Meat and Poultry Freezing guide

I made the most delightful Prime Rib a couple nights ago. Two very dear friends came for a socially distant dinner at our 10 person dining room table. I have 3 Honeywell room purifiers going and although we didn't do our usual hugs, we all enjoyed being together, chatting, sharing a meaningful prayer and eating a delicious meal, that included Blue Cheese and Rosemary Scallop Potatoes, Roasted carrots and Asparagus with lemon-Parmesan and Instant Pot Sticky Toffee Pudding.

 

Vanilla ice cream with Peppermint swirl

This homemade Vanilla Ice Cream is some of the creamiest ice cream I have ever made, I chopped up some candy canes in the food processor and added a swirl after churning. This is worlds away from the mint-flavored ice creams you can find in a store. This is pure vanilla with real peppermint flakes without a hint of a chemical or mass produced flavor.

Pecan Pie

Family Favorite!! Our family loves gooey pecan pie. I will be making a pecan pie for Thanksgiving and for Christmas dinner. With a dollop of whip or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream......you can't beat it! Here is my recipe!

 

Spaghetti Carbonara

Wee Bear's favorite!

Traditionally, Carbonara is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with egg, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper. The dish arrived at its modern form, with its current name, in the middle of the 20th century. The cheese is usually Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a combination of the two.

Smash Burger

I love the beefy, medium-rare middle of a plump, juicy burger, the savory depth of well-browned beef is simply unrivaled, especially with melty cheddar cheese....that is what a smash burger is and I love it!

Meat Canneloni

 

Meat Canneloni's are my favorite Italian food. However, I am disappointed each time I order in a restaurant. These delicious canneloni's are the best I have ever had and worth every minute of preparation. I make my béchamel sauce with a basil addition, giving my dish another layer of flavor.

Trout Almandine

  This is the most delicious trout recipe EVER!!!

Mask with Filter Pocket

My Mom was one of the original Rosie the riveters at Boeing company!

I started making masks in February in preparation for the pandemic to reach Arizona. No one believed this would happen. Well folks, it happened! It is in every state, some more wide spread than others. It is an invisible war.... 

My first mask I made with things I had on hand. Fabric, hair ties, pipe cleaners and pressed interfacing/embroidery backing. I ordered elastic and more pipe cleaners.

I have been sending or friends have picked up on my porch the masks.  I have sent to hospitals in other states, friends and family. I have been busy. It has been a learning experience for me. Each hospital that I have sent to has had a little different spec on what they want. I have learned that we can get very inventive using materials we have on hand for filters and ear straps.

I have made my pattern as simple as possible with the fewest breaks in sewing.

Turn the mask through the pocket opening, clip the corners, being careful not to clip the knotted elastic.

The pipe cleaner goes into the pocket. Push it to the top along the seam.

Your mask is finished! I used a deconstructed Filtrete Air conditioning filter fabric in mine, but you can use pressed fabric like interfacing or embroidery backing.

If you cannot find elastic, you can use hair ties. My first masks used hair ties. If you don't have pipe cleaners, you can use bread bag ties. 

This mask is not a N-95, but, it is the best we can do during this time for personal use. Some hospitals are desperate for these as they cannot get the N-95.  

Please forgive the writing, I got up and made the mask, photographed the steps and started writing- wanted to get this out quickly and get back to sewing.

Stay safe......#stayhome

Pot o' Gold Coins

I made these Oreo gold coins, and it took me about 30 minutes! So easy!  

8 Year Blog-a-versary

Eight years ago March 7, 2012 I made the decision to dive into the blog world. With the help of a couple of family members I chose a name, and sitting on the veranda of our Ocho Rios cottage I alone created the web site. Trust that the "Sew whats cooking with Joan" website has changed dramatically, since that day. But, my goal to learn about the building of a website and implementing it, stimulating my brain and getting whats in that brain out to you has been so much fun and more successful than I would have ever imagine. Photography was never of interest to me, however, once I started taking the pictures of food, I became interested in improving the photography of that food. 

Four Cheese Mac and Cheese

I admit, I don't eat a lot of Mac and Cheese....however, if I'm going to eat Mac and Cheese, it has to be creamy and complex. In order to get to what I will eat, it has got to be EPIC!! I formulated this recipe and even the hubster said, "this is the best mac and cheese I have ever eaten"! I made my recipe on a recent ski and snowmobiling trip to West Yellowstone and Big Sky Ski resort near West Yellowstone. Everyone loved it and went back for seconds! Here is the recipe~

Hot Fudge Sundae's!

Quick! Simple! What’s the best food pairing you can think of? Anyone who does not immediately answer "hot fudge and vanilla ice cream" is far too grownup.