Microwave Bacon

Have you ever had microwave bacon? Well, it’s all right but I definitely wouldn’t choose it over real bacon.


The microwave bacon is precooked and comes in a box. I bought Oscar Mayer brand, but there are others out there. It cost around $3 for 15 strips. You just take a couple pieces out and stick them in the microwave for about a minute and that’s it.

Compared to real bacon, it is kind of dry and chewy and doesn’t get as crunchy (which is how I like my bacon...crunchy). On the plus side though, it’s faster, easier, and there’s less of a mess to clean up afterwards (bacon grease is a pain in the ass and splatters everywhere).

If you are on a diet, this is a good alternative to real bacon. Oscar Mayer’s microwave bacon is about 70 calories for four strips and real bacon is about 40-50 per strip.

Since I’m in college and can’t really cook bacon whenever I want, I bought the microwave stuff. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it. I guess I was thinking that I might want bacon sometime. That wasn’t really the case though. I ate a couple pieces and then it just sat in my fridge. A while later, I checked the expiration date and decided I better start eating it before it went bad. Surprisingly enough, it tastes pretty good with cheese and salsa in a quesadilla. I finally threw it away about a week and a half after the expiration date because it started to get slimy. I don’t think I’ll ever buy it again.

So if you’re craving bacon but don’t want to take the time to cook it and then have to clean up the mess (or if you’re on a diet), I recommend the microwave stuff. It is actually pretty good on BLTs. But, if you’re wanting a delicious breakfast with the works, get the real stuff.

Word of the Day: brinner (it’s breakfast for dinner)

Apple Recipies

This weekend I went home to visit my family for the weekend. I was having trouble finding something to write about during the week but, as soon as I came I found something to write about right away. My mom is a very good baker and loves to bake so I occasionally get things from her when she comes to visit me at school and I appreciate it very much. This weekend my mom went out and bought 36 apples and made four different apple dessert recipes. My mom makes really good apple pies, crisp, muffins, and apple snack bars.

Up-side Down Apple Pie

Crust:

· 3 cups of all purpose flour

· 1 tbsp sugar

· 1 tsp salt

· ¾ cup of cold butter, cubed

· 1/3 shortening, cubed

· 5 tbsp cold water

Pecans:

· ½ cup packed brown sugar

· ¼ cup butter melted

· 1 cup pecan halves

Filling:

· 1 cup sugar

· 1/3 all purpose flour

· 2 tbsp butter melted

· ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

· 8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples

For the crust combined all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix all the ingredients together and divide the dough in half. Wrap the two halves in plastic and refrigerate both portions for 45 minutes. Coat a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides of the plate with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar in the butter and stir in pecans. Arrange in the bottom of the prepared pie pan with rounded sides of the pecans facing down.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one half of the dough to fit the bottom and sides of the pie pan. And trim the edges .

In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Add the apples and toss to coat the apples. Fill the crust. Take the other half of the dough and fit it to the top of the pie. Trim and seal the edges then cut slits in the pastry.

Bake the pie in the oven at 375 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown. After the pie is cone baking carefully loosen the parchment paper around the edges of the pie. Invert hot pie onto a serving plate and remove the parchment paper and wait 15 minutes to cool off before serving.

Apple Nut Muffins:

· 2 tbsp butter

· 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

· 1 tbsp all purpose flour

· ½ tsp ground cinnamon

· ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

· 2 cups ficed peeled apples

· ½ finely chopped nuts

Muffins:

· ¾ cup butter, softened

· 1-1/2 cup sugar

· 3 eggs

· 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

· 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour

· 1-1/2 tsp baking powder

· 1-1/2 tsp baking soda

· ¾ tsp salt

· 1-1/2 cups of sour cream

In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the apples cook over medium low heat for ten minutes or until tender. Remove from heat and then stir in the nuts and let cool.

In a large bowl mix the butter, and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each. Beat in the vanilla. Combine dry ingredients .

Spoon ¼ cupfuls of batter into greased jumbo muffin cups. Spoon apple mixture into the center of each. top with remaining batter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-27 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

Apple Snack Bars

· 2 cups of sugar

· 2 eggs

· ¾ cup vegetable oil

· 2-1/2 cups self rising flour

· 1 tsp ground cinnamon

· 3 cups diced peeled tart apples

· 1 cup chopped walnuts

· ¾ cup butterscotch chips

In a bowl combine the sugar eggs and oil. Then stir in the flour and cinnamon. Lastly stir in the apples and nut.

Spread into a greased 13 inch by 9 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with the butterscotch chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool before cutting.

I was very privileged coming home this weekend because I was able to get all these good desserts and found something to write about. There are many great and easy things you can make out of apples that are fast and easy.

On the Go

Here at Purdue, we have this thing called On the Go. Here’s how it works:

I have a meal plan, so I get 12 meal swipes a week (they have different plans with a varying number of meal swipes). On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I don’t have time to eat lunch in the dining halls so I have to get On the Go lunches. When you get an On the Go lunch, you get one entree and four sides. Sounds fair right? Well it’s not.

For entrees, they have things like chicken sandwiches, cheeseburgers, turkey sandwiches, salads, etc. That’s fair. But for sides, they have things like fruit roll ups, Little Debbie Treats, and single serve chip bags like Doritos and Fritos. I really don’t feel like that is worth my money considering a meal, whether it’s in a dining hall or On the Go, costs about $10 (that’s for non-students, it’s a little less with a meal plan but I can’t find how much).

Don’t get me wrong, they also have soup and stuff like yogurt for sides, but I still don’t think it’s worth it. When you look at the bags of chips, it says in the corner of the bag 35 cents a bag or 3 for $1 (see above picture). Think about that. How much would a chicken sandwich cost at a fast food place. You can get one at McDonald’s for $1. Then say for your sides you get four bags of chips. That’s $1.35. Your whole meal, with tax, would cost less than $3. Does that seem fair?

Here’s what I would like to see done with the On the Go system:

Instead of getting prepackaged food, give us styrofoam take home containers like they do in restaurants and let us walk around the dining hall and fill them up. Then I would feel like I would be getting my money’s worth (kind of, but at least I’d be getting just as much as if I sat down to eat)!

Word of the Day: giblets

Soup

Today it was very cold outside. It was the first REALLY cold day of the season. And it wouldn’t have been so bad if the wind wasn’t so strong. Walking outside was like torture. Then I got to lunch. Grilled cheese and minestrone soup. It was perfect! I forgot how awesome soup is. I usually don’t eat it during the summer so it had been awhile since I’d last eaten it. Plus, minestrone is one of my favorite soups. I became addicted to it thanks to Olive Garden’s soup, salad, and breadsticks deal.

For those of you who don’t know, minestrone soup is made in a vegetable or chicken broth and contains some sort of small noodle, beans, and lots of vegetables. The tomatoes are what give the broth it’s red color.

One thing that I think is interesting is that the minestrone soup that I had today had chickpeas in it. Either I’ve never had minestrone soup with chickpeas in it before or I just haven’t noticed them. I hate chickpeas! But, they added a nice texture to this particular soup.

Last week I tried Subway’s soup for the first time. I had some sort of vegetable noodle soup (it pretty much tasted like minestrone) and I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was.

Another kind of soup that I like is chicken noodle soup. CLASSIC! I don’t care if it’s Campbells, it still tastes delicious. I also like cheesy potato or cheesy broccoli soup (O’Charleys’ cheesy potato soup is really good).

I’ve never made my own soup before, but I know it’s pretty easy. As far as I know, you just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot with some sort of broth/stock and a little seasoning or herbs. This winter I want get some stuff to make a big pot of soup in the kitchenette downstairs and invite all my friends to enjoy it with me.

If you have any good soup recipes or suggestions for a first time soup maker, send them my way.

Word of the Day: cannellini

congee--for your health care

Today I'd like to introduce another traditional Chinese food--congee. It is more than a food, also is treated as nourishment for health care. The simplest way to cook congee is boiling rice with water until viscous. Neither the materials nor the cooking method is complex for making congee.

I like it because of its nice aroma and the feel of soft fluid rice on the tongue. Since the rice would be cooked so soft and viscous, the congee is to be drunk rather than eaten. My grandma used to cook different types of congees for me. Every time she cooked congee. the entire house would be full of the aroma. So before my mouth tasted the congee, the nose had already enjoyed.

There are usually two ways to cook congee. One is cooking the rice with high fire until the water is boiling, then switch to slow fire to make the congee viscous. The second way is the same as the first one at the beginning. The difference is that you need to pour the boiling congee into a wooden barrel to stew in a sealed condition. Personally I prefer the second way because it can make the aroma stronger. But it would cost more time and effort. When cooking congee, sufficient water should be added all at one time, otherwise the congee won't be evenly viscous.

Commonly, people don't eat clear congee, instead they will put some ingredients to make the congee tastier. The ingredients such as medlar, shredded meat and sashimi would be put in the congee on slow fire after the clear congee has boiled. There are dozens of common congees due to different ingredients. Many Chinese medicinal plants are also included in those ingredients. Therefore, most congees have different functions of health care. For example. prevent constipation, lose weight and increase appetite.

Now do you want to have a bowl of delicious congee? Go and make it!

Banana's Foster

Banana's Foster is a great dessert that originated in New Orleans in the 1950's in an acted to promote the fruit that was being imported from Central and South America. Now Banana's Foster is an international favorite and is the most requested item on menus today. Thirty-five thousand pounds of bananas have been flamed at Brennan's restaurant in the preparation of its world famous dessert.


The first time I had this dessert was in New Orleans at the Palace Cafe. The way the waiters made the dessert was really cool. They brought out carts with an electric skillet and started to make the dessert right in front of us. It was really cool how they came out and made it right in front of us.

I hvae made this dessert twice and it is as fun to make it than it is watching it. The first time I made it it was for a group of friends so I know what I was doing for the next day where I was making it in front a group of people from my church. I was a little nervous because I had only made the dessert once and wasn't quite confident with what I was doing. When it came down to I did really good and everyone enjoyed the dessert and complemented on how good it was.

Here's the recipe for Banana's Foster:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1/4 cup of banana liqueur
  
• 4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise, then halved
• 1/4 cup of dark rum
• 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Directions:

• Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambe pan or skillet
• place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.
• Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan.
• When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum.
• Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to light the rum.
• When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream.
  
• Generously spoon the warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.
  

Seasonings

I believe the most important part to grilling is the way you season the meat. It all comes down to the way the meal tastes after you are done grilling. Yeah anyone can grill something without burning it but, that doesn't mean that it will taste the best. The key is having the right amount of seasoning on the meat.

I will not go to a restaurant and order a steak because the restaurants don't always season the steak the just throw it on the grill. Yeah the grill it well but they can't season it well. The only steak I will eat is when I grill it myself or when I know who is grilling and they know what they are doing. I have gone to many Steakhouses and passed on getting a steak for this reason example the Beef House in Covington, IN. Great restaurant but they cannot grill. This place has many great cuts of meat but since they only put a pinch of seasoning on the meat it isn't worth anything.

When I am preparing steaks to grill them. I set them out in a line on wax paper. I then take McCormick Steak Rub and sprinkle the rub on the steaks. I then take garlic salt, salt, pepper, and onion powder and sprinkle them on the steaks as well. After all the seasonings are applied to the steaks I rub them in. I do this on both sides. Be careful not to add too much of the season salts but, if you don't add enough it will not taste very good.

After the steaks are done on one side I take the McCormick's steak rub And sprinkle a little more on the side that is already done to add to the flavor that it might have lost while it was cooking. When the steaks are done sit down and enjoy!

Calories and Nutrition

Americans are becoming more and more overweight. Some just keep eating, but others are making a change. One diet trend that I’ve noticed is counting calories. My mom and dad have been doing it for years.

If you have the time and money, talk to your doctor or a nutritionist to determine how many calories you should eat a day. If this isn’t possible, most websites will tell you that adults should eat about 2000 calories a day and about 300 fewer if they want to lose weight. (Obviously exercising and drinking lots of water is important too.)

If you need some help getting started and want to know more about calorie counting, I recommend the book The Calorie King. It includes the number of calories in hundreds of different foods and for dishes at tons of your favorite restaurants.

Which brings me to my next topic…

Restaurants need to make their nutrition facts more readily available. Some restaurants have healthier choice foods on their menus which do include some nutrition facts, but you still have to search for facts on the other foods.

At some restaurants, they have nutrition pamphlets on the walls. At other places you have to ask for them. My mom and I were at some fast food place and she asked for a nutrition sheet and the cashier had to ask his manager where they were. The manager dug around for a couple minutes and showed my mom a laminated copy that she had to give back when she was done reading because the manager said it was the only copy.

Most restaurants have their nutrition facts online but that doesn’t really help you pick what to eat unless 1) you know where you’re going to eat before you leave and have time to look up their menu and nutrition facts beforehand or 2) if you have an iPhone.

Word of the Day: organic

Crab

Do you know what the Chinese are doing now? I am pretty sure they are eating crabs! I should be eating too if I was in China. October is the very time that crabs in the lake have grown mature. Most Chinese families would cook crabs at this time because the stuffs under the hard shells are so delicious.

The most common crabs Americans eat are from the sea, I think. So they may not know the taste form the lakes. Chinese people are crazy about the fresh water crabs, especially from Yangcheng Lake. It is said that the crabs grown in that lake are the biggest and the most delicious. Thereby the price of crabs from Yangcheng Lake is the highest among all, about 7 to 8 dollars per each single crab!

Yesterday I talked with my father through video chatting. He showed me a bag of live Yangcheng Lake crabs. These little creatures fought with each other in the bag using their pincers. Apparently they were so excited when seeing me. They probably knew I missed them so much!

I remember when I was young, my parents bought some crabs. We kept them in the bathtub and planed to cook in the next day. However, in the next morning, all crabs were gone from the bathtub. It had really cost us much effort to find them. In the end, one crab escaped successfully while the others were caught either under the beds or in the corners.

Cooking crabs is very easy. You only have to put cleaned crabs into a cauldron and steam for 20 minutes. After their black shells turn red, the crabs are well done. Compared to cooking, eating crabs is more difficult due to the hard shells. An old hand could easily get a complete piece of meat from the crab, but if it's your first time to eat crab, you may get nothing. Most people like the oil in the crab more than its meat. You can't realize the delicacy of the crab oil until you try it.

After this October, people have to wait a whole year to taste the crabs again. Unfortunately I have to wait at least four years.

Oreos

Oreos were invented by Nabisco in 1912. Through the years, they have released many kinds of Oreos including Golden Oreos and the ones with the orange cream filling for Halloween. In 1975, Nabisco introduced Double Stuf Oreos. In my opinion, this was a very smart move on their part. Everyone knows that the best part of the Oreo is the cream filling. So why wouldn't we want more of it?

How to eat an Oreo

Oreos are good plain but here are some other ways to eat them:

1) with milk - Everyone who's ever had an Oreo has dipped it in milk at some time or another. Oreos and milk are so delicious together that there is even a song about them!



Lyrics

Oh, Oh, Oh, ice cold milk
and an Oreo cookie
They forever go together,
What a classic combination
When a dark, delicious cookie
meets an icy cold sensation
Like the one and only creamy,
crunchy, chocolate, O-R-E-O

During the holidays, I like to melt white chocolate and dip Oreos in it and let them harden. They are amazing! Another thing that you can do with Oreos is turn them into Oreo Balls. I am warning you now, these are really rich (but still delicious)!


Here’s what you need and how to make them:

1 package Oreo cookies
1 block softened cream cheese
1 package white baking chocolate squares

Crumble entire package of Oreos until smooth. Add cream cheese to crumbled Oreos (works GREAT in a food processor). Form Oreo mixture into balls and place on cookie sheet covered in wax paper and place in fridge or freezer. When balls are stiff, melt the white chocolate in microwave. Using a toothpick, dip balls into melted chocolate, place back on cookie sheet. When all are covered in chocolate, place in fridge and chocolate will harden

ENJOY!

Word of the Day: bittersweet

Breadsticks and Other Delicious Breads

Earlier today I ate at Hotbox Pizza. Hotbox has some of the most delicious breadsticks that I've ever eaten. They are slightly salty because they have more garlic on them than most breadsticks and they are perfect! They are the perfect doughiness and the cheese sauce is amazing! Hotbox also has really good marinara sauce which says a lot because I don't usually like marinara. Their garlic sauce however is a little weak.

Another restaurant that has good breadsticks is Olive Garden. Their breadsticks aren't as doughy or garlic-y as Hotbox's, but they are still tasty. They are the kind of breadsticks that are good without sauce. Fazoli's also has good breadsticks. They're doughy too...and really greasy.

Texas Roadhouse has delicious rolls and sweet butter, but O'Charleys rolls and butter (on the right) might be just a little better. They seem a bit doughier and the butter seems a bit sweeter. Whenever I go to O'Charleys, I only order a bowl of cheesy potato soup 1) because it is delicious 2) because I want something small to eat with my rolls and 3) because it compliments the rolls. I have a friend who used to work there and she told me that each roll was like 700 calories! And that doesn't even include the butter! And I like a LOT of butter on my rolls! I don't know if I believe her though. (She was way off, I just looked it up and its says that they are only 162 calories a roll.)

Red Lobster has really good cheddar biscuits. I don't go to Red Lobster a lot though because I hate seafood. I know that they have other things like chicken or pasta, but I can't stand to sit in a restaurant that smells like fish. It makes my chicken taste fishy.

Before my grandma got too old, she used to make homemade yeast rolls for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They were delicious. Now, my uncle bakes fresh homemade bread. It is really doughy too. (If you haven't noticed, I'm a sucker for doughy breads.)

My favorite kind of loaf bread from the store is potato bread. I like the texture (and doughiness) that it has with all the seeds and whatever else is in it. I also like Hawaiian bread (because it's sweet) and pita bread.

Word of the Day: doughy

Instant Noodle

Today I went to a Japanese shop and bought a bundle of instant noodle. I like eating instant noodle at night when I have to stay up watching a live soccer match or doing homework. It would make me really hungry to stay awake at two o'clock in the morning. Instant noodle is a more convenient way to satisfy my stomach than cooking food. That's way instant noodle is an essential supply in my house.

Instant noodle is adored by Asians, but not popular in American. So I have to explain a bit more. As its name suggests, instant noodle is a kind of fast food that resembles normal noodle pretty much but more convenient in cooking. After being dunked in hot water for only 5 minutes, a bowl of delicious noodle can be eaten. Instant noodle sold in supermarket is stiff and dried noodle block which has been boiled and fried. Along with the noodle block, there is a small sauce pack and a dehydrated vegetables and meat pack. The small packs matter a lot in the quality of instant noodle. Due to different packs, there are various flavors of instant noodle. Most frequent ones are spicy, sea food and braised beef flavor.

According to a Japanese survey, instant noodle is recognized as the most important invention of Japan in the last century. It is obvious to see how popular the instant noodle is in Japan.

Nowadays, many people boycott instant noodle because it is a fried fast food. As a result, non-fried instant noodle has been developed. Non-fried instant noodle is healthier but more expensive.

Some people are so busy that they eat instant noodle as meals every day. It can really save them a lot of time compared by cooking or going eating outside. However, instant noodle does not contain enough nutrition to support daily life. It can just be treated as snacks that can solve hunger when you are not willing to cook.

I don't eat it every day. I only eat it when I miss its palatable taste.

Electric Grills

An electric grill can be a college students best friend. Students are not allowed to have regular gas or charcoal grills so we have to make do with what we can get.

The George Foreman Electric Grills are great for apartments or dorm rooms. They are small and compact. They are also easy to clean up. They make many different styles and types of grills.

The grills can do basically everything you can do with a real grill. Without having to go outside and they are a lot faster then a real grill because they cook the food on both sides at once.

The only set back to these grills is that you can't control the heat of the grill so you can't really cook your meats the way you want them done. Other than that they are a great college students friend.

Tortilla Soup

One of my favorite fall time meals is my moms Chicken Tortilla Soup. This soups warms you right up on a cold fall day. My mom got this recipe a couple years ago and she always makes it the first day it really gets cold and it is always so good. This year since I moved out I won't be able to enjoy it. Next time I go home it will be my request to have. I would recommend this soup to anyone because it is so good.



Here's a great recipe for Chicken Tortilla soup.

• 1 onion chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 pounds boneless chicken shredded
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1 Tbs Cumin
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups tomato, chopped
• 1 cup Zucchini, diced
• 4 tortillas, cut in squares
• 1/4 cup grated cheese
• 1/4 bunch cilantro, leaves only
• 2 medium carrots diced
• 2 capsicums cut into small pieces
• Salt and pepper as and how you require

Combine chicken stock, onion, capsicum, carrots, tomato, garlic, pepper, and oregano. Bring to boil and simmer it for 25 minutes. Add zucchini, chicken pieces and simmer for another 25 minutes. Cut tortillas into small pieces and sauté in oil until crisp. Take them out on paper towels to drain out excess oil.

To serve, place tortilla pieces in bowls and cover them with cheese and then pour in the soup and garnish the soup with cilantro leaves.

You can also prepare the soup in an oven. Set the temperature to 350°F and place a nonstick Dutch oven with cooking spray; add chicken and cook until it is brown or the pink is no longer visible. Add carrots, capsicum, pepper, onion, garlic, oregano and cumin; cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Put in the chicken broth and tomato and heat it to boil. Then cover it and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Bake the tortilla strips for about 10 minutes until crisp. Put cilantro in the bowls and ladle the soup into bowls and top it with tortilla soups.)

Deer Chili

I asked one of my friends what his favorite dinner was and he said that his favorite meal when it is really cold out is to have his moms deer chili. He likes to sit and watch football while having a bowl of the chili. With this meal he likes to have two slices of garlic bread. If that's all he could eat ever my friend said he'd enjoy every bowl of the chili. This year he said he can't wait for deer season to come around so he can get the first deer so he can have his first bowl of chili for the year.


I don't have his moms recipe for the chili but I found this one that sounds just as good.

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 pounds venison, cut into cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

This chili take 30 minutes fir prep time and 4 hours to cook.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook venison, onion and garlic in oil until meat is browned. Transfer to a slow cooker and stir together with chiles, beans, broth oregano, cumin, salt and paprika. Cook on medium 4 to 5 hours.

What I like to do with my chili I like to add shredded cheddar cheese to the top and acouple drops of hot sauce to enhance the flavors.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter

I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter (maybe cuz I'm a girl)! I don't care what it is, if it has chocolate AND peanut butter, I'm eatin' it. (Right now, I'm eating chocolate and peanut butter covered swirl pretzels and they are delicious!)

So, I betcha' can't guess what my favorite kind of candy is. REESE'S! I love all Reese's, but the best kinds are Fast Breaks and the special edition Holiday cups (like the Easter eggs, or the Christmas trees, or the Halloween ghosts). I don't know what it is about them, they just taste better. I think it might be the fact that unlike the normal cups, they don't have that hard edge AND they have more peanut butter. Either way, I like them the best.

One of my favorite desserts to make is something that I call Peanut Butter Fingers. They're pretty quick and easy.

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flours
• 2 cups oatmeal

For the topping:

• 12 ounces chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and peanut butter. Stir until smooth. Add remaining ingredients (excluding topping ingredients) and mix until evenly blended. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Press mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover immediately with chocolate chips and allow chips to melt, then spread evenly. Blend together powdered sugar, peanut butter, and milk until smooth. Spread topping mixture evenly over the melted chocolate chips, making a swirl pattern. Cool, cut, and serve.

If your swirls don't look very good, it's not the end of the world. My swirls look terrible, but it still tastes delicious!

If you have any tasty chocolate and peanut butter dessert recipes that you would like to share, then please do! I would love to try something new!

Word of the Day: decadence

Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole

One of my favorite Sunday breakfasts besides Biscuits and Gravy is a breakfast casserole. My mom makes a really good Sausage and Egg casserole. We have it about twice a month everyone in my family likes it so much. My mom also makes this casserole on Christmas morning every year.



Here's a quick and easy recipe for a Sausage and Egg Casserole:

• 6 large eggs
• 1 lb of sausage
• 1/4 onion chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
• 1 cup of shredded cheese
  

First preheat the oven to 350 degrees

The next step you'll want to do is to start browning the sausage. While the sausage is browning take the six eggs and beat them until they are all mixed together evenly. After the sausage is done browning pour all the sausage, eggs, onion, and green peppers into a cake pan. Then sprinkle the cheese on top. Put in the oven and bake it for 25 to 30 minutes. After it's done sit down and enjoy!

Chongqing Hotpot

Hotpot is a popular Chinese food enjoyed by all ages. It has appeared in Chinese history for nearly 2000 years, and developed into more than ten regional flavors over time. My favorite one is called Chongqing Hotpot.

I have traveled to Chongqing twice and was impressed by its hotpot. Chongqing hotpot is famous for spicy and hot. It uses a big basin as pot; inside the basin, hot soup is churning. Cayenne and other spicy seasonings are floating on the soup. The first time when you see it, you may be afraid of its spicy look; but after trying a few times, you will love it!

There are many benefits of eating Chongqing hotpot. Firstly, hotpot is very sanitary. After processed in boiling soup, all kinds of bacteria in the meat and vegetables will be killed. Most spicy seasonings in Chongqing hotpot can sterilize the stomach and help digest.

Secondly, it can save food because you are eating and cooking at the same time, you can stop adding food into the pot if you are full. No food would be wasted.

Thirdly, hotpot is so easy to operate. If you have a party or family dinner at home, cooking dishes is really inconvenient and takes much time. Instead, Chongqing hotpot just requires a pot, soup basin, some seasonings and raw materials to be put together. Everyone will put raw food into the pot as they like. A single hotpot can replace ten dishes.

Finally, a unique function of Chongqing hotpot is helping lose weight. Since it's hot and spicy, people will be sweating heavily when eating Chongqing hotpot. Even in summer, there are so many people eating hotpot in Chongqing. People think it is more economical to eat hotpot than steaming in the sauna. That is probably why both men and women in Chongqing are slim.

If you cannot eat any spicy food, there is one way for you to enjoy hotpot with others. 'Double Flavor Pot' is quite usual in Chongqing. It is a pot with a piece of steel in the middle. One side of the steel sheet is spicy soup and the other one is clear soup. It is specially designed for people who don't eat spicy.

Once thinking of Chongqing Hotpot, I will sweat, even now! Nevertheless, I just love this feeling!

Where did all my favorites go?

Every time I go out to eat, I get something specific at each restaurant. I never try anything new. If I find something that I like, I stick with it. But every now and then I'll go to a restaurant that I've been to a million times and always order the same thing at and they won't have it anymore. Where did it go? Why did they take it off the menu?

Well here's why:

Restaurants want as much business as they can get and what is a good way to bring in customers? By adding newer, trendier dishes to their menus. When they add new dishes to their menus, it only makes sense that they would have to take something else off. If they left everything on the menu, it would become extremely lengthy and overwhelming. Also, there would be too many things for the cooks to have to remember how to make. So usually what happens is that the restaurant retires old or unpopular dishes.

But come on Bob Evans! What were you thinking? I really think that Chicken Bow-tie Pasta was one of the best things on your menu! (If you haven't noticed, I am kind of a sucker for pasta with chicken in creamy sauces.) I used to go to Bob Evans all the time, but now I prefer other places thanks to the loss of my favorite dish.

And Texas Roadhouse...oh how I love your rolls and sweet butter. I used to go there a lot with my grandparents...until they took my grandma's favorite dish off of the menu. ( I can't even remember what it was...something with pork I think.) Now I don't get to go there as often.

How do restaurants determine what the "unpopular" dishes are? I'd like to know because I'm sick of looking forward to getting something only to find out that it doesn't exist anymore. If you have any ideas on how they decide this, let me know.

Word of the Day: guava

My Pumpkin

So I carved my pumpkin Sunday and it turned out great! I made a couple of tiny errors (which I am not going to point out) but for the most part, it's perfect!

Here's how it went down:

We started by cutting the tops off of our pumpkins. Always cut them at an angle so that they don't sink in when the pumpkin starts to shrivel up.

Then my boyfriend pulled out all of the insides and I picked out the seeds. Pumpkin guts were everywhere! It was soo messy and it felt soo gross but it was a lot of fun. By the way, if anyone knows a good recipe for toasting pumpkin seeds, let me know because my mom needs one.

Then we picked what we were going to carve into our pumpkins. I picked the Ghostbusters symbol, my boyfriend picked Frankenstein, and my sister and her boyfriend just did a jack-o-lantern face (which even though it was boring and unoriginal, it still turned out cute).

My sister and her boyfriend got their pumpkin done in no time, but mine and my boyfriend's took quite a bit longer. I can't even remember how long they took. Nevertheless, he finished his about 20 minutes before me.

When we were done, we lit candles and put them inside the pumpkins. Mine was soo cool! I am soo happy with how it turned out! (I forgot to take a picture of my boyfriend's before he took it home. His was good too but one of Frankenstein's eyes was collapsing.)

Next year, I will definitely try to do another awesome pumpkin. I want to do a Nightmare Before Christmas one. I might even buy a pumpkin carving kit because I only had a big knife and a medium knife which made carving the small parts difficult.

Note: If you want your pumpkin to last for Halloween, wait to carve it a couple days before hand. The Frankenstein pumpkin lasted about two days.

Word of the Day: tapioca