Sabrina and the web

The other night McE and I had a dinner alone. We couldn't decide what to have. Finally, we just went to the grocery and picked up something. We found T-bones on sale. So, that is what decided dinner. I picked up the stuff to make Pioneer Woman's onion blue cheese sauce.

I realize this shot looks like worms in mud. Appetizing thought, I know. But believe me when I say this it is delightful. You must try it. Go here at Pioneer Woman's site now and get the recipe. Yummm!

Have a happy and delicious day.
Sabrina

Sabrina and the web.... King Ranch Chicken

I have decided to start a new segment in my blog, Sabrina and the Web. It will highlight recipes I try. I can not come up with a recipe. I am so not creative like that. Switch ingredients because I am out of something, often times not for the better, is the extent of my creativity in cooking. So, I'll show here what I have tried....
I recently have tried a recipe for King Ranch Chicken or Mexican chicken from Kelly's Korner. It was pretty good. But even though I used mild Rotel my kids thought it was too spicy. So, next I will just use diced tomatoes and taco seasoning. And I will make this again because it is soooo easy. Let me repeat sooo easy. So, go here for the recipe. Kelly's blog is cute and you always get to see pictures of her precious daughter Harper. To get to the recipes, she has a button on the left side of her blog.

Here is what mine looked like. I served corn with it. Again this is easy, even for me.


Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Nothin' says summer like a fish and crisco

This past summer while we were at my parents house on the lake, my brother caught a big fish. This is him with my cute nephew Will. Not that my other nephews aren't cute but this is just one of them. He just had a birthday and you can read about that here.

This fish inspired our dinner... a fish fry. Yummm. I will let you experience this through pictures. And not very good ones at that. But believe me it was much better than I make it look.

First, my dad cleaned and filleted the fish.

Next, it is off to the frying station... this is outside because we don't want the house smelling like the fry station I worked at during high school. Uhgg. I hated smelling like a fry pit. That and the oily skin it produced was the bane of my high school experience.

Next he put the fish in a plastic trash bag with some corn meal, salt and pepper. And shook it to coat the fish. Which is why this picture is blurry. This is my dad trying to humor me while I took endless pictures and got in his way. He really was very patient.


Then when the grease was hot (about 325*), he had to quickly put the fish in. Watch it intensely. Then remove it at just the right time. This picture is really blurry because I was getting in the way while dad was trying to get the fish out quickly.


You have to do the fish in batches. So, the shaking, frying and intense watching went on for awhile. I would run the plates of cooked fish inside to be kept warm in the oven. But this meant I got to 'test' each batch without being caught. I always volunteer for the 'runner' job.

ok... that picture is blurry because I am a lousy photographer. And I am sad to say that I had to think about that word photographer, 'picture taker' is what actually popped in my head first. So sad.. but true. This is why I am not allowed to be the fryer in the fish fry.

My 'runner' job had another perk. When I brought the fish inside, my sis-in-law, Donna (oh, hi donna. how are you)


was making

these.


And I had to 'test' them too. How could I possibly resist? Delightful, they were.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

On second thought, I should have taken home ec.

I have been posting about the cruise this week. Let me give you a glimpse of my welcome home. Our flight got in close to 11pm. My folks and the kids came to pick us up. Charlie was asleep but Samantha stayed awake to greet us. After telling me how happy she was to see me, she launched right into how Grandmother made "the best' mashed potatoes for her. With a sparkle in her eye, my first born told me I had a lot of practice to do to come close to the mashed potatoes my mom made for her. Gee thanks and I missed you too.

Then she went on to tell me of the fabulous salads Grandmother made. I looked at my mom, who was beaming, and said what kind of salad did you make. "Oh, I just chopped up romaine and added some bacon bits, shredded cheese and sliced hard boiled eggs." I turned to my daughter and told her the only thing different than my salads is the hard boiled egg. Sammy then enlightened me... "Yeah, but Grandmother put it together for me". Clearly, it is all in the presentation here. Chopping the lettuce and putting the bags of bacon bits and shredded cheese on the table are no longer going to cut it. Lessons in motherhood.

When Charlie woke me up the next day, he told me of the sausage balls that Grandmother had made him for breakfast, on a school day no less. He informed me that he had not had these since the last time he saw Grandmother at Christmas time. Again, slacking at the mom job.

Here is a compilation of photos of various times my mom has made these with the kids. I keep meaning to post this... now is the time.

Let me give you a little tutorial on the elusive sausage ball. You will need 3 cups of Bisquick, 3 cups of shredded cheese, and a pound of your favorite sausage.


Throw it all together in a large bowl... My man said this picture looks like a turd in sand. Our cup of tact and class runneth over.


And mix it all together. This is best done by hand. If you find another way, have at it and then let me know... cause I don't like this part.
This is where my mom said... "Bob, she's taking pictures for her bog again."
Yes mom, this site is mired down in muck but it's correct pronunciation is blog, with an 'L'.

Anyhow... your mom and her assistant incorporate the ingredients while you document the process.

And if her lovely assistant drops any on the floor you have your furry vacuum around to clean up. I know it's blurry but I think the dog is wearing Mardi Gras beads. What can I say she is a party animal. Ba dum dump.

Then you bake them at 375* for 15 to 18 minutes according to your desired doneness. My dad likes them very done, where they are on the verge of being briquettes. But to each is own. We serve them up with mustard. Delightful.

As you can see you can shape these anyway you like. My daughter likes to make them into snakes. What can I say, she is a little off. I like to make initials. Again, whatever floats you boat.

You can make these in advance. Keep them refrigerated and bake later. I should probably do that since I am falling in my mom ranking.

On another note Charlie said he liked my dad's car better than the van. Because his car is so smoooooth.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Apricot Chicken

Writing this blog is sometimes like coming up with dinner. What can I write about today? Hmm, don't know. Haven't really thought about it and nothing sounds interesting.

What's for dinner tonight? Hmm, don't know. Haven't really thought about it and nothing sounds interesting.

See the similarity.

Well, this evening at 5:30 I had not made dinner yet. I had, however, bought a pack of chicken that was on sale at the grocery store. I couldn't come up with anything! Gracious, chicken, the most versatile meat and I can't come up with anything sounding good. What's wrong with me? Alot, but we won't go into detail here. Onward... I was flipping through the church cookbook. Always something good in there. I came across Apricot chicken and I remembered I had wanted to try that. Well, at some point I had actually planned on making it because I had apricot preserves in the pantry. That is a small blessing from God because apricot preserves are not a staple in our house.

Here are the ingredients....

Here is what it looked like on the plate.
Ok... sorry I didn't clean it up a little but we had already sat down to eat and I had not taken a picture of the finished product. And I yelled 'Wait' to my man so I could snap a photo of his plate before he took a bite.

Here are the reviews.
My man... it's different... All I can taste is the Italian dressing. You used the fat free didn't you. It has a different taste than regular.
The Bobo... it's really sweet.
The Peanut... I like it.
Me... it is sweet. I taste more of the onion soup. It is kind of like General Tso's but without any hotness.
*****So I added red pepper to mine and got the hotness I was looking for. Sweet and spicy.
My man... this is a 'do over' (in our home that means this can be made again) but you need to use the regular Italian dressing. The fat free doesn't taste the same. It has a fat free taste. They do something to it.
***** I'm not kidding. He said all that. Actually, I edited it down. He had much to say about the tastiness of Italian dressing vs fat free Italian dressing.

Needless to say everyone cleaned their plate. It was after all 6:30 before we ate.
Here is the recipe. We will be trying it again in our house but with a little bit of tweaking. It is easy and it is good.

Apricot Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1pkt dry onion soup mix
1 jar 100% apricot fruit spread... I used preserves.
1/2 a bottle Italian dressing

Pre-heat oven to 350*. Cut each chicken breast into about 3-4 slices and place in a baking dish. Mix together soup mix, apricot spread and dressing. Pour mixture over the chicken. Cook uncovered 30-40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. I served it with rice.

Oh and this recipe came from Melissa May. I don't know her so I hope she doesn't mind her name being tossed around.

By the way... this is what happens when you leave the camera out unattended. Delightful, huh.

No Greg, this isn't my belly! I know you what your thinking!

On that note, have a happy day.
Sabrina