2010! Let the Good Times Begin!

2009 has ended and now it is time to make the New Year's resolutions and see if and how long we can keep them.

When I was unemployed I vowed to post every day to the blog and for the most part I was successful in my literary postings. Once employment became a regular part of my routine however, it seems I have been forced to abandon the daily postings in exchange for a few more hours of sleep.

So now that 2010 is upon us I am making a new resolution which is not to post everyday, but to post as often as possible.

As most of you know by now this blog does not necessarily have a central focus, but is more of a potpourri of photography, fiction, recipes and as a new addition in the new year I hope to delve in to the realm of Astrology and perhaps to do some astrological readings for anyone who may be interested.

For the purpose of this post however, I am starting the New Year with a recipe.

With the cold and "wintryness" of January, the holidays over and everyone zippering their wallets and mouths, around the middle of the month, when the January blues are singing their song, you may find yourself doing the cabin fever dance. When this happens ~ find your way to the grocery store, scramble through the kitchen cabinets and pull from the blog the following extremely easy recipe; although it may be a few more calories than you're willing to count you will not be sorry you did!

Pineapple Bread ~

What you need -

1/4 lb butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 #2 can crushed pineapple minus 2 tablespoons from can
6 cubed slices white bread

What you do -

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and then beat with a mixer; add pineapple and mix with a large spoon. Stir in bread cubes. Bake in casserole uncovered at 350 degrees for 3/4 to 1 hour.

Serves 6 to 8

Bonn Appetite!

Full of Soup recipe for Pieirogies with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat and Citrus Cream Sauce

This is a great recipe any time of year, but especially during the winter season; it is rich, filling and leaves you feeling all warm and cozy!

The list of ingredients is extensive, but the recipe is easy to make.

What you need:

- Two pound box of Mrs. T's or any frozen Pierogies ( you can make your own Pierogies if so inclined, but for the purpose of this recipe we will use frozen)
- 1/4 cup fine chopped shallotts
- 3 large cloves garlic peeled and fine chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger zested
- zest of one lemon
- 1/3 cup blended oil
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme minced
- skin of one fresh tomato finely diced for garnish (optional)
- one bunch scallions white part only minced for garnish (optional)
- 1 one pound bag baby spinach rinsed and rough chopped
- 2 cans jumbo lump crab, or you can substitute crab claw meat if you are watching your budget
- one pint heavy cream
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- salt and pepper to taste

What you will do:

Cook pieirogies in a large pot until aldente.

Transfer pieirogies from boiling water after cooked with slotted spoon to towel covered cookie sheet pan and let cool at room temperature.

In a seperate large saute or frying pan add 1/3 cup blended oil. Heat oil on medium high heat. When oil is hot, add chopped spinach, garlic, shallotts and ginger; cook til shallotts, garlic and ginger are tender. Add salt, pepper, lemon zest and thyme.

Cook for one minute stirring constantly; add vegetable stock. When stock begins to bubble, add heavy cream; stir occassionally until cream reaches a boil. Reduce mixture to simmer and let sauce thicken while stirring occassionally (about seven to ten minutes).

When sauce coates the back of your spoon add pieirogies and crabmeat.

Garnish with chopped tomatoes and scallions.

Bonn Appetite!

The Faces of Unemployment

Although I'm not quite sure I can match this fellow, facial hair for hair, despite the fact that the older I get it seems there is always something to pluck, pick or shave, I believe after four months of unemployment I may be taking on a strong resemblance to his physique. I try to convince myself that the mirror in all of its brilliant bevelment doesn't necessarily give an accurate reflection of self, but confusion vanishes and truth becomes self-evident when the scale reflects its wicked numerical renderings back at me and I am forced to admit the mirror is as honest as it is reflective.

Always slight of build at 18 years old I was 5'2 and weighed 85 lbs. Happily I consumed large bowls of Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Marshmallow and Rum Raisin ice cream and Tastycakes, the chocolate ones, with the cream in the middle and the vanilla icing with the chocolate stripe down the middle. But twenty years have passed, and a few glasses of red wine, margaritas, a few chips and hundreds of tomato salsa products later the 85 lbs. have multiplied to 110 lbs.

So what's 25 pounds in 20 years you may say; but if we continue to follow the same mathematical sequence, by the time I am 60 I will be 5'2 140 lbs and will not only resemble this fine fellow, but may be mistaken for his sister. The powers that be will take me to slaughter, possibly at a time when political correctness may no longer be revered and there will be no green groups or politicians left to save the older pigs for an elderly pig farm retirement community. All my years of paying into the system will have been for naught. There will be no Social Security or Medicare, only a space for me on an oiled and industrialized slab waiting to be packaged by my new caretaker Oscar Mayer!

No I must keep my lips sealed. I must not reach for those potato chips or that chocolate chip cookie. I must stop convincing myself that one more glass of red wine will lower my cholesterol to that enviable number, whatever it may be. As I continue to look for that job, wherever it may be, I must stop having lunch after each interview. I must drink black tea or coffee rather than a Starbucks Carmel Macchiato at each Internet cafe I visit; and I must skip that cocktail after the ending of each vacuous interview. Yes I will vow to keep control and composure over what enters my lips, but while I do this .....I will most likely post a recipe for Split Pea with Pistachio soup in one of my next posts.

So in closing always remember Bon Appetite and keep those lips sealed! :o)

As Promised in a Previous Post .....

Let me share with you a delicious and inexpensive recipe for an outstanding BBQ
sauce. In today's economy it is always good to save a little if you can and the following recipe is not only cost effective but super easy and lip smacking good!

BBQ Sauce

what you need ~

one cup ketchup
one tbs Dijon mustard
one tbs brown sugar
one tbs red or cider vinegar
one tbs balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
salt and pepper to taste

what to do ~

combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with a whisk until homogeneous.

that's it! ~ goes great on pork, chicken or beef and Happy Grilling! :)

Imagination and Creativity Culinary Style ~ By Jeff Davis

When I was a little boy I loved to watch a British chap on tv who seemed to be having a ball while he worked. He was Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet; even his name was fun and dealt with food; that was when I was 8 years old, now 40 years later chefs of both genders can become as famous and revered as actors or musicians. Thanks to our apparent insatiable appetite for reality tv, producers are intent on giving us as many regurgitations of "Top Chef" as we can stomach. I believe there will be fame and fortune awaiting not only the next great celebrity chef, but also pride for he who brain-childs the next creative and innovative way to utilize their own local resources, as well as their intuitive abilities and welcome their own internal culinary wizard into their living rooms and kitchens.

The issue here is ingenuity, even Einstein proclaimed to prefer imagination over intelligence; and with that in mind, embrace your own imagination and I'd like to share a little of mine with my own recession-proof recipe for Sicilian Bread Salad.

Sicilian Bread Salad

What you need for the salad:

~ one loaf black olive Italian bread
~ 1 1/2 pint Bleu Cheese crumbles
~ three large eggs - hardboiled, cooled and peeled
~ one large ripe tomato

For the dressing:

~ 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
~ 1tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
~ 1/2 tsp. A-1 sauce
~ 2 Tblsp. pesto (if you don't have pesto use one Tblsp. fine, minced fresh basil)
~ 1 Tblsp. Dijon mustard
~ 1 1/2 cup virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dice 1/3 of the olive loaf into 1" or 2" cubes and toast the cubes to make croutons, by spreading the cubes on an oiled cookie sheet and baking for ten minutes. Let bread cool. Dice the eggs into pieces about 1/2 inch to 1". Dice the tomato into similar size.

Add all the dressing ingredients except olive oil in a medium mixing bowl; then slowly whisk in the olive oil, so the dressing emulsifies or becomes a uniform consistency. Fold in the salad ingredients gently so as not to mash the egg completely. Salt and Pepper to taste. Either serve immediately, or refrigerate for no more than an hour. If it sits too long the croutons will become soggy.