The Wonder Years

Porch swings, beehive hairdo's, tiny waists and colorful aprons worn in the kitchen...iced tea (sweet of course), and salmon croquettes served up on melamine dishes. Those were the days.  The tiny waist days and beehive hairdo's may be gone, but we can still enjoy the rest.  Did you have salmon 'croquettes' when you were growing up?  I'm guessing they originated in the 50's, but they were still going strong in the 70's and 80's in our house.  One great memory I have of childhood dinners is that our food was placed on the table in cute little bowls and dishes...NOT in the pot it was cooked in.  OH no no no.  And my mother despised the bottle of ketchup even being on the table.  Was your house like that too?  We all sat down and had napkins, place-mats and ate like civilized human beings.  I'm sure I didn't appreciate it then (when there was a million dishes to wash), but I do now.

And those melamine dishes. Ahh. I recently found a pale pink melamine serving dish at an estate sale just like my mom had a million years ago.  Immediately a flood of memories came back to me of the foods that she served only in that dish.  Crazy I know...some people have a thing for shoes, I love dishes.  Recently, we made salmon patties, or croquettes as we called them growing up, and I suddenly remembered I had that pale pink melamine dish and I almost shrieked knowing I would get to serve those little jewels in the same type of dish my mom always did.  Crazy memories.

Maybe it's where you're from if you call them salmon patties or salmon croquettes, but the recipes for them all are pretty similar.  A few ingredients may vary, sort of like meatloaf, but they are pretty forgiving.  You can stretch ingredients or switch and substitute to your liking and they will still be amazing!  If you've never tried any, you should try Mrs. Boney's (a lady from our church),  but if you can't do that, try your hand at making these - you'll be glad you did.

WHAT YOU NEED:
2 - 16 oz cans pink salmon
(drained and picked clean of stray bones and skin)
2 eggs
1 medium onion, diced
1 stack of saltine crackers, crushed and crumbled
1-2 tablespoons mustard (any kind)
2-3 tablespoons dill pickle juice
salt/pepper
cornmeal to lightly coat the patties
butter/oil to pan fry


--Yield: appx. 18 patties
You can easily cut this recipe in half,
but the extras are super great as leftovers!

WHAT TO DO:

Drain salmon and gently remove any bones from the fish
and place the meat into a medium size bowl.
These bones crumble with the slightest pressure,
if you miss a few, it is NO. BIG. DEAL.
The whole process is kind of fun and gross all at the same time.

Add remaining ingredients to the salmon
and stir with a heavy spoon (or your hands).
Heat a heavy frying pan or skillet on medium heat.
Add in enough oil/fat to come up the sides of the pan
to about 1/2 to 1 inch.  You basically want the fat
to come up halfway to your salmon patties when they are frying.

While the oil comes up to heat,
grab a handful of the salmon mixture and form into a ball
then flatten to make a patty about the size of a soup can
(as was traditional growing up - we make ours a bit bigger these days)
Set the patties aside gently until all are made -
you can also refrigerate until ready to fry.

When you are ready to fry these little treasures
gently coat each side with a bit of cornmeal -
this will add a great little crunch to them after they are fried.

Now, fry those puppies up.
Fry on each side until a golden color.
Drain on paper towels and continue.

These are great served up with a little tartar sauce,
slice of lemon and your favorite sides.
This particular meal we had sauteed okra, tomatoes and bacon
to go along with our salmon patties...mmm.

ENJOY!

Dads and Eggs

I've said it before and I will say it again.  I am not particularly fond of eggs eaten alone.  But I love cooking them for my family and am fascinated with them.  They are so versatile.  The list goes on for miles with what you can do with eggs.  But, the expert of all experts on cooking the perfect fried egg is my dad.  He taught me his secrets.  There may be other ways of course, but, cooking the perfect fried egg is all about patience.  What's up with dads and cooking/loving fried eggs?  Maybe it's the bacon grease.  Yes, ours involve bacon grease.

Dad. Happy.  Must have had a fried egg for breakfast :)

A while back, my youngest daughter wanted to make a fried egg for breakfast.  It was approximately high noon, which was the usual time for her first meal of the day.  Since I was on a limited lunch hour, I verbally instructed her from across the room.  Small saute pan on the stove to heat up, check.  Eggs out, check.  Jar of bacon grease....uhhh, this is where she got a bit confused.  "You want me to put THAT much bacon grease in the pan?" she asked.  "Yes" I explained.  "So you're taking something healthy and turning it into something UNhealthy?" she said shockingly.  "Most definitely" I answered proudly. 

The trick, see, is to place just the right amount of fat in the saute pan and heat it on a low-medium temperature and once the egg is a bit 'set,' you begin to slosh the fat onto the top of the cooking egg to give it that little layer of white on top of it's bright yellow center.  Some diners and restaurants simply use a griddle, no fat, and cover the egg with a domed lid to cook the top of the egg.  Often times they may even give it a spray of water and cover it with a lid.  If you are on a bacon grease free diet, then by all means go this route.  But if you want to enjoy a good old southern breakfast once in a while, a little bacon grease will be a-okay.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Eggs (room temperature work best)
Bacon Grease (for this particular recipe)
Salt/Pepper
Small Saute Pan

WHAT TO DO:

Place a small saute pan on a burner of equal size
and preheat on low-medium heat.
Add enough bacon grease in the pan to come up the sides
by about 1/4-1/2 inch.
Let the fat come up to heat a bit before cracking your egg into it.

Next trick is to crack a whole egg directly into the grease.
Do a little tap tap with the egg
on the edge of the counter to barely crack
and then dump it's contents into the hot bacon grease.
I've cracked many an egg in my life and have mastered

doing this with one hand.

Don't worry about bits of shell -
the quicker and better you become, this will rarely happen. 
When it does, just use the same shell to scoop the piece out with.

Works like a charm.
If your grease spits and spatters too much,
turn your heat down a bit.
You want to gently cook your egg, not flash fry it.

Once your cute little egg is resting in the bacon fat,
leave it there for a minute or two
until you start to see white all around it -
then you can begin sloshing the bacon grease
up over and around it using a good heat proof spatula.
Continue doing this until your egg is cooked to your liking.
Slosh, slosh, slosh.  Ever so gently.

Gently remove to a plate and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper,
a pinch of salt, and you are ready to dive in.
Gobble it up with some bacon, toast
or biscuits to accompany that little piece of sunshine
and you are in southern heaven.
Adding several shots of pepper sauce
will just be the icing on the cake.  MMM.

Please pay no attention to that horrific blob of CATSUP
on that plate.  Who does this?  Eggs with CATSUP???
Kids.

Thanks Dad for teaching me your tricks!
You are indeed the master fried egg cooker and more! :)

ENJOY!

Comforts of Childhood

Do you have those go-to childhood food favs that you just cannot live without?  Meatloaf, roast beef, homemade mac n' cheese...or even just a simple slice or two of cinnamon toast?  Growing up in our household, cinnamon toast used to be a routine breakfast food.  Now-a-days, we like to throw it together when we're feeling snacky (and there's no ice cream around).  So simple and easy, and the more butter and sugar the better! ;)

WHAT YOU NEED:

Bread
Margarine/Butter
Ground Cinnamon

Granulated Sugar

Baking Sheet

Broiler

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat broiler.

Take a slice or two of bread
LIBERALLY spread the top side with butter or margarine.

Sprinkle cinnamon pretty heavy handed-ly
over the buttered bread - but not a solid covering.

To prevent sugar spillage,
place the semi-prepared slices on a baking sheet covered with parchment or foil
and completely cover the bread with sugar.

Place the bread covered baking sheet under the broiler
and watch carefully.
Watch for the sugar and butter to melt into each other
and then will begin to bubble - wait for it to become golden
and remove from the oven.
If you like it more crunchy go for a darker golden brown.

Floppy?  Then broil to a light golden color.

Side note:  You must resist the urge to eat immediately.

If you do, the lining in your mouth will melt away.

Allow the toast to sit a few minutes and then
feel free to devour.
DEEELISH.

Pour up an ice cold glass of milk and....instant comfort food.

I can still remember introducing cinnamon toast
to the girls when they were itty bitty.  So fun.

A tried and true tradition that can't be beat.

ENJOY!

Some RuRu in the Kitchen

Okay, so, if you're like me, meal planning week after week just gets monotonous sometimes doesn't it?  Back in the day, going through some old cookbooks would be the monotony melter.  A few years ago, the modern version of that would be watching a good dose of the Food Network for inspiration. Nowadays, Pinterest is our rescuer. But, even with that, time and energy is always an issue.  Here's where children come into play.  You know, those lovely little darlin's that you birthed, bathed and chopped up every morsel of food for?  Time to pay up suckas. When there are THREE children you see, that live at home, are all quite handy in the kitchen, it's time to bequeath that honor.  So, new household rule...each child cooks one night a week.  Yippeeeee.

First up, the baaaaaby.  Baby Rudy.  A whopping 14 years old now and ever so capable of using an oven or stove top.  This isn't her first rodeo though, she's whipped up quite a few things in the past couple of years.  But, this was most certainly her first full meal deal.

I must admit, I did offer a bit of aid to her in the kitchen...I mean, how is a mama gonna sit there and let her baby cut up raw, slippery, chicken all by herself (*eyes fluttering)???  Ol' mom also made a side of fried rice to go along with her creation - you can check that out HERE. That's just because I was craving it and had to have it with her Orange Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry.  Is that enough excuses for helping out the baaaaby?

WHAT SHE NEEDED:
FOR THE SAUCE:
1 cup orange juice

4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
(we sub'd Stir Fry Sauce that had oyster sauce as an ingredient)
2 teaspoons orange zest (we omitted this)
4 large cloves garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger

FOR THE STIR-FRY:
3-4 lbs raw boneless chicken
6 or more cups - fresh veggies of your choice:
we used an assortment of baby carrots, broccoli, snow peas, and mushrooms

salt/pepper
6 tablespoons cornstarch
olive oil

WHAT TO DO:
On a little aside, the FIRST thing she actually did was make dessert,
the day before!!! That's what I'm talking about!
Hey, we KNOW where our priorities are.
Mini cheesecakes made in muffin pans WITH
a salted caramel sauce on top.  Uh, yummm.

Now, I could stop now and you would never even miss the entree, right???
But, we must continue.

Okay - when it became meal time,
Rudy made the orange sauce for the stir fry.
She got out our little ninja machine
and threw in all of the sauce ingredients and voila.
You could use a food processor or blender as well.
Set sauce aside.

Next, she began removing the fatty little parts of the chicken
(we are picky that way) and sliced them into bite size hunks.

While that was happening, me, the mom, preheated the oven to 350 and
roasted some veggies in little piles all on one large baking sheet.
I drizzled the fresh veggies with a little olive oil and
continually checked for done-ness as each veggie
 required different cooking times.
Remove the ones that are slightly wilted but still crunchy
and keep cooking any others...the carrots for instance take a bit longer.
Salt and pepper the veggies please and set them aside.

In the meantime, toss the cornstarch and some more salt/pepper
on the raw chicken.  Toss to coat each chicken piece.

Finally, place a large heavy saute pan
on medium-medium/high heat.
(a wok would be ideal - but we no have)
Pour a couple of tablespoons of oil in the hot pan and
stir fry the chicken until cooked through.

Add in cooked, roasted veggies (or raw if you'd rather
not cook ahead) and stir to combine. 
Slowly add in the orange sauce to your liking.
I believe we used all that we had prepared. 
Of course we did.  We love sauce.

Now it's about time to call the troops to the table.
If you have some fried rice or just any rice -
and some soy sauce, even better...that would be most delicious indeed.

This recipe fed a family of five (most all adults)
with enough leftover for my hubby to take in his lunch the next day or two.
It could easily be dropped to half if you need less.

Rudy did such an awesome job.
As a mom it makes me so proud
because I know that with each cooking experience
she will become more confident and familiar with the kitchen,
how long things take to cook, slicing, dicing
and using seasonings for heavens sake.
It's a win for everyone.

Now, I must go whip them all because they are acting crazy.
Does it ever end?

ENJOY!

Melody's Miraculous Momofuku Meltaways

Hi!  This is Melody, our number one daughter.  Or, daughter number one...or, our first daughter. However you say it, she's pretty dog-gone amazing.  She loves fashion, blogging and has a dog named Pepper.  You can find out all about her awesome-ness HERE.  This week's Free Recipe Friday is all about her recent creation at the Taylor house when there was a craving for chocolate.

Surely this will not come as a shock to you that women, at certain times of the month, may or may not have a particular craving for something.  Most often in our house, chocolate.  There.  I hope I haven't shattered your world.  So, what do you do when you've scoured the entire house, candy bowls, refrigerator cubbies, and secret hiding spots in all the bedrooms for a morsel of chocolate and there is none???  You have to improvise.  And this dear daughter was the queen of improvisation when our chocolate cravings hit that day.

It all began with Pinterest.  You know that crazy Pinterest.  I just love it!  Anyway, she scoured her food boards and found a recipe she thought she would make.  Once she dove in, she realized we were short of most everything on her list.  But she was a real trooper and was not going to let that stop her.  Now THAT'S a craving for ya.  Below you will find HER recipe, not the one found on Pinterest.  We can only attest to the one below, not the original, and they. are. scrumptious.  They seem like they would taste very similar to what the Momofuku Milk Bar people created with their cornflake-chocolate chip-marshmallow cookies.  Mmmm.  (That place is DEF on my bucket list). 

Melody's Pinterest-y recipe called for real butter (we were out) and so she sub'd margarine which made the cookies flatter and actually yummier and less cake-y.  WIN. Then we were low on white sugar so she added a little extra brown sugar.  GENIUS.  It also called for chocolate chips, but we only had a few - so she added in some Cocoa Pebbles.  The recipe also called for almonds, which we did not have, so the Pebbles were also there to add a bit of crunch - and she just wanted to know what it would taste like.  CRAY.  She then added in some marshmallows for fun because that's how she rolls.  So, may I present to you the one and only recipe for Melody's Miraculous Momofuku Meltaways...perfect in every way.

Melody's Ingredients:

-- 6 Tablespoons margarine
-- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
-- 3/4 brown sugar
-- 1 teaspoon course sea salt
-- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-- 1 egg
-- 1 teaspoon vanilla (we used Mexican)

-- 1 1/4 cup flour
-- 1 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
-- 2 cups mini marshmallows
-- 2-2 1/2 cups Cocoa Pebbles

WHAT TO DO:
Preheat oven to 350.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter
and add in both sugars, salt, baking powder and soda.  Mix well.
Beat in egg vanilla to combine.
Add in flour slowly and then stir in cereal and marshmallows.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet
about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10 minutes.

When removed from the oven they may look a bit undercooked -
let them sit on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes and then
remove to a wire cooling rack where they will become
less fragile.  Repeat baking process until you have used
the remaining cookie dough.
When cookies have cooled completely,
store in a sealed air tight container.

Now, to go munch on a cookie or three!

ENJOY!