Clean Out The Fridge Salad

I like salad. Not for every meal, of course. All that masticating would give me a headache.  I don't know how the cows do with all that chewing. 

A couple of times a week, however, especially in the summer, a salad is quite lovely. It's not hot, at least, and is quite refreshing.  Since I am the only one in the house regularly acquainted with most fruits and veggies, I not only get to make the salads, I get to eat them.  I don't have to worry about anyone wanting to hog the spinach leaves or stealing all of my cherry tomatoes. I am also a bit of an experimental eater, mixing things together as the mood hits me.  As a result, I have developed my own salad making style, which I would like to share with you on this fine day. 
 

1. Be hungry.  Some people eat on a time schedule instead of listening to their tummies.  Cut that out.  If you're not hungry, don't eat!  But if your tummy is rumbling and growling at you, a salad may be in order. 

2. Raid the fridge.  Open that door and squat down at eye level, so that you can see all of the shelves.
What is in there that may be salad worthy?  Try to be open minded.  On this particular occasion, I find spinach leaves, mandarin oranges that are about to expire, and mozzarella cheese. I also find expired salad dressing. It is a Caesar dressing, which is a shame.  But I come not to bury expired Caesar, but to eat his nearest and dearest fridgemates. Caesar hits the trash can, as does any number of expired foods that are within reach, hence the name of the salad.

3. Raid the pantry.  Walk in there and really look at what you have.  What is in there that is salad worthy? Cereal can make a great addition to a salad, for instance.  Peanuts and other nuts are also yummy.  On this day, I find a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes, green beans, and croutons. Perfect.

4. Mix everything together in a big bowl. Don't forget to drain the tomatoes, green beans, mandarin oranges.  Nobody likes a soggy, soupy salad, especially croutons!

5. Drizzle your preferred dressing all over.  Don't go crazy, just focus and aim on the bowl of salad.  Don't use all of the dressing, keep a bit to the side until after you've tasted your work.  As they say in the South/Midwest/West, sometimes ranch dressing/ketchup/BBQ sauce cures all ills, particularly in the kitchen.
 
6. Eat.  If the salad doesn't taste good, add more dressing or maybe pepper.  I felt that my salad on this particular day would have tasted excellent with Caesar dressing, but whatever.  You now have a healthy salad, and once you're done with that, there's some pudding cups hiding behind the butter on the top shelf.  Help yourself.


How do you make a salad at your house?

Thanksgiving Recipe

Mamakat's Marvelous Prompt:     Share a favorite Thanksgiving Recipe.  I got this one from my Aunt Madonna.  (Yes, that is her real name.)  It is one of the few things that I can cook reliably well, but I only make it during the holidays because it probably has 14,000 calories per heavenly spoonful.  This is also a pretty inexpensive side to make, so if you are counting pennies, this might be the dish of choice.




Corn Casserole

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, melted(I prefer Land O'Lakes)
1 large egg, beaten
1 box of Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 can(14-16oz) of creamed corn
1 can(14-16oz) regular corn, drained
8oz. sour cream

Use the stick of butter to grease the casserole dish before you melt it. Trust me.
Mix everything in a bowl.
Pour into greased casserole dish.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


There are variations of this recipe, from adding cheese to throwing jalapenos in there. It's all good, but some additions may make the cooking time longer. I don't think that you absolutely have to use Jiffy as your corn muffin mix, but that is the only one they sell around here.  I don't recommend using margarine, because it just doesn't taste as good.  Use the regular sour cream, too.  What the heck are you doing trying to lose weight on Thanksgiving, anyway? Start on Black Friday, when you'll be depressed about money anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  Enjoy yourselves! 

Absence

I stood over the pot, the aroma wafting around my head, and inhaled.  I dipped a spoon and then drew it out.  I touched my tongue to the spoon, the flavor flowing onto my taste buds. I shook my head. Something vital was missing, and I could not put my finger on it.  The lack was crucial. Without it, I knew my chili would never be as good as my grandmother's.  It had to be perfect today.

"Arghhh!" I was venting my frustration when the binding on my grandmother's recipe book cracked loudly, startling me.  I paused, my eyes landing on tiny handwriting on the bottom of the page. Had that always been there?

"Add two cups GRANDPA'S GO JUICE."

I fired up my laptop, but could find no mention of Grandpa's Go Juice.  I sat there, feeling my grandmother's absence keenly, until my parents and siblings arrived with my dying grandfather.   At 97, Grandpa slept more than he was awake. He perked up at the glorious smell of his favorite food.

"You made your grandma's chili!" he said happily.

"I tried, Grandpa," I confessed. "The recipe said to add something called Grandpa's Go Juice, but I don't know what that is or where to get some. I'm sorry."

My grandfather's shoulders began to shake, and he bent low in his wheelchair, coughing.  I cringed as my mother went to his side to turn on his oxygen.  Was he upset that I ruined the chili?   I was horrified to think his last visit to my house would end in such a disappointment.  Finally, Grandpa sat up.

"Grandpa's Go Juice! That woman!" Grandpa's breath came in wheezy gasps as he tried to speak.  We all gathered around to hear the answer, once he was calm enough.

"Go Juice is Whisky!!"  Grandpa finally said, smiling beatifically. "Your grandma always said that Whisky made me crazy. She called it my 'Go' juice."







ABSENCE (noun)

1

: the state of being absent

2

: the period of time that one is absent

3

: want, lack absence  of detail>

I do not know if whisky would improve the taste of chili, but now I am hungry. This is fiction, by the way.  My mother's parents are still living, and I don't think that my grandmother ever used a recipe book.  She knew her recipes by heart, and when the dementia hit her, she pretended that she still knew them, and we all pretended the same thing until her cooking became singularly unpalatable.

RemembeRED: Special Recipe

Share with me a special recipe, but don’t just list out ingredients.


It was a day for family. The three of us had gathered in the kitchen, Zane and his father leaned over the bright orange pumpkin that had been specially chosen to be the very first family Halloween Jack-O-Lantern. While Zane supervised his father with the sharp and pointy knives, I cleaned up slippery pumpkin seeds for roasting. I had made up my own recipe. Butter, honey, ginger, sugar, and cinnamon mixed together with the seeds, then spread onto a cookie sheet. The kitchen began to smell like cinnamon, and that is a smell I associate with my family. I contentedly listened as my son sang a song about the color 'orange' and my husband painstakingly carved out the face of our Jack-O-Lantern. I began to think about what I could make for Thanksgiving, and how we could all gather again in the kitchen to decorate cookies for Christmas.

"Um, what are you burning?" Larry suddenly interrupted my happy reverie.

"I'm not burning anything!" I frowned at him. Then I looked at the oven, only to see a curl of smoke emanating from the back burner*. Zane sternly lectured me about being careful as I pulled out the smoking cookie sheet, laughing. My husband, also laughing, opened the kitchen windows and turned on the fan. About half of the seeds were burnt, when I was able to survey the damage. The rest were encased in a candy coating very similar to buttered toffee. Delicious. Not exactly what my completely made up recipe intended, but recipes are just a guideline anyway. For me, the day was all about family.

*For the record, this is only the tenth time that I have set my kitchen on fire. Never on purpose, of course! I am just that good.