An Untraditional 4th of July for Pink Saturday

Welcome to Pink Saturday sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. 

I thought I'd share our family's 4th of July celebration with  you.  There was no parade or fireworks this year for us.  It was just too hot and humid.  So hot and humid that we chose to have a cook-in rather than a cook-out.

One of our favorite recipes is Roast Sticky Chicken.  I found this recipe online many, many years ago.  I think it was sometime in the 1990's.

I just googled and this appears to be the exact same recipe that I use.

Mimi's Roast Sticky Chicken - as posted by Anieema

I do not care for salt and always omit salt from my recipes.  I also don't bother rubbing on the spices and putting the chicken in a plastic bag overnight.  I do it right before cooking.  This time I doubled the recipe and used two chickens.  It cooks for five hours and the smell is so good.

I like gravy with the chicken so I just use a package of Pioneer Gravy Mix and add in some of the juices from the pan for a little extra flavor.

Then my son Reid made twice baked potatoes.  This was taken right before he put them in the oven for the second time.

YIKES!  I almost forgot to take a picture after they came out of the oven.  Fortunately there was still a few left.  I should have gotten his recipe to share.

Then I cooked some asparagus...nothing fancy.

We had two desserts.  One was the Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Cake again.  We had just made it a month before for Keith's birthday and wanted it again.  The recipe is right on the box. 

We also made S'more Cups.  Another big favorite with my family.  The recipe can be found on Coleen's Recipe blog. 

I enjoy Coleen's recipes and a few weeks ago someone notified her that someone else had taken over 300 recipes from her blog and put them up on a blog as their own.  You can read about it here.  Why would someone do that?    I was afraid Coleen might stop posting recipes, but she hasn't.

Everyone enjoyed our untraditional 4th of July meal.

After we ate it was time for Family Feud!

Yes, we played a few rounds.  It was Troy and Debbie against Reid and me.  Wyatt was the host.  Troy and Debbie won.

I should have gotten these photos up sooner, but I've been busy lately...

Yes, even I play Pokemon now.  I don't completely understand this game, but I do enjoy catching the little Pokemon characters.

I joke that I can bring home Pokemon now instead of cats!

This is Reid playing when we went down to Discovery Green Park in Houston.

Discovery Green is a park in downtown Houston located right in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Houston is counting down the days until the 2017 Super Bowl.

Now head over to Beverly's blog for a list of this week's Pink Saturday participants.  Thanks for visiting...

Pink Salad AKA Pink Stuff for PINK SATURDAY

Some years back I put this recipe up for Pink Saturday.  There are probably a bunch of people that weren't here then, so I decided to share it again.  In our family we have always called this recipe PINK SALAD or PINK STUFF.  Actually, it can be a side dish or a dessert.  I got this recipe from a friend in the 1970's while living in Virginia.  Personally, I could eat the whole thing myself.

Congealed Salad (AKA PINK Salad or PINK Stuff)

1 small can crushed pineapple
1 6 oz. Jello (any flavor…I like raspberry)
1 12 oz. Carton Cool Whip
2 c. buttermilk
½ - 1 cup chopped nuts

Combine undrained pineapple and Jello in small saucepan. Heat until Jello dissolves. Mix Cool Whip and buttermilk; add nuts. Stir in gelatin mixture, mixing thoroughly. Put in mold or long rectangular pan. Let set for 4 hours. (I do it overnight.) I find it helpful to spray the mold lightly with Pam…it comes out of the mold a lot easier. Serves: 12. (I use a wire whisk for mixing the ingredients together.)

You can make it look fancy by garnishing it with some fresh fruit.  I used a Tupperware mold that I've had since the year of the flood.

For a list of other Pink Saturday participants visit Beverly's blog.

Why I cook Thanksgiving Dinner

There were only going to be three of us for Thanksgiving Dinner this year.  I thought maybe we'd go out to eat, but then I remembered if we did there would be no leftovers.  To me the leftovers are what make it all worthwhile.  So I cooked a big turkey and a few trimmings.  A turkey cooking in the oven makes the whole house smell so good.

Then we had what we needed for the Day After Thanksgiving Dinner.

I'm not crazy about Turkey Soup, so a few years back I searched online for a recipe for leftovers and found this one for Day After Thanksgiving Dinner.  When I looked for the link today I noticed that the recipe has a four star rating and one review given by me in 2011.  I guess this recipe is a hidden gem yet to be discovered by others. :)

I really enjoy this recipe and would like to drum up some support.  Believe me...it's really good.  Please make it and post a review so mine isn't the only one.

This recipe used leftover mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and gravy.

The potatoes and stuffing are used to make potato/stuffing balls.  Here they are ready to go in the oven.

They turn nice and crispy.  Here they after baking.

Then you make a turkey sauce using some of the gravy and a few other ingredients and adding chopped turkey.  To serve you pour the sauce over the balls.

YUM!  YUM!  YUM!

While I was doing all of this Keith was trying to figure out why the lights on the tree weren't working for me.

Did you know that all the strings must be plugged together in order for them to light? 

Home, Sweet Home...

Friday morning I loaded the car at Candlewood and we headed to the hospital for Reid's blood draw.  That only took about 30 minutes and then we headed HOME!

Ashley and the rest of the cats remembered Reid.  So did the dog.  Ashley cannot understand why he's no longer allowed in Reid's room, but that's the rule for a while.  Reid is not allowed to sleep with any animals and he has to wash his hands or use hand sanitizer if he touches them.  So, Ashley stood outside his room and cried in protest.

Last night we had hamburgers and Reid topped his with lettuce and tomato.  It's funny how you really end up craving something when you can't have it for a while.  I remember when we lived in Sicily and I longed for American pizza.  It was one of the first things I had when we arrived home.  I guess that's why so many diets fail.  When deprived of something we crave it!

Tonight we had Roast Sticky Chicken.  It's one of our favorites.  I think we were all tired of eating frozen stuff that was zapped in the microwave.  Having real meals is enjoyable for everyone now.  If you've never had Roast Sticky Chicken give it a try.  There are many variations out on the Internet, but we enjoy the version I found on Real Meals For Real People a Yahoo newsletter group.  I'm not sure if you have to sign in to Yahoo to read the recipe, but joining Yahoo is no big deal and worth it for this recipe.  I didn't take a picture, but it tastes as good as it looks and makes the house smell real good for hours while cooking.

Tomorrow Keith heads back to Austin.  We will really miss him around here.  I can't help but think of how proud Jim would have been watching Keith and Troy step up to the plate to help their brother and me.  He would have been standing there smiling as Keith donated stem cells for Reid and then he would have been smiling as Reid received them.  He would have been laughing as we all learned to hook Reid up to an IV with shaky hands and do all the other things required of an "official" caretaker.

I hope as I get caught up around here and things slowly return somewhat to normal (whatever that is) I'll be able to catch up with E-mail and visit more blogs again.  Thank you for your prayers and support the last few months!

Alphabe-Thursday..."U" as in Utterly Delicious Cake

It's time for the letter "U" for this week's Alphabe-Thursday.  My son, Keith, came to my rescue this week with a recipe he renamed UTTERLY Delicious Cake.  He tells me he got this recipe from a co-worker and it's very good.  He baked it last week and E-mailed the recipe and picture. Keith lives in Austin, so I didn't personally get to try this cake, but he assures me that I won't be disappointed.  It's unusual in that it calls for pudding, but four of those little already made pudding cups.

Utterly Delicious Cake

1 yellow cake mix

1 4-pak butterscotch pudding cups

2 eggs

Mix well.  Pour mixture into a greased 9X13 dish.

Top with 1/2 package butterscotch morsels.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

Check with toothpick.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog, Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent," for a list of this week's participants.

And thank you Keith for your help!  It's been a busy week and today we switched to ATT&T U-verse, so I didn't have Internet access this afternoon while it was being installed.

Alphabe-Thursday..."T" as in TILAPIA

The weeks go by so quickly. Can you believe we're up to the letter "T" as in TILAPIA already? Thank you Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" for sponsoring this weekly event.

I normally hate fish. My husband complains about fish because he had to eat it every Friday growing up Catholic in the 1950's. So, over the years we've rarely had fish. It is supposed to be a healthy alternative and I was told that Tilapia didn't have a real fishy taste, so we decided to give it a try.

Once again, I searched the Internet for recipes and came up with something I thought we might enjoy, Blackened Tilapia with Secret Hobo Spices found on allrecipes.com. For us this recipe was a winner and we've had it numerous times since, but remember we live in Texas and like our food real spicy. I've made a few adjustments to the original recipe. I only cook four fillets at a time and the recipe called for one pound of fillets, so I cut all the spice ingredients in half. That's plenty for four fillets. I also skip the Kosher salt called for in the recipe because I don't care for salt and never add it to any of my recipes. (I know...I'm strange.) You might want to cut back on the cayenne pepper. I use half a teaspoon, but you might only want to use a pinch. Remember, with us the hotter the better.

The recipe also said to place the cooked fillets on a slice of bread, pour the pan juices over it, and squeeze on lemon juice. We skip all that because there aren't that many pan juices and the bread isn't really necessary. We just plop a fillet on our plates and eat.

We had this last night along with potatoes and fresh asparagus. It was a very good meal.

I'm going to include the link to the potato recipe I used, but you might not be able to find these potatoes in your grocery store. They are called Tasteful Selections and are only carried at Kroger and Walmart here. They have all different types of small potatoes and they're sold in plastic bags. There's usually a recipe on the back of the bags, but I've gone to their website to find more. Last night we used their recipe for Tasteful Selections Mustard Crusted Potatoes. We've had these before and always enjoy them, and they go real well with the Tilapia fillets.

I used a bag of their Sunrise Medley Potatoes. You can see all the different kinds of potatoes they carry here. They have a real good selection of recipes on their website. You can also find a store locator.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's so you can visit some more Alphabe-Thursday posts!

Alphabe-Thursday..."S" as in S'mores

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."  Today we are studying the letter "S" as in S'mores.  I love S'mores...don't you?

A while back (maybe a year ago) I stumbled across a recipe for You're Killin' Me Smalls (my son tells me that's a line from a movie) on someones blog.  Basically, these were S'more cupcakes.  It isn't a blog that I have saved, so I had to go do a google search in order to find it again so I could give credit where credit is due.  The blog is Lessons Of A Newlywed, but I don't know the author's name.

Anyway, I decided to finally bake them for this week's Alphabe-Thursday post.  Bake and test.  The sacrifices I make for Alphabe-Thursday.  I baked them this morning and  immediately ate two of them for you.  They were very good although I would make a couple of minor changes next time.

You can find the complete recipe here.

The main ingredients are French Vanilla cake mix, graham cracker crumbs, Hershey's Kisses and Marshmallow Creme.  Before baking you push a Hersey's Kiss into each cupcake.

 Then you sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on the top.

Bake them and then add some Marshmallow Creme on the top.  Return to oven to melt.

OK, but I wanted it to look more like S'mores.  So, I stuck them under the broiler for a short while.  I don't know how long because I just watched them carefully until they started to turn brown.  Some did brown more than others, but I think that's just the heating coil in my oven.  I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure if the cupcake liners could catch on fire, but they didn't.  (Try this at your own risk.)

Next time I'm going to add two Hershey Kisses to each one or maybe even a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.  I would have preferred a little more of a chocolate taste.  The gal who originally posted this recipe said she used chocolate chips in each one because she didn't have any Hersey Kisses on hand.  I might try that too.

While I was making these I caught Shelby stealing dog treats.  Zoom opened the cabinet and Shelby managed to get the cover off of her treats.  I don't know how many she got before I noticed, but I took this picture after I put the cover back on. Afterwards I secured the cabinet doors with a rubber band.  I need to buy another child proof latch.  We used to have one on this cabinet until it broke.

Meanwhile, I don't get online a whole lot these days.  I've been trying to get things done around here that have been left for too long.  Last Fall we got a new backdoor and although it was primed it needed to be painted.  I noticed some mold on the woodwork around the door, so I bleached it and then painted the trim and door.  That was a good chunk of two days.

 I still have to do the inside...groan.

I've also been getting some things done around the yard.  Our backyard has a lot of shade.  I came up with this idea for a mobile vegetable garden.  Every couple of hours I go out and move the wagon as the sun goes across the sky.  I'm trying to give these little buggers six hours of sun a day.   I'm not sure I can keep this up when the weather turns hot, but I'll try.  I actually took this picture a few days ago and they've all grown since then!  I've got a tomato plant, two tomatillo plants, and two jalapeno plants.  Blackie is keeping her eye on them for me.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog so you can visit some more Alphabe-Thursday posts.

Alphabe-Thursday..."R" as in RICE

I can't believe we're already up to the letter "R" for this week's Alphabe-Thursday post.  I believe I've only missed one week this time around which is some kind of record.  If memory serves me correctly I only completed the entire alphabet the second time Ms. Jenny ran this event.  The first time I came in a week late and joined the class for the letter B.  Hopefully, one of these times I can complete the entire alphabet again.  I'm guessing this is round 5?  Has anyone been keeping track?  I think I missed one complete round, but have participated somehow in all the others.  It gets me posting at least once a week.  It's the one event I try and make time for on a pretty regular basis.

 This week in keeping with my recipe theme I'm doing "R" for RICE.  Make that brown RICE.  Back a while ago we met with a dietitian concerning a healthy diet.  At that time we discovered brown RICE.  Much to our surprise we found that we liked it much better than white RICE.  It kind of has a nutty taste and isn't as bland tasting as white RICE.  The only disadvantage is that it has to be cooked longer than white rice.

I looked around the Internet for some brown RICE recipes and found quite a few.  One of our favorites was on Epicurious and is called Nutty Brown Rice.  You can find the recipe here.

The rice is cooked in a saucepan for a little more than 40 minutes.  The recipe says 40, but I've found it takes a little longer.  Then chopped mixed nuts are browned in butter (perhaps this recipe isn't quite as healthy as some others).

Then the cooked rice is added to the nuts.

It ends up having a nice flavor with a little bit of crunch.

Another brown RICE recipe that I make often is Alton Brown's Baked Brown RICE.  I found this one on Food.com. It's simple to put together and bakes in the oven for one hour.  Its' foolproof and comes out perfect every time.  You can find that recipe here.

I'd like to tell you that we now eat very healthy meals, but that would be a lie.  We were pretty good at one time, but kind of got away from it when Reid was having chemo.  Then it was more important that he just eat and we kind of tossed out the healthy meals and just haven't gotten completely back to it again.  We have a few healthy meals each week, but we really need to up it a little.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog so you can visit some of the other Alphabe-Thursday participants.

Alphabe Thursday..."Q" as in Quesadillas

Welcome once again to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" and the letter "Q" as in Quesadillas.  Johnsonville Chipolte Monterey Jack Cheese Chicken Sausage Quesadillas to be exact.  (Talk about a title for a recipe!)  Last night we made these for dinner after finding the recipe on allrecipes.com.

I wish I could tell you how delicious they were, but that would be a lie.  Reid and I hated them, but my husband actually thought they were OK.  The problem we had was that the sausage tasted like slightly spicy hot dogs.  We served them with salsa and guacamole, but it really didn't help.

I'm not going to bother typing the recipe out.  You can find it here.  There is an error in the recipe.  In the ingredients list it calls for 12 (8 inch) flour tortillas, but the recipe only calls for 6.

Anyway, here's how they looked before we put the top tortillas on.  (We only made four of them and were going to make more until we discovered we didn't like them.)

They had to go under the broiler for two minutes on each side.  We found that was a little too long because some of the tortillas started to burn.

So, try at your own risk!  (Or better yet...don't try at all.)  I've got this recipe theme going for Alphabe-Thursday and there just wasn't time to try another recipe.



Meanwhile, Spring is here!  We had lots of rain this past weekend and once again we're growing mushrooms in the backyard.

And sweet little Blackie followed me around the backyard.  She is the nicest cat and I don't believe she ever leaves the yard.  She sleeps on the deck during the day and I lock her and Baby in the garage at night.  Baby wonders off a little during the day, but not Blackie.  She knows she found a good deal when she showed up here hungry some months back.  They don't come much sweeter than this cat.  And to think I was afraid of her initially because she would growl when I came near her.  Not anymore.  Now it's all purrs.

Most of our trees have leaves now.  They're not completely out on this tree, but almost.

These leaves are completely out and shading the house now.

Hopefully, it will be Spring soon where you live too.  Most days we're running the A/C here.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" so you can visit more Alphabe-Thursday posts.