Half of my little garden
When Richard and I were looking for houses in Billings, I was drawn to this property, because of the large garden area in our backyard. We have a substantial backyard, and the garden must be 40′ x 40′. All my life, I’ve dreamed of having a substantial vegetable garden. Little did I know what an undertaking it would become.
Ben’s Fresh & Hot Salsa
My family loves salsa. If we’re eating Mexican food, eggs, or just eating chips and salsa, we enjoy each fiery, garlicky bite. My first experience many years ago with salsa was prepared by my ex-mother-in-law. We were in Colorado Springs and she was making turkey enchiladas. As a condiment, she simply mixed a can of tomato sauce with some chopped jalapeno. And it was HOT! At least to my inexperienced taste buds at the time. I remember all sorts of attempts to tamp down the heat in my mouth, to no avail.
I can’t take credit for this luscious barbecue sauce. The original recipe is at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. I was looking for a new recipe that was liquidy, not chunky, and I was happy to find this one. I used it in my recipe for Father’s Day Ribs Fit for a King. I’ve used it several times before and after Father’s Day, and just love it. It’s a good all purpose sauce for ribs, chicken, pork chops, brisket, sausage, pulled pork – whatever grilling mood you’re in.
Prior to finding this recipe, I made Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Barbecue Chicken sauce. It was delicious, but I grew tired of little chunks of stuff falling off the meat into the grill. And I like my BBQ sauce hot and sweet, made with sugar and molasses. I tweaked the original just a bit by substituting jalapeno jelly for some of the brown sugar. Richard was happy the recipe also includes liquid smoke, which is one of his favorite sauce ingredients.
I’ve lived in Montana for ten years. Richard and I have traveled some throughout the state, but the majority of our adventures surround Yellowstone National Park, which we love and is only two hours away. But within easy reach, about 40 minutes from Billings, are two mountain ranges, the Pryors and the Big Horns.
On Saturday, Richard’s boss, Harold, invited us for a tour of the Pryor Mountain Range. This part of the world has been Harold’s stomping grounds for 88 years – he knows it intimately, or so I thought. It was a beautiful day, sunny with a pleasant cool breeze, and Richard and I were eager for the opportunity. We stopped to get some sandwiches, and off we went!
Succulent Pork Tenderloin, Apples & Onions
Last week Richard asked me if I wanted to invite his boss for a Saturday dinner. Harold, my husband’s 88-year old friend, was on his own for a few days while his wife went out of town for a granddaughter’s high school graduation. As much as I love to cook and to eat, I get a little nervous when we have guests for whom I’ve never cooked. When you cook often for people, you get to know their likes and dislikes, if you can get away with a casserole, what allergies they have, etc. But I couldn’t refuse an opportunity to host a dinner for Harold, despite my fears. And because I’ve had my eye on these beautiful pork tenderloins in the meat counter for months, I decided the dish would be quick, tender, and succulent – really, a great meal for a special friend, cooked with apples, onions, garlic and rosemary. I mean, who doesn’t like pork – right? So off to the market I went, very happy to have an excuse to pick up a couple of tenderloins, the filet of pork. i was confident I’d scored a hit when he reached for his third piece of meat and topped it off with more onion sauce. We even had enough to send him home with some leftovers, and enough for Richard and I to gnaw on for a late night snack. Hooray!!
Father’s Day BBQ Ribs fit for a King!
Who doesn’t love barbecued pork ribs? I just love pork in any form. My mother made ribs for us on several occasions, but she used an entirely different technique. Mom cut the ribs into 2-3 rib portions, boiled the ribs until they were barely tender, cooked them for a while longer in a sauce of ketchup and vinegar, and baked them for a bit before serving. Mom said this was her father’s favorite way to prepare ribs. She put a “garbage bowl” in the center of the table where we would discard rib bones devoid of meat, gristle, everything. We loved ribs. If we’d figured out a way to eat the bones, we would have done that too with another slathering of her very simple sauce.
Through the years, I’ve experimented with a variety of porksicle cooking methods. Regardless of the technique, I had empty plates and lots of bones. But during a visit last summer, I decided to give the ribs a dry rub gently baked in the oven and then sauced. The recipe was a special treat in celebration of my daughter’s family’s visit to Montana. Brock, my son-in-law raved about them, so I knew I was onto something good. I tried to finish the ribs on the grill, but they were so tender, falling off the bone, that I decided to bake them off in the oven.
Perfect Sweet Potato Biscuits
My mother was a clever cook. Before it was chic to disguise vegetables into ordinary foodstuffs for young picky eaters, Mom used a variety of techniques to surreptitiously keep us climbing the food pyramid. Equipped with her trusty blender, she whirred a veritable smorgasbord of vegetables and fruits into drinks, soups, and binders for healthy and hearty dishes. Meatloaf was truly a “mystery meat,” but one we all loved and gobbled up, and unknowingly eating “kid poison.”
Coleslaw with a Little Kick
As easy as coleslaw seems to put together, I’ve found literally hundreds of recipes. Some folks like their cabbage finely shredded. Others like cabbage chopped in small pieces. There are variations with green onions, vinegar and sugar dressing, fennel – the options seem endless. I absolutely love coleslaw, creamy and freshly made with celery seed and dill.
I can’t imagine anything that appeals to all age groups more than a good bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Pasta, the ultimate comfort food, paired with tender, garlicky meatballs, crunchy bread, and a glass of a nice red is heavenly fare. If there are any meatballs left over, it’s always good to slap them between two pieces of crunchy bread topped with sauce and some melted mozzarella cheese for a delicious sandwich. I really love good meatballs, and I love to make them. And save yourself some time by baking the meatballs, rather than frying them in batches – you’ll also have a cleaner stove top.
Final Product – sausage, vegetable and cheese
After we switched over from satellite television to cable here in the Billings, I very much enjoyed watching “Bitchin’ Kitchen,” a theme based cooking show with none other than Canadian chef and comedian Nadia G. Not to be confused with June Cleaver, Nadia saunters around her kitchen wearing sweet ruffled aprons and stiletto heels. She’s an awesome chef with an offbeat sense of humor, which I very much enjoy. Her series aired on the Cooking Channel, a different network than Food Network Television, and my cable company doesn’t carry Cooking. (In fact, the Cooking Channel has many more interesting shows than Food Network, which is running rampant with lots of repeats and one cooking challenge show after another. I’m not as big a fan as I used to be.)
Jessica Apron Two Fabric
I’m getting ready for a trip to Indianapolis in a couple of weeks. At Christmas, I bought my daughter, Jessica, two apron patterns, and we went out shopping for fabric. My sister found the appliance fabric, which is so adorable. Just perfect for this project. Here’s the pattern and fabric for the second apron. Needless to say, I’m a little behind schedule. I have all the pieces cut out. I’m crazy about the fabrics for this apron. It should go much quicker this time, because there’s no bib.
This is the best peanut butter cake I’ve ever baked. Richard loves peanut butter, so I’ve made several attempts over the years for a successful recipe. To me, there’s never been enough peanut butter flavor, but this one did not disappoint.
It’s a rich sheet cake with a yummy peanut butter frosting that you cook on the stove top in a jiffy and pour over the warm moist cake. You get plenty of creamy fudge-like frosting with each piece. The directions for this recipe are a little different for me. You boil the peanut butter, butter, and water before added to the dry ingredients. No creaming the butter and sugars. Sure makes for a nice moist cake.
