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It was a late summer/early fall day, many people were starting the day by sending their kids off to school and getting ready for work. I know for us, it was our annual vacation to Greece and on that particular day we were on the island of Santorini. It was a beautiful morning, we were swimming and we came in the hotel room to take a shower and go out for dinner. We had the TV on and at one point, we saw a plane hit the twin towers and we thought it was a movie. After watching, we realized that it wasn't a movie, it was reality. My heart stopped beating like never before, tears filled my eyes, voices that made no sense start coming out of my mouth. Automatically, we started calling our kids. It took several tries to reach our kids, for the lines were busy. For us, the hours felt eternity, our minds were in full speed with worrying thoughts, what really happened to this great country that everybody admires. But, unfortunately, we found out with sad hearts that not everyone feels like we do about our country, the USA. We found out they're not only admiration it was a huge jealousy issue. And, we are left to wonder why? But what happened on September 11, 2001, changed our lives forever. A day we will never forget and we will never be the same. When finally got in touch with our kids and they told us what happened, I was just ready to come home and thousands of tourists felt the same way. Unfortunately, we were unable to change our tickets (at that point). We were just devastated. My thoughts were, who could do such a thing and take away thousands of lives from their families? A country that helped and continues to help other countries to better themselves, and in return what do they do to us? They took many loved ones and our freedom away. Sad to say, it hit our area and left us with a huge scar in our hearts. Only God gives strength to the ones that hurt and of course a big question mark will forever be in our minds….why?
For those who don't travel over seas, it is a true nightmare now, going through the security lines at the airport, since then. They make you feel like a criminal, taking your shoes off, your jewelry (thats the worst for me -haha), placing you in a glass room and having you put your hands above your head while a round X-ray machine goes around your body, unbelievable! If by any chance the x-ray machine finds something suspicious, the police are there with a monitor that's goes around your body again. I must say, the most strict security check was when we were traveling from Athens, Greece to Jerusalem. We were running late to catch our plane and we were still made to open our suitcases, but all this is for our own protection and safety, and I really appreciate it, even the inconvenience of it all. Let's all continue remembering and praying for those who lost their lives and the families that were left behind.
Until next week!
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Chicken Hash with Country Gravy
3/4 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1/3 cup frozen chopped onions
1/4 cup frozen chopped green peppers
2 tablespoons chopped pimientos
1 11/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup butter
1 6-ounce box stuffing mix
2 6-ounce packages grilled chicken breast strips, finely chopped
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 packet country gravy mix
1 cup cold milk
1 cup cold water
6 poached eggs
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; crumble sausage into skillet. Add onions, peppers and pimentos and cook and stir for 6-8 minutes or until sausage is just cooked through. Transfer to a large bowl and wipe out the skillet. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring chicken broth and butter to a boil. Stir in stuffing mix packet, cover. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Add to sausage mixture. Add chicken and mix well. In the same skillet, over medium high heat, heat oil. Add stuffing mixture to the pan. Press into the skillet bottom. Cook for 5-7 minutes; do not touch. Use a spatula to turn over the hash and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, whisk together gravy mix, cold milk and the water. Cook on medium heat until gravy comes to a boil, whisking occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minutes. Serve hash topped with poached eggs and warm gravy.
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Sausage-Stuffed Peppers and Cabbage
8 large cabbage leaves
1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium green bell pepper
1 pound mild Italian sausage
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup converted rice
1 cup frozen chopped onions, thawed
1 packet meatloaf seasoning
1 packet pesto sauce mix
2 eggs
1 26-ounce jar pasta sauce
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes with green peppers, celery and onion
Preheat oven to 350. Place cabbage leaves in large bowl and cover with boiling water; set aside to wilt. Cut red and green bell peppers into fourths through the stem ends. Remove seeds and membranes; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the sausage, ground beef, uncooked rice, onions, meat loaf seasoning, pesto mix and eggs; set aside. Spoon 1/4 cup of the meat mixture onto the peppers. Place peppers in a 9×13 pan, alternating colors and leaving space for cabbage rolls. Remove cabbage leaves from the water and cut off the thickest part. Spoon 1/4 cup of the meat mixture onto the center of each leaf. Fold over sides and roll up. Place cabbage rolls between the peppers. In a small bowl, stir together pasta sauce and diced tomatoes. Pour over peppers and cabbage. Cover with foil and bake in oven for 1 hour.
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Simplest Peach Chops with Poppy Seed Coleslaw
Chops:
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 boneless pork chops, cut 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup peach preserves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon water
Coleslaw:
1 16-ounce bag tri-color coleslaw mix
1 8.25-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
1 8-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
1/2 cup poppy seed dressing
1/2 cup organic sour cream
Rub salt and pepper on both sides of the choops. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the chops and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Reduce the heat to medium; add preserves, mustard and water. Cook, covered, for 3-4 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. For the coleslaw, in a large bowl, combine mix, oranges and pineapple, set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the dressing and sour cream. Pour over mixture and toss to coat. Chill until ready to serve.
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Black Forest Napoleons
1 sheet frozen puffed pastry, thawed
1 small box instant devil's food pudding and pie filling
1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries, reserving 1/4 cup of juice
1 8-ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon heavy cream
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
chocolate syrup
Preheat oven to 400. Unroll puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. Cut sheet into thirds along existing folds. Cut each third in half and then again in half for 12 total rectangles. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack. In large bowl, stir together pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes; let stand for 3 minutes to thicken. Refrigerate until ready to use. Stir reserved cherry syrup into thawed whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to use. In a small bowl, stir heavy cream into powdered sugar until mixture is smooth. To assemble, split pastry rectangles in half horizontally. Place pastry bottoms on dessert glasses. Spoon pudding mixture over pastry bottoms. Top each with another piece of pastry. Spread whipped topping over pastry. Top each with pastry top. Spread glaze over pastry. Drizzle each with chocolate syrup and top with maraschino cherry.
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Kiki Angelos is a longtime columnist for the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.