A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

I was away when the Mr. and the cherubs went to lunch. My boy cherub called me afterwards, all excited about this salad he had eaten. "Mom, it's so good!  You're going to have to make it!" Mind you, he had a general idea of the ingredients. By general, I mean what he could see! No thought of the ingredients that might be in it, but unseen! This week at the store, I bought the ingredients to make this salad he has raved about. To be fair, I want you to know that I've doubted this as remotely being something I would want to eat. It doesn't sound good. But he and the girl cherub say it is! I even splurged on real Greek Feta cheese. The one in the brine. Just like we had while in Greece. It DOES make a difference! I had no idea, but that's for another post! I measured nothing, but went my sight and the cherub's taste. I am delightfully surprised and I actually like it. I will be making this again, that's for sur...

The Mr. loves hummingbird cake. He always requests it for Easter and for his birthday. Since we have become gluten free, I've been avoiding this cake. In my mind, if I'm going to make this cake, I want it like it is supposed to be. But with gluten free, things aren't always like that! Sometimes gluten free baked goods are drier. Or gritty. Or disappointing. That's truth! The Mr.'s birthday was this week and when asked what he wanted for our traditional "birthday dinner," he picked two things that I've been avoiding since we've been gluten free! I'm gonna kill him! Silly me, tackled both! Here's my take-away! If there's enough time between the gluten version and the gluten-free version, your mind forgets what it is "supposed" to taste like, and then the gluten free version is very satisfying! 14 months is a good amount of time to wait!! There are lots of gluten free versions of hummingbird cake...

There was a sale on Frito Corn Chips some time ago at the store. I over-estimated my family's need for Fritos. Truth be know, outside of the occasional Frito chili pie in the winter, and corn dip in the Summer, We are not big consumers of Fritos. That's why we still have 2 bags of the corn chips on the shelves. I searched for recipes using Fritos. This one sparked my interest. Mainly because it was drastically different. That, and I had all of the ingredients, and frankly, I wasn't wanting to crush up the corn chips and roll chicken in them. So I made this. Surprisingly, we liked it. I think that's because it is so different . . . and we like Payday candy bars. When I say "we," it is not a collective "we." The Mr. is not participating. The Mr. claims he doesn't like peanut butter. Says it "messes with his allergies." I say who in this world does not like peanut butter? It's like saying, ...

We honestly love pimento cheese. I've told you that before. But we are persnickety pimento cheese eaters. We are somewhat connoisseur and somewhat know-it-alls about this Southern delicacy. We do not like store bought pimento cheese. I know; that's what we have grown up on; Spent hours smearing the spread on white bread, so we can cut it into triangles and stack on a serving tray. Taken to church socials. And shared with our friends. I'm not against any of that . . .except the actual store-bought pimento cheese. I make pimento cheese a lot at our house. It's kind of our go-to sandwich. Partially it's because I don't buy deli meat and pimento cheese is easy. When we are low on peanut butter or out of grilled chicken, I usually have the stuff to whip up a batch of pimento cheese. Because I make so much of this yummy concoction, I sometimes play around with my recipe. Sometimes the Mr. and the Cherubs don't like that. The ch...

I honestly can't believe I haven't shared this recipe. It's not because I make it a lot. Matter of fact, I haven't made it in a very long time. But it is a good stand-by for those Summer dinners. I first got this recipe more than 10 years ago. We were living in Oklahoma City and the Mr. and I packed up the two cherubs and we went on a weekend get-a-way to cook for a "mature" crowd who was having a retreat. There were about 70 "mature" friends that spent the weekend at the lake. The guys fished and golfed. The girls shopped or golfed. At night, everyone sat around laughing and playing games. That's where I learned to play "Jokers!" I've got the best Jokers board around, thanks to a very talented wood-worker friend! As our friends golfed, fished, or shopped, the Mr. and I prepared the meals. 3 meals a day for the weekend. One night we served cole slaw. After we ate, one of the ladies said she had a...

I love friends like this . . . "Hey! What are you doing for dinner tonight?" "I don't know . . .what are y'all doing?" "I have no idea!  I've got chicken." "O.K!  I've got bacon." "I can bring some chips and ice cream." "O.K!  I've got caramel sauce and tea!" "Great!" "Perfect!  Y'all come down about 6." I looked in the cabinets to see what else I could bring to the table; literally! I had a couple of apples. I thought an apple slaw, or apple salad, or something with an apple sounded good. I went pilfering and here's the result! I just guessed at the measurements and went by sight on the cranberries and nuts. You can make adjustments where you need and according to your taste and the number of people you are serving! We did not have too much left over from our impromptu dinner with friends, but my girl cherub and I had the wee bit of left over ap...

I was really wanting french fries. Deep down in my heart, I love french fries. I know . . . kind of childish, huh? French fries and ketch-up. But on this night, I couldn't really justify going to get french fries. I mean, I " could have; " After all, I was making a very kid-friendly meal. This meal, my cherubs really like . . . and it is really not one of my favorites. Sloppy Joes! My internal compromise was to add french fries! French fries would go perfect with the sandwich. Instead of giving in, I made a very grown-up decision. I decided to make a french fry alternative:  a pan fried potato. Only I would make it better than a french fry! I'd add some grown-up flavor! But not too grown-up, because I still wanted to use ketchup. Confession:  this conversation was really going on in my head! Potatoes with Onion and Green Peppers 1 small onion, chopped 1/2 large green pepper, chopped 2-3 TBSP oil (or bacon grease, if you h...