Graham cracker sitting on sugar wafers cut to size. Plates are candy melts with decorations. I am going to buy sliced almonds - will look more like turkey with the brown skin. Add a pumpkin and candies to decorate table. This is just a trial run - Have to make 22 of each of them! I looked, too, about making Carmel turkey legs for the plates - Did you ever see the Taste Of Home turkey made out if Carmel? On top of cupcakes!!! I did not make that. Picture off Internet. Taste of Home... Might use bits of granola for 'stuffing', orange non pareils for carrots... I'll share my finished 'table' later [Submitted by Salyab]

After a month of living on mostly convenience food, I'm so glad to report that I am now able to create again!!! Lack of strength in my primary hand/wrist and the desire to have everything heal WELL have kept me pretty much out of the kitchen. NO MORE!!! So today's menu is back to basics – a vegetable stew with some good bread. I started last night with preparation for No knead bread - I'm not about to spoil my results-to-date by overdoing it by kneading I just love the idea behind this Ciambotta! Simple, rustic, and healthy. Of course, you know me – I used the variation that calls for pancetta... Chopped and crisped that up first, leaving the little bit of pork fat in the pan and adding olive oil to that. Then coarsely chopped a few veggies (I can't believe I paid $2/lb for zucchini, when just a little while ago people were practically BEGGING you to take it away!), sauteed with some seasonings, added tomatoes and pancetta, simmered... Done. Yes, it's that simple. And THAT good! I was halfway through my first bowl when I realized I hadn't added any s&p - it just didn't NEED any. Perfect for an autumn day when the air is crisp and cool... I'm SO happy to be back in the kitchen!!!!

You might have caught the post where I had surgery on my wrist recently, which affected my hand strength. About a month now, and while I have lot of use back, I'm still not quite 'up to snuff'. Still don't quite have the ability to use a knife properly (as if I EVER did ), and foolishly tried to pick up a Pyrex 10'x13' dish, which EXPLODED across my entire kitchen... I DID manage to chop some nuts, tho I cheated and used both hands...

But I LEARNED some stuff! Like, you can BUY chopped onions. And bell peppers. I tried both the fresh and the frozen along the way, and I've got to say I like the frozen ones better, presuming that you are going to cook them. A tad watery if used in salads and such.

A friend sent me a couple tips - 'get yourself some inexpensive rubber shelf liner from the dollar store. Cut into placemat size pieces. Place under bowls when stirring, or under your plate when eating, to keep things from moving round on you.'

'Also slide your pots/pans on and off the stove onto the counter so you are not picking things up with two hands.'

The MOST important lesson was that good friends are always there! I've been living mostly on pre-made stuff, but a couple gave me a meal along the way. A BIG THANKS to Salyab and Valerie for helping to keep this page active <3

I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow, and I promise some good posts soon - but in the meantime,

THANKS for sticking with me!!!!

One of the tastiest things I've had in a long while, AND the tastiest Chinese-style thing I've had since leaving Japan. Stir-fried kale! I loved eating the stir-fried leafy vegetables they serve with dim sum in Hong Kong--most commonly morning glory leaves, Chinese broccoli, or baby bok choy.

I just winged it, but the taste seemed authentic enough to ME--although don't expect it to taste like American Chinese restaurant-style food, because it isn't--for one reason, it doesn't have a gloppy sauce.
I took one bunch of kale (still fresh a week after buying it at Frog Pond farms) and cut off the ends, then cut the stems and leaves into approximately four inch lengths. I heated up peanut oil (the most commonly used oil in China for stir-frying) and sautéed several minced cloves of garlic and some grated ginger root, as well as a few dried chilis. I then put in the kale and stir-fried it until the leaves were dark green and the stems were crunchy but cooked and sweet. I added just a bit of soy sauce, oyster sauce, ground white pepper, and sesame for flavoring.

The result was kale that was not sautéed, but not raw-tasting, either; crunchy and sweet and nutty, not too salty, and with a strong but delicious garlic flavor. One bunch of kale reduced down to one small serving bowl, which I ate in one sitting. People say that kale is bitter, but cooked this way, it is not bitter at all.

Spinach and other similar leafy vegetables can be cooked using the same method, but kale (this was the first time I've ever eaten it) is full of fiber and definitely something I'll be cooking again. My seasonings were somewhat random; all you really need is enough oil (probably usually not sesame oil, which is more often used for seasoning than for frying) and lots of garlic, plus soy sauce at the end. You could also add fresh chilies or mushrooms, or even tofu, although I would thicken the sauce if I added tofu.

Yum!

[Valerie and I knew each other in high school and have re-connected all these years later. She has spent most of her adult life in Japan, and has recently returned to Upstate New York. She's settling in to a huge house, and enjoying new and old adventures in cooking. I hope she will share with us often ~Linda]
[Submitted by Valerie]

I saw molds online for $14.95, but I found a mold at Walmart for $1.47! So I tried both ways to indent the pattern, before baking or after baking. Works better after baking. You actually don't need a mold, just a gingerbread man cutter and then decorate bones... I immediately used icing so it melts thin but hardens. I am doing these for a bake sale so I want them in bags - icing not too sticky that way. ps After baking these skeletons again, I recommend only baking three at a time. Press the skeleton mold down into the baked cookie and immediately take off cookie sheet to cooling rack and decorate those three before baking the next tray of three. With a two person process, three on a sheet continually in the oven would work... [Submitted by Salyab] [Salyab, you've been a blessing! I just adore how creative you are! Oh, and readers? We have a really good recipe for gingerbread cookies right here ~Linda]

Six candy rounds melted on waxed paper in 275 oven. Immediately place an Oreo cookie, a pretzel stick (these were gluten free), and tinted coconut. Dip a bugle in melted chocolate (this was black) and set on Oreo. Brown would work too. Let cool.



[Submitted by Salyab]

Trust me! Watching me use a knife with my left hand is scary enough – using my right is simply demonic! I miss REAL food!!! But I can still bake So tonight's choice was pumpkin crunch bars. Open a couple cans, whirl with the mixer, add a couple more things... Sprinkle, pour, bake. Yeah, it would have been prettier with CHOPPED nuts, as it called for – but no knife strength, remember? They don't seem firm enough to hold as bars, like brownies? But mighty tasty, warm or cold...

Dip Oreo in white chocolate. Add a colored candy that you normally melt. I used green. And put black melted candy in tip of that. Painted red melted chocolate to represent blood. Simple pancakes, using a squirt bottle. Dye mix orange and green. Use syrup for the 'streaks' [Submitted by Salyab]

Hard boiled eggs turned into mice. Served with Doritos. I used little pepperoni for ears. Split peas for eyes and little noodles for whiskers. A dab of mustard for the noses, or cheese in a can, if you have it (oh, the irony)

These were a big hit. So simple. They eat so much better when I make it fun!

[Submitted by Salyab]

So simple. Toast a bagel, English muffin or a hamburger bun. Dye cream cheese a light blue and spread. Decorate with broccoli, celery, carrots and add gold fish crackers. The colored ones are cute!

[While I'm still slightly disabled, Salyab is sharing some of her creations. Isn't she just TOO clever? ~Linda]


[Submitted by Salyab]