Smoking Hot!

Smoked Salmon! 

Kristopher got me hooked on smoking salmon. He made it for us a few times, and it was the best salmon I had ever tasted. He and Nora gave me a smoker for Christmas. I first made a smoked chicken. It didn't come out that great. I didn't cook it long enough and I cut it too soon. How did I know he really meant it, when he said you have to let it rest first. Oh well, lesson learned. So than a few weeks ago when he was here, he showed me how to smoke the salmon. Today I was flying solo. Well, with a few text messages back and forth. And it came out awesome. I am calling my smoker, my salmon smoker. If I never smoke anything besides the salmon, I'm happy. 

First you have to soak the Hickory wood chips for an hour. 

Put spices on the fish and let sit an hour also. 

 I used a meat digital meat thermometer and it came out perfect.

Yum!

And of course we had to have garlic bread to top it off.  My bread with big holes in it. It still worked ok. 

And don't forget the fried potatoes!

Honorable mention:

Rod was my helper. He plugged in the smoker and put the wood chips in the burner. I don't like doing that part. lol

Anyone hungry? 

Words

I had Colton spending the night this weekend and he laughs at some of the things I say. I can't remember what we were talking about, but I said "Oh Good Lord" and he asked me what that meant. I said it was just an expression I say a lot. I shouldn't tell you that earlier I said "What the Hell"? and than I said oops. And Colton said "that's ok grandma, my mom cusses too"..lol... I don't really cuss that often, but I do more than I use to. It makes me feel better. Or maybe I do cuss a lot, but since there's no kids around here everyday, I don't even notice I talk like that. I guess I'm turning in to a drunken sailor. 

I know I say some weird expressions all the time, and I just assume everyone else says them too. But I am beginning to think, maybe they don't. 

What exactly is a "Whip-poor-willows ass"? I say that when referring to someone I dislike. Or "Something gives me the Willies". I think that is a more common word. I've alway said that something gives me the "heebie geebeis", meaning being spooked or creeped out.

"Doohicky" is a word Rod will use when he can't remember the real word. When someone falls, I say that they went "Ass Over Tea Kettle". If I am annoyed or disappointed, I will say "Oh Hell's Bells". When I see somebody that is really mad, I say " They just about Shit a Brick". 

I'm sure there are a ton of words I use, that I can't remember right now. How about you all? What do you find yourself saying that just comes flying out of your mouth?

Trick Toaster

I've had this toaster for probably over 20 years. It still works good, but it is getting a little annoying to me. Should I buy a new one, or wait until it stops working?  Janet was here a few months ago, and thought they only did this in the movies. Nope, I have to catch my toast every morning. Usually both toast go flying at the same time. I have to put my plate or paper towel down to have a clean surface for the toast to land. One time the toast flipped over and landed in the other slot. That was cool.  Hey, maybe I can get my toaster to be in the movies! Click the arrow to see the quick video. 

You should see my washing machine! No knobs but it still works...And last night when I pushed the start button on the dishwasher, all the red electronic symbols lit up. It looked like the cockpit of an airliner. I always have to whack the panel, but last night was a first with the lights going crazy. 

My trash compactor sounds like the airliner! The grandkids would always run away when I turned that on. It makes a crazy noise. 

Do you have any appliances that are wacky, but still does the job it was meant to do? 

If Cookies Could Fly

Oh wait, they did fly today....Sometimes I can be so clumsy. Like today when I was in Albertsons with my mom, and I knocked down a cookie display. Oops!!  I had my reading glasses on and it throws off my perception and I just plowed my shopping cart right in to the display. 

The cookies were like these, but pink with all kinds of sprinkles. I love these cookies and try not to buy them. Ok, now I need to go back and buy some. When I knocked the cookies off the table, they went flying everywhere. I'm sure tomorrow I will find them on clearance, all broken with the sprinkles laying in the bottom of the plastic container. 

The bakery lady was very nice and kept saying don't worry about it ladies. I'm hoping she thinks it was my mom who plowed in to them. lol....But I guess since I was pushing the cart, she knew me to be the cookie trasher. I just wanted to get away from the bakery section but my mom kept lingering. Come on mom, lets go to the meat dept and find some fish in the ice to tip over. Or we could pull out a potato and have them all come tumbling down. 

I was very nice to the bakery lady, trying to make small talk while she was on her hands and knees scooping up all the cookie containers. I thought my joke about maybe I need to go get a new drivers license was funny, but she didn't laugh.  Oh well, I think I'll go to a different grocery store until they forget what I look like. 

What have you knocked down while shopping? 

Grabbers

Grabbers or Grippers are my newest favorite item. You know, those long handled things that you can use to pick stuff up with. The past year or so, I've had my back going out more times than I liked. Not that I liked it even once. So I started finding ways to pick stuff up off the floor. I started with a long handled bbq tong. It does work, but a little longer would be better. But it does come in handy to get the clothes out of the dryer. 

Last year I decided to buy one of those grabbers that you can buy at Walgreens. It said "as seen on tv" and it was over $10. I was excited to have a normal grabber, but what a disappointment that was. It was so flimsy that it would hardly pick anything up without bending the aluminum tong part. So back to Walgreens that went. 

Not long afterwards I was in the Dollar Tree store and saw some of them hanging on a endcap. They were plastic and sturdy and only a DOLLAR! I bought one and took it home. It worked so good that I went back the next day and bought a few more. It will actually pick a dime up off the floor. Amazingly it picked up the tiniest things. Than the little grandsons found them and they became swords, ninja sticks, rifles and pokers. And a few of them broke from all that Ninja use. I went back to the store and they were all out. The dollar store doesn't always have a certain item all the time. But than at Christmas time, they had some more in the store and they were a half foot longer. I bought 4-5 more because I wasn't sure if they would have them in again. I was so excited that I had found them again. I put a few of them away for when the ones I have get broken, lost or just stop working. I think I had like 2-3 put away. 

A few days ago, I saw them again at the dollar store. I just couldn't walk away from them. I had to buy some more. So instead of buying 5 of them, which would only be $5, I bought 4 of them. I didn't want to look like a hoarder. I put them in different rooms of my house. That way I can always have one nearby to pick up whatever I dropped. I guess some people would think it odd of me to be so excited over these Grabbers, but it is the simple things that make me happy. Hey, you never know, but you might see a picture of me one day soon doing the Ninja stick karate chops. 

So is there something you buy and keep buying, that you just have to have? 

Photos from my cell phone

I took this Seattle view with my cell phone. It is a panorama of 5 photos. I was having fun with a panoramic photoshop program I didn't even know I had. If you click on the photo and click original size, you can scroll across to see a better photo. Not bad for a cell phone camera!

I downloaded a free program called Twisted Brush. It lets you paint with a ton of different brushes. Here is my masterpiece. lol....It was fun to play with. 

This was done with my cell phone and a phone app called Photo Studio. I'm always looking for different edits. This is different, right?  

Another phone app called PicsArt. It was just a fast cell phone picture and a quick edit. I liked how it came out. This was a Mexican restaurant. 

Cant remember which program I used on my cell phone but it was another something different. This is actually a pond we passed on someone's property. The owner installed 2 fountains as you can see, and it keeps the pond from getting mucky. Or yucky!

And for your entertaining enjoyment, my granddaughter Ashlyn likes to use her mini I-pad, her other grandma bought her, to take crazy pictures of this grandma. Not sure what is going on here, but it sure looks like I'm having a sister for Jennifer or Kristopher. And she is wearing leopard slippers just like me. And she is walking already..  Wow, just wow. 

Anyways, I have been enjoying the fun and convenience of just grabbing my cell phone for a quick photo and giving it a different look.  

What do you think? Fun? Creepy? Really Creepy?

Goat Milk

It was a sunny and cold day yesterday and a great day for a drive. We didn't go far, just around the sound. Along the way, we saw a few goats and my mom said she loved goat milk..huh? I've never ever, seen her drink goat milk. I have no desire to drink goat milk, goat cheese, or anything goat related. Call me weird, but it kind of makes me gag just thinking about it. So I started thinking of other things that I have to actually buy in the store for me to be able to eat. Eggs are one of them and pretty much on the top of the list. I want them inspected and in a carton. Don't get me wrong, I've had fresh farm eggs and I've never enjoyed them. All the eggs are different colors, from light green to brown. That alone made me question why? Why aren't they white? 

I've also had fresh bacon. No thank you. It didn't even taste like bacon. I want my Oscar Meyers thin strip store bought bacon. Not that I've even had bacon is a few years. But when I do eat it, I want to pay $5.00 a package from the grocery store. 

Deer, bear, moose, frog, grasshopper, snail, duck or any other animal, not a chicken, turkey, cow or pig, is off my list too. Don't ask me if I want any of those, trust me. And why would my sister in law Chris even try pig stomach? Grosssss....

My mom loves liver. She use to make it for the family when we were growing up. I always tried to cover it with mustard, but no go. I'd end up making a few trips to the bathroom to spit it out. I sure wished our dog was allowed in to the house on liver nights. 

Seaweed! I saw a huge package of seaweed at costco. Really? Do people really eat that much seaweed? Why would anyone even eat a piece of seaweed, let alone a mega pack of it? Hello? If you are at the ocean, do you lay on the sand munching on a piece of seaweed? Because that is what I think about when I look at seaweed. 

I think I am just a Plain Jane when it comes to foods. Give me some mashed potatoes and grilled chicken every night, and I'd be happy. I'll leave the Bear Jerky and Bambi to those that love to eat that way. I'm really rethinking that "I want to be Amish" fantasy. 

What odd ball foods do you like to eat? Don't gross me out too much :)

Cooking with the Kents!

Kristopher and the boys, plus the new puppy Jazzy, all came for a visit yesterday. I said great, now you can show me how to make smoked salmon and make the new Mac and Cheese recipe we were given from a nice little restaurant here in town. He went to work and got the salmon ready with lemon and than put on a blend of salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper with a dash of brown sugar. He patted the mixture all over the fish. The smoker was hot and smoking with the wet hickory chips, and ready for the salmon. Two hours later, it was done perfectly. In the meantime, he got the mac and cheese going. 

Pour a pint of heavy cream in to pot and than add 4 different cheeses. Cheddar, provolone, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Heat until it is all melted and thickened. You can just add the macaroni to the cheese mixture and eat it like that, or put in a baking dish, add crumbs and sprinkle over the mac and cheese. Bake it for 10 minutes and it is dinnertime!   

The cheese mixture

The macaroni 

The macaroni with the cheese mixture

Ritz crackers and Parmesan 

Sprinkling on the crackers

Yummy

It was going fast! (Had a little bit of leftovers)

Yep, mom loves it

So now you ask me, where are the salmon pictures? Well, let me tell you. While Kris was smoking the fish and making the mac and cheese, I was feeding Jaden his jar of baby peas and applesauce. I kind of forgot to take even one picture of the fish. Maybe because we were trying to keep the baby from chewing on the firewood kindling and keeping the puppy from stealing and chewing on a jigsaw puzzle piece. It wasn't like Kris and I were sitting down in the 2 recliners chatting about stuff...Oh wait, I think we were. While Colton and Joey were getting rid of their m&m sugar rush. Yeah, I think we were too pooped to care. We just watched as they ran around and around and around. Click below. 

But let me tell you, the salmon was the best you will ever find anywhere. Kris is a great cook. The mac and cheese has the best flavor. You really need to give it a try. Experiment on the amounts of the cheeses. What do you think? Look good? 

Famous People

Today I was thinking about all the famous people I have seen. I didn't think there was really that many until I started thinking back through the years. There are more than I thought. Let me see, I think the 1st famous person, was Johnny Carson. I saw him at a taping of his show. 

In Vegas at the Mint hotel, I saw The Coasters. An old time rhythm and blues group. 

The first concert I went to was for Leann Rimes. She was 15 years old and I loved her voice. My second concert was Garth Brooks. My favorite singer of all time. Loved his concert. Years later, I saw his now current wife, Trisha Yearwood. Than saw Brooks and Dunn with Reba McEntire. Saw Country singer Terri Clark at the fair. 

Tony Bennett walked by me one time at the Apple Farm in Calif. Also the guy on According to Jim, Larry Joe Campbell, the nerdy brother in law, as he walked by me at a Disneyland hotel. Does that count? lol

I saw David Copperfield at one of his shows. He was interesting. But my most favorite star I saw was Rob Lowe. Rod and I were on the train going to Calif, and he and his wife and child were in the same car as us. We had a sleeper car and I can honestly say I was naked under Rob Lowe. Ok, even though that was true, I was in the shower on the train, that was located right under his room. So it is true...lol

So tell me who you have seen that are famous or almost famous. Who did you see?

Knott's Berry Farm

I use to love going to Knott's Berry Farm. When we were kids, it was free to get in and walk around. And there was a lot to do for not having any money. When Rod and I were dating, we could still get in for free, but soon after, they fenced it in and started charging admission. When the kids were little, we would take them to the Merry Go Round that was still on the outside of the fence. There was also a little duck pond where we could feed the ducks. We went there for years just for the Merry Go Round and ducks. During Christmas time we would take the kids there to see Santa Claus. 

When the kids got older, probably once or twice a year, we would pay to go inside and have fun from opening to close. We would have a great time and have to drag ourselves to the car from exhaustion at the end of the day. I actually liked Knotts better than Disneyland. I could almost feel myself taken back in time to the cowboy days. Stage coaches, saloon girls walking around, jail houses, newspaper store where you could get a headline newspaper with your name on it. I think we even got a fake marriage license one time. 

I could never figure out the haunted shack. It was also called a gravity shack. You could walk sideways or two people would be at each end and one would appear big and one small..I loved that place. Confusing but fun. 

I even loved the smell of the place. It just had that ghost town feel. It was fun to watch the staged gun fights in the street every hour or so. I think the Calico Mine was awesome. It felt so real.

And the Log Ride, I had a love, hate relationship with..I think I hated it more than I loved it. No, I loved it, no, it scared me. But I couldn't NOT go on it. One time at closing we went on it over and over again, because there was no line. And each time I hated it, I think. lol

The train was fun when the masked robbers came on during the ride. I think my kids liked that. Maybe not..lol They were kind of gruff and scary. And you had to keep your hands in the air! 

Funnel cakes say Knott's Berry Farm. We always got those. I think it was Jennifer's favorite. 

I hope the theme park doesn't change any more of the old attractions. They now have a lot of big rides and roller coasters. It seems to take away from the Old Ghost Town feel. And who can afford taking the family there anymore. You'd have to rob one of those trains! 

What are you favorite memories of Knott's Berry Farm?

Restaurants on Memory Lane

I miss going to a lot of restaurants from years ago. The Snack Shop and Coco's were the ones I went to with Rod, when we were dating. He worked at both of them, so that is why Coco's became our favorite all those years ago. I miss Coco's. We use to have a few up here in the NW, but have't seen any in a long time. It is just a Calif-Az area restaurant thing now. 

We also loved going to "LOVES" BBQ restaurant. We even ate there  for our wedding day dinner in San Diego. I just Googled Loves and the website says locations: Jakarta, Indonesia..  What the HECK? Well, you can order online, but it just doesn't seem like LOVE to me anymore. 

When my kids were little and on the occasional times we could all go to a restaurant, we use to have fun. It was always a treat to go to a restaurant. On Friday nights, Rod use to league bowl in Tustin Ca, and Rod and the kids and I would all go to Bob Big Boys afterwards.

I'm craving the Bob Big Boy double decker hamburger right now. The only problem is, that the nearest Big Bob is in Bakerfields Calif. Only about 1100 miles for a burger. I wonder if my kids remember going there?

We use to play a fun game of guessing the amount of the bill. The winner got to go up to the cash register and pay the bill. A great prize huh? lol But it was fun and we would all sit there and add up everyone's dinner and drinks to ourselves, and than add the amount of tax we thought it would be. Our totals were always close, but there was only one winner. After all these years, Rod and I will sometime still do this. Yep, there we go counting again. 

We also use to go to a place in Corona Del Mar, called the Zoo. It was a fun place to eat. Since it closed in the early 70's, I'm thinking it was just me and Rod that went there. But it could of been just Jennifer as a toddler. Ah, memories. Or the lack of not remembering if my kids went there with us. Everything on the menu was zoo themed related. Like the Monkey burger, the Elephant chicken, or the Giraffe meatloaf. The theme of the interior was cages with bars, with fake animals everywhere. It was really a cute place to go. They went out of business and I've always thought that I'd see a remake of it someday, somewhere. 

Most Sundays we would take the kids to the beach to just play in the sand, walk, look for fish in the tide pools. One favorite place was Dana Point. It was a nice drive down the coast and we would end up eating at a restaurant called the Jolly Rogers. Those were the Jolly old days, yo ho!

Sometimes, most likely often, when we didn't have money for the restaurants, we would get McDonalds (McRib sandwich) and just go sit on the sand at Newport Beach, and eat and watch the sunset. The kids enjoyed it and so did we. 

What restaurants bring back memories to you? 

My Funny for the week!

Subject: My tax return

Yesterday I had my Tax Return "Returned"

I was trying to get a jump on doing my taxes this year,
however, the Tax Office sent my Tax Return back!!

I guess it was because of my response to the line, which asked to: "List All Dependents"

So, I replied:

1/2 million illegal immigrants
1/4 million crack heads
2 million unemployable people living on welfare
1 million people in over 123 prisons
and 353 fools in Congress .

Apparently, this was NOT acceptable..

So I sent it back with a question "Did I forget someone?"

1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4...

Rod and I count stuff. Not the usual things like money. We like to count things like golf courses, parks, lakes and moving trains.

Just recently, we counted how many Christmas trees we saw on top of the cars or trucks that people just bought. We counted 23 all together from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. He did see one after Christmas, but they were taking it to the landfill, so that doesn't count. I know, we are easy to amuse. Or maybe we are just weird. Or amusingly weird. We started this little game on one of our many trips to Calif and back home.

Do you know that there are a ton of golf course near the freeway? I wonder why that is. You'd think they would want to be far away from all the noise and car pollution. I believe we counted 17 of the golf courses on one trip. 

Parks are harder to find. Probably because they do want to be away from the freeways. Makes sense. I think that trip was over to the Oregon coast and they were State Parks. And sometimes we would get off the freeway and go a few miles, to just check out the park. 

So I gotta ask, what do you count? 

My New Bisquick Book

I've wanted this cookbook for the past year. Jennifer knew I needed wanted it and gave it to me for Christmas. I'm in love with it. I know, it doesn't take much to make me happy. A biscuit here, a biscuit there. Biscuits everywhere. Ok, be serious. 

A few nights ago, I made some cheese drop biscuits with homemade chili. The biscuits came out light and fluffy. Much more fluffy, (or is that fluffier?) than the regular drop biscuits. I'd call that a success! Only 279 recipes to go...

Here is the Chili too! Hey, I wonder if I can smoke the chili. You know, like smoked beans. I'll have to Google that one. 

Maiden Voyage

I just had to have a Smoker to cook in. Ever since we had dinner at Kristopher and Nora's house, where he made smoked salmon, I knew I had to have a smoker too.  It was that good!! He also smoked a ham for Christmas which was also very good.  

Kris and Nora gave me a smoker for Christmas. Oh man, I'm was excited about that. It was a black one that used charcoal. Which I hear is the best way to smoke. But than I started thinking that maybe for me, an electric smoker would make more sense. Especially if I was going to be the one to start the smoker, and get the meat on it during the day. I couldn't see me adding more coals if needed. So I upgraded to this electric one. 

I spent an hour reading the how to do book, three times, and had Kristopher explain to me what to do, more times that I can remember. So I decided that New Years Day would be a good day to try it out. I bought a whole chicken and figured it would be something easy to start with. Well, I forgot how you have to pull all the icky parts out of the chicken, wash it, grease it, season it, and than have to sanitize everything in sight afterwards. 

I forgot to soak the Hickory wood chips and had to wait 20 minutes for those. Finally got those on the Lava rocks that were already hot and the smoke started right away. I got the chicken on the grill and put the lid on. Than I remembered I needed to add more water to the water pan to keep the chicken moist. So I took the lid off the smoker and got a face full of Hickory smoke and about blinded myself. This is just after I showered and washed my hair. Now I smell like a campfire. Won't do that again. Ever. ha ha....I wonder if these fancy electric smokers have ever taken off like a missile?  

I also bought a new digital meat thermometer with a long wire.

And now the star of the show!

It has been on the grill now for an hour and 20 minutes. I'm trying not to go out and take the lid off to get a peek. The temperature is now up to 139*...Waiting, waiting...I did peek in the little silver door to make sure the water pan was still full. Need to keep that chicken moist. It all looks like it is cooking slowly the way it should be. I figure if this is a bust, we are having tuna sandwiches. Plan B.

2 hours and 20 minutes and I had to peek....It seems to be going good. But temperature is at 149*..Needs to get up to 165*. Well, it actually dropped to 147* after I opened the lid to see what was happening. Reminder to me, don't take the lid off next time. 

Ok, it is dinnertime and the temp is at 151. Time to put it in the oven. 

It looks pretty good, but here is where I freaked out and came up with Plan C...I knew I had to get the temp up to 165*, so I decided to cut it up and put it in the hot oven. Good idea, but wrong method. Kris told me today to let it rest after you take it out of the smoker or oven, before you slice it up. So by cutting it up right away, I caused it to become dried out. The smoke flavor was good, although I have smelled like Hickory smoke all day from lifting the lid early on. I think I will give myself an A for effort, A for how it looked, and a C for everything else. Next time I'm trying smoked salmon. Maybe I should of started on something easier to begin with. Or listened to Kris about the resting part...Sigh

The Year 2013

Happy New Years! 

You know where I will be for New Year's Eve!!

Where will you be? 

See you next year!!

Helpful hints

I love it when someone tells me about a helpful hint. I thought I'd share a few of mine with you. My brother Tommy was visiting 2 weeks ago and he was telling me that we have been peeling bananas wrong. He said a monkey will peel it from the other end, because it is easier. So I tried it and it was easier. How weird is that? And speaking of bananas, I just love this hint that I've been trying the past few months. I usually buy a bunch of bananas, usually 6 or so in the bunch, and if not eaten in 3-4 days, they get really ripe and I usually end up tossing them out after around 5 days. (that Bisquick book has a great banana bread recipe by the way) But if you take each banana off the bunch, and just have them sit there separately, they won't ripen very fast. And it seems to make them last twice as long. I haven't tossed any out since doing this. Try it and see what you think. 

I tried this hint tonight as I was making tacos. I was cooking the hamburger and trying to break it up with my spatula and it was taking forever. Than I remembered that if you take your potato masher and use that, it crumbles the beef to Taco Bell size meat. It took only 30 seconds and it was perfect. I will be using this idea from now on. 

What helpful hints do you want to share with us? 

I'm back to annoy you again!

I know you all missed me, right? Right? Been busy with family that came up from California to visit my mom, Christmas shopping, Christmas cards, family picture taking and editing, and sneaking in a date with Rod. My mom is over at my brother and sister in law's house this past week, and I've been just plain lazy. I've been reading and catching up on some of my TV shows I've recorded. And the best part is, that I don't feel guilty. I am recharging.

So what did everyone get for Christmas? Anything good? I never know what I want, I guess I'm too simple. But I did mention wanting a Bisquick cookbook, again I'm all for simple. And I did get one from Jennifer and I found myself hugging it when I opened it. Yep, that was simple me. Did you know that you can make Deep Dish Taco Squares and Hidden Sloppy Joes? This is going to be fun to experiment on Rod. I've wanted this book all year. 

And I am now an official BBQ Smoker. Ok, maybe not official yet, as I haven't made anything. I did get it ready today for curing the smoker. I have to leave it on for 4 hours before I use it. I've wanted a smoker since Kristopher treated us to his smoked salmon. He also smoked a ham for Christmas dinner. I've also had smoked pork and smoked chicken which was awesome. Be ready for a few Bisquick and Smoker blogs soon. lol 

So tell me what you got for Christmas!

Christmas countdown 2013 -- http://www.webcountdown.net/?a=KXaMQJj

Christmas countdown 2013 -- http://www.webcountdown.net/?a=KXaMQJj

How many more days?

Is it Christmas yet? I don't know about everyone else, but I'm tired out. It seems like a mini vacation is in order after Christmas, just so I can relax.

I've been on the go for the past few weeks. I think this year, even though I've been shopping at Amazon, I've been trying to get stuff done sooner than later. Usually it is much later and I'm still shopping.

 We are having a family get together this weekend, and that took some planning too. So now that the floors are mopped, I don't care how the rest of the house looks anymore. I'm going to go put my feet up and read my Kindle. 

Good thing we don't put this much energy in to New Years!

Oh crap, I really should do my Christmas cards too! Oh well, next week will be soon enough.

 Or New Years!

How is everyone doing with their shopping?