Posted in Believe it or not!, Food, Husbands

In Honor of the Peanut Butter Thing…

Today is National Peanut Butter Day?

So they say.

Well I decided to share with you my connection to the lowly peanut, and the butter we make from it.

Forty-five years ago (tomorrow!) I acquired a wonderful, brand new husband. Never looked back. However, it wasn’t long before we were sharing a tad of morning sickness and he had the cure!

It was not something I would have chosen to swallow that morning, not at all. It sounded gross.

But his enthusiasm (plus the fact that he could stand up without fainting and I could not) won the day.

I found myself eyeball to eyeball with a bowl of canned chicken noodle soup and the most amazing combination of foods I could ever imagine in a sandwich.

It was not even a good color combination, and the aromas from it were less than what a newly prego lady would want.

However, it all was served to me while I was still in bed, and with such youthful exuberance, I had to smile to myself at the awesome idea of this young man serving me, his young bride, breakfast in bed with such a hopeful expression, no matter WHAT the menu.

So I sipped on the soup, for starters. (Soup is supposed to be the first course, anyway, I remembered from home ec class.) The soup was fine. He actually knew how to open a can of soup, dilute it properly, and warm it without boiling it over; a factoid worth mental note, indeed.

And he was truly caring and attentive, I also noted, with pleasure.

But the sandwich!

It was time. I had to take at least one bite. How on earth could anyone be so callous as to ignore any part of this loving offering, right?

So I took a bite. I chewed.

The unbelievable flavor combination of white bread, peanut butter, and dill pickle awakened my taste buds to a new world.

And I’ve never looked back

Happy 45th, a day early, Sweetheart! ❤

Peanut Butter and Dill Pickle Sandwich
Counter-top breakfasting at its best!

What’s THAT stuff?!

Calamari = squid.

Squid served at a restaurant

The body can be stuffed whole, cut into flat pieces or sliced into rings. The arms, tentacles and ink are edible; the only parts of the squid that are not eaten are its beak and gladius (cartilage). I’ve seen it battered and fried like onion rings. It’s supposed to taste sweet.

I’ve eaten rabbit before, and it is sweet, so squids and rodents taste similar?

Groans.

You can hardly find a stuffed mushroom in a restaurant, anymore, except those with squid squirted into them. That’s just wrong.

Canterbury Hill
Canterbury Hill

However, there was a time when my brother took us all out to eat al fresco, on a breezy summer’s eve, to a lovely place near his home just outside Jeff City, Missouri. We ordered the stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer and I became so enamored with this dish.

They were creamy and savory and warm and I’d never eaten anything I liked so much that wasn’t sweet.*

I mean, I wanted to eat everyone’s serving.

I mean, I had to remind myself to behave.

However, there on a flagstone patio, noshing over a wrought iron table, I began analyzing.

And I never stopped until last year, when I figured I knew how to make those mushrooms.

And today, I publish my recipe for the first time, ever, over at Dining with Debbie.

Go there.

You’ll be glad.

 

* And it’s NOT squid!
Posted in Herbs, Recipes

Announcing Another New Page – Recipes!

Cookbook

Okay.

I know this site is a mix.

But so is home life.

One minute you’re mopping the face of a heart-broken pre-schooler
while dispensing wisdom about overcoming heartbreak.

The next minute, supper is due.

Or past due.

You come here for help and encouragement about the home.

Me, too, sometimes.

And if I am not feeding a soul, I am feeding a tummy.

Or 17 tummies.

And looking for that recipe.

Or wishing for a new recipe.

When one of my own recipe cards is lost, I come here, myself.

Really!

I need that recipe!

When you need a recipe,

or a boot in the motivator,

or you just want to think about food,

COME HERE!

 And have fun.

P.S. I know I have not found all the recipes I’ve posted at Home’s Cool, and need to search for more. They’re tucked into all sorts of places, kinda like at my house. If you find one somewhere, here, and it’s not on the new page, let me know, please. I’ll send you a yum recipe of your choice from my private stash as a reward.