Scraps From My Kitchen Table

Dinner is finally in the oven to cook for about 45 minutes and I am finally getting to sit on the back porch on this totally warm evening. "Deep breath." Tonight I have made barbecued country style pork ribs with a side of parsley and herb roasted potatoes. Smells delicious! Before I put the ribs in the covered stoneware baker I seasoned them with greek seasoning and browned them on both sides in olive oil on the stove top. Then I put them in the covered stoneware baker and poured the juice from the pot over top of them. I sliced up a large, sweet onion and covered the ribs with them and then sprinkled on some 21 salute spice mix.  I mixed up a concoction of two barbecue sauces, chili sauce, and a little chipolte spice and poured it over the top. I have it baking in a 385 degree oven. For the potatoes: I simply peeeled and quartered medium sized potatoes, washed and dried them and placed them in a size appropiate bowl. I drizzled olive oil all over them, added salt and pepper...

Sloppy Joes! Yep! I had almost lost the desire to eat sloppy joe's as I knew them, but tonight?! Oh me, oh my! So much better when all of the ingredients in our food is fresh! So much better. Makes you look foward to actually eating what you cook! So... I started out with almost 2 pounds of ground chuck seasoned with a liberal amount of greek seasoning and black ground pepper. Add to that 3/4 of a white onion and 3/4 of a red bell pepper chopped. When the hamburger is partially browned, I added 4 chopped cloves of fresh garlic to the mix. Now, you have to let this all cook well together before adding the rest of the good stuff which includes, Worcheshire sauce, mustard, ketchup and brown sugar. I must admit, I had the tomato paste on stand by just in case I did not like the sharpness of the ketchup. But, to my pleasant surprise, when it was all simmered down, it was very good as it was. No tomato paste needed! I toasted up the ciabatta rolls on the griddle with butter and a little ...

A little recipe to cheer up your wintery days. I have been asked for and given this recipe many times. So just as it was shared with me, I am going to share it here with you. This recipe is simple, yet these cookies are so very yummy! **Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies** **Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter 3 tblsps. unsweetened cocoa powder 2-1/2 cups sugar 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 tsp. pure vanilla 2 cups oatmeal **Preperation: This recipe is completely stirred by hand. Pre-measure all of the ingredients and set aside. Lay out a 24" piece of waxed paper onto a solid surface. **Directions Combine butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a full boil then time it for exactly one minute at a full boil. Remove from heat and then add the vanilla and peanut butter. Lightly mix until just creamy, then stir in the oats. Using a tablespoon, drop cookies onto wax paper. Let cool. Store in an airtight...

Yummm-i-licious! I think best describes this savory, sweet side dish of _________? Well I'll tell you what, you try this and then give me one word that you think describes it! I have always liked brussel sprouts even as a kid, cooked in salted water with butter from the freezer case but it has only been about a couple months since I bought and prepared my very first "fresh", never frozen, brussel sprouts! I could not believe the difference! Oh my yumminess! Sooo much better! So for those who may not be big on brussels, they have a deep pungient flavor. The kind of flavor that needs a little sweetness added to, kind of like collards. So, I began experimenting. I made my first batch and they were really good. On my next batch I thought I would add in some cauliflower since I do like cooked cauliflower, but that was a real mistake. I added this took away that and Long story short I ended up with what I think is a perfectly imperfect BS concoction! Below is the recipe for you...

This just happens to be what I had for dinner two nights ago. Pecan filled waffles made on my new Cuisinart 5 in 1 griddle that I had to buy to replace to replace my G. Foreman griddle that had gotten severely damaged when moved into the house last July. I had been starving for waffles ever since we moved in but could not find a proper replacement for my machine. I really loved the versatility of my G. F. grill but the newer ones?? Well, bottom line is I hated the painted looking colors and thought they might be hard to maintain since one does use oil of one kind or another when cooking on it, So, I finally decided to choose the stainless steel finish on the Cuisinart brand, as well as the vesatility of being able to select different temperatures to cook with as well. In conclusion? My new Cuisinart cooks at higher temps so my food gets done quicker. I haven't tried it yet but, I believe it will make a mean grilled panini! I am a happy camper! Oh! This post was supposed to be about...

For the past two years I have been cooking more and more with fresh herbs instead of dried spices. Needless to say, it has taken my recipes to a whole new level and with so much more flava!! I have also found that I really, really enjoy chopping vegetables and herbs more than I imagined possible. I actually find chopping in the kitchen extremely therapeutic for me. Who would have thought?! My spaghetti sauce, chili, soups, and even my stuffed bell peppers have been completely reformed. When ever I can I use fresh tomatoes instead of canned. So much better. I have been watching the food channels almost daily on my Ipad while I am in the kitchen preparing for dinner. Not too long ago I made the best version of stroganoff I have ever eaten just by adding Italian Mascarpone to thicken the gravy rather than the traditional sour cream. No bragging just saying food education is a very good thing! Now, Italian cream cheese is sweeter and a bit milder than our major brand over here but it ma...

Quite some time ago, about two years or more, after a few scares with the peanut factories in the news, I was forced to find alternative to my beloved peanut butter! And even though I didn't consume peanut butter on a weekly basis, it was always like an old friend always ready to pair up with a fresh pot of vegetable soup, or a mid day hunger crisis. When I noticed the flavor of my long time peanut butter brand had changed for the worse, I began seeking out other brands to take it's place, from old time faves to new promising brands, nothing seemed to taste like a fresh ground peanut anymore so I began to look at other nut alternatives which led me to delicious almond butter! Now I have always favored the crunchy pb&j over the smooth, so the slightly crunchiness of this new butter was not offensive to me at all. So, I began to use almond butter for my occasional pb&j fix. Well, then there was also something else new on the market! They called it Nutella! Of course being...

Out with the OLD and in with the NEW! Yep! That is how I feel about this delicious side dish I created before the holidays arrived. I have always loved ____________, and while my sister and I were shopping at The Fresh Market, I came across something I had never seen! There in the produce section was the FRESH version of this delectable yumminess that I have always loved! I was amazed! I picked out two of them right away! I had an idea of how I would prepare them in a way I had never before. Once in a while I like to roast a pork loin so when I decided to roast this one, I decided to make my new found fresh version of my favorite root plant but I knew hubby would never eat it no matter how I prepared it, so I had to come up with something for him as well. (As per usual for my meat and potatoes man.) So, seeing that I was thinking of roasting these instead of my normal stove top method, I decided to add some of the wonderful sweet potatoes that I had purchased previously at the fa...