Mashed Cauliflower

I've been seeing recipes for mashed cauliflower popping up everywhere and I really wanted to try it. Everything I read says they are a great alternative to mashed potatoes. Last night for dinner was my chance. We loved it! The Dish Washer grilled our favorite garlic Dijon pork chops on the grill. I've added a picture, but it really isn't good because of how dark my kitchen is at night. You can even tell from the picture above. Certainly, I am not a photographer. I did put pretty chives from my herb garden on top hoping that would help, at least make it pretty!

Mashed Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower

milk, according to preference

butter, according to preference

salt and pepper to taste

cheese, optional

Cut the cauliflower stalks off so that all that remains are the florets. Place in pot and cover in water. I added bouillon cubes to add flavor. Once tender, mash and add other ingredients like you do to mashed potatoes. Don't feel limited in what you can add. I saw some recipes that called for white cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, or cream cheese. I even saw this recipe that calls for mayonnaise. I didn't try it tonight, but it sure was tempting!

We also had zucchini with parmesan. I'll add that recipe on Wednesday, because I have something special tomorrow.

(I'm typing all of this in on Sunday evening and scheduling it to post on certain days. That is very easy for me.)

Creamy Dill Slaw

Yesterday we cheered our team on from the house and it was so nice to not have anywhere to be. The Dish Washer insists on eating good gameday food whenever we aren't at the game, so we had Bubba Burgers on the grill. These burgers are our favorite frozen burgers, if you don't feel like making your own. To go with it, we had baked beans and this yummy slaw. If you are a dill pickle lover like we are, you will love this. Sister started making it for us some time back when we had the family cook-out. I don't really know the exact measurements, so I am just going to tell you what I do. Maybe, if she has the exact measurements written down somewhere, she will add them to the comment section.

Creamy Dill Slaw

1 bag of angel hair slaw (or, in my case yesterday, I chopped 1/2 head of cabbage)
mayonnaise
dill pickle cubes and juice
freshly ground black pepper

I place slaw in large mixing bowl. I take 2 heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise and put on top of slaw. Then I add 2 heaping tablespoons of dill pickle cubes and pour in some juice to mix with mayo. I stir well with the slaw and then add more mayo or dill pickles cubes, depending on the taste. Then I ground black pepper on top of slaw and stir. I happen to use A LOT of black pepper, but that will depend on how much you like. Refrigerate and serve.

Sorry to not be exact with this one!

Christmas Ornament Dough

Before

Drying

Ready to Deck the Halls!

Have you ever seen an orange Christmas tree? When we went home last month for the family cookout, we did an early project for Christmas. I can't wait until December, as I originally planned, to share them with you in case you wanted to make them. Mom made Christmas ornament dough and we all decorated ornaments. It was so much fun, and especially for three of us, brought back LOTS of memories of when we were crafty, little girls.

Christmas Ornament Dough

4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. salt
1-1/2 c. water

Mix together all ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Use a drinking straw to create a hole in top of each ornament for hanging and carefully place cut dough onto cookie streets. Bake at 250 for 1 hour or until ornament is completely dried and hard. Cool completely on baking pan. When ornaments are cool, let kids (or in our case, big kids) paint them. Use lengths of ribbon for hanging.

Paint with acrylic paint and once completely dried, seal with Modge Podge.

**Note: This recipe is only for making decorations, not eating.

Ham and Cheese Fingers

Another recipe from the handwritten cookbook. These really are very good. I've never made them myself, but I have eaten my fair share...and then some.

Ham and Cheese Fingers

1 pkg. ham (long slices)
1 pkg. Swiss cheese (long slices)
3 pkgs. (24 to a pack) ready to serve rolls (finger size)

Sauce:
1 stick butter
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. grated onion
2 Tbsp. poppy seed
2 Tbsp. mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and add remaining sauce ingredients.

Break pan of rolls into 3 rows. Slice each row open and spread sauce with brush on open sides. Add cheese and ham. Fold rolls back together and return foil pans. Brush tops with remaining sauce. Cover with foil and bake at 250 for 20 minutes. When ready to serve, can be cut into individual rolls.

Party Pinwheels

Polls are closing and I will be glued to the TV all night, but I wanted to help my Mama out. She is helping with a baby shower soon and was asking about any sandwich type foods that I would have posted. Sadly, not too many options. I thought I would fix that. I'm going to post TWO!

First, is my sister in law's recipe for party pinwheels. I have never had them, but they sound just wonderful. She shared the recipe with my mother in law who then wrote it in my cookbook she gave me last Christmas.

Party Pinwheels

10 small tortilla shells
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix
green onions, chopped to taste
1 (4 oz.) jar chopped pimento
1 small can green chilies
1 small can chopped black olives

Drain, pimento, chilies and olives. Mix cream cheese, dressing mix and onions. Add other drained ingredients and mix well.

Spread mixture over each tortilla shell. Roll up and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Slice and enjoy!

Check out Ham and Cheese Fingers for another idea.

CKD's Oriental Slaw

Two years ago today, here is what we were eating! Yum!!




Remember when we had Oriental Slaw at our cookout and I wasn't sure what the exact recipe was. Well, Tossie sent it to me and it was a recipe of CKD. Not only can she cook, but she can create incredible flower arrangements. Sister, CKD and their numerous "crew" members were responsible for my gorgeous flowers at our wedding. Here is a sampling of their work:

Here is her recipe sent in an email from Tossie:

You were close but with a few changes:

1 lb. package shredded cabbage

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 pkgs. Ramen noodles, uncooked and discard the seasoning

1/4 c. sesame seeds

2 1/2 ounces sliced almonds (mine were slivered)

1/2 stick butter

Sauce:

3/4 c. oil

1/2 c. white vinegar

3/4 to 1 c. sugar (to taste)

2 T. soy sauce

Mix cabbage and onions and refrigerate. Mix Ramen noodles, sesame seeds and almonds, saute in butter stirring constantly. Drain on paper towels, cool and refrigerate. When ready to serve, mix cabbage, sauteed mixture and sauce.

Sauce - mix together and refrigerate.

This can be prepared ahead of time by storing cabbage, noodles and sauce in separate containers. Just mix and serve.

Ft. Worth, Texas

The Dish Washer and I are having a great time in Cowtown! We are here for the Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering. It is taking place at the Historic Stockyards. We really wanted to stay at the hotel that The Dish Washer comes to every time he comes here on business, but Red rents the whole thing out to his folks, so we are staying a short drive away in Downtown Ft. Worth. I was pretty disappointed to not get to stay there, and the potty breaks we have taken there have made it that much worse. This place is a step back in time. The Dish Washer even says that they use the old turn keys to get into the door...none of this electronic key junk.

When we first got to town, our driver took us straight to eat at Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant. The food was very good, but nothing over the top special about it. The main thing, though, is that you CANNOT beat the atmosphere at this restaurant. We sat outside and it was a perfect night. We even got to hear a little Sweet Home Alabama playing at a private party.

Yesterday, we got started just in time to see the cattle drive down main street immediately followed up by the parade of chuck wagons that are competing in this year's competition.

We skipped breakfast since we were so full from Thursday night. We had lunch at Riscky's at the Stockyards. In Texas, the thing to eat is BBQ brisket, so The DishWasher and I both had a chopped BBQ brisket sandwich. I am such a PORK barbecue girl! It wasn't bad, but there is just something about that pork! Oink, oink! Right? Then we walked around all the chuck wagons, walked through the trade show, and went to listen to some old Texas swing music. It was great, and I am completely fascinated with chuck wagons. The Dish Washer's boss told us that a completely renovated and functioning chuck wagon costs $25,000. I'll just keep walking around them instead of buying one! I even met one of the teams that was featured on the Food Network when they had the chuck wagon cook off. They said I could come back and help them clean the dishes after all the cooking was over. I ran into them again today and offered, but they said they were done. Too bad, because as much as I hate to clean dishes by hand, I would have loved to clean chuck wagon dishes!

Friday evening we had dinner reservations at Lonesome Dove. I was very disappointed to be so full from lunch, so I wasn't ready to eat. I've heard great things from The Dish Washer about this place. They eat there just about every time he comes out here and it was even featured in my BFF Paula's magazine. Even though, I wasn't that hungry, I did order from the second course the Pork and Hatch Green Chili. Remember when I said The Dish Washer said my chili was the best? We have a new winner!! This was the best chili I have ever had and such a different version. It was made with ground pork and had chunks of green chilies throughout. The Dish Washer also got the hand cut beef tenderloin and I tried a bite of that. So tender...like butter, or "buttah". I'm never too full for dessert, so you know I had to have chocolate bread pudding. Mmm, Mmm!

We had such an early dinner reservation because we wanted to go the ranch rodeo. I've never been to a ranch rodeo before and these are very different than the rodeos that are so popular on TV. The events are very different and are things like calf branding, team doctoring, wild cow milking and my favorite, mutton bustin'. This is the cutest thing: tiny little cowboys and cowgirls get on helmets and protective chest gear and get on sheep and hold on tight for a wild ride. There was one particular fella that didn't want to go at all and it was the funniest thing! His daddy, I guess wanting his son to be "tough," picked him up and put him on that sheep anyway. You could hear that poor boy SCREAMING! Needless to say, he didn't go, but his disappointed daddy sure didn't comfort him! The Dish Washer and I agree that My Buddy would be good at mutton bustin'. He has such determination that he wouldn't let go if we told him not to. It was a full day, but really so much fun. This is a picture of the mutton bustin'.

We got started earlier today, because we wanted to see all the chuck wagons cooking. But before they got too far into their cooking, we had brunch at H3 Ranch. We had another early dinner reservation tonight because we couldn't miss a certain ballgame, so we planned to eat brunch to hold us over. It was very good and The Dish Washer's huevos rancheros were a favorite. After that, we headed back to the chuck wagons. I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

Then, we watched the Cutting Horse finals and listened to the youth fiddle competition. We also took a stroll down the streets to find Cowtown Fudge & Creamery. We both enjoyed some ice cream cones. We ran into some more folks that The Dish Washer works with, which was so much fun.

This evening we had dinner with some other work folks at Del Frisco's Steakhouse. They have a place for you to hang your cowboy hats. His boss is such a regular that he has his own hook. The group started with calamari. I tried it, and I could actually eat it! I was proud, but it was fried and had yummy marinara sauce, so that probably helped. I had the filet and The Dish Washer had a ribeye. They have very good bread and sides. Their special tonight that we got to try was Jalapeno Macaroni and Cheese. I had an average cheesecake for dessert and The Dish Washer had bread pudding. (Diets go out the window when you are on vacation!! YIPEE!)

We'll wrap up our trip tomorrow. We plan to see as much of the ranch rodeo finals we can before having to go to the airport. There is also a junior chuck wagon cooking competition tomorrow, so you know I want to see that. I'll let you know if we eat at anymore fun places. I think we are planning to return to H3 Ranch. If you ever come to Fort Worth, you really should check out the places that we have eaten.

I've worn my Tony Lama's everyday and I even got to ride a Texas Longhorn! We have had a great time living the Old West lifestyle the past few days.

Happy trails to you...