Chatbug Karen

After a wonderful, whirlwind of a weekend, it is good to be home. Hubby and I spent the weekend visiting our son and daughter in-law near St. Louis. What a place. I think you could eat at a different restaurant every night of the week for five years and not eat at the same place twice.

We ate at a brewery called Schlafly Bottleworks. It had great food and fun people watching. I don’t think I have ever seen more people with pink hair and Mohawk haircuts. Most of the crowd sat outside but I was freezing so we opted to sit inside. I had my jean jacket on and was still cold. I saw gals with sweaters and a coogi here and there but there were more people in shorts and sleeveless shirts.

Schlafly Bottleworks gives tours of their brewery but we arrived after hours so we settled in for a delicious dinner. Like I said, we sat inside and discovered we had to wait on ourselves. I don’t know why they don’t have a server in the bar area. There are 8 or 10 tables that would keep a server busy. We had to walk up to the bar and order our food. It was awkward to squeeze in between the other patrons and yell to the bartender.

I am not a beer drinker but the other members of my family each ordered a different type of beer. They had pumpkin, wheat and blackberry beer and said they were all good. I’ll take their word on that.

I saw that the man and woman, at the table next to ours, were eating pulled pork sandwiches. I immediately decided that was what I was having, it looked awesome. I was not disappointed. The pulled pork was topped with coleslaw. It was delicious and the slaw added a delicious crunch. The sandwich was delivered with a side of potato salad. The salad was good but I filled up on the sandwich so I didn’t finish it.

I hope we go back to Schlafly Bottleworks.

Last Saturday, I was hungry for apple anything. I would have liked a piece of apple pie or a big bowl of apple crisp but I didn’t have the ingredients. I only had the ingredients for half a batch of oatmeal cookies and so, that is what I made. Yummy! Oatmeal cookies are good for you aren’t they? All the health books say to eat steel cut oats to lower your cholesterol. Why do they call them steel cut? It reminds me of steel buildings. I imagine the steel cutting the cholesterol to shreds. No wonder my stomach complains after I eat oatmeal!

I used the recipe that was on the box of oats to make my cookies. The secret to fluffy, yummy oatmeal cookies is to use real butter. Real butter makes everything better.
photo from the Quaker Oats site
From the Quaker Oats cooking and recipe section:

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
# 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
# 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
# 1/2 cup granulated sugar
# 2 eggs
# 1 teaspoon vanilla
# 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
# 1 teaspoon baking soda
# 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
# 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
# 3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
# 1 cup raisins
Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

* Prep Time: 20 min
* Cook Time Time: 08 min

According to the contributors over at Tasty Kitchen, August is National Peach Month. I cannot tell you how happy that makes me! I love peaches.

It is an art to pick out a good peach but when you do, it is magical. There is no shame in relaxing in your favorite outdoor chaise lounges, taking a big bite of a juicy peach and allowing the juice to run down your chin. That is just part of eating another of God’s greatest creations.

I have to rely on farmer’s markets and grocery stores to find peaches in our area. Most of the peaches I find are grown in northern Indiana and Michigan.

While searching for information on peaches, I discovered that there are many folk tales and traditions associated with the delicious fruit.

From Wikipedia:
In China, the peach was said to be consumed by the immortals due to its mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them.

While traveling through Ohio and Kentucky last week, we searched for quilt shops. We also searched for eating establishments that were locally owned. We found a wonderful place in Burlington, KY, near Florence, KY. Washington Square Cafe and Catering is one place that I am anxious to return to and share with my husband.

My sister, mom and I had the most wonderful meal that included a “to die for” bread pudding. We needed no Mesothelioma treatment after that filling meal. I had a meatloaf sandwich while mom and Grace each ate the Rueben sandwich. We tried to eat light because a man who was eating bread pudding told us that we absolutely had to have some. We took him at his word and OMG!, was he ever on the mark.

The restaurant is located in the Joseph Graves House, the 1817 building may be the oldest brick structure in Burlington and is one of the few surviving structures built on Union Square. Built facing North on lot 16, it was originally the residence of Joseph Graves (1773 to1836) an early prominent citizen of Boone County, born in Virginia. The Graves family moved to Boone County in 1797. Graves was instrumental in the development of Burlington as the county seat. In 1816, he and several others were appointed to draw plans for the new courthouse. Graves served as Boone County Sheriff from 1820-1822.

Washington Square Café & Catering – c. February 2010

Today Joyce McNeely is living her dream of owning and operating a hometown, family owned restaurant in this historic Burlington Community. Joyce along with her family, Dee & Mike Dragan & children Patrick, Ashley, Drew and Chelsea; Dawn & Brad Denham & son Kye; and mother Sophia Brinegar are proud to serve you at Washington Square Café & Catering.

and joined the ranks of all those people who have tomato plants hanging from their metal buildings, shepherd’s hooks or as in our case from our giant bird house. I’d show you a picture but hubby took the camera with him on his fishing trip this week.

I think they are a fun idea and we will see if any tomato plants thrive growing in one. I am guessing that the soil will not drain as good and may lack nutrients compared to ground soil so an additive of some sort is really needed for good growth. I will have to remember to fertilize, fertilize, fertilize!

Heads up! Pun intended. LOL An outbreak of food-borne illness linked to romaine lettuce has spread to four states and sickened at least 23 people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Everyone stay safe.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Escherichia coli (commonly abbreviated E. coli; pronounced /?????r?ki? ?ko?la?/, named after Theodor Escherich) is a Gram negative rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms). Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some, such as serotype O157:H7, can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls.[1][2] The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2,[3] and by preventing the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within the intestine.[4][5]

E. coli are not always confined to the intestine, and their ability to survive for brief periods outside the body makes them an ideal indicator organism to test environmental samples for fecal contamination.[6][7] The bacteria can also be grown easily and its genetics are comparatively simple and easily-manipulated or duplicated through a process of metagenics, making it one of the best-studied prokaryotic model organisms, and an important species in biotechnology and microbiology.

Saturday evening, my son and daughter in-law made a wonderful dinner for us. I was so full that I thought I might explode! I knew though, that in a few hours my stomach would cry out for dessert so I began to try to think of a quick dessert I could make. I remembered reading in the newspaper, just the day before, about a recipe that was popular during the depression. This cake was popular during the depression, and does not have eggs in it.

I made Crazy Cake and it was so good! You should make it. I can just about guarantee that you will love it.

Crazy Cake
Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoons baking soda
* 3 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
* 5 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup cold water

Directions

1. Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 8 x 8 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Icing
1/4 cup melted margarine
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salad oil

Mix all the icing ingredients together and pour over warm cake.

Serve and enjoy!

Don’t forget that this Saturday, May 8, is the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive sponsored by the national association of letter carriers. The need for food for people has become worse since the economy has soured. More people than ever need our help. The current recession and the rise in unemployment are having a profound effect on the nation’s food banks. Never mind the need for weight loss products such as 7-dfbx during these hard times. The face of hunger has changed due to the high unemployment rate in our country. We need to ban together as a nation and make sure everyone has a little something to eat. To find out whether your letter carrier is participating in the stamp out hunger drive, search the USPS website for the contact information for your local post office. Check out Facebook and choose the like button on Campbell’s soup’s donation ad. They will give one can of soup to the food banks for each “like” they receive. You can make a difference.

I know. I know. It is Tuesday. I am behind! Here is the 110th edition of Four Foods on Friday!

What can YOU make with

* chicken
* bacon
* cheese
* tomatoes

Hmmm, I would try to make a chicken sandwich! This recipe doesn’t call for bacon but I would fry some bacon and crumble it to add as a garnish. Bacon goes good with everything! I’d add the tomatoes to the side as a salad.


Hot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Place chicken breasts on bun bottoms and top with crisp lettuce. Combine sour cream, scallions and blue cheese and slather bun tops with blue cheese sour cream. Affix bun tops on sandwiches and serve with remaining sauce for dipping your veggies. Arrange Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches on dinner plates with red onion, celery and carrot sticks.

I have to tell you about a great restaurant my daughter introduced me to this past week. I had been eating quite a bit of fried foods on top of sweets and I was beginning to feel a bit sluggish and uncomfortable. I wanted a big ole’ salad with lots of roughage, if you know what I mean.

I love Sweet Tomatoes. Think of buffet but instead of miles of chicken, mac and cheese and other yummy comfort foods, there was every kind of salad you could imagine. I picked a yummy lettuce salad that had pineapple chunks and pecans in it. The restaurant was decorated with old fashioned one inch hexagon ceramic tile in the work areas and carpet in the seating area. The carpet had a tomato motif! I have never seen that before. There were custom travel mugs with tomato imprints and even tomato stickers for the kids. My daughter desperately wanted a tomato sticker for her car but, and I don’t know why, pulled herself away and let the kids have them instead.

I will admit that they had mac and cheese, spaghetti and other foods that I tried to stay away from but failed in my efforts. I even had tapioca pudding. Yummy!