Pasta Time

We went back to mine and Miss Annette's favorite type of food this week -- Pasta!!  I swear I could live on pasta.  Sometimes I take leftover spaghetti noodles, chop them up, add some chopped onion and celery and toss with dressing of some type (Italian, Ranch, Vidalia Onion).  Good lunch.

We had lasagna.  Now some of my loyal readers might think 'you just had lasagna a few weeks ago'.  You would be right in that thought. But we changed this one up.  We had White Lasagna.

I'm not sure this picture truly shows the deliciousness of this recipe.  The recipe called for ready to bake lasagna noodles so that was what Gary used (typically he buys the packaged noodles and cooks them).  We took a large chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked. This was then chopped up.  We took a package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained (squeezed).

Take butter and melt in pan, add onion and garlic and cook until tender.  Add flour and salt and cook until bubbly, this is known as making a rue.  To this add some chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for one minute. Add Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese,  basil, salt and pepper to taste, remove from heat and set aside.

In baking dish layer, sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese, chicken and spinach for three layers. On the top layer add Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese topping last layer of noodles with sauce.  Bake until bubbly golden brown.  Let rest about 5 minutes before cutting.

I made an appetizer of Prosciutto Cups.

Arrange Prosciutto ham in mini muffin cups making certain that bottom of cup is completely covered. Leave some of the ham hanging over the edge. The filling was spinach, thawed and squeezed, garlic and ricotta cheese. Mix all together and put about one Tablespoon in each priscuitto cup. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.  

Can we say good stuff?   It was!

We also had Garlic bread furnished by Mr. Rick.

We have determined that there is nothing Garlic Bread does not go with.  I 'm sure you'll agree on that.

Miss Annette tried a new recipe for dessert, Italian Lemon Drop Cookies.

They look good don't they?  We were not pleased with them.  Miss Annette described them as a ball of Crisco.  LOL  She wasn't to far off the mark on that.  The recipe called for Crisco, flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, egg, and lemon extract.  Mix together, shape into balls and bake until golden brown. The topping was Crisco, powdered sugar, milk and lemon extract.  We all decided that if butter had been used instead of Crisco it would have produced a better flavor and product.

To make up for the not so great recipe she put the cookies on one of her best plates.  Presentation is the key.  She also brought a second dessert since the original was not good.

She brought some Toffee Bars. She only had milk chocolate to use for the bars but they sure tasted good.

So there you have it.  We have been doing New Food Night since May and have only had two recipes that did not live up to our expectations. I think that's a pretty good ratio myself.  Who wants to join us next week?  It's Thanksgiving week so be prepared for a special treat!

An Asian Flair

Well, I forgot to post about last week's New Food.  We went for something totally different - and something that Mr. Rick was not real certain about.

We tried Thai Food!

The recipe says Thai Pork Noodle Bowl  The recipe called for pork chops but Miss Annette used a pork loin.  Make a marinade of soy sauce, cilantro, garlic, brown sugar vegetable oil and lime. Set 1/4 cup of this aside and pour the rest of marinade over the pork.

This is what the pork loin looked like after baking.  I said it kinda looked like a giant slug.  LOL

Take pasta noodles and cook according to directions.  Made a sauce of garlic, lime peanut butter and hot water.  Drain the pasta and toss with the peanut sauce.  (If desired you can add soy sauce also to this),

Miss Annette sliced up the pork loin and, after placing the noodles in a serving dish she put the sliced pork on top of pasta.  Pour the reserved sauce over the meat. Doesn't this look good?  It was!  Chris really enjoyed the peanut noodles!

We also had Asian Salad.  This is a mix that we pick up at Sam's and is very good.

Gary was in charge of dessert and he opted for something traditional and chocolate.

His Grandmom's chocolate pie!  He loves this recipe:  Milk, eggs, sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, vanilla and butter.  It's good stuff!.

Who wants to make a reservation for next week's meal?

Phrases of Life

CATCH PHRASE:   A phrase, as in a slogan, that comes to be widely and repeatedly used.

Who remembers these catch phrases?  “Beep, Beep.” Road Runner, Looney Tunes 

     “…brought to you by the letters ____” Sesame Street

      “Cowabunga!” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
      “Deal, or no deal?” Howie Mandel, Deal or No Deal

      “Don’t squeeze the Charmin.” Charmin tissues commercial 

      “Eh, what’s up, doc?” Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes 

      “Excuuuuse me!” Steve Martin, Saturday Night Live 

       “Finger lickin’ good” KFC commercial 

      “He likes it! Mikey likes it!” Life cereal commercial 

There are  many, many more.  Perhaps you can remember the phrase and where it originated from. Perhaps you only know the phrase from hearing it repeatedly and have no idea where it came from. The above are popular because of television.  There are others that I have heard all my life.

     Slower than molasses in January.

     Ain't that just ducky?

     A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.

     A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 

     A diamond in the rough. 

    You're more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

And there are some I refrain from using any more just because they wouldn't be considered 'politically' correct. I grew up with them and mean no disrespect but have learned to curtail the usage of them.  Although, I admit there are occasions when they just slip out.  

A former episode of Ducky Dynasty had Willie Roberson saying that everyone needed a catch phrase of their own.  I suppose he's right.  And it has occurred to me that I have one (or two even) and have only just realized it.  Let me share my catch phrases.

   "Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about."   This phrase has become very handy for me.  I might remark on something and am told no I don't think so.  So I just respond ' maybe I don't know what I'm talking about'. Relay some information that you are sure you think someone told you to have that someone say you didn't hear that from me?  Just reply 'maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.'  I'm sure you are starting to see the benefits of this particular phrase. And it has become handier as I have gotten older. Actually, maybe it's my age that caused the phrase.  

   "Thing Happen".  I tend to use this phrase a lot also.  My husband says I am accident prone.  I just say 'things happen.'  It works very well for that.  When something doesn't go as you plan just reply, 'things happen'. All plans go awry at some point - just remember 'things happen'.  This also helps you to keep things in perspective and not get upset when 'things happen'.  

What's your catch phrase or do you even have one? Is there a phrase that make people think of you when they hear it?  If you don't have  a catch phrase, perhaps it's time you found one. It's always handy when you just don't know what to say.  

And I'm gonna leave you with this popular phrase from the eighties 

     

          'Ayyyyyyyy'  from the Fonz aka Arthur Fonzarelli 

Who Wants Chocolate?

I promised you another post today and here it is.  As you know we were on vacation last week. And what a vacation it was.  I know, you probably think we never stay home,. If we had our way we wouldn't - we love to travel but work curtails that.  However, work also allows it so it's a win-win kinda deal.

We were visiting two of our daughters in Washington.  So we spent a couple of days with one daughter and her family. Got some needed grandchild fix and then we were 'passed off' to the other daughter. Second daughter lives near Seattle so we went to Pike's Place.  This is a really neat place and I can see that we will definitely probably spend time here again on future visits.  While walking through this open market we came to a vendor selling flavored pastas.  You know how I love pasta.  She gave us a sample of chocolate pasta!  You know that if it's chocolate it gets Gary's attention.  It being Tuesday and lasagna on the menu we decided to buy some.  This fit right in with New Food Night for us.

Our theme was obviously Italian.  We went with Lasagna as that was a request from one of our guests.  Well I guess in reality we were the guests as it was their house.  Now Gary makes a pretty good lasagna.

Doesn't this look good to you.  Lasagna and Garlic Toast.  Gary makes a meat sauce of hamburger, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.  He then makes a cheese mixture of cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Layer the meat sauce, cheese sauce lasagna noodles, and repeat till all is used up.  Bake until bubbly golden brown.

A simple salad is added because you need to have some greens.  

And now for the new food part of the night.  

Chocolate Pasta.  Gary decided it would make a great dessert with a sweet cream sauce.  The vendor made mention of using nutella with it.  But we tend to think that pasta requires a sauce. 

Gary went with a white chocolate cream sauce.  This included half and half, butter, sugar and white chocolate.  

And the finished product!  It was delicious.  Anytime you can take my favorite food and Gary's favorite food and combine them you know you have a winner.  

Our special guests for this New Food Night were - Charlie Houston and Adam Mapes.  Hope they enjoyed the meal as much as we did!   

Now - who wants to sign up for next week's meal?  

Doing things New Orleans Style

Oh man!  How does time get away from me?  I'm 3 posts behind regarding new food.  So let's get started!

Three weeks ago we decided to go Cajun.  Gary decided to make some Blackened Chicken.

Doesn't that look good?  It was!  He took paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper and made a rub.  He then drizzled olive oil on the chicken breasts and then rubbed the spices over the chicken. He then popped it in the oven and let it bake for 30-40 minutes.  Oh my gosh! was this ever good.  We sent the left over spices home with Rick so he could use them in the near future on a meat of his choice.

What do you serve with Blackened Chicken, you ask?

'

Cheese grits of course.  This is the same recipe that Gary used previously.  Nothing new here.  Just some grits with jalapeno in them and cheese added to it.  Is there any way to make a small amount of grits?

We also had a salad

and some rolls

Now for something else new -- beignets!

Oh my gosh were these good!  Dissolve yeast in warm water, then add sugar, salt, eggs, evaporated milk, and flour beat until smooth.  Add shortening and rest of your flour and mix well.  Cover and chill.  I made the dough up the night before and put it in the fridge.  On New Food Night I pulled the dough and rolled out part of it then cut in small pieces. I then dropped these in hot oil and let them cook until they were golden brown and puffy.  I then coated them with powdered sugar. Yes I made sure I used powdered sugar not flour! (Remember our funnel cake incident?)  They just melted in your mouth they were so good!

We had a Surprise Diner (we knew he was coming but you didn't). Our pastor and friend Art joined us.  He really enjoyed the beignets!  He enjoyed them so much that I went and made more!  He wasn't the only one who enjoyed the second batch  LOL

And since I had made a full batch of dough I just stuck what I didn't use for beignets that night into the fridge.  The next evening I pulled it out of the fridge and rolled it out into a rectangle.  I then spread melted butter over the dough and sprinkled brown sugar and cinnamon on top.  I then rolled this up and cut into slices and made some cinnamon rolls!.  These were yummy too.

Now, wait until you hear about the next new food we tried. Oh wait -- I can't do that here -- I'll post again tomorrow.  Be sure and check back and if you want to join us for one of our new food nights just let us know.