Cheese Steaks, Watermelon, and Pancakes? Oh my!

As I sit here eating a lazy man’s lunch of SpaghettiOs, I am thinking about all the delicious stuff I have been cooking. I could have cooked a lunch today, but seriously…every good cook deserves a break.

I made cheese steaks a couple weeks ago at the request of the kid. They by far weren’t as good as anything you would get in Philly, but for homemade they was phenomenal. There were simple to make as well. I mean you need some Steak-umm’s, cheese, onion, mayo, and buns. I also made homemade fries as the roommate has purchased a deep fryer. And yes, that is cheese on my fries.

I also made a Plugged or Spiked Mellon…a delicious kind of watermelon. Not to hard to make either.

How to Plug, Spike, or Cork a Watermelon

Ingredients

• Watermelon
• Liquor

Steps

• Use a small knife to gently cut a round hole into the watermelon to create a "plug." It is best to not cut a square or triangular hole, as that may cause your watermelon to crack, rendering it useless for this activity.
• Use a corkscrew to remove the plug of watermelon rind from your watermelon. Trim the pink watermelon attached to the plug and eat it, this is also a good chance to try out the liquor you want on the watermelon flesh without tainting the melon with a potentially poor liquor for this job.
• Take a teaspoon and scoop some of the flesh out of the hole you made to make some space for the spirits to flow into the fruit. Two or three spoonfuls should do it. Eat this as well, mix with other liquors if you feel like trying something new before you pour the rest into the melon.
• Next, take something long and skinny, a kabob skewer, thin knife, or some other implement works well, poke it into the flesh of the watermelon a few times at different angles.
• Lance the watermelon to puncture the naturally occurring airspaces and pockets within it; by lancing these small pockets you are creating channels for the spirits to flow freely through the melon.

• Do not poke the skewer all the way through the other side of the melon! That will make it leak. 
• After that, pour about one cup of your favorite booze into the watermelon. How much liquid the melon will absorb depends on the size of the melon you have purchased, and do not forget that you are filling the fruit with liquor to fit your and your guests tastes.
• Pour in a little bit at a time and let it settle in. Vodka, rum, and bourbon whiskey are popular for filling the melons, though you could get adventurous and try out something new.
• Replace the plug of watermelon rind you set aside into the watermelon.
• Place the watermelon with the "plug side" up back in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours to let the spirits percolate through the flesh and to cool the melon.
• Slice, serve, and enjoy!

  

Saturday morning I made pancakes. I like peanut butter pancakes. I add a ½ cup to ¾ cup of peanut butter to my favorite pancake mix. Then I cook like normal. When syrup is added they taste like peanut butter pancakes.

AWOL - again!

I suck! I know! Time just gets away from me and before you know it, I haven’t written an entry in ages. I will blame World of Warcraft. It is an evil addiction I love! Speaking of WoW…there is a cookbook I am dying to get and try! The Original and Stricly Unoffical Tauren Chef Cookbook.

This is not to mean I haven’t been cooking, I have. Just yesterday I baked a beautiful chicken with stuffing. The key is low and slow. I start it on 200F for like four to five hours. I also put a bowl of beer with rosemary in the oven to let it seep into the chicken and it also made the house smell wonderful! Also the key to beautiful chicken is to rub the skin with olive oil before you bake it. I used to use butter but yeah, you know the healthy thing.

Two weeks ago I made beautiful chicken and bean/cheese/onion enchiladas for Melissa. The were OMG good. I used ground chicken instead of cubed chicken breasts and I will only use this from now on. It gave them a whole new texture and I ate leftovers happily for three days. I also used far free, reduced calorie everything but the cheese, because lets face it…low fat cheese sucks!

I will write more soon…I have tons of photos and my adventures in making cheese steaks at home, pancakes, and a plugged watermelon!

Absentee Chef

I know I know...there has been no Fat Kid updates...sadly real life takes over my Internet stardom.

I have that Crazy Cake recipe and pictures.  I must say is was quite good and very delicious.  The day I made it, Genea and I, that's all we had for dinner. Ha! I shared with my neighbor too and she enjoyed it as well.

Sue's Crazy Cake

• 3 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 6 tablespoons coco powder
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 12 tablespoons of cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons of vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla

• 2 cups cold water

Make 3 deep impression in the dry mixture.  In one hole add the oil, one hole add the vinegar, and one hole add the vanilla...pour the water on top of all of the ingredients and fold until mixture is moist. The mixture will be runny.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Do not over bake! This cake drys out easily.

Now the icing if you so choose to ice it is:

• 1 pound of powder sugar
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• milk to moisten

I whipped that up with an electric mixer...I used less sugar.  This worked out for me as the cake is pretty sweet and rich.