A Jeanne in the Kitchen

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Life around the lakes were “hopping”.  We saw a lot of our feathered and furry friends out and about.  They were all hanging out and cooling off, enjoying the cool of the evening after a hot, hot day.  Even though we saw a lot of our “friends” the ducks and the bunnies are the stars of the day.

The lone duck.

At the water’s edge.

Instead of “sittin’ on the dock by the bay” they are sittin’ in the grass by the lake.

Their were a lot of ducks out today, but there were also a lot of bunnies out too.  Usually we only see one or two, but we saw a bunch today.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

We are still enjoying Larry’s smoked meats, and will be for quite a few meals to come.   We had the burnt ends this time, with some Brussels sprout salad Brussels Sprouts Salad with Chicken  (minus the chicken) and some speckled potato cakes made from some leftover mashed potatoes.

These potato cakes were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  The just melted in our mouth with every bite.  I threw in all the little bits of vegetables I had into my leftover mashed potatoes and, voila!  Speckled potato cakes were created.  I find I am at my most creative when “The Queen” pays my a visit and we are just trying to use up little bits and pieces of things that aren’t enough for a meal, but I don’t want to throw away.  I just HATE throwing away food, so I always do my best to find other ways of recreating with what I have left, especially if it is only little bits and pieces of this and that.  The Queen and I make a good pair.  We always come up with some fun and delicious ways to use up all the leftovers.

Speckled Potato Cakes

2 cups cooked mashed potatoes

1/4 red onion, diced fine

1/2 jalapeno, diced fine

2-3 TBSP corn

1/4 bell pepper, diced fine, any color is fine

1 egg, slightly beaten

3/4 flour

salt & pepper to taste

canola or vegetable oil for cooking

Dice all the vegetables into a fine dice and saute in olive oil until tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the salt & pepper.  Then let them cool for a few minutes before adding to the potatoes.

Add the vegetables to the mashed potatoes along with the egg and the flour and mix together thoroughly.  You want a thick, firm dough.  If you need more flour, add a little bit at a time until the dough gets to your desired thickness.

Divide the dough into equally sized balls and flatten them out with your hand on a piece of parchment paper.

Place the potato cakes in the refrigerator for at least one hour before cooking, to allow them to set.

Heat your oil to 350* F or 180* C and then carefully place the potato cakes into the hot oil.  Cook for about 5 minutes per side, or until they are golden brown on each side.

These crispy-creamy potato cakes are now ready to enjoy either on their own or served as a side dish to something else.  They are the perfect balance of crispy and creamy and will just melt in your mouth.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

Summer time is salad weather.  As the temperatures start to soar, we cool down by eating a lot more salads.  Sometimes we eat them as a main dish and other times we eat them as a side dish.   Either way, there are usually a lot of cool, fresh vegetables involved, making them both healthy and delicious.

The other day, I made my green bean Caesar salad, which is always a winner, no matter what.  It is cool, refreshing and full of flavor, not to mention very colorful.  Cool Green Bean Caesar Salad

There were plenty of leftovers, and I could have easily served it the exact same way and we would have been very happy with it.  But where’s the fun in that?  So I took the basics, and just added a few extra ingredients and changed it up a bit to make it something entirely different.

I had some leftover dressing for the salad that I mixed with some Miracle Whip, then I cooked up some bacon and pasta to turn this into the pasta salad we enjoyed as part of our 4th of July feast.  Our 4th of July Feast

I started with one salad and we enjoyed it two completely different ways.  I love it when I can changes things around like this.  It makes things so much more interesting and fun.  🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

We thought we were being smart today and went on our walk-about before it got too hot outside.  Which means we took Vinnie on a longer walk too.  We tried to beat the beat, but we were still a bit too late.  It was still pretty hot out, and is going to get even hotter still.  But as always, we made the most of it and saw lots of our friendly “neighbors” who were also out before it got too hot.

The prairie dogs checking everything out.

A turtle our for a leisurely swim.

A swallow perched high above the world.

An egret dancing on the water.

And not one,

Not 2,

But 3 cormorants.  I have never seen 3 together before.  I always thought they were a bit on the solitary side.  I learn something new everyday.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

Our 4th of July celebrations were small and low key, probably like most everyone’s this year.  We celebrated with Janet and Bob, and even though it was just the four of us, we had enough food to feed a small army, which is usually the case anyway.   Our feast was a combined effort.  Janet made the salad, the potatoes and the cherry pie (the cherries were from her tree) for dessert and I made the BBQ sauce for the meats and the pasta salad, but the meats were all Larry.  I’ve trained him well.

Once again, Larry pulled out the smoker and filled it full of meat.  He smoked brisket, ribs and turkey.  The smoker was completely full, with about 30 lbs of meat.  He is becoming quite the smoker.  It took a few tries, but now he seems to be mastering it quite well.

He started with the beef brisket, coating it with salt, pepper and garlic salt, then smoked it for about 8 hours.

Next came the turkey, that he coated with a Cajun rub that I found the recipe for.  He put that on the smoker for about 4 hours.

The last thing to go in the smoker were the ribs, that he smoked for about 2-3 hours.

And the end results …..  We all agreed, everything came out just perfect.  Larry did a really great job with all the meats.

The brisket.

He cut off the tips to make burnt ends that he coated with my homemade BBQ sauce.

The turkey.

Everything comes together to make the feast.

The meal was made complete by Janet’s fresh cherry pie and a cuppa.

We were going to play a friendly game of Farkle too, but the fireworks were loudly being fired off, and we had to make it back home before Vinnie had a nervous breakdown.  For being such a big boy, he is really very scared of loud noises.  The game of Farkle will just have to wait for another day.

Hope you all enjoyed your holiday.   Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

The bald eagle is the symbol of America.  The bald eagle was chosen to represent the United States because it is unique to North America, making it ‘our’ eagle; it is strong and independent; it is a survivor. It is  majestic, bold, and faithful. It is a symbol of strength and determination.  The bald eagle represents the principals our country was founded on.  The American people ARE the bald eagle and the bald eagle is us and is the USA.  May the eagle always fly majestically, proud and free.

Happy 244th Birthday America and MANY, MANY MORE to come.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  ‘Til next time.

My blogging buddy Rory over at

is always so good about brightening up everyone’s day.  He is NEVER shy when it comes to “Gifting the Compliment” to others.  Click onto the link below to see who his latest compliments go to.  You might recognize a few names.  If not, then at the very least, you will be introduced to some new blogs and some great stuff.  I will give you a hint ….. Thank you Rory!

Gifting the Compliment

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  This day is a BIG day for Americans.  We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.  The American flag is red, white and blue.  The colors were chosen to represent valor (red), liberty and purity (white), and justice and loyalty (blue).  The stripes represent the original 13 colonies that became the original 13 states.  The stars represent each state of these 50 United States we call America.  Our flag is so important that its history tells the story of America itself. It represents the freedom, dignity, and true meaning of being an American.

Sadly, this year, our big birthday bash will not be celebrated as it usually is.  But we Americans are still showing our love and support for our big day by proudly displaying our stars and stripes.  These are the flags I saw on our latest walk-about.

We proudly display our flag too.  We’ve raised “our kids” right too.  Lucie and Vinnie are proud, patriotic Americans as well.

Happy Birthday to the land I love.  Happy Birthday America.  May this beautiful flag FOREVER wave!

Stay safe and stay well Everyone.  Have a happy, safe 4th of July.  ‘Til next time.