Chex this out ->

One of our traditions was started several years ago by Kid Two, who decided one December day he wanted to make Chex Party Mix for our extended family's Christmas Eve get-together.

So we bought all the ingredients listed on a Chex cereal box, and young Cameron was on his way.

This year he kept to his tradition, but tweaked the traditional recipe a tad. No more Wheat Chex, he said, because he just doesn't like them. He eliminated the mixed nuts and just went with cashews and peanuts, if I recall correctly!

He also added oyster crackers to the seasoned blend that includes bagel chips and mini-pretzels.

If you've never made it before, the recipe involves putting the mixture in a low oven and stirring it every 15 minutes for an hour.

I took a picture of it before we left, and realize now that I should have taken the plastic wrap off the bowl.

But you get the idea.

I almost used this for a Sepia Scenes post. It would fit right in with the color scheme of that meme!

Who's the turkey here?

I usually don't have any issues with turkey storage, but Saturday night after we had our belated Thanksgiving dinner I seem to have had problems. I couldn't fit the giant ceramic turkey platter in the refrigerator, so I found this mixing bowl.

And to think this bird weighed less than 11 pounds. I can't imagine dealing with one twice that size! How do people do it?

(Ralph didn't marry me for my domestic skills, as you can plainly see.)

This takes the cake

I made a cake recipe that Empress Bee sent me to give to our niece Amy, who is collecting favorite recipes from family and friends.

It's easy to make and oh so good, if you like sweets, that is. The frosting is whipped topping covered with sweetened coconut flakes.

Here is the recipe:

bake a cake mix in a disposable 9x13 baking pan

cool cake

stick a fork in it all around to poke holes

put one cup of milk in a measuring cup with 1/2 cup of sugar and heat to dissolve sugar

pour over cake and refrigerate

when cold, frost with cool whip and top with sweet coconut (like mounds in a plastic bag)

yummy! bee
xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxo

Thanks, Bee ~ I know it will be a hit.

Sunday morning thoughts

OK, so it's not quite 7:30 a.m. Sunday and I've already brewed the coffee, with a snitch of cinnamon, cooked the turkey bacon without burning it, and now I'm starting the pancakes.

We're heading to church later, and then I hope we can find something more fun than laundry and dishes and cleaning to do when we get home at 11:30.

*I'm using this blog post as if it were a status update on Facebook. That FB makes me a bit crazy, because there is so much to read and do, and I don't really understand the games and gifts and all. So I've been taking a break from it this week. No offense to any of my Facebook friends. I'm sure I will be back soon.

Recipe-less

I just got a note with a self-addressed, stamped envelope and four index cards from our niece Amy. She is asking her family and friends to send her their favorite recipes. I haven't come up with one yet.
Thinking, thinking...

Ralph will send along his famous chili recipe. My mother is willing to divulge a secret ingredient for the deviled eggs she used to make, so I can send Amy that...

Anyone have any ideas for a recipe that I can add to her collection?

Comfort food ~

For some strange reason I got a hankering for comfort food yesterday, so I got the ingredients to make Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie. It's the kind of thing you make in the winter to warm up your family. Well, I made it today in 80-degree heat. Don't ask.



<-- This photo is from the Betty Crocker kitchens.


How did I do?

Helpful cooking hint #4

When frying something, and you don't have a special doohicky to block the grease from splattering all over the stove top, cover the remaining burners with pot lids.
Doing that will help to keep some of the grease off the other burners.
Woo hoo! I came up with another hint. Hope it's helpful.

What's cooking? Not much.

I can't seem to focus sometimes. If I doth not write things/events on the calendar, I doth forget.
I had completely forgotten about the fact we were invited to a get-together last night. I had been planning to bake a loaf of the Amish Friendship Bread after I was done with work and dinner and stuff.
Friday was Day 10, also known as "baking day." Now it's Day 11, so it must be too late. I think I shall have to throw out the starter batter. Notice how I don't seem too upset about this?

Safe to say this baking project was doomed from the start!

On the bright side, at least I was able to get several blog posts out of it. And we had a wonderful time at the party. Too much food, but a lot of laughs.

Helpful cooking hint #3

Today's tip:
Do not accept a plastic bag full of mushy ingredients that make up a "starter" that is someday supposed to be baked into Amish Friendship Bread.
That is, unless you are a patient person and you have about $30 to spend on additional ingredients you will need to complete the project.
For those who never heard of this kind of bread, you keep one mixture for yourself and then divvy up the rest into three more plastic bags to give to your friends. Another problem is I don't know to whom I should give the bags of mushy stuff. It's like a chain letter using bread dough.

I hear the final product is scrumptious, but it takes 10 days of mushing, ingredient adding and more mushing before you can bake it. Patience is part of the recipe here.

If I succeed, I will post photos of the bread. If I don't, forget you ever read this.

Helpful cooking hint #1

Welcome to the first of what may possibly become a series of helpful hints from me, depending of course on how much time I spend in the kitchen.

I am on a pancake kick these days. I made some Sunday and made some more this morning.

Now here's the hint: When measuring out ingredients that tend to fly around, like flour or pancake mix, place your measuring cup in large mixing bowl. That way the excess ingredients fall into the bowl, and not on the counter.

What do you think of that?

Culinary tidbits

The other evening I attended a Coddled Cook (if you get my drift) party at a friend's house. It was the first one she ever hosted, and she did a great job. She is an artist and her air-conditioned backyard studio was an ideal location for the festivities.
My mother came with me. It was fun to get out and socialize.
The presenter created an almond-flavored pastry filled with whipped cream and sliced strawberries. With chopped nuts on top. Yum.

I ordered a black plastic thingamabobby for Homer. It's for when he cooks chili and spaghetti sauce and uses a frying pan to break up and brown ground beef or ground turkey, and all that sort of stuff.
Or I can even borrow it, if and when the culinary spirit moves me.
I also got him a jar of cracked peppercorn and garlic "rub." My mother bought him a bread knife. We have a bread maker and the new knife should be just the thing. Homer should enjoy his new toys, we hope.
I would have loved the steak knife set, but it was pricey. Oh well.