Annabella asked me an interesting question over at her For The Heck of It blog when I responded to her Ultimate McDonalds Experience post. She asked about how to make crispy home made French fries.

The real secret is to fry them twice. But that’s not all there is to it.

Cut your potatoes into thin strips. It doesn’t really matter if you peel them or not. That’s your choice. Soak them in salted water while you heat your oil to 350 degrees. Drain and dry the potato strips, then put them in the hot oil a small handful at a time. When they start to float but are still white looking, take them out, drain them, and let them cool.

Cooking in very small batches like this helps the hot oil to completely surround the individual fries and helps to drive water out of them better. It also lets the water have a chance to cook out of the oil.

When they’re cool, put them back into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Now, you can actually put more into the oil than you did in the first step. They should now be crisp, the way you’d expect French fries to be.

You can also cook batches of fries in the first step, then bag and freeze them. Later, you can have French fries very quickly any time you want them by just cooking them from the frozen state.

Technorati Tags: For The Heck of It, home made French fries, potatoes

Last night I fixed fried fish (tilapia), hush puppies, scalloped potatoes, and sliced onions and tomatoes for supper. It was all super good. I’ve given you my hush puppy recipe before, so I won’t go into that again here. This was the first time I’ve tried tilapia fried, though. We like this baked very well and I like the way it’s packaged for the freezer. It turned out to be every bit as good as fried catfish. Maybe better since catfish sometimes has a bottom-of-the-river taste to it..lol.

Well, today we had the leftovers for lunch. I have to tell you, I love cold fried fish. If you haven’t tried it, you really should. It’s delicious. We warmed the potatoes, of course, and Brandon also fixed some tater tots. So, we still had a hearty lunch and the cost was low since it was leftovers.

The key to using leftovers is to package them well before you refrigerate them. Make sure they are in an airtight container. Cooked meats should actually be wrapped in plastic, forcing all air out of the plastic, then either containerized or put into a zip bag. This keeps the cooked meat tasting fresh because no refrigerator air can get to it.

Leftover cooked meats such as roasts or chicken can be served cold. Just slice and serve. You have more good flavor that way than if you reheat them. I think it’s because reheating breaks them down further and you seem to lose moisture and quality in the reheating process. We’ve been eating cold leftover cooked meats for years now.

Leftover fried meats and fish are also better cold. Leftover cooked vegetables can be reheated or served cold to be used in a salad. Leftover french fries, hush puppies, or other such things should be reheated in an oven and not in the microwave. This helps them get crisp again and stay tender. Microwaving tends to make them soggy and hush puppies will wind up tough. Microwaves are great for limited uses such as heating vegetables, but really stink when it comes to breads and fried foods.

I have a little toaster oven that I can use to reheat some things so they retain their crisp yet tender quality. That way, I don’t have to crank up the stove for 15 minutes worth of reheating.

Using countertop appliances such as the toaster oven and using up leftovers both help your grocery budget tremendously. Essentially, when you use your leftovers you are getting a free meal out of the deal!

Technorati Tags: tilapia, supper, catfish, leftovers, lunch, microwave, toaster oven, appliances, budget

Since I work at McDonald’s as an associate manager, my options are limited concerning what I can wear to work. However, I do have more choices than the crew members since manager uniforms have more variety of fabric and color. Even with that, the moment I get home I change into something I can wear around the house in comfort. Usually, it’s a big old dress I have that’s loose everywhere, make of cotton, and doesn’t bind anywhere. I live in this old dress when I’m home because it just plain feels good to wear it.

I’d love to know, though, if you have clothes you wear at home just for cleaning house or cooking? Clothing options are so varied, that maybe some of you even choose comfortable golf apparel ladies can actually wear for either at-home times or shopping. I suppose some of you slip into some old warm-ups or maybe you wear scrubs to stay comfortable.

So tell me - what do you wear in the kitchen?

Technorati Tags: McDonald’s, associate manager, uniforms, cooking, kitchen

I just wanted to share with you a cooking site I’ve just found. Chef Tom Cooks, written by a professional chef and restaurant manager in New York, shares with you some of his best recipes so you can cook them at home. I’ve been browsing through the recipes and they sound absolutely delicious. The presentation of this blog is both professional and comfortable, so I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I. Go visit ChefTomCooks.com and see for yourself! Give him a nice comment, too.

Technorati Tags: cooking, chef, restaurant manager, New York, recipes, ChefTomCooks.com

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything related to beauty items you can create from things on hand. So, I thought I’d share with you the shower scrub I made yesterday.

Shower Scrub

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 bar Ivory soap

Method

Place the Ivory soap in the microwave until it “grows” and becomes crumbly. This should only take about a minute. Add the other ingredients and stir it together with a fork, making sure to blend it very well.

To use this, just dip your wet washcloth or bath scrunchie into the mixture and scrub away while you’re showering. I used this all over including on my face. It exfoliates without leaving your skin in the least bit dry feeling.

This recipe makes enough for one shower. I don’t recommend using this at every shower since you could actually wind up with sore skin from too much exfoliation, but this is great to use about once or twice a week. You can add fragrance to it if you wish. I used mine as-is.

Oh, and be sure to wash out the shower when you’re done so the next person doesn’t slip ‘n’ slide!

Technorati Tags: shower scrub, Ivory soap

I’ve always cooked things in a pretty ordinary way. A way that tastes good. Now, my home cooking isn’t really all that unhealthful, if eaten in moderation. But my job at McDonald’s, now that’s another story. I realize that food is full of all kinds of fats, including the bad fats, and a lot of sugar and salt. While I only eat one meal a day there at work, that meal is loaded with things I don’t need. A person has to eat, though, to keep the energy level up enough to keep working.

I’m thinking about trying hoodia to see if that will help me lose weight by decreasing my appetite. I’m also seriously considering taking my own meals with me to work so that I am in control of the amount and types of fat I consume and the amount of sugar and salt in my food. I think that’s the only real way I can drop the weight I’ve gained.

What do you think? What would you do?

Technorati Tags: home cooking, McDonald’s, meal, weight

While the air is beginning to turn a bit chilly, outdoor cooking season never really ends in this part of the country. This is especially true if you have a gas grill or outdoor kitchen. On nicer days, it’s wonderful to enjoy an outdoor meal and relax on your teak outdoor furniture without having to fight off those pesky summertime insects.

This is a recipe for barbecue sauce that I developed here at home. Of course, you don’t have to cook outdoors to use it.

Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/4 cup dried onions
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Method

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat on low, stirring until sugar is melted. Allow to cool. Onions will rehydrate while it’s cooking.

This makes nearly two cups of barbecue sauce. It’s a sweet-tart sauce and great for chicken, pork, or beef.

Technorati Tags: gas grill, recipe, barbecue sauce

This is a recipe I developed after trial and error. This two-grain bread recipe is very tasty and just right for everyday dining or for special occasions.

Ann’s Two-Grain Bread

(Makes 3 loaves)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups freshly ground oat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 2 packages yeast
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup honey or corn syrup, or a combination of the two
• 3 500 mg vitamin C tablets, crushed

Method

Warm the milk, butter, and honey/corn syrup until the butter is melted. Let cool to about 105 degrees. Stir in the yeast.

Mix together the dry ingredients. Pour in the liquid mixture and stir. Add more white flour as necessary to make a stiff dough. Knead 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let rise 45 minutes.

Punch down. Form loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Let rise another 30 minutes. Cut vents in the loaves and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes, or until tapping on the crust makes a hollow sound.

Technorati Tags: two-grain bread, recipe

Before I was forced into working full time, I used to make a lot of home made yeast bread. When I first learned to make bread, it was so tough you couldn’t cut the loaves with box cutters. As time went by, the bread improved, though. I began learning little tips and tricks to make not only breads from white flour, but also how to make lofty, tender loaves of bread from whole wheat flour.

I used to grind my own wheat for the freshest flavor, but using only freshly ground whole wheat can produce a rather tough bread without the addition of some kind of enhancer. You can buy enhancers for whole wheat, but the easiest to come by and to use is ordinary vitamin C tablets.

You just crush a 500 mg vitamin C tablet and add it to your dry ingredients. I am not even sure what the vitamin C does, but it helps your 100% whole wheat home made bread rise to lofty heights and come out of the oven tender and full of flavor, with no hint of weightiness. You use one tablet for each loaf of bread the recipe makes.

Technorati Tags: whole wheat flour, vitamin C

Candy making can be a fairly simple process in today’s microwave ovens. I’m not talking about specialty candies. But simple things like fudge can be made quickly and easily using your microwave oven. Here’s a recipe for Microwave Peanut Butter Fudge I got from an online friend about 4 years ago.

Microwave Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients

• 1 pound powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
• 3/4 stick butter
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 heaping tablespoons peanut butter

Method

Melt butter. Add sugar, cocoa, and milk; mix well. Mixture should be thick. If not, add a little more sugar. Microwave for 2 minutes, until mixture bubbles on the sides. Stir; return to microwave for 2 minutes. Remove and add peanut butter. Mix well and pour onto a buttered platter.

Cut into 1 inch squares when cool. Keep in a tightly covered container or wrap well in plastic.

Since fudge is one of those things I associate with Christmas, this would be a wonderful addition to your Christmas food gift baskets.

Technorati Tags: microwave oven, recipe, Microwave Peanut Butter Fudge, Christmas, gift baskets