New Year's Black Eyed Peas

What's luck got to do with it? Well, if you're from the south, eating black eyed peas on New Years day has a lot to do with it.  If you're interested in trying your hand at this tradition, read on.

Black Eyed Peas

Here's what you'll need.
1 (16 oz) pkg. black eyed peas
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cups water
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, whole and in their skins
1 ham bone, ham hock, or diced side meat
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp.ground mustard powder
2 tbsp. honey

To begin, wash your peas thoroughly (1pulled four little dirt clots out of my colander while picking over my peas).  After my peas were cleaned, I placed them in a stock pot and covered them with approximately 2 inches of water and placed them over high heat and boiled for two to three minutes.  Reduced the heat to medium-low and add the remaining water, chopped onion, garlic cloves, and meat and cook until peas become tender, around an hour.  Keep your pot covered and check often to ensure that there's enough liquid in the pot, adding more if it looks like the water level is getting too low.  Add your seasonings near the end, turning the heat to low and cooking for another 15-30 minutes after adding so that the flavors incorporate.  Remove the garlic pods  from the pot and place on a cutting board.  You will be able to slip the garlic from its skins and mash with a spoon.  Add the mashed garlic pulp back to the pot and stir well to mix it all in.  Taste before serving and adjust seasoning to your liking.

 

Merry Christmas, friends.  I hope that your heart's filled with the warmth and spirit of the season. 

Love,

The Kitchen Witch

Greetings

Guess who is graduating.

 

Did you guess?  Well, I'm excited and looking forward to my graduation ceremony next weekend, but I'm nervous about finding work.  I had the best student-teaching experience with a group of kindergarten students, or as Bebe says, "kiddie gardeners," a girl could have.  I guess in a way, I've been a kiddie gardener, feeding them full of information and watching them grow.  Children are amazing.  I'm going to miss that little classroom bunch. 

In the meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy spending time with my own little ones during the holidays.  I was so busy with school, I'm ashamed to say, I didn't cook as often as I like.  Baking was nil, good for the figure, but we missed all those tasty desserts an awful lot.

Hubby and I got all dolled up for our first party of the season...

We've trimmed our tree...

Here's Bebe, pouting because Mom told her she couldn't touch the lights.

 

 

 



I've even wrapped a few gifts.  I've still got school related errands to finish up before graduation so I haven't tackled the holiday baking, but that's next on my list.  Stay tuned.  I'll post some yummy things over the next few weeks.

 I've missed y'all and hope that all has been well.

The Kitchen Witch

Holiday Hubbub

Halloween blew by in a hurry,  Teeny Tiny sprinted, literally, from house to house.  It's a good year for celebrations like birthdays, Halloween, etc.  Watching a little one light up with excitement makes walking for hours in mosquito and humidity laden night air worth it.  Now, we've got to get planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  They, too, will blow by in a hurry. : )  Happy Holidays!

Carne Guisada and Stewed Okra

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been awhile.  So long, in fact, that my blogger format has changed and I'm fumbling around as if it were my first post.  I'm a month into my final semester and I have to say that I'm loving my placement in a kindergarten classroom.  I'm exhausted as all get out, not so much from school, but from the balancing of school and home life.

Home life, it seems, has gotten comfy-cozy with mom having the available time to cook and clean on a regular basis.  The problem is, like many, many moms may know, when you go back to work, all of the work of home life is still waiting for you.  Home life cohabitants haven't minded the floors not being mopped for a month. I mind. Greatly.  Home life is a-okay with the clutter. Me?  Not so much.  Dinners are still being served, however desserts would be a thing of the past if Big Sissy hadn't been kind enough to bake a few batches of cookies to keep me from getting all crazy eyed.  Now, Bebe!  That's one smart girl, smart enough to learn key phrases like, "You're beautiful," "I love your heart," and "you're really awesome."  These phrases coupled with her baby cuteness, why, she's possibly the smartest in the bunch!  Hubs is falling behind in the "be kind to mommy" category; although I do give him props for making a few grocery runs, and in all fairness, he has been pulling six and seven day weeks and it is football season so...  I know I should cut him some slack, but my lack of slack has cut into his share and I'm feeling all slacked out- so to speak.

I miss my blogging buddies and hope to get back to some semblance of normalcy in blogland after I graduate, but we will see. Maybe by then I'll be bestowed with super-mommy powers and I'll be able to do it all without any complaint ( hubby's greatest wish).  Yea, and maybe by Thanksgiving they'll invent Pecan Pies that will magically make you drop all the extra holiday  L Bs. : )

To prove that I'm still cookin', here's a dinner that's pure comfort, Carne Guisada and Stewed Okra.  It's not much to look at, but it sure is tasty.  This dinner is going to need some time.  The idea is to have the chunks of beef falling apart.  In all honesty, my beef tips could have cooked down for another hour.  Well, that was just one hour we didn't have and it was still yummy, but if you've got the time, I think it would be well worth it.  Here's what you'll need-

2 lbs. stew meat, I use beef
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp. oil
2 cups water mixed with 4 tbsp. of Tony Chachere's Brown Gravy mix
Salt & Pepper to taste

Begin by heating oil and caramelizing onions in a dutch oven.  I've got a cast iron dutch oven that's perfect for this job.  Add meat and gravy and let simmer, covered, on medium-low heat for 3 to 4 hours.  The idea is that the meat be falling apart.  You may want to add a little water here and there, when you check on it.  This is up to you.  If you add too much water, take a 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and add a heaping tablespoon of flour, mixing until lumps dissolve; stir this mixture back into your meat and let it come to a simmer again.  This should thicken it.  Serve over rice or wrapped in flour tortillas.

For the stewed okra I sauteed half an onion and added to it a bag of frozen okra, a can of diced tomatoes, and a small can of tomato sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  This is a yummy vegetable side for this meal.  The acidity of the tomatoes goes nicely with the rich gravy of the carne guisada.

I'm sharing @  hosted @ Rattlebridge Farms.

Have a blessed weekend!

The Days and Time

Here's the thing, I've fallen off the blogger train.  I'm in a bit of a funk, really.  Some call it senioritis:

Senioritis
	June 8, 2005 Urban Word of the Day noun. A crippling disease that strikes high school college seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, an over-excessive wearing of track pants, old athletic shirts, sweatpants, athletic shorts, and sweatshirts. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation.

This pretty much explains it.  I'm in stretchy pants, even now, as I type this.  I read books, but not school related ones.  There's a definite lack of studying-I put it off 'til the very end.  I only have three days left, but the last six weeks in which I've engaged for summer session have left me drained.  Fall session begins on the 27th so I'll continue my lull.. Forgive my absence as I relish my few remaining days off before my final semester begins.  This will be my last hoorah before I graduate in December.  Senioritis is in full effect-

Cajun Twirl

Teeny Tiny doing a twirl to Jalapena Lena.

Happy Sunday, y'all.  I hope it's worth twirling about!