Good morning everyone! I hope to see the sun peeking out from behind the clouds soon. Yesterday was downright dreary here, and I was shocked when I awoke to a thermometer revealing 54 degrees and sounds of rain on the windowsill. It was for the best though. I needed to be trapped indoors to recuperate from an awesome Mother's day. Phil took the kids from the moment we awoke until around eight pm, allowing me 12 glorious hours in the garden. It was a clear, breezy, cool day, and I was happy to dig in the dirt without a care in the world. Unfortunately, I forgot one important thing…I am the worlds worst when it comes to sunscreen, and my ears, face, neck and an odd 2 x6 strip of my back all fried to a bright, tomato red.

Lessons learned: we are at the time of year that I have to coat myself in sunscreen and my t-shirt should be long enough that it doesn't creep up my back as I work in my vegetable beds. I'm planning on getting out there again today, and I already slathered up. I don't require a high SPF, but I need a little.

I built another vegetable planting box Mother's day. I would guess it is about 5x5. I had three 4x12 boxes last year. This year, Phil built one more as an Easter gift to me. I keep expanding. I am addicted. I have to garden above ground, as our soil is more fit to mine gravel than to grow tomatoes. I used to complain, but now enjoy being able to sit on the sides and weed, prune, and harvest without killing my back. I will take a few pictures later and show you what is cooking down in the garden. I have some more plants to throw in, now that my layers of soil, compost, and dried grass and leaves have settled in a bit after yesterday's rains. I ran off to the greenhouses Sunday afternoon for two basil plants. I came home with 36 plants. Not all basil, mind you… I learned last year that my culinary requirement is far less than the 12 plants I dropped in last year. Two should be just right. I also bought some Tabasco plants (been searching for those. They add a great little punch to my hot sauces), cherry tomato plants (total tomato plant count is up near 30 now), and a bunch of other stuff that I really didn't need, but definitely will be eaten by someone!

Ah my gardening helper, Jack, just awoke, wanting breakfast. I think some farm-fresh eggs are in order! I hit a tiny, roadside farmer's market on Saturday morning and picked up two dozen fresh eggs, four bricks of various cheeses (I think they are 1 lb. each), three pounds of new red potatoes, a few humongous oranges, and five pounds of ground sausage. All for eighteen bucks and change! I gave the sweet, old man a twenty and refused change. Upon this announcement, he started throwing in more oranges for my kids and recruiting me to his church. I now wish I had picked up some Amish butter. That stuff is wonderful! I'll go back soon. Watermelons (yum) and cantaloupes (not yum) are arriving this week.

To do: breakfast, garden, make some bread. Feels like a baking day. Maybe some Guinness bread… I think it would complement the smokiness of the pulled pork (Phil smoked two pork butts for 13 hours this weekend). If I get around to baking it, I will show and share with you.

Happy Cooking (and Gardening),

Shannnon

Just wanted to check in and say hello to everyone. Thank you for all the wonderful emails! Yay to all of you that claim to have rediscovered your kitchens! That is the goal. I would share a recipe, but to be honest, with giving final exams and turning in grades, I haven't had cooking on the brain much. I did cook three meals day before yesterday: soda pop pancakes, brown sugar meatloaf, and a lunch creation that I called "stuffed sandwich a' la Jack." I just pressed half a tube of croissant roll dough into a greased 8x8 pan, then mixed together some spicy mustard, honey, and a dash of Ranch (I've always liked ranch and honey mustard dressing mixed together), and I drizzled that over the dough. Then I piled on some deli meat – ham and turkey and some pepperonis – and topped all that with another drizzle of sauce, sliced provolone, and one beaten egg. I pressed the remaining dough on top, cut some steam holes, and baked it at 350 for about 15 minutes. It was really yummy! Jack loved it. It sounds like more work than it is. It was a fridge cleanout dish that was a winner! The other two meals are in the book, which will soon be available at a store in Starkville. I will update you as soon as that happens (hopefully tomorrow). More again soon. I am going to do something special for you guys soon. We are going to talk about how to organize a kitchen for maximum efficiency (faster cooking). I also need to check into this video blog thing. I have a blog account that can post videos and a camera that can take digital video…. Hmmm… something to consider… I'd love to share more, and a picture is worth a 1000 words.

Happy Cooking,

Shannon

Thank you to all my viewers for your loving support over the past three years. I never wanted to be on television, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover enjoyment in front of the camera. I hope many of you are cooking more at home. If you haven't bought one yet, go get a slow cooker. That is the generic name for Crock-pot, gentlemen. Mother's day is coming. If she is expecting jewelry, don't buy a Crock-pot. If she is expecting nothing, a Crock-pot would be nice. Thank you to the culinary arts institute at MUW for supporting me since way before my on camera days.

Don't be sad, and Lord knows, don't start a rumor as to why I am gone. No, I didn't do anything bad, and I haven't been fired. It is just time to let it go. I am looking forward to a summer of nothing. I will get back to work on my master's degree, putter around my garden, chase my boys, and continue to blog and post recipes on my own. Who knows? Maybe I'll write another cookbook and go harass Bill and the rest of the gang while urging you to buy it. J

In the words of Plex on Yo Gabba Gabba…. Goodbye, see you later, it was fun.

Happy Cooking Forever!

Shannon

We just returned home last night from a four day trip to Delaware for my brother-in-law's wedding. We broke the trip up into two portions, stopping in Knoxville Tuesday night for a quick sleepover with Phil's sister, Stephanie and her family. Wednesday, it was on to his parents, in the van, kids in tow. As we did on our trip last year, we decided to do a single day, marathon drive home. We were all a little homesick, and we were ready for our own beds. To get to that comfy goal, we had to work for it. Sixteen hours in a small space with one person is trying. Add in two small kids, and you got yourself the recipe for a martini (or seven). I must admit it really wasn't THAT bad. The kids were so well behaved that I even drove for three hours. Yes, that is just a small fraction of the trip, but I have NEVER driven on any of our cross country jaunts. It is a milestone in my life. I am quite proud of my journey from D.C. to Bristol.

The day after all the Lindell wedding festivities concluded, I found myself alone in the kitchen, and I began to dig. I hadn't cooked in quite some time, and I needed the mental release. I a huge stash of dried pasta and set off to make a pasta buffet for a crowd. I made two pans of my home-style macaroni and cheese (slightly altered to use leftover cheeses from the cheese platter), two pans of pizza pasta, and a pan of what I liked so much that I am sharing it with you. It had no name, so we are going to call it Spinach and Tomato Rotini. I was inspired by leftover spinach dip from the rehearsal party. I also used up the rolls that went with the meat platter; they became garlic bread. The only ingredient that was purchased was some milk. Eighteen happy people eating what essentially was just a bunch of leftovers made me happy. I am most proud of meals like that, ones that I create from what I find in house. Sometimes, wonderful dishes emerge that become regulars on our table, which I see today's recipe becoming.

The spinach dip I used was the little microwavable kind that you find in the freezer section. I am pretty sure that it was the TGI Friday's brand. I opted to use a jarred dip, which is more likely to be found in stores. I am using the Tostidos brand that is usually on a little shelf by the chips. If you use the frozen kind, cook it first according to directions, then cool it off before adding it to the sour cream. Feel free to skip the meat step. Just remember to taste the sauce before loading up your casserole dish. Some jarred sauces are very sweet and need some TLC to reach their full potential.

The other two dishes I made, the pizza pasta and the macaroni and cheese are both in my cookbook, which I referred to while making them. I guess I looked kind of odd reading my own book, but I do it all the time. I used it tonight when I was making twice-stuffed potatoes. It is my recipe box. J

Thursday will be my final show. I am leaning towards doing a favorite recipe from the past three years. I am leaning towards a dessert, but my ears will be open until I have to turn my recipe in Tuesday night prior to going to bed, and I welcome any input.

Happy Cooking!

Shannon

In 2001, right around this time of year, I was wrapping up my senior year at MUW, soon to be a part of the second graduating class produced by the new culinary arts institute on campus. I was always quite sure about my dream culinary job. Every ounce of my being wanted to return to my beloved school and teach. I wanted others to leave the school with the passion I felt for all things culinary. This semester, I was given that chance, and I cannot express to you how much I love being in the classroom. To see a student's eyes light up when their first bread dough has risen to perfection makes me just as happy as it makes them. To be alongside them in their culinary journey and feel their excitement for techniques and flavors fulfills me. I know I am where I am supposed to be. In just a few weeks, I will begin work on my master's degree, all with the hope that one day I can turn my part-time culinary instructor status to a career.

With this in mind, it is quite timely that the powers that be have decided that my run on the Sunrise show will be coming to a close at the end of April. I am saddened but also slightly relieved. It is not that I do not enjoy my Tuesday and Thursday mornings with the gang, sharing my cooking ideas and secrets with viewers, but to be honest with you all (as I always have been) after three years, I am running out of recipe ideas, and I am slightly burned out on the three a.m. wake up calls. Tentatively, the plan is for me to return to demonstrating new recipes in the fall via YouTube, and I will keep you updated on the status of that venture as the pieces begin to fall into place. I also plan to continue updating my website, tweeting on twitter, and blogging on my own.

To calm any fears that I rode off into the sunset after Thursday's show, please take note that next week, I will not be on the show. I have to go to Delaware to attend my brother-in-law's wedding. I will return for two final shows on the 27^th and 29^th, and I am open to any final requests (bad wording. That makes it sound like someone is dying). I will make something you particularly enjoyed again or something new (last dance, viewer's call). With the end near (jeez, more death talk...maybe I should be a funeral advisor), I wanted to share a recipe that I have been holding on to forever. I always put it back when I consider doing it on a show, just because the ingredient list is long. However, you probably have everything on hand (who doesn't have bananas sitting around, freckled with age spots, begging to be used?). Everything else is common baking cabinet staples. There are no special tricks or techniques. Just enjoy the recipe, and I will see you all again on the 27^th.

Happy Cooking!

Shannon

I am trying to think of something to say that is new, but honestly, life is my normal springtime routine. I spent over ten hours in the garden on Saturday, and have sunburned ears to prove it. I usually forget my hairline. I had that covered, but forgot my darn ears. I got a ton of tomato plants in, three different varieties, and four varieties of hot peppers. Those are my favorite crops, so I planted about three times what went in last year. I started roasting and storing my own tomatoes last year, but we loved them so much that my supply was gone by early October. I still have lots of things to plant, and I hope to get all of it in this week, but as you know, Tuesdays are nutty with the show and school taking up the first ten hours of my day. Somehow, I always find a way to get down to my little patch of heaven, letting the sun invigorate my soul.

When we get closer to harvest time, I will share with you how I roast my tomatoes. They are excellent on a homemade pizza. As I was planting, I was thinking of pizza, and I had an idea to show you how easy it is to make your own dough. Now this dough is the simplest that you can make. There is no rise time needed, but you can let it rise for up to 30 minutes after pressing it into the pan. There is no notable difference between the two final products. I think once you try this, you will forget buying crusts at the store. Once you make it the written way, you can experiment, adding some herbs or cheeses into the dough. I wanted you to try the plain one first, and then you can alter it to your needs.

I hope you try it, enjoy it, and use it (it will save you money)! Have a great day!

Happy Cooking,

Shannon

Ahhhhh. Spring! It is so hard for me to concentrate on doing required cooking when the gorgeous weather beckons me to come get dirty in the garden. I have to cram in all the outside time I can now, because we all know that the super hot time is just around the corner, and then the kids and I will be regulated to the indoors during the heat of the day. The summer schedule is breakfast, morning play, lunch, nap, snack, outside. I look forward to our summer play. Hopefully, by that time, Jack will have agreed to finally remove the costume I made for him today. I had a rare moment when housework and garden duties were all caught up, and I was looking for a task, and Jack submitted a crafty challenge. Jack asked that I make him a Link outfit. The background story is that Jack loves the Legend of Zelda games by Nintendo (near and dear to me, because I grew up with Link and Zelda). Link is a little boy with a tiny sword and the hero of the series. Link is also Jack's idol. It's nerdy, I know, but I am, too, and he has been my shadow for almost five years now. He was doomed to a life of geekiness at birth.

So, in my crafty throwdown, I pulled out the sewing machine and converted two of my shirts, an old belt and a pair of pants into the perfect Link costume. He has now had it on for nine hours and has already asked about thirty times if he is going to get to sleep in it. I am so glad he liked it. He looked in the mirror and said, "Wow, I look really good!" It gave me one of those golden mommy moments that warmed my heart because I did something even better than my child thought possible. I will stick some photos at the bottom of this post so you can see that I can do things other than cook. Which, I guess I should touch on, seeing how this is a cooking, not a sewing blog.

Okay, on to food. Glorious food! I wanted to do another main dish today that looked a little more upscale, but as always, is super easy to create. The recipe of the day is Cajun Pasta. A few notes are floating around my brain, screaming to be shared before they float away. One, you can use any noodle you like, don't go out and buy some if you have some to use already on hand. Two, if you don't like crawfish, use seafood that you do like (shrimp, clams, and scallops work well). Also, if you want to thicken the sauce, you should use a cornstarch and cold water slurry. If you thicken it, you may want to add an extra dash of seasoning, and then…ta-da. Done. You can go from stove to table in under 25 minutes. Add a tossed salad and some bread, and you have a filling, simple meal for four. Enjoy!

Below you can see my Link photo that I eyeballed for ideas, and then, of course, my son in his requested Link costume. I was so hurt that Phil wasn't impressed at my handiness, but once he found out that I didn't run to the store and buy it, he gave my nerdy awesomeness its due respect. The hat does cone down in the back, but I lacked a wind machine to demonstrate that feature. J

I hope everyone had a happy Easter weekend. I took the boys out of town to see my parents and other relatives down outside of Vicksburg for a few days. We left Phil at home to do some yard projects. The time has come again for gardening, and my experiment with above ground planting went so well last year that Phil took the alone time to construct another planting box for me and order some nice dirt to fill it with. The rain has delayed my dirt delivery, but hopefully I will get it tomorrow afternoon. The boys and I returned home yesterday morning, so we got to spend the afternoon outside preparing the other three boxes for plants. It felt so good to get my hands dirty again! Now I am just itching to grow things! I have a few new things I am going to try this year. I will keep y'all updated. In the meantime, if anyone has seen Tabasco pepper plants and Habanera pepper plants for sale, please let me know. I bought them last year, and used them in my homemade hot sauce, but I couldn't find them when I shopped around yesterday. I will be disappointed if I cannot include them in my garden again this year. Actually, I am on the hunt for any hot peppers besides cayenne and jalapeno.

With fresh veggies on my mind, it is hard not to jump directly into recipes that feature them, but it is still a little early. I thought we were due to do a one pot meal. Cornbread Beef Delight (I think that is what I named it) is a slightly spicy blend of onions and meat topped with a Mexican style cornbread and baked off. It is delicious! Serve with a little sour cream. Enjoy!

Update: I found an online resource for my peppers. Still, I'd rather go local. Suggestions? Email me muwcooks@gmail.com

As Easter is this weekend (as with all holidays, it snuck up on me), I thought I would share two things with you. First, I give you my Simple Coconut Cake recipe for your holiday dessert table. It is delicious, and has one of my favorite qualities – make it ahead and it just gets better and better as it sits. Also, if you keep quiet, no one will suspect that it isn't your great-grandmother's secret recipe that she proudly displayed every fifth Sunday lunch at church. Oh, and you can make it lighter by using light Cool Whip, light sour cream, and Splenda. You know I didn't do that, but it is a possibility for you, if you so desire.

The second thing I wanted to share with you, in the spirit of Easter, this wonderful documentary that I watched on Netflix today. I just stumbled upon it, and it was fantastic. The title of the film is Paperclips. Sounds riveting? Well, I agree. The title does it no justice whatsoever. It is the touching tale of a middle school class in tiny, two stop light, Whitwell; Tennessee. They started in 1998 simply studying the holocaust, and wound up on a seven year journey that is responsible for the pile of tissues at my side. Most of you won't watch it, so I'll share these lessons with you: Love everyone, don't be so quick to judge, forgiving doesn't mean forgetting, and persecuting another just for their beliefs and thoughts is wrong. Have a wonderful holiday, and hug your family, even if you don't want to.

Happy Easter,

Shannon

I haven't been to the grocery store in a long time. A really, really long time. This isn't a huge deal, as I tend to keep an ample supply of canned, frozen and dry goods, since I converted a storage room into my dry storage and deep freezer room shortly after we moved in. This was born of necessity, as I don't have nearly enough cabinets to keep it all in the kitchen. My pots, pans, and other assorted cooking paraphernalia occupy all available nooks and crannies. Anyway… some of the things that I must keep on hand are kid snacks. I try to keep the little 100 calorie packs, dry cereals, and crackers on hand for those "I'm hungry" moments. Well, the 100 calorie packs ran out over a month ago, but we still had cereal and cheesy crackers, so it we were fine. Well, the healthier cereals are now gone, and the crackers were merely a collection of crumbs. I was ripping the cracker box up and glanced at the ingredients label. I knew they weren't healthy, but honestly, I didn't really think of them as the dietary garbage that they were. I was caught up on cleaning, show stuff, and laundry, so I set out on a mission. I would make my children crackers. If I make them, I will know what they contain.

Surprisingly, crackers aren't difficult to make. Now, I must admit they are dough, and I am a dough girl. I love making anything where I am directed to mix it and then knead it by hand. Homemade pastas and breads are like free psychiatrist visits. If I am in a foul mood, standing at a floured counter, working good dough wipes all my negative thoughts away. The cracker dough was almost identical to pasta dough, and needed to be as thin as possible, so I used my pasta machine. I use a hand crank machine, and when my arms tire, I have a special, on-call motor (it's a 4 1/2 year old boy, but I've had him working the machine for over two years now, so he's an expert). If you have a stand mixer, chances are high that you can get a pasta attachment for it (in case you aren't interested in a crank machine). I have no prior experience with the pasta attachments, so if you have one, I'd love to know if you like it or not. If you do have trouble with any type of pasta machine, chances are it might be your dough, not the equipment, causing all the problems. If it is sticky AT ALL, it won't work. It will stick to the rollers and create a messy headache.

The dough I tried was a basic, wheat cracker dough that seemed quite boring, so I divided it up and set out on a flavored cracker mission. I made three types: Parmesan, Buffalo Ranch Chicken, and Cinnamon Sugar. They all were great, but I was slightly disappointed in the Buffalo ones, just because they tasted only like ranch with a tiny kick. I was looking for a spicy cracker. It worked out in the end, though. The kids wouldn't have eaten them, but they do now, seeing how it must take A LOT of Buffalo sauce to hotten wheat dough up. I plan to share the crackers with you soon; however, I must perfect my rolling skills, as it is unfair to use a pasta maker when most average home cooks have no such animal in their pantry.

As my mountain of crackers cooled, I finished off dinner, and I must share. I froze off most of the leftover French onion soup from last week's show. I had about 1 quart left. I thawed it yesterday, and when I went to bed last night, threw a venison roast in the Crockpot with soup. I let it cook on low all night. No extra seasonings, just homemade soup and meat. In the morning, I removed the roast, then poured the soup and drippings into a stockpot with two more cups of water. I brought this to a boil and added a large, diced carrot, 4 diced potatoes, and 1 onion, diced. I boiled the veggies for 20 minutes, and then thickened it with cornstarch. I added the meat back in, broke it up with a spatula, and voila, sensational venison stew. Phil loved it and encouraged a repeat recipe in the future.

I also made today's meatloaf, which has been a favorite of mine for years. I used it in a theme menu when I was a student at the W, and everyone raved about it. I normal don't use "fancy" ingredients, but sundried tomatoes are readily available, so we will consider them not so fancy. If you grow your own tomatoes, I will show you later in the year how to roast your own in the oven to use though out the winter. I've already used mine up, or I would be showing them off with this recipe.

I've talked enough. I haven't even mentioned that I also browned off and froze 7 1/2 lbs. of ground beef. I had a busy day and I am sleepy. I can score four hours if I hurry off to bed. See you in the morning (or, it was nice to see you this morning).

Happy Cooking,

Shannon