Easy Pico de Gallo

A finished bowl of pico de gallo, with some nice crunchy chips, this was supper for me tonight. Took me longer to download the pictures than to make this delicious dip.
Red onion, I guess you could use white or yellow onion, but the lovely purple/red of this onion screams to be chopped into a salad, salsa or pico de gallo. 4 Tablespoons chopped finely, yes I was still chopping when I took the picture.
Roma tomatoes, I love these in winter for their firm and meaty texture and the closest thing to fresh "real" tomatoes you will taste, cut into halves. Oh yeah, I used 4 whole Roma's
Remove the inner core and seed with a spoon, very easy, I saved mine and ate them with a dash of salt!
Chop all the tomatoes into nice even little squares or as close as you can get, add to the bowl with the onions.
Cilantro, say it with me and roll your rrrrrr's, Cilllantrrrrrro! OLE'
Chop about 3 tablespoons finely and add to bowl with onions and tomatoes.
Lime juice, you could use lemon, I would have loved to have had fresh, but bottled will do.
2 Tablespoons please, into the bowl of onions, tomatoes and cilantrrrro, OLE'
OK, if you want a little heat, add Jalapeno, I chopped a few and added a tiny bit of juice, but you do not have to, if you don't your Pico will be very mild, which is also good. Mix altogether and eat, don't mix and set for too long, it will get soggy and wet.
This is so good with chips, good on anything really, tacos, tamales, burritos, but it will not keep, you must make it and eat it or the tomatoes tend to get all soft and mushy and that is not good, like I said this is pretty quick and easy and boy is it worth it when you dig into it with a crunchy, salty tortilla chip. This probably made about 2 cups of pico, but I ate it all up. Glad to be back with you all, I will try so hard to post more often, love you all!

My Oh My, Key Lime Pie

Completed pies, ready to cool and eat!
The ingredient line up, limes, for zest and juice, sweetened condensed milk, 2 egg yolks and a prepared graham cracker crust.
Zest the lime first, then you can cut and juice, doing it the other way proves very messy.
2 egg yolks, sorry one broke, not as picture perfect as pioneer woman who can afford to throw imperfect egg yolks away.
Very pretty limes ready to juice, we need 1/2 cup of the fresh liquid.
Here it is, ready to go. This is one of my new IKEA small bowls I got at Dollar Tree for $1.00.
Mix on medium speed yolks, zest and juice for 1 minute.

Add sweetened condensed milk slowly and beat on high for 5 minutes or until thickened.

Pour into crust and bake at 350 degree for 15 minutes or until set, allow to cool 1 to 2 hours before slicing and serving!


Brian and Krysta are big fans of Key Lime Pie after having it near Padre Island Texas a few summers ago. We even sent home a version with all the guests at their wedding in pretty pink favor boxes. So, when I found this super simple recipe on Pioneer Woman's blog site, I decided to make it for tomorrow nights anniversary celebration. It was very easy and although we haven't cut into one yet it looks pretty darn good. Hope you enjoy. I am going to post new recipes tomorrow from our Asian Delight dinner including Pork Lo Mien, Springfield Style Cashew Chicken and Fried Rice. Should be a busy and fun day and evening, will be posting on my personal blog all the events of the night. Enjoy!!

Key Lime Pie
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lime juice, if you can get key limes that's even better
1 tablespoon of lime zest
1 prepared graham cracker crust, I bought a store-bought ready to use.

In your mixing bowl, add the juice, zest and yolks and mix on medium high for about a minute. Then add in the sweetened condensed milk and beat on high speed for 5 minutes or until thickened. Pour into prepared graham cracker crust and bake at 350 degree for 15 minutes or until set, cool 1 to 2 hours before serving, ass add whipped cream as garnish if you need or want the extra calories.

Sorry For The Lack Of Communication

I haven't blogged on this site since March 1. Shortly after that date I developed a horrible case of pink eye in both eyes, and cooking with a highly contagious disease is not so much fun. Then I changed my work schedule and worked more hours for my upcoming surgery on April 2. Well, I guess I was just silly to think I would have surgery and be able to do a lot of lovely blogging, but it just didn't happen. Today was the first day I cooked, really cooked something, not just warmed up a can of ravioli. I made chicken tortilla soup from scratch and it was so lovely. I promise I will post this asap, I wasn't thinking when I made it and when it was done and so good, I thought, Crap, I should have taken pictures of this. I promise as soon as I pick up more cheese, Milnot I will make this, I promise. Love to you all.

High On The Hog Macaroni Salad

The line-up: elbow macaroni, I love Barilla brand because they have little ridges in the noodle that holds more sauce. This make a very large amount so be prepared, use a whole 16 ounce box.
I small yellow onion, chopped, and 1 sweet bell pepper, chopped
2 cups of real mayo, not Miracle Whip and 1 can sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated, but like Eagle Brand, SWEETENED CONDENSED.
3/4 cup vinegar, any kind will do, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Bring about 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil, why rolling, well it sounded good I guess.
Add your macaroni and stir, let it come back to a boil and follow directions to cook the pasta.
In a mixing bowl, add you can of SWEETENED CONDENSED milk.
Then plop in your 2 cups of mayo, real!!! This is millionaire salad, not beggar's snack, okay?
Add in the sugar, salt and pepper.
Pour in 3/4 cup of vinegar, I used cider, but white or rice wine would be good also.
Chop finely the sweet pepper and also the small onion and add to the mix.
Whisk this all together until mixed well and then wait for the macaroni to finish.
Drain the macaroni very well, try to knock off as much water as possible so you don't dilute your dressing. Then pour the dressing over the pasta. You don't have to wait for it to cool, cause this needs plenty of refrigerator time before serving. Mix this together very well, if it appears very runny, don't worry, as the pasta cools and chills it will absorb into the pasta and by serving time it will be nice and creamy.
I have a nice storage box with a tight lid than I dump my into, then put in fridge and chill, best results, overnight, okay results, 3-4 hours, really if you can make it and store it overnight so it will have time to chill really well and the sauce will soak into the pasta.
This was Laura's birthday supper tonight, juicy beef brisket with sauce on a bun, millionaire macaroni salad, chips, fresh fruit plate with strawberries, plums and pears and Jared's favorite, queso dip with hamburger and tortilla chips to dip along with a peanut butter birthday cake. This salad is sweet, but not too sweet, rich, but not too rich and very tasty. It makes a large amount for a gathering. Make a big old vat of this fine 'roni salad for the kin back home, they will feel like they are livin' high on the hog.

Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Icing

My oldest daughter, Laura asked for a peanut butter cake for her birthday this year. I have never made a peanut butter cake, never. so, I had husband look up a recipe for me on a recipe website and here it is. It was surprisingly easy and very good. Now I will list the line-up if I have flung a craving on you for rich peanut butter cake with icing. Lineup: 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/2 cup butter, softened.
4 large eggs
1 box butter recipe cake mix
For the icing, powdered sugar, peanut butter, cream cheese and either milk or cream.
In a mixing bowl, put 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter and the 1/2 cup of softened butter, mix until creamy.
While these first ingredients are mixing, grease and flour 2 round cake pans.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.

After the eggs are beaten in, add the cake mix alternately with the 2/3 cup of water. A little cake mix, blend, then a little water, blend, so on until all ingredients are in, then mix well.
Divide the batter between the 2 greased and floured pans, shake and tap gently to release any air bubbles in the pan. Then pop into a pre-heated 325 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes or until tested done.
Allow cakes to cool for a few minutes before turning them out onto cooling racks. I allowed my to cool completely on the cooling racks and then I double wrapped them with plastic wrap and put them in the freezer overnight, so they would be easier to slice and frost the next day. You would not have to do this, shoot, bake it in a standard rectangle cake pan and cover it with the icing, it would still be good.
This morning, I pulled them from the freezer and sliced each layer into 2, very easy to do with them frozen, they don't crumble, also the cake is unbelievably moist after freezing, this is a secret we discovered from a wedding bakery, they always freeze layers.
To make your icing, soften 1 package of cream cheese and put into mixing bowl.

I then plopped in a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter and started creaming, after they had blended, I starting adding powdered sugar and small amounts of cream to blend the icing into a nice creamy consistency. You know, kinda just wing this, if you need a little, make a little, if you need a lot, make a lot. Just add more sugar and then smooth it with either milk or cream, a dash of vanilla extract is also good. When you get this a nice smooth texture, get ready to Spackle.
Ok, I know mine looks crooked, it kind of was until I adjusted it, this probably wasn't the best choice of picture to show how to build a layer cake, but look at it this way, at least I'm not a brick layer. Start with the first layer, spread on a nice amount of icing and then top it with the next layer and so on. Ice the entire cake, making it as pretty as you like, if your icing seems a little too firm to spread, add a bit more milk and whip again, if the icing seems too runny, just add a little more sugar. It need to be easy to spread and not crumble or tear up the cake. To make my birthday cake more beautiful, I melted some chocolate chips and mixed with some remaining icing to make the drizzle, I also crumbled some Reece's Peanut Butter Cups around the top edge and re-drizzled again. I thought it turned out pretty nice.
TAAA-DAAA I think it looks pretty good, and we all found out how amazingly scrumptious it was.
Happy Birthday, Laura Jolene Danielle Hillhouse O'Quinn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)