Make Your Own Death Pepper Powder

The Peppers of Doom

Directions on how to properly avoid masing yourself at the bottom. 

Habanero Peppers

Serrano Peppers

 

Jalapeno Peppers

Poblano Peppers

• Habanero
• Jalapeno
• Serrano
• Poblano
• Red Fresno (No picture)
• Garlic (No picture)

WHEN SLICING PEPPERS BE SURE TO WEAR GLOVES, 

ELSE YOUR FINGERS DIE.

Put all of these things in the dehydrator to make your own Death Pepper Powder.

This this in amazing! You can make so many things with a dehydrator, we made our own beef jerky once last year that was fantastic. So just line them up, all your peppers of anal destruction, right on there and let it sit for about 12 hours. We just set them up right before bed and slept through the process. Leave in there until the peppers easily snap apart.

 DID NOT REMOVE ANY SEEDS OR SKINS. 

Dehydrating Serranos and Red Fresnos

Dehydrating garlic, Habanero and Poblano

Dehydrating jalapenos

Warning: DO NOT MASE YOURSELF

The reason why peppers are so hot and spicy is because of capsaicin, which is also the main ingredient in pepper spray. That's right. Your face will fall right the fuck off if you are not careful. I am not kidding.

Once your peppers are ready, put them in a grinder. Be very careful of this. Make sure your place is properly ventilated. Im talking windows open, fans going, and being in another room for about 30 minutes afterwards. The baby and I hung out and watched sesame street so it worked out for us but we had to have the door closed. It was awful. 

We use a simple coffee grinder, you can use whatever you have. Grind these things up into a fine powder. Put all that powder in a Tupperware and store for later use. 

Survived the process of making this? Now what. 

burnt as hell, i know

• Get a boneless pork roast and make some cuts in the top.
• Mix in the following ingrediants into 1/2 c oil 
• 2-3 tbsp Death Pepper Powder
• 1 tbs Oregano (dried)
• 1.5 tbsp Adobo
• 1.5 tbsp garlic powder
• Pour over meat and cook.

The times cooked was 1hr@475 and then 4hrs@275. This clearly matters on the size of your roast, and he left it in there a bit longer than expected, which is why the outside was extra crispy, but it came out delicious. So, cook less than that. 

So, have fun! Enjoy, and remember to prepare your anus because it is delicious going in and burning coming out. 

A Tasty Apple Pie for a Cold Autumn Day

Still so many apples, and not a goddamn treat to eat!

So I have all these apples and I need to make something. The last time I made apple pie it was disastrous. I know what I did wrong, and I make delicious pie, but it persuaded me into not making it for a whole year. It's simple enough to do, so I guess, today is the day, Apple Pie gets made. 

Don't you want some of this!

Did I forget some ingrediants again?

Well, yes and no. I was going to put dried cranberries in but my husband distracted me and the next thing that I know I have that pie in the oven half done!

• 7 Jonathan Apples
• 3 Granny Smith Apples
• a few squirts of lime juice (I ran out of lemon, use lemon if you can)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• a sprinkle of nutmeg (seriously, just a sprinkle)
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1/2 cup flour

Oh so delicious. 

1. Cut those apples up and put in a large bowl. Sprinkle on some of that lime juice (USE LEMON IF YOU HAVE IT INSTEAD). Put the sugar and spices in and butter. Let that sit as you get all the other ingredients together. 
2. Roll out that pie crust, or make your own. I, personally, feel it's a waste of time. I don't have time to make crust, damnit! I have a nice thick pie plate here. 
3. Pour in your delicious apple mixture. 
4. Wet the edges with water using your fingers, roll out top part and press it in together with bottom crust part. Use knife to cut off excess. Cut holes in the middle any design that you like. 
5. Use 1 egg to cover the top of the crust and sprinkle a light coating of sugar. You can use brown sugar if you'd like. 
6. Bake 350 for 45 minutes in a deep pie tin. If you only have thin ones, then you may be able to make two pies with this.  

You may be thinking, Did she just put an egg on the top of her apple pie? Yes, I did. It may sound weird but it makes the crust look and feel a bit crispier. Now, if you make your own crust I'm sure it'll have that feeling naturally. I, however, have ADD and have to get this pie done as quickly as possible because the baby need changing, the husband is hungry, there's some homework I have to do, and I think I should shower at some point this week. 

This pie was our lunch. It came out deliciously thick just the way I like it. If you like a bit more liquid in your pie, just lessen the flour by about 1/4 a cup. That should do it, and it'll come out perfect! 

I always forget something, damnit.

Last time I made apple pie, I said it came out horrific. It did. I forgot to add flour So the mix was too runny. I put too many apples in and they didn't cook all the way through. So not only was it like apple soup, the crust was mush, and it wasn't cooked as it should have been. DISASTROUS! 

This time, I remembered all of my ingrediants, except the dried cranberries which can really add a little OOMPH to your pie, if you're into that sorta thing. 

Next I have to write about my husbands Powdered Ass Fire seasoning he made for his Pernil, which was absolutely delicious, and hurts so many days later. Oh what joy. 

Apple Brownies

Delicious Apple Brownies

• 2 eggs

  

  Fresh out of the oven

• 12 tsp butter, melted
• 2 granny smith apples
• 4 Jonathan apples
• 2 c sugar
• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c walnuts

1. Mix apples with melted butter, sugar and egg. Set aside. 
2. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, salt and walnuts. 
3. Mix the dry mix into the wet ingredients. 



Freshly baked Apple Brownie

4. Bake 350 for 45 minutes in a 13x9 pan. Let cool for 15 min before serving.

The recipe originally called for 4 large apples. I have 10lb's of jonathan apples and 5lbs of granny smith to work with. The jonathan's are really small so I used 4 of them to replace 2 large apples. It seemed to work out excellently. 

This recipe makes the top crisp up like a brownie does and I absolutely love that crispness  It's not hard or anything, just a slightly rougher edge that gives it that brownie texture. 

When I was a teenager my boyfriends Mom used to make these and they were the most delicious thing over. Mostly because my mother rarely ever cooked and if she did she put so much salt on it you could dehydrate an ocean. Bless her soul, she stuck to things she could actually handle. Anyway, this brings back such warm memories of that cinnamon smell moving across the house. Oh it was so lovely. I had posted on Facebook about the ridiculous amount of apples I had and what could I make with them and my old time friend had suggested this. His mom gave me the recipe, she's so wonderful, and I made them that day. It's been 12 years since I've had these apple brownies and they came out just as delicious as I remember. Oh, good times. 

Look at all the apples I have!

As I am coring the apples and slicing them up nicely. I have a little baby at my feet chewing on one of grandma's cookies that she brought down from home. I gave him a granny smith and he just gnawed on that for quite some time with no bother. I would of thought it might be too bitter but this is the same kid who started sucking on a lemon when I tried to get him to make a silly face. It was anti-climactic. No cute video, just a baby, sucking on a lemon and giggling. He is silly. 

Apples for toddlers! Surprise! They're good for you.

My next few recipes are definitely going to be making more apple treats! Stay tuned for that!

Bean Chili

So many tomatoes from the garden, what now?

My mother-in-law brought over tomatoes from the garden this past Sunday. After all the yummy pasta dishes I've been making recently, I hadn't gotten to add them in. It was most certainly my husbands turn to cook. He is a far better cook than I am. Being kind of sick of pasta we tried to come up with things to do with these damn tomatoes. I had originally suggested he make his delicious homemade vegetarian tomato sauce but alas, that is usually the topping for some starchy treat. Chili seemed like the only option. 

Last year my husband and his friends entered the chili contest in Grand Island. It was a lot of fun, even though they did not place in the top 3. It was kind of tough because someone made white chicken chili and since it was so damn different it ended up winning. I tried most of the chilis and the one that won was certainly delicious but it was kind of cheap to make a chili that didn't have tomatoes or beef in it. 

Every year these fellas get together around football season and have a chili contest between each other numbering them A. B. C. D. and D happened to be the winner. "Savor the D" was among the silliness that happened and it stuck. They entered the contest with "Savor the D". The reactions were mixed. Some loved it, others frowned and quickly hurried on. The chili was absolutely delicious though. 

It's about that time of year again actually which means i'll be eating chili for the next 4 months. Haha. Oh boy. Well, this particular recipe isn't the one he made in the contest, it was just an experiment that came out wicked tasty. My husband could turn a pot of boiling water into a 5 course meal. 

Delicious bean chili with tomatoes

• about 14 tomatoes or however many you want in your chili
• peppers, red and yellow bell
• an onion
• 2lbs ground beef 80/20
• Green Chili peppers, canned or fresh
• 3 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp tobasco
• 1 tbsp red vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 cans, (black beans, chick peas, red kidney beans) We had one can that we thought was beans but it turned out to be diced tomatoes with chili peppers in them. we used that because it's all we had.

1. Blanche tomatoes, remove seed, take stems out, diced
2. Remove seeds from peppers, diced. Chop onion
3. Saute veggies until translucent, set aside
4. Brown 2lb of ground beef 80/20 because "fat is flavor" in large pot. Sprinkle in some salt, cumin, pepper, powdered garlic, chili powder, crushed red pepper, Tabasco, peppers. Once it is all cooked add in the veggies, tomatoes and beans.
5. Add in 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. 

I linked how to blanche tomatoes. It's pretty easy. The prep time for this is quite long but it's definitely worth it because now we don't have to cook for a few days.

Waiting for 30 minutes for it to simmer is the hardest part. The smell surrounds the air. I'm sure people could smell his cooking straight down the hall. I took the dog out and could smell it for sure. 

I like to put my chili in a cup, and eat it that way. It's just a way of portion control, but I end up having quite a few teacups full. I don't mind thought because it gives me some time to let the food settle a bit. 

We like to top our chili with cheese and crackers but really it's whatever you like to put into it. 

Spicy chili helps your sickness out of your body

Everyone knows the minute you start to eat spicy foods your nose opens straight up and you better have a tissue handy. Well, I certainly knew that in a few days time I would certainly be feeling under the weather. The baby had been fussing recently with a runny nose and I knew it wouldnt be too long behind before I caught it as well. 

Capsaicin in the chili's are what give your body that fiery, runny nose feeling. I personally don't love it, but when I'm all stuffed up it sure is nice to be able to breath for a minute or two. This stuff also jump starts the metabolism too, which can be good for everyone. However, with this delicious chili recipe it is real hard not to get the "itis". You know what I'm talking about. 

Are there different classifications of chili soups?

I tried to look this up. What are the different types of chili? You have mostly meat chili's, spicy chili's, bean chili. There has to be a vegetarian chili. What if someone cant have red sauce, then white chili. Maybe chicken chili. Is there a list out there somewhere? I tried to search for a good source of different types. Perhaps I could make one because I know I can't be the only damn person in the world who wonders how many different types of chili there are. 

Now i have to come up with different ways to eat chili. 

Chicken Cheese Spinach Manicotti with Bacon

Chicken Spinach Manicotti with Bacon

  

Completed Manicotti deliciousness

• 1 1/4 cup spinach
• 14 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 15 oz cup of ricotta
• 1/2 cup of cottage cheese
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 egg white
• 2 chicken breast, cooked then chopped finely
• 4 strips of bacon, cooked, drained, patted dry and finely chopped
• 14 manicotti noodles cooked until al dente
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Jar of sauce

Cook that bacon up, you only need a few strips. Pat it dry to remove all of the greasiness  Chop it up. Use that bacon oil in the pan to cook that chicken. Spice the chicken with some salt and pepper. Once cooked to deliciousness, chop it up into small bits and put into a bowl with the bacon. 

I have a delicious beverage here, nothing too fancy, just some vodka with cranberry/raspberry. Very important to this process. 

Cook up the onion until translucent and just when they are about done add in those garlic cloves. Cook up for a few minutes and remove from heat. Add to the bowl of chicken and bacon. Set all this aside. 

In another bowl mix the ricotta, the cottage cheese, oregano, that fresh basil, pepper, salt, egg white, Parmesan cheese freshly grated. 

I grated this cheese here. It is quite amazing. It is a bit expensive but it really is yummy. You can take any type that you want though. 

Add this right into your bowl. 

It definitely helped to have a kitchen helper. My husband was chopping up the bacon and chicken for me while I made my cheese bowl. He is so super awesome. 

Oh no! My glass is empty, time for a refill. 

Mix the two bowls together. 

Cook your manicotti right up until they are al dente. Just a little bit hard. They will cook when it is in the oven. 

While that is boiling, scoop up all your ingredients in the bowl into a piping bag. 

Put a layer of tomato sauce down into the pan, pipe your ingredients in and place on the sauce. 

Once you get them all in there, put another layer of sauce into the map then top with cheese. 

I used this cheese and sprinkled generously on top. 

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 until that cheese on top is a nice golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes. 

Oh this was soo good! I loved it just the way it is, my husband however had to add some salt. He always adds salt to every thing!

Hastings stole county seat from Juniata 

On my adventures out last week I had asked several home grown Hastinites to tell me something about this place. Hastings was founded in 1872. Only one person happened to know this exact year but at least three people told me that Hastings is on the county seat because they stole it from Juniata, a nearby already established town. I've tried looking this up on the web and could not quickly come up with the information. At Central Community College I was referred to a book on the History of Hastings that describes they stole a physical piece of something, probably a gavel, and this meant that they were in business in the county seat!

Seems kind of silly really and you would think that this might be all over the web, but it is not! I confirmed this story with someone who knows all about the History of Hastings. 

As of 2010 Hastings, Nebraska is home to 24,907 people according to the census. This town is tiny as hell. Everyone seems to know everyone, and every time I go out the bartenders and regulars have already learned my name. While that certainly is flattering and honestly kind of sweet, it sure is different from back home in Springfield, Massachusetts home of 153, 552 as of 2012. My hometown also holds the county seat but there is no interesting story around that, and up until I looked up the population number on Wikipedia  I had absolutely no idea. 

Apple Banana Cranberry Bread

Drag show at the route 6 diner in Hastings, Nebraska

Oh man this was so much fun! Luna and I met up with some friends there. I wish I had gotten pictures but I was just so taken by all the fun things happening around me. 

I only managed to take one photo of myself before heading out for the evening of fun. 

The girls performance was amazing. I am absolutely enthralled by Giselle Jacobs stage presence. She was magnificent as well as the other people there too. The crowds was absolutely LOVING IT.

I am excited about going to see them perform again. 

After the show closed we made our way to Wanda's because karaoke and cheap booze. I realized I left my credit card at rt 6. That totally sucks. I still haven't been back there to get it. 

Matt and Alex are outside smoking a cigarette here. It was a gorgeous night. They didn't do karaoke then again neither did I. 

I danced a little bit. Someone should get a video of this because it's silly as hell.

I was absolutely tired by the time I got home. I wished I had had something delicious to eat. When I woke up today I looked up this recipe and made it. 

Apple Banana Cranberry Bread

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 3/4 cups of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 4 tbsp milk (I used whole milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 12 cranberries
• 2 apples peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 bananas mashed

1. grease a loaf pan. Pre-heat the oven 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, sugar, salt. 
3. In another mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, apple and banana stir in the dry ingredients until combined. 
4. Pour into the pan and then top with 12 cranberries and push them down into the batter. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

I located this recipe and tweaked it a little bit to fit the ingredients that i had on hand. Her blog is far more organized than mine, haha and she has yummy pictures of this tasty treat. 

http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2012/02/banana-cranberry-and-apple-bread.html

Her recipe called for salt and i totally spaced on adding that. Sometimes that sort of thing happens to me. Sigh. Oh well. She also added baking powder which I did not have, however I did have cream of tartar. I learned today what baking powder really is. 

The difference between baking soda and baking powder

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm

I'm taking the information straight from there. Both of these ingredients are used to make things rise, such as breads. If you do not have baking powder you can use 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda instead. 

So i forgot to add the salt, silly me. Last recipe I forgot to add the brown sugar. Salt is a very important part of this recipe. haha. oh boy. 

Gosh this picture looks soo inviting! It really came out delicious, but I absolutely hate the cranberries in it. Hmm, oh well.

Three Cheese Spinach Lasagna

I was trying to be creative last night. I rarely if ever cook dinner and when I do it's two dry pieces of bread with something from the deli on the inside. Something about this just sounded so sweet, and the picture I ripped from Woman's Magazine just looked soo delicious. 

Here is a stock imagine of how it is supposed to look like before being deliciously devoured. Oh man, when I cut into mine and dished it out on the plate it came out just as perfect as this however my photography skills are still juvenile at best. That is a fancy way of saying I forgot to take a picture before eating it. Haha. 

• 15 dry lasagna noodles. 
• 1 pk frozen chopped spinach
• 3 cups all natural fat free ricotta cheese (I used 1 1/2 cups ricotta and 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese)
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 jar of marinara sauce, or your favorite kind of sauce
• 8 oz of mozzarella, grated
• Sea salt and ground pepper to taste.

I put some of this garlic spread in it too for some extra flavor. I didn't measure, I just sprinkled some extra 

on in there. Mimi sends these to her grand kids and everyone else who shows interest in cooking with garlic. She gives some pretty fun presents. Mimi is the best gift giver ever. 

• Garlic
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt
• Spices
• Parsley

It's really redundant right? It put it in and loved it. Add your own extra spice to make it flavorful!

1. Preheat the over to 350F. Brig large pot of salted water to boil. Once water is boiling add some olive oil , then add noodles; cook stirring occasionally. 8-10 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, drain spinach well by squeezing it in a clean washcloth to get all the excess water out. 
3. In a medium bowl stir in the ricotta, cottage cheese, egg whites, Parmesan, and garlic powder until combined. This is where you would add your delicious spices like parsley, more garlic, other herbs if you feel you need to. I used a generous amount of pepper and salt here as well.
4. Spray the bottom of your pan. I used a cake pan. Use 2 -3 spoonfuls of your sauce to just lightly cover the bottom and lay your first layer of noodles down. Since I used a cake man I managed to get 4 noodles side by side with one going across the bottom.
5. Top with ricotta
6. Top with your delicious sauce of choice. 
7. Sprinkle some mozzarella on
8. Another layer of noodles
9. More ricotta
10. More sauce
11. Sprinkle some mozzarella on
12. Last layer of noodles. 
13. Top with the remainder of the sauce and put some mozzarella on top. 
14. Top with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes to give the top that delicious crispness. Cool for 10 minutes.

Next time, I'd like to try this with bacon.