Riding the (Pepsi) Gravy Train

Gravy ~ [grey-vee]  

–noun, plural -vies.

1.

the fat and juices that drip from cooking meat, oftenthickened, seasoned, flavored, etc., and used as a sauce for meat, potatoes, rice, etc.

2.

Slang .

a.

profit or money easily obtained or receivedunexpectedly.

b.

money illegally or dishonestly acquired, especiallythrough graft.

3.

something advantageous or valuable that is received orobtained as a benefit beyond what is due or expected.

This definition is not what immediately comes to my mind when I hear the word 'gravy'.  Say it multiple times, it's a weird word, but I digress.  When I think of gravy I think about how for years I couldn't make it unless I used a package and added water.  Then I went to culinary school and the light bulb went on!  It's really not difficult to make, someone just needed to show me the right steps, and how to do it so it didn't taste like flour.  Oh and those lumps too.  

My mom on the other hand, she could make gravy and she made tasty gravy.  One of my favorites is her gravy with pork chops, and fried chicken.  We ate gravy with almost everything, hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes, or toast (SOS), beef gravy with her melt in your mouth roasts.  I'm getting hungry already.  She has one gravy though that is infamous in our family.  It is very polarizing ~ you either HATE it or LOVE it.  PEPSI gravy.  Yes, Pepsi as in Pepsi~ Cola.  She would make it with ham.  I've only made it once.  It's great with ham.  It's sweet, cloyingly so, which makes it fabulous with the salty ham.  I've never really cared for it, but yet I do...  I know,  doesn't make much sense so maybe I'm one of the "one the fence" people that can't decide about this gravy.  I actually prefer coke products, except in this instance.

For Easter this year in my mom's honor I am going to make a ham with Pepsi gravy.  I hope I can remember how to make it and that it tastes as good as I think it should.  I'll probably be the only one to eat it, my husband really dislikes it and I don't think my kids have ever had it.  We might be having dinner with friends on Easter so we'll see if they like it.  

I have years of memories of my mom, and her gravy making is one of them.  I will always remember that smell of ham and the 2 liter bottle of Pepsi on the counter waiting to be poured over the ham and then whipped into gravy.

Rest in Peace mom.  Your gravy traditions will continue!

Flying Pie Fail

The fun of cooking while trying to live a life that is full of ups and downs!  I can say that it there is rarely a dull moment in this chicks life, not that I would know what to do if it were different.

I cook for my family almost everyday, and usually 2 or 3 times a day ~ for some pesky reason we seem to need breakfast, lunch AND dinner~ then I cook for clients generally Thursday for delivery on Friday.  It's usually an easy schedule to manage, but this last week almost killed me.

It started out pretty normal then spiraled completely out of control.  Monday drove to Sandy (my mom is terminal and staying in Sandy with my sister and her family) to see my mom, it is usually an emotionally draining time.  Not that she does anything to make it that way, I just never know if it will be the last time I get to touch her and tell her I love her, so I am pretty tired even after a short visit.  Not to mention it's an hour drive there and an hour drive back.

Tuesday was cupcake porklooza (see previous post) and a painfully long orchestra concert we thought was on Wednesday, so I did not have time to feed us before we went.  Wednesday was an all morning field trip with my 8th grader and a two hour meeting for a school district budget.

Thursday ~ here's where things go baad for me.  Mom decided it was time for hospice, so my middle sister and I head back out to Sandy (little sister is on a much needed vacay with her family) to be with mom and dad while the hospice social worker comes by.  Very difficult day.  But I have to make 32 chicken pot pies oh yes and I have to attend student led conferences for each of my boys, one at 5:40 the other at 7:54.  (my husband is disabled and so all this falls to me, not because he won't do it, it's because he really can't). So about 9pm is when I start cooking the pot pie filling.  My thinking is this:  Get the filling done and then in the morning it'll be easy to fill the pies and done.  Easy peasy.  Yes that was MY plan.  Well because I had my head in my nether regions just from being so drained from my day, I put oh about 6 gallons of pie filling in my garage refrigerator WITHOUT cooling it down.  Didn't even think about it, just wanted this day to end and go to bed.  So what happens ~ it never cooled down just sat for 8 hours in the temperature danger zone.  OMG!  Now it's Friday morning and I have to start from scratch.

Good news is with the help of my cooking buddy we were able to get all 32 pies done in about 2 hours.  Not that I like to cook like that, but it's good to know that I can still bust a move in the kitchen when necessary, especially for being an OLD little hen.

You'd think that would be the end of the story, but I had promised to bring some food to my sister-in-law's candle party which started at 11 am and is a good 45 minute drive from home.  So, Saturday I got up and started all over again.  I guess it's a good thing I LIKE to cook, because it doesn't feel like a chore and I do LOVE to eat but not usually after I'm done cooking all day, but that's a story for another day.....

I survived my week in food hell and am now taking the next two weeks off to center myself and eat LAMB CHOPS!!! Here little lamby, lamby....

Cupcakeporklooza

Tuesday was cupcake baking day.  Now I love to cook, I'm actually a darn good cook ~ baking is another thing.  I don't always LOVE to bake.  I love baked goods, just not necessarily doing the baking.  I volunteered to bring cupcakes to a field trip my 8th grader was going on.  That usually means baking, since I don't like to bring store bought when I say I"m going to bring baked goods, so I got my recipes together.  Red Velvet, chocolate and spice.  Then came the creative part.  Red Velvet with cherry twizzlers, cream cheese frosting, chocolate with peanut butter cups and peanut butter frosting, and spice with bacon and brown sugar maple frosting.  The bacon maple is a complete rip off of my favorite Portland Doughnut shop Voo Doo doughnuts bacon maple bar.  It's good.  I used bacon fat and vegetable oil in the cake and whipped minced bacon into the frosting, then sprinkled with minced bacon.  Oh my tasty!


It took me all dang day, which is why I don't like to bake.  I only have a couple of muffin tins and one oven so it's one batch at a time, then you have to let them cool before you frost them.  They take up so much room too.  My kitchen still has little remnants of cupcakeporklooza laying around, I'll get it all cleaned up sooner or later as I begin my Chicken Pot Piepolooza tonight.  32 Chicken pot pies to deliver tomorrow afternoon.  For some reason that just does not seem as daunting to me as baking 72 little cupcakes.. What is wrong with me?


Back to the pork ~ I love pork!  I love bacon.  I love bacon in sweets, dipped in chocolate, link sausage dipped in maple syrup ~ which is why the maple bacon bar/spiced maple bacon cupcake works so dang well.  


I'm so happy when I can play with my food and it still tastes good.

Steak Day 1

Well, how to begin this day?  I know I'm having steak for dinner, my only meal today.  Why?  Only the scale knows.  Really it is a day that I look forward to, I love steak.  Rib Eye is my favorite, but tonight I'm having a New York.  Less marbling, hefty beef flavor.  Tomorrow I'll feel better.  It's a difficult thing to explain, but when I over indulge (like this weekend) I look forward to my 'steak day'.  An apple for breakfast my coffee and a whole lot of H20....Then around 3pm I grill up my steak and enjoy every buttery bite.  Yes I add a dollop of sweet cream butter to my salty slab.  


In case you are wondering why there is a cute little lamb on my page, I love lamb.  I love to EAT lamb, looking at a photo of a lamb, makes me think about how I'll cook up the lamb chops in my freezer tomorrow!  What kind of sauce will I make?  Will I make a sauce, maybe the classic rosemary but in a butter?  I know it's a little irreverent, but I like being a little irreverent.  The picture also reminds me where my favorite food comes from, and thus to be respectful when I cook it.  To care for the ingredients, and make sure they are perfect for each other.


Looks like I have some thinking to do, thinking about my favorite thing ~ food.  Let's see what the rest of the day brings and what I'll be cooking up tomorrow!