Eggs in Purgatory

We just tried this for the first time this week and it is definitely coming into regular rotation. We LOVED it.
Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat, add 1 cup of marinara sauce, simmer covered for 15 minutes. Gently crack four eggs into the sauce, making room with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cover for 3 more minutes. Serve with crusty bread, we used pita.

Baked Eggs

This is one of my favorite breakfasts. Having recently discovered an allergy to egg white, I now eat around the white but still enjoy this dish.
Layer in each ramekin:
Sliced tomato
other steamed veg or cooked meat
1 egg
shredded cheddar and pepperjack, crumbled feta, or any kind of hard or soft cheese
T of cream
Salt and Pepper
Broil for aprox 15 min?

Korean Beef Ribs

I came home from work to this fabulous dish cooking in the slow cooker. Thank you awesome husband! The house smelled like a yummy Chinese restaurant.
Soy sauce
Brown sugar
2 Jalapeno, cut in half
Cook on low for 8 hours

Roast Chicken in the Crock

Cut the veg in half or quarters, no need to peel, skin or trim anything. Place in bottom of slow cooker. We use:
Carrot
Onion
Celery
Jalapeno
Rinse 5 lb chicken and stuff with halved lemons and any fresh or dried herbs on hand.
Place chicken on top of veg & douse with:
Soy sauce
Garlic minced
Salt & pepper
Set the cooker on low for 8 hours & marvel at how the house fills with a homey scent.

Suet bird Feeder

These days we spend a lot of time watching birds enjoy their feeders in our garden. I think I could watch them for hours from the warmth of the kitchen table. I decided to venture making a suet block for them with leftover suet from our roast chicken dinner.
Mix any of the following together:
1 C flour
1/2 C suet (rendered fat)
1/2 C oats
1/2 C peanut butter
1/2 C nuts
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C bird seed
1/2 C any other dried fruit, nuts, seeds you have lying around.
Mush into a sort of paste with a spatula & dump it onto wax paper. flatten into a block shape with another piece of wax paper & refrigerate to harden.

We cut our block into 3 even squares to fit the suet cage we picked up at the local hardware store for $3.99. Since hanging it up we have seen myriad more varieties of birds, and many dark small ones that we can't yet identify.

Citrus and Cheese Tart

Today, I made a citrus fruit tart to use a surplus crust from yesterday's pie making session. I decided to top the tart with mandarin oranges as we have half a box of these left over from Christmas time.

Combine the following and pour in a par baked graham cracker crust:
8 oz Cream Cheese (room temp)
1/4 C butter (room temp)
1/2 C sugar
2 egg yolks
Pinch salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
T lemon or orange juice
Bake on 425 for 10 minutes, reduce temp to 325 and bake for 30 minutes more.

Should be browned and slightly firm feeling. I love how it puffed up...

And fell way back down as it cooled. Resist the strong urge to dig in at this point.

Once custard is completely cool, arrange your fruit of choice on the top.

Brush on a glaze using some fruit jelly that you've heated a bit, or added hot water to.

Key Lime Pie

There's a lot more cooking and a lot less gardening around this house lately, it must be the middle of Winter! We made a wonderful Key Lime Pie for a dinner with friends last night. We had served this to them before & got a request for it again. We all agree it is amazing. For the recipe look up Oprah's key lime pie. Instead of graham crackers in the crust, we used almond biscotti from Christmas time. It was quite good.

Dry Fried and Marinated Tofu

Delicious and flavorful tofu-made delectable with a sweet and salty marinade.

Mix up a marinade using:
1/2 C Soy
1/2 C Rice Vinegar
1/4 C Sweet Rice wine
1/2 an onion minced
1 inch piece of peeled ginger root, minced
T chili paste
T lime juice

Cut tofu into the shape and size you would like to bite.

Fry on both sides in a dry pan to remove water. This allows the tofu to suck up all the marinade in the next step.

Fry in batches to give them room and add to marinade as they come off the pan.


Fry up 20 minutes or a day later. Layer with steamed veg, cooked noodles and chopped nuts...even better the second day as a cold noodle salad! This has me practically licking the plate.

Winter Veg

The last of the Winter harvest. Parsnips, leeks, parsley, beets, shallots and jalapenos! There are just a few leeks left in the garden for an early spring harvest.