Creamed Cauliflower (aka Creamy Garlic Parmesan Cauliflower with Bacon) & Thanksgiving Dinner

When daughter Wende invited me over for what is becoming her traditional Thanksgiving supper of Cornish hens cooked over an open fire, I volunteered to bring a side dish.  My original choice was Brussels sprouts & sweet potato hash but when I saw Kevin’s recipe for Creamed Cauliflower, I changed my mind.

On his “Closet Cooking” blog, Kevin describes the dish as “A quick and easy stove-top creamed cauliflower with butter, garlic, parmesan, and bacon!”  I made it by his recipe below but since I made it ahead of time, I transferred to a dish for reheating at Wende’s and I used one of his options to add shredded cheese to the top.  For the complete list of options and his good how-to pics, just click on the above link.

But before I get the cauliflower, this is the main event being cooked over the open fire - potatoes and onions in the foil.

Pork Chop Supreme & Buttery Peas

I had three pieces of pork loin in the freezer and two of them went toward making Pork Green Chile Stew and I opted to use the third one to make six ¾” chops for this dish.  The recipe for Pork Chop Supreme came from the “Sweet Peas Kitchen” blog and I followed it as written.  I made it for our Friday group which was only three of us with Bev and Pat in Marco and Cindy off to Nashville – since I’m cooking for one, I wanted leftovers.

How To Make The Best Scrambled Eggs

Using the scrambling technique (same as this recipe) shown to me by my grandmother, I’ve always considered my eggs to be very good and the grandkids have always requested them.  So when Jenn put up her post on How To Make The Best Scrambled Eggs on her “Once Upon A Chef” blog, I knew I had to try it.  Her recipe is for six eggs but I was only cooking two so I revised the recipe as shown below plus I omitted the dill and chives so I could compare these to mine.  To get the original along with pics, click on the above link.

Eliza Brings Her Family For Salmon, Tots, And Peas & Carrots

We didn’t get together for Eliza’s birthday, so I invited her to bring her family down for Sunday dinner and to get her present.  The menu for the meal was a 3lb.6oz. piece of Sockeye Salmon, baked tater tots, and peas and carrots.  I opted for the peas and carrots because I had several bags of peas in the freezer.  Rather than our normal of just tossing them in butter, I decided to use Neli’s recipe for Carrots and Peas from her “Delicious Meets Healthy” blog.  I doubled her recipe to get the one below but the original can be found by clicking on the above link.

Pork Green Chile Stew

When I saw Chef Lea Ann’s recipe for Pork Green Chile Stew on her "Cooking On The Ranch” blog, I thought it would work well for our Hispanic food loving Friday card group.  So, when this chilly, drizzly Friday came along, it became the meal choice.

One her blog, Lea Ann described it as “A hearty stew brimming with Chile Peppers, cubed pork loin roast, potatoes and hominy. Slightly spicy, slightly tangy and mostly mouthwateringly delicious.” I made it sorta by the recipe except I used canned chilies, but the original along with pics can be found by clicking on the above link.

Cedar Plank Salmon With Maple Ginger Glaze & Smoker Repaired

Not sure how I got there but I ended up looking online at some cedar planks for grilling and since I had plenty of Sockeye Salmon in the freezer, I ordered a 12 pack of planks – probably from Amazon.  As best I can tell, I’ve only made this dish once since I began blogging and since we thought it was just okay, I went in search of a new recipe.  The recipe I selected for Cedar Plank Salmon With Maple Ginger Glaze  came from Lisa on her “Downshiftology” blog.

Sunday’s Creamy Roasted Red Pepper and Italian Sausage Pasta

When I saw this recipe, all of the words in the title appealed to me so I put Kevin’s recipe for Creamy Roasted Red Pepper and Italian Sausage Pasta from his “Closet Cooking” blog on my try soon list.

Bev and I both like pasta so we have decided to try having it every Sunday beginning with this dish.  Kevin describes the dish as “Pasta in a tasty tomato and roasted sweet red pepper sauce with spicy Italian sausage, cream and plenty of parmesan!”  Since sausage and pasta come in pound packages and I wanted leftovers, I doubled everything to get the recipe below but the original recipe plus good pics can be found by clicking the above link.