Summer eatings

Sorry for the lack of posts of late - things were bananas at work and then we had the amazing wedding in D.C.

Nonetheless, there has been a small amount of cooking going on. For example, I sliced a lovely watermelon and devoured the bulk of it in a 2-day time frame.Additionally, I made a macaroni salad (served with grilled sausages and baked beans).
For said mac salad, I made a dressing of 1 c mayo, 1/4 (ish) c cider vinegar, 1/2 c sugar, 2 1/2 tbsp prepared mustard, salt, and pepper. I diced up about 1 c of ham, 1 bell pepper, 4 green onions, and 4 stalks of celery. I also threw in 3 grated carrots and a large handful of frozen peas. I prepared 1 1/2 pounds of elbow macaroni in salted water, tossed that with the dressing and then added the veggies. I gave it about 3 hours to chill before eating. It was quite tasty - and a good way to get some needed veggies into a husband who refuses to eat green things. If/when I make it again, I'll probably drop the pasta amount by about a 1/4 lb. to maximize the veggie impact. You could also probably add some diced hard-boiled egg to up the protein ante.

Stress cookies

It has been a very busy few weeks at work - with several more busy days to come. I may or may not have polished off 1 "sleeve" of Amaretto Milanos in the car earlier. With a future sleeve to come....

Derby pie

My aunt and uncle gave me a fun cookbook for my birthday in March, and in it was a recipe for Derby Pie. I decided to bust it out last weekend.

For any pecan pie, you generally make a filling with butter, eggs, corn syrup, and sugar. And pecans, obviously. For this pie, which is a chocolate AND nut pie, you also add chocolate. And I added a splash of vanilla for kicks.

Pour into an unbaked 9 inch pie shell and begin the decorative pecaning. Yes, I said pecaning.
Voila - a while later, you get pie! This guy went about 3 min too long, but the pie still tasted pretty darn good!

Experimental dinner

I was looking for summery pork recipes and found one for grilled pork with a pineapple salsa. I didn't feel like splurging on tenderloin, so I just used regular thin cut chops and improvised from there.

Here we have our lovely cored and skinned fresh pineapple.

GRILL PINEAPPLE! GRILL!
I had some leftover roasted onions and peppers in the fridge, so that was tossed in with lime juice, salt, pepper, one jalapeno, and some cumin and chili powder.
Meanwhile, I needed to season the pork. Salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, and some chopped garlic...a hefty squirt of lime juice...into the fridge for a few hours.
GRILL PORK! GRILL!
I served up the pork with some wild rice and corn (corn again, jeez - also I have no idea why this is showing up underlined)It was really quite good. Mr. R decided, and I agreed, that the salsa was WAY too pineapple-y, so if I make it again, I'll definitely bump up the savory bits and seasonings. But it was a refreshing change from pork chops and applesauce.

BBQ

I kicked off the May monthly menu planner with a bang - shredded pork sandwiches.

Here is our lovely pork shoulder. It will soon spend many an hour in the slow cooker.
Here is the base of the spice rub - garlic powder, chili powder, salt, paprika, cumin, and cayenne. I forgot brown sugar, and luckily remembered right before the pork went into the fridge overnight. YOU MUST HAVE BROWN SUGAR! quite a lot of it actually. I rubbed this spice mix onto the pork shoulder and let it sit overnight.
Meanwhile, I concocted a sauce - apple cider vinegar, chili sauce, some ketchup, a few garlic cloves, some Worcestershire...maybe a drop of beer? I don't know. It was on the fly.
After a day in the cooker, the pork was easily shredded by fork.
And served with some macaroni salad, CORN, and some of its own sauce (boiled in a pan until thick).

Famous beer cheese dip

Ok - so I make this dip for most parties. It is a HUGE favorite in my husband's family, and generally enjoyed by all who enjoy a good dip. I'm not entirely clear on the provenance of this recipe - I got it from my grandparents who got it from a friend of my aunt and uncle's. That's about all I know. Here we go - beer cheese dip.

First, you take one 8 oz. bar of cream cheese and 3/4 of a packet of ranch dressing mix. You can easily sub low fat cream cheese. Just stay away from fat free, that is super sick.

Smush those items together for a bit, then add some glorious beer (or not so glorious - you can use crap beer if you desire) ACTION SHOT!

And finally.....cheese....wonderful cheese....
Mix 'em all up and put into a serving bowl. Serve with pretzels, crackers...really just about anything!