Cooking by the seat of my Pants Cooking the way it should be done. Run into the kitchen, grab a bunch of stuff out of the larder, and wing it!

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Ch…Ch…Ch…Changes
2007-11-13 15:42:14
OK folks. I’m going to be making some changes to the blog today in preparation for the January theme change.  I’ve got to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress, for starters, which means some of my favorite plugins will no longer work properly. The sidebars will be changing and I may mis something here-or there [...] ...

Farfalle Frittata
2007-11-12 18:02:37
Coming up with ideas for a simple yet hearty meal during the holidays can be a bit difficult, so why not try this approach? I’d made some farfalle with broccoli, cauliflower and a sour cream sauce a few nights before, and was looking it over for lunch, but I wasn’t feeling any love for the dish [...] ...

Holiday Shopping Alert! Anolon Roasting Pan
2007-11-12 17:35:14
‘Tis the season for slow roasting, and what could be better than a brand spanky new roasting pan that doesn’t come with a several hundred dollar price tag. The Anolon 16×13x3-in. Nonstick Anolon Advanced Oval Roasting Pan with Rack is the perfect vessel for your Holiday Roast Turkey. ...
Holiday  Shopping 

Cranberry Sauce
2007-11-10 17:25:06
Cranberry sauce was always a staple on our holiday table when I was a child, but I must admit that I wasn’t fond of it until recently. My mother like most people from her generation, had a magical method for making cranberry sauce look exactly like a tin can. For the most part [...] ...
Sauce 

Turkey Giblet Gravy
2007-11-08 15:54:50
Giblet gravy is one of the staples on my holiday table, and has been since my grandmother introduced me to it as a child. At the time this brown gravy was something different, even a bit exotic for a child who was raised on southern gravy. For me this succulent new flavor sensation [...] ...
Turkey 

Apple Merlot Glazed Ham
2007-11-07 21:49:47
Turkey may be the star of the holiday table, but I would never dream of hosting a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner without a ham as well. With both on the menu you satisfy everyone’s wants for a great holiday meal with both red meat and poultry, as long as you’ve got a good vegetarian [...] ...
Apple 

Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls
2007-11-06 20:51:03
The holidays are a season of joy, family, togetherness and of course, great food. My second installment for this Holiday menu might surprise some, but for me it’s coming in in its rightful place. Even though the table was full of all the goodness that comes from two solid days of prepping and cooking, [...] ...
Dinner 

Holiday Roast Turkey
2007-11-05 20:51:13
Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present to you the king of the American Holiday table, the centerpiece of nearly every family gathering in the United States for the months of November and December, the prince of poultry, the roast turkey. As promised, I’m kicking of the Holidays with a focus on the foods of [...] ...
Holiday  Roast  Turkey 

Holiday Goodness
2007-11-03 16:22:40
The holiday season is officially here. Stores are covered in twinkling lights, evergreen and garland (Or ribbon, depending on how trendy they’re attempting to be.)  Christmas music (usually bad Christmas music) assaults the senses no matter what shop you walk into and the toy aisles are overflowing with the “Hot Picks” of the year. It’s here! Children [...] ...
Holiday 

Chicken Stew
2007-11-02 18:28:12
With fall finally showing its colors here in Texas the desire for slow cooked comfort foods moves more to the front of my mind. Even though I happily braise foods all year long, it’s a lot easier to do so when there is no need to turn the A.C. down to ridiculous levels to [...] ...
Chicken 

Happy Halloween!
2007-10-31 19:57:05
Tonight is the night for ghosts, ghouls and goblins to walk among us.  Most of them will be after your candy supplies, and hopefully the gremlins will stay out of your kitchen.  Just remember not to feed any cute lil’ critters after midnight! For me, the end of the day ushers in thoughts of the Thanksgiving [...] ...
Halloween 

Great Kitchen = Happy Foodie!
2007-10-31 15:42:04
If you’re in the market for a kitchen remodel, I’ve found a great place for you to start your search. If you’re not in the market, I’ve found a great place for you to drool over some of the most amazing kitchen designs I’ve ever seen! Extraordinary Works has a gallery of Luxury Kitchen Designs [...] ...
Kitchen 

Blueberry Muffins
2007-10-28 23:49:53
AB has never done me wrong. Oh, I’ve done his recipes wrong in the past, but on closer inspection it always turned out to be something that I did, vs. anything that was incorrect in the procedures or methods he handed out. He did us right again this time, and I thank him [...] ...
Blueberry  Muffins 

Uptown in St. Augustine FL.
2007-10-28 20:16:32
No, I haven’t gone to Florida, but I wish I could. The city of St. Augustine Florida holds an end-of-the-month event all year ’round called Uptown Saturday Night. The focus of the event changes throughout the year, but coming October 27th (which just passed, sadly) and November 28th 2007, the focus will [...] ...
Uptown 

Asian Chicken Soup with Nyumen Noodles
2007-10-27 23:56:02
I love Japanese and Chinese noodle soups almost as much as I like stir fry. The flavors are simple, pleasing and sustaining while still managing to be very light, something most American soups and stews cannot accomplish. This is an Asian inspired soup. This dish was not made from any traditional recipe, I [...] ...
Asian  Chicken  Soup 

The Sales are Coming! The Sales are Coming!
2007-10-27 23:55:38
Halloween is just a few days away. Once the little ghouls and goblins have gone back to their comfortable homes in search of a sugar induced coma and the last of the candy has been safely transported back into the baking pantry thoughts of most American adults will turn to Thanksgiving, turkey dinners and [...] ...
Sales 

Pan Seared Pork Loin Chops with Corn Chutney
2007-10-25 03:23:44
What does a foodie make for lunch? Perhaps a better way to phrase that question is to ask what a foodie who generally hits the kitchen with no idea what he’s about to make cooks for lunch, because when I threw this together I had absolutely no concept of what I was going to [...] ...
Pork 

A deal on wine you can’t beat with a stick.
2007-10-23 18:05:44
If you love wine, you’ll love this offer! It’s no secret that ‘m affiliated with advertisers. I’ve never hidden the fact, though I’ve never really “worked the angles” on it either. I try desperately not to allow the lure of a few extra dollars ruin what reputation I’ve gained here, and I [...] ...
Wine 

Pork and Cauliflower Thai Yellow Curry
2007-10-18 17:02:31
It’s been a while since I mentioned the package that was sent to me by CurrySimple. To be honest, I was on such a curry kick for a while that I burned myself out on the concept of trying any of the three remaining pouches in the box. When we moved in to the new [...] ...
Cauliflower  Curry  Pork 

Banana Nut Bread and thoughts of a new mixer
2007-10-18 04:24:43
If there is one thing that I as my wife to make more than anything else, it’s her particular take on banana bread, zucchini bread falls in at a close second. To be honest, I’m a sucker for just about any bread that features nuts or vegetables… Or beer. The combination of [...] ...
Banana  Bread 

Fried Roast Pork Lumpia
2007-10-16 21:39:24
Basically, lumpia is the Filipino equivalent of the Chinese egg roll. I first experienced lumpia in my early 20’s, when our Guamanian next door neighbor made them and presented them to us as a housewarming gift, along with a massive platter of kelaguen. It was a nearly religious experience for me, even at [...] ...
Pork  Roast 

Urgent warning! Salmonella outbreak
2007-10-16 16:57:04
We interrupt our regular programming to bring you the following news bulletin! This just came in my email, and I think it’s something all of us should be aware of. CDC is collaborating with public health officials in multiple states across the United States and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service to [...] ...
Urgent 

Roasted Acorn Squash and Garlic Soup
2007-10-16 01:23:33
I’ve been blaming a lot of other food bloggers for my entries here lately, and today seems to be more of the same. This time it was Katerina of Daily Unadventures in Cooking who decided my fate for me. I was just taking my daily dose of food blogs when I ran across [...] ...
Garlic  Roasted  Soup  Squash 

Ale Bread - The Resurrection
2007-10-13 03:49:27
I had originally meant to title this post “Ale Bread Part Deux”, but I really didn’t want to make it into any kind of a tribute to Charlie Sheen. (Not that I have anything against Charlie, mind you!) If you’ve been keeping up with this blog over the last year, you’ll know that baking is one [...] ...
Bread  Resurrection 

News, updates and what’s happ-nin’s
2007-10-12 01:04:08
Sorry gang, there’s no food porn on today’s slate… At least not yet. Yesterday was spent dealing with one of the very real challenges of living on a military base with a wife who instructs students from all over the country. Around here it’s called “The Crud”. What the rest of [...] ...
News 

Simply the Best Pork Loin Recipe Ever
2007-10-10 22:47:08
My wife and I have very different methodologies when it comes to cooking. I go out of my way to keep my ingredients simple, to let the flavor of the food shine as much as possible, with only minor ingredients that highlight the flavors of the key components of a dish. My wife [...] ...
Pork  Recipe 

Expiration date blahs.
2007-10-09 16:20:02
I mentioned that I was summarily banned from my kitchen yesterday. The payoff for this strange event was supposed to yield three things. Chocolate Chip Cookies A loaf of homemade Italian Wheat Bread A magnificent dinner Two of those things did happen, but the second item on the list was a colossal failure. Why, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, [...] ...
Date 

Light up your Holidays for less this year
2007-10-09 16:10:11
I know that most of you are probably focusing on Halloween right now, but for me, thoughts are already turning to the Christmas season. It’s our first year in a new home, which always presents decorating challenges. We’re discussing the Adopt an Airman program for the holiday, where we would bring in a [...] ...
Holidays 

Banished!
2007-10-08 17:05:05
I have been banished from my kitchen! Kicked out, evicted, nixed. I am under orders to “stay out of the way” for the day. My kitchen is overrun with strange devices, the uses of which elude me completely. There are a bevy of small devices my wife assures me are called “Mesh-oor-ing” cups [...] ...

Tomato Basil Soup
2007-10-07 01:25:50
Fall is just about upon us. Cooler weather has settled in over much of the country. Most of my fellow food bloggers have broken out recipes for braised, slow cooked foods that highlight the best ingredients that fall, or at least late Autumn, has to offer in their area. Looking over their [...] ...
Soup  Tomato