Toad in a Hole and Walking With Kylie

Hi there everyone. Burrrrrr.....baby it's cold out there. Just got back from walking Kylie...even she does not want to be out there too long. She has her cute little purple sweater on to keep her warm....but a pair of booties would help too. It's not so bad when people shovel their sidewalks, but when she has to walk on the even colder sidewalks with snow on them. Burrrrrr....she runs...pulling me all the way.....yikes, good thing it is not slippery out, I'd be sliding all the way home. She is so happy to be inside, whew, take off her sweater and leash, she is sooooo happy. Now it's time for snacks and a sip of milk. Now she's resting on the lazy-boy...keeping an eye on me and my next move.

Last week I made "Toad in a Hole" Yeah, I know, sounds like a weird thing to make. But, I like weird sometimes, breaks the monotony of life.

"Toad in a Hole" is a very popular dish in England and Australia. Depending on which place you live....the main ingredient is sausage or chicken or roast beef. Then a flour mixture is poured over the meat and baked.

So I used polish sausage, laying them into a casserole dish that was buttered. The other half of the dish has cooked chicken in it. The directions call for lightly browning sausage, but I did not. You could though.

1 lb. pork sausage, cooked chicken or roast beef or half
    sausage and half cooked chicken
1 1/2 cup sifted flour
1/2 teasp. baking powder
1/2 teasp. salt
1 tbsp. butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
pepper

Fry the sausage until lightly browned and all the fat has rendered. Place the sausages or meat that you are using in a 13x9 or smaller baking dish. To prepare the batter, place milk, eggs, flour, salt, pepper and butter in a blender. blend 1 minute until smooth. Pour batter over sausages and bake, uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. The batter will become puffed, crisp and golden brown. Serves 4

Another recipe said 350 degrees for 1 hour, parsley was also added. I checked out a few "Toad in the Hole" recipes...so maybe find the one that sounds the best to you.

You will also find that "Toad in a Hole" is the same name for a slice of bread with a hole in it and an egg dropped in the hole and fried.....I have often made that egg dish, but always called it "Egg in a Basket". I saw a Youtube.com recipe where a guy made this egg in a hole with a slice of cheese on top. I thought it was kind of weird, but it worked when he flipped it over.....made one for JP for his lunch, it turned out pretty good.

Well, time to close for the night. Have some dishes to do and go make some Christmas cards for Hospice and for my own use this Christmas. You all take care and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

New Coffee Maker and a Cooking Show

Hello There Everyone. Hope you all are doing great.
Well, finally I found my Keurig Coffee Machine at Kohl's. I was intending on getting a red coffee maker (as it would match my Dutch Oven.) The Keurig came in 4 colors, white, black, silver and red.........well guess what???

I thought we would try Bed, Bath and Beyond, they only had black. The salesman sent me to Kohl's saying he hated to send me there, but because they only had the black mini-coffee makers, he knew Kohl's had many more colors.  Like yellow, purple, blue and turquoise. Now the dilemma was Kohl's had NO red coffee makers....so now what???? Well, my next favorite color was Purple, so I settled on this color, even though it matches NOTHING in my kitchen, I still like it and it makes a great cup of coffee.

Here's a front view.....the interesting thing about this color.....it changes colors!!!!

See? Now it is blue!! Two colors in one.....hahahahaha

JP and I went to a cooking show this past Saturday. The 12th Annual Cooking Extravaganza. Chef Jeff and Chef Mark made some tasty meals.....this is one of them. "Sausage and Lentils with Spinach" I will walk you through it.....it tasted oh, so delicious and is one of those soups that "sticks to your ribs."
We weren't going to go, but then Friday night I decided I wanted to go and I am glad we did, cause we came home with some good recipes to try. My next recipe will be Zucchini Cornbread........the zucchini is sitting in the fridge right now.
Following is the recipe for "Sausage and Lentils with Spinach"

1/4 cup oil, canola or other
1 cup onions, medium diced or omit if you don't like
1 cup celery, medium diced
1 cup carrots, medium diced
In a large kettle, saute' the onions, celery and carrots in the oil until translucent.

1 1/2  pounds kielbasa sausage (I used turkey sausage) sliced
Add the sausage and cook until it begins to render.
Add 2 quarts (8 cups) water
2 Tablespoons soup base (I used chicken base)
1 pound lentils
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, dry
1 teaspoon pepper (I used 1/2 tsp.)

1 pound of Lentils
12 cups spinach, fresh and chopped

Here I am stirring everything together except the spinach,
letting it simmer uncovered for approximately 45 minutes.
Add the chopped spinach and wilt it for 5 minutes.
When finished, the dish should be well-bodied and the lentils tender.  Serve immediately with rustic bread for a healthy and satisfying meal. This is one of those meals that it would be wise to always have lentils on hand........I think I will.

So there you have it....my little tutorial on making this wonderful meal that JP will eat tonight along with bread and fruit.......hope it fills him up.
You all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise