G is for Grandma's Cooking

Hey everyone- unfortunately, Faith's still under the weather. But she doesn't want to give up on the A-Z Challenge just yet, so she's dictating this post through her momma. A/K/A Jaybird. Please excuse any mistakes, as clearly they will be all mine.

G is for Grandma's cooking. There is just something about the way my Grandma cooks that makes everything taste better. It doesn't matter what it is, from something as simple as scrambled eggs and grits, to a more complex and complicated dish, it always tastes better when Grandma cooks it.

Ironically, G'ma is something of a menace in the kitchen. She leaves cabinet doors open and the counters a total disaster. She also uses almost every single pot and pan we have. But that's just how she rolls. Even though it blows my mind that she can work in such conditions, she clearly operates best in chaos, because no one produces a better end result.

ME and my G'ma at my 8th grade graduation a few years ago

It's hard for me to narrow down my favorite Grandma recipe, they are all SOOO good. I want to record one here for you, but it's kind of hard. Because oh yeah, guess what? She never writes down a recipe either! You have to just watch and learn. That's the only way to figure it out. Plus, she modifies as she goes along so it's never quite the same twice.

No matter what she's cooking or what kind of mess she's creating, I love being in the kitchen with my Grandma. She's the best.

Hope to feel better and be back to posting again myself real soon!! -Faith

E is for Emergency and F is for Full Stop

Sorry guys but I have to interrupt Faith's regularly scheduled blog posts for E& F of the A-Z Challenge. E will have to stand for Emergency because that's where Faith wound up the day after Easter. At Urgent Care with a bad, bad bacterial infection in her lungs. Poor kid is really hurting and is on all kinds of scripts that has left her head swimming... It's brought my little foodie to a "F"ull Stop. Please accept Faith's sincere apology for missing letters E&F. We are praying after a couple days of rest she will be feeling good as new and will be able to join back in on all the A-Z fun.  Thanks!!

D is for Damaged

          I am writing about damages today. I have recently accepted that I WILL be getting hurt while cooking in the kitchen. Yesterday while cooking breakfast I slammed my hand into the side of a hot pan. I got second degree burns on my thumb and pointer finger. It made me realize that I will aquire many more injuries as I continue my cooking career. I have hurt myself countless other times in the kitchen, but these burns made me think. Mostly because I knew that I would be cooking a lot today and tomorrow since it is Easter time. I knew that it would be hard for me to move and efficiently use my hand (I burnt my dominant right hand) to prepare food.

This is a picture of my thumb that I took today.
I took the picture today because yesterday it was
really swollen and red and I DID NOT want to look at it.
So I saved your eyes and mine by posting
this less offensive picture today.

          Another example of a memorable time when I hurt myself in the kitchen would be when I was about 10 years old. I was cutting an apple using an apple chopper. One of the apple slices did not come out of the blade. So the genius thing that I did was stick my finger inside it and push the apple through. Well, my great idea was a bit too successful. The apple slicer took a deep, triangle shaped chunk of flesh out of my thumb. Yup, that is a typical move that I would make. My mother was in the other room at the time, and I was very happy about that. She literally faints at the sight of blood so I just slapped a band-aid on it and hoped for the best. But that only worked for about ten seconds. That is when I knew that I had to tell my mom. I told her very calmly not to worry. But when she came into the kitchen and saw a paper towel saturated with her daughter's blood that was it. She started to flip out. Before I knew it, my hand was being shoved in the sink and water was rushing over the hole that was in my hand. Then I became all bandaged up with gause pads and then paper towels wrapped around that. Since I refused to go get stitches, my mom had me hold a bunch of paper towels around my hand. It took a whole 15 minutes before the bleeding stopped. My house looked like a murder sceen. That was definitely one of the more memorable kitchen accidents.

Eww... the dreadful apple slicer. Which I
rarely use, even to this day.

          So now that I have shared a couple of my kitchen damages, I want to know your kitchen nightmares. 

C is for The Chicken or the Egg

          The Chicken or the Egg (aka the Chegg) is a wonderful restaurant that my family and I go to as much as possible during the summer. This restaurant is on Long Beach Island. Since it is on LBI, and only open during the summer, tons of tourists and regulars are there every day. The average wait, even on a weekday is about forty-five minutes. The amazing food, cool atmosphere, and service is what makes this such a great  place.

          This restaurant is well known for their chicken wings and breakfast. They have mastered 16 different sauces. There are sweet and tangy sauces along with extremely spicy ones. The Chegg was actually featured on the TV show "Man Vs. Food" for their Ludicrous wings. These wings contain the hottest pepper in the world which is the Ghost Chili Pepper. But the wings are not the only great thing on the menu. This restaurant is also known for their very extensive and delicious breakfast menu. Another favorite of mine is the buffalo chicken salad. First of all, this was the biggest salad I have ever gotten served at a restaurant. It is full of tomatoes, onions, croutons, crumbled blue cheese, and buffalo chicken tenders. You can pick the sauce and dressing that you want with it. My favorite sauce is the mild; it has just enough heat for me.

          When my family and I go to the Chegg, we usually go on a Wednesday because Wednesdays are "wing nights". On wing night, the orders of wings are discounted and endless. We end up eating way more wings than we should because they are so good. Another unique thing about the Chegg's wings besides the sauces are the size of the wings. Until I first went to the Chegg, I had never seen chicken wings this large. They are huge!

          No matter what you order at the Chicken or the Egg, it is alll great food. The portions and prices are also very reasonable. My family never has a problem waiting to get into the resataurant. If you ever decide to come to the Jersey Shore, make sure to visit this little dive!!

The Chegg is open 24/7 and during every hour, there ARE people at the Chegg.

This is just one example of the many omlettes that are on the menu.
As you can see, they do not give small portions.

These are the mild wings. You can get them breaded or naked.
I really enjoy the breaded wings because the breading absorbs
the sauce really well. 

B is for Brie en Croute

          Brie en croute is a delicious French appetizer. There really isn't a set recipe for this because is so easy and no matter what you add in, it will still taste good. There are three components to this: brie cheese, puff pastry dough (I personally use store bought dough to make this even easier), and the filling of your choice. To make this, you first roll out the dough into a circle. Then you add in the brie. I advise that you buy the wheel of brie. To make one of these, cut the brie wheel in half horizontally. You take one of the now thinner wheels and lay it in the middle of the dough. On top of the cheese, scoop on a filling. Some of my favorite fillings are sauted mushrooms and onions, lingenberry compote, and cherry habenero sauce(keep an eye out for this sauce. It will be reapearing during another post). After everything is added, fold the dough so that it reaches over the cheese and fillings. Make sure that everything is covered so the melty cheese and/or fillings don't pour out. Look at the directions on the prepared dough to see how to properly heat the oven. Cook until it is golden brown on the outside. Here are some examples that we have made in the past:

These are mini Brie en Croutes that are filled with
habenero cherry sauce.

These are filled with lingenberry compote and
topped with some chopped pecans. 

This is a large brie en croute that has sauted
mushrooms and onions inside. *This is the family favorite
(hence the  overall size and tons of extra mushrooms and onions surrounding it).*

Bread Pudding Recipe

Here is the recipe for the bread pudding that I featured yesterday:

• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 3 tablespoons brandy, bourbon, or apple cider
• 1 ounce of white chocolate chips
• 1 ounce of butterscotch chips
• 1 ounce of mini chocolate chips 
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 6 cups stale bread cubes (whatever bread you have laying around; I have used      white bread and french bread, both work great)
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup light cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Look over the cherries to make sure all the pits are removed. Combine dried fruit with liqueor or apple cider in a small bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Remove and let stand for 30 minutes to cool. Finely chop the chocolate. Drain the dried fruit. 

Generously butter the crockery insert of a 3 1/2 quart slow cooker or spray with nonstick baking spray. Cover the

 

bottom with half of the bread cubes; then scatter with half of the cherries and chocolate. Layer on the remaining bread cubes and top with the rest of the cherries and chocolate. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until smooth; then whisk in the half-and-half and vanilla until blended. Pour over the bread mixture, gently pressing down on bread to cover with the egg mixture. Cover crockpot and cook on high for 1 3/4 hours, without lifting lid, until set and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature with a generous scoop of ice cream. This recipe is very easy to modify and substitute with the select ingredients that you prefer. Enjoy!!

A is for Auntie A's Bread Pudding

          My aunt makes the most delicious bread pudding. It is sweet and fruity and chocolaty. Everything about it is wonderful. She puts in an entire loaf of bread as a foundation. She also adds in butterscotch chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, alonf with dried cranberries (and other various dried fruits). To make this dessert really come together, just plop a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! The combination of the warm and creamy bread pudding is wonderfully complimented by the cold ice cream. This dessert is great on a chilly winter day!

Sorry this is late, the time got away from me. Tomorrow I will be posting the actual recipe for this... along with my "B Post".