My Favorite Fast Food Meal . . .

Okay, when I say fast food, I'm talking about preparing a meal that is relatively easy and quick to get on the table. Thought I'd share one we all enjoy. As usual, my meal ideas lend themselves to personal creativity!

Potato Meal in a Pan
About four cups of peeled and cubed potatoes (Any kind of white potato is fine.)
5 strips of bacon, diced
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced
1/2 cup diced bell pepper (using red, yellow, or green peppers is nice)
1/4 cup butter
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano
1 teaspoon caraway seed
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring your peeled and cubed potatoes to a boil and simmer in salted water until almost tender. Drain.

In a large frying pan, add the bacon, onion, and garlic. Fry, stirring frequently, until the bacon starts to crisp and the onion and garlic are tender. Add the bell pepper and cook another minute or so. Add the butter and when it is melted and bubbling, put in the potatoes and cook until the potatoes start to take on a bit of brown around the edges. When the potatoes are a bit crisp, add the eggs and gently stir to coat the potatoes. Add the cheeses, caraway seed, salt, and pepper. Keep stirring until the cheese melts and the eggs are firming up. Serve with a green salad or steamed carrots.

This is a cheesy/egg dish that is great on a cold evening. It is definitely not a pretty dish but it is popular around our house. You can use sausage instead of the bacon. If you have some other vegetables you like, you can add them, just parboil them to insure they cook through in the dish. You can even toss in some chili flakes or use fresh chili peppers in the cooking of the onions and garlic. And there is no rule that you have to use cheddar! In fact, a sprinkling of Feta is good. Swiss cheese makes a whole different dish.

A contradiction . . .

I was listening to a talk show a few months ago. The talk show host was talking about taking responsibility and rather proudly stated that when he got his girlfriend pregnant, he knew enough to take care of things and pay for her to abort the baby. He said he knew they were too young to marry or take on the care of a baby. He emphasized that in order to grow up, you have to recognize your responsibities in life, and see to them. I was glad my children weren't listening to this garbage. I think the talk show host got his values mixed up. If he was truly a responsible person, he would not have been having an immoral relationship with a young woman he had no intention of ever marrying. A responsible person is a respectful person and he certainly didn't treat his relationship with much respect. He showed even less and more horrifying lack of respect and value when he saw to the death of the child he irresponsibly conceived with the young woman. And he was proud of his actions!

From what I have heard of him through other shows, he is married and has a family. I imagine he considers the 'first-born' he had with his wife as his first baby. That is a sad thought. He treated the whole episode with his youthful relationship as just that . . . one of those things which was over and done with . . . only it left someone wounded and another one dead. I wonder if the girl who agreed to the abortion has forgotten?

Spring is coming to our backyard . . .

 My camera and I investigated the first signs of Spring in our backyard this morning. Even before the last of the lemons and oranges are off the tree, the flower buds are appearing on the nearby branches. Besides our old and faithful orange tree, my husband planted another one, last year, and even it is madly sprouting flowers. The peach tree, however, beats them all in the pretty pink flowers that are bursting forth from the almost-bare Winter branches.

Last year was not a great year for peaches. I barely had enough extra ones to freeze two bags of them for cold weather desserts. I'm hoping it was merely a 'resting' period and we will be swamped with fruit come the summer months. We just have to be vigilant and fight off the big, fat, green June bugs and the birds for the first taste of juicy fruit!

Chocolate Pudding Situation - Resolved!

Children home for Spring Break and more people around the dinner table. A great way to spend a evening! I enhanced the evening. a few weeks ago, with a simple dessert - chocolate pudding. Gosh, I remember when one, large box of mix was enough for six and now it took two of them to feed the hungry masses! Sign . . . Didn't have time to make it from scratch this time!

While I was making the pudding, I was trying to figure out how to serve it. I hate putting it all in one bowl and everyone slopping their serving into yet another dish. Even at their advanced college ages, I figured there might be some 'discussion' about who was getting more!

We aren't coffee drinkers yet we have a complete set of pretty mugs that came with the last set of dishes we purchased. Problem solved! I poured the hot pudding into individual mugs and popped them into the refrigerator. When dessert time arrived, I topped each with a swirl of whipped cream and everyone was happy. It looked pretty, too.

Quotable Quotes . . .

"People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed."
-- Samuel Johnson

"Channeling is just bad ventriloquism. You use another voice, but people can see your lips moving."
-- Penn Jillette

"Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles."
-- Ambrose Bierce