#254 Seafood

We enjoy turkey and ham but for the sake of variety

our family enjoyed boiled shrimp for Christmas Eve dinner -

our favorite seafood.

Free Theme #3 - Experience #2

Making, wrapping, and delivering fruit baskets

to people in our small church is a new experience for me.

Our women's group thought fruit would be a better

choice than candy and cookies, which was the traditional

activity. It was fun and I hope we do it again next year.

Free Theme #2 - Experience #1

Self-disclosure - I desire to be flexible, adaptable, and open to new experiences. It doesn't make sense to be in a rut, which my mother defined as a grave with the ends kicked out. I confess to be just as set in my ways as the next person but it isn't necessary to reinvent myself every moment of the day. However, to avoid the aforementioned rut/grave and to more fully live life, I intend to, on purpose, create new experiences, at least one a week. Sometimes life happens when you make plans but serendipitous happenings don't come along as often as I would like and sometimes I overlook the possibilities. Awareness is everything.
So, this is my first official new experience in this self-imposed challenge which starts before the new year - Beef Wellington. I found this simple and tasty recipe in a magazine. Everyone approved. Might have to repeat it since we have more meat in the freezer!

New experience definition: pretty much anything I haven't done before, i.e. read a different genre, try a new recipe, visit a new place, learn a new skill, etc. The possibilities are endless, of course, and I intend to keep them varied. This won't become just a food blog or just a reading blog. It will be fun.

#187 Mouth Watering

Port loin with roasted vegetables - a mouth watering Thanksgiving luncheon!

#216 Passion

A person's passion is often reflected in their work.

My sister has a passion for baking beautiful and yummy bread!

#293 Sweet

My sister, the pastry chef, made this chocolate pie, my husband's favorite.

You wouldn't believe the decadent ingredients in the crust, filling, and topping.

I do not count calories anymore.

#217 Pasta

The noodles are store-bought but the chicken soup is homemade. Yum.

#23 Bliss

This is my sister, Maggie and her goofy grin. She is in bliss being the new owner

of a much-coveted Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

It seems this is required equipment for a pastry chef person.

#101 Favorite Food

Yes, I like beef, cooked, please. In any form - even liver. You just have to know how to cook it so it doesn't turn out crispy. It would be VERY difficult for me to be a voluntary vegetarian.

#256 Seeds

Compost happens. However, seeds survive the compost process and I get several volunteer acorn squash plants, which sometimes give me a few squash. Then there are more seeds in the compost pile and we start over again.

#81 Edible

Free baked potatoes with a hint of butter and a glob of cheese! I would like to know how many of these were given away at the Idaho Annual Spud Day in Shelley, Idaho. I enjoyed mine, although a bit of sour cream would have been extra yummy.

#99 Fast Food

Another reason to go to the fair - food! Not a healthy offering in the bunch, even the corn (faux butter-flavored something). The steak on a stick was pretty good - cooked to my liking and easy to chew. Good thing it's only once a year! AND most of the eating supports local youth organizations.

#30 Breakfast

This breakfast is typical of the coffee and carb offering in most hotels that serve a "free" breakfast. I rarely have a waffle and I indulged. The pretty china tea cup and saucer (centerpiece on the small dining room tables) contrasts with the paper plate (and plastic fork) for the waffle. Sigh. I have no will power resisting fun foods or the disposable "dinnerware" it's served on, especially when away from home. I won't need to indulge again for awhile. It was just a "5" on a 10 scale.

#44 Cheese

I'll eat almost anything with melted cheese on it (not ice cream, though).

Cheesy Corn Casserole

(from one of the Once-A-Month Cooking cookbooks)

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1-17 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup small curd cottage cheese (optional - with chives) drained

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 8-ounce can tomate sauce

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (1/2 clove)

1 cup grated mozzarella (or sharp cheddar) cheese

In a large skillet, cook and stir ground beef until brown; drain. Meanwhile, spread corn in bottom of an 8x8x2-inch baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray. Combine eggs and cottage cheese; spread mixture over corn.

Stir flour into browned ground beef; cook one minute, stirring constantly. Add tomato sauce and garlic to meat mixture and stir together. Layer meat mixture on top of cottage chees and eggs. Cover dish with foil and put in freezer. Put grated cheese in 1-quart freezer bag; tape to baking dish.

To prepare for serving, thaw meat and cheese and preheat over to 350 degrees. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Makes six servings.

You can, of course, skip the freezing part and bake right away.

This has become one of my "signature" pot luck dishes as it's too much food for the two of us and I don't like to freeze it after it's been baked. Otherwise, it tastes great! Must be the melted cheese.

#202 Nuts

I love nuts, although I usually prefer unsalted. However, when in abundant supply at a wedding reception, I indulge. Yummmm. (This portion was not eaten in a single sitting!)

#36 Candy

Welcome to Sarah's Candy Cottage. OMG, get thee behind me, Satan. This fruit-flavored licorice is a gift to the family who feeds our kitties when we galavant around the country. They really like licorice. Me, not so much. Sarah tried hard to tempt me with a free sample of SOMETHING but she was out of chocolate-covered peanuts, my favorite, so I got away without a nibble.

I won't tell you the price of this delicacy. Let's just say I could grill T-bone for less.

#133 Groceries

A quick run to the grocery store resulted in these staples to our diet.

#73 Dessert

My husband is an ice cream-aholic. This is a small portion compared to "normal." Featuring my favorite - chocolate cake with REAL butter frosting - this dessert finishes up my birthday cake.

#275 Snack or Treat

After yesterday's rant against gourmet cupcakes I have to confess to preferring a Hostess cup cake. Not Little Debbie, not Tastee Cakes. Hostess. Not Twinkies, not Ding Dongs, not Ho-Ho's. Just this chocolate cupcake. I admit it doesn't taste as good as I remember from fifty years ago, but still better to me than the gourmets. And you don't have to tell me about all the fake "food", preservatives, corn solids, etc. that are in this snack. I know. We all have our dirty secrets. This is the snack I look for at the convenience stores on road trips, so I don't eat a package very often. That's all the justification I'm doing today. Sigh.

#65 Cupcakes

Idaho Falls has at least three establishments where you can get gourmet cupcakes. I wanted to check them out and see what the hub-bub was all about. Glad that's over with.

The first store had lots of things besides pastries. Pretty, but I didn't purchase one.

At the second store, this is affectionally known as the "BTS" cupcake (Better Than Sex), I wasn't impressed and would argue the point, even though I like chocolate and, sometimes, caramel.
At the third store I bought this lemon/blueberry with cream cheese frosting. Also not impressed. After googling "butter cream frosting" I know why. The REAL butter cream frosting is too expensive for most people. The cupcakes cost $2+ as it is. I can't imagine the cost if the frosting was REAL butter cream. Maybe my taste buds are jaded or my age is showing but I can do better with a box of Betty Crocker cake mix and homemade frosting (butter, powdered sugar, a T or two of milk and cocoa - I only make cocoa frosting - never buy frosting in a tub at the store). Even my husband, "The Sweet Tooth Pastor," said I didn't have to buy any more on his account.

I know, I know. Gourmet cupcakes are way cool. You can have mine (and pay for it, too). The calories aren't worth it.

Sorry for the rant but I was very disappointed!