It's a "JAWS-A-THON"!!

C#2 and I watched "Jaws" within the last six months when she was home being sick. She decided she realllllly liked the movie. And I like it, too.

C#1 missed out on all the excitement and it wasn't until this summer that he finally watched this gem.

I read the book by Peter Benchley a zillion years ago, and I think it was good?!?! I might have to find it in my "library" and see if I am remembering correctly.

Anywhoooooooo... C#1, C#2 and I have been having "late movie night." Once everyone goes to bed (aka Dad) we watch some random movie.  We have watched some interesting stuff, and by interesting I mean not very interesting. If you get my drift.

Welllll, we watched "Jaws" and then I came up with the brilliant idea to watch "Jaws 2"!! C#2 was ecstatic!!!   I made may order with Amazon and we had it within a week! WhaaaLA!!

I have seen it before, but, I didn't remember all of it. It's basically more the same, but, way more SHARKKKKKKK!!  The first movie was light on actual shark sightings, and the second one made up for that.  Not the best movie ever, but, entertaining when you have a hankering for some shark attack.

And thennnnn, we were at a local entertainment store and they had "Jaws 3" on sale! We just had to buy it. C#2 did a little happy dance in the aisle when it was decided to make this important purchase.

I had warned them that this edition, didn't score very well.  But, you know it what?! It wasn't half bad. Of course the reallllly bad submarine scene and the end ultimate shark show down looked realllllllllly bad. The CG/whatever they were using for fake shark, just wasn't that good.  I will give them a break and say that it was because it was supposed to be in 3D and it didn't go back to 2D in a pretty way. Or they just sucked at making a fake shark.  Probably the latter.  And the end was kind of abrupt. Kinda like the first installment of "Jaws."   But, it was okay and C#1 and C#2 did like it. 

Of course, now it is going to take a small miracle to get C#2 into the ocean.  I should mention that she's now petrified of spiders, after our "Arachnophobia" movie night. Ooooops!  

Well that's it for now. Till next time...

A Movie Review: Red Tails

The hubby and I were in a movie buying mood and happened upon a reasonably priced copy of "Red Tails." We didn't go see it in the theater, because it had gotten mediocre to bad reviews. Which I thought was surprising since the main actors were well known and it was directed by a well known dude, too.

Let me just say I really, really wanted to like this movie. The dog fights looked really amazing, buttttttt...  First off the musical soundtrack was all wrong. Think 1990s action music interspersed with potentially appropriate music for this film.  Then the acting. UGHHHHHHHHHHHH! Bad, bad, bad... And I know it wasn't the fault of the actors, since they had been in good stuff before.  I watched the whole thing, and wasn't unhappy it was over. Not that it was boring, just poorly done.  C#1 and C#2 liked it. But, you can hardly take movie advice from 10 and 13 year olds.  

The hubby then put on the special features and that is what redeemed it. The documentary was wayyyyyyyyyy better than the actual movie. Of course, it interviewed the people that were portrayed in the movie. I would skip this flick, if you haven't already seen it.  It looks pretty, but, it isn't very good.

HBO did a movie called "The Tuskegee Airmen" in 1995. Laurence Fishburne stars in that one. I haven't seen it in a while, but, it definitely rated better and I don't recall it sucking so much.  So my advice is see that one. Not "Red Tails."   Of course, you could just watch the documentary on the "Red Tails" dvd, since that was quite good, too.

That's it for now. Till next time...

Pesto Smoothie Anyone?!?

Since I had a grocery bag full of basil, I decided to -- you guessed it --  make more pesto!!  I thought I would use my handy manual food processor.  But, sadly after "pumping" it a zillion and one times, all I managed to do is mix the oil and Parmesan cheese. The pine nuts were still "pine-nutty" and the basil was still leafy. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I did NOT want to use my smoothie maker, but alas, that is what I had to do.  I knew it would work, since I've used it in the past, but, I didn't want to gunk up the machinery with basil leaves.  Buttttt, that is what the dishwasher is for.  I made a LOT of basil and finished off my olive oil before I was able to finish off my pesto. So the very last batch has a smidgen of Canola oil. I don't think it skewed the taste too much, so all in all it was a win.

I packaged up the pesto into small ziplock baggies and double wrapped them in a bigger ziplock and put them in the freezer for future use. 

I also had many cherry tomatoes that needed used or needed to be "fixed" for later use. I happened upon a fantastic idea to roast them!  It was super easy and pretty quick, too! All you have to do is plunk some olive oil in the bottom of a 10x13 pan. Add some dried seasonings (I used garlic powder, S&P, spaghetti seasoning.)  Cut the tomatoes in half and stir them into the olive oil mix. Flip the tomato pieces cut side down and roast for two hours at 325 degrees, until they are wrinkly.  It only took me half the time with my hyper-active hot oven.  I then scooped them into a freezer ziplock and put them in the freezer for future use, too.

And here is my breakfast of champions:  Coffee (of course!), fried egg and toast with pesto/tomato slices! DELISH! I love this time of year!

I have a "calamity" to blog about, soon. But, I'm gonna wait until it's all fixed. It was definitely unexpected and rather annoying, to say the least...

A Funny Story and Pesto Creations!

Over the weekend the hubby and I headed out to get some stuff at a local hardware store -- not my favorite place. But, I got to go to one of my favorite places, Sam's Club.  We had just eaten and were in need of a pit stop. We shoulda done that while we were at the restaurant, but, alas, we didn't.  I grabbed a cart, because, who knows what awesome bulk item I would have to buy!  The hubby was concerned someone would take the cart or "put" it away while we "pit stopped," so we went in shifts. I took the cart down one of the nearby aisles and happened upon the feminine hygiene section. Viola! I did need that humongous box of tampons, so I grabbed it and headed back over to the bathrooms. On the way back I did have a passing thought, that the dearest hubby might "mind" the only item in the cart.  He was out and upon arrival he looked at me, looked at the cart, then back at me and said, "Really..."  Bahhwahahwhahahahahwhahaaaa!! I laughed the entire way to the ladies room. After exiting the restroom, it was apparent he survived the ordeal. No one cared and he didn't seem to mind too much either, since he was checking his phone and completely ignoring the cart anyway.  It definitely gave me a good laugh for the day!

Onto the Pesto Creations!  Since I had a container of pesto to use, I have been working it into every meal.  The first item on the menu was a "Pesto Omelet."  The hubby came up with that one, but, I was left to figure it out.

2 eggs

splash of milk

S&P

1-2 Tb Parmesan cheese

1-2 Tb pesto

1/4 - 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Whisk together eggs, milk, S&P, Parmesan cheese, 1Tb pesto.  Put in prepared skillet (butter or margarine or Pam or a combo.) Cook on one side until not runny. Flip over and then spread the rest of the pesto onto the cooked egg side and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and evenly sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Fold one half of the omelet onto the other and let cook for a minute or so, to melt the cheese.

This was a hit! I had to make them two days in a row.

Thennnnnn... I was trying to make a protein packed lunch for S#4. I made grilled chicken breasts with a pesto sauce top and mozzarella cheese.

(The recipe is for one chicken breast, I used three, obviously.)

1 large chicken breast, cut in half.

2 Tb pesto sauce

2 slices mozzarella cheese (shredded or whatever would work, too.)

Italian seasoning, S&P, garlic powder.

Sprinkle the breasts with seasonings on both sides. Place on grill and cook until white and juices run clear. (I sadly overcooked the chicken -- the cut made it look like they weren't done, when they were -- GRRRrrrr! But, the pesto/cheese made it all better.) Spread on pesto and top each with mozzarella cheese slice. Grill until cheese is melted. I used a slice, but, should have used grated. It would have melted faster.  

And then my friend made some homemade Italian bread and gave us a loaf. One of my most favorite summertime eats is a tomato sandwich (toasted bread, mayo, sliced tomatoes and salt.) Since, I have pesto I added that to the sandwich. It was delicious!!!!!!!!!! 

A friend on FB posted this prize picture. I find it to be hilarious!

Too true!!!!

That's it for today. Till next time!

No Pasta Lasagna and C#1 Makes Cheesy Bread!

When I was on vacay with my Mom and S#3, S#3 and I decided to make a pasta less lasagna. With the major influx of squash and zucchini, this was very easy. We didn't follow a recipe. But it worked out perfectly!

1lb ground beef, cooked with 1/2 cup of onions and some minced garlic.
2 cups of very chopped up broccoli, nuked in the microwave to make it soft.
1 zucchini, julienned or cheese grated into little strips.  Cook this in some butter/olive oil to soften.
1-2 cups spaghetti sauce.
1 largish container of cottage cheese (NOT the huge Sam's Club size, but, the ones you get at a regular grocery store.)
Italian seasoning, parsley, S&P
1 egg
Parmesan cheese.
Mozzarella cheese, sliced.

Put about 1/4 cup of spaghetti sauce onto bottom of 10 x 13 casserole pan. Spread the zucchini, evenly over that. MIX the spaghetti sauce WITH the ground beef in the pan after meat is cooked. Spread 1/2 of this over the zucchini. Put 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese slices over this.

Mix together the cottage cheese, egg, parm cheese, nuked broccoli and seasonings. Spread all of this evenly over the ground beef layer.

The pan was getting VERY full, so we topped it with the rest of the ground beef/sauce mix and then finished it off with the mozzarella cheese slices. Baked it for 30 - 45 minutes or so. Until it was bubbly. We let it sit out for a bit. Butttttt, it didn't stay together nicey nice like a lasagna, so we used a spoon to scoop it out. It tasted great with toasted garlic bread!  And I am not even sure I got the layers right.  It really doesn't even matter. Just slop it all together and it will work.

When I got home, I purchased some ground beef to make dinner. I asked C#1 if he wanted hamburgers or spaghetti and meatballs. He chose the latter.

I should state that I went to my "favorite" store Walmart and they had ground beef for .02 more than at the place I was going to purchase it on sale. It would cost me more in gas to make that worth my while. So, I purchased Walmart's meat and saved myself a trip. I should also state that I was being a good doobie and actually WENT to a store with the specific sale, because it was their store brand cheese andddddddddddd technically Walmart price match isn't supposed to match that ----- even though they have. It all depends on the cashier. They had their store brand 16oz chunks of mozzarella cheese for $2.98. Walmart charges $3.99, which isn't bad on a regular day. Andddd this particular store had their brand shredded cheese on sale for 2 for $4.00.  Needless to say $50.00 later, we have a LOT of cheese. But, we will be all dairy happy for a nice, long while.

I then went to Walmart and only saved $1.00 with the price match. That was on Friendly's ice cream, which they now carry. WHOOHOO!! I didn't pore over the ads this time and the prices that were sale prices were already "matched" by Walmart's regular prices.  I also was buying a gallon of milk (it is cheaper there than Sam's Club) and a nice gentleman pointed out that the milks on the bottom shelf had a longer expiration. I didn't even see those, because I always find the longest expiration possible. I thanked him for that, cuz I woulda missed it.

Anyway back to the spaghetti and meatballs meal. I was working on the sauce. Which only consisted of adding a can of Hunt's spaghetti sauce to a partial can of tomato sauce and then adding some tomato pieces that I was able to save from some damaged garden tomatoes.  In the process of cleaning up the freezer to fit some ground beef, I pulled out a loaf of french bread. You know those loaves that go on sale for less than a dollar because they're "old." Well I figured out they freeze quite well even in the paper bag thingy they come in and you can use them to make whatever!  So I asked C#1 if he wanted some cheesy bread. He was very excited about that, but, I couldn't do it, since I was covered in raw meat up to my elbows. He found the recipe and with a little assistance he was able to do it all by himself. He was soooooooo  proud.  Here's a picture of the completed meal.  We were all very full after that!

That's it for today. Coming up: Pesto creations!

Till next time...

"Cattle Corralling" & Pesto!

Soooooooooooooo... I was visiting my BFF and had just poured myself another cup of coffee when a neighbor child informed said BFF that her cows were in their yard. SACRE BLEU! It's cattle corral time!  I have heard stories of this fine adventure and I now was able to participate. WhooHOO!!

On our way out another one of her neighbor's drove by and offered a helping hand. And a good thing, too. Those beasts are down right wiley!!

Here's what you need to know about corralling...
1. Have a small bucket of food.
2. Have a stick or some such to poke or bang with.
3. A loud commanding voice - to either yell, scream, and/or scare said beasts.
4. Jogging (or running) legs.
5. Dancin' arms.

Three of the cows, eventually, ventured back inside the fence on their own. But, the fourth beast had to be "guided" the whole way.

I think I may have found my true calling. So if you ever need a hand... You know who to call! And it's not Ghostbusters!

After the cows were securely secured, we commenced with our "plan."  Making PESTO!!! My BFF has a hedgerow of basil --- seriously! A whole hedgerow. We went a picked a healthy amount and chopped up 5+ cups of basil. We blended the ingredients and presto we had pesto!!

And to make it complete we added pasta (ramen noodles, cuz they are FAST cookers) and sauteed grated zucchini.  Plus tomatoes to make it pretty and a basil sprig for garnish - which I did eat.  It would have been a shame to waste.

And since my BFF had sooooooooooooo much basil she shared with me. I got to bring home a whole bag full. Some of which I put in a vase. My Mom said it would stay nice, like that, for a few days.

That's it for today. I will be blogging about a delicious meal my sister (Sibling#3) and I prepared for the fam while we were on vacation, in the very near future.

Till next time....

PS. The pesto recipe is your basic combo of pine nuts, parm cheese, olive oil, S&P and of course, basil!

It's Avocado Time!!

I bought a bag of avocados at Sam's club and I usually let some of them sit there for too long. Therefore, there is a mad rush to find yummy ways to use them up before they go south.

The first thing I did was add it to my tuna fish for a sandwich.  I got that lovely idea from S#3 (Sibling.)  She was attempting to lessen her intake of mayonnaise. I do love my mayonnaise, so I wasn't really looking to do that. But, like I said, in an effort to use up the avocados.  Anywhoooooo, I only added about half of the normal mayonnaise and then used mashed avocado for the rest.

I coerced C#1 to try it. And he has an aversion to avocados.  Even he thought it was pretty good. WIN!

I then made some avocado salsa. 

 I may have blogged about this, but, I don't remember. So here is that recipe, again.

1 avocado,

2 tomatoes, chopped (FROM MY GARDEN!!!!)

2 garlic cloves, minced (or more!)

1/2 onion, chopped

S&P

1/2 of lime juice squeezed

dash of lemon juice concentrate

Put all of the ingredients into a manual food processor or regular. Process until all chopped, creamy and delicious!!

Eat with tortilla chips or whatever.

This recipe is definitely a good way to use up those avocados.  

That's it for now. Till next time...

Green Bean Salad ~ Blueberry Buckle ~ Zucchini Bars!

I have been in a recipe making mood. And I got my hands on some garden fresh green beans -- Thanks Dad!  I have been craving "Green Bean and Tomato Salad" and I finally got to make it!!  I got this recipe from my friend and I lovvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeee it!!! My additions will be in bold italics.

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add about a pound of fresh, cleaned green beans and simmer until tender (about 5 minutes.) Drain the beans and run cold water over them to cool. Drain completely.

2.  Place beans in a large bowl and mix in 2T lime juice or vinegar (you can use lemon juice concentrate, too), 1T olive oil, sliced jalapenos (I didn't) if you like it hot, salt, some oregano and cilantro (I used fresh basil.) Let sit for half an hour.

3. When ready to serve, gently mix in 1/4 cup chopped red onion (can use whatever kind you have) and 1/2 cup feta or other crumbly cheese. Top with avocado slices (I didn't use) and chopped tomato. I stirred it all together!

This is so delicious! I could eat it all day, every day!

And onto "Blueberry Buckle." I got this recipe from another friend a long time ago.  This turned out splendidly!

1/4c. butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar 

2 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla (MORE!)

2 1/4 cup flour, divided

2 tsp. salt

1/2 buttermilk (I used the milk, lemon juice trick.)

2 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

Topping

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. cold butter (I used softened.)

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine 2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt; add creamed mixture alternating with buttermilk. Mix well.  Toss berries in remaining flour; fold into batter. Spread batter in a greased 9" square baking pan. For topping, combine flour, sugars, and cinnamon; cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter. Bake @ 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

And then there was the zucchini recipe that I got out of Pillsbury: Best Desserts, 1998.

Zucchini Bars with Penuche Frosting (page 315.)

I am far too lazy to write out another recipe. These bars were really good. The frosting is so sweet it hurt my teeth! 

I have more recipes to share, but, I will save that for another day.
Till next time....

Rhu-berry Pie!

In an effort to find something besides diner muffins to make with my blueberries, I perused Pillsbury: Best Desserts cookbook and found "New Fashioned Rhu-berry Pie" (page 78.)

It was very good! And everyone else liked it, too!  Of course, I made some very minor changes, which I will note in bold.

Crust:
1 15 oz refrigerated pie crust or pastry for two crust pie (I made my Mom's famous never fail pie crust.)


Filling:
2 cups cut up fresh rhubarb (I used frozen, worked fantastically!)
2 cups fresh blueberries
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1 cup.)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I used cinnamon and WAY more than 1 tsp.)
1 tbl vanilla or more!


1. Prepare pie crust in 9 inch pan.

2. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl combine all ingredients; toss gently to mix. Spoon into crust lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edges and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.

The crust actually worked for me! This does not happen often. Which means it peeled off the wax paper without falling apart!!!

3. Bake 400 degrees for 40 to 45 degrees or until golden brown. Cover edge of crust with strips of foil after 15 or 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning.

Sadly the oven was still too hot. I guess I will have to set it to the lowest temperature and see if that makes any difference. Otherwise my crust would have been perfect -- boohooooooo!!

Since I had the oven on during this hot day, I decided to make the diner muffins, too. And because the oven was still being a PITA they only took half the time. Thankfully I was paying attention, so none of them got burned! 

They are supposed to be "jumbo," but, I don't have any cupcake pans like that. So, I made 18 vs the claimed 6. Which is better, all around. They will definitely last longer.

That's it for today. Till next time!

Blueberries and Fresh Produce!!

I think I may have mentioned it, but, this is my favorite time of year for FOOD!! "Real" tomatoes and other various goodies from the garden. And NON mushy blueberries! Freshly picked!!!

My BFF sent me an email asking if I wanted to go pick berries. Well YEAHHHH!! We have gone to the same blueberry patch for at least the last three years. Last year was a disappointment. The weather never cooperated, so it was sparse. This year is absolutely fantastic!!!!! Berries, berries everywhere!!

C#2 had a good time two fisting them, too.

Now the challenge is to find good blueberry recipes. My favorite is the "Jumbo Blueberry Muffins", but, I will make an effort to find some new ones.  Of course, this is only if we don't eat them all first.  The temptation is irresistible!!

Here are some of my garden produce pictures.

My cucumber plants created this gem AND I discovered another one the same size hiding behind a pot, from the same plant.

I found a few more red tomatoes. I LOVE "REAL" TOMATOES!!!! You can never have enough, EVER!

And here are some humorous saying photos, which I love:

Yes, Please do!

And this one just cracks me up. If only I had the nerve!!!

That's it for today. Till next time!

THE BEST CORN BREAD EVERRRRRRRRRRR!

Corn bread has never been one of my favorite breads. The only kind I have really, realllllllly liked was a mix that I bought at Sam's Club. But, Sam's Club being all "Sam's Clubby" they only carried it for a very, very short time. BoooooHoooooooooooooooooo!

Then I happened upon a recipe in a magazine that my MIL had. I jotted it down and made a plan to make said bread.

C#1 was flitting around and I volunteered him to help me. Which means he gets 100% of the credit, regardless of what I say or do. I am totally good with that, though. While stirring the mixture he says to me, "It might be a good idea to figure out  how to cook."  Well duhhhhhhh... That might help you in the future and help me right now!  Of course, he's really not old enough to really worry about anything like that. Butttttt, who am I to discourage kitchen help?!?!

Anyway, after we mixed everything up and plunked it in the oven, this was our final product. I do apologize for not taking a picture before we started eating it.

Let me just say it was delicious. I slathered on a big dollop of butter and YUM! The hubby did the butter thing and then a little bit of honey. That was even better!!!  I think what my problem is with corn bread, is that I like it sweeter. That will explain the alterations I made to the recipe below. My changes will be in bold.

1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 cup 1% milk with 1 1/2 tbl lemon juice.)

2/3 cup honey

1/2  cup brown sugar, packed (Like I said I like it sweeter. So sue me! I am guessing on this measurement, since I just scooped a large spoonful and plopped it into the mix.)

2 large eggs

1 tbl vanilla (or more!)

4 tbl butter, melted

1 1/4 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Heat oven to 375. Grease 8 inch square pan. 

Whisk buttermilk, honey, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla and butter.

Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking soda and baking powder.

Whisk buttermilk mix into the flour mixture.

Transfer to pan. Bake until golden or toothpick comes out clean 30-35 minutes.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Then EAT!!

My stupid oven is running wayyyyyyy to hot. So, I had to watch the bread. It took only half the time and the outside was a teense bit dark. But, since it was such a great recipe, you couldn't even tell.

I also made a lasagna or layered pasta dish thingy. I only had three lasagna noodles, so I resorted to using farfalle pasta.  And instead of spinach I used grated zucchini. It worked perfectly!!! I was so excited to use something garden-ey.  And everyone liked it. I don't need to share the recipe since you pretty much just trade up the spinach for zucchini. The only other thing I did was use a ton of cottage cheese (in place of ricotta) which made the dish even more cheesy. And of course the changing of the noodles. The layers were as follows. #1 pasta, 1/2 of the sauce, 1/2 of cooked beef mix on bottom in greased pan. #2 cottage cheese, egg, zucchini, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese mix. #3 The rest of the beef mixture (ground beef, onions, garlic and whatever else you want.) #4 The rest of the sauce. #5 1 cup mozzarella cheese or however much you have. Bake for 30-35 (or shorter if your oven is being a PITA.)

Again, I apologize for not taking a picture first. This meal was a hit, I might add.  And the leftovers are delightful, too.

That's it for now. Till next time!