BACON makes BETTER green BEANS

I passed the local mall last Friday and noticed the Farmer's Market all set up with local growers offering their fresh produce. Yes, Summer is the best time for flavorful fruits and veggies, picked at the peak of perfection.

You will also notice your friendly neighborhood grocery store offering fresher items: corn-on-the-cob, local watermelon, tomatoes, purple-hulled peas, and what seems to be everybody's favorite, the green bean.

Did you know there are over 130 different varieties of green beans? They are almost universally grown, and are cultivated as bush plants, or pole beans. You may also hear the terms "snap beans" or "string beans", but they're all the same - a regular old green bean.

Now we've all eaten green beans from a can; pour them in a little quart pan and heat them up. If you're fancy, you might throw in some new potatoes. And then there's the old Thanksgiving stand-by, Green Bean Casserole: a can of green beans, drained and smothered in Cream of Mushroom soup and topped with French Fried Onions. But I'm going even one step further....Bacon Wrapped Green Beans. Because we all know, BACON makes everything BETTER!!

For this recipe, you can use canned green beans (you will need 2 cans of WHOLE green beans), but if you really want the best taste, use FRESH green beans (1-1/2 to 2 lbs). Ideally, you want the bean to be about 3 inches long - they don't have to be exact, but 3 inches makes the most visually pleasing display.

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Green Beans - See the note above
1 lb bacon
3 - 5 TBSP butter
1/2 Cup (more or less) Brown Sugar
Toothpicks

Trim your beans to 3 inches in length (or there abouts). Cut your bacon into thirds. Take about 4 green beans and wrap tightly in a piece of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. (Try to get the toothpick through an actual bean if you can, that will make it the most secure.) Continue to wrap your beans in bacon and secure with toothpicks until the entire batch is done.

Now there are a couple of ways you can cook them. You can throw them all in a crock pot, with your butter and brown sugar and let them cook for about 3 hours on low. You can put them in a 9 x 13 baker with the butter and brown sugar and bake them at 375 for an hour (here is my disclaimer on this one --- an hour doesn't always mean an hour. What you are looking for the bacon to be DONE!! Lightly browned and slightly crispy!! Your oven may take more or less time).

But my favorite way to cook them, is to start them in a skillet on the stove. Just put the bacon wrapped beans over medium heat. When the bacon starts to get lightly crisp, turn the beans over to cook on the other side. About five minutes into cooking on this side, add your butter and brown sugar. Continue to cook until your bacon is done, turning as needed.

If you have used canned green beans, you're done when your bacon gets done. If you have used fresh green beans, pour the entire contents into a crock pot and cook on low for about an hour.

Let me just warn you right now.....you will NEVER have enough of these!! They are just that yummy!! So this summer, enjoy some fresh green beans, with the flavor of bacon and brown sugar to sweeten the deal.

"Souper" Good Soup

OK, seriously, I surprised even myself with this one, folks. Number one, because I'm not crazy about home-made Chicken Noodle Soup (how can you improve on Campbell's?), and number two, I'm not Amish....I know, some of you are freaking out right now!! No, really, I got this postcard several years ago with an Amish recipe for Chicken Corn Soup on the front. I held on to it, not thinking that I would ever really make it (see number one, above), but it just goes to show ya, ya never know.

This past Thanksgiving, I made the turkey breast. DQ ate turkey for several days afterward, and I commented on how he almost never ate leftovers. He said, "Well, we never have turkey except at Thanksgiving, so I can't let any of it go to waste. I have to get my fill." Who knew he liked turkey that much? But, I digress a little. After the holidays, I went back to the store and picked up another turkey breast and put it in the freezer, thinking I'd pull it out and surprise him with it later on. Which I did this week. He hasn't touched that stupid turkey!! So, not wanting to let my $15.00 bird go to waste, I started thinking about what I could do with the turkey meat that DQ wasn't eating. I pulled out my recipes, and lo-and-behold, my eyes fell across the Amish recipe.

Now, it is a little bit of work, but it's NOT HARD work. And the end result was so delicious, I may never eat Campbell's again. There's a little prep work involved, but not so different from how the Amish do it. I may have a little Amish in me after all.

First of all, I pulled all the cooked meat off the bones of the turkey and put it in the fridge. Then I put the bones and skin of the turkey in a stock pot and covered it with 4 quarts of water. I boiled it for - oh - I don't know....say 2 hours. I don't know if it actually had to boil for this long, but I put it on the stove and then ran some errands, so, whatever. Pull the bones and skin from the broth, and discard. You are now ready to make the soup. Oh yeah, don't have a turkey? A Traditional Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store would work great!

Souper Good Soup

Oh and I started with 4 quarts of liquid, but after boiling it for two hours, I now have about 3 - 1/2 quarts of broth:

Add the first 5 ingredients

2 - 12 oz bags of frozen corn
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 yellow onion
2 Cups chopped turkey
3 chicken bullion cubes (optional) I felt like the broth needed a small boost
Rivels - This is what makes the soup Amish...keep reading
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

After adding the first 5, bring to a gentle boil for 20 minutes or so (long enough for the onion and celery to cook). Add your rivels, then the boiled eggs. Simmer for 10 - 15 more minutes.

OK, what the heck are rivels? Rivels are the "noodle" part of the soup. The word "rivel" actually means "lump", which is exactly what they are, little lumps of dough. Think about the "Stars" in Campbell's Chicken and Stars soup (but better, much better!!) They are apparently quite common in Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, and I can see some old Amish Mam standing at the stove laughing at my first attempt to make them. But that's OK, they turned out just fine.

To make the rivels, lightly beat one egg. Place one cup of flour in a small mixing bowl, and make a well in the top. Add a pinch of salt. Pour the beaten egg in and mix with a fork until it starts to come together. Now, crumble the dough through your fingers until about the size of peas. Drop the crumbles slowly into the simmering soup. I had to add a little more flour to get my rivels "dry" enough to crumble. And that's it. If you have kids, let them make the rivels!!

Red Velvet Whoopie Cookies

So, Valentine's Day is quickly approaching us, and nothing says "I Luuuuuuuve You" like some lovin' from your oven. (Well, actually that's not true, but it sounds really good for the purpose of this blog!!)

I love playing with recipes. I like to tweak them, add a little summin' summin', take away something that I don't particularly like, or just explore something new...taking an old reliable recipe to another level.

That's what I've done with this recipe. The stand-by recipe is Cream Cheese Cookies, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with the original recipe....except for the fact that when I went to make some the other night, I didn't have a yellow cake mix. I did, however, have a Red Velvet cake mix. And voila, the Red Velvet Whoopie Cookie was born. It's really simple, and it will be perfect for St. Valentine's Day. So whip up a batch of Whoopie Cookies, and say "I Luuuuuuuuve You!!"

The Cookie Part:

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix

Cream the butter and cream cheese together, add the egg yolk and vanilla. Blend well. Add the cake mix in 3 parts, beating well after each 1/3. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Drop by teaspoon onto prepared cookie sheet (I like to line mine with parchment paper and be done with it!!) and bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Don't over bake. (They will be soft when you bring them out of the oven, but will firm up a little after chilled.) Let them cool enough to take them off the cookie sheet, then chill them in the fridge for an hour.

For the Whoopie Part

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup marshmallow cream

Blend together until smooth.

Fill your cookies with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of whoopie (depending on how big you made your cookies). Gently press them together to smush the whoopie to the edge of the cookie. Chill until cool. Store covered in the fridge if you have any left over.

Slap Yo Grandma Cake

That's right...this cake is so good, it'll make you want to "Slap Yo Grandma!" Now Derrick doesn't like that name, so if you hear him refer to it as "Tropical Sunrise," it's the same thing. To be fair, Tropical Sunrise was the first name I came up with as I was making it...but after baking it and tasting it, Slap You Grandma is much more appropriate.

Derrick says that must be strictly be a Southern colloquialism, but if that's the case and none of my Northern friends understand it, just make the cake. You'll get it.

The cake is very tropical in nature, with a lot of citrus flavors. It's a real winner, and in these bleak days of ice storms and snow drifts, everybody could use a burst of the tropics. Just make sure Grandma is out of harms way!!

Slap Yo Grandma Cake - Oven preheated to 350.

1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple; well drained, juice reserved

For Cake:

1 Box Lemon Cake Mix
1 small box Orange Jello
2 eggs
1/2 Cup oil
1 1/2 Cup liquid ( 1 Cup reserved pineapple juice + 1/2 Cup water)

In a large bowl, mix Cake Mix, orange jello, eggs, oil, and liquid on medium speed until smooth. Pour into prepared 9 x 13 pan and bake 30 - 35 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE!! Cool completely.

Spread crushed pineapple over baked and cooled cake.

For Icing:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 C orange juice
8 oz Cool Whip
1 large box Vanilla Pudding
1/2 C powdered sugar


Blend cream cheese and OJ together. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Continue mixing, and add Vanilla Pudding, blending until incorporated. Fold in Cool Whip until smooth. Spread over pineapple layer on cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

A Cake With Only Two Ingredients??? AYKM???

The pumpkin farms are open. It's that time of year again, and really, is anything better than fall cooking? Pumpkins, apples, peaches, turnips...all of these good things come into season and give us plenty of opportunity to play in the kitchen.

One of my favorite cakes for this time of year, believe it or not, is a recipe that makes its way around the Weight Watcher circuit, and yes, it really is only two ingredients in the bowl. Now, given, one of those ingredients is a boxed cake mix, but for our purposes, you can count them...One, Two.

Are you ready? Wait for it.

Wait for it.

No Guilt Super Moist Pumpkin Cake

1 Box Spice Cake Mix
1 15 oz can of 100% Pure Pumpkin

That's it! Pour your dry cake mix in a bowl, open the can of pumpkin and plop it in the mix, then stir both ingredients together. DON'T put any eggs in it (Mom). DON'T put any oil in it (Mom). DON'T put any additional water in it (Mom). It's just Cake Mix and Pumpkin.

Grease and flour your 13 x 9 cake pan, and spread the batter. Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes. It's fantastic unadorned, but you can fancy it up with Cool Whip. In the picture, I drizzled the plate with caramel which is a natural compliment to the flavors.

**Note, if chocolate cake is your thing, there's good news for you. You can substitute a chocolate cake mix and get a wonderful "No Guilt Super Moist Chocolate Cake".

Italian Pork Chops

Well, we just returned from another dream vacation in Mexico. It's always hard to get up on that last day and wheel your luggage down, but somehow, it's always nice to be home. Much can be said for sleeping in your own bed.

We went to Puerto Morales and stayed at Iberostar Paraiso Lindo Resort. Beautiful white sand beaches, breathtaking sunrises, Wave pool, lazy river...Tropical Storm Karl!! I can't say I was disappointed in anything, and the food was OK, but honestly, I can probably say I like my own cooking just as well.

I'm sharing with you today one of my oldest and most trusted recipes. It's actually not a "Quitsch Kitch" recipe, as I created this one way back in my college days. Back then, my ititials were PAN, and my big dream was to own my own shop and call it either "PANcakes" or "Out of the PAN". Cheesy, I know.

Anyway, I don't even know where I came up with the idea for this recipe...Food Network wasn't around. I just remember being in my apartment and piddling in the kitchen all the time. Sometimes things turned out right, and sometimes things were a disaster. This is one of those recipes that just came together. Hope you enjoy it!

Italian Pork Chops

2 Butterfly Pork Chops
2 Cups Italian Dressing (I use the "lite")
1/2 onion, sliced into rings
1 C fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 C Mozzarella Cheese

Marinate chops in 1 Cup of the Italian Dressing for 1 hour. Drain.

In small baking dish, place chops, onion and mushrooms. Pour remaining 1 cup of Italian Dressing on top and bake at 350 for 40 - 45 minutes (or until done). Remove from oven, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and put them back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Really easy, and soooo good.

Cowboys and Caviar....and you thought they didn't mix!

OK, so it's been a few weeks, and I'm a little behind. Maybe I'll try to make up for it, and maybe I'll be just as lazy in the next couple of weeks. With me, who knows for sure!

A lot has transpired since my last post. My mama's baby turned 40 years old (how can my mama have a child that old?), and celebrated with her (much) older sister in Nashville, TN. No, we did not go down there to see any country music stars, we didn't go down to shop (well, not much anyway), and though it may have looked like it to the casual observer, we didn't even go down to make fun of the scantily clad girls whos mama should have NEVER let them leave the house looking the way they did....I can't even describe the things we saw.

What we did go down for was the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series event...that's right...we went for the Cowboys. And we love the entire show...from the autograph and photo sessions some of them do before the event, to the pyrotechnics as the show begins, to the big, bad, rank bucking bulls, to Flint Rasmussen as Captain Enterprise; we immerse ourselves in the entire experience. When Ben Jones broke into his crazy Aussie dance after each ride and eventual win, we went crazy with him, and we are not embarrassed. Every 8 second ride represents a heart pounding adrenalin rush like no other, and every buck off is a heart stopping agony, until the cowboy gets up and addresses the crowd with a wave or a tip of his Stetson, and we are all assured he is OK.

Now what's this about caviar? I found a delicious recipe that combines one of my all time favorite things (cowboys) and something that most people that I run with haven't tried (caviar). I for one have actually had caviar, and it's not bad if you like a very strong "pickled-fishy-salty-tapioca" taste and consistency. Now don't worry, this recipe contains no fish eggs, sturgeon or otherwise. I try to always keep a big bowl in the frige and eat on it all week. I can eat it as my main course with maybe a salad on the side, or I eat it as a snack with pita chips or Doritos. Either way, give it a try. There is no cooking involved, so you can't mess it up!!

COWBOY CAVIAR

In a very large bowl, combine:

1 Can Black beans - drained and rinsed
1 Can Black Eyed peas - drained and rinsed
1 Can Chick peas (also called Garbanzo beans) - drained and rinsed
1 Can Whole kernel corn - drained and rinsed
2 Medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 -1/2 Cup Bell pepper
1 avocado, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper - seeded and chopped fine
1 Sweet onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves garlic - pressed (or minced fine if you don't have a garlic press)

DRESSING (I don't usually measure anything out, so you can adjust this to suit your taste!!)

1/3 - 1/2 Cup Fat Free Italian Dressing
about 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
3 - 4 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar
A couple of shakes of Balsamic Vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine Dressing Ingredients and mix well. Pour dressing over bean mixture, and gently toss all together. (Tossing with your hands is the best, most gentle way.) You can transfer to a smaller 2 quart bowl for storage in the refrigerator. It will keep for 5 or 6 days, although the tomato and avocado will become soft. This is a pretty healthy recipe. It's full of fiber, and you wash a lot of the salt away with the rinsing of the beans and corn. Hope you enjoy it!