NaBloPoMo - Day 23 - Bring Out the Best

Not going to lie to you... I love to eat.  And, I love to cook. Momma always taught me to use only the best ingredients I could afford. One that we always used was Best Foods Mayonnaise. No Miracle Whip in our house.

When I moved to the MidWest to go to medical school, I looked for my Best Foods. To my surprise, there it's called Hellmann's! Despite the name change, it's the same fresh flavor I grew up loving.

Oh, so many good things can be made from this lovely jar: sandwiches, salads, salad dressings, sauces, desserts... yummy.

Even more yummy... going to let you in on a little secret....

You know that little lump at the top where the jar was filled...?

It's my favorite part...

As soon as I open up a new jar of mayonnaise, I take a small spoon and scoop out a bit of that luscious little lump... don't know why, but I think it's the best part of the mayonnaise. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the jar will be pretty good... but not as good as that first taste from a fresh open jar...

Any weird food things you like..? Or interesting rituals you perform...? Or is it just me...?

Day 15 - Time With Friends

Had our annual wine and mushroom party....

Still going on.... 

More when able...

Day 14 - Just a Little Something I Threw Together

I love to eat, and what's more,

I love to cook...

From traditional foods that I learned to cook

watching my grandmother at the stove

as I was growing up...

To some fancier, more challenging fare...

It's nice to have a day to just relax and cook...

crank up the Salsa music and see what's in the fridge

that I can throw together...

Yeah, that's about right....

bon appétit!

Post-Challenge Recovery

Photo by C.B.

There's always a bit of recovery period needed after the April A to Z Challenge.  It's a little stressful coming up daily with something new to write about.  And, then there's a little bit of a letdown when your page count drops back down to pre-Challenge levels.

So what do you do to recover...?

You got to Talladega!!

And, you eat lots of fried Southern food...

and blow your calorie count out the window...

Fried Catfish with Hush Puppies

Moonshine Punch

Fried Chicken with cheesy Grits

Of course, we sat high up in the stands,

so climbing all those stairs helped burn them off...

a little...

And there was excellent fruit wine to enjoy

at home afterward...

How did you recover...?

#568 - H is for Hungry

I don't get a lunch break...

There's no 30 minute leave work and take time for a break.

I'm lucky if I get 5 minutes to run to the bathroom

without someone calling me on the phone.

I usually get breakfast.

The ED doesn't start getting busy until about 10 in the morning.

So I always make sure I get a good breakfast.

Some days, I do get a lunch,

but some days I don't...

We work twelves, so even if I get a lunch around 1:30,

it's still a looong time until 8 p.m. when I get off shift.

So around 6:30, I start to daydream,

and I start to think about what I'd like to be eating....

smoked turkey drumstick

Rubio's fish tacos especial...

for those of you that recognize this, 

yep, it's the Pesky Combo...

yum..!

and hot dogs...

why do I crave hot dogs...??

The nurses try to keep me fed...

Because they say I get like this:

Cooking With Momma...

So, I've enjoyed having my mother here over the holidays.

And, one of the things we've been doing together is cooking!

On my free days, it's been a pleasure to recreate my favorite recipes

from when I was growing up...

Like potato salad.  Mom's potato salad was the staple at every family gathering

because she made the best.

Mine was pretty close,

and she made suggestions on improvement.

Then there's taquitos, aka rolled tacos...

I love them... so we made them,

inspired by the avocados that my uncle sent me.

Delicious, yes they were...

Then we got a little more complicated and made pozole

which is a pork and hominy soup.

You create a salad topping

with fresh cabbage and radishes...

It was everything a comfort food should be...

Then, the Final Exam... Mole

Mole (mol-eh) is a sauce which varies

depending on which region in Mexico you're from.

My grandmother was from central Mexico near Guadalajara,

and I have never tasted a mole similar to hers.

Today, mom and I tried to recreate it.

I didn't realize how much work went into it...

Just the right amount and balance of chilis,

and mom adding in the special blend of spices

and super secret touches...

This mole came pretty darn close to what I remember from childhood...

We're not complaining... it's delicious!

En Francais, it would be bon apetit...

In Spanish, it's buen provecho!

NaBloPoMo Day 19 - Comfort Food

I think I've written about this before, 

but there are some places you just like to go to when you're traveling.

Like the Black Bear Diner.

This is probably one of my husband's favorite travel restaurants.

Their pancakes are big and yummy...

And, they seem to specialize in homey comfort food.

There's a scene from "Memphis Belle" where one of the characters

is describing his dream of opening a chain of restaurants

which would all have a common menu.

The girl he is trying to impress makes the comment that

"won't that be boring to have the same food everywhere?"

and, he answers, "No, it's comforting."

And, it kind of is...

NaBloPoMo Day 18 - Cooking Shows

I love watching cooking shows.  "Chopped," "Sweet Genius," "Iron Chef," etc.   And, to be honest, I never used to watch them until a friend came over for dinner and started talking about "Chopped."  I was intrigued, so I started watching, and now DH and I are hooked.

I love to cook, and I have learned a lot about cooking and using different ingredients just by watching the show.  Like, I have learned to heat up my oil with the garlic in it instead of tossing the garlic into the hot oil.  And, some nights staring into the abyss that our refrigerator can be at times I feel like I am on an episode of "Chopped."  Let's see... how do I combine an overripe tomato, a can of mushroom soup and some leftover pizza into a meal...?  Hmm...

Anyway, DH and I have a lot of fun trying to guess which contestant is going to be cut, or discussing which dish we would never eat, or trying to figure out how to remake a dish we've seen on the show at home.  We make fun of the contestants, and add "and you suck" when Chef Ron Ben-Israel pushes a dish back that he has just tasted.  Not nice, yes, but a fun bonding experience nonetheless.

Hmm... wonder if I can make that pumpkin souffle I saw on "Iron Chef America" Thanksgiving edition... where can I find me some of them ramekins...?  Yeah, I said it, ramekin.   That's Chef Talk, you know....

NaBloPoMo Day 17

There's a scene in the movie "Memphis Belle" where one of the characters is talking about his dream of opening a chain of restaurants where the food is the same in all of the restaurants.  His colleagues laugh at him and ask who would want to eat the same food everywhere.  He answers that they would because it's "comforting."

This is not that scene, but still one of my favorites from the movie...



I was thinking about the "comfort food" comment as my husband and I left home to drive the 4 hours east toward Redding where the testing center is for my board exam. He has a theory that the better the restaurant, the more cars will be parked in front of it. As we pass restaurant after restaurant with an empty parking lot, we settle for a familiar chain restaurant.

It's based on my theory of "when you don't know where to go, you go to where you know..." Again, the notion that going somewhere where things are familiar is comforting. Hence the reason why McDonald's are popular around the globe. We were in Australia, surrounded by yummy and awesome foods. We saw a McDonald's and had to go in. It was like a little taste of home in a foreign land....