What Did You Eat?

WHB: Smoked Ham and Jarlsberg Cheese Sandwiches With Basil Mayonnaise And Tomato And Apricot Chutney

Several months have passed since I cooked anything from my beloved Mustards Grill Cookbook.  Since my taste buds have returned from parts unknown, I decided to celebrate by making a very special sandwich.  It's so special Cindy Pawlcyn, the owner of Mustards Grill, says her husband married her because of it.  He kept coming back to the restaurant to order it--and wound up falling under her spell too.  That's so cute, like a scene in a movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  Clearly, I had to make the sandwich.  Like all the Mustards Grill recipes, it's a layering of different flavors: spicy, sweet, and savory.  The sandwich has pesto mayonnaise, Jarlsburg cheese, smoked ham and a wonderful tomato apricot chutney full of herbs and spices.  One of the spices is cumin which comes from the same family as King Cilantro, herb of the month and winner of the recent WHB Favorite Herb Contest.  But, my spotlight this weekend is on ginger root, one of my favorite cooking ingredients.

This weekend our fearless leader, Kalyn, is taking a breather and allowing me to try my hand at hosting Weekend Herb Blogging.  If you would like to take part in this event, just send me your link by 3:00 P.M. (Utah time) this Sunday, and I'll include you in the Roundup on Monday.  My email address is Rdfern(AT)sbcglobal(DOT)net.  Or send me your link in my comments, if you prefer. Here are the rules for Weekend Herb Blogging.

Spaghetti With Greens And Sausage

Right now, the easy factor is the first thing on my mind when I contemplate cooking.  Will it be easy to make?  That's it. Eventually my taste buds will return, and someday I'll make complicated recipes again. Not now. With that in mind, I considered this an ideal recipe. It used up some sausage and collard greens waiting in my fridge.  Oh--and it was EASY.   All the prep was done as the water heated for the pasta.  Then the collards were cooked along with the pasta.  Bob said it was very good, but due to the taste bud situation, I had soup. 

By the way, Kalyn the heart and soul (and creator) of Weekend Herb Blogging is kindly allowing me the honor of hosting it this weekend.  So, I invite anyone who wants to take part to send their permalink to Rdfern(AT)sbcglobal(DOT)net.  Or you can include your link in a comment to my blog.  Send your link by 3:00 P.M. this Sunday (California time) and I'll include it in the Roundup on Monday.  If you don't have a blog, send me your recipe and I'll include it too.  Hope to see a big crowd of herb bloggers!

Chicken Soup To The Rescue

When I was a child, one of my earliest memories is being sick with bronchitis. All the time.  Even my relatives have mentioned to me how I seemed to catch any bug circulating and it would turn into bronchitis.  My lungs are susceptible. So, even a simple virus like Clyde can become a big production.  Bob brought Clyde into our home, but he was mildly sick for maybe 3 days. That's his way.  He rarely gets sick and when he does, it lasts for a very short time.  I don't want him to be sick. I don't want him to suffer.  Really--I don't. But, it's a little annoying when I'm limping along with chest congestion, runny nose, barking cough, headache, and he barely gets a sniffle.  May I add that when he does get seriously sick (flu is the only thing that levels him) he winds up in bed, curled in the fetal position pitiously asking for orange juice .   As for me--I make soup.  And I finally made my chicken noodle soup. And it was good. 

It was also good to receive so many get-well messages.  Thanks so much to all of you, I was pretty lax in answering the comments  this week.  But, they did mean a lot to me.

Weekend Cat Blogging: I'm Not Sick!

The Hidden Paw is hosting this weekend and came up with a great idea--pictures of cats in a box.  That's a great idea, but everyone here is too sick to take pictures. I'm the only one that's healthy.  Even the squirrels have been sick.  Mom started coughing today and she sounds like a seal barking.  She can sure clear out a room when she coughs. So, sorry about not having a box picture--it's a great idea.  Here's an old picture of me when I climbed into the bird cage, waiting for someone to bring me a bird (or a squirrel, I'm not picky).

Oh, here's my favorite picture of me. Remember when the tomato plants were first planted and I got the job of tomato worm security?  Well!  There wasn't a single tomato worm this summer. The first time that's happened. They were afraid of my savage worm stomping paws.

Mom says it's better to have a shot of Tequila than Robitussin DX.  I sniffed the cork--I'll stick to catnip.

Go over to The Hidden Paw!!

Weekend Herb Blogging: French Quarter Potatoes

It's interesting how viruses have their own "personality".  My husband brought this one home from work last week. He was just coming down with it, and although I tried to give him a wide berth after that announcement, (I hate being sick) I caught it, of course.  They name hurricanes, so I named my virus Clyde.  I've been checking with other people in different parts of the country, and they seem to have Clyde too.  In fact, my cousin Kathy, who lives in Mississippi, has exactly the same symptoms as me.  Here they are:  No fever, slightly stuffy nose, headache, sore throat, fatigue, and chest congestion.  And my taste buds have vanished.  I can't taste or enjoy food, with the exception of soup.    

I've been making soup for the last few days, but decided to make something different that would be easy and tasty. This recipe for French Quarter potatoes has lots of herbs, spices, garlic, cayenne pepper, and andouille sausage in it.  My husband said it was very good.  Unfortunately, I couldn't taste anything in it, not even the four Turkish bay leaves from Penzeys. If my taste buds hadn't decamped for parts unknown, I would have been able to appreciate their woodsy taste.  So, I dedicate this dish to my memory of bay leaves.  And it is Weekend Herb Blogging created by the lovely Kalyn .  She's still cleaning up from the anniversary party, I think.  This weekend hosting duties are being handled by the divine Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.  If you go to her site you'll find bloggers much more lucid than me.  I host next week, so I hope Clyde has left my premises.

Baked Sweet Potatoes With Poblano Butter

Well, cilantro was the big winner at the big Weekend Herb Blogging bash.  I suspected  it would come down to cilantro and basil, but expected the latter to win.  I always have several bunches of cilantro in my fridge and one of them came to my rescue today. I was too tired (and my throat hurt) to do anything that required much effort.   A basic meal was in order--baked potato and pan broiled fish.  But, a sweet potato filled with bright green poblano butter made it more interesting and gave the (false) impression that more thought and effort had gone into fixing the meal.   And the green chile butter looked lovely against the orange flesh of the sweet potato. It was mild, but loaded with garlic and cilantro, so that each bite of the potato was savory and sweet.  Very nice.