Okra - Only 2 Ways

OKRA-Pickled

1 Large bowl of fresh picked Okra

3 cups water

3 cups white vinegar

1/3 cup canning salt

2 tbsp. fresh ill

6-8 cloves garlic

6-8 hot peppers

Prepare the canning jars, wash the okra.  Bring vinegar, water and salt to a boil.  Divide dill among the jars and place one clove of garlic and one hot pepper in each jar.  Pack okra into the jars. Pour boiling water over okra to cover.  Seal jars according to manufacturing instructions and boil in hot water bath for processing 25 minutes.  (Adjust salt/vinegar/water proportion accordingly to how much okra you are using).

OKRA-Fried

1 lb. (or so) small okra pods (10-15)

1 cup cornmeal

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup milk

1 tsp. Texas Pete hot sauce

Salt & Pepper

Cooking oil

Slice okra pods into bite size pieces. The smaller the pod, the sweeter the taste. Combine milk and egg and hot sauce. Place pods in mixture. Stir to cover all and let stand for 15 minutes.

Heat up oil in deep fryer or large skillet. Dredge okra pods through cornmeal mixture and deep fry for 5-8 minutes, flipping often to brown. Serve with your favorite condiment.

Food for thought: 

Preserving in the Kitchen

The air is hot and humid and the scent

of strawberries fills the kitchen.

Summertime and jalapenos,

green peppers, cucumbers,

and ripe cherry tomatoes fall off the vine.

Fresh plump figs droop on the branches

waiting to be picked.

The kitchen today is hot and steamy

with the old canning pot bubbling away.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining…yet.

First we whip up a specialty batch

Of strawberry fig preserves

(be sure to stir that pot often, honey).

There’s nothing better on a homemade

grilled biscuit than fresh preserves.

Follow up with a batch of mustard pickles

– a very secret recipe,

oh and just for shits and giggles

throw that Okra in one of those jars,

no point in letting them go to waste.

Garlic and fresh basil

with diced onions and oregano

simmered all day long

cooks up a delicious tomato sauce.

Twenty-six jars preserved and

my chores are done for today.

Tomorrow is a brand new adventure.

Thirty ears of corn await metamorphosis into

Old Time Corn Relish once those ears get husked.

Tonight I’m going outside in the heat

and pretend to be a kid again.

I’ll find a rock and wrap it

in a white handkerchief and

toss it up in the darkened sky

and wait for bats to come diving after it.

Just so I can laugh at the thought

of doing nothing,

or something close to nothing.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

Name-Dropping Pork Tenderloin Roast

Beer, Pickles & Onion Pork Loin Roast

2¼ lb. center cut pork loin

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 cups beer

1 large onion

1 cup mustard pickles

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 tbsp. fresh ground pepper

1 tbsp. minced dry onion

Power Pressure Cooker XL directions:

One day, Eric Theiss and I will have a cook-off and may the better chef win <wink>.

Rub the pork with the salt, pepper and minced dry onions. Add olive oil to the inner pot.  Press the chicken/meat button. Sear the pork loin on all sides.  Remove pork and set aside.  Add onions and a little more oil if needed, stir and sauté.  Add the remaining ingredients and the pork back to the pot.  Place the lid on the cooker, lock the lid and switch the release valve to close. Press the cancel button to reset.  Press the chicken/meat button then adjust the time to 20 minutes.  Once the time reaches -0- it will automatically switch to the “keep warm” mode.  Press the cancel button, release the steam, remove lid and serve.  Fastest loin you’ll ever cook. 

For oven directions:

Rub the pork with the salt, pepper and minced dry onions. Add olive oil to a Dutch oven. Sear the pork loin on all sides. Remove the pork and set aside.  Add onions and a little more oil if needed, stir and sauté.  Add the remaining ingredients, reducing beer to one cup, and the pork back to the pot.  Cover and bake in preheated 365º oven for 1½-2¼ hours.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

MEATLOAF

1½ lb. ground beef
¼ cup Italian style bread crumbs
¼ cup rolled oats
2 eggs
1 pkg. onion soup mix                                                            

½ tsp. tarragon leaves
½ tsp. marjoram leaves
½ tsp. thyme
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, chopped
¼ cup green pepper, chopped

1 can of spam (optional for Annie Wilkes Meatloaf)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Shape into loaf in baking dish. 

Also can be made into meatballs and thrown into a Marinara Sauce. 

Top with Piquant Sauce if desired.

3 tbsp. brown sugar
¼ cup ketchup
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. dry mustard

Mix together and spread over top prior to baking.

Feel free to play with your food and decorate accordingly:  {Tail = green bean, eyes = two small green tomatoes with stems, whiskers = parsley stems and nose = cherry tomato cut in half} Bake at 375º for 45-55 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 º.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

 

Cheers,

Lucky Cake

Why do I call it Lucky Cake?  Because the way I figure it, is if you are eating cake, you are lucky! ☺ 

CHOCOLATE CAKE with PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

¾ cup butter or butter flavored Crisco

4 eggs

2 cups flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla

1½ cups milk  

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Combine all dry ingredients except sugar in one bowl. In large bowl cream Crisco and sugar together.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.  Add vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk until all combined.  Beat medium high for two minutes. Spread into 13x9x2 inch baking pan and bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan to cool completely. Frost with peanut butter frosting and decorate if desired.

PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Cream together until spreading consistency and spread over cooled cake.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

~Fun Facts about Cakes~

⥴Modern layered cakes are made of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter or oil, milk and water, leavening agents and flavor ingredients. 

⥵Cakes are the most common dessert of choice for meals at ceremonial occasions. 

⥴The term 'cake' originated from the Norse word "kaka". 

⥴January 27 is observed at the National Chocolate Cake Day in the United States. 

⥴The wedding cake is a tradition that began back in the Roman Empire. 

⥴In the 17th century England, people believed that keeping fruitcakes under the pillow of those who are unmarried will give them sweet dreams about their fiancé. 

⥴Icing is the addition of a creamy and delicious mixture to a dessert. 

⥴The first icings were usually a boiled composition of the finest available sugar, egg whites and flavorings. 

⥴Tiered cakes, usually used in weddings, originated after 1870.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

Kimchi

1 head Napa cabbage

A few radishes

1-2 carrots

1-2 leeks

4-5 cloves garlic

5 hot chili peppers

3 tbsp. fresh grated gingerroot

➧Combine 4 cups water and 4 tbsp. sea salt.  Stir to dissolve.

➧Coarsely chop cabbage, slice radish, carrots and leeks.  

➧Soak in brine for a few hours to overnight.  Weight them down with a dish and cover with a cloth. 

➧Feel free to add other vegetables to the brine, (snow peas, seaweeds, artichokes, etc.)

➧Prepare spice paste by mincing the garlic, finely chopping the chili peppers and mix with grated gingerroot.  Kimchi can absorb a lot of spice, so if you like it hot, add more.

➧Drain off brine, reserving liquid.  If the vegetables are too salty, rinse, if not salty enough, add more.  Mix spice paste into vegetables and stuff into a clean quart size jar pressing down until brine rises.  You may need to add more of the reserved brine.  

➧Cover the jar to keep the flies away. Do not screw a cover on tightly as the fermentation process needs to breathe. 

➧Ferment in your kitchen or other warm place (not direct sunlight).  

➧Taste the Kimchi every day. Press the vegetables down daily to keep under the brine. 

➧After about a week of fermentation when it tastes good and ripe, move to refrigerator.

Side note:  Fruit Kimchi is prepared in the same manner but instead of salt water brine, use the juice from a lemon. The longer the fruit Kimchi ages, the more it develops an alcoholic flavor…be careful.  

Food for thought:

KIMCHI: a spicy Korean pickle created by fermentation.  Check out  Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz who found that fermentation can be done with just about anything. If you are into preparing your own homegrown, home processed food, you won’t want to be without this excellent fundamental tutorial on your bookshelf.

Kimchi recipes call for soaking the cabbage and other vegetables in a salty brine for several hours. It is similar to making homemade sauerkraut, except with more vegetables and spices. It also takes less time to ferment, and therefore ready to eat sooner.

The health benefits of consuming fermented foods are incredible. Our ancestors used techniques such as fermentation to store foods from harvest season to consume later in the year, when gardening was not in season. Fermentation preserves nutrients and breaks them down into more digestible forms. It is also high in several vitamins as the vegetables go through the life cycle of fermenting. Some ferments even function as antioxidants, and everyone knows how good those are for our health.

Most of the live cultured food you find in the grocery store, such as yogurt, and even sauerkraut, have gone through a pasteurization process that heats the food to a point where it kills the rewarding bacteria. If you want the live culture fermented food you have to go to a specialty store or make them yourself. If you have a garden and love to cook, get fermenting. You will love the benefits!

Fermentation is nutritious and delicious.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

Jelly Jamming and Jalapeños

Jelly Jamming and Jalapeños

Bread Machines are not just for bread!

3½ cups fresh berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, cranberries (shown above)  slightly crushed but not mashed.

*Sidenote: All of the berries work well.  I want to try finely chopped jalapeños - let me know how it works if you do!

1- 2 oz. pkg. powdered pectin

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Put all ingredients in the bread machine and press the jam cycle. Pour hot jam into freezer safe containers, leaving ½” at top. Cover tightly to store in freezer or refrigerator. Jam will thicken upon cooling.

Food for Thought:

Fun Facts about Jalapeños

• Cooking reduces the heat of jalapeño peppers. While it would be rare to eat a whole jalapeño pepper, sliced and diced jalapeños make a spicy addition to tomato and mango salsas, nachos, black and pinto beans and corn-based dishes.
• If you like your food hot, leave more of the inner white membrane on the chopped pepper, as that is where most of the capsaicin is concentrated. You can also roast jalapeños and other chili peppers, for a smokey flavor.
• Jalapeños are mostly available green, turning red as they mature. Only 4 calories in one pepper.
• Like other peppers, jalapeños are a rich source of vitamin C, with almost 17 milligrams in a small pepper. That is equal to 18 percent of the recommended daily allowance for men and 23 percent for women.
• Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps prevent damage from free radicals, rogue molecules that can cause cell damage in your body. 
• Jalapeños also supply a good amount of vitamin A, which supports skin and eye health.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

Ice Cream

ICE CREAM

1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
½ cup preserves, peach, strawberry, pear, or blueberry (optional)

Combine condensed milk, salt, preserves and vanilla in medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. In large bowl (use a large metal bowl that you have chilled in the freezer with the beaters for about 20 minutes) beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted out of mixture (about 5 minutes). Gently fold in peach mixture. Pour into a shallow 1½ quart metal pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. After two hours or when edges start to harden, gently stir ice cream; spoon into air tight container and freeze for two – three more hours.  Serve in waffle bowls with your favorite toppings. Keeps in freezer for up to one week…unless you are an ice cream-a-holic.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  

1. 87% of Americans have ice cream in their freezer at any given time.
2. An average American eats 48 pints of ice cream in a year.
3. A cow gives enough milk to make 2 gallons of ice cream a day.
4. Vanilla is the number one flavor people choose for ice cream.
5. Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia is the real word for "Brain Freeze" which happens when ice cream touches the roof of your mouth which sends messages to your brain that signal heat loss causing the massive headache. Hold your tongue to the roof of your mouth which will warm the sensors and get your brain out of panic mode.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers

Hand-Me-Down Salad

HAND-ME-DOWN LUNCH IN A JAR

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 cup diced cucumber

1 cup beans or peas*

½ cup chopped red onion

6 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1 cup cooked chicken, diced

1 tomato, diced

4 marinated artichoke hearts, drained, cut into quarters

4 oz. feta cheese

4 16 oz. wide-mouth canning jars, with lids

Whisk the red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic and oregano together in one of the canning jars. Bottled Greek dressing also works well.  Divide the dressing evenly among the jars. Layer the cucumber, peas, onion, lettuce chicken, tomato, artichoke hearts and feta evenly in the jars in the order given. Cover with lid and refrigerate until serving. To serve, turn out onto a chilled salad plate.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Hand-me-down lunch is just another way to say “left-overs”.  Layer leftover fresh vegetables in a jar with whatever pieces of meat or cheese that is handed down from the last meal.  Just try to layer like food in the order listed above.  Be creative with your leftovers and voila, instant lunch.

*Any kind of beans work well, also frozen green peas are good.  For a tastier garbanzo bean, make your own. It’s easy. Place the following ingredients in a crock pot:

1 cup dry chick peas, 3½ cups water, ¼ tsp. nutmeg, ¼ tsp. pepper, ¼ tsp. chili powder, ¼ tsp. celery seed, ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, 2 cloves garlic, 1 Bay leaf. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

Girl Scout Thin Mint Grasshopper Pie

GRASSHOPPER PIE

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

15 drops green food coloring

24 chocolate-covered Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, divided

4 cups whipped topping such as Cool Whip

1 chocolate crumb crust (9 inches)

Chocolate syrup

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Beat in the food coloring. Coarsely crush 16 cookies; stir into the cream cheese mixture. Fold in 2 cups whipped topping. Spoon into the crust. Cover and freeze overnight. Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with remaining cookies and chocolate syrup.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Fun Facts about Girl Scout Cookies that you may or may not have known:

• There's an app that can actually help you locate the nearest place to buy Girl Scout Cookies. It's called the Girl Scout Cookie Finder App. 
• Thin Mints didn’t make their debut until 1959.  Before Thin Mints, they were called Cooky-Mints. 
• The first known sale of Girl Scout Cookies happened in 1917 when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked and sold cookies in their high school cafeteria.  
• Girl Scout cookies are produced by two bakeries: ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers. The “core five” cookies are the same:  Thin Mints, Trefoils or Shortbread, Samoa’s or Caramel deLites, Tagalongs or Peanut Butter Patties, and Do-si-dos or Peanut Butter Sandwiches. If your cookies are called Samoa’s, Tagalongs, Trefoils, and Do-si-dos, they’re produced by Little Brownie Bakers; if they’re called Shortbread, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches, they’re produced by ABC Bakers. 
• During World War II, due to shortages of key ingredients like flour, sugar, and butter, Scouts supplemented their Cookies by selling calendars too. Deficits were so bad some customers were limited to purchasing only two boxes.  

What is your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers and enjoy your cookies!

Funny Bone Cupcakes

FUNNY BONE CUPCAKES

Drake’s Funny Bones inspired this recipe because they are not available where I live.  They are my favorite sweet treat.  These cup cakes are close, but nothing quite like the real thing.

FILLING

1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. milk

CUPCAKES (feel free to cheat and use a pre-packaged chocolate cake)

2 cups sugar

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup baking cocoa

1½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

1 cup water

1 cup milk

½ cup canola oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

FROSTING

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

6 tbsp. baking cocoa

3 to 4 tbsp. milk

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and milk until smooth; set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, water, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened (batter will be thin).

Fill paper-lined jumbo muffin cups half full with batter. Drop a scant tbsp. of peanut butter mixture into center of each; cover with remaining batter.

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine frosting ingredients until smooth; drizzle over cupcakes.

Store in the refrigerator.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: 

Fun Facts about Sweets

• The U.S. produce more chocolate than any other country in the world but the Swiss consume the most, followed closely by the United Kingdom.
• The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the body temperature, which is why chocolate melts when you put it in your mouth.
• Chocolate can be lethal to dogs. Chocolate's toxicity is caused by Theo bromine, an ingredient that stimulates the cardiac muscle and the central nervous system. For a 10-lb puppy about two ounces of milk chocolate can be poisonous.
• More than $7 billion a year are spent on chocolate.
• Sixty million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.
• Americans eat 25 pounds of candy, per person, per year. The people of Denmark eat more 36 pounds of candy per person, per year.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!  

Cheers,

Elephant Stew

ELEPHANT STEW

1 Elephant (medium sized)

2 Rabbits (optional)

Salt

Pepper

Brown Gravy

2 cups white beans, soaked overnight

6 cups water

1 tsp. salt

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

6 cloves garlic, chopped

½ tsp. fresh ground pepper

1½ cups chicken broth

Cut the elephant into small bite size pieces.  (Plan ahead, this should take about two months.)  Add enough brown gravy to cover.  Cook over kerosene fire for about four weeks at 465º. About two hours before the elephant is cooked, combine beans, water, ½ tsp. salt and bay leaf in Dutch oven or kettle.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cover partially and simmer until the beans are tender (about 1- 1½ hour).  Drain the beans reserving ½ cup liquid.  Discard bay leaf.

Combine reserved liquid and ½ cup of the cooked beans in a bowl or food processor and mash until it forms a paste.  Stir the bean paste into the cooked beans and set aside.

Add olive oil to the kettle to heat.  Stir in onion, carrots and celery, garlic and cook 10-15 minutes until tender crisp.  Stir in salt, pepper, beans, elephant, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer until the stew is bubbling and thick.  Serve with croutons. If more people are expected, two rabbits may be added, but do this only if necessary because most people do not like to find ‘hare’ in their stew.

This is a great recipe when company comes unexpectedly.  If an elephant is not available, simply use the rabbits, or one venison neck roast and instead of cooking over kerosene fire for four weeks, simmer in Dutch oven for 2-3 hours until cooked and tender.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: I would never cook an elephant!

Interesting Facts about Elephants

• Elephants are capable of human-like emotions such as feeling loss, grieving and even crying. They remember and mourn their loved ones, even many years after their death. When the "Elephant Whisperer" Lawrence Anthony died, a herd of elephants arrived at his house to mourn him. 
• Elephants are avid eaters. Daily, they can be feeding for up to 16 hours and consume up to 600 pounds of food. 
• The average life span for an elephant in the wild is about 50 to 70 years. The oldest elephant ever was Lin Wang, an Asian elephant, who died on February 2003 at the age of 86. 
• Elephants use mud as a sunscreen, protecting their skin from ultraviolet light. Although tough, their skin is very sensitive. Without the regular mud baths to protect it from burning, insect bites, and moisture loss, their skin suffers serious damage.
•  Elephant females undergo the longest gestation period of all mammals - they are pregnant for 22 months.
• Elephants recognize themselves in a mirror, the same as magpies, dolphins, and toddlers.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,