Broccoli Slaw with Shrimp and Smoked Paprika

This is one of the absolute best dinner salads I have ever had!

For the creamy cider vinaigrette:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream or buttermilk
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 garlic clove, chopped (or 3/4tsp mince garlic)
1/2 tsp celery seed


2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. mild Spanish smoked paprika
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 lb. bacon slices
1 bag broccoli slaw (4 serving size)
5 celery stalks, including leaves, thinly sliced, leaves minced coarsely
6 green onions, white and green portions, chopped
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
Directions:
To make the vinaigrette, in a food processor or blender, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, olive oil, vinegar, mustard, celery seed, and garlic and process until smooth. Set aside. (The vinaigrette can be made up to 1 day in advance, covered tightly and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before using.)

In a large bowl, toss together the shrimp, olive oil, paprika, and a little salt and pepper. Preheat a large nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat. Add half of the shrimp and sauté until they turn pink and are opaque throughout, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining shrimp. Set aside to cool.

Rinse the fry pan, wipe dry and return to medium heat. Add the bacon slices and fry, turning as needed, until crisp, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, transfer to paper towels to drain. Let cool, then crumble and set aside.

To assemble the slaw, add the broccoli slaw, celery, green onions, and vinaigrette to the shrimp and toss to coat all the ingredients evenly. Season very lightly, if needed, with salt and pepper and toss again.

Transfer the slaw to a serving bowl or deep platter. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon and the blue cheese over the top. Serve immediately. Serves 8.

**Adapted from Williams Sonoma Shrimp Celery Slaw

Mashed Potato Stuffed Hot dogs

Mashed Potato Stuffed Hot dogs  - this is something my mom made when I was a child that I remember as a comfort food, and something my husband's mom also made when he was little - it was a definite bonding moment for us! We both love them!  I use left over mashed potatoes, but you could use instant or Simply Potatoes - just warm up the potatoes before you use them in this recipe, they will be easier to work with.


1 pkg hot dogs
Approx 2-1/2 cups mashed potatoes, warmed up
Mustard, any kind, but dijon is the best
1 T melted butter

ready to go into the oven

Slit the hotdogs lengthwise, about 3/4 of the way down; open and flatten, but do not separate halves. Spread with good layer of dijon mustard.  Mound mashed potatoes the length of each hot dog, brush with melted butter. Bake in 425 degree oven about 25-30 min.

Rhinestone flowers and rib eye steaks

I think I have finally found someone who can repair a large, beautiful, antique rhinestone brooch that had the stickpin break off the back - and I had since misplaced the pin.   This morning, reading the Wilson Times, I came across an ad for a local small business, Julia Newton Jewelry, Custom Jewelry and Repairs, so I went to their website.

I want to wear this again!

I fell in love with this site immediately.  "Have you been told the repair you need is impossible?...Just contact us to find out how we can help. Julia can solder a chicken to a telephone pole."  And it gets better: not only does she design lovely custom jewelry, she has a meat packers license and sells all natural beef. Come on!


I've not been there yet, nor met Julia, but the picture she has created in my mind is irresistible!!  I think I'll swing by there today to see about repairs and a couple of rib eye steaks...gotta love the south!


Here is her website, must share:
http://www.julianewtonjewelry.com/

Cooking on a budget - a nutritional landmine

Like so many others, I am really trying to pare my grocery budget back - but trying to provide nutritious and tasty food is like walking through a field of landmines!  High carb pastas make cheap, filling meals; fresh produce is horribly expensive during the winter months, and canned vegetables have nutrients processed away; I picked up a bag of frozen vegetables and was amazed to find that, although the package itself was large, it was nearly empty! Then there are the food items fabricated from corn syrup, oils, and who knows what else, that might have come from a nightmare version of the food replicator on Star Trek.  


A killer ham and cheese sandwich started me on this tirade:
Yesterday, I bought a large package of  lunchmeat - sliced ham for sandwiches - and was amazed when I got home and realized what I had: it LOOKED like ham, and TASTED like ham, but the similarities ended there.  The package informed me in tiny print (like I can easily read microscopic words in the grocery store, I am old!)  that there was at least 33% ground ham in this product, leaving me to wonder what the hell the other 67% was....this cannot be good....corn syrup and pressed oils.  How many families, trying to stretch pennies to the limit, will use this along with American Cheese Product (not much cheese, mostly oil, but it LOOKS like sliced cheese) on the most inexpensive white bread.  You might as well put a slab of shortening dusted with sugar on a piece of cardboard.  The government requires warnings on video games, movies and television shows that are not appropriate for children - they should do the same on worthless foods masquerading as things they are not.


Meat, fish, poultry, grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy.  Food pyramids.  Whole grains, fresh produce. How can the average low income mother shopping for a family of 4 or 5 possibly afford to do this?  Forget free-range and organic! No wonder obesity is rampant among the young, particularly lower income, children.  Keeping them fed comes first, for better or worse.  


I am so blessed! Raising my children, I fell back on the things I learned from my mother, that she learned from HER mother - raising a family during the depression.  Does anyone know how to cut up a whole chicken anymore? Or how to stretch it to make at least 3 healthy meals for a family?   Mama made our bread - I used to only wish for Wonder Bread,  it was just like cake to me - and now all I can say to her is 'thank you, THANK-YOU!!'   If we're looking for answers, I think we need to look back - way back - to our long-ago American homes and recipes, and find that magic soup stone.

Halibut with crab stuffing and fresh salsa

So good! I don't use a recipe for this, I just make it - I have written all instructions and ingredients down as completely as possible, but please let me know how yours turns out!!!   Serves 6 hungry people. Leftovers reheat well, but use the next day, keep no longer.
For a wonderful and tasty lean version, omit crab stuffing, and bake (425 deg), broil, or grill any fish with lemon, salt and old bay (rule is about 7 minutes per inch of thickness) -  then top with salsa when serving - mmmmm!

2 large halibut steaks, skin on (about 1 lb each)
salt, old bay seasoning, to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 stick butter, melted

crab stuffing - recipe below

fresh salsa for topping - recipe below

Lay halibut skin side down in a greased baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and a dusting of Old Bay seasoning.  Pat half the crab mixture in a thick layer on top of first halibut steak, repeat with other.  Lightly mix melted butter with bread crumbs, then toss in cheese until well mixed. Sprinkle evenly to cover top of crab mixture. Cover pan with aluminum foil, bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes; remove foil and bake another 15 minutes, or until crab cake is baked through and top is lightly browned.  Cut and serve, garnishing each generously with fresh salsa.

Crab stuffing:
1 lb fresh crab meat
3 green onions, top and bottoms, minced
1/2 c bread crumbs, approx
1/3 c shredded parmesan cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon old bay seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
Mix well (gently!), should be just enough bread crumbs to bind the crab and egg.  Don't substitute for the Old Bay - you can buy it at any grocery store.  (Note: If you leave out the cheese, the crab stuffing makes EXCELLENT crab cakes, just fry in a little butter/olive oil mixture.)


Fresh salsa:
3 roma tomatoes and 2 regular tomatoes, cored and roughly diced
1 large sweet onion, roughly diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 -1/2 cup very loosely packed fresh cilantro - I use one bunch, remove as many stems as I can and mince leaves roughly. I like lots of fresh cilantro, but adjust according to taste.
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper   
1 fresh lime
              Mix everything but lime together in medium bowl. Roll lime on counter to soften, cut in half, and juice; add liquid to bowl. Toss lightly.  This can be made ahead of time, and refrigerated.  Great with tortilla chips too, but add more jalapeno if you like it hotter, this is fairly mild.

Craft Shelving - Re-purpose Pressed Board Furniture

I wanted...no NEEDED...a closet in the den completely fitted out with shelving for my crafting, painting and sewing things.  Total cash outlay of  $15.00, and a day later, it's done!

Pressed board furniture - those big microwave stands and entertainment centers - are absolute white elephants. I picked up a big microwave stand with one drawer and a cupboard below, as a curb side offering;   (fyi, end of spring term at any college dorm is also prime hunting grounds.)  We totally disassembled the piece, and it was surprising how much shelving material there was!

These shelves are not good candidates for painting:  screw holes, raw edges and the occasional wavy laminate; with the help of that old standby Contac Paper, you can do a down-n-dirty, washable, surface refurbishment.  I picked a non-geometric black and white pattern - easiest and most forgiving.  After we designed the layout and cut the shelves, before installing them, I wrapped each shelf with contact paper.  Use a staple gun on the edges of the contac paper on the underside of the shelves, to ensure it stays properly;

Using a stud finder, we screwed braces to the wall (1"x 2" support studs from the cabinet, cut long enough to provide shelf support, wrapped in contact paper also before installing)   then, starting with the bottom shelf and working up, we attached the shelves.  Sweeeeet!

I have a mixed bunch of clear storage boxes - including green, blue, and purple tops - so I spent a little extra here to pull them all together by using a black spray paint for plastic, and painted all the lids.

Sausage Gravy - from scratch in under 30 min.

When cold weather sets in, I want to make hot, old-fashioned meals. This sausage gravy is so easy, and so quick to make from scratch - less than 30 minutes, even for a beginner cook - and definitely *Worthy of Company* !  When I want a quick meal, I serve it on whole wheat toast instead of biscuits.

1 lb sage flavored bulk sausage
3 tablespoons finely diced onion
6 tablespoons flour ( that equals 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
1 quart milk (4 cups) - I use 2%

1 dash worcestershire sauce
1 dash tobasco sauce
2 teaspoons dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, slightly rounded
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt


Prep:  Have you read this recipe from beginning to end?? If not, do so! Next, all together into a small bowl, pre-measure the sage, thyme, nutmeg and salt. Set that next to the stove along with the open worcestershire and tobasco bottles - this way you'll be ready to add them quickly;  also, measure your flour into another little bowl. Dice your onion. Measure the milk into a microwavable glass measuring cup. You do not want to mess with this stuff when you are in the middle of making a sauce! Now, you're set to begin.

In a large sauce pan over medium heat:
Partially cook the sausage.( If you don't have sage sausage, that's ok - just add the following extra seasonings right now: 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons sage, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper).
Add the onion and stir a little, breaking up sausage and cooking until sausage is grey ( no pink at all) but not brown, and onion is transparent.

Add the flour, all at once. Stirring frequently, continue to cook for 5-6 minutes, till mixture is light brown and bubbly.  There will be brown stuff sticking to the bottom of the pan, and that's exactly how it should be.  While this is cooking, put the milk the  microwave, and zap it for 4-6 minutes, depending on your microwave; you want it to be steaming hot - close to, but NOT, boiling.   If it develops a skin on top, just skim it off with a spoon.

Reduce heat to low; add milk all at once, and stir constantly. If you're not sure about stirring a sauce, figure 8s work well - it is important to keep the liquid in the pan moving all the time, spoon always touching the bottom, to keep it from scorching.  Add your pre-measured seasonings, and the worcestershire and tobasco sauces.  Keep stirring!
Increase heat to medium high, and stir constantly, spoon always touching bottom - you will feel the brownings on the bottom of the pan coming free; soon the pan will feel smooth to your spoon, and that's exactly how it should be! When gravy thickens and begins to bubble, remove from heat immediately. Taste, add additional salt and/or pepper if needed.

Adapted from Cooking From Quilt Country by Marcia Adams, one of my favorite cookbooks.