Bless My Heart I Married A Yankee

Willow and Lola Do you know where the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs" comes from?  I sure did not know.  I found it very interesting to find out it comes from England wherein the 17th century when it rained homeless dogs and cars would drown and float down the streets.  Thank goodness things are so much better.  Or is it?  Charley People need to be serious when they adopt a pet into their home.  Animals deserved to be loved and treated like your family.  I know mine are treated as if they are spoiled princesses. Ladybug Even the grandpups and grandcats are loved like family. Kitty, Bidi, and Winston Sorry, I do not have a picture of Abu.   MacKenzie send me a picture of Abu.   Have a great Friday!

I have to admit a very ugly secret.  I have not cooked all week.  Let me clarify, I have not cooked dinner all week long.  I was not being lazy at all.  I know it might seem like it BUT, when you have leftovers from 5 different meals, why cook?  Right?  It is very hard to cook for just 2 people.  Which means I tend to cook way too much food, as does Scott.   Well, tonight I am trying out a new recipe and I have already started my food prepping.   Any guessings on what I am cooking?  There are wine and chicken to come.  Looking forward to dinner..... What are you cooking tonight? Please take a guess on what I am cooking in the comments below.

Making these little gems was a bit of a fluke.  I had some bananas I had bought for my grandson to eat and he did not eat all of them.  Some way they were moved behind something and I did not see them for a few days.  Which was good because they were perfect for making banana nut something.  I normally make banana nut bread with extremely ripe bananas.  My banana nut bread is made with some leftover sourdough starter.  Click  here  for that recipe. Today I did not want to make bread nor did I want to use my sourdough starter so I went through several recipes that I had been given and a few online as well and came up with a muffin recipe that I thought would be really good.   When I decided to make muffins I also decided not to add my nuts in the actual muffin but to put them in the topping.  Yeah, I think they are a bit decadent but they were really delicious.   Since we are not huge on sweets in our household...

This recipe was shared with me about 10 years ago when I was in Key Largo over July 4th.  The person that gave it to me said she was given the recipe by a chef at an upscale seafood restaurant in Miami.  She actually made it one night when I was there and I was in love with it.  I was totally blown away that mayonnaise is used.  I am not a mayo fan but in this recipe, it makes the topping creamy and delicious.  Adding parmesan cheese give it a salt wonderful flavor that does not come out cheesy.  Sometimes I have been known to carmelize an onion and add that in the mix. As usual, this recipe is very simple, quick, and easy.  Start with grating some good parmesan cheese and mix that with some mayonnaise.  Mix it well and then top your fish with the creamy blend. This recipe I used salmon but I normally use tilapia.  Scott wanted me to use salmon and while I was apprehensive, it turned out delicious on the salmon. Cook...

Wow, I am so late in doing this today.  But alas, it is here.  FUN FACT FRIDAY!!! I can not take credit for this fun fact.  I have to give it all to my friend, Lyndsey.   Correction:  Sophie let me know that she thought Lyndsey got this great tip from Kayla (Thomas).  A bit THANK YOU to all 3 of YOU!! When cooking box Mac and Cheese....  Add some...    Yep you heard that correctly. Mix in a tablespoon and mix it all together. WHY??? It makes it more creamy.   Here is a bonus, it is also my Mother In Laws Birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Fay Cristina. ENJOY your first weekend of Spring.

I love pickled ginger, or should I call it gari. The Japanese call it amazu shoga.   If you have ever had or been to a sushi restaurant you have seen pickled ginger.  It is used to clean the palette when eating sushi. The spiciness and sweet gingery flavoring cleanse between each bite of sushi.  Normally you use young ginger which has pink tips when pickling ginger but you can use mature ginger.  Ya just need to know how to do it.   We grew ginger this past season and I had several hands to do something with.  Of course, we kept some to replant.  Since we love pickled ginger, I decided to pickle verse using other recipes.  At the end of the season this year, I will have more and I plan on doing more things with my ginger.  People think that ginger is hard to peel but the secret to peeling ginger is using a spoon to scrape off the skin. Once you have that down it is pretty easy to work with.  Of course, it d...

OVERNIGHT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE This recipe is very versatile.  It also is very forgiving.  I have always been intrigued by breakfast casseroles.  I mean, you just throw some stuff together and bam you have breakfast the next morning.   Bread is one of the key ingredients involved in a breakfast casserole.  Which means you want a really good tasting bread.  I use my  homemade sourdough bread .  Start by slicing your bread and then cube it. You pretty much mix eggs and milk together.  Some type of breakfast meat.  This one is with ham.  Chop some onion and peppers.  Shred some cheese.   Mix it all together.  Put it in a casserole dish and cover with foil.   The next morning take off the foil and cook. Dish it up and YUM, you have breakfast. OVERNIGHT BREAKFAST CASSEROLE Ingredients 8 to 10 slices of bread, cubed 8 large eggs 3 cups milk 1 pound ham or co...