Necessaries in the Kitchen or Zombies Don’t Care What Their Food Tastes Like

Grilled steak, caramelized onions, roasted artichokes
Grilled steak, caramelized onions, roasted artichokes

It’s always surprising to both Yes!Chef! and me when people sing such high praises for Yes!Chef!’s food.  Yes, his food is quite tasty, but it is usually simple food.  But we frequently hear things such as, “This is the best chicken I have ever had,” and “What did you put on this to make it so flavorful?” (answer is usually salt), or “What can I do to make my food taste like this?” and finally, “Will you adopt me?”

Obie, you are already adopted.
Obie, you are already adopted.

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Karen Schmautz18 Comments

A Wedding in the Family: Wedding Shower Part III – Teriyaki Meatballs and Mozzarella Bites

Teriyaki Meatballs
Teriyaki Meatballs

A few more appetizers to add to our three part series about the Wedding Shower and then we’ll move on to other things.  Not to say that these last two “bites” are to be dismissed.  I definitely think you should try them.  Once is so simple that you will wish you would have thought of it sooner.

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Karen Schmautz7 Comments

A wedding in the family: Wedding Shower Part II – Blue Cheese Wrapped Grapes with Spicy Pistachios

Wedding shower food-5866 webAs promised, here is more of the food that Yes!Chef! prepared for his daughter’s wedding shower:  Blue Cheese and Pistachio Wrapped Grapes.  If you have never made these before, this is the time of year to try these.  They are cool and refreshing, sweet, crunchy and spicy.

I am of the opinion that bright colors make everything look better, but these blue cheese wrapped grapes rolled in a spicy pistachio mixture goes particularly well with the bright colors that we used at my daughter’s wedding shower.  Her maid of honor brought roses, gerbera daisies and white flowers to decorate our home for the shower.  The bright green pistachios seemed perfect with this color scheme.

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Karen Schmautz6 Comments

A Wedding in the family: Wedding Shower Part 1 – Jalapeno Poppers with Apricot Dipping Sauce

Wedding shower food-5948 web

What kind of dad would Yes!Chef! be if he didn’t make all the food for his only daughter’s wedding shower?  Well, he would still be a good dad.  And his daughter would still love him dearly.  But he wouldn’t have as much fun and the food at her shower would not be as tasty.

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Karen Schmautz11 Comments

Basic Economics of the Freezer or What is that and how long has it been in there?

Spaghetti & Cheese Snack Pie
Spaghetti & Cheese Snack Pie

The other day I was reading some of the comments that we received on our Facebook Page and I came across a link from a very interesting Facebook Page called On The Homefront.  On her page she issued a Pantry Challenge.  I thought it sounded interesting, so I spoke to Yes!Chef! about it and he was on board.  Here’s the challenge:  See how long you can go with just making meals out of your pantry and freezer.  Go to the store only to buy necessary perishables like veggies, fruit, dairy.

So, since April 1, we have been scouring our freezer and pantry for long forgotten items to see how creative we can be.  Unfortunately, we have also discovered things that are of unknown origin and they look too scary to eat.  (Here’s a public service reminder to label and date things when you stick them in your freezer.)   But, mostly things have been labeled pretty well.

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Karen Schmautz11 Comments

Kentucky Fried Chicken Redux or Guilty Pleasures

Fried Chicken with Mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans
Fried Chicken with Mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans

I might have mentioned that it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago. And, in celebration, Yes!Chef! made dinner for the fam.  He suggested an upscaled Kentucky Fried Chicken type of recipe, which I thought might be mighty tasty.  I’m pretty sure most people have eaten at Kentucky Fried Chicken at some point in their life.  My daughter tells me that in Mozambique, the Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant is where everyone hangs out.  She also tells me that they eat a lot of chicken in Mozambique, along with fruits, vegetables and rice.

fried chicken 1

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Karen Schmautz3 Comments