Kosher-Style Pork Cracklins

I was inspired by the April fine Cooking article on steamed and perfectly sauced steamed veggies to steam artichoke. I am visiting my Grandmother, and we realized we didn't have anything for steaming artichokes, so we tossed the idea. But while I was at Whole Foods, I found a $2 metal steamer for artichokes right by the artichokes, so I figured why not? But then I didn't have the sauce recipe at the store. Luckily the steamer came with two recipes, so I picked one and bought all those ingredients. It was a mix of garbanzo beans, parsley, green onion, lemon juice and garlic.

Steaming the artichoke was pretty fun. I didn't realize the water would turn green!! We used the dip more as a spread. It turned out okay, but Grandma liked adding just a touch of salt because the flavor of the dip was pretty strong. I'll probably steam vegetables more because it was so fun and easy, but I probably won't be making that dip again. It was just okay.

I was intending to make grilled pork tenderloin with orange-garlic rub, because that's so good. But I couldn't get the gas grill to work. We think it's because it's out of gas. So instead, I just broiled the pork tenderloin. It turned out okay, but it wasn't fabulous, like when it's grilled, or when I instead use the honey mustard recipe for broiled pork tenderloin. Oh well! We had my uncle over for dinner, too.

• Artichoke Bean Dip recipe from the Whole Foods artichoke steamer
• Orange-Garlic Wet Rub (Cook's Illustrated, Summer 2006, p.37)

I love to make pancakes and enjoy making whole wheat and gingerbread pancakes. This recipe gives you really yummy normal-looking pancakes with blueberries in them! Blueberries are so easy to break, and if you just break one, the juice will turn the batter a less appetizing blue-gray color. So in this recipe, you just drop the blueberries into the batter once it's already cooking! It makes the pancakes look normal on top, but with blueberries inside and showing through on the bottom.

I loved how this recipe uses everything that you probably already have on hand (except for a lemon and blueberries). No special trip to the store just to buy buttermilk! This recipe took longer than all my other recipes, but it was well worth the extra effort. These were 5 star pancakes according to my Grandma. We halved the recipe, and it was just perfect for two!

I also learned how nice and easy it is to cook pancakes on a griddle. The sidebar article highly recommended the BroilKing griddle and West Bend as a second choice. The article mentions uneven cooking, and just like my Grandmother warned, one side of her griddle did not get quite as hot as the other side.

• Best Blueberry Pancakes (Cook's Illustrated, p. 20. No dates on this issue! Sometime past 2003. It is a darker red with pears on the cover. Amy gave it to me, so may not even be from this year.)
• Bacon cooked by Grandma
• Honeydew melon sliced by Grandma

I just finished spending two weeks with my Grandma. I brought a bunch of cooking magazines, so we could get ideas on things to make. We went through them and I made up a list of recipes and wrote down the ingredients. I went shopping and bought tons of food. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before I could try the Cottage Pie or the turkey for two recipe in the latest fine Cooking issue. Also, I didn't get a chance to make banana nut bread which would have been SO easy! Time just ran out, and things were more difficult with a non-working grill. From calling my cousin, we learned it didn't work because it was out of gas. So on my last day, I refilled the propane tank, and whipped up some Well Done (Cheese) Burgers Done Well. They turned out nice, but not as GREAT as I remembered them. I think it really makes a difference having fresh ingredients.

I got Grandma hooked up with a West Bend electric can opener, since she has a hard time using a manual one. I also bought her a new peeler since I was planning on peeling potatoes for that Cottage Pie! I looked in two stores for a 100% silicone spatula, and couldn't find one that was "normal" shaped. I will have to buy one here and ship it to her. They are wonderful. (I found mine at Target, even!)

On my last night with my Grandma, we decided to go out. Grandma had spent at least the last two weeks not going out of her house any farther than the driveway. So we went to a Chinese restaurant that is always so friendly to us, and we both visited the local Sur La Table for the first time ever!!! I was so worried they were going to be rude and push us out the door as we only got there 15-20 minutes before closing. However, they still had their doors wide open well after "closing"! I'm not sure if it was because a cooking class was going on in the back or what, but it was so nice to just browse around. I cannot wait for Austin to get its own Sur La Table!

I came home and found two new cooking gadgets waiting for me... a new KitchenAid toaster and a set of odd-sizes measuring spoons. Next, we need to get the stove reconnected to the gas line.