Cleaning Up George's Act

Warning and Disclaimer:  This is a dangerous way to clean your grill.  It creates large amounts of steam that can burn you very quickly.  Please use caution when using this advice.  I do not take any responsiblity for anyone's accidents related to this blog, so don't try to sue me for something I didn't make you do.

A few years ago my son got us a Geoge Foreman grill.  We love this grill.  We probably use it four to six times a week.  Highly possibly considering there are 21 meals in a day.

However, I fell quickly out of love with the grill when I had to clean it.  Anything other than sandwiches and it was days before I wanted to use it again because it was so difficult to clean.  However, I am here to testify that I am back in love with my grill.

Why?

Because I figured out how to clean it!

I remembered back to working at McDonald's and how we used to periodically throughout the day clean those big nasty grills and then at the end of the day how we'd clean them again.  Are you ready for this?

WATER.

We used water.  At the restaurant we poured the water right on the the grill and had big blades that we pushed the steamy (dangerous) mixture off the end into the trap.  The grill were so clean they stuck for a few cycles of burgers and all we used was water.

I decided to try the same with the grill.  At first I drug the HOT grill to the sink and sprayed it with the hose.  That worked but was dangerous and messier than scrubbing.  Then I got squirt bottle full of water and with it plugged in raised the lid about 1/2 way and squirted the lower plate and found that the steam rose up to the upper plate.

The baked on cooked on mess that I had spent so much time scrubbing boiled to the top of the steam and as soon as the grill was cool enough to tough handle I took it over to the sink and wiped it down.

I've done this quite a few times now and there has been a few times when I need to rub a spot here or there, but I have never had to scrub the grill again.  This has made me infinitely happy because I am so crazy about this grill.  We are back using again as often as before.  I will use this grill until it wears out or burns up.  Then I will probably get the one with the removal plates, but I will still use the steam method I learned 20 years ago at McDonald's.

I repeate this method creates a great deal of very dangerous steam and would hope that you would use caution when using my advice.  I do not take responsiblity for any injury created by this blog.

Brownies -- Not From a Box

I got this recipe back in 1984.  It wasn't the best of times, but I did manage to get a decent recipe out of it from a very good friend of my mother's.  When I made the recipe the first time, it tasted a little gross, so over the years I've added some of my own details to it and it's a little healthier, and a whole lot tastier!

For reasons I would only tell my therapist, I lived with the lady I got this recipe from in 1983 I believe it was.  She had four great kids that I still keep in touch with on Facebook.  With that many kids, the odds are against us, but is seems like they have all turned out to be functioning adults which is more than I can say for myself at times.  I'll give you her recipe first and then I will give you my changes.

1 stick of margarine
2 oz bittersweet chocolate or 7 heaping tablespoons of Baker's Cocoa
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups flour
1/2 - 3/4 C nuts

This is the actual photo of the recipe from the album.
 I think I made this up in 1987.

Here is what I did with the recipe over the year:

1/2 C Coconut Oil
7 heaping tblsp Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
3/4 C Organic Agave Nectar
3 large eggs
2 tsp some kind of Liqeuer
3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 Pouch of hot cocoa -- favorite flavor "raspberry"
3/4 C nuts

This is what I use for my substitutions. 
You can make the original if you want.

Cream coconut oil, cocoa and nectar together.  Add eggs and liqueuer.  Beat.  Add flour, nuts, mix.  Bake at 350 degrees 20 - 25 mins.  Remove before done.

Removing the brownies before they are done is a little of what makes them moist and delicious.  The flour to egg ratio and the all-purpose flour make the brownies like brownies and not like chocolate cake.  Removing them before they are done allows them not to over cook.  I can't think of anyone I know that likes crunchy brownies.  Not to mention hard brownies.

I got a "newsletter" the other day from the lady that gave me this recipe.  She made it up on her computer with digital photos and a cute font.  I'm sure she believes she is being quite saavy with her digital camera and computer.  I wish she'd just attach the letter to an e-mail so I don't feel so guilty about not reading it and wasting the paper.

A New Home for Some Old Tricks

I'm in the process of moving Kitchen Traditions here.  It may take a while to get everything situated, but soon everything will be updated regularly.

Check back here regularly.  http://andsawmyself.blogspot.com

Kitchen Tradition: Look Who's Coming to Dinner and Peeling Tomatoes

I'm having company tonight for a simple Italian meal. I have to work to keep simple the operative word when it is time for me to have company, so I usually limit myself to an entree, two sides and a salad. My guests usually bring their specialty. Tonight's guest's specialty is BRICK OVEN BREAD! She has this contraption I've never seen that goes in her regular oven. All I know is that it is probably some of the best Artisan-style bread I've ever had. She brings these little bowls and olive oil and spices and it's all I can do to keep myself from eating only bread.

So I am going to make Bruschetta to serve on her bread. It starts with tomatos diced up so tiny you can spoon them. There's chopped garlic, olive oil (of course) and basil. To me, oregano is too strong for this, but if you want, oregano works. A little bit of balsamic vinegar and it's done.

You'll need to peel the tomatoes. That can be done by LIGHTLY scoring the skins, dipping them in super boiling water for a count of somewhere around 30 seconds. You'll see the skins begin to recede. Don't cook the tomato. I hold onto them with tongs or these things in the picture:

This is what I use to hold on to the tomato in the boiling water.

I learned how to do that when I worked the dining room at a Holiday Inn. Yes, Holiday Inns used to be very upscale. This particular dining room was the nicest restaurant I've ever worked at. There was a man that came in every evening for tomatos and burnt toast. The hotel was on a golf course that was surrounded by an upper class community. Funny how we remember these things. I also learned how to fold napkins in a really fancy way for their dinner seating. Maybe we'll hit on that some other day.

Anyway, back to the tomato peeling. The man liked his tomato peeled and sliced and that's how I learned.

A New Restaurant: Paquito's Miami

Tonight, we went out for Mexican food at Paquito's Miami. We did not order any mixed drinks or beer, so I can't comment on that. However, the food was delicious. I ordered the Pescado Paquito. It was a catch of the day on this indescribably garlic onion cream sauce with a spring green salad and delicious oil and vinegar dressing. The chips and salsa that preceeded the meal were just as delicious. The thing that made the meal was the ambiance. Strollling mariachi and lots of wonderful things to look at on the walls and ceiling. Our server was wonderful. We wanted to leave him a nice tip. With a party of five, he kept the drinks, chips, salsa and hospitality coming. I will be returning to Paquito's the next time I'm in Miami.

Kitchen Traditions: Stinky Stank

I am obssessed about the way my house smells. Perhaps it's because I have friends and family whose homes--well--stink. Like dog, like cigarette smoke, like onions. You name it. I have six cats, so I am always tuned in to the way my house smells. I've got some really great heated wax/oil from Scentsy that I use when I expect company for the evening, but most days I rely on this great new discovery I bought at Pet Supermarket. (It's about the same price on ebay. Believe me, I checked!)

Natural Air Sponge Odor Absorber
Stock Photo

A company called Seapro International appear to be the geniuses behind this awesome product. I don't know what it's made of. It feels like that spongy stuff you stand on in some public showers or at water theme parks. Up close it has a kind of baby powder smell that I was not so sure I wanted my house to smell like. Once the cup is opened and this awesome product goes to work, there's no baby powder smell. In fact there is no smell at all.

I have one sitting on top of each of my litter boxes and I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but the sponge I place on smellliest room and most used box is shriveling at a much higher rate than the other. I'm not sure how this works, so if you want that kind of information, it will have to wait, but for now I highly recommend this over any other odor absorbing/masking thing I've bought to date.

Kitchen Tradition #5: OMG, Left Overs

I have always used something in the bottom of my pots to make a sound when they come to a boil. For years it was a glass ring. It made the most appealing sound when water began to simmer. After that was broken--not funny yet--I bought stone lobster character that does the same thing, it's just not as elegant.

This is my little stone lobster.
Not as elegant as the glass one I had that got broken.

I've got some left over chicken from our Cinco de Mayo celebration a few weekends ago so I'm going to throw together some "Chicken Alfredo". Probably not really considered Chicken Alfredo because the chicken was marinated in Mojo Criollo, but here it is. My family likes it and it's a great way to get rid of left over noodles, cheeses and chicken.

Cooked chicken
Frozen veggies (I like broccoli, peas or mixed vegetables)
Bottle of Alfredo Sauce (Today, I'm using Classic Sun-Dried Tomato)
Sour Cream
Bag(s) of cheese (Stay away from anything that might be too stringy. It will wad up in the bowl)
Noodles (I always dump whatever I have in there--makes it interesting)

I think I'm going to invent something that holds
a bottle upside down over the dish or pan.

I slightly undercook the noodles because I'm going to need to be able to stir this all up. While the noodles are cooking, chop up the chicken, add the cheeses, creams, veggies and sauces, stir them up in an oven proof dish that has a lid. Add the noodles and gently turn everything in.

You can make this up in the morning while you're getting ready for work or when you get home. If you prepare it in advance, put a lid on it and put it in the 'fridge. It'll keep nice.

When you're ready for it, set the oven to about 350-375 and heat it until it's either hot all the way through or the veggies are cooked. You can stick a fork through the vegetables while it's in the dish to see if they are tender enough to your liking.

When you bring it out, let it cool a little. Depending on the proportions of what you added, it will be very juicy or almost like a casserole. It doesn't matter, you used up a bunch of leftover stuff that might have gone to waste anyway.

Ready for the oven. This is delicious!