Taco Mac, where everyone knows your name....a dedication from me to the staff of the Stockbridge Taco Mac

Morning dear readers.  This entry was originally about my favorite Christmas Gift to give.....homemade baked goods.  But the more I thought about it, the more I knew what I wanted to write about.  Taco Mac.....that is, my Taco Mac in Stockbridge, GA and my friends and "family" who work there or frequent there.

To go back to 2009....I was really craving an OB Beer (it's a Korean Beer.....could get a combat bottle for 99 cents), and someone told Jim and I about this place, where you could get just about any kind of beer you wanted and it was open late.  So we went over, but alas, no OB, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  That was June 2009 and 7 years later and it's still my favorite place.

Being a single OLD female, I am not the type to go bar-hopping, but I can walk into "The Mac" and it's not even a second thought about doing it.  I never have to worry about getting in trouble, doing something I shouldn't or having someone act up towards me.

After Jim passed away, his son was here.  Chris made the comment about maybe I should find someplace else to go.....about the time he said that, got a couple of hugs from the staff and some of the guys sitting at the bar came over to the table and told him......don't worry about your Mom, we have her back and won't let anyone mess with her.  That, I think, convinced him, I was were I was suppose to be.  Even my daughter knows how the people there are.  She posted on FB one time, thanking them for taking care of me.  Everybody knows that Jim is still "there" watching everything that goes on......guess that's why I try to behave.

My daughter came for a visit last August and I asked where they wanted to go eat......they all wanted to go to the Mac for wings - in my humble opinion, they have the best wings around, hands down!  You would think the staff that was working had known the kids and Eric for ever.  Everyone stopped by and said hi and chatted for awhile.  One took the girls over to the games and won them a stuffed toy - which the girls gave to Grandma SheShe.   When you're there, you are family.

There are times I go and have a couple of beers.  Other times, I go have a couple of beers and treat myself to lunch.  (AGAIN) My opinion, I'm a pretty good tipper.  When the Holidays came around that first year (alone), I wanted to do something special for all of them, including the kitchen staff (Loco calls me Mama).  I knew I wasn't going to try and tip everyone, so I decided to bake.  I guess this will be the 4th or 5th year.  Last year alone, I made over 200+ cookies - PNB, sugar, choc/chip and snickerdoodles), brownies, carrot cake-cupcakes and even a batch of SOS for someone.

So, it's getting that time of year for me to start thinking about what I'm going to make this year.  What will be nice is the fact I now have a big freezer and the vacuum sealer.  I can make them up earlier than I usually do and not have to rush to get them done.

I hope my "kids" that work there know how much they all mean to me.  And, Lisa, she's one special lady!

In closing, I want to thank them for babysitting me.  I will behave so you don't have to spank my butt, for being a bad girl.....

Til next time dear readers, as always hugs and sloppy nose kisses from me and the Cos.  PEACE!!





    

Hi, my, name is Sheila and I am a "JUNKIE"......

Dear readers, this is the first meeting of a new support group:  KGA....kitchen gadget junkies....

I wish, sometimes, I could find a nice, big, empty building.  I would remodel it.  It would have a decent size bedroom and decent size bathroom.  The rest would be my KITCHEN.

When Jim was still alive, I had all the major, counter top appliances.  Toaster, toaster oven, microwave, griddle, waffle iron and BIG heavy duty blender.  This is not counting a bread maker, deep fryer, indoor and outdoor grill and crock pot.  Gave the toaster oven to someone, as loved him to death, but Jim couldn't use anything but the microwave.

In the last year or so, I have been trying to down-size.  Got a George Foreman Evolve Grill......it has the normal grill plates, waffle plates and a deep dish baking pan.  So, I gave away the old George, the waffle maker and the griddle.  The waffle iron grids are great.  Makes nice big ones.  The grill does steak, kabobs, fish, just about anything you would do on a normal grill - just no charcoal and you do it on the counter top.  Then there is the deep dish baking pan.  I have made French Toast, Grilled Sausage with potato pancakes, pancakes and believe it or not, deep dish pizza.  Oh my gosh!!

Replaced the big blender with a smaller one.  A Ninja Master Prep.  Really nice.  Comes in handy, for my morning smoothies.  Has two bowls/containers.  One is 2 cups the other is 6 (which I haven't used yet).  Only thing I don't like is, sometimes, I have a hard time getting the yogurt in, without getting it all over.  Does a good job on ice.  Haven't had any big chunks to deal with.

Got a new toaster oven.  Black and Decker convection oven.  I don't use it a lot, but it does great with frozen fries, biscuits and cookies.  It has a "keep warm" setting which is nice.

One of my new toys is my Food Saver Vacuum Sealer.  I probably use it every weekend on something.  I liked mine so much, I bought one for my daughter and one for my "other daughter" - she is who got all my stuff, I got rid of.  Case in point; found Rib Eyes on sale this week.  Cut them in half and now I have 3 more steak dinners.  I have sealed, ready to go waffles, made with the George.  When I find fruits and or veggies on sale, I buy them, blanch them, pre-freeze and seal. 

The sealer is just so versatile.  Above, are pictures of soup and SOS that I made, and sealed.  Yes you can do liquid "stuff".  I put in the bag, set in freezer for a few hours, then sealed them.  There are also some pics of applesauce and banana bread.  Cooled them on a rake, sliced them up, bagged them, froze for a couple of hours then sealed.  Now all I have to do, is reach in the freezer, grab one, and warm it up a little in the microwave.  If any of you, ever have left over jarred spaghetti sauce or left over tomato sauce, I came up with an idea (not an original idea, but at the time, didn't know others did the same thing)......take a cupcake/muffin pan, pour your leftover sauce in the tins and freeze, then bag.  For some leftover tomato sauce, I used an ice cube tray, then finished off like I did with the muffin tin trick.  I could go on and on about the sealer, but I won't. 

See my smoothie fruit?  Yep, that's half a banana. 

One more thing I bought, was a microwave steamer.  As some of you know, I don't do a lot of fried foods - I cheated the other day, had corn dogs and fries.  I like it, because it's easy to use.  The picture is of steamed tilapia and shrimp.  I have also added some broccoli.  They all cook about the same time.....one dish to clean up and healthy for you.

Who's next?  Just introduce yourself and tell us why you are a KGA.

Till next time dear readers, hugs and sloppy nose kisses, from me and the Cos.  PEACE!!

Shop Local..if the employees care.....

This is the email/comment I just sent to Kroger:

I have been a loyal customer of Kroger, in Lake City, Ga for years.  It's convenient for me and normally, I get good customer service.  Today was the worst experience I have ever had.  I was there at 2:41pm and had a cashier named Alex checking me out.  I asked for a carton of cigarettes.  She went over to where they were...stood there, came back and said.....we don't have them.  I said, yes you do and went over and showed her where they were( I always check to see if they have them).  That was not a smart thing to do.  She "slammed" the window to get them out, "slammed the window" when she got them and then slammed the swing-door when she came out.  Rang them up and slid them down to the bagger.  Never got a "thank you" or "have a nice day", mind you this was after a bill of close to 150$(149.56).  I am a 67 yr old female, a United States Army Veteran and I am sorry, but I think she should have showed me a little bit of respect.....even if I was just a customer.  Very, very rude.  Who taught her customer service?  Looking at the receipt, I can't find all my coupons.  Something needs to be done.  I can go a few miles down the road and go to Publix.  In fact, if I want to go to Kroger, I can go to one about 5 miles away......only problem is, not sure if my ice cream would last, that far in this heat.

I'm a bartender.  Customer service is my main concern.  Sure, there's a lot of people who walk in, and I know automatically what they want.  That's a whole other ballgame.

I know Kroger got my comments, but of course, I got one of those automatic responses.  Will keep you posted, on their real response.  Please know, I'm not trying to get her fired, but someone really needs to give her some training. 

Hugs and sloppy nose kisses from me and the Cos.  PEACE, dear readers.

A steak recipe which will make a non-steak eater, a steak eater!!

When my Jim was still alive, he was a big steak eater.  I would grill just about every weekend, rain or shine.  I on the other hand, was not.  I would eat my tator and about 1/4 of the steak.

Now, every once in awhile, I actually get a taste for MEAT.  I have a George Foreman Evolve Grill (indoor/counter top), which I really like, but don't always want to drag it out of the cabinet.  Found this recipe for steak and it is scrumptious!!  Have made it 3 or 4 times now and it has never failed to come out like I want.

It's called the "Perfect Bone-In Ribeye".  The original recipe calls for a 22 oz steak......gotta' be hungry to eat that much!!  I usually get a Ribeye that's about a pound and cut it in half, then vacuum seal it and then freeze for another meal.

22 oz. bone-in Ribeye Steak

1 tbsp. EVOO or vegetable oil

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. seasoned salt

1 tbsp. cracked black pepper

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 275F (135C).

2.  Remove steak from fridge.  Season with the garlic, salt and pepper.  Let set until it reaches room temperature.  Yes dear readers, I am a firm believer in not cooking something straight from the fridge.

3.  Drizzle oil on steak and a little in a very hot pan......use a stainless steel one or one that is oven proof.  Place steak in hot pan and sear on all sides.

4.  Put in oven and finish off, by baking for about 1 hr. for well, 45 mins. for med. and 30 mins. for med. rare.  The size of steak you are using, will of course, determine the amount of time.  For my little 8 ouncer, I bake it for about 15 - 20 mins.

5.  Remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for about 8-10 mins.

Well, I'm pretty well caught up.  Made good progress, don't you think??  Have thoughts on something else, but need to wrap my mind around it, before I get started.

As always, hugs and sloppy nose kisses from me and the Cos.  PEACE, dear readers.   

.

Sgt. B's SOS

This is my take on the Army's SOS.  Have made a few changes and most importantly, it doesn't serve thousands of people. 

I use ground beef or ground chuck, but you can always use ground turkey, ground chicken or sausage.

It's made with my medium white sauce recipe.



1-1/2 lbs. ground meat
2 tbsps. butter
1 cp. chopped onion
1/4 cp. flour or 1/8 cp. corn starch
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 cp. beef stock
salt & pepper to taste
1 cp. milk

1.  Brown meat and drain well.

2. Return to pan and add butter.

3.  Add onions.

4.  Add flour stir until well blended and cook for 2-3 mins.  Slowly add stock; mix well, stirring constantly.

5.  Add garlic powder and Worcestershire Sauce.

6.  Slowly add the milk and stir until thick and heated through.   


COOKS NOTES:
If using corn starch, mix it with the stock - I'm not fond of making a roué with flour.  Seems like you can still taste it, even after cooking it for a few mins.  This would be in Step #4.

I don't use chopped onions, just onion powder.

Add any seasonings you want....I even use a shake of paprika.

Can be served on biscuits, toast or rice.  I sometimes add mushrooms and cheese and serve it over rice for a dinner meal.

Felice's One-Man Crepe

Morning everybody.  As promised, am going to try and catch up - slowly but surely.

I was at work one night and started thinking about crepes.....guess watching Jacques Pipin making them didn't help.  Just didn't want to make a bunch, even though I knew I could vacuum seal them and then freeze.  Besides, it was going to be my first attempt at them.  So, the next morning, I started looking for a recipe, that would be easy to "cut down" for less of the finished product.  I have never been able to figure out, how to half an egg.  On one of my sites I check every now and then, a lady had a recipe for "One Man Crepe".....it's all in the name.....that's what it makes(depending on the size of the pan you use).  This is really very easy and only a few ingredients.  Thanks again Felice for sharing.  Another nice thing about this crepe recipe is that leaving out 2 ingredients - sugar and vanilla - you have a crepe for your savory recipes.  On my blog post, titled "Bon Jour" you will see a picture of both.  Hope you enjoy.

4 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 egg
4 tbsp.  milk or other liquids
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp. sugar (omit for savory)
3 drops vanilla (omit for savory)

1.  Mix together the flour, salt and sugar.

2.  In another bowl whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla.

3.  Combine the wet ingredients with the dry, and mix well, until smooth.  Cover and let rest in refrigerator for at least 30 mins.

4.  Melt a little butter or vegetable oil in a 8" or 10" non-stick pan or crepe pan if you have one.  Swill the pan to coat the bottom.

5.  Pour batter into pre-heated pan tilting to spread batter.  If you double the recipe, I would use about 3 tbsps. of batter....if bottom is covered, you should be good to go.

6.  When top is set, flip gently with a spatula, or just use your fingers.

7.  Cook briefly and remove from pan.
 
8.  Fill with whatever you like....roll or fold.  Top with fruit, honey, maple syrup and sprinkle with powdered sugar, for a fancier look.

As always, hugs and sloppy nose kisses from me and the Cos.  PEACE, dear readers.

Hello dear readers.
Been a busy couple of weeks.
Have a couple of things I need to post.  Have the week off, so should be back this weekend.
As always, hugs and sloppy nose kisses from me and the Cos....PEACE