Ham with Cherries and Caramelized Onions

How excited have you been to see fresh beautiful cherries in the grocery store or farmers market? Is it just me? Well, I bought my first bunch of the season yesterday and decided to build dinner around them. My husband loves ham--me, not so much. However, I figured that if you cover anything with a yummy fruit sauce it'll taste good right? At Costco they sell fully cooked ham steaks (3 per pack) and every so often I'll buy them for Scott. Tonight I decided to use one of them but I probably could have cooked up two.

Ham w Cherries and Caramelized Onions

1 ham steak
1/2 cup cherry jam
1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 large yellow onion sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped arugula (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350
Cut the ham steak into 4 large wedges, place in a casserole dish (sprayed with pam of course). In a small bowl combine jam, cherries,vinegar and stir. Pour mixture over the ham equally spreading to all the pieces. Put in oven and bake for 30. While ham is baking heat a medium sized saute pan and pour in olive oil and add onions. cook over medium heat stirring every so often. Keep an eye on the onions til caramelized. When the onions are done open the oven and pour them on top of the ham and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. When the ham is finished (30 min) remove from oven and top with the arugula.

Slow-cooker Salsa Chicken

I am always on the hunt for good slow cooker recipes. I am super tired of chili and pot roast and my husband would second that. Today I knew I was in for a busy one so I thought I'd go through a couple cookbooks and websites til I found one that used chicken. I found a recipe on the Rachel Ray shows website. I remembered a few months ago that they had a slow cooker challenge on her show and now all those recipes are on the site. I decided to make the one for Salsa Chicken but thought I'd change one thing--I swapped the packet of taco seasoning for chili powder and Sazonadors Supremas. I think taco seasoning is way too salty. Anyhow, I served it with tortillas, black beans and a green salad.

Salsa Chicken

4 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp Sazonadors Supremas (or whatever seasoning salt you like)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup sour cream

Put the first 5 ingredients in your slow cooker and set to low. Cook on low for 6 hours. 30 min before serving add in the sour cream.
I would also suggest topping with shredded cheese, fresh cilantro and some lime wedges for squirting!

Accidental Housewife: Love and Marriage

Accidental Housewife: Love and Marriage: "In the last year (5/14/10-5/14/11) I have attended 3 weddings. The first one I actually performed as a Rev. of the prestigious Online Chris..."

Accidental Housewife: Cuban Sandwiches with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Accidental Housewife: Cuban Sandwiches with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam: "I think one of the reasons I've been slacking in the recipe department is that I'm so dang sick of making the same ole crap every night. I w..."

Love and Marriage

In the last year (5/14/10-5/14/11) I have attended 3 weddings. The first one I actually performed as a Rev. of the prestigious Online Christian Unity and Scott was the best man. The next 2 I was grateful enough to not actually be in the weddings (Scott got that honor) and was able to just be a guest and have fun. Weddings have a way of making you think about your own wedding day. I've written about this before so I won't bore you, but I have often wished I had handled that day better.
For starters I highly don't recommend getting hitched at age 20. I was in love, blah, blah, blah but I was entirely too young to grasp what I was signing up for. I had received oodles of sugar coated advice and even a "you can always get divorced". Yet sadly I was only about 75% sure I was marrying "the one". Now Scott and I have talked about our misgivings on that day so what I just wrote will not make him the least bit surprised. Surprisingly he was also not entirely sure. I know it's shocking to think that I would not be the ultimate catch (hypochondria, OCD, and a complete obsession with swearing are on all guys short lists) but he wouldn't have been surprised if we killed each other. Today I completely believe that we were supposed to meet, marry and poorly prevent our children. I believe that now...
This June will mark 9 years of marriage with my Scotty. My dad loves the joke that he and my mother have been married for 33 years--5 of them happily. Scott and I could probably say that, but not be joking. The first couple of years were a struggle. Both of us were incredibly selfish and stubborn. Those two qualities do not a happy marriage make and it occured to me around 2005 (3 years in) that one of us was going to have to bend.
We already had Aiden and I fully grasped the magnitude of being a mother. I smothered that kid with every ounce of attention and energy I could gather. I had never wanted a child so God gave me the greatest baby that had ever been born (it's true, I've looked into it). I totally ignored my husband, but on a good note that selfish thing in me kind of fixed itself.
I am sure many people find this sad but Scott and I had one thing that gave us hope: we were 100% best friends. Regardless of how I had felt about him as a husband or father he was still my "homie", "partna in crime", etc and that one thing got us through the rough 4 years and into the awesome following 5.
When people get engaged I would bet more that 3/4 of them start planning a wedding. No one ever plans a marriage. My dad told me that I shouldn't waste my time with weddings and just get married in Vegas. He was sort of right. I planned a wedding, picked flowers, selected a venue and menu but hardly a thought went into how I was actually planning on living with one person for the rest of my hopefully long life. 9 years later I couldn't tell you what we ate, what time of day it was and sadly I can't recall our vows.
One thing I do remember is sitting at the head table with my new husband and a gaggle of bridesmaids (half of which I currently loathe) watching an actual black cat strut right in front of us. The guests laughed and went on eating; I on the other hand snapped out of my wedding coma and realized I had just gotten "for reals" married and a frickin' black cat had just doomed it.
Fast forward and I am now an experienced wife. I have been married long enough that people don't look at me like a naive newlywed. I've seen many a friend get divorced and thought "wow why am I so lucky?" I will now tell you why:
For starters ask yourself one question--"Is my spouse my best friend?" If your answer is no, well I feel sorry for you. I could not imagine having to hang out with someone all the time that wasn't my best friend. There have been times where I have wanted to smack Scott and times where I didn't agree with his parenting choices or lack of husband like duties, but I know one thing and it's that he's hella cool and I love him. I am very sad to see that a lot of marriages around are not the same. I sometimes wonder if they even like each other. The husbands don't go home til 8 o'clock because they would rather be out at bars with friends than with their families. Scott has a social life but he puts his family at a higher priority.
I may not remember saying them but I take my vows seriously. I often wonder if brides and grooms ask their pastors, priests or online reverends to speed through that portion of the ceremony to get to the fun stuff, like money dances, faster. I think the idea of marriage is a sinking ship. People want a party not the clean up.
Growing up I never saw my parents fight. That's a good thing I'm sure but an unrealistic view on marriage. My dad told me when I was little that a good husband never makes his wife cry. I love that man but it was a total crock (sorry dad)--After being married for a few months I was convinced I had the worst marriage in history after arguing with Scott in Albertsons over his desire to purchase an entire block of cheese (did I mention I'm also a control freak and was cheap as well). I went home and told my mom that I was failing because we had fought. Joy quickly informed me that they argued also but did it away from me and Ed; thus confirming that my father was full of it. I had built up wedded bliss to be a damn Brady Bunch episode and never thought it would actually get rough.
The reason for my spewing this marital tale is that no one tells you it's going to be hard. No one tells you what to expect from your spouse or what qualities your relationship (best friend example) should have before even thinking about getting engaged. However they'll tell you what colors your bridesmaids dresses should be or what exotic locale would be best this time of year for honeymooning. Big Daddy was right about weddings--they don't matter. Big Daddy was wrong about marriage--it can make you cry.
Last night at the reception there was a table set up for those of us experienced wives and husbands to write down some advice for the happy couple. I could have given them any of my many words of advice--
Always try, Choose your battles (I learned this after the cheese incident), wait a bit to have children, etc. but instead because I am nothing if not frank I left Isaac and Crystal with the same advice I'll leave you with tonight: Always have serious discussions and/or arguments in the shower, I dare you to yell at someone naked. It's impossible.

Cuban Sandwiches with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

I think one of the reasons I've been slacking in the recipe department is that I'm so dang sick of making the same ole crap every night. I was feeling bored; in a food rut. So I picked up my back issues of Everyday Rachel Ray and Food Network Magazine. I sat flipping through the pages looking at all the different recipes thinking "ooh, yum but Scott won't touch it", "oh the kids will complain". Then I thought "screw them" I'm making things that look fun and interesting. So for starters I went with a recipe called "Open Face Cubans with Fresh Rhubarb Jam" from Everyday. Of course I changed things here in there but the end result was pretty delish.
Here is my version of the recipe (I used pre-made strawberry rhubarb jam and instead of pickled scallions--pickle vidalia onions).

Cuban Sandwiches with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 cup sliced vidalia onions
4 tbsp olive oil divided
3 cloves fresh garlic sliced
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 1/4 lb)
4 sandwich rolls of your choice (we used sourdough)
4 slices swiss cheese
jar of store bought strawberry rhubarb jam (or make your own if you'd like)
1 cup watercress

Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.
In a small skillet heat sugar, vinegar and water over medium heat. Once bubbly add onion slices and heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let sit for 30 min.
Meanwhile, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small bowl and brush on the tenderloin. Then sprinkle with lots of salt and pepper. Take the garlic slices and place them all over the tenderloin.
Place in a roasting pan and heat for 7 min then flip it and cook another 7 min or until the meat thermometer says 150 degrees.
Then put rolls open faced on a cookie sheet and brush with the remaining olive oil and set aside. When the meat is done cover it with a foil tent and put the oven to broil. Put the bread under the broiler until golden. Then remove and spread with your desired amount of jam- in my opinion the more the better. Slice the tenderloin into 1/4 inch thick slices and put desired amount of slices on top the jam side of the bread, follow up by topping with a slice of swiss cheese. Put the sandwiches back under broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Remove from broiler and top with pickled onions and watercress.
yum yum yum

PS: Scott actually loved them--he ate so much he's sick and that never happens.

Spicy Citrus Marinade

I have a love/hate relationship with meat. I have always been the weird kid that would rather eat her vegetables. I on occasion love a good steak-it just has to be perfect or else I require oodles of Heinz 57. I recently read a book that recommended using meat as the side dish instead of main course. In my house my husband would have a heart attack with that method. If Scott controlled our menu we would eat a meat main, side and dessert.
Needless to say I like to dabble in marinades so that we can both be happy. Scott gets his animal carcass and I get to eat it with lots of fresh flavor. Yesterday I made this marinade for chicken (It was mothers day so Scott actually cooked it of course on the grill). I'm sure this marinade would be very good on shrimp or fish too.

Spicy Citrus Marinade

1 cup orange champagne vinegar (if you can't find it-i got mine at trader joes-use 1/2 cup orange juice 1/2 cup of champagne vinegar)
2 limes
3 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp curry powder
3 tsp pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper (use more if you want more kick)
4 sprigs of fresh basil chopped
3 sprigs dill chopped
1/2 chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups sweet white wine ( i used Muscat)
1 small yellow onion sliced
1 large garlic clove diced

Squeeze the juice from the limes into a bowl. A hint on getting them extra juicy is to zap them in the micro for 15 seconds before cutting them. Add all the other ingredients to the bowl and then add chicken. Make sure that your chicken is covered by the marinade. I soaked mine for 6 hours but over night would be best. We grilled it on the BBQ and it was fantastic. I served the chicken over pasta with pesto sauce. Today I made a salad and topped it with the cold chicken leftovers and it was still wonderful.

Happy Cinco de Drinko

To be honest I can't stand when people call it Cinco de Drinko but since today's recipe is for the WORLDS GREATEST MARGARITA I thought it fitting.

The story behind this marg is that my wonderful cuzsister, Alicia made one for me a few years back and I was a changed woman. They are fantastic. mmmm. I'm 90% the recipe originates from her friends husband but who can remember so I'm givin' credit to Alicia.
I also apologize for not having a whole lot of recipes (ok none) this week of Mexican food. Most of the recipes I know are Padilla family secrets. The Padilla family has a don and her name is Aunt Irene. If I gave out her recipes I may cross her and I made it a life long goal to not cross her (love you Tia).

ALICIA'S WORLDS GREATEST MARGARITA

1 12 ounce can of limeade, thawed

- now use the empty limeade can to measure the rest of the recipe, no other dirty dishes needed

1 to 1 1/2 cans of water

6 ounce corona beer

6 ounce sprite or sprite zero

3 ounce triple sec

10 ounces of tequila

Mix all ingredients in a large pitcher and serve over ice. It is delicious!!! Don't blend it--it ruins the flavor.

Above is a photo of my cuzsister and her hubby Tom pretending to be Cholos=i figured it's appropriate for Cinco de Mayo.

Aye Aye Aye==Cinco de Mayo week

Do you feel like eating like a fatty tonight? If you are being lame and answer No then read one of my lower calorie meals. TaTa.
If you're awesome and said "Why not" continue.
It's the week of Cinco de Mayo and therefore time to eat, drink and be merry. So to kick off the Mexican inspired food week I took a request from a 7 year old and made nachos.
Nachos don't have to be just chips, cheese and salsa. Use your imagination and fix up something bordering on gourmet. This is also a great time to use leftover meats. Tonight I used the beans from a left over chili I made this weekend as well as left over stredded tri tip. Use different cheeses. Swap Cheddar for pepper jack or make it an Italian nacho and use shredded and cubed mozzarella, basil and tomatoes. Crumbled chorizo is also a favorite--or bacon, ham, meat from a store bought rotisserie chicken (flashbacks).
So one of these nights excite your children and make bar food for dinner. Just do a bit of extra cardio the next day.

Bad Moods and Facebook= foul smell

I know everyone gets into a bad mood from time to time, but mine take casualties. Last Thursday started it. I got an irritating "joke" email from someone that made a "joke" aimed at Scott. Not cool. I told them off and moved on, then Scotty went on a golf trip for 3 days and my mood continued. Then Usama Bin Laden got shot.
It sure seems like facebook brings out the worst in people. I am totally guilty of this. You don't have to actually say something to someones face to be hurtful. On facebook you write exactly what comes to your mind at the time and for me that can be deadly. I posted something this morning about the hypocrisy some of my religious friends seem to have in regards to Bin Laden and homosexuals. I won't go into detail here but a family member took offense to my saying that negative comments (about either God or gays) would get you deleted. She felt like I was wrong and decided to call me on it. Funny thing is I am rarely wrong---about what I write. I wrote the truth. I did not say disagreeing with me would get you deleted just negative comments. Needless to say that in the world of facebook we are no longer family. That hurts but I stand by my comments.
Back to Bin Laden; everyone has an opinion and they are really hot to share them. There were the billion "Go America, you can run but can't hide" posts or the "Obama 1 Osama 0" or my personal favorite "Bin Laden was expecting 72 virgins and instead got 24 Virginians"--also represented were the people that wrote that we shouldn't be celebrating his death. Both sets of people are entitled to their opinions yet sadly there is always someone to argue with them.
I think facebook is a great thing. It gives people the opportunity to connect with distant family (my favorite reason), hook back up with old friends and some even find love. However with this ability you have to be responsible. Everybody doesn't want to hear your plan for the day, what you ate or your constant political views but we post them anyway. We type things in the safety of our home office or Iphones and walk away. We then feel the sinking realization of what we typed and contemplate removing them--until within 3 seconds they are read and commented on. I think that for this reason when you're in a bad mood you should avoid social media. I should have avoided most people today but instead I lashed out at a person I share DNA with. Was what I said wrong? No--but my reaction to her opinion was out of line and I can't take it back.
Facebook is like being in school all over again. There are the popular people that have tons of friends and their stuff gets tons of comments--there are the sluts that always post half naked pics of themselves--the jocks and their constant talk of the Lakers or golf game and then jackasses like me that are loud and say what they feel. I was like that in school and apparently it didn't change. I actually have grown to like myself and don't want to censer myself so I won't. That being said I think that I need to realize that it isn't a great thing to offend people and I should probably calm it down.
Facebook is a phenomenon and we are all in for the ride--just like roller coasters the ride gets nauseating after a while so we should all take a few turns and sit it out. Next time I am feeling frisky I'll channel that energy into maybe exercise and not facebook. My mother will be so proud.