While I'm thinking about it....


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These make the BEST popcorn! And you can use a healthier oil like olive oil or coconut...you control how much salt you put on. I add spices like cumin and cayenne pepper in...and toss it with some dried basil and Himalayan sea salt...it's also good AND healthier when tossed with nutritional yeast. Gives it a cheesy flavor...sooo good! Guilt free tasty treats...

I think I paid 12 bucks for ours on amazon..we get MUCH use out of ours! :)
They DO sell a cheapy version at Walmart, Teddy got one for his place before we moved in together..but it never worked quite right. The seal was bad and the popcorn failed to pop and the turner failed to reach the bottom to stir the kernels..so it burnt a LOT...just an FYI

Do you have any meal suggestions I could try? We both seem to always have to cook more than one meal at a time.

No worries, I'm sitting here smelling a baked potato as if it were RIGHT in front of me...and it's making me hungry... carb cravings I guess...it's been 5 days with none. But I have experienced things similar..seeing snow and cold on TV and getting a chill, seeing Tom on Tom and Jerry with his head stuck in a jar always made me short of breath, as does any insinuation of drowning to this day...the brain is a wondrous thing...

You make videos?? Where??

Recipe for tortilla Soup--

4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped onions (2 onions)
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 1/2 quarts chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in puree, crushed
2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, optional
6 (6-inch) fresh white corn tortillas


Directions
For serving: sliced avocado, sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts skin side up on a sheet pan. Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until done. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, and shred the meat. Cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with their puree, jalapenos, cumin, coriander, 1 tablespoon salt (depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock), 1 teaspoon pepper, and the cilantro, if using. Cut the tortillas in 1/2, then cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch strips and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and season to taste. Serve the soup hot topped with sliced avocado, a dollop of sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, and broken tortilla chips.

I heart Giada -- thanks for the tip on her new book.

I needed a me moment this morning. The house was empty, so I took it. I made and plated a little breakfast just for me, set the table with my coffee, creamer and juice, and sat to read a book while I enjoyed my meal. It was fantastic.

For Christmas I received a Ready-Set-Go for the kitchen... its a great little cooking device that lets me do a things just for me without all the mess and time I would spend at the stove, including poach the perfect egg (without messing it up, which I often do). It has a divided pan that lets me do two things at once, so I used that this morning. Putting the water for the egg in one side and the ingredients for the rest of the dish in the other.

The poached egg is placed on top of a bed of mushrooms, onions, and a little bit of crab, mixed with cilantro and some firm sheep's cheese.
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YUM
 

Kudos to you for taking the time to make a meal just for your own pleasure. I would love to wake up to this some morning.

Not very healthy, but fast and easy and oh so good!!
 

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing

1/2 cup FRANK'S® REDHOT® Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or FRANK'S® REDHOT® Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cans (12.5 oz. each) SWANSON® White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.

MIX in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken.

BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

I wish Paula Deen was related to me. I WILL get to visit her restaurant someday. On another subject : I have those experiences often. Whenever I watch a show on tv, or I'm walking by a shop I will pick up the fragrances or sounds most people would never distinguish. In particular I am thinking of a time in Montreal when I found myself staring through a window to a french bakery. There was a couple at the register in front of the display cases filled with delicious treats. What did I notice? Not the scent wafting my way nor the noise of money being exchanged, the crackling of a fresh baguette a baker had just taken from the oven in the very back of the store.
I hope this is unrelated to stress for you, and you can continue to enjoy all of the benefits heightened senses can bring into your life.

I love Giada as well as Rachel Ray. I will have to put this cookbook on my list of buys.

I'm with ahk! Where??
I tried to find the one you mentioned to me, but it eluded me :(
I want to see you in action!

Have you ever watched the Food Network show "pitchin' in" with Chef Lynn Crawford? It sounds not quite the same, but a common goal. To highlight food from the farm.

This is so exciting! You are going to have Paula Dean sitting on her couch wishing you were cooking her breakfasts and peach cobblers!

Greetings LadyRiein,

Wow this looks like fun. I bet it would be good with leftover roasted chicken too huh. Or in a wrap. My wheels are spinning. Chicken and cheese and Franks hot sauce, you cant go wrong.

Wow, so much conversation tonight!

I love cooking shows, however I have watched less of them recently as my 8 year old seems to take over the TV after homework time when what I want to watch is on. I don't mind, he really deserves those moments of quiet focus, he works hard.

Sun, the demo sounds amazing. Its really exciting to hear you talk about it.

Tonight I tried a new fish I had never used before. I picked up some frozen Swai Fillets recently and had yet to try them. I really enjoyed this fish. Tonight I baked it with dill and lime and a little bit of agave syrup, with rice wine vinegar and chicken broth in the bottom of the pan... it had a very firm and buttery texture.

Jenn I think you should plate up your dishes every night and start a career in food photography. It would go well with a demo lol

Thanks Jennie,

I really cant wait to start shooting. Seems like it is taking so long to get this going yet it has only been a few months of trying to find the right people to work with.

Good point. Jenn is VERY talented. I am in awe.

And now I am blushing....

Since it was brought up... I LOVE to plate food... It is probably the most joy I get in the kitchen, seeing all the pieces of a meal come together and look as good as they taste.

How does everyone else feel about plating?

Blushing is nice now and then. embrace it!

I don't think I'm great at it, but I do think it's an important componant to the meal. Even meat and potato meals. MOreso when someone appreciates it.

Plate as a verb. *gnashing my teeth* Not as bad as impact as a verb, but . . .

This is so amazing to me. I think about all of those things when I have a party. Every little touch... Platters, plates, if I am serving buffet style, is the food at different levels so it can be seen and accessed. are there napkins and plates available at different locations so they are where they will be needed. Are there candles out, does the room smell right. Hosting is so much fun for me. I would love to be able to do it on a grander scale like that, even just once.

I agree that plating is an art, you are an artist so it makes sense that your eye would be drawn to these details. I hope you get your chance at hosting a larger party.

Ice cream? Sign me up.

Plating is fun - I'm not sure if it's one of my strengths though.
I'm with Sun, I love little bowls and platters and could spend hours in a kitchenware shop. I also have an addiction for spoons - especially teeny tiny spoons - and cocktail forks, come to think of it.

Strangely, I like my large platters plain and white - kind of like a blank canvas, and I love little condiment bowls and the like, in all kinds of different colours and patterns... and I can never have too many of them!

Well, Kris thinks I can have too many of them... lol. He doesn't get it.

I would be in absolute heaven if I lived next door to a homewares emporium on one side and a farmers' market on the other! It's probably just as well that I don't or else I'd be completely broke!

Ursy I also love white plates and platters. Also small white bowls and dishes. In contrast I like Raku pottery especially when done in square and rectangular shapes, darker colors. I collect one set that is black and blue. The blue is sort of a navy with a hint of French blue that comes up from the glaze. The blue has a gloss and the black is matte. Fascinating. Each piece is original. Its a different mood. I only have service for 2. This is for something sexy and sensual..with candle light and firelight if outside on my patio..on a warm summer night..every piece has a unique texture, just like the food. The whole experience should be a trip into sensuality, where every sense is being ignited.

With the black and blue set I have a matching sake set. A friend brought it back from Japan for me and she had no idea that it was a perfect match to my set.

Welcome Martina. Yes another culinary interpretation of "it is time to plate the food". We do use that term. Garnishing is more widely used.

If plating makes you gnash your teeth, you would probably not enjoy what caused my brain to nearly explode, the New York "Aks" instead of "Ask" :|
I find that so unbearable that my head hurts just thinking about it.

American cooks can misuse "Au jus" often. I hear things like "it is served with au jus". Painful.

You know, I was just thinking I would love to have a homeware / kitchenware shop... maybe one day...

... or maybe just an eclectic little bowl shop. Though if they were all different, I might have trouble letting any of them go...

Ursy..this is a great idea hon. Many manufacturers put you on revolving credit in retail so you sell the goods and then pay for them. You can even do this online.

You get to shop for a living.