Ever think that it is weird that your favorite food or one of your childhood meal memories is something that others think is the most deplorable food in the world?

Sometimes, it occurs to me only when someone calls and I tell them what I am cooking or eating and they say, “Well that sounds just NASTY!”  Today is an example.  I was really hungry for Split Pea Soup.  Now, long ago, Homemade Gourmet had a great Pea and Potato Soup.  And even though Tami and I both love split pea soup, I am guessing that sales indicated the rest of America was not dying for a big bowl of the stuff.  We no longer carry that mix.  Which forces me to make it from scratch.  I still do the HG cheat and add about 6 tablespoons of Sunday Roast Seasoning so that I don’t have to figure out which 8 seasonings should go into it.  It is on the stove now and I wish those split peas would hurry up and get soft.  Once I ladel it into a big bowl, I top it with Garlic flavored croutons.  WOWIE!

I brought up this subject because America is diverse, which means Homemade Gourmet distributors and customers are equally diverse.  I remember once I was talking to a distributor from the east coast and mentioned that for one of my homeshows, I sampled Taco Soup and Bonnie’s Blue Ribbon Chili.  After everyone had tasted both, I drained the liquid from the Taco Soup and rolled it into flour tortillas, put in a baking dish, topped with the remaining BBR Chili and shredded cheddar cheese and popped it in the oven for some awesome enchiladas.  (Boy, was that a run-on sentence, or what?!?).   When I finished, I waited for this distributor to be amazed at my creativity and she responded, “Gross, why would you put chili on top of enchildas?”  Hmmm . . . not the desired response.  She told me that they put enchilada sauce on enchiladas, so my idea was not appealing at all.  Put me right in my place!

The new Jalapeno Bacon Cheddar Dip has been getting rave reviews from my “spicy” friends and “way too hot” from others.  By the way, if it is too much for you, just add more sour cream and mayonnaise, it will be fine.

When mixes are retired because sales were not stellar, we get a flood of emails that the particular mix was the “absolute favorite” and they are very upset with me.  But, obviously, it was one of those foods that some people love and others do not.  By the way, I do not make those decisions, so please don’t send bad thoughts my way.

I am quite sure that we will never make everyone happy, but we will keep trying to come up with winners in most peoples’ eyes (stomachs??).  Until that time, I am going to enjoy my big bowl of split pea soup.  What is your favorite “icky” food? - Cindy

I was in the thesaurus this week, looking up something else and came upon these two words, mishmash and hodgepodge, and thought they just felt fun on the tongue to say.  Go ahead . . . alright, I am feeling a little silly, which means you have to endure my mishmash of a hodgepodge of a blog posting today.

When I was in law school, I got an opportunity to spend a semester at the Queen’s College at Oxford University.  Chance of a lifetime!  (Of course, my student loan bill went up dramatically!)  The food tasted different, was prepared differently and some even had totally different names.  French fries are chips and potato chips are crisps.  I was there in 1989, but I rememeber that I was appalled that when I went to McDonalds (after a while, you NEED a taste of home) you had to PAY for that teeny tiny packet of ketchup!

Why am I talking about this?  Oh yeah.  At the grocery store this week, I bought this Turbino Sugar.  It is brown and has really large crystals.  This was the same kind of sugar they used at the Queen’s College for after-dinner tea.  They always asked you if you wanted Black or White Tea.  This has nothing to do with the actual tea, but whether you wanted milk or not.  Anyhow, the sugar seems sweeter to me.  Maybe it is the big crystals, maybe the sugar is different, or maybe I just have some really sweet memories of that time of my life.  Hmmmm.  “Memories . . . like the corners of my mind, misty waters, colored memories . . .” 

It is Spring Break here.  I have mentioned that I work from my home.  You cannot imagine the joy of trying to finish up 12 different projects, talking on the phone trying to sound professional, all while my two lovely girls are screaming, “Give it BACK!   MOOOOOOOM, she’s got my stuff!  She did it first!  No, I didn’t, she won’t leave my room!  MOOOOM!”  The joys of Motherhood.

Husbands.  First, I have to give mine some credit.  I am forever sticking a spoon or fork in his mouth, saying, “Taste this.  What do you think?”  But I must say, it is a bit frustrating when you are oh, so proud of a new recipe that is supposed to taste like one thing and he immediately says, great taste of _____, something that is not in there and it is certainly not supposed to taste like.  So when I shriek, “BANANAS!  There are no bananas in there!”  He gets this deer in the headlights look and says, “Well, it tastes really good, whatever it is.”  Help.

Because it is Spring Break and both my husband and I are working, I have been trying to do a few fun things in the evenings with the girls.  We went to see Horton Hears a Who Monday night.  Cute movie.  One night, we went to this place where you paint ceramics.  I don’t know who enjoys this more, the girls or my husband and I.  It is very relaxing, to concentrate on nothing else, but painting.  And, hey, if you screw it up really bad, you tell everyone the kids did it!  Ha!

OK, do you feel that you have been mishmashed and hodgepodged?  I hope so.  Have a yummy day! - Cindy

It is Girl Scout cookie time again and they have been hitting me up from all sides.  Not much about Girl Scout cookies that I don’t like.  Everyone has their favorites; mine are Thin Mints (best if you keep in the freezer - YUM) and Caramel de Lites.  Bad thing about the cookies is that I usually hide them from my kids and then sneak them into my bedroom after they go to bed.  So there I lay in bed watching T.V. and eating the ENTIRE box!  I know, I know, I am a horrible mother for failing to share my cookies and a big fat slob for eating a box in the bed.  Yes, I do have a few faults, but I can live with them.

So, in today’s Food Section of the paper, they had all these area chefs making cool desserts using Girl Scout Cookies and I thought to myself - HEY, I CAN DO THAT!  So, I made 3 recipes that I really like:

Thin Mint Cheesecake - I used a Homemade Gourmet Basic Cheesecake mixed with Thin Mint cookies that I put in the food processor and poured the whole thing in a chocolate cookie crust!

Cinna-spin Spiced Cheesecake - Again, Basic Cheesecake, but I added a package of Spiced Dip mix.  I put the cookies in the food processor and pureed, mixed with a little melted butter and had an awesome crust to put my cheesecake in.

Mini Shortbread cheesecakes - Mixed up a Chocolate Pecan Cheesecake (ball recipe) and simply put a dollop on each cookie.

None of these were difficult, all were delicious!  Let’s talk desserts.  Any other ideas you may have?

Support your local Girl Scout troop, worthy organization and a great activity for young girls.

Last week, Tami and I were working on recipes and articles to go into the April Kitchen Connection.  Loads of work, but loads of fun as well.  But, I have to tell you, the absolute, very BEST part of last week was the FILL YOUR FREEZER and PERK YOUR PANTRY contest.  It was also that absolute, very HARDEST part.

You see, this entire quarter, Tami and I have been reading these heart warming stories of customers who want and need a Freezer Make Over.  They all submitted their coupons, a short essay and a before picture of their freezers.  I must say that even if I had never read a word of the essays, some of the freezers almost made me cry.  Want to know why???  All these people were Homemade Gourmet customers!!!!!  How, I ask you, HOW, can a Homemade Gourmet customer’s freezer be in such sad shape??  Luckily, each of those customers also submitted their distributors name, so guess who I am going to be calling????  Ha - you can run, but you cannot hide.

But, I digress.  (As usual!)  The BEST part, really, really and truly, was to watch this fantastic lady with 3 little boys draped all over her, stand with her mouth open and repeatedly say, “That’s all you have to do???”  “Wait, it is that easy??”  “What else can I make with that one?”  “Oh, my husband is going to be so excited!!”  “Hold on, you even have dinner for tonight for us??”  There is no greater joy that I have felt in a long time, than to be able to give this family easy great tasting meals and help them know that it was so simple they can do it themselves every month.

JOY . . .  When was the last time you felt JOY?  Not happiness, not excitement, not giddy . . . pure JOY.  Get up off the couch and go get some JOY . . . you know how, go ahead, repeat after me . . .

MAKE THE FOOD . . . SHARE THE FOOD . . . EAT THE FOOD.

So, how was your week?  Got JOY???

Cindy

Are you a busy working Mom?  Ok, you fit into this category even if you work out of your home.  I do that and sometimes it is harder than actually going to an office everyday!  (Especially like yesterday, which was a school holiday, so I am trying to work with two girls, yelling, “She’s touching me!”)

I know I have said it before, but really two concepts have kept my family eating well and me from losing my mind.  (Don’t say it . . . you have to have a mind Cindy before you can lose it.  Ha ha ha)  Ok, so the two concepts:

1.  4 meals in 4 minutes - literally saving all kinds of money by purchasing meat and canned goods in bulk and filling my freezer.  Not only did I save money on my purchases, I save everday because I already have choices and I do not have to freak out on what to make for dinner and then resort to pizza or drive thrus.

2.  Cooking a bunch of meat all at once.  Now, I know that I am in Houston so that I have an advantage in that here it is February and I am using my grill outside, but you can use an indoor grill as well.  One day a week, I defrost 3-4 different kinds of meat, grill it all at the same time and save loads of time for the rest of my week.

So, for example, this past week, 1.  Pork Chops seasoned with oil and 2-3 tablespoons of Maria’s Salsa mix.  (The mix, not the prepared salsa.)  WOW!  2.  Chicken Breasts seasoned with oil and 2-3 tablespoons of Kansas City Seasoning.  Double WOW!  3.  Crab claws steamed on the grill in a foil pack with butter and 2-3 tablespoons Garlic Lemon Seasoning.  (Admission time:  I didn’t even fix a plate, I ate these standing at the counter over the trash can.  The whole package was 9.29 at Sam’s and my husband and I made ourselves sick eating the entire pack!  But, WOW, WOW, WOW!  4.  Italian Sausages (I grilled these and later in the week I mixed a can of diced tomatoes with 2 tablespoons Garlic Basil Seasoning in a skillet, added sausages to reheat and served in hot dog buns!  5 minutes and DONE!

I had everything grilled in less than 20 minutes and that provided the meat for 4 meals!  Which isn’t really true, because we had leftover pork chops and bbq chicken.  I cut up the chicken and mixed it with frozen veggies, instant rice, cream of chicken soup and some milk and baked it for a yummy casserole.  The left over pork chops got cut up in a big salad that had my entire produce drawer in it!

If you are a busy working Mom, please, please, please give 4 meals in 4 minutes an opportunity to feed your family great tasting food fast and save you time, money, energy and your sanity!

Do you have time saving ideas to help?  Write and let me know.

Cindy

Did you ever wonder if, after reading all the blogs that Tami and I write, if we really, really and truly eat Homemade Gourmet?

We really, really and truly do!  I am writing this for three reasons.  The first is that last week I spent the week at the Home Office cooking for the photo shoot for our new Spring Summer Catalog - it is going to be fabulous!  The second is that I actually got to spend a wonderful evening eating dinner with Tami’s family.  And finally, everyone is always asking for NEW SMOOSH meals.

On the way to the house, Tami said (with a twinkle in her eyes), “You’ll love dinner, I can’t wait for you to try the main course!”  By the time we arrived, her son had the Garlic Lemon Pork Chops out of the oven and had made rice and a salad for us.  We had brought some beautiful fingerling potatoes from the photo shoot.  We put the potatoes in a steamer bag with some olive oil and 2 tablespoons of Garlic Basil Seasoning and into the microwave for 5 minutes.  What a great dinner!

You know, Garlic Lemon Chicken or Pork Chops was one of the very first 4 meals in 4 minutes recipes.  It is still featured in our top collection.  I must say that it is still an awesome meal!

As I enjoyed my meal, I listened to Tami’s family recount their day and talk about school and friends and thought how great it is that Homemade Gourmet really does help bring families back to the dinnertable.

Have a delicious week!

I know that Paninis were a fad at least a couple of years ago, but I didn’t go there back then.  Why?  Because, I watched some food show where they made one and I said to myself, “That is nothing more than a glorified grilled cheese sandwich.”  While I still believe that the panini is the sibling to the grilled cheese, I am there now!

I had been making my Paninis with two skillets, one to cook in and my heavy cast iron skillet to use as a weight.  For Christmas, wonderful hubby got me the Rachel Ray Sammi Skillet with the Cast iron weight to smoosh (you knew I would figure out a way to use the word “SMOOSH” for something didn’t you???) the sammis (short for “sammich” - that is how you say it, right?).  Now, my daughter wants me to make her panini to put in her lunch for school.  We use ham, turkey or chicken, with different kinds of cheese (her favorite and mine is Horseradish Cheddar!) and then we add sliced cucumbers, arugula, tomatoes, and roasted red peppers.

If you are going to use arugula, please, please, please, do not spend $4.00 on the teeny, tiny package in the herb section of the produce aisle.  I did this and then when I found I could actually buy it in a bunch, fresh by the lettuce and pay less than half, I was horrified!  If my grandfather or father-in-law were alive, they would classify arugula as some weed you must have picked up from the back yard.  But, it really does have a nice peppery bite that goes well with most every meat and cheese combination you can think of.

 Yes, yes, there is a vegetarian reading this say, “hey, what about me?”  You’ll be happy to know that today for lunch I only had veggies on mine, no meat at all.  Did I mention that I really did use Homemade Gourmet for this meal?  I put a different spread on each one of these.  What are the recipes for the spreads?  Hmmmm.  Well we are using the spread for a whole different reason and I don’t want to spoil the Spring Product Launch, so I will keep it a secret for now.

Just remember, after the launch, and you see some great spread recipes designed for something totally different, you can use them to create great paninis as well.

Happy Eating!

Oh dear…I have neglected my promise!  Don’t worry…we have been eating Homemade Gourmet all week…I just haven’t been mindful of writing about it!  So let me catch you up! 

Gumbo was dinner the night I last wrote.  I had been craving it since I had read a comment about one of you serving it and I needed something to make fast and easy after a long day at the office.  It was great!!  I had a friend come over and share, and while she was here I bagged up several 4m4m meals for her to take home and add her meat.  She was so excited! 

One night we had a variety of pasta dishes that we are ‘testing’ for the spring…they were yummy ~ more to tell in March!

Friday night was my daughter’s 18th birthday party (she turns 18 on the 30th…but this was the day we were all in town to have a party).  We didn’t have dinner that night because the party menu was a variety of finger foods.  Let me just say…the hit of the evening was our Enchilada Sausage Dip! (recipe in the front of our old slow cooker cookbook). 

Today was clean the fridge day…I had some cooked pasta bagged up from the earlier  ‘testing’ so I used it in the following ways.  I heated up some of the leftover sausage dip with a little milk to thin it out and had sausage enchilada pasta.  I heated up a can of diced tomatoes, some chicken broth and garlic basil seasoning  and added to it some of the leftover grilled chicken from the ‘testing’. 

It was all good and made for a nice lunch buffet! 

What do you do with your leftovers?

God Bless and Keep You,

Tami

In today’s Food section of the newspaper, there was an article about sneaking all kinds of odd vegetables into sweet recipes.

Now, I must admit, that I have no problem whatsoever with Carrot Cake (in fact, it is my absolute FAVORITE Homemade Gourmet dessert).  Pumpkin bread and zucchini bread don’t cause me any concern either.  I even make a Butternut Squash pie that is quite yummy.  But some of the recipes in this article made me want to scream, “You put WHAT in there???”

The cover had this beautiful chocolate Bundt cake that had pureed beets - EEEKKK!  The other two - Green Tomato Cake and Carrot-Parsnip Cake didn’t make me hungry at all.  But the ickiest sounding by far was the Mocha Sauerkraut Layer Cake with Milk Chocolare Icing.  Heavens, how nasty does that sound???

I must say that while my taste buds have not indicated the slightest interest in these recipes, I think that my natural curiosity may get the better of me.  After all, we have a dog, so if it is really icky the dog will have a treat (am I awful or what?!?!).

I am trying to be open minded here and of course we always want to be healthy and eat more veggies.  Do you have any sweet recipes that use veggies?  By the way, simply “having” the recipe doesn’t count, you must actually have eaten it.  Ha! - Cindy

I don’t want you to think that I have forgotten my goal to tell you what I am having for dinner each night, but I am going to have to tease you a little tonight since Dinner is a Secret! 

Right now dinner for my family is all about research and development.  That means I am testing recipes for the Spring Kitchen Connection Magazine using products that are not for sale right now but will be available in March.  Thus….the secret!  I really wish I could tell you what was on the table…but I can tell you some comments heard from hubby, 2 of my sons and 2 of their teenage friends:

Friend: “I really like this one…and I don’t usually eat tomatoes”

Son: “that chicken is great…can I have another one?”

Other friend: “this potato salad is good…what is in it?”

Hubby:  “I feel like I am in Tuscany!”

By the way…I must send out a special kudo to my sweet hubby.  You see, it is raining / sleeting and blowing a cold 30 degree wind here today…but I am testing recipes for a summer magazine ~ so….  Dear Hubby fired up the grill and stood in the cold weather all for the sake of research and development.  What a guy!!! 

I did get 11 pounds of ground beef steamed and 15 pounds of chicken breasts steamed and diced and then bagged them all in 1 pound portions for the freezer. I talked to Nanci Smith in St. Louis today and she got her ground beef steamed and in the freezer too! What about you…what’s in your freezer?   

I’m in the office tomorrow, which means no time in the kitchen for R&D, so tomorrow will be something in the slow cooker.  I’ll let you know when I decide what it will be.  There are so many quick and easy choices…not sure where I will start! 

God Bless and Keep You,

Tami