Recipes For Life

Some cause happiness wherever they go; whenever they go. -Oscar Wilde

Since my work base is Milwaukee and I spend so much time there, I thought I would give you the tourism overview of things to see and do.
The The Milwaukee Food Tour: a 2.5 hours progressive food meal with a taste of history-all foods & drinks included. 800-979-3370. www.milwaukeefoodtours.com
The Wisconsin Cheese Bar Cheesemart, established in 1938.  Cheese Store during the day, Cheese Bar at night! 1048 N. Old World St, Milwaukee, WI 53203. 414-272-3544. www.wisconsincheesemart.com
Harley Davidson-experience the anatomy of an engine with a motorcycle tour of their factory.  www.harley-davidson.com/experiencew or 877-883-1450
Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion-represents the epitome of America's Gilded Age splendor in Milwaukee For a museum-2000 W. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53233 or 414-931-0808

More to come on Milwaukee

Appetizers for the Party Season:
Slow-Cooker Spinach Dip (my favorite from the Food Network)
Mix 1 cup grated smoked mozzarella, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 8 ounces cream cheese, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 box thawed frozen spinach, 1 jar artichoke hearts, and salt and pepper in a slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

Recipes for Life

Abandon the search for Truth, settle for a good fantasy.

Clos Montmartre-There's a vineyard that still exists in the middle of Paris, in Montmartre, the last survivor of the many, mostly abbey-owned, that were in the city when it had walls, few bridges and a great iron cauldron near the river in which counterfeiters were boiled alive in oil.  The vineyard is at the corner of rue des Sai;es amd rie Saomt Vomcemt, a few streets from Sacre'-Coeur.  It is small, producing only five hundred bottles of wine a year that are sold on in the mairie of the 18th arrondissement and also at auction.  The wine is not expensive and not great, but from the heart of France.

I saw an advertisement for Chey Boyardee canned pasta recently and I knew I had to try it. Chef Hector Boiardi(real name) was the original "Chef Boyardee", and he catered the wedding of President Wilson in 1915-with Ravioli Lasagna.

Ravioli Lasagna

Pam No-Stick Cooking Spray; 1 cup frozen loose cut leaf spinach; 2 cans (15oz each) Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli; 1 can (14.5oz) Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, drained well; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning; 1 cup 1 % low-fat cottage cheese; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

Preheat oven to 375*F.  Spray 8x8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Place spinach in microwave-safe bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on HIGH 2 minutes; squeeze spinach dry.  Combine ravioli, tomatoes and Italian seasoning in microwave-safe bowl.  Cover in plastic wrap and microwave on HIGH 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture is hot. Combine cottage cheese, spinach and black pepper in bowl.  Place half of ravioli mixture in bottom of baking dish.  Top with half of cottage cheese mixture and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake 15 minutes or until is  bubbly.

Now of course this is the updated version-you didn't have Pam Spray, you would have buttered the dish and we all know there weren't microwaves that early and of course you would have had to shred your own cheeses.  But what a great recipe to use that canned pasta that your kids love into a new dish!

Recipes For Life

My mind works like lightening, one flash and it's gone.

Peaches have been around for more than four thousand years. Originally from China, where it was considered both a symbol of immortality and of female genitalia. To reach maximum sweetness, peaches must ripen on the tree. Those sold at supermarkets have often been picked too early and then shipped. A ripe peach will yield slightly to finger pressure. Those much softer will spoil quickly. Both yellow and white peaches are good for eating fresh. Yellow are better in pies and can be bought a bit harder for easier slicing, since they'll soften during baking. Size doesn't matter.

Recently on one my overnights, I ate at the O'Malley Pub in the Holiday Inn in Arlington, VA (Crystal City). We went for Happy Hour, which offered the typical fried Happy Hour foods. Instead, my friend and I took advantage of the regular menu, priced as bar menu's are. The food was excellent, hot and flavorful. I had a huge steak quesadilla, that was made with Philly Cheesesteak and my friend had a wonderful Angus Burger. Worth stopping by and having a meal.

The next day, I went to the Crowne Plaza Rooftop Restaurant in Dayton, Ohio. The food is average, the service was excellent and the view was spectacular. 365* degree view of all of Dayton. The place was packed with locals, who come for the view and the excellent Happy Hour prices with wines offered by Sycamore (truly memorable).

Can you fight Cancer With A Cookie? It's not too early to start planning your next bake sale. Launched in 2008, Cookies for Kid's Cancer, helps people organize bake sales to raise money for pediatric-cancer research. Founded by Gretchen Holt-Witt, whose son died of pediatric cancer this past January, she has helped to raise over 4 million dollars in the past 3 years by asking others to host bake sales nationwide. For bake sale kits, logos, signs, tips and recipes, go to www.cookiesforkidscancer.org

Recipes For Life

Genius has it's limitations. Insanity... not so much.

I am neither, but I like the sound of this.

On September 18th, 1999, Dr. Percy Spencer, an electronics expert was inducted posthumously into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. His reputation rested mainly on his invention of the microwave oven, which grew out of research on radar after World War II. Standing over a magnetron, Spencer realized that chocolate candy in his pocket was melting. To confirm the magnetron's heating ability, he placed popcorn kernels nearby and watched them explode. The first microwave oven in 1947 weighed 750 pounds, was as big as a refrigerator and was used only in restaurants, but over the following decades it was made much smaller and more versatile.

A cookbook review of a very hard cookbook to find: "Treasured Armenian Recipes" published by the Detroit Women's Chapter of the Armenian Benevolent Union. It was originally printed in 1949 and was in it's 20th printing in 1972. I had saved this cookbook for a friend of mine who was of Armenian descent. Typical Armenian recipes for everyday cooking. It took me a year to find it in my towers of cookbooks, but when I gave it to my friend, she said it looked just like her mother's. A yellow spiral cookbook, typical of the 1970's.

Recipes For Life

I'd have a longer attention span, if there weren't so many shiny things.

Yesterday, I had lunch at the French Market Buffet at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas. It was free, free is free. The brisket was tough, and the homemade pistachio ice cream was not homemade, nor did it have any pistachios in it. But free is free.

For happy hour I met 3 of my girlfriends at Sedona IV in Las Vegas. Finally we have found a bar/restaurant that wants middle-aged women and their money. We have had many experiences (my girlfriends and I) at happy hours that don't mind 3 or 4 middle aged women in their bar, but never a dozen. We change the tone of the bar/restaurant. They become no longer young and hip-specifically Rhythm Kitchen of Las Vegas, owned by Scott Ghormley. He made it very clear to us that our business was not welcome. Onto happier things, Sedona IV at Flamingo and 215, welcomed us with open arms. We had a pleasant happy hour with drinks and food. A limited menu for happy hour, but they invited us to join their Loyalty Rewards program and next time we come, we each have $20 to spend on food and drink.

I'm in Milwaukee tonight, getting ready for my trip tomorrow. For dinner tonight I had homemade chicken salad with tortilla chips. Originally this recipe came from Susan Hinton, but once you change it, the recipe becomes yours.

Homemade Chicken Salad: 2 chicken breasts, de-boned and ground up with my handy dandy food chopper, 1/4 cup chopped finely onions (I like them really ground up, so again my food chopper, 1 teaspoon yellow mustard, 2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. I use whatever is handy-this time colby/monterey jack. Blend this all together and serve with tortilla chips. I have never baked this, but I bet you it would be good.

Did you know: "Seedless" in the citrus trade, doesn't mean there are no seeds, but that there are five seeds or fewer per lemon, orange or grapefruit.

Recipes For Life

Recipes for Life

Life isn't about finding yourself. It's mostly about chocolate.

Here I am The Big Cluck as promised.

Last night we went to the Canal Street Restaurant at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas. Classic New Orleans Style dining with a hefty price tag. My friend, Patty received a 2 for 1 coupon for early dining 5-7pm. But we didn't look at the tiniest of prints until we were presented with the check. Not 2 for 1, which the big letters stated, but 50 percent off the second entree. This happens a lot in Las Vegas. Live and learn, right!

Food review of the day: Stonemill Kitchens Artichoke & Parmesan Dip? I think it is meant to be a dip, but I have found that I love this product and use it as a side vegetable. It's got lots of garlic in it-it'll keep those vampires away. When heated as a vegetable, it resembles creamed spinach. This side has been great with chicken and beef. What an added flavor. I purchased this at Smith's, which is also Kroger's and many other names.

Recipes for Life

Things are changing here at Cookbook Val.  I haven't done my blog for quite awhile.  I'm not selling cookbooks on EBay for the next 2 months.  Too many complaints about the mail service offered during holiday time periods.  Plus, I'm working a lot, to save for Christmas and my upcoming 2-week cruise to Hawaii in November.

But I do find the need to write.  So maybe I can have it all, writing, reviewing and most of all "recipes for life".

I am still working for the same discount airline in Atlanta.  Living in Las Vegas, working out of a Milwaukee base.  I've been home for the last 8 days, since I called in sick to work for a few days.  After working plenty of extra hours, my pay check was shorted due to new accounting procedures implemented and new taxes implemented by the US Government.  So not only did I work more, I worked for FREE.  Or at least that's the way it seems.  It created a stressful situation for me, which led to a case of Vertigo.  I always seem to have inner ear infections and with the added stress of a downsized paycheck, I was definitely wobbling all over the place.  Better now and a life lesson for me.  Maybe working too much is not good for the bottom line.

Bunco last night.  For those of you not familiar with bunco, it is a dice game, with a little similarity to Yahtzee.  Though I tried my hardest to get the most wins, most buncos, most mini-buncos or the biggest loser (a title, I have been given more than once), I couldn't win.  But we all put into a side-pot and what do you know I won-$75.  My $26 investment paid off.  It was a Halloween party and I came as a big Chicken. Cluck, cluck, cluck.  I was hoping for a picture of my big cluck, but it hasn't been posted yet.

Food for bunco.  I brought Greek Pizza appetizers, but while I really like these, they weren't a big hit.  Feta cheese is not for everyone.  My frozen chocolate cream pie though was a big hit!  I used a homemade peanut crust, with the inside filled with chocolate pudding and half a container of Cool Whip, mixed it together, froze it and then left it out on the counter for 30 minutes before serving.  It turned out to be a cool, refreshing pie for a hot Las Vegas evening-rich and delicious.

Last month for bunco, I made an old favorite from the 70's.  Sweet and Sour Meatballs.  This included one 48 ounce bag of frozen, pre-cooked meatballs thrown in the crockpot.  Add to this, 16 ounces of grape jelly and 16 ounces of chili sauce (like Heinz found in the ketchup section).  Let it warm up for about 4 hours and you are ready to serve.  This is my old stand-by, for when I'm invited to some one's house and I have no time to be really creative.  People love this recipe, they forget about it over and over again, until I bring it to another party.  Then they say, oh, I should be making this!