Today I didn't forget you!

Beef Roast cooked in Beer and Spices tossed with it's own Gravy :o)
I've made Roast Beef before,but today I wanted to try a different approach! Besides all  my spices I thought I'd try adding beer to it instead of my beef broth...I'm glad I did..it was delicious...the beer had been sitting in the fridge since we were ill (last year when the grand kids came) , I left it so it would be there when they returned.
From now on I'm going to use what ever they leave for my cooking..no need in it going to waste or just being less room for my Soda's :o)  The roast was so tender I didn't need a knife or my teeth :o) I cooked the beef in one pot then took it out and made the gravy..then poured it over the beef in another and kept it warm in the oven until everything else was ready..the gravy was so good...yummy

This is Okra and Tomato's with spices and cooked down in my Homemade Chicken Broth..it's not one of my daughters favorite :o(   no matter more for me :o) and Cecil could care less if she didn't want any ...More for him :o)
Below is my tasty Rice with Spices, . Since I've been making it this way
it seems I never have too many leftovers of it, and it's one dish daughter likes with nothing but it. :o)

Now am I back on the "Good List"  Showing you all this good food for today?
You can thank Cecil who reminded  me while I was cooking. There is no new dessert ( there is still Cake left), and I'm finished cooking for the day..

Too Late Again! I'm Sorry hehehe

Usually on Saturday I cook something that's easy to give me more time to do nothing! :o)  While looking for a Roast in the Freezer I ran across some Smoked Ham Hocks! Then I thought to myself , they would go good with some String beans and my $2. potatoes, and then I discovered two ears of sweet corn..well, needless to say there was my One Pot meal :o)...Into the Pressure cooker went the hocks on top of 1/4 onion, clove garlic, and one small yellow sweet pepper. When they were done, I placed the string beans in the middle of my favorite red pot, spread the half frozen potatoes around them and placed the corn in each four corners..When the hocks were done...I added two cups of water to the Hock juice, sprinkled some Kosher salt and fresh pepper around them and set them on to cook for about 20 minutes...There is no picture, because by the time I finished smelling them I was ready to dig in and so was Cecil..At least he let me serve myself first, and I took what I thought I could eat..We both went back for seconds it tasted so good we both tasted it all up! heehaw Sorry about that, it's all in our bellies now. I don't know what the B/S is going to be in the morning, but I sure enjoyed the sin tonight.  You would have enjoyed looking at this one, LOL.

One of the Recipe responses I've received

Perfect Pound Cake -This recipe is similar to the others, but the differences make a big difference!
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups of all-purpose flour ( I used the 'cake flour' instead). If using regular flour, sift 3 times
4 sticks of butter (instead of 3)
3 cups of sugar ( I used 3 and one half cups)
*5 large eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of whipping cream (instead of milk)
Butter and flour two 9x5 loaf pans, or use one bundt cake pan and one 9x5 loaf panCream butter and sugar together with electric mixer until light, fluffy and almost white (about 4-5 minutes) stopping mixer a few times to scrape down sides.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
With the mixer on a low speed; add one third of flour mixture (don't forget to add salt and baking powder and whisk to mix ingredients) into the creamed butter and sugar.
Add half the whipping cream.
Continue alternating flour and cream, ending with flour.
Add vanilla.
Use spatula to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl until completely mixed.
Pour into pans, up to 2/3 full
Start in a cold oven
Place pans on middle rack of oven. Turn oven to 325 degrees.
Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
(Note: the author says her cake baked in 55 minutes, so check early)As a variation, You can add up to 7 eggs. The author used 5 eggs and an extra yolk. Supposedly the 7 egg version is Elvis's favorite pound cake.
I used 6 eggs because they weren't true 'large' eggs.Just for good measure; I added 2 tablespoons of sour cream......

I have received many responses about  "Pound Cake", thanks for them all...Ginny
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Another Pound Cake! Test #2

I finally found that old Pound Cake recipe, but alas! Nobody in my area carries the Cake Flour! "Presto Cake Flour" was what I  used in the 20-30 year old recipe that I made it with in NJ. Here in NC   Last time I made it. I remembered my son sent me quite a bit of it. Wasn't that a sweet thing for him to do.  I haven't found a store that carries it :o(  So I went with what was available."Swans Down Cake Flour". Instead of my own concoction!.. it didn't rise as high as the last Pound Cake I made, I'm sure it's because of different ingredients.. I also noticed that Swans Down has a Pound Cake recipe on their box, (after I used my Presto recipe) next time I'll try that one... until I can find Presto Cake Flour, I have to use what I can get...Until I'm satisfied with either and or. Cecil doesn't mind "tasting this one up" :o) he says it taste good to him.  That's okay but it doesn't satisfy my palet. I want my pound cake to be light and fluffy. If I'm going to have my B/S rise, let me at least enjoy it. Cecil can suck on a pound of sugar and his body just stays in neutral :o(. Oh Well, I may have to resort to my "Humming Bird Cake" to get some satisfaction. (but it's not a pound cake).

Breakfast, and is this Soda something new?

Big Breakfast this morning
It's supposed to be bad weather (again) for this afternoon into tomorrow and Cecil has a couple of errands to take care of and I'm just staying in. So a good solid breakfast is in order.. Grits, eggs bacon, and Challah toast  (which I almost burned), For me Zero Coke and Cecil Coffee ( his second cup).  

Fanta Orange Zero by Coca Cola


Cecil brought me a couple of these Fanta Soda's because they were marked "Zero"s.  and Zero Coke has become my "Soda". I never cared too much for  Orange Soda, Orange Juice yes!..
I don't care for these Orange Zero's much either, Now if they were to make Pineapple Zero's, I'd give them a thumbs up if they tasted good. For now I'll stick with my Coke Zero's, and water :o)

The other half of the Barbeque Spare Ribs

Today was a lazy day for cooking...All you see are Spare ribs (after we devoured half of them with our tasting :o) Covered with my own concoction of sauce  I used a jar of Homemade Plum Preserves, with my Tomato sauce and other spices...There is macaroni and Cheese that was to be eaten with it, but our greed didn't allow us to wait for it to be heated...We already had lunch  (Hamburger and some of my Bargain $2. French Baked Potatoes) I get such a kick out of remembering the bargain :o). It's such a lazy day and I'm still in my Pj's.  I'm comfortable and  I still smell good :o)...(more like dinner than anything else). Later we will eat the rest of the ribs and the Mac and cheese..and today's meal will be done. Neither of us wanted a veggie, guess one meal without won't hurt.. One pot of greens and we will make up for today's lost of them..

My New Kodak Printer

I thought I'd take a break from cooking :o) and show off my new Kodak Printer :o)...I kind of worried about getting this one compared to all the others on the market..but since I had good luck with the camera ( I still love the Camera) I thought I'd try their other product  "My Printer"... What got me was the ink feature, (costing less in the long run that the others) although I liked  My HP brand very much..buying the ink like to drive me crazy, it would really screw up my budget and then by the time they were ready to show a new model, I was out of luck, it got to where I couldn't even find it, mine was too old (but a goodie). Yesterday while printing my millionth copy of a recipe I didn't need, I jammed up the printer with paper..well my heart gave a quick gasp! Oh No! , Read the D*** book, I did , got a chair sat down to be comfortable to give it a fight , looking in the back ( as directed by the book) and I'll be darned there was the arrow to remove the back and unjam the paper..well, I never...found it so easy to do..it's my hero. I can make it "Wireless", but that's for another day, or until my Son visits.

My Pound Cake

Well, here is my pound cake made yesterday afternoon. It looks like somebody is enjoying it :o)...I will admit I had a very large piece it was so good, and this morning the B/S told on me! l am backing off, it was good but not that good..Cecil is pigging out and his B/S doesn't move :o(... oh well, can't have everything.  Today promises to be a nice warm one before another cold strike hits...I need some bags for Penny, so I think in a while I'll get over to Macy's or Sears and pick some up, never know when I'll see a bargain, Chicken wings are on sale at Lions.

Roasted Duck covered in Orange Sauce

I had forgotten just how rich Duck was. I haven't made it in quite a while, here in NC it seems frozen was the only available ones. I got tired of turning my nose up at them and decided to get one during the Holidays..So here she is all roasted and covered with Orange sauce that came with her.
I prefer Mint Jelly with Duck which surprising I didn't have any and refused to ask Cecil to go get some..I decided to try the Orange sauce, it wasn't bad, but nothing to write home about. I may have to get some Mint Jelly so I don't feel I'm missing out. Another idea I think I'd better use is having Penny help me save most of the rest, it's very filling. I'd appreciate it again later when I don't feel like cooking much or just having a Saturday snack.


UPDATE;
I thought someone else might like to know how I cooked my Duck! So....
I usually season up duck like I would a chicken with my spices and a little white wine and marinate it for a day or so.  Then I ( Uncovered) Roast it on a rack that's over a pan of water in a 350 oven (belly down first) then turn it over after an hour or more..then just let it roast (belly up) until its nice and crispy brown...Can't tell you what temperature it's supposed to be..Duck is all Dark Meat, that makes it very rich, but good eatin. I think you'd like it
Ginny

Last nights Dinner

Spinach with Rice and Steak and Fried Onions. I almost didn't get this picture, Cecil got the camera for me...I was sitting in my "Chair Bed" to lazy to get up, see my legs. :o)
Sometimes you just have to fix what your appetite tells you to fix...usually on Saturday I have fast food (at home fast food) like Franks and Beans...or something that takes no time to prepare..Today I have taken off! :o) each man for himself , clean out the fridge..Tomorrow I have plans for a special dinner "Duck", that I'm marinating with my own concoction. :o)

 Valerie said..

To the blog community ...
The food tastes as good as it looks if not better.My Mother is an outstanding cook,,,Mom can make anything taste good.
I have eaten in many 5 star restaurants but they pale in comparison to my Mother's cooking
Thanks for an absolutely good to the last bite weekend,,,
Love,
Valerie

It's nice to receive Thanks and Praise from your child, see my reply in Jan14 comment section.

Summer Squash and Sweet White Onions

I felt a little guilty not waiting to show you the Thicky sliced Toasted Raison Bread from Panera Bread company we had for breakdfast :o(  but by the time I fetched the camera my toast would have been cold. So to make amends I thought I'd show you the first jar of Summer Squash opened from the "Canning Closet", (because I couldn't find the frozen squash in the freezer :o(   (it sure is packed nicely from harvesting :o)... Last night instead of making spaghetti with the chicken I opted  to make Rice with it , I finally used one of the chicken stocks I had frozen in the back of the fridge freezer and it was good. Of course as usual I made too much. Too bad the daughter wasn't here , she like her father loves "Stewed Chicken" < I think it's one of her comfort foods. I cook the chicken in all it's seasoning and I add raw rice and let the rice pick up the broth until nice and done..Sometimes I add it to the microwave to get the rice nice and fluffy :o)...that's good Country eating even for City folks. Now to taste that Squash.

A Country Ham Breakfast :o)

Do you all know how hard it is to find a whole Country Ham these days?..You would think in NC it would be easy! Not so, these days it seems they are made more readily for Holiday purchases. Somehow we seemed to have missed it at our local stores! In fact, we didn't miss it, they just stopped selling them, seems that slicing them has become a problem for them :o(  What they prefer to do is sell them already sliced and packaged (with their commercial machines, that my Penny has to contend with). their packages cost ends up being twice as much and you don't get the hock chunks that I like to use in a pot of beans or whatever else I like to season with them, they sell them separate, that gives them a triple profit, I tell you, I need to have a Farm. 
In the meantime I'll have to go along with the program. I guess you know your looking at some grits, sliced ham ( I was going to use those slices for seasoning , but they look so good, breakfast was a better idea :o), notice those little pieces of ham fat that was hard fried , I love those pieces , Cecil could care less for them :o)...one fried egg each is enough, this will carry us pass lunch into an early dinner, maybe my B/S will be lower  again tomorrow, that's what we did yesterday...

Pear and Apple Cobbler by request

My daughter came to visit and take care of family business and requested  one of the Cobblers she has been looking at on my blog at times. So I obliged and made this one and it taste as good as it looks , I've had to limit my intake because of my B/S :o(  I think I've done pretty well for myself. I take small portions of it and early in the day to give myself time to wear it off.:o)

The weather here in NC is terrible, the snow seems to make it colder than ever..My daughter left Greensboro to make a flight  and got stuck in the airport for two days and has to spend the next one still in NC. We were helpless to give her any assistance, the roads were too bad to try and reach her to bring her back ...I didn't want her to leave in the beginning because I feared she would get stuck, but she had a meeting and tried to make it anyway. At least we had enjoyed her company For awhile and she enjoyed "Mama's cooking". :o) 

Update: I forgot to mention that we tried the Red and Regular cabbage leaves that I put away and I'm here to tell you they were out of this world delicious..We definitely will be growing them again and again.

Another Pot of "Spaghetti Medley"

Spaghetti Medley prepared to please a tummy :o)  One of the kids is coming that loves it. There are four bowls already gone before they got here :o). We wanted to make sure we got some :o). Cecil tasted (twice), then I tasted (twice), We both decided this was  a good pot. :o)
I tried to get most of the red out of the picture so it wouldn't look like one blur. There's Kielbasa in it  and mixed veggies...You can't see the Habenero and Garlic but you will know it's there :o) Spicy! Opens up the nostrils :o)  Nothing else to do but get a little rest..Unless they want some greens.