I wanted to share something with you out of my great grandmother’s 120 year old cook book.

As I gently turned the tattered, yellowed pages looking for inspiration, something caught my eye in the “Meats” section. It was a suggestion on how to “Keep Meat From Flies”. I have copied it word for word for you:

“Put in sacks with enough straw around it so the flies cannot reach through. Three-Fourths of a yard of yard-wide muslin is the right size for the sack.

Put a little straw in the bottom, then put in the ham and lay straw in all around it; tie it tightly and hang it in a cool dark place.

Be sure the straw is all around the meat so the flies cannot deposit the eggs. (The sacking must be done early in the season before the fly appears). Muslin lets the air in and is much better than paper. Thin muslin is as good as thick, and will last for years if washed when laid away when emptied.”

Ok, that was quite the education on how they kept meat back then. My head is still spinning! We have come so far since then. I’m so glad! Aren’t you?

I’m going into the kitchen to kiss my refrigerator! I will never take it for granted again!

Last night, I tried a new Zatarain’s product. It is called “Dirty Rice”. Have you ever tried it?

It was so easy and good.

All I had to do was brown some ground beef – of course with onion and garlic. I had to sprinkle a bit of chili powder in, also, because I can’t leave any recipe alone.
Then …. I put the contents of the box with water in the pan and brought it to a boil. It simmered it for 25 minutes.

I served it with a big of a garden salad and we had a great meal!

I think Zatarain’s is becoming my best friend!

I ran an errand with my daughter today. We will be homeschooling again. I’m thrilled!

We were hungry and stopped by Burger King for a light lunch. It has been years since I’ve stopped by the palace. They had these adorable “Burger Shots” that I had to try. They were really good!

They were just enough for a lunch on the run. Have any of you had Burger Shots?

Let me know what you think about them.

Honey, it’s sweet, golden; it’s an endearment, it’s said to have healing properties. Now that people are going back to natural foods, it’s nice to know that honey actually contains small amounts of vitamins and amino acids. It’s also fat free, cholesterol free and sodium free! So naturally, it’s the perfect sweet indulgence!

Here are a few tips when cooking with honey:

Honey is sweeter than regular sugar, so we can use less of it than sugar when we cook with it. A rule of thumb is to use 1/3 cup LESS honey for each cup of sugar your recipe calls for. Example, if a recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, you would only need 2/3 of a cup of honey.

It’s best to coat the measuring vessel you’re using with a bit of oil or cooking spray before adding honey so that the honey will come out easier.

When baking with honey, remember the following: [Read more...]

If I had it my way, I’d lounge around all weekend. But my family wants to be fed. One of my friends told me about this idea about 10 years ago and I’ve used it quite frequently on the weekends since then. It has gone over well with my crew also.

Ham and Cheese Bisquits

• Refrigerator bisquits
• Cheese Slices quartered (4 pieces)
• Ham lunch Meat quartered

Bake bisquits as directed on label.

When they just get out of the oven, cut them open and put a piece of cheese and ham on each one. Be careful, they are hot!

If you want the bisquit to stay closed for little hands, you can put a slice of cheese on each side of the ham so it melts together.

Enjoy your weekend!