Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

If you are a hockey fan, you would think of the Detroit Red Wings when I say there are lots of red wings, though the Detroit Red Wings are totally taboo in our house, we are Avalanche fans. But I digress. I am really talking about Red Winged Blackbirds. I have been seeing so many all around; much more so than usual. And that’s perfectly OK. I just love them. 🙂

This is a female Red-Winged Blackbird. She looks totally different from her male counterpart.

I see the males much more frequently than I see the females.

Have a great day and take in everything you can. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I never thought about posting about my “gourmet” burgers before. I always thought burgers were kind of standard. However, on that note, one of you asked me how I turn my burgers from just plain burgers into gourmet burgers, following my post about Noah making his gourmet burgers. So …. just for you, my gourmet burgers. 🙂

The word gourmet means different things to different people. But to me, the word gourmet means choosing top-quality ingredients, being creative in the kitchen, and creating a memorable dining experience. It turns regular meals into something special, showing off the art of great cooking. The word gourmet can also mean using rare or luxurious ingredients and is served in an upscale setting, but that is NOT me at all. Gourmet ingredients are known for their superior quality, unique flavors, and ability to elevate even the simplest of dishes to a whole new level. A gourmand is someone who appreciates good food and drink. I would say I am both a gourmet and a gourmand. 🙂

I DO NOT shy away from BIG, BOLD flavors, in fact, just the opposite. I embrace them. I LOVE BIG, BOLD flavors. My cooking choices mirror my personality. I have a BIG, BOLD personality too. I use a lot of garlic, onions, and peppers in just about everything I cook, all of which are known for their BIG, BOLD characteristics.

When I make my burgers, I start with good, quality lean beef. Then I start adding all kinds of goodies into the meat and just mix them up. Most of the time I use, garlic, onions, roasted Hatch peppers, Worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper. I had some cooked bacon and green onions left over that I also added to my ground beef, though usually I top my burger with bacon strips instead.

I use ample portions of all my “mixers” too. I find the best way to mix my burgers up is by hand. So I really get in there and mash it all together well.

Once everything is mixed together well, then I form my burgers into patties. I don’t measure anything when cooking (though baking is a totally different story). I make my patties about 1/3 lb each.

When the patties were made, I slapped them on a hot grill and cooked them to a nice medium, with just a hint of pink still left inside. As the burgers were cooking, I sliced some onions and mushrooms and sauteed them in a little olive oil and butter and salt & pepper.

Not only do I like to use all kinds of fresh ingredients for my burgers, but I get good buns too. I like to get the onion brioche buns. If you are going all out on the burgers, then you need to go all out on the buns too. Once everything is cooked, the assembly process begins. I like 1000 Island on my burgers, so I add a bit on both sides of the bun, add my burger (sometimes with jalapeno jack cheese, sometimes not), bacon, mushrooms and onions, sometimes avocado, sometimes not, fry up some French fries, and my burger is complete, ready to eat.

Like with anything, there is NEVER just one way to make anything. The most important thing when cooking is to cook things the way YOU like to eat them. Create your own unique style.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Bananas are a funny thing. They are one of the few foods that can be and actually are good, when cooked the right way, when they outlive their shelf life. So many people throw away far too many bananas that turn brown. But brown, mushy bananas are really PERFECT for baking. I had some bananas that were perfect for some banana bread, chocolate banana bread at that too. 🙂

Once bananas start to get more brown than you desire, and we all have different degrees of banana ripeness, just put them in a plastic bag and place them in the freezer or refrigerator until you are ready to bake with them. Them pull them out and mash them up to go inside your batter.

Chocolate Banana Bread

This is a deliciously simple recipe to make. You can make the same loaf with applesauce instead of bananas too, for something a little different again.

1/2 cup or 1 stick softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas, or about 2 bananas

1 tsp banana extract, optional

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

chocolate ganache for topping, optional

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C.

Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Combine all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat in between each addition. Add the mashed bananas and banana extract if using, and mix again.

Add the flour mixture half at a time, mixing in between each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips. Then spoon into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.

You can definitely enjoy the banana loaf as is, of if you are like me and prefer a topping, you can drizzle some chocolate ganache on top before eating. Either way, I guarantee you are really going to enjoy this chocolate banana bread. 🙂

Life is short. Make sure you include plenty of chocolate to get you through the day. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Common Grackles are, you guessed it, pretty common around here. Just because they are “common” though does not mean they are not still beautiful. When the sunlight hits them at the right angle, it shines upon all their beautiful colors. They are colored with gorgeous hues of blue, green and purple. Their bright colors really highlight their bright yellow eyes too.

There is beauty in everything, even the common things, or maybe especially the common things. Don’t overlook them just because you see them on a regular basis. Take the time to look at everything, and see the beauty right in front of you.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I learned long ago, even before my many years in the restaurant business, waste not want not. This is both a way of cost cutting, but more importantly, a way of using up everything and not letting precious food go to waste. When you only have little bits of this and little bits of that, but they aren’t enough to make a meal on their own, reuse them and turn them into something else. I do this all the time. This time, I turned it all into a delicious salad that was perfect for a hot summer’s day.

Larry and I had our wires crossed for dinner plans, so at the last minute, I turned some of my little bits and pieces into a delicious summer salad. My salad bed was the last of my spinach, then I added some tomatoes, red bell pepper slices, green onions and cheese for Larry. I cooked up a few pieces of bacon then cooked some chicken in the bacon grease, and added both the bacon and the chicken to the salad. The avocado didn’t make it into the salad this time, as it had outlived its good life. I added some pepita seeds to the top of mine, then topped it all with a refreshing tomato and herb vinaigrette. Heirloom Tomato, Garlic & Herb Vinaigrette with Steak Salad Voila! A quick and easy-peasy dinner in no time at all. 🙂

With a couple of slices of some warm bread and a glass or two of wine, it was the perfect summer meal.

Life is short. Don’t stress about the small stuff. You don’t know what’s for dinner, no problem. You only have little bits of this and little bits of that, no worries. Instead of stressing about it, be creative and see what you can do with all those little bits and pieces. Who knows? You just might surprise yourself. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. Have fun. ‘Til next time.

I love seeing our American Kestrels. They are beautiful birds, with their striking colors. I don’t see them all that often, but when I do, I get so excited. Kestrels are small falcons. They are birds of prey and hunt for small rodents and small birds. It was exciting enough to see the Kestrel sitting in the tree, but then we saw him go out on the hunt. Within a minute or two after spotting his prey, we then saw him fly off with a small mouse in his beak. He was a very skilled hunter. Once the little mouse was in his sights, it didn’t stand a chance.

When cooking with Noah, usually we have between an hour or two per session. I keep him busy cooking up all kinds of things. I like to keep him busy while other dishes are cooking too. One of the desserts we made were banana egg rolls served with ice cream and a cowboy coffee sauce on top, finished with some mixed berries. Again, Noah loved every bite.

Banana Egg Rolls with Cowboy Coffee Sauce

This is a pretty easy dessert to make, using only a few ingredients. But it tastes like something magical. It is sweet and flavorful. On the outside, it is crispy and it is soft on the inside. It is a taste sensation like no other.

Banana Egg Rolls

4 bananas peeled and cut in half

1/2 tsp vanilla

8 egg roll wrappers

1 cup bran flake or Raisin Bran cereal, crushed

1 egg

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400*F or 204*C.

Lightly crush the bran flakes and place in bowl. Combine the ginger and cinnamon together and mix together with the bran flakes.

Lightly beet the egg.

Roll one banana half in the egg, then roll in the bran flake and spice mixture, making sure to completely coat the banana. Place the coated banana in the egg roll wrapper and fold it in, making sure to grab the edges as you roll. Repeat until all the banana pieces are rolled. Seal the edges of the egg rolls by dipping your finger tip in a little water and rubbing it around the edges, then crimp and seal.

Place them on an ungreased cookie pan. bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crispy. Top with cowboy coffee sauce if you like, and either ice cream or yogurt, and some fresh berries.

Cowboy Coffee Sauce

This sauce gets its name from the many cowboys who used every bit of their coffee for many things while out on the range. Their leftover coffee was used for everything from their sauces and gravies to go over their meats to toppings for their pancakes and desserts.

3/4 cup strong coffee

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 TBSP brandy

1 tsp vanilla

Combine everything together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or so, or until the sauce begins to thicken a bit. Spoon over the cooked banana egg roll and top it off with ice cream or yogurt and fresh berries. Delicious!

Enjoy! Noah did, and he highly recommends this dessert to all. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I just love our Herons. We actually have three kinds here on our lakes, but the ones we see most often are the Blue Herons. They are big, majestic birds, and just look so graceful when flying. Unless nesting or mating, usually the Herons are pretty solitary, and you only see one at a time. I love seeing the Herons though, and always get excited when they are around.

These I took from my back deck as he was just wading through the water.

These were on one of our other lakes and I took them while out walk-about.

I even got lucky and got some shots of him in flight. They are not the greatest, but it’s hard to get good shots when they are in flight. They fly away so fast. You just have to aim, click, and hope for the best.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Noah and I are cooking up all kinds of good things. I try to have him make two or three things at time. One, we are making a meal, and two, I am keeping him busy while our foods are cooking. A phrase I learned many moons ago, that was posted on the walls of every restaurant I ever worked in, “Time to lean, time to clean”. I have Noah cleaning too. He’s got to learn, right?!

One day he wanted to make gourmet hamburgers. No problem. We did and they came out great. But I also had him make a healthy salad as well, along with some spicy onion rings to go with his burger. Red Chili Onion Rings We made an orange jicama salad. I don’t think Noah had ever had jicama before, but now he has, and he likes it.

Jicama is a round, turnip shaped tuber shaped vegetable popular in Mexican, Central American and Southwestern foods. Jicama—also called Chinese yam, yam bean root, Mexican potato, fon goot, or sicama. It’s often described as a cross between a potato and an apple. It’s low in carbs and calories, making it a healthy alternative to potatoes. Rich in fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants, it offers numerous health benefits, such as aiding digestion, boosting the immune system, and supporting heart health.

In the garden, the jicama grows on a vine up to 20 feet tall, but the only edible part of the plant is the bulbous root underground, which can be as small as a Gala apple or grow as big as two fists together. This plant thrives in areas where it’s hot all year round, such as Mexico and South America. Harvested for centuries in those regions, jicama is now grown in parts of Asia and the Philippines.

Because the flesh is so porous, jicama picks up flavors well. Marinate it with citrus and your favorite spices or add chunks to a salad. Or make it the main component and use a tangy dressing to give it flair. Jicama goes great with greens, olives, avocado, hummus, lime, grilled fish, and roasted pork. It can be sliced thinly and added to a sandwich for some crunch; it can also be used in place of a corn tortilla for tacos. I have only eaten jicama raw. I never knew you could actually cook it, but apparently you can.

Cooking jicama proves tasty, too, though it needs a gentle touch when it comes to heat. Instead, pan fry over medium-low heat, steam lightly, or roast until just tender. Add it to the end of the cooking process if you’re making something like chili or a Mexican-style soup. Jicama is similar in texture to an apple and you can keep that famous crunch as long as you don’t overcook it.

Jicama and Orange Salad

2 cups jicama, peeled and sliced into thin strips

1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin matchsticks

4 green onions, chopped

1 TBSP lime juice

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP orange olive oil, optional;

2 TBSP orange balsamic vinegar, optional or white balsamic vinegar

1 orange, peeled and cut into sections

1-2 TBSP honey

1 avocado, cut into chunks

Combine the oils(s), vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes and honey together and mix together well. Set aside.

Toss the jicama, oranges, cilantro and red pepper. Gently fold in the avocado. Add just enough of the dressing to coat the vegetables, and gently toss. You do not want to mush up the avocado. Chill until ready to eat.

This cool and refreshing salad is perfect for the dog days of summer. It will definitely help bring down the mercury a bit. Enjoy.

Have a great day and make every day great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

It has been miserably HOT, HOT, HOT here lately. Sadly, that means it is way too hot to go out for walks too. But it is finally cooling down a little, meaning not only can I go out again, but the animals are back out again too. One of my finds was a very curious Killdeer. He was up on the ridge over one of our lakes. We see them often, but not all the time. I always get excited about seeing them when I do. 🙂