Julie's Journey

Here’s a CLUE for Nancy Drew

Here’s a CLUE for Nancy Drew

          “I don’t promise to forget the mystery, but I know I’ll have a marvelous time“ Nancy Drew ————————————————————————————–       CURRENTLY ON A STAKE OUT, CHECK BACK LATER                       

Typing with Julie in 1965, (I mean Blogging with Julie in 2025)  Dear Diary…

Typing with Julie in 1965, (I mean Blogging with Julie in 2025) Dear Diary…

        Dear Dairy… Olive Films (I just liked the logo.) Today I rearranged the cans in the pantry and dusted them off while wearing my new full skirt I sewed last week for the church picnic, and the pearls that my husband 

Wednesday’s CLUE

Wednesday’s CLUE

 

 

Welcome to Wednesday’s CLUE

Don’t Blink!  It’s Wednesday!

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If you know me, or have read me, then you know how much I love CLUE.

Any version, every version.  It’s my game!

This year, 2024, was no different. 

This CLUE isn’t as elaborate as we have done in the past, we were very busy this October with lots of plans, but I think that we did manage to create something very nice.

We also wanted to include our little Isabelle, as Wednesday.  Toddler Wednesday.

I, assumed the role as Morticia, and Gordon was Cousin Itt.

I also played my part of grown-up Wednesday. 

After all, I think that as Wednesday aged she would have just looked the same, just older.

So, clear the coffee table, set up the game, and let’s roll the dice!

Happy Halloween!

Julie, Gordon and Isabelle

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If you would like to view my other Wednesday page:

It’s Wednesday

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Time To Play The GAME

This was a fun table to set. 

I had purchased some party supplies of Wednesday, and set those up, along with some of the paper plates, and napkins.  It just made it more festive.

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Who?  What? and Where?

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WHO?

Enid Sinclair

Yoko Tanaka

Ajax Petropolus

Eugene Olligener

Bianca Barclay

Wednesday Addams

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Toddler Wednesday Playing The Game

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Gordon and Wednesday

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WHAT?

Poison Syringe

Bow

Fencing Foil

Chains

Beehive

Crackstone’s Sword

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Toddler Wednesday Knows What To Do

WHERE?

The Forest

Coffee Shop

Police Station

Pilgrim World

Principle’s Office

Nightshade Library

Ophelia Hall

Botany Classroom

Crackstone’s Tomb

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Morticia Has Arrived

Time To Pause The Game And Eat

We Have Our Bacon Sweet Potato’s, A Haunted Jezebel Chicken Wings, Chicken Livers, and Wood Ear Mushrooms, Freshly Picked

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Our CLUE Food

(Wood Ear Mushrooms Raw in the Black Bowl)

A Haunted Jezebel Chicken Wings

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If You Would Like The Recipe For Our “A Haunted Jezebel”

A Haunted Jezebel, Together With A Haunted Mansion Repast

The Sauce Used to Marinate/Glaze the Chicken Wings

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Wednesday’s Favorite Chicken Livers

Time to Feast, my Family, FEAST!

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Cousin Itt Does Enjoy the Wings

Cousin Itt’s CLUE Dinner Plate

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Wednesday and Pet Spider

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RECIPES START HERE

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A Haunted Jezebel Chicken Wings

This is a great picture of the final product… they taste as good as they look!

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Pictured are a family size amount of wings to purchase.

Give them a good rinse to remove any excess blood and cuttings, then let the drain well in a colander.

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Here I cut a few of them at the joint, but the rest I left intact giving them a more haunting look.

Gordon Wearing Mickey Mouse Pirate Boxers, and a Star Trek T-Shirt  🙂

To cut them at the joints, simply stretch the wing out to better expose the drummet joint, then place your knife at the joint and make your cut.

Do the same with the wing joint.  Place them in a bowl when done.  I only did this to a few of the wings as we really liked the full wing look.

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Place your wings into resealable plastic bags as shown.

Now, add your Haunted Jezebel sauce to the bags.

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To add to the dark look, we also added some Blueberry Jelly to the bag, as this was also an ingredient in A Haunted Jezebel.

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Close the bag and mix the wings with the sauce.

Now, open the bag back up, fold the bag over removing most of the air, then reseal the bag.  This should give you a vacuum which will assist in forcing the sauce into the chicken.

Place the bags of chicken onto a baking sheet and refrigerate them overnight.

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The next day, I added some fresh ‘A Haunted Jezebel’ sauce to a small bowl.

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I then heated my grill to its maximum temperature for 5 min. to cook off any excess from the previous time I grilled, and to basically kill anything that might be in or on the grill.  Mine will get above 500’F.  I then use a wire brush to clean off the grill racks, turn the heat down to medium and load my grill with the chicken and close the lid.

I leave the chicken where I placed it for a few minutes, then I added more sauce to the wings and closed the lid

I let this cook for about another 8 min. then turn the wings and repeat the process.  When this cooking step is done, I place the chicken on the top rack for another 5 min., close the lid and turn off the gas.  This step will bake the chicken to around 160’F temperature.

Then plate the chicken as shown, letting them rest for about 10 min. to let the superheated juices return to the center of the chicken, which then cooks the chicken to an internal temperature of 165’F.  You can see the nice grill marks on the chicken, which is only obtained by not constantly moving the chicken around the grill while it’s being cooked.  These were some delicious Blueberry flavored wings.  🙂

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The little cutey!!!

Cute Toddler Wednesday’s Nap Time

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Sweet and Savory Sweet Potato Casserole and Sweet Potato Thins for Snacking

Pictured is the final casserole dish before we plated it up.

Doesn’t the bacon look amazing?

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Starting with the Sweet Potato Casserole, rinse your potatoes under running water, then cut off the ends of the potatoes. Pierce the Sweet Potatoes with a knife as shown to allow the steam to release, then roll each one of them up tightly in aluminum foil.

Bake them at 400’F for about 45 min. or until soft when squeezed using your oven mitt. Let them rest for about 10-15 min. to cool some, allowing the steam to release the potato skin from the potato.

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For the Sweet Potato Snacks, again rinse your sweet potato, then slice it ~1/4 of an inch or slightly thinner.

Place your wedges or rounds onto a baking sheet or pizza pan as we did, lined with non-stick aluminum foil and bake them at 350’F for about 25 min. or until softened. Remove them from the oven and they are ready to eat!

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While we were making the Sweet Potato Thins, I used our microwave to cook the bacon using the large teacup looking pottery on the right. To do this you simply line your bacon strips over the sides of the cup. Place some paper towels on top, then cook them in the microwave for about 10-12 min. The bacon fat will drip down the inside and outside of the cup, leaving your bacon evenly cooked and crispy. Set the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels. Cook more as undoubtedly you will snack on them… who can’t resist?

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Ingredients: For the Casserole

4 Large Sweet Potatoes

~8 Strips of Thick Sliced Bacon

1 tsp. Ground Ginger

1 Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

3 Tbsp. Butter

1 Cup Light Cream

½ Cup Milk

2-3 Tbsp. Bacon Fat plus reserve a Tbsp. or more to grease the casserole dish

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Bacon Fond “the little bits of bacon left over from the cooking process”

Garnish with sprigs of Parsley

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Here I am letting the Sweet Potato’s rest,

Unwrap the Sweet Potatoes and you will see the skin very easily pull away.

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Place your skinned Potatoes into a large bowl.

Add your Nutmeg to the bowl…

Then your Ground Ginger, and Cinnamon.

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Now, add your Butter, then your Light Cream…

And then add your Milk to the bowl.

We thought why not add some of the delicious Bacon Fat…then mashed it all up with a potato masher.

Lastly, we added some Freshly Ground Black Pepper and Sea Salt, and mixed again.

Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to your taste.

Add some of your Bacon Fat to the casserole dish, then use a paper towel or pastry brush to help it coat the sides of the dish.

You can see all the Bacon Fond around the inside and outside of the dish.

We used a spoon to help gather it all up.

Add the Bacon Fond to the casserole dish.

Using a rubber spatula, remove the potato mixture from the bowl and add it to the glass casserole dish.

You can see the Bacon Fond on the bottom of the dish.. I know what area I am going to eat from.  🙂

Into the 400F Oven, left.  About 30 min.  Out of the Oven, right.

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Add your Bacon, tearing them up into bite size pieces… then back in the oven for another 10 min.

Remove the casserole from the oven.

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Spoon your casserole into medium sized serving bowls and garnish with a sprig of Parsley.

We hope you enjoy these Sweet and Savory Sweet Potatoes!

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Happy Halloween!

Julie and Gordon, and Isabelle (Toddler Wednesday)  🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn Breakfasts

Autumn Breakfasts

    Autumn: The third season of the year, when crops and fruits are gathered and leaves fall in the northern hemisphere from September to November and in the southern hemisphere from March to May. The Countryside is Ablaze in Autumn —————————————————————— In Florida, the 

One HOT Jezebel For Breakfast (Sauce, that is.)

One HOT Jezebel For Breakfast (Sauce, that is.)

            One HOT Jezebel For Breakfast Good Morning, Sleep Well? Have I ever got something special for you this morning. No, don’t get up.  Just lay right where you are. Grapes, Pomegranate juice, Mini Pancakes, Cream Cheese, Bacon, and Pomegranate 

Blogging With Julie All Along (Past and Present Blogging)

Blogging With Julie All Along (Past and Present Blogging)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello and Welcome to My Personal Blogs

I started this website in July, 2011, along with my very first blog post.  I tend to write about whatever I may be going through.  When I started the website I was being bullied by many a “Gray-Haired Bully” in our neighborhood.  I guess that we were the neighborhood ‘liberals’ and they were the neighborhood conservatives/MAGA’S.   They have all since died, and our neighborhood is a bit nicer place because of it. 

I have been blogging ever since about whatever I may encounter.  I have had a cyber-stalker for almost 3 decades now.  He is my husband’s former best friend, Paul Gray, of Charlotte, North Carolina.  He has played a roll in trying his best to sabotage my blog postings so that my voice will be silenced.  He is a very sophisticated hacker and one of those MAGA’S.  A religious right extremist who lives to silence me.  My blogs are my voice.  Paul has done his best to try and silence my voice.  In the past he has done a good job of it.  However, I now have a better and more secure server.  Therefore, he has a harder time doing the damage he used to do.  At one point he even gave us a computer that he had built, just so he could spy on us.

In having my voice silenced, I look around at all the good company that I am in.  Princess Diana, Meghan Markle, Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, Jenna Barbee, Jane Fonda, Ashley Judd, Malala Yousafzai, etc….  Not that I am daring to compare myself to most of these icons.  Only that I am in the same boat as they are.

I totally understand why Meghan Markle left the Royal Family in order to have her voice back.  I too live to have my voice heard.  It really doesn’t matter if anyone is listening.  That is not the point.  The point is that I have the right to have a voice.  To proclaim it!  Loudly, sometimes!

You are very welcomed here.  This is a diary that is an account of my life and my family’s.

I do recommend that everyone needs to start a diary/journal/blog/vlog, etc.

Everyone should have their lives be known.  Your story told.  No matter how boring you may think it is.  Leave a trail behind for those that will follow you.  Your history needs to be told.

Thank you for your interest,

Julie (Barefoot)

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My Personal Blogs Start Here

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Typing with Julie in 1965 (I Mean Blogging with Julie in 2025)  Dear Diary…

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Blogging With Julie MORE in 2024

AND,

2023 and ME!, Julie Barefoot Blogging

AND,

Blogging With Julie in 2022

AND,

2021 Julie Barefoot Blogging

AND,

Julie 2020 Blogging

AND,

Blogging With Julie in 2019

And,

Blogging With Julie Continues On

AND,

Blogging With Julie Continues Part 2

AND,

Blogging With Julie 2

 

AND,

Blogging With Julie Continues

AND,

Blogging With Julie

AND,

Blogging With Julie Page 2

Julies Heart

AND,

Blogging With Julie Page 3

pajamas Valentines Day_small

AND,

Blogging With Julie Page 4

poption_small

AND,

Blogging With Julie Page 5

poption 2_small

AND,

Blogging With Julie Page 6 Archives

can you not see that I am busy_small

AND,

Blogging With Julie Page 7 Archives

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JBAJB_smallJBA_smallJulie LW_small

Look out for the Books!

 

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The End

 

 

It’s Wednesday

It’s Wednesday

          (Lurch)  YOU RANG…..   Initially, I was just going to write a blog post about the series in my personal blog.  I then realized that this was far too big for that, and that I needed to create it’s own 

Modern Day Mona (Lisa) Halloween

Modern Day Mona (Lisa) Halloween

        Salve! Benvenutu Al Nostro Halloween Da Vinci ———————————————————————– Leonardo Da Vinci, The Mona Lisa (That is Tom Hanks hand above, from the movie The Da Vinci Code.) I fell in love with the movie when it first came out, and it 

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window:  Scene 14

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window: Scene 14

 

 

 

 

To me, it’s just not Halloween without a Hitchcock marathon of all of his movies.

Currently Watching The Killer, Lars Thorwald from Rear Window

I was Thrilled to Find this Game Online

For those of you that know my love of board games, especially any version of CLUE, I was very happy to have found this Rear Window game online.

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Rear Window Slate

New York City

Take 1, Scene 14

10/22/22

Alfred Hitchcock

Cannon Manfrotto

(Cannon Manfrotto is an inside joke with Gordon and myself. 

Perhaps one of you can figure it out.)  🙂

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Our Rear Window ‘Scene 14’ Set

L.B. Jeffries Apartment

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Everything Here Represents Something From The Movie

Playing The Game

The Handbag, The Jewelry, The Rope and Saw, The Heavy Trunk…

Gordon and I Reviewing the Game Instructions

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If you have never seen the movie Rear Window with Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart, along with Raymond Burr, and Thelma Ritter, then you will probably not understand what we are doing here. 

Rear Window is my most favorite movie ever! 

I found the game online and knew it would be great here with our Halloween theme.

Follow The Footsteps

(I found them online and knew they would be perfect here.)

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If you have ever seen the movie, Rear Window, then you recognize our props in these photos.

The Red Handbags

(Mrs. Thorwald’s)

Gordon Did Such a Great Job on our Pumpkin

The Wooden Trunk w/ the Heavy Rope, Represents Lars Thorwald’s Trunk

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Our Modern Day Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

(We made these because L. B. Jeffries has a Ham and Cheese Sandwich in the movie with some milk.  His sandwich from the 50’s was very plain, we jazzed ours up a bit.)

We also made some Microwave Potato Chips to go with our Sandwiches, along with a side of Olives.

(Recipe Down Below)

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Game And Dinner

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Gordon as L. B. Jeffries

Jimmy Stewart’s character of L. B. Jeffires (Jeff), is in a leg cast because he got in the way of a race car on an automobile racetrack to get a unique shot, and injured himself in the process.  Jeff is a successful photographer for a prestigious magazine.  He travels the world to “hot spots” to take photos of current events.  He is an adventurer, that gets paid for his photos.

Gordon of course, isn’t in a cast, we just wrapped a white towel around his leg and even wrote on it, ‘Here lies the broken bones of L. B. Jeffries.’

Because the movie takes place in the 50’s, I set out my vintage and antique’s that worked here, in addition to some modern day things.

Gordon Making a Phone Call

Me, as Lisa Freemont watching Lars Thorwald’s apartment across the way.

Gordon Writing The Letter To Lars Thorwald

“What Have You Done With Her?”

We think that Lars Thorwald is guilty of killing his wife.

The Dogs Crashed Us!  🙂

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Getting Ready to Carve the Pumpkin

Gordon is a natural artist.  Untrained, but spot on!

Whatever Halloween theme we have in mind, he will carve a pumpkin to compliment it.  Gordon has the mind of an athlete, which enables him to defy odds.  Really!  And this is in all aspects, not just pumpkin carving.  He knows how to choose the most perfect pumpkin for the design, he saves the seeds for us to roast or put into other Halloween recipes.  He makes our Halloween more special because of his pumpkin carving skills.  Once again, he did not disappoint here.

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Pumpkin Carved….

As Always, Gordon Did a Wonderful Job….

Halloween Treats of Toy Cameras

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L. B. Jeffries Watching Lars Thorwald  🙂

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My Rear Window Shelfie in our Bedroom

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I LOVE This Camera!

(I would kill for it!  Actually, I would just shove someone and grab it and run.)  🙂

L. B. Jeffries Camera/Lens and his Ham and Cheese Sandwich w/ Milk

The premise of the story is that Jeff believes that he has witnessed a murder by his neighbor across the way from his Rear Window of his apartment.  Therefore, he becomes obsessed with proving it.  Having that cast on his leg gives him reason to look out the window all day, and sometimes, all night long.

We love to recreate the foods in movies that we love. 

There isn’t a lot of food in this movie, but we do our best to recreate it regardless.  🙂

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Here, we recreated the very simple Ham and Cheese Sandwich.

The candy in the vintage dish is vintage candy from that time.

Our Simple Ham and Cheese Sandwich

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SCENE 14

I love this scene because this is where Jeff falls in love with Lisa.

Lars Thorwald Going Through His Wife’s Jewelry in her Favorite Handbag

Thelma Ritter, Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart

Grace, (Lisa) Looking Through a View Finder

“It’s just a picture of the backyard.”  Lisa Freemont

Our Characters Debating How to Get into Lars Thorwald’s Apartment for Evidence

It’s so impressive to think that everything here was built in a studio in Hollywood.

Jeff, Writing a Note to Thorwald to Get Him out of the Apartment

Lisa, Going to Slip the Note Underneath his Door

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?

Lisa, Slipping the Note Underneath the Door…

…and Barely Getting Away.

Lars Thorwald Panicking, Reading the Letter

“What was his reaction?”

Lisa, Excited at What She Did!

Jeff, Falling in Love

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Our Scene 14

Me and Gordon, Trying our Best to Channel Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart

Me, Looking Through my Grandmother’s Slide Viewer

The Dogs Are Always a Welcome Crash

‘When it gets a little darker I’m going over there to dig up that flower bed and see what’s buried there.’

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From a Director’s Point of View

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Jeff’s Apartment

We did our best to try and recreate Jeff’s Apartment in the movie.  At least certain aspects of it.  You never have to have anything totally accurate.  You just want to do an impression that will portray your idea.

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Just a Few “Notes” From the Scene

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Our Harvest Fountain

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Pumpkins and Vintage Candy 

I Wanted Our Candy to Reflect the Era

Vintage Hard Candy, Toy Cameras, Big Hunk Candy Bars, Sugar Orange Slices, Mary Jane’s, Caramel’s, Ginger Mints, etc.

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Pumpkin Carving Starts Here

My T-Shirt

Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart, Rear Window

Carving The Pumpkin

(Write up by Gordon)

Here I am deciding what design I want, or think I can do.

Julie is always pushing me with these in a good way as I doubt my ability to accomplish some of the designs.

I decided to do the picture with Mr. Jeffries in a wheelchair.

I print out the picture then tape it to the pumpkin using painters tape. I also ensure the picture is flat against the pumpkin. In doing this, you may need to crease the paper’s outer edge as you are just trying to get the picture flat against the pumpkin’s surface. Now, using your punch tool, punch small holes barely into the skin of the pumpkin around every defined aspect of the picture. For the thin spokes, simply follow the spokes directly on the line. Get comfortable as this will take some time to do.

Here you see the picture with all the punches, then with the picture removed.

Save the picture so you can use it as a reference.

Now, carve out the sections that you want light to shine through using a small sharp knife.

Taking a needed break for a quick happy snap.

Continue to carve out the sections using your picture as a guide.

Me, with my beautiful support!  🙂

Here Julie was making me a nice sandwich!

Still carving out the design.

Again, posing for another happy snap.

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Jeff Watching Lars Thorwald

Our Version of Jeff’s Sandwich

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Now you can start to see the design come through. Use a V cut to make the thin lines. To do this, place your knife at an angle and cut just outside the line that barely cuts through the pumpkin’s skin. Then, turn the pumpkin around and do the same cut on the other side of the line. This should remove a small sliver of the pumpkin’s skin. Repeat this cut for all the small lines.

Now that I have completed the outside it is time to cut into the top of the pumpkin. Use a thin saw blade tool that comes in the usual pumpkin carving kit and make a steep angled cut. If you don’t do this cut at an angle, the lid will simply fall into the pumpkin. I also cut a triangular wedge in the top so I know where the lid goes when I am done. Continue this cut all the way around the top of the pumpkin until your lines intersect.

Now, remove the top as shown. Here you can see the angled cut I made.

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Use a sharp knife to cut away the bottom of the lid so it looks nice

Stick your hands inside the pumpkin and remove the seeds.

Here I am removing the seed to cook later.

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It is a little gooey, but it is only a vegetable.

Remove a good amount of the inside of the pumpkin so the light will shine through.

Place a strong flashlight inside the pumpkin to help you see where to remove more of the insides.

Be sure not to make it too thin.

I even signed the cast Mr. Jeffries… thought that was a nice touch.

L. B. Jeffries

Vintage Candy and Toy Cameras

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The Recipes

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Pumpkin Beer and Cheese Quick Bread

This is the easiest and tastiest bread recipe in the world!

(Ignore the Baking Powder in the photo above.)

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Self-Rising Flour

1 Cup Shredded Cheese (We used White Cheddar)

2 T. Granulated Sugar

1/4 t. Salt

1 T. Garlic and Herb Seasoning

1 12 oz. Pumpkin Beer

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You want to pre-heat your oven to 350F, and use a cooking oil spray (PAM) to coat your loaf pan.

Here I have Grated All of my Cheese

Place your Self-Rising Flour, Sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl…

Add your Garlic and Herb Seasoning… Whisk together.

And then your Grated Cheese….

Next, add your Beer

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Place the Beer Battered Bread Mix into a greased loaf pan.

Top with some cheese, if desired.

Cover and bake in a 350F Oven for about 35-45 minutes.

You can remove the foil near the end to give the bread such great color.

Remove From Oven

Let Cool in the Pan for about 15 minutes.

Then, turn out to cool on a wire rack.

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Our Modern Day Ham Sandwiches and Microwave Potato Chips

To make homemade potato chips, you could use a knife to slice the chips thinly, but using a mandolin gives you the uniformity of real chips and is just so much faster. Here, I use three Russet Potatoes as these make the best chips. Place a plate under your mandolin to catch the sliced potatoes.

Wash the potatoes well and pick out some seasoning for them.

You could go with just some salt, but we chose garlic and herb.

Here I am making a small sheet of parchment paper, a good size to fit in our microwave dish so that it will still spin.

Carefully slice your potatoes using the mandolin. You want them thin, but not too thin. Do a test with your potato until you arrive at the right thickness. You can see how nice the slices turned out.

I placed some seasoning on the parchment paper.

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Carefully lay down the potato slices onto the Parchment Paper.

Now, add more seasoning to the top of the potatoes.

Microwave them on high for about 2-3 min. or until they begin to brown and turn crispy.

You could also use a little Chili Powder on the chips, giving them more great flavor.

Here you can see the finished product… so just dig in!

These are healthier than regular potato chips.

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Now For Our Grilled Ham Sandwiches

You can see our Beer Bread in the background, top, and our Microwave Potato Chips.

Gordon slicing some Roma Tomatoes, and removing the seeds.

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Now, slice your onions as thick as you like. I make them about ¼ in thick.

Now that your prep work is done, it is time to head out to the grill. In the background you can see our nice bread, pickles, and mustard we will used for the sandwiches. In the foreground, you can see the ham steaks.

Here is a closeup of the bread and butter pickles, and Honey Mustard we made.

The banana pepper pickles are another great addition to this sandwich.

To start, place your grill on high and let it sit for about 5 min., Then clean off your grill using a wire brush being sure none of the bristles are left behind. I then turn the grill down and spray it with some high temperature cooking spray, or peanut oil.

Set your grill flames to Medium high and place your onions and Plum tomato halves onto the grill and let them sit.

Close the lid and just let them cook.

After about 7 minutes, open the grill and check on them. You want to see some nice black char and grill marks as shown. Turn them over and cook them for at least another 5 min.

Now that your tomatoes are done with just a few onions to finish, place your ham steaks down on the grill and let them just sit.

 

As your onions become done, add your ham steaks to the grill. These are not very thick so be careful not to over cook them. You really just want the nice grill marks. You could season them with a bit of pineapple juice or more savory items like onion or garlic powder, but we decided to just let the ham flavor shine through.

Here you can see the finished grilled steaks.

Slice your bread using a bread knife.

Time to make the sandwiches. Spread on your mustard of choice,

I like to use Swiss Cheese with ham. Add your grilled onions to the sandwich as well.

Here I sliced the ham in half so it would fit nicely on the sandwich.

Add some nice lettuce and the grilled Plum tomatoes.

Don’t forget the pickles!

It took some careful stacking as well, but it was worth it.

When you are done, top the sandwich with the other slice of bread. You could have also toasted the bread if you wanted.

Here you can see the end results to our Rear Window sandwich.

I am sure Mr. Jeffries would have loved it.

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Now, Back to our Game…

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There is a bit of a comical part in the movie where Jeff has an itch that he cannot get to to scratch, so he uses his back scratcher.

Oh yeah, that’s the spot!

Now, back to spying on Lars Thorwald.

Jeff’s Desk, Phone, Binoculars, and Mont Rachet Wine w/ Glasses

Dialing Lt. Doyle

More of Me, Loving to Impersonate My Favorite Heroin

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The Ending of Rear Window

Lisa and Stella go over to the flower bed to see what Thorwald had buried there, although there was nothing to be found.  That is when Lisa got the inspiration to get into Thorwald’s apartment to look for the wife’s jewelry that Thorwald was keeping in his wife’s handbag.

Lisa, excitedly finding the handbag, only to be disappointed that nothing was inside.

Meanwhile, Lars Thorwald is unexpectedly on his way back to his apartment.

Jeff calls the police to report that a woman is being assaulted and for them to hurry!

After a few minutes the police to arrive.  Lisa however, doesn’t give away why she was in the apartment to begin with.  She waits until they get her safely out of there and she then reveals why she was in there.  To find Mrs. Thorwald’s wedding ring…..

…which Lisa slipped on her finger before being arrested.  She is signaling to Jeff across the way that she found it.

  However, Thorwald see’s it too!

——————————————————————————

With Lisa being arrested, and Stella sent to bail her out of jail, Jeff is left alone in his apartment. 

He hears footsteps.  And then someone enters his apartment.

“Who are you?  What do you want?  Why didn’t the girl turn me in?  Can you get me that ring back?”

Lars Thorwald

——————————————————————

Jeff now has to buy some time.  He has Stella and Lisa down at Police Headquarters.  He also has his friend Det. Doyle going down there to get Lisa out of jail with no charges.  He also has to fend off Lars Thorwald until they all get back.

Jeff, being the smart guy that he is has taken the light bulbs from his camera to use against Thorwald to blind him while he buys some time.

It does work long enough until he spots Lisa and Doyle across the way going to Thorwald’s apartment.  He calls their names and they run over to try and save him.

But, not before Thorwald has attacked Jeff, shoving him out of his Rear Window.

Jeff Struggling For His Life

———————————————————————————-

Jeff, Loosing his Grip and Falling

Doyle, Stella, and Lisa Run to his Aid

Having Officially, Fallen in LOVE

————————————————————————–

Spooky in a Basket

I love the scene in the movie where the woman lowers her dog in a basket down to the ground so that it can use the bathroom/roam around, etc.  And, then when she calls it, the dog will jump back into the basket to be raised up to the apartment.

——————————————————————————————

A Happy Ending

When the movie starts out Jeff has one broken leg, but by the end of the movie he has two.

So, why the smile on his face above?  He solved a mystery with the help of his beautiful girlfriend that he had underestimated as being some helpless female, who actually helped to foil Lars Thorwald and put him in jail for murdering his wife.  Jeff is now happily in love and ready to commit to Lisa.

——————————————————————————————–

Lisa understands his love of traveling to exotic places and she is willing to learn all she can and go with him on these jaunts.  However, you cannot take the fashion girl out of the magazines permanently.  Which is why she waited until he fell asleep to read her Harper’s Bazaar Magazine.  🙂

Looks like Lisa has Everything Under Control

THE END

—————————————————————————————–

If you would like to view our other Alfred Hitchcock posts…..

Click Here For:  Happy Birthday Hitch

AND,

Click Here For:  Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds

AND,

Click Here For:  Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window

AND,

Spooketti Dinner with Hitchcock

AND,

 A. Hitchcock CLUE For Halloween

AND,

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window:  SCENE 14

———————————————————————————

Good Evening,

Julie and Gordon

 

 

 

 

Chef Whann’s Creepy Crawly Dinners

Chef Whann’s Creepy Crawly Dinners

                Happy Halloween Hungry? This is a favorite meal of mine to make, due to its creativity and simplicity.  Like a one pot meal, this is mostly a one roasting pan meal with the exception of boiling the 

Oktoberfest Lebensmittel

Oktoberfest Lebensmittel

      WILLKOMMEN! (Welcome) (Hardly fancy, but Cheese, Turkey Sausage, on Crackers with a good German Mustard is a nice little snack.) ———————————————————– Oktoberfest:  German Festival Held over a two week period ending the first Sunday in October. The festival originated on October 12, 

Autumn Lunches

Autumn Lunches

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn

Me, Rome, Georgia, mid 1960’s playing in the leaves. 

(Love the cars.)  🙂

When I think of Autumn I always first think of leaves. 

The Fall colors of the trees as the leaves fall off of them, and crunch underneath my footsteps as I walk or run through the yard stepping on them.  The photos above of me at my Grandparents house, rolling around in the leaves and sitting in a pile of them, is vintage Julie.  A pile of leaves to me was a playground.

Autumn also represents to me the colors of Burgundy, Golds, Greens…

Cooler Weather, Sweaters, and my favorite holiday, Halloween!

Autumn also is to me eating foods that make my tummy warm and cozy. 

Taking a bite out of something warm and the feeling of it as it goes down my throat.

Autumn to me is also heavy foods, such as Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Autumn foods can be nice and light, as in something you can easily eat for lunch and enjoy but not be so weighted down.  That is what I want this page to be about.  Something nice and light, yet distinctly Autumn.

So, we created this page with that in mind.  Even though we live in Florida and our seasons really don’t change that much from each other, we still enjoy the foods of Autumn no matter how hot it is outside.

Happy Fall Y’all!

Julie and Gordon

——————————————————————-

Susy’s Cards

On September 13, 2022, Gordon’s aunt died.  Her name was Susanne Elsroad Whann, otherwise known as Aunt Susy.  She was born on July 17, 1944, she was 78 when she died.  As I was doing this write up for this page, Autumn Lunches, and I was even talking about Autumn Leaves above, I suddenly remembered these cards that Susy had made for us decades ago.  I save everything!  Never diss the hoarder’s, we treasure history.  Regardless, I immediately located these cards and took a photo of them.  Susy was a very thrifty person.  She valued nature.  She wasn’t a fancy person.  She valued the outdoors.  Hiking, Biking, Walking, Swimming, she was athletic.  She was her happiest outdoors.  She valued the environment.  She wanted to leave behind a better place than she found it.  I even believe that she donated her body to science when she died.  I don’t think it becomes any more noble than that.

I thought this was the nicest place to pay our homage to her.  She was my favorite Whann.  🙂

—————————————————————————

Autumn Lunches Recipes Start Here

——————————————————————–

Autumn Sliders

Sometimes I get mad at myself for using the same terminology as others out there.  Mini sandwiches are suddenly “sliders.”  What is a “slider” anyway?  Something that slides down your throat?  I guess so.  Hence, the term?  Well, I will go along here and declare these as “Sliders.”

Easy, Light, and Delicious

The Perfect Little Lunch..

..Especially for a Family

————————————————————————-

Cheesy Broccoli Soup w/ Cheesy Broccoli Cornbread, and Ghosts

Perfect for a Cool Autumn Day!

———————————————————————————–

Cheesy Broccoli Cornbread’s

(I have made this favorite recipe many times.  I even had it featured in a few places on the website.  But, I also really needed to add it here, as it goes perfect with this fast and easy soup.)

If you have a Ghost Mold Baking Sheet, then all the Better!

(Recipes Down Below)

—————————————————————-

First Up:  The Autumn Slider

——————————————————————

The Cheese:

Jack O’ Pumpkin Cheese

Ingredients:

Brioche Mini-Buns

Autumn Cheese

Sweet Dumpling Winter Squash

Grey Poupon Mustard

Microgreens

Fried Onions

—————————————————————–

(Little Halloween Prank)  🙂

Gordon Slicing the Squash

——————————————————————————-

Removing The Seeds

All Clear

Washing The Microgreens

———————————————————————–

Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds with a scraping tool, and add a Tbsp. of butter to each cavity.  Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place in a preheated 400’F oven for about 25 min.

To check if the squash are tender, you can insert the tip of your knife into it and if you feel little to no resistance, the squash is done.  Set them aside to cool.

———————————————————————

Brioche Mini-Buns

Slice the buns in half using a sharp knife as shown.

Place the buns onto a sheet pan cut side up.

Spread a thin layer of your spicy mustard over one side of the mini-buns.

Remove the wax, then slice your Pumpkin cheese into wedges as shown.

Place two wedges of cheese over each mini-bun as shown.

Peel the squash then slice it into 1/4 inch sections.

Add the squash onto each mini-bun.

————————————————————————–

Place the topped mini-bun under your broiler until the cheese melts and slightly browns.

After about 3 min. remove the browned mini-buns.

———————————————————————

Our Leftover Fried Onions

These were from another recipe that we had leftover in the refrigerator. 

We thought they would go nicely with our Sliders.

——————————————————

Shallots

Add your sliced Shallots to the flour and any spices you want. 

For example, Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, etc….

mix them into the flour mixture until well coated as shown.

Place your peanut oil into a large pan and heat to medium.  When heated to temperature, add a handful of sliced shallots to the oil.

————————————————————-

Fry the Shallots until golden brown as shown. 

Place on a paper towel to drain.

——————————————————————–

Top the squash with the fried onions and micro-greens.

Now, lift the cheese topped bun on top of the squash side being careful as the cheese is hot.

Plate and Enjoy!

—————————————————————————

This Autumn Sandwich Hits THE Spot Every Time!

——————————————————————————-

Cheesy Broccoli Soup w/ Cheesy Broccoli Cornbread and Ghosts

Perfect for a Cool Autumn Day!

———————————————————————————-

Recipe Starts Here

(This is a great way to jazz up an already nice soup.  Consider the ready made Bear Creek Cheddar and Broccoli mixes as a nice base to build upon.)

——————————————————————————–

Ingredients:

2- Bear Creek Cheddar Broccoli Soup Mixes

Roasted Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Turmeric Powder (Known to kill cancer cells, and gives the soup a richer golden color.)

(These are to add according to your tastes but, if you want a guide, then I suggest about 1/2 teaspoon or more for each spice above.)

—————————————————————-

4- Blocks of various Irish Cheddar’s (Some more aged than others.)

You will want to grate all of those to enhance the soup’s flavor.

Salt, and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

(To Taste)

————————————————————————————–

Thawing Lots of Frozen Broccoli

————————————————————————–

Making The Soup According To The Package Instructions

I’ve Got Two Pots Going.  I Will Keep One, And Give The Other Away As A Gift

It’s a Full Moon

I’ve added my extra spices, along with the salt and freshly ground black pepper.

  The soup is now simmering away.

——————————————————————————-

Once Thawed, Time to Cook

Place the Thawed Broccoli into a Microwave safe dish…

..and cook according to your Microwave Instructions.

——————————————————————–

Time to Grate All Our Cheeses

———————————————————————-

Start Adding The Cheeses To Each Soup Pot

————————————————————————————–

Broccoli Done!

(Be sure to drain the water into the sink before added the broccoli to the soup.)

Cheese Melting and Broccoli Added

Allow to Simmer Away Until Ready

—————————————————————————

 

Broccoli and Cottage Cheese Cornbread w/ Onions

(This is an old Southern favorite!  Perfect just as it is!)

————————————————————————–

Whenever I make this cornbread, I always double the recipe because I use my Cast Iron Skillet

Ingredients:

Most of the ingredients that you see above are for making the cornbread.

I made the cornbread by simply following the package directions on the Quaker Yellow Corn Meal box.

So, my advice to you is to just make your favorite cornbread, and then you can add all these extras to it, according to your tastes.

—————————————————————————-

Measuring Cups, Spatulas, and Measuring Spoons

The “Extras” I Mentioned Above that I will add are:

Chopped Onions….

I probably use about 3/4 Cup of Chopped Onions

—————————————————————

I also add:

Broccoli Florets…

(I cooked these the same way I did for the broccoli in the soup above.  Let the microwave do the cooking, just be sure to drain the water out into the sink and not add it to the cornbread mix.)

My Chopped Onions left, My Cornbread mix right.

The other “Extra” ingredient I will be adding is Cottage Cheese

(I probably added a few heaping spoonful’s of Cottage Cheese.)

—————————————————————————-

Making My Cornbread

Adding The Broccoli, Onions, and Cottage Cheese

I have this great ghost mold that I love to use around Halloween.  I simply sprayed it with a cooking oil spray before adding the cornbread mixture, I then baked according to the Quaker Corn Meal box instructions.  But, I did monitor it as every oven is different, and I wasn’t using a traditional baking mold.

Into the Oven They Go!

——————————————————————-

A Nice Quick Look at my Soup

——————————————————————————-

The rest of my cornbread mixture is going into my Cast Iron Skillet that I greased with Crisco.

———————————————————————————-

Delicious Ghosts Right Out Of The Oven

My Cast Iron Cornbread Right Out Of The Oven As Well

Cooling Nicely!

Check That Out!

—————————————————————————-

SOUP’S ON!

———————————————————————————-

Thanks for Coming to Lunch!  🙂

Julie

————————————————————————————-

 

 

 

 

 

A Mermaid Halloween

A Mermaid Halloween

        HAPPY HALLOWEEN Trick-or-Treat Salty But Sweet! Mermaid Kisses and Starfish Wishes   Welcome to our Under Sea Halloween! Can I Offer You a Mermaid Treat from the Reef? How About a Chocolate Seashell? You Wish, Jellyfish! The Mermaid Riches, and Mermaid 

Spooky Treats

Spooky Treats

              Happy Halloween For My Spooky ..and My Sparky. For Our Grand-Dog Chewie….. And Our Grand-Dog Hank We adore the animals in our lives. These are for you guys! Julie and Gordon Happy Halloween From Spooky and Sparky (We 

STAR TREKKIES, Into The Botanist’s Lair (The Lost Episode)

STAR TREKKIES, Into The Botanist’s Lair (The Lost Episode)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space:  The Final Frontier

These are the voyages of the “Pretend” Star Ship Enterprise.

It’s one Halloween Night mission:

To explore strange new backyards in the state of Florida, (hopefully without being shot.)

To seek out Alien Ingredients and Recipes for Foods, (And do a bit of Trick-or-Treating just for shits and giggles.)

To boldly go where two seniors in Florida have never gone before……

 

Ah. Ahhhhh.  Ah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhhhhh…..

Ah, Ahhhhhh.  Ah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhhhhhh….

Ah Ah, Ah Ah, Ah, Ahhhhhh, Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhhhhh…..

AHHHHHHHHHH…

(Well, you get the picture.)  🙂

———————————————————-

UNDER STAR FLEET NEED TO KNOW BASIS 

In space (or Florida) no one can hear you SCREAM!!!

(Can you hear me?  No?  Kinda proves my point, huh?)

—————————————————–

WHAT IS THAT????

Oh, It’s just a plant.  (Sigh of relief.)

————————————————————

Set Your Phaser’s To STUN!

Captain, I don’t like it here.

Captain Gordo

Julie Whann as:  Science Officer Whannita Jules

Let’s proceed with caution.

Gordon Whann as:  Captain Whann Gordo

AND,

Introducing

Guy, as Lieutenant Guy

—————————————————————-

We originally shot all of this in October 2021, but didn’t get to the write ups until September, 2022.

The first episode of Star Trek premiered on September 8, 1966.  Hence, every September 8th. is Star Trek Day.

We just wanted to acknowledge the original series and how Gene Roddenberry’s vision spawned a multitude of Star Trek’s in it’s wake.  Although the series only aired for 3 years, and with such a low budget, the creativity that went into the set design and wigs and costumes was genius.

Thank you Gene Roddenberry.  Rest In Space.

August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991

————————————————————

Hawaii Creation Convention

My very first Star Trek Convention flyer.  I still  have it!  🙂

We met George Takei, Sulu, he held our little girl Veronica in his arms.

——————————————————————-

Beaming Down To The Surface  🙂

(Having such a hard time keeping a straight face here.)  🙂

————————————————————-

SCREAMING!!!! 

‘CAUSE THAT’S WHAT WOMEN DO!

Oh No!  Something has happened to Lieutenant Guy!

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

———————————————————-

I’m fine now Sir.  I will see to my duties.

I’m taking his pulse Captain.

 

The Readings Are Off The Charts Captain!

 

I really can’t be sure sir, but I think that he might be….dead!

I don’t believe that we are safe here, sir.  Perhaps we should look around?

————————————————————

I don’t understand?  Where did all this come from?

Sir, I don’t see anyone.  I will check back here. 

Don’t go too far Lt. Jules.  It sure does look good.

Thank you sir.  I do look rather good from behind if I do say so myself.

I was talking about the food Lt. Jules. 

Oh.  🙁

—————————————————————–

The Botanist’s Table

Cheesy Cauliflower Gratin with Bugs

Botanist’s Plants with Creatures and Bugs

Stuffed Alien Squash

Breads

(The Botanist’s Recipes are Down Below)

————————————————————–

Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules

What is all this?  I’m so hungry Captain.  And not just hungry for your love.

Simmer down Lieutenant. 

A toast Lt. Jules.  To our host, whomever he may be?

We shouldn’t appear to be rude.

We don’t want to offend first contact with this planet and it’s people.

Perhaps we should partake of all this nourishment?

 

Yes, Captain.  But, why does it appear to be moving?

 

BUGS!  CAPTAIN!!!  BUGS!!!!!

EVERYWHERE!!!  AHHHHHH!!!!!!!

—————————————————————————

The bugs overcame our hero’s. 

Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules were consumed….

The two pots above are for Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules.

They are to be added to The Botanist’s Lair Collection.

Our hero’s have been transformed into potted plants in the Botanist’s Garden.

They will forever live on in Star Fleet memories, and the Botanist’s Lair.

——————————————————————-

Lt. Guy will forever be a Scarecrow inside the Botanist’s Lair.

—————————————————————–

Let’s all set our phaser’s to fun in remembrance of Captain Gordo

and the sexiest of all Science Officers Lt. Whannita Jules.  (You know it!)  🙂

—————————————————————–

———————————————————————-

Carving Our Pumpkin, Dinner Table

AND, Eating the Botanist’s Leftovers

———————————————————————————–

The Star Trek Insignia Pumpkin

(How -To instructions listed down below.)

Gordon Ready to Carve the Star Fleet Insignia

———————————————————————

The Revamped, Throw Together Leftovers are Delicious

(All the recipes are listed down below.)

————————————————————————

Something for the Trick-or-Treaters

———————————————————————

——————————————————————–

Attacked By BUGS!!!!

We were actually attacked by giant horse flies while we were shooting this. 

That is me trying to swat them with an electric tennis racket that fries bugs.

We think they were after the shell fish (shrimp.) 

Normally, we don’t see these kinds of bugs in our backyard.  Which tells us that they are always there, they just don’t come out unless there is something they want.

———————————————————————-

Cooking The Food

Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules, Following Orders

—————————————————————

The Botanist’s Recipes

Bitter Melon Creatures Crawling Everywhere!

(We found these at The Asian Supermarket.)

———————————————————————-

Washing the Vegetables

————————————————————

Shh…  A Few Leftover Bites

Delicious!

————————————————–

———————————————————————–

Botanist’s Plants With Creatures and Bugs

Ingredients:

~24 Large Shrimp – Shell on and de-veined

————————————–

~4 Cups Walnuts – Roasted, Reserve One Cup for Garnish

~1-2 Tbsp. Sea Salt for Pasta “Water”

2 Large Bunches of Garlic Chives

10 -12 Garlic Cloves, Reserve 4 for the Shrimp

2, 5 oz. Containers of Fresh Spinach and Arugula

~1 1/2 Cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the Blender Items

3-4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

4 tsp. Sea Salt

————————————————

1 Pkg. Ronzoni Brand SuperGreens Thin Spaghetti

1 Pkg. Al Dente Brand Spinach Fettuccine

~3-4 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the Wok

~1/2 Cup Grated Asiago Cheese

~1/2 Cup Grated Romano Cheese

~1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

4 Garlic Cloves – Sliced thinly for cooking the Shrimp

4 Tbsp. Butter

Garnish with Plastic Roaches and ~1 Cup Roasted Walnuts

————————————————————

Pictured are the large shrimp we used for this recipe. 

I bought them with the shell on, which means I will have to de-vein (remove intestine).

To do this, place the shrimp flatly on your cutting board and slice just below the shell starting at the head down to the tail.  Open the shrimp up and you should see its intestine pictured with the shrimp’s feces.  This as you can imagine is not something you want to eat especially with larger shrimp.  Pull to remove the intestine then rinse with cold running water and repeat for all the shrimp.  To have your Fish Monger do this will cost you a lot more money which is why I simply do it myself.

When done, I placed them in a bowl then into a plastic bag and put them back into the refrigerator for later use.

—————————————————————-

Now to Make the Pasta

Our Ingredients

———————————————————————

Roast your walnuts on a sheet pan at 350’F for about 15 min. or until you begin to smell them.

Roasting brings out the flavor of the nuts.  Remove them from the pan and set aside.

——————————————————————–

Add a good amount of water to two pots to boil your pasta.  Set the burners on High.

———————————————————————-

Here are the Roasted Walnuts.

———————————————————————-

Add ~1-2 Tbsp. Sea Salt to the water to flavor the pasta.

Slice your first bunch of Garlic Chives (regular Chives also work) into 3 inch lengths to assist the blender.  You will have to repeat the blender steps twice to make enough for this recipe.

Add your Chives and Garlic Cloves to the blender.

Spinach-Arugula

Now add your handful of mixed Spinach and Arugula leaves.

Then add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the blender.

Now add your Red Pepper flakes and Sea Salt.

Blend the ingredients for about 5 seconds to reduce the mixture.

If needed, add more Olive Oil to make the mixture move while blending.

Add about 1 1/2 Cups Walnuts to the mixture.

Blend the mixture until mostly smooth as shown.  Repeat these steps to make another batch.

Add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a large Wok.

Add your Ronzoni Pasta to the boiling water.

Push the pasta into the water and cook, following the packages directions.

Do the same with your Spinach Fettuccine pasta.

Stir the pasta occasionally during the cooking process, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot, or to each other.

———————————————————————-

Gordon Testing to see if Al Dente

Taste the pasta to ensure it is 95% cooked and still has a little bite to it, which in Italian is “Al Dente” or to the tooth.  Drain both pasta’s well then…

immediately add them to a wok and turn to medium heat.

Fold your pasta into the oil, then add your blended mixture and continue to fold the ingredients together.

Grate your Asiago, Romano and Parmesan cheeses into the mixture and continue to fold all the ingredients together.

Turn off the heat and set aside when the cheeses have melted, which should only take a few minutes.

———————————————————————–

Now For The Shrimp

—————————————————————–

Thinly slice your Garlic for the Shrimp.

——————————————————————–

Add your butter to a large saute pan heated to medium heat.  When the butter starts to melt, add your garlic.

Mix your Garlic into the melted butter and cook them for about 4 min. creating a delicious Garlic Butter.  When done, and your Garlic begins to brown, add your shrimp.

Place the shrimp into a single layer as shown.

After just about a minute, the shrimp will turn pink, flip the shrimp over and cook the other side for the same amount of time.  Remove the shrimp from the heat placing them into a bowl to slow down the cooking process.  The shrimp will continue to cook as long as they are hot.

Using a large platter, place your pasta into a large mound as shown.  Garnish with your remaining 1 Cup of Roasted Walnuts then place your shrimp all around the mound of pasta as shown.  Finally, add your plastic Roaches to the platter and you are done!  I hope you and your guests enjoy this great Alien pasta dish!  🙂

————————————————————————–

Cheesy Cauliflower Gratin With BUGS!

Our Cauliflower

(One Cauliflower per Casserole)

Casserole Dish and Pot of Water

Ingredients:

1 Lg. Cauliflower – cut into small florets

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil – reserve 1/4 Cup for topping

1 Tbsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. White Pepper

1 tsp. Tabasco Spicy Salt

1 tsp. Freshly Ground Nutmeg

1/2 Cup White Cheddar Cheese – we used Black Diamond Grand Reserve – reserve 1/4 Cup for the topping

1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs

——————————————————————-

Using a large pot, boil your Cauliflower Florets until just tender taking about ~5 min. time.

Here is a great picture of the cheeses we used and the other ingredients.

Here you see the Florets boiling.  Be sure to check their tenderness using a fork.  If the fork penetrates them slightly they are done.  Just don’t get them too tender or they will be mushy and won’t hold their shape.

When cooked to your liking, pour the Cauliflower into a colander and run enough cold water over them, to stop the cooking process.

Add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil into a medium sized bowl.

Now, add your Onion Powder, White Pepper, and Tabasco Spicy Seasoning to the bowl.

Here is a Nutmeg nut which has much more flavor than Nutmeg that has been already grated. 

They are readily available in most supermarkets.

Use a small grater to grate the Nutmeg nut into the bowl.

Now, add your drained and cooled Cauliflower to the bowl.

Toss the Florets using a rubber spatula in the Olive Oil mixture until the ingredients are well combined.

Grate your cheeses into the bowl as shown.

Mix the cheeses with the Florets.

Pour the ingredients into a glass bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients.  Top the mixture with a little more White Cheddar Cheese as shown.

Now, spread a thin layer of Panko over the mixture and top with a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  The oil will help the Panko to brown while baking.

Bake the Cauliflower Gratin in a 400’F oven for ~10-15 min. or until the top of the Gratin is browned.

We hope you enjoy this easily prepared Cauliflower Gratin side dish, which can be made almost anytime of the year.

——————————————————————-

The Botanist’s Uniquely Stuffed Winter Squash

Ingredients:

3 Acorn White Winter Squash – cut in half, seeds removed

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 Tbsp. Butter – 1 Tbsp. for each of the 2 instant potato mixtures

1 Pkg. Instant Potatoes with Spinach

1 Pkg. Instant Potatoes with Beets

2 Cups Chicken Broth or Stock – 1 Cup for each instant Potato mixture

2 Cups Water – 1 Cup for each instant Potato mixture

3 Tbsp. Purple Moon Cheddar Cheese

3 Tbsp. Green Pesto Gouda Cheese

——————————————————————–

Slice the Squash in half then slice a small portion of the bottom of the Squash, or you can slice the top stem off, so they will sit flat on a sheet pan with the cavity side up.

Gordon looks like he’s ready to cut his fingers off.  🙂

Remove the seeds using a scraping tool.

Add your Olive Oil to a small dish…

then brush the oil over the entire outside of the Squash.

Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place the sliced Squash on top.

Place 1 Tbsp. of butter into the cavity of each Squash.

Bake them in a 400’F oven for about 20 min. or until mostly tender.

After 20 min. remove the Squash from the oven and set aside.

While the Squash are baking, make the Spinach and Beet infused instant potatoes.

Here I am adding Chicken Broth, then water to make the instant potatoes. 

Bring the mixture to a boil.

Here I am adding a Tbsp. of butter to the liquid to add more flavor.

Add the Potato mix to the water and broth and combine using a whisk.

——————————————————————–

Add your Spinach Potatoes to three of your Squash.

Add about 1 Tbsp. of your grated Purple Moon Cheddar cheese to the top of 3 Spinach Potato stuffed Squash.

——————————————————————

Make your liquid the same way as you did for the Spinach Potatoes.

Combine using a whisk.

———————————————————————————

Add your Beet infused Potatoes to the last three Squash as shown.

Top these with your grated Green Pesto Gouda cheese.

————————————————————————–

Bake the Potato Stuffed Squash in a 400’F oven for about 15 min. to melt the cheese and finish cooking the Squash.

Use a fork to ensure the Squash are tender.

Here you can see we baked the Gratin Cauliflower with the Potato Stuffed Squash.

We hope you enjoy this unique fall side dish.

————————————————————————

Pumpkin Carving

This was one I really liked and wasn’t that difficult to carve.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day in Florida to be outside.

Our printer wasn’t working that great as you can see, but I got the basic outline of the design.

——————————————————————-

Here is our bottle opener which looks like an original Star Trek Communicator.

To start, find a good spot on your pumpkin for the design.

Place the design on the pumpkin as shown and tape it down as needed.  Fold the edges of the paper down keeping the design intact.

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I use painters tape because it doesn’t stick too tightly to the pumpkin.

Trek-or-Treat

I love the roaches pictured with some of the tools I will be using. 

They were part of our Botanist’s Dinner.

Carefully use your punch tool to trace the outline of the design, making a hole about every half inch and at every corner.  Don’t push down too hard as you just need the tool to puncture the skin of the pumpkin.

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Julie checking in on my progress.

 

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When you have completed all the punches, remove the paper almost the entire way, then check your work to ensure you got all the lines needed.  This way if you missed a section, you can easily replace the paper and make the needed corrections.  DON’T throw away the dotted paper as you can use it to keep track of your design.

Here you can better see the punches I made.

I have found if you first trace the outline of the design with your knife, it works best.  Carve just outside the punched holes (Dotted Lines).  Use your knife placed at a sharp angle to then remove a thin layer of the pumpkin’s skin between the outer lines.

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Do this for the entire pumpkin.

Beer, Snacks, and BUGS!

When almost done, I used the small serrated blade to remove the top of the pumpkin using a steep angle.  You also have to be sure you make it large enough, so that you can get your hand and scraping tool inside.

Here you can see the steep angle I used. 

You do this so when you place the lid back on the pumpkin, it won’t fall in.

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Now begin to remove the seeds and place them into a colander to rinse and eat later.

Use the same cutting tool to make an edge for the lid to sit upon.

Scrape the pumpkin’s inside to remove the meat of the pumpkin.

The thinner the insides get, the more light will shine through. 

Here I used the sun in reverse to see the light coming through.

Here I am using that same carving tool to cut through the pumpkin to make the center design.

It’s good to have a friend by your side! 

Say hello to Sparky!

Here you can see the finished design along with the pumpkin seeds and all the scrapings I removed. 

You can use the scrapings to make a pumpkin pie!

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The Pumpkin Seeds

Never Throw Them Away, Roast Them

Separate the seeds from the meat of the pumpkin and rinse them well.  Once all the seeds are cleaned you can place them into a ziplock bag until ready to cook them.  Here I am spreading the seeds out evenly over an aluminum foil lined sheet pan.

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We decided to use Pumpkin Seasoning this time, but you can use most any seasoning that you like.

Generously season the seeds and place them into a 350’F oven for about 15 min. then remove the seeds and turn them, adding more seasoning if needed.  Place the seeds back into the oven and cook until browned taking around another 10-15 min.

Here you can see I added more seasoning to the seeds.  Once the seeds are crispy and golden brown they are done.  When cooled taste one to ensure they are done.  These are a great Halloween treat to make either sweet or savory!

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Our Revamped Botanist’s Lair Leftovers

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Ingredients:

6 Broccoli Rabe Stalks – par-boiled

Box of Pearled Couscous – Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil (per package instructions)

1 pkg. 12 oz. Green Beans – boiled

1 pkg. 12 oz. Baby Mixed Yellow and Green Beans – boiled

2 pkgs. 1.75 oz. each Mixed Micro-greens

3 to 4 Shallots – sliced thinly

~1/2 Cup Flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

Tabasco Spicy Salt to taste

3 to 4 Cups Peanut Oil

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For the Lemon Mustard Sauce

1 Tbsp. Cuban Style Mustard

1 Tbsp. Grey Poupon Mustard

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Juice of two lemons

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~6 oz. Spinach Fettuccine Noodles – Al Dente Brand

Instant Potatoes with Spinach – Badia Brand

Instant Potatoes with Beats – Badia Brand

(These were actually our leftovers from the recipe above.)

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Ingredients in the Kitchen

Ready to Get Started

——————————————————————-

Start by making the Couscous as per the box directions.

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Trim the Broccoli Rabe as needed.

Place the stalks into boiling water for about 2 minutes (par-boiled) to mainly bring out the color and to make them a little tender.

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After the 2 min. or so are up and they are bright green, remove the Broccoli Rabe with tongs from the boiling water….

place them into a bowl of cold water for a few minutes.  Then transfer them to a colander and rinse with cold water just to insure the cooking process is done.  Set them aside for later use.

Using the same water….

boil your beans.  You cook these longer as they need to be tender.  I will try them after about 10 min. of boiling.

Here you can see all the beans cooking.  You can also see the almost done Couscous.

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While the beans continue to cook, slice your onions thinly for frying.  Here I found a bad one, so it is good to have a few spare ones on the side.  The fried onions will be used as a topping for our pasta dinner.

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Here are the Microgreens we used.

  You can use a little or as much of these as you want.

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When the beans have cooked to your desired tenderness, remove them from the pot and place into a bowl of cold water which will stop the cooking process.  Strain the beans using a colander and set aside for later use once they are cool.

—————————————————————————

Ready To Fry The Onions

Place your flour and fresh cracked pepper into a medium sized bowl.

Then add your salt and Tabasco seasoning to the bowl.

Add your sliced Shallots to the flour and ….

mix them into the flour mixture until well coated as shown.

Place your peanut oil into a large pan and heat to medium heat.  When heated to temperature, add a handful of sliced shallots to the oil.

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Fry the Shallots until golden brown as shown.

———————————————————————–

Pictured are the mashed potatoes we made at an earlier date that had beats and spinach within them.  In the center is more of our Pesto we made earlier in this post from the recipe above.  These will play a role in our leftover dinner.

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Making Our Dressing

Place both your mustard’s into a medium sized bowl.

Add your good Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the bowl.

Squeeze your lemon juice into the bowl…

Then add salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk the ingredients together until well combined.  If some of the lemon seeds fell into the mixture, use a strainer to remove them.  Place the mixture into a small serving bowl for later use.

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Use a large pot of boiling water to cook the pasta as per the package instructions.  We had half a bag leftover from our original recipe above.

(We can not locate the photos that come after this step, but we can explain the rest and how to assemble the platter.)

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Taste the pasta, pictured above, to ensure it is done.  When done, pour the pasta into a strainer and place the pasta onto your serving tray in clumps.  Place the microgreens in spots around the platter along with the Broccoli Rabe and cooked yellow and green beans.  Place the Beet and Spinach Potatoes along with our Spinach Arugula Pesto into small bowls nestled into the platters ingredients.  Then top the items with the fried onions.  Call your guests and enjoy this great tasting meal with some nice bread.  Pour the Mustard Lemon Sauce over your plated Microgreens, Broccoli Rabe, Beans, and Pasta Noodles and enjoy!

Also pictured in the photo above is our Couscous Pearls.

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Dinner in the Botanist’s Lair

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Happy Halloween Captain Gordo

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Hey, what with the threat of nuclear war, civil war, plague’s and pandemics, if we want to run around the backyard wearing Star Fleet uniforms and pointing phasers at each other, so be it!  We plan on exiting this life while having fun!

Live Long and Prosper, and Happy Halloween!

Julie and Gordon

 

Autumn Treats

Autumn Treats

          Autumn Once Labor Day is over with….. There is just something special about the end of Summer and the beginning of Autumn. To most of us it’s having the kids go back to school.  Always a special time for me 

Sixty’s, (Sensational or Surviving?)  We’ll see, right?

Sixty’s, (Sensational or Surviving?) We’ll see, right?

        Welcome to My Sixty’s Currently Aging to Perfection (Or Rotting and Disintegrating?  But I swear this to you, as long as there are moisturizers and Loreal Superior Performance Medium Blonde, I will always be here for you.)  🙂 When I look 

Julie’s Chicken Knot Pies

Julie’s Chicken Knot Pies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the Recipe for Julie’s Chicken Knot Pies

Ready to go into the Oven

I have always loved Turkey Pot pies and actually grew up eating quite a few of them.  My mother wasn’t much of a cook, and she would say that with pride.  Oh, she had a few dishes that were favorites of ours that she could cook quite well.  But, overall cooking really wasn’t her thing.  Cutting corners, saving time, saving money, were more her thing.  As she would say to me, “My time is worth something.”

So, when you grow up not really being exposed to a lot of home cooking then frozen T.V. dinner’s were delicious.  One of my favorite dinner’s was this Banquet Turkey Pie.  I think they cost around .99 cents each back in the day and there were always a few in our freezer for me to heat up in the oven to have for dinner.

Retro Memory

Turkey Pot Pie

It really wasn’t until my late 20’s when we were living in Hawaii  that some friend of mine gave me her recipe for a Chicken Pot Pie.  I then made it, and it was nothing grand at all, but I realized how much better it tasted than my retro frozen Turkey Pot Pies that I used to love so much.  Just because it had fresher ingredients.

Through the years I would come across a few Chicken Pot Pie recipes here and there, and I would make them every now and then.  A lot of them were always similar in ingredients.  Which was fine as they always tasted nice.  However, when it came to creating my own Chicken Pot Pies I wanted to do some things differently.

For example, I came across these Garlic Knots online while we were doing our Covid 19 shopping and delivery and I wanted to try them.  They are so good that I then wondered what we could do with them in our own cooking?  And that is when the Chicken Knot Pie recipe was born inside my head.

I am always looking for short cuts where baking is concerned because I’m not very good at it.  Also, it just seems to be so much trouble making dough from scratch and all the effort that goes into it.  For me, doing that kind of baking is something that I have to really be in the mood to do.  Usually around the holidays, or something like that.

But, I promise you that nothing is long and elaborate here.  Nothing complicated.  No taste was sacrificed in order to make it more convenient.  I promise you!  You’ll see.

Julie

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If I was going to recreate a Pot Pie Memory then I was going to get out the Vintage Pot Holders.

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Julie’s Chicken Knot Pies

Get out your Pie Plates and let’s start with the Top and the Bottom of these Pies.

The Top being my Hot Mama Bread Knots, and the Bottom being the frozen Pie Crusts. 

Thawed!

First, let’s spray the Pie Plates with a Butter or Vegetable Cooking Spray

For this project I bought a few frozen pie crusts that came together.

I thawed them out from the freezer and when they were pliable, I placed them into my pie plates, like so.  This way, I don’t have to make some pie crust from scratch.  I just spread out the pie crust along the pie plates.

I turned the oven on 350F and then placed both pie plates with the thawed crusts in them, in order for them to cook up a little bit. 

About 8 minutes.  I don’t like a doughy crust so I wanted to bake the crust just a little bit first.

So, while that is baking……

…….time to start the pies!

Ingredients:

(This recipe made 2 1/2 Pies.  2 regular pie plates, and 1 small one.)

Frozen Pie Crusts- I bought a package of them.

3 Boxes Hot Mama Bread Knots

1 Stick of Butter (1/2 Cup)

2 Cups Chopped Onion

3 Cups Chopped Carrots

4 Cups Chopped Red Potatoes

1 Elephant Ear Garlic Clove, Minced (Or 3 Regular Garlic Cloves, Minced)

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper (About 1 teaspoon each)

2 teaspoons dried Thyme

2 teaspoons dried Rosemary

2 Tablespoons Fresh Sage, Chiffonade, Chopped

(Also, save some fresh Sage to top your pies with.)

3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

Chicken Stock/Broth 1 Container = 1 Quart

1 Cup Heavy Cream

The Meat of a small Rotisserie Chicken

1 1/2 Cups Frozen Peas

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Although I don’t have a photo of all the chopping, I used a crinkle cut tool to make these great cuts of the Potatoes and Carrots.

In the bowl are my chopped Onions, Carrots, and Red Potatoes.

Note the Rotisserie Chicken at photo left. 

I sat that out so that it could come to room temperature before I started removing the meat.

This is the Crinkle Cut Tool that I used.

I talk about above how I placed the pie crusts in the oven for about 8 minutes.  I however failed to tell you that you need to use a fork to poke holes in the crust so that it doesn’t bubble up.  (I forgot to do it myself.) 

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Now It’s Time To Melt My Stick of Butter in a Saucepan on Medium Heat

Then Add My Chopped Onions, Carrots and Red Potatoes

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Now It’s Time to Mince our Elephant Ear Garlic Clove, or 2-3 Regular Garlic Cloves

 

We sauteed these vegetables in this saucepan for a good 30 minutes stirring occasionally on a medium-high heat.  It took a while for the potatoes and carrots to soften.  But, while they were softening we did add the salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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Once the Vegetables Started to Soften I Added the Minced Elephant Ear Garlic

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Dried Rosemary and Dried Thyme

Before I Add The Herbs, I Added the All Purpose Flour to our Already Cooked Vegetables

(This will thicken the mixture.)

Now It’s Time to Add our Dried, and Fresh Herbs

This is our Freshly Chopped Sage

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Now We Have Our Stove Top on Medium Heat

Time To Add Our Chicken Stock

The Frozen Peas Have Been Thawing And The Rotisserie Chicken Has Been Chopped

With the Chicken Stock and Vegetables Coming to a Boil, Add the Heavy Whipping Cream

The Skillet Mixture is Thickening

Look How Beautiful!

Once it Thickens up a bit, Time to Add the Chopped Rotisserie Chicken and the Frozen Peas

Combine and Stir Until Thickened

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Once your beautiful and delicious mixture has thickened, it’s time to ladle it into each pie plate. 

Once you have done that then place in your thawed bread knots on top.

Cram as many on top as you like.

Place each pie plate on a cookie sheet and then place into a 400F oven.

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I covered each pie with aluminum foil.

Here Gordon is placing them into the oven for me.

We Baked These For About 35 Minutes.

(Each oven is different.  Use your own judgement.)

After about 35 minutes I removed the foil and placed them back into the oven for an additional 10 – 15 minutes to brown the tops.

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Fresh Out of the Oven

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Our 1/2 Pie Left

 

There was just enough left to make this final small pie.

Beautiful and Delicious

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Julie’s Chicken Knot Pies  🙂

Dot With Some Fresh Sage Leaves (From our Garden)

 

 

 

4 and 20 Blackbirds (Berries) Baked in a Pie

4 and 20 Blackbirds (Berries) Baked in a Pie

          Julie’s Blackberry Pies ——————————————————————– Served with Kool-Whip mixed with Blackberry Jam and Topped with Blackberries Perhaps Eaten with The Cranky Bastard Blackberry Wine ———————————————————— When I think of a pie, Mother Goose always comes to mind: Sing a Song of 

A Charmed Halloween

A Charmed Halloween

  (I want to dedicate this page to my daughter Veronica.  Veronica Whann, Maryland She adored the Charmed T.V. show and she even created a website dedicated to the show when she was just a young teen, when we were living in Maryland.  I don’t 

Hey Family Guy!  Get a CLUE for Halloween!

Hey Family Guy! Get a CLUE for Halloween!

 

 

 

 

The Griffin Residence

31 Spooner Street

Quahog, Rhode Island

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Meet The Griffin’s

L to R:  Chris, Meg, Peter, Lois, Stewie, and Brian

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Meet The Whann’s

L to R  Sparky, Gordon, Spooky Lou, and Julie

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Happy Halloween

Are you a Family Guy FAN like we are? 

And, do you love to play the board game CLUE?

If so, then you are in the right place.

How about a Family Guy Halloween CLUE?

SO, WHO DUNNIT?

Hmmmm…..  Let’s Find Out……

—————————————————————–

On Becoming Lois….

(And yes, the wig is on a man’s head.)  🙂

However, I enjoyed playing Lois.

———————————————————————————-

Now, Let’s Get Started

Family Guy Introduction

———————————————————————-

Ready to Play CLUE?

The CLUE Game Suspects:

Peter

Brian

Chris

Stewie

Lois

Meg

——————————————————-

Our Griffin Family Living Room

Gordon as Peter Griffin

Peter with Pumpkin Peter

Our CLUE Game Weapons:

Pirate Sword

Towel Rod

Poisoned Clam Chowder

Thinking Grenades

Ray Gun

Baby Chucks

Night Stick

Leash

Scythe

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Julie as Lois Pewterschmidt Griffin

Sparky as Vinny Filipeli

Stuffed Brian as Brian Griffin

Spooky as Stewart “Stewie” Gilligan Griffin

And,

Baby Ben Lancaster as Baby Stewie in photo behind couch.

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Our CLUE Game Rooms:

Living Room

Kitchen

Dining Room

Garage

Basement

Peter and Lois Bedroom

Chris’s Room

Stewie’s Room

Meg’s Room

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Hey, are you guys ready to play?

Justin Peter Griffin

Our CLUE Game Piece Weapons

Lois’s Poisonous Clam Chowder

Oh, and Clam Fritters  🙂

Can I fix you a bowl?  I’d be happy to.

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Our Drunken Clam Chowder

w/ Clam and Corn Fritters

Hey Peter, I made your favorite.

Come and get it!

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Topped with Bacon and some Fried Clams

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We saved some of our clam shells to accent our chowder.

Clam and Corn Fritters

(Recipe at Bottom of Post.)

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…..the “pot” thickens………hmmmm……

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I’ve gotta feed Stewie he’s been a bit ornery lately. 

He wants me to make some kind of macaroni and cheese grilled cheese sandwiches.  He’s insistent upon it.  So let me feed him before he destroys us all.

——————————————————————

The Grilled Stewie Griffin’s…

Grilled Cheese/ Mac N’ Cheese Sandwiches

Do you see a resemblance to Stewie here?  🙂

Chris and Meg like them too!

I think this is gonna be a Griffin Family favorite from now on.

Peter!  Chris!  Meg!  Stewie!  Brian!

COME EAT!

(Recipe at Bottom of Post.)

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THE CLUE EPISODE

Although this episode is based on Agatha Christie’s, And Then There Were None, the characters on Family Guy have referred to this episode as the “CLUE” episode.  Which is probably why it is one of my favorite episode’s.

————————————————————

And Then There Were Fewer

Volume 9, Episode 1

Where is this road leading us to?

Wait!  I think I see something in the clearing…….

Look!  Oooooooooooooooo.

——————————————————

The residents of Quahog are all invited to James Woods’ house, where a murder mystery is about to take place.

—————————————————————

The weekend takes place on an island surrounded by water. 

The only way on or off is over a bridge.

————————————————————–

The Griffin’s are the first to arrive.

——————————————————————

Everyone received an invitation to a dinner in their honor.

The Guests

But, who is our host?

NO!  NOT JAMES WOODS!!!!

James Woods (voiced by James Woods)

The Cast of Characters

L to R: 

Glenn Quagmire (Seth MacFarlane)

Stephanie  (Alex Borstein)

Captain Seamus  (Seth MacFarlane)

John Herbert “Herbert the Pervert”  (Mike Henry)

Tom Tucker  (Seth MacFarlane)

Diane Simmons  (Lori Alan)

Bonnie Swanson  (Jennifer Tilly)

Joe Swanson  (Patrick Warburton)

Chris Griffin  (Seth Green)

Dr. Elmer Hartman  (Seth MacFarlane)

Peter Griffin  (Seth MacFarlane)

Lois Griffin  (Alex Borstein)

Meg Griffin  (Mila Kunis)

Stewie Griffin  (Seth MacFarlane)

Brian Griffin  (Seth MacFarlane)

Mayor Adam West  (Adam West)

H. Jon Benjamin  (Carl)

John G. Brennan  (Mort Goldman)

Nicole Sullivan  (Muriel Goldman)

Drew Barrymore  (Jillian Russell)

John Viener  (Derek Wilcox)

Ashley Tisdale  (Priscilla)

And not pictured above:  Patrick Stewart as the black talking cat.

———————————————————————

And Then There Were Fewer….

OH NO!  Derek!!

——————————————————–

So, Who Dunnit? 

Why not just watch the episode and find out for yourself?

—————————————————–

Me, Julie, Always up on the ladder taking photos of our food.

———————————————————–

The Drunken Clam

The Hangout of……

The Guys:  Joe, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Peter

Our Drunken Clam Beer Nut Mix

(Recipe at Bottom of Post.)

Our Version of The Drunken Clam

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Watching Our Favorite Family Guy Episodes

————————————————————

FAMILY GUY STAR WARS EPISODES

Some of our Favorite Funniest Episode’s

—————————————————————–

Thank you Seth MacFarlane and everyone associated with Family Guy.

  We are fans for life!

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Also Check Out Our:

American Dad Halloween

——————————————————————–

Have a safe Quahog Halloween!

Trick or Treat

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THE PETER GRIFFIN PUMPKIN

To get the light surrounding Peter’s face to shine through like this, I really had to remove most of the inside of the pumpkin.  I carved out/remove his eyes, mouth and shirt collar to highlight those areas.  This was a fairly simple pumpkin to create and I hope you like mine enough to try yourself!

I was able to find a great picture to use for my outline drawing.

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Using painters tape, adhere the drawing to the pumpkin folding the paper so it conforms to the pumpkin.

Using the small piercing tool, dot around the lines of the picture tracing Peter’s entire face.  This will take some time to do.

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(Our Professional Lighting.  Looks like we’re movin’ on up.)  🙂

Watching Family Guy is Inspiration on the TV.

When you have completely pierced through all the lines, remove the tape.  Here you can see Peter’s face on the pumpkin.

On the other side, I did the same procedure with the Family Guy logo.

Using the carving tool which has large teeth, cut around the pumpkin’s stem at a 45 degree angle leaving about 2 inches of space.  If you don’t cut it out at an angle, your lid will just fall down into the pumpkin.  Be sure to cut a small triangular notch in the lid/top, so you can easily place it back exactly where it belongs.

Here is a great depiction of the angle I used to cut off the lid/top.

Now, use a sharp knife to remove some of the excess pumpkin around the lid.

Remove the seeds and save them to season and cook later. 

See below for the recipe we used.

I place them into a large colander, so I can rinse them clean as shown.

Using a scraping tool which usually comes with every pumpkin carving kit, remove most of the insides of the pumpkin where your drawings will be placed.  I left less than an inch of pumpkin in those areas.  You can feel when the pumpkin is getting thin as the outside will easily move when lightly pressed.

Using a sharp pairing knife, slice at a 45 degree angle on each side of the dots to your drawing to remove that area.  Be sure your cut isn’t too deep that it cuts through the main part of the pumpkin.

Here you can see the dots I made of the logo.

Where no picture or carving will be placed, I left the pumpkin insides mostly alone.  The light not showing through shows this as you can see to the far left and right of the picture light shines through brightly where my dots were placed.

Here I completed my carvings on both sides.  I removed some of the letters in the logo so they would highlight better.  I then also remove the areas of Peter’s eyes, mouth but leaving the tongue, and his shirt collar.

Here I am in costume with my handy work!

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Our Drunken Clam Chowder

To start, we used some fresh clams being sure they are still alive and closed when pressed.

Because the store only had some 20 fresh clams, I also bought these clams which were frozen and previously cooked.

Give your fresh clams a good long rinse using a colander to remove any sand attached to their shells.

The frozen clams had the more decorative shells.

To make our clams drunk, I used a beer to steam them with.

Place your fresh clams in the steamer pot and turn the burner on high.  You can see the formed insert with holes which keeps the items off the bottom of the pot.

Here you can see all the fresh clams in the steamer pot with the beer getting heated.  Place a lid on the pot.

Now, open your frozen clams and place them in a colander as shown.

I gave them a good rinse as well.

Here you can see some of them opening as they thaw.

The clams in the steamer pot are starting to open only minutes after the beer comes to temperature.  Once they open, they are ready to be removed.

I use tongs to remove the open ones.  Once all of them have opened and removed from the pot, I rinsed them to stop the cooking process.  I then added the frozen ones to the steamer pot to just be sure they were properly cooked.  The frozen ones were only in the steamer for maybe a minute or two.

———————————————————–

I also used clam juice, canned whole baby clams as well as clam chunks in this recipe.

———————————————————————-

Main Ingredients:

~50 Steamed Clams – shucked

~30 Small Red Potatoes

~20 Thumb Sized Small Carrots

5 Ears of Corn – Used to make a broth, but we saved the kernels for our Fritter recipe below.

8 Thick Slices of Bacon

4 Celery Stalks sliced to a small dice

1 Onion – sliced to a small dice

2 Shallots – sliced to a small dice

1 Elephant Ear Garlic Clove – minced

Freshly Ground Pepper and Sea Salt to taste

~3 Tbsp. Dried Thyme

1/2 Red Bell Pepper – diced

1/2 Green Bell Pepper – diced

3 Jars Clam Juice

3 Cans Chopped Clams

3 Cans Whole Clams

4 Tbsp. Butter

3 Bay Leaves

1/2 Pint Heavy Cream

1 1/2 Quart Half and Half

~ 1 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Powder

~1 Tbsp. Celery Salt

~1/2 Tbsp. Ground Cayenne Red Pepper

~1 1/2 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

~1 Tbsp. Onion Powder

3/4 Cup Beer – to your taste (I used Corona)

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Pictured are the ingredients we used, although we did not use all the amounts shown.

Here are the steamed clams ready to be shucked.

Place your Red Potatoes into a colander and rinse them well.

—————————————————————-

Now, place them into your steamer pot with one inch of water.

Now, add your carrots to the pot.

Shuck your corn well…

…..and add them to the pot. The corn will be used in the Corn Fritter recipe below.  They would be a great addition to this chowder, but as it will be in our Fritters, I thought their would be too much corn in this meal.  Julie was perfectly fine with having corn in the chowder.

Turn the burner on high and steam the ingredients for ~20 min. or until tender.  I used a fork to check the items tenderness.

—————————————————

The Bacon We Used

Slice your Bacon into 1 inch chunks. 

We used a thick cut and about 8 slices.

Add them to a large pan and cook them on medium heat to render the fat.

Here you can see both the Bacon and the vegetables cooking.

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Clams Standing By

—————————————————————

Time To Start Chopping

Slice off the ends of the Celery Stalks as shown.

Now, slice off the ends of the Shallots and Garlic.

I like slicing off the unused pieces first so I only have to clean my cutting board once.

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Stirring the bacon during the cooking process.

Checking the corn and other items for tenderness.

Slice your Elephant Ear Garlic into thin slices then roughly chop them until they become the thickness you desire.  I used this type of garlic, because it had a slightly different flavor and isn’t as harsh as regular garlic.

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Continue to render the bacon down.

The vegetables are ready!

————————————————————-

Remove the corn and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking processes.  Pour the potatoes and carrots into a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the water infused with the vegetable juices.  Now, rinsed the potatoes and corn with cold water to stop their cooking process.

Here you can see the color of the juices.  This is a great stock to use for your chowder.

Pour the vegetable stock back into the steamer pot with the steamer part removed.  Look for any sediment in the bowl being sure to not pour it into the pot.

Now, reduce this liquid to condense the flavor.

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Here the bacon is rendered down to my liking. 

Place the cooked bacon on paper towels to absorb some of the excess fat.

We love to save the Bacon Grease in a Mason Jar for later use.

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But, be sure to leave about 3 Tbsp. of bacon fat in the pan.

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After your Celery is rinsed, slice it lengthwise into three to four equal strips.  Then slice those strips into diced sections as shown.  Slice your Onion in half…

then into small sections and finally into small diced pieces, about the same size as the Celery.  Repeat the same process with the Shallots.

Once you have sliced all your ingredients add all the ingredients into the pan and saute them over medium heat in your bacon grease.

Stir all the vegetables in the bacon fat and add your ground pepper and sea salt.

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Add 1 Tbsp. of dried Thyme to the Onion, Shallot and Celery mixture.

I believe Thyme is a key ingredient to the great flavor of this chowder.

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Slice your Bell Peppers in half and remove their seeds and stems.

Continue to saute the vegetables slowly and stir them occasionally, so to saute evenly.

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Slice your Bell Peppers into long strips as shown.

Then slice them into the same diced size as your onions and celery.  Once the vegetables are softened and translucent, add your Bell Peppers to the mixture…

and mix them well with the other ingredients.

After about 5 minutes when they get slightly softened, add your minced Garlic to the pan.  Continue to saute the mixture for another 5 minutes to cook the garlic, then remove the pan from the heat.

Remove the clam from the shell.  You can usually do this with your fingers as it should pull clean away from the inside of the shell.

This will take a few minutes to do.

Here you can see the almost one cup of clam meat I removed from all the clam shells.

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Now Get Out Your Blender

Place half of your steamed Red Potatoes into a blender.

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Now add your reduced vegetable broth to the blender and turn on Medium to chop the ingredients.  The blended potatoes will become the base of your chowder providing it with a smooth texture.

Add 1 jar of clam juice to the mixture and blend to combine.

Then add half of your sauteed onions, celery and bell pepper mixture to the blended potatoes…

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Add another jar of clam juice to the blender and mix well to combine.  Pour the blender ingredients into a large pot.  I cleaned out the steamer pot well before using it again for this next step.

Here is the butter and clams that I will saute together later.

These are the reserved sauteed onions, celery and bell peppers that I didn’t place into the blender.

Not blending these sauteed vegetables will provide the chowder with some texture.

Now add the 3rd. jar of clam juice to the pot and stir well.

Here are the cans of chopped clams that we decided to use.

I poured the clam juice into a separate bowl to show how much of the can was mostly liquid with very little clam meat.  I won’t buy this brand again but it did work fine in this recipe.

Pour all the cans of chopped clams and their juice into the pot.

Stir all the ingredients well.

Time to Add the Sauteed Vegetables

Sauteed Vegetables in the Pot

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Now Time to Add the Butter/Margarine to a Clean Pan

In the saute pan add your butter and begin to melt it over medium heat.

Now, add your bay leaves to the chowder.

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Saute your fresh clam meat in the butter…

add some ground pepper and 1/2 Tbsp. of Dried Thyme.

Saute the clams until just heated then add them to the chowder.  The butter will provide some more fat flavor and help with the creaminess of the chowder.

Add the clam meat to the pot and stir well.

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Now For the Carrots and the Remaining Potatoes

I sliced the carrots and potatoes using this special curved blade to give them that typical clam shell look.  They also look a bit cartoony which is perfect for our Family Guy dinner.

Slice the Carrots into 1/4 inch rounds and slice the Potatoes into quarter sections.

  Adding the Carrots to the Pot

Stir all the ingredients well to combine.

Now add your 1/2 pint of heavy cream, and then your half and half to the pot.

Adding the cream here makes the chowder creamier but it also can dilute the flavors which is why we need to add some more spices.

 

Season the now chowder with your roasted garlic, celery salt and red pepper…

Then add your Sweet Paprika, Onion Powder, remaining Dried Thyme and a touch more Sea Salt.

Spices Adding More Flavor

These are the remaining quartered Red Potatoes I chopped with that special blade from above. 

Add them all to the soup and stir well.

Now add your cans of whole clams with their juices to the chowder.

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Add your favorite beer to the chowder. 

This will provide a more depth of flavor to the chowder.

Continue to heat the chowder on medium heat.  Here is a spoonful of the chowder with all the chunks of clams and vegetables.  This was a great dinner as my family and I enjoyed it greatly!  I hope all of you try this chowder as well and enjoy it as much as we did!

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Corn and Clam Fritters

This is the corn from the recipe above where we used the ears to make a broth for our Drunken Clam Chowder.

 Corn Fritters

Ingredients:

~3 Cups Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Water

2 Eggs

2 Cup Fritter Mix (we used a ready made mix.)

2 Ears Fresh Steamed Corn

We doubled this recipe which made ~24 fritters.

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Using a medium sized bowl, slice away the corn kernels from the cob.  I previously steamed them with the Clam Chowder vegetables which took about 20 minutes.  I used the corn from four cobs in this recipe, but you can use as much or as little as you like.

Add your vegetable oil to a cast iron skillet and heat it to medium heat or 350’F on your stove top.

Crack your eggs into a small bowl and whisk them together using a fork.  Now, add your eggs to the corn.

Place your fritter mix and water into the bowl.

Mix the ingredients together until blended.  If the batter is too stiff, simply add 1 Tbsp. of water.

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Once your oil is at temperature, scoop some batter onto a Tbsp. and drop it into the heated oil.

Fry the fritters until golden brown and turn to cook the other side.

It should take a few minutes of frying on each side in order to cook the center of the fritter properly.  Be sure to open one up to ensure the inside is cooked properly.

Use your mesh skimmer to remove the fritters from the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Nice and Crispy

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Corn and Clam Fritters

Ingredients:

~3 Cups Vegetable Oil

1 – 10oz. Can Whole Baby Clams

1/2 Cup Clam Juice

2 Eggs

2 Cup Fritter Mix

2 Ears Fresh Steamed Corn

We doubled this recipe which made ~24 fritters.

Add your eggs, fritter mix and corn into a medium sized bowl.  Open your Baby Clams and pour 1/2 Cup of the clam juice into your bowl.

Now, add your clams to the mixture.

Stir the ingredients well to combine.  This batter was a little more runny than the first, but it still worked well.  The clams make it more watery.  You can always add a touch more fritter mix if needed.

As before, once your oil is at temperature, scoop some batter onto a Tbsp. and drop it into the heated oil.

Fry the fritters until golden brown and turn to cook the other side.  It should take a few minutes of frying on each side in order to cook the center of the fritter properly.  Be sure to open one up to ensure the inside is cooked properly.

Use your mesh skimmer to remove the fritters from the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

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Heating and Browning Some Fried Clams in the Oven

To accompany our meal of Clam Chowder and two types of fritters, I thought it would be good to also have some fried clams.  This is a brand that we buy frequently from the frozen section at the commissary.

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This was a great meal.  We added some bacon to the top of the chowder as well as in the main bowl.  To further garnish the chowder bowl we lined it with some of the cleaned clam shells.

Here you can see a single serving of the items.  The bowl is dressed with fried clam strips, a clam shell and bacon.  Both types of fritters are on the side of the bowl completing this great meal.  We hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we did!

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Grilled Cheese/ Mac N’ Cheese Sandwiches

A.K.A. Grilled Stewie Griffin’s

Now come on, you know your favorite toddler will love them!

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The first thing we did was to make 2 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

  One Yellow, One White.

Just follow the package instructions and set warm on the stove top.

Our Ingredients:

1 Pkg. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese – make according to directions

1 Pkg. Kraft White Cheddar Pasta Shells – make according to directions

Italian Bread Slices (Pane Turano brand) – 2 slices per sandwich

Tomato’s – 2 slices per sandwich

1 1/2 Tbsp. Butter – per 2 slices of bread

5 Slices of (Kraft) Sharp Cheddar Cheese from cheese block- per sandwich

5 Slices of (Cabot) Vermont White Sharp Cheddar Cheese from block – per sandwich

Cheddar Cheese Curds – 3-5 per sandwich

Accoutrements:

Bread and Butter Pickles

Pickled Onions

Cherry Tomatoes

Basil

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Use good cheese to make your sandwiches.  I really enjoyed these cheese curds.

Slice your tomato into 1/4 inch thick slices.

In a large pan, begin to melt your butter over medium heat.

Slice five slices of your sharp cheddar cheese.

Build Your Sandwich

Place two slices of bread into your pan to absorb the melted butter.  Now, place your five slices of cheese on one slice of bread and top with two slices of tomato as shown.

Use a spatula to check the browning of the bread.  Place the other side of the bread on top of the tomatoes as shown and top with more butter if needed.  When the bread is cooked to your liking, flip it over using the spatula and begin to cook the other side.

Cook this side the same as before, checking with your spatula when done to your liking.

When done, place on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil.

For the other sandwich, place your white cheddar cheese on a slice of bread and top again with tomatoes.

Melt your butter in the pan over medium heat.

Place the bread with the tomato and cheese on the butter to absorb it.

Spread some butter on the other side of the sandwich as shown.

When the one side of the sandwich is cooked to your liking, flip the sandwich and cook the other side.

When done, place on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil.

For our twist on the classic grilled cheese sandwich, top one with orange Mac and Cheese and the other with the white Mac and Cheese.

Now, top both sandwiches with the cheddar cheese curds as shown.

Place the sandwiches under your oven’s broiler for about 2 minutes or enough to melt the cheese and brown the Mac and Cheese a little bit.

Let the sandwiches cool slightly…

Then slice them in half as shown.

For our own twist on the sandwiches above, start out the same way using your sharp cheddar cheese slices and tomato…

and then spoon a layer of your Mac and Cheese on top of the tomatoes as shown.

Top with another slice of buttered bread and flip the sandwich when browned.

If some Mac and Cheese comes out simply slide it back in.  Brown the other side as before.

Do the same with the white shells Mac and Cheese as shown.

Again, if the pasta falls out when you turn it over, simply slide it back in.

Let the sandwich cool before slicing!

Dress the sandwiches with your accoutrements of bread and butter pickles, pickled onions, cherry tomatoes, and some Basil.  Choose your favorite crispy sides and dig in!

Stewie Griffin’s Favorites

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Our Drunken Clam Bar Nut Snack Mix

Fresh Pumpkin Seeds from our Family Guy Pumpkin

To clean them rinse them well in a colander to remove any of the pumpkin attached to them.

Add enough olive oil (~2 Tbsp.) to coat all the seeds well.

We placed them into a zip lock bag with the olive oil in the refrigerator for a few days.  Although you don’t have to wait that long.  You can season yours immediately.

Season the seeds with 1 tsp. of Roasted Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, and fresh ground pepper.

Mix the seasonings and the seeds well.

Pour out the seeds onto a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil and season the seeds more with another 1/2 tsp. of the seasonings if you like.  We did.

Bake the pumpkin seeds in a 350’F oven for about 20 min. or until well roasted and slightly browned.  You will also start to smell them which is a good sign they are about done!

Here are our other ingredients we used to create this tasty seed and nut mix.

Cashews:

2 Cups Cashews

1 1/2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

BBQ Powder – mine is from a spice shop in the country of Jordan

Pistachios:

1 1/2 Cups Pistachios

1 1/2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika

1 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

Other Ingredients:

~2 Cups Dry Roasted Edamame (Wasabi Flavored)

~1 Cup Sunflower Seeds

~1 1/2 Cups Cheezit’s Crackers

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(Disregard the Holiday Fruit.  We didn’t use it.)

Pour your olive oil directly into the bag of cashews and mix well.  Pour out the cashews onto a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil.

Carefully sprinkle your BBQ seasoning powder over the nuts and mix well.

Move the cashews to one side of the pan as shown to make room for the pistachios.

Pour your olive oil into the bag of pistachios and mix them well.

Pour your pistachios onto the sheet pan and spread them out evenly.  Sprinkle your smoked paprika over the pistachios…

then do the same with the sweet paprika.

Place the nuts into a 350’F oven and roast them for about 20 minutes or until they become slightly browned.  Like the pumpkin seeds, you will also start to smell them which is a good sign they are almost done!

Remove the pumpkin seeds from the oven when roasted to your satisfaction and let them cool.

Do the same with the Cashews and Pistachios when they have completed roasting and cooling.

These really looked and smelled delicious.

In a large bowl, add your Wasabi Edamame and Sunflower seeds.

Now, pour in your Pumpkin Seeds and mix all the ingredients well.

Then add your roasted Cashews and Pistachios and mix them well.

Lastly, add your Cheezit’s to the bowl and mix them with the other ingredients.

This mixture of crackers, nuts, and seeds went very well together and was a perfect addition to a nice cold beer and some Family Guy episodes!

Joe, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Peter

We thought the mixture of seeds and nuts and crackers represented the characters above.

Quagmire has a Japanese ancestry so the Wasabi Edamame was for him.

Cleveland would prefer the Pistachio’s and the Cheezit’s Crackers.

Joe would prefer the Sunflower Seeds and the Pumpkin Seeds.

And Peter would love the Cashews.

CHEERS!

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We. Are. Fam. Lee.  Guuuuuuuuuuuuuy!

Bye, Have a Beautiful Time!

 

 

 

 

Pork, Sausage and Mustard

Pork, Sausage and Mustard

        Welcome to Pork, Sausage and Mustard From the Kitchen of……. Gordon and Julie Today, we will be making MUSTARD, and lots of it! At this writing we are in the middle of a pandemic, the Coronavirus/Covid 19. Gordon and I decided 

Rise and Shine

Rise and Shine

        Good Morning! Rise and Shine! Our Sunny Kitchen Table —————————————————————– Is Everybody Hungry?  Juice?  Coffee?  Oh, I know, how about our: Whole Wheat Heaven and Heat Breakfast Muffins? Don’t they smell absolutely delicious? If you’d like the recipe scroll down the 

Black and White Pearls

Black and White Pearls

 

 

 

 

Black and White Pearls

Our Very Elegant Pickled Pearl Onions and Balsamic Pearls

How About An Elegant Edible Gift?

Welcome to The Recipe,

Gordon and Julie

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Be Sure To Also Check Out Our:

Pickled Purple Pearls

Also Check Out Our:

In a Christmas Pickle

——————————————————-

Black and White Pearls

 

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs. White Pearl Onions

3 Cups White Vinegar

1 Cup Sugar

1 tsp. Canning & Pickling Salt

~1/4 Cup Mustard Seeds

~1/4 Cup Corriander Seeds

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In batches, boil the pearl onions on high heat in a large pot of water for about 1 minute to release the onion’s skin.

The Pearl Onions in photo top left, have been picked through. 

Be sure to throw out any onions that aren’t firm.

After one minute of boiling, pour the heated water and onions into a colander that is above a large pot to catch the water for the next batch of boiling onions.

Rinse the onions with cold water to stop the cooking process or have them soak in cool water until the onions are cool to the touch.

With the new pot and heated water, continue to boil your batches of pearl onions until they are all done.

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Pinch the onion at its root end to remove the top layer of the onion’s skin.  Above are onions that have had their skins removed.

Removing all the skins from these onions will take a while to do.

Here are all the Pearl Onions with their skins removed.

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Pictured are the ingredients we used to pickle the pearl onions.

Using a large clean pot to heat the pickling ingredients…..

Add your sugar and white vinegar to the pot.  Heat the ingredients to medium high heat.

Pictured is the pickling salt we used.  Pickling salt is used as it doesn’t contain iodine which can slightly discolor the canned ingredients.

Add your pickling salt and mustard seeds to the pot.

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Now add your Corriander Seeds to the pot and stir all the ingredients to combine.  Heat the ingredients to an almost boil to dissolve the sugar.

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I use this large pressure cooker pot to can these smaller jars.  Add water about one third, to half full taking into consideration when the jars are added to it, they will raise the water level.  Turn the burner on high to start to boil the water.

Here are the jars we used for this canning.  They have been cleaned in the dishwasher and dried by heat to sterilize the jars.  We then set them aside and covered them with a hand towel until ready to use.

Here is our set up for canning these pearl onions.  The sterilized jars are near the onions and the pickling liquid is in front of the jar lids which are heated in water to an almost boil to soften their rubber seal.  Then we have the large canning pot with its water at an almost boil.

Place your pearl onions into the canning jars filling them almost to the top.  Be sure none of the onions are above the rim of the jar.

Move the filled jars next to the pot of pickling liquid.

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Ladle your pickling liquid into the jars using a large mouthed funnel to prevent spillage.

Ladle enough liquid to fill the jar leaving 1/2 of an inch of space at the top.  This is called headspace which is needed to create a vacuum within the jar during the canning process described later in this write up.

Fill all the jars with the pickling liquid leaving the 1/2 inch of headspace.  Use a chopstick to gently move the onions around to release any air bubbles (Not Shown).  Using a clean wet paper towel, wipe the top of the jars to clean away any pickling liquid or stray seeds.  Continue to use clean areas of the wet paper towel in small groups of jars to keep track of the ones which have been cleaned.  Keeping this clean will also help to maintain a sterile environment inside the jars.

Place a sterilized water heated lid on top of each filled, and clean jar.  I use this magnetized stick to remove the lids from the almost boiling liquid they were in.  Barely tighten a clean ring onto the jar’s lid.  More than barely tight will not allow the air to escape from the jar creating a vacuum during the canning process.

Using these special jar lifting tongs, place the sealed jars into the almost boiling pot of water.  Continue to add the jars until the pot is full.

When the pot is filled with jars, ensure there is a layer of water covering the jars.  Also ensure you see air bubbles rising from each jar which ensures you haven’t tightened their rings too much.  Boil the jars for 10 minutes.

Here you can see I have just a little bit of pickling liquid left over after filling all the jars.

After 10 minutes of boiling, remove the jars with your rubber tongs.

Place the jars on a clean towel to absorb any excess water.

Listen for each jar to pop as that is the action of the lid being sucked down by the vacuum created inside the jar.  This may take about 10 minutes to happen.  If the lid of the jar isn’t down and sealed, you must redo the entire canning process of that jar using a new lid.  Likely the reason the lid didn’t seal was due to not enough headspace inside the jar or there was something between the jar and the lids rubber seal.  In this next step, remember the jars will be very hot.  When your jars are sealed, carefully remove the ring and wipe any excess water off the lid and ring as this could cause those items to rust over time.  Of note, the ring is only on the jar so the lid doesn’t get hit causing the seal to break.  When the top of the lid and the ring are dry, replace the ring finger tight.  Space out the jars so they can cool which will take a few hours.

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BLACK PEARLS

Ingredients:

~2 lbs. White Pearl Onions – Peeled

1 Stick Butter – 8 Tbsp.

3/4 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar

3 Cups Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 tsp. Pickling & Canning Salt

In a large pot of boiling water, add your Pearl Onions and cook for one minute then drain the onions using a colander.  Place the onions in cold water to stop the cooking process.  When the onions have cooled, remove their outer skins and set aside.  In another large pot, add your butter and begin to melt it on medium heat.

Add your brown sugar to the pot.

Stir the butter and brown sugar mixture until combined.

Add your balsamic vinegar to the pot.

Stir all the ingredients together.

Now, add your peeled onions to the pot.

Cook the onions in the balsamic vinegar mixture stirring occasionally.

Here you see the pearl onions turning a dark color as they absorb the vinegar.

Continue to cook the onions and vinegar mixture until the vinegar turns into a syrup consistency.

Here the onions have finished cooking in the now syrup.  They taste amazing!

Here are the jars we used for this canning.  They have been cleaned in the dishwasher and dried by heat to sterilize the jars.  We then set them aside and covered them with a hand towel until ready to use.  Ladle your pearl onions and vinegar mixture into the jars using a large mouthed funnel to prevent spillage.

Ladle enough liquid to fill the jar leaving 1/2 of an inch of space at the top.  This is called headspace which is needed to create a vacuum within the jar during the canning process described later in this write up.  Use a chopstick to gently move the onions around to release any air bubbles (Not Shown).

Using a clean wet paper towel, wipe the top of the jars to clean away any liquid or stray pieces of onion.  Continue to use clean areas of the wet paper towel in small groups of jars to keep track of the ones which have been cleaned.  Keeping this clean will also help to maintain a sterile environment inside the jars.

Place a sterilized water heated lid on top of each filled, and clean jar.  I use this magnetized stick to remove the lids from the almost boiling liquid they were in.  Barely tighten a clean ring onto the jar’s lid.  More than barely tight will not allow the air to escape from the jar creating a vacuum during the canning process.

Using these special jar lifting tongs, place the sealed jars into the almost boiling pot of water.  Continue to add the jars until the pot is full.  When the pot is filled with jars, ensure there is a layer of water covering the jars.  Also ensure you see air bubbles rising from each jar which ensures you haven’t tightened their rings too much.  Boil the jars for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes of boiling, remove the jars with your rubber tongs.  Place the jars on a clean towel to absorb any excess water.  Listen for each jar to pop as that is the action of the lid being sucked down by the vacuum created inside the jar.  This may take about 10 minutes to happen.  If the lid of the jar isn’t down and sealed, you must redo the entire canning process of that jar using a new lid.  Likely the reason the lid didn’t seal was due to not enough headspace inside the jar or there was something between the jar and the lids rubber seal.  In this next step, remember the jars will be very hot.  When your jars are sealed, carefully remove the ring and wipe any excess water off the lid and ring as this could cause those items to rust over time.  Of note, the ring is only on the jar so the lid doesn’t get hit causing the seal to break.  When the top of the lid and the ring are dry, replace the ring finger tight.  Space out the jars so they can cool which will take a few hours.

A Lovely Gift,

Gordon and Julie

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Carving Party

Pumpkin Carving Party

            Happy Halloween! Welcome to The Pumpkin Patch Ready to Pick Out Your Pumpkin? ———————————————————— Halloween,  2019 Hoarding Pumpkins Throughout the House ———————————————————— To kick off our Halloween celebrations we all went to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights for the 

A. Hitchcock CLUE for Halloween

A. Hitchcock CLUE for Halloween

            Welcome to our Halloween Home We are Gordon and Julie and we LOVE Halloween, and Alfred Hitchcock! ———————————————– Psycho! I’ll be out of the shower in a minute!! COMING SOON FOR HALLOWEEN!!!!! Lock your doors and windows. You awake 

Ghostly Frights Bites with Tasty Spirits

Ghostly Frights Bites with Tasty Spirits

Continue reading Ghostly Frights Bites with Tasty Spirits

Autumn Cooking

Autumn Cooking

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Our Homage to John Carpenter’s Halloween

Our Homage to John Carpenter’s Halloween

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Halloween BITES!

Halloween BITES!

Continue reading Halloween BITES!

Ghoulie’s Halloween Formal Fun

Ghoulie’s Halloween Formal Fun

Continue reading Ghoulie’s Halloween Formal Fun

Autumn Baking Edible Gifts

Autumn Baking Edible Gifts

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Gordon’s Chicken Recipes

Gordon’s Chicken Recipes

Continue reading Gordon’s Chicken Recipes

Halloween Game Night With Ghosts

Halloween Game Night With Ghosts

Continue reading Halloween Game Night With Ghosts

American Dad Halloween

American Dad Halloween

Continue reading American Dad Halloween

Toad in the Hole

Toad in the Hole

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Beachy Halloween

Beachy Halloween

Continue reading Beachy Halloween