Habanero Jelly!!!

Yesterday marked my first attempt at canning. I made Habanero Jelly! A friend gave us a bag of Habanero peppers and I knew that we wouldn't possibly be able to consume them all. I thought about it for a bit and remembered tasting Habanero jelly a few years ago. It was hot but still sweet, perfect for cream cheese and crackers. I bought all the necessary accoutrement and after reading and rereading everything I could get my hands on, decided to give it a whirl. I remembered visiting my Oma as a child and seeing her basement filled with canned veggies. They had a large garden and she canned almost everything that came out of it. I just don't remember ever watching the process. I was worried that my little experiment wouldn't work out but it seems that all the jars have sealed. That means I have done something right! I am patiently impatiently waiting for SH to get home so we can taste test the inagural batch.

Taste test results:

The jelly turned out to be delicious. YAY ME!!! I am so pleased with my first attempt. I should have made more than 6 jars! I think I have a new idea for gifts this year. :)

Here, have a bite.

Ho Hum

After a long month of battling with the Unemployment people, my claim to collect unemployment was denied. I was so very angry and upset about it. I don't want to dwell on it, it makes me even angrier. I don't have enough bad words in my vocabulary to say exactly how I feel about the staff at Montgomery Eye Physicians. I will NEVER recommend them to anyone seeking ophthalmic/optometric help. I feel they are more worried about the almighty dollar than their staff or patients. Rant over. :)

I had a second interview for a job here in town, but they found someone better suited. I am not mad, if they thought someone else was a better match, no problem.

On a brighter note, I finished our taxes and we will be getting a nice refund. YAY!!! Bills can get paid off!!! I have also started a new crochet project. A friend's son was gifted with a baby blanket from me when he was born and he is now getting a Big Boy Blanket that he will be able to grow into. I was told that the original blanket is his Woobie. I was so very excited to hear that. The father says the blanket goes EVERYWHERE the baby does. For the new blanket, SH picked out the colors, Crimson and White for a favorite football team. The baby's mom won't like it since she is a fan of other team colors. Oh well.

Here is a recipe I found a few months ago and we absolutely LOVE IT.

Veggie Pizza

Y.U.M.

1 (8 oz.) & 1 (4 oz.) crescent rolls

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1 c. mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. dill weed

Mix cream cheese, mayo, garlic powder, onion powder and dill weed until thoroughly combined. Press rolls in an 11 x 13 inch cookie sheet to form one large crust and bake until done or golden brown. Cool thoroughly. Top with cream cheese mixture, spreading evenly. Top with diced veggies, pressed on cheese. I used finely chopped cauliflower, broccoli, green peppers, roasted corn and carrots. Use whatever veggies you like. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

Exploding Pyrex

Since I have been sick, the types of food I am able to eat numbers about 12. I cannot eat anything with a real texture. It bothers my throat and sends me into one of my coughing fits. I have been on a soup/pudding/jello diet since Tuesday. I bought a few acorn squash the other day and decided that would be something that I would be able to tolerate. I decided to prepare them like my mother always did. Baked in the oven, halved with a spoonful brown sugar and a pat of butter in the cored out center. I lovingly prepared the little squash and even made them a little nest of aluminum foil to prevent them from rolling around in the baking dish. They had been in the oven about 20 minutes and I went to check their progress. The oven door was open and I pulled out the rack just a bit so I could see them better. At that point, SH decided to step outside and opened the back door. Our back door is about 10 feet directly behind our oven. I don't remember what the exact temperature was outside, but it was COLD. A few seconds after he opened the door, the pyrex dish shattered. Glass went everywhere. I think I screamed since I was standing about a foot away from the oven. I was standing there dumbfounded. I thought Pyrex was some kind of superhuman material. Then I realized that this was the second piece of Pyrex broken in our house in less than 2 months. The first was a measuring cup that I broke while putting away dishes. Standing there with scalding hot glass fragments melting into the floor, I was at a complete loss. Where on earth do we start this daunting clean-up? SH decided to first be sure the glass didn't stick to the floor and did a preliminary sweep. We waited for the glass and the oven to cool before we started the main clean up. This of course happened at dinnertime and neither of us could use the oven for food prep. SH took out the oven drawer and took it outside to clean up this am. I just now finished cleaning up the interior of the oven. I am still a bit scared to use it for fear of microscopic glass particles getting into my foods. I decided to check the internet to see if this is a regular occurrence. Apparently it is and it mainly happens with the size dish I was using!!! 13x9!! Those of you with older Pyrex dishes, be careful!! I found out that over time, the Pyrex develops tiny cracks and if it experiences an extreme temperature change, it could shatter.

Charity blanket and a Chicken

With a week off, I have almost finished the charity blanket. I have 2 more strips to make before I can stitch them all together. Maybe that project will be finished over the weekend. I wanted to share a recipe we made for dinner last night. It was absolutely fabulous. It came from an episode of Good Eats on Food TV. The host, Alton Brown is one of my all time favorite TV chefs. His shows are so informative and his recipes are wonderful. This one is super easy and well worth the hour and a half cooking time. Peeling the garlic takes some effort, but you will enjoy the end result.

40 Cloves and a Chicken
1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer) cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
10 sprigs fresh thyme
40 peeled cloves garlic
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides in a wide fry pan or skillet over high heat. Remove from heat, add oil, thyme, and garlic cloves. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, carve, and serve.

When I started fixing my plate, my chicken fell off the bone it was so tender. The cooked garlic cloves are wonderful smooshed onto bread. This dish is going to be a regular fixture at our dinner table.

Banana Chocolate Crepes

I was watching a show on Food TV that featured Banana Chocolate crepes. I decided I needed to give them a test run. Here is the recipe.

Crepes:
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1 t. oil
1 T sugar

Caramelized Bananas:
3 bananas, sliced on the bias
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
cinnamon to taste

Nutella

Mix all crepe ingredients together. I used a whisk to make the mixture very smooth. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and lightly coat with oil/Pam. Remove skillet from heat and add 1/4 cup of mixture. Swirl the skillet to evenly coat with crepe mixture. Put back on heat for 2 minutes, flip crepe gently and allow to cook for another minute. Continue with remaining crepe mixture. I set the finished crepes aside until ready to assemble.


For the bananas, melt butter in large skillet. Add brown sugar and mix thoroughly. When combined, add bananas and cook for a few minutes. They will become very soft. Add cinnamon and mix to coat.

To assemble, coat 1/2 of crepe with a little Nutella. Add your bananas and flip the other half over to cover. Top with some of the banana juice if desired.

These are DELICIOUS.

Black Bean Salsa

I absolutely LOVE black beans. I was recently served a Black Bean salsa at a friends house and have been looking for a recipe to recreate it. I hear that Publix has a ready made BB salsa, but I prefer to make my own. Here is a recipe I found and made last night. The result is pure salsa-ey goodness.


3 15 ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 11 ounce can of Mexicorn, drained
2 10 ounce cans Rotel, partially drained
2 tomatoes, diced
2 bunches green onion, chopped
Cilantro leaves for garnish (The SH and I HATE cilantro so I omitted it)

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight before serving. I took it out of the fridge every few hours to stir and remix the ingredients.

I forgot to mention, this makes a LOT of salsa. The container I put it in is 13 cups.

You know you want some. ta-ta-ta-tastey-tastey.

Going Away Lunch

The Going Away Lunch today was scrum-diddly-umptious!! We went to a local bistro, Nancy Pattersons. Upon looking at the menu, I was totally unsure of what to order, everything sounded wonderful. I decided to go out on a limb and ordered their Beef Tenderloin Sandwich. It was wonderful. Lots of lean beefy goodness covered in Provolone, grilled peppers and onions. MMMMM. I decided to only eat half in order to save room for dessert. I have every intention of taking the other half to SupaHubby for him to try. He loves a beefy sammich!!! With almost half a tummys worth of room for dessert, I chose Chocolate Peanut Butter pie. You can NEVER GO WRONG with chocolate and peanut butter. It was delicious and very rich. This was the first case of me not finishing a dessert. I almost couldn't believe it. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals and I enjoyed the comradery.

I am so sad to be leaving, but I am also glad I was given the opportunity to work with everyone...and make new friends. I only hope that the chance will arise where I can return.

Want to read a review of Nancy Pattersons? Mash here