Kitchen Essentials

I'm telling ya, this blog stuff is harder to keep up with than I thought! My New Year's Resolution is to try and keep up with this a little more and post a lot more as well. We'll see how that goes!

I've thought about peppering in some posts about the multiple kitchen items that I use, why I love them and the uses I have for them. For some people, cooking is a brand new adventure to them. They don't know where to begin and all the gadgets and accessories and what not can probably be a little overwhelming when you're starting out. Whether you're newly married, out on your own for the first time due to going to college or moving out on your own, or you're simply tired of eating fast food or making simple box dinners, I wanted to share some of my favorites things I use in the kitchen to make meals for me and my main squeeze.

One of my favorite things (I'm probably going to say this about most things I use in the kitchen) is my Dutch oven. My dad got it for me one year for Christmas and I love this thing! It's so versatile. I use it at least once a week and honestly I could probably use it a lot more than that.

Things I use my Dutch oven for include:

-soups and stews
-one pot dishes
-pot roast
-frying things like boneless wings or pickles
-boiling pasta for dishes
-mashed potatoes
-pasta sauces like for lasagna
-making pretzels

Like yesterday and today for example. Yesterday I used it to make pretzels in the morning and fried boneless wings in it later that night. Tonight I made a one pot pasta dish. I love it! There's so many uses for it and it's oven safe. Mine is by Lodge and it's enameled cast iron so it's heavy. A good Dutch oven is essential to have in your kitchen arsenal! 

Good Ol' Virginny

Well, we are back in my home state! We've been here for a bit now, got here in July (whoops!) and I have been enjoying being back home for a little while. Most of our time here has consisted of getting things ready for the wedding (gah!) and spending time with my family. And exploring of course too! I am working in Midlothian at one of the Bon Secours Hospitals called St. Francis. It's going good, there's only one ICU there so I'm working on that unit. Anyways we've had some good adventures so far being here in Virginia! Here are just a few pictures of the fun things we've done so far!

Appomattox Courthouse National Park 

Appomattox Courthouse National Park

 

Appomattox Courthouse National Park

 

Yorktown 

 Jamestown Ferry

 Jamestown Ferry

 Natural Chimneys

Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive

 

Cyrus McCormick Farm

Cyrus McCormick Farm

Black Bears on the Skyline Drive

North Entrance (we drove the whole 105 miles!)

Cyrus McCormick Farm

Cyrus McCormick Farm

These are just a few of our travels so far, we definitely have more planned for the near future! As far as recipes go, well I'm still trying out new ones and finding some that I love! Hopefully soon I can get on the ball and post some. 

Until then my friends

Slacker

Geez. May! I absolutely SUCK at trying to keep up with this blog! I keep telling myself to post recipes, things my main squeeze and I have done and adventures we've been on but I plum just keep forgetting. Maybe one of these days I'll get into the habit and routine of keeping up with it. Anyways, my travel adventurs have brought my main squeeze and I to Springfield, Missouri. A lot of his family is from Seymour which is about 30-40 minutes away and I love being this close to his family. Sure I haven't met many of them yet or spent a lot of time with them but it's nice knowing that they're close and we can go do things with them. 

I was so happy this year because I got to spend Austin's birthday with him. Last year I was still home in Virginia and couldn't celebrate with him so I was happy as a clam to be here this year for it. He got a kindle and a cover for it (I was gonna get him Seinfeld as well but we'll save that for another time). 

We've had a few adventures since we've been here (not many as we haven't been here tooooo long). One place we wanted to go to was Silver Dollar City. Like Kings Dominion for me, my main squeeze grew up going to SDC every year and I was excited to finally check it out! They have some roller coasters and home girl here was a wee bit too large to fit into the seats (darn those childbearing hips!) I'm hoping to lose some weight so when we go back I can fit into the seats!

As far as the recipe world we've tried a bunch of new things since I've posted last (and even before then!) Hopefully I can get on the ball and post some here soon. I have one more night of work before I am off for 5 nights so we'll see!

Speaking of work I am working at Mercy Hospital in Springfield and I am in their ICU float pool. That means that I work on whichever ICU they need me in that night I'm working.

Peace and sunshine (well, moonshine at the present time since it's 0300) until next time!

Fluffy Pancakes

Merry Christmas everybody!

This Christmas is vastly different from any Christmas I have celebrated so far. 

This year I am in Oklahoma, away from my mom, dad and sister but oh so very thankful to be spending and celebrating it with my main squeeze.

Here he is trying out one of the gifts he got in his stocking. We had a very relaxed morning complete with coffee, presents, and these pancakes.

 

When I say "these" pancakes, I mean I used the boxed Hungry Jack mix. But, I have never made pancakes before in my life! I used some tips from Emily and wham! This pancake making newbie was successful in fixing Christmas brunch. Her recipe makes about ten servings (per her blog) and as much as my main squeeze loves pancakes, we could not eat anywhere near that much! Sure, I could have cut the recipe in half, but I wanted to use the box mix for the first time cooking them. Maybe someday when I have hungry kids in my house will I make my own batter.

I hope your Christmas has been merry and bright and that Jesus has been the center of your celebrations. I'm hoping next year my main squeeze and I can be home in Virginia with my family. 

On to New Year's!

Best Pork BBQ

"Holy shit"

These are the two first words my main squeeze uttered when he first tasted this BBQ. 

Followed by "this is damn good". 

This was my first attempt at cooking a pork BBQ. And this recipe, boys and girls, is an absolute keeper. When my main squeeze goes back for seconds, I know it's a great recipe. I thought about a crockpot recipe, but both of us like a dry rub, not cooked in BBQ sauce. 

OMG. Talk about delicious. And easy! This is most definitely the way I'm gonna fix BBQ from now on. I didn't take any pictures of the process; just the finished product. So I'm gonna send you over to Kevin and Amanda's website where I followed their recipe step by step. I even have a digital thermometer like she recommends and that thing is sweet! You can leave the oven door closed and not have to keep testing your pork. I love it! This is definitely the recipe I'm going to use from now on for BBQ. It's wonderful!

Changes...Part Two

Well boys and girls, it's a Monday and I have found myself in the middle of the U.S. in the Midwest. Oklahoma actually. Tulsa, to be exact. This plan has been in the making since the beginning of the year. My main squeeze and I have been looking forward to this since we first talked about it! I am finally doing what I have wanted to do since I found out about it, travel nursing. Those who know me know I can't sit still for long and travel nursing fits the bill perfectly. Plus, it's allowed me to come out here to be with my main squeeze! That's the best plus of them all. My first assignment is at Hillcrest Medical Center in downtown Tulsa on a burn ICU. That's going to be a huge learning curve for me! But I am looking forward to it and am excited to learn something new when it comes to my nursing skills. Enough of the boring stuff, it's picture time!

My mama drove out here with me (1,200 miles!) so I wouldn't have to make the trek alone. I'm glad she did! 1,200 miles is a lot to do without someone to talk to. Saturday my main squeeze took us around riding, out to Pawhuska and Ponca City and let me tell you. Absolute culture shock from what I am use to! I didn't think I would like the openness so much (us East Coast folks are use to A LOT of trees) but I actually really like it. Something super peaceful about it. But still, culture shock none the less.

 I mean, it's kinda growing on me. I enjoyed our drive very much!

Pretty babies. We were no doubt on someone's ranch (don't worry, we weren't trespassing!) but had no ideas whose. But we enjoyed seeing all the horses

And all the cows. They were walking everywhere and this baby here was like "Who are you and what in the world are you doing here?"

All the other babies didn't seem to pay us any mind. 

I mentioned earlier we didn't know whose ranch we stumbled upon.

We found our answer at the end coming back out on the main highway. I was so excited!! I had wanted to find her ranch but had no idea how, this just happened by chance!

My main squeeze and I. Stay tuned for more pictures and adventures!

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

I have a love affair with eggs. Seriously! Something so simple can be made in so many different ways, has a center that's yellow that can ruin an angel food cake while using the whites to make stiff meringue for a coconut cream pie. Eggs are wonderful and that is why I must share with you my egg saga.

Eggs were the very first thing I ever learned to cook. My grandmother use to always tell me I started cooking as soon as I could reach the stove. And eggs were the thing she taught me how to make. I use to stand and wait until (by my grandmother's instruction) the outside portion started to get white and I could start moving it around the pan, thus making something very similar to an omelet. 

I always told my grandpa to separate my portion before he added any pepper to them because I could not stand pepper when I was little.

My mama would always cook me scrambled eggs in the morning and place it one of those old school round Tupperware containers (admit it, you still have them!) and I'd eat them on the way to school. 

My babysitter (mom #2, more affectionately known as Mom Sale) would always crumble sausage and mix it into the eggs before she cooked them. This was (and still is today) my most favorite way to eat them.

But nothing, NOTHING, can compare to how my dad fixes scrambled eggs. Breakfast is an absolute favorite for both of us. We could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week. And his scrambled eggs are always kiss ass tasty. When I was younger he would sometimes add in a little maple syrup for some sweetness. He never had a "secret" to how he fixed them, and I've watched him numerous times. But there is always something delicious about the way he fixes them.

I think I have come as close as I can get to making them the way he does. Fried eggs? Don't stand a chance in my kitchen. I can fry an egg as well as I can pee standing up without missing the toilet. But I have finally figured out how to make my eggs taste just as tasty as his (well, almost!)

The key with his scrambled eggs is low and slow. I mentioned before my grandmother liked to get the edges white before she moved them around pan. Nope. Not happening. Medium heat (around 6) is about the perfect temperature. A splash of cream doesn't hurt either. And I finally LOVE pepper. So! Egg business. Scrambled egg business. In all their glory.

How to make said eggs

2-3 eggs (depending how hungry you are)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Splash of cream, milk or half and half

Scramble your eggs in a bowl, add salt, pepper and cream. Heat enough butter over medium low to medium heat to cover a small skillet but don't use too much! You want your eggs fluffy. Pour egg mixture in skillet and wait. Gently start pushing the mixture back and forth. Constantly moving the eggs is key, don't let them sit too long to get that omelet consistency. I always take my eggs out the pan when they're "almost done" You know, that shiny texture, white part might still be a tad runny. YUM. Not runny like medium fried egg, but shiny! Hopefully you can see what I am talking about in my picture. Eat up!