small additions to the page

Ah how I love a slow day at work

First off, I got a counter - look at the bottom of the page. So now I can count you people and oh and ah over how many times my page has been viewed.

Second, I wanted a little pin up girl that was cooking to put in the banner at the top of my page. To go along with the theme "I don't look like ya mama and I ain't gonna cook like her neither!" All I could find was the girl to the right, she isn't exactly what I wanted, but will do for now.

Enjoy :)

New Year, New Kitchen

This is a foodie blog, so I can get away with posting a "brag book" of my new kitchen.... right?! Of course! Because I know you are all dieing to see it! But I am dieing to cook in it!!!! OHHHH MAN Do I want to get in there and just cook until my fingers fall off. Right now I can touch pretty much everything in my kitchen at the same time... and fold the laundry... and yell at the dogs through the window. Yes, we are country. This will not be the case any longer! There is plenty of cabinet space, plenty of counter space, plenty of SPACE. It is a little naked right now, but not for long! We take possession on January 7th!

Cranberries and Second Graders

Bradley's Great Grandmother's Christmas Party was this past Saturday night. I had planned on making Paula's Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle again, but at the last minute changed my mind. It was just too much to do, on top of making a pie and cooking dinner and packing and having to go to the store, in my pajama pants, while the meatloaf was cooking because we didn't have any potato flakes. So I decided to make a cranberry dip. I love cranberries, and apparently you have to love cranberries to love this dip because I got some mixed reviews. Well I say mixed... basically it was two reviews. Someone in Bradley's family patted me on the back and told me he loved it, as I did the march of shame out of the fellowship hall carrying my dip that was barely touched. Bless that man, he probably told his wife, "I just felt so bad for her that no one had eaten her... whatever it was". Then we went to his parents house and his little brother Raylen said "I tried it and it was terrible". It was as if i wasn't even in the room!!! All I could do was laugh, at least he is honest.

So I'm giving you this dish and fore warning you that in order to try it... you must LOVE cranberry sauce! I served it with pretzels, but it would also be good with home made tortilla chips - think "spinach tortillas in the shape of Christmas trees!"


Ruby Red Pretzel Dip
recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

1 (16 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cold water

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cranberry sauce, sugar, vinegar, ginger, mustard, cinnamon, and pepper. Stir over medium heat until smooth. In a small dish, stir together the flour and cold water. Stir into the cranberry sauce. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with your choice of dippers.

a "wild" weekend

Wild Game.... that is!

A co-worker of Bradley's loaded us up with venison and wild hog. The venison steaks were awesome and so were the wild hog chops. Then we had this venison roast. I have never cooked venison, or as us southern folk call it..... DEER. I searched the Internet and people just don't post "venison pot roast" recipes, look for yourself! But now I know why.... because I made up my own "recipe" but I still don't have a list of measured ingredients for you, so let's play a little game. We shall call this.... DeLa's How To.

Today I will be guiding you through a crash course on teaching yourself how to cook a deer roast.

First git cher man ta shoot cha up a 12 pointah and skint it and gut it up real purdy like and take em down ta dolla brathas ta chopim up.

Now that I've got that out of my system.....


Put your roast in a loaf pan, because that is what it fits in best, and think really hard about what you have to marinade it in.


Deer is not known for being the most tender cut of meat.... and what do we know fixes tough meat?? Buttermilk!!!


So just go ahead and give it a nice "wilber" bath in the buttermilk. Let it sit for about an hour, flipping it over every 5 or 10 minutes and spooning the buttermilk on top.

This will free you up for a while. So lets use this time to chop up some veggies to roast along side the meat.


Lets see, we've got big carrots, idaho potatoes and onions. What ever you like to roast, really! Mushrooms would be a nice addition, maybe some leeks, sweet potatoes... the possibilities are endless. Just make sure that it is something everyone likes.

Once the roast is finished marinating and the veggies are chopped, you must pick a theme for the spices. You know, stuff that goes together. You could do it up south of the border style... lil cumin, lil chili powder, maybe baste it in beer. Nah, it is too cold outside to do that. Next idea. Cajun style.... some creole seasoning, whip up some dirty rice as a side dish. No.... this is harder than you think.

Enter your husband at stage right.... he is going on a rampage about why you are going to cook the roast in the oven and not in the crock pot. You mind is running with new and inventive ideas about what to throw at him when suddenly.... ah ha! You kiss his forehead and shout "mama mia! youa just gave me ze perfect idea!!" We are going to do this roast Italian Style, because he loves Italian food!

Rinse your roast and pull of what little fat is attached to it. Then take your roasting pan and put the rack in and place the roast on the rack and salt and pepper it. Press freshly grated Parmesan cheese into the top and sides, make sure it is really stuck. Use as much as you like!


Now you wrap it in bacon. Quick question.... Do you know why you should cook deer wrapped in bacon? Because deer is so lean, there isn't anything to make the meat juicy. If you wrap it in bacon then the grease has no choice but to run into the crevices and down the sides and just make it all juicy and delectable!


In keeping with the Italian theme, you go to pick the spices. Basil, garlic and oregano will be perfect! For the meat, let's use garlic powder, then we will sprinkle minced garlic atop the veggies. Put a bay leaf in each corner of the pan, just because I like to use them in pretty much everything these days.


Now for the gravy. Take one packet of Au Jus Gravy mix. Why, you ask? Because that's how mama did it.


Don't read the directions on the back - just listen to me. Wow, Bradley is starting to rub off on me! Mix the powder with two cups of boiling water until it looks like this:


Now, pour it into the pan, BUT don't pour it over the meat! You don't want to wash off all the good spices!

Now, place your veggies in the pan. Make sure it looks like too many because they shrink up. Just trust me. Besides, they're good for you so you can eat a lot of them. Sprinkle on salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Then mince up some garlic and sprinkle that on top, too. No I don't have measurements.... it was hard to measure it because you just want to be sure that all the veggies have a little bit of each spice on it. Then grate some more Parmesan to put on the veggies... just for good measure!


Oh man, does that look good?! Preheat the oven to 350*. Tightly cover the whole thing with foil and roast for about an hour and a half. Then uncover it and roast for 30 to 45 minutes. This is for a 2-3 pound roast. Adjust your times accordingly. Deer is a little dry anyway so you definitely don't want to overcook it!

Remove it from the oven, give it a chance to cool and let the juices redistribute. Pour that wonderful gravy into a gravy boat, you can add some flour if you like it to be thicker.


Mmm, doesn't that look good? It kinda shrunk up a little! But that's ok because we made extra veggies, remember?? So.... get to cutting!


Yum!!!! Now look at your pan and drool over how great the veggies look!!


Serve it up with leftover dressing that you couldn't write down the directions to if your life depended on it.... seriously I just pour each spice (about 10 different ones) into my hand until I think it is enough and then drop in into boiling chicken stock and then pour it over crumbled biscuits and cornbread and bake until.... it looks done. Haha, somewhere my mom's head is about to explode! But my secret is to use celery salt, garlic powder and onion powder instead of actually dicing up those vegetables because Bradley doesn't like to bite into a big piece of anything in his dressing. The things I do for him ;) But that is a totally different post!!

Now just sit back and wait on your husband to tell you that he was wrong and never expects you to cook a roast in a crock pot again!! And soak in the comments from your loving brother in law who has always been so sweet to you!

Well, I did it

I bought what I have been eyeing for quite some time. I've been saving and scrounging and dreaming about it. Now it is mine.


I want to let you in on a secret about it, also. I didn't pay full price. Amazon.com has select colors for $199. Red, black and I think white. You better get one, too!

I can't wait to make all sorts of blog worthy dishes when my new best friend arrives!!

A southern craving -

Yesterday I was craving cornbread like you would not believe. It was to the point that I almost stopped on the way home at Cracker Barrel to buy some. But since I made it for the first time not too long ago, I knew I needed to wait until I got home and make it from scratch.

Corny Cornbread
recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus 1/4 cup for greasing pan
1 cup self-rising cornmeal
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1 cup cream-style corn
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated sharp cheddar, optional
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously season a cast iron skillet with up to 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Preheat the pan either in the oven or on the stove over medium-high heat.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined. Pour batter into the preheated cast iron skillet. Place skillet in the oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. If making individual size corn breads in smaller pans, they will require a shorter cooking time.

~~~~~

Ok so it kinda rose, a lot. It was incredibly thick. But good! Don't get me wrong. I was going to make dressing with the left overs but there wasn't enough left over. The middle wasn't finished, so I turned up the heat to 400* and left it in an extra ten minutes. Very good! Very spicy! If you don't like spicy cornbread, leave out the cayenne, or just use a 1/4 teaspoon.

I'll have a blue Christmas....

So I found this special beer. It's called "Blue". It was actually an accident that I found it at all, it was mistakenly stuck inside the wrong six pack at the store, and when I pulled out the bottle and saw it didn't match the rest, it was like finding a four leaf clover.


It smelled just like a blueberry muffin and tasted the same way. My eyes lit up and Bradley knew just what I was thinking......
Blueberry Beer Bread
recipe courtesy of me

2 & 2/3 cup of self rising flour
1 - 12 oz bottle of blueberry beer
1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup of blueberries

mix all together with a rubber spatula, pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 375* for 55 minutes. let cool in pan while sitting on a rack for five minutes, then dump loaf onto rack and continue cooling.

~~~~~

We nibbled on the crusty edges and made moans of stomach pleasing pleasure. I planned on cutting the bread into thick slices and icing each one with a brown sugar glaze. So after dinner I returned to the kitchen to start slicing. First slice, great, second slice, great, third slice.... it started to fall apart.

Now is the place where I have to interrupt and tell you, I'm not perfect. If you think I am perfect, then you have obviously been talking to my parents way too much, haha! I know this announcement may come as a shock to you, so I'm going to allow you some time for this to sink in....

You back? Ok...

Apparently..... something went wrong. I don't know what. Maybe I should of "dropped" the pan a couple of times on the counter to let all the air bubbles out before cooking it. Maybe it was the different beer that I used. Maybe it was the addition of fruit. Maybe this certain combination needed a lower temperature with a longer cooking time. Whatever the crap it was, it made me MAD! There was a huge air bubble in the middle of the loaf and nothing around the bubble cooked. I wouldn't call it "raw" because there are no eggs in the dough.... it was probably edible, but I wasn't going to risk it. I had to tearfully throw the loaf away. Which then lead to an inevitable pity party where I gave up cooking and apologized to Bradley for being such a bad wife. This was after the cornbread didn't cook in the middle and for whatever reason I messed up mashed potatoes, which I didn't even know you could do!

At least it took a pretty picture -

Bad Blogger....

So.... instead of cooking, baking and having fun in the kitchen together.... we have been house hunting, signing papers, packing and eating out - alot. And wouldn't you know it, the one night we stay in and cook delicious venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon..... i left my camera at work!

With the desire to be in the kitchen and taking pictures of beautifully prepared and easily edible meals nipping at my heels...I decided that maybe I could do something just as fun until we got back into the swing of things. It's something I like to call -

"Rave Reviews" by DeLa Webb

Today's review is for Green Giant's latest invention, Simply Steam.


Now, we did not have the one pictured above, we had Green Beans, Zucchini and Carrots in a light Rosemary Butter Sauce. This was by far the easiest and most delicious side dish I have ever pulled out of the freezer and *gulp* microwaved. The veggies were so crisp, sweet and full of flavor. The butter sauce did not taste "light" at all, and the rosemary really set it off. I highly recommend picking up a few, and if I recall correctly, they were cheap also, I want to say 2 for $3. I bought several different kinds until we figured out which ones we liked best, but I can tell you I will be a repeat purchaser!

Oh! And stay tuned, because I have TWO Christmas Parties this weekend I have to cook for, and I'm thinking about putting a spin on my bread recipe and making it more of a dessert bread.... Did I reel you in yet?!?