"Shrek" is my kids' favorite movie. If you are familiar with the movie you might remember the scene where donkey asks "who would want to live in a place like that?!" Well I would. It's pretty! And the whole walk there was covered in moss and flowers. Lovely. I wear whatever I'm wearing (usually jeans and a T or tank) to work in the yard. If I KNOW I'm gonna be doing dirty work I put on my OLD jeans or overalls and the ratty sneakers. But mostly I just end up getting my "good" jeans dirty. I have been known to pluck weeds on the way out dressed up for a wedding or a party. Dirt under the nails is constant and I have to keep them short. And, to stray from the clothing topic, I credit weeding with sending me into labor with my daughter the next day. One of my husbands favorite pictures is of me out there on a little stool weeding the day before she was born. Or it might have been the mexican food we ate that night... -Ais.

Thank you, Annie, for that tip ... my kid loves almond-cookie, so I will get the almond extract. Thank you, Cloud_Swift, for the info. on Spice House to save money. Thank you, pkramer, for that tip on Rosemary indoor. It died on me last winter. I grew up near Grand Rapids MI. Now I'm in Chicago's suburb, zone 5a, much colder than zone 5b in MI. What I grew in the summer was probably Russian Tarragon ... no smell whatsoever. The right thyme also makes a big difference ... so I make sure that pinch off a leaf to sniff before buying the herb. I'm lucky to have a sage brush that survived zone 5a winters for the past decade. I sun-dried the sage leaves in the fall ... great flavor, no sage-spice can beat. One year I used Organic Spice's Hunter Herbes de Province, that gave good flavor to all my soups. Then I bought some cheap brand recently, and it stank up my entire pot. I bought "Imitation Vanilla" last year, and it had a weird & odd chemical smell, so I threw the whole bottle away. The real vanilla is what matters. A friend gave me Organic Extra virgin Coconut oil Nutiva brand. I used 2 tablespoon of that in making granola. The fresh coconut smell perfumed the entire house, and the granola was absolutely delicious. In contrast, the coconut milk I bought from Trader's Joe, or Oriental Market has this "soapy" flavor from stale coconut, or else it's so loaded with sulfites or potassium sorbate(chemical preservatives) ... that I break out in rash. I quit using coconut milk a long time ago ... so glad to find Nutiva's extra-virgin coconut oil with the most intense, delightful fresh coconut essence. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Fri, Jan 10, 14 at 23:33

OK, back to life as I usually live it. I got rid of the WonderDoodle, I wasn't as good at ignoring him as the Dead Cat was: So, with Ashley married off, back from her honeymoon and Kevin finally in possession of his own dog, Elery went back home and took Pancho with him. I was back to a one-dog-and-myself kind of household. One night I made sesame chicken. I remember now why I only have it when I go out, it's time consuming, messy and not as good as I get in the Chinese Restaurants. By the time I cut up the chicken, marinate it, dip it in batter, fry it, make rice, make sauce, and eat, I've dirtied every dish in the kitchen and used up an hour. Here it is and so not worth it: Asparagus is about three weeks late here, just now becoming available locally, so I put 5 pounds of it in the freezer, after having a good meal of just asparagus: tomorrow I'm going to help Ashley pain an upstairs bedroom. She says it will be lime green, I did notice she didn't ask me about color or decorating advice, LOL, only for help rolling on the paint! Although it's 88 here right now, I picked up some fresh broccoli at MagicLand and made a batch of cheddar broccoli soup, her favorite: And, since I'm just really tired of decorating cakes and cupcakes and anything else, I made her a pineapple sheet cake with cream cheese frosting, the world's easiest cake, I swear, and very good: It was her birthday today and we had Pizza Hut (yuck) for lunch. She had the soup/salad/breadstick buffet and I had a BBQ chicken sandwich. Tomorrow when I go to help her paint, I'll take her cake for her birthday, and we'll have the soup and some breadsticks for lunch when we take a painting break. Annie

Posted by foodonastump (My Page) on Thu, Mar 8, 12 at 7:57 I tried out this Pork Lo Mein recipe in an effort to find a good base for the Lo Mein for ARgirl wanted. I don't think this is what she was looking for, but it was really good nonetheless. Serves 4. Published September 1, 2008. From Cook's Illustrated. Ingredients 3tablespoons soy sauce 2tablespoons oyster sauce 2tablespoons hoisin sauce (see note) 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil 1/4teaspoon five-spice powder 1pound boneless country-style pork ribs , trimmed of surface fat and excess gristle and sliced crosswise into 1/8-inch pieces 1/4teaspoon liquid smoke (optional) 1/2cup low-sodium chicken broth 1teaspoon cornstarch 2medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons) 2teaspoons grated fresh ginger 4 1/2teaspoons vegetable oil 4tablespoons Chinese rice cooking wine (Shao-Xing) or dry sherry 1/2pound shiitake mushrooms , stems trimmed, caps cut in halves or thirds (about 3 cups) 2bunches scallions , whites thinly sliced and greens cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups) 1small head Napa or Chinese cabbage , halved, cored, and sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch strips (about 4 cups) 12ounces Chinese egg noodles (fresh) or 8 ounces dried linguine 1tablespon Asian chile garlic sauce Instructions 1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. 2. Whisk soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and five-spice powder together in medium bowl. Place 3 tablespoons soy sauce mixture in large zipper-lock bag; add pork and liquid smoke, if using. Press out as much air as possible and seal bag, making sure that all pieces are coated with marinade. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. Whisk broth and cornstarch into remaining soy sauce mixture in medium bowl. In separate small bowl, mix garlic and ginger with 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil; set aside. 3. Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in 12-inch cast-iron or nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of pork in single layer, breaking up clumps with wooden spoon. Cook, without stirring, 1 minute. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons wine to skillet; cook, stirring constantly, until liquid is reduced and pork is well coated, 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer pork to medium bowl and repeat with remaining pork, 1 teaspoon oil, and remaining 2 tablespoons wine. Wipe skillet clean with paper towels. 4. Return skillet to high heat, add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, and heat until just smoking. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add scallions and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until scallions are wilted, 2 to 3 minutes longer; transfer vegetables to bowl with pork. 5. Add remaining teaspoon vegetable oil and cabbage to now-empty skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Clear center of skillet; add garlic-ginger mixture and cook, mashing mixture with spoon, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir garlic mixture into cabbage; return pork-vegetable mixture and chicken broth-soy mixture to skillet; simmer until thickened and ingredients are well incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. 6. While cabbage is cooking, stir noodles into boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender, 3 to 4 minutes for fresh Chinese noodles or 10 minutes for dried linguine. Drain noodles and transfer back to Dutch oven; add cooked stir-fry mixture and garlic-chili sauce, tossing noodles constantly, until sauce coats noodles. Serve immediately. o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by jude31 (My Page) on Thu, Mar 8, 12 at 16:30 I tried this recipe, recently, from "Savoring Time in the Kitchen". It is so good and again I couldn't print the picture. I am so sorry, because it looked mouth-watering good. I just have to learn what I'm not doing or doing wrong. jude Pork Schnitzel with Lemon Caper Butter This is a very tasty recipe that I found in our local newspaper. It had achieved the recognition of being one of the top 25 recipes that the newspaper had tested and reviewed in 2011. It's an adaptation of a recipe from the Gourmet Today cookbook. Since pork tenderloin is our favorite cut of pork, I'm always looking for new ways to serve it. This was...delicious! The salty flavor of the capers pairs so well with the breaded schnitzel. It was also a fairly easy dinner to put together and the cooking time is quick. I served it with a simple salad on the side. Enjoy! Pork Schnitzel with Lemon Caper Butter Adapted from Gourmet Today Printable Recipe Note: I cut the recipe in half and only used 1 egg Makes 4 servings 1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin, slice into 1-inch-thick rounds 6 tablespoons cup unsalted butter (divided in half) 3 tablespoons olive oil (divided) 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and patted dry 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 eggs 1 ½ cups fine dry bread crumbs 6 tablespoons vegetable oil (about) (divided) Garnish: 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Lemon wedges Line 1 baking sheet with waxed paper and another baking sheet with paper toweling. Pound pork tenderloin rounds between two sheets of plastic wrap to ¼-inch thickness. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. In a small saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons butter. Stir in capers, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Remove from heat and cover loosely to keep warm. Pat pork rounds dry and season with salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, beat eggs with ¼ teaspoon salt. Put bread crumbs in another pie plate or shallow bowl. Dip pork rounds in egg mixture, one at a time, allowing excess to drip off, then dredge in bread crumbs and place on wax-paper-lined baking sheet. In a non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil with 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Add 2 to 3 pieces of pork, without crowding meat, and cook, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Transfer cooked rounds to paper-towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in preheated oven. Cook remaining pork pieces in the same way, adding 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter for each batch. Serve pork drizzled with caper butter and sprinkled with parsley and lemon wedges on the side. o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by chase (My Page) on Fri, Mar 9, 12 at 15:31 FOAS, Pork Lo Mein recipe reminded me of this one. It makes a great meat dish for a Chinese style meal. Serve with rice, steamed broccoli with almonds or vegetable Lo Mein. Sweet and Sour Pork 1/2 cup salad oil 1 clove garlic 2 green peppers, quartered 1 1/2 to 2 lbs pork tenderloin, cubed 2 eggs 3 TBSP flour 1 tsp salt pinch pepper 1 cup chicken broth 1 can pineapple chunks, drained 1 TBSP corn starch 3 tsp soya sauce 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup white vinegar 1 TBSP molasses Parboil peppers for 5 minutes. Saute garlic in oil. In separate bowl, beat flour, eggs and seasonings. Dip the pork in the mixture and brown in the oil. Pour off excess oil add broth, pineapple and peppers. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Blend remaining ingredients. Add to pork. Stir until thick. o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by ruthanna (My Page) on Sat, Mar 10, 12 at 9:36 Here's one I forgot to post. You can brown sliced onions along with the pork if you want a lower sodium alternative but I like the flavor of the onion soup mix. CITY CHICKEN 1 1/2 lbs. pork cubes 1/2 cup flour 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 tsp. pepper 2 Tbs. butter 2 tbs. vegetable oil 1 envelope dried onion soup mix 2 cups chicken broth or water, or 1 cup of each Thread pork on small wooden skewers. Combine flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder; roll kabobs in flour mixture until coated. In large skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Brown kabobs, turning frequently; drain excess oil. Sprinkle with soup mix. Add broth and/or water. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour or until tender. If desired, thicken pan juices. Photobucket o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Mar 12, 12 at 13:01 Many good recipes on this thread with pork and they really show how versatile pork is. Ruthanna's City Chicken is calling my name...along with all the other recipes. I agree with Chase...pork is my favorite meat. I just drew a name..... your turn ****************** Annie1992 ******************* The next Cookalong subject is your choice. Just post it here and I will set up the next thread. Nancy o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by ruthanna (My Page) on Mon, Mar 12, 12 at 17:18 Well, we now know the next Cookalong ingredient won't be Jell-O. LOL o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by annie1992 (My Page) on Mon, Mar 12, 12 at 17:38 Nope, and not olives either, or veal! (grin) I'm thinking, I'll get back to you as soon as I check the other cookalong threads and see which ingredients we've already used. Annie o I'm back..... clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by annie1992 (My Page) on Mon, Mar 12, 12 at 17:56 OK, I've decided. My ingredient is cheap, 19 cents a pound at the local grocery right now. It's readily available and I think terribly under utilized and I like it. So, my choice is cabbage! Cooked, raw, in cole slaw, with corned beef for St. Patrick's Day, baked, sauteed, cabbage soup, stuffed cabbage, you name it. Ready? Set? Discuss. Annie o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by wizardnm (My Page) on Mon, Mar 12, 12 at 18:10 Cabbage it is! Thanks to all who contributed to the pork Cookalong. Other pork recipes can be added to this thread.. Nancy Here is a link that might be useful: Cookalong #43 ----- CABBAGE! o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by foodonastump (My Page) on Mon, Mar 12, 12 at 18:26 Just coming back to give a thumbs up and thanks to Sharon for the Sweet and Sour Pork. We liked! o RE: Cookalong #42 ---------- PORK clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by chase (My Page) on Mon, Mar 12, 12 at 18:45 Glad you enjoyed FOAS.....good with shrimp too! Cabbage.....thud! Does sauerkraut count?