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Blog has moved

My blog has moved from Blogspot to a self-hosted WordPress site.

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Hope you like the new site.  It's still really basic, but I have plans to make it even better!

Poor Offspring, Part 3

Thought of the Day...Love is staying up all night with a sick child -- or a healthy adult. ~David Frost

If you recall from last week. The Offspring has early pneumonia. Fortunately, her fever has been gone for a week, but poor Offspring... her coughing has been going on for almost two weeks.

I took her to the doctor today. More X-rays. UGH! (again)... More antibiotics... He said she had “significant” pneumonia. My friend Chris said, “Bummer she didn’t get the insignificant kind.” LOL! The Offspring cracked up... then she started coughing... I felt terrible!

The doctor said that she should be feeling more normal by next Monday. I sure hope so!!!

For now, enjoy this “painting” I did on my iPhone using the Brushes app.

Kitchen equipment vices

Thought of the Day...My name is Stef and I’m a Le Creuset addict and I need your help...

...OK, I’m not an addict, but I sure LOVE IT!

...actually, I’m done purchasing for a while... That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! (I sound like Ree from PioneerWoman.com, don’t I?)

If you recall from my Something I've wanted for a long time... I bought a red 2 quart multi-function set and 7.25 quart round French oven. Then in I couldn't resist, I bought a yellow 5.25 quart round French oven and Caribbean 11.75 inch skillet. I still wanted either a 3.5 quart or 4.5 quart, but couldn’t decide.

I talked with Stacy, my sister-in-law, and we decided that a 3.5 quart was the right size. I just needed another sale. :)

When I was offline a couple of weeks ago, we were in Colorado and Utah for a softball tournament and mini-vacation (more on that later). We stopped at an outlet mall in Silverthorne, CO and they had a Le Creuset Outlet! YIPPEEE for me!!!

To my surprise, they had TWO SIZES of multi-function sets! (Our local Outlet only had one size.) They had the 2 quart and a 3.75 quart! I literally stopped in my tracks and stared at it. It was the solution. As I said, Stacy and I had decided that the 3.5 quart was perfect... but we were wrong! 3.75 quart is perfect!

When I had walked in the door, they told me that everything in the store was 25% off if purchases were over $100. I told them I knew about the sale and that I had a coupon at home for 35%. They looked me up in the computer and said they could honor my coupon and I could get free shipping! To top it all off, because it was being shipped to Oregon I didn’t have to pay sales tax (we don’t have sales tax in Oregon)!!

Can I hear a “YEA TEAM!” ???

I had really liked the blue, but they didn’t have the 3.75 quart multi-function in blue; only red and orange. As you can see, I went with the orange since my other one is red.

...Well... Nancy from our local Outlet had talked with me about the buffet casserole...

I couldn’t stop myself... Isn’t this a pretty blue 3.5 quart buffet casserole???

Wanna know something cool? My Caribbean skillet didn’t come with a lid. This store didn’t have one (they’re hard to keep in stock), but the saleswoman told me that the lid for this casserole fits my skillet.

The colors don’t “match”, but who cares? The do complement one another though...

The two newest pieces fit together...

My most recent purchases complete my collection...

...for now...

...for a while...

...OK, at least until the pretty purple colored one shows up at the Le Creuset Outlet!!

...If I were an addict, I’d have every piece. I don’t... so I am not an “addict”... right?

Do you have any cooking equipment vices?

Basil Bouquet

Thought of the Day...Ah me! love can not be cured by herbs. ~Ovid

I have said it many times... I love basil...

...I love it with garlic...

...especially in my pesto...

...you’ve seen it in a jar...

...you’ve seen it on my counter...

....you’ve seen it on my window sill...

...you’ve seen two varieties in my garden...

...NOW I have a basil bouquet! Look how big it is!! The ruler is 12 inches.

Hmmmmm.... it smells sooooo goooooood! Trader Joe’s had it on sale for $1.99 for a 6-inch pot. I couldn’t resist! I bought FOUR!

Do you have a favorite herb?

What's for dinner?

Thought of the Day...When you you’re fixing dinner and the little voice inside says, ‘Does this really make sense?’ LISTEN! ~me

My day doesn’t feel complete unless I’ve read my favorite blogs... I’ve been incomplete a lot recently... I’m still trying to get caught up from working long days and vacation...

...I’m closer each day... But I am cheating and reading current entries along with older ones... This morning’s The Pioneer Woman’s Cooking feature was Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil. It made my mouth water...

I didn’t follow Ree’s recipe to the letter... She marinated her chicken, I didn’t have time - I wanted to fix it for dinner tonight, before I was asked What’s for dinner?

I stopped at the store on my way home from work and bought fresh chicken breasts, lemons, half-and-half and heavy cream. As I was driving home, I called and asked for someone to light the grill so that it would be ready when I got home. Fortunately, I made perfect timing and got the chicken on the grill literally as I walked in the door.

If you recall from my Coleslaw recipe post, I mentioned the slicer/shredder attachment for my mixer. I also have a juicer attachment and you wouldn’t believe all the juice a lemon has in it!

Remember that voice mentioned in the Thought of the Day quote above? Well, I knew better when I was juicing the lemons that I had too much juice. I make a great Lemon Loaf recipe at Christmas. The first time I used my juicer attachment, I had sooooo much juice the lemon loaf was WAY-WAY lemony.... almost to the point of too much (can you have too much lemon?)...

Well, although I quickly read Ree’s recipe this morning, I only printed the recipe in full-page using her link... it was missing the pictures...

...I usually do OK making other people’s recipes, well....

The printed recipe read “Squeeze in the juice of 4 lemons.”***... So as I said, I juiced my lemons with my juice attachment.... OOOOPS! BIG OOOOOPS! If you look at Ree’s full post with pictures you’ll see she HAND squeezed the lemons into the pot! OOOOOOPS!

Hubby said, “Did you taste this?” I stopped and said, “Dang it! NO! Chef Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen) would yell at me for not tasting!” I then said, “It’s too lemony, right?” The Offspring said, “Yep.” I tasted it and it wasn’t too bad... LOL! It was REALLY lemony. Not terrible, but not really palatable... actually... yeah... it was not good enough to eat ... :(

So, my instincts kicked in... I still had half-and-half, cream, butter and cheese... I dumped it all in and tried to dilute the sauce... it worked, well... it was better, but not perfect. The Offspring and I thought it was good. As I was eating dinner I exclaimed, “You donkey!” The Offspring and Hubby chuckled... (it’s another Chef Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen quote) The Chef calls people that when they make stupid mistakes, especially when they don’t taste their food before serving it.

Note to self... when that voice is in your head saying... this is toooooo much lemon.... it IS too much lemon!

Do you ever hear that voice, too, when you’re cooking? If so, what does it say to you?

***UPDATE: Ree’s blog post (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/) listed FOUR lemons, the TastyKitchen recipe lists THREE (http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/). I made this from her BLOG POST. It's possible that at some point the blog post will be updated. I noticed that someone had made the comment that she only used 3 lemons. Leads me to believe that the recipe was updated on TastyKitchen.

Homemade Coleslaw

Thought of the Day...Food is an important part of a balanced diet. ~Fran Lebowitz

Cast of characters

Cabbage, carrots (in this case I used baby carrots), white vinegar, celery salt, black pepper, sugar or Splenda (as you can see I used Splenda), mayonnaise (I love Kraft’s reduced fat mayonnaise made with olive oil* - if you haven’t used it... go out and get it now -- well, I supposed you could wait until you’re finished reading this post)

I (oops, We) received an Oster mixer/blender/food processor as a wedding gift, but after 22 years the slicer/shedder part was broken, food processor part worked, but not so great and the mixer part was acting up.

Costco had the KitchenAid* Professional HD mixer on sale just after Thanksgiving in 2008, I begged (OK, didn’t really beg) for it...

Hubby said, “Now, I don’t want to have it thrown back in my face that I bought you a kitchen appliance for Christmas.”

I replied, “Nope, never! Won’t do it... I’m asking for it. Remember, I never complained about getting my Cuisinart pots and pans for an anniversary gift. I ASKED for them!”

So, we decided on grey (we have a stainless dishwasher and fridge so it works with the rest of the appliances - but I really wanted red)..

I fell in love. Can a human be in love with a kitchen appliance? I’m weird, I know (Rafael and Chris, no snide comments ya hear me?) Still after all this time, I don’t know how to adjust my recipes though... we’ll discuss that another time...

...I used to use the Salad Shooter that Nana and Papa (what The Offspring calls Hubby’s folks) gave me. It is great for salads, but not so great for coleslaw. So when I made coleslaw, I reverted to hand cutting or shredding and when super lazy (yep, it happens) I would buy pre-shredded in bags at the grocery store.

Amazon had a sale going on that Christmas... I was able to get the food grinder, the slicer/shredder and the fruit/vegetable strainer with their discounted price and rebate rebate with what ended up being 75% off! I was in kitchen appliance heaven!

The slicer/shredder is GREAT. If you don’t have this attachment set... RUN, don’t walk, and get it... WAIT... let’s finish this recipe first!

Here, you see the shredder in action... Finely grate/shred the cabbage

...Yeah, this doesn’t look “finely grated”... I messed up and didn’t use the right attachment blade... Forgive me, please!

Finely grate/shred carrots; OK, again, not so “finely grated”... like I said, I messed up...

In medium bowl add the following to make the dressing:

Mayonnaise

Vinegar

Celery salt

Pepper (wow... I was messy)

Splenda (you can use sugar, but I use Splenda for sugar-reducing dietary needs)

It starts out looking nasty... really nasty now that I’m looking at it again while writing this... keep wisking...

...but after several swishes of the whisk...

... you get a nice smooth dressing...

In large bowl, combine cabbage, carrots and dressing. Mix well.

Slaw will appear dry at first, but continue mixing scraping sides of bowl. When you think it is done, keep going. You will likely find more dressing that needs to be mixed in.

Continue until all the cabbage is coated and looks "wet".

Place slaw in refrigerator for at least an hour, overnight if possible. This will enhance flavor. It is best served cold, especially since it contains mayonnaise.

...Now for the dreaded clean-up...

...Slicing/shredding carrots STAIN... I nearly freaked the first time I saw this... my beautiful white attachment was stained ORANGE! UGH!

...Well, KitchenAid had a very useful hint... add a drop (or several in this case... I poured too much) of olive oil to stain...

...with your fingers, rub stain completely...

...then wash with warm/hot soapy water... and...

VOILIA! It’s white again!

This hint works well with the Pampered Chef scrappers, too! :)

How do you make coleslaw? Post a link to your process in the comment section.

As for my recipe... a printable recipe can be found here. (If link fails it is because the recipe post is still pending approval)

Cole Slaw made with Splenda (or sugar)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serving Size: 16

Ingredients:

32 ounces cabbage, grated

12 whole baby carrots, grated

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup Splenda, pourable (not baking) OR sugar

2 cups mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Finely grate/shred cabbage.

2. Finely grate/shred carrots.

3. In medium bowl add the following to make dressing: mayonnaise, vinegar, celery salt, pepper, Splenda (or sugar). Mix until smooth.

4. In large bowl, combine cabbage, carrots and dressing. Mix well. Slaw will appear dry at first, but continue mixing scraping sides of bowl. When you think it is done, keep going. You will likely find more dressing that needs to be mixed in. Continue until all the cabbage is coated and looks "wet".

5. Place slaw in refrigerator for at least an hour, overnight if possible. This will enhance flavor.

6. Best served cold, especially since it contains mayonnaise.

NUTRITION FACTS from MacGourmet:

MADE WITH SPLENDA

Servings: 16

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 108

Total Fat: 8.05g

Cholesterol: 8mg

Sodium: 245mg

Total Carbs: 8.27g

Dietary Fiber: 1.75g

Sugars: 4.36g

Protein: 0.80g

MADE WITH SUGAR

Servings: 16

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 125

Total Fat: 8.05g

Cholesterol: 8mg

Sodium: 245mg

Total Carbs: 12.44g

Dietary Fiber: 1.75g

Sugars: 8.53g

Protein: 0.80g

*Not a paid endorsement; just the product(s) I use.