Parties and Dinner Parties

I cannot believe it is finally Friday!  I had a small dinner party last night and I think it went well.  Of my four guests only three ate and one was a vegetarian.  As a foodie I think it bares mentioning that when you have a gathering to always contact each guest either via Facebook or text or carrier pigeon to see if there are any dietary restrictions that should be observed.  For example my vegetarian friend last night; I sent her my menu and ingredients and learned that one item was not vegetarian at all even though you would have thought it was, thank goodness I asked her, as it would have been horrible for her not to have been able to eat!     For my friend Jennifer I assured her that not only was I careful about the ingredients, I used separate utensils, and separate electric skillets, and a separate baking sheet so at no point would her food come into contact with my other guests meat filled food.   So on the menu last night:

Salad dusted with garlic and fresh shaved Parmesan, croutons, and bacon.

Garlic bread with four cheeses

Rotini baked with butter and 5 cheeses and marinara.

Piroshki's (butter biscuit rolled out and stretched) stuffed with sauteed; butter, brown rice, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, white onion, hamburger, brown gravy.

Dessert: Hot out of the oven baked chocolate chip cookies floating on a bed of caramel and Hershey's piping hot fudge stuffed with Great Divide ice cream (half chocolate/half vanilla) and topped with another hot cookie, and drizzled with caramel.

My friend Jennifer brought two white wines that went lovely with the meal.

Ferals need love too.

Whenever I go on to Craigslist I get pretty darn angry when I click on pets and I see things like:  Moving, cannot take family pet, or "we just got this kitten and our child is allergic".  Seriously?  I would not move into a place where Sookie could not live also, she is not optional, she is a member of my family so far as I am concerned, where I go she goes, period.  Now those of you who do not have pets, you might think this is odd or weird or extreme but trust me, it's really not.  As far as finding out AFTER you got a pet that your child is allergic, sorry sell it to someone else, because I am not buying it.  Are you seriously trying to tell me that your child has never been exposed to any ones animals, ever?  Now I'm no genius but how about this, before buying FeFe or Fido take your child to a friends home or whatever and if they get hives or sneeze DON'T buy that doggy in the window, please spare us a rescue!

As far as people saying it is to expensive to have their pet spay or neutered, spare me, call any animal shelter or SPCA and they will tell you where you can get it done for free or at most for $10.00, however if you think you cannot afford even that STEP away from the box full of adorable kittens, you cannot AFFORD it!  I spent more on Sookie last year than some did on their grand kids, trust and believe these furry family members are not and should not be cheap to maintain.

Since Sookie is a Feral I have a soft spot for them, and think they are an often forgot about demographic, unless someone is calling animal control because they have a feral colony set up in an abandoned house, but think on this, the only difference between Ferals and your beloved Persian FeFe is love and a litter box.  Sookie has more personality because she is a feral, also she is far more alert than any dog, and since I live alone in an apartment this has come in handy, I always know when someone is going to knock on my door by her reaction.  Also, Sookie alerts me within seconds of any creepy crawlies in the house by stalking it as prey.  Sookie plays fetch, I didn't train her or anything, she just came up with this game all on her own.  I know I will NEVER have mice either, and since I live by a field this can be an issue. So the next time someone says "I'm thinking of adopting a cat or worse, buying one", please ask them to look around on-line for the nearest Feral rescue, they won't be sorry.http://www.feralcatrescuemd.org/

Beautiful

Comfort food Cheesecake

Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves 8 to 10 persons

Ingredients for crust:	Ingredients for cheesecake:
1 3/4 cups Graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup (1/4 pound stick) butter, melted 1/4 cup granulated sugar	3 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature 3 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup granulated sugar

Ingredients for topping:
1 pint (2 cups) sour cream 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for Graham cracker crust: Prepare your springform pan. Use pan bottom to trace circle on parchment paper. Cut out circle leaving two inch-square tabs at the 3 and 6 o’clock positions (more on that later). Cut strips of parchment paper equal to the height of your pan and enough strips too around the inside of the pan. Spray the inside of the assembled pan lightly with non-stick vegetable oil spray. Wipe off excess. Place circle on the bottom of the pan and fold the little tabs up against the side of the pan. Line the inside of the pan with thin strips. A small spritz of the non-stick spray will help the overlapping strips stick together. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine Graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix. In oven- or microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, using just enough heat to melt butter - just melted but not hot. Combine butter and crumbs and mix well. I have a small coffee scoop measuring cup. It is made of plastic, has a square edge on the bottom and the sides are almost straight up and down and the bottom is flat. It is an almost perfect tool to form the crust. Place about half of the crumb and butter mixture on the parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. Using your plastic coffee scoop or a similar tool, smooth out the crumbs forming a layer about 1/8-inch thick. Mover the excess crumb mixture towards the sides. With the side and square bottom edge of the tool, press the crumbs against the side of the pan forming the side crust. Add spoonfuls of crumbs as needed to form the crust up the side of the pan about 1 ½ inches. Carefully place the prepared crust in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. Procedure for Pie Filling In a large bowl, a stand mixer works best for this, beat the cream cheese until creamy. Slowly add the sugar in small amounts pausing between additions. Add eggs, one at a time, pausing between additions. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly. Pour into the prepared Graham Cracker crust. Use a spatula sparingly to smooth out the cheese mixture. Bake in a preheated 450°F. oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 200°F and bake an additional 45 minutes. While cake is baking, prepare topping. Preparing the topping and finishing the cake In a medium bowl, mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla together until you have a smooth mixture. Set aside. When the cheesecake has finished baking, remove from oven and reset temperature to 500°F. Carefully pour the topping mixture on top of the pie filling; Remember, the center of the cake will be soft and easily damaged. Carefully smooth with spatula allowing the topping to meet with the crumb crust. Return to oven and bake at 500°F. for 5 minutes. Watch pie carefully while baking the last 5 minutes. The crust may get too brown in which case reduce the oven temperature. After 5 minutes, turn off oven and open door slightly. Allow the cheese cake to cool undisturbed in the oven for at least an hour. After the cake has cooled to room temperature, open the springform pan and remove the side. Carefully strip away the parchment strips. The little tabs at the 3 and 6 o’clock positions can be used to grab and pull the still soft cake from the springform pan bottom and onto the serving platter. As is, the cake is wonderful and will bring you raves from your guests. For variety, you might slather a thin layer of prepared cherry pie filing over the top or lightly spread the top of the cake with seedless raspberry jam. Prepared Graham Cracker crumb crusts come in light-weight aluminum foil pie tins. This recipe makes enough filling and topping for two pie-sized cheesecakes. The cheesecake filling is heavy. To avoid possible burns to yourself and reduce the chance of the filling cracking, move and bake the cheesecake on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes. Apply topping and return to 500°F for 5 minutes. On very dry days, it might help to prevent cracking if you have a roasting pan or jelly roll pan with a quart of tea-kettle hot water on the bottom rack of the oven when you are baking the cheesecake.

Pork Ribs

1 jug of vinegar (your choice of type)

1 rack of pork ribs

A dry or wet rub to your taste

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of salt

Soak ribs in vinegar/salt/sugar brining solution for 24 hours in refrigerator.

Rinse ribs and wrap in aluminum and

Bake at 250°F for one hour - remove from oven - turn meat. Bake at 250°F for one hour - remove from oven.

Drain and add barbecue sauce as needed - increase heat to 400°F. Bake 30 minutes.  

Remove from oven and put on hot grill for 30 minutes to caramelize sauce.

A poem by Samara Sant

I walked along a beach on the beautiful northern California coastline it was a day like any other; the chill in the morning fog was unkind to those who dare have the audacity to venture out onto the ever changing sands.

I happened upon a seashell, I didn't think it possible for an object to seem so incredibly lonely. I sat down as I felt a chill to my very core. With my knees drawn up to my chest hoping to warm my skin if not my heart. So many people see the ocean for all the beauty it holds, I have seen it without it's mask. It is the coldest, most desolate, most lonely sight to behold. I have always felt the ache as I stand on it's beaches. Even now, as I think of it a thousand miles away; a tear comes to my eye. It's as if it represents the loneliness the entire world feels in it's murky dead silent depths.

No matter how far I move inland, it haunts me, the sound of the waves beating mercilessly upon the helpless land, standing bravely, yet still aware of the impending danger the seemingly weak waves might bring with every crest. I often wonder if I am the only person who can hear the deafening silence in the fog I feel the sadness envelop me cling to my skin, it's as if the ghosts of all the lost souls are begging for a reprieve. I turn thinking surely I am not all alone on the precipice, but alas it is I and I alone who sits shivering; weeping for those who can't sympathize with the emptiness.

I still find the ocean beautiful but I respect that it has secrets never to be shared with those still to be found unworthy.

Piroshki's

In San Mateo on North Kingston down the street from our house we used to buy piroshki's and pierogis and flavored New York Seltzer Water and It's-It from Omar and John at that market on the corner, remember Jess? This recipe is so versatile, you can add anything or use any kind of meat or omit, mashed potatos, cheese, spinach, chicken, veggies, whatever your imagination comes up with.

BABOUSKA'S PIROSHKI MEAT FILLING:

1 lg. onion
4 tbsp. cooking oil
1 lb. ground beef
Salt, pepper


EASY PASTRY:2 Grands Buttery Tastin tubes dairy case biscuits (20 total)
1/2 c. sifted flour or Bisquick
Chop the onion and saute it in oil for 5 minutes, then add the ground beef. Cook it until the meat is browned; drained well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cool

Easy Pastry: Roll out each biscuit up to 3 to 4 inches in diameter on a floured surface and fill with 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of meat mixture. Fold and press the edges together with a touch of flour so not to stick, until the form resembles a small pie. Now place piroshki's on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake according to biscuit directions, 10 to 15 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pie

The Ingredients:

Either

· 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell or try this homemade pie crust:

Homemade Pie Crust Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups finely crumbled vanilla wafers

1/4 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Pie Crust Baking Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2.In a medium bowl combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, butter or margarine; mix until well blended. Press into a 9 inch pie plate.
3.Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. Cool.

Pie:
· 2 large eggs

· 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

· 1/2 cup granulated sugar

· 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

· 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

· 1 cup chocolate chips·

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 325° F.

2. Beat eggs with a mixer in a large mixing bowl on high speed until it is foamy.

3. Beat in the flour, the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Make sure they are well blended. Then beat in the butter.

4. Stir in with a spoon, the chocolate chips.

5. Pour the mixture into a 9" pie crust. You can spoon the mixture into the pie crust instead if it is easier for you.

6. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Check if it is done by inserting a knife halfway between edge and center and see if it comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

It should be a nice dark, golden color on top when done baking.

Original recipe by Samara Scrabble Brownies

Okay first:

Buy two Hershey plain candy bars. (the one when you open it has tiny Hershey bars all connected).
Buy your favorite brownie mix. (make batter in bowl as directions state) set aside.

With the candy bars still in their package break/crumble/hammer the two bars, so that the contents are in various sizes the smaller the better but not tiny and even some chocolate dust. (I call this chocolate debris). Open then two packages and empty chocolate debris into a bowl.

Prepare pan as directed by brownie mix:
Pour half the batter into the pan and set aside.
Take a handful of chocolate debris and sprinkle on top of batter.
Pour the remaining batter on top of the batter and chocolate debris.
Take the remaining chocolate debris and sprinkle over the top of the batter.

It is important not to mix debris into the batter or you won't get the Scrabble effect.

Bake in oven as directed by brownie mix.

When you take out the brownies you will see that the chocolate debris didn't melt, but the letters H E R S H E Y' S will be broken up throughout the top of your brownies like scrabble tiles. It's different and fun. Let me know if you try this and how it turned out.

Carmelized Chicken

I usually like to buy boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe but any part of the chicken will work.

Chicken (skinless and with fat trimmed off with kitchen scissors).

Italian marinade (I use Good Season make it yourself packets)

http://brands.kraftfoods.com/goodseasons/flavors.html

4 large onions

Marinade chicken and onion and Italian dressing for 24 hours and

then spray glass dish with non-stick spray and dump contents of bowl

into baking dish and cover dish with foil and bake as usual. I bake mine slow

and low.

I make wide egg noodles with butter and garlic or steamed rice and put the chicken and onion "remnants" over it.

Recipe for Faux biscuits and Gravy

 1 tube of biscuits (not flaky)

 1 roll of sausage 

 1 pkg of Philly cream cheese

Take biscuits out of tube and lay on plate individually.

Place cream cheese in a bowl

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray

Take individual biscuits and form "bowls" in muffin tin

Fry sausage and drain.

Add hot sausage to bowl of cream cheese and blend with fork (not mixer)

Spoon mixture into "bowls" in muffin tin and bake biscuits per their instructions on package. 

Santa Cruz by Samara Sant

Sun rising burning off the fog slowly but surely, like steam off my skin after a hot shower..
The sand shines amber like cognac in a glass, warming in your hand.
The dew clings to the grey driftwood abandoned on the shore after the storm.
The cries of the seagulls echo against the naked walls of the cliff face,
Sea otters bark their laughter as they lounge in their seaweed beds adrift in the current.
Boats rock gently on the white caps rolling in slowly, effortlessly, drawn to the shore by some unseen force.
Joggers beat footfalls on the wooden planks of the boardwalk, their stress flowing out of them in cadence.
A dog barks in excitement as it's master throws a stick into the ocean and he bounds into the ocean enthusiastically.
The air is filled with the invisible aromas of fresh baked sourdough bread that will be sold throughout the day to tourists enjoying the local cuisine.
The pier is becoming crowded with fishermen and sightseers enjoying their fresh brewed coffee and bagels.
The roar of the roller coaster as the carnie gives it a practice run before the kids line up for some fun.
The wind whips against my face and I close my eyes and smell a million scents..sunscreen on freshly darkened skin, and salt and sea air cools her skin and it leaves its mark untangible; unforgettable, the scent of Santa Cruz.

Resolute resolutions

To start this new blog off I'd like to thank Sabrina Lemons for inspiring me to write my own blog after seeing how great hers was!  Imitation they say is the highest form of flattery. Secondly I wish I had thought to start this on the first but alas, if wishing made it so..That having been said a bit about me seems appropriate.

I used to live in a small city east of Tulsa, Oklahoma called Catoosa.  Catoosa is famous for Route 66 and the large blue whale, although there isn't enough money one could pay me to swim in this body of water, with all due respect to the city who is planning to refurbish this supposed once flourishing landmark http://www.theroadwanderer.net/66Oklahoma/catoosa.htm and there is talk that a jogging path is going to be built in this area as well; also most recently the Cherokee Nation has built the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel and Golf Course http://www.cherokeestarrewards.com/Pages/default.aspx so my point in mentioning this is that my neighborhood is flourishing and growing and since my apartment complex is brand new I surmise that puts proof to it.

I live with my calico cat Sookie St. James who was a feral feline before I rescued her and we've lived together for two years now, and if truth be told I often think I ought to have created a blog solely to Sookie and what it was like to trap her in the humane trap and the drama at the vet office and bringing her home and setting to the tasks of getting to know one another and the joys of domestication.  Although Sookie took to being house bound technically very quickly.  I digress, Sookie is what is referred to as a Feline Retriever, in that one day I was sitting in my captains chair and she brought me one her many toy mice and dropped it over my shoulder and right into my lap and looked at me as if to say, "Hey, do you mind playing with me"?  So I threw it for her and she immediately ran to "fetch" it and brought it straight back to me and up on to the chair, and back over my shoulder and into my lap; I was shocked to say the very least.  Sookie is a true feral, and daily I build trust with her, and she for me.  She loves her toys, her 8 foot cat mansion and the occasional can food treat and her twice daily freshened litter box.  Sookie is quite the talker and often as I sit down to do some writing or if I am in the kitchen creating a new concoction she will bring me a "mouse" to throw for her and getting very verbal if I don't immediately drop what I am doing and pay her heed. 

One of truest passions in life is cooking, and baking and grilling out and entertaining.  I am a true FOODIE, although you couldn't tell it by looking at me honestly.  You really CAN trust a skinny cook and here's why; I feed you the fattening food and live vicariously through your calorie intake! lol Thanks though.  Nothing in life gives me quite the satisfaction of waking up before dawn and putting something on to slow cook or rise, or put something in the fridge to marinate.  I love to feed people, and often say I ought to have worked at a college frat or sorority house so I could feed the masses comfort foods.  I like to talk about food and have only just discovered what is called "food porn", no Hustler it isn't but food is truly an art form which I am going to dedicate a lot of time here throughout the year talking about. 

I love to read, actually I am addicted to the written word, especially Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, Dean Koontz, and Tom Clancy etc..and I recently discovered e-books via Kindle for PC which is shockingly free and a beautiful, user friendly piece of software.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311 at the end of 2010 I'd decided that I had read SO many that I could potentially be able to write my own novella so I've set to that task with due diligence.  By due diligence I mean I've put a million books on writing a novel on my Amazon wish list http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/ref=gno_listpop_wi 

Lastly and possible equally significantly, I am 36 and recently single with no children so in Austen's time I would be considered a spinster for sure, although I don't feel like one.  I will also be writing about that voyage as well this, I guess this is enough to be going on with, as Sookie's patience for me to throw this mouse has seem to reach it's limits.