Sometimes I feel like I’m walking in the shadows of giants. They’re very nice giants, but giants nonetheless.

When I started this little food blog I wasn’t really aware of the sheer number of other food bloggers out there. That realization came later. For the week I spent setting up and getting my first recipe posted, I was really only aware of about 5 other food blogs. From there of course the staggering facts set in that not only was I not operating in a vacuum, but that the other folks doing the same were far beyond me in talent. It was a bit humbling, really.

I haven’t lost my awe of these food blogging greats. I’m still humbled when I’m visited by such powerhouses as Elise Bauer from Simply Recipes (The first cooking blog I was exposed to), Lisa, the Homesick Texan (who never fails to make me think in the process of reading her entries) or the Good Dr. Biggles of MeatHenge (The first food blog that made me think I might not be out of my league. If the Doc could have that much fun working with meat, then I should just keep having fun myself! Haven’t heard of MeatHenge??? Perhaps you’ve heard of the Well Fed Network? Seems the Good Dr.’s name appears on their roster as well.). There’s Jasmine from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, who gave me kind words as I was starting up, never alluding to the fact that she’s one of the most popular food bloggers on the ‘Net, Lis, of La Mia Cucina, who never fails to inspire, and many more I simply don’t have time to mention here.

These people are giants in the food blogging world. They are also some of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I find that all food bloggers are fortunate enough to be a part of a community that supports and encourages itself, without a class structure or a pecking order. We’re in it for the food. We’re all one family.

And I’m proud to be a part of it.

I’m not minimizing the other wonderful people I’ve met along the way either. To all of you, new friends and old, let’s keep up the good work and keep helping to make this little rock we live on a better place to nosh with our families and friends, one recipe at a time…

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Today is national POW*MIA day. Please take a moment out of your busy schedule to remember those brave souls who are lost and missing. Their sacrifices will not go unremembered or unappreciated as long as they are not forgotten.

For more information on the POW*MIA flag, please visit This Site.

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It’s a scoop folks, you’re hearing it here first!

Chef Robert Irvine, host of Food Network’s Dinner: Impossible! and author of Mission: Cook! recently honored the United States Air force with his presence at the Sheppard AFB 60th Anniversary Ball. Chef Irvine was present as host for his television series, Dinner: Impossible, and from all accounts he simply rocked the house! (This is not an official statement, just things I’ve heard. Sadly I was not in attendance, and therefore I don’t know the outcome of the mission.)

Chef Irvine arrived 10 hours prior to the event, with orders from Brigadier General Deveraux to supply a meal for 1,000 attendees. In the General’s own words:

“1,000 of the finest airmen on the planet and their guests.”

The General is not allowed to comment on Chef Irvine’s performance, but stated that the Sheppard episode of Dinner: Impossible is scheduled to air in January 2008. I’ll keep you informed.

General Deveraux also stated that Chef Irvine was visibly humbled by the event, stating that Chef Irvine was heard:

…proclaiming to the attendees that he’d cooked for Presidents and kings, but he’d never had a cooking experience that surpassed the privilege of cooking for our great Airmen.

Chef Irvine followed up his dinner mission with a morning flight in a USAF T-38 Trainer Jet.

My wife was supposed to be on staff that evening, where she would have had the opportunity to meet Chef Irvine. Unfortunately she was feeling under the weather and could not participate. Had I known that he was going to be there, I would have done anything to attend and try to meet the guy, who is one of the last people on the Food Network I have a genuine respect for. He’s a great chef and worthy of it.

Remember, you heard it here first!

*note: The quotes in this post are from an email sent across several squadrons of the United States Air force. They are reprinted here only because there was no statement in the message (which was forwarded to me) that this message was official Government business, or that it should not be passed along. If I am presented with information to the contrary, any part of this post that the United States Air Force deems inappropriate will be immediately removed. This post is not endorsed by the United States Air force, and I wish to give no implication that it is.

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Lisa over at the Homesick Texan recently did a post on breakfast tacos. That post got me thinking about breakfast foods in general, and this morning I caved in and made myself something I haven’t had in a very long time.

I momentarily jumped off the low cholesterol bandwagon and indulged in one of the simplest breakfasts in the world, the Egg n’ Cheddar Biscuit. There’s just something perfect about this combination, as most of the leading fast food franchises are quick to attest. My version is better than theirs is, though.

Why? Because I made it myself, that’s why!

I don’t think there’s a reason to post the recipe for this, as I’m sure everyone has their own favorite version. Take a biscuit or English muffin, top with either a scrambled or fried egg and a bit of cheese. Wanna boost your protein? Add some bacon, Canadian bacon (Or ham, for those of you who are actually Canadian), sausage or super thin steak. It’s your choice, make it your way.

Just make it, you’ll be glad you did.

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Blame it on Elise Bauer. I do. I was browsing through my favorite food blogs recently and came across a photo and recipe at Simply Recipes that made me stop and drool profusely. Not only did her Tarragon Tuna Melt make me want to run to the kitchen and get cooking, and once again her photography skills brought out the green eyed monster in me. (Down, Boy!)

I love tuna melts. They’re simple, filling and scrumptious, in essence, the perfect lunch. It took a few days for me to get around to it, but I finally assembled my version of this absolutely fabulous sandwich. In fact, we’ve had them twice in the past two weeks, so I’m confident in proclaiming it was a hit with my wife as well.

Elise’s recipe called for cheddar and while I’m a fan, I prefer a lighter flavor with my tuna. I’m also not particularly fond of tomatoes with it, so I modified the recipe a bit. (Who would have thought that I’d ever do that!?!) I used low fat mayo instead of “real” mayonnaise to cut the cholesterol content a bit, and I prefer to brown up bread in olive oil rather than butter. I just like the flavor and texture more, not to mention that it’s a bit better for you.

Read more…

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The morning started with a simple email. It’s one I try to send my wife at least once a week, and goes something like this:

Me: …blah blah blah… Would you like anything in particular for lunch?

Mrs. CbsoP: … Yadda, Yadda, Yadda… Yes, I would absolutely love to have a little stir fry over white rice.

Me: I think I can handle that request. Any particular kind of stir fry come to mind?

Mrs Cbsop: Stir fry: how about something with snow peas no sesame oil, but definitely soy.

Snow peas, eh? No problem! … except that I didn’t have any. A quick run to the store would fix that since we’re on base now, that’s a 5 minute trip, including getting Mr. Seat of his Diaper ready to go.

No sesame oil?!? O.K. I’ll admit that I’ve been on a sesame oil kick. You may remember that the last time I made snow peas I used sesame oil as well. I suppose too much of a good thing is just too much, so we’ll skip it this time. A quick check of the freezer to see what veggies are hanging out and…

Yuck. Some frozen medleys, great for a side dish, but lacking at the flavor and perkiness required for a stir fry. It looked like I’d have to handle everything on one store run. The only problem with that was I had no idea what I’d be using, other than snow peas.

Luckily the produce department was there to help me out. We were lucky enough to have fresh snow peas on the shelf, so I figured I’d turn to the other bins in the area for inspiration. The boc choy looked good, so a small head of that went in the cart. Bean sprouts, fresh from California. Couldn’t pass that up. (It’s a joke between my wife and I. She though all Californians lived on bean sprouts, and was a little amazed to find that I didn’t.) some carrots and scallions to round out the day, and we’re all good to go. Less than 20 minutes later I was on my way back to our little kitchen, having spent a total of $6.50. Not too bad.

Stir Fry is less about measurements than about combinations, so the amounts given below may be either a) a guestimate, or b) just a vague idea, but that’s the joy of the thing, you don’t have to be precise and you can use whatever you can find, as long as it plays well with the other ingredients.

Read more…

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I have a few go-to recipes in my arsenal and this is most definitely one of them. A perfect combination of heat, sweet and sour, it compliments vegetables, fish or chicken well, without overpowering the flavor of the main component.

And it will leave a little tingle on your tongue in the process.

Garlic Chili Stir Fry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic chili paste
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. roasted garlic rice wine vinegar

Method:

Mix all ingredients in small bowl or shaker bottle. Mix well. Allow to sit 5 minutes and mix a second time to ensure honey is dissolved completely.

Usage:

Add to stir fried foods at end of cooking, or use as dipping sauce for chicken, vegetables, shrimp or fish.

Enjoy!

What I would have done differently had I thought of it at the time:

For more heat, add a bit more of the garlic chili paste. More sour, more vinegar. If using for fish a bit of citrus may be nice, and apple cider vinegar if using for pork with pork. The recipe is very adaptable and you should feel free to have fun with it.

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In life there are things that don’t work out right. There are also things that never should have been attempted. This morning I came face-to-face with both. In an effort to make the doctor happy and lower my just-slightly-higher-than-average cholesterol, we’ve switched to mostly turkey-based sausage, which in most cases is just fine with me. I already use olive oil for nearly everything, and sea salt and kosher are my salts of choice.

Fatty foods are way, way down. We eat out less and I put careful thought into choices for beef, pork and chicken purchases. For the moment shrimp, one of my all-time-favorite foods is off the table, but I can live with that since, as I said, I’m only slightly high, and once it’s back below the marker I’ll reintroduce some of these things in moderation.

This morning however I came up against something that will forever go down in the annals of “Foods that should not be”, turkey bacon. The texture, regardless of how hard I tried, could not come close to the world’s worst cut of pork.  It was, in fact more like trying to chew a rubber band. Oh, it “smelled” like bacon, which in my opinion is only more reason to despise the stuff. It tried to fool my nose into making me believe I was eating real food!

Nasssssssssssssssssty HobitSssssessssss!

Ugh! Anyway, I’m off in search of some real food now. At least the dog enjoyed it.

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It’s an amazing and slightly strange thing to physically “bump into” someone who reads your blog, but that’s just what happened to me over the weekend. My wife and I were on our way to the local Mega-mart after a quick grocery run when we passed two young women who were frantically looking for their wayward dog. Luckily, the little guy showed up from around the corner almost on cue, but it was the next part that left me stunned for a bit.

After introductions to Scrappy (The dog.. cute Lil’ guy), one of the ladies looked at me and said:

“Do you have a blog?”

To which I replied “Yes, several, but mostly I run a cooking blog.”

Her reply:

“I thought so. I’ve seen it a few times… Actually I’m quite a fan!”

Wow.

So, this is just a little shout out to my local visitors, whether I’ve met you or not. And I apologize, but I didn’t catch your name, Miss. So here’s an especially fond shout out to Scrappy’s owner!

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Like most families, we saw each other mostly on holidays, and the order of the day was, of course, the food. Turkey, in particular, with homemade cornbread stuffing, though there would be literally tons of other dishes and desserts. My mother and grandmother would usually handle the dressing personally, bickering good naturedly over amounts and cooking times up until the point that one of them went to sleep (as the stuffing is usually made the night before, and the bird is started in the morning.)

Nan: Doris, there’s not enough onions in this.

Mom: Niki won’t eat them if she can see them, Mom.

Nan: *Chuckling* Oh… I seem to remember someone else who used to say the same thing, we’ll just cut them smaller. I think this needs more sage, or maybe some poultry seasoning.

Mom: It seems right to me, but we’ll add a bit more if you think it needs it.

Nan: Oh… It’s fine if this is the way your kids like it…

…

All right, maybe just a tad.

Mom: O.K. Mom, but just a bit.

Nan: Didn’t we have more cornbread?

Mom: We did… I think Jerry got to it.

Nan: Does that boy ever stop eating?

Mom: No.

I’ve generally shied away from the traditional version, both for the time it takes to make it properly and because I tend to be extremely messy when making it, but I took the plunge with dinner last night, just to have the taste of many, many happy days with me, and the memory of a very special lady at my table.

I hope Y’All enjoy, and whatever your holiday tradition is, be sure to share it with family. Read more…

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