Category Archives: food

Freshly baked rolls

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Mr. Aitch and I love freshly baked bread and rolls.  In fact we’ve been known to have that and a bottle of wine for dinner!  Unfortunately it’s just too darn hot in the summer to turn on the oven.  We usually end up having store-bought “freshly” baked bread or rolls.  Until now.

I cheated and used the frozen bread dough already shaped into rolls.

I sprayed the 8×8 aluminium pan with cooking spray.  Then I placed nine rolls in the pan and sprayed a piece of plastic wrap with the cooking spray.  This was placed over the rolls (spray side down) to keep them from sticking to the plastic while rising.

Once they were doubled (or tripled) in size, Mr. Aitch fired up the grill to 400 F.  Our grill has three burners so he turned off the center burner (indirect heat) and we placed the uncovered pan of risen rolls right on the cooking grate.

Sorry for the overexposed photo but we were in a hurry!  He closed the lid, set the timer and turned them half way through the baking time according to the directions on the package.  He was able to maintain a fairly consistent temperature (350 F) adjusting the burners as needed.

18 minutes later we had freshly baked rolls.  Perfect.

After we took them off the grill, I dumped them out of the pan, brushed the tops with a little bit of bacon grease then wrapped them in a cloth to keep warm while he grilled the rest of our dinner.

We’ve done this twice within a week and can’t wait to do this again.

Have you grilled anything unusual?

Things I ponder

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The electricity went out in our area around 4:15 this morning thus knocking out my alarm clock.  It eventually came back on but I didn’t wake up until 6:15 a.m.  I need to be out of the house by 6:30.  Needless to say I was late for work.

In my haste to get ready and not be too late, I forgot to pack something for breakfast that I planned to eat once I got to work.  I usually have cereal bars or something like that stashed away in my desk but I ate the last one yesterday morning.

What to do?  So I ventured to the vending machines to see what deliciousness was available.  We have been in this building for three and a half years and this was the first time I actually bought anything from the vending machines.  A 76 gram carbohydrate and 420 calorie cinnamon roll was calling me.

So when you eat a cinnamon roll, do you just dig in and eat it or do you uncurl it while you eat?  Just one of the many things I ponder.

 

In a jam

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Free time has been practically non-existent this week with the twins at our house.  I took a personal day from work yesterday so we went on the Great Strawberry Hunt to get strawberries for jam.

Our Spring came early this year as did the flowers and early summer fruits like strawberries.  It took some time to find fresh local berries but we were finally successful.

We used the recipe from the Sure-Jell box for freezer jam.  First the quart of berries were cleaned.  Then the twins used potato mashers to “kill” the berries and sample them as well.  They took turns adding the four cups of sugar and stirring it in.  I “cooked” the Sure-Jell (pectin) with 3/4 cup of water on the stove.  I poured the hot solution over the sugary berries and they stirred it.  And stirred it.  And stirred it.

Here’s the only photo from the Jam Session with them stirring everything together:

They really like licking the spoons and bowl when we were finished.  In fact they wanted to drink the jam.  Don’t worry Mom, they didn’t.

This recipe was just the right amount to do with children.  We made 5 1/2 jars of freezer jam.  I have enough berries to make another batch.  Maybe tonight.  Or not.

Substitutions

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That word conjures up all sorts of interesting memories for Mr. Aitch and me.  My mother was the queen of substitutions when it came to recipes.  Sometimes it worked out and sometimes it didn’t.

If I alter a recipe, I have to be very careful when I tell Mr. Aitch that as he usually makes a face if the word “substitution” is uttered.

I was in the mood for Chicken Corn Chowder awhile ago.  A few years ago is more accurate.  This is really strange as I had never had it before but it sounded like comfort food in a pan.  I scoured the recipe sites on-line and decided I could make my own version using what I had in the house.

It was delicious and I was smart enough to write it down as I went just in case it was good.

I use leftover roasted chicken from another meal and things that I’m sure most people have in their pantry/refrigerator.

Last night I made a batch to take to our daughter’s house today.  Our plans changed so we will have it for our dinner tonight.

I’d love to show you a beautiful photo but I’m not a professional food stylist so this is as good as it gets.

Here’s my recipe…and feel free to substitute or add whatever YOU like.

Chicken Corn Chowder

2 stalks of celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Salt
Pepper
2 cups corn (fresh, frozen, creamed or canned)
13 oz. can chicken or 2 cups cooked cubed chicken
14 oz. can fat-free, reduced sodium chicken stock
1 15 oz. can evaporated skim milk
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup milk, half and half, or cream (Optional, if soup is too thick)

Melt butter in large pan.  Sauté celery, onions, and pepper till softened.  Add corn, mash up with a potato masher, if desired.  Stir in poultry seasoning.  Add chicken, chicken stock, and evaporated milk.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Add cream cheese and allow to melt.  Stir in milk if needed and heat through.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Serve with salad and rolls.

I basically threw in what I had on hand.  Creamed corn would work and I intended to use that but I didn’t have any so sometimes I use a potato masher to make it smoother and sometimes I don’t.  I always use leftover chicken but the canned is fine.  A tub of spreadable cream cheese would probably work though I’ve never tried it.  Some people put potatoes in there recipe but I don’t.  Obviously.

When I made this last night, I didn’t have any red peppers so I “substituted” a frozen medley of red, yellow and green peppers.

These just came out of the oven and will go quite nicely with the chowder.

Is it time to eat yet?