Pantry Revisited

Check out the recipe for this at: Turkey Meatballs with Quick & Spicy Tomato Sauce and Whole Wheat Spaghetti Hosted this week by Oddball Oven Mitt So I'm excited and I have to share! I'm getting a new stainless steel french door freezer on the bottom refrigerator delivered today! We bought one last week and two days later they called and told us that there had been a recall on all of those refrigerators so we did not have one coming. They had to remove them from their floors and could not sell anymore of them. Of course, we were never told what the problem was. This meant another shopping trip for a refrigerator. We finally decided on the GE Profile and Lowe's was very easy to negotiate with. We actually got them to reduce the price by over $600. Keep that in mind as you shop. Now for this week's food choice. Any time I can prepare a spaghetti dish, you will find me racing to the kitchen. I had to make a couple of changes to the recipe. First, I did not have the chi...

Croque Monsieur anyone? Or "not just another ham sandwich." This week Kathy of All Food Considered has chosen Croque Monsieur. I've never heard of this, but I'm open to new things and it sounded delicious. I just hoped and prayed from the title it did not have anything to do with crocodile meat. Lucky for me, it was a ham sandwich. I guess I need to study up on my French! First you mix up some milk and cheese for a nice sauce. I left out the parmesan because that is not my favorite cheese. I used all gruyere. I sliced some fresh sourdough bread and toasted in the oven. Then you put the sandwich together with more cheese and some wonderful Virginia ham, thick sliced that I got from the deli. Then you bake and broil and voila! Wonderful, tasty ham sandwich (or croque monsieur if you prefer). I must get some new dishes for my blogging. All my photos are beginning to look alike. White plates, brown placemats, wicker chargers, etc. Speaking of purchases, I bought a new cl...

My friends asked for Big Bill's Carrot cake. They got Dorie's Chocolate Bread Pudding instead. The yankee loves bread pudding. I think his mom made it a lot when he was smaller. With my mom, it was usually teacakes with chocolate syrup on top. YUM. We eat a lot at a restaurant near us called John's Diner and they have fabulous White Chocolate Bread Pudding. I wondered how Dorie's would compare. I sent the yankee to the store (Publix) for some challah bread, but the ladies at the store told him to use these dinner rolls instead. They were out of challah bread of course. So I cubed them up and toasted them in the oven as Dorie suggested. I was thinking as I cubed this wonderfully fresh bread, that if I had wanted fresh bread, it would have been half stale. But since I needed it stale, of course it was deliciously fresh. Here I am blogging away while the dear DH is outside laying bricks on his hands and knees to expand our patio (at my request of course). Of course I get...

Sorry, put my name on the blacklist this week for skipping out on Ellie. I just couldn't do a lamb stew this week. But I'm sure everyone else did a fabulous job on theirs. Last week to sign up for my Pay It Forward give-away. Remember, the gifts do not have to be large, just something from the heart. Check it out below and leave a comment!! I will announce the winners this weekend. Have a great week!!

I could have spent my Saturday morning sleeping, reading a book, or soaking in a hot tub of bubbles. Because the yankee's birthday was this week, I had promised him a carrot cake. So I got up at 7:00 a.m. and began to bake Big Bill's Carrot Cake. I made it into a sheet cake instead of the three layers and it turned out great. We shared it with our dance friends on Saturday night and they all loved it. Because I am notorious for trying to multi-task, I also made this week's TWD recipe which was chosen by Holly of Phe/mom/enon . We are keeping this one for ourselves because I love chocolate and. . . I am selfish. Oh Lord it's hard to be humble… Thanks Holly - this was a delicious and very elegant cake. For me and baking it is like this quote from Louisa May Alcott - "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." Having read all the helpful comments on TWD, I knew to go to Starbucks to get my amarettini cookies and sure enough they had them...

A couple of months ago, Marthe of Culinary Delights had a Pay-It-Forward Give Away and I won! I thought it was a lovely way to express friendship in our food blogging group where most of us only know each other by our screennames and photos. I am now passing it forward so the rest of you can have an opportunity to keep the friendship going and growing. Easter seemed like an appropriate time for this type of give away. First, read the rules below that I copied from Marthe, next leave me a comment telling me that you desire to participate in this, and last I will post three winners next week chosen by random number! Have a safe and happy Easter. Rules: There are so many lovely giveaways in blogland, bloggers eagerly commenting and abuzz with the excitement of winning an unexpected gift, but that’s it. Someone wins, and then the generosity comes to a screeching halt and we go on with our lives. Nice, but lacking in momentum.This giveaway is a little different, however, because the “rece...

A lady opened her refrigerator and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves. "What are you doing in there?" She asked. The rabbit replied: "This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?", To which the lady replied "Yes." "Well," the rabbit said, "I'm westing." Be sure to see my post above and sign up for the pay-it-forward give away! I'm combining CEiMB this week with BAREFOOT BLOGGERS. First, in our CEiMB group, Salmon with Sweet and Spicy Rub was chosen this week by Pam of Lobsters & Fishsticks . I love salmon patties, but I would never order salmon in a restaurant. But the DH does, so I decided to give it a try. I sent him to the store for fresh salmon, and he came back with frozen. But it was very easy to cook this up and even though the cook (me) charred it just a bit, we both loved it. It was too cold here to grill outside and I do not own a grill pan, so I just used a regular skillet. The recipe is below. Thank you Pam for...

Amy of Sing for Your Supper chose Banana Cream Pie for our recipe this week in the Tuesday with Dorie's Group. She has a great blog. Jump over for a visit and see what she made and get the recipe. I can't wait to see what all the TWDers loved about this pie. I'm sorry, but I did not get to make the cream pie this weekend. Check back with me on Thursday, however, for some excellent salmon. I ask you, if Freud were a Banana, would we refer to a subtle yet overt expression of character as a Banana Slip? Anyone watching dancing with the stars? Gilles is my favorite.

You Eat Now chose Buffalo Chicken Salad with Bleu Cheese Dressing for our CEiMB group this week. Check out her great blog to get the recipe. So here is our conversation tonight on the way home from work. DH: What's for dinner? Me: Can you stop at the store and get romaine, buttermilk, yogurt, bread? DH: Sure. What's for dinner? Me: Buffalo Chicken Salad with bleu cheese dressing. You also need to get some bleu cheese if you like it. DH: I like it okay. Me: I can eat a "little" of it, but. . . DH: Can we substitute something else? I was excited about making this salad because I really love hot wings. Especially the boneless ones. But leaving out the bleu cheese apparently caused my dressing to be a bit on the bland side. I used gorgonzola instead. And the chicken (which I totally did not take the time to make it into wonderful and pretty strips like Ellie asked us to) did not have enough hot sauce on it for me. I found this salad pretty bland, but still . . . because ...