Mustard Museum?

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, is home to the largest mustard museum in the world, housing 1,493 different varieties from Argentina to Switzerland and 48 of the U.S. states. Of yellow mustard alone, the museum has about 200 varieties.

Scallops

Scallops are considered the safest shellfish to eat raw. Most of the danger in eating raw shellfish stems from the fact that shellfish filter large amounts of sea water to obtain nutrients. Toxins, bacteria, and viruses tend to accumulate in this filtration apparatus. The filtration apparatus in scallops is, however, discarded; only the scallop's abductor muscle, where few toxins accumulate, is eaten.

Personally I prefer mine cooked in white wine.


Scallops in White Wine

Ingredients
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup shallots, minced
1 lb bay scallops
3/4 cup white wine
1 Tbs lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Directions

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots; sauté 2 minutes until lightly browned. Add scallops; sauté 30 seconds.

Add white wine; cover and cook 2–3 minutes until scallops turn opaque. Remove scallops from pan with a slotted spoon, reserving wine mixture in pan.

Add lemon juice, hot sauce, salt and pepper to wine mixture, simmer for 2 minutes, until sauce is reduced by about one half.

Return scallops to sauce and cook just until heated through.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 Cup of creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup of oil
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons of water

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork dipped in water. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

I know several peanut butter freaks who say these are the best ever peanut butter cookies in the whole univers.

Holiday Cookies

Every year I bake cookies to give out as presents. I start my baking after Thanksgiving and freeze them. A few days before Xmas, I let them thaw out and put them in tins or plastic gift bags.

Since I have little time, I sort of cheat with the basic recipe:

A box of yellow cake mix
2 eggs
and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
a dash of vanilla extract

you choice of additives:

almond extract
chocolate chips
butterscotch chips
nuts


Drop them by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 F until slightly golden. ( I bake mine for 11 minutes because I like them soft not crunchy)

For butter flavor, I used the butter cake mix.

And last year, I made chocolate cookies from chocolate cake mix and lemon cookies from lemon cake mix.

I put sprinkles on them so they look festive.

And they are delicious.

Survey says...

You will get fewer cavities if you eat a bag of candy in one sitting and then brush your teeth than if you slowly eat the candy a piece at a time all day.


I don't think a sugar high or an aching stomach is worth it though!

Chili Powder

Although the combination of chile peppers and oregano for seasoning has been traced to the ancient Aztecs, the present blend is said to be the invention of early Texans. Chili powder today is typically a blend of dried chiles, garlic powder, red peppers, oregano, and cumin.

It can spice up any dish. I add it to my scrambled eggs, in my 15 bean soup, to hamburgers...the list goes on. Chili powder isn't just for chili, my friends.