Guilty Peasure : Brownies....

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Brownies Mix ( the kind with the Syrup pack)
Chocolate Pudding Mix
Kahlua or Coffee Liqueur
( if you don't drink Coca Cola)
2 eggs
Crushed Up MM's
Butterscotch Bits

Mix all like you normally would, but instead of water use the Kahlua or Coke. And add a third cup more liquid. Then cook in greased glass pan at 350 for about 40 minutes. Do Spread the mixture, and sprinkled the MM's and Bits across top and smooth in....Amaretto is also nice to try. Let cool for about 2 hours before eating. Brownies should be fudgey, not cake-like.
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Tonight is the Saddleback Event for the Election...I am dreading it...so this will really help.

Hmmmmm, Hot Steamy Buns ( homemade)

Cucumber Cheese Soup

Cheese Cucumber Soup
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( serve with Garlic Bread)

2 English Cucumbers Sliced
one small container Sour Cream
1 Cup Vanilla Flavored Creamer ( less fat, but still seems creamy)
I package KNORRS Leak Soup( powder)
Half stick butter
I cup water ( add more if needed till consistancy creamy)
1 teaspoon Worstshire Sauce
1 teaspoon Honey Mustard
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Dash of Nutmeg

Cheese: shredded, Havarti, Sharp Chedder, Monterey,Smoked Goulda totalling One Cup, mix in even amounts, some can be bought already shredded.

Crabcakes....Baltimore Style

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Enigma Crab Cakes:
I have made these since I was a kid with my grandmother and greatgrandmother.....and then after waitressing in many Seafood Houses along the Atlantic Coast and tha Baltimore Harbor, I altered the receipe over the years.

WHAT YOU NEED:
Crab ( 16 oz. prepicked Lump and canned- Fresh)
One Mini Heinken
One tin of Old Bay Seasoning *Critical*
One Egg
Hungarian Paprika
Garlic Powder ( NOT salt)
Parmesan Cheese ( the powdery kind)
One jar of Mayo
Dijon Mustard
Box of Ritz Crackers
Buttered Glass baking pan

(1) In a bowl mix the Crab and even it's canned juices, with cup of mayo, 2 teaspoons mustard, and one tablespoon of Beer.
(2) In a seperate Bowl, Bowl A, crush up about 30 Ritz Crakers, nice and fine, then add a dusting of Old Bay, and some garlic powder, and some paprika...
(3) Now crush up some more crackers, about 20 and add them to the Wet mixture and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese( the powder kind), just sprinkle lightly.
(4) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
(5) Now take the crab and measure with your hands, and make balls gently molded with your hands.
(6) Once you have molded, then roll in Cracker Bowl until the ball is fully covered with crackers, then place in the baking pan.
(7) If mixture is too wet, don't be shy about adding crushed crackers to the Wet Bowl.
(8) Make the balls, and place in circle and in pan ,so there is space between to cook.Sprinkle more Old Bay lightly across the top.
(9) One can makes approximately 8 Crab Cakes.
(10) Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes.

Serve with salad, tomato aspic, potato salad, and garlic bread......and fruit...

* Background: This is a 4th Generation Baltimore Reciepe, handed down through the women of my family. Grandmother Flo taught me...she would stand in the kitchen and crack open a Heiniken and my grandfather would come and stand and nibble on the crackers and the crab and drink a beer, and she would put on Johnny Mathis and Nat King Cole and then they would slow dance while they baked....and I would sit and soak in the smell of the Baking Crab and Heiniken....Old Bay wafting on a warm summer night still melts my heart....
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8.11.08....Please make them this week and have a cold beer with them ...Toast Phelps and Baltimore !!!

Why Naked Sushi ?

(originally posted 7.16.08)

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Why Naked ? And did I mean Me or the Sushi ? I meant the Sushi....sorry. See here is the thing I was remarking to a friend that I can't eat Hot Food right now, spicy or temperature wise.( I have a Gatroeneritis thing going on....so the Some Changes were kind of in Order)...... And then I joked " Oh, gee , I am really really craving sushi right now, I guess it will have to be naked."

So I have been eating Cold Naked Sushi and Cold Rice Noodles all week, No Wasabi, No Horseradish, No Ginger.....but that one comment got me thinking about how much Food can be a Diversion, a Distraction.....an Escape. We are living through Dark Times right now, if we had a little snack shop on the corner to meet , we could share our snacks and Iced Cold Tea and food and Cooking Ideas....and yeah , Soulfood.

So let's meet here, and share Receipes and some Soulfood here.
We can have All Kinds of Food and Themes.

But for tonight....Some Sushi...the Best Soulfood around.
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Video treat: How to Make Sushi ( wonderful video)

Best Damn Cornbread

I am wandering around the Kitchen, and hungry to make something. Son is upstairs Not to Be Disturbed reading the New Harry Potter.I have Sophie Hawkins on, and I am humming, which means I will only offend my deaf dog. So here is my Gift to you tonight, a little Cornbread....passed down countless generations of Kentucky women served with Chili, or Soup, whatever your heart desires.And here is some Sophie for you, singing one of her best "Damn" songs....and fellas tell me is a girl in faded old jeans hot or not ? It doesn't matter....cuz with old jeans and cornbread on a Saturday Night you can't go wrong.

Cornbread:
Cornbread Mix ( sue me it works great when doctored-better than some fluffyass Martha Stewart reciepe). Jiffy is great, or others that have low Sodium and also be aware that some of the brands have more corn meal and can be gritty.....add some pastry flour for lighter cornbread.

Cornbread:
Cornbread Mix ( sue me it works great when doctored-better than some fluffyass Martha Stewart reciepe)
Can Creamed Corn-use .5 or more of can- not too runny.
Brown Sugar 2tables
Paprika- smidge
Cinnamon-smidge and sprinkled on top
Nutmeg -smidge
Maple Syrup- 1 tsps.
Evaporated Milk-1 tablespoon
one egg
water .5 to 3 quarters cup

Mix it all together, and it should be somewhat thick- like cement, slightly lumpy, but still smooth. Bake in a buttered pan, a cake pan and set oven to 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Eat hot- have butter ready.Great withPumpkin Butter or Apple butter. If Granny Ethel made it and you complained it was TOO Dry, she would serve you a shot of Bourbon and tell you to shut up. ( Yup, she was raised by moonshiners and rummrunners-all class).

Best Enigma Chili

Big old Pot.
4 cans of Chili Beans
1 Pound of Ground beef
1 spanish onion ( chop finely)
1 sweet red onion
1 red pepper ( small)
1 green pepper ( small)
1 quarter cup banana peppers chopped

In a Frying Pan brown up the following, the ground beef and add in the chopped onions and peppers. And one Beer ( I reccomend Heinken ). Sprinkle Hungarian Paprika, Sea Salt, Cayenne Pepper, one tablespoon of Wasabi Sauce, one tablespoon of dijon mustard, one tablespoon of Worstshire sauce, and Chili Pepper as much as you want. And of course Black Pepper and Garlic Powder.For some reason Wet Rainey Nights are the best nights to fix up a big batch of Chili.

Once the beef and peppers are all browned and throw it all in the Big Pot with the 4 cans of beans and simmer for about 40 minutes.

Serve with Cold Beverage and Garlic Bread......Enjoy...Share with a Fireman. ( the story that goes with this- is about Firemen, posted Sept 26,2007 on Watergate Summer).