Monday, September 5, 2022

Labor Day Cooking and Cornichons

 I have not done much today but did make the Mississippi Sin Dip. Unheated, it was rather bland. But, that could be my doing since I prefer not to eat green chilis. I did put about a half tsp of garlic powder in the dip. Tommy hates pimiento, so I am putting in a bit in a little dish. If it is not to obvious, I will add the rest to the dip. I have put in pimientos in different things and he has not objected and said the dish tasted really good and no he cannot even taste pimientos. I don't add the liguid from the tiny jar, so that makes the difference, I think. 

Besides adding the garlic powder, next time I will add more green onions for my taste, maybe a cup instead of 1/3 cup of green onions. Altogether, this was delicious. 

Tommy broke up and cooked two pounds of meat--ground pork and ground beef. I will use this for making taco casserole/soup. It seems like I spent hours chopping the deli ham, green onions, and grating cheese. 

I heated the nasty sweet potatoes with some cinnamon, brown sugar and butter. For two cups of sweet potatoes, I used several shakes of cinnamon, 1/8 cup dark brown sugar, and a Tablespoon of butter. Tommy should like these better without being too sweet. I may eat a teaspoon of them. 

On Monday, when Tommy went into Publix to get a half gallon of my milk, I had him get slaw mix. He also got two half gallons of ice cream, a shock. Then, he handed me the bag of slaw. As I looked in, it was shredded lettuce. He was going to go back and exchange it, but I figured we would just not have slaw today. I am thinking taco meat, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and green onions and sour cream--all in a bowl. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow this will happen. 

The hotdogs and no beans chili are still here, but they will last a bit. We can get slaw later this week. 

Sunday night, I made a peach cobbler with Bisquick. The cobbler did not rise above the peaches, just stayed under the peaches and juice. The date on the Bisquick box was Dec. 2020. No wonder; the leavening had died. I have baking soda, so no worry.  Tommy said the peach cobbler was good but not enough peaches. Well, that was all the peaches we had left! Rhubarb is cut and ready for another cobbler. 

In a bit, I will cook the four huge, pre-made burgers. The three one-pound bags of green beans, also, need to be cooked. 

In less than 24 hours, I have cooked four burgers, meat for taco soup, meat for tacos in a bowl, peach cobbler, rhubarb crisp, sweet potatoes for at least 4 meals, dip that can be part of a meal, green beans. I think I can call the marathon a success. That is protein for about 20 meals plus veggies for a week. Then there is all the raw vegetables for salads and other raw fruit. We have to really bear down on eating all these grapes before they go off. 

Tommy chose the dip to have for dinner, along with a salad. I need to chop onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers for him to use. 

Okay, he asked me again what were the ingredients. He said that was a lot of cheese. THEN, he went into the kitchen. I had no idea what he was doing. He said he tasted the dip cold and did not like it. Then, he warmed a bite in the microwave and did not like it. So, he had a salad, ham and sweet potatoes. I had dip, Wheat Thins, and salad.

When I was assembling the dip, I could not find the cream cheese. He had put it behind the cheese box. When he found it for me, I tried to cut the whole chunk into four pieces to soften it faster. Well, it was frozen solid. When I tried to cut it, it kept shattering into crumbs. In the dip when it finally thawed, it was grainy. Heated, the whole dip was grainy and had an awful texture. So, I have a ruined dip and two more packages of ruined cream cheese! 

Even though I have done lots today, I still have things to chop! 

I said I got a free jar of Wickles Pickles, but that is off. I actually got a free jar of Wickles Pickles Dirty Dill Cocktail Cornichons. I buy sweet gherkins, but these are also called gherkins, too. Gherkins I buy are larger than these pickles and they are sweet pickles. These are smaller around than a pencil and much shorter than gherkins. Now, we need an occasion to use these. I know I can use them like regular pickles, but they are so cute, and I won't eat many. 

How was your Labor Day? Cooking? 

17 comments:

  1. I have never had dill Cornichons, though I do keep them all of the time. Mine are just vinegar and herb cured and are very tart. I forgot today was Monday and missed the Wickles and whatever the Monday free item was. Oh well

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    1. Anne,
      I have always kept gherkins, but never had any this tiny or called cornichons. The wickles of different variety pickles are still free until Tuesday. I didn't know what was free until I got there, but since I was spending $30, I wanted the free item.

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  2. That is nice that Tommy helps you chop up some of the items you use when you are cooking. Chopping and mincing almost always feels like it is taking forever to me, too. I only have the patience to cook for two days worth of meals. Any more than that I start losing my patience and get wacky and cranky.

    I don't usually have good luck thawing things in the microwave, in fact, the results are so bad, when I used to try to thaw stuff in the microwave I would accidentally invent totally non-food products that could have been used as weapons against humanity. I read somewhere to put small portions of frozen foods that I want to thaw in a water proof freezer ziplock bag and then put it into a container of real warm water and change the water out when the water gets cold until I get my food item is thawed.
    I have a piece of smoked salmon in the freezer and I am going to look for dip recipes on google to make some sort of tasty dip with it on a day when I feel good. Friday, a week and three days ago, my lift chair suddenly broke late that night. I had no way to get my legs elevated correctly, I couldn't get them high enough and my neck comfortable enough to sleep in the bed, so my legs were down for most of 5 days and nights except when I tried to prop them up on rectangular storage tubs with pillows on top. It would only work for a little while because the pillows were slipping around. I called the repair number and the chair repair man came on Wednesday morning. I've never met a nicer, more thorough repair man. It turned out that a big bolt had worn out and sheered off which caused all kinds of other things to not work right or be damaged plus the metal scissor devices on each side of the recliners leg rest part had gotten twisted when that big bolt sheered off. That repairman replaced those scissor devices with stronger ones that are now installed on all of the chairs when they come from the factory. He worked for three hours and it cost $165 and my chair works perfectly now. It feels like new. I am so thankful that I did not have to buy a new chair. My chair is from Golden Technologies and I have been very pleased with it. They back their warranty.
    The problem is my legs swelled even more since I couldn't elevate them right for so many days and nights, to the point where today I was feeling a little sickish from the swelling and had low fever. The swelling was down when I woke up, but by bedtime they were hurting me. If they are still so swollen when I wake up, I will call the doctor and see about antibiotics. One place on my leg looks like cellulitis.
    Take care and have a nice day tomorrow.

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  3. susie,
    He just chopped and cooked the ground meat yesterday. I was exhausted from chopping all the other stuff! I hate to overwork him.
    I never try to thaw in the microwave because it never works the way I do it...lol. It seems I always cook things, like you...lol.
    That is terrible about your chair and the results for your legs. I have always wondered how sturdy the chair is actually. That scares me.
    I have heard Golden is a comfortable chair. If I ever need another one, that will be my choice. My legs are not actually high enough in this chair, I fear. The shearing of the bolt and twisting of the lift mechanism is awful. I hope my chair is sturdy enough. I am really fat...lol.
    Gracious! I hope you get better, whatever it is. I knew you said you had problems with health. Let me know how your leg is when you know.
    I was thinking as I read about your problem that if that ever happened to me, I know I could not keep pillows on a plastic bin, either. I think I would resort to just using duct tape to strap down the pillows.

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    1. Duct tape is a good idea that I will try if I ever have to make my own foot rest again.
      The Golden chairs have measurements for width of the seat and all other seat measurements, height of chair seat from the floor, and weight limits. I am heavy so I got the next to heaviest weight limit just to be sure it would last longer, and I could hold my grandkids on my lap without worrying about the chair breaking.. I have used this chair so much in the past year . I had that one full week where I was in the chair almost all of the time and slept in it with the legs up but I wasn't reclined because I had to sleep with my head looking down at the floor after my macular eye surgery.
      Once again today I was unable to make contact with my doctor and I am 99% sure that I have cellulitis on my shin. It is hot and red and starting to get sore, I told the nurse who answered the phone about it and I needed to talk to the doctor about it. She said he would call me later. It's 6:17 am in the morning and he never did contact me nor did a nurse. Aggravating! I hope I can get hold of the doctor today. I am pretty certain that I need antibiotics for the cellulitis.

      Have a nice day.

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    2. susie,
      Just take a long piece and tape all the way across the top to the other side so there is no slipping and bother. I was afraid the leg part would break if I tried to get out when I got stuck with no electricity. I don't know how you slept with head down and legs up.
      I would be so anxious about the shin. Hopefully, she will get him to call you. I know this can be dangerous. Hopefully, you will get a call or can visit him. That is aggravating, I know.

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  4. You know that Labor Day is a holiday. You are not forced to work yourself silly! LOL Sounds like you got a lot done. You are prepped for the week for meals. That is always a good thing. I like to do much the same when I feel good and have the energy.

    Pickles, I had been checking my neighborhood Walmart for little sweet pickles for more that a month. The only thing they had was sweet relish. I had that, I wanted sweet pickles! I use them in potato salad like MIL taught me. My husband always wanted extra sweet pickles added! I tried to substitute with the sweet relish but it was awful. Who knew, one little change would throw the whole dish off. Don't get me wrong, I substitute a lot of things if I am out of something. With my MIL's recipes I want to make them just like she taught me. When she passed and we were going thru the house I asked me a little canning jar in her kitchen. She used it for making salad dressings, put everything in and shake, shake shake. That is what I use for mixing mine. Makes me smile everytime I bring it out.

    The cream cheese was it in the fridge or the freezer. Did you check the date if was in the fridge, I always put mine in the freezer unless I am going to use it right away. I have had it get old before in the fridge and it did have a grainy texture, even when set out to come to room temperature. Since that episode, I have been sure to put it in the freezer to keep it fresh for recipes. I have a block on the counter now that came from the freezer for a dessert dish.

    I love peach cobbler. It you go online and search for easy peach cobbler, you might find a recipe that calls for 1 stick of butter, 1 cup each of milk, sugar and self rising flour. Mix to form a batter. Take the butter and melt in the casserole dish you are using. I use a 28 oz can of peaches, pour those into the pan with juice. pour batter over the stop of that. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until browned.
    The recipe does not call for it but I add a little cinnamon to the batter. Have a great tuesday and enjoy the fruits of your labor
    day!!

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    1. Texas,
      I always work myself to near death. But, I get started and stay on a roll, carried by the momentum.

      This was fresh from the store and in date. Only certain dishes can use frozen cream cheese. It just should not have been lined up against the wall of the refrigerator.

      That recipe is called a "dump cake." I have made it often, but I did not have a lot of peaches this time. It is delicious!

      It is a good day today. Thanks. And, you enjoy the dessert.

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    2. I forgot to say that only pickles, dill chips or sweet gherkins make my potato salad which I learned to make from my mother. I used sweet relish and dill relish when I could not handle a knife and pickle due to an injury. The pickle does make a difference!

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  5. You've certainly done well with your cooking.

    We enjoy rhubarb in a rhubarb fool
    https://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.com/2018/09/rhubarb-fool-delicious-dessert.html

    All the best Jan

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    Replies
    1. Jan,
      Thanks. I enjoy cooking. I will have to look at the fool.

      Delete
  6. Our labor day was BUSY! Hubby started on Sunday smoking meat. Two briskets, three Boston butts, 10 chickens. On Monday morning he put on a pig to roast. We also had hamburgers and hotdogs. I made three dozen eggs into deviled eggs and a casserole dish of macaroni and cheese. Everyone else who came brought sides, drinks, and desserts.

    He is from a big family and most came, my family came as well as many from our church. Including the two of us, there were 65 people in attendance throughout the day. There were 13 kids who swam. It was a good day!

    I joked and said we need to do that more often, because the level of house cleaning I did beforehand was phenomenal. It hasn't been that clean in years, even though we have Labor Day at our house every year. This was the best one ever, and only the second largest.

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    Replies
    1. Alice,
      That is a lot of meat! I am impressed. I have never seen that many deviled eggs, also. I want to come next year...lol.

      It sounds like a very good and busy day for you. That is a lot of people even if they did not all come at once. Since there was swimming, it must have been a pretty day.

      I always like entertaining because the house was cleaned often! You must have been exhausted. It sounds like an amazing day. You sound triumphant as you should.

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  7. My Labor Day was all about the fun, even though it rained all day. We gadded about and visited antique shops and flea markets, and had lobster rolls for dinner. Then we layed around and read until bedtime. I could do that every day!

    Your cooking all sounds SO DELICIOUS!! I know it made for an overly busy day, but you will eat so well in the coming days!

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    1. Sue,
      That sounds like a fun Labor Day or any day. That would be a fun day anytime.

      It was delicious, thank you. We did not start until late in the day, so not too tiring. I have a jar of spaghetti that we need to finish, so I will add some of the ground meat and cook the pasta. There is salad, too. I don't feel like cooking tonight!

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  8. Ladies, the leftovers continue. There was chicken last night, but with bacon, ranch dressing, and a bit of cheese. Tonight, I did a rough chop on three kinds of meat. I heated it through and added taco seasoning. Topped with salsa and sour cream. Yum! 😋

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    Replies
    1. Alice,
      Leftovers are great! If you froze any, you should eat for days. Those leftover meals sound delicious.

      Delete

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