The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday and were able to celebrate Christmas with your loved ones. This time of year is all about tradition. With Covid still lingering, busy schedules, and just life in general, some families extend their get-togethers into the New Year. If you are like me, you have fond memories of baking pies, giving of presents, or having a meal with your friends and family. All of this demands planning to make Christmas a memorable event. Did you prepare the...
This is not a normal year. Covid19 has changed everything. You cannot take the same trips that you use to take. You cannot visit places you were planning to visit this year. You cannot buy things you use to buy. I am sure that the items I was planning to buy are on a container ship floating off the coast of California. You cannot eat the way you use to eat. I have noticed that the grocery stores have large empty shelves. I have found items that were not stocked before. I have found items that...
Every cook has a go-to cookbook for recipes but also as a resource for conversions, measure, and cooking guidelines. One of my resource books is The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Since Thanksgiving is coming upon use, I thought I would answer some of the most asked questions about cooking your turkey according to America’s Test Kitchen. Guidelines: Start turkey in a 425-degree oven then finish at 325 degrees following these directions: For a 12-14 lb. turkey start at 425 for one hou...
What to do this weekend. Having a hard time deciding what to have for your next meal? Don't cook! This is the season when it is sometimes too warm to cook and too cold not to cook. So when it is just a lazy time and you can't make up your mind what to do, just don't cook. Instead of cooking, prepare a dinner or lunch that can be prepared without cooking. I am sure there are ingredients in your refrigerator that are cooked and can put together to create a meal. Be creative preparing a salad. And...
September is the bridge between summer and the start of fall, which is September 22. I can remember some hot Septembers. This is the time when the gardens around Alabama are at their peak in producing the fruits and vegetables that we had planted earlier in the year. The gardeners have been watering, weeding and trying to keep the deer from eating everything down to sticks in the ground. I say this with the voice of experience. All of my okra looked like I planted small sections of a bamboo fish...
“From the land of Poka-sheen where anything that isn't Bone is no fosh.” That line, in Portuguese, is the description of the Azores on the cover of the Cornerstone CookBook printed at Lajes Field, Azores in1956. I just got the cookbook from my sister. She kept it because our mother has a recipe in it. There is also a connection in the cookbook to a column in the San Antonio Express-News, by Karen Hiram, called “Recipe Find.” Readers write in asking for recipes of something they ate at a restaur...
Currently, Chef Spooner is tending to family matters, so we are happy to include some previous favorites he submitted to the Gazette. With summer heating up and the recent July Fourth celebrations, consider a light, cool salad for a satisfying meal or, if a salad isn't enough, try Chef Spooner's suggestions below to add some substance to that crisp lettuce ... create one of his other tasty recipes found here! -------------------- From May 2018 Southern Cuisine and Chef Spooner: Salads do not f...
Finally! It seems that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not an oncoming train. The mandatory restrictions concerning masks has faded. Restaurants are trying to re-open even with the limited pool of workers to fill the jobs. Prices for food have started to increase in the grocery stores. The health news might be getting better but the general cost of living is increasing. Now is the time to bring your household expenses under control. Did you know that the third largest househo...
April lived up to the adage, “April showers will bring May flowers,” at least the shower part. I have been trying to do more yard work and re-design my garden. When I have time from work to start on my new garden, it rains. The upside of the rain, is my garden will have a good start in moist soil. Another plus is I have more time to catch up on my binge watching of my favorite shows. The downside is I spend way too much time binge watching cooking shows which produces downloads of recipes to...
There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. With improved numbers pertaining to the pandemic, people are now feeling safer and are tired of the restrictions that were placed on restaurants and even family gatherings. There is hope that the restaurants we missed for the past months will start back. Even new restaurants should open with fare that the chefs have been developing, waiting for their turn to shine. Families are getting tired being cooped up in their homes and will visit missed...
I was reading about Southern cooking traditions, the standards that define a Southern kitchen and a Southern cook and realized that the knowledge on how to fix these staples, these meals, these time tested dishes, is slowly passing away. It is becoming a lost art in homes everywhere in America, not just the South, where the children are not learning the basics of cooking, let alone, the traditional meals that bind generations. You have seen lists before; those that tell that you, you have lost...
Here is February, the Canned Food Month, National Cook A Sweet Potato Day, the Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, and the Hot Breakfast Month. With these month-long celebrations there is Oatmeal Monday, the second Monday of February, and the 3rd weekend of February is National Margarita 2eekend. Then Super Bowl Sunday is National Pork Rind Day (aka National Pork Rind Appreciation Day). Have you figured out why I have mentioned all these holidays? You are right –except for r...
Hooray, the year 2020 is over! No one thought that 2020 would end up like it did. They are now looking forward to 2021. But we do not know how 2021 will turn out. No matter how 2021 progresses, we have learned a lot about making do with a different set of circumstances, different rules, and different ways that we interact with each other. The food industry has gone through tough times. How we obtain food, either in the grocery stores or at restaurants, has changed a great deal. We have lost the...
Last month I said that by the time you read the November article we may or may not know who is going to be the President of the United States. It is still a matter of discussion, but it looks like we will know who it is by the time you read this article. The topic of discussion I hear mostly is that will this year never end! I think that we are ready to start a new year that is less stressful, less unknowing, and less chaotic. If you noticed the Christmas decorations and gifts were for sell in...
Carnitas (Pulled Pork) Ingredients For the carnitas 2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder (also known as 'pork butt') 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 orange quartered 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 12 ounces dark beer (recommend Negra Modelo) or 12 ounces of chicken broth) Method Slow Cooker Instructions 1. Cut the pork shoulder into 2-3-inch chunks. 2. Place...
A common topic for food websites, particularly during the heat of summer, is foods to avoid during a heat wave. I do not necessarily disagree with some of their reasoning, but to me the first thing I want to eat during the summer months is something cold. You can guess I want just the opposite during winter. This is not a hard and fast rule but that is usually my first choice. A common food types to avoid during hot weather according to these websites are spicy foods. I would have to quit...
A common topic for food websites, particularly during the heat of summer, is foods to avoid during a heat wave. I do not necessarily disagree with some of their reasoning, but to me the first thing I want to eat during the summer months is something cold. You can guess I want just the opposite during winter. This is not a hard and fast rule but that is usually my first choice. A common food types to avoid during hot weather according to these websites are spicy foods. I would have to quit...
Our economy depends on cash flow. Our farmers, ranchers and other small businesses need as much help as we can afford. Buy local and help your fellow Alabamians. Also, don’t forget to donate to your local food bank whenever possible! It was 95 degrees with the heat index of 106. If the virus doesn’t get you, the heat will. I finished my outdoor chores before 11:00, and I started on my indoor chores. Those chores could be anything: fixing a leak in the bathroom and/or kitchen, fixing the doo...
Our economy depends on cash flow. Our farmers, ranchers and other small businesses need as much help as we can afford. Buy local and help your fellow Alabamians. Also, don’t forget to donate to your local food bank whenever possible! This was my opening for last month’s article, “Here we are, still not knowing what is going to happen next. As I said in my last article, let’s look positively; let’s look at the bright side. Hopefully by the time you read this, people will be out and about, ev...
Our economy depends on cash flow. Our farmers, ranchers and other small businesses need as much help as we can afford. Buy local and help your fellow Alabamians. Also, don’t forget to donate to your local food bank whenever possible! Here we are, still not knowing what is going to happen next. As I said in my last article, let’s look positively; let’s look at the bright side. Hopefully by the time you read this, people will be out and about, even if they are leery of what lurks ahead. We may s...
Will the world ever get back to normal? Everyone is saying there will be a new normal. But then doesn’t that become the norm? How many new ‘normals’ are we going to have? Confusing isn’t it? Even though there is much sadness in the world, we must look for what good may come from this. Look for and on the bright side. We are spending more time with our families or at least communicating with them. My family is having group video-conferences. We at least get to look at some familiar faces and ever...
It is difficult not to comment on what is going on in the world today. First, the news is changing and updating so fast you cannot keep up. The vocabulary of everyday conversations includes phrases such as "self-quarantine" and "social distancing." What happened to the times when the only social distancing was to keep away from Aunt Eunice? She would coral you in a corner at Thanksgiving and ask why you are not married and why are you not going to become a doctor. She knows someone at the bank...
I attended a Beekeeping symposium last month after having mixed luck with my hives. There was an entire-day beginner’s class to review what you have been doing right with your bees and to keep from doing things wrong. I have been able to collect 3 gallons of honey from my first hive but the next two hives collapsed. Besides the classes I went around talking and asking questions to the vendors showcasing the latest technology and hardware. Learn a few things that will help me, but I only bought a...
We ate our way through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day. It was like we were bears preparing for hibernation. The problem being we are about halfway through winter and we have yet to hibernate. I suggest we slow down with preparing large family meals for the rest of winter. It should be an easy task since there are no major “feast” days until March. Except if you have a large family to start with, and for Valentine's Day and a stray family birthday, try to refrain from hon...
In past articles of the Alabama Gazette I gave a preview of what to expect in future articles. I commented about recipes in old cookbooks. The use of real ingredients not hydrogenated this and artificial sweetened that, but ingredients that were simple, fresh and raised or grown as close to home as possible. The recipes from these cookbooks used fresh sweet milk and heavy cream, real butter, bacon drippings, lots of eggs and lard. Also, the recipes called for ingredients that you can make at...