chef Rosemary mix
Beef bullion
Red Wine (2 cups) OR White Wine (2 cups)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. The meat you use is important. And like Ree over at The Pioneer Woman Cooks, my favorite roast is the chuck roast because it has wonderful marbling throughout the meat, and when cooked right (prep, cover, cook ~ don’t fiddle with it while it’s in the oven) any chuck roast winds up being tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Be aware that the tougher the piece of meat is, the longer it needs to cook so that the connective tissue will soften and break down. You truly can’t rush a pot roast, you’ll be disappointed if you try as it will be dry or lack flavor. BE PATIENT. You want the meat to basically fall apart. You SHOULD NOT need a knife to cut it.

Bring the piece of meat to room temperature. GENEROUSLY sprinkle the first side of meat with the Kosher Salt and Pepper mix. Heat enough olive oil in the bottom of a fry pan to make a thick coating. Heat to a medium-high heat. Cut the onions tip to root, cut off root and stem, peel and lay flat into hot oil. Brown both sides well. Remove to side. Add the baby carrots and do the same. I normally cut each carrot just in half. Brown carrots and like Ree said you’re trying more for color here than cooking. They will have plenty of time to cook in the oven. I also like to add my garlic (I use the bottled minced garlic from the produce section) and spices at this point. By this time I have put them all into a mortar and pestle to revive their scents and aromas. When carrots are finished, remove them to the same plate as the onions. If necessary add more olive oil to the pan and add the roast seasoned side down. While it’s browning season the other side really well Brown both sides and all edges really well.

Now, for the oven I like to use my grandma’s old Magnalite dutch oven which cooks really even! And see those little hobnail bumps in on the bottom side of the lid? Those are better known as drip catchers. They collect the steam from the juices and redistributes it all right back down on the roast as it cooks. These help keep the meat moist and juicy. After the roast is browned, place it in the dutch oven and spread vegetables all around it.

While fry pan is still hot, add white or red wine and the beef bullion to deglaze the pan ~ make sure you scrape up all the stuck little bits from the bottom. Cook long enough to mix well and then pour over the roast. The liquid should come up at least half way on the sides of the roast and vegetable mixture. For this recipe we added the white wine to the recipe and drank the red. The red wine, Harrod wine, is from our nephew’s vineyard so we don’t waste it cooking, but enjoy every last drop.

Put the lid on the dutch oven, put it in the oven, don’t open the door for AT LEAST 3 hours! Today’s roast was 2.39 pounds and I roasted it for 3 1/2 hours. Go relax or at least get the dishes you’ve dirtied so far done up. At 3 hours, I prep the potatoes for boiling. I too, prefer not to cook mine with the roast ~ I prefer a bit of substance instead of the mush they become with the roast. I do a basic mashed with heavy cream, salt, pepper, and butter (hey you gotta splurge a little sometimes!)

We get 2 meals out of these proportions. Now to us eating starts with the eyes ~ so make it pretty. I love my polish pottery, all of it is unique one-of-a-kind creations and decorates a table and your meal so easily!

~*~Sweet & Sour Carmelized Chicken~*~

I couldn’t decide which one, so I did 2 this week.
Favorite Ingredient Friday hosted by Overwhelmed with Joy.


This is such an easy and quick meal to make, but it looks & tastes like you worked all afternoon.


Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
3 Tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (bottle works if that’s what you have)
2 tablespoons rice wine balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
olive oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Between 2 sheets of wax paper flatten chicken breasts if they are too thick. If they are too thick they will take longer to cook. If you prefer scallopini style you’ll need to decrease cooking time slightly.

Whisk together the egg and cornstarch. Soak chicken breasts in mixture for an hour before cooking. This mixture seals in the moistness and keeps the chicken juicy throughout.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a oven proof fry pan (or you will need to transfer to a baking dish) coat he bottom of the pan with olive oil. When the oil is hot, brown both sides of the chicken breasts including all the sides. Add onions about midway and brown them too. You want all the little browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

When breasts are browned, put the pan in the oven for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees. In the mean time, whisk together the hot water, bullion, flour, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour liquid mixture over the chicken and cover tightly with foil.

Return it to the oven for additional 10 minutes (5 minutes if doing a scallopini thickness, 15 if they are really thick. Sauce will be thick. During this last ten minutes I steamed the broccoli and turned the left over mashed potatoes from the pot roast into twice baked potato bowls.

I have used breast tenders in a pinch and they work well, but they cook faster so keep an eye on them.

~*~My little Cookbook Corner of the World~*~

Let’s face it, there is no one cookbook for anyone. If you’re like me, you have at least 6 or maybe 60, oh let’s be honest I quit counting a long time ago. I can’t resist browsing through the old books at antique stores. I especially love old church or organization cook books. Some of my favorite recipes originally came from one of those. Many of the pages are dogeared and lots of notes are written in the margins, mostly by me, but the used books sometimes have 2 or 3 people’s writings.

Now the other thing we all do is MODIFY those recipes to our family and their personal preferences. Did you know that all you have to do is make 2 major changes and you can call the recipe your own? or so I’m told.

~*~Women's Brains vs.Mens~*~

Okay, let’s just say the devil made me do it… I couldn’t resist posting this email our nephew sent!
Have you ever wondered how a woman’s brain works? Well….it’s finally explained here in one, easy-to-understand illustration:

Click on the picture to put the balls in motion.

Every one of those little blue balls is a thought about something that needs to be done, a decision or a problem that needs to be solved. A man has only 2… I’ll let you finish the thought.

Alternative to brining

So, I was checking out my favorite food sites this morning and ran across an opposition (maybe it was an aversion, but they’re tackling it and overcoming it) to brining this morning over at Smitten Kitchen. So I offered up my recipe as an alternative to brine, I have used an egg white whisked together with a teaspoon of cornstarch. I also add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and white pepper which tends to bring out the flavor. Coat chicken for 30-60 minutes before you are going to prepare it. DO NOT wash it off before cooking. You will have some of the plumpest juiciest chicken ever.

Sweet Goodness Valentines Swap

So I’ve been pondering a myriad of ideas for making my Valentines swap for the Sweet Goodness Valentines Swap. Then I visited the Pink Kitchen, OOPS now known as There’s no Place like Home and Leigh Ann gave me an idea on where to start with her use of buttons. I have 4 old mason jars full of miscellaneous buttons and that’s where I started searching for all the pink, red and white buttons I had. So here’s a peek at some of the components of my creation. Ironically my cousin Jenn needed some and while I was sorting through these and chatting with her, I was able to find the ones she wanted also.

The Beauty of Pot Roast and living in the Country!

So I stumbled upon a new site today The Pioneer Woman Cooks and Ree’s entry for 2008:The Year of the Pot Roast (I’d vote for that designation) that I thought I’d share with you. The recipes on this site look and sound so yummy! The Pot Roast recipe made my mouth water. I LOVE POT ROAST. Let me re-phrase that I love GOOD pot roast. I was a country girl when I was young and then the city came to us and I chose to leave and to be a country girl again.

My grandma always made the best pot roast, but unlike Ree’s recipe, she always made a thick farm style gravy. I prefer the wine glaze like Ree’s recipe calls for most of the time especially when like her, I’m on that 13 hour fast to make my butt smaller.

Like the author, I too miss mainly food choices (sometimes I’d do anything for a good Mexican meal or some Japanese) when you want to eat out, the availability of specific foods and brands from the city AND the ability to buy what you need when you need it 24/7, but oh the joys of being a country girl again! I have a ‘city’ list of ingredients next to my normal everyday grocery list and I stock up on those whenever I go to the city.

So I’m trying this recipe tonight and will report later this week on how it goes ~ that way I can also link to Favorite Ingredient Friday hosted by Overwhelmed with Joy with my recipe and kill 2 birds with 1 stone. One of the best aspects of preparing a pot roast is that after the initial mess, the roast is in the oven and you can do the majority of the clean-up before dinner even begin!

Does anyone remember Emily Post? or is common courtesy not so common anymore?

A friend of mine emailed this to me today: “Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one’s who don’t. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. Friends are like balloons; once you let them go, you can’t get them back. So I’m gonna tie you to my heart so I never lose you.”

It really made me tie together several thoughts I’d been having lately.

When I was a little girl I was taught (as most of us were) to say please, thank you, you’re welcome, may I? (which is truly different than can I?), excuse or pardon me, etc… I was forced to sit and write letters and thank you notes to grandparents and aunts and uncles for gifts they had sent because it was the thought that mattered and we needed to let them know that we felt blessed because they wanted to give to us… I was taught children had to be polite and courteous to their elders…

My father once told me as a teenager that it was okay for me to ‘debate’, but not to argue with an elder and that I better have my facts straight before I get too deep into the ‘debate’.

He also taught me that if you have something negative to say, you should always start with a positive so you don’t put the other person on the defensive before they hear what you actually have to say. He was also known for saying, “You can’t have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.” which became one of my personal favorites as I grew up and met more and more people.

So, here’s my question, if we were all taught this, why isn’t it being passed on to the next generation? Or am I just having that battle of wits with unarmed people.

There are a couple of family members (who shall remain nameless) who seem to be under the impression that what they believe, what they want and what they say is more important than anyone else’s thoughts, beliefs, wants & needs. Their ‘silver spoon’ sense of entitlement has been the subject of many a conversation at our house. These family members are the same ones that we never receive a phone call, card, gift or thank you note from for ANY event in our lives. Not to mention they feel it is okay to complain about their gift and or request a certain item in advance for their ‘day’. I have threatened more than once to send them each a copy of Emily Post with the necessary passages highlighted. My hubby always talks me out of it. Thank God for Fedex. At least I can track and know the packages get there. Is it too much to expect that they at least let me know the package arrived or at least appear to appreciate the time, thought and effort it took to pick out the gift that best fits them?

All of this reminds me of a Bill Cosby quote, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone.” that pretty much says it all!

I believe the next time a ‘gift’ event rolls around that I will send a donation in their name to my favorite charity and ‘kill 2 birds with 1 stone’. At least the charity and I will both be pleased. Does anyone out there agree with me?

Favorite Ingredient Friday

I’m trying to branch out this year on my blog. Cooking is an integral part of our everyday lives and can be fun and easy with a little prep. I thought that Favorite Ingredient Friday, hosted by Overwhelmed with Joy would be a fun and informative place to start.
This upcoming Friday Theme is ‘Pies’. So my recipe is for Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie, an original recipe I developed after a major banana and chocolate (2 of my most favorite ingredients) craving one day. It’s relatively quick and easy while giving the appearance that you spent all day in the kitchen. It’s a great dessert to serve to guests, they’ll think you spent all day preparing for them!

9-10″ deep dish pie plate sprayed with PURE – I like to use my Pyrex french white tart pan

4-8 Tablespoons butter

2-3 cups crushed gingersnaps and vanilla wafers mix (you decide which flavor you prefer)

1 regular size cool whip*

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1 1/2 cups cold whole milk

1-5.1 ounce Jell-O Cheesecake flavored instant pudding

1/2 teaspoon rum extract

2 bananas

1 small baskets raspberries

1) Melt butter and mix into cookie crumbs. Push into bottom of pie plate firmly.

2) Melt 6 ounces of the chocolate chips and mix together with 1/3 of the cool whip until well mixed and smooth (microwave about 45 seconds, but you could use double boiler if you prefer melting the chocolate first and then adding cool whip). Spread on top of crumb crust.

3) Slice bananas and layer over chocolate layer saving a few for garnish if you like. If you save a few for garnish, be sure to douse them with lemon juice to prevent browning.

4) Mix together milk, rum extract and pudding mix. Whisk together until smooth and thick. Fold in 1/3 of the cool whip. Spoon over top of chocolate mixture.

5) Melt the other 6 ounces of chocolate chips and mix together with 1/3 of the cool whip until well mixed and smooth. Spread over pudding layer.

Chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Just before serving garnish with cool whip, banana slices and raspberries. For a more decadent looking dessert add a few pieces of shaved chocolate.

*When I first take the cool whip from the freezer I slice it into thirds pie style and it makes it easier to work with.

Overgrown weeds and bulbs to Contained Backyard

I never finished this one during the summer, so it only seems appropriate to do it now while it’s all covered with snow! The “garden” area looked okay from a distance, but was a tangled mess of bulbs, weeds and “stuff”.

We tore out all the weeds, and “stuff”. I dug up all the 50 year old iris bulbs and cleaned and thinned them. We put a scalloped cinder block style border around the existing area so we could save the original wall from the late 1800’s and then used 1/2 whiskey barrels (some of these I think are what’s holding up the wall in some places) and cedar planters to replant the bulbs. We filled in with primarily white marble chips, but since we need more anyway will finish with smooth river rock in the spring. It looks so much better. Some of the barrels already have the river rocks and we like them so much more.

It’s so much easier for hubby to mow now. Hopefully even that won’t be an issue next summer when we build the deck. It will replace the lower grass area.

~*~QUILT UPDATE~*~UPDATE~*~

Okay, as an attempt to complete some of my unfinished projects and start the year off right, I’m listing the already started projects and their respective pictures to help kick myself in the butt.
These top two are wall quilts I started for Katie and Lulu as college graduation gifts. Unfortunately, these were started during hubby’s last deployment and our lives were all tied up in military red tape. I need to get these finished ASAP. I have the sashing, borders, backing and binding all picked out, I just can’t remember whether Katie was red or blue and I can’t remember whether Lulu was blue or red. They have since graduated from graduate school and are now working in their respective fields.
This multi-colored one was for my ‘old’ house. Fortunately, it will match this house too.
These 2 are in preparation of Jenn What I Did At School Today and the new baby. She is pregnant and is doing it the old fashioned way ~ they’re waiting until the baby is born to find out the sex. So, I’ve made 2 separate quilts just in case. One is for a boy and will be backed with sage green Minky and one for a girl and will be backed in purple Minky. I just have to decide on the sashing and border.

These are baby quilts to have ready. The nieces and nephews have been having babies A LOT lately.
These are from my Patriotic – red, white, and blue phase. The 1st one was my very first quilt. The 2nd one is a red, white and blue Courthouse steps. This one is still in squares, but the shams are done in the background. The 3rd one is all the sampler squares that I made in my first quilt class. I’ve made them into a table runner. It is backed and quilted, but still needs binding.
These are random ones I started. The 1st is a calico log cabin, the 2nd is an extra large Log Cabin. They both still need bordered, backed and bound.
This last one is the easiest crazy quilt (called Kwik Krazy Quilt) I’ve ever done. I’m still deciding on sashing, border, backing and binding, but it’s on its way.

~*~Let the tagging begin~7 Random things about Myself~*~

I’ve been tagged by Mary Ellen at Yours ’til Niagara Falls to list 7 random things about myself.

1) My favorite color is purple, but most people think it’s blue. I just can’t talk myself (or hubby) into a purple theme for our home.
2) I can’t resist a good love story, especially when it has a Happy Ending.
3) I love to collect sea shells at the sea shore. I have a princess house bowl full of them. Many of them Jenn at What I did at school today helped me collect over the years when we went to Galveston as kids.
4) I can’t eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without an ice cold glass of milk to go with it. I keep chilled glasses in the freezer at all times.
5) I ABSOLUTELY love candles. There’s almost always some burning at my house.
6) I always have at least 2 books going at any one time.
7) I love antiques.

Now I have to follow the rules which go with tagging. I have to name seven blogging buddies to tell Seven Random Things about their very own selves:

SO TAG, YOU’RE IT:
Jenn at What I Did At School Today, my cousin and best friend
Bren at Brenda’s Little Cottage, a new friend that I met at the Crafting by Candlelight Halloween Swap & a fellow bowl lover
Jenn at Jenn’s Nook, a new swapping friend from the Sweet Goodness Holiday Sister Swap
Dolly at From My Cherry Heart, a new friend who is hosting a fantastic Valentines Swap
Autum at Creative Litlle Daisy, a wonderfully informative and insightful blog that I follow regularly
Leigh Ann at There’s No Place Like Home, formerly known as The Pink Kitchen, one of the Sweet Goodness girls
Rebecca at Thrifty Goodness, another Sweet Goodness girl
Leigh Ann & Rebecca helped me so much when I first started blogging and swapping

As tag victims, here are your rules:
1) Link the person who has tagged you
2) Tell seven true things about yourself
3) Tag seven new people
4) Leave a message with the person you have tagged so they know about it