Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Food

Prepare For Pumpkins And Comfort Food!

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Gala apples in full beautiful bounty at Packer Orchards and Bakery. Harvest time!

Dashed up the Columbia River Gorge for a pre-harvest comfort food haul before Labor Day. What to my wondering eyes appeared but a pile of mini pies at my favorite bakery and fruit stand, Packer Orchards. With the first of much needed rains coming in tonight to help drown our forest fires and clean the air, I am secure in the knowledge that tucked in my freezer are two huckleberry and peach mini pies. Plus a bunch of huckleberry empanadas. Emergency rations for the coming winter.

This is the time of year I’d like to gather a fuzzy blanket, a pumpkin pie, a can of whip cream and head for my overstuffed chair with a pile of books. Not only does the coming cold wet weather give me a chance to snuggle in and read, but the eats are amazing. Which is why I also have an electric treadmill. Actually using it seems to be an issue. But even my stretch jeans have limits.

Tower of mini pies! Heaven on earth.

Its been a summer of three months of August, according to my temperature chart. I find one month of August quite enough, but the three we had this year kept everyone confused. And holding our breath. At this time last year we were coming off fire evacuation alerts and trying to breathe in a smoke inversion which outdid Beijing, China, on their worst day. Hoping we can all take a deep breath and relax after this weekend. We are supposed to get a couple inches of rain. The trees will be so happy. And the wildland fire fighters. I may frolic in the drops myself.

This has been a summer, a year, and a couple years of crazy for everyone. For me, I’ve learned to really appreciate the little things and keep life simple. My decluttering work goes on, so maybe by next year I can find my carpet and the garage floor. Gives me something to do when it rains.

Monday is the Harvest Moon and Fall officially starts on the twenty-second. The Halloween candy in the stores is getting picked over and I just bought my new Christmas gnome decorations at Dollar Tree. Tis time to shop for the seasons. Or hoard mini pies.

Enjoy these waning days of summer and the glory of the changing leaves. We’ve been through a lot lately, my fellow earthlings. But we’re made of tougher stock than we realize.

Spring will come again. And boy howdy, do I have some pent up adventures to take. Make your travel list now.

A day trip to anywhere counts. Including the backyard or a city park.

Cans of whip cream and holiday cookies count too. COOKIES!

Fall Ho!

P.S. Filbert at the Oregon Zoo shows the exact attitude that makes him our state animal. His work is never done on that blasted dam and he has to cut and haul major snacks back to his den. I appreciate his commitment. We snack seriously here in Oregon. He illustrates me getting food ready for the NFL football season! Did you SEE the RAIDER game Monday night? Good times!

 

Happy Thanksgiving Eve

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A prior classic Libby’s recipe pumpkin pie from my very own kitchen. Can you smell the joy?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Family, turkey, friends, mashed potatoes, football, pumpkin pie, gravy, whipped cream. You get my drift. It’s also a time to reflect on all we have and how lucky we are to live in the USA.

When Debbie, my Australian friend, happened to visit our family during Thanksgiving one year, she totally endorsed this fabulous holiday. Everybody can get behind a time to be thankful.

Whether you’re having turkey, spaghetti, ham, a breakfast burrito, McDonald’s Happy Meal or eating Meals-Ready-To-Eat or mess food on a ship, it’s time to reflect.

My sister and brother-in-law just got back from a trip to California to visit family. On the way down I-5 they traveled on the road with Oregon fire crews going to backup our California neighbors in need. At the hotel in Redding they shared space with more fire crews and the displaced folks who had lost their homes in the fires.

It’s times like these that those of us who are not directly touched by the wildfires, hurricanes or other natural disasters can do our part to help. Donations are always welcome. The Red Cross is a good place to start. 

So while we thank and honor our firefighters on the lines in California, our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq spending another holiday away from home, and all our military members, veterans, law enforcement and intelligence personnel around the world protecting us, it truly is a time to say thank you for what we have.

I am blessed to be able to work on my writer dreams, have a funny family and supportive friends; plus cuddle Spec Ops Cat who thinks I’m his waitress and personal mobile heating pad.

And to my blog readers, I send you hugs and wishes for peace, prosperity and pumpkin pie.

Which means I’m now heading off to whip up the pumpkin pies for tomorrow. Somehow there always seems to be leftovers. Because we plan to feed an army on purpose so we can take turkey and pie home. Life is logistics!

The only thing better than turkey day, is turkey day leftovers.

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Valentines Day Eve!

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Stocked up and ready for V Day. Actually, I always have Dove on hand. Because.

by Kimberly A. Cook

Waiting in lines is golden for writers. Running errands yesterday, my last stop was the grocery store. The checkout clerk was chatting up customers about Valentine’s Day.  Some of my neighbor’s customs shocked me.

“We don’t give candy to the kids,” said one woman. “The holiday is for the parents.”

Say what? My family uses any excuse, er holiday, to give presents, especially candy. At first I thought maybe she had young kids, I could see that. Nope, teenagers. Well between energy drinks and coffee they inhale, how bad could a couple pieces of candy be?

Another lady said she gave her young kids coloring books. That is fabulous. While I love the demon sugar, I too have to ration it. Processed sugar is addictive, but like everything else, if used in moderation; just don’t drive heavy machinery afterwards.

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One of the plates I use for Mom’ s cake. Plus research wrappers.

An on air tv personality last night talked about going out with her galentines for Valentine’s Day. Fabo. Sometimes the Valentine’s Day holiday feels like a poke in the eye to all single, divorced or widowed folks. So adapt!

To me Valentine’s Day has always been my mom’s birthday. Tomorrow we get to celebrate her 93 young years at lunch on the river. Not in a boat, a restaurant. Though Mom is game for most adventures.

For me? Stocked up on Dove and Kit Kat candy to share with family. Will bake a heart shaped mini-cake for Mom and cupcakes for the crew. Bought myself a bouquet of pink carnations for the kitchen table; keeping Spec Ops Cat out of them is a different story.

Then threw myself into research for this post by testing the Dove dark chocolate. Actually, I eat two pieces every day so I had plenty of wrappers available.

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So you’ve still got time to stock up and treat yourself. Candy, coloring book or carnations? How about trying the last wrapper saying I got this morning?

Hug someone today!

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!

Run For The Candy!

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by Kimberly A. Cook

It’s candy day! Forget the kids, this holiday is for us grown-ups who really need an excuse to sugar-load. There are no calories on Halloween. Trust me. They roll over to November first. So enjoy yourselves.

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How cute is this garden center ghost?

 

Today is our last day of bright sunshine for awhile. The rains are coming and cold temperatures. Today I am protecting faucets,  putting the fuchsias in the garage and stowing away my beloved lawn swing. I was only able to use it for six days this summer. better than none.

Right on schedule my Emergency Preparedness 5-day supply backpack arrived to put in the car. Given the horrendous weather we’ve had this year, maybe I should have bought two and one small cat one for Spec Ops Cat. (They need to make kitty and doggie emergency backpacks too.)

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Candy days! But not my favorites.

 

Learned logistics from my military days; if you don’t have supplies, you don’t have them when you need them. Another reason why I hoard purple ink pens and Post it Notes. And copy paper. And printer ink. And three-ring binders. You get the picture.

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Peanut M&Ms! My favorite. Along with Dove Dark Chocolate. Did you know M&Ms were developed in 1941 for World War II troops C-rations? Plus Tootsie Rolls helped save the lives of Marines at the Chosin Reservoir battle during the Korean War? Patriotic candy! 

So your one big decision today is what treat are you going to have? I let myself have one. It can be a piece of pie, or candy or a cinnamon roll. For some reason, cinnamon rolls have been prominent picks lately.

Enjoy Halloween.  Indulge but don’t overdo. And remember; running for the candy burns calories. Sweet!

 

 

Candy links:

M&Ms History – http://www.mars.com/global/about-us/history

Marine Corps and Tootsie Rolls – http://www.usmc-mccs.org/articles/how-tootsie-rolls-accidentally-saved-marines-during-war/

Comfort Food Here I Come!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                  (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Between the time change, sick cat, election day, my job and Veterans Day last week, by the time Saturday arrived I could have used a cattle prod and a six-pack of energy drinks to get out of bed. Luckily a new purchase arrived and I was feeling dangerous.

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Little Red bravely doing the water test. Such a trooper.

 

My mini pressure cooker. Two quart size. Nickname – Little Red. Since I’m trying to increase my cooking skills, I never would’ve attempted this piece of equipment but it’s small. Figured I might be able to handle it. Maybe.

First I had to go through the precautions and initiate a water safety test. Felt like I was back on drown-proofing duty in the Army. Thirty minutes later I hadn’t blown anything up or had leaking machine parts. Fabo!

Next on to real food. One of the many things that hooked me while watching this little gem on Home Shopping Network, HSN to us loyal fans, was being able to cook things quickly and keep the nutrients in without firing up the big oven.

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Even I can cut up potatoes. Love the skins for fiber and taste. How festive. 

 

Decided to go for mashed potatoes on my maiden voyage. Cut up my favorite red potatoes, skins and all. Put in water. Locked down the lid. Pushed the potato button. How easy is that? Waited. About ten minutes later it beeped at me. Perfect potatoes!

I smashed them with the egg salad maker since I didn’t have a potato masher; then added milk and butter. Next was pepper and done. Wonderful. Ate the leftovers most of the rainy week. Emboldened by my success, I promptly purchased a potato masher. Every girl should have one.

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After the mash and before the ingredients. Can you smell the starch?

 

Think next I’m going big time, moving up to frozen pork chops. Little Red will cook frozen foods, just have to add time from the list in the book. Think I can handle the math.

Figure the worst that happens is I have to wipe pork chops off the kitchen ceiling; but since I haven’t fixed the ceiling yet from the peeing furnace that got torn out, who cares?

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Mix up the pepper and done! Actually, I could carry the entire mini pan and eat out of it, but I chose to go with a plate. Bring on winter!  

 

Supposedly one can bake cakes, pasta and chicken wings in Little Red too. Seems I’ve hired a cook in the kitchen while I watch Football. Perfect.

Viva la Pressure Cooker! Viva la Comfort Food!

Got steam?

 

 

Grab For The Fruit!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Managed to pry myself away from the Summer Olympics on tv over the weekend to head to the Farmer’s Market. Love to look at all the fresh veggies, fruit and flowers. While August spirals towards Fall, school supplies are in stores and pumpkins are in the craft aisles, I try and grab for the last rays of summer.

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The perfect box for those of us who cannot make up our minds.

 

Snapping up nature’s fresh bounty is so much fun and supporting local farmers and vendors even better. With an array of items from BBQ sauce to popcorn and pastries and bird feeders, I can’t go wrong.

Wanted some blackberries, strawberries and the last cherries and found what I needed down aisle two. Then off to the Pie Guy to scarf up a mini-pie, marionberry, which I know contains mini calories.

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To prevent dreaded pie mistakes, take a taste! There are no bad pies here. 

 

Then took a longing look at the beautiful flower bouquets and avoided the Donut truck since I had the pie in the bag. Literally. Checked out the bargains on backyard mini-bridges, great deals but too big for my fairy rock garden. Alas.

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Plus gorgeous flowers. Amazing!

 

While I continue to deny the days are getting shorter, there is still time to support the farmers markets and get the last drops of summer. Honey included.

Get out there and shop from farmers and local vendors people!