Listen to this Man

This is the best thing I have seen with regard to health care out there. This is a smart man, I would vote for him - too bad I am from the People's Republic of Massachusetts.

Don't let big governement force YOU to reduced quality care, rationing and a reduced quality of life. You work hard you should be able to keep your money AND your health care. It's yours, you worked for it, no one GAVE it to you...Vote them OUT!!!

Lest We Forget

Thank you for my life and my freedom.

Don't drink the Kool Aid!

Click the title. Watch. Nuff said.

Chilly Enough for Chili

DI'S CHILI

Fall was snappin' at our toes this weekend for sure. I really can't say I'm happy to see the warm weather go, but I do admit to ringing my hands in glee at the thought of all the yummy comfort food the cold weather brings with it. It's really a weird seasonal thing that happens - like bears hibernating - I feel that chill in the air and I just want to cook! I can't contain myself, as the days get shorter my little chef's wanna be brain turns to cooking and baking and and...I can't control myself - somebody help me!!! Is there a pill I can take to stop this constant urge to - to - to - to COOK!!!!!

Heavy sigh, hangs head in shame. Ya right. I've resigned myself to the fact that this year ain't gonna be the year that I overcome my addiction to fall comfort food. Not gonna happen.

So, now on to the good stuff. I was thinking soup of some kind, but M had a much better idea - Chili - mmmm. Personally I hate beans, I have some rather nasty childhood memories of the "You'll sit there until it's gone" nature. Suffice it to say cold beans for breakfast - blesch. Now I can tolerate a black bean as long as its all hopped up in an Asian dish or a nice spicy black bean soup - I make a mighty fine one too, hmm maybe next week (furiously scribbling a note to self). But plain old regular beans I got no time for. Baked beans? Even less.

But, if you try to pass chili off on me WITHOUT kidney beans I will pitch a sizable fit. Odd right. Ya, I think so too but there it is. And let me tell ya those weirdos that put pasta in chili - well, what the heck are they thinkin? I mean I love me some pasta - but that's just wrong!

My mother made chili from scratch - stewed the beans herself and all. To be honest I would stew my own beans but my mom's recipe - neatly printed on the side of the molasses jar - has been lost. You would think the molasses folks would have kept that recipe there for like ever...So, having attempted it -once and only once - I opted for the canned method. Me, I dump a mean can let me tell ya. Like I always say - why mess with the pros right - there is no shame in using a well prepared commercial product. Besides who's got 12 hours to make stewed beans?

So this here chili is my rendition, not too spicy this time, but if you want more zing add one of those little cans of green jalepanos that you get in the ethnic section - zoom. It has a nice deep warm flavor, not too hot, not too beany - you know how I feel about that - and nice and meaty.

To cheddar or not to cheddar - that's up to you - sometimes we do sometimes we don't. This time I opted for a change, and I tried Ina's cheddar jalepano corn bread - granted it was a last minute thought and I skipped the jalepano and the green onions 'cause I was out of both. The bread was nice - cooked up beautifully like the recipe said, but overall I was disappointed - it just wasn't corny enough. The cheddar came through okay, but if I make this again I will double the salt - it seemed really lacking. I might also cut the flour in favor of more cornmeal. Still, it was hot and cheesy and went nicely with the chili, which of course was the star.

Update on the Diet

Well, September has almost gone and I have taken the trip to the lab for my blood tests to see if this whole NutriSystem thingy has really done the job I was hoping for.

Before I reveal the results, let me thank Quest Diagnostics of Leominster Massachusetts for introducing me to several shades of blue which I never thought the human body could produce. Ya know, it's a wonder how they can give some dracula wanna be a sharp object and turn them lose on an unsuspecting public! This lovely photo was take 3 days after my blood draw. My arm swelled like a baseball and hurt like heck! Many darker more interesting hues were revealed over the next week or so. We are now 12 days out and it is still black although the square footage has reduced by about half. BUT IT STILL HURTS like the wickedest bruise I ever had.

Once when I was a little kid my brother and his friends came up to me and asked "wanna hurts donut?" I, being a stupid 7 year old - who only heard DONUT - made the fatal mistake of saying yes. They commenced to smack me on the arm a bunch of times laughing like lunatics and saying "Hurts Don't It!!!" The result? The wickedest bruise I ever had! Anyway, I would gladly offer a dozen said donuts to the sadist at Quest - you know who you are.

So, results - drum roll please - my cholesterol is down 38 points - LDL down 39 points, HDL up 8 points. I am in the safe range again and and my risk factor is something less than half a percent.

Thank you NutriSystem!!!

Three Of A Kind

So M asked me to make a cheese cake for the last something-or-other at the sportsman's club. Doesn't really matter what it was for all I heard was BAKE - any excuse to bake!! Yippe! Yay, hurray I get to bake - and no guilt added 'cause I have to give it away! So-o-o-o cool!!

Well, of course it had to be my famous white chocolate cheese cake - no problemo...then I heard that I was supposed to feed 33 plus MEN. Panic stations - eek - 33 MEN with manly appetites - that's like 3 cheese cakes. That means lots of oven time!

I decided to cook one one night and 2 the next - well, I learned a few valuable lessons when I tried to cook the two. First - my new oven IS NOT big enough for 2 10 inch springform pans in a water bath. Second, convection doesn't work for cheese cakes!! Even if they are jammed into an ill fitting water bath!

Once I realized placing the racks in the proper positions (racks placed in thirds and cakes staggered) for convection baking was browning my oh so delicate edges I chucked the whole idea dragged those bad boys outa the oven, tossed the water bath and just cooked them in the middle of the oven on the same rack - perfect. Nice and creamy. No further heinous browning and no cracks.

Word to the wise ladies. If you have a tried and true method for making cheese cake - DON"T IMPROVISE!!!!

B-Bye Summer

Yup, summer is drawing to a close and diet not withstanding I just had to have one last BBQ with all the fixin's! Now I'm not gonna post a ribs recipe 'cause EVERYONE has their own secret recipe that's the best in the world yada yada... I think mine truely is the best and since I stole the recipe I ain't-a-gonna give it up!! But here's a peek - mouth watering yet?

Now I know I just posted about being on a diet and I still am (22 pounds so far). One thing I have learned I can't live my life in total denial - well I can try, but when it comes to food, well - no. So, yes, I take a day off here or there and I try not to go nuts - sometimes I fail, but I get right back on. I'm at my goal so I am now maintaining. Okay enough of that crap - back to the Q!

Where was I? Oh ya, ribs, now what goes better with ribs than good old tater salad - not much, except maybe corn on the cob. Now, I am a potatoe salad purist, I don't like a bunch of fancy ingredients - I don't need eggs or bacon (it ain't breakfast guys) or celery or peppers...(yuk!). For me it's the K.I.S.S. method (for you youngsters that's keep-it-simple-stupid). Here's the recipe - potatoes (I use plain old white), sweet onions chopped (a fistful for every 3 fist sized taters), cider vinegar (a 1/2 teaspoon at a time) real mayo -NOT SALAD DRESSING (a good coating on all the veggies), salt and pepper. Got it? For the photo op I sprinkled with Paprika just 'cause my mother always did - but you can skip that, it is really just decoration.

Of cousre there was corn - how could there not be? We got the BEST corn out in Central Massachusettes near our sporting club. Look how pretty!!!

So since this was kind of a special Q - being the last for the year - I did try a new recipe. I got this recipe from the Food Network - okay now I'm gonna confess that I actually did watch " party line with the Hardy Boys" - go ahead laugh - get it out of your system. Done? In my own defense there ain't much on TV at 7AM on Sunday mornings when I'm slogging away on the stepper. Anyway, they did this really nice lemon, tomatoe pasta salad, which I have tried as is and loved it. But, today I added Australian Semi-Sun Dried Tomatoes from 34°. Normally the salad is light and very bright, but with the addition of these tomatoes and a little balsamic the flavor was much deeper, nice for a coolish day.

B-Bye Summer, it was great while it lasted!

Now bring on the stews, apples and fresh baked bread!!!!

Falling Off The Wagon

Okay, soI haven’t been so talkative lately. To tell you the truth I haven’t been cooking much at all. And I admit I've been a little slow getting this posted too...

Remember my post with all that blathering about dieting and what not? Well, I failed – I just COULD NOT get my head in the game. I tried – sort of – and just fell right off the wagon. Bruised my ever expanding butt too. So, after a visit to the doc for an un-fat-related problem I got a scare. My blood pressure and Cholesterol had sky rocketed. Drastic measures were required!!!!

M and I had been jokingly talking about NutriSystem – you know the diet that runs those stupid infomercials early every morning? All those “I lost a jillion pounds” blah blah…Well, I understand the glycemic index and how it works and honestly, I thought that, like anything else, this could work if I stuck to it. Not one to suffer alone, I stomped my chunky little foot and signed M on with me.

We got our packages of food and read the little booklets and jumped right in. Now let me warn you – if you think this is an easy diet you are wrong – I mean yes, they provide food, but YOU provide just as much food. And don’t think it’s cheap, you provide fruits, veggies, dairy, protein – get the picture? Not to mention all the prep work. That all being said…
IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!

I have lost 19 pounds since April 21, I look better than I have on any diet I have ever tried and I feel great; better still my pressure is down in the basement where it belongs. I get the cholesterol checked in September – no doubt that it will be back in the low range that it was before. M has done even better!

Now, keep in mind this IS A DIET. The food is not exactly up to my usual standards; yes they have chocolate – but Lindt it ain’t! The food is okay and some is very good, some is yucky but since I get to pick the menus I can avoid the weird smelling things.

I even got a cute little bear for losing 10 pounds! Nice touch.

Like I said this diet is not for the faint of heart – you must be committed, follow the diet, keep records. You will not be hungry so if that is your excuse for not trying a new diet try this one. Oh ya, umm – try getting’ your butt to the gym or maybe out for a WALK!!!!

Our Best Friend Died Today

Our best friend died today.

It has been a hard year watching our best girl struggle to stay alive for our sake.

She is no longer suffering, but we are.

Niki

1994-2007

Walkies in the woods.

Sometimes we called her Miss-Chievous.




More than friends.

Coming home was always a joy.

Beauty Girl

Waiting.

Goodbye my best friend.

Thank you for sharing your time with us.

I am sorry you must take this last walk alone.

We will miss you.

Baby It's Cold Outside

HONEY OATMEAL BREAD

So what do you hanker for when it's cold? Yesterday was very sunny and looked beautiful - from inside the house! It was cold, and there ain't nothtin' better on a cold day than nice hot bread!

I made a few adjustments to this KitchenAid bread recipe, which is a little sweet and nutty at the same time. Owing to the good carb - bad carb battle we all wage, I used a really cool new ingredient (for me). Graham Flour - or for the not so educated - like me - whole wheat pastry flour. I cut the white flour by a bit more than half and added a little extra salt - this flour seems to need it. And I ended up with a little less sweetness - a welcome development for sandwiches - and a heartyness that is just superb.

You can visit our good friend King Arthur for this flour, I can't wait to try it in some other things!