I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
Most of you know I have two great big, loving Saint Bernards, Luzerne, who we call Lucie and St. Vincent or Vinnie. We also have two cats, Otis and Nicodemus. Otis is my tan puma and Nicodemus is my black panther. These are all of my loving fur babies. They bring so much joy and laughter, and we would like to spread it your way too. So from me and all my fur babies to you, I wish you all a very Saintly Christmas, a Happy Holiday and a very Happy, Healthy New Year.
Deviled eggs are widely popular the world over and are usually served as a first course. The term “deviled” or “devilled” as it is spelled in the UK, was first used as a description around 1786, but was used to describe foods that were either spicy or zesty in the early 19th century, and the term “deviled” has been used ever since. It seems almost every country has their own version of this tasty holiday favorite. Some recipes and versions are very simple and others are quite elaborate. Deviled eggs go by many names, most of which are translated to mean stuffed eggs. Here in the United States, deviled eggs have many names, such as stuffed eggs, Russian eggs, dressed eggs, and salad eggs, which are all made in the traditional way of mixing the egg yolks with a combination of mayonnaise and mustard and various spices. They are also referred to as angel eggs when they are made with lighter ingredients. In France they are known as oeuf mimosa or mimosa eggs, because they look like the plants from the mimosa tree. Romanians call them oua umplute. In the Netherlands, they are known as gevuld ei. On the island of Malta, deviled eggs are known as bajd mimli, and in parts of South America, they are known as huevos a la peruna or Peruvian eggs. Hungary calls them either toltott tojas, which means stuffed eggs or kazinotojoas or casino eggs. The Hungarian version of these deviled or stuffed eggs mashes the yolks and mixes them with white bread that has been soaked in milk, as well as with the traditional mayonnaise and mustard, and they can be served either as a first course or as a main meal. If they are served as a main meal, they are baked with Hungarian sour cream and are served with French fries. Many European countries refer to deviled eggs as Russian eggs, not because they originated in Russia, but because they are often served on a bed of macedoine, which is sometimes referred to as a Russian salad. In Germany, deviled eggs are often stuffed with a combination of anchovies, cheese and capers. Sweden eats their version of deviled eggs or fylida agghalvor as a traditional dish served at the Easter smorgasbord, where they are mixed with caviar and either cream or sour cream and red onions, and are topped with either chives or dill and anchovies or pickled herring. So as you can see, there are many, many different versions of of what are commonly known as deviled eggs. No matter what they are called or how they are prepared, they are a favorite first course or appetizer served all over the world.
I made the more traditional version of deviled eggs for my husband’s breakfast potluck. Because it was a morning affair, he wanted something that would be more breakfasty than most dishes served at a potluck, so he asked for deviled eggs. Apparently they were a hit. His platter came back empty.
Curried Deviled Eggs
1 dozen eggs
1 TBSP white vinegar
water
1 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 tsp curry
dash Tobasco sauce
fresh parsley and chives for topping
paprika for topping
Gently place the eggs in a large pan and fill with enough water to completely cover the eggs. Add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Once the eggs have come to a full, rapid boil, let them boil for 12 minutes. If you go longer, the yolks will turn gray and will be a bit tough. After the eggs are cooked, place them in cold after and let them rest for at least 30 minutes before peeling them. To peel the eggs, gently crack them on a hard surface and roll them around a bit to loosen up the shells. Then carefully peel the shells from the eggs. Cut the eggs in half and gently remove the yolks. Place the yolks in a separate bowl and mash them with a potato masher until they are almost a creamy consistency.
Once the yolks are mashed, mix in the mayonnaise or Miracle Whip (I like both, and switch them around all the time, depending on whether or not I want more or less tang to the filling), mustard, curry and Tobasco sauce. You can either whisk everything together or use an egg beater. Try to make sure the mixture is very smooth, and there are no lumps, especially if you are going to pipe the mixture into the egg whites. Then fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture. I usually pipe my yolk mixture into the egg whites. They did not come out as neat as they usually do though. I admit, I was doing them late at night, after a long day, and I was tired, so I still had some lumps in my filling. The lumps kept getting stuck in my piping tip, and then it would just “spit” out the filling. Yes, it happens even to the best of us. C’est la vie mes amies, c’est la vie.
After the eggs were filled I topped them with chopped fresh parsley and chives, then sprinkled them with paprika. This is more of the traditional way to serve them, especially in the United States. They were very festive and colorful and disappeared very quickly once they were served.
I have just bee tagged for Christmas by Michelle at
Here are the rules:
Here are Michelle’s questions:
1. What present did you always want as a child and never received?
I would have to say a horse as well. So many little girls want a horse, but so many of us, particularly those who grew up in large urban areas, just never get that. Hmm …
2. What are your top 5 Christmas movies?
1. A Christmas Carol
2. Love Actually
3. A Miracle on 34th Street (the original)
4. The Grinch
5. What a Wonderful Life
3. Out of all the Christmas songs, which one makes you truly joyful?
I love Silent Night, but my FAVORITE Christmas song is Christmas Eve in Sarajevo by The Trans Siberian Orchestra.
4. What special memory do you have of Christmas morning, as a parent?
I cannot relate to this one, since I do not have kids.
5. What was your favorite Christmas gift?
There have been many wonderful gifts over the years, but certainly my favorite ones, most recently, are my cameras, both my land and my many underwater cameras. Although, hands down, the best present is always WHO is around the tree rather than WHAT is under the tree.
6. At what age did you realize that Santa was not real?
WHAT???????? Say it isn’t so. Santa is DEFINITELY real.
7. How long do you stay awake Christmas Eve setting everything up for the kids?
Again, I do not have kids, so we get up when we do.
8. What traditions have you and your spouse made for your marriage on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
We are still working on that. We do, however, have our annual Ornament Exchange and Holiday party, which is always a ton of fun.
9. Are you a all year Christmas shopper or a last minute shopper?
I shop and buy things all year. I buy things that make me think of someone special at the time I see it. I love seeing them open their presents too and seeing their expressions of joy after.
10. What is the hardest thing you have ever had to put together for your kids to enjoy?
I have not experienced that “pleasure”.
These are great questions, so I pose these same questions to my tagged friends.
Have fun, and merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. I am tagging:
It wasn’t exactly the best weather for soup, since it has been unseasonably warm lately, but this soup was just calling out to me, so I had to make it. I am very glad I did too. It came out so good. Beef barley soup was always one of dad’s favorites, and I guess I was just subconsciously missing my dad, which is maybe why this recipe was just calling out to me. This beef barley soup though, was nothing like the beef barley soup my dad remembered. Aside from the usual ingredients you would expect to find in a beef barley soup, this one also had a few extra twists with the addition of both red wine and pesto. From here on out, those extra additions will always be a part of the soup recipe, that’s for sure. This soup was a meal in and of itself. All I added was some warm bread and a glass (or two) of a smooth red blend, and dinner was served. The wine I served was a Graciano, from yet another local winery, located in Boulder, Bookcliff Vineyards. You can find them at https://bookcliffvineyards.com.
Beef Barley Soup with Red Wine and Pesto
1-2 lbs of beef, cubed
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil for cooking
1 small onion, diced small
1 1/2 TBSP garlic
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup pumpkin, medium cubes (optional)
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes, or 3 tomatoes cut in a medium dice
3 cups beef stock
1/4 cup pesto sauce + more for the topping
1/2 cup barley
2 cups fresh baby spinach, stemmed
Pat the beef dry with a paper towel and cut into bite sized cubes. Heat the olive oil in the skillet, and when the oil is hot add the beef and salt and pepper to taste. You may actually want to go a little heavier on both the salt and the pepper because these seasonings will help season the soup as well. Brown the meat on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Once the meat is browned, transfer it to the slow cooker and set aside.
In the same oil and leftover seasonings, add the vegetables, and cook until the carrots are semi soft and tender and the onions are translucent. I still have a bunch of pumpkin I want to use, so I added some to my soup as well, but it is optional. As i have said many times, I love vegetables, and I love a very wide variety of them, so I add as many as I can to a dish, without over loading.
When the vegetables are cooked, add them to the top of the beef in the slow cooker and set aside again.
Pour the wine into the skillet, cook for about 1 minute and scrape all the drippings off the bottom of the skillet. Once it is done, add to the beef and vegetable mixture.
Mix together the beef broth, tomatoes and their juice and the pesto and pour over the beef and vegetable mixture. Now it is ready to start cooking. Turn the slow cooker on high and cook for about 2 hours.
After the soup has cooked for 2 hours, it is time to add the barley. Mix everything together well. Once the barley has been added, continue to cook the soup for another 2 hours, with a slightly lowered temperature.
Right before serving the soup, add the spinach and incorporate well into the soup. Spoon it into your serving bowls and top with a little additional pesto. I had a little extra store bought pesto that I used for the soup base, but while the soup was cooking I made some more and I used the fresh pesto for my topping. Even though the weather has been unseasonably warm, you can’t go wrong with this soup; soup weather or not. Delicious!
Crab is a nutrient powerhouse, containing loads of necessary vitamins and minerals that all contribute to good overall health. It is an excellent source of selenium, which helps to keep the thyroid healthy. There is 3x more selenium found in crab than there is in beef. Aside from selenium, it is also a great source of B vitamins, protein and omega 3 fatty acids, all of which make for a healthy diet. If possible, it is recommended to eat crab at least twice a week, although it can be pricey, and is often considered a luxury food, which might make it more difficult to eat that often. I love crab, and can enjoy it any way it is cooked, but I admit that we don’t buy it that often because it is expensive. But it sure is delicious, and I enjoy every bite of it when I do buy it. One of my favorite ways of eating crab is to have it in crab cakes. I also love curry. So to combine these two great foods makes a wonderful taste sensation that will have you begging for more. I made my crab cakes in the Maryland crab cake style, meaning more crab and less “cake”. They are light, delicate crab cakes that are full of flavor. I topped the crab cakes with some of my left over Hollandaise sauce Happy Birthdays and served them over wild rice with a spinach salad and a tomato vinaigrette on the side. The meal was made complete with a glass or two of a cool, crisp viognier, by one of our local vintners, Turquoise Mesa Winery, which is only about five minutes from my house. You can find Turquoise Mesa Winery at colorado.com/wine-wineries/turquoise-mesa-winery.
Curried Crab Cakes
1 lb lump crab meat
1 1/2-2 TBSP bread crumbs
2 tsp parsley, chopped fine
salt & pepper to taste
1 jalapeno, chopped fine
1 tsp Tobasco sauce
a dash of Hot sauce (I used some Caribbean hot sauce we bought from some of our travels)
1 1/2-2 tsp curry powder
1 1/2-2 TBSP mayonnaise
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 egg
Mix the crab, salt & pepper, jalapeno, bread crumbs and parsley together. Mix the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, curry, and hot sauces together separately. Once everything has been mixed together separately, combine the egg mixture with the crab mixture and toss everything together, combining well, making sure to coat all the crab mixture.
Preheat the oven to 400* F
The mixture will be soft and flimsy, so spoon the mixture onto a greased baking sheet and form into a ball. You can make the crab cakes any size you want depending on the size spoon you use. I made my crab cakes about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the crab cakes are lightly golden.
Once the crab cakes are cooked, you can eat them plain, or with a sauce or your choice. They are best with a light sauce since the crab is light and delicate. You do not want a strong, bold sauce because you will lose the light, delicate flavors of the crab.
Traditions are important to hold onto for many reasons. They bring us together and they help us form everlasting bonds with others. Some are cultural traditions and others are traditions within a family. Either way, I think they are important to hold onto and to preserve and pass down through the ages.
Our friends Janet and Bob have had a family tradition for many, many years, of making and decorating cookies to give as Christmas gifts. Their tradition continues and yesterday we were lucky enough to partake in the fun and colorful festivities as well. Janet, her son and his family all baked tons and tons of cookies and boxed them all up as gifts to give to their friends. After boxing up a heap of cookie boxes, it was time for a pizza break. After the pizza, the decorations were brought out, and it was time to get to the fun, colorful business of decorating, where our imaginations were allowed to run wild. There were no rules and no holds barred. Let the decorations fall where they may.
Brian and Shelly boxing up the cookies.
Three generations of family fun in the kitchen. Janet, Brian and Emily all making the frosting for the cookies.
Shelly and Emily getting ready to mix the colors into the frosting.
Peter and Emily making colors.
Janet in her pantry, proudly displaying all her cookie decorations and supplies.
And the decorating begins. All those gingerbread cookies on the cookie tray were in need of color and decorations. We had our work cut out for us. There was a wide array of various colors and decorations from which to choose.
Shelly proudly displaying some of our finished masterpieces.
All of us showing off our cookie masterpieces. Believe it or not, we are all so into our work AND no one even tasted or did quality control checks throughout the whole decorating process.
My Bronco mittens.
What Christmas would be complete without ugly sweaters? We had some pretty “ugly” sweaters too.
Cleaning up after. All these bins and boxes filling the counter tops are loaded with delicious Christmas cookies.
We got to take home a box of cookies too.
Enjoy the holidays and the holiday traditions with family and friends. That’s what the holiday are for. Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season, with a Happy, Healthy New Year.
We eat a wide variety of vegetables all the time. There are very few vegetables we don’t eat. In fact, off hand, I really can’t think of any. Most often, we eat fresh vegetables too. They taste better and are much healthier as well. This time we enjoyed a casserole made with green beans, artichoke hearts and mushrooms. Aside from this being a very colorful and tasty dish to make, it was also a very health dish too. Green beans, artichoke hearts and mushrooms all contain high amounts of proteins (high amounts as far as vegetables go) and fiber, as well as other necessary vitamins and minerals, such as potassium, selenium, Vitamin B and Vitamin D. And because they are all high in fiber, they are all also very low in calories.
Green Bean, Artichoke and Mushroom Casserole
1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans
1 onion, chopped fine
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 TBSP garlic
2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half
1 cup mushroom, sliced
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup Parmigiano cheese, divided
Cook the green beans for about 5 minutes in boiling water. Then drain and cut into pieces that are about 1 inch in size. Saute the onions, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil until the onions are soft and translucent. Toast the pine nuts until the are lightly golden.
Preheat the oven to 350* F
Toss everything together along with the rest of the ingredients, using only half of the Parmigiano cheese. Make sure to coat the vegetables well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the vegetable mixture evenly out onto the pan. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are lightly browned. Add the remaining Parmigiano cheese to the top right before serving. I served the green bean, artichoke, mushroom casserole along side pork chops that I marinated in a chili lime sauce and garlic mashed potatoes with a buttery chardonnay to round out the meal.
We love spicy food. Most things we eat have a bit of a kick to them, some more than others, but most of our meals have at leave a little bit of heat to them. We like that bit of fire and heat that makes our taste buds come to life. We also love shrimp and chicken. We eat a lot of both, cooked in many, many different ways. This dish is a combination of all of the above. I had to make a combination dish because I did not have enough shrimp that was unfrozen to make into a meal by itself. Chicken and shrimp is always a good combination too. They pair very nicely with each other. Dinner was chicken and shrimp over pasta served with a spicy tomato sauce (chicken= pollo and shrimp = camarones), or pollo y camarones del Diablo, a crusty cheese bread and a bold red blend that made the meal complete. The wine I served was from Bookcliff Vineyards, one of our local wineries in Boulder, Colorado. You can find them at bookcliffvineyards.com.
Pollo y Camarones del Diablo
1-1 1/2 lbs chicken, cut into slices about 1×2″ in size
1 lb large shrimp or prawns, peeled and deveined
2 TBSP garlic
1 onion, sliced very thin
2 large jalapenos, or to taste, diced fine
1 TBSP red pepper flakes
1 jar marinara sauce
3 ripe tomatoes, medium dice
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tsp each dried thyme and marjoram
1 TBSP each dried basil and oregano
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Saute the onions, garlic, jalapenos and mushrooms together in olive oil until the onions are translucent, for about 4-5 minutes.
Add the shrimp and continue to cook until the shrimp are done, about another 4-5 minutes.
Once the shrimp is completely cooked, removed the shrimp and vegetables from the skillet and set aside. Cook the chicken, adding more olive oil as needed, until it is completely cooked. Add the tomatoes and the shrimp and vegetable mixture and combine well.
After everything is mixed together, add the marinara sauce and herbs, and blend well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. If you want the sauce a little thicker, continue to cook it a while longer.
When the sauce is done, serve it over your favorite pasta, and enjoy.
Adobo. What is it? Is it a method of cooking? Is it a seasoning? Is it a sauce? Is it a dish? The simple answer is yes. It is all of the above. The word adobo is derived from the Spanish word adobar, which means to marinate. Before the days of refrigeration, meats were marinated in vinegar, garlic, chilies and salts as a way of both flavoring the meats and also preserving them. The style of adobo cooking is both Spanish and Filipino in origin. When the Spanish colonists came to the Phillipine Islands, they discovered the native people marinated and cooked their meats in a similar way as was done back in Spain, and they called this style of cooking adobo. The adobo way of cooking is to marinate meats in a flavorful sauce made from vinegars, garlic, chilies and salts, and various other ingredients overnight, then to cook the meat in the same sauce. After the meat has cooked and simmered and is done, it is then browned in oil before serving. In the Caribbean Islands, the word adobo has a completely different meaning. To the Caribbeans, particularly those in the Domenican Republic and Puerto Rico, adobo is a type of dry rub made from various herbs, spices and seasonings that is rubbed onto meats before cooking them. In Spanish and Mexican cooking, adobo is most commonly referred to as a type of sauce that is used, usually made from chipotle chilies and other bold herbs, spices and vinegar. Adobo is also a dish all unto itself, and is the unofficial national dish of the Phillipines. Whether it is used as a spice or a seasoning, a cooking method, or as a sauce, some form of adobo is very popular all throughout the areas where the Spanish had their colonies and left their influences. As with any dish that is very popular throughout the world, there are many different varieties and versions. No one way is right and there are no wrong ways either.
Dinner was tamales, which are Mexican/Spanish, so I made my adobo as a sauce for the tamales. I also made mine as a creamy sauce, rather than just the traditional vingary type sauce. By adding cream and butter, the acidity of the sauce was reduced and it was just perfect for the tamales. And since adobo is more Spanish in nature than Mexican, I chose a smooth, velvety red wine rather than a margarita to accompany the meal. I did not make my tamales this time, but I do quite often. As much as I love to make them, they are very time consuming, and if I am running short on time, why make them when there are so many wonderful tamales that are already made all around.
Creamy Adobo Sauce
2 TBSP canned chipotle chilies with their sauce, minced
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 onion, chopped fine
1 TBSP garlic
1 tsp dried cloves
1 TBSP cinnamon
1-2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cups water
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 stick of butter (optional)
In a hot skillet, saute the onions, garlic, spices and chipotle chiles until the onions are soft and translucent, for about 8 minutes.
Once the onions are softened, add the vinegar and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. I used red wine vinegar, but you can use whatever type of vinegar you like. Each type of vinegar will change the flavor of the sauce. Have some fun with it and mix it up. Use differnet kinds of vingegar every time you make adobo.
After the vinegar has evaporated, add the water, and again cook down until most of the liquid has evaporated and has cooked off.
Cream and butter are optional. I love a rich creamy sauce, so I added both. After the liquid has been cooked off from the sauce, add the cream and mix well.
Adding butter is just adding the finishing touch. Add it right at the end, when the sauce is done and incorporate well into the sauce. Now it is ready to serve over your meats, or like I did, tamales.
I was using up leftovers as our side dishes. I had a bean salad, some beets and sauteed Brussels sprouts with onions. They all complimented the tamales and adobo sauce very well and made for a very colorful plate. !Desfruitas!
With the holidays and all the fun and festivities going on, I actually have not been in the kitchen as much these days as I normally am. It is a busy, busy time of year for everyone, with all the frivolities of the season, the decorating, the shopping and wrapping, etc, so we are eating out more than we normally do, and we also have a lot of leftovers we need to get through, which also means I am not cooking as much at the moment as I normally do. So once again, I will let the wisdom and voices of others do the talking for me. Here is what they are saying now.
“Cooking should be a carefully balanced reflection of all the good things of the earth”.
~ Jean and Pierre Troisgros, from “The Nouvelle Cuisine of Jean & Pierre Troisgros~
Those who are one in food are one in life.
~Malagasi saying~
A Malagasi Meal from Madagascar
~Socrates~
” A smiling face is half the meal”.
~Latvian Proverb~
“The same food may be consumed in a happy or an unhappy atmosphere, but only in the first will it be a feast”
~Margaret Willes, from Soop Meagre and Syllabub~
Enjoy the season and make the most of the holidays. Spend time with your family and friends and those you hold dear. Until the next time ….
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 