Thursday, July 5, 2012

Bits and Pieces

Several years ago I would probably have been amused if someone would have complained how warm upper 80º weather is or that hitting 90º  is cause for near panic, because at that time we were living in daily heat and weren't even surprised to have one day following the next in the triple digits.

It really doesn't take long to get used to not having heat like that especially when nights here usually cool off very pleasantly to the low 60's or even cooler. So the heatwave we have been having has all of us rather grouchy.

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As many of you know we love cooking at our house. If we have a recipe with instructions and all the ingredients we need there isn't much that we wouldn't try. Although a Baked Alaska is still on the list of things I admire but never made.

Right now I'm trying to gather recipes from as many different countries as I can. I think it will be a fun way to add something extra when we study other places and cultures. If you have a recipe you would like to recommend I would be happy to hear about it.
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How does everything seem to want to link up to Facebook?

I don't think everyone needs to know every article I read online and frankly I don't need or want to know what every one else read or watched either. But when I purchased something online recently and was presented with the opportunity to brag about it on Facebook I had to shake my head as I declined.

17 comments:

  1. It seems to me that when I was younger, and thinner, the heat didn't bother me nearly so much - at least not until it got REALLY hot. Now it seems like all I can do is sit around in front of a fan. (No air conditioning)

    We like to try the cuisines of different countries too. We recently discovered a wonderful Indian restaurant nearby. I'm looking forward to seeing what readers post.

    The picture of Buddy is adorable. You have really cute kids.

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  2. oh wow you got 3 digits also. Here it is suppose to be nicer this week YEA! now to get out and work in yard and fight off skeeters lol

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  3. Funny how your body adjusts to something and then anything different is difficult for you to deal with.

    I don't think we need to share everything on Facebook either. I mean, I use Facebook, but I don't share every time I could. I don't think it matters what I brought, don't think people need to know every time I change activity, etc. My brother, for example, is constantly posting things like, "watching a movie," and such. I tell him he should get off Facebook and watch it then.

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  4. Buddy is just adorable!
    I'm way too busy think much about facebook very often. I have an account there, but I don't use my real name. I check in abt. once every six months or so. Seriously, I can't imagine why some folks think anyone else cares when they do this or that. I sure don't.

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  5. I can give you a good Belgian recipe if you want. Our cuisine was very much inspired by the French. If you're interested, just tell me and I'll send you one. You can find lots of information on the internet about our cuisine.

    Goedele

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  6. I'll try and get a couple Cuban recipes for you. Scott's mom is from Cuba. His dad is Italian but finding Italian recipes isn't hard to do. That sounds like a fun little project. When I took Spanish, we'd make Mexican food in class and had a pinata - that was neat.

    Yeah, I don't get the whole "in your business" thing with Facebook either. Who likes that?? Even it'll show "So-and-so is listening to...on Spotify." Well, I don't know what Spotify is but I don't care what they're listening to, I do know that. Kooks. :)

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  7. Its really tough to be outside right now with all of this heat, our weather is just so crazy now. But we all just have to go with the flow I guess, but I'm not liking it too much! Richard from the Amish settlement of Lebanon,pa

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  8. Here's one of my family's favorite Indian recipes - Spicy Baked Chicken:

    1 cut-up chicken, approx. 3 pounds (We usually use thighs or leg quarters because we like dark meat better, but the whole cut-up chicken is fine. Remove the skin. You don't have to get every scrap, but remove as much as possible.

    Make a paste of:

    1 TBS ground cumin
    1 TBS turmeric
    1 TBS black pepper
    1/2 TBS salt
    2-4 crushed garlic cloves
    1 TBS cayenne pepper
    1 TBS paprika ***
    8 TBS lemon juice

    *** Vary the proportions of cayenne to paprika according to your taste. We like spicy food, so I usually use 1.5 TBS cayenne and .5 TBS paprika, but you could reverse the proportions as well.

    Rub the paste all over the chicken parts. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours; overnight is better.

    Bake chicken at 375 degrees until done - usually 30-45 minutes. I usually bake it in a cast-iron frying pan, but a pyrex dish is just as good.

    NOTE: I add a little water to the bottom of the baking pan, because we eat this with rice and adding the water results in a nice sauce to use over rice. But it isn't necessary.

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  9. Have you ever tried Borscht? It's a really good Russian soup!

    Your little Buddy is absolutely adorable!!!!

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  10. Hi,
    I totally agree with you...My body is not supposed to fonction when the temperatures are under 70. So living in Miami was Awesome!
    Unfortunately, my work has to bring me back in Paris again.

    Ok, this city has great monuments but when you live somewhere all your life, you begin to forget about the beauty of the place. You have to move and to travel to be happy to come back and enjoy the view...As for the weather, we are in July and I still need to wear a pull-over! Grrrrr!!!!

    But, if you need a French receipe, I'll be happy to provide.

    One of your new follower completely frozen.

    Lucie
    http://newbooksonmyselves.blogspot.fr/

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  12. You may have already made this,
    but I automatically think of my
    favorite cake when I think of
    international food:

    Black Forest Cake!

    I had it on my birthday,
    this year, and I love it even
    better because this was the first
    time I used whipped cream (not
    cool whip) on the outside instead
    of chocolate frosting. It wasn't
    that great the first day, but the
    second day it was sublime.

    This is the recipe we used:

    http://germanfood.about.com/od/baking/r/blackforestcake.htm

    We cheated, I did use a good
    chocolate cake mix, and tart
    cherries (that I love) in juice
    for the filling, instead of
    cherries in syrup. The
    kirschwasser isn't necessary,
    either:)

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  13. Wow! Clisby's chicken recipe sounds good. The Squire and I like Indian food, and there is a family at our church from Madras, so we are in Heaven.

    This heat has us all flummoxed. Our grandson is a lineman for the electric company and while the paycheck is going to be spectacular with 18 hours days, I don't envy him up on those poles. And of course, everyone wants to be the first to have their power back on. His crew has one man down with heat stroke and another in the hospital when the broken pole he was trying to release swung around and hit him.

    And while I also have a blog, I don't do Facebook, either.

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  14. We cooked "cajun" here in Louisiana.
    I could find a recipe but mostly it's a little of this and a tad of that and a pinch of whatever. That's the way Mama cooked,

    Facebook! Bah! I did set it up a couple years ago but it did not make sense to me. I don't us it.

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  15. I agree with you Mary Ann, about Facebook. I too don't think all need to see everything I read or put where I am if I comment. Facebook started making many changes to Facebook. Ruining it in my opinion. Couldn't see where there were any improvements according to the comments. But makes them no difference. Has happened so much and so many times, with people not liking, that it comes on the news on TV when they are changing things agin, saying you probably won't like it. I'm anxious to read the book you and Suzanne just wrote. Maxie ( mac262@me.com )

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  16. Mexican and TexMex are big here in Texas. My husband’s aunt used to serve us a meal she learned about while visiting New Mexico. We always called it Mexican Enchiladas but it isn’t the typical enchilada.

    Ingredients Needed

    Leftover Meat
    Corn Tortillas
    Eggs
    Chili Powder
    Grated Cheddar Cheese

    Begin with some type of leftover meat; chicken is our favorite. Simply make gravy with the meat. I usually have chicken broth in the freezer and use this in the gravy for added flavor.
    Once the gravy is ready, it needs to be a little thick but on the runny side, add chili powder. I usually don’t measure; instead I just sprinkle it in and stir until the gravy has a nice chili powder taste but still taste like chicken gravy. (Hope you understand what I’m trying to say).
    Now place the gravy to the side and begin warming up corn tortillas on a hot surface. While these are heating start some fried eggs in a skillet.
    To layer simple place a small amount of gravy on the bottom of a plate or pie plate; top with a warm corn tortilla and add some more gravy. Now place a fried egg on top of the gravy and add more gravy to the top of the egg. Next add a second warm corn tortilla, top with gravy and then add some grated cheddar cheese.

    These are wonderful and a perfect way to use up leftovers.

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  17. I have some Russian recipes I can share with you as well. Just email me at kravetz7(at)juno(dot)com.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.