Bowling for Dinner (and lunch and breakfast)

Katie and I have an affinity for eating out of a bowl. It's cozy and comfortable having all your food in one smallish container. It won't work for those of you who can't stand to have your food touching.

I also don't really care for eating at a table. I prefer to eat on the sofa, cross-legged, watching a movie, chatting and laughing. Casual-like. So, a bowl is perfect for that. You don't have to balance a plate on your knees and worry about your food sliding off into the floor or onto your pants.

So, I've decided to see how many meals I can come up with that will fit into a bowl.

This morning, I had a Breakfast Bowl. I put grits in first.

I have put crumbled buttered toast on the bottom, too. Then I fried a couple of eggs and put them on top of the grits.

                                      

I have also had scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, sausage and cheese. Any combo of those will work. Then for lunch I had a BBQ Sandwich Bowl. I told you, I'm laying off bread, so I just put the bbq and sauce in the bottom of the bowl and heated it in the microwave. If you wanted to, you could use french fries or onion rings as your first layer.

Then topped it with cole slaw. We put cole slaw ON our sandwiches in NC.

Some other Meal Bowls that I've made are:

Chili Burger Bowl: Grill a burger, add cheese if you want, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, chili and slaw. Cut up the burger in the bowl first so you don't have to wrestle with a knife. Then add all the ingredients that you want. I suppose you could do the same with a Chili Dog Bowl just cut up a hot dog instead of a burger.

Asian Bowl: Brown rice topped with any stir-fry combination of your choice. You could use noodles instead of rice.

Italian Bowl: Any kind of pasta and sauce topped with cheese.

Mexican Bowl: One of our favorites! Layer refried beans or black beans or pintos with seasoned beef or chicken, cheese, onion, tomato, shredded lettuce, salsa and sour cream. You could put the ingredients in any order you choose and add anything else you want. Eat with corn chips.

Chicken Club Bowl: Grilled chicken, cheese if you want, bacon, tons of lettuce and tomato topped with dressing of your choice. (Yes, a grilled chicken salad, but this is more fun to call it a Meal Bowl!)

Grilled Salmon Bowl: Same as the chicken club but with grilled salmon.

Here are some other Meal Bowls that I've thought of that I'm going to try:

Thanksgiving in a Bowl: Dressing or mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and green beans.

All American Meatlof Dinner Bowl: Mini meatloaf made in muffin tin, mashed potatoes topped with peas.

Philly Cheese Steak Bowl: French fries, meat, cheese, mushrooms, onions and peppers.

As you can tell, you basically take anything you want to eat and put it in a bowl and you're Bowling For Dinner!

Can Barbecue Really be the Second Objective?

I'm off today to visit my father and my stepmother in Virginia. I haven't seen them in 5 years. My stepmother is recovering from surgery for lung cancer and still in the hospital. My father is 88 years old. We're going to eat and watch television. We will eat barbecue and peach cobbler. That's what we do.

From here, we have to go through South Carolina and North Carolina to get to Virginia. If you go to South Carolina you MUST pick up some peaches. And if you go to North Carolina you MUST eat barbecue. North Carolina is known for its barbecue with a vinegar based sauce. I will also eat barbecue in South Carolina when I pick up the peaches. I will also eat it in Virginia. There's a place near my father's house called "Short Sugar's." I think it is my favorite barbecue, ever! Then Dad and I will make peach cobbler in his cobbler pan and eat it while watching something historical on television.

The prime objective: visit with the parents. Second objective: eat barbecue and peach cobbler.

More Adventures in British Food - Blood Pudding!

I was so happy with my culinary success at mastering Beans on Toast, that I decided to keep exploring British Food. So, I went back to the Corner Shop on Marietta Square and asked Tina's Mum what I should try next. They both keep touting "The Full English Breakfast" with fried eggs, British bacon, sausages, fried mushrooms, fried "toe-mah-toes" (she chuckled at my saying "toe-may-toes") and beans. I told her that it wasn't much of a novelty for me since Steave throws everything he can find in a frying pan for breakfast. A bit irritated, I think, at my dismissing her Full English breakfast so quickly, Tina's Mum turned and said with a gleam in her eye, "What about blood pudding?"

The gleam was a challenge and I said, "Ok!" The gleam left her eye and was replaced with shock which slowly melted into admiration, "So, you'll try it then?" she asked. "Yes!" I said confidently even with the lump of disgust in my throat. But I couldn't back down.

She pulled the frozen roll of pudding out of the freezer and quickly talked me into a package of British bacon which looked like thin sliced pork chops. I took them both. "Steave will eat anything" was the justification for my purchases.

Several of my friends were with me on the outing to the Square and when I told them what I bought they all moaned, put their hands over their mouths and took a step away from me. I clearly saw that I had crossed a line. What line it was, I don't know, but I crossed it. I smiled nervously and said, "I'm gonna try it!"

One of my friends asked why it was called pudding. I went back in the store and asked Tina's Mum and she laughed loudly and we all joined her, not really knowing what was so funny, but suspecting that it was our American ignorance. Taking a breath, she said, "I don't know. Why don't you look it up on the internet."

So, I did and the first definition was "a sausage with various fillers" then came "a sweet dessert." Ok, so I didn't know that. I mentioned it to my brother-in-law and he said that he used to eat blood sausage when he was little. I found out that it was really the same sort of thing. Well, thinking of it as sausage rather than pudding made it a little more bearable. There's just something gross about putting blood and pudding together.

So, today was the day of the trying. I let the pudding thaw in the fridge and pulled the roll out today.

It was a little disturbing to read "beef blood" among the list of ingredients. But I went ahead and cut the pudding into discs as instructed by Tina's Mum.

It was deep red. That's ok, I told myself, I kept my focus and fried it up.

It smelled pretty good as it was cooking. Then the moment came. With a tight throat and the most horrid suggestions of how it should taste running through my mind.....I took a bite.

It was absolutely delicious!! It reminded me of the sausage I am familiar with. It was much richer, however, and I am sure that is because of the blood. But it didn't taste like blood, it was surprisingly good.

I was on a roll! I quickly put the bacon on to cook...

Absolutely brilliant!! Where has this been all my life? I am used to thin, mostly fat, strips of bacon. This is mostly meat and not as salty as our bacon. It looks like our country ham, but not flavored like it.

America! This is the way bacon should be!!

Ok, 3 British food victories. What's next?

The Healing Elixer - Sweet Tea

Just not feeling yourself? Just feel blah? You need a glass of tea! In my family, we call it "The Healing Elixir."

I took the photo above last week because I knew I was going to write about sweet tea, eventually. You can't live in the South and not have an opinion about it. When my daughter-in-law texted me yesterday, I knew that my next post would be about sweet tea.

Sweet tea is a staple in the South just like grits, cornbread, and being able to insult someone but totally reverse the insult by adding, "...bless their heart." Example: "Mary is as dumb as a stump, bless her heart."

Down here, when you say you want some tea, it is automatically assumed that you mean sweet iced tea. If you want hot tea or unsweetened tea, you must specify. It's just like in Atlanta, if you say you want a drink, you mean a Coca Cola.

My brother has traveled up and down the east coast many times and he knows exactly the last spot to get iced tea on his way up North. It's somewhere in Virginia and that is why "it is questionable as to whether or not they are actually part of The South."

Everybody and their grandma have their "special" way of making tea. A great debate. The amount of sugar is always an issue. Some people like what I call "tea flavored syrup." Some make it so weak it's like drinking plain sugar water. There are also "Tea Makers." I have had one, but the tea never tasted right. Some people make their tea in the microwave - I think the microwaves are too harsh on the tea leaves, it tastes a little bitter to me. Some make their tea in their coffemakers. Sacrilege! You never mix the bean with the leaf! There is also a question as to whether or not you squeeze the tea bags. See? Many, many variables in the making of sweet tea.

Just like everybody else, I have my special way. And since I have had many a sweet tea connoisseur come to my house and compliment my tea, I'll give you my recipe. I have never read a recipe for making sweet tea and out of curiosity I looked on line at some. Oh my Lord! It is so complicated! The one that came closest to mine was The Goddess of Southern Cooking Herself, Paula Deen. She, however, adds one step more than I do and we use different brands of tea and different amounts of sugar.

My Sweet Tea
(for the person who likes the flavor of tea and doesn't want to go into a sugar coma after drinking)
Heat tap water in a saucepan to boiling on the stove.
Remove from heat and wait until the boil stops.
Add 4 family size Lipton tea bags. (Most swear by Luzianne, but I prefer the taste of Lipton)
Let the bags steep for at least 5 minutes, more for stronger tea. But don't let the water cool down totally.(If you let it cool down, then you'll have to dissolve your sugar in hot water to combine it with tea. Sugar won't dissolve in cool liquid and you'll have mountains of sugar at the bottom of your pitcher, gross!)
While the tea is steeping, put 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a gallon pitcher that has a cover. (Paula says 2 cups)
Pour hot tea over sugar in pitcher and stir until sugar has dissolved.
Add cool water to fill the pitcher, stirring to combine with tea/sugar mixture.
Cover and let the tea sit out until it is room temperature.
When it has cooled, cover and put in fridge.
If you don't cover, it will absorb all the nasty odors in the fridge. If you don't refrigerate it, it will spoil quickly. After the tea has been refrigerated, it will be sweeter. So, the next day, you might want to add water to your glass if you don't like it that sweet.

Now, one of the greatest cooks in the world, Rosie Michael, had a secret ingredient: baking soda. She would add just a pinch to her tea and people swear that it made it better. Her grandson, my nephew, Troy, does that and people rave about his sweet tea.

Well, there you go, honey. (another Southern thing: calling everyone honey or sweetie) I hope you enjoy. Please let me know your "special" way of making sweet tea. But let's do promise not to argue - let's appreciate each other's differences. I mean, after all, let's not start another "Silver War" over iced tea! Even though I am sure yours won't be as good as mine, bless your heart!

Beans & Toast

I mentioned Beans & Toast in yesterday's post. So, I went on line and found several recipes and a couple of videos on how to make it. (If you are British and are reading this I know you are thinking me very silly!) There are many variations to one central theme: open a can of Heinz Beans, heat them up and put them on buttered toast. So, that's what I did.
I found the British food section at my local Publix and found the Heinz Beans. That was one very important point in ALL of the recipes - it had to be Heinz Beans.
I didn't want to doctor them up, I wanted the straight up, hard core, beans on toast.

It was really very good. There are two things that I am concerned about. One, the toast is supposed to be white bread. So, does that make a huge difference? Second, did I actually use the correct type of canned beans? Is there a Heinz "baked" bean that I should have used? If you are British, please let me know!
If you are not British and you are interested at all in trying this, let me give you one piece of advice: be sure to butter the bread, there is some mysterious flavor combo there that is very nice.

For the Love of Toast

I don't usually eat anything after dinner, but the other night I stayed up late to watch "Wives & Daughters" a BBC series that I found on Netflix, and I wanted something to eat. I remembered I had bought a loaf of 9 grain italian and so decided to have some toast.
I had forgotten how good toast could be.
I decided to do a blog in homage to the lowly toast.
I got up today and did a quick internet search about the history of toast (which was pretty much as I suspected). Found a humorous guy named Dr. Toast and his Amazing World of Toast ( http://www.drtoast.com/) complete with recipes and a haiku about toast. I was reminded of the infamous 10 year old cheese toast that bore the image of the Virgin Mary and never went moldy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4034787.stm). That's about it. I did a search for "toast recipes" and all I found were recipes for things to put "on" toast, not for the toast itself.
"Of course there are no recipes for toast, it's just browned bread! How else can you do it?" That's what you just said, isn't it?
So, I ask, is toast only to be acknowledged as the litter carried by Nubian slaves to bear the Queen of Jams (or beans, or creamed chip beef or whatever else you want to put on it)? Let me say that you can eat toast with nothing on it. It'll be uneventful, a little dull and dry - but it can be done.
If toast's main vocation, then is to be the supporting actor in the world of food, I want to take this opportunity to give a toast to toast:
Where would butter and jam be without toast? Would you just take a bite off of the stick of butter or eat a spoonful of jam? No! They require support, help, and that's the understated glory of toast. How naked breakfast would be without toast! What about the classic British meal, "Beans on Toast"? I daresay it would never have been as popular as "Beans." Do I have to mention all the toasted sandwiches? Panini, Grilled Cheese, the Patty Melt? It is time that toast has its day. I looked at all the food holidays (http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/National_Symbols/American_Hollidays.html) and found Melba Toast Day and French Toast Day, but not just plain old Toast Day.
Toast, I thank you. From Ancient Egypt until today, you have been there for us.