cooking lull

I am a bit in a lull at the moment. Maybe it is the hot, humid Florida weather. The only thing that has really tasted good this week was the watermelon! I can tell you that I did a pork roast tonight in the pressure cooker and it was not very good. The dogs liked it:) If anyone can help me get out of this funk I am in  - please do!! Send me some favorites that never let you down! Send something that will taste good even in this heat!  Please!!

Everything tastes better with bacon Pork Tenderloin

I smoked two pork tenderloins yesterday. If I could do it over again, I would not have smoked them. They were good but I think they would have been just as good in the oven and saved me from changing the chips every thirty minutes on the smoker. Anyway, I used the basic rub mentioned in post one, However, I combined the rub (a good handful), the juice from one fresh lime, and a little olive oil to a ziplock bag the day before. I let the meat stay in the mixture overnight. Once you are ready, take the meat out of the refrigerator and let it warm up slightly on the counter.   Put more rub on the meat and wrap it with bacon. Sear the loins in a frying pan until the bacon is starting to crisp. I then had to use tooth picks to keep the bacon on because it started to fall off.. I smoked the loins for  3 hours on 225 degrees. As you can see from the pictures, the bacon really turned a beautiful color and kept the meat moist. If you decided to do this in an oven, follow the directions on the package for cooking.

Secret Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies disappeared before I could get a picture of them! There cookies bake up firm yet chewy. You can taste the oatmeal for sure but everything else blends in. I experimented with this recipe several times and these were the best. Two main ingredients make these superb-  Penzey's cinnamon and real oats. You can't use the quick cooking oats - they will be to fluffy and soft. The cinnamon was interesting too. I tried several different kinds of cinnamon but the regular Penzey kind was best by far.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2 sticks of butter softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup regular white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla (I used double strength Penzey)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Penzey cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups regular oats
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped dates

Cream butter with sugars until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt. Beat well. Add dry ingredients slowly. Add oats, raisins, and dates. Mix together by hand at this point. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool for three minutes and transfer to cooling rack.  Super easy and delicious!!

stuffed bisfins

I made up the name for this and it may not be quite what I am looking for so if you have a better name, let me know!  What are these yummies? Well - a cross between a biscuit and a muffin that is stuffed. I have made them a variety of ways and each has been a success. The basic idea is this:

Take a large tin of biscuit dough (I use Grandes because they are bigger than the standard) and flatten each round out to about the size of your hand. The filling can consist of a variety of things but I have found that whatever the filling is, it can't be to much liquid. One filling that my family loves is:

chopped turkey or chicken. chopped pretty small.
b-b-q sauce
shredded cheese

I mix up the above and add enough sauce until the mixture is completely moist. Remember the cheese will melt so that will add a degree of moisture as well. Put a mound of filling into the center of your flattened biscuit and fold up the sides until you can pinch them together and seal the pouch. Place the sealed pouch into a muffin tin. Continue with the remainder of the biscuits. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes. I sprinkle some garlic seasoning on the tops of the pouch before it bakes as well.

I have also tried the filling with ground beef and taco seasoning, cheese, and a little picante.

Other ideas for filling include chili, beef and cheese;
Chicken, veggies, and a light cream sauce;
Chicken, cheese, buffalo sauce. sprinkle the top with ranch seasoning. You could also add a small tab of cream cheese to the inside of each pouch before you close it up and get a nice creamy buffalo chicken pouch.

My kids eat these every time and that is impressive:) For more of an adult palet, I add chopped onions and peppers. My kids won't touch it but the bigger folks seem to really like them!!

Cracker Cooking: Cupcakes with a twist

Cracker Cooking: Cupcakes with a twist: "My boys and I wanted to make some special cupcakes to celebrate the 4th of July. Normally, I would take the easy way out and grab a box mix...."

Cupcakes with a twist

My boys and I wanted to make some special cupcakes to celebrate the 4th of July. Normally, I would take the easy way out and grab a box mix. But, since I didn't have any eggs, I decided to try my hand using the egg white powder. To make the cupcakes really special, we divided the batter up after it was mixed, and added blue and red food colors. My 5 year old put the batter into the cups and we left it uneven. The results were so cool! The cakes were red, white, and blue. The batter did not bleed into the other colors or anything. And the frosting was perfect! I did pipe it onto the tops but did not cover it completely, but rather used a star tip and made a star. My 7 year old then sprinkled the entire thing with celebration sprinkles. Now - I was going to take a picture of these cute creations but I didn't realize my husband had put the pan into the oven and I turned it on. Let's just say they are not so pretty anymore. Still good, just not pretty!

3 cups all purpose flour
6 egg whites
1 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the muffin tins or cups. Combine the butter, egg whites, sugar in mixer. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the baking powder, extracts, and milk. Mix on low until well incorporated. Add the flour slowly making sure it gets mixed. Scrape the bottom of the bowl occasionally.  Once mixed well, divide batter into three bowls and add the food coloring to the bowls. Make sure you add enough to get the color you want and mix well. Drop the batter by spoonfuls into the cups but don't mix it up. To even out the batter, you can drop the muffin tins on the counter after each addition of batter. It will get the air bubbles out as well which will result in denser cupcakes.  Bake for 13 minutes or until the cupcakes look lightly brown and firm to the touch.  Let cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Make sure they are completely cool before you do the frosting!  You can use any frosting you want. I just used the basic powdered sugar with butter but I added almond extract which made it really good! Nice and smooth..

Cracker Cooking: blueberry cobbler

Cracker Cooking: blueberry cobbler: "This blueberry cobbler is perhaps the best I have ever tasted. It crosses the line between the basic blueberry cobbler and a blueberry crisp..."

blueberry cobbler

This blueberry cobbler is perhaps the best I have ever tasted. It crosses the line between the basic blueberry cobbler and a blueberry crisp. What really makes it unique, however, is the addition of the cream cheese and cottage cheese. I used fresh blueberries as well as frozen blueberries that I had picked and the results were the same - delish!

3 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 boxed yellow or white cake mix
1 cup cottage cheese
1 block of cream cheese
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 tbs almond extract
2 tbs vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9x13 glass dish. In a mixer, combine the cake mix with one stick of butter. You do not have to melt the butter but it needs to be soft. Mix until crumbly. Press the mixture into the bottom of the glass pan. Meanwhile, in the same mixer (no need to wash) combine the cream cheese, cottage cheese and white sugar and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Next, lightly coat the blueberries with remaining sugar and pour them over the crust. Take the cheese mixture and drop dollops all over the blueberries. In the same mixer (yes, the same mixer), combine the oats, almond extract, brown sugar, and remaining butter. Mix on low speed until everything is incorporated to a good consistency. Dribble this mixture over the cheese and blueberries taking care to cover everything as best as you can. You are not looking to make a complete top but the more that is covered, the better. Bake for around 40 minutes or until the top has browned lightly. Enjoy!!

I also made a whipped cream to top the final dishes. I used one small container of heavy whipping cream, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 1 tsp almond extract. It really was a nice combination but the cobbler was equally good with vanilla ice cream or by itself.

macaroni and cheese please

Susan has shared her mouth watering, get me a big bowl and sit me down, macaroni and cheese. This is really good. Even the day after!

1 box of ziti
4 cups shredded cheese (the one that is mixed is fine)
1 cup cottage cheese
1 glob of sour cream
1 glob of mayo (real mayo please)
salt to taste
2 eggs
16 crushed townhouse crackers (these have salt too)


Boil the ziti and drain. Mix up the rest of the ingredients and pour everything into a 9x13 baking dish. Make sure you have sprayed the pan with Pam first!  Bake at 375 degrees 35 to 45 minutes depending on the oven. I would look at it at 35 minutes to make sure it doesn't look to dark.

Basic Rub

Since today is the 4th of July and is traditionally the day to be outside with friends and family, I thought I would share a basic rub that I use on my pork, turkey and chicken. Yes, it is good on all three!

3 cups brown sugar
2 tbs flake salt
1/4 cup pepper seasoning from Penzeys (salad dressing seasoning)
1/2 cup smoked paprika
2 tbs chili powder (I use chili con carne from Penzeys)
1 tbs cayenne pepper
2 tbs garlic powder
2 tbs onion powder


Mix it all together making sure there are no lumps!  Rub on the meat as a dry rub if you are smoking the meat. If you are grilling the meat, rub the meat with olive oil first and then sprinkle the rub on prior to grilling.