Adventures of a girl in pearls. . .

I stumbled upon these adorable recipe cards on Friday and have been thinking about them all weekend. I’ve always loved the idea of hand-written recipe cards over typed - it adds character. Arranged in a book or wooden box, it would be a neat thing to pass down to my kids as well. The only complaint I have is that they are $10 for a pack of 12. Do you know how many recipes I have?! The solution: Thank God, I’m a graphic design major. All I need to do is buy the paper and cut them down to the size I need.

German Apple Salad

My mother has made this as long as I can remember. It may sound like an odd combination, but I grew up eating it, and I think it’s delicious.

About 2/3 of a head of Cabbage, cut into 1’ square pieces or thin strips

1 small apple, cubed

1/2 lb. of Sausage

1/4 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar

Sugar, to taste

Dried Italian Seasoning

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1. Fry the cabbage in olive oil for 6 - 8 minutes, until it reaches your preferred crunchiness/mushiness. When it is done, set aside in a large bowl.

2. Fry the sausage and break it into small pieces as it’s cooking.

3. After the sausage has cooked completely, add your cubed apples and stir. Only cook them long enough to slightly warm them and turn the outside a bit brown. They should still be a bit crunchy in the center when you bite into it.

4. Add the sausage and apples to the cabbage. Pour the apple cider vinegar, sprinkle about a 1/4 cup of sugar (start with less, taste it, and add more until it is your desired sweetness), and add about a tablespoon of dried Italian seasoning to the mixture. Stir and serve warm.

Cheesy Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 bag of Success white rice

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 lb. Italian sausage

3 bell peppers, split lengthwise and seeded

Bacon bits

- Prepare rice according to package directions.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In large bowl, combine the cheeses, sausage, and cooked rice. Mix well. (No, you do not have to cook the sausage beforehand. Believe me, it sounded weird to me at first too, but it works.) Stuff each bell pepper half with mixture. Sprinkle bacon bits on top and place on a baking sheet.

- Bake 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!

Random fact of the day: I make the best hot chocolate, in the world, ever, in the universe, etc. I have mastered the art of hot chocolate making - and I have decided to share my secrets with you lucky people.

First things first, use whole milk, or at least 2% - the real stuff. If you have to use skim milk, why are you drinking hot chocolate? It’s not good unless it’s creamy, and it’s only creamy if it ruins your diet. Put about 6 oz. (A little less than a cup) in a coffee mug and heat it up in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Don’t let it get too hot too fast, or it will smell rotten, and it will make you throw up.

Add the packet of hot chocolate slowly and stir as you go - it doesn’t matter what brand it is. I always use the marshmallow lover’s kind. Just make sure you don’t add the powder too fast and have it clump up and stick to the sides of the cup - that’s gross.

And the secret to the most amazing cup of hot chocolate you’ll ever have - *drum roll, please* - Half of a Ghirardelli chocolate square, dark or milk, it doesn’t matter. And the brand doesn’t matter very much either, as long as it isn’t a cheap brand like Hershey’s. Break it into small pieces, drop it in, and stir.

Tada!

My Mother’s Strawberry Jam

Courtesy of Zooey Deschanel

Makes about 3 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS

3 Pints of Strawberries, Hulled

1/2 Cup of Sugar Cubes (It’s important to use sugar cubes; it’s the best sugar for jam, according to my mother.)

PREPARATION

Cook berries in a heavy pan over low heat, stirring every 15 minutes, until jamlike in consistency, about 3 hours. Add sugar, using more (up to 3/4 cup) if you like your jam sweeter, and stir until dissolved. Transfer jam to a jar, let cool and refrigerate. It’s a fresh jam, so keep it refrigerated for no more than 2 weeks.

Chicken Salad Thursday

I’ve lived in the South for about 12 years, and I have to say in those 12 years, the most valuable thing that I have taken away from this place (besides my southern gentleman, of course) is… how to make chicken salad. Silly, I know, but southern women know their chicken salad. So I thought I would share what I’ve learned with all my readers. It’s an easy thing to make, but as most avid chicken salad makers know, there is no real recipe, just a list of ingredients - and you combine all of those ingredients and mix, then add some more of something just because it looks like it needs it, do a taste test, add some more of something, etc. until you get the perfect mixture. Well here is my ingredient list, and I’ve estimated how much I usually use.

- 2 cans of Canned Chicken Breast, drained (I started out boiling the real stuff, but it just doesn’t shred like the canned does. Canned things usually weird me out, especially meats, but I buy the all natural kind to make myself feel better and it actually isn’t bad at all. I wouldn’t eat it plain or anything, but in a salad with other things it’s pretty tasty.)

- 1/2 of a small apple (Cut into fairly small pieces - and I recommend one that’s sweet and crunchy, like Gala, as opposed to sour, like Granny Smith, or softer, like Macintosh)

- 1/4 of a cantaloupe (Cut into the same size as the apple pieces)

- Grapes (I don’t know how many. I know I never use the entire bag - I’m going to guess and say around 1 cup, sliced, but just add them until they’re evenly dispersed throughout the mixture.)

- 1/2 Cup Crushed Pecans (Once again, just guessing, add as much as you wish, or not at all if you aren’t a big fan of nuts - can also be substituted with walnuts)

- Mayonnaise (enough to cover everything in a thin layer and create a sort of paste)

- Salt and Pepper (I know it sounds strange, but believe me, the salt and especially the pepper make the chicken salad. It doesn’t taste half as good without it.)

And there you go, more than you ever wanted to know about chicken salad.

P.S. I eat mine on Ritz crackers.

Baha Chicken Tacos

1 large Chicken Breast

4 Corn Taco Shells

2 tablespoons of Taco Seasoning

1 (8 oz.) Can of Pineapple Tidbits, drained

1/4 cup of Diced Tomatoes

Olive Oil

Salsa & Sour Cream, to taste

Optional: 1 Avocado, thinly sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake taco shells 8 - 10 minutes or until crisp.

2. Cut the chicken breast into small pieces. (about 1/2” square or smaller.) Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a frying pan, add the chicken and stir until the olive oil has coated the chicken. Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the chicken, stir and coat. Cook 6 - 8 minutes. Add more taco seasoning if you desire a stronger taste.

3. Fill the taco shells with chicken, pineapple, sour cream, salsa, tomatoes, and avocado. Serve.

Feeds: 2 People; If you need to feed more, just cook extra chicken and you should be good to go.

These are so delicious. We made these for dinner last night and it was the second time this week. Enjoy!