IowaDee

Mars Bars, Moon Pies?

Okay this is my take on the microwave. I actually got my first one back in 1975. It was an Amana Radar Range and weighed in at 500 pounds. At least that is what my long suffering said when he had to carry it. It was all chrome, shiny with fancy dials. As close to a space ship as I'll ever be. Did I use it, you bet I did. I found out I could ruin food at warp speed and destroy the evidence even faster.. It was to me back then just as amazing as the sous-vide stuff is today. I still have a microwave and use it for baking potatoes, cooking bacon, and many other uses, even drying catnip for stuffing into felt mice. On the other hand, I have never owned a stand mixer and never will. Just a matter of priorities! I save that counter space for the microwave

And my mother told me not to play with my food...what was she thinking? Love the squash family!

Akin to taco salad? Whatever the name, I want one right now!

I did read that but have also read other articles that claim that huge amounts must be ingested before humans suffer any ill effects. Since my chances to acquire fresh leaves are between slim and none, I'll just stick to the packaged ones at my local Mexican market.

I would rather eat Mexican food than any other type! Again from another Kennedy book, From my Mexican Kitchen-Techniques and Ingredients, she suggests toasting, grinding and adding to black beans. I'll bet Rancho Gordo could chime in here with ideas as well. In Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless, he suggests using the leaves to line a steamer and cooking chicken thighs in it. Of course, being a Mexican recipe, the chicken is first rubbed with a paste of typical ingredients. The technique, however, seems like it may be something you could adapt but using local spices. Another Bayless book,Mexican Kitchen cautions that only the Mexican strain has the truly intense flavor when the leaves are toasted. They are best left untoasted when used as a bed for marinated meats in barbeque smoking. Now I'm curious. I shall pick up a package of dried leaves on my next visit to a Mexican marker and play around with them.

I was at my library's annual book sale yesterday and snagged a copy of The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diane Kennedy for a song. I checked the index and found avocado leaves listed. She says the leaves, fresh or dried are used in dishes in parts of Oaxaca and Morelos and tamales,, seasoning barbecued meats and for adding to stews, She says to toast the dried leaves over an open flame before adding to your dish. Don't know if this will help. I have lots and lots of Mexican cookbooks if you would like me to check them.

What lucky neighbors you have! Those look wonderful and I'm sure taste the same way!

I was so happy to see Indian Hill Community College on the list. The head of the program has made amazing progress and deserves all the credit he can get. To think a small town two year school can compete with the big guys is just fantastic. On many levels, Indian Hills offers a great education but their tech classes are just off the charts. These kids are going light years beyond flipping burgers. Two year schools are one of the best things we have going in this country.

Maybe he and Paula Deen can hook up and create a new cooking series. Might call it Insult Kitchen or Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire, or Rude Dude and Southern Shill, or Eat My Words.

Hey, I have a friend who did a short stint on a hog kill line. Her job was removing rectums as the hogs zipped by her. She had a special tool that needed only to be inserted. It spun around and did the deed. Retract tool and send hog to the next station.. She always said there wasn't an ahole she couldn't take care of. Never heard about the dumplings, just assumed Fido got them.

I do something like that as well. I have an old 4-drawer oak library card catalog that sits on the counter and holds an amazing amount of spice containers. One drawer even has room to act as a recipe file. As a former librarian, it gives me pleasure to recycle it. I am on the lookout for a six drawer but this will work just fine for now. If only Penzey's would stop using round containers it would be perfect.

Who gnu there were zebras in Oklahoma? Hope you weren't lion about that!

"No eggs for you" barked the Egg Nazi!

Aha. green eggs and ham is on my wish list.

Eggs can poached ahead of time. Just slightly under cook them and slide them into cold water and refrigerate until needed. Reheat in hot water and you're good to go. But I think I shall ask for a 1,000 year old egg next time.

Now that we're all full of gopher guts, what say we gather around the campfire and fix S'mores?

This is all I can remember from something at my Girl Scout Camp. "Great big gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts and me without a spoon." Any campers out there you can remember the rest?

Sammy Davis, Jr The Candy Man

Here's another oldie. Rosemary Clooney's Come on-a my house.

Here's a couple I can remember my grandma singing in her kitchen. Can she bake a cherry pie Billy Boy? Mama's little baby loves shortnin' bread Would Drinking rum and Coke-a-cola count? or Mares eat oats and does eat oats?

Me too. In fact the locals call them "pully bones" because that's what you do to make a wish. At Thanksgiving, some local markets sell packages of nothing but pully bones Just imagine a window sill filled with drying bones!

I bought the set one book at a time. Then the publisher offered to send the final four or five as a group. My first winter in Iowa was fast approaching and having the books seemed like the ideal solution to cabin fever.. This was way back in the dark ages when money was very tight so it was a splurge It was Birthday and Christmas combined when all of them arrived. I still have them, faded spines and all and consider them some of the best reading around. The sad thing is that my parents also had a complete set and in the heat of cleaning out their home, they ended up going to Goodwill. I still pick up the odd book at thrift shops and yard sales. There is always someone who will appreciate having it.

Baru 66 might be a good choice. Not cheap by Iowa standards but damn good food I hear. Family members living in Des Moines agree.

While growing up, meals with my parents were the worst part of the day. It was when they brought up each of my failings and short comings and their general disappointment in me. I would have welcomed the chance to swallow a pill and call it dinner., Now all things about planning and shopping for a meal is a great pleasure and eating it is wonderful. Sharing with the right person makes all the difference. And, yes, even those stress related ulcers healed!