Gardening vs. Cooking

Today is going to be a challenge.  The weather will be divine for being outside. However, I feel the need to cook.  Do I work outside in the sunshine and build a new flower bed or two?  Or, do I stay inside and create a delicious dish?  

What do you think?  Check back in later tonight and see how the day went!

Vacuum Sealer

I'm obsessed with vacuum sealing food.  I love to cook and do so only in huge quantities.  I am not a fan of fast food or chain restaurants at all. I love good food when I eat.  I cook good food.  I cook like my Mama and my Grannie.  I cook like a Southern cook.  But I've learned a few things about cooking and eating.  You can always have healthy fresh food if you learn how to vacuum seal.

I started with a little ordinary vacuum sealer from the local Walmart.  I bought the rolls of bags and cut them to fit.  The sealer lasted a while but not too long.  The rolls of bags were expensive and bulky.  It wasn't until I learned of this cool place called The Vak Shack that I really learned to vac seal.  I order bags that are pre-cut and so economical.  I've ordered from them for a couple of years now.  It makes keeping and sealing great food fresh and economical.  

I can put up just enough in individual servings or for 2, 3, or 4 people.  Food just does not go to waste at our house.  Meat does not go to waste in our house.  When I find meat on sale at the store, I grab it, seal it and freeze it.  We can often eat rib eye, t-bone or tenderloin steaks for as little as 4.99 per pound.   Chicken, pork chops and wild game are often abundant in our freezer as I only try to buy meat when it is on sale and cheap.

When my last vac sealer finally died, I splurged and bought a commercial vac sealer.  What a great investment that was.  I use it at least 3 -5 times a week.  I never let fresh vegetables go to waste.   I just seal and freeze.  I always have great veggies as the local farmer's market this season was a fun Saturday morning adventure.  The good news is we eat a lot healthier these days.  

I close this ramble with a brief shout out to Amanda Crum who is back at the helm of the The Vak Shack!  I missed you while you were gone.

File' Gumbo, Baylor Bears and Rain

Life is full of simple pleasures.  It just takes us a long time to figure out that the simple pleasures in life are really the greatest blessings we have.  

File' gumbo is a recipe that I have never really mastered.  The best gumbo maker I know is my sweet friend, Pattycake.   She is making me a huge pot today, and I have been dreaming of it all week long.  My mouth has been watering for 3 days.  Smelling the spices this morning just made me hungry all day long.  Best friends and great food make life grand.

Baylor Bears are ranked #8 this week and are undefeated this far into the season.  Watching how Art Briles has taken this team and developed raw talent into football history makes me so very happy to be a part of the Baylor Bear family.  

Rain is such a blessing.  We take if for granted because our lawns and plants are beautiful thanks to the modern day sprinkler system.  However, rain is so powerful.  Listening to it pound on the roof and seeing how it fills our little lake in the neighborhood are simple blessings in life that I recognize and give thanks for every time the sky opens up to rain.  

So I ask you, what simple pleasures in life make you happy, make you smile and make your day?

Oxford Miss is Ole Miss

On a recent trip to Oxford, Mississippi, I learned several things.  I would say these are the top 10 things I learned on my trip to Mississippi.  These things in no particular order are as follows:

1.  Kudzu grows like wildfire in Mississippi and there is really no way to kill it.
2.  Boure' is one of the best seafood joints in the South.
3.  You can't get good Mexican food in Oxford.
4.  The Square in Oxford is really the true essence of a Southern College Football Town.
5.  There is actually a road in Oxford called Seed Tick Road.
6.  Kids really do still use bicycles as a means of transportation.
7.  Parker Wood is the best steak cooker I have ever met.
8.  You never ever quit being a Rebelette.
9.  There is something special about being Southern.
10.  You can find some of the best pizza in the world in Sardis, Miss at Tribecca Allie's.

Great Service

I am a big fan of delicious food and great service.  I rarely eat at fast food restaurants.  When I sit down and eat, I like it be on a plate (not paper) with a knife, fork and spoon (not plastic) and using a cloth napkin.  I like real glasses, except that I am pretty partial to my Tervis tumblers, and don’t drink out of plastic bottles at the table.  I love the Fort Worth Club for just that very reason.

I also enjoy feeding a lot of people.  I love to cook and do it pretty often.  I like to manage meals and not have leftovers.   I cook in large quantities but the food should always taste good no matter what you are cooking or for how many.  On a recent Princess cruise ship, I figured it would be really difficult to feed so many people and say that the food is not bland or fast food quality.  However, on that cruise, to say that there were thousands of people and the food was always delicious is really an understatement.  I am amazed at how the ship daily prepared delicious meals and yet managed to present the food in tasty servings on a consistent basis.  Several thousand folks on this boat  were being fed three or more times a day.  The meals were well seasoned; the servings were a nice proportion, and the combinations amazing.  Most restaurants serve a special type of food and don’t try to do it all.  Princess does it all.  The thing I am most impressed with is the consistency of how great the food AND the service each and every day. 

The service was amazing on the ship.  The wait staff was always kind and courteous.  They were very attuned to your wishes on board the Princess Cruises.  This is by far my favorite of cruise lines I’ve ever sailed.

Is Pasta Southern?

I had a group of friends over on Saturday night for Pasta Bar.  Of course there was a little wine involved as well thanks to my friend, Pattycake.  Ellen brought a great salad and Janice came with her famous ice cream cake dessert.  I still have 1/2 piece of the dessert left in the freezer but I only eat two bites a day so I can savor it as long as possible.

But back to Pasta Bar.  I get a lot of ingredients and cut them up and put them in bowls.  I use onions, peppers, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, capers, zucchini  chicken and shrimp.  I boil up a whole lot of bow tie pasta and then have marinara and Alfredo sauce.  Everyone tells you what they want in their pasta and you cook it up in a skillet for them individually while everyone eats as their pasta is done.  I can keep three skillets going at once.

I had to ask myself, it this really a Southern dish.  We think of  pasta as Italian food, but served as a pasta bar, I am sure it is Southern.  Especially in how we cater to each and every diner at the table or who is sitting around the bar.  This is just a wonderful way to celebrate friends and family.  You could almost do it as a pot luck and assign everyone one or two things to bring.  

Just my musings on a few random thoughts this morning.  Hope you have a good Wednesday.