A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Pork chops are a favorite at our house, which means we eat them quite often. We buy a big pork loin at Costco and then slice up our own thick pork chops, just how we like them. We do the same thing for steaks too. We like doing this because we can cut them how we like them and it is also much cheaper to purchase a big slab of meat, cut it how we like, and freeze the rest for when we want it later.

Because we eat a lot of pork chops, I am always looking for new and tasty ways to prepare them. This time, I made them Italian style.

Italian Pork Chops

1 1/2 -2 lbs pork chops

1/2 onion, diced

1 zucchini, sliced

1-2 cups sliced mushrooms

1-2 medium-large tomatoes, chopped

1 TBSP garlic

1-2 tsp oregano

1-2 tsp basil

1 tsp marjoram and/or thyme

salt & pepper to taste

red pepper flakes to taste, optional

1-2 bay leaves

salt & pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 TBSP cornstarch

1 TBSP water

olive oil

lemon olive oil, optional

Season the pork chops with salt, pepper and the balsamic vinegar for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

Cut all the vegetables.

Get a large skillet very hot, add the olive oil and carefully place the pork chops in to cook. Cook for about 3 minutes per side and brown them. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the onions to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, or until they have softened and are translucent.

Add the rest of the vegetables, mix well, then add the chicken broth, seasonings and re-add the pork chops. Bring to a boil, then reduce cover and reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook for about 30 minutes. Mix the cornstarch and water together and add to the pan to thicken up the sauce.

Add a little lemon olive oil on top right before serving to really make all the flavors come to life.

You can serve it was it, or over pasta or rice. I served it over pasta, with warmed rosemary focaccia and a chilled chardonnay on the side. Top with mozzarella or Parmigiano cheese if you like. It was so tender and juicy and full of flavor. !Buon Appetito!

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

I have a very soft soft for Blue Jays. When I was a little girl, my friend’s mom, who was my “second mom” had a Blue jay that she tamed. We could feed him peanuts, that he would eat right out of hands, but Mrs. Nash actually would get him to come into the house for the peanuts. We named him Bluey. We fed Bluey for years this way. So whenever I see a Blue Jay it always brings back very fond memories.

Last night there were a couple of Blue Jays in our trees as we were out dining on the deck. I got a few good shots before they flew away.

Have a great day and make everyday great. 🙂

I am not a big dessert eater for the most part, except for popcorn, but when we have company over, I always make desserts. I love to bake and I love making desserts, but I am also desperately trying to loose weight, so having company gives me a good excuse to indulge a bit. The other day when Elizabeth, Mike and Lauren were over for our Southern Mediterranean/North African dinner, I stuck with the theme and Elizabeth and I made some banana-pineapple rolls for dessert for everyone. She must have really loved them, because she kept going back for more. 🙂

Fruit fritters are popular desserts in West Africa. Deep frying in oil is one of the major cooking techniques in Africa. Everything is deep fried in Africa, from savory dishes to sweets.

Fritters are filled dough pastries that are deep fried. They can be filled with meats, vegetables, fish, fruit or sweet fillings. Fritters are popular all over the world, and have been around since the days of the early Romans. The term fritter has many different origins – from Middle English fryture, from Middle French friture, from Old French friture, from Late Latin *frīctūra, from Latin frīgō (“to fry”).

Banana-Pineapple Rolls

Of course I made my own version. I had a recipe that I used as a guide, then expanded upon it. Rather than making my own dough, this time I used some wonton wrappers I had. They were the larger egg roll sized wrappers, so my “fritters” became rolls. Whether they were fritters or rolls, who cares? They were delicious no matter what they’re called. 🙂

2 bananas, diced

1/2 pineapple, diced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

2 TBSP key lime juice

1/2 cup toasted coconut

eggroll wrappers

egg wash

hot vegetable or canola oil for frying

whipped cream, optional

chocolate, optional

Combine all the ingredients together and toss well. Reserve some of the toasted coconut to top the rolls with just before serving.

Add about 2 TBSP of the fruit mixture to the center of the egg roll. With your finger or brush add the egg wash around the edges of the egg roll wrapper. Then fold in the edges and roll firmly.

Place the rolls in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before frying in hot vegetable or canola oil that is 350* F or 190* C. Fry the rolls for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. These need to be eaten immediately after frying. I topped mine with whipped cream, toasted coconut and then drizzled them with melted chocolate. They were a huge hit. 🙂

There is always room for dessert and something sweet. Sweeten up all your days. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We have had so many colorful lilies pop up this year. I am used to seeing them in yellow, orange and red, but this year I am also seeing them in pinks and purples too. I love them in all their colors. This year has been such a colorful year for flowers. Maybe it is because of the cooler temperatures and all the rain we’ve had. Whatever the reason, whatever their color, they are always a welcomed sight to see.

Have a bright, colorful day.

Once again, I bring you an inspirational recipe from The Ohio Cook and My Meals Are on Wheels https://beatcancer2010.wordpress.com/. As always, thank you for your delicious ideas. This time I am sharing my take on roasted Greek potatoes. I made them even more lemony by adding lemon olive oil and lemon verbena fresh from my garden. I have to use up my lemon verbena. It has completely taken over my backyard. That and I thoroughly enjoy the taste of it too. 🙂

I served these delicious potatoes alongside my chili-lime chicken and black-eyed peas with spinach and tomatoes. Black-Eyed Peas With Spinach And Tomatoes Everything got rave reviews.

Roasted Greek Potatoes

These potatoes were tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. In other words, just perfect. This time I used Yukon golds, but you could use this same recipe for any kind of potato. The cooking times may need to be adjusted, but that is about it.

2 lbs potatoes, cleaned and cut into wedges

1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

salt & pepper to taste

4 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP garlic

2 tsp dried oregano or 1-2 TBSP fresh chopped oregano

olive oil

lemon olive oil

lemon verbena, optional

Preheat the oven to 400* F or 205* C.

Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, salt & pepper, oregano and lemon verbena together.

Toss the potato wedges into the chicken broth mixture, then spread evenly in a single layer in the prepared pan. Pour the remainder of the liquid over the potatoes. You can also make these vegan/vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth. Place in the oven and bake for about 1 hour, or until most of the liquid has evaporated, turning them over and rotating them at about 30 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, turn the heat up to 500* F or 260*C. Drizzle both the lemon olive oil and regular olive oil over the top of the potatoes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and return to the oven to continue cooking for about 5-10 minutes. And voila! These delicious potatoes are now ready to enjoy alongside your favorite main dish.

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

We have a lot of Common Grackles around during the spring and summer months. They love to call our lakes home for these months. They are not shy at all, and seem to love being photographed too. Lucky for me, I always have my camera with me, and I am always happy to oblige. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. 🙂

My friend Elizabeth wanted to meet Dorrie, our new baby. She also loves to come over and cook with me as well, so we did both. We made a North African/Southern Mediterranean meal. I saw this delicious recipe for black-eyed peas with spinach and tomatoes and I centered our meal around this dish. Elizabeth is fun to cook with. She is always such an eager student and loves to make just about everything. We have been cooking together for years, and so far, I can’t recall anything she hasn’t enjoyed making. 🙂

Black-eyes peas have been around since the prehistoric times. They were first cultivated in West Africa, most like from Nigeria or Cameroon, then spread to China and Asia. From China and Asia, they made their way across the Mediterranean. They came to the New World and to the United States when Africans were brought over as slaves. The Africans planted the black-eyed peas as a reminder of the foods they ate back home. They became very popular throughout the South and wherever there were large populations of blacks. They are all the time, but particularly eaten on New Year’s Day as a symbol of prosperity and good luck for the upcoming new year. My mother grew up in Southeast Texas, and eating black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day was a tradition I grew up with as well.

Black-eyed peas, also known as Hoppin’ John’s or Texas Caviar or humble peas, are part of the legume family and are very healthy. Black-eyed peas are rich in nutrients, including vitamin A, folate, manganese, and fiber. These nutrients may help lower blood pressure, support digestion, maintain skin health, and much, much more.

Black-Eyed Peas with Spinach and Tomatoes

To make my black-eyed peas with spinach and tomatoes, first I soaked the peas for about 24 hours, then rinsed them with fresh water and boiled them for about 30 minutes before mixing them with the spinach and tomatoes.

1 1-lb bag of dried black-eyed peas

1 onion, diced

1 lb fresh baby spinach, stems removed and chopped

2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

salt & pepper to taste

1 TBSP garlic

1 -2 TBSP lemon zest

2 TBSP lemon juice

2 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional

olive oil

feta cheese crumbles

Preheat the oven to 350* F.

Spray cooking spray in a 9×13 baking dish.

While the black-eyed peas are boiling, cook the onions, spinach, garlic, lemon zest, salt & pepper in a hot skillet with the olive oil and a little lemon olive oil too, if using. The lemon is always a good compliment to tomatoes and fresh vegetables. It makes the flavors really stand out and come to life. Cook for about 5 minutes, or just until the onions start to soften and the spinach starts to wilt, stirring constantly

When the black-eyed peas are ready, add the spinach mixture in with the drained black-eyed peas and toss together well.

Spread everything out into the prepared pan, then add a layer of crumbled feta cheese on top. Add the tomatoes on top of the cheese. Drizzle some more lemon and/or olive oil top and bake for about 35-45 minutes.

As I mentioned above, I made a Southern Mediterranean/North African meal around this dish. I served it along side some chili-lime chicken and Greek potato wedges, with banana-pineapple rolls for dessert. As usual, I made enough for a small army. Mike and Lauren came over to help us enjoy the meal and the evening.

After dinner and dessert, we finished off with a couple of rounds of Farkle. 🙂 It was yet another fun evening spent with good friends, good food and fun. What more could I ask for, right?! Life is very good indeed. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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

Mourning Doves are all over the place and are very common. We hear them cooing all the time. We see them as much as we hear them too, particularly in the summer months. This year, they have been even more plentiful than usual.

Have a great day and make every day great.

I am always looking for new and exciting recipes to try. I don’t think this quest will ever end. 🙂 There are just so many great recipes and too little time to try them all. However, I will keep trying and will create as many as I can.

I also am always trying new things for my coffee cart. This time I added some cherry melt-away bars. They were a big hit yet again. They were filled with delicious cherries and cherry pie filling, then baked to perfection. I got the recipe from my Amish cookbook once again. The Amish really know how to bake.

These delicious bars had a slightly crunchy bottom and a soft cherry filling. And yes, they really did just melt-away in my mouth. YUMMY!!!!

Cherry Melt-Away Bars

2 cups flour

2 eggs separarted

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

1 cut melted butter

2 cans cherry pie filling

1/8 tsp/dash cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cherry extract, optional

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.

Spray cooking oil or rub softened butter into a 9×13 baking pan.

Combine the flour, egg yolks, 1 cup of sugar and the melted butter and mix together well. Press into the prepared baking pan.

Mix the egg whites and the cream of tartar together until they form stiff peaks. Add the remaining sugar and vanilla and cherry extract, if using.

I had a few extra cherries that I added to the cherry pie filling as well, making it even more cherrilicious. Then I folded the egg white mixture into the cherry pie filling and poured it all over the crust.

Sprinkle the chopped nuts on top of the mixture and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until the center is completely set.

Let cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing. If you like, you can add a dollop of whipped cream to the slices as well.

Share with family and friends and enjoy! 🙂

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

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say roses are the most universal flower, and probably one of the most popular flowers too. I love roses. They come in so many different varieties, shapes, sizes and most of all, colors.

Here are some of my recent roses.

Have a rosy kind of day, today and everyday.