So, I do believe I have mentioned before that I have a commitment issue. That is partly to blame for my non posting. I still cook stuff on a regular basis, I still drive almost every day but I have a lot going usually and blogging kinda falls between the cracks and gets forgotten. Since I last posted I did a casting call for a tv show that never went through, crashed my computer (big reason for not blogging), got divorced, hit the big three-oh,  started to buy a house, moved in with my parents until I can get the previously mentioned house bought and livable (long story), sit at home bitching about being bored because I am more of a lame ass single than I was married, and am in the process of loosing my freaking mind.

I have came up with several recipes since I posted last. I may see about remembering which ones are worth blogging and post a few of them. Maybe if I go through my facebook and instagram posts, my memory will be refreshed. I definitely should post the blueberry swirl cheesecake with brandy sauce that I made a friend as a birthday gift. 

The TV show, It was a truck driving reality show. A friend made through YouTube called me one day and told me to send an email to this address and tell them that I may be interested in a part. They called me like crazy for a couple weeks but never left a message. I ignored it because I was behind on a couple bills and thought it was a bill collector. I finally answered it one day by accident. Boy was I ever surprised when I heard a British accent on the other end saying that they would like me to do an "interview." A couple days later, I was wired with sound equipment and had a camera man in my truck. It was a cool experience even though it was a flop.

The computer: Well, it was actually her computer and I just used it. She somehow shut the antivirus off and it got infected. We didn't worry about fixing it because there were more important things to pay for.

Divorce: Never a good subject/ I could go on and on being bitter and hateful but I'm above that. It happened, kids are involved, I kept my truck and Harley. Coulda been worse.

The house: UGH! I have was buying the house we lived in off of my parents, on contract. Since I was minus 2 people (ex and step son) I didn't need all that room. The house next to my parents was foreclosed on. I saw a cheap opportunity. My parents have a few rentals and tld them they could have the house back if I got the other one and we would just treat it like I was a tenant. Im dealing with the bank that has the place next to my parents with the help of my old man and a realtor. Dad spoke with the bank that has the place and the realtor and was sure that they were going to take my offer. He started bugging me about getting out of the place I was in and staying with him and mom til I got the other place bought and remodeled. I finally gave in and moved out so he would shut the hell up about it. Like most times that I have listened to him before, it was a mistake. The day I got all my stuff out of the old house I got a call saying that the bank counter offered for WAY more than I was willing to pay. This place needs some serious remodeling and I'm not paying any more than I absolutely have to for it. A month and a half later, I'm still dicking with the bank on the price and going completely freaking crazy staying in my parents spare bed room

Lame: Yep, I said it. I am LAME as hell. I don't go out much, I have had several friends try to set me up on a blind date with one of their "awesome friends" but I always say no. I have a few lady friends that have expressed interest but am not really interested at the moment. I work and usually sit at home on the weekends with my kids. That's good enough for me... But I do think I'll go out and have a few drinks this evening. I'm ready for some adult interaction and I NEED to get away from the old man for a bit. He's driving me crazy!

Til the next time that I randomly remember I have a blog, Be awesome! 

Double Tree Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you have stayed in a Double Tree Hotel or have had the chocolate chip cookies that I make, then you know what they are. If not, then you are missing out on quite possibly the best use of flour, butter, sugar, eggs and chocolate in the world. When you stay in a Double Tree, they give each guest a warm chocolate chip cookie upon check in. I first had one when I went to Chicago with Cas Smith and his parents for a blues festival. I forgot all about them until last year when me and Belinda went to a Jimmy Buffett concert in Indy and stayed at the Double Tree in Carmel, In. I like to try to duplicate recipes and this is one that I had to try to crack. Several dozen dozens of cookies later, I think that I have it about as close as you can get without paying a bill and a half per night at the hotel for a cookie.

You'll need
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of oat flour (I grind up oatmeal in my magic bullett)
1 cup packed brown sugar (i make my own with plain granulated sugar and molasses)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup crushed walnuts
2 sticks of room temp butter
2 eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups MILK chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 375

Cream butter, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice and sugars together. Add salt and soda and mix for about 30 seconds. Blend flours in 1/2 cup at a time. Stir nuts and chocolate in. Drop on a parchment line baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes, rotating pan half way through to ensure even cooking. Cool on pan for 2-3 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy the hell outta them cookies!

Turkey and Noodles

I am a big fan of leftovers. As a matter of fact, everyone in the family is. I guess that is a good thing seeing how I always cook too much. Holidays where a big meal expected are no exception. There are 5 of us in my house. Me and Belinda and 3 kids, 9, 5 and 2. I count heads and cook for adults. It is a habit , maybe from my days as kitchen help in a small restaurant. The plus side is that there is always some extra. The down side is that I need a bigger fridge to stick the stuff in. We didn't have an exorbitant feast for thanksgiving this year but it was by no means, a meager meal. We made a whole turkey, instead of just a breast, for the first time in forever. That left us with quite the overabundance of poultry. I really am not a fan of turkey unless its thin sliced deli lunch meat so I have to figure out ways to use the leftovers. The first thing that came to mind is turkey and noodles. I know!Feakin turkey and noodles? Its good stuff though,and easy to make. If you choose to make it, here the deal This was made with the "That'll do" method... No exact measurements, just approximates. Dump in what you think will be enough because that'll do.

2 handfuls of left over turkey, chopped up
1 bag of egg noodles (I use the Amish kluski noodles)
2 large carrots, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 leek, cut length ways and diced
1/2 stick of butter
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of celery
black pepper, salt and chicken bullion powder. however much you want, that'll do
1 packet of turkey gravy.

Saute' carrots, leek and celery in butter til it starts to soften up and set aside. Boil the noodles to Al Dente' and dump out some water. You need just enough that it covers the noodles. Add the rest of the stuff to the pot.



Simmer for about a half an hour, stirring every once in a while. Add a little bit of water if it is too thick for your liking.


Go ahead and put it on top of some of those left over mashed taters because everyone know that your carb intake is nowhere near the front of your mind during this time of the year.



Enjoy

Mandarin Orange Cranberry Sauce

I would bet that almost every blogger that posts about food has done a full spread on the meal that they prepared for Thanksgiving. I belong to a food smoking forum (although I haven't been active on there for a few months) and we post everything that we make on a smoker there. If you want to check it out it is http://www.smoked-meat.com and click on the forum tab. You'll have to join to post but you can lurk all day with no commitment. Anyhow, back to the original idea of the post. I am not going to subject you to the full menu of this years Turkey Day feast. For once in a good while, I did not steal the show and kick everyone else out of the kitchen... Mostly because I was 4 hours away. The day before Thanksgiving is usually my time to prepare for it. I try to make as much as I can ahead of time so that I can concentrate on the turkey on Thanksgiving. This year I was stuck in North Chicago at a paper mill for 8 hours the day before and didn't make it home until about 5AM Thanksgiving day. Belinda prepared all of the side dishes except for the cranberries the night before, while I was sitting in the loading dock. I am grateful! I got a few hours of sleep and started the bird. While I was waiting for the turkey I was bored out of my gourd so I started looking for something to do and I realized that we didn't have cranberries. Honestly, I can do without the turkey but I have to have the cranberries. I had Belinda pick some up while she was out running an errand. Here is how I do mine


1 bag (12oz) fresh cranberries
1 1/4 C white sugar
1 C water
1 chai tea bag
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1-2 drops rum extract
1 large can of Mandarin oranges (drained)
1/2 C crushed walnuts

Put water, sugar, extract, and pumpkin pie spice in an medium sized sauce pan on medium heat. Stir just til the sugar melts and put the tea bag in. Continue to heat til boiling. Remove the tea bag and squeeze the liquid out of it into the pan. Put the cranberries in and cover. Let boil for 5 minutes and turn to low. Remove the lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in oranges. Chill in the fridge til cold and top with walnuts and whipped cream. Also goes good on pumpkin pie

South Texas style Barbacoa

My buddy James posted on Facebook bout stopping for some barbacoa a while back. Since seeing it I have wanted some. I haven't been to Texas much in the last several years and the times that I have been there, I haven't been able to find a good barbacoa place. I searched the net for a recipe and this is the one I decided sounded best. http://bit.ly/uNzWBy I made it almost the same as in the link. My variation is as follows.

One of my smokers is broken, the other is a pain in the arse to use and burns up charcoal almost as fast as I can feed it so I used the indirect heat method my gas grill. One burner on low with a foil pack of hickory wood chips over it and the meat on the other end. The temperature stayed about 270 degrees on the cooking end of my grill. I let it go for about 2 hours so that it would get the smoke flavor. I took it in the house, cut it up into 4 big pieces and threw it in the crock pot with a can of Rotel tomatoes, set it to high and left it for about 6 hours. When the meat was done (I went to 200 degrees with it) I used a slotted spoon so remove it from the liquid and tomatoes. I then put the liquid and tomatoes in a sauce pot with the juice from one lime and about 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro. I pureed this with my immersion blender and reduced it down to about half quantity and poured on the shredded meat just before serving.

Onion Rolls

So i was sitting there the other day thinking that I wanted hamburgers. That is about the best use of ground beef I know of. Plain hamburgers are great, fancy dressed up hamburgers are awesome too, but the best hamburger is any kind that you stuff in an onion roll. I had already been to the grocery store for the week and did not want to make another trip for a bag of onion rolls so I made some. Here's how...

6 1/2 C bread flour
1/3 C sugar
3 tsp (t) salt
3 packages active dry yeast
1/2 stick softened butter
2 cups hot tap water
2 Tablespoons onion powder
3 Tablespoons of dehydrated minced onion

Put minced onion in a bowl and cover with HOT water. Let set until the onion is re hydrated and drain.
Put 3 cups of flour, sugar, salt, onion powder, yeast and butter in a bowl. mix well. Make a well in the center and pour water in while stirring. add flour 1/2 cup at a time until it gets to hard to stir with a spoon. Turn onto a floured surface and work the rest of the flour into the dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, spray the top of dough with Pam and cover with plastic wrap. Put in oven and turn to 400 degrees for 1 minute and shut off. Let rise til doubled in bulk. Punch dough and divide into 2.5 ounce portions. Shape dough into balls. Roll the tops of them in the re hydrated minced onion and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 3" apart. Let rise again til almost doubled in size. Bake in a 390 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. The most important step of this recipe is to enjoy them with gusto!

*If you have a sweet Kitchenaid mixer like I do, I assume that you know how to make dough in it... Use it!
** These rolls are quite dense and large so if you plan on using them for a sandwich I would suggest slicing them twice. Once near the top and once near the bottom. The middle piece can be enjoyed by its self or saved for bread crumbs or croutons

Trucking Ramblings...

It was quite an uneventful week. I was supposed to run from Paris to Jonesboro AR all week, delivering one Sunday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. I started early on Sunday with a water leak and an overloaded tank. I am legal for 80,000 pounds, just like all 5 axle class 8 combinations. With 3/4 of a tank of fuel I weighed 81,500. I had to blow some product back into the star 2 bin at the mill. I freakin hate the star bins. It is about a 300 for push and had several 90 degree elbows and lots of horizontal line. I asked a guy that has been working for us forever and he told be that that product should flow at 250-300 lbs per minute. So I hooked up to the pipe, cranked it to 15 psi and let er rip. We contract for 48,000 pounds so i was going to take off 3,000 and figured that would take 10 minutes. I ended up running about 500 pounds a minute putting my net at 46,200 and gross around 75,000. Cool, I get a light load. I delivered the first one and made it back to Mt Vernon IL before I was out of hours and cussing at my tracking device. I took off the next morning for home, fully prepared to turn and burn back to Arkansas. My goal was to try getting far enough ahead that I delivered my Saturday load on Friday. I got back to town and the mill was down for repairs. So much for getting ahead! I took Monday off and went down again on Tuesday, delivered it and got back to Mt Vernon. I was thinking that I could still get the Saturday load delivered on Friday... if everything worked out right and I kept that left door shut. I was doing 615 miles a day and stopping an hour short of my allotted driving time. It could be done. Wednesday, I got home and found that the rest of the Jonesboro loads had been canceled and I was going West, to Kearney, Nebraska. I haven't been on that run since my first week at PTI. Don't ask me how I remember this. I just do. The change of scenery was nice. I get to Cedar Rapids enough that I can tell you about where every bump is between here and Iowa City. West of I380 is a different story. I actually had to get out my truck stop directory to figure out where I was going to shut down on the way out. Anyone that says Iowa is flat apparently hasn't been there. West of Des Moines are some rolling hills that make the ol' Georgia Overdrive work quite well. I delivered Thursday in Kearney, Ne and picked up a load of seed corn in Waco, Ne, bound for Plainfield, In. I left Waco heading east and put Slimer's nose in the wind. Slimer is the name of my truck, by the way. I had to make good time if I wanted to hit my daily mileage goal. Coming through Omaha I saw something that I have somehow overlooked every time I have been through there, Kenefick Park. Something big and orange, lit up against the evening sky caught my eye. Its was a UP locomotive. Then I saw something gray and round. I twist my neck just a little bit farther... Is it a Challenger? HELL NO THATS A BIG BOY!! A 4-8-8-4 ALCO steamer, the biggest baddest coal burning hoss to run U.P. tracks. I almost broke my neck looking at it! Now what is that Diesel? It looked rather large. I googled it later and found that it is also a rare breed, what U.P. called a Centennial or a Big Jack. Its an EMD DDA40X, The longest and most powerful Diesel Locomotive ever built. I'm going to have to get up to that park some time and see if I can crawl around on those dudes!



I made it a little more than half way across Iowa for a total of 624 miles and beat my daily goal. Friday was my screw off day. The way I see it, I ran pretty good this week with the exception of Monday where I spent most of the day at the house. I ran over 600 miles every day this week at an average of between 62 and 64 miles an hour. Although nothing compared to what I used to do when I could run the way I wanted to with no consequences as long as I didn't crash, it's still pretty good. In a governed and satellite tracked truck you have to keep moving fairly consistantly if you want to make this kind of miles. Friday was boring except for my stop at the Walcott TA and Iowa 80 chrome shop. .



If I had a million dollars, I could walk in that place and probably come out broke. After a short (for me) visit there I headed home to think about what good stuff I was going to cook this weekend... Stay tuned for those recipes