Slab Apple Pie

Last week, we went apple gathering in north Georgia. I brought home some fresh apples because they are awesome. And I made:




Slab Apple Pie

I did change the recipe a bit in the crust. Intead of two egg yolks and water, I used milk and one egg. And switched out the shortening for butter.

The crust to this is a bit biscuity, which I rather like.

Pumpkin Mini Muffins

I like to make mini muffins because they fit in a preschoolers hand much better.





Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in mini muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Divide batter among mini muffin cups (I use a cookie scoop). Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack. Makes 33 mini muffins.

Garden Update

I have been ho hum about the garden because well everything was about dead. I have three tomato plants left and maybe two pepper plants. I also have two eggplants that are quite happy.

This is what I picked:


Maybe I should be a little more attentive to the last seven plants out of 60 in my garden.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

I love the Vanishing Oatmeal Cookie that is on the back of the lid of the Quaker Oatmeal canister. But I have never tried any of the variations. UNTIL TODAY.


Behold the chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. I made it with butterscotch chips as well as caramel chocolate chips. Really really yummy.

Dinner

Steak, eggplant and tomato, cucumber and onion salad.

Kamado Joe

We are the proud owners of a ceramic grill.


It's called a Kamado Joe. The first thing we made:

Dinner

Fajita fixings.

Dinner

Steak and Cucumbers

Garden Update

So today, we had 20 cubic yards of compost delivered. Wanna see what 20 cubic yards of compost looks like?



It's literally a truckload.

Dinner

Pork Chops stuffed with wild rice, delicata squash, cherry tomatoes, green beans.

Stir Fry Eggplant

I grew an Ichiban eggplant in the garden this year. It did really well, and I really like eggplant. I got a few from my garden to make:



Stir Fry Eggplant

3 Ichiban Eggplant, thinly sliced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoon Eel Sauce

Stir fry in a hot wok the eggplant with the olive oil. When the eggplant is brown, take the wok off the heat and add the eel sauce. Stir fry until there is no liquid at the bottom of the wok.

Orange Pork Stir Fry

I have really been enjoying the Cooking Channel. They have Bill Granger, who I adore. Yesterday, I watched Chinese Food Made Easy with Ching-He Huang. She made Sichuan Orange Beef. It looked really good. So today I made this:





Orange Pork Stir Fry

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Zest of one orange
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 T Sherry
1 T honey
1 T cornstarch

2 T olive oil, divided

3/4 pound pork loin, thinly sliced

1 T minced garlic
1 T minced ginger
1 T red pepper flake

1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cups sugar snap peas

1/2 cup minced scallions

Combine the first six ingredients and set aside (I always use a coffee cup for this, I have no idea why I do that, but I do).

Get a wok or large skillet hot. Add one tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pork and stir fry until golden. Take out of the wok.

Add one tablespoon of oil and add the garlic, ginger and red pepper flake and stir fry until fragrant (about one minute). Add the vegetables and stir fry until lightly cooked, about three minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and pork to the wok and let the sauce thicken. The sauce is thickened when the cloudy sauce turns clear.

Sprinkle scallions on top and serve with brown rice.

Gardening Update

That last few weeks of gardening have not been fun. But I picked this:



That is the second watermelon from the garden.

My breakfast

Since I am on a low carb diet, I have had to change my breakfast.



I eat a bowl of lentils with a fried egg on top but today I ate my lentils with homemade sausage.

Homemade Sausage

I made breakfast sausage because it is terribly expensive at the store and I got a really good price on some ground pork.



The pork was less fatty than sausage but that is a good thing for me since I intend to eat this sausage every day until it runs out. This is a lot more seasoned than most commercial breakfast sausage.


Breakfast Sausage

2 pounds ground pork
2 teaspoons fresh sage, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
2 teaspoons ground pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flake
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Combine everything in a large bowl. Divide the bowl into fourths and each fourth into four pieces. Makes 16 patties.

To cook,dry fry in a skillet until one side is brown, flip over and repeat.

Really yummy!

Tilted Kilt treats people poorly

This is a guest post from the often mentioned but never written on my blog Yohboh. I have never been to the Tilted Kilt and am really surprised that there is a market for more of these type bars. Aren't Hooters and Coyote Ugly enough? Wait- what am I thinking-scantily clad women serving cholesterol clogging bad food and beer-recipe for success!! Minjenah


To whom it may concern,

I visited your Johns Creek location tonight with a group of people whom I regularly attend Thursday night trivia with.

We asked to be seated where we could watch the Atlanta Braves game. All of the televisions were changed to the first NFL game of the season, New Orleans vs. Minnesota, when the Braves fell behind early in the game. I asked the bartender to change back to the Braves game and she told me only the manager could change the channel.

I approached the manager and was flatly refused. There are four televisions facing where my party was seated and he would not change the station. Another group next to us had already left when the Braves game was removed without asking for a change. I asked again if just one television could be put on the Braves, who are in the midst of a pennant race, but was again refused.

I expressed my feelings about not showing the only local sporting event on television in a somewhat unkind manner at this point and the manager told our server to bring me my check and have me leave.

My party routinely goes to the Tilted Kilt on Thursday for trivia, entertainment, and dining. I am very disappointed in the manner in which the manager handled this situation.

In a city where a playoff scenario is in the future, I am very surprised the local team would not be shown.

Regards,
Yohboh

Dinner

The last time I did a challenge I got an email from a reader asking me what my family ate. So this month, I will try and show you.



Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and garlic rolls.

I am eating tofu noodles and I had three bites of a garlic roll.

September Grocery Challenge

So this month, I have decided to try to buy 150 dollars worth of groceries. I was going to do 100 dollars but yohboh was not happy with the idea of no roasted beast meals. So the extra 50 dollars is for yohboh and his love of protein. My pantry and freezer are full to bursting so I am going to empty them to the point that they are not bursting. Notice I did not say empty.

Here are the full details:

1) Meals out do not count.
2) That being said on average we eat one meal out a week.
3) I eat most of my meals at home, as does my child. Yohboh brings lunch with him most of the time. He also seems to get a free meal at his job every week or so.
4) I have spent $44.23 on food so far this month.
5) This does not include other items like garbage bags, motor oil or light bulbs that could be bought at a grocery store. Groceries are food stuffs in my definition.

One of the last meals from the garden

So the vegetables on the plate all came from my garden. Sadly, my garden is not producing right now. So this is the last of the pepper, eggplant, and zucchini I will be eating. But it is darn tasty. I cannot bear the idea of buying these things either. I used to eat things for FREE.

Blueberry Muffins

It's beginning to feel like fall. When it starts to feel like fall, I like to bake. I always like to bake, actually but in the fall I feel less guilt about using the oven when the air conditioning is running.

Blueberry Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter, melted
2 eggs
1.5 cups plain yogurt
Zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon vanilla

2 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen


METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Sift the first five ingredients in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl combine the next six ingredients of the ingredients and mix well.

Make a well in the dry stuff and pour the wet stuff in the well. Stir until it BARELY comes together. If you see lumps THAT IS GOOD. Add the blueberries and stir.

Put in a paper lined muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 24.

Fusion

Fusion food is trendy sometimes.



I made this meatball sub and instead of putting hot peppers in it, I put kimchee.

I am not being trendy. I just did not have any hot peppers.