Around Christmas, I was noticing a lot of those “grow-your-own herbs” kits in catalogs.

One of them claims that “it’s so easy to use that anyone, with or without gardening experience can grow lush, beautiful gardens right in your home!”

I would be the one without the gardening experience. The AeroGarden model looks like a no-brainer. It’s computerized and tells you when to add water and nutrients. The lights turn off and on to simulate the sun.

Oh, for some fresh basil for my pesto!

But do these really work? Does anyone own one of these and is currently enjoying parsley, sage and thyme right there in the kitchen? Let me know if they are worth the price.

When I was a kid, I hated pot roast — because like a lot of kids I wanted everything separate on the plate. And mushy vegetables? Eeeeww.

In those days, Mom made pot roast in a pressure cooker, so my memory is that the vegetables were REALLY mushy. Today, I love pot roast, which I usually cook in my slow cooker — and I don’t believe the vegetables turn out half as mushy as they did when I was young.

About a year ago, I decided my slow cooker needed replacing because I didn’t like its colors — avocado green with a brown pot. So out it went and I  bought a new one — a wasteful decision for which I paid in more ways than one. Of course, the new one didn’t cook half as well as the old one. My pot roasts and stewed chickens started overcooking and even burning. I should have learned a lesson when I tossed out an old toaster for some other silly reason — haven’t had a proper piece of toast since.

It was my husband, after enduring several dried up and burned up crockpot meals, who told me of a good idea someone at his job had given him. The hint was to place four copper pennies between the pot and the heating element so that the slow cooker slows down.

The other day I put together a very simple pot roast with carrots, rutabagas, onions and potatoes on the bottom and the pot roast on top. I poured about one cup of beef broth mixed with several crushed garlic cloves on top and set the pot for nine hours.

 When I got home from work, I found an absolutely perfect pot roast ready for dinner. In fact, it was the most moist and tender beef, with vegetables of a perfect texture, that I have had in a long, long time.

So if you have a slow cooker that is too speedy, it might be worth four cents to try this remedy.

So, I told you folks I would let you in on what happened when I used my heart-shaped silicone ice trays as candy molds and here are the results: I have no idea how well silicone cake pans work, but these worked great as candy molds! However, due to my lack of experience, it was certainly an adventure using them.

First of all, they smelled like, well, silicone. So I had to wash them. That was a slippery, soapy mess. I dropped several of them and had to wash them again.

Then – and I don’t know what possessed me – I decided that I needed to grease the molds before I put the candy in them. Now, I know that silicone is supposed to be non-stick and that’s part of why it’s amazing. But for some reason I decided to make sure my candy wouldn’t stick. Perhaps I didn’t trust myself. Or perhaps I didn’t trust the silicone molds because they were so inexpensive. (Sreiously, three trays for $2.50 — that suspicious!)

So, I made the mistake of spraying them with non-stick cooking spray – which just made everything incredibility slippery. And I do mean everything! The counter, my spatula, the floor, the bowl I was using – even my feet. In fact, I got enough slippery stuff on my shoes that I slipped in the bathroom after finishing up with the candy. (I had to thoroughly wipe my shoes after I was done with this heart-shaped silicone candy mold project.)

So, I used too much non-stick spray on my non-stick trays. And it turns out that even though the trays were inexpensive they are pretty high-quality silicone – or at least high enough quality to work very well as candy trays!

Well, I made my heart-shaped fudge and I gave it to the cast members of  “Criminals in Love” (all wrapped up in the red-lace cellophane bags that I also got at the dollar center at Target). All and all – aside from almost spraining my ankle – I’d say it was a pretty big success.

I also bought the heart-shaped cake pan and made a big brownie in it. It turned out great and I didn’t really grease the pan at all (cause I forgot that step).

After all this mess, I have decided I really do heart silicone! (But I don’t heart non-stick cooking spray.)

I spent this snowy weekend watching basketball and soccer games. Deep down, what I really wanted to be doing was making soup, baking bread and reading a good book.

Here are a couple of great, easy soups that I wish I was eating right now. I came across these two recipes a few years ago when our church was looking for some new soup recipes for Lent. (If you need a big batch, just multiply the ingredients by six to fit in a big roaster.)

Feel free to share your soup recipes. I think it’s going to stay cold outside for a while.

Hearty Tomato Soup

2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2-1/2 cups milk

2 (10-ounce) cans tomato soup

2 (16-ounce) cans tomatoes with basil, onion and garlic

Melt cream cheese with milk; stir in soup. Beat with whisk. Stir in tomatoes, breaking them up. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently until hot.

(If you don’t find the tomatoes with the basil, onion and garlic already in them, you can use plain canned tomatoes and add your own seasonings.)

 Cheesy Wild Rice Soup

1 package quick-cooking long grain and wild rice mix

4 cups milk

1 can condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted

8 ounces process American cheese, cubed

1/2 pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

In a large sauce pan, prepare rice according to package directions. Stir in milk, soup and cheese; mix well. Cook and stir until cheese is melted. Garnish with bacon. Makes 6-8 servings.

Garbanzo beans snagged me a new kitchen toy for Christmas.

My fellow blogger Crystal is not the only one whose kitchen has been missing a few essential ingredients. I have a good set of pots and pans, but for a couple of years, my mother has been trying to convince me that I needed a food processor. I didn’t want to bother with something with so many pieces and parts, but I finally agreed that I needed one after I tried to make hummus in the blender. I managed, but the blender barely survived.

I’ve been dabbling in Middle Eastern cooking for the past four years, and nearly every recipe I’ve tried involves chopping a lot of nuts - or in the case of hummus, mashing up a lot of garbanzo beans. My parents got me a small food processor for Christmas that’s just right for my apartment-sized kitchen and a good batch of hummus.

For those of you with food processors, I’m open to suggestions. What’s your favorite use for your food processor?
Meanwhile, here’s my hummus recipe, which comes out much more smoothly with the help of my new toy.

Hummus
2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt or your favorite seasoned salt*
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried parsley

Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt or seasoning salt in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the garbanzo bean mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.
Let sit overnight (preferably a full 24 hours) to allow the flavors to blend before serving. The waiting time is crucial; you would not believe how much better this tastes if you let it sit awhile before you eat it.
Serve hummus with raw or blanched vegetables or pita bread.
Makes 16 servings; a double batch is great for a large crowd.

* If you have it, use Tastefully Simple’s Mild Moroccan Seasoning Salt. It is terrific in this recipe.

Sometimes lunch time is a trial for me. I live near my office so I can go home for lunch. However, on days like today, going home for lunch also means being tempted to take a nap. I didn’t want to risk a nap-hangover (being tired at the office because I had taken a nap) this afternoon so I went to the mall for lunch.

I had a pretzel and looked around at Target. I have recently become a fan of the little dollar section near the front door at Target. I usually don’t buy anything, but today I couldn’t resist. Target had three-packs of little silicone ice cube trays that were heart shaped for only $2.50!

What can I say, turns out I’m a sucker for heart-shaped items – I bought the ice trays. I think I’ll see if they work as candy molds. I promise to let you all know how it turns out.

They also had a heart-shaped silicon cake pan for only $2.50!

Now, I realize that the low prices of these items is suspicious, but the ice-cube trays have to be able to resist being frozen and the cake pan said on the label that it would be okay in up to 500-degree heat. I didn’t buy the cake pan today, but I think I’m going back for one before Valentine’s Day. I think I’ll make mom and dad a big heart-shaped brownie in honor of the saint.

So, this will be my first foray into silicone bakeware territorry…in fact it will be my first foray into heart-shaped food territory too. Do any of you more experienced cooks out there know what I can expect?

Is silicone bakeware the greatest thing since sliced bread or should I just stick with my non-stick cooking pans? 

Deb has a lot of nerve tempting us with those decadent Oreo Balls (see previous post). So how about a salad?

This one is a combination of three recipes, so posting it gives me a chance to write it down. It’s easy to toss together in a bowl, adding the dressing right before serving. Tastes great with grilled chicken in the summer and looks pretty enough to serve for a special meal. I’ve also used strawberries instead of the dried cranberries; that’s good, too. Toasting the almonds is kind of a pain, but it really adds to the flavor. 

Spinach Salad

1 tablespoon butter

3/4 cup slivered almonds

1 pound spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces (or one bag of baby spinach)

1 cup dried cranberries

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

For dressing:

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons minced onion

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

Melt butter in small sauce pan; add almonds, stirring until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and let cool. In large bowl, combine spinach, almonds, dried cranberries and mandarin oranges.

For dressing, mix sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, onion, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar and vegetable oil. Toss with spinach when ready to serve. (Note: I don’t think I’ve ever used all of the dressing!)

OK. I know it’s the first week of January and we are supposed to be dieting, but I have to share one last decadent treat with you.

A friend served these Oreo Balls at a New Year’s Eve party I attended. They taste like the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. I can’t believe it’s just Oreos and cream cheese, dipped in almond bark.  In one recipe I saw they told you to scrape off the cream filling and combined it with the cream cheese before combining all with the crushed Oreos. My friend said he left the cookies whole and processed them filling and all in the food processor. Then combined it with cream cheese.

Make these Oreo Balls this weekend as a treat for eating celery all week.

Here is the recipe from Recipe Zaar:

Oreo balls
1 package regular size Oreo cookies, crushed
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 package white almond bark
1 package chocolate almond bark
Directions:
1. Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.
2. Roll into walnut size balls.
3. Chill for an hour.
4. Melt approximately 3/4 package of white almond bark.
5. Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white almond bark.
6. Allow to harden on wax paper.
7. Takes about 15 min.
8. While waiting, melt about 1/4 package of chocolate almond bark.
9. When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch, decorate with drizzles of chocolate and white almond bark.
10. Use a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner to drizzle the almond bark.
Source: http://www.recipezaar.com

Say “Mmmmmmmmmm” if you love those gourmet beer bread mixes that you can buy at in-home parties or upscale stores.
The bread is great. The price of the mix, not so much.
Everyone I know seems to love beer bread made from those mixes, especially this time of year when a loaf of fresh-from-the-oven bread is perfect with soup or chili. So I decided to look for an affordable, and delicious, homemade beer bread mix.
I searched several sites online and found a recipe for Easy Beer Bread at allrecipes.com. It’s a gift and a side dish all in one. The woman who posted the recipe says she mixes all the dry ingredients together, then gives the mix and recipe as a gift.
I love that idea so much that (after taste-testing the recipe on a friend, who liked it and shared the bread with her co-workers) I made about a dozen batches of mix that I gave to friends this holiday season.
When I baked the test batch for my friend, I added a cup of shredded Cheddar cheese, and used club soda instead of beer.  My friend said the bread tasted similar to Red Lobster’s famed cheese biscuits - just another reason to love this recipe.

Easy Beer Bread
2-1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-5-inch baking pan.
In a bowl, mix the self-rising flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Pour in the beer, and mix just until moistened. Transfer to the prepared baking pan. Top with the melted butter.
Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Variations: Use club soda instead of beer.
Add 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese to bread batter, if desired.