Snapshot Saturday

I live in Northern Nevada--the High Desert.  We don't have the amazing saguaro cactus of the south,  we mostly have sagebrush and tumbleweeds.  And lots and lots of mountains, and on those mountains we have more and more sagebrush.  (NV is the most mountainest (?) state in the United States--we have the most mountain ranges, not the highest or the longest, just the most).
We are also home to the famous "Burning Man" Festival, which takes place in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles from where I live--but in NV miles, that is really nothing. 

On the edge of the  playa before the "official" Black Rock desert, there is a dry lake bed.
One night last summer,  we invited some friends to go along out in the evening to look at the stars.  You can't BELIEVE  what the stars can look like out in the desert.  There are a million/trillion of them and they are bright and beautiful.
We took hot dogs and lawn chairs and books and, oh yeah!  Bikes for the kids. We took our grandson.

This is what it looked like that evening  before night fell.

Kids riding bikes on the dry lake bed.  Not one piece of vegetation. Not one plant, not one animal, just dry caked dirt.

**I am linking this to Snapshot Saturday hosted by Alyce from    At Home With Books.  Stop by to see all the links to lots of great photos.

Copy Cat Dinner and the Superbowl

Am I supposed to have a Superbowl food posted here?  Before Sunday?  Really?  Dang.  How about a Superbowl book to read between the commercials, before Sunday?
Yes, I did say  "between the commercials".  I love those (commercials), and while I am also a football liker, I'm not a football lover, so I don't have to keep both eyes glued to the TV.  The party is great, the food is great and the company is great....but do you want to know a secret?  If it were the Handyman and I alone on Superbowl Sunday, I'd make some nachos, open my book and read while he watched the game.  And we would both be happy.

And a great Game Day Book?  Janet Evonovich's Stephanie Plumb books.  Yes, I know I was crabby the other day and said they were all alike---  (see here) but I got over that quickly and just finished 'Sizzlin' Sixteen', a very fun read.
The SP books are quick, fun, and you fall in love with all the characters.  Simple enough to read and watch the big game at the same time.

I do need to make an appetizer for the big game on Sunday--we are going to friends--I guess I better search the food blog world for some great ideas!





Last night I made a copycat dinner.
I made dinner from Brenda's Canadian Kitchen.

You can go to her blog to check out the recipes. (and that way I don't have to write them all out--I hate that part about posting   -grins- )

I can tell you that  both the Jucy Lucy Burgers and the 'Lime in the Coconut' Frosted Cheesecake bars, were really good!!
(my toasted coconut on top was REALLY toasted.  But it was REALLY good too)
(I am laughing at myself because I just went to Brenda's blog and her  bars were very nice looking and mine are all crusty on top---a bit too much toasting?  but it's the taste that counts.  Check  out her bars!)

We liked the garlic toast as "the bun" too, for these burgers.  I sent the Handyman to the store once again, and once again he called me once he was there, "are you sure we don't need buns?" he asked.

And I used cheddar, because I had it at home.

So now....go check out Brenda's site for all the details and make your own

copy cat dinner.

It was very good!

Lime in the Coconut Cheesecake Bars

Cookie Base

1

pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix

2

tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1/3

cup butter or margarine, softened

1

egg, slightly beaten

Filling

2

packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1

can (16 oz) cream of coconut (not coconut milk)

3

tablespoons lime juice

1

teaspoon vanilla

2

eggs

Topping

1

container (12 oz) Betty Crocker® Whipped cream cheese frosting

1 1/4

cups coconut, toasted

2

teaspoons grated lime peel

• 1Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms. Press evenly in bottom of pan. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes.
• 2Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in cream of coconut until well blended. Beat in lime juice, vanilla and 2 eggs until smooth. Spread over cookie base.
• 3Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until set and light golden brown on edges. Cool 30 minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate 1 hour to cool completely.
• 4Carefully spread frosting over filling. Sprinkle with coconut and lime peel. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
  ********************************
  INGREDIENTS
  • 4 slices American cheese (about 3 ounces)
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (15 to 20 percent fat content), chilled
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Vegetable oil, for oiling the grill
  • 4 (4-inch) hamburger buns, split and toasted
  • Sliced pickles, for serving
  • Combine ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, and pepper in a large bowl; mix well. Form 8, thin patties from the beef. Each patty should be slightly larger than a slice of cheese.
  • Cut each slice of American cheese into 4 equal pieces; stack the pieces. Sandwich one stack of cheese between 2 ground beef patties. Tightly pinch edges together tightly seal the cheese within the meat. Repeat with the remaining cheese and patties.
  • Preheat a cast-iron or other heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Cook burgers until well browned, about 4 minutes. It is common for burgers to puff up due to steam from the melting cheese. Turn burgers and prick the top of each to allow steam to escape; cook until browned on the outside and no longer pink on the inside; about 4 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns.

Culinary Smackdown Battle:Salmon

Spicy Salmon and  Corn Cakes with Mango Tarter Sauce

If I wanted to give this dish a glorious review (which I do), it would be the fact that I was not happy with my pictures, so I had planned on using the leftovers ---to retake some photos in better light.

I went home from work at noon the next day, intending on doing this, and found the Handyman eating them.

I couldn't very well scream at  him that I had plans for those leftovers   (I have done that before), so I just casually mentioned that I had planned on taking more pictures of them.   He looked at me and with his mouth full, he said  "well, if you don't want me to eat them, quit making them so good."

(that is the glorious review--and believe me, it was heartfelt)

This was not his reaction tho, when he heard the phrase  "mango" tarter sauce and especially not when he saw me put capers into the grocery cart.

(he says he is allergic to capers--that most men are)  (sigh)  (he found out that capers aren't all that bad)

My friend Brenda, at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen,  is hosting the

Culinary Smackdown--Battle Salmon this month.

I love salmon.  But I am a pretty boring salmon cooker apparently.  I liked it baked or grilled with lemon.

In the spirit of the smackdown, I grabbed a cookbook on my shelf and was determined to make salmon in a new way.  Just for the Smackdown.

I found a ton of new ways in Paula Dean's,  "The Dean Family Cookbook."  It was hard to choose just one, but I finally settled on the Spicy Salmon and Corn cakes.

It's a great cookbook,  full of all kinds of recipes I now want to try.

I am marking this one (this cookbook) off as one I've used in  my own Cookbook Countdown, but I don't plan on putting it back on my shelf and not using it again.  I have bookmarked about 10 other recipes to try.

These were great little salmon patties. And the mango sauce was good too, but I would make these salmon patties (or cakes) and just use regular tarter sauce and they would be just as tasty.

This was in the appetizer section, but we had them for a late afternoon lunch.

Spicy Salmon and Corn Cakes with Mango Tarter Sauce

Tarter Sauce

1 cup peeled, diced mango  (1 large)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbls capers, drained and chopped

pinch of salt

pepper

Whisk together the mango, mayo, capers and salt in a medium bowl.  Add pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Salmon Cakes

1 14.75 oz can boneless pink salmon-drained

1 cup panko or dry bread crumbs

2 eggs lightly beaten

3 Tbls chopped fresh parsley

2 Tbls chopped red onion

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

pepper

1/3 cup cornmeal

vegetable oil for frying

Put the salmon in a medium bowl and break it up with a fork. Add the panko,eggs, parsley, onion, cayenne, salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.

Form into 12 cakes and coat them with the cornmeal.

Heat 1/4 inch oil in large skillet over med-high heat.  Place the cakes in the oil, 5-6 at a time and cook until golden brown, 3-4 minutes each side. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Serve immediately with the tarter sauce.

I am entering the Culinary Smackdown, of course.

Head on over to Brenda's sight for moe great salmon dishes.

Snapshot Saturday

I think I am  probably going to get the bad mother/mother-in-law award here,  BUT in my defense, I've always loved this photo.
(bad mom award because they specifically said,  don't show our feet.  I think my son must have said that, because he had shorts on with his graduation gown.  He didn't wear shorts for the ceremony tho.  This was afterwards when I was forcing them to go outside so I could take their picture)

This is my son and daughter in law last May.   They had just finished  7 years of college and grad-school....their whole married life together  (they were married right out of high school, which I normally wouldn't recommend, but, 7  years and 4 degrees later...I would never tell anyone they were too  young!

This picture was taken right after the graduation week was over and behind the photographer (me) was a Budget truck filled with all their lives possessions and the start of their future.
I think they were filled with a sense of accomplishment, and pride and nervousness for what lie ahead:  finding jobs, a home, etc.
So, that's what I see when I look at this picture.     Their excitement and nervousness and hope all rolled up into one. 

This was taken on the Yale Campus in New Haven, CT.   (I miss New Haven SO MUCH!.....and I only visited there, I didn't live there)

**I am linking this to Snapshot Saturday hosted by Alyce from At Home With Books.   Stop by to see all the links to lots of great photos.

Pssst....don't tell anyone (book post)

I love Janet Evonovich's Stephanie Plumb Character.  I really, truly do love this series of books.  I love Joe Morelli and Ranger and Grandma Mazur.  I love Rex the hamster and Lola and cousin Vinnie.  I love the Burg.  I love New Jersey.
But...does anyone other than me think that sometimes, it's just the same old story?  YIKES!  I can't believe I said that, because I really love the books. I DO!
It's just that there is no "growth" in the characters.  But don't get me wrong, they are some of my favorite characters.  The books are a quick, fun, enjoyable read, but....  it must be my mood. 
There is no growth of characters as in say...Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series, or Julia Spencer-Fleming's Clair Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne seires.

(sigh)  And I think I've gained 20 lbs just reading the series.  Listening to what Stephanie can eat!

I have just been thinking about that as I'm reading "Sizzling Sixteen" --which I enjoy, but....I'm just thinkin'......
....okay this is a great lead in to  the Friday Coffee Chat questions.  Yes, I know it's not Friday, but I like the questions.
I read quite a few book blogs  (I am not a book blogger per se, because I don't review books as they do, I just like to read books.  And then talk about them) and two that I follow are  A Little Bookish  and Girls Gone Reading.  They both have a set of questions on  (most) Fridays for book bloggers to answer and then you comment write up a post about the questions and have a 'chat'.

Jennifer from Girls Gone Reading had these questions a couple of weeks ago:
1. What qualities make a comfort read for you?

2. What are your top comfort reads? What books do you cling to when you just want something to full up a snow day?

Well, I've  dedicated January to catch up with a lot of my favorite characters in mystery and suspense novels.  That is my comfort read.  And my snow day read. It's kind of like visiting old friends (and sometimes with friends we can get a bit annoyed and then we get over it because we love them.  That's how I'm feeling about Stephanie Plumb right now).   Old friends, old memories.  I like series books with recurring characters.  It's like coming home and catching up.
So, that's what I've been doing this January.....and I'm kind of sad that it will be coming to and end.  (maybe that's why I'm annoyed at Stephanie Plumb--it's displaced frustration :~)

Carin at  A Little Bookish had these questions last Friday:
•Are you a member of a book club?


•If so, what are your motivations for joining a book club?

•What do you look for when you join a book club? Do you seek out strangers to talk about books with (like on Meetup.com) or do you only do book clubs with friends you know and are comfortable with?

•What kind of books do you prefer to read with a book club?

•Do you like themed book clubs like romance, thriller, literary, chick lit, etc.?

•If you don’t like book clubs, tell us all why you prefer to read alone? Is it because you are shy or because reading is just private to you? Is there some other reason?


That's a lot of questions!
Yes, I am a member of a couple of book clubs.  I love my book clubs.  I love to be around people who like to read and I like to discuss books.   There are some people in my book clubs who I only see/know/get together with at our book club meetings.  I have loved getting to know them--thru books.
I think a themed book club would be great fun, but I don't have enough time to do another book club.  If I didn't have to work, I would probably join another book club, or maybe start a themed one. (sigh) Work gets in the way of so many things.
I also like to  read alone tho.....I mean, I don't ONLY read what is assigned in my book clubs.   I can read in a car, so I love going on road trips with my husband, because he drives and I am forced to sit for hours at a time and I can read, read, read!   We always take an audio book with us too.

I have a really bad habit of getting so excited about challenges (books and cooking) that I sign up for much more than I can possible handle.  Weekly ones are really  hard--I need more time--but I did love the questions, so thanks Jennifer and Carin.
Oh...and I'll have to check out  meetup.com ... this is the first I've heard about it.

Have a great day!

Miss Hot Dish

It all began two years ago.... when my book club was reading a book --I can't remember the name of it--but it  used the phrase "congealed salad".  Now I know that in the South they still use the phrase "congealed", and rightly so.    Anything made with Knox gelatin is, let's face it, congealed.
It just sounds funny to our Western ears.  In making fun of ourselves and to not offend our Southern friends--I will admit we are a little adolescent out here.  We laugh over stupid stuff--and congealed just sounds funny.  (yes, we probably need to grow up, but to be fair, we laugh at ourselves too.), so we had a book club meeting and  a congealed salad cook-off.   We elected a Miss Congealdiality--just for fun--gave her an old  "Joys of Jello" cookbook, a sash, and a great time was had by all.  (and some of the salads were YUM-MEE!)




Fast forward to last night.  We decided to have a "Hot Dish" party.  In honor of our Midwest friends who bring "a dish to pass" or a "hot dish" to a get together.  We in the west bring casseroles.
BUT AGAIN--a good time was had by all.  We elected a "Miss Hot Dish" and ate some good casseroles, and drank some wine, and at the end of all that we then discussed  "To Kill a Mockingbird"  for over 2 hours.  It was a great evening.  I Love my bookclub(s)!


The Hot Dish (Totally Lit Book Club) evening gave me a chance to use another recipe in my very own Cookbook Notebook ---recipes I've  been saving and collecting for over 30 years.   I can't bring myself to part with old recipes, even if I am never going to use them again, except in instances such as this.  They do bring back memories tho---memories of when we were young and had no money and had 3 kids to feed---ahhhh, those were great times (we just didnt' know it then.)
The casserole I made has no name.  I received it from a friend, Susie Taylor, about 25 years ago.  I'm sure she took it from the back of  a Hillshire Farm's Smoked Sausage package.  It has all the ingredients of a traditional "hot dish",   noodles, soup, sour cream--comfort food at its best!  I haven't made it for at least 15 years.  Hmmm, and it took a book club for me to dust off the recipe card and bring it back.  The Handyman couldn't even remember which casserole I was talking about, until he tasted it and said,  "oh yeah, I remember now.  It's good, I like it."

So, here it is  (and I'm not saying that it's the best thing ever, I'm saying it's a blast from my past and it was good),  the 10th runner up out of 12 hot dishes  (I really don't know where I placed, but there were a lot of good hot dishes there)......
....Debbie's Hot Dish.

Oh wait, you want to know who won? Who is Miss Hot Dish of the Totally Lit Book Club?    Our own,  Miss Jean Pfarr with her mom's homemade Mac and Cheese Casserole   (with some tomatoes on top). 
Or maybe it wasn't her mother's recipe, because Jean used Gruyere instead of the basic cheddar, and added the tomatoes.  She updated and old classic and won!  
 Jean, a nutritionist by trade (I wonder how she reconciled eating all these soup, sour-cream, cheese laden casseroles this evening? ) was given her sash and we sang the  the traditional  "There she is--Miss Hot Dish"  song to the tune of Miss America.  And, as I said, a GREAT time was had by all.

And now.... Debbie's Hot Dish....from her very own collection of recipes scribbled on the back of envelopes found in her purse, torn out of magazines in doctors offices, and discovered in the bottom of her grandmother's  junk drawer.

Sausage Hot Dish

1 package curly noodles --cooked according to package directions
1 can  cream of celery soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Swiss cheese--grated
1 cup sliced zucchini
1 lb Hillshire farm smoked sausage--sliced
1/2 tsp dill
salt and pepper

Mix all together and bake at 350 until hot...about 30 minutes.

************************************
Photo Gallery

Miss Congealdiality 2009,  our friend Cindy  Ulch. 
Her winning dish?  Tomato Aspic.  Full of shrimp and all kinds of spicy goodness.

and The Congealed Salads!

January 2011--Miss Congealdiality takes her final walk--around the kitchen--before giving up her title. 

The anticipation of waiting---who will be Miss Hot Dish?

(oops--picture taken after Miss Hot Dish has her sash on....so, not the anticipation, but rather the disappointment of being losers :~)

Our 2011 Queen of the Kitchen--Miss Hot Dish, Jean Pfarr!

(and the sign said,  when I said to bring a hot dish, I didn't mean the green bean casserole!)

And our 1st runner up, who, if for any reason Jean cannot fulfill her reign as Miss Hot Dish,  will accept the duties and responsibilities that come with the sash,  Di An Putnam!!  With her Chicken Tortilla Casserole.

The Hot Dishes

(yes, my friends are all HOT DISHES)

and now the food....

The end.

Last night

Last night at my Totally Lit Book Club, we elected a "Miss Hot Dish"  AND discussed  "To Kill a Mockingbird"   (It was our classic read.)  
I will explain more about our  Hot dish later today, when I do the complete post.  I just know you'll be on pins and needles waiting to hear!

But what I wanted to mention is that, I took a little poll last night and of the 12 of us,  4 owned Nooks,  4 owned Kindles, 1 owned an Ipad, and 3 have not made the transition to the electronic age.
That is just interesting to me, to see the trend.    Also to see the Nook people vs the Kindle people.  It's a bit funny, because there is some loyalty there.
I think I'm going to poll all of my book clubs....just to see.  I know it's not a passing fancy,  it's the way of the future, (and  I am a recent convert)  but I am interested in how fast it's moving.

I started my walking program this morning  (or re-started it, I should say).  It was a cold 25F  walk at 5:00am.    But I did it.  Along with the  Handyman.   It felt good to get moving again. 

I will leave you with these couple of pictures from last night's Totally Lit Book Club  (cuz I know that  at least these friends, are awaiting my post).

The ladies gathering around their "hot dish"  (or casserole, as the case may be).

And the winner is.......

You'll have to wait until later on in the day to find out!