Eat your carrots...they're good for you.

All of my life, I've hated cooked carrots. Even as an adult, I had mastered the art of picking out carrots from peas... carrots from stews... I only liked raw carrots!

When I saw this recipe, on America's Test Kitchen, I made a decision-- I wanted to make this recipe and see if I could overcome my childhood aversion to cooked carrots.

Simply put, this is delicious. This is easy to make. This tastes very good! Oh, and I've made this recipe with sweet potatoes, and that's really good! I've used some variations-- savory rosemary and garlic... and I've even used orange juice.


You'll need carrots, peeled and cut... sugar, butter, salt, low-sodium chicken broth, fresh ground black pepper (optional, I didn't use it) and fresh lemon juice.

You'll want to use a 12" skillet with a lid. Cook the carrots in the broth, and 1/3 of the sugar, until they are just fork tender, then remove the lid and allow the liquid to reduce to about two teaspoons.

You add the rest of the sugar, on a high heat, and coat and turn for maybe 2-3 more minutes. Remove from heat, and add the fresh lemon juice. You can garnish these with ginger, rosemary, herbs, if you wish. Me? I liked them plain and simple.

I served these with Meat Loaf. My husband was very happy-- he loves vegetables. We both felt that these were cooked, just right. Not mushy... slightly crunchy in the center. Sweet. Yum!! I love cooked carrots, this way.


NOTE: I've got a lot going on in my life, right now. I might not be able to post any meals this week. Because I'm so busy, I'm freezer diving, and so thankful that I pre-cook ground beef and freeze it. I can make anything from spaghetti to Sloppy Joe's, in a flash. Yay for pasta, too!

I'll be back-- but probably not until Saturday...maybe sooner. But, I'm reading many of your blogs. I feel as though I'm cultivating a family of foodie friends.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments. They make me smile.

I hope that I can help to convert those of you who don't like cooked carrots. Give 'em a try. Go on! Here's the recipe. :

Blue Plate Special-- The very best meatloaf recipe. I promise!

I had no idea that this meatloaf recipe would become my #1 most viewed blog post of all! Every day, people are GOOGLING for "The Best Meatloaf Recipe and this is where they end up.  I'm so glad that you found me! I have made so many different meatloaf recipes, over the years. For years, I made the Quaker Oats version, with canned cream of mushroom soup. Truth be told... I think it's yummy. But that was BEFORE I swore off processed foods and canned cream soups.

This recipe is one I've made for several years. It's from Food Network, "Sarah's Secrets". Unfortunately Sarah Moulton's show is no longer on the air, but I still love this recipe!

The secret is using a mixture of beef, veal and pork. There is such a different flavor and texture, compared to using just ground beef. What makes this recipes so full of flavor is the marjoram and thyme. I like the idea of cooking the onion and garlic, instead of adding them to the mixture raw. I'm not wild about hot sauce, but it works in this recipe.

If you hate meatloaf.... I hope you will reconsider this version. If you have your own recipe, and believe yours is the best ever--stick around. I want to share a tip that I learned on America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated). It changed how I cook my meatloaf, and it makes cleanup so much better.

Ready? You'll need a baking sheet, foil and a cooling rack. Trust me.
The full recipe is on the bottom of this page.

In a skillet, with a little olive oil, you cook 1 1/2 cups onion and 3 garlic cloves, until tender-- about 5 minutes. Set it aside to cool.

In the meantime, get your other ingredients going. You'll need a large bowl for the mix, and a separate bowl to mix eggs, milk and hot sauce.

I have ground beef, ground pork and ground veal, homemade breadcrumbs, fresh chopped marjoram (you can use dried), thyme, parsley (use fresh, not dried...it makes a difference), salt and pepper.

Next, add the cooked onion and garlic.

Now, add the liquid.


Give it a good mix, but don't overdo it.


You can skip this step, but I already have the skillet that I cooked the onion with. I make a little patty so I can taste it. Hmmm, a little more salt and pepper. Hot sauce is perfect. We're ready to make meatloaf...here comes my tip!


This is a meatloaf pan. I loved it, at one time. You'd fill the pan on the left with ground beef and fit it into the pan on the right. The grease drips below. Brilliant! Well... let's revisit that idea.
America's Test Kitchen is right-- the meat cooks and steams and you don't get that beautiful even crust all the way around. Here's how I do it, now. I should sell these pans on eBay. Just kidding. I don't use them anymore, though.

I line my roasting pan with foil, place the cooling rack on top. I cut a piece of foil a little larger than my loaf. I poke holes all the way around, so that fat can drip below.

There. I'm ready to make the glaze.

Three ingredients-- ketchup, brown sugar and apple cider vinegar. Whisk it together, and...

Glaze that meatloaf! Now that I'm not using a pan, I can glaze it all over!

Bake this at 350F for 45 minutes, and then glaze it again (sorry, no photos...I was busy making garlic mashed potatoes and glazed carrots).

The meatloaf should be ready when it reaches an internal temperature of 160F. Mine took one hour and 15 minutes, unlike the original recipes says to cook for an hour. Plan for that, okay?


If you must have gravy, go for it! We don't need it. We love the glaze on this meatloaf. Mashed potatoes are the way to go!

These glazed carrots were so good...and, I don't like cooked carrots! I'll post how I made these tomorrow.


This dinner was outstandingly delicious, if I do say so myself. It felt so good to eat solid food again.

I know what's for lunch tomorrow... oh yeah! Meatloaf sandwiches.

Unless my son has a midnight snack.

Souffle meets pudding-- Lemon Pudding Cake

I just love it when I try a new recipe, and it turns out exactly like the picture in the magazine! Even better, when the recipe delivers unanimous raves about how good it is. That makes me very happy.

That's exactly what happened when I decided to make the Lemon Pudding Cake recipe in the April 2009 issue of Cook's Country Magazine. If you've never heard of it, this is a sister magazine to Cook's Illustrated. In general, I'm not a huge fan of "Country Cooking"-- for the sole reason that I don't want to expand my waistline at an alarming rate. This magazine, however, has opened my eyes that there are country recipes beyond fried chicken and gravy (which I love, but rarely eat). There are color photographs (unlike Cook's Illustrated) and some really great recipes. I also subscribe to their online magazine subscription.

Cook's Country prints a lot of classic recipes, such as Lemon Pudding Cake. According to the magazine article, pudding cake dates back to 1796 (Amelia Simmons, American Cookery).

From Cook's Country:

Like magic, pudding cakes separate into two layers during baking: airy and soufflélike on top, dense and custardy below. We wanted to develop a foolproof recipe that produced a rich, creamy pudding; delicate, tender cake; and bright, balanced lemon flavor. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• For the brightest lemon flavor, we used a full half-cup of lemon juice. To coax even more flavor from the lemons, we creamed a bit of grated zest with the butter and sugar. If you don’t own a juicer, squeeze the lemons in a fine-mesh strainer to remove any seeds or pulp that would mar the otherwise smooth cake.
• When zesting the lemons, make sure to use only the bright yellow outer peel. Avoid the white pith underneath the peel, as it can impart a bitter flavor.
• A bit of cornstarch gently firmed the pudding layer without muddying the lemon flavor.
• To prevent the top layer of the cake from deflating, we beat sugar into the egg whites. This stabilized the whites and resulted in a high, golden, and fluffy cake.
• For the creamiest texture, it is important to bake the cake in a water bath. The hot water protects the pudding from cooking too quickly.

I took between 20-30 minutes doing my prep work (my brain is still coming out of a head cold fog):
Look at all that beautiful lemon zest! What would I do without my microplanes?

I rarely divert from baking recipes instructions, so I used my hand mixer, just like the magazine did. Next time, I think my Kitchen Aid will do nicely... it's important to use room temperature butter-- and never margarine. Please. I beg of you.

Fluffy egg whites tend to make me nervous (fear of failure, I suppose). I have finally mastered the technique of folding in egg whites, thanks to one of my favorite chefs "Hubert Keller". I record his cooking show from my local PBS station. I love his French accent, and he makes things look so easy.



It is now getting very dark outside, so I have to use my flash. Forgive the shadows and overexposure, please. The batter goes into a large roasting pan, with a kitchen towel underneath (nostalgic me...this towel dates back to the 50's) and I poured boiling water into the pan.


While that was baking, we sat down to enjoy my attempt at grilled turkey:


Please pretend that you don't see the gouge in the skin! That was me... Butterfingers. While my son was in the kitchen, he noticed that the oven was on.

"Mom, should I turn off the oven?"

"No!" my husband and I shrieked!


The men cleaned the kitchen, and the timer went off 55 minutes later (I tend to bake a few minutes less then the instructions call for). Pretty!

The instructions said to cool this for at least an hour. That led to a debate on how all these ingredients would separate to create a layer of pudding and a layer of souffle-like cake. Alton Brown, where are you? 45 minutes later, I couldn't stand the wait. I dug in, for the first piece:


Holy Cow! It worked!

If only I had natural lighting, my photo would look just like the magazine. Flash photography does not do justice to this. But, I will tell you... I could not wait to taste this concoction.






How do I describe this? Light. Lemony. Sweet, but not over-the-top. Very souffle on top, and a creamy lemon meringue pie filling and flavor...yet, creamier.

The recipe says that you get 8 servings. I beg to differ. We got four servings. It's gone. But, this recipe is doing to make many comebacks in my kitchen.

Chicken in a Hole-- and my cooking mojo is back!

Finally! My head cold is healed, for the most part. My cooking mojo is coming back. This sure was lousy timing for me to be chosen as random blogs on two foodie blogrolls. Great! Newbies must think that the only I can cook are breakfast.

Forgive me! All I could eat were eggs, oatmeal and cream of wheat! Besides, my husband (who is culinary impaired) can make those things-- and nothing more! Honest! Come back and visit later. I promise I'll cook things a lot more challenging. Really. But, thanks for visiting...and not leaving a comment. Sniff.

Today, Spring is in full swing in Monterey, California. I don't mean to upset those of you who are freezing cold-- but it's in the mid 70's, and the cover to my Weber is coming off. Today, I am grilling a turkey! Well, let's call them "turkey parts". I bought a turkey breast and two legs. Consider this my maiden voyage to grilling turkey for my first time.

I'm also grilling asparagus and I'm going to see if I can replicate something I absolutely love-- oak grilled artichokes. Oh, how I love those! Restaurants charge about $7.00 a piece. I paid less than a $1.00 for locally grown 'chokes. I believe I have to steam them, then grill with olive oil and balsamic. I'll see if I can make a nice garlic aioli for dipping! Don't hold your breath-- today, I am in "self-taught grilling school".

I just did some Spring Cleaning in the bedroom-- fresh bedding, towels and disinfected all bathrooms. I do not want germs to reignite my illness, thank you very much. I got hungry... as, in I want to eat now. The last few days, I've been eating very little (quick diet is the only reward).

I hunted around and remembered I had some sour dough bread that needed to be eaten, or turned into croutons. Hmmmm, eggs and toast?

A childhood memory popped up-- cook eggs inside slices of bread? What's that called? I can't remember! Eggs in nests? Toads in the hole? Whatever! I lightly coated my skillet with olive oil, and used a biscuit cutter to make holes. What do I do with these? Toast 'em!



My son, who was devouring an industrial sized bowl of cereal nixed me on an offer for a plate of these-- until he saw hubby and I sitting down to enjoy.



Kids. At least I got to photograph them. At first, I didn't even want to blog about eggs....again!
Flipping his eggs weren't as well executed as ours. Don't pay attention to ugly egg whites. (Yes, I'm highly critical of my own work.)
I just love to dip my bread in egg yolk. It's so unlady-like, but I can't help myself.
I don't think I need to post a recipe for this, now do I? But, if you can remind me of what this is called I'd appreciate. I'm feeling old and forgetful.

I really just wanted an excuse to blog about something and to say that my cooking/baking mojo is back! Yes, I can cook!

Hang in there-- I've had plenty of time to view my fellow bloggers recipes. I have a long list of things I want to cook and bake. Coming into season, in the Salinas Valley are Driscoll berries. Oh yeah! I live ten minutes to their cooler, where I can buy freshly picked berries at wholesale.
I just bought more herbs to plant and I'm schmoozing "Mr. Fix-It" into building a raised garden bed for me. He's not going for it. Maybe I should ask Donna, at My Tasty Treasures for tips. Yikes!

I'll be back-- especially if the Meyer Lemon pudding cakes turn out, as I hope that they will. That's dessert-- unless I read more blogs. I could change my mind 50 times by then.

Oh, I'm feeling so much better! Oh. I think I'll skip eating eggs for a while. My cholesterol is okay, but there are so many fresh vegetables and fruits to choose from.

Later!

Artichoke & Sun-dried tomato frittata-- and two great blogs to visit

My appetite is still "wary" of most food. My body is fighting off this illness, so I'm still not at 100% full power. My husband is still pretty sick (against my advice, he did not get the "booty shot") from the doctor. I feel bad for him, so I decided to make something quick and not too spicy.

Frittatas are a quick meal, so that's exactly what I did. I didn't photograph each step, because I think frittatas are pretty easy to make. Tonight, I found 1/2 onion that had to be used, so I decided to caramelize them. I had a can of artichoke hearts, and some sun-dried tomatoes.

To me, frittatas are just like fixing an open faced omellete-- only the broiler does most of the work. After letting the eggs (six of them) "set" on the stovetop, I let the broiler finish off the top, until golden brown... just 2-3 minutes-- then added cheese for about a minute.

Speaking of cheese-- I have a confession to make. I'm not wild about goat cheese --GASP-- Wait!I didn't say I don't like goat cheese. I do think a little bit goes a long way. Okay? Goat cheese, caramelized onion and figs -- that's a tasy combo. Tonight, I used fresh mozzarella; it's what I had, anyway. I toasted some sour dough bread, with a little rasberry preserves.

Mmmmm, gooey cheese. Gotta love it. I also like leftover frittata-- room temp or reheated. It's a great way to use up leftovers and faster than making a quiche. This dinner hit the spot.

I've been out of the kitchen for a few days, so I wanted to share two food blogs that you might not know about.

First, "The Caked Crusader". I love the title of that blog! If you love cake (and I most certainly do), you will enjoy the recipes, photos and witty postings. I chuckle when I read this. Then again, I have a very soft spot for British humor. I've been to the U.K. many times. Should I inherit money from a rich relative (that I don't know about), I'd live there part-time. Wear a bib, before visiting at: http://thecakedcrusader.blogspot.com/

The second blog I've recently discovered is "Culinary Types". This blog is brilliantly written and I am hooked. I am honored, and humbled, that "Culinary Types" pays a visit to my beginner blog. Such royalty!

I just had to share these newfound treasures with my foodie friends. I hope that you pay each of them a visit, and that you will enjoy their blogs as much as I do. I don't have my own personal blog award badge to give you-- but please know, that I am a fan of yours. Kudos to you!

I hope that tomorrow I will find my cooking "mojo" again. I'm already seeing the first crops of strawberries surfacing in the Salinas Valley. Oh, how I love strawberries!

Spring Fever, a cold and a quiet kitchen

Monday morning, I woke up feeling "off". My throat was feeling a little sore and I felt physically drained. By the end of the work day, I was in bed within 30 minutes of getting home. All I wanted to eat was a bowl of Cream of Wheat, with cinnamon sugar. My husband, "Mr. Fix-It" can't cook (he says that it stresses him too much). But, he was able to follow the directions. I could hear my boys foraging in the kitchen for their dinner, because I was down for the count.

I work at a public high school, so I'm working in a petri dish. Who knows which student passed on their cooties, when they hand me their cellphone and want me to talk to their parent-- giving their student permission to go home "sick". It's a miracle that my immune system has kept me from having in a cold for so many years.

By Tuesday morning, things were getting worse. My voice began to sound raspy, like "Demi Moore". I could not muster enough energy to cook. My appetite was gone and hubby was going down, very sick, along with me. Husband stayed home on Wednesday, and I went to work. My immune system surrendered by late afternoon. I went to the local Doc 'N The Box and got a shot in my booty, some antibiotics and Won-Ton soup, with vegetables, from a local Chinese Restaurant. I could not eat solids, because my throat was on fire.

I'm home, today. The cold got me! A part of me really wants to make something tasty to eat. But my body has no energy.

It's a beautiful Spring day, today. So, I've decided to post a few pictures of my backyard. This weekend, my husband planted tomato plants and some kitchen herbs for me. He might not be a cook, but he's got a green thumb. I give him credit for my herb garden-- such that it is. Our tomatoes have to be grown in containers-- we learned the hard way.

I have to admire my husband's recycling of cat litter containers. It works!

A friend made my redwood herb cart. I can sheel it around and water it, with ease.

I'm standing on our back patio and looking up to our hilly yard. This is the perfect place to grow a garden-- or so we first thought. My hubby set up a drip irrigation system and planted 24 gorgeous tomatoes plans, one year. That's when every gopher and mole in the Salinas Valley swooped in, and stole our plants. Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

So, standing on top of the hill, you can see our 1100 sq.ft. house, and our container gardens.

It's so pretty up here. There are no neighbors behind us-- total privacy. One day, if we can finally afford to buy this house (we're renting it from a generous family member) we hope to add a hot tub.
At the top of the backyard is a spectacular view of the Salinas Valley (this photo doesn't do justice to our view). This is an agricultural area that grows lettuce, strawberries and other crops, under the labels of Fresh Express, Driscoll Berries. This area is called "Steinbeck Country", for those of you who are fans of John Steinbeck's books.

To the right, is a view of the "McMansions" that were selling at $1.3 million (and up), during the real estate craze-- and have now plummeted to about $750,00. C'mon down! Unemployment, in Salinas, is at a whopping 22%, though.

Here is why we no longer try to garden up on our hill. The battle of the gophers became more than my husband wanted to deal with. He tried horse manure, animal urine, smoke bombs, destroying the underground runs...and, finally, traps-- all to no avail. The dirt is very "clay" and not hospitable to gardening, as is. If we get to buy this house, then maybe we'll invest in raised garden beds.

The Olallieberrie bush is the only thing that the gophers don't seem to gnaw on. Yes, they are blooming! These berries are sweet and tart and make delicious pies-- around May/June.


I had to pick up my antibiotics, so I decided to stop (on the way home) to shoot some photos of the Salinas Valley-- it was such a beautiful day. Jump in with me!

This is the Spreckels exit. A local artist paints these wonderful larger-than-life paintings for lots of the local businesses. This is "The Farm", where I buy fresh, organic vegetables for great prices. Straight ahead is Monterey (see the coastal fog?). I love living in the sunbelt! I can't wait for "The Farm" to reopen, soon!

I love this boulevard-- that leads to the Historic town of Spreckels, California (yes, as in sugar).

I love the early morning mist at this time of the morning. This view is looking towards our subdivision, where we live. These crops will, most likely, end up all over the United States-- at your own grocery store.

My horse and I have logged many miles in these hills. This is cattle country and a state park, too.

This is it! The historical town of Spreckels. Don't blink...you might miss it. This is my "secret" post office. No lines, no waiting...old style wooden P.O. Boxes. Everybody knows everyone.
The large building is a grocery store. I've been in it, twice. It's...dated. I think the Jello boxes date back decades. Spooky. The woman who owns it doesn't smile. She scares me!

This area sure is purty. There are so many other photos I shot, that I'll upload (as soon as I figure out how to do a slide show).

Home again-- signs of spring, in my front yard:

Our state flower-- California Poppy

Our rosemary bush, blooming (and the buzzing of bees)

Lupines. These look like purple carpets in a few more weeks.

My rose bushes are budding!

The wisteria vines are budding, too!

I'm on the road to recovery. I think that my antiobiotics are kicking in. Just enjoying some California sunshine has helped me feel better. Hubby just left for the doctor. He wants "the works", just like I got.

Maybe I'll find the energy to cook tonight. It's been three days of no time in the kitchen-- except for the microwave. My son says that locally grown asparagus are on sale for .99 cents a pound.

Whoo-hoo! I love Spring!

Achoo. Sniff.