[ree]

Bet that would be good with a bit of white wine.

[sarbar]

[sarbar]

For lunch today we tried out Buttery Sweet Corn soup by Pacific Foods. A very nice base for a quick and hearty chowder. It is very rainy and cold here today……

Sweet Corn and Chicken Chowder Ingredients: 2 cups Buttery Sweet Corn soup 1 11-ounce can extra sweet Niblets corn, drained 1 13-ounce can chicken, drained and crumbled Directions: Heat the soup, corn and chicken up over medium heat till nice and hot. Garnish with lots of fresh ground black pepper and chopped chives.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Ingredients: 4 slices bread Butter 2-ounces Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar, sliced thin Directions: Heat your pan over medium high heat (I use a nonstick grooved omelet sized frypan). Butter the bread lightly. Drop a piece in the pan, buttered side down. Pile half the cheese on, top with other piece of bread. Cook till golden brown on bottom, flip and repeat. Make second sammie as above. Enjoy with soup.

All photos by my husband.

[ree]

Here's my coconut story. After, er, home processing* the coconut... I came upon an internet recipe for homemade almond joys. I heated up the sugar mixture and had the candy thermometer in place. It seemed like it took forever to get the thermometer to the "soft ball" mark on it. I kept cranking up the heat (gas stove, ) wondering if it was too low, until I realized I'd cranked the heat to max. It got up to 240 (soft ball) degrees and I removed it from the stove, cooled it (a bit too long! ) and shaped it, poured WhoreFoods organic chocolate on it. Well, it definitely did NOT have that nice soft coconut texture. It was much harder and WAY, way, way chewier. I hope no one loses a tooth eating it. Effing shyite... I almost choked myself eating it! I'm wondering what I did wrong? Did I heat the sugar too fast? Maybe I should have just made macaroons. *I bought the coconut from QFC, made a mess of my kitchen smashing it open, scooped it out (no easy task) and grinded it. Then I sweetened it with maple syrup and dried it in my dehydrator. Pure insanity.

[ree]

No shyite. I like making my own food because then I really know what's in it. ...And there's a magical and artistic aspect to cooking that intrigues me. It's kind of fun to experiment, even if I "fail." I'm not a big sugar freak, so I doubt I'll be making candies again. Next time I harvest a coconut, I'm trying the macaroons.

[ree]

I'm wondering if the sh##ty chemicals put in almond joys make them so nice and fluffy.

[sarbar]

The answer to that one Ree, is YES. Go read a bag of coconut found in a grocery store.....yumm-o (NOT!) A good "natural" version you can get of Almond Joys is by Sunspire Candies They sell them at various natural food stores Yum!

[ree]

I guess. Those candy bars have to sit on the shelf a long time before they get bought and ingested. No wonder they fill them with all kinds of shyite to preserve shelf life. Then once they're off the shelf, it's your problem how to digest it. Thanks for that link, Sarbar. Have you done anything with sunflower seeds? Crazy question, due to the season... I noticed in my last stop at a convenience store, your average sunflower seed package offerings have morphed into all sorts of seasonings like "ranch style", and "cheddar cheese". It seems bizarre to me. Why make some food taste like another??? Let's get some cheese flavored bacon while we're at it???

[sarbar]

Lol....no kidding! Btw, making macaroons with coconut, vanilla, condensed sweetened milk and a pinch of salt makes fabulous cookies (ya bake them). So tasty!!!!

[More Cowbell]

[More Cowbell]

Marcona almonds and Bourbon (straight). Ahhh

[captain jack]

Mothers cookies are back !

[jenjen]

For those of you with a Hagen's in striking distance... You need to go get a box of their herbed gnochi out of the refrigerated case. Seriously. Just go buy it. It just plain rocks. (I had it with fresh basil and goat cheese)

[Starjumper7]