One of my Flavorite Breakfasts

Some years ago a dear friend of mine shared a divine recipe for Kimchi Rice.  I tried it and fell totally in love (with the rice, not with her).  It's been a long time since I've seen her or the original recipe, but here is my personal rendition, at least for today.  I won't even bother to give measurements, since those are ever dependent upon the amount of kimchi and leftover rice I have on hand.

You can hardly find a more flavorful breakfast and if you are looking for satisfying food for any time of day this fills that bill too!

The Best Brownies Ever!

Mom and Dad were here for a brief visit this week so I decided to whip them up some brownies.  My favorite recipe for brownies came from a cookbook in the Bloomington Indiana library years and years ago.  They're called "We Miss You Alice B. Toklas Brownies" and are both easy and amazing. 

Alice B. Toklas was a partisan of the Avant-Garde movement and Gertrude Stein's life partner.  And she wrote a cookbook in 1954 which contained a number of recipes with a particularly special ingredient.  Her brownies were refered to in a 1968 Peter Sellers film, in a 1969 "Holywood Palace" segment, and even in an episode of "Bewitched"! 

I'm sorry to disappoint, but the recipe I use does not include Alice's special ingredient. They are eminently worthy anyway.  I'll give the recipe as it is printed and will add my personal amendments in the photo captions.

Tamale Time

Every once in a while I get the bug to make tamales.  It's an all day process, so the stars have to be aligned just so.  It happened again just a couple of days ago!

Superstition

Over the years I've heard a number of New Year's superstitions, most of which seemed pretty unlikely.  But today I heard one that I really hope works out!  A friend told me that her mom always said that whatever you do on New Year's day you will do for the rest of the year.  Well, today we did a lot of cleaning and organizing, I also improved the design of a piece of clothing I made a year or so ago, baked Wienerstube cookies, and best of all . . .

Lettuce Eat More Greens

I am a notoriously terrible lettuce grower.  I don't know if I just always plant at the wrong time, if my soil isn't right for it, or if I'm just not holding my mouth right.  My lettuce always bolts before it even gets big enough for me to be willing to pluck a leaf to see how it tastes.  Until this winter.  In late fall I planted some mesclun mix in my greenhouse, just a small patch as a test.  I didn't expect much given my track record, but in the past few weeks some of the lettuce has grown to testable size without any sign of bolting!

And I have discovered something because of my success:

The Best Thing About Jefferson Davis

All I've ever known about Jefferson Davis is that he was the president of the Confederate States of America.  Interesting, but for me, not particularly enthralling.  I'm not a huge history buff so I don't study into the lives of people that don't excite me.  However . . . the "Joy of Cooking" has a recipe for Jefferson Davis Pie that has interested me for quite some time, and a few years ago Joe noticed it and exclaimed that I should bake one some time.  Yesterday I made my first attempt.

Magic Potion

I hope none of you are suffering from what I've been suffering from the past 24 hours, but just in case, I want to pass on a little recipe that a dear friend passed on to me a few years ago.  Not only will it cure what ails ya, but it's delicious to boot!