Lori's Meatballs

 Ingredients:

Meatballs:

• 2 pounds ground chicken (or turkey) - I'm using beef and sausage 
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Firecracker Sauce:

• ½ cup hot sauce
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (adjust based on spice preference)

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Preheat and Prepare:
• Preheat the oven to 475ºF and position 2 racks in the center.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Create the Firecracker Sauce:
• Combine firecracker sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
• Bring to a boil, then simmer for 8-10 minutes.
• Allow the sauce to cool; it will thicken as it cools.
3. Mix Meatball Ingredients:
• In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, minced garlic, salt, pepper, eggs, Panko breadcrumbs, paprika, and onion powder.
• Mix thoroughly with your hands; avoid overmixing.
4. Shape and Bake:
• Shape the mixture into balls (about 3 tablespoons each) and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 11-13 minutes or until fully cooked.
5. Dip in Firecracker Sauce:
• Using 2 tablespoons, dip each meatball into the firecracker sauce or brush each meatball with the sauce.
• Return to the baking sheet and bake for an additional 1-2 minutes.
6. Serve with a Bang:
• Drizzle or brush with additional sauce as desired before serving.

Cream Cheese Cookies

•  1 3/4 C flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 C unsalted butter
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 C sugar
• 1 egg 
• 2 t vanilla

• combine flour, salt & baking powder - set aside
• cream butter & cream cheese
• beat sugar into cream cheese & butter until light & fluffy
• add egg & vanilla
• scrape down side of bowl and mix 1 more time
• add dry ingredients
• give mixture 1 more stir
• optional - I add 1C chocolate chips
• cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour
• -------------------
• heat oven to 375
• wet hands
• roll dough into 2T size balls
• bake ~  10 mins

Bacon Caramel Candy

 

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons bacon grease
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 lb bacon - crumbled

Work in progress

1st stage 270

 final stage 245

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Nana's Cheesecake recipe

1 lb ricotta cheese - room temp

1 lb sour cream - room temp

1lb cream cheese - room temp

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 stick butter

3 large eggs - one at a time

3 Tbsp cornstarch

3 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp vanilla

grease and flour spring form pan

300 degrees bottom oven rack ~1 hour or until done

cool in the oven

Mom's Ham and Bacon Carbonara

1/2 lb bacon
1 ham slice
3 T margarine
3 T olive oil
1 lb linguine
2/3 C parmesan cheese
4 eggs, beaten
6 T parsley

Crumble bacon and ham and saute in oil & margarine. Cook spaghetti.
Add HOT spaghetti to rest of ingredients and toss to coat spaghetti with egg & cheese
sprinkle with parsley to finish.

and the band played on...

Just to be clear, this is not my car. I wasn't driving. This happened to a buddy of mine a few months back. If you're curious this was on 270 near the Easton mall in Columbus Ohio. This event occurred on one of those ridiculously cold December days in 2010. I've titled the post as I have as a tribute to the Titanic sinking. I imagine my friend and his family watching their car sink is very similar to the Titanic survivors watching the boat diuappear into the inky depths... Just like the titanic sinking notice below how the lights have gone out. Now it's going good! Looks like this fire is getting hot. Better get back!

New Movie Policy

I have had it. Movies take too long. All things in this life have a natural run time. It is wrong for movie makers to feel that they have the right to abuse their audience. Perhaps a new rating system is in order to let studios know just how much pain they cause the movie going public. At the very least I am going to engage in my own policy.

A movie is meant to last 90 minutes. Golf lasts 18 holes. Baseball is 9 innings. Sex takes 14.2 seconds (if you think about baseball or golf, less otherwise). All of these limits have been proven over time. We (as a people) have discovered that the limit to sit quietly in a darkened theater is 90 minutes. Even airlines are now capped by federal law at 180 minutes (3 hours for readers in southern Ohio).

It should be considered abuse for a movie to charge you $10 and then hold you hostage for more than 100 minutes. Especially when the movie is filled with the long, boring, self indulgent scenes of Daniel Day Lewis agonizing over his oil riches or Sean Penn agonizing over the plight of the children in Bagdad. Literally this kind of non-story telling crap can expand 90 minutes of content to two and a half hours. This is abuse!

I would like the MPAA to issue new rating level beyond G, PG, PG-13, R, and X. I propose TDL (Too Damn Long) for any movie with a runtime longer than 100 minutes. The theatres could enforce a ‘use the restroom now’ rule prior to customers entering the theatre. Theatre’s could re-instate intermission at the 60 and or 90 minute mark and force every patron to use the restroom and walk by the concession stand at that time.

Seriously, I will not be held prisoner in a movie theatre by James Cameron, George Lucas, or even (gasp!) Peter Jackson. I have committed no crime. I won’t even watch bootlegged copies of films. Yet these film makers feel compelled to test my bladder limits with every new film. I will not tolerate this abuse of my goodwill, time, and money.