Obama Victory Parade

Obama Victory Parade

 via The Guardian & Zen Fetish

I don't care if you are sad or euphoric over the results of the 2012 election. This is awesome! Thank you to the ultra amazing Angela St Lawrence for sharing this link. You my lady, just plain rock!

Salsa Sunday

Tonight I am catering a small party for twenty people. It's a drop off job where I just set up the event, drop off the food and pick up the equipment the next day. These are my favorite types of catering jobs because they are pure profit after the cost of the food.

This is a Mexican food themed party. I am making a couple of different types of salsa for this party and I thought I would share them here since my cooking philosophy is that "cooking is love" and I love sharing my passion for cooking with as many people as I can.

Mango Salsa

Ingredients

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced (should be 1 1/2 cup)

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 Jalapeno chile pepper, minced (include seeds and membrane for hotter taste)

1 small cucumber, peeled and diced

3 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 red bell pepper, diced (seeds and membrane removed)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 diced avocado (optional)

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the salsa ends up being a little too hot or acidic for your taste, you can temper it by adding some diced avocado.

Corn Salsa

Ingredients

2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed

1/3 cup chopped purple onion

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 avocado, diced

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. Serve corn salsa with grilled meat, poultry, or tortilla chips .
Makes about 5 cups.

Tomato Salsa

Ingredients3 Roma tomatoes 
¼ head of red cabbage
¼  cucumber
1 small red chili
1 small green chili
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
1 lime
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp chopped mint
2 tsp chopped coriander

Directions

Chop all salad vegetables to chunky pieces and mix in a bowl. Finely chop garlic and add to mixture along with mint and coriander. Squeeze in the juice of lemon and lime and stir well. Drizzle 1 dessert spoon of extra virgin oil and finish with balsamic vinegar.

There you go. Three simple, yet tasty salsa recipes that are sure to be a hit. I hope you enjoy making these salsa's as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Hello Dear Followers!

Below is an easy to make Crock Pot Lasagna. Including prep time, this takes close to seven hours but it's worth every moment of wait time. Your home will be filled with the odoriferous emanations of Italian cooking all day long and the taste is unreal! This is something I have made many times during the day and taken to the firehouse for dinner. The crew loves it and I think you will too!

Ingredients: 

1 pound ground turkey or 1 pound ground sirloin
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce (your favorite)
1/3 cup water
12 lasagna noodles

6 oz fresh mushrooms, coarse chopped
1 15 oz carton ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Brown meat and seasoning, drain.

Mix spaghetti sauce and water. Place 4 uncooked noodles in lightly greased crockpot.

Layer with beef mixture, sauce and mushrooms.

Spread evenly with ricotta cheese and sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella.

Layer with 4 noodles, meat, sauce mixture, mushrooms and 1/2 of remaining mozzarella cheese.

Layer with final four noodles and remaining mozzarella cheese.

Cover, cook on high 1 hour.

Reduce heat and cook on low 5 hrs.

Remove cover and allow to sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Serves four firefighters or six normal individuals

Apple-less Apple Pie

Back in the day, during World War II, there was a shortage of apples. I'm not sure of the correlation between war and apples but it happened. So says my grandmother. Anyway, being the creative sort that they were, the people of her time improvised and made due with what they had. Below is my grandmothers recipe for apple-less apple pie. Give this a try. It's pretty darned good.

Ingredients:

Pastry dough for a two crust 9 inch pie. (You can use a pre made crust if you wish)
1 3/4 cups of Ritz crackers, coarsely crumbled (about 36 crackers)
1 3/4 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Roll out half the pastry dough and line a 9 inch pie plate/tin. Put the cracker crumbs in the prepared crust and set aside. Heat water, sugar, and cream of tartar to a boil over high heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice & zest. Let cool. Pour the cooled mixture over the cracker crumbs. Dot it with butter or margarine. Roll out remaining pastry dough & arrange over pie, cutting slits in the top to vent the steam. Egg wash the pie crust to enhance the golden color of the crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until pie crust is golden and crisp. Allow to cool before serving.

Got Chickpeas? Got Sweet Potatoes?

It's recipe Friday and as you may (or may not) know, I am the world's biggest hummus fan. I eat it, make it, cook with it & once used it to glue my mirror back on. Well, no not really on the mirror thing but I LOVE HUMMUS!

I have recently been embraced the science of flavor blending. I have been trying some seriously off the charts hummus flavors like lemon (tastes like a dessert), scallion, buffalo wing, and crabby but I've got to tell you that Sweet Potato Hummus might be my gift to the masses! This stuff rocks. I never tout my own food or my cooking but this stuff is that good! You can serve this warm or cold with the cracker or pita of your choice but if you are alone and want to be decadent, put a few dollops in a bowl and just eat it with a spoon. The recipe is below and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Sweet Potato Hummus

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups cooked chickpeas (or one can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained)

3 tablespoons tahini

3 cloves garlic, peeled

juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1/2 lemon

ground sea salt, to taste

1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cumin
pinch of cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the sweet potatoes on the middle oven rack or in a baking dish for 45 minutes to an hour. They should yield to a gentle squeeze when they’re done baking.

While the sweet potatoes are cooling, toss all of the other ingredients into a food processor (if you’re sensitive to spice, you may want to save the spices for last and add them to taste). Once the sweet potatoes have cooled enough to handle, use a knife or your fingers to peel the skin off of them. Add the sweet potatoes to the food processor.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.

Fire Safety Part Two: Bedroom Fire Safety

Each year, fire claims the lives of 3,500 Americans and injures approximately 18,300. Bedrooms are a common area of fire origin. Nearly 600 lives are lost to fires that start in bedrooms. Many of these fires are caused by misuse or poor maintenance of electrical devices, such as overloading extension cords or using portable space heaters too close to combustibles. Many other bedroom fires are caused by children who play with matches and lighters, careless smoking among adults, and arson.

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the Sleep Products Safety Council (SPSC) would like you to know that there are simple steps you can take to prevent the loss of life and property resulting from bedroom fires.

Children are one of the highest risk groups for deaths in residential fires. At home, children usually play with fire - lighters, matches and other ignitables - in bedrooms, in closets, and under beds. These are "secret" places where there are a lot of things that catch fire easily.

Did you know that children of all ages set over 35,000 fires annually. Every year over 400 children nine years and younger die in home fires. For some reason, kids are fascinated by fire and flame. Keep matches and lighters locked up and away from children. Check under beds and in closets for burnt matches, evidence your child may be playing with matches. Above all, teach your child that fire is a tool, not a toy.

Bedrooms are the most common room in the home where electrical fires start. Electrical fires are a special concern during winter months which call for more indoor activities and increases in lighting, heating, and appliance use. Do not trap electric cords against walls where heat can build up. Take extra care when using portable heaters. Keep bedding, clothes, curtains and other combustible items at least three feet away from space heaters. Only use lab-approved (Underwriters Laboratory is a good example) electric blankets and warmers. Check to make sure the cords are not frayed and make sure your smoke alarms are in working condition.

Finally, tuck yourself in for a good night of restful sleep by never smoking in bed, replace mattresses made before the 2007 Federal Mattress Flammability Standard. Mattresses made since then are required by law to be safer & most of all having working smoke alarms dramatically increases your chances of surviving a fire. Place at least one smoke alarm on each level of your home and in halls outside bedrooms. And remember to practice a home escape plan frequently with your family.

Next Up: Cooking Fire Safety

Fire Safety Part One: Smoke Alarms

I have decided to concentrate my blog on a subject that I feel is very important. As a firefighter, fire safety is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I don’t care what people think, but true dedicated firefighters don’t want to come to your home or business to put out a fire if it can be avoided. We would much rather that you are safe. Fires are devastating, potentially deadly events that even on a small scale cause undue heartache and grief to those involved. I am going to break this down into five parts. Each one giving an overview of fire safety from the perspective of a firefighter but broken down into wording and terms a citizen will understand.

The first subject concerns smoke alarms, their placement, their maintenance and replacement and what not to do to your smoke alarm.

A properly installed and maintained smoke alarm is the only thing in your home that can alert you and your family to a fire 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you’re awake or asleep, a working smoke alarm is constantly on alert, scanning the air for fire and smoke.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in properties without working smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire.

Smoke alarms should be at a minimum placed on every level of your home, the basement included. Many fatal fires begin late at night or in the early morning so I recommend that you place smoke alarms in every sleeping area of your home also. Early warning is a key to saving your life and the lives of those you love.

Smoke alarms, whether of the 9-volt, 10 year lithium, or hardwired variety need to be maintained. General guidelines are as follows:

Smoke alarms powered by a 9-volt battery should be tested monthly. Replace the batteries at least once per year and the entire smoke alarm unit should be replaced every 8-10 years.

Smoke alarms powered by a 10-year lithium (or “long life”) battery should be tested monthly. Since you cannot and should not attempt to replace the lithium battery, the entire smoke alarm unit should be replaced according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Smoke alarm that is hardwired into the home’s electrical system tested monthly. The backup battery should be replaced at least once per year and the entire smoke alarm unit should be replaced every 8-10 years.

Finally, never, ever disable a smoke alarm while cooking. A smoke alarm is just doing its job when it sounds while you’re cooking or taking a shower with lots of steam.

If a smoke alarm sounds while you’re cooking or taking a shower with lots of steam, do not remove the battery. You should open a window or door and press the “hush” button, wave a towel at the alarm to clear the air, or move the entire alarm several feet away from the location. Disabling a smoke alarm or removing the battery can be a deadly mistake.

Did I say that you should NEVER, EVER, EVER disable your smoke alarm because you are cooking? Ok, I did but I really wanted to emphasize the fact that the consequences can be deadly if you disable your smoke alarm.

Next up: Bedroom Fire Safety