Posted by: Christine on June 9th, 2010 at 2:29 am
>>> Tips, Books, Images, Food Storage, Pantry
Wilton Aluminum Mini Loaf Pan
Okay, I admit it, I am one of those that swore I would never freeze cooked rice. Well, freezing it maybe, but certainly not eating it after it was frozen. Nasty.
I was wrong.
Whew. There, I said it. Take a note, jot down the date, whatever. -grins-
What made me change my mind? A blog post that I found: http://www.freezerdinner.com/recipes/freezing-rice/. I had first heard of Jenny Stanger, the author of the blog, as well as author of Fabulous Freezer Meals
, by way of another author and blog site that I visit, http://everydayfoodstorage.net/ by Crystal Godfrey, they were making pizza!
I figured, why not try the rice again after all these years, maybe, just maybe it might not be as bad as I remembered.
It wasn’t.
When I make rice, I usually make about 4 cups at a time, depending on what we will be using it for that week, and how many people there are. I try not to make more than will be used in that particular week, because I hate the thought of wasting it, if it goes bad. Well, not anymore!
I love the thought of being able to just grab some rice from the freezer, already cooked, and just reheating it. So simple and so good. Sure, the garlic powder that I always add to it may have something to do with it being so good, but you get the gist of it. ;o) My only problem is that I do not heat or reheat in plastic. I don’t care whether plastic bowl or plastic bag, I just can’t do it. So, not a problem, I reheat it in a covered ceramic dish, which keeps all the steam in and makes it just right.
Yup, I have completely turned around my thoughts on it. I have tried to think of what on earth I could have done all those years ago to make the rice, well, yucky. I have no clue. I just remember not liking the texture of the rice. Who knows. All I can say is, thank you Jenny for putting up the post about the rice, because the next day I made 10 cups of cooked rice, and froze it. Figured worse came to worse, dogs would have a great treat to be added to their food if it didn’t turn out. But it did. Fabulously!
Frozen rice blocks
- perfect size -
I started off putting some into freezer bags, and for larger portions (more people) those work great. But then I got to thinking, which is always dangerous, what about some smaller portions. But what could I put it in? I didn’t want to waste a quart sized bag for a little portion. As I was just kind of staring ‘out’ from the kitchen, my eyes caught onto my mini loaf pan hanging up on the shelves. Hmmm.
That might work. Hmmm. So, off to the shelves I went and grabbed it, as well as grabbing plastic wrap. Laid some wrap into one section of the loaf pan, put some rice in, and then put more, packing it down, wrapped it up and pulled it out, popping it into the deep freezer to test.
Perfect! So, I made quick work of the rest of the rice and now have not only family sized bags of it, but individual portions. Okay, really enough for 2 people, but still a lot smaller than a whole quart bag!
I put all the ‘blocks’ onto a jelly-roll pan, freeze them, and then throw them into a large container in the freezer. Pulled one out yesterday and it was delicious. Maybe there is something to be said for trying things more than once if you don’t like… like cooked spinach. Then again, some things are just better left like nature intended, raw.
Make your life a little easier, why not try to freeze some rice!
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Posted by: Christine on October 27th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
>>> Journey, Books
So, I walk into the house this afternoon and smell some good smells coming from the kitchen, well of course I had to go and investigate what it was.
There, on the counter, hanging upside down is an Angel Food cake in its cake pan. Cool, that is my favorite cake - plain, no sauces, no whipped topping, nothing but the cake please!
Hmmm, I know that bottle underneath it - no, she didn’t use that bottle, she wouldn’t dare. If that breaks, I am so not going to be happy!! (She, by the way, is my mom.) I know, you are probably saying “What bottle did she use that could cause such a fuss?!”
Well, it was my bottle of Courvoisier Cognac that I use when I cook certain dishes. Yes, I know, it is just a bottle, but come on, my Cognac?? The olive oil bottle was there, use it!
That really did happen, but in all seriousness, I wasn’t worried as much about the bottle breaking per se, but that my animals would be drunker than Cooter Brown for the next week from the cognac. Okay, maybe I was worried about it being that particular bottle a little bit, I mean, hellooooo, that is some good cognac! :D
So, yes, I am now a year older than I was yesterday, although I don’t feel it, pray that I don’t look it, but according my birth certificate, it says that I am. Isn’t it funny, that when we are growing up, we strive to look and act older than we are, but once you hit a certain birthday, it is a compliment when people tell you “You don’t look or act your age”.
Now that I’ve had my fish and chips with malt vinegar for dinner, a nice slice of delicious angel food cake, I’m ready to relax with hopefully no more phone calls and watch The Secret of Roan Inish
, then I get to look forward to part of my present that isn’t even due out until tomorrow, which of course (I know you just are waiting to know) is the newest cookbook by one of my alltime favorite people, Ina Garten, called Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients
. She has class, style, smarts, wit and much more, how can you not love her?
Wishing Ina all the best with the newest book as I head of to get lost on an island off Ireland. :)
May all of your birthdays be as wonderful as mine…
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Posted by: Christine on December 21st, 2007 at 11:49 am
>>> Journey, Books, Weather, Reviews
Just have to give a shout out for a book that I received Thursday evening when UPS dropped it off. Opened the package this afternoon and put it down tonight. Finished. It is, Storm Chaser, A Photographer’s Journey, by Jim Reed.
Have no fear I’ll definitely be picking it up again, and again to go over it, but going beyond the images, which are mesmerizing, fascinating and sometimes downright scary, it was the author’s writing that had my attention. Especially when he spoke about hurricanes. Having lived through Hurricane Andrew, then within 2 months time, Hurricanes Charley, Francis and Jeanne, his telling of his thoughts while going through hurricanes brought back many memories. And I just kept nodding my head as I read his ‘journal’ of Hurricane Katrina, as if he could actually see me agreeing with him and encouraging him to continue on ’speaking’! While Katrina was certainly no laughing matter, I did have to chuckle, because as I read the journal, I kept thinking, that could have been me writing that as I remembered my journal I kept for the 2004 Hurricane season. No, the words aren’t the same and the circumstances are different, but for me, my journal was a stress-reliever. I would write by the light of a hurricane lamp in the middle of the night, as I sat on a couch next to the open windows praying for a breeze after the hurricanes. Sure couldn’t sleep afterwards, it was too hot, too muggy, too humid… you get the picture. So, to be able to read what someone was thinking while in certain situations is almost calming to me. It may not make sense but that is just how my logic or illogic if you may, mind, works.
So, if I haven’t scared you off, order this book or go to bookstore and get it. You will see hurricanes, supercells, dust clouds, tornadoes and so much more. But you will also get an inside look into the thinking of a professional storm chaser.
One day I hope to meet Jim and his chase partner, Katherine Bay, who knows, maybe even get to learn from them by tagging along on a chase. That would be the ultimate for me.
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