Hi from Heavensville....

I've been a busy little bee lately, and haven't posted, but I did want you all to know that munchiebusiness.com has been down, I'm still trying to get this stuff switched to new server - it's working now, but if you can't access this page thru munchiebusiness.com over the weekend it's because I'm making the switch. You can always gain access by going directly to http://jansdailydish.blogspot.com/

Anyhoo, I wanted you all to know that I made the oatmeal cookie recipe that I posted on Eating Right last week. They were WONDERFUL. I'm an oatmeal cookie freak, and these cookies were REALLY good.

I just did a few tweaks to original recipe, which I'll add to the recipe on the Eating Right site.

Here's how I changed recipe - I used Cinnamon Applesauce instead of plain, then added an additional 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon - I also thought batter was a bit thin, so I added an additional 1/2 cup or so of oatmeal - they turned out PERFECT. Only 2 tablespoons of butter in this recipe, ladies...

Give them a try - you can access them here!

I also need to tell you all about Lindsay's Mom's recipe for Pork Chops with Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes, I'll do that tomorrow. It's late, I'm outta here....

What would I do without Nisha, she always comes up with great ideas...

John called me on his way home from work this evening. Tonia is traveling, he had to have a dip for work tomorrow. I recite all our old tried and true ones, nothing was ringing his chimes. So I told him I would call him back, then I get on the phone to Nisha.

She recited all of her old tried and trues, I was going, no, I don't think that's what he wants, so then she says she was at a party recently and somebody had Black Bean Salsa that was good, but she didn't have the recipe.

So I Google it, find the following recipe, read the great reviews, and the tweaks for it that people used, texted it to John's phone, he picked up the ingredients at the store, and I would imagine that it's chilling in his fridge right now.

I'll update you on how it turned out, it sounds great - I posted recipe on Jan Can Cook - the tweaked recipe - we added juice of a lime to this and minced garlic. You could also add jalapenos if you want it really spicy. I personally would omit the cilantro, but John is a fan, so he was chopping some to mix in and then using it to garnish.

Here's the recipe.

She's a member of the horsey set....

You all know too well the trials and tribulations of poor little Maggie's nappy hair. I have done EVERYTHING but shave her ala Britney Spears trying to get the tangles out. Despite my best efforts with shampoos, conditioners, Lindsay's pricey Redkin stuff, she just keeps getting worse as her adult coat is emerging.

So today, out of desperation I go to Rural King and tell them I want to see their Mane 'n' Tail collection. They didn't have any! DIDN'T HAVE ANY, IT'S RURAL KING FOR PETE'S SAKE....

Nope, they told me to go to Sally's Beauty Supply... So off we go, me and Mags to Sally's where I purchase on sale, and with a coupon, no less, a bottle of Mane 'n' Tail Horse Detangler...

I come home, attempt to spray it on Maggie, but she's in a playful mood, wants no part of that cold spray on her underbelly. So I wait til she's fast asleep on my lap tonight, give her a few squirts, start brushing and hot damn, the tangles are coming out. Still a chore, but it works, IT REALLY, REALLY WORKS!!!

Jan and Mags, doin the Happy Dance tonight, Happy Dance, Happy Dance....

Poached Eggs, Toad-in-the-Hole and other such breakfast triviolities...

I'm not even an egg person, so I don't get why I have this obsession with poaching eggs. Now Trisher, she's the egg woman, she boils a dozen at a time and eats them daily, well not the whole dozen, she just stores them in her fridge. Trust me, I know this because I've borrowed enough of them when I need one for a salad. Anyway, I think it's just that it's the eggs/spring thing, and wishful thinking for me, and memories of making the boys Toad-In-The-Hole (cut a hole in a slice of bread with a round juice glass, put a pat of butter in a skillet, and when it starts to sizzle, put in the bread, break an egg in the middle, toast one side, flip toast the other) that made me Google how to poach an egg this morning... Now I used to have this little handy-dandy egg poacher for Ryan, since he loved them, but it's long gone, so I did it in the skillet (small skillet, 2 teaspoons of vinegar, a dash of salt in water boiling at a simmer) boiled it for 3 minutes, lifted it with a slotted spoon to my plate, doused it with Hot Sauce and salsa and it was pretty good. Would have been better on a toast point, but that's another day...

And speaking of Hot Sauce, it was time to throw out the old, purchase the new, so I bought Frank's Hot Sauce, came home, told Hooterville what I bought, she's saying, "oh, no, you got the wrong one, Louisiana Hot Sauce is way better, she's right of course, she's always right, the Louisiana Hot Sauce is lots better, I started dousing it all over my taco salad, and when that was wonderful, I started putting it on EVERYTHING. Kind of reminescent of when a kid douses all of their food with ketchup! Am I regressing? With hot sauce? Probably, but who cares... Works for me...

Now go poach yourself an egg and see how it works for you....

Popcorn...

Late last night we were watching FoodTV, and it was the story of Orville Redenbacher. I was watching his early years, and it brought back a flood of memories from my own early years.

I was telling Ryan and Lindsay how, as a child, we would glean popcorn. The farmers in our area always grew fields of popcorn and in the fall, after they harvested their crops, Mother and I would take burlap sacks and walk the fields, picking up the ears of corn they missed. We would fill our bags, dragging them behind us, and then would sit around a wood stove in the evenings and shell the ears of corn into quart fruit jars. And did we throw the corncobs away, nonono, of course not, we threw very little away, Mother would save them in a bucket, dip them in kerosene and throw them in our wood heating stove to get the fire going. OMG, this sounds like something from Little House on the Prairie. But you have to remember, this was fifty years ago in rural Southern Illinois... Both of the kids were looking at me like I had totally lost it, and it does sound rather bizarre to talk about, but that was the life of a country girl in those days.

The best part was popping the corn right away. When fresh picked, it still had a high moisture content, so the kernels wouldn't actually pop, they would just swell to a large size and they were really crunchy, and REALLY good...

But it was not a good time walking the fields, picking up that corn. It was usually muddy, and cold, and the bags were heavy, but we did it, and it was free. And to think that today, we just go pluck a jar off the shelf at the grocery store, for over about $4.00 for a quart of Orville and take it home to pop.

Life is definitely much better, now... Well, except for the $4.00 a quart....