Celebrating National Cherry Month

Did you know that February is National Cherry Month?  Yeah...neither did I until I checked a calendar of holidays.  I really wonder why it's in February because try as I might, I couldn't find any fresh cherries in the grocery store.  Could it be that we celebrate President's Day in February...which makes us think of George Washington...who couldn't tell a lie...and confessed he chopped down the cherry tree...so someone thought, "Hey, let's celebrate cherries this month!" Or could it be that Valentine's Day is in February...and hearts are red...and cherries are red...and people eat cherry cheesecake on Valentine's Day because they need a red dessert?

Well, whatever the reason, I decided to celebrate National Cherry Month by fixing an entire day's menu revolving around cherries.  For breakfast, I chose Autumn Apple Salad II and cut it down to one serving.  It was a very filling breakfast with mainly apples and vanilla yogurt and just a touch of dried cranberries and cherries. I had never had dried cherries before but discovered they pack a lot of flavor. It only took a few to really taste them in the dish.

For lunch, I fixed California Cherry and Walnut Salad.  It was delicious! Again, I loved the cherries in this salad.  I also used the last of my Ken's Steak House Fat Free Raspberry Pecan Dressing.  It is the best raspberry dressing I have found, but lately, I haven't been able to find it at any of the grocery stores in my area! It is so good, I may be willing to order it and pay for shipping and handling just to get some! I saw a recipe this last week for Red Raspberry Vinaigrette.  I plan to make it later this week using Smucker's Simply Fruit.  When I do, I'll be sure to review it.

For dinner, I put Cherry Pork Chops in the slow cooker early this morning. I used pork steaks instead of pork chops.  It's a very easy recipe...just the cherry pie filling in the bottom with the pork chops on top.  I decided to layer, though, thinking the meat would have more opportunity to soak up all that cherry flavor. Odd thing is I couldn't taste any cherry flavor. The best thing about this recipe is that the meat is super tender.

I also fixed Strawberry Romaine Salad II.  I really liked the salad but didn't care for the dressing.  The dressing is mayo based, sweetened with honey and maraschino cherry juice. It just didn't suit my tastes. I prefer a thinner dressing and probably should have thinned it considerably with some mandarin orange juice.

The last dish I fixed was Rice Stuffing with Apples, Herbs, and Bacon.  The reviews on this recipe range from hate to love.  After reading all of them, I decided to decrease the dried fruits and am glad I did. While I liked the flavor of this dish, I didn't like the fact that it was sticky and mushy.  You can read my review to see all the problems with this dish and how they might be solved.  I doubt I'll ever fix it again since my husband didn't care for it.

I cannot tell a lie...I didn't discover any great recipes today, but I did discover a delicious new dried fruit which I will buy very often now - cherries!

My Month-Long Super Bowl Party

Yep, Maxine expresses my sentiments exactly.  Please don't hate me! I've never been one to watch sports.  I just don't enjoy football.  In fact, we weren't even home to watch the game that Sunday night.  But I must admit, I LOVED reading about the food everyone was fixing for their Super Bowl parties! I've never had a Super Bowl party, so I decided I was going to fix the party food for dinners throughout the month and forget about the football watching :) :)


My first dish I wanted to fix was the number one Super Bowl dip, Seven Layer Taco Dip. I see why it has 5 stars.  It's hearty and saucy and spicy all at the same time. I cut the recipe in half but wished I had used all of the beans. I really liked that depth of flavor.

This particular night I served the dip with Tostitos and Loosemeat Sandwiches II.  I have made this recipe ever since I first got married 37 years ago.  It's sort of like sloppy joes only not tomato based.  I must admit I tweaked this recipe considerably.  I added some onion to the ground beef and cooked it together.  Then after adding the chicken gumbo soup and simmering a few minutes, I added 1 1/2 T. each of mustard and ketchup.  I served it open faced on toasted rolls.  My husband actually prefers this to sloppy joes.

The next Super Bowl dinner I made included Super Bowl Bites and Baked Potato Skins. Both have very high star scores. So I had high hopes for them. I rounded the meal off for my husband with chips and salsa. The little slider style hamburgers worried me just a bit. You actually put the raw meat on the buns and bake them in the oven.  I was afraid the onion would be overpowering, but it wasn't.  I thought the bottoms of the buns might be soggy, but they weren't.  I can't imagine what went wrong since quite a few of the reviewers had issues.  I just wonder if they followed the recipe.  I put half the meat mixture on 12 Hawaiian Rolls (as the recipe said to do), and they were perfect.

The potato skins were out-of-this-world-fabulous! Great flavors and crispiness, too.

This meal really showed me why people love Super Bowl food.  I may have to have these little hamburgers and potato skins more often.


As I scoured the AR Super Bowl articles,  I discovered I had already fixed some recommended dishes and liked most of them: Fruit Dip II (I made this for my daughter's wedding in 2001), Bacon Wrapped Smokies (always a good appetizer), Jalapeno Popper Spread (very popular), Baked Ziti I (really?!?), and Artichoke and Spinach Dip Restaurant Style (not my favorite). 


The next dish I made was Baked Buffalo Wings.  I followed the recipe exactly and loved these wings.  I had prepped this dish and left it in the refrigerator before leaving the house for the afternoon. My husband arrived home before I did, so I gave him instructions for combining the butter and Frank's Red Hot pepper sauce and then dipping the chicken wings and cooking them. When I arrived home, he informed me that I could throw out his beloved Louisiana Hot Sauce and replace it with Frank's. 


One of the things I loved most about these wings, though, was that I got to try out Chef John's "patented flat wing eating technique." I have to tell you - I am so excited it works! If you've always gnawed those wings, STOP IT! Watch Chef John's video. It will change the way you eat wings.


As I said above, I was out all afternoon and ran in late. I gobbled down dinner and then had to leave for the evening.  In all my hurry, I forgot to take pictures of this night's dinner. So I guess I have to be content to show pictures that other people took.

                            posted by Julie on Sept. 12, 2010


The other Super Bowl recipe I tried along with the wings was Buffalo Chicken Dip, and I am so sorry to report that my husband and I did not care for this dip at all (and that's putting it nice and gently).  As much as we both liked Frank's, we didn't care for its overpowering flavor in this dip. This is when I really recognize people have such varying tastes and likes because this is a really highly rated recipe...and star ratings are based on people's tastes. 

                          posted by Rhianna on Apr. 22, 2009


My final Super Bowl meal I had to try was Debdoozie's Blue Ribbon Chili.  I've read about this for ages and have seen it was an extremely popular chili recipe for that night of football watching. Again, another 5 star recipe, so I had great expectations! And I wasn't disappointed. The great thing about this recipe is that it is so easy to fix...and even easier to eat. You can easily spice it up by using hotter salsa, but I preferred it with mild.  Of course, my husband added cayenne pepper, which I fully expected.  I still gave this recipe 5 stars.

So now, I don't feel left out of the football fun anymore. I had my Super Bowl extravaganza; it just lasted longer and stretched out over the entire month!

Maggie Turns 2

Today, Candice had Maggie's 2nd birthday party.  It was a Minnie Mouse theme. Here's Minnie herself

Maggie was very solemn today except when she was playing with all her cousins.  I don't think I ever got her smiling, but Candice did.  So I put in a few of Candice's shots that she posted on Facebook.

Candice had made the cutest cupcakes with mouse ears and a bow on them.  The ears were mini Oreo cookies (only half taken apart) and the bow was made out of fruit roll-ups.

Raspberry sherbet and 7-Up = Fizzy Punch

Present opening time.  Minnie themed party means lots of Minnie Mouse toys!

Time to sing Happy Birthday to You...Happy Birthday, Dear Maggie, Happy Birthday to You.

Time to blow out the candle.  Lips are puckered...

...and the candle is blown out.

 Couldn't get Jett to smile or take his fingers out of his mouth.

So Daddy joined him.

I think Ava is trying a little too hard ...

 That's better!

There's a smile!

And finally, Jett smiled too.

Party Favors:

Minnie Mouse Sugar Cookies!  Yum!