Scrapping The Music

I am a fan.  Go here:  Scrapping The Music.  I mean, if you like to “scrapbook”.  My pal, Melanie, the one who really turned me on to the fine art of scrapbooking told me about this site (among others).  They have weekly contests with selected songs as the muse.  I love the concept.  In fact, the scrapbook I created for my sister-in-law, Amber, was driven by songs and/or lyrics.

Here’s my first entry to “Scrapping The Music“.  The song choice was “Stand By Me”.

I’ll post my future pages, just in case anyone is interested.

Oh!  And I must give a ‘shout out’ to Misti.  She’s the genius behind the camera.  These photo’s were taken in September, 2009.

Asian (Caucasian) Beef-Pot-Pies

I’ve been researching ground beef recipes lately.  We have a cow processed every year to stock our freezer.  It’s better quality, less expensive in the long run, and organic.  The deal is, there is SOOOO much ground beef (very lean), and there are so many burgers, taco’s, spaghetti, etc. that a girl can prepare.  So I stumbled upon an Asian Lettuce Wrap recipe that looked great.  I revamped it a bit, twisted it to a little more American style (so people like my Dad, kids, etc. may try it).   Here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients

• Puff Pastry Shells
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce (depending on how much you love that salty goodness)
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce (Matthew asked… “Poison Sauce???  WTH?”, “no dear, it’s HOISIN”)
• 3 teaspoons minced pickled ginger
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• Asian chile pepper sauce (optional… yet I totally recommend it.  I used about 2 tablespoons.. I could have added more)
• 1 (5 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped all the way up to the greens
• 2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Directions

1. Slice and dice your onions, ginger, and garlic ahead of time.  Also, measure out all the sauces into little ramekins.  This makes it easy to start throwing these ingredients in once it’s time.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked beef; continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
3. Cook the pastry shells as instructed. Make sure you brush the tops with an egg wash before cooking, it gives them a nice crisp.
4. Once the shells have cooled slightly, use a butter knife to get the tops off, fill each shell with the delicious filling, and enjoy!  They’re even better the next day.

These are the puff pastry’s (in case there is any confusion).

Yum.  These are so good.  I can’t lie, while I was uploading this photo I got up, warmed up an A.C.B.P.P., burned my tongue… and now I’m sad because my taste buds are scorched.  (((sigh)))

I will also suggest sprinkling some cayenne pepper in the mixture.  I love heat in my food.  So if you do too, go for it.

Let me know what you think when you try this recipe!

Spicy Dill Pickles

Disclaimer:  If you recreate my recipe, you will never buy store-bought pickles again.  Seriously.

Here’s what you need:

• 6 or 7 cucumbers (slice them into “sandwich slices”)
• 4 cups water
• 3 & 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh dill weed (it MUST be fresh.  Don’t buy the freeze dried)
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 12-14 cloves garlic, (I use my garlic press to crush each clove evenly.  Mince or chop it if you like.)
• 4 tablespoons coarse salt
• 3 tablespoon pickling spice
• 2 teaspoons dill seed
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 Jar sliced jalepeno’s
• 1 red onion (long thin slices)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Actually, you may need more than one bowl… (depends on how big the bowl is).  OH.. but I don’t think you should use any kind of metal bowl.  Something about the metal and vinegar not being friends.  I don’t know.  Stir, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, until the sugar and salt dissolve (in case you didn’t know, this is called a “brine”).
2. Remove the cucumbers to canning jars.   If you stack the cucumber slices in the jar you can fit more .  Make sure you add some of the onions and peppers.  Ladle in the liquid from the bowl to cover.  Put the lids on and refrigerate for 10 days before eating. Use within 1 month.

Go… make pickles!