Hummingbird nectar

For the LIFE of me I cannot remember this very simple recipe. One to four. Yep. It's that easy. You can add the red food coloring if you like.

1 cup  sugar
4 cups water

Bring it to a boil for a few minutes, then turn the heat off. You only need to stir the mix while bringing to a boil, and after it's been sitting to cool. Once this is cool, filler up! Our hummers love this ratio and we get to enjoy their presence several times a day, as do my cats... No worries, the feeders are up high!

Buffalo wings

Ahhh.... tried and true is the mighty buffalo wings, ala Joe. Yep, most of these recipes are ala Joe...

1 pkg. fresh chicken wings
3/4 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce (original)

Cut chicken wings apart and spread on a oiled pan, or use parchment paper. Place wings in a 500° oven, preferably on convection*, for 20-30 minutes, check wings after 20 minutes. We prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon to allow steam to escape, thus allowing the wings to crisp a bit.

Take cooked wings out and toss in large bowl with the Franks sauce. Place wings back on clean pan and place in the (now temperature off, convection on) oven for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly. Enjoy!

We cut up a head of celery to go with the wings, and serve with a ramekin of blue cheese dressing of your choice.

Who wants to play Chicken?

Nobody wants to play chicken, but I know lots of good friends that like to eat it!  A brood of friends were over this past weekend and Joe and I planned a rotisserie chicken dinner. No, not one of those store bought ones that never even makes it on a platter. We're talking about a Granda Original Rotisserie Chicken cooked on our Kirkland Signature all-in-one grill (NLA). Literally, the only things this grill doesn't do is clean itself and do the dishes. Insert small bow down to Costco. And for those of you wondering- no Joe did NOT remove the Kirkland Signature emblem to replace with a Char-Broil emblem (unlike his off brand faux Snap-On tool box). I genuinely love our grill- go Costco! We've used the bajeeebers out of this grill- literally using it more than the oven and stove, even in the winter.

After a friend filled weekend, I got an email from one (hey Sarah!) asking for  "whatever you marinated the chicken in". Here ya go!

Rotisserie Chicken Rub

Generous amounts of ground Aleppo, Kosher Salt and Olive Oil.

I'd put amounts down, but this is one "recipe" we truly shake on, no measuring ever occurs. We season to our taste, which might burn to some folks. After cleaning the bird we apply liberal amounts of olive oil, aleppo and kosher salt in that order. We put it on our rotisserie for about 90 minutes at 325°. (Disclaimer- although our grill rocks, we do have a new temperature gauge on order- so don't quote me on the exact temperature, but I do think it's close.) It's always best to check in with your chicken from time to time. If it looks done, it very well might be. Chicken is considered done with the internal temperature reaches 165°.

How does one go about enjoying their tasty chicken? Well, I'll show you how. :-).

We ended up randomly hungry at around 10 p.m. .... and thoroughly enjoyed standing around the kitchen eating tasty rotisserie chicken. This dinner goes down as one of my all time favorites. Who needs plates when you're among good friends?

Rib Rub Number Nine Point One

Our friend Taylor makes the best ribs on her smoker, letting them cook for over half a day. Yum! And this is where our rib rub inspiration began, along with an old episode of the Food Network's Good Eats with Alton Brown.

I, not unlike many folks these days, have some foods n' spices that don't tolerate me. I also have a DH that has incredibly mad culinary skills. Since the day we met our preference has always been to eat in. This combo has been my gut saver, and significantly decreased the heiny hicups  or "fluffs" followed by the... you get the idea.


We modify everything. Well, almost everything, which is why this is our rub number nine point one. We always uses the freshest herbs and seasonings possible. I purchase many of ours online at Penzeys. Over the last few years we've learned what we use most of and order accordingly so that we don't keep any spice on hand longer than 4-6 months. Shocking? Go look at some of your dusty spice jars and open them up. What do you smell? Not much, eh?

Rub Number Nine Point One

• 1 1/4  cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4     cup chili powder
• 1 T     cayenne
• 2 T     ground thyme

I know, only 4 little ingredients. In our house less is always more. This makes 2 cups of rub, which will get you through at least 4 racks of ribs, maybe more. As a matter of fact, I better run. I've got some ribs to put on the grill.  225° for about six hours.....

Don't worry, at a later date I'll tell you how we prepare the rest of the ribs.

Cesar dressing- the quick and easy kind

For months now, maybe years, my husband and I put a chicken on the rotisserie every Sunday. It's our easy Sunday dinner, the day we try to wind down before the beginning of the new week ahead. Not only does it make for an easy Sunday dinner, paring it with a green and often a starch of some kind, it really has become a "no brainer" for us- and that's a good thing come Sunday afternoon! The best part of this chicken? Well, it becomes multiple meals, and in my book that's a very good thing. We will use left over chicken for

1. Chicken fajitas
2. Chicken enchiladas
3. Chicken salad (lunch type)
4. Cesar salad with chicken

Most often we make chicken fajitas with left overs on our inside griddle- super easy and super tasty. Last night we chose Cesar salad with fresh Romaine, fresh ground  parmesan cheese and  black pepper. Since we were out of Cesar dressing, Joe whipped up this tasty recipe.

Cesar dressing:

6 cloves garlic (we omit this)

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp Vinegar

2 Tbsp Mayo (we use Veganase)

Salt

Pepper

Lemon juice

Minced Anchovy fillets (optional)

Compine garlic, mustard, vinegar and two pinches of salt in a bender and mix thoroughly. Add may and blend together. In a slow  stream and olive oil through hole in lid. Scrape dressing with spatula into a bowl and season to taste with salt, peper and lemon juice. Add minced anchovies to taste if you desire.

Yum, yum! Love this recipe, and we always have the ingredients on hand to whip it up in a jiffy. We toss the romain, chopped up left over cold chicken, parmesan and black pepper in a big bowl and dig in. Love, love, love this!

Enjoy!

Karan

Date Nut Cake

Although this recipe is thought of usually during the winter months, I thought I'd share it now because I've got fresh dates sitting in the fridge from a gathering that I wasn't quite sure what else to do with. I know most folks plug there noses at the mention or site of dates, but these tasty edibles make one moist and very delicious bread- and I'm not talking the "fruit cake" kind. I dare you to try it. 

This recipe, as simple as it may seem, has been a cherished favorite in my family for generations. There was nothing better than as a kid to dig around the chest freezer and come up with a frozen foiled loaf (of date bread)- you knew you'd practically found gold. No kidding! I spent years twisting my mother's arm to get this recipe from her aunt ... and here it for all to enjoy. Picture will be posted when the next batch is out of the oven.

Recipe:
1 cup chopped dates
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup boiling water

Mix and let cool...

Now mix together:

1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp shortening
1 egg
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Mix together and add to cooled date mix, being careful to not overwork. Pour into greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

Enjoy!
Karan