Shopping Around the World

This month my dear brother Phenny is hosting Shopping Around the World.  His suggestion this month was pie, dessert or anything sweet.  Since I can’t just post a picture of me for something sweet – snorts with piggy laughter, I”m going to let mom take care of this month.  Hope you enjoy my friends ❤

Now this month was hard.  Sweets – my favorites of any kind – is something I’m trying to stay away from here at the Hotel Thompson.  But there are times that the inner sweet monster comes from within and you just *have* to have something gooey and wonderful.  A long time favorite of ours here are Whoopie Pies.  Now if you don’t know what a Whoopie Pie is here, you are a sheltered person and need a fix ASAP!  You can fix them as elaborately as you want or in my case as simple as you want.  And you know me…. I’m all about simple 🙂 

So here is a picture of what a Whoopie Pie looks like.  (I didn’t take this picture.)  This is a simple way of seeing what a Whoopie Pie looks like.  They should be gooey and wonderful.  Most of them are made with a cake batter as the top and bottom.  But remember, I have a favorite ‘quick’ recipe.  Here you go:

◊ Store bought cookies (no lying).  Get a package of the soft cookies – you don’t want a hard one.  Or you can make your own.  Now remember to buy twice as many cookies because you will need two cookies for every Whoopie Pie.  I bought a package of 24 cookies from our local market for $3.29 – I bought Macadamia cookies.  Buy and make whatever kind of cookies you like.  24 cookies will make 12 Whoopie Pies.

◊ Here is the tricky part – what do you want for your center?  You have several options.  You can buy a container of Cool Whip.  You can buy those little containers of pre-made frosting.  Or, you can be lazy like me.  I asked the bakery department at my market to whip me up some butter cream frosting.  A huge container cost me $4.99 – and that is more than enough.  

Now the fun begins.  I take my 12 cookies and place them on a cookie sheet.  I then put my butter cream frosting in a pastry bag and start dabbing frosting on my cookies.  After all my cookies have full attention, I then place cookies on top of the frosting.  There you go – instant Whoopie Pies.  No, they are not like the ‘real’ Whoopie Pies but are your guests or family going to know the difference?  Of course not.  Heck, throw some flour on your face and around the kitchen and let them know you slaved in the kitchen for hours.  Who is going to know?  I’m not going to tell.  ❤ 

 

Shopping Around the World

 This month we are posting anything we want to share that you cook, prepare, fix or throw together at your crib.  It can be anything.  So knowing this, we want to share something that we absolutely love here at the Hotel Thompson.  You here a lot of flack about one of the ingredients but to be a true southerner, you love it.  And since some of the ingredients are shall we say  pig related – this is Bacon’s mom taking over the posting today.

For those cool mornings or nights that you don’t feel like cooking much – we fix a big pot of southern cheese and sausage grits.  Yep, you heard it – grits.  Grits are a southern love.  They are made from ground hominy.  And in this picture, we went to our local Waffle House one night for dinner.

Grits are very cheap here.  You can buy a 2 pound bag at most markets for around $3.00 – and trust me, they go a long ways (probably less than $0.50 a meal).  Now here at the Hotel Thompson, we put about three cups of water in a pot and put it on the stove medium high.  Season with salt and add one cup of grits.  You are going to let the water boil and the grits cook for about 20-30 minutes.  Make sure that you stir occasionally – grits will stick and expand.

While the grits are cooking, go ahead and fry up some sausages in a pan.  I make sausage patties and cook them on a skillet beside my grits so I’m constantly watching.  I buy a pack of 12 sausages and cook them for the entire week.  One pack is $4.00 – we use about 6 patties with the grits.

When your grits are about done, add 1/2 stick of butter (around $0.30), more salt to taste and black pepper.  Now add grated cheddar cheese (we buy blocks and rate our own (around $0.50) to your grits and stir everything together to melt the cheese.  Your sausage should just about be done.  Cut the sausage up into bite size pieces and add to your grits, stir everything together and there you go – a southern delight for sure!

And the bottom price with everything – around $3.50

 

Shopping Around the World – Mark Your Calendar

– My Apologies for the Late Notice My Friends – 

         

I’m so sorry my friends for the late notice.  I’ve been so busy trying to keep mom current on so many things that I almost forgot about my shopping post.  I do know that this is short notice so I’m going to make it really easy for you.  This month post anything that you want to share that you cook, prepare, fix or throw together at your crib.  It can be anything.  Just remember pictures and prices.  Again I’m so sorry for the late notice.

 

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars – Wednesday, June 29th, 2016.

 

Shopping Around the World – MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!

Me and my pal Fozzie will be holding another Shopping Around the World scheduled for  Wednesday, May 25, 2016.  Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices and recipes.

This month we are opening the floor for you.  You can post ANYTHING (desserts, appetizers, snacks, entrees) that you want to share.  Just remember pictures and prices.  So what will you post my friends?  We can’t wait to see.

Please share this posting with your friends – the more the merrier.  Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars – Wednesday, May 25th!

 

Shopping Around the World

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!

This month we have a suggestion from my cousin Sammy on highlighting cookies or other sweets for December.  Is there a special treat that you fix only around the Christmas holidays?  A certain cookie to share?  It does not have to be five items or less this month.  Share your recipe and picture of your sweet items.

This time of the year mom loves to fix what she has always called reindeer noses.  Now they have been called other things like yummy, pure grace, delicious, Rolo droppings, etc.  Snorts with piggy laughter.  It doesn’t matter what you call them because you will absolutely love them.  AND they are so easy to make.  You will need:  1 bag of pecan halves (prices range on this – the bag I bought was $8.99); 1 bag of Rolo caramels in milk chocolate candies ($4.00) ; and 1 bag of small pretzels ($1.50 on sale).  Total paid around $14.50 for some priceless candy 🙂

Turn your oven on to around 250-300 degrees.  While that is pre-heating, start taking all of the aggravating pretty foils off of the Rolo caramels in milk chocolates.  Yes you can be like my mommy and eat some for all of that painstaking foil removal.  Then, put some parchment paper on a baking pan.  Add a bunch of small pretzels and top with one Rolo each.  Now, here is the tricky part.  You don’t want to put so many on the baking pan that when you pull it out of the oven you don’t have time to top them with the pecan half.  You see they will cool fast and you want that finishing touch – trust me.  Okay so now you have your pan planned out.  Place it in the hot oven for around 5 minutes until the Rolo melts all over the pretzel.  Once that happens, remove the pan and quickly add a 1/2 of pecan to the top squishing it down in the chocolate.  mmm – just thinking about it.

Let these cool before trying one.  Trust me on this – daddy found out the hard way.  Once they are cool, put in a air tight container and share… or not 🙂

 

Shopping Around the World – REMINDER

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!

Me and my pal Fozzie will be holding another Shopping Around the World scheduled for             Thursday, December 31st.

Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices and recipes.  I know this is going to be around Thanksgiving so mark your calendar so you can do a posting with us.

This month we have a suggestion from my cousin Sammy on highlighting cookies or other sweets for December.  Is there a special treat that you fix only around the Christmas holidays?  A certain cookie to share?  It does not have to be five items or less this month.  Share your recipe and picture of your sweet items.

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars – Thursday, December 31st.

 

Shopping Around the World – MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!

Me and my pal Fozzie will be holding another Shopping Around the World scheduled for             Thursday, December 31st.

Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices and recipes.  I know this is going to be around Thanksgiving so mark your calendar so you can do a posting with us.

This month we have a suggestion from my cousin Sammy on highlighting cookies or other sweets for December.  Is there a special treat that you fix only around the Christmas holidays?  A certain cookie to share?  It does not have to be five items or less this month.  Share your recipe and picture of your sweet items.

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars – Thursday, December 31st.

 

Shopping Around the World

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices, recipes and pictures from around the world!

Items to price this month:

FIVE items of your CHOICE – Something that you go to when making the family dinner.  Perhaps this is one of your family’s favorite?  A quick meal?  A snack?  List your FIVE items and discuss what the meal is.  Having pictures will also be fantastic to share.

Having this in mind and that it has been raining and yucky a lot this week, mom went for something that was warm and soul comforting.  First up, get out that crockpot that has been sitting in your cabinet not earning its keep.  Wash it out and put it on the counter.  Then grab a box of slow cooker liners.  (You will thank me for this later.)  Put one of the liners in the crock pot – they are awesome.  Easy cleaning which is right up my mom’s ally.  This is what the box looks like.  You can usually buy a box in the grocery store for around $2.00 – don’t worry, they won’t melt in the crock pot.  Now here is what else you will need:

Now let’s break it down.  One box of Zatarain’s New Orleans Style Red Beans and Rice ($2.49); one package of Smoked Sausage ($2.00) and one bottle of Francis Coppola Pinot Noir ($20.00).  Open the bottle of Pinot Noir and pour yourself a glass to enjoy.  Open the box of Zatarain’s and pour contents into crock pop with the directions on the box in adding water.  Then with a sharp knife, slice the entire package of sausage into tiny mouth sized bites.  Now here’s the important part to remember.

1) Make sure your glass of Pinot Noir never gets empty.  Repeat often and necessary while cooking in the kitchen.  2) While putting the ingredients together, chopping and drinking, make repeated groans to show how much you are working in preparing dinner.  This goes well when the spouse and children are in the next room.  Let them think that you are really overdoing in your cooking capabilities.

Now, throw that cut up sausage in the crock pot, put on the lid and place the dial on high for a couple of hours.

 Now remember that glass – don’t let it be empty.  When the Red Beans and Rice is almost done – trust me you will smell the fabulous aroma throughout your crib, turn on your oven.  Mom uses these Dinner Yeast Rolls.  She bought the entire pack at Sam’s for around $10.  She pulls out for, sticks them in a pan and sprays them with butter and then pops them in the oven to warm up.

In the meantime, she sets the table and tells everyone to clean up and get ready for dinner.   Now, remember the crockpot?  Open up and serve.  Afterwards if you have any leftover, remove them and then pull the bag out of the crockpot and toss it in the garbage – the crockpot is now clean 🙂

.And here is the final product.  Look at all of those spices and yum-yum!

 

Shopping Around the World – REMINDER

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices, recipes and pictures from around the world!

Me and my pal Fozzie started Shopping Around the World in April 2014.  This has become a huge hit and we all want to know if we are paying more or less than everyone else – snorts.  Our next scheduled Shopping Around the World will be – Wednesday, September 30th.

Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices.  It should be interesting to see the differences between.  Mark your calendar so you can do a posting with us.

Items to price this month:

FIVE items of your CHOICE – Something that you go to when making the family dinner.  Perhaps this is one of your family’s favorite?  A quick meal?  A snack?  List your FIVE items and discuss what the meal is.  Having pictures will also be fantastic to share.

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars

 

Shopping Around the World – MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices, recipes and pictures from around the world!

Me and my pal Fozzie started Shopping Around the World in April 2014.  This has become a huge hit and we all want to know if we are paying more or less than everyone else – snorts.  Our next scheduled Shopping Around the World will be – Wednesday, September 30th.

Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine.  That way we can keep track of all of the different prices.  It should be interesting to see the differences between.  Mark your calendar so you can do a posting with us.

Items to price this month:

FIVE items of your CHOICE – Something that you go to when making the family dinner.  Perhaps this is one of your family’s favorite?  A quick meal?  A snack?  List your FIVE items and discuss what the meal is.  Having pictures will also be fantastic to share.

Come join the fun of Shopping Around the World – mark your calendars