http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/I have long had a passionate love affair with my stomach. Between that, my love of soups, and my early realization that since I love to eat, I'd damned well better learn to cook, I've been working on all manner of ways to amuse myself in the kitchen and satisfy my palate in ways somewhat beyond the average guy's simple "just nuke it" methodolgy. I also discovered early on that cooking dinner for various and sundry young ladies was a great cheap date -- at least once. Finally, I'm cheap and I'm a guy. That means it bugs the hell out of me to pay someone to do something I can do far cheaper -- and better -- at home hourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/623516So my beloved and I love our local farmers market. When I can buy locally grown fresh red bell peppers for a buck a piece, instead of the 3.99 the store charges, and they taste like I just yanked em out the back yard, well, that's what we call putting your state on your plate. Corny, but on the...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/598598Man alive, but this one turned out great! Seems it's fairly easy, too. All you have to do is make an egg white and corn starch dipping mixture in one shallow bowl and take your crushed pecans, about a cup of them, mixed with a little brown sugar, sage, Italian spices, about a half cup of bread...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/597739I'll soon be reporting on this experiment -- pecan encrusted pan fried chicken and flash fried greens. I think it's going to be a home run.http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/585463I don't know what to call this - it's too thick for soup and prbably even for traditional stew, but it turned out to really rock. Another triumph of the By God school of cooking -- "Everything but the kitchen sink goes in that, By God..." Anyway, what I had was some ground turkey, a can of tomato...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/581234So my beoved and I were too lazy to go back out into the cold and drive half a mile to the grocery store -- a couple of glasses of Merlot sealed that deal as well. Stlll, one can cme up with a variety of interesting things from odds and ends in the fridge and the pantry. With a small portion of...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/574736This is an old recipe that is only used in dire emergencies, such as the day before payday or in the event of an atomic holocaust: Oscar Meyer Soup: Take a pot of water and two hot dogs. Boil for fifteen minutes. Remove the hotdogs pour the water in soup bowls and serve with whatever...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/542878Here’s one of those weird experiments that came about through sheer desperation one evening about 15 years ago. I still don't know what to call it, but it's great! What happened was, I had about five bucks in change to my name, and a few of the ingredients lying around. And voila! It turned out...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/539111One of the things I love about making soup is how one minor adjustment can totally change the character of what you’re doing. My grandmother, for example, was a big fan of ham and cabbage as a base for vegetable soup, which makes a fantastic alternative to vegetable beef type soups. Using...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/533959This salsa is an old party favorite -- just took about a half gallon to the Carolina Cup Steeplechase this past weekend, and nearly all of it was gone by the third race. It's very versatile, and it's so damn good, it’s worth having around anytime. I like using it as a garnish for grilled tuna...http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/strat3291/532385I did this for Easter Sunday dinner last week -- as always, it was a hit on all accounts. The kids loved it because it had lots of bacon. My wife likes it because I don't mess up the kitchen too badly. The grandparents enjoy it because it's easy to eat and they don't have to cook it. But I...