Before I forget....

I found a really wonderful site and wanted to share it with you guys. It’s called White on Rice. http://whiteonricecouple.com/White_on_Rice_Couple.html.

They had commented on this blog when I had won a contest over at Jadens so I went and checked out their site and man oh man, it is just strikingly beautiful. Their blog is what I want my blog to be when it grows up. The photography is breathtakingly gorgeous, probably the best I have seen on anyone’s site. The recipes just scream, “make me” and they look absolutely mouth wateringly delicious. I can’t wait until I have time to just sit and read the whole blog, it’s that good. If you want some great inspiration check them out, you won’t be disappointed.

Oh I almost forgot…….I’m getting noticed look what I found. One of the recipes I posted was on this site: http://www.csftw.com/recipe_corner.html. It’s the Culinary School of Fort Worth! They even referenced my blog! How cool is that?

Mushroom Asparagus Quiche

I love asparagus. I have always loved it. Even when I was a young punk kid, asparagus was always one of my favorite vegetables. I think it's one of the veggies that you either love or hate, there doesn't seem to be much middle ground when it comes to the tender young shoots of the Eurasian plant (Merriam Webster pulls through again).

My favorite way to eat it is marinated in a bit of good olive oil with some garlic, add a squeeze of fresh lemon and a dash of sea salt, pop it on the grill and I am in heaven. I am always looking for recipes which include it. I found this one in one of my Taste of Home magazines. It was really fast and easy to throw together and was truly very tasty. A keeper for sure. Asparagus & mushrooms..... all is right with the world.

Mushroom Asparagus Quiche
1 tub (8 ounces) crescent rolls
2 teaspoons prepared mustard (I used Gray Poupon)
1 ½ pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces (I used one bunch)
1 medium onion, chopped
½ cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I used one whole pkg of baby bellas)
¼ cup butter, cubed (I used a half this amount & added some olive oil instead)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups, shredded part-skim mozzarella
¼ cup fresh minced parsley
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder (I used fresh garlic when the veggies were cooking)
¼ teaspoon each dried basil, oregano & rubbed sage (I just used a good shake of Italian seasoning)

Separate the crescent dough into eight triangles and place them in the bottom of an un-greased 9 inch pie plate with the points towards the center. Press into the bottom of the pan to form a crust. Seal perforations. You might find that the middle gets a bit thick. I snipped off the really thick parts and patch up areas that seemed a little thin.

Spread the crust with the mustard and set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté the asparagus, onion and mushrooms in butter until the asparagus is crisp-tender (what the hell is crisp-tender??) Just cook it until they look right to you. You don’t want the veggies all soggy, but you do want them cooked a bit.

In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients, stir in the veggies mixture and pour into crust. Bake at 375 for 25 – 30 minutes or until a knife inserted neat the edge comes clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Smoky Porky Goodness

Saturday morning John got the smoker going (in the snow) and smoked a 10 pound pork shoulder. I thought it was a butt, but he informed me that it was a shoulder, not a butt, hence the big bone in it. You can't have a bone in your butt?? Ummmm never mind. You didn't hear that, lol.

I had slathered it with mustard and put a spice rub on it and let it sit in the fridge overnight. He put it on the smoker at 7am and we took it off around 6pm. It made the whole house smell like smoked hickory.

It was mighty tasty. I made some pasta salad and the three-bean baked beans I posted before. Eva brought a yummy concoction that tasted like a banana split. It had strawberries, bananas, pineapples and coconut in it and whipped cream, can't forget the whipped cream.

We had a nice night filled with lots of laughs as always and lunch was easy today....leftovers!

I won!

I won, I won, I won! I entered a contest on Jaden's Steamy Kitchen and I actually won! She had asked for your favorite spice combination and I entered with a combo that I had just recently used and really loved and I freakin' won! It wasn't my combo that won (she uses a random number generator) but hey I still won!

My prize? A pair of tsp spices - Sweet Heat. What is tsp spices you ask? Allow Jaden to explain:

"tsp spices are organic spices in perfectly measured, freshly sealed, single-use packages. Each tin comes with 12 spice packets - each 1 tsp of the spice. Their products, “packets of pure adventure,” make measuring spoons obsolete and also protect spices from light and air to ensure freshness and the fullest flavor. A reprieve from spice cabinet chaos, these one-teaspoon spice packets are stored in tin cans that look great displayed on the kitchen counter, which makes them a perfect gift for home cooks".

Sweet Heat contains one can each of true cinnamon from Saigon and crushed ancho chiles. Each spice can contains 12 one-teaspoon packets. Sweet Heat is an age-old taste sensation made dazzlingly new. Awaken your senses with the delicate flavor of true cinnamon and ancho chile. Teaspoon packets allow you to use them singly or together.

I am oh so happy! Thanks Jaden!

Three-Bean Baked Beans

There’s nothing like a big ole pot of beans cooking on a chilly day. We had more snow last night, and snow just makes me want to cook and bake even more than usual.

I have a recipe for traditional baked beans that I make in my Nana’s very old bean pot. You soak the beans over night and then cook them all day, and they are delicious, but sometimes you just want some good beans and you want ‘em fast. This recipe fits the bill perfectly. Again I turn to Elise at Simply Recipes. She hasn’t let me down yet. I have been making these beans for over a year now and they never fail me. My husband put a big ole pork butt on the smoker early this morning and I whipped up some pasta salad, so beans will be the perfect accompaniment…….along with scrumptious Magic Cookie Bars for dessert.

I do two things differently when I make this recipe. I add an additional can of kidney beans and I add about a ½ cup packed brown sugar. You can leave these step out if you like.

Three-Bean Baked Beans
5 bacon slices
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup (or more) water
1 bay leaf
1 15- to 16-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
1 15- to 16-ounce can black beans, rinsed, drained
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook bacon in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium heat until crisp. Using tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain. Crumble bacon and reserve.


Add onion to drippings in pot and sauté until almost tender, about 5 minutes.
Add dry mustard and thyme and stir 1 minute. Mix in ketchup, vinegar, molasses, 1/3 cup water, bay leaf and all beans. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover pot and bake bean mixture 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if mixture seems dry. Mix bacon into beans. Bake 15 minutes longer. Discard bay leaf. Mix in hot pepper sauce and serve.

34 seconds of video everyone should watch

I know a lot of people who visit my blog are in the kitchen a lot.

Please watch this video and don't forget what you see.




At a Fire Fighting Training school they would demonstrate this with a deep fat fryer set on the fire field. An instructor would don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup at the end of a 10 foot pole toss water onto the grease fire.

The water, being heavier than the oil, sinks to the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it became a thirty foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast.

Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fire ball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room.

Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease fire. One cup creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite.

Magic Cookie Bars

Who hasn’t heard of Magic Cookie Bars?? My husband apparently. When I told him that I was making them he told me that he had never heard of them. Hmmm, are these an East coast thing? I thought everyone knew what these were?

All through my childhood this was one of the treats that my Mom made. I think we got the original recipe off the back of a can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk. Super simple to make and always the first thing gobbled up at a party. We would make them with peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, you could really substitute anything you like, dried fruit, mini marshmallows, M&M’s, etc. In fact I substituted chocolate graham crackers when I made them this time, and I used semi-sweet and white chocolate chips with toasted hazelnuts and walnuts. We are having Eva & Ken over for dinner, so this will be dessert!

I wonder why I haven’t made them in years? It’s a shame really.

Magic Cookie Bars
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine melted
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°F (325°F for glass dish). In small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly on bottom of 13X9-inch baking pan.

Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly.

Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store leftovers covered at room temperature.