Chinese Wings

Wanted to add another "very simple" recipe that we love all the time. Chicken wings are the favorite part of the chicken for us. Just cut the wing into 3 pieces throwing away the tip. Put the other two pieces into a large zip lock bag. Fill the bag with soy sauce, close and put into a bowl and let it marianate for a few hours or overnight.

When you are ready to cook just put the pieces on a baking sheet and back for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Check for doneness and add 15 minutes if necessary. Has a wonderful Chinese flavor and is great any time. Enjoy, I sure will this evening. Mine are already marianating in the fridge.

Folding Paper

I just thought of another example of Mr. Wizards teachings. How many times do you think you can fold a piece of paper by folding it in half each time? You can't fold a piece of paper more than "7" times. Give this one a try.

Science Experiment

One of most amazing things I every saw done watching Mr. Wizard was when he cut a hole in a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 inch paper that you can actually walk through with the paper still being in tack. Every time I show a child it simply makes them think they have seen the impossible. You can see it done in the following link to a youtube video. Try it yourself. It's really easy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQEz9Lpugsk Have fun.

A Langley Tradition

One of the most favorite things we have to have at all family gatherings is "Bacon Roll Ups". They are easy and so tasty. All you need is a pound of thin sliced bacon, a loaf of sandwich bread and a container of cream cheese with chives. Toothpicks are needed as well.

First you cut the edges away from the bread and then cut the bread into 3 equal strips. You then spread the cream cheese onto the bread. Cut the bacon in half and it sometimes helps if you put it into the freezer to make it more manageable. Roll the bread strip up, wrap a half strip of bacon around it and stick a toothpick through to hold it. Place them on a baking sheet and back at 350 degrees until the bread toasts a light brown.

You need to make a lot because you just pop them into your mouth and pull out the toothpick and they will go very quickly. And of course we usually have to go along with these roll ups a good supply of sausage balls. For them you would need 3 cups of Bisquick, 4 cups of finely shredded cheddar cheese and 1 pound of bulk sausage and hot works better than mild.

Just combine all three ingredients in a "large" mixing bowl and work very hard until you end up with a ball. Pinch off enough to roll into a thumb sized ball and bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 35o degrees until they are lightly browned.

You simply can't loose with either of these recipes. Have fun and enjoy.
Odie

Simple Foods

Going along with the "Simple Life" idea I like to cook but don't have the patience to do things like baking bread where I have to wait for it to rise, etc. For me simple is better.

Outside grilling has not been one of my favorite things to do either so I use my oven a lot. For pork ribs I like to use the large turkey bags placed on a large rectangular metal pan. I salt & pepper the meat and place into the bag. Shake some crushed red pepper over them and add about a quart of apple cider vinegar and seal the end making a small vent hole in the top. Bake them at 300 for about 4 hours. the bones will come out with no resistance and the meat will be fork tender.

We love chicken and I like to place chicken pieces into my oval slow cooker and then cover the chicken with a mixture of cream of celery and cream of chicken soup and cook for 4 to 6 hours. The chicken will be falling apart and the sauce is wonderful. So simple.

Barbeque is a staple in the south and my father used to cook a pig every friday when I was young. He cooked it over an open pit using hickory wood and then would chop it up with two cleavers on a section of a tree trunk into BBQ seasoned with only salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and vinegar. I do the same only I cook a pork loin in my pressure cooker and then do the chopping and seasoning. Comes out the same.

Another simple thing to make is stuffed peppers. I use 3 or 4 large green bell peppers with the top cut off, seeds & membrane removed. I mix ground beef with salt, pepper, finely diced onion and an egg. Then I stuff the peppers with this mixture and place in a pot that accomodates the amount I am using. Any extra meat mixture I just make into balls and place around the peppers. I use chickin broth to almost cover the peppers and then add long grain rice just poured around the peppers into the broth, about 1 1/2 cups. Cooks quickly and the peppers give everything such a good flavor. Hope you like some of these.

Picking Cotton

Growing up in rural Nash County NC was an adventure at times. My father operated a small country store which was enough to keep all of us busy. However, he had a couple of acres of land that he just had to do something with.

Every year he would choose something different to plant on that piece of ground. It may be field peas, tomatoes, canteloupes, watermellons, peppers, squash or cotton.

Today you see cotton fields and at harvest time these huge bales appear in the fields. Back then, in the 50's, cotton picking was done by hand picking one puff of cotton at a time putting it into a sack you carried. It was a long tedious job and seemed like you worked forever and accumulated a small amount of cotton fibers. You see you were paid by the number of pounds of cotton you picked. To make matter worse your fingers would get stuck by the pointed parts of the plant adding to your misery.

Luckily my dad only tried cotton one year and that was enough for this country boy. My time could be better spent exploring the woods with my dog "Poochy" who looked like Benji.

Monday

7:10 AM and I feel like I've already done a days work. Rough way to start off a monday but stuff like that happens. I was loading trash into the dumpster with our fork lift and it gave out of gas so I had to leave it parked in the parking lot. Just got a call from one of my techs that will not be in today for health reasons. What's next? Time to redo my schedule to account for one being absent so later folks. You have an awesome day!!