Last Sunday (one FULL week ago), I decided to go ahead and order a month’s supply of Nutri-System food.  I was committed to trying it for three months.  So I placed my order.  Since I wanted to get started ASAP, I paid an extra $20 for expedited shipping - figuring I’d have to wait till Wednesday to get the food.

One week later - still  no Nutri-System food. What a rip-off company!  The $20 was supposed to ensure that the food would be shipping within 24 hours of placing the order.   I didn’t get an email telling me that the food had been shipped until late Tuesday.   The shipment didn’t show up on the UPS tracking until late Wednesday - and it still hasn’t been delivered. “Expedited shipping” apparently means “give us $20 for nothing” in their dictionary.

I’m so ticked off that I cancelled my auto-delivery today, and I will find another diet program.  It was interesting that when I cancelled my deliveries, they didn’t even try to talk me out of it.  I figured they’d probably offer some kind of deal to try to keep me as a customer.  I will still have that first month of food - if it ever arrives, and I will stick the the diet for one month.   Whoever is in charge hasn’t the intelligence to know how to run a company. No company that has such grossly inadequate customer service will continue.  Its doom is certain.   I did a Google search about Nutri-System along with the word “rip-off” and apparently their customer service problems are widespread.  The only question is how long it will take before enough people realize they’re rip-off artists. I guess my $20 and everyone else’s goes to pay for their barrage of commercials that are everywhere. 

 In the grand scheme of things, that $20 isn’t going to make a difference in my life.  It’s just the principle of the matter.  When I talked to the customer representative on the phone earlier today, she explained that the $20 only assured that the order would be shipped within 24-48 hours of receiving the order.  It wasn’t to ship the order via priority shipping or anything like that.  I wonder if that means they typically don’t ship orders within 2 days of receiving them.  I don’t believe they shipped it within 48 hours, but at this point, they’ve lost any future business they might have gotten from me - and I hope that I’ve influenced at least a few other people not to even give them a try. 

I remember as a young girl reading the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck.  What a wonderful story of the search to find beautiful pearls, along with the determination and training necessary long ago for divers to go deep enough in the sea and stay there long enough to find the oysters that contained the prized pearls!  Ever since then I’ve been fascinated by pearls.  Oysters and pearls have always been almost magical - the whole idea of finding something that is valuable and cherished in something as ordinary as an oyster. 

Since I’m an avid reader and writer, I’ve thought about how cool it would be to write a story about finding a magical bed of oysters that, when opened, yielded a truly unusual prize.  I’ve thought and thought, but what could be more special than pearls?  So that’s as far as that particular line of thinking went.  I still think it’s a good idea for a fantasy story, though.

Did I write earlier that oysters are ordinary?  Well no, they’re not!  I also remember having oyster stew as a child.  There’s just nothing that tastes quite like oyster stew.  I love it.  When RT and I went to New Orleans back in 1975, I had raw Gulf oysters for the first time.  I was hesitant since I’d never had raw oysters before, but RT assured me they were wonderful.  So we sprinkled a little hot sauce on them, put them on a cracker, and down the hatch they went!  And he was right - they were great!  Since then, I’ve had fried oysers a few times, although I haven’t tried raw oysters again.  RT, though, always orders oysters on the half shell whenever we’re at the beach and he knows the oysters are fresh.

I’ve learned, though, that eating raw oysters can be dangerous for ‘at risk’ people because of the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria.  At risk people are those with a weakened immune system, diabetes or liver disease.  However researchers are busy developing methods of processing oysers so that they aren’t a threat to at risk consumers.  They are also educating consumers on determining if they are at risk and how to enjoy the delectable taste of oysters without putting themselves at risk.  The webiste with all the information is the Be Oyster Aware website.  Click on over to find out if you are at risk and how to protect yourself.  You’ll find some great oyster recipes while you’re there, too.

 

Over two years ago I wrote about buying a yogurt maker,  and recently I unpacked the box that held that yogurt maker.  A couple days ago I made my first batch of yogurt since I packed it up over 18 months ago.  I have to say, it was delicious.  RT tried it and didn’t care for it which was fine except he wasted an entire cup of my yogurt by leaving it out all night after he decided he didn’t like it! 

I made the yogurt with skim milk, added a little powdered milk to make it creamier, used some plain yogurt for the starter, and put sugar-free apricot preserves in the bottom of each cup because fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt is my favorite. I kept the seven cups of yogurt in the yogurt maker for nine hours before putting them in the refrigerator.  It has a good consistency and I’m very pleased with my efforts, and it was very easy to do.

Thursday night I had an interesting and fun experience. I went to our local Viking store and participated in a class led by Chef Peter Reinhart in making whole grain breads.  The class started at 6:30 and so I planned carefully to be there by 6:20 in order to get a good seat.  I got there, signed in and noticed that everyone else had already signed in.  I should’ve double-checked the start time - the class started at 6:00 - not 6:30.  So much for planning ahead.  I slipped into the “cooking theater” and took my seat on the third row.  I wanted a front row center seat, but that was okay because there really aren’t any bad seats there.  Of course when you sign up for a class, the cost covers not only the class but for all the food and drinks you’ll consume while you’re there.  The classes aren’t cheap.  Still, though, it was really nice.  Each sample of bread came along with a delicious appetizer - delicious gourmet stuff.  And there was wine that was selected to accentuate the taste of the various breads.  It was a lovely evening - even if I didn’t know another person there.  I would love to go through a cooking school just for my own enjoyment.  I have no desire to be a chef or to own a restaurant.  I just enjoy cooking, and I enjoy learning more about it.

I OF COURSE bought the guy’s book. When I arrived late he was in the middle of a very technical description of all the fermenting processes that go on during the mixing and baking of bread. I was lost for the first thirty or so minutes.  The handout they provided was very confusing and I was completely clueless for awhile.  And that was frustrating because it’s BREAD, for heaven’s sake!  We’re not talking about rocket science.  It’s baking a loaf of bread, and it was like trying to learn a foreign language.  For awhile anyway.  Gradually I began to understand, and eventually I was right with what he was talking about, and I loved it. He used a stand mixer to do all kneading, and now I know what “gadget” I want next.

One of the best parts of the class is that at the end, Chef Reinhart took the starter he had and added to it so he’d have enough starter to make the breads he needed to make for the next class he’d teach in a couple days.  He made enough starter to give each class participant a small amount of it.  So now I have a small container of whole wheat starter, and a small container of rye starter.   Now I have those two starters from Chef Reinhart, in addition to the sourdough starter Miss Edna Mae in our church gave me.  Anybody want some bread starter? 

I made this for RT’s company party last week.  It is delicious, and it makes a lot.  This is for 5-6 servings.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

First prepare the chicken:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. chicken (I used boneless chicken breasts and thighs)

1 rib celery, chopped

1 small onion, quartered

2 bay leaves

Combine the chicken, celery, onion and bay leaves.  Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken from broth, cool, debone (if needed) and chop.  Set the chicken aside.  Discard the bay leaves.  Save the broth, onion and celery.

Now it’s time to make the gumbo:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 cups diced onion

1 cup chopped celery 

6 cups chicken broth

1 pound sliced okra

1/2 pound turkey link sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices

Hot cooked rice

In a large pan, combine the oil and flour and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the roux is a dark brown.  This will take about 15-20 minutes.  Stir in the diced onion and chopped celery.  Cook for about 10 minutes.  Add 6 cups of the reserved broth (including the onion and celery that was cooked earlier with the chicken), the chopped chicken, okra and sausage.  Bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer for an hour or longer.  Serve over the cooked rice. 

This is REALLY delicious gumbo, and by using chicken and turkey sausage, it’s on the healthy side, too.

Last year I wrote about what I make for a New Year’s Day meal.  The meal is filled with tradition and symbolism.  I can’t think of a better way to start a new year of living. Since I enjoyed last year’s New Year’s Day meal so much, I thought I would re-print that menu and description of symbolism here.  Enjoy!

On January 1, 2008,  I will cook my version of a New Year’s Day meal. Here’s the menu, the recipes and the symbolism - some serious and some definitely tongue-in-cheek:

Menu
Hoppin’ John

Tossed Salad

Cornsticks

Sweet Iced Tea

Recipes

Hoppin’ John

1 can mild tomato/jalopena mixture (RoTel) If you like things a little spicier, use regular RoTel.

2 cans black-eyed peas

1 can diced tomatoes (optional - I love tomatoes)

1/2 lb link of turkey sausage

Cut the turkey sausage into bite-size pieces - dump everything together and cook. You can serve this over rice or mix some rice in it, or eat it by itself with no rice. It’s delicious riceless or not.

Tossed Salad

Lots of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, grated carrots, diced bell peppers with grated cheddar cheese on top.

Cornbread Sticks

2 cups cornmeal MIX

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, well-beaten

buttermilk (enough to make a good batter)

Pour into cast iron cornstick pans that have been sprayed with Pam and pre-heated in a 425 oven. The batter should sizzle when you pour it into the pans. Bake until golden brown. Serve hot. I like to crumble a cornstick or two into my hoppin’ john.

Sweet Iced Tea

4 family-size tea bags

1 gallon distilled water (You don’t HAVE to use distilled water, but that’s what I always use).

1 cup Splenda

Put the tea bags in a 4-cup measuring cup, fill with some of the water and microwave on high for about 6 minutes. Let it sit (steep) for about 5 minutes. Pour into a pitcher and add the remaining water to make one gallon. Add the Splenda and stir. DELICIOUS and refreshing!

SYMBOLISM

The blackeyed peas in the Hoppin’ John symbolize coins - a sign of prosperity for the new year. May there be lots of that in 2008. The turkey sausage symbolizes my American heritage - the wild turkeys from the first Thanksgiving. For me, it also reminds me of the land where RT and I live - dozens of wild turkeys reside here. The tomatoes and jalopenas symbolize good taste and spiciness. May I never grow too old to be spicy.

The leaves of lettuce in the salad are a symbol of folding money - currency. Again, may there be lots of that in 2008. The tomatoes remind me of the fruits of summer, the carrots for year-round bounty, and the cheese for the perfection of aging (I wish!).

The corn in the cornsticks is another symbol of my American heritage. Enough corn for good health, enough oil to smooth out the rough places in life, an egg to remind me of the newness of life, and the buttermilk to remind me that the sour places in life make the good places all the more sweet. Baking the cornsticks in cast-iron pans reminds me of what the American pioneers used in their travels cross country to explore new lands.

The iced tea is symbolic of my Southern roots. Sweet iced tea is pure Southern! The Splenda makes it something I can drink without worrying about calories. RT and I go through a gallon of this tea about every two or three days. I make several gallons every single week. I have to admit that I almost always used decaf tea so I can drink it in the evenings without worrying about it affecting my sleep.

There you have it! A New Year’s day feast with some traditional and some Carol-grown symbolism attached.

There’s a Panera Bread restaurant near us, and RT and I love their Broccoli Cheddar soup.  I did an internet search to find the recipe.  The problem was that there were different recipes that all claimed to be THE Panera Bread recipe.  There were some common ingredients, though, and so I could figure out the basics of the recipe.  Most of the recipes recommended putting all the ingredients in a blender at the end.  However, I like little chunks of veggies in my soup.  Nothing substantial or large, but enough to give the soup a little texture.  So I left out the blending step.  Instead, I diced  all the veggies finely and then sauteed them together before adding them to the soup.

When RT and I had his office Christmas party here last week, we decided to have soup and sandwiches as the mainstays of the dinner.  I took a leap of faith and decided to make two soups I’d never made before:  Chicken and sausage gumbo, along with the broccoli cheddar soup.   I’ll save the gumbo for a later post (it was wonderful!), and I’ll present the broccoli cheddar soup here.   The soup turned out great - and it looked really pretty, too.  After I made the soup and the gumbo, I put each into a crock pot, turned the crock pot on warm, and then set out bowls and spoons and let my guests serve themselves.  It was a great way to handle a dinner party.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

1 T. butter

1/2 medium onion, diced finely

1/2 pound fresh broccoli, chopped well

1 cup carrots, shredded

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups half-and-half

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

salt and pepper, to taste

8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

Saute onion in 1 Tablespoon butter.  After about five minutes, add the shredded carrots and chopped broccoli and saute briefly.  Put lid on pan (so veggies will continue to cook) and set aside.  Combine the 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup flour in a large saucepan using a whisk.  Cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Slowly add the half-and-half, stirring constantly, until thick.  Add the chicken stock, whisking all the time.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the onion/carrot/broccoli mixture, and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender - about 20-30 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the grated cheese and nutmeg.  Stir until blended.  Enjoy.

RT wanted dessert after dinner tonight, and so he looked around to see what was in the pantry, and he came up with his own recipe which he christened “Nilla Nipples.”  Very appropriately named, I might add.  More important than the name is the fact that they’re really tasty, too!  After the third or fourth batch, I decided to take a picture to post here.  That’s the photo above - shortly before the Nilla Nipples were devoured.  RT says that if we had bananas, he’d put a slice of banana under the chocolate chips - and that sounds mighty tasty, too. Then we’d have “Nilla-Nana Nipples.”

Nilla Nipples

Nilla Wafers (I guess any vanilla wafer would do, but I prefer the Nilla Wafers brand)

chocolate chips (whatever kind you like.  We had milk chocolate chips tonight)

Place Nilla Wafers in a single layer on a microwave safe dish.  Place several chocolate chips on top of each Nilla Wafer - with the points up.  Microwave on high for approximately ten seconds.  Enjoy your Nilla Nipples.

This is in the oven as I type this.  It smells wonderful.  I’m taking it to our church’s potluck dinner after church tomorrow.  I know it will taste as delicious as it smells.  (Later note:  It is certifiably delicious!  RT, Lillian (my MIL) and I couldn’t resist - we each had a tiny sliver tonight.  Wow!  VERY good.

 Lemon Chess Pie

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornmeal

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon peel (lemon zest)

pinch of salt

 Mix well.  Bake at 325 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Here’s another great appetizer to serve at a holiday party. 

Fried Cheese Melt-In-Your-Mouth Appetizers

1 lb cheese (Monterey Jack, American, Swiss, Mozzarella, Colby, Cheddar - whatever is your favorite)

vegetable oil

1 cup Bisquick baking mix

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

Cut the cheese into cubes.  Add oil to a saucepan to two-inches in depth, and bring up to 375 degrees.  Combine baking mix, milk and egg and mix until smooth.  Insert a round wooden pick into each cheese cube; dip into batter, covering the cheese completely.  Fry several cubes at a time, turning carefully until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.  makes about 45 appetizers.