One of the things that we served for Memorial Day was a beautiful and decadent tasting dessert made by my Younger Daughter. The real beauty of the dessert is that it was entirely fat free, but you’d never guess that when you tasted it.

I’m not sure what the recipe was called, so I’ll just call it

Chocolate Layered Deliciousness

Ingredients

• Chocolate cake mix
• Canned pumpkin
• Fat free whipped topping, large tub
• Fat free pudding mix, can be instant. Two packages

Method

Make the cake mix by adding only the canned pumpkin. No eggs, oil, or water. Bake as usual. Let cool.

Make the pudding mix as directed, using fat free milk. Let cool.

Using a large, clear bowl with fairly straight sides, layer chocolate pudding, crumbled cake, and whipped topping. Make three layers. End by putting pudding and sprinkling chocolate cake crumbles on top. Chill several hours or overnight.

This makes a beautiful presentation. You can’t tell there is pumpkin in the cake mix at all, but it’s extremely moist and delicious. The dessert will need to be spooned out onto plates.

I think this could also be prepared in individual stemware for a beautiful dessert to give to your family or guests.

Technorati Tags: Memorial Day, dessert, chocolate

The cost of groceries is going up right along with the cost of fuel for the car. This makes it even more challenging to feed a family without having to dip into our savings accounts just to buy groceries.

One way to save is to reassess what you normally purchase to see if there is anything that can be reduced or eliminated. I find that reducing the amount of meat I purchase helps a lot on my grocery budget. Buying more in-season fresh vegetables and fruits, more grains, and learning to cook in more frugal ways will save a lot. These are the foods that bring appetite satisfaction more than meat anyway. Loading the plate with vegetables and grains, with just a smidgen of meat or none at all, will give you a filling, hearty, healthful meal that also saves you some money.

Utilizing leftovers is another way to save. If you have only a spoonful or so of a vegetable left, put it into a container in the freezer, It only has to be a quart container. When it’s full, add some chopped onion and tomato juice and you have an economical and healthful soup to serve your family. And, you can feel good about it knowing that you’ve helped to reduce your grocery bill through this very simple measure.

Technorati Tags: groceries, budget, freezer

We cooked way too much food yesterday. We always do when it comes to cooking out. That’s because we cook enough of each meat so that everyone present can have some of all of it. Now we have brats, burgers, salmon, kebob casserole, and sides left. That’s OK, though, because Son and I will make good use of the leftovers for the next couple of days. All we’ll have to do is warm them up and enjoy great, grilled foods without any of the mess of starting up the grill.

I have my microwave here, and will warm up some things with it. The meat, however, I’ll warm in the oven. That way, it won’t wind up being so dried out and tough. The microwave just isn’t any good for cooking or warming meat, in my opinion. Real heat from the oven is the only way to go as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve also got plenty of pasta salad and potato salad left to put with the other things, so we should have several well-rounded meals for the next day or two. Any meats that are left after that will go into the freezer. I know that after a couple of days, we’ll get tired of eating from this stuff, so freezing it for future meals is the best way to go.

Technorati Tags: grill, microwave, oven, freezer

I’ve got a number of handy counter top appliances, but right now they are all still in the storage unit. We are getting that stuff moved in little by little, but I do miss a lot of my gadgets. I use my steamer, my food processor, my crock pot, and my electric roaster a lot, and not having them here right now really puts a crimp in my cooking style.

There are some things I really need to replace. My electric mixer has seen better days, and the food processor has a crack in the lid. I might want to get a centralized motor base that will operate several appliance attachments, instead of buying all the appliances separately. It would be funny if I were shopping for that and came across air tools for the kitchen. Can you imagine a blender that runs off a blast of compressed air? It could blow the lid off! Seriously, it could actually be a good idea in a commercial kitchen where the compressor could be house outside the kitchen itself and all the kitchen tools run from hoses instead of electrical cords. It might even be safer.

Technorati Tags: counter top appliances, gadgets

Our Memorial Day cookout actually went pretty well after all. It did rain a little, but not enough to prevent me from firing up the grill so the guys could cook. Younger Daughter and I stayed in the kitchen, preparing some foods. For example, we wanted to have kebobs but Youngest Son couldn’t find any skewers at Walmart. He called and said there was one package of four steel skewers, and it was expensive. An associate told him they were sold out!

Apparently, everyone in the county did kebobs yesterday. So, we opted to cut up the vegetables and meats as if we were making the kebobs, but we put them in a baking pan with some pineapple and seasonings, covered it with aluminum foil, and baked it instead of grilling it. Surprisingly, it turned out really delicious and the meat was fork-tender.

We also put burgers and brats on the grill along with a nice salmon fillet Youngest Son picked up while shopping. Everyone brought food of some kind with them - chips, drinks, burger patties, dessert. The children had fun upstairs in Son’s room, playing Guitar Hero. It was a bit too rainy for them to play outside very much.

It was a wonderful day, though, and I’m eager to do this again around Independence Day!

Technorati Tags: Memorial Day, cookout

We were hoping to have a cookout tomorrow for Memorial Day. However, there is rain predicted for today, tomorrow, and Tuesday, so it looks like cooking out is out. I’ll have to see what I can cook inside and how I can still make it festive and picnic-like.

I’ve got some hot dogs in the freezer. I got some chicken drummettes out of the freezer yesterday to let them thaw in the fridge. Today, I’ll do a little shopping after I get off work for things like pasta salad ingredients, fresh fruit, sandwich buns, and baked beans ingredients. I’ll also get some hamburger patties so I don’t have to fool with making them myself.

I think if I put in a movie or some music, set up the kitchen and dining are in a festive way, and just let people enjoy themselves, it will all work out just fine. After all, the idea is for people to fellowship together, isn’t it?

Technorati Tags: cookout, Memorial Day, picnic

The deck I’m sitting on now would be a great place to put a hot tub, I think. Of course, I wouldn’t get much use from it in the summer. It’s just plain too hot to be getting in a hot tub here in the South during the summer months. But during the winter, it would be a lot of fun to be able to come out here and relax in the heated, churning waters.

I wonder, though, if I can get a smaller one? Maybe just for one or two people? Maybe there are even walk in tubs that would work as a hot tub on a small scale? I don’t know. I’ll have to look into that.

This back deck is very private. The only thing back here is the trees.

Technorati Tags: deck, hot tub

I’m not up with the chickens, but I am up. I am enjoying a hot cup of Columbian coffee along with a cold buttered biscuit. This is one of my favorite breakfasts.

Right now, I’m sitting on one of the decks just off the living room of my house. It’s a cool morning and I’m enjoying the sun filtering through the trees just off the deck, the sound of songbirds in the woods, and the aroma of honeysuckle as it drifts through the air.

As I sit here, it occurs to me that this house is perfectly designed for family gatherings and for entertaining. The large kitchen, dining, and living room combination make for great fellowship. People can wander out onto the decks for fresh air and more seating. This might be a good time to join one of the wine clubs and have a wine tasting each month. I’ve done very little in recent years as far as social events, and it’s time for me to broaden my horizons.

Technorati Tags: Columbian coffee, biscuit, entertaining

I know it’s the middle of the night, but I was still hungry after not having eaten since around 5 this evening. So, I decided to whip up a little late night supper.

First, I peeled a few potatoes (red skin variety), then sliced them about 1/8 inch thick. I place the potatoes, 1/2 sliced onion, a couple tablespoons of butter, and water in a saucepan. I added a dash of pepper and sea salt, then let it simmer while I did some other things.

I sliced up a few yellow squash and about a pint of fresh okra, along with the other half of the onion. I mixed it all together in a bowl with yellow corn meal, salt and pepper to taste. I then fried it over medium heat.

While the other things were cooking, I made a small batch of home made biscuits. Everything got done at the same time, so there was no waiting. I added butter to the tops of the biscuits and sat down with a generous helping of everything on my plate. This was all extremely tasty and satisfying.

When I was finished eating, I made dessert of a biscuit with butter and fig preserves.

This tummy-warming late night supper is just what I needed to get drowsy and go off to bed. Nighty-nite, folks!

Technorati Tags: supper, biscuits

I am getting more settled into the new house every day. There are still things to move, but it’s becoming more and more “home” with my personal touches added. This house is actually for sale, but not as long as we are renting it. However, given the improvements that have been made in the kitchen and the layout of the house, I’m very tempted to check on a free mortgage loan quote to see if I could buy this house.

It’s a beautiful retreat here. Right now, I’m listening to JS Bach on the stereo while the sun filters through the trees and spills through the huge windows onto the living room floor. This house has a calming effect on me. It’s peaceful and serene out here. Even though there are neighbors, they aren’t just feet away so I do get a secluded feeling here. In fact, when I look out the windows of the living room or my bedroom, all I see is the woods.

Good food served up in the kitchen, the heart of any home, tops it all off and makes me smile a lot.

Technorati Tags: house, kitchen, kitchen