A few weeks ago I was asked to make nine dozen cupcakes for an office party where Joe works. I knew it was going to be a challenge, especially since I had little time to prepare. I thought a variety of cupcakes would work best and went to work looking through recipes. When I found this muffin posted on “A Bountiful Kitchen” I knew it would be a big hit. The muffin was so moist inside topped with a crunchy walnut streusel. And the contrast of the salty maple glaze gives your taste buds a real treat. They were so addicting I had to make another batch.
Every summer when the corn and tomatoes start showing up at the farmers market I make a batch of black bean and corn salsa. Nothing tastes better along side a good grilled steak or chicken or as a topper for your favorite taco. Plus I could eat it all day with nothing but tortilla chips. It’s completely vegetarian and packed with everything good for you. I found these little cast iron half pint kettles at a Lodge Factory Outlet in the little town of South Pittsburg, TN, near the Alabama border. What a store. . . they have almost anything you could dream of, if you’re into cast iron. A little room at the back has some great bargains on many of the cast iron skillets, dutch ovens some other items listed having a scratch or blemish. I couldn’t find anything wrong with them and came home with a large 12 inch skillet, a griddle/grill and these mini kettles.
Looks sinful huh! Actually it doesn’t seem that bad after the Kookamonga burger challenge Joe and I witnessed in Memphis. We went to this little joint called Kooky Canuck where they make these monster burgers filled with 4, 6 or 8 pounds of ground beef alone. We watched while a young couple (ironically they were from KC) attempted the 2 person challenge of eating a burger with 6 pounds of meat loaded with an additional 6 pounds of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and bun. If they completed the challenge in 1 hour or less they ate for free. I knew they were doomed when it was announced that the burger was a mere 18,000 calories. If you could see the eyes on the young girl, you would know she was about to freak out! So while we may be in a butter coma for the evening, I think we’ll survive. As long as we don’t do this very often. Once a year or so I treat my guys to a steak dinner with all the trimmings and Father’s day seemed like the perfect time. Firing up the grill for some grilled corn on the cob and a medium rare rib-eye steak is about as good as it gets, but add a little herb butter and you’ve got something extra special. You certainly don’t have to add green chile, but it sure does spice it up. I planted some herbs earlier in the Spring that are coming along quite nicely so I snipped some chives, parlsley and thyme plus I had some cilantro in the fridge. Along with some salt and green chile this butter makes any meal special. Just don’t do it too often!
I’ve been feeling guilty for being away for so long but honestly I needed a break. Joe and I took a road trip to Tennessee, first to Memphis where we stopped by all the tourist locations, then headed farther east, driving South to North through the Sequatchie Valley where we went in search of my family tree. We had fun researching through libraries and archives trying to dig up little tidbits of interesting history. And when we returned home I had a little present about to be delivered (actually it was kind of big). Joe let me pick out my dream stove, a gas stove with a few extra bells and whistles. I haven’t cooked on gas in ages but it’s what I wanted to get back to and believe me there’s been some challenges. So while I’ve been relearning how to cook I’ve taken a couple weeks off to practice. My first test was nine dozen cupcakes for an office party where Joe works. I was a bit nervous about temperatures and fretted over every little detail but in the end my new oven didn’t let me down. So now that things have settled down a bit I’m hoping to get my groove back and post a few recipes again. This week I found cherries on sale and they were so good! I decided on individual crumbles because Joe loves that crumbly topping. I cut down a pie filling recipe and altered the crumb topping so that it fit perfectly in my half pint jars. So cute and irresistible, plus they tasted great too!
An Inspired Cook 