How to get garlic and onion smell off your hands

I love to cook with garlic and onions but I hate the way they make my hands smell afterward - sometimes for what seems like days!

To get the smell off your hands is simple. As you wash your hands or do the dishes after dinner just rub your hands a few times against the steel sides of your sink. It magically removes the smell.

I'm sure there is a scientific explanation for it but let's just call it magic.

A Couple of Recipes...

I'm excited to be a contributor on this blog! It makes me feel a little special...though I still have a lot to learn in the cooking arena. I'm excited to steal your recipes and try them!

This is also good because it will get me to take pictures of food I make. Tom used to take quite a few pictures of food at the beginning of our marriage, but I always made fun of him for doing it, so I don't have any recent ones.

I have made both these recipes in the last week, so I just pulled them off the top of my recipe box. I'll be sure to take pictures for the next post.

French Peasant Bread
1 T. yeast
2 c. warm water
1 T. sugar
2 t. salt
4 c. flour
oil
cornmeal
melted butter
Place yeast, water, sugar and salt in warm bowl and stir until dissolved. Add flour and stir until blended. Do not knead. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size. Flour hands, remove dough from bowl and place 2 rounds on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise 1 hour. Brush tops with melted butter and bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and cook and additional 15 minutes. Brush with butter again and serve warm.

This is SUCH a yummy new bread recipe I found. It is super easy - just takes a lot of time.

Oven Fried Potatoes (one of Tom's favorites)
12 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 t. salt
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. pepper
1/3 c. vegetable oil
Place potatoes in a large resealable gallon-size plastic bag. Combine the parmesan and seasonings. Add to potatoes and shake to coat. Pour oil onto 2 15x10x1 inch baking pans; pour potatoes into pans. Bake uncovered at 375 for 40-50 minutes.

For crispier potatoes, I turn the temp up to about 400 - that is how we like them. I usually half this recipe. This recipe goes great with grilling...burgers, steaks, etc. We also like to grill veggies in our grill basket for this meal. I usually just cut up zucchini, squash, broccoli, onions, peppers (whatever I have on hand) and toss them in olive oil and season with spices.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Shortening
1 cup White sugar
1 cup Brown sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Salt
3 cups Flour
1 pkg. Chocolate Chips

Mix together in order, adding flour last. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake in 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.

This is our family's favourite chocolate chip recipe! My hints for cookies are to use good ingredients (sorry - no cheap shortening, chocolate, etc.), and to underbake the cookies. They always taste better.

Roasted Garlic & Tomato Pasta

by Alicia Cutts

1- 1 1/2 c. grape tomatoes
4-5 cloves garlic - large chop
10-15 leaves fresh spinach - sliced
1/4 c. fetta cheese
1/4 c. Italian dressing
1 box bow tie pasta

1. Place tomatoes, garlic and Italian dressing an a small baking pan. Roast at 400 for about 20-25 minutes or until tomatoes start to split and garlic begins to brown.
2. Boil bowtie pasta. Once cooked, drain and place in a large bowl.
3. Mix spinach, fetta cheese and tomato/garlic mixture in with the noodles.