Thursday, October 04, 2007

Making me smile, Random Kitcheness & Slow Cook Thursday

Updated with recipe at bottom.

Barbara at Stray Thoughts has passed on to me the "You make me Smile" award. Thank you Barbara. It always amazes me that people come around to read anything I write, never mind that it makes them smile. You've made me smile, Barbara.

The person who originated the award said:
"The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell,and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with.
I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement.Although there are MANY people I want to give this award to at this very moment, I am going to choose ten bloggers:
Please grab your badge and wear it(with a smile) proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me, thank you.”

And now I'm supposed to pass it on. I'm having a very hard time picking just 10 people. I've been struggling for days with it, because you know, all the blogs I read make me smile in some way. So I'm just going to say that it's for everyone whom I visit on a regular basis. You all make me smile.

My friend Laura from I'm An Organizing Junkie has tagged me for a kitchen meme. 8 random things from my kitchen/cooking. I'm thinking maybe, just maybe this might be easy as I love hanging out in my kitchen. Okey, dokey, here goes:

1. One of my favorite utensils in the kitchen and that is used constantly is my Pampered Chef garlic press. I use it all the time.

2. I finally have a color I just looooove in my kitchen. It many, many years and 4 colors before I found something that makes me go "Ahhh, I love the color in my kitchen" whenever I go in there. It was actually Tia that suggested the color, from one of the million little color samples that I had taped to the wall.

3. My most used appliance in the kitchen is...can you guess? It's the coffee pot and now along with it, my Quisinart Coffee Grinder. I now get fresh ground coffee every single time.

4. My dishes are pure white. I love patterned dishes but I like how I can dress up the table with the same set of dishes just by changing up things like tablecloths, runners, napkins, candles, centerpieces, etc. And the dishes will go with it all. With my old set, a Corelle with a fall pattern on it, my dishes always clashed with the Christmas colors or the spring decorations. Now I can change it up however I want.

5. I love to cook but don't enjoy baking. I love to try new dishes and will make up dishes on the fly quite often. Most of them have been really good but the odd one has been a "thumbs down" event.

6. But I don't do fancy schmancy gourmet kinds of cooking, but I wouldn't mind taking a course just for fun.

7. I usually always have sour cream in the fridge. It's very rare that I run out of sour cream. It is definitely considered a staple around here.

8. The picture on the wall by our table is very special to me. It's a copper tooled rendition of the Last Supper made by my hubby's Dad, who's now passed away, and it was framed and the frame painted to match the original background by my hubby's sister. So it is a treasured thing in our kitchen.

So Linda, Shalee, Beck, Gibee and Tammy tell us about your kitchen and quirks.


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And following right along with a kitchen meme it's Slow Cooking Thurday hosted by Sandra. My crockpot has already been cooking up a storm. Something about fall that brings out the cravings for soup, stews and the like. This is one of my favorite easy recipes. It's a take on Stacy from Exceedingly Mundane's recipe, but I couldn't even tell you where on her site I saw it. If you'd like the original you can contact her through her site. I believe she called it 4 Beans and Sausage, if I'm not mistaken.

CROCKPOT BEANS AND SAUSAGE

-4 cans (15 oz. each) of a mix and match of beans (I used kidney, black, white northern, and pinto)
-1 can kernal corn
-1 1/2 cups ketchup
-1 medium onion, chopped
-1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
-1 lb (1/2 kg) smoked, cooked sausage (I used Mennonite garlic and baked it for 1/2 hour first)
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
-1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
-1/2 tsp. dry mustard
-1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce

In a small fry pan, saute onion and green pepper for a few minutes just to start softening the onion.

Meanwhile, slice the sausage into 1/2" slices.

Drain beans and corn. Add all ingrediants to crockpot, stir and cook on high for 4 hours. Serve with a nice crusty bread or fresh buns.

18 comments:

Laura said...

I have white Corelle dishes in my kitchen. I love, love, love that they are white for exactly the reasons you mentioned!

Thanks for playing along!

Beck said...

If I lived nearby, we could take a fancy cooking class together!
I'm going to do my tag either tomorrow or on the weekend, but I WILL do it! :)

Sandra said...

Susanne this look wonderful, I can't wait to try it :)

Thank you for sharing!

Renee said...

Congratulations on your award! Your slow cooker recipe sounds delicious! I can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing.

Jenn said...

Sounds really good! And like it would make great leftover lunches for dh and I!

Jenn

Tammy said...

Oh, fun- and thank you for the tag, Susanne! Although I am not one to enjoy living in my kitchen, I use to actually sell Pampered Chef so I think I can do this one!
(And yes, I love my garlic press too!) :D

Congratulations on this award- you truly make me smile!

Anonymous said...

what a delicious dish you've posted. I must try that one. Have a great Thursday.

Barb said...

I have the Cuisinart coffee grinder sitting right next to my Cuisinart coffee maker, too, Susanne. Fresh ground coffee is the best, especially if it's Starbucks. :-)

My dishes are solid cream. Pfaltzgraff Cappuccino. For the same reason. The always work, no matter how the table is decorated.

What a fun meme!

And congratulations on the smiley award - very well deserved - you make us all smile.

Anonymous said...

This looks good. Thanks for sharing.

MJ

Anonymous said...

We have decided to try more types of beans to get out of our rut. I think this recipe wil help us do that.

FlipFlop Mom said...

Just wanted to say.. You make me smile too!!!! You deserve that award girly!!!

Anonymous said...

Yum. Nice winter recipes
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Shalee said...

Yeah to that cooking class! We actually have a chef's school in our community college here and I would love to take it with Mr. Right. Obviously, we'll have to take it when the kids can be left alone for periods of time without killing each other. So basically MUCH later. I'm on it!

Oh, and you definitely make me smile too!

Brittanie said...

I think the O'Malley series is my all time favorite series. That is def. saying a lot considering mine has always been Anne of Green Gables series which I still love. I feel as though I grow spirtually every time I read her books. I see you have THE Canopy on your list. That is another of my all time favorite books. Let me know what you think when you are done with it please. :)

Michelle said...

oh this sounds so good for the slow cooker.thanks for posting .

Rochelle said...

Okay. I have got to stop coming by here when I am hungry!! YUM YUM is all I got to say!

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

Oh, Susanne, I don't cook! This meme will be a challenge, for sure.

gail@more than a song said...

I don't like to run out of sour cream either, for sure it's a staple!
And I've made the beans & sausage dish, very good...but I think I've sorta changed it from sister Stacy's original recipe too.