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P/P Project: Buttermilk Biscuits
02
March
admin

I and a few of my readers are cooking our way through Ree Drummond’s book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  We’re calling the endeavor “The Pioneer/Pirate Project.”  Feel free to join in any time and discuss your exploits in the comments with us.  The next assignment is at the bottom of this post.

My biggest fear at this point is that after posting this and last month’s Red Velvet debacle, that you all will deduce that I cannot cook.  I can cook.  Promise.  Or maybe my overuse of the crockpot has just deceived myself into thinking I can cook.  Hmmm…but I have had a difficult time with these two recipes, but I think, with this week’s recipe especially, that I’ve learned a bit, and that, my friends, is the whole point in this project.

I am always fascinated with ingredients, and how those ingredients work together to make the finished product.

I mean how in the world did someone, long ago, even come up with biscuits?   Things like that are a mystery to me.

So anyway…so far, so good.  My dry ingredients were all mixed together, and I add the shortening and the cold butter pieces.  And speaking of shortening, I bought a new container, and it was nice and white and creamy and free from any funky aftertaste.

Then I started cutting them together using my grandma’s old pastry cutter.  I love that her hands once held tightly to that handle, rubbing the red paint off over time, making biscuits and other yummy things.

I was starting to get the feeling at this point that there was too much flour because I couldn’t tell if the butter and shortening were getting evenly distributed, and the dough didn’t seem crumbly enough to me.  I went ahead anyhow and added the buttermilk and mixed.  When I turned the dough out onto the cutting board though, it seemed way too dry to me, so I added another splash of buttermilk.  That seemed to help.

I don’t have a biscuit cutter or even a round cookie cutter, so I used a dinner glass.

I think these must be a good bit bigger than a biscuit cutter because I only got 14 biscuits out of this recipe that claims it will make 18-24.  I also think, even though my dough was probably rolled out to about 1/2 an inch that this was too thin.  They didn’t rise well and got too brown, I think.

I baked them for the minimum time listed of  nine minutes.  Next time I would probably reduce that to between seven and eight and take a peek then.

Interestingly, they weren’t as bad as they looked.  The inside was flaky and flavorful, and my family actually enjoyed them.  Next time I just need to leave the dough thicker and invest in a biscuit cutter, and I think I’m in business.

Or I just need to open a can of Pillsbury.  Seriously…that is a good bit of work for something that can be done quite conveniently and cost-effectively by buying a roll of pre-made dough.  But still…I’m willing to give it another shot.  I am a Southern woman afterall.  I should know how to make biscuits.  But if I don’t ever figure it out, thankfully I only live about ten minutes from a Cracker Barrel restaurant.

I didn’t receive any photos from others this time.  If you just forgot, go ahead and send them.  It’s easy to add them in.  Did anyone else try these?  How did it go?  What did you think?

***Update***  One reader posted about her biscuits on her blog. Check out Angela’s experience….http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jasonangela93/768896/?#c1394168

Our next assignment is from the Dinner/Lunch section.  We’re going to make the Simple, Perfect Chili on pps. 82-83.  I already have a really good, stand-by chili recipe, so it will be interesting to compare.  And it really does look simple, so if I mess this one up, I’m turning in my apron.  You have until March 15 to make yourself a pot, and if you’re like us here in Tennessee, it is still plenty cold enough for some chili!  Have fun!

Category: Grub, Pioneer/Pirate Project  Tags: , , ,  9 Comments
P/P Project: Red Velvet Cake
18
February
admin

A few of my readers and I are cooking our way through Ree Drummond’s book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  We’d love to have you join in with us.  Jump in any time, cook the recipe, and then come discuss it here on the comments section of  my blog.

Don’t let the above picture fool you.  This recipe, for me, was a disaster.  But I’m pretty sure it was my fault, and not PW’s.  Allow me to explain.

First of all, despite the misleading heart I put on top of my cake, I did not bake this over Valentine’s weekend.  No, I baked it about two hours ago.  Valentine’s turned out to be a lot busier than I anticipated, and then this week has been busy too with Jack Henry having his first head cold and all of us trying to make preparations to make a quick trip this weekend.  So, knowing I needed to get this posted today, I was rushed, and I’m blaming baby snot for it.

Secondly, I think my shortening was a little on the old side.  I had just used it before Christmas, so I don’t think it was detrimentally so, but it did look a little glossier than I think it should.  I threw the tub away after I made the cake, but by the time I realized it had seen better days, Jack Henry was napping, and Bonny Annie was at her tutorial, so a grocery run was not a prospect at the moment.

Thirdly, I had a headache.  I think it was because I colored my hair last night, and I always get a little bit of one when I do that.  I am more than likely giving myself a brain tumor for the sake of vanity concerning a handful of white hairs.  But, regardless, by the time I was finished I just felt like I was throwing ingredients everywhere and not really baking with purpose.

I think that’s all, but I’ll let you know if I can think up any more reasons that this cake kinda failed for me.

This is the kind of recipe that will totally trash your kitchen.  By the time I was finished, every single counter was covered with baking paraphernalia.

I pretty much stuck to the recipe, with just a few minor changes.  I used plain, old all-purpose flour and not cake flour.  My Publix apparently doesn’t carry cake flour, and that’s where I made a quick grocery run yesterday afternoon. 

I have no idea how much red food coloring I used.  I didn’t have the liquid kind on hand.  I had the gel kind that comes in little tubes, and the tube wasn’t full.  This accounts for the lighter pink color of my cake.

The only other variation was, like I said, using shortening that was a little “off.”  This may account for the slight aftertaste that I think my cake has.  It’s slight, but it’s there.

I had to bake my cakes for about ten minutes longer than the book calls for.  When I checked them at 20 minutes, there was still wet batter on my cake tester.  Then I think the outsides got a little too brown.  Then they stuck a little in the pans too, even though I let them cool longer than the 20 minutes that was called for…

Nothing terribly tragic, and they frosted up just fine.  The icing, I thought, was really good, but then how can you go wrong with cream cheese icing?

Overall, the cake tasted okay.  Dirty Harry was the only one available to taste-test, and he gave it a thumbs-up…but then he’s a nine year-old boy who is having a piece of cake before his lunch, so he’s perhaps not the best critic.  After a few more people have tasted it, I’ll let you know in the comments.

My sister-in-law, Susan, sent me these sweet pictures of her baking experience…

 

As you can see, she opted to make cupcakes, and I’ll let her share the details of that  in the comments section.

So, how did it go for all of you?  Did you whip it out for Valentines Day?  Are the ingredients still in your pantry?  Weigh in below and let us all know…

For our next assignment, we’re going to the “In the Morning” section.  Let’s get back to the basics and try the Buttermilk Biscuits on pages 44-45.  I’m going to skip all of next week and give you until Monday, March 1 to cook up a batch of these babies.   Have fun! 

Category: Grub, Pioneer/Pirate Project  Tags: , , , , ,  10 Comments
P/P Project: BBQ Jalepeno Poppers Outcome (and Your Next Assignment)
10
February
admin

Some of my readers and I are cooking our way through the book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  Feel free to join in, what I’m calling, The Pioneer/Pirate Project any time!  The more the merrier!

So, how did it go my fellow pirate chefs?  Did you make ‘em?

I put all of them together on Saturday evening.  I read in the book that you can prepare them up to 24  hours in advance and keep them in the fridge until you want to bake them, and this seemed to work just fine.

Overall, the prep was fairly simple, albeit a little time consuming.  I did decide to wear gloves for slicing the jalapenos, and I scraped out all to most of the seeds, since I was going for a as mild a version as possible in hopes that the kids would be brave and try them.  I had no problems with the bacon wrapping process, although I did opt to place the toothpicks in before brushing with the BBQ sauce, rather than after like the directions said.  I did this because I thought it would be less messy, and because I’m a rebel at heart. 

I put a pineapple tidbit in half of my poppers’ filling, and to be honest, I didn’t find the addition all that noticeable.  Maybe it was because I was using canned instead of fresh.  Maybe it was because the tidbit size was too small.  I don’t know, but next time I probably wouldn’t go to the trouble of that step….not that it was all that much trouble really.

(Please ignore the oven that needs to be cleaned and focus on the poppers.  Thank you.)

I’d say that these were a hit at my house.  Big D, Indiana Mimi and I all really liked them.  Dirty Harry thought they were okay, and Bonny Annie, who hates all things spicy, ate one without much comment.  Cap’n Jack Henry, who is perfectly willing to put anything at all in his mouth, was not afforded the opportunity.  I really didn’t think they were spicy at all, which was interesting to me since it was a fresh jalapeno pepper we were dealing with.  The removal of the seeds must be really significant.

The one improvement would be to figure out how to get the bacon crispier.  I think next time I might try baking at a higher heat for less time, and see what that might do.  Any other thoughts on that?

Also, next time, I will do a better job of picking out similiar sized peppers.  I bought mine on Saturday afternoon at Publix, and I think about 75% of my town was in the store at the same time, so I was rushed and agitated when I was choosing and just started flinging the peppers in my cart with wild abandon.  When I got home I realized I had a mixed bag of sizes, ranging from tiny to huge.  I think uniform sizing would be more ideal.

I only received pictures this time from my sister, Debbie.  Here are some shots of her adventure…

Thanks, Deb for sharing!  Love that you are wearing your Bears sweatshirt, even though they didn’t even make the play-offs!  Please, please, please share your story about your pre-heating/Tupperware debacle in the comments.  I almost shared it for you, but thought you could probably share it with more gusto…since it was your husband and your Tupperware.

It’s not too late to send pictures if you forgot.  I can still add them at any time.  kellie@thepiratemom.com

Okay, so let’s discuss these babies.  Here are some questions to consider…

  • Did you try any deviations from the original recipe?
  • What were the general reactions of your “tasters”?
  • Would you make this recipe again?
  • Did you have any mishaps?
  • What did you like/not like about the process and/or the recipe in general?

We’re going a total different direction for our next assignment.  It is in the Sweets section of the book:  Red Velvet Cake!  I thought this would be good for a Valentine’s treat for your family, friends or significant other.  The recipe is found on pps. 233-235 of the book (almost the very end!)  I couldn’t find this recipe on her site, so I think you’ll need the book for this one.  However, if you don’t have it yet, feel free to use another red velvet recipe (from scratch!) and chime in anyway.  It might be fun to do a comparison.  I will post about this recipe late next week…probably Thursday or Friday, so it will give you plenty of time to pull it off.  Happy baking!

Category: Grub, Pioneer/Pirate Project  Tags: , , , ,  10 Comments
The Pioneer/Pirate Project: Come Cook with Me!
01
February
admin

I had an idea.  Sometimes, when you’ve been snowed and iced in for four days, that happens, I guess.

Remember this movie review for Julie and Julia?  Well, after I saw that movie, I had a natural inclination to want to cook through a cookbook and blog about it too.  Julia Child’s book on French cooking is way, way, way beyond me.  So I kept perusing my shelves, trying to decide which one to tackle, when it suddenly hit me that the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook would be perfect!  She’s a blogger.  I feel like over the past three or so years that I’ve read her blog that I’ve watched her become famous.  Her recipes can be a tad challenging at times, but they are attainable…especially with her mouth-watering photography.  And, most importantly, pioneer, pirate, and project all begin with the letter P, and I’m in love with alliteration.  Perfect! (Ha!  Another P!)

But then I had another idea!  (Remember:  four days…snow and ice…a long, long game of RISK with the kids)  What’s the fun in cooking through a book by yourself?  Wouldn’t it be more fun if others joined in?  Wouldn’t it be like the biggest party if you had a whole posse participating with you? (Sorry…I really can’t stop with the P’s.)

So, do you want to join me?  Here’s a sort of outline of what I had in mind….

  • Every other week, probably on Monday or Tuesday at the latest I would post which recipe I’m going to make.  I will post the title and page number and the link, if it’s also on her website.
  • Then sometime over the next week (I will probably be doing mine over the weekend) we all cook up the recipe and serve it to our families or our friends or our neighbors or our postal carriers.
  • I will then post about the experience….the good, the bad, and the ugly.  If you have also joined in, then you can post about your experience in the comments section and hopefully some lively, fun discussions will ensue.
  • You can also send me some pictures via e-mail, kellie@thepiratemom.com .  It might be the finished product.  It might be your spouse’s satisfied smile.  It might be your kitchen stacked with dirty dishes.  Or, best of all, it might be you covered in flour or tomato sauce or the like.  Whatever you want to share, send it to me, and I’ll add it to my post.
  • Then I will post the next assignment, and the whole process will begin again.
  • You don’t have to cook every recipe to participate.  Feel free to float in out as you choose.
  • Anyone can join:  bloggers, non-bloggers, men, women,  kids (with parents’ permission, of course), Republicans, Democrats, pioneers, or pirates…just come join us in completely trashing the kitchen every once in a while for the sake of education and a good time!

Her cookbook is pretty easy to find.  It’s available at most major bookstores.  You can also purchase it here or here or about a dozen other places on-line.

For our first recipe, I chose the very first one in the book.  It is The BBQ Jalapeno Poppers, and it is found on pps. 14-15 of the book, in the Starters section.  I thought these would be perfect for the Super Bowl this Sunday, especially if Peyton Manning is sacked twelve times and the Colts lose 521-3.

Many of her recipes are also on her website, and the poppers are one of them.  I thought this one might be good to start with, so that anyone who wants to join would have time to get the book.  So, if you need it, here’s the on-line link:

BBQ Jalapeno Poppers

Sound fun?  Want to join?  I hope so, but even if I don’t have any takers, I’m still gonna’ do it and blog about it because, ya’ know, I had that idea and all…

Leave me a comment, and let me know if you’re up for the P/PP!  And feel free to grab my picture above and link to the post in order to share with your friends.  The more the merrier!

This blog post was brought you by the letter P.  Thank you.

Category: Grub, Pioneer/Pirate Project  Tags: , , , ,  16 Comments
Spaghetti…Oh!
20
January
admin

Okay, I get it now.

We’ve all seen them.  Pictures of kids eating spaghetti.  Making a total and complete mess.  Getting more food on themselves and their surroundings than actually in their mouths.

I never understood the concept.  I would just look at those pictures and think, “Well, yeah.  Cute kid and all, but that is a bona fide mess.  I’ll never let my kid do that.”

And I didn’t.  But then Bonny Annie and Dirty Harry have never liked spaghetti.  Never.  So the opportunities for a noodle-and-sauce-free-for-all were limited.  Not that I cared or thought I was missing anything.

Until now…

Oh…when you have a kid who likes spaghetti, and is really getting into it at dinner time…well, it is kinda cute.

You find yourself unconcerned about the stains and the fingernails and the sauce that’s now matted into his eyebrows.  You just keep laughing and snapping pictures and ladling more spaghetti onto the highchair tray.  Like an idiot.

All for the sake of cute.  Sheesh.

And then you wonder, as he slurps noodle after noodle through his rosebud little lips, “Whose the real “sucker” here?  Me or him?”

Don’t answer that, okay?

Category: Cap'n Jack Henry, Grub  Tags: , , ,  6 Comments
Movie of the Week: Julie & Julia
18
January
admin

I hardly ever go to the theater to see a movie anymore.  So, my former endeavor to give you a movie review of a current, in-the-theater-now film, is obviously not working.  But since I still love movies and like to talk about them and pretend that I work for World magazine, I’ve just changed my format a bit.  I’ll be bringing you “The Pirate Mom’s Movie of the Week,” which will feature my take on a recent movie I’ve seen.  It might be, occasionally, one that’s in the theater, or it might be one that’s new to DVD, or it might be Gone with the Wind.  You just never know, and that’s fun.  Right?  Right?!

And with that, I bring you my very first movie of the week….

Julie & Julia is, like the tagline says, based on two true stories:  Julia Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and how it came to be, and Julie Powell, who blogged about cooking her way through said book in a year and later wrote a book about that experience. 

Highlights:

  • The unique storyline.  This is not your tired, predictable romantic comedy.  It is quirky, fun and smart, and it draws you in and makes you a part of this story, until you feel like a stick of butter melting over low heat in a skillet.  What?  Doesn’t everyone want to feel that way?  Seriously, the film seamlessly goes back and forth between the pre-famous days of Julia Child and Julie Powell, mirroring their experiences, triumphs and failures alike.  While you may find yourself wishing there was a little more Julia and a little less Julie, the story just works…plain and simple.
  • The acting.  Somehow, once again, the amazing Meryl Streep, makes us forget that she even exists and flawlessly pulls off the quirky, lovable essence of Julia Child.  She totally deserved her last night’s win of the Golden Globe for this performance.  I’m quickly becoming a big Amy Adams fan.  She brings a sort of likable, wide-eyed innocence to the characters she plays, and her portrayal of Julie Powell is no exception.  Stanley Tucci plays Julia’s husband hysterically and believably.
  • The portrayal of marriage.  Surprising, I know, from a movie about cooking and from Hollywood in general, but the marriages of Julia and Julie with their husbands are portrayed as important and sweet and worth fighting for.  The dialogue both couples share are both comical and real, and it made it extra fun that I was watching with my own husband, Big D (who also, by the way, liked this movie a lot, guys!).
  • The food.  Don’t watch this movie when you’re hungry.  Before you pop this in your DVD player, make sure you have enough popcorn and Snow Caps on hand to keep your mouth from watering, because the food in this movie is pure, unadulterated sin.
  • Blogging.  I think it’s safe to say that, so far, there are not many movies about blogging.  So, it was very poignant and fun for me to see Julie Powell’s journey as a blogger unfold.  I could relate some to her struggles and thoughts as she struggled over her entries and reader comments.

Low points:

  • The brief, strong language and sensuality.  The movie is rated PG-13 for such.  I feel if they had edited one word, unbelievably uttered by Julia’s husband, and about three minutes of a scene between Julie and her husband, the movie could have been rated PG, and one could have even watched it with their young children.
  • The influence.  You will find that after watching this movie, that you too will want to cook your way through Julia’s book, and if you do, you’re likely to gain about twenty pounds.  The character of Julie remains rail-thin through her adventure with no treadmills in sight, and you will think bad thoughts about this while you watch.

Julie & Julia…you butter….er, I mean better…see it!

Related links:

Julie Powell’s actual Julie/Julia project blog  (Warning:  She uses some R-rated language occasionally.)

Julia Child on PBS Read about and watch videos of the  most infamous, fun, real cook of our time!

Category: Grub, Movie of the Week  Tags: , , , ,  6 Comments
Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho! A Pirate’s Lunch for Me!
12
January
admin

Near Charleston, SC, on Daniel’s Island to be exact, there is a little gem of a restaurant, at least in my estimation.  It is the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and if you’re ever within about a fifty mile radius of this establishment, you need to try to go there…even if you’re not a pirate.  You’ll still like it.

At first, when you start talking about a pirate-themed restaurant, a tourist-trap type establishment comes to mind, doesn’t it?  Something along the lines of Dixie Stampede or Rain Forest Cafe, right?  That is NOT what The Queen Anne’s Revenge is at all.  It’s actually a classy place to eat, with almost a museum sort of feel, and the menu is nothing short of gourmet.

The decor is nautical and in one of the dining rooms you actually feel like you’re in the belly of a pirate ship…

But what did you expect from a restaurant named after Blackbeard’s vessel?

Charleston actually has a fairly rich pirate history, and the restaurant has collected many artifacts and works of art that collectively tell many of the buccaneer tales.

After you’ve spent some time browsing through all of the paraphernalia and begging your husband to buy you one of the pink tee-shirts that says, “Pirate Princess,” you are more than ready for your pirate food to be delivered to your table.  And let me tell you, it’s several steps above the actual pirate fare of moldy bread and jerky.

I had the Fried Green Tomato and Crab BLT…

…and I inhaled it so quickly and efficiently that I completely forgot to take a picture of it.  Sorry….but trust me…it saved your keyboard from some drool.

Bonny Annie ordered…get this!…the Anne Bonny Chicken.

I was thrilled that she liked the description and didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to dine on her nickname sake’s dish!

Big D and his lovely sister Amy both had the traditional Charlestonian dish of shrimp and grits.

They both gave it a thumbs up.

Amy’s husband Patrick had the fish and chips…another good choice.  I don’t remember what Dirty Harry had, but it was probably macaroni and cheese.  He’s not all that into food.  Cap’n Jack Henry ate a little from everyone’s plates and an apple cinnamon breakfast bar.  For authenticity’s sake, I just let him eat right off the table with his dirty hands, just like a pirate of old would have done.

Well, actually that’s how he always eats, and I wiped both him and the table down with a baby wipe before he dug in.  We’re only half pirate, ya’ know.

Queen Anne’s Revenge…I highly recommend you get your booty there and rustle yourself up some pirate grub!  You won’t be sorry!

And by the way, Big D refused to get me that tee-shirt since it was the day after Christmas, so if you could pick one up for me while you’re there, I’d be a very grateful pirate!

 

Category: Grub  Tags: , , , ,  10 Comments
Kids in the Kitchen: Christmas Mice
17
December
admin

Welcome to this edition of “Kids in the Kitchen” where I demonstrate how to put your kids in the kitchen, bake some yummy goodies with them, and still keep your sanity.  Well, sorta.  The jury is still out on that last point.

Yesterday we made some super-cute Christmas mice to take to our church Christmas program.  They were duly oohed and aahed over and consumed completely in about twelve minutes.  I found the instructions for these on The Pioneer Woman’s  new recipe sharing site, Tasty Kitchen.  Click here to see the original recipe.

To make the mice you will need a jar of maraschino cherries WITH THE STEMS.  Without stems you will have tailless mice, and well, that just won’t do.  You’ll also need some melting chocolate (we used  a whole package…12 squares…of chocolate bark), slivered almonds, Hershey kisses, a package of Oreos and some black gel frosting.

First you will need to melt your chocolate.  You could do this with a double broiler or on low power and stirring often in the microwave, but I just used a regular sauce pan on low heat and stirred it constantly.

The recipe I found on Tasty Kitchen said to use the entire package of chocolate, but I found it was almost double what you need.  I’ll show you another time what we did with the extra.

While I was busy stirring the chocolate, I set the kids to work unwrapping the Hershey kisses, taking the tops off the Oreos and finding good ear-like almond slivers.

You’ll also need to have your cherries drained and rinsed well.

When the chocolate was melted and nice and smooth, we formed an assembly line to produce the mice. 

First,  I would dip a cherry into the chocolate.

(Sorry that picture is blurry.  One of the kids took it, and I forgot to tell them to use the macro button.)

This is probably the trickiest step, only in that you need to be careful to not pull the stem off.  I found placing some chocolate in a large spoon and sort of rolling the cherry in it worked better than trying to dip the cherry.

After the cherry was covered, I would pass it along to Dirty Harry, who would place it firmly in the cream of an open-top Oreo, making sure to let the stem hang off the end of the cookie.   Then he would also put the head (Hershey kiss) in place (Turn the Kiss on its side and press the wide base end gently onto the cherry, on the opposite end from the tail).

Dirty Harry would then pass it to Bonny Annie for ear placement.  She simply took two similarly shaped almond slivers and would gently push them down in between the head and the body. 

We allowed the chocolate to harden for about five minutes or so, and then I used the black gel frosting to make the eyes and nose.

One jar of cherries will yield about twenty-five mice.  We had a few cherries that were too squashed to use, and there were also a couple that had lost their tails.  Er, I mean stems.

And then I dare you to try to eat one.  It’s really hard to get past the cuteness and actually down it.  A lady at church last night was taking hers home, wrapped in a napkin.  “It’s just too cute to eat,” she told me.  I just hope that she doesn’t sit it on a counter somewhere and forget about it because I think that might eventually attract the REAL thing.

Stay tuned for some more “Kids in the Kitchen” fun over the next couple of days!  My kids have been in the kitchen A LOT this week, so we have more ideas to share….

Category: Grub, Kids in the Kitchen  7 Comments
Kids in the Kitchen: Thanksgiving Edition
30
November
admin

Kids in the Kitchen was a feature on my old blog that I hadn’t implemented here on The Pirate Mom Dot Com yet.  I like to have my kids with me in the kitchen (sometimes).  I like to teach them new skills (sometimes).  I enjoy when we can all pitch in together and get ‘er done (sometimes). 

When I was a child, I spent most of my Thanksgivings watching the parades in my PJs and being really hungry until about 3:00pm when we could finally eat.  All the while my mom and grandma slaved away in the kitchen, working to put a feast on the table for our family.  Not that I want to rob my own children of those same experiences, but I see value in their helping prepare the annual meal.  It doesn’t have to be complex or even very time-consuming.  Here is how my children helped this year…

Bonny Annie  is usually in charge of the desserts, and this year was no exception.  She always makes pumpkin pie, but this year she also wanted to try apple pie, and both creations were very delicious.

Dirty Harry made the green bean casserole (with a little help).  And, as you can see, hair cuts are optional for being able to help in the kitchen.

When your kids help, I’ve discovered they eat more.  Harrison had three helpings of his casserole.  The only thing he’s ever eaten three helpings of willingly is perhaps Laffy Taffy.

Cap’n Jack Henry helped with nothing.  He did, however, manage to be cute enough to inspire creative dessert concoctions.

Here are some other ideas to get your kids involved in holiday meal preparation…

  • Help to prepare Jell-o salads.  They are really hard to mess up, but I actually managed to do so this year.
  • Arrange veggies and dip for an appetizer tray.
  • Set the table.
  • Pour drinks.
  • Bake the rolls.
  • Make a salad.

The possibities are endless, depending on what you and your family traditionally have on the table.  Just make sure to involve the young ones.  It will guarantee happy, thankful faces!

Category: Grub, My Crew  Tags: , , ,  7 Comments
Chilly and Chili
30
September
admin

Yesterday Dirty Harry woke up to declare it was freezing.  I had left a window open upstairs, and I think it dipped down into the 50s overnight.  It doesn’t help him any that he slept in his shiny basketball shorts and minus a shirt.  I told him to get some clothes on.

“What’s the high?” he asked.

“Oh, about 68, I think,” I answered.

“68?!  Is it going to snow?” he queried incredulously.

Oh brother.  Skinny boys raised in the south.  I ended our ridiculous conversation by telling him to get his parka on and get down stairs for school.

Big D was thrilled about the nip in the air.  “It’s my first sweater vest day of the season!” he declared before leaving for work.

Autumn is my favorite season for many reasons, and one of them is comfort food, and there isn’t any better comfort food than chili!

I have a crockpot cookbook with no less than 24 different chili recipes.  I have tried a lot of them, but the one pictured above is the one I come back to over and over again (after a good tweaking of course).  If you ever visit my house between the months of September and April, I will probably make this for you.  It is great to make on a school night because it is easy, yet hearty.  It will feed a small army.  My kids, who don’t like spicy food in general, will eat it.  Big D and I, who do like spicy food, find it satisfying.

So in honor of cool breezes, dazzling blue skies, changing leaves and Al Gore, I share with you my chili recipe….

The Pirate Mom’s Hearty Chili

1 small onion, chopped

2 ribs of celery, sliced thinly

1 lb. ground beef

2  14 oz. cans pinto beans, undrained

1  14 oz. can black beans, undrained (You can actually use whatever combo of canned beans you like.)

1  14 oz. can diced tomato

2  14 oz. cans tomato sauce

1 green pepper, chopped

1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 TBSP chili powder (or to taste if you’d like a little more kick)

  1. Brown onion, celery and beef in a skillet.  Pour into slow cooker.
  2. Add remainin ingredients.  Mix well.
  3. Cover.  Cook on low 8 hours.

That’s it.  Simple, simple, simple and good, good, good.   We like ours over rice or with Fritos or crackers.  You also MUST top it with shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream.  It is incomplete without those two things.

Now go forth and enjoy some chili….and some chilly!

Category: Grub  8 Comments
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