Yes

 Just a post to let you know we're still here.

2022 and inflation

Now that inflation is weighing us down, maybe we'll start doing more home cooking than before? Who knows?

Beer Bread

It was raining here this morning and the air was extremely pleasant. After running a couple of errands, I stopped by Big 8 on Lee Trevino and Montwood to buy some sweet bread. On a whim I also bought a bread mix which advertised good things to come. The box said the batter only required a can of beer and three fourths of a stick of butter. When I got home and settled down for a bit, I prepared the mix and baked it for about forty five minutes. I tried it after it cooled - not knowing what it would taste like - and was not disappointed. The initial taste made me a little skeptical but the all-important aftertaste was phenomenal. I urge you to try it. You won't even get a little tipsy. 

Don't bother with this

I'm just posting this to get up to date - I had no postings here for 2014 and so, I was feeling guilty. Don't bother with it - it is just fluff. 

I thought I would treat myself to some buttered toast this morning but I overheated it. It smells burnt all the way up here but I will eat it anyhow. Food should never be wasted. 

Vodka

Take it from me, I bought a small bottle of UV apple-flavored Vodka and hated it. Even if I just blew 89 cents away it still tasted terrible. Buy it at your own risk. On the other hand, the cinnamon-flavored whisky was great. I forgot the name of the brand. Sorry. They're probably all the same. Go for it. 

Natural remedy?

I had a problem with my prostate once. I read up on the subject and found that many doctors were of the opinion that men die with prostate cancer but not from it. The reason is that prostate cancer is the slowest-growing cancer in the universe, but take that with a grain of salt. So many NEEDLESS surgeries had been done it was not even funny - not even a little - that's what the doctors said. Well, someone made a lot of money off of scaring men into premature surgeries. I had a friend call me once sounding kind of worried because he had some issues with his enlarging prostate. He was already thinking about surgery. I told him I had stumbled across a couple of foods that actually alleviated the problem. The foods were Mexican asadero cheese and beer. Taken together, they stopped the swelling. I don't know if he believed me. I never heard from him again. I had a doctor tell me that if I didn't have a biopsy done on my prostate right away I might die in less than five years. I ignored his advice and he later died though I don't know from what. That was 15 years ago. I never had a chance to tell him "I told you so." 

Asadero cheese

If you want the taste of (Mexican) asadero cheese - one of the yummiest in the world - but aren't sure you can trust the cheese-maker, buy some of that string cheese you can get at Wal-Mart. It tastes almost the same. It comes in a little green packet. Real asadero cheese costs about three times as much so, from that standpoint too, it makes sense to buy the string cheese. Ok. 

Moscato

I have been meaning to tell you: I like Moscato wine. I don't know ANYTHING about wine but I know what I like. I have tried many different wines and (so far) my favorite is Moscato. In addition, you cannot beat the value. I can get a bottle of Moscato for $1.95. That is a real deal. At that price, even if it didn't taste really good, I would still buy it. Fortunately, it tastes terrific. 

Honey Buns

There is this place where I can get five large delicious honey buns for one dollar. Why would I even consider going to Walmart to buy honey buns? Absolutely no reason. At Walmart, I can buy six tiny honey buns for 3 dollars. At this other place, I can get 15 large ones for that sum. It's not rocket science.  

Coffee filters

Whenever I run out of coffee filters, I make my own. It isn't hard. In case you ever want to make your own - or just because you want save a couple of dollars - you can do it like this: take a couple of paper napkins and open them out completely, one on top of the other. Then insert them in the filter holder (receptacle) in your coffeemaker. You can trim the napkins if they are too large.  Put the coffee in. Fold the napkins over the ground coffee. Close the lid and the rest is the same process you normally use to brew coffee. The coffee will taste the same. I know mine does. Of course, this assumes you have not run out of paper napkins. I would not recommend using newspaper paper for this. 

Wal-Mart prices

I am now convinced that Wal-Mart has the lowest pricing for virtually any product you need. Sure, now and then you can buy 8 pounds of oranges at Ranch Markets for only one dollar - one dollar, yes - but it does not happen every day. We wish it did. How does Wal-Mart do it? I do not have a clue. The aisles might sometimes be messy and unclean, but hey, nothing is perfect. Sorry. 

Fish and chips

This blog gets almost zero views. I must be one of the few who read it - when I proofread it that is. It does not matter - I'm no Ernest Hemingway or Leo Tolstoy. In any case, I'm writing this to let you know my favorite chicken is prepared at Long John Silver's restaurants. It is simply amazing and SO affordable. My favorite fish sandwich is at McDonald's. Coffee too. 

Fragrance

I bought a small bottle of fragrance oil at Wal-Mart the other day. It's made by Elegant Expressions - that's the brand. When I got home and put it in the warmer, I also started a pot of coffee, but just by pure chance. The fragrance I purchased is called Lavender Vanilla. The aroma that resulted from the combination of brewing coffee and this particular fragrance oil was absolutely, astonishingly, unbelievably adorable - to die for. Try it and see. You won't believe your nose. 

Popcorn and tortilla chips

I was hungry for a snack the other day and I had nothing handy - nothing ready-made, that is. What I did was grab some tortilla chips - I don't remember the brand but they were the pricey kind - not the dollar-store brand - and some (real) butter. I put three dabs of butter on top of the chips and threw the mix into the microwave and about 30 seconds later tasted something that resembled popcorn - not the shape or form but the taste. I shouldn't have been surprised since tortilla chips are made from CORN. The only thing missing was the beer. 

Cuban Cuisine

I know next to nothing about Cuban Cuisine but I do know it is quite different from other Latin American Cuisine - its dishes are not Argentinian, nor Bolivian, nor Mexican, nor Panamanian, nor Brazilian, nor Chilean.  Its dishes are Cuban! I just hope they're tasty. If they are anything like Cuban Music, I know they must be. 

Mexican flavors

I have discovered that by simply throwing in some tortilla chips into a soup mix, the thing will taste like a Mexican dish. The higher the quality of any chips you toss in, the better the flavor. The amount you throw in is up to you. I myself do not put in too many because, after all, if what I'm eating is a broccoli soup, I want some broccoli taste in the soup. It's not rocket science.

Flavorless

I thought I'd be smart and experiment with a bean soup to end all bean soups - the mother of all bean soups. What I did was mix lima beans, pinto beans, black beans, and lentils, using equal portions of each type. I also threw in the usual onions and tomatoes. Well, in case you want to know, the result was a flavorless soup. This experiment didn't use too many cooks, it used too many basic ingredients. Let that be a lesson to you.

Best Coffee

I believe McDonald's now has the best coffee in the world - at least coffee that you buy in a fast food establishment. It is better than Starbucks and Luby's coffee. Luby's used to be my favorite but the quality has dropped considerably since about ten years ago. Don't ask me why because I really don't know. This does not matter to people who don't drink coffee but for those of you who do, ...well, consider it my opinion. I have been a coffeeholic for about thirty years. By the way, Village Inn has the most atrocious coffee around.

Lentil Soup

I was going nuts trying to come up with a lentil soup that would be close to how my mother used to prepare it. I had the lentils, the onions, the tomatoes, and a little salt ready but I knew I was missing something. After making it several times, it simply did not taste the same as my mom's, the way I knew it should. I finally called my sister Fifi and she told me that what I was missing was the cilantro. I would never have guessed. I am ok now.

Flour Tortillas

I believe that the best meal in the world is a toasted flour tortilla spread with the best butter you can get your hands on. My grandma used to feed me those when I was a child and it would whet my appetite for the bowl of beans that would follow. She was the best cook in the world as far as I was concerned.