Our Molly has the great good fortune to be taken care of by Dr. Tack at the Black River Veterinary Hospital in Chester. NJ. Dr. Tack and his entire staff provide friendly, professional, compassionate caring at a level I have rarely found. As part of his caring, Dr. Tack publishes a monthly newsletter with lots of information and tips for caring for our pets. Last month, he printed a recipe for peanut butter dog treats. They are now Molly's official favorite treat. Easy to make, with ingredients you probably have on hand, they are wonderful for treats or training rewards!
Here is a video of my preparing a sausage, potato, onion and red & green pepper meal.....great for dinner or lunch. The video is taken from my "Betty Visits England" video. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Cockburn's butcher shop in Bedale, Yorkshire. We had the opportunity to watch the sausage made by Wayne Pearson.
I’m often asked if I cook at home every night… NO! We enjoy eating out at restaurants and at the homes of friends. When I have a really busy day or am just out of ideas, my go to meal is Chinese takeout!
Invariably, I have leftover rice and being of the “waste not, want not” school - I use that to make fried rice. You can pretty much use any leftover protein to go into it along with some onions, peas, eggs and scallions.
Here is my favorite combination:
Ingredients:
2 cups of cold leftover rice 2 eggs, beaten ½ an onion, roughly chopped ½ cup frozen peas, defrosted ½ cup chopped ham 1 cup chopped raw shrimp 2 or 3 scallions, roughly chopped 2 or 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 or 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-Lightly oil a large skillet and pour in the beaten eggs. Swirl to make a thin “pancake”. Cook for a minute or two just until eggs are set. Turn out onto a cutting board and cut into shreds.
2-Add about a tablespoon of oil to the skillet, add the onions and cook for a few minutes until they start to soften. Push to one side and add the shrimp. Cook just until they turn pink. Remove the shrimp to a clean bowl and reserve.
3-Add the remaining oil to the skillet and add the rice. Stir to mix well with the onions.
4-Add the remaining ingredients and toss well until heated through.
When we lived in Virginia Beach on an inlet from the Chesapeake Bay, we could - and did - catch blue crabs right off our dock. While they made great eating just boiled with Old Bay seasoning, they were even better made into crab cakes. I mean real crab cakes with lots of lump crab meat and very little else. Here's my recipe:
In a medium sized bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper, lemon juice, Tabasco and Old Bay and then fold the crabmeat in gently.
Dip in Panko
.
Form into 6 cakes and fry for about 5 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. You may also make these an hors d'ouevre by using just 2 tablespoons of the mixture per cake.
(Leftovers reheat beautifully and they can be frozen)
Rick and I in our front Williamsburg style garden
Our dock where we caught crabs with a chicken baited line
