Easy Barbecue/Crock Pot Ribs & Tough Sales Calls

When I looked out the sidelights to see who was rapping on my door Saturday, I saw a young lady with long curly red hair wearing a white lab coat.  Huh…haven’t been feeling well but would my doctor have sent someone to make a house call?  Maybe the pharmacy was delivering or possibly it was someone from the Macy’s makeup counter.  Unlikely as that would be, I still made the mistake of opening the door – just about 6″ but that was enough.

I had a hard time hearing what the lady in the lab coat was saying since Lola was beside me adding to the conversation and I only caught part of it but when she handed me a scented candle I handed it back and said “no thanks”.  Oh, but wait, the candle was for me and it was free and I found it back in my hands as Curlylocks explained that she was handing them out so people would remember her because people just throw away business cards or flyers.  Then she mentioned that “they” were across the street cleaning my neighbor’s rugs and Judy had suggested that I might be interested in having a rug cleaned for free.  Okay, normally that door would have been shut by now but since my neighbor is selling her house I assumed this was a cleaning service she’d hired and I figured I should at least be polite (then call Judy later).  She got another polite “no thank you” to the rug cleaning and I tried closing the door again but Curlylocks was into super sales mode at this point asking questions that you’re not supposed to be able to say yes or no to…

“Well what kind of floors do you have?”  I’m not interested, thank you.
“It doesn’t have to be a floor, we’ll clean a mattress.”  No THANK YOU.
“You must have hardwood floors – you’d be surprised how much dirt is on them.”  NO (let’s just skip the thank you’s) NOT INTERESTED AT ALL.
“Oh, that’s a really big dog I’ll bet he makes a total mess of your floors.”  Ok, now you’re trash talking my dog…get outta here!  And just as I had the door about 1″ from closing…neeah!  this hand reached in with the fingers waggling and grasping and I heard her yell “I want my candle back!  You didn’t buy anything!”

Hey, what happened to free?  Silly me I didn’t slam her fingers but opened the door enough to pass the candle back which allowed her a few more tries to get in my house.  At that point I gave her 4 minutes to get to her car before I let ‘that big dog’ out.  She moved pretty fast I must say, but she was young.

Naturally a thank you call to Judy was in order.  No sooner did I say “Judy… about your cleaning service you sent over here…”

“WHAT?!??  Wait a minute, that was Kirby vacuum sales and I specifically warned them to not bother the other neighbors because no one would let them in and the only reason why I did was because I’m showing the house tomorrow.  I told them – no way was I buying anything but if they wanted to clean a rug here, go for it BUT don’t expect me to buy anything”.

Now if you’re thinking that letting the Kirby salesperson in your house is worth getting a rug cleaned, let me tell you what happens if you do (as Judy found out).  Curlylocks is just the fast talker who gets the cleaning person in the door.  She then sends in the poor overworked, underpaid & very young sucker who comes in to do the cleaning.  And  this girl is quite the tornado.

Once the rug was cleaned, Judy tried to get rid of the white tornado but she explained that she’s required to clean until she’s got about 100 discs from all different areas – sofa, chairs, mattress, walls, ceilings…she somehow even managed to produce a dirty filter by vacuuming a sealed hardwood floor claiming that all the dirt was coming from these invisible cracks between the boards.  As she flies from area to area, she leaves the dirty discs as proof that she cleaned and to make you feel guilty about living in such squalor  because you don’t own a Kirby vacuum cleaner.  At one point she had a bunch of discs lined up on Judy’s sofa and told her to sit down (uh…where?) but then said “now do you want to sit on that?!?”  Finally, when you try to boot her out of your house she gets all upset because she has to call her boss to come ‘inspect’ her work.  So you  feel bad for this little speed demon who busted her butt, for nothing and let her call “the boss” although Judy kept warning the cleaner that she was really pressed for time and this had to get wrapped up…but surprisingly the call to “the boss” resulted in Mr. Slick at the door in 28 seconds (obviously sitting in his car around the corner waiting to make that final irresistible sales pitch).

Judy’s very direct “this girl worked her butt off but I’m not buying anything” was met with shame – “do you see the dirt that your vacuum’s not picking up?” to “well you’re selling this house but what about your new house, don’t you want a good vacuum for your new house?”.   If you feel all that is worth having a rug cleaned for free and giving up a fine Saturday afternoon, then go for it but be ready for some tough sales moves AND when you finally close the door behind them, you get to clean up all those filter discs that they conveniently left all around your house where they cleaned.  And, as you pick those filters up, the dust and dirt falls on your rug, sofa, mattress…you know, just as a reminder of what a loser you are for not owning a $1,200 Kirby vacuum.

Look, I don’t mind someone trying to make a living BUT I do not like any salespeople knocking on my door AND if the product is that great, why do you need deceptive (lies) tactics to get into someone’s house?

Obviously if you don’t own a Kirby vacuum cleaner that can suck the paint off your walls and the varnish off your floors, you’re going to want to get busy really double scrubbing your house and you’re not going to have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen.  This recipe was recommended by Niki (who I’m sure was busy scrubbing her apartment) and is so easy to make that your house should be spotless before you sit down to eat.  On Niki’s recommendation I tried the Sweet Baby Ray’s Sauce which was really good but if you’re partial to a different brand or your own sauce, be sure to use whatever you like.

Easy Crock Pot Ribs
(for about 3-5 lbs. baby back ribs)

2    TBL     Paprika
3    TBL     Brown sugar
1/4  Tsp     Cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2-1 Bottle of Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue Sauce

- Mix the dry ingredients and rub into both sides of the ribs.

Place ribs into crock pot then pour enough Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce to cover the ribs.  Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hrs.  You can speed things up a little by cooking on high for a while (umm, do not put your crock pot in the oven though-just a little tip for someone who might have done that).  When the ribs are tender & meat is ready to fall off the bone, remove from crock pot, skim any fat from the sauce & cook the sauce in a small pan on the stove at medium until it’s reduced.  You can broil the ribs to crisp them up or put them on the grill then pour the sauce when ready to serve.

Spring – finally in New England

Just as I was ready to post a recipe for wild mushroom ragu, I got completely off track for a while with the horror in Boston.  Then last week I was going to post a really delicious paprika chicken with spaetzle and I caught “some kinda bug” that landed me in the emergency room Saturday for a couple bags of fluids. Since I’m feeling a little better but not yet in my full upright position, let’s talk about something other than food this time.

Like how we finally have some beautiful spring weather here in New England.  My husband’s busy flicking channels trying to catch baseball and the last games of the hockey season.  I’m not much for watching sports on tv although I don’t mind an occasional night out at Fenway Park to see a ball game.  Personally, I think there’s lots more action and fun going on down at the local Little League field.

For those of you not familiar with American baseball, it’s pretty simple to understand.  It works like this:

Somebody throws the ball (the pitcher) at someone who’s holding a bat (the batter).  Usually the batter misses and if he misses enough times he has to go back and sit down with the other guys.  If he hits the ball, somebody in the field usually catches it…and he has to go sit down.  If not he gets to jog (millionaires don’t like to run) to 1st base.  Then other guys from his team get up to hit the ball so he can move on to 2nd base, 3rd, and finally home.  It goes on like that for way too long. Of course there’s other things that happen and rules but most of it is throwing a ball, missing a ball, and guys adjusting whatever’s in their pants that for some reason always needs adjusting.

T-ball is the young kids version of the sport.  Since you don’t want a 5 year old throwing a ball at another kid’s head, there isn’t any pitcher and the batter hits off a “T” or ball holder.  They keep swinging until they finally/hopefully hit the ball and run to 1st base.  Since there’s no outs, every kid gets a chance to hit the ball until you’ve gone through everyone and then you switch sides.

Anyway, back to when we first moved here…I showed up at a meeting in town one night thinking that I was signing Niki up to play on a T-ball team and came home with my car loaded with a bag of bats, balls, Little League approved helmets, a whistle and clipboard with the list of my team.  I’m not positive that I got a whistle, that could have been when I went to sign Niki up for soccer and came home with my car full of soccer balls.  My husband thought that me being a coach was a riot until I got one of the bats.  Really, how tough is it to coach T-ball?

First thing… call all your kids’ parents to let them know when the practice and games are and what the kids should bring.  I had my list ready and figured I’d start with a friend whose son was on my team…

“Hi Sharon, I’ve got Jordan on my team and we’re having practice on Tuesday.  Have him bring his own glove and athletic shoes that stay on his feet.”

“Does he need a cup?”

“No, no, I’ve got a big water jug and I’ll bring plenty of cups for everyone… Sharon?  Are you snorting coffee through your nose?  Sharon are you ok?”

There, that went well and just 8 more calls to make.  Now in my defense, let me explain that I had 2 sisters, no brothers and 1 daughter so the only cups that I’m familiar with are sippy cups, Dixie cups, and coffee cups.  Any cups specific to little boys is not in my field of expertise.

Moving on to our first game since the first practice was cancelled due to rain.  Coaching T-ball goes like this:

“Okay guys, we’re up at bat first so everyone sit on the bench until it’s your turn to hit the ball.  Kaitlin, you’re first so put your helmet on.  Aw, I’m sorry sweetie but we only have blue helmets and everyone has to wear a helmet.

ADAM, only the batter can swing the bat so please put the bat down  and sit on the bench until its your turn.

Kaitlin, please put your helmet on because we have to start the game…I’m really sorry we don’t have pink…hey, how about if I put a pink sticker on a helmet  for you next time?  Excellent!

ADAM, stop swinging the bat and go sit on the bench!

Lookin’ good Kaitlin but why don’t we turn you around so you’re facing the ball – you can hit it better if you look at it”.

ADAM, Put. That. (deep breath) Bat. DOWN. and. SIT. on the BENCH.

That was so close Kaitlin, now just swing a little higher and try to hit the ball instead of the T.

ADAM take your glove out of John’s face.

You’re doing great Kaitlin, try again.  No, no don’t cry, you’re doing fine…you don’t want to play any more?  You want to try in a little while?  Well ok, if you want to go sit with Mom for a bit you go ahead and then come back when you want to play some more.

ADAM don’t pinch Jill…or anyone else.

Okay, Garin let’s have you up here buddy. You ready?”

And didn’t Garin nail it out to left field!  Wow this kid must have played ball…so why is he standing there?

“Awesome Garin, run to 1st base”.  And Garin started running.  Then he did a U-turn and came running back to me.

“Garin, that was great but you need to run to 1st base.”

So Garin’s standing there nodding and said…“Ok, but which one’s first?”  Ewww boy…just assumed we all knew that but okay need to remember to cover some basics.  He took off again after I pointed but came back to let me know…“you know I kinda figured that but I wasn’t sure so I figured I’d just check with you, thanks.”  He started off again but before I could get the next batter up, there was my pal Garin back at my side…“Umm, coach?  I got where 1st base is but after that do I run to 2nd base?  Okay, and 2nd’s that one way out there?  Good, that’s what I figured but I just wanted to check with you, thanks.  Oh yeah, then after 2nd is 3rd base?  Right got it, thanks.  Oh, when do I come back here?”

Now you might be thinking, isn’t this kid out by now?  I mean we just had a 10 minute meeting discussing all the places that Garin has to be in the next half hour or so.  First, this is T-ball so remember, there are no outs and everyone gets to run the bases.  Second, that ball that went flying out in the field?  Let’s see it went something like this…

It went between Jason and Mark who then got into a wrestling match, kept going until it landed at the feet of Amanda who didn’t notice because she was just about done making the pretty dandelion necklace for her mother and then had to run off to the sidelines to give it to her.  Brian did see the ball and ran over from the other side of the field but then threw it to 3rd base because that’s where his friend Michael was.  Their coach convinced Michael to throw it to 1st base but it only went as far Jessica who was doing a cartwheel at the time.  When she was done with the best cartwheel ever, she picked it up and rolled it past Brian on 2nd base who threw his glove at the ball then chased it and kicked it back to the outfield…you get the picture.  And although Garin had plenty of time to get to 1st base standing up, he decided to do a slide into the base which annoyed Julie who then started pushing Garin off the base because that’s where she was standing. Julie’s coach and I ran out for a quick explanation about having to share the bases and we finally got around to batter #2…whew!

Usually you play until each player on each side has hit 4 times but the other coach and I agreed that for the first game 3 innings was plenty and the mosquitoes were starting to bite.  Plus I had to get back to my bench to stop Adam from bonking the bat off the other kids heads to see how tough the helmets were.

And my husband thought I didn’t know enough about baseball to coach T-Ball!

BOSTON

I didn’t post last week because I was in the midst of a sewing project that was giving me conniption fits.  Last week that project was important to me, this week, it’s not so important.

This week’s post was going to be a vegetarian wild mushroom/onion ragu that I made for my husband’s niece for after she finished the Boston Marathon.  This was Chrissie’s third and anticipated last Boston run after taking a bye last year due to the extreme heat wave we had.  She flew to Connecticut from Washington, D.C. to her mother’s and they drove here Sunday morning then headed into Boston to pick up her number and tracking chip.  Let me say now that my family is safe.

After dropping Chrissie off at the race start in Hopkinton, John and his sister took their usual spot along the route to wait for her to go by.  People lined the streets as they do every year holding signs, wearing bright clothes so their runner can spot them in the massive crowds.  It’s a fun day, a happy, cheerful day and all runners get support every step of the way – the wheelchair racers, the National Guardsmen running with 80 lb. packs, the elite, the 2nd wave, and almost 600 runners in the 65 and older category.  Everyone gets cheers because it’s an event where just qualifying to run for 26 miles is an achievement to be proud of.  Everyone deserves their moment of glory because they earned it.

After Chrissie ran by, my husband sent me a text at 2:50 to say that they were heading for the train to meet her at the finish line. But thinking of the crowds in years past at the finish line, they decided to get off one stop before which was a longer walk but was fortuitous because it put them one street away at 3:50 when the explosions turned a joyful day into a gut wrenching mass of confusion.  Chrissie had finished the race but doubled back heading back toward the finish line to get her backpack from the bus when the blasts ripped through the area in front of her.  Clouds of black smoke billowed down the street and people were now running, pushing her away from the blast area.

Horror and confusion doesn’t adequately express the feeling in your gut when something like this happens and you do not know where your family is or what their status is. At 4:05 a text finally came through from my husband – “we are all right”.  Calls had been shut down but some texts were eventually getting through although service was obviously on overload.  You cannot believe the frustration of not being able to communicate immediately and directly though when reports were coming through of other bombs potentially being in the area. You just want to scream loud enough for them to hear … “get further away from the area, keep moving away”.

I just wanted everyone back home, safe.  But all public transportation was in lock down and everyone was trying to grab the available cabs. Really good people are out there though.  A kind stranger in a van pulled over for John, Mary, and Chrissie and got them out of the city so they could get to the car and finally come home.  Thank you ma’am…I don’t know your name but I know you are a good person.

I’m sure you’ve heard and seen many graphic, horrendous stories and photos and I cannot imagine what many people are dealing with.  The courage of so many people who helped the wounded and the quick response to get the most seriously injured to the hospitals certainly saved lives.  The heartbreak of the families of those who died in such a senseless attack makes me choke up and the multiple surgeries and recovery of the seriously injured who have painful recoveries in the months, probably years ahead.

A lot of people are asking “why”…why would someone do this.  I did, but now I’m not.  I don’t care why and when (not if), when they catch whoever did this I don’t want to hear a word from this sick creep.  I don’t want to have a look inside that snake infested mind because that person does not deserve one second of additional fame.

Boston and it’s people will move on.  No one will forget this tragic day or its victims but we will keep being who we are.  Boston’s a tough town but a beautiful town.  We might be crazy drivers and you might find our one way streets confusing, but if you get lost we’ll be happy to head you in the right direction…well maybe not if you’re a Yankees fan but everyone else.  We love our sports – Bruins, Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots – and we love our events.

Even before Monday’s Marathon I sometimes feel paranoid in large crowds but then I think of how two years ago, over one million people came into the city to celebrate the Bruin’s Stanley Cup win.  I was worried that day because Niki, a Bruin’s Ice Girl was in that parade.  The streets were packed and the roar of the crowds deafening.  She couldn’t hear when her Dad was calling to get her attention until the crowd around him started chanting until she finally spotted him.

And I think… if we can bring over one million people together in a wide open area, without a single incident then we can do it again.  I’m thinking that this year’s 4th of July celebration will be a united show of commitment to keeping this city open to everyone to enjoy.  And to those participating and watching this weekend’s London Marathon – Boston is with you.  May you enjoy a peaceful day of accomplishment and pride.

Cheesy Baked Sweet Potato & Zucchini

We planned a relaxing Easter brunch at J’s Restaurant at the Bolton Winery so that I could have a break from cooking a big meal and try to shake the winter blues (yes, it’s still freezing here).  I must have some sort of guilt thing going because rather than just take it easy I decided I just had to make a major stuffed roast chicken with half a dozen sides on Saturday night.  It might have gone well since I’d prepped almost everything early in the day but after setting the oven temp and putting the chicken inside, I forgot one thing – actually turning the oven ON.  Now there’s not much you can do with a 7 lb. bird when you realize your mistake 2 hours later and the dinner planned for 7:30 pm turned into a 9:30/10:00-ish event with me just trying to keep my eyes open.  If I had been thinking, I should have taken the stuffing out of the bird and cooked that in foil to speed things up, but alas I did not think of that.  I also forgot to embarrass Niki with an old flashback to when she was 5 years old.  So I’ll do it now…

I was in the kitchen when Niki came racing in, back from church with my husband.

“Mom!  Mom!  MOM!!!   Did you hear what they did to Jesus Christ?”
Whoa, this sounded like breaking news. Not sure where she was going with this and was expecting something had happened at Mass, I let her go on…
“Well they hung him on a cross!”
Okay, I already knew that so all I could say was something like, yes that was a really horrible painful way to die.
 Mom, that’s not the worst…they made him carry his cross.”
Oookay…still not sure where this is going but I could tell I was missing the point in this conversation.
“MOM!  The cross was made out of WOOD – like my swingset – I’ll bet he got splinters.  Now those things really hurt!”

Ah, finally I get the picture and I guess what it comes down to is we can only truly relate to what our own experiences are, especially when you’re only five.

But back to  our Saturday dinner, everything did come out fine, especially these cheesy baked vegetables which I had prepped well ahead of time.  I used a large zucchini and two medium sweet potatoes but any type of potato or squash would work.

It’s so easy to make and you can have it all prepped ahead of time, ready to pop in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at 375°.
- Dice a medium white onion and 2 cloves of garlic.  Saute onion in butter until translucent – add the garlic at the end so as not to burn.  Spread onion/garlic mixture in the bottom of a small pan (depends on the amount of vegetables you’re making).
- Slice the zucchini and sweet potato, about 1/4″ thick then arrange in layers in the pan, dotting the top with bits of butter.  Bake until vegetables are just softened, then sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.  Put back into the oven for a few minutes until cheese has melted.

PROFITEROLES – Under 200 calories- I did it!

Have you ever read a book and the author mentions some kind of food…and you suddenly get a craving for that food?  That just happened to me while reading a Michael Palmer book that involved poisoned profiteroles.  The image of the profiterole (minus the poison) stuck in my mind and kept me awake that night.

Mascarpone ricotta profiterole with melted Nutella & whipped cream

Eating a profiterole was still on my mind the next day when I read Anastasia’s Spicy Chocolate Fudge Brownies and her skinny challenge to post a dessert recipe under 200 calories per serving.  There’s still time to participate (by this Thursday, 3/21) so just post your dessert idea and let Anastasia know that you’re in.  I know that I’m lucky to not have to watch calories and after researching every ingredient in this recipe I can tell you I wouldn’t last long on any diet – it’s too much damn WORK figuring all that out.  But I wanted a profiterole and it had to be good…just under 200 calories.  I probably shouldn’t have gone to Giada’s website for something like this but I love everything Giada.  People confuse me with Giada all the time…okay, other than the hair.  Well, our eyes and nose are a little different and she fills out a dress a little better than I do…okay, so the only thing I have in common with Giada is that we both end up in the kitchen sometimes.

Anyway, I didn’t want a boring cream puff with whipped cream filling.  After looking at the ricotta & mascarpone cheese filling in her recipe I had to find a way to get one of these under 200 calories.  My initial calorie count was somewhere around 236 calories so I had some ideas to bring that down:

1.  Get skim milk ricotta.  I did that and I’ll never do it again – bleh! – especially after finding out that it’s only a difference of 7 calories/serving for “real” ricotta.
2.  Cheat a little – make 13 instead of 12 pastries (I did that but turns out that I didn’t need to after all)
3.  Change up the topping from Nutella to whipping cream & berries (I tried both & actually prefer whipped cream with raspberries on top).

Now the funny thing is, after spending all day Sunday trying to figure out how many calories in each ingredient, come to find out you can go with the whole milk ricotta, make 12 pastries, AND put just about any topping on AND you can enjoy ONE of these for under 200 calories.  Personally, I’d go for 2 of them (the whipped cream & berry version, it’s only 116 calories). To help you out with that I’ve researched how you can burn off 100 calories:

1.  Shoveling snow: 15 minutes (we’ll be doing it again tomorrow)
2.  Carrying an infant: 24 minutes – if you don’t have an infant, take someone else’s but get permission first
3.  Cooking: 34 minutes – just about the prep time for this recipe!
4.  Rearranging furniture: 14 minutes – now that’s not bad at all and you can always do it for 7 minutes if you have to put it all back where it was.
5.  Playing with children: 23 minutes – are you kidding me?  This depends on the kid & whether you’re playing soccer or Candyland (who comes up with these things?)

I found another website that was a little more creative – how about these:

1. Slather on lip balm 765 times
2.  Wiggle while you watch TV for 40 minutes
3.  Use the remote to channel surf for 68 minutes
4.  Bounce a volleyball on your knee 600 times
5.  Swing a lasso over your head 375 times or…
6.  Milk a cow for 34 minutes

PROFITEROLES w/Ricotta Mascarpone Filling

Pastry (67 calories):
½         Cup water
¼         Cup unsalted butter
1 ½      teaspoons sugar
            Pinch of salt
½         Cup all purpose flour
2          Eggs

*  Combine water, butter in slices, 1 ½ teaspoons sugar and salt in heavy sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, stirring while the butter melts.  Slowly add flour over medium-low. Heat for about a minute, remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
*  Beat each egg into mixture one at a time, stirring until you get a very yellow, sticky mixture and all of the flour has been combined and smooth.

*  Using a pastry bag or teaspoon, make 12 small mounds leaving about 2” between each -the pastry will double in size.
*  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes, until pastry is browned.  Allow to cool completely before cutting & filling.

Filling (37 calories w/skim ricotta; 44 calories w/whole milk ricotta – go for it) :

8          oz. (1 container) mascarpone cheese
¾         Cup ricotta cheese
1          teaspoon vanilla extract
3          Tablespoons sugar

*  Mix mascarpone, ricotta, vanilla, and sugar in medium bowl (I used the mixer to get a fluffy texture.  Refrigerate until cooled.

ricotta mascarpone mixture

*  Using a serrated knife, cut tops off pastry and fill each cavity with cheese mixture.

Most will have this little air pocket in the middle

TOPPING SUGGESTIONS:
Variation 1 (70 calories):
½         Cup Nutella hazelnut spread
¼         Cup whipping cream

*  Put Nutella and whipping cream in a small bowl & microwave for about 30 seconds.  Drizzle on top of filled pastry or…

whipped cream (slug of Frangelico) & raspberries

Variation 2 (10 calories):
¼         Cup whipping cream
            Fresh raspberries

*  Whip cream then top pastry with a small mound & add fresh raspberries

Nemo-the gift that keeps on giving & Award Thank Yous

I could really appreciate John’s post (from the Bartolini kitchens) about grilling swordfish knee deep in snow.  As a life long New Englander, a little snow doesn’t stop me my husband from grilling when I’ve got a craving for a juicy barbecued steak.  You all heard about Nemo, “the big one” that hit us a month ago but you probably didn’t hear about the 6″ that dropped a week later.  You most likely weren’t paying attention either when our forecasters went nuts screaming about a huge storm last week.  It was supposed to start Wednesday night and continue on all day Thursday. Sigh…I changed an appointment from Thursday to Friday assuming everything would be cleared by then.  I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or mad when I woke up to a pathetic snow flurry that just spit all day leaving not much of anything.  Assuming we’d dodged our final winter bullet, I wanted to cry when I got up to this on FRIDAY morning:

Yes, that would be another foot plus of snow.  It looks pretty (for a couple of hours) until you get that barbecued steak craving that I was talking about.  At which point you let the dog make a path to the grill, and like John, put a hat on yourself (and your dog if you’re getting a little cabin fever)….

And grill up a steak, then smother it in mushrooms sauteed in butter (I know it’s hard to see but there is a steak under there):

Not a great picture and certainly not “the money shot” that Trixfred30 over at Happiness Stan is always looking for, buy hey it was a cold dash from the grill to the house and you can’t let a good steak get cold.

Putting aside the winter blues , two wonderful blogging friends have nominated “The Table” for more awards and I want to thank them for lifting my spirits.  I hope that you all to stop by their blogs to appreciate real talent.

For a truly enjoyable and inspirational food journey, swing by to say hi to Mandy at The Complete Cookbook – she not only has many interesting food ideas and beautiful photography but very handy conversion information that I use when I try recipes from other countries.  Of course I still adore Mandy even though it’s summer in South Africa…I’m not resenting that at all…really.  Mandy, thank you for the lovely Reader Appreciation Award, I’ll take roses any day! 

A big thank you to While He Was Out for nominating me for the Liebster Award.

Just take a look at this link for No Bake Mulberry Cheesecake for inspiration.  I feel sorry for her co-workers who missed their birthday celebration.

I truly thank the above people for thinking enough of my blog to express their appreciation and thank all readers for stopping by to read and hopefully chat.  I feel that I have friends all over the world and, since I just found out what a bucket list is, would add a visit to all of you to my list.  Until then, this is my appreciation and award list to those fellow bloggers who brighten my day and always inspire me with new ideas. I know that some of you don’t participate in awards, but I would still like to thank you all and steer others to your blogs so that they may enjoy them as much as I do.  May I recommend the following blogs:

* Bam’s Kitchen is now at a new address…nah, she’s still personally in Hong Kong but take a look at her beautiful new site.  As a matter of fact I’m going to give her South African Bobotie a try in a few minutes.
* World traveler and avid cook, Susan at Our Kitchen Inventions is enjoying her Atlanta spring while I’m still shoveling but she does meet some interesting characters in her travels.  This guy might lose his chestnuts but he’s definitely not stressed when he goes home.
* If you have a sweet tooth as I do, take a look at the creations on Butter, Sugar, Flowers – I only wish that I had the talent to make something look this beautiful…Buttermilk Rosewater Cupcakes. No matter what your personal preferences, you’ll always get some alternative suggestions for her ideas.
* I always enjoy stopping by Danny’s at 1227 Foster but take a look at his Creamy Prosciutto Pasta.  I’ll say it one more time – check out all of his Mac & Cheese variations – the man is a genius.
* Russian Mom Cooks…While Chasing Kids is a fantastic place to stop for very unique, Russian inspired cooking ideas.  I’m not sure how Anastasia does this while chasing kids, but somehow she manages to keep it all together.
* If you love a great laugh, well researched food info as well as some excellent down home cooking, be sure to tell Adam at The Unorthodox Epicure that I said hello.  I can’t guarantee what he might be writing about on any given day – you might hear about his former Cruella DeVille boss, food labels, or shoppers in pajamas – but you’ll always get a solid meal idea.

Cinnamon Rolls for special friends or occasions

I always make these cinnamon rolls for Easter and Christmas and then randomly when I get a craving for warm, yeasty, cinnamon-y,  rolls dripping with melted butter.  These are my idea of comfort food. So I knew what I would make for a dear friend and neighbor who just got home from heart surgery (it doesn’t use that much butter & he claims that the doctor said he has no dietary restrictions…so, no, I’m not trying to kill him).  Tom may have some mechanical problems with his ticker but if ever there was a person with a ‘good’ heart, it’s Tom.  We’ve been friends and neighbors for 20 years now and there’s never been a time when I needed help that Tom wasn’t there. There was the early evening during a blizzard when I looked out my window because I heard a snowblower in my driveway.  Yup, it was Tom starting to clear the 3 feet of snow that had already accumulated so that my husband could get into the driveway when he came home from work.  Then one summer I asked for advice on the basics of building a tree house with my daughter.  We were thinking a floor and a few boards nailed on the sides but I didn’t know how to make the sides.  We had something like this in mind:

Next day, Tom’s construction crew was in my woods and they came up with this…

And I’ll never forget the day that a huge tree fell on our house, crushing the screened back porch and punching a hole in the main roof of the house.  Tom happened to be driving by when he noticed the commotion and within a couple of hours he was on our roof putting a temporary patch on.  I could go on but I think you get the idea of what kind of guy Tom is and I have to ask you – do you think there’s anything wrong with his heart?

You do need a little time to make these rolls since it requires two risings but the process isn’t difficult but oh, they are worth it.

Sweet Dough – for Cinnamon Rolls

1/4     Cup milk
1/4     Cup sugar
1/2     Teaspoon salt
3        Tablespoons butter
1/4     Cup warm water
1        Pkg active dry yeast
1        Egg, beaten
2 1/4  Cups sifted flour

*  Heat milk in small saucepan until bubbles form on edge; set aside
then add sugar, salt & butter to the milk, stir until butter melts. Let cool to lukewarm
*  In large bowl (you will mix all ingredients in this) pour yeast over 1/4 cup warm water.  Let yeast sit for a few minutes then stir until
dissolved & all lumps are gone.  Add milk mixture.

Add milk mixture to yeast

*  Add egg and 1 1/2 cups flour, stirring with wooden spoon until
smooth and dough leaves side of bowl. At this point I use the mixer
with dough hooks as I add 1/2 cup of flour, then final 1/4 cup flour.

*  Knead dough w/mixer or by hand until it has a satin appearance
and an elastic feel. Remove from mixer & knead it a little more by hand

Finish adding flour using dough hooks on mixer

*  In large greased bowl, slam dough ball into bowl, then pick up &
slam it down on the other side (kids love doing this). Cover with a
cloth & let rise in a slightly warmed oven until about double in size
(usually about 1 – 2 hrs).

Put dough ball into greased bowl, cover & let rise until double in bulk

*  Punch dough down (another good job for kids) then knead for about 10 minutes on lightly floured board.  Roll out in a large rectangle (about 12×8″), then follow directions for the cinnamon filling.

After dough has risen, roll into rectangle then spread softened butter

Cinnamon Swirl Filling

1/4     Cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1        Teaspoon cinnamon
1        Tablespoon granulated sugar
2        Tablespoons softened (not quite melted) butter

1.  Combine sugars and cinnamon with a fork.
2.  Spread softened butter onto sweet dough then sprinkle sugar mixture all over.
3.  Roll dough tightly, pinching edges.  With seam side down, use a serrated knife to slice into about 10 sections.  Place each roll into a greased muffin cups & pull center up slightly.

using serrated knife, cut into about 10 sections

4.  Return muffin pan to a slightly warmed oven until rolls rise.  Remove from oven, preheat to 350°, return rolls for about 14 minutes (yes, 14 is how I like them because they come out not doughy but just slightly cooked & soft).

I know some people like these with a little bit of glaze or icing, but I’m a purist and prefer slicing them in half with a pat of butter on each side fresh out of the oven. If microwaving later, I cut in half with butter and warm for 20 seconds.