Creamed Cabbage with Bacon and Knitting with Ronda

It was a nice weekend, this past weekend. Ali was home all weekend, even came home early because of the snow. On Thursday afternoon it really started coming down hard and it just kept on coming. In an hour our deck was covered and we had almost an inch. The biggest problem was the temperature. It was so cold that it was not just sticking, but it was then freezing. Ali drives the old red 1992 GMC diesel pick-up truck that David bought when we moved here in 1999. She called me from school before she left for work and said she was packing to come home for the weekend because she was pretty certain they would cancel classes on Friday (they did). By the time she got to work, she let me know she would really appreciate it if I would come and get her after work because even with an inch (and more still coming) she was having difficulty driving because it was so icy. Fortunately they closed Starbucks early at about 8:30, so I drove up on very icy roads and brought her home. I am glad I could not really see how bad the roads really were or I would have been terrified to drive on them.

Friday classes were cancelled and we hung out at the house pretty much all day. I took Emily and Ella home at 1 and dropped by Starbucks so Ali could get her truck and then we drove home on the same icy roads, which were a bit better, although still patchy... they don't believe in snowplows in Tennessee, they just spray salt on it and pray. Saturday we went to lunch at Demo's (yum) and got a scoop (or 2) of icecream from Marble Slab (yummier) to celebrate David and Ali's birthdays. Nate went to Savannah's to "do geometry" and I went home and made two pans of macaroni and cheese (one with jalapenos) for David to take to a pot luck with some fellow firefighters.Since I had to pick up Nate later, Kami and I just stayed home.

Sunday - church and then home to pick up a bit and then got ready to make dinner. I made oven-fried chicken, crispy red potatoes and creamed cabbage with bacon. I will get you the chicken and potato recipes later, but for today, it will be the cabbage recipe.

Ronda came over and we talked and knitted and talked and knitted and talked and I came up with an amazing idea. Ali says I am an idea person - I come up with great ones... I just need someone with money to make it happen. Ronda and I one day are going to open a little shop with craft books, yarn, coffee and tea and lots of homemade knitted/crocheted items. I have an awesome name... (and if anyone else out there takes it, I will know where they got it!) "Two Chicks and Some Sticks" (cause we knit.... get it??) Anyway... one day it may happen :) She is making some great scarves, including an infinity scarf and some cowels which look really warm. I have been making socks, little baby "buddy blankets" and washcloths. I try to keep a variety of projects going. All the while I was making dinnner, stopping occasionally to get something going or check on the progress of what was sizzling in the oven. It was smelling so good in the house!! On to dinner...

CREAMED CABBAGE WITH BACON

1 large head green cabbage, shredded
1 med. onion, diced
1/2 package bacon, diced
1/2 c. cream
salt and pepper to taste

I cut up the bacon with my kitchen shears. It is much quicker and less frustration than a knife. In a large pot cook the bacon just until crispy. Throw in the diced onion and cook until onion is translucent. Top with salt and pepper and 1/2 c. cream, cover and cook on medium low for 30-45 minutes until the cabbage is tender. Give it a good stir about halfway through the cooking time, but try to avoid lifting the cover and letting out the steam.

Watch out fo rthe chicken recipe. It was very yummy!! Until then, stay warm and loved, my friends.

Ali's Birthday - Part 2, Heart Attack Chicken

Don't let the name scare you off. It's just what we call it at our house. I don't know if my mom had a name for it, but in the two church cookbooks that I have submitted this recipe I have called it Sunday Chicken Bake because a.) I want people to try it, and b.) it won't really give you a heart attack... at least I don't think so!

As I have said before, my mom didn't have a lot of variety in her cooking. She was not a very adventurous cook and we had a lot of the same things along with those recipes made with processed foods famous in the 70's like Velveeta and Shake-n-Bake. What I do remember is that when we would come home from church on Sunday, we always ate dinner - a big meal that was ready to go within an hour of our arrival at home. Some meat had been roasting in the oven or something had been simmering on the stove. I never seem to be able to do that and we end up eating dinner at night.

This is one of those recipes that can cook low and slow in the oven or you can speed up the process just by turning up the temperature. It is quite delicious either way. This is one of those recipes that she didn't make often but made a big impression on me. I tried this once with bone-in chicken breasts, but it falls apart because of the slow cooking and there were bones all through the gravy and that made me mad. It makes the most amazing gravy, which in my house is always served over rice. I can eat a bowlful of rice and this gravy any time! It is fabulous,just not with bones! I also usually pair it with baby carrots... don't ask me why, they just seem to go perfect with this chicken.

Yesterday was Ali's 19th birthday. This meal is her request every single year. I usually make it one other time during the year and that is about it because if you eat it any more often than that, you WILL have a heart attack! Don't try to go all healthy and substitute turkey bacon or turkey pastrami or low-fat anything. It will not be the same.

HEART ATTACK CHICKEN

6-8 bone-in chicken thighs or boneless breasts
1/2 lb. bacon
4-6 thin slices deli pastrami
2 cans cream of mushroom or celery soup
2 cups sour cream

Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with slices of pastrami. It is good if it goes up the sides a little bit. Wrap each piece of chicken in a slice of bacon and lay on top of the pastrami. Mix the soup and sour cream thoroughly and spread on top of the chicken. Cover with foil and bake either low and slow at 225' for 4 hours or 350 for 1 1/2 hours.

The birthday celebration concludes tomorrow with the dessert recipe. It is much lighter than dinner... sort of :)

BLT Soup

January 5, 2011

A BLT has to be one of the all-time favorite sandwiches, next to PB&J. Is it because it is a sandwich titled by initials? I doubt that - it has to be the bacon!! Everyone knows that everthing is better with a little bacon thrown in! This soup started out as a recipe for tomato soup that I think I found either on a V-8 bottle or Knorr Vegetable Soup box... maybe... But I have been making it so long from memory, and adjusting it to the family's tastes that it is not the original, so I claim it as my own. With the additions that I have made, you will see that it is simply a BLT in soup form. The lettuce has been replaced with chopped spinach (use fresh if you want) because cooking lettuce in a soup is just gross in my book, and the mayo has become some heavy cream. Grill up the cheese and enjoy it this winter! Variations follow.

BLT SOUP

1/2 lb. bacon, diced
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 c. V-8 juice
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
3-4 c. chicken or vegetable broth (depending on how thin you want the soup)
1 10 oz. box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 - 1 c. heavy cream
salt/pepper, to taste
seasoned croutons (optional)
parmesan cheese (optional)

In large stockpot, saute bacon until crispy and remove from pot, leaving the drippings behind (about 2 T). In the remaining bacon drippings, saute the onion until translucent and then toss in the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, juice, broth and spinach, simmering until everything is hot. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Just before serving stir in the cream and the reserved bacon. Do not allow to boil after adding the cream. Top with croutons and parmesan, if desired.

Variations:
Tomato Soup: leave out the bacon and spinach. Adding the cream will make it creamy tomato soup.
Vegetable-Beef (or Turkey) Soup: Brown a pound of ground beef (or turkey) in place of the bacon. Saute 2 diced carrots and 2 stalk celery with the onion. Add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables (or can of Veg-all) or any frozen/canned vegetables that you like with the spinach and simmer until heated through. Add in the browned beef and leave out the cream.

ps. I sent the BLT soup recipe to Rachael Ray a couple of years ago and she ignored it :( Her loss - although it better not show up on one of her shows or in one of her books as HERS!! :)