I aim to post more than just once a week, unfortunately lately that doesn't seem to be happening. I will briefly run down my recent culinary masterpieces.


Labor Day weekend meal- Beer Brats with caramelized onions, baked beans, and potato salad

I must say the baked beans were quite a stretch for me as I carefully opened the can of Bush’s baked beans…haha. In my opinion, why mess with something that is already just so darn good?!

For the brats, I have learned, thanks to my Wisconsin-bred husband that you must be sure to buy the raw brats and not the ones that are already cooked or already have beer in them or whatever else. I simmered them in beer, Bud Light because that’s all I had around, for about 2 hours. While that was going on I sliced up some onions to caramelize and added a little dried thyme and eventually brown sugar. Once the brats were done simmering, I sautéed them up in the remaining fat from the onion pan. The grill is my favorite, but considering where we live there is no grill that is easily accessible.

Potato salad, in particular my Grandma K’s Potato Salad, is a favorite of mine. I remember for my high school graduation party we made it, along with tons of other things, and I honestly ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for almost a week. It’s a really good old-fashioned potato salad with hard boiled eggs, mayo and mustard.

This was not a light meal by any means, but we enjoyed it immensely. Brandon even said that the brats were the best he’s ever had! Really it was an all around delicious and hearty meal. 

Fantasy Football Draft day

It can sometimes be difficult to cook for a group of 10 guys without making a big mess. I just played it easy and got some London Broil (that’s what was on sale) browned it up and served it with some tortillas and salsa and that kind of stuff. I was also lucky enough to find some avocados that were ripe the same day I wanted them so I made some guacamole. Since the meat left a lot of grease in the pan I again decided to caramelize some onions. I did basically the same thing as with the brats, except I decided to reduce down some beer with them and then mount in some butter. Let me say, not a bad idea at all! The boys all enjoyed the food, and it was waaay better than just ordering some pizzas.

Wednesday night Stir-fry

Stir-frys are fantastic for quick weeknight meals. Thanks to my new Scanpan wok they are much easier! I slivered up some pork tenderloin, cut fresh corn off the cob, halved some cherry tomatoes, and cleaned some snow peas. Sauté it all up in ginger garlic oil and serve with rice and voila a lovely quick dinner! I didn’t so much do a sauce as zest and juice an orange and do a quick turn of the pan with some soy. Oh and I did use some Chinese 5 Spice on the pork. It’s a really great spice blend with some nice smoky cinnamon, star anise, fennel, cloves and black pepper. I add it to lots of sauces and in many of my dry rubs.

Ginger and/or Garlic oil can be made simply by smashing a whole clove of garlic or thinly slicing the ginger and sautéing it until it becomes golden in your oil. Remove it with a slotted spoon and then sauté in the remaining oil. This imparts the essence of these aromatics without making the dish overwhelming.

Up next in my culinary escapades….NFL Football Kickoff menu…which apparently at this point only has a chocolate cream pie. Isn’t that enough??