Winter Doldrums

[Spookymufu]

I'm addicted to food network, I like to cook, but I would be pissed off if I got that as a gift

[Andybev01]

LOL! Me too.

I like to watch Paula Deen. Her food will kill you but she has such a sweet accent.

[Spookymufu]

I would love to taste the food most of the cooks on the network make (except sea food) but not Paula's, all I have to do is take a bite of butter and I'd know.........(also, I own a set of her signature copper bottom cookware )

[witchy]

Okay girls, what are we having for dinner? Ha ha ha

[Spookymufu]

seasoned seared steak with potatoes simmered in chicken broth with garlic and tomatoes until the liquid was fully reduced.

[witchy]

Yummy!!!!

[Murfreesboro]

My mother always used to call January the "Monday morning of the year." It's not the weather that gets me down as much as having to deal with Christmas bills and tax season. Ugh!

Witchy, I've never had authentic King Cake, so I don't know how mine measured up. It is more a bread than a cake. It uses yeast, and I used the dough cycle in my bread machine, so that part wasn't much work at all. Basically, it tasted like raisin bread without the raisins, and it had an icing made of confectioner's sugar and lemon juice, which I dutifully colored in the Mardi Gras purple/green/gold colors. A few years back, my daughter had a classmate who was a refugee from Katrina, and he brought a real King Cake to class. She said the icing on it was different from mine, and she had liked what he brought better. But I scoured the web for recipes, and all of them were very similar to the one I used, so I don't see how any King Cake could be very different from the one I made.

We've got snow on the ground right now, which is unusual for us. Probably only 1/4 to 1/2 inch, but everything is soooo cold! Schools were out on Thursday and Friday. Nothing is melting, and everything is icy.

[Andybev01]

I took down Christmas lights from the front gate, 2 big bows that hang on the stone gate posts a little further down the driveway and the lights from the front porch...*sigh*

The cool thing however is one of the trees in the front garden has about half of it's still gorgeous fall leaves on it, and a carpet of the fallen ones on the ground. I can still pretend it's autumn if I let my mind wander.

Maybe I'll watch Hocus Pocus tonight.

[NeverMore]

.
77° here today but I had to work so I didn't get to enjoy it. Life is cruel!

[witchy]

It was 9 degree's here so I don't even want to here about it!!!

Andy I love Hocus Pocus, I may have to watch it this morning too!!
(around 1:00 am, because I can't sleep!!!)

[Belladonna]

It went down to -2 here overnight, and not much better this morning. BRRRRRRRrrrr!!!

[Pumpkin_Man]

We're back in the deep freez, too, and there's still about a foot of snow on the ground, sll though the sidwalks, and roads are pretty clear. I had all my Christmas decorations down on the 2nd of Jan, because I don't like to face that task arfter going back to work.

That "king cake" sounds pretty good.

Mike

[MacPhantom]

I'll probably chuck the Crimbo Branch in the compost heap tomorrow. Should take all of two minutes.

Make sure you don't cook that garlic too long before chucking in the tomatoes, Spooky. The acid keeps it from going bitter.

[Spookymufu]

I actually tossed them in at the same time, cooked em down a bit then tossed in everything else

[Andybev01]

Had a killer chicken dish yesterday.

take 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, smack them flat with a mallet to about 1/2" thick.
Sprinkle both sides with sea salt, pepper, and thyme.

Make a layer of over-lapping prucetta slices, lay 1 chicken breast on it and roll it up like a ho-ho.

450 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.

Pass out from the mouth-watering flavor.