Hot off the Griddle...

...Just had to share this! I was craving hot water cornbread & I had a pot of kale and you know I have lots of garlic!...  These were so quick & easy, delicious & a little better for me than regular hot cornbread.  Crunchy & crispy on the outside, soft & creamy on the inside. Yum!

Crunchy Garlic Kale Cornbread Croquette

1 1/3 C boiling water

1 tsp salt

1 C cooked Kale (with all water squeezed out)

1 C Yellow Cornmeal

2 Cloves of Garlic

Oil for frying

*

Add cornmeal to boiling water & stir to remove lumps. Add salt, kale & garlic. Let sit for a few minutes to swell up.  Spoon into lightly oiled pan & fry until firm & golden brown.

My Custom Fit Slipper Pattern...

...Here is a little gift for you!  I made this slipper pattern and I love them. They are so easy to make, take little fabric and fit like a glove.   I hope you make some & enjoy them as much as I do!

Approx 1/2 yard of  main fabric & 1/2 yard for lining.

Print out pattern. Fold additional piece of paper in half & cut out.  Open up & place foot on pattern to check fit with your foot. Enlarge  or reduce if necessary making sure to leave a seam allowance. This pattern fits a 7 to 8.  I suggest making a practice slipper with muslin or scrap fabric to use as your own custom fit pattern in the future. (Right click on pattern & save to your desktop, then print.)

 

 

Cutting fabric on the bias will give you more stretch with heavier fabrics.

Staystitch around toe to check fit before sewing permanent seam.

 

Check fit again and adjust as necessary. *At this point you will have a pattern

for your own foot. You carefully take apart and trace to keep for future use.

 

*** PLEASE RESPECT THIS FREE GIFT.

THIS PATTERN CAN NOT BE SOLD AND IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. ***

 

 

Chop Chop Chop...

... I love chopping it's the best thing about cooking. Oh I love to slice & dice too. That's why I was so excited to see the huge bag of garlic my hubby brought home. I chopped & chopped & peeled & peeled! I keep a little bowl of water to dip my fingers in when they become too sticky.  I decided to make him some potato salad which he loves with lots of garlic & black olives, a little reward.  

I chopped until my heart was content!

 

Garlic Olive Potato Salad

6 boiled potatoes cubed

3 large cloves of garlic

1/2 Fresh Parsley - I used curly type

3/4 C Mayo

2 small red Bell Peppers

1 small White Onion

2 Stalks of Celery

I can of Jumbo Black Olives sliced

1 tbsp. dried basil

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

Hubby was happy! He loves garlic.  The whole house smelled like a wonderful garlic garden. 

I input the recipe into SparkPeople's Recipe Calculator and for 1/2 Cup Serving it has 152 calories. 

I put some whole cloves into olive oil & placed in the frig to use later and I will be using that oil when all the cloves are gone.

I decided to keep some unpeeled cloves in my cute garlic holder. It's so full when you lift the top they tumble out.  Doesn't it look like it's smiling? :)

 

So inspired by this gift of delicious stinky garlic; & my love of  chopping, slicing & dicing; I had to go paint this little ACEO...

"Love Stinks"

(To purchase this piece just click on the painting)

 

It may even smell like garlic! hahaha 

 

Why Didn't I Think of It?...

... Nom Nom Nom! I feel silly!

My son invited me over for dinner a few weeks ago

 and served "Sushi Bake". (Did you just hear Angels singing? If it wasn't them it was me. haha)

He had told me about this recipe after a trip to San Diego where it was served at a party. I really didn't get it until I saw & tasted it!  Then I really did feel a little foolish that I had never thought of making something so simple! Especially as much as me & my family love sushi! It's hot outside today & we went to Hop Sing Palace (best Egg Fu Yung ever) for lunch in Old Folsom so Sushi Bake is perfect for a light & easy dinner.  The recipe calls for baking it; hence the name; but I actually popped it into the microwave for 10 minutes and it's just as good.  The recipe can be tweeked with anything that you like on top.  Tonight I substituted the recipe for 1 can of crab & 1/2 package of imitation crab and on one side of dish I used canned salmon.  Here is the recipe I normally use:

***

2 C uncooked short grain white Rice

approx. 1/2 jar Furikake Rice Seasoning

1 C Sour Cream

1 C Mayo

2 Tbsp Sirracha (can use more of less depending on how hot you like it)

Roasted Nori - individual pieces - **

2 cans of crab meat or 1 pkg of imitation crab shredded 

1 C cooked Shrimp chopped or baby shrimp

Tobiko ( orange tiny fish roe) approx. 1/4 c  aka Masago

2 Green onions sliced thinly

1 tbsp Sugar

approx. 1-2 tbsp Rice Vinegar to sprinkle over hot rice

9 x 13 baking dish 

 Cook rice.  Mix mayo, sour cream & srirracha. Reserve 1/2 c to use as topping sauce.  Add crab & shrimp to remaining sauce. When rice is cooked, fluff with 1/4 container of Furikake, sprinkle with sugar & vinegar.  Mix well. When cool enough press evenly into bottom of baking dish. Evenly spread crab & shrimp mixture over rice. Sprinkle again with even layer of Furikake. Then evenly spread or sprinkle on Tobiko. Top green onions. 

Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Serve warm or at room temp (it's good cold out of the frig the next day too)  

Spoon mixture into pieces of Nori & top w/ sauces if you like.

"Just Roll With It"
Click HERE to purchase my sushi art!

 

Dim Sum vs Sushi

Happy Dances...

... well they just make me Happy!

Chain, Chain, Chain...Chain of....

what's that guy cooking on his porch? hahaha