Movie

We watched the movie, The Lost City last night and really enjoyed it. Though I’m still at a loss as to why we enjoyed it? It went on for 2 ½ hours and Bill Murray was lame, as usual. Yet we were still wide eyed as the final credits rolled. At first I couldn’t make sense of who was who…and even at the end, I still had questions. But it was entertaining and that’s all it has to be.

The Whole Enchilada

Some more info on cranberry sauce…or jelly. Before the holidays, Laurae spotted an interesting dish that employed cranberries and turkey, in its left-over form. Well, I made that dish (Cran-Turkey Enchiladas) on Saturday and it was great. Here’s the recipe… Of course I varied from the recipe. Doesn’t everyone? I used the cranberry sauce that I made last week and I didn’t use as much as the recipe calls for. I was saving a little of it!

Holiday Sauce

OK, I just found this recipe for a cranberry sauce and haven’t tried it yet…but it sounds so good that I will post it here anyway. You be the judge.

INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup orange zest
2 cups water
2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 cups cranberries
1 tablespoon brandy

DIRECTIONS
In a small pan over medium heat, combine the orange zest and water. Cover and bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Drain, reserving zest and 1/3 cup liquid.

To the reserved liquid, add the sugar, orange juice and lemon juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes uncovered, stirring often.

Add cranberries; increase heat to medium-high and boil for about 10 minutes or until the cranberries have popped and a small spoonful of sauce sets on a cold plate.

Remove from heat, stir in brandy. Pour into 4 1/2 pint jars leaving 1/2 inch space from top.

Place lids onto jars, and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Tea Time

I’m sipping a cup of tea this morning… PG Tips tea, advertised as England’s No. 1 tea. We bought a box of it yesterday while shopping at Brambury Cottage in Chico, a great gift store and one we always enjoy shopping in.

OK, back to the tea. It has a flavor that reminds me of the tea that I used to enjoy when I was a child. My grandmother, Dot, would drink a tea similar to this and I would always beg to be included in the pouring of “a cuppa”. Now don’t laugh, but I have poured a tablespoon of egg nog into the cup. Very good!

TJ Rules!

As you know, I’m a big fan of the Trader. So here are a couple of things I discovered recently.

We had Chicken and Vegetable Pot stickers last night and they were great! The secret was in the use of TJ’s Hot and Sour Soup. I took all of the Trader Joe’s frozen pot stickers out and placed them in a large (wide) pan of heated oil (2 Tbs at medium/high) and let them simmer for about 2 minutes. Then I added a ¼ cup of water and covered the pan for about 8 minutes. In the meantime, I opened the soup and put it in a saucepan to heat. Once it began to bubble, I put the pot stickers into that saucepan and turned the heat down to let it simmer for an additional 10 minutes; stirring every now and then to make certain the stickers got some good coverage with the soup. Served in a soup bowl, this makes a great dinner for two, though you have to like spicy, and we do.

We also like Trader Joe’s own version of Oreo’s, (Joe-Joe’s) especially the ginger flavored one. But there is a new one out and it’s the Candy Cane Joe-Joe. Real peppermint candy cane embedded in the frosting… it’s even better than the ginger!

Soups on!

I can boast that I made a great soup last night… well; I did it with the help of a good recipe of course. But I did make some small changes; doesn’t everyone?

Here’s a link to the original recipe. Now you can make the changes you want.

And look at the calories in this one; not bad at all! Sodium is kind of high but you can change that easily enough.