Friday Friend Recipe #154--BBQ Green Beans

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 18 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #154

My Mom's (or my brother's)

BBQ Green Beans

Please don't judge the green beans on these photos.  Taken in the dead of winter with no natural light!  (sigh)  I just don't want to do it all over again.

The beans are good!

They sound weird, true, but they are very good.

So...if I am being honest, my mom turned in this recipe as her's but the only time I've ever had it has been when my brother has fixed it and in my mind that turned into my sister-in-law, Sylvia, who fixed it.

So I was going to tell a story about Sylvia... seen here with my brother below.

So maybe this story is about them both?

In May, we met them at our family cabin in Oregon.

They are 'happy waker-upers' who talk happy talk and cook happy breakfasts, all the while BEING HAPPY!

HAPPY!!!

(I just sat and watched them cook for me!  With coffee in hand.  I am not so happy in the morning)

It was a cold, misty, drizzly weekend--we played cards, and Sylvia won, so she got her name on the family cabin-trophy, THE CABIN CUP.

I made everyone go for a drive--down to the lake,

In the country to see old barns....

Found an old country cemetery....

With graves dating back to the early 1800's.

(very interesting)

And I just like cows.....so I'm throwing in a couple of photos of cows we saw along the way.

But the most fun we had that weekend was going thru some more of my mom's old tubs of pictures and letters.

My mother saved everything and my dad was a romantic-- so, we have letters, cards, short love notes--you name it, we have it.  We are tossing things slowly, but we had some good laughs. Everything was fun to read.

We'll call this one 

"Even Richard: an ode to the Handyman"

in which my father writes:

Kiddo--because that's what he called my mom.

Then he goes on to 'type' her a love note.

(most likely because his handwriting was so bad!)

Where he says the famous line 'even Richard'

(aka The Handyman)

(and by great grandkids he meant wonderful, amazing)

POOR RICH!!  Poor Handyman!!

Even?

Even?

This gave us a great laugh when we read it!  We wonder what he had done?! Because by all accounts they loved him much more than me, their own daughter!

My dad always did think he was funny tho... I also found this note when I was cleaning out my own closets. 

Twenty years ago my dad sent me money for Thanksgiving Dinner.  They were coming down for the week and they always worried that we spent too much money at the grocery store for them.

(and yes, my dad was a private investigator)

(and I don't live at that address anymore)

But gambling?  Dad!  Yes, we lived in Nevada but we don't gamble!

I mean yes, we have a slot machine in our garage, and we don't NOT gamble--I mean if company from out of town comes, we take them, but  day to day gambling?  Nope.  No one who lives in Nevada does.  It's  (shhhhhh......) boring!

Well, I guess my grandkids don't find it boring... nor the Handyman when he passes by his slot machine in the garage on the way back from taking out the garbage--every single time!

(I don't know what the fascination is--you can't win, as we don't have a bank to pay it from!)

I meandered (again), the Handyman doesn't really gamble.  My dad just finds himself amusing.

(We all found him kinda amusing too!)

Anyway--  the BBQ Green Beans are good!

And my parents obviously liked my sister-in-law more than my husband.

Or maybe we just haven't found 'her' note yet.

Here Sylvia is about to become a mother of one of those FIVE (my dad wrote that note before number 5 came along. Or? He only liked 4 of his grandsons?  Who knows?)  great grandsons and the Handyman?  Was having sympathy, I guess.

They really are great in-laws!

They were the BEST when my parents were ill.  

THE BEST!

Even Richard.

Okay---this was recipe #154

140 left to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #96--Chicken Enchiladas

Recipe number 96!

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook
What is it, you may ask?
About 15 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.
I decided to count those down!
Why?
Because the one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog"
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said,  "you'll never EVER do that."
Well,  maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipe #96
Sylvia's Chicken Enchiladas.

When one makes a community type of cookbook, like this, one tends to get duplicate recipes...and all are printed in the book.... because they are much loved recipes from each participant. (or whatever my friends want to be called, those who sent in recipes)

You can see other Friday Friend cookbook enchiladas here.

Sometimes they vary an ingredient or two, sometimes the cooking process differs a bit, but the trouble is---most of the time, they look alike.

TASTE GREAT, but look alike.

But you know what---I'm still cooking and posting about them.

I love my friends and family.

And their cooking!

These are my sister-in-law, Sylvia (one of my favorite in-laws) Chicken Enchiladas.

Sylvia says she's not a cook, but once again, I must state that the people who don't like to cook, always have a great repertoire of recipes.  Ones that people beg them to bring to get-togethers.

So, that's just what I did with Sylvia's enchiladas.... I took them to the 2nd Sunday Church Potluck.

2 pans....right there next to the hot sauce.

I think this time I combined her recipe and mine.

I made her's but added the packet of taco seasoning to the meat.  That's all!

It's a great make-ahead too!!

This one is from an old-VERY OLD notebook of mine.  Notice that old computer printing!

And now.....ta da!

My sister-in-law Sylvia.

Here are her previous recipes:

Fried Rice

Saturday Night Salad

As I said before, she is a much loved and truly important part of our family.

She is now the keeper of the SATURDAY NIGHT SALAD!

(private joke between she and I)

Here is my story about Syl.  

 One day about  20 years ago, when we were up in Washington visiting family, my  15 year old son Luke  found himself in the car with his Aunt and in conversation, she said "It's hump day".

It WAS Wednesday, after all.

But Luke had never heard that expression before.  What his young, sophomoric, teenage mind heard was  "Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Kevin are trying for a baby TODAY" 

And he was pretty grossed out!!

He couldn't for the life of him, figure out why, WHY his Aunt would be telling him this.  

He didn't tell us for a while, he just figured that Aunt Sylvia was confiding in him and he was keeping that burden to himself.

When this all came out a few days later, we laughed and laughed and Sylvia was embarrassed, but really who doesn't know what Hump Day means?!

And now for the token photos!  Yay!

These were taken quite some time ago....like  20 years ago.  I thought I'd go with the 20 year theme---this could have been the day! 

The Hump Day!!!

We were up at our family cabin.  About to play miniature golf...and there was this picture of this guy in the mini-gold window. 

We weren't sure why.

(and if I could get my shorts up any higher it would be a miracle!   Or maybe I  needed a new bra!  Sheesh, this is a trashy post, huh?)

Sylvia looks exactly the same--- there is no teasing her about it. Ex Act Lee the same. She does not age.

But the Handyman?  His hair is not so white here.

We have Deer come up to the cabin door for food--bread, fruit whatever-- we used to feed them, but we no longer do. For health reasons...their's and ours. Human food is not really good for them and they can get quite aggressive if they think you have some.

But 20 years ago---Sylvia is feeding them bread.

Family photo....Sylvia, my nephew Jeff and my brother.

They did go on to add one more son to their family.

He is 19 now.  So.... Hmmm.... maybe this was the day?

The hump day.  

I mean Wednesday of course!

My son, Dustin and Aunt Sylvia--20 years ago.

The closing of the eyes is really no accident.  He was a brat about getting his picture taken.

The whole gang!  Except for me and my mom.

20 years ago.

My dad and my husband look so..... so.....

weird.

Yay!

Number 96 is done!

442 more to go!  (I might exaggerate just a bit)

That's my Friday Friend Story!

Cooking Club #3

Let's all go to Hawaii!

This was our theme for meeting #3 of the Cooking Club.
(to check out all of our cooking club fun click here)

The Cuisine and customs of Hawaii.

Hawaiian cuisine is a hard cuisine to pin down, only because it is so influenced by so many other cultures, but we all had fun making up our own versions of Hawaiian dishes.

Don Ho was our official mystery guest--I guess.

Debbie E. was our host, and she laid a pretty outside table for appetizer's

and a pretty inside table for the meal!

And here she is in her coconut bra showing off her shish-ka-bobs.
(during dinner talk, I heard that she made her own soy-sauce.  I'll have to find out her secret)

We were sad that Gina and Mark were out of town again, but  happy that Shelly and Lorin could step in as our permanent subs.

Now, I think she really has a permanent place at the table--whether someone is absent or not.

She can bring the bread. 

This time she brought the dessert.

A Yellow cake topped with tropical fruit.

As always we had this great evening with friends, but what did we learn about Hawaiian Cuisine?

Well... we are pretty sure it was Poi and Seafood at the beginning,

pre-dating contact with Europeans and immigration from China, Japan, and the Philippines/south pacific islands. 

We didn't really want Poi (and I don't know why we didn't do some seafood), but we were glad that Polynesian seafarers arrived on the Islands around 300-500 AD.  Because they added:  GOOD STUFF.

Interestingly,  they brought yams and sweet potatoes, which we usually don't think of when we think of Hawaii --or at least I don't.

But last night I made a  Hawaiian sweet potato dish that resembled what is passed around at our own Thanksgiving table.  Sliced Sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar, then (and this is the Hawaiian part)  sprinkled with macadamia nuts and flour and coconut syrup.

I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of it.

But I do know it is original from Chef Sam Choy's "Welcome to the Wonderful World of Hawaii's Cuisine!

Later, the Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese had huge influences on Hawaiian Cooking.

It's all a blend now.

Except for the Poi of course. 

A list of common entrees:

• Plate lunch  ( Standard plate lunches consist of two scoops of white rice, macaroni salad, and a meat/protein )
• 
  
• Mixed plate (plate lunch with two types of protein)
• 
  
• Loco moco   (   a meal in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii. There are many variations, but the traditional loco moco consists of white rice, topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy. Variations may include chili,bacon, ham, Spam, kalua pork, linguiça, teriyaki beef, teriyaki chicken, mahi-mahi, shrimp, oysters, and other meats.  )
• 
  
• Poke   ( is a raw salad served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine.   Pokē is the Hawaiian verb for "section" or "to slice or cut". Ahi poke is made with yellowfin tuna. Limu poke includes a type of seaweed.  )
• Ahi poke
• 
  
• Spam musubi, musubi made with Spam   (   is a popular snack and lunch food in Hawaii composed of a slice of grilled Spam on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori dried seaweed in the tradition of Japanese omusubi.   Inexpensive and portable, Spam musubi are commonly found near cash registers in convenience stores all over Hawaii.)
• 
  
• Chop suey    ( a dish in American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat (often chicken, fish, beef, prawns, or pork) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. It is typically served with rice but can become the Chinese-American form of chow mein with the addition of stir-fried noodles  )

We stretched our imaginations and came up with:

Poke

Shish-ka-bobs

Bok-choy salad

Spam Fried Rice

Hawaiian baked Sweet Potatoes

And Don Ho.

My imagination came up with Don Ho.

Singing 'Tiny Bubbles'.

For our appetizers--Sally made 'Poke' (the raw salad that comes in sections)  and bacon wrapped fruit,  sprinkled with some spicy spice.

(that's a new thing---spicy spice)

This is Sally and her Poke.

Charlie looks sad.

He's most likely worried that he won't win the Hawaiian Cuisine Quiz!

And apparently the Handyman thinks he is 12 years old! 
But at least Charlie isn't so sad anymore.

AND--the traditional table shot!

It was hard for me to get everybody, so I had to take it from both angles.

And last, but never least, is April with her Bok-choy salad.

It was very tasty, as you can tell by it being almost gone.

As it always is, it was tons of fun.

We are foodies (80% of us anyway, the other 20% comes for the company)

And we love to eat, share stories about food, and talk about food.

 I don't know if you noticed but there aren't any photos of me OR my food... and I made some of the most traditional!
It is the fate (or the luck?) of the photographer to not be in any photo!

So I tired to remedy this and took a picture of the rice the day after:

 

That fried rice is made with SPAM!

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a problem with Spam.

It's not real meat ( I think it's ground up people), and who the heck eats meat from a can?

Um... the Hawaiians, people from Guam, the Philippines,  Tahiti, anywhere in the South Pacific.  All the places we dream about going!

Spam is popular!  So popular that McDonalds in Hawaii offers some Spam items on their menu.

The principle explanation for why SPAM® is popular in Hawaii is that is portable, durable meat that does not require any type of refrigeration. It was first introduced during WWII by American soldiers to Hawaiian natives, who quickly adopted it as an important part of their diet. In the Hawaiian islands where the weather quickly changes, and especially during wartime, the ability to have portable meat products that can be used in case of emergency was especially desirable.

I have to be honest here, although I like to give my friends a bad time about SPAM being the only thing I don't like-- I do like it in fried rice.

(and I don't hate it really---it just looks so gross)

I meander so much that sometimes I lose track of my own story!  What was it? Cooking Club?  Vacations? Food?

Oh...Spam fried rice!!

I do not make it as good as my brother does.

He is an expert Spam fried rice maker....  and he will kill me for a couple of these pictures: (as one of my favorite sisters-in-law might)

Sylvia is from Guam.  She went to the University of Hawaii, where she met my brother, or he met her (?).  He was a United States Marine, stationed in Hawaii.

SO--I figure they do know something about Hawaiian Fried  Rice!

Which is what I made! 

(whew!  Long story)

And here is their's!

I took a photo of it once to prove to my friends that I was eating Spam.

And.... they eat it for breakfast mostly.

This is how you make the fried rice

cook rice-- my brother uses a rice cooker, but I don't have one.

Fry Spam, cut up, onion, red pepper, green pepper, in a bit of oil (maybe a drop of sesame oil too?) 

Add for eggs to scramble with.

Add cooled cooked rice and splash with a bit of soy sauce.

(he'll kill me for this one)

What's up next time for the Cooking Club, you ask?

Well, let me tell you...

American Regional Cooking!

We each get a region and the we go wild with a recipe popular to that region!!

here are the regions we can choose from:

Deep South--  Alabama - Arkansas - Florida - Georgia - Mississippi

Far West (CA, Hawaii, NV)

Great Lakes ( Illinois - Indiana - Michigan - Minnesota -
Ohio - Wisconsin )

Mid-Atlantic---Delaware - Maryland - New Jersey -
New York - Pennsylvania -
District of Columbia (Washington D.C.)

Midwest/Plains--Colorado - Iowa - Kansas - Missouri - Nebraska -
North Dakota - Oklahoma - South Dakota
  

New England--Connecticut - Maine - Massachusetts - New Hampshire - Rhode Island - Vermont

Pacific Northwest--Alaska - Oregon - Washington
Idaho - Montana

Southeast--Kentucky - North Carolina - South Carolina - Tennessee - Virginia -West Virginia

Southwest:  Arizona - New Mexico - Texas - Utah

South Central--Louisiana - Mississippi

Cooking Club is SO MUCH FUN!

in the words of our Hawaiian Host--I'm so glad you made us do this Debbie!

Yes, I kind of forced everyone's hand!  We had been talking about it for years.

I'm so glad I did too!!

What is life without friends and food?

oh..and books. Books too.

As for Don Ho--- the album is from my parents collection, which I now have.

It reminds me of growing up...my parents had a huge stereo (piece of furniture) and played records all the time.  The Handyman doesn't understand why I can't let these things go.  Vinyl!!

I know the song has special meaning to some of my friends and family too.

Enjoy the song--It's great!

Tiny Bubbles!