Thinking out loud

Seriously, why can I not seem to stay on top of this???  Why must I wait until the last minute?  Is it that I have three kids from 18 to 4?  A full time job that I love but uses up a lot of energy both during work and personal time?  Is it that I just have too much going on at any given time?  It could be any of these, or it could simply be that I procrastinate and sometimes just run out of time!  I had the best plans for this one, I was going to try several new recipes and use the best.  Instead, I once again fall back on an in use recipe.  Does this make the spice rack a failure for me?  NO  For me the purpose of the spice rack is to use up my spices, stay connected, and gather new recipes.  All of these items are in play. Everyone has one of these right?  The other thing the spice rack challenge has done for me is force me to look at my awful spice box more often.  I have hated my spice box for ages.  To ca...

Coriander, really I had no idea what to make.  I love Cilantro (I used to HATE it!) It always amazes me that at my age, I am always still learning new thing.  Like a couple years ago, I found out the easy way that Coriander is Cilantro that has been allowed to go to seed.  Every year I get tons of Cilantro because I let it go to seed the year before. So what to do?  I start looking through cookbooks and on the internet, then I get lazy and fall back on an old recipe.  Woodman bought a cookbook some time back, I don't even remember the name but it had a rub recipe you used in conjunction with a bbq sauce.  While Woodman likes this, the cumin is a bit strong for me but I do like it.  We had it on grilled pork chops this week and it was a beautiful taste of summer.  Here is the recipe with a few adaptions. Woodman's BBQ Rub 2 T Kosher Salt 2 T Ground Coriander 6 T Ground Cumin 4 T Hot Chili Powder 1 T Paprika 1 1/2 t Ground Allspice 1 1/2...

This month's challenge almost caused me to drop out of the challenge.  Believe it or not, I have NEVER used Cardamom!  Really!  I have looked at many recipes that call for it and almost bought it for a recipe one of my girls wanted to take to school but the cost prevented me from taking that leap.  Enter the Spice Rack Challenge!  Do I buy something that is really not in my budget for one recipe and maybe never use it again?  I checked my local grocer and only found it in the prepackaged spice jars for about $10 so thought I might pass.  My one chance was if we had enough time to stop by Whole Foods today.  Surely they would have it in their bulk section.  Not only did we have time but they had it in pod form which was my preference.  I grabbed a few pods and after wandering around the store and picking up a number of items we didn't need but wanted, we proceeded to checkout.  The weight of my pods were too small to register so the ...

I don't know that this recipe even has a name and it contains such unlikely ingredients for it to be a favorite of mine but favorite it is.  This salad is a recent addition to my culinary adventures but was served it by one of my favorite cooks recently and loved it.  Salad with Citrus Salad Greens (romaine is a good choice) Fennel (the bulb not the seed) Orange (peeled and segmented) Olives (the red ones - I have a dislike for all things olive but in this salad - they were really good) Olive Oil Lemon Juice Lemon Zest This is one of those recipes with no measurements.  Salad greens, how much do you need?  How hungry are you?  I suppose for those who have to use measurements use about three cups, slice the fennel (if you don't have fennel you can use celery but really try to find fennel) maybe about 1/2 to 1 cup, one orange, 1/4 cup of olives.  Toss all this together in a bowl.  Use about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and whisk in about 2 tabl...

Block of goat cheese (3"x3" square) 8 cloves of Garlic 3 TB fresh Rosemary 1/2 Cup Olive Oil Crusty Bread or Crackers Mince the Garlic; Finely chop the rosemary and add both to the olive oil. Pour this mixture over the cheese and let set for 15 minutes. Serve over crusty bread or crackers. Update:  Thanks to Woodman for posting for me.  I was out of town and had limited access to the computer.  I knew this would be a tough week to complete the Spice Rack Challenge on time.  The original recipe is above, for the Spice Rack Challenge I tried this with dried rosemary, it is MUCH better with fresh, same for fresh garlic, I used the garlic already chopped and it was not as good.  That said, this is a great recipe either way, I could eat this spread on crackers all day!