Bair's Trucker Special

so, there was this little cafe in the hardin truck stop for years. very popular place open 24 hours a day. it was the Bairs Truck Stop. it had this fantastic little cafe inside. we would frequent it often...after church on sunday, on an afternoon after doing business in hardin before headin' home, or after a nite of drinking and dancing downtown. the house special was the trucker's special. it was a fried beef cube steak, hashbrowns, white gravy, and eggs over easy. soooo good. once in awhile i make this. but i have not made it for probably a couple of years.
when i arrived home last nite (after a LONG day at work) my husband had the cube steak frying up. he dredged the steak in flour then fried it, fried potatoes, made white gravy, and eggs over easy. it was super. we all gobbled it up. our nephew ty had dinner with us.
that delicious dinner was just the nourishment i needed. thanks honey!
~bon appetite~
by the way, the truck stop is still there but the cafe is now a subway sandwhich place.

garden vegetable soup

last week for dinner i had made this killer soup with everything i could find in my kitchen. my family loved it and it was so good...i made it again last nite. here are all the veggies i used:

red onion from my garden (fmg)

2 carrots rough chopped

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1 cup rough chopped zuchinni (fmg)

1 c rought chopped yellow squash rough chopped (fmg)

1 cup kale rough chopped

5 tomoates (fmg) rough chopped, seeds, juice, and all

1 cup cauliflower rough chopped, from the hutterite colony

1 bell pepper de-seeded and rough chopped

5 cloves garlic, whole

i sauted all of these veggies together in a stock pot. i browned my 1#burger (our own beed, davis creek ranch beef). i drained the grease and added it to the veggies. i then added 8 cups water, 2 tsp each beef boullion and chicken bouillon. also, lots of salt and pepper and a few red pepper flakes. i always buy these neat little pasta shapes in tiny little bags. they are in the isle with mexican food. the pasta i added last nite was in the shape and size of a watermelon seed. i added half the bag...which is only about 1/3 cup.

i then set my soup to simmer for about 25 minutes. it was really really good.

i am lucky enough to have a little bit to take for lunch today!

~bon appetite~

i'm back!!!

OMGosh. my internet has been down for weeks. today...finally....the service man was able to come out to our place and work on it. took about 3 hours to fix it. YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!

i have made many a fantastic meal since my last log in. last nite with anticipation of my internet actually being repaired i took pics of my dinner...and tonite as well. justy said, 'better take a picture of that, tonite you can blog!'

so, here it is. tonite is the opening game of the NFL season. the saints and the vikings. after a LONG day at work...including picking up a load of tin (roofing) for our deck project at the lumber store in hardin...i headed home driving about 50 mph for fear the tin would fly out...yes, i had straps on. but still...i was leary. when i arrived home i had a glass of 'mad housewife' merlot. hilarious name. justy and i started on dinner. manicotti stuffed with cheese, thinly sliced steak fried with shallots and cremini mushrooms with a red wine reduction. for starters we made deep fat fried pickles, jalepenos, and pepperoncinis....wow....the pepperoncinis were FANTASTIC!

simply take flour and beer and mix. here is a little recipe:

1 cup flour

any kind of beer...whisk....

should be like thick pancake batter

add seasonings you like. we like Lawries, garlic salt, salt, and pepper

dry the pickles, peppers, etc...off on paper towel.

dip in flour

dip in the batter and fry in hot oil.

we also made a homemade marinara for our stuffed cheese manicotti. we took tomatoes from our garden and chopped them up. seeds and all. heated EVOO, garlic cloves, basil from our garden and added the tomatoes. we cooked that until it was saucy. we poured the homemade sauce over the manicotti and baked it until hot and bubbly. we then added some mozarella and baked it until the cheese was melted. it was sooooo good.

i miss blogging and sharing my what the hell am i going to make for dinner with other people who must feel the same way. I AM BACk! wahoo....

the other picture is from last nite. justy made us grilled tomatoes (from the garden) topped with olive oil and feta cheese and sirloins. he also made a dish with cherry tomatoes(from the garden). he grilled them in olive oil along with garlic cloves and rosemary(from the garden). it was spectacular. we ate outside on the deck...in the fall sun. so much like Ireland this time of year. the perfect temp...not hot, not cold. just sun and beauty.

i am pooped. watching the game. ready for bed.

~bon appetite~