Hey there, I'm still alive.

Here's a salad that I've been enjoying lately for lunches. Tastes like Springtime!

Citrus Carrot Salad

Ingredients:

1lb shredded carrots (you can buy pre-shredded at the store)
2 oranges
1 lemon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds

Dump the carrots into a medium sized bowl.
In a small bowl, squeeze the oranges and lemon to get the juice. Add the brown sugar and mix well.
Pour the juice over the carrots and toss well to coat.
Add the raisins and sunflower seeds and toss again.

This is even better if you let the flavors meld overnight.

The best part about this salad is that it's completely adaptable to whatever you happen to have on hand or like. Not a raisin fan? How about some dried cranberries. Have limes but no oranges? Increase the sugar by a bit to compensate for the extra sour. Zest that citrus for an extra kick! Add some diced chicken and/or some chopped avocado. Zing in a dash or two of hot sauce with the juice, or some soy sauce.

Play with your food. Have fun.

Posted by: Ted at 07:16 PM | category: Recipes
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I tried. I liked.

Posted by: Ted at 07:20 PM | category: Recipes
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I was making mashed potatoes the other night from scratch (I don't mind instant, but real ones are a treat). I went into the fridge and grabbed the carton of half&half and noted that it was almost empty, but there might've been enough.

Potatoes done, I tossed in some butter and dumped the half&half in... damn. Way too much. So I wound up adding instant mashed potatoes to the overly soupy mash to thicken it up. Kinda defeats the purpose, you know?

I've done that twice now.

Note: for those thinking, "well, that was a waste of time" I'd suggest enjoying the idea that I'm making light of myself and ignore the fact that you did, indeed, just waste your time reading about me screwing up mashed potatoes.

Note: not to mention the above note. Or this one, for that matter.

Posted by: Ted at 09:34 AM | category: Recipes
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This is a bit of a departure from the usual recipes I share. Sometimes you want to (or have to) fix a quick and easy meal that will impress people. There's some expense up front for the fixins, but you'll have enough for several meals.

Chicken Parmesan Dinner

Here's what you'll need:
a box of frozen chicken tender fillets
a box of frozen mozzarella sticks
a box of penne pasta (or whatever you prefer)
a jar of spaghetti sauce
a bag of shredded mozzerella
a loaf of Italian bread

plus a few odds and ends from the pantry like grated parmesan cheese, garlic powder, oregano and basil (or Italian seasoning), and butter or margerine

Remember, this is quick too. Make note of the various cooking times listed on the packages, but this is the basic order. You won't be frantic, but if you work calmly and steadily, the timing works out very nicely.

1. preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2. get two cookie sheets, spray one lightly with no-stick and arrange a couple of chicken fillets per person
3. pop that pan into the oven, it'll be in there for about 20 minutes
4. start a big pot of water on the stove to boil
5. on the second cookie sheet, put a couple of mozzarella sticks per person
6. spread slices of the bread with butter, then sprinkle with garlic powder, basil, oregano and parmesan cheese
7. put on the tray with the cheese sticks and then pop it into the oven for about ten minutes and while you've got the oven open, flip the chicken
8. pour the sauce into a pan on the stove and start heating it up, stirring occasionally
9. when the water boils, pour in a good teaspoon of salt and then the pasta (a half pound feeds three or four, depending on how hungry you are)
10. pull the chicken out, add a tablespoon of sauce or so over the top of each, then a good pinch of shredded mozzarella, put it back into the oven
11. get the bread and cheese sticks out of the oven, turn it off but leave the chicken in there to melt the cheese
12. drain the pasta, pull out the chicken
13. serve up each plate with chicken, mozzarella sticks, pasta and sauce and bread on the side

For wine, you're on your own. This dinner, from start to serve, takes about 35 minutes. Plus, you'll have plenty of leftover frozen chicken and mozzarella sticks.

Posted by: Ted at 06:47 PM | category: Recipes
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Tonight was an experiment, not entirely successful, but close. I was inspired/challenged by Victor who sent me a link under the heading "Feel like cooking something bizarre?"

Here's an excerpt from his email:

There's a new food competition called They Go Really Well Together (TGRWT) and the fourth edition is coming up.

Here's a great explanation:

TGRWT is all about combining ingredients people might consider out of the ordinary. But the combinations are not just randomly chosen. The theory behind this is that ingredients with similar volatile aroma compounds should go really well together. But this is just theory. We want to test this by trying them out in dishes, and you can participate!

People have a month to try their recipes with the combination, and post the results on their own sites. It's not so much a competition as it is a challenge.

TGRWT #1 was coffee, chocolate and garlic.
TGRWT #2 was banana and parsley.
TGRWT #3 was strawberry and coriander.
TGRWT #4 was mint and mustard.

This link goes to TGRWT #4, which has links to the first 3 as well. Go here for TGRWT #5, which pairs up chocolate and meat. Horrors? Au contraire! Think mole sauce, then imagine the possibilities.

So anyways, I had a science experiment idea for a recipe in mind using mint and mustard, but didn't have time last month to give it a whirl. Then my neighbor gifted me with a big bowl of garden fresh tomatoes, peppers and zucchini, and I knew that it was time to roll up the ol' sleeves and cook. I made one major change to my original idea though...

Vegetable-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Orange Cream Sauce

1/2 cup zucchini, julienned
1/2 cup carrots, julienned
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp fresh mint leaves, minced

2 boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1/8 cup parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine
1/8 cup orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp crushed rosemary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Veggies
Melt the butter in a skillet while you chop the veggies.
Add the carrots and zucchini to the skillet and saute for a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.
Remove the veggies to a bowl and toss with the mint.

Chicken
Put the chicken breasts in a heavy freezer bag (one at a time) and pound the hell out of them with a kitchen mallet or rolling pin until the chicken is about 1/4 inch thick.
Lay the chicken out flat on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1/2 of the parmesan cheese.
Spoon half of the veggie mixture onto the chicken and then roll the breast up with the veggies inside. Secure with a toothpick if you want.
Place the breast, seam-side down, into an 8" square baking pan that's been sprayed with non-stick.
Do the second breast, then grate some fresh pepper over the top of them.
Toss the chicken into the oven for 20-30 minutes, until done.

Sauce
Melt the second tablespoon of butter in the skillet, then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.
Add the wine to the skillet and turn up the heat. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any stuck bits on the bottom of the pan (deglase the pan).
Add the OJ, water and chicken stock. Mix well.
Turn the heat up and get it to simmering, stirring often. Keep cooking until it reduces by a third, and then add the heavy cream.
Bring back to a fast simmer and cook, stirring frequently until it reduces down by half and thickens.

When the chicken is done, put a breast on each plate, and ladle some sauce over each. This would go nicely with some good crusty bread and/or wild rice.

The above is the adjusted recipe from our first attempt. The original sauce was too sweet and the orange flavor was a bit too strong. Adding a quarter-teaspoon of dry mustard to the cream sauce as it cooks might draw down the sweetness too. Come to think of it, so would a bit of onion tossed in with the garlic.

Let me know if you try this. I'll probably be experimenting a bit more with the recipe.

Posted by: Ted at 07:01 PM | category: Recipes
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Here's a simple dessert that will impress guests.

Caramelized Pineapple

1 fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbsp butter, divided
4 Tbsp dark rum, brandy or water

Preparing the pineapple: If you've never done this before, you will be amazed at how easy it is. Using a sharp knife, cut off the end with the stem. Cut off the bottom. Slice the pineapple in half from end to end, then cut the halves into quarters, then again into eighths. Now slice off the inside wedge containing the tough middle (there's a reason for pineapple rings) and slice off the outer skin. Chop the fruit into 1 inch long chunks.

Put pineapple chunks into a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. Toss to coat all of the fruit well.

On high heat, melt 2 Tbsp butter in a large non-stick skillet. Add the pineapple to the hot pan and cook for 10 or 15 minutes. Don't turn too often, but shake the pan frequently. You want the sugar to form a rich brown crunch coat on the pineapple. When it's ready, remove the pineapple.

Add the remaining butter to the pan juices, then the rum or other liquid. Heat and cook, stirring frequently and scraping up any tasty bits that stick to the pan, until it thickens a bit. If you used water instead of spirits, a small dash of almond extract can be added too.

Serve the hot pineapple over vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of the sauce.

Posted by: Ted at 07:12 AM | category: Recipes
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1 Sounds delicious. I might suggest a couple of tweaks:

1. Try using turbinado (raw) sugar or brown sugar -- the molasses content in them will enhance the flavors from the rum.

2. Try using a little coconut extract instead of almond, to hint at the flavors of Pina colada.

Posted by: Boy Named Sous at July 21, 2007 01:08 PM (bM2l6)

2 Great suggestions. I haven't tried it with the almond, because I've used the rum. For hinting at Pina Colada, I've been experimenting with Pina Colada Macaroons. That recipe will show up here one day.

Posted by: Ted at July 21, 2007 09:43 PM (7lxqj)

3 Mmmm....Macaroons....

It also strikes me that your recipe lends itself well to flambe....

Posted by: Boy Named Sous at July 21, 2007 11:39 PM (bM2l6)

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Ok, so maybe not as bad as *poison*, but still...

Friends, I can cook. I'm a damn good cook! A few of you have been to our house for meals and I'm confident that you'll back me up on that.

But...

My guacamole sucks. Seriously bad suck, which makes it worse because I love the stuff. I've gone the zen route with just avocado, tomato, onion and cilantro. I've tried adding all kinds of goodies and extras to it, but nothing seems to help.

If you make great guacamole, please pass me the recipe. If you only make good guacamole then I'd still love the recipe, because it's gotta be better than the crap I've been turning out for far too long.

Thanks.

Posted by: Ted at 10:52 PM | category: Recipes
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Lime Salsa

1 cup diced peeled jicama (or Granny Smith apple)
1 orange, peeled, sections and coarsely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp grated lime peel
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sugar

Combine jicama (or apple), orange, bell pepper, onion, lime peel, lime juice, vegetable oil, sugar and a little salt to taste in medium bowl. Toss to mix. Cover and chill at least an hour to blend flavors.
Stir before serving.

This is wonderful on pork and over white rice. It would go nicely with chicken too. The recipe came from a giveaway card at a supermarket.

Posted by: Ted at 10:38 AM | category: Recipes
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It's been colder than a witch's you-know-what in a brass bra. Highs in the upper 20's and single digit nights. Perfect soup weather.

I started a pot of Beef and Barley soup last night and let it cook all night and all day today in the crock pot. Basically, I tossed a bunch of things into it that we had on hand, and it came out good enough to fool people that I might know what I'm doing in the kitchen.

Beef & Barley Soup

Ingredients
1 lb stew beef
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can V-8 juice
4 cups beef stock
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Hungarian paprika
1 tsp rubbed sage
2/3 cup barley

Brown the stew beef in a hot skillet with the olive oil. When done, toss it into the crock pot and set the heat for high.
Add the tomatoes (with juice), the V-8 and the beef stock.
Stir in the worchestershire, vinegar, paprika and sage.
Add the garlic, carrots and corn, then let it simmer for an hour or so before turning the heat down to low.

Let it cook for several hours (overnight in my case) and then add the barley (about 5am as I was getting ready for work). Either leave it on low to cook for the rest of the day, or turn the heat up to high and cook for another hour or until the barley is done.

If I had had them, I would have added onions and celery, but I don't know that those would have been an improvement. The vinegar and tomatoes give a nice tang, balanced by the brown sugar. The broth was rich and savory, and by dinner time tonight the meat was falling-apart tender.

We've got quite a stretch of cold weather in the forecast. I think I'll keep the soup pot out.

Posted by: Ted at 05:26 PM | category: Recipes
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There he goes again... taking a perfectly normal food and throwing fruit into it. I dunno, it's just something I do. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time, it definitely worked.

Apple Rice

1 cup rice
1 3/4 cup apple cider
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 apple, chopped (I used a Gala)
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine the rice, cider and soy sauce in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

While the rice is cooking, chop the onion and start to gently saute in the olive oil.

Chop the apple, sprinkle with lemon juice to keep it from browning.

When the rice is done, turn off the heat and stir in the apple and onion. Mix well and re-cover the pot to steam for a few minutes.

We had this with a smoked pork loin. Very tasty.

Posted by: Ted at 07:25 PM | category: Recipes
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It's been a long time since I've posted anything from kitchen, but it's been quite a while since I've been able to do any serious cooking. Liz is out of town for a week visiting our oldest daughter, so I'm taking full advantage of the culinary freedom to try some new recipes.

Last night's dinner:

Sweet & Sour Country Ribs

Ingredients*
2-3 lbs country pork ribs
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (20oz) chunk pineapple in juice
1 tsp crushed coriander
1/2 lb snow peas
2 tsp chopped candied ginger

Directions
Start the oven going to 325 degrees.
Put the ribs into a shallow casserole dish (9x13 works well).
Pour pineapple juice over ribs. Save the pineapple chunks for later.
Drizzle the soy sauce over the ribs, then sprinkle with the garlic and coriander.
Bake for an hour and a half to two hours, basting with the juices every half hour or so. The ribs should be very tender.
Put the ribs onto a heated platter and pour the juices from the pan into a large measuring cup or bowl. Let it settle for a few minutes and then skim the grease from the top.
Heat a medium frying pan on the stove.
Add the pan juices and bring to a boil. Let it cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to cook down.
Add the snow peas and stir, let them cook for a couple of minutes, until they turn bright green and are just tender crisp.
Add the pineapple chunks and stir in to heat through.
Pour it all over the ribs and sprinkle with candied ginger.

We served rice on the side, with the pan juices over the rice. Mmmmmmm. This one is going into my recipe book.

*That's what the recipe called for, but here's what I did different.
First, I forgot the garlic. Just flat out forgot it. Didn't have any coriander or candied ginger either. Instead I sprinkled about a tsp of ground ginger over the ribs before going into the oven, and at the table a dash of soy sauce on the ribs really woke up the flavor.

Posted by: Ted at 05:41 AM | category: Recipes
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Today was my first chance to fire up the new smoker.

Like sex. With BBQ sauce.

I whipped up a batch of my homemade sauce, which is never the same twice in a row. Today's version started with a base of ketchup and balsamic vinegar, and to that I added onion powder, garlic powder, dry mustard, sweet paprika, black pepper, chili sauce, horseradish, crushed fresh garlic, dehydrated minced onion, and honey.

Sometimes I want it sweeter, which means I'll add some brown sugar and/or molassass. Adding some soy, fresh ginger and lime juice makes for "oriental" style.

Anyway, today's sauce was liberally slathered over a big package of country pork ribs and a pack of chicken legs. I let them bathe in the sauce for a couple of hours.

When the time was right, I fired up about 10 pounds of charcoal in the base of the smoker and let the coals get ready. In the meantime, I wrapped a big double handful of hickory in aluminum foil and poked it full of holes to let the smoke escape as the wood smouldered. Once everything was ready I filled the liquid pan with water, put the chicken on the lower level, the ribs up top and let it alone for three hours.

At the start the fire got too hot and I had to take the cover off a couple of times to let heat escape, but after the first half hour things settled down and I watched the thermostat cycle between 225 and 250 degrees. I added another small handful of wood chips halfway through.

Man oh man oh man, was that good. The ribs came out falling apart tender, and after slathering more sauce on them they were incredible. The chicken was moist and smoky, just like you want it. Is it really that simple or did I just have beginners luck? Doesn't matter, I'm doing it again, real soon.

On the side, I saute'd a couple of zucchini. Also, I took the crispy ends from several ribs and chopped them up for flavoring for my next pot of black beans.

One thing I very much like about cooking with the smoker is that you get it going and then leave it alone. I did some yardwork, worked on my big rocket project and sat in the sun, reading and enjoying the nice afternoon. No fussing with the food. I will definitely use my meat thermometer next time, because I think I could have taken the food off the grill a half hour earlier, or at least have started the veggies so everything would've been ready at the same time.

I think me and the smoker are going to become very close this summer.

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 PM | category: Recipes
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Over at Caterwauling, Dawn has assembled a spherical feast for the Carnival of the Recipes. I love these carnivals, and this edition features even more "must try"'s than the usual.

So head on over, because it's not like you're going to actually keep those resolutions, right?

Posted by: Ted at 07:50 PM | category: Recipes
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1 More balls than you can shake a (high) stick at! Thanks for promoting it! I need to try those chocolate eggnog balls next. This is why I don't implement any new year's resolutions till February.

Posted by: dawn at January 02, 2006 04:13 PM (Dh1V0)

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ItÂ’s a small world. Thanks to modern travel and communications, itÂ’s getting smaller all the time. ItÂ’s a small, small world. It should surprise no one, then, that these Carnivals are wonderfully international. We see recipes that have grams and dashes, millies and rashers, and it just seemed to me that there was only one way to truly celebrate the international flavor of the Carnival of the Recipes, because it's a small world after all.

Babelfish.

I can hear the collective sigh of relief, because at least some of you were thinking it was gonna be... that other one (yeah, I know it was rather too obvious. Work with me here).

So amigo, instead of getting that obnoxiously addictive song stuck in your head (too late?), what you need to do is to grab that fish out of itÂ’s bowl (and here you thought it was just a goldfish), hold it up to your ear, and read on.

But mon ami (I can hear you asking), what if I have no fish handy? IÂ’ve heard - but have no idea if itÂ’s true or not and amazingly enough Snopes doesnÂ’t say - that if you donÂ’t have a babelfish handy, you can use a frozen fishstick instead. The obvious limitations are that itÂ’ll only work for Scandanavian languages and youÂ’ll look rather silly with a fishstick sticking out of your head. Or not. Who am I to judge?

Yep, I put the babble in Babelfish. And so, without further adieu (oooo, heÂ’s a multilingual defiler of language!), I present this 66th edition of the Carnival of the Recipes, complete with snippets translated into various languages and then translated back.

Thanksgiving Goodies

It's not surprising that there were several Thanksgiving related submissions this time around.

First up is an interesting recipe for brining turkey from Sun Comprehending Glass. Let's see what the babelfish says:

My low and slow peoples are basters; they form throughout the year marvelously from Peru after the year. Low slow and lots of the result in 10 hours to terminate to a bird. With however salt, leave the cook, who the time is not shortened, because none is requested, heat aways even the furnace to run.

Now how can you argue with that?

Blog o'RAM offers up a bit of zingbird, via Salsafied Turkey and Jalepeno Cornbread.

From Ziggarat of Doom, check out Awesome Turkey which is another variation on the theme, this time using a rub with olive oil and braised in a roasting bag.

Checking in with the fish:

It is a income of ordeal and a new idea, thus they are real the final publication of this for with. The band of friction is little different, marks the lack of sage for example. Moreover, I have fallen in the bags for the turkey. The oil of olive makes precisely as the order a work that the butter for crisping ascendant the skin, and I like the aromatic substance more. Big pinchments and small pinchments they are a entire grass, usually for big make, you go there and [unintelligeble] the money in the fresh grasses.

Of course, you could follow the link above and see the original directions, but I'm a road less travelled kinda guy.

The Clog Almanac shares this side dish: Asparagus and Wild Rice Pilaf. It's on my to-try list.

Here's a repost from last year about a variety of Thanksgiving recipes, wine recommendations and more. Good stuff from The Glittering Eye.

Next up, we get a trio from Booklore: Thanksgiving Appetizers, Ambrosia Salad , and Perfect Cranberry Sauce.

Growing up in California, we just called Ambrosia fruit salad, and we were living large if Mom tossed mini-marshmallows into the mix.

Here's a quick and Easy Orange Survival Glaze for ham or turkey, from The Pragmatic Chef.

Non-Holiday Goodies and Yummies

(although there's nothing that says these wouldn't be wonderful then too)

From One Happy Dog Speaks, we get a twofer, Yeast Rolls and Cinnamon Rolls, from the same basic recipe. As an added bonus, there's a nifty hot-doggy variation in the comments. Yay Hats!

Whoa, that was totally random.

Cornbread. If you love it, there's no need to say more. If you don't, then you'll never understand. Two varieties, courtesy of the Pajama Pundits.

From Leslie's Ombibus, we're treated to Oxtail Soup. Mmmmmm, soup.

Two, two! Chicken and Sausage Gumbos! One easy-peasy, one a little more involved, thanks to Everything and Nothing.

This is the definition of comfort food.
Salisbury Steak, and One for the Road shows us how to do it the easy way.

Babelfish chimes in with:

Simmer related to meanly excessive heat 35-45 minutes until the sausse was not thickend and the tortini were cooked through.

For the more gentle cooks, follow the original directions. You gangsta peeps can use the meanly excessive way.

Risoto with Arugula, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Cheeses. Doesn't that sound great, in a completely "I'm so sick of turkey" kinda way? Thank Cooking Capers for this one.

My Favorite Mushrooms. Apparently there's a problem with Oasis of Sanity this week, because I kept getting 404 errors while trying to access this. I mention it here to tempt you and tease you and make you come back next week like Pavlov's dogs, hoping for a working link.

ArmyWifeToddlerMom presents Another Pretty Salad. She notes that this versatile salad looks great on the holiday table, so I could have included it up top with the Thanksgiving dishes. But to me, this says "summertime dinner" too, so I put it here instead.

Chicken Paprikas is comfort food with a nice little twist, and like most soups and stews, it gets better if you make it a day or two in advance. Seriously Good shares this one, and it looks seriously good.

Elisson checks in with Beef Stew with a Difference, aka Beef Rendang. This is for those who like a little curry heat with their moo. Because I'm a thoughtful guy, I won't even mention the groaner he tosses in at the end of his post (oops, guess I just did).

From Special Fried Rice, we're treated to a recipe for one, namely Low-fat Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo.

Even the fish likes it:

The part of my process to learn of new good eating habits implies to try to calculate outside in a way to eat the foods that taste without the problems has associates to they. A fat version is weak here. Taste sauce Alfredo! This perfect age, densely and that he is rich.

From down south, no, farther south... waaaay south. Not that far south. Leave the penguins alone, they'll eat your babelfish. I talking about Kiwi south, specifically KeeWee's Corner, where we get a nice recipe for Tacos in Pasta Shells. Sounds good to me, I'm a Mexican food fanatic.

S.O.S. is its very own food group, although some would dispute using the word "food" in that sentence. Fill'er Up, Hon? shows you how to do it right, and when it's done right, it's wonderful.

From my good friend Tuning Spork, we get Baked Apple Sauce. He originally called it Twice-Baked Apples, so don't let the post title fool you. With his link, he adds the following advice:

Just remind people to go easy on the spices as they prepare the sauce -- tasting it for good balance. It's easy to go overboard!

This one... Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Chicken Torte Milanese with Tomato Basil Sauce. Thank you ApparatChick.

From TechnoGypsy, we get Lamb Shanks, because you can't roast the shanks or they'll burn (I didn't know that).

Now if you need something vegetarianish, I highly recommend this Three Sisters Stew. From Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax, who always has interesting recipes to share, and the background stories to go with them.

Babelfish snippet:

The research revealed far more the auxiliary advantages of this "companion, it planted." the bacteria colonies in the roots of the bean take prisoner the nitrogen of air, something from which it in the soil are inserted, in order to feed the high needs of the nitrogen of corn.

Doesn't that sound so very German? All that research and scientifical talk and taking prisoners and stuff. Check out the original, just trust me on this one.

Courtesy of SilverBlue, we get this delicious sounding Spinach Stuffed Chicken. The best part is, by this time next week you'll all be saying, "hey, it's not turkey! Yay!"

Tuna and Caper Pasta, from FrazzledDad. It's all in the quality of the ingredients.

Blogeline's Journal offers up this heavenly-sounding Guinness Beef or Venison Stew. I'll be trying a pot of this in the near future.

Over at The Common Room, there's a sweet post full of ideas on being frugal in the kitchen and incorporates several recipes as well. Among them is Stir Fried Sweet Potatoes. Check this one out.

From Third World County, this simple classic: Black Beans and Rice.

Russian translation:

Wash and sort beans. I usually make this with the large tank and the grid. Beans in the grid, the water in the tank. Beans of water pipe surplus. You can develop mechanics.

They invented beans, you know.

Yummy prawny limey recipe (can be done with chicken). Gotta love a recipe with a name like that! Might as well break out the tequila since you already have all those limes sitting around being lazy. Thanks to Aussie Wife for this one.

Desserts

Not just Rum Cake, but Yummy Rum Cake (as if there's any other kind!). Thanks to In the Headlights for this one.

Slap Your Mama Chocolate Cake is presented by a feisty guest-poster over at Not Exactly Rocket Science (Yay Rockets!). Sinful is a descriptive word that comes to mind.

From Vermont's own A Weight Lifted, have a slice of Maple Pumpkin Pie.

Via Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea, we get this chocolate yummy: Cocoa Apple Cake. She promises pictures next week, so in the meantime, let's let babelfish paint a picture with words:

Criminy, I missed the chocolate Friday almost. Still. I was, you thus do not employ work and trying to finish with of Thanksgiving, have to me much time to think have.

Ok, so it's a crayon picture. Hang it on the fridge.

Bananas. Bars. Bananas behind bars. There's an odd kind of synergy here, that makes me want to write absolute crap like that take Hollywood by storm. In the meantime, while I wait for them to beat down my door, I'll pass the time by making Best Banana Bars Ever. Thanks to Notes in the Key of Life, because these are going to become a staple in our house. Gotta keep those bananas off the street, you know, before they go bad.

Once again from SilverBlue, he offers up Three Emergency Deserts. I'm not sure about the emergency part, these look good enough to make just because.

Blueberry-Pear Clafouti is a baked pudding, courtesy of Blonde Sagacity. This looks so good, it's also on my "try soon" list.

More excellent goodness from The Glittering Eye, Pumpkin Chiffon Pie.

The above were in no particular order other than being in broad categories. Any implied preferences or rankings are solely in your own imagination and they have drugs now that can help people like you. Or me, for that matter.

One last pass through the babelfish:

All preferences or the implicit places are only in their its fancy and have drugs now that he can help you the people. Or me for this material.

Deep. In more than one way too. Anyway, I hope you go visit all of these people and make their food and share the results with the rest of us. Thanks for stopping by (and y'all are welcome back any time), and thanks to everyone who sends in recipes, who hosts, who keeps things organized, and especially my agent and my family and my...

Sorry. Storming Hollywood and all that.

Next week, the Carnival will be hosted by the Lost Budgie Blog, who will almost certainly not continue this babelfish silliness. Which reminds me, go put your fish back into its bowl, or the freezer, and for pete's sake don't get them mixed up.

Yay Hats!

Posted by: Ted at 11:01 AM | category: Links
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It's up, over at Everything and Nothing. Plenty of good hearty fall and winter fare in this one.

Posted by: Ted at 11:48 AM | category: Recipes
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This weeks Carnival of the Recipes is up over at Blonde Sagacity, and it's a special edition. The focus is on pork, because those politically correct nitwits in England banned Piglet!!! What's next, Lassie?

... oh jeez, I don't wanna know when *that* edition of the Carnival comes out!

Posted by: Ted at 11:34 AM | category: Recipes
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Well, not exactly. It's this week's edition of the Carnival of the Recipes, hosted by fellow Munuvian Triticale.

Posted by: Ted at 05:54 AM | category: Recipes
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And so begins its second mouth-watering year. Thanks Beth, for the original idea!

Posted by: Ted at 04:53 AM | category: Recipes
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These are yummy cakey cookies, perfect for summertime treats and special enough for those times when you want to impress.

Iced Orange Cookies

Cookies:
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
¾ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 Tbsp grated orange zest (see note below)

Icing:
½ tsp grated orange zest
2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1½ cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. Cream together the sugar and shortening, add eggs and stir. Add sour cream and 1 tsp vanilla, stir and set aside.


2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add little by little to the creamed mixture and stir well.


3. Add ¾ cup orange juice concentrate and the the 2 Tbsp orange zest. Mix well.


4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.


5. Bake for about 10 minutes.


6. Remove to a rack, and while they cool, make the icing.

Icing:

Mix together the grated orange zest, thawed OJ concentrate, vanilla, melted butter and confectioners sugar to a smooth spreading consistency.

After icing, let the cookies sit for several hours until the icing sets.

Note: I've found that two medium oranges provide enough zest for a light and delicate flavor. If you use extra it'll boost the taste nicely.

Posted by: Ted at 04:52 AM | category: Recipes
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Over at Munuviana's own Feisty Repartee, Christina is hosting this week's Carnival. Yum.

Posted by: Ted at 11:25 AM | category: Recipes
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