New blog address

www.chefandrew1986.blogspot.com

I will be blogging at the above address from here on out.  Got a new e-mail address and couldn't add it to this blog, so I created a new one.  It still has all my posts on there.  Wouldn't want to lose them all.  I will probably be deleting this blog before too long, so go bookmark the other address, or whatever you do to remember the link.  I was sort of wanting a shorter link anyway.  This one was too long.

Chicken Pot Pie

We had a whole chicken ready to cook, so I baked it today and used it to make pot pie.  I used a recipe that Mom usually uses, and it gets really good.  Cut up carrots, celery, and potatoes.  Cooked them and mixed in milk, the cooked chicken, and green beans, since we didn't have any frozen peas.  I made some sort of biscuit mixture and poured it over the top, and baked it for about half an hour.

I also made a Pineapple Carrot Jello Salad.  I was looking though one of Mom's old cookbooks and saw it.  She said her mom used to make it back in the day.  I vaguely remember having it a long time ago.

The pot pie turned out runny.  It was good, had a really good flavor, but was runny.  I think I know what happened.  I didn't thicken the milk and flour mixture before putting it in the baking dish.  Bummer.  It was still good though.  Just sort of like pot pie soup.  Next time it will be better.

The jello salad was good.  It was a bit runny too because I didn't make it ahead of time enough so it didn't get time to set up fully in the mold.  Oh well, next time it will be better too.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Pineapple Carrot Jello Salad with Cottage Cheese in the center

Currently Listening

 Sink/Swim
by A Cadence of Sorts

Beef Stew

Mom had two steaks thawing in the fridge, so I used them tonight to make Beef Stew.  Love me some beef stew.  It calls for lots of carrots, celery, tomato juice, and chopped beef.  The thickening is a bit different than others.  It calls for quick-cooking tapioca instead of cornstarch or flour.  Made some mashed potatoes to put the stew over top of.  It was good.  However, after making it tonight, I think I have to change the recipe a little bit.  It was sort of too thick and burned the pot.  I had to add water to make it thinner, and it still burned the pot.  So now I will cook the veg and meat in the tomato juice until it is ready, then add the tapioca to thicken it.  That way the tapioca doesn't thicken it right away and make me burn the pot.  That would be a good thing.

Currently Listening

Some Hearts
by Carrie Underwood

Carrot Cake

I made carrot cake yesterday at work.  Used the tried and true recipe that I got from Grandma Schrock.  I believe it is the same recipe that she used when they had a bakery back in the day.  It makes for very good cake.  The cream cheese icing makes the cake delightful.  We didn't have any cream cheese at work, so I improvised and used Mascarpone cheese.  Chopped some walnuts in the food processor and made a Mascarpone/Walnut icing.  Used a real vanilla bean and not that cheap vanilla extract.  That made it wonderful.  I could almost just eat the icing until I got sick.  I think I like this version of the icing better than the original cream cheese version.  It seems lighter.  Not all that heavy cream cheese in it.  I tasted a bit of the cake tonight.  It turned out great.  The cake is moist like it should be.  The icing makes it just delightful.  Hey, I have an idea.  You go get some.  Black Bear Bistro & Cellar. 32/34 Main Street, Warrenton, VA 20186.

Currently Listening

We Will Overcome
by Close Your Eyes

Oven-roasted Chicken Fingers

I worked today so I didn't feel like making a big dinner when I got home.  Mom talked about making chicken fingers, so I made them, and cooked up some rice.  Cut chicken breasts in strips and tossed them in oil with seasoned breadcrumbs.  What all did I put in the breadcrumbs?  Umm, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, thyme, and basil.  I think that was it.  Cooked plain old white rice with butter, salt, and pepper.  It was quick to make.  It was good.  Ate the chicken fingers with my homemade barbecue sauce.  Mom made a salad.  Jolynn helped.  Austin made tea.

Currently Listening

The Fiancée
 by The Chariot

Pizza

We have a tradition in the Schrock household to have pizza every Saturday evening.  I had the day off so I made it again.  Made a Hawaiian again, like last week, but this time I used better ham and added onion along with the pineapple.  Made a Supreme with mushrooms, banana peppers, onion, sausage, and pepperoni.  Used a combo of cheeses for both of them, white cheddar, yellow cheddar, and mozzarella.  They were good.  The Hawaiian was especially good because of the good ham I used.

Hawaiian

Supreme

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by Alert the Sky

Banana Pudding

I've been wanting to make Banana Pudding for a while now.  Every time I saw bananas in the house, I would say, "Hey, I'm gonna make Banana Pudding."  But then when I actually got around to making it, the bananas were gone.  So today I saw that we had bananas, and I made the pudding right away.  Made a basic cooked vanilla pudding, let it cool, then layered it with graham cracker crumbs, sliced banana, and cool whip.  Yes, the traditional way to make this pudding is to use vanilla wafers, but I didn't have them, and I wanted to see how it would turn out with graham cracker crumbs.  It was marvelous.  I might go eat some more right now.

Currently Listening

 EP
by Nice Places