Recently, I whipped up a nice batch of tuna salad. After I let it settle in the fridge for a couple hours, I piled it high on a couple slices of bread and bit into my delicious tuna salad sandwich. Only problem was that when I took a bite from one side of the sandwich, half the tuna salad squirted out on the other side since there was nothing preventing the inevitable escape. My next tuna salad … [Read more...]

By Nancy Brewer Years ago, when we were newlyweds, Jim took me deep sea fishing, and I got a good case of sea sickness. The captain felt sorry for me and said he could drop me off on a tiny island out in the ocean and pick me up when they were through fishing. I didn’t know he was teasing and I begged him to do just that. We were far off shore and of course there was no island or land … [Read more...]

Nancy likes to can things. Really. She enjoys it and is pretty good at preserving stuff. She makes dynamite jelly and preserves and cans peppers, pickles and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. A couple years ago, I gave her an electric canning outfit that preheats the water and canning supplies automatically, and drains easily. She loved it. This past Mother’s Day, I took a chance and gave … [Read more...]

Pineapples represent one of the best buys of fresh fruit in the grocery store. Unlike melons, they are almost always ripe and juicy. They taste great, they are healthy and they are economical – far less than a melon. In fact, they were $1.99 each at Food Lion this week. I really enjoy pineapples (“apple pines”, my children called them) but whacking off all that grungy part and removing the … [Read more...]

I found myself without Panko crumbs this week and I needed something to hold my ground chicken patties together. No problem. I had a whole box of Ritz Crackers ready to get in the ballgame. I also had my Food Saver bags to make the job easy. I put a sleeve of the crackers in the bag and pounded them down to an appropriate consistency, then used them in my chicken mixture. Ritz Crackers add a … [Read more...]

I use a lot of olive oil these days – in salads, as a frying and sautéing medium and in lots of other cooking chores. Usually, I just tip my always-handy bottle of EVOO and get the job done, but recently I ran across a product that is super handy and saves lots of time. It’s a squirt can of Extra Virgin in Olive Oil made by Simply Nature. Last night, as an example, I wanted to lightly fry some … [Read more...]

Ome of the problems a fisherman has to deal with if he decides to keep some of his catch for a future fish fry is what to do with the rascals. Fishing stringers are a royal pain. First, they are usually all tangled and you have to undo the hooks, then you have to put the hook through the jaws of the fish, then you have to lug the stringer around and keep it in the water. Or you can toss the fish … [Read more...]

If you rolled a wheelbarrow full of pistachio nuts up beside me and left me alone, I could eat the entire barrel full. Pistachio nuts are truly addictive. You put in a mountain of effort to eat just one. Sometimes they pop right out of the slightly open shell and sometimes you have to dig them out with a sharp molar. Sometimes, the shells are sealed shut and you need a hammer and chisel to … [Read more...]

One casualty of the recent cinderblock snowstorm was a beautiful ceramic bowl that served as our bird bath for the front yard. Apparently, our small bird bath water heater was not on guard duty when the temps hit the teens, and the ensuing ice caused the bowl to crack. When the ice melted, all the water ran out. But my industrious wife and a product called J-B Weld brought the lovely bowl back to … [Read more...]

As a teenager, one of my go-to lunches was a Fried Spam sandwich slathered in mustard. Usually, I had two. For Christmas this year, one of my kids gave me a can of Spam as a gag gift, but we ate it the next morning for breakfast and I still enjoy it. When we cruised in Hawaii, I was amused by all the Spam offerings aboard both the cruise ships and even at fancy restaurants. Spam is the … [Read more...]