Ginger family

Time to make some gingery friends!

Wow. Incredible Use of Recycling!

Unbelievable. Inspiring. Wow.

The Story of Stuff....

What a great Article!

Really enjoyed reading this... hope you do too!

Also a great read!

Cornbread Muffins, Homemade Mac and Cheese and Ice Cold Beer!

Ok- so I can't have the ice cold beer. :( But I can watch my husband enjoy an ice cold frosty brew as he devours his dinner tonight! Homemade mac and cheese with corn muffins? Oh yeah! Inspired by friends who recently trekked to TN on a presidential loop - my mouth was watering today when I caught sight of a picture of this very meal. I just had to have it for dinner!

Used ziti for the mac and for the cheese- a simple homemade alfredo sauce with whatever I had on hand.

Udo's Alfredo:
-dazzle of olive oil
-pat of butter
-sprinkle of minced garlic
-sprinkle of salt and black pepper
-about 1/2 cup of sour cream
-about 1/4 cup of flour
-about 1 cup of milk
-about 1/2 cup of parmesean cheese
-about 2 cups of shredded mozzerella
-about 3 tablespoons of Italian bread crumbs

1. Cook the pasta (any short kind that you'd like... macaroni or ziti or elbows or bowties, etc. 
2. Oil and butter go in a hot pan with the minced garlic until it's tender. 
3. Whisk in the flour until you make a 'rue' (a paste of goody yummy)
4. Add the sour cream and mix with wooden spoon
5. Add the milk. The mixture will be lumpy. No worries
6. Add the Parmesan cheese- again lump city - no big whoop
7. Sprinkle in the Italian style bread crumbs and stir. Add to taste. 
8. Add the mozzarella cheese- stretchy and gooey like glue... but let it boil.... 
9. Add some pasta water to this mixture to thin it out if necessary. 
10. Let it boil some and keep stirring with wooden spoon. It won't be lumpy or stretchy - just delicious. 
11. Toss with pasta in a bowl and serve with warm cornbread muffins on the side that are slathered with creamy country fresh butter and (if you are not pregnant and ready to pop) an ice cold bewah. Enjoy~ XOXO <3 Udo

Wow! Almost there!

Brontasaurus Broccoli Salad!

Oh dear! Talk about a delicious broccoli salad that even a dinosaur would love! See him there in the picture tothe right? Isn't he adorable!!! AHHHH!! He's going to eat it all on us! Well- we all need a little more raw broccoli in our diets and I've read that what babies taste in utero they will also like once they are toddlers so I am broccoli'ing it up! This broccoli salad is pretty much the bees knees!!

Blueberry Festival Bluberry Corn Muffins

So yesterday was in a word AWESOME! My husband and I went to a butterfly house where beautiful little butterflies (over 500!) were flittering about and adorning us like jewels! One landed on my husband's arm and one stayed in my hair for quite some time as a beautiful ornament! Wow. It was really cool to see what a little caterpillar case looks like! It was like a jade jewel! We got to hold one right in our hands - it was like something you would see on a necklace - it even had a gold thread going through it that the caterpillar had woven into it. Just remarkable! I remember reading somewhere (perhaps in Deepak Chopra's Book of Secrets) that the same horomones and chemicals that cause a butterfly's wings to flap are the same hormones and chemicals that cause the human heart to beat - all without any conscious thought given to it. Remarkable. Interwoven beauty. Proufoundly beautiful  realizations!

After the butterfly house we made our way to the blueberry festival. So cute and fun! I've never met nicer people than farmers. What a darling family!!! Of course they all got a kick out of the fact that I am 8 months pregnant and had no qualms about hopping on a hayride to the blueberry patch to pick some berries with my Huckleberry Finn. Off we went! Bumpy road but baby loved it! We took a farm tour and saw the free range chickens (that looked healthy, fluffy, white as snow, and absolutely DELICIOUS) and the free range sows and pigs (mmm surprisingly they were a little frightening to me with all that grunting and mulling about... I couldn't help but have LOST flashbacks anticipating Sawyer or Locke coming out of the bushes with a shiv to capture their dinner) and then off to pick some blueberries!

We did pretty well for ourselves! (One for me, one for the bucket, one for me, one for the bucket) and picked up some Buckwheat honey (rich in Iron!) and headed off to home.

This morning I decided to make some blueberry cornmeal muffins! Now I can't begin to tell you of the challenges one faces with making baked goods sans an electric mixer. :\ It'll be quite some time before I'm able to save up for one of those fancy beautiful doo-dads - so in the meantime, every baking recipe I have is made by hand with a wooden spoon! At least my bi's and tri's are getting a workout!

Here's the recipe link I used from good ol' Martha May. They are baking in the oven as we speak... Can't wait to smear a lashing of country fresh cream butter on one and gobble it up! XOXO <3 Udo

Po Girls Mangy Muffins

Zuchinni zuchinni everywhere and nothing else to eat! That was the ditty my darling and I were singing to ourselves the other day as we searched our bare cupboards for a bite to eat. Breakfast was either going to be hot water with lemon or cold water with lemon. We were out of everything! LOL. No bread, no milk, no eggs, no cheese, no meats, no cereal, no oatmeal, nuttin honey! All I had left were two very overripe bananas on the counter (so ripe the skins were black, ew) and a bunch of zuchinni that we inhereted from generous friends, family, and neighbors.

Ya, I should have gotten me arse to the store for a shopping but with the heat and humidity and me being 8 months pregnant with our very active child, I kept putting it off. Something to do with feeling wiped out and having feet that hurt and not getting a good night's rest in the past several weeks... I dunno. ::snickers::

So yes, here we have an AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS and wonderful zuchinni muffin recipe that I threw together - except the extra fun part is this is a poor girl's special! I googled substitutes for nearly everything I would have needed to make this right... well not nearly everything- but most of things we were out of...

No milk- no problem - don't need any!

No eggs- no problem - I googled egg substitute and found out I could use those two over ripe bananas for 2 eggs. I also found out I could substitute 2 tablespoons of corn starch per egg... so that's what I did! Instead of using 4 eggs for this recipe I used 2 bananas and 4 tablespoons of cornstarch. Eggs = done.

No brown sugar - no big whoop- I used a cup of white sugar with my dry stuff and added two tablespoons of molasses to the wet stuff = brown sugar. Done!

No vegeteable oil- nobody cares - I used a cup of olive oil and a half cup of canola oil - good as new. Oil = done!

I was also out of Crisco and Pam (either of which I would have used to grease my muffin tin) So I took a stick of butter wrapped in butter paper and smeared that around the tin to grease it up. Bingo. It worked!

• 3 cups sprouted flour (or plain if you have it)

• 2 cups brown sugar (or make your own like I did)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Cinnamon to taste ( a few sprinkles maybe a table spoon?)
• 4 eggs (or substitute like I did)
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• Splash o vanilla extract
• 3 zuchinnis grated by hand or in processor whatever works for you
• lots of raisins (a cup or so)
• some walnuts (a half cup or whatever you want)

Dry stuff in one bowl, wet in the other. Blend the two. Add the zuchinni and raisins and walnuts at the end. Spoon into muffin tins. Oven to 350 for 20 minutes. Done and done. And yum yum yum!

To really sweeten the deal - I made a crumble topping from 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 sugar, 1 stick of butter cubed and food processor the whole thing until you get a crumble. Spoon on top of muffins before baking. Delish! Oh and yes- they are the magical muffin to get you going in the morning- Here we go go go!
XOXO <3 Udo

Buttermilk Chicken, Farro Salad, with Nectarine and Blackberry Cobbler

Wow! Talk about a treat! Let me tell you what, I am NOT a fan of chicken, especially chicken breast. Why? For starters chickens are not what they used to be. Organic or not, it just seems like chicken breast is always getting dried out, stringy, or rubbery even if you watch it carefully and don't over cook it.

Ready for that to all change? Well I'm going to let you in on a little secret that will change your chicken forever! It's called marinade! LOL. Seriously- marinade or a brine will make all the difference. And as proven in this Today show recipe- I can now understand why it is so urgently important to brine your turkey at Thanksgiving prior to roasting it.

This buttermilk chicken recipe works with any part of the chicken. I happened to have 2 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts on hand that my mom gave to me. They were frozen and I wondered what the heck I was going to do with them as I can't stand chicken- but there was no way I was turning away her generosity!

I left the frozen chicken breasts in their gallon freezer bag and added the buttermilk, spices, and garlic to the bag. I used a lot of buttermilk, enough to make sure the breasts were covered as they lay flat in the bag. Then I left the bag in the fridge to defrost over the next day or two. It was actually two days. The recipe says you should let it marinate over night or at least 12 hours but honestly- the two days produced an incredible result for us!

We took the chicken out of the bag, patted it dry and I wondered how this was going to work as far as flavor and juiciness - especially now that the chicken was no longer in the marinade and we patted the rest of it off. On the grill the chicken breast went. We placed a piece of foil down first and cooked them in the grill for about 20 minutes.

Convinced that the chicken would be overcooked and rubbery like every other piece of chicken we've had in recently recollection, I brought it in and let it sit for a bit on the butcher's block. Then I ended up refrigerating it for a few hours until dinner was ready. I made the farro salad in the meantime, grilling the asparagus and corn. This salad is to die for! Delicious! I never heard of farro before and I am so happy to have it in my mix of grain goodies now!

By the time dinner rolled around- the cobbler was baked and cooling and the farro salad was chilling in the ice box. I put the chicken on a plate and reheated it in the mircro. Nervous, I thought for sure this was going to be a rubbery mess.

NOPE.
NO WAY.
NADA!

Wow! Both my husband and I were FLOORED by the juicy tenderness that was in every bite of this buttermilk chicken! That buttermilk must have gotten into every fiber and swelled it to the max with tender taste! Unbelievable what a difference this recipe will make to your chicken dishes. The taste was also very light and flavorful- not overpowering in the least. Delicious! I highly encourage you to try this entire recipe collection out. It's certainly one that can be made the day before and heated through when your company or your family is ready to eat! XOX <3 Udo

Here's the link to the recipes. The video will load shortly below.

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Brother Mark's Chillie Con Carne

This is a hilarious and entertaining video our very good friend Brother Mark made that I had to share with y'all. Oh, and it's a terrific recipe too! Enjoy! XOXO <3 Udo

Baby Robin's Eggs and other Adventures....

Holy crow! My bad ladies and gents and limes and coconuts! I've been so tied up with being a mom-to-be that my little blog has fallen to the way side. Sadly, I have not been documenting the amazing dishes that I've been (still!) serving up to my brood at home (and by brood I mean my darling husband and his buddy Jake who comes up every week for a Feast of Thrones (lol) and a Song of Ice and Fire! Alas, this is no excuse as there have been much goings on in these here neck of the woods! We have a beautiful robin's nest right outside our baby's nursery window. Mr. and Mrs. Birdie decided to make a lovely hanging flower basket the home of their little chirp chirps, and so, over the last several weeks we have witnessed those darling baby blue robin eggs sprout into tiny baby birds with delicate feathery softness and those ever-arching beaks looking for a snack and a cuddle.

Naturally, I am forbidden from petting, holding, and/or breathing on said darlings as that would be a big bad no-no. So I admire from my step chair and note their progress every day, squeezing my husband tight because I am overcome with the sheer adorableness of it all. I must remember that a newborn baby will inspire similar and stronger feelings in the nearby adults who will also want to possibly annihilate said cute creature with affection. I wonder if I should just name my baby George now and get it over with. 'I will love him, and hold him, and squeeze him, and call him George.' LOL. Ahhhhh!!

So yes, lots of excellent eats on this end. Now to only find the patience and desire to start plugging it in to la computera.

I'll start by saying that I recently made:

• An excellent pork tenderloin with chocolate chipotle sauce served with scalloped potatoes and an endive salad. 
• Delicious home made meatballs from scratch with sauce and noodles from scratcharoo too. This was a HUGE hit and I quite impressed myself with that one. 
• Seared sea scallops served with mushy peas and jasmine rice - a constant favorite of my husband. 
• And some quick breads (a sprouted flour carrot and raisin bread with cream cheese glaze and a banana chocolate chip oat bread with a dark carob glaze).

Alas, in other good news my digital camera has resurrected itself after two years in isolation from sustained water damage! I kept the Sony Cybershot in the basement (where there is a dehumidifier) for a very long time and wouldn't you know it, 24 months later - the dang thing turned on like nothing ever happened! Very fortuitous. Oh yes, and in case I haven't mentioned it, we're pregnant!!! YEAY!!! I'm just entering my third trimester and have never felt or looked better in my life! I love it. Very excited and very happy and very, very, blessed to get to this point. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, I really do believe miracles can happen and know now more than ever from our own losses that pregnancy truly is a miraculous and mysterious event that should never be taken for granted. Truly, a miracle.

More later and thank you for your patience and support!
XOXO <3 Udo

Tomorrow Night it's Osso Buco Milanese!

Stay tuned! I just got the most amazing recipe from my parents tonight! I walked into their house this afternoon and nearly had an out of body experience as the divine scent from their kitchen wafted over to me in the hallway. Curiously, I made my way over to their stove. I spied with my little eye TWO big cauldrons on the stove-top! One had Osso Buco in it, and the the other- Saffron Rissoto! OMG! WHAT?! Guess what I am making for dinner tomorrow night... Stay tuned for the delicious details, palatable pics, and a tasty tutorial!! YUMMM!!!  XOXO <3 Udo

World's Best Blueberry Muffins!

We had a bunch of organic blueberries in the kitchen and I needed to find something to do with them fast! They were organic (yeay!) and on sale for half off (yeay!) because they were getting ripe, so we grabbed every package that was there. Well, after a few minutes prowling the interwebs for a blueberry muffin recipe... I found this one. And boy are they outrageous!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

What makes life worth living.....

Glass half empty?

Are you a glass half-empty kinda gal? Take a look at this fun, quick video on how to turn a pessimistic attitude into an optimistic one. Change isn't easy. It takes time. It's worth it!