Do the mashed potato (without leftovers)

Potato pic by rick

My mom is a good cook, but there are a few dishes that only my dad can make. Waffles are one. He made them every Sunday morning for as long as I can remember.

And then there’s mashed potatoes. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard my dad whistling as he beats the potatoes, adding a couple tablespoons of butter, a splash of milk and a little bit of salt and pepper. And then, always, tapping the beaters in rhythm on the edge of the bowl: shave and a haircut…two bits!

I love potatoes of all kinds, but I don’t make mashed potatoes often. Neither one of us likes leftover mashed potatoes, and it seems like a lot of work to peel and boil and mash just enough for two of us.

But when I told Mark that I planned to make meatloaf on Sunday night, he asked if I could please make mashed potatoes. What could I say to that?

Luckily for me, he offered to peel the potatoes: my least favorite part of the process. So all I had to do was boil them to a perfect consistency (until a fork can break them apart easily) and mix them up. Here’s what I did:

Mary’s Mashed Potatoes
1-2 lbs. Russet potatoes
2 T butter (or Blue Bonnet Light margarine)
¼ c. milk (skim)
¼ c. sour cream (light)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes. (As I said.) Drain and add butter. If you have lids for your pots, put a lid on it and let the butter melt. If you don’t (I know. Who doesn’t have lids? Oh yeah. Me.), just stir it around until it melts. Add sour cream, milk, salt and pepper. Beat on low setting with mixer. Personally, I don’t beat all the lumps out, but that’s up to you.

Mark didn’t jump up and down at the addition of sour cream. Even though, as I told him, that’s how they make them in restaurants. Then again, I didn’t exactly time dinner right, and the potatoes weren’t nearly as hot as the meatloaf. So I guess that might have had something to do with it.

Oh well. At least two of us enjoyed them. (And we only threw out a couple spoonfuls of leftovers, thanks to big bites and second helpings.)

What’s your favorite way to eat potatoes?

P.S. “Do the mashed potato” is a lyric from Do You Love Me, featured in that classic movie I may have mentioned before right before the watermelon scene I may have mentioned before.


This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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Pizza Crust from Scratch

About a week ago, I saw Jill post a question on Twitter. She was looking for a good recipe for blueberry muffins.

Because I am well-known as a cooking expert, I replied. I said, “88-cent mix from the store + water + bake for 10 min = Voila! Muffins.”

She didn’t like my answer. Apparently she was looking for something with more ingredients and less packaged mixes. I still don’t understand that.

However, even though I was joking about that being an appropriate recipe for muffins (though it is, indeed, exactly how I make mine), later that night I had to think twice when it came time to bake something else.

Smitty came over, and I offered to make us chicken pizza. Normally, I use the refrigerated pizza dough in a can, but I was out. What was I going to do?

Oh yeah. I could make like my friend Jill and actually bake from scratch!

So, while Smitty entertained Annalyn by reading her latest favorite book about a dozen times, I pulled out my recipe binder and found my mom’s formula for homemade pizza dough. Fortunately, she doesn’t do anything crazy, like make dough that has yeast or any other needs-to-rise ingredient. [Whew!]

I added Prego spaghetti sauce (sorry, I can’t do that much homemade!), grilled chicken, red onion, mozzarella and provolone. And it was delicious! Here’s my mom’s pizza crust recipe:

Pizza Crust
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
¼ cup oil

Mix together, and press onto baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees (or until the cheese melts and starts to brown).

It turned out pretty well, although I definitely used too much flour to keep it from sticking to the baking sheet. Even without too much flour, I wonder if the crust would taste too plain. Next time, I might brush it with olive oil or add a little garlic powder to the dough.

What foods do you make from scratch?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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Who cares what it’s called as long as it tastes good?

Image by Joefoodie. I think his ronza stromboli has spinach in it.

In the town where I went to college, a pizza place on the downtown square served these things called ronzas. I’d never heard of a ronza before then . . . and I haven’t heard of one since then.

Apparently, in the outside world, they’re called calzones. Or stromboli. Or runzas. But a ronza? No. Nobody’s ever heard of that.

When I tried to find evidence of this long-remembered snack from my college days, I came up pretty empty. However, I did find a review of the restaurant (Pagliai’s, and that’s pronounced “polly-eyes,” just so you know.) on Yelp.com.

I had to laugh when I read it and realized it was actually written by my friend, Tim! He said, among other things: “In my opinion, [pizza’s] not the reason to go to Pagliai's – it’s the Ronza. That's right. A capital R because it deserves it.”

And that’s why even now, a few years later, Mark and I still crave the pizza snack every once in a while.

Because I’m a nerd (Go ahead. Try and debate that.), I looked up the terms with my favorite research tool. And according to Wikipedia, stromboli is a type of turnover filled with various cheeses, Italian meats or vegetables. The dough is Italian bread dough, and it originated near Philadelphia.

Calzones, on the other hand, are turnovers that originate from Italy and are basically described as a pizza turned inside out. And a runza is completely different: a yeast dough bread pocket with a filling consisting of beef, pork, cabbage or sauerkraut (yuck!) and onions, baked in various shapes.

And then there’s the Hot Pocket, of course:

Jokes.com
Jim Gaffigan - Hot Pocket!
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Futurama New Episodes Ugly Americans Funny TV Comedy Blog

Anyway. While I don’t actually mind a Hot Pocket now and then, sometimes only an actual ronza will do. But since Pagliai’s is about a three-hour drive away, we’ve had to figure out how to make them ourselves.

Last week, I mentioned to Mark that I wanted to make one and said I’d probably do it the following night. But the next night, I forgot about that and said I was going to make tacos, and he said, “But…but…I thought you were going to make a ronza!”

Once I brought it up, he couldn’t wait to have one. So…he made it! And while I would have done things a little differently, it was still really good, so I thought I’d share the recipe.

Mark’s Ronza

1 lb. hamburger, browned
1 cup barbecue sauce
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella
4 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
1 can refrigerated pizza dough

Mix the barbecue sauce with the browned (and drained) hamburger and bacon. Unroll pizza dough on baking sheet sprayed with baking spray (or, as I say, on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam). Spread meat mixture and then sprinkle cheese on top. Fold over dough and press edges closed.

Now, I would have sprayed the whole outside of the ronza (or brushed with olive oil, if I was real fayncee) and then seasoned with garlic and maybe a little basil.

But Mark just put a little extra cheese on the outside. To each his own, I suppose. (And believe me, it didn’t stop me from eating it!)

Cook according to pizza dough instructions. Slice and serve.

Mmmm....!

What do you call this type of food? And do you have any favorite foods from somewhere you lived before?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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Chocolate pudding pie: another lesson in the kitchen

When it comes to dessert, I have a few go-to dishes that I make. Most often, I make brownies (from a box, because that’s how I like them), chocolate éclair dessert or chocolate pudding pie.

Yes, I see a theme there.

A few weeks ago, we had dinner with our friends and their kids. The original plan was to meet at a park, let the kids play and let the husbands grill. But then the forecast called for rain, and then our friend had to go out of town, and I don’t even remember what else happened.

But we ended up spending our anniversary night at our friends’ house, guys and kids outside, women inside. We brought burgers and dessert, and my friend made cheesy potatoes and beans. And we spent a few hours catching up and hanging out.

When we left, Mark said to Annalyn, “I love you, Annalyn. Do you love me?”

“No,” she said. “I love Mallory [our friends’ oldest daughter].”

Apparently the night was a hit.

And so was the dessert I brought: chocolate pudding pie, with a new twist. At least, it was a new twist to me. Instead of the usual graham cracker pie crust, I went crazy and made my own Oreo crust.

I looked up a recipe online and read that I should crush enough Oreos (about 20) to make 1 ½ cups crumbs and mix the crumbs with three tablespoons of melted butter.

It turns out that works best if you don’t buy double stuffed Oreos. Guess what kind I bought.

So I pulled apart a few more cookies and crushed up the non-filling side, then added those crumbs to the mixture. It didn’t help at all.

I pressed the nastiest-looking Oreo mess I’ve ever seen into my pie pan, then went to work on the pudding part of the pudding pie.

I mixed one box of sugar-free instant chocolate pudding, 1 ½ cups milk and a couple of big scoops of fat-free whipped topping. Then I poured it onto the Oreo crust.

After it set up, I got real fancy. I chopped up four more Oreos and sprinkled them on top of the pie. As you can see, I only have a photo of the whole, uncut pie. That’s because it looked beautiful, while the cut and served pieces looked . . . less beautiful.

No matter how it looked and how the crust started out, though, that pie was tasty! I’ll definitely use normal (not doubled stuffed) Oreos next time and maybe go easier on the butter.

But really, you can’t go wrong when you add chocolate . . . to chocolate!

Do you have a go-to recipe for dessert?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday, Food on Fridays and Would You Like Chocolate with That?

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Giveaway: The Pioneer Woman Cookbook

I had grand plans to make something from the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook this weekend, take beautiful photos in the natural light and then write all about it in today’s post.

As you might have guessed from the way I said, “I had grand plans,” something went awry. Mainly the daycare germs striking again, although the rain and the clouds and the no natural light didn’t help.

I won’t whine for long (Although I could. And I want to. Believe me, I want to.), but this was the third weekend out of three that someone has been sick at our house. And it was the second weekend out of three that someone has, in fact, been ME.

Last time, my co-workers and I just suffered through my 10-day-long cough. But since this bug – whatever it is – has returned as quickly as So You Think You Can Dance after a fall season, I went to the doctor yesterday.

Well, I went to the CVS clinic. And saw the “doctor,” who gave me the weakest antibiotic on earth (Yes, amoxycilin, I’m talking to you.) and told me I should feel better in three to four days.

THREE to FOUR DAYS.

Needless to say (is it? Because I seem to be saying a lot here.), I didn’t do any much cooking this weekend.

I did, however, make it to the store to buy groceries, so I now at least have the ingredients for the PW recipe I picked out. Because, no, I don’t normally have Crisco on hand.

So, I’m sure you’re wondering – especially if you came over here from a cooking carnival – what do I have for you, anyway? Is there a giveaway or what?

Yes. Yes, my friend, there is a giveaway. But first, I thought I’d tell you – because I’m feeling really inferior when it comes to my cooking skills, now that I admitted I don’t keep shortening on hand and all – that I have tried a few of PW’s recipes.

Here are the few I’ve tried (I tweaked each one of them, but LOVED them all):

• World’s best lasagna
• Chicken spaghetti
• Cheesy garlic bread
• Southwest corn dip

Now, on to the good stuff. I’m giving away my last copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. So if you like good food (and, really, who doesn’t?), I suggest you enter this one.

To enter, leave a comment telling me your favorite comfort food.

[I’ll go first with an embarrassing example. In college, my favorite once-a-month, if you know what I mean, comfort food was macaroni and cheese. Made from a box. With water and not milk. In the microwave. See? Even if I make my meatloaf in the microwave now, my tastes have clearly improved. Somewhat.]

For additional entries, subscribe to Giving Up on Perfect, follow me on Twitter or join my Facebook page – and then tell me in a separate comment. (That’s a separate comment for each one, if you’d like. And if you already do these things, just say so in that separate comment.)

I'll use Random.org to draw a winner after midnight on Friday. Good luck, and happy Monday!

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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Paradise by the Microwave Light

These are NOT pictures of MY meatloaf. I'll explain why. Keep reading . . . 

Yes, that’s right. I did it. I used a Meat Loaf song for a post title about, you guessed it, meatloaf.

I know. I am shameless.

But I can’t help it. Puns and cheesy plays on words and using song lyrics for any reason at all – these are the things I cannot resist.

As well as an excuse to eat cheesy potatoes. And because I refuse to go to the trouble of making mashed potatoes for our small family (or, really, let’s be honest here, any size family), cheesy potatoes are the perfect accompaniment to meatloaf.

Last week when my parents came over for dinner, we had a larger crowd than normal. Because Mark was there. Because he now works nights and is at home in the evenings. [More on that later.]

And so I altered my normal meatloaf recipe.

Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! (What is that even from? Huh. Just looked it up, and it’s from Lost in Space. Which I have never seen. WHY is that phrase even in my brain, much less on the top of my tongue for a blog post about meatloaf?)

Normally, I use one pound of ground beef for my meatloaf. If I’m really on top of things, I’ll thaw out two pounds and make 24 mini meatloaves to freeze for Annalyn. But I only use one pound for the main meatloaf.

That’s key, if you hadn’t picked up on it yet.

 This IS a picture of MY meatloaf - chopped up for little fingers!

Last week, I made a 1 ½-pound meatloaf. Well, just shy of 1 ½ pounds, because I used maybe 1/10 of a pound for one mini loaf.

Let me just cut to the chase: the meatloaf did not get cooked right. It didn’t look pink, but my piece tasted pink. Do you know what I mean? It just didn’t taste right. Everyone else ate it. And said it was fine. But I just don’t know.

Maybe their pieces were fine. After all, the time I gave my dad a loaf of moldy bread and a tub of crumb-filled butter, he did tell me. Reluctantly. But he told me.

Still. My piece of meatloaf was so mushy, so weird, so gross that I didn’t even eat it! (And that’s saying a lot. Just so you know.)

I wish I’d taken a picture of it. Kind of. I mean, you might have been grossed out, too. So I guess what I’m saying is that I wish I had a picture of my good meatloaf.

Instead, I’m going to share my recipe with you. (“Finally! She gets to her point!” you say. “Oh, hush,” I say.)

It’s a combination of my mom’s recipe and Mark’s mom’s recipe, and normally, it turns out really well. I’m quite fond of it, and so is Mark. And it’s just about the easiest thing to make.

Unless you get greedy and use too much meat.

Mary’s Meatloaf
1 lb. ground beef
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp Worcestshire sauce
¼ cup breadcrumbs
Garlic powder

¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup brown sugar

Mix the first five ingredients together. Or, fold them together. However you do things at your house. Me? I mix them all up in the loaf pan I cook the meatloaf in, because I’m lazy low maintenance like that. Smush (ahem, press) the meat mixture into a loaf pan; cover with wax paper. Microwave on high for about 9 minutes. If it looks done, maybe just give it another minute. To be safe.

While it’s cooking (becoming paradise by the microwave light, of course), mix the ketchup and brown sugar together. This may give you WAY too much sauce, and that’s because all these amounts are guesses. (Ooooh, snuck that in there, didn’t I?) Except the one pound of hamburger, and I think we’ve been over that.

After the meatloaf is cooked through (feel free to cut it open if you are now paranoid like I am), pour the sauce on top and nuke it for another 1-2 minutes.

Enjoy with cheesy potatoes and green beans. And muffins, if you’re really on top of things. (And by “muffins,” of course I mean the “just add water to the mix” kind.)

Oh yes, one last thing: Because you don’t have the opportunity to really drain the meat used in this dish, it can be quite greasy. And that is gross. So here are two tricks, one from me and one from my mom.

First, when you check the meatloaf after the first nuking, fold up a couple paper towels, place them on top of the uncovered meatloaf, and use your biggest spatula to drain that puppy over the sink. Feel free – I always do – to do this again after the second nuking but before adding the sauce.

Second (and this one is my mom’s tip, which I forget every time, mainly because I’m lazy low maintenance and mix the ingredients in my loaf pan), you can place the bottom of your butter dish, upside down, in the bottom of your loaf pan. That lifts the meatloaf enough to let the grease fall to the bottom, where nobody has to see it. Except your dishwasher. My mom said she reminds herself to do this by actually storing the butter dish in the loaf pan. So smart.

Too bad I didn’t serve her a good meatloaf in exchange for that tip, huh?

Next time. Next time I will, I’m just sure of it.

Now, everyone makes meatloaf differently. My mother-in-law occasionally made some sort of magical mozzarella meatloaf roll, for example. I can’t imagine that’s going to happen in our house anytime soon, but you never know. (I wonder how I’d fit the butter dish in with that . . . ?)

How do you make meatloaf?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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Homemade Gourmet Salsa Giveaway

Congratulations! Random.org picked #8, which means Katie is the winner of this giveaway! (Please e-mail your address to me at givinguponperfect [at] gmail [dot] com.)

When I posted on Facebook that I had a great time at our salsa tasting party, several people commented. One of those comments was from Tami Van Hoy, founder of Homemade Gourmet. I love the company’s mission: With God’s help, Homemade Gourmet strives to bring families back to the dinner table by providing quality, affordable, easy-to-prepare meals, education and direct sales business opportunities.

Tami said her favorite is Homemade Gourmet’s black bean and mango salsa. And then – and THEN! – she offered to give away a salsa package.

One reader will win the following mixes from Homemade Gourmet: Black Bean Salsa Mix, Maria’s Salsa Mix and Southwest Seasoning Mix. I did a quick search on HG’s recipe site for “salsa,” and with these three mixes, you will be able to choose from dozens of delicious meals and dips!

To enter, leave a comment about your favorite way to bring your family or yourself back to the dinner table. For an additional entry, subscribe to Giving Up on Perfect, and leave a separate comment to tell me about it (or leave a separate comment telling me you already subscribe). You can also follow me on Twitter and leave a comment about it or join my Facebook page and do the same.

Random.org will choose a winner after midnight (CST) on Friday, May 7.

P.S. Make sure you include your e-mail address in your comments if you’re not using a Blogger or Google account.

Don't they say burned noodles are the mother of invention?

Speaking of cooking - or not, the winner of the Chili's giveaway is here.

For the first year and a half of Annalyn’s life, my parents came over every Thursday night. And brought dinner with them.

It was a pretty sweet deal.

But last fall, I decided I should probably be able to pull together a meal at least once a week, so I told them not to bring dinner anymore.

For the most part, it’s been just fine. Sure, cooking dinner with Annalyn hanging onto my leg has taken some getting used to. And we’ve had our share of meltdowns and stress and sweat. (Meltdown = her, stress and sweat = me)

Dinner goes much more smoothly, of course, when I have a plan, when I decide what to fix before 5:30 that night.

A couple weeks ago, I planned to make baked mostaciolli. I don’t remember what else was wrong that night, but the evening was not going smoothly. And then I dumped my box of pasta into my boiling water.

It was a bad box. Half the noodles were burnt and almost immediately began falling apart. I briefly thought I could just pick out the bad noodles. But that did not work.

And of course, that was the moment my parents arrived. Annalyn was throwing a fit about something, I was picking burned noodles out of boiling water, and I needed to leave for choir practice in about 45 minutes.

So I improvised. I made do with what I had on hand. And I made a taco casserole. So, in case this ever happens to you – cranky toddler, busy night, burned noodles – here’s the recipe for the casserole:

Taco Pasta Casserole
3 cups macaroni
1 lb. ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large can tomato sauce
Cheddar, shredded

Boil the pasta, rinse and drain. Brown the hamburger, drain and add taco seasoning. Mix pasta, hamburger, corn, beans and tomato sauce. Pour into casserole dish, cover with shredded cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.

The good news is that this makes a LOT of food. So not only are you covered for dinner on the first night, but then you have leftovers for lunches or another dinner.

You could probably freeze half before baking, but in that case, I’d recommend not boiling the pasta quite as long. I’m not a fan of “al dente,” but freezing already-soft pasta has never worked out for me.

Have you ever had a box of burned noodles? Or some other last-minute cooking disaster that forced you to improvise? What did you do?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday, Food on Fridays and Presto Pasta Nights (which is here and here).

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The deviled egg is in the details.

Since I spent most of my weekend in the bathroom, singing the Elmo Potty Song, and the rest of it buried in paper, doing our taxes, I don’t have much new to share with you today. Instead, I thought I’d tell you about the hundreds dozens of deviled eggs that stank up my kitchen over Easter weekend.

[“Stank” does not sound right. Although it does properly describe the nastiness that was my sulfur-laced fridge. And I’m fairly certain it’s grammatically correct. At least if I base my grammar on Dr. Seuss, and hello? Who doesn’t? Just like the Grinch, those eggs “stink, stank, stunk.”]

As I mentioned in a recent weekend linky post that has yet to be named, I was excited to try a new recipe for deviled eggs. One that includes bacon and cheese. And so I did.

Deanna’s recipe yielded 10 deviled eggs. Since I wasn’t sure if my family would like the different eggs, I decided I’d make a batch of normal ones and a batch of the new ones.

But, as you may know, math is not my strong suit. I can do math, thankyouverymuch. It just doesn’t come naturally, as they say. Or quickly. Or, sometimes, accurately.

Really, the problem was that I just overestimated how excited my family would be to eat eggs. And when I was counting up people, I forgot that Chad doesn’t like eggs at all (although he was proud to tell me he just recently ate his first omelet and it wasn’t bad), and my Nana is still on a diet. Plus, my cousin Craig and his wife weren’t there.

So, to make this story a smidge shorter than it could be, because believe me, I could go on – I made too many eggs. So this recipe will show you how to make 20 deviled eggs. But only do so if you actually intend to feed a small egg-eating army.

Deanna’s Deviled Eggs

10 eggs
1 cup Mayo
1 Tbsp. Mustard
2 Tbsp. Vinegar
8 slices bacon, fried crispy and crumbled into tiny pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
paprika

The original recipe called for Tabasco, salt and pepper to taste, but I didn’t add any of that. Actually, I didn’t add paprika, either, because I didn’t have any. But I wanted to. Also, the original recipe, which I’ve doubled here, called for one tablespoon mustard. And so I used two tablespoons. And it kind of ruined the whole thing for me.

Boil your eggs. I used Sarah’s method for boiling eggs, and it worked beautifully. Slice them in half, pop out the yolk and mix them with the ingredients (except the paprika). Scoop the mixture into a ziploc bag, snip off the corner, and squirt into the egg halves. (Yes, those are my technical cooking terms.) If you haven’t crumbled the bacon small enough, you might notice that it gets stuck. Just snip off a bigger corner. (Again, technical words here.) Sprinkle on paprika and refrigerate until serving.

Remember, don’t go crazy with the mustard. Even if you like mustard – and I do – you don’t want it covering up the bacon and the cheese. Which are kind of the whole reason for the recipe.

In summary, my weekend included phrases like, “Where are your panties?” and “Yay!!! You peed in the potty!” as well as “We only gave how much to charity last year?” and “Why isn’t that credit showing up in our refund?” How was yours?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

WAIT! Don’t go just yet. Have you taken my blog survey? If not, please do. I promise it won’t take but a few minutes, and I really do want your input before making some changes (or not) around here. Thank you!

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Cooking with grace and loving laundry . . . or something like that.

A couple weeks ago, my office had what’s called a “birthday food day.” In other words, it’s the one day each month that we’re assigned to bring snacky or dessert-y foods, so we can graze all day and pretend that eating crackers and cookies and the occasional grape is the best way any of us can celebrate our co-workers’ birthday month.

For the third (fourth, fifth? I may have lost count.) month in a row, I forgot to bring food.

As I was filling up my water cup in the kitchen that day, looking longingly at the dips and chips and carrots that I didn’t have a right to munch on, I told a co-worker, “I wish I could get it together.”

Later that afternoon, I got an e-mail from Warner Brothers, asking me to review Point of Grace’s latest CD, No Changin' Us, and their cookbook, Cooking with Grace. The e-mail included a link to a song on their album called, “Love and Laundry.”

I plugged in my earphones and clicked on the link.



With phrases like, “I thought that I could do it all/Turns out I was crazy,” and “I keep praying that I can get everything done,” and the kicker, “It might take a miracle to get myself together,” I immediately fell in love.

And cried. Maybe. Just a little. (I mean, come on! If the ladies of Point of Grace can’t get it together, then there’s no hope for me!)

Seriously, I really enjoyed this song and some of the others on No Changin’ Us. “Love & Laundry” has a country pop sound to it, and I like that sort of thing.

Even more than their CD, though, I LOVE Point of Grace’s cookbook, Cooking with Grace. The chapters are divided up into types of food, like a normal cookbook, but they’re titled in a conversational tone that I adore.

“So, not all SALADS are blah.”
“So, SOUP’s on!”
“So, we’re not vegetarians, y’all! MEAT.”

The recipes are for regular food – with simple instructions and less than a dozen ingredients. And almost as good, they include fun stories and photos from the Point of Grace ladies.

And did I mention Amy Grant’s pot roast? Yeah . . .

Even though I like posting my mediocre recipes and linking up to cooking carnivals, I’m not exactly a chef. I enjoyed Julie & Julia, but it’s not like I have a library of cookbooks on my shelves.

But when I got my copy of Cooking with Grace? I literally read it cover to cover. And then made dinner, of course. (Hey, you try reading a cookbook and not getting hungry!)

As you may have guessed, I’m giving away Point of Grace’s CD and cookbook today. Same rules as yesterday (and don’t forget to enter that giveaway, if you haven’t already):

Leave a comment, telling me about your favorite cookbook or CD. For additional chances to win, become a Facebook fan of Point of Grace or Giving Up on Perfect (or both!) – and tell me in a separate comment.

I'll use Random.org to draw a winner of all this week's giveaways after midnight (CST) on Friday.

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Last chance for chili

The first day of spring brought sleet and snow, and I took advantage of the weird weather by making chili one last time.

I’m not opposed to chili in the summer, but Mark has this thing about hot things in hot weather. He doesn’t drink coffee in the summer either. [He’s weird.]

As I was pulling all the ingredients out of the pantry, I remembered that I’ve never posted my chili recipe. [Don’t be confused – like I was. I have written about canned chili and its use as a necessary ingredient to homemade burritos. But that’s a whole other story.]

Chili is really one of my favorite things to fix, especially now that I’ve mastered it. In addition to Mark’s seasonal chili preferences, he’s also pretty picky about the level of heat, the meat to bean ratio, and the thickness of the soup (and how it’s not a soup, because he doesn’t like soup).

So figuring out the exact chili that we both like was a bit of a challenge.

I can’t promise that our chili compromise will work for you, but it definitely works for us. And it’s super easy and healthy, too! (Yes, that’s right, folks! Chili is a miracle food!)

 
Cold-Weather Chili

1 ½ lbs. ground beef
Onion
1 large can tomato sauce
1 medium can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Ro-Tel)
1 can chili beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
½ packet hot chili seasoning
½ packet mild chili seasoning

Dump it all in the Crock Pot and cook on high for two hours (or low for four hours).

A few secrets:

Don’t substitute another can of kidney beans for the chili beans. If the store is out of chili beans, just don’t make chili. Seriously. I tried it and could not figure out why the chili was so bland. It was the lack of chili beans.

Remember my tip for chopping onions in bulk and freezing them? What about my bulk beef browning? (I know. That doesn’t sound right. But I couldn’t resist the alliteration. I’m weird.) If you do these things ahead of time, making this chili literally takes 5 minutes.

 
Unless you have a Pampered Chef can opener that is smarter than, well, you. And in that case, it might take 10 minutes.

And last, but not least, I don’t stop at draining the fat off my hamburger. I actually rinse it. Some people (ahem, husband and sister-in-law, ahem!) think this is weird. I think it’s smart and healthy. You decide.

So, there you have it. The medium heat, appropriately meaty and beany, not too thin, just right for the last big snow of the winter chili.

How do you make chili? And do you eat it in all seasons - or just the cold ones?? Or, if you don't like chili at all [weird], how did you celebrate the first weekend of spring?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

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The Week of Quesadillas

Sometimes making up my own recipe is a great idea. And other times, not so much.

A couple weeks ago, Amy at The Finer Things in Life posted a recipe for a chicken and black bean quesadilla, and it looked so good. It also called for shredded chicken, and as I've recently mastered the Top Chef skill of shredding chicken, I decided it was something I needed to make.

Especially because I love quesadillas. I make them with sauteed onions and peppers and cheese. Or sometimes with refried beans and cheese. And I love Applebee's quesadilla with chicken, bacon and - you guessed it - cheese. So Amy's chicken and black bean combo sounded like a good idea.

But could I just follow the recipe? Noooo. Of course not.

So last Monday, I baked a pan of chicken. And then I shredded some of it. I looked at it for a minute and decided it needed a little something. So I shook about half a packet of taco seasoning on it. Yeah, that's better, I thought. (And it was. This isn't the part that didn't work out. Just so you know.)

Then I opened up my can of black beans, scooped out some and smashed them. Not completely, though. Beans are actually pretty slippery and kind of hard to smash. Then I added some chopped onion.

I put the beans, then the chicken, then some cheese on a tortilla. I topped it with another tortilla and baked it. Flipped it. Baked some more. And ate it.

It was . . . okay.

So on Tuesday night, I decided to add some green chilies to the mix. And I actually mixed it all together - the chicken, the beans and the chilies. Topped it with cheese, baked, flipped, baked, ate.

It was . . . not bad. But actually kind of bland.

So Wednesday night, I gave in and followed Amy's recipe. I mixed shredded chicken, black beans, salsa and shredded cheese. I put the mixture in tortillas and baked it. (I don't like making quesadillas in a skillet. Baking just works better for me.)

And you know what? It was really, really good. (Especially when I added a good-sized dollop of sour cream, but let's be honest: I did that all three nights.)

I'm writing this on Wednesday night, and I can tell you two things. One, I won't be eating a quesadilla for a while. (Except for tomorrow night, because I've got leftovers, okay?) And two, I should've just followed the recipe in the first place. Amy knew what she was talking about.

So take it from me. Follow this recipe:

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas

• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 cup salsa
• 1-2 cups shredded cheese
• soft taco sized tortillas

Mash black beans with a fork. (Try it and tell me it's easy. Just tell me that.) Add chicken, salsa, and cheese. Spread 1/4 mixture on a tortilla and top with another tortilla. Bake it for 10 minutes on each side at 350, or fry it in a skillet.

Serve with sour cream. And lettuce, if you must. Makes 4 quesadillas.

Do you like quesadillas? What do you put in them?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

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Just like Mom used to make

Mark's mom was an amazing cook. And for every special occasion, she made a special apple cake for her youngest son (her baby, if you will).

I tried to make it once. I had her recipe, and I followed it to a T. I thought it turned out pretty well, but Mark made the unfortunate choice to say, "It's pretty good, but it doesn't taste like Mom's."

Or something like that. This was several years ago, but you get the point, I'm sure.

(I don't hold it against him. He's also said that I make better lasagna than she ever did, and that was even before I tried out the Pioneer Woman's recipe.)

A few years ago, I went to my first Tastefully Simple party. It was on that night that I discovered the solution to all our apple cake problems.

Nana's Apple Cake Mix literally takes two minutes to fix. And it tastes WAY better than I remember a certain mother-in-law's homemade from scratch cake! (Okay, that might not be true. But since I've given up baking for REAL, it's what I'm telling myself.)

I'd planned to make the cake for Mark's birthday, but that didn't happen. I did, however, manage to throw it together for Valentine's Day. Annnnnnd it was delicious. (Annnnnd it's already gone!)

Have you ever tried to make a family recipe - and failed?

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But what did Peter Piper DO after picking those peppers?

I thought about naming this post, “I made up a recipe and it was actually good.” But that didn’t seem very uplifting. I also considered calling it, “But isn’t garlic good for you?” Then I remembered the vampire craze that just will not die down (kind of like a vampire, I guess), and I decided against that, too.

It's too bad I can't get someone to write titles for me. Short, pithy anything just isn't my style.

Anyway.  

It all started last week when Annalyn and I went to the grocery store. Not the Super Walmart, where we get most our groceries, but the smaller and more expensive grocery store that’s conveniently on our way home. The one with the reasonable parking lot and the cute mini shopping carts that I could use if only I ever ventured to the grocery store sans kiddo.

As we walked through the produce section, I decided to take a minute and point out the varied brightly colored fruits and vegetables to Annalyn.

And then we saw them: big, beautiful, spot-free red peppers. I had to have them. Two of them, to be exact. Two enormous red peppers that put the puny one already residing my fridge to veggie shame.

I didn’t immediately think, “Oh, I’d better find a way to use these peppers!” After all, we both like peppers of any shape and color in fajitas and quesadillas, and Annalyn loves raw peppers to snack on.

But then, a few days later, I found a partial box of bowtie pasta in the pantry. And the wheels started turning.

I decided I would make a chicken pasta dish with red peppers. I just needed a recipe.

Easier said than done! I searched all over the vast cookbook known as The Internet. And I could not find what I wanted.

Not exactly what I wanted, that is. I found recipes for chicken dishes, recipes for all sorts of carbonara (with spaghetti or linguine), recipes for cold pasta salads and recipes for fancy, 28-ingredient triumphs. But I did not find a simple recipe for a chicken, red pepper and bowtie pasta dish.

So I made my own recipe. I didn’t completely disregard the many wrong recipes I found, though. I kept their quantities in mind when I threw together crafted my own dish. And, if I say so myself, it turned out pretty well!

Mary’s Garlic Chicken Pasta with Red Peppers
2 large chicken breasts, grilled and thinly sliced
1 box bowtie (farfalle, if you’re fancy) pasta
1 large red pepper, sliced
½ pound bacon, cut into inch-sized pieces
3 garlic cloves, diced
½ large white onion, diced
1 jar alfredo sauce
Shredded parmesan cheese

[Side note: You may have caught on when you saw the word “bacon,” but I’ll tell you right now: This meal is not diet-friendly. Or Weight Watchers-approved. I’m pretty sure I could make a healthier version, but on this first round, I definitely did not.]

Boil the pasta (feel free to do it in the microwave like I did, if all your large pots happen to be dirty). Rinse and drain.

Fry the bacon on low to medium heat, stirring often. When the bacon is cooked through, put it in a bowl and set aside. Drain most – but, I’m sorry, not all – the drippings.

Add the onion and garlic to the drippings and sauté. It will smell ridiculous. As in, good. Once the onion and garlic are translucent, add the peppers and chicken.

You may have to add some chicken stock (or, water, if you’re like me and have never bought something so fancy as “chicken stock”) if it’s cooked down, otherwise everything will burn. And then it will smell ridiculous. As in, bad.

Combine chicken and vegetable mixture, pasta and sauce. Add the bacon.

Now, at this point, I put it all in the refrigerator and Mark took it out to re-warm about 13 hours later. I think this helped smush all the flavors together, and yes, that’s my technical term. Before serving, top with shredded parmesan. Enjoy with a nice Caesar salad and cheesy garlic bread.

Have you made any recipes that “actually” turned out well?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

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You know, that show with the girl with the dark hair?

We had a small gathering for New Year's Eve: Smitty, my brother and sister-in-law, and Mark and me. It was an exciting night.

We spent more time than makes sense trying to figure out exactly what TV show Smitty was talking about when she said, "You know, it's that show with the girl with the dark hair and the light blue eyes. I think it was on NBC. She was pregnant. Or something? You know which show I'm talking about, right?"

It was Studio 60. I cannot begin to tell you how relieved we were to put that to rest.

After eating enchiladas and way too much junk food than we should, we finished the night with a couple board games. Smitty and I beat James and Lauren pretty badly at Taboo, but in their defense, they've only been married for a year and a half.

And Smitty and I have pretty much been married for a decade and a half.

All in all, it was a great night spent with some of my very favorite people. Mark wandered across the street to hang out with the neighbors for a little while, but when he came back, we closed the night by laughing our heads off (I'm talking the silent, shaking laughter with tears running down our faces.) at Jim Gaffigan.

Though I'd had big dreams of a fancy party with fancy appetizers hors d'oeuvres, keeping it simple ended up being better than I would have guessed. And I did get to try a new recipe.

After reading about Southwest Corn Dip on the Pioneer Woman's blog, I decided that sounded exactly like something we would enjoy.

And we did, but oh my goodness, did it make a lot?! I guess I should have known when the recipe called for four cans of corn, but good grief! It made two HUGE bowls of dip, and we barely made a dent in one! (Luckily, I had two family gatherings the following two days to go to, so the dip went to both events. But I'm not even exaggerating when I tell you I STILL brought home one almost-full bowl!)

Moral of the story? Half the recipe. Unless you are actually feeding an army. Specifically, an army that loves corn. In that case, make the whole thing.

Here's the recipe, but you can also see it at Tasty Kitchen.

Southwest Corn Dip

• 4 cans corn (15 oz.), drained
• 1 can chopped chilies (4 oz.), drained
• 1 can chopped jalapenos (4 oz.), drained
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 whole red bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 bunch(es) scallions, chopped
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 bag finely grated Mexican cheese (8 oz.)
• ½ bunch(es) fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (or to taste)

Mix it all together, adding the sour cream and cheese last. Refrigerate for an hour. Serve with tortilla chips.

This post will also be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

How did you spend your New Year's Eve?

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Sorry, Santa. No cookies for you!

On Monday night, I baked 10 dozen cookies. Well, if you subtract the ones I ate that broke and the fact that I didn't make them as small as the package recipe called for, I probably baked 8-9 dozen. (Hey! Don't judge. Most of that difference is from the cookie size!)

On Tuesday night, Smitty and I undertook the painful enjoyable process of covering pretzels in white chocolate and festive sprinkles. (And unfortunately, a few of those pretzels hardened too quickly to properly accept an even smattering of glittery red and green sugar. So I will be forced to eat them. Unfortunately.)

Today I'll deliver plates of the goodies to a few people. And with that, my holiday baking is over! Sure, I'll make lasagna and this deee-lish bread (I'm assuming. I haven't made it before. But just look at it!) for Christmas dinner, and even though our New Year's is turning out to be a small (read: tiny) affair, I'm sure I'll make a few tasty snacks. But no more baking!

If you'd like to read about yet another shortcut I've taken in the kitchen over the holidays, head over to Once a Month Mom. I'm filling on today while Tricia is enjoying her sweet newborn's first Christmas.

I know we've already talked about giving up on perfect holidays, but tell me today: What shortcuts are you taking in the kitchen over the next several days?

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C is for Cookie

These are not my cookies.

(Image by summerlovin)

The first Christmas after Mark and I got married, we decided to make cookies. I don't remember if we mixed up a sugar cookie recipe or if we went store-bought, but I distinctly remember lots of frosting, cookie cutters and sprinkles.

Yes, we definitely had sprinkles.

Actually, now that I think about it, if we took the time to mix up frosting and cut out candy cane and tree-shaped cookies, I'm pretty sure we used an actual recipe for that cookie dough.

And there was A. Lot. of cookie dough. Which made A. Lot. of cookies. I remember starting the process so excited and all newlywed-y, but by the time we got finished, we were so sick of cookies! We had cookies on every surface of that tiny one-room apartment. Lucky for all of our friends - because they all got a plate of those puppies. Or, trees and candy canes, as the case may be.

Since then, I haven't done much Christmas baking. Sure, I make all sorts of side dishes. And my Brownies From a Box never fail. But cookies? No, not so much.

So when I started reading about the fun cookie [recipe] exchanges going on this week, I was kind of bummed out. And then I was delusional thought I'd just whip something up, so I could join in.

And then I forgot.

But today I saw Jessica's First Cookie Recipe Exchange at The Mom Creative, and I remembered again. And I decided to stop by the store after work, get some cookie dough and frosting in a can, and write about how you don't have to be fancy to have Christmas fun in the kitchen.

And then I got to the store.

They were out of the frosting I wanted, and they didn't have any red and green sprinkles. So I bought almond bark and pretzels instead. And M&Ms.

You never know when you're going to need M&Ms.

Long story not short but finally to the point? I made almond bark-covered snack mix. Does it have a name? I don't know. My cousin makes it, and I call it . . . YUM. Here's a picture:

And here's the recipe, if you can call it that:

3 cubes of almond bark
Half cup of cheerios
Half cup of little marshmallows
Half cup of broken pretzels
2 packages of M&Ms

I might be wrong on the "half cup" part. Basically, I melted those three cubes and started dropping the other ingredients into the bowl. Possibly at random. And when it looked good? I put it in the fridge.

(You don't have to put it in the fridge unless you're in a hurry. To eat the YUM.) Makes 4 servings. Or two really big ones.

So, that's what I've got for you. If you have your own (real) cookie recipe or want to look at a couple or hundred, check out The Mom Creative's First Cookie Recipe Exchange and Blissfully Domestic's 12 Days of Christmas Cookies.

This post will also be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

What's your favorite kind of Christmas cookie? Have you made any yet this year?

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“Leftovers are the enemy.”

Or so said Ree Drummond.

On Monday night, I went to a book signing for The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook. My friend Heather and I joined about 500 other people (okay, mostly women) to hear Ree talk about cooking, homeschooling, kids and, of course, Marlboro Man.

The Man himself – and two of their “punks” – were along for the ride. They seemed to be willing participants in the book tour, enjoying themselves by grabbing the microphone (punks) and posing for pictures (Marlboro Man).

Now, before I tell you all the wonderful things Ree said, I’ve got to tell you about the event itself. I’d seen pictures on The Pioneer Woman blog and a couple other sites, and they all showed huge crowds and long lines. But here in Kansas City (where, just for the record, Ree said everyone is “beautiful and kind”), we were remarkably organized.

Of course, by “we,” I mean Rainy Day Books, the local bookstore that hosted the event. And they don’t know who I am. There actually is no “we.”

But if there were a “we,” I’d be extremely proud of us! Because that book signing was one well-oiled machine. We had numbered tickets and could pick them – and our books – up in advance. The doors opened early, and the bookstore only sold as many tickets as the building had seats. (Apparently, they’re real particular about fire codes or some such business.) The president of the bookstore spent 45 minutes asking questions from the audience, and Ree graciously answered them all.

She then gave us a brief Ethel Merman impression, drew winners for a few door prizes and sat down at the signing table. Then we lined up in groups of 50 at a time, according to the number on our tickets, and we got us some signed books. They even had people going down the line with Post-its, writing down the name or personal note we wanted on our books.

Aside from Ree’s little boys grabbing the microphone a few times and driving the bookstore’s president cuh-razy and some women who were too anxious to wait in line for their t-shirts (did I mention we got t-shirts?), the book signing went off without a hitch.

And then there was Ree. The Pioneer Woman herself! In person! She was sweet and witty and charming and beautiful. And I met her and talked to her and didn’t cry one bit. I may have forgotten to tell her my name. But I did not cry. Even when I mentioned Compassion and my friend, Sara.


So there.

Here are a few gems from the question and answer part of the event:

Question: What would your life be like if you hadn’t met Marlboro Man?
Answer: “Oh, I have nightmares about it! I can’t imagine my life without him.”

Question: What was your worst cooking disaster?
Answer: “A vegetable lasagna I made in high school. Instead of ¼ cup of chopped parsley, I used 4 cups. It took me a long time before I could eat parsley!”

Question: What is the best fresh herb to cook with?
Answer: “Right now, rosemary. In the spring, dill. And when I’m hormonal, it’s basil.”

Question: How do you stay sane and maintain balance?
Answer: “That question implies that I am sane!”

Question: Do you ever just fix boxed macaroni and cheese or canned crescent rolls?
Answer: “Oh, sure. My kids have a craving for processed food!”

Ree said that while she can’t respond to comments on her blog, she does read them all. When she was asked if she has a housekeeper and nanny, she laughed. She said she does use a weekly cleaning service, but in her words, “It’s not that glamorous, people.”

Speaking of not-so-glamorous, the topic of rinsing chicken came up. Apparently, the FDA or someone says that rinsing chicken is bad. I don’t know. But what I do know is that The Pioneer Woman agrees with me and rinses her poultry. She said, “I’ve rinsed chicken for 20+ years, and I’m fine . . . relatively speaking.”

She also quoted Steel Magnolias and Napoleon Dynamite, and announced that she’ll be publishing Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, the story of her romance with Marlboro Man. Look for it around Valentine’s Day 2011.

I wish you could have gone to the signing with me. But since you couldn’t, I’m giving away a signed copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. Come back on Friday with your Thanksgiving stories, and join me in Giving Up on a Perfect Thanksgiving. One lucky reader will win the autographed cookbook, a Pioneer Woman t-shirt and matching adult and child aprons from Dayspring’s Life Collection.

See you on Friday! (But, wait, come back tomorrow for Thankful Thursday, too!)