Make it and Love it.

This blog is wonderful. A review of my sweet pork tacos was posted today. It just makes me so happy!

Tonights dinner is one that you will definitely make and love. So here's the deal, go work out today, run, walk, bike, do pilates, whatever you love. Be ready, this recipe has more calories than I've got baby cracker crumbles on my floor this morning. It's craveable. It's honestly one of 5 dishes I've created that I can say I absolutely crave.

Thanks "Make it and Love it"!

www.makeitandloveit.blogspot.com

Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Spinach Salad

Grilled Chicken
1 lb. fresh spinach
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms sliced
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
12 oz. bacon, cooked and crumbled (not too small)
½ red onion sliced thinly
Poppy seed dressing (recipe follows)

Removed stems from spinach and wash several times in cold water. Drain and refrigerate at least 2 hours. At serving time, fill bowl with spinach and arrange mushrooms, onions, and chopped eggs on top. Sprinkle cooked bacon pieces over all and top with a generous amount of poppy seed dressing. Toss to coat.

Poppy Seed Dressing

1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. dry mustard or 1 tsp of Dijon Mustard
1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Mix all ingredients; using whisk, whip until thoroughly blended. Let rest 10 minutes and whip again. Stir before using. I like to put mine in a mason jar and shake. If you'd like to marinade the onions and mushrooms in the dressing it is delicious. Dressing keeps at least 2 weeks in refrigerator.

Old Glory BBQ Slaw Completed

Tonight we ate the Old Glory BBQ Slaw Sandwich. Pork shoulder was on sale for .99 cents a pound so we roasted some up. I changed the slaw recipe to be the following:

• 1/4 Head of Green Cabbage, Shredded
• 1/2 Carrot, Shredded
• (I ran out of apples thought I still think it would be good)
• 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 2 T Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt

If you love the tang of vinegar, lightly coat your slaw with this and you'll have a nice kick to your usual pulled pork sandwich.

We also roasted some beautiful asparagus that is finally coming back into season, it was so delicous roasted with olive oil and salt and pepper in a 400 degree oven.

Sunday Gourmetists Welcome!

I was recently asked to host a food booth for a friend's stake. I had a wonderful time sharing my mini pork tacos with everyone, and it has inspired me to begin this blog so randomly titled with my favorite phrase, "That's Yucky".

I hope this blog will be a site for all of us to discuss our favorite foods, and think of creative ways to re-invent them. For all my sisters who received the Sunday Gourmet recipe book I compiled, please ask any questions or if you need advice or a recipe for an event please do! I love thinking about food and problem solving for you.

Thanks for participating on Saturday, and for giving me the confidence to speak publicly about my love of good food, and I hope we discover good things together. Please sign up as a follower, or I'll add you to my blog friend list- and we can do digital lunch sometime.

Love is: An In-Oven Digital Thermometer

I'm kinda embarrassed of my chicken photo because it is underdone, but I was just too excited to take a photo. Mike and I went to DownEast Outfitter Home, the gem of Idaho Falls, and found this in-oven thermometer for 9.99$. It was such a steal. I'm so happy to store this one in my top drawer. I know know exactly when my food is done, so no more praying it's done but not too done. The fear of under-cooking poultry has destroyed many chickens in my life. I'm cooking here my favorite Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken. One of my favorite one-pot meals.

Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken
1 (5 to 6-pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme or 1 T dried thyme
4 lemons
3 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Red Potato, Carrots, and Onion
1 1/2 cup chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, 1 lemon, halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Place quartered potatoes, onions and carrots on the bottom of a stock pot or roasting pan. Cut 2 of the lemons in quarters and scatter the quarters and remaining garlic around the chicken. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half.
Slice the chicken on a platter. Serve with the gravy.

Mall Pretzles

This winter our family had to go a bit pioneer with our food. We didn't have too much money to spend on treats when grocery shopping so we used what we had: all purpose flour. The penny pinch drove me to find and develop the perfect pretzel recipe for that food storage flour. Yeast can be spendy but buy it in the bulk food section at Win-co and you'll save even more!

1 T package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (I beg you to go and buy kosher salt, you'll love it)

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Stir in flour, one cup at a time mixing until combined each time. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth. Douch should easily handled, but not stiff. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover, and let rise for one hour.

Combine 2 cups warm water and baking soda in an 8 inch square pan.
After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, to your desire thickness. Twist into a pretzel shape, and dip into the baking soda solution. Don't be shy! This is very important. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets, and let rise 15 to 20 minutes.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic salt or cinnamon sugar.

When forming the ropes, roll each one to about half the length you want, then set it aside while you roll the rest. By the time you get back to the first rope, it will have rested enough to roll further.

Old Glory BBQ Slaw

During my nanny days of DC I went to a BBQ restaurant called Old Glory in Georgetown. When you sit at your table they offer up around 8 sauces for barbeque from around the United States. I loved sitting there with a pile of pulled pork trying all the sauces. I remember not loving the Texas sauce (sorry- too much like chili). But I loved the barbeque sauce from North Carolina. I particularly loved the vinegar barbeque sauce that was the perfect pairing for me to the sweet roasted pork.

Here is my idea: I'll prepare shredded cabbage, carrot and add shredded apple. Toss it with the carolina vinegar and eat it on top of the pulled pork sandwich. Wish me luck! Here is my mental recipe idea:

Old Glory Slaw:
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 head cabbage sliced thin
2 carrots, grated
1 apple, grated

Mix first four ingredients together. Let stand as long as possible, at least 1/2 a day, but the longer the better. Combine desire amount with remaining ingredients, serve immediately on a pulled pork sandwich.

Coconut Cupcakes

My favorite cookbook author of all time is Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa. She just makes the food I want to eat. She has a recipe for coconut cupcakes that I have modified to be made from a cake mix. They are a favorite of my family.

The Cupcake

Using a French Vanilla cake mix bake as directed except substitute the water for coconut milk (light coconut milk is also fine).

The Cream Cheese Frosting

I think the key to a great frosting is starting with all of your ingredients at absolute room temperature and whipping it as much as possible. If you'd like to add a dash of the remaining coconut milk to this recipe you can if it seems too thick.

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• Shredded Sweetened Coconut

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in as much of the remaining sugar as needed to reach a comfortable spreading consistency. Generously frost the cooled cupcakes and dunk into the coconut. I promise they’ll look great no matter what!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have been looking for the past few months for a red velvet cake mix, I don't do cakes from scratch because that seems insane. So I bought five boxes. I made my first batch and I love how they turn my fingers a delicious color of red and go very well with cream cheese frosting.