Pinch Hickory Smoke is Great With Stew

I’ve been experimenting with the new Pinch seasoning from Salamida. It’s such good stuff– a touch of peppery spice but it’s not overwhelming– no allergy relief needed. (Pepper makes me sneeze like mad). I love the Salamida Pinch! I sprinkle it on chicken before I roast it, and I’ve already used it in a few soups. This time, I decided to use it as my only seasoning for beef stew.

YUM! I probably used too little. I didn’t want to overdo it, so I was sparse. I needn’t have worried. This stuff is goooooood!

Tonight I’m going to roast a small chicken, and I plan on doing a little experiment with some Salamida marinade. I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out.

Good Sale on Dinnerware!

We have a large family, and when we have guests over for dinner, the dinnerware goes REAL fast. I hate having to give some people the nice china, others the “medium” quality cheapo Chinese stuff, and others the plastic plates because we do not have enough dishes for everyone. :-p I finally ditched my Chinese-made lead laden, chipped dinnerware last year. I wish I’d seen this sale then on dinnerware sets, though. It’s terrific! I fell in love with the Garden Party set.

We had an IKEA that sold Pfaltzgraff, many years ago, but it closed. The nice thing is you can buy Pfaltzgraff dinnerware, linens, flatware, and etc online, and usually for better deals. The sale on dinnerware that I saw is phenomenal: the 16 piece Garden Party set usually sells for over $200, but it’s on sale now for under $140! For a SIXTEEN PIECE set, that is a terrific price. Plus, who can beat Pfaltzgraff quality? Pfaltzgraff is the creme de la creme of dinnerware.

Well, if you’re looking for a great excuse to toss out the cheapo plastic plates, or to finally have enough dinnerware for the entire guest party, or are just looking to spend some of that tax refund money, check out the sales there.

Super Easy Calzones

I don’t know what the difference is, exactly, between calzones and pepperoni rolls. They are shaped differently, but that’s only slightly. They are made with the same kinds of ingredients and bakes the same way… ??

When I worked in radio, there was a pizzeria across the street. They made the most FABULOUS pepperoni rolls. I used to call them to order one, and have them call me when it was done. Then, I’d put on a long song to play on the air, and run over the the pizzeria to get my roll. It was pretty risky, and one time, the song had JUST ended before I could plug another one in. Whew!

I’ll have to post my own pepperoni roll recipe up sometime. I want to take photos when I do, so stay tuned (in radio lingo).

With all that said, I found a really quick and easy recipe for Calzones that I thought I’d share. The recipe is not mine, it’s from Disney Family Food site. They have some nice, kid-friendly meals there. Here are the calzones:

Calzones

Ingredients

2 loaves frozen bread dough, thawed
1/2 pound sliced ham
1/2 pound sliced hard salami
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup jarred marinara sauce

Directions

1. Roll each loaf of dough into a rectangle about 8 inches by 12 inches.
2. Layer ham and salami down the center of each rolled loaf lengthwise.
3. Top meats with 1 cup shredded mozzarella for each roll.
4. Fold short ends of each loaf in about 1/2 inch and seal. Roll from the long sides and pinch well to seal the entire loaf. You should have 2 long rolls.
5. Bake, seam side down on a greased baking sheet in a 375 degree F oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cut each roll into 8 slices and serve with marinara for dipping.

So there you have it. I would probably just make my own dough in my bread machine. My bread dough is healthier, anyway, and I’m convinced the olive oil I use instead of veggie oil is soo good for you. I love olive oil! You can use it for a billion things: lamps, skin oil, acne scar removal?, eating, digestive problems, etc. I love the stuff.

Anyway, that’s what I’d do. I’d also probably skip the ham (I don’t like ham) and use pepperoni. But then it would probably make the calzone into a pepperoni roll, don’t ya think?

Well, stay tuned, I’ll be making pepperoni rolls next week.

The Mother of All Casserole Books

How on earth did I ever lose track of this book?? I found it on a bookshelf today. It’s a great recipe book and I can’t believe I lost it, until now!

It’s the Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of Casseroles. I got it when I was doing a lot of babysitting. Kids are so hard to please when it comes to food, but casseroles are generally liked by most. And they are EASY to make plus they make use of leftovers.

We’re getting more into fresh, raw foods, so maybe that’s why my casserole book was forgotten… I dislike casseroles, because they always seem bland to me. And I don’t typically like the mushy pasta-and-cheese kinds which seem to dominate the casserole realm. This BHG book isn’t too bad- it has a lot of variety, including those hard-to-find vegetable-only dishes that I prefer. When we have meat, I like it to be separate from the rest of the meal (like, a roast). That way, I can divvy it up in equal portions, and I don’t have to worry about gorging on weight loss supplements if I’ve eaten too many chicken pieces or something.

ANYWAY. If you’re looking for a nice casserole book that has LOADS of variety, the BHG is a good one! And it’s huge!

Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

Break out the treadmills, girls! Have I got a recipe for YOU! I forgot all about this recipe until I found it tucked into in one of my casserole cookbooks (more on that later). It is luscious. I have tried to get a photo of this before it’s gone to no avail. Maybe next time. Actually, if this keeps up, I’ll have to make the pie over and over and over, just to try getting a photo! Hmmm what a good strategy.

Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

2 packages (8 ounces each) Neufchatel cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1 chocolate graham pie crust

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Unwrap the Neufchatel cheese and place in a large mixing bowl. Stir it up just a little until it’s a little creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add the eggs and beat on low speed with your electric mixer until it’s combined. Pour the mixture into the chocolate crust. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes until the center is set. Allow to cool COMPLETELY– refrigerate it over night.

In a saucepan, add the cold water and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Allow to stand for a minute. Turn on the stove and cook on LOW, stirring, until the gelatin is dissolved. Add the jam, and stir. Put the saucepan contents into a small container and set in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to cool.

Take another mixing bowl (yeah, we use a lot of dishes for this one, sorry) and measure in the heavy whipping cream. Beat it until it begins to thicken. Add the confectioner’s sugar and keep beating…. yes, keep beating…. *pant pant* not done yet…. keep beating until stiff peaks start to form.

Remove about 1/2 cup of the beaten (beat? beated?) cream and set aside to use as a garnish. Cover it and put in the fridge. Take out the gelatin/raspberry mixture and fold in the whipped cream into it– very gently. Spread this over the cheesecake. Garnish with whipped cream. Add a few raspberries and maybe a twig of mint, too. DEVOUR!!!

oh nuts, did you forget to take photos??

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