Good-Bye Scott....

So today my friend Scott passed away, and I am sad. I talked about him a while ago and he finally succumbed to the cancer that was eating him alive. He fought a good fight lasted longer than anyone should have with Pancreatic Cancer. Even until the end they were saying he is going to pass today and much to their surprise the next day he would still be here. The Doctors talked a lot about Scott being the model patient, never complaining or saying a mumbling word about his situation or of the ultimate end result of his disease. I wish I could say the same. Just for me dealing with 'normal' pain I can be unpleasant to be around. I can get a headache and snap someone's head off just for saying HI!

I met Scott through his sister, Stacey, and even though I say he is my friend sadly I can't really say I knew Scott but I loved him just the same. Scott kept to himself and every time I would go over to his mother's house for dinner or to visit Scott and I never talked. But I found that Scott and I had a quiet bond. When I say quiet bond, that is to say that Scott and I sat quietly while his sisters, mom and sometimes his stepfather would loudly discuss things or yell at each other. They are Italian so I gathered that was just the way they 'rolled'. I met Stacey when I was 18 or 19, she is a year younger than me and 2 years older than Scott. So I've known Scott since he was 16 or 17, which means I have known him 27 years, might as well say his whole life. In that time we didn't really have any deep conversations or discuss politics, religion or life, we simply acknowledge each other when we were in proximity to do so and lived our separate lives. Now Scott's life is over and I sit thinking of all the things I should have said, things we could have done and the promise I made and didn't keep. I am sorry Scott I never came down to go to the movies with you or send you the pack of movies tickets no excuses just an apology, I am truly sorry.

When it comes to the end of your life or someone you care about there should be no 'I am sorry' to be said. There should only be memories of all the things you shared, the fun you had, the love you expressed and the I love yous that you said to one another. I did get the opportunity to tell Scott that I loved him the last time I saw, and for those of you that know me you know that was a feat in itself(not real big on mushiness). My parents didn't tell us when we were growing up that they loved us there were no 'I love you, have a nice day' being said. But we all know that everything we do is LEARNED and you are going to do to others what has been done to you. I don't know if I love you is something that my parents heard from their parents, but I bet the behavior was learned. I don't have any children (thank you God) but the cycle at some point needs to be broken.

I have learned a lot from Scott and his family, just tidbits here and there but they are things I needed to learn. People come into our lives for many reasons and hopefully we learn what those reasons are before they gone. I think what I learned from Scott is that despite your circumstances you should be humble and if you don't have anything good to say you shouldn't say anything at all. I learned from Scott's family, some dinner etiquette and to say I love you. The first dinner I went to at mom's (Momma Louise) house we were all sitting around the table with the spaghetti and sauce on the table, salad and bread, etc. We said grace and then sat there...finally Stacey said I am hungry can we eat, and mom said well we will as soon as Mattie takes her food and passes the rest. At my house when we were growing up my mom fixed our plates and gave them to us, then as we got older we fixed our own plates and ate in front of the TV. On the holidays even when we were old my mom fixed our plates, so taking some food and passing it around was new to me. Stacey and Scott's mom always said I love to me when I would leave even though I never said it back. I think the first time she said it I just sat in the car thinking...she loves me? Now when I talk to mom and she says I love you I say it back no hesitation at all. Before I think I said thank you. Important lessons learned from my Italian family.

Now that I have learned these lessons it's time to break the cycle....so let me say to you whoever you are reading this message....I LOVE YOU! And if you come to my house for dinner, I hate to say it but, everybody who comes to my house for dinner the first time I will fix your plate. After that you are considered family and from then on the plates are in the cabinets help yourself!!!

I am sad that you are gone Scott but I am glad you are no longer in pain, I hope you are at peace!

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

Cobbler...sweet cobbler

WOW! I just saw that the last time I was on this blog was back in September....that is sad. That was also the first time I made my mom's peach cobbler or attempted too...

Have you ever had something so sweet that you can feel the sugar surging through your body or you can feel the sugar coma coming on? Yeah that is what happened the first time I tried to make my mom's peach cobbler. Her recipe calls for evaporated milk, which I didn't know and I didn't have the first time I tried to make the cobbler. After my mom gave me the recipe I figured I would try it... I had put it off because I didn't think I had the right milk so I waited...then Gary asked me to make the cobbler so I got everything out and started only to find out that I only had condensed milk....not evaporated or even regular milk...it was condensed milk. Do you know how sweet that milk is?? Can you say it lock jaw! Yeah that is how sweet it is...I usually use it when making sweet potato pies and it is most commonly used when making cheese cakes.

ANYWAY..... I made the cobbler using the condensed milk and then I tasted the cobbler...I think my jaws met in the middle of my mouth as I puckered up from the sweetness! Coma in a deep dish waiting to happen, yes that it what it was. Crazy....fortunately since then I have made sure that I have the proper milk and the other ingredients on hand whenever I make the cobbler. I asked my mom about the condensed milk and she said I could use it just to add water....I guess I didn't add enough water because that cobbler was so sweet I could hear my dentist making cash register sounds from the money he was going to make if I had anymore of that cobbler. I made one today for a friend's birthday, I used the right kind of milk....I think they liked it!

You should try it for yourself just make sure you have the right milk on hand to use when baking it.

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

Peach Cobbler

Peach Cobbler is one of my mom's many recipes and one of her most requested!

2 cans of peaches (the size of the can depends on the size of the cobbler you would like to make or you could use fresh peaches (5 or 6 depending on the size) Only you know how "peachy" you want your cobbler.)
1 cup sugar (add more sugar to taste depending on how sweet you would like your cobbler)
1 can evaporated milk
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla flavor

Open the two (2) cans of peaches place in a saucepan. Mix in sugar, take cornstarch and mix it in well with the can of milk and pour into the peaches stir carefully so you don't break up the peach slices. Add butter, vanilla flavor and nutmeg and let cook for twenty minutes (20) at a low boil (NOT ROLLING or HARD BOIL) so that the cornstarch flavor is cooked out.

Make your pastry dough or you can use store bought dough. My mom makes her cobbler by taking strips of dough into the peach mixture as it cooks (kind of like sweet dumplings). This step is optional. Pour the peach mixture into your baking dish, place your pastry dough over the top, either in strips to or as a whole cover. If you place it over the dish as a whole cover you will need to put slits in your pastry dough to let the steam escape. Brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar for a prettier presentation.

Bake at 375 until crust is golden brown, 20 or 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

Have you ever tasted lava????

Hello People!

I hope this blog finds you all well! I have a short story to tell about the brittle recipe I posted the other day.

I went to a friend's house and we went walking because we are old and the mid section is not as small as it use to be. She at least has the fact that she has had 4 children...I can only attribute mine to Heineken. SAD! Anyway, we went for a trek in the forest behind her house and then we went back to her house for a 'lite' lunch. It was good she has a vegetable garden which she used to get the lettuce and tomatoes out of for our "turkey" sandwiches! YUM-O!

So after we rest and eat our sandwiches I ask if I could use her kitchen to make some peanut brittle, otherwise I would have to leave so I could go and make it at my mom's house. She said "SURE" help yourself! I get the ingredients out and I realize that although I have the butter, vanilla, baking soda, corn syrup, etc. I forgot the most important part to make the candy...the SUGAR! She had been making jam so she was out of sugar, so she had to borrow some from the neighbors! That should have been a hint and a half but I pushed through. We chit chat as I make the brittle and it gets to the color I like and I proceed to take it out of the microwave. Now common sense would tell you that when taking hot liquid, especially candy, out of the microwave one should use care and be cautious! Well I didn't want to keep imposing since I was already using her baking sheets and her Pam and the borrowed sugar....so I decided that I would just use a "paper towel" to hold the Pyrex dish that contains this lava liquid with NUTS. I keep talking as I pour out the brittle onto the prepared baking sheet, as I do some of it drops onto my finger. Can you say pain? YEAH it hurt....but that pain paled in comparison to the pain I felt when out of reflex I stuck my finger in my mouth! Have you ever tasted lava? Have you ever felt lava bubble up on your finger and your tongue? Lava is a very HOT thing and it does not play well with the flesh! Don't try this at home kids!!!!! Well actually try the brittle just make sure you use the proper utensils when handling the lava!

I hope you all enjoy your brittle! I did blistered finger and all!!!!:P)

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

Brittle

Use any combination of nuts you like, or just one kind. If using shelled pistachios, rub them between your palms to remove their skins.

Makes 1 1/2 pounds.

Nonstick cooking spray

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups mixed nuts, such as pecan halves, cashews, pistachios, coarsely chopped if large

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Spray a rimmed baking sheet and a wide metal spatula with cooking spray; set aside. In a 2-quart glass measuring cup, combine sugar, corn syrup, and salt, stirring until sugar is moistened. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Stir in butter and nuts; return to microwave for about 5 minutes, until the sugar mixture is thick, bubbly, and very pale brown in color. Mixture is very hot; use handle when holding and pouring. Remove from microwave, stir in vanilla and baking soda (mixture may foam up). Immediately pour onto prepared baking sheet, spreading mixture as thinly as possible with the prepared spatula. Let stand 20 minutes until hardened, then lift off sheet, and break brittle into bite-size pieces.

I got this recipe from Gary's daughter, I believe she got it off the Internet or some place like that...maybe even a cookbook. I don't know where it came from, BUT I do know it is simple and good! You may have to adjust the microwave time for cooking depending on the power of your microwave. The color of the sugar/nut mixture should be pale or caramel to medium brown for best results, otherwise you run the chance of having chewy brittle which means your sugar did not reach the hard-crack or candy stage. ENJOY!

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

Julie and Julia...go see it!

SO I went to go see Julie & Julia yesterday...I thought it was a good movie surprisingly...I think they could have elaborated a little more on Julia Child's life but I guess the movie was suppose to be about 'Julie'. Go see the movie I think you will like it. In the movie they show Dan Aykroyd doing his parody of Julia, hilarious...BUT the one thing I didn't like and this is in agreement with my friend J, they could have shown Julie have more mishaps or mistakes, she allegedly did 500+ recipes in 365 days and only had two or three mistakes and a couple of breakdowns...come on even Julia Child had more than that and it was Julia's recipes being made!

I could see myself in that movie with the blogging and the cooking could be a sign....I don't know time will tell!

I submitted some recipes to the Chamber of Commerce in the town where I live they are putting together a cookbook to sell at the Chamber to the people who come in, the lady I gave the recipes to is a friend of mine and Gary and she commented that she noticed the Gumbo recipe was not among the ones I gave them...well of course it is not among the ones I gave you why would I give you a good recipe for YOU to make money on and you have a job and I not make money on it and I don't have a job. HELLO! Then she went on to say that she held back some of the other recipes she received for herself rather than put them out there for masses. Everybody is always looking out for themselves, or what they can get out of something, remember that.

I have a cornbread stuffing recipe that I am going to put on here for the holidays or whenever you want to eat stuffing...I got it from my mom I caught her in a good mood, which is a rarity. Now-a-days to catch her in a good mood is really rare, she is old and cranky! Or is it because I can push her buttons and piss her off...and I do just that whenever possible.....

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

Quiche or a Quickie...either way.....

Here is a quick and simple Quiche that you can make and add any ingredients you like...

Quiche:

1 9" pie shell (unbaked)

3 eggs

1 can evaporated milk

2 tbs of floor

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 onion (yellow or red) diced

or you can use green onions

1 large tomato diced

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup Monterrey jack cheese

1/2 sticks butter or margarine

1 bunch of spinach

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Saute onions in butter until soft, add the spinach and sauté until spinach wilts stir in tomatoes, add the 2 tbs of floor (this will act as a binder and thickener for the filling). Cook until flour is incorporated. Let cool, so when added to the eggs the eggs will not scramble.

Or temper the mixture with the eggs to be sure eggs will not scramble.

Beat eggs with can of evaporated milk as if making an omelet, add salt and pepper, add cooled spinach, onion and tomato mixture (if not already added). Stir in cheese and pour into pie pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the tip of a knife inserted comes out clean

(With this quiche recipe you can add any ingredients you like for the filling, i.e. you can use ham (fully cooked) and broccoli or turkey breast (fully cooked) and spinach, etc. You would sauté these items with the butter and let them cool before adding them to the egg and cheese mixture.)

recipes can be made anyway you like, when making the salsa or the quiche your imagination is the only limit to what you can add.

I get requests for this quiche all the time as well as the salsa, try them they will be your favorites as well. Enjoy

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

Here is a story about Pam...the salsa lady

Hello people!

I hope you all have made the salsa and enjoyed it. I told you it was GOOD! Anyway...let me tell you about Pam, she is my hero. I met her when I was working at this law firm downtown and she is the nicest lady you want to meet, very motherly and funny. She told me this story one time of being in a rollover accident when she was young and she had her daughter in the car with her. She was driving a VW Bug at the time, and this was back in the day when you didn't have to wear seat belts and car seats...what is a car seat? Yeah I am talking about WAY back in the 60's early 70's.... SO when the car flipped her daughter, who was a baby in a bassinet or I think she may have just been laying on the seat, went under the dash...Pam said they couldn't find her daughter at first because of where she was... scary huh?! Pam said that her and her daughter survived the accident with little or no life threatening injuries... BUT Pam loss her sense of smell. CRAZY!

I may even have the story mixed up with the fact that she also survived a head-on collision in which her best friend died. I couldn't get over the fact that she loss of her sense of smell...that stuck with me and became...well a joke... I would see her or someone eating something or someone would get flowers or coffee would be brewing and I would always say WITHOUT THINKING about it... Pam do you SMELL that? Or Pam can you smell that...to which she would always reply NO MATTIE I CAN'T!!!! Stop asking me that question.... And I would say oh snarky(clever huh).... I forgot....But I have never met anyone who could not smell it was just weird to me AND I had never met anyone who survived a rollover accident AND a head-0n collision talk about being BLESSED and touched by an angel....HELLO! ANYWAY Pam made this salsa once for a firm pot luck and I hounded her for the recipe, well actually I kept asking her to make it for pot lucks and 'just cause' I wanted some...SO when I asked her for the recipe she gave it to me...if I am not mistaken it is a family recipe that she makes every time her and her family get together... it is a family recipe for her and she shared it with me and I am sharing it with you...

Oh by the way...speaking of angels and being blessed beyond measure...believe it or not... Pam was in another rollover accident a few years ago...I just had lunch with her the other day she looks good. She is my hero!


See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie

"Cause people like to say SALSA!" (Seinfeld)

Hello People!

This is an extension of my other blog namely, itsjustmattie.blogspot.com. I had someone suggest to me that I should write a book...then it was suggested that I should write a book with recipes in it, since I like to tell stories and cook. SO here is some recipes and some stories....hope you all enjoy it.

SALSA!!!

This recipe was given to me by my friend Pam S. I am putting her name her to give her credit for her recipe, that way when I become rich and famous no one will be able to say she stole those recipes!!! Smart huh? It can't be plagiarism if you give the author credit!

2 cloves of garlic
4-6 chillies (little dried red ones!)
1/2 cup ketchup (more or less)
salt and pepper to taste
blend in blender until well crushed
1 bunch cilantro (blend as much as you want)

ADD:

2-4 bunches of sliced green onions - or - any onion you prefer
2 cans chopped green chillies
2 large cans of either stewed or crushed tomatoes (depending on how chunky you want it & DON'T use the cheap stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!)
or
10-14 fresh tomatoes chopped (you can chop in blender if you want)

There you have it Pam's SALSA! It is good stuff

See ya when I see ya

Peace! Mattie