Home Cooking

10 06, 2019

Summertime is Burger Time

By |2019-06-09T16:09:24-05:00June 10th, 2019|Home Cooking, Writer's Life|1 Comment

Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels

I read that Americans gobble an estimated three burgers a week. That comes out to 156 burgers a year. Multiply that times the U.S. population and the number is around 50 billion burgers eaten a year.

That boggles my mind.

I’m not a three times a week burger eater, but I must admit there’s nothing better than the taste of burger straight from the grill or the smell of a burger grilling on a summer day. And, I’ve been known to enjoy a plain ‘ole fried-in-the-iron skillet burger on occasion.

This year I’ve noticed some interesting twists on the standard burger. Toppings like coleslaw, grated zucchini, avocado, mac ‘n cheese instead of regular cheese. Additions like fried onions, fried eggs, shrimp, mushrooms, and Jalapenos.

There are also some interesting recipes for making burgers. Basil burgers, garlic herb salmon burgers, Cajun salsa, bacon burgers with peach mayo, or barley beef.  Lots of recipe options from Taste of Home’s “34 Incredible Burgers to Grill This Summer” here.

I sometimes vary my burger choice with chicken, turkey, salmon, or veggies patties instead of beef, but that’s about as far as my experimentation goes. Some of those add-on options are too wild for me.

I’m a burger purist.

How about you? Is your burger plain-and-simple or piled with whatever you can find in the refrigerator?

19 08, 2013

Dilly Green Tomatoes – Home Canning Fun

By |2013-08-19T06:22:14-05:00August 19th, 2013|Home Cooking|8 Comments

One of the many things I love about our new location here in Colorado is the ability to have a garden.

Gardening in Houston was always a challenge. Not because things didn’t grow in the tropical atmosphere. Quite the opposite. Things grew well, especially weeds.

The problem was it got too hot too quickly to be out tending the garden. Here, we can go out whenever we want and pleasant weather greets.

And not too many bugs here, either. Houston mosquitoes loved me. Colorado mosquitoes haven’t found me…yet.

This year between the fire and all the construction underway, our efforts were limited.

Our evacuation killed most of our hanging baskets and planted flowers. We couldn’t water any of them. The mountains of dirt from the excavation buried the new peonies we planted.

Not complaining, just stating facts.

We did put out two tomato plants early in the spring, which survived.

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????What I failed to realize was that, since we live on the shady mountainside, I’d need a greenhouse to get the tomatoes to turn red!

Both plants are loaded with buds and tomatoes that are never going to turn red. This seemed such a waste.

???????????????????????????????We fried a few and then Jerry remembered we’d dilled green tomatoes at the end of the growing season when we lived in West Virginia.

I dug around in my cookbooks and found the recipe in my 1965 edition of Better Homes and Gardens new CookBook. That was easy.???????????????????????????????Finding the necessary ingredients wasn’t. Local farmers’ markets didn’t have fresh dill, and our local market didn’t either. We finally found fresh dill in the supermarket forty-seven miles away.

Once the ingredients were on hand, I was ready to start the canning process.

???????????????????????????????

I washed the tomatoes. The dishwasher washed the canning jars. ???????????????????????????????

Ironic that after years of collecting jars, I had to buy new ones. I’d given all my jars to Chicken Wrangler Sara when we downsized.

With the jars clean and heated, I prepared the liquid.

???????????????????????????????When it boiled, I stuffed the jars with green tomatoes, fresh dill, fresh garlic, and a stalk of celery.

I left out the hot pepper. I don’t like HOT peppered stuff.

Minutes later, I had three beautiful quart jars which will be ready to eat in a month to enjoy with our meals. ???????????????????????????????

Whole process took less than an hour and reminded me how much I love to can and make jams and preserves. I’m thinking I’ll start doing more.

That is, when I’m not writing!

YOUR TURN: What about you ever done in home canning?

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