Dinner School Drop Out

     Lately, I've been getting my daughter in the kitchen with me so that she can learn to cook.  Tonight I was lucky enough to get both daughter and husband in on the action.  Unfortunately, while the husband was asking for assistance with the chicken at the sink, unbeknownst to me the daughter was working on Jasmin rice.  Surprise! 
     Daughter mentioned that the rice "didn't look right" which quickly got my eyes back on her and what did I see?  My lovely doll holding an empty 2 lb. rice bag the contents of which she'd dumped into 2 cups of water.  Swell.  Mind you, this was an unopened bag.

salvaged rice

embarrassed to face the camera so that mom can post this pic to her "stupid" blog

                     

Wipe Out (and a Squash Casserole)

Today has been rough, not particularly tough but, I think the heat and the new "schedule" revolving my classes has got me beat.  You could say, "somebody's got a case of the Mondays".  Ha!  I sat in my car for 15+ minutes trying to leave campus and I could feel my energy seeping from my pores, blending into the seat that I'd melted into.  I've got blisters from the cutesy sandals that I wore, and I think I got caught on the red light cam 'cause the yellow turned to red as I went thru the intersection after I finally got the heck out of Dodge, um, I mean campus.  There's a reason you don't see too many gals in their thirties floatin' the halls of a college campus, I just have to say ,and the ones that you do see are a tough breed so give 'em a pat on the back next time you pass them.  After I picked up the girls from school, I got after it in the kitchen.  Tonight, we had a pork tenderloin, homemade mashed potatoes, and a squash casserole.  As a side note, I asked my daughter what veggies she had today.  After a lingering thought she replied, " a tomato slice".  Great. 

Here's Paula Deen's recipe for the squash; I love it.  Mashed taters and this casserole are some of my favorite comfort foods and comfort food is what this lady's needed.  All is quiet, right now, as my family is busily stuffing their faces.  I love this moment and I'll tell you a secret, sometimes getting them quiet by food is my only incentive in cooking it.  Shh, don't tell.

Anyway, I love Paula Deen.  It's one of my life goals to meet this awesome lady.  She reminds me of my grandma and she was the BEST lady I've ever known (you will hear me talk about my grandma a lot on this here blog since I have many of her recipes).  Oh, and...

Here's Paula

Ingredients:


6 cups large diced yellow squash and zucchini ( I use about 5-6 yellow squash)
Vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped (TX sweet onions are the best)
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon House seasoning (this is, essentially, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (if I'm out of real cheese, I cheat and use velveta.  I also like to add 1/2 a cup of grated parm either with or without the "real" cheese)
1 cup crushed butter crackers, recommended: Ritz (I use one sleeve of crackers, crushed and if I'm frustrated like I was today, I really get after this part with a meat mallet)

Directions:
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
     Saute the squash in a little vegetable oil over medium-low heat until it has completely broken down, about 15 to 20 minutes. Line a colander with a clean tea towel. Place the cooked squash in the lined colander. Squeeze excess moisture from the squash. Set aside.  (I've always skipped this step...just sayin')

     In a medium size skillet, saute the onion in butter for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and mix all ingredients together except cracker crumbs. Pour mixture into a buttered casserole dish and top with cracker crumbs.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

score!

Tomorrow I'll upload pics of my junking finds this past Saturday.  Nothing major, but some cute stuff.  ~ 'til we meet again

Coca Cola Cake

When it's hotter than hot in the southern most south, what sounds better than an ice-cold coke?  Well, a southern to the core cola cake to go along with that beverage, of course!  This here is a recipe we (my daughter and I) tried from my Southern Living best kept Secrets of the South's Best Cooks cookbook.  This cake is Satan in a Sunday hat.

1 cup Coca Cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
Coca-Cola Frosting
Garnish: 3/4 chopped pecans, toasted

• Combine Coca-Cola and butter milk; set aside.

• Beat butter at low speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar; beat until blended.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat at low speed until blended.

• Combine flour, cocoa, and soda.  Add to butter mixture alternately with cola mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Beat at low speed just until blended.
• Stir in marshmallows.  Pour batter into prepared pan.

• Bake for 35+ minutes.  Remove from oven; cool for 10 minutes.  Pour Coca-Cola frosting over warm cake.

Coca Cola Frosting:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup Coca Cola
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 (16 oz.) pkg. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

• Cook first three ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until butter melts.  Remove from heat; whisk in sugar and vanilla.

I didn't use pecans to garnish in my preparation.  Also, I was out of buttermilk so I substituted by adding 1/2 tbsp. of lemon juice to a 1/2 cup of milk (let this curdle for 5 minutes or so before adding your cola to the sour milk).

playing superman with daddy while he waits for cake!

Who's old?

I'm old.  At least, that is how I feel.  I heard "Vogue" playing in the Dr.'s office today and I said, "oooh, Madonna!"  Upon which my daughter promptly replied, "I don't know any of her songs".  This is not news to me.  When she was seven (or so) my mom bought her one of the children's books written by Madonna and when I ooohhhed over that book she asked, "Who's Madonna?"  The next song to play after "Vogue" was Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" which I stated sounded like an Ace of Base rip off  to which me sweet 11 yr. old asked, "Who's Ace of Base?"  The lab tech and I had a good chuckle and I promised to "educate" my child on the "oldies" music of our youth.  This day proved to be a real test of faith since I knew these labs were checking for cancer.  Thank the good Lord, I got the "all clear" phone call this afternoon.  I'd forgotten all about showing my age and musical taste earlier in the day, what with all the stress but, apparently it was not lost on my lil' darlin' since the worry of test findings was between the doctor and I only (we didn't share with her what we were looking for to spare her).  She reminded me at nine p.m. to show her a youtube video of Ace of Base and we compared notes on Gaga's song and the AoB song.  She thinks GaGa is weird (and I agree) and then she asked to see some Madonna videos.  Wow, was she shocked.  And here she thought Lady Gaga was odd.  Now, after watching Madonna she realizes Gaga isn't as innovative as she'd thought.  Looks like Gaga has pulled some inspiration, too, by watching a few Madonna videos in her day. 

Well, I think it's neat to introduce my daughter to a little bit of musical history.  I kind of got joy from the whole ordeal, feeling old or not.  And since she's on the mend, I've promised her a coca cola cake so be on the look out for pics and recipe this weekend!  Hope you have a good one. So long, toots!  : )

Popeye Beware of Barnacle Bill

WE'VE BEEN LISTENING TO A LOT OF LOUIS JORDAN LATELY AND LOVE THE SONG "BARNACLE BILL THE SAILOR". HERE'S A POP EYE ODE TO THE SONG. ENJOY!

School daze

Today marked my first day back to school.  I think I'm going to enjoy the classes that I'm enrolled in so that's the silver lining to this week.  If you're in the mood to read my vent then, proceed.  If not in the mood to witness a rant, stop reading. 

     I'll begin with Monday.  My oldest came off the school bus complaining of a headache and stomach ache (actually a scar ache since she has loads of scar tissue from her baby surgeries).  She was running a low temp but seemed to be really feeling crummy so I called the next morning to schedule an appt. That was set for 9 a.m. so we were on our way.  At 7pm, a CT scan, sono, UA, and a few blood draws later we finally came home.  Yes, 9-7...not your typical banker's hours but, if you've ever had any medical anything you know this is actually, probably, record timing.  Today she met with a Hematologist (I'll call this one Dr. #4) at 9:30 a.m.  Actually, since it was 1st day of my classes, I had my ex pick her up this morning to take her and I met up w/them as soon as I got out of class.  He brought his fiance with him And even though I'm remarried and have since had a baby, it was awkward.  I'm thinking it's mostly because none of us ever talk to ea. other seeing how he sees our daughter hardly ever.  The silence was almost funny.  Almost.  All awkwardness aside, I stayed for as long as I could and left for afternoon classes.  He just brought her back home and after having heard from the Dr. in between, I'm still no clearer on what's wrong with her (large spleen, low white cells, blood in urine, dilated duct).  It's all foreign to me.  I hate mystery illnesses.  We follow up come Friday.  This week has been a peach for each but, I'll be glad to see it end so that we can enjoy a nice weekend.  Still confused how 5-6 Dr.'s can't come up with any answers.  Does no answer = no bill?  Hmmm.  I'm betting not.

My dream baby

Alas, the moment I've been dreading in recent weeks has come.  It was little bit's first day at the baby nursery.  She did not cry as I'd expected in light of the episode last Saturday.  She was sleeping, sweetly, in the baby swing and continued to sleep the whole way home.  I placed her in the swing here at the house and she's been snoozing steadily.  Maybe when she wakes up at home she will think it was all just a dream.