On soup

It is August, but alas, I have done the unthinkable, yes I have made soup.  I usually reserve my soup days for fall and winter, but it has been feeling more like November of late than the steamy, hot last days of summer so soup was called for.  My problem with soup is that I never make the same soup twice, I have never actually followed a recipe; I simply throw together the little odds and ends I have lying around and need to use up and the results are usually good.  There's nothing better than a good, hearty soup on a cold, miserable day, but it is a little depressing when such a day happens at the tail end of summer!

Pudding 'Poke' Cake

This is a great recipe for summer parties and gatherings (or you can eat it all yourself, yay!) and is really easy.  Remember that white cake with the jello in it that was a staple of grade school lunch?  This is the same concept, except you use pudding instead of jello.  You can vary the pudding/cake flavors to suit your own tastes, my favorite follows and is something like Boston Cream Pie, but way easier!

1 9x13 yellow cake, cooled and unfrosted (a box mix works great)
1 box vanilla pudding (instant or cooked, 4 or 6 serving)
1 box chocolate pudding (same as above)

Using a wooden spoon handle, pencil, dowel, etc. poke holes in the cake about 1/2 inch apart, covering the entire cake.  Prepare first box of pudding as directed on box (can do either pie filling or regular prep) and pour over cake before it sets, filling holes.  Prepare second box of pudding as desired and pour over cake before it sets, fill any remaining holes and spread evenly 'to frost.'  Cover and refrigerate at least 2-3 hours.  Serve cold and store in the fridge.  Adjust flavors, preparation, etc to suit your own tastes, I like lots of pudding so use the 6 serving size box.  The possibilities are endless, enjoy!

Amish Biker Chick?

Yes, those are Harley Davidson biker boots displayed alongside a bicycle, pink sweet peas, and white socks.  I was in the market for a new pair of work boots and found these at the local thrift store for an agreeable price and thought they would be perfect, despite their rather incongruous brand!  Some poor biker is probably turning over in his grave at this very moment.  Before they become encrusted permanently with manure and grime, we had a family photo shoot that also included a trike and a pink shirt, among other very biker-esque paraphernalia.  This might be as close as we ever get to Sturgis!

Pizza Buffet, at home!

We are having company and sometimes I can't decide what to make for supper.  Sometimes it is fun to let the guests fend for themselves, especially if they have teenagers or older kids.  I make enough dough in the bread machine for the number of guests we are expecting and roll it out into single serving sizes, place on a baking sheet and preheat the oven, then I let everyone make their own pizza.  Obviously not everyone will be able to eat the main course at once as the pizzas must take turns in the oven, but if you have some munchies and conversation to keep them busy this in not a huge problem.  I set out a variety of sauces, cheeses, and toppings and let people do their own thing, it is a lot of fun and everyone gets to eat something they like.  If only there were some fried chicken in the mix...

Reinventing the hotdog...

Before kids, hotdogs were rare 'oh they're on sale' treats, after kids, strangely they have become the fifth food group, and needless to say they can get a little boring.  So I went searching on the boundless 'interweb' and came across a few recipes that looked interesting, namely a hotdog wrapped in either a bagel or pretzel dough and baked until delicious.  I tried the pretzel variant tonight and was very happy with the result, the same technique could easily be modified to make it a 'bagel dog.'  I ended up with 24 of the buggers from a 1.5 pound bread dough recipe (4.5 cups flour), so I will have plenty to freeze!

You will need:

Bread dough (use your favorite recipe/technique or frozen should work fine too), I'd stick to plain white bread but if you want to experiment with something else, that's what puts the fun in cooking!

Hot dogs (number depends on size and amount of dough you have)

8-10 cups water in a large pot

1/4 cup white sugar or 2/3 cup baking soda (sugar for bagels or soda for pretzels)

What to do:

Add sugar or soda to water and bring to boil.  Divide dough into quarters and roll each quarter into a rough rectangle, as flat as you can get it.  Then cut 1-2 inch strips with a pizza cutter the full length of the dough.  Wrap each hotdog in a strip of dough, slightly overlapping edges and leaving both ends of the hot dog peeking out, seal the loose edge of the dough.  Place 2-3 wrapped hotdogs in the boiling water and remove with slotted spoon once they float and the dough looks pasty and slightly poofy (about 1-2 minutes).  Drain hotdogs slightly on a towel, place on a baking sheet in oven (375-425 degrees), and bake until golden brown and the hotdog sizzles.  Should freeze well.  Leftover dough can be used to make bagel or pretzel bites.

An unfortunate choice of wording

I was not planning to buy peaches, but the sign intrigued me.  On a placard bearing the words, 'red tag special,' they advertised that Listeria laced peaches were not available.  I was appalled, this could not be happening!  This is America, we do not have shortages like this!  It is in the Constitution or something, didn't we fight a war with Britain over tea?  What will this do to world peace and stability?  I was aghast, no peaches?  I am sure I have a recipe somewhere for peaches ala listeriosis…now that I knew I couldn't have them I knew that I must have them…I need them!  This is an outrage!  Just wait until social media finds out…I will write the president…the marines...

Yes, I am being utterly ridiculous again, but this poorly worded sign amused me no end.  I have no wish to consume peaches contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes and risk illness thereby, but the sign literally made it sound as if they were apologizing that said tainted fruit was unavailable rather than that it was unavailable due to recall because it was tainted!  This is why good grammar is important, lest you disappoint your customers that they have missed their opportunity to own their very own tainted fruit rather than saying that you are out of peaches but their health will not be imperiled thereby.  So go hug an English Teacher (I suppose they are called something like Language Arts teachers these days, don't ask me what the modern day equivalent of Home Ec. is) for one might have saved your life!

Beauty for ashes (Epic Gardening the epilogue)

After my poor little garden got mowed over, I figured I'd at least check the potatoes to see if anything was salvageable.  I was hoping to get a few new potatoes anyway.  I checked the first plant with a hand trowel and salvaged two golfball sized potatoes (though damaging their delicate skin in my retrieval).  I'll probably get a decent crop of small potatoes after all, but these first damaged fruits need immediate first aid:

Melt butter (yes, real butter and lots of it) in a pan.

Slice potatoes as thin as possible and add to melted butter.  Add sweet peppers and onions.  Season with garlic, pepper, and seasoned salt.  Stir frequently and cook until crispy and soft.

This has turned out to be a very tasty unfortunate incident!