My Vintage Kitchen

Cheese Doodle is invited to a party.

I just wanted to share this fantastic blog with you all...this is a friend of mine, Terry Border. He is a local artist living here in Indiana. Terry has a book coming out next year featuring his "Bent Objects"! This is just one of his wonderful creations. Terry uses wire and often times will incorporate food in his extremely creative scenes.

So, if your up for some very cheeky humor -check out http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/ and tell Terry Shelly sent you...I promise you will love it and if you don't you should probably just end it now. ;)

Tootles.

Pull My Finger

Shop Our Store

 

If we food bloggers could name one day per year where the joy of creating can be completely stamped out by those that love us most it is Thanksgiving. Therefore, we girls at My Vintage Kitchen are making some early suggestions so that you may prepare your grocery list accordingly. Sure, certain family traditions must prevail. For instance, I do think it's cute when my mother-in-law comes out with pants tucked neatly into her turkey socks so the "snakes don't get in". I am also sometimes forced to re-think the whole turkey/meat thing as my father in law goes out back and knocks off Ted the live turkey, but people, CRANBERRIES IN A CAN? Sure, when I was a kid you couldn't fight me for the opportunity to open the can and hear the suctioning fart noise that was to follow as I triumphed over helping "make" Thanksgiving dinner. And the memories of the whole "pull my finger game" over football with my uncle will not be forgotten either, but, it is time for a new era. Have we forgotten about the pilgrims? Would they just open a can of cranberries? No! No! and neither should you. So, I implore you, this year make something a little different. Oh, and get yourself an Apron. We are not savages here. We are delicate frickin flowers....ummmm unless you are a guy doing the cooking, then we are masculine strapping men....and if that is you, well, you should probably just wear some nice fitting jeans and a button up shirt, untucked with the sleeves rolled up. That's hot. Thank you.

- Robin

 

Cranberry Chutney

1 bag fresh cranberries

2 med apples diced

1 1/4 cups superfine sugar

1/2 cup water

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix everything in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 20 min. You want to sort of mash the fruit with your spoon a bit so that it thickens. Refrigerate.

Rosemary Spread

Use 1 cup cooked shredded chicken or turkey

1 8oz pkg cream cheese

2 Tablespoons fresh Rosemary chopped.

Soften Cream Cheese and mix in other ingredients. Also salt and pepper to taste.

Spread on toasted bread *I used pumpernickle* or crackers, dot with your chutney and garnish with rosemary.

Dear John Letter to my Grocery Store

Shop Our Store

Dear Marsh Supermarket in Greenwood on US Hwy 31 South,

.

You know when people say "It's not you, it's me" well, I feel the need to be honest with you. It IS you. At first I felt you had a charm about you, being with you made me feel like a kid again, probably because you were the Safeway Market of my childhood. Walking through your doors and being greeted by your indoor trees and giant windows made me feel all warm inside. But in recent years you have really let yourself go. For whatever reason time and time again I choose to believe in you and you have done nothing but disappoint me. I really thought we could make this work, but it's time I face the truth. Look I know it's almost as much my fault as it is yours that we have to break up, I should have known better and I was just using you for my own convenience. But the thing is I'm just not getting what I need from the relationship. I want more from you and you just refuse to give. It's not just the fact that your seafood department is 2 ft. square. To be frank, I've been cheating on you and have been getting my seafood somewhere else. But it's the fact that I can't even count on you for the little things. Like fresh herbs...all you give me is curly parsley! What the hell is a girl suppose to do with that? It's like you don't even care what I want! You NEVER have given me even so much as basil! A girl needs some basil sometimes! And I'm not talking about the dry mashed up crap that you tried to pass off on me last Christmas! You act like I've asked you to give me organics or something! God forbid we get anything more exotic than apples and bananas. You've never so much as given me a blood orange, let alone something as precious as a fig! What it comes down to is I need more and I'm going to seek it out, but not with you.

I need someone that can give me cranberry chutney, or Greek yogurt, I need someone that can give me fresh ground turkey from time to time. I NEED fresh Rosemary. I NEED Lindt Chocolate and Lady Fingers. So, in short, since you can't give me what I need....we are finished. I don't ever what to see you again! Jerk!

.

-Shelly

.

Now on to recipe....notice one of the ingredients is parsley. Guess what I had to use.

This recipe came out of Martha Stewart's most recent Everyday Food. They made this little veggie spread that you could schmear on a whole wheat bagel...but for some reason I have a hard time doing veggies in the morning. So, I decided this would make a great "dip". So I put it on some pumpernickel toast points, and piped it in some celery sticks. The only thing I changed was the recipe called for 1 whole red pepper and I just used half. Also the carrots give the cream cheese sort of a salmon color...I have no idea how Martha's crew kept their cream cheese white! Maybe they squeezed all the water out of the carrots or something. 

   

Veggie Spread

1/2 red pepper finely chopped

1 carrot grated

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped

1 spring onion finely chopped

8 oz low fat cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Just mix everything together...quick, very easy, and this tastes great. It's very fresh, and has a bit of crunch to it.   

   

Asparagus Tart

Forgiveness food can be characterized as something someone makes you that is sooooo good you can forgive anything. Somehow, one makes up for the other. My sister recently made a dish that was so fantastic that I can finally forgive her for using my purple knee socks to tie me up, gag me, and throw me into the entry closet when I was 10 years old. Perhaps these good cooking deed can add up to the final "get over it" hump that I need to wipe out the memory of the "makeover" with the leather clothes, red lipstick, big hair, and guitar prop when I was 12. Oh yes, Shelly, my memory is long and dark.....just like your teen years....heh heh....I LOVE YOU!

Pizza Snob

For those of you who know me, you are aware of my pizza issue.  I just don't get it.  My taste buds are obviously SO refined that pizza does not nor has it ever seemed like a good idea. It is the sauce and cheese thing.   It's like a warm box of wine to me...not really appealing, but, it will do in a bind. Then, a friend of mine introduced me to a FABULOUS and easy hors-devours.  It is pizza-like in appearance, but with a fantastic twist.  It's the vegetable version of a fruit pizza.  So, put that room temperature glass of Franzia away and celebrate the New Year with this slightly different and very pretty addition to the table.

Vegetable Pizza
1 baked pizza crust
1/2 cup mayonnaise
8 oz cream cheese
1 packet of ranch seasoning random fresh vegetables to your taste (I used tomato, cucumber, red and green peppers) shredded cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top. Mix the mayonnaise and cream cheese together along with the seasoning packet.  Add chopped vegetables and sprinkle with cheese.  POOF it is finished. 

If I had a little more time, I would have attempted to season the cream cheese mixture myself, but, those crazy people over at Hidden Valley really know what they are doing.  I think I will refer to them as "the help" when anyone askes me what I put in my pizza.   "Oh, I don't know, the help did it."  Gosh it is hard pretending to be amazingly wealthy ALL of the time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Turkey Veggie Roll-Ups

If I were a plate full of leftover turkey, this is what I would be.

These really could be made with your favorite veggies. 1 roll-up... Serves 2. This makes a nice alternative this time of year as well....you know...because of all the cookies. By the way we will be starting our Countdown to Christmas Cookie- A- Day tomorrow!

8-10 asparagus tips

1/2 orange bell pepper

green leaf lettuce

4 slices of turkey

1 sun-dried tomato/basil tortilla   

For the sauce

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon fresh chopped Greek Oregano

1 teaspoon fresh chopped flat leaf Parsley

Pinch of Morton's Light Salt

After everything was spread out on the tortilla we lightly salted the turkey and veggies again as well as added some fresh cracked green and red pepper.

Roll up and serve! If you want to serve as appetizers we recommend subbing the sour cream for cream cheese and letting them chill in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. This makes them MUCH easier to cut and they will stick together better!