The First Steps of My Herb Garden 2012!

 The weather has been so warm, I decided to get a head start on my herb garden.  The mint I planted last year in a planter is growing beautifully.  The others I purchased at different stores in my area. I am waiting til mid-April, even May to put them in the garden. I am afraid Mother Nature will decide a huge frost in in order before then.  I usually keep several containers on my porch as well. I love sitting on my back porch getting the wonderful aromas of the herbs.  Mint and Basil are my favorites!

 I have never grown boxwood basil before.  However, once I saw these cute plants I had to buy a couple. They are a beautiful herb!

 Basil, lot and lots of Basil! My small garden was so full of basil last year I could have marketed it! Hey there's a thought.. Unfortunately, I don't know of many people in my area that cook with fresh herbs! Such a sad concept, they are missing out!  I am a believer that fresh herbs help your immune system stay healthy! 

 This is my first year for orange mint! It smells captivating! I can't wait to use it in some freshly brewed tea!  I use the mint to make a raspberry mint tea! It is delish! I will have to use some orange zest and make a simple syrup to go in the tea! 

I love Mexican dishes, so cilantro is a must!

 This will also be the first time I have a porch tomato plant!  I love any dish with tomatoes in it. Funny thing, I don't like eating just a simple tomato! I know, makes absolutely no sense at all.   I am planning on canning tomatoes this year.  I am going to plant probably around 10 plants.. That should be plenty for just the three of us!  I will keep posting updates on my little garden as the season rolls on!  
As an added note.. The Kentucky Wildcats play the Louisville Cards tonight... So GO BIG BLUE! 

My Herb Garden!

Well.. I have many herbs purchased and placed in planters.  I love the smell of fresh herbs growing.  I was so excited today when I called True Value and they told me they had Basil.. I couldn't wait to go buy a few plants. I made cute tags and laminated them to place in each planter. Most people, at least where I live, think I am a little nuts! However, I love herbs, cooking with herbs, smelling fresh herbs, so I really could care less what others may think!  It is rather early in Kentucky to be planting anything cold sensitive.  However, our extremely warm winter/spring has one itching to get started in the garden. I also bought some porch tomatoes.  If by some chance we were to have a frost/freeze I can easily place them indoors! So far I have orange mint, sweet basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme, oregano, mint, chives , rosemary and a porch tomato plant.. !  I have a row of strawberries planted and some garlic a  friend of mine dug up at her home! I plan on planting at least 10 to 15 tomato plants. I have many ideas for their use.. I love any fresh tomato dish, especially salsa  ( my specialty!).  I spent this past weekend digging and cleaning out my flower garden. My hostas are coming up and are beautiful! Did I mention I love spring! PS.. these are last years pics.. wait til tomorrow and I will photograph the new ones...

My Kentucky vs. Baylor Buffalo Wings

 The prep work!

 The soaking in the buffalo sauce!  HOT

 My attempt at creative plating..


The big UK game was yesterday. They make me so nervous, I decided to cook and do yard work to take my mind off of it! I had never made wings before. It was simply because I never cared for them.  We were in the grocery and for some reason I got the urge to try them! I made a homemade marinade and coating. I thought it was quite hot, however, Stephen didn't agree.  I am certain the next time I make wings I am going to deep fry them.  I tried baking them this time.
On a spring garden note, I planted flowers yesterday! I planted strawberries on Friday! I love this weather.  I am anxious for the basil plants to be shipped to Lowes.   I plan on a huge herb and tomato garden this year! I had so much basil last year!  Did I mention I love fresh herbs?

My Cast Enamel Dutch Oven... no.. not the expensive one I wanted either!

It is hard to believe as long as I have been cooking and baking I have never owned a cast iron dutch oven! Yeah.. I was really missing out! There is one specific brand I really wanted..you know the one, the over 150 buck and plus for each piece..  As fortune would have it, a co-worker and I were talking about food and cooking (no shocker there)! He loves any type of cookware that is cast iron. In his eyes, no other will do! Being the nice guy he is, he finds me an oven.. a beautiful red Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven for 50 bucks. There were several other colors but red matched my kitchen color scheme !Needless to say, that offer was not refused! He was more concerned than I was regarding the first dish cooked!
I wanted to make a dish that I had not tried.  I am not sure why stuffed green bell peppers came to mind, but they did. I mixed together a hot, robust mixture of ground pork, ground chuck and chorizo sausage, cooked rice and a tomato sauce.  Those beautiful peppers were stuffed and baked.  Wow! is the word.. they had a kick to them!  Since that fateful day, I have tossed around several other ideas for the stuffed peppers.  The perfect pepper is my goal!

Spring Fever 2012

The weather we Kentuckians have had this winter has been so abnormal! It is mid-March and we had temperatures in the low to mid-eighties today! Normally, the snow is falling and the temps, well much colder than 80 degrees! Spring fever has been setting in for many weeks. I am ready to plant my tomatoes and herbs! I do, however,  believe Mother Nature is  fooling us so I will put that project on hold. In the mean time, I decided to look through my pictures and I founds photos from Stephen's family reunion we attended two years ago near Rogersville, Tennessee.  Hard to believe these pictures were actually taken around Labor Day, 2010. Pictures with my son, Cole (6) and Stephen, by themselves, always bring a smile to my face. Stephen has been the father figure in Cole's life for over three years. I love the shots where they are busy trying to fish, or working on some other project! Cole won the prize for the largest bass (or fish of any kind) caught during the competition at the reunion.  I am not exactly sure of the exact size. He was so proud and so was I! This was the first time Cole had gotten to fish and with a little help from Melissa Williams, reeled the fellow in! Note, I will not get near nor touch a fish! They give me the creeps! I enjoy the art/act of fishing, however, I will not touch! Funny, I know! Well it has been a very long Monday, so time for homework and nite time.  Till later...Mary C.

The "Four" part of our Blog....dogs and more dogs!

This is the "four" part of by blog.  Gabriel, an 11 year old Shih-tzu, Katara, a 4 year old Shih-tzu, (These are my two original dogs).  The next two are basically rescues! Angel, the mostly all black Shih-tzu approximately 11 to 12 years old was surrendered to my groomer by her original owner in December 2011.  My groomer made a post on Facebook, hoping someone would adopt her. Needless to say, she found a home with us. Candi, the Collie mix, found a home with us in January of 2011.  She was apparently left to roam the highway in our neighborhood.  Stephen decided he would stop and pick her up one morning. Well guess who got stuck with her.. ME, of course!  Each of our dogs has their own very unique personalities.  They are very spoiled! If often makes me feel guilty that my animals are treated better than many of  the children in our area!  They sleep in a queen sized, warm bed with my son and myself! Yes, my son is having difficulties being a big boy and going to his room.. This is an ongoing project in our home!  Needless to say, our animals mean everything to all of us.  As I am typing now, Angel is sitting in my lap giving me kisses!  Good night and God Bless all of you!

My very first try at Risotto.. not sure exactly how it should have turned out!

I have heard horror stories about how difficult it is to make risotto. It did seem to take at least 45 minutes to make.. I am not sure if it looks as it should or not.. I am guessing more research is in need.  However, it did taste really good!  I served it with a very tender juicy chicken breast. I do plan on making this dish again..

An easy quick fresh tomato salsa!

We love fresh salsa! Stephen and I eat so much salsa. It is really simple to make!.. Fresh ingredients are the best. I use 2 regular sized cans of petite diced canned tomatoes (at least until summer, then fresh all the way)! I have found that the brand of tomatoes you use makes a huge difference in the taste of your salsa. I certainly have a favorite! If you like a less chunky salsa, put the tomatoes in a food processor and pulse a few times.  I very carefully dice up one jalapeno pepper, (discard the seeds, these are lethal if you happen to get any juice near your face!I use rubber gloves when dicing these.). I made this pictured salsa very quickly one evening. My dices are not all the same size.. oh well.. didn't damage the taste at all! Now, I dice some green onions, you can use a regular onion if you so choose. I also use some of the chive part of the onion as well.  We love garlic, so at least 2-3 cloves, diced fine go in the mix. Next, chop up some fresh cilantro (I do not use any dried cilantro, only fresh). Slice a lemon or lime, your choice, and squeeze the juice into your bowl.  I also use about 1 teaspoon of cummin to my salsa and sea salt/kosher salt.  My secret weapon: 1 tablespoon of Simply Salsa mix from Tastefully Simple.com.  My friend Lori S. is a consultant for this company.. They have great stuff! If you are interested let me know and maybe we could schedule a tasting party for these products!   I don't think I have left any ingredients out. I am always experimenting and adding new ingredients to my recipes!  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!            Mary C.

Cream cheese vanilla pound cake filled with greatness!

The hull of the cake is filled with orange liqueur soaked fresh strawberries. A silky fresh cream, whipped, topping lies on top! Of course, strawberries must have a bit of grated milk chocolate!